One of the ideas that separates the Order of the Gnostic Star from other occult or magical organizations is that initiations do not confer any kind change in status. They are used to denote achievements already completed, and function merely as ceremonies of recognition. This is particularly true for the higher degrees, which start from fourth through seventh. Each level is assigned an element or a symbolic concept, and there are skills that must be developed and then some kind of extended ordeal performed to test one’s capability associated with those skills. In sense, an initiate is always working with the lore of the next degree rather than being locked out of that lore until they are awarded degree-based recognition.
What we, who designed this magical order, planned was that the ordeals for each degree pushed the potential for transformation and illumination that an initiation only officially and outwardly proclaimed. What this did was ensure that someone who received an initiatory degree had fully earned it. It also built into the initiatory degrees the factor of a continuous process of challenges that would eliminate complacency or overly subjective qualifications for initiatory advancement. Thus, initiations were never conferred by a controlling seniority in a temple organization. An individual requested an initiation into a higher grade and their seniors asked for proof, as such would be documented in their magical diary. Only then was the initiation ceremony performed, but it only recognized what had been already achieved.
We saw that initiation was best understood as a passage through the four elements and spirit, and that this natural progression started with earth and advanced through air, fire and water. Once all four elements were mastered, the initiate would embark on a powerful course of transformations to gain the attribute of spirit, which would be the quintessence of the four elements, also known as the fifth degree. This passage marked the transformation of the initiate into an adept, and opened the gateway to an inner order that completed the lessons of self-mastery.
All of this background to initiations seemed so intuitively obvious to us that it was easy to construct, at least for the initial steps. Each of the initiatory ordeals would become more difficult, and as the student progressed on the path, there could more than one ordeal used to secure the transformative powers and intelligences of that aspired initiatory degree. So, let us take a tour of these four elemental initiatory stages and see what kind of ordeal would best represent the lore and magical techniques needed to be mastered to trigger the transformations associated with each initiatory degree.
Earth: While some might think that the element of earth is an easily accessible and simple stage in the development of a magician, where it requires very little to trigger the transformation to confer the first degree; it is in fact much more complicated. In the Order, the degree of Neophyte is given as a means to participate in the operations of a magical temple and to begin the practices that will confer the first transformative passage into the element of earth. In this case, the initiation is given before the transformation is experienced, although the initiation experience itself can confer a kind of transformation, and so does participating in the temple rites and ceremonies being performed by their more experienced initiated elders. This is the mystery of what is called in Zen, the “beginner’s mind,” and it often has profound effects on the student who first experiences magic as performed and shared within a group. There are also many mysteries associated with the earth element that one could just gloss over in their hurry to get to the next level. There is herbalism, mineral-based medicines, gemstones, semi-precious and precious metals, various types of crafts, and even forms of chemical alchemy that could also be a part of earth magic. However, it is the practice of elemental magic that is the first step in the mastery of the earth, and it is prudent for the magician to experience all sixteen of them in a condensed time period.
What I have proposed is that the student of earth perform the rituals to invoke all sixteen elementals in a consecutive period of eight weeks, where two elementals are invoked each weekend. I also believe that the cycle of the mysteries of the sun and moon should be fully experienced, and the basic practices of meditation, trance, godhead assumption, and simple magical and spiritual liturgical exercises be mastered. This is because the earth is the foundation of the practice of magic and should not be taken for granted or passed through too quickly. Still, successfully completing the Elemental Ordeal and showing a mastery of the basic lore, and passing through the solar and lunar celebrations would be an appropriate test to pass on to the next level.
Air: Passage beyond the element of earth brings one to the element of air that tackles the next level of lore, which are the seven planets. Whereas elementals represent emotional energies primarily (although one does add the dimension of spirit to it through the invocation of elemental angelic spirits at a more advanced level), planetary attributes represent psychological dynamics and as spirits, they can be seen as archetypal intelligences that can activate corresponding attributes in consciousness. The art of planetary magic represents a whole new level of magical activity, but this leads to the core capability in the learning of magical practices, and that is talismanic magic. Simply, by taking the planetary intelligence and joining it to an element base, the magician will generate a talismanic field. There are twenty-eight of these talismanic elementals, so the ordeal would challenge the magician to master the process of generating them and forging them into metallic talismans so that they might utilize the perpetual spell-casting of this kind of magic. Adding to this equation are the 28 Lunar Mansions that require a more exacting timing in their use, and you have the full blown discipline of talismanic and astrological magic.
An ordeal for this degree would be to generate four metallic talismans in a period of four months. The magician should research what capabilities or opportunities they might lack as determined by their natal astrological chart and by circumstance, and elect four different talismans that can help them gain a charmed existence. Not only is the achievement of these tasks a requirement for elevation to the next level, but that they must show examples of how these talismans have changed their lives. I believe that having such instruments working in the life path and vital field of a magician will cause a process of continued betterment that is a greater reward for their accomplishments than any kind of recognition from their elders.
My assumption is that to master talismanic magic, one must also master the art of astrology, which would be natal, transits, and elective forms of that discipline. Learning the art of using the fixed stars in magical operations would also be an important part of this work as well.
Fire: The third branch of lore from elemental and talismanic magic is the art of invocation and evocation. Conjuring spirits into manifestation using any of the traditional or order-based techniques is what should be mastered at this stage. While the very first invocation is the Angel of the Order, Chiramael, the techniques of the variations on the archetypal gate ritual, the septagramic planetary and octagon element gateway fusion working, and the spiral septagram invoking vortex are the order-based systems, but the five part traditional evocation methodology is also part of the lore.
Learning to treat spirits of all classifications as demigods in their own right with associated offerings and respectful interactions is an essential part of the lore, requiring both a liturgical and magical practices. Mastery of the tables of correspondences, the Qabalah in its various perespectives and insights, and the astrological decans, brings together a system that defines the entire inner plane domain of spirits. Having the capability to invoke angels and evoke demons is a part of this initiatory lore, and so is the practice of liturgical rites (votive offerings and Mass rites) and spiritual ceremonies (solar and lunar calendric rites), which begins the process of bringing magic into a theurgic practice.
Since the focus for the third branch is on both the processes of invocation and evocation, the initiate is challenged to perform four invocations of the angelic rulers of the decans with their associated Ha-Shem angels and goetic demons over a consecutive period of four months, and following the cycles of the sun and the moon. Thus, a total of twenty angelic and demonic spirits are to be invoked and fully experienced during this period of four full moons.
Water: Having mastered the three branches of magic and begun the path of theurgy, the magician completes this education in the fourth degree. Here, they begin building and completing their alignment and bond with a chosen Deity, which becomes the embodiment of their internal godhead and ultimate higher self. While godhead assumption is a technique that is taught in the first degree, and developed through second, and utilized to empower and protect the initiate during the third degree, in the fourth degree the barriers between self and Deity are dissolved so that the initiate and their personal godhead become truly one. This stage is where the initiate magician becomes a theurgist. The three month ordeal of Godhead personification (as discussed in my book “Sacramental Theurgy for Witches”), and the mastery of the saying of the Mass rite and the benediction, along with participation in the Grail Cycle as defined in the Order are the prerequisites to achieving all that there is to achieve before gaining the access to the next degree, which is qualified by spirit. While the Sephirah associated with the fourth degree is Netzach, it represents the quality of spiritual love necessary to bind one’s chosen godhead to the magician’s magical persona, thereby making it completely sacralized.
An ordeal of water would be two-fold, but primarily achieving the task of full godhead personification, and having that verified objectively by a select group of worshipers acting as the witnesses and peer group of the magician. The second task is to evoke into manifestation the four greater chiefs of the Nephilim by following either the legal path or the illegal path, and also engaging with Lilith and the demon Samael. Using the archetypal gate ritual, the magician invokes the archangels Raphael, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raziel. Charging the gateway key seals, they will enter into the nether domain of the Nephilim and begin a period of communion lasting not less than four months. Achieving these two tasks will ensure that the candidate is ready to make the passage across the lesser abyss and achieve the initiation of the Pontifex of the Fifth Degree.
Spirit: Successfully passing through the four elements has transformed the initiate into an adept, and they only need to perform a series of powerful ordeals to complete and make stable that transformation. While many have passed through the first three degrees, few have made it to degree of water, and even fewer make it to spirit. Each successive passage becomes more difficult than the last, and there are few who actually know how to perform conjurations, let alone personify a Deity. This is the winnowing function that separates the sheep from the goats, and only those who are truly dedicated to advancing the practice of ritual magic in themselves will achieve the higher levels of technical know-how and theurgic capability. It is also quite an accomplishment to master the first three branches of this lore, since they function as a boundary between what would be considered a classical magical expertise and theurgy, which practice further mixes together magical rituals and liturgical rituals to establish a kind of spiritualized magic.
There are three degrees in the inner order, and these are the Pontifex, Sanctum Regnum, and Hierophant, representing the fifth, sixth and seventh degrees. While each of these degrees have a specific operation and function, they also overlap and the boundaries between them are not distinct. An adept can work magic and ordeals associated with sixth degree before fully realizing the fifth degree, and one could receive a Bishop’s consecration before fully achieving the ordeals of the fifth and sixth degrees. This is due to the fact that the adept has crossed a major boundary to achieve the degree of spirit, and once there, there is only minor distinctions to the three degrees contained within the inner order.
Fifth degree and beyond concerns itself with theurgy, and all the ordeals are a combination of advanced magical and gnostic religious workings. The very first initiation of spirit is the ordination of the magician priest or priestess. The work associated with earning the elevation to that role is the mastery of the Tetrasacramentary, which are the liturgical rites of the four archetypal gnostic churches or ecclesiae. Since there are multiple mass rites associated with each church, and a deep ecclesiastical calendar along with an overriding gnostic philosophy, the adept spends a great deal of time learning to master this magical and liturgical practice. Thus, the adept will likely spend years learning to master the four gnostic churches and ultimately choosing one and writing the magical liturgical rites and ceremonies to support it. This will ultimately lead them to receiving the recognition of being a magical knight or lady of the Grail, symbolizing their ability to perfectly channel the sacramentation of their Godhead into the world at large and to guard that holy mechanism and its various capabilities from the profane.
In addition to mastering the tetrasacramentary, the adept of spirit will perform three ordeals to satisfy the requirements for the fifth degree. These ordeals consist of performing the rites of the Archaeomancy of the 18 Dimensions (as documented in the second volume book of Archaeomancy, due to be published in 2027), the ordeal of invoking all 56 of the Aethrys, and performing the Abramelin Lunar Ordeal, or some other similar working. There is no time limit on these ordeals because they are so demanding and require a body of rituals to be performed in quick succession. Yet once started, they must be performed until completed. Successfully achieving these three ordeals will truly challenge the adept and also powerfully transform them, making them prepared for the next set of ordeals associated with the Sanctum Regnum of the 6th Degree.
Sanctum Regnum: This degree of spirit, once removed from the priesthood, represents the manifestation of the gnostic ecclesia into a domain of sacred regency. It is where the priest and knight or lady builds an edifice marking where the conduit of sacramentation has transformed the very place where it has been erected as developed in the fifth degree. A manifested church or sacred domain, once established, whether as an archetype or materially located in space and time, becomes a regale establishment, like the fabled land of Camelot. This sacred kingdom, or Sanctum Regnum, requires a high adept who marries themselves to that sacred domain and acts as the bridge of magical and spiritual blessings and sacrament that pours forth from their continual magical work connecting the microcosm with the macrocosm. The foundation of this holy kingdom is a magical machine that continuously projects into the world the sacramental magic of the Deity into the physical and mundane world. Thus, the mystery of the Sanctum Regnum is a kind of theurgic talismanic magic of a higher order, where multiple layers of magic and liturgy charge and sacralize a physical location.
Ordeals associated with this sixth degree are therefore multiple ways that an adept magician would build this sacred edifice. There are two ordeals that seek to build the sacred magical kingdom and erect a magical machine. The first is my adapted version of the Portae Lucis, that requires the generation of four metallic talismans containing all four talismanic elementals for the planets of Saturn, Sun and Moon, with Mercury representing the magician. These establish a vector from Yesod, to Tiphareth and then on to Binah that characterizes the portal pathway, and it is fully activated at the very moment of the Summer Solstice causing a supreme illumination. Once this mechanism to generate the combined metallic talismans of the four planets is mastered, the other three talismans are also generated, making seven in all. When these seven are arrayed on a septagramic icon, they become a powerful magical machine that can produce any kind wish or desire that the magician projects into it, and they also establish the foundation of the holy kingdom.
The second ordeal is the working of the Four Temples, or Tésseris Naoí. This working uses the elemental demonic evocation of the 28 Dukes of the Goetia Theurgia, united with the stellar gnosis of the Seven Rays (Yesod through Binah) to generate four powerful magical crystals, one for each of the four gnostic Ecclesia, and these are used to fashion a magical tiara. These crystals and the crown that holds them is also a potent magical machine, and worn on the head of the high adept, represents that their thoughts are, through the artifice of talismanic magic, made manifest. A scepter is also developed, and also a seat or throne, where the seven planetary talismanic machine is deployed. What remains to be done is for the high adept of the sixth degree to receive a magical coronation that manifests, through a combination of magical machines, the power to will thoughts into manifestation and to take ideas and forge them into powerful archetypal ideals that can inspire and motivate groups of people or whole cultures. Becoming a sacred king or queen sacralizes their domain, that place where their combined throne, scepter and crown is established, and the twin magical machines vested in the throne and the crown, ensures that the domain and all who are aligned to it are magically, materially, and spiritually nourished and blessed.
Once the Sanctum Regnum is established, and it begins to continually bless and empower the magical domain and all who are aligned to it, the high adept must begin to prepare for the transformation of themselves into the singular channel for the Deity that they serve. To be considered a candidate for the consecration that changes them into a Hierophant, they must undergo the greater challenge known as Ordeal XV. This is where the high adept undergoes the underworld expiations of the four ecclesiae. The candidate enters into the Qliphoth and endures the challenges through the evoking four demon princes. This is a process that produces of extreme catabasis in a four-fold consecutive pattern. When they emerge from these four workings, they have overcome their own internal duality and have united their dark self with their light self, becoming whole and unified. It is at this point that the high adept becomes a functioning Hierophant, and they only require a consecration rite to validate that achievement.
Hierophant: What is beyond this point in the development of the high adept is the mastery of the Stellar Gnostic Seven Rays sacramentary, which is the fifth and secret ecclesia. I won’t go into any details about this next and final level that establishes the first stage or bridge of mastery in preparation for the crossing of the Greater Abyss. Of this lore that I possess, much of it will require a high degree of organization and revision, as well as building those ritual workings that are presently missing. While I may have two hand-made grimoires with all the rituals and ceremonies of the ordeal of the seventh degree, these were developed many years ago, and they are incomplete and require extensive rewriting. Only now do I have the understanding and knowledge to finally complete them. All of these rites and ceremonies that I have outlined in this article will eventually be published in books that my readers can ponder and perhaps, even perform.
Looking over the series of ordeals and workings that represent the passage of the four element degrees of earth, air, fire, water, and then to spirit, I can say that I have accomplished most of this work myself. In the initiatory spirit stages of the holy kingdom and the seven-rays of the hierophant, I have only completed a few of these ordeals. Yet not only must the adept complete these ordeals, they must also revisit them so that they retain a freshness and relevancy to the magical and gnostic realizations that they initially produced. This represents a kind of life-time commitment, and I would expect that few or any would be able to absorb all of these ordeals and workings and keep them relevant. I know that I have failed to do this in my own work, and I have left much to be worked, and also reworked and renewed.
What I have written here is only a suggestion for how others might gain self-mastery and illumination in their life-time through the artifice of magic. This is what I have done and it represents my personal path through ordeals and challenges. I have had to conceive of this magical architecture and build out this progression since there was nothing else for me to do. There was no pattern for me to follow except what I was inspired to build. While in some cases, I have borrowed other people’s workings and modified them to fit my own personal system, as well as the prescribed initiatory pathway of the Order, I have also engineered new techniques of ritual magic that previously did not exist in any tradition.
These are the stages that one would go through emulating the serpentine pathway on the Tree of Life, but I don’t adhere to the notion that this passage must be followed exactly as I have laid it out. I realize that it is very likely that others will focus on ordeals and workings that meet their needs at the moment, and may not follow the sequence that I have determined. Thus, I have outlined this progression as a possible pathway for others to follow, making use of my lore as it becomes published. If I have the time, which is only the next few years, then I will be able to completely publish this pathway in a revised set of books that will be my legacy for magicians in the future. May the Gods and Goddesses grant me this time.
Frater Barrabbas
No comments:
Post a Comment