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Page 1 of 21913 · PDF PAGE 23
CHAPTER II THE CIRCLE THE Circle announces the Nature of the Great Work. Though the Magician has been Umited in his choice of room, he is more or less able to choose what part of the room he will work in. He will consider convenience and possibility. His circle should not be too small and cramp his movements; it should not be so large that he has long distances to traverse. Once the circle is made and consecrated, the Magician must not leave it, or even lean outside, lest he be de- stroyed by the hostile forces that are without. He chooses a ci…
1913 · PDF PAGE 24
… the illustration. The Tau and the circle together make one form of the Rosy Cross, the uniting of subject and object which is the Great Work, and which is symbolized sometimes as this cross and circle, sometimes as the Lingam-Yoni, sometimes as the Ankh or Crux Ansata, sometimes by the Spire and Nave of a church or temple, and sometimes as a marriage feast, mystic marriage, spiritual marriage, "chymical nuptials," and in a hundred other ways. Whatever the form chosen, it is the symbol of the Great Work. This place of his working therefore decl…
1913 · PDF PAGE 31
CHAPTER III THE ALTAR THE Altar represents the solid basis of the work, the fixed Wiir of the Magician; and the law under which he works. Within this altar everything is kept, since everything is subject to law. Except the Lamp. According to some authorities the Altar should be made of oak to re- present the stubbornness and rigidity of law; others would make it of Acacia, for Acacia is the symbol of resurrection. The Altar is a double cube, which is a rough way of symbolizing the Great Work; for the doubling of the cube, Hke the squaring of th…
1913 · PDF PAGE 177
…s the absolute destruction alike of the Magician and the Universe. 'I'hc Thurible stands upon a small altar. "My'altar is of open brass- work; burn thereon in silver or gold." This altar stands in the East, as if to symbolize the identity of Hope and Annihilation. This brass con- tains the metals of Jupiter and ^'cnus fused in a homogeneous alloy. This is then symbolical of divine love, and it is " open brass work ' because this love is not limited in direction or extent; it is not par- ticularized, it is universal. Upon this altar stands the C…
1913 · PDF PAGE 45
CHAPTER V THE HOLY OIL THE Holy Oil is the Aspiration of the Magician; it is that which consecrates him to the performance of the Great Work; and such is its efficacy that it also consecrates all the furniture of the Temple and the instruments thereof. It is also the grace or chrism ; for this aspiration is not ambition ; it is a quality bestowed from above. For this reason the Magician will anoint first the top of his head before proceeding to consecrate the lower centres in their turn. This oil is of a pure golden colour; and when placed upon…
1913 · PDF PAGE 5
A NOTE THIS book is intentionally not the work of Frater Perdurabo. Ex- perience shows that his writing is too concentrated, too abstruse, too occult, for ordinary minds to apprehend. It is thought that this record of disjointed fragments of his casual conversation may prove alike more intelligible and more convincing, and at least provide a pre- liminary study which will enable the student to attack his real work from a standpoint of some little general knowledge and understanding of his ideas, and of the form in which he figures them. Part II…
1913 · PDF PAGE 6
…h was obscure to me was cleared up in some new discourse (the discourses have consequently been re-arranged). Before printing, the whole work was read by several persons of rather less that average intelligence, and any point not quite clear even to them has been elucidated. May the whole Path now be plain to all ! Frater Perdurabo is the most honest of all the great religious teachers. Others have said : "Believe me!" He says: "Z>^;z'/ believe me!" He does not ask for followers; would despise and refuse them. He wants an independent and self-r…
1913 · PDF PAGE 26
…ames of God form a further protection. The Magician may consider what names he will use; but each name should in some way symbolise this Work in its method and accomplishment. It is impos- sible here to enter into this subject fully; the discovery or construction of suitable names might occupy the most learned Qabalist for many years. These nine lamps were originally candles made of human fat, the fat of enemies^ slain by the Magician; they thus served as warnings to any hostile force of what might be expected if it caused trouble. To-day such …
1913 · PDF PAGE 172
i6o which we wish to evoke is nothing partial, but whole, we shall have but a single symbol to combine the two. The Great Work will then form the subject of the design.^ In this Lamen the Magician must place the secret keys of his power. The Pentacle is merely the material to be worked upon, gathered to- gether and harmonized but not yet in operation, the parts of the engine arranged for use, or even put together, but not yet set in motion. In the Lamen these forces are already at work; even accomplishment is prefigured. In the system of Abrame…
1913 · PDF PAGE 27
…spira- tion to the Higher. They are placed outside the Circle to attract the hostile forces, to give them the first inkling of the Great Work, which they too must some day perform.
1913 · PDF PAGE 129
… is by a magical transformation of the Pantacle. Just as we made the Sword symbolical of everything by the force of our Magick, so do we work upon the Pantacle. That which is merely a piece of common bread shall be the body of God ! The Wand was the will of man, his wisdom, his word ; the Cup was his understanding, the vehicle of grace; the Sword was his reason; and the Pantacle shall be his body, the temple of the Holy Ghost. What is the length of this Temple? 117
1913 · PDF PAGE 151
CHAPTER XI THE CROWN THE Crown of the Magician represents the Attainment of his Work. It is a band of pure gold, on the front of which stand three pentagrams, and on the back a hexagram. The central pentagram contains a diamond or a great opal; the other three symbols contain the Tau. Around this Crown is twined the golden Uraeus serpent, with erect head and expanded hood. Under the Crown is a crimson cap of maintenance, which falls to the shoulders. Instead of this, the Ateph Crown of Thoth is sometimes worn; for Thoth is the God of Truth, of …
1913 · PDF PAGE 80
68 It is by the Understanding of the Magus that his work is purified. Binah, moreover, is the Moon, and the bowl of this cup is shaped Hke the moon. This moon is the path of Gimel through which the influence from the Crown descends upon the Sun of Tiphereth. And this is based upon the pyramid of fire which symboHzes the aspiration of the student. In Hindu symbohsm the Amrita or " dew of immortahty " ^ drips constantly upon a man, but is burnt up by the gross fire of his appetites. Yogis attempt to catch and so preserve this dew by turning back …
1913 · PDF PAGE 153
… the Godhead of the Magician, whose unmani- fested side is peace and silence, of which there is no symbol. In the Hindu system the Great Work is represented by saying that this serpent, which is normally coiled at the base of the spine, rises with her hood over the head of the Yogi, there to unite with the Lord of all. The serpent is also he who poisons. It is that force which destroys the manifested Universe. This is also the emerald snake which encircles the Universe. This matter must be studied in Liber LXV, where this is discussed incompara…
1913 · PDF PAGE 190
… See " The Training of the Mind,'"' Equinox V, and " The Temple of Solomon,'' Equinox VIII. Also "Science and Buddhism,"' Crowley, Coll. Works, Vol. II. Saiikha-ra. See " Science and Buddhism." Sauna. See "Science and Buddhism." SepJiiroth. See " Temple of Solomon," Equinox W Shi?i. "A tooth." Hebrew letter = Sh, corresponds to Fire and Spirit. Shkui Sanliita. A Hindu treatise on physical training for spiritual ends. Skandhas. See " Science and Buddhism.'' Tao. See Konx Om Pax, " Thien Tao," jyj, etc. Tao Teh King. Chinese Classic on the Tao. T…
1913 · PDF PAGE 194
…book. Liber LXV. The principal point of this grade is that the Probationer has a master appointed, whose experience can guide him in his work. He may select any practices that he prefers, but in any case must keep an exact record, so that he may discover the relation of cause and effect in his working, and so that the A.*. A.\ may judge of his progress, and direct his further studies. After a year of probation he may be admitted a Neophyte of the A.". A.'., and receive the secret holy book Liber VIL These are the principal instructions for prac…
1913 · PDF PAGE 58
…rk is very diffi- cult. Levi recommends that at times the Magical Will itself should be cut off, on the same principle as one can always work better after a " com- plete change." Levi is doubtless right, but he must be understood as saying this " for the hardness of men's hearts." The turbine is more efficient than a reciprocating engine ; and his counsel is only good for the beginner. Ultimately the Magical Will so identifies itself with the man's whole being that it becomes unconscious, and is as constant a force as gravitation. One may even …
1913 · PDF PAGE 147
…or in Divine. It is the Lost Word, the dying music of whose sevenfold echo is I A O and A U M. Without this Light the Magician could not work at all; yet few indeed are the Magicians that have known of it, and far fewer They that have beheld its bril- liance! The Temple and all that is in it must be destroyed again and again before it is worthy to receive that Light. Hence it so often seems that the only advice that any master can give to any pupil is to destroy the Temple. Whatever yoi/ have and whate^^er you are are veils before that Light. Y…
1913 · PDF PAGE 179
… is the arrow that cleaves the rainbow. This arrow is "Temperance" in the Taro; it is a life equally balanced and direct which makes our work possible; yet this life itself must be sacrificed! In the burning up of these things arise in our imagination those terrifying or alluring phantasms which throng the " Astral Plane." This smoke represents the " Astral Plane," which lies between the ( . j ' Note that there are two arrows: the Divine shot downward, the human upward. I The former is the Oil, the latter the Incense, or rather the finest pari …
1913 · PDF PAGE 133
…nsciousness is also sometimes represented; and the Tree of Life itself may be figured therein, or the categories. An emblem of the Great Work should be added. But the Pantacle will be im- perfect unless each idea is contrasted in a balanced manner with its opposite, and unless there is a necessary connection between each pair of ideas and every other pair. The Neophyte will perhaps do well to make the first sketches for his Pantacle very large and complex, subsequently simplifying, not so much by exclusion as by combination, just as a Zoologist…