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whether it is painful to the ego or not. Where the personal element enters so powerfully as it does
here, the adventure must be labelled an Art. Creative imagination in one person will be used to
formulate with an established conventional set of symbols a whole string of incidents and
experiences--illuminating and tending to the expansion of his consciousness--which to the vision
of a simple unimaginative person would occur in far simpler and matter-of-fact form.
Sophisticated people, with a smattering of modern psychology, are likely to assume that Magic
discloses nothing but the hidden depths of the Unconscious. They will say that these journeys are
comparable to dream experiences which are referred to the working and dramatizing power of the
subconscious mind. What difference does it make if the Qabalists named this sphere or type of
consciousness the Foundation or Astral World and the moderns the Unconscious? The terms are
cognate, and the symbols interchangeable; both mean the same thing, when all things are considered.
If Magic possesses weapons that are more penetrating and incisive than scientific ones, shall we
reject them because Magic is the discredited house where they are stored? If magical methods reveal
our secret selves more directly, and unlock the vast store of wisdom and power within our souls,
showing us how to control them in ways that neither psycho-analysis nor any modern science has
succeeded to do, should we not be foolish to reject its benefits?
Magic is a scientific method. It is a valid technique. Its approach to the universe and the secret of
life's meaning is a legitimate one. If it assists us to become more familiar with what we really are, it
is a Science--and a most important one. And to the scientist, whether he be psychologist or
physicist, it will open up an entirely new universe of tremendous extent. If it succeeds in making us
better men and women, a little more kind and generous, a little more aware of the spiritual heights to
which we are capable of climbing with but a little exertion, then it is the religion of religions. And
should it spur us to greater efforts in order to render life and living more beautiful and intelligible,
should it make us more anxious to eliminate ugliness, suffering, and ignoble misery, surely it is an
Art before which all other Muses must bow the head and bend the knee in reverential and perennial
praise!
THE MEANING OF MAGIC 34
Israel Regardie: The Art Meaning of Magic
Regardie: The Art and Meaning of Magic;
Bibliographical Note
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
In "Magic in East and West" the magical techniques referred to are dealt with in some detail in
MAGICAL RITUAL METHODS by W. G. Gray.
In "The Meaning of Magic" the technique referred to as appearing in "The Tree of Life" Chapter 10
is described by Gareth Knight in a contribution to THE NEW DIMENSIONS RED BOOK edited by
B. L. Wilby. The Correspondences mentioned as being in "A Garden of Pomegranates" are also
described in detail in A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO QABALISTIC SYMBOLISM by Gareth Knight
and the subject is also dealt with in THE LADDER OF LIGHTS by W. G. Gray.
The books whose titles are capitalised above, in addition to Dr. Regardie's THE ART OF TRUE
HEALING, mentioned in the text, are all published by Helios.
Regardie: The Art and Meaning of Magic; Bibliographical Note 35
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