In this article William Judge talks about the two paths
that exist in magic and to why it is better not to get involved in magic until
we have previously eliminated our defects.
We hear a good deal nowadays and are
likely to hear still more of occult science. In this regard we may as well
accept the inevitable. All things have their day, and all things revolve in
cycles; they come and go, and come again, though never twice the same. Even our
very thoughts conform to this universal law.
The life, the teachings, and the
fate of Pythagoras are involved in mystery, but the fate of the schools which
he established and of the followers who succeeded him are matters of history.
The slaughter of the Magi stands over against the abuses and abominations which
were perpetrated in their name, and doubtless by many styling themselves
Magicians.
It is not the object of this brief
paper to attempt to define magic, or elucidate occult Science as such, but
rather to suggest a few considerations which are of vital import at the present
time, equally important to those who utterly deny to magic any more than an
imaginative basis, as to those who convinced of its existence as a science,
are, or are to become investigators.
In both the publications and
conversations of the day, frequently occur the expressions "black
magic," and "white magic" and those who follow these studies are
designated as followers of the "left hand path," or the "right
hand path". It ought to be understood that up to a certain
point all students of magic, or occultism, journey together. By and by is
reached a place where two roads meet, or where the common path divides,
and the awful voice from the silence, heard only in the recesses of the
individual soul utters the stern command:
- "Choose ye this day
whom ye will serve." (Joshua 24:15)
Instead of black and white magic,
read, black and white motive.
The student of occultism is rushing
on his destiny, but up to a certain point that destiny is in his own hands,
though he is constantly shaping his course, freeing his soul from the trammels
of sense and self, or becoming entangled in the web, which, with warp and woof
will presently clothe him as with a garment without a seam.
If early in the race he finds it
difficult to shake off his chains, let him remember that at every step they
grow more and more tyrannical, and often before the goal is reached where the
ways divide, the battle is lost or won, and the decision there is only a matter
of form. That decision once made is irrevocable, or so nearly so that no
exception need be made.
Man lives at once in two worlds: the
natural and the spiritual, and as in the natural plane he influences his
associates, and is in turn influenced by them, so let him not imagine that in
the spiritual plane he is alone. This will be a fatal mistake for the dabbler
in magic, or the student in occultism. Throughout this vast universe, the good
will seek the good, and the evil the evil, each will be unconsciously drawn
to its own kind.
But when man faces his destiny in
full consciousness of the issues involved, as he must before the final decision
is reached, he will be no longer unconscious of these influences, but will
recognize his companions: companions, alas! no longer, Masters now,
inhuman, pitiless; and the same law of attraction which has led him along the
tortuous path, unveils its face, and by affinity of evil, the slave stands in
the presence of his master, and the fiends that have all along incited him to
laugh at the miseries of his fellow men, and trample under his feet every
kindly impulse, every tender sympathy, now make the measureless hells within
his own soul resound with their laughter at him, the poor deluded fool whose
selfish pride and ambition have stifled and at last obliterated his humanity.
Blind indeed is he who cannot see
why those who are in possession of arcane wisdom, hesitate in giving it out to
the world, and when in the cycles of time its day has come, they put forth the
only doctrine which has power to save and bless, Universal Brotherhood with all
that the term implies.
There may be those who have already
in this new era, entered the left-hand road. But now as of old, "by their
works ye shall know them". To labor with them is in vain. Selfishness,
pride and lust for power are the signs by which we may know them. They may not
at once cast off disguise, and they will never deceive the true Theosophist.
They can nevertheless deceive to
their ruin the ignorant, the curious, the unwary, and it is for such as these
that these lines are penned, and the worst of it is, that these poor deluded
souls, are led to believe that no such danger exists, and this belief is
fortified by the so-called scientists, who are quoted as authority, and who
ridicule everything but rank materialism. Yet notwithstanding all this, these
simple souls flutter like moths around the flame till they are drawn within the
vortex. It is better a million times, that the proud, the selfish and
time-serving should eat, drink and be merry, and let occultism alone, for these
propensities unless speedily eradicated, will bear fruit and ripen into quick
harvests, and the wages thereof is death, literally the "second death".
The purpose of Theosophy is to
eradicate these evil tendencies of man, so that whether on the ordinary planes
of daily life, or in the higher occult realms, the Christ shall be lifted up,
and draw all men unto him.
"Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn."*
Makes countless thousands mourn."*
The Christs of all the ages have
preached this one doctrine: Charity and Brotherhood of Man. To deny the law of
charity is to deny the Christ. The Theosophical Society is not responsible for
unveiling to the present generation the occult nature of man. Modern
Spiritualism had already done this; nor is the responsibility to be charged to
the Spiritualists, for these unseen forces had revealed themselves in the
fullness of time, and many millions had become convinced, many against their
wills, of the reality of the unseen universe.
These things are here, and
neither crimination, or recrimination is of any use. The responsibility
therefore, rests entirely with the individual, as to what use he makes of his
opportunities, as to his purposes and aims, and as he advances in his course,
involved in the circle of necessity, he influences whether he will or no, those
whose spheres of life touch at any point his own. As ye sow, so shall ye
also reap. By and by the cycle will close and both the evil and the good
will return like bread cast upon the waters. This is a law of all life.
Imagine not that they are weak and
vacillating souls who enter the left-hand road: Lucifer was once a prince of
light, admitted to the councils of the Most High. He fell through pride, and
dragged downward in his fall all who worshiped the demon pride. This is no
foolish fable, but a terrible tragedy, enacted at the gates of paradise, in the
face of the assembled universe, and reenacted in the heart of man, the epitome
of all. Only Infinite pity can measure the downfall of such an one, only
Infinite love disarm by annihilation, and so put an end to unendurable woe, and
that only when the cycle is complete, the measure of iniquity balanced by its
measure of pain.
Occultism and magic are not
child's-play, as many may learn to their sorrow, as many visitants of dark
circles have already and long ago discovered. Better give dynamite to our
children as a plaything, than Magic to the unprincipled, the thoughtless, the
selfish and ignorant. Let all who have joined the Theosophical Society remember
this, and search their hearts before taking the first step in any magical
formulary. The motive determines all. Occult power brings with it
unknown and unmeasured responsibility.
If in the secret councils of the
soul, where no eye can see, and no thought deceive that divine spark
conscience, we are ready to forget self, to forego pride, and labor for the
well-being of man, then may the upright man face his destiny, follow this guide
and fear no evil. Otherwise it were far better that a millstone were hung about
his neck, and he were cast into the depths of the sea.
Pythagoras.
(Path, March 1887, p.377-380; Echoes I, p.44-47)
(*Robert Burns, “Man was made to
Mourn: A Dirge.”)
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