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- From: cranmer@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu
- Newsgroups: alt.magick
- Subject: Paul Clark's Intro Ritual Notes
- Message-ID: <15361.2b4c0c2a@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu>
- Date: 7 Jan 93 10:55:38 EST
- Organization: The Ohio State University, Department of Physics
- Lines: 159
-
- Hello,
-
- mike.mcaulay@spacebbs.com (Mike Mcaulay) writes...
-
- > -> Hmmm, I didn't know that ritual construction and magical theory
- > -> weren't "nuts-n-bolts" topics. One of my favorite old posts was one
- > -> by Paul Clark (are you still out there?) concerning introductory
- > -> ritual technique. Very practical and useful, IMHO.
- >
- > I would be very interested in reading that. If anyone has it archived
- > and is willing to to repost it or e-mail it I'd be grateful.
-
- Here it is...... Lots of practicalities too....
- {Notes in curly brackets are mine}
- ___________________________________________________________________________
-
- Subject: Back to Basics
- From: a-paulc@microsoft.com (Paul CLARK)
- Date: 23 Mar 92 23:37:01 GMT
-
- 93 again! This is yet another bit that arose out of private e-mail.
- We were discussing good sources for foundation education for the
- magician. The following were my suggestions, along with a bit on learning
- ritual:
-
- > 2.) Any book or other recommendations for how to accomplish the basics you
- > mentioned (see below). From the bit I know about magick, these basics
- > would be valuable for *any* type of magick practiced, and I hope to
- > learn them.
-
- I agree, they are the foundation of most forms of Western magick. Here
- are some sources which I've found helpful for the basics:
-
- Qabalah: The best introductory work is Dion Fortune's 'Mystical Qabalah'. It
- takes you from complete ignorance to a good understanding of the Sephiroth
- and how they are interrelated. This is Fortune's masterwork, based on her
- education as a Golden Dawn initiate.
-
- Having learned the ten Sephiroth, the next step is the twenty-two
- paths which connect them. I heartily recommend Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki's
- 'The Shining Paths'. This is a series of self-guided pathworkings for each
- of the twenty-two paths, plus workings for the Sephiroth. This will also
- teach you the meanings of the twenty-two Tarot Trumps which are attributed
- to the paths.
- {NOTE: there are many different versions of which trumps go with which
- paths! Do some checking around before settling on one.}
-
- Ritual: I hate to say it, but it really comes down to learning from someone.
- I mean this in a broad sense, though. For me the biggest help was just
- seeing someone else do it once or twice, then I went off and taught myself
- out of books. Once you get the hang of it, it's great to see others do them
- to get ideas and tips and see all the different ways you can do the same thing.
- This is another great asset to group participation. Having someone experienced
- to guide you at the beginning is invaluable if you're lucky enough, though!
-
- The basic rituals that I think of are: Lesser Pentagram (also called
- the LBR- everyone's first ritual :'), Lesser Hexagram, both of which are found
- in Crowley's Liber O, (in 'Magick in Theory & Practice' and 'Gems') as well
- as in the Golden Dawn material (Regardie's 'Complete' Golden Dawn in one of
- its many editions), and in practically every beginning book on magical work.
-
- If you are a Thelemite, or are interested in Thelemic magick, the next
- logical step is from the LBR to the Star Ruby, which is Crowley's version of
- the Pentagram in Greek, using Thelemic forms rather than traditional
- archangels. Once you've mastered the LBR, doing the Star Ruby is like switching
- to rocket fuel.
-
- From here there are many Thelemic rituals to learn- Liber Resh, which
- is an adoration of the sun (or of the solar part of yourself, your HGA) to be
- done at dawn, noon, sunset, and midnight. Even if you are working in a
- completely different tradition, doing regular adorations of the sun is great!
- Also- Liber Reguli, which contains a banishing along with an invocation of the
- Thelemic current; and others- the primary ones are contained in 'Magick in
- Theory & Practice'.
-
- As far as learning rituals goes, the steps I think of are: first,
- just walking through the ritual, script in hand, and getting through the
- whole thing with any materials, setup, etc. called for. Don't imagine anything
- wrong with not having it memorized at first.
-
- Next, having the words, gestures, steps, etc. memorized, so you can
- perform the whole thing without looking at the script.
-
- Next, having the whole ritual under your belt, so you can do it
- on autopilot, without having to think about what to do next. At this point
- it really gets interesting, because you can devote your attention to
- noticing what is going on, making connections with the symbols used, etc..
-
- Next, learning to do the ritual in your head, with your eyes closed,
- visualizing the place, gestures, words, etc. With concentration, this should
- become nearly as intense as actually walking it out. This also really serves
- to improve your technique when you do actually walk it out.
-
- Next, doing the ritual with your eyes open, even while you're actually
- doing something else. This 'being in two places at once' can be extremely
- valuable, especially for banishings- doing a banishing in the elevator on
- the way to an interview, for instance, or getting in a near-accident on the
- highway and then banishing to cool your nerves and prevent it from happening
- again. Be careful you know what you're doing before doing ritual while you
- drive, though. If it distracts you at all, don't do it.
-
- Beyond this- for me it's experimental. Ideas about doing ritual very
- quickly, so you put a whole banishing in one gesture, etc- I've heard of
- people who could do this.
- {NOTE: I hear that Regardie spend the last few decades of his life
- trying to 'compress' some of the G.D. rituals in this manner.
- Does anyone know of his results?}
-
- These are just the various stages I go through when learning ritual.
- Note that ritual does work even from the very first stage! And it's not
- neccesarily implied that you have to go through all those stages in order to
- use the ritual, or at all. Some rituals you may not need to do more than read
- the script, I suppose.
-
- It's interesting to read Crowley's account of his trek across China.
- because he was doing the Abramelin operation at the same time, composing
- and performing Liber Samekh in his head. While he rode across the monotonous
- landscape on a donkey, in his mind (or 'astral form'?) he was in his temple
- at home in Boleskine, doing invocations.
-
- This also points out the value of setting up a temple for yourself.
- It may be that you will outgrow the need for it, but at first it is invaluable
- to have a temple space which you routinely use. Quickly you get the hang
- of which direction is which, (East is towards the window, North is by the
- stairs, etc.), and when you start learning to do the ritual in your head, that
- makes it very easy to visualize the directions.
-
- Your own temple is very important, but it need not be difficult to
- arrange. The main criterion is not size, shape, etc. etc., but whether
- you can effectively keep people out when you want. For many years I
- used my living room, and just locked the door, unhooked the phone, and
- moved a few chairs when I wanted to work. If you have housemates, however,
- this would be a bad idea (unless they are also magicians and completely
- sympathetic to the idea of being shut out sometimes). Better to use your
- bedroom.
-
- If you are a Thelemite, it's easy to make a temple- just putting a
- stele of revealing in the Northeast corner works wonders. If you don't want
- to paint your own, I suggest making a color xerox enlargement of the color
- plate in the new edition of 'Equinox of the Gods'. The correct dimensions
- are given in the appendix to 'Holy Books of Thelema' (Equinox III:9). From
- there, the rest of your temple furnishings are up to your imagination and
- inspiration- the fun begins!
-
- /\
- / \
- \`-./ \,-'/
- \ /`. ,'\ / ---------------------------------------------
- X >< X Paul Clark a-paulc@microsoft.com 93 93/93
- / \,' `./ \ ---------------------------------------------
- /,-'\ /`-.\
- \ /
- \/
-
- ___________________________________________________________________________
-
- Have fun!
-
- Steve Cranmer
-