Magick in Theory and Practice (Section 1)

Ceremony of the Proclamation of Horus, the Crowned and Conquering Child, as Lord of the Aeon. 1 This whole matter is prophesied in the Book of the Law itself ; let the student take note, and enter the ranks of the Host of the Sun. II There is another sacrifice with regard to which the Adepts hâve always maintained the most profound secrecy. It is the suprême mystery of practical Magick. Its name is the Formula of the Rosy Cross. In this case the victim is always — in a certain sense — the Magician himself, and the sacrifice must coïncide with the utterance of the most sublime and secret name of the God whom he wishes to invoke. Properly performed, it never fails of its effect. But it is difficult for the beginner to do it satisfactorily, because it is a great effort for the mind to remain concentrated upon the purpose of the ceremony. The overcoming of this difficulty lends most powerful aid to the Magician. It is unwise for him to attempt it until he has received regular initiation in the true 2 Order of the Rosy Cross, 1. Note : This paragraph was written in the summer of 1911 e.v., just three years before its fulfilment. 2. It is here désirable to warn the render against the numerous false orders which hâve impudently assumed the name of Rosicrucian. The Masonic Societas Rosicruciana is honest and harmless; and makes no false pretences; if its members happen as a rule to be pompous busy-bodies, enlarging the borders of their phylacteries, and scrupulous about cleansing the outside of the cup and the platter; if the masks of the Offîcers in their Mysteries suggest the Owl, the Cat, the Parrot, and the Cuckoo, while the Robe of their Chief Magus is a Lion’s Skin, that is their affair. But those orders run by persons claiming to represent the True Ancient Fraternity are common swindles. The représentatives of the late S. L. Mathers (Count McGregor) are the phosphorescence of the rotten wood of a branch which was lopped off the tree at the end of the içth century. Those of Papus (Dr. Encausse), Stanislas de Guaita and Péladan, merit respect as serious, but lack full knowledge and authority. The “Ordo Rosae Crucis” is a mass of ignorance and falsehood, but this may be a deliberate device for masking itself. The test of any Order is its attitude towards the Law of Thelema. The True Order présents the True Symbols, but avoids attaching the True Name thereto; it is only when the Postulant — 97