Magick Without Tears

170 MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS wrote, and meant it; rub it, when saying your mantra, to the rhythm of that same. (Remember , "A ka dua" is the best; ask me to intone it to you when you next visit me.) The Cup. There are plenty of chalices to be bought. It should be of silver. If ornamented, the best form is that of the apple. I have seen suitable cups in many shops. The Sword. The ideal form is shown in the Ace of Swords in the Tarot . At all events, let the blade be straight , and the hilt a simple cross. (The 32 0 Masonic Sword is not too bad; Kenning or Spencer in Great Queen Street, W.C.2, stock them-or used to do.) The Disk. This ought to be of pure gold, with your own Pantacle , designed by yourself after prolonged study, graved thereupon . While getting ready for this any plain circle of gold will have to serve your turn. Quite flat , of course. If you want a good simple design to go on interim. try the Rosy Cross or the Unicursal Hexagram. So much for the Weapons! Now, as to your personal accoutrements, Robe, Lamen, Sandals and the like, The Book of the Law has most thoughtfully simplified matters for us. "I charge you earnestly to come before me in a single robe , and covered with a rich head-dress." (AL , I: 61.) The Robe may well be in the form of the Tau Cross; i.e., expanding from axilla to ankle, and from shoulder to-whatever you call the place where your hands come out. (Shape well shown in the illustration Magick , face p. 380.) You being a Probationer, plain black is correct; and the Unicursal Hexagram might be embroidered, or "applique" (is it? I mean "stuck on") upon the breast. The best head-dress is the Nemyss: I cannot trust myself to describe how to make one, but there are any number of models in the British Museum, or in any Illustrated Hieroglyphic text. The Sphinx wears one, and there is a photograph, showing the shape and structure very clearly, in The Equinox . Vol. I, No. I, frontispiece to Supplement. You can easily make one yourself out of silk; broad black-and-white stripes is a pleasing design. Avoid "artistic" complexities.