Michael Wynn's Occult Reference Library
ILLUSION,ILLUSIONS

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l michael and lucifer. the altar in the temple is double cubical. it is double cubical because, as the emerald tablet states "the things that are below are a reflection of the things that are above" traditionally, this altar is longer than it is wide. in the temple of isis mighty 43 mother, white molding has been placed around the center of the altar as well as the top and the bottom, to give the illusion that it is actually two solid cubes, one sitting on top of the other. the altar is black. imperator cancellarius hierophant past hiero. praemonstratrix sentinel hegemon hiereus kerux b/e b/w. rose lamp bread& sal t wine east west dadouchos stolistes north south in the neophyte initiation, the altar is placed in the eastern part of malkuth (please check the diagram. remember, the temple is

il. tower fighting, war, power, courage and ambition. this is similar to the emperor in nature, however a lot more destructive. tower -reversed ruin, fall, danger, destruction. star this generally means hope and a bright future, positive thoughts, giving and abundance. 106 star -reversed disappointment, expectations are not being met, a lack of abundance and barreness. moon a very deceptive card, illusion, lying trickery, hidden enemies. moon -reversed deception, but only slight. sun happiness, joy, good thoughts, contentment. sun -reversed basically some happiness, joy, good thoughts and contentment, but to a lesser degree. judgement renewal, rebirth, final decision, judgement, sentence, determination of a matter without appeal on its plane. judgement -reversed a negative affect such as s

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS

be even greater on the sender than on the intended recipient. you must also ensure that you cannot harm anyone in the process of getting what you want. if you do spells for revenge, then the effects will rebound on you threefold. effort and will-power magick is not like the magic a conjuror uses to bring a rabbit out of a hat: that kind of magic is just a trick, which relies merely on the art of illusion. white magick is much more than that. it is intensely exciting because it means that we can extend the boundaries of possibility, recalling the psychic powers of childhood when we could span dimensions as easily as jumping across a puddle. we can increase our personal magnetism to attract love and luck and regenerate the innate healing abilities both of the human body and the planet. what

the entire heavens. he was frequently associated with the morning aspect of ra, the sun god, and worshipped as re-harakhte. the son of isis and osiris, he is often depicted as an infant on his mother's lap and together the parents and child form a trinity. horus brings clarity of mind and purpose and the ability to seize upon an opportunity, and is effective for uncovering secrets, deception and illusion. lugh lugh, the celtic 'shining one, who gives his name to lughnassadh, celtic festival of the first harvest, was the young solar deity who replaced the dagda, father of the gods, as supreme king. he was associated with sacrifice, as the sun king who was reborn each year at either the mid-winter solstice or the spring equinox. legend has it that when lugh arrived to join the tuatha de dan

ALEISTER CROWLEY EIGHT LECTURES ON YOGA

e bc, and we can also introduce the idea of an angle. 10. a fourth point, provided that it is not in the original plane, gives us the idea of a solid body. but, as before, it tells us nothing about the solid body as such, because there is no other solid body with which to compare it. we find also that it is not really a solid body at all as it stands, because it is merely an instantaneous kind of illusion. we cannot observe, or even imagine, anything, unless we have time for the purpose. 11. what, then is time? it is a phantasm, exactly as tenuous as space, but the possibilities of differentiation between one thing and another can only occur in one way instead of in three different ways. we compare two phenomena in time by the idea of sequence. 12. now it will be perfectly clear to all of

hit and ananda, which are usually translated being, knowledge and bliss. this really means: sat, the tendency to conceive of an object as real; chit, the tendency to pretend that it is an object of knowledge; and ananda, the tendency to imagine that we are affected by it. 13. it is only after we have endowed the object with these dozen imaginary properties, each of which, besides being a complete illusion, is an absurd, irrational, and self-contradictory notion, that we arrive at even the simplest object of experience. and this object must, of course, be constantly multiplied. otherwise our experience would be confined to a single object incapable of description. 14. we have also got to attribute to ourselves a sort of divine power over our nightmare creation, so that we can compare the di

usly, you get another shock. you have no right to say that there is a breathing. all you know is that there is a sensation of that kind. again you change your conception of your observation, and one day make the discovery that the sensation has disappeared. all you know is that there is perception of a sensation of breathing in or breathing out. continue, and that is once more discovered to be an illusion. what you find is that there is a tendency to perceive a sensation of the natural phenomena. 20. the former stages are easy to assimilate intellectually; one assents to them immediately that one discovers them, but with regard to the 'tendency' this is not the case, at least it was not so for my own part. it took me a long while before i understood what was meant by 'tendency' to help you

unfortunate thing was, if it *was* unfortunate, which i doubt, that the messages had to be relayed at a place called yung chang. the operators there had the good sense to smoke opium most of the time, so occasionally a batch of telegrams would arrive, a dozen or so in a bunch, stating that it was noon at pekin on various dates! so all the gross phenomena, all these sensations and perceptions, are illusion. all that one could really say was that there was a tendency on the part of some lunatic in pekin to tell the people at teng-yueh what o'clock it was. 22. but even this fourth skandha is not final. with practice, it also appears as an illusion, and one remains with nothing but the bare consciousness of the existence of such a tendency. i cannot tell you very much about this, because i hav

he old pattern i should have had three sets of lenses, two artificial. if i go and put on somebody else's glasses i shall get another kind of blur. as the lenses of my eyes change in the course of my life, what my sight tells me is different. the point is that we are quite unable to judge what is the truth of the vision. why then do i put on my glasses to read? only because the particular type of illusion produced by wearing them is one which enables me to interpret a pre-arranged system of hieroglyphics in a particular sense which i happen to imagine i want. it tells me nothing whatever about the object of my vision- what i call the paper and the ink. which is the dream? the clear legible type or the indecipherable blur? 12. but in any case any man who is sane at all does make a distincti

ALEISTER CROWLEY ABSINTHE THE GREEN GODDESS

e city of jewels--which is an important centre in hindu anatomy, and apparently identical with the solar plexus, is the central point of the nervous system of the human body, dividing the sacred from the profane, or the lower from the higher. in western mysticism, once more we learn that the middle grade initiation is called hodos camelioniis, the path of the chameleon. there is here evidently an illusion to this same mystery. we also learn that the middle stage in alchemy is when the liquor becomes opalescent. finally, we note among the visions of the saints one called the universal peacock, in which the totality is perceived thus royally appareled. would it were possible to assemble in this place the cohorts of quotation; for indeed they are beautiful with banners, flashing their myriad

onship, hardly more than the far courtesy of king to king. there are no twin souls in genius. good--he can reconcile himself to the scorn of the world. but yet he feels with anguish his duty towards it. it is therefore essential to him to be human. now the divine consciousness is not full flowered in youth. the newness of the objective world preoccupies the soul for many years. it is only as each illusion vanishes before the magic of the master that he gains more and more the power to dwell in the world of reality. and with this comes the terrible temptation--the desire to enter and enjoy rather than remain among men and suffer their illusions. yet, since the sole purpose of the incarnation of such a master was to help humanity, they must make the supreme renunciation. it is the problem of

ALEISTER CROWLEY BOOK OF LIES

en the number of this chapter and its subject. it does, however, refer to the key of the tarot called the hermit, which represents him as cloaked. jod is the concealed phallus as opposed to tau, the extended phallus. this chapter should be studied in the light of what is said in "aha" and in the temple of solomon the king about the reason. the universe is insane, the law of cause and effect is an illusion, or so it appears in the abyss, which is thus identified with consciousness, the many, and both; but within this is a secret unity which rejoices; this unit being far beyond any conception. book of lies get any book for free on: www.abika.com 30 [31] 11 kappa-epsilon-phi-alpha-lambda-eta iota-alpha the glow-worm concerning the holy three-in-naught. nuit, hadit, ra-hoor-khuit, are only to

for the eye of horus (see 777, col. xxi, line 10 "the blind eye that weeps" is a poetic arab name for the lingam. the doctrine is that the great work should be accomplished without creating n ew karma, for the letter n, the fish, the vesica, the womb, breeds, whereas the ey e of horus does not; or, if it does so, breeds, according to turkish tradition, a me ssiah. death implies resurrection; the illusion is reborn, as the scythe of death in the tarot has a crosspiece. this is in connection with the hindu doctrine, express ed in their injunction "fry your seeds. act so as to balance your past karma, and create no new, so that, as it were, the books are balanced. while you have either a credit or a debit, you are still in account with the universe (n.b. frater p. wrote this chapter-61-while

ALEISTER CROWLEY LIBER 777

iting them in their order round a heptagon, and tracing the heptagram unicursally, the order of the days of the week is obtained. col. clxxviii. these intelligences are angelic in nature, but possessing material and even earthly dominion. hence they preside over the geomantic figures, whose nature indeed expresses their relation to man. col. clxxxi. line 11. he laughs; bearing a sphere containing illusion in his left hand, but over his right shoulder, and a staff 463 lines long in his right. a lion and a dragon are at his feet, but he seems unaware of their attacks or caresses. line 12. his attitude suggests the shape of the swastika or thunderbolt, the message of god. line 13. she is reading intently in an open book. line 14. she bears a sceptre and a shield, whereon is figured a dove as

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

with venus. this was true down to the smallest detail. he even obtained all the four colour-scales of venus with absolute correctness. considering that he saw something like one hundred symbols in all, the odds against coincidence are incalculably great. such an experience (and the records of the a. a. contain dozens of similar cases) affords proof as absolute as any proof can be in this world of illusion that the correspondences in liber 777 really represent facts in nature. it suggests itself that this "straightforward" system of magick was perhaps never really employed at all. one might maintain that the invocations which have come down to us are but the ruins of the temple of magick. the exorcisms might have been committed to writing for the purpose of memorising them, while it was for

comes. the formula of alim it is extremely interesting to contrast with the above the formula of the elemental gods deprived of the creative spirit. one 25 might suppose that as alim, is the masculine plural of the masculine noun al, its formula would be more virile than that of alhim, which is the masculine plural of the feminine noun alh. a moment's investigation is sufficient to dissipate the illusion. the word masculine has no meaning except in relation to some feminine correlative. the word alim may in fact be considered as neuter. by a rather absurd convention, neuter objects are treated as feminine on account of their superficial resemblance in passivity and inertness with the unfertilized female. but the female produces life by the intervention of the male, while the neuter does s

stification; for the customs and legends of mankind reflect the true nature of the species "aeon of horus" two sexes in one person. digamma iota alpha omicron digamma: 93, the full formula, recognizing the sun as the son (star, as the pre-existent manifested unit from which all springs and to which all returns. the great work is to make the initial digamma digamma of assiah (the world of material illusion) into the final digamma iota digamma of atziluth< the world of pure reality. spelling the name in full, digamma digamma+ iota digamma delta+ alpha lambda pi+ omicron iota nu+ digamma iota= 309= sh t= xx+ xi= 31 the secret key of the law. digamma is the manifested star. iota is the secret life. serpent- light. lamp- love. wand- liberty. wings- silence. cloak th

lies imperfection. but they understand why perfection devises this disguise. the theory is developed fully in liber aleph, and in part iv of this book 4. see also cap v paragraph on digamma final of digamma-iota-alpha-omicron-digamma; and his principle concern is to invoke shiva< to destroy the illusion whose thrall is the curse of the manvantara. the cardinal revelation of the great aeon of horus is that this formula aum does not represent the facts of nature. the point of view is based upon misapprehension of the character of existence. it soon became obvious to the master therion that aum was an inadequate and misleading hieroglyph. it stated only part of the truth, and it implied a f

through the device of equilibrated opposites<chi= kappa-tau-epsilon-iota-sigma: hb:pehfinal= phi= phi-alpha-lambda-lambdaomicron- sigma (by notariqon> it is moreover the value of the letter qoph, which means "the back of the head, the cerebellum, where the creative or reproductive force is primarily situated. qoph in the tarot is "the moon, a card suggesting illusion, yet shewing counterpartal forces operating in darkness, and the winged beetle or midnight sun in his bark travelling through the nadir. its yetziratic attribution is pisces, symbolic of the positive and negative currents of fluidic energy, the male ichthus or "pesce" and the female vesica, seeking respectively the anode and kathode. the number 100 is therefore a synthetic glyph of the su

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS

free on: www.abika.com 53 the buddhist idea of nibbana. we who accept the law of thelema, even should we concur in this doctrine theoretically, cannot admit that in practice the plan would work out; our aim is that our nothing, ideally perfect as it is in itself, should enjoy itself through realizing itself in the fulfillment of all possibilities. all such phenomena or "point-events" are equally "illusion; nothing is always nothing; but the projection of nothing on this screen of the phenomenal does not only explain, but constitutes, the universe. it is the only system which reconciles all the contradictions inherent in thought, and in experience; for in it "reality" is "illusion "freewill" is "destiny, the "self" is the "not-self; and so for every puzzle of philosophy. not too bad an anal

out; but becomes "everything" as you play about with it,14 since there is no limit to the combinations that you can form from it, save only in your imagination (where the whole thing belongs) and that grows mightily with experience. it is accordingly well worth while to fulfill oneself in every conceivable manner. it is then (you will say) impossible to "do wrong, since all phenomena are equally "illusion" and the answer is always "nothing. in theory one can hardly deny this proposition; but in practice- how shall i put it "the state of illusion which for convenience i call my present consciousness is such that the course of action a is more natural to me that the course of action b" magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 54 or: a is a shorter cut to nothing; a is less

verse must therefore be a single phenomenon: make it eternal and all the rest of it- i.e. remove all limit of any kind- and the universe explains itself. how then can opposites exist, as we observe them to do? is it not the very essence of our original sorites that the many must be reducible to the one? they see how awkward this is; so the "devil" of the dualist is emulsified and evaporated into "illusion" what they call "maya" or some equivalent term "reality" for them consists solely of brahman, the supreme being "without quantity or quality" they are compelled to deny him all attributes, even that of existence; for to do so would instantly limit them, and so hurl them headlong back in to dualism. all that of which we are aware must obviously possess limits, or it could have no intelligi

vision) it is hardly ever mistaken for an event of actual life. good: then, as waking life is to dream, so- yes, more so- is religious experience as above described to that life common to all of us. it is not merely easy, it is natural, not merely natural, but inevitable, for anyone who has experienced "samadhi (this word conveniently groups the higher types of vision21) to regard normal life as "illusion" by comparison with this state in which all problems are resolved, all doubts driven out, all limitations abolished. but even beyond atmadarshana comes the experience called sivadarshana22, in which this atman (or brahman, this limit-destroying universe, is itself abolished and annihilated (and, with its occurrence, smash goes the whole of the advaitist theory) it is a commonplace to say

. it does not matter to our present purpose; all that we need to know is that the strongest prop of the monist structure has broken off short. moreover, is it really adequate to postulate an origin of the universe, as they inevitably do? merely to deny that there ever was a beginning by saying that this "one" is eternal fails to satisfy me. what is very much worse, i cannot see that to call evil "illusion" helps us at all. when the christian scientist hears that his wife has been savagely mauled by her peke, he has to smile, and say that "there is a magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 72 claim of error" not good enough. n. it has taken a long while to clear the ground. that i did not expect; the above propositions are so familiar to me, they run so cleanly through m

ALEISTER CROWLEY MEDITATION

markable should we find that these accounts agree. of the great teachers we have mentioned christ is silent; the other four tell us something; some more, some less. buddha goes into details too elaborate to enter upon in this place; but the gist of it is that in one way or another he got hold of the secret force of the world and mastered it. of st. paul's experiences, we have nothing but a casual illusion to his having been "caught up into heaven, and seen and heard things of which it was not lawful to speak" mohammed speaks crudely of his having been "visited by the angel gabriel" who communicated things from "god" moses says that he "beheld god" diverse as these statements are at first sight, all agree in announcing an experience of the class which fifty years ago would have been called

at nothing is achieved. the magician must build all that he has into his pyramid; and if that pyramid is to touch the stars, how broad must be the base! there is no knowledge and no power which is useless to the magician. one might almost say there is no scrap of material in the whole universe with which he can dispense. his ultimate enemy is the great magician, the magician who created the whole illusion of the universe; and to meet him in battle, so that nothing is left either of him or of yourself, you must be exactly equal to him. at the same time let the magician never forget that every brick must tend to the summit of the pyramid- the sides must be perfectly smooth; there must be no false summits, even in the lowest layers. this is the practical and active form of that obligation of

he task makes it difficult. the probationer must cling to his aspiration- affirm it again and again in desperation. he has, perhaps, almost lost sight of it; it has become meaningless to him; he repeats it mechanically as he is tossed from wave to wave. but if he can stick to it he will come through. and, once he "is" through, things will again assume their proper aspect; 80 he will see that mere illusion were the things that seemed so real, and he will be fortified against the new trials that await him. but the unfortunate indeed is he who cannot thus endure. it is useless for him to say "i don't like the atlantic; i will go back to the fireside" once take one step on the path, and there is no return. you will remember in browning's "childe roland to the dark tower came: for mark! no soon

e tarot. his legs form a cross, his arms a triangle, as if by his equilibrium and self-sacrifice he were bringing the light down and establishing it even in the abyss. elementary as this is, it is a very satisfactory hieroglyph of the great work, though the student is warned that the obvious sentimental interpretation will have to be discarded as soon as it has been understood. it is a very noble illusion, and therefore a very dangerous one, to figure one's self as the redeemer. for, of all the illusions in this cup- the subtler and purer they are, the more difficult they are to detect> is but a reflection, how tremendously important it becomes that it should be still! if the cup is shaken the light will be broken up. therefore the cup is placed upon the altar, which is foursquare, will mu

moth kept out, but we shall usually be too busy to do much more. remember that in travelling from the earth to the stars, one dare not be encumbered with too much heavy luggage. nothing that is not a necessary part of the machine should enter into its composition. 104 now though this pantacle is composed only of shams, some shams somehow seem to be more false than others. the whole universe is an illusion, but it is an illusion difficult to get rid of. it is true compared with most things. but ninety-nine out of every hundred impressions are false even in relation to the things on their own plane. such distinctions must be graven deeply upon the surface of the pantacle by the holy dagger. there is only one other of the elemental instruments to be considered, namely the lamp. 105 chapter x

ALEISTER CROWLEY TAO TEH KING

le problem. it had been translated 'reason' the 'way 'to on' none of these covey the faintest conception of the tao. the tao is 'reason' in this sense, that the substance of things may be in part apprehended as being that necessary relation between the elements of thought which determines the laws of reason. in other words, the only reality is that which compels us to connect the various forms of illusion as we do. it is thus evidently unknowable, and expressible neither by speech nor by silence. all that we can know about it is that there is inherent in it a 5 power (which, however, is not itself) by virtue whereof all beings appear in forms congruous with the nature of necessity. the tao is also the way- in the following sense. nothing exists except as a relation with other similarly pos

expressions of the ecstatic genius of truth- natural images of the reaction between the essence of onesself and one's particular environment at the moment of their occurrence. they are equally tokens of the tao, by whom, in whom, and of whom, they are. to value them for themselves is deny the tao and to be lost in delusion. to despise them is to deny the omnipresence of the tao, and to suffer the illusion of sorrow. to discriminate between them is to set up the accursed dyad, to permit the insanity of intellect, to overwhelm the intuition of truth, and to create civil war in the consciousness. from 1908 to 1918, the tao teh king was my continual study. i constantly recommended it to my friends as the supreme masterpiece of initiated wisdom, and i was as constantly disappointed when they de

rallels pleroma, shiva, jod, etc. teh parallels logos, sakti, he, etc. but the conception of laotze unites all these at their highest. the best parallel is given in liber ccxx, caps. i. and ii, where hadit is tao and nuit, teh (yet these are in certain aspects interchanged) the point of this paragraph is to make discrimination or definition, not to assert the superiority of either conception. the illusion of any such preference would depend on the grade of initiation of a student. a magus 9 degree= 2 square of a. a. would doubtless esteem the path of 'becoming' as his absolute, for the law of his grade is change (see liber i. vel magi) but- who knows- an ipsissimus 10 degree= 1 square might find a conception to transcend even this. for instance, one might interpret this first paragraph as

in the world((a lecture on the labour problem) 4 chapter iv the spring without source. 1. the tao resembleth the emptiness of space; to employ it, we must avoid creating ganglia((see liber ccxx..i.22 'let there be no difference made among you between any one thing and any other thing' weh note: quotation corrected from 'make no difference between any one thing and any other thing' inequality (an illusion) and disorder necessarily result from the departure from homogeneity) oh tao, how vast art thou, the abyss of abysses, thou holy and secret father of all fatherhoods of things! 2. let us make our sharpness blunt((for sharpness implies a concentration) let us loosen our complexes((for these are the ganglia of thought, which must be destroyed) let us((on the same principles. cf. the doctrin

the lords of the age of gold, speaking with deliberation, aware of the weight of their word! thus they accomplished all things with success; and the people deemed their well-being to be the natural course of events. 21 chapter xviii the decay of manners. 1. when men abandoned the way of the tao, benevolence and justice became necessary. then also was need of wisdom and cunning, and all fell into illusion. when harmony ceased to prevail in the six spheres((the solar system) it was needful to govern them by manifesting sons((dhyana- buddhas) when the kingdoms and races((elements, signs, etc) became((selfconscious and therefore) confused, loyal ministers((archangels. it is hard at first for the student to grasp the disdain of laotze for what we call good qualities. but the need for this 'goo

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE HEART OF THE MASTER

hou it! heed not the siren-voice of sense, or the phantom-voice of reason: rest in simplicity, and listen to the silence! the heart of the master get any book for free on: www.abika.com 12 vii. the issue of the vulture, two-in-one, conveyed; this is the chariot of power. trinc: the last oracle! viii. balance against each thought its exact opposite! for the marriage of these is the annihilation of illusion. ix. wander alone; bearing the light and thy staff! and be the light so bright that no man seeth thee! be not moved by aught without or within: keep silence in all ways! x. follow thy fortune, careless where it lead thee! the axle moveth not: attain thou that! xi. mitigate energy with love; but let love devour all things. worship the name, foursquare, mystic, wonderful, and the name of hi

nifest the virtue of that pearl! xv with thy right eye create all for thyself, and with the left accept all that be created otherwise! the heart of the master get any book for free on: www.abika.com 13 xvi break down the fortress of thine individual self, that thy truth may spring free from the ruins! xvii use all thine energy to rule thy thought: burn up thy thought as the phoenix! xviii let the illusion of the world pass over thee, unheeded, as thou goest from the midnight to the morning! xix give forth thy light to all without doubt: the clouds and shadows are no matter for thee. make speech and silence, energy and stillness, twin forms of thy play! xx be every act an act of love and worship! be every act the fiat of a god! be every act a source of radiant glory! xxi treat time and all

d space, and the idea of evil comes only from perceiving the oppositions which are transcended by truth. so each thing that is the heart of the master get any book for free on: www.abika.com 14 hath its root in necessity; were the least of these lost, the whole work should be marred. life wells in the heart of the master; death is but the systole of that marvelous pulse. faint are the phantoms of illusion; these, seized on by that vivid stream, thrill and throb with the glow of his reality; he leaves no possible form inane or inert; in him do all partake the sacrament of birth to truth. liberty leaps in the heart of the master; for every man and every woman is a star. each follows, free and joyful, its own will; for every will alike has its essential function in the rhythm of the heart of

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

word is not properly applied to discriminate between objects which have no similarity. one does not ask "what is the difference between a yard and a minute" in practical life. we do ask the difference between two things of the same kind. the book of the law is trying to emphasize the doctrine that each number is unique and absolute. its relations with other numbers are therefore in the nature of illusion. they are the forms of presentation under which we perceive their semblances; and it is to the last degree important to realize that these semblances only indicate the nature of the realities behind them in the same way in which the degrees on a thermoetric scale indicate heat. it is quite unphilosophical to say that 50 degrees centigrade is hotter than 40 degrees. degrees of temperature

ld comment 13. this doctrine implies some mystic bond which i imagine is only to be understood by experience; this human ecstasy and that divine ecstasy interact. a similar doctrine is found in the bhagavad gita. the new comment note that space is omnipresent<illusion of duality. but when nuith says "i am infinite space and the infinite stars thereof (verse 22) there must be some other meaning. may i define it as "totality of the possibilities of giving form to being, and thus equivalent to "matter, which manifests "motion? this at least suits the verse under present discussion; for the feminine idea is to take delight in enabling the masculine idea to

this substance. ecstasy is produced by the resolution of these illusions. observe well that to beings in a state of strain or sorrow the "great work" is bound to appear in the guise of a relief or joy. but this is not to assert samadhi, that unity with the universe which brings relief and joy by "love, as an "absolute good. it is only good relatively to our present condition as beings divided by illusion from nuit. when one returns to the 'simple' state, one soon begins to think out a new route through the universe, and devise new combinations in the great game called seeing life. in nature few elements are lone wolves. most of them are being thrown in and out of combination constantly; on suns this occurs with lordly vehemence. note that nuith, although she is infinite space, speaks as a

tion in her. it should be evident that nuith obtains the satisfaction of her nature when the parts of her body fulfil their own nature. the sacrament of live is not only so from the point of view of the celebrants, but from that of the divinity invoked. it is said that for every step one takes towards one's holy guardian angel, he takes two towards his client. what do i mean by "beings divided by illusion from nuith, in the first paragraph? this, that we are limited mentally, that we realize only an infinitesimal fraction of the possible forms of expression. we can hardly even imagine ourselves as living on another planet, or in the sun; much less as apprehending the universe by means of a totally different set of senses. yet most of us who are not mere placental amnoites possess an instin

omment this is a poetic description of the symbolism of the stele. it is suitable fore such minds as approach truth in this manner rather than by way of science or philosophy. it contains a formula of magick art, connected with the stele. also, less ineffably, it boasts the consummation of the marriage of hadit and nuit in the priest. that is, he has freed hadit, in the core of his star, from the illusion-veils of the khu, so that the two infinities become one, and none; and create, in the manner shortly to be described, a new finite. this finite will evidently be an expression of the particular mood of its father and mother at the moment of its conception. obviously, this "child" cannot add to the universe; it is therefore inevitably twin (horus and harpocrates, osiris and typhon, jesus a

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE QABALAH

\ym, water. 91. 91= 7 x 13, the most spiritual form of the septenary. ma, amen, the holiest title of god; the amoun of the egyptians. it equals ynda hwhy (yhnwdhay, interlaced, the eight-lettered name, thus linking the 7 to the 8. not that ma (recknoning as final, 700= 741= ctma, the letters of the elements; and is thus a form of tetragrammaton, a form unveiled. 100. the number of q, the perfect illusion, 10 10. also [k, kaph, the wheel of fortune. the identity is that of matter, fatality, change, illusion. it seems the buddhist view of the samsara-cakkram. 106. wn, nun, a fish. the number of death. death in the tarot bears a cross-handled scythe; hence the fish as the symbol of the redeemer. icqus= jesus christ, son of god, saviour. 108. chiefly interesting because 108= 2 2 3 3 3= the sq

this state of things. he finds himself but a creature, the farthest removed from the creator, a number so complex and involved that he can scarcely imagine, much less dare to hope for, its reduction to the one. the numbers useful to him, therefore, will be those which are subversive of this state of sorrow. so the number 2 represents to him the magus (the great magician mayan who has created the illusion of maya) as seen in the 2nd aethyr. and considering himself as the ego who posits the non-ego (fichte) he hates this magus. it is only the beginner who regards this magus as the wonder-worker as the thing he wants to be. for the adept such little consolation as he may win is rather to be found be regarding the magus as b= mercury= 8= ch= 418= 60 if we accept the reversal of the tarot attr

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

ne day find words to combat, perhaps to overthrow, this position. p.s. as, for example, the note to this introduction. as a promise-keeper i am the original eleven stone three peacherine. a.c. i must apologise (perhaps) for the new note of frivolity in my work: due doubtless to the frivolity of my subject: these poems being written when i was an advaitist and could not see why everything being an illusion there should be any particular object in doing or thinking anything. how i have found the answer will be evident from my essay on the subject* i must indeed apologise to the illustrious shade of robert browning for my audacious parody in title, style, and matter of his christmas eve and easter day. the more i read it the eventual anticlimax of that wonderful poem irritated me only the mor

o us! 490 that s clear at least. but never mind! call them idolaters and blind! we ll talk of christ. as shelley sang, shall an eternal issue hang 495* great slam a term of bridge-whist. bara is hindustani for great. john iii. 18, he that believeth not is condemned already. the sword of song 18 free will. herbert spencer. if there is free will how can there be pain or damnation? not-self being an illusion. self or not-self real? chute d icare. i have pity: had christ any? the sheep and the goats. on just belief or unbelief; and an involuntary act make difference infinite in fact between the right and left-hand thief? belief is not an act of will! 500 i think, sir, that i have you still, even allowing (much indeed) that any will at all is freed, and is not merely the result of sex, environm

able edition. to me, then, it remains to raise the alf laylah wa laylah into its proper place once more. i am not concerned to deny the objective reality of all magical phenomena; if they are illusions, they are at least as real as many unquestioned facts of daily life; and, if we follow herbert spencer, they are at least evidence of some cause* now, this fact is our base. what is the cause of my illusion of seeing a spirit in the triangle of art? every smatterer, every expert in psychology, will answer: that cause lies in your brain. english children are taught (pace the education act) that the universe lies in infinite space; hindu children, in the akasa, which is the same thing. those europeans who go a little deeper learn from fichte, that the phenomenal universe is the creation of the

reasure (5) heal diseases, etc. i have taken these five powers at random; considerations of space forbid me to explain all (1) brings up facts from sub-consciousness (2) here we come to an interestin fact. it is curious to note the contrast between the noble means and the apparently vile ends of magical rituals. the latter are disguises for sublime truths. to destroy our enemies is to realise the illusion of duality, to excite compassion (ah! mr. waite* the world of magic is a mirror, wherein who sees muck is muck (3) a careful naturalist will understand much from the voices of the animals he has studied long. even a child knows the difference between a cat s miauling and purring. the faculty may be greatly developed (4) business capacity may be stimulated (5) abnormal states of the body m

hat such would be the result) all their facts are proved. we prove a world of spirits, the existence of god, the immortality of the soul, etc. but, with all that, we are not really one step advanced into the heart of the inquiry which lies at the heart of philosophy, what is anything? i see a cat. dr. johnson says it is a cat. berkeley says it is a group of sensations. cankaracharya says it is an illusion, an incarnation, or god, according to the hat he has got on, and is talking through. spencer says it is a mode of the unknowable. but none of them seriously doubt the fact that i exist; that a cat exists; that one sees the other, all bar johnson hint but oh! how dimly! at what i now know to be true? no, not necesarily true, but nearer the truth. huxley goes deeper in his demolition of des

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 1

sen is as the first; he presents himself among the others without presumption, and he is received by the others without jealousy. it if be necessary that real members should meet together, they find and recognize each other with perfect certainty. no disguise can be used, neither hypocrisy nor dissimulation could hide the characteristic qualities which distinguish the members of this society. all illusion is gone, and things appear in their true form. no one member can choose another; unanimous choice is required. though not all men are called, many of called are chosen, and that as soon as they become fit for entrance. 12 any man can look for the entrance, and any man who is within can teach another to seek for it; but only he who is fit can arrive within. unprepared men occasion disorder

roy one, all fall together. viii i must, at the risk of appearing to digress, insist upon this distinction between philosophical and practical points of view, or (in qabalistic language) between kether and malkuth. in private conversation i find it hard- almost impossible- to get people to understand what seems to me so very simple a point. i shall try to make it exceptionally clear. a boot is an illusion. a hat is an illusion "therefore" a boot is a hat. so argue my friends, not distributing the middle term. but this argue i. all boots are illusions. all hats are illusions "therefore (though it is not a syllogism, all boots and hats are illusions. i add: to the man in kether no illusions matter "therefore" to the man in kether neither boots nor hats matter. in fact, the man in kether is o

ished in smoke. in this crisis there was no sickness of soul, no division of self; for he simply had turned a corner on the road along which he was travelling and suddenly became aware of the fact that the mighty range of snow-capped mountains upon which he had up to now fondly imagined he was gazing was after all but a great bank of clouds. so he passed on smiling to himself at his own childlike illusion. shortly after this he became acquainted with a certain brother of the order of a. a; and himself a little later became an initiate in the first grade of that order. in this order, at the time of his joining it, was a certain 157 brother of the name of p, who had but just returned from china, and who had been six years before sent out by the order to journey through all the countries of t

have been mine; yet amongst them all have i not found one to compare to a lash on the lid of thine eye. o thou art as the wine of ecstasy, a thousand times more delicious than all these. ah! but what is this languor which cleaves to me? my strength has left me; my soul has mingled with thine; i am not, and yet i am. is it thy weakness that i feel "nay, o lover, for it is only at the price of the illusion of my strength that thou hast given me the pleasure of unity which i have tasted in thine arms. beauty has conquered me and drunk up the strength of my might; i am alone, and all things are mine in the mystery of my loneliness "evoe" life burns in the brasier of love as a ruby flame in a sapphire bowl. i am dead, yet i live for ever" arise, o sleeper, for the night of loneliness hath roll

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

ut if we could look back over the vast stairway of our innumerable lives, if we could see how formerly we had held all various positions, had had countless fortunes, countless children, innumerable loves and wives; if we could so look back, and see the constant and inevitable misery of all those lives, could understand our every-changing minds and wills, and the whole mighty phantasmagoria of the illusion that we deem so real; if we could do this, then indeed we might realise the utter misery and futility of all this earthly life, might understand and grasp those three characteristics of all existent things; then indeed would our desire to escape from this perpetual round of sorrow be augmented, augmented so that we would work with all our power unto liberation. 49 to the gaining of this k

1 91. 91= 7 x 13, the most spiritual form of the septenary. amn, amen, the holiest title of god; the amoun of the egyptians. it equals ihvh adni (iahdvnhi, interlaced, the eight-lettered name, thus linking the 7 to the 8. note that amn (reckoning n as final, 700= 741= amthsh, the letters of the elements; and is thus a form of tetragrammaton, a form unveiled. 100. the number of hb:qof, the perfect illusion, 10 x 10. also hb:peh-final hb:koph, kaph, the wheel of fortune. the identity is that of matter, fatality, change, illusion. it seems the buddhist view of the samsara-cakkram. 106. nvn, nun, a fish. the number of death. death in the tarot bears a cross-handled scythe; hence the fish as the symbol of the redeemer. iota chi theta upsilon sigma= jesus christ, son of god, saviour. 108. chiefl

this state of things. he finds himself but a creature, the farthest removed from the creator, a number so complex and involved that he can scarcely imagine, must less dare to hope for, its reduction to the one. the numbers useful to him, therefore, will be those which are subversive of this state of sorrow. so the number 2 represents to him the magus (the great magician mayan who has created the illusion of maya) as seen in the 2nd aethyr. and considering himself as the ego who posits the non-ego (fichte) he hates this magus. it is only the beginner who regards this magus as the wonder-worker- as the thing he wants to be. for the adept such little consolation as he may win is rather to be found by regarding the magus as b= mercury= 8= ch= 418= abrahadabra, the great word, the "word of dou

cedents and warrants of precursors" and so on. but where i can understand mr waite i am surprised to find him (as soon as he wishes to speak of the high states) borrowing without acknowledgment from my published works. waite (1911) crowley the act or "state of being lost" man's vision goes, dissolves in in god is that which i have else- god's "aha" 1909. where described in a perfection of all the illusion gone, behold the all similitudes- which is of my one that is. ib. 137 adaptation but not of my making "thou fastenest on (is this his apology to me? a.c) this soul of mine, that it is gone, when christ delivers up the king- gone from all life, and rapt away" ib. dom of each soul to his father "this i know, that i am gone and god is all in all. to the heart of god's great diamond "the ladd

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

y clear behind the sun? these clouds that burn thee up, these rays that scorch the brains of men with blindness; these are heralds before my face of the dissolution and the night. ye are all blinded by my glory; and though ye treasure in your heart the sacred word that is the last lever of the key to the little door beyond the abyss, yet ye gloss and comment thereupon; for the light itself is but illusion. truth itself is but illusion. yea, these be the great illusions beyond life and space and time. let thy lips blister with my words! are they not meteors in thy brain? back, back from the face of the accursed one, who am i; back into the night of my father, into the silence; for all that ye deem right is left, forward is backward, upward is downward. i am the great god adored of the holy

bolizing the circles of the aethyrs, that he calleth them forth. but men thought that aleph was the initial arr, cursing, when it was really the initial of achd, unity, and ahbh, love. so that it was the most horrible and wicked blasphemy of the blackest of all the black brothers to begin barashith with a beth, with the letter of the magician. yet, by this simple device, hath he created the whole illusion of sorrow) open the mysteries of your creation, and make us partakers of the undefiled knowledge (the word here is "iadnamad" is not the ordinary word for knowledge. it is a word of eight letters, which is the secret name of god, summarized in the letter cheth; for which see the aethyr which correspondeth to that letter, the twelfth aethyr) now from time to time i have looked into the sto

pression. there is only a faint consciousness, like the scent of jasmine. the body of the seer is rested in a waking sleep that is deeper than sleep, and his mind is still; he seems like a well in the desert, shaded by windless palms. and it is night; and because the night is the whole night of space, and not the partial night of earth, there is no thought of dawn. for the light of the sun maketh illusion, blinding man's eyes to the glory of the stars. and unless he be in the shadow of the earth, he cannot see the stars. so, also, unless he be hidden from the light of life, he cannot behold nuit. here, then, do i abide in unalterable midnight, utterly at peace. i have forgotten where i am, and who i am. i am hanging in nothing. now the veil opens of itself (to scribe. come nearer; i don't

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 1 2

good, friends, this is not the way things happen. paris is as wonderful as lhassa, and there are just as many miracles in london as in luang prabang. i did not even think it necessary to go into the bois de boulogne and meet those three adepts who cause bleeding at the nose, familiar to us from the writings of macgregor mathers. 3 the universe of magic is in the mind of a man: the setting is but illusion even to the thinker. humanity is progressing; formerly men dwelt habitually in the exterior world; nothing less than giants and paynim and men-at-arms and distressed ladies, vampires and succubi, could amuse them. their magicians brought demons from the smoke of blood, and made gold from baser metals. in this they succeeded; the intelligent perceived that the gold and the lead were but sh

's body. so, too, i think, for the highest spiritual work; for that work extends from malkuth to kether. here is the great value of the rationalistic eastern systems.[p.s. of course scientifically worked with pencil, note-book, and stop-watch. the yogi is usually in practice just as vague a dreamer as the mystic. they keep one always balanced by common sense. one might go off on lines of pleasing illusion for years, until one was lost on the "astral plane. all this, observe, is very meaningless, very vague at the best. what is the astral plane? is there such a thing? how do its phantoms differ from those of absinthe, reverie, and love, and so on? we may admit their unsubstantiality without denying their power; the phantoms of absinthe and love are potent enough to drive a man to death or m

e? surely i am presuming on my magical power, which is an active thing, and therefore my passivity is not perfect. of course, when it happens, it happens out of time and space now or ten years hence it is all the same. all the same to it; not all the same to me, o.m. so o.m.(the dog! persists irrationally in wanting it, here and now. surely, indeed, it is a lack of faith, a pandering to the time-illusion and so forth. yes, no doubt it is all magically wrong, even magically absurd; yet, though i see the snare, i deliberately walk into it. i suppose i shall be punished somehow good! there's the excuse i wanted. fear is failure: i must dare to do wrong. good! 7.50. it has just occurred to me that this waiting and watching is the supreme magical strain. every slight sound or other impressio

e to me; there are just as many pros and cons to pranayama as to ceremonial, etc. etc. and the pros and cons are so numerous and far reaching that i simply dare not start discussing even one. i can see an endless avenue in every case. in short, like the hashish-drunkard in full blast, i am overwhelmed by the multitude of my own magical images. i have become the great magician mayan, the maker of illusion the lord of the brethren of the left-hand path. i don't "wear my iniquity as an aureole, deathless in spiritual evil, as mr. waite thinks; but it's nearly as bad as that. there seems only one reply to this great question of the hunchback (i like to symbolize the spirit of questioning by a little crooked thing that asks questions) and that is to keep on affirming adonai, and refusing to

, i found only libra, the house of venus and of the exaltation of saturn; and these evil planets, smiling and frowning, overcame me. and so for the sublime path of man; instead of that symbol of the adept, his foot set firmly upon heaven, his whole figure showing forth the reconciler with the invisible, i found but the stagnant and bitter water of selfishness, the dead sea of the soul. for all is illusion. who saith "i" denieth adonai, save only if he mean adonai. and daleth the door of the pylon, is that tree whereon the adept of man hangeth, and daleth is love supernal, that if it be inserted in the word ani,"i, giveth adni, adonai. subtle art thou and deadly, o dweller of the threshold (p.s. this name is a bad one."dweller beside the pylon" is a better term; for he is not in the straigh

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n with the mystics, and drinking from the white chalice of mystery with st. john, boehme, tauler, eckart, molinos, levi, and blake "rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air, hungry clouds swag on the deep" insatiable, he still pressed on, hungering for the knowledge of things outside; and in his struggle for the million he misses the unit, and heaps up chaos in the outer darkness of illusion. from the cloudless skies of mysticism he rushes down into the infernal darkness on winged thoughts "the fiery limbs, the flaming hair, shot like the sinking sun into the western sea" and we find him now in the goetic kingdoms of sorcery, witchcraft, and infernal necromancy. the bats flit by us as we listen to his frenzied cries for light and knowledge "the spiritual guide" and "the cheru

own that either angels or cows exist apart from ourselves, they may or they may not; but it is to be taken that angels, and mountains and cows are ideas of equal value in their own specific spheres: the astral and the material; and that they have their proper place in existence, whatever existence may be, and that every experience, normal, abnormal, subnormal or supernormal, whether treated as an illusion or a fact, is of equal value so 295 long as it is conditioned in time; and that a dream is of as real a nature as awakenment, but on a different plane in existence, the conditions of which can alone be judged and measured by experimental science. science advances by means of accumulating facts and consolidating them, the grand generalisation of which merges into a theory when it has been

rrection of a dead person, but his speech was rash, for it is on the faith of before the birth of copernicus the sun was universally considered to be a body moving round the earth; it was a fact, and probably whilst it lasted the most universal fact the mind of man has ever accepted; but since that illuminated sage arose, it has been shown to be a simple fable, a child- like error, a puny optical illusion- so much for pseudo-scientific dogmatics. to a child who has never seen a monkey, monkey is outside the circumference of its knowledge; but when once it has seen one it is mere foolishness for other children to say "oh no, you didn't really see a monkey; such things as monkeys do not exist, and what proves it beyond all doubt is that we have never seen one ourselves" this, it will be seen

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er, that i alone of us all was armed, and that the natives treated me with great respect, he put himself entirely at my disposal. i took advantage of this 370 happy mood to offer him my services in order that he should be cut out and planed on the spot. but he looked gently in my eyes, and said that he himself would see to that. i told him of my experiments, and how i still had at times a certain illusion that my body was absolutely complete. but (he said) the case is common with all men amputated; and he promised me that in case of my death he should at once prepare himself to take my place at night on the top of the coffin. my mind being thus at rest, i began studying more deeply the contents of that mighty box. 371 iii the two carrier-pigeons have come to me. i am glad to say they look

started putting down with a blue pencil the most important among all the thoughts that came into my brain. in "the book which contains all that i know for certain" i began with these sentences "your enemy, when his hatred and persecution lead you to a clearer perception of life's secrets, becomes your benefactor "the men living in my company being unable to realise that my body is nothing but an illusion of their deficient sight, it is useless for me to try and oblige them to recognise it as a mere wood cover "their error will appear even more plausible and explicable when one considers that a few days ago i was myself unaware of my real personality; and that i am still at times under the influence of insufficiently keen senses "the destiny of a man-cover being a case of exceptional scarc

book that the story is not one of absolute fact, and so convincing in its simplicity and matter-of-factness is mr. harris's style that we often accept his psychology before we realize. on how few grounds it is based. some of the aspects of modern democracy are treated with astonishing insight and ability, and 'the bomb' is distinctly not a book to be overlooked" jacob tonson in the "new age "the illusion of reality is more than staggering; it is haunting. many passages are on the very highest level of realistic art. lingg's suicide and death are titanic. in pure realism nothing better has been done, and i do not forget tolstoy's 'the death of ivan illytch' it is a book very courageous, impulsively generous, and of a shining distinction "saturday review "he (mr. harris) is a born writer of

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2

itorial 1 liber o 11 the herb dangerous (part ii) the psychology of hashish. by oliver haddo 31 reviews 90, 104, 385 the garden of janus. by aleister crowley 91 the dream circean. by marital nay 105 the lost shepherd. by victor b. neuburg 131 a handbook of geomancy 137 the organ in king's chapel, cambridge, by g. h. s. pinsent 162 a note on genesis 163 the five adorations. by dost achiha khan 186 illusion d'amoureux. by francis bendick 187 the opium-smoker 191 postcards to probationers. by aleister crowley 196 the wild ass. by alys cusack 201 the sphinx at gizeh. by lord dunsany 205 the priestess of panormita. by elaine carr 209 the temple of solomon the king (book ii) 217 amongst the mermaids. by norman roe 335 ave adonai. by aleister crowley 351 the man-cover. by george raffalovich 353 s

journeys by the chart we offer to him, and which we have followed, on his return will come in unto us as one who has authority; for he alone who has climbed the summit can speak with truth of those things that from there are to be seen, for he knows. but he who stands afar off, and jests, saying "it is not a mountain, it is a cloud; it is not a cloud, it is a shadow; it is not a shadow, it is an illusion; it is not an illusion, it is indeed nothing at all- who but a fool will heed him? for not having journeyed one step, he knows not concerning those things of which he speaks. to make ourselves now utterly plain to all such as have misunderstood us, we will formulate our statement in many ways, so that at least there may be found one acceptable to each seeker who is open to conviction. i 1

force; but owing to the lack of trained observation, has always been a mass of error. spiritual experience, interpreted in the terms of intellect, is distorted; just as sunrise shows the grass green and the sea blue. both were invisible until sunrise; yet the diversity of colour is not in the sun, but in the objects on which its light falls, and their contradiction does not prove the sun to be an illusion. 4. we shall correct mysticism (or illuminism) by science, and explain science by illuminism. v 1. we have one method, that of science. 2. we have one aim, that of religion. vi there was once an inhabitant in a land called utopia who complained to the water company that his water was impure. 6 "no" answered the water man "it can't be impure, for we filter it "oh indeed" replied the inhabi

chiefly these("a) a widening of the horizon of the mind("b) an improvement of the control of the mind. 4. the student, if he attains any success in the following practices, will find himself confronted by things (ideas or 13 beings) too glorious or too dreadful to be described. it is essential that he remain the master of all that he beholds, hears or conceives; otherwise he will be the slave of illusion, and the prey of madness. before entering upon any of these practices, the student should be in good health, and have attained a fair mastery of asana, pranayama and dharana. 5. there is little danger that any student, however idle or stupid, will fail to get some result; but there is great danger that he will be led astray, obsessed and overwhelmed by his results, even though it be by th

lucination. the same criticism applies to space; for in practice we judge of space by the time required to pass through it, either by the small angular or focussing movements of the eye or by our general experience. so that if i cross a room, and think a million thoughts on the way, the room seems immense. it is by the tedium of the journey, not by any hallucination of the physical eye, that this illusion is produced. in writing my notes on one occasion i found that my right arm (which of course is not in the line of vision at all, normally) was many thousands of miles in extent. it was strange and difficult to control such colossal sweeps through space to the fine work of the pen. yet my handwriting was no worse than usual- i admit this says little! it was the time that it apparently took

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won amongst the soft seducing cushions of a fair woman's couch, and only awake from his foolish sleep as the mallet drives the nail through his unguarded head. more valiant men have fallen in netzach than ever fell in malkuth, yesod, and hod combined, and more will fall in tiphereth than ever fell in netzach, and for the same reason, 236 and that is, that all success is illusionary, the greatest illusion being to consider oneself successful. it is here that man leaves, if he strive, the bow of worldly desires, and cleaves the firmament of thought like an arrow, which, eventually speeding out of the world's attraction, becomes as an universe to itself. this cleaving of the veil of the vault of the adepts is in truth the precipitation of the jechidah from the elemental flux that goes to mak

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him did eat and was glad" p. 6 "the tree of life belongeth unto the father, it groweth in the mother, but because darkness is still in man he may not eat thereof, but the truth of the father that is within man, that truth may eat and live" the philosophy of this little book shows that darkness alone is not evil, and that neither is light good. both are beyond: but the mingling twilight begets the illusion of duality, the goodness and wickedness of things external. it is a little volume which one who reads will grow fond of, and will carry about with him, and open at random in quiet places, in the woods, and under the stars; and it is a little book which one learns to love the more one reads it, for it is inspired by one who at least has crept into the shadow of god's glory. j. f. c. f. 316

e sea; nor a whirling devil in the sand of the desert! i deny thee by the powers of mine understanding; bear me in the unity of thy might, and pour me forth from out the cup of thine all-pervading nothingness; for thou art all and none of these in the fullness of thy not-being. 5. o thou god of the nothingness of all things! thou who art neither the formulator of law; nor the cheat of the maze of illusion: o thou who art not the foundation-stone of existence; nor the eagle that broodeth upon the egg of space! i deny thee by the powers of mine understanding; swathe me in the unity of thy might, and teach me wisdom from the lips of thine all-pervading nothingness; for thou art all and none of these in the fullness of thy not-being. 32 6. o thou god of the nothingness of all things! thou who

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truly infinite. 27 even as a cube is to a square is that to this. olympas. royal and rare! infinite light of burning wheels! marsyas. ay! the imagination reels. thou must attain before thou know, and when thou knowest_ mighty woe that silence grips the willing lips! olympas. ever was speech the thought's eclipse. marsyas. ay, not to veil the truth to him who sought it, groping in the dim halls of illusion, said the sages in all the realms, in all the ages "keep silence" by a word should come your sight, and we who see are dumb! we have sought a thousand times to teach our knowledge; we are mocked by speech. so lewdly mocked, that all this word seems dead, a cloudy crystal blurred, though it cling closer to life's heart than the best rhapsodies of art! olympas. yet speak! marsyas. ah, could

se that wove the labyrinth of life and love blazed in me. then some giant will, mine or another's thrust a thrill through the great vision. all the light went out in an immortal night, the world annihilated by the opening of the master's eye. how can i tell it? olympas. master, master! a sense of some divine disaster abases me. 37 marsyas. indeed, the shrine is desolate of the divine! but all the illusion gone, behold the one that is! olympas. royally rolled, i hear strange music in the air! marsyas. it is the angelic choir, aware of the great ordeal dared and done by one more brother of the sun! olympas. master, the shriek of a great bird blends with the torrent of the thunder. marsyas. it is the echo of the word that tore the universe asunder. olympas. master, thy stature spans the sky

s in joy, this insecurity, this indecision, last, as a rule, but a very short time. soon the meanings of ideas become so vague, the conducting thread which binds your conceptions together becomes so tenuous, that none but your accomplices can understand you. and, again, on this subject and from this point of view, no means of verifying it! perhaps they only think that they understand you, and the illusion is reciprocal. this frivolity, these bursts of laughter, like explosions, seem like a true mania, or at least like the delusion of a maniac, to every man who is not in the same state as yourself. what is more, prudence and good sense, the regularity of the thoughts of him who witnesses, but has been careful not to intoxicate himself, rejoice you and amuse you as if they were a particular

the effect of the panels reflected by the mirrors. in raising my eyes i saw a setting sun, like molten metal that grows cold. it was the gold of the ceiling. but the trellis put in my mind the idea that i was in a kind of cage, or in a house open on all sides upon space, and that i was only separated from all these marvels by the bars of my magnificent prison. in the first place i laughed at the illusion which had hold of me; but the more i looked the more its magic grew great, the more it took life, clearness, and masterful reality. from that moment 86 the idea of being shut up mastered my mind, without, i must admit, too seriously interfering with the varied pleasures which i drew from the spectacle spread around and above me. i thought of myself as of one imprisoned for long, for thous

call this attainment by the common name of god (self as opposed to self. and as we have seen the path of union with god or goal is twofold: i. the attainment of all things. ii. the destruction of all things. and whichever way we travel to right or to left the method is also twofold, or the twofold in one: i. exaltation by madness. ii. exaltation by wisdom. in the first we awake from the dream of illusion by a blinding light being flashed across our eyes; in the second, gradually, by the breaking of the dawn. 1 e. levi "doctrine and ritual of magic" p. 192. in the first the light of knowledge, though but comparable to the whole of knowledge as a candle-flame to the sun, may 141 be so sudden that blindness follows the first illumination.2 in the second, though the light be as the sun of kno

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vas upon which we may write or paint whatever we will. we can produce entrancing sounds at will, beautiful sights at will, subtle tastes and delicious perfumes; and after a time actual forms, living creatures, men and women and elementals. we smite the rock, and the waters flow at our blow; we cry unto the heavens, and fire rushes down and consumes our sacrifice; we become magicians, begetters of illusion, and then, if we allow ourselves to become obsessed by them, a time comes when these illusions will master us, when the children we have begotten will rise up and dethrone us, and we shall be drowned in the waters that now we can no longer control and be burnt up by the flames that mock obedience, and scorn our word. directly we perform a miracle we produce a change: a change is mara the

entist, the result is certain. similarly with pr n y ma, the guru gives his chela a certain exercise, and as surely as the calomel voided the noxious matter from the intestines of the sufferer, so will the pr n y ma void the capricious thoughts from the mind of the disciple. 295 by discovery here we mean individual experiment resulting in personal discovery; another person's discovery only begets illusion and comment. individual discovery is the only true discovery worth consideration. 296 nearly all the masters have been cautious how they handled this power; generally refusing to expend it at the mere caprice of their followers or opponents. the siddhis are like the gold of the alchemist. once discovered it is kept secret, and the more secretly it is kept the more it is hoarded the richer

roared out "you sheep are. i no want sheep. tigers i make. tigers tear up sheep, go away. no good, get intellect. get english. no more" the three then departed, and i was left alone with the blessed one. neither of us spoke for about ten minutes, then at length, after a go or two at his snuff-box, he gave a loud grunt, to which i replied in a solemn voice "o mahatma, what is truth "no truth! all illusion" he answered "i am that master, you become my disciple; i show you all things; i lead you to the ultimate reality. the supreme stage of the highest. the infinite ultimatum. the unlimited omniscience of eternal wisdom- all this i give you if you have faith in me" as faith is exceedingly cheap in this country, i offered him unlimited oceans of it; and at this he seemed very please, and laug

i show you all things; i lead you to the ultimate reality. the supreme stage of the highest. the infinite ultimatum. the unlimited omniscience of eternal wisdom- all this i give you if you have faith in me" as faith is exceedingly cheap in this country, i offered him unlimited oceans of it; and at this he seemed very please, and laughed "ha! ha! you make good tiger cub. you tear sheep up. all is illusion" then after a pause "de vouman" pointing to the door "is no good" and the, without further hesitation, he entered upon a veritable don juan description of his earthly adventures. this i thought strange of so sober-minded a saint, and so put to him several questions concerning the vedanta philosophy, and its most noted exponents, to see what he really did know "do you know swami vivekanand

anda" i asked. 285 ha, he replied "he no good, he my disciple, i am the master "and swami dayanand sarasvati" i continued. the same answer was vouched to me, although this latter teacher had died at the age of seventy, forty yeas ago. thinking it about time to change the conversation, i said "o thou shower from the highest! tell thy grovelling disciple what then "is" a 'lie "ha" he replied "it is illusion, this truth that has been diverged from its real point. an illusive spring in the primo-genial fermentation of 'fee-no-me-non' in this typo-cosmy apparent to the sense which you call 'de vurld" with this, and promises of oceans of blissful reality from the highest eternality of ultimate ecstasy, he bade me sit in a chair and blow alternately through my nostrils; and, if i had faith, so he

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t the changes themselves constitute stability, he is again baulked, and biddeth his men bear him to egypt. xxviii. in an egyptian temple he hath performed the bloody sacrifice, and cursed osiris. himself suffering that curse, he is still far from the attainment. xxix. in the land of egypt he performeth many miracles. but from the statue of memnon issueth the questing, and he is recalled from that illusion. xxx. upon the plains of chaldea he descendeth into the bowels of the earth, where he beholdeth the visible image of the soul of nature for the beast. yet earth belcheth him forth. xxxi. in a slum city he converseth with a rationalist. learning nothing, nor even hearing the beast, he goeth forth to cleanse himself. xxxii. seeking to imitate the beast, he goeth on all-fours, questing horri

him, though he hath heard the question and would away. but so feeble is he that he fleeth by night. xxxvi. it hath often happened to sir palamede that he is haunted by a shadow, the which he may not recognise. but at last, in a sunlit wood, this is discovered to be a certain hunchback, who doubteth whether there be at all any beast or any quest, or if the whole life of sir palamede be not a vain illusion. him, without seeing to conquer with words, he slayeth incontinent. xxxvii. in a cave by the sea, feeding on limpets androots, sir palamede abideth, sick unto death. himseemeth the beast questeth within his own bowels; he is the vii beast. standing up, that he may enjoy the reward, he findeth another answer to the riddle. yet abideth in the quest. xxxviii. sir palamede is confronted by a

lance stabs many a shining blade, his sword lays many a flower low that glittering gladdened in the glade. he wrote himself a wanton ass, and to the sea his traces laid, where many a wavelet on the glass his prowess knows. but deep and deep his futile feet in fury pass, 27 until one billow curls to leap, and flings him breathless on the shore half drowned. o fool! his god's asleep, his armour in illusion's war it self illusion, all his might and courage vain. yet ardours pour through every artery. the knight scales the himalaya's frozen sides, crowned with illimitable light, and there in constant war abides, smiting the spangles of the snow; smiting until the vernal tides of earth leap high; the steady flow of sunlight splits the icy walls: they slide, they hurl the knight below. sir pala

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4

might be able to teach him how to vaccinate himself or another; which would be after all the chief point gained. similarly the yogi says: i have arrived at a state of superconsciousness (sam dhi) and you, my friend, are not only blind, deaf and dumb, and a savage, but the son of a pig into the bargain. you are totally immersed in darkness (tamas; a child of ignorance (avidy, and the offspring of illusion (m y; as mad, insane and idiotic as those unfortunates you lock up in your asylums to convince you, as one of you yourselves has very justly remarked, that you are not all raving mad. for you consider not only one thing, which you insult by calling god, but all things, to be real; and anything which has the slightest odour of reality about it you pronounce an illusion. but, as my brother

celeration of the one already existing. now let us analyze what is meant by the worlds of the yogi when he says "as all came from god so must all return to god" the motion being, as it will be at once seen, a backward one, a slowing down of the one which already exists, until finally is reached that goal from which we originally set out by a cessation of thinking, a weakening of the vibrations of illusion until they cease to exist in equilibrium.7 52 7 "the forces of the universe are only known to us, in reality, but disturbances of equilibrium. the state of equilibrium constitutes the limit beyond which we can no longer follow them (gustave le bon "the evolution of matter" p. 94. the vedanta before we enter upon the theory and practice of yoga, it is essential that the reader should posse

s the alpha upsilon tau omicron chi alpha theta alpha upsilon tau omicron; what is the atman? that the thing which we perceive and experience is not 53 the "thing in itself" is very certain, for it is only what "we see" yet nevertheless we renounce this as being absurd, or not renouncing it, at least do not live up to our assertion; for, we name that which is a reality to a child, and a deceit or illusion to a man, an apparition or a shadow. thus, little by little, we beget a new reality upon the old reality, a new falsehood upon the old falsehood, namely, that the thing we see is "an illusion" and is not "a reality" seldom considering that the true difference between the one and the other is but the difference of name. then after a little do we begin to believe in "the illusion" as firmly

the upper holy divine united in one, and this is the foundation of the doctrine of every-thing, this is the beginning of the faith, and every-thing is concentrated therein("zohar iii" beginning of paragraph "she'meneeh" fol. 36a. 21 it is fully realized that outside the vastness of the symbol this "fall of god" is as impertinent as it is unthinkable. 22 brihad ranjaka upanishad, 2. 4. 12. 23 the illusion of thinking ourselves similar to the unity and yet separated from it. directly the seeker realizes this, a new reality is born, and the clouds of night roll back and melt away before the light of a breaking dawn, brilliant beyond all that have preceded it. destroy this consciousness, and the unknowable may become the known, or at least the unknown, in the sense of the undiscovered. thus w

icron phi alpha lambda lambda omicron sigma. for further see "the canon" p. 119. 76 manas and chittam differ as the movement of the waters of a lake differ from the water itself. 77 manas and chittam differ as the movement of the waters of a lake differ from the water itself. the atma of anthak rana has 5 sheaths, called kos'as.78 85 1. anandam y kos'a, body of bliss, is innermost. it is still an illusion. atma, buddhi and manas at most participate. 2. manom y kos'a. the illusionary thought-sheath including manas, buddhi, chittam, and ahank ra in union with one or more of the gnanendriyams. 3. vi anam y kos'a. the consciousness sheath, which consists of anthak rana in union with an organ of action of of sense- gnan- and karm- endriyam. 4. pr n m y kos'a. consists of the five airs. here we

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6 2

se. in the wheel of heaven revolving, mysteries of death and birth, in the womb of time dissolving, shape anew a heaven and earth, ever changing, ever growing, ever dwindling, ever dear, ever worth the passion glowing to distil a doubtful tear. these are with me, these are of me, these approve me, these obey, choose me, move me, fear me, love me, master of the night and day. these are real, these illusion: i am of them, false or frail, true or lasting, all is fusion in the spirit's shadow-veil, till the knowledge-lotus flowering hides the world beneath its stem; neither i, nor god life-showering, find a counterpart in them as a spirit in a vision shows a countenance of fear, laughs the looker to derision, only comes to disappear, gods and mortals, mind and matter, in the glowing bud dissev

with new names- ii. phenomena and forces- iii. blind leaders of the blind- iv. theories respecting psychic phenomena- v. the ether, or "astral light- vi. psycho-physical phenomena- vii. the elements, elementals, and elementaries- viii. some mysteries of nature- ix. cyclic phenomena- x. the inner and outer man- xi. psychological and physical marvels- xii. the "impassible chasm- xiii. realities and illusion- xiv. egyptian wisdom- xv. india the cradle of the race. vol. ii- i. the church; where is it- ii. christian crimes and heathen virtues- iii. divisions amongst the early christians- iv. oriental cosmogonies and bible-records- v. mysteries of the kabala- vi. esoteric doctrines of buddhism parodied in christianity- vii. early christian heresies and secret societies- viii. jesuitry and masonr

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ss b. imprimatur: n. fra a. a. liber tvrris vel domvs dei sub figvra xvi 0. this practice is very difficult. the student cannot hope for much success unless he have thoroughly mastered asana, and obtained much definite success in the meditation-practices of liber e and liber hhh. on the other hand, any success in this practice is of an exceedingly high character, and the student is less liable to illusion and self-deception in this than in almost any other that we make known [the meditation-practice in liber e consisted in the restraint of the mind to a single predetermined imagined object exterior to the student, simple or complex, at rest or in motion: those of liber hhh in causing the mind to pass through a predetermined series of states: the raja-yoga of the hindus is mainly an extensi

rt thou wholly and no more in part before the symbol of the beloved, though it be but a pisacha or a yantra or a deva. 35. and in all shalt thou create the infinite bliss, and the next link of the infinite chain. 36. this chain reaches from eternity to eternity, ever in triangles- is not my symbol a triangle- ever in circles- is not the symbol of the beloved a circle? therein is all progress base illusion, for every circle is alike and every triangle alike! 37. but the progress is progress, and progress is rapture, constant, dazzling, showers of light, waves of dew, flames of the hair of the great goddess, flowers of the roses that are about her neck, amen! 38. therefore lift up thyself as i am lifted up. hold thyself in as i am master to accomplish. at the end, be the end far distant as t

e on earth. now, as one who may claim to a slight acquaintance with the literature of both paths, and to have been honoured by personal exposition from the adepts of both paths, i believe that i may be able to bring them fairly into the balance. this is the magical theory, that the first departure from the infinite must be equilibrated and so corrected. so the "great magician" mayan, the maker of illusion, the creator, must be met in combat. then "if satan be divided against satan, how can his kingdom stand" both vanish: the illusion is no more. mathematically, 1(-1= 0. and this path is symbolised in the taro under the figure of the 153 magus, the card numbered 1, the first departure from 0, but referred to beth, 2, mercury, the god of wisdom, magic and truth. and this magus has the twofol

pied with things outside himself, and can correct his pride. indeed, he is constantly being corrected by nature. he, the great one, cannot run a mile in four minutes! the mystic is solitary and shut up, lacks wholesome combat. we are all schoolboys, and the football field is a perfect prophylactic of swelled head. when the mystic meets an obstacle, he "makes believe" about it. he says it is "only illusion" he has the morphino-maniac's feeling of bien-etre, the delusions of the general paralytic. he loses the power of looking any fact in the face; he feeds himself on his own imagination; he 155 persuades himself of his own attainment. if contradicted on the subject, he is cross and spiteful and cattish. if i criticise mr x, he screams, and tries to injure me behind my back; if i say that ma

persons "swollen with wind, and the rank mist they draw, rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread" as milton wrote of a less dangerous set of spiritual guides. for their unhappy followers and imitators, no words of pity suffice. the whole universe is for them but "the glass of their fool's face; only, unlike sir palamedes, they admire it. moral and spiritual narcissi, they perish in the waters of illusion. a friend of mine, a solicitor in naples, has told me strange tales of where such self-adoration ends. and the subtlety of the devil is shown particularly in the method by which such neophytes are caught by the black brothers. there is an exaggerated awe, a solemnity of diction, a vanity of archaic phrases, a false veil of holiness upon the unclean shrine. stilted affectation masquerades

ALICE A BAILEY02 INITIATION HUMAN AND SOLAR

vibrations are generated. manu. the representative name of the great being who is the ruler, primal progenitor and chief of the human race. it comes from the sanskrit root "man"-to think. manvantara. a period of activity as opposed to a period of rest, without reference to any specific length of cycle. frequently used to express a period of planetary activity and its seven races. maya. sanskrit "illusion" of the principle of form or limitation. the result of manifestation. generally used in a relative sense for phenomena or objective appearances that are created by the mind. mayavi rupa. sanskrit "illusive form" it is the body of manifestation created by the adept by an act of will for use in the three worlds. it has no material connection with the physical body. it is spiritual and ether

ALICE A BAILEY04 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE

estroy the body of an arhat; their essence makes him immortal. secret doctrine i. 35. the three fires i. the internal fire or fire by friction "there is heat internal and heat external in every atom, the breath of the father (spirit) and the breath (or heat) of the mother (matter" secret doctrine i. 112. ii. the fire of mind or solar fire. the fire of knowledge burns up all action on the plane of illusion, therefore those who have acquired it and are emancipated are called fires. secret doctrine i.114. iii. the fire of spirit or electric fire "lift up thy head, o lanoo; dost thou see one, or countless lights above thee, burning in the dark midnight sky "i sense one flame, o gurudeva; i see countless undetached sparks shining in it" secret doctrine i. 145- 7- a treatise on cosmic fire copyr

on as spirit seeks ever to liberate itself from form. the matter aspect always follows the line of least resistance, and repulses all tendency to group formation, while spirit, governed by the law of attraction, seeks ever to separate itself from matter by the method of attracting an ever more adequate type of matter in the process of distinguishing the real from the unreal, and passing from one illusion to another until the resources of matter are fully utilised. eventually the indweller of the form feels the urge, or attractive pull, of its own self. the reincarnating jiva, for instance, lost in the maze of illusion, begins in course of time to recognise (under the law of attraction) the vibration of its own ego, which stands to it as the logos of its- 81- a treatise on cosmic fire copy

attractive pull, of its own self. the reincarnating jiva, for instance, lost in the maze of illusion, begins in course of time to recognise (under the law of attraction) the vibration of its own ego, which stands to it as the logos of its- 81- a treatise on cosmic fire copyright 1998 lucis trust own system, its deity in the three worlds of experience. later, when the body egoic itself is seen as illusion, the vibration of the monad is felt, and the jiva, working under the same law, works its way back through the matter of the two planes of superhuman evolution, till it is merged in its own essence. therefore: a. the goal of the second logos is consciousness, to be achieved in co-operation with the third logos. b. his function is the building of forms to be his instruments of experience. c

rs, who have taken pupils in hand for training, and who seek to use them in world service, follow the method of imparting a fact (oft veiled in words and blinded by symbol) and then of leaving the pupil to follow his own deductions. discrimination is thereby developed, and discrimination is the main method whereby the spirit effects its liberation from the trammels of matter, and discerns between illusion and that which is veiled by it. not much can be here imparted, as the subject, if dealt with at all fully, would convey too much information to those liable to misuse it. as we know, the evolution of the centres is a slow and gradual thing, and proceeds in ordered cycles varying according to the ray of a man's monad. the life of the pilgrim can be, for purposes of discussion, divided into

aw of economy rightly understood) these three great words or phrases will be known. the knower will utter them in his own true key, thus blending his own sound with the entire volume of vibration, and thereby achieving sudden realisation of his essential identity with those who utter the words. as the sound of matter or of brahma peals forth in his ears on all the planes, he will see all forms as illusion and will be freed, knowing himself as omnipresent. as the sound of vishnu reverberates within himself, he knows himself as perfected wisdom, and distinguishes the note of his being (or that of the heavenly man in whose body he finds place) from the group notes, and knows himself as omniscient. as the note of the first or mahadeva aspect, follows upon the other two, he realises himself as

ALICE A BAILEY05 THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL

spect t ype 1. the divine..1 or 6..c. losed twelve..one of the 6 th l ivea.copyright 1998 lucis trust the light of the soul its science and effect a paraphrase of the yoga sutras of patanjali with commentary by alice a. bailey copyright 1927 by lucis trust copyright renewed 1955 by lucis trust "before the soul can see, the harmony within must be attained, and fleshly eyes be rendered blind to all illusion. before the soul can hear, the image (man) has to become as deaf to roarings as to whispers, to cries of bellowing elephants as to the silvery buzzing of the golden fire-fly. before the soul can comprehend and may remember, she must unto the silent speaker be united, just as the form to which the clay is modelled is first united with the potter's mind. for then the soul will hear, and wil

evil. 34. the peace of the chitta is also brought about by the regulation of the prana or life breath. 35. the mind can be trained to steadiness through those forms of concentration which have relation to the sense perceptions. 36. by meditation upon light and upon radiance, knowledge of the spirit can be reached and thus peace can be achieved. 37. the chitta is stabilized and rendered free from illusion as the lower nature is purified and no longer indulged. 38. peace (steadiness of the chitta) can be reached through meditation on the knowledge which dreams give. 39. peace can also be reached through concentration upon that which is dearest to the heart. 40. thus his realization extends from the infinitely small to the infinitely great, and from annu (the atom or speck) to atma (or spiri

e perceived is a thought form of one of them; the wish being father to the thought they are the victim of that form of incorrect perception called by patanjali, fancy. 2. those thought forms which are created by the race, the nation, the group or the organization. group thought forms of any kind (from the planetary form to that constructed by any band of thinkers) form the sum total of the "great illusion" herein lies a hint to the earnest aspirant. 3. that thought form created by a man since his first appearance in physical form, and called the "dweller on the threshold" being created by the lower personal self and not by the soul, it is impermanent and is simply held together by the man's lower energy. when the man begins to function as the soul this "image" he has created, through his "

yance. this is the faculty of sight upon the astral plane and is one of the lower "siddhis" or psychic powers. it is achieved through a surface sensibility of the entire "body of feeling" the emotional sheath, and is sensuous perception carried to a very advanced condition. it is misleading and, apart from its higher correspondence, which is spiritual perception, is the very apotheosis of maya or illusion. 4. symbolic vision. this is a faculty of the mental body and the factor which produces the seeing of colours, of geometrical symbols, fourth dimensional sight, and those dreams and visions which are the result of mental activity, and not of astral sight. frequently these visions have a quality of prevision. these four types of vision are the cause of wrong perception and will only produc

lusion. 4. symbolic vision. this is a faculty of the mental body and the factor which produces the seeing of colours, of geometrical symbols, fourth dimensional sight, and those dreams and visions which are the result of mental activity, and not of astral sight. frequently these visions have a quality of prevision. these four types of vision are the cause of wrong perception and will only produce illusion and error until that time when the higher forms of vision, enumerated below, supersede them. these higher forms of sight include the others. 5. pure vision. this is spoken of by patanjali in the words "the seer is pure knowledge (gnosis. though pure, he looks upon the presented idea through the medium of the mind (book ii, sutra 20) the words "pure knowledge" have been translated "pure vi

ALICE A BAILEY07 FROM INTELLECT TO INTUITION

fs at which mystics arrive are the result of reflection upon the inarticulate experience gained in the moment of insight "the first and most direct outcome of the moment of illumination is belief in the possibility of a way of knowledge which may be called revelation or insight or intuition, as contrasted with sense, reason and analysis, which are regarded as blind guides leading to the morass of illusion. closely connected with this belief is the conception of a reality behind the world of appearance and utterly different from it. this reality is regarded with an admiration often amounting to worship; it is felt to be always and everywhere close at hand, thinly veiled by the shows of sense, ready, for the receptive mind, to shine in its glory even through the apparent folly and wickedness

m is its belief in unity, and its refusal to admit opposition or division anywhere "a third mark of almost all mystical metaphysics is the denial of the reality of time. this is an outcome of the denial of division; if all is one, the distinction of past and future must be illusory "the last of the doctrines of mysticism which we have to consider is its belief that all evil is mere appearance, an illusion produced by the divisions and oppositions of the analytic intellect. mysticism does not maintain that such things as cruelty, for example, are good, but it denies that they are real: they belong to that lower world of phantoms from which we are to be liberated by the insight of the vision."1(36) but the mystical way is a preparation for the way of knowledge and where the mystic stops in a

the soul are unfolded. each vehicle through which the soul expresses itself carries latent within itself certain inherent potencies, but the soul, which is the source of them all, has them in their purest and most sublimated form. the physical eye, for instance, is the organ of physical vision. clairvoyance is the same potency demonstrating in what is regarded as the psychical world the world of illusion, of feeling and of emotion. but in the soul, this same power shows forth as pure perception, and infallible spiritual vision. the higher correspondences of the lower physical and psychical powers are brought into functioning activity through meditation, and so supersede their lower expressions. these powers unfold normally and naturally. this they do, not because they are desired and cons

tual reality we call the indwelling christ, the divine soul. man, at this point, enters into god. chapter six stages in meditation (continued) milarepa was one who eventually rid himself of the two-fold shadow and soared into spiritual space, till he attained the goal wherein all doctrines merge in at-one-ment..having all his ideas and concepts merged with the primal cause (he) had eliminated the illusion of duality. rechung (from the tibetan) we have carried our meditation work forward along what might be termed secular lines, for the use of the mind has been involved, and though the subject of the meditation process has presumably been religious, yet the same results can be equally well reached with a purely worldly theme as the "object" or "seed thought" the educating of the mind to hol

from feeling and is not interested in his own personal satisfaction, for the mind is the "common-sense" and in its highest use is dowered with the faculty of synthesis, of wholeness. he will, as dr. m ller-freienfels puts it "no longer speak of 'his' soul, but of the universal soul which manifests itself in him, and unfolds itself in him as in all other creatures, and will endure even though this illusion of individuality perishes..he will live his life as 'life, that is, as self-realization and self-completion, with the consciousness that it is not merely his own self that is being realized and perfected, but the universe, the deity, of whom this apparent self is a part."12(99- 69- from intellect to intuition copyright 1998 lucis trust personal feeling is ruled out. the aspirant masters t

ALICE A BAILEY08 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC

d a deep fatigue are characteristic very frequently of those who are on the verge of discipleship. for what is a disciple? he is one who seeks to learn a new rhythm, to enter a new field of experience, and to follow the steps of that advanced humanity who have trodden ahead of him the path, leading from darkness to light, from the unreal to the real. he has tasted the joys of life in the world of illusion and has learnt their powerlessness to satisfy and hold him. now he is in a state of transition between the new and the old states of being. he is vibrating between the condition of soul awareness and form awareness. he is "seeing double. his spiritual perception grows slowly and surely as the brain becomes capable of illumination from the soul, via the mind. as the intuition develops, the

solar angel until many cycles of incarnation have transpired. the solar pitri communicates with his "shadow" or reflection by means of the sutratma, which passes down through the bodies to a point of entrance in the physical brain, if i might so express it, but the man, as yet, cannot focus or see clearly in any direction. if he looks backward he can see only the fogs and miasmas of the planes of illusion, and fails to be interested. if he looks forward he sees a distant light which attracts him, but he cannot as yet see that which the light reveals. if he looks around, he sees but shifting forms and the cinematograph of the form side of life. if he looks within, he sees the shadows cast by the light, and becomes aware of much impedimenta which must be discarded before the light he sees in

light be achieved, and the whole body be full of light, the fire from above the triadal light the fire of the lower self, kundalini and the fire of mind, cosmic manas must meet upon the altar. in their union comes the burning away of all that hinders and the completed emancipation. c. by discrimination a faculty of the concrete mental body the lower bodies are trained in the art of distinguishing illusion from the centre of reality, the real from the unreal, the self from the not-self. then ensues, consequently, a period that must be surmounted wherein the attention of the ego is centred necessarily on the lower self and its vehicles, and wherein, therefore, the vibrations of the triad, the laws that deal with macrocosmic evolution, and the subjugation of fire for the use of the divine, ha

he teaching given in preparation for the first initiation. a list of these related situations might here be given showing them in their progressive relation on the path of evolution. 1. the relation between male and female physical bodies, called by man, the sex relation, and- 52- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust deemed of such paramount importance at this time. in the vale of illusion, the symbol oft engrosses attention and that which it represents is forgotten. in the solving of this relationship will come racial initiation, and it is with this that the race is now engrossed. 2. the relation between the astral body and the physical, which, for the majority, is the control, by the positive astral nature, of the negative automatic physical. the physical body, the instru

ve, for it is the blending of the intellect and the devotion. unity is sensed in the heart; its intelligent application to life has to be worked out through knowledge. it is of prime value to recognize the tendency of the life purpose, and to know whether the head or the heart method is the objective of any specific life. a fine spiritual discrimination is needed here however, lest the glamour of illusion tempt to the path of inertia. ponder these words with care, and see that the question is based on a true foundation and does not grow out of an- 72- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust inferiority complex, the consideration of a brother's enterprise and a consequent jealous tendency, or upon a placid complacency which negates activity. as a general rule for the average as

ALICE A BAILEY09 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME I ESOTERIC PSYCHOLOGY I

pirit and matter. 2. that man, being a synthesis (and the only complete synthesis, except the macrocosmic deity, registers a self-recognition which is potent enough today to enable him to differentiate reactions to. a. the triplicity (as the bhagavad gita calls it) of the knower, the field of knowledge, and knowledge. b. a growing realisation that the field of knowledge is but an appearance or an illusion, that knowledge itself can be a hindrance unless transmuted into wisdom. c. an evolutionary growth in responsiveness to one or other of these three, and which indicates a developing sensitivity. this is leading to a growth of interest in the knower and to a belief that this knower is the soul, one with deity, illimitable and eternal and in time and space the- 25- a treatise on the seven r

t can be posited of man can also be posited of the cosmic reality, and that just as a human appearance on earth veils both the quality and purpose (in varying degree, so does that synthesis of all forms or appearances, within that unity which we call a solar system, veil the quality and purpose of deity. it is only when man is no longer deluded by appearance and has freed himself from the veil of illusion that he arrives at a knowledge of the quality of god's consciousness and at the purpose which it is revealing. this he does in a triple way: a. he discovers his own soul, the product of the union of his father in heaven with the mother or the material nature. this last is the personality. he then, having discovered the personality- 27- a treatise on the seven rays- volume i: esoteric psyc

dom of the soul. he is torn by a sense of duality. later, he becomes identified with still another of the appearances, with the mind body or nature. thoughts become to him so tangible that he is swayed, turned and- 28- a treatise on the seven rays- volume i: esoteric psychology i copyright 1998 lucis trust influenced by them; and to the world of material appearances, and to the world of the great illusion is added the world of thought forms. he is then subjected to a triple illusion, and he, the conscious life behind the illusion, begins to unify the forms into one coordinated whole, in order the better to control them. thus the personality of the soul makes its appearance. he stands then on the verge of the probationary path. he enters the world of quality and of value, and begins to disc

at which they need. in the light of your own intuition and illumined mind (developed and brought to usefulness through meditation) take that aspect of the teaching which suits and aids you, and interpret it in the light of your own need and growth. the days of personality contact, of personality attention and of personal messages are over, and have been over for quite a while, save in the vale of illusion, on the astral plane. this is a hard message, but no true disciple will misunderstand. from the depths of his own experience and struggle he knows it to be so. it is the group of masters, the hierarchy as a whole, that is of moment and its interaction with humanity; it is the masters' group of disciples that counts, and its relation to probationary disciples on the physical plane, who are

ain i say, we are not interested in personalities and their small affairs. we have neither the time nor the inclination to interfere with the way and method of a man's daily life. why should we, when enough has been printed and taught to occupy the attention of the aspiring man for many a day? when a man is beginning to live as a soul, and when his consciousness has shifted away from the world of illusion, then he can be useful. the first lesson he has to learn is a sense of values in time and space, and to know that we work with souls and do not nurse the personality. seems this too hard a saying to you? if it is indeed so to you, it means that you are as yet somewhat self-centred and in love with your own individual soul, having not yet duly contacted it, and having but perhaps sensed it

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

ions, right living, right endeavour, right-mindedness and right concentration. he provided a structure of truth, of dogma and of doctrine which has enabled many thousands, down the centuries, to see the light. today christ and his disciples are occupied (as they have been for two thousand years) with the same task of bringing enlightenment and salvation to men; blows are being struck at the world illusion, and the minds of humanity are arriving, en masse, at an increasing clarity of thought. through the message, therefore, of the buddha, man can, for the first time, grasp the cause of his eternal discontent, of his constant distaste and dissatisfaction, and of his endless nostalgia. from the buddha he can learn that the way of release is to be found in detachment, dispassion and discrimina

way from being initiates. neither is the initiate a well-meaning devotee. he is a man who has added a sound intellectual understanding to the basic qualifications of a sound moral character and devotion. through discipline he has coordinated his lower nature, the personality, so that it is a "vessel meet for the master's use,"14 that master being his own soul. he knows that he walks in a world of illusion, but is training himself whilst doing this to walk in the light of the soul, realising that in service to his fellowmen and in forgetfulness of self he prepares himself to stand before the portal of initiation. upon that path he meets those who, like himself, are learning to be citizens of the kingdom. this has been the knowledge and the message of all true christians down the centuries

ery part of our human nature as individuals and at some distant date in humanity itself. this is the "lost word" of the masonic tradition. oriental philosophy refers frequently to four spheres of life or four problems which all disciples and aspirants have to face, and which constitute in their entirety the world in which we live. there are the world of maya, the world of glamour and the world of illusion. there is also that mysterious "dweller on the threshold" to which bulwer lytton refers in zanoni. all of these four christ met and vanquished in the desert-experience. maya refers to the world of physical forces in which we dwell, and with this the first temptation concerned itself. modern science has told us that there is nothing visible or invisible which is not energy, and that every

to the material plane, thus producing the world of glamour in which we all habitually struggle. it is by far the most potent of our delusions or mistaken orientations. but once the clear light of the soul is thrown into it, this miasma of forces is gradually dissipated- 75- from bethlehem to calvary copyright 1998 lucis trust this work constitutes the major task of all aspirants to the mysteries "illusion" is more mental in its impact. it concerns the ideas whereby we live, and the thought life which more or less (although mostly less) governs our daily undertakings. we shall see, as we take up the consideration of these three temptations, how in the first temptation christ was confronted by maya, with physical forces of such strength that the devil could take advantage of them in an effor

physical forces of such strength that the devil could take advantage of them in an effort to confound him. we shall see how in the second temptation he was tempted by glamour, and with the submergence of his vital spiritual life by a misconception and an emotional use of his divine powers. the sin of the mind, which is pride, was called into activity by the devil in the third temptation, and the illusion of temporal power to be used for right ends we may be sure was presented to him. thus the possible interior weakness of the three aspects of christ's nature was tested, and through them the vast sum total of the world maya, glamour and illusion was poured in on him. thus he was confronted with the dweller on the threshold, which is only another name for the personal lower self, regarding

ALICE A BAILEY11 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME II ESOTERIC PSYCHOLOGY II

d the emphasis. these forces constitute the lower man. the solar angel is a dual combination of energies the energy of love, and the energy of will or purpose and these are the qualities of the life thread. these two, when dominating the third energy of mind, produce the perfect man. they explain the human problem; they indicate the objective before man; they account for and explain the energy of illusion; and they point out the way of psychological unfoldment, which leads man (from the triangle of triplicity and differentiation) through duality to unity. these truths are practical and hence we find today such dominant emphasis laid upon the understanding of the plan amongst esotericists; hence likewise the work of the psychologists as they seek to interpret man and hence also their differ

personality emphasis. the soul comes forth into dense form and on the lowest plane. the self begins the part of its career which is expressed through selfishness, leading finally to an ultimate unselfishness. the separative entity begins his preparation for group realisation. a god walks on earth, veiled by the fleshly form, the desire nature and the fluidic mind. he is a prey temporarily to the illusion of the senses, and dowered with a mentality which primarily hinders and imprisons but which finally releases and liberates. there has been much written in the secret doctrine and a treatise on cosmic fire on the subject of individualisation. it can be simply defined as the process whereby forms of life in the fourth kingdom in nature arrive at: 1. conscious individuality, through experien

ple sees that all that was grasped and treasured, and then lost and removed, has been restored, but with this difference that it no longer holds the life imprisoned by desire. we are treading the way that leads to the mountain top of isolation, and will find it full of terror. upon that mountain top we must fight the final battle with the dweller on the threshold, only to find that that too is an illusion. that high point of isolation and the battle itself are only illusions and figments of unreality; they are the last stronghold of the ancient glamour, and of the great heresy of separateness. then we, the beatific ones, will eventually find ourselves merged with all that is, in love and understanding. the isolation, a necessary stage, is itself but an illusion. we are treading the way of

olled himself within that veil, and deeply hid his face. naught could be seen but that which veiled, and active motion. within the veil was latent thought. the thought reached forth 'behind this veil of maya i stand, a blessed one, but unrevealed. my energy is great, and through my mind i can display the glory of divinity. how can i, therefore, demonstrate this truth? what shall i do? i wander in illusion' the word went forth 'all is illusion, o dweller in the shadows. come forth into the light of day. display the hidden glory of the blessed one, the glory of the one and only. the glory and the truth will rapidly destroy that which has veiled the truth. the prisoner can go free. the rending of the blinding veil, the clear pronouncing of the truth, and practice right will render to the bles

e whole. renunciation of the great heresy of separativeness. the revelation of the light. true illumination. right speech through generated wisdom. ray three force manipulation through selfish desire. intelligent use of force with wrong motive. intense material and mental activity. the realisation of energy as an end in itself. longing for glory, beauty and for material objectives. submergence in illusion, glamour, and maya, leading to the manipulation of energy in order to reveal beauty and truth. the use of forces intelligently for the furtherance of the plan. ordered rhythmic activity in cooperation with the whole. desire for right revelation of divinity and light. adherence to right action- 25- a treatise on the seven rays- volume ii: esoteric psychology ii copyright 1998 lucis trust t

ALICE A BAILEY12 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME I

e presence, contact with some disciple and eventually when your life and work and discipline warrant it contact with one of the masters. record this in an impartial way, preserving the scientific attitude and seeking ever a practical explanation before accepting a mystical one. a spirit of agnosticism (not of atheism) is of real value to the beginner and preserves him from the snares of the world illusion and of lower psychism. 2. any illumination which may come to you, throwing a flood of light upon a problem and revealing the way that you or the group should go. any intuition which corroborated by the reason carries one forward into knowledge and evokes the wisdom of the soul and its registration by the brain, via the mind. 3. any telepathic happenings between you and your fellow discipl

iminated and wiped from the slate of the mind and of the memory and classed as entirely personality limitations and unworthy of hindering group integrity. this experiment, being attempted by a group within my ashram, is one in mental relations and in soul contact, with the emphasis and attention placed basically there. the astral- physical brain reactions should be regarded as non-existent and as illusion and should be allowed to lapse below the threshold of the group consciousness there to die for lack of attention. this type of group work is a new venture and unless something definitely new emerges as a result of this- 20- discipleship in the new age- volume i copyright 1998 lucis trust experiment, the time and effort are not warranted. you must not imagine that the particular line of wo

in man. the intuition is a function of the mind also and, when rightly used, it enables man to grasp reality with clarity and to see that reality free from glamour and the illusions of the three worlds. when the intuition functions in any human being, he is enabled to take direct and correct action for he is in touch with the plan, with pure and unadulterated fact and undistorted ideas free from illusion and coming direct from the divine or universal mind. the unfoldment of this faculty will bring about a world recognition of the plan and this is the greatest achievement of the intuition in this present world cycle. when that plan is sensed, there comes the realisation of the unity of all beings, of the synthesis of world evolution and of the unity of the divine objective. all life and al

at second or third hand by the ignorant which is responsible for the wasted effort and the foolish impulses which characterise the present occult and world organisations. the various groups in a master's ashram can fulfil certain functions and provide laboratories for specified work. some can provide a demonstration laboratory of the trained observers of the world and can handle world glamour and illusion. other groups can focus on the development of the telepathic faculty and become trained communicators. the objective before the hierarchy at this time is to break and dissipate the world glamour. this has to happen on a world scale just as it happens in the life of every disciple. just as a man shifts his focus of consciousness (when on the path of discipleship) on to the mental plane and

(when on the path of discipleship) on to the mental plane and learns to smash the glamour which has hitherto held him on the astral plane, so the problem before the hierarchy today is to bring about a similar happening in the life of humanity as a whole, for humanity is at the crossroads and its consciousness is being rapidly focussed on the mental plane. a death blow must be struck at the world illusion for it holds the sons of men in thrall. by learning to break through the glamour in their own lives and to live in the light of the intuition, disciples can strengthen the hands of those whose task it is to awaken the intuition in man. there are many and different kinds of glamour and disciples are frequently surprised when they learn what is regarded as glamour by the masters. i will enu

ALICE A BAILEY14 THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE CHRIST

rches are but one of the teaching avenues he will employ. all that enlightens the minds of men, all propaganda that tends to bring about right human relations, all modes of acquiring real knowledge, all methods of transmuting knowledge into wisdom and understanding, all that expands the consciousness of humanity and of all subhuman states of awareness and sensitivity, all that dispels glamour and illusion and that disrupts crystallisation and disturbs static conditions will come under the realistic activities of the hierarchy which he supervises. he will be limited by the quality and the calibre of the invocative appeal of humanity and that, in its turn, is conditioned by the attained point in evolution. in the middle ages of history and earlier, it was the churches and the schools of phil

welfare of humanity, through philanthropic and educational tendencies of all kinds and through the instinctual motherhood found everywhere. but it is essentially a group sentiency, and only in the aquarian age, and as a result of the reappearance of the christ, will its true nature reach correct understanding and the love of god be spread abroad in every human heart. of this world of glamour and illusion, christ knew much, and in himself demonstrated that true love could control it. part of the three great temptations of the christ in the wilderness was based upon the three aspects of world glamour: the illusions which the mind creates, the glamour of the emotional plane of experience and the maze of earthly circumstances. these all threatened to bewilder him; he met each of them in turn

prehended and their teachings be wrought out in the lives of men anew today, in the world of human affairs, in the realm of human thinking and in the arena of political and economic intercourse, the present world order (which is so largely disorder) can be so modified and changed that a new world order and a new race of men can gradually come into being. world glamour will be dissipated and world illusion be dispelled. within the world of glamour the world of the astral plane and of the emotions appeared, centuries ago, a point of light; the lord of light, the buddha, undertook to focus in himself the illumination which would eventually make possible the dissipation of glamour. within the world of illusion, the world of the mental plane, appeared the christ, the lord of love himself. he un

led. within the world of glamour the world of the astral plane and of the emotions appeared, centuries ago, a point of light; the lord of light, the buddha, undertook to focus in himself the illumination which would eventually make possible the dissipation of glamour. within the world of illusion, the world of the mental plane, appeared the christ, the lord of love himself. he undertook to dispel illusion by drawing to himself (by the attractive potency of love) the hearts of all men, and stated this determination in the words "i, if i be lifted up, will draw all men unto me (john xii.32) the combined work of these two great sons of god, concentrated through the world disciples and through their initiates must and will inevitably shatter illusion and dispel glamour the one by the intuitive

ncentrated through the world disciples and through their initiates must and will inevitably shatter illusion and dispel glamour the one by the intuitive recognition of reality by minds attuned to it, and the other by the pouring in of the light of the reason. the buddha made the first planetary effort to dissipate world glamour; the christ made the first planetary effort towards the dispelling of illusion. their work must now be intelligently carried forward by a humanity wise enough to recognise its duty. men are being rapidly disillusioned and will consequently see more clearly. world glamour is being steadily removed from the ways of men. those two developments have been brought about by the incoming new ideas, focussed through the world intuitives and released to the general public by

ALICE A BAILEY15 THE DESTINY OF THE NATIONS

the reaction to an increasing influence of the soul ray is ever accompanied by a breaking down period; this demonstration of destruction is, however, only temporary and preparatory. india hides the light and that light, when released upon the world and revealed to humanity, will bring about harmony in the form aspect; things will then be clearly seen as they are and will be freed from glamour and illusion; this harmonising light is sorely needed in india itself and when it has been manifested it will bring about the right functioning of the first ray of power or government. the will of the people will then be seen in the light. it is in this connection that great britain will emerge into renewed activity for her personality ray and india's soul ray are the same. many british people are sub

ALICE A BAILEY16 GLAMOUR A WORLD PROBLEM

e the direction in which they lead you and where, within the eternal plan, they fit. if aspirants will do three things: a. develop the power to visualise, b. train the mind to intuit reality, c. rightly interpret that which is seen, they can provide a demonstrating laboratory for the trained observers of the world. one of the things which the developed intuition can do is to break the glamour and illusion which invade the life. one of the things that a group of aspirants, whose intuitional interplay is established, can accomplish, is to aid in the work of smashing world glamour. such work can be done when you have awakened the intuition, and when your inter-related understanding is firm and true. the hierarchy will be able to use the world aspirants as an instrument for the breaking of gro

tion and development. we shall change the focus of attention to a deep study of glamour. herein will lie your service, for as you think truly and use your illumined intelligence (if you can achieve this, my brothers) you can help in time to do two things: 1. clarify the group mind on this subject. i refer not here to your particular group, but to the world consciousness. 2. help shatter the great illusion which has held, and still holds, the sons of men in thrall. i ask, therefore, for your service along these lines, and i request also that you give increased attention at the time of your full moon contact with myself. this group should have a special aptitude for work along the line of dispelling glamour at the period of the full moon. contact is made on the different planes according to

up, and this group makes its contact with me on the higher levels of the astral plane. hence the clarity of their reactions and the wealth of their detailed records. also, herein will lie eventually their service, for they can later (but not for some long time yet) utilise the days of contact and the "moment of entrance (as it is sometimes called) for definite work in dispelling some of the world illusion. first must come, however, aptitude in dispelling it in the personal life of each one of you. another group makes its contact with me on mental levels and therein will lie their field of service. still other groups are only as yet in an embryonic stage. their personnel is incomplete and the group integration only in process of being set up. i will, therefore, ask you to intensify your eff

disciple can be called and hence the advisability of working there in group formation. i cannot emphasise too strongly that you are to work as a group and not as individuals. three great events are immanent in the world consciousness today: 1. the growth and understanding of telepathic work- 12- glamour: a world problem copyright 1998 lucis trust 2. a comprehension and scientific investigation of illusion and world glamour. 3. an increase in the right methods of healing. if this is so, you can see how groups of disciples can constitute a contribution to the emerging revelation and how useful our consecrated service can be. i say "our" advisedly, brother of old, as i am working definitely towards these three ends as a part of my ordained (self-ordained) service. i ask for your cooperation a

st ii. the causes of glamour. iii. the dissipation of glamour. as we proceed we shall divide our subject up into greater detail, but in this instruction i only seek to get certain broad outlines into your minds so that the theme may fall into right places in your thoughts. there are four phrases which have for long been bandied about among so-called occultists and esotericists. they are: glamour, illusion, maya and the expression, the dweller on the threshold. they all stand for the same general concept or some differentiation of that concept. speaking generally, the interpretations have been as follows, and they are only partial interpretations, and are almost in the nature of distortions of the real truth, owing to the limitations of the human consciousness. glamour has oft been regarded

ALICE A BAILEY17 TELEPATHY AND THE ETHERIC VEHICLE

varies according to ray and the age of the soul. sixth ray people, for instance, are very slow in making this transition, owing to the pronounced factor of glamour; first and second ray people are relatively quick. third ray people are also slow, for they are lost in the threads of their own glamorous manipulations and their devious thinking, and hardly know where truth begins and delusion ends; illusion, which is the problem of the mental types on all rays, is far more temporary in its effects than is delusion. when the disciple has mastered to some degree the significant difference between messages from his own subconscious or the subconscious of other people with whom he may be en rapport, and the messages coming from his own soul, his life then becomes more self-directed and organised

then, as a soul, he comes under the impression of the hierarchy, the planetary heart centre, and at that point he begins to express the combined energies of the intelligence and of love; finally, on the path of initiation, he comes under the impression of shamballa, the planetary head centre, and becomes a participant in the divine purpose and an agent of the divine plan. separateness: the great illusion it is therefore literally and eternally true that the same energetic life pours through the planetary centres, into and through the three periodical vehicles of the incarnated monad, and finally into and through the three centres in the human etheric body which correspond to the three major centres of the planetary logos. there is, therefore, nowhere to be found any basis for separation o

int of separation or of essential division. any sense of separateness is due simply to ignorance and to the fact that certain energies are as yet unable to make adequate impression upon the human consciousness, functioning in time and space. the essential synthesis exists and the end is sure and inevitable; unity is attainable because unity exists and the sense of separateness is simply the great illusion. it was in order to hasten the dispelling of this great illusion of separateness in the minds of men, and to bring about the emergence of the basic existing unity, that the new world prayer was given to men and its use on a world-wide scale inaugurated. elsewhere*(12) i have told you of the origin and the impulsing of the great invocation. here i am simply placing it before you as a fitti

basis of non-separateness the use of the creative imagination is of value here. it may not give a true picture on all points, but it will convey one great reality. the reality to which i refer is that there is no possible separateness in our manifested planetary life or elsewhere for that matter, even beyond our planetary ring-pass-not. the concept of separateness, of individual isolation, is an illusion of the unillumined human mind. everything every form, every organism within all forms, all aspects of manifested life in every kingdom in nature is intimately related each to each through the planetary etheric body (of which all etheric bodies are integral parts) which substands all that is. little as it may mean, and useless as it may appear, the table at which you write, the flower you

ALICE A BAILEY18 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME III ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY

as to the basic interrelations which govern and control the phenomenal and subjective worlds- 3- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust 1. three basic statements. the statement is frequently made that astrology is an exact science but that is far from correct in spite of the many mathematical computations. astrology is based, curiously enough, upon illusion for, as well you know, the zodiac is naught but the imaginary path of the sun through the heavens, and this as it appears from the standpoint of our totally insignificant planet. the sun is not, as stated, in any sign of the zodiac. it simply appears to be so as it passes between our little sphere, the earth, and the constellations at any particular time or season. in ancient days it was

nt around which the zodiac revolves or through which the sun passes in its great cycle of approximately 25,000 years. astrologers with insight may deny that this is the commonly accepted attitude. yet for purposes of clarity and in connection with the general public the inference is permitted and accepted by the ignorant. upon this theory anent the zodiac rests very largely what we call the great illusion, and i would have you bear this in mind as you study with me the newer approaches of this greatest and oldest of all the sciences. astrology is a science which must be restored to its original beauty and truth before the world can gain a truer perspective and a more just and accurate appreciation of the divine plan, as it is expressed at this time through the wisdom of the ages. the secon

he awareness of the individual; he will then regard himself only as an integral part of a far more important whole and his world group will interest him far more than himself, as an individual. i shall not, therefore, deal with the subject of esoteric astrology from the standpoint of the horoscope at all. universal relationships, the interplay of energies, the nature of what lies behind the great illusion, the deluding "appearances of things as they are" and the destiny of our planet, of the kingdoms in nature and of humanity as a whole these will constitute the major part of our theme. it is immaterial to me whether modern astrologers accept or reject these presented ideas. i will endeavour to give you certain facts as the hierarchy recognises them; i will indicate, if i can, the subjecti

ces of things as they are" and the destiny of our planet, of the kingdoms in nature and of humanity as a whole these will constitute the major part of our theme. it is immaterial to me whether modern astrologers accept or reject these presented ideas. i will endeavour to give you certain facts as the hierarchy recognises them; i will indicate, if i can, the subjective realities of which the outer illusion is but the phenomenal appearance, conditioned by men's thoughts throughout the ages; i will emphasise the fact of the livingness of the sources from which all the energies and forces which play upon our planet flow and emanate; i will endeavour, above all else, to demonstrate to you that all-pervading unity and that underlying synthesis which is the basis of all religions and of all the m

n and exoteric aspect: in the greater cycle of man's many incarnations, he as is well recognised passes through the zodiacal circle from pisces to aries, thus retrograding through the signs as he follows the sweep or path of the sun's retrogression. this phrase has always disturbed me, but the apparent retrogression, based upon the precession of the equinoxes, is all an integral part of the great illusion. the moment a man begins to emerge out of that illusion and is no longer subject to the glamour and to the effect of the world maya, that moment the motion of the great wheel of life is reversed and he then begins (slowly and laboriously) to work in the opposite direction. he then passes through the signs from aries to pisces. he begins patiently and consciously to function as a soul stru

ALICE A BAILEY20 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME IV ESOTERIC HEALING

ed by man) may (in the last analysis) be only that partial fragment of a greater objective than he, with his finite understanding, can grasp. the whole intent, as it lies hid in the mind of god, may be very different to what man may conceive today, and cosmic evil and cosmic good, reduced to terminologies, may lose their significance altogether, and are only to be seen through the glamour and the illusion with which man surrounds all things. the best minds of this age are only just beginning to see the first dim ray of light which is piercing this glamour, and serving first of all to reveal the fact of illusion. through- 7- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iv: esoteric healing copyright 1998 lucis trust the light thus cast, the following truth may stand revealed to those who have the e

e the human family appeared on earth. if you seek verbal expression, and if you want to talk within the limits of the human mind, you can say with a measure of accuracy: god, the planetary deity, is guilty of wrong thinking. but you will not be expressing the truth, but only a tiny fraction of the cause, as it appears to your feeble finite mind, through the medium of the general world glamour and illusion. 7. from one angle, disease is a process of liberation, and the enemy of that which is static and crystallised. think not, from what i say, that therefore disease should be welcomed, and that the process of death should be cherished. were that the case, one would cultivate disease and put a premium on suicide. fortunately for humanity, the whole tendency of life is against disease, and th

he basic cosmic truth, is your mind in any way clarified? when i point out that the law of karma, rightly understood and rightly wielded, can bring that which produces happiness, good, and freedom from pain more easily than it brings pain, with its chain of consequences, do you feel able to grasp the significance of what i am saying? the world of glamour is at this time so strong and the sense of illusion so potent and vital that we fail to see these basic laws in their true significance. the law of karma is not the law of retribution, as one would surmise as one reads the current books upon the subject; that is but one aspect of the working of the law of karma. the law of cause and effect is not to be understood as we now interpret it. there is, to illustrate, a law called the law of grav

terms of finality and from their little point of view. the idea of retribution runs through much of the teaching on karma, for instance, because men seek a plausible explanation of things as they appear to be, and are themselves fond of dealing out retribution. yet there is far more general good karma than bad, little as you may think it when immersed in such a period as the present. 3. the world illusion and glamour, which prevents the average and ignorant man from seeing life as it truly is. even the advanced man and the disciples are only beginning to get a fleeting and inadequate glance. at a glorious reality. 4. uncontrolled minds and unreleased and unawakened brain cells also hinder man from correct realisation. this fact is often unrecognised. the apparatus of realisation is as yet

e pouring upwards, into the etheric body, of energies from the physical plane itself and from the outer world of forces. little attention has been paid by occult teachers to these forces which come from without, which originate upon the physical plane, and which affect the inner bodies. there are physical energy and streams of force entering into the etheric bodies of all forms, just as the world illusion and the miasmas of the astral plane oft have their causes in physical plane conditions. the energies entering into the centres of man from the subtler levels have oft been considered in occult books, but the forces which find their way into the centres from the world of physical plane life are seldom realised or discussed. this is a somewhat new thought which i offer for your consideratio

ALICE A BAILEY21 EDUCATION IN THE NEW AGE

the macrocosm, the magnitude of the problem becomes evident, and the extent of our demanded service will call forth to the utmost the powers which any human being can express at any given moment in time and space. you will note that these words "in time and space" have repeatedly recurred in this instruction. why is this? because it must constantly be remembered that we are living in the world of illusion an illusion which is temporary and transient and which will some day disappear, taking with it the illusion of appearance, the illusion of evolutionary unfoldment, the illusion of separativeness, and the illusion of distinctive identity that illusion which makes us say "i am" the educator of the future will start his service to the child with the recognition of this ephemeral and transien

en this stage has been reached, the sensitive feeling-out into the environing universe still continues. man weaves a thread which is like the thread the spider weaves so amazingly. he reaches out still further into his possible environment and then discovers an aspect of himself of which he had little dreamt in the early stages of his development. he discovers the soul and then passes through the illusion of duality. this is a necessary but not a permanent stage. it is one which characterises the aspirant of this world cycle, perhaps i should say this manvantara or world period. he seeks to merge himself with the soul, to identify himself, the conscious personality, with that overshadowing soul. it is at this point, technically speaking, that the true building of the antahkarana must be be

iousness is ripe enough in experience to relinquish the form because of the sensed benefits to be gained. this is true of individuals, of nations and of races. sensitivity to world suffering is a great and divine characteristic; when, however, it is qualified by emotion, it becomes separative in interpretation and focussed in partisanship and personalities, and thus develops into a glamour and an illusion, confusing the real issue and blinding men to the divine facts. i would remind you that the esotericist always argues from universals to particulars. this i shall always do, and thus offset the detailed point of view, the distorted foreground and the myopic vision of the student. we will study the major trends, the wide sweep of the emerging human consciousness, demanding as it ceaselessl

ALICE A BAILEY22 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME II

es. their emphasis has, in the past, been laid upon the suffering which the personality experiences and the agony through which the personality goes. but in reality and from the angle of the facts, that is not the true dark night. the real "dark night" is that of the soul as it participates in the pain of humanity as a whole, in the agony of humanity's separation from god (a separation based upon illusion but not on actuality) and upon the desperation of humanity's reaching forth towards what appears to be an unresponsive god. personality pain, agony and desperation are very different things and are not concerned with the totality of pain and suffering to which mankind is subjected. i would therefore ask you to steel your souls to endurance, knowing that the hierarchy stands; i would ask y

the idea that it is your physical limitations which prevent your realising all that truly is, in connection with your inner affiliations. but, my brothers, such a sense of loneliness is only another form of self-consciousness, of undue self-interest, and (as you make progress upon the path) you will find it disappearing. if you therefore feel lonely, you must learn to look upon it as a glamour or illusion and as a limitation which must be overcome. you must begin to act as if it were not. if only more disciples would learn the value of acting "as if" there is no time for any of you to be lonely these days, for there is no time for you to think about yourselves. the second point i made was the need for you to emphasise and develop the will. presumably, you have all been working at the task

entrate upon myself and my problems? this i am told by you not to do, and yet the dweller is the sum total of all personality holds and defects, all potencies emotional, mental and physical which limit my expression as a soul. what can i therefore do" my answer would be: you must first of all accept the fact of the dweller, and then relegate that dweller to its rightful place as part of the great illusion, the great phantasmagoria of existence and as an integral part of the life of the three worlds. you must then proceed upon your planned life service (what definite plan or plans have you, my brother) and act as if the dweller existed not, thus freeing yourself from all personality influence in due time and leaving your mind free for the task in hand. i could perhaps word it another way. w

the developing monadic inflow. these attitudes and reactions of the soul (upon its own plane of being) affect profoundly and fundamentally the personality life and produce those basic changes which evoke the vocation of the disciple. the disciple is occupied with vocation and not so much with evocation (i would call this to the attention of d.h.b. this type of evoked response is in the nature of illusion. he will know to what i am referring) 5. the danger of "imperil" as the master morya has called it. this is somewhat erroneously interpreted as irritation by the neophyte, but it is not in fact irritation in the ordinary connotation of the word. the surface ripples of ordinary irritation and the evanescent angers to which all disciples are prone are relatively of small importance. they pa

all now attempt to give you, it is no easy- 196- discipleship in the new age- volume ii copyright 1998 lucis trust matter to find the words to express the underlying idea the idea you can contact at your present point of development. this third formula concerns time and the consciousness of the spiritual man who is unaware of separation, of divisions in time and space or of the spell of the great illusion. it deals with the fact of immortality and with the unshatterable continuity of consciousness and life. it is this formula which at the third initiation produces the transfiguration which comes when the eternal now is realised and when the continuity of awareness and of identity is seen as an aspect of being. this formula has been called by one of the masters "the seed of all philosophies

ALICE A BAILEY23 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

es an animated and galvanised shell- 8- the externalisation of the hierarchy copyright 1998 lucis trust because there is in this form much emotional substance and also a certain amount of mental substance, it can make a wide appeal and its validity is such that like all shells, for instance, which are contacted in the seance room, it masquerades as myself and where the intuition is unawakened the illusion is complete and real. devotees can therefore tune in with great facility on this illusory form and be completely deceived. its vibration is of a relatively high order. its mental effect is like a beautiful parody of myself and serves to place the deluded devotees in touch with the scroll of the astral light, which is the reflection of the akashic records. these latter are the eternal scro

they must avoid the present negative methods, and instead of "sitting for development" in a blank and waiting silence, they should endeavour to work positively as souls, remaining in conscious and intelligent possession of the lower mechanism of their bodies; they must know which centre in that body they use whilst working psychically, and they must learn to look out, as souls, upon the world of illusion in which they are undertaking to work; from their high and pure position let them see clearly, hear truly and report accurately, and so serve their age and generation, and make the astral plane a familiar and well-known place of activity, accustoming mankind to a state of existence wherein are found their fellowmen, experiencing, living and following the path. i cannot here write concerni

n given to the intelligent medium and psychic should lead him to a full understanding of himself and of his powers; it should develop those powers without risk and with care, and he should be stabilised in the position of the positive controlling factor. his clairvoyant and clairaudient powers should gradually be perfected, and the right interpretation of what he sees and contacts on the plane of illusion, the astral plane, should be cultivated. thus we shall gradually find emerging in the world a large body of trained psychics whose powers are understood and who function on the astral plane with as much intelligence as they function on the physical plane, and who are preparing themselves for the expression of the higher psychic powers spiritual perception and telepathy. these people will

little more clearly what is the purpose of the new seed groups, in terms of the new age civilisation and culture so that the practical results might be visioned with clarity and some new ideals emerge as to the quality of the coming new world order. the second group, the trained observers, will inaugurate the era of light and of a free control of the astral plane, with its quality of freedom from illusion and glamour. this freedom will be brought about when "right observation" takes the place of the disturbed vision of the present, and glamour will be dissipated through the "right direction" of the light of the soul throughout the plane of illusion. the aquarian age will be predominantly the age of synthesis and light. the third group carries the initial impulse through "into the light of

group of disciples is to bring "light into dark places" and illumination into their lives. it is not my intention here to deal with the problem of glamour. with that i have concerned myself in the instructions to this group (glamour: a world problem. the task of this group of disciples is closely connected with the astral task of the hierarchy. this is, at this time, the dissipation of the world illusion. that has been its problem since atlantean times, and the climaxing of its effort is imminent and immediate. it takes the form (for all illusions take to themselves form of some kind or other) of the "pouring in of light" esoterically understood. this is an illusion and at the same time a great and significant spiritual fact. hence we have today upon the physical plane the emergence of mu

ALICE A BAILEY24 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME V THE RAYS AND THE INITIATIONS

rful deterrent factor in the progress towards emancipation of the real man. they form the opposite to what we understand by the world of the master and the two are in direct opposition to each other from the standpoint of the aspirant. the adept can enter the world of form, can contact it, work in it and remain unaffected by it because there is nothing in him to respond to it. he sees through the illusion to the reality behind and, knowing where he stands himself, there is naught in the appeal and the demand of these lunar lords to attract him. he stands midway between the pairs of opposites. in the realisation of the nature of this world of form, in a comprehension of the lives which compose it, and in an ability to hear the voice of the "formless one" above the strife of all the lower vo

ch you can hardly grasp unless at the point where the word goes forth to you: that the initiate stands alone in "isolated unity" aware of his mysterious oneness with all that is. the urge which distinguished his progress in arriving at personality-soul fusion is transmuted into fixity of intention, ability to move forward into the clear cold light of the undimmed reason, free from all glamour and illusion and having now the power to voice the three demands. this he can now do consciously and by the use of the dynamic will instead of making "application in triple form" as was the case before. this distinction is vital and significant of tremendous growth and development. the initiate has heard the word which came forth to him when he was irrevocably committed to hierarchical purpose. he has

d of kaleidoscopic figures in constant movement, into the world of meaning; it is a process of getting behind the world of effects into the world of causes, realising that one simple cause or directed movement of energy can set in motion a myriad of effects. the way of the initiate is not a complicated one, once he has grasped the fact that he must release himself from the world of seeming and of illusion and stand free in the world of light, where all stand clearly revealed. then he can begin to face the lessons and take the training which will enable him to handle energy having released himself from the control of forces and begin to direct energy in conformity with the great plan. the complexity lies in the thinking of the neophyte. the initiate knows it not. first let us clearly define

goes from strength to strength. all the time the hierarchy is aiding in his development and at the same time protecting the way from him until such time as glamour cannot reach him. this individual security of his is only reached between the time of taking the second initiation and the third. prior to that, he is still regarded as a potential hazard and as unstable. after that, he may suffer from illusion, but there is then no fear of his permanently turning back and reaching the left-hand path and so perhaps, in rare cases, finding his way into the black lodge. the major liability of the average initiate is sloth or lack of speed. ponder on that. i would have you grasp clearly the highly condensed presentation i have given you. some of it you know already but it is the synthetic presentat

sson which the group unitedly apprehends is the significance of the words that "darkness is pure spirit" this recognition, realisation, apprehensive, comprehensive (call it what you will) is so overwhelming and all-embracing that distinctions and differences disappear. the disciple realises that they are only the result of the activity of substance in its form-making capacity and are consequently illusion and non-existent, from the angle of the spirit at rest in its own centre. the only realisation left is that of pure being itself. this realisation necessarily comes to the disciple through the means of graded revelation and in balanced sequence; each contact with the initiator leads the initiate closer to the centre of pure darkness a darkness which is the very antithesis of darkness as t

ALICE BAILEY THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

-ment and knows himself to be soul in body and not soul and body, and this realization has now to color all his actions. whilst in the cradle, history relates, the lusty infant killed two serpents, again emphasizing duality. in this act he forecast the future in which he demonstrated that the physical nature no longer controlled, but that he could strangle the serpent of matter and that the great illusion no longer had him imprisoned. he slew the serpent of matter and the serpent of illusion. if the serpent symbology is studied, we shall find that three serpents are depicted: one standing for the serpent of matter, another for the serpent of illusion, and the third for the serpent of wisdom. this last serpent is only discovered when the other two have been slain [19] this sense of duality

e power to do" is the motto of taurus, and this he exemplified in his twelve labors. he symbolized leo, because he always wore the lion's skin as a proof of his courage, and the motto of that sign being "the power to dare" no danger affrighted him and no difficulty turned him back. perhaps his outstanding achievement was what he accomplished in the sign scorpio; for the great work was to overcome illusion. it was consummated and carried to completion in the sign scorpio. the motto of that sign is silence. in capricorn he becomes the initiate, and this stage is always impossible until illusion has been overcome and the power of silence has been [24] achieved. therefore, when an infant in the cradle, unable to speak, he symbolized the high water mark of his achievement by strangling the two

tion. this will be in the reverse manner to that of the apparent path of the sun (clockwise) which is begun in aries and appears then to retrograde through the signs, passing into pisces, and then to aquarius, and so on through all the intervening [30] signs, back again to aries. the man who is immersed in form and is living under the influence of the matter aspect follows necessarily the path of illusion and of appearances; but hercules, the soul, follows the true way, reverses the usual procedure and, figuratively speaking, goes against the tide. hercules, the awakened soul, is realizing the day of opportunity. he has received his instructions to undertake the twelve labors and demonstrate his capacities, and has been promised that if he fulfils the requirements he will be translated int

there begins to be felt the urge to achieve freedom from the form, to roll away the stone from the door of the sepulchre of the soul, and to stand in the liberty of the sons of god. in aries is found the impulse which leads to the building of the form, which for ages will constitute the prison house of the soul. this reaches its mass form in cancer, and its human form in leo; the densest point of illusion in form is reached in scorpio, and in pisces the form dies, only to be rebuilt again in the wearying round of form experience. but in this sign the way of liberation is first sensed, and the building of the spiritual body is begun. this is the sign of germinal spiritual activity, which later leads to the birth of the christ child, in virgo, to that of the world savior, in capricorn and in

als of swiftness, the buckler of wisdom and the sword of the spirit. thus hercules saw himself reflected in the heavens, and as he started upon the capture of the man-eating mares, he discovered in himself the guarantee of his ultimate achievement, even though at the time the difficulties with which he was faced seemed insuperable. the crux of the test the conquest of matter and the overcoming of illusion loomed large before hercules and indicated from the very outset of the twelve labors the nature of his final achievement. it has been said that the keynote of the sign aries is hope [37] and as he faced his twelve labors, hope was all the guarantee that hercules then had that he would achieve. hope, his untried divine equipment, his personal club, and much enthusiasm: so start all discipl

AN INTRO TO STUDY OF THE KABALAH

conception. ex nihilo nihil fit. all that does exist can only have come from spirit, from divine essence. that being should arise from non-being is impossible. that matter should create itself is absurd; matter cannot proceed from spirit; the two words mean that the two ideas are entirely apart; then matter cannot exist. hence it follows that what we call matter is but an aspect, a conception, an illusion, a mode of motion, a delusion of our physical senses. apart from the kabalah, the same truth has been recognised by a few exceptional christians and philosophers. what is commonly known as the "ideal theory" was promulgated 140 years ago by berkeley, bishop of cloyne in ireland; it is nearly identical with the kabalistic doctrine of all things being but emanations from a divine source, an

ANATHEMA OF ZOS

awoke him-for he had slept amidst the troughs- and he observed that the crowd were no longer with himthat only swine remained. and he guffawed and spake thus: not yet have i lost relationship and am thereby nearly asphyxiated! caught up am i in the toils of sentiment, the moral hallucinations within the ebb and flow of hopes and fears? shall age alone transmute desire? not yet have i disentangled illusion from reality: for i know not men from swine, dreams from reality; or whether i did speak only unto myself. neither know i to whom my anathema would be the more impressionable. my insensible soliloquy is eaten as revelation! what i spake with hard strived conceit to increase enterprise brings forth only swinish snorts. water is not alone in finding its level. i have not me tragedy, no, not

BELL CHRISTOPHER PAUL TSIU MARPO THE CAREER OF A TIBETAN PROTECTOR DEITY

this is the sixth chapter, which is the essential view and conduct from the heart center tantra of the lineage king of the violence demons, the king butcher, the red-razored one. chapter 7 (310.5-312.2) then [tamdrin] recited this transmitted tantra "vajra..kin.yogin.s, the gods and spirits of the haughty worldly ones, and those assembled on the circumference, while apparent414 but empty, like an illusion, they are composed by conceptual thoughts of ignorance and arrogance [311] the objects of attachment and hatred415 naturally slip away, but if the malicious violence demons, the seven riders, desire achievement because they guard the teachings, the powerful ones, confident of view, achieve the utter abandonment of compassion. if abandoning and appropriating are performed, one s own life w

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

rs of the fifth. no dwellings for the lives* pure waters, not turbid, they must drink (a. let us dry them (the waters (a) says the catechism (commentaries "it is from the material worlds that descend they, who fashion physical man at the new manvantaras. they are inferior lha (spirits, possessed of a dual body (an astral within an ethereal form. they are the fashioners and creators of our body of illusion "into the forms projected by the lha (pitris) the two letters (the monad, called also 'the double dragon) descend from the spheres of expectation* but they are like a roof with no walls, nor pillars to rest upon "man needs four flames and three fires to become one on earth, and he requires the essence of the forty-nine fires* to be perfect. it is those who have deserted the superior spher

pitris) the two letters (the monad, called also 'the double dragon) descend from the spheres of expectation* but they are like a roof with no walls, nor pillars to rest upon "man needs four flames and three fires to become one on earth, and he requires the essence of the forty-nine fires* to be perfect. it is those who have deserted the superior spheres, the gods of will* who complete the manu of illusion. for the 'double dragon' has no hold upon the mere form. it is like the breeze where there is no tree or branch to receive and harbour it. it cannot affect the form where there is no agent of transmission (manas "mind) and the form knows it not "in the highest worlds, the three are one* on earth (at first) the one becomes two. they are like the two (side) lines of a triangle that has lost

ween man and ape, goes back with undiminished breadth and depth to the tertiary period. this fact alone is enough to make its untenability clear (dr. f. pfaff, prof. of natural science in the university of erlangen[[vol. 2, page] 88 the secret doctrine. same lines from one eternity (or manvantara) to the other- ever furnishing an ascending scale for the manifested, or that which we call the great illusion (maha-maya, but plunging spirit deeper and deeper into materiality on the one hand, and then redeeming it through flesh and liberating it- this law, we say, uses for these purposes the beings from other and higher planes, men, or minds (manus, in accordance with their karmic exigencies. at this juncture, the reader is again asked to turn to the indian philosophy and religion. the esoteric

vol. 2, page] 100 the secret doctrine. its spiritual death in the scholastic interpretations of mediaeval anthropomorphists. it is the alpha and the omega of universal creative force, evolving from pure spirit and ending in gross matter. it is also the key to the cycle of science, divine and human; and he who comprehends its full meaning is for ever liberated from the toils of mahamaya, the great illusion and deceiver. the light that shines from under the divine hammer, now degraded into the mallet or gavel of the grand masters of masonic lodges, is sufficient to dissipate the darkness of any human schemes or fictions. how prophetic are the songs of the three norse goddesses, to whom the ravens of odin whisper of the past and the future, as they flutter around in their abode of crystal ben

re. 3. indriyatman, or hrishikesa. spiritual or intellectual soul (one with the senses. 5. bhutatman. the living, or life soul. 6. kshetrajna. embodied soul, or the universe of spirit and matter. 7. bhrantidarsanatah. false perception- material universe. the last name means something perceived or conceived of, owing to false and erroneous apprehension, as a material form; but, in fact, only maya, illusion, as all is in our physical universe. it is in strict analogy with its attributes in both the spiritual and material worlds, that the evolution of the dhyan chohanic essences takes place; the characteristics of the latter being reflected, in their turn, in man, collectively, and in each of his principles; every one of which contains in itself, in the same progressive order, a portion of th

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

izing the channel through which divine knowledge reaches the "ego" the discernment of good and evil "divine conscience" also; and "spiritual soul" which is the vehicle of atma "when buddhi absorbs our egotism (destroys it) with all its vikaras, avalokiteshvara becomes manifested to us, and nirvana, or mukti, is reached "mukti" being the same as nirvana, i.e, freedom from the trammels of "maya" or illusion "bodhi" is likewise the name of a particular state of trance condition, called samadhi, during which the subject reaches the culmination of spiritual knowledge. unwise are those who, in their blind and, in our age, untimely hatred of buddhism, and, by re-action, of "budhism" deny its esoteric teachings (which are those also of the brahmins, simply because the name[[vol. 1, page] xx introd

leaves inserted in old puranic mss, in correct and archaic sanskrit, of all that the pundits of col. wilford had heard from him about adam and abraham, noah and his three sons, etc, etc[[vol. 1, page] xxxii introductory. the gods of many nations. thus, though the mother of mercury (budha, thot-hermes, etc, was maia, the mother of buddha (gautama, also maya, and the mother of jesus, likewise maya (illusion, for mary is mare, the sea, the great illusion symbolically- yet these three characters have no connection, nor can they have any, since bopp, has "laid down his code of phonetic laws" in their efforts to collect together the many skeins of unwritten history, it is a bold step for our orientalists to take, to deny, a priori, everything that does not dovetail with their special conclusions

ty nowhere, for the one is the ring as also the rings that are within that ring. light in darkness and darkness in light: the 'breath which is eternal' it proceeds from without inwardly, when it is everywhere, and from within outwardly, when it is nowhere (i.e, maya* one of the centres. it expands and[[footnote(s* meaning "parentless- see farther on* esoteric philosophy, regarding as maya (or the illusion of ignorance) every finite thing, must necessarily view in the same light every intra-cosmic planet and body, as being something organised, hence finite. the expression, therefore "it proceeds from without inwardly, etc" refers in the first portion of the sentence to the dawn of the mahamanvantaric period, or the great re-evolution after one of the complete periodical dissolutions of ever

m that of the occultists; to explain which difference, however, is left to the vedantins themselves[[vol. 1, page] 18 the secret doctrine. antiphrasis as illusive and mayavic. for although the root of every atom individually and of every form collectively, is that seventh principle or the one reality, still, in its manifested phenomenal and temporary appearance, it is no better than an evanescent illusion of our senses (see, for clearer definition, addendum "gods, monads and atoms" and also "theophania "bodhisatvas and reincarnation" etc, etc) in its absoluteness, the one principle under its two aspects (of parabrahmam and mulaprakriti) is sexless, unconditioned and eternal. its periodical (manvantaric) emanation- or primal radiation- is also one, androgynous and phenomenally finite. when

it is oeaohoo the younger, the* he shines forth as the son; he is the blazing divine dragon of wisdom; the one is four, and four takes to itself three* and the union produces the sapta, in whom are the seven which become the tridasa (or the hosts and the multitudes. behold him lifting the veil and unfurling it from east to west. he shuts out the above, and leaves the below to be seen as the great illusion. he marks the places for the shining ones, and turns the upper into a shoreless sea of fire, and the one manifested into the great waters. 8. where was the germ and where was now darkness? where is the spirit of the flame that burns in thy lamp, oh lanoo? the germ is that, and that is light, the white brilliant son of the dark hidden father. 9. light is cold flame, and flame is fire, and

BLUE EQUINOX

. they have mouthed the golden spangles of fine dust wherewith thou didst bedeck thine hair; they have scourged the painted flesh of thee with their whips; thou hast suffered unspeakable things. 9. but i have burnt within thee as a pure flame without oil. in the midnight i was brighter than the moon; in the daytime i exceeded utterly the sun; in the byways of thy being i flamed, and dispelled the illusion. 10. therefore thou art wholly pure before me; therefore thou art my virgin unto eternity. 11. therefore i love thee with surpassing love; therefore they that despise thee shall adore thee. 12. thou shalt be lovely and pitiful toward them; thou shalt heal them of the unutterable evil. 13. they shall change in their destruction, even as two dark stars that crash together in the abyss, and

erfection proper to it, and to neglect the full operation and function of any one part bringeth distortion and degeneration to the whole. act therefore in all ways, but transforming the effect of all these ways to the one way of the will. and this is possible, because all ways are in actual truth one way, the universe being itself one and one only, and its appearance as multiplicity that cardinal illusion which it is the very object of love to dissipate. liber cl 113 in the achievement of love are two principles, that of mastering, and that of yielding. but the nature of these is hard to explain, for they are subtle, and are best taught by love himself in the course of the operations. but it is to be said generally that the choice of one formula or the other is automatic, being the work of

existence. the equinox 116 and here must you resolve your self to make the mightiest endeavours: for so flowered are the meadows of this eden, and so sweet the fruit of its orchards, that you will love to linger among them, and to take delight in sloth and dalliance therein. therefore i write to you with energy that these enjoyments are dependent upon duality, so that their true name is sorrow of illusion, like that of the normal life of man, which you have set out to transcend. be it according to your will, but learn this, that (as it is written) they only are happy who have desired the unattainable. it is then best, ultimately, if it be your will to find alway your chiefest pleasure in love, that is, in conquest, and in death, that is, in surrender, as i have written to you already. thus

ancillary. thus the buddha bade his disciples to meditate upon ten impurities, that is, upon ten cases of death or decomposition, so that the aspirant, identifying himself with his own corpse in all these imagined forms, might lose the natural horror, loathing, fear or disgust which he might have had for them. know this, that every idea of every sort becomes unreal, phantastic, and most manifest illusion, if it be subjected to persistent investigation, with concentration. and this is particularly easy to attain in the case of all bodily impressions, because all material things, and especially those of which we are first conscious, namely, our own bodies, are the grossest and most unnatural of all falsities. for there is in us all, latent, that light wherein no error may endure, and it alr

beyond all proof that you can never die: that though you change, change is part of your own nature: the great enemy is become the great ally. and now, rooted in this perfection, your self become the very tree of life, you have a fulcrum for your lever: you are ready to understand that this pulsation of unity is itself duality, and therefore, in the highest and most sacred sense, still sorrow and illusion; which, having comprehended, aspire yet again, even unto the fourth of the gifts of the law, unto the end of the path, even unto light. iv of light i pray you, be patient with me in that which i shall right concerning light: for here is a difficulty, ever increasing, in the use of words. moreover, i am myself carried away constantly and overwhelmed by the sublimity of this matter, so that

BOOK T

ry, but neutralized by the supineness of the person: illusionary success, deception in the moment of apparent victory. lying, error, promises unfulfilled. drunkenness, wrath, vanity. lust, fornication, violence against women, selfish dissipation, deception in love and friendship. often success gained, but not followed up. modified as usual by dignity. netzach of hb:h (lying, promises unfulfilled; illusion, deception, error; slight success at outset, not retained. herein the angels hb:mlhal and hb:chhvyh rule. book t page 16 of 26 http//www.private.org.il/gd/book-t.html 13/10/2002 xxxiii. the lord of swiftness eight of wands or torches four white radiating angelic hands (two proceeding from each side) issuant from clouds; clasped in two pairs in the centre with the grip of the first order

BOOK OF PLEASURE

ious, it is not fulfilled, no, not in this life. then verily sleep is better than prayer. quiescence is hidden desire, a form of "not asking; by it the female obtains much from man. utilize prayer (if you must pray) as a means of exhaustion, and by that you will obtain your desire. some do much to show the similarity of different religions; certainly by it i prove the possibility of a fundamental illusion, but that they never realise-or this ukase they are the mockery, for how much they regret! they suffer more conflict than the unenlightened. with what they can identify their own delusion of fear they call truth. they never see this similarity and the quintessence of religions, their own poverty of imagination and religion's palliation. better is it to show the essential difference of rel

liation. better is it to show the essential difference of religions. it is as well to know that various means; is not their object to deceive and govern? surely then, for the attainment of the transcendental, god and religion should have no place. some praise truth so-called, but give it many containers; forgetting its dependence they prove its relationship and paradox, the song of experience and illusion. paradox is not "truth, but the truth that anything can be true for a time. what supersedes paradox and its implicit("not necessary, i will make the foundation of my teaching. let us determine the deliberative "the truth" cannot be divided. self-love only cannot be denied and is self-love as such when paradoxical, under any condition, hence it alone is truth, without accessories complete

sm of the workings of our mind, etc*(2) the symbol of justice known to the romans is not symbolic of divine, or our justice, at least not necessarily or usually. the vitality is not exactly like water-nor are we trees; more like ourselves, which might incidentally include trees somewhere unlearnt-much more obvious in our workings at present. others say knowledge only is eternal, it is the eternal illusion of learning-the ukase of learning what we already know. directly we ask ourselves "how" we induce stupidity; without this conception what is there we could not know and accomplish? others for concentration, it will not free you, the mind conceiving the law is bondage. arrived at that, you will want deconcentration. dissociation from all ideas but one is not release but imaginative fulfilm

ot release but imaginative fulfilment, or the fury of creation. others again, that all things are emanations of the divine spirit, as rays from the sun, hence the need of emancipation? verily, things are of necessity through their conception and belief. then let us destroy or change conception, and empty the belief. these and many other doctrines, are declared by me as the perpetuators of sin and illusion. each and all depending on a muddled implication, obscuring, yet evolved from the duality of the consciousness for their enjoyment. in fear they would vomit hot blood were they to see the fruits of their actions and pleasures. thus believing in widely different doctrines, they are of the dual principle, necessary parasites on each other. like drugs and the surgeon's knife, they only annul

cessity slavery! duality is the law, realization by suffering, relates and opposes by units of time. ecstasy for any length of time is difficult to obtain, and laboured heavily for. various degrees of misery alternating with gusts of pleasure and emotions less anxious, would seem the condition of consciousness and existence. duality in some form or another is consciousness as existence. it is the illusion of time, size, entity, etc.-the world's limit. the dual principle is the quintessence of all experience, no ramification has enlarged its early simplicity, but is only its repetition, modification or complexity, never is its evolution complete. it cannot go further than the experience of self-so returns and unites again and again, ever an anti-climax. for ever retrogressing to its origina

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

god. here the reader is first admonished that to not believe in witchcraft is heresy. points are then covered on whether children can he generated by incubi and succubi; witches' copulation with the devil; whether witches can sway the minds of men to love or hatred; whether witches can hebetate the powers of generation or obstruct the venereal act; whether witches may work some presti-digitatory illusion so that the male organ appears to be entirely removed and separate from the body; various ways that the witches may kill the child conceived in the womb, etc, etc. the second part, treating of the methods by which works of witchcraft are wrought and directed, and how they may be successfully annulled and dissolved' deals with 'the several methods by which devils through witches entice and

and without the danger? the magick i will deal with in this book, although quite as effective as any other, is safe. you cannot get hurt. but what, exactly, is "magick? it is one of those words that have different connotations for different people. first of all i am not talking about stage "magic" conjuring, or prestidigitation. pulling rabbits out of hats and sawing young ladies in half is pure illusion. indeed, to differentiate between this and other true magick, that of witchcraft and the occult world is spelled with a final "k" magick the old spelling. magick 155 never do magick "just to see if it works" it probably won't or just to prove to someone that it does. do it only when there is a real need. it is hard work when you do it properly. 156/ buckland's complete book of witchcraft

CASE PAUL F THE BOOK OF TOKENS

he other, but together they exist from everlasting to everlasting. 3 mine inferior nature is the universal substance, the divine mirror wherein i, who dwell at the heart of all things, am reflected to myself. to the uninstructed, therefore, who mistake the reflection for that which is reflected, my secondary nature seemeth to be more interior than the primal will. this error may be likened to the illusion which ariseth when one seeth a room reflected in a glass, and thinketh he seeth the room itself. for though what presenteth itself in the mirror of wisdom is internal, the medium of reflection hath its place in the without, in the realm of secondary and created things [32] g i m e l 4 as the substance whence all forms arise, the vehicle of my divine essence, mine inferior nature is to the

hom the light of my wisdom hath not yet dawned. from their delusion springeth a false desire, and from that false desire is generated unrighteous action. yet nothing is performed save by my power, and i am the real actor in these deluded ones, as truly as in any sage. from the fires of pain and suffering kindled by their ignorance, in my good time shall they come forth. cleansed from the dross of illusion, resplendent images of my golden self [44] d a l e t h 9 my creative power is the projection of myself, and produceth the semblance of another; but know, o israel, that besides me there is none other. i only am the knower and the actor, the one i am, whether alone and unmanifest, or appearing in the multiplicity of created things. 10 the primal force of mine ideas dwelleth continually in

existeth alone; all things are in combination. manifestation requireth the appearance of separate parts. when i show forth my power, what i bring into existence must seem other than myself [65] t h e book o f t o k e n s and because i am wholly free, i present myself to myself in an endless variety of forms. yet is the seeming isolation of class and kind, the separateness of creatures, naught but illusion which deludeth me not, nor are they by it deceived in whom my wisdom has ripened. 3 unfathomed and unfathomable is the great deep of mine interior nature. in the unplumbed abyss of the no-thing mine eternal will ariseth, and by the rising of that will the no-thing cometh forth into the appearance of something. 4 that will is the small point of all beginning, and its coming forth is a sear

ost essence, and where i am, there must truth and right abide. take heed lest thou despise the forms thou understandest not. every vessel of life is an aspect of me, the most high. 3 the strife, the quarrels, the contentions that thou witnessest day by day are the play of the light and darkness which i am [107] t h e book of t o k e n s all sense of effort, all semblance of exertion know these as illusion, and with thy mind's eye see me entering into all. know me thus as the conciliating intelligence, which rewardeth those who seek; and know, too, that whatsoever a man seeketh, he desireth me. of my beneficence i give freely to every one that seeketh, and from me cometh the victory which they win who gain to knowledge of secret things. this victory cometh during the sleep of the body, and

ng through the twelve tribes of heaven, and spreading their power through the tree of life, to make all things new. yet does every beam of that sun cast a shadow also, for in all creation are light and darkness mixed, and, their equilibrium is the mystery of mystery. one, and not two, is the beginning and end of all; but two are the aspects it presenteth to mankind, because men are subject to the illusion of duality. 6 i, the lord, destroy with darkness, but with darkness do i also create. the wise discern this. fools, deluded by outward appearance, create a demon out of the web of their folly. in the last day shall the demon be cast into a lake of fire; but to each man there is appointed a last day, and none knoweth the time save he who hath appointed it [149] t h e book of t o k e n s 7

CASSANDRA EASON A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

be even greater on the sender than on the intended recipient. you must also ensure that you cannot harm anyone in the process of getting what you want. if you do spells for revenge, then the effects will rebound on you threefold. effort and will-power magick is not like the magic a conjuror uses to bring a rabbit out of a hat: that kind of magic is just a trick, which relies merely on the art of illusion. white magick is much more than that. it is intensely exciting because it means that we can extend the boundaries of possibility, recalling the psychic powers of childhood when we could span dimensions as easily as jumping across a puddle. we can increase our personal magnetism to attract love and luck and regenerate the innate healing abilities both of the human body and the planet. what

the entire heavens. he was frequently associated with the morning aspect of ra, the sun god, and worshipped as re-harakhte. the son of isis and osiris, he is often depicted as an infant on his mother's lap and together the parents and child form a trinity. horus brings clarity of mind and purpose and the ability to seize upon an opportunity, and is effective for uncovering secrets, deception and illusion. lugh lugh, the celtic 'shining one, who gives his name to lughnassadh, celtic festival of the first harvest, was the young solar deity who replaced the dagda, father of the gods, as supreme king. he was associated with sacrifice, as the sun king who was reborn each year at either the mid-winter solstice or the spring equinox. legend has it that when lugh arrived to join the tuatha de dan

CHIREAU YVONNE BLACK MAGIC RELIGION AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONJURING TRADITION

tsiders, inhabitants of the fringes, dwelling within a cultural demimonde. speaking of a well known conjure practitioner in antebellum tennessee, one slave\ 24\ observed "she ain't got father nor mother, an f nobody don't know whar she come from nor what she's a-goin f to" social marginality allowed some practitioners to accumulate material wealth from their professions.or to at least achieve the illusion of having done so. in the post-emancipation period some african american practitioners mastered the commodification of the supernatural arts, accepting monetary remuneration and even becoming self-reliant spiritual entrepreneurs in the freedperson's community. in virginia a student at the hampton black magic page 17 of 144 http//content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docid=kt600020q0&chunk.id=0&doc.v

CHRONOLOGIA RORISPERGIUS

569 mercator's 1569 polar map. 1571-1640 sadr al-din shirazi(mulla sadra) iranian sufi transcendent philosophy (al-hikmat al-muta`aliyah)continues suhrawardi's theosophy of light 1572 isaak luria dies 1572 tycho brahe de nova stella. 1573 john dee de stella admiranda, in cassiopeae asterismo. 1574-1637 robert fludd "therefore this, too, is the work of an authentic alchemist to separate truth from illusion, that is good from evil and to deliver christ from matter" 1574 peter perna prints the collected works of paracelsus in latin 1575-1625 jacob boehme 1575 arbatel of magic first appears 1577-1638 christoph besold. proto-rosicrucian professor of law. had detailed knowledge of islamic culture and philosophy. read arabic and hebrew. also had knowledge of the humanists and neoplatonists of the

DARK GODS

s is by its nature partly acausal these entities can become manifest for us if we possess the keys to reach the appropriate levels of consciousness. what is termed the `abyss' separates our everyday consciousness from the consciousness (and thus apprehension) of the dark gods. the ordeal of the abyss involves confronting these entities and accepting them for what they are, that is, unbound by our illusion of opposites and the conflict of `good' and `evil. while it is convenient to regard the dark gods as merely symbols that re-present the energies of the acausal as a projection of our own consciousness upon chaos itself it is equally possible to regard them as physically existing in themselves. which of these (or neither of them) is correct, the adept discovers during the ordeal of the aby

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

son, artist neil hague and book designer, sam masters, who has designed all the books that have followed. it was a challenge to do it all from scratch, but what satisfaction it has brought with the years. in terms of the 'this world' level of the global conspiracy it is still the most important book i have written and will probably continue to be so until the day i leave this realm of manipulated illusion. in the decade that has followed, the themes and predictions of and the truth have proved to mirror the events that have unfolded across the world. this has included the blatant use of 'modified hegelianism, or 'problem-reaction-solution' as i call it, to covertly create a problem to which the authorities can openly offer a 'solution- changes in society to advance the global big brother

independence was the first in a series of 'people's revolutions, created and financed by the brotherhood. the plan was to end the power of the monarchs. i do not oppose this if it is done peacefully and with genuine popular support. but instead of 'power to the people, the monarchs were replaced by other dictatorships, called revolutionary committees, communists, fascists or, more subtly, by the illusion of 'democracy, which in reality was and is rule by the elite. let us summarise where we are. a pyramidal structure of human beings has been created under the influence and design of the negative manipulators on the fourth dimension, the prison warders. they control the human clique at the top of the pyramid, which i have dubbed the global elite. these, in turn, manipulate the lower levels

dia, you can largely control (a) who gets to the top in political parties and (b) whom the people elect into government. you give financial backing and use the secret society network within all political parties to manipulate your choice to the top; you activate your (controlled) media to advance the popularity of the one you want to win at election time, and to undermine his or her opponent. the illusion which is laughingly called democracy is a wonderful vehicle for the illuminati/global elite. it was their creation and the last thing you can call it is democratic. the french revolution of 1789 was an illuminati coup d'etat, the methods of which have been repeated over and over to replace undemocratic monarchies with undemocratic 'people's parliaments. the only real difference between th

me will arrive when the desire for a say in a country's affairs will grow within the people and forms of democracy will be demanded. the people living under a dictator, in other 48..and the truth shall set you free words, know they are living under a dictator and eventually they will rebel. the system that replaced the monarchies, the 'phoney democracies' as i call them, were designed to give the illusion of 'people power' while structuring the system to ensure that the few could run the entire show. by manipulating events and elections via direct intervention, corruption, or media power, the elite could pretty much be sure that their choices became the presidents, prime ministers, and the leading names in governments. people ask why those who get to the top in politics around the world ar

hesis: the united nations and the european community. the 'cold war' between capitalism and communism is leading to another synthesis following the elite-inspired 'people's revolutions' throughout the former soviet union. people have been sold the line that political beliefs can be expressed at one extreme by communism (the far left) and at the other by fascism (the far right. this is part of the illusion to hide from us what is really going on. fascism and communism are not opposites; they are from rhodes to ruin 65 merely promoted as such. both involve central control by a tiny elite. the political spectrum is really freedom of expression, thought, and lifestyle at one end and authoritarianism (fascism/marxism-leninism) at the other. yet we have people who are marxists attacking fascists

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

have reported seeing entities "disappear" before their eyes. they have not, in fact "disappeared" at all. they have left the frequency range that person can access. credo mutwa told me that the african accounts of the nordic mzungu say they hold some type of metal ball that seems to be related to their ability to appear and disappear at will (see picture section. time as we measure it is also an illusion that imprisons our minds. i know how hard it is to comprehend this, but past, present, and future, are all happening together and thus some of the extraterrestrial visitors, by moving through the frequencies in which these various "stages" of "time" are unfolding, can literally come back from the future, or the "future" in relation to where we are now. time travel is no myth; it's just th

amily and its networks, continue to control some 80% of the south african stock market, own the diamond and gold mines on which the economy depends, and control the media through their frontmen, not least an irishman friend of robert mugabe and henry kissinger called tony o'reilly. isn't freedom just wonderful? and this has happened everywhere as the same forces have remained in control since the illusion of "independence. but look at the south african experience. under the overt dictatorship with apartheid there was widespread rebellion inside and outside the country. but now, under covert dictatorship..silence. everyone thinks south africa is now free and "independent. so you see that the "hidden hand" method is by far the most effective way of controlling people and dictating events. th

ca (reality marketing, las vegas, 1995. i have told cathy's story at length in my previous books and i will elaborate on the mind control programmes later in this one. understandably, cathy believed her reptilian experiences with leading figures in the united states to be part of her mind control. however, as you will see with the evidence i shall present, what she saw and heard was not quite the illusion she thought it to be. she described how many leading us politicians she worked for in her mind-controlled state appeared to take a reptilian form before her eyes and then return to "human. these included president george bush, father of president george "dubya, of the anunnaki/merovingian bloodline. father george told her they were an extraterrestrial race that had taken over the world, b

, they fluctuated between a human and iguana appearance through chameleon-like abilities 'a perfect vehicle for transforming into world leaders' de la madrid claimed to have mayan/alien ancestry in his blood, whereby he transformed 'back into an iguana at will' de la madrid produced a hologram similar to the one bush did in his..initiation. his hologram of lizard-like tongue and eyes produced the illusion that he was transforming into an iguana."1 132 t the shape-shifters 133 remember that the mayans say the first settlers of the yucatan in mexico were the chanes or "people of the serpent. they were led by the god itzamna, a name that apparently comes from the word itzem, which translates as lizard or reptile. the sacred city of itzamna, therefore, means "the place of the lizard" or "iguan

o lift the veil from the face of the serpent, able to send him back to his place. came they to man and taught him the secret, the word that only a man can pronounce; swift then they lifted the veil from the serpent and cast him forth from place among men" i have learned from a number of sources that the key to lifting this "veil from the face of the serpent" is a sound frequency that disrobes the illusion of human form to reveal their reptilian nature. it resonates a vibration that prevents them from holding their "human" codes open. this same theme can be found in the movie, they live, the creation of director, john carpenter. if you follow his movie-making career it is obvious that this guy knows the score. they live,9 which i thoroughly recommend to get a visual feel for what i am sayin

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

b, which is believed tobe an arab work much older than the rest of the bible, the question is asked: whencecometh the ice? i would say we could have the answer. this further explains how theancients could have had maps of what the north and south poles looked like before theice was there. the poles were ice-free until about 7,000 years ago. there was no ice ageas officially suggested. its another illusion. when you look at the evidence thatofficial science presents to support the conventional idea of an ice age and the way thisevidence is fundamentally contradicted by the provable facts, it is astonishing howsuch nonsense could become conventional truth in the first place.22 before thisincredible cataclysm, and/or one of the others, the earth had a uniform tropical climate,as fossilised pl

an ancient site mentioned in the domesday book at the time of williamthe conqueror in the 11th century and it has a reputation for satanism. the lady whospoke to me was taking her dog for a walk across the land at dusk in the early 1970s whenshe saw a figure in a long red robe. when he lifted his head, she saw that his face was thatof a lizard. she obviously thought she was crazy, but this was no illusion, she said. thelizard was very real and very physical, not an apparition. she is very psychic and shelater began to see people either transform into lizards before her eyes or be overshadowedby them in exactly the way described by the american psychic. if you look in the picturesection you will see an artists impression of what she sees with her psychic sight andmany others have described

ther abominations that would take your breath away. yes, i am talkingabout some of the biggest royal, political, business, banking and media names on theplanet. people like henry kissinger, george bush, the british royal family and manyother presidents, prime ministers and members of royalty. fantastic? of course it is, butsince when did the truth not sound fantastic in a world of such denial and illusion?three of the principle elements of the babylonian religion were fire, serpents and thesun. i should explain their focus on the sun because it is a vital part of the story. most55of the global population worshipped the sun for its obvious gifts of heat and light and theeffect this had on their crops and well-being. however, within the hierarchy of the babylonbrotherhood and other elite gro

y (backside. its very vampire, worsethan vampire. they are not going to come to you with hooked teeth and suck youre blood.fear is their food, they can actually take fear and manifest it into a tangible thing. the keyis the vibrational current. at that vibrational current, they can manifest anything fromanything. its like a holographic image. we are all minerals and water vibrating. this is allan illusion we are living in. thats the secret. you know when the monarchys fauen, its notthe end of it. they will manifest in another form. the reptiles have never been defeatedand this is the closest they have come to it. the reason they are so threatened today isbecause the earth is in such trouble and the mental power of people is returning. this istheir most frightening time, but this is not goi

d tothem by their world government.486thats the reason for the ufo scam. problem-reaction-solution. the extra-terrestrials are not invading they are already here and they are the ones, operatingthrough physical bodies, who will offer to save us! the ufo investigator and lecturernono hayakawa says this plan is called project panic and that high technologyequipment will be used to create an optical illusion of a ufo invasion. this will givegovernments and the united nations the excuse to call a global state of emergency andall those emergency powers and executive orders will be implemented. the y2kcomputer virus, which is predicted to bring chaos across the millennium, is anothermanipulated problem with this in mind. as i detailed earlier, the executive orderspassed this century by president

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

he interpretation and eventual publication of many classic grimoires (q.v) of ceremonial magick (q.v) including the sacred magic of abramelin the mage, the greater key of solomon the king, the goetia of the lesser keys of solomon the king, and the armadel of magic. additionally, s.l. mathers translated portions of the zohar and commentaries upon the kabbalah entitled, the kabbalah unveiled. maya: illusion. a sanskrit word which does not mean, as many people believe, that the world is an illusion. actually, it means that our interpretation of the world around us is an illusion. the world is not totally what we perceive it to be. meditation: 1) the act of quieting the small voice of the conscious so that you can commune with your higher self and the universe. 2) the act of turning the mind i

h sephirah (q.v) on the tree of life (q.v. neptune: the eighth planet of the terran solar system. in astrology (q.v, the planet named after the greek god who served as the lord of the ocean and seas. attributed as being the ruler of the zodiac (q.v) sign pisces (q.v. on the tree of life (q.v) within the kabbalah (q.v) attributed to the first sephirah (q.v) kether (q.v. keywords include: idealism, illusion, spiritual, drugs, alcohol, confusion, deceit, elusive, astral plane, psychic, charlatans, impressionable, wishful thinker, false, occult, escape, mystic, dreams, visions, lacks substance, gaseous, diffuse, foggy, vicarious, spell, self delusion. neschamah: the intuition. corresponds with the third sephirah (q.v) of the tree of life (q.v. netzach: victory. the seventh sephirah (q.v) on th

ngly, critically. virtues, occult: the magickal potency of efficacy of herbs, stones, beasts, and other things impressed upon them through the stars at the time of their creation by the heavenly intelligences (q.v. visualize: the process of forming a visualization (q.v. to form a mental image. the important factor for success in this is the knowledge that the image is to be mental, not an optical illusion. it can however seem to be optically visible. visualization: 1) seeing an image in the mind's eye. this is a willed image, and should not be confused with an hallucination, which is an unwilled picture in the mind's eye. 2) the practice of imagining a place, person, thing, or event with unusual clarity and intensity. often it is done in a ritual context and reinforced by repetition. visua

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

e and interpenetrate the whole creation; a centre of radiation to whose influence no limit is set save that of its own dynamism, and which maintains its identity as a nucleus of energy. 27. the spiritual experience assigned to kether is said to be union with god. this is the end and aim of all mystical experience, and if we look for any other goal we are as those who build a house in the world of illusion. anything that holds him back from the straight path to this goal is felt by the mystic to be a bond that binds, and as such to be broken all that holds consciousness to form, all desires other than the one desire-these are to him evils, and from the standpoint of his philosophy he is right, and to act otherwise would invalidate his technique. 28. but this is not the only test which the m

e victims of what they call the caprices of chance. they are unable to discern subtle conditions, nor can they work out the line that primary impulses will follow, or can be made to follow, when these are coming down, or being brought down, into manifestation. 11. the occultist who does not possess the initiation of chesed will be limited in his function to the sphere of yesod, the plane of maya, illusion. for him the astral images reflected in the magic mirror of subconsciousness will be actualities; he will make no attempt to translate them into terms of a higher plane and learn what they really represent. he will have made himself a dwelling in the sphere of illusion, and he will be deluded by the phantasms of his own unconscious projection. if he were able to function in terms of chese

ng to the influence of the experience of their outward manifestations in the kingdom of form. or, in the language of the qabalists, the influence of the fall is felt by them, and they have lost their innocency. 8. these considerations give us an insight into the nature of the quaternary of the planes of form, and enable us to tread the middle way between credulity and scepticism in this sphere of illusion, as it has somewhat unkindly been called. 9. the great tide of evolving life, which issued as an emanation from tiphareth, is broken up in the sephirab netzach as by a prism into many-rayed manifestation; whence comes the [page 218] yetziratic description of this sephirah as "the refulgent splendour" in hod these multifarious forces are clothed upon with form; and in yesod they act as eth

ions of culture to reduce the many to the one. 11. this brings us to the great question, which might almost be called the dweller on the threshold of occult science, the horror which confronts every adventurer into the unseen which unites in itself the functions of the sphinx, and asks a question of the soul upon the answer to which hangs his fate. shall he be condemned to wander in the realms of illusion? shall he be turned back on to the planes of form, or shall he he permitted to pass on into the light? this question is, do you believe in the gods? if he answers yes, he will he a wanderer in the planes of illusion, for the gods are not real persons as we understand personality. if he answers no, he will be rurned back at the gate, for the gods are not illusions. what then shall he answe

e like the armies with banners that can be seen in the sunset clouds. in hod, however, individualisation into units has taken place, and there is continuity of existence. all mind is group-mind in netzach, but in hod the human mind has its beginnings. 2. let us now consider netzach itself, both in its microcosmic and macrocosmic aspects, bearing constantly in mind that we are now in the sphere of illusion, and that what is about to be described in terms of form are appearances as represented by the intellect to itself and projected back into the astral light as thought-forms. this is a very important point, and should be thoroughly understood in order to avoid falling into superstition. everything that is perceived by the "eyes of the intellect and the contemplations of faith" as the yetzi

DION FORTUNE PSYCHIC SELF DEFENSE

l be my task in these pages not only to indicate the methods of occult defence, but also to show the methods of differential diagnosis. it is very necessary, with so much occult knowledge about, that people should know an occult attack when they see it. these things are much more common than is generally realised. the recent tragedy in iona gives point to this assertion. no occultist is under any illusion as to that death being from natural causes. in my own experience i have known of similar deaths. in my novel, the secrets of dr. taverner, there were presented, under the guise of fiction, a number of cases illustrative of the hypotheses of occult science. some of these stories were built up to show the operation of the invisible forces; others were drawn from actual cases; and some of th

d, lord of heaven and earth, and of all that in them is, both visible and invisible, that thou mayest stretch forth the right hand of thy power upon these creatures of the elements and hallow them in thy holy name. grant that this salt may make for health of body and this water for health of soul, and that there may be banished from the place where they are used every power of adversity and every illusion and artifice of evil, for the sake of jesus christ our saviour. amen" the water thus consecrated may be used as a bath, or for making the sign of cross upon the forehead, or for sprinkling about a place. when thus using it, the following prayer may be employed "in the name which is above every other name, and in the power of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost, i exorcise all

DONALDTYSON UFO

uzzy blob is usually moving, or has the false appearance of motion due to movements applied to the camera during filming. sometimes it can be identified conjecturally as a natural object, such as light reflected from a cloud, or the orb of the moon reflected in a body of water or from a refraction layer in the atmosphere, or as the planet venus (an ever-popular ufo. these things give a convincing illusion of motion when filmed from a moving car or plane. when the fuzzy blob cannot be identified, it survives as a visual record of a ufo, in the literal sense of the term. ufo "fuzzies" may also be generated by light artifacts or defects within the mechanism of the still or movie camera. possible causes are incorrect focus, reflections from glass elements in the camera's compound lens, light i

EMPERORS NEW RELIGION CHURCH OF SATAN

e famous circus showman p. t. barnum s formula for success was: always have a little something for everybody. the so-called barnum effect, named after p. t. barnum and his methods, takes advantage of the fact that when a person is confronted with an analysis or description where many views are presented and both sides of each view are presented, the person perceives an apparent accuracy. it is an illusion based on the fallacy of positive instances, in which a person remembers the instances that confirm his or her expectations and forgets the rest [57. like palm readings, fortune tellings, horoscopes, and other products of pseudo-psychology, a religion that is stated in such general terms that it can hardly miss will always contain a little something for everybody. essays by anton lavey in

h people, a devastating critique of the ideology would produce no effect. many followers may also feel that they received something genuine from the church of satan, even if the goods are intangible. their $100.00, their time, and their efforts went to anton lavey or the church of satan as a gift in return for what they happened to gain emotionally from the satanic bible. such followers create an illusion of accomplishment, leading them to feel that they did receive what they bargained for by this specific religion, when they might as easily have received the same emotional gratification elsewhere. the illusion of being part of a group that shares one s ideology is adequate to some, whereas others feel their egos inflated by their membership. if they can display genuine accomplishment in t

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

hich were indeed the same as those of the ancient alchemists of yore. his universal solvent he would not show me, but assured me of its efficacy. i asked him in what he kept it if it dissolved all things. he replied in wax, this being the one exception. i suspected that he had found some hydrofluoric acid, which dissolves glass, and so has to be kept in wax bottles, but said nothing to dispel his illusion. the next day i was granted the unusual privilege of inspecting the sheikh s laboratory, and duly presented myself at the appointed time. my highest expectations were fulfilled; everything was exactly what an alchemist s laboratory should be. yes, there was the sage, surrounded by his retorts, alembics, crucibles, furnace, and bellows, and, best of all, supported by familiars of gnome-lik

mourned by the entire city. yet another story relates how apollonius saved a friend of his, menippus of corinth, from marrying a vampire. the youth neglected all the earlier warnings of his counselor, and the preparations for the wedding proceeded. just as the ceremony was about to begin, apollonius appeared and caused the wedding feast, the guests, and all the evidences of wealth. which were but illusion.to vanish; then he wrung from the bride the confession that she was a vampire. many other similar tales are told of the philosopher s clairvoyant and magical powers. his death is wrapped in mystery, although he is said to have lived to be nearly one hundred years of age. his disciples were quick to say that he had not died at all, but had been caught up to heaven. when he had vanished fro

he apparitions gave way in the eighteenth century to a skepticism among the more educated elements of western society about the objective nature of apparitions.a skepticism that was destined two centuries later to assume almost universal proportions. hallucinations, although not yet very well understood, began to be referred to as the power of imagination. many apparitions were also attributed to illusion. the belief in apparitions was sustained and given new encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. apparitions 65 strength by the clairvoyant powers demonstrated by magnetized subjects and somnambules. emanuel swedenborg, who had many disciples, did much to encourage the idea that apparitions were both objective and supernatural. to explain the fact that only the seer saw these bei

. mcloughlin stated that the play sends up the rituals and double-standards of catholicism in ireland. although many people claimed that the statue actually moved physically, it seems clear that the majority of reported movements were imaginary. some may have been related to what psychologists call eidetic imagery, in which prolonged staring may combine with imaginary mental imagery to produce an illusion. a team of psychologists from cork university college established that the phenomena did not register on film or motion sensors. other observers talked of optical illusions, autosuggestion, or mass hallucination. but to many people, the question of physical or visionary movement seemed irrelevant in the highly spiritually charged atmosphere of the grotto. for them, the real movement was o

estelle roberts and ena twigg, made brief appearances in the sessions, as a whole the conversations adhered to the previously agreed-upon topic. the expectations were that barbanell, having been a medium, would make an easy transition to spirit existence and that he would be welcomed by silver birch. neither proved the case. the spirit barbanell professed some confusion distinguishing reality and illusion in his new existence and was still not fully accommodated to his new environment at the end of four years. also, while he finally encountered silver birch, it was only after several years had passed. the indication was that with barbanell s death their previous relationship ended, and though he was close, he did not make contact. barbanell did not try to bring through specifically evident

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

ieving that the blood on the weapon continues to feel part of the blood on the body (see also powder of sympathy) l. marillier divided magic into three classes: the magic of the word or act; the magic of the human being independent of rite or formula; and the magic that demands a person of special powers and the use of ritual. a. lehmann believed magic to be a practice of superstition, founded in illusion. the magic force many peoples have spoken of the operation of a magic cosmic force.something that impinged upon the thought of man from outside. many tribal cultures postulated the existence of a great reservoir of magic power, the exact nature of which they were not prepared to specify. certain american indian tribes believed in a force called orenda, or spirit force. among the ancient p

er, assisted by various ritual practices. the other opinion, still held by a minority, is that desired effects are achieved by means of spirit entities evoked during rituals (among skeptics there are various mundane explanations for the seemingly positive results of magic activity) conjuring tricks and stage magic today the term magic normally denotes the performance of conjuring, legerdemain, or illusion, although the term conjuring was originally used to indicate the evocation of spirits. conjuring tricks have been used by priests for thousands of years to create the illusion of miracles. the astonishing and skillful illusions of modern stage magicians show that special caution is necessary in evaluating many apparently paranormal feats of magic, and stage magicians have also performed a

one s imagination and experience. since the days of ancient egypt and the pharoahs, magicians have practiced the art of magic. from the prehistoric caves of europe and north america, to ancient greece and rome, to the middle ages, long before the days of vaudeville, and television, archaeological evidence and historical records show that audiences were held captive by the masters of trickery and illusion. in america, from the 19th century success of the american-born illusionist harry kellar to the modern-day magicians, such as doug henning and david copperfield, have captured the attention of the public. since the nineteenth century, when spiritualism took root and gained popularity among the general public, magicians have been skeptical of spiritualist and psychic claims. due to their e

om the 19th century success of the american-born illusionist harry kellar to the modern-day magicians, such as doug henning and david copperfield, have captured the attention of the public. since the nineteenth century, when spiritualism took root and gained popularity among the general public, magicians have been skeptical of spiritualist and psychic claims. due to their expertise in the area of illusion, they have been at the forefront of exposing fraud within the spiritualist community. the impetus to the birth of the spiritualism movement in america was linked to two sisters, margaret and kate fox, who claimed to be receiving messages from beyond in their isolated farmhouse in 1848. it was the fox sisters, too, who encouraged the beginning of what would become a long history of debate

pe recordings of sessions with mark probert, a trance medium of the 1950s. marriott, william s (ca. 1910) british professional magician and illusionist who investigated and exposed fake mediumship. his stage name was dr. wilmar. one of his noted illusions was the production of apparently paranormal paintings, duplicating the claimed psychic phenomena of the chicago mediums, the bangs sisters. the illusion was presented as dr. wilmar s spirit painting and so impressed fellow magician p. t. selbit that he agreed to pay marriott a weekly royalty for the use of the illusion. however, marriott himself was not entirely straightforward in claiming rights on the illusion, since he had obtained the secret mark probert memorial foundation encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 980 from d

FAUST

(1808) a play about the legend of faust who promises his soul to the destructive spirit mephistopheles in order to fulfill his desire of encountering life through experiences rather than through the study of philosophy. dedication ye wavering forms draw near again as ever when ye long since moved past my clouded eyes. to hold you fast, shall i this time endeavour? still does my heart that strange illusion prize? ye crowd on me! tis well! your might assever while ye from mist and murk around me rise. as in my youth my heart again is bounding, thrilled by the magic breath your train surrounding. ye bring with you glad days and happy faces. ah, many dear, dear shades arise with you; like some old tale that time but half erases, first love draws near to me and friendship too. the pain returns

s be brewed to cheer and edify the multitude. youth s fairest bloom collects in expectation before your play and harks the revelation. then from your work each tender soul, intent, absorbs a melancholy nourishment. then now one thought and now another thought you start; each sees what he has carried in his heart. as yet they are prepared for weeping and for laughter; they still revere the flight, illusion they adore. a mind once formed finds naught made right thereafter; a growing mind will thank you evermore. poet then give me back the time of growing when i myself was growing too, when crowding songs, a fountain flowing, gushed forth unceasing, ever new; when still the mists my world were veiling, the bud its miracle bespoke; when i the thousand blossoms broke, profusely through the vall

thereafter; a growing mind will thank you evermore. poet then give me back the time of growing when i myself was growing too, when crowding songs, a fountain flowing, gushed forth unceasing, ever new; when still the mists my world were veiling, the bud its miracle bespoke; when i the thousand blossoms broke, profusely through the valleys trailing. naught, yet enough had i when but a youth, joy in illusion, yearning toward the truth. give impulse its unfettered dower, the bliss so deep tis full of pain, the strength of hate, love s mighty power, oh, give me back my youth again! jester youth, my good friend, you need most in the fight when enemies come on, hard pressing, when, clinging to your necks so tight, the dearest maidens hang caressing, when, from afar, a wreath entrances, luring to

rve him well! what do you take the beast to be? wagner why, just a poodle; in his way he s worrying in his attempt to find his master s traces. faust but do you note how in wide spiral rings he s hurrying around us here and ever nearer chases? and if i err not, there s a trail behind him! along his path a fiery eddy flies. wagner only a plain black poodle do i see. don t mind him! i think it s an illusion of your eyes. faust he seems in magic nooses to be sweeping around our feet, a future snare to bind. wagner i see he doubts, he s timidly around us leaping, two strangers- not his master- does he find. faust the circle narrows; he s already near! wagner you see a dog! it is no spectre here. he snarls and doubts, now on his belly see him crawl, he wags his tail, dog-habits all. faust come

s threshold here where he is dabbing it with oil. already you come hopping forth. now to your toil! quick to the work! the point that held me bound there on the outer edge is found. just one bite more- tis done! begone! now, faustus, till we meet again, dream on! faust awakening. am i again a victim of delusion? that streaming throng of spirits- gone are they? dreamt i the devil through some mere illusion? or did a poodle only leap away? study faust. mephistopheles. faust a knock? come in! who now will bother me? mephistopheles tis i. faust come in! mephistopheles full three times must it be. faust come in, then? mephistopheles fine! i like that! all is well! i hope we ll bear with one another and agree! for i, your every crotchet to dispel, am here all dressed up like a noble squire, in s

FELDMAN DANIEL QABALAH THE MYSTICAL HERITAGE OF THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

fer yetzirah teaches that the spheres (sefiroth) of the tree emanate in pairs. sefirah crown/above emanates with its polar opposite sefirah foundation/below. the tension between these two sefiroth 2" 2' 8+ manifests the descent of the central column of the tree. the unmanifest pure being of vast face in sefirah crown/above is reflected in the abysmal mirror of sefirah foundation/below as veils of illusion appearing as planes of existence (see figure 3.5 on page 89. these planes are unmanifest in the most sublime world of atziluth (emanation. the attributes of the ayn are reflected in this mirror as the immense i-ness of small face as the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of the universe. the energy of consciousness of small face manifests the planes of existence in the lower three worlds o

ed the snake, he was amazed and relieved to find out that it wasn t in fact a snake at all: it was a rope that he mistook for a snake' 8: h" 2: 2 2:e 8% in this story, there had to be a rope in the first place for the man to have mistaken it for a snake. the snakiness was a superimposition upon the rope that only existed in the man s mind. such is the nature of the creation, which is a collective illusion. the snakiness of small face is an illusion superimposed upon the reality of the rope of vast face. this illusion of a difference within itself is a play of the divine arising from an unfathomable whim- 0' virtually all books on the subject of the qabalah feature one or more forms of the map of consciousness known as the tree of life. the tree of life objectively represents the physiospir

two. it is like looking at one object from two sides. at the microcosmic level in the perfect tree, the universe is perceived by human consciousness in sefirah knowledge/first as a perfect spiritual unity in the mind of god (i.e. vast face. in the fallen tree, human consciousness is dualistic in sefirah kingdom, perceiving the material universe as differentiated from the spiritual. the fall is an illusion sustained in individual consciousness by the lord of the universe via his/her power of obscuration, sustained through five limitations: temporal limits, spatial limits, attachment to particular things, limited knowledge, and limited agency. the predominant hebrew name for the active aspect of the ayn as the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of the creation is the four letter formula h v h

, and pure non-dualism discussed in chapter one, there are three distinct and seemingly incompatible views of the mystery of messiah. some unquestioningly embrace the idea that the immutable divine essence spontaneously manifests and sports in human form while retaining full power, omniscience, and omnipresence, and yet remaining unfettered by the laws of mazal and the limitations of relativistic illusion. from this perspective, such singularly exalted beings are said to appear from time to time throughout human history to deliver fresh dispensations of the universal mystical spirituality at the root of all religions. another perspective regards such extraordinary souls as the rarest masters i.e. the friends or rasools of god who lead demonstrative lives and perfectly reflect the divine at

stic trees, the tree of the treasuries is the one most similar to the single-column trees of the sufi latifas and the tantric chakras. 2 f 3#0 tree of the treasuries of the house of elohim :2% e= i2' through the will of small face, some return back to the creation from the ultimate experience in the roots of the tree. for such souls, the tree takes special form as trees of perfection for whom the illusion of the fall into dualistic consciousness of sefirah kingdom no longer exists. awakening in the path of devotion to small face (called bhakti yoga in india) results in the transformation of the soul into a tree of perfection way of the alef a of unity (figure 4.6. on this perfect tree, the power of consciousness (sans. chitshakti) concentrates in the heart center (sefirah beauty/last. a yo

FIRE OF QAYIN RITE

aemons formed of the fire: shemyaza, armaros, baraqijel, kokabel, ezeqeel, araqiel, shamsiel, sariel. thou art he: who instructed us in the mystery of the metals, the crafts of shaping, the magicks of transformation: who bequeathed the wise blood unto thy progeny, teaching unto us the art of wedding earth to heaven. thou art he: the scapegoat whose self-sacrifice purifies us of sin, ignorance and illusion, hanging inverted in the night firmament, thy one eye of the goat, open and glittering, who lightens our darkness with the fires of the stars, the myriad lanterns and blazing torches of all-knowledge. by the methods of the art rouse the inner fire and fervently invoke the daimon within by the ancient pact. let the forces of the goat be raised and the dragon-serpent of naamah- lilith be st

FOCUS OF LIFE

not to spare, but that the world may perish. nature is more atrocious. learning all things from thee in the most sinister way for representation: from thy thought to become thereafter. having suffered pleasure and pain, gladly dost thou deny the things of existence for freedom of desire-from this sorry mess of inequality-once so desired. and is fear of desire. the addition of the 'i' of a greater illusion. desire is the conception i and induces thou. there is neither thou nor i nor a third person-loosing this consciousness by unity of i and self; there would be no limit to consciousness in sexuality. isolation in ecstasy, the final inducement, is enough-but, procreate thou alone! speak not to serve but to scoff. hearest thou, heaven's loud guffaw? directly the mouth opens it speaks righteo

o her all thy weaknesses, it is the suffering half. pain awaits him, who is sentimentally desirous. be it thus 'woman, there shall be no vintage from our kisses. in man and woman is thy 'being' but i say, thou could'st create this body anew. awake! the time has come for the new sexualities! then would be occasion for greater pleasures. to improve the species ye men must love one another. this old illusion of righteousness has gained a future state wherein men labour every doubt. thou art that which thou dost prefer. the seer, the instrument of seeing, or the seen. conscious desire is the negation of possession: the procrastination of reality. make thy desire subconscious; the organic is creative impluse to will. beware of thy desire. let it be something that implies nothing but itself. the

er is sensed. art thou the hidden wish for madness and hysteric love? o thou "untamed" within, thou shall not lose virtue-for thee i will not domesticate while generating. o idiocy! where is that path where i may wander naked in frenzy, a trespasser against all things reasonable? o time! saith good and evil 'come, come! ego, i come "laughing aloud, zos answered. knowledge alone is transitory, the illusion subsequent to 'i desire all things' eternal, without beginning is self; without end am i; there is no other power and substance. the ever changing modifications and diversities we see are the results of forgetfulness, misinterpretated by nightmare senses. when the self again desires, then i only and nothing else shall remain. permitting all things, whatsoever is imagined comes out of it

was" and a cause, effecting the miscarriage of his desires-ever creating his future necessities: what man knoweth the perturbations of his own fear? verily, suffering is its own reward. he who willed, knoweth not his own offspring. man projects a vague 'self' and calls it truth and many other qualified names: verily, once a thing is named it becomes nothingness to its meaning. all happiness is an illusion and a sorry snare. all righteousness is a dishonesty and all sin a pleasure. assuredly, the courageous alone seem safe. without remorse. man invented self-pleasure but knoweth not his own love. everything was once arbitrary. yet they who spoke: their power has ended in common sexual practice-abnormal only with jaded appetites. they who knew were rightly crucified, scorned, ignored and the

s? only for thee, o, l.c.o'cs" thus sang aaos, the blasphemer, throwing off his grave shroud. going again among men [for he pleasured in all men, he gave unto them his magic book, named "life and death, the jest called love, wherein every man is a god, in whatsoever he will his belief" and aaos passed his way, muttering to his goatish beard "what now is left all hope is dead? for i have buried my illusion and dishonesty. thus my body is now all inconceivableness! o, god, where is thine enemy" the dreams of aaos the i and the arcanum one day the time drew near for the experiment and aaos was watching the waters, to make arcana by arbitrary projection into the utter void of his isolation. and this was his wish-"in future my dreams shall interpretate themselves as will [i.e. reaction" for, he

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

y of forms, instrument of the will of god who, without envy, lavishes his favour upon his work, in which is assembled in one all, in a harmonious diversity, all that can be seen which is worthy of reverence, praise and love."1 thus egypt, and its magical religion, becomes identified with the hermetic religion of the world. so we can understand how the content of the hermetic writings fostered the illusion of the renaissance magus that he had in them a mysterious and precious account of most ancient egyptian wisdom, philosophy, and magic. hermes trismegistus, a mythical name associated with a certain class of gnostic philosophical revelations or with magical treatises and recipes, was, for the renaissance, a real person, an egyptian priest who had lived in times of remote antiquity and who

d his view was adopted, at least in its main outlines, by all who dealt with the subject down to the end of the sixteenth century.2 1 in his work on the christian religion (de christ, relig, xxv, ficino puts hermes with the sibyls as testifying with them to the coming of christ (ficino, p. 29* scott, i, p. 31. the end of the sixteenth century is too early a date at which to put the ending of this illusion; see below, chapter xxi. 16 hermes trismegistus this is undoubtedly a fact, and one which all students of the renaissance neoplatonism which ficino's translations and works inaugurated would do well to bear in mind. it has not been sufficiently investigated what was the effect on ficino of his awestruck approach to the hermetica as xheprisca theologia, the pristine fount of illumination f

and historical problems of the hermetic literature are irrelevant, for they would have been entirely unknown to ficino and his readers, and we are going to try to approach these documents imaginatively as ficino and the whole renaissance after him approached them, as revelations of most ancient egyptian wisdom by a writer who lived long before plato and even longer before christ. to keep up this illusion i shall give the five treatises here analysed "egyptian" titles, and i shall refer throughout to their author as "hermes trismegistus. for it seems to me that it is only by entering with some degree of sympathy into the huge illusion of their vast antiquity and egyptian character that one can hope to realise the tremendous impact which these works made on the renaissance reader. before, h

ere analysed "egyptian" titles, and i shall refer throughout to their author as "hermes trismegistus. for it seems to me that it is only by entering with some degree of sympathy into the huge illusion of their vast antiquity and egyptian character that one can hope to realise the tremendous impact which these works made on the renaissance reader. before, however, we plunge into the great egyptian illusion, some critical remarks are necessary. these writings are really by different unknown authors and no doubt of considerably varying dates. even the individual treatises are often composites, made up of different tracts grouped together into a whole. their contents are therefore very various, and often contradictory. no really coherent system can be drawn from them as a whole. nor are they i

e origin; he despises that part of his nature which is only human, for he has put his hope in the divinity of the odier part.1 (2) egyptian regeneration. the secret discourse on the mountain of hermes trismegistus to his son tat. corpus hermeticum, xiii2; dualist gnosis) tat asks his father, trismegistus, to teach him about the doctrine of regeneration, for he has fortified his spirit against the illusion of the world and is ready for the final initiation. trismegistus tells 1 see below, p. 35. 2 c.h, ii, pp. 200-09; ficino, pp. 1854-6. 28 ficino's "pimander" and the "asclepius" him that regenerated man is born of intelligent wisdom in silence and the seed is the true good, sown in him by the will of god. the man thus born again "will be god, the son of god, all in all, composed of all the

FRATER ELIJAH ANGELS OF CHAOS

o poke around with (such as summoning an army to do your bidding) anyway, it is a good book and i suggest you read it, along with this text. in the latter part of this essay i present grendel s had an accident and the rite of godhood as well as the collective bindings/ initiations called the rite of suffering as my own version of this operation (in extension. a little theory based upon my song of illusion. the hga is a manifestation from probable time, of the self (distinguished from the self) in unity and perfection of it s will. the hga is a reflection of perfection of the magus. unity is desired to align more fully with the will [i shall not touch upon the black or white brotherhood, and shall talk more fully of something called the scarlet brotherhood. there is another aspect of the an

e by ultra-nate grendels had an accident an x-cursion into the land of liberation. an invocation of grendel's desire. for the initiate to incorporate into a preferred format. the temple is ready, the self is prepared, the trance is induced, the desire stated. the summons, the closing, then comes the laughter. act i blacker than black, midnight of death i summon your bleak oblivion. time again and illusion seemed drawn up from the heart of nothing, i call your bliss. take my pain as an offering to my self my hurt is of the multi-verse, an empty void in my chest. despair god's of existence, your drama shall reap it's wretched sickle on you all. all shall be undone; the pentagram broken; the pact no more. an elicitation, an event something more, a mirror image amongst the swine. my magick is

nd a sweet succubus. it is truly frightening how she manifests. she is the queen of the quliphoth, for we are of her. as our heart swells upward to heaven, the self of i comes to understanding in her burning. 7 the scarlet brotherhood i hate to use the words, i understand, because this is better said in silence, but these writings are one of shared view. i am left to wonder sometimes on the grand illusion and if in fact, this exists separate from deity. maybe my perspective of in fact is at fault here and a more appropriate phrase would be in mind as i write this a woman on the bus wants me to move into a corner seat to accommodate her large mass. i do not move, but instead create room for her to walk by and wedge herself in the corner seat, if she desires. she swears, jesus! and then take

arlet brotherhood. and our rejection of the concepts and truth of both the brother of the star and the babe of chrnzn. being exalted in scarlet. our school and way is, and has been. a paradigm for the new aeon if you will. the sigil of our lady is shown. iii/3a: this being a reference to the trials of the shell of the magician when engaged in intercourse with the almighty. this obviously being an illusion (because we can represent it. but coming so close to this thing sends any fragment of self into burning pain& ecstasy. we reject (sort of) dissolution for the way of the dance. to extend creation. iii/3b: a reference to expression of our gnosis. not to get caught up on trivial things, but we become the living gateways of gnosis as we yearn for truth. this is what we seek: nothing is true;

FULLER J F C SECRET WISDOM OF THE QABALAH

wn in their deities nut or neith, the upper world, shu or ma, the intermediary, and seb, the earth.14 in india, the same idea is fully set forth in the esoteric books of the vedas, called the upanishads. it is the supreme ideal brahm which is the only true. it manifests itself first in brama, vishnu and siva, past, present and future time, and through these in the visible, the last being maya, or illusion. the temples of most of the archaic peoples of asia and of egypt were intended to be visible copies of the heavenly temple, the starry firmament called templum, and the same idea is visible in those of the hebrews. philo and josephus represent the temples of the israelites, as typical of the visible universe, and this was based on the invisible universe. 15 amongst the mohammedans we find

s have said, for we are also his offspring. h 42 but of all philosophies the closest-allied are those of the vedanta and of lao-tze. the indian system is a trinity in unity, the ineffable, incomprehensible brahm becoming apparent in the trimurti (tri= three and murti= bodies, brama, vishnu, and siva- creation, preservation, and destruction. the atman is reality, and the apparent world is maya, or illusion. man within him possesses an atman, or soul, which can only attain to reality through absorption by the atman or over-soul. this absorption is effected through meditation. taoism is in idea even more closely related. gtao produced one, one produced two, two produced three, and three produced all things. h what, then, is tao? there was a time when heaven and earth did not exist, but only a

man in the form of conscious matter. god in himself is unity, the world is duality, and man is trinity in unity. and as the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters, so does the intelligence of man move upon the face of the fluxes of matter, and through equilibrium it seeks loss of its identity by stilling them in the spirit of god. when this is accomplished, then will the magic mirror of illusion vanish into the no-thing-ness out of which it was evolved. in the account of the creation in genesis the androgenic man appears on the sixth day, that is at the end of the creation, because he symbolizes its totality and completion and six is the number of the great work; 666 being also its number in the vital, intellectual, and spiritual planes, the vau extended from malkuth to kether. i

ledge is tangible and real and not a mere question of symbols. whilst in state j he see that a4, etc, includes a3, etc, but is infinitely greater, so much so that his g consciousness is entirely swallowed up. for just as a cube contains an infinite number of planes the size of any one of its own sides, so does a4, etc, include an infinite number of a3's, etc. whilst in state j, a3 etc, sinks into illusion, a4, etc, becoming the sole reality, which cannot, however, be secret wisdom of the qabalah page 78 explained to g individuals in any language they can understand. the mystical eucharist at an end, x sinks back into state g, and though in this state his sole instrument is his three-dimensional consciousness, the union he experienced was so overwhelming that state j still remains the supre

senses. in that condition, man will find the evident bodies, in comparison with the intelligible substances, extremely insignificant, and see that the corporeal world is borne by the intelligible world, as if it were a ship on the sea, or a bird in the air. 18 in this state what we have called three-dimensional consciousness is rendered comatose, and with it a world which is both a reality and an illusion, a tangible thing and a mere reflection. thus, freed from things earthly, the soul of man expands from what qabalistically is a negative existence towards a positive existence. metaphorically speaking, first the soul becomes boundless, because the restrictions are removed; then, as the sides of the elemental pyramid dissolve into illusion, does it become the boundless light, and symbolize

GAMBLE ELIZA BURT THE GOD IDEA OF THE ANCIENTS OR SEX IN RELIGION

vens and the earth, as did the later jewish god. of the seven principles of the universe, matter was the first, and of the seven principles of man, the physical body was the earliest. through evolutionary processes, or through cyclic periods involving millions of years, mind was developed, and in course of time spirit was finally manifested. mai, the mother of gotama buddha, was simply matter, or illusion, from which its higher manifestation, mind or spirit, was emerging. she was also the mother of mercury. a clearer knowledge of the philosophical doctrines which were elaborated at a time when nature-worship was beginning to decay, reveals the fact that the god-idea comprehended a profound knowledge of nature and her laws; that while this people did not pretend to account for the existence

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

f the field of the unknown may raise up a host of the powers of evil, of dwellers on the threshold, of elementals, of elementaries, who are the shells or astral shadows set free at corporeal death, for the shells of the wicked have evil purposes that have not yet been accomp255 lished. all these powers do at times endanger and threaten the mind, and eye, and ear- which begin to pierce the veil of illusion, which we call the material universe. we have had pupils who have exclaimed in moments of weariness- to what purpose is all the knowledge you insist of our learning, before proceeding to occultpractice?to what indeed but to render practicesafe?fools rush in, where stu255 dents fear to tread.temptnot unknown and unseen powers, learn of us of their existence, dwelling, qualities, powers, or

nd conception.exnihilonihilfit.all that does exist can only have come from spirit, from the divine essence. that being should arise from non-being is impossible.thatmatter should create itself is absurd; matter cannot proceed from spirit; the two words mean that the two ideas are entirely apart; then matter cannot exist. hence it follows that what we call matter is but an aspect, a conception, an illusion, a mode of motion, a delusion of our physical senses. apart from theosophy or kabalah, the same truth has been recognized both by christians and by philosophers. what is commonly known as the ideal theory was promulgated 140 years ago by berkeley, bishop of cloyne in ireland; it is nearly identical with the kabalistic doctrine of all things being but emanations from a divine source, and m

e begin to feel that perhaps after all time is but a human fancy, and that man is but a mite in the universe, and his sensesbuta passing breath in eternity, and that there is intruthonly an eternal now.thewords time, durfltion, eternity, and immortality are easily spoken; they are ideals, not concrete things, and no man can define them in terms acceptable to all students. time is probably only an illusion of the senses arising from the constant succession of perceptions and states of consciousness; it may not exist when there is no consciousness of the sequence of ideas and perceptions.thepresent is an ideal just as a mathematical point, which has no parts and no magnitude; the present is the dividing line between the past and the future. nothing on earth has duration, nothing remains with

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

, for men of understanding, the prophet musa, the prophet yusuf, the prophet muhammad (saas, the prophet sulayman, the golden age, allah's artistry in colour, glory is everywhere, the importance of the evidences of creation, the truth of the life of this world, the nightmare of disbelief, knowing the truth, eternity has already begun, timelessness and the reality of fate, matter: another name for illusion, the little man in the tower, islam and the philosophy of karma, the dark magic of darwinism, the religion of darwinism, the collapse of the theory of evolution in 20 questions, engineering in nature, technology mimics nature, the impasse of evolution i (encyclopedic, the impasse of evolution ii (encyclopedic, allah is known through reason, the qur'an leads the way to science, the real or

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

tery of evil. the image of satan has three primary motifs within it, these can be found in the old testament, apocryphal sources (with some ot/nt references) and within the new testament. these are mirrored in other esoteric traditions, for example, the old testament view of satan as tester is also found in hinduism. these three motifs can be summarised as follows: 1. the satan-saturn complex the illusion of cosmological evil (perceptional dualism) 2. the watchers evil as ignorance (fallen astral forms (temporary dualism) 3. evil as ignorance (ethical dualism) these three models are found quite clearly in different forms of scripture. the satan as tester image is primarily old testament, the watchers are found primarily in the book of enoch (but also referenced subtlety in the ot& nt, the

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

tter because it shows that matter is not real or stable. using the terms of holography we could say that matter is interference in the pattern of spirit. from this we can begin to see how the alpha event fits into our model. however, there is more, since the alpha event changed the quality of our energy source, it also changed the resulting spectrum- we now have reality as a hologram, a mirage or illusion. this hologram, in terms of the esoteric tradition, contaminated the planes and caused the lowest reaches of the desire plane to become what we know as physical. it also caused a breach in the spiritual world, and formed what is known in gnosticism as the great schism. the great schism the church teaches that god is the source of all perfect and that the whole world, visible and invisible

represented degrees of spiritual essence and the spectrum existed as variations within the light field. however, the alpha event added a second power into the equation (and polluted the matrix to boot) which radically altered the structure of the universe. matter was formed, and a schism or split was created between the worlds. the creation of matter can be seen as the creation of a hologram, an illusion so real that the human lifestream was deceived by it. further, the schism created a warzone where two schemes, two lifestreams, two hierarchies now battle each other through time and space. the world of the archons includes a mixture of light and darkness, but is ruled by the fallen forces. this is why the gnosis requires a total revolution in self, a total transformation- for nothing whi

the virgin spirit. it is a vision of the true orbit of the star self that has been awakened. transfiguration for the gnostic the reality of this world is brutal, it is eternal re-occurrence and death. man is caught in a cage, this cage is called the endura. the endura is self perpetuating and the more man surrounds himself with the illusions of his false self (his false persona) the stronger the illusion becomes and the farther he gets from his true origin. beyond the endura is the treasury of light, the pleroma which is the fullness of will. the pleroma represents the highest spiritual planes that are beyond the reach of consciousness contaminated by the alpha event. within every being, hidden within its the very fibre, is the knowledge of how to overcome the endura and return home. beyo

a matter of the way in which the teachings of jesus have been manipulated. this is of great significance when we consider the gnostic revival which has occurred in the heraldic period and the need for a re-evaluation of christianity in light of the gnostic tradition. there is also a deeper, more esoteric meaning. the eye in gematria is ayin, it is related to the devil in the tarot and represents illusion, emptiness. another level of interpretation is that the hawk (horus) is attacking jesus on the cross because he is a false jesus, this is hinted at by the focus on the eye or ayin. the jesus being attacked is the false jesus created by the apostate churches and used to control the masses. what emphasizes this inner interpretation is the meaning of the number of the verse, fifty one accord

GOETIA LUCIFERIAN

flag on the banner is crimson with a black dragon upon it. he is the choice power under amaymon. this powerful daemon inspires astronomy, geometry and earthly arts. asmodai also inspires invincibility by the development of strength and will. as one evokes asmoday, a seeming cloud of black and gray smoke appears in the mirror it seems to move beyond the mirror from the circle yet this is a seeming illusion if ones concentration of will is upon the circle, hold it fast to the meeting place of spirits. asmoday may be summoned by self-enchantment as in karezza (karezza is masturbation without climax, always willed) or other means. a sex magickal operation involving the consecration of his sigil with secretions/fluids of both male and female will create asmoday, as suggested rightly so by aleis

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS Z3

librium can occur. therefore, does the hegemon superintend the preparation rather than perform it actually. a triple cord is bound round the body of the neophyte, symbolising the binding and restriction of the lower nature. it is triple in reference to the white triangle of the three supernals. then, also, are the eyes bandaged to symbolize that the light of the material world is but darkness and illusion compared with the radiance of the divine light. the preparation also represents a certain temporary binding and restriction of the natural body. the hierophant, being a member of the second order and therefore initiated into the secret knowledge of the symbolism, shall, together with any officers and members also of the inner order, remember what tremendous gods and goddesses they represe

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS ZAM3

not be exposed before the profane. the vigil step 1 let the adept be purified with the l.b.r.p. and b.r.h (if needed. step 2 say the invocation of the lord of the universe" holy art thou" step 3 perform the s.i.r.h. of luna. step 4 let the adept now begin, using the fullness of the moon as a sigil to rise in the planes unto the sephira of dwsy. the adept should take full caution not to allow any illusion or form to distract him or her from the work and should quickly banish astral distractions should they appear. step 5 the adept should now, using the formula of the middle pillar, infuse the sphere of sensation with the briatic color of dwsy (purple) until the adept feels fully integrated in the yesodic astral current. let the adept now astrally perform the s.i.r.h. of trapt, reciting the

GRAHAM HANCOCK FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

counted as a further step, the total was 365. this gave the number of complete days in a solar year. in addition, the geometric design and orientation of the ancient structure had been calibrated with swiss-watch precision to achieve an objective as dramatic as it was esoteric: on the spring and autumn equinoxes, regular as clockwork, triangular patterns of light and shadow combined to create the illusion of a giant serpent undulating on the northern staircase. on each occasion the illusion lasted for 3 hours and 22 minutes exactly.1 i walked away from the temple of kukulkan in an easterly direction. ahead of me, starkly refuting the oft-repeated fallacy that the peoples of central america had never succeeded in developing the column as an architectural feature, stood a forest of white sto

ginated long before the dawn. we cannot say how long. the fact remains that no scholar has ever been able to establish a date for the creation of any myth, let alone for these venerable and widespread traditions. in a very real sense they seem always to have been around part of the permanent baggage of human culture. 2 the possibility cannot be ruled out that this aura of vast antiquity is not an illusion. on the contrary, we have seen that many of the great myths of cataclysm seem to contain accurate eye-witness accounts of real conditions experienced by humanity during the last ice age. in theory, therefore, these stories could have been constructed at almost the same time as the emergence of our subspecies homo sapiens sapiens, perhaps as long as 50,000 years ago. the geological evidenc

few feet shorter and 48 feet narrower at the base) appeared lit up, as though energized from within, by a pale and unearthly fire. behind it in the distance, slightly offset among the dark desert shadows, was the smaller pyramid of menkaure (mycerinus, measuring 356 feet along each side and some 215 feet in height.17 for a moment, against the glittering backdrop of the inky sky, i experienced the illusion of being in motion, of standing at the stern of some great ship of the heavens and looking back at two other vessels which seemed to follow in my wake, strung out in battle order behind me. so where was this convoy going, this squadron of pyramids? and were the prodigious structures all the work of megalomaniac pharaohs, as the egyptologists believed? or had they been designed by mysterio

GRERALD SCHUELER AN ADVANCED GUIDE TO ENOCHIAN MAGICK

ritual is the great work of the true magician. enochian magick is nothing less than a path of spiritual development. the rise upward through the thirty aethyrs is a progressive, spiritual journey toward the essential nature of all things.it is a climb from earth through water, air, and fire finto indescribable spiritual realms and beyond. along the way you, the magician, will learn to see through illusion and deception.the innerbeing of your self and of 12 others will slowly unveil before you. as you approach the uitimate ritual, you will discover your true purpose in life (called your true will) arad can then set about to express it in your daily life. those who seek personal gain, psychic powers, or mastery over others, are advised to search elsewhere. the theoretical principies of enoch

watchtower of water. the sword. the sword symbolizes your ability to reason. the magical sword is the analytical faculty of the mirad. as your mental faculties dissect complex iideas and theories, so the sharpness of the sword will cutand pierce through things. when you pierce a demon with your sword, you simultaneously strike iit with rational logical thought. the sword thus aids to see through illusion and complexity. the nature of this weapon is destructive. it is also divisive. the blade should be steel, the metal of mars. it is considered a crude weapon and its use is usually restricted to the watchtowers and lower aethyrs. its primary use is to free you from emotional entanglements that are often encountered in the watchtowers. its natural force is masculine. in enochian magick, the

ous now wi th a te rr ible vengeance. obviously your experiences in this encounter will be your own. how you face up to ldcipsp is your own private concern. if you fail, you can always try again at a later time. the degree of guilt or self-doubt within you will determine the measure of your success because these are the elements that strengthen ldcipsp. 203 zaa, an adventure with yourself maya or illusion is an element which enters into all finite things, for everything that exists has only a relative, not an absolute, reality, since the appearance which the hidden noumenon assumes for any observer depends upon his power of cognition. h.p. blavatsky, the secret doctrine after you have successfully entered the three lowest aethyrs, tex, ru, and bag, you wi l l be ready for an adventure in l

w. those who review what they renew; by the power of htdim (heh-teh-dee-meh) and the moon goddess isis, the loving lady of heaven, do i command you. see a pale blue ray of light emanate from the talisman and strike the contents of the cup. know that the power of the regenerative angels of water has entered your cup. step s. hold the talisman of air of water high above the cup and say, 334 may the illusion angels of water come to me now. those who misconstrue what they renew; by the power of htaad (heh-tah-ah-deh) and the child god harpocrates, the lord of silence, do i command you. see a pale blue ray of light flecked with yellow emanate from the talisman and strike the contents of the cup. know that the power of the illusion angels of water has entered your cup. step 9. hold the talisman

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

these are applied more to spirits and daemons than to human souls; yet notker renders 'manes' by unholdon, so that holdo and unholdo also appear synonymous here. the ohg. hispanst fem (our gespenst n, spectre) meant properly suggestio (from spanan, suggerere; but as the forms of confession dealt much with devilish suggestion and enticement, 1 men came to use it habitually of ghostly delusion and illusion. boner 94, 54 has 'diu gespenst (why not gespanst) for phantom, apparition. the neuter is found in the maere vora schretel und wazzerber 92 quite in the above connexion 'des tiuvels valant und sin gespenste; even earlier, herbort 3500 couples gespenste and getwas. keisersperg (omeiss 39) has des teufels gespenst (praestigium: not till recent centuries did the term become really common, an

HAMIL THE ROSICRUCIAN SEER

rth. my only wish is to see it in material form as it was then, that the secrets that caused me such trouble to collect should not be lost when 1 was dead even to memory. 1 have tried to show it to men. so wild have been my endeavours that i have even presented it to them while asleep.theyhave dreamed ofit,andi-oh,how hard have i tried to make it intelligible to them when waking has dispelled the illusion from their minds. i have sought other modes. 1 have tried to presentitthrough writing mediums,butthey have other spirits that, low as i am, 1 would not dare toindwellersof theworldofspirits139can, and1hurried quickly into the very flames to get it out of their reach.1succeeded, andisawitin flames when only the soles of my feet were scorched. as the flames went on consuming me my senses le

HANDBOOK OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

makes the infatuated setna sign a deed 116 handbook of egyptian mythology figure 25. block showing bastet in the ruins of her temple at bubastis (courtesy of geraldine pinch) giving her all his possessions. he even lets her kill his own children and feed their bodies to cats and dogs. setna is about to embrace taboubu when he finds himself alone and naked on the public highway. it has all been an illusion to punish setna for stealing a magical book from a tomb. in this story, the irresistible taboubu may be a manifestation of bastet herself, playing her traditional role of punisher of humans who have offended the gods. see also eye of ra; feline deities; magicians; moon; mut; sekhmet references and further reading: j. malek. the cat in ancient egypt. london: 1993, 94 111, 126 127. g. pinch

al a copy of the book of thoth. setna meets the ghosts of an earlier prince and his wife. they warn him that if he takes the book of thoth and tries to use the spells it contains, the gods will punish him. setna ignores their warnings, but he is forced to return the book after a series of uncanny experiences. in one of these, setna agrees to the murder of his own children. this turns out to be an illusion, and setna s son sa-osiris grows up to be a great magician. he takes his father on a magical journey through the underworld and shows him the very different fates of the evil and the good after death. when setna and his father (rameses ii) are challenged by a nubian sorcerer to read a sealed letter without opening it, only sa-osiris can perform this feat. the letter tells how hundreds of

HELENA BLAVATSKY NIGHTMARE TALES

wakingthoughts of the morrow. nightmare talesvi15 even in sleep the soul-ego finds no rest. hot and feverish its body tosses about in restless agony. for it, the time of happy dreams is now a vanishedshadow, a long bygone recollection. through the mental agony of the soul, there lies a transformed man.through the physical agony of the frame, there flutters in it a fully awakened soul. the veil of illusion hasfallen off from the cold idols of the world, and the vanities and emptiness of fame and wealth stand bare,often hideous, before its eyes. the thoughts of the soul fall like dark shadows on the cogitative faculties ofthe fast disorganizing body, haunting the thinker daily, nightly, hourly. the sight of his snorting steed pleases him no longer. the recollections of guns and banners wrest

lling of flesh "what do you mean? and what has my after-death consciousness- if such a thing exists- to do with thetemple "it has everything to do with it" solemnly rejoined the old man "there can be no self-consciousness afterdeath outside the temple of spirit. that which you will have done within its plane will alone survive. all the nightmare talesi- the stranger's story29 rest is false and an illusion. it is doomed to perish in the ocean of maya" amused at the idea of living outside one's body, i urged on my old friend to tell me more. mistaking mymeaning the venerable man willingly consented. tamoora hideyeri belonged to the great temple of tzionene, a buddhist monastery, famous not only in alljapan, but also throughout tibet and china. no other is so venerated in kioto. its monks bel

trines. according to his ideas, we have to train ourselves for spirituality in another world- as forgymnastics. carrying on the analogy between the temple and the "spiritual plane" he tried to illustrate hisidea. he had himself worked in the temple of spirit two-thirds of his life, and given several hours daily to"contemplation" thus he knew) that after he had laid aside his mortal casket "a mere illusion" heexplained- he would in his spiritual consciousness live over again every feeling of ennobling joy anddivine bliss he had ever had, or ought to have had- only a hundredfold intensified. his work on thespirit-plane had been considerable, he said, and he hoped, therefore that the wages of the labourer wouldprove proportionate "but suppose the labourer, as in the example you have just brou

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

s of the pledge 45 the relations of the t.s. to theosophy 49 on self-improvement 49 the abstract and the concrete 52 the fundamental teachings of theosophy 57 on god and prayer 57 is it necessary to pray? 61 prayer kills self-reliance 66 on the source of the human soul 69 the buddhist teachings on the above 71 theosophical teachings as to nature and man 77 the unity of all in all 77 evolution and illusion 78 on the septenary constitution of our planet 81 the septenary nature of man 83 the distinction between soul and spirit 86 page 2 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt the greek teachings 89 on the various postmortem states 95 the physical and the spiritual man 95 on eternal reward and punishment, and on nirvana 102 on the various principles in man 109 on reincarnation or rebirth 115 wh

iverse. a. hence the personified sum and order of known causes and effects; the total of all finite agencies and forces, as utterly disconnected from an intelligent creator or creators, and perhaps "conceived of as a single and separate force"-as in your encyclopedias? q. yes, i believe so. a. well, we neither take into consideration this objective and material nature, which we call an evanescent illusion, nor do we mean by nature, in the sense of its accepted derivation from the latin natura (becoming, from nasci, to be born. when we speak of the deity and make it identical, hence coeval, with nature, the eternal and uncreate nature is meant, and not your aggregate of flitting shadows and finite unrealities. we leave it to the hymn-makers to call the visible sky or heaven, god's throne, a

horizon, so does the universe disappear at regular periods, when the "universal night" sets in. the hindus call such alternations the "days and nights of brahm" or the time of manvantara and that of pralaya (dissolution. the westerns may call them universal days and nights if they prefer. during the latter (the nights) all is in all; every atom is resolved into one homogeneity -ooo- evolution and illusion q. but who is it that creates each time the universe? a. no one creates it. science would call the process evolution; the pre-christian philosophers and the orientalists called it emanation: we, occultists and theosophists, see in it the only universal and eternal reality casting a periodical reflection of itself on the infinite spatial depths. this reflection, which you regard as the obj

universe? a. no one creates it. science would call the process evolution; the pre-christian philosophers and the orientalists called it emanation: we, occultists and theosophists, see in it the only universal and eternal reality casting a periodical reflection of itself on the infinite spatial depths. this reflection, which you regard as the objective material universe, we consider as a temporary illusion and nothing else. that alone which is eternal is real. q. at that rate, you and i are also illusions. a. as flitting personalities, today one person, tomorrow another-we are. would you call the sudden flashes of the aurora borealis, the northern lights, a "reality" though it is as real as can be while you look at it? certainly not; it is the cause that produces it, if permanent and eterna

q. at that rate, you and i are also illusions. a. as flitting personalities, today one person, tomorrow another-we are. would you call the sudden flashes of the aurora borealis, the northern lights, a "reality" though it is as real as can be while you look at it? certainly not; it is the cause that produces it, if permanent and eternal, which is the only reality, while the other is but a passing illusion. page 42 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt q. all this does not explain to me how this illusion called the universe originates; how the conscious to be, proceeds to manifest itself from the unconsciousness that is. a. it is unconsciousness only to our finite consciousness. verily may we paraphrase st. john and say: and (absolute) light (which is darkness) shineth in darkness (which i

HP LOVECRAFT A DARK LORE

vague, shifting deposit of mould or nitre which we sometimes thought we could trace amidst the sparse fungous growths near the huge fireplace of the basement kitchen. once in a while it struck us that this patch bore an uncanny resemblance to a doubled-up human figure, though generally no such kinship existed, and often there was no whitish deposit whatever .on a certain rainy afternoon when this illusion seemed phenomenally strong, and when, in addition, i had fancied i glimpsed a kind of thin, yellowish, shimmering exhalation rising from the nitrous pattern toward the yawning fireplace, i spoke to my uncle about the matter. he smiled at this odd conceit, but it seemed that his smile was tinged with reminiscence. later i heard that a similar notion entered into some of the wild ancient ta

ember. there was a terrible familiarity about them- which somehow made me look furtively and apprehensively over the abominable, sterile terrain toward the north and northeast. around the first week in july i developed an unaccountable set of mixed emotions about that general northeasterly region. there was horror, and there was curiosity- but more than that, there was a persistent and perplexing illusion of memory. i tried all sorts of psychological expedients to get these notions out of my head, but met with no success. sleeplessness also gained upon me, but i almost welcomed this because of the resultant shortening of my dream-periods. i acquired the habit of taking long, lone walks in the desert late at night-usually to the north or northeast, whither the sum of my strange new impulses

, flying over all the terrain my walk could possibly have covered. yet nothing of what i had found remained in sight. it was the case of the anomalous basalt block all over again- the shifting sand had wiped out every trace. for an instant i half regretted having lost a certain awesome object in my stark fright- but now i know that the loss was merciful. i can still believe my whole experience an illusion- especially if, as i devoutly hope, that hellish abyss is never found. wingate took me to perth on july 20th, though declining to abandon the expedition and return home. he stayed with me until the 25th, when the steamer for liverpool sailed. now, in the cabin of the empress, i am pondering long and frantically upon the entire matter, and have decided that my son at least must be informed

a vault as i had dreamed of, i could open it in a moment. it was then that madness took me utterly. an instant later, and i was leaping and stumbling over the rocky debris toward the well-remembered incline to the depths below. vii from that point forward my impressions are scarcely to be relied on- indeed, i still possess a final, desperate hope that they all form parts of some daemonic dream or illusion born of delirium. a fever raged in my brain, and everything came to me through a kind of haze- sometimes only intermittently. the rays of my torch shot feebly into the engulfing blackness, bringing phantasmal flashes of hideously familiar walls and carvings, all blighted with the decay of ages. in one place a tremendous mass of vaulting had fallen, so that i had to clamber over a mighty m

ust were not as even as it ought to be- there were places where it looked thinner, as if it had been disturbed not many months before. i could not be sure, for even the apparently thinner places were dusty enough; yet a certain suspicion of regularity in the fancied unevenness was highly disquieting. when i brought the torchlight close to one of the queer places i did not like what i saw- for the illusion of regularity became very great. it was as if there were regular lines of composite impressions- impressions that went in threes, each slightly over a foot square, and consisting of five nearly circular three-inch prints, one in advance of the other four. these possible lines of foot-square impressions appeared to lead in two directions, as if something had gone somewhere and returned. th

HP LOVECRAFT AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

hat anomalous elder-world discovery in our minds, and the pall of probable disaster enveloping the greater part of our expedition, we all seemed to find in it a taint of latent malignity and infinitely evil portent. i was glad when the mirage began to break up, though in the process the various nightmare turrets and cones assumed distorted, temporary forms of even vaster hideousness. as the whole illusion dissolved to churning opalescence we began to look earthward again, and saw that our journey s end was not far off. the unknown mountains ahead rose dizzily up like a fearsome rampart of giants, their curious regularities showing with startling clearness even without a field glass. we were over the lowest foothills now, and could see amidst the snow, ice, and bare patches of their main pl

HP LOVECRAFT CELEPHAIS

wonderful became his dreams; and it would have been quite futile to try to describe them on paper. kuranes was not modern, and did not think like others who wrote. whilst they strove to strip from life its embroidered robes of myth and to show in naked ugliness the foul thing that is reality, kuranes sought for beauty alone. when truth and experience failed to reveal it, he sought it in fancy and illusion, and found it on his very doorstep, amid the nebulous memories of childhood tales and dreams. there are not many persons who know what wonders are opened to them in the stories and visions of their youth; for when as children we listen and dream, we think but half-formed thoughts, and when as men we try to remember, we are dulled and prosaic with the poison of life. but some of us awake i

eaten away at the edge like the moon which had commenced to wane, and kuranes wondered whether the peaked roofs of the small houses hid sleep or death. in the streets were spears of long grass, and the window-panes on either side broken or ifimily staring. kuranes had not lingered, but had plodded on as though summoned toward some goal. he dared not disobey the summons for fear it might prove an illusion like the urges and aspirations of waking life, which do not lead to any goal. then he had been drawn down a lane that led off from the village street toward the channel cliffs, and had come to the end of things to the precipice and the abyss where all the village and all the world fell abruptly into the unechoing emptiness of infinity, and where even the sky ahead was empty and unit by th

HP LOVECRAFT HYPNOS

ays far ahead; i could comprehend his presence despite the absence of form by a species of pictorial memory whereby his face appeared to me, golden from a strange light and frightful with its weird beauty, its anomalously youthful cheeks, its burning eyes, its olympian brow, and its shadowing hair and growth of beard. of the progress of time we kept no record, for time had become to us the merest illusion. i know only that there must have been something very singular involved, since we came at length to marvel why we did not grow old. our discourse was unholy, and always hideously ambitious-no god or daemon could have aspired to discoveries and conquest like those which we planned in whispers. i shiver as i speak of them, and dare not be explicit; though i will say that my friend once wrot

HP LOVECRAFT THE NAMELESS CITY

risen to a higher order than those immeasurably later civilizations of egypt and chaldaea, yet there were curious omissions. i could, for example, find no pictures to represent deaths or funeral customs, save such as were related to wars, violence, and plagues; and i wondered at the reticence shown concerning natural death. it was as though an ideal of immortality had been fostered as a cheering illusion. still nearer the end of the passage was painted scenes of the utmost picturesqueness and extravagance: contrasted views of the nameless city in its desertion and growing ruin, and of the strange new realm of paradise to which the race had hewed its way through the stone. in these views the city and the desert valley were shewn always by moonlight, golden nimbus hovering over the fallen w

HP LOVECRAFT THROUGH THE GATES OF THE SILVER KEY

eat fear clutched him as he half saw that vast expanse of surg-ing sea lapping against its far off coast. but the moment of silence was broken- the surgings were speaking to him in a language that was not of physical sound or articulate words "the man of truth is beyond good and evil" in-toned voice that was not a voice 'the man of truth has ridden to all-is-one. the man of truth has learned that illusion is the one reality, and that substance is the great impostor" and now, in that rise of masonry to which his eyes had been so irresistibly drawn, there appeared the outline of a titanic arch not unlike that which he thought he had glimpsed so long ago in that cave within a cave, on the far, unreal surface of the three-dimensioned earth. he realized that he had been using the silver key- mo

te. it was as though suns and worlds and universes had converged upon one point whose very position in space they had conspired- to annihilate with an impact of resistless fury. but amidst the greater terror one lesser terror was diminished; for the searing waves appeared somehow to isolate the beyond-the-gate carter from his infinity of duplicates- to restore, as it were, a certain amount of the illusion of identity. after a time the hearer began to translate the waves into speech-forms known to him, and his sense of. horror and oppression waned. fright became pure awe, and what had seemed blasphemously abnormal seemed now only ineffably majestic "randolph carter" it seemed to say "my manifestations on your planet's extension, the ancient ones, have sent you as one who would lately have r

of the gods of men is merely an infinitesimal phase of an infinitesimal thing- the three-dimensional phase of that small wholeness reached by the first gate, where 'umr at-tawil dictates dreams to the ancient ones. though men hail it as reality, and band thoughts of its many-dimensioned original as unreality, it is in truth the very opposite. that which we call substance and reality is shadow and illusion, and that which we call shadow and illusion is substance and reality. time, the waves went on, is motionless, and without beginning or end. that it has motion and is the cause of change is an illusion. indeed, it is itself really an illusion, for except to the narrow sight of beings in limited dimensions there are no such things as past, present and future. men think of time only because

nd illusion is substance and reality. time, the waves went on, is motionless, and without beginning or end. that it has motion and is the cause of change is an illusion. indeed, it is itself really an illusion, for except to the narrow sight of beings in limited dimensions there are no such things as past, present and future. men think of time only because of what they call change, yet that to is illusion. all that was, and is, and is to be, exists simultaneously. these revelations came with a god like solemnity which left carter unable to doubt. even though they lay almost beyond his comprehension, he felt that they must be true in the light of that final cosmic reality which belies all local perspectives and narrow partial views; and he was familiar enough with profound speculations to b

HUEBNER LOUISE WITCHCRAFT FOR ALL WICCA 04

overs light candles for dinner, and when churchgoers light candles in prayer, they invoke a force that witches always have known to be beneficial. what is a witch really like? for one thing, a witch is not an ugly old hag. the very idea is unkind and illogical. if a witch has, as she is said to have, special powers and an ability to disturb natural happenings, then she must be able to project the illusion, if not the truth, of beauty. when one has the power to charm, enchant and fascinate, then it also follows that one has the power to create an aura of pleasing good looks if not something more. if a witch has some secret force that enables her to control and influence others, this ability should certainly lead to an abundant popularity and many successful attractions, rather than to conde

INITIATION INTO HERMETICS

somebody starting with the university studies without having gone through the elementary classes first. the results of such a one-sided training, in some cases, are disastrous, sometimes even drastic, according to the individual talents. generally the error is to be found in the fact that most of the matter comes from the orient, where the material as well as the astral world is regarded as maya (illusion, and consequently little attention is paid to it. it is impossible to point out the details, for this would overstep the frame of this book. sticking to a carefully planned, step-by-step development, there will be neither a mishap nor a failure nor bad consequences, for the simple reason that ripening takes place slowly but surely. it is quite an individual matter whether the adept will c

ISIS UNVEILED

tae, or illusionists, for believing that christ did not, nor could, suffer death actually in the physical body. the later br&hman- ical books contain likewise much that is repugnant to the reverential feeling and idea of the divinity; and ss well as the gnostics, the br&h- manas explain such legends as may shock the divine dignity of the spiritual beings called gods by attributing them to mdyd or illusion. a people brought up and nurtured for countless ages among all the p^cholp^cal phenomena of which the civilized) nations read, but reject as incredible and worthless, cannot well expect to have its religious ^stem even understood let alone appreciated. the profoundest and most transcendental speculations of the ancient metaphysicians of india and other countries are all based on that grea

as incredible and worthless, cannot well expect to have its religious ^stem even understood let alone appreciated. the profoundest and most transcendental speculations of the ancient metaphysicians of india and other countries are all based on that great buddhistic and brfthmanical principle underlying the whole of their religious meta- physics ulueion of the senses. everything that is finite is illusion, all that which is eternal and infinite is reality. form, color, that whjch we bear and feel, or see with our mortal eyes, exists only so far as it can be conveyed to each of us through our senses. the universe for a man bom blind does not exist in either form or color, but it exists in its priva- hon (in the aristotelean sense, and is a reality for the spiritual senses 354. irenaeus: afa

keptic, because they judge him with- their habitual superficiality, magnificently expressed this idea in the fdlowing terms "man [physical man] counts for ao little that hardly anything can demonstrate to btm bis proper existence and that of nature. perhaps that which we regard as the universe, and the divers beings which aeem to compose it, have nothing real, and are but the product of continued illusion mdj/d of our senses" and the modem schopenhauer, repeating this philosophical idea, 10,000 years old now, says "nature is non-existent, per. na- ture is the infinite illusion of our senses" kant, schelling, and other metaphysicians have said the same, and their scdioo] maintains the idea. the objects of sense being ever delusive and fluctuating, cannot be a reali. spirit alone is unchange

s" and the modem schopenhauer, repeating this philosophical idea, 10,000 years old now, says "nature is non-existent, per. na- ture is the infinite illusion of our senses" kant, schelling, and other metaphysicians have said the same, and their scdioo] maintains the idea. the objects of sense being ever delusive and fluctuating, cannot be a reali. spirit alone is unchangeable, hence it alone is no illusion, lliis is pure buddhist doctrine. the religion of the gnont (knowledge, the most evident offshoot of buddhism, was entirely based on this metaphysical tenet. christos suffered tpiniuajly for us, and for more acutely than did the iliu^onary jesus while his body was being tortured on the cross. in the ideas of the christians, christ b but another name for jesus. the philosophy of the gnosti

hands and could wi^ in man'i faihlon. and trace out with chiad or brush thnr coaoiiitkui of godhad, then would horaea dqtict god like boraci, and oxen like oxen, eadi kind the divine with its own form and nature okiawing" and hear vyasa the poet-pantheist of india who, for all the scientists can prove, may have lived, as jacolhot has it, some fifteen thousand years ago discoursing on mftyft, the illusion of the senses "all religious dogmas only serve to obscure the intelligence of man. worship of divinities, under the allegories of which is hidden respect for natural laws, drives away truth to the profit of the basest superstitions" vydsa-mdyd^ it was given to christianity to paint us god almighty after the model of the kabalistic abstraction of the 'ancient of days' from old frescos on c

JASMUHEEN THE FOOD OF GODS

oose thoughts that create the type of life where we feel as if we are thriving and in tune with a greater game. in stage 3 we have trained ourselves to see the god in all life and to recognize the perfection of creation and the natural cycles of all life, as we feel the tantra of life and duality and feelings of separation disappear and we realize that our dow is eternal and that death is just an illusion. divine nutrition: the madonna frequency& the food of gods with jasmuheen 21 in this stage our brain wave patterns are firmly anchored in the theta zone of 4 to 7 cycles per second. in this field divine revelations and holy visions are more common as are visitations with holy beings that reside on the inner realms and who are accessible when our 6th sense of intuition and our 7th sense of

. oya. african yoruban goddess of weather and brazilian macumba deity of change, women call on her for protection when in hard to resolve situations. baba yaga. slavic birth-death goddess who inspires us to get in touch with our wild woman and free our vital, instinctual and primal energies by integrating our self destructive behavior. maya. hindu mother of creation, weaver of the web of life and illusion. the virgin aspect of kali s virgin, mother and crone. maya comes to show us the illusionary nature of the material world, she brings magic and creativity. maeve. intoxicating irish goddess of the magical land of tara. maeve challenges us to act responsibly and become the queen of our domain. maat. ancient egyptian goddess of law, order, truth and justice. maat comes to bring justice to o

n of inner and outer peace and many have been annoyed at this telling me not to mix spirituality with politics. to me spirituality is political as everything is spiritual, everything is god and nothing is separate from god. every thought, word and action that we do is done as gods in form, and yet somewhere along the way we disconnected from the food of the gods and began believing in the maya of illusion and in the reality of duality and separation. when the food of gods flows freely through our system, these realities can no longer be maintained for we know better. nor can we remain oblivious to the suffering of others for the role of a true leader. as an individual or as a nation. is to act always with an awareness and compassion that considers and fulfills our needs, and respects the g

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

ion cannot be believed by any reasonable person without a miracle. mere reason, he assures us, is insufficient to convince us of its veracity; and whoever is bhuddistic, or boodistic, maya. 129 moved by faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts all the principles of his understanding. the theosophic foundation of the bhuddistic maya, or universal illusion, has been finely alluded to by sir william jones, who was deeply imbued with the oriental mysticism and transcendental religious views. the inextricable difficulties, says he, attending the vulgar notion of material substances, concerning which we know this only, that we know nothing, induced many of the wisest among the ancients, and some of the most enlightened among the moderns, to bel

ibrary. thus our knowledge of the real philosophy of the ancient world is exceedingly limited; almost all the old records, or germinating means of knowledge, being rooted out in regard to boudhisme, ou systeme mystique, as he denominates it, a learned author describes it as m taphysique visionnaire, qui, prenant tache de contrarier l ordre naturel, voulut que le monde palpable et mat riel f t une illusion fantastique; que pexistence de thomme f t un r ve dont la mort tait le vrai r veil; que son corps fut une prison impure dont il devait se h ter de sortir, ou une enveloppe grossi re que, pour la rendre perm able la lumi re interne, il devait att nuer, diaphaniser par le je ne, les mac rations, les contemplations, et par une foule de pratiques anachor tiques si estranges que le vulgaire to

the snake, in its many disguises. ne of the targums says that ayh a serpent, tempted adam, or the first man, and not hwj, eve, his wife. here we have the object of adoration of the ophites the female generative power the destroying, regenerating power among the ophites, and, indeed, the gnostics generally. the serpent was called the megalistor, or great builder of the universe (maia, or bhuddist illusion. here again we recognise, under another name (ophites, the cyclopes, or the builders of the circular temples at stonehenge and everywhere else. mr. payne knight has repeated an observation of stukeley, that the original name of the temple at abury was the snake s head. and he adds, it is remarkable that the remains of a similar circle of stones (circular temple) in boeotia had the same na

nt, as his sacti, his personified energy, his bride. it is stated in one of the purans that brahma, having determined to create the universe, became androgynous, male and female (or reflector and reflected; the right-half having the sex and form of a man, the left that of a woman. in his images he is sometimes thus represented, and is then termed ardnari. this is prakriti of one nature with br hm illusion, eternal, as the soul so is its active energy, as the faculty of burning is in fire. the sacti system bears a striking affinity with epicureanism. it teaches materialism, and the atomic system of the confluence of chance. compare the ananda tantram, c. xvii. with lucretius, lib. iii. according to the immediate object of worship is the particular ceremony, but all the forms (lighter or hea

JESSUP MK THE CASE FOR THE UFO

astronomers themselves, being conscientious data hounds, were not content with merely seeing things move in space. although unaware of the true nature of what they saw, they recorded as much as time and equipment would permit, and, as a result, they have enabled us to locate the habitat of the ufo's. as with out own observations today, any single sighting by an astronomer could be a mistake or an illusion. but hundreds of sightings are involved, and dozens of serious, reliable astronomers. boy! if only he knew the thousands. many round things have been seen crossing the discs of the sun and moon, and some in space with no background. roundness implies spherical or discoid shapes. lights have been seen in space, some of them near mercury, venus, mars, and the moon, and some between us and t

among a group of hard-headed people noted for clear thinking and straight-forward speech. note how typical it is, as to details. about seven am, on a bright sunny morning in 1850, the people living in the vicinity of easton's beach, near newport, r.i, rubbed their eyes in disbelief. they saw a large sailing vessel heading hard-in 92 for shore and disaster. at first they believed it was an optical illusion, but as the vessel drew closer, they heard its weather-beaten sails flapping like shrouds in the stiff breeze, and they shouted "it's the seabird" frantically they tried to wave her, from her course. but the vessel come (sic) on. then miraculously, as though lifted by giant hands, the vessel majestically berthed herself on the shore, undamaged. the watchers, most of them god-fearing fishe

K AMBER THE BASICS OF MAGICK

, thoughts, feelings, and habits are based upon and conditioned by that model; even personality. the model is one of the mind's master programs. change in behavior generally requires a change in the model. these limitations built into our way of thinking cause our perceptions to be subjective. that is why hindu philosophy looks upon the world as illusory (maya; the world itself (object) is not an illusion, however from our viewpoint through perception (subject) it is. thus we are all conditioned by experience. except that our perceptions, hence our experiences, are first conditioned and limited by the model. our perceptions and experiences tend to conform to what we expect. we tend to misinterpret or ignore things which do not match our preconcieved notions about them. this is automatic. t

rom the outer (illusory) world. since that interface is based upon our model, it is conditoned and may sometimes produce false information 'do what thou wilt (crowley) is an axiom of magick; for the true will expresses our exact desires. and what we truly want('down deep) we tend to automatically get. this isn't always in our best interests, since the true will can be conditioned (tricked) by the illusion; and then we might desire and obtain that which is not ultimately good for us (karma strikes again) the task of the magician therefor is to awaken his awareneess of the true will, to be free of conditioning, and thereby to transcend maya('my will unconditioned is magical- spare. happiness is being happy there is no great secret to changing behavior or habits. it is largely a matter of det

as 'om' will seem to vibrate the air around you. it should be vocalized for 5-10 seconds and repeated a number of times with a few seconds rest between each vocalization. chanting of mantras may cause slight dizziness from hyperventilation. the other main type of meditaiton- insight meditation- is the analysis of thoughts and feelings in such a way as to cause realization of the subjectivity and illusion of experience. this is done in a effort to attain trancendental awareness. such statements as 'this body is not me, fall under this category. buddhist meditations are usually of this type. chakra meditation there is a special type of concentrative meditation which we will call 'chakra meditation. this is basicly kundalini yoga- the practice of causing psychic energy (kundalini) to flow up

KETAB E SIYAH

e foolishness of the young man, who thinks too highly of himself and too little of those more accomplished who would cherish him but for insolence, with mocking laughter on his lips and cruel betrayal in his heart concealed by the false mask of youth's innocence of such purity as to twist my entrails 21 and make me retch in sickly disgust; last of them was child-like auriel who yet maintained the illusion of infancy, seeming as a child of sweet artlessness that none could accuse him of any sin against a brother so wronged as i, and yet beneath the glow of a child's blush was a soul withered to blackness by the venom of its own evil, just as do the fair flowers of the datura overspilling with fatal poison. thus did my brothers stand before me, and beyond them my exalted father in whose eyes

f destiny, keeper of wisdom, judge of the world, castigator of sin, scourge of evil, most high, most merciful, most just, most sagacious, most perfect, most mighty, most noble, most majestic, my god, my lord, my father, regard how this untrue son comes before you, seeking to deceive him who cannot be deceived, whose ear can detect all falsehood in voice and heart and whose eyes pierce through all illusion, with hollow flatteries as a veil to cover his shameful ambition and his treasonous desires against one so worthy, so infinitely worthy that none should dare this thing, to conspire towards the overthrow of the perfect one. yet, though you may believe it not at all, thus does he plot in his embittered jealousy, nurturing, in his venomous heart, such treachery against the one that he shoul

regardless of the quest's strenuity, none could hope to find a greater king than our most worthy and majestic father, surely the most perfect of kings. whose dominion could rival the most magnificent empire of our father that extends from the west unto the east and from the northern sky unto the southern sky? our most esteemed father reigns in heaven and earth with sight to pierce the veil of all illusion and an ear that knows all falsehood. his judicious soul determines all that is good and ill and his mighty sceptre exalts and lays low in accordance with the dictates of his will. those who serve with faith and fervour are rewarded with the sublimest treasures, unequalled by all the deep vaults of earth that are filled with many stones, shining with the light of stars, and that run with r

the foolishness of the young man, who thinks too highly of himself and too little of those more accomplished who would cherish him but for insolence, with mocking laughter on his lips and cruel betrayal in his heart concealed by the false mask of youth's innocence of such purity as to twist my entrails and make me retch in sickly disgust; last of them was child-like auriel who yet maintained the illusion of infancy, seeming as a child of sweet artlessness that none could accuse him of any sin against a brother so wronged as i, and yet beneath the glow of a child's blush was a soul withered to blackness by the venom of its own evil, just as do the fair flowers of the datura overspilling with fatal poison. thus did my brothers stand before me, and beyond them my exalted father in whose eyes

f destiny, keeper of wisdom, judge of the world, castigator of sin, scourge of evil, most high, most merciful, most just, most sagacious, most perfect, most mighty, most noble, most majestic, my god, my lord, my father, regard how this untrue son comes before you, seeking to deceive him who cannot be deceived, whose ear can detect all falsehood in voice and heart and whose eyes pierce through all illusion, with hollow flatteries as a veil to cover his shameful ambition and his treasonous desires against one so worthy, so infinitely worthy that none should dare this thing, to conspire towards the overthrow of the perfect one. yet, though you may believe it not at all, thus does he plot in his embittered jealousy, nurturing, in his venomous heart, such treachery against the one that he shoul

L 001

is forces: four his weapons. these are the seven spirits of unrighteousness; seven vultures of evil. thus is the art and craft of the magus but glamour. how shall he destroy himself? 0. yet the magus hath power upon the mother both directly and through love. and the magus is love, and bindeth together that and this in his conjuration. 1. in the beginning doth the magus speak truth, and send forth illusion and falsehood to enslave the soul. yet therein is the mystery of redemption. 2. by his wisdom made he the worlds; the word that is god is none other than he. 3. how then shall he end his speech with silence? for he is speech. 4. he is the first and the last. how shall he cease to number himself? 5. by a magus is this writing made known through the mind of a magister. the one uttereth clea

LAITMAN M BASIC CONCEPTS IN KABBALAH

of knowledge to attain: creation: the study of creation and the evolution of the worlds, namely: the way the creator created the worlds with the creatures that populate them through consecutive restrictions; the interaction laws between the spiritual and material worlds, and their consequences; b a s i c c o n c e p t s i n k a b b a l a h 16 the goal of man s creation is to form a system with an illusion of the existence of free will by combining the soul with the body, and by controlling them through nature and the apparent factor of chance with the help of two mutually balanced systems of light and dark forces. functioning: the study of the human essence its interconnection and interaction with the spiritual world. functioning deals with one s arrival to and departure from this world. i

court, it was discussed what could be given to such a tormented soul. finally, it was decided to let him feel as if he were alive, with his family in his house, as if he had good horses, and was happy with his work and life. these sensations are sometimes perceived in the same way that a dream seems real. indeed, only our sensations create our pictures of the surrounding world. so how can we tell illusion from reality? as with all sciences, kabbalah, too, is divided into the study of matter and the study of form. nevertheless, it has a remarkable feature and an edge over other sciences: even the part of it that studies form abstracted from matter is based entirely on experimental control; that is, it is subject to empirical testing! when a kabbalist has risen to the spiritual level of the

LAITMAN M FROM CHAOS TO HARMONY

ed, and what we did not? quite possibly, in most cases, things are mapped out to begin with, but we continue to behave as if the course of events depends on us. the concept of freedom acts like a natural law that applies to all of life. this is why each creature aspires for freedom. yet, nature does not provide information concerning which actions we are free to choose, and which give us only the illusion of freedom of choice. thus, nature places us in a state of complete helplessness, uncertainty, and disillusionment with our ability to change anything, either within ourselves or in life in general. nature does that to make us stop the race of life and dedicate some thought to the question, what can we influence? if we know what elements shape us within and without, we will be able to und

LAITMAN M KABBALAH REVEALED

ses: zero (still) through four (spiritual. when each phase arises, humanity experiences it to the fullest until it exhausts itself. then, the next level of different strokes for different folks the only difference between people is in the way they want to experience pleasure. the pleasure in itself, however, is amorphous, intangible. but covering it with different dresses, or coatings, creates an illusion that there are different kinds of pleasure, when in fact there are many different kinds of coatings. the fact that pleasure is essentially spiritual explains why we have an unconscious craving to replace the superficial coating of the pleasure with the desire to feel it in its pure, unadulterated form: the creator s light. and because we re unaware that the difference between people is in

just and will disappoint its own members one way or another. eventually, all egoismbased societies will exhaust themselves along with the egoism that created them. we just have to make it happen as quickly and as easily as we can, for everybody s benefit. fake freedom kabbalists relate to the absence of the sensation of the creator as concealment of the creator s face. this concealment creates an illusion of freedom to choose between our world and the creator s (spiritual) world. if we could see the creator, if we could really sense the benefits of altruism, we would undoubtedly prefer his world to ours, as his world is a world of giving and of pleasure. but because we do not see the creator, we don t follow his rules, and instead, constantly break them. in fact, even if we did know the cr

LAITMAN M KABBALAH ATTAINING THE WORLDS BEYOND

the population turns to religion and to kabbalah in order to change. paradoxically, we turn to the creator in times of hardship, when we are shaken by grief. it is odd that we do not turn away from the creator during the hard times, since it was he who sent us our suffering. drugs are a source of false pleasure and are therefore prohibited. those who fall under the influence of drugs are under an illusion of pleasure that bars them from finding the path to true spiritual pleasure. for this reason, drugs are subconsciously seen by society as the most dangerous addiction, although they present no immediate hazard to other people- 86- attaining the worlds beyond 9 a plea for help the only thing that the creator created in us is our egoism. if we can nullify the effects of our egoism, then we

generated a world that was opposite to him in nature, and that epitomized the one quality opposite to his essence: the desire to gratify oneself, or egoism. therefore, he endowed us with this quality. as soon as a human being is influenced by this quality, that human is born into thisworld, and immediately stops perceiving thecreator. the concealment of the creator exists in order to give us the illusion thatwe possess freewill to choose between ourworld and the world of the creator the upper world. if, despite our egoism, we were able to see the creator, naturally we would prefer his world over ours, since the first contains all pleasure and no suffering. however, freedom of choice and free will can only exist in the absence of our perception of the creator while he is in concealment. bu

ork of the heart" whereas the generation of building the babylonian tower is regarded as "the period of working with one s intellect" each of us strives to satisfy every desire from the first moment of life up to the very last moment. the difference between us is in the object from which we want to receive pleasure, whereas the pleasure itself is always spiritual. only the outer shell creates the illusion of a material nature of pleasure. for this reason, subconsciously, we strive to change the outer "garments" of pleasure, hoping to receive pleasure in the pure form of the bare light of the creator. however, since the difference between us is in our aspirations to different outer casings of pleasure, we judge people in accordance with the different names of these casings. those casings, o

ly reveals one s real enemy and shows the real culprit standing in the way of one s entering the spiritual realms, until the feeling of hatred develops to such a degree that one manages to tear away from it completely. correcting egoism- 293- everything that exists outside one s "self" is the creator himself, since the foundation of the creation is the perception of the "self" by each of us. this illusion of the personal "self" constitutes the creation and is felt only by us alone. but outside of this sense of the personal "self" only the creator exists. thus, our attitude towards the world and everyone around us reflects our attitude to the creator. if we grow accustomed to such an attitude towards everything, we thereby reinstate a direct bond with the creator. but if there is no one exc

LAITMAN M KABBALAH SCIENCE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

n a box, and all that we measure is our interior impressions, creating in us a sensation that reality outside us changes. we cannot know if anything at all changes; we cannot even know if anything really exists outside of us. we simply have no means to come out of ourselves and test it. prof. tiller mentioned tor norretranders, the renowned danish researcher who published a book entitled the user illusion. norretranders notes an intriguing point regarding the functionality of the unconscious and what it contains. it appears that the five senses perceive fifty million bits of information per second, gathered as streams of information in the consciousness. the subconscious processes the information mathematically, but it only processes a tiny fragment of the information some fifty bits of in

s, our minds, our thoughts, and our interconnections. in other words, the entire physical universe is a lifeless mechanical mechanism inevitably and inescapably unfolding. any perception that we think is our own, the very perception of ourq ua n t u m t h e o r y 73 selves as conscious, feeling human beings, with our own intentions (everything we do here and the rest of our human life) is only an illusion. there is no love, no hate, no passion, and no satisfaction. we are lifeless particles in complex compositions that unfold over time. all our progress in medicine is founded wholly on that perspective and, thanks to it, succeeded. many of us owe our lives to it. this perspective is a very compelling one and cannot easily be discarded. yet, this principle brutally attacks not only our perc

quickly. b u i l d i n g t h e c r e at o r w i t h i n as we have explained before, all the changes unfold within us, although they seem to be happening outside of us. we should understand that without experiencing that the changes are occurring outside us, we would not be able to make contact with the creator or even think that the creator exists and has any bearing on us. it is precisely this illusion that enables us to perceive the light as something that exists outside of us. when we relate what happens in us to the existence of an exterior creator, we can build an attitude toward it and come to understand who the creator is and how he wants to give to us. had we not ascribed our inner experiences to the creator, we r e g a i n i n g c o n s c i o u s n e s s 147 would have been unab

int in the heart. the similarity of nature between the point in the heart and the upper thought creates a connection between them, and they possess the same nature. the upper thought acts upon the point and molds it into various patterns, which we perceive as seeming to exist outside of us, in the spiritual realm. actually, these forms do not exist outside of us at all, but within us. as with the illusion that everything we see in this world is outside us, so is the case in the spiritual world. however, r e v e a l e d a n d c o n c e a l e d 173 when we acquire more spiritual forms, we come to understand and to know the thought that develops and builds these forms within us. during the process of coming to know this thought, we build internal forms that become increasingly similar to the

LAITMAN M THE KABBALAH EXPERIENCE

the creator; an equal partner to the creator. t h e k a b b a l a h e x p e r i e n c e 234 as long as you have not become a man- a person with a spiritual degree- and are still captivated by your corporeal nature, you are incapable of making any decisions because all you can see is this world. what do you see before you that would enable you to decide what to do? in this world, you are given the illusion of freedom, and are taught to behave like a blind kitten. when that truth is revealed to you, you ll see how wrong you were. the creator is almighty precisely because he gives man everything: freedom of choice and the strength to act, understanding and attainment of the laws of reality. upon choosing spirituality, man wishes to cleave to the creator. this desire stands far above his self

ts emptiness. the soul cannot evolve in such a world. if you try to see yourself living outside of that cage, try to feel the spiritual freedom; it will be easier for you to understand the means of getting out of your current situation. the wisdom of kabbalah is not opium for the masses, because opium means deception. why was the use of drugs prohibited all over the world? because drugs create an illusion of freedom, with severe consequences. man feels that he is in a completely different situation; he purposely misleads his own senses. kabbalah accomplishes exactly the t h e k a b b a l a h e x p e r i e n c e 238 opposite. the first phase in the study is the opening of the eyes, making one see the world for what it really is. in fact, man is always in the best possible situation, yet he

igions, cults, etc, there are in the world. it is amazing how many directions man xor more b e l i e f s, m y s t i c i s m a n d t h e s u p e r n a t u r a l 295 precisely, man s will to receive, which is constantly searching for the reason for his condition--can invent, and in what versatile ways! one may believe that one is closer to the truth, to the source, and to eternity, but it is all an illusion. you see for yourself how many people go to india in order to seek enlightenment, all in order to attain some immediate psychological feeling of internal freedom. when we truly climb to the spiritual world, we will see that only kabbalah was given from above, and all other customs and ceremonies are the fruits of the human mind, which serve our imagination and desire for pleasure. but it

LAITMAN M THE PATH OF KABBALAH

ates that reside within us. we will find them nowhere outside us. in other words, it is not we who are inside the worlds, but the worlds that are inside us. outside us there is only the creator, the upper light. pa r t o n e: t h e b e g i n n i n g 27 people in our world are convinced that they are inside some kind of existence, a reality that was created before we came inside it. but this is an illusion. there is nothing outside us but the light of the creator. that light affects our senses in such a way that we feel it as solid, liquid, or gas, as vegetative or as animate. everything we can imagine and can see around us is built inside our own senses, making us feel as though everything exists outside us. but the truth is that there is nothing outside, only the creator. this world is th

ivalence of form (properties) with the world of ein sof. we feel the transitions from world to world according to the changes in our inner properties (inner feelings. we begin with feeling ourselves in this world, and gradually come to feel ourselves as completely identical to the world of ein sof, to the creator. q: do we feel our souls rather than our physical bodies? a: the physical body is an illusion. we must obtain a state where we will feel our souls. that is what kabbalah initiates the sensation of our own souls. afterwards, we can continue developing it to become an immense vessel that the creator can fill. pa r t t h r e e: t h e s t ru c t u r e o f t h e u p p e r wo r l d s 251 q: how can a spiritual object divide into ten sefirot indefinitely? a: each part in the spiritual wo

r own gut feelings. it appears to be extremely difficult for us to give up the pleasures of this world when we are offered them so abundantly that all we have to do is to reach out and grab them. it doesn t seem possible that we can give them up in favor of some future spiritual pleasure we don t understand. however, once our properties are a little closer to those of the creator, we will see the illusion of our worldly pleasures, the futility and meaninglessness of them compared to even the tiniest drop we receive through our adhesion with the creator. at that point, we will naturally prefer the egoistic spiritual delight to the egoistic corporeal delight. we are all given many chances to begin to progress in the right direction. it is important to identify these opportunities and not to

LEADBEATER C W THE HIDDEN LIFE IN FREEMASONRY 2E

ol of one fs inner world- of the mind, of one fs thoughts, one fs intellectual and psychic faculties- is the extremely difficult task of the fellow craft stage c [so] the glast and greatest trial h lies in the breaking and surrender of the personal will, the dying down of all sense of personality and selfhood, so that the petty personal will may become merged in the divine universal will, and the illusion of separate independent existence give way to conscious realization of unity with the one life that permeates the universe. for so only can one be raised from conditions of unreality, strife and figurative death to a knowledge of ultimate reality, peace and life immortal. to attain this is to attain mastership, involving complete domination of the lower nature, and the development in ones

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

in the lower world, and half in that above, that is to say, partly in incarnation and partly out of it. 374. the minotaur, which was slain by theseus, was the personality in man, half animal and half man. theseus typifies the higher self, who has been gradually developing and gathering strength until at last he can wield the sword of his divine father, the spirit. guided through the labyrinth of illusion which constitutes these lower planes by the thread of occult knowledge given him by ariadne (who represents intuition, the higher self is enabled to slay the lower and escape safely from the web of illusion; yet there still remains for him the danger that, developing intellectual pride, he may neglect intuition, even as theseus neglected ariadne, and so failed for the time to reach his hi

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

impse of the clear light, but the more enlightened can see it longer and use it to transcend the cycle of death and rebirth to a higher reality. most relapse into the secondary clear light, a lesser ecstasy. the second stage is like an awakening, in which the spirit is presented with hallucinations created by karmic reflexes of actions done while alive. unless enlightened, the spirit is under the illusion that it still has a body like the one that died. there begins a series of apparitions, the coming of the peaceful and wrathful deities, or personifications of human sentiment, which must be faced without flinching. the bardo th dol provides a relevant prayer: when i will have left my dear friends and gone on my own, and when the empty forms of my own projections appear, may the buddhas gr

iors and theorizes that they are the results of certain biological drives, although it is, of course, impossible to directly observe such drives/instincts. notions derived from jungian psychology have been introduced into popular culture in the last several decades, as is evident in the recent interest in mythology. not too many years ago, the word myth carried with it connotations of falsity and illusion in popular discourse. in recent years, a more positive notion of myth has become popular, through the work of joseph campbell and other writers whose work flows out of the 54 the craft jungian perspective. thanks to their work, mythology, in the sense of sacred stories, is now viewed as something worthwhile, and even necessary for human beings. campbell s views were popularized through a

LIBER HAD

and of every star, conjoining this in his understanding with the word("cxx. i" 2 "every man and every woman is a star" let this conception be that of life, the giver of life, and let him perceive that therefore the knowledge of hadit is the knowledge of death "this is the third practice of intelligence("ccxx. ii" 6. 6. let the aspirant apply himself to comprehend hadit as the magician or maker of illusion, and the exorcist or destroyer of illusion, under the figure of the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. also as the universal soul of motion (this conception harmonises thoth and harpocrates in a very complete and miraculous manner. thoth is both the magus of taro (see lib. 418) and the universal mercury; harpocrates both the destroyer of typhon and the babe on the lotus. note

LIBER O

are chiefly these (a) a widening of the horizon of the mind (b) an improvement of the control of the mind. 4. the student, if he attains any success in the following practices, will find himself confronted by things (ideas or beings) too glorious or too dreadful to be described. it is essential that he remain the master of all that he beholds, hears or conceives; otherwise he will be the slave of illusion and the prey of madness. before entering upon any of these practices the student must be in good health, and have attained a fair mastery of asana, pranayama and dharana. 5. there is little danger that any student, however idle or stupid, will fail to get some result; but there is a great danger that he will be led astray, even though it be by those which it is necessary that he should at

LIBER 777

iting them in their order round a heptagon, and tracing the heptagram unicursally, the order of the days of the week is obtained. col. clxxviii. these intelligences are angelic in nature, but possessing material and even earthly dominion. hence they preside over the geomantic figures, whose nature indeed expresses their relation to man. col. clxxxi. line 11. he laughs; bearing a sphere containing illusion in his left hand, but over his right shoulder, and a staff 463 lines long in his right. a lion and a dragon are at his feet, but he seems unaware of their attacks or caresses. line 12. his attitude suggests the shape of the swastika or thunderbolt, the message of god. line 13. she is reading intently in an open book. line 14. she bears a sceptre and a shield, whereon is figured a dove as

LIBER AASH

re the symbol of the beloved, though it be but a pisacha or a yantra or a deva. 35. and in all shalt thou create the infinite bliss, and the next link of the infinite chain. 4 liber a fash vel capricorni pnevmatici 36. this chain reaches from eternity to eternity, even in triangles.is not my symbol a triangle?.ever in circles.is not the symbol of the beloved a circle? therein is all progress base illusion, for every circle is alike and every triangle alike! 37. but the progress is progress, and progress is rapture, constant, dazzling, showers of light, waves of dew, flames of the hair of the great goddess, flowers of the roses that are about her neck, amen! 38. therefore lift up thyself as i am lifted up. hold thyself in as i am master to accomplish. at the end, be the end far distant as t

LIBER ALEPH

s thy nature to perform the great work, and this is the final dissolution of the cosmos. for though a stone seem to lie still on a mountain top, and have no care, yet hath it an hidden nature, a task ineffable and stupendous; namely, to force its way to he centre of gravity of the universe, and also to burn up its elements into the final homogeneity of matter. therefore the way of quiet is but an illusion of ignorance. whoever thou mayst be now, thy destiny is that which i have declared unto thee; and thou art most fixed in the true way when, accepting his consciously as thy will, thou gathereth up thy powers to move thy self mightily within it. s liber aleph vel cxi 26 w de differentia rerum (of the distinction of things) ut, o my son, although thine ultimate nature be universal, thine im

not the most transcendent of all the wisdoms of this cosmos, that no two beings are alike? lo! this is the secret of all beauty, and maketh love not only possible, but necessary, between every thing and every other thing. so then, lest thou in thine ignorance take the false way, and divagate, must thou learn thine own particular and peculiar nature in its relation to all others. for though it be illusion, it is by the true analysis of falsehoods that we are able to destroy them, just as the physician must understand the disease of his patient if he is to choose the fitting remedy. now therefore will i make yet more clear unto thee the value of thy dreams and phantesies and gestures of thine unconscious body and mind, as symptoms of thy particular will, and show thee how thy mayst come to

thou also none, in another one, and in the third an organised and necessary part of that great structure, so that there is no more conflict at all in thy whole by-coming. but now will i make light for thine eyes in this matter as thou gropest, asking: but of them that see not this, what sayst thou, o my father? but in that vision thou sayst not thus, my son! learn then of me the secret mystery of illusion, and how it worketh, and other holy law that is its nature, and of thine action therein; for this is an arcanum of the wisdom of the magi, and proper unto thee that dwellest in the land of understanding. l liber aleph vel cxi 60 bh allegoria de caissa (allegory of chess) onsider for an example the game and play of the chess, which is a pastime of man, and worthy to exercise him in thought

t in the land of understanding. l liber aleph vel cxi 60 bh allegoria de caissa (allegory of chess) onsider for an example the game and play of the chess, which is a pastime of man, and worthy to exercise him in thought, yet by no means necessary to his life, so that he sweepeth away board and pieces at the least summons of that which is truly dear to him. thus unto him this game is as it were an illusion. but insofar as he entereth into the game he abideth by the rules thereof, though they be artificial and in no wise proper to his nature; for in this restriction is all this pleasure. therefore, though he hath all-power to move the pieces at his own will, he doth it not, enduring loss, indignity, and defeat rather than destroy that artifice of illusion. think then that thou hast thyself c

ording to the law that thou hast made, which yet bindeth thee not save only by virtue of thine own will to do thine own pleasure therein. c the book of wisdom or folly 61 bq de veritate falsi (of the truth of falsehood) oreover this matter touches the nature of truth. for although to thee in thy true self, absolute and without conditions, all this universe, which is relative and conditioned is an illusion; yet to that part of thee by which thou perceivest it, the law of its being (or by-coming) is a law of truth. learn then that all relations are true upon their own plane, and that it would be a violation of nature to adjust them skewwise. thus, albeit thou hast found thy self, and knowest thy self immortal and immutable beyond time and space, free of causality, so thoroughly that even thy

LIBER ARCANORUM

hest, and set up his crowned staff for to redeem the universe. 16. he smote the towers of wailing; he brake them in pieces in the fire of his anger, so that he alone did escape from the ruin thereof. 17. transformed, the holy virgin appeared as a fluidic fire, making her beauty into a thunderbolt. 18. by her spells she invoked the scarab, the lord kheph- ra, so that the waters were cloven and the illusion of the powers was destroyed. 19. then the sun did appear unclouded, and the mouth of asi was on the mouth of asar. 20. then also the pyramid was builded so that the initiation might be complete. 21. and in the heart of the sphinx danced the lord adonai, in his garlands of roses and pearls making glad the concourse of things; yea, making glad the concourse of things. liber ccxxxi 4 the gen

LIBER ASTARTE

correspondences. but it were false to say .horus is a foal. or .horus is purple. one may say .horus resembles a foal in this respect, that astarte vel liber berylli 12 he is the offspring of two complementary beings. 33. further of this matter. so also many have said truly that all is one, and falsely that since earth is that one, and ocean is that one, therefore earth is ocean. unto him good is illusion, and evil is illusion; therefore good is evil. by this fallacy of logic1 are many men destroyed. moreover, there are those who take the image for the god; as who should say, my heart is in tiphareth, and an adeptus is in tiphereth; i am therefore an adept. and in this practice the worst danger is this, that the love which is its weapon should fail in one of two ways. first, if the love la

human understanding. on the same plane, too, venus is nearer to man than aphrodite, aphrodite than isis, isis than babalon, babalon than nuit. let him decide therefore according to his discretion on the one hand and his aspiration on the other: and let not one outrun his fellow. 42. further concerning the value of this method. certain objections arise. firstly, in the nature of all human love is illusion, and a certain blindness. nor is there any true love below the veil of the abyss. for this reason we give this method to the philosophus, as the reflection of the exempt adept, who reflects the magister templi and the magus. let then the philosophus attain this method as a foundation of the higher methods to be given to him when he attains those higher grades. another objection lies in th

LIBER B VEL MAGI

is forces: four his weapons. these are the seven spirits of unrighteousness; seven vultures of evil. thus is the art and craft of the magus but glamour. how shall he destroy himself? 0. yet the magus hath power upon the mother both directly and through love. and the magus is love, and bindeth together that and this in his conjuration. 1. in the beginning doth the magus speak truth, and send forth illusion and falsehood to enslave the soul. yet therein is the mystery of redemption. 2. by his wisdom made he the worlds; the word that is god is none other than he. 3. how then shall he end his speech with silence? for he is speech. 4. he is the first and the last. how shall he cease to number himself? 5. by a magus is this writing made known through the mind of a magister. the one uttereth clea

LIBER CCXLII AHA

infinite. even as a cube is to a square is that to this. olympas. royal and rare! infinite light of burning wheels! marsyas. ay! the imagination reels. aha! 13 thou must attain before thou know, and when thou knowest.mighty woe that silence grips the willing lips! olympas. ever was speech the thought fs eclipse. marsyas. ay, not to veil the truth to him who sought it, groping in the dim halls of illusion, said the sages in all the realms, in all the ages .keep silence. by a word should come your sight, and we who see are dumb! we have sought a thousand times to teach our knowledge; we are mocked by speech. so lewdly mocked, that all this word seems dead, a cloudy crystal blurred, though it cling closer to life fs heart than the best rhapsodies of art! olympas. yet speak! marsyas. ah, coul

e labyrinth of life and love blazed in me. then some giant will, mine or another fs thrust a thrill through the great vision. all the light went out in an immortal night, the world annihilated by the opening of the master fs eye. how can i tell it? olympas. master, master! a sense of some divine disaster abases me. liber ccxlii 22 marsyas. indeed, the shrine is desolate of the divine! but all the illusion gone, behold the one that is! olympas. royally rolled, i hear strange music in the air! marsyas. it is the angelic choir, aware of the great ordeal dared and done by one more brother of the sun! olympas. master, the shriek of a great bird blends with the torrent of the thunder. marsyas. it is the echo of the word that tore the universe asunder. olympas. master, thy stature spans the sky

LIBER CLXV A MASTER OF THE TEMPLE

ully, over the two previous days; then, having got into the swing, i roughly attempted a short and incomplete review of my whole life, which although brief, was much fuller than i expected. i remembered things connected with early childhood quite accurately, but of course not with full connections. then something occurred that i really did not expect, and only later trials will prove if it was an illusion or not. having tried hard to pierce the blank, back of all, i had a sudden clear sensation of lying on a bed with people around, and in particular an elderly man in black velvet and knee breeches, whom i at once felt was my tutor, leaning over me. the ideas that came with this were that i was quite young, and had some disease like consumption, that the family was wealthy, and the house a

LIBER CORDIS CINCTI SERPENTE

. they have mouthed the golden spangles of fine dust wherewith thou didst bedeck thine hair; they have scourged the painted flesh of thee with their whips; thou hast suffered unspeakable things. 9. but i have burnt within thee as a pure flame without oil. in the midnight i was brighter than the moon; in the daytime i exceeded utterly the sun; in the byways of thy being i flamed, and dispelled the illusion. 10. therefore thou art wholly pure before me; therefore thou art my virgin unto eternity. 11. therefore i love thee with surpassing love; therefore they that despise thee shall adore thee. 12. thou shalt be lovely and pitiful toward them; thou shalt heal them of the unutterable evil. 13. they shall change in their destruction, even as two dark stars that crash together in the abyss, and

LIBER CXCVII STORY OF SIR PALAMEDES

t the changes themselves constitute stability, he is again baulked, and biddeth his men bear him to egypt. xxviii. in an egyptian temple he hath performed the bloody sacrifice, and cursed osiris. himself suffering that curse, he is still far from the attainment. xxix. in the land of egypt he performeth many miracles. but from the statue of memnon issueth the questing, and he is recalled from that illusion. xxx. upon the plains of chaldea he descendeth into the bowels of the earth, where he beholdeth the visible image of the soul of nature for the beast. yet earth belcheth him forth. xxxi. in a slum city he converseth with a rationalist. learning nothing, nor even hearing the beast, he goeth forth to cleanse himself. xxxii. seeking to imitate the beast, he goeth on all-fours, questing horri

g and would away. but so feeble is he that he fleeth by night. sir palamdes, the saracen knight viii xxxvi. it hath often happened to sir palamede that he is haunted by a shadow, the which he may not recognise. but at last, in a sunlit wood, this is discovered to be a certain hunchback, who doubteth whether there be at all any beast or any quest, or if the whole life of sir palamede be not a vain illusion. him, without seeing to conquer with words, he slayeth incontinent. xxxvii. in a cave by the sea, feeding on limpets androots, sir palamede abideth, sick unto death. himseemeth the beast questeth within his own bowels; he is the beast. standing up, that he may enjoy the reward, he findeth another answer to the riddle. yet abideth in the quest. xxxviii. sir palamede is confronted by a stra

his sword lays many a flower low that glittering gladdened in the glade. he wrote himself a wanton ass, and to the sea his traces laid, where many a wavelet on the glass his prowess knows. but deep and deep his futile feet in fury pass, until one billow curls to leap, and flings him breathless on the shore half drowned. o fool! his god.s asleep, sir palamedes, the saracen knight 23 his armour in illusion.s war itself illusion, all his might and courage vain. yet ardours pour through every artery. the knight scales the himalaya.s frozen sides, crowned with illimitable light, and there in constant war abides, smiting the spangles of the snow; smiting until the vernal tides of earth leap high; the steady flow of sunlight splits the icy walls: they slide, they hurl the knight below. sir palam

LIBER CXLVIII SOLDIER AND THE HUNCHBACK

stroy one, all fall together. viii i must, at the risk of appearing to digress, insist upon this distinction between philosophical and practical points of view, or (in qabalistic language) between kether and malkuth. in private conversation i find it hard.almost impossible.to get people to understand what seems to me so very simple a point. i shall try to make it exceptionally clear. a boot is an illusion. a hat is an illusion. therefore, a boot is a hat. so argue my friends, not distributing the middle term. but thus argue i. all boots are illusions. the soldier and the hunchback 11 all hats are illusions. therefore (though it is not a syllogism, all boots and hats are illusions. i add: to the man in kether no illusions matter. therefore: to the man in kether neither boots nor hats matter

LIBER DCCCLX JOHN ST

my good, friends, this is not the way things happen. paris is as wonderful as lhassa, and there are just as many miracles in london as in luang prabang. i did not even think it necessary to go into the bois de boulogne and meet those three adepts who cause bleeding at the nose, familiar to us from the writings of macgregor mathers. the universe of magic is in the mind of a man: the setting is but illusion even to the thinker. humanity is progressing; formerly men dwelt habitually in the exterior world; nothing less than giants and paynim and men-atarms and distressed ladies, vampires and succubi, could amuse them. their magicians brought demons from the smoke of blood, and made gold from baser metals. in this they succeeded; the intelligent perceived that the gold and the lead were but sha

e.s body. so, too, i think, for the highest spiritual work; for that work extends from malkuth to kether. here is the great value of the rationalistic eastern systems [p.s. of course scientifically worked with pencil, notebook, and stop-watch. the yog. is usually in practice just as vague a dreamer as the mystic] they keep one always balanced by common sense. one might go off on lines of pleasing illusion for years, until one was lost on the .astral plane. all this, observe, is very meaningless, very vague at the best. what is the astral plane? is there such a thing? how do its phantoms differ from those of absinthe, reverie, and love, and so on? we may admit their unsubstantiality without denying their power; the phantoms of absinthe and love are potent enough to drive a man to death or m

ce? surely i am presuming on my magical power, which is an active thing, and therefore my passivity is not perfect. of course, when it happens, it happens out of time and space.now or ten years hence it is all the same. all the same to it; not all the same to me, o.m. so o.m (the dog) persists irrationally in wanting it, here and now. surely, indeed, it is a lack of faith, a pandering to the time-illusion. and so forth. yes, no doubt it is all magically wrong, even magically absurd; yet, though i see the snare, i deliberately walk into it. i suppose i shall be punished somehow. good! there fs the excuse i wanted. fear is failure: i must dare to do wrong. good! liber dccclx 70 7.50. it has just occurred to me that this waiting and watching is the supreme magical strain. every slight sound o

ike to me; there are just as many pros and cons to pr.n.y.ma as to ceremonial, etc. etc,.and the pros and cons are so numerous and far reaching that i simply dare not start discussing even one. i can see an endless avenue in every case. in short, like the hashishdrunkard in full blast, i am overwhelmed by the multitude of my own magical images. i have become the great magician.mayan, the maker of illusion.the lord of the brethren of the left-hand path. i don ft .wear my iniquity as an aureole, deathless in spiritual evil. as mr. waite thinks; but it.s nearly as bad as that. there seems only one reply to this great question of the hunchback (i like to symbolize the spirit of questioning by..a little crooked thing that asks questions) and that is to keep on affirming adonai, and refusing to

, i found only libra, the house of venus and of the exaltation of saturn; and these evil planets, smiling and frowning, overcame me. and so for the sublime path of man; instead of that symbol of the adept, his foot set firmly upon heaven, his whole figure showing forth the reconciler with the invisible, i found but the stagnant and bitter water of selfishness, the dead sea of the soul. for all is illusion. who saith .i. denieth adonai, save only if he mean adonai. and daleth the door of the pylon, is that tree whereon the adept of man hangeth, and daleth is love supernal, that if it be inserted in the word ani .i. giveth adni, adonai. subtle art thou and deadly, o dweller of the threshold (p.s..this name is a bad one. dweller beside the pylon is a better term; for he is not in the straight

LIBER DOMINI

from these prisons fashioned by men. comment: faith, hope, and obedience are prisons fashioned to control the sheep who follow dogmatic religions- satan gives freedom to those who reject these silly mind-creations by following his path. 19. carry yourself with inner strength, not vanity. vanity is ever the servant of the opinions of others. care not what any man thinks of you, your strength is no illusion of the flesh. comment: the true satanist could care less what opinions others may have of him/her. vanity gives power over one s actions to others who are often of little significance in one s life. on the other hand, the inner strength characteristic of the follower of satan is empowering and liberating, allowing the individual to act according to will rather than the illusions of the fl

LIBER HAD

nd of every star, conjoining this in his understanding with the word (ccxx. i. 2 .every man and every woman is a star. let this conception be that of life, the giver of life, and let him perceive that therefore the knowledge of hadit is the knowledge of death. this is the third practice of intelligence (ccxx. ii. 6. 6. let the aspirant apply himself to comprehend hadit as the magician or maker of illusion, and the exorcist of destroyer of illusion, under the figure of the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. also as the universal soul of motion (this conception harmonises thoth and harpocrates in a very complete and miraculous manner. thoth is both the magus of tarot (see lib. 418) and the universal mercury; harpocrates both the destroyer of typhon and the babe in the lotus. note

LIBER LVII

\ym, water. 91. 91= 7 x 13, the most spiritual form of the septenary. ma, amen, the holiest title of god; the amoun of the egyptians. it equals ynda hwhy (yhnwdhay, interlaced, the eight-lettered name, thus linking the 7 to the 8. not that ma (recknoning as final, 700= 741= ctma, the letters of the elements; and is thus a form of tetragrammaton, a form unveiled. 100. the number of q, the perfect illusion, 10 10. also [k, kaph, the wheel of fortune. the identity is that of matter, fatality, change, illusion. it 42 [possibly because 67= yz, zayin in full, the first of the paths connecting tiphareth with the supernals. t.s] 43 [i.e, writing out the tetragrammaton as a tetraktys, or in .wing. form, gives 72. t.s] 44 [i.e. the 13 paths above tiphareth. 78 is s (1. 12) so to get this number you

this state of things. he finds himself but a creature, the farthest removed from the creator, a number so complex and involved that he can scarcely imagine, much less dare to hope for, its reduction to the one. the numbers useful to him, therefore, will be those which are subversive of this state of sorrow. so the number 2 represents to him the magus (the great magician mayan who has created the illusion of maya) as seen in the 2nd aethyr. and considering himself as the ego who posits the non-ego (fichte) he hates this magus. it is only the beginner who regards this magus as the wonder-worker.as the thing he wants to be. for the adept such little consolation as he may win is rather to be found be regarding the magus as b= mercury= 8= ch= 418= abrahadabra, the great word, the .word of doub

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

one day find words to combat, perhaps to overthrow, this position. p.s. as, for example, the note to this introduction. as a promisekeeper i am the original eleven stone three peacherine..a.c. i must apologise (perhaps) for the new note of frivolity in my work: due doubtless to the frivolity of my subject: these poems being written when i was an advaitist and could not see why.everything being an illusion.there should be any particular object in doing or thinking anything. how i have found the answer will be evident from my essay on the subject* i must indeed apologise to the illustrious shade of robert browning for my audacious parody in title, style, and matter of his .christmas eve and easter day. the more i read it the eventual anticlimax of that wonderful poem irritated me only the mo

of dualism. pheugh! drop to the common christian.s view! this is my point; the world lies bleeding (result of sin).i do not care; i will admit you anywhere! i take your premises themselves and, like the droll deceitful elves they are, they yet outwit your plan. i will prove christ a wicked man. free will. herbert spencer. if there is free will how can there be pain or damnation? not-self being an illusion. self or not-self real? chute d.icare. i have pity: had christ any? the sheep and the goats. 500 505 510 515 520 525 530 16 the sword of song (granting him godhead) merciless to all the anguish and distress about him.save to him it clung and prayed. give me omnipotence? i am no fool that i should fence that power, demanding every tongue to call me god.i would exert that power to heal crea

le edition. to me, then, it remains to raise the alf laylah wa laylah into its proper place once more. i am not concerned to deny the objective reality of all .magical. phenomena; if they are illusions, they are at least as real as many unquestioned facts of daily life; and, if we follow herbert spencer, they are at least evidence of some cause* now, this fact is our base. what is the cause of my illusion of seeing a spirit in the triangle of art? every smatterer, every expert in psychology, will answer .that cause lies in your brain. english children are taught (pace the education act) that the universe lies in infinite space; hindu children, in the akasa, which is the same thing. those europeans who go a little deeper learn from fichte, that the phenomenal universe is the creation of the

easure (5) heal diseases, etc. i have taken these five powers at random; considerations of space forbid me to explain all (1) brings up facts from sub-consciousness (2) here we come to an interestin fact. it is curious to note the contrast between the noble means and the apparently vile ends of magical rituals. the latter are disguises for sublime truths .to destroy our enemies. is to realise the illusion of duality, to excite compassion (ah! mr. waite* the world of magic is a mirror, wherein who sees muck is muck (3) a careful naturalist will understand much from the voices of the animals he has studied long. even a child knows the difference between a cat.s miauling and purring. the faculty may be greatly developed (4) business capacity may be stimulated (5) abnormal states of the body m

t such would be the result) all their .facts. are proved. we prove a world of spirits, the existence of god, the immortality of the soul, etc. but, with all that, we are not really one step advanced into the heart of the inquiry which lies at the heart of philosophy .what is anything. i see a cat. dr. johnson says it is a cat. berkeley says it is a group of sensations. cankaracharya says it is an illusion, an incarnation, or god, according to the hat he has got on, and is talking through. spencer says it is a mode of the unknowable. but none of them seriously doubt the fact that i exist; that a cat exists; that one sees the other, all.bar johnson.hint.but oh! how dimly!.at what i now know to be.true. no, not necesarily true, but nearer the truth. huxley goes deeper in his demolition of des

LIBER LXXVIII

tory, but neutralized by the supineness of the person: illusionary success, deception in the moment of apparent victory. lying, error, promises unfulfilled. drunken-ness, wrath, vanity. lust, fornication, violence against women, selfish dissipation, deception in love and friendship. often success gained, but not followed up. modified as usual by dignity. netzach of h (lying, promises unfulfilled; illusion, deception, error; slight success at outset, not retained. herein the angels lahlm and hawhj rule. a description of the cards of the taro 35 xxxiii the lord of swiftness eight of wands or torches four white radiating angelic hands (two proceeding from each side) issuant from clouds; clasped in two pairs in the centre with the grip of the first order. they hold eight wands, crossed four wi

LIBER NU

d azure is the naked splendour of nuit; she bends in ecstasy to kiss the secret ardours of hadit. h this is the first practice of intelligence (ccxx. i. 14. 3. avoid any act of choice or discrimination. this is the first practice of ethics (ccxx. i. 22. 4. consider of six and fifty that 50 6= 0.12. 0 the circumference, nuit. the centre, hadit. 1 the unity proceeding, ra-hoor-khuit. 2 the world of illusion. nuit thus comprehends all in none. also 50+ 6= 56= 5+ 6= 11, the key of all rituals. and 50 6= 300, the spirit of the child within (note n#i= 72, the shemhamphorash and the quinaries of the zodiac, etc) this is the second practice of intelligence (ccxx. i. 25, 26. 2 liber n v 5. the result of this practice is the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the omnipresence of the body

LIBER O

m are chiefly these (a) a widening of the horizon of the mind (b) an improvement of the control of the mind. 4. the student, if he attain to success in the following practices, will find himself confronted by things (ideas or beings) too glorious or too dreadful to be described. it is essential that he remain the master of all that he beholds, hears or conceives; otherwise he will be the slave of illusion, and the prey of madness. before entering upon any of these practices, the student should be in good health, and have attained a fair mastery of .sana, pr.n.y.ma, and dh.ran..1 5. there is little danger that any student, however idle or stupid, will fail to get some result; but there is great danger that he will be led astray, obsessed and overwhelmed by his results, even though it be by

LIBER SAMEKH

ng one thing such that it demands to be defined by complementals. thus, an liber samekh svb figvra dccc 24 hyperbola is a simple idea, but its construction exacts two curves. line 3 the angel, as the adept knows him, is a being in tiphareth, which obscures kether. the adept is not officially aware of the higher sephiroth. he cannot perceive, like the ipsissimus, that all things soever are equally illusion and equally absolute. he is in tiphareth, whose office is redemption, and he deplores the events which have cause the apparent sorrow from which he has just escaped. he is also aware, even in the height of his ecstasy, of the limits and defects of his attainment.26 line 4 this refers to the phenomena which accompany his attainment. line 5 this means the recognition of the angel as the tru

LIBER THISHARB

irst be overwhelmed by a sense of utter confusion; secondly, it will endeavour to avoid the difficulty by a trick. the brain will pretend to be working backwards when it is really normal. it is difficult to describe the nature of the trick, but it will be quite obvious to anyone who has done practices (a) or (b) for a day or two. they become quite easy, and he will think he is making progress, an illusion which close analysis will dispel. 13. having begun to train his brain in this manner, and obtained some little success, let the exempt adept, seated in his asana, think first of his present attitude, next of the act of being seated, next of his entering the room, next of his robing, et cetera, exactly as it happened. and let him most strenuously endeavour to think each act as happening ba

LIBER TURRIS

tvrris vel domvs dei svb figvra xvi v a a publication in class d 1 0. this practice is very difficult. the student cannot hope for much success unless he have thoroughly mastered .sana, and obtained much definite success in the meditation-practices of gliber e h and gliber hhh. h on the other hand, any success in this practice is of an exceedingly high character, and the student is less liable to illusion and self-deception in this than in almost any other that we make known [the meditation-practice in gliber e h consisted in the restraint of the mind to a single predetermined imagined object exterior to the student, simple or complex, at rest or in motion: those of gliber hhh h in causing the mind to pass through a predetermined series of states: the r.jayoga of the hindus is mainly an ex

LIBER V VEL REGULI

n fancy. i am the all, for all that exists for me is a necessary expression in thought of some tendency of my nature, and all my thoughts are only the letters of my name. i am the one, for all that i am is not the absolute all, and all my all is mine and not another.s; mine, who conceive of the ritual of the mark of the beast 9 others like myself in essence and truth, yet unlike in expression and illusion. i am the none, for all that i am is the imperfect image of the perfect; each partial phantom must perish in the clasp of its counterpart, each form fulfil itself by finding its equated opposite, and satisfying its need to be the absolute by the attainment of annihilation. the word lashtal includes all this. la.naught. al.two. l is .justice. the kteis fulfilled by the phallus .naught and

compensated action; that the orgies of bacchus and pan are no less sacramental than the masses of jesus; that the scars of syphilis are sacred and worthy of honour as much as the wounds of the martyrs of mary.12 it should be unnecessary to insist that the above ideas apply only to the absolute. toothache is still painful, and deceit degrading, to a man, relatively to his situation in the world of illusion; he does his will by avoiding them. but the ritual of the mark of the beast 13 the existence of .evil. is fatal to philosophy so long as it is supposed to be independent of conditions; and to accustom the mind to .make no difference. between any two ideas as such is to emancipate it from the thraldom of terror. we affirm on our altars our faith in ourselves and our wills, our love of all

LIBER XXXIII AN ACCOUNT OF AA

sen is as the first; he presents himself among the others without presumption, and he is received by the others without jealousy. it if be necessary that real members should meet together, they find and recognize each other with perfect certainty. no disguise can be used, neither hypocrisy nor dissimulation could hide the characteristic qualities which distinguish the members of this society. all illusion is gone, and things appear in their true form. no one member can choose another; unanimous choice is required. though not all men are called, many of the called are chosen, and that as soon as they become fit for entrance. any man can look for the entrance, and any man who is within can teach another to seek for it; but only he who is fit can arrive within. unprepared men occasion disorde

LOGOMACHY OF ZOS

necessity. sex is the only way of procreation, and our hylotheism changes the matrix of our desire. cthese poor likenesses are of slavering fears and poor beliefs. are they the differentiated correlatives we make of ourselves for the great innovation? no, they must come from the sweat of ecstasy. this is your great moment of reality. the living flesh! these selffrightened saints who bleat "all is illusion. offer fewer alternatives to reality than half a wet dream. they expect too much without payment. to reap without sowing, and by luck to forfeit debt, so they imagine, and hope that death will be the end. know thyself: such knowledge reveals little but the redundant. the hidden and the unknown are affinities, ever ubiquitous and much inhibited. if mankind had mistrusted all teaching it wo

a man sees a coiled rope and imagines it a snake, and thereby is afraid and runs away in terror. the rope is real, and still a rope; the fear suffered with the reaction is also real although bred of imagination. the delusion was caused by poor observation. yet some would have it that because things are not what they appear to our' 5! 2% q( 5, 6- 2..q. 9"d( itself at once. therefore everything is illusion. it proves that our imaginings from illusion are real in as much as they react on us in the same manner as if from reality. we survive more through cowardice than courage. symbolic creation: a chair is not explained by its parts nor by its material or quantitative measurement. chemical analysis and mathematics will not disclose all its meanings or origination. a chair( e 6#"27 the functio

no more. beauty contains all meanings, could we but decipher them. quietism, buddhism, and other religions, everything which denies the flesh. is the great inferiority to god in ourselves, an escapism seeking..15! 1"d. 5! x e s# d..t..1 p..q..t ]7 they were hurt? or was the odalisque unsatisfactory or too expensive? they expected too much for too little, or were too mean to pay. therefore "all is illusion. but the stoic smilingly awaits the next shower of shit from heaven. stoics are not saviours, saints or heroes and are often confused and weary, yet they prefer to find their own way and to accept life as they find it. the schizophrenics, the melancholics and psychotics. they at least are secretive and inflict no religions on others. they prove the. 9..1( 5..1@ e..1 9"d <7 i am, therefore

ed ideologists, materialists, mayamongers, zombie-zenists, the dirty-tedious apologists of gods and men, and many other "schools. all destroy their own arguments by having to make use of that which they deny. thus "know that nothing can be known, which at least implies that you know that you cannot know. i assert that that knowledge is the potential of knowing ultimately all things. again "all is illusion "all is unreal "the intelligence is false "we have no direct experience of personality" c ad nauseam. and so we have the reality of illusion as one delusion falsifying another. for if the reality we are all aware of is unreal and we, illusionary automata without personality, and everything false, how can we know whether it is illusion or know of an absolute from our unknowableness? but! w

LURQUIN STONE EVOLUTION AND RELIGIOUS CREATION MYTHS

, it should be clear that the words fact and theory are not at all the same and cannot be substituted for one another. a fact should never be taken at face value because it could simply be the result of a flawed observation. to be valid and generally accepted, a fact must first be observable and the observation should be repeatable by independent observers. without that, a fact might simply be an illusion. but as we described above, facts alone do not constitute science because an isolated fact without the framework of a theory cannot lead to explanation and to the discovery of new facts, which by definition is the scientific process. thus, facts and theories must be distinguished: these two concepts address totally different issues. we show throughout this book that creationism s (and id

MACNULTY W KIRK KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY

d and new testaments should be read together. if we accept this idea, then we are faced with the question "what does god destroy" from the neo-platonic point of view, the answer is "when one is conscious of the divine presence, that presence (god) destroys everything unlike itself" that is because, from the neo-platonic point of view, god is as everything that is real; everything unlike god is an illusion, an illusion that is dispelled when one is conscious of the divine presence. in the ritual drama of the third degree the part played by the candidate places him in the role of the most junior of the three grand masters who, according to the traditional history, presided at the building of solomon's temple. the symbolism of the winding stairs equates this role to that of the junior warden

MAGIC AND SPELLS

to shar's church are rare and reclusive enough that only a handful of magic items are manufactured as shadow weave items. shadow weave items are nearly identical to items created by weave users, but the differences are profound. spell-like effects generated from shadow weave items have the same benefits and limitations that a shadow weave spellcaster has: effects from the schools of enchantment, illusion, and necromancy gain a +1 bonus on their save dcs and a +1 bonus on caster level checks to overcome spell resistance. the same benefits apply to effects with the darkness designator. effects from the schools of evocation and transmutation have their caster levels reduced by one (though their costs are based on the original caster level. the reduced caster level affects the spell's range

uncanny dodge ability. 1 true strike 2 augury 3 bestow curse 4 status s mark of justice deities: gond, kossuth, talos. fate domain spells 6 geas/quest 7 vision 8 mind blank 9 foresight fire domain gnome domain deities: baervan wildwanderer, baravar cloakshadow, callarduran smoothhands, flandal steelskin, gaerdal ironhand, garl glittergold, segojan earthcaller, urdlen. granted power: you east all illusion spells at +1 caster level. 1 silent image 2 gembomb 3 minor image 4 minor creation s hallucinatory terrain gnome domain spells good domain 6 fantastic machine 7 screen 8 otto's irresistible dance 9 summon nature's ally (earth elementals or animals only) deities: aerdrie faenya, angharradh, anhur, arvoreen, baervan wildwanderer, baravar cloakshadow, berronar truesilver, chaun-tea,clangedin

eities: bane, ghaunadaur, gruurnsh, set, urdlen. granted power: once per day, as a free action, choose one opponent. against that opponent you gain a +2 profane bonus on attack rolls, saving throws, and armor class. this supernatural ability lasts 1 minute. halfling domain' halfling domain spells hatred domain healing domain' deities: berronar truesilver, ilmater, lurne, luthic, sharindlar, torm. illusion domain deities: akadi, azuth, baravar cloakshadow, cynic, mystra, sehanine moonbow. granted power: you cast all illusion spells at +1 caster level. knowledge domain deities: angharradh, azuth, deep sashelas, deneir, dugmaren brightmantle, dumathoin, goud, gwaeron windstrom, labelas enoreth, milil, mystra, oghma, savras, sehanine moonbow, shar, siamorphe, thoth, tyr, waukeen. law domain' d

, sehanine moonbow, shar, siamorphe, thoth, tyr, waukeen. law domain' deities: arvoreen, azuth, bane, berronar truesilver, clangeddin, cyrrollalee, deep duerra, gaerdal ironhand, gargauth, garl glittergold, gorm gulthyn, helm, hoar, horus-re, ilmater, jergal, kelemvor, laduguer, loviatar, moradin, nobanion, osiris, red knight, savras, set, siamorphe, tiamat, torm, tyr, ulutiu, urogalan, yondalla. illusion domain spells 1 silent image 6 mislead 2 minor image 7 project image 3 displacement 8 screen 4 phantasmal killer 9 weird 5 persistent image hatred domain spells 1 doom 6 forbiddance 2 scare 7 blasphemy 3 bestow curse 8 antipathy 4 emotion (hate effect only) 9 wail of the banshee 5 righteous might 1 bless 6 heroes' feast 2 shield other 7 refuge 3 helping hand 8 protection from spells 4 imb

the effect then radiates from the creature and moves as it moves. unattended objects and points in space do not get saving throws or benefit from spell resistance. blacklight counters or dispels any light spell of equal or lower level, such as daylight. the 3rd-level cleric spell daylight counters or dispels blacklight. material component: a piece of coal and the dried eyeball of any creature. d. illusion (shadow) level: sor/wiz 2 components: v, s casting time: 1 action range: personal target: you duration: 1 round/level (d) saving throw: fortitude partial spell resistance: yes,(see text) claws of darkness blacklight evocation [darkness] level: darkness 3, sor/wiz 3 components: v, s, m casting time: 1 action range: close (25 ft+ 5 ft./2 levels) area: a 20-ft.-radius emanation centered on a

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

turally desire to know" to satisfy this common urge the unfolding human intellect has explored the extremities of imaginable space without and the extremities of imaginable self within, seeking to estimate the relationship between the one and the all; the effect and the cause; nature and the groundwork of nature; the mind and the source of the mind; the spirit and the substance of the spirit; the illusion and the reality. an ancient philosopher once said "he who has not even a knowledge of common things is a brute among men. he who has an accurate knowledge of human concerns alone is a man among brutes. but he who knows all that can be known by intellectual energy, is a god among men" man's status in the natural world is determined, therefore, by the quality of his thinking. he whose mind

unted, euclid donned woman's clothing and went at night to study with socrates. after the cruel death of their teacher, the disciples of socrates, fearing a similar fate, fled to megara, where they were entertained with great honor by euclid. the megarian school accepted the socratic doctrine that virtue is wisdom, adding to it the eleatic concept that goodness is absolute unity and all change an illusion of the senses. euclid maintained that good has no opposite and therefore evil does not exist. being asked about the nature of the gods, he declared himself ignorant of their disposition save that they hated curious persons. the megarians are occasionally included among the dialectic philosophers. euclid (who died 374? b.c) was succeeded in his school by eubulides, among whose disciples we

obscurely intimated, by mystic and splendid visions, the felicity of the soul both here and hereafter when purified from the defilement of a material nature, and constantly elevated to the realities of intellectual (spiritual) vision" just as the lesser mysteries discussed the prenatal epoch of man when the consciousness in its nine days (embryologically, months) was descending into the realm of illusion and assuming the veil of unreality, so the greater mysteries discussed the principles of spiritual regeneration and revealed to initiates not only the simplest but also the most direct and complete method of liberating their higher natures from the bondage of material ignorance. like prometheus chained to the top of mount caucasus, man's higher nature is chained to his inadequate personal

universal substance is fashioned into the pattern of this idea. the bacchic state signifies the unity of the rational soul in a state of self-knowledge, and the titanic state the diversity of the rational soul which, being scattered throughout creation, loses the consciousness of its own essential oneness. the mirror into which bacchus gazes and which is the cause of his fall is the great sea of illusion- the lower world fashioned by the titans. bacchus (the mundane rational soul, seeing his image before him, accepts the image as a likeness of himself and ensouls the likeness; that is, the rational idea ensouls its reflection--the irrational universe. by ensouling the irrational image it implants in it the urge to become like its source, the rational image. therefore the ancients said tha

of his people were preserved. because of this remarkable experience, odin is sometimes shown seated on a gallows tree and he became the patron deity of all who died by the noose. esoterically, the hanged man is the human spirit which is suspended from heaven by a single thread. wisdom, not death, is the reward for this voluntary sacrifice during which the human soul, suspended above the world of illusion, and meditating upon its unreality, is rewarded by the achievement of self-realization. from a consideration of all these ancient and secret rituals it becomes evident that the mystery of the dying god was universal among the illumined and venerated colleges of the sacred teaching. this mystery has been perpetuated in christianity in the crucifixion and death of the god-man-jesus the chri

MASTERING WITCHCRAFT

robably be easier if you rule it in lightly in pencil first, using a pair of compasses to construct the circle- proceed to fill in the magical symbols and words, starting at the top point, working around clockwise and finishing with the centre. as you write each magical word, chant it deliberately out loud in combination with the following charm: l 1 "be ye far from us, all hostility, deceit, and illusion, in the name of abdia" l 2 "be ye far from us, all hostility, deceit, and illusion, in the name of ballater" and so on. when you have finished, repeat the process, this time using your athame to trace over the star and the symbols above the paper, in your witchly imagination seeing them burn in the air with spectral blue witch fire. now take your second piece of parchment and draw on it t

MATHERS MACGREGOR THE GREATER KEY OF SOLOMON VOL 2

mmencing with the first hour of the sun; and from the first hour of venus unto the first hour of the same day of venus. as for operations of destruction and desolation, we should practice and put them into execution on the day of saturn at the first hour, or rather at the eighth or fifteenth of the day; and from the first until the eighth hour of the night. experiments of games, raillery, deceit, illusion, and invisibility, ought to be done at the first hour of venus, and at the eighth hour of the day; but by night at the third and at the seventh. at all times of practicing and putting into execution magical arts, the moon should be increasing in light, and in an equal number of degrees with the sun; and it the key of solomon page 84 is much better from the first quarter to the opposition

MATHERS MACGREGOR THE LESSER KEY OF SOLOMON LEMEGETON VOL 1

ble edition. to me, then, it remains to raise the alf laylah wa laylah into its proper place once more. i am not concerned to deny the objective reality of all magical phenomena; if they are illusions, they are at least as real as many unquestioned facts of daily life; and, if we follow herbert spencer, they are at least evidence of some cause.4 now, this fact is our base. what is the cause of my illusion of seeing a spirit in the triangle of art? every smatterer, every expert in psychology, will answer: that cause lies in your brain. english children (pace the education act) are taught that the universe lies in infinite space; hindu children, in the akasa, which is the same thing. those europeans who go a little deeper learn from fichte, that the phenomenal universe is the creation of the

easure (5) heal diseases, etc. i have taken these five powers at random; considerations of space forbid me to explain all (1) brings up facts from sub-consciousness (2) here we come to an interesting fact. it is curious to note the contrast between the noble means and the apparently vile ends of magical rituals. the latter are disguises for sublime truths. to destroy our enemies is to realize the illusion of duality, to excite compassion (ah! mr. waite, the world of magic is a mirror, wherein who sees muck is muck (3) a careful naturalist will understand much from the voices of the animals he has studied long. even a child knows the difference of a cat s miauling and purring. the faculty may be greatly developed (4) business capacity may be stimulated (5) abnormal states of the body may be

MICHAEL FORD WITCHMOON

that compared to the universe in which we exist we are nothing and in most cases to nothing we return. by holding life in respect, and developing the ability to act with caution and maturity one will continue to grow in psychic and physical power. it is only when the sorcerer overrates the self by the inflation of ego that weakness will set in and leave the individual weak of spirit and strength. illusion is the ultimate enemy. the same can be said for ego. the methods which aleister crowley explored are based on going beyond and above the ego, by the taking of god forms and yoga techniques which further teach the limits of the mind and body. a significant method of weighing down and troubling the mind, in order to weaken the opponent, is to stalk them through dreams. this can be done by a

MICHAEL W FORD THE VAMPIRE GATE

rest of the angel in front of you. rejoice in life! 8. focus on the balance of your inner light and darkness, how you may motivate your light to control and shape the darkness based on what you wish to achieve. say in your mind: by the essence of lucifer am i god. i will devour as much energy as i can. i am both as lucifer and ahriman, lilith and the darkness of night. i will cast aside doubt and illusion and devour the hindering light of god until i am unchallenged! moving the astral body sit in a chair, legs directly in front of you and finger tips touching each other. your hand from the thumb to the forefinger should be raised to your solar plexus level and your two hands touching should form a type of triangle shape with you looking downward at them. 29 start a careful breathing techni

MICHAEL WYNN THE SOUL TRAVELERS

erature of the king's chamber: it is of a peculiar deathlike cold which cuts to the marrow of the bone. this room was a doorway between the material world and the transcendental spheres of nature. while his body lay in the coffer, the soul of the neophyte soared as a human-headed hawk through the celestial realms, there to discover first hand the eternity of life, light, and truth, as well as the illusion of death, darkness, and sin. thus in one sense the great pyramid may be likened to a gate through which the ancient priests permitted a few to pass toward the attainment of individual completion. it is also to be noted incidentally that if the coffer in the king's chamber be struck, the sound emitted has no counterpart in any known musical scale. this tonal value may have formed part of t

MORALS AND DOGMA

mmon sovereign of all mankind, is himself one. no man can disobey it without flying, as it were, from his own bosom, and repudiating his nature; and in this very act he will inflict on himself the severest of retributions, even though he escape what is regarded as punishment. it is our duty to obey the laws of our country, and to be careful that prejudice or passion, fancy or affection, error and illusion, be not mistaken for conscience. nothing is more usual than to pretend conscience in all the actions of man which are public and cannot be concealed. the disobedient refuse to submit to the laws, and they also in many cases pretend conscience; and so disobedience and rebellion become conscience, in which there is neither knowledge nor revelation, nor truth nor charity, nor reason nor reli

lations of religion. it sits apart from all sects and creeds, in its own calm and simple dignity, the same under every government. it is still that which it was in the cradle of the human race, when no human foot had trodden the soil of assyria and egypt, and no colonies had crossed the himalayas into southern india, media, or etruria. it gives no countenance to anarchy and licentiousness; and no illusion of glory, or extravagant emulation of the ancients inflames it with an unnatural thirst for ideal and utopian liberty. it teaches that in rectitude of life and sobriety of habits is the only sure guarantee for the continuance of political freedom; and it is chiefly the soldier of the sanctity of the laws and the rights of conscience. it recognizes it as a truth, that necessity, as well as

es; to rule prostrate states and abject provinces by fear and force; than to administer unpolluted justice to the people, to relieve the condition and raise the estate of the toiling masses, redress the injured and succor the distressed and conciliate the discontented, and speedily restore to every one his own; then that people is involved in a cloud of error, and will too late perceive, when the illusion of these mighty benefits has vanished, that in neglecting these, which it thought inferior considerations, it has only been precipitating its own ruin and despair. unfortunately, every age presents its own special problem, most difficult and often impossible to solve; and that which this age offers, and forces upon the consideration of all thinking men, is this--how, in a populous and wea

code of the _saba ns. with the idea so expressed is connected the pantheism of india. the king of light, the ancient, is all that is. he is not only the real cause of all existences; he is infinite [ainsoph. he is himself: there is nothing in him that we can call _thou. in the indian doctrine, not only is the supreme being the real cause of all, but he is the only real existence: all the rest is illusion. in the kabalah, as in the persian and gnostic doctrines, he is the supreme being unknown to all, the "unknown father" the world is his revelation, and subsists only in him. his attributes are reproduced there, with different modifications, and in different degrees, so that the universe is his holy splendor: it is but his mantle; but it must be revered in silence. all beings have emanated

cited. the hierophants, men of intellect, and well understanding the disposition of the people and the art of controlling them, used every appliance to attain that object, and give importance and impressiveness to their ceremonies. as they covered those ceremonies with the veil of secrecy, so they preferred that night should cover them with its wings. obscurity adds to impressiveness, and assists illusion; and they used it to produce an effect upon the astonished initiate. the ceremonies were conducted in caverns dimly lighted: thick groves were planted around the temples, to produce that gloom that impresses the mind with a religious awe. the very word _mystery, according to demetrius phalereus, was a metaphorical expression that denoted the secret awe which darkness and gloom inspired. t

MOTTA MARCELO THE COMMENTARIES OF AL

of pisces just past) it rested on the ignorant belief that the sun died every day, and every year, and that its resurrection was a miracle. the formula of the new aeon recognizes horus, the child crowned and conquering, as god. we are all members of the body of god, the sun; and about our system is the ocean of space. this formula is then to be based upon these facts. our "evil "error "darkness "illusion, whatever one chooses to call it, is simply a phenomenon of accidental and temporary separateness. if you are "walking in darkness, do not try to make the sun rise by self-sacrifice, but wait in confidence for the dawn, and enjoy the pleasures of the night meanwhile. the general allusion is to the equinox ritual of the g. d, where the officer of the previous six months, representing horus

ar is individual, yet each is bound to the others by law (there is also a technical meaning to this, already explained in other notes 'by another) this freedom under law is one of the most difficult yet important doctrines of this book. so too the ritual--our lives--must be unto nuit; for she is the ultimate to which we tend, the asymptote of our curve. failure in this one-pointedness sets up the illusion of duality, which leads to excision and destruction "direful; because ra-hoor-khuit is a "god of war and of vengeance; see chapter iii. the doctrine of the previous verses, which appears not merely to allow sexual liberty in the ordinary sense, but even to advocate it in a sense which is calculated to shock the most abandoned libertine, can do no less than startle and alarm the magician

exual gesture. one cannot say that any significance of that gesture is forbidden, for "there is no law beyond do what thou wilt" but this may and shall be said, that a significance which indicates ignorance or forgetfulness of the central truth of the universe is an acquiescence in that opacity caused by the confusion of the veils which conceal the soul from the consciousness, and thus create the illusion which the aspirant calls sorrow, and the uninitiate, evil. the sexual act, even to the grossest of mankind, is the agent which dissipates the fog of self for one ecstatic moment. it is the instinctive feeling that the physical spasm is symbolic of that miracle of the mass, by which the material wafer, composed of the passive elements, earth and water, is transmuted into the substance of t

ich determined the relative importance of the data presented to them--it required only a slight effort of imagination to think of this council as in debate; i could picture to myself some tactically brilliant proposal being vetoed by the quartermaster-general. it was only one step to dramatize the scene, and it flashed upon me in a moment that here was the explanation of 'double personality: that illusion was no more than a natural personification of internal conflict, just as the savage attributes consciousness to trees and rocks. example no. 2: while at montauk i had put my sleeping bag to dry in the sun. when i went to take it in, i remarked, laughingly "your bed-time, master bag" as if it were a small boy and i its nurse. this was entirely frivolous, but the thought flashed into my min

this conjunction. a "khabs" or star is apparently any nucleus where this conjunction has taken place. the real philosophical difficulty about this cosmogony is not concerned with any particular equation, or even with the original equation. we can understand x=ab, x=a,b,&c; and, also, 0 =pa qb, whether pa-qb=o or not. but we ask how the homogeneity of both nuit and hadit can ever lead to even the illusion of 'difference. the answer appears to be that this difference appears naturally with the self-realization of nuit as the totality of possibilities; each of these, singly and in combination, is satisfied or set in motion by hadit, to compose a particular manifestation. 0 could possess no signification at all, unless there were diverse dimensions wherein it had no extension 'nothing' means

ONYX TABLET OF SET

t phase: the sixth stage is shock. here the student learns that his or her teachers are in the long run just people like him- or herself. they see the great tragedy of initiation, which is that when initiates screw up, they do so on a grander scale than regular folk. this leads them to various deflections of initiation. they may decide that their teacher is "corrupt" or that initiation is just an illusion, or worse still they may decide that they have license to pursue such petty evils as they may see (or imagine) others "above" them practice. here the very sovereignty they have been seeking is abdicated by their interest in the weakness of others, rather than in preserving and increasing their own strength. but those who survive this shock pass onto the last phase of initiation. the seven

ce than regular people. the added essence does not come with a guidebook; it is up to us to shape it with our experiences. we have to put ourselves in the place where we must act, and must make tough choices. there is indeed a sense of pressure. we feel that we are "commanded" to speak. often, hearing our own increased essence, we are astounded at the wisdom of our words. there is something of an illusion here. the impulse, when it is real and overpowering- and of course this can not be judged by anyone outside of ourselves- is almost always correct. the manifestation may be another matter entirely. here's the tough part of being a iii [and remember that i too am a priest- so this is my dilemma as well. we may know what needs to be acted on, and until a certain familiarity with that "impul

possibility of thinking they have broken free of the cave and can see set "in broad daylight, not realizing that- a) we're still mostly in the cave- b) outside of the cave the light is bright, and our nocturnal eyes may take time to adjust properly- c) outside some things continue to remain in shadow. everything is not always clearly visible. the effects and brightness of the light may create an illusion of a different quality, but an illusion nevertheless. in closing i would like to pose some questions to the priesthood of set. responses can be forwarded to me and maybe forward to the high priest for possible inclusion in the onyx tablet: 1. who is set? discuss your experience and how/why you came to such a definition. 2. can an initiate be recognized to the iii* before deciding upon a p

successfully bringing the gift of set through the flesh, or through the human experience more specifically. this is by no means a finite process. it has to be repeated over and over again as we perceive the possibilities for its expression. it seems to have more to do with the situations in which we find ourselves, rather than the linear time through which we seemingly pass. i conceive this as an illusion which man has created for his comfort in terms of change- a reason to feel good about an assimilation within the objective universe"*i am within: the seed-form of this process as interpreted at any level of human conscious evolution and within any individual human psyche. i think the "i" in this statement refers to the "self ahead of the self- the potential of xeper in any direction or wi

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

s. as a result, four sons were born: rama, who received half the divine essence, bharata, who received a quarter, and lakshmana and satrughna, who received an eighth each. therefore, all four brothers shared in vishnu s divine nature. the buddha the buddha, the ninth avatar shown here with the attributes of vishnu, was a historical figure. he taught humankind how to free itself of desire, and the illusion of this world, and its endless reincarnations. the buddha s previous incarnations are recounted in the jataka tales. kalkin, the white horse at the end of this era of the world, when humankind has become totally degenerate, vishnu will come in his tenth incarnation, riding a white horse and wielding a flaming sword to destroy the wicked and renew the world. krishna krishna, the eighth ava

REGARDIE ISRAEL THE COMPLETE GOLDEN DAWN

he services and aid of the analytical psychologist. this impetus and this self-consciousness are the prime implications of daath. its signification is a higher type of consciousness, the beginning of a spiritual rebirth. it acts as a selfevolved link between the higher genius, on the one hand, at peace in its supernal abode, and, on the other hand, the human soul bound by its fall to the world of illusion and sense and matter. not until that self-consciousness and acquired knowledge are turned to noble and altruistic ends, so long will sorrow and suffering be the inevitable result. continually will the red dragon, the inverted power of the eros, ravish the little kingdom of self until such time as we open ourselves to the deepest levels of our unconsciousness, reconciling and uniting them

ays, they would have become what are known in the east as nirmanakayas. speaking in the secret doctrine of one group of adepts, blavatsky gives a definition of nirmanakayas which is distinctly worth quoting "maruts is, in occult parlance, one of the names given to those egos of great adepts who have passed away, and who are known also as nirmanakayas; of those egos for whom- since they are beyond illusion -there is no devachan (heaven) and who, having either voluntarily renounced it for the good of mankind, or not yet reached nirvana, remain invisible onearth" such must therefore be the. nature of the divine guardians -of our order. a few lines following the above quotation in the secret doctrine <293> madame blavatsky further remarks "who they are 'on earth- every student of occult scienc

uilibrium can occur. therefore, does the hegemon superintend the preparation rather than perform it actually.a triple cord is bound round the body of the neophyte, symbolising the binding and restriction of the lower nature. it is triple in reference to the white triangle of the three supemals. then, also, are the eyes bandaged to symbolise that the light of the material world is but darkness and illusion compared with the radiance of the divine light. the preparation also represents a certain temporary binding and restriction of the natural body. the hierophant, being a member of the second order and therefore initiated into the secret knowledge of the symbolism, shall, together with any officers and members also of the inner order, remember what tremendous gods and goddesses they represe

y, and by an effort of will sends it down to the guardian of the west, whence it rushes forth in strength and power, vitalising the genius of equilibrium between the pillars, and thence the whole sphere. the attention is then fixed on each force in turn, now alive and clothed with a definite symbolic form. in this it is desirable to use the forms of the gods of egypt, so as to avoid the chance of illusion through memory creeping in by the appearance of the human officers one is accustomed to see. each of this considered in detail assumes a symbolic form. note, that as the present purpose is to examine the reflection of some earthly event or force, the symbology is particularly regarded with reference thereto. thus the hiereus specially guards against the intrusion of any material wish or t

the general rules, it is probable that the student will discover for himself particular methods more or less suited to his own particular temperament. but it may prove useful to some for me to write in some detail the mode of skrylng and of astral projection which i have proved likely to bring successful results, and which by reasons of its continual tests would tend to lessen the many chances of illusion. before proceeding further it may be well to refer to the microcosm lecture (in volume one) regarding the theory of skrymg and astral projection. the rules for skrying and astral projection being almost similar, the two subjects can be studied together, the one being taken as the complement of the other. you can commence the operation "skrying" simply. that is to say, not projecting the a

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART I

secrets of the kabalah are allegorically contained. christianity owes therefore no hatred to magic, but human ignorance has ever stood in fear of the unknown. the science was driven into hiding to escape the impassioned assaults of blind desire: it clothed itself with new hieroglyphics, falsified its intentions, denied its hopes. then it was that the jargon of alchemy was created, an impenetrable illusion for the vulgar in their greed of gold, a living language only for the true disciple of hermes. extraordinary fact! among the sacred records of the christians there are two texts which the infallible church makes no claim to understand and has never attempted to expound: these are the prophecy of ezekiel and the apocalypse, two kabalistic keys reserved assuredly in heaven for the commentar

least as an intoxication or passion. woe to the samson of the kabalah if he permit himself to be put asleep by delilah! the hercules of science, who exchanges his royal sceptre for the distaff of omphale, will soon experience the vengeance of dejanira, and nothing will be left for him but the pyre of mount oetna, in order to escape the devouring folds of the coat of nessus. sexual love is ever an illusion, for it is the result of an imaginary mirage. the astral light is the universal seducer, typified by the serpent of genesis' this subtle agent, ever active, ever vigorous, ever fruitful in alluring dreams and sensuous images; this force, which of itself is blind and subordinated to every will, whether for good or evil; this ever-renewing circulus of unbridled life, which produces vertigo

into abysses of madness, more frightful than those of death; to expel the shades of this chaos and compel it to give perfect forms to our thoughts this is to be a man of genius; it is to create, it is to be victorious over hell! the astral light directs the instincts of animals and offers battle to the intelligence of man, which it strives to pervert by the enticements of its reflections and the illusion of its images. it is a fatal and inevitable operation, directed and made still more calamitous by elementary spirits and suffering souls, whose restless wills seek out sympathies in our weakness and tempt us, but not so much to destroy us as to win friends for themselves. that book of consciences which, according to christian doctrine, shall be opened at the last day, is no other than the

evocations of magic can produce actual visions. we have said that in the great magical agent, which is the astral light, there are preserved all impressions of things, all images formed either by rays or reflections. in this same light our dreams come to us; it is this which befools the insane and misguides their dormant judgement in pursuit of the most bizarre phantoms. to insure vision without illusion in such light, a powerful will must help us to isolate reflections and attract rays only. to dream awake is to see in the astral light, and the orgies of the sabbath, described by so many sorcerers in their criminal trials, came to them solely in this manner. the preparations and the substances used to obtain this result were often horrible, as we shall see in the ritual, but the result i

figures help to focus reflections of the astral fluid, and it is thus that lucidity is procured by coffee-grouts, mists, the white of egg, etc, which evoke fatidic forms, existing only in the translucid that is, in the imagination of the operators. vision in water is operated by the dazzlement and fatigue of the optic nerve, which then resigns its functions to the translucid and produces a brain illusion, in which reflections of the astral light are taken for real images. hence nervous persons, of weak sight and lively imagination, are best fitted for this species of divination, which indeed is most successful when exercised by children. let us not misinterpret, however, the function which we attribute to imagination in divinatory arts. it is by imagination assuredly that we see, and this

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART II

lobe filled with water facing the prism. if the experiment has been arranged for night, the magic lamp must be so situated that its single ray shall fall upon the altar smoke. the purpose of these preparations is to furnish the magic agents with elements of corporeal appearance, and to ease as much as possible the tension of imagination, which could not be exalted without danger into the absolute illusion of dream. for the rest, it will be understood easily that a beam of sunlight or the ray of a lamp coloured variously and falling upon curling and irregular smoke can in no way create a perfect image. the chafing-dish containing the sacred fire should be in the centre of the oratory and the altar of perfumes hard by. the operator must turn towards the east to pray, and the west to invoke;

our liking. this man will observe you, and by a curious combination of circumstances the result will be a marriage. you may count on the lady going, you may count on her seeing a man and believing that he has noticed her, you may count on her anticipating marriage. it may not come to that in the end, but she will not lay the blame on you, because she would be giving up the opportunity for another illusion: on the contrary, she will return diligently to consult you. we have said that the astral light is the great book of divinations; the faculty of reading therein is either natural or acquired, and there are hence two classes of seers, the instinctive and the initiated. this is why children, uneducated people, shepherds, even idiots, have more aptitude for natural divination than scholars a

d magi. the perceptions of instinct are often as certain as those of science; those who are least clairvoyant in the astral light are those who reason most. somnambulism is a state of pure instinct, and hence somnambulists require to be directed by a seer of science: sceptics and reasoners merely lead them astray. divinatory vision operates only in the ecstatic state, to arrive at which doubt and illusion must be rendered impossible by enchaining or putting to sleep thought. the instruments of divination are hence only auto-magnetic methods and pretexts for auto-isolation from exterior light, so that we may pay attention to the interior light alone. it was for this reason that apollonius enveloped himself completely in a woollen mantle and fixed his eyes on his navel in the dark. the magic

ROBERT KIRK WALKER BETWEEN WORLDS

this last stage of the journey, the initiate is offered a choice of how he or she may use the transformed power. the three choices are: 1. the broad road of wickedness that some say leads to heaven; 2. the narrow road of righteousness, beset with thorns and briars; 3. the bonny or middle road, to elfland. the first road is that of power expressed within the outer world, that of dominion, and the illusion of worldly hierarchies that impose order in the name of heaven. it represents not only the individual propensity for simple 'wickedness' but more esoterically the law that causes materially expressed hierarchies of spiritual or magical power to degenerate and become corrupt. the adept is able to walk this road, either for personal ends or for time-bound hierarchical schemes of order and m

uter world, hence the conceptual structure of the virgin birth. this process, however, is merely a human reflection by divine power, of the descent into hell which is also a death/birth on the part of the son of light the descent into hell is synonymous and simultaneous with the conception, birth, sacrifice, death and resurrection. they only appear to be separated to the awareness locked into the illusion of serial time. appendix 4: thomas rhymer 152 he is clothed in green, which signifies his union with the land, a union that occurred as a direct result of his transformation within the underworld. his prophetic ability arises as a result of his mediating power, and not through the communication of 'familiar spirits. he is able to perceive the apparent future, because it has already happen

RUBY TABLET OF SET

r to somebody starting with the university studies, without going through the elementary classes first. the results of such a one-sided training, in some cases, are disastrous, sometimes even drastic, according to the individual talents. the error is generally to be found in the fact that most of the matter comes from the orient, where the material as well as the astral world is regarded as maya (illusion, and consequently paid little attention to. it is impossible to point out details, for this would overstep the frame of this thesis. sticking to a carefully planned, step-by-step development, there will be neither a mishap nor a failure or bad consequences, for the simple reason that ripening takes place slowly, but surely. it is quite an individual matter, whether the adept will choose a

uld arrive before it could be detected at any distance as a moving object, because humans do not possess instruments that can identify approaching light speeds in excess of 186,000 mps. which would be the only means of identifying the object's approach. if the source were to proceed at a tangent to an observer, it will seem to compress as it approaches the speed of light. the explanation for this illusion is more complex, but i may approximate it by saying that the lateral movement/ oscillation of the emitted light waves is less detectable as the lateral speed of the object approaches 186,000 mps. at 186,000 mps the waves are no longer detectable as waves. merely as radiation; hence the illusion that the source has transmutated from matter to energy. the sphinx: in fact, then, the special

the attitude which the setian philosophy takes toward this conflict. adherents to religions and philosophies of the right-hand path either (a) evolve a naturalistic system of morality and attempt to resolve this conflict by means of conforming their actions to what they conceive as god's will or "natural law" or (b) simply do not posit the existence of individual will, decrying the self as "mere illusion" however, ethical naturalism (the identification of the concepts "good" and "natural) is rejected by the setian philosophy. instead, it is the alien, non-natural aspect of man, seen as setting him apart from the common beasts, which is exalted. in line with this exaltation of the non-natural is an alternative interpretation of the biblical myth of the "fall" there is a great deal of truth

ch we do not? if we accept alternative (b, should we be not be forced to abrogate from man any sort of ethical responsibility for the state of his life and his world? both of these logical consequences would appear to me to be quite intolerable. thus i would want to reject the view that individual will is reducible to mere instinct. the determinist position holds that individual will is merely an illusion; that all of his actions are determined by external forces which lie beyond his control. thus the individual is lost in such a view, being reduced to a number of links of a great causal chain. the compatibilist position is perhaps the most pragmatic of the three, holding that personal agency and determinism are not incompatible; that it is apparent that our actions are determined, but tha

the death of god does not mean the end of all gods. it means the demise of the god who was the ultimate actor in history. i believe in god, the holy nothingness, known to mystics of all ages, out of which we have come and to which we shall ultimately return. i concur with atheistic existentialism [in. their analysis of the broken human condition of finitude. we must endure that condition without illusion or hope. the condition of finitude can only be overcome when we return to the nothingness out of which we have been thrust. in the final analysis, omnipotent nothingness is lord of all creation" nothingness or not, it is the concept of final dissolution into another, with resultant loss of self, that is the identifying established goal, however reluctant, that links this aspect of judaism

SALMANRUSHDIE THESATANICVERSES

derground, opined _blitz_ in somewhat macabre fashion, while busybee in _the daily_ preferred gibreel flies coop. many photographs were published of that fabled residence in which french interior decorators bearing letters of commendation from reza pahlevi for the work they had done at persepolis had spent a million dollars recreating at this exalted altitude the effect of a bedouin tent. another illusion unmade by his absence; gibreel strikes camp, the headlines yelled, but had he gone up or down or sideways? no one knew. in that metropolis of tongues and whispers, not even the sharpest ears heard anything reliable. but mrs. rekha merchant, reading all the papers, listening to all the radio broadcasts, staying glued to the doordarshan tv programmes, gleaned something from farishta's messa

rnoon heat when the air turned glutinous, the visible world, its features and inhabitants and things, seemed to be sticking up through the atmosphere like a profusion of hot icebergs, and he had the idea that everything continued down below the surface of the soupy air: people, motor-cars, dogs, movie billboards, trees, nine-tenths of their reality concealed from his eyes. he would blink, and the illusion would fade, but the sense of it never left him. he grew up believing in god, angels, demons, afreets, djinns, as matter-of-factly as if they were bullock-carts or lamp-posts, and it struck him as a failure in his own sight that he had never seen a ghost. he would dream of discovering a magic optometrist from whom he would purchase a pair of greentinged spectacles which would correct his r

to forget their names even before they had left his room. not only did he become a philanderer of the worst type, but he also learned the arts of dissimulation, because a man who plays gods must be above reproach. so skilfully did he conceal his life of scandal and debauch that his old patron, babasaheb mhatre, lying on his deathbed a decade after he sent a young dabbawalla out into the world of illusion, black-money and lust, begged him to get married to prove he was a man "god-sake, mister" the babasaheb pleaded "when i told you back then to go and be a homo i never thought you would take me seriously, there is a limit to respecting one's elders, after all" gibreel threw up his hands and swore that he was no such disgraceful thing, and that when the right girl came along he would of cou

ought of as a particularly vile, random mutation of the form, one that would eventually be extinguished by natural selection, or were they the future of the cinema? a future of screwball caper movies eternally starring shelley long and chevy chase was too hideous to contemplate; it was a vision of hell. chamcha was drifting back into sleep when the cabin lights came on; the movie stopped; and the illusion of the cinema was replaced by one of watching the television news, as four armed, shouting figures came running down the aisles. o o o the passengers were held on the hijacked aircraft for one hundred and eleven days, marooned on a shimmering runway around which there crashed the great sand-waves of the desert, because once the four hijackers, three men one woman, had forced the pilot to

gling loosely about him and giving him the look of a large, dying beetle who was wearing, for obscure reasons, a dirty grey trilby hat. as if from a great distance he heard a shocked cry escape the woman's lips, a gasp in which disbelief, joy and a strange resentment were all mixed up, and just before his senses left him he understood that rekha had permitted him, for the time being, to reach the illusion of a safe haven, so that her triumph over him could be the sweeter when it came at the last "you're alive" the woman said, repeating the first words she had ever spoken to his face "you got your life back. that's the point, smiling, he fell asleep at allie's flat feet in the falling snow. iv ayesha even the serial visions have migrated now; they know the city better than he. and in the af

SATANGEL

s on the dead roses of a mouldy, smelly midden. thou hast won, o satan, though anonymous and obscure for a few more years yet; but the coming century will proclaim thy revenge. thou shall be reborn in the anti-christ. the sciences of mysteries, spurting suddenly in a black wave already quenches the thirst of the curious and the uneasy; young men and women see themselves mirrored in these waves of illusion which intoxicate and madden. o charming satan! i have torn off thy mask of voluptuous gluttony, and i have fallen in love with thy tearstained face, beautiful as an eternal and defeated grudge. o hideous satan! i have uncovered thy ignominy to reveal thy wildness. if thy involuntary torment has the noble appearance of being irrevocable, and is illumined by the honour of becoming a redempt

SATANIC APHORISMS

ses and sensibilities onto someone who is probably far less attuned than you are. it is the mistake of expecting people to give you the same consideration, courtesy and respect that you naturally give them. they won't. instead, satanists must strive to apply the dictum of "do unto others as they do unto you" it's work for most of us and requires constant vigilance lest you slip into a comfortable illusion of everyone being like you. as has been said, certain utopias would be ideal in a nation of philosophers, but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, from a machiavellian standpoint) we are far from that point. 4. self-deceit it's in the "nine satanic statements" but deserves to be repeated here. another cardinal sin. we must not pay homage to any of the sacred cows presented to us, includ

SATANISM AN EXAMINATION OF SATANIC BLACK MAGIC

annot unlearn it. therefore you have to live with that knowledge. the acquisition of occult knowledge concerning oneself and the world is not simply learning how to do spells, invoke demons or make a pact with the devil, rather it implies the acquisition of something that will drastically change the way the satanist sees the world. it is akin to the eastern concept that life as man knows it is an illusion and that magical traditions can take man from the falsehood of normal uninitiated life, to the truth and meaning of existence. renunciation, once one has begun to explore both oneself and the world at large, is therefore not uncommon. the second result of entering the abyss is far harsher than renunciation of the quest. for this is the path that leads to dementia, delusion and/or death. p

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

tter reality from the mass of workers and keeping them under control. the opium of the people is one of marx s most famous quotes, and one that has been used by agnostics as well as atheists to describe religion and its possible negative effects. sigmund freud, the father of psychoanalysis (a type of therapy used to treat mental disorders, also wrote about the existence of god in the future of an illusion, among other works. freud wrote that religion is an illusion, an unreal vision, or perception, that humankind has created to ease the fear of death. in order for a person to be healthy and mature, freud said, he or she had to be free of such fantasies as religion. moving his patients toward an acceptance of atheism was an important part of freud s treatment. some basic texts for agnostics

ce. though he came a generation later than the milesian school, heraclitus continued their tradition of looking for the fundamental substance of all matter. unlike the other philosophers of asia minor, he claimed that everything came from fire. with such a volatile element as his core substance, heraclitus went on to argue that change was the only reality in the cosmos and that stability was mere illusion. one of his most famous sayings is we both step and do not step in the same rivers. we are and are not. although the universe was held to be in continual flux, the logos, literally meaning word or logic, served as an ordering principle. this concept influenced not only plato but also the neoplatonists. according to heraclitus, the soul was part of the cosmic fire, and only one universal s

objects are made (2) the formal cause, regarding objects patterns of form (3) the efficient cause, regarding how objects came into being; and (4) the final cause, regarding the goals or purposes of objects. the nature of change and stability were also central concerns of greek philosophers. while heraclitus, for example, thought the universe featured eternal change, parmenides declared change an illusion. according to him, reality was constant and never changed. ethics many of the greek philosophers also dealt with ethics, a set of moral principles or values about what is right and what is wrong. among the pre-socratic philosophers, heraclitus taught that humans should not attempt to stop change because change is the way of the world. therefore, it is wise to be able to adapt. socrates wa

re causes suffering, that nirvana is the end of suffering, and that one can attain nirvana by following the eightfold path. the eightfold path is the second teaching revealed by the buddha at deer park. it contains the following steps: 1. right understanding, being aware of the world the way it really is; 2. right purpose, vowing to live life aware of its true nature rather than being deceived by illusion and desire; 3. right speech, such as not lying or hurting others through one s words; 4. right conduct, including not killing or harming other living beings; 5. right occupation, including avoiding work that brings harm to others, such as hunting animals or selling weapons; 6. right effort, trying to think, act, and speak in accordance with right understanding; 7. right attention, keeping

n. while heaven is a reward from god in these other faiths, however, the buddha did not discuss the existence of a god, nor did he claim to be one. he believed that everything in existence had an opposite, such as happy and sad and fear and hope, and he believed that suffering must also have non-suffering. he discovered that in order to attain non-suffering, one must train the mind to see through illusion and desire so that one can recognize and live within the unity and harmony of all things in creation. the buddha believed that the divine truth of existence is everywhere and is available to everyone. for more information books armstrong, karen. buddha. new york, ny: viking penguin, 2001. the buddha. in encyclopedia of world biography. 2nd ed. 17 vols. farmington hills, mi: thomson gale

SEVEN SCROLLS CHILDREN OF THE BLACK ROSE

#4 attitude adjustment all the world is a stage, but you are just an actor. even so, it is possible to adjust the script to your liking. remember, all adepts are spiritual warriors, and what do warriors do? they prepare for battle. one of the most important single variables of which an adept has control is attitude. here is a secret. we are all living an illusion. call it a grand stage play if you wish or compare it to something that makes more sense to you. whatever it is, you can rewrite the script simply by changing your attitude. even the tone of your voice can have a profound effect. try it and see. all great stage pla ys are made up of many scene changes, each one requiring a different attitude. is life not treating you as well as you would

SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON ZANONI A ROSICRUCIAN TALE

ne whence they did stray, they cannot finde that path which first was showne, but wander to and fro in waies unknowne. spenser's "faerie queene" book i. canto i. st. x. yes, viola, thou art another being than when, by the threshold of thy italian home, thou didst follow thy dim fancies through the land of shadow; or when thou didst vainly seek to give voice to an ideal beauty, on the boards where illusion counterfeits earth and heaven for an hour, till the weary sense, awaking, sees but the tinsel and the scene-shifter. thy spirit reposes in its own happiness. its wanderings have found a goal. in a moment there often dwells the sense of eternity; for when profoundly happy, we know that it is impossible to die. whenever the soul feels itself, it feels everlasting life. the initiation is def

the scene, the place where we first dwelt with the beloved one? every spot there has so many memories which the place only can recall. the past that haunts it seems to command such constancy in the future. if a thought less kind, less trustful, enter within us, the sight of a tree under which a vow has been exchanged, a tear has been kissed away, restores us again to the hours of the first divine illusion. but in a home where nothing speaks of the first nuptials, where there is no eloquence of association, no holy burialplaces of emotions, whose ghosts are angels! yes, who that has gone through the sad history of affection will tell us that the heart changes not with the scene! blow fair, ye favouring winds; cheerily swell, ye sails; away from the land where death has come to snatch the sc

SPENSER THE CULT OF THE ALL SEEING EYE 1960

t's not a question of what it means, it's a question of what is its effect on the observer "consciously or unconsciously the artist spoke the truth. psychiatrists tell us that this school of insidious humbug is simply an elaboration of the policy of the interruption of ideas leading to total incoherence and madness 'cubist' art is an effort to produce certain psychic effects obtainable by optical illusion. beauty has noihing to do with it. the cubist school is not the realm of art at all. it belongs to that of medicine and psychic science. those who forget that this devastating fad of 'the interrupted idea' can be extended to music, literature and every other phase of human effort, do so at their own peril "a mind that is positive cannot be controlled. for the purposes of occult dominion m

STEINER RUDOLF CHRISTIANITY AS MYSTICAL FACT

to gaze at once into the past and future is a stage of higher knowledge. it is the discovery of the spirit. the spirit lies behind the manifestations of the senses, but has nothing to do with becoming and passing away, which characterizes all appearances to the senses. everyone who lives only in the world of the senses bears this spirit occultly, deep within. everyone who has pierced through the illusion of the sense-world bears the spirit within as a manifest truth. to attain insight is to unfold a new organ, an event comparable to a plant unfolding the color of its blossom out of its former green and leafy state. the ability to produce flowers was always there in the plant, but it was hidden, and became manifest only with the blooming of the flower. even so, the divine spiritual forces

hades, god of death and destruction. the right perspective on the deficiencies and excellences of existence is granted only to those who see death in life and life in death, and in both the eternal that transcends both life and death. the deficiencies then become justified, since in them too the eternal is present. what they are from the standpoint of the limited, lower life turns out to be mere illusion: 26 christianity as mystical fact what people want is not always what is best for them. it is illness that makes health sweet and good; hunger that makes food satisfying; toil that brings rest.27 the sea is the purest and impurest water. for fish it is drinkable and salutary, but for men it is undrinkable and harmful.28 the primary thrust of heraclitus thought here is not the perishabilit

SYMBOLISM OF THE BANNERS

s that the shower of the way descended into the corruption of human existence on earth and showed the formula of redemption. the principle behind the rose cross is that the shower of the way remained out of manifestation holding the perfect pattern of what man should be, untainted by corruption. had there been no fall of man, the calvary cross would have been unnecessary, there would have been no illusion of separateness, lack of brotherhood and mutual service between men. alchemically speaking, the cross is the hieroglyph of the crucible, which used to be called in french cruzol, crucible and croiset. indeed it is in the crucible that the first matter suffers the passion, like christ himself. it is in the crucible that it dies to be revived, purified, spiritualized and transformed. throug

THE BOOK OF PLEASURE

ious, it is not fulfilled, no, not in this life. then verily sleep is better than prayer. quiescence is hidden desire, a form of "not asking; by it the female obtains much from man. utilize prayer (if you must pray) as a means of exhaustion, and by that you will obtain your desire. some do much to show the similarity of different religions; certainly by it i prove the possibility of a fundamental illusion, but that they never realise-or this ukase they are the mockery, for how much they regret! they suffer more conflict than the unenlightened. with what they can identify their own delusion of fear they call truth. they never see this similarity and the quintessence of religions, their own poverty of imagination and religion's palliation. better is it to show the essential difference of rel

tion. better is it to show the essential difference of religions. it is as well 10 to know that various means; is not their object to deceive and govern? surely then, for the attainment of the transcendental, god and religion should have no place. some praise truth so-called, but give it many containers; forgetting its dependence they prove its relationship and paradox, the song of experience and illusion. paradox is not "truth, but the truth that anything can be true for a time. what supersedes paradox and its implicit("not necessary, i will make the foundation of my teaching. let us determine the deliberative "the truth" cannot be divided. self-love only cannot be denied and is self-love as such when paradoxical, under any condition, hence it alone is truth, without accessories complete

sm of the workings of our mind, etc. 2: the symbol of justice known to the romans is not symbolic of divine, or our justice, at least not necessarily or usually. the vitality is not exactly like water-nor are we trees; more like ourselves, which might incidentally include trees somewhere unlearnt-much more obvious in our workings at present. others say knowledge only is eternal, it is the eternal illusion of learning-the ukase of learning what we already know. directly we ask ourselves "how" we induce stupidity; without this conception what is there we could not know and accomplish? others for concentration, it will not free you, the mind conceiving the law is bondage. arrived at that, you will want deconcentration. dissociation from all ideas but one is not release but imaginative fulfilm

ot release but imaginative fulfilment, or the fury of creation. others again, that all things are emanations of the divine spirit, as rays from the sun, hence the need of emancipation? verily, things are of necessity through their conception and belief. then let us destroy or change conception, and empty the belief. these and many other doctrines, are declared by me as the perpetuators of sin and illusion. each and all depending on a muddled implication, obscuring, yet evolved from the duality of the consciousness for their enjoyment. in fear they would vomit hot blood were they to see the fruits of their actions and pleasures. thus believing in widely different doctrines, they are of the dual principle, necessary parasites on each other. like drugs and the surgeon's knife, they only annul

cessity slavery! duality is the law, realization by suffering, relates and opposes by units of time. ecstasy for any length of time is difficult to obtain, and laboured heavily for. various degrees of misery alternating with gusts of pleasure and emotions less anxious, would seem the condition of consciousness and existence. duality in some form or another is consciousness as existence. it is the illusion of time, size, entity, etc.-the world's limit. the dual principle is the quintessence of all experience, no ramification has enlarged its early simplicity, but is only its repetition, modification or complexity, never is its evolution complete. it cannot go further than the experience of self-so returns and unites again and again, ever an anti-climax. for ever retrogressing to its origina

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 1

man within the individual was smaller than a grain of rice, but it was connected to the great cosmic soul, the atman or brahma, the divine principle. unfortunately, while occupying a physical body, the atman was subject to avidya, an earthly veil of profound ignorance that blinded the atman to its true nature as brahma and subjected it to the processes of karma and samsara. avidya led to maya the illusion that deceives each individual atman into mistaking the material world as the real world. living under this illusion, the individual accumulates karma and continues to enter the unceasing process of samsara, the wheel of return with its succession of new lifetimes and deaths. the passage of the soul from this world to the next is described in the brihadarankyaka upanishad: the self, having

u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d mediums and mystics 81 totemanimals represent the physical form of one s spirit helper, the guide, who will lead a shaman into the spirit world and return him or her safely to the physical world. the power received in the vision quest enables the practitioner to obtain personal contact with the invisible world of spirits and to pierce the sensory world of illusion which veils the great mystery. m delving deeper harner, michael. the way of the shaman. new york: bantam books, 1982. hirschfelder, arlene, and paulette molin. the encyclopedia of native american religions. new york: mjf books, 1992. spirit mediumship aspirit medium is a person who has become qualified in some special way to form a link between the living and the dead. through the physica

om and power. each letter and each number given in the language of the mysteries had its repercussion in the worlds of the divine, the intellectual, and the physical. the second test involved passing through a great furnace of flames. those initiates who refused, protesting that to enter such a wall of fire could only result in death, never got close enough to see that it was all a clever optical illusion and that there was a safe pathway through the middle. following the trial by fire was the trial by water, which offered no illusion, but only a walk through a chest-high dark and stagnant pool. two assistants helped pull the novice from the dank pool, escorted him to a room with a tub filled with warm and perfumed water, then left him to dry off and to dress in fine linens while awaiting

spirants had assembled, the sacred herald led them to a sanctuary of the goddess persephone hidden in a quiet valley in the midst of a sacred grove. here, the priestesses of persephone, crowned with narcissus wreaths, began chanting, warning the newcomers of the mysteries that they were about to perceive. the initiates would learn that the present life that they held so dear was but a tapestry of illusion and confused dreams. after a stern admonition that the aspirants be careful not to desecrate the mysteries in any way lest the goddess persephone pursue them forever, they were allowed to partake of food and drink. for the next several days, the initiates fasted and participated in cleansing rituals and prayers. on the evening of the last day of the celebration of the mystery, the candida

he world of spiritual healing and shamanism. new york: fireside books, 1987. satanic cults the scriptures of all religions acknowledge the existence of demonic beings. some, including christianity, islam, and zoroastrianism, regard the power of evil entities to be real and perceive them as rivals to the dominion of god. others, such as buddhism, consider them to be manifestations of ignorance and illusion. those religions that testify to demonic powers also recognize that these negative beings are subject to the commands of a leader, known by various names: satan, lucifer, beelzebub, iblis, mara, and angra mainyu, among others. while rationalists in the present age of science and technology find it difficult to accept the concept of demons tempting men and women to commit acts of wickednes

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL 3

ear freiburg. in his furious state of mind, the incubus not only set the tavern ablaze, but he burned the entire village to the ground. church authorities dealt with the problem of how a spirit could develop a corporeal body by advancing such theories as these: incubi fashion temporary bodies out of water vapor or gases; they have no actual physical bodies, but they possess the power to create an illusion of corporeality; they inhabit recently deceased corpses and animate them for the purpose of sexual intercourse with the living; they actually have material bodies that they can manipulate into any shape they desire. father montague summers theorized that such demons as the incubi might be composed of that same substance known as ectoplasm from which the spirits of the dead draw their temp

new doorways of opportunity. gaining of new knowledge or wisdom. lake.water symbol for spirit. peace if placid or smooth. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d mysteries of the mind 129 dr. sigmund freud (1856 1939 (the library of congress) mirror. reveals one s true self. good, bad, or indifferent. a reflection of the truth. can also represent illusion, that which is not real, only a reflection. needle. sewing indicates repairing errors of the past or may be someone giving someone the needle. ocean. spirit, god, higher self. peace, unless a rough sea, then turmoil, strife, etc. pig. selfishness. relatives. relatives often represent parts of the dreamer s self playing various roles of his or her life. suitcase. prosperity. desire to trav

y. hampton roads, 1997, ed. altered states of consciousness. new york: john wiley& sons, 1969. hallucinations the term hallucination comes from the latin alucinari, meaning to wander in the mind. when a person sees, hears, smells, or feels something or someone that is not really there, he or she has experienced a hallucination. although the hallucinatory state is commonly confused with that of an illusion, the latter is caused by real sense perceptions that have been misinterpreted, whether by natural phenomena or in the case of a stage illusion, by someone deliberately misdirecting and tricking an audience. hallucinations result when certain situations have altered one s brain metabolism from its normal level. common causes of hallucinations are a high fever, an adverse reaction or side e

THE GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNUSUAL UNEXPLAINED VOL

edayeen, he dug a hole in front of his throne deep enough to allow only a man fs head to remain visible. next, he commanded a fedayeen to lower himself into the hole and to place a tray with an opening in it around his neck. once the hole was covered with a colorful rug and the loose dirt brushed aside, it appeared as though hasan had decapitated a man and placed his head upon a tray. to make the illusion all the more convincing, he poured fresh blood around the supposed detached head of his assistant. when an aide brought the potential recruits before his throne, hasan informed them sternly that as god on earth he had many fearful and wondrous powers. he would cause the decapitated head on the tray before them to speak to them of the glories in paradise that awaited those warriors who die

the glories in paradise that awaited those warriors who died in battle. at this point, the loyal fedayeen with his head on the tray opened his eyes and testified to the marvels that his soul had witnessed in the hereafter. after the new men had been duly impressed and had sworn their allegiance to hasan, they walked away speaking in hushed tones of the glory of serving god on earth. and once the illusion had accomplished its desired end, hasan had the fedayeen who had so ably assisted him decapitated and his head stuck on a pole so that all could see that he was truly quite dead. although the hashashin came to be feared by christian crusaders, kings, princes, sheikhs, and sultans, their membership probably never numbered more than 2,000 fedayeen at any one time. because hasan had indoctri

ed the proper attitude of receptivity, they must go alone into the wilderness to fast, to receive their spirit guide, and to receive a secret name and a sacred song. perhaps the guide will also grant special powers of healing or prophecy to the supplicants. the recipient of tribal empowerment is able to obtain personal contact with the invisible world of spirits and to pierce the sensory world of illusion which veils the great mystery. often this gift is heightened by the intoning of the personal mantra, the personal song, the holy syllables that attune him or her with the eternal sound, the cosmic vibration of all creation. a crucial element in tribal empowerment is the ability to rise above linear time. most t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l

THE GOD OF THE WITCHES

rson. the acknowledgment to the divine man of his gifts is recorded in the evidenceof isobel gowdie at nairn; she stated that when they had finished eating "we looked steadfastly to the devil,and bowing to him we said 'we thank thee, our lord, for this"[78] the god of the witcheschapter iv. the rites45there seems to have been some doubt in the minds of the judges as to whether the feasts were not illusion onthe part of the "foul fiend, so that it is interesting to find that the inquisitor boguet[79] reports, that "veryoften at the sabbath, they eat in good earnest, and not by fantasy and imagination" the style of the feastvaried according to the wealth of the giver. boguet is again our informant when he says that the banquetswere composed of various sorts of food, according to the place an

THE GOLDEN ESSENCE

gnition means to be cognizant or be aware of something. to re-cognize meant to become aware of again. the key word there is again. the divine truth that people in the mysteries were helped to re-cognize was not a truth that was new to the m; in non- linear time, nothing is new. the truth that you became aware of again was a truth that you always had, and were a part of. the human descent into the illusion of serial time, and the narrowed focus of common egoistic existence, had caused a kind of forgetting, but every motion of fate, every waving leaf, every event and every sound, had the essence of an eternal, timeless reality moving at its heart, and every single sensory thing- if we had true and full awareness of it- could return it (and us) to the source, and complete the loop, allowing u

THE KEY TO THE MYSTERIES

his head in order to wake him. a terrible cry, suddenly strangled in his throat, a convulsion, a sigh, then nothing more. the practical joker gets up, pulls his comrade's arm, calls him; in his turn, he becomes frightened, he cries out, people come with lights. the unfortunate sleep-waker was dead. 126 chapter iii mysteries of hallucinations and of the evocation of spirits an hallucination is an illusion produced by an irregular movement of the astral light. it is, as we said previously, the admixture of the phenomena of sleep with those of waking. our plastic medium breathes in and out the astral light or vital soul of the earth, as our body breathes in and out the terrestrial atmosphere. now, just as in certain places the air is impure and not fit for breathing, in the same way, certain

nd his hands to heaven, and finally smiles with a condescension which seems to sound the depths of pity] 140 "does he do miracles, sir "but the greatest "the most astonishing "the most incontestable "the truest miracles that have ever been done on earth since the time of jesus christ. what! thousands of hosts appear on altars where there were none; wine appears in empty chalices, and it is not an illusion, it is wine, a delicious wine..celestial music is heard, perfumes of the world beyond fill the room, and then blood. real human blood (doctors have examined it, real blood, i tell you, sweats and sometimes flows from the hosts, imprinting mysterious characters on the altars! i am talking to you of what i have seen, of what i have heard, of what i have touched, of what i have tasted! and y

e reflection which his sick imagination attracts and projects<"the luminous agent being also that of heat, one understands the sudden variations of temperature occasioned by the abnormal projections or sudden absorptions of the light. there follows a sudden atmospheric perturbation, which produces the noise of storms, and the creaking of woodwork- e. l> 220 one touches them as one sees them; half illusion, half magnetic and nervous force. these, it seems to us, are very precise and very clear explanations. let us reason a little with those who support the theory of apparitions from another world: either those hands are real bodies, or they are illusions. if they are bodies, they are, then, not spirits. if they are illusions produced by mirages, either in us, or outside ourselves, you admit

THE LUCIFERIAN PATH THE WITCHES SABBAT MICHAEL W FORD

sents the sabbatic and luciferian adversary formula, the 13 initiatory state of transforming and becoming something other than being dissolved in the natural order. this grimoire presents systems of personal sorcery, in which through the individual works through the godforms of ahriman and az. presented also are goetic evocation and invocation formulas of the daevas (demons) and druj (lie meaning illusion, sorcery& dragon snake vampyre. completely re-illustrated by elda isela ford, the yatuk dinoih seeks to enflesh and materializes those druj and daemonic forces which have lied dormant, sleeping in the atavistic depths of mankind. night and the witches sabbat -the adversarial foundations of sorcery- by michael w. ford 14 to look into the possibilities of models and how one may shape and as

THE MAGICIAN S KABBALAH

rowley put it, but the magus (chockmah) has the further knowledge of what that dealing is (the logos, or knowledge of the divine will. appropriate symbols of this state of understanding are the lattice, or net, indeed anything representing the concepts of linking, organisation, symmetry, and complexity. binah is also the sephirah from which maya issues, the net of manifestation that is ultimately illusion. in the psyche, this relates to the archetypes that are "hard-wired" into our brain so that we perceive the universe as we do. the transcending of this biological programming is part of the "crossing of the abyss, in a sense. note that there is a scientific and philosophical argument which parallels the magical argument of whether such a feat is possible. the magicians argue whether it is

THE MIDDLE PILLAR

ation that the second half of one's life has commenced. once the contrasexual soul image has been brought to consciousness, however, it may not be possible to "lose ourselves completely" in the love of another, for we have now found the object of that love within us. ths brings with it the realization that we are in fact complete w i t h ourselves, and we do not need a slavish love to a projected illusion in order to prop us up. instead we are enabled to develop a deeper love and a conscious devotion to our partner. the proper role of the soul image is that of the psychopomp, guiding the soul around impasses on its way toward spiritual transformation. it is the mediator between the conscious and the unconscious. whereas the persona is the reconciler between the ego and the outer world, the

pects of mind and body, and it regulates the activities of all the other chakras. its energy is often described as pure thought, spiritual understanding, bliss, peace, eternal life, superconsciousness, and the divine white light. the seventh chakra is activated at peak instances of oneness with the divine. it is said to be the abode of shva (illuminated consciousness, who demolishes ignorance and illusion.14 we should add that although the chakras are correlated to certain physical organs, glands, or nerve caters, they are not solely physical centers. to think of them in this way is to fall into the trap of western rationalization. anyone who believes that the chakra system is a network of purely physical organs and responses will never be able to experience the "raising of the kundalini"

ence to form a single word. in this case the sentence from which agla is formed is atah gebur le-olam adonai. ths means "thou art great forever, my lord" which is a powerful invocation--clearly calling upon all the might of adonai to aid and guide us through the darkness of things unknown. agla is vibrated in the north because that is the direction of the greatest symbolic cold, darkness, shadow, illusion, and the unfamiliar. it is "the place of forgetfulness, dumbness (silence, and necessity and of the greatest symbolical darknessku25it represents all the dormant and unmanifested forces of the universe, as well as those which are hidden or veiled to us. these are forces which we are largely ignorant of. however, all things, manifest or unmanifest (light or dark, exist then, now, and alway

THE PATH OF KABBALAH

e. let s get the ball rolling. the future s ahead. heal me with blue and make my energy red. i take my first step now. i am freed from the past. keep the ball rolling. i am myself at last! to bring about quiet, say: hush like a whisper the wind through the trees softer and softer a summer s breeze eliza fegley http//www.sacredspiral.izof 273 part one: the beginning 6 of 273 chapter 1.1- the great illusion thou shalt have no other gods before me. thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness (exodus 20, 3. judaism forbids idolatry and any kind of fetishism. this prohibition hides behind it the most fundamental principle in judaism, which states that everything we see is only a figment of our imagination. over the years, this principle has been consciously and some

. all the worlds (this world included) are inner states inside us. we will find them nowhere outside us. in other words, it is not us who are inside the worlds, but the worlds are inside us. outside us there is only the creator, the simple upper light. people in our world are convinced that they are inside some kind of existence, a reality that was created before we came inside it. but this is an illusion. there is nothing outside us but the light of the creator. that light affects our senses in such a way that we feel it as solid, liquid or gas, as vegetative or as animate. everything we can imagine and can see around us is built inside our own senses, making us feel as though everything exists outside us. but the truth is that there is nothing outside, only the creator. this world is the

mankind will be pushed ferociously to the realization of the necessity of spiritual development. there will be no way to escape it. that is why we place such emphasis on the circulation of the wisdom of kabbalah, so that everyone will know and recognize its importance. part two: connecting with the light part one: phases of spiritual evolution..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.1- the great illusion. the internal desire in the study of kabbalah..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.2 between creator and creature..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.3 the evolution of the soul..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.4 the awakening of the point in the heart..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.5 kabbalah as a means..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.6 land marks..error! b

fim. q: who is a gentile and what does the name mean? a: as soon as one changes his fate, his progress in life and his correction system to a private one, he is called a jew. that is because he makes the unification with the superior spiritual force the basis of his life. a gentile or a jew are spiritual concepts. q: does one feel his soul rather than his physical body? a: the physical body is an illusion. one must obtain a state where he will feel his soul. that is what kabbalah initiates: one s sensation of one s own soul. afterwards, one can continue developing it to an immense vessel that the creator can fill. q: what is the upper force? a: it is the absolute good, the benevolent force that leads us. however, because we are not corrected, we feel the power as bad and harmful. q: does t

ll section 5. masach screen 6. ohr hassadim light of mercy 7. ohr hochma light of wisdom 8. ohr hozer returning light 9. ohr makif surrounding light 10. ohr pnimi inner light 11. ohr yashar direct light 12. raglaim- legs 13. tzimtzum aleph 1st restriction 14. tzimtzum bet 2nd restriction part four: man s study of himself part one: the beginning..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.1- the great illusion. the internal desire in the study of kabbalah..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.2 between creator and creature..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.3 the evolution of the soul..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.4 the awakening of the point in the heart..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.5 kabbalah as a means..error! bookmark not defined. chapter 1.6 land marks..error! b

THE STAR IN THE WEST BY CAPTAIN FULLER A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE WORKS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY

explained it, an idea however dating back long before either plato or kant, and to be first found in any degree of maturity in the upanishads of post-vedic india. form was reality, and nothing else, it was the sole and only essence. from such metaphysics rose numerous modified forms which may he roughly classed under the name of spiritualism (malebranche. they asserted that matter objectively was illusion or maya, and that the world problem could only be considered as a reality subjectively in the thoughts as gthinks, h in fact the world real was simply an elaboration of these hthinks. h these spiritualistic philosophies stagnating for a time were soon mystified by man fs inherent longing for the wonderful* and developed into various systems of spiritism and mysticism, both high and low. o

to grasp all possible quantities emanating from the ain soph, which in itself remained zero. turning now for a short time from the mystic to the idealistic philosophy, we find that though both are closely united, the former founds its system on man fs wondering ignorance in trying to link subject and object esoterically, whilst the latter builds up reality in mind perceptions, treating nothing as illusion but the reality of the materialists. berkeley, when he declared in his transcendental philosophy that esse=percipi was only in reality reiterating the idea held ages previously in gthe veil of maya. h kant threw more fuel on the berkeleyan argument when he stated in his hcritique of pure reason, h that we can have no positive knowledge whatsoever of gthe thing in itself. h since then this

all *mysteries: lyrical and dramatic, vol. i, p. 110. and that which is below is as that which is above; for: time is to us the now, and space the here; from us all matter radiates, is a part of our own thoughts and souls *mysteries: lyrical and dramatic, vol. i, p. 119. so we see: for gods, and devils too, i find are merely modes of my own mind *sword of song, pentecost, vol. ii, p. 177. gall is illusion, h says criosda* i and further in that weird play. hthe god- eater h. we already heard him solemnly utter *the god eater, vol. ii, p. 138. mystery ninefold closed upon itself that matter should move mind. ay! darker yet that mind should work on matter? and the proof extant, implicit in the thought thereof! else all our work were vain. these twain be one *the god eater, vol. ii, p. 134. in

do not care one jot for matter, one jot for spirit, while you say one is pure ether, one pure clay *the sword of song, pentecost, vol. ii, p. 183. in pure idealism, objects have no independent existence; but in the above, which is no less than pure hylo-idealism, they have. yet none to the individual brain, until they have been brought into reciprocal relationship to it. if the outer world is an illusion, then the inner world of self is but a delusion, a mere mirrored reflection of shadows cast by some blinding sun; so hope some of us, as orpheus did when he sang: this world is shadow-shapen of the bitterness of pain. vain are the little lamps of love! the light of life is vain! life, death, joy, sorrow, age and youth are phantoms of a further truth. h *the argonauts, iv, vol. ii, p. 110

ither matter fills or does not fill it. in the former, matter is infinitely great; if the latter, infinitely small. whether the matter-universe be 1010000 light-years in diameter, or half a mile, it makes no difference; it is infinitely small. in effect, nothing. h* in the first case being infinitely great all else is crowded out, and it=0; in the second being infinitely small, the unmathematical illusion of the hindus called gmaya h vanishes likewise in 0. so likewise does theism resolve into pantheism, which itself dissolves into atheism; the 1 =0 *berashith, vol. ii, p. 234. another triumph for crowleyanity: things as they are. of these take hold, their heart of wonder throb to thine! all things are matter and force and sense, no two alone. all fs one: the gold of truth is no reward div

THE SECRET RITUALS OF THE OTO

he divided. conceive file//c /documents%20and%20settings/michael..secret%20rituals%20of%20the%20o.t.o/p3c3.html (12 of 18 [12/28/2001 2:05:41 pm] the secret rituals of the o.t.o. of these as: 1. god and man in man-god 2. subject and object in samadhi 3. male and female in mankind or as thou wilt: it is all one. of the one substance god in spirit and truth is one; and one also is god in matter and illusion. o brethren! o illuminated and illustrious sir knights, hold this firmly as the sword hilt in the hour of peril! one is the essence of god; and one is the essence of man. yet since god is only one because he is three in one; so man is only one when he is two-in-one. as god s essence abideth in himself, so also with the essence of man. yet man not being himself wholly, but part of himself

TRUE HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT

l of the long-denied female component of deity to some occultists "pan" or "the horned god" or "set" or even "satan" are symbols of unconscious, repressed sexuality. to the occultist, there is no devil, no "god of evil" there is, ultimately, only the ain sof aur of the cabbalah; the limitless light of which we are but a frozen spark. evil, in this system, is the mere absence of light. all else is illusion. the goal of the occult path of initiation is balance. in freemasonry and high magick, the symbols of the white pillar and black pillar represent this balance between conscious and unconscious forces. in gardnarian wicca, the goddess and horned god- and the priestess and priest, represent that balance. there is nothing, nothing of pacts with the "devil" or the worship of evil in any of th

TWO ESSAYS ON THE WORSHIP OF PRIAPUS

perigort, et autres lieux semblables. tableau de l inconstance, p. 65. 216 on the worship of the at these meetings, sometimes, but rarely, satan was absent, in which case a little devil took his place. de lancre1 enumerates the various forms which the devil usually assumed on these occasions, with the remark that these forms were as numerous as his movements were inconstant, full of uncertainty, illusion, deception, and imposture. some of the witches he examined, among whom was a girl of thirteen years of age, named marie d aguerre, said that at these assemblies there appeared a great pitcher or jug in the middle of the sabbath, and that out of it the devil issued in the form of a goat, which suddenly became so large that it was frightful, and that at the end of the sabbath he returned in

re says he had three horns, the one in the middle giving out a flame, with which he used at the sabbath to give both light and fire to the 1 reste maintenant, puis qu il a comparu, d en s avoir la forme, et en quel estat il a accoustum de se repr senter et faire voire esdictes assembl es. il n a point de forme constante, toutes ses actions n estans que mouvements inconstans plien d incertitude, d illusion, de d ception, et d imposture. marie d aguerre aag e de treize ans, et quelques autres, d posoient, qu esdictes assembl es il y a une grande cruche au milieu du sabbat d o fort le diable en forme de bouc: qu estant sorty il devient si grand qu il se rend espouvantable: et que le sabbat finy il rentre dans la cruche. d autres disent qu il est comme un grand tronc d arbre obseur sans bras e

mes the devil pierced the left foot of a sorcerer under the little toe, and drew blood, which he sucked, and leur nom plus librement et effront mont que nous ne luy osions faire demander, chose qui confirme merveilleusement la r alit du sabbat. car il est plus vraysemblable qu elle se soit accoupl e au sabbat avec des gens qu elle nommoit, que non, que satan les y ait faict voir dans son lict par illusion, ou qu il les luy ait portez corporellement: n ayant peu sentir cent fois (comme elle dict) cette femence naturelle que s accouplant corporellement et r ellemenent avec un homme naturel qu elle nous a nomm qui est encore vivant. qu elle y a veu des tables dress es avec sorces vivres, mais quad on en vouloit preadre on ne trouvait rien soubs la main, sauf quand on y avoit port des enfans b

TYSON DONALD NEW MILLENNIUM MAGIC

ay to satisfy on an immediate personal level the growing hunger for meaningfulness that groans in the belly of western society. caught between the sterility of science and the hypocrisy of religion, individuals have few and dwindling options in their quest to fulfill their craving for a knowledge of reality that will empower their lives with purpose. the church has sold its truth for the material illusion of a utopian welfare state where nothing matters except food and clothing and shelter. the truth of science is too narrow: science sees the world through the keyhole of the scientific method. introduction xxv even conventional forms of art have lost their direction. they no longer know where they are going or why they ever wanted to get there. magic alone has remained pure because it can

thus, the reasons for seeking to learn magic are compelling. it awakens the spiritual heart and gives direction to a purposeless and hopeless life. it enables its possessor to pursue good and avoid evil. it provides the tools to solve human prob- lems, both psychological and physical. most importantly, the magical perception allows individuals to see things for what they are beneath the veils of illusion that constantly surround and obscure reality. the magus most people hold magic in contempt because they look at it with only their outer vision. they see magic from a worldly perspective. from this viewpoint magic is indeed absurd. it is only when viewed with a measure of spiritual awareness that magic can be considered a reasonable and worthwhile pursuit. since spiritual vision is such a

their apparent magical abilities. bereft of spirit, such powers are always illusory, doomed ultimately to fail and betray their possessor. stones on the path many young people study magic because they hope to gain power of a physical, emo- tional, intellectual or social kind over others. since their ultimate object is power, xxviii new millennium magic what they really study is the materialistic illusion of magic, not true magic. their efforts always end in disappointment or disaster. fortunately, they usually give up before they can do themselves any real harm. they are not motivated strongly enough to withstand the rigorous discipline that even a false study of magic entails. for those who seek the true magic through the medium of spirit, there are many obstacles to overcome. social cen

discipline that even a false study of magic entails. for those who seek the true magic through the medium of spirit, there are many obstacles to overcome. social censure can exert a powerful and subtle force of repres- sion on even the most liberated minds. the strongest coercion comes from peers, not authority figures. the magi are reviled as both fools and degenerates: fools who chase after an illusion, degenerates who indulge in immoral or illegal acts. they are subject to ridicule. no one takes their statements seriously. they are laughed at or avoided. more materially, they find that they cannot get a responsi- ble job once their magical interests become known. often, they are forced to choose between their spiritual convictions and their earning power. if they have families or other

external and substantial is actually made of the same stuff as a dream image. it exists in the same place-the mind-and is mentally projected outside what are perceived to be the limits of the body. there is no essential difference between inside the body and outside. both exist within the mind. there is no root distinc- tion between the mental and the physical; all is mind. to say the world is an illusion is not to say that it does not exist. this is a com- mon error of those who are too eager to embrace the transcendent view. the salient point is that human beings can never know anything about the absolute world with their everyday awareness. everything experienced is an interpretation, a metaphor, of something else. there is a useful experiment for grasping the way in which the mind crea

TYSON DONALD SOUL FLIGHT

ans arid jurisconsults of italy, spain, and catholic germany; while a great many others are of' a like opinion."i5 guazzo substituted the ubiquitous devil in place of the lunar goddess diana, as referred to in the much older ninth-century decree of the council of ancyra, recorded in the canon episcopi, which mentions that "certeine wicked women following sathans provocations, being seduced by the illusion of divels, beleeve and professe that in the night times they ride abroad with diana, the goddesse of the pagans, or else with herodias, with an innumerable multitude, upon certeine beasts, and passe over manie countries and nations, in the silence of the night, and doo whatsoever those fairies or ladies command."16 herodias is the daughter of diana, the moon, by her brother lucifer, the s

witches, which was often provoked by what has come to be known as flying ointment. this ointment was sometimes applied to the wands or rods that witches held between their legs during flight. if these wands were used as dildos, absorption of the active components of the ointment through the mucous membranes of the sexual parts would have been rapid. the witch's ointment was also used to cause the illusion of shape-shifting, an activity closely related to soul flight since witches as well as shamans sometimes believed themselves to fly through the air in the forms of birds, or run swiftly over the ground in the forms of wolves or other beasts. n-ature of flying ointment exactly how the flying ointment worked was beyond the understanding of the times. the urlcommonly enlightened francis baco

to the historical practice of women applying drops of its juice diluted in water to the surface of their eyes to dilate their pupils, in order to lend themselves a more fascinating and seductive appearance. henbane contains throughout its parts the alkaloid hyoscyamine, and its seeds also contain scopolamine. hansen asserts that henbane by virtue of these alkaloids "can produce in its victims the illusion of having been turned into an the herbalist jo:hn gerard wrote that "to wash the feet in the decoction of henbane causeth sleepe; or gillen in a clister it doth the same; and also the often smelling to the floures. the leaues, seed and iuyce taken inwardly causeth an vnquiet sleepe like vnto the sleep of drunkennesse, which continueth long, and is deadly to the party."35 mandrake was know

ing court, and amongst vs was called the phairie (as i tould you) or our good neighboures, was one of the sortes of illusiones that was rifest in the time of papistrie: for although it was holden odious to prophesie by the deuill, yet whome these kinde of spirites carryed awaie, and informed, they were thought to be sonsiest and of best life. to speake of the many vaine trattles founded vpon that illusion: how ther was a fing and queene of phairie, of such a iolly court& train as they had, how they had a teynd& dutie, as it were, of all goods; how they naturallie rode and went, eate and drank, and did all other actiones like natural1 men and women: i think it liker virgils campi elysij, nor anie thing that ought to be beleeued by christians, except in general, that as i spake sundrie times

chan, while the dregs of the lower manas or animal mind go to form this spook."98 the shells are less animated than the shades, and are merely the final remnants of those who have passed through the astral planes on their ascent to heaven after death. shells retain no consciousness, and nothing resembling the genuine personality. they are like astral zombies that can, briefly, be animated into an illusion of awareness by the power of the medium during a seance. on rare occasions, enlightened beings who were once human, but who have long since cast off their astral bodies, find it necessary to descend to the astral planes, and for this purpose they take on astral substance and build temporary astral bodies for themselves. among these beings are the nirmanakaya "the 'spirits (in the sense of

WEOR SAMAEL AUN ESOTERIC COURSE OF KABBLAH

us study the magical equilibrium of the second arcanum of tarot. the physical body is organized with the elements. the intimus emanated from the inner star that has always smiled upon us; and he is positively polarized. and the physical body is the negative shadow of the intimus. spirit and matter live in eternal battle. when the spirit defeats the matter, the spirit then becomes a master. maya (illusion) could not exist without the duality. force and matter are two modalities of the same thing: energy. matter is determinating energy and a determinator of new undulations. evolution is a process of complication of the energy whose outcome is the macrocosmos and the microcosmos. the universe is maya (illusion. the universe exists because of karma and it is a mass of floating shadows. when t

w how to withdraw without the spasm and retain such a vibration, then they can operate with it as magicians in order to purify themselves and obtain everything. however if they do not know how to retain such light, it will abandon them in order to confine itself in the universal currents, yet leaving behind it the open doors from where evil can enter into them. then love is converted into hatred, illusion is followed by deception. with the mantric prayer that we have taught in this lesson, we retain that brilliant cosmic light that envelops the human couple in that supreme moment of love with the condition of avoiding, by all means, the ejaculation of the ens seminis. the mantras of this invocation have the power of transmuting the creative energies into light and fire. estos mantrams tien

WHO ARE THE DRACONIANS

andmother resisted and said that since her husband's death she would not have sex with anyone. the reptilian laughed and disappeared from the room momentarily. when he returned, he was accompanied by a man who looked exactly like the dead husband. at this point, the grandmother agreed to have sex, but as the act was in progress, she suddenly realized that the image of her dead husband was a cruel illusion. it was actually the reptilian on top of her, and she cried out in great resistance for him to leave her alone. once he was finished with her, he lifted up the little boy and placed him on top of the grandmother, forcing another sex act upon the both of them. then the grandmother was removed from the table and the little boy was victimized himself by the reptilian, forced to have anal and

WICCA MAGICK OCCULT THREE GREEN BOOKS DRUIDISM

e petal of the morning glory. 64 should the moon distinguish rich and poor, it would never brighten a poor man s hut. 70. white face, yellow face, ugly or beautiful: it s hard to change. but our mind can be changed, so set it right. 72. by their colors flowers attract us, but soon they fade, fall, and finally turn into dust. 74. to be born and be unborn is one thing: penetrate this fact. death is illusion. 91 yes or no, good or bad, all arguments are gone: more beautiful tunes come from pine winds on the hills. 94. life is one rest on the way back from illusion to nirvana; let it rain if it rains! let winds blow if they blow! 101. i really love my barrel-making job; connecting each board into one round barrel. 113. walk on deliberately and you ll surely see the world beyond the thousand mi

all around her. alone beside the sea, like a mind alone in the universe, her reason like man s the sum of it how to get a meat a restless mind seeking, a more restless flesh returned, unrest and sleep without a gleam; music, delirium, and an hour of rapture. the hour of rapture is the clear hour that comes from the darkened blind brain, horizon-breaking to the sight, a smile affair weather in the illusion. on the bare stones of the shore, observing the slipperiness of a calm sea, listening to the sea s swallowing and brine rubbing on the stones. alone in the vastness of the universe, though her inaccessible kin are many, and bursting on her from the gale the onset of the bright blue god. i am with you but alone, looking at the coldness of the level kyle, listening to the surge on a stony s

hisper to the living. russian he who is fated to hang will never drown. scottish one calamity is better than a thousand counsels. turkish your karma ran over my dogma. unknown i m not afraid to die. i just don t want to be there when it happens. woody allen i cannot tell you your fate, a man should not know his fate until he is halfway through life. if he were to know sooner, it would all seem an illusion. plexus, gatorr earth and ecology the earth is a blessing to those upon her. egyptian do not damage the earth, or the sea, or the trees. book of revelations 7:3 men go and come, but earth abides. ecclesiastes, 1, 4 we didn t inherit the land from our fathers. we are borrowing it from our children. amish belief the universe is made up of stories, not atoms. muriel ruckeyser. you will find

unications than dogmatic statements, which usually only create resistance, shutting the door which they were designed to force open. graham howe, the mind of the druid the fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. george benard shaw a great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. saul bellow i consider myself a hindu, christian, moslem, jew, buddhist and confucian. mohandas ghandi to become a popular religion, it is only necessary for a superstition to enslave a philosophy. dean william r. inge modern man has not ceased to be credulous, the need to believe haunts him. william james science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. alber

WOLFSON ELLIOT ALEF MEM TAU KABBALISTIC MUSINGS ON TIME TRUTH AND DEATH

being what it has become. in augustine s own words, at the moment when time is passing, it can be perceived and measured. but when it has passed and is not present, it cannot be. 14 to (be)hold the time of flux, one would have to stop the flux of time, but if one were to stop the flux of time, there would no longer be a time of flux to be(hold. the conventional triadic division of time offers the illusion of a temporal trajectory traversing through one fixed point to the next in a linear pattern, but the experience of the flowing currents of time, swerving this way and that way, cannot be accounted for on the basis of spatially-conceived instants, momentary units that are measurable, decipherable, commingled yet discrete. as simplicius put it, as to what time may be, then, to this question

as nothing, and everything that is closer to being before him is considered more as nothing, and only in relation to us it becomes concealment [he elem] and occlusion [hester, and thus the [cosmos] is called olam from the word he elem. 288 time is associated uniquely with malkhut, the attribute of the divine to which governance in the world is assigned, but time should in fact be thought of as an illusion, since the world is not accorded independent ontic status. the playful etymology that links olam and he elem drives home the point that the world is a garment that reveals the light of the infinite (or ein sof) by concealing it, for had the light not been concealed, the world would have been extinguished in the infinite, just as the ray of sunlight is absorbed the orb of the sun.289 just

. 125 126: according to aristotle, therefore, we must represent time by the image of a line (more accurately: by the image of movement along a line, either a circular line to indicate objective, physical, astronomical, and measurable time, or a straight line as demanded by the grammatical time of past, present, and future in which are laid those actions that we express in temporal terms. it is an illusion to believe that these two ways of looking at time are so different that they cancel each other out; they do have in common the principal feature, conception of time by the metaphor of a line, and what form the line takes is epistemologically of no importance or, in any case, only incidental. for a challenge to the distinction between linear and cyclical modes of time, see starr, historica

ZALEWSKI GOLDEN DAWN ENOCHIAN MAGIC OCR

etters in either ascending or descending columns, mainly in groups of two letters. although at first this appears to be an obscure lamen in the dee manuscripts, it is a synthesis of a form that was useful to dee. it forms all the functions of a true occult lamen, both in theory and practice. when worn, it links these names to that of the operator, and this link protects him from both delusion and illusion. the letters are usually written in enochian, but i have presented the english version for a quick and easy reference. this lamen was supposed to be worn on a scarf and hidden from view* according to dee manuscripts the table on the right is the clue to his lamen. the center protects the heart, the middle the flesh (bodily organs, and the end columns the skin. groups of two and three lett

lic being whose name was andinee. she held a wand, which i grasped; we flew up over a suddenly changed landscape ringed with mountains, with a plain with a circle in it "we flew down and met the king whose name is casoge or casoga (this turns out to be an enochian name that means "earth. he said that the letter gal was the infinite circle where seeds of emotion were implanted in the minds of men. illusion was the first experience of this letter; the truth of what it really represents came afterward. the whole plain i saw represented infinity. i then left" sphere group's vision of the letter gal "in the sky appears the sign of venus, like a star in the heavens and the boat becomes a platform and ascends to it, be165 coming a shining luminous platform. the cross and sign becollie a doorway a

ZALEWSKI SECRET INNER ORDER RITUALS OF THE GOLDEN DAWN OCR

he destroyer who must become the transmuter. remember also that these 3 letters have a further significance thus 't' stands for the ego, the indestructible unit which survives from life to life "0" is the eternal spirit, embracing the universe, reaching out beyond the boundaries of time and space, yet revolving about the "i" and between them the "a" of the astral, the veil of perpetually shifting illusion and experience. i- a- o. man cosmos god. from their union issues forth the divine white brilliance, the cross of light, healing, redeeming, illuminating. some years ago when i was first initiated into the r.r. et a.c. by jack taylor, i found myself at loggerheads with the christian viewpoint in interpreting these energies. not being a christian in the mundane sense of the word, yet being

the invisible" then it is as if the consciousness went into the genius, which says "i am the sun in his rising, i have passed through the hour of the cloud and night" then follows "i am amon the concealed one, the opener of the day" like the great god in atziluth "i am osiris onnofris, the crucified one" who is perfected in the balance and risen above all considerations that cometh from maya, or illusion, and who only seeks the eternal life from above, and then, as if in a supreme moment "i am the lord of life, triumphant over death, and there is no part of me that is not of the gods (that is the voice of kether) this again is followed by a synthetical culmination, as if all the divine ones united in the utterance "i am the preparer of the pathway, the rescuer unto the light! out of the d

ABRAMELIN2

ms of veritable magic. hoso should wish to recount all the arts and operations which in our times be reputed and preached abroad as wisdom and magical secrets; he should as well undertake to count the waves and the sands of the sea; seeing that the matter hath come to such a pass that every trick of a buffoon is believed to be magic, that all the abominations of impious enchanters, all diabolical illusions, all pagan idolatries, all superstitions, fascinations, diabolical pacts, and lastly all that the gross blindness of the world can touch with its bands and feet is reckoned as wisdom and magic! the physician, the astrologer, the enchanter, the sorceress, the idolater, and the sacrilegious, is called of the common people a magician! also he who draweth his magic whether from the sun, whet

ALEISTER CROWLEY EIGHT LECTURES ON YOGA

e wrong, and particularly to encourage you where you think you have failed. 25. i say this because one of the most frequent troubles is that people who are doing excellent work throw it up because they find that nature is not what they thought it was going to be. but this is the best test of the reality of any experience. all those which conform with your idea, which flatter you, are likely to be illusions. so you become a neophyte; and attack the task of a zelator. there are further grades in this system, but the general principles are always the same- the principles of scientific study and research. 26. we end where we began 'the wheel has come full circle' we are to use the experience of the past to determine the experience of the future, and as that experience increases in quantity it

ALEISTER CROWLEY ABSINTHE THE GREEN GODDESS

men who possess the understanding of the city of god, and know not the keys; or, if they possess them, have not force to turn them in the wards. such men often seek to win heaven by forged credentials. just so a youth who desires love is too often deceived by simulacra, embraces lydia thinking her to be lalage. but the greatest men of all suffer neither the limitations of the former class nor the illusions of the latter. yet we find them equally given to what is apparently indulgence. lombroso has foolishly sought to find the source of this in madness--as if insanity could scale the peaks of progress while reason recoiled from the bergschrund. the explanation is far otherwise. imagine to yourself the mental state of him who inherits or attains the full consciousness of the artist, that is

ALEISTER CROWLEY BOOK OF LIES

ny. we then see what different classes of people do with the many. the rationalist takes the six sephiroth of microprosopus in a crude state, and declares them to be the universe. this folly is due to the pride of reason. the adept concentrates the microcosm in tiphareth, recognising an unity, even in the microcosm, but, qua adept, he can go no further. the master of the temple destroys all these illusions, but remains silent. see the description of his functions in the equinox, liber 418 and elsewhere. in the next grade, the word is re-formulated, for the magus in chokmah, the dyad, the logos. the ipsissimus, in the highest grade of the a'.a, is totally unconscious of this process, or, it might be better to say, he recognises it as nothing, in that positive sense of the word, which is onl

ry of either of these things. holy, holy, holy are these truths that i utter, knowing them to be but falsehoods, broken mirrors, troubled waters; hide me, o our lady, in thy womb! for i may not endure the rapture. in this utterance of falsehood upon falsehood, whose contradictories are also false, it seems as if that which i uttered not were true. blessed, unutterably blessed, is this last of the illusions; let me play the man, and thrust it from me! amen. book of lies get any book for free on: www.abika.com 31 [32] commentary( iota alpha "the glow-worm" may perhaps be translated as "a little light in the darkness, though there may be a subtle reference to the nature of that light. eleven is the great number of magick, and this chapter indicates a supreme magical method; but it is really c

inglorious man of earth? distinguish not! but thyself ex-tinguish: himog art thou, and himog shalt thou be. book of lies get any book for free on: www.abika.com 87 [90] commentary( mu) paragraph 1 is, of course, a well-known scientific fact. in paragraph 2 it is suggested analogically that all thinkable things are similarly blinds for the unthinkable reality. classing in this manner all things as illusions, the question arises as to the distinguishing between illusions; how are we to tell whether a holy illuminated man of god is really so, since we can see nothing of him but his imperfections :it may be yonder beggar is a king" but these considerations are not to trouble such mind as the chela may possess; let him occupy himself, rather, with the task of getting rid of his personality; thi

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

ormed his magical body from the fine matter of his own element. therefore, although he may be able to penetrate the utmost recesses of the heavens, or conduct vigorous combats with the most unpronounceable demons of the pit, it may be impossible for him to do as much as knock a vase from a mantelpiece. his magical body is composed of matter too tenuous to affect directly the gross matter of which illusions such as tables and chairs are made<physical" operation which the body of light can perform is "congressus subtilis. the emanations of the "body of desire" of the material being whom one visits are, if the visit be agreeable, so potent that one spontaneously gains substance in the embrace. there are many cases on record of children having been born as the result of s

know it is subjective, without denying its objectivity> the mirror may 110 be distorted, dull, clouded, or cracked; and to this extent, the reflection of ourselves may be false even in respect of its symbolic presentation. in that light, therefore, all that we do is to discover ourselves by means of a sequence of hieroglyphics, and the changes which we apparently operate are in an objective sense illusions. but the light servers us in this way. it enables us to see ourselves, and therefore to aid us to initiate ourselves by showing us what we are doing. in the same way a watchmaker uses a lens, though it exaggerates and thus falsifies the image of the system of wheels which he is trying to adjust. in the same way, a writer employs arbitrary characters according to a meaningless convention

the end; and one cannot reach the "right" point of view without the aid of one's particular "wrong" point. if we reject or alter the negative of a photograph we shall not get a perfect positive> thus he may find that his angel consider his "business" or his "love" to be absurd trifles; also that human ideas of "time" are invalid, and human "laws" of logic applicable only to the relations between illusions. now the angel will make contact with the adept at any point that is sensitive to his influence. such a point will naturally be one that is salient in the adept's character, and also one that is, in the proper sense of the word, pure<
and hideous to thee, and blaspheme shalt thou against thy deity and curse him. and this mattereth little, for it is not thou, so be that thou adhere to the letter of thine obligation. for thy spiritual sight is closed, and to trust it is to be led into<equinox has "unto> the precipice, and hurled therefrom. 29 "further of this matter- now also subtler than all these 397 terrors are the illusions of success. but one instant's<equinox has "for one instant's> self-satisfaction or expansion of thy spirit, especially in this state of dryness, and thou art lost. for thou mayst attain the false union with the demon himself. beware also of even the pride which rises from having resisted the temptations. but so many and so subtle are the wiles of choronzon that the whole world

ALEISTER CROWLEY MEDITATION

to the imperfection of this image, we obtain mere smoke instead of perfect combustion. but we cannot use explosives instead of incense, because it would not be true. our prayer is the expression of the lower aspiring to the higher; it is without the clear vision of the higher, it does not understand what the higher wants. and, however sweet may be its smell, it is always cloudy. 117 in this smoke illusions arise. we sought the light, and behold the temple is darkened! in the darkness this smoke seems to take strange shapes, and we may hear the crying of beasts. the thicker the smoke, the darker grows the universe. we gasp and tremble, beholding what foul and unsubstantial things we have evoked! yet we cannot do without the incense! unless our aspiration took form it could not influence for

ALEISTER CROWLEY TAO TEH KING

ying golf. to do so is to create an internal conflict 'let there be no difference made among you between any one thing and any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt((weh note: quote from al i,22 corrected slightly) he who knows the tao knows it to be the source of all things soever; the most exalted spiritual ecstasy and the most trivial internal impression are from our point of view equally illusions, worthless masks, which hide, with grotesque painted pasteboard false and lifeless, 11 the living face of truth. yet, from another point of view, they are equally expressions of the ecstatic genius of truth- natural images of the reaction between the essence of onesself and one's particular environment at the moment of their occurrence. they are equally tokens of the tao, by whom, in who

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

cret name which i will give him when at last he knoweth me. since i am infinite space, and the infinite stars thereof, do ye also thus. bind nothing! let there be no difference made among you between any one thing& any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt" the old comment 22. a promise- not yet fulfilled. p.s. since (an v) fulfilled) a charge to destroy the faculty of discriminating between illusions. the new comment we have here a further conception of the cosmographical scheme. nuit is all that which exists, and the condition of that existence. hadit is the principle which causes modifications in this being. this explains how one may call nuit matter, and hadit motion, in the highest physico-philosophical sense of those terms. we are asked to axquiesce in this law of nature. that i

the same to nuit, though not to partial views) al i,23 "but whoso availeth in this, let him be the chief of all" the old comment 23. the chief, then, is he who has destroyed this sense of duality. the new comment this chief is of course no more or less than others. the limitations of our dualistic language obscure the meaning of these loftier words. chieftainship is to be understood as one of the illusions; but, in respect of that plane, a fact. the facts of nature are perfectly true in so far as their mutual relation is concerned; their invalidity refers only to their total relation with the philosophical canon of truth. the word "all" is not to be taken as elliptical for "all men; it means that such an one is completely master of his universe. for when one has become indifferent to pheno

ect machine, an apparatus for representing the universe accurately and impartially to its master. the self, its will, and its apprehension, should be utterly beyond it. its individual peculiarities are its imperfections. if we identify ourselves with our thoughts or our bodily instincts, we are evidently pledged to partake of their partiality. we make ourselves items of the interaction of our own illusions. in the following verses we shall find the practical application of this theorem. al ii,29 "may because be accursed for ever" the new comment distrust any explanation whatever. disraeli said: never ask any one to dinner who has to be explained. all explanations are intended to cover up lies, injustices, or shames. the truth is radiantly simple. al ii,30 "if will stops and cries why, invo

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE QABALAH

th cannot understand unity at all. if he thinks of it, it is only to hate it, as the one thing which he is most certainly not (see liber 418, 10th thyr. i may remark in passing that this book is the best known to me on advanced qabalah, and of course it is only intelligibile to advanced students. this atheist, not in-being but in-passing, is a very apt subject for initiation. he has done with the illusions of dogma. from a knight of the royal mystery63 he has risen to understand with the members of the sovereign sanctuary64 that all is symbolic; all, if you will, the jugglery of the magician. he is tired of theories and systems of theology and all such toys; and being weary and anhungered and athirst seeks a seat at the table of adepts, and a portion of the bread of spiritual experience, a

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

ainst the advaitist theories. a.c. notes 65 told, that by akasa is mean the chitakasa. the chitakasa is situated in the third eye, i.e, in the brain. by assuming higher dimensions of space, we can assimilate this face to realism; but we have no need to take so much trouble. this being true for the ordinary universe, that all sense-impressions are dependent on changes in the brain* we must include illusions, which are after all sense-impressions as much as realities are, in the class of phenomena dependent on brain-changes. magical phenomna, however, come under a special sub-class, since they are willed, and their cause is the series of real phenomena called the operations of ceremonial magic. these consist of (1) sight. the circle, square, triangle, vessels, lamps, robes, implements, etc (

e is the cause for this truly remarkable change? that is exactly where the theory rears to heaven its stoutest bastion! there is not, and could not be, any cause. had 00 been extended in causality, no change could have taken place.2 here then, are we, finite beings in a finite universe, time, space, and causality themselves finite (inconceivable as it may seem) with our individuality, and all the illusions of the advaitists, just as real as they practically are to our normal consciousness. as schopenhauer, following buddha, points out, suffering is a necessary condition of this existence.3 the war of the contending forces as they grind themselves down to the final resultant must cause endless agony. we may one day be able to transform the categories of emotion as certainly and easily as we

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 1

black roll of tobacco from a metal box, he bit off a quid and, chewing it, spat it on my leg, and the pain vanished. he did not spend an hour racking through the dictionary of his brain to find a suitable "itis" whereby to allay the inflammation, and then, having carefully classified it with another, declared the pain to be imaginary and myself to be an hysterio-monomaniac suffering from apiarian illusions! to-day hercules is a sun-myth, and so are osiris and baal; and no may can raise his little finger without some priapic pig shouting "phallus. phallus! i see a phallus! o what a phallus" away with this church-spire sexuality, 188 these atavistic obstetrics, these endless survivals and hypnoid states, and all these orchitic superficialities! back to the fruits of life and the treasure-hou

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

h cannot understand unity at all. if he thinks of it, it is only to hate it, as the one thing which he is most certainly not (see liber 418. 10th aethyr. i may remark in passing that this book is the best known to me on advanced qabalah, and of course it is only intelligible to advanced students. this atheist, not in-being but in-passing, is a very apt subject for initiation. he has done with the illusions of dogma. from a knight of the royal mystery he has risen to understand with the members of the sovereign sanctuary that all is symbolic; all, if you will, the jugglery of the magician. he is tired of theories and systems of theology and all such toys; and being weary and anhungred and athirst seeks a seat at the table of adepts, and a portion of the bread of spiritual experience, and a

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

nd in him there are symbols which strive for mastery- sulphur and the pentagram, and they are harmonized by the swastika. these symbols are found both in the name of av and in the name of the aethyr. thus he is neither horus nor osiris. he is called the radiance of thoth; and this aethyr is very hard to understand, for the images form and dissolve more rapidly than lightning. these images are the illusions made by the ape of thoth. and this i understand, that i am not worthy to receive the mysteries of this aethyr. and all this which i have seen (being all the thoughts that i have ever thought) is, as it were, a guardian of the aethyr. i seem quite helpless. i am trying all sorts of magical methods of piercing the veil: and the more i strive, the farther away i seem to get from success. bu

that art with me in the spirit-vision art not with me by right of attainment, and thou canst not stay in this place to behold how i run and return, and who are the flies that are caught in my web. for i am the inmost guardian that is immediately before the shrine. none shall pass by me except he slay me, and this is his curse, that, having slain me, he must take my office and become the maker of illusions, the great deceiver, the setter of snares; he who baffleth even them that have understanding. for i stand on every path, and turn them aside from the truth by my words, and by my magick arts. and this is the horror that was shown by the lake that was 125 nigh unto the city of the seven hills, and this is the mystery of the great prophets that have come unto mankind. moses, and buddha, an

s hath opened his jaws and crushed the universe as a bacchanal crusheth a grape between her teeth. shall not destruction swallow up destruction, and annihilation confound annihilation? twenty and two are the mansions of the house of my father, but there cometh an ox that shall set his forehead against the house, and it shall fall. for all these things are the toys of the magician and the maker of illusions, that barreth the understanding from the crown. o thou that hast beheld the city of the pyramids, how shouldst thou behold the house of the juggler? for he is wisdom, and by wisdom hath he made the worlds, and from that wisdom issue judgements 70 by 4, that are the 4 eyes of the double-headed one; that are the 4 devils, satan, lucifer, leviathan, belial, that are the great princes of the

sistant physician for diseases of the nervous system, boston city hospital; neurologist to the mt. sinia hospital_ contents: i. the exploration of the subconscious- what is the subconscious- automatic writing- testing the emotions- analysing the emotions- sleep- derams- what is hypnosis- analysis of the mental life. ii. diseases of the subconscious- losses of memory- restoration of lost memories- illusions of memory- the splitting of a personality- hysteria- psychasthenia- neurasthenia- psycho-epileptic attacks_ most of the investigations on abnormal psychology are widely scattered throughout the pages of medical publications and psychological literature generally. hence these researches are difficult of access to the general reader in any convenient and connected form. the present volume

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 1 2

the philosophers! an ixion bound to the wheel of destiny and of the samsara, unable to reach the centre, where is rest. he must add to the entry 1.13 that the "telephone-cross" voices came as he composed himself to sleep, in the will to adonai. this time he detached a body of cavalry to chase them to oblivion. perhaps an unwise division of his forces; yet he was so justly indignant at the eternal illusions that he may be excused. excused! to whom? thou must succeed or fail! o batsman, with thy frail fortress of three-in-one, the umpire cries "out" and thou explainest to thy friends 113 in the pavilion. but thy friends have heard that story before, and thy explanation will not appear in the score."mr. j. st. john, b. maya, 0, they will read in the local newspaper. there is no getting away f

kambhakham.'tis very hard to stick to it. i find myself, at the end of above sentence, automatically crawling into bed. no john! 10.14 have been trying to extract some sense from that extraordinary treatise on mysticism,"konx om pax. another failure, but an excusable one. i will now beseech adonai as best i may to give me back my lost powers. for i am no more even a magician! so lost am i in the illusions that i have made in the search for adonai, that i am become the vilest of them all! 10.27. a strange and unpleasant experience. my thought suddenly transmuted itself into a muscular cry, so that my legs gave a violent jerk. this i expect is at bottom the explanation of the bhuchari-siddhi. a very bad form of uncontrolled thought. i was on the edge of sleep; it woke me. the fact is, all i

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2 2

he summit is but a ridge, and from it he sees ridge upon ridge in endless succession above him. on he toils, at length it is the summit- no! but another ridge and a myriad more. a thousand fiends enter him, a thousand little sleuth-hounds that would tear him back- comfort, home, children, wife; then he says to himself: what a fool am i! at this stage many turn back and crawling into the valley of illusions reason how much more comfortable and interesting it is to read of mountain ascents than to accomplish them. these ones talk loudly and beat the drums of their valour in the ears of all men. at the next stage few return, most perish on the way back; for the higher you climb that great mountain the more difficult it becomes to return. plod on, and when your legs tremble and give way under

ll he obtains is a theatrical impression of "make-up" and "make- believe" and a general detachment from the realities of consciousness. the words obsess him; he cannot see that typhon is as necessary in the egyptian scheme as osiris; in the christian, that satan is but the twin of christ. they fetter the freedom which they are supposed to unbind, producing not only a duality but a multiplicity of illusions; so that, in the end, the chances are, instead of conversing face to face with adonai, he becomes a prig addressing a mass meeting in the albert hall, rationalising about irrational qualities. fortunately in the case of p. the result was somewhat different; already master of a vast storehouse of knowledge and learning he was less likely to gasp "oh my" at the display of egyptian pyrotech

n inference conceived by that matter, sense and spirit we have just put to bed "don't you think" says the scientific illuminist "that instead of dreaming all your lives it would be a good thing to wake up and do a little work? there are four of you, and the 299 kerubim of ezekiel might perhaps engage your individual attention" the truth is, it does not matter one rap by what name you christen the illusions of this life, call them substance, or ideas, or hallucinations, it makes not the slightest difference, for you are in them and they in you whatever you like to call them, and you must get out of them and they out of you, and the less you consider their names the better; for name-changing only creates unnecessary confusion and is a waste of time. let us therefore call the world a series o

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2

little hands looked out, clasped, pleading for mercy, and a fairy child-face, looking up- in vain- to that black heart of hatred. even as i gazed the woman hissed out so frightful a menace that my blood ran chill. the child shrank back into herself. the other raised her whip. i leapt into the room. the old hag spat one infamous word at me, turned on me with the whip. 117 "this time i was under no illusions about the sanctity of womanhood. with a single blow i felled her to the ground. my signet- ring cut her lip, and the blood trickled over her cheek. i laughed. but the child never moved- it would seem she hardly comprehended "i turned, bowed 'i could not bear to hear your cries' i said- rather obviously, one may admit 'i came 'adding under my breath 'i saw, i conquered 'who is that' i add

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3 2

iritual well-being of all with whom i may be brought in contact (5) to give no place to evil: and to make eternal war against the forces of evil: until even they be redeemed unto the light (6) to harmonize my own spirit that so equilibrium may lead me to the east and that my human consciousness shall allow no usurpation of its rule by the automatic (7) to conquer the temptations (8) to banish the illusions (9) to put my whole trust in the only and omnipotent lord god: as it is written "blessed are they that put their trust in him (10) to uplift the cross of sacrifice and suffering: and to cause my light to shine before men that they may glorify my father which is in heaven.45 furthermore: i most solemnly promise and swear: to acquire this holy science in the manner prescribed in the book o

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3 3

clear enough it is that mr. waite has indeed the key to certain royal treasuries. unfortunately, just as to face the title- page he gives us the portrait of a man in a frock-coat, so within the book we have the 311 muse in a dress-improver and a bond street hat. never mind; even those who dislike the poetry may love to puzzle out the meaning. detailed criticism is here impossible for lack of two illusions, time and space! i will only add that i was profoundly interested in the final book "the king's dole" no mystic who is familiar only with christian symbolism can afford to neglect this ritual. vale, frater! a. c. the cleansing of a city. greening and co. 1"s" net "wherefore i say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven,the sam

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3

its natural state, when it is enclosed in the other intoxication; a sun within a sun. such is the question which will occur to that class of minds which i will call intellectual gapers. to reply to a shameful sub-meaning of this part of the question which cannot be openly discussed, i will refer the reader to pliny, who speaks somewhere of the properties of hemp in such a way as to dissipate any illusions on this subject. one knows, besides, that loss of tone is the most ordinary result of the abuse which men make of their nerves, and of the substances which excite them. now, as we are not here considering effective power, but motion or susceptibility, i will simply ask the reader to consider that the imagination of a sensitive man intoxicated with hashish is raised to a prodigious degree

he bastions and undermine the ramparts, so that as those above leap down, those beneath leap up, and the city falls as an arrow from a bow that breaks in twain in the hand. such warfare is only for the great_ the greatest; yet we shall see that this is the warfare that p. eventually waged. and where the strong have trod the weak may "dare" to follow. this path must necessarily be a difficult one; illusions and delusions must be expected, temptations and defeats encountered with equanimity, and fears and terrors passed by without trembling. the labours of hercules are a good example of the labours the aspirant, who would be an adept, must expect. however, there is not space here, nor is this the place, to enter into the twelve mystic works of this man who became a god. yet let us at least n

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4

with ease- the white and the black. he ploughed the double field- the east and the west. he sowed the dragons' teeth- the armies of doubt; and among them did he cast he stone of zoroaster given to him by medea, queen of enchantments, so that immediately they turned their weapons one against the other, and perished. and then lastly, on the mystic cup of iacchus he lulled to sleep the dragon of the illusions of life, and taking down the golden fleece accomplished the great work. then once again did he set 44 sail, and sped past circe, through scylla and carybdis; beyond the singing sisters of sicily, back to the fair plains of thessaly and the wooded slopes of olympus. and one day shall it come to pass that he will return to that far distant land where hung that fleece of gold, the fleece he

akes no difference to that thing in itself" and yet not only the tyro, but many of the astutest philosophers have fallen into this snare, and not only once but an hundred times; the reason being that they have not remained silent12 about that which can only be "known" and not "believed in" and that which can never be names without begetting a duality (an untruth, and consequently a whole world of illusions. it is the crucifixion of every world-be saviour, this teaching of a truth under the symbol of a lie, this would-be explanation to the multitude of the unexplainable, this passing off on the "canaille" the strumpet of language (the consciously known) in the place of the virgin of the world (the consciously unknown).13 no philosophy has ever grasped this terrible limitation so firmly as t

tm n. to what is one, sages give many a title: they call it agni, tama, m tirisvan."15 55 thus we find that "duality" in the east is synonymous with "a mere matter of words,"16 and further, that, when anything is (or can be) describe by a word or a name, the knowledge concerning it is avidy "ignorance" no sooner are the eyes of a man opened17 than he sees "good and evil" and becomes a prey to the illusions he has set out to conquer. he gets something apart from himself, and whether it be religion, science, or philosophy it matters not; for in the vacuum which he thereby creates, between him and it, burns the fever that he will never subdue until he has annihilated both.18 god, immortality, freedom, are appearances and not realities, they are m y and not atman; space, time and causality19 a

ness of plurality. in the natural course of events the sanny sa precedes the yoga, for it consists in casting off from oneself home, possessions, family and all that engenders and stimulates desire; whilst the yoga consists in withdrawing the organs of sense from the objects of sense, and by concentrating them on the inner self, higher self, augoeides, atman, or adonai, shake itself free from the illusions of m y- the world of plurality, and secure union with this inner self or atman. 63 30 as the light of a lamp brought into a dark room is reflected by all surfaces around it, so is the illumination of the adept reflected even by his unilluminated followers. attainment by yoga. according to the shiva sanhita there are two doctrines found in the vedas: the doctrines of "karma k nda (sacrifi

th. strictly speaking, they come under the heading of karma and gnana yoga, and as it were form the evangelicism of yoga- the "thou shalt" and "thou shalt not" they vary according to definition and sect.61 however, one point must be explained, and this is, that it must be remembered that most works on yoga are written either by men like patanjali, to whom continence, truthfulness, etc, are simple illusions of mind; or by charlatans, who imagine that, by displaying to the reader a mass of middle-class "virtues" their works will be given so exalted a flavour that they themselves will pass as great ascetics who have out-soared the bestial passions of life, whilst in fact they are running harems in boulogne or making indecent proposals to flower-girls in south audley street. these latter ones

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6 2

sleeps for her couch. all darkness dreams the thing that is not, only seems. that star upon the serpent's head is called the soul of man. that light in shadows subtly shed the glamour of life's plan. 32 the sea whereon that lotus grows is thought's abyss of tears and woes. leave sirenusa! even greece forget! they are not there! by worship cometh not the peace, the silence not by prayer. leave the illusions, life and time and death, and seek that star sublime, until the lotus and the sea and snake no longer are, and single through eternity exists alone the star, and utter knowledge rise, and cease in that which is beyond the peace [ganymede "dances and falls as dead" typhon. o that the banquet of jupiter might begin! hermanubis. o that the banquet of jupiter might begin! sphinx. o that the

ALICE A BAILEY02 INITIATION HUMAN AND SOLAR

ruffled and unshaken, because the divine knower holds the reins of government, and permits no disturbance from the lower self; where bliss itself is reached that is based, not on circumstances in the three worlds, but on that inner realisation of existence apart from the not-self, an existence that persists when time and space and all that is contained therein, are not; that is known when all the illusions of the lower planes are experienced, passed through, transmuted and transcended; that endures when the little world of human endeavour has dissipated and gone, being seen as naught; and that is based on the knowledge that i am that. such an attitude and experience is for all those who persist in their high endeavour, who count all things but naught if they may but achieve the goal, and w

ALICE A BAILEY05 THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL

of knowledge- 86- the light of the soul copyright 1998 lucis trust the seer. sight. that which is seen, the observer. observation. that which is observed, the spectator. vision. the spectacle, and many others equally well known. the great objective of raja yoga is to free the thinker from the modifications of the thinking principle so that he no longer merges himself in the great world of thought illusions nor identifies himself with that which is purely phenomenal. he stands free and detached and uses the world of the senses as the field of his intelligent activities and no longer as the field of his experiments and experience-gaining endeavours. it must be remembered that the means of perception are the six senses; i.e. hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell and the mind, and that these six

ALICE A BAILEY07 FROM INTELLECT TO INTUITION

ke the work from the standpoint of the mystical devotee or the intellectual aspirant, there are certain basic requirements which must precede any definite exercises. the words of the rev. r. j. campbell state succinctly our story and our task. he says "for the purpose of realizing the nature of the self, we have had to come out from our eternal home in god that we might strive and suffer amid the illusions of time and sense. we have to overcome before we can enter into the eternal truth that lies beyond all seeming. in that overcoming we have to master the flesh and magnify the spirit, despise the world to save it, and lose the life to find it" now let us consider the situation and the processes to which we must subject ourselves if the goal is ever to be attained. the preliminary requirem

ALICE A BAILEY08 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC

upon all workers the remembrance that the day of opportunity is with us and that it has its term. this present type of opportunity will not last forever. the pettiness of the human frictions- 323- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust the failures to understand each other, the little faults which have their roots in personality and which are, after all, ephemeral, the ambitions and illusions must all go. if the workers would practise detachment, knowing that the law works and that god's purposes must come to an ultimate conclusion and if they would learn never to criticize in thought or word, the salvaging of the world would proceed apace and the new age of love and illumination would be ushered in. rule fourteen the sound swells out. the hour of danger to the soul courageou

ALICE A BAILEY09 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME I ESOTERIC PSYCHOLOGY I

rough the use of the radio. great ideas are dinned into the ear of the public without cessation theories as to dictatorship, communism, nazism, fascism, marxism, nationalism, and democratic ideals. methods of rule by this or that group of thinkers are presented to the public, leaving them no time for consideration, or for clear thinking. racial antipathies are spread, and personal preferences and illusions find expression, bringing about the deception of the unthinking. the man who has a golden tongue, the man who has the gift of playing with words and can voice with emphasis people's grievances, the juggler in statistics, the fanatic with a certain and sure cure for social ills, and the man who loves to fan race hatreds, can ever get a following. such men can with facility upset the balan

. 2. ray two..working through the intuition. 13. the personality ray finds its major field of activity and expression in the physical body. it determines its life trend and purpose, its appearance and occupation. it is selective of quality, when influenced by the egoic ray. the egoic ray has direct and specific action upon the astral body. hence the battlefield of the life is ever on the plane of illusions as the soul seeks to dispel the ancient glamour, the aspirant is enabled to walk in the light- 252- a treatise on the seven rays- volume i: esoteric psychology i copyright 1998 lucis trust the monadic ray influences the mental body, after integration of the personality has been brought about. it causes the mind nature to achieve that clear vision which finds its consummation at the fourt

ALICE A BAILEY10 FROM BETHLEHEM TO CALVARY

tions on some level of consciousness. we must, and do, eventually attain what we demand. when we care for that which is eternal in value, then eternal life, free from the limitations of the flesh, is ours. dean inge tells us that "in so far as we can identify ourselves with the absolute values, we are sure of immortality" what we really care about, then, in our highest moments, when free from the illusions of the emotional nature, determines our immortal life. the question then arises as to what occurs when the sense of values is distorted or temporarily nonexistent. in an attempt to meet this question millions of people have accepted the oriental doctrine of rebirth, which states the world to be the "vale of soul-making" as keats calls it, and which teaches that we return again and again

ALICE A BAILEY11 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME II ESOTERIC PSYCHOLOGY II

when it reaches that point, is inevitable and effective. the inner thought and the desire life determine the activity which will be expressed physically. when the force comes through in purity, it brings the centres above the diaphragm steadily into activity; when it comes through, tainted by personality trends, it uses primarily the solar plexus, and then sweeps into manifestation all the astral illusions, the grandiose delusions and the glamours of egoistic phenomena, using the word "egoistic" in its usual worldly, psychological connotation. this can easily be seen today among the leaders of various groups. b. distinctive methods of ray service does this science prove that the seven ray types employ distinctive methods in service? as time goes on this will be proved decidedly, and each r

sense of duality which produces distress and sorrow in the life of all disciples. it is at this point upon the way that many very well-meaning disciples fall. instead of standing in spiritual being and taking a firm position upon the middle way between the pairs of opposites, and thus intensifying the touch of appropriation and endeavoring to make the approach of acquiescence, they fall into the illusions of self-pity. these prevent the process of appropriation. a furious conflict then ensues in the endeavor to change the theme of their lives, and the disciples forget that that theme is the embodiment of the word of their souls in any particular incarnation, and that no theme calling as it does, particular conditions into being could provide the right and- 167- a treatise on the seven ray

the carefully thought-out paradises and cosmic orders of the higher types of aspirants. all, however, come into the realm of dreams. this is true, whether such dreams are tied up with frustrated sex or unfulfilled idealism; they are all indicative of an urge, a powerful urge, either to selfish satisfaction or group betterment and group welfare. these dreams can embody in themselves ancient astral illusions and glamours, potent and strong because of ancient origin and racial desire, or they can embody the sensitive response of advanced humanity to systems and regimes of existence which are hovering on the borderland of manifestation, awaiting future precipitation and expression- 300- a treatise on the seven rays- volume ii: esoteric psychology ii copyright 1998 lucis trust this will indicat

forward on the astral plane. they will be simply the record, registered on the physical brain, of his doings and emotions, his purposes and intentions, and his recognised experiences. they are as real and as true as any of those which have been recorded by the brain, during waking hours. they are, nevertheless, only partial records in the majority of cases, and mixed in nature, for the glamours, illusions and the perceptions of the doings of others (as recorded in the second category of dreams above) will still have some effect. this condition of mixed recording, of erroneous identifications, etc, leads to much difficulty. the psychologist has to make allowance for: a. the age or soul experience of the patient. he has to determine whether the related dream is an illusory participation, a

ALICE A BAILEY12 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME I

ctive. these cannot be given here. these meditations will be given to you as suggestions for your use and acceptance. endeavour at some stage in your meditation to link up with me but let this linking up take place after you have worked at and brought about an alignment with your soul. the reason that it is essential that you link up after alignment is that you can then avoid the glamours and the illusions of the astral plane whereon thoughtforms and masquerading entities personalise the teachers and the masters and do so in their myriads. add also to your meditation a short period wherein you will try and- 14- discipleship in the new age- volume i copyright 1998 lucis trust link up with your co-disciples, sending them love, soul force, and help. you would find it useful to keep what might

s to all their disciples and they stand ready to give the needed instruction. i would remind you at this early stage that only that which you know for yourself and experience consciously within yourself is of importance and constitutes the truth for you. that which may be told you by others, even by me, serves no vital purpose, except to enhance or corroborate an already known truth, or to create illusions or responsibility until it is either rejected or experienced by you in your own consciousness. do you understand what i mean? initiation might be defined at this point as the moment of crisis wherein the consciousness hovers on the very border-line of revelation. the demands of the soul and the suggestions of the master might be regarded as in conflict with the demands of time and space

tact (in this incarnation) with the great second ray lines of force. you should bear this most carefully in mind and cultivate the higher or group idealism assiduously and earnestly, for it is through this idealism that your entire personality life expression can arrive at the needed balance and recognitions. march 1939 my brother: your glamours are not many or potent, for you are more subject to illusions than to glamours, being so predominantly a mental type of disciple. the question in my mind which i bring to you today for answering is whether the mental emphasis which you impose upon all your daily living, both inner and outer, may not within itself constitute a hindering glamour, thus handicapping the full awakening of the heart centre. much have you done in the past five years anent

come and will, if your intention and thought are directed towards these ends. as you grow older, there is much that you have to give. the wisdom which you have necessarily wrought out in the furnace of pain and of suffering must be available and used as the- 236- discipleship in the new age- volume i copyright 1998 lucis trust way of light and of joy opens up before you. i hold out before you no illusions of a great work to be performed for which you are divinely predestined. the eventual great work, successfully carried forward, which falls to the lot of all who achieve the great initiations, grows out of a steadily expanding consciousness, a steady decentralisation, demonstrating in a constant outgoing in compassion and understanding to the needs of the little ones upon life's way, and

ation, not an enforced cooperation but a spontaneous longing to be with and to share with others the processes of living, loving, occult duty. ponder much upon this last phrase. it is a seed thought for your life at present. the second suggestion is the cultivation of indifference that spiritual indifference which pays no undue attention to the physical body, or to moods and feelings or to mental illusions. the body exists and must receive due care; the feelings and moods are potent and exhausting and from them, my brother, come much of your physical discomfort. deal with them not by- 381- discipleship in the new age- volume i copyright 1998 lucis trust struggling but by substitution of other interests, ignoring them and treating them with indifference till they die of lack of attention an

ALICE A BAILEY16 GLAMOUR A WORLD PROBLEM

nt must feel with, or be in some way identified with, the qualitative nature of the symbol, with the nature of that reality which the symbolic form veils. it is this aspect of symbolic reading that you are asked to study. students should ascertain, therefore, after due study of the form aspect, what the symbol is doing to them, what feeling it evokes, what aspirations it arouses, and what dreams, illusions, and reactions are consciously registered. this stage is an intermediate one between the exoteric reading of a symbol and the conceptual understanding. there is later another intermediate stage between conceptual understanding and esoteric comprehension and application. this latter stage is called "synthetic recognition" having studied the form and become aware of its emotional significa

owever, carries with it its own problems, so unable is the average disciple to free himself from the glamour-making faculties developed in the past, and so hard does he find it to preserve a due proportion and a proper sense of values in regard to the truths of the mental plane. a hard won truth and a principle of reality can be grasped, and then around it the disciple can build the easily formed illusions of the mind which is just beginning to find itself. the glamours of an emotional nature can emerge and gather about the ideal, for that is as yet unclarified and is prone to attract to itself that which emotionally and sensitively it believes itself to be and have. let us illustrate my point from two angles, both of which are entirely in the realm of discipleship, or encountered upon the

r lives and work. it is imposed and ordered through catering to the fear complex, rampant in humanity at this time; and this fear is one of the most fruitful sources of glamour which we have. we might perhaps and with reason regard it as the seed of all glamour upon our planet. fear has been the incentive to those conditions which have brought about the glamour of the astral plane, though not the illusions of the mental levels of consciousness. when the glamour of authority transfers itself into the spiritual consciousness of man, we have such a state of affairs as the period of the inquisition in its worst forms, of church authority, with the emphasis upon organisation, government and penalties, or the unquestioned rule of some teacher. in its highest forms we have the recognition of the

submit to training and, as individuals, understand and master your personal glamours. just as soon as you have begun to- 41- glamour: a world problem copyright 1998 lucis trust do this, i can begin to use you, as a group. but before you can work as a group, and before you can assist in the dissipation of the world glamour, you have to understand better and master more definitely the glamours and illusions of your personality. the time has now come for me to help you deal more drastically with this problem of glamour, with the view to your destined group service and not with a view of your personal release. i ask you to set to work, therefore, with fresh courage and determination and with fresh understanding, and to carry on for another year. will you bend your effort to the task? for task

ere is some definite organisation of the mental body. b. his family "desire life" both past and present. this becomes increasingly potent as evolution proceeds and the desire life of the family unit becomes comes marked and emphasised, constituting then inherited and demonstrated psychological tendencies and characteristics. c. national glamour, which is the sum total of the desire life, plus the illusions, of any nation. these we term national characteristics and they are so persistent and marked that they are usually recognised as embodying national psychological traits. these are, of course, based on ray tendencies, past history, and world inter-relations but constitute in themselves a glamorous condition out of which every nation must work as it marches on towards the realisation of (a

ALICE A BAILEY17 TELEPATHY AND THE ETHERIC VEHICLE

uties. the world of energies, with its streams of directed force and its centres of concentrated light is likewise present, and the eye of the see-er can see it, just as the eye of the mental clairvoyant can see the geometrical pattern which thoughts assume upon the mental plane, or as the lower psychic can contact the glamours- 31- telepathy and the etheric vehicle copyright 1998 lucis trust the illusions and delusions of the astral world. the subjective realm is vitally more real than is the objective, once it is entered and known. it is simply (how simple to some and how insuperably difficult to others, apparently) a question of the acceptance, first of all, of its existence, the development of a mechanism of contact, the cultivation of the ability to use this mechanism at will, and the

ALICE A BAILEY18 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME III ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY

involved in form which is itself developed and unfolded through soul activity; he must be a developed mystic, capable of pure vision, motivated by spiritual intent and able to perceive the uses of inherent sensitivity; he must also be a trained occultist, mentally polarised and profoundly aware of the realities, forces and energies of existence and, therefore, free from the ordinary glamours and illusions which colour the reactions and life of the average man. he is then governed by the- 182- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust physical sun, motivated by the energies pouring from "the heart of the sun (via neptune) and bringing about at-one-ment through the forces which are reaching him (via uranus. beyond these two distant planets, lies

plan in the fullest sense and the end of individual self-centredness. temper, which is so characteristic of the bull, must give place to directed spiritual energy, for temper is but energy run wild in the interests of the personality; blindness (for the bull is blind for much of its career) must give place to vision and the right focus of the sight and this will finally dispel the self-engendered illusions and glamours of the aspirant; self-pity, which is the effect of a constant concentration on the frustration of desire in the personality life, must be succeeded by compassion for all humanity, and this must be developed into the selfless service of the salvaging initiate. the task of the taurian is a hard one for he embodies in himself, to a marked degree, outstanding limitations as rega

ALICE A BAILEY21 EDUCATION IN THE NEW AGE

hrough the use of the radio. great ideas are dinned into the ear of the public without cessation theories as to dictatorship, communism, nazism, fascism, marxism, nationalism and democratic ideals. methods of rule by this or that group of thinkers are presented to the public, leaving them no time for consideration, or for clear thinking. racial antipathies are spread, and personal preferences and illusions find expression, bringing about the deception of the unthinking. the man who has a golden tongue, the man who has the gift of playing with words and can voice with emphasis people's grievances, the juggler in statistics, the fanatic with a certain and sure cure for social ills and the man who loves to fan race hatreds, can ever get a following. such men can with facility upset the balanc

ALICE A BAILEY22 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE VOLUME II

n is an indication of an unconscious response to the shamballa energy. towards the end of the century and during the first few decades of the twenty-first century, teaching anent shamballa will be given forth. the effort of the abstract mind of man will be towards the comprehension of this, just as the goal of hierarchical contact marks the present effort of the disciple. glamour is disappearing; illusions are being dissipated; the stage of penetration into a new dimension, into a new phase of effort and of attainment is rapidly being promulgated. this is being done in spite of all the horror and agony and will be one of the first results of respite from war. the war itself is shattering illusions, revealing the need for change and producing a demand for a future new world and a coming bea

to substitute the pure reason for the many complexities of the lower mind. he has to wrestle with the problem of this simplicity, with its penetrating potency, and with its swift comprehension of the basic truth underlying the many truths; he learns, finally, to substitute the intuition with its swiftness and its infallibility for the slow and laborious work of the mind, with its deviousness, its illusions, its errors, its dogmatisms and its separative thinking and cultures. he finds out as a preliminary step the nature of his rays; he begins to discriminate between intelligence, love and what he believes, theoretically, the will may be, but he knows that he has as yet no real experience of this highest divine aspect. his developing intelligence is the result and the reward of experience;

ALICE A BAILEY23 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

is no easy thing to do at this time. the astral or emotional bodies of human beings (which constitute the astral body of humanity as a whole) are today in a state of chaos, and are swept by ancient desires, ancient and deep-seated selfish attitudes and by ancient hatreds. the task is also complicated by the activity of the mental processes of man which is characterised by pronounced and developed illusions, by separative attitudes and by specious arguments. but there are, at the same time, enough people in the world who are responsive to the spirit of goodwill, of tolerant understanding, and animated by a desire for permanent right human relations. i have earlier suggested to you*(6) that it should be possible to have at a later date a world-wide recognition of a day of forgetfulness, of f

ucis trust only upon the response of germany, japan and italy to this ancient miasma but also upon the fact that every nation the united nations as well as the totalitarian nations are tainted with this universal condition. the freedom of the world is consequently largely dependent upon those people in every nation who (within themselves) have moved forward out of one or other of these "glamorous illusions of mayavic impressions" of the human soul into a state of awareness wherein they can see the conflict in its wider terms, i.e, as that existing for them between the dweller on the threshold and the angel of the presence. these people are the aspirants, the disciples and the initiates of the world. they are aware of the dualism, the essential dualism, of the conflict and are not so pre-em

ly or unconsciously then a great reorientation can and will take place. this event is something that can happen- 238- the externalisation of the hierarchy copyright 1998 lucis trust the first result will be the illumination of the astral plane and the beginning of the process which will dissipate glamour; the second result will be the irradiation of the mental plane and the dispelling of all past illusions and the gradual revelation of the new truths of which all past ideals and so-called formulations of truth have only been the sign-posts. ponder on that statement. the sign-post indicates the way to go; it does not reveal the goal. it is indicative but not conclusive. so with all truth up to the present time. the demand is, therefore, for knowers and for those whose minds and hearts are o

to rid humanity of old forms of religious, economic and political doctrine; his impersonality which recognises faults as well as virtues enrages many and often those from whom he had expected understanding and a true impartiality; his failure to be impressed or attentive to old rites and ceremonies, to ancient and obsolete but precious ideas, and his constant warfare on conditioning glamours and illusions meet, in these early stages, with little encouragement. he works frequently alone and usually with little recognition and lacks time for his own personal hierarchical contacts; he is not necessarily connected with any so-called esoteric groups and if he is his task is that much harder; only advanced disciples with a full and conscious constant contact with their particular ashram are abl

ALICE BAILEY THE LABOURS OF HERCULES

ks to express and so gain satisfaction in the outer world. the third head is good intentions, not carried out. so you have desire in the center, on one side you have sensation typifying all impacts, and on the other side the third head of good intentions not thought through, never performed, of which it has long been said "hell is paved with good intentions. the tail made of serpents typifies all illusions that impede the progress of spiritual life; the materiality that holds us down; the lower psychic nature that causes such destruction; fear along every possible line; the fear of failure which holds so many back from activity and breeds only inertia, the great fault, we are told, of aspirants and disciples. hercules grasped cerberus by the central head and conquered him, because all sun

ANATHEMA OF ZOS

ess to offer heaven new sexuality s. once in this world i enjoyed laughter-when i remembered the value i gave the contemptible; the significance of my selfish fears; the absurd vanity of my hopes; the sorry righteousness called i. and you? certainly not befitting are tears of blood, nor laughter of gods. ye do not even look like men but the strange spawn of some forgotten ridicule. lost among the illusions begot of duality-are these the differentiation s ye make for future entity to ride your bestial self? millions of times have ye had re-birth and many more times will ye again suffer existence. ye are of things distressed, living down the truths ye made. loosing only from my overflow, perchance i teach ye to learn of yourselves? in my becoming shall the hungry satisfy of my good and evil?

BELL CHRISTOPHER PAUL TSIU MARPO THE CAREER OF A TIBETAN PROTECTOR DEITY

monesses] to cause fits of fainting to your foes. bind tightly your enemies by means of your red snare, strike them hard with the great stick. with the flaming sword, cut them into huge pieces. with the flaming iron hook, tear out their heart-veins; having chewed the bodies of the foes with your flaming teeth, swallow them down into your stomach which is like a r.k.asa-hole. send various kinds of illusions to deceive your enemies. send suddenly the illnesses called gag nad95 and gzer nad.96 destroy seven generations of the multitude of obstacle-creating demons and enemies.97 this task reiterates the descriptions of tsiu marpo s actions described above as well as those activities performed by his coterie of riders and their hounds. this is not surprising, as the latter are simply his manife

ho lha gnam theb dkar po)210 and was the head deity of the local mongolian tribes. his transfer to tibet was brought about by padmasambhava, who came to bhatahor with an army in order to sack the meditation school and capture its main deity for the purpose of assigning to him the position of protector over samy s treasures.211 pehar attempted to flee by turning into a vulture and creating magical illusions to confuse and madden the army. however, he was shot down by the arrow of a violence demon in the retinue of the army and summarily taken to samy. more pacifying variations state that pehar was invited to come to samy and accepted the position 206 karmay (1998b, p. 360) explains that pehar s name is found in an eleventh-century copy of the ba zh. 207 see wangdu and diemberger 2000, p. 26

h toward enlightenment. for those involved in the bodhi orientation, referring to monastic practitioners and high lamas, tutelary deities are primarily engaged for religious practice and deity yoga. once a monk or lama has reached an advanced degree of learning and contemplation, he is aware of reality more on the level of ultimate truth rather than relative truth. as such, all deities are merely illusions, mental 251 see gombrich and obeyesekere 1988, pp. 112-132. 252 see samuel 1993, pp. 24-27. 145 constructs, and the protector deities are simply wrathful aspects of higher tantric forces that pervade the world. tangentially, i disagree with samuel s assessment of the attitudes that exist toward deities from the karma orientation. he claims that individuals along this orientation consider

sky demons. you make the enemy faint with female demons. you tightly bind the enemy with the red lasso, and strike them hard with the great stick. cut the enemy into pieces with the radiant sword. tear out the enemy s heart-veins with the iron hook. after chewing on the enemy with your radiant fangs, swallow them down into your stomach, which is a pit of flesh-eating demons. send various kinds of illusions to the enemies. send suddenly the throat-swelling illness and the painful illness to the enemy (7b) destroy seven generations of the assembly of malicious enemies and hindering demons" strongly exhort this. 1.5 ritual requests (7b.1-7b.6) string, like coral, the life-energy mantra or a garland of mantras on the heart of the violence demon and bestow the light rays of the heart which illu

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

dra) sends a beautiful apsarasas (nymph) named pramlocha to seduce kandu and disturb his penance. she succeeds in her unholy purpose and "907 years six months and three days* spent in her company seem to the sage as one day. when this psychological or hypnotic state ends, the muni curses bitterly the creature who seduced him, thus disturbing his devotions "depart, begone" he cries "vile bundle of illusions. and pramlocha, terrified, flies away, wiping the perspiration from her body with the leaves of the trees as she passes through the air. she went from tree to tree, and as, with the dusky shoots that crowned their summits, she dried her limbs, the child she had conceived by the rishi came forth from the pores of her skin in drops of perspiration. the trees received the living dews; and t

should imagine this to be the best evidence that there is no deity in abscondito within nature, nor anything divine in her. nor is it less natural that the materialist and the physicist should imagine that everything is due to blind force and chance, and to the survival of the strongest, even more often than of the fittest. but the occultists, who regard physical nature as a bundle of most varied illusions on the plane of deceptive perceptions; who recognise in every pain and suffering but the necessary pangs of incessant procreation: a series of stages toward an ever-growing perfectibility, which is visible in the silent influence of never-erring karma, or abstract nature- the occultists, we say, view the great mother otherwise. woe to those who live without suffering. stagnation and deat

that follows necessarily from the inductive law of the theory of descent("anthropogeny" p. 392- his no less learned foes (du bois-reymond- for one) have a right to see in this sentence a mere jugglery of words; a "testimonium paupertatis of natural science- as he himself complains, calling them, in return, ignoramuses (see "pedigree of man" notes[[vol. 2, page] 664 the secret doctrine. defects or illusions of his own coarser vision, auditory powers, and other senses. he has no right to trespass on the grounds of metaphysics and psychology. his duty is to verify and to rectify all the facts that fall under his direct observation; to profit by the experiences and mistakes of the past in endeavouring to trace the working of a certain concatenation of cause and effects, which, but only by its

s" the oldest skull of all those hitherto found, the "neanderthal skull" is of average capacity, and mr. huxley was compelled to confess that it was no real approximation whatever to that of the "missing link" there are aboriginal tribes in india whose brains are far smaller and nearer to that of the ape than any hitherto found among the skulls of palaeolithic man[[vol. 2, page] 687 grant allen's illusions. of man so very great, indeed, that it falls not so far short of the occultist's estimate* the modest thousands of years of the encyclopaedia britannica and the 100,000 years, to which anthropology in general limits the age of humanity, seem quite microscopical when compared with the figures implied in mr. huxley's bold speculations. the former, indeed, makes of the original race of men

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

s the symbol of the power directing it, fohat, called in consequence, the "messenger of their will- the fiery whirlwind "dzyu becomes fohat- the expression itself shows it. dzyu is the one real (magical) knowledge, or occult wisdom; which, dealing with eternal truths and primal causes, becomes almost omnipotence when applied in the right direction. its antithesis is dzyu-mi, that which deals with illusions and false appearances only, as in our exoteric modern sciences. in this case, dzyu is the expression of the collective wisdom of the dhyani-buddhas (b) as the reader is supposed not to be acquainted with the dhyani-buddhas, it is as well to say at once that, according to the orientalists, there are five dhyanis who are the "celestial" buddhas, of whom the human buddhas are the manifestat

es impressions from them (traume eines geistersehers, quoted by c. c. massey, in his preface to von hartmann's "spiritismus[[vol. 1, page] 134 the secret doctrine. she is before a dead wall, on the face of which she traces, as she imagines, great physiological and psychic discoveries, but every one of which will be shown later on to be no better than the cobwebs spun by her scientific fancies and illusions. the tissues of our objective framework alone are subservient to the analysis and researches of physiological science* the six higher principles in them will evade for ever the hand that is guided by an animus that purposely ignores and rejects the occult sciences. the "great day of be-with-us" then, is an expression the only merit of which lies in its literal translation. its significan

ing upon sesha (the serpent of infinity) in the midst of the deep. the adikrit[[vol. 1, page] 372 the secret doctrine (creator) hari, sleeps upon the ocean of space in the form of brahma- glorified by sanaka* and the siddha (saints) of jana-loka, and contemplated by the holy denizens of brahma-loka, anxious for final liberation, involved in mystic slumber, the celestial personification of his own illusions" this is the pratisanchara (dissolution) termed incidental because hari is its incidental (ideal) cause* when the universal spirit wakes, the world revives; when he closes his eyes, all things fall upon the bed of mystic slumber. in like manner, as 1,000 great ages constitute a day of brahma (in the original it is padma-yoni, the same as abjayoni "lotos-born" not brahma, so his night con

le organic and mental world. in the true philosophical sense there is no such thing as independent action: for every force or substance is correlated to some other force or substance. we can with just as much truth and reason assert that no substance possesses any inherent gustatory property or any olfactory property- that taste and odour are simply sensations caused by vibrations; and hence mere illusions of animal perceptions[[vol. 1, page] 567 metaphysical chemistry. english geologists, as the nature of matter, it is because he knows what he is talking about. when he says "man" and elements, he neither means "man" in his present physiological and anthropological form, nor the elemental atoms, those hypothetical conceptions, the entitative abstractions of matter in its highly attenuated

BLUE EQUINOX

rium, giveth life. 2. in all systems of religion is to be found a system of initiation, which may be defined as the process whereby a man comes to learn that unknown crown. 3. though none can communicate either the knowledge or the power to achieve this, which we may call the great work, it is yet possible for initiates to guide others. 4. every man must overcome his own obstacles, expose his own illusions. yet others may assist him to do both, and they may enable him altogether to avoid many of the false paths, leading no whither, which tempt the weary feet of the uninitiated pilgrim. they can further insure that he is duly tried and tested, for there are many who think themselves to be master who have not even begun to tread the way of service that leads thereto. 5. now the great work is

hem their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereon they set their minds. in that day shall thy mouth be opened. and thou shalt speak. and thou shalt be a sign unto them, and they shall know that i am the lord. amen. the equinox 156 a last note: truth must ever be one. whatever i expected, i found not. but why should i grieve because of having exposed some of my illusions? i have held to the truth, and the truth remains, for the truth is ever one, yea, the truth is ever one. amen. section v january 1st, 1913, to december 31st, 1913 we must now pass on to fra v.i.o..s diary for the year 1913, e.v. i can find no written records of the period between october 13th, 1912, when he finished the retirement, and march 2nd, 1913, when he again began to keep a regul

lavatsky was not a reincarnation of the woman with the issue of blood familiar to readers of the gospels. it is astonishing and distressing to notice how the lanoo, no the equinox 4 matter what happens to him, soaring aloft like the phang, and sailing gloriously through innumerable gates of high initiation, nevertheless keeps his original point of view, like a bourbon. he is always getting rid of illusions, but, like the entourage of the cardinal lord archbishop of rheims after he cursed the thief, nobody seems one penny the worse.or the better. probably the best way to take the whole treatise is to assume that it is written for the absolute tyro, with a good deal between the lines for the more advanced mystic. this will excuse, to the mahatma-snob, a good deal of apparent triviality and c

owever, the disease of the age is intellectualism, this lesson is well to teach. numerous sermons on this point wili be found in many of the writings of frater perdurabo. 11. the seeds of wisdom cannot sprout and grow in airless space. to live and reap experience the mind needs breadth and depth and points to draw it towards the diamond soul. seek not those points in m y .s realm; but soar beyond illusions, search the eternal and the changeless sat, mistrusting fancy.s false suggestions. compare what is said in book 4, part ii, about the sword. in the last part of the verse the adjuration is somewhat the two paths 39 obvious, and it must be remembered that with progress the realm of maya constantly expands as that of sat diminishes. in orthodox buddhism this process continues indefinitely

the adjuration is somewhat the two paths 39 obvious, and it must be remembered that with progress the realm of maya constantly expands as that of sat diminishes. in orthodox buddhism this process continues indefinitely. there is also the resolution sat= asat. 12. for mind is like a mirror; it gathers dust while it reflects. it needs the gentle breezes of soul-wisdom to brush away the dust of our illusions. seek, o beginner, to blend thy mind and soul. the charge is to eliminate rubbish from the mind, and teaches that soul-wisdom is the selective agent. but these fragments will be most shamefully misinterpreted if a trace of sentimentality is allowed to creep in .soul-wisdom. does not mean .piety. and .nobility. and similar conceptions, which only flourish where truth is permanently lost

CASE PAUL F THE BOOK OF TOKENS

"the gate" is the letter daleth, and "the right hand" is the letter yod. this paragraph of the meditation is merely a development, letter by letter, of some of the implicits of the letter-name tzaddi, tz d i. the number of the letter-name tzaddi is 104, and the addition of the digits of this number is 5, the number of the letter heh, which means "a window. the vision of reality which corrects the illusions of outer appearance results from the turning the eye of the soul within. compare this passage with the whole meditation on the letter heh. 4 this paragraph refers to the 28th path of wisdom which joins the sephirah netzach to the sephirah yesod. this path is called the "natural intelligence, and it is associated, through the letter tzaddi, with the function of meditation. at the time the

COSIMANO CHARLES ELEMENTARY PSIONICS

station, or at least that's what everyone in smallville thinks because it was pretty easy to fool the people of smallville. they never could imagine what clark kent would look like without his glasses. anyway, what luthor was really doing was operating a mind control instrument that put the stuff from his mind through a radio transmitter and then it got silly with the people of smallville having illusions and blaming superboy for it. ok, let's forget the stupid part, which is probably why i never really bothered much with the story, but at that time i had the machine to create a psionic instrument on the lines of the luthor device. christmas of 1962 and i received a radio receiver/transmitter that had a working range to about the back yard with the antenna length provided. looking back at

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

of the yucatan in mexico were the chanes or "people of the serpent. they were led by the god itzamna, a name that apparently comes from the word itzem, which translates as lizard or reptile. the sacred city of itzamna, therefore, means "the place of the lizard" or "iguana house. what cathy o'brien reports there is an excellent summary of what has happened, except for the part about holograms and illusions. what she saw was not a reptilian hologram, but what is known as "shape-shifting. if anything it is the "human" form of these people that is a holographic "cover. shape-shifting is the ability to change physical form, in this case between a human and reptilian appearance. the ancient danaan brotherhood of initiates and magicians called telchines on the island of rhodes could shape-shift

on infinity where everything just is and we all just are. there are no names for infinite knowledge. it encompasses all that is, and once we succumb to an "ism" we disconnect from all that is. but then that's the idea, the whole point for religion in the first place- slamming the door on human consciousness. even those who claim to have rejected conventional religion continue to be caught in its illusions. in the new age, which does not believe in the christian view, the myth of jesus goes on. the son of god of christianity has become the new age "sananda, their name for "jesus. to them he is a spiritual master channelling wisdom from another dimension and, in other versions, he was an initiate of the essene community in biblical israel. others who reject the official interpretations of t

from her womb later. another interesting memory he had was that when he was on the table in that first abduction, his body had looked the same as the "aliens".4 walden felt that this was another-dimension of him, which inhabited his human form. he believed from his experiences that the "aliens" could transcend time, transform matter, manipulate human thought and behaviour, and create "distracting illusions to satisfy the needs of our simple human minds" he concluded that they could move between dimensions and that they were less "extraterrestrial" and more "interdimensional. i thoroughly agree. their ability to change their vibrational state would explain how they can appear and disappear (leave our frequency range, and how they can walk through walls. they can move through dense matter in

me. if anyone is still in doubt that the legends of the "fairy" people and the "extraterrestrial" accounts of today are describing the same entities, michael mott summarises here the common attributes of the underground peoples of global folklore "they are mostly reptilian or reptilian humanoids or "fair" and nordic; they are telepathic with superior mental powers; they can shape-shift and create illusions; they want to interbreed with humans and need human blood, flesh, and reproductive materials; they have advanced technology; they have the secret of immortality; they can fly, either by themselves or with their technology; they mostly have a malevolent agenda for humans; they cannot survive for long in direct sunlight; they have been banished from the surface world or are in hiding from

on the news and in our lives every day. the reptilian brain the more you understand about the reptilian mind the easier it is to see the anunnaki-illuminati at work in our society across the centuries. they have distinct character traits and they are seeking to make humans the same. these reptilian characteristics and their connection to the human brain are fundamental to the perpetuation of the illusions i call the matrix. for those who, understandably, find even the idea of a reptilian race to be unimaginable, never mind the shape-shifting, i repeat the words of cosmologist carl sagan "there are more potential combinations of dna [physical forms] than there are atoms in the universe" far from it being impossible for such a race to emerge, it would be more surprising if it had not. studi

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

and so many others like her i326have spoken with or read about, say that part of their torture programming took place atdisneyland in california and disneyworld in florida. the opening of the disney park nearparis has given the opportunity for similar programming for mind-slaves in europe. thedisney company is a major brotherhood operation and its films and theme parks areperfect for creating the illusions that confuse the mind of the multiple. satanic rituals go onhere and trauma-based programming when the parks are closed, cathy says. children aretargeted for kidnapping here and the ones they want get lost in the crowds. one obviousexample of a childrens story full of mind-programming symbolism is the mgm epic, thewizard of oz. the word oz is short for osiris, another theme of the progra

d and her husband, peter, amathematician at the university of pennsylvania, who have both been accused by theirdaughter, jennifer, of abusing her as a child. branches of the false memory syndromefoundation have appeared in other countries, including the uk, and, as a result, manyjournalists have written deeply destructive articles dismissing the memories of mindcontrol and ritual abuse victims as illusions. the fmsf claim that the victims of abuseare suffering from false memories and are not remembering what really happened. ofcourse this can happen, but the false memory syndrome foundation is not satisfiedwith some. it wants all of them to be dismissed in this way, which is utter nonsense. ithas hounded responsible therapists, accusing them of putting the memories into theirclients minds

nergy sucking rituals, also. the vampire stories put the truth before our eyes in a waythat we think is only fiction. this is something the brotherhood loves to do via its biggestvehicle for communication, hollywood, a name which comes from the holly bush, theholly (holy) wood of the druid magicians. hollywood is called a place of magic. exactlywhat it is. its playing with our minds, manipulating illusions.there are so many similarities between the kennedy assassination, the ritual killingof a sun king, and that of diana, princess of wales, in what i am convinced to havebeen a ritual murder of the moon goddess known to the ancients as diana. it wasplanned that kennedy would die on that spot at that time long before he becamepresident and so, i believe, diana was groomed for at least many y

DONALDTYSON MIRACLES

caused by god. they make a distinction between the wondrous effects produced by magicians, and the wondrous effects produced by devout believers, saints, and angels. the trouble is, these events are often indistinguishable. to account for this similarity, christian scholars assert that the changes wrought by god are true and enduring changes, whereas the changes worked by magicians are temporary illusions. hence in christian folklore you read of the glamours of witches, who can make a man believe that his penis has fallen off, or that he has transformed into a beast such as a swine or a donkey, even though these things have not actually taken place. you encounter tales of magicians such as faust who could transform for a time bits of twigs and stones into the semblance of gold and silver

EMPERORS NEW RELIGION CHURCH OF SATAN

ence pointing in another direction has an even lesser effect on the person if it is religion or val- most religions are speculative in that they make hypotheses that invariably fail the falsification principle. by definition, they are usually scams because they fail to deliver what they promise. they do, however, deliver other products such as social networks, emotional gratification, comfortable illusions, etc, meaning that their followers do get something that they pay for just not what was promised. the emperor s new religion copyright 2002 ole wolf page 25 of 30 ues that are questioned. the very key principles behind critical thinking, which is required to acknowledge the fundamental flaws in the church of satan s ideology, are antithetical to religious sentiments or personal values. a

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

perceptions appears quarterly from its publishing offices at p.o. box 830, memphis, tn 38485. white buffalo-eagle wing, inc, has an internet presence at http//www.eaglewingbooks.com. white eagle books also publishes a line of psychological counseling texts. alphitomancy encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 34 sources: alternate perceptions. memphis, tenn, n.d. little, greg l. grand illusions: the spectral reality underlying sexual ufo abductions, crashed saucers, afterlife experiences, sacred ancient sites, and other enigmas. memphis, tenn: white eagle books, 1984. people of the web: what indian mounds, ancient rituals and stone circles tell us about modern ufo abductions, apparitions, and the near.death experience. memphis, tenn: white eagle books, 1990. alternative medicin

ence. london: stuart& watkins, 1955. eisler, robert. the royal art of astrology. london: herbert joseph, 1946. gauquelin, michel. the cosmic clocks. chicago: henry regnery, 1967. encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. astrology 109. cosmic influences on human behavior: the planetary factors in personality. new york: stein& day, 1973. rev. ed. new york: asi publishers, 1978. dreams and illusions of astrology. buffalo, n.y: prometheus books, 1978. reprint, london: glover& blair, 1980. scientific basis of astrology. new york: stein& day, 1969. reprinted as astrology and science. london: p. davies, 1970. hone, margaret. modern textbook of astrology. london: fowler, 1951. howe, ellic. astrology& psychological warfare during world war ii. london: rider, 1972. kenton, warren. astrolog

the world to do, and then do it. bach does not ascribe his inspired story to any psychic entity, in spite of the strange way it was manifested, but believes that part of his personality on an unconscious level was communicating with his everyday self. however, he has also had several psychic experiences, including out-of-the-body travel and healing. his later books include a gift of wings (1974; illusions: the adventures of a reluctant messiah (1977; there s no such place as far away (1979; one (1988; running from safety: an adventure of the spirit (1995; and out of my mind: the discovery of saunders- vixen (1999. sources: bach, richard. illusions: the adventures of a reluctant messiah. new york: delacorte press, 1977. jonathan livingston seagull. new york: macmillan, 1970. one: a novel

rom it. for herself, moore discovered a balance between the use of her rational thinking abilities when appropriate and her intuitive self at other suitable moments. the channeling activity itself seemed to bring a sense of peace, gratitude, and love. the first volume of selected materials from the channeling sessions with bartholomew was published in 1984 as i come as a brother: a remembrance of illusions. as many people became aware of bartholomew, moore attained some celebrity status within the new age community. moore soon produced a second volume, from the heart of a gentle brother (1987. bartholomew argues for the importance of relating to a higher reality. he calls upon people to turn within and discover the place of knowingness inside the self, assures people that they are not alon

lso emphasizes a life of harmlessness. the shift of people and of society as a whole to a higher level of consciousness is dependent upon the acceptance of a life of harmlessness and a move away from thoughts, words, and actions that lead to harm of others. sources: moore, mary-margaret. from the heart of a gentle brother. taos, n. mex: high mesa press, 1987. i come as a brother: a remembrance of illusions. taos, n. mex: high mesa publishing, 1984. bartlett, john allen (1861.1933) retired english marine officer and songwriter who was the psychic medium of part of the glastonbury scripts, in which indications were given regarding the site and characteristics of the long-lost edgar and loretto chapels of the abbey at glastonbury. bartlett was a friend of frederick bligh bond s, with whom the

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

al for the production of any known public tests or phenomena not mentioned in this, our latest list. you are aware that our effects are being used by nearly all prominent mediums. of the entire world. this infamous catalog included equipment for fake slatewriting, self-playing guitars, self-rapping tables, materializations, and a complete spiritualistic seance. marriott obtained a number of these illusions and had himself photographed posing with them. marriott also successfully exposed fake spirit photographs, obliging that champion of spiritualism, sir arthur conan doyle, to state ruefully: mr. marriott has clearly proved one point, which is that a trained conjurer can, under the close inspection of three pairs of critical eyes, put a false image upon a plate. we must unreservedly admit

death was first applied. the dancing mania, accompanied by aberration of mind and maniacal distortions of the body, was prevalent in germany in the fourteenth century, and in the sixteenth century in italy, where it was termed tarantism and was ascribed to the bite of the tarantula spider. the music and songs employed for the cure are still preserved. edmund parish, in his book hallucinations and illusions (1897, summarizes the activity of the dancers: if not reckoned as true chorea, the epidemic of dancing which raged in germany and the netherlands in the middle ages comes under this head. appearing in aix it spread in a few months to liege, utrecht and the neighbouring towns, visited metz, cologne and strasburg (1418) and after lingering into the sixteenth century gradually died out. thi

arly days, she professed to have been controlled by the spirit john king. she first specialized in precipitated writing, independent drawing, and supernormal duplication of letters and other things (among them a $1,000 banknote in the presence of olcott and the hon. j. l. sullivan. reportedly, the duplicate mysteriously dissolved in a drawer. olcott was convinced that blavatsky could produce such illusions by hypnotic suggestion. blavatsky once disappeared from his presence in a closed room and appeared again a short time afterward from nowhere. this admission called into question olcott s observations and records and his testifying in good faith to the appearance of mahatmas and to the souvenirs they left behind. in 1878, olcott and blavatsky sailed for bombay with a brief stop in london

ysical body is often accompanied by violent loud repercussion effects. sometimes the transition to ouspensky, p(eter) d(emianovitch) encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. 1160 and from the physical body appears to be assisted by deliverers or spirit helpers, or even obstructed by hinderers. projection may be preceded by a cataleptic condition of the body in which there are hypnogogic illusions. because of the close association of dreaming and hallucinatory images, many people have dismissed claimed obes as illusory or merely dreams. one controlled experiment in astral projection was undertaken by the medium eileen j. garrett in 1934, when a test was set up between observers dr. muhl in new york and dr. d. svenson in reykjavik, iceland. reportedly, garrett projected her astral

or and uncovered his methods of producing phenomena by fraud, and in 1910 he cooperated with everard feilding and w. marriott in sittings with the famous medium eusapia palladino in naples. he reported on these sittings in proceedings of the spr (vol. 25, pp. 57.69. he took a special interest in the question of whether competent researchers, qualified to detect fraud, might still be influenced by illusions induced by seance room conditions. he also contributed to the spr proceedings and journal on such topics as extrasensory perception and the medium d. d. home. he also reviewed for the journal those continental journals devoted to psychical research. he was honorary secretary for russia for the society for many years. in view of his eminent services, the society conferred honorary members

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

n for his gentle, kind manner was something of a channeling superstar; his messages of comfort and self-love we re taken to heart. he addressed a wide range of subjects, from sex and aids to prayer and ego surre n d e r. be f o re his popularity waned, he was the subject of two books by mo o re. see also: channeling further reading moore, mary-margaret, 1984. i come as a brother: a remembrance of illusions. taos, nm: high mesa press, 1987. from the heart of a gentle brother. taos, nm: high mesa press. bashar after two close encounters with large, triangle- shaped ufos over the course of one week in 1973, californian darryl anka the brother of singer and composer paul anka began reading ufo literature in search of answers. through his reading about ufos, he b 39 was led to paranormal subjec

FELDMAN DANIEL QABALAH THE MYSTICAL HERITAGE OF THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

fire, wood returns to its source in the liver and metal to its source in the lungs, whereby heaven and earth revert to their original positions and the tree returns to the before-the-world sequence i.e. the tree becomes perfect.2 4 4- 0' all types of mystical yogic practices address one of the two faces of the not (al, or both. vast face yoga is impersonal in nature and views all name and form as illusions projected by, and in, mind. it uses the process of discrimination between the real and the illusory to renounce all experiences and changes in consciousness through all planes of existence, until individuated consciousness dissolves and merges in the undifferentiated ground of pure being i.e. ayn(]ya. small face yoga, the yoga of devotion and selfless service, is personal in nature and r

FOCUS OF LIFE

yond good and evil: and is pure in this wisdom of sound sleep. will to pleasure is the basic function underlying all activity whether conscious or not- and whatsoever the means. denial of this self-love is disease-the cause of homicide; the sufferings of part-sexualities and small things germinating. knowledge of necessities is desirous:-deliberation is but a sorry disatisfaction-a first cause of illusions, harnessing man to a mass of half-realized desires. remember! o ikkah, these present ideas of consciousness obtaining in senses and bodies, are transitory-are destined for usage and other predeterminations-and unnecessary to wakefulness. will is transition; the painful process of transmigration-the labour of birth of death. volition to supersede a thing is inability to realize the living

place" then i fought the devil and behold,-i became alone! what happened? i, in my miserable plight, not even my teeth left-how could i have conquered the devil? did i become a succubus? perhaps-i became the devil? but this i know-i did will pleasure. and from this day shall smile into all men's faces "tzula" then aaos awoke and murmured "belief and desire are the great duality which engender all illusions that entangle the senses [i.e. sexuality] and prevent free will. what is all accidental suffering but reaction from dead loves now become diableries. how much are we sensible of body? yet the composition of the body is its relationship between consciousness and all creation. without doubt i am now an-undertaker" the death of tzula in his sleep aaos one day met his sister tzula and learne

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

ed, the former briefly (mersenne's main attacks on bruno come in other books, the latter in long passages.5 in short mersenne's vast genesis commentary contains within its covers penetrating critical analyses of almost every aspect of the way of thinking which we have been studying in this book. the life-blood of the renaissance magus drains away under this onslaught; his most cherished theories, illusions, and delusions are turning into so much useless lumber in the cold clear light of the new age. but we have not yet mentioned the chief game which mersenne is hunting. the dead and gone hermetist-cabalists were not so 1 lenoble, op. cit, pp. 153 ff. 2 ibid, p. 103. 3 m. mersenne, observationes et emendationes ad francisci giorgi problemata, paris, 1623. 4 mersenne, quaest. in gen, cols. 7

FULLER J F C SECRET WISDOM OF THE QABALAH

the primordial cause, or no-thing, but as it were the thought of this cause. ghe constituted in the first place a point of light, which became the divine thought. h 21 our consciousness is the mirror which catches the rays of this thought; there-fore all thoughts are images of god's thought, and the more spiritual, alive, our consciousness becomes, the more perfect are these images, which are not illusions but symbols of reality. simon ben yohai stretched out his hands and cried: secret wisdom of the qabalah page 15 now ponder well upon all that i have this day revealed unto you! and know that none of these celestial palaces are light, nor are they spirits, nor are they souls, nor are they any form that may be seized hold of by any of the senses. know that the palaces are thoughts-seen thr

ve and active in nature- the so-called good and the evil. as to the qabalist the mediating agent is the will, so to the zoroastrian the great magical agent is in actual fact no other than lucifer- the vehicle of light. to pythagoras, god was absolute truth clothed in light, all things emerged from the tetrad, and the mediator was number manifested by form. to him material forms were but images or illusions of real forms, and this was the view also taken by aristotle and plato. to the second of these philosophers ggod, intending to make a visible world, first formed an intelligible one; that so having an incorporeal secret wisdom of the qabalah page 21 and most god-like pattern before him, he might make the corporeal world agreeable to it h. xenophon says: gthe supreme god holds himself inv

submit to union with the active principle in yhvh. from this dual marriage between man and divinity will emanate the child, or messiah, a complete integration of man in god and of god in man. as through the divine fall the divinity became manifest in adam qadmon, accordingly must man emulate him and through his own transfiguration destroy the material form of consciousness, so that the mirror of illusions may dissolve. thus will divinity be redeemed by the destruction of the divine image and the ineffable shin will be reabsorbed into the body of tetragrammaton. man must suffer for god- just as in christian theology, which in so many ways inverts hebrew theology, christ must suffer for man, so that god may become the perfect one. thus the crucifixion of mankind is the necessary consequent

firm with all the frenzy of religious faith that the world is standing upon its head. as he knows (three-dimensionally) that the world should stand on its feet, and as he believes (four-dimensionally) that this reversion is necessary to salvation, he will in actual fact turn the world upside down in order to attain his end. to him in his higher wisdom virtue and vice are equivalents, for both are illusions when compared to reality; therefore, according to his nature, he desires to establish reality in the three-dimensional world, and if by nature he is vicious he will attempt to transmute good into evil, and, if virtuous, evil into good. in both cases he will be attempting the impossible. should he, however, have equilibrated the good and evil qualities of his three-dimensional nature befo

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

as some would tell us, truth has dissipated as time has moved away from the first point of creation. accordingly, like a stone thrown in a pool, we see the ripples through time but do not comprehend the first event. as we have moved further and further away from the "golden age" the ripples have become more and more distorted until now, in the age of the wolf they have dissipated into the pool of illusions. religions, ideologies and movements are hence exoteric. exoteric- of philosophical doctrines, treatises, modes of speech, etc: designed for or suitable to the generality of disciples; communicated to outsiders, intelligible to the public. hence of disciples, etc. belonging to the outer circle; not admitted to the esoteric teaching. oxford english dictionary esotericism (the inner teachi

GRAHAM HANCOCK FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

to use one thing to depict another. thus an apparently human ear on an apparently human face might turn out to be a bird s wing. likewise an ornate crown might be composed of alternate fishes and condors heads, an eyebrow a bird s neck and head, the toe of a slipper an animal s head, and so on. members of the elephant family formed out of condors heads, therefore, need not necessarily be optical illusions; on the contrary, such inventive composites would be perfectly in keeping with the overall artistic character of the frieze. among the riot of stylized animal figures carved into the gateway of the sun were a number of other extinct species as well. i knew from my research that one of these had been convincingly identified by several observers as toxodon22 a three-toed amphibious mammal

nsidered to occupy a space of 30 along the ecliptic. the dot is the sun. the inner of the two concentric circles is the earth s orbit. we know that the earth travels on this orbit in an anticlockwise direction, from the west towards the east, and that every twenty-four hours it also makes one complete rotation around its own axis (again from the west towards the east. from these two movements two illusions result: 1 each day as the planet turns from west to east, the sun (which is of course a fixed point) appears to move across the sky from east to west. 2 roughly every thirty days, as the spinning earth journeys along its orbital path around the sun, the sun itself slowly appears to pass through one after another of the twelve zodiacal constellations (which are also fixed points, and agai

he old kingdom, thames& hudson, london, 1988, p. 25. 21 ibid, p. 57. the relevant artefacts are in the cairo museum. graham hancock fingerprints of the gods 323 into its murky depths where the dim electric lighting of the chamber seemed hardly to penetrate and saw specks of dust swirling in a golden cloud. it was just a trick of light and shadow, of course, but the king s chamber was full of such illusions. i remembered that napoleon bonaparte had paused to spend a night alone here during his conquest of egypt in the late eighteenth century. the next morning he had emerged pale and shaken, having experienced something which had profoundly disturbed him but about which he never afterwards spoke.22 had he tried to sleep in the sarcophagus? acting on impulse, i climbed into the granite coffer

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

one need only have read two or three of them: everywhere an unaccouutable uniformity of procedure, always the same result. at first the accused denies; tortured^ she confesses what all those doomed before her have confessed, and without delay she is condemned and hurnt (inciaerata, as the malleus expresses it. this agreement in depositions of imaginary facts is to be explained by the traditional illusions that filled the popular fancy. i will here attempt to summarize ah the essential points (see suppl^ zeitschr. f. gesch. rechtsw. 12, 126, would limit the penal fire of the sachsensp. to cases where the spiritual court hands the sinner over, as impenitent, to the 1 little can be gleaned from a tractatus de phitonico contractu fratris thomae murner, friburgi brisg. 1499. murner tells how i

H SPENCER LEWIS ROSICRUCIAN MANUAL AMORC 1990

or arcane schools, in which the rosicrucian organization had its birth. time.the duration of consciousness or the period that consciousness requires to be aware of the material things of life. time is not a material element of the universe; it does not have an external reality. the objective consciousness and the inner or subconscious of man have a different sense of "duration. time and space are illusions of the objective mind.but not illusions to be denied, for they are essential. transcendentalism.concept of the realm beyond the awareness of the objective senses.[204] transition.this term is generally used to indicate the condition called death in modern times, but since there is no death in natural law, any more than there is in the spiritual or so-called supernatural, the term is not

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

l it is finally reabsorbed in its turn, humanity will at last be cursed no longer with artificial polarizations, but will find itself bathing in the pure colorless sunlight of eternal truth. and this will be theosophia. q. your claim is, then, that all the great religions are derived from theosophy, and that it is by assimilating it that the world will be finally saved from the curse of its great illusions and errors? a. precisely so. and we add that our theosophical society is the humble seed which, if watered and left to live, will finally produce the tree of knowledge of good and evil which is grafted on the tree of life eternal. for it is only by studying the various great religions and philosophies of humanity, by comparing them dispassionately and with an unbiased mind, that men can

sts find the cause of dreams and visions in an unconscious preparation for them during the waking hours, why cannot the same be admitted for the postmortem dreams? i repeat it: death is sleep. after death, before the spiritual eyes of the soul, begins a performance according to a program learnt and very often unconsciously composed by ourselves: the practical carrying out of correct beliefs or of illusions which have been created by ourselves. the methodist will be methodist, the muslim a muslim, at least for some time-in a perfect fool's paradise of each man's creation and making. these are the postmortem fruits of the tree of life. naturally, our belief or unbelief in the fact of conscious immortality is unable to influence the unconditioned reality of the fact itself, once that it exist

ou are sure to reply again "this is a mystery; and we are forbidden to pry into the mysteries of god" not being forbidden to do so by our religious philosophy, i answer your question that, unless a god descends as an avatara, no divine principle can be otherwise than cramped and paralyzed by turbulent, animal matter. heterogeneity will always have the upper hand over homogeneity, on this plane of illusions, and the nearer an essence is to its root-principle, primordial homogeneity, the more difficult it is for the latter to assert itself on earth. spiritual and divine powers lie dormant in every human being; and the wider the sweep of his spiritual vision the mightier will be the god within him. but as few men can feel that god, and since, as an average rule, deity is always bound and limi

ent. for, remember well, no man has ever reached adeptship in the secret sciences in one life; but many incarnations are necessary for it after the formation of a conscious purpose and the beginning of the needful training. many may be the men and women in the very midst of our society who have begun this uphill work toward illumination several incarnations ago, and who yet, owing to the personal illusions of the present life, are either ignorant of the fact, or on the road to losing every chance in this existence of progressing any farther. they feel an irresistible attraction toward occultism and the higher life, and yet are too personal and self-opinionated, too much in love with the deceptive allurements of mundane life and the world's ephemeral pleasures, to give them up; and so lose

f the present attempt, in the form of our society, succeeds better than its predecessors have done, then it will be in existence as an organized, living, and healthy body when the time comes for the effort of the twentieth century. the general condition of men's minds and hearts will have been improved and purified by the spread of its teachings, and, as i have said, their prejudices and dogmatic illusions will have been, to some extent at least, removed. not only so, but besides a large and accessible literature ready to men's hands, the next impulse will find a numerous and united body of people ready to welcome the new torch-bearer of truth. he will find the minds of men prepared for his message, a language ready for him in which to clothe the new truths he brings, an organization await

HP LOVECRAFT A DARK LORE

it is hard to explain just how a single sight of a tangible object with measurable dimensions could so shake and change a man; and we may only say that there is about certain outlines and entities a power of symbolism and suggestion which acts frightfully on a sensitive thinker's perspective and whispers terrible hints of obscure cosmic relationships and unnameable realities behind the protective illusions of common vision. in that second look willett saw such an outline or entity, for during the next few instants he was undoubtedly as stark raving mad as any inmate of dr. waite's private hospital. he dropped the electric torch from a hand drained of muscular power or nervous co rdination, nor heeded the sound of crunching teeth which told of its fate at the bottom of the pit. he screamed

o keep a careful record of the outr dreams which crowded upon me so thickly and vividly. such a record, i argued, was of genuine value as a psychological document. the glimpses still seemed damnably like memories, though i fought off this impression with a goodly measure of success. in writing, i treated the phantasmata as things seen; but at all other times i brushed them aside like any gossamer illusions of the night. i had never mentioned such matters in common conversation; though reports of them, filtering out as such things will, had aroused sundry rumors regarding my mental health. it is amusing to reflect that these rumors were confined wholly to laymen, without a single champion among physicians or psychologists. of my visions after 1914 i will here mention only a few, since fulle

s if there were regular lines of composite impressions- impressions that went in threes, each slightly over a foot square, and consisting of five nearly circular three-inch prints, one in advance of the other four. these possible lines of foot-square impressions appeared to lead in two directions, as if something had gone somewhere and returned. they were, of course, very faint, and may have been illusions or accidents; but there was an element of dim, fumbling terror about the way i thought they ran. for at one end of them was the heap of cases which must have clattered down not long before, while at the other end was the ominous trap-door with the cool, damp wind, yawning unguarded down to abysses past imagination. viii that my strange sense of compulsion was deep and overwhelming is she

dy ever believe him, but the natives did not like him to drink and talk with strangers; and it was not always safe to be seen questioning him. it was probably from him that some of the wildest popular whispers and delusions were derived. several non-native residents had reported monstrous glimpses from time to time, but between old zadok's tales and the malformed inhabitants it was no wonder such illusions were current. none of the non-natives ever stayed out late at night, there being a widespread impression that it was not wise to do so. besides, the streets were loathsomely dark. as for business- the abundance of fish was certainly almost uncanny, but the natives were taking less and less advantage of it. moreover, prices were falling and competition was growing. of course the town's re

HP LOVECRAFT THE CATS OF ULTHAR

could understand; though indeed the villagers did not try very hard to understand, since their attention was mostly taken up by the sky and the odd shapes the clouds were assuming. it was very peculiar, but as the little boy uttered his petition there seemed to form overhead the shadowy, nebulous figures of exotic things; of hybrid creatures crowned with horn-flanked disks. nature is full of such illusions to impress the imaginative. that night the wanderers left ulthar, and were never seen again. and the householders were troubled when they noticed that in all the village there was not a cat to be found. from each hearth the familiar cat had vanished; cats large and small, black, grey, striped, yellow and white. old kranon, the burgomaster, swore that the dark folk had taken the cats away

HP LOVECRAFT THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH

dy ever believe him, but the natives did not like him to drink and talk with strangers; and it was not always safe to be seen questioning him. it was probably from him that some of the wildest popular whispers and delusions were derived. several non-native residents had reported monstrous glimpses from time to time, but between old zadok's tales and the malformed inhabitants it was no wonder such illusions were current none of the non-natives ever stayed out late at night, there being a widespread impression that it was not wise to do so. besides, the streets were loathsomely dark. as for business- the abundance of fish was certainly almost uncanny, but the natives were taking less and less advantage of it. moreover, prices were falling and competition was growing. of course the town's rea

IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY

r of legends grew up around his name which hid his real merit, and transformed the man p. 53 of science into a magician. in the border country traditions of his magical power are common. boccaccio alludes to "a great master in necromancy, called michael scot" while dante places him in the eighth circle of hell. the next, who is so slender in the ranks, was michael scot, who of a verity of magical illusions knew the game" 1 another man to whom magical powers were attributed solely on account of his learning was gerald, the fourth earl of desmond, 2 styled the poet, who died rather mysteriously in 1398. the four masters in their annals describe him as "a nobleman of wonderful bounty, mirth, cheerfulness of conversation, charitable in his deeds, easy of access, a witty and ingenious composer

ISIS UNVEILED

ion 116. dofmt tt ritntl, etc^ loc dt. digitizecoy google popes. bishof& and priests as sobcebebs 57 which the tenerable spiritualiatic writer, mr. howitt, thinks "was the origin of the celebrated thunder of the vatican' the magical achievements of the bishop of ratisbon, and those of the 'angelic doctor' thomas aquinas, are too well known to need repeti- tion; but we may explain further how the 'illusions' of the former were produced. if the catholic bbhop was so clever in making people believe on a bitter winter night that they were enjoying the delights of a splendid summer day, and in causing the icicles hanging from the boughs of the trees in the garden to seem like so many tropical fruits, the hindtl magicians also practise such psychological powers unto this very day, and claim the

stian priest now anathematizes the latter with rites and ceremonies which he has learned from the theurgists themselves. the mosaic bim is used as a weapon against the people who furnished it. the heathen philosopher is cursed under the very roof which has witnessed his initiation; and the "monkey of god (t. e, the devil of tertullian "the origioator and founder of magical theurgy, the science of illusions and hes, whose father and author is the demon" is exorcized with holy water by the hand which holds the identical liiuiu* with which the ancient augur, after a solemn prayer, used to determine the regions of heaven, and evoke, in the name of the highest, the minor god (now termed the devil, who unveiled to his eyes futurity, and enabled him to prophesy! on the part of the christians and

JASMUHEEN THE FOOD OF GODS

ns allowing our bio-systems to operate as divine transmission stations, to hold and radiate the violet light and in doing so, be transformed as well. yes it is true that people nourished purely by the violet light gain access to amazing levels of both creativity and stamina making us push, and stretch, and grow, and expand, and move forward in ways that defy imagination. it s as we become free of illusions of grandeur and are filled with a knowing that things are simultaneously perfect yet can also be tuned in a slightly different way to deliver outcomes that are actually good for us all. these are insights that have fed many for so long. perhaps the only point of creation of life on earth at this time is the experience that comes when we develop our more compassionate levels of emotional

JESSUP MK THE CASE FOR THE UFO

nd of navigable contraptions in the sky, and some have sworn it under oath. in a day when oaths were just as good as money -in- hand for if incorrect your neck suffered "the miracle"1 from the church as a knife from the outraged who took your oath. 1 undecipherable: could be nracle or nrack. 12 i cannot agree with any astronomer who insists that all of these things are mirages, planets, clouds or illusions. the majority of the people are articulate enough to tell their stories, and sincere enough to make depositions before notaries public. even scientists concede that these folk saw something. i see nothing particularly odd in strange descriptions of phenomena the like of which has no earthly counterpart or for which we have no frame of reference. if he does not, then he knows the l-m's. t

inst the bright disc only in that one location. great arks advance home ship bringing news& orders for preparation of its arrival. all this leads up to a showdown on the intra-mercurial planet question. since it has been shown by c.h. f. peters and others that there is no intra-mercurial planet, then what are these things? although c.h.f. peters tried to belittle the sightings of all observers as illusions or fraud, we have difficulty in rejecting the statement of experienced observers like staudacher of nuremberg, who saw, in february 1762, a round black spot on the sun. he missed it the next day, and such was its appearance and movement that he thought it may have been a new planet. on november 19, 1762, observer lichtenberg saw with his unaided eye, a very large, round spot one-twelfth

K AMBER THE BASICS OF MAGICK

ditions, it is possible to clairvoyantly observe a colored light around other people. this is known as the 'aura. sometimes the aura is seen as multi-colored emanations around the person, built up of various differently colored layers and zones. although many occult dabblers claim to be able to see the aura easily and under many varied conditions, i seriously doubt that they do. there are optical illusions and qualities of sight which can sometimes trick one into thinking he sees what he does not see. in this area, the quality of sight known as after image is especially pertinent. do this: stare at any solidly colored bright object for a few moments. very intense red, green, or blue are especially good for this. now look away at a white surface and you will see a phantom image of the objec

KETAB E SIYAH

plot malice against those more faithful as i am and you too shall be, for you are wise. these base and most malicious goblins do conspire to work mischief upon the wits of we who serve most dutifully, the almighty and eternal. with strange glamours do they work deceits and puzzle the senses of the unwary, working false visions upon those hapless spirits that it does please them to so harass. with illusions and dreams and untrue portents they do make it seem that certain things are real whilst, in truth, such things never were and other things that were most concrete fade away like a dream or fancy. thus, by their malign art, these base elves do contrive to make uncertain what is most true and give the faithful cause for doubt. thus it does seem to me that is most wise that you have been af

meditation and introspection to the artists and authors of human sensitivity. and man came not only to use his satanic power but to recognize the extent of the freedom which it promised him- the subjugation of all behavior to his will and not to natural or mechanical laws. 460 to man came fantasy and imagination, and the appreciation of contrasts between the reality of his accomplishments and the illusions of the impossibilities as circumscribed by the logic of god. and ever as man reached new heights of material achievement, so also he confronted the barrier of the will of god, which permitted no deviation from its law. and man was long satisfied to measure himself within this limit, for he was intoxicated by his ability to harness the forces of the cosmos to his whim. but astaroth said

LAITMAN M BASIC CONCEPTS IN KABBALAH

use its conclusions are completely unreliable. while researching the spiritual worlds, we discover that our perceptions are merely a will from above that wants us to feel as if we are a separately existing entity, and not a part of the creator. the entire surrounding world is actually the result of the influence of spiritual forces on us. this is why the surrounding world is considered a world of illusions. let me explain what i mean with an allegory: once upon a time there lived a coachman. he had a pair of horses, a house, and a family. suddenly, he had a wave of bad luck: his horses died and so did his wife and children, and his house collapsed. soon enough the coachman died of grief. at the celestial court, it was discussed what could be given to such a tormented soul. finally, it was

d entirely on experimental control; that is, it is subject to empirical testing! when a kabbalist has risen to the spiritual level of the studied object, he or she acquires its qualities and thereby has full insight. t h e m e t h o d o f p e r c e p t i o n i n k a b b a l a h 21 this person can practically operate various forms of matter, even before they manifest in matter, as if observing our illusions from aside! just as with any other teaching, kabbalah uses certain terminology and symbols to describe objects and actions: a spiritual force, a world, or a sefira is called by the name of the worldly object it controls. since every material object or force corresponds to the spiritual object or force that controls it, an utterly precise conformity is created between the name taken from

LAITMAN M FROM CHAOS TO HARMONY

distance instantaneously. today, physics acknowledges that there is a constant reciprocal connection among particles, even when separated by space and time. this phenomenon pertains to all structures in the universe, from the smallest to the greatest. thus, today science is discovering that everything is inherent in the genes and the influence of the environment; it is helping us wake up from our illusions that i determine and control, and i examine and decide. this unlocks a real opportunity to discover true freedom. we can come out from our slavery to our egos and acquire the quality of altruism by creating an environment that will help us imitate nature, just as children learn from grownups. the greatest researchers have always known that, as we become wiser, we discover the wondrous wi

LAITMAN M THE PATH OF KABBALAH

ok deep into our thoughts, we will discover that it is all done for one purpose only: to please ourselves and only ourselves, and anything else is self-deceit. when we begin to study kabbalah, we begin to see how the system works, how everyone is a total egoist and thinks of no one but oneself, not even one s own children. at that point, you discover that your entire system of thought is built on illusions, and you think that you can actually do something for someone else. it is only possible to give something to another if you receive something in return, if there is a profit for you. this is nothing to be ashamed of, it is our nature. we either receive for the purpose of enjoying, or give in order to gain something by it. it is no one s fault. the only thing that we should want is to cha

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

/www.cix.co.uk/ mandrake/ogdos.htm pact with the devil it is a most certain and most catholic opinion that there are sorcerers and witches who by the help of the devil, on account of a compact which they have entered into with him, are able, since god allows this, to produce real and actual evils and harm, which does not render it unlikely that they can also bring about visionary and phantastical illusions by some extraordinary and peculiar means. malleus maleficarum the idea that one may enter into a formal contract with the devil or a demon in exchange for certain favors is a familiar item of folklore. in both its medieval and modern versions, one agrees to sell one s soul to satan (i.e, one voluntarily agrees to be damned) if one can have whatever it is that one wishes. these favors can

LIBER LXI

ium, giveth life. 2. in all systems of religion is to be found a system of initiation, which may be defined as the process by which a man comes to learn that unknown crown. 3. though none can communicate either the knowledge or the power to achieve this, which we may call the great work, it is yet possible for initiates to guide others. 4. every man must overcome his own obstacles, expose his own illusions. yet others may assist him to do both, and they may enable him altogether to avoid many of the false paths, leading no whither, which tempt the weary feet of the uninitiated pilgrim. they can further insure that he is duly tried and tested, for there are many who think themselves to be masters who have not even begun to tread the way of service that leads thereto. 5. now the great work i

LIBER 777

raining wild beasts. 20 invisibility, parthenogenesis, initiation. 21 power of acquiring political and other ascendency. li 22 works of justice and equilibrium. 23 the great work, talismans, crystal-gazing& c. tui 24 necromancy. 25 transmutations[[vision of universal peacock. 26 the witches sabbath so-called, the evil eye. 27 works of wrath and vengeance kbn 28 astrology. 29 bewitchments, casting illusions. 30 the red tincture, power of acquiring wealth li and khien 31 evocation, pyromancy kbn 32 works of malediction and death khbn 32 bis alchemy, geomancy, making of pantacles[[travels on the astral plane] kbn 31 bis invisibility, transformations, vision of the genius. table i (continued) 15 xlvii. kings and princes of the jinn. xlviii. figures related to pure number. xlix* lineal figures

LIBER ALEPH

he relations of thy body with its syndromics in the world whereof it is a part. wouldst thou lengthen the life of thy body? then accommodate thou the conditions of thy body to its environment by giving it light, air, food, and exercise as its nature requireth. so also, mutatis mutandis, do thou cherish the health of thy mind. m liber aleph vel cxi 62 bi de relatione illusionum (of the relation of illusions) f this will i speak further with thee, for here behold a great rock of ignorance on the one hand, and on the other a whirlpool of error; in this strait are many wrecks of magick ships. knowest thou not that riddle of old, whether it be lawful to pay tribute to caesar or no? give therefore to the body the things of the body, and to the mind the things of the mind. yet because of the inte

vision of science hou shalt marvel constantly with joy unfathomable at the mystery of the laws whereby the universe is upheld. this is that which is written: true wisdom and perfect happiness. o my son, it is in this contemplation that one hath the reward of the oath; it is by this that the tribulations are rolled away as a stone from thy tomb; it is with this that thou art wholly freed from the illusions of distinctions, being absorbed into the body of our lady nuith. may she grant thee this beatitude; yea, not to thee only, but to all that are. n the book of wisdom or folly 139 eq de inferno servorum (of the hell of the slaves) ow, o my son, having understood the heaven that is within thee, according to thy will, learn this concerning the hell of the slaves of the slave- gods, that it i

LIBER ASTARTE

start e vel liber berylli 10 less and hideous to thee, and blaspheme shalt thou against thy deity and curse him. and this mattereth little, for it is not thou, so be that thou adhere to the letter of thine obligation. for thy spiritual sight is closed, and to trust it is to be led unto the precipice, and hurled therefrom. 29. further of this matter. now also subtler than all these terrors are the illusions of success. for one instant.s self-satisfaction or expansion of the spirit, especially in this state of dryness, and thou art lost. for thou mayst attain to the false union with the demon himself. beware also of even the pride which rises from having resisted the temptations. but so many and so subtle are the wiles of choronzon that the whole world could not contain their enumeration. th

LIBER CLXV A MASTER OF THE TEMPLE

hem their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereon they set their minds. in that day shall thy mouth be opened. and thou shalt speak. and thou shalt be a sign unto them, and they shall know that i am the lord. amen. the equinox 156 a last note: truth must ever be one. whatever i expected, i found not. but why should i grieve because of having exposed some of my illusions? i have held to the truth, and the truth remains, for the truth is ever one, yea, the truth is ever one. amen. section v january 1st, 1913, to december 31st, 1913 we must now pass on to fra v.i.o. s diary for the year 1913, e.v. i can find no written records of the period between october 13th, 1912, when he finished the retirement, and march 2nd, 1913, when he again began to keep a regul

LIBER DCCCLX JOHN ST

the philosophers! an ixion bound to the wheel of destiny and of the samsara, unable to reach the centre, where is rest. he must add to the entry 1.13 that the .telephone-cross. voices came as he composed himself to sleep, in the will to adonai. this time he detached a body of cavalry to chase them to oblivion. perhaps an unwise division of his forces; yet he was so justly indignant at the eternal illusions that he may be excused. excused! to whom? thou must succeed or fail! o batsman, with thy frail fortress of three-in-one, the umpire cries .out; and thou explainest to thy friends in the pavilion. but thy friends have heard that story before, and thy explanation will not appear in the score. mr. j. st. john, b. maya, 0, they will read in the local newspaper. there is no getting away from

kumbhakha .tis very hard to stick to it. i find myself, at the end of above sentence, automatically crawling into bed. no, john! 10.14. have been trying to extract some sense from that extraordinary treatise on mysticism, konx om pax. another failure, but an excusable one. i will now beseech adonai as best i may to give me back my lost powers. for i am no more even a magician! so lost am i in the illusions that i have made in the search for adonai, that i am become the vilest of them all! 10.27. a strange and unpleasant experience. my thought suddenly transmuted itself into a muscular cry, so that my legs gave a violent jerk. this i expect is at bottom the explanation of the bhuchari-siddhi. a very bad form of uncontrolled thought. i was on the edge of sleep; it woke me. the fact is, all i

LIBER LVII

th cannot understand unity at all. if he thinks of it, it is only to hate it, as the one thing which he is most certainly not (see liber 418, 10th athyr. i may remark in passing that this book is the best known to me on advanced qabalah, and of course it is only intelligible to advanced students. this atheist, not in-being but in-passing, is a very apt subject for initiation. he has done with the illusions of dogma. from a knight of the royal mystery65 he has risen to understand with the members of the sovereign sanctuary66 that all is symbolic; all, if you will, the jugglery of the magician. he is tired of theories and systems of theology and all such toys; and being weary and anhungered and athirst seeks a seat at the table of adepts, and a portion of the bread of spiritual experience, a

LIBER LXI VEL CAUSAE

rium, giveth life. 2. in all systems of religion is to be found a system of initiation, which may be defined as the process whereby a man comes to learn that unknown crown. 3. though none can communicate either the knowledge or the power to achieve this, which we may call the great work, it is yet possible for initiates to guide others. 4. every man must overcome his own obstacles, expose his own illusions. yet others may assist him to do both, and they may enable him altogether to avoid many of the false paths, leading no whither, which tempt the weary feet of the uninitiated pilgrim. they can further insure that he is duly tried and tested, for there are many who think themselves to be master who have not even begun to tread the way of service that leads thereto. 5. now the great work is

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

aitist theories..a.c. 62 the sword of song told, that by akasa is mean the chitakasa. the chitakasa is situated in the .third eye. i.e, in the brain. by assuming higher dimensions of space, we can assimilate this face to realism; but we have no need to take so much trouble. this being true for the ordinary universe, that all sense-impressions are dependent on changes in the brain* we must include illusions, which are after all sense-impressions as much as .realities. are, in the class of .phenomena dependent on brain-changes. magical phenomna, however, come under a special sub-class, since they are willed, and their cause is the series of .real. phenomena called the operations of ceremonial magic. these consist of (1) sight. the circle, square, triangle, vessels, lamps, robes, implements

is the cause for this truly remarkable change. that is exactly where the theory rears to heaven its stoutest bastion! there is not, and could not be, any cause. had 00 been extended in causality, no change could have taken place.2 here then, are we, finite beings in a finite universe, time, space, and causality themselves finite (inconceivable as it may seem) with our individuality, and all the .illusions. of the advaitists, just as real as they practically are to our normal consciousness. as schopenhauer, following buddha, points out, suffering is a necessary condition of this existence.3 the war of the contending forces as they grind themselves down to the final resultant must cause endless agony. we may one day be able to transform the categories of emotion as certainly and easily as w

LIBER SAMEKH

ality is repugnant to reason. the adept must be ready for the utter destruction of his point-of-view on any subject, and even that of his innate conception of the forms and laws of thought* thus, he may find that his angel considers his gbusiness h or his glove h to be absurd trifles; also that human ideas of gtime h are invalid, and human glaws h of logic applicable only to the relations between illusions. now, the angel will make contact with the adept at any point that is sensitive to his influence. such a point will naturally be one that is salient in the adept fs character, and also one that is, in the proper sense of the word, pure. thus an artist, attuned to appreciate plastic beauty, is likely to receive a visual impression of his angel in a physical form which* of course, even fal

LINDOW JOHN NORSE MYTHOLOGY A GUIDE TO THE GODS HEROES RITUALS AND BELIEFS

y to the north. again he goes through saxony, but this time he stops in odinsey (modern odense on the danish island of fyn) and sends gefjon to look for land. the story of her plowing up land from gylfi and the quotation of the gefjon stanza by bragi boddason the old are also in gylfaginning, although again the narrative details are slightly different. godin and gylfi contested much in tricks and illusions, and the asir always were the more powerful, h snorri writes, in an apparent allusion to the euhemeristic frame of gylfaginning. odin settled at sigtunir, and, as in the prologue to snorri fs edda, he established other asir in their dwelling places. chapters 6 and 7 focus on odin fs characteristics and comprise a significant description of him. to his friends he appeared fair of countena

, according to snorri. the frame story that he uses in the first sections of skaldskaparmal begins with this introduction of agir: a man was named agir or hler; he lived on that island which is now called hler fs island [modern lasso in denmark. he had much magic knowledge. he made his way to asgard, but the asir knew of his journey in advance. he was well received, but many things were done with illusions. the similarities to gylfaginning are remarkable, and they are only extended when bragi, who is seated next to agir, begins to tell agir stories: the mythic narratives in skaldskaparmal, beginning with the thjazi-idun-skadi complex. agir asks questions after hearing this cycle, and more myths follow. the dialogue between agir the questioner and bragi the narrator continues for many pages

LOGOMACHY OF ZOS

ecome endless and few understand themselves or each other. whatever you assert of the gods is more true of yourself. all ways to heaven lead to flesh. our re-orientation and ascent from earth must start here: nothing is obtained except by desire and our only medium is flesh. mouth and hand. in the midst of reality we strive for unreality, hence i teach the equal reality of all things, man and his illusions. flesh of dreams c there is a lamentable display of the nonartists shadow-fighting their fears; automata actuated by their own committed untruths seeking their fulfilment. truth is everywhere, there is nothing untrue anywhere; it may appear so, because we cannot accurately relate it. i behold multiplicity in all things and myself as the inter-relating oneness, for whatsoever else i' 2' 9

unrelatable. if i cannot relate to god, am i more than the fetishmaker? and can you say this is ungodly if all things are god? for all things being god and his will, he also determines the will of man and is also sentenced to this prison of the body. again the same crapulence of godliness! thank god we are not a conception from what is conceived as god. things are bad enough. poverty fosters more illusions than wealth, hence the poor are the imaginative ones. results are delayed. sometimes till the third and fourth generation. be enthralled by what you observe, and later critical of what you deduce. unless one is hypersensitive to things there is no significant response. why do we exist? our chief function is to live fully, however near the negations. what difficulties we make of this life

etting. at best, a narrow selecting. there are more who would escape life than retain it. g r@ d..1 pjk( x. m e( 8\ 5: v 6..1 e. o e earth must begin and return here. nothing is obtained except by desire, and our only medium is flesh: appetent mouth and grasping hand. in the midst of reality we strive, and unreality is our accomplishment. hence i teach the equal reality of all things. man and his illusions. dreams shall flesh. some day. there is a. d* d/ t 2( o( n -fighting their fears: automata actuated by their committed untruths, seeking release from self-created illusions. to be repressed by others. our greatest evil? finally to uninhibit and express ourselves is usually a greater curse. he who places his pleasure in one thing has little to please him and a certainty of dissatisfaction

g ourselves until we find ourselves. whether god made us or is within us, we are not yet a reflector. in whole or in part. of god. no syllogisms or revelations prove anything except our own signature and that we are like a work evolving and completing, of one great artistry. now plus our own bloody vandalism! if the outer world is not a delusion then our concepts therefrom certainly give birth to illusions, and we are as vaulted catacombs inhabited by strange phantoms that wait to suck that energy to resurrect, to live, by a memory of that time when we made flesh from dreams. there is no greater mystery than man because of his imperfections, his great love of falsity, his great hatred of his self. ego, with all its varying degrees of consciousness, is our light in the darkness of the unsee

ptions of it, remains a mystery: our concern is making our own form of