Occultism is a sacred science, and should be approached with reverence. "Strait is the gate and narrow the way" that leads to its holy places, and "few there be that find it". The Angel with the flaming sword still guards the gate of the Mysteries, and it is not wise to expose our souls to that force until we have purified them, and are sure that we can give the right password when it is demanded of us.
There comes a time in the experience of every student of the occult subjects, provided he is sufficiently interested in them, when the ideas that occupy his mind begin to affect him, and the unseen world of which he has read is slowly rising above the horizon of consciousness, and the subtle is becoming tangible.
He will find himself in a veritable No Man's Land of the mind, and he must do one of two things, and do it quickly. He must either bolt back into his body like a rabbit down its hole, or he must press on and open up the higher consciousness. But one thing he must not do, and that is, linger in the land of phantasms that is the frontier between subconsciousness and super-consciousness, for that way madness lies.
When he comes to the gate of higher consciousness, however, he will be met by the Angel of the Threshold who will ask him the age-old question that he must answer before he can pass on, and the answer to this question is not any Shibboleth that admits to a secret society, but the very reasonable query to be addressed to the stranger who knocks at any door, "What is it you want?" and the answer to that question will depend, not on the knowledge, but on the character of the applicant. If rightly answered, the way will be made plain for his advancement; if wrongly answered, he will be left to find his way back to the Earth plane as best he may, and that is neither a very pleasant nor a very safe experience.
To study occultism is to connect up with a great power-house in the Unseen. There may be no tangible results, because one's nature is made of non-conducting material; or because doubt of the reality of the phenomena investigated prevents the terminals of the psychic contact from being pushed home in their sockets.
Knowledge and Force form the two poles of the circuit, and when these are conjoined the power flows through. A nature which contains no force can study the sacred science and no results will be brought about, and a nature which has no knowledge will be unable to utilize its force. But where there are both knowledge and force, it is only a matter of time until some illuminative idea gives a sudden glimpse of the significance of the inner life, which completes the contact, and that person, for good or ill, is in circuit with the unseen power-house.
Occult science, in itself, is neither good nor evil, save as it is used, and that is why it is so necessary to approach it with clean hands, a pure heart, and a disciplined and dedicated will.
Occultism is not child's play, and it is very far from being fool-proof. For its pursuit strength is required, as well purity; but all who have touched its deeper issues unite in declaring that it is no will o' the wisp, dancing over a bottomless bog, but a true path to the Light, though narrow as a razor's edge.
