The fundamental conditions of this development are patience, perseverance and tenacity. You will be richly rewarded for the effort which you devote to your development.
Be kind, friendly, and lenient towards your fellow man, but unrelenting and pitiless with yourself. You can only expect success in magic when you act in this manner.
Allow no one an insight into your inner sanctum. A magician never speaks about his path, his ascent and success. Silence contains the greatest might, and the more this commandment is obeyed, the more accessible and easier to reach are these energies.
Human beings are creatures of habit, and once they have become accustomed to a particular hour for their exercises, then the urge to exercise comes automatically.
Magical Schooling of the spirit
Thought Control,Thought Discipline, Mastery of Thoughts
Thought Control:
Seat yourself comfortably in a chair, or lie down on a sofa or bed. Relax your entire body, close your eyes and observe your train of thought for five minutes, and make an attempt to remember these thoughts.
Thought Discipline:
Retain one single thought or idea for a longer period of time while you steadfastly suppress all other thoughts which obtrusively try to join it. Select any idea or train of thought or any other suitable concept for this purpose at your own discretion. Retain this concept with all your power. Vigorously reject all other thoughts which have nothing to do with the one you are practicing. In the beginning you will succeed for only a few seconds, later on it will be minutes. You must succeed in maintaining and following one single thought for at least ten minutes.
Mastery of Thoughts:
Once you have mastered this exercise you can proceed with the next exercise. We will learn now to produce a complete vacancy of mind. Relax your entire body by lying comfortably on a sofa or bed or by sitting in a comfortable chair. Close your eyes. Vigorously reject any thought that attacks you. Nothing must be permitted to appear in your spirit or mind; only complete vacancy should prevail. Then maintain this vacant state of mind without digressing or forgetting yourself. In the beginning you will succeed, but only for a few seconds. However, through repeated practice you will become more successful. Once you have succeeded in remaining in this state for a full ten minutes without forgetting yourself or falling asleep, then the purpose of this exercise has been achieved.
Magical Schooling of the Soul
Introspection (Self-Cognizance)
Magical Diary:
Psalm 77:5-6
אָ֭חַזְתָּ שְׁמֻר֣וֹת עֵינָ֑י נִ֝פְעַ֗מְתִּי וְלֹ֣א אֲדַבֵּֽר׃
חִשַּׁ֣בְתִּי יָמִ֣ים מִקֶּ֑דֶם שְׁ֝נ֗וֹת עוֹלָמִֽים׃
Piece 1:
Record all the negative characteristics of your soul in a magical diary. . . . It is a so called "control book."(When practicing self-control, you have to be pitiless and strict with yourself when it comes to shortcomings, failings, habits, passions, urges and any other negative character traits. Be unrelenting towards yourself and do not glorify any of your failings and shortcomings.)
Piece 2:
Meditate and contemplate about yourself; place yourself in different situations of your past and consider how you behaved, taking note of the various failings and shortcomings which arose while you were in this situation. Record all the weaknesses in their finest nuances and variations. The more you discover, the better. Nothing should remain hidden; everything should be unveiled, whether the failings and weaknesses be significant or insignificant. Students that are especially gifted have discovered hundreds of failings in their finest nuances. These students had the ability of meditating properly and penetrating profoundly int their own souls. Wash your soul completely clean and sweep out all the filth.
(This psychic or astral preparatory work is the most important component in achieving magical equilibrium; without it, a consistent ascent in your development is not possible.)
Devote a few minutes to self-criticism every morning and every evening. Should you have a few free moments during the day, make use of them; contemplate intensively as to whether some failings still lurk in hiding somewhere. Should you discover some, record them immediately so they do not fall into oblivion. Whenever you discover a shortcoming do not hesitate, but record it immediately.
Piece 3:
Through deep and intensive contemplation, try to assign each of your negative characteristics to one of the four elements. In your magical diary, allow a column or a page for each of the four elements, under which you record your shortcomings. Should you not be certain which element a characteristic should be assigned to, add another category with the heading "indifferent." Eventually, as you advance in your development you will be able to determine to which element a characteristic belongs.
e.g.
Fire: Quick Temper, Jealousy, Hate, Vengefulness, Anger.
Air: Thoughtlessness, boastfulness, self-conceit, gossip, wastefulness.
Water: indifference, apathy, cold-heartedness, acquiescence, carelessness, shyness, defiance, inconsistency.
Earth: easily offended, laziness, irresponsibility, ponderousness, melancholy, inconsistency.
Piece 4:
In the following week meditate on each characteristic in the above-mentioned categories and divide them again into three groups and record them in your magical diary.
Group 1: Those negative characteristics that influence you the most.
Group 2: Negative characteristics that occur less frequently and have less influence
Group 3: Negative characteristics that occur infrequently and have little influence on you.
Everything has to be done in the same form and manner when it comes to positive characteristics. They have to be divided in accordance with the elements, the category with the heading "indifferent" and the three groups.
Through these exercises you will attain two astral soul-mirrors, one black, which represents all your negative astral characteristics, and one white, with your good and noble traits. These two magic mirrors are considered to be actual occult mirrors and no one but the proprietor has the right to view himself in these mirrors. . . These two magic mirrors give the magician the ability to accurately determine which element in the black or white mirror is predominant. This knowledge is absolutely necessary in order to reach your magical equilibrium. All your future development depends on it.
Magical Schooling of the Soul
Introspection (Self-Cognizance)
The mystery of breathing:
Make yourself comfortable sitting, or lying down. Relax your entire body and breathe through your nose. Imagine that, with the air, you inhale tranquility, inner peace, or whatever you are trying to achieve, and that it passes through your lungs and through your blood over into your body. Whatever you are trying to achieve, whether it be peace or success, must be imagined so intensively that the air which you inhale is impregnated with your wish - to the point that it has already become reality.
Breathing positive traits.
Conscious Intake of Nourishment:
Food which is impregnated with a wish has a particularly strong effect on the material plane, because it is subjected to the coarsest material elemental emanations. A magician would be well advised to consider this aspect if he wishes to achieve success in regards to his own body or other material wishes.
Whenever you have a meal, place the food which you are about to eat directly in front of you and, with the most intense imagination of which you are capable, concentrate on the idea that your wish be embodied in the food and that it is as effective in this manner as if it were already a reality. . . . All food and beverages are suitable for magical impregnation of wishes.
consuming positive traits
The Magic of Water:
Not only is water one of the most important elements in our daily lives, it is absolutely necessary for drinking, preparation of food, bathing, washing clothes, cleaning, etc.
Washing away negative traits
Drinking positive traits
