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Page 1 of 21913 · PDF PAGE 70
…y thought that may arise. In conversation always disagree. See the other man's arguments; but, however much your judgment approves them, find the answer. Let this be done dispassionately; the more convinced you are that a certain point of view is right, the more determined you should be to find proofs that it is wrong. If you have done this thoroughly, these points of view will cease to trouble you ; you can then assert your own point of view with the calm of a master, which is more convincing than the enthusiasm of a learner.
1913 · PDF PAGE 135
…ll that we are from mind results; on mind is founded, built of mind; Who acts or speaks with righteous thought him happiness doth surely find. So failing not the shadow falls for ever in its place assigned. The Pantacle is then in a sense identical with the Karma or Kamma of the Magician. The Karma of a man is his /edge?: The balance has not been struck, and lie does not know what it is; he does not even fully know what debts he may have to pay, or what is owed him; nor does he know on what dates even those payments which he anticipates may fal…
1913 · PDF PAGE 86
74 And so we find once more that the Ego-idea must be ruthlessly rooted out before Understanding can be attained. There is an apparent contradiction between this attitude and that of the Master of the Temple. What can possibly be more selfish than this interpretation of everything as the dealing of God with the soul? But it is God who is all and not any part; and every "deaHng" must thus be an expansion of the soul, a destruction of its separateness. Every ray of the sun expands the flower. The surface of the water in the Magick Cup is infinite…
1913 · PDF PAGE 19
CHAPTER I THE TEMPLE THE Temple represents the external Universe. The Magician must take it as he finds it, so that it is of no par- ticular shape; yet we find written, Liber VII, vi, 2: "We made us a Temple of stones in the shape of the Universe, even as thou didst wear openly and I concealed." This shape is the Vesica Piscis; but it is only the greatest of the Magicians who can thus fashion the Temple. There may, however, be some choice of rooms; this refers to the power of the Magician to reincarnate in a suitable body.
1913 · PDF PAGE 95
83 Little Bo Peep, She lost her sheep, And couldn't tell where to find them. Leave them alone ! And they'll come home, Dragi:ring their tails behind them. " Bo " is the root meaning Light, from which spring such words as Bo-tree, Bodhisattva, and Buddha. And " Peep " is Apep, the serpent Apophis. This poem therefore contains the same symbol as that in the Egyptian and Hebrew Bibles. The snake is the serpent of initiation, as the Lamb is the Saviour. This ancient one, the Wisdom of Eternity, sits in its old anguish awaiting the Redeemer. And thi…
1913 · PDF PAGE 138
…at too much salmon we get indigestion and perhaps nightmare. It is silly to suppose that a time will come when a salmon will eat us, and find us disagree. On the other hand we are always being terribly punished for actions that are not faults at all. Even our virtues rouse insulted nature to revenge. Karma only grows by what it feeds on: and if Karma is to be properly brought up, it requires a very careful diet. With the majority of people their actions cancel each other out; no sooner is effort made than it is counterbalanced by idleness. Eros…
1913 · PDF PAGE 93
…as dictated in answer to a casual remark by Soror Virakam. Fra. P. said jokingly that everything contained the Truth, if you knew how to find it; and, being challenged, proceeded to make good. It is here inserted, not for any value that it may have, but to test the reader. If it is thought to be a joke, the reader is one useless kind of fool ; if it is thought that Fra. P. believes that the makers of the rimes had any occult intention, he is another useless kind of fool. Soror Virakam chose the rimes at hazard.
1913 · PDF PAGE 117
…o it will be almost impossible. So says the Dhammapada: Me he abused, and me he beat, he robbed me, he insuhed me: In whom such thoughts find harbourage, hatred will never cease to be. And this hatred is the thought which inhibits the love whose apothe- osis is Samadhi.
1913 · PDF PAGE 69
…rse to pursue. But it certainly seems easier to strip off first the things which can easily be done without. The majority of people will find most trouble with the Emotions, and thoughts which excite them. But it is both possible and necessary not merely to suppress the emotions, but to turn them into faithful servants. Thus the emotion of anger is occasionally useful against that portion of the brain whose slackness vitiates the control. If there is one emotion which is never useful, it is pride : for this reason, that it is bound up entirely …
1913 · PDF PAGE 101
… which is written: " Oh my God, disguise thy glory I Come as a thief, and let us steal away the sacraments ! " In the following verse we find that Taffy is " in bed," owing to the operation of the sacrament. The great task of the Alchemist has been accomplished; the mercury is fixed. One can then take the Holy Dagger, and separate the Caput Mortuum from the Elixir. Some Alchemists believe that the beef represents that
1913 · PDF PAGE 158
…hich 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…
1913 · PDF PAGE 132
…most in any subject is its links with some other subject, so that his Pantacle may not lack what painters call " com- position." He will find that, however good his memory may be, ten thousand impressions enter his mind for every one that it is able to retain even for a day. And the excellence of a memory lies in the wisdom of its selection. The best memories so select and judge that practically
1913 · PDF PAGE 14
…tely natural. All religions have devised practices for this purpose. If you keep on praying with your lips long enough, you will one day find yourself pray- ing in your heart. The whole question has been threshed out and organized
1913 · PDF PAGE 112
…licker. "The wind bloweth where it listeth." The normal man is less than a straw. ^ ' But as it is said, Shnilia similibus curanttir, we find this Ruach also the symbol of the Spirit. RVCh ALHIM, the Spirit of God, is 300, the number of the holy letter Shin. As this is the breath, which by its nature is double, the two edges of the
1913 · PDF PAGE 131
…h he may console himself philo- sophically with the reflection that the Universe is conterminous with such experience as he has, he will find it grow at such a pace during the'early years of his life that he may almost be tempted to believe in the possibility of experiences beyond his own, and from a practical standpoint he will seem to be confronted with so many avenues of knowledge that he will be bewildered which to choose.
1913 · PDF PAGE 55
… be remembered that as the whole essence of the will is its one-pointedness,^ a dilemma of this sort is the worst in which the Magus can find himself. Another great point in this consideration of Magick Vows is to keep them in their proper place. They must be taken for a clearly defined purpose, a clearly understood purpose, and they must never be allowed to go beyond it. It is a virtue in a diabetic not to eat sugar, but only in reference to his own condition. It is not a virtue of universal import. Elijah said on one occasion: "I do well to b…
1913 · PDF PAGE 32
…ach Magician should work out his own system of symbolism —and he need not confine himself to cosmic measurements. He might, for example, find some relation to express the law of inverse squares. The top of the Altar shall be covered with gold, and on this gold should be engraved some such figure as the Holy Oblation, or the New Jerusalem, or, if he have the skill, the Microcosm of Vitruvius, of which we give illustrations. On the sides of the Altar are also sometimes drawn the great tablets
1913 · PDF PAGE 57
…pluck up the weeds, but the flower itself needs tending. Having crushed all volitions in ourselves, and if necessary in others, which we find opposing our real Will, that Will itself will grow naturally with greater freedom. But it is not only necessary to purify the temple itself and consecrate it; invocations must be made. Hence it is neces- sary to be constantly doing things of a positive, not merely of a negative- nature, to affirm that Will.
1913 · PDF PAGE 65
…I use this slug?" And in this course he must persist. Though many things useless, so far as he can see, are sent to him, one day he will find the one thing he needs, while his Understanding will appreciate the fact that none of those other things were useless. So with these early practices of renunciation it will now be clearly understood that they were but of temporary use. They were only of value as training. The adept will laugh over his early absurdities —the disproportions will have been harmonized; and the structure of his soul will be se…
1913 · PDF PAGE 114
I02 bringing it into harmony and proportion you will find the hidden stone, the same stone of the philosophers of which mention has already been made, which turns all into gold. This oil which can eat into the steel, is further that which is written. Liber LXV, i, i6: "As an acid eats into steel ... so am I unto the Spirit of Man." Note how closely woven into itself is all this symbolism ! The centre of Ruach being the heart, it is seen that this Sword of the Ruach must be thrust by the Magician into his own heart. But there is a subsequent tas…