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MAGIC AND THE MAGICIAN

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MAGICIts Ritual, Power and Purpose

&

THE MAGICIANHis Training and Work

W.E. BUTLER

Introduced byDolore s As hcroft -N ow icki

23The Aquarian Press

An I mp r i nt of Har per Collins Pab I i s b e rs

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The Aquarian Press

An Imprint of HarperColli nsPublishers77-8J Fulham Palace Road,

Hammeismith, London W6 8JB

Magic first published 1952

The Magician first published 1959

This compilation volume published l99l13579108642

' @The Aquarian Press lg7}, 1i75, lggl

' A catalogue record for this bookis available from the British Library

.. ISBN I 85538 l4l 9

Printed in Great Britain bY

MackaYs of Chatham. Kent

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be'

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

in any form or by any mdans, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior

permission of the Publishers.

CONTENTS

Int roduction by Do lo re s Ashcroft - N ow icki

MAGIC: ITS RITUAL, POWER AND PURPOSE

ForewordI Some Definitions and a General Surveyil Human Personalityru The Magical ThesisIV The Apparatus of MagicV The Kings of EdomVI Invocation and EvocationVII Magnetic MagicVIII The Magical ImagesIX Initiatory Magic

THE MAGICIAN: HIS TRAINING AND WORK

Preface

Part I: General

I Why the Book was Writtenil The Basis of Magicm The Tree of Life

Part II: The Training of the Magician

IV Preliminary NotesV The Astral LightVI The Invisible BodyVII Visualisation and AuditionVru Words of Power: The Magical Use of.Sound

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MAGIC

IX The Words and Names in Magical WorkingX The Flashing ColoursXI The Vestments .

XII The SubconsciousXIII The Interwoven Light

., Part III: The Magical Keys

XIV MagnetismXV T\eTattvicTidesXVI The Bodyof LightXVII The Magical Personality

XVMXIXXX

XXIXXII

lait IV; Magical Rights

The Construction and Use of FormsBuilding a RitualTalismanic MagicThe Way of Ma'fical AttainmeirtL'Envoi

Appendices

Relaxation and Breathing ExercisesThe Banishing RitualThe Exercises of the Middle PillarBibliography

Postscriptfrom Magic::-

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INTRODUCTION

S OMETIMES one comes across a book that changes one'slJ life for ever. The size of the book has nothing whatsoeverto do with it-it is what that particular book has to say to yourinner self at that precise moment in your life. Its influencegoes on and one returns to its pages again and again findingnew levels of understanding each time. Such a book is Magic:Its Ritual, Power and Purpose. Its return after being out ofprint for so long is a joy to me, and it will be of great benefitfor those who are coming to a serious study of the occult forthe first time.

As I have already said, the size of the book bears no relationto its influence and, small though it is, within the pages ofMagic can be found the essence of what a true magician is,and what he or she strives to become. The language may beold-fashioned and its views deceptively simple to those usedto a plethora ofbooks on occult subjects, but when it was firstprinted it broke new ground, setting before those who werehungry for information a set of principles that have never beenequalled in their simplicity and directness. Here was a man, anordained priest, calmly setting out the why's and wherefore'sof magical training with utter sincerity.

I was one of those whose life was totally changed by thisbook. I bought it in a tiny bookshop-cum-publishers inVauxhall Bridge Road in London, whose name was to becomesynonymous with occult publishing: The Aquarian Press. Iwas very new to this aspect of magic and the then owner put asmall book into my hands and said '. . . this is the one foryou.' I read it at one sitting on the plane home and the friendwho met me at the airport said, '. . . you look quite different,as if you have found a new way of looking at things.' And so Ihad, as will anyone who reads this book in the right frame ofmind and for the right reasons, which is why I often recom-

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mend it to people who write to me for advice concerningoccult training.

The Magician: his Training altd Work continues where that

first all-important book ends. It was also one of the first of its-'kind, a real training book for the aspirin$ magician. Full of

wisdom and down-to-earth common sense, it said, as Ernest

Butler always did, 'Magic is not something for the weekend,

the few special days in the year; it is for every day of your

life.' He believed that with all his heart and trained hisstudents accordingly. It is to my joy that I was one of them forten marvellous years.

It is all to easy nowaddys, when the would-be student is

spoilt for choice, to take half a dozen assorted titles from a

shelf and go on from there. Indeed, many do; but quantity is

by no means quality, and the oldest is still sometimes the best.

ln the area of the occult, ethics are of paramount importance.

Add to this self-discipline of the highest kind and a set ofprinciples to act as a lamp on this the most difficult of paths,

and all these.must be thought about and accepted beforeanyone should placea single foot on the road to Adepthood. Inthe Nineties there are many schools offering tuition, some

good, some bad, and many indifferent, but there will always

brb those who prefer to work alone. It was mainly for them that

Ernest wrot€ this book, into which he poured his experience,

his hard-won knowledge, and his unshakeable belief that onlythe best you had tci give was worthy of the Path. It contains,

even after the myriads of books written since it was firstpublished, some of the best advice and basic self-training you

will ever find. Look beyond the words and seek the man, the

teacher, and the true Adept.So now you hold in your hand those two books that made

occult history. Issued in one volume yol also hold a miriiature

course in workable, practical magic and, more importantly, a

set of principles to work by hnd adhere to as you learn. Withinthese pages you will find a lifetirne of carefully gathered

knowledge, not only of magical instruction but of one man's

enduring commitment to the Westem Mystery Tradition'

Dolores Ashcroft-NowickiMarch l99l

lrl:.;ii

MAGICIts Ritual, Power and Purpose

ri

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FOREWORD

is obvionsly impossible to fully cover such a vast

subject as.Magic in the small compass of these pqgcs. Ihave therefore attempted to give a gcnerd idea of one

aspeq.t of the Magi"n Art in thc-hope that,this little book

may encoutage my readers in the seriors study of tbe

Science of.the Magi.

Acknowledgemeuts are due to my wife, for her bclp and

€ncouragemcnt, and to Bishop Robcrt King of the UberalCatholic Church and tbe late Don Fortune, Founder and

first Warden of tbe Fraternity of the Inner Light, for tteteaching and advice I have ngdved tom them. It is hirto add that none of thgm are to be held nsponsible for the

ideas herein expresscd.

W. E. Burrrn.

February r6th, 1952.

,) CHAPTER I

[N this imperfect world, where it is so easy to misnndcr-I

. stand or to be misunderstood, it is necessary, when' writing upon sueh a subject as ceremonial magic, io definer carefirlly one's terms. But before giving any Jefinition, let

us deal with the popularly accepted ideas of magic. By so. . doing- we- n-ray cut away much of the obscuring un-der_

growth of thought, as-one might clear away the-tropicatvegetation from around some hidden Aztec tlmple, arid soreveal its tnre proportions and appearauce.

.The simile is apposite;,for the tehrple of magic;has beenso overgrown with the lush growth of uninformed and

. supergtitious thought throughout the ages that, in the- Western world at least, its true appearan& and nature has

been- lost. Only amongJst the ignorant and superstitious.on the one band, and a certain nucleus of informed and'injtruited magicians on the other, has any idea ofthe true nature of magic been retained, and in the formercase that idea has been sadly distorted and bears very little.relationship to the actual facts.

As students of archaology aha tne learned exponents of-comparative religion alike inform us, magrc goes back tothe very biginnings of human life on this planet. Nl" systems of religion, with the exception, possibly of certainProtestant sects and the Southern Buddhists, have at someperiod or other in their history made use of ceremonialmagic. Those who are interested in the historical asp€ct*of the'subject will find listed in the bibliography atltbcend of this book rvorLs by recognised experts in the fiGld,loreruoet among them ,being -Sir James Frazer, whoeeGolfur Bough is a classic.

If these authoritie be carefully studied, it will be .

observed that broadlv .speaklng, each succeeding religionassimilates the best in the religion it superscdes, and-tberemainder is left to the ignorant poputace and to thosc

14 MAGIC

priests of the old religion who will not confornr to the new.As the new religion organises itse[ it begins to persecutethe remnant of the old, and this remnant is drivenunderground.

Such a state of afrairs arose when Christianity emergedfuom its infancy and became the dominant religion of theWest. The old religron disintegrated and the ChristianChurch absorbed rnuch of its philosophy and ritual,gradually permeating all levels of society, until the onlyfollowers of the old faith were the nrstics, the dwellers inoutlying and isolated places. These nrstic.s ot fagani,untrained in the philosophy of their religion, handed downa distorted semblance of it. Always in the background,they were often cnrelly persecuted, but tbeir nusrbers wereconstan0y recruited from many liotuces, including thoscwho rebelled against the Papal claims.

When, however, the impulse of the Renaisance began tomake it possible to break the yoke of Rome, the verygodly Reformed Churches were as bitter as Rome had beenin their persecution of the witches, wizards and magicians.The history of Europe from the XIth to the XVfIIthcentury makes harrowing reading. With the emergence otthe " Age of Reason " popular belief in the malign powerof the magician began to disappear. Concurrently, inProtestant circles at least, religrous belief began todeteriorate into a formality which had very little drivingforce.

This dead level of mediocrity in England reached itshigh water mark in Victorian days, when physical sciencrin the form of one of its greatest exponents declard " thcrris no room in the universe for tlegts," and the Presidentof the Royal Society said, " Iq matGr I see tbe promiseand potency of all life." But witb the increasingknowledge of the universe which modern developments inscience have brought, such ideas haw had to beconsiderably trevised, 'and the modem physicist such as

Jeans, Eddington or Einstein, has propounded an idea ofthe nature and purpose of the universe which can readilybe accepted by the magician. Allowing for the difference

SOME DEFTNITIONS AND A CENERAL SURVEY rg

he has been sayrng t}re same thing forcenturies past !

manifest diSmay of the orthodox communions.rnlresr osmay ol the orthodox communions.But although repressed and persecuted throughout the

It is, however, with the moclern school of psycholo6y,more particularly that presentation of it which il issocialid*ith the name of C. G. Jung, that thetnagician finds.lris,closest link with modern thought. By thai curious swingof the. qentaf pe-ndulum, fint noted by Heraclitus, termelcrantiodronia, ih.at which has been ieprer&ed and drivbnunderground now tegnS to flodrish iri ttru o;", to th;

.ages, magic never ceas€d to exist in the Western world.The Roman Church had skilfully adapted nruch of the oldmagic to Subsene her own purposes, but behind the scenesthe 4agrcal tradition ran like one of the underground riversof the Peak district, emerging now and then into the lightof day, and therr disappearing again beneath the surface.

One such_ em_ergence yas the Order of the Temple, whosemembers, the Knights Templai have been cleared of much9{-lh. odium cast upon them by their persecutors; theAlbigenses in France were anothir j the

-Brethren of the

Golden and Rosy Cross, the Illuminati, the Magnetists, theTheosophists and the nurnenous magical drders andFraternities whictr appeared in the latter half of the XIXthcentury were others. Of these, the most famous and themost illuminating frout our point of view is the ., Order ofthe Golden f)awn." Founded upon an alleged Rmicrucianfoundation, it brought into one rnagnificent synthesis allt". {*Fng magical threads and, in spite of mauyvicissitudes and divisions, it still remains thi fountain-heaiof the Western magical tradition.

-_ So much for our general survey of the magical field.

Now for our definitions.My.dictionary-grves me the popular definition of magic

-" The art of applying natural causes to prodricesirprising results." Such-a definition covers too muchground. It could be applied by a savage to the radio, thetelephone or the aeroplane, though such an one wouldprobably conclude that supernatural, not natural causeswere at work! A modern magician who has qritten

MACIC

extensively upon the subject has defined magic as " theart of causing changes at will." Again, this is too wide adefinition-it would include the operations of all workers,both manual and mental, who certainly produce changesat will.

In the present writer's opinion, the best definition ofmagic is that given by anotber modern magician who hasdefined it as " the art of causing changes in consciousnessat will." This agrees with both the theory and practiceof magic and we may profitably employ it here, with dueacknowledgements to its originator, " Dion, Fortune," whowas amongst other thingrs, the Warden of a well-organisedmagical fraternity.

Having arrived at a suitable definition, we arc confr,ontedwith another difrculty. What do we mean by " cha''geein consciousness? " lt will be necessary, thm, for us toconsider (a) what is consciousness, and (b) what is meadby changes in it. [n the-next chapter we will consider themodern psychologrcal view of human penonality. It mustbe remembered, however, that psychology is not yctsufrciently developed, as a scienco, to be hailed as a unificdbody of knowledge.

There are several schools of psychology, differing in theirexplanations of the obsen'ed facts. The followers of Freudplace the greatest emphasis upon one aspect of life, thcfollowers of Jung upon another, the pupils of Adler uponyet another. It will be seen that the bias of the presentwriter is in the direction of the Jungian school.

As a matter of fact, the nnitings of C. G. Jung are somuch in line with the magical tradition that it i.

"aryfor us to understand the feeling of some of his morrmaterialistic colleagues that he has " fallen away intomysticism." The results of this falFnt away seem to besatisfactory from the psycho-therapieutic point of view,anyway, and it is the considercd opinion of the presentrvriter that in JunS we bave the Darwin of the NewPsychology. One is awar€ that this is not an originalopinion-others have said the same-but it beanrepeating !

CHAPTER II

Huuex Prnsoxerrry

HE problem of human perso4ality is one that hasremained unsolved for many centuries in the Western

world. Eastern.thought has evolved a classification ofhuman personality which throws much light upon man,smental processes, but in the West dogmatic theology hasup to recent times, limited any similar development ofOccidental thought on the subject.

. Within recent years, however, many factors over whichdogmatic religion has no control havl conspired togetherto put forward a truer view of the real nature oJ thepersonality than that hitherto held. The old academicpsy-chology dealt purely with the waking consciousness,and its method of research was mainly Uy ttre consciousinturning of the mind upon itself. Bu[ miny facts beganto emerge which pointed to the possibility that the mlndof man was qreater than was iealised.- The observedphenomena of mesmerism and hypnotiqm, telepathy andthe psychic marvels of the spiritualists, all beg"an to strowthe necessity for a new psychology, based thislime upon amuch broader foundation than its academic predecessor.

_ l'. Wr. H. Myers in his epoch-making book HumanPerson_ality, roughed out the general thJry of what hetermed the " subliminal mind.', The general idea (whichstill remains valid) was that the conscious mind was thatpart of the mind which was above a certain level ofconsciousness which was known as ihe Emen or threshold.This supra-liminal or above-threshold consciousness is not,however, the only level of consciousness. Below thethreshold there exst other layers oI consciousness, andthese are termed the subliminal levels, or, generally, the"subconscious."

So the mind of man, according to this hypothesis is dual,having a conscious or waking level, and I subconscious,which remains below the threshold. Myers showed that

r8 MAGIC

all the various phenomena he was considering could beexplained on the assumption that under certain conditiqnsand through certain channels, the suiionscious couldthrust itself up and emerge into the waking life. Heshow'ed, too, that this subconscious level of the mind wasmuch greater in its extent and potentialities than theconscious levels of the personality.

The simile which _ is usually employed is that of tho

icebery, the greater part of which is hidden in the ocean.Such'a simileris an excellent one, since the behaviour ofsuch.a berg closely parallels the behaviour of the mind. Itoften happens, for instance, -that although the wind may beblowing from one point of the compass, the berg will movenrajestically against it, since its great submerged bulk isactuated by ocean ciirrents far belou' the surface. So itis wrth the mind of man.

Upon inis new concept a new psychology began to bebuilt, and two tnen stand out as pioneers in the field. Thefimf name is that of Sigmund Frcud, and the second is thatof his pupil, C. G. Jung. Freudian psychology is familiarto the general public because of its insistance upon thesexual element in psychological disease. With this extremeview, Jung disagreed, and gradually formed what is knownas the " Zurich School." From the magical point of view,there can be no doubt that Jung's teachings are closer tothefacts than those of Freud, and it is certain aspects of hissystem, therefore. which I will now briefly outline.

It is undenstood that behind the manifest life of bothanimals and humanity there is.a driving force or energywhich has been given many names. By the psychologistsit is referred to as the Ebiilo or sometimes the lil. Thisbasic urgd manifests itself in what are termed the-funda-mental instincts, and in the usual glasification these areheld to be three in number, name$. the Self-Preservation.Tnstinct or Will-to-Live; the Sex Instinct, or Will-to-Create;the Herd Instinct or Socral Urge.

To these three, Jung adds a fourth instinct which he

claims as the prerogative of man alone, the ReligiousInstinct. This instinct is a counterpole to the three

biological drives of the primitive instincts and is therefore

HUMAN PERSONALITY

an essential part of the constitution of man. Whateversystem of psychology is built up, if it lack this essentialpoint, will fail to cover fully the field of human personalig.

Now in the early evolution of man, the lhree greatinstincts predominated though even then the religiousinstinct was definitely at work. As mankind began toadvance, the gradually developing conscious mind began tocut down the intensity of some of the instinctive drives,and to divert their energies into new channels. But thiswas done in an unregulated and ignorant way, so thatconsiderable friction occurred within man's mind.

With the appearance of Chnstianity, and the fiercereaction it evoked towards the degenerary of the old faiths,this repression of the natural instincts became intensifiedand gradually became accepted as part of the ChristianFaith itself until, in the Victorian perid, it reactred itsculminating point. lhe conscious mind, it was afrrmed,conforming to a certain eihical code, was the highestachievement of human evcrlution.

But this has resulted in the gradual increasc of whstis, in the main. a disease of thc Western world," psycho-neurosis." There are, of course, neruotics in allraces, but by far the greater number are to be found in theWestern civilizations. Thc powerful instincts being thrownback upon themselves become rrvisted and pewerted andthe energy they should bring to the workin6p of theconscious mind, were they prop€rly directed, or" sublimated," is lost in internal mental friction, glvingrise to that sense of frustration so comrnon ir, the West.

This represson of the dynamic pow€r of the individualhas resulted in the establistrment of a hard line of cleavagebetween tbe subconscious and the conscious levels of themind. But it is obvious that only by bringhg through intothe conscious mind the dynamic power tnppd below thcthttshold can the activities of man rerch their true level. Itis such a release of the subcpnscious which is aimed at.inmodem psycho-therapy, and this also is wbat is attemptdin modcrn magic.

This docs not mean that the primitivc instincts have tobe givan full play in their crudest forms, but rather that

/tMAGIC

the driving eneryy of sucb instincts is, canalised andredirocted into other channels. There must be, however, anatural similarity between the energy being redirected or"sublimated" and'the new channel of expression whichis ofrered it.

' Aninstance of this is the advice givin so often

to adolescents troubled with excessive sexual urgcs. Theyused to be told " Go in for sports, gymnastics, etc., andwork it off." Sometim;s the remedy succeeded-moreoften it failed-having apparently increased the urge ratherthan decreased it. This was because a channel for the6rst biological drive had been used for a force'belongingto the second drive.

Sports are a splendid *iay of subliminating the Self.Prescrvation fnstinct, and such group assocrations alsoform a good channel for the Herd-lniUnct, but they areunsuitable foi the Sex In'stinct, which is essenUattyindividual and creative. Nowadays the general advic€ tosuch $rfferers is to engage in the creative arts and crafts,tc create, to make, even though it is only i rustic scat intheir own garden. Such creativg work affords an excellentchannel of zublimination.

It must not be thought that the entire-energy of suchinstincts can be-+r indeed should be--sublimated butthese basic energies strou$ be available fgr the continueddevelopment of the spirit of man. It is heie that the fourthinstinct posited by J,rng comes in, for it is the counterpokdrawing the developing man uP to greater'heights and wcmight with advantage equate this fourttr drive with whatthJ occultists call the Superconscious or l$gher Se.lf, andthe magician calls the Holy Guardian Angel.

Modern psycho-analytical research has pointed to thebxidtene in tbe Unconsciots or Subconscious of cdrtainlevels or laycrs of development, pnd the deeper of theselevels link the individual not only' with the minds of hisimmediate heighbours, but successively with the mentalprocesses of dl mankind down toa ccrtain level, and belowthat again with the coasciousness of the animal andvegetable kingdoms. It'would seem that jus! as o9rph)'sical bodies har.within their very structure thc nrarks

HUMAN PERSONALITY

of their evolutionary development from the lower kingdomsof Nature, so our rninds strow a similar line of ascent.

There is what is termed the " personal subconscious "consisting of ideas, emotions and memories, some of whichhave been thrust down below the thrcstrold because wcrefused to acknowledge even to ourselves, that we werecapable of such thoughts. Such groups of thought chargedwith emotional energy are known as " complexes " or"constellations," and where they have been refusedacknowledgement they tend to break away from thegeneral unity of the mind and become semi-independent.They are then said to be "dissociated," and it is thescdissociated complexes which result in the locking up of tbepsychic energ), of the self. 'fhe repressed complexes andthe dissociated complexes, together with all the host offorgotten experience, memories and emotions make up this'' personal subconscions."

Deeper than this level we come to those emotions anclthoughts, those primordial images which we share'with allhumanity, not only present humanity but past humanityas well. This " collective unconscious " is as it were, theconditioning background of our subconscious mind and theimages and memories buried in its depths exercise aninfluence upon our lives which, though unknown to thewaking self, is exceedingly potent.

It is known that the Unconscious, whether personal orcollective works by means of pictures or images, speechbeing a comparatively recent development. Therefort,says Jung:

Who rpaLs in primordirl imagos tpcakr ar witb ethousaod to[gues; he grips and ovc4rowers, ead rt ttcrarne tirne he elevatcs thet which be trcatr out of tbciodividrrtraod persooal traository into tbc rpbco of thcetcrnal, ho exalts tte pcrso'el lot to tbc lot.of lfeo eadthercwith hc rrlcascc io us too, all thorc bclpdul forccr*'bich harc cver enablcd bumanity to EscuG it!6E horuwhatcver distress aod to livc through thc longert oight.

Magc. with its roots in the immemorial past, does justthis, it speaks to the su\onscious mind of man throughthe arcturic images of its symbols and rituals, and therebyproduces those "changes in consciousness" which the

.rl

magician seeks. So alsq it is recorded of the l,ord Jgqsthat :'without a parable spake He not unto tbem." .(Markiv, 34). It was as a Master-Psychologist that He hddedtrro-positive affirmations which summed up the Mosaic"'

A" rn", sum up all that has been said in this chapterby sayrng tlqt the best modern peycfological schoo!estabtistres the-ixistence of four lwe{s of the mind, namely

MACIC

'fhe Conscious Waking Mind.The Pprsonal Subconsciousness.The Collective Subeonsciousness.The Superconsciousness.

(a)(b)(c)(o

.All these are aspects of the one mind, but of thislotality

we are normally-only aware o{ one':the waking nlind'Nevertheless all-the rest consta.ntly affect us so that oftenwe find that the hidden and mysterious ctrrrents of the

deeper Self impel us along ways we have not conscioudychocpn.

To be able consciously to become aware of the set ol the

hidden cunents, and turn them to the task of directingour life into the ways of wisdom and the paths of peace ls

the fervent desire of the magician, who, looking into tbe

depths of his being and seeing therein the spark-of eternal

nglt which is his own true centre, exclairns in tbe name

aid power of that spark' " f -have Omnipotence at my

cornriana and Eternity at my disposal."

CHAPTER III

Tru Mecrcer Tnssrs

f EAVING aside all. the multitudinous details whicbL/ surround the,subject, we will devote this ctrapter toa consideration of the magical theory of man and theuniverse. The magical tradition afrrms that the universei.s one, and that no part of that universe is dr as.rc soparatefrom any other part. As the poet writes, " All are bui partsof one stupendous Whole." All tbat exists in the univlrse,therefore, is the expression of an underlying unity whichsubsists through all things. This may be condemned asmere " pantheism " but it is not so in reali$r, for behindthe subsisting unity which expr€ss€s ihelf in the existinguniverse there is That.ot which the Universal Soul, theCollective Host of Life and Form is but an expression.'' Having created the Universe with a Fragment of Myself,I remain," says Deity in the Hindu Scripture, theBhagavad Gita. A God immanent yet also hanscendent isthe God of the rnagician.

The transcendental One, according to the magicalteaching is reflected in the Waters of Chlos and Old ttigtrt,and that reflection of the Supreme, known as the AdamKadmon brings order out of chaos. As one magical rituddescribes it: " In the Beginning was Chaoa and Darknessand the Gates of the Land of Night. And Chaos crieddoud for Unilv. Then the Eternal arose. Before theBrightness of that Countenance, the Darkness rolled back,and the Shadows fled away." Now this indwellingrtflection, the Adam Kadmon or Great Man of the Kabalahis thc Logos " By Wbom all things were mide," theBrightness of His glory and the exprcss Image of Hirpenon. Tbercforc, nothing in this universe exists cxceptas an integral part of the lagos. All ftings subaist io thatunderlying unity, even as the Groek poet quoted by St.Paul afrrms-" for we dso ar€ His ofispring."

The soul of man is part of the grcater universe aod in

II

, -*dilffih$t.

MAGIC

himself is a replica of it. So it is said in Magic that manis the Microcosm in the Macrocosm, the little universe inthe greater universe. To the magician there is no suchthing as " dead " matter in the Victorian sense. Indeed,he holdstre view that it is only because it already-snbsrslsas part of the ctemal life, that anything material c"an eristin time and space. That which we see " down here " asan inert block of metal is to the magician simply thematerial app€arance of innumerable whirling centres ofpower, reaching back through the planes of the invisibleworlds to the living heart of all. " The Spirit of the Lordfilleth the ,Earth," and to the true magician nothing iscouunon or unclean, for all subserve the purpose and are

the expressions of the life of the eternal. This is declaredin the-ritual by the initiated adept who cries.:- " There h

,"no part of:mb that is not a'part of the Gods." I

"The Gods." Does the magician believe in many.gods? Yes, but his views on their nature are not quitewhat may be expected from him. He finds in tbe universe.

visible and invisible, a mighty field in wbich innumerableforccs play, each. force being an aspect.of the Supreme.And fut. these dancing and scintillrat energies he sees unitsof the One Life, Sons of God evolved in previous univenes,who as perfect channels of the supreme Po\iler act as livinglenses through whom that power-is brought dorm intomanifestation. They are the " D5ran Chohans " of Eastern

Scriptures, the " Ministers, Flirmes of Fire " of the Bible,and that Ray of Their essential being which flows from tbeunity and is refocussed in time and sPace is the'' su-bstance '' in the theological sense which .is the ' ' l€al "universe and which manifests the secondary qualities tbatwe call matter-the " accidents " of tbeology.

Thirs, in the magical philosophy, 'there is no'dichotoinibetween spirit and matter; there,is no such thing as" dead " matter fcr sa. All haterial existence, allmanifestation is but the expression of the dl-perrading "

Ufe-indeed , it is tttrt I$e in one of its innumerable modesof being. Beliwing thus 'in the lifestnrctrue of theuniverse, the magician holds that jtrst as the power of therurity is manifest through thoee His ministers, so in the

& rirs rllctcA:L THEsIs' 2s

deecending or densifying modes of Hh self-exprtssion,innumerable hosts of lesser intelligences carqr out Hisplan-" Angels and Arclrangels, Thron€s, Dominations,hincedoms, Virtues, -Powers; Cherubim and Serapbim,A*rinr and all the Ageless llosts of Heaven "--each iRhis degree.

The magician, seeing how the Supreme has " constitutedtbe senrices of angils and men in a wondrous order " sceshimself not as a stranger in the universe, not evGD as asepa,nate being apart from it, but as pert of that livingdiversity in unity, and says with the Greek initiate of old,i'I an-a Child of Earth, but my Race is from the StarryHeavens.", Turning from the vision of thc Heavenly Places, he see.s

himself in Malkuth, the Kingdom of. Earth, and realises&at this imperfect, frustrated existence in the Ph]tslcslbody, is imperfect and frustrated becausc, although he mlyknow by the intellect of the realities behind tbeappearances, he has not yet been able to raalisc tbis truthin ttre physical world. r'Knotf, ye not that ye'are gdds,"cays the Christian Scripturc,. and a modern goet has strng,

' " Know this, O man, eolc root of fault in th€c, is not toknow thine own divinity."

Over the Temple of the Oracle ln ancient days was carvedthis inscriptio&;othi Se Aulo*-r'Know Th1rsclf.:'It is the realisation of the tnre nature of the Self whictt isthe aim of the true magician. Following this principle andgazing within himself. the rnagiciaa b€hbl& a fallen worH.He sees that theprimd plan upon whic,h man is formed isthere, shining through the whole universe as the SupremeHarmony and Beaut-v, and in this light he sees tbc idealin which his penonal self is rooted and by which it iseustained. ' '

Then, looling outvands, he sors in his o*n naturc andin the naturts"of those arouad him the widcnce of e Fdlfrom the Potential Perfection. But ia the mftlst 6f thleFaIl he sees the evidence of a Returtr, and'througb thesnfferings of myriad lives he realises tbat thc Wey of .

Salvation is the Way of Sacrifrce.So he fonnulatcs the' old llcrmetic axion Sohn 4'

. i",.:j' I':fl:,i;l..; rr .

,li*,uwpin I

25 MAGIC

cosgub, which may be rendered as " Dissolve andre-form," and so he uses the rites of the High Magic toe,ffect both that dissolution and that reformation.

But what is dissolved, and what is reformed? Not thatEternal Spark which 'f lighteth every man "-rather it isthe personal self which he has for so long regardcd as hisonly rp"1 self, this personality which he has so tenaciouslyclung to and defended, has pampered and indulgd-it isthis persom this mask of the real man which must bedissolved and reformed. But how shall that which is itsclIimperfect produce perfection? " Naturc unaided, fails,"saia tne old alchemists, and in the Scriptures we read

" Except the Lord build the House, the workman workethin vain." So the magicinn in all humi[ty seeks theKnowledge and Conversation of his Holy Guafdian Angd

-that Tnre Self of whicb his earthly personality is but the

mask.This is the supreme aim of the rnagician. All else, spella

and charms, rituals and circles, swords, urands aqd fumig8-tions, all are but the means by whic,h he may accomplishthat end. Then, being united with that True SelfJfonly for a brief time-he is instnrcted by that Inner Rulcrin

-that Higher Magrc which wilt one day bring up lis

manhood into nis GoaUooa and will achierre that whichthe Tnre Mysteries have ever declar€d to be the tnre end

of man-Deificatiou.

t.t

CHAPTE"R IV

Trui Apparurus or Mrcrc

is only natural, perhaps, that the apparatus of the

l, T1Sr"l art strould have caugbt the irnagination ofbeholders, and it.is in this word "irnaginetion,, tbat thckcy t9 tb9 nsa 9f th" various " props " cmployed by thcnagicia! is .to be found. .In this busiacss oi .. causingchanges in consciousness at will," tbc rlght use of thiiniegination is of the first importance. Let us thco considerthis faculty of imagination

It may bc de6Dd as the power of the mind to formmenbl images. pysrn.rhis definition it wi[ be sccn thattbp strictures passed upo! its use bV the ro+alled" practical man of the world " are wide

-ot Oe mark, for

anybing which is to be carried out into practical effect;rsl dart as aa imaginative picture. WbaCOc .. practicatnan " meant, of course, was that any ima8inative effonwbich did pot immediately restrlt in rnatcrid gain wrs araste of time and offort. But hene again, such an ideab hr frrom the truth, for, many imaginations whicb havenever brought gain directly, bnve nevqtheless opeood upchansels whceby such advantages might aocrue and haveabo rrsulted in lasting social and political achiwemcnts.

It is evident, therefore, that the "practbal mtn " iB nottbe best authority. What does the psychologist have to!ay? He deals with tbe mind in his daily wort and mrybe able to grve us a tnrer picture.

I.et us reveri for a moment to our considcretion ol thchuman personality. We dividcd it into throe level-thconscious subcoprscious and srperconscious l€vcb, 8ndluggested that tbe'latter two were of grcater importaoccthan the ordinary oonsclous mind. 'But nevertheless, theonscious mind is that part of the mind with whictr we areworking and evolving upon rhis plrnet, and for this.reasonit must be thc directing authority in any attempt at mentalend magical work. Allowing it this authority we must dsodefine the limits of its authority. It can and should ditwt,

. , .'.,.'',',*I*fd#

28 MAGIC

but the actual u,olk rnust bc done at the subcorscious leuel.The subconscious rnind is older, in terms of evolutionary

development than the conscious mind, and it retains onetrait of its immemorial past m the fact that, as we havesaid before, it works by images, not words. Each of thefive physical senses reporting to the brain sends in a seriesof images visual, tactile, audible, olfactory or gustatory,and these images are linked up in the subconscious mindwith their appropriate emotions. If, therefore, oneconsciously introduces carefully selected images into thesubconscious mind one can evoke the cor:espondingemotion.

Since the emotions are the subjective aspects of thedriving energy which wells up from the deeper levels ofthe mind, it is evident that by the right use of suchconscious evocation the " potential," or pressure of life inthe personaligr, can be grcatly enhanced. We see this ina perverted form in the abnormal strength shown by srmelunatics during their insane periods, or again, in a higherand more admirable form in the way in which we riseto the occasion of a sudden peril and perform feats whichwould be impossible to us under ordinary conditions. Thephenomena of hypnosis introduce us to the same thingunder conditions which allorv us to study it at will. Inhypnosis we find that, once the barrier or " threshold "has been pierced, and the subconscious levels allowed toemerge above it, any images introduced at this time willhave a direct effect upon the dynamism of the personality.

In many systems of mystical and occult thoughtappropriated from Eastern sources, great stress is laid uponthe importance of meditation, and the Eastern Yogasystems are advocated as training methods. Whatevermay be the advantages of Yoga, the disadvantage of theapplication of. Eastent Yoga to Wcsbn; Qgdies is foundin practice to be considenrble, and for tlat reason, if tbeWestern magician uses the Yoga technique, he employs amodified system which has been adapted to Western use.

In the purely mental methods of meditation there is aninsistance upon the control and inhibition of the bodilysensee--one is told that it is necessary to be able to shut

TH_E APPARSf US'OF MA6rC '29

out unwanted thoughts, to keep the mind unwaveringlyfixed upon one thought only, and to refuse to allow any

lnse impressions. to distract one from the chosen objectof thought.

ln ther magical, system, however,' the images pouringinto the mind from the various senses are used as" suggestions " to the conscious mind, which, because ofthe particularly sen3itive condition that has been inducedin it by the ritual itself, continues to follow the line upbnwhich it is concentrating. It is a form of psychic ju-jiku,in which the very power of the sense-impressions is used torender the conscious mind immune to their distractions.

Before, however, Such images can produce such aneffect, two things must be done. Ttre mind must frrst be" conditioned " to the image. Consciously and persistentlythe image'must be.held in the mind and the appropriateemotion associated with it, until, the image being held inthe mind, the emotion automatically wells up from thesubconscious level- Secondty, eiiher by the actualperformance of the ritual, . or by some form. of auto-hypnosis, ttre threshold of consciousness must be hwered,so that the 3ubconscious levets em€rt€ into consciouspessand become available to the suggestive porer of the choeenthought.

So with all magical ,'plops"-1he sword, the wand, the;rentacle, thd ,cup, the circles, hiangles and sigils, thclights, the robes, the incense, the -sonorous

riords ofinvocation and the " barbarous names " of evocation-allwgrk by a ,cumulia,tive suggestive process upon .thesubconscious mind. Such a cumulative suggestion rcsultsin what may be termed a mental ctrange of gear, andtherefore conforms to our earlier definition of magic as the" Art of causing dranges in consciousress at will.t'

The levels of consciousnqss reached will depend upon tbcsirmbols, etc., us€d, and also on the amouni of cohciousassociation of ideas which the stud€nt has put into it.ltagic, far from being an irrational superstiti6n is bascd,as will be obscrved, upon profound psychological lawland possesses its own ipoi"t techniqire. Wi6 Easternmagic4l systems we are not here concerned,.since this_book

.,,ruir*rgi#

30 MAGIC

is written for Western people, and is based upon thetheory and practice of the Western Schools.

The " Western Tradition," to give it its technical name,is a composite thing, embracing thc magical techniques ofall thc countries of the Mediterranean Basin on the onehand, and the indigenotrs system of the Norse and Kelticpeoples. The average man, if he takes the trouble todiscusc magic, usually has a preconceived idea based upoothe fmgments of magical practice of the Middle Ages inEurope. Such fragments from the magical " Grimoires "give a very imperfect picture of what the Western Magicis, but they are usually used by our critics as proof of thefoolistrness and superstition of the practitioners of Magic.However, the same line of argument could be followedby. any critic of, say, the Roman Church, aird, in fact,the very contemptuous term " Hocus Pocus " which isg€nerally directed against magical practices is theProtestant distortion of the most solemn part of theChristian Eucharist-Iloc Est Enim Corpus Mesm-" Tbisip My Body." It was because of certain abuses andsuperstitions that this word of approbrium was directedatike against Romas'Catholic priest and magical adept.

It is, however, a truer and more equable criterion if weconsider the best, and not the worst, in any humaninstitution. Quite apart from any claim which might bemade by the Catholic Churctr to be a supernaturallyorganised body, or by the ma$cal adepts that thefpossessa wMom which has been handed down "from timeimmemorial," it is evident that their respective organisa-tions are composed of fallible human beinp, whosehilingp and imperfections must inevitably afrect thepresentation of their beliefs and doctrines.

The Western Tradition afrrms of itself that it is the beirto a body of teaching and practice y{ch has been handeddown from ttmote antiquit5r, Srd , that the centralphilosophy arourd which it is organised is the bodl ofHebrew mystical teaching known as the Qabalah. Thisford in itself conveys the idea of sccrecy, since it signifiesthe oral tnnsmission of knowledge " ftom moutb to car,"and indeed, this oral tradition long antedated the publi<

THE APPARATUS OF MAGIC

compilation" and appearance of such works as the ScpherYetzirah, one of the standard Qabalistic worlts.

In all the'ancient systems of mystical and, magicaltraining we find that together with certain philosophicalteaching;s there is to be found a symbol or group ofsymbols, which has a specialised significance for thefollowers of that systenr. Such symbols are known in theEast as " I{andalai," and some are exceedingly intricate.

In the Western Tradition, the glyph or composite symbolwhich is the basis of all its mystidlieaching ii the diagramknown as thi Tree of Life and this glyph is described as" The rnighty all-embracing Glyph of ttre Universe andthe Soul of Man " It ls upon the Tree of Ljfe that thewhole of the elaborate detail of ceremonial magic in theWest is baseci. [f, dor example, the magician is attemptingan openrtion of Jupiter. he will use suctr properties as ane

associated with Jupiter on the Tree. He will, for instance,wear a light-blue robe, burn cedar in his censer, have four

.

lighted candles, and use the Hebrew name of the Sphereof 'Jupiter-.

It will be noticed that the magician is using the pnncipteof " association of ideas " but it is necess:rry to point outthat such association of ideas depends in the first plirce upona mental link between the various details and the centralidea. Now this link may be made voluntarily orinvoluntarily. [n the first case it is made by consciouslyand deliberately associating the ideas; in the sooohd, theassociation is immediate and subconscious. Tyrtrt a knoti$ one's handkerchief as a -reminder that one has to buysome particular thing, is an example of the first class,whilst the association between, s.ry, sausages and airshipsis a natural example of the second class. Such involuntaryassociations often ap'pear to be far more powerfirl than thedeliberately willed orres, for tlt'ey represent the direc{workinp of the subconscious mind.

tsut the willed-association links can be just as powerfnlif they are correctly built up, and it is this deliberatetraining of the pictorial imagination which is the basis ofthe practicd of the magician. By this deliberate trainingit becomes possible for hrm to link. certain pictorial or

.,r,*o^**$di{il$

y MAGIC

sensory images with their corresponding emotions, andtbe consciously directed association causes the appropriateemotional response to appear whenever tbe sensory images.are received. AU this, however, is still on the surfaceof consciousness.

If we wistr our association-train to work with the powerol magical evocation, then we must use some device toimprint it upon the deeper levels of the subconscious, whereit will be able to produce definite results. For thispurpose some auto-hypnotic device may be employed,such as, for instance, the use of a ros.ry or even themeditative repetition of the ritual itself' fite rosary, o[cours€, is usually asso,ciated rvith theT Roman CatholicChuch, but both Mohammedans and Buddhists use therosary as a device for concentration. Another technicalauto-Llpnotic device is the use of what are knoum as the" Flashing Colours."

But before evocation of the subconscious can be safelyperformed, it is necessary tbat some work should have beenput in on the foundation of character, and this work willUe riiscussea in our nert chapter.

CHAPTER V

Tsr Krxcs or Eoou

fIH.{RACTER training,.to the magician, is something\-r very different from that which the ordinary manconsiders it to be, for the magical character-traininginvolves the willed and purposive re-education of both theconscious and subconscious minds. Ordinary methods ofcharacter building usually concentrate almost entirely uponthe conscious mind, the subconscious levels being affectedonly slightly, if at all. It must not be thought, however,that the magician is biassed in the opposite direction. Hecultivates conscious and suirconscious levels alike, butsince he realises that the subconscious is the greater part ofthe mind, hc naturally tends to give it the gteater part ofhis attention;

When, following the occult maxim, the magician turnshis mental gaze inwards upon his own personality, he 6nds,as we said before, that this personality is imperfect andto a large extent inchoate, and he realizes that before atnre superstructure can be built it wi[ be nec€ssary to pulldopn much of the present edifice. The question then ariseshow much can safely be demolished, and what shall be thetest as to which part shall be broken down, and which partretained?

This involves the consideration of what constitutes evil,since it is evident that it is the evil aspects of the personditywhich have to be broken down. But how shall we be ableto define evil? Many thingp which are regarded by somepeople as " evil " are not so regarded by others! Is thereany basic test by which we may judge? The answer isthat there is such a test, which is set forth in the Qabalisticslntems in the story of Abram and the Kings of &lom.The legend is to be found in Genesis, Chapter XIV, and forthe purpose of this book we may briefly summarise it here.Those who prefer to do so, may then read the fulleraccount.

,,"..,.-,."*.*;lfd

a MAGrC ,-

tsriefly, Abram was leagu€d with certain kings in their'iight against four other.tribal rulers, and on learning thathis nephew. had been captured by the enemy, Abram fittedout a punitive expedition of his own and defeated the-opposing forces, releasing his nephew in the Process.Those against whom he fought are termed the .'Kings ofEdom," and in the Qabalistic books are referred to as" those who reigned before there was a King in Israel."

On his return from the slaughter of the Kings, Abramwas met by that mysterious being lllelchizedek, King ofSalem, Priest of the Most High God, who administered tohim the mystic Eucharist of Bread and Wine and blessedhim. In the Epistle to the Hebrewb, this Melchizedek isdescribed as " without father or mother, having neitberbeginning of daysnor ending of life, he abideth a Priestforever." In all probability the story can be taken at itsface value. The nomadic chieftain Abram in alliance withothers, defeats the common enemy, and is blessed by thelocal priest.

Thd Qablists, however, regarded the books of the OldTestament in a somewhat difierent way. The Torah, theDivine " Nemos," as it was writte.n, was the Body of thcLaw, but just as the body is inert and'useless unless it isensouled, so tbe written Law was useless without itsinforming spirit-the Qabelah. So in this story of Abramand the Kingp of Edom, each character r@resenB somepart of the human personality, and the action of +$e storyshonr the interplay of those parts of the mind.

Before considering the esoteric and magical applicationof the story let us consider the problem of evil in itself,What is " evil " ? The maEicd doctrine is tbet there areseveral kinds of evil, some of whictr, to use a lnradox, arenot evil ! The 6rst type of evil is the innate resistance otform to fbrce. Organised form imposes restrictions uponfree-moving force, but this very restriction and oppositionenables thsforce to be controUe{tnd directed. In physicallife we obsenre that the friction'between the foot and theground enables tb to move forr+ard,:in 'a frictionless worklwalking would be impcsible and force ineffective-andthis principle of restriction works in other 6elds. By the

THE KINGS OF EDOM 3'

restriction of boiler and cylinder and piston, steam isharnessed and made to do useful work, So this evil of" inertia " is in reality no true evil, but part of themachinery of this evolving universe.

There is, however, a form of inertia which goes beyondthis normal and beneficial one, and this form may truly becalled evil. It is the inertia of {ormlessness and chao--the" Abortion of Space,"' the Cosmic Quicksands. Here thereis no definite resistance-no springboard from which lifeean climb to greater heights. But just as the strifting sandsof the quicksands though providing no " take-oft " yet willcling to, and impede and finally draw down into theirdepths rvhatever trusts to them, so is it with the cosmicchaos. Evolving life, finding no resistance, no fulcrum forits lever, may be absorbed and rendered impotent in this" Chaos and Darkness and the Gates of the l-and ofNight."

A third fornt of " evil " is that which is termed"unbalanced force." Here a perfectly good and useftrlforce or enerry is displaced in space or time and theresulting out-of-balance is delinitely evil. Let us considerone or two exampl0s of such unbalanced force.

The coal in the grate is sening a useful and beneficialpurpose, giving warmth to the room. Should it fall outupon the carpet, however, it imnrediately becomes evil.It sets the room alight, damages property, possibly causesloss of life. The water in the bath is good, but the same waterescaping from rhe bath and cascading down the stairway,is evil. These two instances may serve as illustrations ofdisplacement in space. There is also displacement in time.This may be of two kinds, reversion to the past, oranticipation of the future.

Reversion to the moral and ethical standards of a lowerand primitive level of human culture is, to the moderncivilized man " evrl," since it is a deinite regression inevolution. But it is equally evil if, with the limitationsand mental outlook nf the present day, a person reachesout too far into the future, and attempts to materialise inthe conditions of the twentieth centur5l, the state ofcivilization which will possibly be the norm of the peoples

.,",-.r"M

35 : - MAGIC

of, say, ten thousand years hence. To"use an expnxsiveremirk the present writer heard the other day, " the lionmaj; lie down $ith the lamb, ultimately-but he will neerl

his digestive arrangements radically altered ! "This over-anticipation of the f uture is the fallacy

underlying the pacilist attitude. Siuce the pacifist attitudeis only fractiiable in a well-policed community, it is

clearly untenabh as a working-policy at the-present time'Thosi who may feel that this rs a cynical co4demnation of-

what has been taught by the great religious teachers we

would refer to the Catholic "Counsels of Perfection."AlwayS the ideal of the future rnust be pointed'to, lutdthough thet, vision will be the inspiring force tendingtowards lts o*n realization, the prernature establishmentof sucb conditions is evil.

These types of evil may be termed positive evil, butthere is alio what may be called Positive positive evil:Here rve come to a point which in these moderq days isoften overlooked-the existence of orgariscd evil. trt seems

as though the materialistic " hang-over " from the lastcentury has raised some unconscious inhibitioo in theminds of.rnodern rnen, so that it is extremely diftcult forthem to realise that organised evil can and does exist, bothon the ph"slcal and superpbysical levels.

The calculated beastliness revealed druing the war shouldhave opened the eyes of tome of our idealists to tbepossibility of organised evil. We say "should bave,"adviscdly, since some friends ofpuridealisb to thc core-told us recently that aJl tbe stories of atnocities wereabsolutely without foundation, dl were merely propogeada,since " no one could be so erril a-e tb do such thingst " Itwas suggested that they strould attend the courb and listento a little of the erridence given there in some of the moresordid cases wbich come up for trial in this country. Thesuggestion was declined-ryith a display of emotion whicb,suggerted that the Old Adam was not entirely extinct io-

even their pacifist breastsl 7- \All the old religions have taught of organised spiritual

evil, and the Christian Faith hirs personified it as Satan.St. Paul spcaks of such orguised wil on the superphysical

THE KINGS OF EDOM 37

levels when he says " For we wrestle not against flestr andblood, but ag'ainst Principalities, ag"ainst Powers, againstthe Rulers of the Darknes of this present world, a6ainstthe Spirits of \ilickedness in the Exalted Places " (Epb. :

Chapter vt, verse ta).In the process of the evolution of the Universe energy of

various types has been mis-placed and has been addedto the mis-directed' thought of the whole of evolvioghumanity, throughout the ages. So the psychic atmosphereof this planet periodically becomes charged and over-clouded by the " evil " vibrations until at certain points intime, the evolving life is checkbd. It is then that great soulscome to earth to recall the minds of men to the waln ofwisdom and the paths of peace, and to " lift a little of theheavy burden of the sin and suffering of the world."

The most momentous and significant of theseevolutionary c-t'cles came some two thousand years ago,when the nadir of the descent of life into form was reached,and the whole of the manifesting life was in danger of beingtotally checked and thwarted. Then came He, the incarnatemanifestation of the Logos, the I-ord of Light, and throughHis identifrcation of Himself with the whole human nace,He gathered up into Himself all the evil conditions of theplanet, and by the Power that was His, He transmutedthem into higher conditions and influences--a WorldAlcherny !

So, too, by His life and death, He established a line ofdirect coutact between the Transcendent God and evolvinghumanity, along which there might flow into the world-soulthe rcgenerating divine forces, and thus " a neur and livingway " was made, whereby mankind might enter into theMost Holy Place.

In the parable of the Pmdigal Son, we find that not onlydid the Prodigal set out on his long and painful journeyhome, but that when he was yet a long way off, his Fathersaw hirn, and ran to meet him. So the transcendent Logoshastens to His evolving children as they tread the patbthat all humanity must tread, and so the Lord of Love, Whois also the Lord of the Balance, gives equilibrium to theunbalanced forces of the universe. So is it also in the heart

38 MA.GIC

of each individtral, and for this reason the magical student istold.in one ritual that he may receive the holy Bread ofUfe Everlasting and the Chalice of Eternal Salvation" wh€n you shall hav.e slain the Kings of Unbalanced Forcdin your own nature."

This acquisition of balance is of paramount importance.for anyone rvho desires to operate the Higher Magicwheneby his indwelling spirit may manifest itself throughthe veil of the earthly taberrlacle, and it is for this reason,too, that in the Eastern Tradition it is said that" Discrimination is the first virtue of the Path." For thepower of the indwelling light, pouring through into thelorer personality energises and activates all its levels, goodand bad; dissociated complexes explode, as it were, and thewhole psych_ic iind mental nature is thro'ryn into ferment.So, therefore, whosoever unworthily and with unbalancedpenonality drinks of .the Grail of the Holy Guardian Angel&inks to his. own cendemnation, as the mtghty forces hebai invokea tear through him, inflating his false egoicsense, intensifying his unbalanced passions and finallycornmencing the disintegration of the personality itself...For srch a one, his symbol is " The Blasted Tower," forthe house of his life is destroyed by the Fire of Heavenand he goes forth, "fleeing where none pursueth," a Son

of Perdition, a Wandering Star, for whom is rbserved theBlackness of Darkness for the Ages of the Ages.

That such a fate awaits cJl who essay the magical art,is, of course, untrue, and as a matter of observation, tttemagical rituals, properly usod can be of the greatestassistance in producing that state of inner equilibriumwhich is the basis of the Great Work. The neophyte iscautioned that above all thingis he must cultivate truehumility-not the humility of Uriah Heep-!u1 tlhshumility of Hinr who said " I am amongst you as One whoserves." In the first grade of certain Mysteries, theneophyte approaches the East in the ritual position ofhumility, head bowed and palms outwards turned, and heis instructed that only by self-less service of the Light canhe gairr power to go forward into the ffi'Holy Place.

CHAPTER VI

Invocerrox exp Evocerron

" f C4N call spirits from the vasty deep," exclairned oncI of Shakespeare's characters, to whiclr his friend

replied, " \[hv, so can I, and so can any man; but wiltthey come when they are called? " This is, of coune, thecrux of the matter. Ibe average man in the street has avery sceptical approach to the subject and wouldunhesitatingly answer the question with an emphatic" No! " and regard the attempts of the misguided magicianas vanity. Popular superstition has also envisaged thcmagician as one who conjured, or claimed to conjure theinhabitants of the invisible worlds.

Bearing in mind our definition of ltlagic as the art olcausing changes in consciousness at will, it becomes evidentthat we must lirst consider the whole guestion of invocationand evocation from the subjective viewpoint. In otherwords, assuming for a moment that it l's possible for themagician to " conjure to visible appearance " beings ofanother order of existence, we must attempt to show thatit is the personality of the magician himself which is thechannel through which such manifestation is brought about.' It is a cardinal principle in the lVestern esoterieschools,that the planes of nattrre are ttsactp, not continuous, i.e.,that each plane of existence has its own laws and its ownpeculiar method of working, and does not exett a directinffuence upon any other plane. Whatever influence isexerted is of indirect or " inductive " naturc. Tbephenomena of electrical induction furnishes a very dccparallel to this statement. If a coil of wire carrying analternating currrot or a varr/int curr€nt b brought close to,but not touching, a similar corl of wire, urhich is connectedto a galvanometer antl is not carrying any curr€ot, it will befound that as the current-carrying coil is brought near thcothcr, the meter will record tbat a current of electricityhas beeo generated in the latter.

, ' ,:,r,.li-',*ili

:

40 MAGIC

Furthermore it will be found, if a galvanometer hb placedin the current-carr;ring coil, that if the second coil has itsresistance to electricity altered, the free flow of the currentin the first or " primary " coil will be either checfced orincreased, strowing that both coils act upon each other. So

it is with the planes of existence. The higher is negativeor reccftivc to that which is higher than itself, and positiveor ilyramic towards that which is lower. But equally, thelower rwts upon the higher, and this is tbe justificationfor the Biblical statement that -the Kingdom of Heaven" suffereth vioience, and is taken by. storm.','

Now it his bCen fourid by exirerience that thb levels cancome into direct contact with each other thmugh the lensof an orgaqrised consciousness of some kind or other. The

lest point of contact that can be found is a trained andbalanctd human consciousness. The human mind containswithin itself the vibration-ibtes of all the planes, and bytapping it at certain poinls a link-up may !p rnade withthl existence of that level-. It i's a Process of " tuning-in "suc$ as is used in wireless, and once again the electricalanalory is very close.' When we tune in to ouf favouriteradio programme, whatever it"may be, lve do not hear theactual- voice of the singer, or the actual sound of theinstrument. lVhat we hear is a rcfioilrctiol, a projectedreproduction of the actual voice or sound.

So it.is in evocation and invocation. -We make contactthrough oru own energised consciousness with the

conscioulness of the beings we seek to evoLe and the" visible appearance " we -onjure up is a proicctio; fromour own mind. (So, for the matter of that, is the visibleimage we form when we use our pbpical eyesl The lightvibrations strike the retina, set up nervous impulses in theoptic centre and we project a mentd image answering to

"ff #fiR, however, this reaction is caused by anobjcctive reality of sonte. kind, whether physical orsuperphpical, and here we cdtne to what may be termedlhe t'objective " viervpoint. The maglcal traditiondeclares that all these existences exislfg sc and have theirown place in Nature. But-and Qris is ltnportant-the

.INVOCATION AND EVOCATION 4r

appdarances which are seen are conditioned by thesubjective mental machinery of the magician himself.Through this machinery also, the actual power ahd energ5lof the invisibles is bnought through into the wakingcousciousness. (Not that the identical power of theinvisibles is brought through, but rather the efiect of thecontact of the consciousness of the magician with that ofthe being invoked or evoked lrouses into activity thecorrmponding force within himselfi . and it --is " tbiscorresponding po\rer which is projected and whichproduces.the results dcsired.)

It is . important to note the difference between"invocition" and ",evocation." In invocation.we act insuch a way as to attract the attention of sorne Being of asupcrior nature to our own, or some..cosmic force of ahigher order. In evocation we imposc our will upon beingpof a lesser order of existence and compel them to executeour rrrishes. In both cases the"Actual contact takes placethrough our own mental channel, but a rnagical technique'has been devised wherebv the essential difrerence betweenthe two sets of influences-thc higber and the lowor-istept before the magician. The reasou for tbis is thatshould there be any ennfuson in the mind of the'magician,the results may h disastnous.

For a moment let us consider this from the psychologicalpoint of viar'. If the fores, or Beings, summoned byinvocation represent the super<onscious pert of the mind,Oren the Beingis who answcr the evocatory commands of theadept represent--or rather work through-the subconsciouslevels. But whilst the supraconscious contacts tendtowards a greater and more effective integration of the

'mind, the subconscious ones teud, if not controlled, to bringatiout its partial or total disintegra{on, as C.'G. Jung haspointed out. So the Magical Tradition hab evolved the[echnicat devices Lnoqm as the "Circle of Safety " and tbo'" Triangle of Art," the whole being termed the " Place oflVorting."

ny cJrtain rituals, the place where the rnagrcal worlc isto be performed is purified etherically on"the objectivephne, and psycholo$cally on the subjdctive one, and the

,r,'.i;,",1\,;l'*riri

42 MAGIC

Circle of Safety is drawn upon the floor as a kind offortress from within which thC magicirn may work. Thenthe Triangle of Art is drawn outside the Cicle, tor in tfrecase of evocation it .is necescary that the oUiectivemanifestation of the Uuilgr evoked

-should be kept '*itt i,

its limits and under rigid-control, and in the mind of theoperator there should be a clear-cut psychologicaldistinction between himself as the positi.ru o, do-inant-andthc lesser forces or beings which aie negative to him.

purification of the place of Worling is done in theY*JeT llagic_by what is known as the B"anishing iit*iol llu l-esser Pentag:anr, or in other cases by td nituatof. the Hexagnm. 'fhe Lesser pentagram ritual is moreoften userl, and its 9fficiencp, can be vouched for by thepresent writer, who has performed it on rnany occaions.It is a combination _of geoqetric sigrrs -iae Uy Ureoperator, Names of Power which are- intoned Uy trim.certain Tult{ images which are visualised very siongly,and thc delinite invocation of certain Arch-Angeiic po*iri.

Agaio, looki-ng at this from the pychologiJal angle, wel-r:-arsgq5 -by word and sign the sovereignty of theHighgr Self, whilstby the invocations, we draw-down uponourselves certain of its power--powen which are releasedby the action of existences of another order upon it.In the greater number of cases the in-vocation orevocation "to visible appeararce,, is to psychic visiononly, and aothing is seen upon the ph)rslcal itine. Wherematerial visib-rlrty ensues,.uie have anoiher piocess at work,and this is the process of "materialisati6n.,, For suchmaterialisation to take plirce, it is necessary that tbereshould be present some source of the pecdilr substancetermed by the spiritualists, "ectoplasm.,' One suchsoutrce, and that the most efrective, is the bodily organismoI one of the people known to the spiriiualists as" materialisation rnediums." 'lhey are people who possessa certain little-understood power which enables them togive out this ectoplasm in large quantities. Ectoplasm is sonamed because it is a peculiar plasma or living substancewhich is exuded from, and manifests outside of thephysical org"anism of the medium.

INVOCATION AND EVOCATION

It appears to be capable of being rnoulded by thoughtand desire into form*in fact, one of its c.haracteristics isan innate tendency towards organisation. The data so frrdbtairied by the sfirituaisti and by open*minded obeervers

. such as Sii William Crookes, Baron Shrenck-Notzing andDr. W. J. Crawford suggpst that this ectoplasm is thebasic. substancc of living protoplasm. and as zuc,b is thcmatrix of the phy'sical crganisn.

We find, however, that there are other tources ofcctoplasm, though it is of a differeot t)"e aod is given ofiin smdl quantities only. Before passing on to thcsesources, we may briefly mention one method of obtainingsulhcient ectoplasm for a materialisation to take place.This method is the usc of frestr animal blood. It is amethod known throughout bistory and is refe,rred to byHomer. There is an obscure Gnostic legend which says

that the golden bells n'orn upon the drtss of the JewishFligh-Priest wore desigaed to warn the beingr evoked byttre. Uooa sacrifices of the Ternple to assume hurnan shap0imtead of their own gmtesque forms. Anyone who talesthe trouble to shady the details of the teurple sacrifices willappreciate the force of this legend, and wiD also becoutc@nvinced that there was sufrcient blood for anymaterialisation.

One can vouch for the eftcacy of frcstrly spilt blood asa basis of such materidisation. Quite recently a case of" haunting " investigated by the presrrnt writer proved tohave, as its basis of mariifestation jut slch bloodcrnanations. Once the material basis was rtrnoved, themanifestations ceased to be objective and the subjectivepsychic atmosphere wa^s easily cleared by a banishingritud. W'e may note in fassing that many cases ofhauntings are due to the efforts of a so<alled t'Acn'e"

pemon to make contact with the world he or she has leftbehind, and the spiritualists have developed a verycffective technique which dlows the discarnate Pennn enopportunity to make a conscious contact with those on thcearttr who are able, by their knowledge of psychic matt€trs,

to help in the necessary adjustment of the new conditionsof life.

43

,a MAcrc

Rcturning to our consideration of the sourcB ofectoplasm other than materialisation mediums or theemanations of btood, the one commonly used in magicalltes is a peculiar incense known as Ditta;y of Crete. Frestrflo.*go also give ofi an uppreciable 'amount of thissubstance in a rarified form, as io als.r itre natea flames ofcandles. In normal magical work, the blood rites are neverused, and the use of a medium is also eschewed because ofthe depletion of vitality which may result. The use of theincense is free frorn the disadvantages of these twomethods, but the forms which are .Loked to visibleappearance, " although cluarly perceptible to normal visionoo not possess the solidity of those produced by the formermethods.

. Although the evocation to visible appearance is one ofthe more sprxtacular feats of tfr" ,nJi""i art, it is notoften resoqted to, as for the ma;orilJi oi purposcs it issufrcient if the ,. visible-appeaon"" J"i, io puy"fri" visiononly. It is sufficient if thi operato, i, "n"UfiiG;;;:li*jl:ll _,|r* Tin* evoked-+onr.iou. -"orprehencionanq drrect perception of them giving the magiiian po*"ii#Lf;ft ftT,ffifi,Ii itff l:n'Y"'l;*i"f$!ilthe mind are controlled by tt"'"on*ioo" realisation ofthem. Moreover, wtren splris f ;;;;,,

nature are,"^"?_Y,.*g po.1g-"in -r"*-n to the puy.'frofogi."l ctue, fo,rr ts a ract that the clear realisation of a riental faculty,11*.[ i1r,

the rapi{ development of thai faculty i" 6.rnctrvldual concerned. And such a subjective reatisationmeans a\ that by virtue.of alaw of ,yrnp"tt uti" he""d;;;we come into contact with objectirr"- beings and forces oia.similar tlpe existing in the inher worlds. " Jt is rhie whichqrv€s valrdity to such statements in the medicval' .Snmoires

" or.rnagical.books.as ,. The Spirits of Mercurygive understanding of science.,,

,..*:119.:1TtP,g ,try evo@,tion, it bccomes necessaryro orslnlss the Deings evgked. We may employ an electridl:11IE T_T ""j Ty q3t.it.i, n""esioryi. iu*n"rg LoicnarBcd c[cle, to .,earth,, it, and so retum our e-vokedforce to its normal place in the natu"ai*ooo*y. This

INVOCATION ANI EVOCATION 45

dismlssal is performeil by " The license to depart."" Hereis a tipical charge of dismissal. The magician makes uponhimself the Kabbalistic Cross, and addresses the beings hehas invoked thus: -" Because ye have duly appeared unto url, and.performed that with which ye were charged i depart now inpeace to your own.habitations. Peace be between us ; beye very ready to again obey the summons, and may theblessing of Adonai be upon you as ye may be able toreceive it."

fhe magician then proceeds, by the technical device ofthe " Closing of the Gate," to withdraw his attention bothconscious and subcorlscious from the inner plane levels andto re-focus upon 'the physical plane. This is mostimportant, as it prevbnts the disintegration of the mindwhich'results from the habitual uncontrolled evocation ofthe subconscious. Where the rnagician has been invoklrglighe-r lntelligences, the license to -depart is unnecessary,..but the Closing of the Gates is important just the same. It

-

is stated by certain authorities that in the.Eucharist ffre*ords lta nissa cst at the end of the service are, ineffect, not a license to depart, but a statement to the angelicBeingp who have taken part in the service that their workis now concluded. It is not a peremptory dismissal:

CHAPTER VII

Mecnerrc Mecrc

HEN Dr. Mesmer fint athacted internationalattention in tlr3 Uigtrtqlth century by his rJmartablecurcs and his peculiar doctrines, the iVestern world wasi:l U"rying'the.serious ,"di ; the more reconditetorcrs of Nature such 1s elecciciS, ;*;Mesrner, i. th";iLi" wnich s.ind;nff il.t"ffilfl;ouflined a theonr of_the o"i";;;hi;l'nras, and still is,that of the West6rn nsoteric irraiUi,i ilo,rsn in its pubtic

PTr-it had of n"cessipr onry-;;;fi; its real content.Bl"fly, Mesmer s"* t6e *fi"f. "ri""*. "$#;.F;;#;"" affected bt "il;;il ffi:ffi*every other part. The universe'*""

" ii"i.g "rd;-;;batancing foices. Hdti; ttrieffi h; in each part soad.j'sting itself to every other part that it received to thefullgt of its caoa

sustaining tife of ,h;"S"t:l" directing' controlling anJ

. He tanght that this formafive life could be transmittedPl ::: being.fo a1o$er,

"na t.

"r"ii"a abo that itstorce was operative behind. apd apart from the phl"d,plane energies which were beinl;ilt.Jty the scientificyorld. Particularly, asserted 1i""rn"r,- Aa this universalforce manifest behind_ and thmuth - tU" pn"nomena ofmagnetism. rie usea b", ;gnil iii* he claimedposs€ss€d curative Do-yer becaui of nis universal iorce,but tater both he

"na ni, i"u;;;;";l, that it was atsothrown off freetv from _the f,.rn* lig"ni.*. It wastherefore named

-,. anrnal magnetism,,, and the school ofthe animd masnetists_, ctriel a3longs1ifru,'*ing il;;;as de Puysegar-and Baron du potet'aevJo'p,u their thooricsand pnctice alone this line.

., #T"*, JflTou,Ij, ll,"j"ffi t ffi ,T.,mli's't#5*ft iiqli,q?r";-ruff ffi *+,s

MAGNETIC'MAGIC 47

and the members of the so<alled " Nancy School " putforward the theory of " suggestion;" Mimer's " fluii ,'theory was discarded an{ the very idea of animalmagnetism was dedmed ridiculous. But though it wasrespectable to deny the existence of the magnetic fluid,there were many who quietly worked along the linesindicated by Mesmer and du Potet. One of the notablenames in this connection is that of Baron Reichenbach whoconducted an exhaustive enquiry into what he called " OdicForce," or, more briefly, "Od." His researches clearlyestablished the existence of a force which underlies allnatural forces.

Thus, the sensitive people who acted as his observerscould see, in total ciarkness, a " flame', as they called it,emanating from the end.qf a wire thg other end of, whichwas exposed to strong sunlight or moonlight. Experimentshowed thet if the exposed end of the: wire was-shieldedthe obseners noted the digppearance of the odic flqme,though they were entirely unaware of any change in theconditions of the experiment. lt was obsened that similarodic flames were associated with the poles of both electrci-magnets and permanent magnets. fn" human body wasseen to be radiating this same force. A touch of humouris to be found in the observation that the human lips alsoradiated odic energy, and a possible neason was thussuggested for the efficacy of lovers' kisses !

Today, with the researches of Dr. Kilner and the uoeof very sensitive electrical measuring instruments, theexistence of this odic force rs being more and morraccepted. We may use the name " rnagnetism," providingthat we rnake it clear that this j'magnetism " has nothingto do with the magnetism studied by physicists andelectricians, even though it may * assoiiaiea with it.This animal magnetism, thereforc, is an actual force orenergy thrown off automatically by the hedlthy animal andthe healthy human alike, but it is capable of beingconsciously developed and intensifed, and it is ttriaintensified and directed powef which'is the basis of thebranch of magic with which we are now dealing.It will help the reader to understand the rnagnetic

ffil

48 MAGIC MAGNETIC MAGIC

Him, and everyone tryrng to touch even the hem qf Hisrobe. The East does not change rapidly, and the pres€ntwriter has often witnessed similar scenes in India. TheMaster asks, " Who touched Me? " The amazement ofthe disciples is pardonable. Who touched Him? Theymight well exclaim, " Who didn't touch llim? " Rut therecord goes on to say that He perceived that virtue hadgone forth from Him.

We have, perhaps, been mislead by this word " virtue,"thinking of it only as an ethical thing-" A virtuous womanis above rubies." But the true meaning of this word isthat of power, so that we also say such-and-such a thinghas virtue in it. (In the Middle Ages, and today in theEast, the virgin and tbe child without sin are held toposs€ss a power which is the result of their purity.) Whenthe word which is translated " virtue " in the AuthorisedVersion of the Bible is studied, we find that it is theroot-word from which :rre derived such words as." dynamo," " dynamic " and " dynarnite," all wordsimplying powerful active enerry. So the Master's queryis clear. The woman who had touched Him had, throughthe conditions established within her by her faith becomea conductor, or rather an absorbant of the healing virtueor vital dynamic energy which was radiating from Him.Many a magnetic healer at the present day can echo thatstatement in the Gospel, for they, too, perceive that virtuehas gone forth from them. Father John of Cronstadt andFather llIathew, an Irish priest, both died prematurely as

a resglt of their excessive tvork. It is interesting to notethat Father Mathew received an annuity of {3oo per yearfrom Queen Victoria, in recog4ition of his services.r

In magical work, this magnetic power is made use of inmany ways. It is used for healing by charging orimpregnating a handkerchief or other article with healingpower, this " charged " object being worn or useil by thesick person. Sometimes, water is similarly charged, or oil;sometimes crosses, pendants or other persondly wornarticles are charged or " magnetised " to us€ the technical

' ct Dr. Pcrcv Dca.ro6; f.gf jirr.:ffirrIor a lceraod atudy oI

49

phenomena if he thinks of this force as the ., magneticfluid," remembering that the French term is morecomprehensive tban the English word ,.fluid.', perhapsthe phenomena of radium lniy afford some analog.y. Ii'isknown that from a small ipeck of radium tiier" .reinnumerable small particles radiating in a constant stream,and this stream is rneasurable as a definite force, though iiis composed of these e.xtremely small particles.

So the magnetic force is also of- the nature of anemana60n of extrernery refined substance which is directedand controlled by the rvill and thought of the ."g""tirt.Ii can be stored-can be attached'to or absor6'.d ;tcertain material objects, whilst other objects will act asinsulators to it. Herein it seems to have some indirectrelationship to electricity, for most of the

"tcit iii

insulaton are also ,nlgfletic insulators, though there aresome puzzling--exceptions. All metals are gid magneticconductors, oil and water absorb it readily, thouitr oilretains it for a longer period. Wool and papei, wooa,-Uricland stone absorb it slightly, but silk will-neither conduc"tnor absorb it.

It has been established by careful experiment that thcmagnetic force tends to reproduce in the bbject to which itis- directed its own pa*icular .. vibration or note,,, and theobject will then come into close psychic sympathy or" rapport " with the person who projeited thjmigneiism.Thus, arfmal magnetism is the bdsic power in mariy formsof p.sychic and spiritual healing, being as it iere, ahoeling power in itself and also acting as i carricr for moresubtle forces which through its agency are enabled toaffect the physical body.

It wiU be remembered that one of the miraclcs. atbibutedto .fesus was the healing of the woman with an issue ofblood. The- Gospel story gives a clear picturc of theoosurrence, the Teacher standing in the ccntre of a crowdoj ge-ode rvho press in upon Him, pushing pest Hisdisciples who are tryrng to keep an open spaci around

:sil*:*'il"*t"#{.;iHK5;,fr :i"pi.fJi-i,'tr$trinc lroorr ebout Nature.,

,,,)\ ,- i

.rl. " :'

50 ,'MAGIC

teta. In the New Testament we read of people taking.doths which had been in the vicinity of St. piul to sidp@ple, and the practice of charging dr .,blessinc,,

obiectshas never ceased in the catuotiictrurches oi u.it'll":l}'estern and Eastern Obediences

It is important to remember that the magnetic fluid isneutral in itself, *9-*iu take upon itseu tf,e i.p*r.- iithe mind and will that sent it fo'rth. Ut" aU td-bodiltfgrces,. it is

-manipulated by the subconscious mind, anisince the subconscious responds most readily to pi;to;;lsuggcstiou from the conscious miiid, the magician has tohave a stock of clear-cut mental images to which thesubconscious mind has already been emitionally linked or" conditioned." Such a stock of images is iound, forinstance,

.in - the eabalistic Tree of Lfie, which is the

ll"rTng glyph of the \4'estern magician ; in the East, othergtypns or composite symbols are used.

-. Th.e process of mignetisi"g

""- ;1""t falls into .two ,.-

9i:*j::,, de-magnetising_ or, i"*oriri;sii, and magnetis _

:19 or "blessing.,, A third process isihat is kno"wn as" consecration," but this invoives ott.i i".too, as wi' beTn: Jh9 de-magaetisation is performedby t

"iAingi;ii.mind the intention to purilf the object, "nt tfru ,dn;ti;;of llq operator is directed-upon it'by'one-or other of thetraditional sigas of

- power. In t'he catholic church

TgtTt" is performed through the sigrr oi tt.

"*. fU"QaUali$ also uses the Crossl Uot it i! i-portant to noticethat this is the eouaLq.rmed.

^Cross 4 ini .iL_cn!s, not theLatin form. e iraditional form of words is used, and thegeneral formula of the catholic priesr ana the oabalist*..r"q s;pilxy_protnbl! due to the i;nui;;-;

meqravar trmes, when it often hagpgned that the priesicarried on a certain amount of mag'clt wort in adrlition tohis ordinary clericat duries. LGJ;;;; who foltowedthe magical tradition would atmost of ^"r"uoity "dtfiil;familiar formula to the nur" *ork,--

"oa tfru educated

magician altered such- formula to suit his own purposos.In any ca$, the Roman Church, *itt, it .amazinp.versatility absorbed much of the magical h"diiL;;A:culc it superseded, and, as fvefyn"Una*niU p"i"g *i

MAGNETIC MAGIC

in her valuable work Mysticism, the truly Hermeticemplo5rment of lights and salt and water and oil in thebaptismal service is far removed from the simple lustrationsof St. John the Baptist.

Having demagnetised or exorcisd the object, we have itnow in a neutral condihon, ready to ab,sorb any magneticforce which may be impressed upon it. Now ihe processof magnetisation begins. Again the operator must have inhis mind a certain " intention," and this intention must beexpressed in words and manud acts which are linked in hismind with the desired action of the charged object.Together with this, the magician employs a certaintechnical mental device known as "comrilemoration."This consists of a recital of similar work performed byothers in the past, and serves to link the operator with thearchetypal images in the collective consciousness of therace, thus reinforcing the individual powers of themagician. Whether the events commemorated actuallyoccurred or not makes no difrerence to their eftcacy if theyare part of the folkJore or mythology of the race.

It is important to note that the ideas and images whichare held in the operator's mind mtrst be positive, raucrnegative. Thus, if we were charging or blessing an objectfor the purpos€ of reinforcing the cotuage of the personusing it, we should fill our minds with the pictures ofoourag€, not fear. \ile should not say, " IJt the wearer ofthis cease from being afraid," but rather, " IJt the wearerof this be strong and of good courage," and we should usea form of words which would reiterate this idea. In hctwe strould proceed as if we were giving suggestion to theperson concerned directly. .

We spoke of consecration as a technical ntethodembodying other factors. In the nognal magnetisation ofobjects the powen and forces of the persondity of theop€rator are utilised, but in consecration, after the objecthas been de-magnetised it is re-magnetised with a specialintention that it may be the vchicle or channel of a highcrforce or being apart altogether hom the operator. At'"ical consecration ritual is the Mass of the CatholhChurch. Here we have all the elements we bave

MAGIC

" And dthough . . . the people these many yern

menti,oned, the purifrcation of the biead and wine, tbcirsolemn blessing and setting-apart, and then in the prayerof Consecration, the commimoratirin of the first Eucha-ristof the Christian Church, and the invocation of the prescnceof Christ in and through the ofrered elements.

In treating of this talisrnanic magic, and of the mrrchgreater " Magic of the Mass," it may be thought that wehave departed from our original definition of magic as thcart of causing changes of consciousness at rryill.- This isnot the case. The effect of the talisman is to effect a changeof consciouiness-usually in a gradual fastrion-in t[ery*on using it, and the same applies to the power of theBlessed Sacrament. That the change of consciousness maynot be - obeerved by the user matters not. Manisconsciousness, as we have seen, is greater than his surfacerraking mind.

It is possible that the linking-up of the Euctrarist withthe subject of magic may cause some disquiet. This shoullnot be the case if the objectors hold sincerely the cenhaldoctrine of"Christianity. For what uras thC Incarnationlut in act of suprerne magic whereby the Word was madefl:.tt 1na dwelt among us, His transcendent porrggr floodiagthe planet on which we live, and, like the leaven in tSlump, woiking tlroughogt the ages to effect a changc ofconscionsness in the whole of humanity I

Talismrnic magic was very popular during the MiddbAges, and even the consecrated Host was uscd for rnrEicdpurposes. In the first reiormed Prayer Book of &llndW, in 1549, there is a rubric which nrns as f6llows:-

ry1ry* at the priest's hands the Sacrament-of tU" noayof Christ in their own hands . . . yet as tbcy nrany tiniconveyed the same secretly away, kept it with thcin, enddivenely abuscd it to superstition and $,ictccdnclE . . . itis tliought conrrenient- the people ,commonly racivc thcSacrament of Christ's body in ttreir mouths it Oc pricd,rhands."

CHAPTER VIII

Txr Mecrcer.Iurcss

ITIHE technical methods of the magcal tradition areI bas€d, as we have already soen, upon a decpknowledge of the human mind, and in the nee of what arccalled the " magical irnages " this is clearly seen.

Two very difierent men have introduced tbe concept ofthe magcal image to the Western world, St. IgratitrsInyola and C. G. Jung. The first of these in order of timcis, of course, St. Ignatius, whose Spi/ittlr,, Erqciscs drethe foundation of the system of mind training and disciplincwhich has produced one of the most efiective of theCatholic Orders-the Society of Jestrs. Wbatever may beones private opinion of the Jesuits, one thing b c6tain,they form one of thc most effective communities in theChrrch.

It is sometimes objected to the Jesuit E/stetn of hainingthat it is "anthropocentric" in contradistinction to thiSulpician method which is " th@centric." It is really amatter of temperament--one $pe turns inward and seetrstbrough knowledge of the self to know the One, the othertype seeks thlough knowledge of the One to understand thcself. tt one is permitted to use a phpical simile, one typeis cenbifugal and the other centripetal. Jnst as these trpoopposing forces produce as their resuttant the balancedsystem of a sun and its p}anets, so the mascal tradidonmakcs use of both the Iguatiau and Sulpician methods-inpoint of hct it was using thern long before they wcreintroduced into the Catholic Chuch.

In modem da1n, the psycbologist Crrt G. Jury basshown how important to evetyone irc what are tcrmed tlc" archaic images " of the collective unconscious. It will beremembered that in our study of the mind, we spoke of thestratum of the mind that is comrnon to all humanity+Race Consciousness from which our individual personatconsciousnesses rise like mountains from their surmundingranges. Jung points out that if the normal consciousness

: r;r ii:1ii,:rr.;,,

54 MAGIC

" ltgresses " or tums inward upon itself, it turns thepsychic energy loose upon the vast stbrehouse of thesubconsciqus- levels. Now in the magical tradition thesesubcorncious'.levels are known as " Ttri Treasure-House otImages," and it is upon these images that the inwardturned enerry proceeds to work.

As these images become active, they tend to rise pastthe censor at the threhold of the mind and emerge in theconscious levels . as dreams and visions and . intuitions,moreover they " project " special meanings upon objectsand images which have affrnity with them. "Now it isobvious that the involuntary and pathological regression ofneurosis is detnmental to the mental unity which constitutesnormal health, though even ihe regressi-on of the neuroticis an attenrpt by the deeper levels of the mind ,tore-establish balanced conditions. But the regression 6f themagical technique is a voluntary, willed activity wherebythe n-ormal mental polarity is deliberately reversed and thestream of psychic enerry redirected in accordance with acertain welldefined .plan. We may .describe this as asystem of evocation. But not only is the psychic'energydirected into the subconscious levels, it emerges therefiomcarryring upon its strbam the potent images of theCollective Unconscious, or rather, the " lines of force " ofthose images.

Perhaps an illustration will make this clear. If a solutionof some salt is allowed to crystallise we observe that thesubstance forms cryatals of a certain t5rpe, and it is evidentthat in. the solrrtion itself there must alrcady exist thepredisposing " liles of force " along which the peculiarcrystals of the substance form. We rnay say, therefore,that although six€idd or eightdded cr-;ntals did not crislin the solution, thcre nevertbeless was a slnteur of strees€ssrb.s&t&rg therein, whose manifestation is seen in thc solidcrystals formed later. So the archaic images of thccollective unconscious s*Dsrs! in the deeper levels of themind, as syskms ol sttassas, not objectiua images.

But if the " deed " images of the immemorial past arethus rcsurrected, with whet body do they comel Theautwer is that tbat whictr is " sown " in the conscious mind

THE MAGICAL IMAGES

is not that image which strall arise, but is the link wherebythe archaic lines of force are clothed upon and appear in anew " body." But this new body is charged with thepolver of the regions wherein it had its origin, and thepsychic energs/ which has evoked it is reinforced by thirprimordial force emanating from spaceless and timelessregions. So mortality puts on immortali$ and the image,arising in consciousness bring;s a nevv power to bear uponthe personal self. This resurrection of the Deeper Selfresults in the regeneration and reconstitution of thepersonat self. It is the coaguh portion of the dche.mists'formula, and this tnwer is, in Christian terminologl thepower of the Holy Ghost.

In the psychological technique of Jung and his disciplcsthere arc several methods whereby this resurgence may bce,fiected. The magical hadition has also evolved a detailedsysteur of training whereby this evocation of tbe fmagecmay take place. " D€€p calls to Desp," and this is thckey to the magical method. It is one of. induclio*,

In those magical cercmonials whceiD this evocation of thcprimordial forces is aimed at, carefully selectd images arremployed. These are chosen from the mass of synbolicimages which are to be found in the Qabalistic books, andare used by the magician to build up the mental atmospherewhich will evoke from the deeper levels of the mind tboscarchaic images and powers which are desired. Now thcarchaic images of the'collective unconscious tend to grouparound certain delinite centres. As JonS teaches, themotives of the archtlpes (archaic images) arc the same inall cultures. We find them repeated in all mytbologies andfairy-tales, in all religous trqditions and mysteriea.Prometheus the steder of fire, Hercules the sleyer ofdragons, the numerous myths of creation, the fall fromParadise, the sacrificial mysteries, the virgin birth, thcbetrayal of the hero, the disrnembering of Osiris and manyother myths and tales portray psychic processes insymbolic-imaginary forms.

Likewise the forms of the snake, the fish, the sphinx, tbchelpful animals, the World-Tree, the Great Mothcr, thcEnchanted Prince, the mage, lhe pur cfuts, stand for

MAGIC

c(irtain ligures and contents of the collective unconscious.Iltfths and fairy-tales are the day-dreams of the race, andeach'race has its own particular forms of the coihmonmyths. Being aware of this racial selectivity, the magiciantherefore endeavours to use such images as may be inaffrnity with the collectivemind of the race'with which heis dealirrg. As we have said before, the Western Traditionis a.composite one and the Western rragician uses one orother of the subordinate systems which it contains.

For exarnple, in this country he works with the Kelticcontact and the images of .the Grail legend if he desires toavail himself of thq,power of t[re Rosicnrcian Order. Thereane. very many images which may be used withput steppingoutside our racial boundaries, and though it is of thcgr€atest advantage to us to be able to avail ourcelves of theEastern systems of philosophy, when it comes to a questionof practical magical work, it is best to restrict ones effortsto Western methods. This is uot to deprecate Easternmethods which are sourrd and elficacigus-for Easternsand for those lerv who, though born in the West arespiritually of the East.

In"conjunction with the glyph which is used by the

Qabalists, there are ten nragical inrages which represent theworking of the rrniversal energy in all its aspects, and theseare used to " tune in " to that energy on the particularlevel required. This energy, however, is not a blindmechanical force, but a living, pulsating, energy-conscious-ness, so that if a thought-form or magical image is built upin the conscious mind and linlted up with its correspondingarchctype in the deeper consciousness, the image thatemerges from the depths and floods the wakingconsciousness with power is a living thing.

If, now, many people over a prolonged period of timebuild such a mental image, then- the individual imagesappear to coilesce,.and we have'one image, charged withthe Divine Life in one of its aspects. This is what theancients termedi "god." It is important to note that the

: objectivisation of such a " god " is through the minds ofthe worshippers, and what is really happening is that theform or image consciously visualised acts as a line of

1:

THE MAGICAL IMAGES C7

contact with the colldctively-built form,".nd ihis io itsturn is linked rvith the cisniic energy it symbolisesr Thbresult is that cosntc energ'y flowing through the mind of theworshipper stimulates the appropriate archetype whichrises into consciousness and acts as a transmitter of thatenergy to all levels of the personality of the worshipper.' That'rvhich is done by faith and devotion alone, themagician does with the added knornledge of the mechanismwhereby this srrcrgy is brought thfotlgh for the stnengihen-ing and refr€shfutg of his soul, and for that willed ctrange inoonsciousness which we have agrd upon as our ddnitionof magic.

It is-important tg note that there are two ualn of workingwith the magical images. One of itesc riretUoas is not tobe recommended, as rt tends to reduce the power whichmay be obtained from them. These vast collectivethought-fo-rms are " charged " with the emotional €ner6tof their makers, and thisstored enerry is available for anyindividual member of the group. We may liken thcmagtcal image to the charged batteries of a private housclighting-plant. If the batteries are constantly being drawuupon there comes a point when they iail to delivdi power

-they ane, as we say, discharged. So it is with themagical images. If they are used inexpertly they tend tolose their charge of energy. But no skilled electricianwould allow his batteries to.become totally disctrargcd, butwould start up the dynamo and allow the drain of energyto come upon what is, for pragtical Pu4)oscs, aninexhatrstible sounoe of power. Neither would the skilledmagcian use the images as sounoss of power in thamsclvcs.He uses them as temporary souro* of energy, but ahvaplinks up throrgh them with the lnfnite IDw€r behind all

. manifestation. This marks the difference betwecn thcamateru and the skiled magician, and is onc of the reasonrwhy the deteiled descriptiotts of the magical imag6 usd inthe oocult lrdgc are kePt secret. ,, ,

Some of the magcal inas€s are of great antiquity andare highly ctrarged with pcycbic €!€16r. Tbey have beenbuilt up and used by generations of initiates. Outsidc thcoccult ldges, thc great inages built by gen€rations ol

s5

58 MAGIC

worshippers of the major religions possess great potenryand because of their evocative power over the archaicimages in the subconscious minds of the people, tbey areof the greatest possible value to organised religioussystems, and those sects which attempt to dispensealtogether with ceremonial and imagery are g.ving up avery valuable weapon in the spiritual armoury.

This brings us to the consideration of the practice of theCatholic Church known as the fnvocation of the Saints.Before going any further, it may be pointed out that in theRoman Church three grades of " worship " are reco6pised.First we have iluHa, the reverence paid to Saints becauseof their spiritual greatness; hypenluba, the reverence paidto the Virgin Mary, and Lolria, the worship paid toAlmighty God alone. This by way of disposing of the sillyProtestant idea that Catholics give to the Saints and theLady Mary the worstrip due to God alone. If we consultthe official documents of the Church, we find that there isa point which is of interrest to us in our study of the magicalimages. The Council of Trent, which removed many ofthe medieval abuses of the Roman Church defines theInvocation of the Saints in the following manner:-

To worrhip tbe Saints means to wonhip C,od, lor theirblc*edness aad sanctity are rcally Hie. And to prav witbthc S.irtr meess to ad6re C'od tolether with tbe liierirclicsof Angelr, with tbe rpirite of thc juat mcn made p€rfect,end with tbe Cburch invisiblc of thce wbo arc frat-bornunto tbc hc*veo world. (Coscilirln Ttideilillrlnr, SossioXXV. Dc ltaoez,tiotc Satc|rrrn.)

The point of interest in this passage of the proceedingsof the Council is the statement that to worship the saintsis to worstrip God, i.e., it is the power of God shiningthrough the saints which is, shall we say, canalisd orconcentrated by the personality of the saint. This is, ofcoutse, the doctrine of the magical image. But thepersonality which is used as the channel is a truepersonality, a burnar being who with us worships the samefu. So it b that the Saint of the Catholic Chtuch, stillremaining a distinct beirg, neverthd€ss acts as a psychicbns, focnssing and concentrating that ray of the eternallighf of which he or she is an especial cbannel. All who

THE MAGICAL IMAGES ': 59

by innate temperament are on this partictrlar ray will bo

aile to draw upoir this saint for that Power."This applies not only to tbe saints of the Church, but to

the heroCof folk-lore. In our own nadve tsadition Paganand Christiran heroes and saints are interhvin€d in the Grailana *ttrurian legends. It was the custom at one timc'tc redu. ce all ttrese hero figurcs to rhyth-personifications and

to a"ny tfr"ir existence "Jtof men'"nd bomen. At a }rier

date i[ $'as held that they really had Gxistd and thatpopular thought had clothed them with the garments of

myth.-Ttre initiated magician holds that both views aT P1$yrigirt, right that is, in what they afrrm, wlong-in what-theyaihy, aia hc belicves tbat the-full truth is to be found in acombination of botb ideas. When the magioal images are

being ernployed- in lodges of ceremonial magic, ihgimpJrs"nai "6"-i"

images are used, but by the technical

aevice knwn as Comiemoration, tbe arctrelpal images

ar€ linLed up with the penonalities who in their eartb-lifein the past have exemplified the particular Powersymboli* and canalised by the magical imagc conccmed'-

In ords that thb Power may be brought still furtbcrinto physicd plane conditions, each member of the magicaltearr performs the operation known as "assuming S€God-folm." He oi stre " plirys the Part " of thepersonality, or Being commemorated as forming $e charyetbt U," poiver of their particular ofrce in thc lodge, at.!ttcs"m" ti-e attempting to link up through that personalitywith thc cosmic powr. Nos the rmtbod of assrlming tteGod-form is a cirtain technical method of auto-hypnosir.When by this operation a lcsser change of consciousnces

has bed effocte<i, it is as fterrgh a sc[*terting mcchanisnhas b€€n sn'itched on. Tbe pirsonality of tbc Esgiciaa i3overshadowod and flooded Uy thc Pow€r of bis dccpcr Self,and this is illurninatcd and chargcd throtryh the entity-wlohas been commemorated, and tlrough the ctrannel of thclinked personalitics the cosmic energy nrsh€s down intothe psyihic urd magnctic conditions oi tUe meglcian' T-9cne& of this downl'nsh of powcr is to cause the buriedarchaic imagcs to risc iito his temporarily exaltcd

MAGIC

consciousness, and these images allow the invoked powerto effect definite and far-reaching changes in the characterof the initiate.

Around the ten basic magical irnages of the Tree of Lifethere are grouped the gods and goddesses of the paganpantheons as well as the saints and heroes of myth andlegend, and the choice of a partic"lar image depends uponthe effect desirecl. In passing it nray be said that eachgroup of Images bas a certain affinity with one or otherof the great psycho-physiological centres of the humanbody, and with the particular mental " controlrentre "governing each one. The vibrational key-note of eachcentre detcrmines the traditional words of power connectedwith the images linked with it. The whole subject of" words of power " is one of great complexity and canonly be touched upon briefly here.

A variation of the assumption of the God-form is thatcurious " illusion technique " referred to in the magicalbooks as " making oneself invisible " andtion." Suctr "glamour" has to be experienced to berealised. A typical irxtance is given in Col. H. S. Olcott'sfuk OA l)iary ltaucs., Here the protagooists wereMadame H. P. Blavatsky and a certain Qabalist.If this study of the magical images soerns a littledisjointed, it must be remembered that altbough one maydiscuss general principles, it is difrcult to be precisewithout saying too much.

'Old Dioty teaves. Vol. I.

..' ,.,1.:ll':rlil';:

CHAPTER IX

' [nnreroRY IllAGIc

fN the religious rites of all nations from time immemorial,I we lind certain cer€imonies of admission into the tribalmembership or the religious lil'e of the nation, and thes€

initiations have certain common elements, whether it bethe induction of a boy into the tribe by Australianaborigines or the teception of a postulant into the C.atholicChuryh. Sir James Frazer, in his Golilcn Botgh, hes-

brought together many examples of initiatory rite from allover the world, and these, together with such presentdayfonns of initiation as that of the Itlasonic Craft and the

baptisrnal'rites of the Church dl show an underlyingsimilarity.

The word " initiation " is derived from a root signifying" a, frrst step or beginning," and this, of course, P i*tcrhat initiation is. It is the frrst step in a new life, whetberthat life be the tribal life of the clan, the rcligious life of themonk, the ethical and benevolent life of the modem mason,or tbc generally benevolent and brothedy activities of theRof"al ana mtealuvian Ordu of Buftdoes. All tbese havetbeir initiatory rites, through whidr the neoPhytc jg

intrroduced to ind tinked up with a new life. We may addto thcse examples two others-the initiratory ceremonies ofknfhthood ana Oe coronation of th6 Briti$ King.

It is obvious thet all initiations will not have the same

powcr-that some will afiect the candidate at eotirelyiifierent levels to others-but, add thi. is a point to be

$rtssed, even the moet innocuous and naive ofinitintory ceremonies may, if it b built upon true

toundations and.is worked by men of knowledgc, be thc-

means whereby radical an-d far-rcactring changes olconsciousness in the postulant mey be brought about.

It is a remartable fact that practicafly dl oryEniscdsocieties sooner or lrrter.dwelop some form of initiatoryceremony, and althougb this may be considered as duc to

;j'tl'.

the natural desire to make a clean break between the oldlife and the new, it has yet to be explained why the basisof all such initiations seems to be the same. Associated also

with these rites we find the " laying on of hancls " or some

similar act, and it would aPpear from anthropologicalr€s€arch that where such rites commenced without thelaying on of hands, the process was nevertheless introducedat an early date.

It will be seen therefore, that there are two essentidcomponents of a tnre initiatory rite. First the severance

from the old life dramatised in certain symbolic forms, andsecondly the transmission of power to the neophyte. Tbetormer is built upon the idea of a departure from blindwanderings in the chaotic and darkened conditions ofignoranceinto the realms of light and order-the " ComingForth by Day " of the Egyptian Booh ol llu Dcad, the" Entrance into the Clear Ught " of tbe Thibetan BudoThiidol, the Royal Transmutation of the Alchemists, theNew Birth of the Christian mystics. But eactr in its degree.

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For obviously the masonic initiationthaumaturgic effect. Neither haveinitiations of East or West.

hasvof

rarely suchthe fornral

Yet some effect is produced, and some Power conferred,but it is " under the veil of earthly things." For these

formal initiations, valid and valuable thorgh they may be'are the earthly shadows of the true initiations which are

conferred in the timeless and spaceless eternities. In thewords of the Qabalah, they are " reflections into MdLuth,"i.e., the-rrepresentation in earth terms of supenensiblerealities. Thus, we are not made adepts by the ceremonialinitiations in lodge (though certain powers, as we shall gee,

do acrue to us as a resuliof the ceremony), but we becomeinitiatd when we have ourselves volunhrily changcd ourhabitual consciousness and begun to look at dl things froma different point of view. Thi word which is translated inthe Authorirsed Version of the Bible as " conversion," is 8word wtrich can best bc dcscribd as meaning " the tumingthe mind around and regarding of things fnom anotherpoint of view." This, of ooullsc, is itlst whet initiation+nd conversion-really is.

INITIATORY MAGIC 63

Here we come to one of the points at issue between

the Catholic and Non-conformist. fiie Churcb teaches

that infant baptism is efrcaceous and suftcieqt, the

Non-cbnformisti bok for a conscious change of heart,

taking place in youth or adult life, which brinp-the qersog

*n""-*"d into'the true fold. From tbe occult point of

view, both sides are again right in,'what they a6nn and

wrong in what theY denY.Baptismal regeneration and conversion arre both valid

and elficaceous and strould be complementary to eaclt

other. Ihe magical tradition grva a clear explanation ofthis, and it is reinforced by the frndings of the psycho-

analysts. In order to understand- the magicd tradition itwill'be necessary to study what is known in psychologl as

" the gro-gP mind.-j i

WhJn a number of people associate themselves together

in pursuit of a common objgct, 9.t rr.rit* lgk up togetber

and form-for the purpose they have in mind."a composite

or group mind. the more errotional the object 9f thejr

corn'Uinda thought, the -stronger and more clearly builtb"comes the grouP mind. The pennanence of the-group-mind depends upon many factors; for instance, some

group-minds formed by the impassioned oratory o! 1meiernigogue may last only a few minutes or hours. Others,

forme-d by united thought over a perid of yean may have

a life of many centuries. Even though they malt seem tocease to e*isi, they will again recur when conditions are

suitable, for guite ipart from the original mentd imgulsqtthe combined mental action of the group builds a " form "irr the inner worlds, as we have seen when discussing the

magical images. Each age sow.s in the inner worlds the

*"d" th"t, eien if thev dJ not iinnr,ediately take objective

being, witl ultimately iome to germination and fnritation ina laier age. And, the esoterii teaching avers' those who

original$started the group form wil frnl themselves back

in "reindrnate life at lttu -perioa

when the results of their

former grouP thinking are becoming objectivised on the

physical"plaire, and tf,ey will have io lork and possibly

iofiut ona"t the conditions they themselves originated inthe past.

64 MAGIC

There are four types of emotion which may energise suchgroup-minds. Power, Sex, Herd and Religious emotions.Most of these are interblended in varying proportions inevery group-mind, but one is predominant, Now the greatreligions of the world, with their more or less stereo-typed rituals, their common emotion and their long life,have built up very definite groupminds, as have thesystems of govemment which have stood for manycenturies, as, for example, the British Monarchy. ChivalricOrders, and initiatory fraternities such as the Masons, theRosicrucians and many others, all have built up verydefinite and very powerful group minds in the inner worlds.

lhe strongest religious group in the Western world is theChristian Church and here we have a closely-knit andvitally charged group-mind going back for nearly fwothousand years. But in the case of Christianity we haveto deal with much more than the sum total of the mentaland emotional activity and aspiration of its members. Itmay help if we consider our physical body. It consists ofmyriads of cells, constantly growing, reproducing anddisiirtegrating, but retaining a common relationship theresult of which we term our physical body. But each cellhas its own psychic life, and the combined cell-life formsthe Nephesclr or Animal Soul of the Qabalists. Moreoverthe co-ordinate psychic lives of the many cells form areceptacle or vehicle by means of which the Ego or selfmay come into contact with the material plane.

So the common group thought, emotion and idealism ofall the members of the Christian Church forms a vehicle orbody through which and by rreans of which the head of theChristiau rehgion may conre into close contact wifh all thematerial world. In theological terms, the Church isthe extension of the Incarnation.' Just as the psychic healthof each ccll in the body depends upr,on its co-ordination withall the others, and just as certain groups of cells arespecialised within the general group for special duties, e.g.,organs, newes and sense organs, so in the body which isthe Church we find a similar specialisation andfunctionalism. Entrance into the corporate cell-life of thebody is possible by an rdentification of the psychic life of

TNTTTATORY MAGIC 65

tie inAio'i.toal substance ingested into the system with thecommon life, and herein, incidentally, is the key to thevarying problems of bodily nutrition.

In exactly the same way, the individual becomes part ofthe group by a similar identification of his psychic seif withthe common life of the group, and this mentit and psychicprocess is almost invariably accomplished by some rite ofadmission, such as baptism. Possibty the only exceptionsto this are the Society of Friends or euakers, as th-y aremo-re commonly known, and the Salvation Army.

Now in the baptismal service the individual is linkedmentally rvith the group mind of the whole Church, andthis link is made through the agency of one who is arnember of that group and acts by its authority. Even incases where baptism is performed in emergency by alayman or even a non-Christian, their mental ; intlntion,,to link up the newcorner with the group is sufficient. But,i! trtay be objected, in the rite of the Infant Baptism thechild cannot consciously identify itself with the Church.Consciously, no, but man is greater than his consciousmind, as we have seen, and the child links itselfsubconsciously through the officiating minister, with thelife of the whole. The god-parents should also provideextra links between the child and the Church-though itis very doubtful whethcr many do, or even realise theycan !

Now what is the result of this piece of initiatory magic?The child is put into the circulation of the Life of the DiiineI{ead of the Church, and the conditions are providedwhereby he or she may begin the journey from the chaosof the past, which is built into tbe subconsciousness, andbecome in posse what they have always been dr esse, Nchild of God. So the Anglican Catechism says that baptismis " a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness, "and this is the formula of all true initiations. Water is usedas a symbol of cleansing and is blessed with that intention,using the Christian sign of power, the cross. In ihe oldMystery religions the initiation was preceded by cleansingIustrations and the waters of baptism are the Chrisliancounterpart of the lustrations of the Mysteries.

65 MAGIC

Although the child has been initiatd into the Chrietiancommuni$r, and has begun to partake of the spiritr"l lifethereof,.this UaiUsmal initiaiion is but the earthly shadowof tbe true Christian initiation of New Birttr. The trueinitiation takes place when the peinsond self is for amoment caught up to and unitd with its Gipa';er'Self ofwhich it is the earthly.expression, and through that GreaterSeIf with the Logos m"whom it lives and moves and has

- ibtring. Sd a great my5tici Angelus:Silesitrs.liaswri'tten:-

Though Cbrirt r thourand timor in Bcthlchcn bc born,Ald iot withil thy bcart, tbou srt ldt forlora.Tho Crcas on Calvery thou lookest to in vsirrr-Erccpt within thy bosrt it bc sct up egaia.

The €xperience of " convetsion "' is an unregulated fonrrof this Chrishan initiation, hence its importance from theNoa-conforurist point of view.

To return to the general question of inifratory rites, dltruc ceremonies link up the neophyte with the life of thegoup mind and also implant within him the seeds of powerwhich it is hoped y'rll at a future time bring him to aconscious l'realisation " of his true nafure.

A friend possessing psychic vision made the followingr€port upon an initiatory rite which was worked in hisPnesence:-

" When the minor ()fficers in the Lodge made theirceremonial contact with the candidate, hie 4ura becameluninous, each portion of the anrla corresponding to theperticular Oftce strone brilliantly. Obsenntion of the iiewmcmber at a later date strowed that ttre effect is rflativelypermanent--at least in this case.

"'lilhen, however, the magus of the lodge made hiscontact it appeared as if a minute portion of his subtle bodywas detached from the region of the heart centrei a brilliantminute seed of golden white light seems to Dass'downthrough the aura of the candidate until it came to rest inthe region of the solar ptexus. later observation suggeststhat this is a pennanent effect."

A similar, though far more intense phenomena has beenrecorded by other clairvoyants studying the ordination of apriest in those sections of the Church which have retained

INITIATORY MAGIC 67

the " Apostolic Succession." Perhaps after all, it mayfall to the lot of the despised magician to confirm the claimsof the Church concerning its priesthood !

In this chapter the Christian baptism has been used as

an illustration, but the principles involved are not peculiarto Christianity. The Mystery religions of the Mediterraneanbasin in the classical period used the same symbolism andvery similar rites. In the Mithraic rites the " washing inthe- Blood of the I-anrb (or Bull) " was realisticallyperformed in the " kriobolium " ot " taurobolium," where

ihe initi"tu, robed in white, stood under a grating upon

which a lamb or bull was slain, and was thus literallywashed in the sacrificial blood. Some of the parallels withChristian symbolism are very close, so much so, in fact,

that some of the Christian Fathers explained them bysaying that the Devil, knowing what Christianity would

U", nia guided the heathen to coPy- what would later be

revealcd i Others, not Christian apologists, have said thatthis similarity Proves that Christianity borrowed its

sacramental ti*d- from the preceding religions'' The magical tradition avers that the Christian religion,

founded oi certain principles, expressed itself in similarforms to those of thi pagan world around, but redeemed

them from the corruption into which they had fallen' ltalso suggests that the Christian Church had no need toborrow-its rites and forms, since it had its roots in the

secret tradition of the Hebrews, and what is infinitelymore, it rvas founded and directed by the Supreme Masterof all the Mysteries. Tte " Mysteries of Jesus " of theearly Church could hold their own against any of thesurounding Mystery religions. In any case, a religionmanifests its vitality in just tllis assimilation of the bestelements in other systems. The Church, like the wisehouseholder of the parable, bringJs forth from her treasurestore things both old and new.

THE MAGICIANHis Training and Work

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TO MY WIFE

'"Through Wisdom is an housc buildcd: and byundcrstanding it is cstablished."

(Prov. 24, v l.)

PREFACE

. Tnts book is realty a cgntinuation. though in greater detait, of myformer ltonlk Magic: iis Ritual, Power and Purposi. So manyquestions were asked by readers of that little work, that it wasthought that a more detailed treatment of the subject would helpto meet the evident need for information on this subjecb

I recognise, of course, that my efiorts do not reach the standardof those who are the acknowledged stars of the magical firmament

-Eliphas Levi, Dion Fortune, Israel Regardie and many others-

but it may be that, from the standpoint that is mine; I may be ableto help those who are "desirous of knowing in order to serve" totake the first step along the road of magical achievement.

My thanks are due to many who have helped me in magicalwork throughout tho past forty years. Catholic priests, Free Churchpinisters,. occultists of" both the Western and Eastern Traditioqs,doctors and psychologtsts, all have helped iu various ways, and tbthem all I am most grateful.

Particularly in connecfion with the writing of this book am Iindebted to the late Bishop Robert King (who was my first teacherin these things) and another, a true Master of Magic, who by hisown wish must remain anonymous.

-i also wish to gratefully acknowledge the help afiorded m9 byMrs. Hilda Eastburn of Peaslake, who, amid the duties of a busylife so kindly made time to voluntarily and freely type the manu-script of this book.

As in my former book, so in this, I have endeavoured to givethe principles involved in such a way as to encourage the readerto do some constructive thinking in aBplying them in actual practice

-my distaste for'tabloid information" being as strong as ever!

Tnr Aunron.

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PART I. GENERAL

.Chapter IWHY THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN

THE question may be asked, "why another book. on Magic?r Surely there are too many already writlEn. In any case, theyare all cut from the same piece-atrey are all descriptive of otherpeoples'experienc*and simply mean that their respective authorstake in each others' literary washing."

This particular question was, in point of fact, put by a friendof many years standing. Although, of course, it is an exaggerateddescqptiou of the situation, there is an elcpent of truth in it, andit made the p,reSent writer endeavour to think the mattef, out.

The trouble is that magic has lain so long under a cloud ofsuperstition, ignorance and fear_ on the one hand, a[d on the oiher,been obscured by a smoke-screen of secrecy engin6!16{ by thosewho feared loss of power and prestige if the subject was broughtinlo the light, that it is very difrcult for the average writer to domore than give a general outline of the subjfft. He is compelledto dr&w his material from the published work of others, who werealso under the same limitation.

The position was further complicated by the fact that those whocould have given a first-hand account "were muzzled by terriblcoaths of secrecy, and the breaking of an initiation oath is no lightmatter. Of course, some did. br-eak their oath of silgnce an{ loya}ty,but.as a general rule they did so, not to enlighten the general public,but to enhance their own power, and although they purported togive out all the secrets, yet they retained certain essential keys. Theythen formed around themselves groups, sworn to secrecy and obedi-en@, and the whole story.was rppeated.

Now, the breaking of an oath is a serious matter, and involvesthe honour of the individual concerned. But the exrction ol oathsof secrecy where no secrecy shouldbe ptesent, is also dishonourabk.It was Aleister Crowley, who gained considerable notoriety, both asa magician (black variety), and as an oath breaker, who bitterlywrote that his initiators swore him to silence by dreadful oaths,and then revealed to him the Hebrew Alphabet and the names ofthe planets !

fhe general body of fnagrcal knowledge can be roughly dividedinto two groups. Thc first, in quantity if not in quality, is the generalbody of ceremonies and magical practlces which is the stock-in-trade of the average "o@ult" organisation. All of this, with few

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78 THE MAGICIAN WT{Y THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN

exocptions, is composed of material already existing in boob whichare acoessible to the public. The Bible, the Qabalistic "Book ofFotmation." the "WMom litetature" of the Hebrews, and the manyApocalypses both pagan and Christian which appeared in the firstcentruies of our era, together with thc fragments of the Gnosticbooks, all provide inexhaustible quanies from which we may obtainthe material we need. Nor, as that great occultisq Dion Forhrneonoe wrote, are we ticd by any ordinance to one region alonc, butmay b,riag gold from Ophir or cedar from Leb4non, as it suits ourpurpose. There are innuperable books and manuscripts in bothEast and West, from which we may draw; such books, for instancc,Ls Natute's Fina Forces, by Rama Prssad, M.A., and the worksof the Roman Catholic Sir John Woodrofie C'Arthur Avalon') TftcSerpent Power, Shakti and Skakta, etc. Or, to come nearer homc, ina latcr soc'tion of this book mention is made of thc Elizabethanactrologer and oocultis! Dr. John Dee, and the curious communi'cations received by him. Now this Enochian tongue, as it was

termed, is employed in the rituals of one vcry powerful nagicalorder, but it is well to note that it already existed in published

form undcr the title of Corcerning Dr. Dee and some spirits, byEdward Casaubon.

The question ariscs, why should the various magical ordcrs-havcsworn thLir initiates to secrecy concerning these things which are

of common knowledge? The answer is' that in those orders and

fraternities which were genuine the information given in these

various sour@s was combircd in a particular pattern, and it was

this pattern which was the real object of secrecy.

The ritual-patterns used in any particular magical ordgr'- a1e

kept s€cret for-a very good reason. The power of thought is littlereitisea by the ordinary lrerson, but in the magical workings of alodge, conltructive visualisation is practiced, and definirc "thought'foris" are created. If any of my readers should be inclined toquery the idea of thought'forms, I would refer them to Yoga andWrti"rn Psychology, bt Dr. Geraldine Coster, and another book byone of the most erudite of the members of the Society for PsychicalResearch, the late G. N. M. Tyrell, entitled Grdes ol Signifrcance.The clairvoyant observations of Dr. Annie Besant" Bishop C. W'I-eadbeater, Geoftrey Hodson and Mrs. L. J. Bendit @hoebe Payne)

may also be mentioned in this connection.-However, without entering into any argument on the matter; it

is an article of faith in the occult lodges, based upon repeated clair'voyant observation, that these thought'forms may be built by Oc

uec of cofut ritual- But because ihey are thdught-built'thci canb€ affect€d by thouglrt and for that reason they are kcpt eecret inoider that the wo'rk which'is being done by their aid may lot hinterfered with.

Wc may say that tbc ccimponent parts of the ritusl'patternsrcsemble various metql strips and pieoes and following a ccrtainplan they are welded together to form a metaphysical loc-k. lnto^

itris toct certain keys are ins€rtd and turned, and thc door ofrupgrphysical cotisciousness and lnrver swings opeo. Since ttt" Pq'strriction of the'lock gives some idca as to the type of key whicltwill open il the lodges jeatously guard the pattcrn'rituals .withwhich they work. Apart'from this, too, 88 I have alresdy sai! inmy formei book,' inlxpert use of the"magical images rendcrs themuseless. At the same tirnc it should be kept in nind that it is pqs-

sible to make and use magical images quite openly without such

deterioration. All depends upon whether the tcCys arre in the hands

of the rulers of the order or fraternity. "

These keys are of two kinds, the major and the minor keyc.

With ihe major kcys urc will d€al presently. The minor keys-coq$ist

of physiological, psychological and psychic tectniques-which havcbeen handed down from the past, or have been built up by a prooess

of experimental wort. The various yoga exercices are such tech'niquei. A good deal is "public domain," but thcre are variousrcctrnicot deiices which are very powerful in their efiects, and which

require due preparation on the part of the person using them. Thecekeys are therefore kept secret. The present writer dgubts yhgtherthii secrecy is always iCvisable. It may prevent oertain people fromrushin! inio unwise experiments, but generally speaking, those who

are [a5le-to come to harm along these lines uzually have not enoughperseverance and power of concentration to do much harm, eitherio themselves or others. Possible exceptions are mediumistic sensi-

tives, who should not "dabble" in these matters. With them' it is amQ.ttpr of thorough training in the'technique, under careful super'viiion, or of leaving it severely alone. There is; of course' no reason

why a'properly deietoped and stabilised psychic should not followthe path of ritual maglc, if he sinerely wishes to do so.

these minor keyJ constitute the main keys in the hands 9f the

ruters of the lodgd. But the major keys.'are an entirely differentproposition. The minor keys may be communicated to otherc, whomai piactise the techniqui and acquire dexterity therein, butliththese'major keys such a process is impossibl". Again quotilg DioF-W,TF

)io'n80 THE MAGICIAN

Fortune, I am of the opinion that the real secrets of occultism couldbe proclaimed from the housetops without anyone being the wiserexcept those who were ready to receive them. "He thal hath earsto hear, let him hear ! "

But if the major keys cannot be communicated from initiatorto neophyte, how then cgn the pupil receive them? Well, thoughthey cannot be communicated, they can be implanted within tf,epuprl by a process of "induced realisation" or ..impactation,"

as itis sometimes termed.

This may be efiected by the use of certain of the minor keys,and is, in fact so done where a lodge or order is working on ..tr'ue@ntact." It must be remembered, however, that such;.apostolicsuo@ssion" of the major keys depends entirely upon the grade ofthe _initiator and the preparedness of the pupil.

When this method, an outline of whiih-can be found in paulBrunton's book I Search in Secret India, is used, there is alwayssome effect, but whether that initial .'seed'l grows, as it should, in-toa new type of consciousness, depends upon the nature of the soilwherein it is implanrcd.

Enough has been said to give some idea of the reasons for thesecrecy of the magical orders and fraternities, and it now remainsfor the present writer to indicate his own position in the matter.For this purpose, a certain amount of autobiography is needed. Hehas- been, in his opinion at least, exceptionally fortunate in havinghad, at the two ctucial periods of his occult experience, the guidandof wise and experienced teachers. From the ige of seventEen untilthe present day, he has been instructed and advised by his firstteacher, a _man who possesses both occult knowledge and power.During a later period, when in India, he came into contait andworked with a group of Hindu occultists, again people whonot only knew, but had power in these matlers.

Later, following a mystic "leading," he came to the doors of theWestern Mysteries, and was hetped and taught by one who herselfhas the reputation of being one of the most uphght and fearlessoccultists of the West, the late Mrs. Penry-Evans, better known inthe occult world as Dion Fortune.

In the course of his wanderings durrrrg some forty years sincehis first contact with these matters, the writer gained experiencein many fields, and it is this experience, plus thelramewori< of theinstruction given him by his teachers, which is written herein. Hisfirst teacher has never exacted from him any oath of seclecy, nordid the oriental occultists with whom he woiked. As a mem6r of

WHY THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN 8T

Dion Fortune's Fraternity, he gave the usual oath of socrecy oon-

-ryqi$ its teaching and rituals, and this oath he stifl reipects.Nothing herein is in any way parg of that which he swore to keepsecret and inviolate.

But from his first teacher and his Eastern associates, and fromDion Fortune herself, he reeived a considerable body of know-ledge, without any restrictions upon its us€ except, of course, thegeneral warning which is well expressed by the notice which wasplaced above an American sawmill "Don't monkey *i11t fi1s lrrzz-saw!"

- Havirg upon at least one occasion "monkeyed about" with onebuzz-saw, he now appreciates the force of the iijunction. Therefore,the practical instructions herein given are prefaced by the warningthat in these matters one must realise one's limitaiions. This isreally the only warning necessary. As one occult writer, IsraelRegardie, says very truly. "here is no place to utter portenteouswarnings about the use and abuse of magical powers and spiritualknowledge. Within the psyche itself is a sentinel who never sleeps.It is a guardian of the moral law whose punishment is so dire antldevastating that there is no appeal, save by expiation of the crime.From the dicta and judgements of this inner Self, there is no esciape,except through the admission and the acceptance of the abuse,followed by a gnm deterrrination forever to avoid a similar deed.'

This warning will seem to some readers to be insufficient, sowe had better, perhaps, give some explanation of our point of view.In so many esoteric gf,oups and fraternities one hearJ such porGn-tous warnings given against magic that it is as well if wa try todiscuss the subject in the light of day.

Is there any danger in the practice of magic? The answer is"Why, yesi of course there is. Anything can be abused, and themore powerful for good the thing is, the greater the evil if it shouldbe misused." But this is true of many things we meet in daily life,and one should preserve a sense of lroportion in these mitters.The dangers of magical work may be divided into spiritual, mental-emotional and physical dangers. l.et us briefly study them in thisorder. Spiritual danger! What do we mean by this? Simply thatoverweening and Satanic pride, by which, as the poet says .,theangels fell." This is the characteristic vice of the fbllowei of theoccult path, and by far the greater number of magical studentsfgllow that path. The intellectual aloofness and cold-contempt forthe "ignorant herd" is very common in occult circles, and since. The Middlc Pillat paee 77.

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THE MAGICJAN

thi magical rites dtnand a very c6oiftott"t"a and oontinirous.appti-cstion, the student begils to feel himself in come way euperior tothe othcrs around hiitr. So he is, but'that shouH nake'him vcryhumble, since he should be bediining to realise that thc only iusti-fication for the practice of the negical.art is in otdcr that he maybc betrcr able to hclp his fellow m€n. "I deshe to tnow in orde,tto scrire," says the neophyte'of the Mysteried, and this is tb onlyreason why"we should train oureelves along these lincs. One whodisregaudc this advic€ and does not subscribe.to this undert*inghas takcn the 6rst step"on the downward Path; and thougb grcatpower and knowledge msy be gained by him, yet is he in dangerof becoming one of tlie Sons of Perdition, a Wandering Star; forwhom is r€sclved the'bhckncss of darkness for the fucs of theAgps. But this is thc destiny of but few, for the Christs of Evil.arcas rarr as the Christs of Good. Ncwrthelcss, the "inflation of thefalsc or empiric ego" as thc psychologists term it, does mean thatat one point or anothcr spritual disaster awaits the one who has

-attcmpted to isolatc himself in proud contcmpt from his brcthrcn.- What arc the mcntal+motional dangers? To answcf, this qucs'

tion it is neceesary to rcmember that the personality is built upduring carth lifc by thc cxpcricnce it meets, and its rpactiong thereto.Sinc thcse cxpcricnces are many and varied, and sincc the pcr-conality rcactions are exedingly complex, wc usually arrive atniddle-age with a personality which has been built up without 8sydcfinito plan. Here we have fought circrrmstances, thefe wc bavcgivcn in to th€m. Here we have faced adverse conditions cnd lcarotthc lesson they had to teach, their power being thus obtaincd fotourrelvcs, there we have attemptcd to escapafrom such conditioncand from the nccessity of having'to make a dccision conocrningthcm. And so it goes on, so that it wiU bc seen that the tcmplc ofour personality is usually 8 vcry curious sttucturc, built with ill-assorted matcrials, and showing vcry little traco of any cohcncntplan. Into this structurt we draw down the forccs qnd powcrs otihe unr\ersc, and it is small wonder if it happenc that'this housc ofthe personality is overthrom by the lightning-f,ash of tho forcrinvoked. In sftnple languagc, the presence of thc ttowcr invokcdacts upon all parts of our *pEyche," and thc rcprcssed "@mplc_x6"as well as thc intcgratcd @nscioucn$s fecl that pressurc. So itrcmctimes happens that a studcnt of magic begine to show dgnrof mcntal insability. Under the supcrvision of a wisc teacher, $rcha condition may bccome'what is known in psychology as e me'ntal'cstharsis" or pudfcation, and thc rcpresscd matcrial, haviag bccn

WHY THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN

driven up into the conscious levels, becomee integrated with thenormal consciousness. The symptoms of unbalance disappear, andthe student has definitely gained by the experience. But sometimessuch a happening as this cannot take place. The buried complexesare charged with power, but cannot emerge into, and be integratodwith consciousness. The result is a more or less complete disruptionof the mind. But is must be remembered that this is a very rareoocurrcnce, though when it happens, it $eems to iustify the parrot-cry that magical study makes one go insane.

' Magical study may make some people psychopathic cases, butit must be kept in mind that the psychopatholog was alredy therebefore the student commenced his magical work. All that magicdid was.to bring it into active manifestation. The study of thingsmysterious attracts a @rtain class of psychotic, and it does not muchmatter whether the attraction be to magrc, spiritualism, or Seventh-Day Adventism. Spiritualism has bcen most unfairly credited, alongwith magic, Ls t carce of insanity. The statistics issued by theauthorities of the mental hospitals in this country give the lie tothis. Indeed, doctors, lawyers and clergymen would appear to befar more predisposed to mental disease, if the figures given are anyguide. It is important here to point out that all such statistics canbe mis-read, or distorted. If, for instance, three out of every twelvespiritualists became insane, there would s€em to be a case to bcmade out against the subject, even though, in the total number ofpsycho-pathological cases, the figure for spiritualists would be low,as the spiritualists form but a relatively small section of the entirepopulation of the country.

It is upon the insanity perc€ntages within the spiritualists oroccult or nagical organisations that the verdict should be given,and judging by this all three of the above-mcntioned emerge tium-phantly.

But there is one thing which causps somc difrculty in assessingthe tendency of any of these movements to causg mental unbalance.What was the mental iondition of the persot belore he entered themovcment? It is a commonplace idea for the general public thatmediums and psychic scnsitives "hear" and "sep" things which arenot visible to those around them. But so do certain mentally-unbalanced individuals, and it docs happcn that these unfortunatcs,hearing of the visions and voices of psychics, will gravitate to thcpsychic organisations. If they are recognised fgr what they are,m,cntally sick people, then all is wcll. They can bc stecred out of

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THE MACICIAN

the organisation concerned, and it may be that through an under-standing of their case, they may receive healing treatment-which,although unorthodox from the medical point of view, may be veryefiective. For not all psychopathologies can be explained in theterms of orthodox .medicine, and not- all "alternating personplities"are splits in thb patient's mind.

Where, however, such unbalanced pcople are allowed to attcmptpsychic or magical work, then the responsibility rests ftiirly andsquarely on the shoulders of those who are the leaders in suchwork, and they must not gfumble if, when the unbalanced onefinally breaks down and has to be removed, people say "There!That's what comes from dabbling in spiritualism<r magic." In-cidentally, anyone who "dabbles'i with-'anything along th-se [iresis asking for trouble, but I have yet to read in the daily press thatMr. So-and-so has been removed to the mental home as a resultof "dabbling" in the Salvation Army or Anglo.{atholicism; yetniembers of both do, on occasion "go slightly off the hooks,"'touse the phrase of the harned Doctor Hooker, thq writer of theAnglican classic, The Laws'of Ecclesiastical Polily. No, there isa definite press bias against the spiritualist, the occultist and themagician, and as the general public forms its opinions in thesematters largely from the daily press, the misunderstanding is likelyto persist for some long time yet. So anyone who tries to assessthe psychological dangers of magic and psychism, does well toremember this bias, and to rely only on definite facts and [gures.One of the most courageo'Ls men of'his time, the late Dr. Fortix-Winslow, once publicly asserted that there were -forty-thousandspiritualists iq the asylums. Challenged by the spiritualists to provethis, he began a- careful investigation of the subject" and finallyannoun@d, again in public, that his former statement was entirelyeroneous.

But although one has seen him quoted many times as makingthe original statement, one has yet to see in the press any referenceto his retraction of that statement. So much for fair-play in thesematters.

So when the would-be magical student receives grave warningsof possible mental unbalance if he akes part in magical work, itis useful if he immediately asks for chapter and verse; not anaccount given by one whose cousin's friend knew someone whowent insane bbcause they practised magic. Usually, such a frontalattack reveals the baselessness of the warning.

We come now to the psycho-physical dangers of magic. There

WHY THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN

again are dangers which can be avoided by anyone who uses com'monsense. It must be remembered that one of the direct results ofmagical work is a tremendous enhancement of the vital energies,and this enhanced power, as we have already said, affects all thepersonality. Now part of the pefsonality is the physical body, andits nerve-systems and nerve-centres. Closely associated with thenerve-plexi are those very wonderful chemists' laboratories of thebody, the endocrine or ductless glands. Also associated with themare the various instinctive and emotional factors of the mind' andwe know that the secretions of the endocrine glands, the "hormones"or "messengers" conveyed by the blood stream to all parts of thebody, do cause far-reaching effects on both body and mind. If bymagical practices we increase the vital energies, and if by ooncen-

tration upon the various psychic @ntres (which are situated nearthe physical nerve-plexi) we direct an excessive amount of this in'comin! energy to them, then we may expect that the increasedactiviti of the nerve-c€ntre and gland concerned will result in theexcessive release into the blood'stream of its hormones' Just as the

mind can thus aftect the body processes, so these can affect the

mind. There is a "psycho-physical arc," and under such conditioniit is easy for a dehnite out-of-balance activity to be set 9P qeway in which this may be avoided will be given later in this book'in the section deating with the training. of the magician'

Another psycho-physical danger comes when magical practices,

mystic-meditations and psychic techniques are jumbled to-Slther

without any real knowledge on the part of those concerned. It isas if a child were to say, "here is some black stuff the grown'ups

call charcoal, here is some yellow dust they call sulphur, and here

is,some white salt they call saltpetre. I'!l *lx them together and see

what happens." If by-chance he should mix them in a certain pro'portion, aird should ihen set light to the resulting mixtgle' the results

might well be disastrous. So one of the first rules is "don't mix the

tec-hriiques, unless you know what yog are doing." Even, lhen, don'tmix them until you have brought each particular technique underyour conscious, positive control.-

There is another danger, the pseudo'magical lodge or group'

Here a little knowledge ii dressed up in grandiloquent terms, and

certain psychological- or physical "tricks" are employed by -th:l""d"t. of itte grJup. to tati one thing only. Incense, as we shall

show in anothJr section, has a very powerful psychic effect on the

consciousness. But there are many kinds of incense, and not allproduce a beneficial psychic result. Hashish produces curious

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86 THE MAGICIAN

drcam-visibns, as do also inarihuina wd peyotl. Alt these arenoxious and illegal drugs, though Anlulonium Lewinii, the Mexicancactus bcan is nor a habit-forming drug. Nevertheless; thc use ofany such drugs is not only an offencq in law, but also an extrcmelyunwise thing to do.- In one such.lodge, known to the writer, hemp seeds (containingthe hashish'drug) were scporated from lnrrot-food and burnt withthe incense. The rcsults were startling, but definitely bad. In themagrcal groups wherein these practies take place, thg use of drugsand sex.afhaction is one €f the principal methods employed, andthe effects of such p'ractioes are thoroughly qnd completely ovil.

In the accounts of;the witchctdft trials of the middle eges-andlater, tlie use of ointments to produce supernotmal results ismentioned. Such oiutments .(the recipes' of several are" known)usually contained drugs which have a strong efiect on the heart andnervous sy8tem, as well as producing hallucinatory eftests. The useof such drugs is as old as humanity. In all cdlhres we find themused, but always the eftects. when assessed ov€r a-long eloughperid, are seen to be 3e deleterious, that in all civilizations theiruse has been banned. As we have said, they are still used by someoccult group$, but any group using them as sensational adjunctsto the rites,-does, by that very fact, proclaim its indifference to thi;moral standards laid down by the Lodges of the Light. Well in'formed and careful research by trained seers into the properties ofthese drugs is another matter, but such researches are not caniedout in the general lodge work. So the would-be magician' if he iswise, will shun any group or fraternity when such things are ofteredas inducements to ioin it. Such inducement sometimes takes verysubtle forms, and it is easy to be0ome involved before one is awareof it.

For this reason, it is wise to have a standard of reference towhrch one may turn in times of doubt. The writerls standard ofreference is the Lord Jesus' It is not necessary to accept all or anydogmatic views of Him, but His life and teachings do give us astandard -against which we may set the teachings ot practices ofwhose nature we are in doubt. Others may prefer othcr standards,and "to each man his own master." But some standard should beadopted before the seeker joins eny oocult or'magical goup.

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Chapter II

THE BASIS OF MAGIC

[S we have said books on magic seem to be largely made up ofI \ quotations from and comments on other books on magic, andthis, in the end gives very little enlightenment. People who enquireinto the subject are disappointed by this negative result. They wantto know not merely what magic is, but how it may be practised.To be able to do a thing oneself is much more satisfying to manyof us than simply to hear or read about what other people haveseen or done. Kipling, in "The Ballad of Tomlinson" indicates,from another angle, the futility of second-hand knowledge and ex-perience.

In his former book, the writer tried to show some of the generalprinciples governing the Magical Art, and as a result of the recep-tion of that book, he now feels that it may be as well if he p,rovideswhatever practical instructions may safely be given out openly.Obviously, there are increasingly complex depths in magic, and t9roru who is unprepued to try to plunge into those depths is thesheerest of follies. But for anyone who is prepared to work steadilyand to avoid unnecessary risks, thefe is everything to be said infavour of such general instruction. In any case it carries implicitwithin it a perfectly satisfactory regulating mechanism, as anyonemisusing it will find by personal experience. Others, who follow thesystem given will be rewarded by an incteasing sense of fulfilmentand satisfaction, with wider and deeper insight into life and destiny,and with inceased powers with which to serve their fellows. Arcaneknowledge and power give great responsibility, but also great ioyand happiness as one begins to take part in the Great Work whichever goes on in the souls of men.

"l desire to know, in order [g ssgvg"-guch is the passwordwhich admits to the alcane knowledge, and thos€ of my readers whocan honestly affirm this can safely essay the way of magic. Safely'that is, if they obey instructions. One of the many traps that besetthe student of these matters is the temptation to experiment with"bits and pieces," adding something here, subtracting somethingthere, "taking a chan@" gomewhere else. Such behaviour is sillyand dangerous.

The enquirer desires to learn the Magic Art. What guaranteecan rr/e give him that he will be successful? Can anyonc be toragician? What are the qualifications? How can he make a start?

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8988 THE MAGICIAN

What are the signs that he is gaining proficiency? All these, andmany more Questions have been put to the writer since the publi-cation of his first book. The present work is by way bf an answerto some at least of these questions.

One of the most cogent of these is "Can anyonc be a magician?"the answer is yec anyone can become a migcian. but tf,ere arephases of magic which are not within the capabilities of somepeople, though they are in others. The Victorian novelist, Bulwer-Lytton, in one of his storiesr which gives its title to the book of thesame name, quotes from Albertus Magnust to the effect that thedescription of the magical process he describes "will instruct andavail only to the few . . . that a man must be born a magician !,', thatis, born with a peculiar physical temperament, as a man is born apo€t. Now this is very true, but it is not the whole of the truth.Poets are born, not made; that is geat poets. But many minor poetsspring up, dnd though their verse is not of thE qualiti of that ofthe great immortals, yet do they find satisfaction in the exercise oftheir modest ?owers, and so do they also add to thc enjoyment ofmany.

There are two aspects of magic which appertain to the spectacu-lar. One, "Evoking to Visible Appearance" is the high-light ofphenomenal magic,-the other, the "Transmutation of Conscious-ness," though less objectively spectacular is equally important. Itis found in p:actioe that certain people are expeil in one or theother of these aspects, whilst others seem to have littlc or no polvetin either of tnem. On investigation it will be found that invariablythe successful evokers to visible appearance possess the peculiarpsycho-physical type of body which charactqrises what the spiritu-alists term the materialisation medium. A classic example isMadame Blavatsky. This doeS not mean, however, that the magicianis a medium in the ordinary sense of the word- Thii is not the placeto discuss the merits or demerits of mediumship, but put briefly thedifterence between the magician and the medium is that the one iscontrolled and influenced by his own spirit self, the other is thechannel for the forces and influences of others. Of course, there areno cut and dried lines in these matters, in many mediums the innerspirit-self is working through their mediumship. In the case ofMadame Blavatsky, the unregulated "physical phengmena" of her

' The Haunters and the Haunted, page 122.t Albcrtus Magnus (t193-1280) was one of the teachers of St.'Thomas.

Aquinus. He was onc of the leadcrs of Dominican thought in Gcrmany.

THE BASIS OF MAGIC

€arly years were broug[t under her conscious control, as Sinnettteords in Incidents in the lile of Madame Blavatsky.

The other $pe of magical work is perfectly illustrated by Dr.Faul Brunton in his book I Search in Secret India.

Between these two extremes of objective and subjective magical"phbnoinena, thefe are rnany ggades, and every sincere'student who

is willing to obey instructions and to persevere, can find some aspectof magical power which he can develop and use for the conrmongood.

Many books on our subject give exhaustive lists of magicalpractices (indeed, that is all that many of them seem able to give)but in this book we shall only touch briefly upon the various.practices which are included under the name of magle, We have -

'already shown the basic division of the magical art*"objective"and "subjective" phenomena. All feats of magic combine the two,and in fact, the main difference between the various magical hap-penings is^the proportion of "objective" to "sfubiective." Alwaysthere is definite interaction between the magician and his environ-ment, and here we come to one of the fundamental principles ofmagic.

The modern i,orld, with its increasing use of scientific know-ledge, and its lack of faith in anything except matter, as it is com-monly thought of, has divorced man from his environment and"-made him simply a fortuitous form of life on a second-rateplanet revolving around a second-rate sun. It has become the fashionto think with kindly contempt of the-ancients who regarded Mindnd Nature as parts of one living universe. "Great is Science of theModern World" is their cry, as their predecessors cii6d in similarterms "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." It is true, of course, thatsolitary members of the race have risen up and protested.againstthis deificaiion of modern science, and it is true also that the moreadvanced scientists of our day, when unhampered by politicalideologies, are beginning to regard mgn and the universe in a difter-ent light. But popular opinion has been said, quite rightly, to bealways fifty years behind the growing point of knowledge; eventhough it uses the latest terms and symbols of that knowledge. Bya process of unconscious "rationalisation," as the psychologists callit, popular opinion charges the new word-symbols and ideaS withthe old interpretations of fifty years ago, and fondly regards itselfas being up-to-date in scientific knowledge !

Deep within humanity there is a desire for stability, for securityand for safety, and this desire opprates always in the direction of

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THE MAGICIAN

maintaining whatever stdtus quo it regards as embodying that stateof safety, of stability and security. Whatever intellectual, philoso-phical or religious system they may adopt, it will be found that lorthem ttis is a veritable ark amidst the roar and turmoil of the rcm-pest of the world. But those there are who in divine desire for "Light

-mofe Light" scorn the safe refuge, and press fearlessly onwards

into the Unknown-to find, in the words of a great scientist oftoday, that "thc universc is friendly."

If it is in this direction that true and unfettered science is todaymoving, then perhaps we may look back to those ancients andbriefly consider the philosophy which underlies the whole of theirteaching. We in the Western world, having had our main philoso-phical systems mediated to us through the Schoolmen of the GreatWegtern Church, tend to think in terms of what may be describcdas'?ualism." Always we are setting the Eternal Source, God, overagainst Its manifest creation.

But the philosophy which underlies magic is the philosophywhich appears in the Indian "Vedanta" the philosophy of"Monism." In this philosophy God and His Universe are ceen tobe one and the same. But this, it wiil be said, is Pantheism pureand simple. It would be if we were so foolish as to regard Natureas the whole of God. We do not only hold the idea of His beingin and through His Universe, but also we believe He transoends it..

An Immanent, and Transcendent Being is the God of themagical philosophers. But both these terrrs can easily be misunder-stood. If, by "immanenl" $rs think of "something' behind manifest-ation as we see iL then we are beginning to use the philosophic@unters of Aquinas, "substan@" and "accident." Though this isa perfectly valid distinction, the .magical philosopher would gofurther and say that all manifestation exists as an expression of thatsubstantial Being, a;nd because ol tlut it possesses Reality after itsown kind. It has been said that the touchstone of a philosophicsystem lies in its use of the word "Real." In one Eastern prayer itis said "From the Unreal lead me to the Real," and those monisticphilosophies which stem from the Eastern 1eas[ings are mainlybased upon such an idea.

In the early Christian Church cettain Gnostic "heretics" taughtsuch things, and for this reason were repudiated by the greatcouncils. Such heretics were the Docetae and the Manichees. Oncof the greatest figures of the early Church, St. Augustine of Hippo,. 'With a fragment of Myself, I crcatc thc Universc . . . and rcmaio."

(The Bhagavad Gita).

had folbwed the Manichean philosophy before his conve*i<iri toChristianity, and taces of it are to be found in his teachings. Ache later became a great authority for the Roman Catholic Churcb,some of his views distorted the Christian philosophy, and eventoday they cloud the teachings of someof the sects. But the doctinc

' of the cyil nature of matter is not a part of the'Christian philosophyoi, indded,"of any of the great philosophic systems of East' and West.The doctrine of the unreality of material manifestation, however'is prt of soveral Easlern systems, and in certain Western systemswhleh owe their inspiration to the East it is also to be found. -

Itis tot, howerrer, an essential part of the true magical philo-sophy. It has sometimes been'said that the magical"doctrines are

'doctrincs of "emanation," and in one sense this is so. But if by thirit is thought that they teach that (in all reverence) God emanatesthe universc from Himself as a kind of Cosmic Spider spinning HisIVeb from Himself, then such a conception is entirely foreign tothe magical schemc. -

Tbe 'neg teach that the whole universe of matter in all itsgrades, physical and non-physical, is thg manifestation of the vergEssence and substantial Being of the Et€fial.'

So the phyeical universe, so far from being evil of "low," as so

many "spiritually minded" folk would have us believe it to be' isas holy as ony other plane of being-there is nothing common orunclean. "The ignorant man gazeth upon the face of Nature, andit is to him darkness of darkness. But the initiated and illuminedman gBzeth thereon and seeth the features of God."

So it is rrot tnattei which is unreal, only the appearan€s it pre-

sents to our consciousness, and as that consciousness is evoked andexpanded, so do we begin to see in all things the Presence and veryBeing of God. Thus the magical path is no mere way of escap,ism,

even though many try to use it as such. It is an adventurous, God-ceeking quest, as true and as holy as any Mystic Quest of the Grail.Indecd; it is that Quest, undertaken $after another manner."

The basic ideas of this magical philosophy are embodied in avery wonderful "glyph" or composite symbol'known as "The Treeof Life,' Otz Chiim, and this is the meditation symbol-ot mandalawhich is used by the Western magician, since it is the philosophicalsymbol of that system of Hebrew thought which is knovn 8s -the(iuabalah. This is that body of esoteric tcaching which was im'

chan*abb within Thvsclf. diiiJt neverthelcss in the mvstery of Thyboun?less Love and Thin6 cternal Sacrifi&, brcathe forth Thy own divincUfc into Thy Univcrrc . . . "

THE BASIS OF MAGIC 9r

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92 THE MAGICIAN THE BASIS OF MAGIC 93

into the magician's consciousness that nothing can obliterate it, forit is a true touchstone of safety. It will be seen that this is a veryfar-reaching principle, in fact some of its implications are as yetbeyond the grasp of any embodied consciousness. Here we comeup against one of the knotty problems of both philosophy andtheology, the question of "objectivity." Berkely and Kant have hadtheir say on one side of the problem, Schopenhauer on the other.Perhaps it will be as ivell if the would-be magician steers a midwayoourse benveen the extremists; and holds to a belief in the realityof both the objective, and the sirbjective, remembering that both ofthem are aspects of the true Reality, which exists and subsists "afteranother manner."

For the practicai work of magic, the idea which we must keepever before us is that we are all tike the Lady of Shalot inTcnnyson's poem, we are all engaged in viewing in a mirror theuniverse in which rie live, and a mirror, moregver, which is con-stantly changing. This mirror is our own personal unconscious or

- "'sub@nscious mind," and was tnciwn to the older occultiSts as the

, "sphere of Sensation." In modern terms it is the "auric egg".-grpsychic atmosphere wJrich surrounds everyone. That Sphere ofSensation is the glass in which all things are mirrored and the firsttasks of thc apprentice-magician are designed to give hirir conEolover this magic mirror. Hc may not, except indirectly, work uponthe outer wo-rld, but he can directly alter and remould his ownsubjective world, and this will cause him to @me into such newrelationships with the 6uter world, that he finds it shaping itselfin accordance with his new point of view, since these deepet aspectg

* of himself arc pan of the corresponding depths of the collectiveunconscious of the race, and of the universal conrciousnesE,'

This being the case, it is imperative that the magician shouldhave some key to the forces and powers of that underJying sea ofconeciousness-some idea of the tides that ebb and flow thdrein,and the living creatures to be fourd within its depths. Differentcultures have used difterent glyphs, but the Western magical glyph' 'is the Tree of Life which we will no*r'discuss btief,y in the'nextchapter.-To

those who are acquainted with the standard books on thezubirct the cxposition given by the present wtiter may seem strange,but if they will try to translate the ideas therein given into their own

'terins, they will find that they have not wandered from the standardexplanationp. The Tree has only been described from another lnintof view.

parted "from mouth to ear" as its very name implies.r It wasrggalded by the Rabbis as the inner spirit of their rellgion, even asthe Torah or Law was its body, and the Tclmud its soul. It is thisbasic Hebrew theosophy, enriched as it is by the Egyptian, Chal-dean, Greek, Persian and Arabian elements, togethir with themystical stream of the inner Christian Schools, that forms the tradi-tion to which the magical student is heir.

It is therefore necessary to consider the Tree of Life in somedetail, though, of course, we can give it but very elementary treat-ment here. There are, however, several books which deal with theTree very-fully. They will be found listed in the Bibliography atthe end of this book, and it is only fair to the student to say inatsome grasp of the philosophy of the Qabalah is essential to thcWestern magician if he is to do successful work in his chosen field.

Now the first principle of the Qabalah is the Unity of All. Here,as we have said, the modern scientist and the ancient initiate standside by side on common ground. The philosophy of the eabalahtreats of the relationship of the part of the Whole, and the glyphof the Tree shows this relationship in its design.

Man is termed the "micro@sm," or small universe in the macro-cosm, or greater universe around him, and it is taught that in hisnature there are potentially present all the powers and forces ofthat greater universe. He is, in fact, an epitome of the macrocosmAs the initiate of the Mysteries declared, ..There is no lmrt of methat is not part of the Gods."

It follows, then, that all the Beings and Intelligences of thatgreater universe have their aspects within the consciousness of man,the microcosm. If he evokes the elemental beings, he does so byvirtue of their correspondenceS within him, lor his physicai,emotional and mental vehicles or bodies are built up by the Lctionof countless elemental "lives." If he invokes the Mfuhty Ones, theSpiritual Lords and Vice-Regents of the Eternal, then through theircorrespondences within his own nature do they descend into hisconsciousness. If he invokes the Lord of the Roses, then throughthe indwelling Light within does that Lord answer him, and if heinvokes the Eternal, then the Power of the Eternal rays down uponhim through that within him which is the separate manifestation ofthe One.

So, and this is of the utmost importance, all magicat work beginswithin and is projected outwudly. This is one of the first principlesof magic, and it must always be kept in mind. It must be so built.The

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Chapter III

THE TREE OF LIFE

I LL occult traditions worthy of the name employ certain diagramci r and pictorial devices in the training of their membets. As wehave already polnted out, the Western Tradition is a composite one,embracing the mystery teachings of Greece, Egypt, Chaldea andIgrael, and because of this it has a large store of such rnandalas, asthey are termed in the East

But the mandala par excellence is that which is known as "TheTree of Life," and this comes from the Chaldean and Hebrewesot€ric schools. It has been referred to as "The mighty, ell-embrac-ing glyph of the universe and the soul of man," and this is a verygood description of iL It is, in itself, a complete diagram of a philo-sophy which is known as the Qabalah, and at the same time it canbe used in connection with the various pantheons and philosophiesof Egypt and Gree, as well as those of the Northlands and theMiddle East.

It is an occult Rosetta Stone, which like the original RosettaStone, enables us to translate languages previously unknown to usinto one with which we are familiar. As the reader will be awate,it was the fact that the original Rosetta Stone contained a decreewhich had been writrcn in three languages; one of which was theEgyptian (which at the time when one of Napoleon's officers foundthe Stone, was an unknown lenguage, the key to it hSving beenlost). By deciphering the Latin and Greek inscriptions which wereidentical 'n meaning, it became possible to commence the transla-tion of the Ancient Egyptian characters, and from this start, thcwork has gone on until the language of ancient Khemi is no longerunknown.

So with the Tree of Life. Once we have found the meaning ofthe Hebrew names upon iL we can "place on the Tr@," to use atechnical tetm, any other system of philosophy and be able to seehow it will work out This in itself is of great importance, but thereare many other uses which may be made of the Tree.

It is essential to realise, however, that the Tree is not a map ofthe undiscovered country of either the soul of man or the universein which he livcs, but is rather a diagam of the mutual relationshipof the underlying forces of both. Together with the Tree we haveinherited a large body of philosophy based thereon, and it was the

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THE TREE OF LIFE

mutilaiid ftagments of this itritosopty whiih formed the bac[-ground of mdiaval magic.

Sevoral books on the Tree of Life have been published in recentyears. The most important of these are mentioned in the biblio-graphy at the end of this book. For this reason, it is not proposed:to gtve a detailed exposition of the Tree in these pages, But whatis intended is to give the magical apprentice atnther Nint of viewwith regard to this ansient glyph.- Briefly stated, the Tree is a wonderfu! diagram of forces; rrot

things. If we consider the universe in:which we.live, and then con-sider the nature of our own immediate contact with it, we come tosee we are living in a univbrse in which one of the supreme mani-festations of the underlying reality is that phenomenon which wcterm. "vibration.* All things, all forces and all belnJs are findingexpression in the universe by means of vibrations. When anyonespeaks, the vibrations of his voice are carried by the air. When wesee, the light vibrations are afiecting our optical machincry. Thevibrations of sound aftect our ear, and there is cause to believe thatthe sense of smell does not entirely depend on the wide diffusiooof small particles of the substance smelt. When we consider bothlight andiound we lnd they have an ascending scale of frequency,and into this scale all manifestations of light* and sound can befitted. So the whole universe in which we live is the theatrc of aninfinity of intenveaving forces, and these forces are at work in boththe objective and the subjective levels of both the universe and thesoul of man. The Qabalah declares there is an enonnous field ofacting and reacting lorces and lives, and this field of the conooursoof forces is generally known as "The Adam Kadmon," the HeavenlyMan.

In the body of this Heavenly Man, wc literally live and moveand have our beirg, though we must be careful not to identify thethe Body of. the Heavenly Man with llis essentiol Nature. Truly,in the midst of the Concourse of For@s, we exist, and equally tnrlyin that fmmanent Spirit which is the Heavenly Man Himself, wehuman spirits subsist; since, as the Greek poet wrote, "we are alsoHis ofrspring."

We are living parts of a living organism; an organism which isper-vaded, and is actually cteatsd, by the Eternal Slirit who is atthe same time immanent in it, and transcendent to it.

95.

. This is not to dismi3s thc ..Quantum,' hypothcsis of light. It has its valucboth ia physics and in magic, but p consideration of if hcrc would carryus too far from our choscn ficld.

9796

- !y experience ovcr thousands of ycars the inuminated mystics

of Egypt and Chaldea, from whom this system is derived, w6rf"Oout a system of notation which would enable them to classify someof thc forccs with which they had oome in contact, and so griOuaUya body of knowledge was formed which could be handed-do*n toeueeding generations of students. The very name e B L signifies"from mouth to ear," i.e. it was an oral iradition,-nen.r-fiitt""down until the School of Moses de Leon first gave the SepherYetzirah, the "Book of Formation," and the Zohar, the ..Book ofSplendour" to the outer world., But although the arcane knowledge was passed down in oralform, therc was also elaborated a diagram by means of which therelatiowhips existing between the various forces of the universccould be deduced. The diagram or gtyph is known as Otz Chiim,the Troe of Life.

A cynic once said that words were used not to convey ourthoughts, but to conceal them. Up to a certain point, of @urse, hewas cortect, but the purpose for which spoken language evolvedwas to convey information from one individual to anothir. '

In the infancy of the raoe, a @rtain unconscious exercise oftelepathy was the basis of ommunication, but with the evolutionof the cerebro-spinal nerve system the images which had hithertobeen transmitted by telepathic mcans were now linked with certainsounds. So arose the sequence of thought which we now usc: per-eption, concept, word. Where it is a question of passing on inlor-mation, then the p(rcess is concept and then word. But it wasperception by one or other of the physical senses which gave riseto the concept. Let us explain this in more detail. The little grand-son of the present writer is nbw just beginning to talk, and hiseftorts give a good indication of the process at work in his mind.He has evidently one or two pretty clear concepts which have beenbuilt up by his sense-perception, but they are very comprehensive.All living animals are "Sals" (the name of the household dog being"Sallie"). All men are "dads," and all plants are "flo-flos" (flowers).It is evident that each of thcsc very comprehensive conceptswill have to be split up into many more subdividions, but the genehlconcept has been built and linked with a particular word sound.

Now, all our lives we are constantly varying the mental conceptswhich we have built up throughout our existence, either expandingtheir meaning, or narrowing down according to custom, tempera-ment or conditions. But it must be clearly kept in mind that thebases of all these concepts are the perceptions of the five physical

THE TREE OF LIFE

senses. They provide the "imagery" which defines and forms thevarious conoepts.

Even when we come to so-called "abg&ct'l thinking thc sameprocess is at worh though the connection is more dificult toobserve.

Now it used to be a dictum of the psychologists (and still isfor some of them) that nothing exists in the mind which has notcome in by the gateways ol the physical senses. This we now knowto be incorrect, but if we ilter the statement to rcad "there is nothingin the mind which has not come in through the sensel," then weare nearer the truth. For the superphysical senscs are also recordingtheir perceptions in the mind.

There is, however, one great diffcrence betwcen the physicaland the superphysical senses. The first group derive their imagorftom the external world, the second from the Inner Worlds. Sinoethe personality has been built up by reaction to physical stimuli,all its concepts are in terms of physical obiects and bcingq andconcepts which are built in terms of the Inner Plancs are meaning-less to it. One often meets people who bewail their lack of poworto "bring through" into consciousness the knowledge gained onthc levels of the Inner Planes. Yet, curiously enough, it very oltenhappens that they have actually brought througb a Sreat deal olsuch knowledge, but because the concepts so built up arc of adifferent order to those built up through the physical scnscs theyremain unnoticed by the conscious self.

Now the levels of the Astral Light have been worked upon bythe mind of man, and the earth imagery has been imposed uponthat sensitive astal substance, and so it happens that general des'criptions of the Inner Planes, such as are given by clairvoyants orcommunicated through mediumistic sensitives, arc relativcly ttue,since they describe what we may term the l'humanity'conditioned"levels of the Astral Lighl

But if we wish to study thc basic Forces of the Astral Lightthen we have to use some form of concept based, not upon opticalor sensory properties, such as size, weight, hardness, colour orsound, bui upon pure relationship.It must of course be romembcredthat the mind will always use images of some kind or other' and ifthe waking consciousness has no stock images by which it mayrealise such a form of perception, it will use some of the sensory

images derived from the action of the physical senses.

This is quite all right, so long as we clearly understand that such

images are being used in a reprcsentative epcrty, and ate not the

THE MAGICIAN

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THE TREE OF LIFE

actual things perceived by the inner senses. Of course, a great dealin the Astral Light that concerns the more or less immediate afrcr-death conditions of humanity is capable of being fairly accuratelyexpressed through such physical plane images, since the action of' human minds, incarnate and discarnate, upon the plastic astral sub-stance has resulted in the building-up of forms very similar to thoseof the physical plane. This is done more or less automatically byboth incarnate and discarnate minds, but it may also be done con-sciously and deliberately, and this is what has been done by genera-tions of occult students working on tle glyph of the Tree of Life.The various forces of the Astral Light have been assigred to theirown particular symbolic images, and when a certain astral forcc' is perceived by the clairvoyant who has been trained along theselines, it is seen as a being of a certain type. Now many of thcscrepresentative images are arbitrary and do not aftord any true pic-ture of the reality. Such for instance are the "Deva-forms" seen byHindu psychics, and the "Angel-forms" s€en by many Westernpsychics. Such too are the traditional gnomesr sylphs, salamandersand undines of mediaval magic. In the same class are all..the"spirits" personified by the ancient Greeks as oreads, nymphs,dryads, etc., and when the astral beings concerned are perceived bya psychic who sees in the Greek mode, beeuse of some tempera-mental bias thereto, then those bcings will be seen in thatmode. The same applies to those in whom the medieval mode isstrong. They will see the astral beings and forces under the appear-ance of the gnomes, salamanders, etc.

It must be borne in mind, too, that the tendency of all elementallife (descending, as it is, inro more material forms of substance) isto take any available form presented to it, and such forms are tobe found by the million in the rolling billows of energy which weknow of as the Astral Light. In this book, unless it is otherwisestated, the term Astral Light refers to those levels of the basic AstralEther which have been modified by the action of the minds of allliving creatures upon this planet, including the mind-consciousness

.a.*ra; of.the planet itself, and which present to the observer certain definite- forms. Forms as such are not native to that realm of living energy-. substance which we have termed the Astral Ether, and the forms

to be found in it are the results of the cteative activities of mindsworking downwards from the higher mental levels, or upwards fromthe material levels. So the Astral Light divides natrrally into theUpper Astral with its background of mind and spirit, and the LowerAstral with its background of physical matter.

99

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THE MAGICIAN THE TREE OF LIFE IoI

thought-images we may @nstruct, what might be termed, an ..uFtodate" Tree of Life. Indeed, it is necessary that we should do thiqbut the true apprentice of magic learns also to follow the exampleglven in the New TestamenL of the "wise householder, who bringsforth from his treasure-house, things old and new."

Although 6ur forefathers were ignorant of much that is elemen-tary knowledge to us, they still had keen minds and still encounteredthe same basic human problems that perplex and worry their cleverdescendants of today. In the established system of relationshipswhich is the Tree oi Life, they found a key to open the Ooor ofWisdom, and their meditations thereon have built up into theEgregore of the Tree much that still has a value today. So when wemake our very modern Tree, it is well to realise that if we in thisway make our contribution to that group-thought-form, it" in itsturn, can work through the archaic images within our deeper minds.

The elyph of the Tree may be used for meditation purposes andalso as a plan upon which practical, objective work may be done,but these two aspects of work upon the Tree (we may term themthe subjective and the objective aspccts) use different diagrams.Different in colour, that is, for the method of using the forces inmeditation is difierent from that of using them in practical magicalwork, and this difference is shown in the colours of the Tree.

When considering the colours used for the Tree diagrams, itshould be remembered that for objective magical work and ritualinitiation, the psychic structures which are built up are linked withthe appropriate Sephiroth, and these are coloured in a higher scalethan the connecting Paths between them. But for meditation workconcerned with action upon our own weaknesses, the psychic struc-ture, or Astral Temple, should be in the same colour scale as theconnecting Paths. This enables one to work upon the correspondingcentre in ones own aura. In this connection, it will be seen that thecards of the Tarot pack are alloted to the Paths of the Tree, andby meditation on the card concerned, the appropriate centre maybe stimulated. Direct concentration upon the psychic centres is in-advisable; the conscious mind can so easily upset their delicatecquilibrium.

Careful study of the books already written upon the Tree of Lilewill enable the student to use the Tree in its different colour-scales,and for this reason we will not here give detailed instructions.

If we indicate the principles, then the practical use of them canbe essayed by the student, and it is far better that he should beallowed to make his own approach, even though it may be faulty

But apart from the forms, the truc Astral world continu$ tomanifest under its own laws, and the genius of the adepts of theQabalah'has bein to dcvise forms which may be us'd as'inticatigs{nbols of the particular forces concerned.

-Sb"a mighty and,om_

plcx system of living imagery has been built up around the entratglypfr of the Tree oi Life, and generations of students, nrougfrhundreds- of {rs, harre used and meditated upon this root ryste-mof

tmetaphysical symbolism. This has built upin the Asti'al ugtrt

what rnay be termed the Egregore of the Tree; the composite fivlng"rgul_' of which the glyph of the Tree is the physical boOy..

Those who "work with the Tree,. comi into sympatheticre-lationship with this Egregore, and may gain from it, by aspeciesof-telepathic action, light on their present-day problems, ind kntlw-ledge of the inner realities which transcendithat which they couldtrach without such assistance.

- All magical operations, when carried out by those who havebecn trained in the Schools of the eabdilah, are based on, andutilise, the store of imagcs in thc Egregore of the Trec. All astralforces which may be used in $ueh magic have their o*l symbolicpersonifications in that group of associated images, and Ly con-*tcigqsly manipulating these representative imagEs, the fories ofwhich thcy ar€ an expression are likewise maniirulated.

Since the level of the mind which deals with-such images is thesoqlled "subonscious" mind, it is an axiom n mag4clhat it isthe subconscious mind which is the magical ag€nt 1nc HighPriestess of the Tarot) whilst the conscious mind ls the directingand controlling factor (the Magician of the Tarot)

Thus, all magical operations by the personal consciousness areindirect. Tho actual operation.is performed by the subconsciouslevel of thc mind, working through the appropriate images. This isone of the nost important laws of Magic.

As the reader will see at a later stage, it is possible to make ourown Tree. In fact we mu$t do so if we are to do any real work withthis system. But this does not mean that we should blindly.acceptthe classificbtions handed down to us from our more ancient breti-ren. In this mattcr wc should be ourselves originators. It mustbc remembered that with the increasing knowledge which is sucha feature of our present times, thire are so many new avenues ofthought which were closed to our predeccssors, and from those new

,tlI5"

.11

' Of courrc, lhe Egregore of thc Trce is alrc built in rcalmg far abovp thoAstral- Lig.ht, but thc rame law holds good. Thc higher rcalmr wc may

. tcrm thc "Divinc Astral."

ro2 THE MAGICIAN

in its initial- stages, than simply follow blindly the instnrctions ofanother. At least, so we think.

when using the glyph of the Tree of Life, whether for meditationgrjor maqrcal purposes, it is imporrant to rememb.,;litah";;;-bo]s pusl.be used systematicaily, in accordance with their runcdnarreratronship, for this relationship is the very essence of the Tree, asye.hav_e already pointed out. Thl Tree is

" oiugr". oi *-i"tiilhil.It is-also advisable to work with the oppositis, i.e. m"aitauonl,

magical operation using the Sphere of -Marsr

inoufO G-iroUo*"alV o.* using the sym{Iism of Jupiter.f In this *"y " b"i;;;dcvelopement is assured, and we arl totd ttrat...equit"ib,irr;;'ilbasis of the Great Work..

- Thi! is particularly important when we attempt to use the Tri:efor slcl tlings as psychic diagnosis. Dream interpretation by theuse of the Tree is a most promising line of work,'sind ilr"i6r"",pgdrayed by the symbolism of the sephiroth are to be found in themicrocosm of the soul_of-man as well as in the macrocosm ;i th;outer universe. As the Life-force descends into manifist"ii* i" td;personality it may be deflected or thwarted at any level, and ibeq?9 of symbolism rh.o*T.in- the_ prevailing dreams of the patientwill show which Sephirolhic level is at faul-t.

.In:q considering thls matter of the colour-scales, it must berealised that the colours are not purely arbitrary but are b;*d ;p";a real relationship between thernand ihe forcei ttrey represent. {rrisrelationship may be based- upon a common identity, oi -uy Ue onewhich has been given by the meditations of generati,ons or stua"oc,and which,-thereby, is built into the Egregori of the Tree. rrre san"is true of all the symbols used.on ttre f*. They have ttris-iwo-ilinature.

- ' The student will have perceived that the Tree of Life is a stupen-

dous memnonic system; a system which makes use of tn" ,*iuityodlt ol action ol the consciors, subconscious and superconsciouelevels of the soul. He may, therefore, ask why could we not makiup a Tree of our own and use it for auto-suggistive prrrposest Whyflher witn tne symbolism of the past? ttli, ot *i*i q"i" p"i-sible as.we havc already said, to mike such an up-to-date Tres, butas we already possess, in our deep unconscious, all the arctraicsymbols of the racial past, we may as well use them in our consciouswork, thus linting our conscious and subconscious mental lcvels.- --" opnf Thc Scphirah Gcdulah.

THE TREE OF LIFE

Since the appeal of any system of suggestion is to the subcon-scious, it is evident that a system which uses the archaic symbolswill be far better able to affect the subconscious levels, since itspcaks in their language, than any arbitrary conscious, symbol-system could do.

lVe come now to a very important point. When we study thevarious forms of musical instrument, (apart from percussion in-s8uments) we find there is a clear division into two classes. In theone, which includes the piano, the organ and the various wood-windinstruments, the notes are already made for the musician. He de-Itresses the keys of the organ, or the stops of the wood-wind, andthe coresponding musical notes are sounded. In the second class,which is composed of the stinged instruments, the musician makeshis own notes by his fingering, i.e. he shortens or lengthens theeffective vibratory length of the string, thus causing it to emit thechosen notes when put into vibration by the bow or plectrum.

When working with the Tree in practical magic, we are in theposition of the musician of the second class, we first learn how toproduce the right psychic "notes" as required. This is done by usingthe symbols of the Tree as objects in our meditation. Unless wehave done this properly, our magic will usually be ineftective.

So, in our meditation we take the various symbols of the Tree,tnd consider them in their wo aspects, for all these symbols havetwo sides to their nature. There is the "form" side, i.e. the actualpictorial symbol itself, and there is also the "for@" side, which isthe energy of which the symbol is an expression. This energy existsunder its appropriate aspect on all levels of the soul and the uni-yerse, but on the plane of the Astral Light it is manifest * ernotioruletBrgy.

In building up our symbol-sysrcm in meditation we have tolearn to link, deliberately and consciously, a symbol with its appro-priate force, and to become so expert at it that the mere fact of theeymbol arising in consciousness brings with it a surge of emotionalcnergy of the type associated with that symbol on the Tree. Equally,we must be able, by opening ourselves to a certain aspect ofenotional energy to perceive inwardly with the "minds eye," thesymbol which represents that energy.

In this technical meditation work, the linking-up of the astralenergies with their corresponding forms is best done by building a"phantasy scene" based upon the emotional significance of thesymbol. The more clearly the phantasy is built, the more closelydo you come into contact with the energy concerned. This is one

ro3

,ra, I&

THE MAGICIAN THE TREE OF LIFE

rith ihc ooncsponding foroes thtough the onscious manipulationof tbc rymbolg ooncerned.' It will be scen, th€o, that steady and prolonged meditation onthe Tree is necessary if any p'ractical use is to be made of it'It rnayalso be pointed out that since all thc manifold obiectc of physicallife can be placed on their appropriate level on the Tree, that thcrcldtionrhips existing between thc various Sephirothic groupingswill gradualy build up an innate philosophic syqten within thcmind of the magician.

Thie process is assisted by the use of what are known as r'sccd-

mediations." In using thesc sccd-mditations, the pa4lcularsflatcmcnt is mcdiatcd upon, and then passcd down into thc Un'conscious. It disappears, but at a latet date it reappears quitc rudldcnly in consciousness together with a'host of associarcd ideas, plura rcalisation of its truc meaning which would never have bccnobtained by mere conscious mcdiution upon it All the symbolc onthc Ttrc, and more pqrticulrrly the curibus and c-riyptic "Yetdratlc.tcxts" which arc attributpd to cach Path, can bc uscd in gcd'npdiiations in this way.

tspect of the work. The gogel.eFeltary aspect is developod byconsciously {n$og tle gymbor with the einergy by nediatini umnthe emotional chargctehind it, and then a[oiin!

""ri"-,i, ".3tffi.rstates -to develop within our minds, visuatisifig ih;6pr;p#t"symbol-forms at the same time. After steady pt"itio oo'tf,ia:T;will come a time when the mere thought of Uie emotion *ilr'til;up :Tlo the- waking consciousness thJsymbol-for. oocrod.--

when th$ has been attained, we have bcg,n to work with thealphabit of a new language, and we tearnL put together the variourenergiscd symbols in such a way as to build up *["i *gni ile;-grr as the language of the Mysteries. wtln tn"r"lilgi, aiotheir corresponding forces have been so linted, ;t;"y;;-th;F- lwg ways. In rhe reryntivg mode; if we havi f""rot=ir" pqto-logical "trick" of allowing the imagcs to rise, wtrictr we-ail'";;earlier on, wg may use thcse linked symboli to inaiot" t"

"i,,waking consciousness the fructuating pressures and tides of Gemotional self, and since this emotionai sidc of our naturi is-oon-sl"uv being aftected bv the forces and intefligences Jii," aliir!-igtrt' our eymbols as they rise on thementar decn"wiiibe

";;-lation into p-hy{cal termi of the awareness on its o*n pf"or, otthe lsgal body. In other words, we have 3 controlled anaai-sciolineapsychism..such a systcrm 9f psychic perception tr"r tn.-gr.ill'a'""i-!"gJ o! being capablo of check, since the iuddcn

"*rgJn". oi ,"--lols o.f.another-type will show that the vision is,f;:-wtrh;il-tise., this tyry of psychic pe-rcgRtion becomes very accurate indeed,and merges into a form oJ direct perception oi ttre asuaflcvciwithout symbols.

_ This form of psychic training is one of great value and has the3dyaqtase of being entirery under the con*ot of the ;;kfi-;tf.;It is_ important to make this clear. In thc aabatfutic t;6;;pslchic_ training, the v.ario.s "planes" or vibrationJevets

"," kdi

isolated from one another. To u"sc the expression coinca uy sd;:Fp,-!tt:y are "discrete and not continuous." This .r"* ifr"iiltQabalisticalli-trained psychic does not suffer from ;;t ilJ;cruption of aslgl vision into.his daily wakinglife. Only *h";-fudeliberately wills it are the veils betwd+en ttrJp-nysicat6i th;ff;levels removed.

-- on the objective side, the discipline of the "linking-meditation-temple i"A

"f,"rg"-it", !:?.,j P:1r:lrt Exercrscs or r"nor,r-

ii'.biBn"i".Yt;fr"fotfl ""o.lX"3i"l",,gt";:1il"11wanted,tnonotuc'Jiri

,'

PART TI

THE TRAINING OF THE MAGI€IAN

Chapter IV

PRELIMINARY NOTES

I fN this section of the boolq it is intended that lhe student shouldr bc given srime idea of the training which he must undergo if hci' qould- be_a pactical-magician. It -will be seel a! th:.instruction

rfnfolds, that it is no light task; in-deed to'attain the highcr stagegof magical powet demands an application, an intensity.of effort,ud a perscverancc greater than those required for any other pursuitin life. For indecd this is a Magnum Opus, a Great Work, nothingelsc in fact than the disintegration and reintegration of the stuqclrt'rown" personality.. - Since our personality has been built up in this earthly lifc byour general appreciation of thc principles of pleasure and pain, itsill bc seen that it prescnts a rather untidy appearance. Our house:of life has bcen built of material selcctcd haphazardly from thcworkshop of the Architect, and because we ounelves did the select-bg we tend to o\r€rrate the rcsults of our selection. Thc studenthas to gain the power to rid his personality of those things whichrfcrDot true to plan, and to substitute those which arc. This callslor what has bcen terrred "The first virtuc of the Path": Disfiimi-

-natiop. It is evident, of coqrse, that he needs guidance in the early$rgas, in ordcr'to develop this quality of Disctimination, and thc'bcst guidance, alnrt ftom personal supervision by his teacher, is torcad and meditate upon some one of the many manuals of mysticaldcvotion and thought. Some such are Spiritual Exercises, God Call-lng, The Practisc ol the Presence of God, Interior Castles, Christ in,You, Light on the Path, The Voice ol the Silence, The Ascent otMount CarmeL the Gospel of St. John, The Cloud ol Unknowing,A Serious Call, and many more.

The reading of thcse books and meditation thereon will servcto "key" the student to a certain lev.el of spiritual thought, and heryill find that they will give him a touchstone which will help himto scc those things in himself which are out of plage h the true planof his personality, and also see with what other harcrials he maycorrectly replace them.

: In attempting such alterationq to the personality the studentmugt remember that it is necessary to proceed with caution. It maybc that somcparticular thing in thc personality is a keystoric whichsupports the wcight of much of the personal self. To attcmpt to rc.movc.this betore the correct substitute has becn liftcd into position

IIO THE MAGICIAN

is to risk the ruin of one's house of life. As we have expressed itin the motto on the title- page of this book, ,.Thro"in liiiiii xal house builded; 1nd by tJnderstanding it i.-irt"6ri.r,"o.""Wisdom" and "Understanding', are two 6r tno-trrree liilri"ltSephiroth of the eabalistic Tree of Life.

Let us for a moment consider what happens when we do certainthings. we are moved to action by two types of rti*rii. rrr'"'i'rrtis.the. stimulus we gain from our oum sett-initiated wili una-J"rir".we desire certain things to happen, and we determine trrui-trrrvsh.all. happen The sequence ii -desire-will__."f

*ortiog- fr;;within.

fle seconj gp9 of stimulus comes from persons or conditionsoutside ourselves. The sequence here is stimuius-tho.grri:iJiirg-and resultant action. This sequence we may term reaction.Reaction may be voluT.Fry or involuntary. Usuatty iii, i""ri.i-tary, and our house of life is enriched(?) by a stone selected for usby someone or something not ourselnis. rn n" untgert".ai" -uo,such instinctive reaction is the usual order of ttrings, inJ-Uy;;;use of this, it_is possible to lead the average man-into all finos otqueer paths. It wil be evident that the iore passion"t"

"od in-voluntary the reaction may be, the easier it becbmes t" griO" tfr"pefson concerned into god or evil ways. The classic initan"" ot

the lrishman-who got.ail his pigs to market io t".ora ti.J6t *tI.ing.then in-the opposite direction is a -rery good inustration of nistendency of the human mind, and ttre ieiOency t; Gd';t ;;occult student in his training. when we come to ae builoiirg oithe Magical Personarity it witt be seen how this is enectea, Gt itis necessary to mention it here. In some Eastern systems of train-ing, great stress is laid upon Ekagrata or one-pointedn;; ;i;fi,and the Yoga_ Aphorisyrs- of Fatanjali a",i"iU" -io!";',;iiconscious modification of the thinking principle. rr,e siiJeoi rnusilearn how to inhibit the irrational ,"hiU, which hi; p"r;;;;f *iiofters to stimuli from other peopre or other events, and be himselfthe conscio's originator and modifier of whatever changes ;a;;:sciousness he decides to bring about. So we have

"o,n;;; th" ;Jfi-nition of magic given in the writer's first book* .,uagic is ttre "Jireffecting changes in consciousness at will."Now we come to a point where the best and most detailed in-structions lapse. Thereis a peculiarand personal interactionC;;

the personalities of the magician and hii apprentice, ana ii is in ir,"atmosphere of that interaction that the besi work can be aooe. rii,t Magic: Its Ritual, power and frrpo.r" teqi;;Es).

PRELIMINARY NOTES

' t@osphere cannot be given in a book, but the book may help thc, qpprentie to train himself to the point where such a personal linkvith one of the Craftsmen of the Spirit becomes possible. Then, by8n eternalJaw, when the apprentice is ready, the Teachcr appears.

l,But long beforp this, ft€ iitt tuve met that'Teacher tfuoigh thc. lpcrsorulities who have successively guicled him along the path, fotwhcnever he is ready for the next stage of his training, the neccssary@cher for that Jt4ge comes to him. If this was more fully under-ctood, there would be less "self-bamboozlement" amongst occultttudents, less seeking after "masters" and "initiates." The truentrsters and initiates exist, Dar they do not advertise.

Finally the apprentice must remember that in the end, there isorrly one master for him, the indwelling 'iBeing of Lighl" whosepcrsona or mask he is.

That Higher Self, itself a facet of the Eternal, one with all otherr'facsts, is the ultimate court of appeal, the True Master, and indeedthe True Magician.

Chapter V

THE ASTRAL LIGHT

TIIE next phase_of existence beygnd this physical worrd is usuaflyI known to thc Spiritualists as ..The Spirit World." The Theoso-

phists term it "The Astral plane" and the Hindus speak of it asKanaloka. we are using the old name current in the westernSchools, "The Astral Light " and we do this for a very Oenniiefeason.

- Botlr the spiritualistic and rheosophical names give the ideaof- a "pla@." and this is somewhat misieading. Althorlgh, to

" c"r-

tain ext€nt it is correct to speak o[ the next phase of eiirt"o"" ar aplace, yet this obscures its most salient point. fire more imporantaspect of this Astral Light is its aspcct as a state ol consciiusrcss.!V pging lhe term Astral Light, we avoid the Cgia [nitation ;fthe idea of "place."

The name "astral" comes from the La6n, rclating to the stars.This name was used by the old occultists and it apufoesaiues trresubstance oLthe higher astral levels. Thete is anoitrer interestingpoint here. The old Anglo-Saxon wotd steran, which is based onthe same root as the word "asu?l," means ..to steer,', and is itselflle rgot 9f o1rr pJefifday word. So the astral is ihc steering oidirecting level, and this is very true.

We have referred to the .,subsiance" of the astral levels; whatlt_

tolty Teant by that term? Is the matter of the astral tighi reatfYes, but its reality is of another order. It is taught that iheri arery9 $pects to everything: that which a thing really is, and thatwhich it appears to be. Since the appearancei or ..iccidents,"

asthey are termed, are the manifestations of the realities, they havea reality of their own, but this .,reality" is a dependeni and not aprimary one.

Now each level of existence has its own type of ..substance,"a_nd each grade of substance has its own appeaiince or ..accident."we distinguish here between the basic realiiy of the particular level,and the appearances it presents to the consciousnesses of thosedwelling on it. But there is another definite division which afiects-us more directly. Every level of substance manifests under the dualaspects of Force and Form. In the great glyph of the Trec of Life,the-ry tw-o ajrycts are symbolised as the Righiand Left-Hand pilars,and in the Masonic Order, as the pillars of fing Solomon's Temple,Jachin and Boaz.

THE ASTRAL LIGHT

On the physical plane we are accustomed to its Opc of matternanifesting mainly under the form-aspect. It is stable and fixed;in fact it is difficult to make it obey any force brought to bear uponit

Once mouldpd into a form, it persists in that form (we are nowf€{erriog to what we term "solid" matter). Thus, when we wish to

a house or make a dress, we have laboriously to piece togetherOur material, wp have to havc our material made, and we havc touploy tools of all kinds to shape and build our house or make ourdrcss. This is because that type of matter which we term "physical"nanifests mainly under the "form" aspect. There are certain forms

densc matter which are also manifest to some extent under thciltirce aspect. Such are radio-active'elements of which radium is&c chief. But even here, though the radio-active elements cmit

and themselves change in the process, such change is towards:bore stable and inert types of matter-the form aspect [6ssming

powerful than the force aspect.

";, ' 3u1 the substance of the astral levels manifests chiefly underi$c force aspect of its nature, and for this reason, the "accideats"lnr appearances _of the astral are quite difterent {t-ot tory of our,pnyslcal level. Since astral s{rbstance thus manifests, it does not'b[e any lorm naturally. It may be pictured as an interpenetrating

or from the etheric and physical realms below it.Thus we have a natural point of division in the Astral Light'

I and th€se two divisions are known as the "Higher Astral" and the

"Lrwet Astral."lVe have, therefore, two distinct types of "appearan@s," the

onc which is the natural expression of the astral substance and the

other which is the expression of the consciousnesses of all livingbcings, including those who are.the true natives and fauna of the

astrat Light, and those who are soiourning there €ither temporarilyor semi-permanently, but whose origin and true bome is elsewhere.

It miy be said, "But surely the descriptions given throug[psychics portray a very material and definite state." This is true'6ut atways these appearan@s are the "cf,eations of the created";they are formed Uy ttre power of thought by the dwellers. i1 th9

Astral Light. There are, it must be remembered' nany kinds of

'ttmosphere of "energy-substance" reflecting like a mirror thclo'rms-inpressed upon it either from the spiritual realms abovc iL

i dwellers in the Astral Light.Here we must digress slightly, and considerthe "body" or

"vehicle" which is our natural expression in the Astral Light.

THE MACICIAN

[{"#J;il:'"if,:T#H&HHi'#f"H"ffi:TiHparticular circunstanoes;"h fip.ol; of our Denbnalitv.

*oT-tf"f :'ffi ,a;Tt;".*i't1n*;l*:ffi WF.lh: pn.ni"utfng'"dc 6r ashal and;;;t l substancc which wc arebuilding into it. But, ont-y- a sm&r e"rt;i.6l1fil!f,.ti'fiiilie'i"rcally conscious and dctiberate. .lir-o* rtrrs we arc building upcubconscious thought-habits, and-thisc aconccigys thi;ki;t;"n as they

"r" "r*yJi"l,:frllfT$:#Hmcnta{ bodies_tvpcs of astral substance ,intrn "i"-i"

i,ii" ;frh"general sum of our subconsciousactivity. ri*iu b";; ffi"i'"id-an'" at church on sunday is very de-finitery^oft--sciui'i*'riirvthoughtactivitvduringttri.rest-ot-th;-;;t,'f *trrir#iri.il..litis always-working toward, tn" oLbfirnr"ot of subconsciousthought-habits. so the type of astrar u"ai; posse$ is determinedb1 the majority vote of our .uU"oo*iouJ complexes. When we,ter--min41s our incarnation

-on tt" ont, *a in" ;t'r".LiC,Ii,l*.fryd, thgn ye pess into th" ;;i; ,J.*

",r,i.r,'-*rilrioa,in their grade of astral-matter, ",iO

tfr" -"ttcr which ird;tifelprs we !av9 bullljnto ni.4iii *,rsrro-mental body.Thus. as the Scrintures.ssy, .jEvery na;ioeth to fris o*r-,n o.,,Moreover, becausc dr tne uilk;t;ha;" vibration, we find our-selves in the comoanv 9f those *rio ir*-rt""" built into their astralbodies girnilar gnrdes of astral matter.If, tbcn, our habituar thoughts and emotio-ns have been maintyon th,o lev.cl of the good, the

-beautitut ;;d-td;;;, ail"*tHirgqscl-vegin most congenial company

"oA *, morgfrrrJ*o;Gil;their babitual subconsciourr tasrrion', ion - tt" ptalstic'"rt

"r-irril_stance around us into th9 forme iUcn, to our earthdcvclopedmlnds lepresent such

-goodnesc, beauty-ild t ,rur. So we find oru-rylves in a place of hills_and .'ouotaiir, oitrees and riyers, a landof na.tuql beauty-thc "summcrk;di oiittr carry spirit.arirti. rtpav F thought rhat cven.the grouped ri"a; "ti'i'i.frpu',ft;-ing alogs such lines co.utd ndt prJ"* *"n ,t"#d;;';ffi-an€s. The h'rnan mind is.capa-ute or muctr gto'rct iot, if;irirpTrynt-appeq possible ro it, but we are not?eafing wiih hil;minds arone. lVe have ssid that thc upprt arr"r,ffi G;*t"Iand spiritual realms bcyond, where dweil tho." gr""t fntelliieGwho have gaincd that retative pe*ection wtricrt Ir tnrJ*r "JTi

.carthly prlsnmage. In rhat reaim dwcll al; ths-Shi;f;d;;ianothcr order of bcing, whose thoughts, maGri"tir.O do*;;;;

THE ASTRAL LIGHT

th€ earth plane by the hosts of their subordinate sewants, give torll the phenomena of earthly beauty that atmosphere of ecstatic

' lwc which aftects all who are in tune with it.So in these higher rcalms these thoughts of the Shining Ones

l*.l nearef to lheir source in the Infinite, and hence evoke in theninds of thc dwellers there, the same ecstasy but in far greater&8rce, and this is reflect€d in their minde by the corresponding"carth-images, and so the indescribable thought-forms of the Shining;Oncs are given "a local habitation and a name"; are imaged andlcon under the forms of earth. Not yet is the soul ready or capable

, d cceing these things in the terms of their own natur*for we mustl,?slt before we can run.

It will be seen that we are not dealing only with the thoughtso[ discarnate man when we are dealing with the Astral Ugbt Wellrc also concerncd with the thoughts and feelings of man in thcphysical body as well as with those of the Lords of Light and thcSbiniag Ones.

The great formative and creative forces of the Universc pourdown through the Astral Light towards their materialisato in:ilcnse physical matter, and it is in the Lower Astral that these{rvine foroes are most powcrful.,l'' These forces, too, are working through our subconscioustress,rnd therefore those instincts and passions which we are inclinedb rcgard as low and earthly are in reality divine; it is only whenthcy are out of balance that they become evil. The emotions andprseions should be so governed by the Self that they may be usedtcmperately in the setvice of the God within. This attitude of the

'magician is poles asunder from that which would regard the divine-ly working instincts as evil, and to be trodden underfoot, They p,rovide the basic elemental force which can be directedlnto the true channels of creation, not only on physical, but onrpiritual levels also.

Now the "creations of the cr$ted," the great thought systernsof the minds of men incarnatc and discarnate are the "appearan@s"of the Astral Ligbr But in itself the basic Astral Ether is far difier-cnt It is not a realm of fotms, except as these forms are built upout of its substance, and beyond and through the phantasmagoriaof the Astral LUttq the great tides of force in the Astral Ether ebbrnd flow.

The ever-fluctuating billows and currents of the Astral Lightengender, by sympathetic induction, definite states of mind andcmotion in all who dwell in the sphere of Earth. These induced

U6 THE MAGICIAN

cmotions -and

thoughts are again imaged in the rolling tidcs of theLighg and reinforce those images and currents which Srougbt &;ilto- be1ng. $ action and reaction are set up and intens'ify theirrhy-thmic swing, until finally the accumulated ind inteneified-powais discharged and marcrialised in earth conditions. From the-lowerrealms of the Astral Light proceed those moral and psychic epi-demics which astonish thq world, and from its higher rtahs comethose spiritual impulscs which make for the regeneration of thcraoe.

- For the Astral Light is dual. Like a gliftering fiery scrpent thelower levels of the Light wind thc.ir evil coils arouid the carth;they inspire earth's wickedness, thcy contaminate its inhabitane,1nd gain in a vicious circlc by the pirrerted lnwCr and cnergr which'.is poured out in response to their stimulus.

This is the tcrrestial dragon; "earthly, sensual and devilish,-and within its realms are to be found the darkcst abortions of thehuman and animal-human mind. Here are the matrices of evolu-tionary time, herg are th9 discarded moulds of carly days, the ..dog-

faccd demons of the Pit."Here, too, acting as chennels for thc influences of the Lords of

Unbalanced For@, aro the asEal simulacra,ideas of the ..god!" ofdcath and destruction, of lust and wanton evil; thi tribal glds andfetishe$of primitive nibes; and here also arc the powerr of

-darkness

in whose image ignorant maa has made his gods.So the human racc peoplcs its "current in sp8cc," and its

thoughts and emotions, coalescing with the semi-intelligent forcesof the lower astral, a$ume a semi-independent life of their own.

But there is also a C-clestial Dragon, the Upper Astral, whoscglittering radiance encircles .the carth. From her flow harmony,Fa€, happiness; although far below the Supremc Nature, yet ofhcr aleo it may bc said that "her ways af,e ways of pleasantnersand all her peths arc pea@.":' Wfthin het realm are to be-fprrnd the hcroic inages of the pastHere are thosc migbty ones of past cpochs, their traditional formsstill imprintcd in the Astral Light, and to this region there acoeodall images of the good, the beautiful and the tnre.

But fotms as forms, ar€ not native to thc Astral Light. fust asin our minds thc latent memories persist as "tendencies," ,tot defrttcimages, but may gather around thcm and build up approftateimages, s0 in the Astral Light the forms perceived therein are dueto theimage-building power of thc mind.

But if the mind provides the images, thc.astral encrgies vivify

THE ASTRAL LIGHT rt7

and make potent those images, bringing them'a stage ncarer theirmaterialisation in the physical world.

So the Astral Light, in and through which the magician works,must be thought of as an interpenetrating atmosphere of pureenergy-substance, fluidic and plastic, reflecting like a mirror thefoms impressed upon it either from mental and spiriual realmsabove iL or from the physical realms below it.

Such is the Astral Light, and in this Light exist forces andF)wers which may lift us to the eternal statt, or drag us down toabysmal slime.

Chapter VI

THE INVISIBLE BODY

WI{EN the average person begins to take an interest in masic,v v he is very often discouraged by what he feels to be thc com-

plexity of the magical systems. But this is siniply because lie'iswithout any guiding principles which, like Ariadne's thread wouldlead him through the maze. Wtren, however, these principles havebeen understood, then the whole magical complex becomes rclative-ly simple. It is an essential law of the true magical tradition, thatthe neophyrc should start with the study of certain definite laws andprinciples which underlie the whole subject. When these have beenmastered, the various details of magie fall into place, and the wholemagical system can be viewed as a unity. For behind all the varioussystems there is one philosophical thought-form, based upon thatparticular philosophy known. as Monism. Briefly, this philosophyteaches that all things, manifest or hidden, are "parts of one stupen-dous Whole," and that there can be nothing which is outside thatWhole. "By Him (the Logos) were all things made; yea all thingsboth in heaven and earth; with Him as the indwelling Life do allthings exist, and in [Iim as the transcendent Glory do all thingsIive and move and have their being."r

We do not propose here to discuss the thorny problem of the.existence of evil, etc., except in so far as it directly affects.our sub-!ect. In any case, it is the faith of the magician that our three-dimensional brain-consciousness is unable at the prcsent time toapprehend the realities behind the veil of appearances. That formof mystical consciousness which develops from the magical workgives an illumination which enables the personal consciousnesg torise above the "pairs of opposites," and to see the cosmic'schemefrom another point of view. At first this higher perception will onlyshow itself in very brief flashes, but as the magical training procecds,these ffashes of illumination increase in duration, until finally, itis possible for the trained magician to live entirely on the higherfanges of his spiritual nature. Since, however, the brain-conscious-ness is under a heavy strain when this hrgher perception is active,we find that all the great occultists recommend a rhythmic"approach-and-withdrawal" in order to check spiritual "lopsided-ness" or "out-of-balance."

This concept qf. tle unity of all life iS a background again6-t. Part of thc Eucharistic Liturgy of thc Libcral Catholic Church.

THE INVISIBLE BODY

which all else must be judged, and it is therefore a cardinal-indeedthe primary-principle of the Magical Art. For a fuller considera-tion of the monistic philosophy, the reader is referred to the workson the subject listed in the bibliography at the end of this book.Though this is the cardinal principle of magic, there is anotherwhich is a very close second. This is the "Hermetic axiom," saidto have been engraved on the famous Emerald Tablet of Hermes:"As above, so below." We must, however, be careful not to reverseit when we consider its applications, since we "below" can havebut an imperfect comprehension of the nature of anything, andtherefore our mental concepts will of necessity fall far short of thereality.

But "above" is the Reality, of which "belovr" is an expression,a true expression and correspondence under its own mode, but notthe Reality in itself.

Although the "below" is necessarily imperfect, nevertheless itis one a3pect of the Whole, of the "above," and therefore any actionin the phenomenal worlds (whether those worlds are physical orsuperphysical) which is a true "correslnndence" with some aspectof the "above," will tend to link up the levels of consciousness,and "draw through" the Cosmic Energy, or Grace of God. It isstated in the Qabalah that the physical plane, Malkuth on the Treeof Life, causes an influence to descend from Kether, the highestSephirah on the Tree.

In a magical rite, therefore, apart from the psychological eftectsit may produce subjectively within the mind of the magician, thereis a "drawing through" of power, and this power may be used inrDany ways.

Now, the closer the "correspondence" between any magical actand the realities "above," the more efiective such an act will be,and for this reason, it is very necessary for the magical student soto construct his magical ritual, that it may effectively draw throughthe maximum amount of power f,e is able to handle without risk.This must be emphasised. It is no part of the magical work to takeunnecessary risks, either alone or in company.

The next principle with which we must deal is that of theEgregore, or gtoup-consciousness. When two of three or manypeople gather together in one place to perform certain actions, tothink along certain lines, and to experience emotional influences,there is built up, in connection with that group, what may be termeda composite group-consciousness, wherein the emotional and mentalforces of all the members of the group are temporarily united in

II9

"'t*i

I2O THE MAGICIAN

what is known in occultism as a group-thought-form, or ..artificiale,l,emental." This group consciousness scems io have rmuch;ALpow:T than thc_simple sum of the objective minds in G?;pwo'ld suggect. Thig is becausc, not only is it a group-trro"grrtT"rnbrilt up by the consaozs minds of those conccrneA; ii is aldtormeOthrough a-linkiry-uR Ftroqwhat we may call the..t *-n*tioi.parts of the subconscious minds of all who herp to brild ii;;.since tho'se subconscious minds reach back on the onc hand iniothe collective unconscious and on the other r"actr upwaras intothc.rcalms of the superconscious, the groupthought-io;"is ;y.hi-cally linked wi-th, or contacted on to, many aspects of thouchf anamany

-fgrmq of psychic-mental energy. Thirs ii is ereateitn?o

"ovgum of its paru.

-when the group ce,a$es to meet, this artificial eremental tendsto bccome passive and quiescent, but when once mofc a group i$founded, whether it be the original group or noL then til'" o"r.chadowing groupthought-form -makei

contact wit-tr it, "na

*orr,through -its members. Now, the use of any form oi ritual andceremonial tends tri make a sGreotyped form, which will, if the samiritual and ceremonial be used, as wis used by its founders, *unit"rtitself in the same way. Wbere such ritual and ceremonial'work trasbecn canicd out for niany yiars, or even centuries; the resultant ani-fcial clemenal is built up into a very powerful centre of conscious-ness, and one which has had built into it the powers, faculties andideals of all those who through the years havi used ihose forms ofwords and actions. Not only those in the body, but the group work-ing bchind the Egregore on the Inner planes,-will also ionttiuut tothe building up of the form; for, as the yetziraric text has informedus, Malkuth causes an influence.to f,ow.from the prince of counten-ances which is in Ketlrcr. tn otirer words, we form,u groop oo Gphysical plane, and simultaneously we draw into uni6n with our-sclves a-similar group on the Inner plaaes. upon each level of theInner Planes is a similar group built, until wi come to the realmswhere thc primal impulses which first began the work of creationare still to be found, vibrating their notes, which are the realitiesbehind all phenomenal appearances on all the plancs of life.

- .\o1", amrding to the gpe of group will be the impulse undcrwhich it works,r this is that upon wnich the group-thought-form isbuilt,-and pf wtrictr it is maintained. Now, upon.ttris priiary struc-turc there have been formed what correspond to the nbsn ani uloodof the body, T<! this_ !9{y] ir a thing of stow growth. When the. Suc.! imputrcs arc pcrsoninca in th" .G.d;;f th;-i6t;;-Ar;[.ng.t, .t".

THE INVISIBLE BOD.Y tzr

grerit archaic rituals are used, the growth has been in progress formany, many enturies, in some cases for many thousands of ycars,and much has been built into them whigh is not in truc correlpon-dence with the ovirshadowing impulse. At the same time it mustbc rcmembered that where such a psychic attribution is made overmany years, it has become a true channel for the energy of theEgregore, though a secondary one. An instance is thc aitributionof the lily to. the Virgin Mary. This is a secondary attribution,whereas Her blue robe is a primary one, linking up in the Chdstian\gr1S9re wrth primordial cosmic Archetypal

- images. In the

Clrqstian religion, the Church is regarded as the .mystical Body"of Christ, and it must be remembered that the Churb-h, aocordiirgto its own authoritiis, includes tne Cnurch Militant he; on ;rth:lhe Chqryh Expectant in the After Life, and the Church Triumphantin the Heavenly Places. Also it extends through all time, sincc ar

. St Augustine puts it, "That which is norv called Ctristianity hacnever at any time since the creation of the world ceascd to cxistOnly"now has it been called Christianily." In its deepest aspccts,this Mystical Body subsists in the timelessness of Eternity, and'forthis reason some of its teachars declare that its central clremonialbrlngs its members into a timeless contact and experienbe of thatYy{:ty which was expressed in cartbly time aid space througbthe life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ

We may thus define the Egregore. It is the resultanq in the InncrWorlds, of the united concepts, emotions, and symbolic words andactions of the followers of the particular cult or faith, throughoutthe whole of its history. Just as we have tn Egregore for everyreligioris faith, so have we a Magical Egregore for whqt we Eayterm the Planetiry Tradition of the Earth. But withi'n this all-'embracing group-thought-form (which, it must bc remembered.exists as a living entity on the Inner Planes) therc are difterentia-tions. The first diffcrentiation is.into two main traditions, theEastern and the Western. Though basically at orie, thc methods ofthese two fiaditions arc adapted to the conditions of the races ofthe East and West respectively. On philosophic levcls, and in theirhigher degrees, the two traditions unite to form ihe PlanetaryTradition, but in their lower aspects, and in their methods of train-ing, there is considerable diverf,cnce

There is no r@son why the Western magician should not studythc philosophy and principles evolved by his Eastrrn brother, butwhen it comes !o the practical work, there is danger in what may

122 THE MAGICIAN

be called "magical mis-mating." All magical work should be donewithin the Egregore of the appropriate tradition.

Although we have stated that the relevant tradition should befollowed, this does not mexrn that we must only use such traditionalforms as have been handed down to us. Some such traditional fornshave of late years been given odt publicly, but a careful examina-tion will show that quite a lot of the detailed work is, in point offact, unnecessary. Here again, we see that secondary attributionshave often been mistaken for primary ones. However, since theyhave been so used, they will work in the right hands; but we may,if we will, construct our home-made rituals, basing them upon theprimary principles, and by them we may succeed when the-initiateof a genuine magical school, though using the traditional ritual andceremonial, may fail ignominiously through his lack of realisationof the principles involved.

If our home-made ritual is built up on the lines of the trueprinciples of. the Egregore of our tradition, then by a process of in-duction we may draw power from that tradition, and become linkedwith it. Now behind every magical school, behind the Eastern andWestern Traditions, and again behind the Planetary Tradition, thereare people, men and women of all grades of development, and thes€people, who are the Stewards or Guardians of their respectiveMysteries, are only too glad to work with and through anyearnest student who is working along their line. It therefore happensthat an individual group of magical workers is drawn into psychicand spiritual contact with the Guardians of the Mysteries. Fromthenceforward it becomes a centre througtr which they may work.

Such a great privilege brings with it increasing responsibilities,but also increased opportunity for work in the service of the ElderBrothers of humanity.

Each country has its own group of "Watchers" and the normalmagical evolution of any member of that country is within thesphere of that group. But to every man his own master. Some thereare, who are Easterns in Western bodies, of whom the late AnnieBesant was one, but they are the exception rather than the nrle.

Chapter \III

VISUALISATION AND AUDITION

EOR successful magical work it is absolutely essential that theI operator should be bble to buitd up mental.images, since, agwe have seen, the forces of the Astral Light are directed and con-trolled by such mental images. It is therefore evident that the would-be magician must gain proficiency in this image-building if he isto do any eftective work.

There are several points to be remembered when one is begin-ning to train the mind along these lines. One, and most probablythe most important of them all, is that the mind strongly opposeg8ny attempt to train it, and will resort to the sEangest of tricks inorder to prevent its owner'in any way attempting to do so. Thescpsychological tricks vary from a simple forgetting to do the exerciscto a very dcfinite feeling of headache, palpitation and gencralmalaise. The mind judges, and usually quite correctly, that anyadveme physical symptons will alarm us and so tend to mako.usdrop our training. The reason for this trait of the mind is simplythat the mi{d is a geature of habit and once certain patterns havcbeen established within it, it tends to work cixclusively along thosclines. Any new suggestions which tend to break up the existing statcof things arouse strong subconscious opposition. But if the eftort ispercevered in, there comes a time when the new pattern is acceptedand henceforth it will be as difrcult for the person concerned torevert to the earlier pattern, as it was for him to adopt the laterone.

How, then, may we best go to work in this training? Modetnpsychologists tell us that it is impossible to stop the flow of 'the

conscious mental images in the waking consciousness, and stillremain awake and conrcious. But the Yogis say it ir possible to befully awake and at the same time t6 keep the mind perfectty blank.This for them is a matter of personal experience. In practice onefinds it r's possible to keep the mind clear of images, yet alert andready to acL But in order to do this, the mind must be Eained, andthe statement of the psychologists omits this conside-ration.

For success in this, as in all magical work, it is essential thatwe keep ourselves firmly anchored on the objective levels, and thisis best done by buitding images which are mental picturd of thingsaround us, and only when considerable proficiency has been gaincd

should abstract and purely mental concepts be visualised.

'.!,1 \

r24 THE MAGICIAN

There are two difterent methods of mental form-building andeach complements the other. So the path of true wisdom in thesematters lies midway between. Both methods should be carefullyand persistently worked with, and it will be found that they bothhave their justification, so that one is hindered by the absence ofthe other.

In one case the experimenter trains the mind to constuct someimage, not too simple, and such construction is carefully caniedout. We may term this method the "Creation of Images." The reasonwhy the image should not be too simple is that the mind requiresvariety and will soon tire of a simple picture, and tend to slip awayfrom it.

In the second case, the mind is held by the will in a quiet andpassive condition, and the images are allowed to rise in conscious-ness. This method may be termed the "Evocation of Images."

Now the impressions received from the five physical senses pro-vide excellent material for the work, and by the very fact that theyare denved from the physical plane, they tend to keep the mind intouch with the objective realities of physical life. Although we havconly referred in the title to two of the five, the visual and audibleimages, the images from all the senses must be worked upon. Thefollowing exercises along the two lines already indicated will showhow the training works, and any amount of similar exercises canbe devised by the experimenter himself. It is well to remember thatthe pictures seen when we are just falling asleep, or when we atejust awakening, are both of the "images rising' type known topsychologists as the "hypnopompic" and "hypnogogid' images.

When the two types of exercise have been practised for a littletime, it will be found that there is a very real difference betweenthem.

The development of the power of visualisation along the linesof the "image-arising" is greatly facilitated by the exercises heregiven, but it must be borne in mind that the relationship betweenthe conscious and subconscious levels of the mind, when performingthese exercises, must be that of the two principals in the Tarot card"the Lovers," i.e. one of happy co-operation; not an attempt tobully the subconscious into obedience.

In this connection the remarks of a writer on Alchemy areworth remembering. He says,i and he is speaking of one aspect ofthe subconscious, "She yields to nothing but love." In the Tarotcard above mentioned the woman looks to the angel above, whilst- ci

" t

" i-rii";; bt-Th;;*-v;shan ipru r esol

. VISUALISATION AND AUDITION t25

the man, representing the conscious level of the mind, looks at thewoman, percciving in her, as in a mirror, the angel shc perceivesdirectly.

Some modern systems of concentration and visualisition do tryto conhol the subconscious by force, but the results they obtain arenegligible.

Since, however, tne subconscious levels are afiected by the un'seen psychic and psychological tides of- the universe (tides whichwork through the magnetic sphere of the earth) it will be found inpractice that there are times when it is far easier to establish thenecessary contact between the conscious and subconscious levels

than at others, and every apprentiee to the magical art shou.ld care'fully note thesc times and draw up a chart of their fluctuations.Then by comparing his chart with objective data, hd-will find thatthe positions of the plane$ and the moon seem to be linked withoertain phases of the subconscious life. If this work is done steadilyand conscientiously, the "dry periods," when work with the imagesappears almost impossible, may be checked, and provided-against.Ii is foolish tb endeavour to swim against the tide (though sopc'times this must be done deliberately in order to develop independ-

enceof action). "The wise nian rulei his stars: the fool obeys them."-This is true, but in this, as in all occult work, discrimination is thcfirst virtue. The teal virtue is to know when and how to act orrefrain from action, but for the beginner it is well if he observes

the set of the tides and works accordingly. At a later date he can

essay the deeper waters and swim against the tides if needs be.

'ihe rcgular and conscientious performance of allowing the

images to ri:se will tend to establish a channel by whlch many mentalconflicts which wcre hitherto held in the unconscious' may cornc

up into the daylight of the conscious mind. This is all to the good

for it enables the self-consciousness to deal with such repressions,

to break them down and to restore the locked'up psychic energf

which ensouls them, back to the leneral river of energy, thus in'ccasing the available force of the individual.

There is in magical work, an operation known as exorcism,whereby "evil" spirils are driven out of the individual or place in'fested by them. The Christian Church, in its older branches alsopractisei such exorcism, as also do many spiritualists. But whetherit ue ttre magician or priest or leader of a spiritualist "rescue circle."one thing must be donC if the exorcism is to be effective: the spiritto be eiorcised must first be brought. into material conditions as

,,;*l

126 THE MAGICIAN

fylly _as possible. It is not possible to exorcise a spirit who isn'tthere! So evocation must always precede exorcism.

Now the practice of allowing the images to rise does mean thatthe repressed complexes, which are semi-independent mentalgroups,-and may therefore be legitimately personified as ..spirits,,'are- evoked and begin to rise, and at first it seems likely that thewaking consciousness may be dronmed in the rising sub*onscioussea. At a later date such a submergence, but a witkd submergenoe,of the "flyer," i.e. the waking consciousness, in the .,sea" oi sub-oonsciousness, must be attempted, but at the commencement of theexercise this must not be done as it usually leads to a form of trancewhich is not in itself productive of anything worth while.

Notes should be kept of the complexes which arise during theperid when we are doing these exercises, and it must be remem-bered that as the psychic energy which was locked up in thosecomplcxes is released, there will be some pretty violent emotionalfluctuations taking place in consciousness. Thii phase, which is adefinite stlge on the "path of self-knowledge," must always be ex-pected and arrangements made to deal with it. It is the period whenthe "dross and scum" mentioned by the alchemists begrns to rise tothe surface.

But the apprentice must not think thal once this mental scumhas ceased to rise, the purifying process is completed. There willalways be a purging process as the self advancei to higher levels,but the first purging is the most obvious, the later ones aie far moresubtle.

Here we come to one of the uses of the method of the ..creationof images." If the mind has been trained to build definite imagesat will, then it can build up barriers which will prevent the unwaniedintrusion of these uprising thoughts and emotions, and so keep themental field clear for whatever may arise from the depths or descendfrom the heights of consciousness.

The two methods employ distinct and difierent mental powers.In thc case of the "evocation of images" il1s mind is brought intoa controlled state of passivity and the images arise on the blankmental screen.

In the "creation of images," such images are deliberatety builtup by the conscious mind. In the first case, what is required is aertain psychological knack of controlling the mind. In thc secondcas€, the steady application of the will and the visualising facultyis needed.

Let us now consider the frst exercise in image-building. It is a

VISUALISATION AND AUDITION t27

rrcry simple one, being "Kim's game" as recorded in the book Kim,by Rudyard Kipling. A number of articles are placed on a trayand covered by a cloth. Then the cloth is removed and the experi-m€nter looks at the assorted objects for one,minute. Then the trayig again coverd, and the student writes down the description of asmany of the articles as he can remember, and their position on the.tray. This sounds so very simple, but in actual practice it is muchmore difficult than it appears.

This exercise very often reveals to the student some of the weakspots in his mental functioning. For instance, if he finds that c€rtainarticles are almost invariably forgotten ri'hen used in this exersise,he may be fairly certain that this is due to some psychologicalhappening in his mind, and"is not simply chance.

By using the object thus indicated as the starting.point of ameditation, he may be able to draw up from the depths of the sub-onsciousness the particular thought-complex which is causing thetrouble. When the repressed emotion locked up in this complexhas boen discharged, it will be found that the obiect connected thgre-with has ceased to be in any way different from the other articlesused in the exercise.

Wben comparative eftiency has be€n reached with this exercise,the next may be commenced. Actually it may be startcd at the samctine, if the apprenticO magician has the neces$ry time to devote toiL Incidentally, thcse exercises may be attcmpted at any time whichis convenient, but if a regular time can be set apart for them, so

much the botter. There is much to be said for using a definite timefor thc work, but uader the cohditions prevailing around thc siudentit may well be impossible to do this. This should not be regarded

. as a great drasback, but the exercises should be carried out whenit is possible to do them. The ingenuity of the apprcntice can beus€d to adapt the exercises to his daily work. For instance, a store-kcerper could make his work one long exercise in "I(im's game,"

and as proficicncy is gained, he would become a bctter storekeeper.' The next exercise is som€what different. It consists of gaining

thc peculiar knack of the re-focussing of perception, a cardinal men'tal 1nwer, and is performed thus:-"Transfer the vial cfort fromthc optic nerve to the mental perception, or thought'seeing as dis'tinct from the sceing with the eye. Lct one fotm of apprehensionglide on into the other. Produce the reality of the dream vision bypositive will in the waking state . . . . "r. lnstructionr gvcn ia The Goldcn Dawn, Yol.4, page 16.

I28 THE MAGICIAN

This was the instruction given in The Golden Dmvn in connec-tion with what are known as the Tattva visions, but purely as amental exercise it is of the greatest value. Actually it is twofold,for it should also be practised "in reverse," i.e. efforts should bemade to transfer a mental picture into apparent objectivity so thatit may be seen, apparently, by the physical sense. Actually of course,it is not seen by the physical eye (except in certain rare cases) butit appears to be observed. The vision seen by a clairvoyant s€er ina crystal or black mirror is an example of such a "projected" mentalpicture. It is well to remember that this is a willed ot voluntaryprojection, since it is a characteristic of certain forms of psycho-pathology that such projections of mental pictures oeur to thesufierer, but are involuntary. It is well, tlerefore, if the studentalways so ananges this particular exercise as to make it an entirelyvoluntary happening. It should tuver be done except when he willsto do it, and this must never be when he is occupied with the ordi-nary munda,tu duties. Also, and this too is important, he must care-fully select the thought picture which he wishes to project, andmust not allow (at least for this exercisc) any chance mental pictureto be used.

The present writer has found that one of the best ways of carry-ing out the first part of this exercise is to place the object in a goodlight on a monochrome surface, either dark or light, and use a paperor cardboard tube some eight inchcs long and two and a half inchesinside diameter, through which to gazn at it, using the left andright eyes alternately. Or the tube may be made rectangular, so thatboth eyes may be used at the same time. Then, as the object isbeing steadily held in the field of qision, the eyes should be slightlythrown out of focus, as we sometirires do when we are "day'dream'ing," and the visual picture now apparently brought mentally withinthe head. This is a psychological "trick" which is usually onlyacquired after a great deal of effort and failure. It is analogous tothe knack of learning to balance when we first attempt to ride abicycle. Once the knack has been gained, it will be found increas'ingly easy to bring this visual image into mental apprehension. Afurther devetopment is to close the eyes-{uring the 6rst attemptsonly slightly, then more fully in subsequent ones, until the finalstage is reached when the student is able to see clearly inside hishead, as it were, the picture of the object concerned, his eyes beingclosed in the meantime.

Once this has been accomplished, and practise has made it fairlyeasy, the complementary half should be essayed. The obiect chosen

VISUALISATION AND AUDITION 129

should be observed, and the perception transferred in the usualway to the subjective meptal screen. Meanwhile a monochrome

surface, such as a white disc on a black surround, or a black disc

on a white surround, or a crystal or black concave mirror, should

have been placed so that the student can use it as a screen uponwhich to project his mental picture.

He sh-ould now op€n his eyes sufficiently to see the disc or mirror(which should be in a dim light) whilst still holding th9 gicture 91ihe mental screen. Then by a guiet, calm eftort of will he shouldproject the picture outwardly onto the screen.' Again, there is a psychological knack to be gained, but once itl's gained, and stabilised by subsequent practise, a very $eat step

foivard has been taken. It must again be emphasised that this pro'jection should only be done deliberately at the will of the apprentice

magician, and any involuntary proiections should be sternly resisted.-When

the knack has been gained' it is possible to project such

a mental image so clearly that it is to all intents and purposes as

though one were perceiving it with the physical eyes.

A further stage in this mental .proiection is one which is notoften met with 6utside the occuli'lodges. It is possible, it'ihemagician has the materialising type of body, or can -employ amaierialising medium, to cause Such mental images to- be clothed

witfr ectopfismic substance aid become visible to the physical

senses of all Present.Another way in which an apparent objectivity cal b.e grrren to

the projected images, is by a process of "telep-athic radiation." Here

ifi" broi""t"a imalge, tocaiiseC in one point of space, becomes what

tire isytnic rer"arihers term a t'phantasmogenetic @ntre," and the

,io,,itrin"ous telepathic radiation by the magician induces Yhat l.1n;il as a ..collective hallucination" in those around. Again, this

il ;;t usually experienced outside the lodges' except apparently

accidentally.- ttt" technique of this latter metlrod depends upon-certain tfain'ing

",tictr allows the conscious mind to be more closely linked wjtb

ifu'r"U"onr.ious levels. The magical feat known as the "Operationof Invisibility" is based on this technique, though, in some cases'

something more enters into it, for the ectoplasmic.substance-canproduce lome very unusual efiects. The present wriler once took

; ph;i" of a high grade occultist. On developing- the filP' .thereilr-;trace of itre-figure of the person concerned, though all t[echair in which he wai sitting at the time showed quite clearly. ItilI;i as tno"gf, a photo f,ad been taken of an empty chair. In

'i

r3o THE MACICIAN

the East theri'ii a traditibn ofsuch "akashic'shields" which canproduce invisibility, and it may be that further research into theproperties of the substance we know of as "ectoplasm" will bringnew fasts to light, bcaring upon this subject. In the case of thepurely mental operation of invisibility, it is to be remembered thatwe normally notice those things which either strike us forcibly, orin which we have some definite interest, or which are sufficientlyisolated as to atmct our attention. But a great deal of what wesee is not noticed consciously at qll, though, as hypnotic grperimgntsprove, the memory is retained in the mind and can be brought upinto consciousness.

If; therefore, the one who wishes to be unnoticed adapts,suchmannerisms, or alters any unusual appearanoe he may have, it isquirc possible for him to pass in a crowd without being noticed byus. If, in additibn, he has gained the knack.of telepathic suggestion,then he affects those around him as the hypnotist affects his en-Ganced subject, when he tells her that she wiil be unable to rceanother person who is in the room.t

The occultist, Dion Fortune, teimed this particular occult olrr-ation "psychological hocus pOcus," and so it can be. But iust st"hocus pocus" is the ultra-protestant garbling of the .Words ofConsecration in the Roman Church, "Hoc est Corpus Meum," . . .

so the operation of invisibility is a ,misuse (as a general rule) of thatmighty power within by neans of which the trained magician mayproduce changes of consciousness in others. It will be rememberedthat we referred to the two typgs of magician, and herc we havethem at work. In all magical work these two types will b€ found,but trouble arises when one school of thougbt dwells exclusivelyupon one or other aspecl However, the physical materialisationof the image is much more un@rnmon than the collective mental,but it does take plaoe.

So far we have been dealing with visual form building, but theli2ining of the magioian extends to all the senses. The techniquewe have here given for visual work, should be extended to covcf,

all the other senses. In practicc it will be found that the usual scale

of sucoess in these evokings will bo hcaded by either vis"al oraudible images, followed by taste, smell, and touch, in that oldcr.

When training for audible image-making, the use of a graduallydiminishing sound, such as the note of a tuning fork is a great hclp,

IThc story given in St. Lul,c, Chap. V, 30, ruggests that Jcauc madc urc ofguch an bpcratioo of invisibility on occasion.

VISUALISATION AND AUDITION I3I

and the projection of the audible images is assisted by u9i1g the

old gipry trick of "listening to the sea" fn the large--sea'sheflg' so

co-irbnty used as ornamints in Victorian tirnes. If we wish toprovide a more modern "audible screen" upon which we nray pro-

iect our audible image, we may use a pair of headphones which

ire energised by an electric culTent so regulated as to give a sq?dy

"note" ii ttre pirones, and capable of being so adjusted l!-to allowof varying noies being used. This variatio-n in the audible sdeen

is tha ioaiogy in sound of the "Flashing Colours" used in the medi-

tations basfi on the glyph of the Tree of Life. As with the visual

work, so in the auaibGl involuntary audible proiections Putt F"U-rJii.tf

lefi out. If they persisg I visit to a good psychologist

(preferabiy one of the School of Jung) is indicated, together withah immediate cessation of all magical work.

It is no part of the magical training that one shall acquire new

po*itr at the expense of dne's sanity. It is for this reason that the

ienuine occult sihools and orders insist that any'natural psyg-hid'

iltro wisttes to join them, must close down his faculties until hc

has been thoroughly trained along the occult line; and experielcc

tras proveO the niceisity for this rule, which is found in both Eastern

and Western traditions.When doing the audible exercises, a very good method is.the

following, whiJh has been used successfully by the pfe*t writgr.

It involvis co-operation with a sympathetic helper, so under oryTcircumstances ii may be out of court, but where it can be used itis very efiective.- iit ih" h"lp"t, whose voice should be familiar to you, speak

slowlv in his normal voice, taking some piece of poetry or some

i"r"ri,f pi""" of reading. Using the sa-m-e method as in the visual

iork, tansfer perceptio.-n to the mental levels. (Aftef ".ioute.

the

helper should stop speaking and remain gT"t).'Wt ro the shiit of auaiUte perception has become fairly easy,

the reverse projection should bi a$emprcd, the shell or earphones

brought into usi, and the audible images projected until they appear

objective.A further stage, when this proficiency has been attained in some

measure at leasi is to "hear imaginatively" some.ne, whose voi@

ir t".iti"t to you, giving a lecture. The lecture must first be formu'lated by you, but at some one point you should cea.flt to formulate

and siiply i.listen" mentally; the subconscious will ca''y on the

lecture, "oa

yoo will simply listen to it. The final stage of this is

r32 THE MAGICIAN

when the audiblc images are projected and you hear the toice appar-ently objectively.* Again the warning: projection of the audibleimages MUST BE VOLUNTARY and under the. control. of thewaking self.

This exercise is invaluable when the student essays the work ofthe "Chaldean method," where the Names of Power are "vibiated."\ilhen the mental training has been brought to a fair pitch of pro-ficiency the visual and audible images arising will be capablc ofbeing used for purposes of communication between the consciousand superconscious levels of the student's nature, and will form thebasis of the voluntary and controlled psychism which is requiredfor the deeper ranges of the work.

The student from his own ingeniurn will be able to constructsimilar exercises for the other three senses.

It is important to relax thoroughly before attempting these exer'cises, aird slow deep breathing should be employed in order toreduce the excessive speed of the mental action.

If these exercises are carried out methodically until proficiensyis gained, the apprentice magician will be equipped for the nextstage of his training.

' This qivcs a cluc to thc phenomcna known to thc spiritualists as "dittctvoicci' Thc direct voice ircdium is of the physical or materialising IYPG'urd discarnate cntities producc through him thc same phenomcna as thoroproduced by thc voluitary cffort of thc magician who has the Datunlmatcrialisini type of body.

Chaprcr VIII

woRDS OF POWER: THE MAGICAL USE OF SOUND

OSTof us have memories of the many,stories told us in our

chitdhood wherein "'"ii ottoin wolas. and phraset.*:lwere held to have *ugi*f power and- significance' The "Opeo

s"*t"";- of Aii Bababi;*tt"" @ve, the -"Abracadabra" of the

."giai"n, and many more-suctr magical phrases' all focussed our

attention upon the p..tiUiiiti"r htlnt wittrin certain words and

names. But we o'"t" ooi *ique in this' In all agcs' and in $l nar!1

.i-i-ft" *otfA, the idea that names and words had magical powcr

has been held.*-il;;; paiiicutarty in the East this subject has been made the

"bj;;;i i""p ttuai uni iit"ut"tt' though -our

own Western Sctip

tures show that the orni iA"" was held by the peofleaom whom

-"Jtt?"tt'dntitti- i"aching was primanlv derived' It was an

ancient Mystery t ".tting-tlui

GoA tryIt'and the worlds became"'

ilti;iliffiunOertines"Uoitr the teactring of the Alexandrian Jew'

iiifJ,'i"J-n"t "i O"-""in"r of the magsificent prologue ta the

Gospel of St. John. A-^-.^- -!-,r-- a noma-- ilih; Old Testament we read of the Creator giving a name

to ti" it.t man, and il". tft"t first man grving I laqe -to th? |rst

;;;": w" reaa atoitrat the animals were brought before A91-

and by whatsoever n"rn" ft" *fled them' that was their name' Cfhe

pi*"rit writer, ". " .tiia' tegarded this naming feat of Adam as

something in the natuie6t a-majot miracle! To invent names for

;iiiili;t""timats seemed to call for supernatural inasinlqion)"' |;G we reao of Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham'

"nJ*" i"utn, too, of ttre ilestling of_Iacob with the Angcl at- the

l;;,';';;;iltiiou tett me thv Naie,I will not let fhee go"'an9 ye

are told that because rr" rr"a so wrestled with the Anggl -9-t

thc

Presence, his name n"as cttang"a Jo Israel ('striver with God")'

Later comes ttte a"couni oi the Theophany in the Burning Bush'

when Moses o,u, gi"Jiil-N;; of frir Cod. This Name which-is

;;;;ilt"d i" m" AutrtotGdversion as I-Am That I Am' is' in- the

Hebrew, Ehieh Ashei-Eiiin, *ri"h Moffat translates as I will Be

fil"if Wiff Be, and tfrfi seems a far better rendering of the Hebrew;

i h;; uein toia by a Hebrew scholar that it could be even morc

troty transtated as i Am The Ever-Becoming'--il th" sacred Name pcr excellence amonsst the Hebrews was

the Tetragra-.uton, ot-flu, Ltt"'"d Name' 5o sacred was it held

,i,lX;t

i

r,i

{

i

t34 THE MAGICIAN

to be, that a substitute Narhe, Adonai (Mi L<ird)'was uied. InChristian usage, the Tetragrammaton has been turned into the nameJehovah, but, in point of fact, this particular form seems to havebeen either invented or copied from some unknown source byTyndale, in whose translation of the Bible it appears for the firsttime. \

Some may here protest that the books of the Otd Testament aresimply the record of the,ethical and philosophical progrese of awlnderile lelouin tribe, as it enlarged its concepts from the godwho walked in the garden in the cool of the diy, as any ohereastern chief might do, to the magnificent conception of the post-exilic prophet "Thus saith the High and Holy One Who inhabitethFternity, Whose Name is Holy." A progress, moieover, whichbrought it as a nation to a monotheism not apparent in any on-temporary nation. This, of coufsg, is true, but there are other anglesof approach, the nofmal Christian view that the Hebrews w=ercbei\g'suided by the Eternal into larger concepts is one such angle,and there is another which is of greater relevance to the subject ofWords of Power. The ancient Rabbis snid that the Torah: the law,was the Eody, Sut the Qabalah was the spirit of tneir raigion Sothe record of the history of the Hebrews, interwoven as iiis withthe folklore of the race and the racial memories of Abraham'sdescendants, is but the outer appearance. Within ttris outer appear-ance was, and is, concealed that towering metaphysical system whichwe know of as the Qabalah. As the word implies, the teaching ofthe Qabalah was transmitted "from mouth to ear" until abouithe'l2th century, when certain of its teachings were published in bookform.

These Qabalistic books formed the basis of the great systemsof magic which sprang up in the West in the Middle Ages, ind inthese magical systems Names and Words of power plaved a venfgreat part. As we shall see at a'later point, the f.lamei of poweiof the Qabalah form a very interesting group of magical sound-forms.

In the folklore of many nations and races, the use of Words ofPower, of "chams" and "spells" is to be fornd, but in the Eastthere has bee_n built up a massive system of philosophy, based uponand constantly checked by a mass of experimental data.

This system is usually referred to as .,Mantra yoga," and itrfullest exposition is to be found in the Tantric work known zs ThcGarland of Letters.

The Christian Church in its pilgrimage through the ages has

WORDS OF POWER

acumulated much which has reference to our subject. By theterm "Christian Church" is meant not only the more orthodox and"respectable" streams of its being, the great Catholic Churches ofthe Eastern and Western Obediences together with the various Re-formed and Nonconforming Churches, but also some of the manyheretical sects which have "hived off' from the main stream ofChristian tradition. The Gnostics of the early Church formed agroup of such sects, and their teachings have for many centuriesbeen regarded as heretical and evil. In some of its aspects thcGnostic teaching certainly justifies such condemnation thoughmodern scholarship has done much to rehabilitate some of the mostprominent teachers of the Gnosis.

But quite apart from their specific theological views, the Gnosticsplaced very great stress upon the efficacy of names and sounds.By the name, declared some of them, Jesus worked His miracles,a name which He had stolen from the Holy of Holies of the temple.By the mystery of the name, declared another writer, was man'sregeneration and deification effected, and in his knowledgc of hirown true name, lay his true peace.

Coming down to more recent times we find a floating traditionof a language "spoken in Paradise" the sound of which gave masteryover nature. Some curious communications received by the Eliza.bethan occultist and astrologer, Dr. John Dee gave fragments ofwhat was called "The Enochian Tongpe," and as Casaubbn hasshown, it was no mere gibberish, but possessd grammatical formand syntax.

In the latter Eart of the eighteenth century there arose in Polanda curious Qabalistic sect known as the "Chassidim." Some of itsmembers were known as "the wonder-working rabbis," and thesewonder-workers made gireat use of the Sacred Names. The leader ofthe Chassidim was Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, "The Master ofthe Divine Name." In some of the circles of the Chassidim thelanguage of Paradise was heard, and by its use the rabbis workedwonders and showed signs.

The revival of the Western occult tradition through the Orderof the Golden Dawn and its ofishoot Stella Matutina made use ofboth the Enochian language and the Qabalistic Words of Power'and, indeed, for the construction and use of the Telesmatic Imagessuch words are essential.

Today, in countless ways the glamour of the Words of Powerand the Magical Names still persists for many millions of people'and in the new political groupings which are emerging upon thc

r35

r35 . THE MAGICIAN. :

world-stage we are witnessing the-actual birth of suc-h words andnames which will in the years to come be charged with magicdpower over the minds and hearts of men.

Before we. @mmence to study what we may term the more"o@ult" aspects of sound, it is as well to spend some time. in con-sidering the subject from the purely physical point of view. Wemay define it as a series of vibrations set up in matter. These vibra-tions are not all audible to the human ear, which can only receivewithin certain fairly definite limits. An empiric test of the rangeof human audition may be made by trying to hear the high-pitchedGTy of the bat, at one end of thc scale, and the deep note of thediapason pipe of a large organ. It will be found that to many people,the bat's cry is inaudible, and many more will confess that they donot hear, but rather they feel the vibration of the diapason pipe.There is another proof of the limited range of human hearing inthe curious "supersonic whistle" sometimes used as a dog-whistle.The sound given out by this whistle is far beyond the range ofhuman perception, but immediately attracts the attention of all dogswithin its radius.

Sound does not only travel through air, but also is transmittedthrough watef, earth, 6nd all material substances, and the contoutlof ithe ocesn floor and the deptlis of"mineral lodes in the earthhave both been investigated by the reflection of sound waves. Itis important to remember that although we ltear sound by meansof specialised sense-organs, we are actually bathed in a sea ofsound all our lives. The intensity of sound is measured in terms ofI standard unit, the "decibell," and it has been found that there iswhat may be desctibed as a danger-point in the amount of soundto which human beings may safely be subiected. In actual p'ractice

it is foudd that the conditions of some of our large industrial citiescome very neai this danger line as do ako some factory conditions.In studying the occult eftects of sound, this must always be remem'bered. We are apt to limit its eftects upon us solely to our auditoryconsciousness, but a little thought will make us aware that of oourse

the sound which strikes upon our eardrums is only a small part ofthe actual sound vibration, and it is this greater part which isstriking both upon one's body and upon the surrounding surfaces.

This is, of course, well recognised when we are dealing with"acoustics" in connection with the sound'reflecting properties ofpublic halls, churches, etc., but is liable to be overlooked whendealing with sound from the pqrely "o@ult" point of view.

In the latter part of last century, Mrs. Watts'Dunton Hughcs

': WORDS OF POWER rl7

invented a curious little instrurnent known as the "Eidophone." Itwas really an adaptation of what are known as "Chladni's Figures,'fan experiment in which a violin bow was drawn gently along the

edge of a platg of glass covered with fine sand. The vibrations set

up by the-bow-caused the sand to take up definite- patterns- ThefiCobtrone consisted of a cylinder over:the open end of which-wasstretched a rubber diaphragm. Into the side of the cilinder was

built a metal trumpet which served as a concentrator of sound.

Upon the rubber diaphragm was sprinkled the fine spore'dust ofthl common "puff-ball" (Lycopodium). When anyone spoke or sang

into the instrument, the lycopodium powder formed itself into in'tricate patterns, and these patterns were constant for any given

sound or note. By lowering a prepared paper onto the surface oftho diaphragm, a pemanent record of the sound-form could be

obtained, but of course, it is obvious that the actual sound vibrationis threedimensional. In recent times one American Rosicrucianorganisation has perfected an instrument by means of which such

thiee-dimensional sound forms may be viewed.Some of the sound-form patterns are wonderfully intricate and

they show how the sound vibrations aftect surrounding matter' The

ioni-continued sounding of one particutqr note tends to set up asyripathetic vibration of fesonan@ in al! the surrounding- mattef,

a:na inis sympathetic vibration may have queer effects. It is recorded

that on one occasion, when a military band was playing beneath

ttre walls of an old ruin, they played a piece which was apparently

-based upon the dominant "note" of the wall, which collapsed u,q9n'them!

For this rea!x)r, soldiers, when marching over a light bridge

are ordered to "break step"' i.e. to walk out'of'step and 911hy!h'mically, in order to avoid setting up a vibrational "swing",in !h-curiag" rttr"tut". In the light of these things, the story of-.the fallof Jlricho as recorded in ihe gible may be profitably studied' -

The ionverse side of this is to be seen in the stimulating cftect

upon wearied men of a stirring milit4ry march tune, and this brings

ui to anottt"r point. We have so far been studying the effects ofsympathetid vibration upon material stnrctures, but its porpet cx.tends much further. It has tremendous gfiect upon the mind and

the emotion, and not all of this eftect is produced in the surfaoc

consciousness.

Chapter IX

THE WORDS AND NAMES IN MAGICAL WORKING

fN the Magical Workings, it has been found that in order efficientlyr to use the Words and Names of Power, certain methods mustbe used. The value of the Words and Names depends upon twothings. The first is their own intrinsic power as vibratory forms ofenergy which by their correspondence with certain superphysicalforms of force can act as the means whereby the forces of the InnerPlanes may afiect the physical levels. The other is the psychic"charge" which is stored up in the "thought-forms" which are linkedwith them.

In considering the first point, we may make it more clear byasking the question "If a gramophone record of a Word of Powerwere played in an empty room, would it produce any result, or isthe eftect of such a word simply dependent upon the associationsin the minds of those who have been conditioned to it?"

The Swedish seer, Swedenborg, taught that the difterent planesof the universe were each separate from the other; were "discrete,"not "continuous." Certain "occult" teaching at the present day seemsto contradict this, but from both the arcane tradition and from per-sonal experience many believe the Swedenborgian teaching to becomect. But, although the planes are separate manifestations, sothat, for instance, those on the astral plane cannot normally perceivephysical matter, and those on the physical plane cannot normallyperceive astral matter, there are two definite points of contactbetween the planes. The first of these is what in the philosophy ofthe Qabalah is known as the Mezla, the divine spiritual influencewhich is the impelling cause behind the activities of all the mani-fested universe, and which by its presence binds all the diversitiesinto a unity. This Divine Life pervading all things does thereforelink all the planes together, and therefore to that extent they arccontinuous. Since the vibration-ratios of the Words and Nameshave their hasis in the ultimate archetypal life, then if they aresounded forth, they will link the planes. Apart from this, also,the elemental life-wave which is even now pouring into this universeconstitutes what may be described as the "life-side" of matter. Allmatter is, in its degree, living matter; there is no such thing as"dead" matter in the material sense of the word. All creation isalive, it is the luminous living garment of the Eternal. This againthe Chaldean Oracles declare.

THE WORDS AND NAMES I39

Si oor gramophone teqotd, if played in an cmpty room, wiltcause certai-n things to happen. The physical matter of the walls

of the room will'be set inlo sympathetic vibration, and its living

or "etheric'i aspect will bcgin to act as a channel of energy between

the inner ar-rd 6riter planes. But because the type of consciousness

which is the vital principle of physical matter is of an orfiemelysimple and primitive type, the simple vibration of the word or name

will not pr&uce mucir-of a positive nature, unless something else,

sqme otirer factor, is brought into play. This other factor isorganiZed coi"ious*ts, and more especially corcentrated- self-

co"nsciousness.If the vibration of the word or name is imposed upon

someone who has, by the active use of his self-conscious will,attuned himself to the-energies of which the word is an expressiol,

then such a one is a true mediator between the planes, and the

por""t of the higher is brought th.rough into the lower by his ryti-vities. tf now, several peopG work together in the same way, then

they fo,rm a united link between the planes; a link whictr is not*.iAy the mathematical sum of their minds, but which is fargr"^t"t than that. so two or three gathered together may well trans-

mit more power than ten or twenty persons who are each worxrng

individualiy. It is for this reason that all the great religions have

developed a corporate aspect. In fact,,in- christianity this concept

of ttt"'*tporati nature of ttre Church is an integrdl part 9f itsphilosophi.' tf, moieover, the word be vibrated by the grouP, the results willUe ;:rrespondrngly greater than if they are melely beine soyn{ed

i" th"F;*o"" 6f sluch listeners. But this matter of "vibratingo a

Namb -of

Pot "r

is somewhat difficult to explain and even- more

aim""fi to teach. It is a psychological "trick" somewhat akin toitt"t *tt"r"uy, quite suddenli, the blginner on the:bigy"t" suddenly

finds himseli balancing'the machine and actually riding'The only way in wtrictr the practice of vibrating the narnes can

be indicatei is io say that the voic must be nuiide as vibrant as

is oossible. and this is best done by deliberately lowering the key

"f 'Ui"

""i"1 uoa

"i tn" same time endeavouring to hold in the mind'

;b ;;";it-;pottiut", the idea or group- of ideas which are associ'

;t"d;lt if,e particufar name or Woid of Power. An interesting

"i"i.i* io this vibration of the names is to vibrate the name in the

ilr-;i tt". n"no, oi froo' the solar plexus, or frgm the forehead.

tnir "i first sight seems an absurditg but with stiudy practise the

,toa"oi suddeily finds himself able to locate the vibratory pow€f,

i" tlt" hand or Lbewhere. When this has taken place' it becomes

T4O THE MAGICIAN

easy-to extend the practice to any other part of the body, and thiscan have a very beneficial effect upon the health of the part so"vibrated."

Now there are four kinds of vibration which we may use forour Words of Power. They are rhythm, pitch, vowel sounds andconsonantal sounds. The first two can be produced on musical in-struments, the other two by the voice. To induce emotional states,rhythm is the greatest of them all, and this rhythm can be regutaror irregular. Syncopation is an example of rhythm-and-break whichhas an enormous value in the evocation of certain emotional states.There are sounds which affect the subconsciousness, even thoughthe conscious mind may not like them at all. They are the mentalanalogues to the condiments of the dinner-table acting as emotionalirritants and stimulants. It is evident, however. that l-ike the condi-ments, they should only be taken in small doses.

There are certain factors'in ceremonial magic which make forsuccess. One, which has been dealt with elsewhere, is incense; theother is "chanting." Now there are chants many, and in the religiousfield one which has always been. a very great help in corp-oruteworship is the so-called "Gregorian." Its peculiar bar-less beat isextraordinarily efficacious in magical work. Now the ideat magicalchant. must appeal to the subconsciousness, and part of this iub-consciousness is very prirnitive. Hence, the chant needs reiteration.But the reiteration of the same musical phrase can be very boringto the conscious mind, and for this reason the chant must bi strong--ly rhythmical and its reiteration must be made to rise and faU blychange ol key.

We are accustomed in the Western world to music which isconstructed round the pitch comtnonly known as ..concert pitch,"and it is to this that the ordinary piano is tuned. But the music ofthe mantra is half a tone lower, the so-called ..primitive,' pitch,and rises and falls in quarter-tones.

To anyone hearing this mantric music for the first time. it usuallvbrings a feeling of exasperation, especially as the full singing voic!is not used, but it is a matter of practical experience that tft iagicalchanting when done at.-the oldinary pitch and with the oroi-narysinging voice is practically ineffective.

-

Before we leave the subject of Words and Names of power,there is another aspect of the use of vibrations which we *n *-sider. with profit. This is the use of our own personar name forcertain occult and magical work. By the personil name we do noinecessarily mean the name which our fond parents bestowed upon

THE WORDS AND NAMES r4r

us ac a result of an endeavour to incorporate as many of ffre familynames as possible in ours, nor yet the name which they took- {omtheir favourite novel! One knows how soon, when school-daysgortrrDoncg; we receive what we call a "nick'[8lll€," and it [s thiswhich is tLe personal name, since it is usually the result of suU'conscious perception on the part of our fellow-pupils,- and 6tsour personality

-quite well. Sometimes, of course, our baptismalname seems to be found to fit our personality, and we never 8cem

to get a "nick-name." In this case, the baptismal name is the per'sonal name.

The poet Tennyson, in private conversation used to refer to anexperience he had when, repeating aloud his own personal name;he suddenly passed into a curious trance in which he became awareof some greater aspect of himself. He used this experience as thcbasis for ihe poem "Thc Ancient Sage." In this poem he makes theSage say:-

And more than oncc. mv gon, As I sat all alone,Rcvolving in myself

-thc-word that is thc symbol oJ.myrc$;

Thc mori-al limit of thc sclf was looscd and Da$cd into thcNamelcss,

As a cloud mclts into hcaven'Ttrc Sage goes on to say that he found himself with a body o!

a diffcrent order, and with a consciousness which far transcendcdhis waking mind. This experience,'one type of the so'called "astrdl''projcction," has been recorded by many occultists, and the use otihe-personal name for this purpose is definitely taught in ccrtainoccult schools.

Chapter X

THE FLASHING COLOURS

f N practical magical work, the Qabalistically trained magician^ makes great use of the technical device known as "The FlashingColours." But the rationale of the technique has been little under-stood even by those who have successfully employed it. It may besaid that there are several keys to the use of the flashing colours,and only one of these is dealt with here.

It is, of course, not essential for the magician to understand themental and psychic machinery he is using, but when it is possibleto obtain such an understanding, it enables him to use the methodto greater advantage. It is for this reason that a brief considerationof the technique of the flashing colours has been included here. Itwill be clear to the reader that colour is of primary importance inthe magical work, and, in fact is one of its chief keys. Briefly, themagician employs colour as a means of "tuning-in" to the variousforces with which he is dealing. We have said in another part ofthis book that the magician is ir the same position as regards hisart, as the violinist is in regard to his music. Both have to maketheir own "notes," psychic or musical, and in the case of the magi-cian, the psychic tuning-in is based upon a methodical building upof symbols, colours and sounds all linked together by certain mentaland emotional concepts. Each Sephirah on the Tree of Life, andeach of the twenty-two Paths which connect the Sephiroth, iscoloured according to a traditional system. This system, which hasbeen handed down in the esoteric schools through many generationsof students is, as we have already said, partly based on actualcorrespondence between the colour, sound and symbol, and theactual nature of that aspect of the universe and the soul of manwhich is being dealt with. But there are many such attributionswhich are arbitrary, and which do not have any factual relationsbipwith the aspectconcerned. Nevertheless, if the constant use of themover the generations has built them into the psychic structure ofthe magical Egregore, then such a magical correspondence will havebeen dstablished. This applies to the whole of the magical art. Togive out the principle involved in the use of the colour scales isexceedingly difficult, but perhaps the consideration of the ordinarymusical scale may be helpful. If we study the action of the ordinarypiano, we find a large number of wires of increasingly finer din-meter, and these wires, when struck, give out sounds varying from

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THE FLASHING COLOURS 145

a very deep-sounding note at one end of the keyboard' to a Yeryhigh ;hrill note at the other. In between, we have several eightfolddiiisions. If, for the sake of the argument, we have four such divi-sions, then we may name them A, B, C and D. Nory we maynumber each thus: _Al, 2, 3, 4' 5, 6' 7 ' Bl, 2, 3, 4' 5. 6,7, Cl,2,3,4,5, 6,7, DI,2,3, 4, 5, 6,7. Then B is the end of the series

A-8, and the beginning of series B-{, and C is the end of the

series B-4 and the beginning of series C-D.Or to use the terms of the Qabalah, B is the Malkuth of A-8,

and the Kether of B-{. Whereas in music we have an eightfoldscale, in the Qabalistic system we have a tenfold scale, but the

principle is the same. In musical practice we have taken a certainiection of the gamut of vibrations which lie around us, audiblesection, and haie established a certain arbitrary musical code upon

it. In magical practice we have taken that vibrational range, all ofit, and trive eitaUtished thereon a similar code of interpretation.The magical notation is to be found in the "Tree of Life" and itsassociatid correspondences and the relationships involved are in-dicated by the flashing colours.

Some of the colour attributions seem to be very arbitrary' ahdhave been over-complicated by some of the leaders of the modern

esoteric schools. There are actually four colour'scales in connectionwith the Tree of Life. These are known as the King, Queen'Emperor and Empress Scales.

When we consider the complexity of the scheme of four com-plete Trees with their appropriate colour scales, we may be excused

if we feel that the subject has . been unduly complicated. Butalthough fog most purposes we can use the first two colour scales

only, we must not forget that more advanced work will necessitate

the use of the other two. However, for ordinary work the first twoscales, the "King" and "Queen" scales will be sufficient, and they

have been included herein.It is important to remember .that these scales are tuning'in

devices, and before they can be of any great use to us, we mustbuild them into our consciousness.

This building-in is dual. There is first the definite visualisationand conscious building up of the colours concerned, together witha conscious presentation of the philosophical concept which is re-presented by the Sephirah with which we are dealing. Referenceio Dion Fortune's Mystical Qabalah and Regardies Tree ol Lilewill give the particular philosophical concepts required. But whenthe colour connected with a certain Sephirah has been built into

THE MAGICIAN THE FLASHING COLOURS t47r46

the consciousnes's and nnked with its appropriatc concePL we htive

done only half the work. This complete visual and phtfosophtcaf

"constellition" or assoctiated thought'$oup must now be passed

through. the dividing veil, or rather the threshold of the subcon'

sciouJmust be raised until the thought'group can be taken up by itThis is the "willed co-operation" of which we will speak in the

chapter 9n i'The Subconscious," and this willed co-operation orauto-hypnosis is accomplished by the use of the technical-deviceof the flashing colours.

What do ie mean by a "flashing colour"? The usual authoritiesgive a quasi-mystical explanation which, although true is no- rgalIxplanation, mirely a "blind," which , puts the frivolous ofi the

scent. Not that the frivolous could employ the technique of the

flashing colours to any real purpose; they have not the application

and perseverence required!They may essay the use of the flashing colours, with the most

curious-results, but the essence of the matter eludes them. So we

may quite openly describe the use of the flashing colours as atechnical Qabalistic method of auto'hypnosis. This auto-hypnosis

is produced by the utilisation of a simple optical effect. As we havc

noted in our remarks on the Tattvic tides' if one gazes for any

length of time at a coloured disc or other figure,"and then looks

awiy at any white screen one sees thereon the outline of the figure

on"i"t been gazing at, but in the complementary colour. Thus, ilwe have been gazing at a red disc, we shall see the complementaTlimage of the disc on the white scrcen, but its colour will be a vividgreen which is the complementary colour of red.*

If now we construct a red disc whose surface is cut in facets

or outlined in diamond shapes, and in the centre of each red facet

rle insert a brilliant green 1nint, then we have a device which canprove very eftective 1n bringing about this "willed co'operation"betrveen the conscious and subconscious levels.

As we gaze quietly at il centring our attention upon the red"frcld," there comes a time when the muscles of the eye relax slight-

ly, and its focus alters. Then immediately the complementary green

flashes up, and at the same time the complementary red of the green

"charges;' flashes up,.and the result is that the disc appe4ts to bc

alive wittr brilliant flbshes of red and green. Quiet and prolongedgaz.e atthis "flashing tablet" will induce a condition wherein we are

iuned in to the particular psychic energy in both ourselves and inthe objective planes which is represented by the "field" colour red.

So the flashing tablet is a true contacting device which has the ad-

vantage of haiing a definite physical plane basis, and being there-

fore i more stable link than a purely mental image'

In constructing such a flashing tablet it is necessary toget clearly

fixed in the mind the fact that the ground colour is the key colourwith which we are working' The "charge" colour placed on the

ground is the complementary. Thus in out-example, the colour red

Is the one we are working with, as we wish in this case to contact

the energies of the Sephinh Geburah on the Tree.

It is important to note that for meditative work alone, we can

use the secbnd colour-scale, so that our work remains subjective.

This is very important, especially in the early stages of training'To make contaat suddenly with the objective energies concerned

can be very startling, to say the least.

111

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Chapter XI

THE VESTMENTS

[S we have seen, when we considered the colour scales, the variousI \ levels of the Unseen are symbolised each by their own colour.Though in some cases these symbols may be arbiirary and bear littleinitial correspondence to the plane they symbolise, yet if they havebeen in use long enough, they will have been built into the Egregoreand will'therefore be eftective in keying the student to that parti-cular level. If they are truly in correspondence with the plane con-cerned, their power will be proportionately greater. In this matterthere exists a great need for a thorough revision of much of themagical tradition. One of the weak points of the Order of theGolden Dawn was its excessive eclecticism. It tried to include fartoo much, and some very doubtful attributions crept into use.Though through use these attributions do act as channels of power,a good deal would be gained if they were, by process of neglectand the cultivation of the true correspondence, allowed to slip backinto disuse.

But the use of the colours is fundamental. They are to be foundthroughout the whole magical scheme, and the use of the FlashingColours is foundation work.

As the colours key us to certain forces, it follows that the useof vestments of the appropriate colour will help us to link up withthose forces. Thalt is the simple rationale of the vestments. Sinccthe Western Tradition has been strongly influenced by the Grepk,Hebrew and Egyptian traditions on the one hand and the medievalCatholic Church on the other, it will be found that the robes wornin the magical fraternities ieflect one or other of these sources.Many of them are magnificent pieces of work, but it is necessaryfor the student to remember that their value does not depend merelyupon their magnificence. Plain robes of the appropriate colour areevery bit as efiective as the most exotic designs !

Apart from their value as "colour-suggestions," they serve avery useful purpose; they screen oft the personality of the operator,and so make for impersonality. .

This is of very great importance, especially when magical workis being done by a group comprising both sexes. In some lodges,cowls or hoods are used, and this gives even greater impersonality.

The robes have another interesting effect. They act as a verystrong auto-suggestion, which has the power of keying the mind to

THE VESTMENTS 149

the operation in hand. Merely to vest'oneself in the robes of one'sgtade automatically quickens the emotional link which we havewith our group or fraternity. This is a great help in the first part ofa magical rite, when we are concerned with the operation of the"Preparation of the Place of Working."

From another angle, the robes are of use. During the manymagical operations undertaken through the years, the robes become"charged" with a certain etheric energy or "magnetism," and thoughthe fairly frequent cleaning processes, which are necessary, thoughnot always carried out, will disperse some of this magnetism, theysoon become charged up again. In this state they play a part in theinterplay of etheric forces which occurs in the Magical Lodge.

A word of warning. When you have once used your magicaltobe, never under any conditions, thereafter use it for any purelysecular purpose; never parade it before others even in private, andnever, never follow the example of one lady, an actress of note anda prominent member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,who attended a fancy-dress ball clad in the robes of her grade inthe order !

' The present writer onca broke this rule-and on entering his lodge somedays later, was greatly surprised to receive a thorough "telling-off" fromthe ruler of his degrec, whosc clairvoyant faculty had evidently madehim aware of thc incident which had happcncd several miles away, andof which hc could not normally have been aware. It was a salutary lissonl

Chapter XII

THE SUBCONSCIOUS

A certain knowledge of psychology is necessary if the apprcntefl' magi"i* is to make the most use of his art, but this psychologi'cal knowledge must always be "held lightly." What a short time agowas termed "The New PsycholQgy" has developed so swiftly thatit now sufiers ftom embarasse de richesse and the beginner fnds itmost difficult to'iollow inrclligently the ihrcllectual mazes of theFreudian, Jungian and Adlerian Schools of Psychology, to mentiononly the primary,schools. The many schools depending upon thesethree, but expressing themselves from differing angles, need not bementioned here, since their general teaching is the same.

Wbat are the simple outlines? This guestion ic most difrcult toanswer, since any simplification is bound to omit points which seemto many to be of prlmary importancc.

What we will here attempt is not a simplification of modernpsychologir4l theories, but rather a restatement in psychologicalterms of the magical teachirlg concerning the mind of man; orrather, to be more exact, the soul of man.

The first point to be considered is thc nature of the soul, andhere the magical schools declare with one voice, that man is a Sparkof the Eternal Flame, a "god" in tlle making. This is the true man,the "Indweller of Light," as the old Gnostics termed him.

This immortal Self, for reasons which lie outside our presentterms of feference, is making contact with, and manifesting in, thematerial worlds of physical and super-physical matter.

The instrument by means of *hich ttris contact and manifesta-tion is maintained, iiknown as the "personality,".and it is indeed,as the etymology of the word suggests, a persona or mask throughwhich the true self works.

So we come to the statement a3cribed to the old Greek initiates"I am a child of earth, but my Race is from the Starry Heavens."

The personality we may term "the lower self," Now the mindof mant is the point of contact between these two aspects of himself,and we therefore find that part of his mind is conditioned by, andlinked to, his immortal Self, whilst the other partlis linked to, andconditioned by, his material consciousness. Now thi material con-sciousness is largely built up through the perceptions of the material

. Thc word "man" ig dcrivcd from thc Sanscrit Monas which meaos, "thcthrnkcr."

THE SUBCONSCIOUS 15r

senses and more particularly through the perceplions_of the fivcphysical lrenses. TLis aspect of thg mind is usually referred to asitlie lower" mind, and iogether with the emotional aspect of our

natures, it makes up what the Qabatists term the Ruaeh ot;ReasonaUle Soul." This Ruach is the instrument of the Higher Self,

its mask ot persona, and it is here that what has sometimes been

called the "ialse ego" is cen8ed. This false "I", which seems tothe ordinary person to b€ himself, is in reality an illusion in so faras it is thought to be the true Ego.

Below ire nuacn or Reasonable Soul, we come to the Nephesh

or Animal Soul, and this can be equated psychologically with the

subconscious. Perhaps the Jungian term "Pefsonal unconscious" ig

a more correct term.All the aspects of man centre in and are expressed through the

Guph or ptry-sicat body, and here it must be remembered that as

psybtro-somatic medicine has pointed out' there is no separatc-physical

body, it is one aspect of the living whole, and is in very

tnrth the Temple of the Holy Ghost.Now the subconsciousness is related most closely to that systcm

of nerves known as the "sympathetic system," and it is this sympa'

thetic or involuntary nervl system which carries on the multitudi-nous activities of the physical organism-the pfocesses of digestionand elimination, the beating of the heart, the respiratory action and

the complex activities of the glands. All these, which now are auto'matic oisubconscious activities, were at one time conscious actions.

Their particular form of activity has been stereotyped lhrouS-h-aeon9of evolution, and now operates without the aid or knowledge ofthe conscious self.

It is possible, however, to bring this automatic control backunder conscious control, though it is not always wise so to do. Butwhen this is done, then it is possible to consciously control manyof thc purely involuntary mechanisms of the body' and even, undercertain- circumstances, to affect the purely automatic functioningwhich is the basic level of the physical somatic life. We have said

that such conscious control is not always advisable. This is tnre'for the clumsy probing of the conscious mind may easily upset q!delicate mental-and physical mechanisms. It is on record that SirFrancis Galton, the pioneer in Eugenics, experimented in gaining

conscious control of his breathing. Having at last gained thc power

to shut oft the automatic breathing impulse' and to remain withoutany effort of breathing, he found to his dismay that he had somc-

how lost the power of automatic breathing, and had to spend a vcry

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r5z THE MAG-ICIAN

snxious day and night taking each breath consciously and with anefiort of will, before the automatic function returned. Various yogiscan be found in both East and West who can perform variouspsycho-physiological tricks, such as altering the heart-beaL stop-ping the breathing, or reversing peristaltic action at will. The tech-niques used vary according to the grade and status of such people,and are best left alone by the apprentice magician. There are otherways by which he rilay eventually come to this physical dominionover his body, and these ways are safer than the usual techniques.

Bui although we want neither an uncontrolled irmption of thesubconscious into the normal consciouSness, nof yet a clumsy inter-ference by the conscious mind into the subconscious processes, itis desirable that we shall have some reliable method whereby wemay be able to bring through into the waking consciousness theknowledge and the energies which are all around us awaiting ourcfforts. We have ac@ss to forces and energies beyond our normalken, if we will but open the doors in the right way. Now here wecome again to the saying of Bulwer-Lytton's Rosicrucian AdeptMejnour, "Man's first initiation is in tran@." This will be indig-nantly denied by many of the so-called "positive" people. In theirestimation, trance is retrograde and entirely undesirable. With cer-tain.feservations we may agree.with this facile generalisation, butthe reservations cover quite a lot of country! In a period of overforty years of practical occult, psychic and magical work one hasobtained certain data on'this point.

We agree that the induction of the purely involuntary negativetranco state under no protective conditions at all is both undesirableand psychologically dangerous to the normal individual, thoughsome raca-lypes can safely practise'it.

In the purely negative tran@, the doors of the subconscious arethrown open and a general jail-delivery of subconscious thoughtsand energies pours out into the conscious self. Such an imrptioncan be most harmful.

But there are several degrees of trance, ranging from the passivc,involuntary trance of pathological dissociation, through the nega-tive, but willed trance of many spiritualist mediums, to the volun-tary positive power of trance projection, wherein the personality,oonsciously and deliberately, temporarily vacates his body.

But even in the pathological trance of dissociation, there needbe no danger if it is dealt with aright, and in the cases of the othervarieties of trance, the establishment of certain protective conditionswill obviate any risk. The present writer has had the opportunity

THE SUBCONSEIOUS

of observing very nrany people, of greatly varying types of -tnen'

tality, working wittr the trance-state under varying conditions. Sornc

of tfiese peopie were definitely the worse for rheir experiences, butthey formed a very small minority. The real trouble with the nega-

tivi forms of trance is that they either open up the subconscious in' a veiry haphazard and whole3ble way, 6r else they allow of thc

uncontrolled emergence of various psychological and psychic patho-

togies which wera already present but held down bclow the sub'liminal threshold.

Without going into the technical points involved' it may be

stated that the negative trance state usually involves complete un'consciousness of the physical plane, and as a general rule of the

inner planes also. The thread of consciousness is broken at thepoint of departure, and again at the point of return. In the ascendingdeglees of trance, up to the most positive form' the thread of con'sciousness begins to remain without a break, and in $ome cases a

curious dual consciousness develops. In this dual consciousness, thepsychic is more or less fully aware of the physical plane surround-ings, whilst at the same time he is fully conscious and activc oqthe Inner Planes. In this particular field an ouncc of practice icworth a ton of theory, and the ptresent writer can assure his rcadcrsthat tance; per se, is nbt neces.rcrily dangerous, At ihe same timiit is true thrt under certain conditions the voluntary or involuntaryinduction of trance is undesirable, and may cven be dangerous.Under these conditions it is advisable for thc 'prentie magician toaim at the positive end of the ps,'€hic rangc.

Itis also to be remembered that at a certain point in his devclopment it will be necessary for the fryer to bc deliberately plungedinto the sea. "The flyer" is an old alchemical term for the consciousself, and thg "sea",is their name for the Unconscious. But until theconscious self is properly integrated or knit together, a.prematureimmersion in the psychic sea of the Unconscious is not advisable.

Short of the deiper trance conditicns, however,'there are distinctadvantages in a willed co-operation between the conscious and sub-conscious parts of our mind, and these havc been used in themagical technique. The process is one of "auto-hypnosis." Thisterm in itself will, in all probability, cause some of our "ultra-positive" critics to frown, but let us hasten to say that this particularform of auto-hypnosis is most carefully controlled and directed, andis at all times fully under the dominion of the corrcious will.

Having reassured the fcarful, lct us p-rocccd. Thc principle usedis that known as the "conditioned ref,cx." A typlcat conditioncd

t53

r54 THE MAGICIAN

reflex is the watering at the mouth of a dog when it sees food. Herethe reflex is physical. In the case of the magician, the reflex ismental and emotional. Briefly, a visual, audible or other s€nsorysymbol is passed into the subconscious mind, and this evokes aresponse in accordance with the gpe of symbol used. If this symbolis one of, or is mentally associated with, one or other of the arche-typal images in the depths of the Unconscious, then the reslxrnsemay be very strong, and care has to be taken to see that the up-welling energies evoked by the symbol are run into safe channeis.If the magician is working with the Qabalistic glyph of the Treeof Life, then he wiU be working with such channels already pro-vided.

In order to pass a symbol into the subconsciousness in such away as to be able to evoke any particular response, it is first ne@s-sary to "sensitise" the subconscious, of raise its level nearer to thewaking consciousness. This willed emergence, or outcropping, ofthe subconscious is imperative; unless it is done, the symbol doesnot "take," i.e. evoke an immediarc reslnnse, and this is one of theprimary keys of art magic. It is to be noted that the passing of thesymbol into the subconscious must be xn efiortless act, to use anIrishism. Beyond the immediate clear-cut conscious "intention" totransmit the symbol, no further efiort is required. Indeed any suchfurther eftort will frustrate the purlnse in hand. A very good simileis that of the electric lighl switch. It requires only a small momen-tary physical exertion to press down the switch and so producelight. No matter how long we keep our finger pressed on the switch,we shall obain no more light, neither will it be put out if weremove our finger entirely. Indeed, our undue pressure on the switchmay cause it to be put out of action, and so produce just what wewere trying to prevenl

So it is with magical work. But before the symbols can be thestarting points of conditioned reflexes, it is necessary that the re-quired conscious mental effort must have been used with them, andthis is done through the training exercises which are to be foundin all magical schools. The symbols must be built up by the image-building g)wer of the mind, as described in the section of this bookdevoted to "Visualisation and Audition."

Then conscious rneditation must be made upon the spiritual,mental and emotional aspects of the simbol, together wittr ttreenergies connected with it. Here the Tables of Correspondencesus"q io the qabalistic method p,rove their value. \ilhen sufrcienwork has been done with the conscious mind, the student learns

TH'E SUBCONSCIOUS $

how to pass the symbol through to the openrand sensitised sub-

onsciousness.- -il;;;;is

is similar to that of learning to play the violin' The

.oJof 'rfib.t" on the score ere mentally.interprgted as m-usical

sounds, una tn" appropriate string of the violin is "stopped" with

tfrr-noi"t to proairie the note requireg. Now the co'ect point to;riop;-G string is acquired by_ the subconscious reflex, but for atong tine the m6vement of the-fingers-must be.consciously brougbt

"Uoirt, until the mental, emotiopal and phy-sical reflexes have been

Fop"if'a.-oditioned.'i Then vie speak of automatii habir It isiairiy eviaent that any attempt to short-circuit this necessary con'

ditioning work is doomed to failure, yet the *'rircr has met many

*no aio-try to evade it in magical work.Irowever, the reader m€y

ue assurea'tnat although the use of certain short-cuts may prgrvidg

;;;;p"t-odic magiJal activity' such activity. wi1 be unregulated

and oui of conscious control. l

Irt us briefly recapitulate. Within the-depllrs oj the personal

and collective unconscious in each one of us lie the powers and

-rtE"" which we essay to evoke into appearance in our conscior;s

;n t order fo eftect those "changes in consciousness" which, bliour definition of magic, are our derlared aim.

In ordet to do tf,is, we pmploy the device of the "conditioned

ref,ex," by passing certain symbols into the sensitised subconsciolts

in such a-wiy as -to

evoke tle required forces into the waking rclf'Since the-personal subconsciousness is very largely 1 pictorisl

$pe, we use visual and other sensory symbols in preference toiriaiU. images, i.e. words. (Certain "Words of Powey'' are used notfor their liteial'meaning, bui for their vibration, and the conditionedimages which have been built around them.)

the means whereby the subconsciousness is sensitised orbrought nearer to the threshold of the waking q! i-s.thefghotqauto---hypnotic device known as the use of the "Flashing Colours"'This ii used in conjunction:with the.colour scales and correslnn'ilences on the Tree of Life.

Chapter XIII

THE INTERWOVEN LIGHT

fT is a common part of modern occult and psychic teaching that- everyone is surrounded by an invisible atmosphere, usuallytermed the "aura" or the "auric egg,', and it is very often thoughtof.as a sepgale part of tlre human personality. Iiis actually t-heextension of the various bodies or iheaths oi the spirit. Ii thephysical it shows itself as the emanation from the etieric doublewhich is itself the framework upon which the physical body isformed.

This etheric, or "health aura," as it is sometimes called, extendsfor a number of inches from the surface of the body, and it doesshow the state of the physical health of the man by itre dispositionof the substance comfrsing it. It is in and throughihe etheric bodyand its mdiating aura that the various psychic and ..magnetic;'

forces work down on to the physical levels. For this reason themagical schools have developed a technique of etheric training andcontrol, and this technique is of the greatest importance. One ofthe weaknesses of the modern occult students in the West, is tofight shy of this basic training, on the plea of its dangers. Thereare dangers in this etheric training, but only when instructions are9isregarded. The same argument applies to the crossing of a busyLnndon srreet;- yet there are those who regularly drfo; thi;dangerous feat!

If the student wishes to become a successful practitioner ofars magica, then it is imperative that he undertakes this basic etherictraining. othenvise, he may develop a subjective psychic awareness,but magical power will not be his.

It is assumed that the student is in earnest, an{ is prepared totain his etheric body, and its auric emanation, so ,"i witt com-mence by giving him a word of warning.

This basic training, once it has been under way for a little timebecomes intensely boring, and after the first few attempts (when theemotional stimulus df newness is present) it yields Very little forquite a long time. This, in itself, is both a test of the studint's powerof application and also one of the barriers which automaticalfu riseas training is continued.

Unless these barriers are surmounted, the magical power liesbeyond the student's grasp, at any rate in its entiiety. Spasmodic

THE INTERWOVEN LIGHT r57

ruooqsse$may come, but only by steady and disciplinod cfrort canthc tue magcal ccrtainly and ability bc gained.

Jn another chapter we uscd the simile of an elcctrical gwitch.board to illustrate thc- difference betwecn the mere cercmonialnagical actions, and the same actions when the magical power hasbca oontacted and allowed to flash down into the physical levbls.

This chaprcr deals with the method uscd to make this contact,but bcfore going further it will be as well, perhaps, if we brieflytrcst of the role of thc physical body in this work. Thc Manicheanhercsy, of the total depravity of physical metter and the physicalbody, is no part of the true magical doctrine, though at varioustimbs the magical schools have,like oithodox Christianity, becomeinfected by it. In the Qabalistic scheme, the physical plane, likcall other planes, is an expression of Ain Soph, ihe Eteriral Infinitc.Thercfore, physical matter and the physical body are not merelycxpressions of the ctcative Will of the Iogos, but actually are thttLogos manifesting in this particular way.

So the old "logion," discovered at Oxyrhincus, speaks trulywhen it quotes the Logos as saying "Where two or three are.to-gcther, I am there, and where there is one only, he is with God.Raisc the stone and thou shalt find Me, cleave the wood, and I am,thctre."

So the physical body is a manifestation of the Eiernal, and irrendered even more holy, if this were possible, by its use as thevchicle of consciousness of a living spark of the Eternal Flame._ -Within every- atom of matter which composes our physicalbody, there is a living point of .the Eternal Lij'ht, with its adcom-panying modes of expression on the various "planes.,'

Now as we have said beforc, there is a constant flux of physicalsubstance within the physical body.

New substance is being taken in and incorporated into the bodilys&ucture, and at the same time cell substance is being continuallybroken down and passed out of the physical system. buring theirsay in thc body, however, the "vibration aspects" of thesc physicalatoms and molecules are reacting upon our consciousness, tendingto tune it automatically to their level. At the same time our owrlconsciousness is acting upon them and nrning them to its vibration.rate. Man is indeed, as he is termed in one of the Rituals, ..TheRescuer of Matter." Now when the magical contact has bcen made,the inpouring enprgy stimulates all the energy-activitics of thivarious bodies, until it surges through the physical body itself. Hereit intensifies and fans to greater vigour ttrJ tsscr energics of the

r58 THE MAGICIAN

physical substance, and it is because of this that certain dietaryrules have been evolved. But this does not necessarily .oo n"tthe magician must immediately adopt a vegetarian ad oisavagervascetic mode of life. It does mean, however, ttrat ptrysical

"iil*of all kinds is to bc avoided, and during the perfonnaoo of ott"i"magical operations, abstinence from many fornns of quite legitimarcactivity may be necessary.

. As thc inflowing eTergl begins to surge through the physicalbody, so it begins to eject from it that ty; of maiter *frlfi'rc ,ta ooarse order, and the result is that finei types of matter are builtinto the body. and these finer types of mattei present tess resisanceto the inffowing formative energy.

_Thus, by the action of the magrcal energf, the physical body istruly purified and becomes a bettei channel lor ttri outnow oiiri"t€Nrergy. It is obvious, of-@urse, that this purging process goes onin all the bodies, not only in the physicat,-bulit-his be.o fiooehtagsigup- to, emphasise the imporance of the functioning oiirr"physical body as a channel of the Universal power.

lVhen we come to use the technique which is now to be des-qry'it is necessary to remember that we shail be aearing witnall the bodies, or vehicles of consciousness, together with th;ir ;;_tensions or aura8. The combined auras may be conveniently rererreoto as "the sphere of sensation," and this term will be used through-out this chapter.

Firct, the "Qabalistic Cross," described in Appendix B ehouldbe traced, and the consecrated circle formulated ai?escribed. nl;;,laving becn practisod until comparative skill has been outainea,the app,rentice magician should proceed to the exercise of the inter-wovenLight, usually known as the Middle piilar Exercise, and des-cribed in Appendix B.

As will be seen, this exercise of the interwoven Light is designedto

-se! up certain currents of energy in the sphere of sensation, and

to bring these forces through into the physi&l levels. fire nrsi trroparts of the Middle Pillar exercise are designed to create in theauric "sphere of sensation" two great currents6f energy. when theseparts of the exercise have becn mastered, the ncxt-step may betaken, and a circulatory current started in the aura, commenciig atthe feet in the Sephirah Malkuth. This should be visualis€d a's abtoad, bandageJike band of white light, and it should be woundmentally around the body as though one were wrapping a mumrnyin its swathing bands. It is import&nt to note unfne-airection oithc bandaging should be from the rigbt to the left, i.e. thc cncrg/

THE INTER.WOVEN I,IGHT

onrrent'should stsrt from"the part of thc Sibphiiah,Malkuth npon*hiah the right foot is placed, and should move over to the jefiSot and pass behind it. This is given in the deseription of the excr-' cise, but is repeated here because of its imporrance.' An important point is that once the Middle Pillar has becnbfought into active use, its activity will tend to induce a similaractivity in thc auras of those who are near to its user, and ..near"

is not confined to the physical plane proximity. Herein lies the kcyto certain types of "irritiation," as well as to some of the phenomenaof enangelical and mystical "@nversion." He that hath ears to hear,let him hear.

If we seem to have toudred far too briefly upon this basic:magi-cal procedure, this is of set purpose. The essentials have been given,and from them the further work unfolds. Get the principlcs firmlycstablishpd, and the dgtailcd appli€tiorcan be left to the magician'cowl ingenium.

It remains"now to consider the source of the encrgy which is,drawn thr-ough by the Middle Piltar rcchnique. In that Lxercise_wchave visualised it as springrng from the Sebtriratr Malkuth wtictr,in the subjective Tree of Life, is located below the fect But thisSephirah is a point of contact between our subjective self, and theEarth-Soul, as the Sephirah Kether, which is formutatcO above thehcad is a conttct point with the Coimic Unmanifest.

- Although w_e draw- the basic energf through these two pointsof contact, we also retain a considerable store of latent energy whictlis under the control of, and located in the subconscious nina. nrisstor-e of latent eler_gy can be brought into action either'spontane-ously, under the influence of the deeper emotions of the se[ as in

the occult techniques. One method of Yoga, known as KundaliniYogn brings these latent reserves of powcr into action by directconscious action, but the Western systems usually "work on thebilliards principle of "cannoning ofi the cush" i.i..they use theconsciously directed imagination to arousc the subconscious acti.vity, and thiS, through the psychio mechanisin which has bcen con-struct€d by the Middle-Pillar exercise, taps the latent energies.

But in order to.do this,"the Malkuth csntre must bc isolatedfrom its normal earth-contact, and identified with the"storage-cehtrcof -subjective e.nergy, which in Yoga is known as the'ltliMhara,and in the Qabalistic system is eq-uatcd with the Sephirah yesodof the Tree of Life.

,,**,*-riL$tr0*liiiisl&

THE MAGICIAN

There are many curious ideas concerning this question of isola-tion from the Earth-Soul. Many who use their psychic faculties forthe purpose of divination for water or minerals, state that if theywear rubber-soled shoes they find themselves cut ofi from the earth-forces and unable to use their faculty. But it has been found bypractical experiments that this is a purely rnental inhibition. If thediviner thinks he is wearing rubber soled shoes, then he subcon-sciously inhibits his power. ff, however, he thinks he is not wearingsuch shoes (though actually he is) then the faculty works freely.When in India, the present writer talked with Yogis who used asmall mat composed of the roots of certain grass. Upon this matthey sat during meditation in order to cut themselves oft from theearth. Other yogis one met did not use such a mat, but claimed toobtain the same result by mentally visualising such an insulatingbarrier.

In the case of the diviners in Western countries, the probablebasis of their belief in the inhibitory powers of rubber-soled shoes,is to be found in the use of rubber as an insulator in electricalwork.'

The yogr posture known as the "lotus-posture," or padmasaru,does identify the Malkuth centre below the feet with the YesodcenEe at the base of the spine, since in this posture the yogi sitscross-legged and the two centres are thus brought together. Thisis, however a difficult posture for the average European, and it isquite possible for such a one to break some of the small bones ofthe foot in his eftorts to achieve it. To those who find it irnpossibleto adopt this posture the following may be found of use.

Sit on a comfortably padded surface such as a folded carpetand adopt the cross-legged position; then slip a small cushion under-neath the crossed ankles so as to raise them slightly. This worksquite well. One magician known to the writer habitually meditatedin this way whilst seated on a large high-backed chair. This enabledhim to keep his spine erect with the minimum of discomfort.

However, those who can sit in the padmasana should do so.When the earth-centre of the aura is identified in this way with theYesod centre, then certain magnetic cuqrents in the etheric body arere-directed, and the latent magnetic reserves are made available.Of course, a certain proportion of these reserves is always availableand active, being the normal body-energy which in the Eastern

t Thcrc are, however, ccrtain purely electrical currents in the earth's surfaccwhich are, of course, cut off by the use of insulators.

THE INTERWOVEN LIGHT 16I

the release of some of the latent reserves, these fires are fanned intogreater activity, and the person concerned becomes caEable of featswhich are not normally possible to him.

The regular graded development ol this power to tap the reservesof energy results in the charging-up of the whole personality, andwhen such a one engages in the "magical" work, the lights will ffashand the meter needles move on the magical switchboard as thecosmic energy surges through the channels provided for it. By usingthe padmasana or allied postures (in which the earth-contact is"shorted" out) during the meditative building up of the "magicalpersonality," this latent energy will be linked with that magicalpersonality and as one is evoked, so will the other appear. Again,there is more here than the bare statement suggests.

". **Ll

PART III

THE MAGICAL KEYS

-,.,, -.;**lrgl$i$l** :

Chapter XIV

MAGNETISM

[S we have said elsewhere, the term "magnetism" is an unfortu-I \ nate one when we are considering the subtle force which isone of the principle factors in magical work. The use of the wordcomes from the experimental work of the followers of Dr. Mesmer,and though they did attempt to make it clear that the subtle energywhich, according to their philosophy, permeated the whole universewas not the phenomenon which the scientist tems "magnetism,"the misuse of the word has persisted up to the present day. Themesmerists termed this subtle force "animal magnetism" since, theystated it was the lnwer which accompanied physical magnetism,but which was also found in all living things.

At a later date the German, Baron von Reichenbach, studiedthe subject exhaustively, and his findings have much of value forthe practical magician. As far as it has been possible for the presentwriter to check his results they appear to be correct, and a3'"theycertainly enter into all magical work, it may be helpful if we givehere a general outline of them.

Briefly, von Reichenbach stated that there was a force which,without being identifiable with them, yet seemed to underly thephysical forces of electricity, magnetism, light and heat. To thisforce he gave the name of "Od."

Through his researches, he came to the conclusion that this"odic force" was, as he put it, "the odic garment of the universe";present everywhere, but manifesting most strongly in certain things.

Such things are the light radiations from the stars and the sun,all crystalline bodies, "permanent magnets" and "electro-rn8gncts,"chemical action of all kinds, and most important of all, living vege-table, animal and human organisms.

In some magical lodges, a grdat deal of experimental work hasbeen done upon this particular subject, and we may here indicatesome of the conclusions reached. It must be remembered that thous-ands of experiments have been made and the results tabulated inthe lodge archives. Dr. Rhine and his followers are not the only,or even the first, workers in this field !

All living animal forms appear to have two vertical definite"poles," to use the magnetic term. The right side of the body is ofone polarity and the left side of the reverse odic polarity. There isalso an horizontal polarity; the upper part of the body being of

l:i '

li:.J.a1t,3ft ^ri*"sts&S*dr

t& THE MAGICIAN

one polarity and the lower haif of the opposite polarity. The sameapplies to living vegetable forms. a-

The vibrations of sound have the power of liberating the odic- foroe. and combustion which is, of course, a form of cJremical

action, does the same.All subsances radiate their oum quality of "odic" force, as do

also all electrical manifestations. In connection with this latter, avery interesting series of experiments was made at the TheosophicalResearch Centre, using the clairvoyant faculty of one of the mem-bcrs: Mr..Geoftrey Hodson. It was found that he could correctlyindicate when a current of electricity was flowing in a. wire plaedbcfore him, the push-button controliing the current being aciuatedby someone in another room.

It is of interest to note that it was the sensations experienced bya Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America when evenin total darkness he accidentally touched anything made of brass,which led to i'ny,estigations by Piof. Bucharian andpr. Denton intothe phenomenon now known as "psychometry."

In certain magical work, use is made of the bredth of the oper-ator, and in the Catholic ritual used every year for the consecrationof the "Holy Oils" the Bishop and his attendant priests breatheover the oils in the sign of the Cross. This particular use of thebreath, apart from the symbolism as explained by theologians, isbased upon the fact that the breath is strongly charged with theodic energy.. But the wholc body radiates this energy, as we have seen, andthe odic field of force around every person has received the nartreof the "health aura," since its appeafanae indicates to the trained :

scer thc health conditions of the physical body.Vital energy ol all types is drawn into the etheric body and

specialised for use therein. The surplus is radiated out and formgan energy field around the body. The late Dr. Kilner by the useof dicyanine sceens observed and recorded the health indicationsgiven by the "etheric aura," as this field of living force is called.

It has been established that the "auric fields" of human beingstend to afiect each other in various ways. Some auras unite easilywith certain other auras, but are strongly repellent to others. Sinccsuch attraction and repulsion induces certain subconscious and con-scious reaction$ it is essential that the operators in a magical cere-monhl should be magneticalty in harmony, as the blending"of theirauras is one of the foundations upon which the @remony r€sts.

It is of interest to note in this connection, that there are ceftain

MAGNETISM 67

people whose auric energy seems to act as an "enz;me" or ferment,and in their presen@ even opposing auras seem temporarily toblend. Such people are invaluable in lodge working, since the lodgephenomena work through such a blended aura.

They are of the greatest value in spiritualistic "sean@s," whentheir presence will often turn what would have been a failure intoa successful sitting. It has been noted, in this connection, that manyof these human "enzymes" are of the auburn and red-headed types.

It is obvious that each individual brings his own unique poten-tialities into magical lodge and psychic circle alike, and the unfold-ment of these powers, and their interaction with the powers of othersin the lodge, not only opens up many possibilities, but also presentsthe lodge with new problems. It is true that the lodges have, throuehthe oenturies built up a fairly comprehensive body of knowledgeby means of which they can meet such problems, but st the sametime, since these powers are emerging under modern conditions, andn€w types of psychic make-up are coming into the lodges, therewill always be forces and combinations of those forces which willtax the powers of the nrlers thereof. ';

It is important to remember that the operation of any power orforce in the human personality has its subiective side, and the sub-jective expression of "magnetism" is "emotion." For the purposesof the magician, magnetism and emotion are the same.

Stir the emotions, and the magnetic ffow increases. Induce thcmagnetic flow, and emotions arise.

This is very apparent in the relationship bctween the sexes;indeed a certain debased form of the tantrik magic deliberatelymakes use of this for its own not very exalted pu4roses, and thisnot in the East alonelr Physical movements of a rhythmic typealso tend to liberate magnetism, and certain forms of musical sounddo the same.

To the clairvoyant vision, the psychic atmosphere of a dane-hall present a most interesting spcctacle, particularly when certainforms of music of negroid origin are used.

It is clear that many people would seem to possess veiy littleemotional forcs indeed. They appear to be, and often are, frigidboth in their everyday life and in their sexual outlook. Psychologiststnow, however, that in many of these cases, the lack of cmotionaldrive is the sign that the greater part of the emotional power of the

. It will bc noticed that wc rcfer to a debascd form of Tantika. Thig philosophic and occult systcm, has also its hcights as wcll as itg dcpthg, apoint oftcn forgottcD by many occult students.

. . -......,-,'*,.'r"*rP&|{ii$.

168 THE MAGICIAN

personality has for some reason or other been locked up below thcthreshold of the conscious mind, and is therefore not available forconscious use. The methods of psycho-analysis disperse the re-pressed emotional forces, and allow them to rise freely into con-sciousness, there to be integrated into the normal emotional circuitSuch a relearc of suppressed energy quickly restores normality, andthe abnormal frigidity of body and mind disappears.

In the magical lodge, this redirection of the emotional energiesalso takes place, partly due to the emotion-stirring ritual,and partly due to the inclusion of the individual in thegeneral magnetic circulation of the lodge. Under the gradedtystem of thc Western lodges, as also under the guru-chela relation-ship existing in the East between the teacher and his pupil orapprentice, this redirection of the emotional energy and its ac@m-panying magnetism takes place gradually and under control. When,however, one is working alone, or with only one or two fellow-workers, care has to be taken that the magnetic energy does notegcape from cpntrol.

There is, as a matter of psychic observation, a constant circula-.tion which goes on in the finer bodies of. man, and this process iseasily aftected by the mind. This mental control is exercised invol-untarily and pathologically in the cases of suppression and mentaldissociation, but it is part of the magical training for the aspirant togain the power of conscious control of the magnetic energies. Ilthese energies are aroused or liberated or increased (all perfectlyvalid lines of action), their corresponding mental channels andphysical expression must be so directed and adjusted that the nrr-bulent stream of energy may'be safely diverted into the fertilisingirrigation channels instead of sweeping chaotically over all the men-tal and emotional field.

Such enlarged and controllable channels are provided by themagical ritual if it is properly carried out, and for this rea!rcn alone,ritual magic can be a safer and more efrcient method than any

.amount of Freudian psycho-analysis.As we have pointed out, the psycho-magnetic flow of enefs/

can be controlld by the mind, and in this way the available mag-

" netism may be increased not merely by the release of suppressedenergies but by an increase in the actual intake of thosc energies.One of the methods, and when properly employed one of thc best,is the exercise which we have described'more fully elsewhere: lhoKey exercise of the Interwoven Light,,' No*'the personality of man receives energy fron two Boutoes,

MAGNETISM

md one of these, '-'elemental energy?', flows in through the ethericbodi. It is to be remembered that this magnetic force, thoughit has many efiects upon the physical body, circulates in, andttrough, the etheric body. There are' of course, detectable electriccurrents in the physical body, but this still more subtle force is notInrt of the physical forces, though its operation may be determinedby thc position and action of the physical.vehicle, since the ethericbody and the physical ate interlocked most closely. This is thebacis of so many of the Yogic asanos, or postures; they determinethe circuit in which the magretic energies nay flow.

It wiU have been noticed that we have used a special'term"clcrnental energy" to describe this subtle force. This has beendone for two reasons. It is the term used in the particular occultftaternity in which the present writer received much of his trainingand by using the term one covers all the various names, magnetism,odicforce, prana,etc.

There remain two points to be borne in mind by the magicalapprentice. The first is that this elemental energy in one of its formsis the underlying "pre-mattcr" ffom which physical matter ar wetnow it is condensed or "materialis€d." It therefore equates withlhe prana of the Hindu systems. Many. western students, misleadby some of the popular presentations of the Eastern systems ofyoga, limit the term ptana, to that aspect of it which is utilised inthe exercises of pranayama, ot breathing-control.

But in the philosophy which underlies the yoga systems, thelerm pruna is much more comprehensive. The earthly prana,whichmanifests in all the living beings and organisms found on earth, isa modification of the wlar prana, which in its turn is a modification

. pf the cosmic prana which is the undifferentiated co_smic mattertermed Prakriti.] This is mentioned here in order to maintain the

"' @rrcct perspective in the student's mind. In one of the cryptic textsof the Sepher Yetzirah, it is said that "The Tenth Path (Malkuth)stuses an influence to emanats ftom the Prince of Countenances,the Angel of. Kether (the highest-point of the Tree of Life)." Inbther words, by our actions in earthly matter and pre-matter weare also acting on and reacting to the highest spiritual levels.

All magical work must be seen in this perspective if the magicalapprentice is to become anything more'than a mere "sorcerer," ameddler with occult forces. It is for this reason and as a potentreminder of it, that the magician, during his operations, wears upon. This is more fully worked out in the Sanscrit work, the Shivaganta, onc

chapter bf which dcals cntirely with this energy and its.modifications.

t6g

r7o THE MAGICIAN

his breast what is known as the "lamen." This is a symbol whichrepresents the spiritual aspect of the work in which he is engaged,and it is by virtue of this spiritual intention that he asserts domi'nance and control over the creatures of the elements.

To return to our consideration of the elemental energy. The keyto its tise is that it can be "tied," mentally, to the breath, which in-itself is said to be an expression of the dual energy of the Eternal,the outbreathing and inbreathing of Brahm' The actual exercisesare simple, and tedious! The ones which form the foundation ofsuch control of prana are given in the next chapter, but, of course'there are many variants and specific adaptations of the basic exer'cises. Before the student attempts any of them, it is imperative thathe learns to do them without any strain. This is the most importantrule, and any infringement of it may lead to most unwelcomeresults.

In practical training, therefore, the apprentice magician learnrto release the body mechanism from the convulsive grip of the con'scious mind. This is done by the exercise known as the "relaxationexercise." This will be found in the next chapter.

Once control over the intake of the elemental energy has been

obtained, such energy may be dealt with in various ways. It maybe used within the student's own etheric and physical bodies' andvery real self-healing may be brought about thereby. Or it may bcdiricted outwardly on to people and things, producing very realeffects thereby.

When considering its use in the physical and psychic bodies' itshould always be remembered that it is quite possible, if the student

is careless or pays no attention to instructions, to disorganiscseriously the subconscious psychological workings of the body' and

many students have found this out, to their cost. Undue concentra'tion upon any one of the psychic cenftes or chakras should bcavoided for this reason, if for none other. The great psychic cenfres

lie close to, and directly influence the endocrine, or ductless, glands,

which play such a great part in the chemistry of the body. To stimu'hte thl cintres in a balanced way is one thing: to disorganise thcentire physical economy is quite another !

Wtren the elemental energy is projected outward towards otherc

or towards other obiects, then it may be used for healing, for the

spiritual illumination and initiation of those persons, or -for hurtand deceptive illusion, according to the spiritual status and intentionof the migician. These are, of course, the two poles of such -activity.

In praitical experience, most of the magicians with whom we

MACNETISM - tT

hle come into contact se€m to work somewhere between these twooppo$itcs, veering one way and the gther as they react to their owninncf, nature.

Although, theoretically, the elemental energy can be proiectedwithout any physical action, i.e., by mental eftort alone, it has beenfound in practice that this proiection is far more thorough and effici-ent when certain gestures and signs are employed, and certain de6-nite thought-forms built up. The "Signs and Sigils" with which wcdealt in Section II of this book, are alt designed to act as vehiclesfor the elemental cnergy, and m,rry be so used.

It is important that the magician keep ever before him the kcyidca that though he may draw down spiritual F)wer from thehcights, he must, if he is to gtve that power full expression, drawup from the earth-soul that elemental force which, as it ascendswithin him, changes its nature of manifestation from crude sexererliy, as it passes through the centre attributed by, the QalSliststa Yesod, to a radiating and hatmonising force as it passes throughthc centre of. Tiphareth

This harmonised eneigy may now be discharged into thc mentalforms which have been built, and will truly serve as an efrectivetink between the spiritual forces invoked, and the thought-formsthrough which they manifesl

Most thought-forms partake of the nature of the sparks from themith's anvil. These fly upwards for a foot or so, and are extin-guished. So most of the thought-forms created by the average personqcver leave the aura of their creatos.Only when they have alreadybecn charged and vitalised by the elemental energy have they sufr'cient power to go forth. And in this connection rc would againrcpcaL emotion and rnagnetism go together. A long continuedcnotional "brooding-over" some problem will generate and chargesome pretty eftective thought-forms. Though such emotional btood-ing is usually employed in the wrong way, it can and mzs, bc us€d

, in a constructivc spidtr,ral way by tlle aspirant to the Magic of Ligbt.

'....,,-, t..'r{ir;ilSf,$',

Chaprcr XV

THE TATTVIC TIDES

'|HERE are tides in the Unseen, and the success of our magicalr working depends very largely upon the set of those tides. They

are of several kinds, and produce different results. We may roughlydivide them into five: Stellar, Solar, Planetary, Lunar andTerrestial.

In actual work the influences of the stellar, solar and lunar tideswork upon us through the magnetic sphere of the Earth, since it isin the sphere of the Earth that they produce their effect. We, beingchildren of earth, as well as of the race of the Stany Heavens,respond to the varying tides of our mother'planet.

In the West, very little has been given out publicly concerningthe Earth tides, but in the East, where the subject has been studiedwithout any danger of the student being persecuted, a body ofknowledge concerning these things has been built up. The tides are

known as the Tattv,cs, and that unseen medium in which they flowis known as Prana. This is understood to be the state of matterwhich is the next stage above terrestial matter, and we may term it"etheric matter"; surrounding the Sun and in which move the earthand other planets. This we may understand to be the "free ethericsubstance,'; whilst prana surrounding our planet, as well as the

others of this solar system, may be called the "bound ether," ormagnetic sPhere of our Planet.

As the earth revolves on its axis, and also travels at the same

time around the sun, centres of stress are set up in the magnetic

sphere of the earth. During the'day of any part of the earth's sul-fice, that part sends out a positive current ftom East to llest. So

there is a steady current, or tide, in the magnetic sphere of the

earth, flowing from East to West.As the earth moves round the sun, a magnetic current passes

from the north to the south during six months, and the reverse isthe case for the remaining six months. These "seasonal" tides are

also of great practical value. They are marked by the solstices and

equinoxes and are classified as follows: -- The Tide of Destruction: December 23rd-March 2lst.The Tide of Sowing: March 2lst-June 2lst.The Tide of Reaping: June 2lst-September 23rd.The Tide of Planning: September 23rd-December 23td.

The corresponding aspects of these tides for the Southern hemi-

YgLLOW

"EARTH"

PRITHEVI

TCJAS OF AP^s

-,...-_*^"*,;jl,,l, l*j

174 THE MAGICIAN

sphere can be worked out by the reader. The above are given forthe Northern hemisphere. Of course, they are not so sharply defined;they merge one into the other and the "cusps," where this mergngtakes place, are of mixed influence. As the author of Ecclesiastessays, "there is a time for sowing and a time for reaping, a time tobe born and a iime to die, and for"everything urider the sun thereis a time."

This does not mean that the magical student must meticulously"observe times and seasons," but it does mean that when workingas a magician, it is advisable to perform your operation when theright tide is flowing.

The positive currents emanate from the northern centre, thenegative currents from the southern centre, and the eastern andwestern channels of these currents are known as the Pinealt (E\nd ldd (W) of the planet. They have their counterparts in thehuman body, in the positive and negative currents which flowthrough the etheric counterpart of the spine.

Generally speaking, the limit of the magnetic sphere of thisplanet is around the limits of the atmosphere, and within this sphereof force, every atom of earth is a centre of action and reaction forthe tatlvrc tides.

Thus all that has been done upon the earth is herein recorded,and by a process of induction, these terrestial records are imprintedalso on the pranic sphere of the Sun. All thesc records are underthe influence of the negative tattvic forces, whose controller is theMoon. For this reason, on the Tree of Lif.e.Yesod the Moon-sphereis termed the "Treasure-House of Images."

The Lunar tides work in a rhythm of that lunar month, and areroughly divided into two: the tides of the waxing moon, and thetides of the waning moon. It is customary not to essay practicaloccult works (unless it is imperative they should be done) duringthe "waning phase of the moon." The last guarter or "dark of themoon" is usually reserved in the occult circles for simple lectures,and so on.

The planetary tides as we have seen, affect us through the mag-netic sphere of the earth, but their influence is subject to greatalteration by the terrestial magnetic currents.

Now, the tattvic tide which swirls around our planet from Eastto West is five-fold, and each of its components has its maximumand minimum periods. The Element of. Akasha is strongest at sun-rise, then it merges into the element of Vayu. This in its turn merges

THE TATTVIC TIDES

into Teias, and this into Apas, and finally Apas aerges ic;te mthivi,Then the.cycle is repeated.

-. Each tattvic tide-is compqsile. For instance, in the first flow ofthe tide at sunrise, Akasha is the dominant, but together withAkasha are the four othcr aspects of the tide, and these build upin power until, as the dominant phase ol Akasha begins to weaken,the phase of Vayu becomes dominant, to be followed by the othersin successisn. So all the five tattvic cunents are always flowing buttheir individual power varies in a rhythmic fashion. Now eachtattvic aspect produces certain conditions in the magnetic sphcre ofthe earth, and so will help or hinder the magician in his partiorlarwotk. A knowledge of what tide is flowing is therefore very helpful.

There are certain symbols used to denote lhe tattvas, and these

175

AKASHA-EtherVAYU-AirTEIAS-FireAPAS-Water

Indigo or BlackBlueRedSilver

PRITHM-Earth Yellow '!1\e* tattvic symbols are of very great use when thc sfirdent is

working with the visualising exersises dctailed in the preccdingsoction. They may be combined, i.e. the red triangle ol Teias mxybe placed in the centre of the yellow square of, Prithivl, and thcyare undoubtedly splendid objects for the exerciscs. {-.

They can aiso'be used as "gates" into the Astral Light as kcygymbols which will open up to the student the corresponding lcvelof the astral.

..,,.,.. ',-JsidlW{ |

Chapter XVI

THE BODY OF LIGHT

"TIIE Body of Light" is a technical term used in the Westernr esoteric schools to refer to what may be described as an arti-ficial body or vehicle of consciousness which is used by the magicianto project his consciousness from his physical body. In some Easternschools, this body is known as the Manumayakosfta which may beroughly tanslated as "the thought-created sheath or body ofillusion." In other words it is a mentally-produced vehicle of con-sciousness which appears to be a replica of the body of the magician(though it need not take that form).

The particular psychic operation which has been popularised oflate years in western occult circles, the so-called "projection of theastral body," is an example of the use of the Body of Light. At thesame time it should be realised that in some cases, far more thana simple thought-form is projected. This brings us to the crux ofthe matter. Anyone with a good visualising power can build up athought-form, and with training may succeed in transferring hispersonal consciousness thereto. But for the further stages of thisoperation, it is essential that there should be what may be describedas a "splitting up" of the subtle inner bodies. Most people nowadaysare familiar with the idea of "split-personality," but this is not whatwe mean in this connection. In order to make our meaning perfectlyclear, it is necessary to touch briefly upon the vehicles or bodiespossessed by man.

We are all aware that we possess a physical body, since it isperfectly evident to our waking consciousness. We fail, however,to realise the existence of the inner bodies, because cognition ofthem does not extend into the normal waking consciousness.

Nevertheless, the various inner bodies do exist. For our presentpurposes we will briefly deal with the three inner bodies which arenormally employed in the practice of astral projection. These arethe so-called "etheric double," the "astral body" and the "mentalbody." The etheric body is really the true physical body, since it isthe matrix or mould into which flows the physical substance gainedfrom food and drink. But as we know, this material substance isin a constant state of flux or movement, and in the course of a fewyears all atoms of matter which make up the physical body havebeen replaced by new atoms. So there is a constant intake of matter,its assimilation by the living cells of the body, and its later rejection

THE BODY OF LIGHT

and discharge from the body. The individual cell lives are ener-gised by the permanent (for this life) etheric body, and will thereforebuild the new atoms into the old pattern. So our body retains itsdistinctive appearance, though, as the years go by, the power of thecell-life to build truly on the etheric pattern begins to lessen, andfalse patterns are built in. An example of this sometimes occurs inthe nervous system where, instead of the true nerve-substance beingbuilt up, the cell-life builds into the nerve that particular type ofsubstance known as "connective tissue." This is a very useful sub'stance in its proper place, but when it is built up into a nerve it isas though we replaced patt of a wire which canies elechicity, by alength of rubber. The rubber, being a non-conductor of electricitywill prevent any current flowing, and in like manner, the connectivetissue which may be built up into parts of a nerve, does not trans'mit the nerve-curent, and renders the nerve useless. Some formsof deafness in aged people are due to this faulty rebuilding of theaural nerves.

Now the etheric matrix or "double," normally remains in closeunion with the physical body, and is only separated therefrom, andthen only partialiy, by ceitain drugs, genlral anasthetics, ines-merism and hypnotism.

When the etheric is driven out of the physical body by any oneof these means, a certain amount of it remains with the physical,

and between the exteriorised etheric double and the part still re-maining on the physical levels, there is what has been termed the

"silver cord." Should this cord be broken, then death has occured.It is important to realise that although the etheric double is the

permanent mould of the physical, it is in itself "fluidic," i-e. it canbe split up into several more etheric duplicates of itself. The doubleis, also, both the channel for the vital energies which keep thephysical body going, and the link between the physical brain andthe'corresponding centres of consciousness of the inner bodies.

To remember, or "bring throtrgh" the recollection of an astral

plane activity, it is necessary to so work upon the etheric body, thata certain amount of its substance vibrates in harmony with ourastral consciousness. When this has been done, then it is possible

to induce in the physical brain some memory of what has been

seen and done on the inner planes, though since inner plane experi'ences are not of the material order, it will be found almost impos'sible to bring through a full realisation of such experiences; theessence will usually escape us. In the Western rhools a system of

177

.t

r78 THE MAGICIAN

symbol-building is used to enalb the magician to deal with.thesuperphysical experiences

The alteration of the vibration rate of part of the etheric doubleis sometimes known as the "splitting of the moon," since the ethericdouble is like our moon, a reflertor of light received from anothersour@. The exercise described in the section dealing with the "int€r-woven light" has the.effect, among many others, of splitting theetheric, or, more precieely, adapting part of it to the vibration ratioof the aqtral body of the studenl

The astral or "psychid' body is usually well developed in mostpeople, and the astral senses (or rather sense) active. But becauscof a lack of contact between the physical brain and the astral @ntreof consciousn$s the perceptions of the psychic senses are not tans-Eitted to the physical plane consciousness. \ilhat is known aspsychic development makes such links of contact, antl equally thcdagician's training is intended to build up suct links between theconsciousness on the outer and inner planes

^ When, after the preliminary work with the interwoven lighq ttrcmagician comes to the work of formulating and using the Body ofLight' he will fnd that, although the technique is simple enough,there are several "critical poin6" where failure may ensue. Butpersistent practice will in the end produce the desired result Indeed,it may be stated that persistelce is one of the most important traitsto be developed by tha magician. Again and again'will the endeav-our to formulate the Body of Light be unsuccessful, but again andagain must he try until, suddenly he one day fnds that he is nolonger in the inert physical body, which he sees resting on the bedor couch before him. Like Tcnnyson's "Ancient Salie," thc mortallimit of the self has been loosed, and thc student stands, fully con-scious in the Body of Light.

This is a tremendous experience, and the present writcr wellremembers the time, now lnme forty years ago, when, under theguidance of his teacher, he 6rst stood forth in the Body of Light,and gazed on his earthly form lying in deep trance on the couch.Whoever has this experience knows in a mode of absolutc know-ledge, that he is not the physical body with which ho has for solong identified himself. It is possibly one of the greatest experienccswhich can happen to man, and perhaps the novelisl Lord BulwerLytton, was ihinking of this in his book Zaroni, when he makes thcRosicrucian adept Mejnour remark, "Man's first initiation is intran@."

Thc transfetrnce of the consciousness from the physical body to

THE BODY OF LIGHT 179

thc Body of Light results in the sleep of the physical, and this sleep

m8y vary from so light a condition of unconsciousness that such

a tling is a check in the circulation of the blood' due to a tightarticle of clothing, or a change in temperature, may bring back theprojected consciousness into the physical body, t9 I _slate of cata'lcptic rigour, in which the whole body is st!fi and rigid.-

Normally, however, the "trance of projection" is not so deep

as the cataleptic condition. It is interesting to note that in the deeper

sbges of trance there are well-defined changes in the chemical com-poiition of the blood-stream. Many beginners are afraid that if theyire sucessful in projecting the Body of Light, they may be "lockedout" as it were, ind unable to get back.t They need have no fearon this score. The difficulty, especially in the early stage' is to keep

out of the physicallWe saii that the etheric double, whenever it panially or wholly

leaves the physical body, is connected with it by a connecting e$ericlink or "cord." This etheric "cable tow" is extremely sensitivc tochanges occuning in the physical body, and constantly tends !odraw-the extruded etheric substance back into the body. Such with'drawal is sometimes practically instantaneous. The writer has i?enthe body of a medium marked with very definite bruises when the

cxtruded double, together with a certain amount of ectoptasmic eub-

stance had returned suddenly and violently to the physical body

ftom which it came, this sudden return being because a sitter had

suddenly grasped thc matcriralised form't\Ve irive iwelt upon this point in order to reassurc those who

feel that to project out of the body is akin to jumping into dcep

water when you are unable to swim. You may get out' or you mlynot! In projection, however, such a danger is so remote thaq forall practical-purposes, it does not exist. A far more definirc danger

is that the prlctice may throw a strain upon the heart. (But ,P orushould aaimpt practical magical work if they suffer from any

organic dibeasi ol ttre heart. If suc1' a sufferer wishes to become

coisciousty aware of the astral wrirld, lei him develop the linksb"tt"."n the astral and physical tevels of his consciousness by the

use of a "symbol-chain"- when falling asleep, and agarg -when ryk;ini. *e may in this way attain without risk to his hcalth, practicsl

. C}'. a story by H. G. Wclls, ..Thc Stolcn Body,'' which dcals with such a

dilemma!t This ohenomcnon of thc inf,iction of iniury upon thc medium .UV ipjury' iifiilt|J-Ji'ih;-;*tt'i,d;a ;ili;nC form ii lino-*n a9 "rcpercussion,". and

hiiu:ijsln much of thc cvidcncc in the trials of witchcs in mcdicval smg..

--,rr,tr.,,,Oif,8l&. !

r8o THE MAGICIAN

knowlcdge and experiene of the inner worlds.) How is the formu-lation and prolection of the Body of Light accomplished? Thd Arstst€p is quite easy, the more so if the visualising exercises alreadydcscribed have becn systematically used.

The student should be seated in such a position that hc is freefrom-any undue worry about his physical body. The less he receivesin sensations telegraphed to his brain consciousness by the nervesof sensation, the better. Some European students attempt to sit inone or other of the various asanas of postures which are commonlyused in the Orient. But, although, when they are mastered they canbe most comfortable, they are usually anything but comfortable tothe European type of body. Now since the student is endeavouringto take the consciousness out of the body, it seems rather foolishto adopt a position which will continually be calling the conscious-ness back into the body.

It is true that certain yoga postgres do "short-circuit" and linktogether some of the magnetic currents of the body, but for thep-urpose of projection, intricate etheric postures are not nocessaf,y.

So let the posture be one of comfort. Quite a goodone is sittingin an easy chair so arranged that the body leans slightly back fromthe perpendicular, and the back is kept straight.

Or the student can lie flat on his back on a couch or bed, butwhatever position he is in, he must, when he @mmences this exer-cise, visualise his Body of Light as being in identically the sameposition.

Before aftempting the actual projection, the Banishing Ritualof the Lcsser Pentagram should be used.

Then, seated in his particular posture, the student should care-fully visualise (subjectively) thc shape of that form he desires toproiect.-

Next he should extenialise this mental image, and see it appar-ently objectively. The figure may be clothed as is the expcrimenter,or as his fancy dictates. A good image, so the present writer foundout many years ago, is of a robed and hooded figure, the details ofrobe and figure being clearly pictured and projected.

When this has been done, the second stage in projection may bcattempted. Here the experimenter is splitting the etheric and trans-ferting the tenuous etheric, astral and mental substance to thethought-form which he has projected. Such transferencr can beachieved by the use of the exercise of the interuoven light, andthe breathing exercises based upon it.

. When the theught.image has been "charged" with energy in this

THE BODY OF LIGHT

way, the third stage may be started. The experimenter is now tryingto transfer his waking consciousness into the form.

For this stage, the first step consists in making the Body of Lightdo certain things, move about, speak, etc., as though it was a puppetactuated by remote radio control. When the visualised form can beclearly kept in the mental vision and made to move easily, the finalact of identification can be made. First of all, the mental "intention"to project consciousness into the form is made by a strong momen-lary eftort of will. Do not keep on "willing"; the definite "intention!'or act of will sets the appropriate etheric and astral forces in action.

The next step is to step forward in thought and enter the formwhich stands before you, and immediately make an imaginativeefiort to see and hear and feel from the standpoint of the figure.This is the crucial point in the operation, and as we have said thestudent may try many times before success is achieved. Usually,when one is at last successful, there is heard a curious sound, some-what like a sharp metallic "click."

The student is now standing out of his physical body and isclothed in the Body of Light. At first he will clearly see the phyqicalplane surroundings, all apparently self-luminous with a clear bluishlight. His sleeping physical body lies before him, and a thin silverycord of misty light connects him with it.

If, however, he wishes to go any distance from his physical body,he must, again by a momentary effort of will, send back some ofthe denser etheric substance in which he is now working. lVhen thishas been done, the Body of Light is less susceptible to physicalplane disturbances of various kinds and it can be projected to muchgtreater distances.

Always the student will, in the earlier stages at least, feel thepull of the silver cord, as it responds to the varying physical plane

impressions coming in via the physical body, but with increasingdeiterity, the tendency to move back into the physical will lessel.

During projection it is compatatively easy, if any "automatic'writing" ability has been developed, to concentrate mentally uponthe physical brain, causing the hand to write automatically and so

record the observations one is making. Or concentration may be

made upon the throat and the physical voice will record the tele'gathic impressions being sent in from its owner. But these are laterdevelopmints, as such concentration on the physical body tends todraw one back into it.

It is when the student first stands forth in the Body of Lightthat his troubles begin. For he is as a child ncwly born on the etheric

r8r

":r l

THE MAGIEIAN

phne. The surging magnetic tides of the etheric earti will t€nd toAtiF-tig a1-lcssly along, and his ill-con&olled imagination willswitch him instantaneously from one set of conditionJ to another.Here, too, he will find that what were but..symbols" on the physicalplane, are living things, and here will he find.that many of tirg-nxeC"laws of natufe" concerning which he has so proudly slnken, arerevers€d and work in a very different way.

It is necessary to have some clue to the astral maze, and thisclue is to be found in the use of the symbols associated with thepivotal diagram of the Western Magical Schools, the -Tree of Life."By using these symbols as "d@rs" through which one makes con-tact with the astral powers, it is possible for the student to bringorder and method into his asEal wanderings, and thus avoid beom-ing one of those whom one occult teacher I knew referred !o as"astral tramps" !

The student should always remember that, in the words of_ Marcus Aurelius, "we are never less alone than when we thidk we

ue xlonle." There are guides and teachers who may not at frst beperceived, but who will make themselves known to him. Always heshould test such teachers by the moral and mental standards whichhe has built by his series of meditations when he was engaged inbuilding his "magical personality."

These standards he will have embodied in certain symbolicfigures and gestures, and these he will use to test Oose who sppearin the astral and claim to guide and teach him.. Having left the physical and worked in the Body of Lighl thestudent must now return. For some time there will have been aoincreasing pull from the physical, and he has only to yield volun--tarily to this pull for him to be instantaneously "yanked" back intothe material body.

Such a rapid return tends to break the consciousness linkand also the memory chain which enables him to recollect hisastral experiences.

The return should therefore be deliberate. This is not easy atfirst, as the pull of the physical is incteased as one oomes near it

If the student has gone out by the way of the $lon Door ofsome train of associated symbols, then by that door he should rctumuntil, in his Body of Light he stands once more S zing down uponhis sleeping physical organism..

The "intention" to retum slowly into the physical"should bemade, and the same projection of consciousness as that used in tbcstepping-out should be made, buf, of goufse, "in revetrse."

r8z THE BODY OF LIGHT

lVhen the "star of consciousness," with its associated astralmemories, has been transferred into the physical, the student shouldvisualise the Body of Light, in which he has been working, as stand-ing before him.

He should then, by a steady efiort ol will, draw it back intoNmselt. This should never be oriritted. The form will sribsist in hisastro-mental sphere, and be more'easily formulated and sent forthin the future. But to leave such a form, or forms, drifting idly aroundin ones psychic atmosphere is definitely unwise.

One curious point emerges here, a point with which the studentwill make practical acquaintance as time goes on. The Body ofLight may show alarming signs of being itself an independent being,and will not respond to its formulator. When this occurs, the prac-tice of projection should be preceded by a meditation on the prin-ciples used to build up the magical personality, and the errant Bdyof Light disciplined and controlled.t Never allow it to break awayor become dominant. It is your vahan, yozr vehicle, and youshould be its master, and it must be your servant.

r83

' Of course, as wc have said, all magical work, including thc projection ofthc Body of Light, should be prcceiled by thc assumption of thc "magicalpcrsooality."

",",, r*; J

these the "magical pgrsonality" is one of the most important. Asthe psychologists have proved through the study of those curiousstates of mind known as "alternating" or "'split" personalities, ourordinary personality'is a rather unstable thing, bonstructed-haii-hazardly, and easily aftected by outside conditions. It is possiblefor us to remould that personality, indeed at some time or otherin our magical career we shall have to do this, but long before thepermanent alteration is effected we can have commenced to buildup an alternative personality which shall serve as an efficient instnr-ment for our magical work. There are definite rules for the con-struction of such a magical personality, and if they are carefullyobserved, the result will be of the greatest help to the magician.

It must, however, be kept in mind that the personality-splitting,or "schizophrenic" tendency, has to be reckoned with in this work.We see a similar state of affairs in connection with certain actorsand actresses who have to play some particular character in a playwhich enjoys a very long run. The stage character they have beenportraying for so long seems to gain a certain kind of individualexistence in their mind, and does at times appear to intrude intoand supersede the normal waking consciousness. But this, of course,is what we do not want to happen in our magical work. In thatworkwe must always be positive and dominant masters of the temple ofour personality. This is one of the cardinal points in magical work.Although the personality must be held open to any inflow of powir,light or wisdom from the deeper self within, it must be so built andtrained that no involuntary alterations can take place in it. Whenwe begin to build up the magical personality, therefore, we mustso work that all involuntary manifestations of it are stopped atsource. The magical personality mast never be allowed to manifestsuddenly unless the will and waking consciousness of the normalpersonality concur. So rule one is-clways build the magical per-sonality positively, and never allow it to manifest without yourdefinite personal agreement.

In order to build up a balanced magical personality, consfructit around the three basic aspects of life: Power, Love and Wisdom.Take each one of these in turn and use'it as the central idea in

THE MAGICAL PERSONALITY

your meditation. Here is a typieal meditation on the power asp€ct.- "I am meditating on Power-with a capital P.-Why a capital?

-wh!, all manifestations of energy are individual expressions of, the one energy which lies behind them all-the flaming crater ofthe volcano, the mountainous waves of the tempest-torn ocean, thedcvastating fury of the hurricane, the roaring tenor of the avalancheiall are expressions of the primal energy. So, too, are the mani'

: festations of power in the realms of life-the strength of the masto'don, and the great saurians, the fury of the lion and the conqueringritls of those men and women who in their day and generation havealtered the destinies of the nations.

t85

Chapter XVII

THE MAGICAL PERSONALITY

HERE are several ways in which what we may term the"magical pressure" in the personality may be increased, and of

All these were but partial manifostations of that Strength whichguides Arcturus and his sons, which upholds all creation by thenight of lts Power.

And I, son of earth, feeble and ignorant, am also of the racof the Starry Hgavens, a spark of that Mighty Flame, and withiomc also is that Power., I aspire towards that radiant Source of all Power. O Thou, theEternat, Whose spark dwells within me, I strive to realise Theewithin myself. May Thy Power descend upon me and work throtghme, that Thy Witl may be done, and Thy Plan brought to its con-curnmation within me. To the Greater, I submit."

This, of course, is but a rough draft of such 8 meditation, butthe idea will be seen. In the same way, similar meditations shouldbp made on the other two aspects-Love and Wisdom. In all these

meditations the aim should be a realisation of the unity of aU theEianifestations of the panicular aspect which is being considered'followed by an aspiration towards union with that transcendentUnity.

li is ntost.important that the buitding up of the form-aspect ofthe magical personality should not be commenced bcfore these

thrce aJpects-of Life have been thoroughly meditated upon, and

rcme realisation of their nature geined. Now comes the next step.

This must be taken carefully, and all deJails fully worked out.To build up a faulty magical personality is worse than useless; itcan cause quite serious trouble under certain circumstances. So $eapprentice magician should most carefully consider what he is do'ing, and patiently carry out the routine training.

- We hive already said that this artificial magical personality must

bc fully under the iontrol of the magician's will, and should not be

allowed to manifest in any way except when the conscious flf rywills it. Also, when the purpose for which it was summoned forth

-,,;li.;fufiflIhJ

€5 THE MAGICIAN

has been fulfilled, it should be positively dismissed by the op€rator,and returned into the subconsciousness. These two points are of thehighest importance, and anyone who attempts this exercise withouthaving developed the power to control the manifestations of themagical personality is simply asking for trouble.

The exercise should be started-by the operator selecting someobject which is to be closely identified with the magical personalitywhich is to be constructed. A ring is one of the best objects forthis purpose. A symbol made of metal may be worn as a pendantover the heart, but since this is the position in which the magicalbreast plate or "Iamen" is worn, the ring is the better object ofthe two.

In the various "grimoires," or books of magical instruction, greatstress is laid upon the "virginity" of the various articles used inthe rites. This simply means that the object should be one that hasnot been usd for any other purpose, and one that has therefore, noassociation links with other things and no "magnetic" charge whichwould link it with other influences. It is also laid down that theoperator must make and consecrate his own magical instruments,and it is certainly a very good exercise for the operator to do this,as it implies a @n@ntration upon the article which will be fargreater than that which could be exerted upon a ready-made article.But since it is not so easy to make a ring, at least not easy for thosewho are not mechanically minded, a shopbought ring certainlysaves time.

If, however, the ring is bought at second-hand, it will in all prob-ability be charged with influences from its past history, and willtherefore be unsuitable for our purpose until it has been magreti-cally cleansed and charged.

, In all cases, whether the obiect chosen is new or second-hand,it is recharged with the idea (held firmly in the operator's mind)that when this ring is put on the magical personality is assumedthrough that action, and when it is removed, then the magical per-sonality is put ofr, and returned to the subconscious levels. Againit is repeated: the magical personality must never be assumed,exc€pt at the conscious command of the will, and for these trainingpurposes, such assumption must be keyed to tbe deliberate actionof putting on the magical ring.

The ring has been placed upon the finger, and the operator isnow about to assume the magical personality. How is this done?Lct him see himself as an actor assuming a certain character in aplay. It is not necessary to visualise any particular fotm, but simply

THE MAGICAL PERSONALITY 87

to think anA fecl'nimself to bc that character. In the beginning olthis exercise, he has three character parts to play, and his toutincEaining should be so arranged that each of these characters is us€din turn. At a later stage, the three are fused together into the onemagical personality, but it is neccssary to develop each aspect separ'ately before atrcmpting such a fusion.

Our apprenticc-magrcian has already canicd out his basic medi'tations on the three aspects of Life: Power, Love and Wisdom.Now he will take one of them and try to think and feel as if hewere tbe physical embodiment of that aspect. It is more than prob'

' gbh that most people would choose the Power aspect for a startand this, of course, is very natural. But the ncxt tiflr,e the magicalpcrsonality is assumed, the aspect choscn must be one of the com'flemcntary aspectr of Love and Wisdom. This rule must never bebroken or relaxed in any way, until tbe fusion of the three sspectso( the magical personality is complerc. Even then it will be found

, in practice that one oi other of the aspec'ts seems to predominate1."when ihe magical work is !6ing done, and the integrated msscat

pcnorality wi[ be found to be temporarily "biasscd' toward-eqch

rn aspect, the aspcct evokcd being relatcd to the typc of work beingdmc.

In the cxercises, the apprentice should think, feel, speak andrct at il hc were the channel and cxpression of the.aspect chosen.

Since speech is impo.rtant, it is advisable to carry out this cxgrciry' romewhere where-there is freedom from intemrption. A simple

l; ntu"t should be devised by the operator, and this ritual should bepcriormed with the idea that he is identifid with the magical lrr',l '-rcnality, that he js it, and every thought and feeling should bcdir€cted towards this one end. '":

A way in which this can bc greatty intensificd is to usc the ringrl an autb-hypnotic device by turning it bezet inwards, and qgletly

mtemplating the symbol cngraved thetlon, at the same time afrrm'" ing the intention of assuming the nagical'personality. Since at the

prcccnt point of training the operator is not atrcmpting contact withiay ottrir levels of being, but is using a purely psychological tcch'niqu", the Qabalistic symUot of Malkuth, the Kingdom of Earth' ist vcry good one to use.'

fi'aving assumed the magical personality, the student should

now prgceed to the controlled use of "phadtasy," i.1- the image'building facuhy which he uses when he ig, as we say' "daydream'ing." Hi should picture mentally a numbcr of characters enggged in. Scc diagram of thc Tlcc, pagp 36.

I88 THE MAGICIAN

doing some particular thing, and from the standpoint of his magicalpersonality, he should put himself into the phantasy and see and

feel himself as one of the characters.Thus, we will assume that the "Wisdom" facet of the magical

personality has been adopted by the student. He builds up hisphantasy, shall we say one in which a number of men and women

in an office are appaiently in a glorious confusion because of lack

of method. The student in his magical personality steps down intothe picture and brings order out of chaos, organises and systematises

the work that is being done by the actors in his little mental playl

and then retires from the picture, leaving the situation balanced

and co-ordinated.Should the Power facet of the magical personality have been

assumed, then a situation is visualised in which power is seen tobe absent, with resultant non'action. The student in his Powet per'sonality steps into the picture and applies power -in a- balanced

form, ihus |nergising the static conditions visualised in the mentalpicture.' Similarly with the Inve facet. It must always be kept in.Pindthat this is not only a mental exercise, it should bring in all lheappropriate emotions, not only.in the magical personality but also

in the actors on the mental stage.

Once the technique has been mastered it will be found that'

although, as will be seen, the magical personality is dismissed from

consci6usness and returned to its place in the subconscious, it will,nevertheless, continue to operate indirectly upon the normal con-

sciousness. For this reason it is a very great help in the building up

of the balanced earth-personality.Again, the studeni is wained that the direct expression of the

magi;al personality should always be under the full control of the

*ufing cbnsciousness, and its evocation and dismissal must always

be voluntary.At the commencement of the exercise, the magical personality

should not be assumed for longer than ten minutes. At the end ofthat time the operator should visualise a silvery veil behind- him'

and mentally t"i th" robed and hooded figure of the magical per-

sonality pasi through it and disappear. The ring should be taken

off and put away, and the operator should stamp once on the

ground, tlhur usseiting symbolically that he has returned to normal

iveryday consciousniss. The success or otherwise of the exercise

stroutO b. not"d down in a diary kept for this purpose' The magical

THE MAGICAL PERSONALITY r89

personality should then be dismissed from memory until the excr-cisC is again due.

Once the technique has been learnt, and the magical personalitystsbilised, the time of the exercise may be lengthcned, but by thenthe operator will have commenced some at least of the elementarymagical rites, and will know how long the magical personality mustbe assumed for the work in hand.

It should be clearly understood that the magical personalitymust be used throughout any ritual operation, which is undertaken.It forms also the basis of the so-called "Body of Light" which isused in the magical operation of "astral proiection" or, more aocur-ately, the operation of "Rising on the Planes."

PART IV

MAGICAL RITES

Chapter XVIII

THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF FORMS

E come now to what is sometimes known as the "invisiblework" of the magical lodges. It is invisible to the physical

senses, but very perceptible indeed to trained clairvoyant vision.Before we commence to examine it in detail, it will perhaps be aswell if we outline the aim of such work. Briefly, for most of us,our minds are linked so closely with matter that they are to allintents and purposes fixed. Now the magical student has to learnhow to detach the mind from its fixation in matter. Next, whenthis has been done, and the free-flowing mental energy is at hisdisposal, he has to learn how to control it. Then the power of mattercan be used to help the mind, for if the mental energy is nowattached to objects that do not belong to the world of sense, thoughderived from it, the subtle energy can be controlled and directed.So the reflections in the mind of the objects of the material worldmay be used as channels through which the forces may be diredted.

Here we come to the use of "material action." If we menlallyvisualise the sign of the cross, we do indeed build up a thoughtimage, but if we reinforce our mental picture by making the signwith our hand in the air before us as we build the picture, thenthe effect of the gesture is to cause the thought-form to become moreclearly defined, quite apart from the "magnetic" stresses we maybe causing. So, whenever we can, we link symbolic gesture withthought-form construction. As we shall see when we consider thesigns and sigils, in certain thought-forms and signs there is a true"correspondence" with much deeper aspects of creation, and theassociation between the gesture and the thought-form is an organicone; they are the two aspects of an invisible reality.

Before attempting to build the preat Forms, the magical appren-tice has to learn how to build up lesser forms, and acquires dexteritythereby.

The principle thought-forms built up in a magioal lodge are"The Astral Temple" and the "God-forms," and these are built upmost carefully according to a well-established system. In an old-established lodge, there will always be some of the "senior $gethren"who are expert in this form construction, and their trained mindswill form an invisible foundation into which the inexpert efforts ofthe "juniors" will be fitted. So, the telesmatic images, as they aretermed, are built up by the seniors, but the "temple-form" is built

194 THE MAGICIAN

up by a,ll, each member workihg according to his knowledge andgrade. Usually, the energy to be built up is indicated by a series ofdescriptive passages which are read aloud by one of the brethrenbefore the actual ritual is started. l*

As we have s@n, the colour-symbolism employed in magic isof cardinal importaice, and the temple-form.is built up in thosecolours, and their complementaries, which in the magical symbo-lism have been assigned to a particular type of manifested force.Thus, an operation of Venus will need a temple-form colourpd ingreen and its complementaries, whilst an operation of Luna willcall for a temple in mauve and silver, and the complementariesthereto.

When the magical work is being centred upon the individualconsciousness of the magician, as in the "path-workings"r's6 called,then the imagery assigned to the particular path is built up laterin the ceremony, but the "temple-form" will be that of the Sephirahat the head of the path chosen. For example, the 32nd path leadsfrom Malkuth to Yesod on the Tree, and the temple would be builtaccording to the imagery otYesod.

It is well to remember here that the Sephiroth on the Tree ofLife represent the points where the individual subjective conscious-ness makes contact with.the objective energies of the,spiritualunivbrse around him. Again it must be reiterated that the whole ofthe Tree, the ten holy Sephiroth and their wenty-two connectingpaths, can be used in the colour scales, and the'efiect will then beaccording to the scale used.

Here is an excerpt from some descriptive passag€s which areused in this way. It is part of a ritual designed to make contact with' the Celtic fofces bnd'images in.the racial mind : -Brcthren, allow this vision to risc before you. Wc stand upoii a

high hill in thc prcsencc of the Holy Angcl in whose carc is thcslecping city bclow. His mighty figure towers above us and His btess-ing is upon uB as we turn our faces wcstward and forward towards our8oal.

Wc are travelling alike in Timc and Space, and as wc procced.thcre risc around us thc scenes and conditions of primcval Britain:that Britain whose children we are.

Bencath our fcet is the close green turf of thc ancicnt road, abovcus the Moon shines brilliantly in the star-studded indigo vault of theHcavcns, and around us gradually appear the outlincs of that ElderBritain whcrcin is contained thc Sanctuary of our worship. This isthe Britain of Arthur and Merlin, yea, and thc Britain also of thoscwho built this road, who rcared thesc guiding mounds of carth, andfirst devised thcse dew-ponds which shine placidly beforc us in the

r In this usc of thc term 'Path" wc arc omitting the tcn "Paths" uruallylnown colleetivOly as lhe Sephiroth,

THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF FORMS r9S

moonlight. Thcy thc Children of Atlantis, secking in stern and rudcconditions of Nature, relief from thc degenerate luxury of their Homc-lend, established in this land a Centre of Light which through thcagcs has stood and rhall stand until that day whcn thc purposcs ofthc Lord of the Acon have becn accornplished.

Around arisc mighty forests .

As we have said, this journey ends in the temple-form of theparticular station on the Tree with whose forces we desire to work.The senior brethren pres€nt will have built up the temple-form ingreat detail, and the telepathic pressure of their trained minds willcause the crude eftorts of some of the junior brethren to be modifiedsuficiently to enable them to be built into the "form" which hasbeen constructed. Indeed at times it does happen that one of thelesser brethren finds that inst€ad of his own personal images arisingin response to the description of the vision-journey, a set of strange,yct potent images arise within his consciousness. This is due tohis psychic rapport with one or other of the senior brethren, orwith the temple-form they have built up.

The layout of the temple as described in the key-reading withits symbolic furniture, of which the physical plane temple. is arcplica, will build up an astral counterpart to the latter, and it ls inthis astral temple, built without hands, and in itself symbolising$other temple, eternal in the heavens, that the invisible forcesinvoked and concentrated by the ritual will flow in their properchannels. The symbolic furniture of the lodge, which is "magnet-iscd" by the presiding magus, becomes both a channel of the fgroes,rnd a series of indicators, by means of which we m&y know howthose energies are operating at any given moment

But indicators and channels alike are useless unless thcre ispower pres€nt. Many people who have tried their 'prentice handwith magical ritual fail to realise this. They are like someone whostands before a switchboard which is crowded with indicators andswitches.

They see the switches are " on," and they think the current isflowing. But the main switch is " oft," and all the lesser switchesare without power. Should the main switch be put " on," thenimmediately the switchboard is "live," the needles on the metersmove to indicate the power, and the indicating lamps light up.Quite a definite change.

So it is with the magical lodge. The astral temple may havcbeen built and linked with its physical counterpart, but before thcastral energies can flow, the equivalent of the main switch must bcoperated, and its power pass€d through its correct channels to thc

196 THE MAGICIAN

lodge. This is done by the use of the Telesmatic Images, and in thevery first part of the ritual, known as "The Preparation of thePlace," some of these images with their appropriate signs are builtup in order that all vagrant astral and etheric forces may be clearedfrom the temple.

:One form of this preparation.of the place may be seon in anyCatholic Church at the comnrencement of the Mass, when the cele-brant performs the "Asperges." He sprinkles "magnetised" or"Holy Water" around the altar and sanctuary and towards the con-gregation, holding in his mind the "intention" of purification, andreciting part of a Psalm "Thou shalt purge me with hyssop O Lord,and I shall be clean. . . . . "

This being done, he ilvokes the assistance of the "Angel of theMass," that this Beiirg may "guide, guard, visit, protect and

-"cherish" those who have met together for worship. In the lodgerituals this preparation of the place is done by one of two methods.The first and most generally used in the ,lodges of the LesserMysteries is what is known as the Banishing Ritual of the LesserPentagram.

The actual Sign of the Pentagram or Five-pointed Star is onewhich has been used in magical work for many'centuries; but theRitual of the Pentagram, seems to owe its origin to the syntheticgenius of the Hermefic Order of the Golden Dawn, that magicalsystem which is the fount from which most of the Western magicalsystems have bden derived.

There are several ways of fiacing the pentagram, and these arereferred to the four elements. The Banishing Pentagram is thePentagram of " Earth."

The ritual is described by Israel Regardie in his book TheMiddle Pillar, and the relevant part will be found in Appendix Iat the end of this book.

The circumambulation around the lodge-room, which is partof this Banishing Ritual, has the effect of building up, in the astraltemple, of what appears to clairvoyant vision to be a shimmeringwall or barrier of swiftly-moving light. This seems to surround thcwhole of the lodge, and takes the shape of a half-sphere, whosehighest point is directly over the altar; which, in the rituals, is placedin the centre of the lodge flobr. Presumably the psychic wall is a fullsphere, the other half being under the lodge floor. That this is thecase, in some inscances at least, was brought home to the writer ina very definite manner. In all magical-work punctuality is of the

. utmost importance, and to ensure this, the doors of the building in

THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF FORMS tg7

which the lodge (of which he was a member) was situated, wereclosed twenty minutes before the time fixed for the lodge meeting.By a mischance, he arrived late, and though l1e got in, he couldrot go up into the lodge room, but had to sit down below until theconclusion of the ritual.

Sitting quietly in the room immediately below the actual lodge-foom, he suddenly ,became aware that the psychic atmospherearound had quite definitely altered, and the whole..feel" of the roomwas that of the purified astral conditions of the lodge-room itself.

The theosophical clairvoyant, Bishop C. W. Leadbeater, ip hisbook The Science of the Sacraments, gives a similar descriptionof the purified psychic atmosphere of the Church after cerAin ritualwork has been done.

Sir Ronald Fraser, in his occult novel ,San in Scorpio, refers tothis purified atmosphere as producing some degree of dizziness, oreven slight nose-bleeding in those who enter it unprepared. Thepresent writer can vouch for this happening, in some cases at leasLIt is within this atmosphere, which constitutes a veritable .,forcing-

house" of magical power, that the work of the lodge is donq andits efiects upon the members thereof is to quicken into activity thelatent powers which they all possess. This astro-etheric atmosphereis not always the same. It varies greatly in intensity, and no tworitual-workings are ever exactly alike, although the ceremonial inboth cases may be the same.

The Banishing Ritual of the l-esser Pentagram is designed tobe applied from a particular mental angle. If it is used blindly andwithout any knowledge of the principles which underlie it, then,although it works up to a point, it does not produce the maximumpurification possible. It is a ritual which is designed to bring throughcertain forces into the psychic atmosphere of the lodge. These forcesproceed from the Intelligences who direct those aspects of elementallife,which are known in occultism as the four elerrents of Earth,Air,Fire'and Water. .

Only the very ignorant and naive critics of Magic still believethat the occultists think of these "elements" as being the materialearth, air, fire and water. They are actually the elemental energieswhich lie behind and express themselves through the physical planeelements. All manifestation is sactamental, the outward and visiblesign being a channel of that spiritual power of which it is the ex-pression in the phenomenal worlds.

'So the basic "inertia" of the physical element, earth is the cx.pression of an energy whose mode of manifestation it is. So it ir

.d

d8 THE MAGICIAN

with all the four elements of the magicians. They are the "self-relationshifs," if we may use such a term, througtr *tricn the cosmiclife is manifested in matter. In order to dispel any doubt, the esotericschools refer to the occult "elemEnts" db the Water of the Wise,the Earth of the Wise, the Air of the Wise, and the.Fire of theWise, thus tacitly pointing out Jhe distinction"between them andtheir physical plane expressions.

We have spoken of "directing intelligences." These are some-times termed the "Kings of the Elements," sometimes "The DevaLords," and those who have heard of the "Four Crowned Kings"will realise that the slory reveals and yet conceals the mysteries of"Another Place.'l

These Kings of the Elements, then, are the directing Beingsunder whom comes the ocean of evolving life, and this evolving lifeis behind and working through the matter of this physicat plane.Now the elemental life is not individual, as is ours. It is a wave oflile, lrrol a group of lives, even though individual wavelets on thecnest of the wave appear to be individual and independent. This isbut an appearance, not yet are the masks to be lit by the flame ofthe eternally proceeding Word, and to become living souls. Althoughpossessed of the norual powere of their plane, lnwers which to usappear supernormal and 'lmiraculous," it must never be forgottenthat they a;re below man in spiritual evolution.

Any atlempt to ddve a bargain with them or to attempt tobribe or appease them in order that they may be induced to acton our behalf brings us on to their level, and results in our becomingtheir slaves, not their masters.

Not may we adjure and curse them by the mrghty Names torender ob€dience to us, for such "use _of the mighty Names can onlyb operated froin the level of the personality, with all its faults andimperfections, and again will expose us to the risf of being domi-naled by the forces we invoke.

But, if we approach the elemental hosts having in our aura thesigns of the Elemental Kings, then we come as light-bearers to thclesser lives; we are channels to them of the glory of their rulerc,and our employment of them works along the plan which thoseMighty Ones have for their evolving children.

But how may we become the servants and ambaisadors of thoscMighty Ones? Simply by rising in meditation to a realisation oftheir nature and spiritual degree. In so far as we do this, so thoseaspects of our personality which correspond to them, which areactually parts of them, will glow and evolver and automatically wc

THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF FORMS

ghall dominate the elemental beings, since we come in the namesand the powers of their most potent rulers.

Let the would-be magician meditate upon this; let him endeav-our to follow the hints thrown out in the various malical books,and as he begins to realise the true nature of the rulers, he will findthat the elemental kingdoms become his servants. He will haveseen a plan placed upon the tracing board, eternal in the Heavens,and in that plan he will have discerned his own place and oppor-tunity, and will have surrendered himself to it. Then having nothing,but gaining all things, dying to the personal self that the true Selfmay be served, he will have become one with the rulers of theelementals, and in their name will he speak the Words of Power.Then the elemental host will obey him, for upon his brow will theybehold the sigils of their kings.

This is the ideal which the would-be magician must hold everbefore him, and though, of course, its perfection is not to be gainedin an instant, it must always be held in his consciousness as in thename of the Eternal, he evokes the elemental hosts.

In the Pentagram Ritual, the four Arch-angels, Michael, Gabfiel,Uriel and Raphael are invoked as the rulers respectively of Fire,Water, Earth and Air, and the telesmatic images should be builtup in detail. With the success of the concentration and visualisationexercises such image-building should become easy for the appren-tice magician. Although the telesmatic images of the PentagramRitual afford excellent objects for such visualisation practice, it isadvised that the apprentice should gain his proficiency by usingother images which have no immediate significance, and reserve hisvisualisation of the Archangelic images for the times when he beginsto practise the use of the Pentagram Ritual.

Just as the aspirant to the Catholic priesthood performs thecgremony of the Mass again and again for practise, but withoutdeliberately invoking the spiritual forces which are brought throughthereby, so the magical aspirant Should perform this ritual daily,attempting each time to build up the telesmatic images in all theirdetail and colouring, but being careful not to invoke the forces ofwhich they will be channels at some future date.

Since the meditation above described will have begun, thework will proceed "from above to below": as the spiritual realisa-tion gained is brought through into the personality, and "frombelow upwards," as the visualising faculty builds up the formsthrough which the forces will work.

Finally, the time will come, unmistakeably made known to the

.,..;.-".4$'q$fltd

THE MAGICIAN

student, when the forces at last flow through the forms. A routinecxercise may have been commenced in the usual way. Then, quitesuddenly; as the telesmatic images build up in the mental vision,there is a spasm of will which appears to be independent of thenormal consciousness, and. is almost a pain within the hearq the

-realisation of previous meditations are suddenly prcsent in the mind,and as the words are vibrated there comes the sudden thrill of awe,the shiver of the personality as th6 higher powers flood through ifThen into the magical Names and Words there comes a majestyand a power, the voice "rings" with the true magical "note" andthrough the personality pours the power of the rulers, and the teles-matic images live and shine with the radiant life and light of Thosewhom they represent.

Thereafter will the student be able efrectively to employ thisritual.

What has been written concerning the telesmatic images ol thePentagram Ritual, holds good for all the other images: the God-Forms, etc., used in the lodge and also in the construction of whatare known as talismans, i.e. articles which have been 'charged"with certain psychic energies, and have thus been linked up or"contacted" with the underlying spiritual forces of the macrocosm.

With talismans we will deal separately" since their productionforms a very important part of practical magical work.

Chaprcr XIX

BUILDING A RITUAL

]fIfE titlg,of this chaprcr may be somewhat surprising to Eanyir students of magical work, sinco they have a fixed idea that oncdrould only use those rittuls which have been handed down fromthe past, and when such ancient rituals &re used, not one singleword should be altered. Although one should not alter a ritualwithout good reason, and though, as the "Chaldean Oracles" declarpthc 'barbarous names" of evocation should not be changed, it rc'mains that the practising magician oflen makes use of rituals con'ttuct€d by himself. They meet an immediate need, and are quitcsl cfiective, in their oim way, as the traditional rites. For tbe'ptr'posc of his training, the apprentice magician is also made to con-rtruct rituals dealing with the various forces with which he is work'ing, and these rituals are carefully checked by his teachcr. Thcyarc UaseO upon the pnnciples he has been given, and are an excell'cot test of his grasp o! those pripciples.

So it has been decided to give the principles of such rituafcon'$rr,rction in this book. If'a rirc is properly constructed then it cantrc of the gFeatest value to those who ury it but it is first of allncccissary tor Ae student to get a clear idea in his mind 8s to thcpurpase for which the ritual is required.n,", Ag we have seen in that-part.of this book which deals with,.thcbuilding of the magical personality, there are three main aspects

undcr which the Inner Plane forces present themselves to us,and itir along the appropriate line that we must work.

It is therefore ne€ssarJ that before we begin to oonstruct aritual we should, by careful meditation, get our reason for workingthis rite crystal-clear in our mind. This is not always easy, as associ'

atcd s&ondary motives usually make themselves known, but with

Iterseverance they can be resolwd, and the main reason for ourpropos€d working isolated in our mind.' in the Catholic Church, such special rcasons for the celebration"of 'the Mass are known as 'llntentions," and in the nagical worksuch an Intention is absolutely necessary' for the mind o-f thcmagician must be one-pointed if the invoked and cvokcd forces aro

to be wisely directed. The mind supplies the forrns and channclg

through which the forces work, and the more definite the channel'the more control can be exercised over the forces flowing thercin.

".. Having determined our Intcntion, the next step is to asccrtain

THE MAGICIAN

what beings and forces must be invoked or evoked' for the work inhand, and the magical correspondences must then be checked up.

In piactical magicll training, tables of correspondences are used

as part of the routine exercises. The most important of these, as

faris the Ten Stations of the Tree of Life are concerned, are given

in Dion Fortune's The Mystical Qabalah. There are many other

correspondences, but these are the primary ones. Since we are deal'ing wiitr Western magic, it is the Qabalistic Tree of Life upon which

we dra*, for our work.Other systems, as we have seen, have other mandalas, ot glyphs,

which are iqually eftective for those who are working along these

lines, but it'is imperative that the magician should kgep strictlV

to one system. This canot be too geatly emphasised'-Though we

may learn from the philosophies and techniques of other _systems,we are inviting trouble if we mix the practical methods' We may

adapt them fJr our purpose when, -at a later date, we have the

requisite knowledge, but this adaptation is work for the magus, notthe neophyte.

from itre tables of correspondences then, we may now select

those we need. Here we are guioea by our Intention, for this willclearly indicate the station of the Tree on which we shall work.

A point to be remembered here is that we are working within

the Eirth-Sphere, Malkurlr on the Tree, nor in any direct sense

Jo *" ranscend that station. If we invoke the divine forces ofitziluth, it is by a process of inductisn that they work upon the

corresponding levetJ in the objective earth-sphere, -and our own

subjeciive sphere of sensation, stimulating into activity our own

inner forces.In passing, it may be noted that the power of a great tPchel

lies noi in hii teaching, which may be simply a re-presentation-oJ

eiisting teaching, noi is it due to .his personal power over his

followe-rs. Rathei it is a catalytic action, whereby what he is causes

it "

ion"r nature of his followers to emerge from the depths, thus

bringing their personal selves through the death of the lower self

to a rezurrection and a "rebirth in eternity."-Nowinthedepthsoftheearth.spheretherearethearchaic

images, which through all the millenia of man's existence have been

the -co;didoning channels through which the universal life was.

mediated to tht sons of men, and these images are the mundale

"ipir.riont df the bright archetypal image: .lhrgugh which the

.atrtial world has been projected into materialisation'I fn" archaic images used wilt' as we have seen, depend upon

.BUILDING A RITUALi,

our lntention, and we will suppose that this is for !'Illuminatioa

frorr our true Innet Self," oui irigtrer spiritual consciousness' that

Bort of our nature which, according to Christian mysticism, is the

"ground where God and man meet."- The station of the Tree, therefore is Tiphareth. WQ are now. laced witti the choice sf three magical images: a child' a majesticking and a sacrificed god. We may use whichever of these three

ir riost expressive of our Intention. Since this is illumination fromour highei consciousness, then either the Child or the King willbc appropriate.

Fbi uirious reasons, some not unconnected with the rcndency of

203

lll oi tt "

two for the beginner. It points out that the process of illumi'i nation is a gradual one, and this is something which must be realis€d

1 !y the beginner. In many books and articles on the subiect of magic,

i, tfie resulti obtainable by the trained magician after many]ears ofi mactice are indicated as being within the grasp of the beginner'I Now in certain cases this may be to some extent corrcct' We

: tnc lower or "false ego" to identify the !!e!e1 with-itself ptheri::, than thc revefse, the magical image of the child is by far the better

, @ms to the magical work bringing with us our natural talen8, and

;,jita,some people the magical capaclty seems to beso near.the surface

&at its awafening is botl-rrapid and spectacular. BuLin the'tnaiorityof cases, the ecstatic heights of the Mountain of llluminatign are

', not for the neophyte. In the traditional magical schools, tho3e who

'' Nho* suctr spec-taiular promise are usually,put throrpl.r ttt" *Y$n:' Eaining mili a great deal more thoroughly thaa their less-gifted

,:brethrJn, in ordei that they may bring a balanced personality to the

. Great Work.

: ffrd tt" colour-scale to be golden amber for we dcsire to bring

itr. ttigtt.t consciousness through into the physical brain conscious-

ncss.This colour must be somehow used in the furnishing of our

place of operation or in the vestments we use. If wc are not using

;cstm€nts, then we must visualise the colour around ourselves as

I vcsture of golden light.- We comJno* toitre Goa-Name, under the presidency of which

the station of. Tiphareth is placed. Tliis name is Tetragrarnmaton

Aloah Va Duth. This Name may be meditated on in the interprc.

Ation giu.n in ine Mystical Qabalah, "God made manifest in thc' sohere of the mind"'-'--Th"-

arctranget is 'Raphael' the healer; and, if wc thint ol

,'xroqldll

THE MAGICIAN

"health" in its meaning of "wholeness," then we see how appro-priate is the attribution of the archangel of healing to the spirereof harmonised balance.

The angels are the kings of the elements and here we are linkingwith those spiritual principles which manifest in our world as theelemental instincts. Concerning these we have already written.

The breast-jewel or lamen, is the Rose-Cross, and in the usualform this is a Latin cross with exfoliated arms, and in its centre arj.torj of th-irty_-two petals, thus linking the symbol with the glyphof the Tree of Life.

The altar should be a double cube. This is the symbol ofMalkuth, the Kingdom of Earth, whereas the symbol of. Tipharethis the cube. But as we are in intention bringing through thi forcesof. Tiphareth into Malkuth, the altar of the double Cube is quiteappropriate.

Upon the altar should be set a light, symbolising the -Light thatlighteth every man," which shines ever within the heart. Upon thealtar, also, should be placed the volume of the saced scripiures ofones own rac€, as a symbol that we are working not by our ownpersonal desires but in obedience to the Law of the Eternal. whosechildren we are.

The covering of the altar should be white or gold, and thisshould also be the colour of our vestments.

The incense burning in our temple should be one of the Diony-siac perfumes; Cinnamon is ascribed to Tiphareth

We must now commence to devise our ritual. We begin by "pre-paring the place of working." This means that we cleanse the ethiricand astral atmosphere of our room by the use of a banishing ritual,such as the ritual of the Lesser Pentagram, which cleanses the roomand at the same time erects a formidable barrier of psychic force,a barrier which'prevents intrusion from the swarming asEal liveswhich are attracted like moths to a flame, by our magical work.

Having cleansed the place of working (and, by the same token,having cleansed ourselves also by the performance of this rite) wenow make our psychic contacts with our assistants, who are func-tioning as fellow-priests of the Mysteries. If we are working alone,then we make an interior psychic contact with those aspects of ourown nature which would otherwise be represented by the assistants.This psychic contact is made by a series of questions and answers.

It is to be remembered that when we thus awaken and co-ordi-nate our forces, we are making contact with the telesmatic imageswhich are linked with tbem, and through which they flow.

.6

BUILDING A RITUAL

Having thus linked ourselves with the great deep within us, wenow aspire to the Eternal. But we do this in the name and powetoJ the gfeat archangel of the sphere ol Shemesh, the Sun, evenRaphael the healer, vibrating his narne and at the same time build-lhg up the telesdatic image which shalt be the channel of his power.. N6)ry we approach tho climax of our operationr: lVe build upfu *_g"at image of Tiphareth, in this case the image of the Child.and affirm our Intention., Then, holding our mind upon that image, we remain mentallypoised,like a seagull floating apparently motionless in the gale. Weknow, when we see the gull thus motionless, that there is a veryrcal eftort being made, and only by that effort can it maintain itsposition-in the face of the.wind. So it is with this inyocation of light.Upon the ritual, as upon i'lour-square fouirdation, we have er.Jteda pyramid of thought and effort, and now, standing upon its trun-catod summit we reach forth into the divine aether and wait, poisedthus in an ecstasy of aspiration.

Now it may be that we reach this point many times without anytpparent result. Results there will be, however, for the repe4ted

', urrc of the ritual is building a power within us, and one day, as wel; rgoire towards the Divine enild stanainc with the lisht of thl Suoer-upire towards the Divine standing with the light of the Super-nel Sun raying out around Him, there will come that burning forcewhich surges through us, the mental scene will disappear and we*all find ourselvcs in the station of the Sun which rises with healing

' :"in its wings. Around us will flame the glory of that Sun, as ive:l,rr become for a moment identified with the Eternal Child, and on

either side of us will flame the Wings of Glory. Then the forms ofthc miad will fade from view and a new mode of consciousness,difierent entirely from our normal consciousness, will dawn uponus, and for that brief moment we shall know as that spirit whichicour True Self always knows.

But even before this, there will have been periods when, havingrcached out in aspiration in this wty, some less phenomenal contactwill have been consciously experienced.

Usually this will take the form of a curious clarity of the mind.The ordinary m€ntal firocesses seem for the time to be curiouslyinterpenetrated by another.modq of conscisusness which is felt tobe working at an entirely different rate and manner; a mode ofconsciousness whic{r apprehends directly, instead of having tofollowb definite train of thought

Of" gourse, in the early days, such a new mode of consciousnegsis somewhat unreliable; we have not had enough experiencc ol it;

205

205 THE MAGICIAN

but as it recurs, and becomes more frequent, then we begin to buildup in the waking consciousness a set of symbolic images which willenable us to use it to the fullest advantage.

When, in our ritual work. we have reached the stage of invoca.tion and have reached out to the Infinite, we must remember thatwe have to return to the physical level, we "cannot at the shrineremain." In fact, to so do would be to nullify the contact we havemade, for it is essential that the illumination we receive should bebrought through into the physical consciousness if it is to be of useto us.

Therefore we must return from the pyramid on the heights ofAbiegnus, and descending that Mountain of Illumination passthrough the Pylon Gate into physical sensory consciousness.

We, therefore, again formulating the magical image and vibrat,ing the Cod-name, adore the Eternal through that symbol, and then,recalling the telesmatic image of the archangel of the sphere wettrank him for his assistance.

Then in the names of the elemental kings we give the benedic-tion of the Eternal to the elemental beings who have assisted us,and dismiss them to their own place. In more precise terms we maysay that, having set up a series of stresses in the Astral Light, wenow release those stresses.

We then withdraw our contacts with the assistants who havebeen our fellow-priests of the Mystery, or if we have been workingalone, we draw back into latcncy in our sphere of sensation thetelesmatic images we used to evoke the corresponding aspects ofour inner nature.

We are now back on the physical plane, and we should nowperform some physical action which will symbolise our return intothe sphere of Malkuth.

One. such device is to use a gavel or other instrument to makea knocft or series of knocks. These, since we are asserting our returnlo Malkuth, may be in two groups of five, or five groups of two,thus formulating thc number ten which is assigned to this stationon the Tree.

These knocks or " knells," as they are sometimes termed, havean added virtuc. since they do tend to awaken us from any slightdreaminess. and so bring us more fully into mundane awareness.

Only two things are left. It is important that, imrnediately altersuch a magical experiment, a record be made. If this is not done,the finer and more delicate aspects of the experience will tend to beforgotten.

, BUILDING A RITUAL

Finalf, the magician should remember his bwn

zaJ

andmottoToahaving known, dared, and willed, should keep silent. To gossip

about his experiences is to draw upon him thought-currents whichmay seriously hinder his magical progress.

_ It will be found that in the construction of a rite, the majestic, beat and rhythm of the Elizabethan English is-of the greatest help,

and this is particularly the case with the magnificent language of' the Authorised Version of the Bible.

The use of the technical device of Comqremoration, alreadydescribed, should not be lost sight of in the construction of the rite.

It should be a simple matter for the apprentice magician to' select suitable charactqrs for such commerhbrative,work in theBphere of Tiphareth.

..rr,M

Chapter XX

TALISMANIC MAGIC

FOR most people the word "talisman" conjures up a picture of^ "lucky charms", oriental amulets, and such like devices, whilstProtestants of the narrower type would also include St. Christophermedallions, scapulars, rosaries and crucifixes under the same head-ing.

But in point of fact, such things as "lucky pigs" or zodiacalbirth-stones are poles apart from St. Christopher medallions, etc.;the whole idea behind them is different.

Since magical work very often involves the use of talismans, itis necessary that we should consider their fashioning, and under-stand the theory of their action. That they do act, is a matter beyonddispute, for those who have carefully studied the subject, thoughall do not act, neither are those that do equally effective.

There are two distinct lines of thought in connection with theuse of talismans and curiously enough these.two modes of approachare !o be found in the two great sections of Christendom, the RomanCatholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

The first line of thought which we will consider is what may betermed the material line. In general terms it may be stated asfollows. Material substances are capable of being "charged" withcertain super-material forces, under certain conditions. Some sub-stances are better than others for this class of work. As life is imma-nent in all things, since all things are an expression of the One Life,the substances of the material plane are the expressions, or "acci-dents," of the true underlying reality or " substance."

As fiving forces of all grades are ever flowing through the world,and through all living things, it follows that these forces will bealtered in inrcnsity or nature by the action upon them of otherliving consciousnesses. So it is held, an object which is to be usedas a talisman must first be "purified": the mixed "magnetisms" ithas picked up in its travels must be banished from it. Then by willand thought a fresh charge of living energy is poured into it" andthis charge of energy is in some mysterious way stored in thematerial talisman. Anyone wearing the talisman will be aftected byit, and tuned to its own "vibration" (to use the occult clich6); theywill tend to feel, think and act, in accordance with the intention ofthe maker of the talisman. This we may term the "charge" theory,

TALISMANIC MAGIC

since it regards the physical talisman as a storct ouse of super-physical power.

The other theory is that everything physical is linked by our"concept" of it with our minds, and with the Universal Mind insuch a way that the relationship between the object perceived andthe perceiver results in a normal mental relationship between thetwo.

ff now, the object is perceived in the mind as being in other thanthe normal relationship with the perceiver, then it becomes a sacra-mental ifuing, "an outward and visible sign of an inward andspiritual gra@." To affect this change of perception, the one makingthe talisman must lift up his heart and mind to the highest concepthe can mentally reach, and there realiee for a brief moment theparticular virtue for which the talisman is being made. The talismanie now linked, through his mind, with the divine power it is beingrnade to evoke, and because all minds are one at the de€per levels,then the object is linked in this extra relationship with its maker,the one for whom it is made, and with that aspect of the divinemind which is the root of the particular virtue which the talisqanis designed to help.

There is another theory, quite a simple matter-of-fact idea, heldby the Roman Church, or at least by some of its priests. We thinkit was the Roman Catholic writer, Monseignor R. H. Benson, whowrote, "When the Catholic Church blesses a bridge, and invokesan angel to guard it, she confidently expects that God will senddown such an angel."

Now the magical theory actually covers all three of thesetheories, and it is a theory which has been checked and tested byclairvoyant seers over many years.

The magical ritual regards the physical base of the talisman 8sbeing in its own way an expression of the Immanent Life, but asalso being contaminated by the mixed emanations from other lives,of all grades of consciousness. So, Ike his Catholic brother, he first"exorcises" the object

That is to say, he drives out of the object the heterogenous"magnetisms" it has accumulated.

Then he re-charges it with his own "magnetism" and accordingto the work which it has to do, he links it with the appropriate gradc

of being on the inner levels. Again, like his Catholic brother, heinvokes the help of an angel and again he is certain, from the obscr'vations of seers through the ages, that the angel invoked does mani'fest and is linked with the object.

2o9

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rlrB un crcrAN

His conc€pt of angels is, however, somewhat different from thcconventionat wingea and robed figures of Christian art. Those whomay have read the late Charles William's n-gvel The Place of tluLion will perhaps understand more clearly tfian it can be expressedhere, the nature of those beings whom we term "angels."

" In the Easlern religious systems they are termed devas ot ShiningOnes, and they are held to be the subordinate intelligences behindall natural phenomena. Many grades of these beings are recogrised,renging ftom great splar angels down through countless levels tothe.infinitesimal consciousnesses behind the life of the cells of thophisical body, and beyond to the infra-microscopic electronicsystems of the atoms.

All departments of life and activity in this planet and its attorid-ant subiective sphgres of consciousness are under the control ofthese beings who in their turn are, as it were, the living mirrorsfrom which the plan of the logos is reflected into this earth.

In my former book;' in a chapter dealing with the magicalimages, this subject of. the deva-lives was touched upon in connec-tion with the techniqil device of "Commemoration." One was deal-ing there with the use of the living personality as a focussing pointfor the great magical images of the collective unconscious, and thedeva side of things was not stressed.

Nevertheless it is true that the very substance of our emotionaland mental bodies is part of the being of the devas and all ouremotions and thoughts are to some extent affected by the conscious-nesses of these beings. In the Christian Revelation we learn of theSeven Mighty Spirits before the Throne, and these mighty onesare the seven archangels of J-udaic4hristian thoqght. Of these thefour best known are Gabriel; Michael, Rapltael, and Uriel. It willbe noted that these four find their place in the Banishing Ritual ofthe Lesser Pentagram, and on the stations of the Tree of Life, allseven are duly classified.

In the Roman Church the saints are often called upon in thismatter of "blessing" a particular object, and because the saint, bothin his earthJife and now in the spiritual realm, is a channel fora certain aspect of the divine power, so the deva-agents of thatphase of divine energy work through that saint, even as the hostsof the mighty Raphael, the healer archangel, work through all whoare'called by profession or iocation to the ministry of healing,doctors, nurses, psychic, occult and metaphysical healers alike; allare under the care of the archqngel of healing.

Its Ritual, Power and Purpose (Aquarian Prcss).

TALISMANIC MAGIC

So when the magician is "charging" his talisman, he recites thenames of those who in their earth-days were the channels of thedivine force with which he desires to charge the object. His "namingthem with intention" links him with their psycho-magnetic "trace"in the Astral Light, thei. exalted consciousnesses strike down withe momentary flash upon the consciousness of the magician, and thedeva-life of the corresponding grade links up with the object in theappearance of the person so commemorated.

But since this has linked the object with the mind of this being,it has also linked it with the corresponding level of the collectiveunconscious, and through that with the divine archetypes in themind of the Logos.' It will be seen that a talisman may be made which is simply a

storage battery for some of the magnetic energy of the operator,or by his "intention," a thought-form charged with that energy maybc linked with it; the appropriate deva-life may be evoked to bringsuch an energy to bear upon the user of the talisman, or the articlehaving been purified by exorcism and charged with the operator'smagnetism, the appropriate deva-life may be evoked througli'hisdeliberate linking-up through the magnetic trace in the Astral Lightwith one who was, and still is, a channel for that power. Such acommemorative linking puts the operator in touch through thisbeing with the divine archetypes.

It will easily be seen which is the most effective of these methods,but naturally they are all three used as conditions appear to indicate.

The material used for the making of a talisman varies accordingto the nature of the force concerned. The Tree of Life gives themetals, jewels, etc., appropriate. For example, a talisman for in-spiring martial powqr would be made of iron or steel, since this isthe metal associated with Mars, whilst one for the helping ofemotional stress might be made of copper, the metal of Venus.Parchment is a good retainer of "nragnetism." So is olive oil. lVaterquickly absorbs it, but soon loses it. Clay absorbs and holds it fora long period. Silk and glass are both bad substances for talismans.In fact silk is often used to wrap up a completed talisman in orderto preserve its "charge."

The best talisman is one which you make for yourself. Howevcrit often happens that because of the lack of the- particular porler_inquestion you are unable to effectively manufacture one. In thiscase, recourse must be had to someone who can make 'it foryou. .: ,

x2 THE M.AGICIAN

This will always be done for you without any charge bcing made.for the tnre magician is bound to €xact no fec for such work.

In the last iesorL remember the talisman is but a device tohelp you to fuU activity along its particular line. There should comea timc whcn you can cheerfully discard iq siiice it qfil have serv€dits purpose. Each atisman is"personel to the'onE{or whom it uasmade,'and cannot therefore be gven to somsone else suffering froma similar trouble; the diagrrosis may b"e quite diftcrent!

This is very important, since second-hand talismans do appearnow and again, and their use can cause much trouble. "When indoubt, cast it ouf is a good maxim when dealing with such a thin&but where this for any reason is not possible, the talisman concernedshould"be taken to a competent magician to be..de'magnc$sd'orif the owner has the neoessary knowledge he may do this himself.

When once a talisman has been charged, it is ipso lacto lir&;dwith the one who has charged it" and it is necessary to break thispeychic link if the operator does not wish to be so linked.- -

This is done by using a "l6rsking' prayer, and by breaking inthe mind, the silvery thread which is visualised as the link between

the operator and the talismaa.When a alisman has to be destroyed it is first dc-magnetisod.

For various occult re&sons, this is important.A very important aspect of this technique of charging 9! mSqPet'

ising phyiical objects ii the consecration of objects and buildin:sto be ceritres of radiation of spirituat forces.

The wdter recently attended the dedication scrvicc of a rcbuiltPresbytcrian€ongregational United Church building, and was

amuscd to hear the minister who dedicated it say in his sctmon

"We of the Reformed Tradition know that in this dcdication wchave pcrformed no magical action, have made no change in thisbuilding."

As i mattcr of psychic fact, the writer had obsen'ed clainoy'antly a very decided change in the psyctric ahosphcre thereint

ri *,*

Chapter XXI

THE WAY OF MAGICAL ATTAINMENT

fT is now time to look back upon that which we have written^ in this book, and give the reader some instruction in the sequenceof training in the magical art.' It will have been noticed that this training is based entirely uponthe personality of the would-be magician and this carries with itmany important implications. In the early stages of our magicaltraining, our motives are usually mixed, but from the beginningone motive must be present in our minds if we wish safely to treadthe magical path. This motive we have already referred to. It islhe desire to ktpw in order to serve, and it must be the primarymotive of our interest in nagrc. Other motives, such as intellectualcuriosity, emotional appeal or aesthetic appreciation, may co-existryith this primary desire, and may each in their own way be cateredfor. But this motive of service must always come first.

It is important to realise that the service of the magician,to hisfellow-men takes two definite forms. It may, and does, help themby what the magician does, but also (and always) they are helpedby what he is. For the human race is one, in its deepcr levels, andwhen one man begins to think and work in a certain way, he aftectsthe whole of the group-soul of the race to which he belongs. It isnot primarily necessary that he should teach others either publiclyor privately, though of course he usually does.

Neither is it essential that he should organize bodies pledgedto certain political, religious or social problems, though, once again,many do so work by forming such bodies. But the simple fact thathe is what he is, is sufficient to influence the deeper mind of therace, and so aftect all those myriad individuals whose minds makeup that racial mind. So through wisdom does the magician buildhis house of life, his personalitf, anew, and by understanding is itestablished.

It will be seen later, how this is brought about. At the momentwe are stressing this essential point that the primary service whichthe magician renders to his fellows is that he becomes a stablecentre through which the Hierarchies of Light may lift up humanity.

fn conversation with a fellow-priest, the present writer was toldthat the difference between the magician and the priest was that inthe one instance F)wers were exercised by the magician, whilst inthe other, power was exercised through the priest. But this is rcally

2r4 THE MAGICIAN

a false antithesis. Both priest and magician do certain things, andthrough both of them power is made manifest. The real differencplies elsewhere, and does not enter into our present discussion. lt issufficient to say-here that the magician affects others both by thatwhich tre does and by that which he is.

Now that which he does is very important, for it is building upinto his personality certain magical reaction'habits, and it is thesewhic-h in the end are far more important than the outward cere-monial and ritual of the magical act.

For the adept-magician, though he may use the age-old cere-monies, does not depcnd upon them. The observances which werethe outward visible symbols of inner states of emotion, mind andspirit, have, through the training he has undergone, been withdrawninto and made components of his inner consciousness. Then thepreparatioir of the place is effected within the Ring-Pdss-Not, thelimiting boundary of his own aura, the angel of the operation isinvoked therein, and the mystical temple is built in his mentalsphere. Then into this temple not made with hands, there descendsthe divine Shekinah, the Glory of the Eternal, and She abides overthe Seat of Justice between the Cherubim in the Holy of Holies ofthe. magician's heart.

Lqng ago it was said by a Er.eat mystic who wrgte under thename of Angelus Silesius:

Though Christ a thousand timesln Bethlehem be born,And not within thy heart,Thou art all forlorn.The Cross on CalvarYThou lookest to in vain,Except within thY heartIt be set uP again.'But, it will'be said, this is'mlsticism: whai has that to do with

magic? The answer is, that in the high reaches of both magic andmysticism we come to a common ground; that light within whichlighteth every man, the indwelling spirit, our true Self.

Both magic and mysticism here find their ttue raison d'etre, andbecause of this, all the great religions of the world combine, in vary'ing proportions, these two paths to the eternal.

We have stressed this truly religious nature of magic in order "

to make quite clear to the beginner that although in the beginninghis interest in magic may be simply motivated by intellectualcuriosity or'-emotional appeal, against the background of his desireto s€rve humanity, yet as he progresses he will find himself irresist'ibly brought to a point'where the truly religious nature of his chosenpath becomes clear.

THE WAY OF MAGICAL ATTAINMENT 215

In the treginning, however, it is important that he is trained toperform the external ceremonies in such a way that on their ownplane they are as perfect as it is possible to make therL Those whohave read magical fiction will no doubt have read of the dire resultsfollowing upon an ill-drawn pentagram, or the wrong pronunciationof a name.

Though the occult reasons for such unfottunate happenings arecogent enough, the real point at issue is that the outward oeremonyshould be perfect on its own plane.

In the yoga systems of the East there are three main paths;Raja yoga, Bhakti yoga, and Gnani yoga, the paths of Power, Love,and Wisdom respectively, but there are secondary preparatory yogassuch as Hatho yoga which prepare the aspirant in readiness for thetime when he will commence to tread his chosen path.

So, in the magical act, there is a definite path of preparation,and part of this is devoted to the training of the personality on thephysical plarc and tlvough the physical body, and this is begunby the physical plane ceremonial training.

How many people realise that the "primordial language'l ofmime still speaks through our subconscious actions, gestures, mln-nerisms, etc., and is so communicated to those who are with us?But this is a very real factor in ceremonial; in fact it has b€en saidthat a magical rite could be celebrated without ritual words if thesigns appropriate are used, and this is no idle statement, as thepresent c[iter has becomc aware.

So our ceremonial actions must be correctly carried out, andcvery gesture, every movement, be done in such a way that thewhole ceremonn as the Roman Catholic writer, R. H. Benson,once said, is ofiered as a jewel, perfect of its type. He was rcferringto Catholic ceremonial, but the principle applies to all magicalceremonial work.

The "spell of woven paces and waving hands" is not likely tobe one hundred per oent. efficient, if at the same time, by our sub-conscious physical gestures, we are asserting the opposirc point ofview!

So the magician-to-be must practise correct movement, poiseand balance of the.physical body. This is not easy, particularlywhen he is working alone, but it is something which must be done.

Along this line of physical training lies also the care of thcphysical body. Always the aim should be to make the body thcwilling steed of the spirit. False asceticism has no place here. Ifthings are eschewed, it is simply in obedience to "if this, then not

..,.;,rrMflffl

216 THE MACICIAN

that." Certain physical habits may have to be deleted for the time,in order that certain work may be done, but the magical bow mustnot always be kept taut. There is deep wisdom in the story of thedevotee who sought to speak with St. John, and found him playingwith a tame prtridge. As he*gazed with a certain sconi.at theapostle's occupatiorL the venerable man inquired of him whether,being a soldier, he always kept his bow tight strung!

So it is with the physical. In magical work we require awell-fiained, well-adjusted and h-armoniously balanced physicalbody, and this we shall not obtain by any excessive or false asceti-cism. So the first exercises in the magical training are concernedwith willed retaxation of the body, and the control of the breath.Thesc are essential basic exercises. Here it is necessary to reiteratethat all'the work which the aspirant may undertake at a later datedepends entirely (apart, of course, from any exceptional naturalmagical ability) upon the faithful practise of these basic exercises.This is a point of which we often lose sight. The early exercisesare regarded as dull routine which can be done perfunctorily andthen forgotten as the beginner moves on to more exciting work. Inpoint of faci these exercises provide the essential foundation uponwhich all else must ultimately depend. To omit them is as thoughone essayed the heights of the higher mathematics*.without any-training in simple arithmetic!

When the aspirant comes to thc use of the signs and words ofpower, it is equally important that he should not only tnake thesigns and speak the words correctly, but also that he should havecarried out a definirc series of meditations upon the inner meaningof those signs and words. This meditation should not be a purelyintellectual approach, but should include the emolional content also.

By this steady emotional and mental work, the signs and wordsbecome effective in the hands of the aspirant. Here the training ofthe visual and audible imagination finds its place. But it must beremembered that all such meditative training must be co'ordinated,and this is best done by having some general plan into which allthe symbols fit, and which displays their various inter-relationships.Such ground-plans are, in the East, termed mandalas, and the stan-dard and ide,al mandalc for the Western student is tfue mighty glyp[of the universe and the soul of man: the "Tree of Life" of theQabalah.

The doctrine of the Astral Light must be carefully studied, andfor the time, at all events, it must be rccepted as a working theory.Iater experience will prove its truth and validity, buf successful

i,"I THE WAY OF MAGICAL ATTAINMENT

magical results are unlikely if the work is done in -the spirit of theatheist who is reported to have prayed *Inrd-if there is a Lord-save my soul-if I have a soul."

A clear idea of the nature of the magical Egregore, or group-'form, should be built up in the r ind in order that the aspirant mayhnderstand what imrt he plays in the ivhole complex scheme. andthereby may know how closely he is guided and aided in his chosenwork.

Returning now to the physical plane, the apsirant should beginto collect together his magical impedimenta; his iobes, wand, ring,etc., and the furnishings of his magical oratory. Here the generalrule is that he should make his own things, and not buy them ready-made. Of course with regard to certain things this is not possible,but wherever it can be done, it is a great help to the migiciin, sin@by making such things himself, the symbolic values attacheA tothem are firmly fixed in the mind, and the whole becomes, as itwere, an extension of his own personality.

Here a word of warning is indicated. Whatever is thus madefor the magical work must be made as perfectly as possible withinthe range of the maker's skill. Nothing should be slip-shod iiicon-struction; neither should it be some commonplace article disguised,for the inevitable association links with its usual uses will preventit being of service.

If a number of broom-handles be used to make a tall candle-rtick, they-shsuld be bought for the purpose and so combined thatthey cease to have their individual character as broom-handles anymore. All such things should also be dedicated to the work in whichthey will be used.

A simplicity and dignity of both'the oratory and the magicalappurtenances must be the ideal. A room "cluttered-up" by a host ofsymbolic "bits qnd pieces" can eftectively bring to naught the magi-cal work essayed therein. All the symbols, etc., must relate directly{o the central idea of the work beins done.

Now comes the key-work of tf;e-magical act, that which we havedealt with in section three (The Magical Keys). Upon the faithful

'performance of this work all else depends. First of all, the "magicalpersonality" must be built, using for this work the power gainedby the previous visual and audible exercises.

Then the exercises of the Interwoven Light must be commenced,and the training of the Body of Light put in hand. At the same timcthe cultivatio4 of the basic "magnetic" energies should enable theaspirant to begin certain simple talismanic work.

2t7

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2r8 THE MAGICIAN

The flashing colours should now be carefully cxperimented with,until the requisite subconscious "trick" of consciousness-shift isobtained at will.

As the aspirant gains in proficiency, he may begin to experimentin various ways with his newly developed magical power, remem-bering always that it must not be used against the will of thoseconoerned, nor for any other purpose than service.

Apart from any experiments along these various lines, the aspir-ant should steadily work the ritual designed to bring him into con-scious contact with his own Higher Self, the "Holy Guardian Angel"of the Qabalistic teaching. This should be the primary aim of allhis magical work, and he cannot be an Adeptus Minor, in the truesense, until this essential contact has taken place. This, and thisalone, should be the primary motive, the ever present ideal, andthe continually repeated magical work should be its ceremonialembodiment.

All other magical work, interesting and instructive though itmay be, and of definite training value to the aspirant, can b@om€,if duly concentrated upon, a diversion from the path of the tnremagic.

In the great mystical traditions to be found in Buddhism,Hinduism and Christianity alike, preoccupation with secondaryresults is condemned, often in harsh terms. But the instinct is sound,such things can divert us from our true aim, though at the sametime they can assist us thereto.

The present writer believes, from his own experiences in thisrealm, that many of the strictures of the Buddhist and Catholicmystics are somewhat too severe, and that there is a via media, tway between undue absorption in the lesser magic and the oocultand psychic powers on the one hand, and the high austere flightsof the soul as practised by such mystics as St. John of the Crosson the other.

The middle way has its virtues, and this has been sufficientlyindicated herein.

When once the mystic union with the Higher Self has beenobtained, and stabilised, which is another matter altogether, then, asthe sage Abrimelin says in his teachings to his son, "Now at this'-point I commence to restrict myself in writing, seeing that by tbeGracc of the lord I have submitted and consigned you unto aMaster so great... . . ... "

The personal will, dedicated as it has been throughout the magi-cal training, to the service of God and man, is now linked with thetrue will of its higher spirit Self.

T.HE WAY OF MAGICAL ATTAINMENT 2r9

This means that 4t least at times, and increasingly so, the magi.cian is impelled and-motivated from his own true-spiritual natuie,and all the rcchnical perfectiop of the personal self which has beengained through the magical training is surrendcred to the will ofthe higher Self : then all the intricate machinery of conditioncdrcilexes and subconscious capabilities lies under the control of thatreigping spiritual Selt Tne outer complexity has been taken inwardsanit-it is no lo,nger necessary for the arousing of the inner lnwers.

{o in the Great Mysteries, "the Abyss" is passed, and the per-conal man is "reborn in cternity."

How far this result is due to his own eftorts, how far it is dueto the efforts of his spiritual Self and the mediation of the indwellingShrist, is outside the scope_of this book; but we may repeat thc

"Qabalistic statement that "It (Malkuth, the Kingdon) caluses aninf,uence to emanate from the Prince of Countenanees, the Angeld. Kethef' (the highest Sephirah on the 'Tree of Life")."; Or we may quote Sir Oliver Lodge, "It is evident that there issomething very valuable in the personality."

So the end of the magical way i* the surrender in loving sclvicc,of the lesser personality and will to the indwelling spiritual.$lf,that the will of the eternal may be done on carth ::amid thc legronsol the living."

This coisummation will bring to the magician that true andharmoniously balanced consciousness which is the true ideal to-wsrds which the whole creation is striving, that union with andrtsponlle tq the divine Will. Of this union, the blessed souls inParadise spoke truly to Dante when thcy told him, "In His Willis our Peac€."

-So may it b€ in the days to come with those of my readers who,having s€t out on this magical journey, have, by thc grace of theEternal, "obtained these things."

:'n;:.offi

Chapter XXII

L'ENVOI

f)UR labours are ended, and the work is done. Perhaps it mayv be of value if we briefly summarise what has been given.First of all, our intention has been to write on the subject in

such a way as to give the essentials of the magic art, and to givethem in such a way that the sincere seeker might safely begin hislabours in this field. At the same time, although we have not leftout any essential principles, we have so written that only the reallyearnest seeker will realise the full value of the book.

Those who are familiar with the magical art, and more particu-larly those who are initiates of the various esoteric magical schools,may think that we have given out some things which should not havebeen given out. This is a valid criticism, though we have highauthority for doing this; "There is nothing hidden that shall notbe revealed."

Much of the prejudice against the subject arises from the foolishand unworthy secrecy maintained by many of the chiefs of themagical orders, a secrecy mainly designed to foster the self-asgran-disement of the people concerned.

For this reason we have endeavoured to give the magical essen-tials in such a way that the sincere aspirant may make a start withthe matter. As he increases in proficiency, so his deeper understand-ing of the principles will reveal new depths of meaning, until, whenhe makes conscious contact with his true spiritual self, he finds thereal teacher who will lead him into the paths of peace.

We have indicated that the higher ra,nges of magic are for themost part for those who are truly "born magicians," and we havestressed this point to avoid giving our readers an unduly optimisticview of the work required.

At the same time it should be borne in mind that much of whatmight be termed the "Minor Arcana" lies open to all in varyingdegrees.

Perseverance in this "lesser" magical field will prepare the aspir-ant for the greater work that lies ahead We may say that such minor "magic is the magical equivalent of the "five-finger exercises" sopainfully gone through by many of us in the past!

It may be as well if at this point we say that one of the essentialprinciples of magic is that man is part of, and one with, Nature:that he is truly the microcosm of the macrocosm, the little universe

L'ENVOI

in and part of the greater univer€'around him. Because of this, hisaction on all levels of being, physical, emotional, mental and supra-mental affects his environment, and this in its turn conditionJ hislife in the physical.

" Because 6f'ttris mystical interplay benreen fnan.and his envirbn-ment, magic becomei possible, since by bur definition magic is ineart of producing changes in consciousness at ryill.- If we change our consciousness, then we act directly upon theinner worlds around us, and thus, ultimately, upon ttre objectiveworld.

Here is one of the keys. In magical work, all is done, in actuality,by the action of the conscious mind upon the subconscious both

^ personal and collective. The objective conscious mind provides theigniting spark which throws into motion the subconscious machin-

'ery, and it is the reaction between the personal unconscious andthe univercal unconscious that causes the manifestations of rnagic.

Thus we oome to the use of technical devices, such as the Flaih-ing-Colours, the Tattvic exercises, and the visualising work, alldesigned to train the mind along certain lines, and to make.it amatter of acquired skill to bring about a "willed dissociation'; ofconsciousness, as a commen@ment of the work that eventually leadsto the "willed integration" which is the goal of both magic andrchgion.

Throughout this book the cardinal principle has been to leadlhe aspirant to the realisation that tnre magic brings orie into con-scious union with the indwelling Self, the God within, and thoughthe practice of the magical arts may stop at some point perhapsreEote from this, yet in the end the aspirant will find an innercompulsion to complete the journey and find his true peace.

The general details which have not been included, owing to lackof space, will be found in the books dealt with in the Bibliographyat the end. From these can be obtained the detailed rituals, but itshould always be remembered that such rituals were built uponthe principles here laid down. As we have said, it is within thepower of the individual worker to build such rituals himself, andif they are built upon sound principles, they will work.

We have tried also to show the stages of psychological andethicgl training required of the aspirant, and we have also indicatcdhow all the outer complexity of ritual and ceremonial is in the cndsubsumed into the inner temple of the heart, and becomes part ofthe automatic mental machinery by the use of which the personalitymakes its contact with the divine nature.

THE MAGICIAN

Thus, as Iamblichus n The Mysteries truly cays, "ftom suppli-cation we are in a short time led to the obiect of supplication,acquire its similitude from intimate convers€, and gradually obtaindivine perfection."

If it is thought that this book is somewhat discursive and tm-co-ordinated, the writer checrfully a$ees that this does appcar tobe the case. But it was done with intention, and underlying theapparent lack of co-ordination there is I true plan upon which ithas been constructcd.

This plan is, however, bascd upon the psychological laws gov-crning thc subconscious aspect of the mind.

We havc written ta instruct the conxious miad of thc rpader,and to influence his subconscious following the methods of trainingused in thc schools of the Qabalah.

Finally we would say to the reader: a way is herein shown forth,by which you may pass from darkness into the li8ht, and thil book,however imperfectly, indicates the stages of that way, and is theresult of our own personal expcrience. We testify to that which wehave secn, and we speak that which we do know.

That this nay also be truc of some at least of thosc who rcadherein is our sitrer€ wish.

Appendix A

, RELAXATION AND BREATHING EXERCISES

THE closely related exercises of conscious relaxation and con-rtrolled UreatUing afe two of the basic elements in the trainingof the magician. Indeed, they 4re of value in ordinary life, quiteapart ftom any specialised training, sine they can be most helpfulin building up a4d maintaining the physical body in a really healthycoirdition. Since the body acts upon the mental processes, suc[ ahealthy body will act most favourably upon the mind, and sincethe mind and emotions affect -the glandular system of the body,there is set up a cLcle of beneficial influence which can be of tbegreatest value.

I-et us consider the art of relaxation, for an ait il really is, aridone, moneover, that is practised only by a small minority of people.Many pcople think that relaxation is a very simple thing, "one justrelaxes," and that is all. However, when the practice is undertakenseriously, one finds there is much more to it than that!

It is of interest to note one's reactions during a holiday ipentquietly, say amid counry surroundings. Usually three or four dayselapse, and then one suddenly realises that somehow or other, onehas "let go,'l and there is an unmistakable feeling of restfulness.Why should there be this period before one lets go? The answer isthat all day and every day we have been tensing ourselves mentally,emotionally and physically against the feverish rush and clamourof modern life. Many people, in estimating the harmful effect of"the terrific noise'of our towns, fail to realise that, althougb ourhppreciation and registration of sound waves is by the medlum ofthe ear, it is nevertheless true that the whole surface of our bodyis being continually assailed by the continuous impact of the soundvibrations around us, and it is this continuous bombardment whichis a great factor in the establishmept of a state of muscular tensionin the body.

Thc first stage, therefore, in the relaxation exercise, will be com'menced under conditions as free from outer noises as possible.Later, the exercise can be carried out under conditions of noise,etc., which would have spelt failure in the early days.

Start by citting in a comfortable chair, or lying on the back ona couch or bed. It is as well to point out here that at one pointof the exercise there may occur a strong muscular sirasm, and thit

-sudden tcnsing of the muscles vpry often leads the bsginner to thhk

,, ,r,,1{' l

224 THE MAGICIAN

that some psychic experience is at hand. Certain accounts of "astralprojection" have helped to create this impression, but in the greaternumber of cases, the cause is purely physical, though the pheno-mena may, and often does, accompany certain forms of psychicactivity.

Usually, however, it is due to a simple physical mechanism.If we stand erect and close our eyes, we find that our sense oflocation is brought about by the interaction of certain definitephysical sensations. If we commence to lose balance, we at onceperceive the compensatory action of certain of the body muscles,and we perceive also that the localised area of the foot from whichwe gain our balance shifts as our weight is re-distributed, and thiscauses us to bring other muscles into play to correct our balance.

If we are lying flat on our back on a bed, then we have theweight of the body pressing down upon the whole of the back ofthe head, the shoulders, the buttocks and the underside of the thighsand knees, down to the back of the heels. If this position is main-tained without movement of the body for some time, there @mesa point where the stead-y pressure upon the nerve-endings all overthat part of the body sets up a paralysis of sensation.

We no longer feel the bed beneath us, for a fraction of a secondwe seem to be "falling free." Since uncontrolled falling is usuallydetrimental, our subconscious immediately tenses up the musclesin a powerful spasm in order that some eftort may be made tokeep fixed and safe. This is one of the usual mechanisms resortedto by the subconscious when the "kinesthetic sense," the sense oflocation, has been lost. It operates during "astral projection" forthe same reason, but its occurrenge is not, in itself, a sign of suchpsychic activity. This particular point has been dwelt on becauseof its liability to be misinterpreted.

Having seated ourselves comfortably in a chair, or sfietchedourselves out on the bed or couch, we are ready to start. It is mostimportant that no article of clothing should be tight or in any wayuncomfortable. We are going lo relax the physical, and do not wishto have constant messages coming from various parts of the bodycalling for some relief. Here it may be noted for those who p,referthe on-the-back position, that the pillow used should support theneck as well as the back of the head.

If this is not the case, then the head is liable to be forced for-ward, and the breathing restricted. This we must avoid, and forthis reason a little experimentation with pillows or cushions ishelpful, until one finds the best height required.

RELAXATION AND BREATHING EXERCISES 225

lVe now direct our attention to the top of our head and sec ifthe scalp muscles are relaxed or tensed. If the latter, and this isthe usual thing, we deliberately relax them and .pass down to theforehead. Here we shall usually find very definite tensing of themuscles, and these should now be reLaxed. It will often be foundthat the accommodation muscles of the eyeballs have become in-volved in this muscular tension, and will have to be deliberatelyrelaxed. This is not quite so easy as one might think, especially inthe early stages. Now we come to the muscles of the face and mouth,and the same procedure is carried out. The muscles of the neckare considered and relaxed, and with them the relaxation of thehead is complete.

Now in case we should be inclined to cong[atulate ourselvesupon our ability to relax, we turn our attention back to the top ofthe head, and in eight cases out of ten we shall find that we haveunconsciously tensed up the scalp muscles again! So once againwe start to relax consciously ! Eventually we arive at a point wherewe have definitely relaxed all the head, face and throat muscles,and can now move down the trunk. and the arms to the legs andfinally the feet.

By starting with the head muscles and gaining somp contolover them before going on further, we break up the exercise andimprove our technique. By taking the arms and trunk as our nextobjective, and finishing with the legs and feet, we are doing theexercise in the most effective manner.

When once we have achieved full relaxation in each section ofthe body, ure can work for full relaxation through the whole bodyas one unit.

The aid of a sympathetic friend may be enlisted to check one'ssuccess in the matter. When we have successfully relaxed, say, theright arm, we ask our friend to lift it up and let it drop downagain. If our relaxation has been successful the arm will fall backas a "dead weight." A similar tesl may be made with the legs.

Another rather more stringent test may be made by arranging withour friend to strike down at our hand or arn as it lies in the relaxedcondition, but not of course to actually hit ir

If we are not completely relaxed, we shall find that there willbe the usual involuntary "start," but if we are relaxed, then therewill be no reaction at all. In point of fact, when relaxation has

been complete, it very often takes a definite eftort to take up thenecessary muscular tensions agbin.

Somione has said that the effect of this relaxation exercirc ir

226 THE MAGICIAN

that One "rcsts in the waters of peace," and this is a very apt dcs.cription of it." It must'be remembered, however, that apart from this veryhelpful use of the exercise, it is essential to the magician,fui traiiringas a vital preliminary to the breathing exercises which conslitutcthe ne:C step of training.

Much nonsense has been spoken and written concerning breath-ing exercises. They have been condemned as dangerous, they havebeen lauded as miraculous and they have been wrenched fromthe context of the systems to which they belong and have inevitably6ssa misused

We shall here consider one form of breathing-exerhse which iilinked up with the practise of relaxation on the one hand and theinake of psychic energy and etheric vitality on the other, and whichis, it caiicd out os here described, perfectly safe.

Here we must point out an important part of the exercise. Itwill be sgen that the practitioner is required to 'hold the breath"for a stated timc.

Most people attempt to "hold the breath" by closrng the throatand nasal passage by an effort of will. As far as these breathingexercises are concerned, such a method is DANGEROUS, andshould rever be auempted.It is because of this that many pcoplenrn into trouble in this mattcr.

The correct method of retaining the breath is to breath in forthe allotted period, using the chest muscles and the great diaphragmmuscle which lies bctween the chest and the inrcstinal area, -toexpand the chest and so fill the lungc with air. The chest shouldnow be held expanded and the diaphragm muscle lrcld down. T\elungs are full of air; and this is'being retained. BuL and this is thetest, if the chest is tapped sharply the air is partly expelled; thercis no bartier in the throat or mouth.

This way of rctaining the breath does aot tbrow any stain uponthe lung tissue, which is onc of tbe chief dangers of breathingexercises. If this procedure is correctly canied out, there is nodanger at all so f4r as the physical level is concerned. Having.,made this point quite clear, we may proceed to considcr the exer-cise itsclf. We may lote in pacsing; howcver, that most pgople usconly a fraction of thc total lung-area at their disposal, and certaincascs of neurosgs use evcn less than the average. From this view'p,oint alone, then, the practise of breathing exercises is bcneficial.

RELAXATION AND BREATHING EXERCISES 227

The most useful of the breathing exercises for general use iswhat we may call the fourfold breath.

Let the student sit or lie in a relaxed condition and breathe inthe following way: -l. Inhale slowly, mentally counting one, two, three, four. Now

hold the breath, counting one, two.2. Exhale at the same speed, again counting one, t!yo, three,

four. Now hold the lungs without movemcnt, counting ono,two.

Repeat this cycle of operations for about five minutes, notlonger, at the conmencement of the practise. Later on thc timemay be extendd.

It is important that until the student is thorougbly proficientin this basic technique of relaxation and fourfold breathing hcshould not attempt the exercise of the circulating light or thcMiddle Pillar technique.

In the following appendix thcse two exercises will be considcrcd.

'- -,

Appendix B .:THE BANISHING RITUAL

'FHE "Banishing Ritual of the Lesser Pentagram" is that technicalr magical operation known as "The. Preparation of the Place."It is used as a means of defining and purifying the area in whichthe magical work is to be done, and this we may term the'objective"aspect of the rite.

There is, however, a subjective aspect to the mattef, since allthe outer rite is an externalisation in symbolic form of the inneremotironal, mental and spiritual purpose of the magician and hisassistants. This dual nature of all magical rites needs to be keptin mind if the full benefit of the work is to be garned.

In the Banishing Ritual we have, first of all, what is known-asthe Qabalistic Cross. This is done as follows: -(a) Touch the forehead with the right hand tnd say Ateh.

O) Lower the hand to the breast end whilst touching it sayMalkuth.

(c) Touch the right shoulder, saying Ve Geburah.(d) Bring the hand across the body and touch the left shoulder,

saying Ve Gedulah(e) Clasp the hands en the.breast and say Le Olahm Amen.If the glyph of the Tree of Life is studied, it will be seen that

the names Geburah and Gedulaft are the names of two of theopposing Sephiroth bf ttre Tree. It will be seen that, looking at thediagram as a glyph of the universe, i.e. as it is shown, the SephirahGeburah is on the left hand pillar, and the Sephirah Gedulah onthe right hand pillar. This is correct for the macrocqsmic Tree, butwhen wp are using the glyph as a diagram of the microcosm withinus, then we "bacli into i[J Tree," i.e., we visualise it as if we stoddwith our backs to it. The Sephirah Geburah noril comes near ourright shoulder, and Gedulah is found en our left. It is this micro-cosmic Tree that we are using in this rite.

In an earlier section we considered the question bf the esotericuse of sound vibrations, so it will sufrce here if we refer the readerto that scction in order that he may understand how to vibrarc the ',words of the Cross Ritual. It must be understood that the ordinaryspeaking voice is not of use in this conneetion.

When we raise the hand above the head and lower it to touchthe forehead, we are dealing with the symbolic expression of thehighest spiritual nature within us; that radiant Being known to many

',t:i:., . ' .,rlll4i;,i.,lilii;,n'l

THE BANISHING RITUAL

oeult schools ac the "Genius." By virtue of thb psychic oolr€s-pondences betrrccn that Being and the psychic @ntre situated inthe aura above the head, we draw down into our auric spherc theradiant light-force.

*r; Now the shaft of"-light which, in our iisual imaginatiot we havepictured as coming down with our hand as we moved it down tothe forehead, is trlkin down towards the feet as we bring down thehand to the solar plexus and vibrate'the word Malkuth. This actionhas now formulated a line of white light extending ftom above thehcad down to the feet.

Now we touch the right shoulder and vibrate Geburah. Frcmthis we move the hand over to the left shoulder, at the same timevisualising a line of white light-for.ce as emanating from our rightstroulder and being drawn across to our left. Thus i3 formed in theaura thq Crosq of Light. This cross should be Strongly visustisedirs *e bring the hands together on the breast in thc attitude ofprayer.

Although the cross has been formulated in the personal aura,an attempt should be made, whenever it is so built up, to increa-se

its size, to visualise it and oneself as becoming huge and toweririgin height. This is in itself a powerful suggestion that can help torelease the cramped personality from some of its self-imposed limi'tations, and so tend towards the ultimate union between the starryDwiller of Eternity, who is our own true and deeper self, and ourlimited and self-imprisoned personal self.'

When the cross has been formulated'as described, we commencethe ne-xt part of .the work. Still facing East, as we did whea webegan the Qabalistic Cross, we reise the right hand from a pointon orr left siderabout midway between the hip and the knee. Wethen move the right arm up to a point above.the head, and bringit down again to the corresponding point at our right side. It willbe seen that we have described an inverted "V". Now move thc

229

. right hand to,a point slightly above the left shoulder, then-to asimilar point above the right shoulder, and then from that point

' bring it down diagonally to the point from which the figure wasstarted. Again, each movement of the hand must be seen mentally

, to draw a line of white light-for@, so that when we have completedthe movement, there glows in the air before us (mentally perceivcd)

a pentagram of white light. This pentagram must now be chargcdwith en-rgy, and this is done by moving the hand rapidly to tho@ntre of ihe 6guie with a sharp stabbing motion, at the samc ti6cvibrating the name Y od-Heh-V au-Heh.

230 THE MAGICIAN

Turning to the South, with our outstretched hand drawing aline of light, we again build up a pentagram of lighi this timevibrating Ah-Doh-Ni.

Then turning to the West, the pentagram is formularcd againand the name Eh-He-Heh is vibrated. Now we turn to the North,vibrating Ah-Gla and finally we return to the East, where we standwith arms outstretched in the form of the cross as we formulatethe Telesmatic trmages in our visual imagination.

It will be remembered that we have formed four energy-chargedthought-forms by the figures we have built at the fourcardinal points of the compass. These forms we are now going touse as the focal points of the protecting barrier we have built, anilwe therefore build up behind them the telesmatic images of thefour great archangels. As the forces of the universe are in the lastresort living forces, emanations of the Universal Mind, so we maythink of these telesmatic images as the psychic means whereby weare able to make contact with the living and intelligent forces whichare personified in the great archangels. The form we build is asymbolic thought-form, but the life which fills it is the life of thegreat cosmic Being which we draw through that part of our naturewhich is in correspondence with Him, or, to be more acclrrate,which is a part of Him. As the old initiates declared "there is nopart of me which is not of the gods."

So, facing East, we say "Before me Raphael, (Ra-fay-el) andformulate a mighty figure in a yellow robe in which shimmers thecomplementary mauve. As the East is the station of Air, we shouldmentally feel a gentle breeze coming from atound the figure.

Now we say "Behind me Gabriel" (Ga-bree-el). The figure webuild behind us in the Station of Water, the West, is robed in bluewith orange coniplementary tones, and a crystal cup of btue waterwill be visualised as being held aloft by the figure. Water shouldbe sensed as flowing from behind this figure.

Now we say "On my right hand Michael (Me-kay-el) and thetelesmatic figure glows in robes of red, with vivid green overtones.A great sword of steel is uplifted in its hand and a radiant heatshould be sensed as proceeding from it.

Finally "On my left hand Uriel" (Auriel). Here the figurc willbe robed in a parti-coloured robe in which citrine, olive, ntssetand black are intermingled. Around it should be visualised fertileglound (for this is the station of Earth) with grasses and wheatsprlngtng out around.

THE BANISHING RITUAL 2y

Now we conclude with the u'ords "For around me flame thepeniagrams; and'above me shines the six'rayed star," and again

formulate the :Qabalistic Cross., It will be obvious that much hard-work will have to bc"put

into the development of the visualising faculty if these Telesmatic

, Images are to be properly built and contacted with the living'forccs' they symbolically represent.

Hire is Laboirr-but it is basic work, and witltout il-thc Workmay not be done.

l', , i,,.tlf

Appcndix C

THE EXERCISES OF THE MIDDLE PILLAR

TIIE cxercise we are about to consider is in itself one of the mostr effective means of arousing within oneself the basic magicalpower without which ceremonial becomes simply a psychologicalmethod of approach to the powers of the Unconscious. Though, ofcourse, the psychological method is of the greatest importance, itis only when it is supplemented by the magical energy brought intoplay through such an exercise as that of the middle pillar that thefull range of the magical art may be experienced.

It is the contention of the present writer, and he is not alone inthis, that if the magical fraternities and orders were to train theirmembers from the commencement of their lodge Eaining, in thepractise of this exercise, they would greatly gain thereby.

For the philosophical and theoretical considerations of thisexercise, the reader is referred to the bibliography given in the lastpart of this book. Here it will be sufficient if we give just an outlineof the theory, and then describe the practice in detail.

Briefly the magical theory behind the middle pillar exercise isthat by appropriate action upon the individual psychic machineryof the human personality, certain of its aspects may be aroused intoactivity, and this in its turn will cause external, obiective energy tobe drawn through into the "sphere of sensation" or "auric field" ofthe personality, thus charging it with vitality of a very powerfulkind. This inflowing force may be used and directed as the magicianwills, to effect those changes in consciousness, of himself or others,which we have stated to be the object of all true magical work.

The magical schools teach that there exist in the psychic bodycertain centres of activity, and these centres are located in the samegeneral positions as the chakras of the eastern systems. We say,the same general positions, since there are certain variations fromthe theosophical classification. These do not, however, affect theresults obtained and for this reason it is not our intention to enterinto any comparison between the two systems.

It is sufficient for our purpose that the student should visualisehimself as standing with his back to the diagram of the Tree ofLife. The right-hand pillar will then be on his left hand, and theleft-hand pillar on his right. The middle pillar, comprising theSephiroth Kether, Daath, Tiphareth, Yesod and Malkuth will thenbe equated with his spinal colrrmn and feet.

THE EXERCISES OF THE MIDDLE pTLLAR 233

Now let him visualise an inch or so above the crown of hishead, a-glowing whirling sphere of brilliant white light, ana iahim endeavour to realise that here is the upwelling -fountain

ofthe divine life within him. He should now-,,vibraie" the nameEheieh (Eh'he'yeh). Let him now picture a ray of brilliance shiningdown to the nape of his neck, where it shinls out as a luminoussphere. Here the name to be vibrated is Jehovah Elohim (ye-hoh-vo E-loh-heem).

- Let the ray of light be now seen mentally as it strikes down tothe centre of. Tiphareth, located over the iegion of the physicalhearq i.e. a little above the solar plexus. Here the name is ielovalAloah-Va-Daath (Ye-hoh-voh E-loah-va-daath)._ Now the ray of light descends to the centre of yesod, which islggtrl over the generative organs, and the name Shaddai-El-Chai,(Sha-dai-el-kai) is sounded. Lastly the ray descends to the feet"where it ends in the centre of. Malkuth. The name here is Adonai-Ha-Aretz (Ah -doh-nai -ha-aretz).

This completes the exercise. At first it suffices if the studentrys:es fairly quickly doryr the body, merely formulating the sphepesof the centres and vibrating the names. Later, as he bJcomej m6reproficient in the visualisation of the stations and the light-ray, hemust begin to pause in contemplation at each station,

-meditating

on the particular powers and activities attributed to it.When this technique has been fully mastered, the student should

begin to visualise the stations in their appropriate colour. Kether,the centre above the head is seen as a whitC brilliance, Daath, asa lavender coloured sphere, Tiphareth, as golden-yellow, yesod,as purple, and Malkuth as dark olive green, or jet black.

It is not sufficient, however, that the student simply awaken themiddle pillar centres in this way. It is necessary ttrii ttre energiesso drawn into the psychic field should be put into circulation, andt_his i9 done by the exercise of the Interwoven Light. part of this,the "formula of circumambulation" as it is termed, we have alteadydescribed in the chapter entitled "The Interwoven Light.',

-When the middle pillar technique has been thoroughly grasped,

and the exercise mastered, the energies which are now beingbroughtinto the psychic organism may be directed by the visualising facultyin the following manner.

Having performed the exercise, and reached the station olMalkuth, the magician should bring his attention back to the stationof Kether, above the head. Now the flaming whte brilliance irwilled and mentally seen to descpnd to the left shoulder. rigbt down

"'

THE MAGICIAN

tbrougb thc left side to the left foot Hcre it -passcs-

throutb the

JpterI of Malkuth, enters the right fool travels up--th9 rilht ."4:o? tn" body to the rigbt shouldei, and so back to Ketlvr. This isthe first pliasc of thJexercisc, and should be practised until pro.

6ciency is gaincd.- Nob thJsecond port can be commenced. Again the lttentiog is

dirccted to Kether. Then the white brilliance is visualised as coming

down from thit"centre in front of the face and down the ftont ofthe bodv and less to the toes. From these it travels along the soles

of the fict, badup the calves and thc back of the thiShs' up over

the soine and the back of the head to the station Kether'Ii will be found helpful if the breathing is synchronitd ! q

this visualisation, the eihalation treing performed as the visualiscdp&; tt"rtett dorvnw"ard, and the inhalation being done as thcpow€f, travels uPwards.' The third pait of the exercise has already becn described in thc

chapter on thc Intcrwoven Light.,l , Tlr"t" ate, 'of cotlflls, other -excrcises in connection. with thc

middle pillar, but they do not need mcntion here, since they belong

., to the more advanced levels of magical ra!nFg.- : .:He who pcrseveres until he has mastered the basic exerciscsvill

learn, from onc source or another, of the more advanced cxcfciscs.

The student is never eatirely without instruction.The present writer wodd urge all his readers who desiro scrious-

ly to pnactise the magca! art" to gain Jhemselves thoroughly intfiis t"i,ttoiq.r" of thc middle pillar. It is the key to practical magic.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

fT has been suggested to the writer that it would be of great assist-r ance to students of magic if, instead of a simple list of books onthe subject" he gave a brief commentary on those which were likclyto be most useful to the reader.

We start, therefore, with some works by two of the forcmosturiters on magical subjects, Israel Regardie and Dion Fortune.The three books Ifte Garden ol Pomegranates, Tln Tree ol LiteandThe Middle Pillar, all by Regardie, are invaluable and all earn.est students are indebted to him for these books alone. Another ofhis works, TrE Art of True Healing, although small, is splendidvalue. Having worked in the magical Order of thc "StelliaMatutina," Regardie decided, for reasons which he gives, to publishthe secret rituals of the Order. This step has led t'u a considerableamount of bitterness on both sides, but whether one aglees with hisaction or not, there is no doubt that the four volumes of. TheGolden Dawn, published in 19CI, are veritable mines of informa'tion.

Dion Fortune has to her credit *,hat is possibly the fincst briokof Qabalistic exegesis ever written-The Mystical Qabahh. Othetbooks of hers in this connection arc The Esoteric Orders and tMrWork, The .Training and Work of an Initiate, Tlu Esoteric Philo'sophy of Love anrl Marriage, Sane Occultism and Psychic SeU'Delence, all published or to be published by The Aquarian Press.

Psychic Self-Defence is particularly recommended by the present

writer, who knew fairly intimately many of the people mentionedtherein.

Coming now to the standard writers on Magic, the two booksThe Histoiy ol Magic and Tratucendental Magic, by Eliphas Levi'are the sourc€ from which many modern writers have built up theirown expositions of magic. They are valuable not because of theirfactual statements but rather for ttrp stimulus they can give the en'quiring mind.-

Translations by A. E. lVaite of these two books are publishcdby Riders.-

Two of thc early Theosophical books dealing with our subiectatte Natures Finer Forces, by Rama Prasad, tnd Magic: Blrck andWhite, by Dr. Franz Hartman. A book dealing with thc ocoltaspects of Christian ceremonial, The Science ol the Srcranunts, bytni niglt Rev. C. W. Leadbeater, of the Liberal Catholic Chutth'is puUlished by the Theosophical Publishing Hourc. Msd&.

46 THE MAGICIAN

Blavbtllky's monumental wotk?sis (Jnfeiled, is well rrorth sltud!'ing; -althorrgh the present writer agrees with Maeterlinck that it is 'likea builder's yard"; it contains enough raw materia!.for the buildingof innumerable mental edifices!

_.r.i. Twb,source books which must not be ovedooked arc Seplur .'Yetzirah, by Dr. Wynn Westcott, and The Qabalah Unveiled, by

S. L. Magregor Mathers. These two,msn were, together with BrodieInnes, a Scotch "Writer to The Signet," the founders of the "MagicalOrder of the Golden Dawn." This is the parent stock from whi€hmany of the modern occult orde-rs have stemmed. A word of warn'ing here. These two books should not be atlempted until the_begin'nei has acquired quite a solid foundation of knowledge. He willthen be able to read them with advantage

Three books by Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon) arc in'valuable for giving a clear idea of the Hindu -Tantric systems.

These three aie the The Serpent Power, Slnkti and Shakta, andThe World as Power.

A fine work on Egyptian magic is The Occult Arts ol AncientEgypt, by Bernard Bromage (Aquarian Press).- A book which throws much light on certa.in magical practices

is The Proiectio4 ol the Astral Body, by Muldoon and Carrington(Riders), and another which deals wiih magic from the Theosophicalangle is The Ritual of lligher Magic, by Furze Monish.

Mention is often made of the wonderful symbolic system knowaas the Tarot. The present writer considers the book by Paul Foster"-

Case,The Tarot (Macoy Pub. Co'), to be the best published aeountof this very wonderful systen.

Finally, there is the book Magtc: its Ritual, Power and Prtpose,by the present writer (Aquarian Press).

, ttril is really an introductory study of the subject,leading upto the more detailed exposition of this present writing. For thisreiason, quite apart from any pecuniary interest in royalties,'it is

-recommended that.it be obtained and shrdied by the serious student.Having dealt with the chief works on magic we will proceed to

note some works dealing with the psychological basis of magic.Before we dg this, however, we must return to our first list ofbooks on magrc. It will be seen that none of the writings of thlt *

strange being Aleister Crowley have been listed herein. This isbecause, whitever the value of his teaching may be, an4 there ig

-much of real value therein, his literary stylc is so uneven, desccnding-from sublime heights to depths of groisness, that hb is no guide

for the beginner in these matters. Advanced students may fnd much

BIBLIOGRAPHY

tlia.t is illuminating in his woits, but thcy will then'be ablc to dcatselectively with his teachings.

Coming now to the books w,lich throw light from the psycho-logical angle upon our subject, the foremost arc The Secret ol theGolden Flower, by Wilhelm and Jung, The Integration ol thePersonality and The Psychology of the Unconscious, both by Dr.fung. Snggesrion and Auto-Suggestion,by Baudoin, and Hypnotism,by Dr. Moll give some idea of the working of the subconscious

;,i -j mind, whilst Dr. Mary Harding's book Women's Mysteries is full'' of real information on feminine psychology. A book which attempb, to bring together the East and the West is Dr. Geraldine Coster'g

i:. Yoga and llestern Psychology.i, Two works dealing with the prychic faculties 6te Mads Latent'

Powers, by PhoebaPayne, and Par4normal Cognition by Dr. L. J.Bendit. Both these books art published by Faber.

Some very interesting books dealing with the cpremonial of theMasonic Order are The Meaning ol Masonry, and The MasonicInitiation; both by Bro. W. Wilmshurst, and, Freemasonry and theAncient Gods,by.Bro. J. S. M. Ward.

On the subject of Magnetism, the following wogks arc worthattintion. Letters on Od and Magnetism, by Reichenbach (Hutchin-sons), lnimal Magnetism, by Gregory, Vital Magnetic Healing,by Adelaide Gardner C[.P.H.), Magnetism and Magic, by Baronde Sennevoy (Alten & Unwin), The Rationale ol ldesrnerism, byA. P. Sinnett" and The Human Atmosphere, by Dr. Walter Kilner.

" It is the belief of the present writer that much can be gainedfrom fictional representations of magical work, and for that reasonthe following books have beenincluded.They are bf vario'us gradesof value, but the discerning reader will be able to see who is writingwith thc authority of knowledge concerning these things.

Drox Fontuw-The Demon Lover; Secrets of Dr. Tavener; The WingedBUII: The Goat-foot God; The Sea Pfiestess; Moon Magic:The Memoirs ol a Mistress of that Art.

Bnoorc ixuns-The Devil's Misvess; For'the Soul of a Witch: Old as tlrcWorld.

Sn Roxrrp Fnrsrn-

Gates; Bird Under Glass.

,$ THE MAGICIAN

Mrnronrs Lrwnrxcs-No.7 Queer Steet.

Ar,osnNox Brrcrwoo>lohn Silence; Iulius Le Vallon; The Brtsht Messenger.

DsNNIS Wrnlrr.sY-The Devil Rides Out; Strange Conflict-

t. M. A. Mnrs--' - itmi ol tne Dark Ones; Lards ol the Euth; TIrcre lAillYour Heart Be.

Jotr Gnnrr-llinged Pharaoh; Eyes of Horus: Lord of the Horizpn,

L. Apens Becx-House ol FulfiIment.

Tnsor Muspv-Black Light; Om.

Bwwen Lvrrox-Zanoni; A Strange Story.

H. Rprn Hecorno-llisdom's Daughter; Queen of the Datvn; MorningTlp Worlts Desire,

W. B. Yeats, the Irish poet and dramatist, was one of the earlymembers of the magical Order of the Golden Dawn' and his auto'biography The Trembting ol the Veil is of considerable value.

-enbt[er of the early G. D. members was Arthur Edward Waite'and his autobiography, Shadows of Lite and Thoughr is also ofinterest.

The Irish writer'A.E.", though not a member of the G'D., never'thel-eJs was in touch with many of its initiates, and his bop,k TheCatdle of Vision (Mamrillan & Co.,), is worth reading.

Ethel Archer, who was connected with the group which centred

around Aleisrcr Crowley, has written a very interesting stary, TluHieroglyph, and another helpful piece of fiction is High Magic'sAid,by G. B. Gardner.

thlre are, of course, many other books on our subiect' and lists

of these will be found in some of those mentioned here'

Unfortunately many of these books are now out of prinl 3ndcan only be obtaineA tlrough the second'hand market'

. POSTSCRIPT-

I haue written diffuseli, leaaing many loose ends ofthought,'and this for a uery definite reason.

lhere is in tfte modern world far too muc,h of the "tabloid"spirit - neat little digests of information made up intoatttactiue mental packets for the use of those who wish tohaae a general hnowledge of uarious subjects, without thetrouble of really studying them.

Such a thing is highly dangerous, since it offers an idealway in which the unsctupulous ma,y put forutard their ownparticuhr ideas without any mental resistance on the part ofthe uictim. Such methods lead to the ptoduction of the nissmentality which can be such a deadty thing in the hands ofthe dictators - whether of the Right or the Left.

I haae, therefore, not prod,uced a "Digest of Magic", buthaue mercly attempted to give my readers some glimpses -inbiguing, or even ex,aspelating - of the wonderful field ofstudy uhich goes by the name of "Magic", and it is my hopethat such glimpses will set them studying the works of those.who are the recognised masters of the sabject.

By the same author.

APPRENTICEDTO MAGIC

& THELAH

In this special compilation volume, W.E. Butler's second twoseminal works are reprinted with a new introduction byDolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, cementing his reputation as 'The

Grand Maistre of English Occultism'.

APPRENTICED TO MAGIC, designed to liberate the latent

magical powers we all possess, takes the form of a series ofpersonal instructions from a guru to his chela. The lessons are

basic exercises in meditation and the training of one'svisualizing power and includes information on mentalexercises, magical rites and ceremonies, astral projection and

the ancient Tree of Life.

MAGIC AND THE QABALAH is a stimulating examination ofthe QBL (literally 'from mouth to ear') and the significance ofthis unwritten tradition of esoteric knowledge over many

centuries. The illuminating work provides much food formeditation and will be helpful in producing those changes ofconsciousness which are the goals of the magical art.

Together the two provide the reader with an exhilaratingcontact with the mind of an esoteric craftsman, an inestimableprivilege for anyone who aspires to initiation into Western

magical practice. And if his advice is read properly, meditated

upon, and followed up, it will bring those who are ready to the

Doors of the Mysteries.

MAGICQAB A

rsBN 1-85538-111-9 :

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