without the profits and enjoyments they
may get therefrom. For we say it again, _hypnotism_ and _vivisection_ as
practised in such schools, are _Sorcery_ pure and simple, _minus_ a
knowledge that the Voodoos and Dugpas enjoy, and which no Charcot-Richet
can procure for himself in fifty years of hard study and experimental
observation. Let then those who will dabble in magic, whether they
understand its nature or not, but who find the rules imposed upon
students too hard, and who, therefore, lay Atma-Vidya or Occultism
aside--go without it. Let them become magicians by all means, even
though they do become _Voodoos_ and _Dugpas_ for the next ten
incarnations.

But the interest of our readers will probably center on those who are
invincibly attracted towards the "Occult," yet who neither realize the
true nature of what they aspire towards, nor have they become
passion-proof, far less truly unselfish.

How about these unfortunates, we shall be asked, who are thus rent in
twain by conflicting forces? For it has been said too often to need
repetition, and the fact itself is patent to any observer, that when
once the desire for Occultism has really awakened in a man's heart,
there remains for him no hope of peace, no place of rest and comfort in
all the world. He is driven out into the wild and desolate spaces of
life by an ever-gnawing unrest he cannot quell. His heart is too full of
passion and selfish desire to permit him to pass the Golden Gate; he
cannot find rest or peace in ordinary life. Must he then inevitably fall
into sorcery and black magic, and through many incarnations heap up for
himself a terrible Karma? Is there no other road for him?

Indeed there is, we answer. Let him aspire to no higher than he feels
able to accomplish. Let him not take a burden upon himself too heavy for
him to carry. Without ever becoming a "Mahatma," a Buddha, or a Great
Saint, let him study the philosophy and the "Science of Soul," and he
can become one of the modest benefactors of humanity, without any
"superhuman" powers. _Siddhis_ (or the Arhat powers) are only for those
who are able to "lead the life," to comply with the terrible sacrifices
required for such a training, and to comply with them _to the very
letter_. Let them know at once and remember always, that _true Occultism
or Theosophy_ is the "Great Renunciation of SELF," unconditionally and
absolutely, in thought as in action. It is ALTRUISM, and it throws him
who practi