Pagan Grimoire of Ritual Magick

We have covered quite a bit of territory in this blog so far, and now I want to show how everything that I have written in the past can be assembled together to form a unique grimoire of ritual magick for the intermediate or advanced pagan or witch. We should keep in mind that when I define ritual magick, I am, of course, speaking about the magickal rites blended seamlessly into the liturgical rites. As far as I am concerned, they are one and the same, which is what makes modern witchcraft and paganism so unique. Unlike the past, particularly during the period of pagan antiquity in Europe and the Middle East, in the present time there are no prohibitions in the Western world for practicing magick along with religious rites. There are some important reasons for combining these two practices into a common spiritual and magickal discipline, and while we have covered that in past articles, we should touch on it again as we list the rites and practices of the pagan ritual magician.

We can divide this pagan grimoire into four categories, where each category has its battery of rituals and practices. These four categories are: core rites, key practices, magickal workings, and religious and mystical exercises. Of these four categories, magickal workings contains just the basic system of materializing magick. The other three categories are mostly comprehensive and therefore, would require very little additional lore. However, let us examine each of these categories and see what they contain. We will find that the elements of each category contains rites and practices already thoroughly covered. The task that the erstwhile pagan magician must perform is to write up and assemble these rituals into a single body of lore, which is spiritually consistent throughout.

Core rites: The most essential workings are the mystery rites of the Moon, Sun and the Self (Initiation). The phases of the moon and the seasons of the sun determine the overall cycle of workings and the performance of rites. The solar cycle is used for connecting to the earth and its overall process, and the lunar cycle is used for performing materialized magickal workings within the internal psychic mysteries of all living things.

These mysteries are both magickal and liturgical, but represent the continual periodicity of the magickal calendar. Throughout these various lunar phases and solar milestones are the actual points of spiritual transformation for the individual practitioner, who through the constant practice of ordeals and ceremonies, will also grow and evolve. Rituals structures used in the core rites are the spiral vortex, double gateway, cross-roads and the inner circle. There are also specific themes for the lunation types and phases, the seasonal full moons, as well as the calendric wheel of the year associated with the solar seasons, and the greatest mystery of them all, which is the twenty-two stages of the cycle of initiation.

Key practices: These are the practices that establish and maintain a proper spiritual alignment, as well as performing basic preparations and the essential capability for mind-control. We have already defined the practices of alignment as devotion, invocation, godhead assumption, communion and spiritual service. Perhaps the most important of these rites and practices is godhead assumption, since everything else is pivotal to this rite. Preparatory rites and practices would include daily meditation and contemplation sessions, periodic divination and self reflection, study and using the power of allegory. Also included would be ablutions (bathing), prayers, preparatory meditation, and circle/grove consecration (making sacred space). All of these rites and practices are thoroughly memorized and practiced on a regular basis.

Religious and mystical exercises: These are the pagan or wiccan liturgical practices that are not covered in the previous two categories (core rites and key practices). Such practices would be based on the operator’s base religious affiliation, and would represent his or her presence in the community. Adapting the lunar and solar calendars to one’s basic pagan spiritual practices and their associated spiritual pantheon is a very important task, since it adds continuity to the practice of magick and liturgical ceremonies. As an example, the traditional rites and ceremonies associated with the eight Sabbats and the thirteen Esbats, and thereby integrating them into a solitary magickal practice would represent one of the objectives of this category. Another area is the development of the magician’s personal religious cult, where his or her focused Deity becomes a representation of the magician’s higher self. Practices that are performed around the shrine, with its statues, symbols, fetishes and offerings, and the various associated devotional activities would be a prime example of this category. So would any form of godhead mediation performed for the benefit of the members of one’s pagan lineage, or even sympathetic outsiders.

Magickal workings: These rites are associated with any material based objective that the magician might seek to realize. The pyramid of power rite, which can generate any of the forty Qualified Powers, is the first level of magickal workings that the magician can easily employ. The lunar mystery is the core practice where the pyramid of power rite can be deployed through a variation on the mystery pattern. The methodology for performing the pyramid of power within the lunar mystery working has already been covered. However, the structure of the lunar mystery rite is such that other and more advanced workings could be worked within the same overall structure. This would allow for the employment of an elemental octagon, for instance, or even for talismanic working.

Perhaps the most important feature of this kind of ritual system is that it has the qualities of being performed within a modular structure. What that means is that a single ritual can be used to produce a number of different energy structures. Although there are forty unique Qualified Powers associated with the matrix of ten godhead attributes and the four elements, there is only one ritual which is used to generate that force. All the operator has to do is to change the attribute symbology and the invoking pentagrams, and then the generated power structure is different. Typically, when I write such modular rituals, I leave blanks for the key symbols and their associated ritual devices. I also produce a table and place it in the ritual appendix so that I might use those specific symbols and qualities in an actual ritual. A modular ritual is easy to use and easy to follow when performing a working, since I don’t bother to fill in the blanks with every possible variation. I would recommend this approach to my readers when they go about writing their own rituals.

One other mechanism that is used in this simple system of pagan ritual magick is the ubiquitous sigil. Since I use the sigil as an operant link for the generation of the Qualified Power, it performs two duties for one specific working. It can stand by itself and act as a magically qualified tool (once it is consecrated and charged), and it also functions as a link for the spell. The sigil is a symbolized construction representing a specific desire, and as such, it is inherently magickal even without performing the pyramid of power working. Associating the sigil with the Qualified Power causes it to be imprinted, and exteriorizing it will ensure that the desire is projected into the material world. Once used, the sigil can be destroyed, or can be kept and reused to intensify the specific objective with further workings. If a sigil has a generic desire that could be used to satisfy a number of different scenarios, then it becomes something akin to what Spare referred to as his alphabet of desire.

Examples of all of these rituals and practices associated with the four categories of a functioning pagan grimoire can be found in my published book, “Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick: Grimoire.” I would recommend that if you are serious about assembling the rituals for your own personalized system of magick, then acquiring this book will greatly help you to accomplish your desire to possess and actively use your own grimoire of rites and practices.

Frater Barrabbas

Master Pattern of Ritual Magick

This was a chapter that was pulled and omitted from the book “Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick - Foundation,” which I had felt should be re-edited and used for a separate article. This section was called the “Master Pattern of Ritual Magick”, which are the seven integral parts of a basic magickal working. The Master Pattern consists of a progression that begins with the self and ends with the projection of magickal power and the acquisition of insight through divination. I have written a more simplistic version of this methodology and included it in the book, “Disciple’s Guide to Ritual Magick,” but I thought that it would be a good idea to make this more concise version available for occultists to read and consider.


Analysis of the Master Pattern

I have always believed that what was needed in the teaching and mastering of ritual magick is a simple and concise method for determining what is really critical for the practice of a basic magickal working. I wanted to boil down the more elaborate and complex ritual systems that I typically use to something that nearly anyone could grasp, especially someone who is seeking to learn more complex ritual methods and integrate them into their repertoire. What I wanted was a kind of master pattern that could be used by anyone to produce an effective ritual working.

So one day while I was sitting alone in a theater, bored out of my skull, waiting for a movie to be shown, I decided to do some useful pondering. I gave myself an assignment, which was to come up with a simple list of steps used to perform a ritual working. I wanted to come up with a list containing only those steps that I felt were absolutely essential. I checked this list repeatedly in my mind and asked the same question of each item, “Do I need this step or could I chuck it?” So I omitted anything that I thought was extraneous or distracting. This is how I came up with these seven steps, which I am presenting here as my master pattern. It started out as an exercise to quell my boredom, but it really did produce something useful and important. They’re important because they can be used to build any practical ritual magickal working. These seven steps also introduce one to a modular methodology in performing rituals, since some of the steps can be re-arranged or condensed to form different kinds of ritual workings. The steps can also be repeated in a slightly different manner for a completely different working.

OK, I have now presented how and why I came to derive this so-called master pattern of ritual magick. Yet what could I have possibly put together that hasn’t been discussed to death by many other writers or teachers? Perhaps my intense ennuis made me think that I had an “eureka” sort of moment. Maybe the master pattern is just more occult hyperbole. However, since I have worked magick solidly for many years, maybe I might actually know what I am talking about. To come up with this pattern, I wiped my internal slate clean of any opinions or prejudices and asked the question to myself as if I were a new student asking an adept practitioner how to put together a ritual working. So let’s proceed to discuss this pattern and see if it actually works.

Let me begin by looking at this problem as I did in that theater many years ago. The master pattern of a ritual working begins with the very first step that I call“Self Preparation” and progresses outwardly in ever increasing waves of worldly significance. Self preparation represents all of the things that have to do with the magickal operator, from the internal mind, emotions, perceptions, to the body and its purification, as well as magickal apparel and adornment. Self preparation is the foundation for the working of any magick. If it is not properly established, then all that follows will be adversely affected. From this foundation, the magician progresses outwardly at precise intervals, thereby establishing sacred space, generating magickal power (empowerment), establishing spiritual alignment, charging the magickal link, exteriorizing the power and acquiring insights as determined by divination, both before and after the magick is performed. The last category allows the magician to become aware of the symbolic world where consciousness has its origins, and to understand the inner workings of the World of Spirit, realizing its effect on the mundane world. These seven steps can be quickly listed for a more detailed consideration later in this article.

1. Self Preparation
2. Sacred Space
3. Empowerment
4. Alignment
5. Symbolic Link
6. Exteriorization
7. Divination

As you can see by the way that this progression is arrayed, the magician begins the work inwardly passing through the microcosm of the Self, then outwardly to affect and impact the macrocosm, which is the greater spiritual and material world around one. While some may dispute the importance, precedence or the naming convention that I have determined for this pattern, most ritual magicians in the Western tradition use some variation of this method, thus proceeding from the inner mind and the body to the outer world in order to project magick into the material plane. This pattern is an expanding and evolving spiral, representing the basic qualities of any magick that would influence the material plane.

Of the seven steps, the most important one is the creation of the magickal link. The magickal link is where the magician represents the objective of the magick in some symbolic form, often using a personally derived sigil, which is drawn on a piece of parchment paper or even etched on a metal disk. A sigil is really a shorthand reduction of the objective for working magick formulated into a graphic design, where the various parts or segments are integrated into a holistic figure.

The magician can use other mechanisms for the link as well, such as a mantra repeatedly intoned, or what is called a material or gross link, which is a medicine bag, herb cache, or even a poppet (fithfath). The purpose of the symbolic link is to translate the magician’s desire into a symbolic analogue, allowing it to impact and resonate what I call the super-symbolic reality, which is the source for the impetus of all things that materialize into actions and objects. We will discuss more about this and in greater detail later on.

These seven steps represent a simplified discipline of ritual magick. They can be kept in a rudimentary form or can become quite elaborate. There is often more than one execution for each step, representing that these steps are ideally sequential categories of required ritual actions. In some cases, more than one execution will be used, such as in the category of empowerment, or others, such as the generating sacred space, which has only one ritual to use, depending on the type of space that needs to be sacralized. Applying this methodology to the practice of ritual magick allows for the deployment of a modular system of ritual magick, where independent rituals residing in these seven categories can be repeatedly reused to perform many different magickal workings. There are many possible variations within this pattern, yet the seven steps must be present in some form, in whatever order or sequence.

The master pattern is a guide to understanding what the requirements are for formulating a magickal working and how the rituals contained within it must be assembled. The linear progression of this pattern represents the type of ritual working that resonates magickal energy to a climax, thereby successfully projecting its field of magickal power into the material plane. This type of magick make exclusive use of the energy theory of magick in its most simplistic form. It is not a system of theurgy, psychodrama or initiatory transformation. It does not use or recognize spirits, other than one’s own godhead and spiritual hierarchy. It is a magickal system of acquisition that seeks to make things happen or be realized in the material plane - so it works with magickal energies or powers.

Certainly there are many other types of ritual patterns for other types of workings, all these other variations will be explained in subsequent articles and books. For now, we will focus on a simple exposition of the energy theory of magick using the master pattern.
   
Self Preparation

Because the success of a ritual is contingent upon the perceptions and sensitivity of the practitioner, the primary focus of all magickal training begins with mind control. Without the ability to concentrate, meditate or deliberately assume various altered states of consciousness, all efforts to perform ritual magick are doomed to failure. The discipline of magick begins with self-mastery, and this entails developing the abilities of self-control, self-awareness and self-direction. The petty ego is tempered with a realization of the spiritual nature of one's being and the daily attempts to bring this realization to bear upon the magician’s mind and body.

The following techniques are included under this category:

Bodily purification (self-love): magickal baths, yogic stretching exercises, massage, anointing with oil, self fascination trance (using a mirror), and self generated enthusiasm.

Assuming the Magickal persona: the image of one’s self as a magician, the magical persona, the magician's mask, the magical double or godhead eidolon. This minor assumption is usually accomplished through the donning magickal apparel and adorning the self with jewelry, makeup, wearing a mask, etc.

Meditation: assumption of altered states of consciousness, concentration, mental direction and internal awareness. Includes the methodologies of asana, prana-yama, mantra, mandala yoga, as well as concentration and contemplation. The magician uses the regiment of a daily meditation session to build and maintain a high degree of mental control, and performs a special meditation session prior to working magick. Specific exercises include centering, ascending and descending the chakras (planes), grounding, and opening and closing the self.

Trance: self hypnosis in preparation for deep meditation, skrying or astral projection (if required).

Sacred Space

The next sphere that the magician must act upon is the place in which the ritual is to be conducted. This place may be inside a room or outdoors; however, the magician performs certain ritual actions to ensure that this space is perceived as sacred. The magician defines the sphere of ritual operations so that all actions within it become symbolic and spiritually significant. The abstract plane of symbols is superimposed upon a prepared environment so that it is transformed by association into a spiritual domain, where the symbols and correspondences of magick become an experiential reality. Thus there is a need for tools, furnishings, structures and symbolic landmarks to assist the continual occurrence of esthetic stimulation and the effective communication of the process of ritual performance.

The following techniques are included under this category:

Temple Consecration Ritual: The magician uses the sacraments of lustral water, incense, and candlelight to purify the magickal space of the temple. The magician also deploys a defined magick circle and activated circle points (Watchtowers and Angles) to energize and empower the temple, which are joined together to form geometric prismatic energy structures.

Grove Consecration Ritual: The magician uses the sacraments of wine, oil, milk, rose water and incense to make offerings to the sacred space of the outdoor grove. The magician also acknowledges the ritual structures of the circle, the four Wards, the circle Pentagram, and the internal gateway, which is used to open the natural world to the empowered and sacred World of the Spirit.

Magickal Topology: The magician uses the myths and legends of sacred places, power zones and symbolic associative realities to either harness their powers or to enter into the field of their sacred and empowering environment.

Magickal Implements: The magician uses ritual tools, furnishings, landmarks, metaphysical instruments, symbolic constructs and Yantras (magickal illustrations and designs) to manipulate magickal powers and set the basic magickal field of force within one’s environment.

Empowerment

The most mentioned but least understood concept in magick is magickal power. I should briefly define this concept within a narrow framework so that misconceptions may be eliminated. The operational definition of magickal power is anything that profoundly alters one's mental state or perception within an occult or spiritual context. Power is a metaphor representing a magickal effect. A magickal experience is therefore said to be powerful when it has a high degree of significance and meaningfulness to the magician.

In addition, I would further define magickal power as a form of deliberate self-induced ecstasy. From a symbolic perspective, ecstasy within a magickal context is the experience that occurs when one undergoes the union of opposites, whether enacted within the self (symbolically) or without (physically). This kind of magical power produces a catharsis or spiritual transformation, but in lesser degrees, confers exalted states of consciousness. One could say that every successful magical working should transform the operator to some degree if it is to be considered efficacious. There is a basic relationship stated in this process, that the greater the over-all effect, the more intense the transformation and the greater the purported magickal power. Methods of generating power vary; however, they always involve the joining of symbolic opposites in whatever form they are presented.

Magickal power is the expression and intensification (resonance) of movement, and is qualified by the Four Elements (invoking pentagram), vectoring (deosil, widdershins) and gender (masculine, feminine, neutral).

The following techniques are included under this category:

Symbolic Expression and Movement: Movement is the most basic representation of magickal power. Ritual movement is expressed through circumambulation, whirling in place, simple dance choreography, the assumption of mudras or symbolic  gestures, and the drawing of symbolic geometric forms (Pentagrams, Crosses, Spirals, etc.), all of which represent the symbolic joining of the archetypal female and masculine components. Resonance or intensification is used to increase the experience of power.

Great Rite: The physical joining of the symbolic male and female is accomplished either through the actual sex act or symbolized through physical surrogates (wand and cup, salt and water, wine and bread, the four Elements as sacraments, etc.). One can also use forms of masturbation (rites of solitude).

Masculine Power:  These are ritual techniques such as the cone of power, the Pyramid of Power, the Stang, and the poteau-mitan or magickal pylon (all phallic images). The resonance of the  ejaculative or climactic ritual structure is representative of this pattern, and the product is a bolt of energy that is later released upon the target.

Feminine Power:  The ritual techniques of the vortex, which is a container or envelope of power, and the Threshold Gateway trigon, which is a passageway to another dimension, all represent yonic images, and therefore symbolize the feminine power. Simple and complex vortex structures use four and eight-position ritual patterns, producing the resonance of absorption or the causal-wave energy field when their circle positions are joined in fusion.

Alignment

Alignment is an important step or category in the system of magick that I personally work, yet others might consider this a digression. Typically, alignment represents the magician’s relationship to the Deity in some personalized form. The importance of spiritual alignment is that it introduces into the ritual a sacred presence - a guiding and empowering spiritual being directly connected to the magician. It’s my opinion that the spiritual component of a ritual is a necessity, for without it the ritual becomes merely a selfish exercise in self mastery and personal empowerment.

Magickal power is defined within the context of the domain of Spirit, and it can’t exist without some aspect of the Deity being engaged, whether or not one is actively conscious of this fact. The authority and power of some God/dess or defined spiritual being is usually incorporated into most magical workings, even simple ones that are merely seeking to make some material objective realized.

In the practice of ritual magick (as I define it), the magician must not only define the image and characteristics of the Deity, but must also actively summon and identify with it. It is best if the magician personifies the Deity, giving it a human countenance and a personality to assist in the process of identification and union. In my humble opinion, there is no greater arrogance or foolishness than to practice magick without some kind of representation of the Deity. My reasons for stating this is that without such a supernatural connection, the magician has no extra-dimensional supernatural guidance, assistance and is therefore, spiritually accountable to no one.

Deity gives ethical guidance to the magician and intercedes when adversity emerges or the magick goes terribly awry. A magickal initiate is protected by the Godhead and kept from being harmed through the power of an active spiritual alignment. The agnostic or atheistic magician has no such protection or governor for one’s actions, so he or she eventually realizes terrible ethical failures and is seductively drawn into the corrupting descent of self into mono-mania.

The following techniques are included under this category:

Assumption of the Deity: The magician assumes the identity and image of the Deity, transforming the self so that it becomes conscious of the divinity within. The ritual of the Drawing Down the Moon and Drawing Down the Sun are variations of this technique. (These variations are both used in the Assumption of the Grail Spirit ritual.) Highest forms are the Bornless One invocation rite.

Communion:  The symbolic union of Deity and humanity though the agency of symbolic surrogates (the archetypal male and female of the Great Rite) represents the creation of the actual physical substances of sacramentation. The communion rite of sacrifice is enacted either symbolically or physically, with the blood (wine) and the flesh (bread) being consumed by the practitioners. This rite, still used as a part of the Mass liturgy for some denominations of Christianity, is performed specifically for the magickal empowerment of the individual.

Invocation:  The Deity is summoned, enticed or even implored to appear for the sake of the magician. Invocation performed in this manner is defined as the calling or summoning of the Deity within one's self through guided meditations and visualizations, or through heartfelt attracting, drawing down and the opening of one's self (heart) for union. This type of invocation is not to be confused with the process of invoking or evoking a spirit into manifestation (theurgy or goetia), since it relies exclusively on devotion and the adoration of the Godhead. (Forms of demonalotry would be excluded, of course.)

Devotion: Prayers, public offerings (sacrifices), orisons, dances, spiritual service, celebrations, sacralization of place and time. Celebration of the Solar and Lunar Mysteries. These are done to intensify the connection between the magician and the personal Godhead.

Symbolic Link (Empowering the Intention)

As stated previously, the most important component in a magical operation is the fashioning of the magickal link. Aleister Crowley was the first writer to discuss this concept (see the book Magick, ch. XIV), yet a ritual cannot succeed without its presence. The magickal link functions as the symbolic representative of the intention for which the ritual is being performed. The symbolic intention is capable of easily accessing the abstract world of ideas when it is empowered. This magickal world is the macrocosmic dimension that must be penetrated by the magician in order for it to impact the narrow field of individual consciousness. If the ritual objective is not properly translated into a symbolic format, then the magickal process will end without generating any further meaning or significance beyond the narcissistic and temporary exaltation of the self. Without the active operation of a magickal link, a ritual ceases to be magickal and becomes instead a form of ceremonial celebration. An analysis of the constituents of this magickal link will help to define it.

The following techniques are included under this category:

Sigil Magick:  The various methods of establishing a symbolic link consisting of either words or pictures representing one's purpose or desire is the technique of  sigil magick. The sigil is a condensed symbol or picture of the original desire and imbued with all the emotional  intensity and significance that is associated with that desire. The sigil is charged and then projected through ritual exteriorization into the archetypal plane where it becomes part of the domain of ideas beyond conscious control.

Ritual Formulas:  The points of a ritual structure (watchtowers, angles, etc.), when imbued with numerological and word associations, is brought together through a unified expression that consists of a formula word or phrase produced by the joining of these word or number associations. This form of word-number association is the basis for the Qabbalistic systems of Notariqon (acronym manipulation), Gematria (numerology), and Temurah (reduction of names into sigils). One early example of this methodology is found in  the Analysis of the Key-word (LUX-INRI) in the rituals of the Golden Dawn. (See the Ritual of the Rose Cross, in Israel Regardies' book, The Golden Dawn, volume 4.)

Organic (Gross) Link:  The use of physical objects such as a fith-fath (a poppet or voodoo-doll), a picture, photograph, herb-cachet, organic substances such as herbal or mineral philters, clothes or possessions belonging to the target, fresh blood, semen, menstruum, saliva, urine, excrement, hair, nail parings, etc., are examples of the organic magickal link. The use of a physical object allows for a potent associative link that easily penetrates into the magician's unconscious mind.

Note: In the magickal workings that I perform, I make use of sigils and ritual formulas, but typically avoid using a gross link. This is just my preference.

Exteriorization

The technique that causes the power in a magical ritual to be outwardly expressed, making it a real phenomenon to the magician, is known as exteriorization. This technique is the easiest to understand and is never omitted from a ritual working. When the target or objective of a ritual lies beyond the boundaries of the self, then some form of exteriorization is required.

The following techniques are included under this category:

Trance of Willing:  The magician uses the processes of trance and visualization to impress upon the symbolic plane the desired outcome. The visualization must be reduced to a condensed format (the magickal link) and allowed to seep into one's unconsciousness through the deepening of the trance state.

Climactic Expression:  The magician uses movement to reach a crescendo of effect and then immediately ceases that movement. This is also called the whiplash effect. Some variations include the sword dance (as famously illustrated in Crowley's book Moon Child), a chanting-round and ecstatic dance culminating in ecstatic release.

Pranayama Release:  The magician uses a breathing technique known as the Lotus 7-breath, inhaling a potent perfume (essence of lotus) at least seven times, then combining hyperventilation with a breath bandha (holding in the breath) and a final dramatic and explosive exhalation.

Insight

The magician uses the prior six categories to formulate a ritual working that projects the powers of the phenomena of magick.  This category assists one in understanding the effects and implications of that ritual working. The dual processes of magick ritual and divination assist the magician in following the proper and most efficient path to personal growth and ultimate enlightenment. The process of insight reveals the symbolic domain of the macrocosmic world that assists the magician to focus the purpose and objective of his/her magickal workings. While there are many methods of divination, the following list should assist the magician in understanding the area of specialty for each.

The following techniques are included under this category:

Astrology:  Knowledge of the timing of celestial events.

Tarot/I-Ching:  Knowledge of the symbolic plane as it applies to the choices influencing the individual. Cards are shuffled and drawn randomly, coins are tossed randomly.

Runes/Geomancy: Knowledge of the variable patterns of existence. Includes other techniques, such as palmistry, bone throwing, tea leaf analysis, bird  flying formations, etc.

Pendulum/Dowsing Rod: Knowledge of the magickal effects of  chaos or chance. Includes all moving-pointer type techniques, such as the Ouija board, dice throwing or coin tossing, the Magick 8-ball, etc.

Skrying/Astral Projection: Knowledge through visualized clairvoyance. These divination techniques incorporate the methods of the mediation of the symbolic and physical planes of being. Ancient forms of the above were fire gazing and water gazing.

Conclusion and Recap

So we have now covered all seven steps of the master pattern. I would expect that the astute student would want to know how to put it all together. While I have no problem sharing the structure of the pattern of this simple ritual working, the actual rituals and how they are used are covered in the second book of the Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick series, which is called the Grimoire. Here is the pattern of a simple magickal working.  There are seven phases because the empowerment step is split into two distinct rituals.

1. Self preparation - magickal bath, purification, meditation and contemplation - this would include crafting a sigil for the work
2. Temple consecration
3. Empowerment phase 1 - erect a Vortex (qualify power with widdershins vector and feminine gender)
4. Alignment - Godhead assumption
5. Empowerment phase 2 - erect a Pyramid of Power (qualify power with Element, deosil vector and masculine gender)
6. Charge sigil and use to imprint power field
7. Exteriorize power field - spiral circumambulation and induced ecstasy

In addition, one would perform divination both prior to the working, to define and objective in a greater refinement, and then afterward, to determine the overall outcome.

Frater Barrabbas

Reviewing the Reviewer - Another Clueless Article from the Esoteric Review

Review of Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick - Grimoire - by Nina Lazarus

Back in the Spring of this year, my first book in the series “Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick” received an unwarranted and blistering review that fully demonstrated how ignorant the reviewer was of general occult principles and of ritual magick specifically. I was reviled for producing a book that did not attempt to explain all of the details of the techniques of ritual magick, even though the book was thoroughly promoted as being an intermediate level book that was not for beginners. This was stipulated on the back of the book cover, in the title itself, and the introduction. The basic understanding of who the book was written for, and what it should contain was completely missed by the reviewer, so one had to assume that the real issue was the reviewer and not the book.

That being said, it’s now several months later and the next book in this series has been released. Yet another poor review has burbled up from the yawning pit of the Esoteric Review. Although this reviewer seems to have at least looked over the book and attempted to analyze its contents with some degree of intelligence, the basic message of the book, printed plainly on the back cover and throughout has been missed. This book contains the rituals that go with the series, which is why it is called “grimoire”, but these rituals are to be rewritten and developed into a personal system of ritual magick. In fact that is the whole purpose of the series, also stated now in both published volumes. This is what’s on the back of the book:

“Building upon the work begun in Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick: Foundation, this book contains nine rituals that are core to this system of magick. These rituals are customizable to work with a variety of pantheons for the purpose of building a personal system of magick for solitaires, groups or combinations thereof. “

Also, in the introduction of the book:

“Few books contain rituals to customize and re-write, show how to group rituals together to form workings, or even build up a complete discipline of practical ritual magick. This book used in combination with the first, does that and much more.”

And also, this quote:

“As you look over the rituals in the grimoire, you will see that I have deliberately left blanks, inserted boiler plate examples and left omissions in the text so you will be able to fill in the blanks and build your own personalized rituals.”

So based on these examples, one would expect to find rather rudimentary examples of ritual text (speaking parts) and other mechanisms to fill out what are actually just examples of ritual, not completed nor fully developed ones. This is why there are blanks for the various god names and other defined ritual parts. What’s important are the ritual structures themselves, not the actual speaking parts. These are to be customized by the student using this series to build their own system of ritual magick. A simple examination of any of the rituals will allow one to easily determine that they are incomplete and require development.

Yet based on Nina’s critique of the book, there is no mention of this fact whatsoever. So despite writing this explanation in several parts of the book, including the back (which she dryly comments on), the reviewer doesn’t comprehend the purpose of the book. That should in and of itself disqualify the reviewer and the review, but there is unfortunately much more to read and puzzle over.

In the first paragraph of the review Nina states that “The subtitle of the book is somewhat misleading, as the use of the term grimoire here is indicative of the current trend to use the word to somehow validate books as being more genuine or of greater provenance, when they are in fact completely unrelated to the Medieval and Renaissance grimoires, which form a distinct tradition of their own.”

Of course the dictionary defines grimoire as a book containing a collection of spells, incantations and rituals, and since this book is intimately associated with the “Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick” series, one would not associate it with the old grimoires of the Medieval and early Renaissance periods. It’s just a book containing a collection of rituals and spells, so perhaps the more simpler explanation should suffice. Nina is looking for reasons to judge this book harshly, and one can see this also in the first paragraph, where she says:

“The back cover of this book informs us that Frater Barabbas has almost four decades of practical experience of the occult arts. I therefore assume that he is in his fifties, as anyone claiming to practice magick seriously before the age of twelve or thirteen in my experience is usually a deluded fantasist. ”

If one were being generous, then the correct assumption is that the author is in his mid fifties, which is correct. To also state that most claims of a lifetime’s worth of experience are the mark of a deluded fantasist is to imply that I am somehow deluded and fantasizing my role as a ritual magician of some experience and knowledge. It’s an implied ad hominem attack on me, setting up the review for a systematic demolishing of what has been judged as an adequate book on ritual magick by other more objective reviewers. So if the title of my book is poorly chosen and my claims of being a magician for 35 years the raving of a lunatic, then the contents of the book must be easily dismissed as just more occult rubbish.

Then she examines each of the nine rituals, looking to judge them as interesting, unique or just more of the same (wicca 101 or ceremonial magick 101). She gives the readers a clue as to how she views magick with the comment:

“The latter includes the words “to manifest and appear” for the summoned watchtower guardians, which seems incredibly optimistic. Then four emissaries of the deity are invoked, which seems somewhat superfluous, not to mention a little crowded! Why do people always assume that spiritual beings want to come and watch their rituals anyway when they offer no incentive for them to do so, but I digress. ”

The text for summoning whatever the student has finally chosen as occupying the four Watchtowers is loosely based on what one would anticipate in a ritual used to summon something. I would expect this verbiage to be completely replaced with whatever the student has decided is more relevant. So a critique of the specific language used is sort of misplaced - since the important part is the pattern and not the actual ritual language. She fails to notice that the circle is being squared, adding a unique layer to the circle consecration rite, and this is where the four emissaries are invoked - becoming the sides of the square. A circle squared is an important factor in a ritual based on energy - it produces a charge. She also doesn’t seem to realize that the watchtower guardians and the emissaries are not named - gee, I wonder why?

The whole basis for this system of magick is two-fold - it uses the energy theory of magick, and as a methodology of ritual magick, it requires the assumption of the godhead. In fact the personal godhead of the magician is also directly connected to the magician’s magickal persona and the four emissaries. So the mere process of assuming that persona implies an indirect connection to the deity, which is why the magician may summon the associated spirit guardians of the Watchtowers and the four emissaries without being presumptuous or overly optimistic. This system of magick was rigorously defined in the first book and repeated in the second as well.

The scope of this system is pretty well defined in the book, and I quote it here:

“A magician must have a material base of operations, and therefore, he or she must satisfy basic needs before considering more lofty or exalted pursuits. However, a successful material life is not the end goal of this system of ritual magick. It is the beginning.

I believe working ritual magick to gain an edge in the material world is always the place where a magickal discipline has its base. “

From these two statements, one would expect that this system of magick would focus on a material based magick that would be used to assist one in bettering their material situation. This is not a system of theurgy nor is it a system that uses spirits in its workings. It is a simple system of magick with some moderately complex parts and it is fully modular, meaning that one can use the nine rituals to formulate ritual workings and develop a magickal and spiritual discipline.

Then we come to Nina’s critique of the Grove Consecration ritual, and she says this bit about the blessing and consecrating the sacraments through the agency of the magician’s godhead (unnamed, of course).

“Then we come to the consecration of the magick grove. This was of similar ilk, however summoning the spirits of the elements into the cakes, oil, milk and honey and wine, and then burying them in the earth and putting a stone over them is not in my opinion a very smart move. Other elemental spirits will know you are the one who trapped their compatriots and have no desire to help you with anything – why should they?”

Let’s look at the blessing of the wine as an example. The magician first blesses the wine using this boiler plate blessing:

“I bless this Wine as the Spiritual Blood of the Great Mother, the Earth. In the Name(s) of [Deity(s) Name].”

Notice the word “as”, because it is an important key in the magickal sentence. So this looks like a typical blessing in the name of some deity.

Then there is the follow up exhortation, which Nina finds so objectionable.

“I summon the Spirits of Fire, as the Liberating Power of Wine. ”

Once again the word “as” is being used. This use of the word “as” in both cases is a kind of simile, and not to be confused with an equivalency. Anyone taking English 101 in college would be able to parse the difference between “is” and “as”, since it is used extensively in poetry, religion and in ritual and ceremonial magick.

What is happening here is that the sacraments are being blessed and consecrated by the godhead and the sacred element. Then part of the sacraments that are blessed and consecrated are given back to the earth from whence they came, and the rest is consecrated again in the Assumption of the Grail Spirit rite, if it were performed as part of the outdoor grove working. There is no mention that these sacraments are imbued with spirits, just blessed and consecrated by the powers of the godhead and the sacred elements. Yet Nina somehow thinks that by doing this, one is forcing element spirits into the sacraments and then dumping and trapping them into the earth - such a rude and mean thing to do! All I can say to this comment of hers is that she knows nothing about the simple art of blessing and consecrating sacraments, or what they become after they are so blessed. To restore some of them to the earth is to feed it, since the Grove is the earth, and it is alive! This is a very proper and pagan oblation.

Nina then goes on to the Pyramid of Power rite, which she dismisses as derivative, even though there isn’t anything else in print that is quite like it, but that doesn’t seem to matter. She has this to say about the “Mantle of Glory” which is a simple and abbreviated method of self crossing.

“The Pyramid of Power contains the first occurrence of the “Mantle of Glory”, which is a straightforward derivation of the Qabalistic Cross, minus the visualisations [sic] which actually empower it. ”

She assumes that this ritual action is from the Golden Dawn ritual, the Qabbalistic Cross, gutted of its more effective parts and ineffectively pasted into the rite. Yet this is not where this ritual action comes from, it’s actually distilled from the Alexandrian version of the “Drawing Down the Moon” rite. It’s also done in the middle of a complex set of ritual actions (the ritual climax), so developing it more fully (as is the case in the Qabbalistic Cross) would detract from the actual flow of the ritual. But this is not important to Nina. Copying things exactly is more important than properly integrating important ritual actions into the flow of a ritual. Since Nina didn’t bother to experiment with this ritual and try to use the full blown Qabbalistic Cross at that point, she wouldn’t know that it’s too cumbersome to be so accommodated.

She also complains that I didn’t adequately describe the “Osiris position”, but of course, this pose is described in the first book, which Nina didn’t bother to read. And she compares the Rose Ankh vortex rite to fantasy role playing, missing that there is a specific operation in that rite that works with energy fields and pulls them together in a unique manner. If I had made as many mistakes in my book as Nina has made in her critique, then the book would never have been published, at least not by Megalithica Books.

The icing on the cake of this poor review is where Nina pokes holes in the spirit attributes of the Qualified Powers of Air. I admit that I used my own system to create a nomenclature for the angelic level names for the ten attributes of the Deity, and I did not draw much from traditional sources to craft this list. Yet it works and it’s functional, and the bottom line is that the tradition that Nina uses to critique it is based on only one of several different systems in use over the last thousand years or more. Since these are just attributes and overly simplified, one could perhaps let this slide, especially if the angels are not being used for theurgy nor in anyway invoked. This is probably one area where I should have stuck to the books, since it was certainly going to bother someone out there who is a purist, although, as I have stated there are several systems of determining angels and sephiroth, and I have added one more. Here is Nina’s exact words on the subject:

“Unfortunately the author’s knowledge of Qabalah seems somewhat rudimentary, and when I reached his attributions of the angels this was made very clear. He has mixed the traditional grimoire orders of angels with the Qabalistic ones, resulting in some bizarre attributions and the introduction of new orders of angels not seen in either – the Benefactors and Intelligences! The latter term is sometimes used interchangeably with Angels, as seen in the Planetary Intelligences, but that would not fit here. Neither would the Aralim (should be Binah) with the Ten of Swords, Dominions should be Jupiter and Four, not the Three of Swords, and the list goes on.”

Of course, since I took liberties with what Nina thought was “traditional”, and that the rest of the chapter on the Qabbalah was written for individuals who were not Qabbalists, I don’t think that my knowledge is either rudimentary or substandard. Anyway, she basically judges the whole system as suspect and contrived, since I had the audacity to craft my own version of the list of angels attributed to the ten sephiroth. Like I said, if you aren’t invoking the angels by name, what difference does it make? This is not a book to perform Theurgy! There were no sources sited for the list of angels nor did I say that this was a traditional system of angel magick. Still, Benefactors being compared to Chesed, which is Mercy - is that so far out? It’s not traditional, certainly, but so what! I think that deriving angelic names based on the qualities of the Qabbalah is certainly not a crime, nor does it brand me a moron. But that’s a guaranteed “gotcha”, which she could have just said the following and it would have been appropriate:

“Frater Barrabbas seems to have put together his own list of angels attributed to the Qabbalistic World of Yetzirah. This list does not compare to any that would be used in traditional grimoires or would be a part of the traditional Qabbalah. I don’t agree with his use of the derived angel list, but since he is describing an energy or force, it probably doesn’t detract much from what he is attempting to describe. Readers should take note of this discrepancy.”

But that would have been much too generous and would have implied a certain degree of acceptance. If Nina’s objective is to harshly judge my book, than any excuse is warranted, and disagreements become outright objections. Objections lead to Nina saying that the book is not worth buying by anyone.

However, Nina did like the chapter on the Assumption of the Godhead, ironically the newest piece of writing that was added to the book, so I guess one could say that there is yet hope for me as a writer. The rest of text was originally written over 12 years ago, and has been extensively edited. It is readable, which is a remarkable accomplishment.

Then Nina throws in this nice gem of a critique, thinking that the bibliography has a glaring error in it.

“I was slightly puzzled by the bibliography, where “The Qabalah of Aleister Crowley”, “Liber 777” and “777 and Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley” were listed as three separate books, when they are basically all the same thing (ok Liber 777 doesn’t contain Sepher Sephiroth but that is a minor quibble). However perhaps this is thrown in to see if you are still paying attention.”

These are in fact three different books containing a compilation of material, some of it duplicated, and some of it unique. They aren’t identical copies of exactly the same thing, and the earlier version of 777 published by Level Press is probably no longer available and could be omitted from the bibliography. However, they aren’t the same books, and they or may not be available at present. Some older books are now online and the new versions are out of print, so for this reason, I included all three of them. However, they are listed, and once again, why is this such a large issue for Nina? It’s just another “so what?” Nina caught this “so called mistake” and she criticized me for crafting my own angel list, but she didn’t even get why the book was written. That does say volumes about her ability to nit pick but miss the whole point of any conversation. Talking with her must be dull and annoying, too.

So that’s the review of the reviewer’s review. How about a review of the reviewer? What can we judge about her from her writings?

Nina Lazarus is obviously an afficionado of the old grimoires, and since my book had the word “grimoire” in the title, it fell to her to critique it. All well and good, except that the book is about ritual magick and has nothing to do with the old grimoires. She has very little knowledge of classical witchcraft, paganism and is probably not an initiate. She doesn’t know much about the liturgical actions of blessing and consecrating sacraments and certainly knows nothing about magick that uses the energy theory. Her domain is obviously working with spirits, so everything is seen in that guise, whether or not the book deals with that subject - and it doesn’t. So, it would seem that Nina is hardly the expert to review my book, and that she should either state her limitations in the very beginning or just not bother reviewing something that is not in her subject of expertise.

What bothers me about bad reviews and poor reviewers is that they have to dig and find things to trash someone else’s work. We are all brothers and sisters of the same over-all path, and we face a world that is hostile to our practices and beliefs. Even though the number of wiccans and pagans in the U.S. is growing very rapidly, it is still a small minority, and one that is subject to potential persecution and discrimination. For those who are struggling to write and to publish their books for the benefit of others of like mind, I have the greatest respect and admiration - even if I don’t agree with their views and practices. Occult authors don’t generally make much money, even the popular ones have to hold multiple jobs to survive. To write a bad review about someone’s book in our community by one of its own members shows a kind of small mindedness and spitefulness that is astonishing to me. It speaks volumes of the reviewer’s over inflated ego and says nothing about the book and the author that they just smeared for no real reason.

I find this state of affairs both sad and tragic.

Frater Barrabbas