by Eliphas Levi
The natural medium is therefore the ever active and ever seducing serpent of idle wills, which we must withstand by continual subjugation. Amorous, gluttonous, passionate, or idle magicians are impossible monstrosities. The Magus thinks and wills; he loves nothing with desire; he rejects nothing in passion. The latter word signifies a passive state, and the Magus is invariably active, invariably victorious. The attainment of this realization is the crux of the transcendent sciences: so when the Magus accomplishes his own creation, the Great work is fulfilled, at least as concerns cause and instrument. The Great Agent or natural mediator of human omnipotence cannot be overcome or directed save by an extra-natural mediator, which is an emancipated will. Archimedes postulated a fulcrum outside the world in order to raise the world. The fulcrum of the Magus is the intellectual cubic stone, the Philosophical Stone of AZOTH —that is, the doctrine of absolute reason and universal harmonies by the sympathy of contraries.
One of our most fertile writers, and one of those who are least fixed in their ideas, M. Eugéne Sue, has founded a vast romance-epic upon an individuality whom he strives to render odious, who becomes interesting against the will of the novelist, so abundantly does he gift him with patience, audacity, intelligence and genius. We are in the presence of a kind of Sixtus V—poor, temperate, passionless, holding the entire world entangled in the web of his skilful combinations. This man excites at will the passions of his enemies, destroys them by means of one another, invariably reaches the point of view, and this without noise, without ostentation and without imposture. His object is to free the world of a society which the author of the book believes to be dangerous and malignant, and to attain it no cost is too great. Rodin is ill lodged, ill clothed, nourished like the refuse of humanity, but ever fixed upon his work. Consistently with his intention, the author depicts him as wretched, filthy, hideous, repulsive to the touch and horrible to the sight. But sup posing this very exterior is a means of disguising the enterprise and so of more surely attaining it, is it not proof positive of sublime courage? When Rodin becomes pope, do you think that he will be ill clothed and dirty? Hence M. Eugene Sue has missed his point; his object was to deride superstition and fanaticism, but that which he attacks is intelligence, strength, genius, the most signal human virtues. Were there many more Rodins among the Jesuits, were there one even, I would not give much for the success of the opposite party, in spite of the brilliant and maladroit special pleadings of its illustrious advocates.
To will well, to will long, to will always, but never to lust after anything, such is the secret of power, and this is the Magical Arcanum which Tasso brings forward in the persons of the two knights who come to deliver Rinaldo and to destroy the enchantments of Armida. They withstand equally the most alluring nymphs and most terrible wild beasts. They remain without desires and without fear, and hence they attain their end. Does it follow from this that a true magician inspires more fear than love? I do not deny it, and while recognizing abundantly how sweet are the attractions of life, while doing full justice to the gracious genius of Anacreon and to all the youthful efflorescence of the poetry of love, I invite the estimable votaries of pleasure to regard the transcendental sciences merely as a matter of curiosity and never to approach the magical tripod: the great works of science are mortal to sense-enjoyment.
The man who has escaped from the chain of instincts will first of all realize his omnipotence by the obedience of animals. The history of Daniel in the lions’ den is no fable, and more than once, during the persecutions of infant Christianity, this phenomenon recurred in the presence of the whole Roman people. A man seldom has anything to fear from an animal of which he is not afraid. The bullets of Jules Gérard, the lion-killer, are magical and intelligent. Only once did he run a real danger; he allowed a timid companion to accompany him, and, looking upon this imprudent person as lost beforehand, he also was afraid, not for himself but for his comrade. Many persons will say that it is difficult and even impossible to attain such resolution, that strength in volition and energy in character are natural gifts. I do not dispute it, but I would point out also that habit can reform nature; volition can be perfected by education, and, as intimated otherwise, all magical, like all religious, ceremonial has no other end but thus to test, exercise and habituate the will by perseverance and by force. The more difficult and laborious the exercises, the greater their effect, as we have now advanced far enough to see.
If it have been hitherto impossible to direct the phenomena of magnetism, it is because an initiated and truly emancipated operator has not yet appeared.1 Who can boast that he is such? Have we not ever new self-conquests to make? At the same time, it is certain that Nature will obey the sign and word of one who is strong enough to be convinced that she will. I say that Nature will obey; I do not say that she will belie herself or disturb the order of her possibilities. The healing of nervous diseases by word, breath, or contact; resurrection in certain cases; resistance of evil wills suffi cient to disarm and confound murderers; even the faculty of making one's self invisible by confusing the sight of those whom it is important to elude—all this is a natural effect of projecting or withdrawing the Astral Light. Thus was Valentius dazzled and terror-struck on entering the temple of Cesarea, even as Heliodorus of old, overwhelmed by a sudden madness in the temple of Jerusalem, believed himself scourged and trampled by angels. Thus also the Admiral de Coligny imposed respect on his assassins and could only be despatched by a madman who fell upon him with averted face. What rendered Joan of Arc invariably victorious was the fascination of her faith and the miracle of her audacity; she paralysed the arms of those who would have assailed her, and the English may have very well been sincere in regarding her as a witch or a sorceress. As a fact, she was a sorceress unconsciously, herself believing that she acted supernaturally, while she was really disposing of an occult force which is universal and invariably governed by the same laws.
The Magus-magnetizer should have command of the natural medium, and consequently of that astral body by which our soul communicates with our organs. He must say to the material body, “Sleep!” and to the sidereal body, “Dream!” 1 Thereupon, the aspect of visible things changes, as in hashish-visions. Cagliostro is thought to have possessed this power, and he increased its action by means of fumiga tions and perfumes; but true magnetic ability should transcend these auxiliaries, all more or less inimical to reason and destructive of health.2 M. Ragon, in his learned work on Occult Masonry,3 gives the recipe for a series of medicaments calculated to induce the exaltation of som nambulism. It is by no means a knowledge to be despised, but prudent magists should avoid its practice.
The Astral Light is projected by glance, by voice, and by the thumb and palm of the hand. Music is a potent auxiliary of the voice, and hence comes the word enchantment. No musical instrument is more bewitching than the human voice, but the far-away notes of a violin or harmonica may augment its power. The patient whom it is proposed to subjugate is prepared in this way; and when he is half stupefied, as it were, enveloped by the charm, the hands should be extended towards him; he should be commanded to sleep or to see, and he will obey despite himself. Should he resist, a fixed glance must be directed towards him, one thumb placed between his eyes and the other on his breast, so touching him lightly with a single and swift contact; the breath must be slowly drawn in and again breathed gently and warmly forth, repeating in a low voice, “Sleep!” or “See!”
1 As a subject of frequent reference in the writings of Éliphas Lévi, it may be noted that the Marquis J. Eudes de Mirville created a considerable impression in orthodox circles of France by a long series of works on pneumatology and “the fluidic manifestations of spirits”. He wrote at least ten large volumes between 1853 and 1868. All psychical phenomena, including magnetic somnambulism and spiritism, were referred to satanic power. Apart from this point of view, his exhaustive historical collections represented considerable research, and as such are still of value, but complete sets are not easy to obtain.
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sp; 1 “Should, however, a decision of some future council affirm that the devil exists personally, I should defer because of my principles. I have said that the word creates that which it affirms. Now, the Church is depositary of the authority of the word: when it shall have affirmed not only the real but personal existence of the devil, the devil will exist personally; the Roman Church will have created it.”—Le Grand Arcane, p. 108. See also Le Livre des Sages, p. 80: “The dogmatic devil is atheism personified; the philosophical devil is the exaggerated ideal of human liberty; the real or physical devil is the magnetism of evil; the vulgar devil is the crony of Polichinello.”
1 “Over and above that Animal Magnetism which is purely physical there is human magnetism, or that of the true moral order. Souls are polarized like bodies and spiritual or human magnetism is that which we term the power of fascination. The radiation of a great thought or a powerful imagination among men generates an attracting eddy which soon encircles the intellectual sun with planets and the planets with satellites. A great man in the heaven of thought is the focus of a universe.”—Le Grand Arcane, pp. 189, 190.
1 “Hallucinations and visions are the results of injuries inflicted on the Plastic Mediator and of its local paralysis. Sometimes it fails to radiate and in a manner substitutes condensed images for the realities revealed by the light. Sometimes the radiation is too strong and condenses outside, about some accidental and ill-regulated centre—as the blood in bodily excrescences—and then the phantoms of our brain assume a form and seemingly also a soul, and we manifest to our own selves in splendour or deformity, following the ideal of our desires or fears.”—La Clef des Grands Mystères, p. 123.
2 “Whether natural or induced, the state of somnambulism is highly dangerous, for in combining the phenomena of waking with those of sleep it is like a sidetracking brought about between two worlds. The soul jangling the springs of individual life, while bathing in the universal life, experiences ineffable beatitude and would willingly let go the nerve-cords which hold it suspended above the current. The situation is identical in every species of ecstasy. If the will plunges therein by an impassioned effort or lets itself go completely, idiocy, paralysis or even death may ensue.”—La Clef des Grands Mystères, p. 123. Compare also ibid., p. 122: “In the phenomena of natural somnambulism the Plastic Mediator is overloaded with ill-digested nutriment. Though bound by the torpor of sleep, the will in this state impels the Plastic Mediator instinctively towards the organs, to set it free, and there follows a kind of mechanical reaction which equilibrates the light of the Mediator by the movement of the body. This is why it is so dangerous to awaken somnambulists with a start, because the congested Mediator may withdraw suddenly to the common reservoir and abandon the physical organism altogether, thus causing death.”
3 “Maconnerie Occulte”, suivie de l'Initiation Hermétique, 1853. Exceedingly rare and said to have been issued for Freemasons only.
CHAPTER VII
THE SEPTENARY OF TALISMANS
CEREMONIES, vestments, perfumes, characters and figures being, as we have stated, necessary to apply imagination to the education of the will, the success of magical works depends upon the faithful observation of all the Rites, which are in no sense fantastic or arbitrary. They have been transmitted to us by antiquity and obtain permanently by the essential laws of analogical realization and of the corre spondence which interbinds ideas and forms. Having spent many years in consulting and comparing all the most authentic Grimoires and magical Rituals, we have succeeded, not without labour, in reconstituting the Ceremonial of universal and primeval Magic. The only serious books which we have seen upon this subject are in manuscript, written in conventional characters which we have deciphered by the help of the POLYGRAPHY of Trithemius. The impor tance of others consists wholly in the hieroglyphs and symbols which adorn them, the truth of the images being disguised under the superstitious fictions of a mystifying text. Such, for example, is the Enchiridion of Pope Leo III, which has never been printed with its true figures, and we have reconstructed it for our own use after an ancient manuscript.1 The Rituals known under the name of CLAVICLES OF SOLOMON are very numerous. Many have been printed, while others remain in manuscripts, tran scribed with great care. An exceedingly fine and elegantly written example is preserved in the Imperial Library; it is enriched with Pantacles and characters, most of which have been reproduced in the Magical Calendars of Tycho Brahe and Duchentau. Lastly, there are printed Clavicles and Grimoires which are catch-penny mystifications and impos tures of dishonest publishers. The book so notorious and decried formerly under the name of Little Albert belongs mainly to the latter category: some talismanic figures, and some calculations borrowed from Paracelsus, are its only serious parts.
In any matter of Realization and Ritual, Paracelsus is an imposing magical authority. No one has accomplished works greater than his, and for that very reason he conceals the virtue of ceremonies and merely teaches in his occult philosophy the existence of that magnetic agent which is omnipotence of will; he sums also the whole science of characters in two signs, the macrocosmic and microcosmic stars. It was sufficient for the adepts, and it was important not to initiate the vulgar. Paracelsus therefore did not teach the Ritual, but he practised, and his practice was a sequence of miracles.
We have spoken of the magical importance of the triad and tetrad. Their combination constitutes the great religious and kabalistic number which represents the universal synthesis and comprises the sacred septenary. In the belief of the ancients, the world is governed by seven secondary causes—secundii, as Trithemius1 calls them—which are the universal forces designated by Moses under the plural name of Eloim, gods. These forces, analogous and contrary to one another, produce equilibrium by their contrasts and rule the movement of the spheres. The Hebrews termed them the seven great archangels, giving them the names of Michaël, Gabriel, Raphaël, Anaël, Samaël, Zadkiel and Oriphiel.2 The Christian Gnostics named the four last Uriel, Barachiel, Sealtiel and Jehudiel. Other nations attributed to these spirits the government of the seven chief planets, and assigned to them the names of their chief divinities. All believed in their relative influence; astronomy divided the antique heaven between them and allotted the seven days of the week to their successive rule. Such is the reason of the various Ceremonies of the magical week and the septenary cultus of the planets. We have observed previously that in this sense the planets are only signs; they have the influence which universal faith attributes because they are more truly the stars of the human mind than the orbs of heaven. The sun, which Antique Magic always regarded as fixed, could be only a planet for the vulgar; hence it represents that day of rest in the week which we term Sunday without knowing why, the day of the sun among the ancients.
The seven magical planets correspond to the seven colours of the spectrum and the seven notes of the musical octave; they represent also the seven virtues and by contrast the seven vices of Christian ethics.1 The seven sacraments correspond equally to this great universal septenary. Baptism, which consecrates the element of water, is in analogy with the Moon; ascetic Penance is under the auspices of Samael, the angel of Mars; Confirmation, which imparts the spirit of understanding and communicates to the true believer the gift of tongues, is under the auspices of Raphaël, the angel of Mercury; the Eucharist substitutes the sacramental realization of God made man for the empire of Jupiter; Marriage is consecrated by the angel Anaël, the purifying genius of Venus; Extreme Unction is the safeguard of the sick about to fall under the scythe of Saturn; and Orders, consecrating the priesthood of light, is marked more especially by the characters of the Sun. Almost all these analogies were observed by the learned Dupuis, who thence concluded that all religions were false, instead of recognizing the sanctity and perpetuity of a single dogma, ever reproduced in the universal symbolism of successive religious forms. He failed to understand the permanent revelation transmitted to human genius by the harmonies of Nature, and beheld only a catalogue of errors in this chain o
f speaking images and eternal truths.
Magical works are also seven in number: (I) works of light and riches, under the auspices of the Sun; (2) works of divination and mystery, under the invocation of the Moon; (3) works of skill, science and eloquence, under the protection of Mercury; (4) works of wrath and chastisement, consecrated to Mars; (5) works of love, favoured by Venus; (6) works of ambition and intrigue, under the influence of Jupiter; (7) works of malediction and death, under the patronage of Saturn. In theological symbolism, the Sun represents the Word of Truth; the Moon, religion itself; Mercury, the interpretation and science of mysteries; Mars, justice; Venus, mercy and love; Jupiter, the risen and glorious Saviour; Saturn, God the Father, or the Jehovah of Moses. In the human body, the Sun is analogous to the heart, the Moon to the brain, Jupiter to the right hand, Saturn to the left, Mars to the left foot, Venus to the right, Mercury to the generative organs, whence an androgyne figure is sometimes attributed to this planet. In the human face, the Sun governs the forehead, Jupiter the right and Saturn the left eye; the Moon rules between both at the root of the nose, the two alae of which are governed by Mars and Venus; finally, the influence of Mercury is exercised over mouth and chin. Among the ancients these notions constituted the occult science of physiognomy, afterwards recovered imperfectly by Lavater.
The Magus who intends undertaking the works of light must operate on a Sunday, from midnight to eight in the morning, or from three in the afternoon to ten in the evening. He should wear a purple vestment, with tiara and bracelets of gold. The altar of perfumes and the tripod of sacred fire must be encircled by wreaths of laurel, heliotrope and sunflowers; the perfumes are cinnamon, strong incense, saffron and red sandal; the ring must be of gold, with a chrysolith or ruby; the carpet must be of lion-skins, the fans of sparrow-hawk feathers. On Monday the robe is white, embroidered with silver, and having a triple collar of pearls, crystals and selenite; the tiara must be covered with yellow silk, emblazoned with silver characters forming the Hebrew monogram of Gabriel, as given in the Occult Philosophy of Agrippa; the perfumes are white sandal, camphor, amber, aloes and pulverized seed of cucumber; the wreaths are mugwort, moonwort and yellow ranun culuses. Tapestries, garments and objects of a black colour must be avoided; and no metal except silver should be worn on the person. On Tuesday, a day for the operations of vengeance, the colour of the vestment should be that of flame, rust or blood, with belt and bracelets of steel. The tiara must be bound with gold; the wand must not be used, but only the magical dagger and sword; the wreaths must be of absinth and rue, the ring of steel, with an amethyst for precious stone. On Wednesday, a day favourable for transcendent science, the vestment should be green, or shot with various colours; the necklace of pearls in hollow glass beads containing mercury; the perfumes benzoin, mace and storax; the flowers, narcissus, lily, herb-mercury, fumitory and marjoram; the jewel should be the agate. On Thursday, a day of great religious and political operations, the vestment should be scarlet and on the forehead should be worn a brass tablet, with the character of the spirit of Jupiter and the three words: GIARAR, BETHOR, SAMGABIEL; the perfumes are incense, ambergris, balm, grain of paradise, macis and saffron; the ring must be enriched with an emerald or sapphire; the wreaths and crowns should be oak, poplar, fig and pomegranate leaves. On Friday, the day for amorous operations, the vestment should be of sky-blue, the hangings of green and rose, the ornaments of polished copper, the crowns of violets, the wreaths of roses, myrtle and olive; the ring should be enriched with a turquoise; lapis-lazuli and beryl will answer for tiara and clasps; the fans must be of swan's feathers; and the operator must wear upon his breast a copper talisman with the character of Anaël and the words: AVEEVA VADELILITH. On Saturday, a day of funereal operations, the vestment must be black or brown, with characters embroidered in orange or black silk; round the neck must be worn a lamina of lead, with the character of Saturn and the words: ALMALEC, APHIEL, ZARAHIEL; the perfumes should be diagridrium, scammony, alum, sulphur and assafoetida; the ring should be adorned with an onyx; the garlands should be of ash, cypress and hellebore; on the onyx of the ring, during the hours of Saturn, the double head of Janus should be engraved with the consecrated awl.