Ancient Egyptian Magic

Magicians

In Egyptian myth, magic (heka) was one of the forces used by the creator to make the world. Through heka, symbolic actions could have practical effects. All deities and people were thought to possess this force in some degree, but there were rules about why and how it could be used.Priests were the main practitioners of magic in pharaonic Egypt, where they were seen as guardians of a secret knowledge given by the gods to humanity to 'ward off the blows of fate'. The most respected users of magic were the lector priests, who could read the ancient books of magic kept in temple and palace libraries. In popular stories such men were credited with the power to bring wax animals to life, or roll back the waters of a lake.Statue of Sekhmet © Real lector priests performed magical rituals to protect their king, and to help the dead to rebirth. By the first millennium BC, their role seems to have been taken over by magicians (hekau). Healing magic was a speciality of the priests who served Sekhmet, the fearsome goddess of plague.Lower in status were the scorpion-charmers, who used magic to rid an area of ​​poisonous reptiles and insects. Midwives and nurses also included magic among their skills, and wise women might be consulted about which ghost or deity was causing a person trouble.Amulets were another source of magic power, obtainable from 'protection-makers', who could be male or female. None of these uses of magic was disapproved of - either by the state or the priesthood. Only foreigners were regularly accused of using evil magic. It is not until the Roman period that there is much evidence of individual magicians practising harmful magic for financial reward.

Techniques

Detail from an ivory wand © Dawn was the most propitious time to perform magic, and the magician had to be in a state of ritual purity. This might involve abstaining from sex before the rite, and avoiding contact with people who were deemed to be polluted, such as embalmers or menstruating women. Ideally, the magician would bathe and then dress in new or clean clothes before beginning a spell.Metal wands representing the snake goddess Great of Magic were carried by some practitioners of magic. Semi-circular ivory wands - decorated with fearsome deities - were used in the second millennium BC. The wands were symbols of the authority of the magician to summon powerful beings, and to make them obey him or her.Private collections of spells were treasured possessions, handed down within families.Only a small percentage of Egyptians were fully literate, so written magic was the most prestigious kind of all. Private collections of spells were treasured possessions, handed down within families. Protective or healing spells written on papyrus were sometimes folded up and worn on the body.A spell usually consisted of two parts: the words to be spoken and a description of the actions to be taken. To be effective all the words, especially the secret names of deities, had to be pronounced correctly. The words might be spoken to activate the power of an amulet, a figurine, or a potion. These potions might contain bizarre ingredients such as the blood of a black dog, or the milk of a woman who had born a male child. Music and dance, and gestures such as pointing and stamping, could also form part of a spell.

Protection

Headrest of a scribe protected with protective deities including the god Bes, who warded off evil demons from the headrest's owner as he slept © Angry deities, jealous ghosts, and foreign demons and sorcerers were thought to cause misfortunes such as illness, accidents, poverty and infertility. Magic provided a defence system against these ills for individuals throughout their lives.Stamping, shouting, and making a loud noise with rattles, drums and tambourines were all thought to drive hostile forces away from vulnerable women, such as those who were pregnant or about to give birth, and from children - also a group at risk, liable to die from childhood diseases.Some of the ivory wands may have been used to draw a protective circle around the area where a woman was to give birth, or to nurse her child. The wands were engraved with the dangerous beings invoked by the magician to fight on behalf of the mother and child. They are shown stabbing, strangling or biting evil forces, which are represented by snakes and foreigners.Supernatural 'fighters, such as the lion-dwarf Bes and the hippopotamus goddess Taweret, were represented on furniture and household items. Their job was to protect the home, especially at night when the forces of chaos were felt to be at their most powerful.Bes and Taweret also feature in amuletic jewellery. Egyptians of all classes wore protective amulets, which could take the form of powerful deities or animals, or use royal names and symbols. Other amulets were designed to magically endow the wearer with desirable qualities, such as long life, prosperity and good health.
HealingMagic was not so much an alternative to medical treatment as a complementary therapy. Surviving medical-magical papyri contain spells for the use of doctors, Sekhmet priests and scorpion-charmers. The spells were often targeted at the supernatural beings that were believed to be the ultimate cause of diseases. Knowing the names of these beings gave the magician power to act against them.Since demons were thought to be attracted by foul things, attempts were sometimes made to lure them out of the patient's body with dung; at other times a sweet substance such as honey was used, to repel them. Another technique was for the doctor to draw images of deities on the patient's skin. The patient then licked these off, to absorb their healing power.Acting out the myth would ensure that the patient would be cured ...Many spells included speeches, which the doctor or the patient recited in order to identify themselves with characters in Egyptian myth. The doctor may have proclaimed that he was Thoth, the god of magical knowledge who healed the wounded eye of the god Horus. Acting out the myth would ensure that the patient would be cured, like Horus.Collections of healing and protective spells were sometimes inscribed on statues and stone slabs (stelae) for public use. A statue of King Ramesses III (c.1184-1153 BC), set up in the desert, provided spells to banish snakes and cure snakebites.A type of magical stela known as a cippus always shows the infant god Horus overcoming dangerous animals and reptiles. Some have inscriptions describing how Horus was poisoned by his enemies, and how Isis, his mother, pleaded for her son's life, until the sun god Ra sent Thoth to cure him. The story ends with the promise that anyone who is suffering will be healed, as Horus was healed. The power in these words and images could be accessed by pouring water over the cippus. The magic water was then drunk by the patient, or used to wash their wound.

Curses

Though magic was mainly used to protect or heal, the Egyptian state also practised destructive magic. The names of foreign enemies and Egyptian traitors were inscribed on clay pots, tablets, or figurines of bound prisoners. These objects were then burned, broken, or buried in cemeteries in the belief that this would weaken or destroy the enemy.In major temples, priests and priestesses performed a ceremony to curse enemies of the divine order, such as the chaos serpent Apophis - who was eternally at war with the creator sun god. Images of Apophis were drawn on papyrus or modelled in wax, and these images were spat on, trampled, stabbed and burned. Anything that remained was dissolved in buckets of urine. The fiercest gods and goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon were summoned to fight with, and destroy, every part of Apophis, including his soul (ba) and his heka. Human enemies of the kings of Egypt could also be cursed during this ceremony.Magical figurines were thought to be more effective if they incorporated something from the intended victim, such as hair, nail-clippings or bodily fluids.This kind of magic was turned against King Ramesses III by a group of priests, courtiers and harem ladies. These conspirators got hold of a book of destructive magic from the royal library, and used it to make potions, written spells and wax figurines with which to harm the king and his bodyguards. Magical figurines were thought to be more effective if they incorporated something from the intended victim, such as hair, nail-clippings or bodily fluids. The treacherous harem ladies would have been able to obtain such substances but the plot seems to have failed. The conspirators were tried for sorcery and condemned to death.

The Magic of Words - from the book Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism

The birth of language was the birth of humanity. Each word was the sound-equivalent of an experience, connected with an internal or external stimulus. A tremendous creative effort was involved in this process, which must have extended over a vast period of time; and it is due to this effort that man was able to rise above the animal.If art can be called the re-creation and formal expression of reality through the medium of human experience, then the creation of language may be called the greatest achievement of art. Each word originally was a focus of energies, in which the transformation of reality into the vibration of the human voice - the vital expression of the human soul - took place. Through these vocal creations man took possession of the world - and more than that: he discovered a new dimension, a world within himself, opening upon the vista of a higher form of life, which is as much beyond the present state of humanity as the consciousness of a civilized man is above that of the animal.
Mantra AvalokiteshvaraThe presentiment of the higher state of existence is connected with certain experiences, which are so fundamental, that they can neither be explained nor described. They are so subtle that there is nothing to which they can be compared, nothing to which thought or imagination can cling. And yet, such experiences are more real than anything else we can see, think of, touch, taste, hear or smell - because they are concerned with that which precedes and includes all other sensations, and which for that reason cannot be identified with any of them. It is, therefore, only by means of symbols that such experiences may be hinted at, and these symbols again are not invented arbitrarily, but are spontaneous expressions, breaking through the deepest regions of the human mind.
The forms of divine life in the universe and in nature break forth from the seer as vision, from the singer as sound, and are there in the spell of vision and sound, pure and undisguised. Their existence is the characteristic of the priestly power of the seer-poet (of the kavi, who is drashtar). What sounds from his mouth, is not the ordinary word, the shabda, of which speech is composed. It is mantra, the compulsion to create a mental image, power over which IS, to be as it really is in its pure essence. Thus it is knowledge. It is the truth of being, beyond right and wrong; it is real being beyond thinking and reflecting. It is "knowledge" pure and simple, knowledge of the Essential, Veda (Greek "oida", Germean "wissen", to know). It is the direct simultaneous awareness of the knower and the known. Just as it was a kind of spiritual compulsion with which the seer-poet was over-powered by the vision and word, thus, for all times, wherever there are men who know how to use mantra-words, they will possess the magic power to conjure up immediate reality - be it in the form of gods or in the play of forces.
In the word mantra the root man = "to think" (in Greek "menos," Latin "mens") is combined with the element tra, which forms tool-words. Thus mantra is a "tool for thinking", a "thing which creates a mental picture." With its sound it calls forth its content into a state of immediate reality. Mantra is power, not merely speech which the mind can contradict or evade. What the mantra expresses by its sound, exists, comes to pass. Here, if anywhere, words are deeds, acting immediately. It is the peculiarity of the true poet that his word creates actuality, calls forth and unveils something real. His word does not talk - it acts!
OMThus, the word in the hour of its birth was a centre of force and reality, and only habit has stereotyped it into a mere conventional medium of expression. The mantra escaped this fate to a certain extent, because it has not concrete meaning and could therefore not be made to subserve utilitarian ends.But while the mantras have survived, their tradition has almost died out, and there are but a few nowadays who know how to use them. Modern humanity is not even able to imagine how profoundly the magic of word and speech was experienced in ancient civilizations and the enormous influence it had on the entire life, especially in its religious aspects.
Mount KailashIn this age of broadcasting and newspapers, in which the spoken and the written word is multiplied a millionfold and is indiscriminately thrown at the public, its value has reached such a low standard, that it is difficult to give even a faint idea of ​​the reverence with which people of more spiritual times or more religious civilizations approached the word, which to them was the vehicle of a hallowed tradition and the embodiment of the spirit.
The seer, the poet and singer, the spiritually creative, the psychically receptive and sensitive, the saint: they all know about the essentiality of form in word and sound, in the visible and the tangible. They do not despise what appears small or insignificant, because they can see the great in the small. Through them the word becomes mantra, and the sounds and signs of which it is formed, become the vehicle of mysterious forces. Through them the visible takes on the nature of symbols the tangible becomes a creative tool of spirit, and life becomes a deep stream, flowing from eternity to eternity. "

by Lama Anagarika Govinda

There is Magic and Power but Not What You Think It is

There is a profound, what can only be called, "magic" when you access the Source of Creation. Many have sought this power and magic for years. However, it is not magic as mind understands magic. The term "magic" is used here for what you access is something that appears magical to mind. To mind what is accessed is unexplainable and / or too much to be believed as possible. Yet it is real and something that can be use in your creative endeavors.
To mind, magic is seeming to have control over, or foresight of, natural events and / or forces of nature. This control is often seen as being obtained through things like the ritual or invocation of supernatural forces or agents. Miracles tend to be seen a magical because they are not explainable by what mind knows and understand. The abilities of mystics, prophets, psychics, certain kinds of non traditional healers, shamans and the like are often seen as having magical powers and / or abilities. But there is nothing really magical about them. They are explainable if you have the necessary understanding.
The necessary understanding lies around understanding the word control. Mind and ego want to control. Yet, to access the power of the Source of Creation we must surrender control. We must learn how to surrender control to the flow of energy that is giving rise to the creation we experience and / or desire to experience to access that power.
Believe it or not, when you look at some of the traditional effects magic is reported to have been capable of producing and compare it to modern science, modern science has access some pretty remarkable magic. The world has been significantly changed because of what science has been able to accomplish. But science is not magical. It is based on observation of the principles and "rules" which govern Physical Creation and then applying those same rules to create what is desired. What is important to note here is the magic is not found in the intervention of supernatural forces as would obtain in a spell or invocation. Rather, the magic is found in observation and understanding. In applying the understanding you can obtain through observation, you may find yourself performing many actions that appear to be very ritualistic to create the proper conditions for what you desire to occur. To one who doesn't understand, what you do will appear like magic.
The point that is made here is that many seek magic and magical powers that are suggested by illusionists and what we read in stories and myths. Whether the stories and myths are about God, heros, and / or miracles, many seek control over their world and their life with superhuman power and ability to get what their mind wants. Many seek a Universal Creative Power that is more like Santa Clause who fulfills your wish list or the genie that comes out of a bottle who grants your wishes.
However, if you access the Source and work with the Source on its terms you can access seemingly magical powers. But there are not superhuman. Rather they are available all the time and accessible to each of us and are explainable with the correct understanding. You only need to observe them and then apply them. We only have to learn how to go within, learn to understand the language of the inner world and then act on what we find. The key is to understand the language of our own unique inner world.
The simplest magic that you have already experienced is synchronicity. There probably have been events in your life that appear magical to one degree or another. There are more intriguing forms of what people would call magic such as the ability to see through time and into the past or the future and those characterized as the siddhis in the Eastern Mystical traditions.
However the real magic comes in two ways. One is our ability to access creative ideas that we can then manifest into physical form as matter or as a physical experience. In essence it is the ability to create something - a physical thing or a physical experience - from nothing - an idea with no physical form. In this regard, our bodies are creativity machines or a creative vehicle. They are a vehicle that we use to connect the unseen and intangible world of energy and our creative imagination to a physical expression of that energy and / or thought in an experience. It is making the word flesh.
The other magic is understanding. There is a magic in understanding. Understanding is the key to the creative ideas you seek and anything you wish to create. With the proper understanding, there is no magic. There is only the obvious results and unfoldment of the given starting conditions. This is an extremely important realization. Because of the understanding we do not currently possess, we assume the understanding we have is correct and certain things are impossible. Or, if they can occur they are magical or require magic. To see and access the real magic of the Creation, one only needs to stand back, observe and look to understand and it will be revealed to you. Then you can see for yourself what is really important. The pieces that most of us have failed to do is to look and observe both within and without to understand our own unique inner language and what it is trying to communicate.

The Book of Ceremonial Magic by A.E. Waite

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The Rituals of the Pentagram and Hexagram

The rituals of the Pentagram re use for directing the principle Elements of the material world (Assiah), matter-energy matrix closest to our consciousness, and the outer-materially directed personality of this incarnation. It is through directing and purifying to some degree these Elements, that we can begin to turn our attention inward and have the Vision of our Higher Self, or Holy Guardian Angel, that exists in Kether, communicated with in Tiphareth, and reflected to us in the subconscious of Yesod.
The ego, or self-created image of self in relation to the material world is completely dominated by these rituals, and through them, we can adjust our sense of self, so that we may direct our energies toward Self. When this is done, we not only can converse with our Holy Guardian Angle, but realize that we and it are one and the same.
The pentagram rituals can also be used in this same respect for creating material conditions that are to our advantage, as well as spiritual advancement. They can be used to create an near material environment for the sustaining of planetary forces as well. In this aspect, the several rituals are often combined.
The planetary rituals of the Hexagram represent the manipulation of inner and outer planetary forces through our own psychic centers. They can result in direct physical manifestations of body or environment, or in interior experiences of an initiatic nature. Such initiations signify an expansion of consciousness, and increased activation of the psychic centers involved, and possible generalization of the effects to other centers. For example: a solar ritual will bring increased activity to the psychic 'heart' center, but also to the pineal gland in the brain as it is solar in nature. A lunar ritual will bring increased memory and mental clarity, but also will stimulate the nervous system, and psychic centers generally, as well as cyclic sexual impulses. A Venus ritual will stimulate the kidneys, sexual impulses, and increase ones sense of beauty, harmony, and artistic expression. It will also add power to all of the psychic centers as a result of Venus' 'prism effect' on psychic energy if directed properly, and increase the flow of love to the heart.
Thus, each planet has its specific and general effects, as well as manifestations on the mental, emotional, and material planes. As we increase in awareness, and contact more consciously the various planetary spheres within us, they will appear to take on an almost objective existence. In these semi-objective states, we can contact others of a similar vibration, or communicate with the various 'beings' of the invisible world. These worlds also have degrees of density, hence the use of Elemental attributes in the vertical mode of expression. The densest world is Malkooth / Assiah, with each of the planets having a 'home' in the Quarters, and Yetzirah is more subtle and given the attribute of Water, with its own special relationship to the Planets. Next, there is Briah, with its Airy, expansive nature, and peculiar relationship to the planets, and finally, Atziluths fiery nature, from with the previous worlds are but denser and more stable expressions. Just as our consciousness shifts in its relationship to things when it moves to the astral from the material, it shifts again when it moves from the lunar astral to the solar astral, or mental worlds; and again when the move is from the Mental to the Spiritual.
These shifts can best be explained as going from object relationships (material), to subject relationships (I-Thou), to direct relationships, and finally identity relationships. On earth we view things as objects separate from us. In the lunar astral we experience them a objects, but with a relationship to them. In the Solar astral, we experience a thing directly, that is we know it. In the Spiritual realm, we are it.
This helps to explain some of the statements made about kundalini experiences in yoga, as well as the mystical experiences of other esotericists. In kundalini, or Secret Fire experiences, the aspirant often talks of being 'one with creation', or having the ability to look inside the nature of things. This would indicate that the energetic impulses being released are expanding awareness to the level of Briah. When the final level is reached, Atzilooth, we become like the Bibical Enoch "who walked with God and was no more".
This framework also helps explain why many magicians succeed or fail at magic. The identity of 'another' doing the work for us, is a very materialistic approach to magic. Later on, after experiencing the reality and illusions of the astral worlds, the direct, or personal relationship is built, in which the magician sees the powers being directed as aspects of his or her self, and not exterior to their being. This form of expression is more akin to the level of the adapt, but also the mystic, and practitioner of yoga who visualized the chakras as inside their body and not exterior worlds, as in Western Pathworking. At some point however, all of these various viewpoints merge, and systems become blended in the experiences and evolving psyche of the disciple. The difference is more as a point of origin, not as a final destination.

Note of Caution!! It is very important that all of the following exercises are preceded by a period of prayer and devotion to the Cosmic and that their fruits be offered as gifts to the Creator. They must also be started by invoking the energy from above in some fashion, be it the Qabalistic Cross, the Middle Pillar, the Clavis Rei, or simply as a beam of light coming from above, entering at the Crown, and terminating at the base of the spine or feet depending on your posture. This is critical of any negative side effects are to be avoided or minimized, as only energy radiating from Kether can be contacted with out creating an imbalance in our system. Here, we seek to use this energy to repair imbalances, not forget it, and inadvertently create new ones. Also, at the end of each meditation, return the energy to the Cosmic either imaginatively, or by offering the fruits of your spiritual labor to God.

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Salt, Saturn, Sexual Ecstasy, and Spiritual Bliss

"The heart girt with a serpent is my Name!" Chaldean Oracles
Salt is a symbol of wisdom and learning. Saturn, is associated with Ouroboros, the Great Serpent biting its tail, symbolic of limitation. As such it is closely allied with the earth, but also all of material creation, and those things which border on non-being, or Eternity. In one 15th century manuscript, the serpent is made of two colors, red and green. Red is outside and green is inside. Green, the color of Nature and of Venus, is the beginning of the Work. Red, the color of the Stone, and Mars, is the end of the Work.
"Sapiens dominabitur astris." The wise shall exercise dominion over the stars. As we correct the astrological imbalances (ie psychic centers or chakras) within ourselves, astrological conditions outside have less of a negative effect on us. We gain dominion over the 'stellar' forces and can "make the sun shine in our oratory when we will it so."
The seventeenth century pupil of Jakob Boehme, Gichtel placed the cosmic spiral, or "Wheel of Nature" within the human body. J.G. Gichtel's Theosophica Practica, 1898. Saturn is the crown, Jupiter the brow, Mars the throat, Sun with a serpent around it, the heart, Venus liver, Mercury the spleen, and Moon the sexual organs, or in straight theosophic decent down the Tree. It is the Heart with a serpent that attracts our attention. Here he also places the Element of Fire.
Egyptian initiates were also called scarabs because they pushed along the egg of their regeneration.
Mysteria Magica, vol 3 The Magical Philosophy: The brow included in the Middle Pillar (called: Clavis Rei [1st Formula] The Rousing of the Citadels) and the color scale varies with each center. An additional use of the rising twin serpents of the Caduceus are included at the end. The brow is attributed to Saturn, and is said to balance out the Yesod center, as well as add power to the remaining centers in the Middle Pillar as the Golden Dawn and Aurem Solis present it.
Alchemically, Salt is derived from the union of Elemental Earth and Elemental Water (or Assiah and Yetzirah), the Secret Fire is 'hidden' in the Salt (material body) and represents the unconscious, instinctual forces that seek release. It is sometimes called "Hellfire" in that if uncontrolled, or poorly released, it can reek havoc on the body and psyche of the student, via its purifying effects. This is illustrated by the 31st Path, or Path of Fire, sometimes mistaken for "Purgatory" or "Hell" by the un-regenerated who pass through this Path after death. This Path is also under the direction of Mercury and Shin, the symbols of spiritual guidance and evolution. For those interested in Notarikon, Shin shares the same numerical value, 300, as the Hebrew phrase, "The Spirit of the Living God."
"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." Matthew 3:11
The letter Shin is often used in meditation as a symbol of Divine light, life, love, or presence. It is imagined above the head, just touching the crown, then inside the head proper (as it is associated with intelligence and the energy of the nervous system in the Sepher Yetzirah), descending into the heart, and finally, expanding from there to engulf the meditator in a sea of ​​fire. Because it consists of three flaming Yods, or tongues, it is sometimes associated with the flaming tongues of Pentecost, and a variety of Trinitarian concepts.
Several possible interpretations are available to use regarding this statement: One suggests that John the Baptist was initiating repentance as well as entrance into the watery world of Yetzirah, but that Jesus, was offering a path of initiation into the fire of the Soul, or full adepthood. A second interpretation is that John was offering initiation up the 29th Path, or the Path of Water; while Jesus was offering the harder and more rigorous Path of Fire, or the 31st Path to his disciples. Neither of these is a definitive answer, only a modern kabbalistic attempt to understand Scripture in the context of initiatic practices. The mention of the Holy Spirit is more informative however, as this phrase was adopted by the Jews during the period of the Babylonian Captivity and represents the origin of Persian and Chaldean influences on Jewish mystical beliefs.
The term Holy Spirit (Ruach Elohim) is derived from the Zend Avesta, and the phrase, Spenta Mainyu, or "Holy (Creative) Spirit". The creative power is implied and not stated in the original, an appears to be lost in subsequent translations into modern languages ​​via Jewish and Christian traditions. This Spenta Maiynu is a purifying and regenerating energy and intelligence with a cosmic host of six or seven intelligence's at its command.
"It [Spenta Mainyu] is the self-realizing quality or activity of Ahura Mazda (the Good Mind); it is the self-generating energy that leads to the creation and evolution of the universe. Spenta Mainyu is dynamic and creation is an ongoing process. For Zoroaster, holiness meant also abundance, growth, and health. Spenta Mainyu represents the principle of augmentation and development in the universe. "(F. Mehr, p.29)
This power and their beings comprise the Mathrem, or Mathra, literally, 'the sacred word of power', which is the basis for the development of the practice of mantra in India and "Words of Power" in the Middle East and Egypt. Manthrem or Mathra is in its own right held to be the supreme mantra from which all others are derived, in the same fashion as YHVH is the origin of all Hebrew Divine Names. This is mentioned because in Persia and Babylon, the convergence of what would develop into semi-independent Eastern and Western esoteric practices is complete. In one respect, it could be said to be the original home of yoga, kabbalah, alchemy, and magic as we know them. Period art and architecture shows winged creatures familiar to Jewish and Egyptian tradition, planetary diagrams, an early version of the Tree of Life, and several variations of the intertwined serpent motif.

The Gardnerian Book of Shadows

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Arousing the Sleeping Serpent

"Just as Moses lifted up the flaming serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that all who believe may have eternal life in him. " John 3:14-15

The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram is often the first ritual learned by aspiring magicians. Its function is to teach the basic mechanics of solitary ritual, and to give a basic technique whereby destructive energies maybe repelled or dispersed from the sphere of influence of the operator. The symbols used in the ritual are fundamental to other rituals of a more complex nature, however, to disregard the Lesser Ritual as somehow less effective is a mistake. A ritual, no matter how simple or complex is only as effective as the skill of its operator. Repeated use of the LRP is can be more effective than incompetent or irregular use of more sophisticated rites.
In total, there are approximately six fundamental rituals used in Western occultism reflecting an influence of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: 1) the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram 2) the Supreme Ritual of the Pentagram 3) the Lesser Ritual of the Hexegram 4 ) the Greater Ritual of the Hexegram and 5) the Rose + Cross Ritual. The use of The Flashing Sword appears to be irregular, however it will also be considered along with its companion exercise or, The Rising Serpent.
Within these, the use of the Middle Pillar is optional, it is however, the Middle Pillar Exercise which does the most to purify the bodily energies, or Vital Energy, and make pathways for the release of the Secret Fire.

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Read - Witchcraft Today By Gerald B. Gardner

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Read - The Rosie Crucian Secrets by John Dee

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The Hermetic Library

The collection

The Hermetic Library was created in 1996, in the early days of the commercial Internet, and is one of the most comprehensive and popular resources on the Internet for the kind of information in its collection. Hermetic.com is justifiably famous, and perhaps a little infamous, as the source for an amazing collection of information useful to every researcher and student of esoteric studies and the modern Western tradition. Many students over the last decade found their start and much information useful to them by perusing the materials of The Hermetic Library and started their own electronic libraries by downloading pages and pages of content for their use and research.
The collection is, by and large, of a spiritual focus but not the areas of spirituality that you will generally see within the mainstream of American culture. The collection at the library houses materials related to hermeticism in a broad sense.

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The Hermetic sound

The Hermetic Library audio pool is a participatory place for sharing sounds and music of a living Western Esoteric Tradition. Music and performance can be a form of ritual and magick. Works and artists have long been inspired by the ideas of Western Esotericism and Mysticism. This group is to help create a space for sharing, music and other audio, and connecting with artists who feel drawn to these topics and ideas, or, especially, incorporate and manifest ritual and magick in their works.

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Rituals & Spells

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Nature Spirit Magic

Introduction

Each plant, animal, rock, and other entity has a spirit (consciousness resonance matrix). These spirits can join together, in a hive-mind, as a spirit of an area. Nature spirits include real biological intelligences, are psychically powerful, and are much less abstract and controllable than the Elementals that many magical people who perform all of their rituals indoors are familiar with. They can be extremely powerful allies. It is possible to sense nature spirits, to determine if they are receptive to a ritual planned, and to have them actively participate in magical workings if they are.
Some Effects Of Working With Nature Spirits
Spectacular physical manifestations can happen when working with nature spirits in the wild. I have personally seen actual foxfire mark the boundaries of a magic circle at a location that was identified as a receptive power spot and attuned to a planned ritual the day before. I have seen more than one site attuned for ritual be dry and comfortable, with a round hole in the clouds overhead, on days that were cold and rainy at other nearby locations. Birds have joined in rituals, flying around the circle when energy was being raised; and insects, birds and animals have joined in chants. In addition, the wind often responds to invocations. Generally, these spectacular manifestations happen unexpectedly.
With or without such manifestations, nature spirits often will channel tremendous amounts of power into the magic being performed. It is suggested that you do not consciously try for specific manifestations. Let Nature channel her power into the magic in her own way. If approached with respect, nature may give you many pleasant surprises.
Spectacular physical manifestations are not a necessary sign of success. If you need a spectacular manifestation and nature spirits know this, you will get it. The best success in magic is on the inner planes and more subtle than such manifestations. This success involves beneficial changes in consciousness that last and helpful chains of synchronicity. In addition, working with Nature Spirits can also bring a deep sense of partnership with Nature, and bring new levels of attunement.
To get the best results, perform nature spirit attunement several hours to several days before the main ritual. The purposes of such attunement are to find suitable power spots and to get the help of friendly nature spirits. This timing gives Nature time to gather her children and to prepare to actively participate in the main ritual.
What To Not Do
If nature spirits are approached with disrespect by attempting to command them rather than listening to them and inviting them to work with you, nature spirits may flee, rebel, or attack. I once attended a ritual by some pseudo-Crowleyites who attempted to perform the "Ritual of the Barbarous Names" at a power spot in a forest and then to extend the circle several hundred yards in all directions.
While the forest in general had loud insect and frog noises, the area at which the ritual took place got quiet immediately when the main ritualist declared that all spirits were subject unto him. The vibes from nature could best be characterized as "Oh yea, Mother!" One participant was quickly possessed by an angry spirit and kept repeating "You killed my children, your children will never live in peace." When the priestess stepped out of the boundaries of the original circle, she was attacked by bees; and bees covered the Book of the Law. Magicians should know better than to attempt to command spirits whose true names they do not know!
Calling Nature Spirits
To make the most out of working magical ritual in the wild, one should find power spots where nature spirits are receptive to the ritual planned and approach the spirits with respect, as equals. In my experience, the most effective power spots for working with the living intelligences of nature are located in wild areas with diverse, active ecologies.
When entering a wild area to find a site for a ritual, find a place that feels good. Then do the following, either individually or, if in a group, as a guided meditation:
Relax, while standing upright, and focus on your breathing. Breathe deep breaths from the diaphragm. Breathe together if in a group.
Feel the wind, and let it relax you and awaken your spirit within, as your deep breathing takes you into non-ordinary reality.
Picture, in your mind's eye, a light inside you. As you breathe, feel the light expand, purify and energize you - as it expands to fill your aura.
Feel yourself glowing, balanced, purified, and full of power.
Connect with your inner self (your higher self), and feel your intuitive self operating.
Feel yourself as:
The wind, full of life and intelligence, communicating with all round.
The Sunlight, warm, alive, channeling the power to communicate with nature and energizing all around.
Water, emotional, intuitive, refreshing, and connected with nature.
The Earth, and note how your physical body is able to wander while remaining part of Mother Earth.
Focus on your spiritual self, and:
Note the light within and feel it as love,
Expand the light and love beyond the immediate aura of your body to the surrounding area - where you will go to find a power spot and contact nature spirits.
Telepathically (by thinking while channeling the love and light energy) send out signals to nature spirits to emerge and be aware of your presence.
Say why you have come, and invite them to join in sharing, mutual celebration, and the work you intend.
Visualize the light and love energy you are channeling extending out and merging with the light from distant places.
Feel the power of the Earth flowing up through your body and feet.
Feel the power from the sky, and channel this power also to further energize the carrier signal of light and love for communicating with nature.
Visualize the light expanding and merging.
Continue to send out telepathic signals.
Now go deeper:
Close your eyes, sit on the Earth, and feel your connection while you channel more light and love.
Continue modulating the light and love with your thoughts - inviting receptive spirits to join with you and to make themselves known.
If in a group, someone should start playing a drum at a rate of about one beat per second; and you should listen to the drum and let the drum take you deeper.
Affirm that you are a nature magician, a medicine person, who knows and communicates with nature. Let this part of yourself emerge to full consciousness. Let the drum and the connection to your inner self awaken that part of yourself that naturally communicates with other life forms. Let it awaken your telepathic senses.
Continue sending telepathic signals to nature.
When you feel ready and an inner urge to begin, open your eyes a crack and look around, while continuing to channel love and light and telepathically calling for a response.
You may see light coming from certain areas that are receptive. You may get other signals, such as a feeling of power or love returning in a certain direction. Perhaps the type of response to this work will be unexpected; follow your intuition in interpreting it.
You may test your connection by communicating (mentally) instructions for signals for yes / no responses (such as light getting brighter for less and darker for no) and then mentally ask questions and observe the responses.
When you have found an areas that seems to be responsive and receptive, begin walking to the area, while beaming love energy. Extend your aura to the area and sense the energy.
Entering A Power Spot
Before entering a power spot, ask permission to enter. If the response is good, enter; if not, locate another more receptive area.
When entering the power spot, look around. Perhaps the responsive energy will be concentrated around some singularity (a bush, a tree, a specific branch, a moss covered rock, or other entity that stands out). Perhaps the energy will be more general. Use your intuition and feedback from the spirits to guide your actions.
If it feels right, send out a signal that you would like to touch the singularity (or the ground) for better communication. If the response is good, approach beaming love energy, and then touch or hug the singularity (or the ground).
Treat the spirits as you would other Pagans you meet for the first time - be sensitive, open, and listen.
Deepening Communication With Nature Spirits
Now that you have made contact with spirits that seem receptive, deepen the communication:
Breathe deep breaths from the diaphragm, and with each breath, feel more refreshed.
Now imagine that your spine is the trunk of a tree; and, from its base, roots extend deep into the Earth. Deep into the rich moist Earth.
With every breath, feel the roots extending deeper,
Feel the energy deep within the Earth and within the waters of the Earth. Feel your roots absorbing nourishment from the Earth and from its waters.
Feel the moist, warm energy rising.
Feel it bursting up from the Earth and rising up your spine, like sap rises in a tree.
Feel the energy rise to your crown chakra (at the top of your head).
Now imagine that you have branches, branches that sweep up and then bend down towards the Earth, like the limbs of a willow.
Feel the branches extending and interweaving with your surroundings.
Feel the warm, moist energy of the Earth flowing through your branches. As it flows, feel yourself being purified, centered, and connected to the Earth.
Feel the power from the Earth flowing through your branches and then down back to the Earth, like a fountain.
Note how your branches absorb energy from the air. Also, feel them receiving light (fire) from the sky.
Feel the energy from above penetrating deep through your body into the Earth.
Feel the warmth of the Earth rising also.
Feel the energy circulating.
Notice how your branches intertwine with the branches of energy surrounding you.
Feel the energy dancing among your branches and the branches around you.
Notice how your roots also intertwine with underground energy channels.
Feel the energy dancing between your roots and the surrounding energy patterns.
Notice how you and the life around you are rooted in the same Earth, breathing the same air, receiving the same fire, drinking the same water, sharing the same underlying essence. You are one with the magical grove.
Telepathically mention the time in the past when nature spirits and people communicated regularly and the need to establish such communication now.
Test your connection by asking questions and observing the responses.
Working With Nature Spirits
Explain to the spirits the purpose of your coming to them and the nature of the ritual you plan.
If the spirits you contacted are receptive:
Explain to them the details of the ritual and invite them to provide ideas.
Listen, you may receive suggestions on how to improve the ritual. Such suggestions may come in the form of hunches, visions, answers to yes / no questions using pre-arranged signals, or in other ways.
Explain what type of space is needed and ask what the best place to perform the ritual is.
You may see light or get other psychic signals leading you to other sites, or you may be at one of them.
You may also ask what the best places for other aspects of the planned work are (picnicking, individual vision quests, etc.).
If preparation of the site is needed (removing briars, preparing a fire circle, etc.) Ask permission of the spirits before proceeding with such action.
Before you leave the power spot, tell the spirits you have contacted when you plan to return to do the ritual (visualizing the associated lunar and solar aspects can help with this communication).
Invite them to join in the ritual when you return and to bring their friends.
Ask if it would be best to return silently, with drums, with chanting, or with some other form of approach.
You can also ask the spirits to provide guidance for working in balance and to provide a teacher to provide further guidance.
Before you leave the power spot:
Thank the spirits,
Channel love energy,
Trigger your memory of the experience, and
If it feels right, leave an offering of tobacco, or beer and honey poured on the ground (or other suitable material).
Leave in peace and love.
Proceed to other sites that were indicated by the spirits, doing similar meditations at each site.
If you need something, like a staff, a Maypole, or a wand, you can also ask where you can find it and follow the guidance you receive (not slavishly, but as you would guidance from another Pagan).
Before leaving the general area in which you found power spots and contacted nature spirits:
Channel love energy towards the receptive sites you found,
Thank the spirits of the land,
Pull back your roots and branches,
Ground any excess energy into the Earth (placing your hands on the Earth, breathe in any excess energy, and channel the energy down your arms, while visualizing and feeling the energy going into the Earth), and
Leave in peace and love.
Naturally, you should leave the area at least as clean, and preferably cleaner, than you found it.
If you work with techniques of Wicca or Ceremonial Magic, you may find that by casting a circle, calling the Elements, the Goddess, the Gods, and the local nature spirits while you are at receptive sites, you may be able to greatly increase communication .
Through the use of drums and other power raising techniques, it is even possible to energize receptive nature spirits. The results can be very interesting. If with a coven, such circles can be done as part of a group attunement to a power spot you have located.
If you do not get good feelings in response to your explanation of the ritual and are unable to come up with a ritual that gives good responses, do not try to force a good response. You would only be fooling yourself.
Thank the spirits for their attention.
Ask them why they are not receptive (if it feels right and they are communicative).
Trigger your memory.
Pull back your "roots and branches," return any excess energy you feel into the Earth.
If it feels appropriate, leave an offering of tobacco or other appropriate material, out of respect for the spirits.
Move to a more receptive site.
If it is hard to find a site that is really receptive, you should:
Consider any impressions you got of why the nature spirits weren't receptive in the area you were in, and re-think your plans for a ritual, as necessary and appropriate.
It may also be appropriate to look for another general area in which to find a suitable power site that is receptive to the work planned.
What To Do When Returning
It can be very powerful to purify and center yourself and to attune to the spirits of the land using the techniques previously described for calling nature spirits immediately upon returning to the site.
Often, individuals may have found small specific power spots to which they have a special attunement, where the spirits are interested in participating; but where the site is too small, has too much vegetation, or is otherwise unsuitable for the main ritual. Individual attunement to the spirits in such areas and inviting them to participate in the main ritual can be worthwhile.
Then approach the main ritual site using the previously arranged technique. You should have the details worked out with the spirits of the land. An exceptionally powerful technique involves doing a procession through or past receptive power spots, inviting nature spirits to join as you pass each power spot, and then moving to the central power spot for the main ritual. If participants are at individual power spots, they can join the procession as it passes nearby.
When consecrating space in the wild, or casting a circle, do not set up the perimeter as a barrier to all outside forces; it should be a beacon to attract friendly nature spirits, a container for holding magical power, and a barrier to spirits who it isn't right to be with.
One thing that is fun and worthwhile in nature is to bring instruments, such as a rattle, a flute and / or a drum, to tune in to nature's sounds, and to make music in time to nature's sounds. You may be able to get some very interesting back and forth exchanges of music going with selected creatures of the wild, and get into an amazing jam session.
After the work is complete, be sure to thank the spirits for their participation. Libations and other offerings may also be left for the spirits during and / or after the ritual.

Acknowledgments
There are other ways of working with nature spirits. This is one approach. The author thanks Selena Fox for teaching the basic guided meditation technique for locating and contacting nature spirits at a tranceworking session sponsored by the Chameleon Club (part of the Association for Consciousness Exploration) in 1981, Vicky Smith for editorial review of this article, Isaac Bonewitz for the outline of the expanded tree meditation, and Carlos Castenada, Black Eagle, Pasha, the Goddess, the Gods, and various nature spirits for teaching the rest of the good methods.

 by Larry Cornett

Read - The Witch's Master Grimoire

The Witch's Master Grimoire contains numerous spells and magical rites in an AZ format that are simple and easy to follow.

Many of Them make use of the power of fire through the flame of a candle. Others rely on the subtle vibrations of herbs, plants, and minerals. Those that require special oils or incenses also provide the recipes for making them.
Lady Sabrina also gives tips on the best and most productive times to cast spells. She recommends working with the phases of the moon, which can be found in The Old Farmers Almanac, or any good astrological calendar. The new moon should be used to begin projects, attract money, or regenerate friendships and health. During the full moon you should work on personal success, career, or love and marriage. Lastly, the waning moon phase is the perfect time to get rid of negative influences and bad situations.

The Witch's Master Grimoire by Lady Sabrina - Download

New Page Books, 2000 | 224 pages | PDF | 3.2 MB

Think of it as a referance book. Do you have a question on, say, what is a mirror box? Simply go to the letter 'M' in the book. There you will not only find out what a mirror box is, but why they are used and how to make one! Whether you are a seasoned Witch or new to the craft, this book will be a welcome, and very useful addition to your Magickal library.

Read - Modern Magick

"No one can give you magickal powers.

You have to earn Them.

There is only one way to do this:

Practice! Practice! Practice! "

Many magickal rituals will be given in these lessons for you to practice. These should aid you in your psychic and magickal development. However, even though thousands of people throughout history have successfully shown their proficiency in magickal techniques, quite frankly I cannot guarantee your success. This is because the ability to perform Magick successfully is dependent upon what you put into it. Many people, however, have told me of their great successes using the traditional techniques given in these pages.The best way to use this book is to go through it, page by page, studying each of the ideas and practicing each of the techniques as they come up.
Let me make clear at the outset that this course will not teach "BlackMagick." You will not be required to do anything contrary to your moral or ethical values. You will not be "summoning up" any demons, devils or evil entities.

Modern Magick  - Download

 

Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts by Don KraigLlewellyn Publications, 2nd edition, 2002 | 600 pages | PDF | 29,2 MB

What is forbidden, forbidding magic, witchcraft

To date, a raging desire to ban magic and sorcery, while confined to ban advertising of such. But let's look at the details of what is magic and how we use it without even knowing it.First, consider the items that will be included later in the draft ban:- Magic, witchcraft - a conscious effect on a person's will, event management, elements, energy in general.- Religion - a system of man's spiritual growth through the use of energy existing energetichiskih (angels, saints, etc.), akin to magic and Suschyam Lyarvam.- Suschi, Lyarvy, Angels, Demons, and others - are energy beings living in parallel with our physical dimension in the worlds of energy, with a limited consciousness. - Saints - is the residual energy, raised to the holy men of the same. As in witchcraft is cultivated only the residual part of the person who forcibly kept Lamentation or worship, and not having full consciousness before. Only has a memory of the past life. Spirit, the human consciousness - there is not delayed and goes after death. Because the Saints are the magical energy segment mindless creatures. Angels, sheer.- NLP, Advertising, Media, TV - all of these tools use the foundation effects on the human will, speculation, abuse and subjugation. Same as Witchcraft, only through the psychology subconscious.- Politics - This is the control of the masses, previously used by the priests (the orthodox religion.) The use of psychology, religion, media, and other tools to subjugate the masses and obnadezhivanie.- Egegor - here in the text - is the energy-informational structure formed of aspirations, thoughts, and ideas of the people.- The man in society - a person who falls under the influence of television, media and religion from an early age. Religion teaches us to obey, and a child unconscious spend a magical ritual "baptism", which connects to the religious egregore force, and has an effect on the mind, the life. Child locks childhood education, from freedom of thought, ability to see the natural energy, to feel at a distance, and so. (Magic).Considering further and deeper each of these points, and these we can see that the original Magic is all manifestations of human impacts in the area, and initially are fundamental elements of his birth. As with the 5 senses. I do not judge in this text is good and what is bad, but I have to touch the religion as rituals performed in the church - related to the occult, where also performed rituals, and was originally built on the principles of ancient shamanism: mass prayers, perform acts of worship, fetishes (icons, statuettes, power, etc.). Such rituals as the liturgy - a process shall communicate to the person trass state (hypnotic), through obscure monotonous singing and prayers.Wedding - a ritual similar spell of witchcraft performed voluntarily and forcibly connects people to each other, as seen in the Aura people. Unlike typical magical divination - in the wedding is performed voluntarily. We call this self-love spell. Podkyuchki go through the application egregor religion, and effectively only if sincere performance of the ritual by both parties.Religion MUST teach and explain all of this, as well as to teach members how and what is meant in the Bible, which does not perform as well. So people unwittingly conjures the guise of "holiness" and voluntarily give up their will to the Church. (As it is called Religion Sell Soul). Here is selling the soul of the Church. (Will his).While not denying the use of religion for the people, I am still touched the pitfalls of its working principles. Is this true - can be seen using modern scientific developments, and psychological analysis of the changes the aura fields, the events of those who came under the influence of religion, TV and media. There are many review articles by different authors speak about such phenomena.So let the brave man is not being interested soberly examine how everything works. And he remembers a businessman, what tricks he learned and uses business policies. Those who do not know and can not - turn to witches, specialists of NLP, hypnosis and other ..Barring Magic - We do not allow religion, psychology, marketing, television, politics, and more forcing the will of man!You should also affect Corruption - The human body - Aura are evil eye, damage, PROKLENU and other methods of destruction of the body of the aura, and with it the physical, through anger, aggression, cursing, just mental breakdowns. Means necessary to forbid and this is how the unconscious sorcery.In view of the aforementioned above mentioned already many violations of the constitution of any country. As: the killing, to which we unconsciously and consciously present at such a curse, mental breakdowns, a conscious influence on the will, and more.Are you called the Clean and not breaking the law, and not to use the Services Magicians in his life?Are you ready to admit under oath that no one attacked her crazy?Are you ready to admit that the business did not use NLP, and other types of psychological impact on consumers?Are you ready to admit that he never speculated trust, fraud, and so on?Are you ready to opt out of his life by renouncing the natural super-powers, and after them the 5 senses?When a country is to learn to be sincere, above all by itself, change the education first, and then the policy, and only then will a sober judge. So far, the lack of education of people in the natural sverhnavykov is indicative of the low level of development of the nation. And Religion and Society in more developed as a rational being Aboriginal.Knowledge in science are high, but only with respect to this era, and are low in comparison with the level of their ancestors 10,000 years or more ago. Quantum physics ostaetsya while most of her - fantastic for Scientists and natural for the Wizards.Conclusion:Ban Magic - an absurd decision, and contrary to the laws of life, existence, and not enforceable before the revision of educational programs, political and religious. Only after the reorganization of world perception, can any reasoned decision.