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THE TREE OF LIFE
on the Terrace there are squares designed and described by Abraham
for the fulfilment of almost every wish which might occur to a
human being. It is not intended to describe this final chapter of
the Abramelin book containing the squares and practical formula
of Evocation, inasmuch as the latter constitutes the least important
branch of that system. In any event, this particular subject touches
upon other magical writings which it was my wish briefly to describe.
These works, like The Sacred Magic of Abramelin, have unfortunately
been allowed to go out of print, and to all intents and purposes are
practically unobtainable except by those who have access to a
museum or a large library. It is my intention to touch upon them
here because they deal with that branch of Magic which is placed
in opposition to Invocation, and concerns the Evocation and
control of planetary spirits and angelic beings. I wish to warn the
reader, howevcr, and recall his attention to the fact that the procedure
laid down by Abramelin is the best. First there should be
the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and
the~z the Evocations. And I only mention the latter in order that
the reader may be cognizant of the entire formula, although I do
not intend reproducing many of the practical instructions. Thc
books referred to are by name Tlze Key of Solonzo~z tthe Ki~zg, The
Goctia or Lesser Key of Sololnoz the King, and The Book of the Afzgel
Ratxiel. The last-mentioned work unfortunately has never been
translated from the Ilebrew into English. Of course, Icing Solomon,
the model through the ages of the highest erudition and wisdom,
was naturally the figure to whom the unknown authors of these
works attributed their own compositions, so that the latter might
be made the more impressive and authoritative. Not that this
palpable fraud makes the slightest difference, for if the system is
workable, then Solomon is as good or as bad a peg on which to hang
the magical discourse and instructions as, for example, a hypothetical
nonentity like Yossel ben Mordecai. Moreover, it irnplies
a certain abnegation of the ego for an author to omit his own name
and give credit to some other individual for his own work. The
b001is themselves and the magical system within them constitute
the matter of interest ; the authorship in these cases docs not matter
at all.
The ncccssity for tlie rites of Evocation is quite a simple one
actually. Although the supreme object of Magic is the knowledge
of the Higher Self, and although to will anything clse but this