Orange Magick
EB
93
cause it is then at variance with the self. When used to plan, compare, examine, and make decisions around the needs of the self, it is functioning correctly, as a tool instead of an encum brance. The ability to think and then direct the subconscious mind is magical. The need to indulge in book learning is largely self-defeating, unless a person has no other aims in life. There is nothing wrong with knowledge if it can be applied or it satisfies a need. It is the ability to think in simple terms, however, that gets results, and that is what matters. It is es sential to control the mind by seeking peace and then direct ing it into the appropriate channels. In other words, a mind full of confusion, darting about from one fact to another, will not produce concrete results or influence the subconscious mind beneficially. A quiet, orderly mind concentrating on an objec tive will enable you to plan out your campaign of action and help you sort out the wheat from the chaff, in magical terms. As you think, so you are. Quiet, calm, contemplative thinking gets results. The mind is a magical tool. With magick, you are dealing with the science of using the mind. Magick involves a process of training and self-discipline, but the training must be done in stages, slowly and carefully, with a single-minded determi nation to succeed. You will be using parts of your mind that you did not know existed. Those parts are out of condition, stiff, and unyielding. They must be coaxed gently back to life, gradually brought to peak fitness. Many people leap into magi cal work with no thought at all of their mental fitness. They attempt to control the power of their minds before they have learned to control their mind themselves. They unleash a mael strom of power over which they have absolutely no control. That power, once unleashed, knows no bounds. Once you have learned to control the power patterns of your subconscious, many of the preliminaries of magick will become second nature. In temple work, neophytes must go meticulously through a set procedure of cleansing the temple, establishing contact with their inner selves, quarters