Magic: The Sacred Science

Chapter One: THE CHILDREN OF FALSE DARKNESS

THE CHILDREN OF FALSE DARKNESS

1.- For a long time man has been making the mistake of calling BLACK MAGIC to the perversion of hidden power. This is an inadequate acceptance of the word BLACK, Because black does not necessarily mean evil. Black is the colorless foundation of things; it is the source of all being and represents the body of Absolute Intelligence. All consciousness and all light have arisen from the darkness of chaos, and Cosmic Night—with its tenebrous Pralaya—is the Father-Mother of Creation. The black darkness conceals the work of the Infinite, and despite all the light that may exist in the human soul, it will always find itself surrounded by darkness, by the seething substances of chaos. Every manifestation is a concretion of darkness, and an immeasurable possibility.

2.- The CHILDREN OF DARK ORIGIN, that they produce in the darkness of this substance, Molding it into myriad invisible and incalculable forms, they are not perverse. They are the children of Saturn (Satan), the Black Father who, like the blackness of chaos itself, will end up devouring his own works, and, in doing so, brings them back to life, rescuing them from that death which men call creation. We all come from that black abyss and have no right to consider it evil; it is the father of gods and men, always shrouded in the inscrutable cloaks of its own mystery. Man must extract the stone from his the very soul of that abysmal blackness - unfathomable treasure chest of Nature - in the same way that the miner extracts the diamond from the black coal that surrounds it.

3. The Dark Ones LORDS OF SATURN They are the builders of the dawn, the first light after the darkness, and from the friction of their efforts arose the first Brilliant sparks of embryonic consciousness. They are the Mind-Born, and they are the Brahmins of our chain of Globes, sprung from the brain and mouth of Brahma. Their trunk is made of substances and chemical elements of solid matter. They are satanic emanations, the spirits of cold darkness.

4. Diagram II shows the four births that have taken place from the body of Brahma (BrAUM),the Unknown Darkness, the x of Being.

5. There is false darkness and true darkness. True darkness is the matrix of light; false darkness is the perversion of the light that radiates from true darkness. Natural darkness is the basic principle of all things, while false darkness is the result of the degradation of the power of Satan’s angels.

6. The demon, the archetype of abuse, is not a son of Saturn but a son of man and of the false darkness of the Earth. Man is the embodiment of the germ of mental intelligence, and black magic is only possible for intelligent people.

7.- The Absolute Spirit, Stripped of all the wrappings of non-composite vehicles, formless, it is true Darkness, the dimensionless foundation of all that is, has been and will be, and the final veil behind which all creation must hide.

8. False darkness is Absolute Crystallization and constitutes the lower, colorless end of the spectrum, as opposed to the colorful upper end of the spectrum of vibrations. Both ends are ultimately absorbed into darkness: one into the darkness of the spirit and the other into the darkness of matter.

9. Life pulsates in the darkness and is extinguished in the light. By truly dying, one comes to life, Because life, as we know it, is pure death.

10. Natural darkness is latent possibility; false darkness is degraded opportunity.

The Philosophy of Opportunity

11. If the various forms of opportunity did not exist, there would be no perversion of power. An old proverb says, “Opportunity makes the thief.” Opportunity is the eternal temptation; without temptation, there would be no sinners. Therefore, when higher powers offer man an opportunity, they are also offering him sin and death. He who brings light brings false darkness. Light and shadow are inseparable; the shadow of light is false darkness, because the creation of the former brings about the latter. To free himself from temptation, man must free himself from reason; to free himself from darkness, he must renounce light; he will have to renounce opposites, for if he accepts one, he must necessarily accept the other.

12.- Temptation is the price that humankind pays for intelligence; That is why the Serpent of Wisdom is also the Eternal Tempter.

As humanity learns, with its growing understanding of the powers of Nature and, above all, of its own powers, its responsibility increases with its knowledge. If modern humanity were to become aware of the divine powers still dormant within, it would become the most dangerous creature in the universe, both to its fellow human beings and to itself. The soul must grow in parallel with the knowledge it acquires; Otherwise, the organisms will destroy each other.. Action and reaction must strengthen character so that the will thus gained can always subdue desires. Otherwise, if desire prevails, whatever level the individual has reached on the Path, they will become a black magician.

13. In his present state, man lacks free will, and all he possesses is a certain capacity for choice among the events that occur within a limited field of experience, and which come to his understanding through his growing consciousness. These events have been differentiated by his developing organisms since the dark FIRST-HYLE or true darkness. The greater its growth, the wider the field of its choices and the greater its independence.

Why, (“Why” in English. The explanation that follows is based on the final consonant of that Saxon word. Translator’s note) has been the eternal question in Nature, and the letter Y is its phonetic equivalent, because it forms the sling that hurled the white stone against Goliath’s forehead. That represents false darkness, while the stone symbolizes true enlightenment.

14. In Egypt, the point where the two arms of the Y converge was called the point of the fork in the road. The seeker always finds himself at the place where the three arms of the Y meet, carrying in his hands the ladders of discernment. As long as he judges with fairness, blindfolded like justice, his judgments will be just; but woe to him who removes the blindfold, for with both eyes uncovered, good and evil will arise.

15. Diagram III shows the Y of choice passing through the four creations of Brahma. The line passing through the circles indicates the path of evolution through those

realms of nature where there is no use of conscious reason and, therefore, where the laws of God are not contradicted. The small circle where the three lines converge indicates the current state of the ego of man dwelling in the mind of Brahma. From it, the path bifurcates and Man must choose his own path, instead of continuing to depend on nature.. It has reached, in spirit and in truth, the point where the Libra plates were inserted into the schism that divided the Scorpio Virgo sign in two, and with which the path of development was divided.

16. During the first half of this fourth Globe, the Great Beings approached humankind to strengthen them because of their choice and to give them the basic teachings through which they would learn to redeem their souls. Today we consider these demigods as mythological beings, but they were in reality the ones who collaborated in the creation of humankind, sowing in humans the seed of…discernment who is, ultimately, the redeemer of human reason.

17. Those who followed the path on the right entered one of the seven rays that lead to immortality, while those who chose the one on the left entered the ray that leads to final crystallization. Both end in darkness. One in the immortal darkness of divine union; the other in the mortal darkness of divine annihilation. Diagram IV may perhaps clarify this point:

THE POWER OF CHOICE

God’s greatest gift to Man and the cause of all suffering:

The hope of immortality.

The Fruit of Black Magic:

The Left Path

Those who have adopted this path (No. 1) have accepted that their immortal spirits must be subjected to their lower bodies, becoming embedded in ever denser materiality and entangling their consciousness more and more in matter. If this practice persists, the spirit will be unable to free itself from the matter of the lower worlds, to which it will remain bound until the dissolution of the universe when the night of Brahma descends, when the divine spark is cast into the darkness of infinity through the rings of Saturn. Following this path, the ego reaches darkness, but it will be the darkness of the grave and unconsciousness, attained after a journey of perversion and denial. Its reward is…Black Death, the loss of the soul.

Such egos wander in the unknown without hope, reason, or understanding, while the gears of Chaos dissolve the bodies they did not know how to use properly.

The Fruit of White Magic:

The Right-Hand Path

By traversing this path (No. 3), the spirit identifies with those who aspire to liberate the divine essence from their bodies and transform them into servants instead of masters. Consciousness frees itself from matter through a spiraling movement, acting in increasingly subtle ways, until it achieves complete liberation from form and consciously attains resurrection. It thus acquires the power to mold matter into whatever forms are necessary for its work. It traverses the world of the spirit and penetrates what humankind can only know as darkness. Light is an emanation.

form, and when we penetrate the divine Presence, we penetrate the Omnipotent Darkness. It is the divine Shadow, over which we have perfect dominion and which contains within itself all things in latent potentiality. We become one with the obscure reason, the matrix of light, and we become architects of the cosmic scheme.

Trail No. 2

It represents the No-Cross Line, the nonexistent spiritual equator that separates the poles, the dividing line between the black and white paths, analogous to the mystical line that separates day from night. On this path, the spirit is unaware of opportunity, rejects reason, and thus falls under the law and mystery of:

The Mechanics of Opportunity

18. Every action is immediately followed by the law of reaction, which the ancient sages called the law of karma, the factor Nature employs for the creation of the soul. To reject or ignore opportunity, to fall under the law of indifference or inertia, brings hunger to the soul. Those who have ignored experience are called “soulless creatures” and occupy the same rank as those realms that, like that of the angels, lack individual intelligence.

The law of immediate reaction incorporates the results of efforts into organisms, gradually transmuting the entire chain of vehicles into well-founded symbols or images of the Path chosen by consciousness. Like opposing poles growing within the being, atoms of opposing substances accumulate progressively or by force, or are dissipated due to a lack of cohesion. The struggle of these opposing qualities in the many living organisms constitutes the principal foundation of the great Hindu battle of Kurukshetra or the Armageddon of Christian theology. Through this subtle process, the student who follows the white path gradually starves or transmutes the force of the black ray within themselves; that is, they are able to remain steadfast in the conflict that must first take place within their own vehicles. Conversely, the student who follows the black path gradually eliminates or destroys their finest inner principles until they become a true demon incarnate, and once their consciousness is destroyed, they will do evil for the sheer pleasure of it.

Definitions of Magic

Magic is the art of working with the invisible forces of Nature. A magician is one who is capable of prestidigitar the four elements of bodies. A magician is one who is capable of consciously molding the substances of three and a half worlds of material substance.

19.- A white magician is one who works to gain trust in the face of the powers that are, and to prove, with the purity of his life and the sincerity of his motives, that he can be entrusted with the great arcanum (the Magician’s wand).

A black magician is one who seeks to gain dominion over spiritual powers more through force than merit. In other words, one who tries to storm the gates of heaven, who pursues spiritual power and hidden dominion with unconfessed intentions.

The motto of the black magician is: “power is right” (survival of the fittest). The

motto of the white magician is: “right is power” (survival of all). Gray magic It is

the unconscious or subconscious perversion of power.

Yellow magic It is the failure to learn how to prevent the perversion of power.

Black magic It is the use of spiritual powers to satisfy animalistic or selfish inclinations.

White magic It is the correct, objective, and conscious use of spiritual powers.

20. All men belong to one of these four classes of magic, and it is important that each one analyze himself and try to see which one he belongs to. Nothing in the universe is more subtle than the forces of false darkness. We must constantly examine and watch over our daily lives, because no one is ever truly safe. The greater the power and light at one’s disposal, the greater the temptations to abuse them or to use them for selfish purposes. It must also be known that the greater the knowledge, the greater the punishment for abusing it. The sin that is forgivable in a child is unforgivable in a man.

Reasons

21. The purpose behind the magic is the key to understanding its problem. Even the greatest white magician could become a degenerate if his motives were ever unworthy. The white magician is at the service of humanity; the black magician only aspires to serve himself.

22. The black magic of the past—the darkness that caused the sinking of Atlantis, when humankind enslaved the elemental demons and forced them to obey their commands—still endures. The black magic of the Middle Ages, with its sorcery and orgies, has not died; only its form has changed, as other forms in Nature change. It has incarnated in our time with all its fury and power, and is gnawing away, as it did yesterday, at the very heart of our civilization, and if it continues in this way, it will eventually bring down and annihilate our race. Under an outward appearance of justice, it disguises itself as an emissary of the Most High, and behind the cloak of promising words, the threat of the goat-demon of Mendes constantly lurks. In its false shadows, the furies of hell and the vampires of the astral plane hide.

23. Since the black magician has no legitimate means to maintain his power, not having gone through the school of refinement, he wanders the earth like primitive werewolves, vampirizing humanity in order to obtain the vitality he needs to continue acting.

24. All who have not consciously established themselves on the right-hand path are potential victims of these monsters of iniquity; all who are not consciously on the white path and firmly established on the path of truth and sincerity are permanently under the threat of these harpies who stand on the sidelines of the course of evolution as heartless spectators. They have the power to summon the demons who serve as their instruments, while the impartial natural law is constantly violated so that they may perpetuate themselves. In their hands, the power of light becomes a scepter of death, for many who wield spiritual powers have hardened hearts. Their minds are cesspools of iniquity, and their souls have long since gone astray. They are condemned until the next wave of life, for in this one they have annihilated within themselves every seed of good. Yet they struggle desperately, clinging to life at all costs, fully aware that eternity holds nothing for them.

May God’s grace be with them!

END OF FIRST INSTRUCTION

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Man must extract the stone from his the very soul of that abysmal blackness - unfathomable treasure chest of Nature - in the same way that the miner extracts the diamond from the black coal that surrounds it. 3.

Chapter Two: THE POWER OF DEMONS

THE POWER OF DEMONS

The Origin of Power in Magic

25. All occultists know that the source of vitality in the universe is unique, and that it emanates from the universal Logos. This unique power only produces variations upon reaching the level of the denser worlds, where it degrades according to their own ranges of vibrational frequency.

Both magicians, white and black, draw their power from the same great current that flows eternally from the center of Being-Cause and spreads out along radii of a circle. The difference between white and black magic lies not in the power used—which is always divine—but in how it is obtained and how it is employed. The source of the black magician’s power is said to be the devil, to whom the infernal conjurer must sell his soul in exchange for aid in his nefarious purposes. In order to clarify this matter, let us examine the constitution of the devil, who is, in truth, the most abused creature in the universe, because humanity, through its perversion of divine energy, is constantly transforming its own divinity into a demon.

The Devil’s Personality

26. For a very long time, theologians have insisted on the personalization of natural principles. All the great forces of existence have been disguised and manipulated like puppets, and pronouns have been applied to them he the she. This is one of the main reasons that prevents theologians from reading the Bible correctly or intelligently. They are unable to see the abstract power behind the concrete symbol. Throughout many ages, religion has made the devil a human being and, incidentally, has made demons out of many humans. And this is incorrect, both in principle and in application. The devil is a natural principle, the product of natural means, and the end result of a natural perversion. The devil is a composite and complex creature, who proliferates among all recorded sins. Considered as a whole, the devil is the spirit of perversion or negation, the artificial principle of abuse.

27. The devil is not something false; there are no false things in the creation of a true God. The devil is an abuse or misuse of power. He is a meeting of currents; or, if you will, an interference with the plan. We could establish a definition of the devil by saying that he is the right thing in the wrong place. The worst of Nature’s demons could be turned into good by a simple process of readjustment. The average intelligence of a moderately conscious person is sufficient to make a god out of any demon through a simple process of inversion. Similarly, it is capable of making a demon or a thingThe word is bad, meaning it’s good or bad, placing everything in an inappropriate relationship with other things. diablo It is used to conceal the two excesses of polarity in Nature which, if uncontrolled, will destroy the

organism that man tries to build. The two Great Demons of Creation are: Satan (Saturn) and Lucifer (Mars) (according to the Greeks, Venus).

28. Satan is the spirit of caution and prudence, which, when perverted, becomes denial. Sins of omission crowd before his gate. Few realize that man is responsible for the things he fails to do. This is an aspect of the law. It is as bad not to do what is right as it is to do what is wrong. Satan inhibits, sets back, isolates, and is crystallizing, leading to cosmic inertia because he destroys action. He is symbolized by a skeleton carrying a reaping scythe because he rules the bones of man and the planets, which are the bones of Macrocosmic Man. He is the icy demon of ice who freezes the spirit in the blood and governs the death of unfulfilled hopes. He is the spirit who ultimately demands the return of all that has emanated through his mystical rings.

On the other hand, Lucifer is the spirit of excess, the fiery son of impetuousness, and the ruler of sensual gratification, over which he wields a scepter of serpents. The victims of his power commit violent acts not because he wills it, but because they possess this energy and have perverted it themselves. Lucifer is the light-bearer, yet humanity transforms him into the fierce demon of hatred and war. His power is used by humankind to inspire sensuality and passion, instead of solely for the attainment of the ideal. When left unchecked, those who fall under his influence headlong toward their own destruction. He is in perpetual opposition to Satan, striving to snatch the human soul from Saturn’s cold embrace; he is the warmth that nurtures the soul, but humanity uses him as a burning flame in which reason is consumed.

29. All the powers of Nature naturally serve the good, but when they fall into the hands of those who can wield power, humankind transforms them into savage spirits, to the detriment of its own world. Between these two extremes—Satan (utmost coldness) and Lucifer (burning heat)—the human spirit struggles, crucified like the allegorical Christ, consumed by the annihilating fire of one or frozen by the denial of the other. That is the great truth.

Suppose one or the other of these forces were eliminated, what would happen to the Plan of Being?

30. If Satan were excluded from the scheme, man would be consumed by the burning passions of Mars and the angels of Lucifer. Without the coolness, caution, and control of Saturn, his soul would be lost in the most unrestrained sensuality. If, on the other hand, Lucifer were eliminated, man would once again become a stone, devoid of incentives, movement, or emotion, and would be gripped by the icy fingers of death, like the suffering damned souls of Dante’s “Inferno.”

31. Thus, the eternal battle between these two great principles resembles the alternation of day and night, which tempers evil influences and compels them to serve the good of humankind, so that humanity may finally reach its aspirations. If the sun were to shine all day long, humanity would be consumed by its rays and revitalized…so much so that it would quickly become ethereal, whereas if night were always surrounding it, it would very soon return to the crystal.

32. Satan and Lucifer are not evil, but rather constitute the two greatest powers of Creation. Without them, the Universe could not exist; this is because, on the one hand, Mars, with Lucifer’s angels, is the dynamo of our solar system, and without them the planets could not maintain their ceaseless motion; and on the other hand, Satan erects the earth and the worlds with his crystallizing power, without which there would be no solid substances with which to make bodies. It is not force or power, but its perversion, that constitutes evil. The

magician says: “Demon est Deus inversus”. We could say: “The Devil is perverted power.” Therefore, man, the perverter of power, is the creator of demons, because he is the most incapable of creatures when it comes to wielding power from within his own being. The lower realms are forced to react to group impressions and to obey without hesitation.

33. In “Paradise Lost,” Milton recounts how sin and death were unleashed upon the world as a consequence of human disobedience. Satan, embodying prudence, negation, and crystallization, represents death, which constantly hinders his creations; Lucifer, on the other hand, embodies energy and action, representing sin, the negative aspect of its misuse. They attempt to assist the needs of creation as helpful and constructive powers, until the black magician, with the innate perversion of his soul, forces them to follow the path he sets for them and casts them upon humankind as infernal spirits. The ancients called the forces of Nature “one-eyed gods” because they disregarded people and only the command given to them, whether that command was to kill or to resurrect. The individualizing consciousness of the seven kinds of sparks released from the universal Pralaya must be the sole director of these forces, and the karmic responsibility for that direction and expression of these forces will fall not on these forces but on human and superhuman intelligences.

34. A black magician is one who learns to manipulate these forces for selfish and destructive ends, for their own aggrandizement or the satisfaction of their own desires. In contrast, the white magician prays that they may learn to use them as God has used them, for the salvation of divine creation. Power lies in the hands of those who know how to invoke it, without distinction as to whether it is for good or evil. This is why schools of white magic keep these powers secret from humankind until, after their development, purification, and inner growth, they earn the right to use them.

The Power of Black Magic

35. We must uproot from our minds the idea that the black magician cannot harm us because we follow the straight path or because he is weak due to his wickedness. This is a mistaken idea, spread to prevent people from becoming stronger, and propagated by the followers of the black path. It is as foolish as imagining that if a professional boxer were boxing a child, the child would win the fight because his soul is pure. Thousands of people lack the ambition to develop the necessary strength. They live honestly, they are good Christians, but they are so negatively pure thatThey are openly proclaiming that they are easy prey for anyone who wants to take advantage of the opportunity. They are not black themselves, but they are the kind who facilitate the perpetuation of black magic.

36. It is undeniable that, ultimately, good will triumph, and that the black magician will fall victim to his own excesses is also a literal truth, but many will have to bow their heads before the tyrant, and only the strong will be safe. Individuals who have achieved such mastery of natural forces that they are capable of stopping a person’s heartbeat on the opposite side of the Earth by emitting a mental beam, or of making a two-inch hole through a foot and a half of ebony with astral fire, are dangerous wherever they may be, and the majority of average, good people are utterly powerless to resist the onslaught of black magic. Only fools will underestimate this danger; the wise protect themselves against it, for an ounce of caution is worth a pound of cure. The wise interpose the shield of David of the white lightning between themselves and the black forces, thus protecting themselves.

37. We have reached a point in our world history where ignorance is criminal and deserves the most severe punishment. Ignorance is not black magic, but it is currently the

black magician’s best ally. People who know nothing better are constantly hindering the work of others, and that is the fruit of their indolence. When we try to violate the laws of Nature, we break our bodies and negatively affect our consciousness, opening those centers of our being that expose us to being influenced and sometimes obsessed by dark forces. This constitutes a crime almost as great as practicing black magic oneself. Man must understand that no compromise between good and evil is possible; he is either on one side or the other, and when doubt arises, he must be considered on the dark side, because doubt itself is an attribute of Saturn (Satan). Those who do not strive for the higher participate in the lower.

38. Let us face the problem impartially, neither with fear nor with overconfidence. With humility and contrition of spirit, let us acknowledge that the ongoing work of the dark forces in the world is very real. Recognizing this, let us rally and unite with the Brothers of Light in this battle for human souls.

39. When light arises, darkness dissipates. Where the sword of the spirits of light strikes, the hosts of darkness and denial retreat; but if the light were to cease even for a moment, they would return stronger than before.beforeThe dark forces act equally through the thoughtless as through the foolish, the arrogant and the conceited, and many of our most earnest seekers of truth become unwitting channels for the forces of evil in their moments of weakness, allowing the beast to take hold of them and, through them, attack the world.

40. Learn to discern between light and darkness in the world you live in, and guard your hearts night and day, so that nothing may arise from them that could be used as a weapon to destroy the light. Do not dwell on your past mistakes, for worry feeds demons, but banish them from your aura, sowing in their place the good seed of good deeds. Recognize your personal responsibility in this matter, for the awareness of responsibility nourishes to the soul. Let the higher powers of the Cosmos take notice of this acceptance of responsibility, because when your own light shines, the spirits of evil run to hide and cover their faces with the shadow of their cloaks.

The Demonic Power of the Ancients

41. Let us now examine those strange creatures that inhabit other planes of existence, which some consider to be souls condemned by the present wave of life and which black magicians mobilize in their spells. Many occultists of bygone eras have forced these elementals and nature spirits to serve them, as in the days of vast Atlantis. However, the true black magician will not act in the ethers where the etheric elementals dwell, but rather with entities that inhabit the astral light or animal magnetism of the lower subplanes of the astral plane. The true black magician can become (and generally is) a clairvoyant, but can never go beyond the astral world. He is chained to this plane by his passions, his hatreds, his enchantments, and his animal nature, which is the basis of black magic.

42. The ancients taught that there existed an entire hierarchy of demons for each of humanity’s sins, and that in most cases, these demons are the embodiment of those sins. From this, one can understand how humanity can create, in the lower subplanes of the astral plane, strange entities, some resembling degenerate human beings, while others have an animalistic configuration, appearing as lizards, snakes, and other reptiles. The power of the black magician lies in their ability to govern all these soulless entities, which, although not individualized, exert a tremendous influence on their own essences, as well as on the realm of Nature and on individuals.

43. It is very difficult for us to realize that our passions and antipathies are capable of giving birth to these demonic beings in the supraphysical worlds, and this is precisely one of the basic secrets of black magic. Every evil thought or base emotion facilitates the birth of these pitiful and submissive creatures, whoseIntrinsic qualities, in the hands of those who know how to manipulate them, become destructive agents of the powers of light, and it is part of the plan that those who conjure these creatures under their command will, in turn, fall victim to those who were once their slaves. The black magicians, one after another, are swallowed by the Maelstrom of the astral hell. The lower subplanes of the astral plane are the three hells of religion, and they constitute the domains where those beings born of passionate excesses live, battling one another with unyielding fury.

44. The black magician, becoming a conscious channel for these forces, unleashes a hellish flow of demons upon the world, and in doing so, alienates his own soul, because such forces must pass through his own astral body, and that is the price he pays in exchange for the dominion over his fellow beings that these demons allow him to exercise.The powerThe number of such elementals is practically unlimited, and there are many depraved souls who are willing to squander their immortal spirits in exchange for the dominion that these demons give them over the material world.

45. There are two kinds of black magicians:

1°) those who use demons from the astral plane for their misdeeds and whom they invoke through necromantic practices and spells;

2. Those who create their own demons and unleash them upon the world. Those in the first group do the most harm to the world, while those in the second harm themselves the most. The first group is mostly composed of conscious black magicians, while many in the second group are completely unaware of what they are doing. Some do not realize their grave mistake until the demons they have created turn against them.

46. ​The white magician does not use any of the powers of the animal world in his practice, working instead to transmute the animal aspects of his nature into more subtle and superior qualities. The white magician employs exclusively the matter of the subtlest subplanes of the elemental planes. The white magician is a builder, not a destroyer, and strives more to liberate than to dominate his fellow beings. The white magician has dedicated his soul to immortal light, while the black magician has sold his for fleeting glory. The grimoires of the Middle Ages are full of chants and spells for invoking spirits, and history abounds with tales of black magic, but the student of occult science has nothing to do with all this other than protect himself from it.

Spiritual Research

47. Do not experiment. In the spiritual realm, mere experimentation is often fatal, and many students have met their untimely demise, ended up in mental asylums, or become obsessed during their misguided attempts. Turn away from phenomenalism; for the true student, there is nothing of value in it. The sincere student does not seek salvation through the eyes, but through the soul. Phenomenalism does not require the participation of the higher aspect of being, but at most serves only to satisfy mere curiosity. Today, as yesterday, it will be rare to ask for the salvation of the soul, while it is usual to demand the performance of “miracles.”

A Fire Salamander

48. Have you ever had the feeling that someone you meet has something malevolent about them? Have you ever felt a strange repulsion towards someone? This is due to the elementals and mental forms that populate the aura of the person in question. If you possess similar qualities within yourselves, you will attract these entities, and they will cling to you like leeches. Often, when people leave a mediumistic session, they carry dozens of these demonic forms with them, which penetrate their bodies when the control of their will ceases as they become negative and receptive, which is tantamount to opening the door to them. Other entities, unable to penetrate the aura of a positive person at the moment, will continue to hover around them, waiting for an opportunity. The first time they lose their composure or commit a wrong act, the door is open, and the elementals enter through it.

49. If any of these entities were seen on the physical plane by someone, they would be terrified to death, but since this does not happen, the unfortunate person does not see it and is not worried.because of their existence. It would be very wise for people to take this into account and consider that the best way to avoid feeding them is to tread the White Path.

50. Man is an insignificant seed struggling amidst an ocean of intersecting impulses, and if he allows fissures to appear in his protective aura, these forces will rush upon him, invade him from all directions, and overwhelm him to such an extent that he will lose all possibility of higher understanding. Idleness and passivity are cardinal sins, and the Devil of all religions will seize those hands not working for the White Masters.

51. Today, more than ever, the light must shine so that the dominance of the demonic may cease once and for all. A great proportion of humanity’s physical, mental, and spiritual affairs are currently in the hands of elementals—brain-bound entities—and their masters, the black magicians, whose minds are cesspools of evil. From this world must arise those few who, with pure hearts and souls, will keep the light burning so that the forces of darkness do not prevail.

52. The false dominion exercised by demons must cease, and with it the goat-demon of Mendes, the Baphomet prince of this world, must fall. The false light and the false darkness must be dispelled so that the light of truth and true darkness may take their place.

53. Human passions are the sources from which the active currents of death that surround the world originate; and from the mouths and hearts of men are born sins and death, which will continue their task of killing and dying, drawing down upon civilization the wrath of the gods. Black magic will bring about the downfall of our continent, asHe has done it before, because he attracts the fury of the elements and causes the holocausts of continents. Only one attitude can prevent such a cataclysm. These demons must succumb to hunger, all passion must be transmuted into compassion, and the black magician exposed to the light of truth so that the law may be fulfilled.

Go and work in the vineyard, in the name of

Jesus Christ, Our Lord

END OF SECOND INSTRUCTION

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All the powers of Nature naturally serve the good, but when they fall into the hands of those who can wield power, humankind transforms them into savage spirits, to the detriment of its own world.

Chapter Three: THE MECHANISM OF MAGIC

THE MECHANISM OF MAGIC

Demonstrative diagram of how a healthy vital body

It protects man from black magic and disease.

54. Man is composed of three main parts: spirit, mind, and body. In turn, the body consists of vehicles and essences. Essences are further classified into two categories: a quintessential emanation of bodily consciousness called the soul, and archetypes or templates. These are often referred to as the patterns, structures, or designs according to which bodies are created and shaped.

55. Man possesses four vehicles, each of which has its respective mold within which it has been cast, although it will retain a fluidic or changing condition. These bodies are: the physical body, composed of solids, liquids, and gases; the vital body, composed of two atomic substances and two elemental essences; the astral or emotional body, composed of seven levels of volatile, fiery atoms called asteroids; and the mental body, composed of two higher subdivisions called appearance and what is it by the Hindus, and commonly known as thought-worlds in the form ofAnd formless, or concrete mind and abstract mind. These four bodies constitute both the chain of bodies we know as the lower nature of man and the invisible bodies that act and react in or through physical matter. In India, these bodies are called the string of beads strung together with the thread of life or consciousness that connects them. This idea is beautifully expressed by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

56. From Macrocosmic Man radiate four areas of activity that culminate in the formation of the human body (see diagram II). From the mouth of the Adamic Prototype was ejected Brahma, the one born with mind, as a personification of the ancient element of air. Without the element of fire and light, this manifestation, air, was colorless and was considered by the ancients to be true darkness. The great Robert Fludd called this the Crown of Chaos. It is the true darkness that precedes the light, and may well be called the Matrix of the Cosmos. It should be remembered that this allegory represents only Brahma in the aspect of Shiva, or the creator of the world of form. It is the Four-Headed Cherub described by Josephus, and also the Hindu Brahman in his four-headed aspect after his fifth head, the akasha, was destroyed by Shiva. In simpler terms, we can say that the figure represents the lower planes of our planetary and solar system, those levels of vibratory force that react tangibly or intangibly upon the substances known as intelligence, sensation, or perception.

57. We know that our scheme of worlds began as thought-forms or, as science prefers to express it, as dark nebulae. This darkness is the original substance from which the mental bodies of the present human race differentiated. The word “substance” here refers to the intangible mass of mentoids that comprised the mental body of the archetypal Adam. Today, the Lords of Mind, or amorphous air devas, operate in bodies composed of this

tenuous substance, which Herbert Spencer defines as the basis of thought power. It was from this “first of all” that the visible universe differentiated itself, when the dark nebula, in the process of its effort - to use Jacob Boehme’s terminology - became visible by the light generated by the friction of the dark atoms.

58. Thought awakened feeling, and the fiery worlds were born, and our celestial and terrestrial system emerged like a blazing nebula. (Occult philosophers partly agree with the so-called nebular hypothesis concerning the origin of our solar system. For their part, they teach that the planets never separated from the parent sun or core, but in reality remain individualized centers within the auric body of the parent globe.)

The worlds of fire, according to the Brahmins, were born from the arms and shoulders of the archetypal man. They were called the Red Sons, or those born of fire, and the contortions and crackling of the flames were symbolic of their struggles. They represent the astral or emotional body of man, because everything fiery in human nature is an expression of the eternal principle of fire in cosmic man.

59. Emotion gave rise to impulse, vitality was established, and the dark-skinned man was born from the viscera of the divine prototype. He was born of water, and it was ordained that he should labor in the fields and with the harvests, for he was the principle of strength and energy. Geologists and astronomers know that when the planets were in the process of cooling, great clouds of vapor enveloped the molting planet. This moist etherIt was considered by the ancients to be the veils of the Virgin of the World. Under its influence, the gods of the lunar face, those of darkness or shadows, were individualized. This corresponds to the vital body of man. Finally, the crystallization of moisture resulted in solid earth, linked to the black man, often called “sudra” or creature born into slavery, destined to live in chains until the night of the gods removes its shackles. This is the physical body of all things, which testifies with its functions and powers to its quaternary constitution.

60. It is interesting to compare how closely Brahmin mythology parallels the latest scientific discoveries. Ancient Buddhist hymns contain many references to atoms that were still unexplained. Thousands of years before the Christian era, Tibetans knew that the atom was like the solar system, but because their ideas were expressed symbolically, this philosophical insight of the Eastern mind was not taken seriously.

61. Just as the universe began as a dark nebula of mental matter, so too did humankind, that small universe created in the image of its Father and serving as a channel for the functions of its creative model, begin its physical manifestation as a mineral mental form. Later, it emerged as a lofty plant, and gradually, after many ages of transition, this plant became a sacred animal endowed with a body of moist ether. Later still, in the likeness of its archetype, it incarnated in the physical world as a human being.

62.- As a thought form he had only one body; as an astral plant two: one of mental ether and another of fire ether; as a sacred etheric animal, he added to those two bodies another of watery ether; and as a human being he added a fourth, composed of dense physical-chemical ether.

63. According to Ancient Wisdom, man remains in the physical world for approximately eight hundred earthly lifetimes, during which he passes through an infinite diversity of human forms and environments, and learns to master the various organic qualities of which dense physical vehicles are composed. His most important task during that time is to master the element of earth, and then gradually incorporate into his bodies of water, fire, and air the qualities and essences he gained from his experiences in dense matter.

64. Man also possesses three higher bodies, which, although invisible, are

all-powerful. Without his vital body, he would be a mineral, because rocks and metals have not individualized any other vehicle apart from the dense physical structure. Currently, the bodies of water, fire, and air manifest themselves only through the physical (terrestrial) organism, in which the element of air grants the power of thought, the element of fire the power of motion and emotion, and the element of water the power of reproduction and growth. From the foregoing, it is observed that, although they are not perceived, there are manifestations and functions that attest to the power of the invisible part of man’s constitution.

65. Occultists call the element of dark air the mental body, the element of fiery fire the astral body, the element of watery moisture the vital body, and the dense chemical element the physical body. These bodies, one within the other, or rather, interpenetrating one another, comprise what the human mind recognizes as its vehicle of consciousness. Through the mental body, humankind attains that faculty of thought and reflection whichThese qualities make it superior to animals; with the astral body, it gains the capacity for movement and emotion—sensation, color, and feelings, among other qualities—whose expression makes it superior to plants; and through the etheric or vital body, it acquires the power of reproduction of its species and also the functions of assimilation and excretion, because in that respect plants are superior to animals. Naturally, the mineral, with its concrete existence, proves its superiority over myriad amorphous and turbulent essences that have not yet acquired the power to manifest themselves on the physical plane.

66. Through the channels offered by this quaternary constitution, consciousness or ego (spirit) observes, knows, perceives, and reflects upon its environment. These bodies could be considered the feet and hands of the spirit. They are the tools with which abstract man produces concrete results. The physical and etheric bodies can be considered as corresponding to the feet, because they are the foundation, and the astral and mental bodies to the hands, because they are elements of attraction, repulsion, and dexterity. The spirit, although superior to all of them, cannot manifest itself except through this grouping of vehicles. This divine spark is limited by the quality of its bodies. In the vast majority of cases, it is subjected to those that should be its subordinates. In reality, instead of governing its world through apostolic succession, the spirit is subdued and overwhelmed by the incessant demands of its lower nature. Selfish appetites, desires, and inclinations imprison the spirit, while a false and cruel monarch usurps power.

67. Some of the ancient Greeks used to symbolize man with a hand, in which the four parallel fingers represented the body and its four major divisions, while the thumb, which acts, so to speak, against the others, symbolized conscience. Scripture states that God turned against his own children. It is interesting to note that man is the only creature that possesses a thumb that acts in opposition to the other fingers, since even in the most evolved monkeys, the thumb acts in the same direction as the other fingers, and could be considered an extra finger.

68. Some ancient students still associated the three phalanges of the thumb with the Trinity. The first (or distal) phalanx, which includes the nail, was consecrated to the Father, and its size and shape were believed to determine the power of the Will; the second phalanx was considered to establish the subject’s reflective mental faculties, while the third phalanx, generally wider, forming part of the palm, and when highly developed, considered indicative of a strong animal or physical nature, was consecrated to the Holy Spirit or the Hindu Shiva.

69. These five elements, consciousness and its four bodies, were symbolized by the five-pointed star or pentagram. Medieval alchemists knew this symbol as the Star of

Bethlehem, and when inverted, as the diabolical cloven hoof symbol. According to the Pythagorean system of geometry, the Masonic apron, with its four corners and the downward point of its triangular skirt, symbolizes the same thing. The lowered skirt symbolizes the murder of Hiram; its raising, his resurrection.

70. The conscious individual does not realize that life, consciousness, and intelligence are separate from physical substance, and that they merely act through chemical bodies during the period we call life in the chemical world. One of the great occult laws states that: to act in any sphere or plane of substanceTo achieve a certain level, it is necessary to possess a sensitive body capable of assimilating to that plane. The student must understand that each body can dominate others, as well as be dominated by superior bodies or forces. To develop any partial aspect of one’s own nature is to create a tyrant who will dominate and drain the rest of one’s constitution.

71. The power bestowed by wisdom and knowledge is what makes the occultist superior to his peers, this superiority being proportional to his high intelligence. In all aspects of life, the uninitiated will be confronted with mysteries. Thus, for the average person, the workings of an internal combustion engine will be as mysterious as infinitesimal calculus is to a kindergarten child, but closer familiarity and study will lead to the kind of understanding that makes them easy to operate and control. It has been said that no one is a stranger to their valet. The philosopher is a servant of God, and perfect service soon enables him to fully comprehend the desires and dictates of his divine Master.

72. There is a true science even in nailing shoes. After years of apprenticeship, a man can aspire to mastery of his craft. Despite the strictness of India’s caste system, it is interesting to note that when an individual excels at even the simplest thing, he is recognized and can mingle with those of a higher caste. But very few excel at anything, while those who are mediocre in all aspects of life are countless. Have you never seen someone manipulate enormous electrical potentials with impunity? Upon seeing this, you will realize that knowledge is power. The electrical technician is safe because he knows the laws governing the energy he is manipulating, but if he is careless for even a moment, or if someone unfamiliar with the subject were to attempt the same, they would be in mortal danger.

73. The laws of Nature do not obey man. They know neither virtue nor sin. Like the one-eyed Cyclopes of Greece, they are giants who fulfill their predetermined purpose, unmoved by the good or bad use of their power. The wise person submits to the laws of the energy they are employing and thereby makes them work for them. But as soon as they break the laws that govern the energies they are controlling, these energies will turn against them and destroy them without discrimination or scruple.

74. An occultist is an expert in the science of life. As an operative magician, he can manipulate the forces of Nature to achieve any goal he sets for himself. But woe to him whose aims are not in harmony with Nature’s plan! With his powers, he can work miracles, like the magicians of India; but his feats appear as miracles only to those who do not know, as he does, the laws relating to the subtle forces of Nature.

75. The dominion that knowledge grants over ignorance on the spiritual planes is far greater than that which wealth grants over poverty on the physical plane. Wealth can be a blessing or a curse, just like knowledge, which is mental wealth. The wise person will always be superior to the ignorant, because they possess a mind capable of commanding respect, and the ignorant person must bow before what they do not understand. In every age, a few have achieved the actualization of the tremendous powers of Nature, and in one way

or another, legitimately or not, they have become momentary holders of the serpentine zero. Someone can steal money and remain rich until they fall into the hands of the law, and thus, in the same way, a black magician can steal a certain amount of divine power and use it for the satisfaction of their own ends until in the end, the abuse of power will be the cause of their own destruction.

Man as a Sacred Five-Pointed Star,

with the Spirit Suspended Over Her.

76. Throughout the existence of the Atlantean world, and also in our current civilization, there have been and are powerful but not virtuous minds, and these two words are not always synonymous. Some of these powerful beings are today demigods, as glorious as Satan himself, but their misdeeds and falsehoods cast them into oblivion, like stars lost in space. These demonic gods revive black magic (the perversion of power) in the minds of men, a magic fostered today by the sin of selfishness.

77. Evil will never cease to exist until selfishness and greed are discarded as determining factors in human attitudes. For the concrete mind, it is common to sacrifice the eternal for the temporal. By confining itself to the narrow realm of the known, humanity loses sight of the effects of its actions in the boundless realm of the unknown. Short-sightedness is the cause of endless misery. Moral myopia leads to vice, philosophical myopia to materialism, religious myopia to dogmatism, and rational myopia to fanaticism.

78. Wise is he who serves the broadest purposes. Whatever the cost, that which man calls harmony and which Nature knows as perfect adjustment is worth whatever must be paid for it. Such an adaptation is the establishment of relationships harmonious between the universal planes of Nature and the individual centers of consciousness in man.

79. Selfishness fosters self-interest and self-gratification. The world gradually fades away, and the soul lives increasingly for the fulfillment of its own desires. Before long, the reign of Mammon will be fully established in that life. This means that the best dies, and only the outer shell of the personality remains; that the burning aspiration is no longer felt, and that the immortal, superior spirit is chained to the service of an animal organism, condemned to the torment of imprisonment within the walls of perversion.

80. We live in an age that shines in all matters of the body but is calamitously ignorant in matters of the divine. Every day the spirit of mercantilism feeds on the blood of millions, and every day struggle and competition absorb more of humanity’s energy and time, until the subtlest part of our nature succumbs from neglect, and virtue is considered an impediment to the advance of overwhelming materialism. This sinister viewpoint is the breeding ground for the larvae of black magic, the curse of the human race.

81. Black magic is a disease. It is a racial cancer; its ramifications resemble the tentacles of an octopus. It infests the state and the church alike; it enters the poor man’s hut as false hope, leading him to crime and self-annihilation. It also enters the halls of the wealthy as ambition and transforms the human heart into an organ that devises schemes for the accumulation of wealth. Black magic feeds on selfishness and greed, and is tolerated only by hypocrisy; it is the common fruit of this mercantilist age.

82. Magic is not a medieval superstition born of ignorance: it is a concrete fact. This age, considered enlightened, is in reality a shift in emphasis from one mental function to another; and as long as arrogance and selfishness remain rooted in the souls of men, they

will sell their souls, like Faust, for the gratification of the self, or rather, of the non-self. Honesty is a priceless jewel, and the forces of evil exert little influence on a life lived according to principles. Man, in his ambition, must first put his soul up for sale so that the Devil may be in a position to buy it.

83. Nature is a realm of intertwined energies, and those with the necessary power can bend them to their will for good or ill, and force—which lacks discernment between the two—will obey. But just as force has its laws, it also has its sanctions, and humankind must abide by them or suffer the consequences of its folly. The black magician, in his exacerbated egoism, believes himself superior to God or the law and repeatedly violates the laws of force; but, sooner or later, like Doctor Faustus, he will be destroyed by the very forces that until then served him. (It is said that Doctor Faustus actually existed in Germany at the beginning of the Middle Ages. He had a familiar spirit in his service. One day, Doctor Faustus was found dead with a dagger in his back, and the townspeople believed that his elemental had killed him.)

84. In our modern world, black magic finds fertile ground in the desires of man. Age after age, his own desires annihilate him. In his ignorance, he plays with fire and is astonished that storms rage above him, that lava and volcanic ash bury his cities, that war ravages his fields, and thatPowerful cataclysms could wipe out continents and nations in a single day. It does not obey the laws of force, nor does it recognize that the law of cause and effect governs everything, and that therefore, day after day, it sows folly and reaps misery.

85. The white magician dedicates his life to study, meditation, and service, in order to understand the laws of forces and direct them toward specific objectives. He adapts to the Plan, integrates its divine rhythm by sacrificing himself and abdicating his desires, submitting to the will of the Infinite, asking only to be shown what his duty is and how to be most useful to the greatest number.

86. On the contrary, the black magician is trapped in his belief that he knows exactly what he needs, when in reality he only knows what he desires. He tries to mold the Plan to his own desires. He is convinced that the entire Universe expects him to stand out from all his peers, when in reality the Cosmic Whole is unaware that he exists apart from his role as a mere atom marching alongside myriads of others like him toward a predetermined end.

87. Let us now see how the magician, with his knowledge of the invisible, works with the invisible forces of Nature. First, the student must remember that the wise person always tries to know what Nature expects of him, while the arrogant person always knows and tries to force Nature to act according to his own desires.

88. Nowhere is black magic more evident than in the current forms of religion. In both ancient and new doctrines, instead of establishing the will of the Logos as the law for humankind, the student is taught that one must petition the Infinite and that He must obey. No one can justifiably demand anything that is not the fruit of their own labor. Yet, millions, using psychology and metaphysics, try to reap where they have not sown, believing that the possession of knowledge gives them superiority over their fellow human beings and the right to enslave those who are weaker or less enlightened.

89. Let us now consider the four bodies of man as elements within the magical process and clearly establish the difference between their correct function and that which is not.

90. First, let us study all bodies as forming a whole. We can affirm that they were created to be assistants to their master, the spirit, symbolized by Eve, created from Adam’s side. The attributes of these bodies are numerous, and each has its own characteristics. The

same can be said of human bodies as of children: allow them to indulge their whims when young, and when they reach adulthood they will go nowhere. Our nature cannot be allowed capricious growth, just as children are not permitted promiscuous behavior in their environment if anything is to be expected of them; our nature must be trained, and there must be a clear discernment of who is the master and who is the servant.

91. A pseudo-philosopher allows his mind to wander aimlessly, creating a multitude of abominable and absurd entanglements of empty thoughts. He ensnares himself and others in arguments, dissensions, and endless series of self-contradictions. He tries to solve the economic situation, to create new religions, without studying the old ones, his main function in life being to constantly destroy something.

It’s like some writers of medieval literature who insisted on making it seem as if other authors were lying.

92. His mind, which should serve to clarify the facts of life, only complicates them and is used merely as a means to satisfy his senses and excite his nerves. His emotional system is a conglomeration of appetites and whims. He mistakes ambition for aspiration, cowardice for prudence, greed for economy, and lust for love. Thus, we can see that consciousness, in this whole entanglement of bodies, instead of being clarified by them, becomes increasingly and desperately entangled in them. We can say, by way of definition, that white magic is service to reality, the consecration of life to the protection and development of reality. It is the use of the forces of Nature for the good of all. Black magic is the use of wisdom and the power it implies for the satisfaction of sensation, ambition, desires, greed, and all that confused mixture of functions that we call personality. Its inevitable result is the annihilation of the entire physical and spiritual structure.

93. The white magician seeks to achieve control over himself; the black magician seeks to gain control over others. Man possesses four centers of consciousness, four concrete starting points for dedicating himself to the conquest of reality: his mind, his heart, his vitality, and his physical body. One man could be forced to serve another if the latter could achieve, temporarily or permanently, dominion over any of these four centers. To dominate another’s physical body is to make him a slave. To exert dominion over his vital body is to steal his vitality, as in vampirism, where one individual extracts the life essence from another. A common example is that of young people living with the elderly. The radiant energy of the children is shared by the elderly, and as a consequence, the children are nervous and rarely strong. Another example of the control of the vital system is the case of mediumship, in which disembodied spirits extract ectoplasm from the medium’s spleen in order to materialize, which results in exhaustion, both physical and nervous, of the medium, because he has given his own vitality as a vehicle for the external agent.

94. The astral body is dominated by emotional excesses, such as religious fervor, pain, fear, or hatred. When someone realizes they can influence others when their reasoning is clouded by an emotional excess, and if they also try to awaken those excesses in order to dominate others, that instigating mind is a black magician. Radiating love, hatred, or similar feelings toward others, to awaken analogous emotions in them for selfish or personal purposes, is also black magic.

95. Mental black magic is far more complex, because it includes practically everything: prosperity, metaphysics, autosuggestion, mental suggestion, occult procedures, influence over the environment, abuse of hypnotism, mesmerism, personality cults, and other modalities too numerous to continue listing. In one way or another, it includes

practically every kind of religious and economic dishonesty; in fact, it encompasses all the procedures one person uses against another for the aggrandizement of the stronger. It encompasses all ways of achieving superiority over others, unrelated to personal merit, since those who can do things better than others do not need black magic to excel. Thus, as a perversion of this idea, we havePsychology in the art of selling, etc. The procedures practiced work admirably well, but bring incessant misfortune to those who have resorted to them.

96. Those who use these false systems mostly try to justify themselves based on two inconsistent arguments:

1. that God destined man to satisfy the whims of his narrow intellect;

2. that man knows what he wants. Both are false premises, for man was not created by God to be rich, intelligent, healthy, witty, well-educated, or to achieve a happy marriage. This does not mean that the Lord objects to any or all of these things, but simply that if man desires them, he must continue to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, as Adam was commanded, and not by the sweat of others.

97. A man’s spiritual aura is his home, his feudal domain, and even when exiled from his house, from his world, that is his sanctuary. No one, for good or ill, has the right to enter it except through the front door, just as no one has the right to enter another’s house through the kitchen window. The entrance to the sanctuary, in this case, is the physical world, because in it everyone has the privilege of seeing their adversary, and in this world everyone has the opportunity to fight against those things they do not want; in it, our fellow human beings have the opportunity to reject or accept our offerings, according to their wishes. They can allow us to enter or keep us out of their sanctuary, as they see fit, for at least there is some equality. People can say “yes” or “no” according to their moral impulses, and they can enjoy the privilege of defending their integrity with their lives.

98. One can approach a friend and say, “I wish you would stop smoking; you shouldn’t continue,” but what one has no right to do, regardless of how virtuous or altruistic one’s wishes may be, is to surreptitiously enter their mind and implant an idea there that they cannot combat because they are unaware it has been placed there. Whoever does so assumes responsibility for the life they have diverted from its natural course.

99. The Masters themselves, our Elder Brothers, never enter a person’s sanctuary unless invited, for they respect every being’s right to live their own life. If an occultist were to break both legs and somehow request that an expert healer come and heal his left leg, the healer would do so and turn away, even knowing that the other leg is also broken, and would not touch it, because he has only been authorized to work on one leg at a time.

100. Wisdom is not given to man until he diligently seeks it, for in Nature every creature is granted the possibility of developing its own destiny and being cared for and protected by those intelligences placed there for that purpose. Those among us who try to interfere in the lives of others are disregarding the law of individual development; they always cause harm and never do good.

101. Once, a wise old Chinese man expressed his desire to travel to a distant city and sent a messenger to tell the kind people who would be hosting him that he should prepare only rice for his meal. But when he arrived, he found a table laden with abundant and varied dishes, because the family felt that this was the proper way to honor his presence. The philosopher disapproved of this and said, “I asked for rice and you served me corn; I asked for rice and you served me meat; I asked for rice and you served me sweets; and in”In the midst of all this, you haven’t served any rice.” Noticing that the family was hurt by these

words, he continued:

“I have lived for many years, and after carefully studying this body that God has given me, I have concluded that it can live nobly nourished on rice. It is with wisdom that I ordered my rice, and it is with ignorance that you have insulted me by offering me other foods. You consider me a great philosopher, you maintain that I am wiser than all others, and yet you do not consider me wise enough to dispose of my own food.” Similarly, when one of our brothers asks us for rice, we have no right to offer him meat simply because we think that is what he should be given. It makes no difference whether the meat is physical or spiritual, or whether the rice is real or symbolic.

Demonstrative Diagram of the Ascent of Consciousness

Through the Lower Bodies

102. No sick person will recover their health simply by complaining; they must assimilate the lesson implicit in the illness they themselves have brought upon themselves. Merely asserting one’s health is foolish. The proper and wise course is to investigate the causes of their affliction, counteract them, and recover their health. Even better philosophy is to be moderate, wise, and careful in order not to fall ill. Any kind of interference with the individual and mental independence of any human being is black magic—and of the worst kind. If this individual is dangerous to society, it may become necessary to imprison them, in order to good of the community, but this will in no way interfere with the conscious functioning of your mind.

103. If an event proves someone wrong with the means they employed, so be it; but whatever the outcome of their undertaking, that individual has remained the master of their own destiny and captain of their soul, and at least has lived their own life and chosen the manner of their death; they will have reasoned well and failed; they will have disregarded advice and entreaties, and all will have done what was humanly possible. Let no one break into the sanctuary of the spirit, not even that of the criminal soul, for the spirit is a part of God, endowed with the inalienable power of choice; and the Creator’s vengeance will fall upon whoever thus attempts to sneak in and obscure the divine spark against its own will. Many are those who have wreaked havoc on the laws of Nature by not allowing other human beings to fulfill their own destiny.

104. We can never say why souls incarnate following a destiny of poverty or wealth, why some grow strong and survive while others succumb; but what we can affirm is that the law of Karma governs all these things, placing each life in the precise location to best learn the lesson that will make it grow. Some must learn in pain and illness; others in joy and happiness; some must learn to be exalted, others to humble themselves; but all are here to save their souls by the sweat of their brow, to knead the bread of their own existence, even if they must do so with their own blood.

105. Who would be so short-sighted as to dare to decree health for the sick or illness for the healthy? Who would dare to establish: this one must be poor and that one rich? Would they know the reasons for it? Would they know the virtues and vices that, from the past, are the determining causes of their current condition? Would they know the reasons for the environmental conditions in which they now find themselves or the impulses that have led them to their present state? If not, they should remain silent.

106. We do not mean by this that the world is merciless and incapable of helping; what we do mean is that help should simply be given and not forcibly imposed on anyone. It

means that everyone should serve, help, and love others without ever trying to gain advantages from anyone or from Nature.

107. What right does anyone have to believe that man has come into this world to be happy? In the “One Thousand and One Nights” it is written that “happiness must be earned.” We are born with certain divine birthrights: a mind, a heart, two hands, and two feet. If any of these are missing at the time of our arrival, we will have some other function, proportionally more developed, to replace it. It is with these tools that the pursuit of happiness must continue, but we have no right to even imagine that it should be lent or given to us. We come here to acquire experience, like a child going to school; we may succeed in our studies, or we may have to continue them throughout our lives. The wise person is happy fulfilling their duty; when we try to force the universe to heal the sick or enrich the poor, we do not know what we are doing, because in our ignorant zeal we can cause irreparable harm to those we love, like parents who cannot refuse their children the sweets they desire. By gratifying their desires, we endanger their lives and their future abilities.

108. Let us work together to help everyone adapt to things as they are, helping them build a nobler destiny, not trying to give them something or force them to do what they want.unknown, but helping to develop those faculties that will make them worthy of the things they desire and of that peace that all long for. When we beg the Infinite Father to grant us those benefits we lack or to straighten the crooked paths we walk, let us always add to our long list of wishes this affirmation: “Lord, may these desires be granted to me if they are to be best for me; if not, may Your will be done, not mine.” Let us always subordinate the fulfillment of our personal desires, with great deference, to the Divine Will, which alone acts with perfect precision. And this will serve as a guarantee for our journey, and this humility will save us from the gigantic adversary of pride that whispers in our ear that we are greater than the Infinite. As Milton said: we will be cast out of heaven every time we try to feel superior to the Power that creates all things.

109. We all want the best in life; we all want to be surrounded by friends, but we shouldn’t expect to obtain any of that unless our lives have made us worthy of being honored, respected, and admired. The struggle, amidst our modern competitive ethic, is very hard, but it offers a reward to the victor for persevering. The environment provided by current social conditions was created by human qualities and temperaments, and humankind finds itself within it to learn to adapt to its complexities and uncertainties. Victory consists of the control one gains over oneself, over one’s own point of view, temperament, and habits.

110. Humankind has believed that happiness lies in dominating others. Throughout the ages, people have striven to imitate and dominate others, instead of achieving self-mastery and developing their individuality, which is what distinguishes them from other beings and gives them the potential to surpass them in some way. When people exchange their daily life of service for mental shortcuts and try to justify their vices instead of mastering them, they are already falling under the sway of black magic, a subtle power that nurtures the worst in them. People always try to avoid difficulties instead of overcoming them. The result will always be fatal, because the problem avoided will constantly remain an unmanageable one.

111. In Diagram I, we see the auric bodies of the individual. At the center is the physical body, the dense material core. Above and around this radiate lines of force, which we call subtle bodies. These subtle bodies require mastery, being a constant source of

enslavement, the responsibility for them resting on the shoulders of the one who possesses them. Surrounding this black outline of the physical body is the “armor of disease,” called the vital aura, represented by a grid-like area due to the interweaving and interpenetration of the two higher ethers with the two lower ethers. Under normal conditions, this etheric or vital body radiates through the pores of the skin in a manner analogous to a lining of fine skin extending several inches outward from the physical body. Occultism teaches that germs are more astral and supraphysical than physical; as long as the vital aura radiates from the body, it protects the individual from evil influences and negative forces of the physical and etheric worlds. If it declines, weakens, or its life force diminishes, this vital aura loses its power, allowing thousands of external influences to overwhelm its strength and courage; resulting in the penetration of disease elements, and the outcome is often fatal.

112. External to the vital body, there follows the astral body, ovoid in shape, whose center of gravity is the liver and whose widest end surrounds the areas of maximum sensation. Its color is ever-changing, and across it pass incessant shadows andImages that express the full range of human emotions and feelings. It is glorious, radiant, opalescent, never appearing the same twice in a row. Further outward still follows the mental body, as it would appear in a highly developed Adept, as a large, ovoid-shaped vehicle with its widest part upward, covering the area of ​maximum intelligence. It is the bluish hue of the dark nebula discussed in paragraph 61.

These bodies are visible to the clairvoyant, and also physically with Killner’s screens, as interpenetrating globes of light that constitute the fundamental bodies that are beyond the movement of emotion and the reality expressed by the physical envelope.

113. At a point between the eyebrows, on the forehead, lies human consciousness, in the sacred place of His tabernacle, enthroned among the globes that form His bodies. Through his actions, man gradually develops the latent potential within the physical body. By preserving his energy, he progressively develops the centers of vital consciousness, which is only achieved through intelligent living, since vitality is drawn from the atmosphere, the sun’s rays, our ordinary food, and other sources. After a gradual purification and regeneration of his emotions and feelings—control of his fiery bodies, with their outbursts and excesses—man gradually reaches the vibratory heights of the astral body and develops his latent potential, thus redeeming his animal soul. With his thoughts, ideals, and aspirations, aided by the twin faculties of logic and reason, man gradually conquers control of that brilliant mental apex that will bring him into harmony with the divine mind of the solar God.

114. The occultist comes to understand that the so-called planes of Nature are the bodies of Solar Man, and that each of these bodies corresponds to one of the subtle, though more gross, vehicles of man himself. This harmonization of his mental body with the mental plane of Nature unifies him with the mind of God, and all the other bodies follow a similar process.

115. Every thought, every emotion, and every action has value, bringing individual liberation closer day by day. Any force or peculiarity that halts or delays this process is harmful to humankind, and anyone who consciously seeks their own improvement at the expense of others is unfit for life, even though this is the salient aspect of ethics in our times. If only humanity would learn to be honest, realizing that the universe is honest, and that we are rewarded according to our motives or intentions as much as our actions, we would rid the world of many undesirable things.

116. Black magic appeals to the masses, to the very foundations of civilization,

offering something for nothing. As long as lust exists in the human heart, it will be a threat to the honesty and integrity of the human race. If the student of occultism would only remember that honesty is the mortal enemy of black magic, and that it cannot terrorize those who are true to themselves and sincere in adhering to the Golden Rules, they could protect their own soul and the souls of those they love from its insidious and unnatural influence.

END OF THE THIRD INSTRUCTION

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They represent the astral or emotional body of man, because everything fiery in human nature is an expression of the eternal principle of fire in cosmic man. 59.