James Wasserman is a lifelong student of esotericism. His writings include The Mystery Traditions: Secret Symbols and Sacred Art, and Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary. His Chronicle Books edition of The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day features the fullcolor Papyrus of Ani with integrated English translation. The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven has thus far been published in six languages. His controversial The Slaves Shall Serve: Meditations on Liberty defines political freedom as a spiritual value. His newest book is An Illustrated History of the Knights Templar. He is currently editing a series on Western occultism known as The Weiser Concise Guides. You can find him online at www.studio31.com. He lives in New York City with his wife Nancy.

CHAPTER 1

Liber CLXVA Master of the Temple

Section I.April 2, 1886 To December 24, 1909

Charles Stansfeld Jones, whom I usually mention by the motto V.I.O., which hetook on becoming a Probationer of the AA, made his entry into this World by theusual and approved method, on April 2nd, 1886 E.V., having only escaped becomingan April Fool by delaying a day to summon up enough courage to turn out oncemore into this cold and uninviting World. Having been oiled, smacked and allowedto live, we shall trouble no further about the details of his career until 1906,when, having reached the age of 20 years, he began to turn his attention towardthe Mysteries, and to investigate Spiritualism, chiefly with the idea ofdisproving it. From this year his interest in the Occult seems to date, and itwas about this time that he first consciously aspired to find, and get intotouch with, a True Occult Order. This aspiration was, as we shall see, fulfilledthree years later, when he had an opportunity to become a Probationer of the AA,and immediately grasped it; but during those three years his researches led himinto varied paths: — Spiritualism, Faithism and other Isms on the one hand, and'The Europe,' 'The Leicester,' and 'The Cosy Corner' on the other: last, but notleast, into Marriage, a difficult thing to put on one side and perhaps best lefton the other. Having then plunged wholeheartedly into this final experiment,becoming as it were 'Omnia in Uno' for a time, he emerged in a frame of mindwell suited to the study of Scientific Illuminism, of which he was much in need,and, having signed the Probationer's Pledge Form on December 24th, 1909 E.V., hetook — after careful thought — the Motto 'Unus in Omnibus' and has been ridingvery comfortably ever since.

From this time onward, according to the Rules of the Order, he began keeping awritten record of his Work, and this makes our task easier; but since he himselfbecame more serious from that moment, we must to a certain extent follow hisexample and treat what is recorded as the attempt of a struggling soul to obtainLight for himself and others. Whatever his mistakes, however poor his results,or laughable his failures, there is this much to be said for him, that he neverturned back.

Section II.December 24, 1909, to May 14, 1910

Frater V.I.O. started off bravely enough. As soon as he had read the firstnumber of The Equinox, and before he got into touch with any Member of the AA hemade an attempt at Asana. The earliest record I can find reads as follows:

Thursday, Nov. 4th, 1909.11.20 p.m. to 11.41 p.m.

Asana. Position 1. The God.

Inclination for back to bend, just above hips, had to straighten up severaltimes.

Opened eyes once and moved head, after about five minutes.

Breathed fairly regularly after the first few minutes, counting 9 in, holding 4,9 out, holding 4.

Saw various colours in clouds, and uncertain figures, during the latter part ofthe time.

On December 19th his practice lasted 46 minutes. He hoped to do 60 minutes nexttime. But he does not appear to have done so, for after signing hisProbationer's Oath on December 24th I find no record till January 11th 1910.E.V. the day he received his first written instructions from his Neophyte,Frater P.A. As those instructions represent the basis upon which he worked fora considerable period, I shall include them here, in spite of the fact that itmay have been out of order for him to work on definite instructions at all,since the Probationer is supposed to choose for himself those practices whichplease him best, and to experiment therewith for himself. Since however he didnot know this at the time, he cannot be blamed for doing his best along thelines laid down by his Neophyte. In any case he might have done far worse thanto strive to carry out these few simple rules which are as follows:

The Rules

1. Ever be moderate and follow the middle path; rather be the tortoise than thehare; do not rush wildly into anything; but do not abandon what you have takenup, without much forethought.

2. Always keep your body and mind in a healthy and fit condition; and never carryout an exercise, whether mental or physical, when you are fatigued.

3. In an ideal country the hours in which to practice are: at sunrise, sunset, noonand midnight (and always before a meal, never immediately after one).

4. As this cannot be done with comfort in this country (England), let your chiefpractice take place an hour or half an hour before your breakfast hour.

5. If possible set apart a room wherein to carry out your exercises; keep it clean,and only keep in it objects which please you; burn a little incense in the roombefore beginning an exercise; keep the room holy to yourself, and do not allowyourself or another to do anything unbalanced in thought or action in it. Inwill and deed make this room a temple and a symbol of that greater Temple whichis your HIGHER SELF.

The Exercises

The First Exercise.

Rise to time, and without undue haste, wash and dress, robe yourself and enterthe room you have set apart; burn a little incense and turning to the Eastrepeat some simple orison such as: "May the light of Adonai arise within me, mayit guide me through this day and be as a lamp to lighten my darkness." Then makea general confession, as shortly as possible, of your last day's work and enterit in your diary, after which sit down in a comfortable position and do thefollowing.

With your hands upon your knees and your head straight, take in a breath inmeasured time inwards and concentrate the whole of your thought on that breathas it flows into your lungs, cutting away all other thoughts that may arise atthe time; then exhale the breath, still keeping your thought fixed on it. Dothis for some ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, and mark down in your diarythe number of 'breaks,' or any result. The whole of this practice must beperformed rhythmically and harmoniously.

The Second Exercise

As the rush of daily work tends to undo what the morning exercise has done, tryyour utmost to turn every item of your professional work into a magicalexercise. Do all, even the smallest work, in honour and glory of Adonai: excelin your special duties in life, because He is of you, and you of Him; do notthink of Him as Adonai, but think of Adonai as the work; and of your daily workcreate a symbol of the Symbol of "The Great Work which is TO BE."

The Third Exercise

As the rush of your daily work tends to unbalance you, so do the pleasures youindulge in. Cultivate joyfulness in all your...