Experimental psychologists are already suspecting that emotion is closely akin to electricity; they have proved conclusively that emotional states alter the electrical conductivity of the body.
The occultist believes that emotion is a force of an electrical type, and that in the case of the ordinary man it radiates out from him in all directions, forming a magnetic field; but in the case of the trained occultist it can be concentrated into a beam and directed.
Supposing you are able to concentrate your whole attention upon a single feeling, inhibiting all else, you will have achieved a pure emotional state, unadulterated and undiluted.
All the life-force coming into your soul will therefore flow in this single subdivision of a single channel instead of in the many ramifications of the usual three channels previously referred to.
The concentration will be terrific, but it will only be achieved at a terrific price.
It is in order to achieve this terrible concentration that the saints of the West and the yogis of the East practise a torturing asceticism.
You must sell all that you possess in order to purchase this pearl of great price, and an echo of the method lingers in the fairy-tale tradition that the person who finds the lucky stone can only have one wish.
Such a concentration is good for one purpose, and one purpose only.
We can concentrate on a healing, or on a destruction, but we cannot work at both simultaneously; neither can we readily change over from one to the other.
We cannot com bine incompatibles within the limits of a single life.
That is to say, if we have concentrated on a work of malediction and death in order to achieve an act of revenge, our rage being satiated, we cannot immediately reverse the spin of the soul and reconcentrate upon works of wisdom and redemption.
We may liken the soul moving with the tide of evolution to a wheel spinning clockwise, or deosil; and a soul moving against the tide of evolution to a wheel spinning counter clockwise, or widdershins.
The position of the axle can be altered so that the wheel revolves at any angle without the direction of its revolution being effected, but the flywheel has to be stopped before the engine can be reversed, and a big flywheel takes a great deal of stopping.
Moreover, in order to reverse the flywheel, we have to stop the engine.
The normal movement of the soul is deosil, forward with the current of evolution.
We need to think many times before we undertake to reverse that spin even momentarily, in order to undertake a work of malediction and death.
The old saying, “There is the devil to pay,” is a true one.
Indeed, it is questionable whether there is such a thing as a momentary reversal of spin.
Momentum has to be checked and worked up again before reversal of spin can take place.
Very great forces can be developed by this subjective concentration of the mind itself, but even greater forces can be rendered available if we apply the mechanical equivalent of gearing; if, in other words, while this tremendous concentration is being held, we pick up the contacts of the corresponding cosmic force.
We use the powers of the human mind as a self-starter, and as soon as its lesser driving- wheel is flying round merrily, we throw in the clutch of the main engine.
There is a brief period of struggle as the little machine forces over the reluctant levers of the great machine, then the vapour fires and the engine takes up its work.
After that it is only a matter of engaging the gears and driving - if you can!
So it is with ceremonial magic.
Let us consider a concrete case of someone who wants to avail himself of a fighting force.
He would have recourse to a ceremony of the planet Mars.
He would therefore gather together in his temple all that was appropriate to Mars.
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 passage describes emotion as an electrical force radiating from the body to form a magnetic field and life-force flowing in channels, consistent with the occult concept of the Astral Light.
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 passage mentions applying the 'mechanical equivalent of gearing' to pick up contacts of the 'corresponding cosmic force,' implying hidden affinities between human will and cosmic powers.
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 text centers on the concentration of attention and emotion as a force, describing the human mind as a 'self-starter' to drive cosmic engines.
Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.
The passage instructs the reader to 'concentrate your whole attention upon a single feeling' as a disciplined inward practice.
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 text discusses the incompatibility of opposing forces (healing vs. destruction, deosil vs. widdershins) and the mechanics of reversing the soul's spin.
The doctrine and practice of one person deliberately inflicting harm on another through trained will, mind-power, or occult technique alone, without physical contact — producing exhaustion, illness, breakdown, or death in the victim; recognised cross-culturally as witchcraft, hexing, or the evil eye, and treated in Western esotericism as a genuine occult hazard requiring diagnosis and defence rather than dismissed as superstition. Distinct from magical_will (the general doctrine that trained volition has causal power, of which this is one malevolent application) and from spirit_conjuration (which subordinates an already-existing summoned spirit, rather than directing the operator's own power at a person).
The passage explicitly details the methods and concentration required for a 'work of malediction and death' under the section heading regarding psychic attacks.
The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle.
The text uses the metaphor 'sell all that you possess in order to purchase this pearl of great price' to illustrate the cost of achieving magical concentration.
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 'ceremonial magic' involving gathering appropriate items in a temple to engage planetary forces like Mars, fitting the definition of engaging divine/cosmic powers through consecrated actions.
The Hermetic doctrine that nothing rests — matter, energy, mind, and spirit are a single continuum differing only in rate of vibration, from the grossest matter to the least material spirit. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (affinity resonating BETWEEN separate things) in being a claim about what constitutes any one thing in the first place, and from magical_equilibrium (Lévi's operational balancing technique, which presupposes some vibration doctrine rather than stating this general principle).
The text states that experimental psychologists suspect emotion is 'closely akin to electricity,' touching on the continuum of energy and mind.