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Page 1 of 11913 · PDF PAGE 80
…the gross fire of his appetites. Yogis attempt to catch and so preserve this dew by turning back the tongue in the mouth. Concerning the water in this Cup, it may be said that just as the wand should be perfectly rigid, the ideal solid, so should the water be the ideal fluid. The Wand is erect, and must extend to Infinity. The surface of the water is flat, and must extend to Infinity. One is the line, the other the plane. But as the Wand is weak without breadth, so is the water false with- out depth. The Understanding of the Magus must include …
1913 · PDF PAGE 119
…ad the observer infallibly to err. This though they be not sufficiently excited to disturb his mind. Plunge one hand into a basin of hot water, the other into a basin of cold water, then both together into a basin of tepid water; the one hand will say hot, the other cold. Even in instruments themselves, their physical qualities, such as ex- pansion and contraction (which may be called, in a way, the roots of pleasure and pain), cause error. Make a thermometer, and the glass is so excited by the necessary fusion that year by year, for thirty yea…
1913 · PDF PAGE 87
…he refractive index, and break up the light. Even consciousness itself is that which distinguishes between the lower and the higher, the waters which are below the firmament from the waters which are above the firmament, that appalling stage in the great curse of creation. Since at the best this water ' is but a reflection, how tremendously important it becomes that it should be still ! If the cup is shaken the light will be broken up. Therefore the Cup is placed upon the Altar, which is foursquare, will multiplied by will, the confirmation of …
1913 · PDF PAGE 88
76 It is easy to see when water is muddy, and easy to get rid of the mud; but there are many impurities which defy everything but distillation and even some which must be fractionated unto 70 times 7. There is, however, a universal solvent and harmonizer, a certain dew which is so pure that a single drop ot it cast into the water of the Cup will for the time being bring all to perfection. This dew is called Love. Even as in the case of human love, the whole Universe appears perfect to the man who is under its control, so is it, and much more, w…
1913 · PDF PAGE 86
…g" 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; there is no point different from any other point. ^ Thus, ultimately, as the wand is a binding and a limitation, so is the Cup an expansion —into the Infinite. And this is the danger of the Cup; it must necessarily be open to all, and yet if anything is put into it which is out of proportion, unbalanced, or impure, it takes hurt. And here again we find difficulty with our t…
1913 · PDF PAGE 39
… other ways. But Sulphur represents the energy of things, Mercury their fluidity, Salt their fixity. They are analogous to Fire, Air and Water; but they mean rather more, for they represent something deeper and subtler, and yet more truly active. An almost exact analogy is given by the three Gunas of the Hindus; Sattvas, Rajas, and Tamas. Sattvas is Mercury, equable, calm, clear; Rajas is Sulphur, active, excitable, even fierce; Tamas is Salt, thick, sluggish, heavy, dark.^ But Hindu philosophy is so occupied with the main idea that only the Ab…
1913 · PDF PAGE 130
…s not included in this pantacle, though it be but " eight inches in diameter, and in thickness half an inch." Fire is not matter at all; water is a combination of elements; air almost entirely a mixture of elements; earth contains all both in admixture and in combination. So must it be with this Pantacle, the symbol of earth. And as this Pantacle is made of pure wax, do not forget that "every- thing that lives is holy." All phenomena are sacraments. Every fact, and even every falsehood, must enter into the Pantacle; it is the great storehouse f…
1913 · PDF PAGE 84
… profane, fearing it, should succeed in breaking it; the Cup lest, wishing to touch it, they should defile it. Yet the sprinkling of its water not only purifies the Temple, but blesseth them that are without : freely must it be poured ! But let no one know your real purpose, and let no one know the secret of your strength. Remember Samson ! Remember Guy Fawkes ! Of the methods of increasing Understanding those of the Holy Qabalah are perhaps the best, provided that the intellect is thoroughly awake to their absurdity, and never allows itself to…
1913 · PDF PAGE 60
…hievement in itself. The boy who prides himself on his school knowledge is in danger of becoming a college professor. So the Guru of the water-walking Hindu only meant that it was now time to be dissatisfied with what he had done — and to employ his powers to some better end. And, incidentally, since the divine Will is one, it will be found that
1913 · PDF PAGE 59
…xternal resistance more easily. In a steamboat the engine must first overcome its own inertia before it can attack the resistance of the water. When the will has thus ceased to be intermittent, it becomes neces- sary to consider its size. Gravitation gives an acceleration of thirty-two feet per second on this planet, on the moon very much less. And a Will, however single and however constant, may still be of no particular use, because the circumstances which oppose it may be altogether too strong, or because it is for some reason unable to get …
1913 · PDF PAGE 109
…is attributed to air, all-wandering, all-pene- trating, but unstable; not a phenomenon subtle like fire, not a chemical combination like water, but a mixture of gases.' The Sword, necessary as it is to the Beginner, is but a crude weapon. ' The Oxygen in the air would be too fierce for life ; it must be largely diluted with the inert nitrogen. The rational mind supports life, but about seventy-nine per cent, of it not only refuses itself to enter into combination, but prevents the remaining twenty-one per cent, from doing so. Enthusiasms are ch…
1913 · PDF PAGE 79
…e Cup of Purification; as Zoroaster says: '*So therefore first the priest who governeth the works of fire must sprinkle with the lustral water of the loud-resounding sea." It is the sea that purifies the world. And the " Great Sea " is in the Qabalah a name of Binah, " Understanding." stands in the Circle, and the spirit in the Triangle; so the Magician is in the Triangle with respect to his own God. ' An ugly form. A better is given in the illustration. ^ These " principles" are seen by the pupil when first he succeeds in stilling his mind. Th…