follow no matter how noble may be his intentions.  Suppose, for illustration, that two men set out upon a dark might to cross a wild and rugged piece of ground—­one with bad motives and the other with good.  One is going out to rob a house and if need be, to kill anybody who might try to interfere with his plans.  His motives are very bad but he has perfect knowledge of the dangerous ground he is to cross and he will therefore travel over it in safety.  The other man has the best of motives.  He is going to spend the night with a sick and helpless neighbor.  But he has no knowledge of the rough and treacherous ground he must cross in the darkness and his good motives will not insure him against stumbling over the stones or falling into a ditch and breaking his arm.  Good motives are not enough.  We must know!  Progress in occultism is impossible without knowledge.

But how is a keen, alert intelligence to be acquired if we do not possess it?  Like any other latent faculty or power it may be evolved.  As the physical strength may be steadily increased by constant exercise of the muscles, so mind may increase in power by systematic work.  It should be exercised in original thinking.  A stated period, if only a quarter of an hour daily, can be set aside for the purpose.  A book on a serious subject will furnish material but the too common method of reading, of following the author lazily and accepting whatever he sets forth as a matter of course, is of little value.  One must read with discrimination, receiving the ideas offered as a juryman would receive testimony from a witness, considering it from every possible viewpoint, examining it in the light of known facts, turning it over in the mind, weighing it thoughtfully, and accepting or rejecting according to its reasonableness or its lack of reason.  In such mental work for intellectual growth each paragraph can be considered by itself and only a small portion of the time should be given to the reading while the remainder is devoted to pondering over what has been read.  Of course a specific study is an advantage and perhaps nothing is better than to study occultism, thinking deeply upon the problems of human evolution.

Another method that goes admirably with such work is the close observation and study of all the life in manifestation about us.  We should try to comprehend people, to observe and understand them.  Every word, act and facial expression has its meaning to be caught and interpreted.  All this will not only sharpen the wits but also strengthen human sympathy for it enables us the better to know the difficulties and sorrows of others.  If such practices are followed faithfully day by day the growth will be steady.

Still another useful practice is to exercise the imagination, the art of creating mental pictures with no physical object present.  The face of an absent friend can be called up in the mind and reproduced in every detail—­the color of the eyes and hair, the various moods and expressions.  Or one’s childhood home can be recalled and the imagination made to reconstruct it.  The house being complete the landscape can be reproduced, with the hills, trees and roads.  Repeated practice at “seeing mentally” is of the greatest value in occult development.