Magic, white and black; or, The science of finite and infinite life, containing practical knowledge, instruction and hints for all sincere students of magic and occultism

Front matter

Class

Book .

GopyrigM°._

Preface To The Fourth Edition

T^HIS book was originally written for the purpose of * disenchanting certain credulous inquirers, who fancied that the exercise of spiritual powers could be taught by teaching them certain incantations and formulas. It was to prove that spiritual powers must be developed before they can be exercised, and to explain the conditions necessary for their development.

Since the appearance of the previous edition, a little additional knowledge, gained by the experiences of my own inner life, has enabled me to make certain corrections; to sift out much of what was irrelevant, and to remodel a great deal of what was incorrectly expressed. Moreover, in this edition an attempt has been made to answer the numerous questions which have been addressed to me by the readers of "Magic."

The most serious objection which has been made against this book has been on account of its title ; but the causes which induced me to select such a title were suggested by the purpose for which the book was intended ; nor would I at present be able to find one more appropriate for it, for "Magic" means that divine art or exercise of spiritual power by whicli the awakened spirit in man controls the invisible living elements in the soul-substance of the universe ; but, above all, those in his own soul, which are the ones nearest to him.

If we desire to master any forces whatever, it is, above all, necessary to know what they are and how they originate, and as we have no better means to study the qualities of any internal forces, than by observing those which are active within ourselves, the perception of the processes going on within our own psychic organism, will be the means to accomplish our object. The art Magic is the exercise of spiritual power, to be obtained by practicing self-control, and this power cannot be acquired in any

8 PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

otHer way ; nor is it possible to teach any one how to exercise a power which he does not possess, because he has not developed it; we can only indicate the way in which the psychic powers latent in every human constitution may be developed. The constitutions of all men are fundamentally the same, and in each human being are contained magical powers germinally or in a latent condition ; but they cannot be said to exist before they become active and manifest themselves, first interiorly, and afterwards in an outward direction.

It was not my object in composing this book, to write merely a code of ethics, and thereby to increase the already existing pile of moral precepts, but to assist the student of Occultism in studying the elements of which his own soul is composed, and to learn to know his own psychical organism. I want to give an impulse to the study of a science, which may be called the "anatomy and physiology of the soul'' which investigates the elements of which the organism of the soul is composed, and the source from which man's desires and emotions spring.

Physical science has advanced with great strides in the real of superficial phenomena and external illusions, but the science of the real interior and invisible man is still very little known. The mechanical and chemical forces of nature have been made subservient to physical science. She has laid the yoke upon the neck of the giant Steam and chained Electricity to her triumphal chariot ; she made mechanical motion, heat, and light, and magnetism the obedient slaves of men ; she made discoveries which make man to a certain extent independent of the conditions imposed upon him by space and time ; she succeeded in realizing certain ideas and to put them into practical execution, ideas which a century ago were believed to belong merely to the realm of the fancies of the visionary and the dreamer.

Why should we stop here ? Why should it not be possible for us to advance still further, and to enchain those semi-conscious and conscious forces which pervade our own soul, and also the soul of the world? Why should it be impossible to condense into forms by the omnipotent power of Will the living but formless Elementals; to con-

Preface To The Fourth Emtion. 9

centrate and give shape to living and universal principles, which, although they are at present invisible for us, nevertheless exist? Such things have been accomplished by the Eastern sages thousands of years ago, and may be accomplished by ourselves, provided we attain the same state of perfection which characterizes these Adepts.

To arrive at this end the merely superficially intellectual reading of books on Occultism is entirely insufficient. The divine mysteries of nature are above and beyond the power of conception of the limited intellect. They must be grasped by the power of the spirit. If we cannot by our own soul perception perceive a spiritual truth with the eye of the spirit, intellectual reasoning and book learning will not enable us to perceive it clearly. Books, dealing with such subjects, should not be masters to us ; they should merely be our assistants. They are merely useful to describe the details of things which we already know in the depths of our soul ; they are merely servants to hold up before our eyes magnifying mirrors, wherein we see the truths, whose presence we feel in ourselves.

Jacob Boehme, the great theosoph, says in regard to the study of Occultism: "If you desire to investigate the divine mysteries of nature, investigate first your own mind, and ask yourself about the purity of your purpose. Do you desire to put the good teachings which you may receive into practice for the benefit of humanity? Are you ready to renounce all selfish desires, which cloud your mind and hinder you to see the clear light of eternal truth ? Are you willing to become an instrument for the manifestation of Divine Wisdom? Do you know what it means to become united with your own higher Self, to get rid of your illusive Self, to become one with the living universal power of Good and to die to your own shadowy insignificant terrestrial personality? Or do you merely desire to obtain great knowledge, so that your curiosity may be gratified, and that you may be proud of your science, and believe yourself to be superior to the rest of mankind ? Consider, that the depths of Divinity can only be searched by the divine spirit itself, which is active within you. Real knowledge must come from our own interior, not merely from externals, and they who seek

10 PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EBITION.

for the essence of things merely in externals, may find the artificial colour of a thing, but not the true thing itself."

Again this self-taught philosopher says : "The intellect should be developed, but above all the heart. We should attempt to understand intellectually the laws of everything; but our own still fallible intellect should be made the starting-point in our investigations. Man should not be governed by his reasoning from appearances; but he should govern his mind, so that the light of divine wisdom may illuminate his intellect. If our judgment becomes free of all selfish taint, and the vibrations of our soul are made to vibrate in harmony with the eternal spirit, our perishable intellect will be penetrated by the imperishable light of divine wisdom; and we will be able to perceive and to solve the deepest problems of nature. If our desire and reason cling to the sphere of self, we shall see merely the illusions which we ourselves have created ; but if we become free by being obedient to the universal law, we will become one with the law and see the truth in its purity."

And to this we will add, as a warning to all inquirers, that a scientific investigation of the occult mysteries of nature, without that firm foundation furnished by the development of true spirituality, is exceedingly dangerous and leads to deplorable consequences. The perception of things which belong to the spirit is a faculty of the spiritually developed man and not within the reach of the semi-material mind. He who continually pores over things which he cannot comprehend lives in the realm of his dreams; he becomes an unpractical person, incapable to fulfill his duties in life, and often insanity and suicide is the result. The school of the occultist is only for those who have graduated in the school of terrestrial life.

Let, therefore, those who wish to acquire spiritual or divine power, follow this advice : let them rise spiritually into the highest regions of thought and remain therein as its permanent residents. Let them cultivate their physical bodies and their mental constitutions in such a manner that the matter of which they are composed will become less gross and more penetrable to the divine light of the spirit. Then will the veils that separate them from the

Preface To The Fourth Emtion. 11

invisible world become thinner; then will they become aware of the fact that the circle which limits their terrestrial and phenomenal existence is merely a small segment of that grand circle wherein their existence as self-conscious beings on the spiritual plane is enclosed, and as they increase in transcendental knowledge they will grow in spiritual power, until, by the understanding of the divine laws of the universe, they will become the co-operators of God, and God will perform His miracles in and through them.

The following pages are an attempt to show the way how Man may become an instrument of the Divine Power whose product is Nature; they constitute a book which may properly bear the title of "Magic," for if the readers succeed in practically following its teachings, they will be able to witness the greatest of all magical feats, the spiritual regeneration of Man.

Preface

f~)UR age is the age of opinions. The majority of our educated people live, so to say, in their heads, and the claims of the heart are neglected. Vanity is king, and wisdom is only permitted to speak when it does not come into conflict with selfish ©onsiderations. The guardians of a narrow limited science delude themselves with a belief of being capable to bring the infinite truth within the grasp of their finite understanding, and whatever they fail to comprehend is asserted not to exist. Our speculative philosophers refuse to recognize the eternal power of universal love whose light is reflected in the human soul ; they wish to examine eternal truths by the flickering candle-light of their logic, reasoning from the basis of sensual observations ; they forget that Humanity is a Unity, and that one individual cannot encompass the All ; and the ignorant asks scientific reasons why man should be faithful and true, and why he should not consider his own personal interests above those of the rest of mankind.

It is universally admitted that man's final destiny cannot depend on the theories which he may have formed in his mind regarding Cosmology, Pneumatology, plans of salvation, &c, and as long as he possesses no real knowledge, one set of beliefs or opinions may perhaps be as good as another ; but it cannot be denied, that the sooner man frees himself of the erroneous opinions of others and opening his own eyes recognizes the real truth, the less will he be impeded by the obstacles which are in the way of his higher evolution, and the sooner will he reach the summit of his final perfection.

The most important questions seem, therefore, to be: "Is it possible that a man should actually know anything transcending his sensual perception, unless it is told to him by some supposed authority ? Can the power of intuition

14 PREFACE.

be developed to such an extent as to become actual knowledge without any possibility of error, or shall we always be doomed to depend on hearsay and opinions ? Can any individual man possess powers transcending those which are admitted to exist by modern science, and how can such transcendental powers be acquired?"

The following pages were written for the purpose of attempting to answer such questions, by calling the attention of those who desire to know the truth to a consideration of the true nature of Man and of his position in the Universe. Thse who already know these things of course will not need the instructions which these pages contain, but to those who desire to know they may be of some use, and to the latter we recommend the advice given by Gautama Buddha to his disciples : "Believe nothing which is unreasonable, and reject nothing as unreasonable without proper examination."

This book was not written for the purpose Of convincing sceptics of the fact that phenomena of an occult character have taken place in the past and are occurring at present; though an attempt has been made to prove the possibility of mystic occurrences by offering some explanation in regard to the laws by which they may be produced. No space has been devoted to lengthy illustrative examples of phenomena. Those who require them will find such evidence in the books whose titles have been given at the foot of the pages.

CONTENTS OF MAGIC WHITE. AND BLACK

Introduction

SPIRITUAL LAW IN THE NATURAL WORLD.

Page

The meaning of "Magic" — The Life principle — Man's spiritual nature — Magicians and mediums — Man and the universe — The inner world — God, science, religion, superstition — Mystic and mysticism — Truth and fiction — The Bible allegories — Soul-knowledge and brainspeculation — Self-knowledge and theories — Realisation by experience — Selfishness — The false Egos— Elemental — Spiritual germs and their growth — Asceticism — Visionaries and dreamers — The wisdom religion — The "sons of darkness" and the "children of light" — Spiritual evolution 23

Chapter I. The Ideal

The ideal self— Realisation of ideals — Truth — Meditation — Prayer — God prays to himself — Interior revelation — The universal ideal — Christianity — Theosophists — Identity of revelations — Perception of truth — Self-control — Intuition and logical inferences — The Adepts — False science — Nature — Medicine of the future — Faith is spiritual knowledge — Mind-substance — Invisible beings — Object of life and its necessities — Alchemy 49

Chapter II. The Real And The Unreal

Primordial essence — The abstract ideas — Character and purpose — Reincarnation — The Ego — Self-consciousness before and after death — The spiritual man — Relative existence — Unreality of external appearances — Matter and motion — Consciousness — Objective and subjective exis- 15

16 CONTENTS.

tence — The unknown One — Imagination — Perception — The "Fall" — Creation — The inner senses — States of mind — Dualism — God and idols 67

Chapter III. Form

Creation of forms — Spirit — Soul — Matter — The seven principles — The four planes of existence — The "resurrection of the flesh" — Spheres and auras — Psychic emanations —Physical and astral forms — Elementaries — "Materialisations" — Necromancy — "Doubles" — Wraiths — Apparitions — Ghosts — Spirits of nature — Gnomes — Sylphs — Undives — Salamanders — Spiritual beings — Planetary spirits — Emotions and their origin — Organisation of forms on the various planes — Daemons Obsession — Spirits of music — The Creator and his creatures — Witchcraft — Astral appearances — Spiritism — Spooks — Spirits of the "dead" — Devas — Unconscious exercise of magic power — Protection against evil spells 85

Chapter IV. Life

The will and the life — Expression of character — Chiromancy — Psychometry— Reincarnation of soul — Individuality — Indifferentiation of form and of character — Change of character — Individuality — Change of purpose — The ideal realises itself — Spirituality — Delusion of separatedness — Isolation — Vampires — Incubi and succubi — Elementaries — "Killing out" passions — Change of desires — The dreamer and the realist — Life transfer — Suspension of life— Evolution—The Elixir of Life 110

Chapter V. Harmony

Harmony — The music of the spheres — Spirituality and scientific curiosity — Unity of the Law — Variety of forms — Karma — Accords and discords — Numbers — Number One — Periodicity— Magic squares — Number Seven— Love and life— Man and woman— The true marriage— Humanity and divinity— Induction— Food for the physical body— Nutriment of the soul— "Sin"— Suffering and its necessity— Exoerience— Purification— The spiritual organism—Adoration—Meditation—Efficacy of prayer — Illumination

CONTENTS. I 17

Chapter VI. Illusions

Imagination — Two worlds — The Dwellers of the Threshold — Reason and Truth — Illusions and appearances — Prostitution of principles — Starvation of soul — "Self" — Money — Possession — "Love" — Celibacy — Life an illusion — Science — Intellectuality without spirituality — Ambition — Power — Fame — Authority — Fear — Doubt — Remorse — Sins — The "Lamb" — Obedience — Reason — Passive imagination — Visions — Artificial means for including hallucinations — Fumigations — Magic mirrors — Fortune-telling — Meditation — Exercise of the will — "Mesmerism" and "hypnotism" — Unreality of illusions — Mediumship — Responsibility — Power of the imagination — States after death — Materiality and density — Heaven and hell — Happiness 143

Chapter VII. Consciousness

Mind—Absolute and relative consciousness — Realisation of existence — Perception — Development of the senses — Light and darkness — Resistance — Astral Light — Astral forms— Haunted houses — Sight and touch — True self-consciousness — Reason and reasoning — Muscular consciousness — Astral consciousness — Obsessions — Thoughtbody — Apparitions — Double consciousness — Projection of the astral form — The Kama rupa — Double memory — The inner man — Somnambulism and trance — Two lives — Two souls — Two attractions — Spiritual consciousness — Wisdom— Organisation— Regeneration— The spiritual body 164

Chapter VIII. Unconsciousness

Knowledge is life— Ignorance is death — Relative life and relative death — Physical death — Immortality — Nirmanakayas — Death is change — God redeems himself — Principles and forms — Living corpses or shells — Insanity—Process of dying— The astral form— Letter from an Adept— Kama loca— Animal souls — Heaven and hell — Post-mortem consciousness— Devachan— The mystic death— Spiritualism and spiritism— Communications from the "departed"— Conscious immortality-^ Ubject of life — Reincarnation— Assuming a new body

18 CONTENTS.

— Shall we know each other after death? — Degradation is death — Black magic — White magic — Evolution — Permanent love 183

Chapter IX. Transformations

Memory — The Astral Light — Impressions and temptations — Responsibility — Crimes — Capital punishment — Clairvoyance — Seership — Amulets — The Mumia — Mysterious powers of precious stones — Action of drugs — Primordial matter — Single bodies of chemistry — Transformation — Will and imagination — Alchemy in its three aspects — Projection of thought — Mental epidemics — Receptivity — Occult phenomena — H. P. Blavatsky — Controlling the thoughts — The Master — Wisdom — Accumulation of energy — Manifestations of consciousness — Organisation required — The divine Man — The Redeemer. . . 204

Chapter X. Creation

The great mystery — Man — Memory and forgetting — Man the Creator of his world — Self-made men — Material and spiritual nature — Cosmology — Mythology — Animal food — Practical occultism — Union — Faith and doubt — Action — Development of will-power — Experiences of life — Truth and error — Duty — Knowledge — Belief — The "Path"— Rules of life 227

Chapter XI. Light

Spirit and form — Freedom — Personality and individuality — The permanent and the impermanent — Hermes Trismegistus — The Saviour — The Lord — The true baptism, forgiveness of sins, communion, marriage — The true and universal church — The "Son of Man" — Birth of the Christ— Biblical "history"— Prayer— The true Faith- Soul knowledge — Physical effects of regeneration — Suffering — The true Rosicrucians and their symbols — Initiation — Spiritual nutriment — Ceremonies — Jesus of Nazareth — Redemption — Allegories — "Faust" — Real knowledge— Unselfishness— Good and evil — The unpardonable sin « • • 250

CONTENTS. 19

Chapter XII. Theosophy

Beauty beyond the power to describe it — The spiritual Sun — Divine Wisdom the realisation of Truth — The Philosopher's Stone — The Elixir of Life and Universal Panacea — Magic power — The Path — To know — Forbidden knowledge — True knowledge — To will — Love the fountain of true knowledge — Development of will-power — To dare is obedience to the law — Strengthening of self-will — Fakirs — Hatha yoga — Philosophical and theosophical courage — Self-sacrifice — To be silent — Jackob Boehme — Raja yoga — Instructions — Symbols — Language — The threefold word — The language of nature — Universal language — Thought, word, and action —Mystic symbols — The five-pointed star — The double interlaced triangle — The cross — The Brothers of the golden and rosy cross — The true cross — The self realisation of Truth 267

Appendix

A NEW GUIDE ON THE PATH.

MAGIC.

WHITE AND BLACK.

INTRODUCTION.

SPIRITUAL LAW IN THE NATURAL WORLD.

"There is no religion higher than truth."

WHATEVER misinterpretation ancient or modern ignorance may have given to the word Magic, its only true significance is The Highest Science, or Wisdom, based upon knowledge and practical experience.

If you doubt whether there is any such thing as Magic, and if you desire any practical illustration about it, open your eyes and look around you. See the world, the animals, and the trees, and ask yourself whether they could have come into existence by any other power than by the magic power of nature. Magical power is not a supernatural power, if by the term "supernatural" you mean a power which is outside, beyond, or locally above nature. To suppose the existence of such a power is an absurdity and a superstition, opposed to all our experience ; for we see that all organisms, vegetable and animal ones, grow by the action of internal forces acting outwardly, and not by having something added to their substance from the outside. A seed does not become a tree, nor a child a man, by having substance added to its organism by some outside workman, or like a house which is built by putting stones on the top of each other ; but living things grow by the action of an internal power, acting from a centre within the form. To this centre flow the influences coming from the universal storehouse of matter and motion, and from there they radiate again towards the periphery, and perform that labour which builds up the living organism.

But what else can such a power be, except a spiritual power, because it penetrates to the very centre of material things. It acts according to law, and builds up organisms according to a certain order, and is therefore superior to blind mechanical force. It cannot be a mere mechanical force; for we know that a mechanical force ceases as soon as the impulse which originated it ceases to act, while the stream of life is inexhaustible, and only the forms in which it becomes manifest die. It cannot be a chemical force, for chemical action ceases when the chemical combination of the substances which were to combine has taken place. It must therefore be a living power, and, as life cannot be a product of a dead form, it can be nothing else but the power of the One Life, acting within the life-centres of the forms.

Nature is a magician, every plant, animal, and every man is a magician, who uses his powers unconsciously and instinctively to build up his own organism; or, in other words, every living being is an organism in which the magic power of the spirit in nature acts; and if a man should attain the knowledge how to control this power of life, and to employ it consciously, instead of merely submitting unconsciously to its influence, then he would be a magician, and could control the processes of life in his own organism, and perhaps in that of other beings.

Now the question is: Can any man obtain such a power as to control the processes of life ? The answer to this question depends on what you mean by the term "man." If you mean by "man" an intellectual animal, such as we meet every day in the streets, then the answer is : No! for the majority of the men and women of our present generation, including our greatest scientific lumens, know absolutely nothing about their own inner nature or about the universal power of the One Life, and many of them have not even made up their minds whether or not they will believe in the existence of their own soul. They can neither see it nor feel it objectively, and there^ fore they do not know what to make of it.

But if you mean by "man" that intelligent principle, which is active within the organism of man, and which constitutes him a human being, and by whose action he becomes a being very distinct from and superior to animals in human or animal form, then the answer is : Yes! for the divine power which acts within the organism of man is the same and identical power which acts withn the centre of nature. It is an internal power of man, and belongs to man's true self, and if man once knows all the powers which belong to his essential constitution, and knows how to use them, then he may enter from the passive into the active state, and employ these powers himself.

Absurd as it may seem, it is nevertheless a logical consequence drawn from the fundamental truths about the constitution of man, that if a man could control the universal power of life acting within himself, he might prolong the life of his organism as long as it pleased to him ; if he could control it, and knew all the laws of his nature, he might render it dense or vaporous, concentrate it to a small point, or expand it, so as to occupy a great deal of space. Verily, truth is stranger than fiction, and we might see it, if we could only rise above the narrow conceptions and prejudices which we have inherited and acquired by education and sensual observation.

The most strange things happen continually in nature, and hardly attract our attention. They do not seem strange to us although we do not understand them ; merely because we are accustomed to see them every day. Who would be so "foolish" as to believe that a tree could grow out of a seed — as there is evidently no tree in the seed — if his experience had not told him that trees grow out of seeds in spite of all arguments to the contrary! Who would believe that a flower would grow out of a plant, if he had not seen it, for observation and reason show that there is no flower in the stalk? Nevertheless, flowers grow, and cannot be disputed away.

Everywhere in nature the action of a universal spiritual law is manifest, but we cannot see the law itself. Everywhere we see the manifestations of wisdom; but those who seek for the origin of wisdom within their own brains will seek for it in vain.

The art of Magic is the art of employing invisible or so-called spiritual agencies to obtain certain visible results. Such agencies are not necessarily invisible entities, flitting about in vacant space, ready to come at the command of anyone who has learned certain incantations and ceremonies ; but they consist principally in the unseen but nevertheless powerful influences of the Emotions and the Will, of desires and passions, thought and imagination, love and hate fear and hope, faith and doubt, &c, &c. They are the powers of what is called the Soul ; they are employed everywhere and by everybody every day, consciously or unconsciously, willingly or unwillingly, and while those that cannot control or resist such influences, but are controlled by them, are passive instruments, "Mediums" through which such unseen powers act, and often their unwilling slaves ; those who are able to guide and control such influences by gaining control over themselves, are, in proportion to their controlling capacity, active, and powerful, and true Magicians, and may employ their powers for good or for evil. We see, therefore, that with the exception of irresponsible persons, every one who has any will power is, in so far as he exercises that will power, an active Magician; a white magician if he employs them for good, a black magician if he uses them for the purposes of evil.

There are people in the East and some in the West, through whom extraordinary feats, such as are usually classified as "Magic," are performed ; but it does not logically follow that such people are therefore conscious Magicians; it only shows that the power which acts through their organism, is a magic power, and the supposed "Magician" may be merely the instrument through which invisible intelligent powers perform such feats, and he may not even know who or what such a power is.

We all cannot honestly say "we have life" ; for life does not belong to us, and we cannot control or monopolize it. All we can say without arrogance and presumption is, that we are instruments through which the universal One Life manifests itself in the form of a human being. We are all

Mediums, through which the universal One Life acts. Only when we know our own selves and can control the life-principle within ourselves, can we become our own Masters. He who thinks that he has any power whatever of his own, thinks foolish : for all the powers he has are lent him by nature, or — more correctly speaking — by that eternal spiritual power, which acts in and from the centre of nature, and which men have called "God," because they have found it to be the source of all good ; the one Reality within the universe and within every being.