Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 4)

point of Samadhi. Yet lose not control of the will; let not Samadhi be thy master herein. 7. Now then, being conscious both of the brain and the spine, and unconscious of ail else, do thou imagine the hunger of the one for the other; the emptiness of the brain, the ache of the spine, even as the emptiness of space and the aimlessness of Matter. And if thou hast expérience of the Eucharist in both kinds, it shall aid thine imagination herein. 8. Let this agony grow until it be insupportable, resisting by will every temptation. Not until thine whole body is bathed in sweat, or it may be in sweat of blood, and until a cry of intolérable anguish is forced from thy closed lips, shalt thou proceed. 9. Now let a current of light, deep azuré flecked with scarlet, pass up and down the spine, striking as it were upon thyself that art coiled at the base as a serpent. Let this be exceeding slow and subtle; and though it be accom- panied with pleasure, resist; and though it be accompanied with pain, resist. 10. This shalt thou continue until thou art exhausted, never relaxing the control. Until thou canst perforai this one section 9 during a whole hour, proceed not. And withdraw from the médi¬ tation by an act of will, passing into a gentle Pranayama without Kumbhakham, and meditating on Harpocrates, the silent and virginal God. 11. Then at last, being well-fitted in body and mind, hxed in peace, beneath a favourable heaven of stars, at night, in calm and warm weather, mayst thou quicken the movement of the light until it be taken up by the brain and the spine, independently of thy will. 12. If in this hour thou shouldst die, is it not written, “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord” ? Yea, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord ! 5