10. Non-Occult Dangers Of The Black Lodge-a

THE facts considered in the previous chapter, though they should make us exceedingly careful in weighing evidence, must not blind us to the fact that there are black sheep in every fold and that a fraternity which started out with the best of intentions may quite inadvertently, through the ignorance or imperfections of its leaders, begin to drift on to the Left-hand Path. Perfectly innocent people enter it when it is in process of drifting but not yet avowedly black, and may find themselves in waters that are unpleasantly dirty, even if not actually dangerous. The esoteric dangers will be studied in detail in the next chapter, but we may very well consider in this place the exoteric dangers which may occur behind the Veil of the Temple, for human nature is much the same wherever we meet it, and shows little originality in choosing its road to the Pit. It might be thought that in such a book as this there were no need to touch upon these matters, but if this book is to serve the purpose for which it is intended, it is necessary to do so for three reasons; firstly, because the greater proportion of the students of esotericism are women, and even in these enlightened days they are usually ignorant of the life of the underworld, and a Black Lodge leads by a straight and narrow way into the land of apaches and demimondaines, quite apart from its other drawbacks. Secondly, a knowledge of these facts is essential for differential diagnosis. Thirdly, occult powers are not infrequently used to obtain purely mundane ends, therefore when the question of ordinary criminality occurs in connection with an occult organisation, the issue may be complicated by an admixture of methods that belong to another plane. We must always remember that a lodge may not necessarily have been formed for the express purpose of evading the law; it may have started with a perfectly legitimate end in view, and have been exploited by evil-doers for their own purposes, for, owing to the secretive nature of its proceedings, the fraternity form of organisation lends itself to various forms of law-breaking. One occult organisation is well known to have been involved in the drug traffic, another is riddled with unnatural vice. A third degenerated into what was little better than a house of ill-fame, and its head was an expert abortionist. Others have been involved in subversive politics. Those who join fraternities without properly investigating them and the credentials of those who are running them may find themselves involved in any or all of these things. Behind the veil of secrecy, guarded by impressive oaths, many things may happen, and it is therefore essential to inform oneself most carefully concerning the character, credentials and record of the leaders of an organisation. If these are not readily accessible, something is wrong. The Mysterious Stranger, who has just arrived from the East or the Continent, both rather vague addresses, is probably a fraud. If difficulty is experienced in discovering the antecedents of an alleged adept, enquiries could be made of the well-known periodical, Truth, of Carteret Street, S.W.I. Truth was originally founded to expose abuses in financial and public life, and for this purpose keeps a “Black List” of individuals who are better avoided. It is fair and fearless in its methods, neither a persecutor nor a respecter of persons. It keeps a watchful eye upon the occult field and pillories charlatans, a task for which it should have the gratitude and support of all who have the cause of the Wisdom Religion at heart. The commonest danger to which a person who gets into the company of undesirables is exposed, is to be induced to part with more money than is convenient by the time- honoured expedients of either swindling or blackmailing, the latter being by far the commonest form of unpleasantness in Black Lodges. The one and only remedy in all such cases is to place the matter in the hands of the police.