Wedescribethebroadmainfeaturesandfactsofmediumship，therebeingnoroominsuchanarticleforexceptionalcases。Wemaintain——havingunfortunatelypassedatoneperiodoflifepersonallythroughsuchexperiences——thatonthewhole，mediumshipismostdangerous；andpsychicexperienceswhenacceptedindiscriminatelyleadonlytohonestlydeceivingothers，becausethemediumisthefirstself—deceivedvictim。Moreover，atoocloseassociationwiththe\"OldTerrestrialSerpent\"isinfectious。
TheodicandmagneticcurrentsoftheAstralLightoftenincitetomurder，drunkenness，immorality，and，asEliphasLeviexpressesit，thenotaltogetherpurenatures\"canbedrivenheadlongbytheblindforcessetinmotionintheLight\"——bytheerrorsandsinsimposedonitswaves。
AndthisishowthegreatMageoftheXIXthcenturycorroboratestheforegoingwhenspeakingoftheAstralLight：——Wehavesaidthattoacquiremagicalpower，twothingsarenecessary：todisengagethewillfromallservitude，andtoexerciseitincontrol。Thesovereignwill[oftheadept]isrepresentedinoursymbolsbythewomanwhocrushestheserpent’shead，andbytheresplendentangelwhorepressesthedragon，andholdshimunderhisfootandspear；thegreatmagicalagent，thedualcurrentoflight，thelivingandastralfireoftheearth，hasbeenrepresentedintheancienttheogoniesbytheserpentwiththeheadofabull，aram，oradog。Itisthedoubleserpentofthecaduceus，itistheOldSerpentofGenesis，butitisalsothebrazenserpentofMosesentwinedaroundthetau，thatistosay，thegenerativelingam。Itisalsothegoatofthewitch—sabbath，andtheBaphometoftheTemplars；itistheHyleoftheGnostics；
itisthedouble—tailedserpentwhichformsthelegsofthesolarcockofdieAbraxas；finally，itistheDevilofM。EudesdeMirville。Butinveryfactitistheblindforcewhichsouls[i。e。，thelowerManasorNephesh]
havetoconquertoliberatethemselvesfromthebondsoftheearth；foriftheirwilldoesnotfree’themfromthisfatalattraction，theywillbeabsorbedinthecurrentbytheforcewhichhasproducedthem，andwillreturntothecentralandeternalfire。