According to Crowley, there is only one ethical purpose for ritual magick: to achieve Union with God through "the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm." Since this process is so arduous, it is also acceptable to use magick to develop the self (i.e. one's Body of Light) or to create ideal circumstances for the Work (e.g. having access to a place in which to do ritual undisturbed). There are many kinds of magick, but the categories of ritual that are recommended by Crowley include (all quotes are from Book 4):
1. Banishing—the elimination of unwanted forces. "The Magician must therefore take the utmost care in the matter of purification, firstly, of himself, secondly, of his instruments, thirdly, of the place of working."
2. Invocation, where the magician identifies with the Deity invoked. There are three methods:
* Devotion —where "identity with the God is attained by love and by surrender, by giving up or suppressing all irrelevant (and illusionary) parts of yourself." (e.g. Liber Astarte)
* Calling forth—where "identity is attained by paying special attention to the desired part of yourself: positive, as the first method is negative." (e.g. assumption of god-forms)
* Drama—where "identity is attained by sympathy. It is very difficult for the ordinary man to lose himself completely in the subject of a play or of a novel; but for those who can do so, this method is unquestionably the best." (e.g. many initiations and the Gnostic Mass)
3. Evocation—which is bringing a spiritual being before, not into, the magician (e.g. Goetia)
4. Eucharistic ritual—which "consists in taking common things, transmuting them into things divine, and consuming them." (e.g. The Mass of the Phoenix)
5. Consecration—"the active dedication of a thing to a single purpose."
6. Divinations—such as the use of the Tarot or other tools used to gather information.
Books in PDF format to read:
Samael Aun Weor - Magic RunesKenneth Grant - Magical Revival
George Robert Stowe Mead - A Mithraic Ritual