Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 4)

be noted that persons of powerful imagination, will, and intelligence hâve no need of these material symbols. There hâve been certain saints who are capable of love for an idea as such without it being otherwise than degraded by idolising it, to use this Word in its true sense. Thus one may be impassioned of beauty, without even the need of so small a concrétion of it as “The beauty of Apollo”, the “beauty of roses”, the “beauty of Attis”. Such persons are rare 5 it may be doubted whether Plato himself attained to any vision of absolute beauty without attaching to it material objects in the first place. A second class is able to contemplate ideals through this veil 5 a third class need a double veil, and cannot think of the beauty of a rose without a rose before them. For such, is this Method of most use 5 yet let them know that there is this danger therein, that they may mistake the gross body of the symbol for the idea made concrète thereby. 32. Considérations of further danger to those not purged of material thought. — Let it be remembered that in the nature of the love itself is danger. The lust of the satyr for the nymph is indeed of the same nature as the affinity of quicklime for water en the one hand, and of love of Ab for Ama on the otherj so also is the triad Osiris, Isis, Horus like that of a horse, mare, foal, and of red, blue, purple. And this is the foundation of Correspondences. But it were false to say “Horus is a foal” or “Horus is purple”. One may say : “Horus resembles a foal in this respect that he is the olfspring of two complementary beings”. 33. Further of this matter.— So also many hâve said truly that since earth is that One, and océan is that One, therefore earth is océan. Unto Him good is illusion, and evil is illusion 5 therefore good is evil. By this fallacy of logic are many men destroyed. Moreover, there are those who take the image for the God; as who should say, my heart is in Tiphereth, an Adeptus is in Tiphereth; I am therefore an adept. And in this practice the worst danger is this, that the love which is its weapon should fail in one of two ways. First, if the love lack any quality of love, so long is it not idéal love. For it is written of the Perfected One: “There is no member of my body which is not the member of some god.” Therefore — 399 ~ * 7