book into creeds and symbols for the instruction of

the feeble and ignorant. When you speak to such
as are like children, speak as to children. Do not
sell the secrets of wisdom, and do not divulge them
to pander to curiosity.

A man should form his opinions in freedom, and
thus he may resemble the ideal of divinity. Cast
not the pearls of mystic science before those of low
and evil mind who have no knowledge, those whom
the Testament calls swine. To such persons, whether
you speak the truth, or veil the truth, there is but
misunderstanding ; deception haunts them, they esti-
mate all things by a faulty conscience. You may
dazzle them by the glancing of the sword, but do not
let them approach the wand or clavicule. If you
wish to have no need to fear an evil person, make
him fear you. B^emember the conduct of Moses
before Pharaoh. Do not put faith in the benevo-
lence of a priest of idols, nor in the sincerity of a
pretender to wisdom, for these men will hate you
as a destroyer of their livelihood and domination.
Keep a steady watch against being placed in danger
by accepting the caresses of a woman ; remember
how Samson was decoyed by Delilah. Do not be
familiar with any woman when alone with her, or
in the dark; remember Orpheus and Eurydice.

JUSTICE 35

Make yourself beloved of women, that they be made
happier; but never love any woman so much that
you cannot be happy without her. As to the beings
of the elements, the love which they have for a
Magus immortalises them, whether Sylphs, Gnomes,
Undines, or fiery Salamandrines, but the love of such
beings by a Magus is insensate and may destroy him.
Be ever intelligent and just to such elemental beings,
and you will be rewarded with happiness because of
your good actions.

Notes.

The Eighth Tarot Trump, named Justice, represents
a seated female figure robed and crowned, holding a
sword in the right hand and a pair of scales in the
left hand. L6vi gives as its meaning the equilibrium
of attraction and repulsion. P. Christian gives
similar meanings, adding in the Physical World it
refers to Human Justice, which is always fallible
and tinctured with personal motives or personal
emotions.

IX

THE HERMIT-UERMITE

When the adept has provided himself with the
Magical Sword and Wand, he yet needs a Magical
Lamp whose beams will chase away all the phantoms
of darkness. (The Lamp is figured at p. 103 of the
Rituel of Eliphaz L6vi, but does not quite correspond
to the description here given.) Four metals should
enter into its composition : gold, silver, brass, iron.
The foot of iron, the knot of brass, the reservoir of
silver, and a golden triangle above this, and erect in
the middle ; from each side springs an arm composed
of three tubes of gold, silver, and brass, twisted
together ; there are nine wick burners, three on
each side arm, and three above the triangle over
the reservoir; upon the iron foot is engraved an
Hermetic triangle, with the symbols of Mercury
above, Sol and Luna below ; around the rim of the
semiglobular base is fixed a brazen serpent ; and above

the globular part, between it and the brazen knot,

36

THE HERMIT 37

there should be an androgyne figure with male and
female heads, whose arms are stretched over the
globe. Engrave diverse forms on the brass knot;
and upon the silver cup must be placed the Hexa-
gram with the letters of the Tetragrammaton in its
centre. Upon the golden triangle above engrave a
God surrounded by rays, as a symbol of the fecundity
of the infinite and eternal. On each side of the
reservoir for oil, ^js. a ring, and hang chains to these
rings — one of silver, one of iron ; by these chains the
lamp may be suspended, or carried by the magician.
The wicks for the burners should be of new linen
threads, but dyed, the three on the right blue, the
three on the left red, and the three middle wicks gold
coloured.

The Lamp should be lit from a consecrated fire,
but the greatest effect arises when the Lamp burns
without wicks and without oil ; lighted only by the
Lux of the Universal Fluidic Agent, or by one of the
material elementals of Water.

The light of this Magical Lamp should work
marvels, it should illuminate the consciences of men
and women so that you may read them, and should
enable you to recognise each type of spiritual being.
The magician should not attempt any serious cere-
monial until he has grasped the Wand, and illumined

3S THE MAGICAL RITUAL

the Lamp; just as in common life, if you want to
walk safely in the dark, you must carry a candle and
try the ground before you with a staff.

Notes.

The Tarot Trump numbered 9 is named the
Hermit. It represents an aged man enveloped in a
mantle leaning on a staff, and carrying a lantern.
The allotted meanings are wisdom, goodness, and
morality, according to Eliphaz Levi in his Rituel,

P. Christian writes : "In the Divine World the
meaning is absolute wisdom; in the Intellectual
World, prudence; and in the Physical World, cir-
cumspection, the proper guide of human actions.'*

The Magical Lamp is figured by L6vi in his Rituel
at p. 103.

THE MAGICAL SWORD

THE WHEEL OF EZEKIEL,

X

THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE-^LA ROUE DE
FORTUNE

The Wheel of Ezekiel is the type on which all the
Pantacles of the Higher Magic are designed.

When the adept is in the blessed possession of a full
knowledge of the powers of the Seal of Solomon, and
of the virtues of the Wheel of Ezekiel, which is indeed
correspondent, in its entire symbolism^ with that of
Pythagoras, he has sufficient experience to design talis-
mans and pantacles for any special magical purpose.

The Wheel of Ezekiel contains the solution of the
problem of the quadrature of the circle, and demon-
strates the correspondences between words and figures,
letters and emblems; it exhibits the tetragram of
characters analogous to that of the elements and
elemental forms. It is a glyph of perpetual motion.
The triple ternary is shown ; the central point is the
first Unity; three circles are added, each with four
attributions, and the dodekad is thus seen. The
state of universal equilibrium is suggested by the

39

40 THE MAGICAL RITUAL

counterpoised emblems, and the pairs of symbols.
The flying Eagle balances the man ; the roaring Lion
counterpoises the laborious Bull.

Kether, the Crown; Tiphereth, Beauty ; and Yesod,
Foundation, form a central axis; while Wisdom,
Chokmah, equilibrates with Understanding, Binah ;
and the Severity of Justice, Geburah, makes a coun-
terpoise with the Mercy of Justice, Chesed ; similar
conceptions are the contests between Eros and
Anteros, between Jacob and the Angel, Samael and
Anael, Mars and Venus. The Philosophic Cross
and the Greek monogram of Christos are comparable
also to this magical wheel.

In order that a consecrated talisman shall give
real help to you, it must be well understood, and
the correspondences realised ; for a pantacle is an
ideal materialised, made visible, made portable, and
may contain as much knowledge as a book. It is an
image of some part of God and His works, it is as a
card of the eternal kingdom.

Consider well the aim to be accomplished, and the
powers to be invoked ; select the symbols, emblems,
and letters with the greatest care, seeking Chokmah
and Binah from that spark of the Divine which over-
shadows you, and then trace, mark, or engrave your
chosen design upon a plate of gold, silver, or of

THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE 41

Corinth brass, or cut it on precious stones, or draw it
upon virgin parchment. When the work has been
skilfully and accurately finished, then submit it to
consecration with prayers and invocations of the Four
and of the Seven, using suitable perfumes in the
incense ; after which wrap up the talisman in clean
silk and place it in a cedar casket, and it will be
effectual to carry it always about with you.

Notes.

The Tarot Trump marked 10 is named the Wheel
of Fortune; the card shows a wheel supported on
two upright beams. Hermanubis stands on one
side, and Typhon on the other ; above is the Sphynx
holding a sword in its Lion's jaws. Eliphaz L6vi
alleges that Etteilla, who made a superficial study
of the Tarot, is answerable for a more modern form
of this card, in which the beings around the wheel
are a man, a mouse, and a monkey.

The meanings of this Trump are said to be paternity,
virile force, manifestation, and principle. P. Christian
remarks that on the Physical plane the card points out
the varying changes of the so-called fate or fortune.

This key is figured by Levi in his Clef des grands
mysteres, page 117.

XI

FORTITUDE— STRENGTH— LA FORCE

Listen now to the secret of strength. A constant
dropping will wear away a stone, and in the end
will perforate it. The aim to which you ever
devote your will power will be at length attained ;
you begin to succeed as soon as you begin to will
success. Real will power is not a privilege in the
hands of the multitude. To exercise true will power
you must be free ; no one of the multitude is free ;
to be free is to be the master of your life^ and over
others. To learn how to will is to learn how to
exercise dominion. But to be able to exert will
power you must first know ; for will power applied
to folly is madness, death, and hell.

To mistake the means for the end is an ab-
surdity.

To mistake for the end that which is not even a
means is the acme of absurdity.

You are the master of all the events you can

42

I

FORTITUDE 43

overcome. Things for which you have an imperious
need are masters over you.

Things you possess the right to desire, you have
the power to obtain.

You must be ever watchful in the exercise of
your will, and be heedful that you do not fall into
a position of dependence from want of exertion,
from simple idleness.

Men who are to contend together in a race must
go through a long and severe training.

Magical ceremonies may be regarded as a sort of
gymnastic exercise of the will power, and for this
reason all the great teachers of the world have re-
commended them as proper and efficacious. In
any religious sect only those who carry out the ex-
ternal observances are reckoned as real supporters
of the cause.

The more one does, the more one can do in the
future.

To live a life guided by the caprice of the moment
is to lead the life of an animal ; this may conceivably
be a life of innocence, but it is a life of submission.

Those who watch, those who fast, those who pray,
those who refrain from pleasure, those who place
body at the command of mind, can bring all the
powers of nature into subjection to their purposes.

44 THE MAGICAL RITUAL

Such as these are the world's masters; such men
alone do works which survive them.

Never confound the slaves of superstition and fear
with such masters of nature.

To abstain from pleasant things through fear is
to enslave the will ; such conduct tends to lower
rather than to raise your position.

To live like an anchorite, without the superstitious
ignorance which leads him to such a course of life,
this is wisdom indeed, and power is the reward.

Notes.

The Eleventh Tarot Trump represents an erect
female figure, robed and crowned, closing with her
naked hands the jaws of a furious lion, and yet
showing complete ease and self-possession. Its
meaning is persevering strength and indomitable
energy. Christian considers that it typifies that
Principle which underlies the exhibition of power,
and then Moral Force, and lastly Physical Force.

XII

THE HANGED MAN—LE PENDU

The number Twelve completes a cycle, and this
highly mystical Trump represents' the Completion
of the Great Work. This startling design might
be also represented by a cross above a triangle
within a Tau, that is, by four multiplied by three
and enshrined in a Universe.

The pack of Tarot Cards, otherwise the Book of
Taro — which word is an anagram of Rota, a wheel
or cycle — consists in truth of a magical, hieroglyphic
and kabalistic alphabet, to which are added four
decades, and four quaternions, which enshrine the
mystic significance of the Wheel of Ezekiel. The
true aim of the Great Work is to volatilise the fixed
after having accomplished the fixation of the volatile.

By a mystical rectification and a subsequent sub-
limation is the Universal Medicine to be obtained,
and so is also the art of the Transmutation of metals ;
by which art indeed even the most gross and impure

45

46 THE MAGICAL RITUAL

substances may be at once changed into pure and
living gold. But no one will succeed in this magical
transmutation until he has learned to despise earthly
riches, and is content with the holy poverty of the
true adept. So, then, if any one attains to this
sublime secret, he will treasure it with almost super-
human care, and it will so never be divulged to
any other human being; it must be self attained.
The secret matter of the Philosopher is composed
of volatilised Salt, of Mercury which has been fixed,
and of purified Sulphur; this perfected Matter is
the Azoth of the philosophers. The Salt is only to
be volatilised by condensation from the Seven rays
of Sol, which are the respective soul essences of the
seven metals. The Mercury is fixed by saturation
with the Solar essence. The Sulphur is purified by
the heat of the Seven luminous rays.

When a man is fully initiated he has a knowledge
of all those processes, and he knows that he holds
these secrets under the penalty of death. The Taro
can preserve you from the danger of such punish-
ment, by rendering you incapable of the commission
of such a crime. Remember the histories of Prome-
theus and of Tantalus. The former stole the sacred
fire from heaven and transferred it to the earth.
The latter violated the privacy of nature to seize

THE HANGED MAN 47

the secrets of divinity. Eemember also the fate of
Ixion, who attempted to ravish the Queen of the Sky.
Remember also the Cross and the Stake. Ponder
over the long martyrdom of Raymond LuUy, the
inconceivable sufferings of Paracelsus, the madness
of William Postel, the wandering life and miserable
end of Cornelius Agrippa. Love God, gain wisdom,
and preserve unutterable silence.

Notes.

The Twelfth Tarot Trump, named the Hanged Man,
is the most closely veiled of all Tarot hieroglyphics.
Its real meaning is now known to but very few ;
there is the gravest doubt whether L6vi knew it
himself. Papus, who has produced a work on the
Tarot, gives a clearly faulty explanation. Neither
Etteilla nor Court de Gebelin grasped the hidden
meaning. But its significance has in some cases
been found by clairvoyant visions, and in a few by
intuition. The key is held by such as know rightly
to which Hebrew letter it belongs and the correspon-
dences of that letter.

The picture shows a man with his hands tied
behind his back, and a rope is seen tied around his
ankles, the other end being attached to a beam, so

48 THE MAGICAL RITUAL

that when the card is held with its number at
the top, the man appears to be hung up by his
feet. L^vi in his Dogme gives the following state-
ment : —

'*This hanged man, then, is the Adept bound by
his engagements, spiritualised, as is shown by his
inverted position. He is Prometheus subjected to
everlasting torture as a punishment for his glorious
theft; or similarly he is Judas the traitor, and his
sufferings threaten any one who should reveal the
Great Arcanum. Lastly, to the Kabalist, this
hanged man, who corresponds to his twelfth dogma,
that of the Promised Messiah, is a protest against
that Saviour whom the Christians worship, and they
seem to be still saying to Jesus, * How canst thou
save others, thou who couldst not save thyself ? ' "

XIII

DEATH— LA MORT

An eflfort must now be made to learn the truth

concerning the greatest and most consoling, yet

also the most formidable of the Minor Arcana —

concerning Death. Now, in truth, Death is but a

phantom of your ignorance and fear. Death has

no existence in the Sanctum Regnum of existence.

A change, however awful, demonstrates movement,

and movement is life ; those only who have attempted

to check the disrobing of the spirit have tried to

create a real death. We all are dying and being

renewed every day, because every day our bodies

have changed to some extent. Be troubled lest

you soil and tear your bodily raiment, your coat of

skin, but fear not to leave it aside when the time

has come for a period of repose from the work of

this world.

Leave not your material garment for ever, until

the time for your departure has come ; that is, destroy

49 n

50 THE MAGICAL RITUAL

not your own life, for it may be that you would
awake to find yourself naked, chill, and ashamed :
it may be too that such a corpse feels its own ne-
cropsy. Do not attempt to preserve the bodies of
the dead, let nature do her work at once ; let there
be no worship of a dead body, for it represents but
the ragged old clothes of a life.

Do not grieve for the beloved dead, for they are
even more alive than you. If you regret the loss of
their affection and support, you may still love their
memory, and waft messages to them, and perchance
may receive an answer ; for by the aid of the Keys
of Solomon the barriers of the thither world, the
plane of disembodied beings, and even of the heaven,
may be raised for a moment.

Understand well that the life-current of the pro-
gress of souls is regulated by a law of development,
which carries the individual ever upward, and there
is no tendency to a natural fall. Souls shall only
fall who elect to descend and choose the evil rather
than the good. The material plane on which you
live is a prison to you, and if souls fall and come back
to it, they become again imprisoned.

If you desire to communicate with those who have
passed on, you must.

But be warned in time against many deceptions.

DEATH 51

for your fancied souls in heaven may be but phantoms
of the air ; elementaries, shadows of humanity ener-
gised by elemental beings; mere senseless astral
forms, and of no more value than the mirage of
dreams.

Necromancy, and Goetia, which is Evil Magic, do
produce such shells and demons, apparitions of deceit.
If, however, you are an adept of the True White
Higher school, you will at all times condemn and
challenge the practice of such fatal science.

The only possible mode of communion with souls
of a higher sphere, who have passed beyond the
terrestrial aura by reason of the change called Death,
is by dream or ecstasy ; but on waking to common
consciousness there will be no recollection present in
the mind of what has passed, because, owing to the
change of plane, each idea necessarily suffers a change
of form — a recurrence of the dream, or a return to
the ecstasy, recalls what has gone before.

It is a curious fact that most persons fail to re-
member anything of good and happy dreams, even
although they do often recall dreams of sin and folly
and absurdity ; the reason being that these latter
are more closely, and good ideals are less closely,
related to our very materially minded lives on
earth.

52 THE MAGICAL RITUAL

Now if the purely minded adept and pupil of the
Higher Magic does seriously aspire to communion
with a soul on the plane above him, the true way
is as follows.

But again you must take warning that unless the
aspirant is pure, and strong with health, and wise in
procedure, there will be grave risk of disordering the
mind, or of catalepsy, or even of death.

Every puerile and commonplace thought must be
banished from the mind, for if this be not done, and
if a ceremony of such awful solemnity be entered
upon lightly, frivolously, or from a vain curiosity,
there will come a moment when the dread '^ King of
Earth" will appear and punish. The mind and
emotions must then be raised to a pitch of sublime
exaltation proceeding from a pure and disinterested
love. Bring to remembrance all the sweet sayings
of the departed one, formulate her aims and good
efforts, collect around you all that belonged to her
and reminds you of her face, form, and personality.
Observe the dates of her birth and death (and of
any special events which have drawn you two to-
gether) ; choose such a day. Prepare for this date by
daily retiring to a quiet room, if possible where she
has lived, or where she has been, and pass an hour
there in darkness, or at least with the eyes shut,

DEATH 53

pondering over her words and ideas, conversing in
imagination with her as listening to her conceived
answers. When the day comes near you must for
seven days, and should for even fourteen days, ab-
stain rigorously from useless communications with
other persons, from follies, from demonstrations of
aiffection to all others, and from every form of physical
and mental excess; take but one meal a day, and
drink no stimulant nor narcotic liquids.

When the fateful day has come, take a portrait of
the beloved one, a sun picture is the best (photograph),
or if a painting, it should be one executed with the
greatest care and detail. With great care and delicacy
prepare the room and the collected objects which have
belonged to the deceased, make them all spotlessly
clean, and give especial care to the portrait ; place it
in a good position, and decorate the frame with the
flowers she loved. During the day you should pass
several hours in the chamber alone, seated in con-
templation of the portrait and the ideas and re-
miniscences of the dead friend.

When the even has come you must bathe, and clothe
yourself in clean linen, and put on a white mantle.
Enter the sacred chamber, fasten the door and per-
form the Conjuration of the Four Elements. Upon
a chafing-dish you then burn wood of the laurel, with

54 THE MAGICAL RITUAL

aloes and incense. There must be no other light in
the room. When the wood and incense have burned
down and the fire is at the point of extinction, then
in a deep and solemn voice call three times in
succession upon the name of the beloved dead one.
This you must do with all your force of heart and of
spirit, with intense will power ; close the eyes, cover
them with the hands, sink on your knees and pray.

Then at last, after a solemn pause, call softly and
with sweet voice the name of the loved one three
times ; and open your eyes, and see .

Notes.

The Tarot Trump, No. xiii., is named Death, and
represents a human skeleton, armed with a scythe,
mowing the grassy soil, upon which are seen human
remains. To thi& Levi in his Rituel assigns the
meanings dominion and power, rebirth, creation, and
destruction.

P. Christian writes : '* In the Divine World the
meaning is constant change of form ; in the Intel-
lectual World, the ascent of human spirit to divine
spheres ; and in the Physical World, natural death
following decay of the material envelope."

XIV

TEMPERANCE— LA TEMPERANCE

If you desire long life and health avoid all excesses,
carry nothing to extremes. Once more preserve the
equilibrium ; you must neither abandon yourself to
the benignities of Chesed, nor restrict yourself to
the rigours of Geburah.

So when you have passed beyond the mortal sphere
by the allurements of ecstasy, return to yourself,
seek repose and enjoy the pleasures which life sup-
plies for the wise, but do not indulge too freely.

If you feel fatigued by the tempting fascination
of a prolonged fast, then take food and drink ; but if
you have loss of appetite from generous diet, then
fast by all means. If you are feeling the seductiveness
of womankind, seek relief from women.

You must learn to overcome all passions, and con-
quer all tendencies to folly. But let there be no
misunderstanding. To vanquish an enemy there must
be no running away : true victory can only follow

55

56 THE MAGICAL RITUAL

meeting him face to face, joining in a struggle, and
so showing your command over him.

It is related of Paracelsus that he became in-
toxicated daily, and sobered himself by violent
exercise; thus he was found strong as a man with
sangfroid, and yet possessing all the animation of
alcoholic stimulation.

You should repose for as long a period as is ex-
pended in the preparations for and in the actual
operations of magic; spend the hours of rest upon
the bosom of Mother Nature, and in the chaste em-
brace of Nature's sweet restorer, Sleep.

Pass alternately from the triangle to the circle,
and from the circle to the triangle.

Temperate the wine with water, and rectify the
water with wine. Wine is the emblem of Truth ;
yet it is not well to pour out either, in pure form, to
ordinary men and women ; some dilution with water
is very desirable. Know that the Luminous Septenary
has as its enemies, and as obstacles, but acting also
in some ways as auxiliaries, a Dark Septenary of
averse forces.

If a man abuses the high forces of the Septenary
of Powers, his errors form the Seven Capital Sins.

Give but little wine to one who easily gets in-
toxicated ; and, in like manner, give but little occult

TEMPERANCE 57

instruction to those who make light of it, who abuse
instead of use, and so change truth into error.

Notes.

The Fourteenth Tarot Trump, named Temperance,
shows the Angel of Occult Wisdom and Power
holding a goblet in each hand, and pouring from one
into the other the two essences whose union form the
Elixir of Life.

L6vi in his Rituel assigns to this card the mean- ^

ings of the heaven of the Sun, temperatures, seasons,
motions, and the chances and changes of life.

P. Christian remarks that the figure represents
the genius of the Sun ; in the Divine World, the
perpetual alternations of life ; in the Intellectual
World, the creation of ideas which constitute the
moral life ; and in the Physical World, the combina-
tions of natural forces.

XY

SATAN-- THE DEVIL— LE DIABLE'

y

Come hither now' and let us consider without fear
this great one, the bugbear of the Christian creed,
this ghost of Ahriman, the monstrous androgynous
sphynx of Mendes ; it is the synthesis of unbalanced
forces — a Demon.

The Devil is truly Blind Force. If you help the
blind, you may be served by him ; if you let the
blind lead, you are lost.

Each element and every number has its demon,
because each element and every number enshrines a
force which ignorance may put to evil purposes.
The same sword by which you defend your father,
may also slay him.

Know then that the demonic force of each entity
must be conquered by knowledge and good purpose.
Avoid darkness where demonic power prefers to
manifest; fight it in broad daylight, and fearlessly.

The Devil, one day, desiring to stop the progress of

58

SATAN 59

an adept, broke one wheel of his chariot; but this
true adept compelled the Devil to curl himself up
on the wheel and act for the time as its tire, and so
drove on, reaching his destination even sooner than
he would have done if the Devil had let him alone.

Meditate deeply on this old allegorical epigram,
Aude et Tace, and when you have seized its occult
sense, tell no other of your success.

The symbolic representation of the Devil shows
a multiple, disharmonious and anarchic sort of
sphynx, typical of confusion and disorder. Note
this maxim : — A devil is a magnetic current con-
sisting of a concourse of blind and perverse wills.

When certain superstitious mystics relegated in-
telligence and reason to the Devil, they reversed the
Absolute. That is to say, they chose as their God
him who was truly the Devil, and they attributed
the malice of Satan to the True God.

There is no child with even ordinary sense who
is not more learned than the Devil.

The Devil is even of lower grade than the beings
of the Elements. He is doubtless more powerful, but
he is as blind as poor Samson became. But to enable
the Devil to pull down the pillars of a temple, you
would have to lead him to the pillars and say to him,
There they are.

6o THE MAGICAL RITUAL

No true Magician ever made any attempt to evoke
the Devil, for he knows where the Devil is always
to be found ; but he may order the Devil to work —
and the Devil obeys.

In Black Magic, the Devil means the employment
of the Grand Magical Agent for a wicked purpose by
a perverted Will.

Notes.

The Fifteenth Tarot Trump is said by Levi to be
the only one that Etteilla understood. This Etteilla
was an illumine hairdresser who published a work
on' the Tarot, making grave alterations of the de-
signs collected by Court de Gebelin, a much more
reliable authority. His true name was Alliette.

The card shows an altar upon which stands a
demon in human form, to which are added horns,
long goat ears, and bat- like wings ; he holds a torch
in his left hand ; two smaller demons, one male the
other female, stand on the ground beside the altar.
Some authors say the figure is that of Baphomet, the
idol which the Knight Templars were said to worship.

Christian alleges that this demon represents the
Typhon of Egypt, the genius of misfortune ; and as
related to the three worlds it refers to Predestination,
Mystery, and Fatality.

XVI

THE TOWER— LA MAISON DE DIEU

Do you know why the Fiery Sword of Samael is
stretched over the Garden of Delight, which was
the cradle of our race ?

Do you know why the Deluge was ordered to
efface from the earth every vestige of the race of
the giants ?

Do you know why the Temple of Solomon was
destroyed ?

These events have been necessary because the
Great Arcanum of the Knowledge of Good and of
Evil has been revealed.

Angels have fallen because they have attempted to
divulge this Great Secret. It is the secret of Life,
and when its first word is betrayed, that word be-
comes fatal. If the Devil himself were to utter that
Word, he would die.

This Word will destroy each one who speaks it,
and every one who hears it spoken. If it were

6i

62 THE MAGICAL RITUAL

spoken aloud in the hearing of the people of a town,
that town would be given over to Anathema. If
that Word were to be whispered beneath the dome
of a Temple, then within three days the Temple
doors would fiy open, a Voice would utter a cry,
the divine indweller would depart, and the building
would fall in ruins. No refuge could be found for
one who revealed it ; if he mounted to the topmost
part of a tower the lightning-flash would strike him,
if he tried to hide himself in the caverns of the earth,
a torrent would whirl him away ; if he sought refuge
in the house of a friend he would be betrayed ; if in
the arms of the wife of his bosom, she would desert
him in affright.

In his passion of despair he would renounce his
science and knowledge, and, condemning himself to
the same blindness as did (Edipus, would shriek out
— *'I have profaned the bed of my mother."

Happy is the man who solves the Enigma of the
Sphynx, but wretched is he who retails the answer
to another.

He who has solved the secret and guards its secrecy
is as the " King of Earth " ; he disdains mere riches,
is inaccessible to any suffering or fear from destiny,
he could await with a smile the crash of worlds.
This secret is, moreover, profaned and falsified by its

THE TOWER 63

mere revelation, and never yet has a just or true
idea come from its betrayal. Those who possess it
have found it. Those v^ho pronounce it for others to
hear have lost it — already.

Notes.

The Tarot Trump numbered 16, and called Le
Maison de Dieu upon cards made on the Continent,
is commonly known in this country as the Tower of
Babel. It represents a tower struck by lightning;
two men are seen falling headlong ; these are said to
be intended for Mmrod and his chief minister.

L^vi assigns several meanings to this card ; weak-
ness, changes, subversions, and the heaven of Luna.

Christian explains this card as meaning the punish-
ment of pride, the ruin of such as impiously attempt
to penetrate the secrets of divinity, and on the
human plane, the occasional reverses of fortune.

XVII

THE STAR—UETOILE

You must become thoroughly acquainted with the
planets and also with the fixed stars. When their
names are mastered, their influences must be learned ;
you must discover the particular hours and in what
sign the Psyche of the World pours forth from her
two goblets the waters of life like two rivers.

Learn both day and night hours, in order that you
may select such as are most suitable for the work you
wish to perform.

The midnight hour is marked by the special ten-
dency toward the appearance of phantoms. The
first and second hours, which follow, are solemn and
sad for those who are ill or are sleepless. During the
third hour the sufferer from insomnia falls asleep;
the fourth, fifth, and sixth are calm, and lead to a
healthy repose in sleep.

The seventh and eighth hours of morning are of a

voluptuous nature ; the ninth, tenth, and eleventh are

64

THE STAR 65

very suitable for works of friendship; the mid-day
hour is a time of heedlessness and languor in summer,
and of a sense of well-being in winter.

You should find your own particular Planet in the
sky j your intuition should guide you in discovering it ;
and when found you should salute it with reverence
every night that you see it shining down upon you.
The genius of this star must be invoked in your con-
jurations, and the allotted name of the star may
be worked out by means of the learned tables and
Kabalistic permutations designed by Trithemius and
Agrippa.

You should then make a talisman of sympathy to
connect the planetary forces with yourself ; make it
of the metal of the planet which presided at your
birth (the lord of the ascendant of your natus) ;
engrave upon this plate of metal the sign of the
Microcosm with the numbers of your name, the
numbers related to the planet or star, and the name
of the genius.

When you are seeking divine inspiration gaze at
your star, holding the talisman with your left hand
pressing it against your heart ; if it be daytime, or
the star be invisible, gaze upon the talisman itself,
and recite the name of the genius or spirit of the
star, three times.

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66 THE MAGICAL RITUAL

When you see the star become brilliant and glitter
in response to your aspiration, be of good hope for
success ; but should it be seen to pale at your glance,
then be very prudent and take the greatest care of
yourself.

Notes.

The Tarot Trump numbered 17 is called the
Star. It represents an entirely nude female figure
kneeling on land and sea, and pouring a liquid out
of a vase in each hand ; the streams form a river
at her feet. Above is a star of eight rays, and
seven smaller stars surround it. There is a bushy
tree growing at her right side, and upon it the bird
of Hermes has alighted.

The meanings given to this Tarot Trump by Levi
are : Immortality, thought, the influence of idea upon
form, the heaven of the soul.

Christian gives as its meanings : Immortality,
the internal illumination which guides men to choose
the better path, and hope. He says the figure is
represented nude to point out that even when man
is robbed of all his possessions, he may still retain
hope.

XVIIT

THE MOON— LA LUNB

The Moon exercises a very considerable amount of
influence upon the magnetic fluid of the earth, as is
shown by the ebb and flow of the waters of the seas ;
you should then examine carefully the effects of the
influences of the Moon in her several phases, and
take note of the days and hours of the Moon's course.
The quarter of the New Moon is favourable for the
commencement of all magical enterprises; the first
quarter gives an influence of heat, the full moon
an influence of dryness, and the last quarter a cold
influence.

These are the special characters of the days of
the Moon, distinguished by the twenty-two Tarot
Keys and the signs of the Seven Planets.