It is possible that you do not possess the
necessary materials. I can show you a complete magical cabinet, but I
must require of you first the most inviolable silence. If you do not
guarantee this on your honour, I will give the order for you to be driven
home."'
Oliver Haddo told his story not ineffectively, but with a comic gravity
that prevented one from knowing exactly how to take it.
'Having given the required promise Eliphas Levi was shown a collection of
vestments and of magical instruments. The lady lent him certain books of
which he was in need; and at last, as a result of many conversations,
determined him to attempt at her house the experience of a complete
evocation. He prepared himself for twenty-one days, scrupulously
observing the rules laid down by the Ritual. At length everything
was ready. It was proposed to call forth the phantom of the divine
Apollonius, and to question it upon two matters, one of which concerned
Eliphas Levi and the other, the lady of the crinoline. She had at first
counted on assisting at the evocation with a trustworthy person, but at
the last moment her friend drew back; and as the triad or unity is
rigorously prescribed in magical rites, Eliphas was left alone.
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