early on the road towards knowledge, when
he has but taken the second step, he finds his
footing more certain, and becomes conscious
that he is a recognised part of a whole.

This is one of the contradictions in life
which occur so constantly that they afford fuel
to the fiction writer. The occultist finds them
become much more marked as he endeavors to
live the life he has chosen. As he retreats within
himself and becomes self-dependent, he finds
himself more definitely becoming part of a
great tide of definite thought and feeling.
When he has learned the first lesson, conquered
the hunger of the heart, and refused
to live on the love of others, he finds himself
more capable of inspiring love. As he flings
life away it comes to him in a new form and
with a new meaning. The world has always
been a place with many contradictions in it,
to the man; when he becomes a disciple he
finds life is describable as a series of paradoxes.
This is a fact in nature, and the reason for it is
intelligible enough. Man's soul "dwells like
a star apart," even that of the vilest among
us; while his consciousness is under the law of
vibratory and sensuous life. This alone is
enough to cause those complications of character
which are the material for the novelist;
every man is a mystery, to friend and enemy
alike, and to himself. His motives are often
undiscoverable, and he cannot probe to them or
know why he does this or that. The disciple's
effort is that of awakening consciousness in
this starry part of himself, where his power
and divinity lie sleeping. As this consciousness
becomes awakened, the contradictions in the
man himself become more marked than ever;
and so do the paradoxes which he lives
through. For, of course man creates his own
life; and "adventures are to the adventurous"
is one of those wise proverbs which are drawn
from actual fact, and cover the whole area of
human experience.

Pressure on the divine part of man re-acts
upon the animal part. As the silent soul
awakes it makes the ordinary life of the man
more purposeful, more vital, more real, and
responsible. To keep to the two instances
already mentioned, the occultist who has withdrawn
into his own citadel has found his
strength; immediately he becomes aware of
the demands of duty upon him. He does not
obtain his strength by his own right, but because
he is a part of the whole; and as soon as
he is safe from the vibration of life and can
stand uns