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resource, and to depend upon his own originality to attack each new problem that presents itself. This principle
may be extended to all departments of the education of children. They should be put into contact with all kinds of
truth, and allowed to make their own reflections thereon and reactions thereto, without the least attempt to bias
their judgment. Magical pupils should be trained on similar lines. They should be made to work alone from the
first, to cover the whole ground impartially, to devise their own experiments and draw their own conclusions.
In Magick and meditation this principle applies with tremendous force. It is quite useless to teach people how
to perform magical operations, when it may be that such operations, when they have learned to do them, are
not in accordance with their wills. What must be done is to drill the Aspirant in the hard routine of the
elements of the Royal Art.
So far as mysticism is concerned, the technique is extremely simple, and has been very simply described in
Part I of this Book 4. It cannot be said too strongly that any amount of mystical success whatever is no
compensation for slackness with regard to the technique. There may come a time when Samadhi itself is no
part of the business of the mystic. But the character developed by the original training remains an asset. In
other words, the person who has made himself a first-class brain capable of elasticity is competent to attack any
problem soever, when he who has merely specialized has got into a groove, and can no longer adapt and adjust
himself to new conditions.
The principle is quite universal. You do not train a violinist to play the Beethoven Concerto; you train him to
play every conceivable consecution of notes with perfect ease, and you keep him at the most monotonous
drill possible for years and years before you allow him to go on the platform. You make of him an instrument
perfectly able to adjust itself to any musical problem that may be set before him. This technique of Yoga is the
most important detail of all our work. The MASTER THERION has been himself somewhat to blame in
representing this technique as of value simply because it leads to the great rewards, such as Samadhi. He would
have been wiser to base His teaching solely on the ground of evolution. But probably He thought of the
words of the poet:
You dangle a carrot in front of her nose,
And she goes wherever the carrot goes.
For, after all, one cannot explain the necessity of the study of Latin either to imbecile children or to stupid
educationalists; for, not having learned Latin, they have not developed the brains to learn anything.
The Hindus, understanding these difficulties, have taken the God-Almighty attitude about the matter. If you
go to a Hindu teacher, he treats you as less than an earthworm. You have to do this, and you have to do that,
and you are not allowed to know why you are doing it.
This does not conflict with the go-as-you-please plan put forward in the previous note. An autocratic Adept is
indeed a blessing to the disciple, not because he is able to guide the pupil aright in the particular path which
happens to suit his personality, but because he can compel the beginner to grind away at the weariest work and thus
acquire all-round ability, and prevent him from picking out the plums which please him from the Pie of Knowledge,
and making himself sick of a surfeit of sweets to the neglect of a balanced diet of wholesome nourishment.
After years of experience in teaching, The MASTER THERION is not altogether convinced that this is not
the right attitude. When people begin to argue about things instead of doing them, they become absolutely
impossible. Their minds begin to work about it and about, and they come out by the same door as in they
went. They remain brutish, voluble, and uncomprehending.
The technique of Magick is just as important as that of mysticism, but here we have a very much more
difficult problem, because the original unit of Magick, the Body of Light, is already something unfamiliar to
the ordinary person. Nevertheless, this body must be developed and trained with exactly the same rigid
discipline as the brain in the case of mysticism. The essence of the technique of Magick is the development of
the body of Light, which must be extended to include all members of the organism, and indeed of the cosmos.
The most important drill practices are:
1. The fortification of the Body of Light by the constant use of rituals, by the assumption of god-forms, and by
the right use of the Eucharist.
2. The purification and consecration and exaltation of that Body by the use of rituals of invocation.
3. The education of that Body by experience. It must learn to travel on every plane; to break down every
obstacle which may confront it. This experience must be as systematic and regular as possible; for it is of no use
merely to travel to the spheres of Jupiter and Venus, or even to explore the 30 Aethyrs, neglecting unattractive
meridians.
The Aspirant should remember that he is a Microcosm. Universus sum et Nihil universi a me alienum puto
should be his motto. He should make it his daily practice to travel on the Astral Plane, taking in turn each of the
most synthetic sections, the Sephiroth and the Paths. These being thoroughly understood, and an Angel in each
pledged to guard or to guide him at need, he should start on a new series of expeditions to explore the subordinate
sections of each. He may then practice Rising on the Planes from these spheres, one after the other in rotation.
When he is thoroughly conversant with the various methods of meeting unexpected emergencies, he may proceed
to investigate the regions of the Qliphoth and the Demonic Forces. It should be his aim to obtain a comprehensive
knowledge of the entire Astral Plane, with impartial love of truth for its own sake; just as a child learns the
geography of the whole planet, though he may have no intention of ever leaving his native land.
The object is to possess a Body which is capable of doing easily any particular task that may lie before it. There
must be no selection of special experience which appeals to one s immediate desire. One must go steadily
through all possible pylons.
FRATER PERDRABO was very unfortunate in not having magical teachers to explain these things to
Him. He was rather encouraged in unsystematic working. Very fortunate, on the other hand, was He to have
found a Guru who instructed Him in the proper principles of the technique of Yoga, and He, having sufficient
sense to recognize the universal application of those principles, was able to some extent to repair His original
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