THE KEY OF THE MYSTERIES
spiritualistic empiric; and the successors of Peter, were they
Alexander VI, or even John XXII, are infallible for every
man who is properly brought up, who does not wish to put
himself uselessly outside the pale of society. So goes the
world.
Charlatanism, when it is successful, is then, in magic as in
everything else, a great instrument of power. To fascinate
the mob cleverly, is not that already to dominate it? The
poor devils of sorcerers who in the Middle Ages stupidly got
themselves burnt alive had not, it is easy to see, a great empire
on others. Joan of Arc was a magician at the head of her
armies, and at Rouen the poor girl was not even a witch.
She only knew how to pray, and how to fight, and the prestige
which surrounded her ceased as soon as she was in chains.
Does history tell us that the King of France demanded her
release? That the French nobility, the people, the army
protested against her condemnation? The Pope, whose
eldest son was the King of France, did he excommunicate the
executioners of the Maid of Orleans? No, nothing of all that!
Joan of Arc was a sorceress for every one as soon as she
ceased to be a magician, and it was certainly not the English
alone who burned her. When one exercises an apparently
superhuman power, one must exercise it always, or resign
oneself to perish. The world always avenges itself in a
cowardly way for having believed too much, admired too
much, and above all, obeyed too much.
We only understand magic power in its application to
great matters. If a true practical magician does not make
himself master of the world, it is that he disdains it. To what,
then, would he degrade his sovereign power? ‘I will give
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