Liber 010 Porta Lucis Or The Book Of The Gateway Of Light

Book: Liber 010 Porta Lucis Or The Book Of The Gateway Of Light by Aleister Crowley

"This book is an account of the sending forth of the Master by the AA and an explanation of his mission."

Received Dec 12, 1907, See also: Equinox I vi, p. 3; III, ix.

Download Aleister Crowley's eBook: Liber 010 Porta Lucis Or The Book Of The Gateway Of Light
Keywords: attempting grasp idea  liber serpente  nightside eden  liber good  liber working  model failure  liber causae  rodin rime  reckoning egyptian  february blessed imbolc  perception   

Magick 07 Basic Ritual

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

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

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

Creative Visualization

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

The Basic Parts Of A Ritual

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

The Magick Circle

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

Artificial Elemantals

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

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

How To Create An Artificial Elemental

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

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

Invocation

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

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

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

>>CAUTIONS<<

1. Balance is important in magick. Vary the entities invoked in order to keep your person-ality in balance.

2. Often as not a ritual may produce side-effects, usually something similar to, though not exactly the desired goal. If the true goal is delayed (as sometimes happens) we may see the side effects first. And if for some reason the goal is not achieved at all ('missing the target') the side effects may be pronounced.

Examples:

You use magick ritual to hurry shipment of an anticipated package in the mail. Side effect -- the next day an unexpected package (the wrong one) arrives instead.
You use magick ritual to cause a certain person to phone you. Side effect -- for several days all sorts of people phone you...The sides effects will not affect you (or anyone else) adversely unless that is what you inwardly want.
3. We may say with certainty that "something always happens" when we perform a magick ritual. But like everything else, magick follows the 'law of results'. This means that results require effort of some kind. And if you don't work hard enough at it you don't get results.

Difficult goals have greater resistance (magical inertia) to overcome. If the ritual doesn't produce the desired results there is a good chance that the reason for the failure is within ourselves. Be certain there is no contradiction between your model and your magical goals. Sometimes self doubt and mental contradictions (wanting and not wanting at the same time) may interfere. The first step in magick is to re-program your model. And, of course you can help your magical results by working on the physical level toward your goals. Don't expect them to fall into your lap by themselves.

4) A peculiar quality of magick is time displacement. Results of a ritual are not usually instantaneous. There is often a delay of 12 hours or more. Difficult tasks or weakly performed ritual are more likely to be delayed. In most cases a slight delay is alright, and it gives us time to get used to the coming changes. And sometimes the effects of a ritual appear to extend to before the ritual was performed!

5) Because of the way magick works, a ritual may create an emphasis in what is sought, and a de-emphasis in everything else. Balance is therefore important here. Once the magical result is achieved it may be 'bound' to you and difficult to get rid of should you later decide to do so.

Example: You use a magick ritual to help you find and buy a new house. Years later when you decide to sell it, you are unable to do so. Consider your magical goals wisely so you don't get stuck with something you don't really want. Note that theory says you can always unbind through ritual what was bound to you...theory says.

6) Sometimes the environment appears to react against the magick after the results are achieved. This is particularly noticeable in using magick to affect the weather (and the main reason why you should NOT use magick to affect the weather). For example...Your performance of a ritual to produce a sunny day produces a sunny day. The next day is sunny, alright, but the rest of the month is cold and overcast. Here the weather seems to react to the magick in the opposite way to re-establish its natural balance. It is something like pushing a pendulum to one side and releasing it -- the pendulum swings to the other side. To quote Emmerson -- "For everything you gain you lose something...". I don't know that this is always true in magick, but it does illustrate the point. And another reason not to use magick to affect the weather is that it might foul it up in other parts of the country (world?).

7) Finally, magick ritual (or any magick or occultism) is very dangerous for the mentally unstable. If you should somehow 'get out too far', eat 'heavy foods' as previously discuss-ed (lesson on chakras) and use your religious background or old belief system for support. But remember too, that weird experiences are not necessarily bad experiences.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

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

RESEARCH TOPICS (for independent study)

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

by Phil Hansford, 4/88

Suggested ebooks:

George Robert Stowe Mead - A Mithraic Ritual
Kenneth Grant - Magical Revival

Keywords: liber wake  stepping aeon  straight face  spell objectives  thou wilt whole  liber prolegomena systemam  qliphoth astral  film about  witchcraft planchette mystery  appels enochiens french  witchcraft   monography  

Ceremonial High Magic Consecrating Circle

There are many different wordings that may be used in Consecrating and Blessing a Circle. They may vary from one Grimoire to another. It can be simple or complicated depending on your preferences. It can be long or short and worded to fit your needs.... it does not have to be from a Grimoire... it can be one that you have made up yourself and comes from the Heart. I myself prefer one that fits in with High Magic and God Almighty, such as the one below. What you are doing is simply Praying or asking the Deities that you believe in to Bless your circle and Consecrate it as your protection barrier. This one that I have provided here, is my favorite and it is from a book called "The Magus" a Complete System of Occult Philosophy.

In the name of the Holy, Blessed, and Glorious Trinity, proceed we to our work in these mysteries to accomplish that which we desire; we therefore, in the names aforesaid, consecrate this piece of ground for our defense, so that no spirit whatsoever shall be able to break these boundaries, neither be able to cause injury nor detriment to any of us here assembled: but that they may be compelled to stand before this Circle, and answer truly our demands, so far as it pleaseth Him who liveth for ever and ever; and who says, I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, which is, and which was and which is to come, the Almighty; I am the First and the Last, who am living and was dead; and behold I live for ever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and Hell. Bless O Lord! this creature of earth wherein we stand; confirm O God! Thy strength in us, so that neither the adversary nor any evil thing may cause us to fail, through the merits of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let me remind you that Casting a Circle is not the same. Similar in some ways but not the same. Casting a Circle is Ritual for Witches who want to set up a circle for protection and it is not the same type of circle as the ones on my Magic circle page. I am not a Witch and I am not Wiccan.... and this is not a Wiccan web site.

I am a Magician/Sorcerer that mainly practices Ceremonial High Magic... so I am simply showing you what I use.

Also read this ebooks:

Muhammad Ibn Arabi - Tarjuman Al Ashwaq A Collection Of Mystical Odes
Dion Fortune - Ceremonial Magic Unveiled

Tags: witchcraft guide  shin aleph resh  solar vision 4 final edition  john dee  witchcraft original  greek texts  2009 mabon  

Liber 064 Israfel Or Liber Anubis

Book: Liber 064 Israfel Or Liber Anubis by Aleister Crowley

By Allen Bennet, Crowley, Others. Invocation of Thoth, as a prelude to preaching. Formerly called 'Liber Anubis', an instruction in a suitable method of preaching. See also: Equinox I vii.

Download Aleister Crowley's eBook: Liber 064 Israfel Or Liber Anubis
Keywords: chaos thelema  rituals objectives  magick meditation  qliphoth astral  liber working  rituals green magic  supreme magician  aleister crowley  science meaning numbers  aleister crowley  masonry philosophical eagle  groa nine books  

Moonchild

Book: Moonchild by Aleister Crowley

Crowley was an occultist and a practitioner of Magick (no, the "K" is not a typo) and was often dubbed a Satanist. I think maybe people labeled him as such because it's human nature to fear what we do not comprehend. He was wise and this book proves it; he knew about the "Law of Attraction" which is now gathering a lot of attention with the release of The Secret DVD and book. He himself, wrote a book titled "The Book of the Law" while under trance.

Moonchild is a visionary, metaphysical novel of the highest order. Crowley provides an elegant and mysterious exploration of the realms of magick, love and psychology. Reading Crowley's book is like getting equal doses of poetry, academia and enlightenment. In the days long before The Celestine Prophecy and others, metaphysical fiction was raw and edgy but also beautiful and wondrously haunting.

Moonchild is certainly not light reading; it's a bit disjointed and reads more like a handbook on magick, featuring many insights into this fascinating secret world (dare I say secret society?). If I had to classify it, I'd say this book belongs in the Dark Fantasy genre. It chronicles the adventures of a young magician named Cyril Grey and his mentor Simon Iff, along with Lisa La Giuffria. She will be drawn to both the good and dark sides of a magickal war. We follow Grey as he initiates Lisa into the mysterious practices of Magick and we witness Lisa's anguish grow in reaction to the lack of reciprocal feelings from Grey and watch her stand by Douglas's side, the leader of the Black Lodge, Grey and Iff's sworn enemies.

This is a novel of quality. I read this as a student at a technical college. It is a novel by the notorious aleister crowley about magick and the struggles between light and darkness. Once you can differentiate between fantasy magick like Dungeons & Dragons and real life magick like Wicca you should be fine. You won't find any fireballs or lightning bolts, but good, real life magickal theory. I warn you, this a novel for adults as it contains disturbing content.

I enjoyed much of the various lessons on Magick and the parody of the higher class, society's rich and self-important folks who think themselves the centre of the universe. I did find it a bit distracting from the overall story; the book's main plot often gets lost in all the characters' discussions and gossiping. Although most of the distractions are surprisingly interesting (this says a lot about Crowely's ability to spin an engaging yarn), I wish he would've stuck closer to the central intrigue. Nonetheless, it makes for an entertaining and educational read. The only thing that really left to be desired was the third act, again, a blurry part of the book since it's hard to tell where it begins. It was a tad too anti-climactic for my taste and the whole part on the First World War was not the best direction he could've chosen, in my humble opinion. Still, we have to keep in mind that this novel was written in 1917, right in the middle of WWI. In the end, you have to remember that in a book, as well as in life, it's the journey that counts, not the destination. On that basis, it proved to be a very satisfying journey.

Buy Aleister Crowley's book: Moonchild

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

John Yarker - The Anglo Saxon Chronicle
Phil Hine - On Cursing
Anonymous - Full Moon Rite