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"Western Magick": A Rationale for
Performing Ceremonial Magick
For discussion and education...enjoy! Markus
Mmothra
Quote:
Western
Magick By Fr Ananaul Iaida (by kind
permission of The Ecliptic and the
Fool) The main purpose
for writing this article is to give the newcomer
to Western
Magick a brief and, hopefully, clear
description of the rationale for performing
Ceremonial Magick.
The explanation for
performing this type of work can be found in the
realm of esoteric psychology, and some similar
glimmerings can be found in Jungian psychology.
When it comes to the acceptance of the
unconscious, or the components of man that we are
not usually aware of, these two psychological are
in complete accord.
The Mind of man can be
divided roughly into two broad divisions. The
greater part can be labelled the unconscious mind,
and the lesser part (not in importance, but
degree) is the conscious mind.
Magickians
and Jungians both state that our personal power
resides in the unconscious mind and that the
method in which the unconscious conveys its needs
and ideas to the conscious mind is through the
language of symbols, via dreams, fantasy, trance,
etc.
The student of magick may ask, "How
are we to interpret the symbols that reach our
conscious mind?"
A good reply would be that
by teaching our unconscious minds a certain set of
symbols with certain intelligible ideas attached
to each symbol, over time, the unconscious mind is
gradually taught to use a type of alphabet. The
Alphabet that the Western
Magickian should train his mind to use is, of
course, the Qabalistic 'Tree of Life', and its
many ordered correspondences.
Once the
magicklan has made this symbolic Alphabet a part
of his psychic makeup, he will find these symbols
entering his dreams and meditation, giving a new
found structure to what was, before,
chaos.
The novice may now be asking, "What
has all this got to do with Ceremonial
Magick?"
Herein lies the answer. By using
the symbols and correspondences of the Tree of
Life in a well ordered ceremony, we may activate
the creative potentials resident in the
unconscious mind.
For example, if a student
was continually frustrated by a total lack of
personal drive and will-power, with no
assertiveness and decisiveness, then he might want
to construct a ritual that would stimulate and
strengthen these qualities. The first step would
be to identify which Sphere on the Tree of Life
would best match this need.
For the above
example, the student would find that the
SephirahGeburah mirrored his needs
exactly.
Now the student should endeavour
to find all the correspondences that are related
to the SephirahGeburah, and from these
correspondences the ritual will be
developed.
For example, Mars is the
planetary influence that is assigned to Geburah.
The characteristics of this planet are power and
force. The colour red is another attribute, so is
the number five. Therefore the student could
surround the area of work with red banners on the
wall, he would wear a red robe, place a red cloth
on the altar, with a pentagram inscribed on it. He
might place five red candles around the
consecrated circle and his weapon would be an iron
sword. The magicklan could also burn small amounts
of tobacco or nettle around the scene of
operation.
All these symbols and ceremomial
apparati are designed to portray to the
unconscious Inlind that the Geburic force is to be
stimulated in the magickian`s psyche. An important
part in any ritual is the Invocation.
The
Invocation should be designed to awaken the
various Geburic potencies in the several levels of
the Qabalistic universe. This chain reaction is
produced by various methods. One is by vibration
of certain sacred names. Another is by visualising
sigils or seals of the different hierarchies.
Needless to say, these methods are usually
combined in any well worked ritual.
Another
powerful technique the magickian should become
adept with is the Assumption of
Godform.
For those of you who are not
familiar with this technique, I will describe it
in a little detail. The assumption of a god form
is where the magickian uses his trained faculties
of imagination and concentration to build up
around his own body the astral form of a
particular God which corresponds to the intention
of the ritual.
The reason for assuming a
god form is that the astral mould created by the
imagination and win of the magickian acts as a
receptacle or point of focus, so that the type of
energy represented by the God has a vehicle into
which it may incarnate and manifest its qualities
and characteristics.
The Theurgists of the
Western Magickal Tradition have found, through
vast experience and experimentation, that the
Egyptian pantheon is the most efficacious for us
to use. But if, for sorric reason, the student has
a dislike for the Egyptian gods, then let him
discard them without superstition or fear, for
another pantheon will produce similar results. The
magickian should never forget that magick is first
and foremost a science, and in science there is no
room for blind superstition.
Another point
to remember is that magick is also highly
individual and it is important to feel comfortable
with the energies being handled. The god form that
would be used for the example in this essay would
be either Horus or
Nephthys.
I will now recapitulate some of
the more important ideas in order to
clarify.
The unconscious mind is the scat
of all our personal power. We may speak to and
stimulate our unconscious minds through the
correct employment of symbols. All the various
symbols, incenses, weapons, invocations, etc., in
Ceremonial Magick are designed to convey and
concentrate a certain idea or train of ideas to
the unconscious mind.
The ideas that we
want to penetrate the unconscious mind are ordered
and classified on the glyph called the Tree of
Life.
This, in a most simple format, is the
rationale for performing Ceremonial
Magick.
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__________________ When patterns are
broken, new worlds emerge. -Tuli
Kupferberg
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