146
which
must
be
studied
in
Liber CCXX
and
Liber CDXVIII;
but
having
thus
dealt
with
special
Robes,
let
us consider
the
use of the
Robe in general.
The Robe is that which conceals, and which protects the
Magician
from the elements;
it is the silence
and
secrecy
with which he works,
the hiding
of himself in the occult
life of Magick
and Meditation.
This is the "going
away into
the
wilderness
" which we find
in the lives of all
men
of the
highest
types
of greatness.
And it is also the withdrawing
of one's
self
from
life
as
such.
In another
sense it is the " Aura " of the Magician, that invisible egg
or sheath which
surrounds
him.
This " Aura " must be shining,
elastic,
impenetrable,
even
by the light,
that
is,
by any partial
light
that comes
from
one side.
The only light of the Magician
is
from
the Lamp which
hangs above
his head,
as he stands in the centre
of the Circle, and the Robe, being
open
at the
neck,
opposes
no
obstacles
to
the
passage of this
light.
And
being
open, and
very
wide
open, at
the
bottom,
it
permits
that
light to pass and illumine them that sit in darkness
and
in
the
shadow
of death.