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Pantacle. That which is merely a piece of common bread shall be the body of
God!
The Wand was the will of man, his wisdom, his word; the Cup was his
understanding, the vehicle of grace; the Sword was his reason; and the Pantacle
shall be his body, the temple of the Holy Ghost.
What is the length of this Temple?
From North to South.
What is the breadth of this Temple?
From East to West.
What is the height of this Temple?
From the Abyss to the Abyss.
There is, therefore, nothing movable or immovable under the whole firmament
of heaven which is not included in this pantacle, though it be but "eight inches
in diameter, and in thickness half an inch."
Fire is not matter at all; water is a combination of elements; air almost
entirely a mixture of elements; earth contains all both in admixture and in
combination.
So must it be with this Pantacle, the symbol of earth.
And as this Pantacle is made of pure wax, do not forget that "everything that
lives is holy."
All phenomena are sacraments. Every fact, and even every falsehood, must
enter into the Pantacle; it is the great storehouse from which the Magician
draws.
"In the brown cakes of corn we shall taste the food of the world and be
strong."
the Sacrament, though special instructions about it are given in Liber Legis.
It is composed of meal, honey, wine, holy oil, and blood.>> {99}
When speaking of the Cup, it was shown how every fact must be made
significant, how every stone must have its proper place in the mosaic. Woe were
it were one stone misplaced! But that mosaic cannot be wrought at all, well or
ill, unless every stone be there.
These stones are the simple impressions or experiences; not one may be
foregone.
Do not refuse anything merely because you know that it is the cup of Poison
offered by your enemy; drink it with confidence; it is he that will fall
dead!
How can I give Cambodian art its proper place in art, if I have never heard
of Cambodia? How can the Geologist estimate the age of what lies beneath the
chalk unless he have a piece of knowledge totally unconnected with geology, the
life-history of the animals of whom that chalk is the remains?
This then is a very great difficulty for the Magician. He cannot possibly
have all experience, and though he may console himself philosophically with the
reflection that the Universe is conterminous with such experience as he has, he
will find it grow at such a pace during the early years of his life that he may
almost be tempted to believe in the possibility of experiences beyond his own,
and from a practical standpoint he will seem to be confronted with so many
avenues of knowledge that he will be bewildered which to choose.
The ass hesitated between two thistles; how much more that greater ass, that
incomparably greater ass, between two thousand!
Fortunately it does not matter very much; but he should at least choose those
branches of knowledge which abut directly upon universal problems.
He should choose not one but several, and these should be as diverse as
possible in nature.
It is important that he should strive to excel in some sport, and that that
sport should be the one best calculated to keep this body in health.
He should have a thorough grounding in classics, mathematics and science;
also enough general knowledge of modern languages and of the shifts of life to
enable him to travel in any part of the world with ease and security.
History and geography he can pick up as he wants them; and what should
interest him most in any subject is its links with some other subject, so that
his Pantacle may not lack what painters call "composition."
He will find that, however good his memory may be, ten thousand impressions
enter his mind for every one that it is able to retain even for a day. And the
excellence of a memory lies in the wisdom of its selection.
The best memories so select and judge that practically {100} nothing is
retained which has not some coherence with the general plan of the mind.
All Pantacles will contain the ultimate conceptions of the circle and the
cross, though some will prefer to replace the cross by a point, or by a Tau, or
by a triangle. The Vesica Pisces is sometimes used instead of the circle, or
the circle may be glyphed as a serpent. Time and space and the idea of
causality are sometimes represented; so also are the three stages in the history
of philosophy, in which the three objects of study were successively Nature,
God, and Man.
The duality of consciousness is also sometimes represented; and the Tree of
Life itself may be figured therein, or the categories. An emblem of the Great
Work should be added. But the Pantacle will be imperfect unless each idea is
contrasted in a balanced manner with its opposite, and unless there is a
necessary connection between each pair of ideas and every other pair.
The Neophyte will perhaps do well to make the first sketches for his Pantacle
very large and complex, subsequently simplifying, not so much by exclusion as by
combination, just as a Zoologist, beginning with the four great Apes and Man,
combines all in the single word "primate."
It is not wise to simplify too far, since the ultimate hieroglyphic must be
an infinite. The ultimate resolution not having been performed, its symbol must
not be portrayed.
If any person were to gain access to V.V.V.V.V.,
Chief of the A.'.A.'., "the Light of the World Himself.">> and ask Him to
discourse upon any subject, there is little doubt that He could only comply by [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
Pantacle. That which is merely a piece of common bread shall be the body of
God!
The Wand was the will of man, his wisdom, his word; the Cup was his
understanding, the vehicle of grace; the Sword was his reason; and the Pantacle
shall be his body, the temple of the Holy Ghost.
What is the length of this Temple?
From North to South.
What is the breadth of this Temple?
From East to West.
What is the height of this Temple?
From the Abyss to the Abyss.
There is, therefore, nothing movable or immovable under the whole firmament
of heaven which is not included in this pantacle, though it be but "eight inches
in diameter, and in thickness half an inch."
Fire is not matter at all; water is a combination of elements; air almost
entirely a mixture of elements; earth contains all both in admixture and in
combination.
So must it be with this Pantacle, the symbol of earth.
And as this Pantacle is made of pure wax, do not forget that "everything that
lives is holy."
All phenomena are sacraments. Every fact, and even every falsehood, must
enter into the Pantacle; it is the great storehouse from which the Magician
draws.
"In the brown cakes of corn we shall taste the food of the world and be
strong."
the Sacrament, though special instructions about it are given in Liber Legis.
It is composed of meal, honey, wine, holy oil, and blood.>> {99}
When speaking of the Cup, it was shown how every fact must be made
significant, how every stone must have its proper place in the mosaic. Woe were
it were one stone misplaced! But that mosaic cannot be wrought at all, well or
ill, unless every stone be there.
These stones are the simple impressions or experiences; not one may be
foregone.
Do not refuse anything merely because you know that it is the cup of Poison
offered by your enemy; drink it with confidence; it is he that will fall
dead!
How can I give Cambodian art its proper place in art, if I have never heard
of Cambodia? How can the Geologist estimate the age of what lies beneath the
chalk unless he have a piece of knowledge totally unconnected with geology, the
life-history of the animals of whom that chalk is the remains?
This then is a very great difficulty for the Magician. He cannot possibly
have all experience, and though he may console himself philosophically with the
reflection that the Universe is conterminous with such experience as he has, he
will find it grow at such a pace during the early years of his life that he may
almost be tempted to believe in the possibility of experiences beyond his own,
and from a practical standpoint he will seem to be confronted with so many
avenues of knowledge that he will be bewildered which to choose.
The ass hesitated between two thistles; how much more that greater ass, that
incomparably greater ass, between two thousand!
Fortunately it does not matter very much; but he should at least choose those
branches of knowledge which abut directly upon universal problems.
He should choose not one but several, and these should be as diverse as
possible in nature.
It is important that he should strive to excel in some sport, and that that
sport should be the one best calculated to keep this body in health.
He should have a thorough grounding in classics, mathematics and science;
also enough general knowledge of modern languages and of the shifts of life to
enable him to travel in any part of the world with ease and security.
History and geography he can pick up as he wants them; and what should
interest him most in any subject is its links with some other subject, so that
his Pantacle may not lack what painters call "composition."
He will find that, however good his memory may be, ten thousand impressions
enter his mind for every one that it is able to retain even for a day. And the
excellence of a memory lies in the wisdom of its selection.
The best memories so select and judge that practically {100} nothing is
retained which has not some coherence with the general plan of the mind.
All Pantacles will contain the ultimate conceptions of the circle and the
cross, though some will prefer to replace the cross by a point, or by a Tau, or
by a triangle. The Vesica Pisces is sometimes used instead of the circle, or
the circle may be glyphed as a serpent. Time and space and the idea of
causality are sometimes represented; so also are the three stages in the history
of philosophy, in which the three objects of study were successively Nature,
God, and Man.
The duality of consciousness is also sometimes represented; and the Tree of
Life itself may be figured therein, or the categories. An emblem of the Great
Work should be added. But the Pantacle will be imperfect unless each idea is
contrasted in a balanced manner with its opposite, and unless there is a
necessary connection between each pair of ideas and every other pair.
The Neophyte will perhaps do well to make the first sketches for his Pantacle
very large and complex, subsequently simplifying, not so much by exclusion as by
combination, just as a Zoologist, beginning with the four great Apes and Man,
combines all in the single word "primate."
It is not wise to simplify too far, since the ultimate hieroglyphic must be
an infinite. The ultimate resolution not having been performed, its symbol must
not be portrayed.
If any person were to gain access to V.V.V.V.V.,
Chief of the A.'.A.'., "the Light of the World Himself.">> and ask Him to
discourse upon any subject, there is little doubt that He could only comply by [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]