tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post9145879744732115129..comments2024-02-20T09:54:37.105-06:00Comments on Talking About Ritual Magick: Art of Statue Animation - Making a Magickal EidolonFrater.Barrabbashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11689013897789072360noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-90095168641059261122010-12-15T23:39:59.558-06:002010-12-15T23:39:59.558-06:00@Ben - you are welcome, and thank you for your tho...@Ben - you are welcome, and thank you for your thoughtful and interesting comments.Frater.Barrabbashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11689013897789072360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-277917506321405592010-12-15T18:42:23.278-06:002010-12-15T18:42:23.278-06:00I have never encountered anything as comprehensive...I have never encountered anything as comprehensive as the system you present here. Making a statue serve properly as representative of a deity is a common concern, and is normally approached through a relatively simple ritual purification and consecration, followed by the further consecration that repeated ritual use provides. To my understanding, once a basic magical form is established, this form starts attracting further energy (force) which feeds into the shape initially established. The continuing energy is provided by human focus and adoration. If the initial form is sufficiently in line with the deity's natural form of manifestation, then it will continue to refine itself over time to more precisely match the divine intelligence. Of course, to be able to establish that initial form correctly requires successful invocation of the deity, so it's a slight chicken/egg situation.<br />Your methods of purifying and establishing a base (talismanic) energy prior to consecration proper is an approach of technical precision I have not encountered before. Similarly, you separate out the different phases of shaping and empowerment in a way that sounds terrifically effective - though probably only manageable for more experienced ritualists.<br /><br />I have actually been thinking along different lines about much the same thing, from the point of view of automatism and its use for invocation.<br /> <br />I have my suspicions that the process of telestika (drawing a deity into an image) was explored by some Renaissance Neoplatonist artists such as Michelangelo. Francis Yates has expressed the belief that Botticelli's 'Primavera' was intended to embody and transmit the influences of the deities depicted. The very process of sculpting presents a fascinating interplay between the raw material and the 'idea' that is hidden within the form, which the sculptor attempts to gradually reveal. I guess what this effectively involves is the mental projection of an inspired form on to the material, and the projection helps shape the material while the material helps shape the projection. This has a corollary in automatic drawing. There's unfortunately not enough recorded about the methods of these artists (to my knowledge), though Da Vinci seems to have worked a lot with automatic processes, from at least one comment he made (quoted by AO Spare) and from partially-finished canvases I've seen. I would love to imagine that these artists were working with projected deity images that they tried to solidify within the stone/canvas/paper (I don't even know if Da Vinci was in the neoplatonist crowd, though!), but in the end all I can do is imagine...<br /><br />Taking an automatist approach would be quite different to the structured and precise approach you take: it would instead be a gradually refined oscillation between invocation and consecration.<br /><br />Thank-you for stimulating to words something that has been sitting in my mind for the past few days!Ben Whitmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13956579362050671872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-14701871671496159492010-12-12T15:21:45.377-06:002010-12-12T15:21:45.377-06:00@Pallas Renatus - Thanks for the post and the comp...@Pallas Renatus - Thanks for the post and the compliment. Yes, I thought that this might be a first for modern magick. It's not a new idea for those who practice ATR and other Catholic based magick or theurgy.Frater.Barrabbashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11689013897789072360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-51821887512193251752010-12-12T13:16:57.156-06:002010-12-12T13:16:57.156-06:00Although I've heard of the idea of creating &q...Although I've heard of the idea of creating "living statues" generally, this is the first thorough exposition I've seen on exactly how one could go about making one. Excellent post as always, brother.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15009778570667265968noreply@blogger.com