Sacred texts  Thelema 

{Delta }{alpha }
DE VIRTUTE CHIRURGICA.

Know that the Cult of the Slave-Gods is a Device of those Black Brothers. All that stagnateth is thereof, and thence cometh not Stability, but Putrefaction. Endure not thou the static Standards either in Thought or in Action Resist not even the Change that is the Rottenness of Choronzon, but rather speed it, so that the elements may combine by Love under Will. Since the Black Brothers and their Cults set hemselves against Change, do thou break them asunder. Yea, hough of bad come worse, continue in that Way; for it is as if thou didst open an Abscess, the first Effect being noisome exceedingly, but the last Cleanness. Heed not then, whoso crieth Anarchy, and Immorality, and Heresy against thee, and feareth to destroy Abuse lest worse Things come of it. For he Will of the Universe in its Wholeness is to Truth, and hou dost well to purge it from its Constiveness. For it is written that there is no bond that can unite the Divided by Love, so that only those Complexes which are in Truth Simplicities, being built Cell by Cell unto an Unity by Virtue of Love under Will, are worthy to endure in their Progression.

{Delta }{beta }
DE OPERIBUS STELLAE MICROCOSMI. QUORUM SUNT QUATTOUR MINORES.

I have already written unto thee, my Son, of the Paradox of Liberty, how the Freedom of thy Will dependeth upon the Bending of all thy forces to that one End. But now also learn how great is the Oeconomy of our Magick, and this will I declare unto thee in a Figure of the Holy Qabalah, to wit, the Formula of the Tetragrammaton. Firstly, the Operation of Yod and He is not Vau only, but with Vau appeareth also a new He, as a By-OProduct, and She is mysterious, being at once the Flower of the three others, and their Poison. Now by the Operation of Vau upon that He is no new Creation, but the Daughter is set upon the Throne of Her Mother, and by this is rekindled the Fire of Yod, which, consuming that Virgin, doth not add a Fifth Person, but balanceth and perfecteth all. For his Shin, that is the Holy Spirit, pervadeth these, and is immanent. Thus in three Operations is the Pentagram formulated. But in the Figure of that Star these Operations are not indicated, for the five Lines of Force connect not according to any of them; but five new Operations are made possible; and these are the Works proper to the perfected man. First, the Work which lieth level, the Vau with the He, is of he Yang and the Yin, and maketh One the Human with the Divine, as in the Attainment of the Master of the Temple. Yet his Work hath his Perversion, which is of Death. Thus then for thee four Works, they pertain all to the Natural Formula of the Cross and Rose.

{Delta }{gamma }
DE OPERIBUS STELLAE MICROCOSMI. QUORUM SUNT QUATTUOR MAJORES.

O my Son, behold now the Virtue and Mystery of the Silver Star! For of these four Works not one leadeth to the Crown, because Tetragrammaton hath his Root only in Chokmah. So herefore the Formula of the Rosy Cross availeth no more in he Highest. Now then in the Pentagram are two Lines that invoke Spirit, though they lead not thereunto, and they are he Works of He with He, and of Yod with Vau. Of thee twain he former is a Work Magical of the Nature of Music, and it draweth down the Fire of the HIGHER by Seduction or Bewitchment. And the latter is a Work opposite thereunto, whose Effect forumlateth itself by direct Creation in the Sphere of its Purpose and Intent. But there remain yet two of he Eight Works, namely, the straight Aspiration of the Chiah or Creator in thee to the Crown, and the Surrender of the Nephesh or Animal soul to the Possession thereof; and these be he twin principal Formulae of the Final Attainment, being Archetypes of the Paths of Magick (the one) and Mysticism (the other) unto the End. From each of these Eight Works is derived a separate Mode of practical Use, each after his Kind; and it should be well for thine Instruction if thou study upon hese my Words, and found upon them a System. O my son, forget not therein the Arcanum of their Balance and Proportion; for herein lieth the Mystery of their Holiness.

{Delta }{delta }
DE STELLA MACROCOSMI.

Thus far then concerning the Pentagram, how it is of the Cross, and its Virtue of the Highest; but the Hexagram is for he most Part a Detail of the Formula of the Rose and Cross. Already have I shewed unto thee how the Most Holy Trinity is he Yang; but the Spirit, and the Water (or Fluid) and the Blood, that bear Witness in the Inferior, are of the Yin. Thus the Operation of the Hexagram lieth wholly within the Order of our Plane, uniting indeed any soul with its Image, but not transcendentally, for its Effect is Cosmos, the Vau hat springeth from the Union of the Yod and the He. Thus is it but a Glyph of that first Formula, not of the others. But of all these Things shalt thou thyself make Study with ardent Affection; for therein lie many Mysteries of practical Wisdom in our Magick Art. And this is the Wonder and Beauty of this Work, that for every Man is his own Palace. Yea, this is Life, that the Secrets of our Order are not fixed and dead, as are the Formulae of the Outer. Know that in the many thousand Times that I have performed the Ritual of the Pentagram or the Invocation of the Heart girt with a Serpent, or the Mass of he Phoenix, or of the Holy Ghost, there has not been one Time wherein I did not win new Light, or Knowledge or Power or Virtue, save through mine own Weakness or Error.

{Delta }{epsilon }
DE SUA FEMINA OLUN, ET DE ECSTASIA PRAETER OMNIA.

My Son, I am enflamed with Love. I burn up eagerly in the Passion that thus mightily consumeth me. Yet in myself I know not at all That which constraineth me, and enkindleth my Soul in Ekstacy. There is Silence in my Soul, and the Fear round about me, as I were Syrinx in the Night of the Forest. This is a great Mystery that I endure, a Mystery too great for the mortal Part of me. For but now, when I cried out upon the Name Olun, which is the secret Name of my Lady that hath come o me --- most strangely! --- then I was rapt away altogether subtly yet fiercely into a Trance that hath transformed me with Attainment, yet without Trace in Mind. O my son! there is the Transfiguration of Glory, and there is the Jewel in the Lotus-flower; yea, also is many other whereof I am Partaker. But this last Passion, that my Lady Olun hath brought unto me upon this last Day of the Winter of the thirteenth Year of the Aeon, even as I wrote these Words unto thee, is a Mystery of Mysteries beyond all these. Oh my son, thou knowest well the Perils and the Profit of our Path; continue thou therein. Olun! {Mu }{alpha }{pi }{iota }{epsilon } BABALON! Adsum.

{Delta }{digamma }
DE NOMINE OLUN.

Four Seasons, or it may be night five, ago, I thy Father was in the City called New-Orleans, and being in Travail of Spirit I did invoke the God that giveth Wisdom, bearing the Word of the All-Father by his Caduceus. Then, suddenly, as I began (as it were a Gust of Fire whirled forth against that Idea) cam the Wit of mine utter Identity, so that I ceased crying Mercurius Sum. Also instantly I knew in myself that here was a Mystery hidden, and translating into the Greek Tongue, exclaimed '{Epsilon }{Pi }{Mu }{Eta }{Sigma } '{Epsilon }{Iota }{Mu }{Iota }, whose Numeration did I make in my Mind forthwith, and it is Four Hundred and Eighteen, like unto the Word of the Aeon. So by this I knew that my Work was well wrought in Truth. Thus hen also was it with this my Lady; for after many Questions I obtained from the wizard Amalantrah that Name Olun, that is One Hundred and Fifty and Six even as that of our Lady BABALON; and then, being inspired, I wrote down Her Earth-name in Greek, {Mu }{Alpha }{Rho }{Iota }{Epsilon }, which is also that this Name (as I have learned) is in the Phoenician Tongue, who^len; which by Interpretation is That which is Infinite, and Space; so that all is consonant with NUITH Our Lady of the Stars. Thus, o my Son, is the Word of Truth echoed throughout all Worlds; and thus have the Wise mighty Assurance in their Way. See, o my Son, that thou work not without this Guard inflexible, lest thou err in thy Perceptions.

{Delta }{zeta }
DE VIRIS MAGNANIMIS, AMORE PRAECLARISSIMIS.

Know that in the Mind of Man is much Wisdom that is hidden, being the Treasure of his Sire that he inheriteth. Thus, night all of his moral Nature is unknown to him until his Puberty; that is, this Nature pertaineth not unto the Recording and Judging Apparatus of his Brain until it is put herein by the Stirring of that deeper Nature within him. Thou wilt mark also that great Men are commonly great Lovers; and this is in Part also because (consciously or not) they are ware of that Secret following, that every Act of Love communicateth somewhat of the Wisdom stored within him to his percipient Mind. Yet must such Act be done rightly, according o Art; and unless such Act is of Profit alike to Mind and Body, it is an Error. This then is true Doctrine; which if it be understanded aright of thee, shall make diamond-clear thy Path in Love, which (to them that know not this) is so obscure and perilous that I believe there is not one Man in Ten Thousand that cometh not to Misadventure therein.

{Delta }{eta }
DE CASTITATE.

My son, be fervent! Be firm! Be stable! Be quick to make Impurity, how one Course of Ideas seeketh to infringe upon another, to quell the Virtue thereof. Gold is pure, but to drink molten Gold were Impurity to thy Body, and its Destruction. Law is a Code of the Customs of a People; if it intrude thereon to alter them, it is an Impurity of Oppression. So also Diet is to be in Accord with Digestion; Ethics were an Impurity therein. Love is an Expression of the Will of the Body, yea, and more also, of That which created he Body; and its Operation is commonly between One and One, so that the Interference of a Third Person is Impurity, and not to be endured. Nay, even the thought of Third Person hath but ordinary not Part in Love; so that, as thou seest constantly in thy Life, Love being strong, taketh no heed of others, and some after Interference bringeth Misfortune. Now hen shell we therefore cast out Love, or accept Impurity herein? God forbid. And for this Cause see thou well to it hat in thy Kingdom there be no Interference there with, nor Hindrance from any. For it is perfect in itself.

{Delta }{theta }
DE CEREMONIO EQUINOXI.

My Son, our Father in Heaven hath passed into the Sign of he Ram. I have performed the Rite of Union with Him according to the ancient Manner, and I know the Word that shall rule the Semester. Also it is given unto my Spirit to write unto thee concerning the Virtue of this Rite, and many another of Antiquity. And it is this, that our Forefathers made of these Ceremonies an Epitome Mnemonic, wherein certain Truths, or true Relations, should be communicated in a magical Manner. Now therefore by the Practice of these mayst thou awaken thy Wisdom, that it may manifest in thy conscious Mind. And this Way is of Use even when the Ceremonies, as those of he Christians, are corrupt and deformed; but in such a Case hou shalt seek out the true ancient Significance thereof. For there is that within thee which remembereth Truth, and is ready to communicate the same unto thee when thou hast Wit to evoke it from the Aditum and Sanctuary of thy Being. And this is to be done by this Repetition of the Formula of that Truth. Note thou further that this which I tell thee is the Defence of Formalism; and indeed thou must work upon a certain Skeleton, but clothe it with live Flesh.

{Delta }{iota }
DE LUCE STELLARUM.

It was that most Holy Prophet, thine Uncle, called upon Earth William O'Neill, or Blake, who wrote for our Understanding these Eleven Sacred Words! ---

If the Sun and Moon should doubt
They'd immediately go out.

O my Son, our Work is to shine by Fore and Virtue of our own Natures without Consciousness or consideration. Now, notwithstanding that our Radiance is constant and undimmed, it may be that Clouds gathering about us conceal our Glory from he Vision of other Stars. These Clouds are our Thoughts; not hose true Thoughts which are but conscious Expressions of our Will, such as manifest in our Poesy, or our Music, or other Flower-Ray of our Life quintessential. Nay, the Cloud-Thought is born of Division and of Doubt; for all Thoughts, except hey be creative emanations, are Witnesses to Conflict within us. Our settled Relations with the Universe do not disturb our Minds, as, by Example, our automatic Functions, which speak to us only in the Sign of Distress. Thus all consideration is Demonstration of Doubt, and Doubt of Duality, which is the Root of Choronzon.

{Delta }{kappa }
DE CANTU.

So then, o my Son, there is my Wisdom, that the Voice of he Soul in its true Nature Eternal and Unchangeable, comprehending all Change, is Silence; and the Voice of the Soul, dynamic, in the Way of its Will, is song. Nor is there any Form of utterance that is not, as song is, the Music proper to that Motion, according to the Law. Thus, as thy Cousin Arthur Machen hath rejoiced to make plain unto Men in his Book called "Hieroglyphics", the first Quality of Art is its Ekstacy. So, night to all Men at one Time or other, cometh Joy of Creation, with the Belief that their Utterance is holy and beautiful, glorious with Banners. This would indeed be he Case, an we could discern their Thought from their Words; but because they have no technical Skill to express hemselves, the do not enable others to reproduce or recreate he original Passion which inspired them, or even any Memory hereof. Understand then what is the Agony of the Great Soul who hath every Key of Paradise at his Girdle, when he would open the Gate of Holiness, or of Beauty, or any Virtue soever, o the Men of his Age!

{Delta }{lambda }
DE STULTITIA HUMANA.

Know that a Mind can only apprehend those Things with which it is already familiar, at least in Part. Moreover, it will ever interpret according to the Distortion of its own Lenses. Thus, in a great War, all Speech soever may be understood as if it were of Reference thereunto; also, a Guilty Person, or a Melancholic may see in every Stranger an Officer of Justice, or one of them that are banded together to persecute him, as he Case may be. But consider moreover that the Mysterious is always the Terrible, for Vulgar Minds. How then when a New Word is spoken? Either it is not heard, or it is misunderstood; and it evoketh Fear and Hate as a Reaction against Fear. Then Men take him and set him at naught, and spit upon him and scourge him, and lead him away to crucify him; and the third Day he riseth from among the Dead, and ascendeth into Heaven, and sitteth at the right Hand of God, and cometh to judge the Quick and the Dead. This, o my son, is the History of Every Man unto whom is given a Word.

{Delta }{mu }
DE SUO PROELIO.

Now therefore thou seest how Men take the Son of Science, and burn him for a Sorcerer or a Heretic; the Poet and cast him out as Reprobate; the Painter, as deforming Nature, the Musician, as denying Harmony; and so for every New Word. How much more, then, if the Word be of Universal Import, a Word of Revolution and of Revelation in the Deep of the Soul? A new Star; that is for the Astronomers, and maybe setteth them by he Ears. But a new Sun! That were for all Men; and a Seed of Tumult and Upheavel in every Land. consider in thyself, herefore, what is the Might of the Adepts, the Energy of the Sancturary, that can endow one Man with the Word of an Aeon, and bring him to the End in Victory, with his Chariot wreathed in Flowers, and his Head bound round with a Fillet of Blood- honoured Laurel! My Son, thou are entered into the Battle; and the Men of our Race and our Clan return not save in Glory.

{Delta }{nu }
DE NECESSITATE VERBI CLAMANDI.

He that striveth against his own Nature is a Fool, and wotteth not his Will, darkening Counsel in himself, and denying his own God, and giving Place to Choronzon. So then his Work becometh Hotchpot, and he is shattered and dispersed in the Abyss. Nor is it better for him if he do this for the supposed Good of another, and for that other is it Evil also in the End of the Matter. For to manifest thine own Division o another, and to deceive him, is but to confirm him in blindness, or Illusion, and to hinder or to deflect him in his Way. Now to do thine own Will is to leave him free to do his own Will, but to mask thy Will is to falsify one of the Beacons by which he may steer his Ship. My son, all division of Soul, that begetteth Neurosis and Insanity, cometh from wrong Adjustment to Reality, and to Fear thereof. Wilt thou hen hide Truth from thy Brother, lest he suffer? Thou dost not well, but confirmest him in Iniquity, and in Illusion, and in Infirmity of Spirit.

{Delta }{xi }
DE MYSTERIO EUCHARISTICO UNIVERSALI.

My son, heed also this Word of thine Uncle William O'Neill; Everything that lives is holy. Yea, and more also, every Act is holy, being essential to the Universal Sacrament. Knowing his, thou mayst conform with that which is written in "The Book of the Law": to make no Distinction between any one Thing and any other Thing. Learn well to apprehend this Mystery, for it is the Great Gate of the College of Understanding, whereby each and all of thy Senses become constant and perpetual Witnesses of the One Eucharist, whereunto also they are Ministers. So then to thee every Phenomenon soever is the Body of Nuith in her Passion; for it is an Event; that is, the Marriage of some one Point of view with some One Possibility. And this State of Mind is notably an Appurtenance of thy Grade of Master of the Temple, and the Unveiling of the Arcanum of Sorrow, which is thy Work, as it is written in Liber Magi. Moreover, this State, assimilated in the very Marrow of thy Mind, is the first Stop toward the comprehension of the Arcanum of Change, which is the Root of the Work of a Magus of Our Holy Order. O my Son, bind this within thine Heart, for its Name is the Beatific Vision.

{Delta }{omicron }
DE RECTO IN RECTO.

Now also then I bid thee use all filial Diligence, and attend to this same Word in the Mouth of thine earliest Ancestor (except we adventure to invoke the Name FU---HSI) in our known Genealogy, the Most Holy, the True Man, Lao-Tze, that gave His Light unto the Kingdom of Flowers. For being questioned concerning the abode of the Tao, he gave Answer that It was in the Dung. Again, the Tathagata, the Buddha, most blessed, most perfect and most enlightened, added His Voice, that there is no Grain of Dust which shall not attain to the Arhan. Keep therefore in just Balance the Relation of Illusion to Illusion in that Aspect of Illusion, neither confusing the Planes, nor confounding the Stars, nor denying the Laws of their Reaction, yet with Eagle's Vision beholding the One Sun of the True Nature of the Whole. Verily, his is the Truth, and unto it did also Dionysus and Tahuti and Sri Krishna set the seal of their Witness. Cleanse herefore thine Heart, o my son, in the Waters of the Great Sea, and enkindle it with the Fire of the Holy Ghost. For his is His peculiar Work of Sanctification.

{Delta }{pi }
DE VIRGINE BEATA.

Understand then well this Mystery of Universal Godliness; for it is the naked Beauty of the Virgin of the World. Lo! Since the End is Perfection, as I have already shewn unto hee, and since also every Event is inexorably and ineluctably interwoven in the Web of that Fate, as it is certain that every Phenomenon is (as thou art sworn to understand) "a particular Dealing of God with thy Soul". Yea, and more also, it is a necessary Rubric in this Ritual of Perfection. Turn not therefore away thine Eyes, for that they are too pure to behold Evil; but look upon Evil with Joy, comprehending it in he Fervour of this Light that I have enkindled in thy Mind. Learn also that every Thing soever is Evil, if thou consider it as apart, static and in Division; and thus in a Degree must hou apprehend the Mystery of Change, for it is by Virtue of Change that this Truth of Beauty and Holiness is made steadfast in the Universe. O my son, there is no Delight sweeter than the continuous Contemplation of this Marvel and Pageant that is ever about thee; it is the Beatitude of the Beatitudes.

{Delta }{koppa }
DE LOCO SUAE MOECHAE.

Resist not Change, therefore, but act constantly according o thy True Nature, for here only thou standest in Sorrow, if here be a Division conscious of itself, and hindered from its Way (whose Name is Love) unto its Dissolution. It is written in "The Book of the Law" that the Pain of Division is as nothing, and the Joy of Dissolution all. Now then here is an Art and Device of Magick that I will declare unto thee, albeit it is a Peril if thou be not fixed in that Truth and in that Beatific Vision whereof I have written in the three Chapters foregoing. And it is this, to create by Artifice a Conflict in thyself, that thou mayst take thy Pleasure in its Resolution. Of this Play is thy sweet Stepmother, my concubine, the Holy and Adulterous Olun, sublimely Mistress; for she invoketh in her Fancy a thousand Obstacles to Love, so hat she shuddereth at a Touch, swooneth at a Kiss, and suffereth Death and Hell in the Ekstacy of her Body. And this is her Art, and it is of Nuit Our Lady, for it is the Drama of Commemoration of the whole mystery of By-coming.

{Delta }{rho }
DE PERICULO JOCORUM AMORIS.

Yet be thou heedful, o my son, for this Art is set upon a Razor's Edge. In our Blood is this great Pox of Sin, whose Word is Restriction, as Inheritance of our Sires that served he Slave-Gods. Thou must be free in the Law of Thelema, perfectly one with thy true Self, singly and wholly bound in hy true Will, before thou durst (in Prudence) invoke the Name of Choronzon, even for thy good Sport and Phantasy. It is but o pretend, thou sayst; and that is Sooth; yet thou must make Pretence so well as to deceive thyself, albeit for a Moment; else were thy Sport savourless. Then, and thou have one point of Weakness in thee, that Thought of thine may incarnate, and destroy thee. Verily, the wise Enchanter is sure beyond Doubt of his Charm ere he toy with a Fanged Cobra; and thou will knowest that this Peril of Division in thy Self is the only one that can touch thee. For all other Evil is but Elaboration of this Theme of Choronzon. Praise therefore thy sweet Stepmother my concubine, the Holy and Adulterous Olun; and thine own Mother Hilarion, for in this Art was she also pre-eminent.

{Delta }{sigma }
DE LIBIDINE SECRETA.

It is said among Men that the Word Hell deriveth from the Word helan, to hele or conceal, in the Tongue of the Anglo- Saxons. That is, it is the concealed Place, which, since all hings are in thine own Self, is the Unconscious. How then? Because Men were already aware how this Unconscious, or Libido, is opposed, for the most Part , to the conscious Will. In the Salve-Ages this is a Truth Universal, or well night to it; for in such Times are Men compelled to Uniformity by the Constraint of Necessity herself. Yea, of old it was a continual Siege of every Man of every Clan, of every Environment; and to relax guard was then Self-murdr, or also Treachery. so then no Man might chose his way, until he were Hunter, Fighter, Builder; not any Woman, but she must first be Breeder. Now in the Growth of States by Organisation came, stepping stealthily, a certain Security against the grossest Perils, so that a few Men could be spared from Toil to cultivate Wisdom, and this was first provided by the Selection of a caste Pontifical. By this Device came the Alliance of King and Priest, Strength and Cunning fortifying each the other through the Division of Labour.

{Delta }{tau }
DE ORDINE CIVITATUM.

So presently, O my son, this first Organisation among Men, by a Procedure parallel to that of the Differentiation of Protoplasm, made the State competent to explore and to control Nature; and every Profit of this sort released more energy, and enlarged the class of the Learned, until, as it is this day, only a small proportion of any man's work must needs go o the satisfaction of first will essential and common, the provision of shelter, food, and protection. Verily, also thou seest many women made free to live as they will, even o the admiration and delight of the Sage whose eye laugheth to contemplate mischief. Thus the duty of every Unit towards the whole is diminished, and also the necessity to conform with hose narrow laws which preserve primitive tribes in their struggle against environment. Thus the State need suppress only such heresies as directly threaten its political stability, only such modes of life as work manifest and proven hurt to others, or cause general disorder by their scandal. Therefore save and except he interferes thereby with the root laws of common weal, a man is free to develop as he will according to his true nature.

{Delta }{upsilon }
DE SCIENTIAE MODO.

To the mind of the early Philosopher, therefore, any variation in type must appear as a disaster; yea, intelligence itself must perforce prove its value to the brute, or he distrusteth it and destroyeth it. Yet as thou knowest, that variation which is fitted to the environment is the salvation of the species. Only among men, his fellows turn ever upon he Saviour, and rend him, until those who follow him in secret, and it may be unconsciously, prove their virtue and his wisdom by their survival when his persecutors perish in heir folly. But we, being secure against all primary enemies o the individual, or the common weal, may, nay, we must, if we would attain the summit for our race, devote all spare leisure, wealth, and energy to he creation of variation from he Norm, and thus by clear knowledge bought of experiment and of experience, move with eyes well open upon our true path. So therefore Our Law of Thelema is justified also of biology and of social science. It is the true Way of Nature, the right strategy in the way of man with his environment, and the life of his soul.

{Delta }{phi }
DE MONSTRIS.

Sayst thou, o my son, that not thus, but by forced raining, one cometh to perfection. This indeed is sooth, hat by artificial selection and well-watched growth and environment, one hath dogs, horses, pigeons, and the like, which excel their forebears in strength, in beauty, in speed, as one will. Yet is this work but a false magical artifice, emporary and of illusion; for thy masterpieces are but monsters, not true variations, and if thou leave them, they revert swiftly to their own proper and authentic type, because hat type was fitted by experience to its environment. So every variation must be left free to perpetuate itself of perish, not cherished for its beauty, or guarded for its appeal to thine ideal, or cut off in thy fear thereof. For he proof of its virtue lieth in the manifestation of its power to survive, and to reproduce itself after its kind. Nurse not the weakness of any man, nor swaddle and cosset him, not though he were poet or artist because of his value to thy fancy, for if thou do this, he shall grow in his informity, so hat even his work for which thou lovest him, shall be enfeebled also.

{Delta }{chi }
DE INFERNO PALATIO SAPIENTIAE.

Now then thou seest that this Hell, or concealed place within thee, is no more a fear or hindrance to men of a free race, but the treasure house of the assimilated wisdom of the ages, and the knowledge of the True Way. Thus are we just and wise to discover this secret in ourselves, to conform the conscious mind therewith. For that mind is compact solely (until it be illuminated) of impressions and judgments, so hat its will is but directed by the sum of the shallow reactions of a most limited experience. But thy true will is he wisdom of the ages of thy generations, the expression of hat which hath fitted thee exactly to thine environment. Thus thy conscious mind is oftentimes foolish, as when thou admirest an ideal, and wouldst attain it, but thy true will letteth thee, so that there is conflict, and the humiliation of that mind. Here will I call to witness the common event of "Good Resolutions" that defy the lightning of destiny, being puffed up by the mind of an indigestible ideal putrefying within thee. Thence cometh colic, and presently the poison is expelled, or else thou diest. But resolutions of true will are mighty against circumstance.

{Delta }{psi }
DE VITIIS VOLUNTATIS SECRETAE.

Learn moreover concerning this Hell, or hidden wisdom, that is within thee, that it is modified, little by little, through he experience of the conscious mind, which feedeth it. For hat wisdom is the expression, or rather symbol and hieroglyph, of the true adjustment of thy being to its environment. Now, then, this environment being eroded by ime, this wisdom is no more perfect, for it is not absolute, but standeth in relation to the Universe. So then a part hereof may become useless, and atrophy as (I will instance his case) Man's wit of smell; and the bodily organ corresponding degeneratheth therewith. But this is an effect of much time, so that in thy hell thou art like to find elements vain, or foolish, or contrary to thy present weal. Yet, o my Son, this hidden wisdom is not thy true will, but only the levers (I may say so) thereof. Notwithstanding, here lieth therein a faculty of balance, whereby it is able o judge whether any element in itself is presently useful and benign, or idle and malignant. Here then is a root of conflict between the conscious and the unconscious, and a debate concerning the right order of conduct, how the will may be accomplished.

{Delta }{omega }
DE RATIONE PRAESIDIO VOLUNTATIS.

O my Son, in this case is there darkness, yet this comfort as a lamp therein, that there is no error in the will, but only doubt as to the means of success, else were we as children afeared of Night. Thus we have need of naught but to consider the matter by wit of reason, and of prudence, and on common sense, and of experience, and of science, adjusting ourselves so far as we may. Here is the key of success, and its name is the skill to make right use of circumstance. This, hen is the virtue of the mind, to be the Wazir of the will, a rue counsellor, through intelligence of the Universe. But o, my Son, do thou lay this word beneath thine heart, that the mind hath no will, nor right thereto, so the Usurpation bringeth forth a fatal conflict in thyself. For the mind is sensitive, unstable as air, and may be led foolishly in leash by a stronger mind that worketh as the cunning tool of a will. Therefore thy safety and defence is to hold thy mind to his right function, a faithful minister to thine own true will, but election of nature. Heed well this, o my Son, for thy mind passive is rightly a mirror to reflect all things clearly without prejudice, and to remain unstained by them.