In fact, we may say that no occult process is really potent, nor can it be said to have completed its circuit, unless it has its point of contact with dense matter; a point which many occultists leave out of their calculations.
Occultism, though primarily a mental process, is not a purely mental process.
It is both spiritual and material.
In the great majority of cases of insanity, organic brain changes cannot be demonstrated, but alienists are more and more coming to recognise that they may look for the lues of Hecate in the blood.
Its chemical composition may depart from normal, whether owing to a change in the hormone balance or to the by-products of disease.
This change in the blood chemistry is immediately followed by a change in the emotional tone.
It may become over-emotional or depressed, apathetic or irritable.
The ancients described these conditions admirably as the four humours, the sanguine, the bilious, the limphatic and the choleric.
It has been abundantly demonstrated by physiologists that emotional states affect the chemical composition of the blood.
It is gradually being realised that these changes are brought about through the mediation of the ductless glands, which may be called the emotional brain, just as the grey matter within the skull may be called the sensory-motor brain.
It follows, therefore, that if through some interference with their functioning the glands produce a blood-composition corresponding to that produced by them when a particular emotional state is giving its special stimulus, the individual will experience the physical sensations associated with the corresponding emotional state.
His mind will proceed to adjust itself to these conditions by accounting for them through the imagination as best it may.
So that if there is a state of the blood characteristic of the condition of fear, fear-images will arise in the mind.
It is upon this basis that the organic insanities produce their characteristic mental states.
Whether the emotional state be due to a mental cause or a physical cause, the result is the same for the patient.
Organic insanities are distinguished from functional ones solely by their origin.
An organic insanity tends to depart further from the normal than a functional nervous disorder, because in the latter a considerable degree of compensation takes place, for the patient can to a great extent pull himself together and keep himself from going to disastrous extremes.
This is not the case with an organic insanity, which proceeds to its logical conclusion.
It is for this reason that a neurotic, although he may suffer severely, seldom has a complete breakdown unless he is sure of the necessities of life.
The self-preservation instinct keeps him on his feet.
Having considered the physical and subjective bases of mental disturbances, we are now in a position to assess accurately the part played by the Unseen.
What happens when a neurotic takes up occultism?
We can best answer this question by considering what happens when a normal person takes up occultism.
He learns for the first time of the existence of the Invisible Worlds and begins to think about them.
Immediately he does this he comes into touch with them.
At first he may not be able to perceive them consciously; nevertheless he is feeling them subconsciously and they are affecting him.
His life shows this to the close observer in a thousand ways.
There are great forces moving like currents in the Unseen and we are drawn into these according to our temperamental affinity for them.
The violent personality is drawn into the Current of Mars, the emotional, suggestible one into the sphere of Luna.
The influences of these spheres play upon them.
Now the occultist working under a proper system, knowing that he has got to meet these forces sooner or later, picks them up one by one voluntarily and by means of the appropriate rituals, and synthesises them within his own nature.
He knows too that each aspect has its obverse.
The Virgin Mary is reflected in Lilith.
The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.
The text describes 'great forces moving like currents in the Unseen' that affect individuals based on temperamental affinity, aligning with the concept of a universal medium transmitting influence.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The passage explicitly links internal emotional states with external blood chemistry and unseen planetary currents, reflecting the 'as within, so without' principle.
The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.
The idea that individuals are drawn into unseen currents according to 'temperamental affinity' implies a hidden resonance between human nature and cosmic forces.
The doctrine that human volition, cultivated by discipline and emancipated from passion and servitude, is the primary instrument of magical operation — will confirmed by persistent acts acquires causal power over self, others, and nature; distinct from faith and from mere desire.
The passage contrasts the neurotic who cannot pull himself together with the occultist who voluntarily picks up forces, implying the role of will in managing these influences.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The text connects individual blood chemistry and emotional tone to broader cosmic forces (Current of Mars, sphere of Luna), suggesting the human reflects cosmic structures.
The Hermetic doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree — two extremes of the same scale (hot/cold, love/hate) — such that one pole can be shifted toward its opposite by a change of degree ('mental transmutation'). Distinct from opposites_transcended (a completion-state marking the path's end, not this doctrine's active technique) and magical_equilibrium (balance held BETWEEN two forces, not identity-by-degree of what looks like two forces).
The passage states that 'each aspect has its obverse' and gives the example of the Virgin Mary reflected in Lilith, illustrating the Hermetic doctrine of opposites.
Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.
The text describes the occultist using 'appropriate rituals' to voluntarily meet and synthesise unseen forces within their own nature.