Thelema ScholarTHE ALEISTER CROWLEY COLLECTION
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1930 · PDF PAGE 59

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…ST AND OF THE ART OF ALCHEMY I One of the simplest and most complété of Magick ceremonies is the Eucharist. It consists in taking common things, transmuting them into things divine, and consuming them. So far, it is a type of every magick ceremony, for the reabsorption of the force is a kind of consumption; but it has a more restricted application, as follows. Take a substance 1 symbolic of the whole course of nature, make it God, and consume it, There are many ways of doing this; but they may easily be clas- sifîed according to the number of t…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 19

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…sorhed; but there is almost certain to be a residuum, since no operation is perfect; and (even if it were sol there would be a number of things, sympathetic to the operation, attracted to the Circle. These must be duly dispersed, or thev will degenerate and become evil. It is always easy to do this where invocations are concerned; the mere removal of the strain imposed by the will of the magician will restore things to their normal aspects, in accordance with the great law of inertia. In a badly-managed évocation, however, this does not always …

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1930 · PDF PAGE 17

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…use one’s fishing rod or one’s gun. It is not that they could do any harm in a material sense. It is the feeling that one’s use of these things has consecrated them to one’s self. Of course, the outstanding example of ail such talismans is the wife. A wife may be defined as an object specially prepared for taking the stamp of one’s Creative will. This is an example of a very complicated magical operation, extending over centuries. But, theoretically, it is just an ordinary case of talismanic magick. It is for this reason that so much trouble ha…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 71

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…ese, who understands that Nero was as necessary as Julius Caesar. The Master of the Temple accordingly interfères not with the scheme of things except just so far as he is doing the Work which he is sent to do. Why should he struggle against imprisonment, banishment, death? It is ail part of the game in which he is a pawn. “It was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer these things, and to enter into His glory.” The Master of the Temple is so far from the man in whom He manifests that ail these matters are of no importance to Him. It may be of …

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1930 · PDF PAGE 84

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

… must go steadily through ail the possible pylons. Frater Perdurabo was very unfortunate in not having magical teachers to explain these things to Him. He was rather encouraged in unsystematic working. Very fortunate, on the other hand, was He to hâve found a Guru who instructed Him in the proper principles of the technique of Yoga, and He, having suffirent sense to recognize the universal application of those principles, was able to some extent to repair His original defects. But even to this day, despite the fact this His original inclination…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 26

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

… person to use these methods; and, worst of ali, they are purely passive! You can see only what is shewn you, and you are probably shewn things perfectly pointless and irrelevant. The proper metnod is as followsi — Devciop the body oi Liglil until îî is jiisl ns real to y ou as your otlier body. teacli it îo travel to any desired Symbol, and enable it te perform ail neeessary Rites and Invocations. In sbort, edncate it. Ultimately, the relation of that body with your own must be exceedingly intimâtes but before this harmonizing takes place, you…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 33

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

is man. In man are ail things hidden, Of these the Gods, Nature, Time, ail the powers of the universe are rebellions slaves. It is these that men must fight and conquer in the power and in the name of the Beast that hath availed them, the Titan, the Magus, the Man whose number is six hundred and three score and six. III Ihe practice of Rising on the Planes is of such importance that spécial attention must be paid to it. It is part of the essential tech¬ nique of Magick. Instruction in this practice has been given with such conciseness in Liber …

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1930 · PDF PAGE 9

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…e whatever that the invocation should be “right”. There are a thousand different wavs of compassing the end proposed, so far as external things are concerned. The whole secret may be summarised in these four words: “Enflame thyself in praying.” 1 The mind must be exalted until it loses consciousness of self. The Magician must be carried forward blindly by a force which, though. in him and of him, is by no means that which he in his normal State of consciousness calls I. Just as the poet, the lover, the artist, is carried out of himself in a Cre…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 72

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

ail magic power is dangerous. There are even more debased and evil forms, things in themselves black. Such is the use of spiritual force to material ends. Christian Scientists, Mental Healers, Professional Diviners, Psychics and the like, are ail ipso facto Black M agi ci ans. Thev exchange gold for dross. They sell their higher powers for gross and temporary benefit. That the most crass ignorance of Magick is their principal characteristic is no excuse, even if Nature accepted excuses, which she does not. If you drink poison in mistake for win…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 39

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…seemed to Him that the geomantic intelligences themselves were of a low order, the scope of which was confined to a small section of the things which interested Him* also, they possessed a point of view of their own which was far from sympathetic with His, so that misunder- standing constantly interfered with the Work. The Tarot and The Holy Qabalah may be discussed to- gether. The theoretical basis of both is identical: The Tree of Life.1 The 78 symbols of the Tarot are admirably balanced and combined. lhey are adéquate to ail demands made upo…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 54

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…ith the human mind and with the entire structure of the Universe that the observation of their fall should not enable us to rneasure ail things in heaven and earth. With one piece of curved glass we hâve discovered uncounted galaxies of suns; with another, endless orders of existence in the infinitésimal. With the prism we hâve analysed light so that matter and force hâve become intelligible only as forms of light. With a rod we hâve summoned the invisible energies of electricity to be our familiar spirit serving us to do our Will, whether it b…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 4

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…mmence the invocations. He consequently pauses to cast a last glance around the Temple to assure himself of the perfect readiness of ail things necessary, and to light the incense. The Oath is the foundation of ail Work in Magick, as it is an affirmation of the Will. An Oath binds the Magician for ever. In Part II of Book 4 something has already been said on this subject; but its importance deserves some further élaboration. Thus, should one, loving a woman, make a spell to compel her embraces, and tiring of her a little later, evoke Zazel to k…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 53

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…spective, untroubled by his Personal passion. It is mdeed surprising how often the most careless divinations give accurate answers. When things go wrong, it is almost always possible to trace thæ error to one’s own self-willed and insolent presumption in insisting that events shall accommodate themselves to our egoism and vanity. It is comically unscientific to adduce i. The question of the sense in which an answer is true arises. One not mix up the planes. Yet, as Mr. Russell shows, Of Cit. f. 61, the worlds which lie behind phenomena must pos…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 69

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…t perfectly the impression of the Will of the Alchemist. This substance, properly prepared, and properly charged, is able to perform ail things soever that are physically possible, within the limits of the proportions of its momentum to the inertia of the object to which it is applied. It may be observed in conclusion that, in dealing with forms of Matter-Motion so subtle as these, it is not enough to pass the Pons Asinorum of intellectual knowledge. The Master Therion has possessed the theory of these Powers for many years; but Elis practice i…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 40

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…hat it is unsuited to the solution of the petty puzzles of our earthly existence. In the light'of the Qabalah, the shadows of transitory things are instantly banished. Xhe Y i King is the most satisfactory System for general work. The Master Therion is engagea in the préparation of a treatise on the subject, but the labour involved is so great that He cannot pledge Himself to hâve it ready at any definite time. The ôtudent must theiefoie make his own investigations mto the mean- ing of the 64 hexagrams as best he can. The Yi King is mathematica…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 52

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

relation of two ideas each of winch is itself as subject to change without notice” as a musical programme. Divination, in the nature of things, can do no more than put the mind of the querent into conscious connection with another mind whose knowledge of the subject at issue is to bis own as that of an expert to a layman. The expert is not infallible. 1 he client may put his question in a misleading manner, or even base it on a completely erroneous conception of the facts. He may misunder- stand the expert’s answer, and he may misinterpret its …

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1930 · PDF PAGE 25

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…indeterminate relation between the Astrals and the Materials ; and it is possible, with great expérience, to deduce facts about material things from the astral aspect which they présent to the eyes of the Body of Light.1 This astral plane is so varied and so changeable that several clairvoyants looking at the same thing might give totally different accounts of what they saw; yet they might each make correct déductions. In looking at a man the first clairvoyant might say : “The lines of force are ail drooping”; the second : “It seems ail dirtv a…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 44

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

…ractice of concentration leads to this resuit; in fact, it destroys the thing itself as we hâve hitherto conceived it; for the nature of things is always veiled from us by our habit of regarding them as in essential relation with ourselves and our reactions toward them. One can hardly expect the diviner to make Samadhi with his question — that would be going too far, and destroy the character of the operation by removing the question from the class of concatenated ideas. It would mean interpreting the question in terms of “without limit”, and t…

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1930 · PDF PAGE 77

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

lt should be added that ail these things happen “naturally”. 1 Perform an operation to bring Gold — your rich uncle dies and leaves you his moneyj books — you see the book wanted in a catalogue that very day, although you hâve advertised in vain for a year; woman — but if you hâve made the spirits bring you enough gold, this operation will become unnecessary. 2 It must further be remarked that it is absolute Black Magic to use any of these powers if the object can possibly be otherwise attained. If your child is drowning, you must jump and try …

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1930 · PDF PAGE 83

Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 2)

en peop.e begin to argue about things instead of doing them they become absolutely impossible. Their minds begin to work about it and about, and they corne out by the same door as in they went. ey remain brutish, voluble, and uncomprehending. . lheLtechmque of Magick is just as important as that of mysti- asm, but here we hâve a very much more difficult problem, because the original unit of Magick, the Body of Light, is alreadv something unfamiliar to the ordinary person. Nevertheless, this body must be developed and trained with exactly the sa…

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