Constructing and Consecrating Amulets:

 Constructing and Consecrating Amulets:

 

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

Before explaining the procedure I use to design and consecrate amulets, I would like to say that one cannot effect change in the world around him and that the only change that can be hoped for is to change ourselves. We can’t miraculously change the weather or get a better salary with the help of spirits and anyone who says you can, should be viewed with suspicion. Even though this is the case, amulets still have a place in the life of the magician and may serve as tools for uniting ourselves with the higher aspect of our natures and attain greater equilibrium as a result.

When making amulets I use the magick squares of Cornelius Agrippa. I would paint, carve or draw a square associated to a particular sephirah on one side and a sigil of either the spirit with the corresponding names of that particular sphere on the other side. Or I can design a sigil of the name of the person which the sigil is supposed to have an effect on, I do this by using the Hebrew qabalah or more specifically the Qabalah of Nine Chambers. Firstly; as there is only one person I can affect with this there is only one sigil I would need to construct using this method and that sigil is the one that corresponds to my name.

The way to construct a sigil of myself is to figure out how I would spell my name in Hebrew, work out the numerical value of each letter as it corresponds to the Qabalah of Nine Chambers and link the numbers on the magickal square I’ll be using, thereby superimposing it onto the square and drawing the sigil for my own name. By drawing this newly discovered sigil onto the amulet I am effectively connecting myself with the amulet and the planetary force represented by the square. You will also have to make the amulet or talisman from the appropriate material, for example Sol=Gold, Luna=Silver, Venus=Copper etc.

The first step after designing the amulet is to confer a specific office to the amulet thereby imbuing it with your highest conception of the sphere. We do this by writing a word that is associated with the sphere which the amulet represents. For example, an amulet that is dedicated to Venus may have the word Agape written on it, or the number 31 and this is called the Logos or the word. The Logos may also be represented by a phrase that holds some special significance for the magician. For finding a phrase I recommend the Holy Books of Thelema. I am not going to spend any more time on how to construct the amulet. Instead I will focus on how to furnish the temple and prepare for the actual consecrating ceremony.

 After you have designed the amulet, get two pieces of cloth one big long white piece which should be about the size of your altar and one small square piece. On the long piece paint the different symbols corresponding to the sphere in a descending order each symbol below the other starting with the symbol of the planet and ending with that of the spirit. It is important to paint these in the appropriate colors. In my experience using the color of the sephiroth works fine for the big cloth. The small square piece should be about the size of a table cloth and on it you will paint the sigil of the spirit. For the small cloth you may use the color scale and paint the sigil on an olive cloth in gold.

One may use the color scales for the magick circle, the more corresponding symbols are used the more effective the ritual will be, however it is also important not to include anything in the ritual unless its symbolism is properly understood. Around the circle write the divine names that are linked to Venus, these would be YHVH Tzabaoth (Name of God), Haniel (Archangel), Anael (Angel) and inside the circle you can draw a star of Venus. The whole operation should be performed towards the appropriate quarter and in the case of Venus it is fire and south. The long cloth should hang so that the top of it is about head height above eye level when seated in asana and the small cloth should be placed on a small table that is low enough when seated in a meditative posture so that it can be reached easily and worked on. Consult Liber 777 as to what oil should be used and for our purpose it is Rose, also place the constructed amulet on the same sigil. If possible, it would be a great idea to add some drugs into the mix and the drug of choice for this ceremony is cannabis. Also when consulting Liber 777 you will see that a girdle is listed as a magickal garment especially dedicated to Venus and so it may take the place of your magickal Robe. The hour and the day are obviously important and the ritual should be performed on Friday at sunrise, perhaps starting a little before sunrise so that the climax is reached at the opportune moment. Place a candle on the small table on top of the sigil with a white or an amber colored candle and an oil lamp placed in front of it. Since seven is a number sacred to Venus, seven amber candles may be placed around the circumference of the circle to illuminate the temple.

Once you are finished with the preliminaries of getting the Temple ready it is time to do the ritual. As always start with the LRP followed by the hexagram rituals and ending with the GRP, you may also do the Bornless Ritual in the Goetia instead of the regular GRP, after this recite a ready prepared affirmation of your intent. Next seat yourself in asana in front of the small table and light the pipe, take a few big hits of the pipe and turn your focus to the big cloth whereon the sigils have been painted. While concentrating on the cloth start vibrating the divine names associated with the sphere that is being affected. Do this until you feel satisfied that a sufficient degree of union has been achieved with the force being invoked. When reciting the names, start with the name of God then the Archangel, Angel, Intelligence and Spirit in a descending order. The vibration should be done as a mantra. Next pick up the amulet and hold it over the lamp thereby consecrating it with the smoke from the oil, again vibrate the names while doing this imagining the spirit of the sephirah descending upon the object. Lay the amulet down on the sigil and start vibrating the word (Logos) that you wrote on it, in this case the word is Agape. While vibrating the Logos visualize your intent upon the talisman. Finally draw the corresponding pentagram seven times over the amulet, make sure you are drawing an invoking pentagram as a banishing pentagram would render the object useless.

Complete the ritual by performing the appropriate banishing rituals and leave the Temple. Talismans and Amulets are not capable of changing the nature of the world around us. The danger when doing things that are beyond the scope of one’s power is that an obsession may be created in the magician and this can only be destructive when there is no way of realizing it. That being said one can absolutely try to make talismans and consecrate them in the way described for acquiring wealth, status or love, but once it back fires you will only have yourself to blame. As always thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

“Love is the law, love under will.”

True Will:

True Will:

 

 

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

The spirit carries with it its own experience and the soul translates what it experiences through the physical body and passes it on to the soul. These memories of the spirit are not consciously perceptible but we can understand the nature of them through our talents in this life. So, the information gathered from the collective unconscious by the spirit is directly transmitted, but the influence from the physical world passes through the soul before being imprinted on the spirit. Our ethereal bodies must carry with it a type of genealogy that gives it certain characteristics and as people share certain hereditary characteristics our ethereal forms are distinguishable from each other in the same way.

Even on the ethereal level we are unique, but the Great Work that is produced and what immortalizes an individual comes from the result of our physical experiences that influence our souls, therefore although we are reflecting something that is perceived by everyone, we are translating it from a unique perspective. The memories of the spirit are eternal however through our uniqueness it adapts to our current disposition and uses only that which is sympathetic to our natures and at the same time when a certain state of insight is attained our souls start expanding to accommodate the spirit bringing with its own memories.

This is the way in which the True Will is realized, and expansion is necessary in order for us to reach a level of insight in this life which sets us apart in a way to achieve the Great Work. It could be said that initiation is the means by which every person can realize his or her full potential and realizing this potential could be called the True Will, however that doesn't mean that everybody who realizes this will accomplish the Great Work as it takes a very unique kind of genius to do that.

“I” am informed by memories from my physical reality, the experiences are past onto my ethereal body through past lives and the memories of the spirit together with the previously mentioned are the things which inform my being and gives my soul a unique character. Just like we are each unique but share what has been passed down to us through heredity. These are the influences that inform the True Will and makes, all those in history who have achieved it unique individuals with very unique ideas.

Hadit is a microcosmic aspect of the all informing spirit. However in no way an individual with individual ideas and aspirations, it is only when Hadit incarnates into a human being that he becomes a creative force within who he has incarnated. It is often said in the Thelemic community, if every person realized his and her True Will there would be no conflict in the world, perhaps this sentiment shouldn't be regarded as some kind of peaceful utopia for as the “Book of the Law”. states. “Every man and every woman is a star.” But it also says “...the slaves shall serve...” and this is more in accord with natural law. From the point of view of the spirit the causes for life's tragedies are as clear as the cause of the pain I feel when slamming my finger in a car door, this is simply the law of cause and effect. If it never happened, I wouldn't know what not to do in order to avoid it. 

“The soul is what actually makes us belong to the earthly life. Through the physical body, we belong to the physical human genus, we are members of this genus. With our spirit we live in a higher world. The soul binds the worlds together for a while.” Rudolph Steiner, Theosophy

“For a while” does not mean the soul is immortal, indeed what is stated here is that the soul serves as a temporary vehicle for the spirit in this life. Realizing its full potential is the goal of occult science. An occultist acknowledges that we have to make the most out of this life and so occult practices are geared towards awakening genius, so that we may have fuller and more joyous lives and for some to even accomplish the Great Work. Occult science is not arbitrary and nobody has the right to just interpret things in a way that is convenient to their own preconditioned sensibilities, it is difficult for the mere fact that we are forced to change our points of views constantly to include new insights. “There is no god but man” and if there is, I assure you; it could care less about what happens to you and I. We have to evolve and realize our own divinity otherwise we are born into this world for nothing. The Black School is responsible for spiritual decline and the White School is focused on the opposite, to corrupt the teachings of the White School is abhorrent, Rudolph Steiner claimed he was clairvoyant from an early age, which makes him a weirdo, but when we take a look at what he wrote he certainly didn't come across as a hippie or a Christian.

Rudolph Steiner has been immortalized through the Waldorf Education System and he will live forever as a result. However, I don't for one minute believe that his soul survived death and nor did he believe in such an absurd notion either. There is no god, the Christ that Steiner talked about was no more than the Holy Guardian Angel of Thelema. The problem with Christian parlance still being used to describe spiritual states of awakening is that it is associated with the Black School's philosophy and tends to attract the unenlightened. Christians believe that these White School philosophies hold within them the same values ​​​​and beliefs as those of the Black School, when in fact it is the total opposite.

What we do and what we experience, lives forever whether we achieve greatness or not, there is value added which will stay with us forever. It is our duty as incarnated human beings to realize our own individual genius in this life. It doesn't have to be the genius of a Mozart or a Steiner as long as, each of us realize our own potentials and follow our own individual orbits by realizing our True Wills.

"Love is the law, love under will."  

Rudolph Steiner's Interpretation of the True Will:

 Rudolph Steiner's Interpretation of the True Will:                                                       

 

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

In order to understand this essay it's important to first understand what the True Will is. The True Will is a term used in Thelemic  parlance, which simply refers to the unconscious driving force or inertia of someone who has brought every faculty of his being under the control of his Higher Genius and is capable of influence or insights that seem magical or miraculous to ordinary people. I liken it to a canvas upon which an Adept renders his or her Great Work. I will here discuss the ideas of Rudolph Steiner and show the similarities between what he has to say about reincarnation and destiny as being remarkably similar to the True Will of Thelema. I am also tired of great men and women whose work, have been corrupted by Christian idealists that have infiltrated the ranks of their organizations. I am referring in particular to the Christians who have eschewed the teachings of Rudolph Steiner's Anthroposophical Society and HP. Blavatsky's Theosophical Society and would like to undermine their authority, if I may? This corruption couldn't have been that difficult as we live in a world where most people are educated to only read memes and road signs. Be this as it may, I will be giving my two cents and will here interpret Rudolph Steiner's work for myself and anyone else with ears to hear and eyes to see.

“With firm step the student advances i n life. No matter what it may bring him, he goes forward erect. In the past he knew not why he worked and suffered, but now he knows.” “What would otherwise be mere uncertain groping is transformed by such direction that is certain of the goal.” ”Those who by means of meditation, rise to that which unites man with spirit are bringing to life within them the eternal element which is not limited by birth or death.” “In the occult schools themselves a definite course of instruction is followed, and in addition to this there are certain practices which enable the souls of men to attain a conscious intercourse with the spiritual world.” Rudolph Steiner, The Way of Initiation.

                                                                                                                                                      

Now, let's take a look at what Aleister Crowley has to say about initiation in “Magick in Theory and Practice” in his chapter “The Formula of the Neophyte”.

“It will be seen that the effect of this whole ceremony is to endow a thing inert and impotent with balanced motion in a given direction.” “It should be employed in consecrating the actual weapons used by the magician, and may also be used as the first formula of initiation.”

This is in no way dissimilar to what is described by Steiner in the above quote. Being more aware of the soul and its development we are given direction and that direction is towards Tiphareth, where the magician realizes his True Will. In order for the new soul to be born we have to die, this is represented in the Formula of IAO, the soul has been corrupted through our experiences prior to initiation and to be reborn in the spirit we have to be purged of all impurities. We are consciously shining a light into the darkness of the unconscious and establishing an inner dialogue between the two. Thus we become more aware of the motivations behind our unconscious impulses, this in turn  endows a thing inert and impotent with balanced motion in a given direction. 

“We all know that little children refer to themselves, by saying things like “Charlie is a good boy” or “Mary wants that” and we find it appropriate that they should speak about themselves as they would someone else, since they are not aware of their own independent existence. Consciousness of self has not yet been born in them. Through the consciousness of self, an individual achieves self-definition as an independent being separate from everything else, as “I”. By “I” a person means the total experience of self as body and soul. Body and soul are vehicles of the “I”; it works in them. Just as the physical body has its center in the brain, the soul has its center in the “I”.      

It seems appropriate that the first initiation is then called the Neophyte Initiation as it is through this that the individual is born into a greater awareness of self and the “I” is realized on a grander scale than those unfortunates blindly going through life unaware of the effect they are having upon their constitutions, by following their impulsive natures. Through an act of Magick we have consciously become vessels of the spirit, we now have a definite course and our experiences are viewed as either benefiting or hindering the whole. We have gained direction.

“When the soul is seen as a unity, its transitory and eternal aspects are indistinguishably bound up with each other, but unless we are aware of the differentiations within it, we cannot understand its relationship to the world as a whole.”                                                                                                                                                                                                             

These differential aspects of our beings become apparent to us only through initiation as mentioned above, it is the triple constitution of man that is now recognized, so that we are able to develop ourselves accordingly. Our souls are affected by both the physical sensual world as well as the spiritual world, we take information from both and for anyone serious about developing their souls it becomes immediately obvious that this is the only logical way forward. The stimuli from these worlds have the potential to either act as poison or sustenance, being more aware of the soul and its development aids us in distinguishing between the two. However, Steiner goes even further than this and says that our souls are made up of the sentient soul, the soul body, the mind soul and the spirit filled consciousness soul. The sentient soul is connected to the physical world, the soul body and the mind soul is what makes up the soul that we are discussing and the spirit filled consciousness soul takes in information from the spirit.

 “Within the human soul, the “I” flashes up, receives the impact of the spirit and thus becomes the vehicle of the spirit body.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

What he is referring to here is what we call in Thelema Hadit. Hadit wakes up in the soul of the Adept and becomes a source of inspiration and divine ecstasy. This awakening can however only take place once the soul has been sufficiently built up to support the influx of spirit which leads to divine ecstasy. It is from this awakening that Crowley became inspired to write the 'Book of the Law' and the “Holy Books of Thelema” , it is also what inspired HP Blavatsky to write “The Secret Doctrine” and “Isis Unveiled”. These are two examples of the Great Work having been accomplished, in both instances it was the awakening of Hadit that informed the creativity of these two people to write these books. They have been immortalized in the work which they presented to the world and this is the nature of immortality.

The question then is who are suited to this task? If it was only a question of Magick, then certainly every initiate in the world would at one time or another in his life, achieve the same greatness. This is obviously not the case and in his book “Theosophy” Rudolph Steiner gives us a very good theory as to why only some people in the world are capable of achieving this.

“Whatever I may recognize through the spirit is grounded in an element of the soul's life that connects the soul to a universal content, a content that reveals within the soul but is independent of its transitory bodily basis. Whether this content is imperishable in every respect does not matter, what matters is that it be revealed in such a way that the soul's independent imperishable aspect rather than its perishable bodily basis is involved.”                                                                                                                                                                     

Here Steiner is likening the information received from the spirit to the collective unconscious. Crowley called it Man-Soul. It can also be considered the zeitgeist, however included in it must not only be the perception but mankind's complete ontology is filtered into this dealing with the spirit, the spirit is eternal, the zeitgeist is not, or the one is imperishable and the other is perishable, Hadit is the imperishable part of our souls he is without beginning or end. It is only within the context of the soul within this world of contending forces that Hadit is called to aid in the magician's Great Work, other-wise he is pure consciousness and is linked to the Pure Will and not the True Will, his only purpose then is to achieve union with Nuit.  The information gathered in this way is what informs the Great Work in the same way that an artist is inspired by a landscape to paint it. The Adept is inspired by the spirit to perform the Great Work.

“In our ordinary consciousness, we do not usually form a concept of “becoming lasting through action” in the same way that we form a concept of memory, of becoming lasting as a result of observation or perception. But is the “I” not just as strongly linked to a change in the world that results from its own action as it is from a memory that results from an impression?                                                                                

“The truth is eternal; even if I were continually losing sight of the past and each impression were new to me, the truth could still always reveal itself to me again in things. But the spirit in me is not restricted to the impressions of the moment; my soul widens the spirits field of vision to include the past. And the more my soul can add to my spirit from the past, the richer the spirit becomes. The soul passes on to the spirit what it has received from the body. Thus, at every moment of its life, the human spirit caries two very different elements---first, the eternal laws of the true and good; second the recollection of past experiences. Whatever it does is accomplished under the influence of these two factors.”                                                                                                                                                         

Although our souls are not immortal, our spirits are. However the ethereal make up of our beings are of a specific nature, the substance that a soul is formulated from has to be sympathetic, this sympathy comes from the fact that everything has a memory and that we always seek to experience greater more informative realities so that we can evolve. Therefore the ethereal body is comprised from particles that are sympathetic to one another and at the same level of the evolutionary process in order to learn more in this life and expand its knowledge base so that it keeps evolving through experience. Hadit then is given abilities proportionate to every soul he incarnates into.

“The human spirit grows as these experiences are worked over and assimilated. Thus although we do not find our past experience preserved in the spirit as if in a treasure vault, we do find their effects in the abilities we have acquired.” .                                                                                                                                      

This is where talents are derived from and as we are talking about the True Will it is a concept of particular interest in context of genius.

“Take the case of a genius, for instance. As a boy Mozart could write down from memory a long piece of music he had heard only once. He was able to do so because he could survey the whole thing all at once, as a totality. In the course of our lifetime, we can all---at least within certain limits---broaden our capacity to gain an overview of things and to understand the relationships between them.”        

In my opinion this does not mean that the exact same particles that make up our ethereal bodies need to reincarnate together, it only means that in previous lives they were involved in lives that had similar experiences and are on the same level of evolution. This lends credence to the idea of ​​​​Anatta, but these particles evolve to keep evolving, it is the nature of existence and our existence in particular. Therefore I say it is our duty as human beings to follow the “Book of the Law” where it says .” But exceed! exceed! Strive ever to more! And if thou art truly mine—and doubt it not, and if thou art ever joyous!—death is the crown of all.” If the above assertion is correct then the work is never in vain, every experience enriches the whole and is necessary whether the end is attained in this life or a hundred lives from now, this is also the nature of evolution.

So, as Steiner suggests, the capacity to realize genius is gained through experience accumulated over lifetimes, genius is only the start of the journey though. We can say that genius is guided by the True Will something to which only these fortunate souls are subject, but after this has been attained they must still be immortalized through accomplishing the Great Work.

   “Goethe's saying, “From my father, I get my build and the tendency to take life seriously; from my mother, my happy disposition and delight in storytelling,” is based on this fact. But his genius, of course, did not come from either of his parents.” 

All quotes in this essay unless otherwise specified were taken from Rudolph Steiner's Theosophy.                                                                                                            

“Love is the law, love under will.”

Marrying Elementals (Part 2):

 Marrying Elementals (Part 2):

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

“Meanwhile I go to meditate on the discourse you have made me long to deliver to the Gnomes to-night.” ”Are you intending to explain a chapter of Averroes to them?” said I.” I think it might be well to introduce something of the sort,” said the Comte, “for I intend to preach to them on the excellence of man, that I may influence them to seek his alliance.” Comte De Gabalis or Disourses on Secret Sciences, Abbe N. Montfaucon de Villars.                                                                                                                                                                       

After my last post I realized that my proposition was a bit vague and so I have endeavored to elucidate this proposition with the post here given. For anyone familiar with the placement of the elements in the four quarters, he would immediately have noticed that fire does not belong in the east. I tried to get around this obvious fact by attempting to convince myself that it is not a pentagram ritual that I was outlining, but a much greater form of Magick and that it doesn't make sense to swap Vau and He around. I am right; it doesn't make any sense to swap these two elements around, it would be impossible to perform it as a coherent ritual in this way, however the contrary is also true, we can't invoke fire in the east either and as per the rules of invocation we will have to invoke the Salamanders at dawn.

The point is that I have already done the pentagram ritual daily for a few years and also Resh. And through daily observation of these rituals they should have done their jobs by now. So, I have managed to equilibrate the elemental forces on a microcosmic level and have realized myself as a shining star, so it only makes sense to move onto the next succession and that would be strengthening my link with the divine by marrying a few elementals. This method is probably best suited for a magickal retreat, because I don't have time in my busy day to spend at the very least, twelve minutes in solemn prayer every time I do Resh. Although I wish I did and I like wearing my Robe.                                                                   

“Therefore, as hath already been said, Establish thyself firmly in the Equilibrium of forces, in the center of the Cross of the Elements, that Cross from whose center the Creative Word issued in the birth of the Dawning Universe.” Liber Librae verse 18, The Equinox vol 1, no 1.

Step 1: At Dawn. How the ritual should be performed at dawn is thus. After one has performed Resh he spins deosil on his own axis making one and a quarter rotation until he is facing south and repeats the prayer of the Salamanders. After or while reciting the prayer the magician gives the sign of the element and closes with the sign of silence. When spinning around raise the arms to form a cross.

Step 2: At Midday. The magician does the same thing, but after Resh in the south he spins clockwise one and a quarter times until facing west and performs the prayer of the Undines. Obviously for those familiar with these rituals he is a quarter further around after each of the first two rituals of the day. End the ritual as before by making the appropriate elemental sign and that of Horus the Enterer and Hoor-Paar -Kraat.

Step 3: At Sunset. This ritual is the same however this time after performing Resh in the west, he spins around one and a half times until facing east and recites the prayer of the Sylphs.

Step 4: At Midnight. He again spins around, this time making two full rotations ending where he started and facing north, after he has performed the prayer and finishes in the same way as before. Notice how the prayer of the Gnomes is done in the same quarter as Resh and how the Sylphs are invoked on the exact opposite side of the circle as Resh is here done in the west and the Sylphs are invoked in the east. It may also be noted that by doing all the Magick gestures the magician has made a perfect cross inside the circle every night he's completed the ritual. Spinning around twice after the Prayer of the Gnomes is indicative of the character of the Gnomes. Or as Crowley puts it: “The Princesses represent the He' final of the Name.They represent the ultimate issue of the original Energy in its completion, its crystallization, its materialization.” “She thus awakens the Eld of the original King; who thereupon becomes a young knight, and so renews the cycle.” The one and a half rotations of the Sylphs is also suggestive of the nature of the Formative World as it relates to the apparent opposites in this universe of contending forces and its relationship to the Gnomes, who again bring balance.

This is the way I have constructed the ritual for marrying elementals, as always I hope whoever read this enjoyed it and that you found it helpful in some way. I'll leave you with another quote from Liber Librae.

“So shalt thou gradually develop the powers of thy soul, and fit thyself to command the Spirits of the elements. For wert thou to summon the Gnomes to pander to thine avarice, thou wouldst no longer command them, but they would command thee. Wouldst thou abuse the pure beings of the woods and mountains to fill thy coffers and satisfy thy hunger of Gold? Wouldst thou debase the Spirits of Living Fire to serve thy wrath and hatred? Wouldst thou violate the purity of the Souls of the Waters to pander to thy lust of debauchery? Wouldst thou force the Spirits of the Evening Breeze to minister to thy folly and caprice? Know that with such desires thou canst but attract the Weak, not the Strong, and in that case the Weak will have power over thee.”Liber Librae verse 20, The Equinox, vol 1, no 1.

“Love is the law, love under will.”