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THE TREE OF LIFE 157
are lost, degenerating into mere astral " tramps." Let the student
take this warning to heart. The astral must be used either to obtain
definite knowledge or to serve as a stepping stone, a rung on the
celestial ladder to yet more subtle planes ; otherwise there is lifelong
stagnation there, overcome by intoxication, entangled in the
seductive serpent-snares tempting the unwary and foolhardy. It
is a reflecting world where one easily may get lost, unless the
aspiration is pure and strong. Hours, days, and years even, may
be spent in futile vision with as little gain as if one looked for long
hours in a mirror of glass. " For those to whom in their spiritual
evolution these apparitions arise I would say : try to become the
master of your vision, and seek for and evoke the greatest of earth
memories, not those things which only satisfy curiosity, but those
which uplift and inspire, and give us a vision of our own greatness ;
and the noblest of all Earth's memories is the august ritual of the
ancient mysteries, where the mortal, amid scenes of unimaginable
grandeur, was disrobed of his mortality and made of the company
of the gods."l
Certain methods, it must be advised, are extant by which the
Theurgist may test the accuracy of his vision and ascertain whether
he has not been grossly deceived by elementals or the nature of his
own phantasy-creating mind. By these methods also the possibility
of getting lost in the maze of astral phantasmagoria is precluded.
Assuming the Theurgist to have obtained a vision of Mercury let
us say, by having used the Mercurial seals of Henry Cornelius
Agrippa or the Key of Solomon the King, upon returning to his body,
his first task should be to write up the experience in a special diary
kept for that purpose. In passing, it should be made the order of the
Magician's life to keep a scientifically entered diary of the magical
experiments and visions, since this is conducive to order and equilibrium
which is the direction whither his aspiration tends. Moreover,
in true scientific fashion these visions should be recorded
inasmuch as the entry deletes many possibilities of ambiguity,
since memory is not always fallible or trustworthy after a period
of time has elapsed, and lays down in writing the procedure which
may again be followed in the verification and checking of the vision.
Immediately after each experience and vision the diary should be
attended to.
In the columns of Barrett's Magus or Agrippa's de Occulta
The Candle of Vision. By A. E.