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THE TREE OF LIFE
microcosm, unites himself within the protected limits of the Circle.
On the other hand, a spirit or an intelligence is a lesser being, and
although by definition it is a semi-intelligent force of Nature, it is
an idea which is neither complete nor well-developed, and comprises
but a limited and partitive consciousness. In the case of Evocation,
the spirit is evoked into a Triangle bounded and protected by
divine names, placed on the outside of the sacred Circle, and the
Magician within the Circle stands in relation to the spirit as a
Macrocosm and a superior being. Just as the invocation of a God
floods the human consciousness with an ecstatic surge of the divine
light and life, so does the Theurgist stand as a God and energizer
to the spirit. The purpose of the evocatio~l is, in short, that some
portion of the human soul which is deficient in a more or less
important quality is made intentionally to stand out, as it were.
Given body and form by the power of the imagination and will,
it is, to use metaphor, specially nourished by the warmth and
sustenance of the sun and given water and food that it may grow
and flourish. The technique is the assimilation of s particular
spirit into the consciousness of the Theurgist, not by love and
surrender as is the case in the Invocation of a God, but by superior
command and imperious gesture of Will. By this assimilation, the
wound of Amfortas is healed, the deficiency is remedied, and thc
soul of the Theurgist is stimulated in a special way, according to
the nature of the spirit.
The first of the three books concerning Evocation with which I
propose dealing here, is The Key of Solomo~z tlze King. This book,
by far the most notorious of all books of magical instruction, in
1889 was translated by S. L. McGregor Mathers into English from
Latin and French texts. He himself, I am informed, was highly
expert and successful in the use of the method given, and adapted
from it for the use of his own students a scientific summary covering
the process of Evocation in all its branches. It was the translator's
view that in this work was the fountain-head and central storehouse
of Qabalistic Magic. In it must be sought the origin of a good deal
of the ceremonial Magic of medieval times, when Tlte Key was
valued by the best occult writers and magical practitioners as a
work of the highest authority. That it served as instruction, and
furnished Eliphas Levi with the clata upon wliicli TranscczdentaZ
Magic was based, is more than probable, for it should be evident to
anyone who has studied Levi at all carefully that the Key of Solomon