FOLLOW A WORD THROUGH THE COLLECTION
Search the corpus.
Phrase search ignores case and repeated whitespace. All-words search finds whole words anywhere on the same page. OCR errors can affect results.
33 matching pages
Page 1 of 21961 · PDF PAGE 101
…on of my Loins, for I will now discourse unto thee of thine Own Attainment, without which all is but Idleness. Know first that conscious Thought is but phenomenal, the Noise of thy Machine. Now Chemistry, or Al-Chem-y meaneth the Egyptian Science, and the true Magick of Egypt hath this for its Foundation. We have in our House many Substances which act directly upon the Blood, and many Practices of Virtue similar, to simulate, compose, purify, analyse, direct, or concentrate the Thought. Confer CCXX. II, 22. But this Action is subtle and of man …
1961 · PDF PAGE 47
THE BOOK OF WISDOM OR FOLLY 35 Aq De Libertate Mentis (Of Liberty of the Mind) HERE shall be no Property in Human Thought. Let each think as he will concerning the Universe; but let none seek to impose that Thought upon another by any Threat of Penalty in this World or any other World. Look now, though I enkindle thee to Effort in thy Way, yet it is the Way of thy Will, and I say not even that thou dost well to hasten therein, for the whole Matter lieth in thy Will, and to force thyself against thy Nature would be an Obstacle to thy Passage. Bu…
1961 · PDF PAGE 191
…ng. But I make Effort in vain, o my Son, to record this matter in Detail; for it is the quality of the Grass to quicken the Operation of Thought it may be Thousandfold, and moreover to figure each Step in Images complex and overpowering in Beauty, so that one hath no Time wherein to conceive, much less to utter, any Word for a Name or any of them. Also, such was the multiplicity of these Ladders, and their Equivalence, that the Memory holdeth no more any one of them, but only a certain Comprehension of the Method, wordless by Reason of its Subt…
1961 · PDF PAGE 29
… now concerning Meditation let me disclose unto thee more fully the Mystery of the Key of Dreams and Phantasies. Learn first that as the Thought of the Mind standeth before the Soul and hindereth its Manifestation in consciousness, so also the gross physical Will is the Creator of the Dreams of common Men, and as in Meditation thou doest destroy every Thought by mating it with its Opposite, so must thou cleanse thyself by a full and perfect Satisfaction of that bodily will in the Way of Chastity and Holiness which has been revealed unto thee in…
1961 · PDF PAGE 14
… Not until the Universe is thus laid naked before thee canst thou truly anatomize it. The Tendencies of thy Mind lie deeper far than any Thought, for they are the Conditions and the Laws of Thought; and it is these that thou must bring to Nought. This Way is most sure; most sacred; and the Enemies thereof most awful, most sublime. It is for the Great Souls to enter on this Rigour and Austerity. To them the Gods themselves do Homage; for it is the Way of Utmost Purity. d
1961 · PDF PAGE 53
…at I shall impress upon thee as in Conformity with our holy Experience in the Way of Truth. And it is this, that since that which can be thought is not true, every Statement is in some Sense false. Even on the Sea of pure Reason, we may say that every Statement is in some Sense disputable, therefore in every Case, even the simplest, the Child should be taught not only the Thesis, but also its opposite, leaving the Decision to the Childs own Judgment and good Sense, fortified by Experience. And this Practice will develop its Power of Thought, a…
1961 · PDF PAGE 69
…true Nature of thine and of all Things, and every Phenomenon is the Resultant of the Totality of Forces; Amen. Then thou needest take no Thought and make no Effort? Thou sast sooth; yet, art thou not compelled to Thought and Effort in the Way of Nature? Yea, I, thy Father, work for thee solicitously, and also I laugh at thy Perplexities; for so was it fore-ordained that I should do, by Me, from the Beginning. a
1961 · PDF PAGE 193
THE BOOK OF WISDOM OR FOLLY 181 #y Sequitur de hac re (Further concerning this matter) HOU knowest right well, o my Son, how a Thought is imperfect in two Dimensions, being separate from its Contradiction, but also constrained in its Scope, because by that Contradiction we do not (commonly) complete the Universe, save only that of its Discourse. Thus if we contrast health with Sickness, we include in their Sphere of Union no more than one Quality that may be predicated of all Things. Furthermore, it is for the most Part not easy to find or to f…
1961 · PDF PAGE 31
…he Blood hath absorbed, in its Need of Nutriment, all foreign Elements. Such also is the Case with the Mind which hath not fed itself on Thought. Consider the placid and ruminent Existence of such Persons as read little, are removed from worldy Struggle by some sufficient Property of small and unexciting Value, stably invested, and by Age and Environment are free from Passion. They live, according to their own Nature, without Desire, and they oppose no Resistance to the Operations of Time. Such are called Happy, and in their Way of Vegetable Li…
1961 · PDF PAGE 90
…re, and aspired to that Work. Now then at first I made no Error. I abandoned my chosen Career; I poured out my whole Fortune without one Thought; I gave my Life utterly to the Work, without keeping back the least imaginable Thing. So then I made swift Strides along the Path. But in the Dhyanas that were granted unto me in Kandy, in the Island of Lanka, I used up my whole Charge of Magical Energy; and for two Years I fell away from the Work. l
1961 · PDF PAGE 17
…ly and ruined by the conflict between their Passions and the Society about them. Wherein which Party errs is no matter of Moment for our Thought; but the Existence of the War is Evidence of Wrong done to Nature. n
1961 · PDF PAGE 76
LIBER ALEPH VEL CXI 64 Bl De Ratione Magi Vitæ (Of the Rule of Life of a Magician) TUDY Logic, which is the Code of the Laws of Thought. Study the Method of Science, which is the Application of Logic to the Facts of the Uni- verse. Think not that thou canst ever abrogate these Laws, for though they be Limitations, they are the rules of thy Game which thou dost play. For in thy Trances though thou becomest That which is not subject to those Laws, they are still final in respect of these Things which thou hast set them to govern. Nay, o my son, I…
1961 · PDF PAGE 72
…issa (Allegory of Chess) ONSIDER for an Example the Game and Play of the Chess, which is a Pastime of Man, and worthy to exercise him in Thought, yet by no means necessary to his Life, so that he sweepeth away Board and Pieces at the least Summons of that which is truly dear to him. Thus unto him this Game is as it were an Illusion. But insofar as he entereth into the Game he abideth by the Rules thereof, though they be artificial and in no wise proper to his Nature; for in this Restriction is all this Pleasure. Therefore, though he hath All-Po…
1961 · PDF PAGE 153
…, knowest thou not the Joy to lie in the Wilderness and to behold the Stars, in their Majesty of Motion calm and irresistible? Hast thou thought there that thou art also a Star, free because consciously in Accord with the Law and Determination of thy Being? It was thine own true Will that bound thee in thine Orbit; therefore thou speedest on thy Path from Glory unto Glory in continual Joy. O Son, o Reward of my Work, o Harmony and Completion of my Nature, o Token of my Toil, o Witness of my Love for thy sweet Mother, the holy and adulterous Hil…
1961 · PDF PAGE 62
…est causes chemical Change by Combustion, and giveth Heat and Motion to the Air about it by the Operation of physical Laws, and exciteth thought and Emotion in the Man whom it reacheth through his Organs of Perception. Consider (even though it were but Legend) the Fall of the apple of Isaac Newton, its Effect upon the Spiritual Destinies of Man! Consider also that no Force cometh ever to the end of its work! The Air that is moved by my Breath is a Disturbance or Change of Equilibrium that cannot be fully compensated and brought to naught, thoug…
1961 · PDF PAGE 126
…is constant and undimmed, it may be that Clouds gathering about us conceal our Glory from he Vision of other Stars. These Clouds are our Thoughts; not hose true Thoughts which are but conscious Expressions of our Will, such as manifest in our Poesy, or our Music, or other Flower-Ray of our Life quintessential. Nay, the Cloud-Thought is born of Division and of Doubt; for all Thoughts, except hey be creative emanations, are Witnesses to Conflict within us. Our settled Relations with the Universe do not disturb our Minds, as, by Example, our autom…
1961 · PDF PAGE 81
…g itself a Way or Going, that is, a kinetic and not a static Conception. Also He taught this Way of Harmony in Will, which I myself have thought to show thee in this little book. So then this Tao is Truth, and the Way of Truth, and therefore was He Logos of His Æon, and His true Name or Word was Tao. i
1961 · PDF PAGE 79
…t or Will of his Period. So every Poet is also a Prophet, because when that which he sayeth is recognized as the Expression of their own Thought by Men, they translate this into Act, so that, in the Parlance of he Folk vulgar and ignorant, that which he foretold is come to pass. Now then the Poet is Interpreter of the Hieroglyphs of the Hidden Will of Man in many a matter, some light, some deep, as it may be given unto him to do. Moreover, it is not altogether in the Word of any Poem, but in the quintessential Flavour of the Poet, that thou m…
1961 · PDF PAGE 127
…h the Belief that their Utterance is holy and beautiful, glorious with Banners. This would indeed be the Case, an we could discern their Thought from their Words; but because they have no technical Skill to express hemselves, the do not enable others to reproduce or recreate he original Passion which inspired them, or even any Memory hereof. Understand then what is the Agony of the Great Soul who hath every Key of Paradise at his Girdle, when he would open the Gate of Holiness, or of Beauty, or any Virtue soever, o the Men of his Age! s
1961 · PDF PAGE 124
… Operation is commonly between One and One, so that the Interference of a Third Person is Impurity, and not to be endured. Nay, even the thought of Third Person hath but ordinary not Part in Love; so that, as thou seest constantly in thy Life, Love being strong, taketh no heed of others, and some after Interference bringeth Misfortune. Now then shell we therefore cast out Love, or accept Impurity herein? God forbid. And for this Cause see thou well to it hat in thy Kingdom there be no Interference there with, nor Hindrance from any. For it is p…