Frater Barrabbas Author Literary Tour - Part 8 - Sacramental Theurgy For Witches

 

This book, unlike the previous, is still in manuscript form and hasn’t been submitted to Llewellyn for publication. I am pretty certain that they will want to publish once they get it, since it fits into a set of books that are good sellers. (Note: I am signing a contract to publish this book soon.) It makes good business sense to continue a series if it is popular and people are buying the books. Still, I am not in the literary business to make money as much as I am writing books to ensure that my legacy of knowledge and practical experience is shared with a large audience. Perhaps I can even imagine that these books might be getting used and thus changing the way that Witches and Pagans practice their magic. I can only hope that such a process is underway.

I wrote this book last summer and it only took me two months to complete it. A lot of the material used in the book I already had on hand, and I was very keen on sharing that material with my community. Still, one might ask what could sacramental theurgy possibly have to do with Witches and Pagans. The title sounds kind of pretentious and very high-brow, sort of like some book on philosophical magic or some trendy breed of ceremonial magic. Of course, I don’t write high-brow books on Witchcraft magic. I leave that to the academics, whose works on the history of magic and witchcraft are now becoming more numerous and quite fascinating. This book is purely about a kind of Witchcraft praxis that is advanced, but it is actually quite obvious and deals with something that is fundamental to Witchcraft religious magic.

Here is the advertisement that I have written to be used with this book when it is published.

Theurgy is defined as a magical operation that induces the Deity to perform a paranormal operation to benefit an individual or a group or to refrain or block an occurrence that would cause harm. The Greek word ‘theurgy’ is interpreted to mean, “God Work”, so it is a form of high magic that directs the supernatural powers of the Deity to either make something materialize or to block something from happening. A theurgist is someone who has the ability to directly converse with the Gods and Goddesses and to either urge them to act or to abrogate their powers and assume their identity and then perform the desired work.

While this kind of religious magic was considered the ultimate mastery possessed by Neoplatonic philosophers of late antiquity, such a practice and its associated perspective is very relevant today for modern Pagans and Witches. It is, in fact, the natural evolution of our practices of liturgy and magic that the two approaches should become united into an advanced formulation of magic, a kind of Witchcraft Theurgy. This evolution is already occurring today, and in fact it represents the cutting edge of Witchcraft practices that certain select senior members of our community are developing and practicing in private gatherings, covens and groves.
 
Witchcraft Theurgy can be divided into two basic categories: sacramental magic and the mysteries of transformation. In both of these categories the Deities are engaged and their impact enlarged so that the magic performed is done explicitly through them. This would require not only defining the Deities in greater intimate detail than what is typical in a coven or group, but it would also require expanding the scope of Deities so that the world surrounding these Witches would be filled with Deities representing the cosmic, regional and local geographic domain of the covenstead.

The core concept presented in this book is that when someone undergoes the ritualized process of godhead assumption, anything that they bless or imbue with their assumed powers becomes a sacred object, whatever its form. In traditional Witchcraft, the drawing down of the moon is followed with the rite of cakes and wine, which functions as a form of communion between the living Deity and the coven of Witches. It follows that anything else so blessed by that godhead, such as oils, balms, amulets, tools or even initiated members, becomes imbued with the powers and essence of that Deity. What is missing is, of course, the bloody sacrifice, but everything else is there to tie these modern practices to some of what was done in antiquity. This is, then, the basis for the generation of sacraments, and their use in Witchcraft or Pagan magic is a kind of magic defined as theurgy. It is also the foundation through which the mysteries are experienced and heightened. This is because it is through the Deities and our intimate contact with them that this kind of magic is possible.

When pagan religious cults were banned and disappeared in the Roman empire certain practices were absorbed into Christianity. While the obvious animal sacrifices were no longer practiced, other offerings were encouraged. Catholics had replaced the pagan bloody sacrifice with the consecration and offerings of wine and bread and brought into vogue the concept of transubstantiation to justify that such offerings were in reality the blood and body of Christ. Such a replacement in a religious context brought the ancient ideas of magic into the cultic practices of Christian liturgy. This is because the concept of transubstantiation is a magical one, and it has nothing to do with theology or sacred writings - it is a magical substitution.

Those magical ideas also caused the spread of ideas that other sacraments, such as baptism water, consecrated oils and balms, as well as relics, the blessings of bishops, prelates and even anointed kings carried the attributes of godhead within them and could be used to charge and bless both the community and individual possessions and undertakings. These were old magical ideas that had been a part of the religious practices of the pagan era, and now were brought into the religious practices of Christianity. It is ironic that a supposed monotheistic religion became so infused with idolatry and magical practices that both Islam and Judaism found the practices of Christianity liturgy offensive. It is also no wonder that such practices brought about the reformation in the 16th century. By the 20th century, the Catholic church had quietly shelved those ideas that were magical and pagan in origin, and even changed the mass to remove all such “superstitions” from their practices.

Yet to the late 20th century practicing Witches and Pagans, such ideas fit perfectly within their creeds and praxis, so some of those rites were reverse engineered into the rituals that adherents of these new religions practiced. What you had were practices of godhead assumption, as derived from both the Catholic mass rite and the practices of the Golden Dawn, and the rite of communion of cakes and wine consecrated by the hand and breath of the godhead. I saw that appropriation as the first step down a slippery slope, which led into the magical well of full and complete ownership of the magic that was once used by Christian Catholics. What was once used to bolster the faith within a population of recently converted pagans could now be used to enhance the religious magic of a modern Witchcraft and Paganism.

As I have stated, the core of the magical religious practices of these new faiths was the rite of drawing down a targeted Deity into the body and mind of a specialized and trained adherent. In the new faiths of Witchcraft and Paganism, it was not only conceivable that a person could masquerade and personify their chosen Deity, it was an expected part of the praxis. With such a ritual acting as the central feature of this new pagan faith, it would seem a natural evolution that all things that are holy and sacramental would come from this transformed individual through their blessings of touch, blowing of breath and kiss.

While this was something that ancient pagan cults would have allowed, it was not actually part of their regimen. They had beautiful temples, priests and priestesses and grand statues to represent their deities for the state religion, but a lot of religious activity went on in the private sphere, and this is where sacred persons could assume the mantle of a deity on a temporary basis and act as intermediaries for the personalized aspects of the Deities. What actually transpired in these private religious occurrences are not plainly known nor understood, but it is likely that they modeled what passes today as the practices of home-based worship, the giving of offerings and prayers and the making of sacrifices. These rites are practiced in some form in modern day India, and from them we can deduce the practices of ancient pagans in the Greco-Roman world.

Still, this practice of godhead assumption brought the numena of the Deity into the group so that the adherents could commune and worship that Deity directly and intimately. A human personifying a Deity could then also bless substances, such as cakes, wine, oils, anointments and jewelry (as amulets). There could also be requests for aid, healing, prophecy and guidance. This rite was where the worshipers and the godhead met to strengthen the spiritual bonds and empower the members. This practice became the center of cultic practices for both Witchcraft and modern Paganism.

One of the issues that I have with this practice is that it can lead to abuse and coercion, particularly if the person personifying the godhead was also the leader of the group. I have presented suggestions that the rite of godhead assumption be performed by someone who has prepared themselves for this exclusive act, while the leadership of the group be performed by others who not so engaged in the process of godhead assumption. I feel that it is necessary that the leadership of covens should not also be engaged with performing the godhead assumption so that they are not empowered as to become unassailable autocrats of the coven. After all, who would argue with the powers and commandments of the coven Deities? Instead, temporal authority should not be mixed with temporary Deity based empowerment. I believe that the mixture is toxic to the proper governance of a coven or group.

Additionally, I believe that the coven or group should be able to judge the level of manifestation of the Deity that occurs during a godhead assumption. There should be built in mechanisms that can be used to judge the efficacy of the drawing down rite. I present 10 stages that a drawing down rite can be observed to achieve when the godhead manifests through the target medium. First, I believe that there should be three simple questions that are presented to the medium when the godhead is fully manifested. The first two are simply questions that request the godhead to define itself by name and quality, and to describe its nature and character. A third question is secretly determined by the group without the prior knowledge of the medium, and it is requested to the Deity to outline its purpose for that evening’s working. 

The coven, apart from the sequestered medium, has determined the purpose of the evening’s work, and if the medium is able to clairvoyantly and accurately describe that purpose, then the group can be certain that the manifestation of the Deity is truly a powerful one. Other phenomena can also occur when the divine is immanently and tangibly present, and these I outline in the description of the ten stages. I also briefly discuss what a regressive godhead assumption is, and that it should be gently stopped and aid given if the medium should show signs of a seizure or bodily stress. The coven should document each and every godhead assumption and give a grade, based on the ten stages of Deity manifesting.

There is, however, a practice that is above and beyond the coven drawing down rite, and that is the full godhead personification. This is lifetime practice, but it can be immediately approached through an ordeal of devotion and the single minded focus and immersion into the being and persona of a selected Deity. The true regimen is a three month ordeal that starts out in a regular devoted fashion and becomes more intensive and focused as the moon goes through three cycles. A lesser ordeal has only one lunar cycle, but this is the kind of ordeal where a person seeks to be fully engaged and immersed within the spiritual body of the Deity. Some individuals will make this kind of ordeal and work their life’s sole purpose, where all else in life is sacrificed so that the sage is free to occasionally act and function as a full personification of the godhead. What she or he does while in that state of personification becomes the Deity performing blessings, empowerment, generating sacraments and aiding in the magical endeavors of initiated members. This, too, is sacramental theurgy in its most intensive and impressive style.

Other ritual workings are discussed in this book, such as the triple consecration rite of specific cult objects, such as the Stang, Besom, Cauldron, various statues or busts of the Deity, and individual amulets. These are considered sacred place-markers or representations of the Goddesses and Gods and function as both sacred objects as well as magical tools. The rituals of the mass and the benediction, reverse engineered from their Catholic sources and rewritten to celebrate and worship the Deities of the coven or group are presented, with full examples of those rites. The mass generates sacraments in a similar manner to a drawing down rite, and the benediction is used to super-charge a magic temple using the sacraments from the mass rite. These two rites are used to sacralize any magical working so to manifest within such a working the aid and manifestation of the Deity. I also present the methods of consecration of amulets and relics, and even the animation of a statue, bust of picture of a Deity, representing the full spectrum of sacramental theurgy. Still, I also discuss the elements of sacred sexuality and how it can employed in the magical workings of Witches or Pagans.

In the final section of the book, I cover the temporal mysteries of the sun and the moon, and present magical rites to be used for lunar and solar mystery workings. Another important mechanism in this kind of magic is the sacred grove, and I not only define the grove and how it is to be developed and used for working sacramental magic outdoors in the awesome beauty of nature. This brings the reader to the final chapter where I discuss the elements and workings of a Grand Sabbat that bring all of the previously discussed tools, methods and practices together in a powerful that brings to life the material embodiment of the Goddesses and Gods through personification into a temporary sacred community of Witches and Pagans.

I believe that this book will bring together practices and approaches to Witchcraft from a liturgical and magical perspective together into a single powerful practice, where the Deity will be directly engaged and embodied to assist in the magical aspirations of the individual, the group and the greater community. This book will be the capstone to these kinds of practices, and make more obvious the sacramental theurgy that is a natural function of the modern Witchcraft and Pagan practices.

Frater Barrabbas

Secret of Pagan Magick

Recently, David Griffin wrote a fascinating blog article entitled “Paganism: Freemasonry for the 21st Century?” You can read it for yourself here. What most intrigued me was David’s quote from an earlier article on the three types of orders of the Golden Dawn and how they compare to other orders. Yet even more interesting, he made the distinction between symbolic and operative kinds of systems, or ones that use symbolic or analogical surrogates in their work, and others that are direct. Those kinds of systems that use symbolic surrogates are called the “Lunar Mysteries” and those that are direct, are called “Solar Mysteries.”

One would assume that the Lunar Mysteries must be mastered before one is able to advance to the Solar Mysteries, since working with symbols and surrogates is more easily mastered than discarding any intermediary for a complete and direct exposure to the One. I found this article to be quite brilliant and very inspiring, as are most of the writings of David Griffin. However you feel about this man or whatever opinion you may have about him, he does know what he’s talking about when discussing the elements of occultism and how they are to be worked in the Golden Dawn.

In David’s own words, he defines these two mysteries in the following manner.

“In a further distinction, there exist two kinds of operative systems and orders. Firstly, in the ‘analogical,’ operative systems, practitioners operate with systems referring by analogy to yet higher, more direct, and more advanced operations and systems. Analogical operative systems are thus called ‘lunar’ mysteries as, much as the moon reflects the light of the Sun, their light is reflected by analogical reference to higher operative processes. Nonetheless, despite her reflective nature, the moon indeed remains a luminary.”

David then continues with his definition of the Solar Mysteries to complete his point.

“The Solar mysteries comprise an operative tradition that lies at the apex of the Rosicrucian as well as the entire Western Esoteric tradition. The Solar operative tradition represents the capstone of the entire Western Esoteric Tradition, lying as it does upon the Hermetic pillars Alchemy and Theurgy. Here, we find not some mere mystical meditation upon alchemical images or psychological nonsense, but rather the supreme esoteric corpus of operative practices that all other genuine magical and alchemical operations only refer to by analogy. It is the summun bonum, the apex of the pyramid.”

So it would seem that at some point in the development of an adept, the magician discards all of the symbols, analogies and surrogates in order to become totally immersed in the power, majesty and wisdom of the One. This phase would represent the beginning of illumination, enlightenment and at-one-ment with the Godhead. The magician, as an agent of the One, would fully engage and become a keystone in the continuous process of the emanation of the One to the Many. This concept makes complete sense, and should represent the ultimate goal of all individuals practicing the various forms of magick in the Western Mystery Tradition.

To complete his thesis, David tells us that the Masonic organization of the Blue Lodge no longer has a true and engaging esoteric organization, and that the remote symbology of the three grades of initiation shine dimly with the light of what was once a vibrant and powerfully transformative organization. Freemasonry, according to David, is a shadow of its former self and has been in steep decline for decades, if not the last century. This is not to say that Freemasonry can’t ignite one’s spiritual inner fires and cause illumination in a candidate, but that occurrence, by itself, is outside of the singular purpose and function of the organization.

If David has made that claim, then it would follow that other organizations that are based on Freemasonry are also in decline, however subtle or obvious to it’s members. What David didn’t say is that even the Golden Dawn itself is slowly losing its way and becoming, in a fashion, obsolete, or at least in terms of how it’s been practiced and organized for the last several decades. Don’t misread what I am saying, the Golden Dawn has been critically important to the development of a number of spiritual movements in the western arena, particularly modern Witchcraft and Paganism. The Golden Dawn was the source root for many pagan offshoots, and it continues to be relevant today.

However, the Golden Dawn has also given birth to its ultimate replacement, which is pagan magick, theurgy, liturgy and a form of sexual alchemy. Granted, modern witchcraft and paganism are relatively new and are just beginning to be formulated into the higher levels of practice and discipline required to achieve complete illumination. The whole first level is still being developed even as I write this article. But there are other elements that are being assembled which will ultimately establish a fully vetted operative system. Some individuals are already practicing this methodology, some deliberately, others unwittingly.

One other thing that David didn’t mention is that pagans and witches who practice their religion and magick, do so within a temple environment which allows for complete immersion into whatever is generated, invoked or evoked. This fact was well established in a previous article that I wrote some time ago, but which I will re-introduce again. You can find that article here.

Witches and pagans use a magick circle in most of their liturgical and magickal workings, but that circle does not function as a barrier or filter protecting them from the spirits and powers that they might summon. In fact, witches and pagans are naked before their gods, goddesses, ancestors, and any spirits that they would seek to invoke. All that protects them is their reliance on their personal and specific cult of godhead assumption. They work magick as their godhead, but in doing so, they are fully exposed to any and all of the spirits and powers that are summoned or generated within the magick circle. So it would seem that ritual magicians who are witches or pagans are receiving a fair amount of direct exposure to the totality of the inner planes. What analogical or surrogate components that do exist in their rites are simply those spirits and powers which have a single and common source, the One. Thus we can say that pagan ritual magick is halfway between the Lunar and Solar mysteries, and that it doesn’t take a great deal of intelligence or insight to adjust one’s workings to engage directly with the One. It just takes a lot of courage, imagination and an empowered discipline.

How do you shift gears and directly engage with the One? There are two methods, and actually both are used. The first method is an advanced treatment of the Great Rite, where two magicians assume the polarity of their associated godhead and join in sexual union, in emulation of the One. From a magickal stand-point this process still requires the use of surrogates, so there is even a more direct and reduced methodology, which is the direct ascension into the One through the mediation of the Higher Self. Still, both of these methods emulate the greater mind of the One, yet the challenge of the higher adept as avatar is to live with that union perfectly established, from day to day until the end of life, and perhaps even beyond. I can only vaguely speculate on these matters, but I do understand how they might be accomplished. Yet I have been working in that halfway middle ground for years, standing at the cross-roads between the Lunar and Solar mysteries.

What is needed is for me to put away all symbols, analogues and surrogates and open myself completely and totally to the full realization of the Solar mysteries. I look forward to that day, which I hope is already on the horizon. However simple it may all seem, it is the most formidable task that I have ever set my sights on achieving.

May you be blessed and filled with inspiration and understanding, wisdom and realization for this time of the calends, in the year 2010. I wish you peace and prosperity in the coming year.

Frater Barrabbas