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material being with much power is, or at least should be, the outcome of ages of evolution. However, there is
a lawful method of producing an homunculus which is taught in a certain secret organization, perhaps known
to some of those who may read this, which could very readily be adapted to some such purpose as we are now
discussing.
The second method sounds very easy and amusing. You take some organism already existing, which happens
to be suitable to your purpose. You drive out the magical being which inhabits it, and take possession. To do
this by force is neither easy nor justifiable, because the magical being of the other was incarnated in accordance
with its Will. And ... thou hast no right but to do thy will. One should hardly strain this sentence to make
one s own will include the will to upset somebody else s will!
Yet it might happen that the Will of the other being was to invite the Magician to indwell its instrument.
Moreover, it is extremely difficult thus to expatriate another magical being; for though, unless it is a complete
microcosm like a human being, it cannot be called a star, it is a little bit of a star, and part of the body of Nuit.
But there is no call for all this frightfulness. There is no need to knock the girl down, unless she refuses to do
what you want, and she will always comply if you say a few nice things to her.
Especially on the subject of the Wand or the Disk.
You can always use the body inhabited by an elemental, such as an eagle, hare, wolf, or any convenient animal,
by making a very simple compact. You take over the responsibility for the animal, thus building it up into
your own magical hierarchy. This represents a tremendous gain to the animal.
This is the magical aspect of eating animal food, and its justification, or rather the reconciliation of the apparent
contradiction between the carnivorous and humanitarian elements in the nature of Homo Sapiens .
It completely fulfils its ambition by an alliance of this extremely intimate sort with a Star. The magician, on
the other hand, is able to transform and retransform himself in a thousand ways by accepting a retinue of such
adherents. In this way the projection of the astral or Body of Light may be made absolutely tangible and
practical. At the same time, the magician must realise that in undertaking the Karma of any elemental, he is
assuming a very serious responsibility. The bond which unites him with that elemental is love; and, though it
is only a small part of the outfit of a magician, it is the whole of the outfit of the elemental. He will, therefore,
suffer intensely in case of any error or misfortune occurring to his protegee. This feeling is rather peculiar. It is
quite instinctive with the best men. They hear of the destruction of a city of a few thousand inhabitants with
entire callousness, but then they hear of a dog having hurt its paw, they feel Weltschmertz acutely.
It is not necessary to say much more than this concerning transformations. Those to whom the subject naturally
appeals will readily understand the importance of what has been said. Those who are otherwise inclined may
reflect that a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.
CHAPTER XII
OF THE BLOODY SACRIFICE:
AND MATTERS COGNATE.
It is necessary for us to consider carefully the problems connected with the bloody sacrifice, for this question
is indeed traditionally important in Magick. Nigh all ancient Magick revolves around this matter. In particular
all the Osirian religions the rites of the Dying God refer to this. The slaying of Osiris and Adonis; the
mutilation of Attis; the cults of Mexico and Peru; the story of Hercules or Melcarth; the legends of Dionysus
and of Mithra, are all connected with this one idea. In the Hebrew religion we find the same thing inculcated.
The first ethical lesson in the Bible is that the only sacrifice pleasing to the Lord is the sacrifice of blood; Abel,
who made this, finding favour with the Lord, while Cain, who offered cabbages, was rather naturally considered
a cheap sport. The idea recurs again and again. We have the sacrifice of the Passover, following on the story of
Abraham s being commanded to sacrifice his firstborn son, with the idea of the substitution of animal for
human life. The annual ceremony of the two goats carries out this in perpetuity. And we see again the
domination of this idea in the romance of Esther, where Haman and Mordecai are the two goats or gods; and
ultimately in the presentation of the rite of Purim in Palestine, where Jesus and Barabbas happened to be the
Goats in that particular year of which we hear so much, without agreement on the date.
This subject must be studied in the Golden Bough , where it is most learnedly set forth by Dr. J. G. Frazer.
Enough has now been said to show that the bloody sacrifice has from time immemorial been the most considered
part of Magick. The ethics of the thing appear to have concerned no one; nor, to tell the truth, need they do
so. As St. Paul says, Without shedding of blood there is no remission ; and who are we to argue with St.
Paul? But, after all that, it is open to any one to have any opinion that he likes upon the subject, or any other
subject, thank God! At the same time, it is most necessary to study the business, whatever we may be going
to do about it; for our ethics themselves will naturally depend upon our theory of the universe. If we were
quite certain, for example, that everybody went to heaven when he died, there could be no serious objection
to murder or suicide, as it is generally conceded by those who know neither that earth is not such a
pleasant place as heaven.
However, there is a mystery concealed in this theory of the bloody sacrifice which is of great importance to
the student, and we therefore make no further apology, We should not have made even this apology for an
apology, had it not been for the solicitude of a pious young friend of great austerity of character who insisted
that the part of this chapter which now follows the part which was originally written might cause us to
be misunderstood. This must not be. The blood is the life. This simple statement is explained by the Hindus
by saying that the blood is the principal vehicle of vital Prana.
Prana or force is often used as a generic term for all kinds of subtle energy. The prana of the body is only one of
its vayus . Vayu means air or spirit. The idea is that all bodily forces are manifestations of the finer forces of the
more real body, this real body being a subtle and invisible thing.
There is some ground for the belief that there is a definite substance
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