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Liberty, Power, Despotism. Power is correct equilibrium between Despotism
and Liberty. This is the solution of the Enigma of three letters which
Cagliostro the Initiate formulated to represent the Kabalah of political and
social stability.
Liberty is Chokmah.
Despotism is Binah.
Power beneficent is Kether.
Liberty is Gedulah.
Despotism is Geburah.
Power beneficent is Tiphereth.
Liberty is Netzach.
Despotism is Hod.
Power beneficent is in Yesod.
In the essence of the First Cause, Liberty has Necessity as a counterpoise;
this Necessity is the despotism of Supreme Reason, and resulting from this
equilibrium is a Wise and Absolute Power.
If you seek to be absolute, be first wise; and if you are wise, be then
absolute. To be a Master you must be free; to be free you must have
attained the mastery of yourself.
Liberty is Jakin.
Despotism is Boaz.
Power is represented by the Temple Gate which was between them.
Four phrases constitute and include all that is required for the possession of
High Magical Power.
To know.
To dare.
To will.
To keep silence.
Knowledge is represented by the Human head of the Sphynx.
Courage, by its Eagle's wings.
Will, by the Lion's claws, and the loins of the Bull.
Secrecy, by its stony silence and by the hidden answer to its enigma.
When the pupil has grasped the meaning of, and can carry into practice,
these four requirements, he may then receive permission to Love.
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Every force corresponds to all forces, and may become all powerful in the
hands of one who knows how to direct and use it.
Each form of weakness has a similarity to all weaknesses, and may become
a slave to one who is strong and knows how to avail himself of it. Through
the knowledge of this secret, the Magus commands the forces alike of
heaven and hell, and they can but be submissive to his Will.
Realise clearly that an intelligence which is Free is of necessity both just and
wise. Nero and Caligula were possessed of despotic will, but their
intelligence was not free; intoxicated with absolute power, they were
attacked by vertigo. Absolute will power unguided by a right Reason is the
quintessence of the Devil; and here is the explanation of the secrets of Black
Magic, which leads to madness of mind and poisoning of body. Hence the
sorcerer is said to give himself to the Devil, and in the end the Devil will
wring his neck.
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You will now need to learn the last secret of magical force and the final
grade of human will power.
It is Resistance to the Universal Attraction; this is the conquest of nature, it
is the Royal Authority of Soul over Body----it is Continence. To have the
power and opportunity to do what give pleasure, yet to abstain because one
wills it; this shows the Royal power of Soul over body.
Happy is the man who can be so placed, and yet so act: thus it is that the
most sublime use of liberty is absolute obedience. Without obedience no
society can continue to exist. This is why the Magi worshipped the Christ in
the stable at Bethlehem. Christ, that son of God, greatest of initiates, and
the last initiator.
But Christ had, as all great teachers have had, one teaching for the people
and also an esoteric doctrine.
To John, the beloved disciple, he confided the deepest mysteries of the Holy
Kabalah; and John in after years revealed or reveiled them in his
Apocalypse, which is indeed a synthesis of all earlier magical, prophetic, and
Kabalistic works.
The Apocalypse requires as its key or Clavicula the Wheel of Ezekiel, which is
itself explained by the hieroglyphs of the Tarot.
Notes
This final card, numbered 21 in the actual Tarot Trumps, and called Le
Monde, represents an angelic or human figure floating in the air, almost
nude, and holding a short wand in each hand. The figure is more female
than male. Around her is an oval garland of leaves, and outside of this, at
the four corners, are placed the Kerubic emblems of a man, lion, eagle, and
bull. This figure, says Levi, is Truth, and the mystical meaning is the
Microcosm, or the resume of all in all.
Christian draws the garland circular, and as formed of roses; the Kerubim
are placed at the four cardinal points, and not at the angles of the design;
he says its meaning is the Eternal Reward of a life well spent.
NOTE BY THE EDITOR
The very curious manuscript volume, from which the preceding pages have
been translated, concludes with a passage which appears to retract the
whole of the foregoing instruction. It is a very notable illustration of the
second mind of its author. Mr. Waite, who published an English translation of
much that Levi has written, has in his Preface called especial attention to the
evidence that Levi was drawn in a most mysterious fashion in two different
directions by opposing forces. From his early training he tended to be a
devout Catholic; from his Hebrew studies he became a Kabalist and a
Magician. So even in this short occult treatise we find him, after carefully
giving magical instruction through twenty-two chapters, making at its end a
solemn recantation, and pointing out that the duty of a Christian is to the
Church of Christ, which is the best and highest aim to which a man can
attain.
THE CONCLUSION
BY ELIPHAZ LEVI
One last word remains to be said. When the Temple is rebuilt, there will be
no more sacrifice upon its High places. Centuries have passed since Hermes
and Zoroaster lived and taught. A voice greater than that of the Soul of the
World has imposed silence upon the Oracles.
The Word has been made Flesh; a new symbol of salvation by holy water
has replaced the magical ceremonies of the day of Luna. The sacrifices to
Samael on the day of Mars are surpassed by the heroic severities of
penitence.
The sign of the Gift of Tongues and the Christian code have replaced the
sacrifices to Mercury.
The day once sacred to Jupiter is now devoted to the sign of the Kingdom of
God in man by the transubstantiation of love under the forms of bread and
wine.
Anael has vanquished Venus: Lilith and Nahemah are consigned to Hades,
and the sacred rite of marriage gives divine approval to the alliances of men
and women.
Lastly, extreme unction, which prepares a man for a death of peace, has
replaced the sad offerings of Saturn; and the priesthood of light gives forth
illumination on the day sacred to the Sun.
Glory be to the Christ, who has brought to their completion the symbols of
the Ancient Mysteries, and who has prepared the reign of knowledge by
faith. Will you now be greater than all Magi? Hide away your science in the
recesses of your mind. Become a Christian, simple and docile; be a faithful
servant of the Church, believe, mortify yourself, and obey.
OCCULT AND RELIGIOUS MAXIMS
FROM THE MSS. OF ELIPHAZ LEVI
Every idle word is a fault.
Show your learning by your actions.
The Word is Life, and the First Principle of Life. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]