The Unsorted BBS Collection/thegreatunsorted.tar/thegreatunsorted/texts/txtfiles_misc/magick07

Text File | 1990-10-01 | 12KB | 245 lines

                 ** MAGICK 7 -- BASIC RITUAL **

       "The first part of every ceremony is the banishing;
                    the second the invoking."
                  (--Crowley, Magick, p. 104)

It may be said that ritual is the very heart of magick.  For it
is through ritual that we achieve our magical results.  Ritual is
a magical procedure or ceremony we perform in order to change the
environment.  Usually we think of ritual as bearing on active
magick, although certainly, it can also affect passive magick.
Most often the change achieved is subjective (it may be subtle)
and in the physical world.  Outsiders may put them down to
coincidence, but the effects are very real.  Magical goals for a
ritual should not be taken lightly.

The successful practice of magick depends upon strong belief.
The simplest ritual of them all must be belief itself.  If you
can believe in your desired results strongly enough, that act is
a magical ritual which will achieve your results.  Even a very
complex ritual is no more effective than strong belief.  There
are aids to concentration which may help.  Thus in "creative
visualization", imagination and controlled breathing are brought
into play.

                     CREATIVE VISUALIZATION

When you want to magically achieve something, first picture it
clearly in your mind.  The more definite and specific your idea
of what it is the better.  Picture yourself having it or doing
it.  Visualize it as vividly and as intensely as you can and hold
it in your thoughts for a few moments.  Concentrate on it
intensely (it may help to hold your breath).  Feel the energy of
desire welling up inside you.  Then suddenly feel the image or
desire released from your mind.  Feel the energy filtering
through the image and intensifying it, as if the image is a
"stencil".  Imagine the energy exploding out from you into the
macrocosm in all directions at once, and feel the universe "tilt"
as it reacts to the force.  (At the same time it may help to
release your breath suddenly).  Feel the energy draining from
you.  Finally, "believe" that your purpose "has" been
accomplished; that it HAS HAPPENED, perhaps saying something such
as "so mote it
be", or "it is done".

                  THE BASIC PARTS OF A RITUAL

Often rituals are more formal than the above, but any full magick
ritual must always reduce to these stages -- 1) imaging; 2)
building; 3) firing.   Sometimes a ritual must be repeated every
day for a while to achieve difficult results or to overcome weak
belief.

▄j▄î                       THE MAGICK CIRCLE

Often an important part of formal ritual is the magick circle.
Medieval magicians considered the circle essential, and placed
great emphasis upon its exactness.  Elaborate designs were
invented with many layers of complex symbols and words.  It was
very important that the circle be completely intact with no
breaks in it.  The magician and any other participants stand in
the circle during ritual.  The ritual began with a banishing of
evil forces (using the lesser ritual of the pentagram for
example) to keep them outside the circle.  Today, circles are
made on the floor with chalk or paint, rock salt, or a rope.
Whatever its form, the circle is still an important part of
magical protection for the magician.  This is especially
important for aversive entities and purposes.  The circle also
helps in focusing the energy of the ritual toward its purpose,
that is, it keeps it contained until the magician is ready to
release it.  Of course, the magick circle is basically only a
symbol, but it may eventually be possible to supplement the
circle with electronic equipment for a similar purpose.  We are
researching the practicality of electrostatically charged Faraday
shields.

                      ARTIFICIAL ELEMENTALS

An artificial elemental is useful for certain tasks: 1) invisible
watcher and observer, telling you what it sees; 2) psychic guard;
3) it can be used in healing; 4) it is helpful in other ways.
Ophiel calls the artificial elemental a "familiar".  Producing
your own artificial elemental is fairly easy.  YOU MUST ASSUME
THAT THE ACT HAS PRODUCED RESULTS, EVEN IF YOU DO NOT IMMEDIATELY
OBSERVE THEM.  It is entirely possible to produce one of these
little beasties and not know it (not being clairvoyant enough to
observe it directly).  Therefore, and this is a general principle
of any magick, never ignore forces you have set into motion.
Even though you may not see the elemental, you may nevertheless
"feel" it.

WARNING -- Do not use artificial elementals for any kind of
aversive magick at this point; they can be nasty little critters
to get rid of.  Should you have to eliminate one of them which
you created in error, you must re-absorb it back into yourself
through your will; or in some cases you can "exorcise" it.

             HOW TO CREATE AN ARTIFICIAL ELEMENTAL

You can create your own artificial elemental for various
purposes.  An artificial elemental is basically a thought form
which has been strengthened with emotion.  Refer to the aura
color chart in the previous lesson and decide what color to make
the elemental, based upon your intended purpose.  Apple green is
a good choice for general purposes.  Then decide on a shape or
outline.  Do you want your elemental to resemble some sort of
animal? A simple circle or cloud is a good place to start.  With▄j▄îthis in mind you can use ritual to create your elemental.
Creative visualization is good for this.  Visualize it glowing
before you.  A darkened room is helpful for this.

Communicate with your elemental with telepathy, by talking to it,
or with creative visualization.  Your artificial elemental is
closely linked to you and your subconscious attitudes.  It will
generally not do things you think it cannot do.  As in any
magick, results relate to effort and belief.  Another way of
looking at an artificial elemental is as an aspect of your
personality (sub personality) which has been detached from you.
▄▄                           INVOCATION

Formal ritual usually involves the invocation (ritually calling
up) of a god or goddess, spirit, or other entity.  In this sense,
magick is somewhat similar to pagan religion and witchcraft.
However, we consider magick ritual a technique, not a religion.
Worship need not be involved. Sometimes the invocation of an
entity creates an artificial elemental.

Crowley says there are three different kinds of invocation --1)
Devotion to the entity (as in the Bhakti yoga of the Hare Krishna
sect; the Faustian devil pact).
2) Ceremonial invocation -- usual method of the middle ages.  3)
Drama -- usually needs more than one person (as in a mass).

Because of the microcosm-macrocosm identity, when you invoke the
gods, you are invoking aspects of yourself.  Jung has referred to
the gods as primitive archetypes.  This makes it sound like
spiritual entities are illusions.  But in fact the
microcosm-macrocosm identity does not discredit the gods and
goddesses.  It instead helps to illustrate our relationship to
the cosmos.

                          >>CAUTIONS<<

1. Balance is important in magick.  Vary the entities invoked in
order to keep your personality in balance.
2. Often as not, a ritual may produce side-effects. It will
usually something similar to, though not exactly the desired
goal.  If the true goal is delayed (as sometimes happens) we may
see the side effects first.  And if for some reason the goal is
not achieved at all ("missing the target") the side effects may
be pronounced.  Examples: 1) You use magick ritual to hurry
shipment of an anticipated package in the mail.  Side effect --
the next day an unexpected package (the wrong one) arrives
instead.  2) You use magick ritual to cause a certain person to
phone you.  Side effect -- for several days all sorts of people
phone you...The sides effects will not affect you (or anyone
else) adversely unless that is what you inwardly want.
3. We may say with certainty that "something always happens" when
we perform a magick ritual.  But like everything else, magick
follows the "law of results".  This means that results require
effort of some kind.  And if you don't work hard enough at it you
don't get results.  Difficult goals have greater resistance
(magical inertia) to overcome.  If the ritual doesn't produce the
desired results there is a good chance that the reason for the
failure is within ourselves.  Be certain there is no
contradiction between your model and your magical goals.
Sometimes self doubt and mental contradictions (wanting and not
wanting at the same time) may interfere.  The first step in
magick is to re-program your model.  And, of course you can help
your magical results by working on the physical level toward your
goals.  Don't expect them to fall into your lap by themselves.
4) A peculiar quality of magick is time displacement.  Results of▄j▄îa ritual are not usually instantaneous.  There is often a delay
of 12 hours or more.  Difficult tasks or weakly performed ritual
are more likely to be delayed.  In most cases a slight delay is
alright, and it gives us time to get used to the coming changes.
And sometimes the effects of a ritual appear to extend to before
the ritual was performed!
5) Because of the way magick works, a ritual may create an
emphasis in what is sought, and a de-emphasis in everything else.
Balance is therefore important here.  Once the magical result is
achieved it may be "bound" to you and difficult to get rid of
should you later decide to do so.  Example: You use a magick
ritual to help you find and buy a new house.  Years later when
you decide to sell it, you are unable to do so.  Consider your
magical goals wisely so you don't get stuck with something you
don't really want.  Note that theory says you can always unbind
through ritual what was bound to you...theory says.
6) Sometimes the environment appears to react against the magick
after the results are achieved.  This is particularly noticeable
in using magick to affect the weather (and the main reason why
you should NOT use magick to affect the weather).  For
example...Your performance of a ritual to produce a sunny day
produces a sunny day.  The next day is sunny, alright, but the
rest of the month is cold and overcast.  Here the weather seems
to react to the magick in the opposite way to re-establish its
natural balance.  It is something like pushing a pendulum to one
side and releasing it -- the pendulum swings to the other side.
To quote Emerson -- "For everything you gain you lose
something...".  I don't know that this is always true in magick,
but it does illustrate the point.  And another reason not to use
magick to affect the weather is that it might foul it up in other
parts of the country (world??).
7) Finally, magick ritual (or any magick or occultism) is very
dangerous for the mentally unstable.  If you should somehow "get
out too far", eat "heavy foods" as previously discussed (lesson
on chakras) and use your religious background or old belief
system for support.  But remember too, that wierd experiences are
not necessarily bad experiences.

▄N▄REVIEW QUESTIONS

1) What is creative visualization?
2) List the basic parts of a ritual.
3) What is invocation?

RESEARCH TOPICS (for independent study)

1) Examine the differences between western magick and oriental
 magick.
2) How do medieval grimoirs follow the basic ritual pattern?  3)
Research and design your own formal ritual.

BOOK LIST

P.E.I. Bonewitz, Real Magic.
David Conway, Magic: an Occult Primer (or Ritual Magic).
Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice.
Denning and Phillips, Creative Visualization.
Ophiel, Creative Visualization.
A.E. Powell, The Astral Body.
________, The Mental Body.
Joseph Weed, Wisdom of the Ancient Masters.
Julian Wilde, Grimoire of Chaos Magick.

========
Phil Hansford, 4/88
Mysteria
[phone] (modem)
P.O. Box 83
Tujunga, CA 91042


Copyright (c) 1988 by Phil Hansford. This article is licenced for
free non-commercial distribution only.