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Page 1 of 21913 · PDF PAGE 51
…ack Magick —yet this surrender is so simple an act that to our complex minds it is the most difficult of all acts; and hence training is necessary. Further, the Self surrendered must not be less than the All-Self; one must not come before the altar of the Most High with an impure or an imperfect offering. As it is written in Liber LXV, "To await Thee is the end, not the beginning." This training may lead through all sorts of complications, varying according to the nature of the student, and hence it may be necessary for him at any moment to wil…
1913 · PDF PAGE 140
…"Hoc opus, Hie labor est." It is indeed the toil of ascending from Avernus, and escaping to the upper air. In order to do it, it is most necessary to understand our tendencies, and to will the development of one, the destruction of another. And though all elements in the Pantacle must ultimately be destroyed, yet some will help us directly to reach a position from which this task of destruction becomes possible; and there is no element therein which may not be occasionally helpful. And so —beware ! Select ! Select ! Select ! This Pantacle is an…
1913 · PDF PAGE 57
…ll. It is always something to pluck up the weeds, but the flower itself needs tending. Having crushed all volitions in ourselves, and if necessary in others, which we find opposing our real Will, that Will itself will grow naturally with greater freedom. But it is not only necessary to purify the temple itself and consecrate it; invocations must be made. Hence it is neces- sary to be constantly doing things of a positive, not merely of a negative- nature, to affirm that Will.
1913 · PDF PAGE 53
…ry for persons whose memory is naturally poor. In any case the Magical Record prescribed for Probationers by the A. -.A.-, is useful and necessary. Above all the practices of Liber III must be done again and again, for these practices develop not only vigilance but those inhibiting centres in the brain which are, according to some psychologists, the mainspring of the mechanism by which civilized man has raised himself above the savage. So far it has been spoken, as it were, in the negative. Aaron's rod has become a serpent, and swallowed the se…
1913 · PDF PAGE 52
…, we may want anything^ let us see to it that our will is strong enough to obtain anything we want without loss of time. It is therefore necessary to develop the will to its high- est point, even though the last task but one is the total sur- render of this will. Partial surrender of an imperfect will is of no account in Magick. The will being a lever, a fulcrum is necessary; this fulcrum is the main aspiration of the student to attain. All wills which are not de- pendent upon this principal will are so many leakages ; they are like fat to the …
1913 · PDF PAGE 104
…he was dead or gone — or some other terrible thing —I lost consciousness). (This discourse has been thus left unfinished; but it is only necessary to add that the capacity to extract such spiritual honey from these un- promising flowers is the mark of an adept who has perfected his Magick Cup. This method of Qabalistic exegesis is one of the best ways of exalting the reason to the higher consciousness. Evidently it "started" Fra. P. so that in a moment he became completely concentrated and entranced.^ Ed.) ^ See remarks on absurdity of prayer i…
1913 · PDF PAGE 124
… painful subject ! As long as we try to fit facts to theories instead of adopting the scientific attitude of altering the theories (when necessary) to fit the facts, we shall remain mired in falsehood. The religious taunt the scientific man with this open-mindedness, with this adaptability. "Tell a lie and stick to it!" is their golden rule.
1913 · PDF PAGE 69
…ne without. The majority of people will find most trouble with the Emotions, and thoughts which excite them. But it is both possible and necessary not merely to suppress the emotions, but to turn them into faithful servants. Thus the emotion of anger is occasionally useful against that portion of the brain whose slackness vitiates the control. If there is one emotion which is never useful, it is pride : for this reason, that it is bound up entirely with the Ego . . . No, there is no use for pride ! The destruction of the Perceptions, either the…
1913 · PDF PAGE 81
…re exceedingly " well- informed," but who have not the slightest idea of the meaning of the facts they know. They have not developed the necessary higher part of the brain. Induction is impossible to them.
1913 · PDF PAGE 84
…is useful : not the strict meditation which endeavours to still the mind, but such a meditation as Sam- masati.- On the exoteric side if necessary the mind should be trained by the study of any well-developed science, such as chemistry, or mathematics. The idea of organization is the first step, that of interpretation the second. The Master of the Temple, whose grade corresponds to Binah, is sworn to "interpret every phenomenon as a particular dealing of God with his soul." ^ See the " Interlude " follo\A'ing. ^ See Equinox V, "The Training of …
1913 · PDF PAGE 58
46 Renunciation and sacrifice are necessary, but they are comparatively easy. There are a hundred ways of missing, and only one of hitting. To avoid eating beef is easy; to eat nothing but pork is very diffi- cult. Levi recommends that at times the Magical Will itself should be cut off, on the same principle as one can always work better after a " com- plete change." Levi is doubtless right, but he must be understood as saying this " for the hardness of men's hearts." The turbine is more efficient than a reciprocating engine ; and his counsel i…
1913 · PDF PAGE 60
…achieve something, which when gained does not seem worth even the utterance of the wish. But this is a wrong view to take. The discipHne necessary in order to learn Latin will stand us in good stead when we wish to do something quite different. At school our masters punished us; when we leave school, if we have not learned to punish ourselves, we have learned nothing. In fact the only danger is that we may value the achievement in itself. The boy who prides himself on his school knowledge is in danger of becoming a college professor. So the Gur…
1913 · PDF PAGE 119
…ion (which may be called, in a way, the roots of pleasure and pain), cause error. Make a thermometer, and the glass is so excited by the necessary fusion that year by year, for thirty years afterwards or more, the height of the mercury will continue to alter; how much more then with so plastic a matter as the mind: There is no emotion which does
1913 · PDF PAGE 110
… not allow any one idea to carry one away. It will readily be seen how very elementary and false all this is —but for the beginner it is necessary. In all deahngs with demons the point of the Sword is kept down- wards, and it should not be used for invocation, as is taught in certain schools of magick. If the Sword is raised towards the Crown, it is no longer really a sword. The Crown cannot be divided. Certainly the Sword should not be lifted. The Sword may, however, be clasped in both hands, and kept steady and erect, symbolizing that thought…
1913 · PDF PAGE 133
…added. But the Pantacle will be im- perfect unless each idea is contrasted in a balanced manner with its opposite, and unless there is a necessary connection between each pair of ideas and every other pair. The Neophyte will perhaps do well to make the first sketches for his Pantacle very large and complex, subsequently simplifying, not so much by exclusion as by combination, just as a Zoologist, beginning with the four great Apes and Man, combines all in the single word '' primate." It is not wise to simplify too far, since the ultimate hierog…
1913 · PDF PAGE 118
…verse excitement which real or simulated horror affords. Very few people know that blood freshly ^ It is true that sometimes sympathy is necessary to comprehension.
1913 · PDF PAGE 15
…the limitation of his working. This circle is ^ The holders of those keys have always kept very quiet about it. This has been especially necessary in Europe, because of the dominance of persecuting churches. •^By "yourself" you mean the contents of your consciousness. All without does not exist for you.
1913 · PDF PAGE 152
…he Hebrews borrowed their holy word "Amen." This Crown consists simply of the plumes of truth. But into the symbolism of these it is not necessary to go, for all this and more is in the Crown first described. The crimson cap implies concealment, and is also symbolical of the flood of glory that pours upon the Magician from above. It is of velvet for the softness of that divine kiss, and crimson for that it is the very blood of God which is its life. The band of gold is the eternal circle of perfection. The three pentagrams symbolize the Father,…
1913 · PDF PAGE 109
…ne- trating, but unstable; not a phenomenon subtle like fire, not a chemical combination like water, but a mixture of gases.' The Sword, necessary as it is to the Beginner, is but a crude weapon. ' The Oxygen in the air would be too fierce for life ; it must be largely diluted with the inert nitrogen. The rational mind supports life, but about seventy-nine per cent, of it not only refuses itself to enter into combination, but prevents the remaining twenty-one per cent, from doing so. Enthusiasms are checked; the intellect is the great enemy of …
1913 · PDF PAGE 25
…cate this one, that the scope of any man's work depends upon his own original genius. Even the size of the weapons must be determined by necessary proportion. The exceptions to this rule are the Lamp, which hangs from the roof, above the centre of the Circle, above the square of Tiphereth; and the Oil, whose phial is so small that it will suit any altar. On the Circle are inscribed the Names of God; the Circle is of green, and the names are in flaming vermilion, of the same colour as the Tau. Without the Circle are nine pentagrams equidistant,'…