Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 3)

Tasksj the renunciation of His enjoyment of the Infinité so that he may formulate Himself as the Finite; the acquisition of the practical secrets alike of initiating and governing His proposed new Universe and the identification of himself with the impersonal idea of Love. Any néophyte of the Order (or, as some say, an y person soever) possesses the right to claim the Grade of Master of the Temple by taking the Oath of the Grade. It is hardly necessary to observe that to do so is the most sublime and awful responsibility which it is possible to assume, and an unworthy person who does so incurs the most terrifie penalties by his presumption. 7. The Order of the R. C. The Grade of the Babe of the Abyss is not a Grade in the proper sense, being rather a passage between the two Orders. Its characteristics are wholly négative, as it is attained by the résolve of the Adeptus Exemptus to surren- der ail that he has and is for ever. It is an annihilation of ail the bonds that compose the self or constitute the Cosmos, a résolution of ail complexities into their éléments, and these thereby cease to manifest, since things are only knowable in respect of their relation to, and reaction on, other things. 8. The Grade of Adeptus Exemptus confers authority to govern the two lower Orders of R. C. and G. D. The Adept must préparé and publish a thesis setting forth His knowledge of the Universe, and his proposais for its welfare and progress. He wil.1 thus be known as the leader of a school of thought. (Eliphas Levi’s Clef des Grands Mystères, the Works of Swedenborg, von Eckartshausen, Robert Fludd, Paracelsus, Newton, Bolyai, Hinton, Berkeley, Loyola, etc., etc., are examples of such essays. ) He will hâve attained ail but the suprême summits of médita¬ tion, and should be already prepared to perceive that the only possible course for him is to devote himself utterly to heiping his fellow créatures. To attain the Grade of Magister Templi, he must perform two tasks; the émancipation from thought by putting each idea against its opposite, and refusing to prefer eitherj and the consécration of 236 —