Dogma and Ritual of High Magic Part II - Eliphas Levi 1896

Warning to The Imprudent

The operations of science are not devoid of danger, as we have stated several times. They may end in madness for those who are not established firmly on the basis of supreme, absolute and infallible reason. Terrible and incurable diseases can be occasioned by excessive nervous excitement. Swoons and death itself, as a consequence of cerebral congestion, may result from imagination when it is impressed and terrified unduly. We cannot sufficiently dissuade nervous persons, and those who are naturally disposed to exaltation, women, young people and all who are not habituated in perfect self-control and command of fear. In the same way, there can be nothing more dangerous than to make Magic a pastime, or, as some do, part of an evening's entertainment. Even magnetic experiments, performed under such conditions, can only exhaust the subjects, mislead opinions and defeat science. The mysteries of life and death cannot be made sport of with impunity, and things which are to be taken seriously must be treated not only seriously but also with the greatest reserve. Never yield to the desire of convincing others by phenomena. The most astounding would prove nothing to those who are not convinced already. They can be attributed always to ordinary artifices and the Magus included among the more or less skilful followers of Robert Houdin or Hamilton. To require prodigies as a warrant for believing in science is to show one's self unworthy or incapable of science. SANCTA SANCTIS. Contemplate the twelfth figure of the Tarot-Keys, remember the grand symbol of Prometheus, and be silent. All those Magi who divulged their works died violently, and many were driven to suicide, like Cardan, Schroepffer, Cagliostro, and others. The Magus should live in retirement and be approached with difficulty. Here is the import of the ninth Key of the Tarot, where the initiate appears as a hermit enveloped completely in his cloak. This notwithstanding, such retirement must not be one of isolation; attachments and friendships are necessary; but they must be chosen with care and preserved at all price. The Magus must have also another avocation than that of magician. Magic is not a trade.

In order to devote ourselves to Ceremonial Magic, we must be free from anxious preoccupations; we must be in position to procure all instruments of the science and be able to make them when needed; we must possess, moreover, an inaccessible laboratory, in which there will be no danger of being ever surprised or disturbed. Then, and this is an indispensable condition, we must know how to equilibrate forces and restrain the zeal of our own initiative. This is the meaning of the eighth Key of Hermes, wherein a woman is seated between two Pillars, with an upright sword in one hand and a balance in the other. To equilibrate forces they must be maintained simultaneously and caused to act alternately: the use of the balance represents this double action. The same arcanum is typified by the dual cross in the Pantacles of Pythagoras and Ezekiel: see the plate which appears at chapter 18 in the “Doctrine”, where the crosses equilibrate each other and the planetary signs are in permanent opposition. Thus Venus is the equilibrium of the works of Mars; Mercury moderates and fulfils the operations of the Sun and Moon. Saturn balances Jupiter. It was by means of this antagonism between the ancient gods that Prometheus, that is to say, the genius of science, contrived to enter Olympus and carry off fire from heaven. Is it necessary to speak more clearly? The milder and calmer you are, the more effective will be your anger; the more energetic you are, the more valuable will be your forbearance; the more skilful you are, the better will you profit by your intelligence and even by your virtues; the more indifferent you are, the more easily will you make yourself loved. This is a matter of experience in the moral order, and is realized literally in the sphere of action. Human passions produce blindly the opposites of their unbridled desire, when they act without direction. Excessive love arouses antipathy; blind hate counteracts and scourges itself; vanity leads to abasement and the most cruel humiliations. Thus, the Great Master revealed a mystery of positive magical science when He said: “Forgive your enemies, do good to those that hate you; so shall ye heap coals of fire upon their heads.” Perhaps this kind of pardon may seem hypocrisy and bear a strong likeness to refined vengeance. But we must remember that the Magus is sovereign, and a sovereign never avenges, because he has the right to punish; in the exercise of this right he performs his duty and is implacable as justice. Let it be observed, for the rest, so that no one may misinterpret my meaning, that it is a question of chastising evil by good and opposing mildness to violence. If the exercise of virtue be a flagellation for vice, no one has the right to demand that the latter should be spared, or that we should take pity on its shame and its sufferings.

The man who dedicates himself to works of science must take moderate daily exercise, abstain from prolonged vigils, and follow a wholesome and regular rule of life. He must avoid the effluvia of putrefaction, the neighborhood of stagnant water and indigestible or impure food. Above all, he must seek daily relaxation from magical preoccupations amongst material cares, or in ordinary work, whether artistic, industrial or commercial. The way to see well is not to be always looking; and he who spends his whole life upon one object will end without attaining it. Another precaution must be observed equally, and that is never to experiment when ill.

The ceremonies being, as we have said, artificial methods for creating a habit of will, become unnecessary when the habit is confirmed. It is in this sense, and addressing himself solely to perfect adepts, that Paracelsus proscribes ceremonial work in his Occult Philosophy. But procedure must be simplified progressively before it is dispensed with altogether, in proportion to the experience we obtain in acquired powers, and established habit in the exercise of extranatural will.