More Thoughts About Evocation and the Reality of Spirits

Recently, someone had a problem with my statement that encounters with spirits occurs in the imagination and can emerge into fantasies that make them meaningful and powerful. What struck them was when I used the terms “imagination” and “fantasy” as opposed using the word “real.” I think that there is some confusion when I use these terms in a magical context that causes others, particularly those who are not very adept at ritual or ceremonial magick, some confusion. This is because I am in no way devaluing these experiences by saying that they “appear” and “manifest” to our conscious senses through the artifice of our imaginations. What I am referring to here is the magical imagination, which is quite different although analogous to the imagination that all people employ.

The issue is that some folks think that I am saying that these spirits, whether earth spirits, angels, demons, or even deities, aren’t real. They are imaginary somehow because I have said that they are fully perceptible through the imagination. That means that I must believe that spirits aren’t real, and that relationships with them are not as fulfilling or meaningful as relationships with people. Of course this is not at all what I believe, nor is it what I have said in my various articles. Therefore, allow me to once again define what I think is a spirit.

Experiences of spirits are subjective experiences. They can only be objective to the point where other individuals can encounter them in the same context, which is typically but not always some kind of magical ritual or other kind of mind altering phenomenon. Even when the evocation of spirits are performed with a group of magicians, each one experiences something somewhat different. In some cases the experiences can be profoundly different, in other cases they are quite similar. Still, each person experiences the phenomena of spirits in a unique and different way. Such experiences are always subjective because they can’t be isolated from human experience and subjected to scientific proof or scrutiny. They remain in the anecdotal domain of subjective experiences. I have also found that an individual who is trained or naturally sensitive can have a sensory experience with a spirit under certain and specific conditions. Because of the consistency of these experiences and the fact that individuals can and do have encounters with spirits, we can at least state that such encounters are real. This is to say that from a subjective perspective such experiences are valid and represent a kind of objective reality.

However, the nature of spirits is that they are typically unseeable and unnoticeable until some kind of shift of consciousness occurs in a human being that allows them to be perceived. That perception, though, varies considerably due to the fact that individuals who do encounter them have certain capabilities to perceive spirits. Some individuals can see and observe spirits under certain conditions, while others can hear them and still others can physically sense them. Some individuals who are highly trained or naturally visually sensitive can completely observe, hear and sense spirits. 

Still, there is the problem that needs to be answered and that is whether spirits occupy space, have a material mass and exist in some kind of parallel world. My experience has shown me that the full realization of spirits is very rare for untrained individuals, and that in most cases the phenomenon of spiritual encounters is often subtle and barely perceptible. Only under certain conditions does a spirit seem to have all of the qualities of form and material mass, but such manifestations have never been objectively recorded by such unbiased means as a video camera. There are plenty of fake or mistaken apparitions caught on camera, but there have been no verifiable captured images of spirits. Why is this so? It’s because the very subtle nature of spirits can only become fully realized by a human observer when that user employs his or her imagination in a very focused and disciplined manner. This method of wielding the imagination in a disciplined and focused manner is what I call the magical imagination. It also indicates that spirits do not independently possess a material body that contains mass and location in space, or at least not in any way that has been objectively observed or measured by science.

Someone who has an accidental encounter with a spirit could be in a very unique state of consciousness that allows for a full realization of this spirit. This is an incidental occurrence, and it might also be considered abnormal for someone who is neither trained nor actively sensitive. For a magician (or a psychic), the cultivation of exalted states of consciousness is a requirement to consistently encounter spirits and even enter into their domain. This is because the phenomenon of spirit encounters is not a physical one, but one that is perceived through a shift in consciousness.

Spirits are not merely mental constructs or a product of our chaotic imaginings, they have a kind of objective reality in a subjective manner, and they also have a symbolic and archetypal component to their being. When asked if spirits are objectively real (like material objects), I will answer that spirits are both within our minds and also outside of us. They have a reality in our world of consciousness as disembodied beings wholly immersed and resident in that field. Some occultists have said that spirits (as well as magic) are all in our minds, except that our minds are far greater and vaster than we could possibly imagine. Perhaps this is a reference to the world of consciousness where individual points and collective clusters exist, as well as the union of all being that functions as the ultimate foundation and background. There is much that we don’t know about regarding consciousness, and I think that this is still one of the last great mysteries left for humanity to plumb. 

This brings up the next point of interest, and that is that spirits exist in a domain that is concurrent but distinct from our own domain. We live in a world that is filled with spirits of every different kind, but we are seldom aware of them because it requires an altered state of consciousness and a disciplined focused perception to even perceive them in a subtle and ephemeral manner. This parallel world is called the domain of spirit, and while it could be said that it occupies the same world that we exist in, we are only aware of it in rare circumstances. Those who can perceive this world readily and in a controlled manner have mastered their ability to sense the different streams of consciousness that are invisible to most people; those who can see this world without any self-control are judged to be insane by society. This is the subtle but distinct difference between magicians and madmen. A magician sees this world and perceives spirits in a controlled manner and at a set time, where otherwise he or she would not sense them.

Magicians apply the environmental stimuli of lamp or candle light, incense, consecrated robes, tools and specialized occultic regalia, various evocations employing foreign and barbarous languages, strange and exotic rituals, and hours or even days of preparation. Yet the one tool that is essential for a successful conjuring is the magical imagination and the foundational state of consciousness established by meditation and trance. If spirits were so easily perceived and encountered then why would a magician have to go to such lengths to summon and make them appear on command? It is because we live in a very mundane material world typically devoid of magic, miracles and spiritual encounters. We can break through the barriers of that world through a disciplined approach at mind control and the engagement of the magical imagination. The psychological power of possibility, the veritable “what if” has the potency to remake the world through the artifice of the empowered and unleashed magical imagination.

While it is true that we live in a world that is bounded by the limitations of physics and natural law, our minds are not so bounded, particularly when higher states of consciousness are achieved. Through inspiration, and particularly through ecstasy, we are able to breakthrough into the domain of magic, spirit, deity, myth and infinite possibility. This is because spirits and deities don’t exist in a vacuum. They exist in a colorful and emotionally empowered world that has a context of mythic and symbolic meaning. Where everything is connected together into a singularity of union - the One. Only because everything is connected together into a tight web of meaningful associations and thereby imbued with spirit is magic even a possibility. In the cold material and autonomous universe without life and consciousness, there can be no magic and no possible connectivity. Such a world is grey, flat, undifferentiated, disassociated and lifeless - but introduce life and consciousness into that world and everything profoundly changes.

In the Old Testament book of Genesis, it is said that Yahweh created Adam so that he might give all the things that God created a name - to fashion a meaningful semantic web that untied all things together. He thus created Adam to add consciousness to the universe, and thus bring the world to life through magic, myth, spirit, and the power of the word. Adam was not content to just passively engage with this world - he hungered for self-knowledge, in other words, to name and know himself. The original sin was therefore not really a sin, it was the beginning of the divinization of humanity that continues to this day. This is because the ultimate aim of self-knowledge is to know that within each human being is a Deity, the Atman of the Hindus. To fully realize that powerful Deity within is to become fully and consciously enlightened in life - to become like a God, and to defeat mortality when death finally takes the body but not the conscious deity within.

Therefore, the key to any kind of spiritual encounter is to know the deity within one’s self, since it functions as the Eye of Spirit that allows human beings to be fully aware of the spiritual domain and all that is within it. Attaining this level of enlightenment is certainly one of the ways that a magician could master the domain of spirit and not require any of the tropes or external mechanisms to summon a spirit or encounter one. He or she would live in both the material world and the spiritual domain simultaneously - there would no longer be any distinction. That, in my opinion, is the ultimate objective of the ritual magician. A magician pursues this objective so that he or she will become all-magic and fully conscious as a god-mind.

Frater Barrabbas

Magick and the Mind - Psychology Model of Magick

We have already covered some basic assumptions about the psychology model of magick, stressing the importance of mind control and the techniques of obtaining altered states of consciousness. Some might even say that discussing higher states of consciousness that are transcendental, as I do in conjunction with magick, opens me to accusations of harboring mystical pretensions. I would agree, however, that there is a mystical side to magick, particularly when we consider that the objective of all magick is conscious union with the Deity.

The Psychological model of magick proposes that all of the phenomena of magick are based on mental constructs, projections, assumptions and the effects of higher states of consciousness. We have already made the point in a previous article that this particular model can be easily abused, especially if one were to make the mistake of believing that all magickal and paranormal phenomena are just subjective mental processes having no objective reality. Magick is not just a mental phenomena, or else the other models of magick (especially spirit and energy) would have no validity. This line of thinking also feeds into beliefs like the Law of Attraction, which states that through positive affirmations alone you can change your world, forgetting that such affirmations also require hard work and a lot of strategic planning. So we must use the psychological model in a careful manner, making certain that we don’t over-use it or rely on it too greatly, distorting our perspectives on spirituality and magick.

That brings us to our main consideration in this article, the proper use and definition of the psychological model of magick. There are four major areas of the psychological model of magick that I use extensively in my system of magick.

• Altered states of consciousness and Mind Control
• Archetypal Symbols of Transformation and the Super-Symbolic Domain of Consciousness
• Levels of the Unconscious Mind, including Jung’s Collective Unconscious
• Metaphorical Allegories (“As If..”) and Psychodrama

Mind control is probably one of the most important mechanisms of the practice of ritual magick, using the techniques of asana, pranayama, mantra, mandela, trance and concentration/contemplation. One could assume that powerful altered states of consciousness would be an important part of the practice of ritual magick, but not all systems of magick employ them.

Another important factor is the deliberate use of symbols of transformation. These find expression in the many uses of occult symbols, sigils, characters, signatures, and archetypal godhead aspects. The Qabbalah and the Tarot are two of the largest repositories of occult symbols and devices. However, some occult devices are wholly magickal inventions, such as the sigils, characters and signatures of various hierarchies of spirits. In ritual magick, the combination of powerful altered states of consciousness and symbols of transformation trigger the emanations of the paranormal world, opening the magician to the reality of Spirit.

Metaphorical allegories are situations and practices where the magician unfetters the creative imagination and through it experiences a metaphorical reality ruled by the acting principle called “As If.” For instance, the magician behaves as if the spirit world were as sensible as the material world, and creates hierarchies and domains to develop an intricate structure of that world, even though all models and structures are actually incapable of really describing it. The magician acts under the assumption that these structures and spirit lists are real, using the power of imagination and belief to make it so. This logic can be expanded to include all of the models of magick, particularly Spirit and Energy, where metaphors are used as if they were physical phenomena.

The “As If” principle states that whatever a magician conceptualizes within deep trance and through the apprehension of symbols of transformation will produce something that is both allegorical and real - a kind of empowered myth. This empowered myth is then experienced and realized as a real psychological phenomenon. Expanding on mythic archetypes, there are also mythic patterns or themes, which are analogous to the mythic stories and parables of one’s culture. Acting out a mythic theme, the participants engage in a powerful psychodrama whose psychic impact resonates on many levels, from the individual all the way to the collective. Engaging in such mythic plays, the magician as actor assumes a role and a part for the duration of the story, and plays that role with a deadly seriousness and all-consuming commitment. Such a role becomes for a time, a powerful reality - a world of magick and myth come alive.

Such creative play-acting has two important considerations that are always present in the mind of the magician. These are that the role is made real through the imagination and that the dramatic play has many levels of meaning, not all of them wholly realized. The psychodrama is the most powerful and transforming group experience that one could have when it is fully realized and successfully deployed. It can also be absurd and horribly boring when it fails. The rule of “As If” must be thoroughly consistent. It must be faithfully observed and engaged in by all who participate, so that the empowered myths and drama are expressed in a wholly believable fashion.

Psychodrama is a form of magickal theater. It has been incorporated in many magickal and religious ceremonies, and in fact, it is the essence of all meaningful and significant public rituals, even those that are completely divorced from religion and magick. It is also the mechanism through which the magician creatively explores the mythic and symbolic universe of the domain of Spirit. A magician learns that reality has many layers of meaning through this kind of magick. This kind of magick teaches that people can assume a perspective where the mythic and the real converge to become one world of wonder and mystery. In the story about “Steppenwolf,” by Hermann Hesse, the pivotal transforming force is the magick theater and the individuals who play in it - all are powerfully changed by it and there are no spectators.

One other important condition to the “As If” principle is that the magician never loses the ability to know that he or she is using it to create assumptions and different perspectives of reality. A magician never loses the knowledge of what is real and what is a fantasy, for such a loss of grounding and objectivity would signal that he or she has become confused and possibly even delusional. This is a potential aberration that the magician always needs to be cautious about, limiting its effect through the use of objectification, peer review and periodic grounding. Losing objectivity is how some magicians lose their sanity, which demonstrates how powerful and even dangerous psychodrama and empowered myths can become if not controlled through objectivity and grounding. Thus, all tools have their utility and their hazards, and one should use them with care, skill and artistic exuberance, but never with abuse.

The mind is a very powerful medium that the magician creatively employs in his magick, since it effects both the individual and the collective masses. Psychodrama and empowered myths can influence and even transform the conscious minds of not only the individual magician, but whole nations as well. The middle of the previous century saw the creation of powerful national myths that destroyed whole nations and plunged the world into a devastating series of wars.

It appears that this phase of geopolitical fantasy still has a great deal of power to influence us, although fascism and communism have been replaced by ultraconservative politics and religious fundamentalism. These national level psychodramas continue to cause destruction and foment proxy wars across the globe. Hopefully, these collective delusions will be shown to be based on cultural fantasies, and they will lose power and cease from violently disrupting the collective good will of world organizations and their peaceful intentions. Such delusions melt away when faced with the objective truth, which is always the rational and practical way of the world and human existence. This is an import factor that a magician must realize, even collective fantasies can be short-circuited by objective truth.

However, the magician uses empowered myths and psychodrama to develop spiritual and magickal themes, trigger spiritual transformation and unlock reservoirs of creativity. Therefore, the Psychological Model of magick is quite potent and critically necessary to the practice of ritual magick such as that performed by the Order of the Gnostic Star. This model is used in practical combination with the Energy and Spirit models of magick to produce a hybrid system that is quite profoundly intense, meaningful and self-empowering. It is a tool worthy of the coming New Age, when ritual magick will be shown to be both necessary and pivotal in the growth and development of occultists and ordinary people.

Frater Barrabbas

Further Magical Musings - Ritual Magic and Magical Power

We have been talking about the theories of magic and various perspectives on magical powers and how they can be developed and defined. I would like to continue this conversation and get a bit deeper into this topic. I would like to share with you some of my creations and perspectives about magical power. In addition, we will also need to talk a bit about altered states of consciousness and symbols of transformation. This will bring some elements of the psychological theory of magic into our discussions. We will also bring an element of the spirit theory of magic into our discussion when we examine the practice of performing magic while under the influence of godhead assumption.


Introduction

We talked about raising energy and the differences between the cone of power and the vortex. We also discussed how defining and shaping the energy can make it more effective. We covered the topics of imprinting the power, creating a magical link and exteriorizing that power once its qualified. However, I omitted a few other points that we should also go over, since they also greatly contribute to the effect of the magic where the energy model is used. These additional topics are using altered states of consciousness, symbols of transformation, and assuming a godhead. Discussing these topics will bring into our discussion on the energy model concepts borrowed from the spirit and psychology models.

As I have said previously, witchcraft magic is a hybrid system and it incorporates all three of the models of energy, spirit and psychology into its methodology. There are traditions of magic that use the energy model exclusively, such as Hoodoo and certain forms of ceremonial magic, where all considerations of spirit and deity are not relevant. Likewise there are traditions that use only the spirit model and/or the psychology model.

A pure energy model methodology of magic would stipulate that performing specific operations or mixing together certain elements at certain times and using them in a specific manner would be all that is required in order to successfully work magic. However, in a hybrid system such as this, altered states of conscious and aspects of the deity are employed in the magic, so we will need to cover them in this article.


Altered States of Consciousness & Mind Control

Altered states of conscious, as used in magic, is just a term that means controlling the mind. How is this done? It’s done through various forms of meditation, known categorically as asana, pranayama, mantra and mandala yoga. (These four systems of yoga loosely cover the areas of physical posture, breathing, hearing and seeing, respectively. All four areas used together allow the mind to be completely detached and unfocused from its usual activity.) You might ask why are these eastern systems of yoga employed in a western magical tradition? Isn’t there a more suitable western methodology?

There are alternative techniques in the western religious traditions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, but these are steeped in the religious beliefs and theologies of their respective creeds. There undoubtably were techniques that were used in the pagan mysteries, but they have been either lost or incorporated into Christianity. What we use today represents the eastern traditional techniques of meditation and contemplation with all the theological underpinnings stripped away. There is also some strong evidence that these systems so deployed are similar to what the ancient shamans employed for their practice, so they represent the most simplistic and essential approach to controlling the mind.

Asana yoga is the technique of learning to sit in a comfortable posture that allows one to maintain this position for long periods of time without either succumbing to bodily fatigue or being too comfortable and falling asleep. Sitting cross-legged is probably the most basic asana, but there are others as well that assist one in stretching and maintaining bodily flexibility. Choreographed dance or free form dance could be another way of maintaining personal balance - such as the iterative dancing of the Sufi zikkar.

Pranayama yoga is the technique of controlling breathing, either by counting one’s breaths or controlling the interval of inhalation and exhalation. It can be slow and gentle like breathing during sleep or rest, or forceful, like forms of hyper-ventilation. Controlling the breath also controls the associated mental state that one is experiencing. This is probably due to the fact that breath determines the amount of oxygen introduced into the brain through the blood, and it also changes the focus of the mind to be centered exclusively on a specific bodily function.

Mantra yoga is the technique of intoning words or phrases repetitively, using the entire contents of air in the lungs to do so. Mantra yoga incorporates a kind of quick and deep inhalation so the cycle of mantric intoning is only briefly interrupted. The tone of the voice is also vibrated into the nasal passages and can go from being quite loud to a soft and internalized vibrating. Mantra yoga effectiveness has to do with the cyclic vibration of the nasal passages, which seems to stimulate the frontal lobes of the brain, causing a marked change in consciousness.

Mandala yoga is the technique of staring at a diagram or visually ambiguous pattern for long periods of time, where the focus of the mind is exclusively on the visual image of the pattern. Mandala yoga can also greatly alter the mind, although it is typically used to foster trance states, which are also very useful to the practice of magic.

In addition, the practitioner may also concentrate on a spiritual concept or ideal using breath control, mantra and mandala yoga together to create a very deep altered state of consciousness. In this state, one passively notes the various associations and thoughts that occur in conjunction with the spiritual concept, but without analyzing or examining them; just passively being aware of them. This technique is called contemplation, and it is used to concentrate on spiritual concepts within a deep meditative mind state. The purpose of this state is for searching the soul for inner revelations and insights.

All of these above techniques can be used individually or together to build a powerful system of meditation, which will enable the magical practitioner to enhance and greatly increase the effects of working magic. You can work magic without using any of these mind control techniques, but experience has shown me that the magic is typically less intense and effective. So I include them in my repertoire of practices, whether I work alone or with others.

The reason that these mind control techniques make magic more effective is that they foster a powerful altered state of consciousness, where the “as if” propositions of magic seem quite real. Trance and meditative states of consciousness also open the door on the deep inner self and allow communication between the conscious and unconscious minds. It is for this reason that altered states of consciousness are considered one of the most important elements in performing effective magical rituals. However, the mind state is only one of the elements, and by itself will not generate magical effects.


(The next two sections are distilled from my book “Disciple’s Guide to Ritual Magick”.)

Symbols of Transformation

If the adoption of a powerful altered state of consciousness is considered the foundation for practicing ritual magic, then the trigger or operator for magic is discovered in the symbols of transformation. The most effective type of meditation is where the meditator focuses on a religious Mandela or contemplates on religious ideals or concepts, and correspondingly, the most effective magic is where religious images or concepts are used.

This is because religious iconography and ideals are steeped in symbols of transformation and these act as triggers when a corresponding altered state of consciousness is adopted. The combination of a deep altered state of consciousness with a symbol of transformation unlocks the deepest aspect of the spiritual self and makes it powerfully available to the conscious mind. Symbols of transformation used during the adoption of an altered state of conscious together precipitate the transformation of consciousness, which is an important objective for any magical ritual working.

In the most basic forms of magic, there are six different categories for the symbols of transformation. These are: the point, line, circle, triangle, cross and the star. These geometric forms may seem very rudimentary, and indeed they are, but they also contain basic philosophical meanings and psychological effects that are powerfully meaningful and significant to the unconscious mind. Most religious symbols and iconography use a combination of these forms to produce sacred symbology and iconography, and they are rarely seen in their more simplistic forms.

Point represents an event, a position, a definition, a quality of self.

Line represents a relationship between self and other, the conduit which exists between heaven and earth or the place of spirit and the place of matter. A line connects as well as divides and it can denote direction.

Circle symbolizes a domain, a world, and a point within a circle symbolizes location. Two spaces are delineated by the circle, and these are inner space and outer space.

Triangle is a symbol of the nature of spirit (Deity), which represents the fusion of self and other, creating union; so the triangle symbolizes union. A triangle is also a gateway. It’s also the definition of a plane (three points) and a symbol of the three dimensions for objects that exist in space (reality).

Cross represents the intersection of two lines, dividing space into four quadrants, symbolizing the four Elements, the four directions and the four seasons. The cross also symbolizes the joining of heaven and earth, feminine and masculine, light and darkness, to produce the manifestation of earth and all that it contains. The cross, like the triangle, can assume many variations that augment and extend its basic meaning and effect. The cross and triangle are used extensively in religious iconography, both in the East and the West.

Star is a symbol of transformation itself, where the self is opened up like a flower to behold the full awareness of Spirit in Self. The star assumes many forms, and each one has its own symbolic qualities. Examples of the star are the pentagram, hexagram, septagram, octagram, eneagram, decagram, undecigram and the duodecagram. There could be numerous others, but once a star has more than ten points, it becomes less distinguishable, and therefore, less significant.

One could also categorize colors, sounds, scents - all things of the senses, and these, added to the basic symbols of transformation would be used to formulate icons, talismans, amulets and other symbols of magical power. The use of such a device would cause powerful alterations in the nature of an altered state of consciousness, which is their purpose. They are used in rituals as tools, ritual structures, devices, formulas, incantations, and contemplative mandalas. The key point is to powerfully impact this altered state of consciousness so that one’s higher self or spirit is drawn down into one’s conscious world and where the self is completely immersed within the domain of Spirit. This is the point where magic becomes capable of bending and transforming one’s physical reality - making the potential for the miraculous a probable outcome.

This is a representation of how the Psychological model of magic would be used, drawing altered states of consciousness and expanding them with the magical devices and constructions that function as symbols of transformation. So we have the energy model of magic, and the psychological model, and there is also the need to consider the spirit model of magic as well, although that model uses the construct of the personal godhead instead of actually invoking external spirits.


Alignment and Godhead Assumption

I practice ritual magic through the guise of my personal Deity, and all that I do is colored by that assumption. What that means is that the assumption of the godhead rite is the prime ritual in my repertoire. Included are devotions, invocations, communion, and focused contemplation on that aspect of Deity and its image or imago. I can have statues of my godhead, where its spirit can reside, and I can also attempt to psychologically and spiritually become one with the Deity both in my spiritual liturgies and my magical practices. Why is this a part of the magic that I work? What is the function of assuming a godhead in the practice of ritual magic?

These are good questions, and the answer is that godhead assumption is fundamental to the type of ritual magic that I work, but it is not important to many other forms of ceremonial and religious magic. To assume the godhead is rather heretical to most forms or religion, with perhaps the exception of some forms of earth-based spirituality, most notably, Wicca and Neopaganism. If the purpose of ritual magic is to ultimately become one with the godhead, then what better way could one adopt than performing a ritual to assume the godhead? What this represents is a spiritual discipline incorporated within the magical discipline of practicing ritual magic.

A spiritual discipline within one’s practice of magic is a very unusual concept, and some magicians do not even feel that it is important and discard it as superfluous, seeking to reap the rewards of practicing magic without any spiritual considerations. To practice magic is to engage one’s spirit as the elements of higher consciousness, whether one realizes that fact or not. Therefore, a spiritual discipline involves the Self and its relationship to Deity, and includes spiritual exercises and even magickal rites that define and amplify that relationship. A spiritual discipline will enhance a magician’s ritual magic because it will cause the elements of higher consciousness that are engaged in the magic to be more intense and evolved, pushing the realizations from the psychic level of consciousness to the subtle, and even the causal.

A magician must develop a personal religious cult of one’s self as God, and perform within it as its priest, congregation and corporeal representative. As this relationship between Deity and magician is developed, the magician begins to become more profoundly altered and begins to assume more conscious aspects of one’s own spirit. The rites of alignment are particularly those that a magician practices and develops in order to facilitate a closer and immanent relationship with the nature of one’s Godhead, or God/dess within. So invocation, communion, devotion and assumption are the rituals of a spiritual discipline that are assiduously practiced by the ritual magician. A ritual magician would also perform meditations and contemplations on the nature of that Deity, which would change and evolve over time. Therefore, one can see that the merging of a magical and spiritual discipline represents the integral approach to the practice of ritual magick.

A magician is able, over time, to determine personal destiny. This is an evolving process, and one that is not usually answered with any immediacy. In order to know one’s destiny, magicians are compelled to know and define themselves, not in any tangible way, but only in a spiritual manner. So a magician must develop a spiritual identity even before beginning to realize what must be done for one’s life vocation.

Developing a spiritual identity is something that lies within both the magickal and spiritual discipline of the magician, and occurs through the process of gaining a greater perspective by realizing one’s spiritual dimension. This can only occur through an iterative exposure to magickal phenomena, and the immersion and transformation of the magician’s conscious mind by the powers and insights revealed through one’s spirit. What is progressively revealed is the magician’s higher self, and it is through this aspect that one realizes the inner truth to one’s self.

To foster this process, the magician will adopt a magical persona and identity that will link to one’s perspective of Deity, becoming an important part of a spiritual discipline and a personal religious cult. As time progresses, and the magician continues to assiduously practice ritual magic, that magical persona or identity will go through many changes and alterations, and eventually, it will become the vehicle for the higher self to manifest and superimpose itself over one’s being. Once magicians know themselves, then they can understand all that one has undergone as a preparation for that moment, so aiding the magician in perceiving and realizing the role and ultimate vocation in life, which is one’s destiny.

Thus the magician has a personal religious cult representing one’s personal aspect of Deity, and uses this as a mechanism to empower and potently charge the magic worked with the numen of the godhead. This is a variation of the Spirit model of magic, and it is used to empower the self and one’s magic, since it is through the godhead that all ritual is so executed.

Frater Barrabbas Tiresius