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Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999], at sacred-texts.com
THE BASICS OF MAGICK
I. Ethics
A. The Wiccan Rede
B. The Law or Return (sometimes called the "Threefold Law")
C. Perfect Love and Perfect Trust (among partners in magick)
II. The Witches' Pyramid
A. Faith in your abilities and powers.
B. Imagination to vividly create in your mind that which you desire
to manifest.
C. Will to achieve your goal despite all obstacles.
D. Secrecy to keep your magickal intention concentrated and pure.
III. The four Qualities of the Mage
A. To know
B. To will
C. To dare
D. To keep silence
IV. Preparatory Skills (hatha and raja yoga are good aids to developing
these)
A. Cleansing, clearing and stilling
B. Grounding
C. Centering
d. Concentrating ieving one-pointedness)
V. Defining the Goal: Form vs. Essence
VI. Working with the Power
A. Confining it (casting the Circle)
B. Raising it
C. Sending it (channeling it)... for immediate effect or into storage
D. Earthing the excess (grounding it)
VII. Systems and Techniques
A. Spellcraft
B. Words of Power and affirmations, charms and
incantations
C. Dance, postures and mudras
D. Meditation, trancework and hypnosis, fascination
E. Stone magick
F. Candle magick
G. Amulets and talismans; power objects or "psychic batteries"
H. Healing
1. Psychic (visualization, laying on of hands)
2. Herbal
3. Energy channeling iwht auras and chakras
4. Color therapy
5. Other systems listed above
817
I. Divination
1. Scrying
2. Astrology
3. Tarot
4. Runesticks
5. Lithomancy (casting the stones)
6. I Ching
7. Other systems
8. Pendulum or radiesthesia
J. Astral travel
K. Thought forms; wraiths, fetches, artificial elementals
L. Extra-sensory perception
1. Clairsentience
2. Clairvoyance
3. Clairaudience
4. Precognition
5. Telepathy
6. Telempathy
7. Psychometry
8. Telekinesis
9. Teleportation
M. Sympathetic magic (poppets and such)
N. Runes
O. Mediumship, necromancy, and spirit guides
P. Philtres and Poteins
Q. Cleansing, purification, protection and blessing; exorcism;
ligature, binding
R. Power animals, totems and familiars; shapeshifting
S. Tree magick
T. Dreamcraft
U. Ritual tool magick
V. Invocation, evocation and going into aspect
W. Symbols, sigils and images; Tattvic symbols; numerology
X. Conjuration or summoning; banishing or exorcism
Y. Commemoration or linking
Z. Past life regression or recall
AA. Pathworking on the Tree of Life
BB. Ceremonial magic
VIII. Timing
A. The lunar cycle
B. The Wheel of the Year
C. Astrological conjunctions
D. Planetary hours and days
E. Individual biorhythms
IX. Creating your own reality, following your True Will
Prepared by: Amber K
Our Lady of the Woods
818
"Magick is the Highest, most Absolute, and most Divine
Knowledge of Natural Philosophy; advanced in its works and
wonderful operations by a right understanding of the inward and
occult virtue of things; so that true Agents being applied to proper
Patients, strange and admirable effects will thereby be produced.
Whence magicians are profound and diligent searchers into
Nature; they, because of their skill, know how to anticipate an
effect, the which to the vulgar shall seem to be a miracle."
The Goetia of the Lemegeton of King Solomon.
*
"Whenever sympathetic magic occurs in its pure unadulterated
form, it is assumed that in nature one event follows another
necessarily and invariably without the intervention of any spiritual
or personal agency.
Thus its fundamental conception is identical with that of
modern science; underlying the whole system is a faith,
implicit but real and firm, in the order and uniformity of
nature. The magician does not doubt that the same causes will
always produce the same effects, that the performance of the
proper ceremony accompanied by the appropriate spell, will
inevitably be attended by the desired results, unless, indeed, his
incantations should chance to be thwarted and foiled by the more
potent charms of another sorcerer. He supplicates no higher
power: he sues the favor of no fickle and wayward being: he
abases himself before no awful deity. Yet his power, great as he
believes it to be, is by no means arbitrary and unlimited. He can
wield it only so long as he strictly conforms to the rules of his
art, or to what may be called the laws of nature as conceived by
him. To neglect these rules, to break these laws in the smallest
particular is to incur failure, and may even expose the unskillful
practitioner himself to the utmost peril. If he claims a sovereignty
over nature, it is a constitutional sovereignty rigorously limited in
its scope and exercised in exact conformity with ancient usage.
Thus the analogy between the magical and the scientific
conceptions of the world is close. In both of them the
succession of events is perfectly regular and certain, being
determined by immutable laws, the operation of which can
be foreseen and calculated precisely; the elements of caprice,
of chance, and of accident are banished from the course of nature.
Both of them open up a seemingly boundless vista of possibilities
to him who knows the causes of things and can touch the secret
springs that set in motion the vast and intricate mechanism of the
world. Hence the strong attraction which magic and science alike
have exercised on the human mind; hence the powerful stimulus
that both have given to the pursuit of knowledge. They lure the
weary enquirer, the footsore seeker, on through the wilderness of
disappointment in the present by their endless promises of the
future: they take him up to the top of an exceeding high mountain
and shew him, beyond the dark clouds and rolling mist at his feet,
a vision of the celestial city, far off, it may be, but radiant with
unearthly splendor, bathed in the light of dreams."
Dr. J. G. FRAZER, "The Golden Bough".
*
819
"So far, therefore, as the public profession of magic has
been one of the roads by which men have passed to supreme
power, it has contributed to emancipate mankind from the
thraldom of tradition and to elevate them into a larger, freer
life, with a broader outlook on the world. This is no small
service rendered to humanity. And when we remember
further that in another direction magic has paved ther way for
science, we are forced to admit that if the black arts has done much
evil, it has also been the source of much good; that if it is the
child of error, it has been the mother of freedom and
truth."
Ibid.
*
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good".
St. Paul.
*
"Also the mantras and the spells; the obeah and the wanga; the
work of the wand and the work of the sword: these he shall learn
and teach.
"He must teach; but he may make severe the ordeals.
"The word of the Law is THELEMA."
LIBER AL vel xxxi: The Book of the Law.
-----------
This book is for
ALL:
for every man, woman, and child.
My former work has been misunderstood, and its scope limited,
by my use of technical terms. It has attracted only too many
dilettanti and eccentrics, weaklings seeking in "Magic" an escape
from reality. I myself was first consciously drawn to the subject
in this way. And it has repelled only too many scientific and
practical minds, such as I most designed to influence.
But
MAGICK
is for
ALL.
I have written this book to help the Banker, the Pugilist, the
Biologist, the Poet, the Navvy, the Grocer, the Factory Girl, the
Mathematician, the Stenographer, the Golfer, the Wife, the
Consul--and all the rest--to fulfil themselves perfectly, each
in his or her own proper function.
820
Let me explain in a few words how it came about that I blazoned
the word
MAGICK
upon the Banner that I have borne before me all my life.
Before I touched my teens, I was already aware that I was The
Beast whose number is 666. I did not understand in the least
what that implied; it was a passionately ecstatic sense of identity.
In my third year at Cambridge, I devoted myself consciously to
the Great Work, understanding thereby the Work of becoming a
Spiritual Being, free from the constraints, accidents, and deceptions
of material existence.
I found myself at a loss for a name to designate my work, just
as H.P. Blavatsky some years earlier. "Theosophy", "Spiritua-
lism", "Occultism", "Mysticism", all involved undesirable con-
notations.
I chose therefore the name.
"MAGICK"
as essentially the most sublime, and actually the most discredited,
of all the available terms.
I swore to rehabilitate
MAGICK,
to identify it with my own career; and to compel mankind to
respect, love, and trust that which they scorned, hated and feared.
I have kept my Word.
But the time is now come for me to carry my banner into the
thick of the press of human life.
I must make
MAGICK
the essential factor in the life of
ALL.
In presenting this book to the world, I must then explain and
justify my position by formulating a definition of
MAGICK
and setting forth its main principles in such a way that
ALL
may understand instantly that their souls, their lives, in every
relation with every other human being and every circumstance,
depend upon
MAGICK
and the right comprehension and right application thereof.
821
I. DEFINITION.
MAGICK
is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in confor-
mity with Will.
( Illustration: It is my Will to inform the World of certain facts
within my knowledge. I therefore take "magical weapons", pen,
ink, and paper; I write "incantations" --these sentences-- in the
"magical language" i.e. that which is understood by the people I
wish to instruct; I call forth "spirits", such as printers, publishers,
booksellers, and so forth, and constrain them to convey my message
to those people. The composition and distribution of this book is
thus an act of
MAGICK
by which I cause Changes to take place in conformity with my
Will) *By "intentional" I mean "willed". But even unintentional act
so-seeming are not truly so. Thus, breathing is an act of the Will-
to-Live.*
II. POSTULATE.
ANY required Change may be effected by the application
of the proper kind and degree of Force in the proper
manner through the proper medium to the proper object.
( Illustration: I wish to prepare an ounce of Chloride of Gold.
I must take the right kind of acid, nitro-hydrochloric and no other,
in sufficient quantity and of adequate strength, and place it, in a
vessel which will not break, leak, or corrode, in such a manner as
will not produce undesirable results, with the necessary quantity
of Gold: and so forth. Every Change has its own conditions.
In the present state of our knowledge and power some changes
are not possible in practice; we cannot cause eclipses, for instance,
or transform lead into tin, or create men from mushrooms. But it
is theoretically possible to cause in any object any change of which
that object is capable by nature; and the conditions are covered by
the above postulate.)
III. THEOREMS.
(1) Every intentional act is a Magical Act. *In one sense Magick
may be defined as the name given to Science by the vulgar.*
(Illustration: See "Definition" above.)
(2) Every successful act has conformed to the postulate.
(3) Every failure proves that one or more requirements
of the postulate have not been fulfilled.
822
( Illustrations: There may be failure to understand the case; as
when a doctor makes a wrong diagnosis, and his treatment injures
his patient. There may be failure to apply the right kind of
force, as when a rustic tries to blow out an electric light. There
may be failure to apply the right degree of force, as when a
wrestler has his hold broken. There may be failure to apply the
force in the right manner, as when one presents a cheque at the
wrong window of the Bank. There may be failure to employ the
correct medium, as when Leonardo da Vinci found his masterpiece
fade away. The force may be applied to an unsuitable object, as
when one tries to crack a stone, thinking it a nut.)
(4) The first requisite for causing any change is
thorough qualitative and quantitative understanding of the
conditions.
(Illustration: The most common cause of failure in life is
ignorance of one's own True Will, or of the means by which to
fulfil that Will. A man may fancy himself a painter, and waste
his life trying to become one; or he may be really a painter, and
yet fail to understand and to measure the difficulties peculiar to
that carrier.)
(5) The second requisite of causing any change is the
practical ability to set in right motion the necessary forces.
(Illustration: A banker may have a perfect grasp of a given
situation, yet lack the quality of decision, or the assets, necessary
to take advantage of it.)
(6) "Every man and every woman is a star". That is to
say, every human being is intrinsically an independent individual
with his own proper character and proper motion.
(7) Every man and every woman has a course, depending
partly on the self, and partly on the environment which is
natural and necessary for each. Anyone who is forced from
his own course, either through not understanding himself,
or through external opposition, comes into conflict with the
order of the Universe, and suffers accordingly.
(Illustration: A man may think it his duty to act in a certain way,
through having made a fancy picture of himself, instead of
investigating his actual nature. For example, a woman may make
herself miserable for life by thinking that she prefers love to
social consideration, or visa versa. One woman may stay with an
unsympathetic husband when she would really be happy in an attic
with a lover, while another may fool herself into a romantic
elopement when her only true pleasures are those of presiding at
fashionable functions. Again, a boy's instinct may tell him to go
to sea, while his parents insist on his becoming a doctor. In such
a case, he will be both unsuccessful and unhappy in medicine.)
823
(8) A man whose conscious will is at odds with his True
Will is wasting his strength. He cannot hope to influence
his environment efficiently.
(Illustration: When Civil War rages in a nation, it is in no
condition to undertake the invasion of other countries. A man
with cancer employs his nourishment alike to his own use and to
that of the enemy which is a part of himself. He soon fails to resist
the pressure of his environment. In practical life, a man who is
doing what his conscience tells him to be wrong will do it very
clumsily. At first!)
(9) A man who is doing his True Will has the inertia of
the Universe to assist him.
(Illustration: The first principle of success in evolution is that
the individual should be true to his own nature, and at the same
time adaot himself to his environment.)
(10) Nature is a continuous phenomenon, though we
do not know in all cases how things are connected.
(Illustration: Human consciousness depends on the properties of
protoplasm, the existence of which depends on innumerable physical
conditions peculiar to this planet; and this planet is determined by
the mechanical balance of the whole universe of matter. We may
then say that our consciousness is causally connected with the
remotest galaxies; yet we do not know even how it arises from--
or with--the molecular changes in the brain.)
(11) Science enables us to take advantage of the contin-
uity of Nature by the empirical application of certain
principles whose interplay involves different orders of idea
connected with each other in a way beyond our present comprehension.
(Illustration: We are able to light cities by rule-of-thumb
methods. We do not know what consciousness is, or how it is
connected with muscular action; what electricity is or how it is
connected with the machines that generate it; and our methods
depend on calculation involving mathematical ideas which have
no correspondence in the Universe as we know it.) *For instance,
"irrational", "unreal", and "infinite" expressions.*
824
(12) Man is ignorant of the nature of his own being and
powers. Even his idea of his limitations is based on
experience of the past, and every step in his progress
extends his empire. There is therefore no reason to assign
theoretical limits to what he may be, or to what he may do.
*i.e., except--possibly--in the case of logically absurd questions,
such as the Schoolmen discussed in connection with "God".*
(Illustration: A generation ago it was supposed theoretically
impossible that man should ever know the chemical composition of
the fixed stars. It is known that our senses are adapted to receive
only an infinitesimal fraction of the possible rates of vibration.
Modern instruments have enabled us to detect some of these supra-
sensibles by indirect methods, and even to use their peculiar qualities
in the service of man, as in the case of the rays of Hertz and
Roentgen. As Tyndall said, man might at any moment learn to
perceive and utilize vibrations of all conceivable and inconceivable
kinds. The question of Magick is a question of discovering and
employing hitherto unknown forces in nature. We know that they
exist, and we cannot doubt the possibility of mental or physical
instruments capable of bringing us into relation with them.)
(13) Every man is more or less aware that his individu-
ality comprises several orders of existence, even when he
maintains that his subtler principles are merely symptomatic
of the changes in his gross vehicle. A similar order may be
assumed to extend throughout nature.
(Illustration: One does not confuse the pain of toothache with
the decay which causes it. Inanimate objects are sensitive to
certain physical forces, such as electrical and thermal conductivity;
but neither in us nor in them--so far as we know--is there any
direct conscious perception of these forces. Imperceptible influences
are therefore associated with all material phenomena; and there
is no reason why we should not work upon matter through those
subtle energies as we do through their material bases. In fact, we
use magnetic force to move iron, and solar radiation to reproduce
images.)
(14) Man is capable of being, and using, anything which
he perceives, for everything that he perceives is in a certain
sense a part of his being. He may thus subjugate the whole
Universe of which he is conscious to his individual Will.
(Illustration: Man has used the idea of God to dictate his
personal conduct, to obtain power over his fellows, to excuse his
crimes, and for innumerable other purposes, including that of
realizing himself as God. He has used the irrational and unreal
conceptions of mathematics to help him in the construction of
mechanical devices. He has used his moral force to influence the
actions even of wild animals. He has employed poetic genius for
political purposes.)
825
(15) Every force in the Universe is capable of being
transformed into any other kind of force by using suitable
means. There is thus an inexhaustible supply of any
particular kind of force that we may need.
(Illustration: Heat may be transformed into light and power by
using it to drive dynamos. The vibrations of the air may be used
to kill men by so ordering them in speech as to inflame war-like
passions. The hallucinations connected with the mysterious
energies of sex result in the perpetuation of the species.)
(16) The application of any given force affects all the
orders of being which exist in the object to which it is
applied, whichever of those orders is directly affected.
(Illustration: If I strike a man with a dagger, his consciousness,
not his body only, is affected by my act; although the dagger, as
such, has no direct relation therewith. Similarly, the power of
my thought may so work on the mind of another person as to
produce far-reaching physical changes in him, or in others through
him.)
(17) A man may learn to use any force so as to serve
any purpose, by taking advantage of the above theorems.
(Illustration: A man may use a razor to make himself vigilant
over his speech, by using it to cut himself whenever he unguardedly
utters a chosen word. He may serve the same purpose by resolving
that every incident of his life shall remind him of a particular thing,
making every impression the starting point of a connected series of
thoughts ending in that thing. He might also devote his whole
energies to some one particular object, by resolving to do nothing
at variance therewith, and to make every act turn to the advantage
of that object.)
(18) He may attract to himself any force of the Universe
by making himself a fit receptacle for it, establishing a
connection with it, and arranging conditions so that its
nature compels it to flow toward him.
(Illustration: If I want pure water to drink, I dig a well in a
place where there is underground water; I prevent it from leaking
away; and I arrange to take advantage of water's accordance with
the laws of Hydrostatics to fill it.)
(19) Man's sense of himself as separate from, and
opposed to, the Universe is a bar to his conducting its
currents. It insulates him.
(Illustration: A popular leader is most successful when he
forgets himself, and remembers only "The Cause". Self-seeking
engenders jealousies and schism. When the organs of the body
assert their presence otherwise than by silent satisfaction, it is a
sign that they are diseased. The single exception is the organ of
reproduction. Yet even in this case its self-assertion bears witness
to its dissatisfaction with itself, since it cannot fulfil its function
until completed by its counterpart in another organism.)
826
(20) Man can only attract and employ the forces for
which he is really fitted.
(Illustration: You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. A
true man of science learns from every phenomenon. But Nature
is dumb to the hypocrite; for in her ther is nothing false.)
*It is no objection that the hypocrite is himself a part of Nature. He
is an "endothermic" product, divided against itself, with a tendency to
break up. He will see his own qualities everywhere, and thus obtain a
radical misconception of phenomena. Most religions of the past have
failed by expecting Nature to conform with their ideals of proper
conduct.*
(21) There is no limit to the extent of the relations of
any man with the Universe in essence; for as soon as man
makes himself one with any idea the means of measurement
cease to exist. But his power to utilize that force is limited
by his mental power and capacity, and by the circumstances
of his human environment.
(Illustration: When a man falls in love, the whole world
becomes, to him, nothing but love boundless and immanent; but
his mystical state is not contagious; his fellow-men are either
amused or annoyed. He can only extend to others the effect which
his love has had upon himself by means of his mental and physical
qualities. Thus, Catullus, Dante and Swinburne made their love a
mighty mover of mankind by virtue of their power to put their
thoughts on the subject in musical and eloquent language. Again,
Cleopatra and other people in authority moulded the fortunes of
many other people by allowing love to influence their political
actions. The Magician, however well he succeed in making contact
with the secret sources of energy in nature, can only use them to the
extent permitted by his intellectual and moral qualities.
Mohammed's intercourse with Gabriel was only effective because
of his statesmanship, soldiership, and the sublimity of his command
of Arabic. Hertz's discovery of the rays which we now use for
wireless telepathy was sterile until reflected through the minds
and wills of people who could take his truth, and transmit it
to the world of action by means of mechanical and economic
instruments.)
(22) Every individual is essentially sufficient to himself.
But he is unsatisfactory to himself until he has established
himself in his right relation with the Universe.
(Illustration: A microscope, however perfect, is useless in the
hands of savages. A poet, however sublime, must impose himself
upon his generation if he is to enjoy (and even understand)
himself, as theoretically should be the case.)
(23) Magick is the Science of understanding oneself and
one's conditions. It is the Art of applying that under-
standing in action.
(Illustration: A golf club is intended to move a special ball in a
special way in special circumstances. A Niblick should rarely be
used on the tee, or a Brassie under the bank of a bunker. But
also, the use of any club demands skill and experience.)
827
(24) Every man has an indefeasible right to be what he is.
(Illustration: To insist that any one else shall comply with one's
own standards is to outrage, not only him, but oneself, since both
parties are equally born of necessity.)
(25) Every man must do Magick each time he acts or
even thinks, since a thought is an internal act whose
influence ultimately affects action, though it may not do
so at the time.
(Illustration: The least gesture causes in a man's own
body and in the air around him; it disturbs the balance of the
entire Universe, and its effects continue eternally throughout all
space. Every thought, however swiftly suppressed, has its effect
on the mind. It stands as one of the causes of every subsequent
thought, and tends to influence every subsequent action. A golfer
may lose a few yards on his drive, a few more with his second and
third, he may lie on the green six bare inches too far from the hole;
but the net result of these trifling mishaps is the difference of a
whole stroke, and so probably between halving and losing the
hole.)
(26) Every man has a right, the right of self-preserva-
tion, to fulfil himself to the utmost. *Men of "criminal nature" are
simply at issue with their True Wills. The murderer has the Will-to
-Live; and his will to murder is a false will at variance with his
true Will, since he risks death at the hands of Society by obeying
his criminal impulse*
(Illustration: A function imperfectly performed injures, not
only itself, but everything associated with it. If the heart is afraid
to beat for fear of disturbing the liver, the liver is starved for
blood, and avenges itself on the heart by upsetting digestion, which
disorders respiration, on which cardiac welfare depends.)
(27) Every man should make Magick the keynote of his
life. He should learn its laws and live by them.
(Illustration: The Banker should discover the real meaning of
his existence, the real motive which led him to choose that profes-
sion. He should understand banking as a necessary factor in the
economic existence of mankind, instead of as merely a business
whose objects are independent of the general welfare. He should
learn to distinguish false values from real, and to act not on
accidental fluctuations but on considerations of essential impor-
tance. Such a banker will prove himself superior to others; because
he will not be an individual limited by transitory things, but a
force of Nature, as impersonal, impartial and eternal as gravitation,
as patient and irresistible as the tides. His system will not be
subject to panic, any more than the law of Inverse Squares is
disturbed by Elections. He will not be anxious about his affairs
because they will not be his; and for that reason he will be able to
direct them with the calm, clear-headed confidence of an onlooker,
with intelligence unclouded by self-interest and power unimpaired
by passion.)
(28) Every man has a right to fulfil his own will without
828
being afraid that it may interfere with that of others; for
if he is in his proper place, it is the fault of others if they
interfere with him.
(Illustration: If a man like Napoleon were actually appointed
by destiny to control Europe, he should not be blamed for
exercising his rights. To oppose him would be an error. Any
one so doing would have made a mistake as to his own destiny,
except in so far as it might be necessary for him to learn the
lessons of defeat. The sun moves in space without interference.
The order of Nature provides an orbit for each star. A clash
proves that one or the other has strayed from its course. But as
to each man that keeps his true course, the more firmly he acts, the
less likely are others to get in his way. His example will help
them to find their own paths and pursue them. Every man that
becomes a Magician helps others to do likewise. The more firmly
and surely men move, and the more such action is excepted as the
standard of morality, the less will conflict and confusion hamper
humanity.)
----------
I hope that the above principles will demonstrate to
ALL
that their welfare, their very existence, is bound up in
MAGICK.
I trust that they will understand, not only the reasonableness, but
the necessity of the fundamental truth which I was the means of
giving to mankind:
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."
I trust that they will assert themselves as individually absolute, that
they will grasp the fact that it is their right to assert themselves, and
to accomplish the task for which their nature fits them. Yea, more,
that this is their duty, and that not only to themselves but to
others, a duty founded upon universal necessity, and not to be
shirked on account of any casual circumstances of the moment which
may seem to put such contact in the light of inconvenience or even
of cruelty.
I hope that the principles outlined above will help them to
understand this book, and prevent them from being deterred from
its study by the more or less technical language in which it is
written.
The essence of
MAGICK
is simple enough in all conscience. It is not otherwise with the art
of government. The Aim is simply prosperity; but the theory is
tangled, and the practice beset with briars.
829
In the same way
MAGICK
is merely to be and to do. I should add: "to suffer". For Magick
is the verb; and it is part of the Training to use the passive voice.
This is, however, a matter of Initiation rather than of Magick in
its ordinary sense. It is not my fault if being is baffling, and doing
desperate!
Yet, once the above principles are firmly fixed in the mind, it is
easy enough to sum up the situation very shortly. One must
find out for oneself, and make sure beyond doubt, WHO one is, WHAT
one is, WHY one is. This done, one may put the Will which is
implicit in the "Why" into words, or rather into One Word. Being
thus conscious of the proper course to pursue, the next thing is to
understand the conditions necessary to following it out. After
that, one must eliminate from oneself every element alien or
hostile to success, and develop those parts of oneself which are
specially needed to control the aforesaid conditions.
Let us make an analogy. A nation must become aware of its
own character before it can be said to exist. From that knowledge
it must divine its destiny. It must then consider the political
conditions of the world; how other countries may help it or hinder
it. It must then destroy in itself any elements discordant with its
destiny. Lastly, it must develop in itself those qualities which will
enable it to combat successfully the external conditions which
threaten to oppose its purpose. We have had a recent example in
the case of the young German Empire, which, knowing itself and
its will, disciplined and trained itself so that it conquered the
neighbors which had oppressed it for so many centuries. But
after 1866 and 1870, 1914! It mistook itself for superhuman, it
willed a thing impossible, it failed to eliminate its own internal
jealousies, it failed to understand the conditions of victory, it did
not train itself to hold the sea, and thus, having violated every
principle of
MAGICK,
it was pulled down and broken into pieces by provincialism and
democracy, so that neither individual excellence nor civic virtue
has yet availed to raise it again to that majestic unity which made
so bold a bid for the mastery of the race of man.*At least it allowed
England to discover its intentions, and so to combine the world against
it.*
830
The sincere student will discover, behind the symbolic techni-
calities of this book, a practical method of making himself a
Magician. The processes described will enable him to discriminate
between what he actually is, and what he has fondly imagined
himself to be. *Professeur Sigmund Freud and his school have, in recent
years, discovered a part of this body of Truth, which has been taught
for many centuries in the Sanctuaries of Initiation. But failure to
grasp the fullness of Truth, especially that implied in my Sixth
Theorem (above) and its corollaries, has led him and his followers into
the error of admitting that the avowedly suicidal "Censor" is the proper
arbiter of conduct. Official psycho-analysis is therefore committed to
upholding a fraud, although the foundation of the science was the
observation of the disastrous effects on the individual of being false
to his Unconscious Self, whose "writing on the wall" in dream language
is the record of the sum of the essential tendencies of the true nature
of the individual. The result has been that psycho-analysts have
misinterpreted life, and announced the absurdity that every human being
is essentially an anti-social, criminal, and insane animal. It is
evident that the errors of the Unconscious of which the psycho-analysts
complain are neither more nor less than the "original sin" of the
theologians whom they despise so heartily.* He must behold his soul in
all its awful nakedness, he must not fear to look on that appalling
actuality. He must discard the gaudy garments with which shame has
screened him; he must accept the fact that nothing can make him
anything but what he is. He may lie to himself, drug himself,
hide himself; but he is always there. Magick will teach him that
his mind is playing him a traitor. It is as if a man were told that
tailors' fashion-plates were the canon of human beauty, so
that he tried to make himself formless and featureless like them,
and shuddered with horror at the idea of Holbein making a portrait
of him. Magick will show him the beauty and majesty of the self
which he has tried to suppress and disguise.
Having discovered his identity, he will soon perceive his purpose.
Another process will show him how to make that purpose pure
and powerful. He may then learn how to estimate his environ-
ment, learn how to make allies, how to make himself prevail against
all powers whose error has caused them to wander across his path.
In the course of this Training, he will learn to explore the
Hidden-Mysteries of Nature, and to develop new senses and
faculties in himself, whereby he may communicate with, and
control, Beings and Forces pertaining to orders of existence which
have been hitherto inaccessible to profane research, and available
only to that unscientific and empirical
MAGICK
(of tradition) which I came to destroy in order that I might fulfil.
831
I send this book into the world that every man and woman may
take hold of life in the proper manner. It does not matter if
one's present house of flesh be the hut of a shepherd; by virtue
of my
MAGICK
he shall be such a shepherd as David was. If it be the studio of a
sculptor, he shall so chisel from himself the marble that masks his
idea that he shall be no less a master than Rodin.
Witness mine hand:
TO MEGA THERION (in Greek) (zayin, vav, yod, resh tav): The Beast 666;
MAGUS 9=2 A.'. A.'. who is The Word of the Aeon THELEMA;
whose name is called V.V.V.V.V. 8=3 A.'. A.'. in the City of
the Pyramids; OU MH 7=4; OL SONUF VAORESAGI 6=5, and ..... ..... 5=6
A.'. A.'. in the Mountain of Abeignus: but FRATER PERDUABO in the Outer
Order or the A.'. A.'. and in the World of men upon the Earth, Alleister
Crowley of Trinity College, Cambridge.
832