Effective Defence

We defend ourselves and resist everything that is harmful to us; the more something harmful oppresses us, the more effectively and powerfully we resist and defend ourselves against it. For example, there are various ailments, of a lesser and more serious kind, against which our astral and physical bodies naturally defend themselves strongly. We must help our

physical body through medical help or through other appropriate healthy measures that make us well. An initiate, who is in control of his astral and physical bodies, helps himself best with special magical means, except when the ailment is a consequence of karmic causes. We know that the cause of every ailment is either rooted in the imbalance of the elements, or through the intervention of the Divine Providence as a test. And that is why we should make every effort to attain an equilibrium, or balance, of the elements which, at the same time, guarantees us our health. Health is the basis, the foundation, for all our work and activities, without which it will be awfully difficult to reach our goal.

Since we know that now, we build first of all the most effective defence against the activities of all negative attributes and through that we render them harmless, we destroy them.

The best solution of course would be to change all negative attributes into the various opposite positive attributes. And that is the reason why we should never forget our daily introspection, which is the most effective means, the most effective weapon, against everything that harms us spiritually, astrally and physically. Actually, it is the most heroic battle for anyone who is an initiate, to develop and build a good and flawless character. In doing so, we overcome, at the same time, the most difficult obstacles that are in the way of our self­

knowledge. 5 We employ for that particular task our will, our endurance or stamina and our perseverance.

We never let our main goal out of our sight, which we endeavour to reach no matter what it takes. This material plane, the physical world, which we have become so accustomed to during the entire time of our reincarnation, captivates us incessantly, and continuously more powerfully,

5 Self-knowledge, or introspection, is the understanding and the knowledge oi one's own attributes, one's own narure, limitations, abilities and insight into oneself. - ED.

25

and effectively the closer we are to our goal. That is why liberating or unfettering ourselves from the material plane, the independency of our present physical or material life, is our most difficult obstacle, which we must overcome at the same time. We can erect an effective defence against this dependency to the material plane, by employing the strong belief: I own n othing in this material w orld, not even my own life, n ot my physical or astral b odies, which I only use as shells, s o that I can express myself and manifest for the durati on of my temp orary life here on earth. All that belongs t o nature and it is only on loan t o me. Therefore, when !fulfill my task, my m1ss10n, the reas on why I thr ough destiny reincarnated here on this material plane, I shall rem ove my physical garment, my physical b ody, and enter the invisible w orld. I shall n ot take even one single hair fr om my head with me, and everything that I experienced here on earth shall forever disappear fr om my mem ory. Only what I developed here thr ough spiritual, astral and eternal intr ospecti on, the

Temple of S olom on, shall I take with me int o eternity.

It is easy to realise that when we bid farewell to this material world we bum all the bridges behind us, so that we can continue on our path to eternity. However, if we are not mature enough yet for eternity, then we must return to the physical world in new shells, with new energy, and mainly with the experiences from past incarnations, but without any particular memory from our consciousness of what we experienced in our past lives, in order to continue with the perfection, the completion, of our work or task.

The continuation of our battle begins, and we find the most effective base in our defence in intuition and inspiration, which we prepared already in our past incarnation. Our destiny leads us on a safe path to our goal that has been set. Defence is a power, a quantity.

If we are ill, we make every effort to become healthy again. There are, of course, many kinds of ailments. Since time immemorial the healing methods have been constantly improved and perfected through research to find the cause of ailments through scientific knowledge of the entire organism of the human body to the finest detail, through the results of dissection, chemical analysis of bacteria, blood etc. , and also through observation of laboratory animals of the various ailments. Many dangerous and senous ailments were conquered, so that the mortality rate of the population decreased. Despite all this there are still many deadly diseases in existence that cannot be eliminated or healed, for example, cancer. ⁶ Despite that, karmic law reacts to these successful interventions with new ailments; therefore, we human beings do not escape the natural equilibrium of causes that come into being on their own. We are dealing here at the same time with both karmic and developmental processes.

These ailments come into being in the human body through the disturbance of the function of the elements. The disturbance of the function of the elements comes into being primarily through severely derailed negative attributes, passions and bad habits, which are nourished through repetition and through physical causes, as for example, colds, accidents, bums etc. Every ailment is, of course, also an imbalance of the elements of the karmic burden from an earlier life.

6 We need to remember these are notes from the 1 950s. The translators believe that

this is the personal opinion (or a misinterpretation of Bardon's meaning) of Bardon's

student at that time. In those days, chemically-based medicines were used sporadically, not daily, as is the case in present times. ^-ED .

27

9. Return to Health

An initiate who thoroughly knows the composition of his physical, astral and spiritual bodies in accordance with the effects of the four elements, and controls the might and power of these elements can stop, through his magical intervention, any dangerous ailment, destroy it and heal the ailing person in this manner - provided the ailment was not caused by that

person' s karma. When that is the case no one in the world can

help that ailing person. Such a person must leave the course of the ailment to his destiny through which it was determined, as a consequence of a particular cause, which he at one point registered in his causal world.

Another important factor to regain one ' s health is belief

and the certainty of the conviction that we will get healthy.

Whoever does not possess this firm belief will have great difficulties to get healthy, and as a rule he will be defeated by or succumb to the ailment. We know that belief can move mountains. We know this from the history of the Lord and Master Jesus, when He said to an ailing person, who believed

in Him, "Rise, your belief has healed you !" This kind of power is manifested belief. Therefore, we should never forget belief when it comes to healing; otherwise, failure will result.

Remark: If we, as initiates, want to heal someone, we must first be absolutely healthy ourselves and possess an abundance of vital energy, so that we do not expose ourselves to the danger that healing the ailing person comes at the expense of our own health. Only when we possess an abundance of vital energy can we help an ailing person get well through our magical abilities. That is why we must first

heal ourselves completely, because our health, which serves us to reach our highest goal, is considerably more valuable than healing our fellowmen. Since we cannot replace our vital energy that quickly, it would cause us great harm. When we heal with magic, this kind of healing occurs through the elements, transplantation of the elements, autosuggestion, and with the help of invisible beings and the universal light, and with rituals, talismans and prayers. This kind of healing especially requires our will, belief and humility. As a rule, only a person whose elements are in equilibrium can have a vigorous, robust and healthy constitution. Most of us do not possess such health; therefore, we must make the effort to secure such health by bringing, in time, our elements into equilibrium. Of course, this can only be achieved through daily introspection and a perpetual battle with our negative attributes. ^An imbalance of the elements does not immediately call forth an acute ailment. An ailment only manifests when any of the negative attributes, passions and habits are too deeply rooted in our astral body and consume too much of our precious vital energy. From this point of view and from practical experiences, we realise that our path into eternity is actually an uninterrupted recovery of all our derailed negative attributes and an imbalance of the elements. We can rely absolutely on this recovery, because it is on the path to attain health and the highest ideals. This recovery is the quality and the various powers that we employ are the quantity.

10. Magical Authority

Magical authority is an attribute of the magician, which lends him might and power, and in accordance with his maturity he can, with his will, accomplish everything that he wishes.

29

Magical authority can only be attained through a complete equilibrium of the elements, and in this case we clearly realise that we are a microcosm, that is to say, a copy of the macrocosm itself. Therefore, any magical authority cannot exist without having attained equilibrium of the elements.

Through continuous visualization of our spirit we reach the highest degree of magical might or powers, and while in this state we can also attain the highest degree of belief, manifested belief. The Lord and Master Jesus refers to this level of development when He said: "If you had as much belief no larger than a grain of mustard seed, you could move mountains ! "

We can reach this position through magical development, which means that we imitate Divine Providence, because at the highest level of this position of power we create in the same manner as Divine Providence does - something out of nothing. In this state, which resembles relative omnipotence, we are also able to perform extralegal things and also cause and create chaotic conditions and circumstances.

But a sensible magician would never lower himself to carry out such deeds. He only works in the framework of the laws and analogies.

Magical authority gives us the possibility and ability to influence everything created in all the elements and on all planes, as for example, we can influence people, heal them, load or charge talismans, and on the whole, accomplish whatever we wish with our will, within the range of magical authority.

We become conscious of the fact that we are actually an obj ective spirit, who can in accordance with his knowledge and authority force beings on every level to serve him the way he wishes, but always only for noble purposes. Through our authority we can attract any being and make all the powers pay

attention to us within the framework of analogy. The equilibrium of the elements gives us the authority to make contact with every positive or negative being. Having reached this level of development we are able, in accordance with a prayer, to identify ourselves with the macrocosm, and make a connection with God personally, partly or permanently.

Finally, magical authority makes it possible for us to attain the highest knowledge of the universal truth as well as our relative personal truths.

You can recognise the power of your magical authority by how people relate to you and the remarks they make.

11. Fervency or a Red-Glowing Fire

Fervency, or a red-glowing fire, is an attribute of the universal element of Fire. This attribute makes itself known as an aspect of the Fire element in the astral and material plane. The sun, the source of warmth and light, expresses its fervency best through its rays, for example, when we are exposed to them in the Sahara or at the equator. In the astral plane, fervency is a human attribute in which the Fire element significantly dominates. For example, it expresses itself by striving to reach the highest of goals with the most fervent yearning, meaning to yearn for everything that leads to the attainment this goal, yearning for the magical exercises, yearning for good deeds, for obtaining equilibrium of the elements, and yearning for a specific art. A person also places in his work and in his entire activities the yearning fervency for good results and success.

This attribute easily overcomes any kind of difficulties and obstacles which come our way, for this attribute of yearning is charged with strong dynamics for everything good, which will

3 1

bring us and our fellowmen great common benefits. It is an unselfish and highly positive attribute, which ennobles the character of any person who possesses it. When it comes to fervent love, we also recognise fervent yearning as the highest ideal and that applies also to all of creation. However, we do not express it openly, we do not profane it in front of uninitiated people, and we keep it carefully hidden in our innermost. Only through deeds, provided we observe them closely, can we judge the kind of great and fervent love we and other people are filled with. We must bear in mind that this highly powerful attribute must always be everywhere and in everything and must be under our control, in that, we control or dominate it with our will. Otherwise, this fervency would unbalance us.

Of course, it is different when it comes to human beings who are not in control of their fervency or their fervent yearnings. This expresses itself especially in one's sexual life, yearning for wealth, might, fame and similar negative attributes, passions and excesses. It is not given to every person to use this fervency for a good purpose. It is a rare and precious attribute, and he who possesses it should protect it carefully from the public, so that is will not be unnecessarily profaned. We must experience a genuine and exceedingly delicate and honest fervency deeply in our soul. The state of fervency cannot be expressed or described. Only initiates can clearly recognise and consciously experience this attribute. An

uninitiated person can neither understand nor recognise this attribute, because he or she lacks the intuition and self­

knowledge (introspection).

We either brought this attribute with us from a past life or we were born with it, or we must develop it through strong and honest yearning in accordance with our highest ideals, for which we battle come what may. The degree of fervency is its power and that is the quantity.

12. The Power of Decision-Making

A forceful person has the ability to always and everywhere make the correct decision in everything. This attribute fuses with his character and has a pleasant effect on his fellowmen, who consider him an authority and they willingly subordinate themselves to him.

For example: Somewhere in the vicinity of a movie theatre a fire breaks out, which does not directly threaten the theatre. Of course, the sirens can be heard broadcasting news of the fire, which spreads quickly among the audience in the theatre. Each of them immediately attempts to reach the exit as quickly as possible, in order to protect him- or herself from possible danger. Most of the audience is afraid, especially the women and children. In a great panic they push everyone in front of them, but through these actions these people could lose their lives by being crushed and trampled to death. But suddenly a forceful man rises to the occasion, by standing on a seat, in order to be seen, and in loud and clear voice he says,

"Attention, attention ! This theatre is not threatened by the fire.

We are not in danger here; therefore, walk slowly toward the exits, one after another. Otherwise, the people in front of you, through your cowardly haste, could be crushed and trampled to death ! "

Since this forceful man had the presence o f mind and the power of making that decision, he had the desired effect at the right time on the panicked people, all of whom would be saved from a huge disaster of being crushed and trampled to death.

We always decide upon closer reflection on what we should do in certain situations, provided we possess the competence. If we are aware that danger is looming, we must

33

make a decision no matter what happens, in order to avoid danger or prevent an accident, as aforementioned, or for other senous reasons.

In magic we also employ our power of decision­

making when it comes to the exercises, magical work, and on the whole in everything connected with magic. As an example, we may decide to rise every morning at five o'clock to carry out our exercises and other magical tasks. The early-morning hours are most favourable for our exercises, since it is still reasonably quiet, and after a night ' s rest we are fresh and

rested and not exhausted from any kind of work. That is why we will be more successful when we do our exercises early in the morning. We must never change this decision without a good reason. When we have given ourselves a task and we want to accomplish it in a particular period of time, we could prolong it unnecessarily, but then we would never start or finish the task. Let us say we make the decision to accomplish our job in three months, but during this time another equally important j ob comes in between, which we would like to finish too in the shortest time. But since we made the decision before for the first task, we must stand firmly by that decision. If we want to do the other urgent job too in the shortest time possible, then we must sacrifice some of our personal time for

rested and not exhausted from any kind of work. That is why we will be more successful when we do our exercises early in the morning. We must never change this decision without a good reason. When we have given ourselves a task and we want to accomplish it in a particular period of time, we could prolong it unnecessarily, but then we would never start or finish the task. Let us say we make the decision to accomplish our job in three months, but during this time another equally important j ob comes in between, which we would like to finish too in the shortest time. But since we made the decision before for the first task, we must stand firmly by that decision. If we want to do the other urgent job too in the shortest time possible, then we must sacrifice some of our personal time for