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192 THE TREE OF LIFE
should prove of no little help in keeping the concentration of the
mind one-pointed.
With the advent of the second period much the same procedure
is followed except that the operator is exhorted to cause his invocations
to be more intense and fiery, and " ye shall lengthen
your prayers to the utmost of your ability." The invocations are
to be continued morning and evening as in the previous two months,
but " before entering into the Oratory ye shall wash your hands and
face thoroughly with pure water. And you shall prolong your
prayers with the utmost possible affection, devotion and submission ;
humbly entreating the Lord God that He would deign to command
His Holy Angels to lead you in the True Way." It is easy to perceive
the psychological idea which Abraham gradually formulates. The
invocations to the Holy Guardian Angel should be made the more
frequent, ardent and imperious, so that when towards the end of
the period of six months the counsel is given to the Theurgist to
enflame himself with the invocation, the previous practice will cause
him to fly like an arrow impelled from a bow towards the glory of
the Angel, and no difficulty will be experienced in arousing the
requisite enthusiasm and devotion which will bring about the
Mystical Union.
Other injunctions to be observed in the second period may be
briefly summarized as follows. " The use of the rites of Marriage
is permitted, but should scarcely if at all be made use of." " You
shall also wash your whole body every Sabbath eve." " As to what
regardeth commerce and rules of living, as in the first period," but
now " it is absolutely necessary during this period to retire from
the world and seek retreat." The observations previously made
as to eating and drinking and clothing should continue to- be enforced.
As the second period draws to a close, and with it the fourth
month of continuous invocation, the mind of the Operator should
be gradually drawing to a single point by virtue of these modes of
serene and calm living, and the increasing fervourwhich he is to insert
into his invocations, now occupying greater periods of time. By
this time also he will have entered that state of Dryness of which
Mystics of all time have spoken, that horrid psychological state in
which all the powers of the soul seem. dead and the mind's vision
closes in dumb protest, as it were, against the harsh discipline of the
oath. A thousand and one seductions will tend to lure the Operator