Anyone who has any knowledge of the esoteric aspect of sex knows that union is as much etheric as physical.
It is this fact which constitutes the real difference between normal union and self-abuse, and explains why the former is vitalising and harmonising, and the latter is exhausting and nerve-wrecking.
May we not conceive it possible for anyone who can project the etheric body, or a being whose densest vehicle is etheric, to play a part in unions under certain conditions?
And if we accept the theory of medium- ship, or of obsession, which is a pathological form of mediumship, what shall we say concerning the possibility of a union while one or other of the partners is under control?
What maimer of soul might come through into incarnation under such conditions?
Medieval tradition recognised two classes of demons which invade sleep, and called them Incubi and Succubi.
These were held to be responsible for lascivious dreams.
Modern psychology discounts their services and looks nearer home.
The psychic, however, is of the opinion that there is something in the old belief, and that the lustful imaginings of men’s hearts (and women’s too, for that matter) do indeed produce artificial elementals according to the method described in a previous chapter, and that these elementals are something more than subjective images, and have an objective etheric existence and play their part in the genesis of certain experiences.
For instance, a person may have dreams and phantasies of a lascivious nature, and these may give rise to their characteristic thought-forms; these thought-forms, now existing independently of the mind that originally conceived them, and being in the aura of that person, give him suggestion just as any other thought-forms projected telepathically from the mind of another person might do.
We little realise the extent to which we give ourselves telepathic suggestion by means of extruded thought-forms.
We are, in fact, ensphered by our own atmospheres, emanated by ourselves.
I remember being told as a child that if a bird-cage were hung immediately under the canopy of an old-fashioned four-poster bed, the bird would be found dead in the morning, poisoned by the carbonic acid gas exhaled by the sleeper lying below.
We little realise the extent to which we are psychically poisoned by our own emanations of unguarded and unpurified thoughts.
It is well known that orgasm takes place in dreams, accompanied by appropriate dream-pictures.
The ancients believed that such an experience was due to the action of demons.
Moderns believe it to be due to physical tension.
It is not so generally known that there are people, both male and female, who can produce the same reaction at will solely by means of day-dreams.
May we not ask ourselves whether it cannot also be produced by means of telepathic suggestion, and whether this may not have played a part in the operations of many covens?
There is another curious phase of this aspect of the Left- hand Path, which was brought to my knowledge through a case which came into my hands.
A young girl, simple minded and unsophisticated, living a very isolated life with a widowed mother, went to consult a well-known psychic, whom we will call Mr.
X.
In the circle in which both Miss Y.
and Mr.
X.
moved there was another, and prominent figure, whom we will call Mr.
Z., who had a reputation for a knowledge of magic.
Mr.
X.
told Miss Y.
that he had read the records of her past lives, and that there was a karmic tie between herself and Mr.
Z., and that she could help him in his work by pouring out upon him her love and magnetism.
She was instructed to meditate upon Mr.
Z.
every night as she lay in bed, until she fell asleep.
The magical manufacture of a semi-autonomous entity from the operator's own creative mind-stuff, formulated with sufficient force and sustained attention that it acquires a distinct, independent life of its own beyond an ordinary passing thought-form — directable as tool, weapon, or guardian, but capable of escaping the operator's control if mishandled. Distinct from spirit_conjuration (binding a spirit that already exists, rather than manufacturing one) and from word_power_incantation (the causal force of the spoken word itself, rather than the sustained mental construction of an entity).
The text explicitly describes how lustful imaginings produce artificial elementals that have an objective etheric existence and act independently of the mind that conceived them.
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 the etheric medium where thought-forms exist and interact, functioning as a universal fluid transmitting will and suggestion, which is cognate with the Astral Light.
The doctrine and practice by which the etheric or astral double separates from the physical body, at will or involuntarily, to act, travel, or encounter other entities on a plane subtler than the physical — remaining tethered to the body by a silver cord, and capable of returning physical injury (bruises, exhaustion) sustained while thus projected. Distinct from linga_sharira (the static doctrine that a subtle form persists as a template) in describing its active operative use, and from shamanic_journey (a trance-journey framed within a shamanic ritual complex, undertaken to return with knowledge, songs, or a recovered soul) in being a Western-esoteric technical practice with its own physiology of cord-attachment and reciprocal wounding.
The text questions whether anyone who can project the etheric body can play a part in unions, directly referencing the doctrine of etheric projection.
The doctrine that the divine or a spiritual principle takes on a specific, bounded material or bodily form — descending from an unconditioned state into individual, corporeal existence — as a discrete act rather than a diffuse pervading presence. The Christian Word made flesh, the Hindu avatara, the Egyptian pharaoh as living Horus, the Vajrayana tulku. Distinct from divine_immanence (the general claim that the divine pervades all of creation diffusely, not a specific embodiment-event) and separation_from_source (the felt exile FROM origin, the opposite motion) in describing a specific, individuated descent INTO a particular body or form.
The text asks what manner of soul might come through into incarnation under conditions of demonic union.
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 describes how will and imagination can produce objective etheric entities and influence others through telepathic suggestion, central to the doctrine of magical will.
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 case study at the end explicitly instructs the subject to meditate upon Mr. Z every night as she lay in bed.
The state of a person being controlled or inhabited by an external spirit or entity — the entity as subject acting through the person's body, rather than merely troubling them from without. Distinct from haunting (a discarnate soul or place-bound presence that interferes without necessarily entering and controlling a living body) and from spirit_conjuration (an operator deliberately commanding a spirit's appearance, the reverse relation — here the spirit is uninvited and in control, not summoned and subordinated).
The passage explicitly discusses obsession as a pathological form of mediumship and the possibility of partners being under control during union, which aligns with the definition of possession.
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 discusses the Left-hand Path and a case where a psychic instructs a girl to pour magnetism onto another man, implying a form of directed psychic influence or attack within a magical context.
Organized, persisting groups — fraternities, orders, lodges — that maintain esoteric knowledge or practices as an institution distinct from public religion or mainstream society, holding 'the keys' collectively rather than through any one master-disciple pair. Distinct from esoteric_lineage (a genealogical chain of individual transmission, not an institution) and hidden_sayings (the concealment of a teaching's meaning, independent of whether any organized body holds it).
The mention of 'covens' and a circle in which Mr. X and Mr. Z moved suggests organized groups maintaining esoteric knowledge.