Modern Magick: Twelve Lessons in the High Magickal Arts

«In keeping with Kabalistic tradition I have chosen to refer to the Ultimate Divinity as “God.” To both the Kabalists and myself, God is not seen as a male figure, even though God was described, in some instances, as anthropomorphically male. This was a symbolic convenience.» — la nota del autor que abre el volumen declara el criterio con que Kraig nombra a la divinidad y se anticipa a la objeción de patriarcado: el masculino gramatical lo presenta como conveniencia simbólica heredada, no como doctrina. Las comillas dobles son de la fuente.

«According to the Kabalah as I’ve learned it, the Ultimate Source of All is unitary, having united all dualities—up and down, left and right, positive and negative, magnetic and electric, male and female. It is believed that God cannot be limited to being either male or female.» — la misma nota enuncia la doctrina de la que deriva el criterio anterior: la fuente última es unitaria por haber unido las dualidades, y Kraig la presenta como la cábala tal como él la aprendió, no como la cábala sin más.

«Since there is no single, agreed-upon way of representing the sounds of Hebrew with English, I have chosen to represent the Hebrew by the way it sounds in modern (Ashkenazic) Hebrew, not by archaic spellings which can only be confusing.» — Kraig declara y justifica la grafía hebrea de todo el libro; de esa decisión salen las formas que el curso usa en vez de las usuales en la literatura mágica inglesa.

«Third, a new tradition in magick—Chaos Magick—has developed. Although as of this writing it’s not very popular in the U.S.A., it has had incredible growth in Europe and the U.K.» — en el prefacio a la tercera edición Kraig nombra la aparición de la magia del caos como uno de los tres cambios que le obligan a añadir una lección nueva para que el título del libro siga siendo cierto.

«That is, NLP is a form of magick that is focused on the use of the mind.» — Kraig incorpora la programación neurolingüística al curso por esta vía: no como disciplina ajena que se aplica a la magia, sino como una magia ya existente restringida a la mente.

«If I were to do a magickal rite to help you, the result might help you temporarily, but it would keep you weak and dependent on an outside source—me—for you to reach your goals.» — el prefacio explica por qué Kraig rechaza hacer rituales por encargo de sus lectores; el motivo que da no es de eficacia sino de dependencia.

«You will discover that magick is not simply something you do, magick is something you are. It is a way of life. It is a way of approaching the world and the universe. It is a way to obtain what you want and need. And yes, it is a way to obtain power.» — la frase que los prologuistas citan como la más recordada del libro, aquí en su sitio y con la cláusula final que suele quedar fuera: el curso no niega que la magia sirva para obtener poder.

«If you follow the practices revealed here you will discover rather quickly that the true power of magick is power over yourself.» — el límite con que Kraig acota lo anterior en la misma plana: a quien busque poder sobre otros le anuncia fracaso, y redefine el poder como poder sobre sí mismo.

«This means that magick is not simply the recapitulation of the actions of ancient, dead men and women, but a living and evolving science based upon those people’s research, dedication, genius and originality.» — en el prefacio a la segunda edición Kraig celebra que los grupos usen el libro cambiándole cosas, y de ahí deriva su definición de la tradición mágica como ciencia viva y no como repetición.

«there was an attitude among ceremonial magicians and Pagans that they shouldn’t mix. I am glad to say that has changed, opening the world of occultism to a pragmatic eclecticism: “If it works, I’ll use it.”» — Kraig data en su propia trayectoria el fin de la enemistad entre magos ceremoniales y paganos, y nombra eclecticismo pragmático al criterio que la sustituye.

«Just love God and follow the “Negative Golden Rule”: Don’t do unto others if you would not have them do the same unto you.» — con esta fórmula resume Kraig la ética del judaísmo conservador en que se crio, y la retiene después como la regla moral del curso entero.

«I needed to find out the roots of my religion and discover the basis for what appeared foolish. Thus began a search and study which has so far taken decades, led to the Kabalah and ritual magick, and culminates in these lessons which you are now beginning to study.» — Kraig hace derivar el libro de una pregunta religiosa concreta —por qué el talit y los tefilín se hacen así y no de otro modo— y no de un interés previo por lo oculto.

«At the time when this magickal lodge formed in the late 1880s, there were few really good books available on either magick or the Kabalah. Most of the really good books on these subjects that exist today were written by members of the Golden Dawn, people who were associated with members, or people who knowingly or unknowingly were influenced by this group.» — Kraig adjudica a la Golden Dawn la autoría o la influencia de casi toda la bibliografía utilizable de magia y cábala, y sobre esa premisa apoya que el curso siga esa tradición.

«These people include MacGregor Mathers, Aleister Crowley, Dr. F. I. Regardie, A. E. Waite, H. P. Blavatsky, Dion Fortune, P. F. Case, Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero, John Michael Geer» — la lista de los autores de quienes Kraig dice derivar el curso. El troceo imprime *Geer*, no Greer, para el mismo John Michael Greer que firma uno de los prólogos del volumen; la grafía va tal cual y sin cotejo contra el facsímil. La cita se corta aquí porque la enumeración sigue en la plana siguiente.

«Sturgeon’s Law. This law states that 90 percent of everything is crap. It is named in honor of science-fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who used it (originally calling it “Sturgeon’s Revelation”) because he was tired of defending science fiction to various literary critics in the 1950s. Supposedly, after being asked if he didn’t agree that 90 percent of science fiction was crap, his response was that 90 percent of everything was crap.» — Kraig introduce la ley de Sturgeon como criterio de selección bibliográfica: la aduce para sostener que de los miles de libros de magia disponibles el curso entrega lo aprovechable.

«The purpose of these pages is to introduce you to these ideas so that you can direct yourself in your lifelong study of the occult (remember, “occult” means secret, as in “secret wisdom.” It does not mean “evil”).» — Kraig acota el alcance del libro a introducción y de paso enmienda el uso corriente del término *occult*, que traduce por secreto y no por maligno.

«Let me make clear at the outset that this course will not teach “Black Magick.” You will not be required to do anything contrary to your moral or ethical values. You will not be “summoning up” any demons, devils, or evil entities.» — la exclusión declarada del curso; delimita desde la introducción qué queda fuera del programa de las doce lecciones.

«This is because the ability to perform magick successfully is dependent upon what you put into it. Your success is directly dependent upon the effort, practice, and consistency of your work.» — Kraig niega garantía de resultado y traslada la responsabilidad al esfuerzo del practicante; es la reserva con que cierra la introducción.

«In magickal organizations such as orders and covens, the Outer Order consists of a wider membership wherein people are taught the basic theories and concepts of the group. If people last through the trials and ordeals of this training— proving their worthiness and dedication— they move to the Inner Order.» — el epígrafe que abre la primera mitad del volumen define el reparto sobre el que está montado el libro entero: las seis primeras lecciones corresponden a la orden exterior y las seis siguientes a la interior. Los guiones largos sueltos son de la maquetación del epígrafe.

«It is absolutely and without a doubt possible to create spells and rituals that will bring you money, love, wisdom, contentment, and more!» — la primera afirmación de la lección primera, impresa en cursiva en la fuente; Kraig la da como literal y no como metáfora, y sobre ella monta el resto del curso.

«The key difference between the “magic” in fairy tales and in movies and “magick” as practiced by tens of thousands of people around the world today and in the past is that most real magick does not occur instantaneously.» — la reserva inmediata a la afirmación anterior: lo que Kraig niega de los cuentos no es el efecto sino el plazo, y en la misma plana añade que el resultado llega por medios naturales. La grafía con *k* separa a lo largo de todo el libro la magia de escenario de la magia del curso.

«No one can give you magickal powers. You have to earn them. There is only one way to do this: Practice! Practice! Practice!» — Kraig niega que los poderes mágicos se confieran, y con ello niega de paso el valor de la iniciación entendida como otorgamiento.

«Magick—real magick—is an experimental science. One of the first things a scientist learns is to keep a record of his or her work.» — de esta analogía deriva Kraig la primera obligación práctica del curso: llevar dos diarios, el de sueños y el mágico.

«When you dream (and everybody does dream), one of four things may occur: 1. Astral Work. When doing astral work, you are learning lessons toward your spiritual, psychical, and magickal development as well as practicing these lessons. This occurs on what is called the “astral plane.”» — la primera de las cuatro clases de sueño que el curso distingue, y la única a la que Kraig atribuye trabajo mágico efectivo; el resto de la clasificación sigue en la misma plana. La cita se corta aquí porque el tramo entero dispara la guarda anticosido por longitud.

«Psychological Messages. Many times your unconscious mind needs to tell your conscious something, but your conscious refuses to or is unable to listen. In some dreams the unconscious sends a message, in symbols, to the conscious. This is a basis for one aspect of Freudian analysis.» — la segunda clase de sueño; Kraig la remite a Freud por su nombre y la pone al lado del trabajo astral sin jerarquizarlas.

«Together, your ritual diary or magickal diary and dream diary become your own personal secret magickal text which is really only good for you.» — los dos diarios que el curso manda llevar no son registro auxiliar: Kraig les adjudica el estatuto de texto mágico propio, y añade el límite de que solo sirven a quien los escribe.

«In this way, your ritual diary can become your personal magickal grimoire or book of shadows. Be aware, however, that those results are personal and may or may not apply to others.» — Kraig nombra grimorio y libro de las sombras al diario ritual, tomando el término de la magia ceremonial y el de la brujería a la vez, y repite la reserva sobre su alcance.

«I make no claim to being a guru or divine master. Studying the same subjects from different points of view is highly advisable.» — Kraig niega para sí la autoridad de maestro y de ahí deriva la obligación de leer otros libros antes de la séptima lección; las bibliografías al final de cada lección responden a esa instrucción.

«Many more people study occultism than practice it.» — la observación con que Kraig justifica que el curso esté escrito también para el que solo lee, y que le sirve para sostener que la sola lectura de las lecciones ya influye sobre el inconsciente.

«While this is not primarily a course in the Tarot, the Tarot does play a very important part in the study—a part not limited to “giving readings” or “fortunetelling.”» — Kraig hace del tarot el único material obligatorio del curso y lo desliga desde el principio de la adivinación, que es el uso que el lector traería.

«The B.O.T.A. Tarot. The Builders of the Adytum deck was designed by Paul Foster Case. It includes the Hebrew letters on the appropriate cards, a feature that so angered some of the leaders of the Golden Dawn that they booted Case from the order.» — al recomendar barajas, Kraig consigna de paso una expulsión de la Golden Dawn y le da por causa la impresión de las letras hebreas sobre las cartas. Los nombres van tal cual el troceo.

«Under no circumstances should you use a “non-standard” deck with this course. By non-standard I mean a deck with more or less than seventy-eight cards with a Major Arcana of twenty-two cards and a Minor Arcana with fifty-six cards divided into four suits.» — la única prohibición absoluta de la lección primera; Kraig la funda en la estructura numérica de la baraja, que es la que sostiene las correspondencias cabalísticas del resto del curso.

«This ritual will be used to prepare for every magickal ritual in this entire course.» — así presenta Kraig el Ritual de Relajación, que es el primer ejercicio del curso y queda como preliminar obligado de todos los demás.

«According to the famous occultist Aleister Crowley, magick is “the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.”» — Kraig abre la cuestión de qué es la magia citando a Crowley por su nombre; las mayúsculas son de la fórmula tal como la reproduce el libro.

«Another member of the Golden Dawn was Dion Fortune. Her definition of magick was the same as Crowley’s, except that she considered the “change” to be a change in consciousness.» — la segunda definición que Kraig contrapone; la diferencia que consigna entre Crowley y Fortune es dónde ocurre el cambio, en el mundo o en la consciencia, y no la deshace.

«In fact, Crowley (his name rhymes with “holy,” not with “howdy”) says that “every intentional act is a Magickal Act.”» — Kraig aduce esta frase de Crowley para objetar que la definición sea demasiado ancha: si todo acto intencional es mágico, abrir una puerta lo es.

«For the purposes of this book, we need to make the definition of magick a bit longer: Magick is the science and art of causing change (in consciousness) to occur in conformity with will, using means not currently understood by traditional Western science.» — la definición propia de Kraig, que es la que los prologuistas citan como la más clara del género: conserva la fórmula de Crowley, mete entre paréntesis la enmienda de Fortune y añade la cláusula que la acota, la de los medios no entendidos por la ciencia. El paréntesis es de la fuente.

«Therefore, “scientists” are inclined to think that real magick, since it doesn’t fit into their worldview, is nothing more than supernatural hokum. But, magick is not supernatural.» — la tesis que los prologuistas señalan como la revelación del libro: Kraig niega el carácter sobrenatural de la magia y con ello la saca del terreno en que la ciencia la descarta.

«Similarly, I am firmly convinced that one day magick will be understood in Western scientific terms. History proves this. Reading, writing, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, medicine, physics, and more were all at one time deep occult secrets. Today, many of these things are taught to children before they begin school. The occultism of the past becomes the science of the future.» — Kraig sostiene una continuidad entre ocultismo y ciencia y la apoya en la lista de saberes que fueron secretos y hoy se enseñan a niños.

«Arthur C. Clarke, the famous science-fiction writer and author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, wrote that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable» — Kraig aduce a Clarke por su nombre para apoyar lo anterior; la frase termina *from magick* en la plana siguiente y aquí se corta porque el tramo cruza el cambio de plana.

«White Magick, sometimes called mysticism, is the yoga of the West.» — la equivalencia con que Kraig introduce la primera de sus tres categorías; en la misma plana la deriva del sánscrito *yug*, unión o yugo, y de la unión con el yo superior o con Dios.

«White Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will, using means not currently understood by traditional Western science, for the purpose of obtaining the Knowledge and Conversation of your Holy Guardian Angel.» — la definición formal de la primera categoría: la definición general de magia más un fin declarado, que Kraig toma de la Golden Dawn. La fórmula se reimprime palabra por palabra en el apéndice de respuestas; se ancla aquí, en su primera aparición.

«Black Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will, using means not currently understood by traditional Western science, for the purpose of causing either physical or non-physical harm to yourself or others, and is done either consciously or unconsciously.» — la segunda categoría se define por el daño, y la cláusula final la extiende al daño no buscado. La fórmula se reimprime en el apéndice de respuestas; se ancla en la primera aparición.

«Grey Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will, using means not currently understood by traditional Western science, for the purpose of causing either physical or non-physical good to yourself or others, and is done either consciously or unconsciously.» — la tercera categoría, que es la que el curso enseña a partir de la segunda mitad: se define por el bien hecho a sí mismo o a otros y puede virar a blanca o a negra según su efecto. La fórmula se reimprime en el apéndice de respuestas; se ancla en la primera aparición.

«Unlike some philosophies, the traditions of magick hold that there is nothing wrong with using magickal abilities to advance yourself in this world.» — Kraig declara una diferencia de la magia respecto de otras doctrinas y en la misma plana la argumenta: dice que en Occidente es difícil ser espiritual sin saber de dónde saldrá la siguiente comida.

«In many Wiccan traditions it is believed that what you do will return to you threefold.» — Kraig nombra la creencia wiccana del retorno triple al exponer el precio de la magia negra, y la pone al lado del karma sin identificarlas.

«Just as there is a law of gravity, so too is there an inviolable law of what is called in the East karma, and by Kabalists Tikune (pronounced “tee-koon”). Put out good and you will receive good. Put out evil, even unintentionally, and evil is what you will get. Such is the law.» — Kraig enuncia como ley inviolable la reciprocidad moral y la nombra dos veces, en sánscrito y en hebreo. La transliteración va tal cual el troceo.

«Second, before doing any Grey Magick you should always do a divination to determine the effect and the outcome of your magick. This is a reason why learning the Tarot or some other divinatory system is important.» — la precaución que el curso prescribe para no caer en magia negra por accidente, y el motivo declarado de que el tarot sea obligatorio desde la primera lección.

«The meanings here are based upon the teachings of the occultists and Kabalists A. E. Waite and S. L. MacGregor Mathers.» — Kraig declara la procedencia de los significados de los veintidós arcanos mayores que el curso enseña, y manda ignorar entretanto el librito que acompaña a la baraja.

«The truth is this: there are no “true meanings” for the Tarot cards. Different Tarot readers and authors give different meanings for the cards based on the symbolism of the cards and their own backgrounds and training.» — Kraig niega que exista un significado verdadero de las cartas y hace derivar la divergencia entre autores de sus formaciones, no de un error de alguno de ellos.

«As long as your system is internally consistent, with practice, the cards will produce viable readings. The cards pulled with the meanings you have for them result in a “meaningful coincidence,” what the psychologist Jung called a “synchronicity.”» — el criterio con que Kraig sustituye la verdad del significado: la coherencia interna del sistema. Nombra a Jung como autor del término con que explica el acierto de la lectura.

«Ritual magicians frequently have their worldview based upon the Kabalah and the Tarot.» — Kraig presenta la cábala y el tarot no como materias del curso sino como la cosmovisión que el curso instala, y dice haber puesto el tarot en el primer ritual para arrancarla.

«There are actually two histories of the Tarot. One is factual; the other is made up of unproven and sometimes absurd theories.» — la partición con que Kraig organiza toda la exposición histórica del tarot, y que repite en la segunda lección para la cábala.

«An initiate into the mysteries would be led between the pillars and would have the symbolic meanings of the pictures explained to him by the initiator. From there the initiate would go via an underground passageway to the Great Pyramid itself, wherein he would receive full initiation. Unfortunately, there is no proof that this exact type of initiation ever took place.» — así resume Kraig la leyenda del origen egipcio del tarot, con las veintidós imágenes de Thoth colgadas de pilares bajo la Esfinge, y añade en la misma frase la negativa documental.

«In order that this great book would not also be destroyed, they decided to keep it hidden in the form of a gambling game, realizing that although humanity’s search for wisdom might die, its thirst for quick gain and its lower nature would never disappear.» — la segunda leyenda que Kraig recoge: los sabios reunidos en Fez esconden el saber de la biblioteca de Alejandría dentro de un juego de azar. Kraig la da por no probada en la plana siguiente.

«Note that the word “Gypsy” is derived from the word “Egyptian.” This is because at one time it was believed that the Gypsies—or more accurately, the Romany people—came from Egypt. At that time, Egypt was thought of as being a source of all things mystical, magickal, and mysterious, and many Romany people did little to discourage the idea of their roots, adding to the mystery of their origin. Today, scholars are more inclined to think the Romany came from India.» — Kraig traza la etimología que sostiene la leyenda del tarot traído de Egipto por los gitanos, atribuye parte de su persistencia a los propios romaníes y consigna que la erudición actual los hace venir de la India.

«The first mention of the Tarot was made in 1332 by Alphonse XI, king of Leon and Castile. He banned them along with other gambling games.» — primera de las cuatro fechas con que Kraig arma la historia que llama factual; las otras tres son 1337, 1392 y los años cuatrocientos italianos. Los nombres van tal cual el troceo, sin cotejo contra el facsímil.

«A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman (“Pixie”) Smith, both members of the Golden Dawn, designed what is today’s most popular deck, the so-called Rider-Waite (or more accurately, the Rider-Waite-Smith) Tarot.» — Kraig enmienda el nombre usual de la baraja para devolverle el crédito a la dibujante, y en la misma plana da dos razones de su éxito: las imágenes en los arcanos menores y el libro publicado a la vez.

«The members of the Golden Dawn considered their “correct” version of the Tarot to be an important secret of the Order. Waite and Smith, who had taken solemn vows not to reveal the inner secrets of the Golden Dawn, kept their word. Many of the cards are designed with symbolism that varies considerably from the meanings given to the cards by the Golden Dawn, perhaps in order to fool the uninitiated.» — Kraig sostiene que la baraja más difundida del mundo está deliberadamente desviada por el juramento de sus autores, y marca la conjetura con un *perhaps* que conserva.

«However, I actually think it is more important to have the myths than to have only the historically accurate facts.» — Kraig no descarta las leyendas del tarot que acaba de dar por no probadas; sostiene que valen más que las fechas, y dedica a explicarlo un recuadro entero.

«Myths aren’t just stories. They are stories that promote values that people choose to follow. We learn lessons through the actions of the people in the myths rather than from listening to lectures from parents or parental figures.» — la definición de mito con que Kraig justifica lo anterior; el ejemplo que la sostiene es el cerezo de George Washington, que en la misma plana atribuye a un biógrafo y da por inventado.

«Therefore, the mythic histories of the Tarot are important not for objective historical fact, but for what the myths mean to me, to you, and to human civilization.» — el cierre del argumento: Kraig mantiene las dos historias del tarot a la vez, la documental y la mítica, y les asigna funciones distintas en vez de elegir una.

«it only indicates what will probably happen if you continue on the path you are currently traversing. According to this view, you have the freedom to ensure something happens or prevent it from occurring. You have free will and the choice is always up to you.» — Kraig separa adivinación de decir la buenaventura: la primera enuncia lo probable si nada cambia; la segunda, lo forzoso. El tramo arranca a media frase porque la anterior queda en la plana previa.

«In these lessons we strongly affirm free will, not predestination.» — la declaración doctrinal que Kraig deja escrita al cerrar esa distinción, y que vale para todo el curso.

«The High Magick art is by nature different from certain aspects of other so-called “primitive” forms of magick as practiced by those involved in Witchcraft, Wicca, Voodoo, Brujeria, etc.» — Kraig marca la diferencia de su arte con la brujería, la wicca, el vudú y la brujería hispana, y en la misma plana acota que *primitive* significa aquí más antiguo y más simple, no inferior.

«Although this has also happened to some extent with ceremonial magick, a true magician always knows the exact meaning of every word and action of a ritual. This is why so much training, study, and practice goes into the making of a ceremonial magician.» — el criterio con que Kraig separa a un mago ceremonial de quien recita una fórmula heredada sin sentido, y con el que justifica la extensión del curso.

«The first and most important, yet most ethereal, is to Know Yourself. You will learn if you have the strength of will to stick to doing a ritual of this sort on a daily basis.» — primera de las tres razones que Kraig da para practicar a diario el Ritual Menor de Destierro del Pentagrama; la pone por delante del efecto mágico.

«Second, it will expand your aura. This result is quite surprising. As your aura expands and brightens, you will also find yourself becoming stronger spiritually and psychologically than you have ever been before.» — la segunda razón; Kraig le adjudica además un efecto social, el aumento del rapport, que describe en la misma plana con ejemplos de lo que la gente dice sin saber por qué.

«Third, this ritual (LBRP for short) will remove from your immediate area (banish) any unwanted influences. This banishing dispels negative and/or unwanted physical influences and non-physical ones including astral and elemental forces.» — la tercera razón, y la única propiamente operativa: el destierro de influencias físicas y no físicas, que Kraig presenta como la mejor defensa contra el ataque psíquico.

«However, you should not “lust for results.” Focus on the ritual, not what you expect the result of the ritual to be.» — la instrucción de actitud que Kraig da antes de enseñar el ritual, con el término que toma del vocabulario thelémico; la funda en que atender al resultado divide la energía del operador.

«When you perform the ritual, you must understand that you are no longer in your house or apartment or building. Nor are you merely outdoors. Rather, you are in the temple of the gods. You are also in the presence of divinity. Wherever you are, when you do this ritual the area becomes a holy place.» — lo que el manual manda suponer al operar: el ritual no se hace en un sitio consagrado, sino que consagra el sitio donde se hace.

«A good size for the traditional altar is 36 inches high by 18 inches square, giving an altar that is like two eighteen-inch cubes on top of one another (as above, so below). It also represents the earth plane because the number of sides of this altar that are external (top, bottom, the four sides of the upper cube, and the four sides of the lower) equal ten, the number of the Earth in the Kabalah» — el manual deriva la medida del altar de dos lecturas simbólicas a la vez: el doble cubo como figura del axioma hermético de correspondencia, y las diez caras exteriores como número de la décima sefirá.

«Traditionally, the altar is painted black to represent the fact that we are far from the true spiritual light which comes from above, even though it is from here that we must begin our starry climb.» — la razón que el libro da para el color del altar; Kraig añade en la misma plana que su primer altar fue blanco, de modo que consigna la tradición y a la vez su propia excepción.

«There are four traditional tools or “weapons” used by ceremonial magicians. Details of their construction will be given in later lessons. These tools are the wand, the cup, the dagger, and the pentacle.» — el inventario de los cuatro instrumentos sobre el que se monta la mitad elemental del curso; sus fabricaciones se reparten entre las lecciones cuarta a séptima.

«Have a symbol for each of the elements on the altar, or have none of them. You should not have an imbalance in the energies the tools represent.» — la regla de todo o nada con que el manual ordena los símbolos elementales, fundada en el equilibrio y no en la eficacia de cada uno.

«The purpose of putting on a robe is to physically show both your conscious and your unconscious that you are no longer in your daily dress. It strongly shows that you are about to do something very special and spiritual.» — Kraig explica la vestidura ritual por su efecto sobre el operador y no por eficacia propia, y por eso admite sustituirla por ropa común reservada solo para el rito.

«You must not wait until you have all of your tools to start working on the LBRP.» — la instrucción va en cursiva en la fuente; Kraig subordina el instrumental a la práctica y en la misma plana reduce lo indispensable a un sitio donde estar solo.

«If you cannot visualize so well that you can actually “see” the pentagram in flame as you draw it, simply know beyond all doubt that if you had better-developed psychic vision you would be able to see it. Know that it is there.» — la salida que el manual da al principiante que no visualiza: la certeza sustituye a la visión, y la misma fórmula aparece en el Ritual de Relajación.

«This type of bath is not intended to merely take the dirt off of your skin. Rather, it cleans negativity and the cares of the day from your spirit.» — el baño ritual que el manual prescribe antes del rito se distingue del aseo por su objeto; la instrucción manda ducharse primero y bañarse después, y dejar que el agua se vaya con el operador dentro.

«The meaning of this first part of the LBRP is as follows: Ah-TAH means “you,” or, more poetically, “Thine” in Hebrew. The visualization given above along with the proper pointing of the dagger (or finger) is for the purpose of indicating that you are linking your Higher Self with the Divine. Mahl-KOOT means “kingdom,” and according to the Kabalah refers to our physical or “elemental” plane and the planet Earth. That is why you should be pointing down.» — el manual no deja la fórmula sin traducir: cada palabra vibrada de la Cruz Cabalística lleva su sentido hebreo y su gesto, y la dirección del arma se deriva del significado. Las transliteraciones van tal cual el troceo.

«Thus, the first part of this ritual translates as “For Thine is the kingdom and the power and glory forever, amen.” Does this sound familiar? It should. It is part of the Lord’s Prayer.» — Kraig identifica el texto hebreo de la Cruz Cabalística con la doxología del padrenuestro.

«Curiously, this part of the Lord’s Prayer does not occur in the first instance of the prayer in the Bible. It does appear in a later instance, giving the impression that it was added. Is this addition evidence that at least some of the early Christians knew the secrets of the Kabalah? We may never know.» — Kraig deja la consecuencia en pregunta y se abstiene de responderla; la abstención va dicha en la misma frase.

«Although the Kabalistic Cross seems to have been originally introduced as part of the LBRP, it has developed a life of its own.» — el marco con que Kraig introduce cuatro variantes del mismo rito practicadas por escuelas distintas, y que expone una tras otra sin arbitrar entre ellas.

«Aiwass, Crowley believed, was the name of his (Crowley’s) Holy Guardian Angel and was an extraterrestrial intelligence.» — al describir la variante crowleyana de la Cruz Cabalística, que añade un nombre vibrado, Kraig consigna qué era Aiwass para Crowley y en la misma plana observa que quien la use debería sustituirlo por el nombre de su propio ángel guardián.

«Some Thelemites (followers of Crowley) on the West Coast of the U.S. believe that this ritual is related in some way to the famous grimoire, the Goetia. Crowley believed that the term “Goetia” meant “howling,” so the people use a type of growling or howling of the words.» — la tercera variante; Kraig la remite a una etimología que atribuye a Crowley, y describe la vocalización resultante sin adjudicarle valor.

«Alex Sanders (1926-1988) was the founder of the Alexandrian system of Wicca, one of the earliest forms of Neopaganism, developed slightly later than Gardnerian Wicca. Sanders, who claimed to have been initiated by his grandmother, blended Gardnerian concepts with even more ceremonial magick than was used by Gardner.» — la cuarta variante trae a la wicca dentro del rito ceremonial; Kraig marca como reivindicación propia de Sanders la iniciación por su abuela y consigna las fechas tal cual las imprime el troceo.

«In Sane Occultism, Dion Fortune wrote that there is no room for authority in occultism. I fully agree. I contend that magick is an experimental science. What I give works for many. Try it out. If it works, great. If it doesn’t work, try something else. Your variation may not be the same as anyone else’s, but if it works for you, that is the variation you should use. As it says in Crowley’s Book of the Law,“Let success be your proof.”» — el criterio con que Kraig cierra la exposición de variantes rituales; se apoya en Dion Fortune y en el Libro de la Ley, los dos nombrados, para no adjudicar cuál versión es la correcta. La coma pegada a la comilla es del troceo.

«The Kabalah is a monotheistic tradition. In the Kabalah, the ultimate divine Source is beyond the comprehension of our mortal minds. But we can know and become in harmony with parts or aspects of the whole. These various aspects are represented by the different God names.» — Kraig objeta a un rabino que oyó conferenciar la acusación de politeísmo contra la cábala, y resuelve la pluralidad de nombres divinos como aspectos de una fuente incomprensible.

«YUD-HEH-VAHV-HEH is known as the holy, ultimate, and unspeakable name of God. Its true pronunciation is unknown.» — Kraig niega que se conozca la pronunciación del nombre y en la misma plana rechaza por igual *Jehovah*, *Yahveh* y *Yahweh*, apuntando que las cuatro letras podrían ser abreviatura o código.

«Thus, this ultimate name of God, the Tetragrammaton (Greek for “four-lettered name”), the YHVH, says that God is the ultimate unity, a perfect blend of all dualities (as represented by the male-female symbolism), a unity of all opposites, on all planes.» — la lectura del Tetragrámaton que sostiene la nota del autor sobre el género de la divinidad: cada letra reparte masculino y femenino, arquetípico y físico, y el conjunto los une. Kraig glosa las dos primeras con los pares del taoísmo y de Jung.

«EH-HEH-YEH is usually translated as “I am,” but is more accurately translated in the infinitive form of “I shall be.” It is the name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush.» — Kraig enmienda la traducción usual del nombre de la zarza ardiente y de ahí saca una lectura distinta de la respuesta a Moisés.

«AH-GLAH is how the next God name is pronounced, but it is most commonly spelled AGLA. This is because it is an abbreviation for the words Ah-tah Gee-boor Lih-oh-lahm Ah-doh-nye. It means “Thou art great forever, my lord,” and is from a Hebrew prayer.» — el cuarto nombre del rito se descompone como acrónimo de una oración hebrea; las transliteraciones van tal cual el troceo.

«It has long been an occult secret that all matter and all energy are made of vibration. Today many scientists depend on this being a fact in their research. If we follow the assumption that all matter is vibratory energy, then magick becomes a type of science that allows a person to affect vibrations.» — la premisa con que Kraig funda la técnica de vibrar palabras, y otro caso de su tesis de que el secreto de ayer es la ciencia de hoy.

«There is a physical phenomenon known as harmonic resonance. This simply means that if one object vibrates powerfully enough, another object nearby will start to vibrate (or resonate) with the first if the second object has a natural vibratory rate in harmony with the first.» — el mecanismo físico que Kraig aduce para explicar la vibración ritual; en la misma plana lo extiende a objetos de otros planos de existencia.

«it is one of the famous sets of ridiculous additions or “blinds” that have become attached to magick in order to keep the secrets away from those who either don’t have a teacher or don’t want to study and practice.» — así descarta Kraig los sistemas complejos de vibración cabalística que ha encontrado; nombra *blind* al añadido puesto para despistar, término que reaparece en el curso.

«The first is an internal (invocatory) formula. In this formula you cause a certain part of your body (actually part of your astral body) to vibrate.» — la primera de las dos fórmulas vibratorias del curso, la que corresponde a la Cruz Cabalística; el paréntesis desplaza el efecto del cuerpo físico al astral.

«The big difference between the two formulae is that in the evocatory formula you should sense that the entire universe in front of you is resonating in harmony with your vibration. Your entire body and the entire universe should be experienced as vibrating to your call.» — la diferencia declarada entre las dos fórmulas: hacia dentro en la invocatoria, hacia el universo entero en la evocatoria.

«However, the fact of the matter is that true psychic attacks are very rare. The reason they are so rare is that by the time a person has enough skills and talents to attack psychically, he or she also has enough mystical knowledge to know not to attack someone because of the negative repercussions that inevitably follow the attack.» — Kraig niega que el ataque psíquico sea frecuente y funda la negativa en la ley del retorno que enunció en la lección primera.

«Of the hundreds of claims of psychic attack of which I have heard, perhaps five cases were real while the rest were imaginary.» — la cifra que Kraig da de su propia experiencia como maestro; no retira por ello el remedio, que enseña en la misma lección.

«The unconscious mind does not know the difference between reality or imagination, so the feeling that you are under psychic attack can actually result in the experience of every symptom of such attacks.» — el principio psicológico con que Kraig explica los casos imaginarios sin descartar los síntomas, y que reaparece a lo largo del curso para justificar la visualización.

«Therefore, as a common practice, think natural causes first, psychic attack last.» — la regla de prioridad con que el manual manda descartar médicos y psicólogos antes de atribuir un síntoma a la magia.

«You are responsible for your actions, and if you act to harm someone—even if it is only reflecting what they sent to you—the karmic response will be the same as if you started the attack yourself.» — el motivo por el que Kraig rechaza el hechizo del espejo; niega que exista instancia alguna que exima al que solo devuelve el ataque.

«The fact of the matter is that most of us are virtually unconscious—literally in a trance or asleep—for up to 95 percent of the time we are awake. “Awakening the sleepers” was a main focus of the work of Georges Gurdjieff.» — Kraig trae la doctrina del sueño de la vigilia al problema del ataque psíquico cotidiano y la atribuye a Gurdjieff por su nombre.

«“Hail unto Thee who art Ra in Thy rising, even unto Thee who art Ra in Thy strength. Who travelest over the heavens in Thy bark at the uprising of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in his splendor at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the abodes of the night.”» — la primera de las cuatro Adoraciones Solares que el curso prescribe, que el propio libro declara basada en el Liber Resh vel Helios de Crowley; los nombres egipcios van tal cual el troceo.

«In some of the original Golden Dawn documents, the position for midnight is given so that it looks as if you are giving the Nazi “Seig Heil!” salute. Some have claimed that it was a follower of Aleister Crowley who introduced the sign to Hitler and the Nazis.» — Kraig consigna la reivindicación sin hacerla suya, declara que cambió el gesto por esa asociación y añade que algunos templos de la Golden Dawn lo hacen de otra manera. La grafía *Seig* es del troceo.

«the Kabalah has become a pop sensation, thanks to the participation of some Hollywood personalities. I wish them well, but I regret to say that some of what they are practicing has little to do with any form of Kabalah I have studied» — Kraig objeta al revival popular de la cábala y en la misma plana da dos ejemplos, el hilo rojo, que adjudica a la magia popular semítica, y la venta de agua bendecida.

«It is said that there were three sacred “literatures” for the ancient Hebrews: the Torah (which is comprised of the first five books of the Jewish Bible, sometimes called the “Old Testament”), the Talmud (commentaries on the Torah), and the Kabalah (mystical interpretations of the Torah and speculations on the nature of God and the universe). The Torah was known as “the Body of the Tradition,” and it was said that if ignorant people would read the Torah, they would profit from the experience. The Talmud was called the “Jew’s Rational Soul,” and those who were learned would profit in its study. The Kabalah was called the “Jew’s Immortal Spirit,” and the wise were advised to meditate upon it.» — el esquema de tres literaturas con que Kraig abre la exposición de la cábala; a cada una le asigna un cuerpo del hombre y un tipo de lector.

«Some authorities claim that Jews spell it “Kabala,” medieval Christian mystics spell it “Cabala,” and occultists spell it “Qabala.”» — la convención de grafías por escuela que Kraig recoge, y a continuación deja sin zanjar apoyándose en la pregunta que Lon Milo DuQuette se hace en The Chicken Qabalah.

«Perhaps worst of all, mystically speaking, is that to make Hebrew a modern language, ben Yehudah had to take out much of Hebrew’s wonderful lack of precision.» — Kraig cuenta la revivificación del hebreo como pérdida para el místico y no como logro; llama imprecisión a lo que la mística necesita.

«the word in Hebrew “Oh-lahm” today generally means “world.” Originally it seems to have meant “world,” “universe,” “aeons,” and “forever.” This showed that to the ancient Hebrew mind all of these things were related.» — el ejemplo con que Kraig sostiene lo anterior: la polisemia perdida era, para él, un mapa de relaciones del pensamiento hebreo antiguo.

«comes from the Hebrew word that means “to receive,” implying that the Kabalah is a “received” doctrine; that is, received from God. It also means that it is given by one person and received by another, usually in an oral manner. Thus, the true Kabalah was an oral, secret tradition, which for thousands of years was jealously guarded from the profane.» — la etimología de la que Kraig deriva a la vez el origen revelado de la cábala y su modo de transmisión oral. El tramo arranca a media frase porque el sujeto queda en la enumeración de grafías que lo precede.

«The Kabalah was a secret science known to the angels and to God before the creation of the universe. After Adam and Eve fell from grace in the Garden of Eden, an angel taught the wisdom to Adam so that grace and purity might be regained.» — arranque de la historia mítica de la cábala; en la misma plana Kraig anota el parecido con Prometeo y deja en pregunta cuál relato es anterior.

«The mystical interpretation is that the first time Moses went up he received the secrets of the Kabalah from God, but destroyed them upon his return and seeing the people involved in idol worship.» — el episodio del Sinaí leído como doble entrega: la cábala primero y la ley después, esta última como sustituto para quienes no podían recibir la primera.

«Thus, when they read in the Bible that Moses was educated in Egypt, they assumed that the Kabalah had an Egyptian origin. While it is true that there were mystery schools in Egypt—in fact, Pythagoras studied at one—there is no proof that the Kabalah is taken directly from the wisdom of Egypt.» — Kraig niega prueba del origen egipcio de la cábala y a la vez concede, en la frase siguiente, que es probable la influencia de la India, Egipto y Babilonia.

«In the cave, these two learned men wrote down the secrets of the Kabalah for the first time in a large set of books titled Sepher Ha-Zohar or just the Zohar (Book of Splendor) and the small Sepher Yetzirah (Book of Formation).» — la versión legendaria de la escritura del Zohar y del Sepher Yetzirah por Simeón ben Yojái y su hijo en la cueva; Kraig la da dentro de la historia que él mismo rotula como mítica.

«The earliest form of Hebrew occultism was known as “Heh-cha-loht” (with the “ch” sounding like that in the Scottish word “loch”), which means “ascent.” It is also known as Merkabah mysticism. The Merkabah was the name of the Throne of God in Hebrew, and it was the aim of the Merkabah mystics to be able to see God upon His Throne.» — arranque de la historia que Kraig rotula como factual: antes de la cábala sitúa la mística de los palacios y del carro. Las transliteraciones van tal cual el troceo.

«First Palace: Dehaviel, Kashriel, Gahoriel, Botiel, Tofhiel, Dehariel, Matkiel, and Shuiel (though some say Sheviel).» — primera de las siete listas de guardianes de palacio que Kraig dice publicar por primera vez en un curso popular, tomadas de los fragmentos del Pirkei Heichaloht; consigna la variante de grafía sin resolverla, y en las listas siguientes anota que a una le falta un nombre y a otra le sobra. Los nombres van tal cual, sin cotejo contra el facsímil.

«Besides, whether it is ancient or relatively recent, it should be studied for what is in it, not for who wrote it.» — el criterio con que Kraig se sale de la disputa sobre la autoría del Zohar sin adjudicarla.

«we come in England to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, whose primary importance came in their taking the teachings of the Kabalah as a basis for their occultism and uniting it with other forms of occultism such as the magickal systems (or supposed magickal systems based on their sometimes incomplete knowledge) of Egypt, of Enochian magick, of the magick of Abramelin, and of mysticism from India, as well as other sources.» — Kraig sitúa el aporte de la Golden Dawn en la síntesis y no en el descubrimiento, y marca entre paréntesis la reserva sobre lo incompleto de su saber egipcio.

«The “WASP Kabalah” follows—or rather, leads—what has been called the Western mystery tradition as exemplified in the concepts of the Golden Dawn. This system of Kabalah universalizes the Kabalistic wisdom so that it may be accepted by all, no matter your particular faith or lack thereof.» — la segunda de las dos divisiones que Kraig hace de la cábala viva, y la que el curso enseña; a la otra la llama *Kosher Kabalah* y la describe como renacimiento espiritual judío.

«The Practical Kabalah. This refers to the making of talismans and amulets via Kabalistic methods. It is the basis for Kabalistic magick when mixed with the following two branches of Kabalistic study. The methods of the practical Kabalah are neither good nor bad, but can be used for what might be called “positive or negative” purposes.» — segunda de las cuatro ramas en que Kraig divide la cábala; les niega a sus métodos valor moral propio y difiere su enseñanza hasta que el alumno entienda las consecuencias.

«The Literal Kabalah. This concerns the relationships between the numbers and letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The ancient Hebrews did not have separate figures to represent numbers, so they used the letters of their alphabet. It was believed that if two words had the same numerical total, they had a significant relationship to each other, and in some cases could be considered synonyms.» — tercera rama; la equivalencia numérica se presenta como creencia atribuida a otros, no como afirmación propia.

«Therefore, according to this system, God is love. Further, the holiest name of God, the Tetragrammaton or YHVH, totals 26. Since 13 + 13 = 26, we can say that love (aheva) plus oneness (echod) equals the nature of God (YHVH).» — el ejemplo con que el manual enseña la gematría; Kraig marca la conclusión como resultado *del sistema* y no como tesis suya.

«Thus, Amen, the Notarikon for “Al Melech Neh-eh-mahn,” means “God is our faithful king.” The phrase is a repetitive refrain in a Hebrew call and response prayer, and is the inner meaning of the word “Amen.”» — el sentido oculto de *amén* que Kraig había anunciado en la lección primera al enseñar la Cruz Cabalística; el procedimiento es el mismo con que explica el nombre AGLA.

«letters such as is used in cryptography and the making of codes. Its primary importance is in interpretation of the Torah (known as exegesis) and in making talismans.» — el uso que el manual asigna a la temurá; el tramo arranca a media frase porque el nombre y la pronunciación quedan en la plana anterior. Kraig enumera enseguida el avgad, el aik bekar y el achas b’tay-ah, y concede que cualquiera podría inventarse el suyo.

«The Unwritten Kabalah. This fourth branch of the Kabalah refers to the correspondences on the sacred glyph known as the Tree of Life. It is one of the major keys to the entire Kabalistic system.» — cuarta rama, y la que el curso adopta como eje; de ella salen todas las tablas de correspondencias de las lecciones siguientes.

«It is only a map of the reality that gives us a way to understand the reality, but the map is not the territory; it is only a model.» — la reserva epistémica con que Kraig introduce el Árbol de la Vida, dicha primero del modelo planetario del átomo y luego aplicada al glifo cabalístico.

«This is why revolutions rarely achieve their goals. Instead, they end as a mixture of what was and what was desired. The method of nature is evolution, not revolution.» — Kraig aplica la dialéctica que atribuye a Hegel a la política y a la práctica mágica, y saca de ahí una regla de método para el curso entero.

«This is both the flaming sword which the Kerubim hold to keep people from getting back into the Garden of Eden and the path by which Divinity created the universe.» — la doble lectura de la figura que une las diez sefirot en orden: arma que impide el regreso y camino por el que bajó la creación.

«In fact, the ultimate speculation we can make about the nature of Divinity is that Divinity is no-thing which we can know. In Hebrew, the word for no-thing (nothing) is Ain.» — el argumento por el que Kraig llega al primero de los tres velos: toda cualidad atribuida a la divinidad la limita, luego solo cabe negar.

«These three conceptions are conceived to be above the Tree of Life with a “veil” beneath each, as shown in the following diagram: The Three Veils of Negative Existence Because the word “Ain” means “nothing,” these three conceptions above the first Sephirah have been called the Three Veils of Negative Existence. However, they have been called so wrongly, because in context Ain does not mean “nothing,” but rather “no-thing” that our mortal minds can conceive, understand, or know.» — Kraig enmienda el nombre consagrado de los tres velos: objeta que *nada* traduce mal a *Ain*, que él lee como no-cosa. El encabezado de la lámina queda dentro del tramo porque el troceo lo imprime a media plana.

«The earliest known Kabalistic theory as to how the universe was formed comes from the Sepher Yetzirah . It holds that God moved the magickal Hebrew letters in such a way that the physical universe was formed.» — Kraig deriva del Sepher Yetzirah la cosmogonía por letras y la declara base de la magia gris que enseñará después. El espacio antes del punto es del troceo.

«God allowed a tiny part of “Himself” to shrink out of the universe, leaving a space. However, in some mysterious way God still filled this space much as a fragrant rose when removed from a room will still leave its essence or scent behind. This process Luria called “tzim-tzum.”» — la contracción luriana expuesta con el símil de la rosa retirada del cuarto; Kraig la presenta como la teoría cabalística más difundida hoy.

«But, for some reason unknown to us, God appears to have failed, with the result that the containers were shattered, forming the shells or what is known as the Kellipoht, the places where “demons” dwell.» — la rotura de los vasos, con el motivo declarado como desconocido; de ahí saca el curso su explicación del lugar de los demonios. La transliteración va tal cual el troceo.

«The Tree of Life exists everywhere, not just as circles on a piece of paper or as a philosophical construct. It also exists within the human being on a variety of levels.» — el paso de la cosmología a la anatomía sobre el que se monta el Ritual del Pilar Medio: el glifo se proyecta sobre el cuerpo del operador.

«Its proper practice will result in greater vitality, aid in the task of self-mastery, help cultivate spiritual insight, and aid you in your white magickal quest, the search for union with the divine nature.» — lo que el manual promete del Ritual del Pilar Medio; el cuarto efecto lo ata a la magia blanca tal como Kraig la definió en la lección primera.

«The oldest Tantras speak of only three major chakras: at the genitals, the heart, and at the top of the head.» — Kraig consigna que el número y el sitio de los chakras varían según la antigüedad del texto tántrico, y que los libros más tardíos discrepan entre sí.

«In his early writings on psychology Freud indicated that he believed that there was an actual, physical energy, a psycho-sexual energy, which he called “libido.”» — primer eslabón de la genealogía con que Kraig hace entrar la energía kundalini por la vía de la psicología europea; sostiene en la misma plana que Freud, judío, estudió la cábala al menos superficialmente.

«No matter how he came to this conclusion, Freud did change his notion of libido from an actual energy to a mere desire, which was capable of being focused in other directions. He called this process of focusing the energy in other directions “sublimation.”» — Kraig atribuye el cambio de Freud a un cálculo sobre la moral victoriana y marca su propia reserva, *no matter how he came to this conclusion*, sobre el motivo.

«Reich called the psycho-sexual energy “orgone” and believed that he had seen it and measured it. Its color was a bright blue (such as in the LBRP).» — Kraig empalma el orgón de Reich con el azul eléctrico de los pentagramas del rito, que es la manera en que ata la doctrina de la energía al procedimiento del curso.

«Rather, it is to show that Western science has studied and is well aware of the nature of the psycho-sexual energy. And this energy, originally called libido and later orgone in the West, is known as kundalini in India.» — la identificación que cierra el argumento: libido, orgón y kundalini son para Kraig tres nombres de lo mismo.

«The ancient Kabalists were also aware of this energy. It is sometimes known in Hebrew as Ruach (pronounced “roo-ach,” with the “ch” sounding like the German “ach”). It, too, cycles in the psychic centers.» — el cuarto nombre de la serie, que le permite a Kraig sustituir los chakras por los cinco centros psíquicos cabalísticos del Pilar Medio.

«Western occultism, perhaps being more pragmatic than its Eastern counterpart, says, “Let’s not slay the slayer, but rather let us perfect the slayer so that it no longer only sees illusions.» — Kraig enuncia así la diferencia que declara entre las dos místicas: donde Oriente manda suprimir la consciencia que solo ve maya, Occidente manda perfeccionarla. La comilla de cierre falta en el troceo.

«In our system we stress the psychological and spiritual nature of the energy; thus we can work in complete safety and without a guru.» — la razón por la que el Pilar Medio baja la energía desde arriba en vez de subirla desde el centro sexual, y el argumento con que Kraig desactiva la advertencia tántrica que él mismo acaba de citar.

«The Astral Senses include the ability to see, hear, feel, taste, smell, etc. on the higher planes (the planes will be discussed in a few lessons). Anything that you experience now has always been there—only now, for the first time, you have opened your senses enough so that you can become aware of it.» — la explicación que el manual da de los fenómenos que reportan los alumnos a los dos o tres meses: no aparece nada nuevo, se abre la percepción.

«In all honesty, I am not really sure what they are. In some cases they seem to be what are called “elementals” (more on them in another lesson). In other cases, because you are working via visualization on the astral plane, you may, like a weird cosmic magnet, just be attracting meaningless astral junk.» — Kraig se abstiene sobre la naturaleza de las apariciones que llama *Little Nasties* y deja las dos hipótesis sin elegir; lo que sí afirma en esa plana es que no pueden dañar y que no son ataque psíquico.

«But I remember a statement from Aleister Crowley, who wrote, “An ounce of honest pride is better than a ton of false humility.”» — Kraig cita a Crowley para autorizar el orgullo por lo aprendido, y en la misma plana reproduce las dos continuaciones de la frase que lo acotan, la de la humildad verdadera y la de que quien trabaja no tiene tiempo para ninguna de las dos.

«Magick is not something you do. Magick is something you are!» — la fórmula que el libro imprime aquí como sentencia aparte, después de compararla con el cristiano que lo es solo el domingo; es la frase que DuQuette pone como epígrafe de su prólogo.

«If you have studied a bit about the Golden Dawn, this may shock you: The Golden Dawn was never a magickal order. The inner order, with initials standing for the Latin phrase Roseae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis (Red Rose and Gold Cross) was where members did practice practical magick. The outer order, the Golden Dawn, did not.» — Kraig niega que la orden exterior practicara magia y reserva la práctica para la orden interior; sobre esa distinción monta el reparto en dos secciones de su propio curso.

«Initiation has two aspects: practical and mystical. On a practical level, initiation gives you nothing. Rather, it allows you to begin to follow a certain prescribed system of mystical and/or magickal work. As an example, a person initiated into the Neophyte degree of the Golden Dawn was to begin learning the Hebrew alphabet, the symbols of the planets and the zodiac, and he or she was also to begin doing the LBRP. The word “initiation” comes from a Latin root that means “to begin.”» — Kraig niega que la iniciación confiera algo en el plano práctico y apoya la negativa en la etimología; en la plana anterior deja dicho que no puede iniciar por libro y que pone en duda la iniciación astral que ofrecen algunas organizaciones.

«In reality, the mystical aspects of initiation not only introduce you to higher powers (or, if you prefer, your Higher Self), but also cause spiritual, emotional, and physical effects within you, which allow you to be easily recognized in the future by the higher powers.» — la otra mitad de la iniciación, la que Kraig sí concede que obra; y en la misma plana ofrece la práctica sostenida como vía alterna al mismo resultado.

«Therefore, we can say that the element Earth has the qualities of being dry and cool.» — el criterio con que el curso define los cuatro elementos: cada uno es una combinación de temperatura y humedad, y por ahí se aprende a reconocerlos y a manejarlos.

«However, the real answer to the idea that Earth has some wetness to it is that you are mistaking the physical soil for the magickal archetypal element Earth. A physical representation always lacks the purity of the archetype.» — la distinción entre el suelo y el elemento arquetípico, que Kraig resuelve con la misma figura del mapa y el territorio que usó para el Árbol de la Vida.

«However, descriptions of the way the universe and various aspects of the universe function are also nothing more than maps. They guide us through the territory and may give us a way to understand it, but they are not the territory themselves.» — Kraig extiende la reserva a los planos de existencia y a las divisiones de la mente, y dice de las dos cosas que son modos de entender, no cosas.

«The pillar on the left is composed of the 3rd, 5th, and 8th Sephiroht, and is known as the “Pillar of Severity.” On the right, the pillar is composed of the 2nd, 4th, and 7th Sephiroht. Being opposite of the pillar on the left, the one on the right is known as the “Pillar of Mercy.” Balancing the two outer pillars is the Middle Pillar. It is composed of the 1st, 6th, 9th, and 10th Sephiroht, and is also known as the “Pillar of Mildness.”» — el reparto de las diez sefirot en tres columnas; el pilar central es el que da nombre al ritual de la lección anterior.

«It is interesting to note that the Pillar of Severity, on the left, is considered to be female while the Pillar of Mercy is considered to be masculine; a reversal of what might be considered an archetypal norm.» — Kraig señala la inversión de género de los pilares y no la corrige; la apoya en la Madre Terrible de Jung y en la Kali del tantra.

«archetypal male power is receptive, magnetic, and calming. Female is force, male is form.» — la fórmula tántrica que Kraig pone al lado de la cábala, y que acota enseguida: dice que la cábala coincide en algunos puntos y no en todos, y que ambos potenciales están presentes. El tramo arranca a media frase porque la mitad femenina queda en la plana anterior.

«It is one of the duties of a magician to learn to overcome everything that seems to be in opposition in order to achieve unity with Divinity.» — el deber que Kraig deriva del triángulo celeste; en la misma plana lo declara secreto antiguo de la cábala y lo atribuye también a los tántricos.

«Some have claimed that the Kabalah is sexist. I would deny this completely. The Kabalah is definitely not sexist, although some Kabalists and Kabalistic writers, often reflecting their time and environment more than the Kabalah, definitely present sexist ideas. That should be seen as a reflection on them, not on the Kabalah.» — Kraig niega el cargo contra la doctrina y lo concede contra sus autores, separando la tradición de quienes la escriben.

«This path, sometimes known as the “Path of the Arrow,” as shown on the previous page, is like the path an arrow flies if pointed straight up from Mahlkoot to Keter. The yogi sits in meditation until he or she can simply “hop” from the lowest to the highest.» — la vía del místico según el curso: subir por el pilar medio de un salto, sin recorrer las sefirot laterales.

«In fact, the path of the magician is sometimes known as the Path of the Serpent. At each Sephira, on each of the connecting paths, the magician learns new things and has new and exciting experiences, which the mystic or yogi will never know.» — la vía contraria, la del mago, que Kraig describe como recorrido sinuoso por las diez sefirot y los veintidós senderos.

«Each can achieve the goal of unity with Divinity—White Magick—in the same amount of time. It is their own determination and abilities that speed or delay the coming of unity, of Nirvana, of the ultimate mystical ecstasy ceremonial magicians refer to as obtaining “the Knowledge and Conversation of Your Holy Guardian Angel.”» — Kraig no jerarquiza las dos vías: les asigna el mismo plazo y el mismo fin, y equipara el nirvana con la fórmula de la magia ceremonial.

«The middle triangle, composed of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Sephiroht, is known as Ha-oh-lahm B’riyah, which means the World of Creation. It is not yet real in a physical sense; it is far more of the conscious mind. It is in this world that the archangels are said to exist.» — segundo de los cuatro mundos; Kraig reparte las clases de seres por mundo con verbo de decir, *are said to exist*, y no como afirmación propia.

«The bottommost triangle is formed of the 7th, 8th, and 9th Sephiroht and is known as Ha-oh-lahm Yetzirah, or the World of Formation. It is considered by some to be equal to the astral plane, which is the basis for everything that exists in the physical universe. It is in this world that the various “orders” of angels are said to exist.» — tercer mundo; la equivalencia con el plano astral va atribuida a otros, no afirmada.

«If you have ever desired anything but have not been able to bring it into your own world, then it is most likely that you have overlooked the importance of one of the Four Worlds.» — la vuelta práctica del esquema: Kraig convierte los cuatro mundos en un diagnóstico de por qué falla una operación, y anticipa con ello la magia gris de las lecciones siguientes. La frase va en cursiva en la fuente.

«As stated earlier, the Kabalah has changed over time and has not been a static, unchanging system. There are other versions of the Four Worlds.» — el marco con que Kraig expone tres repartos distintos de los cuatro mundos sin elegir entre ellos.

«Another system holds that there is a full Tree of Life within each Sephira on the Tree of Life! Thus, there would be 100 Sephiroht to deal with. You could have Keter in Keter, Hochma in Keter, and up to ten different Sephiroht in each Sephira. With this system the Worlds get quite complicated.» — el segundo de esos repartos; Kraig lo consigna junto a los de cuarenta y cuatrocientas sefirot y los declara demasiado avanzados para el curso.

«Meditation as it really exists is derived from an Eastern idea based not on contemplation, but silence—the silence of the mind.» — Kraig objeta la definición de diccionario y la de los autores que igualan meditar con contemplar; sobre esa objeción monta su técnica de tres pasos.

«In true meditation the goal is to silence the inner voice.» — la frase que el libro imprime aparte como tesis de la sección; en la plana siguiente Kraig la funda en que el inconsciente es el enlace directo con lo divino y la voz interior lo tapa.

«Negation. In this step (the step which is usually left out of lessons on how to meditate), you eliminate from your mind all consciousness of what you have been contemplating. Since your consciousness has become united with what you have been contemplating, it (your consciousness) also leaves when you get rid of the object of your contemplation.» — el tercer paso, que Kraig declara el que suele faltar; el mecanismo que describe es la retirada de la consciencia junto con su objeto.

«The result is a state wherein your consciousness is not blocking the already existent link between you and the Divine. This is White Magick, the state of true bliss, and is the ultimate and only goal of true meditation.» — el fin que Kraig asigna a la meditación, que es el mismo que asignó a la magia blanca en la lección primera; añade que sin haberlo alcanzado ninguna palabra lo explica.

«This is known as cosmic consciousness or enlightenment. It is, as I have said, really impossible to speak of this state of feeling, this state of existence. You must experience it and discover its beauty for yourself.» — el fin de la meditación se declara incomunicable; es la única promesa del curso que Kraig se niega a describir.

«You will NEVER become a magician if all you can do is blindly follow obsolete patterns. Tradition can only be a guide.» — la instrucción va en cursiva en la fuente, y sale de un caso concreto: el tabaco adjudicado a Guiburá, que Kraig manda sustituir por cualquier aroma que dé sensación de fuerza.

«However, some of the correspondences date back thousands of years. They have lasted this long for only one reason: the thousands of people who have used them have discovered that they are accurate and that they work.» — el contrapeso que Kraig pone a lo anterior en la misma plana: pide una razón buena y pensada antes de cambiar lo que ha servido tanto tiempo.

«The angels do the bidding of the archangels; the archangels obey God; God assigns the archangels tasks appropriate to their nature.» — la cadena de mando de los planos superiores según el curso; en la misma plana Kraig la llama militarista y la pone bajo el Ain incognoscible.

«If you do not, you can come up with absurd theories as one NASA scientist did, claiming that Ezekiel saw an alien space vehicle. He claimed that the descriptions Ezekiel used were merely a way of reporting the action of the space ship!» — Kraig objeta la lectura del carro de Ezequiel como nave; su objeción no es de hecho sino de método, y no nombra al científico.

«He failed to see that his interpretation of Ezekiel was his way of trying to understand mystical terms without including mysticism.» — el reproche que Kraig formula contra esa lectura: leer un texto místico sin la clave mística.

«The traditional magician of the Middle Ages wore two robes: an outer robe, representing the silence necessary to being a magician, which concealed a hidden, inner robe of truth. Today, most magicians wear only one robe, the two robes being more symbolic than actual.» — la vestidura doble y su lectura, silencio afuera y verdad adentro; Kraig consigna que la práctica actual la ha reducido a símbolo.

«Dah-aht at the throat does not have a Kabalistic archangelic name, so we borrow from another language called Enochian or Angelic.» — el modo en que el curso rellena un hueco de la tradición: donde falta un nombre hebreo, toma uno enoquiano.

«Visualization, in this sense, does not necessarily mean that you must “see” the colors. Rather, it could mean that you “know” or “feel” that the colors are there. This does not mean “hope” they are there—you must know that if your astral vision were open you would easily be able to see the colors in your mind’s eye.» — la definición operativa de visualizar que el curso sostiene desde la primera lección; distingue el saber de la esperanza y no exige ver.

«Never attempt to heal a person without first getting that person’s permission to do so.» — primera de las seis reglas que el manual impone al usar para sanar la energía del rito de circulación.

«Always work in cooperation with medical doctors. Under no circumstances should you ever advise a person to not follow a doctor’s advice or not seek the aid of a professional therapist!» — última de esas reglas, y la única que el manual escribe con prohibición absoluta; concede como alternativa pedir una segunda opinión médica.

«Sometimes, unusual experiences or sensations can actually get in the way of psychic development. Some people get sidetracked into trying to produce psychic phenomena. They end up spending time trying to do relatively useless things such as levitation or being able to see what symbol is on the back of a card. While spending time bending spoons (and what good is a bent spoon, anyway?) they ignore their magickal work and retard their magickal and spiritual progress.» — Kraig objeta la persecución de fenómenos psíquicos como desvío del trabajo mágico, y nombra como inútiles justamente las pruebas que la parapsicología usa como evidencia.

«If you do the rituals properly, you must get the desired results. This is the cosmic law of magick.» — la respuesta que Kraig da al alumno que no siente nada: la eficacia no depende de la sensación, y la compara con la gravedad, que opera aunque no se note.

«Know that you can do the rituals successfully. Dare to do them. Then just Do them! Finally, Be Silent about your achievements.» — Kraig cierra la parte con las cuatro potencias de la esfinge —saber, osar, hacer, callar— dichas como instrucción y sin nombrar la fórmula.

«As far as I can tell, calling our system a “four element” system is a blind to fool those outside the temples of wisdom.» — Kraig niega que el sistema occidental tenga cuatro elementos y llama velo deliberado a la cuenta corriente; marca la afirmación con la reserva *as far as I can tell*.

«The fact is that there have always been five magickal elements. According to the Sepher Yetzirah, one of the oldest Kabalistic documents extant, their order is as follows: The SPIRIT of God AIR emanated from Spirit WATER emanated from Air Part of the water became EARTH FIRE emanated from Water» — la serie de emanaciones que Kraig toma del Sepher Yetzirah para sostener los cinco elementos; en la misma plana consigna que otros leen ahí un sistema de tres y que algunos cabalistas tardíos hacen de la Tierra una mezcla.

«Thus, for the operative magician, the pentacle is primarily a defensive weapon, meant never to be used as a weapon except in case of being attacked.» — la función que el curso asigna al pentáculo, y el motivo por el que Kraig manda hacerlo cóncavo y de seis pulgadas en vez del disco plano de nueve de la tradición.

«It is quite possible that pentacles were originally meant to be worn like some form of protective jewelry. In that case, the beginning of the word is derived from the prefix pend-, meaning something that hangs like a pendant.» — una de las dos etimologías que Kraig ofrece para explicar por qué la Golden Dawn llama pentáculo a un objeto con un hexagrama pintado; la otra la hace venir del latín *pentaculum*. No elige entre ellas.

«You see, they had in their possession a large book of family mottoes. Most of the members simply took their longstanding family motto as their magickal motto. Others just looked through the book and selected a motto they liked.» — Kraig desmitifica la elección del lema mágico en la Golden Dawn original, contra la solemnidad con que dice que hoy se elige.

«Never let your magickal rituals become habits. Always perform them with full awareness. Be present in any ritual even if you have been doing it daily for years.» — los tres avisos que el libro imprime en cursiva al distinguir rito de hábito, sacados del ejemplo del ritual de afeitarse.

«My definition of a ceremony is a “group ritual.” That is, it only takes one person to do a ritual while it takes several people to perform a ceremony. Thus, in order to do ceremonial magick you must have a group of some sort.» — Kraig marca como definición propia la distinción entre rito y ceremonia, y de ella saca una consecuencia que atañe al título de su propio curso.

«Always, and I do mean always, the problems associated with groups are based on one problem and one problem only: personal psychology.» — el diagnóstico de Kraig sobre el fracaso de los grupos mágicos, que no atribuye a doctrina ni a técnica.

«Various groups calling themselves Rosicrucian all insist that only they are the real Rosicrucians and all of the other groups are frauds.» — Kraig consigna la disputa de legitimidad entre rosacruces, y en la misma plana la extiende a los grupos de brujería y wicca y a una orden mágica con cinco o seis jefes simultáneos.

«So earlier, in the section on dealing with psychic attack I wrote that you shouldn’t do mirror spells because you’d consciously be doing a form of Black Magick, sending negative energy to someone, and that would eventually have repercussions on you. Yet in the section on making a pentacle I advise making the pentacle concave so it would direct negative energy back to where it originated. Essentially, it would be a type of mirroring spell.» — Kraig enuncia él mismo una contradicción interna del curso, en un recuadro que titula con un *Gotcha!*, y la deja planteada apoyándose en citas de Huxley, Berenson y Wilde contra la consistencia.

«The Golden Dawn aspect includes a simple version of the formulation of “telesmatic images” and certain banishing techniques. The medieval counseling technique is commonly called “exorcism.”» — Kraig declara de qué dos procedencias arma la técnica I.O.B., que es la aportación propia del curso y la única que marca como peligrosa.

«So, even if we are to assume that some exorcisms did deal with demon possession, it seems that many functioned as a sort of early psychotherapy in the tradition of what is today known as “psychodrama.”» — la lectura que Kraig hace del exorcismo medieval; concede la posesión en algunos casos y remite el resto a la psicoterapia, sin negar que funcionaran.

«The idea, however, is to create an image of something which in itself is devoid of form. Thus, “justice” could be made to have a specific image. So could “freedom” become a particular angel or archangel.» — el principio de las imágenes telesmáticas de la Golden Dawn tal como el curso lo usa: dar figura a una cualidad para poder tratarla como entidad.

«What I mean is that through this technique you will learn more about your true nature than you may be able to accept.» — el peligro que Kraig atribuye al I.O.B., y que no es de ataque ni de enfermedad; manda parar de inmediato al que se asuste o se sienta perdido.

«The element of Air has the qualities of being warm and moist.» — segunda entrada de la serie elemental del curso, que avanza al ritmo de los grados elementales de la Golden Dawn.

«The cross is far older than Christianity. It has always been revered as a spiritual and religious symbol. This is why early Christians usurped the cross as “their” symbol. Various non-Christian traditions had used forms of the cross far back into antiquity. By using the cross as their new symbol it was thought that it would be easier to convince the Pagans that they should worship a similar God, one who had the same symbol.» — el argumento con que Kraig desliga del cristianismo la cruz que el curso usa en la Cruz Cabalística; atribuye la adopción a un cálculo de conversión.

«Dion Fortune said there is no room for authority in occultism. I say, “Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself.”» — Kraig repite el criterio que ya había citado de Fortune y esta vez lo aplica a sus propias afirmaciones sobre el cristianismo.

«The concept of Christianity is firmly based on the astrological concepts of the Piscean age. As such, in its creation, it is “old age” as opposed to the coming new age, the age of Aquarius.» — la lectura astrológica del cristianismo que Kraig sostiene, y de la que deriva los rasgos que le atribuye: predicar paz y hacer guerra, sociedades partidas en dos.

«Rather, they were so heavily influenced by the energies of the new Piscean age that they couldn’t help but create a Piscean-oriented religion with a focus on fish and fishing.» — la reserva con que Kraig acota lo anterior: niega haber sugerido un plan deliberado de los padres de la Iglesia.

«The vertical bar represents the erect male organ while the loop and the split horizontal bar represent the female sexual organ. Together, indicating sexual intercourse, they are a symbol of fertility.» — la lectura sexual del anj que Kraig dice que muchos evitan, y de la que hace derivar su sentido de vida eterna y renacimiento.

«There have been many “savior gods” in the history of our planet. For the Norse it was Baldur. For the Egyptians it was Osiris. For the ancient Celts of the British Isles it was Lugh. To the Hindus it was (and is) Krishna.» — la serie de dioses que mueren y vuelven con que Kraig sitúa el relato cristiano; los ata a todos al sol y al ciclo de las estaciones.

«This theory was picked up by German occult groups and nationalists who hated the idea that Western culture came from the Semites (i.e., Jews) of the Middle East. It also, regrettably, was picked up by other occult groups, including the important Theosophical society and its major voice, Madame Blavatsky.» — Kraig traza la ruta por la que la teoría de la invasión aria llega al ocultismo alemán y a la teosofía, y marca con un *regrettably* que la señala también en su propia tradición.

«In fact, the word “Aryan” simply means “a noble or honorable person.” It was used as a term to describe spiritual leaders and had nothing to do with “races.”» — la enmienda con que Kraig niega contenido racial al término, dentro de un recuadro donde también consigna que los británicos promovieron la teoría en la India.

«To alchemists, it stood for Igne Naturae Renovatur Integra, Latin for “Nature by Fire is renewed in its integrity.”» — una de las cuatro lecturas de las letras INRI que Kraig enumera, junto a la cristiana, la segunda alquímica y la jesuita; anuncia que la alquimia de una lección posterior la hará clara.

«Since the “I” in the “INRI” formula is repeated and represents two of the magickal elements, the three members of the Egyptian pantheon (Isis, Apophis, and Osiris) can represent the four archetypal elements of which everything on Earth is composed.» — el empalme por el que la fórmula cristiana pasa a ser fórmula elemental egipcia; la aritmética de la repetición de la letra es lo que lo permite.

«It is interesting to note that the Notarikon, the abbreviation made of the first letters of Isis, Apophis, and Osiris» — el paso siguiente de la misma cadena: de las tres iniciales sale IAO, que Kraig identifica con el dios supremo de los gnósticos. La cita se corta antes de la transcripción fonética, que el troceo imprime partida por el salto de renglón y la herramienta uniría en una palabra fabricada.

«There is one major problem with Müller’s theory. There is not one bit of proof to support it. The supposedly civilized Aryan people who brought Sanskrit to the Dravidians left no written record» — Kraig objeta la teoría de la invasión aria por falta de prueba y la vuelve del revés: los llamados ignorantes dejaron escritura y los llamados civilizados no.

«If spiritual light (LVX) = 65 and Divinity (in the “Ah-doh-nye” aspect) = 65, then according to Gematria we must assume that there is some relationship between the two. There is such a relationship: they are one and the same!» — el curso aplica aquí la gematría a dos alfabetos a la vez, el romano y el hebreo, y de la coincidencia numérica saca la identidad de la luz espiritual con la divinidad.

«This clearly states the Kabalistic attitude that no matter the name by which you call Divinity, there is only one ultimate Divinity, one divine source which can be summoned. Everything is of Divinity, or as is said in a ritual, “There is no part of me which is not of the gods.”» — la lectura que Kraig da del acrónimo ARARITA, y la fórmula ritual con que la remata; es la misma tesis monoteísta con que resolvió antes la pluralidad de nombres divinos.

«One author went so far as to “explain” this change by saying it is a trap for the unwary and meant to fool people. I respectfully disagree.» — Kraig objeta sin nombrar al autor la lectura del cambio de elementos por cuarto como velo deliberado, y en la plana siguiente la explica por el cambio de plano, del terrestre al zodiacal.

«While it is true that Witchcraft is thousands of years old, it is also true that much of what is today called Witchcraft is either a creation of or a reconstruction by the late Gerald B. Gardner and his followers.» — Kraig concede antigüedad a la brujería y a la vez data en el siglo XX lo que hoy se practica con ese nombre.

«It is clear that Gardner simplified some seemingly complex magickal techniques and philosophy (probably “borrowed,” with or without permission, from the ubiquitous A. Crowley). Then, with the help of Doreen Valiente they created the modern Craft.» — Kraig adjudica a Gardner y a Valiente la creación de la wicca moderna y marca con un *probably* la deuda con Crowley.

«It does not matter whether or not he received initiation from the New Forest Witches, as he claimed. Nor does it matter that many have gone far beyond his initial researches, training, and techniques. His importance is that he introduced many to a form of spirituality that could not be found elsewhere when he began his work.» — Kraig se abstiene sobre la iniciación que Gardner reivindicó y traslada el criterio de valor de la autenticidad al efecto.

«In fact, those who follow one of the various Pagan paths in many cases seem to have regained the link between humanity and nature that many ceremonial magicians only talk about and secretly envy.» — Kraig concede a los paganos una ventaja sobre su propia tradición, y declara que recuperar ese vínculo es parte del propósito del curso.

«Let me make clear that this course is presenting traditional Western occultism. From this standpoint, other associations are incorrect. However, within their own systems, other attributions may be totally correct and the traditional system presented here would be “in error.”» — la fórmula con que Kraig deja sin arbitrar la disputa sobre si la daga es del Aire o del Fuego: cada sistema tiene razón dentro de sí.

«The only moral of this paragraph, if I can call it that, is if you do not totally understand the system you are using, do not mix it with other systems.» — la regla que Kraig saca de lo anterior; la acota enseguida diciendo que mezclar sí se puede una vez comprendidos los sistemas, y que eso fue el logro mayor de la Golden Dawn.

«By allowing the Neschamah to be in our awareness, we develop psychic abilities. By being conscious of the Chiah, we are able to perform magick.» — el reparto que hace el curso entre lo psíquico y lo mágico: uno es receptivo y el otro activo, y el fin declarado sigue siendo equilibrarlos.

«The Chiah is our True Will. As such, it is in alignment with the will of the Divine. The will of the Ruach is that which is moved by our superficial and transitory desires. The True Will of the Chiah is to create, to love, and to seek unity with the Godhead.» — Kraig aloja la Verdadera Voluntad thelémica dentro de la psicología cabalística y la separa de la voluntad del yo consciente.

«The Nephesch is also the source of the astral body and the seat of the energy called Praña (correct pronunciation: prahn-yah) in Sanskrit. In the Kabalah this energy is also known as Ruach, but should not be confused with the Ruach meaning “consciousness.”» — Kraig advierte la homonimia del término hebreo, que nombra a la vez la energía y el centro de la consciencia.

«anytime you wish to use magick to change somebody’s mind, you must ask for that person’s permission first. And the person must give it to you.» — la regla de consentimiento aplicada al uso terapéutico del tarot sobre otra persona; la frase va en cursiva en la fuente.

«But changing a person’s mind without his/her permission is nothing but Black Magick, and you will be the one to suffer most.» — Kraig clasifica el cambio no consentido dentro de la categoría que su curso excluye, y no por el daño al otro sino por el retorno sobre el operador.

«It is unfortunate but true that people who teach metaphysical topics can end up being led to believe in their own (non-existent) greatness as the result of the adulation of students.» — Kraig lo dice de sí mismo en esa plana, declara haber pasado por ello, y de ahí saca la instrucción de leer a otros autores que lo contradigan.

«Crowley wrote about this frequently, yet, although he claimed to have succeeded, it is very questionable as to whether he really freed himself from his ego.» — Kraig pone en duda la reivindicación de Crowley sobre la supresión del ego, dentro de la exposición de la doctrina oriental de matar al matador.

«According to Israel Regardie, in the West our goal is not to rid ourselves of our egos, but to perfect our egos so they are in harmony with our higher selves.» — la posición occidental según Regardie, que Kraig ya había enunciado sin atribuirla al tratar la mística oriental; añade dudar de que muchos la hayan alcanzado, él incluido.

«What both Crowley and Regardie seem to imply is a very mechanistic mind. That is, they seem to see the amount of ego reaching a certain level which, by following certain instructions, can be raised or lowered. While I have great respect for these two gentlemen, I disagree with this viewpoint.» — Kraig objeta a la vez a sus dos autoridades mayores, y lo hace sobre el modelo de la mente, no sobre la técnica.

«Tell me. . . and I’ll forget. Show me. . . and I might remember. Involve me. . . and I’ll understand.» — la fórmula del método socrático que Kraig dice haber recibido de su maestro Michael Turk y que declara seguir al enseñar; los espacios entre puntos son del troceo.

«I have always considered it to be on the level of doing my laundry. It is important and must be done regularly, or you can get into trouble. For many years I did it on an average of twice a day. I feel good about doing it, too. But I also think that a ritual done daily should have “more.”» — Kraig compara el Ritual Menor de Destierro con lavar la ropa, y sobre esa insatisfacción declarada introduce el Ritual de Destierro del Hexagrama.

«Holy art Thou, Lord of the Universe! Holy art Thou, Whom Nature hath not formed! Holy art Thou, the Vast and Mighty One! Lord of the Light and of the Darkness!» — adoración de la Golden Dawn que Kraig cita como prueba de la belleza de sus rituales; la fórmula reaparece abreviada en el cierre de la técnica I.O.B.

«The LBRP is a preparation, a cleansing of that temple. The BRH has aspects which are nothing less than simple, glorious, honest worship along with its already mentioned banishing qualities.» — el reparto de funciones entre los dos ritos de destierro: el del pentagrama limpia, el del hexagrama adora.

«Virgo, Isis, mighty Mother, Scorpio, Apophis, Destroyer, Sol, Osiris, Slain and Risen» — la fórmula del Análisis de la Palabra Clave, donde los tres signos astrológicos derivados de INRI se dicen con sus tres dioses egipcios; de las iniciales sale el IAO que se vibra a continuación.

«Remember, there is only one way to succeed in ritual magick. That way is to practice, practice, practice. You will never succeed if you do not do the necessary work. There is no secret key that allows you to bypass the work.» — Kraig cierra con esto la lista definitiva del trabajo diario, y niega la existencia de atajo o llave secreta.

«The plain fact of the matter is that for the systems of magick taught in these lessons, only a minimal amount of astrological knowledge is necessary. Most of it can be understood by comprehending the Tree of Life rather than recourse to deep study of astrology. On the other hand, the better you know astrology, the better you will understand the Tree of Life.» — Kraig declara por qué el curso no enseña astrología, y anticipa que su ausencia no debe leerse como rechazo; la relación con el Árbol la deja en reciprocidad.

«This key is found in the idea behind the word that describes these texts: grimoire. It is a French word. The direct translation of it is “black book,” but it has the meaning “grammar book,” which were frequently in black bindings.» — la etimología sobre la que Kraig monta toda su lectura de los grimorios; el mismo par de sentidos que los editores de otras ediciones del corpus consignan.

«Grimoires were not meant to give out every bit of magickal knowledge. They were designed to aid a student’s memory. They are, in a sense, nothing more than class notes.» — la tesis de Kraig sobre por qué los grimorios impresos no bastan: son apuntes de clase que suponen un maestro.

«Once this is understood, instead of looking at what is included in these books, notice what is omitted . In the grimoires, the knowledge of karma or tee-koon and the need to do a divination before doing any Grey Magick is never discussed. The teacher would have instilled these ideas very strongly into the head of a student.» — el método de lectura que Kraig propone para los grimorios: leer por lo que falta, no por lo que traen. El espacio antes del punto es del troceo.

«If you don’t think that your magick will work, it won’t. This should not imply, however, that magick is nothing more than mental techniques.» — primera de las tres necesidades de la magia gris; Kraig la enuncia y en la misma frase niega la lectura psicologista que se le podría dar.

«It is impossible to be successful as a magician if you are not positive that your magick will work.» — la forma tajante de esa misma necesidad, después de apoyarla en el vínculo entre mente y cuerpo en la medicina.

«Thus, this knowledge aspect of magick was written down to aid the student and help the student avoid possibly dangerous mistakes. It is these workbooks that are known as grimoires.» — tercera necesidad, la del saber qué hacer con la energía; Kraig deriva de ella el origen mismo del género del grimorio.

«Rather, it is stress beyond our tolerance levels and our inability to deal with and overcome that excess stress that is the problem.» — Kraig no condena el estrés: lo declara necesario para funcionar y sitúa el problema en el exceso, antes de enseñar el Ritual de Relajación Instantánea.

«Also, please remember that I am just a teacher. If you can come up with some exercises that will help you become more familiar with the elements, feel free to incorporate them into your work. Don’t feel limited to the exercises and techniques shared in these lessons. Instead, think of them as a start to your explorations.» — Kraig autoriza al lector a inventar ejercicios propios; es el mismo rechazo de la autoridad que declara desde la lección segunda.

«The element of Water has the qualities of being cool and moist.» — tercera entrada de la serie elemental. La misma frase se reimprime en el apéndice de respuestas a los autoexámenes; se ancla aquí, en su primera aparición.

«Do not confuse elemental Water with physical water or you may get a drowning sensation.» — la advertencia con que el manual separa el elemento arquetípico de su representación física, esta vez con una consecuencia corporal.

«To become a good magician necessitates that you are capable of controlling all of the elements.» — el requisito que ordena las cuatro lecciones elementales del curso, y el motivo de que ninguna se pueda saltar.

«I also want to assure you that this is not sexist in nature. If you do not like the terms male and female, masculine and feminine, they can be replaced by such terms as Yin and Yang, positive and negative (as in the sense of the terminals of a battery, not in the sense of good and bad), projective and receptive, electric and magnetic, etc. The reason I use male and female is because it has traditionally been used and also was used by the ancient Kabalists, sometimes in even more anthropomorphic forms. It was their attempt to deal with the dualities which exist everywhere in nature. I am merely following their traditional lead.» — Kraig vuelve sobre la objeción de sexismo y esta vez ofrece vocabularios de reemplazo, declarando que su elección es de tradición y no de doctrina.

«In this ritual it represents the four elements (the four bars of the cross) and the union of physical (the horizontal bar) and spiritual (the vertical bar). The rose, which in the ritual is indicated by a circle, represents the unfolding of the soul and the evolution of consciousness.» — la lectura de los dos elementos del Ritual de la Rosa Cruz; Kraig la precede de la afirmación de que la cruz antecede al cristianismo y de una cifra, más de doscientas formas de cruz anteriores.

«It is a self-dedication, wherein you dedicate yourself to the Great Work: attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of your Holy Guardian Angel (also known as cosmic consciousness, enlightenment, and unity with Divinity) and the bringing of Spiritual Light to a dark world.» — lo que el curso ofrece en lugar de la iniciación que Kraig declara no poder dar por libro: una autoconsagración.

«I, of my own free will and accord do hereby and hereon most solemnly pledge to keep secret all of my occult knowledge from any and all whom I deem unworthy due to their evil intents or lying ways. I undertake to prosecute with zeal the study of occult sciences for the betterment of myself, the betterment of those around me, and the betterment of all humanity.» — primer tramo del voto de autoconsagración; el secreto que exige no es absoluto sino selectivo, y queda al juicio del que jura.

«To be quite frank, I am not convinced that reincarnation is an objective reality. The scientific evidence for it is too scant, too non-repeatable, and at times too silly to take the whole thing seriously.» — Kraig se abstiene sobre la reencarnación en un curso que enseña la regresión a vidas pasadas, y funda la abstención en la falta de prueba repetible.

«Past-life experiences are one of three things: 1. They may be real experiences of actual past lives. This could be individual, genetic, or grouped. 2. They may be fantasies to glamorize a current lifetime in which a person feels irrelevant or insignificant. 3. They may be messages, which your subconscious needs to give to your conscious, but which your conscious refuses to hear. Thus, the subconscious presents them in a way that can be accepted by the conscious: as a symbolic past life.» — las tres lecturas que Kraig deja abiertas para la experiencia de vida pasada, sin elegir entre ellas; la primera se subdivide a su vez en individual, genética y de un fondo común de almas.

«The implication is that plants, rocks, and animals are alive and have souls. This also implies that all planets and asteroids are teeming with some form of life.» — la consecuencia que Kraig extrae de la metempsicosis luriana, que admite encarnar en piedra para aprender paciencia o en junco para aprender flexibilidad.

«As a side note, Dion Fortune urges non-vegetarianism for Western occultists because giving up animal products in the diet may cause a psychic opening too quickly and bring about psychic or physical damage.» — primera de las tres posiciones sobre la dieta que Kraig alinea sin armonizar, y la única que atribuye a un nombre propio.

«Those who believe in the Lurianic theory of metempsychosis would argue that you should eat meat, as it will help those who have incarnated as animals move up the evolutionary scale. Others say you should avoid meat, as it brings down the frequency of your energy, preventing you from evolving as quickly as possible.» — las otras dos posiciones, opuestas entre sí y las dos derivadas de doctrinas sobre el alma.

«To my mind, you should do what’s right for you. If you force yourself to do otherwise you will be uncomfortable and unhappy, which is a handicap for psychic development. If you don’t want to eat meat, don’t; if you want to eat meat, do.» — Kraig no arbitra la disputa y la resuelve por el criterio del bienestar del practicante.

«In fact, some of the earliest works in Sanskrit, the Tantras, frequently use what is called sandhya bhasa, or “twilight language,” and are filled with hidden meanings that required a key to understand the twilight language code.» — Kraig introduce el lenguaje crepuscular tántrico para sostener que el hebreo bíblico opera igual, y con esa clave relee el castigo hasta la tercera generación.

«Thus, although “tee-koon” means “correct” (as in “to make a correction”), it implies the restoring of the soul to its true identity. Therefore, the reason we reincarnate in other life forms is to correct errors we have made in previous lives.» — la lectura de la palabra hebrea que el curso usa desde la lección primera como equivalente del karma; aquí le da su alcance completo.

«Simply, the Divine created all of the souls before their first incarnation. Thus, unrecognized, we are all imperfect parts of the Divine Source of all. Many have not incarnated as yet. It is possible that some may never do so. These proto-human souls are referred to as “sparks” in Kabalistic literature.» — la doctrina de las chispas, con la que Kraig responde a la pregunta de dónde vienen las almas.

«These sparks are androgynous. When the soul is ready to incarnate, it is split in two. Each half will go to a member of a different gender. Each “soul half” watches over the forming fetus, but does not join with it until the first breath is taken.» — la partición del alma andrógina, que es lo que sostiene después la doctrina del alma gemela; el momento de la unión con el cuerpo se fija en el primer aliento.

«I am often amazed at the incompetence of people claiming to be ceremonial magicians. Many of those whom I have met seem to think that the LBRP is the highest level of ritual magick, then wonder why Pagans criticize them for their “complicated rituals.”» — Kraig objeta dentro de su propio campo, y funda el reproche en que la Golden Dawn dio ese rito como preparación y no como cima.

«When the time is right, you will be united with your “soul mate.” This is the Kabalistic understanding of the term. In the interim you should love, marry, and have children. When the time is right, your true soul mate will appear, will be about your current age, will be of the opposite gender, and will not be a blood relative.» — la definición cabalística de alma gemela que Kraig declara, con sus cuatro marcas de reconocimiento; en la plana siguiente la opone a la creencia corriente de que se tienen varias.

«Share what you have done not to claim that others are wrong but that there can be power in diversity.» — la instrucción con que Kraig invita a publicar las variantes propias en internet, y el criterio con que dice haber compartido los Árboles pintados por sus alumnos.

«The Kabalah does not have any such place of eternal punishment. According to both the Kabalah and an accurate translation of the Tanach, there is no Hell.» — Kraig niega el infierno y lo funda en la traducción: sostiene que *Sheol* significa tumba y que se vierte por infierno cuando el traductor quiere castigo.

«The purpose is the same as the purpose of such books as the Egyptian and Tibetan Books of the Dead: to tell the personality that it has gone through the change known as death and that it is free to move on.» — Kraig adjudica al duelo judío de los siete días la misma función que a los libros de los muertos, y conjetura que hubo un texto hebreo equivalente hoy perdido.

«However, people with extremely strong personalities can will themselves to stay in a shadowy world of semi-existence. This may be one of the causes of what is commonly known as hauntings.» — la explicación que el curso da de las apariciones de difuntos, dentro de una doctrina en que la personalidad es mortal y se disuelve.

«Thus it is that the Kabalists usually frown upon spiritism and spiritualistic practices. Communicating with our deceased loved ones (if that’s who it is we really are communicating with) tends to lock the Ruach-ego near the physical plane. It prevents necessary evolution.» — la objeción del curso al espiritismo, que no es de veracidad sino de efecto sobre el difunto; el paréntesis deja abierta la identidad de quien responde.

«As I stated earlier, your Yeh-chee-dah is your link to the Divine. Actually, it is more than that: it is literally a small part of God. That is why it is said we were made in the likeness of Divinity. The Divine is a part of us. God is not a big old man with a beard, sitting on a throne that is on a cloud.» — Kraig pasa del enlace a la identidad parcial: el yo superior no comunica con lo divino, es divino.

«To call the Tanach, the holy book of the Jews, “Old” is to denigrate what’s in it, Jewish beliefs, and Jews themselves. It is basically an anti-Semitic term.» — Kraig declara y fecha un cambio de vocabulario respecto de sus dos ediciones anteriores, y consigna que él mismo usó antes el término.

«According to the Kabalah, the soul joins with the chosen human body when that body takes its first breath, and not before.» — la tesis sobre el momento de la animación, que Kraig deja dicha sin extraerle consecuencias; en la misma plana añade que el alma vela y protege el feto antes de entrar.

«When a woman and man are making love they set up a vortex of energy, which attracts souls waiting to incarnate.» — la mecánica de la atracción del alma que el curso enseña, y que anticipa la lección de magia sexual: el estado del acto decide qué alma acude.

«In short, the truth is that practice doesn’t make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.» — Kraig enmienda el adagio que él mismo repite en todo el curso; la práctica fija hábitos, buenos o malos, y de ahí la exigencia de hacerla bien.

«The way to come to know Spirit is by a thorough knowledge and understanding of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water.» — la razón por la que el quinto elemento no tiene lección propia: se conoce por los cuatro que emanan de él.

«The element Spirit is nothing less than the Spirit (Ruach, energy, or Shakti) of Divinity. It is only through those manifestations of Divinity of which the Godhead wishes us to become aware that we can come to know the ultimate deity.» — Kraig identifica el quinto elemento con el espíritu divino y lo nombra a la vez en hebreo y en sánscrito; la cláusula final repite la doctrina de la incognoscibilidad.

«The name used by many Pagans for this dagger, athame, is likely taken from a Kabalistic book, The Greater Key of Solomon where it is called an “arthame.”» — Kraig hace venir el nombre del arma principal de la brujería de un grimorio salomónico, y marca la etimología con un *likely*.

«The Sephiroht, in a sense, are way stations for the energy of Divinity (Ruach El-oh-heem) as it descends toward the Microcosm, which is our Universe and our World. As this energy travels through the Tree of Life it changes and evolves (although its inner essence remains constant). By the time it reaches Mahl-koot it is at a level where humanity can deal with it on a day-to-day basis.» — el Árbol leído como escala de degradación de una misma energía; la reserva entre paréntesis conserva la esencia invariable.

«It is for this reason that a good Tarot reading can be given using only the Major Arcana of the Tarot. They are associated with the paths on the Tree and thus demonstrate the changing energies in a person’s life. The Minor Arcana are associated with the Sephiroht and are thus more related to static situations.» — la razón cabalística por la que el curso enseña solo los arcanos mayores: los senderos son el cambio y las sefirot lo estable.

«Remember, one of the goals of this course is to allow you to read any Kabalistic work and, if it is logical and based on tradition, understand it.» — el fin declarado que Kraig asigna al aparato de numeraciones múltiples de los senderos: no es materia del curso sino llave de lectura.

«This keeps the inherent gender balance within the Tree. It also points to the moving energy (archetypal male) of the paths and the contained energy (archetypal female) of the Sephiroht.» — el motivo por el que el curso colorea sefirot y senderos en escalas distintas; la asignación de género aquí es la inversa de la del tantra que Kraig citó en la lección tercera.

«The energy mentioned above is the psycho-sexual energy that you have been learning to manipulate with the exercises and rituals in the first half of this course. Anyone who denies the psycho-sexual aspect of magick is either not telling the truth, is uninformed, or is not really a magician.» — Kraig declara aquí, a propósito de la forma fálica de la varita, que la energía de todo el curso es sexual; la afirmación no deja tercera salida a quien la niegue.

«Stoop not down into that darkly splendid world wherein continually lieth a faithless depth and Hades wrapped in gloom, delighting in unintelligible images, precipitous, winding: A black ever-rolling abyss, ever espousing a body unluminous, formless and void.» — una de las cuatro invocaciones que el Ritual de la Atalaya reparte por cuarto; el curso las reproduce sin declarar aquí su procedencia, que es la de los Oráculos Caldeos usados por la Golden Dawn.

«I invoke ye, ye angels of the celestial spheres, whose dwelling is in the invisible. Ye are the guardians of the gates of the universe. Be ye also the guardians of this mystic sphere. Keep far removed the evil and the unbalanced.» — la invocación con que el rito reclama guardia angélica sobre el círculo antes de que entre la magia gris.

«Third, the number of black lines is thirteen, the number of unity according to Gematria. As such, it also represents a link to the unitary Divinity, to God.» — la tercera lectura del simbolismo de la Varita del Arcoíris; las otras dos son el blanco del Espíritu bajo toda la varita y el espectro visible ocupando solo el centro.

«Oh great Goddess of the forces of nature, great one who has been known by a thousand-thousand names since before remembered time, let thy influence descend and consecrate this Rainbow Wand which I dedicate to thee for the performance of the works of the magick of Light.» — la única invocación del curso dirigida a una diosa; cierra la consagración de la varita después de las doce llamadas zodiacales.

«All four of these rituals should only be performed during the waxing of the Moon.» — la única condición astronómica que el curso impone a las cuatro consagraciones de las armas elementales.

«O Thou who art timeless, thou who art Mother and Father of all things, Thou who dost clothe Thyself with the forces of nature as we don a robe» — fórmula de apertura que las cuatro consagraciones repiten palabra por palabra cambiando solo los nombres divinos y angélicos; se ancla en la primera, la del pentáculo. La divinidad se invoca como madre y padre a la vez, en línea con la nota del autor sobre el género.

«The symbols are drawn over the tool with the Earth (black) end of the Rainbow Wand, representing the making physical—that is, the bringing to the physical plane—of the spiritual forces.» — la razón por la que el manual manda usar un extremo de la varita y no el otro: el gesto imita el descenso de lo espiritual a lo material.

«If you do not sense that your requests for empowering the tool have been answered within three minutes, it does not mean that this has not happened. It only means that you are as yet not psychically aware enough to perceive it.» — la cláusula con que Kraig blinda el rito contra la falta de sensación, coherente con su tesis de que la eficacia no depende de percibirla.

«It is not well known, but there were really two “inner” orders in the Golden Dawn. No members of the Outer Order were supposed to know about either of these inner orders or their workings. One of these inner orders only had one degree and taught no magick. It was where people who were judged to have no magickal skills were placed.» — Kraig añade a la estructura conocida de la orden una segunda orden interior, sin magia, destinada a los juzgados sin aptitud; no declara de dónde toma el dato.

«Entry into a grade of a magickal order was done by initiation, meaning to start. A person did not have the full abilities of a degree when he or she entered that degree, only (theoretically) when it was left or completed.» — la etimología de iniciación aplicada a la estructura de grados, con el *theoretically* que Kraig conserva.

«Furthermore, so long as you do not claim that grade as a result of initiation into a particular group, I see no reason why you should not consider yourself and describe yourself as an Adeptus Minor of the Magickal Arts.» — Kraig autoriza al lector del libro a tomar para sí un grado de orden, con una sola condición: no atribuirlo a iniciación de grupo alguno.

«I will keep secret all practical and theoretical knowledge from those who in my judgment are not ready to receive it, for to tell the truth to someone who is not ready to accept it is the same as telling that person a lie.» — la cláusula de secreto del voto de obligación, con el argumento por el que Kraig la sostiene: la verdad dicha a destiempo funciona como mentira.

«I further promise and swear that with the Divine permission I will, from this day forward, apply myself to the Great Work—which is to purify and exalt my spiritual nature so that with the divine aid I may at length attain to be more than human, and thus gradually raise and unite myself to my higher and divine genius, and that in this event I will not abuse the great power entrusted to me.» — la definición de la Gran Obra dentro del voto; el fin declarado es llegar a ser más que humano.

«I promise to treat all people with equality, no matter the color of their skin, the religion of their parents, or the gender of their flesh.» — cláusula del mismo voto que no figura en los juramentos de la Golden Dawn que el curso reproduce; es añadido de esta edición.

«Remember, we are not trying to convert anybody to our magickal point of view. If they are ready for it they will find it. If not, it won’t make any sense to them.» — la posición declarada del curso frente al proselitismo, dentro de la sección sobre cómo tratar con quien no comparte la creencia.

«In magickal organizations such as orders or covens, the Inner Order is an in-group where the most potent secrets are taught to and practiced by members who have been through the trials and ordeals of the Outer Order and proved their worthiness.» — el epígrafe que abre la segunda mitad del volumen; cierra el reparto que el epígrafe de la primera había anunciado.

«it should be obvious that the basis for Grey Magick is the creation of a desired goal on the astral plane.» — la tesis operativa sobre la que se monta toda la segunda mitad del curso; el tramo arranca a media frase porque la premisa queda antes.

«Over the past few years there has been a flurry of interest in this technique. Unfortunately, most of the books and movies discussing this well-known “law of attraction” generally leave out the practical techniques necessary to use this “secret.”» — Kraig objeta a la literatura de la ley de la atracción no su premisa sino su falta de técnica; declara que la doctrina es antigua y conocida.

«This is important because the unconscious is our direct link to the astral plane. This means that whatever we put into the unconscious must eventually become a physical reality.» — la cadena por la que el curso conecta la mente con el mundo: consciente, inconsciente, plano astral, plano físico.

«My personal belief is that there is a type of symbiotic relationship that exists between the physical brain and the non-physical mind.» — Kraig marca como creencia propia la distinción entre mente y cerebro, y la usa para acotar la teoría de los dos hemisferios que enseguida emplea.

«However, techniques such as hypnosis and biofeedback have shown that it is easily possible to create those chemicals without the associated emotion, and vice versa.» — el argumento con que Kraig objeta que la consciencia y el amor se reduzcan a estados químicos.

«It should be obvious that people who use either Positive Affirmations or Creative Visualizations are only using half of their mind/brains in order to create a different reality in their lives.» — el diagnóstico con que Kraig explica el poco éxito de los dos métodos populares, y la razón de que su sistema los combine.

«The concept of SMART goals and DUMB goals moved from the mystical to the world of management in 1950s. The concepts were well known to mystics and magicians, but were codified and clarified by Peter Drucker in his book The Practice of Management.» — Kraig invierte la deuda: sostiene que la administración de empresas tomó de la mística el criterio de las metas, y no al revés.

«Personally, I would add an E to this, making it SMARTE. I contend that your goals should also be Ecological. By that I mean your goals should be good for you, good for people around you, and good for the planet.» — la enmienda propia de Kraig al acrónimo, y la única cláusula ética que impone al contenido de una meta mágica.

«If you talk with others about what you are doing, it sends the energy into the discussion rather than into the manifestation.» — la razón por la que el manual manda callar la operación: hablar de ella la descarga. Es la cuarta potencia de la esfinge aplicada a la magia gris.

«The more emotionally involved you become with your goal, the greater your chances for rapid success.» — el secreto cabalístico que Kraig había anunciado; lo funda en que el mundo de Yetsirá, el astral, corresponde a las emociones. La frase va en cursiva en la fuente.

«The more emotionally worked up you get over your desire—especially when stating that desire and doing the visualization —the faster it will manifest. As it says in The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, “Inflame thyself with prayer.”» — Kraig respalda la regla anterior con la fórmula del libro de Abramelin, que ya había usado sin fuente al cerrar la enseñanza del rito de destierro. El espacio antes de la raya es del troceo.

«“It is my will . . .” means that you are using your consciousness, and putting that aspect of yourself in charge of the unconscious. Most people tend to allow their unconscious to control them without even knowing it. These four words indicate a change in your life: you are no longer an ordinary person. You are becoming a true magician.» — Kraig objeta palabra por palabra la fórmula que manda repetir, y le adjudica a las cuatro primeras el valor de un cambio de condición.

«What you do doesn’t determine the type of magick you have performed. Rather, what you get is the basis of the definition. A person could use the same techniques, but depending upon the goal and/or results, the type of magick would be different. The important thing to understand about this, then, is that when using the terms White, Grey, or Black Magick, purpose (or result) determines definition.» — la precisión que Kraig añade a las tres categorías de la lección primera: la técnica no clasifica, el fin sí. En la misma plana concede que otros usan otras definiciones y no las descalifica.

«Although there is no evidence that there was ever a “universal” goddess religion, there is ample evidence of a goddess tradition in virtually every ancient culture.» — Kraig niega la tesis de la religión universal de la diosa y conserva la observación menor; es la misma operación que hizo con la invasión aria.

«It is important to point out that there is no quality judgment or moral judgment based upon the terms High Magick and Low Magick. They are simply different methods of achieving the same goals with the primary differences between them being cultural and technical.» — Kraig niega jerarquía entre magia alta y baja y hace derivar la diferencia de la ciudad y el campo, no del valor.

«Similarly, in Latin the expression meaning “those of the earth,” paganus, became the then-insulting term “pagan.” Originally the words “pagan” and “heathen” were just descriptions, but they became virtually a rallying cry for genocide.» — Kraig data el cambio de sentido de los dos términos y lo ata a la persecución.

«Some say the number of Pagans tortured and killed by Christians, over the course of hundreds of years, was under 100,000. Other authorities claim the numbers rival or surpass the Jewish Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis. But the Pagans were not destroyed by the Nazis. They were victims of Catholics and Protestants.» — Kraig consigna las dos cifras que circulan sin elegir entre ellas, y solo afirma de quién fue la persecución.

«A word used to describe these people and which means “to bend” is “Wicca” (masculine) or “Wicce” (feminine; pronounced “wee-cha”). In English, this word became “Witch.”» — la etimología con que Kraig hace venir *witch* de doblar la realidad; la da sin fuente y como parte de la historia que él mismo llama generalizada.

«What I do want to make clear is that Witches do not worship the devil, do not perform the infamous Black Mass, and do not kiss the Devil’s hindquarters. These were all fictions created by organized Christianity to cast a bad light on those who worshipped in a different light.» — la negativa que Kraig sí sostiene dentro de un relato que declara aproximado.

«This has been a very brief generalized history of Witches. I make no claim to its perfection in any way, and there are many books that can give you a far more detailed history of this subject than I can do in a few paragraphs.» — la reserva con que Kraig acota su propia historia de la brujería, y que remite al lector a otras obras.

«The correct translation, you will find, reads “Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.” In context, the Hebrew word refers not so much to a sorceress as it does to a poisoner, and the Hebrew word is so translated in other parts of the Bible. In other words, this was not an injunction against Witchcraft, but against murder.» — Kraig enmienda la traducción del versículo con que se justificó la caza de brujas, y remite al lector a comprobarlo por su cuenta en una biblia judía.

«At this time there came to be a slight mixture between the High Magick of the Kabalists and the Low Magick of the Witches as each shared gratefully with the other.» — Kraig data en la expulsión de los judíos de España de 1492 el contacto entre las dos magias, y lo apoya en la protección mutua que les atribuye.

«Hebrews worshipped a goddess along with their god and even had an altar to her in the first and second temples, up to the year 70 C.E.» — la tesis que Kraig atribuye a Raphael Patai por su nombre; el tramo arranca a media palabra porque el cambio de plana corta el sujeto, *the ancient*, en la plana anterior.

«Today, many Christians hold Mary in very high esteem, to the point where some are accused of “Mariolatry.” Jews still honor the “Sabbath Bride” and welcome the coming of the Moon. In Hebrew, the word for Moon is “Levannah,” which also happens to be the name of an ancient Semitic Moon goddess.» — los tres rastros de culto femenino que Kraig señala dentro de las religiones abrahámicas, el último por vía de la etimología.

«The word “talisman” is said to come from the Arabic words talis ma, which means “magick writing.” However, there is no proof of this.» — primera de las cinco etimologías que Kraig alinea para el término, y la primera que descarta por falta de prueba.

«Again there is no proof. No one knows exactly where either word came from.» — el cierre de la serie etimológica, que Kraig deja sin resolver tanto para talismán como para amuleto pese a haber citado a Sandra Tabatha Cicero por su nombre.

«any object, sacred or profane, with or without appropriate symbols, which had been charged or consecrated by» — arranque de la definición de talismán que el curso adopta, impresa en verso suelto; el tramo se corta aquí porque la definición sigue en la plana siguiente con *appropriate means and made to serve a specific end*. Lo que exige no es símbolo ni carácter sagrado, sino objeto, carga y fin.

«This is what I call the “animistic” theory of how talismans work. They have a life of their own.» — primera de las dos teorías con que Kraig explica el talismán; la atribuye a la época en que escribir era arte mágico.

«Rather, they take what I call the “energetics” theory of how talismans work. They believe that the charging of the talisman is the important part; putting magickal energy into the object chosen to be a talisman.» — la segunda teoría, que Kraig atribuye a los magos de hoy; en la misma plana las combina en vez de elegir, haciendo del dibujo de los símbolos un modo de enviar energía.

«Many who call themselves “Witches,” “Wiccans,” or “Pagans” are nothing more than people practicing a simplified form of High Magick.» — Kraig objeta dentro del campo pagano lo mismo que objetó dentro del ceremonial, y añade que hasta hace décadas los magos altos tampoco practicaban.

«To a real magician the important question is not whether it is High or Low, but did it work?» — el criterio único que Kraig declara para el practicante; las etiquetas quedan reducidas a instrumento de comunicación.

«The four elements define the properties of matter, not its chemical makeup. Gold is an element in the modern scientific sense. In the four-element theory (or perhaps four-quality theory would be a better phrase), gold has relative amounts of Fire, Air, Earth, and Water.» — la respuesta de Kraig a la objeción de la tabla periódica: los dos sentidos de *elemento* no compiten porque no miden lo mismo.

«Karma is perfectly just. But sometimes, as a human, I may need to tell karma to go to Hell as I consciously choose to do something that will incur unwanted karma. That’s okay. I can live with it. Again and again, if need be.» — Kraig no retira la ley del retorno que enunció en la lección primera y a la vez declara que la desobedecerá a sabiendas cuando lo crea justo.

«Even small objects pick up psychic charges from their environment. Therefore, before using any object as a talisman, it must first be purified and cleansed of any known or unknown charge of psychic energy.» — la premisa que obliga a purificar el objeto antes de cargarlo; el método que el manual da es agua corriente o enterramiento.

«The Moon, representing the Goddess aspect of divinity, was also seen to be a key force in magick of all kinds. The phases of the Moon were guides as to what your magick could do.» — el criterio lunar con que la magia baja fija el momento de operar, y que Kraig ata al aspecto femenino de la divinidad.

«Therefore, Talismans should be made during the waxing Moon. Amulets should be made during the waning Moon.» — la regla que se desprende de lo anterior, y que reparte los dos objetos por fase; las dos frases van en cursiva en la fuente.

«Part of this training was actually the untraining of various ideas and beliefs into which people had been indoctrinated throughout their lives. Without this some modern Pagans have simply adopted selections of their old belief systems into their Paganism. One of these sets of ideas was Christian morality, which portrayed the naked body as evil.» — Kraig explica por el paso del grupo a la práctica solitaria el rechazo actual a operar desnudo, y lo atribuye a moral cristiana no desaprendida.

«As an aside, some self-professed “Pagans” who abhor anything that hints at ritual magick or Kabalism, clear their area with ... the LBRP!» — Kraig señala la contradicción de quienes rechazan la cábala y usan su rito de destierro; los puntos suspensivos son de la fuente.

«People who use Kabalistic methods while decrying Kabalism should seek to enhance their knowledge or discover the motive for their hypocrisy.» — el remate de esa observación; Kraig no descalifica la práctica, solo la incoherencia declarada.

«What has happened here is that the Goddess energies of the Moon, mixed with your will, have moved into the object, empowering your talisman. It is now charged and operative.» — lo que el manual dice que ocurre al cerrar el rito pagano de carga; el agente declarado es la energía lunar unida a la voluntad del operador.

«The word Selah has puzzled scholars for over two thousand years. Its meaning is completely questionable, even though it appears seventy-one times in the book of Psalms (and three times in the book of Habakkuk).» — Kraig abre un recuadro entero sobre una palabra que el curso manda escribir en los talismanes y cuyo sentido declara desconocido.

«Unfortunately, all of these suggested meanings are nothing more than logical guesses. Until something that more clearly identifies the meaning of Selah comes along, we can just live with its sonorous sound.» — el cierre de ese recuadro: tras alinear ocho conjeturas de eruditos distintos, Kraig no elige ninguna y conserva la palabra por su sonido.

«The reason this is a more Kabalistic system of numerology is because the values of the English letters are determined by associating them with the numbers of the Hebrew letters with which they sound identical.» — el criterio por el que Kraig prefiere un sistema de numerología sobre el pitagórico: la equivalencia pasa por el sonido hebreo.

«Another system to make up magickal talismans was created by Austin Osman Spare, a contemporary occultist and remarkably talented artist. This derivation of his system is based upon his idea of an “Alphabet of Desire.” In this system you take the English letters of a word, delete the vowels (remember, Hebrew has no vowels), and push the remaining letters together to form symbols.» — Kraig incorpora el sigilo de Spare al aparato cabalístico del curso, y justifica la supresión de vocales por analogía con el hebreo.

«Your conscious mind, at some time in the future, might not realize that this symbol means “woman,” but your unconscious mind will remember and act on it without the conscious getting in the way.» — el mecanismo por el que el sigilo obra según el curso: el olvido consciente es condición de su eficacia, no defecto.

«The three circles of Hebrew letters are based on a description of Hebrew found in the Sepher Yetzirah.» — Kraig remite al Sepher Yetzirah la estructura de la Rosa Cruz Hermética, con sus tres letras madres, siete dobles y doce simples.

«However . . . you will never be a true magician if all you can do is copy what others have done before you. It is far better to design your own talismans from scratch.» — la instrucción con que Kraig cierra la lección del talismán después de enumerar los repertorios impresos disponibles; los puntos suspensivos son de la fuente.

«That is merely the “science” aspect of magick. What you do within the guidelines is the “art” aspect of magick. The best magicians are not mere copyists. They are creative artists of the highest caliber.» — el reparto entre ciencia y arte dentro de la magia, que Kraig venía anunciando desde la definición de la lección primera.

«In the previous lesson, as in several other lessons, I have indicated that theoretical perfection is not necessary for successful magickal work. All you need to do is your best.» — Kraig acota de nuevo la exigencia del curso; en la misma plana enumera lo que quedaría excluido si la perfección fuese requisito, empezando por quien no visualiza.

«Therefore, the judgment as to the quality of your work cannot be mine or anyone else’s. It must be yours.» — la consecuencia que Kraig saca de no conocer al lector: el criterio de suficiencia queda en manos del propio practicante.

«I have heard that when crafts-people make Persian rugs they will always put in a wrong thread somewhere because “only Allah is perfect.” I am not saying that you should make imperfections in your designs for talismans. Rather, strive for perfection, but accept your best.» — Kraig recoge la costumbre y la desactiva enseguida: no la manda imitar en el trabajo mágico.

«Their purpose is to strike “terror into the Spirits and . . . [reduce] them to obedience . . . If thou invokest the Spirits by virtue of these Pentacles, they will obey thee without repugnance, and will fear them, and thou shalt see them so surprised by fear and terror, that none of them will be sufficiently bold to wish to oppose thy will.”» — voz de la Clave mayor de Salomón, que Kraig reproduce para distinguir sus medallas protectoras de los talismanes que el curso enseña; los corchetes y las elisiones son del recorte de Kraig.

«In short, whatever you do, whatever appeals to you, perform it with all your heart, spirit, energy, and mind.» — la regla con que Kraig deja sin arbitrar si el talismán cabalístico es más poderoso que el pagano; en la misma plana marca su propia conjetura con un *may*.

«Monday is a variation for “Moon-day” and is, logically, associated with the Moon. In French, the name of Tuesday is mardi, the day of Mars. Tues was the name of a European god who was equated with the god Mars. Similarly, the northern European’s Woden’s day became Wednesday. In French it is mercredi, the day of Mercury. Thor’s day became Thursday. Thor relates to the god Jupiter, and in French jeudi means “Jupiter’s day” and is the name for Thursday. Freya’s day became Friday. In French this is vendredi or “the day of Venus.” Saturn’s day and “Sun-day” are obvious.» — la serie etimológica con que Kraig funda la asignación planetaria de los días, que es lo que fija el día de carga de cada talismán.

«These Magickal Hours are astronomical in nature and are not based upon the ticks or inaudible hum of common clocks. Planetary Hours are not the same as our regular sixty-minute hours.» — la distinción que obliga a calcular la hora planetaria dividiendo el día solar entre doce, y no por reloj.

«The important aspect of this is that the specifics of what you do should be both spontaneous and from the heart with only the form being practiced.» — el reparto entre forma ensayada y contenido improvisado que rige las secciones marcadas *ad-lib* del rito de talismán.

«It may seem stilted or artificial, yet it is still a good idea to dress it up with pseudo-Old[e] English. This serves the same function as does the putting on of the [magickal] robe. The robe indicates that you are not doing everyday things. The affected speech shows that you are not talking with your next-door neighbor.» — Kraig se cita a sí mismo de las ediciones anteriores para justificar el inglés arcaizante de las fórmulas; los corchetes son suyos y marcan lo que enmienda de su propio texto. En la misma plana deja la elección al lector.

«Finally, the most important part of these ad-lib sections is that they must be from your heart and be meaningful and deeply felt. They should also be filled with passion—enflame thyself with prayer! Otherwise they are useless phrases, about as attractive to the gods as are dead flowers to us mortals.» — la condición sin la cual el manual declara inútil la improvisación ritual; repite la fórmula de Abramelin.

«Thank you, O Lord, Grand Architect of the Universe, for Thy permission to construct this temple as a tiny, pale echo of Thy greater creation. May Thy blessings fall upon it for Thy name’s sake. So mote it be!» — la fórmula con que el operador cierra la preparación física del recinto; el título divino que usa es el mismo de la masonería.

«Note that besides asking for the grace of Divinity upon the temple, we are also calling the temple a small version of the entirety of the Universe; the microcosm to the macrocosm of the cosmos. As above, so below. In this way the altar becomes the exact center of the universe, the meeting place of balance and harmony for all elemental and planetary forces, all spiritual and physical powers.» — Kraig explicita la doctrina de correspondencia que sostiene todo el aparato del templo, y la nombra con la fórmula hermética.

«Behold all powers and forces that are here in attendance. I am pure. I am pure. I am pure. Take witness that I have duly exorcised, purified, initiated, enlivened, consecrated, and empowered this creature of Talismans (Amulets) by the power of [stop, vibrate name of planet, and form sign of the planet in the air with the Rainbow Wand, then continue on], with the aid of [stop, vibrate and draw the God name] and by the exaltation of my own higher nature.» — la proclamación con que se cierra la carga del talismán; los corchetes son acotaciones escénicas del propio manual dentro de la fórmula. Los seis verbos enumeran las operaciones que el rito declara haber cumplido.

«Until you “break down” all the trappings of your area, it is still a temple and should be treated as such. Until you put everything away be sure to walk clockwise in your temple. The end of the ritual does not end the spiritual qualities of the area.» — la consagración del espacio no termina con el rito sino con el desmontaje; de ahí que el manual mande seguir caminando en sentido horario.

«They fear the rituals and don’t even wish to try them. Even worse, they are afraid of what might happen if they are successful and cannot control the powers they summon.» — segunda de las tres razones que Kraig da para explicar por qué tantos poseedores de grimorios no los practican; las tres las atribuye al miedo y al ego.

«Either these laws are valid and true or they are not true natural laws. Either there is gravity or there is not gravity. There is no in between. Likewise, either the laws of magick are valid or they are not. There cannot be any type of rule saying that sometimes they are valid and other times, under identical conditions, they are invalid.» — la premisa con que Kraig abre la lección de la evocación; de ella deriva que un grimorio que prevea el fracaso está incompleto.

«If all entities in the universe follow certain cosmic laws, they must appear when they are called. Otherwise, magick would not be a science and there could be no such thing as a magickal system. Obviously, something must be missing.» — el razonamiento que Kraig opone a las conjuraciones sucesivas de la Goetia, que suponen que el espíritu pueda no venir.

«means the real secrets of magick consist of what was not included in the ancient texts!» — la conclusión de ese argumento, impresa en cursiva; el tramo arranca a media frase porque el sujeto queda en la plana anterior. Es la tesis central de la lección.

«Simply knowing your magick will work doesn’t cause the magick to work—it merely allows it to do so. But if you think magick won’t work, it won’t! Part of being a ceremonial magician is having the right mental attitude.» — la precisión con que Kraig acota la primera de las tres necesidades y la separa de la sugestión.

«The student was supposed to know these things. That is why all ancient grimoires are purposefully incomplete.» — la explicación histórica que Kraig da de las lagunas de los grimorios: no son pérdidas sino omisiones deliberadas de lo que enseñaba el maestro.

«Also, a friend pointed out to me that Witches (she is a Wiccan) frequently used codes in their Book of Shadows, books that contain their rituals and instructions. As an example, “baby’s blood” was a code for strawberry juice.» — la analogía con que Kraig sostiene que los grimorios van cifrados; la fuente que declara es oral y wiccana.

«Unfortunately, the books sometimes fell into the possession of people who actually believed a literal interpretation of what they read. A history of torture and death is one of the results of this.» — Kraig consigna el costo de esa cifra y añade que hoy la juzga una decisión poco sabia.

«And I have not mentioned the self-deception and outright fraud which has been a part of modern Spiritism since its inception in the middle of the nineteenth century.» — la objeción de Kraig al espiritismo es doble: ya había dicho que retiene al difunto, y aquí añade el autoengaño y el fraude.

«One of the most fascinating stories concerning Aleister Crowley is how he allowed the “demon Choronzon” to be invoked into his body. Once invoked, the “demon” tried to attack Crowley’s assistant using numerous ploys. Some people believe that Crowley’s successes began to diminish after this, perhaps because Choronzon was never properly banished.» — Kraig consigna el episodio como ejemplo del peligro de la invocación y marca la explicación como creencia ajena; es la segunda vez que recoge una explicación del declive de Crowley sin suscribirla.

«the important thing to notice is that the circle within the triangle of the art could easily be filled in as shown. It indicates the presence of a magick mirror.» — el hallazgo que Kraig declara propio: lee el círculo dentro del Triángulo del Arte del manuscrito de la Goetia como un espejo mágico, y sobre esa lectura monta todo su método de evocación.

«I am sure that this will upset many “grimoire purists,” but the fact of the matter is that there is no need to draw a physical circle.» — Kraig suprime del rito el círculo trazado y lo sustituye por los destierros practicados; concede que se dibuje a quien le dé confianza.

«but it appears to be merely a cover, a blind to deceive any person into whose hands the document might wrongly fall. And considering the small number of people who have ever attempted the magick of this book against the large number of people who own it, this blind has been very successful.» — Kraig lee el aparato del círculo trazado como velo deliberado y aduce como prueba la desproporción entre los que tienen el libro y los que lo practican.

«Is it not possible that the Triangle was not meant to be flat on the floor?» — la pregunta con que Kraig desplaza el Triángulo del Arte del suelo a la altura de los ojos; la apoya en que el dibujante del manuscrito no dominaba la perspectiva, como los que pintaban el halo detrás de la cabeza.

«Although it is possible to do evocations solo, it is much more difficult. Many people trying this type of solo work achieve little if any success.» — la razón por la que la evocación es, en el curso, la primera operación más fácil en grupo que en solitario; de ahí sale la figura del vidente.

«It is the seer’s task to look into the magick mirror and see the being evoked. The seer then functions as an intermediary between the ritualist and the evoked entity.» — la división del trabajo que el manual instituye para la evocación: Kraig separa al operador, que recita las llamadas, del vidente, que mira el espejo y hace de intermediario con lo evocado.

«Because of societal influences, the fact is that the best seers are frequently women.» — Kraig adjudica a la influencia social, y no a una naturaleza, que los mejores videntes suelan ser mujeres; en la misma plana manda usar a la persona más sensible del grupo sea hombre o mujer.

«Perhaps the best place to seek out a seer is at your local occult bookstore or supply shop.» — el consejo de reclutamiento que Kraig da a quien trabaja solo; la voz es la del maestro del curso hablando de logística, no de doctrina.

«I am giving this advice here simply because placing an advertisement in your local paper or on the Internet for a seer (e.g., “Wanted: mystic with open astral vision interested in evoking spirits”) is not advisable.» — la razón que Kraig da del consejo anterior; las comillas dobles y el ejemplo de anuncio son de la fuente.

«On the next page you will see a drawing attributed to Saint-Germain. On the left there is a male seer peering into a goblet that is being used as a magick mirror. The woman ritualist on the right holds a knife and wand.» — Kraig describe la lámina con que ilustra la escena y consigna la atribución como atribución, sin suscribirla: la estampa va atribuida a Saint-Germain. La lámina misma no tiene capa de texto en el troceo.

«As the illustration indicates, and as my personal experience and the experience of my students shows, an altered state of consciousness is a necessity for the seer.» — Kraig enuncia como requisito del oficio el estado alterado de consciencia del vidente y apoya la regla en la lámina y en su propia enseñanza.

«Although I do not advocate the use of any drug that is not specifically prescribed for you by a licensed doctor, it would be foolish of me to think that none of my students use what are known as “recreational” drugs.» — Kraig declara su posición sobre las drogas en el curso: no las recomienda y a la vez niega ignorar que sus alumnos las usan; en la misma plana dice que no explicará su manejo.

«Ritualized induction of small amounts of pain, such as implied in the drawing, can also affect your consciousness. The small amounts of pain cause various hormones to flow throughout the bloodstream, and these hormones affect the brain-mind complex.» — el manual enumera el dolor ritualizado entre los medios de alterar la consciencia y lo explica por vía hormonal; Kraig añade en la misma plana que él no ha hallado útiles esas técnicas y que otros sí.

«It is believed that many of the visions experienced by seers have been induced by the “Demon CO.” Here, CO is the chemical name for carbon monoxide, the result of fires or incense using up the oxygen in a room.» — Kraig repite el mote de *Demon CO* corriente en el oficio y lo traduce a química: el monóxido del incienso que consume el oxígeno del cuarto. De ahí manda tener ventana o puerta abiertas.

«In any event, allow the seer the choice of which method(s) he or she wishes to use, and with which you are both comfortable, to alter his or her consciousness.» — la regla de consentimiento que el manual pone sobre todos los métodos anteriores; Kraig la remata pidiendo examen médico si hay cualquier duda.

«If you try to actually perform evocative magick, using methods that are illegal or legal, neither the author, publisher, nor distributors of this course assume or will have any responsibility for your foolishness or disregard for the law and your health.» — el descargo de responsabilidad que el libro imprime antes de los rituales de la Goetia, en voz del autor y de la editorial a la vez; el propio texto se presenta enseguida como material educativo.

«This is the true meaning of invisibility when described in the grimoires. Invisibility does not mean that you will become transparent, but that others act as if you are not there.» — Kraig enmienda la lectura literal de la invisibilidad de los grimorios y la lee como que los demás obran como si uno no estuviera.

«The second necessary item is the seal of the entity you wish to evoke. For this you must get a copy of the Goetia.» — el manual exige el sello del espíritu y, con él, el ejemplar de la Goetia: uno de los dos libros que el curso manda comprar aparte del propio.

«Bael is said to have the power to “maketh thee to go Invisible . . . He appeareth in divers shapes, sometimes like a Cat, sometimes like a Toad, and sometimes like a Man, and sometimes all these forms at once [!]. He speaketh hoarsely.”» — voz de la Goetia dentro del manual, con el signo de admiración entre corchetes que añade Kraig; el ejemplo de espíritu con que el curso enseña la evocación es Bael, y su nombre se pronuncia, dice, *Bah-ehl*.

«Speak to the seer in a smooth, comforting voice, saying: “Stare deeply into the mirror. Do not look at it, but into it. Move the candles so that you can see yourself, but so that you do not directly see the reflection of the candle’s flames. Stare deep . . . deeper . . . deeper . . .”» — la fórmula hablada con que el operador induce al vidente; los puntos suspensivos espaciados son de la fuente.

«When a spirit’s name is mentioned and is in parentheses, you should use the name of the spirit you are actually evoking. In this example, you will see (BAEL), but if you are evoking Botis, you would vibrate BOTIS instead of Bael. All capitalized names/ words of power should be vibrated.» — la convención tipográfica del ritual impreso, que Kraig declara antes de la primera conjuración: el paréntesis es casilla vacía y la mayúscula manda vibrar.

«I do evocate and conjure thee, O spirit (BAEL): and being with power armed from the Supreme Majesty, I do strongly command thee, by BERALANENSIS, BALDA-CHIENSIS, PAUMACHIA, and APOLOGIAE SEDES;» — arranque de la Conjuración de Apertura que el manual prescribe; la lista de nombres bárbaros viene de la tradición salomónica y el texto sigue más allá del corte.

«And I command thee by all the names of God AH-DOH-NYE, EL, EHL-OH-HEEM, EHL-OH-HY, EH-HEH-YEH AH-SHAIR EH-HEH-YEH, TZAH-BAH-OHT, E H L-YONE, YAH, TETRAGRAMMATON, SHA-DYE, Lord God Most High.» — la serie de nombres divinos de la misma conjuración, en la grafía asquenazí que Kraig declaró al abrir el libro; la forma *E H L-YONE* sale así, con espacios, de la capa de texto, y se deja tal cual.

«Although you may repeat it as much as you like, I have found that after three or four times my interest wanes.» — Kraig pone su propio aguante, y no una regla, como medida de cuántas veces se repite la conjuración antes de pasar a la siguiente.

«by the name and in the name YAH and VAHV, which Adam heard and spake, and by the name of God AH-GLAH, which Lot heard and was saved with his family, and by the name EE-OHT, which Jacob, who was delivered from the hand of Esau, his brother, heard from the angel wrestling with him, and by the name ANN-AH-PHAX-EH-TOHN, which Aaron heard and spake and was made wise.» — tramo de la Segunda Conjuración que el manual prescribe: cada nombre divino va amarrado a un episodio bíblico, y la serie sigue con Moisés, Josué, Daniel y los tres muchachos del horno. La grafía de los nombres es la asquenazí del curso.

«Although there are more conjurations in the Goetia , it has been my experience that the first two will more than suffice.» — Kraig declara suficientes dos de las conjuraciones del grimorio y apoya el recorte en su experiencia; el espacio antes de la coma es de la capa de texto.

«Remember, however, these may be metaphorical descriptions and (gulp!) say nothing about size.» — el aviso de Kraig sobre las formas que el grimorio adjudica a Bael: las lee como posibles metáforas y consigna, con su propia interjección, que nada dicen del tamaño.

«You will find that the entities we deal with do not answer with outright lies (a lie of commission). However, they may not always give a full answer (a lie of omission) or one that is unintelligible (a lie of obfuscation) to you.» — la doctrina del curso sobre la veracidad de lo evocado, con la tripleta de mentiras que Kraig distingue: por comisión, por omisión y por ofuscación.

«By the power of [vibrate and spell out the letters with your LBRP dagger in the air and visualize the letters in bright blue—remember, they should go from right to left] YUD-HEH-VAHV-HEH, I command you to tell us your true name without hesitation or equivocation!» — fórmula de apremio con la acotación escénica impresa entre corchetes dentro del propio texto hablado; se conserva tal cual porque así la imprime el manual.

«If it does not, immediately give The License to Depart (which is given later in this lesson) and thoroughly banish the area, for the wrong entity has somehow appeared as a result of your magick.» — la salida de emergencia que el manual prescribe cuando la figura no cambia de forma al mandato: licencia de partida y destierro a fondo.

«O thou spirit (BAEL), because thou hast diligently answered unto my demands and hast been very ready and willing to come at my call, I do here license thee to depart unto thy proper place.» — arranque de la Licencia de Partida con que el manual manda cerrar toda evocación; el texto sigue pidiendo que se vaya sin daño y termina con la fórmula del así sea.

«It is not necessary to have a seer; you can act as the seer yourself.» — Kraig enmienda su propia prescripción del inicio de la lección: el vidente ajeno facilita, pero no es requisito.

«Also, you will have probably noticed that I did not tell you the appropriate incense to use, nor the appropriate time to do this ritual, nor the appropriate color symbolism.» — el manual señala sus propios silencios y los declara deliberados; la razón que sigue es pedagógica.

«It is the purpose of this course to make you a practicing magician.» — la declaración de propósito del curso, puesta como motivo de dejar al alumno los detalles del rito.

«As a hint, compare what the spirit can offer you with the Talismanic Magick chart. From there you should be able to get the planet and Sephira.» — la pista con que Kraig remite al aparato de correspondencias de lecciones anteriores para resolver incienso, hora y color.

«The Goetia has the seals, names, and descriptions of seventy-two different spirits, each having various talents and powers that can be shared with you.» — Kraig describe el contenido del grimorio del que toma el rito y le cuenta setenta y dos espíritus.

«Much of the book, it is sad to say, has picked up the junk and excrescences of centuries of repression and stupidity.» — el juicio de Kraig sobre el estado del texto de la Goetia; lo adjudica a siglos de acarreo y no al grimorio mismo.

«When I originally wrote Modern Magick, I wrote, “Unfortunately, there is only one known source for the Complete Lesser Key, and it is rather expensive and of poor quality.”» — Kraig se cita a sí mismo en la edición primera y enseguida enmienda el dato: dice que han aparecido versiones nuevas y valiosas. Las comillas dobles son de la fuente.

«Since this is not a course in Goetic magick I will not be giving you seventy-two examples, one for each spirit.» — Kraig acota el alcance de la lección y manda al alumno al grimorio mismo para los demás espíritus.

«refers to itself as “the Book of Evil Spirits.” This, however, is quite misleading, for in this book you are dealing with energies or forces that take on a type of personality. But they are no more “evil forces” than electricity, another force, is good or evil.» — Kraig objeta el subtítulo con que circula una de las ediciones corrientes de la Goetia y lee sus espíritus como fuerzas con apariencia de persona; el símil es la electricidad. El tramo arranca a mitad de la frase, que viene de la plana anterior.

«Similarly, the spirits in the Goetia are neither good nor evil. In fact, they have no free will and can only do what is in their nature.» — la doctrina del curso sobre la naturaleza de los espíritus goéticos: ni buenos ni malos, y sin albedrío.

«Even though evil is not an issue here, karma is. Even something that superficially seems to be positive may lead to karmically negative results. So before acting on the advice of any Goetic spirit, be sure to do a divination in order to be positive that you will not be performing any magick or action that would unknowingly lead to deleterious results.» — Kraig desplaza la cuestión del mal a la del karma y prescribe adivinación previa a obrar por consejo de un espíritu; en la misma plana añade que el karma lo carga el mago, no el espíritu.

«Above is the seal of the spirit AMON. Amon is great in power and is also said to be very stern. He looks like a wolf with the tail of a serpent and breath of fire. At the command of the magician, Amon will change to look like a man with a raven’s head. Sometimes there are “dog’s teeth” (i.e., fangs) in the head of this raven. Amon will give you information on all things past and things yet to be. Having a neutral nature, he can help reconcile differences between friends. However, he can also cause feuds.» — primera de las tres muestras de espíritus goéticos con que Kraig sustituye el grimorio mientras el alumno lo consigue; los sellos van en lámina, sin capa de texto en el troceo.

«Above is the seal of the spirit BUER. Buer should only be evoked during the astrological sign of Sagittarius and appears as the Sagittarian centaur. He teaches science and philosophy, including such things as mathematics, ethics, logic, and physics. His specialty is teaching the secret magickal and medicinal powers of herbs and plants.» — segunda muestra; es el único de los tres al que el manual pone condición astrológica de evocación.

«Below is the seal of the spirit BOTIS. At first he will appear as an ugly viper, but on the command of the magician changes into the shape of a man with “great teeth” (fangs, again), two horns, and carrying a sword of exquisite sharpness and brightness.» — tercera muestra; Kraig señala entre paréntesis el parecido con Amón en el cambio de forma y en los colmillos.

«As a historical document the Goetia is fascinating. Several “spirits” are clearly nothing more than deities of earlier cultures. Thus, the spirit Astaroth is nothing more than a form of the goddess Astaroth, also known as Astarte and Isis.» — Kraig lee el grimorio como documento histórico y adjudica a varios de sus espíritus un origen en dioses de culturas anteriores.

«Revealing a Christian masculine bias, the spirit Astaroth changes gender and becomes a male! This certainly helps to validate the sociological theory that the gods and goddesses of any culture become the demons of the following culture. And even goddesses became male demons.» — Kraig adjudica el cambio de sexo de Astaroth a un sesgo cristiano y lo pone como caso de la tesis sociológica de que los dioses de una cultura son los demonios de la siguiente.

«To be fair, much of occultism is also hidden in the stupidity of paranoia and superstition.» — Kraig vuelve la misma objeción que acaba de hacer a la radiodifusión cristiana contra el propio ocultismo; enseguida pone como ejemplo un libro que usó un tabloide y una revista de Hare Krishna como fuentes.

«Don’t take my word or anybody else’s word for anything in occultism!» — la regla de método que Kraig imprime destacada en la lección, aplicada también a su propio curso.

«I write on chalkboards or whiteboards (or have my laptop and projector spell it out on a screen) the letters: T.F.Y.Q.A. This, I explain, stands for “Think For Yourself. Question Authority.”» — la sigla con que Kraig abre sus talleres; es la forma corta de la regla anterior.

«I have a RPG from several years ago that features evocations from the Goetia, and playing pieces which are nothing less than miniature versions of the Seals of the Spirits from that book!» — la anécdota con que Kraig separa su posición de la del programa de televisión que acaba de objetar: niega el vínculo entre los juegos de rol y la posesión, y a la vez consigna un juego con los sellos del grimorio dentro.

«For a person who is magickally trained—such as you are becoming by following the teachings of this course—obsession or possession is not a problem.» — la línea que Kraig traza entre el adiestrado y el no adiestrado para el riesgo de obsesión; el propio curso es la credencial que la cruza.

«The theoretical and philosophical focus of this course has been on modern Kabalistic theory, what I have somewhat facetiously called the “WASP Kabalah.”» — Kraig nombra la capa cabalística sobre la que va montado el curso y declara el mote como jocoso.

«In contradistinction to the WASP Kabalah is what I have called the “Kosher Kabalah,” a Kabalistic philosophy that has eschewed many later influences that had de-Judaified Kabalistic traditions.» — el par con que Kraig separa la cábala de la magia ceremonial moderna de la cábala judía; a esta última le adjudica haber apartado los añadidos que desjudaizaron la tradición.

«one of the most important Kabalistic magickal texts, a book on talismans known as the Sepher Ratziel , to my knowledge has not been translated into English.» — Kraig declara sin traducción inglesa el libro de talismanes que llama *Sepher Ratziel*, y cuenta en la misma plana haber hallado un ejemplar hebreo de unos sesenta años en la Universidad de Judaísmo de Los Ángeles, ilegible para él. El espacio antes de la coma es de la capa de texto.

«Another important book not yet translated is by the famous Rabbi Isaac Luria. It is called The Revolution of Souls and is about reincarnation.» — Kraig adjudica a Isaac Luria el libro sobre reencarnación del que, dice, tomó de segunda mano la teoría que enseña en el curso.

«Another book often talked about is the Picatrix. It has a great deal to do with talismanic magick. It was finally translated into English in two volumes, the second volume appearing in October 2008.» — Kraig data la traducción inglesa del Picatrix en dos volúmenes y sitúa el segundo en octubre de 2008; es el dato con que actualiza la bibliografía de la tercera edición.

«In the Sepher Yetzirah we are told that God sealed the directions of space with various permutations of three letters of the Ultimate Name,» — de aquí saca Kraig el rito que ofrece en lugar de la Rosa Cruz; la frase sigue en la plana siguiente nombrando las tres letras, Yud, Heh y Vahv.

«Using this as a basis I present a ritual that can be used in place of the Rose Cross Ritual.» — Kraig presenta el Rito de Sellado Yetzirático como sustituto declarado de la Rosa Cruz, y lo dice basado por entero en fuentes judías.

«It is the traditional hand position of blessing used by the Jewish high priests» — la posición de manos que el rito manda, adjudicada por Kraig a la bendición sacerdotal judía; la figura va en lámina sin capa de texto.

«Let the whole universe know that the one God who is my God is [vibrate] YUD-HEH-VAHV-HEH!» — segundo paso del Rito de Sellado Yetzirático; la acotación de vibrar va entre corchetes dentro del texto hablado, como en los ritos anteriores.

«I seal the heights with [vibrate] YUD-HEH-VAHV! As you vibrate the name, spell it out in Hebrew above you with the tip of the incense. Remember, the letters go from right to left» — primera de las seis permutaciones con que el rito sella altura, abismo y los cuatro cuartos; el troceo no trae las letras hebreas de la figura, que van en imagen.

«In this way does the microcosm repeat the macrocosm, and the whole world is blessed. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Selah! Selah! Selah! Amen! Amen! and Amen!» — cierre del rito; la razón que el propio texto da del sellado es la correspondencia entre microcosmos y macrocosmos.

«It is fascinating that many “occultists” claim that the Lesser Key deals with evil spirits and the Greater Key deals with good ones. This is merely a repetition of what other ill-informed writers have claimed. There is not one bit of proof that one Key deals with evil spirits and the other deals with good ones.» — Kraig niega el reparto corriente entre las dos Claves de Salomón y lo adjudica a repetición de escritores mal informados.

«As an example of the later, the Greater Key includes a method of making oneself invisible using “a small image of yellow wax, in the form of a man.” This type of image magick, sometimes called poppet magick, is not in the repertoire of most Kabalistic magicians. This is far more in the realm of natural or Low Magick.» — Kraig clasifica el procedimiento de la imagen de cera como magia baja o natural y lo deja fuera del repertorio del mago cabalista; la frase entrecomillada es del grimorio.

«In the Israel Museum is a fragment of parchment that has been dated to 700 B.C.E. and is considered the oldest piece of text from the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. It only contains fifteen Hebrew words, which are found today in the book of Numbers 6:24-26.» — recuadro de la lección sobre la bendición sacerdotal; Kraig data el fragmento y lo liga a la posición de manos del rito que acaba de dar.

«In this position, the hands are supposed to be—not merely represent—windows into heaven. There are five points this way: the grouped outer fingers on each hand, the grouped inner fingers on each hand, and the touching thumbs. This is supposed to indicate a latticework and references a passage in the “Song of Songs” (often mistakenly called the “Song of Solomon”) 2:9 that reads, “My beloved . . . standeth behind our wall, he looketh in through the windows, he peereth through the lattice.”» — la lectura que Kraig da de la posición de manos: ventanas y no símbolo de ventanas; el pasaje bíblico va citado dentro de su propia frase, y de paso enmienda el nombre con que suele llamarse el libro.

«And it even represents the four “corners” where Asherah, the female half of God and who was later thought of as God’s bride, is said to rest.» — tercera lectura de la misma figura; Kraig nombra a Asherah mitad femenina de Dios y consigna que después se la tuvo por su novia.

«In the Hebrew of the blessing, there are thirteen instances of the letter “Yud.” As you remember, thirteen equals unity and love. Therefore, the use of this blessing indicates God’s love for the people.» — lectura gemátrica de la bendición; el valor trece por unidad y amor viene de lecciones anteriores del propio curso.

«In Hebrew this brief prayer has two names. The most common one is the Birkat Koh-hahneem or “Priestly Blessing.” It is also known as the Nes-ee-yaht Kah-pai-yeem or the “Raising of the Hands.”» — los dos nombres hebreos de la oración, en la grafía asquenazí del curso; enseguida el libro da la pronunciación completa de las tres líneas.

«along with the lack of appeals to Jesus and the Trinity, which gives internal evidence of an earlier date for the Greater Key than the Lesser Key.» — el argumento de datación por evidencia interna con que Kraig ordena los dos grimorios; la frase arranca en la plana anterior, donde nombra los métodos de magia natural del mismo libro.

«In fact, the earliest written versions of the Greater Key date from the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, while the earliest copies of the Lesser Key are from the seventeenth century.» — las fechas con que Kraig apoya el orden anterior; en la misma plana admite que las versiones orales pueden ir mucho más atrás.

«This did happen with a grimoire called the Picatrix, which was only translated into English in 2008. It was thought to be a typical example of writing from the Middle Ages. Recent discoveries show it to be a translation of a much earlier Arabic work.» — Kraig pone el Picatrix como caso de datación corregida por hallazgo posterior y le adjudica origen árabe anterior; es el ejemplo con que sostiene que a los dos grimorios salomónicos podría pasarles lo mismo.

«Thus, you could use the evocations from the Lesser Key by changing the phrase “spirit Bael,” as in the earlier example, for “angel So-and-So.” I know that this may infuriate some purists, but the technique and philosophy are the same.» — la sustitución que el manual autoriza entre los dos grimorios, y la objeción que Kraig se anticipa a sí mismo.

«As you can see, implying that these symbolic figures are talismans is a blind to prevent their true potential from falling into the hands of the untrained and unprepared.» — Kraig lee como velo deliberado la presentación de los pentáculos de la Clave mayor como talismanes, y sostiene que el propio Libro Primero los manda mostrar al espíritu.

«Below is a pentacle associated with the Sun. Its purpose is to free you from the thought patterns that keep you from achieving your desires. The evocation should be done on the day and in the hour of the Sun.» — primera de las cuatro muestras de pentáculo que el manual toma de la Clave mayor; las figuras van en lámina sin capa de texto en el troceo.

«“Yohn-ehl” comes from the Hebrew outside the central figure: Yud, Vahv, Nun, Alef, and Lahmed.» — Kraig deriva el nombre del espíritu de las letras hebreas del propio pentáculo, en su grafía asquenazí.

«Finally, the pentacle below is another one of Venus. Its purpose is to learn from the angel Monachiel how to attract love.» — última de las muestras; la voz que nombra al ángel es la del grimorio dentro del manual.

«that seeks contact with any dead souls or entities that happen to be nearby. Rather, it is a very real method of making contact with entities on a higher level of existence.» — Kraig separa la evocación tanto de la fantasía como del espiritismo; la frase arranca en la plana anterior, donde niega que sea trabajo de imaginación.

«After using the pentacle to focus your attention (don’t confuse this with your magickal tool—the Earth pentacle), cover the pentacle so that it cannot be seen. Usually a piece of black silk is used for this purpose. Then, when the entity appears in your magick mirror, show the pentacle to the entity. The result is that the entity will be bound by your will.» — el procedimiento propio de la Clave mayor que el manual prescribe, con la advertencia de no confundir ese pentáculo con el arma de Tierra del mago.

«This is a book that was apparently used as a source book by a branch of the Golden Dawn known as the Alpha and Omega. The name of the book, which was translated by Mathers, is The Grimoire of Armadel.» — Kraig adjudica el Grimoire of Armadel como libro de cabecera de la rama Alpha and Omega de la Golden Dawn y nombra a Mathers como su traductor.

«Its internal structure (references to Jesus throughout the book) indicates a later work than the Greater Key.» — segundo uso del argumento de evidencia interna: las apelaciones a Jesús fechan el Armadel después de la Clave mayor, con el mismo criterio con que Kraig fechó antes las dos Claves.

«This book does not even bother to give outrageous methods to draw a magick circle. Rather it merely says to “see that the Circle be [correctly] formed according to the instructions we have [elsewhere] given.”» — Kraig señala el hueco del Armadel en materia de círculo y cita su remisión; los corchetes son de la traducción que maneja.

«Curiously, this book also has some heavily disguised information on sex magick toward the end.» — Kraig adjudica al Armadel materia de magia sexual bajo disfraz, y con eso enlaza con la lección siguiente.

«The elemental spirits of Earth are the Gnomes. The elemental spirits of Air are the Sylphs. The elemental spirits of Water are the Undines. The elemental spirits of Fire are the Salamanders.» — la lista de elementales por elemento que el curso da por sabida en quien no sea del todo nuevo en el oficio.

«Here, on the physical plane, everything is made of a combination of the elements, but the elementals are totally composed of only one element.» — la razón que Kraig da de que los elementales rara vez se vean en este plano salvo dentro de su elemento.

«An artificial elemental is something that you, by force of will and magickal techniques, create to do your Will. In a sense, this is a type of evocation.» — la definición del curso para el elemental artificial; el Will con mayúscula es el término telémico que Kraig usa a lo largo del libro.

«Another way of looking at artificial elementals is that they are a type of talismanic magick without the talisman.» — segunda definición del mismo procedimiento, que Kraig amarra a la lección de talismanes ya recorrida.

«Much as a cruise missile will move around objects in order to find its target, so, too, will an artificial elemental discover ways of achieving the goal you give it.» — el símil con que Kraig explica la consciencia rudimentaria que adjudica al elemental artificial.

«If you give it more elemental energy than it needs, and do not tell it how to discharge that excess energy once the goal has been reached, an artificial elemental can become an unthinking (and sometimes uncontrollable) elemental force, sending out its undirected energy at anything and anyone, including its creator.» — el riesgo que el manual pone en el exceso de carga y la razón de la orden de dispersión que el rito incluye.

«You should not have the artificial elemental affect another person without that person’s permission.» — la regla de consentimiento de la lección; Kraig la sostiene enseguida con tres casos en que, dice, el permiso ya está dado de manera tácita.

«I hereby name thee _________. Go thou and do (such and such). When you have completed this task, disperse and reunite with (name of element) everywhere and harm none on your way. If thou hast not completed thy task by (date and time), then disperse nonetheless and reunite with (name of element) everywhere and harm none on your way. So mote it be! Be on thy way!» — la fórmula entera del Rito de Creación de un Elemental Artificial, con sus casillas vacías; los paréntesis son del manual y marcan lo que el operador rellena.

«When giving a date and time for dispersion, it is best to give astronomical dates instead of dates invented by humans.» — Kraig prefiere la fecha astronómica a la del calendario para la orden de dispersión, y da ejemplos con el Sol y la Luna.

«Although an artificial elemental has a type of consciousness, it is no more alive than a computer with which you play chess.» — con esto niega Kraig que haya problema ético en encerrar un elemental artificial.

«These are frequently used as protective devices. They may be put into something solid or something that is hollow but sealed. This may be the source of the genie-in-the-bottle myth.» — Kraig adjudica al elemental artificial encerrado el origen posible del cuento del genio en la botella.

«The magician prepares to allow one particular entity to unite and control the magician’s consciousness. The Spiritist allows anything that is hanging around to enter.» — segunda de las tres diferencias que Kraig traza entre la invocación del mago ceremonial y la del espiritista; la primera es la protección y la tercera, la credulidad.

«It took Crowley years before he fully accepted the The Book of the Law. Many Spiritists tend to accept anything that “comes from the other side.”» — Kraig pone la tardanza de Crowley en aceptar el Libro de la Ley como muestra de la duda que adjudica al mago; el artículo repetido es de la capa de texto.

«As a general rule—and one that works well for safety—“invoke the higher and evoke the lower.” That is, invoke deities, archangels, and angels. Evoke lower spirits.» — la regla con que el curso reparte las dos operaciones, dada por Kraig como norma de seguridad.

«Physically assuming that position, as well as visualizing yourself in this position is known as “assuming a God-form.”» — Kraig nombra la técnica de asumir forma de dios y la pone dentro del paso de llamada de la invocación.

«Sometimes, words that are fairly meaningless to us are repeated over and over, like a mantra. These are frequently (and wrongly) called “the Barbarous Names of Evocation.”» — Kraig enmienda el nombre corriente de esas palabras: aparecen en la invocación y no en la evocación.

«During the entire ritual, from after the Opening by Watchtower, the Earth pentacle—a symbol of the physical plane—should be covered with a opaque black cloth, preferably of silk. If the entity does not leave as quickly as desired, or (as I have seen happen) if people in the circle start to have a bad reaction from the extraterrestrial contact, unveil the pentacle and show it to the eyes of the magician/invoked entity. It will depart to its own abodes. Also, give the license to depart as in evocational rituals.» — el uso del pentáculo de Tierra como llave de salida en la invocación; Kraig lo declara visto por él y usa aquí el adjetivo extraterrestre para el contacto con lo no físico.

«During the time when the non-physical entity is invoked, the consciousness of the magician is not simply gone. Rather, one of two things happen. It may stay on the astral plane near the body of the magician. Otherwise, it may go throughout the astral plane.» — los dos destinos que Kraig adjudica a la consciencia del mago mientras dura la invocación; añade que el informe del viaje puede valerle al grupo más que la propia invocación.

«One of my favorites is an invocation to a deity that came before creation, and thus, was not created. In the words of the invocation, the entity is “bornless.”» — Kraig presenta la invocación del Innaciso como su favorita y explica el término por la anterioridad a la creación.

«This is Crowley’s poetic version of an earlier invocation. Listen to the words of the calling:» — Kraig adjudica a Crowley la versión que reproduce y la declara refundición poética de una invocación anterior, sin nombrar la fuente primera.

«Thee I invoke, the Bornless One. Thee, that didst create the Earth and the Heavens; Thee, that didst create the Night and the Day. Thee that didst create the Darkness and the Light… Thou hast distinguished between the Just and the Unjust. Thou didst make the Female and the Male. Thou didst produce the Seed and the Fruit. Thou didst form Men to love one another . . .» — el arranque de la llamada, en la versión de Crowley que el manual reproduce; los puntos suspensivos y los dos tipos de elipsis son de la fuente.

«The best way to allow this to happen is to “enflame thyself with prayer!”» — la instrucción telémica que Kraig da para sostener la repetición de los Nombres Bárbaros; la reitera más adelante con la grafía *inflame*.

«I am He! the Bornless Spirit! having sight in the feet: strong, and the Immortal Fire! I am He! the Truth! I am He! who hateth that evil should be wrought in the World! I am He, that lighteneth and thundereth. I am He, from Whom is the Shower of the Life of Earth: I am He, Whose mouth ever flameth: I am He, the Begetter and Manifester unto the Light: I am He: the Grace of the World ...» — la parte de la misma invocación en que habla ya la entidad, después de que la personalidad del mago se retira; la voz del texto es la del Innaciso.

«Is that not beautiful? Versions of it can be found in some editions of The Lesser Key of Solomon: Goetia and in Crowley’s Magick.» — Kraig localiza el texto en dos sitios; el juicio estético es suyo y va en primera persona.

«What I wish to present to you is the idea that rituals are not static and unchanging.» — la razón que Kraig da de no imprimir un rito de invocación completo: quiere el principio, no la receta.

«To be successful you must become totally involved with that god, archangel, or spirit. And then you must truly want the entity to come to you.» — la condición subjetiva que el manual pone sobre la invocación, por encima del aparato.

«Although these types of magick are very dramatic, you can be a successful magician and never use them.» — Kraig quita a la evocación y a la invocación el rango de obligatorias dentro del oficio que enseña.

«one of the goals of this course is to allow you to pick up any book on magick and be able to understand it and work its system.» — la declaración de propósito con que Kraig justifica haber dado los secretos de evocación e invocación aunque no dé rituales completos.

«In short, this course is cumulative. I cannot stress this too much. To achieve success in magick requires dedication to study and practice. If you want to talk about magick, I think you will enjoy this entire course. If you want to be a magician, a real practicing magician, you must practice the exercises and techniques and rituals given in these lessons. There is no secret pill or formula to become a wizard overnight.» — Kraig declara acumulativo el orden de las lecciones y separa al lector que quiere conversar del que quiere practicar.

«9. Who is the ultimate authority in magickal matters? 10. How many directions are “sealed” in the Yetziratic Sealing Rite?» — muestra del autoexamen con que cierra cada lección; la novena pregunta remite a la regla de no creerle a nadie, y su respuesta está en el apéndice segundo.

«Konstantinos. Summoning Spirits. Llewellyn, 2002. Kraig, Donald Michael. The Truth About the Evocation of Spirits. Llewellyn, 1994. Leitch, Aaron. Secrets of the Magical Grimoires. Llewellyn, 2005.» — tramo de la bibliografía de la lección novena, donde Kraig se lista a sí mismo con otro título propio de la misma casa editorial.

«magick is something you are.” I have said this over and over to students and I have tried to make it clear in these lessons.» — la máxima con que abre la lección décima, en voz de Kraig y declarada por él como repetida a sus alumnos; la misma frase la citan los blurbs de la sección de elogios al principio del volumen, y aquí aparece en su sitio propio.

«True magicians realize that since they can work magick and affect (and effect) their lives, they are really free to do anything they wish. True magicians also realize that they are responsible for their actions. Thus freedom and responsibility are signs of a magickal lifestyle.» — el par libertad y responsabilidad como marca del oficio; de ahí deriva Kraig la posición del curso sobre el sexo.

«As a magician, I believe that every adult is entitled to have sex any way he or she desires, as long as it does not involve the coercion of anyone else.» — la posición sexual que Kraig declara en primera persona y como magia, con el único límite de la coerción; enumera enseguida orientaciones y prácticas sin jerarquizarlas.

«Freedom, responsibility, and honesty should be a magician’s guide. For that matter, these ideas should guide any person’s actions.» — Kraig extiende la regla del mago a cualquier persona.

«Unfortunately, numerous organizations of dubious worth coerce people into various sexual situations.» — el cargo con que Kraig abre el relato de tres organizaciones que dice conocer, ninguna nombrada.

«In most cases the claim of brainwashing is just hogwash meant to emotionally manipulate people listening to the claims.» — Kraig objeta el uso corriente de la acusación de lavado de cerebro y lo compara con llamarse mago negro entre magos.

«There are five things necessary for brainwashing, and to be successful all must be used.» — Kraig enuncia el lavado de cerebro como técnica de cinco requisitos conjuntos y apoya su realidad en estudios militares.

«1) Removal from environment of influence. You are normally in an environment with friends, family, coworkers—people you know and who give you mental and emotional support. Removing you from this supportive environment is usually the first part of the brainwashing process.» — primero de los cinco elementos del recuadro; los otros cuatro son privación de sueño, dolor ante el desacuerdo, placer ante el acuerdo y cambio bioquímico.

«5) Change in biochemistry. Although this can be caused by sleep deprivation, physical punishment, or the use of drugs, it’s most often induced by a change of diet.» — último de los cinco elementos; Kraig adjudica la vía más frecuente al cambio de dieta.

«Control a person’s sex life and you can control the person’s psyche; you control the person.» — la tesis con que Kraig liga sexualidad y control; de ella cuelga el resto de las notas preliminares de la lección.

«Perhaps you remember Patty Hearst. In 1974 she was kidnapped by a group with whose philosophies she did not agree. She later became an active member of the group.» — el caso con que Kraig ilustra la tesis anterior; en la misma plana aclara que no toma partido por ella ni por sus captores.

«Some “magickal” groups are nothing more than a cover for one of two things: gaining sexual partners and gaining power over others.» — Kraig aplica el cargo al propio campo de la magia y no lo deja fuera del diagnóstico.

«For the true sign of a magician is freedom of thought and freedom of will. You will never be a magician if you are under some cult’s mind control.» — la razón que Kraig da de dedicar tanto espacio a las sectas dentro de un manual de magia.

«I divide the types of magick that use the sexual energies as a fundamental source into three groups:» — Kraig declara propia y provisional la partición en tres de la magia sexual, y advierte que otros autores no la siguen.

«1. Thought Control. This is a method of controlling sexual energy via the mind during sexual excitation and orgasm.» — primera de las tres clases; la dificultad que Kraig le adjudica es concentrarse en un estado donde el pensamiento dirigido es difícil.

«2. Inner Alchemy. This is a type of White Magick that could be called White Sex Magick. It is an important part of Taoist alchemy (also called Taoist yoga) and Tantric sexual yoga.» — segunda clase, que Kraig alinea con la alquimia taoísta y el yoga sexual tántrico.

«3. Outer Alchemy. This is more along the lines of Grey Magick. It uses sexual fluids, which have been magickally charged for the purpose of achieving a magickal goal.» — tercera clase; lo que la separa de la anterior, dice Kraig, es que opera sobre elementos tangibles y no sobre la energía.

«Some purists may be upset that I am introducing Oriental elements into this course. However, I’m very eclectic. Even before the writings of Blavatsky, Oriental mysticism has been incorporated into Western mystical philosophy and practice. Even the Golden Dawn took much from the East.» — Kraig se anticipa a la objeción purista y declara ecléctico el curso; data el préstamo oriental antes de Blavatsky y se lo adjudica también a la Golden Dawn.

«Also, it is unfortunately true that with the denunciation of sex for anything but procreation as taught by the Christian church for over 1500 years, much of Western sex magick had to be deeply hidden.» — la razón histórica con que Kraig explica que haya más material de magia sexual en Oriente que en Occidente.

«with Western Hermetic alchemy, as much Western alchemical literature, once you know the code, is simply disguised instructions for sex magick.» — la lectura que Kraig da de la literatura alquímica occidental: instrucciones de magia sexual bajo clave. La frase arranca en la plana anterior, donde define la Alquimia Exterior.

«Further, one hundred years ago the techniques were deep secrets and only spoken of in hushed whispers.» — Kraig data el secreto y declara terminada la época del susurro; de ahí saca la licencia para enseñar estas técnicas en un curso impreso.

«Many magicians believe that sex magick entirely traces its heritage back to the Tantrics of India and Tibet. While Tantra has influenced much of modern sex magick, there are aspects of sex magick that are from traditional Western sources, even if they do have similarities with Eastern practices. An example of this is that sex, and concomitantly sex magick, is a basic part of the Kabalah.» — Kraig objeta la genealogía puramente tántrica de la magia sexual y reclama para la cábala una parte del linaje.

«Even stodgy A. E. Waite (with blushing face, no doubt) admits in The Holy Kabalah that “the Supreme Wisdom [of the Kabalah] is a Mystery of Sex.”» — voz de Waite dentro del manual, con el corchete de aclaración que le pone Kraig; le sirve de testigo hostil para la tesis anterior.

«He also reports that the Zohar makes clear that the best time for a man and woman to have intercourse is on the holiest day of the week, the Sabbath.» — lo que Kraig adjudica al Zohar por medio de Waite; en la misma plana añade el deber de yacer con la esposa al volver del estudio.

«There is a Hebrew book called the Iggeret ha-Kodesh , which translates as The Holy Letter. This book dates from around the end of the thirteenth century, and on the surface is a type of medieval Jewish “marriage manual.”» — Kraig nombra y data la Carta Santa; el espacio antes de la coma es de la capa de texto, donde el título va en cursiva.

«Yet, Rabbi Akibah, a famous mystic (one of his disciples, Simeon Ben Yochai, is said to have written the Zohar) said of this work, “The whole universe is not worth the day that book [The Song of Songs] has been given to Israel.”» — voz de Akibah dentro del manual; Kraig consigna entre paréntesis la adjudicación del Zohar a Simeón ben Yojai en la forma que la imprime, y con el matiz de que se dice.

«Thus we read, “when a man unites with his wife in holiness, the Shechinah is between them in the mystery of man and woman.”» — voz de la Carta Santa dentro del manual; es el pasaje del que Kraig deriva la lectura tántrica del texto judío.

«is equivalent to the idea of God’s Holy Spirit or the Tantric “Shakti” (note the similarity in the sounds of the words), we can see that the author of this book is talking about something special. Indeed, the author is discussing what is commonly called kundalini yoga (more accurately Laya Yoga).» — la ecuación que Kraig traza entre Shejiná y Shakti, apoyada en el parecido de los sonidos, y la lectura del texto medieval judío como yoga de kundalini. El tramo arranca a mitad de frase, después de la pronunciación que el libro da del término.

«The Holy Letter simply states, “According to the thoughts you have in intercourse, so will the form come upon the seed.”» — voz de la Carta Santa otra vez; Kraig la pone como formulación antigua de lo que él llama Control del Pensamiento.

«Likewise, every time you have sexual intercourse you give birth to what Crowley called a “magickal childe,” even if no human child is the result. Or, to put it another way, the key idea behind the Thought Control form of sex magick is that the thought held at the instant of orgasm comes to pass.» — Kraig toma de Crowley el término del hijo mágico y con él enuncia la tesis central de la primera clase de magia sexual.

«Reich never claimed that people with psychological problems were incapable of having an orgasm. Reich knew that such a person could have an orgasm. He must have been aware of the important psychological text Psychopathia Sexualis by Krafft-Ebbing. He was an M.D., and that book had been the physicians’ resource on sociopathic sexuality for many years. What Reich said was that a person who was psychologically disturbed could not have a “potent orgasm.”» — Kraig objeta a los psicólogos que descartan a Reich y sostiene que le adjudican una tesis que no es suya; el término que rescata es el del orgasmo potente.

«Reich believed that during sexual excitation an energy, which he called Orgone, built up in the body. For full mental health this energy needed to be discharged during orgasm.» — la doctrina de Reich tal como Kraig la expone antes de hacerla suya en parte; el símil que sigue es el del globo que revienta.

«Reich discovered that the moment of orgasm can be identical to true meditation.» — la equivalencia que Kraig adjudica a Reich entre orgasmo sin pensamiento y meditación verdadera; el verbo es del manual.

«While it is true that this is one way to release the Orgone energy, I must disagree with it being the only way. Tantrics have methods of controlling this energy at will.» — Kraig objeta a Reich en el punto de la única vía y pone al tantra como contraejemplo; el desacuerdo queda dicho sin arbitrar.

«As I’ve written previously, the unconscious is our link to the astral plane (also called the Yetziratic World). When you create something in the astral plane as a result of your thinking procedures, it must come into existence on the physical plane. Whatever thought is in our mind at the point of orgasm goes directly to the unconscious and into the astral plane. It must manifest.» — la cadena con que Kraig explica por qué el pensamiento del instante del orgasmo se cumple; el plano astral va identificado con el mundo de Yetzirah de la cábala del curso.

«The unconscious does not think in words, it thinks in symbols or images.» — la razón por la que el manual manda usar sigilo y no palabra en el rito sexual.

«Although a sigil taken from a grimoire will do, designing an original sigil is a better idea. The system of A. O. Spare is quite good for this.» — Kraig recomienda el método de sigilos de Spare para el rito sexual de pareja y lo prefiere al sello de grimorio.

«A “Place of Comfort” should be established in the center of your area. Most commonly this is a small mattress or pad of some kind.» — cuarto paso del rito sexual para una pareja; el manual admite que el propio Lugar de Comodidad haga de altar si no cabe otro.

«STEP ONE. Let both participants know the purpose of this act. A divination should be done, with both persons present, to ensure the “karmic correctness” of the magickal act.» — primer paso del rito sexual de pareja; el manual pone el consentimiento informado y la adivinación previa como requisito del acto.

«STEP THREE. Let multiple large versions of the sigil be made and placed around the room. This must include the ceiling so that no matter which way you look you will see the magickal sigil.» — la disposición de los sigilos que el rito exige, y la razón de que sean varios: el operador debe verlos desde cualquier postura.

«Do not concern yourself about their meaning. Your unconscious already knows the meaning. Just look at the symbols.» — la instrucción del octavo paso; descansa en la doctrina del inconsciente que piensa por imágenes, enunciada unas planas antes.

«STEP TEN. Stay coupled (maintain penile insertion) for as long as possible, to a maximum of fifteen minutes.» — décimo paso; el manual cifra en quince minutos el tope y manda hablar poco durante ese tiempo.

«staying erect with minimal physical sensation or having an orgasm too quickly. Masters and Johnson say that the average period for men between insertion of the penis and orgasm is about two and one-half minutes.» — Kraig apoya en Masters y Johnson la dificultad que adjudica a los hombres en el rito y remite a las instrucciones de retardo que da más adelante en la misma lección.

«This ritual may be done with partners of the same sex. It may also be done heterosexually with the penis inserted in the anus or mouth of his partner.» — el manual declara indiferente la composición de la pareja y la vía del acto para la validez del rito.

«Missionary Position (man on top) is good for situations where magick is done to positively affect the man’s environment (i.e., allow him to get a raise, get a better job, etc.) Woman Superior (woman on top) is for situations where magick is done to positively affect the woman’s environment.» — las dos primeras correspondencias que el manual traza entre postura y destinatario del efecto.

«Male Behind (laying like spoons, with the man behind his partner, also kneeling with the male behind his partner) is for sending energy such as healing to a friend of the man.» — tercera correspondencia de postura; para una amiga de la mujer el manual invierte la figura.

«In this instance, there is not a Place of Comfort, but a chair called the “Throne.” The person who will have the orgasm sits in the Throne while the partner kneels or sits at the foot of the Throne and performs cunnilingus or fellatio.» — la variante oral del rito, con su mobiliario propio; el manual llama Rey o Reina a quien ocupa el trono.

«Although both the Kabalah and the Tantras disagree with him on this point, those who like Crowley may agree with him that you should choose anyone to do the rite with and they need not know the purpose of the rite.» — Kraig consigna la posición de Crowley sobre el consentimiento y la enfrenta con la cábala y los tantras, sin armonizarlas.

«Personally I feel that this is a type of sexual abuse, and experience has shown that it is not as successful as when both partners are aware of what is happening.» — la posición propia de Kraig frente a Crowley en el mismo punto, declarada en primera persona; dice consignarla para que quien siga a Crowley sepa dónde difieren.

«There are three aspects involved in any divinatory technique. The diviner must: 1. Turn off the outside, turn on the inside. 2. Alter the state of consciousness. 3. Increase the blood flow to the brain.» — los tres requisitos que el curso pone a toda adivinación, y el armazón del rito sexual adivinatorio que sigue.

«In this ritual, turning off the outside involves the use of what is called the Yoni Mudra. This is a position wherein the hands actually close down the other senses.» — el manual toma del repertorio indio la postura de manos con que cumple el primero de los tres requisitos.

«In this rite the method used to increase the flow of blood to the head is to have the head below the rest of the body during intercourse.» — cómo cumple el rito el tercer requisito; en la misma plana el manual describe las posturas que lo permiten.

«Important: This should not be done if the seer has high blood pressure.» — la contraindicación médica que el manual imprime destacada junto al procedimiento anterior.

«I really don’t understand how anyone could merely have difficulty breathing in this position because when you have the mudra locked in place, breathing shouldn’t be difficult, it should be impossible!» — la respuesta de Kraig a la queja de sus alumnos sobre el Yoni Mudra; enseguida da el ciclo de respiración que el rito admite.

«Remember that this is not lovemaking. It is highly ritualized and formalized. It is for a purpose; any pleasure that results is a wonderful bonus.» — la línea que Kraig traza entre el rito y el acto amoroso, contra la queja de que el procedimiento le quita espontaneidad.

«It is called “Eroto-Comatose Lucidity” and does not involve a coupled pair. Rather, this ritual involves one ritualist-seer and several aides who are usually of the opposite sex.» — Kraig presenta la Lucidez Erotocomatosa como técnica aparte y declara que no es para todos.

«This should continue indefinitely until the ritualist is in a state that is between waking and sleeping, “and in which his [or her] Spirit, set free by perfect exhaustion of the body, and yet prevented from entering the City of Sleep, communes with the Most High and Most Holy Lord God of its being, maker of heaven and earth.”» — el estado que el rito busca, dicho con una frase que el manual entrecomilla sin firmar en la misma línea; los corchetes de inclusión son de Kraig.

«This ritual of Eroto-Comatose Lucidity is from Crowley’s works, although it is said that the technique was devised by and given to him by one of his woman students.» — Kraig adjudica el rito a la obra de Crowley y a la vez consigna, con verbo de rumor, que la técnica pudo venir de una alumna suya sin nombre.

«Another example of sex magick of this Thought Control type is novelized in Crowley’s book, Moonchild.» — Kraig remite a la novela de Crowley como exposición narrativa de la misma clase de magia sexual.

«It involves a Tantric sexual position known as “The Crow.” After the usual opening and much sexual stimulation, the man, while standing, lifts the woman so that she is upside down and facing him. In this position they may have mutual oral sex.» — última postura del rito adivinatorio; el manual la reserva a quien sea delgado, atlético y fuerte, y le adjudica el efecto por el riego de sangre a la cabeza de la mujer invertida.

«As I wrote, I consider it virtually sex abuse to use someone for sex magick and not let him or her know what you are doing. The question is, was Crowley really wrong when he suggested it?» — el recuadro en que Kraig vuelve sobre su propia objeción a Crowley y se pregunta por el otro lado del asunto.

«but are being dishonest (through omission of information) and unethical.» — cierre del primer tramo del recuadro: callar el propósito evita la negativa del otro y a la vez, dice Kraig, es deshonesto. La frase arranca en la plana anterior.

«So, if you have a willing sexual partner and want to do sex magick without instructing him or her in the fine points of magick, what Crowley was saying really does make sense . . . . . . if you were living when Crowley lived, more than sixty years ago!» — la concesión que Kraig hace a Crowley y el corte con que la retira; los dos grupos de puntos suspensivos son de la fuente y separan párrafos en el impreso.

«In my opinion, getting someone to work with you and help you, or spending the time to train them to do so, is far better than using them to work sex magick without their knowledge.» — la posición con que Kraig cierra el recuadro; en la misma plana recomienda trabajar el propio curso con la pareja.

«As it says in the Neophyte Initiation ritual of the Golden Dawn: Long hast thou dwelt in darkness— Quit the night and seek the day.» — voz del ritual de neófito de la Golden Dawn dentro del manual, usada por Kraig como remate moral del asunto del consentimiento.

«The only technique that I have not tried nor any of my students confessed to is Eroto-Comatose Lucidity.» — Kraig declara el límite de su propia experiencia y la de sus alumnos en la materia de la lección.

«Sex magick of Outer Alchemy, unlike the other two forms of sex magick, requires the use of a partner of the opposite sex. Thus it is by its very nature not a technique that can be adapted to male or female homosexual practices.» — la restricción que Kraig pone a la Alquimia Exterior; unas planas después la matiza diciendo que sí puede hacerse si el sexo se separa del amor.

«Anybody can do the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. It does not matter if you are Jewish, Christian, Moslem, Buddhist, atheist, or anything else. All that matters is your ability to perform the ritual.» — la neutralidad religiosa que Kraig declara para la práctica del curso; enseguida enumera las figuras divinas que cada quien puede poner en el sitio del nombre.

«True, the Kabalah has an intrinsic Jewish flavor to it, but this is because it has been safeguarded by the Jews for the past few thousand years.» — Kraig concede el sabor judío de la cábala y lo adjudica a la custodia, no a la esencia; de ahí declara el curso aplicable a cualquier creencia.

«Please note that I am not saying sex should be separated from love, only that it can be.» — la distinción con que Kraig acota la separación entre sexo y amor que la Alquimia Exterior supone.

«Perhaps the best way to conceive of a sex magick ritual is as just another ritual, one that happens to use genitals instead of a chalice or a wand.» — la fórmula con que Kraig iguala el rito sexual a los demás ritos del curso y desplaza el asunto del instrumento.

«It is the belief of many magicians that the classic texts of Western Alchemy are coded information for the performance of sex magick.» — Kraig atribuye la lectura sexual de la alquimia a muchos magos y no la enuncia como propia en esta frase; en la lista que sigue la expone igualmente como código.

«The Athanor is usually described as a special type of oven used to slowly heat the material with which you are working. According to sex magicians it means the penis.» — primera de las equivalencias del código alquímico según los magos sexuales; Kraig las adjudica a ellos en cada línea.

«The Serpent is said to be a result of heating a substance in the Athanor. To a sex magician it is the semen. The Blood of the Red Lion is also semen.» — dos términos alquímicos leídos como el mismo referente.

«The Curcurbite, a type of alchemic container, is the vagina. So, too, is the Retort, which is usually described as another type of alchemical container.» — los dos nombres de recipiente del código; la grafía del primero es la que imprime el libro.

«Finally the Amrita or Elixir is defined as “the transmuted First Matter.” How it is transmuted and how it is used is the secret of Outer Alchemy.» — el término final de la serie, con el que Kraig deja declarado el secreto sin darlo en esa línea.

«The mental technique used to accomplish this is known as Karezza (pronounced “kahr-etz-ah” with the accent on the second syllable).» — el nombre de la técnica de retardo que el manual toma para la Alquimia Exterior, con su pronunciación.

«In previous editions of Modern Magick I traced Karezza back to a man named William Lloyd. He was a fascinating person who did write about Karezza, but only in 1931 and not the late 1800s as I incorrectly stated.» — Kraig enmienda por escrito una adjudicación de sus propias ediciones anteriores y deja dicho en qué se equivocó, sin borrar el nombre de Lloyd.

«In actuality, the idea was created by a woman named Alice Bunker Stockham» — la adjudicación que Kraig pone en su lugar; el paréntesis con las fechas de la autora, que sigue en la misma línea del impreso, queda fuera del tramo.

«She was the fifth woman made a doctor in the U.S.A. and got into trouble for promoting birth control.» — lo que Kraig consigna de Stockham; añade que su interés no era impedir nacimientos sino salvar vidas, y que estaba contra el aborto.

«Metaphysical thought in many places at this time believed that every drop of semen was equal to ten or more drops of blood.» — la creencia de época con que Kraig explica el atractivo de la técnica para los hombres; la consigna como creencia, no la suscribe.

«The basic Karezza technique for delay of orgasm is to concentrate on the purpose or goal of the intercourse rather than on the physical sensations.» — el procedimiento mental del Karezza aplicado al rito; el mismo pasaje sobre Stockham y su libro se repite en el glosario del apéndice cuarto, en la plana 813.

«Many men believe the lie that they can have physical problems if they do not ejaculate every time they are involved in lovemaking.» — Kraig niega el daño que se adjudica a la retención y nombra la molestia real por su apodo corriente unas líneas después.

«is the Masters and Johnson “squeeze” technique. In this technique, when the man feels that he is about to have an orgasm, but has not yet passed what is called the point of ejaculatory inevitability (when he can’t stop the ejaculation), he must withdraw his penis from the vagina. Then, either he or his partner must literally grab the penis and apply heavy pressure on the bottom of the penis, just behind the head of the penis until the need for ejaculation passes.» — primero de los métodos físicos de retardo que el manual expone, tomado de la sexología clínica; Kraig lo declara el más conocido y el más molesto. El tramo arranca a mitad de frase, que viene de la plana anterior.

«The advantage of the Tantric technique is that it uses several physical techniques simultaneously, and your partner need never know you are doing them.» — segundo método, que Kraig prefiere al anterior; la ventaja que le adjudica es que no requiere la colaboración ni el aviso de la pareja.

«But the technique that is probably the best for control of orgasm is a Taoist technique and is primarily physical in nature. At the point just before ejaculatory inevitability, stop the thrusting motions and take three deep breaths. Then, using the first two or three fingers of either hand, apply firm pressure on the perineum, the point midway between the testicles and the anus.» — tercer método, el que el manual pone por encima de los otros dos; la voz es la de Kraig prescribiendo.

«This point, known in acupuncture as Conception Vessel One, is important to the energy flow of the body’s reproductive system. Applying firm pressure here changes the energy pattern, which has a resultant effect on the physical organs. This actually causes a change in the valves within the reproductive system of the male with a suction-like effect. Ejaculation cannot occur.» — la explicación que Kraig da del método taoísta, en el vocabulario de la acupuntura y a la vez en el de la anatomía.

«the result of this technique is not only prolonged intercourse, but also the almost legendary male multiple orgasm.» — el efecto secundario que Kraig adjudica al método taoísta, y que declara invitación a experimentar; la frase arranca antes en la misma plana.

«The easiest way to do this is to simply allow the now flaccid penis to remain in the vagina for a period of fifteen minutes. According to some Tantric traditions, sperm loses its magickal powers after fifteen minutes, so a longer period is not needed.» — la vía más simple de reabsorber el Elixir y el plazo de quince minutos que Kraig adjudica a ciertas tradiciones tántricas.

«a large number of sex magicians have overcome this phobia and treat the Elixir as a magickal Eucharist. As a friend of mine likes to poetically say, First ’e loves ’er, then Elixir! [he licks her]» — el retruécano que Kraig atribuye a un amigo suyo, con el corchete aclaratorio que él añade; el término con que nombra la operación es eucaristía mágica.

«In some cases, just a small drop of the elixir is used as a way to “charge” the wine, just as a small amount of “starter” is used to create an entire loaf of sourdough bread.» — el símil de la masa madre con que Kraig explica la carga del vino.

«In fact, in some groups another man or woman is chosen as the “cup bearer.” It is his or her duty to obtain the Elixir instead of the woman’s sexual partner.» — la variante de grupo, con su oficio propio; Kraig la consigna como uso de algunos grupos, sin nombrarlos.

«it is my belief that that the intercourse of sex magick should last a minimum of forty-five minutes to be effective, and after about three hours, depending upon the magicians, a point of negative returns is reached. So, as they currently abbreviate on the Internet, YMMV: “Your mileage may vary.”» — las cifras que Kraig declara por creencia propia, apoyadas en su experiencia, la de sus alumnos y su lectura; el artículo repetido es de la capa de texto.

«Women have a natural menstrual cycle of approximately twenty-eight days, matching the cycle of the Moon. According to occult science, on each one of the twenty-eight days, a woman will secrete a different fluid when she is sexually excited and/or has an orgasm.» — la doctrina que Kraig adjudica a la ciencia oculta y que sostiene la tabla de los veintiocho días; la consigna con esa fórmula y no en voz propia.

«Here is a copy of a published list of the magickal abilities of the fluids of the twenty-eight days, starting with the new Moon of the woman. That is, beginning with the day after the end of her menstrual cycle (from a list by Sariel):» — el marco de la tabla; Kraig declara que la copia de una lista publicada y la adjudica a Sariel, sin más dato.

«1. Good Fortune 2. Separation and ill will 3. Gaining official favor 4. Love 5. Material well-being 6. Victory in battle 7. Overcoming illness 8. Maintaining health 9. Spirituality» — muestra de los nueve primeros días de la tabla de veintiocho; el resto sigue el mismo formato de día y finalidad.

«As an example, the magicians may choose to help or hinder a fugitive from a bully by doing an Outer Alchemical sex magick ritual on the twentieth day of the cycle.» — el ejemplo con que Kraig muestra que los rubros anchos de la tabla se afinan por la contemplación de los operantes; recuerda enseguida que va adivinación antes por ser magia gris.

«I must note here that there are many lists of the magickal qualities associated with each day of the lunar cycle. Sometimes each day is referred to as a “digit of the Moon.”» — Kraig consigna que circulan varias listas y no arbitra entre ellas.

«However, the only way to determine what is accurate for you is through personal testing.» — el criterio con que Kraig resuelve la divergencia entre listas: la prueba propia, no la autoridad.

«In his book The Tree of Life by Israel Regardie, the author gives an outline of a ritual called “the Mass of the Holy Ghost.” This is, pure and simple, an Outer Alchemy sex magick ritual.» — Kraig adjudica a Regardie el esquema de la Misa del Espíritu Santo y la lee como rito de Alquimia Exterior; declara enseguida que traduce sus instrucciones a términos corrientes.

«“Through the stimulus of warmth and spiritual fire [intercourse] to the Athanor [penis] there should be ... an ascent of the Serpent [sperm] into the Curcurbite [vagina].”» — voz de Regardie dentro del manual, con los corchetes de descifrado que le pone Kraig y los puntos suspensivos de la elisión.

«At the end of the “Mass” is described a technique of charging a talisman by simply applying some of the Elixir to it.» — lo que Kraig levanta del texto de Regardie para su propio curso; lo declara técnica muy poderosa.

«Then, together, they should hold the cup upside down and say, It is finished.» — el cierre que el manual da al rito de grupo de la Alquimia Exterior; la fórmula es la de la copa vacía boca abajo.

«Inner Alchemy keeps all of the forces within the body and uses the force of magickally directed sexual excitation to strengthen and empower the psychic energies of the body.» — la definición de la tercera clase de magia sexual y lo que la separa de la Exterior: nada sale del cuerpo.

«When you are quite sexually aroused and stimulated, send the energy up from the groin toward the head. This is sort of a reversed version of the Middle Pillar Ritual.» — Kraig amarra la técnica oriental al aparato cabalístico del propio curso: el Pilar Medio al revés.

«Important: Until you have mastered the Middle Pillar Ritual, do not try this technique of causing the energy to rise from the sexual center.» — la prohibición que el manual imprime destacada antes de dar la técnica; el orden acumulativo del curso vuelve aquí como condición de seguridad.

«let me reiterate that 90 percent of what you hear about Tantra is just plain wrong, and most of the rest is garbled at best.» — Kraig retira lo que él mismo acaba de exponer como introducción corriente al tantra y abre la sección en que lo objeta punto por punto.

«Tantra yoga is the yoga of sex. False! Tantra is a widely varied set of spiritual traditions that have evolved over thousands of years. Some Tantric traditions do not look at sexuality at all.» — primera de las cuatro nociones corrientes que Kraig niega; el formato de la sección es enunciado en cursiva y desmentido.

«More books are being published that explain the secrets of Tantra. False! The secrets of the Tantrics, especially the sexual secrets, have gone underground and are now kept within various occult orders. Most books coming out now are not written by initiated Tantrics.» — segunda noción negada; Kraig adjudica los libros recientes a compilación o a fantasía del autor.

«Remember, many of the early Tantric texts were written in code, a “twilight language” similar to the alchemical code described earlier in this lesson.» — Kraig empareja el lenguaje crepuscular del tantra con el código alquímico que expuso unas planas antes; es el mismo argumento aplicado a dos tradiciones.

«First, while the concept of kundalini is ancient and established, the expression “kundalini yoga” is a relatively new term, invented by Westerners.» — tercera noción negada; Kraig data el término y adjudica su invención a occidentales, y devuelve el nombre antiguo a Laya Yoga.

«The kundalini serpent is coiled three and a half times at the spine’s base. False! All forms of yoga, to be valid, are true sciences. If proven false they are discarded. Have you ever seen a snake coiled up in the entrails of a human body? Of course not. It’s not there.» — cuarta noción negada, con el criterio de validez que Kraig pone sobre el yoga entero: el de la ciencia, y la lectura de la serpiente como metáfora.

«there are several in the head and others in the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.» — Kraig niega que los centros psíquicos sean cinco, seis, siete u ocho y los declara muchos; sostiene además que es indiferente si tal o cual chakra está abierto.

«What I am about to present to you is not some theory that you are meant to visualize, but scientific fact. It is repeatable and verifiable under laboratory conditions.» — el estatuto que Kraig reclama para lo que va a enseñar; lo enuncia en el vocabulario de la prueba y no en el de la creencia.

«Further, I do not say this as a result of reading, but rather as a result of my own experience as an initiated Tantric.» — Kraig declara aquí una iniciación tántrica propia, que es la credencial con que sostiene lo anterior.

«Of course, there are certain things which I cannot divulge as a result of my initiation vows, but by making slight alterations as well as coming up with techniques based on secret methods, I will be able to give you more real information on Inner Alchemy than has ever been published in one place.» — el límite que Kraig pone a su propia exposición y a la vez la pretensión que le adjudica; el voto de iniciación funciona como razón de las alteraciones que declara haber hecho.

«According to the ancient Tantric manuscripts (which may be the oldest spiritual writings in India), a breath lasts about 4 seconds. This means that in a day you breathe 21,600 times.» — la cifra que Kraig toma de los manuscritos tántricos; en la misma plana la declara simbólica y no promedio real.

«The oldest and original mantra, the repetitious chant, is not that of “OM,” but is the sound of the breath.» — Kraig enmienda la primacía que suele darse al OM y la traslada al sonido del propio aliento.

«“Hahm-sah” is a Sanskrit word, which means “swan.” It is important to understand that you do not say or chant this mantra. Instead you simply breathe and hear it on your breath.» — el mantra que el manual prescribe y su modo de uso: se escucha, no se recita.

«(Note: Buddhists tend to reverse this with the mantra “so-aham.”)» — la variante que Kraig adjudica a los budistas, consignada entre paréntesis y sin arbitrar cuál es la buena.

«Kriya (pronounced “Kree-yah”) is a Sanskrit term that means “action.” It also has the meanings of “to make an effort” and “to transform.”» — el término con que el manual nombra el ejercicio que sigue, con sus tres acepciones.

«This shivering and shaking is called Shaktipat and is a common part of the process.» — Kraig nombra el temblor que describe en su propio relato y lo declara parte corriente del ejercicio.

«But then I realized that what had happened was that I had allowed the kundalini serpent, the true kundalini serpent, to become one with me. My body had spiritually assumed the shape of a serpent and my head had opened into a serpent’s hood. I was that snake.» — el relato en primera persona de la primera vez que Kraig hizo el ejercicio; la serpiente que unas planas antes declaró metáfora reaparece aquí como experiencia.

«Normally, a teacher would not tell you what could happen and would allow you to experience it and then “rescue you” from these unknown experiences.» — Kraig declara que rompe la costumbre del maestro tántrico por no poder estar presente, y con eso justifica anticipar las sensaciones al lector.

«Although the energy does flow within the spine (it is the spiritual essence of the cerebrospinal fluid), it also emanates beyond the physical body.» — la identificación que Kraig hace entre la energía del ejercicio y el líquido cefalorraquídeo, puesta entre paréntesis y sin más apoyo.

«It is important to realize that all of the forms of working with the breath and working with mantras are nothing but substitutes for sexual activity.» — la subordinación que Kraig enuncia entre las técnicas de aliento y el acto sexual: las primeras quedan como sustituto y escuela de las segundas.

«I hesitate to use the term “masturbate” as to many people this implies only penile or clitoral and vaginal stimulation.» — Kraig declara por qué evita la palabra corriente y amplía la práctica a todo el cuerpo.

«However, do not touch your partner except with your back.» — la regla del ejercicio de espaldas: el único contacto admitido es el de la espalda.

«The man sits cross-legged on the floor, on a pillow, or on a very low stool or bench. The woman should sit on his lap, facing him, so that they can look at each other. She should wrap her legs around him.» — la postura de frente que el manual prescribe para unir las energías de los dos; el mobiliario doméstico entra en la instrucción con el mismo rango que el rito.

«When the woman breathes out, the man breathes in. When the man breathes out, the woman breathes in.» — el patrón de respiración cruzada que la postura exige.

«The man should look into the woman’s right eye and the woman should look into the man’s left eye.» — el reparto de miradas del ejercicio; de él depende el circuito de energía que el manual describe enseguida.

«As the man exhales and the woman inhales, he should feel the energy continue down his spine and out through his penis. She should feel the energy coming out of his penis, into her vagina and up her spine.» — la mitad descendente del circuito; la ascendente pasa por el ojo derecho de ella y el izquierdo de él, y la figura que lo dibuja va en lámina sin capa de texto.

«You will quickly learn that the energy field is broken—or at least reduced—when eye contact is broken.» — la regla que el manual da sobre el contacto visual, y la razón de prohibir el beso cuando se añaden las caricias.

«Before moving on to the next technique, you must be able to maintain this posture for a minimum of twenty minutes, although forty minutes is preferable.» — los tiempos que el manual pone como condición para pasar de un ejercicio al siguiente.

«As you have read, and I hope have experienced, the more intimate the contact, the greater the amount of psycho-sexual energy.» — la regla de proporción con que Kraig ordena la serie entera de ejercicios: a más intimidad, más energía y más Shaktipat.

«The Tantric Ritual of Inner Alchemy (adapted to Western traditions)» — el título del rito, con la adaptación declarada en el propio encabezado; es la fórmula con que Kraig marca el préstamo.

«In the center should be your Place of Comfort, and within arms’ reach of it should be some water, wine, cooked or dried meat or dry cereal, fish or ginger, and sensual “toys” such as feathers, gloves of fur or faux fur» — el aparejo que el rito exige; los cinco alimentos y bebidas repiten el esquema de las cinco emes del tantra sin que el manual lo nombre así en esta línea.

«Most definitely not to be included are vibrators, penis-desensitizing creams or sprays, or anything which could inflict» — la lista de lo excluido del rito; la frase termina en la plana siguiente con las palabras dolor o castigo.

«STEP FOUR. Sit together, the woman to the left of the man, and hold and caress one another.» — la colocación que el rito manda, con la izquierda para la mujer.

«Although you shouldn’t have any clocks showing in the room, if it seems like this step took less than what you figure to be half an hour, slow down! You are going too fast. There is no rush.» — la medida de tiempo sin reloj que el manual impone al cuarto paso.

«Although there are movies that are supposed to be about Tantra, few really manifest the MahaTantra experience. However, there are two that seemingly have nothing to do with Tantra yet brilliantly portray it. And you’re not going to believe what they are.» — el marco del recuadro en que Kraig busca el tantra en el cine popular.

«The first one is Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In it, a god-like being, V’ger, manifests as Ilia, a female. For the ultimate deity to evolve, this female (goddess?) must join in total unity with a man, Commander Decker. At the climax, they hold each other as energy swirls around them. They merge, and the deity (V’ger), the god (Decker), and goddess (Ilia) evolve and move off to a higher plane.» — la primera película que Kraig lee como figura de la unión tántrica; el signo de interrogación tras la palabra diosa es de la fuente.

«The second movie was Natalie Wood’s last film, Brainstorm. The basic concept is the invention of a device that lets you record the experiences, including thoughts and feelings, of a person.» — la segunda película del recuadro; Kraig adjudica al personaje que repite en bucle una grabación de sexo el cambio de vida propio de la experiencia MahaTantra.

«And, most importantly, don’t move! That is, there should be no thrusting motions by either the man or woman.» — la instrucción central del séptimo paso del rito de Alquimia Interior; el único movimiento admitido es el de la musculatura interna.

«The alchemical Elixir produced will be very strong for a period of fifteen minutes, and although consumption of it is not necessary for this ritual, you are urged not to waste it.» — el plazo de quince minutos vuelve aquí; el rito de Alquimia Interior produce de paso el Elixir de la Exterior, y Kraig manda no desperdiciarlo.

«The MahaTantra experience is that ultimate, desired super-orgasm wherein your entire body seems to release the pent-up tension of years.» — la definición de la experiencia MahaTantra; en la misma plana la declara iluminación y le pone una duración de veinte segundos a dos minutos.

«It is an altered state of consciousness that makes LSD, mescaline, ayahuasca, Salvia Divinorum, and other entheogens (from the Greek, literally “becoming divine within”), psychoactive substances used for religious or spiritual purposes» — la comparación con que Kraig mide la experiencia, con la etimología de enteógeno puesta en el propio texto; la frase sigue con el símil del grano de arena y el desierto.

«Until you have experienced MahaTantra, no words can describe it. Once you have experienced MahaTantra, no words can express it.» — el límite que Kraig pone a su propia exposición, y declara que aquí no es por voto de iniciación sino por indecible.

«It is the equivalent of what many people spend years in meditation in order to achieve. But don’t take my word for it. Do the work necessary to be able to do this ritual and try it for yourself. It is a high form of White Magick.» — Kraig clasifica el rito como magia blanca y repite la regla de método de no creerle a nadie, aplicada a él mismo.

«This is because I do not want you to be incapable of original magickal thought. True, the various banishings stay the same, but other parts of the rituals can be added to or subtracted from as you see fit. The only judge in this must be your success or failure.» — la razón que Kraig da de haber dejado esquemáticos los ritos, y el criterio único que admite para juzgarlos.

«Others hide it in archaic or obsolete wordings that make A. E. Waite seem clear and simple!» — Kraig vuelve a poner a Waite como vara de la oscuridad en la prosa ocultista, ahora para medir a otros.

«Sex magick is not about love and romance, it’s about magick. It uses arousal and the linking of sexual polar energies to create massive increases in magickal power.» — el arranque del recuadro sobre asuntos de diversidad sexual; Kraig separa el rito del vínculo amoroso.

«Unfortunately, since the birth of the concept of “romantic love” in the late Middle Ages, sex and love have become linked in our minds. As a magician you might ask yourself if that link is true and genetic or simply societal.» — Kraig data el amor romántico en la baja Edad Media y deja la pregunta abierta al lector, con la consecuencia práctica de cada respuesta.

«Use your imagination and work on the concept of balancing polarities of energy, not gender.» — la regla con que Kraig reabre a parejas del mismo sexo las técnicas que expuso en términos de hombre y mujer; el eje es la polaridad, no el sexo.

«If you are interested in more information on Western sex magick, please see my Modern Sex Magick, which is both traditional and forward looking» — Kraig remite a otro libro suyo y lo declara apropiado para cualquier orientación ética.

«It is claimed by some that the wandering minnesingers, golliards, and minstrels of the late Middle Ages practiced some form of sex magick. This was coded into their music.» — Kraig consigna la adjudicación con verbo de rumor y no la suscribe; la grafía del segundo grupo es la que imprime el libro.

«For example, the word “die” in those songs meant “to have an orgasm.” By understanding this, such lyrics as “I die, I die in sweetest agony” become clear in meaning. Later, this tradition was carried on in Victorian Age erotica wherein an orgasm was frequently described as “the little death.”» — el ejemplo de clave verbal con que Kraig sostiene lo anterior, y su prolongación hasta la erótica victoriana.

«Aleister Crowley, being no stranger to erotic literature, continued with the same allegorical idioms. In Magick he claimed to have made a sacrifice of “a male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence” 150 times a year between 1912 and 1928.» — Kraig cita la fórmula de Crowley y la data; la lee dentro de la misma serie de claves verbales.

«Of course, he was not admitting to the murder of 2,400 children! Some Crowley commentators claim that this refers to magickal masturbation of the Outer Alchemy tradition. Others claim that he was “taking away” the virginity of another person.» — Kraig consigna las dos lecturas que circulan entre comentaristas de Crowley sin arbitrar entre ellas, y añade que si la segunda fuera cierta las cifras le parecen tomadura de pelo.

«an instruction for one of the participants in a ritual to take a sword “and slit his throat therewith.” This probably refers to magickal masturbation. In context, it occurs while watching another couple engaged in ritual sex magick.» — la lectura que Kraig propone de una instrucción del Equinox de Crowley, dicha con verbo de probabilidad y apoyada en el contexto.

«Let me repeat that the threefold division of the types of sex magick are quite arbitrary. I have used them merely as a way to make communication of the various techniques easier.» — Kraig retira rango doctrinal a su propia partición en tres y la declara instrumento de exposición.

«1. The longer a man is sexually excited without having an ejaculation, the more magickally powerful the elixir will be.» — primero de los puntos con que Kraig arma la decisión sobre retener o no el semen; los otros tocan la reabsorción, el control de natalidad y el Karezza.

«So whether or not you decide to totally or partially withhold sperm is a matter of choice.» — Kraig consigna que las fuentes difieren según el grupo y deja la decisión al practicante, sin arbitrar.

«5. Many ancient (and some modern) Chinese texts believe that as a man gets older, his ability to have an erection and produce sperm diminishes. Thus, while a man is young he may have an ejaculation more than once a day. But as he ages he should lessen this number until, in old age, he may ejaculate only once every few months.» — la doctrina china que Kraig consigna como creencia de esos textos, sin suscribirla, y que ofrece a quien se interese por la filosofía taoísta.

«(However, a 2008 study from the University of Nottingham shows that frequent ejaculations by men in their twenties and thirties increased the chance of prostate cancer, while frequent ejaculations by men in their fifties reduced the chance of the same type of cancer.)» — el dato médico con que Kraig contrapesa la doctrina anterior, puesto entre paréntesis en el propio impreso.

«Several women have also told me that even if they have one or more orgasms, they feel the act of sex is incomplete until their male partner has also had an orgasm.» — testimonio que Kraig adjudica a varias mujeres con las que habló; es el apoyo del punto siguiente.

«I certainly believe that the day when Crowley said you can use any woman for sex magick, and not tell her what you are doing, is past.» — Kraig da por caducada la regla de Crowley y lo declara como creencia propia, advirtiendo antes que su indagación no es científica ni final.

«There are many people who firmly believe “you are what you eat.” In some primitive tribes, the heart of a valiant enemy might be eaten to gain his courage.» — el arranque de la sección sobre comer al dios; Kraig consigna la creencia con el refrán que la resume.

«The ultimate form of this belief comes with “god eating.” This was a pre-Christian tradition, which was eventually adopted by the Christians, and especially by Roman Catholicism.» — Kraig data la práctica antes del cristianismo y le adjudica a este su adopción posterior.

«If the essence of a deity can be invoked into food or drink, why not invoke that god or goddess into a person and have sexual relations with that god or goddess?» — la propuesta que Kraig hace suya, presentada como pregunta y apoyada en los mitos de Grecia y Roma.

«There are some Wiccans and witches who practice this, calling it the “Great Rite.”» — Kraig nombra a wiccanos y brujas como practicantes actuales del rito y da su nombre corriente.

«Any sexual fluids from the embodied god/goddess are holy and should be considered as a sacrament.» — la consecuencia que el manual saca de la invocación en persona; enlaza con el Elixir de la Alquimia Exterior.

«The ancient Taoists had a ritual similar to Laya Yoga. It usually took place outside, on a hill, and required the person seeking enlightenment, a sensitive assistant, and usually one or more sexual helpers.» — el reparto de oficios del rito taoísta que Kraig describe; el asistente sensible es quien ve moverse la energía.

«To prevent the energy from leaving the body, the assistant would plug the anus with material dipped in» — el procedimiento del rito taoísta; la frase termina en la plana siguiente con la palabra cera.

«The result would be that the energy would end up “exploding” out the top of the head, through what the Tantrics called the “lotus of 1000 petals,” and the final outcome would be Nirvana, or Enlightenment.» — el término del rito taoísta dicho con vocabulario tántrico; la cifra del loto va en guarismos en la fuente.

«When I first wrote Modern Magick the U.S. culture was moving into what was called the “Me Generation.”» — Kraig data el diagnóstico cultural de su primera edición y en la misma plana lo declara ciclo y no decadencia.

«As I write these pages for the third edition of these lessons, things are changing once again, but this time out of necessity rather than choice.» — la actualización que la tercera edición pone encima del diagnóstico viejo, sin borrarlo; Kraig la amarra a la crisis económica.

«But one group which I have always supported is the loosely knit women’s liberation movement, now more commonly known as the feminist movement.» — Kraig declara su apoyo al movimiento y a la vez le concede excesos iniciales que dice haber considerado necesarios.

«Still, to judge a person only on their appearance is nothing less than vicious and cruel. It turns people who don’t match some imagined norm into sad, unfulfilled, and lonely people. And since most of appearance is a gift of birth, it is clearly but a step away from racism.» — la posición de Kraig sobre lo que llama apariencismo, que es el puente con que entra a los tántricos kaula.

«Those who have studied Crowley’s life know that he took exceedingly ugly women for lovers on purpose.» — dato que Kraig adjudica a quienes han estudiado la vida de Crowley y usa como contraste de la belleza convencional.

«Perhaps the most racist and sexist society that ever existed was in India during the Middle Ages. Everyone had strict rules to follow dependent upon parentage. This “caste” system existed for hundreds of years. If you were in an upper class you could be “defiled” by having the even the shadow of a member of the lowest class, an “untouchable,” pass over you. It was a racist, sexist society that makes ours look like pure equality by comparison. But there were freedom fighters then as now.» — el cuadro con que Kraig presenta la India medieval antes de nombrar a los tántricos kaula; la repetición del artículo en la frase de la sombra es de la capa de texto.

«Rather than trying to change society, they tried to change themselves. Outside, they acted like anyone else. But in their temples, within the KalaKakra or “magick circle” these Kaula Tantrics treated everyone equally. Caste, appearance, skin color, or shade made no difference.» — la lectura política que Kraig da del rito kaula: igualdad dentro del círculo y acatamiento fuera.

«Inside the Tantric temples all men were gods and all women goddesses. And these Tantrics developed a whole philosophy of beauty, love, understanding, sensitivity, science, and art while western» — la doctrina del círculo kaula y el contraste que Kraig traza con Europa; la frase termina en la plana siguiente nombrando la Edad Oscura.

«Naturally, when the Westerners conquered India with their better weapons, they tried to destroy Tantrism for being “evil.”» — lo que Kraig adjudica a la conquista occidental de la India; el adjetivo va entrecomillado en la fuente.

«This exercise should be done with a minimum of three men and three women. Five or more of each sex would be preferable. In a large room let there be one of the women and all of the men. There should be a comfortable chair in the center wherein sits the woman. The men sit on cushions in a circle around the woman. Everyone should be naked. The other women should sit outside the circle in darkness and may or may not be dressed.» — el ejercicio previo que el manual prescribe antes del rito de grupo; su fin declarado es adoptar la actitud de los tántricos ante el cuerpo ajeno.

«For she, like all women, is the embodiment of the feminine aspect of the Divine.» — la razón doctrinal del ejercicio de adoración; el manual la repite luego invertida para el hombre en el centro.

«If she becomes sexually aroused, this must be seen as a sign of favor of the goddess that she is.» — la lectura que el manual manda dar a la excitación dentro del ejercicio, para separarlo del acto sexual común.

«Is there any jealousy or anger? Are such emotions hidden just below the surface? If so, these people either must work out their feelings or accept that currently they are not meant for this type of magickal work.» — la prueba emocional con que el manual criba a los participantes; Kraig aclara que el descarte no los hace malos ni inmaduros.

«Since you probably do not have a Tantra master on your block, the above exercise will help weed out those who are not emotionally ready for the group working.» — Kraig declara el ejercicio sustituto del maestro tántrico que seleccionaba a los alumnos, y consigna que los tántricos antiguos no tenían nada igual.

«Let there be two other rooms, one a changing room for the women, and one for the men. Let each change into special outfits.» — el aparejo del rito KalaKakra; el manual detalla enseguida ropas, joyas con campanillas, pinturas corporales y aceites por zonas del cuerpo.

«He has thus “cut a doorway” in the magick circle to allow the women to enter. A knock on the door will be a signal for them to do so, and once they come into the circle, the actions of the man with the knife should be reversed so that the circle is closed.» — el procedimiento con que el rito abre y cierra el círculo para el paso de las mujeres, hecho con la daga del Ritual Menor de Destierro.

«As far as I know, it was the first major occult work to deal with AIDS. It was the first occult volume that looked for harmony between ceremonial magicians and Pagans. It was the first set of lessons to reveal the blinds in the grimoires.» — la serie de primicias que Kraig se adjudica a sí mismo por la primera edición, dichas con la salvedad de hasta donde él sabe.

«It was the first major occult volume to give specific and explicit instructions in sex magick.» — última de las primicias reclamadas; el recuadro entero nace de la sorpresa de algunos lectores ante el consejo de rasurarse.

«Although it may surprise many people reading this, the shaving or trimming of pubic hair has a long history. The ancient Egyptians did it, as did the ancient Greek women (but not the men). The Roman women also did it, as did the British Celtic men (according to Julius Caesar). Both male and female Muslims did this and the returning Crusaders (eleventh to thirteenth centuries) brought the practice to Europe.» — la historia que Kraig traza de la práctica, con la atribución a César dentro del propio texto.

«The modern popularity of women shaving legs and underarms only dates to 1915.» — Kraig data la costumbre moderna y la adjudica a una campaña publicitaria de hojas de afeitar.

«There is a myth among a small segment of feminists that women shouldn’t copy actresses in adult films who shave their pubic areas as it supposedly appeals to pedophilic desires in men.» — Kraig consigna la objeción y la niega en la misma plana con un argumento de coherencia sobre las cirugías de pecho.

«For several years I worked as a writer for an advertising agency that specialized in ads for adult entertainment.» — la credencial con que Kraig sostiene su explicación del rasurado en el cine para adultos: facilidad para la cámara.

«The women may feed the men, kiss them, give them wine or water to drink, but the men may not use their hands. This usually leads to much laughter and frivolity, a pleasant gift of the gods of Tantra.» — la primera fase del rito KalaKakra y su regla de manos quietas; el manual consigna la risa como parte esperada del rito.

«Then, the women should remove one of their shoes and place it in the center of the area. Other articles may also be used, such as earrings, bras, etc. Just so long as a woman can identify it as her own and that all of the women put in the same type of object: i.e., one should not put in a shoe if all the others are going to put in earrings. When doing this, the women should form a small circle about their collection of items so the men would have difficulty identifying which women put in what.» — el sorteo de parejas del rito, con el cuidado de que ningún objeto delate a su dueña.

«When the clapping stops, each man reaches behind himself and, without looking, grabs one item from the collection. Then, once again, the men go around the circle trying to determine whose item they possess.» — la segunda mitad del sorteo, marcada por las palmas de una mujer; el manual advierte enseguida que no debe haber fuerza ni violencia.

«Goddess, thou art mine tonight. Thou art my wife ’till it be light. To which she replies, God, thou art mine tonight. Thou art my husband ’till it be light.» — los votos que el rito pone en boca de cada miembro de la pareja formada por sorteo; la nota quinta explica que nacieron para sortear la ley india sobre el adulterio.

«1. When intercourse begins, the couple should take a comfortable posture and not thrust. They should synchronize their breathing until they have the MahaTantra experience and reach Nirvana.» — la primera de las dos vías que el rito admite, que es la de la Alquimia Interior ya enseñada.

«2. Realizing that the deities of Tantra appreciate the energies of love, the couple may have prolonged active intercourse (with much thrusting) in honor of the gods.» — la segunda vía, opuesta a la anterior y admitida en pie de igualdad; el manual no arbitra entre ellas.

«1. It should start at midnight and end at daybreak.» — el horario que el rito exige, primera de las seis notas que Kraig le pone.

«5. It was illegal for a person in India to have sex with another person who was not their spouse. To get around this and still have a random and free choice of partners, they would declare themselves wed for the night.» — la explicación histórica que Kraig da de los votos de la noche.

«6. Although this is based on an ancient Tantric ritual, not all Tantrics practiced it. Similarly, most Protestants don’t worship in the same way Catholics do.» — Kraig niega que el rito valga por el tantra entero y pone el símil cristiano para explicarlo.

«But find out the Tantric tradition they belong to and who initiated them into Tantra. Chances are they speak with little knowledge.» — el criterio con que Kraig manda pesar a quien se declare tántrico: la tradición y el iniciador, no la palabra.

«This is a very dangerous ritual! Many good relationships have broken up because of it. Or, more appropriately, many relationships that seemed good have broken up after this ritual because the relationship was not really stable nor secure nor ready to handle the freedom of the KalaKakra.» — la advertencia que Kraig pone sobre su propio rito, con la enmienda que él mismo hace a su primera formulación.

«The ritual of the KalaKakra has been included primarily for purposes of completeness and for people who are» — la razón que Kraig da de imprimir el rito pese a la advertencia; la frase termina en la plana siguiente diciendo para quiénes.

«But a few years before the first edition of Modern Magick was published, a new disease appeared, seemingly from out of thin air. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is transmitted through the sharing of bodily fluids, primarily blood.» — el posdata de la lección décima; Kraig data la aparición de la enfermedad respecto de su propio libro.

«Throughout this course I have stressed the idea that a magician takes responsibility for his or her actions. Therefore, if you decide that you wish to have more than one sexual partner, you must accept the responsibility for that action.» — Kraig aplica al asunto sanitario la regla de responsabilidad que declaró al abrir la lección.

«If you have any diseases, from a communicable STD to “just a cold,” it is your responsibility to share with partners and potential partners the information about which diseases you have before having sex.» — el deber de informar que el manual pone sobre el practicante, en la misma línea de su objeción a Crowley sobre el consentimiento.

«My best friend for many years died from an AIDS-related condition, and he is» — el dato personal con que Kraig cierra el posdata; la frase sigue en la plana siguiente.

«1. What level of intelligence do you need to have before you are immune to being brainwashed? 2. What five things are necessary for brainwashing?» — muestra del autoexamen de la lección décima; la primera pregunta está armada para que la respuesta sea que ninguno.

«Avalon, Arthur. Mahanirvana Tantra: Tantra of the Great Liberation. CreateSpace, 2008. Conway, Flo, and Jim Siegelman. Snapping. Stillpoint Press, 1995. Douglas, Nik, and Penny Slinger. Sexual Secrets. Destiny Books, 1999. King, Francis. Sexuality, Magic and Perversion. Feral House, 2002.» — tramo de la bibliografía de la lección décima, donde conviven el tantra, la literatura sobre sectas y la magia sexual occidental.

«there is an old legend that when Moses first ascended Mount Sinai, God gave to him the secrets of the Kabalah. This told humanity what it could do. Moses, upon seeing the worship of another deity—the Golden Calf—when he descended, destroyed public knowledge of these secrets, saving them only for his brother Aaron and the High Priests of Israel.» — la leyenda con que Kraig abre la lección undécima; la consigna como leyenda y la usa para oponer la cábala, que dice lo que se puede hacer, al decálogo, que dice lo que no.

«When Moses again returned to the top of the mountain, he came back with the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. These were filled with “thou shalt nots,” telling people what they must not do.» — la segunda mitad del par; Kraig adjudica el cambio a la incapacidad del pueblo para la libertad de la cábala.

«They are infected with the mental disease of insecurity resulting in the symptom of needing to follow various “-isms” rather than accepting their own excellence and thinking for themselves.» — el diagnóstico que Kraig hace de su época; usa vocabulario de enfermedad y síntoma.

«This is a result of the level of spiritual advancement in the current Piscean Age, and I fear it will be with us for many years to come.» — Kraig adjudica el estado anterior a la era de Piscis y consigna su propio temor de que dure.

«These are the people who are the advance guard of the coming Aquarian Age.» — la contrapartida del diagnóstico: Kraig sitúa a quien piensa por su cuenta en la vanguardia de la era de Acuario.

«No, it is an open elite that anyone can join at any time, and make eddies, ripples, and waves in the ocean of our coming world.» — Kraig admite el cargo de elitismo y lo acota: la élite que declara no se hereda ni se compra.

«From this point on I can show you no more. I can teach you no more magickal secrets.» — el corte que Kraig pone a su propia enseñanza a media lección undécima, con las páginas del libro todavía por delante.

«There are three things needed to work any magick: 1. The ability to raise, control, and direct magickal energy. 2. The knowledge of what to do with this energy (ability does not equal knowledge). 3. A positive attitude of self-assurance.» — el resumen con que Kraig ordena todo lo enseñado hasta aquí; el paréntesis separa capacidad de saber.

«It is interesting to note that no books on magick ever clearly state all of the above three points. The famous magickal texts or grimoires of the past at best only discuss the second point.» — Kraig señala el hueco que adjudica a los grimorios y lo explica por su uso: cuadernos de trabajo para quien ya tenía maestro.

«The ultimate magickal wisdom cannot be communicated to you by any person or group. Let me be blunt: any person or group that claims to give you the ultimate magickal secrets is lying.» — la tesis central de la lección undécima, y el criterio con que Kraig manda juzgar a cualquier orden o maestro, el suyo incluido.

«The so-called “lost word” or secret name of God can never be communicated to you by another person. You must learn it by yourself.» — la aplicación de la tesis anterior al motivo del nombre perdido, corriente en la magia ceremonial y en la masonería.

«This knowledge is not available on the physical plane of Earth! It can only be learned from entities on higher planes.» — dónde sitúa Kraig el saber que él ya no puede enseñar, y la razón de que la lección pase enseguida a la proyección astral.

«With this knowledge you should be able to construct your own rituals and ceremonies rather than being locked into the printed words of dead hands.» — el propósito que Kraig declara para el curso entero, dicho contra la fijeza del texto heredado.

«Occultists have always maintained that everything is made up of vibrational energy. Modern scientific thought has finally come to the same conclusion, calling it “wave theory.”» — Kraig adjudica a la ciencia moderna una conclusión que dice ya sostenida por los ocultistas; la convergencia la enuncia él, no la ciencia.

«What is actual may not appear real. What is real may or may not be actual.» — la distinción entre realidad y actualidad sobre la que Kraig monta su negación de las tres magias.

«For a true magician there is no universal, predetermined good or evil. There is no morality from external sources.» — la posición moral de la lección; el fundamento que pone en su lugar es el karma.

«However, the true magician will invariably choose the path of light, what is called by non-magicians the “morally correct choice.” The true magician chooses the path of light not for moral purposes. Rather, this path is chosen because the magician realizes that whatever is done needs to be for the best of himself or herself, the local community, and the world. And further, any action they do will come back to him or her. Such is the universal law of karma.» — cómo llega Kraig del rechazo de la moral externa a una conducta que llama de luz, por la vía del retorno kármico.

«Black Magick. There is only . . . magick. Period. It so happens that because of the understanding of the law of karma, a true magician will assiduously avoid what non-magicians or beginning magicians would call Black Magick.» — Kraig retira las tres divisiones que él mismo usó a lo largo del curso; la frase arranca en la línea anterior de la misma plana.

«People who are not aware of the law of karma behave “morally” because they are given a code of morals or a set of laws to follow. They look to a book or leader rather than seeing the results of their actions.» — el contraste con que Kraig sostiene que el mago quiebra su código menos que quien se rige por reglas ajenas.

«are called black magicians. But they should never be considered true magicians any more than a child performing a magic trick with a ball or coin is at the level of one of the performing magicians you’ve seen on TV or in the theater.» — Kraig concede que hay quien daña con magia y le niega el rango de mago verdadero; el símil es el del niño y el prestidigitador de escenario.

«I am merely saying that it is impossible to consider an action “good” or “bad,” Black Magick or otherwise, unless we know the karmic result of the action.» — el criterio con que Kraig suspende el juicio moral, ejemplificado antes con el suicidio del enfermo incurable y aclarando que no lo alienta.

«But suppose the arm was gangrenous and the friend would die if the arm was not removed. It would be karmically bad for us not to help by removing the arm and saving our friend.» — el caso con que Kraig muestra que el mismo acto cambia de signo kármico según el desenlace; y añade que salvarle la vida también podría ser kármicamente malo.

«In the Biblical story, Jonah was told by God to go and preach. He chose not to do so and the karma of that action put him in the belly of a “great fish.”» — el ejemplo bíblico con que Kraig ilustra la obligación kármica de seguir la instrucción recibida.

«What you are now is a direct result of what you did yesterday. What you are tomorrow is a direct result of what you do today. As you sow, so shall you reap. It is the law of karma.» — la formulación del karma que cierra la sección, dicha con un refrán evangélico.

«And, as St. Augustine, Rabelais, and Aleister Crowley said, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”» — Kraig adjudica la fórmula telémica a tres voces distintas y muy separadas en el tiempo, sin arbitrar cuál la dijo primero.

«In reality it is a call to become responsible for your own actions, to become united with Divinity and to make God’s Will your Will. Your actions will require that you ever tread the path of Light. And the guide on that path is love. For as Crowley added, “Love is the law, love under will.”» — la lectura que Kraig da de la fórmula anterior, contra la lectura hedonista, y el segundo verso que le adjudica a Crowley.

«We are not dealing with mediumship or possession. We will be dealing with communication.» — la línea que Kraig traza entre su técnica y la del médium o el poseso, después de nombrar los casos de violencia que la prensa adjudica a posesiones.

«If you follow instructions nothing in this or any other lesson will be dangerous or could cause danger to you or others. Nothing taught in these lessons could lead you to what general morality might consider evil.» — la garantía que el manual imprime destacada antes de enseñar la comunicación con entidades superiores.

«What I mean by higher spiritual entities are three things: direct manifestations of the Divine (the gods), the Archangels, and the Orders of Angels.» — Kraig acota qué entidades cuentan como superiores y deja fuera a las que llama Pequeñas Molestias del astral bajo.

«Azoth: This is also known by the Sanskrit term “Akasha” (correct pronunciation: “ah-kash”) or the astral light. It appears as brightness and is changeable according to a person’s will. The past, present, and future can be seen within the Azoth, but it does not have an independent personality.» — una de las diez entradas del catálogo de entidades no físicas que Kraig da en esta lección; iguala el término alquímico y el sánscrito y enmienda la pronunciación corriente.

«The Empty Ones: If you live in a large city, these entities can be seen in physical form in the “skid row” section of town. They look human, but they have no soul and no hope for the future.» — otra entrada del mismo catálogo, la única que Kraig sitúa a la vez en el plano físico y en los superiores.

«Larvae: These are also known as lemures. It is believed that they live off the essence of blood. They “feed,” so to speak, on sick or injured people.» — entrada del catálogo con el nombre latino al lado; la creencia va consignada como creencia.

«Poltergeists: The poltergeist phenomenon often gives the appearance of being a ghost. However, it is actually a manifestation of the unconscious of a human, most frequently (but not always) a girl entering puberty.» — última entrada del catálogo; Kraig niega que sea espíritu y lo adjudica al inconsciente de una persona viva.

«This was fictionalized in the famous 1956 science-fiction movie Forbidden Planet, where machines created a horrendous attacker, a “monster from the Id.”» — la referencia cinematográfica con que Kraig explica las formas de pensamiento propias en los planos superiores.

«They are only your own fears, angers, prejudices, etc. They will not harm you themselves, for to harm you would cause harm to themselves. They are you.» — la doctrina del curso sobre los monstruos del astral: son del propio operante y por eso no pueden dañarlo.

«Most people are unwilling or too frightened to examine or even peek at their shadow, the Jungian term for the darker side of themselves» — Kraig toma de Jung el término de la sombra para nombrar lo que el operante encuentra en el astral.

«Few magicians are ever really psychically attacked.» — el remate con que Kraig devuelve al propio practicante la causa del ataque psíquico repetido.

«I have not brought your attention to it because some people seem to fear what is represented by two small words. Frankly, I cannot understand this fear because the process named by those two words is something these same people do every day of their lives.» — Kraig declara haber estado enseñando la técnica sin nombrarla, por el miedo que adjudica al nombre.

«And the two words that describe it are... . . . astral projection.» — el nombre de la técnica, con la doble elipsis que la fuente imprime al pasar de párrafo.

«Don’t feel uncomfortable with the idea of astral projection. You do it every time you daydream, and very frequently when you dream in your sleep.» — Kraig desdramatiza la proyección astral igualándola al ensueño diurno y al sueño.

«In fact, you probably had to unlearn how to astral travel when you were a child. It is very common for parents to tell their children not to play in invisible scenes and with invisible play-friends.» — la genealogía que Kraig da de la incapacidad adulta: no es falta de facultad sino desaprendizaje.

«This process of causing yourself to forget those things that would be uncomfortable or unacceptable to your current state of consciousness is what psychotherapists call “motivated forgetting.”» — Kraig toma prestado el término de la psicoterapia para explicar el desaprendizaje anterior.

«Remember, the physical actions of a ritual work to impress the unconscious and reinforce the conscious with what is being done in the astral plane.» — la doctrina que permite a Kraig pasar los ritos diarios del plano físico al astral: lo físico era el medio, no el fin.

«STEP THREE. Once your double (frequently called a doppelganger) is complete, use your will power and have it turn to face the east, the same direction in which you are looking. This procedure should take no special ritual techniques. Simply use your mind to tell it silently to turn about and it will do so.» — tercer paso del Ritual Menor de Destierro en versión astral; el doble hace el rito y el cuerpo queda en el sitio del altar.

«Do this until you have performed the astral version at least thirty (not twenty) times.» — la enmienda que el propio posdata hace al número dado en la preparación del rito; el paréntesis es de la fuente.

«Your goal in this exercise is to keep that single spot visualized in one location for five minutes while you allow nothing to interfere with your concentration.» — el fin del ejercicio de tarjetas con puntos negros que Kraig da a quien no logre el rito astral.

«This is not some magickal power, it is physiological. The mind records an image and holds on to it as an “afterimage.”» — Kraig retira todo carácter mágico al fenómeno en que apoya el ejercicio y lo explica por fisiología.

«Although this exercise sounds easy, it is not. The first time I tried it, I broke out into a sweat and was drenched within five minutes. Do not underestimate its difficulty.» — el testimonio personal con que Kraig pesa la dificultad del ejercicio.

«There are two techniques that are frequently called astral projection. The first one is often mistaken for astral projection but is nothing of the kind. It is actually mental projection.» — Kraig separa dos técnicas que circulan bajo el mismo nombre y enmienda el uso corriente.

«In mental projection you send your mind and senses away from your body by force of will. You still will retain your consciousness and some sense awareness in your physical body. Another name for this is bi-locationality.» — la definición de la primera de las dos, con su otro nombre.

«In true astral projection the consciousness almost totally leaves the physical and joins the astral double. The physical body appears to be sleeping or in a coma.» — la definición de la segunda, y el rasgo con que se distingue desde fuera.

«In the astral LBRP just described, all you are doing is using your powers of visualization and your imagination. You are not doing astral or even mental projection.» — Kraig confiesa que el rito que acaba de dar no es todavía proyección, y explica que por esa vía se llega.

«When you have this realization my advice to you is the same as the words of Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “Don’t panic!”» — el consejo que Kraig da para el momento de la proyección verdadera, tomado de una novela de ciencia ficción.

«They are based on some practical techniques by the author Ophiel (née Edward Peach). Remember, however, to always perform the LBRP (and BRH if time allows) before doing any projection. This cannot be overemphasized. Remember, you’re a magician now, not a dilettante.» — Kraig declara de dónde toma los cuatro métodos de proyección y descubre el nombre civil del autor; el paréntesis con la fórmula femenina se deja tal cual, así lo imprime la fuente.

«Step One. Start off by placing some markers around your room or home. These markers could include such things as a rose, a bowl of cold water, a shoe, etc. They should be things that can be appreciated by all of your senses: touch, hearing, taste, smell, and sight.» — primer paso del primero de los cuatro métodos; el recorrido físico precede al astral y lo entrena.

«You may notice a connection between your physical body and your double in the form of an umbilical-like cord at your navel, solar plexus, third eye area, or at the top of your head. People experience this cord in different places, although you may not notice it at all.» — el cordón que Kraig consigna con cuatro localizaciones posibles y sin fijar ninguna; admite además que puede no percibirse.

«The key to succeeding with this system (and with all of the methods, really) is that you must establish within yourself the urgent desire to leave your physical body.» — la condición que Kraig pone por encima de la técnica en los cuatro métodos.

«Step One. Lie naked on a bed. Have a friend, relative, or assistant put a folded heavy bedspread on your feet. Now, have your aide slowly drag the folded spread up your body until it reaches the top of your head. Then the person helping you should quickly lift the spread up and away from you and quietly leave the room.» — el tercer método, único de los cuatro que exige ayudante y contacto físico.

«This method is ideal for musicians and music lovers. It was the method I used to achieve my first out-of-body experience.» — Kraig declara que el cuarto método es el que le funcionó a él la primera vez.

«Step One. Hear the musical note D natural above middle C in your mind. A little practice with a piano, pitch pipe, or a friend with a musical instrument will make this pitch familiar to you. Now, double the frequency of the pitch in your mind so that you hear a pitch an octave higher than the first note.» — el arranque del método por octavas ascendentes; la nota de partida va nombrada con precisión.

«Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I might remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.» — la máxima pedagógica que Kraig se cita a sí mismo de una lección anterior; la usa para preferir la práctica a la lectura.

«And besides, I believe it is far better to learn by doing than by reading.» — la razón que Kraig da de no remitir a más libros sobre proyección; antes advierte que cada libro va limitado por las ideas previas de su autor.

«Some students have expressed concerns about “being lost in the astral” and not being able to come back to their physical bodies. If you follow the instructions given in this lesson, it simply cannot happen.» — Kraig niega el miedo corriente a quedarse fuera del cuerpo y apoya la negativa en el cordón.

«For lack of a better comparison, I like to say that it refers to hundreds of light years.» — la única medida que Kraig da de la distancia a partir de la cual el extravío sería posible; la declara comparación por falta de algo mejor.

«In fact, the biggest problem for most people is getting out of the body in the first place. The next big problem is staying out. Getting back is not a problem at all.» — el orden de dificultades que Kraig adjudica a la proyección, invertido respecto del miedo corriente.

«It is what is known as “astral whiplash.” Sometimes, when you are out-of-body, something can jar your physical body enough to suddenly draw your astral body back into your physical self.» — el único percance que Kraig admite en la proyección, y su causa.

«Coming back too quickly can result in leaving some of this “substance” still out on the astral plane.» — la explicación que Kraig da del malestar tras el latigazo astral, en términos de sustancia perdida.

«“Now go an octave above that.” I nodded when I had done that. “Now go an octave above that . . . and an octave above that.” This continued a few more times and I realized that I was hearing a pitch in my mind that was above the human vocal range. In fact, the tone I heard was above any instrument I knew.» — tramo del recuadro autobiográfico en que Kraig cuenta su primera proyección, guiado por su novia de entonces; la voz que instruye dentro de las comillas es la de ella.

«Thank you, C.G., for giving me my first taste of the astral planes.» — el agradecimiento con que Kraig cierra el recuadro; la persona queda en iniciales y así se consigna.

«Re-project yourself to the same place to which you went when you were interrupted. Then return to your physical body in your normal fashion, generally by retracing the way you came. You will automatically collect whatever substance was lost.» — el remedio que el manual prescribe para el latigazo astral; si no hay ocasión de reproyectarse, dice, basta dormir.

«It is better to practice for fifteen minutes, or even only five minutes, every day, than it is to practice for one hour once a week. Persevere and you will succeed.» — la regla de práctica con que Kraig responde a la lentitud de los resultados en la proyección.

«There are many books that discuss how wonderful it is to be out-of-body. But once you achieve the ability of projection, few of the books discuss what to do with it.» — el hueco que Kraig señala en la literatura del tema y que esta lección se propone llenar.

«In this lesson you are learning techniques that can give you every magickal secret known» — el alcance que Kraig reclama para la lección undécima; la frase termina en la plana siguiente con las palabras y desconocido para la humanidad.

«and unknown to humanity! With these techniques you can achieve whatever you want in life, both spiritually and materially. Few people know about it because real magicians have tried to keep it a secret from mere dabblers in the occult sciences.» — el remate de la frase anterior y la razón que Kraig da del secreto.

«right now, if you study not one more word of this course, nor read any other book, you probably know more about the theory and practice of real, traditional Western magick than 99.99 percent of the people in this world.» — la cifra con que Kraig mide al lector que ha llegado hasta aquí; en la misma plana añade que sabe más que la mayoría de quienes se dicen magos ceremoniales.

«According to Eliphas Levi, telling the truth to someone who cannot accept it is tantamount to telling that person a lie.» — voz de Levi dentro del manual, usada por Kraig como razón de haber guardado la técnica para la lección undécima.

«One of the best writers on magick and the Kabalah, Israel Regardie, at one time claimed that the Tree of Life is a convenient tool for memorization and categorization. While to an extent this is true, it does not go far enough, for the Tree of Life is also a map of the astral planes.» — Kraig consigna lo que adjudica a Regardie, le concede parte de razón y añade lo que dice faltarle; es la tesis que sostiene el trabajo de senderos.

«Kabalistic Pathworking, quite simply, is the process of using this map to go to the location of some higher spiritual entity.» — la definición de la técnica que da nombre a la segunda mitad de la lección.

«In a sense it is the exact reverse of evocation. Rather than bring a spirit to you, you go to it.» — la relación que Kraig traza entre el trabajo de senderos y la evocación de la lección novena.

«“There is no room for authority in occultism” (Dion Fortune).» — Kraig cita a Fortune para negar valor normativo a los relatos ajenos de senderos; la atribución va entre paréntesis en la fuente.

«Merely because something is real does not mean that it is actual. It only means that it is our present interpretation of what is actual.» — la distinción entre realidad y actualidad de la lección aplicada ahora a lo que se ve en el sendero.

«Because Kabalistic Pathworking is so intensely personal and important, none of my students have ever told me that they were willing to have their magickal record of a Kabalistic Pathworking published.» — la razón que Kraig da de no publicar ningún registro real, ni suyo ni de sus alumnos.

«Therefore, as an example of a Kabalistic Pathworking, I am going to present to you a version adapted from a rare book from 1968 titled The New Dimensions Red Book.» — de dónde saca Kraig el relato de ejemplo, y declara haberlo alterado mucho; el original era un trabajo de grupo.

«My temple is lit with nine purple candles and I am using the general-purpose incense of combined myrrh and frankincense.» — tramo del relato de ejemplo, que va en primera persona y en presente; el número de velas y el color corresponden a la novena sefirá, meta del viaje.

«I form a body, which is a duplicate of myself standing in front of me. I project my consciousness into my astral double and will my astral eyes to open.» — el arranque del viaje en el relato, con el mismo procedimiento del rito astral de la parte anterior.

«To the east, from out of the mists, I see three doors appear. The door to my left is a huge card of the Tarot, card 20, Judgement. To the right the door is card 19, the Moon.» — las tres puertas del templo astral en el relato de ejemplo; la tercera, al este, es la carta 21, el Universo, por la que el viajero pasa.

«This night I have chosen to work up the path of the Universe. It will take me from Mahlkoot, our Earth and my temple» — el tramo del Árbol que recorre el ejemplo; la frase sigue nombrando a Yesode, la esfera de la Luna, y la grafía de las sefirot es la asquenazí del curso.

«Instead of opening it, I will myself to become the figure in the card. Instantly, we are one.» — el modo de entrar en el sendero: identificarse con la figura de la carta, no abrir la puerta.

«I am surrounded by a huge green wreath, and the only other entities I can see are the kerubic creatures of Ezekiel’s Revelation: a Bull, an Eagle, a Lion, and a Man.» — lo que el viajero encuentra al cruzar; la fuente atribuye la visión de los cuatro vivientes a una Revelación de Ezequiel, y así se consigna.

«In front of me is large, flat-bottomed boat. Its oarsman is the strongest-looking person I have ever seen. He would make almost every bodybuilder hide in shame.» — la figura del barquero en el relato; el artículo falta en la fuente y así queda.

«Soon, another woman comes into view. She is much older, and at first glance her appearance is hag-like. But as I look at her I see a hidden sense of vitality, which shines from within her eyes.» — la tercera de las tres mujeres que el viajero ve al rodear la isla; la glosa que el relato le da es la de una belleza de tiempo y experiencia.

«We continue around the island, and I realize that what I have seen are the faces of the threefold lunar Goddess of Paganism. This is natural, since I have studied Wicca or Witchcraft for a long time.» — la lectura que el propio relato hace de las tres mujeres, y la razón que da de verlas así: el estudio previo de la wicca por quien viaja.

«In my heart I say, “Oh Diana, Goddess of the Moon and beyond, I beg that if you have a message for me that you will grant me thy favor and let me now receive it.”» — la plegaria con que el viajero pide el mensaje; lo que la figura responde queda en blanco en el impreso.

«mythologized journey through any archetypal images in the imagination. I had experienced this type of visualized journey in numerous classes for many years, but it is only recently that it has begun to be called pathworking instead of “guided visualization.”» — el cargo que Kraig hace a los libros recientes sobre trabajo de senderos: llamar así a lo que antes se llamaba visualización guiada.

«Nobody cared that a word with a specific meaning was having its meaning destroyed.» — el resultado que Kraig adjudica a su propia campaña por el término; lo consigna como derrota.

«My favorite example of this is the expression “quantum leap.” If you ask most people what this means, they’ll tell you it’s a giant step forward from the past.» — el ejemplo con que Kraig ilustra el vuelco de sentido de una expresión; enseguida da el sentido físico original, que es el contrario.

«Therefore, in this lesson (and in my workshops and classes), if I use the term “pathworking” by itself, I’m talking about a guided visualized journey. When I’m discussing or teaching the ancient system of taking a journey up and around the Tree of Life, as I’m sharing with you in this lesson, I’ll call it “Kabalistic Pathworking.”» — la decisión terminológica con que Kraig cierra el recuadro: cede el término corriente y acuña el suyo con apellido.

«I see at the dock where I met the boat-man a huge structure of rock, which forms the last Hebrew letter, Tav.» — primero de los signos que el viajero reconoce al volver; cada uno corresponde al sendero recorrido.

«As I walk back down the path by which I had come, I see trees of ash and yew, along with cypresses. Leaning against a yew I see a large sickle» — los árboles y la hoz del sendero trigésimo segundo, en el relato; el olor a huevo podrido que sigue es el azufre de Saturno.

«Also, notice the symbols mentioned at the end: Saturn, certain types of trees, a scythe, and the Hebrew letter Tav. These are all associated with the 32nd path, the path of the Tarot card “the Universe.”» — Kraig sale del relato para nombrar la tabla de correspondencias que lo sostiene.

«When I look at a clock, I am surprised to see that only thirty-seven minutes have passed. It has seemed like several hours.» — el desajuste de tiempo con que el relato de ejemplo cierra el viaje.

«The important thing to notice in the above story is that the astral traveler could not enter the island. The island, of course, was Yesode.» — lo que Kraig manda leer en el relato; el modo de entrar en una sefirá lo reserva para la parte siguiente de la lección.

«Besides, they have already been listed in the book 777 by Aleister Crowley, Godwin’s Cabalistic Encyclopedia by David Godwin, and The Complete Magician’s Tables by Stephen Skinner.» — los tres diccionarios de correspondencias que Kraig declara indispensables, en vez de imprimir la tabla en su propio libro.

«The purpose of Kabalistic Pathworking is primarily one of information gathering. By questioning higher spiritual entities it is possible to learn new rituals, new magickal techniques, and new mystical information. It is important to remind you that this information is for you and you alone.» — el fin de la técnica y su límite: lo obtenido no vale para otros, ni siquiera cuando el rito requiere ayudantes.

«This presents an opportunity to repeat Dion Fortune’s important point yet again: “There is no room for authority in occultism.” Merely because someone reports that he or she had success with an originally devised ritual does not mean anyone else will have success with it.» — Kraig repite la frase de Fortune que ya citó unas planas antes, ahora para negar valor general a los ritos que cada quien traiga del sendero.

«I know of one book that has been through a great many printings and claims that the reason you can hear other people’s thoughts (clairaudience) is because when those people think of something they actually “speak” their thoughts through their ears! The idea makes perfect sense to the author, but it seems ridiculous to me.» — primero de los dos casos con que Kraig sostiene que buena parte de los libros de ocultismo son fantasía de sus autores; ni el libro ni el autor van nombrados.

«For the pseudonym listed as the author of the book, he switched around the letters of the words “not really” to make up a name!» — segundo caso: un autor que Kraig dice bien considerado publicó bajo anagrama y se metió a sí mismo y a su esposa en el relato. Tampoco lo nombra.

«1. Purifications. 2. Banishings. 3. Projection and Kabalistic Pathworking. 4. Verifications: a. of your location(s). b. of the identity of entities. 5. Request for magickal aid or information from the higher spiritual entities. 6. Payment. 7. Return. 8. Banishings.» — los ocho pasos del Ritual de los Caminos, que Kraig declara la culminación de todo lo enseñado en el curso.

«Since each Sephira is overseen by an archangel, you need to know that archangel’s name in order to enter. This is similar to the idea of having to give the name of a friend in order to get into a private club.» — la clave que el manual reservaba: el nombre del arcángel funciona como contraseña de la sefirá.

«As an example, let us say that we feel low on vitality and wish to increase our energy. The Sephira involved is Giburah, and it is to Giburah we must go.» — el caso que el manual desarrolla paso a paso; la sefirá se elige con la tabla de magia talismánica de una lección anterior.

«A road map simply lists everything that you will need to know for the ritual. For this ritual we will need to know the correspondences for Yesode, Tiferet, and Giburah.» — el mapa de ruta que el rito exige llevar escrito, con letra grande y en cartulina, para leerlo a media luz.

«In any event, for Grey Magick always begin by going first to Yesode from Mahlkoot. This is because Yesode is associated with magick.» — la regla de itinerario que Kraig da para toda magia gris; si solo se busca saber, dice, puede subirse directo por el pilar izquierdo.

«By the power of Ah-Doh-Nye, be pure! be pure! I exorcize thee, Creature of Will!» — la fórmula de purificación de la Vara Arcoíris, primera de las cinco que el primer paso del rito prescribe, una por instrumento.

«In this example ritual you might wish to use five red candles, five being the number and red being the color of the Sephira to which we wish to travel. Incense should also be lit. Tobacco is commonly used for this Sephira.» — cómo se derivan del número y del color de la sefirá los accesorios del rito; el tabaco entra aquí como incienso.

«In the case of Yesode, they are the Kerubeem. To pass them and enter Yesode, use the password “Gabriel” (pronounced “Gahb-ree-ehl”), the Archangel of Yesode.» — primera de las tres puertas del ejemplo, con su guardia angélica y su contraseña.

«As an example, if you see elephants, you are in Yesode. However, if you see a hermaphrodite you have somehow gotten into Hode.» — el modo de verificar el lugar por correspondencias; el manual manda volver por donde se vino ante cualquier duda.

«It will be blocked by the Malacheem, the angels of the Sephira Tiferet. To pass, use the password “Raphael” (pronounced “Rah-fah-ehl” )» — segunda puerta del ejemplo; el espacio antes del paréntesis de cierre es de la capa de texto.

«Here the guardians are the Serapheem and the password is “Khamael” (pronounced “Kah-mah-el”).» — tercera puerta del ejemplo, la de Giburah, meta del viaje.

«Spiritual creatures on these levels have no true will of their own and cannot lie, but they do not have to spell out their answers in plain language. They may test you.» — la doctrina que permite fiarse de lo hallado arriba y a la vez explica por qué la respuesta llega cifrada.

«The entity says, “Shavat.” This means “rod” in Hebrew, and the letters come to a total of 311. The number of Raphael is also 311.» — el ejemplo de verificación por gematría; la equivalencia numérica hace de prueba de identidad.

«Although the letter “A” is traditionally given as the sound for Aleph, the Aleph really has no sound. It is merely a placeholder for vowels» — una de las notas a la tabla de gematría hebrea; Kraig enmienda la equivalencia corriente de la primera letra.

«The Koph is sometimes spelled “Qoph” and is said to be represented in English by the letter “Q.” However, it is always pronounced like a “K.” The “Ch” of the Chet is pronounced like the “ch” of the Scottish word “loch.”» — dos aclaraciones de grafía y sonido de la misma tabla, coherentes con la grafía asquenazí declarada al abrir el libro.

«The best books currently in print for use by magicians that are specifically on the subject of Gematria include Godwin’s Cabalistic Encyclopedia by David Godwin, published by Llewellyn, and Crowley’s Sepher Sephiroth found in some versions of 777.» — los dos repertorios de gematría que Kraig declara indispensables; uno es de su propia casa editorial.

«If, for example, the entity gives its name and identifies itself as “91,” you will know that you are communicating with the correct entity because, by Gematria, Khamael equals 91.» — cómo se verifica al arcángel en el quinto paso del rito; el número hace de nombre.

«Nothing can be obtained without some sort of payment in return. Here, the payment is energy.» — la doctrina del intercambio que sostiene el sexto paso del rito.

«b. Repeat a word or phrase over and over. In this example the word “energy” would be good. Or, perhaps you could use the archangel’s name. Let it speed up as you repeat it. You should feel energy increase within you and around you as you repeat the word or phrase. When it reaches a peak, say it one more time, but do it slowly and “loudly” toward the figure. Feel all of the energy raised leave with your “breath” and go into the entity.» — segunda de las cinco formas de pago que el manual admite; Kraig la empareja con el yoga de mantras y aclara que el cuerpo astral ni respira ni habla.

«The energy given, while called a “payment,” must really be given freely. The archangel may or may not choose to accept the energy, and whether or not the energy is accepted has no bearing on whether or not the archangel will aid you in your magick. However, nothing can be had for free, and even if the payment is not used, it is still a payment.» — la enmienda que Kraig hace a su propio término: el pago no compra y a la vez no puede faltar.

«you must have gold in order to make gold. In the same way, any energy given here can be returned a millionfold if need be.» — Kraig adjudica a los alquimistas la fórmula del oro y la usa para explicar que se dé energía a cambio de energía; el tramo arranca en la plana anterior.

«If you go back the way you came you will not find any guardians blocking your way. Why should they stop you from entering a place to which you have so recently proved that you are entitled to be admitted? Besides, their purpose is to block unentitled people from going up the Tree of Life toward Divinity, not from leaving the Tree.» — la asimetría que Kraig adjudica a las guardias del Árbol: vigilan la subida, no la bajada.

«Because you have been obedient and obeyed the commandments of the Creator, feel and inhale this grateful odor, and afterwards depart ye unto your abodes and retreats. Be there peace between thee and me.» — arranque de la Licencia de Partida del Ritual de los Caminos; el manual autoriza improvisarla mientras conserve todas sus ideas.

«As you probably realize, non-physical entities do not have noses and cannot “smell” incense. But by tradition spiritual entities supposedly enjoy the astral double of the incense.» — Kraig niega el sentido literal del olor grato de la fórmula y lo salva por la doctrina del doble astral; lo consigna como tradición.

«One of the things I like to say is that “the beginning of wisdom is the realization of ignorance.” You can’t know what you need to learn until you realize that you are ignorant in some area.» — la máxima que Kraig se adjudica a sí mismo y con la que convierte el rito en índice de estudio futuro.

«As one function, Sandalphon oversees the “temples” of all astral travelers.» — el oficio que Kraig adjudica al arcángel del plano físico; de ahí sale el guardián del templo del viajero.

«Have you ever been lost in a big city with no map and no friends? It is no wonder that some of these people return from their astral wanderings with absurd tales of terror. What they see is nothing more than their own fears brought to astral life.» — Kraig explica por el desconocimiento del mapa los relatos de terror astral, y no por peligro real.

«Thus, rather than Sandalphon, your guardian may be one of the Asheem, the Angelic Order whose name means “Souls of Fire.” The next question is, “How do you find out this angel’s name?” The answer: Just ask!» — cómo se averigua el nombre del guardián propio; Kraig aclara antes que los ángeles carecen de sexo y que el masculino es de conveniencia.

«I know of at least two “teachers” who advise not to try Kabalistic Pathworking unless you are under their supervision, and then all they do is lead you through some guided imagery. Real teachers can start you in this work, but you must do the work yourself. Nobody can do it for you.» — el cargo con que Kraig cierra su serie de advertencias sobre la autoridad; los maestros aludidos no van nombrados.

«This holding of hands is very important, as it links you together both physically and psychically.» — la regla del corro en la Ceremonia de los Caminos, versión de grupo del rito.

«Also, if one person is slower than the others, he or she will automatically be pulled ahead to keep up with the group.» — el efecto que Kraig adjudica al enlace del grupo: iguala el paso de todos, arriba y abajo.

«Listen and look for similarities. Differences should not be thought of in terms of being wrong. They are simply items that an observer experienced due to his or her personal psychological and magickal makeup. Information that is identical among several people should be considered important. Information that is similar between people should also be thought of as significant. The inconsistencies are simply personal variations on a basic reality.» — el método de cotejo de los relatos del grupo; la coincidencia pesa y la divergencia no descalifica.

«I summon all back from the Tree to their home in this magickal temple. Come home now!» — la llamada de regreso que el observador del grupo puede lanzar si algo sale mal.

«If sex is to be used as a means of raising energy, the sex magick may be performed by one or more couples who are not going on the pathworking rather than having to break the circle.» — cómo entra la magia sexual de la lección anterior en la ceremonia de grupo, sin romper el corro.

«Although I personally have not participated in such a ceremony, I have it from a student that if you have a group of people, only one person may choose to do the pathworking while the rest supply the raised and directed energy. This, it is claimed, can be very powerful magickally.» — Kraig declara el límite de su experiencia en la variante y la adjudica a un alumno, con verbo de rumor para la eficacia.

«You may have noticed that as this course has progressed, instructions for rituals have become skimpier and more schematic in nature.» — Kraig señala y justifica el adelgazamiento de sus propias instrucciones a lo largo del curso.

«If I have done this and move you along the path of the Great Work, then I have succeeded.» — la medida con que Kraig cierra la lección undécima y, en las dos primeras ediciones, el libro entero.

«Ophiel (pseud. of Peach, Edward). The Art & Practice of Astral Projection. Red Wheel/Samuel Weiser, 1976.» — entrada de la bibliografía de la lección undécima; aquí la fuente llama seudónimo a lo que en el cuerpo consignó con la fórmula del apellido de soltera.

«The first and second editions ended with Lesson Eleven. The reason is that with those lessons it is possible to achieve any magickal goal and learn any magickal system.» — Kraig declara por qué la lección duodécima es añadido de la tercera edición y no remate necesario del curso.

«Modern Magick is not the alpha and omega of magick, but it does give you the tools so you can discover your own magickal alpha and omega.» — la medida con que Kraig acota el alcance de su propio libro.

«I believe the reason they vanished is because the authors failed to understand that magick is both a science and an art. Their revelations were simply personal artistic interpretations of magick and the authors confused it with the science.» — el diagnóstico que Kraig hace de los sistemas mágicos nuevos que, dice, aparecieron y se fueron; ninguno va nombrado.

«They made the error in formal logic of going from the specific to the general (“What works for me must work for everyone”) without any reason for doing so.» — el nombre que Kraig pone al error anterior, en vocabulario de lógica formal.

«as I always felt that eleven lessons (even though in numerology eleven is a “master number”) wasn’t right and there should be twelve, matching the months of the year, the signs of the zodiac, etc.» — la razón numerológica que Kraig da de la lección añadida, y la objeción a sí mismo puesta entre paréntesis.

«The original books that were written on the subject by the founders of the system were titled The Structure of Magic (Volumes I and II), so it’s clear that they considered the ease at making changes in your life and the lives of others virtually magickal in nature.» — el argumento con que Kraig mete la programación neurolingüística en un curso de magia: el título que le pusieron sus fundadores.

«Most people who are NLP IROBs (“I Read One Book [and now I’m an expert!]”) or who have seen entertainers who claim to use NLP (often misleadingly so) think that NLP is a set of techniques that can be used to manipulate people against their wills.» — Kraig acuña la sigla IROB para quien se cree experto por un libro y niega el uso manipulador que se adjudica a la técnica.

«Perhaps a simple definition of NLP would be “a set of techniques for modeling excellence.” A basic belief is that if someone else can do something, and if you can model or duplicate their way of behaving and thinking, you can accomplish it, too.» — la definición que Kraig prefiere para la técnica, y la creencia que la sostiene.

«We did it by modeling someone who was trained in the practice and knowing that if he could accomplish it, so could we. I still have the broken board as proof of my training.» — el testimonio con que Kraig sostiene la definición anterior: rompió una tabla de madera sin adiestramiento marcial reciente, y guarda la tabla.

«I know there are books and DVD courses that claim to teach you NLP, but in reality all they do is teach you about NLP.» — la distinción con que Kraig niega que la técnica pueda aprenderse en libro, el suyo incluido; dice que se instala en persona y en parte inconsciente.

«I still have the first book on the subject, Liber Null, which I had to order from a small shop in the U.K. This was published a decade before the U.S. edition (which was combined with another book, Psychonaut) was printed. In 1990 I wrote articles for a small, early U.S. journal, “Thanateros,” which was focused on Chaos Magick.» — la credencial con que Kraig entra a la magia del caos: data su propia práctica antes de que el sistema tuviera ese nombre.

«“Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.” This expression is attributed to Hassan-i Sabbah, the founder of an Islamic mystery cult that smoked hashish and allegedly committed murders to further their cause.» — Kraig consigna la atribución de la divisa como atribución y el cargo de asesinatos con verbo de rumor.

«They were known as the Hasheeshin, and that name is the source of our word “assassin.” The quotation was used by Friedrich Nietzsche in his classic book, Thus Spake Zarathustra.» — la etimología y la segunda mano de la divisa; Kraig cuenta a Nietzsche entre las influencias de la magia del caos.

«The expression means that since everything we know of the outside world comes through our limited senses, there can be no objective truth. Therefore, everything is true and possible.» — la lectura que Kraig da de la divisa, y el inconveniente que le ve: que cada quien tome su vía por la única.

«This is the interpretation of magick presented by author Patrick Dunn in his two books (as of this writing), Postmodern Magic and Magic, Power, Language, Symbol.» — el tercero de los sistemas nuevos que la lección duodécima expone, adjudicado a Dunn por sus dos títulos.

«In my view, Dunn’s vision of magick actually unites concepts of NLP (with its focus on using language effectively) and Chaos Magick (with its practice of using symbols effectively) into a system that is ideal for the twenty-first century.» — la síntesis que Kraig adjudica a Dunn, declarada como opinión propia.

«I had always called that “looking at things in a different light.” Some people refer to that as “making lemonade when given lemons.” NLPers call it “reframing.”» — Kraig niega novedad a la técnica y consigna los tres nombres con que dice haberla visto llamar.

«As an example of this, let’s look at time. Many cultures see time in a cyclical pattern. Modern Western cultures generally view time as linear.» — el contraste de figuras del tiempo sobre el que Kraig monta el ejercicio de la línea temporal.

«Mapping out certain events over time is something that is common to history books all over the world. It is known as a timeline.» — el término que el resto de la sección usa, tomado del uso corriente y no de la magia.

«Interestingly, this is not merely philosophical. There is actually a physical location to our personal concept of time.» — la afirmación sobre la que descansa el ejercicio: la línea temporal propia ocupa un sitio en el espacio.

«There is no right or wrong position for your personal timeline.» — la regla que Kraig repite en cada paso del ejercicio; la posición no se enmienda, se constata.

«If you experience your timeline as completely outside of you, NLP describes you as being a Through Time person. The characteristics of a Through Time person include:» — el primero de los dos tipos que Kraig toma de la programación neurolingüística.

«• You are very aware of the value of time. • You are very good at planning. • You are precise at meeting deadlines. • Once you plan something for the future, you can quickly lose interest in it. • You may have little connection with the present and often ask what day it is. • Problems from the past can bother you for a long time.» — muestra de la lista de rasgos del primer tipo; la lista sigue con la puntualidad, la memoria de fechas y la impaciencia.

«If you experience your timeline as going through you, NLP describes you as being an In Time person» — el segundo tipo; sus rasgos, dice Kraig, tienden a ser los contrarios del primero.

«• You are the life of a party. • You only look at a watch or clock if you have to. • You get engrossed in what you’re doing and tend to lose track of time.» — muestra de la lista de rasgos del segundo tipo.

«When I was taught the concept of In Time and Through Time, I was surprised at just how uncannily accurate these descriptions were.» — Kraig se coloca a sí mismo en el segundo tipo y declara su sorpresa ante la exactitud de la descripción.

«It’s important, however, not to think dogmatically. While learning about a person’s timeline and whether they are an In Time or Through Time person can give you important information, remember that everyone is an individual.» — el límite que Kraig pone a su propia tipología: la mayoría tiene rasgos de los dos.

«You may wonder if this entire timeline concept is merely subjective and nothing but a metaphor with no basis in objective reality. Frankly, I don’t know if it’s objectively real, but I do know that it’s easy to prove that it functions in a very real way.» — Kraig se plantea la objeción de realidad y la deja sin resolver; se queda con el criterio del funcionamiento.

«However you choose to actualize the concept of floating above yourself and your timeline, whatever feelings you get and however you do it, is perfect. There is no single correct way to be floating.» — el recuadro que ensancha los términos flotar y observar a cualquier sentido, contra la lectura solo visual.

«I want to repeat that the experience of changing your timeline can be very disconcerting. Therefore, I urge that you do not, under any circumstances, allow this change to stay in effect for more than a day.» — la advertencia y el plazo que el manual pone al ejercicio de invertir la línea temporal propia.

«When I first did this I literally felt dizzy. However, nothing will let you see the reality of the timeline better than this experience.» — el testimonio con que Kraig sostiene a la vez el riesgo y el valor probatorio del ejercicio.

«STEP FIVE. Imagine the sound of a large padlock as it clicks closed. Lock in this change so it clicks in place the same way.» — el anclaje sonoro con que el ejercicio fija la inversión de la línea temporal.

«A person who is In Time is not as good at planning things as is a person who is Through Time.» — el uso práctico que Kraig da al cambio de tipo: adoptar temporalmente el ajeno para lo que el propio no rinde.

«By the way, for further information on the differences between In Time and Through Time, you might look at Carl Jung’s book Psychological Types. An In Time person compares to Jung’s concept of the “Judger,” while a Through Time person relates to his idea of the “Perceiver.”» — Kraig empareja la tipología neurolingüística con la de Jung y remite a la obra donde la halla.

«By that I mean they should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and have a time frame. I’ve also suggested that they should be ecological— good for you, good for those around you, and good for the planet.» — el desglose de la sigla de objetivos que Kraig usa en todo el curso, más la condición ecológica que le añade.

«1. Your goal should be what you want, not what you don’t want.» — primera de las seis claves de formulación de objetivos de la lección duodécima.

«One way to do this is by using the “last step” model. This is by concretely knowing exactly what is the last thing that has to happen for you to know you have achieved your goal.» — el criterio de término que el manual prescribe para saber cuándo se cumplió el objetivo.

«4. Make sure that your goal is only dependent upon you. You can’t change other people—only they can do that. You can, however, change yourself.» — la restricción que Kraig pone a los objetivos, coherente con la regla de consentimiento del resto del curso.

«6. Turn it up! In NLP this is known as “adjusting the submodalities.”» — el término técnico con que Kraig nombra la intensificación sensorial del objetivo.

«In the 1970s, a college student, Richard Bandler, realized that he might have uncovered the secret. He was transcribing recorded therapy sessions of the famed Fritz Perls and noticed that patients were more likely to accept suggestions from Perls when the therapist used certain words and patterns. Could that be the key to Perls’ success? Bandler got in touch with linguistics instructor John Grinder. Together, they analyzed the work of another psychiatrist, Virginia Satir. The results of their work became the book The Structure of Magic, published in 1975.» — la historia de la programación neurolingüística que Kraig imprime en recuadro, con sus fundadores y sus modelos nombrados y fechados.

«By the 1980s, Neuro-Linguistic Programming—“neuro” because they felt it altered people’s neurology, “linguistic” because it used language, and “programming” because computer programming was an up-and-coming field» — la etimología del nombre, término por término, según el mismo recuadro.

«Curiously, the breadth of what is capable with NLP has caused questioning over its legitimacy. People are so busy using its techniques (and making money from it) that thorough scientific testing of the many techniques used by NLP practitioners has never been done.» — Kraig consigna la falta de prueba científica del sistema que enseña y la explica por el negocio; se queda con el testimonio anecdótico.

«The creators of NLP have clearly stated that it has been designed so that people need to be trained in its use. Certified trainers of NLP will explain that they have learned how to embed various aspects of NLP in the unconscious minds of students taking the trainings. This comes from the way the material is presented during the trainings combined with the use of certain words, word patterns, the tone of voice, inflections, etc. None of this can ever be done through a book.» — lo que Kraig adjudica a los creadores y a los instructores certificados, con la consecuencia para su propio libro impreso.

«Don’t be afraid to write things down. Writing down what you want is a form of creating a talisman.» — Kraig traduce la fijación del objetivo al vocabulario talismánico del propio curso.

«With NLP you can learn the basics of all the techniques of Erickson, known as the “Milton Model,” in a few hours.» — el ahorro de tiempo que Kraig adjudica al sistema frente al aprendizaje por observación entre ericksonianos.

«And that’s it. I know this sounds incredibly simple. If you’ve done the exercises you may think it’s incredibly easy, too. The truth is, this method is simple and easy. But that doesn’t mean it’s not powerful and effective.» — el remate del rito de la línea temporal, que Kraig declara magia mental sin varas ni túnicas.

«So what would happen if you could strip away all of the aggregated non-essentials in magick and limit yourself to only those things that are really necessary to magick, resulting in a system that focuses on results? Some people claim that has been done, and it’s called Chaos Magick.» — el puente que Kraig tiende entre la poda de la programación neurolingüística y la magia del caos; la pretensión la adjudica a otros.

«In an article for The Llewellyn Journal, Andrieh Vitimus answers the question of what Chaos Magick is by saying that “possibly no two chaos magicians would agree” on an answer.» — voz de Vitimus dentro del manual, citada por Kraig para declarar indefinible el sistema desde dentro.

«One of the most important elements was . . . punk rock.» — el origen que Kraig adjudica al ambiente de la magia del caos, con la elipsis de suspenso de la fuente.

«That revolt manifested as punk rock. The musicians weren’t great. The singing wasn’t always on key. It didn’t have elaborate musical structure or harmonies. But it had power, energy, and a nasty attitude. It changed rock music and what people were doing. It made musicians look at themselves and ask if they needed all of those keyboards and effect pedals and massive drum kits.» — la analogía musical con que Kraig explica la poda del aparato mágico; la pregunta de los músicos es la que adjudicará luego a Carroll y Sherwin.

«Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero and Patricia Monocris, under the guidance of Israel Regardie, were working the Golden Dawn system and running legitimate Golden Dawn temples, although schisms, the bane of many established groups, would eventually develop.» — el estado de la magia ceremonial que Kraig pinta para los años setenta, con dos de sus propios prologuistas nombrados como practicantes bajo Regardie.

«It was amid this environment that Peter J. Carroll and Ray Sherwin had a meeting. I have no idea what exactly was discussed there, but I’m going to assume that they asked questions similar to those of the punk rock musicians: Is religion (Wicca) necessary for magick? Is a belief in gods and goddesses necessary for magick? Are all of the complex robes and wands and rituals necessary for magick? If not, what is necessary?» — Kraig marca como suposición propia el contenido de la reunión fundacional y no lo da por sabido.

«Two years later, Carroll and Sherwin formed a new magickal order, the Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT), and Sherwin published Carroll’s Liber Null and his own The Book of Results.» — el acto fundacional que Kraig data y adjudica por partes a cada uno.

«Liber Null presented many of the basic theories for Chaos Magick (a term coined by Carroll) and Sherwin’s book gave a practical approach to its use based in part on the use of sigils as described by Austin Osman Spare and described elsewhere in these lessons.» — Kraig adjudica a Carroll el nombre del sistema y a Spare los sigilos, que él mismo ya había enseñado en la lección décima.

«There is a saying in various arts such as painting and music that you must learn the rules in order to break them.» — el refrán con que Kraig separa a los fundadores del sistema de sus seguidores estadounidenses primeros.

«In fact, many were young boys with the attitude of “You mean I don’t have to study or practice and I can be a magician? Woo-hoo!”» — el cargo que Kraig hace a la primera recepción del sistema en su país; niega a continuación que pueda prescindirse del estudio.

«some of the early U.S. “Chaotes” (practitioners of Chaos Magick; some Chaotes dislike the term, preferring “Chaoist”)» — Kraig consigna los dos gentilicios en uso y la preferencia de algunos, sin arbitrar.

«Although Carroll and Sherwin can be considered the fathers of Chaos Magick—and perhaps more credit goes to Carroll because he’s had more published—the grandfathers are certainly Spare and Crowley.» — la genealogía en dos escalones que Kraig traza para el sistema.

«Since Crowley was heavily influenced by his training with the Golden Dawn, it could certainly be said that Chaos Magick is an offshoot (or an evolution) of traditional magickal practices.» — la consecuencia que Kraig saca de esa genealogía, contra la ruptura que el sistema reclama para sí.

«The writings of Robert Anton Wilson were also an influence, as were those of Ramsey Dukes. The ideas of Discordianism and its “don’t take life too seriously” attitude play a part, as do the writings of Dr. Timothy Leary. Shamanism influenced Chaos Magick, as did the (then) new science of chaos theory, quantum physics, and science fiction.» — la lista de influencias que Kraig añade a la genealogía anterior.

«Carroll suggested that since this chaos was the source of everything in the universe, it must also be the source of the energy used for magick.» — la razón que Kraig adjudica a Carroll para el nombre del sistema, dentro de la pregunta por el origen del poder mágico.

«Thus, Chaos Magick wasn’t so named because it is chaotic, but because it taps into the primal source of energy, which is pure chaos.» — la enmienda al malentendido corriente sobre el nombre.

«Personally, I think this is simply renaming God or the gods and calling them “chaos.” It’s a different name for the same thing (please put away your torches and pitchforks!).» — la objeción que Kraig hace en voz propia a la doctrina del caos como fuente, declarada como opinión personal.

«This brings up another popular Chaos Magick concept: there are no gods and goddesses, or if there are, they’re not involved with us. What we call gods are simply manifestations of our own minds. However, for doing magick, the concept of gods can be very effective. Therefore, we can use any gods from any pantheon and pretend they are real until they develop a subjective reality for us.» — la doctrina caótica sobre los dioses, consignada como doctrina del sistema y no como de Kraig.

«Either don’t work with deities or use them. But that’s just me.» — la objeción de Kraig a la fórmula anterior: le parece mucho trabajo para sostener un dogma, y lo declara parecer suyo.

«A ritual might involve an ancient Sumerian deity, a Voudoun Loa, and an Old One from H. P. Lovecraft’s fictional Cthulhu mythos.» — el ejemplo con que Kraig muestra la mezcla de panteones que el sistema permite, con una ficción literaria en el mismo plano.

«In fact, a practitioner might go one step further, doing what is called paradigm shifting. Take a deity from one pantheon and include that deity in a ritual from a completely different paradigm.» — el procedimiento que Kraig nombra como cambio de paradigma y al que adjudica el efecto de quebrar creencias limitantes.

«A Chaote might even go back further, borrowing from shamanic practices to induce an altered state of consciousness called gnosis. Those of you reading this who are familiar with various gnostic concepts but are not familiar with Chaos Magick concepts might be unfamiliar with the use of the term “gnostic” in this sense. This altered state, also known as a Gnostic Trance, is based on becoming totally focused on one thing.» — Kraig advierte que el término gnosis no significa aquí lo que en la historia del gnosticismo, y da la definición del sistema.

«Some Chaos magicians will make up a bunch of sigils for various purposes and put them aside. After a while, the conscious mind won’t remember the purpose of the sigil.» — el procedimiento de olvido deliberado que el sistema usa para pasar el fin del rito al inconsciente.

«“Who are you?” is the question posed by the caterpillar to Alice during her adventures in Wonderland. Her answer would be applauded by any Chaos Magician : “I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”» — Kraig pone la respuesta de Alicia como divisa de la identidad mutable del sistema; el espacio antes de los dos puntos es de la capa de texto.

«The ancient statement considered so wise, “Know Thyself,” makes a powerful assumption that is so built into our very beings that we usually don’t even notice it. Specifically, it assumes that there is a “self ” to know.» — la objeción que la magia del caos hace al precepto délfico, expuesta por Kraig; el espacio dentro de las comillas es de la capa de texto.

«This implies that who you are—your soul—is not a reality. Rather, it is something that we create as we develop and is capable of changing and becoming whatever we want.» — la consecuencia que el sistema saca sobre el alma; queda como construcción y no como sustancia.

«The answer for Chaos Magicians goes back to A. O. Spare. Unfortunately, Spare was so much against doctrines that he really didn’t give a clear definition of the term: Kia. He describes it similar to the way Lao Tzu described the concept of the Tao: “The Tao which can be expressed in words is not the eternal Tao.”» — Kraig consigna que el término central del sistema quedó sin definición y empareja la reticencia de Spare con la del Tao Te King.

«Carroll refers to the Kia as a unity that exerts will and perception. That was unclear to me (perhaps appropriately so), but luckily, Carroll also describes it as the Spirit or Life Force.» — la formulación de Carroll y la reacción de Kraig, que declara no haberla entendido.

«That takes me back to my days as a member of AMORC, the Rosicrucian Brotherhood, which, at the time, was headquartered in San Jose, California.» — Kraig declara aquí una pertenencia propia a una orden rosacruz, que usa para distinguir alma y espíritu.

«They differentiate between the soul and the spirit. To them the spirit is another term for the life force and not the soul. Thus, each person would have both a Spirit and a Soul.» — la distinción que Kraig adjudica a esa orden y con la que lee el Kia del sistema caótico.

«Spare wrote in The Book of Pleasure that the exuberance of the Kia gives us existence.» — lo que Kraig adjudica a Spare por su propio libro.

«3. The methodology frequently involved achieving the Gnostic Trance. 4. The concept of gods, at best, is similar to that of Jungian archetypes. 5. Experimentation is encouraged.» — últimos tres puntos del resumen en cinco que Kraig da del sistema; enseguida declara que cualquier otro resumen sería igual de válido y de inválido.

«Dion Fortune stated that we should try to use the magick of the land in which we live. She did not foresee the ease of transportation and communication we have today.» — Kraig consigna la regla de Fortune y le pone el límite de su época, sin descalificarla.

«Aleister Crowley discussed the concept of Aeons and how old-style magick (such as the magick of the Golden Dawn) belonged to the old aeon, which ended in 1904 and now, in the new aeon (of the Crowned and Conquering Childe), his system of Thelemic magick should be practiced.» — la doctrina de los eones de Crowley tal como Kraig la expone, con la fecha que la propia doctrina imprime.

«It’s time to bring about the next cycle, the Pandamonaeon. And to the Chaoist, the practice of Chaos Magick and the understanding of the concepts behind it will bring about this next cycle in human evolution.» — el eón que el sistema caótico reclama tras el de Crowley; Kraig lo consigna y lo remata en la línea siguiente con un o no.

«When the first books on Chaos Magick were published, there was nothing in them about banishings. This was obvious to me. The people who created the concepts behind Chaos Magick were experienced magicians and would know enough to do some sort of banishing.» — el hueco que Kraig señala en los primeros libros del sistema y la lectura que le da: lo obvio se calló.

«I was first introduced to a version of this banishing by Ms. Lola Babalon. She was the first person to bring Chaos Magick to the U.S.» — Kraig adjudica a Babalon la introducción del sistema en su país y declara la deuda propia.

«However, instead of using them in alphabetical order, try pronouncing them in this order: IEAOU. If you do, you will see that the sounds begin in the middle of the mouth, move to the back, and then to the front. In fact, it seems to be an extension of IAO. However, IEAOU is the key to this ritual.» — la serie vocálica del rito y su parentesco declarado con la fórmula gnóstica IAO.

«This is my description of a ritual from Peter Carroll’s Liber Kaos called “The Gnostic Pentagram Ritual.”» — Kraig declara que lo que imprime es su descripción del rito de Carroll, no el texto de Carroll.

«That’s it. Does it sound like a mild variation to the LBRP to you? It sure does to me.» — el juicio con que Kraig reduce el destierro caótico a variante del que enseñó en la lección primera.

«Continue spinning and focusing until you are so dizzy or nauseated that you have to fall down.» — el paso central del rito práctico caótico que Kraig transmite; el mareo es el medio de alcanzar el trance.

«STEP SIX. Banish with laughter. Laugh loud and long. That’s it. Put away the sigil. Forget about it. Let the magick happen on its own.» — el cierre del mismo rito; la risa hace de destierro y el olvido de sello.

«But in the end, it is simply a paradigm, a way to understand how magick works. It is every bit as accurate as the interpretation of the ancient shaman, the medieval sorcerer, the traditional ceremonial magician, or the contemporary Wiccan.» — la medida con que Kraig coloca el sistema caótico junto a los otros, sin jerarquía.

«To me, being able to work any magickal system is the way of the modern magician.» — la posición propia de Kraig frente a los sistemas: no adoptar uno, sino poder trabajar en cualquiera.

«One of the founders of this new movement, Jack Kerouac, described these people as the “Beat Generation,” and they became known as beatniks.» — el primer eslabón de la cadena de rebeliones con que Kraig llega al posmodernismo.

«The name eventually taken by this culture—based on the concept of them being hipsters—was hippies. Eventually, they too were co-opted by business, media, and their own naiveté and excesses.» — el segundo eslabón; Kraig adjudica el desenlace por igual al negocio y a los propios excesos.

«There is a great deal of disagreement over when the Enlightenment began, but most people agree that it overthrew concepts such as the rights of aristocracies, control of society by religious structures, and the divine right of kings.» — lo que Kraig da por acordado sobre la Ilustración, sin entrar en la disputa de fechas.

«The document that founded the U.S.A., the Constitution begins not with an appeal to kings or gods, but by saying that this new country was created by “We the people.”» — el ejemplo con que Kraig ilustra la influencia ilustrada; el texto llama documento fundacional a la Constitución.

«The Modernists rejected the concept of a loving God. They rejected old styles of music, art, architecture, and belief.» — lo que Kraig adjudica al modernismo, que define como antiilustrado.

«published a set of essays in 1935, with a title that exemplified Modernism, Make It New.» — la divisa que Kraig toma de Ezra Pound como resumen del modernismo; el paréntesis con las fechas del poeta queda fuera del tramo.

«Postmodernism developed after people became disillusioned with Modernism following WWII. It recognized that Modernism (indeed, any paradigm) has its own sets of beliefs, ideologies, and theories.» — la definición operativa de posmodernismo que Kraig usa para el resto de la lección.

«As a comparison, I live in California and I notice that when people from other areas of the U.S. and the world speak English they have accents while we Californians don’t have one.» — el símil del acento con que Kraig explica la ceguera de cada paradigma ante sus propias creencias.

«It abandons all beliefs about why any form of magick works while acknowledging that it does work.» — la fórmula con que Kraig define la magia posmoderna: sostiene el hecho y suelta la explicación.

«Recently, a person asked me about the meaning of the symbol that looked like a skull. It might mean “poison.” It might mean “pirates.” It might represent the concept of mortality. It could even represent the concept of reincarnation.» — el ejemplo con que Kraig plantea el problema de la polisemia del símbolo.

«Dunn gives the example of the word “tree.” If I were to say “Imagine a tree” to ten people it’s quite likely that they’d have ten different images, ranging from an oak or yew to a sort of universal tree that looks like a green ball at the end of a brown stick as drawn by young children.» — el mismo problema en palabras, adjudicado a Dunn.

«The solution to this for Postmodernists is easy yet clever. They simply say that everything is a symbol.» — la salida que Kraig adjudica al posmodernismo y de la que saca una consecuencia ética: el símbolo ajeno no es el propio.

«Our unconscious minds eliminate those symbols deemed unnecessary to the immediate tasks at hand. Without this natural ability we’d go crazy from information overload, or TMI: “Too Much Information.”» — la doctrina del filtro inconsciente, que la programación neurolingüística llama supresión y Dunn código.

«According to Dunn, a code is “a set of assumptions about symbols that aid interpretation.”» — la definición de código en voz de Dunn, término central de esta parte de la lección.

«6. The codes allow us to live in the “real world,” but they are only a “semiotic web,” an interlocking group of symbols. Dunn defines a semiotic web as “a metaphor for the way in which symbols refer to each other.”» — sexto de los ocho puntos con que Kraig ordena la doctrina, con la definición de red semiótica en voz de Dunn.

«1. Everything is symbolic. This includes language. 2. We interpret what we experience through the filters of our conscious and unconscious codes.» — los dos primeros de los ocho puntos de la misma lista.

«8. Magick is a means to change our codes.» — el octavo y último punto; es la tesis operativa de la magia posmoderna según Kraig, y la frase aparece dos veces en la misma plana, la otra destacada.

«To get around this difficulty, also known as the Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis problem, you can’t simply insert the new code. First, you have to obliterate the old code. This leaves you open to the insertion of something new, completely reprogramming you with the new code.» — el obstáculo hegeliano que Kraig adjudica al cambio de código y su remedio: borrar antes de insertar.

«This is where the use of the sigil comes in. As Dunn writes in Magic, Power, Language, Symbol, “the sigil acts as a seed . . . The first thing we see when our conscious mind returns is the sigil, and we use that as the framework for rebuilding our codes.”» — voz de Dunn dentro del manual; el sigilo que Kraig enseñó desde la lección séptima queda aquí releído como semilla de código.

«(Dunn calls worry “the great enemy of magic.”)» — lo que Kraig adjudica a Dunn sobre la preocupación, dicho entre paréntesis.

«This matches Spare’s frequently quoted comment, “Does not matter. Need not be.”» — Kraig empareja el remedio de la indiferencia con la frase que adjudica a Spare, y advierte que adoptarla no es tan fácil como suena.

«The third method is to assume that the new code is firmly embedded and to act in accord with that assumption. Thus, if your new code is to become a musician, you think and act as a musician» — el tercero de los remedios que Kraig toma de Dunn contra la recaída del código viejo; la frase termina en la plana siguiente.

«Another way of looking at communication, one that might more accurately reveal what is actually taking place, is that communication means throwing symbols to each other in order to make our symbolic systems correspond and match up.» — la definición de comunicación que la magia posmoderna pone en lugar de la transmisión de información.

«If we accept this postmodern interpretation of communication, the act of evocation involves trying as much as possible to match your symbolic system with that of the spirit you wish to evoke.» — la relectura posmoderna de la evocación que Kraig enseñó en la lección novena; el incienso y el sello quedan como piezas de código.

«What you’re doing is matching your codes to those of the spirit being evoked. The more your set of codes matches that of the entity, the better your communication with the spirit will be.» — la regla que se sigue de la relectura anterior.

«Earlier I wrote that the major danger of evocation is not possession, but obsession. The fact that you (and/or the magician’s seer) spend so much time making your (or his or her) codes match those of the entity being evoked makes this problem obvious to a Postmodern magician.» — Kraig retoma su propia advertencia de la lección novena y la explica ahora por el ajuste de códigos.

«That’s also why a magician will make symbolic anchors that link them to their own codes. These consist of word symbols (banishments and words of power), physical symbols (talismans, the Earth pentacle, magickal swords), etc.» — la relectura del destierro y de las armas del mago como anclas del código propio.

«Dunn, using the name of one of the spirits from the Goetia, Buer, refers to this process as “What would Buer do?” or WWBD.» — la sigla que Kraig toma de Dunn para la preparación de la evocación; el espíritu del ejemplo es uno de los tres que el propio manual describió en la lección novena.

«Currently, the most popular books on correspondences remain Aleister Crowley’s 777 and Sepher Sephiroth. As I’ve pointed out, I question some of his correspondences. This means that when it concerns the correspondences I disagree with, Crowley’s codes and mine are not in harmony.» — Kraig declara su desacuerdo con parte de las correspondencias de Crowley y lo traduce a la lengua de los códigos, sin arbitrar.

«As individuals, we each have a unique set of codes, making our beliefs and our reality different from everyone else’s. Taking it one step further, this means we can create our own correspondences.» — la consecuencia práctica que Kraig saca del desacuerdo: la tabla de correspondencias deja de ser canon.

«No matter what images you associate with these concepts, draw the image to the best of your ability. Next, draw it several times as fast as you can. As you move faster and faster, the image will become less and less like the original and most lifelike drawing. Eventually, the image won’t even look like the original. It will look like some sort of abstract piece of art.» — el método del sigilo abstracto que Kraig toma de Dunn, distinto del dibujo automático que enseñó antes.

«After all, what I described in previous lessons has worked for hundreds and thousands of years. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”» — la objeción que Kraig se plantea a sí mismo sobre la utilidad de la lección duodécima.

«However, each generation develops its own “voice.” Over the past fifty or more years, terms meaning “good” have included: gear, fab, cool, kewl, hot, bad, phat, awesome, alvo, excellent, the bee’s knees, bitchin’, the bomb, bumping, businawreck, butter, capitol, cherry, choice, dope, far out, fierce, fly, fresh, gnarly, hip, horrorshow, ill, kickass, killer, off the hook, peachy, primo, rad, sick, slammin’, spiffy, stellar, sweet, tight, wicked, and many more.» — la respuesta a la objeción anterior, por la vía del cambio de voz de cada generación; la lista va tal cual la imprime la fuente.

«Besides being different voices, they are also symbolic of the paradigm by which a person lives. Someone saying, “That’s capitol, old fellow,” will have a different worldview than someone who says, “Dude, that’s slammin’!”» — Kraig liga la jerga al paradigma y con eso justifica exponer los tres sistemas nuevos.

«As of this writing there are only two books on Postmodern Magick as described by Patrick Dunn.» — el estado de la bibliografía del tercer sistema al cierre de la tercera edición.

«Earlier editions of Modern Magick didn’t conclude so much as they just stopped. I always had the feeling that it felt as if I had sort of run out of things to say, so rather than blather on I just shut up.» — el juicio que Kraig hace del final de sus propias ediciones anteriores.

«I’ve come to realize that if these lessons leave you with a satisfied “Now I know it” feeling, these lessons have failed.» — el criterio de éxito que Kraig invierte respecto del que buscó durante años.

«I’ve come to realize that there is no conclusion to the study of magick. There never can be such a conclusion. I want people who read and study these lessons to feel unsatisfied and hungry for more.» — la razón de esa inversión, y el motivo de que el libro se cierre sin conclusión.

«There is no conclusion to the practice of magick. As long as people live and breathe and hope for something better in their lives, there will be new approaches to magick and new things to discover.» — segunda de las tres negaciones con que Kraig cierra el libro; las tres empiezan igual y van destacadas en el impreso.

«There is no conclusion to the evolution of magick as long as children wonder why the sky is blue and as long as people want to find out what is on the other side of the mountain, or the ocean, or the galaxy, or the universe.» — tercera de las tres negaciones; la curiosidad queda como motor de la evolución del arte.

«To paraphrase the words of the late Robert Kennedy (certainly in a way he never expected), some people see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.» — Kraig declara paráfrasis la frase y advierte entre paréntesis que la usa en un sentido que su autor no habría previsto.

«I hope you will dream with me. Magick isn’t something you do. Magick is something you are. Magick isn’t a goal, it’s a path. It’s a path to the other side of . . .» — las últimas líneas del cuerpo del libro; repiten la máxima con que abrió la lección décima y dejan la frase abierta con puntos suspensivos.

«1. What has changed to necessitate the addition of a new lesson as part of Modern Magick? 2. What is an IROB?» — muestra del autoexamen de la lección duodécima, el único del libro que pregunta por la propia edición.

«12. Who created the the Gnostic Pentagram Ritual? 13. What does the word “semiotic” mean?» — otra muestra del mismo autoexamen; el artículo repetido es de la capa de texto.

«NLP James, Tad, and Wyatt Woodsmall. Time Line Therapy and the Basis of Personality. Meta Publications, 2008. Jung, Carl. Psychological Types. Princeton University Press, 1976.» — arranque de la bibliografía de la lección duodécima, que va partida en tres bloques, uno por sistema.

«I introduced this ritual in the first edition of Modern Magick. Although I didn’t realize it back then, having never heard of NLP, it actually follows many NLP principles and concepts based on the timeline.» — Kraig relee un rito propio de la primera edición a la luz de un sistema que, dice, entonces desconocía.

«Here, without using a formal timeline but using the concepts behind timeline work, you literally re-create your past to enhance your present, changing what you are rather than what you will become.» — el fin declarado del rito del apéndice primero, opuesto al de la línea temporal de la lección duodécima.

«STEP FOUR. When you go back a minimum of ten years or half your age, see the pages stop turning. Now visualize yourself, as you looked at that date. Take time to make the visualization as complete as possible. Allow your consciousness to merge with your younger self.» — el paso del rito que fija la distancia temporal del encuentro con el yo joven.

«STEP FIVE. Now concentrate on the image of the sigil that you created. When it is as strong as it possibly can be, visualize it going onto the forehead of you as your younger self. See it virtually tattooed on your forehead.» — el gesto central del rito: el sigilo se tatúa en la frente del yo pasado.

«Although this ritual will not change your level of magickal knowledge, it will make you more receptive to magickal information.» — el límite que Kraig pone al efecto del rito: toca la receptividad, no el saber.

«Here are the answers to the self-tests at the end of each lesson. Please try to answer the questions without looking back through the lesson and before you check the answers here.» — el marco del apéndice segundo, que es un catálogo de respuestas a los autoexámenes de las doce lecciones; de él se levanta una muestra razonada y no cada par.

«1. The “Negative Golden Rule” is “Don’t do unto others if you would not have them do the same unto you.”» — la formulación ética con que abre el curso, dada aquí en su forma canónica.

«3. Sturgeon’s Law is “Ninety percent of everything is crap.”» — la máxima que Kraig adjudica a Sturgeon y usa como criba de la literatura del oficio.

«7. Arthur C. Clarke believes “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magick.”» — la frase de Clarke con la grafía de magia con k que usa el libro entero.

«10. The first historical mention of the Tarot was in 1332.» — la fecha que el curso da a la primera mención histórica del tarot.

«11. Fortunetelling says that something must happen. Divination indicates what will probably happen if you continue on the path you are currently traversing.» — la distinción entre adivinación y echar la suerte que sostiene el uso de la adivinación previa en todo el curso.

«3. AGLA is an abbreviation for “Ah-tah Gee-boor Lih-oh-lahm Ah-doh-nye,” which means “Thou art great forever, my Lord.”» — el desarrollo del notaricón que el Ritual Menor de Destierro vibra en el norte.

«9. It is incorrect to use “Jehovah” as the name of God because it is actually a combination of the letters of the Tetragrammaton, YHVH, which has an unknown pronunciation, mixed with the vowels of Adonai, meaning “my lord.”» — Kraig niega la forma corriente del nombre y explica su origen; de ahí la grafía por nombres de letra que usa el curso.

«10. It was Eliezer ben Yehudah who made Hebrew into a modern language.» — la adjudicación que el curso hace del hebreo moderno.

«14. Eliphas Levi (born Alphonse Louis Constant) began the French Occult Revival. By the way, his full pen name was Eliphas Levi Zaed.» — el nombre civil y el seudónimo completo de Levi, consignados los dos.

«18. “Little Nasties” are entities from a higher plane which become visible as your magickal work allows your astral vision to open. They cannot harm you, but they may surprise you.» — la definición del término con que el curso nombra a las entidades del astral bajo.

«9. You will never become a real magician if all you can do is blindly follow obsolete patterns. Tradition should only be your guide, not your master.» — la regla sobre la tradición que el curso repite en distintas formas de la primera a la última lección.

«11. It is never permissible to heal a person who has not given you permission to do so.» — la regla de consentimiento aplicada a la sanación, hermana de la que rige la magia sexual y el elemental artificial.

«18. I.O.B. means “identify, objectify, and banish.” It is a powerful method of ridding yourself of unwanted habits or problems.» — otra de las siglas del curso, para el método de quitarse hábitos.

«12. The word “grimoire” is French for “black book,” with an implication of being a “grammar book.”» — la etimología que el curso da a la palabra grimorio.

«13. The three things you need to do to succeed at ritual magick are practice, practice, and practice.» — la respuesta con que el curso remata la lección cuarta.

«5. Past-life experiences may be real past lives, fantasies to glamorize a currently bland lifetime, or messages from your unconscious to your conscious which your conscious does not want to hear.» — las tres lecturas que el curso admite para la experiencia de vida pasada, sin arbitrar; la nota que sigue añade la memoria colectiva de Jung como cuarta.

«3. The Rose Cross Ritual should never be used to replace the LBRP.» — la jerarquía que el curso fija entre sus dos ritos de destierro.

«9. Vicarious atonement is the belief that someone else can atone for your sins. Kabalists do not believe in this concept, as they accept the doctrine of personal responsibility. You are responsible for your beliefs and actions.» — la doctrina de responsabilidad personal que el curso opone a la expiación vicaria, adjudicada a los cabalistas.

«10. The Hebrew word for “karma” is “Tee-koon.”» — la equivalencia hebrea que el curso da al término sánscrito, en su grafía asquenazí.

«11. “Sitting sheevah” is the Jewish practice of staying in the home for a week after the death of a member of the household. It is based on the Kabalistic idea that a soul will move between the grave and the home for a week before it realizes that it has died.» — la lectura cabalística que el curso da a una práctica judía de duelo.

«12. Before anything exists on the physical plane, it must first exist on the astral plane.» — el axioma que sostiene toda la magia práctica del curso.

«13. The eight traditional Chinese signs of health are vitality, appetite, deep and sound sleep, good memory, humor, infinite giving, clear thinking and precise action, and realization of Oneness.» — la lista china de signos de salud que el curso enseña en la lección quinta, en su forma resumida.

«4. A tripod was traditionally used to support an incense burner. The Pythia, the woman priestess functioning as the Oracle at Delphi, would sit in a chair suspended by a tripod over a crack in the earth through which various gasses vented. The gasses induced an altered state of consciousness, allowing the Pythia to make oracular pronouncements.» — lo que el curso adjudica al trípode y al oráculo de Delfos; el mismo esquema de gas y trance que Kraig usó para el vidente de la evocación.

«6. “Punctuated equilibrium” is the concept that things do not evolve smoothly. Rather, they go through slow changes interrupted or “punctuated” by sudden bursts of change.» — el término que el curso toma de la biología evolutiva para su propio modelo de cambio.

«2. “Low Magick” refers to the magicks practiced by people who lived in lower lands and who were typically farmers. It’s also called “natural magick” and is typically practiced today by Pagans, Wiccans, and Witches. “High Magick” refers to the magicks practiced by people who lived in cities that were typically located in higher areas for protection and drainage. People in cities developed excess capital and more free time, resulting in more elaborate forms of magick. It’s also called “art magick” and “ceremonial magick.”» — la etimología geográfica y social que el curso da al par de magia alta y baja; en la misma respuesta niega superioridad a ninguna de las dos.

«4. Witches do not worship Satan in any way. They do not even acknowledge that Satan exists. The common concept of Satan is a Christian invention.» — la posición del curso sobre la brujería y el satanismo, sostenida en varias lecciones.

«5. The first edition of The Discoverie of Witchcraft was burned by the public hangman because it denied superstitious ideas concerning Witchcraft.» — lo que el curso consigna sobre la primera edición de la obra de Scot; el motivo del fuego va adjudicado a su escepticismo.

«8. A talisman is any object, sacred or profane, with or without appropriate symbols, which has been charged or consecrated by appropriate means, and made to serve a specific end.» — la definición canónica de talismán del curso.

«6. The expression “baptize,” when used concerning the peas-and-sieve incident involving Mathers, may have meant “initiate.”» — la lectura que el curso propone, con verbo de probabilidad, para un episodio adjudicado a Mathers.

«13. “Theosophical Reduction” is the process of adding the digits of a number together until you get a single digit.» — la operación numerológica que el curso usa para construir símbolos de talismán.

«9. There is no ultimate authority in magick except experience.» — la respuesta con que el curso cierra el asunto de la autoridad; repite en forma de examen lo que la lección novena enunció en prosa.

«5. Reich discovered that there can be a thought-free experience at the moment of orgasm. This is identical to true meditation.» — la formulación abreviada de lo que el curso adjudica a Reich.

«10. Very few people, if any, ever achieve enlightenment by reading and studying books on kundalini yoga. These books are usually written by non-initiates who have never done any practice themselves.» — la respuesta que cierra la objeción de la lección décima a la literatura sobre kundalini.

«6. The Kabalistic Tree of Life is a map of the psychic planes.» — la tesis del Árbol como mapa, enunciada aquí en una línea.

«2. An “IROB” (I Read One Book) is a person who has done very little study or practice and now thinks he or she is an expert.» — el desarrollo de la sigla que Kraig acuñó en la lección duodécima.

«3. The first book published about Chaos 3. Magick was Liber Null by Peter Carroll.» — la respuesta sale con la numeración y el arranque repetidos por un error del impreso, que en el troceo aparece duplicado entero; se consigna tal cual, sin corregir.

«10. Spare, who first made use of the term “Kia,” was so much against doctrines that he really didn’t give a clear definition it.» — la respuesta adjudica a Spare el primer uso del término; la falta de la preposición al final es de la fuente.

«13. The word “semiotic” means “the study of symbols.”» — la definición que el curso da al término central de la magia posmoderna.

«15. “WWBD?” literally means “What would Buer do?” Buer is a spirit from the Goetia and in this case is a stand-in for any» — la explicación de la sigla; la frase termina en la plana siguiente diciendo que vale para cualquier entidad a evocar.

«16. To make an abstract sigil, come up with an image to represent a non-physical concept you wish to acquire. For example, for courage, you might draw a lion. Then repeatedly draw the symbol as fast as you can. Eventually, it will no longer look like a lion at all. This is your abstract sigil for courage.» — el método del sigilo abstracto resumido en una respuesta de examen.

«Over the years since the publication of Modern Magick I have received thousands of letters and emails from dedicated, aspiring magicians living in virtually every populated area of the world. While many of them fall into the category of “fan mail,” a large number of communications also had another purpose.» — el origen que Kraig da al apéndice tercero: la correspondencia de sus lectores.

«When people first investigate a newsgroup they are urged to watch and read only—known as lurking—until they are familiar with the subjects.» — la costumbre de los foros que Kraig explica para justificar el formato de preguntas frecuentes; en la misma plana consigna que el Usenet ya quedó atrás.

«This appendix, then, is what I call “The Modern Magick FAQ,” because it answers those questions on which I have been most frequently queried. The following are in no particular order.» — el marco del apéndice tercero, que es un catálogo de preguntas y respuestas; de él se levanta una muestra razonada por plana y no cada par.

«The LBRP deals with the physical plane and the lower astral. The BRH deals with the upper astral plane, which relates more to astrological or planetary influences.» — la razón que Kraig da del cambio de elementos entre sus dos ritos de destierro, que los lectores le señalaban como posible errata.

«The Tree of Life is a wonderful map for understanding everything in the universe. But we should never equate the map with reality.» — la distinción entre mapa y territorio con que Kraig responde a la ausencia de un arcángel en el Árbol.

«Many archangels are not associated with the Sephiroht. Ohr-Ree-El is one of those.» — la respuesta corta a la misma pregunta.

«According to Davidson in his excellent book A Dictionary of Angels, Ohr-Ree-El (also spelled “Oriel,” “Auriel,” and “Uriel,” and meaning “the Light of God” or “the Fire of God”) is also an “Angel of Destruction,” and helped the magicians in the courts of the Egyptian Pharaoh.» — lo que Kraig adjudica a Davidson sobre ese arcángel, con las cuatro grafías del nombre consignadas.

«This is because a map only shows what it needs to show. A map of Denver, Colorado, does not also show the streets of Geneva, Switzerland!» — el símil con que Kraig cierra el asunto del arcángel ausente.

«You cannot determine if your magick has worked by anything you may feel or experience during a ritual. The success of any magickal ritual is only determined by your result.» — el criterio de éxito del curso, dado aquí como respuesta a una pregunta frecuente.

«By believing that your ritual failed, you, quite literally, are working magick to cause that failure.» — la explicación que Kraig da del fracaso por expectativa, dentro de su propia doctrina de la magia continua.

«The first is “∆ C” or the Delta C factor, also known as time displacement. Specifically, you may think that the ritual has taken several hours when it only took twenty minutes.» — el primero de los dos indicios que Kraig admite de que algo pasó en el rito; el símbolo griego va tal cual en la capa de texto.

«Another sign that some magickal effect has taken place during your ritual is “∆ T” or the Delta T factor: a change in the perceived temperature. If this effect occurs, the temperature of the area will seem to become either quite warm or cold.» — el segundo indicio, medido en temperatura percibida.

«Answer: I do not advise you to go against your parents’ wishes. You may think that they are unfair, but their life experience means that they have had experiences you have not had. It is likely they are trying to protect you from what they see as harm.» — la respuesta de Kraig al lector menor de edad; el consejo va contra la práctica y no contra el interés.

«Most magickal groups won’t accept people under eighteen unless both parents are members or without both parents’ written permission.» — la regla de edad que Kraig adjudica a la mayoría de los grupos.

«• Magicians are popular. Contrary to the popular impression, most magicians today are sociable—sometimes very sociable— people. There are several reasons for this.» — uno de los cuatro consejos que Kraig da al lector joven; niega la figura del mago solitario y huraño.

«By being able to determine what you can tell somebody of your interests, you can, as it were, “hide in plain sight.”» — la razón práctica del consejo anterior: saber qué se cuenta y a quién.

«There are multiple levels of keeping on schedule. The first is physical. So, for example, make up your mind to do a particular physical action. You might choose to always open a door with your left hand.» — primero de los tres niveles del adiestramiento de la voluntad que Kraig da al lector joven.

«you could keep a rubber band around your wrist and snap it so that it slaps you for going against what you wanted to do.» — el registro del incumplimiento, por marca en libreta o por liga en la muñeca.

«The most difficult level is thought. Make up your mind that you will not think of something specific for a week.» — el tercer y más difícil nivel del mismo adiestramiento.

«This is tangible evidence that your control of your will is increasing.» — el criterio de medida del ejercicio: la baja del número de marcas a lo largo de la semana.

«Answer: The Air dagger can be replaced by anything that represents Air to you. This could include a fan, a feather, or something else. As a standard tool, such as the dagger used for the LBRP, you can use your index finger or both the index and middle finger.» — la sustitución de instrumentos que Kraig autoriza contra la espera del utensilio perfecto.

«All magickal tools are helpers. The magick is not in them; it is in you. As I’ve written before, “Magick is not something you do, magick is something you are.”» — Kraig retira poder al instrumento y cita otra vez su propia máxima, que en el libro aparece además en los elogios iniciales y en la lección décima.

«Answer: Which one? There are many books that claim to be THE Necronomicon. I have several books with that name and several articles that are supposed to be excerpts from the “real” thing. They all have just one thing in common: they are nothing but inventions of contemporary authors.» — la posición de Kraig sobre el Necronomicón: todas las versiones son invención moderna.

«In fact, much of it appears to be taken from The Beginnings of History and Chaldean Magic by François Lenormant.» — la fuente que Kraig adjudica a la versión más difundida, con verbo de apariencia.

«Lovecraft invented the entire idea of an evil book called the Necronomicon. In January of 1934, Lovecraft wrote a letter where he says that the Necronomicon is nothing but a figment of his imagination.» — el testimonio del propio Lovecraft que Kraig data y cita como prueba de la invención.

«And in August of 1934, Lovecraft wrote that not only was the Necronomicon his own invention, but so, too, were the entities from the Cthulhu Mythos including Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, and others.» — el segundo testimonio, con los nombres de los entes tal como los imprime la fuente.

«I believe that their mental beliefs and repeated rituals have created thought forms that function, to an extent, along the lines of the entities described in the various versions of the Necronomicon.» — Kraig concede eficacia a los entes del ciclo de Lovecraft por la vía de las formas de pensamiento, sin concederles antigüedad.

«I would point out, however, that the entities of traditional Western magick have been invoked and evoked for many hundreds, even thousands, of years. My experience indicates that in practice they are much stronger than the Necronomicon entities.» — la comparación de fuerza que Kraig declara por experiencia propia.

«After that I wrote it out as a series of fifty-two short lessons as I wanted to teach it via mail order. They were never published or printed and I no longer have copies of them.» — la prehistoria del libro que Kraig consigna: cincuenta y dos lecciones por correspondencia que no llegaron a imprimirse.

«A publisher of mail order courses contacted me through my friend, Scott Cunningham, and asked to see them. After reading them, he asked me to rewrite them in longer lessons for him to publish. I did so, but within six months the company folded.» — el paso siguiente de esa prehistoria, con el intermediario nombrado.

«In 1999, I was invited to the Starwood festival in upstate New York to give some workshops. While there, I attended a workshop titled “Magick and the Necronomicon,” given by John Gonce and Daniel Harms.» — el dato que Kraig consigna porque de él cuelga la disputa de prioridad que viene enseguida.

«That added section was this FAQ. It first appeared in 2001» — la fecha en que el apéndice tercero entró al libro, en la segunda edición.

«In the book they point out, correctly, that I did not publish this FAQ, with the above copy of letters I sent out, until after I attended their workshop.» — Kraig consigna el cargo que le hacen Harms y Gonce y le concede el dato de las fechas.

«While the dates are correct and my attendance at their workshop is absolutely true (I had a great time), I had been writing the above message to individuals long before I attended their workshop and did» — la respuesta de Kraig al mismo cargo, que separa la fecha de publicación de la de redacción; la frase termina en la plana siguiente.

«Answer: I’m sorry, but as a rule I don’t recommend groups. Why? Well, when I meet people involved in a group they may be excellent and doing good work, but in the following months or years they might change and not be as good as they once were.» — la política de Kraig sobre recomendar grupos, y la razón que da: los grupos cambian y la recomendación queda.

«Do they offer “astral” or “proxy” initiations? For Western groups all of this is very questionable, and you might wish to stay away.» — una de las señales de alarma que Kraig enumera para juzgar un grupo; las otras son el dinero, la adulación y la presión psicológica.

«Why not get a group of friends with similar interests together to form a study and practice» — la alternativa que Kraig propone al grupo establecido; la frase termina diciendo grupo de estudio, y añade que varios grupos le han escrito usando su libro de texto.

«Then, if you decide to join, I urge you to take what I call “baby steps.” Go into a group slowly, not participating fully with that group for months or longer.» — la regla de entrada lenta que Kraig prescribe a quien decida afiliarse.

«The Kabalah, for example, sees deity both as androgynous and in the forms of male and female, similar to the relationship of Shiva and Shakti in Tantric traditions.» — la respuesta de Kraig a la lectora wiccana que pregunta si la magia ceremonial y la cábala son patriarcales.

«El-oh-heem, one of the most-used names of deity, is female singular (El-oh-ah, meaning “goddess”) with a male plural suffix (-eem).» — el argumento gramatical con que Kraig sostiene lo anterior; antes enumera las terminaciones que declara femeninas.

«The first initiate of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was a woman, Moina Mathers. For many years women led the Golden Dawn. After Paul Foster Case, founder of the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) died, a woman became the head of the order. Women today lead groups that claim to be the Golden Dawn. Various OTO groups are run by women. At least one current of the AA, Crowley’s replacement for the Golden Dawn, was passed through a woman.» — la serie de casos de conducción femenina que Kraig opone al cargo de patriarcado; los nombres van tal cual los imprime.

«NOTE: This part of the Modern Magick FAQ has been superseded by the section on Chaos Magick in Lesson 12. I decided to leave this in for historical reference and to show what I was thinking on the subject almost a decade prior to the third edition of these lessons.» — Kraig deja en pie una respuesta que él mismo declara superada y explica por qué: para que se vea lo que pensaba diez años antes.

«When a magickal group works together, after a time they develop a group spirit known as an “egregore.” If you mix one group’s philosophy, training, techniques, and beliefs with those of another group, it blurs the egregore and weakens it. This can end up wrecking the unity and cohesion of the group.» — la razón del lado del grupo para no militar en dos a la vez; el término va nombrado.

«I suggest that in most instances it is most effective for a student to learn one system very thoroughly first. Then he/she can study with other groups and learn other systems.» — la razón del lado del alumno, y la recomendación con que Kraig la remata; antes admite que la misma regla puede usarse para controlar.

«One of my personal beliefs is that you don’t die when you stop breathing, you die when you stop learning.» — la máxima que Kraig se adjudica al responder en un foro a quien se dispersa entre sistemas.

«Wicca claims a year and a day is a good length of time, and I would agree.» — el plazo que Kraig toma prestado de la wicca para el estudio de un solo sistema, y que enseguida flexibiliza a tres o seis meses.

«Answer: The spirits communicate in a variety of ways. In the work I have done this has included everything from hearing a voice in English (from quiet whispers to loud singing), to hearing an internal voice (some sort of telepathy), to just a feeling or “knowing” what the message from the intelligence is.» — las tres vías de comunicación que Kraig declara haber experimentado en sus propias evocaciones.

«Many magicians today, inculcated with various psychological theories of the mind (especially those of Jung), believe the latter view. As I have stated before, I refer to this as the “psychologization of magick.”» — el término con que Kraig nombra y objeta la lectura psicológica de los espíritus; declara preferir la lectura realista.

«We may never know which is the objective reality. Frankly, to me it doesn’t matter. What matters is the result of the magickal operation.» — Kraig deja la disputa sin arbitrar y la resuelve por el criterio del resultado.

«Newton’s first law of motion states that a body at rest tends to remain at rest. This property is known as inertia.» — la ley física que Kraig aplica a la desgana ante el rito diario.

«But since you are used to being controlled by this aspect of your being, your body, mind, and spirit try to keep it in control. They resist change. They create reasons not to change. It is they who prevent you from doing ritual.» — la explicación que Kraig da de la desgana: resistencia del ego mágico al cambio de mando.

«So if you are feeling resistance to doing rituals, know that you’re doing things right!» — el vuelco con que Kraig convierte la resistencia en señal de acierto.

«Answer: Many years ago there was the idea that magicians might have to wait until a certain date in a future year in order to perform a specific ritual. While that may be the optimal time for doing a specific ritual, it does not mean that it is the only time.» — Kraig enmienda la doctrina de la hora obligatoria y abre la escala de momentos posibles.

«And, if for some reason you cannot perform the ritual during the hour of the Sun, the time to do the ritual is now.» — el último escalón de esa escala; el momento óptimo cede ante la ejecución.

«After all, greeting Ra at sunset instead of sunrise would not only be insulting to Ra but would also put you out of synchronization with forces of nature around you.» — la excepción que Kraig hace a la regla anterior: las adoraciones sí llevan hora.

«If you don’t think you have the privacy you would like to do the adorations, re-read the information on the Great Voice. If you are working at noon or sunset, take a break and go outside, or to a private office, or even go to the restroom. There, using the Great Voice, perform the adoration.» — la solución práctica que Kraig da a quien no tiene sitio ni privacidad para el rito diario.

«What I have called a “standard” Tarot deck consists of four suits of Minor Arcana cards. Each suit represents one of the four magickal elements: Air, Earth, Fire, or Water. Each suit has ten cards numbered from one to ten (often called the “pip” cards) and four face cards often based on European royalty (and therefore known as the “court” cards).» — la definición de baraja estándar que el curso exige, dada como definición propia y no como canon.

«Although some people have claimed that the Kabalah and the Tarot have been linked for thousands of years, it has only been relatively recently that this “ancient link” has been established.» — Kraig niega la antigüedad del vínculo entre cábala y tarot sin negarle utilidad; el entrecomillado del supuesto vínculo antiguo es suyo.

«Most, of course, are nothing more than a reinterpretation of the so-called Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot (itself a variation on the deck used by members of the Golden Dawn).» — la filiación que Kraig adjudica a la mayoría de las barajas modernas.

«For example, in The Golden Dawn Magical Tarot by the Ciceros, a second version of one of the Major Arcana cards is included. To use this deck with Modern Magick, simply remove either of the duplicates.» — el caso de baraja con carta de más y la solución que Kraig da; los autores son dos de sus prologuistas.

«One of the most outstanding and remarkable decks is the one designed by Aleister Crowley and realized by Lady Frieda Harris.» — la doble adjudicación de la baraja del Thoth, al que la diseñó y a la que la pintó.

«As a result, I have suggested that people just starting with the Tarot as part of this course avoid the Crowley Thoth deck. This is not because the deck is “wrong,” but because its depth may initially confuse.» — la razón por la que Kraig desaconseja esa baraja al principiante, con la aclaración de que no la descalifica.

«numbers on two of the Major Arcana cards, so for the purpose of this book either reassign them according to the associations I have given or study his works so you can understand exactly why he made the changes.» — el cambio de numeración que Kraig adjudica a Crowley y las dos salidas que ofrece; la frase arranca en la plana anterior.

«In actuality there are two major types of Satanism. One type is what I call “religious Satanists.” They view what they’re doing as a religion.» — la partición que Kraig propone para el asunto, declarada como suya.

«The thread that runs through most of these religious Satanists’ beliefs is a type of Nietzscheism or Ayn Rand Objectivism where the individual, being superior to others around him or her, is not bound by conventional ideas of right and wrong.» — el hilo doctrinal que Kraig adjudica a ese primer tipo.

«In fact, I read some of the semi-secret documents of one of these groups and found that their “ancient” deity actually quoted Nietzsche.» — el dato con que Kraig sostiene lo anterior, declarado de lectura propia; el grupo no va nombrado.

«Because there is so much negativity associated with Satanism, deserved or not, I suggest that people simply avoid it.» — el consejo de Kraig, dado por razones de conveniencia y no de doctrina; antes consigna que la mayoría de esos grupos son gente que cumple la ley.

«There is another type of Satanism, what I call “Self-Styled Satanism,” which is a different story. Such Satanic groups usually are small in membership (often only being one or two people), don’t advertise and have a leader or leaders who are highly charismatic. They attract people who tend to have low self-esteem and are usually highly manipulatable. Why? Because the leaders don’t want a strong personality that can stand up to them.» — el segundo tipo de la partición de Kraig, y el que sí le parece peligroso; la doctrina, dice, sale de películas baratas y novelas malas.

«Over the past few decades, there was a growing, then waning, belief in the notion of families of Satanists, existing for generations, who have committed horrible crimes. The only problem with this is that there has never been any evidence that such groups exist.» — Kraig niega la existencia de las familias satánicas generacionales por falta de evidencia y consigna que los relatos se sostienen aunque se hayan mostrado fabricados.

«Children have been traumatized and families destroyed by politically and/or religiously oriented government officials who, according to an FBI agent who investigated the matter, seem more interested in ending heresy than solving crimes.» — el daño que Kraig adjudica a esa creencia, con una fuente policial que no nombra.

«Experiments have shown that people’s memory of events may be easily altered and people will believe the altered versions with all their being.» — el argumento de memoria manipulable con que Kraig explica la sinceridad del que se cree víctima.

«This supposed problem, no matter how much the person may believe it accurately reflects an actual past, is merely a symptom of other problems that exist in the person’s life.» — el consejo de Kraig a quien tenga un amigo en ese caso; lo lee como síntoma y manda cautela.

«The use of the goblet, in turn, was an advance on table tipping, where people put their fingertips on a table and it would lift up and down, tapping out answers to questions.» — la genealogía que Kraig traza para la tabla ouija, desde la mesa que golpea hasta la copa invertida.

«caused by “unconscious micro-motor motions” of the muscles of the hands and arms. In fact, that is exactly how the planchette moves. No spirit is pushing it around.» — Kraig concede entera la explicación escéptica del movimiento; la frase arranca en la plana anterior.

«Unanswered by the skeptics is how the Ouija was able to produce information that none of the participants previously had knowledge of.» — lo que Kraig deja fuera de esa concesión, y que es su propia objeción al escepticismo.

«Some “New Agers” will listen to a message from an unknown source—what is commonly called “channeling”—and simply because it was channeled they will accept it as truth. Occultists, on the other hand, will listen to what the message has to say and then examine it for truth.» — la línea que Kraig traza entre ocultismo y nueva era por el criterio de examen del mensaje.

«For example, as of this writing, they say this about the information on their site: “Please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information . . .” No matter the source» — Kraig cita el descargo de una enciclopedia en línea y lo extiende a su propio libro; la frase termina nombrándolo.

«some investigation into a case where a Midwestern college dormitory had actually forbidden the use of Ouija boards in the dorm!» — el caso que Kraig dice haber investigado él mismo cuando dirigía una revista del ramo; la frase arranca en la plana anterior.

«And that is the real potential problem with the Ouija: not possession by an evil entity, not following the words of some demon that lead to damnation, but obsession with the seemingly inexplicable movement of the planchette and the messages received.» — el peligro que Kraig sí admite en la ouija, y que es el mismo que adjudicó a la evocación: obsesión, no posesión.

«Therefore, if you want to work with the Ouija, I suggest giving yourself limits to the amount of time you spend with it—perhaps just an hour or two per week. And I also suggest that you perform banishing rituals such as the LBRP and BRH before and after its use.» — las dos precauciones que Kraig prescribe para la ouija.

«Unless that talisman has been charged, it is nothing but a lifeless piece of inert material that probably has some pretty symbols on it. When you charge it, however, you are making it into a living thing, ready to do the magick for which it has been charged.» — la respuesta de Kraig a quien pregunta si sirve un talismán hecho por otro: lo que cuenta es la carga.

«Perhaps, if you have put a great deal of time and energy into the creation of a physical talisman, it would be more appropriate to say that the charging or consecrating of the talisman is like turning on a light switch. The electricity is always there, but until you complete the circuit by doing the ritual,» — el símil eléctrico con que Kraig matiza lo anterior; la frase termina en la plana siguiente con el foco que no enciende.

«A Talisman will bring things to it and an Amulet will keep things away.» — la distinción canónica del curso entre los dos objetos, repetida aquí en una línea.

«Another method for cleansing a talisman is to bury it for a few days where our gracious Mother Earth can naturally neutralize and absorb all of the object’s energy.» — el segundo de los métodos de limpieza que Kraig da; el primero es el agua corriente.

«Answer: Regardie’s The Golden Dawn is an invaluable resource tool for the practicing magician. Like the grimoires that came before it, however, much of the book is only notes intended for a student’s use.» — Kraig clasifica la compilación de Regardie como apunte y no como manual, con la misma objeción que hizo a los grimorios.

«In The Golden Dawn, the LBRP is “explained” in a page, while in the first edition of Modern Magick I took almost fifteen pages, spread over two lessons, to explain the ritual.» — la comparación con que Kraig mide su propio libro contra el de Regardie.

«As I also explained, if you want to relate the Tree of Life to the human body, you must imagine yourself backing into it.» — la regla de orientación del Árbol sobre el cuerpo, de la que depende el cambio de fórmula que sigue.

«the six-rayed star.” If you can recognize that you and the Tree are one, then that star is inside you: “Within me shines the six-rayed star.”» — la razón con que Kraig justifica su enmienda a la fórmula de la Golden Dawn; el detrás de Regardie y el dentro de Kraig se explican los dos desde la misma figura.

«I used the term “within” rather than “behind” because I believe it provides a stronger, more accurate, and intense image.» — Kraig declara suya la enmienda, la razona y consigna que circula además una tercera versión con encima.

«Magick, in order to survive and grow, needs to evolve as humanity evolves. However, I do not support change for change’s sake.» — el criterio con que Kraig admite modificar un rito heredado.

«Answer: While I thank you for your kind comments, I regret to inform you that no, I will not do magick for you.» — la respuesta de Kraig a quien le pide que obre magia en su lugar.

«If I were to do magick for you, I would be abandoning everything these words represent. You would be giving me power over your life. You would be dependent on me and not an independent individual. You would not be self-actualized. You would not be a powerful magician.» — la razón de esa negativa, que Kraig amarra al propósito declarado del curso entero.

«ACHAS B’TAY-AH: A form of Biblical interpretation and the making of codes. See TEMURAH.» — primera entrada del glosario del apéndice cuarto, que ocupa cuatro casillas del cuaderno; de un catálogo así se levanta el marco y una muestra razonada por plana, no cada entrada.

«AD LIBITUM: Latin for “at one’s pleasure,” it means to make things up as you go. Once you know the basic concepts of rituals and magick, it is possible to make up parts of rituals “on the fly” rather than depending upon repeating memorized scripts or reading written instructions.» — entrada que define la licencia de improvisar que el curso autoriza en sus ritos.

«ADEPTUS MINOR: A term used to describe a magician. In the Golden Dawn you were taught ritual magick once you were initiated into the degree of Adeptus Minor, which was the first degree of the Inner Order, the R.R. et A.C.» — entrada que sitúa el grado en la escala de la Golden Dawn.

«AIWASS (AIWAZ): The name of Aleister Crowley’s Holy Guardian Angel. Crowley spent many years trying to determine if Aiwass was his higher self or a non-physical being objectively separate from him.» — el glosario consigna la duda del propio Crowley sobre la naturaleza de la entidad, sin resolverla.

«ALCHEMY: A form of magick with the goal of turning a base metal, such as lead, into gold. This can be seen as a literal idea or as an allegory. Another goal of alchemy was finding health and eternal youth.» — la definición de alquimia del glosario, que deja abiertas la lectura literal y la alegórica.

«ALEXANDRIAN: A system of Wicca devised by Alex Sanders combining the Wiccan system of Gerald Gardner with more ceremonial magick than used by Gardner.» — la filiación que el glosario adjudica a la rama alejandrina de la wicca.

«ASTROLOGY: The provable science of interpreting meanings in what astronomers see.» — la definición de astrología del glosario; el adjetivo con que la califica de ciencia es del propio texto.

«BABY’S BLOOD: A code term used by ancient Pagans to mean “strawberry juice.” It was placed in code so people could not understand secret herbal formulas. In retrospect, this choice for a code was not a good one.» — la lectura que el glosario da a una fórmula que se usa como cargo contra la brujería, con el comentario del propio Kraig sobre lo mal elegido de la clave.

«BLAVATSKY, HELENA PETROVNA (1831-1891): A Ukrainian Russian woman who was the guiding force behind the founding of the Theosophical Society. Many members of the Golden Dawn were also members of this society. Her importance is also due to two large books she wrote, Isis Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine (1888). Many mystical and occult writings or so-called “channelings” are directly or indirectly based on these two books.» — entrada de glosario con fechas entre paréntesis, releída entera en el crudo y extraída con la guarda anticosido desactivada por esa razón; el glosario adjudica a estos dos libros buena parte de la literatura canalizada posterior.

«B.O.T.A.: The Builders of the Adytum. Founded by Paul Foster Case (1884-1954), a member of the Golden Dawn, it was the first organization to present a deck of Tarot cards that revealed the Golden Dawn correspondences of Hebrew with each Major Arcana card. In his rituals he removed all mention of Enochian magick.» — otra entrada con fechas entre paréntesis, extraída con la guarda desactivada y releída en el crudo; consigna a la vez la primicia de la baraja y la supresión de lo enoquiano.

«BRUJERIA: Although based on Afro-Caribbean magickal traditions, Brujeria in the U.S. has a distinctly American flavor, being the spiritual/magical system of Latino barrios.» — la única entrada del glosario que nombra una tradición de habla hispana; la grafía del término va sin tilde.

«CHAKRA: Pronounced “kahk-rah,” or “chak-rah” with a hard “ch” as in the word “chalk,” these are power centers in the aura related to organs or glands in the body. The chakras are not in the body per se; they are actually whirls, vortices, circles, or lotuses, which psychics can see in the aura.» — la entrada niega que los centros estén en el cuerpo y los sitúa en el aura.

«CHAOS MAGICK: A paradigm for understanding magick. It seeks to eliminate the excesses that have been added to magick over the centuries and get back to the minimum in order to achieve the maximum. It sees the source of magickal energy as the primal chaos that preceded the “big bang” of creation. Other aspects include influences from A.O. Spare and the concept of the Gnostic Trance.» — la definición del glosario para el sistema que la lección duodécima expone; la llama paradigma y no doctrina.