The Secrets of Magick

written by David Bersson

Reading from the eighth chapter of Bacon's Epistle on the Nullity of Magic, we will find the great significance he placed on secret writing, and particular reference to the shorthand system:


"The man is insane who writes a secret in any other way than one which will conceal it from the vulgar and make it intelligible only with difficulty even to scientific men and earnest students. On this point the entire body of scientific men have been agreed from the outset, and by many methods have concealed from the vulgar all secrets of science. For some have concealed many things by magic figures and spells, others by mysterious and symbolic words. For example, Aristotle in the Book of Secrets says to Alexander, 'O Alexander, I wish to show you the greatest secret of secrets; may the Divine Power help you to conceal the mystery and to accomplish your aim. Take therefore the stone which is not a stone and is in every human being and in every place and at every time, and it is called the Egg of the Philosophers, and Terminus of the Egg.' Innumerable examples of the kind are to be found in many books and divers sciences, veiled in such terminology that they cannot be understood at all without a teacher. The third method of concealment which they have employed is that of writing in different ways, for example, by consonants alone, so that no one can read it unless he knows the words and their meanings. In this way the Hebrews and the Chaldaeans and Syrians and Arabs write their secrets. Indeed, as a general thing, they write almost everything in this way, and therefore among them, and especially among the Hebrews. Important scientific knowledge lies hidden. For Aristotle in the book above mentioned says that God gave them all scientific knowledge before there were any philosophers, and that from the Hebrews all nations received the first elements of philosophy. .. . In the fourth place, concealment is effected by commingling letters of various kinds; it is in this way that Ethicus the astronomer concealed his scientific knowledge by writing it in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin letters in the same written line. In the fifth place, certain persons have achieved concealment by means of letters not then used by their own race or others but arbitrarily invented by themselves; this is the greatest obstacle of all, and Artephiushas employed it in his book On the Secrets of Nature. In the sixth place, people invent not characters like letters, but geometrical figures which acquire the significance of letters by means of points and marks differently arranged; these likewise Artephius has used in his science. In the seventh place, the greatestdevice for concealment is that of shorthand, which is a method of noting and writing down as briefly as we please and as rapidly as we desire; by this method many secrets are written in the books of the Latin-using peoples. I have thought fit to touch upon these methods of concealment because I may perhaps, by reason of the importance of my secrets, employ some of these methods, and it is my desire to aid in this way, at least you, to the extent of my ability."

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law

The purpose of giving the above quote is to emphasize the vital change that has occurred with regards to the presentation of magical manuscripts, mystical codes and how our rules for presenting these said works of magick has changed with the realization that, after all, mystery is the enemy of truth.

While learning something so elementary as the deciphering of the Voynich manuscript is essential for the beginner magician to develop skills to decipher other manuscripts of ancient magick it is still essential I must point out that in our system when an Adept has written something in, say, Class B-- this interpretation changes with the spiritual Grade of the Aspirant and this system of Class A, B, C, etc. is infinitely superior to the cumbersome methods of Medieval magicians who wrote ciphers that could be possibly lost when the loss of a key book had been destroyed or lost.

The ancient scribes with their acrostic-telestic inscriptions, anagrams, and bi-literal ciphers (to name but a few methods used) realized that the purest cipher was one that was not revealed as a cipher. These ancient scribes manipulated language so deftly that it often takes modern scholars a long time to grasp the presence, let alone all the subtleties, of ancient riddles and metaphors that reveal the real magical powers to be awakened. No doubt, the modern magician would not be attuned to the danger that was felt during his time so long past; and the very real paranoia that was ever impending if certain magical secrets were brought to light; and especially those that openly demonstrated that much of what the stage magician could do could be done for real with the proper exercise of these vital keys. The Modern Magician has not had to enter this forest; and therefore has no idea on how dangerous was the predator that lurked with the clouds of dogma of that day.

Thus, these ancient "stenographers" utilized their creative art to conceal items that might be lost; or the generic public would abuse; or to avoid persecution. Even further so, such men are honored for their work to reveal magical secrets that would be eventually unlocked by the serious student of the occult art; and above all to preserve what they feared would be lost forever. No doubt this is all very frustrating to the Church who did its damn est to eliminate the Art from the face of the earth during its callous and cruel era of inquisition.

Those who are Practicus of the A.·.A.·. who have begun creating their own words of power and have ventured into a deeper understanding of the Kabbalah would agree that at least a basic understanding of ancient kabbalahistic manuscripts; how their ciphers were presented to the eager aspirant is essential.

( It is important here to note that every Practicus is going to take directions that will be completely different from my researches so long ago. I have one Practicus presently that has dived into the worlds of enochian ciphers apparently being influenced very heavily by the Opening of that Grade in the Equinox Volume One Series or perhaps the tantalizing magnetic attraction of the beauty of its tongue in conjunction with its immediate pragmatic results in terms of easy to awaken forces. I confess that this essay is partially written to assist him to understand and exceed his Grade; giving subtle hints on what I demand of him to pass on to Philosophus. Such a clever wiggle of the forefinger; this subtle essay which I accomplish 77 items (a devilish number, to boot) at once to further demonstrate My Point.)

Yet the Practicus knows that (for instance) an interpretation of the Kabbalah of Nine Chambers; and its pragmatic use should be outlined in such a manner where the method of science leads carefully in thesis and application to multiple points of view. Other instances of research could be expounded but you should grasp the point; whereas our method is systematic and scientific where the original warning that mystery is the enemy of truth is ever present as we reveal still another perception that is the required work of the Practicus to create the type of Magician where it is possible to unlock Θελημα in a manner that does not drown us in ciphers that are going to take dead ends. The method of science cures this ill; and its importance cannot be too often be reiterated.

Therefore, then, is this article a warning and an encouragement to those who profess the expounding of our magical secrets; that we adhere to our system so we can reveal clearly to all the Law of Θελημα as the true key to the mysteries of life and ethics; with the awakening of a magick that excites the soul to the highest peaks of passion and joy.

Love is the law, love under will

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