Cleansing & Charging A New Talisman (ring) Options

Hello all, looking for a little help & guidance.

I am looking to cleanse & charge a new ring as a talisman. It is a silver ring (92.5) with a big Lapis Lazuli stone & engraved with JohnnyScience. I did not make the ring myself, but had a jeweler make it for me. I realize if you can make it yourself it is a much stronger talisman, but I'm not a jeweler. I haven't "worn" the ring yet, but have tried it on for fit & looks.

I was reading around the internets & found this cleansing ritual:
http://www.enchantedworks.com/db/view_article.php?story_id=20050516144925

I am hoping to perform this on the full moon of the 29th of this month with all of the materials listed within that ritual.

The only thing I'm confused about is the South being fire, I've read some where that North is Fire? Which one is correct? The rest seems to be correct right? East is Air, West is Water & Earth is whichever one isn't Fire.

What do you guys think of that one? Do you have anything to edit or add?

Would adding my blood to the ritual at some point be even better?

Hello all, looking for a little help & guidance.

I am looking to cleanse & charge a new ring as a talisman. It is a silver ring (92.5) with a big Lapis Lazuli stone & engraved with JohnnyScience. I did not make the ring myself, but had a jeweler make it for me. I realize if you can make it yourself it is a much stronger talisman, but I'm not a jeweler. I haven't "worn" the ring yet, but have tried it on for fit & looks.

I was reading around the internets & found this cleansing ritual:
http://www.enchantedworks.com/db/view_arti...=20050516144925

I am hoping to perform this on the full moon of the 29th of this month with all of the materials listed within that ritual.

The only thing I'm confused about is the South being fire, I've read some where that North is Fire? Which one is correct? The rest seems to be correct right? East is Air, West is Water & Earth is whichever one isn't Fire.

What do you guys think of that one? Do you have anything to edit or add?

Would adding my blood to the ritual at some point be even better?

For the directions - The south pole is the positive or electric pole, and the north pole is the negative or magnetic pole. My own quarters run South for fire, north for water, east for air and west for earth. I place air in the east because the sun rises and passes from east to west - carried on the wind, as it were, from that direction. I place earth in the west because this is where the sun sets, entering the 'underworld' symbolically placed under the earth. Different traditions do it different ways. The elements rest in every direction, however, the purpose of calling quarters is symbolic of balance and focus of energies in most cases. Some traditions base it on geography, some on astrological correspondences, some on mythology, some on traditions no longer properly understood. So meditate on the directions and the elements and decide for yourself, or use the directions/elements given to you in your tradition if you are a traditionalist.

The only thing I see missing from this ritual is a technicality - but there isn't a point at which the practitioner acquires their own spiritual authority, yet the wording is "I bless this pendent..." If you're going to work with deities, then you want to ask for their blessing upon the object. You can consecrate an item to a deity yourself, which is a kind of dedication, but you're either asking for a higher authority to give aid, or you are acquiring spiritual authority to make the karmic change upon the object yourself.

Either begin with some ritual to acquire this authority - invoke the goddess into yourself, or otherwise identify with the goddess, or with another deity, for instance. Otherwise ask for the blessing. This is a subtle thing, the difference is significant to your unconscious mind, however. Think about how it is possible to believe "I can't handle this responsibility" or, "I don't deserve this relationship" etc., the basic belief in some people and in different ways that they are incapable of something or otherwise undeserving in some way. Both the acquisition of spiritual authority and the request for blessing from a higher power circumvent this very common unconscious thing. We develop inherent spiritual authority over time by, in part, overcoming that element. Or, overcoming that element is part of what helps develop spiritual authority. They are the same thing, kind of like the chicken and the egg question.

Other than that, of course you need to actually have some relationship with these deities called upon, or otherwise want to have a relationship. Too many people call upon deities willy nilly, but the whole nature of the practice is that they come when you call them if they know you, which point they get to when you make offerings to them, pray to them, etc. So if you don't have a relationship with these goddess aspects, then call for some other deities that you know.

With these minor comments, the ritual itself is structured just fine. cleansing and charging is in part about focus and intention, so be clear about what you think these things do.

peace

I like the directions you place the elements in, makes sense unless someone can say other wise.

Honestly what I find myself following most lately is Crowley's work, but I'm new to it all so have no clue how to really go about this.

Since I'm new I'm not really familiar with any particular deities/entities I want to devote/call upon for this. So what should I do, just invoke the goddess (which goddess?) instead of trying to evoke a particular deity?

So before I do the cleaning ritual I need to quite "authority"? Do you have a link that explains how to do so?

What about adding blood to the ritual at some point?

I like the directions you place the elements in, makes sense unless someone can say other wise.

Honestly what I find myself following most lately is Crowley's work, but I'm new to it all so have no clue how to really go about this.

Since I'm new I'm not really familiar with any particular deities/entities I want to devote/call upon for this. So what should I do, just invoke the goddess (which goddess?) instead of trying to evoke a particular deity?

So before I do the cleaning ritual I need to quite "authority"? Do you have a link that explains how to do so?

What about adding blood to the ritual at some point?

Here is a helpful link describing invocations (if you want it): link They can be either prayers or some kind of ritual.

I think Vagrant Dreamer is saying that you can be given permission by a particular entity to consecrate your ring (as well as other things) on their behalf, or ask them to do it (like a prayer). Or you can more or less make them do it with your will. It's the difference between saying "I want you to do this please. Thank you.", and "Do this. Thank you."

This is such a general concept in magic that I didn't find any links specifically about that. But most topics deal with this spiritual authority to a varying degree.

I like the directions you place the elements in, makes sense unless someone can say other wise.

Honestly what I find myself following most lately is Crowley's work, but I'm new to it all so have no clue how to really go about this.

Much of Crowley's work is aimed at attaining the true will, which is his version of spiritual authority.

Since I'm new I'm not really familiar with any particular deities/entities I want to devote/call upon for this. So what should I do, just invoke the goddess (which goddess?) instead of trying to evoke a particular deity?

If you have a relationship of some wort with a deity, call upon that one. Otherwise, establish this relationship through the ritual itself. Make offerings, pray for empowerment, etc. It is possible to invoke divine authority this way, but you have to be earnest about it, just saying words doesn't cut it.

So before I do the cleaning ritual I need to quite "authority"? Do you have a link that explains how to do so?

You can cleanse an object by wrapping it in silk and burying it from one full moon to the next. That is, bury it on the night of the full moon and dig it up again on the following full moon. Wash it off with cold salt water afterwards. You don't have to do anything ritually to accomplish this, it's just the nature of a buried thing to give up its energy to the earth, a kind of 'reset'. Begin the process on the full moon so that it will wane and disappear, and then be renewed by the following moon with new cleansed energy.

You don't need spiritual authority to cleanse a thing, though, no.

What about adding blood to the ritual at some point?

Adding blood to a ritual is not useful unless you understand how to utilize it. As you say you are new to this, I would wait until you have a broader understanding from experiences before experimenting with blood magic. Splashing blood on stuff doesn't make it inherently more powerful, it just makes it bloodstained. Sacrificing blood in an earnest display of devotion is a different story but it doesn't sound like you are quite there yet.

I think Vagrant Dreamer is saying that you can be given permission by a particular entity to consecrate your ring (as well as other things) on their behalf, or ask them to do it (like a prayer). Or you can more or less make them do it with your will. It's the difference between saying "I want you to do this please. Thank you.", and "Do this. Thank you."

Basically, yes - you can acquire spiritual authority by the intervention of a divine power (please do this, thank you); you can acquire it by identifying yourself with a divine power (assumption of godform, for instance); or you can cultivate your own spiritual authority (not just a one day practice you can just do when you need it, there is no such thing). You might also receive knowledge and communion of the HGA, for instance, which becomes a kind of go-to spirit between you and the rest of the spiritual world. There are many ways, but every tradition hinges on this concept - that the magician must have divine authority to do magic.

peace

If you have a relationship of some wort with a deity, call upon that one. Otherwise, establish this relationship through the ritual itself. Make offerings, pray for empowerment, etc. It is possible to invoke divine authority this way, but you have to be earnest about it, just saying words doesn't cut it.

Basically, yes - you can acquire spiritual authority by the intervention of a divine power (please do this, thank you); you can acquire it by identifying yourself with a divine power (assumption of godform, for instance); or you can cultivate your own spiritual authority (not just a one day practice you can just do when you need it, there is no such thing). You might also receive knowledge and communion of the HGA, for instance, which becomes a kind of go-to spirit between you and the rest of the spiritual world. There are many ways, but every tradition hinges on this concept - that the magician must have divine authority to do magic.

peace

Ok so that makes sense to me. I think I would want to invoke/devote this to my HGA, since it is my connection to the divine and the most personal of all spirits/entities that I could associate with & call upon.

So for instance in that cleansing ritual I initially linked to, it says "I call to the Goddesses of Air, the Goddesses of the East" etc etc.

Do I want to replace all of the terms "Goddess" with HGA? Or keep the Goddess term in the ritual but also add the devotion/invoking of my HGA at some point in the ritual? (probably the beginning?)

After a trip to a local metaphysical store this weekend I have all of the items needed for the ritual, I'm thinking of swapping out the Frankencense oil for Crowley's Abramelin oil.

Ok so that makes sense to me. I think I would want to invoke/devote this to my HGA, since it is my connection to the divine and the most personal of all spirits/entities that I could associate with & call upon.

So for instance in that cleansing ritual I initially linked to, it says "I call to the Goddesses of Air, the Goddesses of the East" etc etc.

Do I want to replace all of the terms "Goddess" with HGA? Or keep the Goddess term in the ritual but also add the devotion/invoking of my HGA at some point in the ritual? (probably the beginning?)

After a trip to a local metaphysical store this weekend I have all of the items needed for the ritual, I'm thinking of swapping out the Frankencense oil for Crowley's Abramelin oil.

Ah, not exactly. The HGA isn't a spirit/being that you simply invoke when you need it to do something. You first need to attain knowledge and communion of the holy guardian angel, sometimes called agathodaimon, in that case. Until then, it isn't that it is not there, just that you have no grace by which to invoke it, ask anything of it, etc. - that's the purpose of the long drawn out process of attaining that communion in the first place, so that you will have that grace and can interact with it directly. Until then, it is still the go between, it's just up to the HGA whether it will do so in any given situation or not. It is complicated, so if it seems confusing then you're probably on the right track.

For right now, let's assume you have no inherent grace or authority.

Here's my suggestion. Start off with an invocation to the Divine Eternal - that power that is beyond all deities, beyond causality, at the very root and source of creation. Do it however you want to but recognize during the invocation that this power is omnipresent, omnipotent, omni-everything. It both is, and contains, all of creation. It doesn't see you, doesn't know you, it is entirely sublime. Invocation to this power is acknowledgement that there is a first authority, and that it is inherently present in all places at all times - hence, it is in you and available to you in the way your blood is available to your cells. Does that make sense?

Then make offerings to deity. Consecrate a stick of incense, a cup of wine or spirits, and a small loaf of bread. Light the incense, pour the wine into the ground, break the bread open and bury it. The words don't matter as much as the intention behind them so you can just ad lib it and do just fine - just be sincere, you are giving these things to deity with the sincere desire to show your appreciation and, frankly, to curry favor. It's okay, this is expected.

After making offerings, proceed with the ritual as written but instead of saying 'i bless this or that', use something like, "may this creature of silver be blessed by so and so, unto whom we have made offering of wine and bread and sweet purfumes..." etc. You're calling the trade - I gave you something, now you give me something.

What you're doing in the process is first identifying that there is a central authority that governs everything - the implacable, untouchable first, from which everything else, including the Gods, comes from. You're acknowledging that you and the gods come from the same place. Establishing this is important, because otherwise you're reaching across an impossible division between gods and men. Since you're made of the same stuff, you're a bit like family, and family helps one another out.

But, not for free. Hence the offering. The Gods, and most spirits, simply won't listen unless there is something in it for them. It's more complicated than a monetary transaction, but it's the same theme. There has to be an exchange, a sacrifice, to get anything. It's not proportional the way we think of exchange, but there has to be a meaningful exchange, and you'll get out of it what you put in.

Incense is universal, human culture is rife with indications that non physical beings devour scent. The liquid needs to be alcoholic or fresh milk. I assume you don't have a cow or goat. Again, everyone agrees on alcohol, milk, or blood. Bread is also universal, but just about any other fresh food would suffice. For best results, make it yourself. Bread is important because we can gather fuits and vegetables and then put them on the altar - but we're really just taking something from the gods and then giving it back. Bread, though, requires our intervention - we're giving them something touched by our own ingenuity and spirit. Since we don't live in an agrarian pre-modern society anymore, giving up part of the harvest isn't much of a sacrifice.

It is the nature of the intention and the devotion, the care and the sincerity behind the offering that is most important. Burn a personal, unique and irreplacable treasure, for instance, and that's as good or better than hand rolled incense, homemade wine and home baked bread from grain you ground into flower with your own hands and a rock. See?

Then during the ritual when you call upon deity to make this and such blessing and empowerment or whatever else, deity does so because you're family and that's what family does for one another. The offering isn't because the gods need anything from you. It's your acknowledgment that nothing is free, you aren't entitled to anything, and you respect them enough to make the exchange whether they need anything from you or not. It's a good policy with all spirits that aren't already commanded to serve without pay by the gods or some other power. Making offerings to those kinds of spirits is sort of like spitting at the gods and their mandates.

peace

Ok so with the Full Moon only 1 week away, I've been patiently awaiting this day after having to have the ring re-made as the first time it did not meet my expectations. In the mean time I have been gathering all ritual tools needed.

Myself & the altar should be setup facing East correct?

Should I just do a LBRP instead of the one I originally linked to? (which seems to be more Wiccan based)

If not I've edited the blessing that I originally linked to a few different ways based on things we've talked about & things I feel are better than what I linked to.





Anoint oneself with Abremelin Oil, forehead, heart & groin. Anoint all other pieces of the ritual including altar, Athame, dishes, bowls etc.

I devote this bread to you Divine Eternal - dig hole, break bread & bury it.
I devote this Wine to you Divine Eternal - pour wine from silver chalice next to bread.
I devote these sweet perfumes to you Divine Eternal (going to use Abremelin incense for this)

Take the pendant, ring, necklace, or earrings and place it into a bowl of tepid water and a little table or rock salt. If you have ocean water, that is great too. Swirl the stone three times counter-clock wise and say, "Energies foreign to me, no longer dwell in this talisman, and leave it be. What was once unknown, I make mine. Here, now, this place and time." Dump the salt water into the ground outside, rinse ring in fresh water & gently blot dry with a soft, clean cloth.

Take the stone and place it on a quartz cluster to charge on the middle of your altar as you finish setting everything up.

Anoint and charge the candle with the Abremelin oil. Place candle in holder. Set candle holder behind quartz cluster. Put the salt to the left of the quartz and set the water to the right of the quartz. Put incense behind the candle or off to the left back corner of your altar. Smudge and cleanse the altar and your altar space. Take up the talisman-to-be and smudge it. Place it back on the quartz. Light the incense. Cast a circle. Call and welcome the Elements and Invite and welcome the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Light the candle.

Pick up the talisman and turn to the East and say " I call to the Goddesses of Air, the Goddesses of the East, may this talisman of Silver & Lapis Lazuli be blessed by The Divine Eternal, unto whom I have made the offering of wine, bread and sweet perfumes, by the power of the mind, by the power of Your Words. I ask this with love and heart." Now, take the talisman and wave it 7 times into the incense smoke and say, "I bless this pendant by the Power of Air." Draw an invoking Unicursal Hexagram over it with your athame.

Turn to the South and say, "I call to the Goddesses of Fire, the Goddesses of the South, may this talisman of Silver & Lapis Lazuli be blessed by The Divine Eternal, unto whom I have made the offering of wine, bread and sweet perfumes by the power of Your authority, strength, and truth. I ask this with love and heart." Take the talisman and *quickly* pass it through the flame of the candle and say "I bless this pendant by the power of Fire." Draw and invoking Unicursal Hexagram over it.

Turn to the West and say, "I call to the Goddesses of Earth, the Goddesses of the West, may this talisman of Silver & Lapis Lazuli be blessed by The Divine Eternal, unto whom I have made the offering of wine, bread and sweet perfumes by the power of Your Earthly body. I ask this with love and heart." Take the stone and dip it quickly in the salt and say, "I bless this pendant by the power of Earth." Draw an invoking Unicursal Hexagram over it.

Turn to the North and say, "I call to the Goddesses of Water, the Goddesses of the North, may this talisman of Silver & Lapis Lazuli be blessed by The Divine Eternal, unto whom I have made the offering of wine, bread and sweet perfumes by the power of the nurturing energies of Your Womb. I ask this with love and heart." Take the stone and dip it quickly in the water and say, "I bless this pendant by the power of Water." Draw an invoking Unicursal Hexagram over it.

Hold the talisman in your hand and say, "Oh Great Maiden, I ask thee to bless this talisman by the power of creation, the power of new beginnings, the power of independence."

"Oh Great Mother, I ask thee to bless this talisman by the power of manifestation, the power of responsibility, the power of the energies of the Universe."

"Oh Wise Crone, I ask thee to bless this talisman by the power of insight, the power of wisdom, the power of magick."

Draw an invoking Unicursal Hexagram over the talisman and place it onto the quartz again and say, "This stone, gift from the Earth Mother, is now blessed with love and power. Energies of positive light now be infused and sealed in tight. So mote it be!"




How does that sound?

One of the steps says to "Cast a Circle" - do I do this with salt or with the Athame?

I took out the pentagram & am going to use a Unicursal Hexagram - what do you think about that?

I also added the passage through the incense smoke of 7 times

Do I still want to leave the last line of "I bless this pendant by the Power of Air" the same?

And when they say to draw an invoking pentragram/Unicursal Hexgram over "it" are they referring to the talisman or the incense, water, salt & candle?

I know that the original cleansing & charging ritual was more wiccan based, so it is always calling on the "goddess" do I want to keep that, change it to god or the Divine Eternal?

This post has been edited by JohnnyScience: Nov 21 2012, 01:58 AM

Ok so with the Full Moon only 1 week away, I've been patiently awaiting this day after having to have the ring re-made as the first time it did not meet my expectations. In the mean time I have been gathering all ritual tools needed.

Myself & the altar should be setup facing East correct?

I would say that this depends on the nature of the operation. What exactly are you intent on accomplishing here? The ritual doesn't seem to indicate the nature of the enchantment intended.

Should I just do a LBRP instead of the one I originally linked to? (which seems to be more Wiccan based)

If performing a banishing beforehand is what you normally do, and it works for you, then yes. I recommend in general making a small offering - just some incense will do - to the local spirits that might inhabit the place and asking that they accept the offering and cede to you dominion over that space for the purpose you intend. Then banish, which deals with the other powers and spirits that might not want to leave. This will keep you on good terms with the good stuff, and they may even assist your operation. In any case, the claiming of space is a special act and this offering acknowledges that you recognize the fact that the space isn't simply yours for the taking inherently.

If not I've edited the blessing that I originally linked to a few different ways based on things we've talked about & things I feel are better than what I linked to.
Anoint oneself with Abremelin Oil, forehead, heart & groin. Anoint all other pieces of the ritual including altar, Athame, dishes, bowls etc.

I devote this bread to you Divine Eternal - dig hole, break bread & bury it.
I devote this Wine to you Divine Eternal - pour wine from silver chalice next to bread.
I devote these sweet perfumes to you Divine Eternal (going to use Abremelin incense for this)

Something along the lines of "May the Divine Eternal bless this operation, that I may know my true will at this time and at all times." Doesn't have to be that, but it's a variation on what I use.

Take the pendant, ring, necklace, or earrings and place it into a bowl of tepid water and a little table or rock salt. If you have ocean water, that is great too. Swirl the stone three times counter-clock wise and say, "Energies foreign to me, no longer dwell in this talisman, and leave it be. What was once unknown, I make mine. Here, now, this place and time." Dump the salt water into the ground outside, rinse ring in fresh water & gently blot dry with a soft, clean cloth.

Take the stone and place it on a quartz cluster to charge on the middle of your altar as you finish setting everything up.

Anoint and charge the candle with the Abremelin oil. Place candle in holder. Set candle holder behind quartz cluster. Put the salt to the left of the quartz and set the water to the right of the quartz. Put incense behind the candle or off to the left back corner of your altar. Smudge and cleanse the altar and your altar space. Take up the talisman-to-be and smudge it. Place it back on the quartz. Light the incense. Cast a circle. Call and welcome the Elements and Invite and welcome the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Light the candle.

These are tradition specific notes, so take them as you will. The placement of these elements needs to be purposeful. If you're placing air in the east, then the incense should go there, salt should go to the west, water to the north, candle to the south. Or you can arrange them by internal reckoning, representing that the altar and the space inside the circle is the inner microcosm wherein the work is actually taking place, and use another arrangement - like the pillars of the tree of life, or some such. Otherwise, invoke/invite the elements from their places, into their places.

You also don't need to smudge the area - the talisman is already prepared by the earlier part, and the space has already been claimed and banished. Cast the circle before doing the LBRP. You can use a staff, a besom, an athame, or pour salt - doesn't really matter but I'm personally a believer in physically making a circle. Different strokes, but making the circle is part of claiming the space. The banishing then cleanses that space, and then the work is done inside the claimed and cleansed space.

Pick up the talisman and turn to the East and say " I call to the Goddesses of Air, the Goddesses of the East, may this talisman of Silver & Lapis Lazuli be blessed by The Divine Eternal, unto whom I have made the offering of wine, bread and sweet perfumes, by the power of the mind, by the power of Your Words. I ask this with love and heart." Now, take the talisman and wave it 7 times into the incense smoke and say, "I bless this pendant by the Power of Air." Draw an invoking Unicursal Hexagram over it with your athame.

Turn to the South and say, "I call to the Goddesses of Fire, the Goddesses of the South, may this talisman of Silver & Lapis Lazuli be blessed by The Divine Eternal, unto whom I have made the offering of wine, bread and sweet perfumes by the power of Your authority, strength, and truth. I ask this with love and heart." Take the talisman and *quickly* pass it through the flame of the candle and say "I bless this pendant by the power of Fire." Draw and invoking Unicursal Hexagram over it.

Turn to the West and say, "I call to the Goddesses of Earth, the Goddesses of the West, may this talisman of Silver & Lapis Lazuli be blessed by The Divine Eternal, unto whom I have made the offering of wine, bread and sweet perfumes by the power of Your Earthly body. I ask this with love and heart." Take the stone and dip it quickly in the salt and say, "I bless this pendant by the power of Earth." Draw an invoking Unicursal Hexagram over it.

Turn to the North and say, "I call to the Goddesses of Water, the Goddesses of the North, may this talisman of Silver & Lapis Lazuli be blessed by The Divine Eternal, unto whom I have made the offering of wine, bread and sweet perfumes by the power of the nurturing energies of Your Womb. I ask this with love and heart." Take the stone and dip it quickly in the water and say, "I bless this pendant by the power of Water." Draw an invoking Unicursal Hexagram over it.

You've invited the powers of the elements and the goddesses here, and asked the divine eternal and the local spirits to aid and assist and give their assent for the operation to go forward. Now that everyone is here, I would say, "Let this pendant be blessed by the power of Water." etc. That is why those powers are called there, to give that blessing.

Hold the talisman in your hand and say, "Oh Great Maiden, I ask thee to bless this talisman by the power of creation, the power of new beginnings, the power of independence."

"Oh Great Mother, I ask thee to bless this talisman by the power of manifestation, the power of responsibility, the power of the energies of the Universe."

"Oh Wise Crone, I ask thee to bless this talisman by the power of insight, the power of wisdom, the power of magick."

Exactly.

Draw an invoking Unicursal Hexagram over the talisman and place it onto the quartz again and say, "This stone, gift from the Earth Mother, is now blessed with love and power. Energies of positive light now be infused and sealed in tight. So mote it be!"
How does that sound?

Give thanks for the blessing of the assembled powers. This is the final aspect of an exchange - gratitude. It seals the exchange, you could say. Imagine if someone gave you a gift and you said thank you, and then handed something to them and they held it and said nothing and then walked away. That incomplete feeling is energetic, though it doesn't have to be sealed with words, the gratitude should be represented in some way.

I took out the pentagram & am going to use a Unicursal Hexagram - what do you think about that?

I also added the passage through the incense smoke of 7 times

Both of these things depend on what they mean both to you and in the context of the ritual. They don't have inherent power except for the metaphysical line the draw from the phenomenal world, through the symbolic, and into the unconscious to move the energy from one plane to another. That's what ritual magic does and why there is a science and order to it that, while flexible, needs to have everything represented in terms of the movements that must take place. Pentagram is elemental, hexagrams are normally planetary. Seven is the number of venus, an also the underworld, and associated things. Seven Sins, seven Virtues, etc. So think about what seven is actually there for and how it relates to what you want to accomplish. Four elements and Three goddess aspects, for instance, is an acceptable connection, but don't just use seven because it's a famous number.

And when they say to draw an invoking pentragram/Unicursal Hexgram over "it" are they referring to the talisman or the incense, water, salt & candle?

I know that the original cleansing & charging ritual was more wiccan based, so it is always calling on the "goddess" do I want to keep that, change it to god or the Divine Eternal?

Over the talisman, the symbol is the invocation of said power into the object. Opening a kind of 'door' over it through which those powers reach and touch the thing.

Goddess is the nature, the vessel, the ongoing movement, the creative aspect, the substance. God is the law, the governing rhythm, the 'math' in nature, and so on. Which you call upon is up to the nature of task, and you can call upon both without offending either. They are both operational forces, however. Divine Eternal is an acausal force - you appeal to it's ultimate authority and substance, but it can't be invoked the way the god and goddess can. The offering at the beginning is sort of like setting up a chain of command and making sure everyone knows where they stand. God and Goddess both serve the Divine Eternal.

These notes are all based on my own ritual work - ultimately take them or leave them but in time you'll likely come to your own understanding and find your own way. So think about it for a bit.

Also remember that the key to ritual magic is in simplicity - by which I don't mean that it is short and uninvolved, but that every part has a specific purpose and is done for a reason; from the nature of the tools, to the direction you walk in the circle to cast it or move around and the number of steps you take on the way there. Picking something up with one hand or the other, etc. The more specific and necessary each bit is, the more powerful the ritual becomes, and the more clearly you act out your intention.

The circle is both the universe, over which you now have influence, and the inner world, where the energetic movements that your ritual represents are taking place. Consider the ritual in this light, and examine each element for it's meaning in the context of the whole. This will help you understand what order to do everything in, how to do them, and what they mean as far as what they are accomplishing within you and in the world around you. Why is the ring in the center of the altar on the crystal cluster? What does it mean for it to leave the center, recieve blessings, and then go back? What does the ring signify in terms of archetypal powers within you, and what does it mean for that power to make the same journey around the circle and the elements?

You can execute a ritual without much thought, and from template, and that will work. For it to work exceptionally well, you need to maintain a full awareness of what you are doing the entire time, and to do that you need a thorough understanding of what you are doing and why. Get those things, and the ritual cannot not work beyond your expectations.

peace and good luck!

Let me first say, I really appreciate your in-depth conversation... you've really opened my eyes & helped me understand a lot of things.

I'm going to be performing this under a full moon in a field by my place Wed night around midnight so I hope the elements hold up & don't blow the incense & candle out completely. I also hope it isn't freezing!

I've also ordered the best Dragons Blood, Frankincence, Myrrh & Abremelin resins for this available and also top tier Abremelin Oil among a couple of other tools, silver plated chalice etc. I'll be using RO/DI water which is the purest water with 0ppm. Got some really nice citrus Sangria & have organic flour & organic sugar I'm going to make a nice mini-loaf of bread with.

I want to make the offering inside of my circle correct?

As far as the purpose of the ritual with the ring? Obviously to cleanse it but then to also turn it into a talisman for protection, power, wisdom & perhaps even luck. Also helping to unlock my 3rd eye even more, which I feel is already very very open & Lapis Lazuli is already an enchancer/activator of the 3rd eye and silver is one of the best conductors & also offers protection etc. I'm hoping to infuse that into it through this entire ritual. I don't know what else to add to the ritual to charge it any more.

I have maybe about 2 cups of salt from the local witch shop (that is now closed down sadly) Even with reserving enough to do the ritual, I should have enough to make a very faint circle around an area.

1) So I will make the circle around myself & the tools.

2) Then do a LBRP

3) Set up the altar & tools

4) Then make the offering

5) Then do the main ritual

6) Finish with another LBRP correct?

I hope I get everything right. I'm going to be using my iphone as part of the tools to help me along as there's no way I'll remember it all with out messing up. I'm sure I will still even mess some things up. I just hope I can pronounce the names properly like in the LBRP.

I'm going to take out the 7 passes & just do a single pass through the elements.

I'm also going to switch the hexagrams back to pentagrams.

Crowley states doing a hexagram above & below you to complete the cube, I understand how you can do the one above you, but for the one below you do you just kind of step back & do it in front of you?

This post has been edited by JohnnyScience: Nov 26 2012, 04:09 AM

Let me first say, I really appreciate your in-depth conversation... you've really opened my eyes & helped me understand a lot of things.

I'm going to be performing this under a full moon in a field by my place Wed night around midnight so I hope the elements hold up & don't blow the incense & candle out completely. I also hope it isn't freezing!

I've also ordered the best Dragons Blood, Frankincence, Myrrh & Abremelin resins for this available and also top tier Abremelin Oil among a couple of other tools, silver plated chalice etc. I'll be using RO/DI water which is the purest water with 0ppm. Got some really nice citrus Sangria & have organic flour & organic sugar I'm going to make a nice mini-loaf of bread with.

I want to make the offering inside of my circle correct?

As far as the purpose of the ritual with the ring? Obviously to cleanse it but then to also turn it into a talisman for protection, power, wisdom & perhaps even luck. Also helping to unlock my 3rd eye even more, which I feel is already very very open & Lapis Lazuli is already an enchancer/activator of the 3rd eye and silver is one of the best conductors & also offers protection etc. I'm hoping to infuse that into it through this entire ritual. I don't know what else to add to the ritual to charge it any more.

That's an awful lot to place on one talisman. Generally, a talisman is focused on one purpose, or maybe just two or three closely related purposes. Focus on the third eye association as this inherently leads to/assists with the others. Also consider the difference that comes to mind between 'unlocking' your third eye and 'attuning to' your third eye. Your third eye is not locked, or closed, or inactive, you just don't have clear contact with it. Probably this talisman will require that you go through a lot of karma if it works, so keep that in mind as well. If not focusing on ajna, focus on Wisdom - remember that Solomon is said to have asked for nothing else.

Make the offering first, before anything else. First to the divine eternal, and then incense for the spirits of the place to co-opt their house for your ritual. Then circle, banish, altar, ritual, and you really don't need to banish afterwards. Its such common practice but there's no reason for it. Breaking the circle separates Inner/Outer into their proper places and is plenty. However, if banishing again makes you feel that you've completed the ritual, then do so.

I hope I get everything right. I'm going to be using my iphone as part of the tools to help me along as there's no way I'll remember it all with out messing up. I'm sure I will still even mess some things up. I just hope I can pronounce the names properly like in the LBRP.

Uh uh. No. If you want to do this, do it right - do MAGIC, and do it like a MAGICIAN.

You could write a thousand words of gibberish with the intention that they represent some act of magic, and memorizing and reciting them would be more effective than reading your ritual from any kind of page, or iphone, etc. Memorization tells your brain that what you're doing is important. Read it, and you'll forget just about all of it within a few weeks, if not sooner, because it was never important to your mind in the first place.

I know you want to do this soon, but I highly, highly recommend memorizing the ritual and the words. It seems like a lot of work and you'd think it would take a long time - and these can both be true, but frankly don't you think the assembled powers will have a bit more respect for the work that you put into everything if you take the time to focus singularly on executing the ritual from memory? These things do matter. More than that, memorizing a ritual and becoming comfortable with it means that A - you will be more focused on actually doing it instead of simply reading it off a page, which WILL change how your consciousness is connecting with the ritual; and B - it will become part of your long term memory and you will have a better apprehension of the ritual all together on a deeper level.

Memorize and practice the ritual ahead of time, even if you have to wait until the next full moon - the benefits far, far outweigh the inconvenience of having to do a little hard work. Hardly anyone bothers to memorize ritual elements any more and it's downright shamefully lazy for a magician who wants to direct the forces of creation to balk at learning his/her lines. I went to serpent stone up in Tennessee for Samhain this year, and in the main group ritual the guy 'playing' Uriel couldn't have been bothered to memorize the lord's prayer in latin, which, aside from the awful mish mash already going on, is a poem that is only fifty words long and there is no excuse for reading it off a crumpled slip of paper.

If you feel that I'm scolding you, that's fine - I am. Be a magician, have these arcane things nested in your brain, suck it up, and do the work as though it were important. The ritual isn't just the words and actions on their own - it's everything leading up to them, the mindset you cultivate just before, the work that goes into the preparation, because the moment you begin to think you might do this is the moment that the universe begins to watch you. Which is why the effects of an act of magic sometimes start showing themselves before the ritual is actually performed. Again, I cannot say enough, it is absolutely worth it to practice, practice, practice, until you can rattle of the whole thing without thinking about it ten times while cooking eggs and standing on one foot. I had to recite the bornless invocation more than a hundred times stumbling through the thing before I was finally able to execute it smoothly. The difference? The invocation is now more than just the words, and it comes from a deeper place. Read it a thousand, or ten thousand times, and it won't do the same thing as if you learn it by heart.

Learning the rituals or reading them off the page is a significant difference between a serious magician and a dabbler who may not even believe the work will do anything in the first place. Believe, have faith in yourself and the powers that aid you, and commit the thing to memory. It isn't that long.

I'm going to take out the 7 passes & just do a single pass through the elements.

I'm also going to switch the hexagrams back to pentagrams.

Crowley states doing a hexagram above & below you to complete the cube, I understand how you can do the one above you, but for the one below you do you just kind of step back & do it in front of you?

Imagine standing in the center of it. I draw them quite large.

Additionally, it would be worthwhile to memorize invocation to the Divine Eternal, Gods and Goddess, local spirits, offering prayers, etc., for common use in many rituals. It's not as hard as you think. Write one that's just a few lines lone - mine are only about 70 words on average - and recite it out loud from the page line by line; read, close eyes, recite, three times. Read the second line, recite three times, recite the two together, and so on. You'll have the thing memorized in hours, then recite it mentally as a whole over and over again until you can think about something else while you say it. That is when you know it is beginning to become ingrained.

Memorization isn't hard, there's just a way to do it that works and a lot of other ways that don't. Associate each line with a gesture, and repeat the gestures when you actually perform the invocation, etc. This is another great way to connect the words to you directly, to both your body and mind.

I completely understand & agree with you. I probably should have practiced more before hand. I'm a bit of a "winger" and have been most of my life. I realize that magick isn't something to "wing" though.

I would take more time, but honestly this may be the last full moon... we knows what lies ahead of us behind 12/21/12 so I was hoping to have this talisman in place.

I am studying all tonight & tomorrow to get the LBRP down pat. It's really not that long of a ritual & should not be that hard to memorize.

Based on your feedback I have also decided to make this talisman one of protection & wisdom.

This post has been edited by JohnnyScience: Nov 27 2012, 08:48 PM

I completely understand & agree with you. I probably should have practiced more before hand. I'm a bit of a "winger" and have been most of my life. I realize that magick isn't something to "wing" though.

I would take more time, but honestly this may be the last full moon... we knows what lies ahead of us behind 12/21/12 so I was hoping to have this talisman in place.

I am studying all tonight & tomorrow to get the LBRP down pat. It's really not that long of a ritual & should not be that hard to memorize.

Based on your feedback I have also decided to make this talisman one of protection & wisdom.

Good luck to you! I'll be sure to make an offering with the hope of your success.

Well to give an update, things went fairly well, a bit clumsy because of my novice level. I did f%*! up the closing LBRP and forgot half of it for whatever reason & left the circle, once I realized I fucked it up & went back to the exact spot & did a closing LBRP.

All in all it was a good ritual under a beautiful, clear & bright moon with all of the proper tools & elements.

Thanks again for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

If anyone is interested in a great text memorization technique, check out the link below.
http://www.productivity501.com/how-to-memorize-verbatim-text/294/

It is tremendously effective for poems, speeches, incantations, or whatever else. If you doubt it's efficacy at all, get two poems of equal length. Memorize the one with the technique, and the other without. Also, the more you practice the technique, the better you get at it. I remember memorizing some of Shakespeare's sonnets, spending only ten minutes each. (This was after quite a bit of practice, though.)