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Do
what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
MAGICK
IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
The Master
Therion
Aleister
Crowley
{Based on
the Castle Books edition of New York}
HYMN TO
PAN
epsilon-phi-rho-iota-xi
epsilon-rho-omega-tau-iota pi-epsilon-rho-iota-alpha-rhochi-
eta-sigma
delta alpha-nu-epsilon-pi-tau-omicron-mu-alpha-nu
iota-omega
iota-omega pi-alpha-nu pi-alpha-nu
omega
-pi-alpha-nu pi-alpha-nu alpha-lambda-iota-pi-lambda-alpha-gamma-chitau-
epsilon,
chi-upsilon-lambda-lambda-alpha-nu-iota-alpha-sigma chi-iotaomicron-
nu-omicron-chi-tau-upsilon-pi-omicron-iota
pi-epsilon-tau-rho-alpha-iota-alpha-sigma
alpha-pi-omicron delta-epsilon-iotarho-
alpha-delta-omicron-sigma
phi-alpha-nu-eta-theta, omega
theta-epsilon-omega-nu
chi-omicron-rho-omicron-pi-omicron-iota alpha-nualpha-
xi
SOPH. AJ.
Thrill
with lissome lust of the light,
O man! My
man!
Come
careering out of the night
Of Pan! Io
Pan!
Io Pan! Io
Pan! Come over the sea
From
Sicily and from Arcady!
Roaming as
Bacchus, with fauns and pards
And nymphs
and satyrs for thy guards,
On a
milk-white ass, come over the sea
To me, to
me,
Come with
Apollo in bridal dress
(Shepherdess
and pythoness)
Come with
Artemis, silken shod,
And wash
thy white thigh, beautiful God,
In the
moon of the woods, on the marble mount, The dimpled dawn of the amber fount!
Dip the
purple of passionate prayer
In the
crimson shrine, the scarlet snare,
The soul
that startles in eyes of blue {V}
To watch
thy wantonness weeping through
The
tangled grove, the gnarled bole
Of the
living tree that is spirit and soul
And body
and brain --- come over the sea,
(Io Pan!
Io Pan!)
Devil or
god, to me, to me,
My man! my
man!
Come with
trumpets sounding shrill
Over the
hill!
Come with
drums low muttering
From the
spring!
Come with
flute and come with pipe!
Am I not
ripe?
I, who
wait and writhe and wrestle
With air
that hath no boughs to nestle
My body,
weary of empty clasp,
Strong as
a lion and sharp as an asp ---
Come, O
come!
I am numb
With the
lonely lust of devildom.
Thrust the
sword through the galling fetter,
All-devourer,
all-begetter;
Give me
the sign of the Open Eye,
And the
token erect of thorny thigh,
And the
word of madness and mystery,
O Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io
Pan Pan! Pan Pan! Pan,
I am a
man:
Do as thou
wilt, as a great god can,
O Pan! Io Pan!
Io Pan! Io
Pan Pan! I am awake
in the
grip of the snake.
The eagle
slashes with beak and claw;
The
gods withdraw:
The great
beasts come, Io Pan! I am borne
To death
on the horn
Of the
Unicorn.
I am Pan!
Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! {VI}
I am thy
mate, I am thy man,
Goat of
thy flock, I am gold, I am god,
Flesh to
thy bone, flower to thy rod.
With hoofs
of steel I race on the rocks
Through
solstice stubborn to equinox.
And I
rave; and I rape and I rip and I rend
Everlasting,
world without end,
Mannikin,
maiden, Maenad, man,
In the
might of Pan.
Io
Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! Io Pan!
{VII}
{Illustration
on page VIII described:
This is
the set of photos originally published facing page 12 in EQUINOX I, 2 and
titled
there: “The Signs of the Grades.”
These are
arranged as ten panels: * * * *
*
*
*
*
*
*
In
this re-publication, the original half-tones have been redone as line copy. Each
panel
consists of an illustration of a single human in a black Tau robe, barefoot with
hood
completely closed over the face. The hood displays a six-pointed figure on
the
forehead --- presumably the radiant eye of Horus of the A.’. A.’., but the
rendition
is too poor in detail. There is a cross pendant over the heart. The ten
panels
are numbered in black in the lower left corner.
The
panels are identified by two columns of numbered captions, 1 to 6 to the left
and 7
to 10 to the right. The description is bottom to top and left to right:
“1.
Earth: the god Set fighting.” Frontal figure. Rt. foot pointed to the fore and
angled
slightly outward with weight on ball of foot. Lf. heel almost touching Rt. heel
and
foot pointed left. Arms form a diagonal with body, right above head and in line
with
left at waist height. Hands palmer and open with fingers outstretched and
together.
Head erect.
“2.
Air: The god Shu supporting the sky.” Frontal. Heels together and slightly
angled
apart to the front, flat on floor. Head down. Arms angled up on either side
of
head about head 1.5 ft. from head to wrist and crooked as if supporting a
ceiling
just
at head height with the finger tips. The palms face upward and the backs of
the
hands away from the head. Thumbs closed to side of palms. Fingers straight
and
together.
“3.
Water: the goddess Auramoth.” Same body and foot position as #2, but head
erect.
Arms are brought down over the chest so that the thumbs touch above the
heart
and the backs of the hands are to the front. The fingers meet below the heart,
forming between thumbs and fingers the descending triangle of water.
“4.
Fire: the goddess Thoum-aesh-neith.” Frontal. Head and body like #3. Arms
are
angled so that the thumbs meet in a line over the brow. Palmer side facing.
Fingers
meet above head, forming between thumbs and fingers the ascending
triangle
of fire.
“5,6.
Spirit: the rending and closing of the veil.” Head erect in both. #5 has the
same
body posture as #1, except that the left and right feet are countercharged and
flat
on the floor with the heels in contact. Arms and hands are crooked forward at
shoulder
level such that the hands appear to be clawing open a split veil --- hands
have
progressed to a point that the forearms are invisible, being directly pointed at
the
front. Lower arms are flat and horizontal in the plain of the image.
#6.
has the same body posture as #1, feet in same position as #5. The arms are
elbow
down against abdomen, with hands forward over heart in claws such that the
knuckles
are touching. Passing from #5 to #6 or vice versa is done by motion of
shoulders
and rotation of wrists. This is different from the other sign of opening the
veil,
the Sign of the Enterer, which is done with hands flat palm to palm and then
spread
without rotation of wrists.
“7-10.
The L V X signs.”
“7.
+ Osiris slain --- the cross.” Body and feet as in #2. Head bowed. Arms
directly
horizontal
from the shoulders in the plane of the image. Hands with fingers
together,
thumbs to side of palm and palmer side forward. The tau shape of the
robe
dominates the image.
“8.
L Isis mourning --- the Svastica.” The body is in semi-profile, head down
slightly
and
facing right of photograph. The arms, hands, legs and feet are positioned to
define
a swastika. Left foot flat, carrying weight and angled toward the right of the
photo.
Right foot toe down behind the figure to the left in the photo. Right upper
arm
due left in photo and forearm vertical with fingers closed and pointing upward.
Left
arm smoothly canted down to the right of the panel, with fingers closed and
pointed
down.
“9.
V Typhon --- the Trident.” Figure frontal and standing on tip toe, toes
forward
and
heels not touching. Head back. Arms angled in a “V” with the body to the top
and
outward in the plain of the photo. Fingers and thumbs as #7, but continuing
the
lines of the arms.
“10.
X Osiris risen --- the Pentagram.” Body and feet as in #7. Head directly
frontal
and
level. Arms crossed over heart, right over left with hands extended, fingers
closed
and thumb on side such that the palms rest on the two opposite shoulders.}
“Epsilon-sigma-sigma-epsilon-alpha-iota
alpha-theta-alpha-nu-alpha-tau-omicronsigma
theta-epsilon-omicron-sigma,
alpha-mu-beta-rho-omicron-tau-omicronsigma, omicron-upsilon-chi epsilon-tau-iota
theta-nu-eta-tau-omicron-sigma Pythagoras.
“Magic
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.”
“Wherever
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 favour 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 {IX} him. To neglect
these
rules, to break these laws in the smallest particular is to incur failure, and
may
even expose the unskilful 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 he top of an
exceeding
high mountain and shew him, beyond the dark clouds and rolling mists
at his
feet, a vision of the celestial city, far off, it may be, but radiant with
unearthly
splendour,
bathed in the light of dreams.”
Dr. J.
G. FRAZER, “The Golden Bough”.”
“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 the way
for
science, we are forced to admit that if the black art has done much evil, it has
also
been the source of much good; that if it is the child of error, it has yet been
the
mother of
freedom and truth.”
Ibid.
{X}
“Prove
all things; hold fast that which is good.”
St. Paul.
“Also
the mantras and 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 Theta-epsilon-lambda-eta-mu-alpha.”
LIBER
AL vel xxxi: The Book of the Law.
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.
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 {XI} 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”, “Spiritualism”, “Occultism”,
“Mysticism”, all involved undesirable connotations.
I
chose therefore the name.
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.
is the
Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity 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 acts so-seeming are not truly so. Thus,
breathing
is an act of the Will-to-Live.>>)
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.)
(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.) {XIII}
(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.
(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 through 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 career.)
(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.
{XIV}
(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 “vice 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 insists on his becoming a doctor. In
such a
case, he will be both unsuccessful and unhappy in medicine.) (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 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 this 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 adapt 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 continuity of Nature by the
empirical
application of certain {XV} 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 calculations involving mathematical ideas which have no
correspondence
in the Universe as we know it.<<For instance, “irrational”,
“unreal”,
and
“infinite” expressions.>>)
(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<<i.e.,
except
--- possibly --- in the case of logically absurd questions, such as the
Schoolmen
discussed in connection with “God”.>> to what he may be, or to what
he may
do.
(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
suprasensibles
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 Rontgen. As Tyndall said,
man
might at any moment learn to perceive and utilise 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 individuality 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 {XVI} 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 fellow, 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.)
(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 {XVII} 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, but
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 oppose 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.
(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 {XVIII} true man
of
science learns from every phenomenon. But Nature is dumb to the hypocrite; for
in her
there is nothing false.<<It is no objection that the hypocrite is himself
part of
Nature.
He is an “endothermic” product, divided against himself, 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 Swinburn 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 telegraphy was sterile
until
reflected through the minds and wills of the 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 {XIX} hands of
savages.
A poet, however sublime, must impose himself upon his generation if he
is to
enjoy (and even to 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 understanding 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.)
(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 that he acts or even thinks, since a
thought
is an internal act whose influence ultimately affects action, thought it may
not do
so at the time.
(Illustration:
The least gesture causes a change 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-preservation, 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 preformed injures, not {XX} 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 profession. 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 importance. 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 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 to 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 his 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 {XXI} 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
accepted
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 conduct 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.
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 {XXII} 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 it 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 is 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
neighbours
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,<<At
least, it allowed England to discover its intentions, and so to combine
the
world against it. {WEH NOTE: This footnote in Crowley’s text belongs to this
page,
but it is not marked in the text. I have assigned it this tentative point, as
following
the general context.>> 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.
The
sincere student will discover, behind the symbolic technicalities of his book, a
practical
method of making himself a {XXIII} Magician. The processes described
will
enable him to discriminate between what he actually is, and what he has fondly
imagined
himself to be<<Professor 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
his
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 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 environment, 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
{XXIV} 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.
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 of 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:
Tau-Omicron
Mu-Epsilon-Gamma-Alpha Theta-Eta-Rho-Iota-Omicron-Nu (Taw-
Resh-Yod-Vau-Nunfinal
): The Beast 666; MAGUS 9 Degree = 2Square A.’. A.’.
who is
The Word of the Aeon THELEMA; whose name is called V.V.V.V.V. 8