The Book of Ceremonial Magic

Regarding the quest and its enthusiasm, it is almost a relief to know that it poses more danger to one's finances than it ever will to the human soul.

Alchemy has, however, another and perhaps even more secret side, where it enters the "science of the soul." I distinguish this completely and entirely from occultism and all its methods; it is nearly and almost literally identical to that postern original: "postern"; a back door or private side entrance, used here as a metaphor for a hidden path within the soul. inside the first entrance of the "Closed Palace" A common alchemical metaphor for the inner spiritual state or the hidden secrets of the craft. which I have already mentioned. This back door, however, represents several methods of research that do not compete with and do not interfere with one another.

We shall soon come to a third distinction that is much closer to our daily lives than the other two; it will require some courage on my part to address. For this reason, I will save it for when the necessity arises at the end—which is, in fact, where it belongs.

Just as there is a door in the soul that opens toward God, so there is another door that opens into the recremental original: "recremental"; related to waste matter or dross; here used to describe the "spiritual garbage" or waste products of the soul's depths. deeps. There is no doubt that these depths flood in when that door is opened effectively. There are also the "powers of the abyss," and this is why it has been worthwhile to examine this subject seriously. I am thankful to say—and hope, under God, to continue—that I have no firsthand experience in these areas. Therefore, it must be understood that I am speaking here based on secondhand knowledge. I believe it should be understood that there is no sublimity in those depths; they are the cesspools of spiritual life and the pit of the "second death." Their powers are like those of a pesthouse original: "pesthouse"; a hospital for people suffering from infectious diseases, such as the plague.. They are as far removed from the dark terrors and splendors of Dante's Inferno as the gold bars of heaven and the stars and lilies of the Blessed Damozel A reference to the poem "The Blessed Damozel" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, which depicts a woman leaning out from heaven. are far—and how far!—away from the divine Vision and the Union with God.

There is no specific reason to suppose that there is a "Black Sanctuary" or a "Hidden Church of Hell" opened to Christians. However, it may be—and by analogy, it seems there must be—a communion of "self-lost" souls, just as there is a "communion of saints." I imagine that the "Lords of its Convention" are to be feared in a certain way, like the Red and Black Death. But the short prayers, aspirations, and formulas which must be powerful enough at any moment to unlock all the gates of hell and tear down all its fortresses were taught to us almost at our mothers' knees. I believe that the prayer, "May the almighty Lord grant us a quiet night and a perfect end" original: "Noctem quietam et finem perfectum concedat nobis Dominus omnipotens"; a traditional blessing from the prayer service of Compline. would be enough to scatter whole armies, and not just the isolated "plague that stalks in darkness" original: "negotium perambulans in tenebris"; a reference to Psalm 91:6.. Furthermore, the Pater noster The "Our Father" or Lord's Prayer. is worth more than all the Golden Verses of Pythagoras, all the Commentary of Hierocles, and every oracle of Zoroaster—including the forged citations. In short, I do not think there is any power of the abyss, any "thrice-great" Magus, or any sorcerer in a state of final refusal to repent who possesses any charm, talisman, or spell that could look upon that one loving prayer without perishing:

"Keep us, O Lord, as the apple of your eye; protect us under the shadow of your wings." original: "Custodi nos, Domine, ut pupillam oculi; sub umbra alarum tuarum, protege nos."