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

Lunar Mystery Ritual Working

Since all of the elements that are required to build up a lunar mystery ritual working have already been covered in detail (in this blog), we can now show how they can be assembled to produce a ritual magickal system that can utilize the power and mystery of the moon to produce qualified changes in the magician’s material world. After all, this is one of the purposes of learning and mastering all of these elements - to become proficient in changing the material world through magick. As I have stated previously, the moon and its cycle is the key to making effective magickal changes in the material world. Certainly, you can work magick and ignore the moon altogether, since nothing should interfere with the ability to work magick whenever it’s needed. However, what I have found out over the many years of practicing magick is that focusing on the moon will insure that magickally established changes will be more profound and lasting when the phases of the moon are incorporated.

So, what are the elements that are needed to build a lunar mystery ritual working? I have said that we have already covered them in previous articles, but perhaps a review is in order so you can refresh your mind about what I have already covered. If we list the elements, it will become patently clear what those items are, and I can reference the appropriate links so you may revisit them if required. Coincidently, there are seven topical elements that are required to build a lunar mystery ritual working. These elements are:

• Sacred Space and Circle Consecration,
• Spiral Vortex - Power Base for the Lunar Mystery rite,
• Double Gateway (Western - Underworld Gate, and Eastern - Ascension Gate),
• Pyramid of Power - Power Base for Spell Casting via Sigil Magick,
• Forty Qualified Powers - Energy Signature selections for the Pyramid of Power,
• Sigil Magick is the method for deploying the Operant Link,
• Lunation Cycle and the Phases of the Moon.

These seven elements represent the essential components of the magick of the lunar mystery, although the real trick is to be able to weave them together into an elegant and concise ritual working. That, of course, is the subject of this article. Essentially, there are two aspects to this kind of working, that of the lunar mystery working, and that of a specific working to effect a change in the material world. These two workings are merged together to formulate a series of three ritual workings, to be performed between the advent of the New Moon and occurrence of the Full Moon. You could perceive these three workings as representing three different phases of a larger overall working consisting of 1.) setting the foundation, 2.) projecting the desire, and 3.) celebrating its climactic release. The three phases characterize the methodology of this kind of magickal working, and it is based on a more simpler pattern incorporated in some witchcraft traditions.

This kind of ritual working series would be impossible to perform without the innate qualities and capabilities of the spiral vortex. Unlike a simple working incorporating a cone of power, the vortex allows for the seamless re-entering of a magickal power structure so as to increase and amplify its influence. This kind of activity is incapable of being done except through the artifice of the spiral vortex, which allows for the sealing and unsealing of power structures, and to avoid the necessity of performing banishing rites and building up the magick from scratch. Instead, there is a certain continuity to the overall working, even though it is split into three separate working sessions. These separate working sessions incorporate the of Law of Three, which is the initial establishment of the power structure, the full empowerment and the final exteriorization. A full working of this type also incorporates the capabilities of sigil magick, where that sigil becomes the operant link for the overall working.

The environment for this overall working is the lunar mystery cycle, which has already been discussed. This environment is established by rituals that would normally be used to penetrate the lunar mystery, which is that constant monthly variable of light and darkness, and its association with all living things. To recap that ritual pattern, let me list the steps that would be used in performing a lunar mystery working.

1. Establishing Sacred Space.

2. Erecting a spiral vortex - the energy field that most “resembles” the sealed container of a telesterion is a vortex. The vortex has the properties of amplifying and isolated all energies and actions performed within it. This makes the perfect foundation for performing a mystery.

3. Underworld Gateway - a western aligned gateway establishes the internal transition of the isolated chamber of the mysteries, and draws it deeper into the spectral unconscious domain of the underworld.

4. Erect the cross-roads - a four or eight node cross-roads establish a powerful nexus point where all forces and aspects of Spirit may descend or ascend. The four or eight nodes can be qualified to represent the specific nature of the mystery, whether Lunar, Solar or Self.

5. Establish an inner circle - overlaying the cross-roads is an inner circle, representing the place of the interstice where Spirit resides and where one may actively engage with it. The inner circle is drawn and then opened like a gateway portal.

6. Introit of the Mystery - the preliminary rites that are performed just prior to the activation of the mystery rite are as follows:

Erection and veneration of the World Pole (Stang): The celebrant places a special sacral staff or Stang in the center of the circle, acting as a conduit between all worlds. The staff or Stang may be set up to stand by itself, or it may be held by the celebrant or an accomplice.

Godhead invocation, assumption and sacral consecration: This is where the celebrant summons the specific godhead associated with the mystery, then performs an assumption rite so the spirit of the godhead and the celebrant are merged. Yet the celebrant is still conscious and able to function (at least at this point in the working). Sacraments associated with the mystery are blessed and charged by the celebrant. (A more serious offering can be vowed at this point, with an initial partial payment showing that one’s intention is good.)

7. Mythic Theme - the mythic theme is presented as a narration, with symbols and fetishes used to emphasize the theme of the mystery. Once the theme has been fully presented and completely experienced, then the special sacramental food and drink are shared (this is the last thing that is done). Of course, in the case of a lunar mystery rite, the mythic theme would revolve around the eight point lunation cycle and the four lunar phases. Each of these points and phases would have a specific spiritual and magickal significance.

8.  Inner circle is closed, sealed, then the four or eight nodes of the crossroads are sealed with sealing spirals. Then an eastern gateway is opened and the Celebrant, along with accomplices, ascend out of the chamber of the mysteries and into a new dawn of rebirth and restoration, passing the eastern gateway much like the rising of the sun. (The western gateway points are sealed just before the eastern gateway is established.)- This is, of course, the double gateway representing the full cycle of descent and ascent.

9. An outer feast is assembled, where food and drink are blessed and shared. A portion of this feast is given as an offering to the godhead associated with the mystery. The rite is concluded.

***

Considering that this lunar mystery rite is rather long, and focused exclusively on the lunar mystery itself, variations on this pattern would have to be developed to incorporate a specific working to project a wave of change into the material world. That pattern would incorporate the pyramid of power rite, using one of the forty qualified powers and a sigilized link, and it would look like the following ritual structure. The only qualification that this ritual would have is that it would be performed within sacred space (i.e., a consecrated circle).

Ritual Pattern: (Consists of establishing the power base, summoning the qualified power, and releasing the qualified power.)   

Establishing the Power Base:

1. Statement of Purpose                                                    

2. Setting the Five points of the magick circle, in a deosil progression (Angles and Ultra-point) with the base element to the four Angles and Spirit Masculine to the Ultrapoint, using the invoking Pentagram device.

3. Drawing together the lines of force of the five points, using the sword to create the geometric pattern of the Pyramid.

Summoning the Qualified Power:

1. Circumambulation spiral deosil to the center of the magick circle, with three revolutions (walking the spiral), and resonance of the charged field.

2. Centering power through the Self (Mesopoint) with the power chant.

3. Charging the Magickal Link. Summoning the Qualified Power (qualifying the base energy).

Releasing the Qualified Power:

1. Exteriorization – circumambulate spiral three times widdershins, starting in the center and proceeding to the outer periphery of the circle, using extreme resonance with a releasing power chant.

***

These two patterns, the lunary mystery and the pyramid of power, can be used together to formulate the lunar mystery working in three parts. What this means is that the first and last part of the working will focus on the lunar mystery rite and the lunation types of the moon of the first crescent and the full, while the middle rite (occurring as the moon is waxing gibbous) would be focused on generating and projecting the energy of the spell. Positioning these three workings in this manner creates a kind of wrapper for the overall working, and ensures that the power of the moon is the foundation for the projected spell.

This second or middle working, then, would have a slightly different ritual pattern than the lunar mystery rite proper, incorporating in its core the pyramid of power ritual. How this is accomplished is to remove the typical focus of the ritual and replace it with the pyramid of power working. I would imagine this working to be succinctly shown in the following list of steps.

1. Perform the mystery working, from step 1 to step 5, where the inner circle is established within the cross-roads.

2. Declare the intention and unveil the sigil - then perform an intense focused meditation on the sigil. (The sigil is then charged with the operator’s breath, incense and making appropriate signs over it.)

3. Perform a brief (and shallow) godhead assumption. (All workings within ritual magick engage one’s personal deity, and through it, to perform the magickal operation.)

4. Perform the Pyramid of Power working within the gateway, cross-roads and inner circle ritual structure. (This includes all of the steps associated with establishing the power base, summoning the Qualified Power, and then, releasing it through a process of exteriorization.

5. Close inner circle and Western gateway with sealing spirals.

6. Erect, open and enter the Eastern gateway (ascension) to fully realize the specific working.

So that is the ritual pattern for the middle working, where the actual empowered spell is released into the material world. However, that act of releasing is done as the moon is powerfully waxing, and when the full moon occurs, the empowered spell is fully realized, imprinted as it is with the temporal footprint of the lunar cycle and the season of the sun. These three rites focus and raise the inherent transformative powers of the moon, intertwining them with the empowered spell, and ensuring that what has been intended becomes imprinted into the material reality of the operator. 

In my opinion, there is no more potent combination of magickal workings than an empowered spell integrated into a focused realization of the waxing cycle of the moon. A magician could generate a talisman or even evoke a goetic demon, but that would be far more elaborate and involved than this simple methodology. It is made more complex by the fact that the lunar cycle is integrated into it, but that only assists it in becoming a manifested quality associated with the magician’s temporal domain.

As I have said previously, you don’t have to integrate your working with the lunar cycle, but doing so will produce a much more profound and long term effect.

Examples of these specific rituals can be found in either of my two books, “Disciple’s Guide to Ritual Magick,” or “Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick - Grimoire.” I not only discuss the mechanisms of these rituals, but give a very pertinent example of how they might look. In the “Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick” series, I present rituals that require customization, allowing the magician to formulate a body of rituals that represent his or her own personal system of ritual magick.

Frater Barrabbas

Lunar Mysteries and the Art of Moon Magick - Part 4

Greater Wheel of Fortune

All of these factors regarding basic astrology seem to ignore one important consideration, and that is the personal cycle or wheel of fortune of the magician performing the magick. Even the most optimal and auspicious signs and portends will avail the magicians naught if they ignore important factors about their own waxing and waning material fortunes. Magick done during a weak trough in the personal fortune of the magician will produce nothing, or it might even cause losses and misfortune. Perhaps the most important knowledge that magicians can possess that will enable them to work magick on their own personal material circumstance is self knowledge, and knowing their own personal timing.

In the many years that I have worked magick I have discovered by accident and trial that certain times of the year are better for material based magick than others, and that there is a pattern to this cyclic process. What I discovered is that there is a personal wheel of fortune that systematically turns, so that half of the year has the potential for material increase and the other half is better suited for planing and positioning oneself for more optimal times, when action is met with results. The year is cut in half, and one half fosters increase, and the other, decrease.

It may not be true that the poorer half of the year actually experiences losses or setbacks, although this certainly can occur; rather the richer half of the year seems to effortlessly assist one in the pursuit of material gain and personal advancement.

The simplest way to determine this wheel of fortune is take one’s birthday and add to it exactly six months. So if you were born on January 5, (as I was), then your halfway date is July 5. So for me, the two most important dates are my natal return (birthday), and six months later in the year, which would be a point where the sun would be 180 degrees from its natal position. I am a Capricorn according to my natal sun sign position, and my annual halfway point is under the sign of Cancer. I have found that for me, the time of increase begins at the halfway point in the year, and proceeds to a climax at my birthday, and then declines until the halfway point is again achieved. For me, the best time to plan and reorganize is during the winter, after the holidays and before summer. After the summer vacation period, I am ready to start putting into action everything that I have learned and determined in the previous six months. 

First thing that you must do if you are calculating your greater fortune is to find that halfway point in your yearly cycle and note it down. Then look at the past several years and see if you can see a pattern as to when important material advancements occurred for you. It won’t be perfect, but I think that you will find that one of those half year cycles was more auspicious for you than the other, which is better for planning and regrouping.

A good way to highlight this analysis of the cycle of the greater fortune is to astrologically examine the transit sun to natal chart sun positions and what they mean. Looking over a book with these aspects defined will demonstrate just how important these two points in the solar cycle of any given individual. I have distilled the aspect definitions for these two points as they are defined in the book “Planets in Transit: Life Cycles for Living” by Robert Hand, p. 55 & p. 58.

Transit Sun conjunct Natal Sun aspect: This is the Solar Return, when the Sun returns to the position that it had when one was born. This aspect represents new beginnings, the ability to perceive the whole year ahead as if one were standing upon some metaphorical ascent and looking across time at the events for the coming year. Therefore, a birthday is an important point in anyone’s life, and it is a time of fruition and renewal.

Transit Sun opposition Natal Sun aspect: This aspect represents energies in life reaching a culmination, events cause realizations, revealing a critical point of success or failure. Situations judged to fail now appear to fail. The way to success opens up and is revealed.

So as you can see, the halfway point for the year is a kind of judgement point, a time and place where one thoroughly examines all of life’s activities, especially those that bear upon one’s fortune. Those objectives that are shown to be failing should be either adjusted or ended, and those efforts that appear to be gathering momentum for success should be steadfastly continued. New opportunities may also arise that will need to be judged as to their worthiness and a change in course may be called for to take advantage of them.

Lesser Wheel of Fortune

Correspondingly, there is also a lesser wheel of fortune that involves the Moon, and so this lesser cycle is more characterized by the emotions than by material gain, although it is true that if the emotions are not aligned with one’s greater material purpose, then all one’s endeavors will ultimately fail. This lesser wheel of fortune has the same basic components as the greater wheel. The natal chart lunar position is extracted, and the halfway point in this cycle is determined by plotting a position that is exactly 6 zodiacal signs ahead of the natal Moon position. Just break natal Lunar cycle from the point at the date of birth to a point 14 days later; this is the Lunar midpoint. So there are two halves to the month. One is auspicious for emotional expression, the other for generally for emotional internalization.

The key to this emotional wheel of fortune is that it’s better to perform magickal workings so that they achieve their climax up to but not far beyond the full moon. The waning moon represents particularly difficult times for me, and it’s much better to use that time for reflection, divination and contemplation, allowing the unconscious mind to unload some of its internal pressures and negative or dark-self perceptions in a controlled environment. It’s also a good idea to synchronize the greater and lesser wheels of fortune so that magickal workings and mundane actions involving material advancement occur during the better half for both patterns.

We can also analyze the transit aspects of the Natal Moon with the Transiting Moon and get a very clear idea of the kind of forces that are active. Like the Sun, we can examine the aspect where the Transit Moon is in conjunction with the Natal Moon, and the aspect where the Transit Moon is in opposition to the Natal Moon.

Transit Moon conjunct Natal Moon: This is called the Lunar return, and it occurs once every month. It represents the beginning of an emotional cycle. It’s a time of emotional sensitivity and emotional intensity. It has a magnetic effect, and tends to attract external events and people to its emanating field.

Transit Moon opposition to Natal Moon: This aspect represents deepening moods and powerful emotions. One becomes self-absorbed and loses objectivity, which tends to create emotional oppositions with others. It’s definitely not a time to be dealing with relationship issues, business partnerships or emotional issues involving family or friends.

(See “Planets in Transit: Life Cycles for Living” by Robert Hand, p. 104 & p. 105.)  

Both the Greater Wheel of Fortune (external life events) and the Lesser Wheel of Fortune (internal emotional events) will affect the magick that is to be worked on a practical level. The Greater Wheel has precedence over the Lesser Wheel, but both should be considered for a given strategic magickal working.

Epilogue - Moon Magick

We have covered all of the relevant material on the Moon from a scientific and occult perspective, and we have seen that the Moon is very relevant to material based magickal workings. We have also covered the fact that effective magick requires some kind of temporal signature to act as a link between the forces generated and focused, and the time and place where they are needed. And we have also examined the factor of timing, both from the standpoint of the Sun and the Moon, but also from the perspective of the individual who is working magick.

The most important thing that we have learned in this article is that there is a complex interrelationship between the cycles of the sun, earth, moon and the internal cycles operating within the individual magician. Magicians who are contemplating earth-based magickal workings to effect their material situation need to determine their greater and lesser wheel of fortune so that they can know the best time to perform this magick. So it’s very important to have both the material factors and the emotions in as perfect alignment as possible to ensure a successful outcome.

A rule of thumb in determining the when and the how of lunar magick is that the need and the factor of necessity always trump timing. The nature of timing is always used for long term and strategic magickal workings, but not for emergencies or immediate needs. Still, lunar and solar considerations are always helpful, and it’s a good idea to use them wherever possible.

Before I sign off, here is a list of books that can be used to further research about the moon and its various qualities. All you need to do is to acquire these books (or some suitable alternatives) and assemble the material into your own “Book of the Moon” for pagan liturgies and ritual magick. I would also recommend Christopher Warnock’s mini-course on the lunar mansions. You find all of his course material at the website at this site - the price of these courses is modest and well worth it.

• Alexander, Skye (1988) “Planets in Signs,” Whitford Press, West Chester, PA

• Filby, John & Peter (1984) “Astronomy for Astrologers,” The Aquarian Press, Wellingborough, Northhamptonshire, UK

• Hand, Robert (1976) “Planets In Transit: Life Cycles for Living,”  Para Research Inc., Gloucester, MA

• Jackson, Nigel (2003) “Celestial Magic - Principles and Practices of the Talismanic Art,” Capall Bahn Publishing Sommerset, UK

• Rudyar, Dane (1986) “The Lunation Cycle: A Key to the Understanding of Personality,” Aurora Press, New York, NY

• Warnock, Christopher (2006) “The Mansions of the Moon,” Renaissance Astrology, USA

Frater Barrabbas

Lunar Mysteries and the Art of Moon Magick - Part 3

Lunar Mansions

The Twenty-eight Lunar Mansions are used specifically for talismanic magick, and they represent some of the most effective magick that one might want to generate. The mansions are represented by specific planetary qualities associated with a segment of the zodiac that is exactly 12 degrees and 51 minutes. The method used for determining the lunar mansion is astrological, based on lunar positions calculated from an ephemeris. In order for a mansion to be active, the moon should be in that specific zodiacal sign and degree period when the magickal operation is to be performed. Waxing and waning moons have a specific effect on the quality of the lunar mansion. A waxing moon is where the outcome is typically positive or a blessing, while a waning moon outcome is generally negative, or considered a curse. The period for performing positive magick based on the lunar mansion is always when the moon is waxing, from the point immediately following the new moon to just prior to the full moon. 

First use of the lunar mansions for magickal purposes probably goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Chaldeans, whose cultures were both avid in their observation and tabulation of astronomical phenomena. This is also true of the Indian culture, so the possible sources for lunar mansion work can be found in all three of these ancient cultures. 

Western magickal use and qualifications of the lunar mansions are adapted from the grimoire entitled the “Picatrix,” which was a purported 11th century Arabic magickal book, likely distilled from lost or now unknown Greek magical books. The lunar mansions are used to charge and empower magickal talismans. A talisman is blessed and charged at some point during the period of the lunar mansion, thus allowing the mansion to passively influence and impact the talisman. Since the moon travels through the zodiac at 14 degrees per day, it will only reside in a specific Lunar Mansion for slightly less than a day. In order to take advantage of a lunar mansion, the moon should be waxing within the lunation cycle, so any lunation type, from crescent type to just before full moon, can be employed. This short period of less than two weeks will limit the number of possible elective lunar mansions that can be employed during a specific seasonal period of the year.

Here is a list of the 28 mansions of the moon, as distilled from the book, “Celestial Magic” written by Nigel Jackson. I have also included the quality of the talismanic elemental (planet and element) as well as the associated Enochian senior name. Notice that the cardinal signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn have three mansions, and the other signs, two.

• Mars of Fire: Senior: Aaetpio  Mansion: Al Sharatain (#1 Horns of Aries)  - 0̊ Aries
• Jupiter of Fire: Senior: Adoeoet  Mansion: Al Butain (#2 The Belly of Aries) - Aries 12̊ 51ʹ
• Venus of Fire: Senior:  Aapdoce  Mansion: Al Thurayya (#3 The Many Little Ones - Pleides) - Aries 25̊ 43ʹ

• Mars of Earth: Laidrom  Mansion: Al Dabaran (#4 Eye of Taurus, the Follower) Taurus 8̊ 34ʹ  
• Sun of Earth: Iczhhcal Mansion: Al Haqah (#5 The White Spot) Taurus 21̊ 26ʹ 

• Mars of Air: Habioro   Mansion: Al Hanah (#6 Brand or Mark, Little Star of Great Light) Gemini 4̊ 17ʹ
• Jupiter of Air: Aaoxaif   Mansion: Al Dhira (#7 The Force Arm of Gemini) Gemini 17̊ 9ʹ 

• Jupiter of Water: Saiinov   Mansion: Al Nathrah (#8 The Gap or Crib, Misty, Cloudy) Cancer 0̊
• Saturn of Water: Ligdisa  Mansion: Al Tarf (#9 Glance of the Lion’s Eye) Cancer 12̊ 51ʹ
• Sun of Water: Raagiosl  Mansion: Al Jabhah (#10 The Lion’s Forehead - the Brow of Leo) Cancer 25̊ 43ʹ

• Sun of Fire: Senior: Edelprna   Mansion: Al Zubrah (#11 The Lion’s Mane) Leo 8̊ 34ʹ
• Saturn of Fire: Senior: Arinnap Mansion: Al Sarfah (#12 The Lion’s Tail) - Leo 21̊ 26ʹ

• Venus of Earth: Alhctga  Mansion: Al Awwa (#13 Wings of Virgo, the Barker) Virgo 4̊ 17ʹ
• Moon of Earth: Lzinopo  Mansion: Al Simak (#14 Spike of Virgo, the Unarmed) Virgo 17̊ 9ʹ

• Venus of Air: Ahaozpi  Mansion: Al Ghafr (#15 The Covering) Libra 0̊
• Mercury of Air: Avtotar   Mansion: Al Jubana (#16 The Horns of the Scorpion) Libra 12̊ 51ʹ
• Saturn of Air: Hipotga  Mansion: Iklil Al Jabhah (#17 The Crown of the Scorpion) Libra 25̊ 43ʹ

• Venus of Water: Slgaiol  Mansion: Al Qalib (#18 The Heart of the Scorpion) Scorpio 8̊ 34ʹ  
• Moon of Water: Laoaxrp  Mansion: Al Shaula (#19 The Tail of the Scorpion, the Sting) Scorpio 21̊ 6ʹ

• Moon of Fire: Senior: Asndoad  Mansion: Al Nava’am (#20 The Beam, The Ostriches) Sagittarius 4̊ 17ʹ
• Mercury of Fire: Senior: Anodoin Mansion: Al Baldah (#21 The City or District) - Sagittarius 17̊ 9ʹ

• Mercury of Earth: Acmbicu  Mansion: Al Sad Al Dhabih (#22 Lucky One of the Slaughterers) Capricorn 0̊
• Saturn of Earth: Lhiansa  Mansion: Al Sad Al Bulah (#23 Good Fortune of the Swallower) Capricorn 12̊ 51ʹ
• Jupiter of Earth: Aczinor  Mansion: Al Sad Al Su’ud (#24 The Star of Fortune) Capricorn 25̊ 51ʹ

• Moon of Air: Htmorda   Mansion: Al Sad Al Ahbiya (#25 The Butterfly - Lucky Star of Hidden Things) Aquarius 8̊ 34ʹ
• Sun of Air: Bataivah  Mansion: Al Farch Al Mukdim (#26 Fore-spout, First Drawing) Aquarius 21̊ 43ʹ

• Mercury of Water: Soaixnt  Mansion: Al Faragh Al Thani (#27 Lower Spout, Second Drawing) Pisces 4̊ 17ʹ
• Mars of Water: Lsrahpm   Mansion: Al Batn Al Hut (#28 The Belly of the Fish) Pisces 17̊ 9ʹ

A good source for information regarding the Lunar Mansions can be found in the books “The Mansions of the Moon” by Christopher Warnock, and the “Picatrix” as translated by John Michael Greer & Christopher Warnock, and also the book “Celestial Magic” written by Nigel Jackson (which I mentioned above).

Important Solar & Lunar Interrelationships

Solar and lunar eclipses are the most auspicious times for working any kind of magick, and if magickal workings can be performed during those times, then they will be greatly enhanced and empowered.

Eclipses of the Sun and Moon occur when the Sun, Moon and Earth are in a specific and proper alignment. Not only are they auspicious, but are typically rare occurrences. This is especially true for solar eclipses, but not as much for lunar eclipses. 

Solar eclipses occur when the Moon is new, since it is then that the Moon is conjunct with the Sun.  If the altitude of the Moon to the ecliptic (celestial equator as seen from the Earth) matches so that the Moon appears to cover the Sun, then there is an observable eclipse somewhere on the earth. (Solar eclipses on average only last around 8 minutes if they are total eclipses, less so when they are only partial eclipses.)

Lunar eclipses always occur when the Moon is full and the Earth’s shadow falls upon the Moon. They are more common than Solar eclipses because the Earth’s shadow is much larger than the Moon’s shadow on the earth.

Moon’s altitude is the height that the Moon appears over the horizon. In the northern latitudes, the Moon is low when it’s near the southern part of the horizon, and high up when it’s near the center of the sky. (Of course, the reverse would occur when one is located in the southern latitudes.) When the Moon appears to be moving from the southern to the northern hemisphere, called the ascending node, and when appears to be moving from the northern to the southern hemisphere, called the descending node.

Points of intersection between the ecliptic and Moon’s altitude are the points where an eclipse can potentially occur. The inclination of the Moon towards the ecliptic is approximately 5 degrees and 8 minutes, so events where the Moon’s shadow would pass over the face of the Earth are rare, because they require an exact match between lunar altitude and the ecliptic.

A rule of thumb as to where the moon will appear in the sky during certain lunar phases and seasons is found the following table. The higher the northern latitude, the more pronounced is the position of the moon during a lunar phase. 

• Spring: Moon is high in the sky when in the first quarter, down low when in the last quarter.
• Summer: Moon is high in the sky during the new moon, down low when full.
• Autumn: Moon is high in the sky when in the last quarter, down low when in the first quarter.
• Winter” Moon is high in the sky during the full moon, down low when new.

(Of course, this is true only when the observer is in the northern hemisphere, and it would be the opposite if one were in the southern hemisphere.)

As far as the northern latitude is concerned, the most auspicious full moon is during the winter, and the most auspicious new moon and waxing moon phase is during the summer. During the spring, the full moon is part of the ascending node, and during the autumn, the full moon is part of the descending node. These two facts also have an impact on the magick, giving a greater impetus or slightly detracting from the magick that is worked during these two seasons respectively.

Additionally. In the northern latitudes, a Solar eclipse is most likely to occur during the summer, when the new moon is in alignment with the ecliptic, and a Lunar eclipse is more likely to occur in the winter. This is important to consider when seeking to incorporate either a solar or lunar eclipse into one’s magickal working.

(Continued...)

Frater Barrabbas

Lunar Mysteries and the Art of Moon Magick - Part 2

Phases of the Moon and the Lunation Cycle

Lunar cycles, that mark the changing phases of the Moon, occur over a period of twenty-eight days. So there are a consistent occurrence of lunar cycles that make up the solar year, representing the oscillation of light and darkness, diminishment and increase, which change the apparent shape of the moon and also the times when it is present in the sky. The moon passes through the entire zodiac in a single month and its synodic period lasts 29 days and 12 hours, which is pretty close to the thirty day average period for a calendric month.

The moon also changes its shape as it makes its passage across the celestial equator, and this is due to the constant changing angular relationships between the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth. Thus, the moon travels swiftly through the zodiacal signs, averaging around 14 degrees in a twenty-four hour period. The sidereal period of the Moon is 27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes. What this means is that the moon makes a complete revolution from any given point back to that point during that period. The sidereal period is, therefore, more accurate and so it is used by astronomers. When we say that the Moon makes its cycle in 28 days, that is an average approximation of the synodic and sidereal periods.

A full moon occurs when the Moon is at a point opposite of the Sun in relation to the Earth. Therefore, a full moon always occupies the exact point opposite of the sun within the astrological zodiac. A new moon occurs when the Moon is conjunct with the Sun in relation to the Earth.  Therefore, the moon is in same exact zodiacal sign and degree as the Sun when it is in the phase called the new moon. A new moon symbolically represents the time of renewal and reinvigoration, when seeds are planted and ovulation ideally occurs. Full moon represents when these processes reach their maximum potential, and it is the ideal time for harvesting and also for the onset of menstruation. The quarter phases are where the Moon is waxing from new to full, or waning from full to new, representing when the Sun and Moon at right angles to the Earth. (I am not implying that a woman’s period is directly aligned with the phases of the moon, although there is an ideal association between the cycles of the mon and fertility cycle of women.)

Moon rises in the middle of the day when it is waxing and in the middle of the night when it's waning. The direction that the “horns” or tips of the crescent moon are facing indicates whether the Moon is waxing or waning. Horns pointing to the east indicates a waxing moon, and horns pointing to the west indicates a waning moon.

The cycle of the moon is called the “Lunation” cycle. It’s symbolized on a personal level as the struggle for conscious evolution, beginning first with awakening into individual self-consciousness and egoic awareness. Moon also has two qualities that are expressed by the lunation cycle. These two qualities are the zodiacal positions that it occupies as it moves across the celestial equator in a single month, and the four lunar phases that it makes as it crosses the path of the sun and the earth.

The elemental quality that the four phases of the moon has are:

• New Moon - Earth
• First Quarter - Air
• Full Moon - Fire
• Last Quarter - Water

Four phases of the moon are defined in astrology as the specific angular relationships that occur between the moon and the sun. These angular relationships are broken into 90 degree quadrants. The qualities of the phases are symbolized by the aspects of conjunction, ascending square, opposition, descending square, and arriving again at conjunction.

• New Moon to First Quarter (0̊ - 90̊) - individualism and impulsiveness
• First Quarter to Full Moon (90̊ - 180̊) - maturation and fulfillment
• Full Moon to Last Quarter (180̊ - 270̊) - formulation and objectification
• Last Quarter to New Moon (270̊ - 360̊) - fruition and also dissolution

Lunation cycle is actually an extension of the well known four phases of the Moon, producing eight types that characterize the lunar qualities. Each lunation type has its specific properties, and is extremely useful for working earth-based magick that affects the material based concerns and enterprises for humans, and even animals.

The lunation cycle of the moon is called the lesser cycle of transformation because it represents the variations of the reflected power of the sun and is far more mutable and subtle in regards to its affects on the life cycle of the individual human being when compared to the sun. While the solar cycle symbolizes the greater cycle of transformation, representing the seasonal milestones as well as the annual and multi-year achievements, the lunation cycle is critical to the resolution of deep and internal issues and complexes as the self strives to become individuated and self-illuminated.

In the lunation cycle, the four lunar phases are broken into eight divisions (types) consisting of 45 degree segments.  Each segmental division of the Lunation cycle lasts approximately 3.5 days (84 hours). Each of the phases and the types of the lunation cycle are useful for a different kind of magick. Therefore, they represent a different mystery in the process of individual development. Lunation types include two states of the balsalmic (healing) and two of the gibbous (swelling) moons, adding four more types to the regular four phases.

Balsalmic phases are defined as the ascending and descending lunar crescent, which occurs just before and soon after the new moon. Gibbous phases are defined as nearly full, which occur just before and soon after the full moon. The following table was distilled from Dane Rudyar’s book “Lunation Cycle: A Key to the Understanding of Personality” (see pp. 50 - 56).

• New Moon Type - 0̊ - 45̊- Emergence - Subjective, impulsive, novelty
• Crescent Type - 45̊ - 90̊ - Expansion - Self assertion, self confidence
• First Quarter Type - 90̊ - 135̊ - Action - Crisis in action, strong-willed
• Gibbous Moon Type - 135̊ - 180̊ - Overcoming - Clarification, revelation & illumination
• Full Moon Type - 180̊ - 225̊ - Fulfillment - Objectivity, formulation, manifestation
• Disseminating Type - 225̊ - 270̊ - Demonstration - Disseminator of ideas, populist, teacher
• Last Quarter Type - 270̊ - 315̊ - Re-orientation - Crisis in consciousness, inflexibility
• Balsamic Type - 315̊ - 360̊ - Release - Transition, seed-state, germination

Looking over the above table, one can get a pretty good idea how to use the Lunation Cycle in magick and as well as pagan liturgy.

A powerful bell curve can be imagined when examining the key words used in this table. The latent powers of the unconscious mind emerge on or just after the New Moon, and then continue to grow as the moon waxes. From emergence, to expansion, to action, then to overcoming, the lunar energy reaches a climax with the Full Moon, whose forces are defined by the keywords: overcoming, clarification, revelation and inner illumination. Then the energy begins to wane, but a gibbous moon after full still has power and also an important role to play. So at this point, the lunation type becomes objectified and capable of communicating what has been precipitating within the unconscious mind. Then, there is a critical re-orientation or re-alignment, and finally, a release, where the energy fully submerges and all is once again outwardly quiet.

New magickal workings would typically start during or just after the New Moon phase, where a type of internalization is at its point of maximum effect. Then, one builds up the powers and magickal structures until on or just before the occurrence of the Full Moon, where the power is outwardly expressed as a climactic expression of force. Afterwards, the resolution that one is seeking through magick is either revealed or not. Then, with the exteriorization of all the energy, one seeks the solace of self-reflection, as the powers of the unconscious mind sink into its internal source. The waning moon, particularly at the point of the Balsamic type is useful for healing and for divination, so the entire lunation cycle is practical for the application of many kind of magickal operations.

Here are some key points about using the phases and types of the lunar cycle when you work magick. You should not only consider the astrological and astronomical environment (sun and moon signs), but also realize that magick is best served when performed at the most auspicious time. Therefore, timing is important!. The Sun and Moon are indicators of whether or not the time is right for a given magickal action. To unleash the most effective magick you must build up in a symbolic manner the “temporal snapshot” of your world, to establish the time and location where the magick is to be applied. This “temporal snapshot” is what I call the temporal link, and it’s amazing how many people don’t seem to realize how important making such a link is to the overall success of large-scale, magically assisted undertakings.

Small scale workings don’t really require a temporal link, but I have discovered, nearly by accident, that producing a temporal link for large scale workings helps to do two important things. These two things are:

• To establish a temporal signature that will be intelligible to spirits and magickal forces,
• To mark a spiritual mile-stone and to give it a focus in the present space-time continuum.

Establishing a temporal link can also be useful in establishing a time-limit for a given process to produce the results, even incrementally, that the magician is seeking.

The temporal link can consists of the following six elements (listed below). It should, at the very least, contain the combination of the seasonal, diurnal Solar aspects along with the phase/type for the Moon. These two elements will produce a symbolic expression of time. Additionally, the place (space or location) is defined as the exact point where the magick is projected into the earth (through the temple or grove).

The temporal symbolic link consists of:

• Solar Hour as Planetary Hour
• Sun in Zodiacal Sign - in relation to nearest Equinox or Solstice
• Moon in Zodiacal Sign - Seasonal Moon in relation to the four phases
• Lunation Type - 8 phases of the Moon
• Geological matrix - latitude, longitude and altitude
• Internal domain of the practitioner - natal zodiacal chart, progressed and transit chart.

Of these six items, the first four are most critical and used to determine the magickal equivalent of the temporal signature or link. In order to cause material manifestations and alterations one must first determine the temporal signature.

Moon in the 12 Zodiacal Signs and Full Moon Lore

As previously stated, the Full moon always occurs in the zodiacal sign opposite the Sun. It has specific astrological qualities, since the full moon represents a certain degree of fruition for spiritual and occult activities. The zodiacal sign that the full moon occupies is therefore quite significant, since it specifically qualifies it. There is also specific folklore that is associated with the full moon occurring during a month, and this folklore is often used to qualify any full moon working, whether liturgical or magickal.

First we will begin by examining the Moon in the twelve signs, so we can examine the qualities of those twelve aspects in greater detail. The moon signifies emotional energies and internal states of consciousness, and as it passes through the twelve signs, the qualities change and mutate according to the qualities of the astrological sign. (I have distilled these moon signs from the book, Planets in Signs, by Skye Alexander, pp. 71 - 96.)

Aries - boundless enthusiasm, assertive, emotional outbursts, highly energized, individualistic, impulsive, to live for the moment.

Taurus - easy going, placid, devoted friend and lover, simple and basic needs, emotionally centered and earthy, possessive, love of material things, luxuries, believes happiness can be bought, resistant to change.

Gemini - gregariousness, sociable, good communicator, restless, always seeking new stimulations, important of being unfettered, curious about everything.

   

Cancer - sensitive feelings, changeableness, emotionally expressive, heart rules head, strong empathy, maternal instincts, nurturing, protective of family and friends.

Leo - self confident, optimistic, cheerful, natural leader, always seeking attention, self centered, love of drama, creativity, strong willed.

Virgo - emotionally subdued, internalized, outwardly aloof, tight self-control, overly critical, self deprecating, helpful to others, service, selfless, concerned about the welfare of others.

Libra - emotional balance, need for harmonious interactions, displaced emotional expressions, sense of propriety, social tact and social awareness, compromising, indecisive, artistic, musical.

Scorpio - emotionally passionate, secretive, intensely sexual, seeks total union, jealous and possessive, can be vindictive, ruthless.

Sagittarius - happy go-lucky, optimistic, witty, affable, very sociable, loose emotional ties, importance of friendship, need to be free, disdainful of smothering and restrictive relationships.

Capricorn - emotionally internalized, unexpressive, deeply serious and sober, depressing, devalues self, fear of rejection, loyal, devoted to friends, family and lovers, reliable, practical, responsible.

Aquarius - unpredictable, explosive, sudden outbursts, strong sense of social justice, passionate about causes, rebellious, stubborn, willful, anti-authority, bohemian, radical, visionary.

Pisces - deep and intense emotions, secretive, introverted, psychic, empathic, compassionate, vivid imagination, reclusive, shy, seeks refuge, desires to be alone.

So the moon will acquire qualities depending on the sign that it is in as well as the sign that the Sun is occupying. Since the Sun changes its sign around the 20th of the month, the full moon will occur in the opposite sign. For each monthly full moon and its lore, we have two possible qualities for that full moon, depending on when in the month it occurs. Here is a list of three items to examine and research when planning on a full moon working:

• When seeking to qualify the full moon, combine the astrological qualities with the seasonal Full Moon folklore.

• Check almanacs and other sources of folklore to qualify the full moon for a given month.

• Build up a booklet of Seasonal Full Moon lore and astrological considerations (Moon in 12 Signs) to use for liturgy and magick.

Here’s an example of what you might assemble as information for the full moon in the month of June.

June - Strawberry Moon or Mead/Honey Moon

After the abundant flowers of the previous month have bloomed and passed away then the fruits begin to form, and strawberries are some of the first fruits to be harvested. Flowers also bring the bees which gather the pollen and produce honey, and from that is brewed the beverage called mead. June is also the time of the Summer Solstice, and the advent of the warm days of summer, and the planting of the rest of the crops in the more northern and less temperate lands. This month is partitioned by Gemini and Cancer.

• New Moon in Gemini - time for planning gatherings and celebrations
• New Moon in Cancer - protection against harm, nurturing and growing
• Full Moon in Sagittarius - happiness, fulfillment of pleasure, new liaisons
• Full Moon in Capricorn - material gain through hard work and organization

I assembled most of my full moon lore from, of all places, the Farmer’s Almanac. You can find that source in an online web-page here. There are also lots of other sources for lunar folklore as well, since most pagan publishers will have a book or two on lunar folklore.

(Continued...)

Frater Barrabbas

Lunar Mysteries and the Art of Moon Magick - Part 1

This is part one of a four part series on Lunar Mysteries and Moon Magick. I will be posting this series for the next four posting intervals. Moon magick and lunar mysteries are very important, so I think that these articles are timely and quite relevant.

Believe it or not, I once heard someone complain to a group of pagans that every full moon was practically the same, and that the monthly full moon rites that this person’s coven engaged in were boring and repetitious. When I heard this complaint, I was completely astonished! Obviously this person didn’t know very much about the moon, nor that each full moon that happens during the calendric year is unique and has a large body of folklore to go along with it. The moon is probably the most important celestial body in the sky, next to the sun, and certainly, it’s the most interesting. Yet hearing this complaint made me realize that the knowledge which I had acquired about the moon and lunar magick was not so common within the Pagan and Wiccan community. So for this reason, I decided that it would be prudent to put together an article on the lunar mysteries and the art of moon magick. If anyone is seeking to work magick that will affect their material aspirations, then knowing something about the moon is pretty important.

In fact, the most important consideration for any large series of workings involving earth-based magick is to harness the mysterious cycle of the moon and its mythology and folklore. In order to accomplish this task, the occultist is obligated to sift through a lot of moon lore, both scientific, astrological and esoteric in order to truly understand the significance and use of the moon in the art of magick.

This article will attempt to perform that task for you and help you to examine all of the various elements required to become proficient at using the moon for both pagan liturgies and practical forms of magick. There’s a lot of material to cover, but I decided to pull together a selection of that specific lore that will help you to make this mastery a lot easier. I would advise you to acquire some books on astrology and also some books on the various folklore and myths associated with the moon. Having this knowledge at hand will certainly make your pagan full moon rites and practical lunar based magick much more effective and esthetically pleasing. Let us now move on to examine all of this material.

Occult Beliefs vs. Scientific Explanations

We live in age where everything is seemingly explained away by the prowess of science, where there are no unfathomable mysteries nor is anything capable of withstanding for long the inquiry of modern empirical minds. Everything is reduced to the objective eye of science, and yet, and still, the average person stands in awe of the  constant changing cycles of the moon. Science has debunked almost all of the myths about the moon, yet they persist in common discussion even amongst educated people. So it would seem that the moon still casts her spell on the minds of humanity, and the apparent lunar mysteries persist despite our scientific explanations and even our most adventurous explorations of her rocky crust.

There are good reasons why all the myths and folklore about the moon persist, and why they will probably continue to exert a powerful influence on the mind and soul of humanity until the end of time. As long as human beings live on this planet and experience the various phenomena of the moon, sun, planets and the stars, they will have a psychological impact on human sentiment - there’s no escaping this fact. We are complex psychological beings, and merely the apprehension of facts alone does not rule our life nor dispel superstition or emotional sentiment. We also need to consider that science alone does not have a monopoly on objective truth, and that dissenting opinions and the powerful influences of culture are just as compelling as the consensus of science and scientists. 

The moon changes its shape throughout the month, seemingly never to appear at the same place or in the same guise. As the moon transforms itself, the tides of the seas and oceans seem to obey its cyclic passages, and the darkness of night is turned into twilight, illuminating a spectral landscape. The basic nature of the lunar mystery is that the moon changes its shape and its brightness, seeming to follow an endless pattern of constant change. The moon appears during both the day and the night, but it’s at night time when the moon’s effect is most dramatic. The moon is a symbol of transformation and seems to represent all that is changeable and ephemeral in our world, including the life cycle of all things living and breathing on this planet. This mystery is the mystery of light and darkness, life and death, the changing seasons, which are seen in the apparent movements of the moon, sun and the earth, and their complex interrelationship.

Science has explained all of this phenomena in an undramatic manner, dispelling all of the myths and false assumptions made about the effects of the moon on the earth. We should examine these facts and then quickly pass over them because knowing what science has said about this topic does help to shape our opinions and clarify the occult beliefs and associated phenomena with the practice of ritual magick. We will not hold onto arbitrary beliefs and promote falsehoods in the guise of good occultism. Science has done an adequate job of explaining the objective and material universe that is both within and all around us, and we would be foolish to easily dismiss these carefully tested and empirically determined truths.

Still, science has nothing to say about the nature of the human soul, the nature of Spirit and the internal perceptions and sentiments associated with the human psyche. In fact science refuses to even examine a phenomenon unless it can be measured, and that measurement verified by repetition. Some might question the methods of measuring these phenomena and the theories that underlie them. These are topics that are outside of the supposed empirical universe, and therefore, are the topical areas most suited to the discourse of religious and occult philosophies.

Therefore, we shall refrain from stating that the moon’s gravitational effects or the effects of the light of the moon have any dramatic impact on individual human beings, animals or small inanimate objects. What is affected by the moon is the human mind, its perceptions, sentiments, and inner spiritual reflections, and these we will address in this article. Humanity has been staring into the night sky for untold millennia, and this fact alone has shaped human beliefs and opinions long before science was ever organized as an academic discipline.

We will focus on the folklore and psychological effects of the moon, sun and their apparent motion and alignments, and how these may be used to great effect in the practice of ritual magick. Therefore, we need to look at several items as we examine these interesting facts and their use in practical occultism. (Here is a list of seven items for us to consider.)

• Phases of the Moon - four quarters, lunation cycle - psychology and basic folklore as well as assumed physiological effects. Considerations about elemental magick as associated with the lunar phases should also be examined.

• Seasonal full moon folklore and astrological aspects of the full moon phenomenon. Each full moon has its own qualities and special characteristics, and these qualify the magic that is performed.

• Twenty-eight lunar mansions - planetary and talismanic considerations. The lunar mansions can be used to project beneficial as well as baleful magical powers.

• Solar and lunar interrelationships - eclipses both solar and lunar - cycle of light and darkness, life and death, as projected upon the wheel of the year. Also we should consider the tidal cycles such as spring, neap and proxigean spring tides.

• Greater and lesser wheel of fortune - solar and lunar wheels of fortune - personal cycle of material and emotional increase and decrease.

• Practical magic always has an element of timing in addition to initiative and action. Knowledge of one’s own personal wheel of fortune is a determinant of successful material based magic.

• Key to integrating the lunar and solar cycles into one’s magic is learning to incorporate a type of lunar telesterion (temple) into one’s magick. This temple is defined in ritual magick as an energy field consisting of a vortex encompassed with a double gateway, where the mysteries of the seasonal sun and lunar phase are declared and expressed as a symbolic link, which also acts as a temporal link.

These seven items are quite important for the occult considerations in working magic and causing an impact in one’s personal material world. They also don’t in any way violate the premises currently vogue in the scientific community, since they are concerned with a domain that science has either nothing to say about or is incapable of making any kind of determination or measurement. But first we should examine some of the objective facts about the moon.

Some of the factual points that science does make, which we would have to incorporate into our thinking consists of the following items. From a scientific perspective the Moon is: 

• A spherical rocky body that is the one and only satellite of the planet Earth,
• Nearly a third of the size of the Earth ,
• Distance from the Moon to the Earth is a mean distance of 238,600 miles,
• Moon has a complex elliptical orbit around the Earth,
• Equatorial radius is 1,080 miles,
• Lacks an active magnetic field, so it likely doesn’t have a molten core,
• Earth and Moon actually orbit each other, possessing a common center of mass that is not the center of the Earth, but only approximately 2,900 miles from the surface,
• Moon and Earth exert a powerful gravitation pull on each other,
• Moon pulls the oceans slightly out from the Earth as it passes closest to it. ( Actually, the Moon is pulling up on the oceans and the Earth is pulling down. The combination of these forces causes the tides.)

If the Moon did not exist, then the Sun would still cause diminished cyclic tides. Tides are the gravitational effect on large bodies of water - oceans, seas, large lakes, rivers, even the atmosphere and crust of the earth. (Large things are so affected, but not things that are relatively small.) The gravitation effect of tides is caused by a combination of the Sun, Moon and Earth. This interrelationship also causes solar and lunar eclipses and the lunar phases of full through new.

Moon’s gravitational force is only one ten-millionth of the Earth’s gravitational force, and the Sun’s is only 40% of the Moon’s force.  Therefore, the Moon’s gravitation effect has no discernable impact on animals or people. Lunar and planetary light is also insignificant, since it is merely reflected light whose origin is from the Sun. Sunlight, however, does indeed powerfully affect the Earth.

Some of the natural phenomenon associated with the period tides affecting large bodies of water has the following qualities:

“Because the earth rotates on its axis the moon completes one orbit in our sky every 25 hours (Not to be confused with moon's 27 day orbit around the earth), we get two tidal peaks as well as two tidal troughs.

These events are separated by about 12 hours. Offshore, in the deep ocean, the difference in tides is usually less than 1.6 feet. The surf grows when it approaches a beach, and the tide increases. In bays and estuaries, this effect is amplified. (Example: In the Bay of Fundy, tides have a range of 44.6 ft.).

Since the moon moves around the Earth, it is not always in the same place at the same time each day. So, each day, the times for high and low tides change by 50 minutes.” - (See the web page for the source of the above quotation.)

Spring tides are exceptionally strong tides that occur when the Sun, Moon and the Earth are in line, such as when the Moon appears to be full or new on the Earth. Neap tides occur when the Sun and Moon are at right angles to the Earth, canceling out their gravitational forces and producing a weaker variation of the high and low tides, such as when the Moon appears to be in either the first or last quarter.

Perigee points are defined as celestial events where the Moon is closest to the Earth, and the Earth is the closest to the Sun. These events occur, of course, during specific times of the year and during specific seasons. Lunar perigee occurs twice a year, in late December through January and late June through July, depending on the northern or southern latitude. Solar perigee occurs once a year, also in late December. 

Every 18 months an unusually high tide occurs, and this is called a Proxigean Spring Tide. It occurs when the Moon is at its closest point to the Earth (called the closest perigee, or proxigee) and is in the New Moon phase (meaning that the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun). These are significant events in the astrological calendar of the practicing occultist - there are bi-annual (Lunar), annual (Solar) and semi-annual cycles (Lunar and Solar) that effect the tides of the oceans on the earth, and by analogy, the fortunes of individual human beings. (This is, of course, a very important point.)

Lunar affects on human behavior, also called the “Transylvania effect” have been pretty conclusively demonstrated to be false. This was done through an effective analysis of whether the full or new moon have any affects on any specific behavior, maladies or social phenomena, such as alcoholism, mental attacks, menstruation, violence, murder rates, and even stock market variations. All of these correlations have been found to be statistically insignificant. What does seem to be operating are people’s beliefs, cultural myths, folklore and emotional sentiments. Science would judge such causes as not being statistically relevant, but they do seem to impact behavior, and in an almost predictable fashion.

Still, there are some hotly contested areas of dispute within the various disciplines of medicine and biological research. Medical research still shows correlations between medical phenomena and either full of new moon - however, that research is in dispute. The final verdict is as yet unknown. We, however, will not engage in this debate because our topic is not determined by objective empiricism, but rather by psychology and culture. 

(Continued..)

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