In fact, to have lost the power to wound,
implies that the snake is not only scotched,
but killed. When it is merely stupefied or
lulled to sleep it awakes again and the disciple
uses his knowledge and his power for his own
ends, and is a pupil of the many masters of
the black art, for the road to destruction is very
broad and easy, and the way can be found
blindfold. That it is the way to destruction
is evident, for when a man begins to live for
self he narrows his horizon steadily till at last
the fierce driving inwards leaves him but the
space of [a] pin's-head to dwell in. We have
all seen this phenomenon occur in ordinary life.
A man who becomes selfish isolates himself,
grows less interesting and less agreeable to
others. The sight is an awful one, and people
shrink from a very selfish person at last, as
from a beast of prey. How much more awful is
it when it occurs on the more advanced plane
of life, with the added powers of knowledge,
and through the greater sweep of successive
incarnations!

Therefore I say, pause and think well upon
the threshold. For if the demand of the neophyte
is made without the complete purification,
it will not penetrate the seclusion of the
divine adept, but will evoke the terrible forces
which attend upon the black side of our human