3y8u4hFD4

THE TREE OF LIFE 229
Neophyte for the further journey. These consecrations by the
~em~lk representatives of the ~ od~at the cardinal points prepare for
the accomplishment of the Great Work. By means of invocations
the celestial forces from beyond are infused into the being of the Neophyte,
endowing him with courage and will to enable him resolutely
to persevere unto the end. Then the hoodwink, cord and black
garment are removed, giving place to a white robe or sash flung
round the shoulders to symbolize the purity of life and the loftiness
of aspiration which has come to the candidate. The consecrations
at an end, and the invocations of the essences completed, certain
knowledge fundamental to Magic and the philosophical alphabet
is imparted under a vow of secrecy. This, as a whole, and omitting
a large number of inessentials and trivial variations, constitutes the
basis of the initiatory ritual of the Neophyte.
Without, however, the pursuance of practical magical work on
his own behalf these initiations and rituals are of no avail whatsoever
to the Neophyte. That they do serve as preparation is true,
and they do also impart a certain consecration and sacramentalism
rendering his task more comprehensible and perhaps less perilous
by their virtue. In confirmation, it will be remembered that
Milarepa after his initiations was at once counselled by Marpa to
commence practical work, which in his case was meditation and
concentration. To the student prepared either by training or by
some peculiarity of birth-which, in any event by reason of reincarnation
implies a former attention to these things-the ceremonial
initiation has a distinct effect in bestowing upon him a brief though
resplendent vision of the spiritual goal which he seeks and which he
he now dimly envisages. This is particularly so, if the officers of
the Temple are hierophants not in name alone but in actuality, well
versed from a practical point of view in the magical routine and
technique. For when an officer in the Temple rehearses the part of
a God, if he be acquainted with magical technical methods, he will
assume the Form of that God so perfectly that the magnetic emanations
from the God in him flow forth into the innermost soul of the
Neophyte. This assumption of God-forms as previously described
can be carried very far, even to the extent of actual transformation,
and authentic instances are on record where the Neophyte, when
sufficiently sensitive, sees in the distance of the Hall not simply a
human being arbitrarily acting as a hierophant, but a gigantic
divine figure, glowing and awe-inspiring, of the God whom the man