Practice of Magic

A Practice of Magic  by Herbie Brennan

2

One

If you can imagine the interior of a familiar building  —  your home or office, for  example —  example  — the the structure can function as an impressive memory aid. To use it, you visualise yourself placing the things you want to remember in various rooms. When you need to recall the items,

you simply imagine yourself yourself walking through through the

 building. The things you left will still be there. Please take time to to try this out. You will discover you can return to the imaginary  building days, weeks, even months later and the objects you stored will still be in  place. I can find little in orthodox psychology to explain this. Most theories of memory concentrate on personal associations. The memory of your grandmother calls up a memory of the smell of baking scones which, in turn, calls up the memory of the stomach ache you got from eating them. The chains are stored in your preconscious for immediate recall, or in the longer-term archive of your unconscious. No-one suggests memories are, could c ould or should be, pigeonholed in imaginary boxes. You may take my word for it that you can return to your imaginary building after a  period of  years  years and still find it contains the things you stored there. In this respect, the world of your imagination behaves more like a place than a state of mind. Provided the ‘place’ is well built and left undisturbed, it will remain unchanged indefinitely. It will not even gather dust. If imaginary buildings behave like actual places, the objects in them are capable of   behaving like actual things. Nikola Tesla, the Victorian genius whose many electrical e lectrical  patents earned him accolades as ‘the man who invented the 20th Century’ was capable of constructing machines entirely in his imagination. He would then set them running and turn his attention to something else. After a period of weeks, he would mentally strip down the imaginary machine and examine the parts for wear. Experience had taught him any breakdown in his imaginar y engine would be mirrored  by a breakdown in its physical prototype.

2

One

If you can imagine the interior of a familiar building  —  your home or office, for  example —  example  — the the structure can function as an impressive memory aid. To use it, you visualise yourself placing the things you want to remember in various rooms. When you need to recall the items,

you simply imagine yourself yourself walking through through the

 building. The things you left will still be there. Please take time to to try this out. You will discover you can return to the imaginary  building days, weeks, even months later and the objects you stored will still be in  place. I can find little in orthodox psychology to explain this. Most theories of memory concentrate on personal associations. The memory of your grandmother calls up a memory of the smell of baking scones which, in turn, calls up the memory of the stomach ache you got from eating them. The chains are stored in your preconscious for immediate recall, or in the longer-term archive of your unconscious. No-one suggests memories are, could c ould or should be, pigeonholed in imaginary boxes. You may take my word for it that you can return to your imaginary building after a  period of  years  years and still find it contains the things you stored there. In this respect, the world of your imagination behaves more like a place than a state of mind. Provided the ‘place’ is well built and left undisturbed, it will remain unchanged indefinitely. It will not even gather dust. If imaginary buildings behave like actual places, the objects in them are capable of   behaving like actual things. Nikola Tesla, the Victorian genius whose many electrical e lectrical  patents earned him accolades as ‘the man who invented the 20th Century’ was capable of constructing machines entirely in his imagination. He would then set them running and turn his attention to something else. After a period of weeks, he would mentally strip down the imaginary machine and examine the parts for wear. Experience had taught him any breakdown in his imaginar y engine would be mirrored  by a breakdown in its physical prototype.

3 Tesla was an extraordinary individual —  individual  — aa fact which has diverted attention from the implications of his remarkable ability. But he was not the only one to discover  imaginary artifacts could be examined to determine the behaviour of physical objects. Many scientists, Albert Einstein among them, have used what are known as ‘thought experiments’ to test specific theories. In every case, these would have been better  described as ‘imagination experiments’. They went far beyond predicting machine  performance to describe the operation of whole laws of physics. In Renaissance times, an imaginery building was known as a locus and using it in the way described formed part of the occult art of memory. This is almost as odd as Tesla’s talent. Why should something as mundane as memory form part of the occult arts —  arts  —  kept hidden because their practitioners believed they were too dangerous for   public consumption? What danger lies in an imaginary building? The answer seems to be that Renaissance occultists feared anyone practising the memory system might stumble on their most fundamental secret  —  the key not simply to memory but to virtually every known magical practice. They feared someone might suspect imagination was not a subjective state.

4

Two

The concept of a parallel universe is inherent in the behaviour of sub-atomic particles, although it is only very recently that physicists have faced this fact. A classical experiment in quantum physics produces results so paradoxical that the parallel universe theory is required to resolve them. The experiment, briefly stated, is this: A beam of sub-atomic particles is directed towards a sensitised surface which will register their impact. A screen is then placed between the source of the particles and the sensitised surface. There are two slits in the screen through which particles can  pass  —  the screen otherwise blocks them. Each of the two slits can be opened and closed independently by the experimenter. Sub-atomic particles, as their name implies, are thought of as very tiny cannon balls. Common sense  —  and Newtonian physics  —  suggests that if both slits are opened, twice as many of these little cannon balls would get through than if you only opened one. The reality is that more particles get through if only one slit is opened. When the experiment was first carried out, it presented scientists with a dilemma. To make sense of their findings, they began to postulate that sub-atomic particles were not particles at all, but wave forms. 1 Unlike a simple particle, a wave could pass through both slits simultaneously. This meant that you would expect to find no more hits registering on the sensitive surface when two slits were open than when you only opened one. All that would happen was that each wave would split to get through  both slits, then reform on the other side. Indeed, since a percentage of these split waves might be expected to collide (thus cancelling each other out) fewer waves would actually get through two slits than would get through one ... exactly what the experimental findings showed. Wave theory seemed to solve the mystery, except for one important point. The  particles, which behaved like waves while passing through the two slits in the screen,

1 Nobody

knows what the sub-atomic world looks like from direct observation: there are no instruments

available which will reveal its mysteries. Physicists create models of this world in relation to the results of their experiments.

5  promptly turned back into particles immediately afterwards. A wave striking the sensitised surface would naturally strike it all at once, like a sea wave breaking on a  beach. But the experiment shows this does not happen. The particles strike in specific locations ... like little cannonballs. Physicists started to refer to wave-particle duality (which named the behaviour, but did not explain it) and lived for years with the uneasy knowledge that particles  behaved like particles in certain circumstances and like waves in others. It is important to appreciate that the wave-particle duality works  —  that is to say, by considering sub-atomic particles in this way, scientists have been able to predict accurately the behaviour of these particles across a whole range of situations. In other  words, the duality is real — it just fails to make much sense. It made so little sense, in fact, that physicists began to wonder if the ‘wave’ existed in the objective world at all. They theorised that it might actually be a mental convenience which enabled them to keep track of what they were seeing. The ‘wave’ was really a collection of possibilities which behaved in a wave-like manner. Quantum particles began to be seen increasingly as probability waves. Physicists are intelligent and often subtle people and this sort of thinking is not  particularly easy for non-specialists to follow. But if you apply it to the troublesome double-slit experiment, you can see its attraction. Given the concept of the probability wave, we can return to the comforting picture of particles as little canon balls. As each little cannon ball approaches the two open slits in the screen, the probability wave (which really only exists in the mind of the observer) represents the different  possibilities open to the particle — in essence whether it passed through the top slit or  the bottom, or struck the screen and was absorbed or deflected. The probability wave did not predict precisely where the particle would go, only where it was most likely to go. Probability waves worked just as well to predict results as did the original concept of   physical wave form particles. Furthermore, it was very easy to see that the  probabilities were bound to change from a situation where one slit was opened, to a situation where you opened two. The theory of probability waves neatly explained  particle behaviour, but left one niggling problem. If particle waves were actually  probability waves and probability waves were actually an organising function in the mind of the observing scientists, how on earth did you explain the observable fact that

6  probabilities somehow managed to interfere with one another exactly like physical wave forms? In 1957, a young American physicist named Hugh Everett came up with the answer. In an argument of almost blinding simplicity, he suggested that if two probabilities can interfere with one another, each of them must have an actual existence. But since there is no way both probabilities can exist in our universe, it follows logically that there must be a second, parallel universe to house the second probability. 2 The implications of the Everett theory are quite bizarre. They involve an ongoing interaction of the two parallel universes, which split and merge continually in relation to specific events. In the famous double slit experiment, the splitting of the two universes produces the wave-like behaviour, while the merging gives us back our  little cannon ball particle. For most people  —  including the physicists themselves  —  the concept of parallel universes is something remote from everyday life and personal experience. It is a theory designed to explain the actions of things so small that they can only be detected by their effects, never viewed directly. But occult theory, which has postulated a parallel universe for centuries, insists that the mysterious ‘second continuum’ can be directly sensed by humanity and even manipulated in ways that produce gross physical results far in excess of sub-atomic  particle behaviour. Interestingly, esoteric ideas help clarify the most maddeningly frustrating aspect of  the scientific theory — the irritating realisation that, however many parallel universes you invoke, probabilities still remain a function of the human mind.

2Physicists

have postulated many more than two parallel universes since 1957, but two will be quite

enough to be going on with here.

7

Three

Among the most secret of all esoteric theories of antiquity was that when you use imagination, you are actually gazing into an other world, a space-time continuum different from the physical reality around you, but just as objective, just as real. This is, of course, exactly the same postulate as has now been produced by modern physics  — a parallel universe. The fact that it does not always look like a parallel universe is explained by the bizarre nature of the continuum itself. According to Qabalistic doctrine, this parallel universe is just one of many levels of  reality, each seen as manifestations of the divine.3 It is of particular interest to magicians since it lies next to the physical universe and interacts with it in various surprising ways. In Qabalah, the parallel universe is known as the Sphere of Yesod, which, in turn, is known as the Foundation. The title mirrors a belief that the hidden continuum is the substructure on which the physical universe rests. It is a belief which does not stand up well at first examination. Close your eyes and visualise a scarecrow. The result is entirely within your control. You can make the image move around at will. You can have it stand on its head, turn somersaults or  talk. It is obviously something you created, not something you searched for and found in a parallel universe.  Nonetheless, esoteric doctrine insists the scarecrow actually existed, for a short time at least, elsewhere. It was created by the action of your mind on the tenuous, subtle ‘matter’ of the parallel universe, which has extraordinary malleability. It can be moulded and shaped with an ease unknown in the physical universe. It is a world which gives form to thoughts. Thoughtforms are not, however, the only things to be found within its sweeping vistas. There appear to be forests and meadows, mountains and seas, even animals and buildings. Some of these structures exist in their own right, others simply reflect

3There

are clear indications from both esoteric and scientific communities that other levels of reality

actually exist. For a full discussion of the evidence, see my  Ancient Spirit: an Examination of Magic Warner Books, London, 1993.

8  physical environments. What we are looking at here is an exact counterpart of the ideas put forward by quantum physicists who believe that in the probability wave, two particles exist in separate universes. The particles are identical, but their   behaviour varies.4 A corollary of this is that everything which exists in our physical universe must have a sort of reflection in the parallel universe  —  and this includes  probability reflections of you and I. In occultism, individual probability reflections are known as astral bodies. Ancient doctrine has it that each of us is equipped with at least four ‘inner bodies’ —  etheric, astral, mental, and spiritual, corresponding to specific ‘Inner Planes’ or parallel universes. (Many schools, inlcuding almost all those of the Oriental Tradition, count more than four bodies and planes.) The etheric body seems to be an electro-magnetic  —  or possibly bio-plasmic  —  energy field firmly rooted in the familiar physical continuum, but experience shows the astral body to be something different. It is a shape-shifter which can appear as anything you wish and it inhabits the dream world of your imagination. 5 While the astral body can

manifest in almost any shape, in practice it will, if left alone,

manifest in one of three forms. The first is as a mirror image of your physical body as it is today. The second is as a simulcrum of your physical body as it was (or will be) at your prime, somewhere  between the apparent physical age of 35 to 40. The third is as an image of an individual who, while appearing not at all similar to you physically, will be immediately recognisable as you. In other words, the astral body behaves like a  probability reflection, demonstrating alternative possibilities for you in the parallel universe. But occultists go further. They believe the parallel universe

has intelligent

inhabitants, not all of whom are human.

4In

the fundamental experiment described in Section Two, the particles go through different slits

depending on the universe they inhabit. 5For

a fuller exposition of astral and etheric bodies see my  Discover Astral Projection, Aquarian,

London.

9 The reason the vast panorama of the parallel universe has remained hidden throughout history6 is that our minds interfere with our perception of it. When I asked you to visualise a scarecrow, you blocked your view of the parallel universe, even though you were ‘looking’ in the right direction. But had I not, the chances are your  view would still have been blocked. Each time you look towards the parallel universe, it is as if your mind creates a cocoon of projected images which surround you so completely you can see nothing else. The phenomenon is particularly evident in dreams. Freed of conscious restraint, your  unconscious moulds the matter of the parallel universe into a fantasy environment reflecting personal hopes and fears. Once again, this environment blocks your view of  an objective reality beyond. You walk nightly through the parallel universe wearing the psychological equivalent of virtual reality gloves and goggles. On rare occasions, energies and entities from the parallel universe will break through the cocoon and present themselves to your inward vision. Such intrusions led Carl Jung to formulate his theory of a Collective Unconscious, common to all humanity. He suspected it might be an objective aspect of the psyche  — an uncomfortable idea largely ignored by his followers. In a few people, the cocoon-building mechanism is faulty. Their personal shield against the parallel universe is thin, transparant or non-existant. On turning in that direction, they are aware of the raw reality of the parallel universe. When such people adjust well to the experience, we call them visionaries. When they do not, we call them lunatics.7 The parallel universe and our own lie together like layers in a sandwich. If you could somehow turn our familiar reality inside out, what would appear on top would be the  parallel universe. Esoteric doctrine holds (with modern physics) that the two are actually inseparable and what happens in one will always influence what happens in the other, according to certain principles and laws.

The analogy of a layered

sandwich is particularly apt. Esoteric doctrines maintain that there are levels of reality which lie ‘beyond’ the parallel universe exactly as the parallel universe lies ‘beyond’

6At

least from the bulk of humanity.

7Madness

also arises when we are unable to cope with the projections of our own unconscious. But to

the occultist, even this operates essentially i n the parallel universe.

10 the physical universe. Here again, occult theory is supported by modern physics which currently postulates a host of parallel universes in constant interaction. For the occultist, the more distant of the universes (usually called Inner Planes) are increasingly subtle — one might say spiritual — in nature. They are the habitations of  ancestral spirits, angelic hosts and even, at their most remote and subtle, the One God. Like Christ, occult doctrine teaches the Kingdom of Heaven lies within you. Physical environments and humanity’s thoughts are impressed on the plastic billows of the parallel universe. But of even greater importance to the magician is the fact that structures native to the second universe tend eventually to manifest in the physical. 8 And here, in that simple sentence, you have the most fundamental magical secret of  all. If you can create and hold a structure in the parallel universe, that structure will, given time, begin to influence physical  reality. Within the Western Esoteric Tradition, the parallel universe is called the Astral Plane. Its constituent ‘matter’ is called astral light. All operations involving imagination are called astral operations. Magical apprenticeship involves mind training to increase efficiency in creating  probability (astral) structures and self knowledge to ensure the magician does not fall  prey to the projections of his or her unconscious. Without mind training, probability structures are weak, short-lived and ineffective. Without self knowledge, the magician eventually falls prey to personal phantoms. Once you understand the nature of the parallel universe and the ways in which your  mind interacts with it, you understand almost the whole of practical magic. Everything else is technique.

8In

terms on quantum physics, one would say that a stable probability in the parallel universe has an

increasing tendency to manifest in the physical universe. What creates stability in this context? Magicians would claim that in some circumstances at least, it is created by the interference of a human mind. Physicists who examine the effects of the parallel universe at sub atomic level are in no position to argue. They have already recognised that the act of observation influences particle behaviour.

11

Four 

There are four main types of magical operation: 1. Exploration and investigation of the parallel universe. 2. Influencing the physical world by means of probabilit y structures. 3. Personal development by means of probability structures. 4. Healing by means of probability structures. The first category includes communication with intelligences native to the parallel universe and sometimes to the universes beyond. It is the favoured type of operation for many contemporary magicians, possibly because it seems the easiest to undertake. In fact it is the most difficult and should only be undertaken after thorough self  examination and analysis. 9 It is a sorry comment on the state of magic in the late 20th Century that most of those who claim to investigate the parallel universe today are doing little more than dancing with their own illusions. Before examining the remaining three categories, the term ‘probability structures’ needs explanation. A structure, in this context, can be defined as a geometric shape, mental construct, building, creature or ritual ceremony. Any structure which exists in the parallel universe tends to influence the physical. But for practical effect, the structure must be dynamic or long-lived, or both. To illustrate the point, we might return to your visualisation of a scarecrow. The effort you expended created, albeit temporarily, a probability structure in the parallel universe. In theory, your scarecrow could have influenced the physical plane. But in order to do so, you would have to go further than the simple, brief visualisation. You would need to continue your visualisation for a very long time indeed, returning to it again and again over a period of months, even years, before it would begin to generate physical plane effects.

9A

process likely to take years of patient, often painful, effort.

12 For this reason, practising magicians tend to use existing probability structures, rather  than creating new ones of their own. The veneration of tradition in magic is related to this fact. A ceremony which has been used unchanged for centuries draws its effectiveness from the longevity of its probability aspects. Magicians do, of course, create new ceremonies all the time, but use ancient elements such as geometrical shapes of archetypal figures. Thus even modern ritual is replete with archetypal forms like pentagrams, circles and triangles or more complex structures like Archangels. This said, we can now return to our second category of magical operation  —  influencing physical plane reality by means of probability structures. Here we have classical magic designed to generate good luck, protect property, increase crop growth, attract a lover, stimulate business etc. Curiously enough, it is a style of magic  practised only rarely nowadays and considered (again wrongly) to be extremely difficult. In fact, while not exactly easy, this category of operation is far less difficult than, for example, genuine communication with parallel universe entities since it requires no self knowledge at all. The third category — personal development by means of probability structures  — is  perhaps the most interesting of the four. Although far less glamorous than the rest, it is extraordinarily effective, especially if combined with self-knowledge techniques. The overlap with orthodox systems of psychotherapy is obvious, but results are often more easily or at least more quickly obtained. The final category, healing, is a specialised form of magic which requires something of a vocation. If, however, you are interested in alleviating suffering and are prepared to invest the necessary time and effort in your training, the satisfactions can be  profound.10 It is always worth remembering that probability healing techniques are in no way superior to orthodox or alternative, non-magical healing systems. In medicine, there are horses for courses and the only criterion of choice is which produces a cure in the shortest time with the fewest side effects.

10As

can the sorrows. Even magical healers los e patients.

13

Five

In 1991, the British author Henry Lincoln publised preliminary results of ongoing research based at Rennes-le-Château, a quiet French village nestling in the foothills of  the Pyrenees. The research was triggered by observation of a very curious coincidence: five mountain peaks in the area formed a perfect natural pentagram. For  those unfamiliar with the figure, a pentagram looks like this:

The Pyreneean mountain peaks around Rennes-le-Château marked each of the five  points. Lincoln quickly discovered he could not have been the first to notice this  phenomenon. His investigations showed that a great many man-made structures  —  churches, castles, even whole villages — had been carefully and very precisely sited to create complex alignments with the natural pentagram and each other. His early observations indicated that the majority of the artificial structures were at least a thousand years old. Later he discovered evidence that the natural pentagram was  being enhanced by human building work in megalithic times — as early as 1500 b.c. Lincoln concluded that sometime in prehistory, someone noticed the freak  coincidence of the pentagram peaks and concluded the area must be a holy place designed by a creator divinity. Building work then began to extend and intensify the divine power of the place — a project, driven by an extraordinary degree of religious feeling, which was to continue for some two and a half thousand years. Lincoln makes a convincing case for the existance of a mega-temple surrounding the natural pentagram, but skirts a fundamental point. Why should a pentagram formation suggest to our distant ancestors that a place was holy? Fifteen hundred years and more before the birth of Christ, sites like Stonehenge in England and Carnac in France were seeing the construction of  enormous and complex structures of religious and ritual significance. Why

14 were they placed where they were? Perhaps for no other reason than that the site was convenient and facilitated the construction. Thus a place may become endowed with holiness because a centre of worship has been placed upon it. This has certainly become true of many places that could have been arbitrarily chosen. But could there be places of which the reverse is true? ... Was there in some places a thing which could be venerated and so require the construction of a temple on the already sanctified site? Was not this the principle governing the sacred groves of classical antiquity, or Apollo’s shrine at Delphi? ... The idea of alignments and the idea of holy places might go together in the context of a culture  —  such as that which produced Stonehenge  —  to which the timing of certain events was important; heavenly events, that is, which were regular and could be calculated. As a suggestion, therefore, of what might make a holy place ... one might  postulate the discovery by an early culture of a site ... which was so placed in relation to another natural feature as to provide a significant alignment, so that, when viewed from the chosen site, the sun rose  — for example on midsummer day — precisely behind the nearby craig. Here then would be a place where the gods had provided a natural indicator of a celestial event. 11 This is fine so far as it goes — sites like Stonehenge12 have certainly been constructed in relation to astronomical alignments. But a pentagram does not in itself

help

calculate any astronomical phenomenon. So why should the appearance of a  pentagram make a place holy. Earlier in his book, Henry Lincoln mentions the connection between the pentagram and magical practice, but only in a dismissive way. (‘The imagination was too easily tempted to run into murky by-ways.’) This is a pity, because the pentagram, within the Western Esoteric Tradition, has long played an important part in the creation of  sacred space. Form affects function. A bowl requires to be a particular shape, otherwise it will not hold water. Without its spout, your teapot would not pour. According to esoteric

11Quoted 12And

Thom.

from The Holy Place by Henry Lincoln, Jonathan Cape, London, 1991.

a majority of lesser stone circles throughout the British Isles, according to Professor Alexander 

15 theory, form also affects function in the parallel universe  —  if anything, even more  profoundly. Just as the lip of a jug is a known form that allows liquids to pour, so there are known forms which, if established in the parallel universe, will generate specific results. The pentagram is one such form. It is a basic probability structure which can be used in a variety of ways. The manner in which a pentagram is created in the parallel universe influences its function, as does the way it is combined with other probability structures like the circle and images of certain entities. Combinations of this sort usually occur in ritual  practice, the totality of which may  —  indeed should  —  also become a probability structure in its own right. Magic, you will quickly discover, is modular and you can combine its essential elements in different ways to produce different results. Before beginning your first experiment in magical practice  —  which will actually involve the use of pentagrams  —  a word about the nature of ritual may be helpful. Magical ritual is usually analysed into two component parts  —  the outer and the inner. The outer is the part you can see: men and women, often dressed in oldfashioned robes, performing a series of stylised actions, sometimes with the aid of  specialised equipment such as swords and censors. The inner is a specific visualisation carried out by participants which usually synchronises or otherwise interacts with the outer actions. When this is further analysed against the background of what we now know about magical theory, it can be seen that the ritual moves, chants and gestures are reflected in the parallel universe (as everything is) but only to a limited degree since it is in the nature of ritual that the probabilities are tightly controlled. The whole essence of  ritual is that we know in advance what is supposed to happen and work hard to make sure it happens in a precise, defined way. Magical rituals can be, and are, repeated over and over, without variation, step by step. A good ritual follows a predetermined pattern without deviation. Of course, not all the probabilities can be controlled  —  a participant might have a heart attack, for  example, or the roof of the temple might cave in  —  but compared with many other  human activities, ritual practice generates fewer probabilities than most. Hence its ‘natural reflection’ in the parallel universe is, so to speak, dimmed. But as the natural probability structure of the ritual lessens, a strong artificial  probability structure is superimposed in the parallel universe through the action on it

16 of the human minds involved. That is to say, the predetermined visualisations of those taking part create their own probability structures which replace, to some extent, and extend, to some extent, the natural probability reflections of the physical rite. If done effectively, a feedback loop develops between the parallel universe and the physical universe. This is first encountered as ‘power’ —  a nebulous enough concept in magical terms, but one which virtually all practitioners claim to recognise by direct experience — then as the working out of the imposed (visualised) probabilities on the  physical plane ... a magical result.  None of this is easy to grasp; and it gets worse. Apart from its influence on the  parallel universe, magical ritual has a profound influence on the minds of those who engage in it, both at conscious and unconscious levels. Since we already know that our minds interact with the parallel universe13 a new and subtle layer appears in ritual  practice. At a conscious level, the precise nature of the ritual visualisations is influenced. At an unconscious level, the minds of the participants are generating further probability sub-structures of which they are not even aware. This may go some way towards explaining that magic, while practised widely, is not always practised successfully. There are, however, a couple of safeguards. One is that a well structured ritual takes into account the influence it has on the unconscious mind and a really well structured ritual actually tries to make use of it. The second is that, with training, a magician takes fuller charge of his/her own mind at both conscious and unconscious levels, thus minimising any adverse effect the mind might otherwise have had in ritual practice. If all this has not proved too daunting, the time has come for you to undertake your  first magical experiment.

13What

physicists refer to as the observer effect.

17

Six

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is a short piece of magical ceremonial  popularised by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a Victorian organisation which has become a wellspring of modern magical practice. Like all magical ritual, it has an inner (astral or parallel universe) and an outer (physical universe) aspect. Its  probability structures include the circle, the cross, the pentagram, the hexagram, the element Fire, and four telesmatic figures. Virtually all these elements have strong mythic roots, which is another way of saying they have predictable influences on the unconscious mind. The circle, which is the most efficient definition of an enclosed space, is linked with Omphale of Lydia whose cosmic spinning wheel permitted her to weave the destinies of humanity. The root form of the word identifies with Circe, the Homeric enchantress able to transform men. The fact that she transformed them into swine is not as bad as it sounds. Pigs were the favoured animal of the Great Goddess of  ancient times14 and there was also a tradition of pig sacrifice in the Hellenic period, so that the transformation might be seen as a preparation for sacrifice, making the human fit to meet the gods. Unlike Homer, Pliny considered Circe a goddess rather than a witch and believed she commanded the stars themselves. These various mythic associations underline the concept of the circle as marking the bounds of the cosmos  — or more correctly, since we are dealing with parallel universes, of a cosmos. The religious usage of the cross, now thought of as an exclusively Christian symbol, actually predated Christianity in Europe and western Asia, even in its so-called Latin form. It did not actually appear in Christian art until the 7th Century. The ancient usage was protective: crosses were set up in fields to safeguard and fertilize the crops. A crucified figure was often shown on such crosses, representing the divine king whose blood gave new life to the earth. Associations with the pentagram are more complex and possibly even more ancient. It was the symbol of the Goddess Kore, the innermost soul of the Earth Mother,

14Reflected

in the enduring folk tradition that the pig is the only animal who can see the wind, a

specific gift of the Goddess.

18 worshipped in Neolithic times and perhaps even earlier. It was known as the Star of  Ishtar and later as the Star of Isis. Pythagorean mystics associated it with life and health. The protective properties of the pentagram were so profound to the ancient mind that the Babylonians often drew it on storage jars to protect their contents from decay. Pre-Christian Celts honoured the pentagram as the sign of the Goddess Morgan and the hero Gawain enscribed a pentagram on his shield in her honour. Despite these ancient feminine associations, Hermetic practice has tended towards a more masculine linkage. The naked figure of a man was placed inside a circle (representing the cosmos) with hands, feet and head marking the points of the inscribed pentagram. In this figure, the genitals marked the exact centre. As Firmicus Maternus remarked, man was shown as a microcosm ruled by the five stars. But whatever the masculine/feminine overlay, the pentagram has long had the primary association of protection, particularly from spirits. The hexagram is clearly associated with Judaism in modern minds. It appears on the flag of Israel and is known in Jewish communities as the  Magen David, or Shield of  David, often translated as the Star of David. In magical tradition it is usually known as the Seal of Solomon. In point of fact, there seems little reason to accept a connection with either Solomon or David and even the close association with Judaism is relatively recent. The figure is not mentioned at all in Jewish literature prior to the 12th Century and was certainly not adopted as an emblem until the 17th. The real roots of the symbol lie in the Far East where it is the Great Yantra of Tantric Hinduism. The downward pointing triangle represented the Primordial Female who existed before the universe itself began. She created within herself a seed that grew into the Manifest Masculine, represented by an upward-pointing triangle. The hexagram symbolises the union of these two forces to form the Primal Androgyne. Jewish Qabalism, on which much modern magical practice is based, took over the symbol in full realisation of its sexual nature when Tantric practice was introduced (secretly) into Moorish Spain by returning Crusaders. There is a rabbinical tradition that the Ark of the Covenant should contain not simply the Tablets of Law, but a representation of a man and a woman in sexual embrace in the form of a hexagram. Modern Qabalists, many of whom hold Christian or other non-Jewish beliefs, have forgotten, or tend to ignore, the sexual associations. One contemporary mystery school teaches that the symbol represents the union of evolutionary and incarnatory  personalities, linking it with the basic structure of the human soul and the doctrine of  reincarnation. In its original form, however, the Qabalistic hexagram, like its Tantric counterpart, showed the union of the masculine Godhead with its essential feminine

19 essence, the Shekina. Sexual intercourse between men and women thus became a sacramental act. At the spiritual level, the hexagram is the supreme symbol of   balanced divinity. The ritual which combines these elements has the purpose of establishing a sacred space. The space thus established will endure until what is called the ‘turning of the tattva tides’ — that is, until the next rising or setting of the sun. This is a particularly important ritual for a number of reasons. First, it is designed as a solitary ceremonial, so you practise it without having to find others to help you. Next, it contains sufficient elements to provide a broad sweep of magical experience. Next, it is of practical use in preparing a  place of working for other magical activities, such as evocation; and many practitioners claim is helps reduce distractions in meditation. Next, it has a refining effect on the personality if practised over a  period of time. Finally, minor changes in form will provide you with a whole range of usage for the ritual.

To begin with, you should practise the ritual once a day until you are so familiar with its working that both its inner and outer aspects have been committed to memory and your visualisations are strong, vivid and automatic. This usually takes between one and two weeks, although you are obviously free to take as much time as you need. Once you feel comfortable with the working at this level, turn to Section Seven for  some specific indications of how the ritual can be put to use. In the layout that follows, the inner, parallel-universe probability structures are given alongside the physical working and are self explanatory except for the drawing of the  pentagrams themselves. This should be done in the air direfctly in front of you using your index and middle fingers pointing together. Refer to the following diagram:

20 You should draw each pentagram in the sequence A, B, C, D, E and back to A again. Point A should be roughly on a level with your left hip. Point B should mark the comfortable limit of an upwards sweep of your extended right arm.

Since the

remaining points are in proportion, the figure you draw will be large. The term ‘vibrate’ as used in the ritual requires an explanation. Magicians believe that sound has a specific influence on the parallel universe. Consequently, some ritual words and phrases are sounded in a particular way: they are pronounced back in the throat to create a vibrato quality which can be felt as much as heard. This process is known as vibrating  the word or phrase and is a knack which can be developed with  practice. Ideally, a magician aims to combine vibration with what I can only term ventriloquism, so that the vibrated phrase appears to sound in a relevant part of the room. The ritual itself follows: Pentagram ritual

1. Walk to the eastern quarter of the room and face east. 2. Perform the Qabalistic Cross. a. Raise your right hand to a point about three inches above your head. Visualise a glowing sphere of pure white light hovering there.  b. Bring your hand down to touch your forehead. Visualise that you draw down a shaft of pure white light as you do so. c. As you touch your forehead vibrate the word Ah-Teh. d. Bring the hand down to touch your breastbone. Imagine that the shaft of white light penetrates the centre of your body and extends downwards all the way to the ground. e. Vibrate Mal-Kuth. f. Touch your right shoulder. Visualise a second sphere of white light in this location. g. Vibrate Veh-Geb-Your-Ah. h. Bring the hand across to touch your left shoulder. A third white sphere should be visualised at the left shoulder. Imagine yourself  drawing a second shaft of light from the second (right hand) sphere to join with the left hand sphere.

21 i. Vibrate Veh-Ged-You-Lah.  j. Clasp your hands together in the form of a cup at a level with your  chest. Visualise a small flame, like a candle flame, between your  cupped hands. k. Vibrate Lay-Oh-Lah-Eem. l. Vibrate Ah-Men . 3. Trace pentagram. Visualise the lines appearing in blue fire, exactly like the flame  produced by burning metholated spirit. 4. Stab pentagram with your outstretched fingers. 5. Vibrate Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh imagining the sound rushing away from you into infinity. 6. Move clockwise to south with your arm still extended. Imagine that your  outstretched fingers continue to draw a line in blue fire, forming a quarter segment of  a circle as you reach south. 7. Trace second pentagram, stab it and vibrate Ah-Doh-Nay. 8. Move clockwise to the west. Imagine that you continue to draw the circle of fire so that it is half complete by the time you reach the west. 9. Trace third pentagram, stab it and vibrate Eh-Heh-Yeh. 10. Move clockwise to the north, visualising a continuation of the circle as before. 11. Trace fourth pentagram, stab it and vibrate Aye-Geh-Lah. 12. Return to the east and complete the imaginary circle as you bring your  outstretched fingers to the centre of the first pentagram. 13. Stretch your arms out sideways to you stand in the form of a cross. 14. Vibrate Before me Rah-Fi-El. Visualise a tall archangelic figure in shimmering robes of shot silk in yellow and mauve standing directly before you. Imagine cool  breezes coming from this quarter.

22

15. Vibrate Behind me Gah-Brah-El. Visualise a second archangelic figure robed in  blue offset by orange, holding a blue chalice and standing in a stream of swiftly flowing water which pours into the room behind you. 16. Vibrate At my right hand Me-Kah-El . Visualise a third archangelic figure robed in flame red flecked with emerald standing on scorched earth with small flickering flames at his feet and carrying a steel sword. Intense heat emanates from this quarter  to your right. 17. Vibrate At my left hand Or-Eye-El. Visualise a fourth archangelic figure whose robes are a mixture of olive, citron, russet and black. He holds sheaves of corn in outstretched hands and stands within a very fertile landscape to your left. 18. Vibrate Around me flame the pentagrams. Above me shines the six-rayed star. Visualise the figure sometimes referred to as the Seal of Solomon, or Star of 

David. (See diagram below.) The ascending triangle (point upward) is red in colour, the descending triangle is blue. 19. Repeat the Qabalistic Cross Ritual.

Seal of Solomon

The main probability structures of this ritual are as follows: Structure

Effect

Circle:

Defines an area of protection and acts as a barrier  against external influences.

23 Pentagram:

Destroys or pushes away entities and some structures in the parallel universe.

Flame:

Disinfectant. Fire is the one element in which nothing can live.

Archangelic figures:

Protective. These images are believed in occult theory to provide linkage with the actual entities they represent. The entities themselves, however, are thought to inhabit more subtle universes beyond that used in magical practice.

Hexagram:

Conduit of divine power, via the psyche of the operator.

The spheres of light visualised in the Qabalistic Cross sub-ritual are not strictly  probability structures in the same sense as the remaining figures. They are believed to  be parallel universe aspects of the human body, intimately related to, but not identical to, the chakras of Oriental yoga. The words used while stabbing the pentagrams are all Hebrew God-names and hence provide emotional and psychological linkage with the supreme divinity in Judao-Christian tradition. Magical practice further suggests the sonic attributes of the names have an energising effect. Given these structures, the totality of the ritual may be analysed in the following sequence: The Qabalistic Cross draws energy into the operator’s body to ‘fuel’ the ritual. The visualisation of the pentagrams rids the immediate area of unwanted influences. The circle defines the area to be protected and halts any incursion. The telesmatic figures act as security officers. The visualisation of the hexagram draws divine energy into the confines of the circle. Thus, by means of a combined physical and parallel universes operation, the series of   probability structures cleanse the immediate environment, then define an area of  working, protect it and finally convert it into sacred space on a temporary basis.

24

In traditional hermetic practice, the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram was used to create a sacred space in preparation of some other magical working — rather  like disinfecting the operating theatre in a hospital before the surgeons get to work. Thus banishing would be a preliminary to invocation or evocation, communion with gods or ancestral spirits. It was also recommended as a preliminary to making talismans or charms, since it eliminated unwanted influences. Experience shows it is remarkably effective when applied to purely subjective ends. The refining action referred to earlier has the effect of gradually eliminating phobias and producing a foundation of increased self-confidence. Specific phobias can be tackled by first giving them an astral shape 15 then using the ritual to banish and/or  destroy them. This involves a slight variation in the ritual itself. The outer form remains the same, but the inner changes. First, imagine the form of your fear then ‘project’ it out of your mind into the room with you so that it stands three or four feet away from you. Next, perform the ritual and imagine the form of your fear disintegrating beyond the guardian ring of flame. As an alternative, when dealing with a particularly stubborn phobia or obsession, imagine the pentagram shape emerging from your heart during the ritual as you draw the pentagram figure at each cardinal point. The heart pentagram should strike the form of your fear and either carry it outwards to infinity or shatter it into fragments which are carried outwards into infinity. The heart pentagram, which expands as it emerges, should be the size of the  pentagram you are drawing when it reaches that astral structure. The heart pentagram enlivens the astral pentagram you have drawn, then continues outwards, leaving the drawn pentagram behind. You should repeat the process (imagining the form of your fear and banishing it with the heart pentagram) at each of the cardinal points as you continue with the ritual. When the ritual is complete, the fear is not only banished, but the establishment of the total probability structure  —  cardinal pentagrams, archangelic figures, circle etc  —  ensures that it cannot return.

15That

is, imagining a form most suited to the particular fear.

25 The ritual works at this level in direct relation to your ability to visualise your fear in the first place. If the visualisation is appropriate and complete, the ritual will banish your fear completely. In practice, however, it is difficult to make a complete and wholly appropriate visualisation first time around  —  for most of us our fears are nebulous and little understood  —  so it may be necessary to repeat the process on a daily or weekly basis until satisfactory results are obtained. A further use of the ritual is that of minor exorcism. In this respect it is best used to exorcise places rather than people and will deal very effectively with ‘atmospheres’ elemental intrusions and, indeed, just about anything you are likely to come across. If  exorcising buildings, you will, however, have to work on a room by room basis, repeating the ritual in each one. While the ritual may theoretically be used to exorcise people (you place the subject supine in the middle and work around him/her) this is a tricky operation probably best left alone until you have considerable magical experience. One difficulty is that you need to determine clearly whether the possession is by an external force/entity or an aspect of the individual’s own subjective psyche. The ritual can be used very effectively by the individual himself for removing either type of possession  —  the approach is identical to that for banishing phobias  —  but when imposed from the outside, unfortunate side-effects can often occur. If you are required to exorcise a  person, there is an easier, safer and more effecti ve method given later in this course. When you have become proficient with the ritual at a physical level, it can be interesting to experience it at a wholly astral level. While you are physically seated, eyes closed, imagine yourself standing robed in the east. Project your consciousness into this figure and try to get the feel of actually standing there. Perform the ritual then, when finished, withdraw the projected ima ge of yourself back into your psyche.

26

Seven

While it is true to say there are outer (physical plane) and inner (astral/visualisation) aspects to magical operations like the Pentagram ritual, this is not the whole story. Because of the plastic nature of the probability universe, the action of the magician’s unconscious mind must be taken into consideration. This means self-knowledge is vital to the successful practice of magic, otherwise unconscious drives, fears and motivations can interfere with the outcome of an operation. But any comprehensive system of magical training will always attempt to harness the unconscious so that far from interfering, it will actually aid the operation. This is normally done over a period of time through a system of mind-training which  builds a series of  associations into the unconscious. In a well constructed magical operation, the conscious visualisations, physical plane settings, tools and actions will all reinforce these associations. Followers of traditional systems, such as Qabalah, tend to think of the associations as absolutes — that is, as built into the fabric of the universe and discovered by careful investigation in ancient times. But investigation quickly shows that various of the traditional systems actually contradict each other while remaining perfectly workable for those who use them. This suggests that the associations are, in fact, arbitrary. If this is correct, you should, in theory, be able to make magical use of any associations you care to build into your mind ... or even those already there. In  practice, you will always get better results from the use of a traditional system, although which traditional system seems largely a matter of personal preference. The explanation of the paradox was discovered not by an occultist, but by a scientist, Rupert Sheldrake, when he stumbled on the principle of morphic resonance. One of the implications of morphic resonance is that systems which have been used  by large numbers of people over long periods of time are easier to absorb than new systems. The reason for this is still under investigation, but the discovery itself is no longer open to question. The definitive experiment in morphic resonance involved the ease with which British school children could be taught a poem in a language they did not know.

27

The language involved in the experiment was Japanese. One group of schoolchildren were required to learn a Japanese rhyme which had been taught to Japanese children for generations. A control group was asked to learn a second rhyme of the same length and metre, which had been specially created for the experiment. Results showed the traditional rhyme was absorbed faster and more easily. Association systems are usually known as ‘correspondences’ in occult practice. The correspondences which follow form a very simplified system based on doctrines  propounded by the Golden Dawn, a root organisation within the Western Esoteric Tradition. An explanation of technical terms and usage is given following the table of attributions. Element

Colour

Direction

Archangel

Weapon

Tattva

Creature

Earth

Yellow

North

Auriel

Pentacle

Square

Gnome

Air

Blue

East

Raphael

Dagger

Circle

Sylph

Fire

Red

South

Michael

Wand

T riangle

Salamander 

Water 

Silver

West

Gabriel

Cup

Crescent

Undine

Alchemical thought had it that physical matter was composed of four Elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Although scientific investigation has long since rendered this theory obsolete, magicians still find the fourfold 16 classification useful since many situations and phenomena can be intuitively classified as ‘airy’, ‘firey’ etc. Associated colour and direction are self explanatory and you have already met with the four archangels in the Ritual of the Pentagram where, you will note, they stood at the cardinal points allocated to them in the table above. The associated creatures are  probably familiar to you as well, if only through fairy tale or myth. But weapons and tattvas will probably need explanation. Weapons  —  in this case elemental weapons  —  are the tools of a ritual magician’s trade. Traditionally they should be made by the operator. In the old days this meant forging the steel for blades and blowing the glass for cups, but for some time now

16Actually

fivefold, since the Elements listed are usually thought of an standing under the domination

of a fifth, Aether or Spirit. For present purposes, our simplified system deals only with the four  ‘physical’ elements.

28 occultists have believed that adaptation of existing artifacts is fine for dagger and cup. It is important, though, to work personally on your weapons rather than buying them ready made from an occult supplier. There is an old belief that personal work will imbue the weapon with your own energy and magnetism. Whether or not this is true, it is a matter of experience that making your own weapons changes their emotional value for you, hence their value. 17 Proceed as follows: Earth pentacle: The pentacle is a wooden disc about 4 1/2 inches in diameter and anywhere between 1/ to 1 inch thick. Each side should be painted as follows: 2 First paint a circular white border round each face of the disc, so:

 Next, paint four equal sub-divisions inside the inner circle, thus:

These should be coloured (in clockwise order) citrine, olive, russet and black. With the black subdivision to the bottom, you should paint a white hexagram thus:

17There

is a similar psychological dynamic in the world of art where originals are held to be far more

valuable than copies or reproductions, however technically perfect the latter may be.

29 Air dagger: Buy a short dagger or knife with a straight blade and cross-piece pommel. Sports shops will usually have something suitable. Paint the hilt and pommel a bright clear  yellow.

Fire wand: Take a length of bamboo between 10 and 18 inches long showing three natural lengths (which when cut will give you four knots in the wood.) Insert a magnetised steel rod through the length of the bamboo  — you may have to drill through the knots in order to do so — allowing it to project 1/16 of an inch at each end. Attach a cone of wood (which may be turned from a wooden spool) to the end of the wand marked by the south pole of the magnet. 18 Paint the body of the wand scarlet and the knots yellow, to form four bands. Paint the cone red with three wavy yellow flames.

Water cup: Use any plain chalice-shaped glass which tapers slightly towards the rim. Paint eight flower petals in blue, then rim them with bright orange. Hobby shops will often have  paint suitable for use on glass, but if you find this approach daunting, you can make the petals by pasting coloured paper onto the glass.

18This

is the end that will attract the north pole of a co mpass.

30

Weapons should be consecrated to magical work  — about which more later  — used for nothing else and wrapped in silk when not i n use. The tattvas are a series of symbols, developed in the Orient but imported into the Western Magical Tradition via the Golden Dawn, which permit access to specific aspects of the probability continuum. Only the first four of the five shown below will  be used in the present system of correspondences. Tattva Symbols

To make use of the correspondences listed above, you must first internalise and link  them  —  a fancy way of saying you must learn them by heart until they become second nature to you. Once learned, you should be in a position where the mere mention of the element Earth conjures up the colour yellow, the shape of a square, the direction north, the picture of the Archangel Auriel and so on. Learning the tattvas is a special case and one which energises the whole system from a psychological viewpoint. First you need to prepare tattva cards by painting each of  the symbols shown above, in the colours shown, on an individual white card. Each card should be about 2 1/2 to 3 inches square with a plain white back. Make the colours as strong and clear as possible — the silver crescent will need metallic silver   paint. If you find painting difficult, or do not have access to suitable colours, cut the shapes from coloured paper and stick them down. When you have made the cards, they can be used in one of two ways. The first, safest and easiest, is to relax, close your eyes, enter a meditative state, then place a chosen

31 symbol against your forehead and note what images arise in your mind. Meditate on each of the first four symbols in turn, devoting about 15 minutes per day to a meditation session and using only one symbol each day. In this way you get a subjective ‘feel’ of each element. The second method 19 is to select a symbol and sit quietly staring at it until a halo effect develops around it. Then transfer your gaze to any plain white surface like a ceiling, wall, or simply the back of the card. When you do so, you will see a complementary colour image of the symbol. (This arises out of an optical reflex.) Close your eyes and draw this complementary image into your mind so that you can see it in your imagination. Imagine it existing directly in front of you and enlarge it until it is about six feet high. Then step through the symbol. Once you have stepped through, you will find yourself aware of an area of the  probability continuum which corresponds to the symbol you have used. Explore the area carefully, making sure you can find your way back to the symbol doorway. When you have familiarised yourself with it, return through the symbol doorway to normal waking consciousness. When you are absolutely familiar with the whole table of correspondences  — which should not take long for such a simplified system  —  and have familiarised yourself  with the elemental astral by means of the tattva cards, you can then use the correspondences to structure your own magical operation. The way it works is this: First, decide on the result you wish to achieve. For the sake of an example, let’s assume your partner suffers from cold feet and has asked you to cure the condition.  Next, decide which Element is most appropriate to achieving your goal. In our  example, the obvious Element is Fire.  Next, set up your place of working. For a simple operation this means finding a space and ensuring you will not be disturbed. Set up a table for use as an altar and drape it with a red  cloth to indicate this will be an operation of Fire. Place the tattva fire triangle and your fire wand on the table, along with some small item which links you with your cold-footed partner. A photograph is ideal, but failing this a lock of hair, an article of clothing or personal jewellery will do almost as well.

19Outlined

in greater detail in my book  Astral Doorways, Aquarian Press, London, 1972.