161 Digamma iota DE FRATRIBUS NIGRIS. O my Son, know this concerning the Black Brothers, t

161 {Digamma }{iota } DE FRATRIBUS NIGRIS.

O my Son, know this concerning the Black Brothers, that
cry: I am I.  This is Falsity and Delusion, for the Law
endureth not Exception.  So then these Brethern are not apart,
as they vainly think being wrought by Error; but are peculiar
Combinations of Nature in Her Variety.  Rejoice then even in
the Contemplation of these, for they are proper to Perfection,
and Adornments of Beauty, like a Mole upon the Cheek of a
Woman.  Shall I then say that were it of thine own Nature,
even thine, to compose so sinister a Complex, thou shouldst
not strive therewith, destroying it by Love, but continue in
that Way?  I deny not this hastily, nor affirm; nay, shall I
even utter a Hint of that which I may foresee?  For it is in
mine own Nature to think that in this Matter the Sum of Wisdom
is Silence.  But this I say, and that boldly, that thou shalt
not look upon this Horror with Fear, or with Hate, but accept
all this as thou dost all else, as a Phenomenon of Change,
that is, of Love.  For in a swift Stream thou mayst behold a
Twig held steady for a while by the Play of the Water, and by
this Analogue thou mayst understand the Nature of this Mystery
of the Path of Perfection.


162 {Digamma }{kappa } DE ARTE ALCHEMISTICA.

Wilt thou acquaint thyself now further at my Reproof
concerning this Arcanum of Alchymia, the Art Egyptian, how to
make Gold?  Of a Surety this is already in thy Knowledge, if
thou examine by Our Holy Qabalah, what be the Forces that are
the Influx upon Tiphereth, which is the Harmony and Beauty, or
Sol, in every Kingdom of the Universe, so then also among
Metals.  Now this Influx is Fivefold.  First, from the Crown
descendeth the High Priestess in the Path of the Moon, for
Inspiration, and Imagination, and Idea: see to it that this
Virgin be Pure, for herein Error is Illusion.  Next, from the
Father floweth the Power of the Emperor in the Path of the
Ram, for Initiative, and Energy, and Determination.  Third,
from the Mother are the Lovers in the Path of the Twins, for
Intellectual Wholeness, and for Adjustment to Environment.
These Three are from these Supernals and complete the 
Theorick of thy Work.  After this, in the Praxis and 
Executive thereof thou hast the Hermit as an Influence from 
the Sphere of Jupiter in the Path of the Virgin, for Secrecy, 
and for Concentration, and for Prudence.  Lastly, from the 
Sphere of Mars, travelleth Justice in the Path of the Balance, 
for good Judgment, and Tact, and Art.  O my Son, in this Chapter 
is more wisdom than in Ten Thousand Folios of the Alchemists!
   
Study therefore to acquire Skill in this Method, and
Experience; for this Gold is not only of the Metals, but of
every Sphere, and this Key is of virtue to enter every Palace
of Perfection.


163 {Digamma }{lambda } DE FEMINA: QUAE EST PROPRIA JOCO.

O my Son, hear this Wisdom of Experience, how at thy first
Sight, when I put thee into the Arms of Ahitha, thy sweet
Stepmother my concubine, such was thy Beauty that she became
enamoured of thee, crying aloud; Ay me, an such he the Fruit
of thy Magick, o my Master, then let me, me also, even me,
give myself utterly to this Holy Art!  Then did I, becoming
heavy in Spirit, make Question of her, saying: To what End?
And at this was she confounded and brought into Bewilderment;
but after a great While, fumbling in her Mind, made Answer,
like a Scarecrow in a Field, so was it for Rags and Tatters of
Thought.  Thus yet more Atrabilious and Sluggard was this
Liver of thy Father, so that I fell into a Gloom night unto
Weeping.  Then she beholding me with Amazement cried upon me
thus: Art thou not glad in Heart, o my Master?  At this I gave
a Sigh even as one night unto Death.  And She: if this be so,
then is no need anymore for me to give myself to Magick.
Thereat, perceiving yet again the Just Universal of Our Lord
Pan, was I swallowed up (like unto Jonah of the Old Fable) in
the Belly of the Whale called Laughter, and it seemeth to me
at this present Writing that I am like to abide therein for
the Time that remaineth to me in this Body.


164 {Digamma }{mu } DE FORMULA FEMINAE.

Now this is the right Power and Property of a Woman, to
arrange and to adjust all Things that exist in their proper
Sphere, but not to create or to transcend.  Therefore in all
practical Matters is she of Might and of Wit to produce an
Effect consonant with her Mood.  And her Symbol is Water, that
seeketh the Level, whether for Wrath, eating away the
Mountains (yet even in this making smooth the Plains)  or for
Love, in Fecundity of Earth.  But it is the Fire of Man that
hath heaved up those Mountains, in huge Turmoil.  Man them
maketh Mischief and Trouble by his Violence, be his Will
convenient to His Environment, or antipathetic; but Woman
disturbeth by Manipulation, adroit or sinister as her Mood may
be of Order or of Disorder.  For any Man to meddle in her
Affair is Folly, for he comprehendeth not Quiet; so also for
her to emulate him in his Office is Fatuity.  Therefore in
Magick though a Woman excel all men in every Quality that is
profitable for her for Attainment, yet she is Naught in that
Work, even as a Man without Hands in the Shop of a Carpenter;
for She hath not the Organism that might make Use of this
Opportunity.  Of all this is she aware by her Instinct, for
her Nature is to Understand, even without Knowledge; and if
thou doubt herin the Wisdom of thy Sire, do thou seek out a
Woman (but with Precaution) and affirm these my Words.  So
shall she wax woundily wrath, and look grisly upon thee,
proclaiming in a shrill Voice her manifold Excellences, which
she hath, and concern the Matter not a Whit.


165 {Digamma }{nu } VERBA MAGISTRI SUI DE FEMINA.

Of a Thousand Years it is nigh unto the Fiftieth Part, o my
Son, since I obtained Favour in the Light of a great Master of
the Truth, whom Men call Allan Bennett, so that he received me
for his Disciple in Magick.  And he was instant with me in
this Matter, and vehement, adjuring his Gods that this (which
I have myself here above declared unto thee) was the Truth
concerning the Nature of Woman.  But I being but a Youth, and
Headstrong, and being enraptured in Love of Women, and
Admiration of Them, and Worship, delighting in them eagerly,
and learning constantly from them, nourished by the Milk of
their Mystery, as it should be for all true Men, did resist
angrily the Doctrine of that most holy Man of God.  And
because, (as it was written) he was a vowed Virgin from his
Birth, and had no Commerce with any in the Way of Carnality, I
disabled his Judgment herein, as if he, being a Fish, had
disallowed the Flight of Birds.  But I, o my Son, am not
wholly ignorant of Women, save as all Mem must be in the
Limitation of their Nature, for the Number of my Concubines is
not notably or shamefully exceeded by that of the Phases of
the Moon since my Birth.  Many also have been my Disciples in
Magick that were Women; and (more also) I do owe,
acknowledging the same with open Gladness, the greater Part of
mine own Initiation and Advancement to the Operation of Women.
Notwithstanding all these Things, I bow humbly before Allan
Bennett, and repent mine Insolence, for his Saying was Sooth.


166 {Digamma }{xi } DE VIA PROPRIA FEMINIS.

It is indeed easy for a Woman to obtain the Experience of
Magick, in a certain Sort, as Visions, Trances, and the like;
yet they take not Hold upon Her, to transform Her, as with
Men, but pass only as Images upon a Speculum.  So then a Woman
advanceth never in Magick, but remaineth the same, rightly or
wrongly ordered according to the Force that moveth Her.  Here
therefore is the Limit of Her Aspiration in Magick, to abide
joyous and obedient beneath the Man that her Instinct shall
divine so that by Habit becoming a Temple well-ordered, comely
and consecrated, she may in her next Incarnation attract by
her Fitness a Man-soul.  For this Cause hath Man esteemed
Constancy and Patience as Qualities preeminent in Good women,
because by these she gaineth her Going toward Our Godliness.
Her Ordeal therefore is principally to resist Moods, which
make Disorder, that is of Choronzon.  Also, let her be content
in this Way, for verily she hath a noble and an excellent
Portion in Our Holy Banquet, and escapeth many a Peril that is
proper to us others.  Only, be she in Awe and Wariness, for in
her is no Principle of Resistance to Choronzon, so that if she
become disordered in her Moods, as by Lust, or by Drunkenness,
or by Idleness, she hath no Standard whereunto she may rally
her Forces.  In this see thou her Need of a well-guarded Life,
and of a True Man for her God.


167 {Digamma }{omicron } DE HAC RE ALTERA INTELLIGENDA.

Mark then, o my Son, how in the Ancient Books of Magick it
is Man that selleth his Soul unto the Devil, but Woman that
maketh Pact with him.  For she hath constantly the Wit and
Power to arrange Things at his Bidding, and she payeth this
Price of his Alliance.  But a Man hath one Jewel, and,
bartering this, he becometh the Mockery of Satanas.  Let then
this tutor thee in thine own Art of Magick, that thou employ
Women in all Practical Matters, to order them with Cunning,
but Men in thy Need of Transfiguration or Transmutation.  In a
Trope, let the Woman direct the Chess-Play of Life, but the
Man alter the Rules, if he so will.  Lo! in ill Play is
Mischief and Disorder, but in a New Law is Earthquake, and
Destruction of the Root of Things.  Therefore is Fear of any
Man that is in Commerce with his Genius, for none knoweth if
his Law shall amend the Game or do it Hurt; and of this the
Proof is in Experience, won after the Victory of his Will,
when there is no Way of Return; as saith the Poet, Vestigia
Nulla Retrorsum.  Nor do thou fear to create: for, even as I
have written in "The Book of Lies (falsely so-called)", thou
canst create nothing that is not God.  But beware of false
Creations wrought by Women in whom is no Function thereof; for
they are Phantoms, poisonous Vapours, bred of the Moon in her
Witchcraft of Blood.


168 {Digamma }{pi } DE VIIS MORTIS ET DIABOLI, ARCANIS
TOU TAROT FRATERNITATIS R{.'.} C{.'.}

It shall profit thee much, o my Son, or I err, that I
instruct thee in the Mysteries of the Paths of Nun and of
Ayin, that in our rota are figured in the Atu called Death,
and that called the Devil.  Of these Nun joineth the Sun with
Venus, and is referred to Scorpio in the Zodiac.  This Path is
perilous, for it seeketh the Level, and may abase thee, except
thou take Head unto the Going.  Of its three Modes, the
Scorpio destroyeth himself, as if it were a Type of animal
Pleasure.  Next, the Serpent is proper to Works of Change, or
Magick; yet is he poisonous also unless thou hast Wit to
enchant him.  Lastly the Eagle is subtlest in this Sort, so
that this Path is proper to a Transcendental Labour.  Yet all
these are in the Way of Death, so that thy Wand is dissolved
and corroded in the Waters of the Cup, and must be renewed by
Virtue of thy Nature in its Course.  For Fire is extinguished
by Water; but upon Earth it burneth freely, and is inflamed by
the Wind.  Understand also that which is written concerning
the Vesica, that it is the Mother, giving Ease, Sleep, and
Death, which Consolations are eschewed by the True Man or
Hero.


169 {Digamma }{koppa } SEQUITUR DE HIS VIIS.

Now the Path of Ayin is a Link between Mercury and the Sun,
and in the Zodiac importeth the Goat.  This Goat is called
also Strength, and standeth in the Meridian at the Sunrise of
Spring; and it is His Nature to leap upon the Mountains.  So
therefore he is a Symbol of true Magick, and his Name is
Baphomet, wherefore did I design him as an Atu of Thoth, the
Fifteenth, and put his Image in the Front of my Book, the
"Ritual of High Magick", which was the second Part of my Thesis
for the Grade of Major Adept, when I was clothed about with
the Body called Alphonse Louis Constant.  Now the Goat flieth
not as doth the Eagle; but consider this also that it is the
true Nature of Man to dwell upon the Earth, so that his
Flights are oft but Phantasy; yea, the Eagle also is bound to
his Eyrie, nor feedeth upon Air.  Therefore this goat, making
each leap with Fervour, yet all Times secure in his own
Element, is a true Hieroglyph of the Magician.  Mark also,
this Path sheweth One continuous in Exaltation upon a Throne,
and so is it the Formula of the Man, as the other was of the
Woman.


170 {Digamma }{rho } DE OCULO HOOR.

I say furthermore that this Path is of the Circle, and of
the Eye of Horus that sleepeth not, but is vigilant.  The
Circle is all-perfect, equal every Way, but the Vesica hath
bitter Need, and seeketh thy Medicine, that is of right
compounded for High Purpose, to ease her Infirmity.  Thus is
thy Will frustrated, and thy Mind distracted, and thy Work
lamed, if it be not brought to Naught.  Also thy Puissance in
thine Art isminished, by a full Moiety, as I do esteem it.
But the Eye of Horus hath no Need, and is free in his Will,
not seeking a Level, or requiring a Medicine, and is fit and
worthy to be the Companion and the Ally of thee in thy Work,
as a Friend to thee, not Mistress and not Slave, that seek
ever with Slyness and Deceit to encompass their own Ends.
There is moreover a Reason in Physics for my Word; study thou
this matter in the Laws of the Changes of Nature.  For Things
Unlike do in their Marriage produce a Child which is
relatively Stable, and resisteth Change; but Things like
increase mutually the Potential of their particular Natures.
Howbeit, each Path hath his own Use; and thou, being
instructed in all Ways, choose thine with Discretion.


170 {Digamma }{sigma } DE SUA INITIATIONE.
      
My son, my Delight, Honey of the Comb of my Life, I will
say also this concerning the Odds of the Formulae of Male and
Female, that mine Initiation was ordered as followeth.  First,
unto the Middle of the Way, the Attainment of the Knowledge
and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, were these Men
appointed to mine Aid, Jerome Politt of Kendal, Cecil Jones of
Basingstoke, Allan Bennett of the Border, and Oscar Exkenstein
of the Mountain with no Woman.  But after that Attainment hath
Word come to me only through Women, Ouarda the Seer, and
Virakam, and in mine Initiation into the Degree of Magus, the
Cat '{Iota }{Lambda }{Alpha }{Rho }{Iota }{Omega }{Nu } thy 
Mother, Helen the Play Actress the Serpent, with Myriamme the 
Drunkard, and Rita the Harlot to bear Dagger and Poison; then 
these others Alice the Singing Woman for an Owl; then 
Catherine the Dog of Anubis, and Ahitha the Camel that renewed 
the Work of Virakam, with Ollun the Dragon and --- but here I 
do restrict myself in Speech, for the End is wrapped about 
with a Veil, as the Face of a Virgin.  But do thou meditate 
strictly upon these Things, distinguishing the right Property, 
Order, and Use of the Other and the other in the Relative, 
even as thou makest them All-One, that is None, in the 
Absolute.


171 {Digamma }{tau } DE HERBO SANCTISSIMO ARABICO.

Recall, o my Son, the Fable of the Hebrews, which they
brought from the City Babylon, how Nebuchadnezzar the Great
King, being afflicted in his Spirit, did depart from among Men
for Seven Years' Space, eating Grass as doth an Ox.  Now this
Ox is the Letter Aleph, and is that Atu of Thoth whose Number
is Zero, and whose name is Maat, Truth, or Maut, the Vulture,
the All-Mother, being an Image of Our Lady Nuith, but also it
is called the Fool, who is Parsifal, "der reine Thor", and so
referreth to him that walketh in the Way of the Tao.  Also, he
is Harpocrates, the Child Horus, walking, (as saith David, the
Badavi that became King in his Psalms) upon the Lion and the
Dragon; that is, he is in Unity with his own secret Nature, as
I have shewn thee in my Word concerning the Sphinx.  O my Son,
yester Eve came the Spirit upon me that I also should eat the
Grass of the Arabs, and by Virtue of the Bewitchment thereof
behold that which might be appointed for the Enlightenment of
mine Eyes.  Now then of this may I not speak, seeing that it
involveth the Mystery of the Transcending of Time, so that in
One Hour of our terrestrial Measure did I gather the Harvest
of an Aeon, and in Ten Lives I could no declare it.


172 {Digamma }{upsilon } DE QUIBUSDAM MYSTERIIS, QUAE VIDI.

Yet even as a Man may set up a Memorial or Symbol to import
Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand, so may I strive to inform
thine Understanding by Hieroglyph.  And here shall thine own
Experience serve us, because a Token of Remembrance sufficeth
him that is familiar with a Matter, which to him that knoweth
it not should not be made manifest, no, not in a Year of
Instruction.  Here first then is one amid the uncounted
Wonders of that Vision; upon a field blacker and richer than
Velvet was the Sun of all Being, alone.  Then about Him were
little Crosses, Greek, over-running the Heaven.  These changed
from Form to Form geometrical, Marvel devouring Marvel, a
Thousand Times a Thousand in their Course and Sequence, until
by their Movement was the Universe churned into the
Quintessence of Light.  Moreover at another Time did I behold
All Things as Bubbles, iridescent and luminous, self-shining
in every Colour, Myriad pursuing Myriad until by their
perpetual Beauty they exhausted the Virtue of my Mind to
receive them, and whelmed it, so that I was fain to withdraw
myself from the Burden of that Brilliance.  Yet, o my Son, the
Sun of all this amounteth not to the Worth of one Dawn-Glimmer
of Our True Vision of Holiness.


173  {Digamma }{phi } DE QUORUM MODO MEDITATIONES.

Now for the Chief of that which was granted unto me, it was
the Apprehension of those willed Changes or Transmutations of
the Mind which lead into Truth, being as Ladders unto Heaven,
or so I called them at that Time, seeking for a Phrase to
admonish the Scribe that attended on my Words, to grave a
Balustre upon the Stele of of my Working.  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 Subtilty.  Now therefore
must I make by my Will a Concentration mighty and terrible of
my Thought, that I may bring forth this Mystery in Expression.
For this Method is of Virtue and Profit, by it mayst thou come
easily and with Delight to the Perfection of Truth, it is no
Odds from what Thought thou makest the first Leap in thy
Meditation, so hat thou mayst know how every Road endeth in
Monsalvat, and the Temple of the Sangreal.


174 {Digamma }{chi } SEQUITUR DE HAC RE.

I believe generally, on Ground both of Theory and
Experience, so little as I have, that a Man must first be
initiate, and established in Our Law, before he may use this
Method.  For in it is an Implication of our Secret
Enlightenment, concerning the Universe, how its Nature is
utterly Perfection.  Now every Thought is a Separation, and
the Medicine of that is to marry Each One with its
Contradiction, as I have shewed formerly in many Writings.
And thou shalt clap the one to the other with Vehemence of
Spirit, swiftly as Light itself, that the Ecstasy be
spontaneous.  So therefore it is Expedient that thou have
travelled already in this Path of Antithesis, knowing
perfectly the Answer to every Griph or Problem, and thy Mind
ready therewith.  For by the Property of this Grass all
passeth with Speed incalculable of Wit, and an Hesitation
should confound thee, breaking down thy ladder, and throwing
back thy Mind to receive Impression from Environment, as at
thy first beginning.  Verily; the nature of this Method is
Solution, and the Destruction of every Complexity by Explosion
of Ecstasy, as every Element thereof is fulfilled by its
Correlative, and is annihilated (since it loseth separate
Existence) in the Orgasm that is consummated within the Bed of
thy Mind.


175 {Digamma }{psi } SEQUITUR DE HAC RE.

Thou 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 formulate the true Contradiction of 
any Thought as a positive Idea, but only as a Formal Negation in 
vague Terms, so that the ready Answer is but the Antithesis.  
Thus to "White" one putteth not the Phrase "all that which is 
not white", for this is void, formless, neither clear, simple, 
nor positive in conception; but one answereth "Black", for this 
hath an Image of his Significance.  So the Cohesion of 
Antitheticals destroyeth them only in Part, and one becometh 
instantly conscious of the Residue that is unsatisfied or 
unbalanced, whose Eidolon leapeth in thy Mind with Splendour and 
Joy unspeakable.  Let not this deceive thee, for its Existence
proveth its Imperfection, and thou must call forth its Mate,
and destroy them by Love, as with the former.  This Method is
continuous and proceedeth ever from the Gross to the Fine, and
from the Particular to the General, dissolving all Things into
the One Substance of Light.


176 {Digamma }{omega } CONCLUSIO DE HAC MODO SANCTITATIS.

Lean now that Impression of Sense have Opposites readily
conceived, as long to short, or light to dark; and so with
Emotions and Perceptions, as Love to Hate, or false to true;
but the more violent is the Antagonism, the more is it bound
in Illusion, determined by Relation.  Thus the Word "Long"
hath no Meaning save it be referred to a Standard; but Love is
not thus obscure, because Hate is its Twin, partaking
bountifully of a Common Nature therewith.  Now, hear this; it
was given unto me in my Visions of the Aethyrs, when I was in
the Wilderness of Sahara, by Tolga, that above the Abyss,
contradiction is Unity, and that Nothing could be true save by
Virtue of the Contradiction that is contained in itself.
Behold, therefore, in this method thou shalt come presently to
Ideas of this Order, that include in themselves their own
Contradiction, and have no Antithesis.  Here then is thy Lever
of Antinomy broken in thine Hand; yet, being in true Balance,
thou mayst soar, passionate and eager, from Heaven to Heaven,
by the Expansion of thine Idea, and its Exaltation, of
Concentration as thou understandest by thy Studies in "The Book
of the Law", the Word thereof concerning Our Lady Nuith and
Hadith that is the Core of every Star.  And this last Going
upon thy Ladder is easy, if thou be truly Initiate, for the
Momentum of thy Force in Transcendental Antithesis serveth to
propel thee, and the Emancipation from the Fetters of Thought
that thou hast won in that Praxis of Art maketh the Whirlpool
and Gravitation of Truth of Competence to Draw thee unto
itself.


177 {Gamma }{alpha } DE VIA SOLA SOLIS.

This is the Profit of mine Intoxication of this Holy Herb,
the Grass of the Arab, that it has shewed me this Mystery
(with many others) not as a new Light, for I had that
aforetime, but by its swift Synthesis and Manifestation of a
Long Sequence of Events in a Moment, I had Wit to analyse this
Method, and to discover its Essential Law, which before had
escaped the Focus of the Lens of mine Understanding.  Yea, o
my Son, there is no true Path of Light, save that which I have
formerly made plain; yet in every Path is Profit, if thou be
cunning to perceive it and to clasp it.  For we win Truth
often times by Reflection or by the Composition and Selection
of an Artist in his Presentation thereof, when else we were
blind thereunto; lacking his Mode of Light.  Yet were that Art
of none avail unless we had already the Root of that Truth in
our Nature, and a Bud ready to flower at the Summoning of that
Sun.  In Witness, nor a Boy nor a Stone hath Knowledge of the
Sections of a Cone, and their Properties; but thou mayst teach
these to the Boy by right Presentation, because he hath in his
Nature those laws of Mind that are consonant with our Art
Mathematical, and hath Need only of the Fledging (I may say
this) so that he apply them consciously to the Work, when all
being in Truth, that is, in the necessary Relations that rule
our Illusion, he cometh in Course to Apprehension.


178 {Delta }{beta } DE PRUDENTIA ORDINIS A{.'.} A{.'.}

Here then o my Son, that shall be mightier than all the
Kings of the Earth, as it is prophesied, ---an thou be He---
because thou shalt establish the Law which I have given, even
the Law of Thelema, here in this which I have written is a
Point of Judgment in they Work to bring into the Light of
Initiation such as come unto thee, affirming their Will to
this Attainment.  For every One hath his own Path and his own
Law, and there is no Art in Magick but to seek out that Path
and that Law, that he may pursue the one by the right Used of
the Other.  It shall be that one cometh unto thee, desiring
Amen-Ra (I speak in a Figure or Exemplar) another Asi, a third
Hoor-Pa-Kraat; or again, one seeketh Instruction in Obeah, and
his Fellow in Wanga; and of all these not one in Ten Thousand
shall be aware of his true Way.  For albeit our last step is
one for all, yet his next stem is particular to each.

Therefore is the Preparation of a Student that seeketh Our
Holy Order of A{.'.} A{.'.} most general, informing his Mind of
all known Methods, so that his Will may select among these by
Instinct: then after, as a Probationer, he practiseth those
which he hath preferred, and by the Examination of his Record
after the Period appointed thou mayst have Wisdom concerning
him, to confirm him in those Ways which are shewed thereby to
be germane to his True Nature.


179 {Gamma }{gamma } ALTERA DE SUA VIA.

Thus I was brought unto the Knowledge of myself in a
certain secret Grace, and as a Poet, by Jerome Politt of
Kendal; Oscar Eckenstein of the Mountain discovered Manhood in
me, teaching me to endure Hardship, and to dare many Shapes of
Death; also he nurtured me in Concentration, the Art of the
Mystics, but without Lumber of Theology.  Allan Bennett
bestowed upon me the right Art of Magic, and Our Holy Qabalah,
with a great Treasure of Learning in many Matters, but
especially concerning Egypt, and Asia, the Mysteries of their
Arcane Wisdom.  But of Cecil Jones had I the Great Gift of the
Holy Magick of Abramelin, and he inducted me into that Order
which we name not, because of the Silliness of the Profane
that pretend thereto, and he brought me to the Knowledge and
conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel; also, he was the
Herald of the Masters of the Temple when They bade me welcome
to their Order, appointing a Siege for me in the City of the
Pyramids, under the Night of Pan; but for three Years I was
not willing to avail myself thereof.  Now mark well this, o my
Son, that this Path was peculiar to the law of my Star, and
none other should follow me herein, or seek to follow me, for
he hath his own proper Orbit.  O my Son, err not by
Generalisation and Conformity, for this is the very Idleness,
and breedeth Ideals and Standards that are Death.


180 {Gamma }{delta } DE PRUDENTIA ARTIS DOCENDI.

Nevertheless, this one Affliction shall touch nigh all that
come to thee, and that is this great Pox of Sin, that is our
Bane inherited of the Aeon of Slain Gods.  Look the first of
all, when any Postulant boweth before thee, whether there be
not Conflict and Restriction in his Mind, and in his Will.  If
he deem Good and Evil to be absolute, instead of as relative
to the Health of this Body, or the Weal of the Society of
which he is a Member, or what not, as it may be, instruct him.
Or, if he will say that he will sacrifice all for Initiation,
correct him, as it is written: "but whoso gives one Particle
of Dust shall lose all in that Hour."  For it is Conflict if
he weigh one Thing with another; and Renunciation, being
sorrowful, is not worthy of Acceptance.  But he must with Joy
unite all he is and hath, heaping the Whole into one Billow of
Love, under Will.  Yea, o my son, until thou hast brought the
Postulant into our Freedom from Sin, and the Sense and
Conviction thereof, he is not ready for the Path of our Magick
and Illumination; because every Way soever is a Going, and
this Sin is an obstacle and a Fetter and an Hoodwink on every
one of them, for it is Restriction, whether he set out by the
Meditations of the Dhamma, or by Our Qabalah, or by Vision or