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vice as such it would not come within the purview of these pages, but it appears to be used systematically as a means of
obtaining occult power. Those who have any knowledge of the deeper aspects of occultism know that sex force is one
of the manifestations of kundalini, the serpent- fire that according to Tantric philosophy lies coiled at the base of the
spine, or in the terms of Western occultism, the sacral plexus. The control and concentration of the kundalini force is an
important part of the technique of practical occultism. There is a right way of directing it through thought-control, the
technique of which I have explained in my little book, The Problem of Purity (Rider); but there is also another method,
which consists in stimulating this force, and then directing it into abnormal channels where it will not be absorbed, but
remain available for magical purposes. It is for this reason that in certain forms of the Black Mass the altar is the naked
body of a woman who may either be still living, or have been slain sacrificially. A. E. W. Mason gives an account of
such a transaction in his book, The Prisoner in the Opal.
Less expert operators, however, cannot control this form of force; as soon as they generate it, it has to go to its logical
conclusion. They therefore employ another type of stimulus, not the woman, but the boy or youth. The practice of
paederasty in connection with occultism is very old, and was one of the causes of the degeneration of the Greek
Mysteries.
I have dealt with these subjects in some detail in another book of mine, Sane Occultism. Particulars of the actual cases
can be found by reference to the files of Truth, the journal already referred to.
Chapter XIV
THE MOTIVES OF PSYCHIC ATTACK. II
IT is a matter of general knowledge among occultists that it is not a pleasant thing to fall foul of an occult fraternity
of which one has been made a member by means of a ceremonial initiation and to which one is bound by oaths. As we
have already seen, the malignant mind of a trained occultist is a nasty weapon; how much more so the group-mind
formed out of a number of trained minds, especially if concentrated by means of ritual?
But in addition to the individual mental force of the members of a fraternity, and in addition to the collective force of its
group-mind, there is another factor to be reckoned with when a genuine occult organisation is concerned in operations
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of either protection or destruction. Every occult organisation depends for Its power to initiate upon what are called its
"contacts," that is to say, upon one or more of its leaders being psychically in touch with certain forces. If, in addition to
this, the organisation has a long line of tradition behind it, a very potent collection of thought-forms will be built up in
its atmosphere. Every initiation ceremony contains in some form or other the Oath of the Mysteries, which binds the
candidate neither to reveal the secrets of the Mysteries nor to abuse the knowledge they bestow. This oath always
contains a Penalty Clause and an Invocation wherein the candidate submits himself to a penalty in the event of a breach
of faith, and calls upon some Being to exact the penalty. Some of these oaths are most formidable affairs, and they are
administered with every circumstance of solemnity that stage management can devise. The way in which the occult
fraternities have succeeded in preserving their secrets shows how seldom these oaths are broken.
In the event of a dispute with an occult fraternity, the force invoked in this oath may come into action automatically. If
the recalcitrant brother is in the spirit of the tradition and it is his chiefs who are at fault, the power invoked in the oath
will be a potent protective influence with which the chiefs themselves will collide. If, on the other hand, he breaks faith
with the Mysteries, this avenging punitive current will come into action although his defection may pass undiscovered.
I was informed by an eye-witness of an incident which took place at an initiation, in which the candidate, a man to all
appearances normal in every way, after taking the oath in the usual manner, suddenly screamed most terribly, startling
everyone, and was ill for some weeks as if from a severe nervous shock, and never had anything more to do with
occultism. No explanation of the incident was ever forthcoming. I was present myself upon one occasion when a batch
of three candidates was being "done," and it was suddenly noticed in the course of the ceremony that the number of the
candidates had become reduced to two. Enquiry elicited the fact that the third had taken fright and fled.
What happened in these two cases, I do not know; whether there had been a breach of good faith, or whether one was
intended, no one can say; but something put the fear of the Lord into these two individuals pretty effectually. That no
such shock is inherent in the ceremony is proved by the fact that these are the only two cases in my experience, and I
have seen a very large number of ceremonies. Person ally, when I took my own initiation I felt as if I had come into
harbour after a stormy voyage.
Another man who was intimately known to me as an advanced occultist was turned out of the Order to which he
belonged, why, I do not know, but from what I saw of him I should imagine there were plenty of reasons. In defiance of
his initiation oath he began to work an independent lodge. He was warned to desist, and did so, dismantling his temple.
But he immediately began to get together another temple in a carefully concealed place; and this time he was more
ambitious, for he made ready to attempt the Greater Mysteries. He was an exceedingly clever craftsman and made all
the equipment of the temple with his own hands so that no one should know what was afoot. Concealed behind
Nottingham lace curtains in a mean street in West London was a beautiful little temple of the Greater Mysteries. He
completed this work after some months of arduous toil, no one knowing of it save those in his immediate confidence.
But before commencing the actual ritual work he went away for a short holiday at the seaside, and there he was seized
with a heart attack while sitting on the beach and died in four hours. The Order secrets were not betrayed.
Another man who had had a dispute with the same famous Order, printed and published their secrets as an act of
revenge. He was a man of good social position, considerable wealth and brilliant literary abilities, already making a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]