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A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Division D - Thought Elementals and Fire Elementals
a. Black Magicians and White

Much is said among occult students these days anent white and black magic, 94 and much that is said is without force, or truth. It has [985] been truly said that between the two types of workers, the line of demarcation is so slight as to be difficult of recognition by those who, as yet, merit not the term "knower."

The distinction between the two exists in both motive and method, and might be summed up as follows:

The white magician has for motive that which will be of benefit to the group for whom he is expending his energy and time. The magician of the left hand path ever works alone, or if he at any time cooperates with others, it is with a hidden selfish purpose. The exponent of white magic interests himself in the work of constructive endeavor in order to cooperate in hierarchical plans, and to further the desires of the planetary Logos. The Brother of Darkness occupies himself with that which lies outside the plans of the Hierarchy and with that which is not included in the purpose of the Lord of the planetary Ray.

The white magician, as has been earlier said, works entirely through the greater Deva Builders, and through sound and numbers he blends their work, and thus influences the lesser Builders who form the substance of their bodies, and therefore of all that is. He works [986] through group centers and vital points of energy, and from thence produces, in substance, the desired results. The dark brother works directly with substance itself, and with the lesser builders; He does not cooperate with the forces which emanate from egoic levels. The lesser cohorts of the "Army of the Voice" are his servants, and not the directing Intelligences in the three worlds, and he therefore works primarily on the astral and physical planes, only in rare cases working with the mental forces, and only in a few special cases, hidden in cosmic karma, is a black magician found working on the higher mental levels. Yet the cases which are there to be discovered are the main contributing causes of all manifesting black magic.

The Brother of Light works ever through the inherent force of the second aspect as long as he is functioning in connection with the three lower planes. After the third Initiation, he works increasingly with spiritual energy, or with the force of the first aspect. He impresses the lower substances, and manipulates the lesser building lives with the vibration of love, and the attractive coherency of the Son, and through wisdom the forms are built. He learns to work from the heart, and therefore to manipulate that energy which streams from the "Heart of the Sun" until (when he becomes a Buddha) he can dispense somewhat the force emanating from the "Spiritual Sun." Therefore, the heart center in the Brother of the right hand path is the transmitting agency for the building force, and the triangle he uses in this work is

  1. The center in the head which corresponds, to the heart.
  2. The heart center itself.
  3. The throat center.

94 Magic. - The art of divine Magic consists in the ability to perceive the essence of things in the light of nature (astral light), and - by using the soul-powers of the Spirit - to produce material things from the unseen universe, and in such operations the Above and the Below must be brought together and made to act harmoniously.
- S. D., II, 538.

Magic is the second of the four Vidyas, and is the great mahaVidya in the Tantric writings. It needs the light of the fourth vidya (atma-vidya) thrown on it in order to be White magic. - S. D., I, 192.

Black Magic is defined by H. P. B. as follows:

  1. Black magic employs the astral light for purposes of deception and seduction, whereas the white magician employs it for purposes of information, and the aiding of evolution. - S. D., I, 274.
  2. Black magic works with opposing poles. The white magician seeks the point of equilibrium or balance, and of synthesis. - S. D., I, 448.
  3. Black magic has for its symbol the inverted 5-pointed star.
    White magic uses the same symbol with the point uppermost.
  4. Black magic is mahavidya without the light of atma-vidya.
    White magic is mahavidya illumined by atma-vidya. - S. D., I, 592.
  5. Black magic is ruled over by the moon.
    White magic is ruled over by the sun.
  6. Black and white magic arose during the great schism which started during the fourth root-race. - S. D., II, 221, 445, 520.
  7. Black magic is based on the degradation of sex and of the creative function.
    White magic is based on the transmutation of the creative faculty into the higher creative thought, the generative organs being neglected by the inner fire, which passes to the throat, the center of creative sound.
  8. Black magic deals with the forces of involution.
    White magic works with the powers of evolution.
  9. Black magic is concerned with the form, with matter.
    White magic is concerned with the life within the form, with Spirit.
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