. The Open court. ngthe other part of the card I had received. The door was shut, thecarriage rolled away, and the lady raising her veil, I saw that myappointment was with an elderly person, who beneath her greyeyebrows had bright black eyes of preternatural fixity. Sir,shebegan, with a strongly-marked English accent, I am aware thatthe law of secrecy is rigorous among adepts; a friend of Sir B. L.,who has seen you, knows that 3^ou have been asked for phenom-ena, and that you have declined to gratify curiosity. It is possiblethat you do not possess the necessary materials; I can show you acomp
. The Open court. ngthe other part of the card I had received. The door was shut, thecarriage rolled away, and the lady raising her veil, I saw that myappointment was with an elderly person, who beneath her greyeyebrows had bright black eyes of preternatural fixity. Sir,shebegan, with a strongly-marked English accent, I am aware thatthe law of secrecy is rigorous among adepts; a friend of Sir B. L.,who has seen you, knows that 3^ou have been asked for phenom-ena, and that you have declined to gratify curiosity. It is possiblethat you do not possess the necessary materials; I can show you acomplete magical cabinet, but I must require of you, first of all,the most inviolable secrecy. If you do not guarantee this on yourhonor; I >yjll give orders for you to be driven home. I made the 154 THE OPEN COURT. required promise, and have kept it faithfully by not divulging thename, quality, or abode of the lady, whom I soon recognised as aninitiate, not actually of the first degree, but still of a most exalted. Instruments Used in Magic lamp, sword, wand, and pruning-hook. (From Levis Haute Magie.) grade. We had several long conversations, during which she in-sisted always on the necessity of practical experiences to completeinitiation. She showed me a collection of vestnnents and magical ELIPHAS LEVI—MAGICIAN AND MYSTIC. I 55 instruments, even lending me certain curious books which I vv^as inwant of; in a word, she determined me to attempt at her house theexperience of a complete evocation, for which I prepared myselfduring twenty-one days, scrupulously observing the rules laid downin the Ritual. All was completed on the 24th of July; it was proposed toevoke the phantom of the divine Apollonius, and to interrogate itabout two secrets, one of which concerned mjself, while the otherinterested the lady. The latter had at first counted on assisting atthe evocation with a trustworthy person, but at the last momentthis person proved timorous, and, as the triad
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade188, booksubjectreligion, bookyear1887
