66 
Vampires 
Cara Soror, 
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. 
So you want me to tell you all about Vampires? Vampire 
yourself! 
I ask you, how does this come within the scope of your 
enquiries? 
Is this information 
essential 
to your 
Accomplishment of the Great Work? As the Government 
might say "Is your journey really necessary?" 
So musing, I rang you up for details. Vampires, you say, 
might be a temptation to yourself, or they might sap your 
energy. Very good. I will tell you the little I know. 
Listen to Eliphas Levi! He warns us against a type of 
person, fearless and cold-blooded, who seems to have the 
power to cast a sudden chill, merely by entering the room, 
upon the gayest party ever assembled. Tete-a-tete, they shake 
one's resolution, kill one's enthusiasm, devitalize one's faith 
and courage. 
Yes, we all know such people. Mercury, by the way, is the 
planet responsible. I have examined a considerable number of 
nativities, both of murderers and of people murdered; in both 
cases it was not a "malefic" that did the dirty work, but poor 
tiny innocent silvery-shining Mercury! 
You, however, are thinking more of the vampire of 
romance. Bram Stoker's Dracula and its kindred. That is a 
splendidly well-documented book, by the way; he got his 
397