HHH

Be seated in thine Asana, or recumbent in Shavasana,[1] or in the position of the dying Buddha.

Think of thy death; imagine the various diseases that may attack thee, or accidents overtake thee. Picture the process of death, applying always to thyself.

(A useful preliminary practice is to read textbooks of Pathology, and to visit museums and dissecting-rooms.)

Continue this practice until death is complete; follow the corpse through the stages of embalming, wrapping and burial.

Now imagine a divine breath entering thy nostrils.

Next, imagine a divine light enlightening the eyes.

Next, imagine the divine voice awakening the ears.

Next, imagine a divine kiss imprinted on the lips.

Next, imagine the divine energy informing the nerves and muscles of the body, and concentrate on the phenomenon which will already have been observed in 3, the restoring of the circulation.

Last, imagine the return of the reproductive power, and employ this to the impregnation of the Egg of light in which man is bathed.

Now represent to thyself that this Egg is the Disk of the Sun, setting in the west.

Let it sink into blackness, borne in the bark of heaven, upon the back of the holy cow Hathor. And it may be that thou shalt hear the moaning thereof.

Let it become blacker than all blackness. And in this meditation thou shalt be utterly without fear, for that the blankness that will appear unto thee is a thing dreadful beyond all thy comprehension.

And it shall come to pass that if thou hast well and properly performed this meditation that on a sudden thou shalt hear the drone and booming of a Beetle.

Now then shall the Blackness pass, and with rose and gold shalt thou arise in the East, with the cry of an Hawk resounding in thine ear. Shrill shall it be and harsh.

At the end shalt thou rise and stand in the mid-heaven, a globe of glory. And therewith shall arise the mighty Sound that holy men have likened unto the roaring of a Lion.

Then shalt thou withdraw thyself from the Vision, gathering thyself into the divine form of Osiris upon his throne.

Then shalt thou repeat audibly the cry of triumph of the god re-arisen, as it shall have been given unto thee by thy Superior.

And this being accomplished, thou mayest enter again into the Vision, that thereby shall be perfected in Thee.

After this shalt thou return into the Body, and give thanks unto the Most High God IAIDA, yea unto the Most High God IAIDA.

Mark well that this operation should be performed if it be possible in a place set apart and consecrated to the Works of the Magick of Light. Also that the Temple should be ceremonially open as thou hast knowledge and skill to perform, and that at the end thereof the closing should be most carefully accomplished. But in the preliminary practice it is enough to cleanse thyself by ablution, by robing, and by the rituals of the Pentagram and Hexagram. 0-2 should be practised at first, until some realisation is obtained; and the practice should always be followed by a divine invocation of Apollo or of Isis or of Jupiter or of Serapis.

Next, after a swift summary of 0-2 practice 3-7.

This being mastered, add 8.

Then add 9-13.

Then being prepared and fortified, well fitted for the work, perform the whole meditation at one time. And let this be continued until perfect success be attained therein. For this is a mighty meditation and holy, having power even upon Death, yea, having power even upon Death.

(Note by Fra. O.M. At any time during this meditation the concentration may bring about Samadhi. This is to be feared and shunned, more than any other breaking of control, for that it is the most tremendous of the forces which threaten to obsess. There is also some danger of acute delirious melancholia at point 1.)