Modern Mystery Rites and Practices in Ritual Magick - Part 1

1. Analysis of the Mysteries

“Mysteries are a form of personal religion, depending on a private decision and aiming at some form of salvation through closeness to the divine.”
Walter Burkert - Ancient Mystery Religions (Harvard University Press - 1987)

Mysteries are not just a relic of antiquity, but represent an on-going process of transcendentalism and human transformation. The ancient cultures of Europe and the Middle East sought to encapsulate these phenomena into various cults, seeking to aid humanity in dealing with the capriciousness of fate and the inexorable human destiny of death and loss.
               
In the present world, the current religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam have transformed the mysteries from a personal aspiration to that of a collective cosmic phenomena, which manifests as the grace, power and majesty of the Deity to collectively give humanity the assurance to live, prosper and to die with the promise of salvation and redemption. Even so, over the past millennia, these assurances have lapsed for some, causing them to independently seek out the source of that transcendentalism, to identify the nature of the deity outside of creed or religious doctrine. Thus an impulse of mysticism and magick have become ever more important in the world, allowing some the ability to challenge what was once forbidden to question in orthodox religion. Once again, spiritual seekers have appeared and the old questions that fueled the ancient mystery cults have become renewed and even popular.

Due to this fluctuation in belief, new religions have been born in the last century, attempting to deal with the apparent shortcomings of the old orthodox teachings. Mystical and esoteric perspectives have also begun to gain greater currency. Even the relapse into conservative religious faith is nothing more than humanity seeking greater assurance and certainty in spiritual matters. The study of magick has also found itself tasked with the spiritual search for inner truth and a greater understanding of transcendental states of consciousness. For some, this search is irrelevant, since for them, magick is only a tool or the means to achieve a specific material goal.

Yet for others, particularly those who are engaged in the new earth-based religions, such as Wicca and Neopaganism, the practice of magick is accompanied with an immersion and celebration in the spiritual phenomena of nature itself. It would seem that the ancient mystery cults of the previous pagan age have once again become important to those following an earth-based spirituality. Practicing ritual magick with a pagan spiritual foundation seems to require the seamless joining of ritual magick, spiritual liturgies and the celebration of the mysteries of the natural world.   

A practical discipline of ritual magick that includes the mysteries has greater depth and expansiveness than just the technique of performing rituals to achieve material goals. Some have said that ritual magick is limited to only obtaining material results, and perhaps for them, that is true. It’s unfortunate that some who practice ritual magick seem to omit the most important part, which is the occurrence of the mysteries. That is because magick is far more than just the performance of rituals and ceremonies and the reaping (or not) of their benefits. Whenever practitioners experience the full immersion of Spirit into their workings, then what is happening to them is far greater than just the mere operation of material based magick.

Nevertheless, one shouldn’t be mislead by my statements. I am not one who advocates that practitioners of magick shouldn’t seek material results, or that less substantial results (such as wisdom or grace) are more spiritually relevant than material ones. If we can agree that magick is not something which anyone has total and complete control over in their individual and collective lives, then there is a power and intelligence operating in magick that goes far beyond the usual expectations of actions and results.

If magick were a simple matter of cause and effect, then far more individuals would be using it to fulfill their material needs. As it stands, there is always an element of the unknown, the unknowable, the ineffable, the inexplicable and the transcendental when magick is truly functioning as it should. Often one begins a magickal working with a certain assumption, and as the working progresses, that assumption may be revealed to be completely incongruent with reality. This event, when it occurs, causes a revelation and a course correction, which produces a more truthful focus on one’s actual goal.

Essentially, magick and mystery seem to be intertwined, especially when something profound or great is occurring. This is not to say that every magickal ritual and ceremony is mysterious, profound or life changing; still, when magick is truly operating as it should, one will feel the impact of “otherness” in an obvious and fundamental manner. That sense of “otherness” is the core of the operation of mystery in magick, and when it occurs, true magick has been manifested.

A colleague and friend of mine, named Steve Posch, recently presented a workshop on performing public rituals. In that workshop he discussed the things that make such operations successful and also fail miserably. One of the first topics presented was the definition of mystery, since it seems to play an important part in public rituals that succeed. Steve defined mystery operationally as the occurrence of the  “radical other,” and mysticism as the individual encounter with that “radical other.” I found this definition to be quite succinct and very useful. It also agrees with the definition of mystery as determined from a closer study of the mystery cults of antiquity (as we shall see in the next section).

Even so, a written script for a ritual that produces a sense of “otherness” can’t replicate that feeling every time it’s performed. In fact, if it produces it at all, it may do so only once. What this means is that it’s a quality that can’t be either harnessed or produced at will. It occurs sometimes during rituals or ceremonies, other times during the happenstance of life itself; but it is never summoned, coerced or bidden. Mystery is a quality that a magician would want to manifest in every ritual, but even if it does occur only once in a while, it can still be quite profound and most satisfactory. The effect of this variable in the performance of ritual causes some of them to be far more significant than others, and this would seem to explain the variance that I have personally experienced in the performance of magick.

The purpose of this article is to attempt to define and understand what causes this sense of “otherness” to occur in ritual, or for that matter, life. Producing a useful and detailed definition of the term “mystery” will enable us to recognize and perhaps replicate it more often in ritual. If we can identify the power of mystery when it spontaneously occurs in our lives, then we may determine its significance and make greater use of it. We might also be able to determine how mystery can be artificially generated, thus making our ritual workings more effective and meaningful. This premise would seem to go against my stated opinion that mystery can’t be controlled or summoned at will, that it’s actually a rare occurrence in ritual workings. I believe it’s possible to make the occurrence of mystery happen more frequently than it otherwise might in magickal workings, keeping in mind that it’s a capricious phenomenon that can’t be really controlled.

Additionally, one of the most important factors about the occurrence of mystery is that it is directly tied to an encounter of Deity, momentarily emerging into one’s life. That encounter is a powerful transcendental experience, which has the effect of shaping and qualifying the lives of all whom it touches. This is because the Deity, in whatever manner it’s defined or perceived, is the perfect exemplar of the “radical other.” There is nothing else that can impact one’s individual perceptions or beliefs greater than to experience the full realization of the Godhead in one’s life. So it would seem that the source of mystery in ritual and life is an incursion of the divine into one’s sphere of consciousness. Even the adoption of powerful altered states of consciousness can’t equal the power and overarching impact of a one on one encounter with the divine, so these practices seem to be nothing more than preparations for such an encounter with the Deity.

It’s also apparent that the more one engages and encounters the Deity in rites and even in life, the greater the overall mystery that seems to envelope one’s existence. When this phenomena becomes constant and continuous, where the Deity is perceived at all times as occurring in everything and permeating everywhere around one, then total and complete enlightenment has been achieved. Such a high state of being is permeated and shrouded with the numinousness of the Godhead, and it is said to be the very essence of the mystery of Spirit operating in and through life. A person so gifted would be called an Avatar, and that exalted state is the highest spiritual attainment that one could obtain through following the path of either mysticism or magick.

A mystic would find this achievement at the very end of his transcendental path of ascension, yet for the magician, it is accomplished incrementally and would represent only the beginning of his or her tasks. The great work, then, defined as the magician’s “greatest task” would be the formulation of a new age and a new path for all humanity. Still, a system of ritual magick that requires a periodic and constant encounter and immersion with the Godhead is one of the true paths of ultimate enlightenment. This is the reason why I am such a strong proponent of Godhead assumption in the practice of ritual magick, since it leads one to ever higher transcendental states.

2. Mystery Cults and Rites in Antiquity

In order to acquire a more thorough background in the nature of the mysteries, it is important to examine the ancient mystery cults, particularly those in the Greek and Roman worlds. Perhaps one of the best resources for gaining this precious background is found in the book written by Walter Burkert, entitled “Ancient Mystery Cults,” (1987, Harvard University Press). While Mr. Burkert assiduously avoided cluttering up his book with too wide of a scope, he decided to focus on just five of the more famous mystery cults. These cults were the mysteries of Eleusis, the Bacchic mysteries, mysteries of Meter, the Isis and Osiris mysteries and the Mithraic mysteries. Even though the scope was narrowed, there were still some important and significant generalities that could be made about all of them. These generalities hold a greater importance when examining the mysteries as they are perceived today.

This section will focus on just three basic areas that will assist us in gaining a general understanding of the mysteries as they were practiced in antiquity. We will first examine the terminology and the definitions that were used to describe the mysteries, then we will examine the potential historical source for the mysteries in ancient society, and finally, we will analyze the nature of initiation and their associated mystery festivals. These subsections will contain distillations and quotes from some of the strategic points that Mr. Burkert made in his book.


Terminology and Definitions

The term “mystery” that we use today in a number of different contexts comes from the Greek word “mysteria” and “mystes,” which basically mean, an initiation rite, and an initiate, respectively. Thus, it would seem that there was a direct link between mystery and an initiation rite. The two are irreparably joined in the minds of people living in antiquity, which would indicate that all mysteries had as their central function the ability to initiate individuals into a specific mystery. A mystes is therefore, someone who has successfully undergone an initiation in a mystery cult.

Other terms that are encountered when studying the writings of antiquity, which overlap “mysteria,” are “telein” - the act of initiating, “telete” - a specific sacred mystery rite, “telestes” - a priest or official presiding over the mystery, and “telesterion” - the initiation hall. The term “telesthehai” is defined as being specifically initiated into the mysteries of a specific god, such as the word “Dionysoi telesthehai” is defined as being initiated into the mysteries of Dionysus. An “orgia,” like a “teletai” is considered a secret ritual, but not yet actually denoting any specific group sexual activity, which is how it was later defined (as orgy). Two other words, which are used as adjectives and are virtually interchangeable, are “aporrheta” (forbidden) and “arrheta” (unspeakable), denoting as it were, that the mysteries were to be held secret, but also, were inexplicable, therefore, talking about them in a sensible manner was impossible.  (pg. 9)

Initiates who underwent a mystery initiation belonged to a mystery association, sometimes called a thiasos, koinon, collegia or sodalites. These organizations were not as binding or cohesive as later church organizations were, but could be considered a loose public affiliation, although one that brought a certain amount of prestige and respect to the member. Initiation was completely a voluntary action on the part of an individual, they were neither expected nor compulsory.

A succinct definition for the nature of the mystery cults in antiquity can be best summed up by a quote from Mr. Burkert’s book.

“In religious terms, mysteries provide an immediate encounter with the divine. In psychological terms, there must have been an experience of the ‘other’ in a change of consciousness, moving far beyond what could be found in everyday life.” (pg. 90)

We have already covered this ground in the previous section, but it would seem that the mystery cults of antiquity focused on exactly the same things that would be relevant today. The experience of the “other” qualifies the whole encounter that one has with the basic element of a mystery. This can be found either in rituals or in uncommon experiences in life. However, the mystery cults of antiquity found a successful manner of making this experience available to anyone who met the entrance criteria.
 
According to Burkert, the essential core of all mysteries is the seemingly paradox of life and death, which is similar to the polarities of day and night, light and darkness, above and below. I have found that the ancient mysteries are still relevant today, and that they address the same kind of polarity of light and dark, life and death, addressed in modern versions of the mysteries. We find that phenomenon not only in the changing seasons, but also in the life span of all living things. The capriciousness of material life in this world is a fragile thing that is both precious and easily extinguished.

The language of the mysteries was, and still is, myth and allegory. Mythic plays, acted out by a handful of role players for the benefit of the group, were the most comprehensible and immediate way to communicate things about the gods, and life and death that would otherwise be impossible to relate. Myths are rooted in an oral tradition that teaches more through showing than eulogizing, so they became ubiquitous wherever humans made their home. By focusing on the details of a story, revealing all of its symbolic images and strategic occurrences, rather than explaining and examining it, mythic stories successfully relate what is, in essence, a living experience that is periodically shared with the group.

Along with myths, allegories were used to convey some sense or explanation about certain themes or symbols used in a mystery. Often, allegories were developed in an ad hoc manner to explain what was mostly unexplainable.

While myths represent actual experiences, allegories are the mechanisms that attempt to explain the nature of the mystery through a comparison with other symbols or ideals, often found in nature itself. Where myths are real and self-explanatory, allegories are where symbolic associations are produced, often to deepen and expand the narrow focus of the mystery.


Source of the Ancient Mysteries

The ancient source of the mystery cults was a form of votive worship. It was the act of making a promise or vow to give offerings to a specific god, and then fulfilling it. Votive worship represented a very personal form of religion, as opposed to the common community based religious festivals provided by the polis. It was a form of religious expression that was uniquely expressed between an individual and a single god, characterized by one’s faith, and seeking a form of personalized salvation (soteria). Votive worship was a kind of experimental religious expression, and so, too, were the mysteries, since they could as easily achieve as well as disappoint the one seeking salvation. If one methodology or god failed to deliver what was desired, a person in those times had no problem trying another god and another approach. This was not considered inconsistent behavior in those times. I will quote Mr. Burkert here, since his explanation is quite succinct and to the point.

“There is another form of personal religion - elementary, wide-spread, and quite down to earth - that constitutes the background for the practice of the mysteries - it is the practice of making vows, ‘votive religion,’ as it has been called.” (pg. 12)

He goes on to state that the one making the offering is often ill, in danger or in need. Another kind of offering could be made by one who had achieved some kind of milestone in his life and sought to commemorate it (victory in battle, attainment of high rank, etc.). The one making such an offering promised to the gods something dear or precious as a donation, and usually fulfilled it. The offering is often but not always publically made, thereby ensuring that the one making it will be obligated to comply if the needed thing does indeed occur. One can see that the making of vows is a method of dealing with the uncertainties of the future or the unpredictability of fate.

Votive religion is not to be considered superficial or representative of a weak religious faith. One who is seeking a form of salvation undergoes a powerful emotional transformation that is deeply disturbing and causes intense suffering and pain. There is the powerful need for help or intervention that drives this process, which profoundly tests one’s resolve and faith. Votive inscriptions have shown that this intervention often comes in the form of dreams, visions or even the paradoxical reshaping of one’s destiny (miracles); all of these, of course, resolve themselves in an obviously successful conclusion, since these commemorations are typically written by those who have survived their crisis. (pg. 13)

Mr. Burkert has also shown (pg. 15) that the mystery cult initiation and votive worship were parallel practices that emerged from the same root, although the mystery cult initiation was a later adaptation, both had the same goal of some kind of salvation. This burning individual need for personal salvation was the motivation that produced new gods and new mystery cults. Also, Mr. Burkert has stated that the migration of oriental mystery cults occurred first as a votive religion, with the mystery cult initiation forming around the nucleus of that practice later. It would seem, then, that votive religion was a seductive way to deal with the issues of life, to seek some kind of assurance – this would attract one to seek salvation from many other gods and cults, until salvation was achieved (or not).

There were three major organization forms in the practice of mystery cults. The first was the individual teacher or wandering mendicant, the second was a clergy associated with a mystery temple or sanctuary, and the third was a public association of initiates, such as a club, or “thiasos.” The larger and more wealthy organizations were typically associated with a temple or shrine, sometime even employing professional clergy members. Wandering mendicants represented the more common approach, and in such situations, teachers either lived well or starved by the use of their wits and their inherent charisma. Some mystery cults very likely started with a few wandering teachers and then grew to become massive cultural institutions, others were associated with a sacred place or location from the very beginning.

Mystery cults were typically associated with a specific god, a specific location for a very specific purpose. For instance, one wouldn’t go to the healing shrine of Asclepias to ask the god for safe passage and good weather for an ocean going trade venture. In contrast, Christianity would later function as an all-inclusive mystery religion where supplicants could seek out and receive intercession or help in any endeavor from any shrine or church; this was not the way that the mystery cults operated.

Mystery cults gave an individual the ability to employ a specific god, one on one, to gain salvation for some end. The faith that this act required and the salvation that was received did not imply any kind of religious conversion when an individual would singularly engage that god. This is very unlike later Christianity, which set exclusive boundaries to the faithful, allowing only those who were members of the congregation to receive the benefits of the sacraments and blessings. A person who engaged a mystery cult in antiquity was free to worship any or all of the other gods - the only difference was the necessity of making a votive offering and specific commitment to that one god (or gods) associated with the mystery cult.


Initiation and Practices

As previously described, the ancient mysteries were formed around an initiation mystery rite. Mystery and initiation were basically synonymous terms, establishing that one must undergo the initiation in order to gain the knowledge of the mystery. Essentially, initiation was a ritual that used symbols, myth and allegory to assist the candidate to undergo a psychologically self-induced transformation, analogous to death and rebirth. It forced a catharsis in individuals, making them face the inevitable end of their lives, but fortified them with the promise of rebirth and eternal life. Knowledge of death and the ability to pre-determine an alternative course was an important part of most of the mystery cults.

“Initiation is a change in status - which would affect one’s status after death. Ritual has the effect of eliminating grief and sorrow and establishing a ‘blessed’ status immediately has its repercussions on the other side. This is why the deceased are imagined to join in the mystery festival, to continue blissful teltai even in the underworld; conversely, ‘terrible things are waiting’ for those who decline to sacrifice.” (Burkert - pg. 24)

 Mystery festivals, which celebrate the mystery rite, both as an outer public affair that observes the solidarity of the initiates and their supposed change of state, and the inner secret ritual that shared a profound and deep individual transformation with all of the participants, are monumental social affairs. Even in the private mysteries conducted between a single initiated teacher and his client allowed for a religious focus that was exclusively fixed on the individual and his relationship with a specific godhead. In no other social venue did this kind of lionizing of the individual even occur. One’s personal existence was transformed and permanently changed through undergoing the mystery rite. There was no other comparable type of experience in antiquity, even though there were many different mystery cults, some of them large, and some quite small and obscure. 

Perhaps the closest thing to the ancient mystery cults and their initiations was the initiation rites and practices of Free Masonry. However, Masonry has always focused on creating a fraternal brotherhood and a hidden social network, using mystical symbolism and allegory to give it a transcendental quality. However, Masonry has always operated within the context of Christianity and Judaism, using religious themes and concepts from the Bible. Masons have never promised their members anything beyond this world, leaving that to individual members and their religious affiliations. For this reason, Masonry does not come close to truly emulating the ancient mysteries - for that, we have to turn to the renewed practices and beliefs of paganism and witchcraft.  

Frater Barrabbas

Vortex - Magickal Domain of the Mysteries

We have discussed some different energy constructs that are used in ritual magick, but we haven’t gone into much detail about the specific use of such constructs. For this article, I would like to focus on one such energy construct, the Vortex. Unlike the cone of power or the pyramid of power, the vortex is characterized by a feminine gender, which powerfully alters the quality of the magickal energy generated and contained within it.


This should be old hat for my regular readers, since I have been talking about using a number of different energy structures that profoundly extend the basic theory of the energy model of magick. In extending and working with the energy model of magick, I have already discussed in previous articles that there are four different mechanisms used to qualify the concept of magickal energy as it is used in a temple. Let us review these four mechanisms as they are so defined here:

• Four Elements - qualifying the energy with Fire, Air, Water, Earth;
• Shaping - using the points of the magick circle to define geometric forms;
• Vectoring - movement in a deosil or widdershins direction;
• Gender - using the qualities of masculine and feminine to qualify energy.

Additionally, one can use colors, devices (such as spirals, crosses, pentagrams, hexagrams, etc.), formula letters, words (ideals), sigils, characters, talismans, etc. Accessing the imagination can make this list of qualifying mechanisms nearly endless. However, for our discussion we will limit ourselves to discussing shaping, vectoring and gender.

First of all, we need to be aware that the magick circle confines and condenses the energy generated within it, giving it a basic shape, which is a sphere. Other shapes can be determined by the 11 points of the magick circle, which I consider to be a major part of the temple energy architecture. We won’t get too deep into that discussion, since we are just concerned with the Vortex and its relative shape. Also, talking about the four Elements would bring us into the topic of working Elemental magick, which is not the theme for this article.

Shaping and vectoring play a part in the generation of a vortex, but they are minor elements when compared to how they are used in other more complex structures. We can shape energy into forms using vectoring, focusing inward and expanding outward - through involution and emanation. This is accomplished with ritual actions and movements within the temple area. We can also determine a relative gender quality to the energy based on the definitions of Fire and Water, and by other means as well. Still, gender is the preeminent topic for this article, since the Vortex is considered, by contrast to all of the other structures, to be a feminine based energy.

We also need to consider the definition of resonance in magickal energy work. Resonance is defined in ritual magick as an iterative increase in the intensity of action and motion to achieve a climax or ecstatic release. We will discuss a bit more about resonance later in this article.

The first real shaping of energy that most witches and pagans understand and probably use is the Cone of Power. For some, this is only energy shape that is used in a magickal working. I have proposed that the Cone of Power is an archetypal masculine energy, and I think that I have some good reasons for believing this to be true. 

The six reasons why I believe that the Cone of Power is an archetypal masculine energy:

• Vectoring direction is Deosil, or Sun-wise;
• Requires polarity of male and female in the Dance Round;
• Energy is raised through resonance once to establish a “plateau”, a second time to release energy;
• Energy is focused to the Zenith of the “magick sphere” in the circle, typically aided by a “director” standing in the center of the circle;
• Energy is released as a “bolt” to its target through ecstatic resonance;
• Circle must be banished after rite is completed

Doesn’t the pattern of this magickal structure sound a lot like the male sexual orgasmic cycle? It seems rather obvious to me, but some will maintain that the Cone of Power is not inherently masculine. However, I think that the six points shown above pretty much demonstrate my point.

The cone of power is used to generate an energy that projects itself into the mundane world like a bolt of lightening, where it travels to its target, irresistibly attracted to the imprinted magickal link like static electricity is to the earth, and similarly blasting the target with the full force of its latent charge. The cone of power is generated, imprinted and released, and what remains is banished, or cleansed from the circle, to eliminate any possibility for the power to rebound back to the sender.

So if it can be agreed that the Cone of Power is masculine, then what would the so-called feminine magickal energy structure look like? I believe that it would be almost exactly the opposite - instead of an upright cone, it would be a vortex spiraling down to a common singularity.

Vortex - Feminine gender quality of magickal power

The cone of power and the vortex symbolically imitate the masculine and feminine cycles of orgasm, and can be used separately or together. However, the vortex is used to contain energy and to amplify it over time. This is a very radically different kind of energy structure than what is typically deployed.

A vortex is an energy field that is deeply centered and internalized, but when it achieves a climax, which it does in a similar manner as the cone of power through resonance, it produces waves of energy radiating out in all directions, profoundly affecting the target through multiple waves of force that gradually and completely alter the target until it completely complies with the will of the magician.

The vortex type of magickal energy is more subtle and deeper than the cone of power, which suffers from the single mindedness of being able to miss its mark. A vortex surrounds its objective with waves of force, and these are more instrumental in making more likely greater and dynamic changes.

A cone of power is raised and used in a single magickal working, while a vortex is used over a series of workings. The cone of power must be banished when the magickal working is completed, while a vortex is sealed at its highest point of power (using a sealing spiral), then on subsequent evenings, unsealed at its previous apex of power. The newly unsealed vortex can have more levels of power and symbolic meaningfulness added to it, and then sealed when the working is completed. This cycle of activity can repeated as often as necessary, building up the energy contained in the vortex until it eventually achieves the highest level of power that is needed to completely overwhelm the desired transformative effect, and only then unleashed.

A vortex can contain any magickal pattern or energy field, including a cone or pyramid of power, or many cones or pyramids of power, generated over a period of many weeks or months. The vortex is a simple energy field, but it represents a greater articulation and manipulation of magickal energy than what a simple cone of power, by itself, is able to produce. A magician who seeks to work the most effective and potent magick, makes use of all of these methods of magickal power generation.   

Contrasting the qualities of a Spiral Vortex:

• It’s a container, so it can’t be banished (it is sealed instead);
• Reusable, it collects and stores all previous structures;
• Resonance can produce waves of exteriorized magickal power, but only at the chosen time;
• Can be used to contain and intensify a cone or a pyramid of power;
• Establishes an alternative internalized temple based reality.

How one causes resonance to make the power of a vortex achieve a climax is nearly the same as it is done for either a cone or pyramid of power. The magician uses an iterative process, such as dance, or an exteriorizing spiral, chanting words of power or some other mechanism, and then repeats that process over and over again at greater frequency and power, until a climax is achieved. However, what is produced by this climax is quite different. Resonating the power contained in a vortex until it produces a climax releases the power in waves instead of a bolt. It produces waves of effective energy that emanate from the source (in the center) and radiate out in all directions, effectively surrounding and subtly impacting the target, causing it to irreversibly change over time. 

Looking at the above descriptive characteristics, it would seem that a vortex is like the feminine sexual orgasmic cycle. An energy climax produces waves of affecting energy as opposed to a single exteriorization. The feminine orgasm has been described in a similar manner.

Method of generation: Establish polarities to the Four Watchtowers or Four Angles (one can use the Rose Ankh device for this purpose, as well as other devices). Draw the four points together into the center of the circle at the point of the nadir or infra-point (use the sword, start in North and go widdershins), then perform a widdershins circumambulation of the circle, starting from the outer periphery and ending up in the center of the circle. To release the power stored in a vortex, one would circumambulate from the center of the circle to the outer periphery, moving in a deosil direction, which is the opposite to “winding the power” by moving widdershins.

Why is a Vortex useful in the practice of ritual magick, what is it’s purpose?

The spiral vortex represents the feminine symbolic magickal power, and it is an analogy for the female erotic cycle. The vortex has the essential qualities of being magnetic (it draws things to it) and enfolding, so these qualities seem very much to represent the sexuality inherent in the feminine.

Polarity is not as important to this ritual structure as is fusion and assimilation, although it sends out a subtle but powerful attracting magnetic force. Analogously speaking, what attracts a women to a man is the fascination of  intimately possessing and enfolding him, and she entices him in an erotic cycle of stimulus, and then powerfully draws him into her, where she experiences the fusion of the union of herself and him as one. Thus the underlying theme of the vortex is union. Yet the vortex uses the polarized quarters of the magick circle as an anchor, and these are drawn together into fusion in the center of the circle.

In the female erotic cycle, there is the added metaphysical qualities of the masculine within the feminine, and the feminine within the masculine, producing a potential for union on at least two different levels within the woman and the man. The man may dominate the woman outwardly, but she dominates him from within, and this mutual dominance produces the powerful bond of union and its aftermath, which is procreation. The place where the powers converge are within the woman’s womb, and this is considered the sacred container or well of life, where the creative powers are focused.

The feminine power of a vortex spirals around the circle in a widdershins direction, fusing into union in the center and moving downwards into a subterranean singularity. The vortex holds the power within itself, just as woman harnesses the power of a man’s erect penis. As the stimulus of this sexual union achieves a climactic crescendo, the focus of the power is pulled ever deeper into the singularity, while waves of ecstatic force emanate outwards, like the ripples produced by a pebble dropped into a pond or the tsunami produced by oceanic earthquakes. If this were an example of sex magick, then one could say that the emanating waves would penetrate the target of the magick, gently pervading it at reoccurring harmonic intervals, causing it to change through subtle but powerfully radiating emanations. This is exactly what occurs when a vortex is used.

A vortex is both a container of magickal effects as well as a mechanism to target and alter physical reality. The vortex can be simple or complex in its structure, since by its nature it contains all that is generated within it, having assimilated and emulated them perfectly within the ground of union. A vortex can even contain a cone or pyramid of power, where through mutual stimulation and climax, both mechanisms of empowerment achieve the highest level possible.

Vortex of the Mysteries

As stated above, the vortex is an inviolable container for all that is generated within it, and that it creates what could be described as a completely separate reality, a world within a world. The ritual structure of the vortex is based on a cross-roads platform (drawing the four quarters or angles together). Such an energy structure in ritual magick forms an internal domain that bends and mutates reality so that it conforms to the world view of an allegorical and even mythic reality.

How this occurs is first determined by what and how the four quarters or angles that make up its outer periphery are qualified. Devices (other than the Rose Ankh), Formula letters, words and concepts are declared at each of the four points, and also again in the center where they converge. These concepts become the seeds that help to forge the single point of meaning that a vortex produces. The spiral motion of a vortex is counter clockwise and down to the center of the circle, where it produces a kind of energy “singularity,” which is the resolution of four ideals set at the periphery into the one thing - the core of the mystery. That one thing, which functions as the core, is also considered the Source or essence, the mysterious paradox that is behind all meaning. From the one thing, it is only possible to ascend upwards and outwards, radiating, permeating and seeding the one paradoxical thought into the many. This should demonstrate how the vortex works and how it is able to produce such powerful phenomena in the material world. The impact of a vortex that is brought to a climax and released is great, but while it is fully established, it continues to process everything that is erected within it to derive that one singular ideal, which is the core of the mystery.

A vortex is therefore considered to be an active and dynamic power structure that is comparable to a hidden temple of the mysteries, since it reduces everything down to a paradoxical single ideal. So it holds within itself a powerful mystery - in fact, the Mystery. This is likely a difficult concept to conceptualize, so I invite others to experiment with the vortex and discover its special qualities for themselves.

If an empowered ritual structure of a vortex is joined with an underworld gateway and the gateway of ascent (the double gateway of initiation), then a true temple of the mysteries is established. This is true since the double gateway is synonymous with the cycle of transformative initiation, and the vortex is the resolution and source of the mystery, the very place where the supreme ordeal occurs, which is always some variation of the fusion of light and darkness, life and death. The double gateway produces an emblem of the hexagram, and joined with the divine tetrad of the mysteries, become the ten emanations of Godhead into the manifestation of all spiritualized creation.

Let us ponder this deep and insightful revelation about the simple ritual construct of the vortex, and return to it when we discuss the origin and expression of the mysteries as they are perceived in the practice of ritual magick as found in neopaganism and witchcraft.

Frater Barrabbas