Mystery Gateway - Realizing An Invocation

For a magician who is operating through the magickal methodology of total immersion, the mystery gateway is one of the most powerful tools that can be used for a variety of magickal effects. Perhaps the most important and essential predication for this magickal mechanism is that the gateway is internal to the outer boundary of a consecrated magick circle. It is a gateway that opens within and overlays the magickal structures erected within the magick circle. We have already discussed this theme in a previous article, and I would advise you to re-familiarize yourself with it to enhance your understanding of this topic. You can find the link to that previous article here. However, there is a very specific Mystery Gateway used in the technique of invocation as performed in the Order of the Gnostic Star. That specific rite is called the “Gate of Revealing,” and this article will examine that ritual in greater detail.

We have already recently covered the ritual mechanisms used for the specialized Power Octagon and the Activated Septagram. I have indicated that through these two rituals alone, a magician might be able to fully invoke a spirit into manifestation in some manner. Yet the third step in this process performs two amazing and very necessary tasks. The Mystery Gate functions as a typical gateway in that it joins together into a unified field all of the previous ritual energy structures, and it unlocks and reveals a distinct spiritual domain, which is essentially based on the prior symbolic configuration of octagon and septagram. The Gate of Revealing thus fuses the octagon and septagram to produce a fifteen pointed structure with a triangle in its center. I call this fifteen pointed ritual structure device, the Quintedecim Complex.

When the magician performs an invocation of a spirit for the first time (in the Order), then he will perform certain specific steps to erect a vortex domain and an underworld gateway, and once within that domain, he will execute the steps to ensure that the spirit will materialize and become completely accessible. How this materialization process is accomplished is through surrogates for the blood and flesh of a victim, and those surrogates are the consecrated wine and host of a special performance of the Mass.

That I use the substitution of wine and bread instead of sacrificing an animal to fully materialize or quicken the etheric body and spiritual intelligence of a spirit would seem to be in agreement with the changes that have occurred in religious and magickal practices since antiquity. Some might find this substitution to be even worse than animal sacrifice, seeing it as a form of sacrilege. This accusation might be true if I were a Christian and the host and wine were consecrated in the name and guise of Jesus Christ. It’s even possible that Satanic magicians in the past did just that, incorporating the Black Mass for the purpose of empowering a goetic evocation.

However, the substitutions that I use are consecrated to pagan deities, particularly those with an easily predicated chthonic aspect, so I am giving to the domain of spirit something that actually belongs to it. The consecrated host and wine that I use in my variation of the invocative Mystery Gate are to be employed in nourishing and empowering the spirits that I generatively summon, and they are not to be used for any kind of communion rite. After the invocation is completed, these sacraments are given to the earth as a form of proper disposal.

I can remember, years ago, having a discussion with the Gnostic patriarch, Stephan Hoeller, who was visiting Kansas City at the time (autumn ‘88), about my mechanism for performing invocation. He asked me if I ever used any human waste products in my workings (like some other magicians are reputed of doing), such as semen, urine, saliva, mentrual blood, fresh blood, raw meat, or feces. I told him that I had no need for such things in performing an invocation because I used consecrated hosts and wine instead. I suspect that Stephen was initially relieved to hear that I didn’t use these organic substances, but then quickly realized that I used the sacraments instead. He was quite horrified and said nothing more on the subject. Still, I suppose that he didn’t realize that those sacraments had nothing to do with any deities that he might even consider to have contact with, and that I wasn’t violating any rules or boundaries that he would have considered sacrosanct. Others may believe this technique to be questionable at best, a kind of apostasy at worse, yet I have made certain that my intention and practice in this regards are done in complete accordance with the Godhead that I work through.

Now that I have dispensed with the most likely controversy in regards to the invocation Mystery Gate, let us continue with our discussion about this most critical of rites in the three tier invocation process. 

The ritual Gate of Revealing has a basic preliminary operation that is done every time it is used. That operation is the drawing of an inner circle, placing the Quintedecim Complex trigon on top of the stack representing the Power Octagon and the Activated Septagram and then charging it with an invoking spiral and a violet colored energy. Twenty-two Trumps of the Tarot are placed around the periphery of that inner circle, representing the specific pattern of initiation that the magician is following. This pattern is then charged using the control crystal that normally is attached to a necklace that circles the magician’s neck. The magician projects the power of the crystal into each card, following the pattern of the four stages (of the Cycle of Initiation) in a widdershins vector. Upon the Q-Complex trigon, the magician places the consecrated sigil of the target spirit, where it will reside until the invocation is to be performed. In this manner, the core of the inner magick circle is set with the empowered invocation process, encircled by the pattern of one’s personal symbols of transformation.



Overlaying the central circle, the magician builds a powerful central pylon based vortex, where the four Watchtowers are each set with a trapezoidal cross in such a manner that a cross roads is formed (West to East, then South to North), with a trapezoidal cross also set in the Ultra-point. The four Watchtower devices are drawn to the center of the circle in the Infra-point (where the trigon stack is set) using the sword, after that, the magician draws an invoking spiral to connect the Ultra-point with the Infra-point, and then a widdershins spiral is used to generate the vortex proper.

A trapezoidal cross device is a distorted diamond cross that emulates the special qualities of the trapezoid, which in this case, generates a kind of separate reality apart from the normal domain of the consecrated magick circle. It is in this specialized para-reality that the magician sets an tetrahedral underworld gateway with a specific alignment to the West, yet the apex of that tetrahedron is in the meso-point. Thus the tetrahedral gateway is completely within and enclosed by the para-reality of the trapezoidal vortex. You could imagine the resultant prismatic energy structure that is residing in the magick circle as looking like a trapezohedron that is cut in half. This is the energy structure through which the core of the invocation process is performed. The combination of trapezohedron with an internal tetrahedral gateway causes the previous magickal levels of the Power Octagon and Activated Septagram to fuse into a singularity, and the interior domain that is created is potently imprinted with the symbolic correspondences of the target spirit. Therefore, through these ritual structures, the magician has encapsulated the point of the being-ness of the spirit, and has succinctly entered into a projection of its private spiritual domain. What remains to be done is for the magician to intone the Call of Preliminary Invocation of the spirit, where only it’s name is used as a variable and the rest of it is always repeated at this point in the rite.

From this point in the Gate of Revealing ritual, there are four possible tracks that the magician may follow. These tracks are independent from each other, but the track that completes the invocation process must be performed first, then through the use of a macro-ritual (which allows the magician to re-enter the domain of the already invoked spirit without having to redo all of the previous steps), the other three tracks may be subsequently followed. These four tracks are:

• Invocation through the media of manifestation (always performed the first time),
• Evocation through the artifice of Exteriorization (to be followed by the Iron Cross Vortex rite),
• Projection of the astral body or skrying into the spirit’s domain,
• Summoning of the spiritual servitors of the target spirit.

Although there are a total of four tracks written into the Gate of Revealing rite, we will be focusing on the primary track, which is the invocation through the media of manifestation. I may seek to elucidate the other three tracks at another time.


Invocation Through the Media of Manifestation

Once the invoking vortex and underworld gateway are fully established and passed through, the magician has some additional tasks to perform to complete the initial invocation process. To effectively engage the invoked spirit, the magician must assemble a focal point for it. I have chosen the Northwestern Angle because I believe that it represents the place of greatest darkness, and therefore, makes a most suitable place for an inner focal point. I also use a small rectangular trigon device that consists of the design of a blue circle enclosing a red triangle painted on a black background.

To continue with the directions, the magician places the invoking trigon device on the temple floor in the Northwest corner, just beyond the magick circle but still within its influence. He then charges that small trigon with an invoking spiral and a violet colored energy, and places upon it a small incense burner with a lit stick of incense. He then places a small chalice (used only for this purpose) on the invoking trigon, and pours into it some consecrated wine and a small amount of holy water. He should top off the chalice of wine with a particle of host, thereby fully empowering it as a kind of spiritual elixir of life. The sigil is removed from the stack of trigons in the center of the circle and placed on the invoking trigon, the magician taking care to fumigate it with the burning incense smoke. The piece of remaining host is also placed on the invoking trigon, which symbolizes the flesh of the victim - so there is the blood and the flesh residing on the invoking trigon. The magician takes the control crystal and dips it into the consecrated wine and then places that crystal briefly on the sigil, and then on his forehead, to establish a powerful linking mechanism (then replaces it around his neck). Finally, the magician draws a sealing spiral around the invoking trigon and projects a violet colored energy into it.

Once the invoking trigon is fully set up in the Northwest Angle, the magician takes her staff (which should be around seven feet) and lays it down on the temple floor so it connects the central stack of trigons with the invoking trigon with both ends. Then, armed with her sword, the magician sits down before the invoking trigon (and facing the Northwest) and focuses on the invoking trigon. The sword is resting in her lap and as she begins to slip into a mild trance, she intones the Call of Invocation of the Spirit Archetype. Once this is completed, the magician will assume a deeper trance state, beginning by sensing/visualizing all of the seven chakras upon her body connecting with her left and right hands, forming a kind of Tau Cross. In this manner, she has effectively charged her body of light and begins to internally call the spirit and draw it into complete and intimate contact. Assuredly, with everything that has been done, this response and access to the spirit occurs almost immediately. The magician has now achieved a potent connection with the spirit within its own domain, immersed in the forces and intelligence associated with that spiritual being. The resultant experience is likely to be unique in the annals of magick, and often has an profound initiatory impact on the magician, since the levels of communication between spirit and magician are multiplied many times and at their most intense.

After a period of time, the communication and interaction becomes quiet and seemingly dormant, although the spirit is still in residence and the magician is still in its lair. When the encounter is completed (and the magician will know when this has occurred), then she intones the license to depart, and waits for a short respectful period of time. Then the staff is removed to break the link, the invoking trigon is sealed anew, and the gateway is closed. All of the points of the magick circle (Watchtowers, Angles, Infra-point, Meso-point and Ultra-point) are sealed with sealing spirals before the magician may leave the magick circle. After a period of at least twelve hours, the magician will dismantle the stack of trigons and the invoking trigon, making certain to properly dispose of the sacraments. The consecrated sigil can be placed in a Liber Spiritus and used in future workings, such as to perform an evocation or skrying/projection session.

That is how I perform a primary invocation of a spirit using the ritual Gate of Revealing, and it is part of the core practices in the Order of the Gnostic Star. I hope that this article has been revealing and helpful for your own endeavors in the arena of invocation and evocation. More articles will follow that will specify how some of the other processes are to be performed.

Frater Barrabbas 

Coming Attractions for June 2011

I just wanted to write a short article to kind of conclude the May bonanza of posts for this blog. It has been a very interesting month, and June promises to be just as good or even better. I will list the writing projects that are on the board for this month, and also to thank all of the readers who have made the blog statistics really hum this month.

First of all, I will be posting a three part history of the Qabbalah, which I have already researched and completed writing. These posts will continue to build on the lore of the previous posts that I have made on this topic, with the hope that I will eventually have an entire suite of articles that will fully encapsulate my thoughts about the Qabbalah and the practical uses that I make of it. I must admit that the Qabbalah is integral to my occult and magickal work, and knowing its history is just as important as knowing how to use it. I am also working on a corresponding article that focuses on the topic of the Twenty-two Pathways of the Qabbalah. Hopefully, these two articles, broken up into segments, will be posted in the coming month.

I am planning on completing my continuing series on the specialized techniques and methodologies of performing invocation and evocation, as it is practiced in the Order of the Gnostic Star. I have already written the first article on the mystery gateway, called the ritual of the Gate of Revealing, which outlines the procedures that I follow for performing an invocation. I will also attempt to write up an article that discusses the other major workings in this cycle, which are the art of spirit evocation, skrying and astral projection within the spirit’s domain. Other articles may also be posted this coming month that will tie up all of the various loose ends that may have occurred when writing these articles. If you have been following this series and have any questions about the procedures discussed or techniques employed, feel free to contact me so I might address them in an article this month.

There will likely be a couple more substantive months of articles, and then I will have to scale things down to accommodate my busy schedule. As I have said previously, I have three concurrent book projects and lots of other things that will need my attention over the next several months. It’s going to be a busy year, but I hope to continue to produce interesting and substantive articles for this blog, although they might be quite a bit shorter than what you are used to.

So that’s what I am planning for the lovely month of June, and I hope that you will enjoy reading these articles.

Frater Barrabbas  

Activated Septagram - Key to Spiritual Intelligence

The techniques for invocation and evocation are unique in the Order of the Gnostic Star, since they do not rely on the use of the old grimoires nor upon the methodology developed in the Golden Dawn. Two problems confronted me when I first developed this system, and that was my lack of external resources (published grimoires and useful Thelemic or Golden Dawn materials) and the fact that I was performing magick as a witch and not as a ceremonial magician. Whatever method I came up with would have to be implemented in an environment of total and complete immersion. I would not be able to hide behind a magick circle and force my will and spiritual integrity upon some spirit that I had summoned in an exterior triangle of evocation. Instead, I would be directly exposed to whatever I managed to successfully invoke, with only my godhead assumption to mitigate the results. That meant I would have to make deadly certain that whatever I summoned would have to be exactly what I intended to summon! Subjected to my own mental and spiritual peril, there was absolutely no room for inaccuracy or error.

A solution to this vexing problem was to minutely define the energy body and persona of the spirit that I wished to summon, and then through the artifice of the triangular gateway (of the mysteries), fuse these parts together in order to manifest the target spirit. Of course, one would have to inventory the elemental energies associated with the body of various spirits, as well as define their intelligence through the seven planets, and this meant that each and every spirit in the hierarchy of spirits would have to be so defined. That proposed quite a monumental task to me, perhaps even making this approach untenable. I would later develop other approaches to solve this problem, such as invoking through a matrix of symbolic correspondences and specific definitions. Still, when I first began to write a handful of invocations, the insurmountable problem of defining all spirits in this manner was not fully realized, so I happily moved forward instead of stopping dead in my tracks. I am fortunate that I had proceeded in such a focused and myopic manner, since it allowed me to fully develop this system before having to adjust and adapt it later.

Invocation and evocation, as practiced in the Order, works with a three tier approach regardless of whether the magician is invoking through a matrix or has crafted a specialized profile for that spirit. The three tiers are, in sequential order, the specialized Power Octagon, the Activated Septagram and the Mystery Gateway. All of these magickal structures are performed within a consecrated magick circle, so the magician is not only exposed to the summoned spirit when it materializes, but she also enters into the very domain of that spirit as well. The reason for this is found in the effect that the Mystery Gateway has on the invocation process, since it not only fuses the body and intelligence of the spirit, but also opens up an underworld into the domain of spirits. A magician using this methodology not only summons and manifests a spirit, but also enters into its lair, and she is only protected by her godhead assumption and spiritual alignments.

The fact that I have been using this system for nearly thirty years and I am quite alive and completely sane, with my spiritual integrity intact, should demonstrate that this methodology is not only effective but also quite safe. Others have used this system without any problems as well, so it can’t be considered just something that I do and is incapable of being used by anyone else. What this means is that the ritual structures and methodologies incorporated into this system are rigorously defined and developed to the point where they function more like a scientific experiment than an artistic endeavor. Of course, the caveat is that the magician must carefully select the spirit and then creatively define it in such a way that it will behave as expected and greatly aid the magician, instead of annihilating him outright. This is also why I tend to use a balance of spiritual alignments in my methodologies, seeking a neutral middle path between intelligences that are beneficent and malefic, and ensuring that angels and demons counter balance each other. This is why I work with the ha-Shem Angels and the Goetic Demons together through the Angelic Ruler of the Decan. Working magick through the artifice of immersion does present some complications to the process of invocation and evocation. However, let us continue with our discussion of the Activated Septagram.    

We have already covered the special Power Octagon, which generates an etheric container for the invocation of a spirit. We should now examine the next level in the three tier methodology used for invocation and evocation in the Order of the Gnostic Star. What I am proposing is a kind of planetary magick, but it is the invocation and qualification of all seven planetary intelligences merged together and performed in one single working. You might ask me how is this accomplished and what does it do? For that answer, we need to discuss in detail the nature of the Activated Septagram.

The Activated Septagram has six basic ritual steps. There are the three primary invocations of the spirit itself and the seven planetary invocations that make up the combined planetary intelligence. All of these actions are performed within an invoking vortex that encloses an inner circle where a charged talismanic septagram trigon is placed.

Combining these various elements together through the invoking vortex will generate the multifaceted personality of the specific spirit that the magician has called forth. One could say that this process is two-fold; where the magician defines and combines the symbolic attributes of the spirit’s persona, and also summons it to appear (as if from outside). My reason for using both approaches simultaneously is that I am joining together the archetypal facets of the spirit’s persona with the actual summoned spirit. This process produces a generated simulacrum of the real spiritual entity. Now that we have defined this process, let’s examine these six steps and find out how it actually works.

Activated Septagram in six steps: These six steps are quite simple, consisting of the following actions. (It’s assumed that this rite is performed after the conclusion of the special Power Octagon.)

1. Draw an inner circle and set within it the talismanic septagram trigon. (This trigon would be placed on top of the previous one for the Power Octagon.) Charge the trigon with three invoking spirals and project into it a violet colored energy.

2. Draw a Rose Ankh device to the four Watchtowers in a widdershins vector, beginning in the West, and proceeding to the South, East, and North. Draw another Rose Ankh device in the center of the circle over the septagram. Then draw all four Watchtower points to the center of the circle (at the Infra-point) using the sword. The vector for this operation should be widdershins, beginning in the West. Each of the five devices should be charged with a violet colored energy.

3. Intone the first invocation, which summons the spirit and also determines the spiritual hierarchy through which it is defined and controlled. The hierarchy is declared in a descending sequence, beginning with the highest level of the Godhead, right down to the spirit itself.

4. Perform the planetary invocation for each of the seven planets in the order: Sun, Mercury, Mars, Moon, Saturn and Jupiter. The following executions are performed in sequence:

• Draw the planetary angle on the central Septagram using the transmutar wand.
• Intone the planetary invocation - summoning the planetary spirit(s) and intone the Enochian Planetary Call (if available).
• Intone the formula word. (This is used later to pull all of the facets together into a whole. Seven word letters form a special acronym for the spirit.)
• Then, using the formula word, declare the planetary quality and the associated astrological sign - this describes that aspect of the spirit’s persona.

5. Intone the second invocation for the spirit. Then declare the definitive characteristics of the persona (in-depth, a synopsis of step 4), and describe the image or imago of the spirit. Then perform an exegesis of the formula words. This is done by taking the first letter of each word and producing a new formula word that succinctly defines the spirit. (This is optional, but also integral.)

6. Intone the third and final invocation of the spirit. This final version of the invocation is reiterated from what has been previously declared, but it is intoned in a sacred language (other than English).

As you can see, this ritual structure is fairly simple and concise. It successfully defines the qualities and characteristics of the invoked spirit. Joining this simple ritual structure with the Power Octagon, which acts as its base, produces an energized spiritual entity that the magician is capable of seeing and sensing on many levels. The combined Power Octagon and Activated Septagram could successfully invoke a spirit into some kind of manifestation, but the Mystery Gateway truly empowers and unites all of the facets and opens the magician to the underworld domain of the spirit. We will cover that third ritual and its associated lore in a future article.

Keep in mind that this methodology assumes that the magician will write a custom crafted invocation for every single spirit that they want to invoke, which would be quite an undertaking. What I learned later on is that this ritual structure can be modified so that the magician can use a modular approach of invoking through a matrix, instead of uniquely defining each and every spirit.

For instance, the Angelic Rulers of the Decans are defined by a specific zodiacal sign, which consists of an element and a quality of triplicity (cardinal, fixed, mutable), and a ruling planet, as well as other specific correspondences (Egyptian Godhead, Hermetic Spirit, Angelic Ruler, etc.). The Power Octagon would be charged with four Elementals of a specific base element, and an elemental gateway would qualify that fused energy structure with the three angels of the Power and Seat, Active Principle and Ruling Force of the zodiacal sign. The Activated Septagram could then be used to invoke the single ruling planet and would add other corresponding symbols to uniquely qualify and invoke the Decan and its Ruling Angel. While the patterns that I have presented in these articles will give students some structures and examples to perform this kind of magick, there are quite a number of variations that can be used to more easily invoke an entire class of spirits as opposed to each one individually.

Other techniques that could be used would include using a seven-fold spiraling ritual structure, which would consist of the four Watchtowers or Angles and a three or four node internal tetrahedral gateway. The seven points in this ritual structure would allow for the complete definition of the seven planets with a base element and a zodiacal quality of triplicity - thus a planet in a zodiacal sign.

Another possibility is creating an Element Foundation attributed to one of the four Qabbalistic Worlds, and overlayng that would be erected a cross roads with a central pylon, and over that, a gateway would be set to a specific element. The overall combination would produce an invoking ritual structure known as an “archetypal gate.” An archetypal gateway is used to perform an invocation of one of the great angels, such as an Archangel (Zodiacal or Sephiroth) or Super Archangel (Cherubim or Serephim). Each of these different methodologies are based on the combination of the Power Octagon and the Activated Septagram ritual structures.   

Finally, I did want to discuss how one goes about qualifying the seven planetary intelligences when using the basic version of the Activated Septagram. I usually use this methodology for a spirit that is strategically important to my magickal workings, one that wouldn’t easily fit into any of the hierarchical classes. Such spirits would be demi-gods, divine personages, qualified Godheads that are not part of my pantheon, or specialized spiritual entities that I would like to define in a very detailed manner, thereby giving them a very accessible and perceptible personality.

Once I target such a spirit, I then seek to acquire as much information about them as possible, seeking academic sources as well as attempting to perform my own divination. After acquiring all of the available information, I then take a handy book on astrology and select those zodiacal signs for the seven planets that would best describe the spirit, developing its personality from a host of descriptions and clues. The end result is a really good approximation of what I think that spirit’s personality would be like if it were an actual person. When that defined persona is joined with the summoned spirit, it acts like a control over how the spirit reacts and responds, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any surprises or any amazing things discovered. It only signifies that the parameters and boundaries have been set, everything else is open to the dynamic range of possibilities that can occur whenever human beings interact with spirits.

I hope this article has given you some further and helpful information about how we invoke spirits in the Order of the Gnostic Star. It’s a very different, and I think, unique methodology, but it also works quite well. Stay tuned for the next article in this series, which will focus on the Mystery Gateway that is used in this system of invocation.

Frater Barrabbas

Nature of Spirits That Are Invoked and Evoked

Now that I have defined invocation and evocation, I should also write an operational definition of spirits, since they are the target of an invocation or evocation. This section is extracted from an unpublished document in the archives of the Order of the Gnostic Star.


The techniques of invocation and evocation are centered around the phenomenon of the individual spiritual entity and its domain. The concept of a spirit has varied considerably over time and across cultures. However, the operational definition of a spirit is simply stated as “a being that exists in the field of consciousness without a physical body.” There is a symbolic or metaphorical quality to such a being, and therefore it can assume numerous shapes depending upon the expectations of the observer. Some occultists propose that a spirit actually has a body or field through which it acts as a collective being, and this body consists of an energy analogous to the most subtle of auric emanations, which are completely invisible to the human eye. This energy is definitely not part of the electromagnetic spectrum and therefore is not even an energy as defined by modern physics. For this reason, it’s probably better not to discuss spirits as having a physical basis in reality, but they can powerfully influence people and events in the physical world.

The guise that I typically see spirits most often assume when they manifest is an egg-shaped globe of extremely subtle light. This guise is made perceptible through the ritual process of invocation, which unites the spirit's bodiless entity with an aetheric elemental envelope (produced by the Octagon Power Elemental vortex). This means that a spirit appears to have some degree of substance to it, but that is likely an illusion. Spirits can pass through solid objects and seem not to be restricted by the limitations imposed by the physical laws operating within the four dimensions of space and time. Spirits can assume various shapes when they impact human awareness through the imagination, and they can enter an object or person and possess it.

Spirits do not exist in isolation but are part of an extensive hierarchy. Spirits also have their own place or domain that is part of what is called the Inner Planes, or the World of Spirit. The higher the evolutionary quality of consciousness that a spirit has achieved, the higher the hierarchical level in which it resides, and the more varied its symbolic domain. Magicians who are properly managing their spiritual discipline restrict their activities to spirits who are bornless and part of the Inner Plane hierarchy. This often (but not always) excludes spirits of the dead and other earth-bound entities that have not evolved to the level of the Qabbalistic World of Yetzirah, and are not part of the angelic or daemonic spiritual hierarchy. However, this does not exclude Elementals, Planetary Intelligences or ancestral spirits that are part of the magician’s spiritual family or religious system.

The highest level of the spiritual hierarchy is, of course, the God-head, which establishes the level of Atziluth within the Inner Planes.  But the highest level of an individual spirit is the level of Briah, and this is the domain of the spirits known as the Archangels. The consciousness of an Archangelic Spirit is vast and great when compared to the consciousness of an individual human. It’s like comparing an individual human being to a being consisting of a vast composite consciousness (egregore), which we could imagine in the form of the sentient population of an entire planet that has evolved beyond its individual physical embodiment and has become unified in all respects (our ultimate destiny). These spirits are boundless and cosmic, and this is why I refer to them as stellar intelligences, because their breadth of vision is astronomical. Of course, Archangelic entities were never born but existed as emanations from the God-head, so they are the direct mediators of the Absolute Spirit. Lesser spirits, such as those of the Yetziratic level (angelic rulers) represent smaller bases of sentience and authority, but are no less impressive when compared to even the most evolved individual human being (with exception to Avatars and other incarnations of the Godhead).

As I have stated in another document (Treatise on Angel Magick), there are also angelic beings who are tightly associated with the Godhead, and these are known as the super archangels, such as the Seraphim and the Cherubim. These spirits represent the fiery and inspirational intermediaries to the Godhead, and faithfully represent that supreme entity in its association with lesser beings. Since the Deity is completely unified, all of its components act as a unified whole. However, for the sake of simplicity, we may perceive and even use facets of the Godhead in our rituals and ceremonies, knowing that the Deity is a paradox in which the many manifestations represent both a plurality and singularity to that entity.

The primary difference between human consciousness and the consciousness of a spiritual entity is that the human egoic distinction between the self and not-self boundaries are sharply defined, based as they are on the physical body; whereas ego-less spirits do not have the same sense of distinctness and uniqueness. This is because a human being, like all living sentient physical beings, has a highly developed identity that is based upon its physical body. Human beings are only partially aware of their connection to other beings within the ocean of consciousness. The spiritual dimension of a human being resides within his or her higher self, wherein the experience of the unity of consciousness is primary. A spirit is aware of its union with all other conscious entities and uses its personal identity only as a means to focus itself so that it may temporarily function as an independent individual; otherwise it is only a participant in the undifferentiated mass of unified consciousness.

In the classical evaluation of spirits, there are three groups in which a spirit may be a member. These groups have functioned in the past as a definition of the alignment of a spirit to the Judeo-Christian God, as presented in various theological perspectives. Angels are positively aligned, while daemons are negatively aligned. Another class of spirits are nonaligned and therefore neutral (nature spirits), but usually they are classified as negative by the more zealous practitioners of the religions of monotheism.

However, a more practical method of classification defines and establishes two functional classifications; namely, the position within a spiritual hierarchy wherein the spirit resides, and the types of motivating energies that characterize it. The former method of classification identifies the familial connections and powers of authority that a spirit possesses. It is also a technique of identifying through the Qabbalah that spirit's qualities. The latter method (defining the motivating energies) develops the concept of an angel and daemon as it relates to the dualistic expression of a spirit's energies. An angel's energy pattern is linear and its mode of intelligence is expressed as pure symbolic logic. I use the term angle to more aptly describe its angular mode of cogitation.

A daemon's energy pattern is circular and its mode of intelligence is expressed as the emotionally charged symbolism of the collective unconscious mind, (i.e., issues, struggles, complexes). A daemon is not an evil entity, but it is strongly emotional, intellectually recursive and represents the nonlinear reality of what in Physics is called curved space. An angel represents the factors of the archetypal intelligences of the Absolute Spirit, while the daemons represent the factors of spiritual transformation. Thus angels symbolically represent the archetypal masculine and daemons symbolically represent the archetypal feminine aspect of the Unified Spirit. Upon closer examination, one will observe that many of the names of the daemons are distortions of the names of pagan Gods and Goddesses, (such as Ashtoreth, being actually a derivation of Astarte). In this manner, also, is the bias against the daemons for the angels, as particularly revealed in the chauvinistic patriarchal religions whose source is the Middle East (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) .

However, the concepts of good and evil are irrelevant to the super-conscious minds of spirits and also to those humans who have attained to the Qabbalistic World level of Yetzirah. From the perspective of the higher three Qabbalistic worlds there is no division perceived between individuals; for all is as one within the Absolute Spirit. Yet these concepts of good and evil are important to those who still exist at the level of Assiah, and this includes most of present humanity. Cultural ethics are necessary for those people who still exist in a state divorced from the absolute source of consciousness, and who reside in the isolated state of over developed personal identities. Thus laws and their enforcement keep the various factions of humanity from annihilating each other (or at least they try to). For the magician, culturally determined morals are useless; thus the requirement for strict individual spiritual ethics and their enforcement through a spiritual discipline.

Understanding the qualities of a spirit’s character and its function will assist the magician in classifying it. However, the principle question that arises is: "What is the particular guiding factor that a magician uses to choose a specific spirit for invocation?" The guiding factor is, of course, determined by his or her spiritual need. Adepts have established their spiritual directives through the manifestation of the Higher Self, and these directives determine what is needed to augment their spiritual process of evolution. This directive is seldom completely known because it resides in the spiritual consciousness of one's Higher Self and is usually discovered in parts and in stages in the spiritual development of the adept.

However, a more simple method of determining whom to invoke is to discover the pure Qabbalistic derivation of one's personal God-form, as established by the Initiation for the Third Degree in the Order of the E.S.S.G. By assigning this God-form to its associated symbolic essence, you can make a comparison with the various Sephiroth of the Tree of Life and find one that most closely approximates it. You may consult with various Qabbalistic correspondences (such as those found in the book 777) to assist in this process. The resultant selected Sephirah is then examined to reveal the Spiritual Hierarchy associated with it. This hierarchy represents all the spirits which are pertinent to your spiritual requirements for growth and spiritual evolution.

Adepts, through their spiritual alignment, will invoke the Qabbalistic God-form and the associated archangel. They may also identify the Elemental Godhead and proceed to invoke the associated super archangels. Yet the process of invocation and evocation principally concerns itself with the Qabbalistic World of Yetzirah and the astral Zodiac, wherein reside the Angelic Ruling Spirits of the thirty-six decanates who possess specific qualities and who control various servitors that are the expressions of their power and authority. It is to these spirits that the process of invocation is most efficacious, and from this population adepts may choose one or more for their magickal workings. The spirit that is invoked becomes part of their personal spiritual process and therefore great care must be exercised in the selecting of a spirit for invocation and evocation.

One other method of selecting the angel of the decan is the Tarot - since the thirty-six decans are analogous to the thirty-six naib or pip cards of the Lesser Arcana (2 - 10 of each of the four suits). A re-occurring card of this class that constantly appears in a Tarot reading may be an indication that an invocation of that associated angel of the decan would be appropriate. You can also pick one of the these Tarot cards as indicative of the issues that you face and start from that point. For instance, if the affairs of love was an over-riding issue in your life, then the angel of the decan associated with the Two of Cups would be an excellent choice to assist you in resolving those issues. There are thirty-six different cards in the section of the Tarot, and each represents issues or challenges that affect the life of a human being, and these are a perfect way of categorizing life experiences and determining a supernatural remedy for them.


I hope this little section has given you some insights as to the nature of a spirit, it’s functionality and its domain or residence. Having a good definition of spirits greatly aids the ritual or ceremonial magician who seeks to either invoke or evoke them.

Frater Barrabbas

Abramelin Lunar Ordeal - All Previous Posts

I have decided to post an article that has all of the Abramelin Lunar Ordeal posts in chronological order, so that you can examine them, from first to last. Attempting to do this from the index entry will produce a list in descending order, so this one will more readily assist any of my readers to see these article postings in the order that they were originally made.

There are a total of seventeen articles (not including this one) that mentioned the Abramelin Lunar Ordeal. Here they are in the sequential order by date.  Enjoy.

1.  Beginning of the Ordeal
2.  Ritual Pattern of the Archetypal Gate
3.  First Weekend.
4.  Second Weekend.
5.  Third Weekend.
6.  Fourth Weekend.
7.  Ogdoadic Godhead Element.
8.  Final Three Days.
9.  Summary and Conclusion.
10. Additional Thoughts.
11. Mid-Year Considerations.
12. Going Forward Into the New Year.
13. Anniversary.
14. Final and New Ritual.
15. Spring Workings
16. Phase One of Final Working.
17. Phase Two of Final Working.


Frater Barrabbas

Some Thoughts About Invocation and Evocation

Continuing with my articles on the methodologies of practicing invocation and evocation in the system of magick promoted by the Order of the Gnostic Star, I thought that I would extract some paragraphs from an unpublished document circulated in that organization. I felt that it would be a good idea to start with the definitions of invocation and evocation, since the way that these terms are used in the Order are different than how they are used in ceremonial magick. Whether you agree with these definitions or not, this is how we decided to define these terms, and I think an honest examination of them will show that they are unremarkable and rather functional. I will let you decide what you think of this bit of revisionism.


Introduction

I have written this treatise on magickal evocation to lay the groundwork for the advancement of the practice of ritual magick. The previous work, as found in the teachings and practices of the Order have been confined to lesser but necessary practices, which lead you to the ultimate task of attempting to summon and materialize a spirit, whether it be an angel, nature spirit, or daemon. In antiquity, a person was not considered a real magician unless he or she had a familiar spirit, i.e., a spirit helper that was summoned and constrained by the magician. Although the nomenclature has changed somewhat over the passage of centuries, this task remains the greatest challenge that you, a student magician, may attempt to accomplish.

However, the only materials that exist to guide you in learning how to master this art are manuscripts and published grimoires, many of which were a product of the late middle ages and the renaissance. These books, although required study by anyone who seeks the path of magick, are dated, filled with errors, and accompanied with a mind-state only the most orthodox of Christians or Jews would possess today, and none of them would be so bold or foolish as to attempt to perform the rites of the old grimoires. What is required is for an experienced magician to lay down a complete system of advanced ritual magick in a manner that you, an intermediate level magician, would find it easily accessible, and this is what I have attempted to do with this article.

As I have mentioned above, the true test of any person who aspires to be a magician is the accomplishment of magickal evocation. While the conjuration of Elementals and planetary or talismantic intelligences will allow magicians to control and influence themselves or their environment, the evocation of spiritual intelligences will grant them additional spiritual guidance, and greatly influence the events in their life-process.  The difference between the mere practitioner of magick and an adept is particularly emphasized by the adept's performance of rituals of evocation. Adepts are less concerned with controlling themselves and their environment and more focused upon the process of their own spiritual evolution, and so the practice of magickal evocation is the appropriate de rigeur for them.

The path of adepthood begins with their assumption of spiritual responsibilities, both for themselves and for others less spiritually evolved. Adepts have completed the psychological process of the exploration of their lower self, and have attained a level of mastery of it, which is internalized and maintained by their basic spiritual discipline. Their new focus is the exploration of the higher self and the discovery of their true spiritual purpose and ultimate destiny. From the standpoint of ritual magick, this new quest can only be assisted through intercourse with spiritual intelligences and by an exposure to the various realities encountered through path working. Therefore, magickal evocation is the key to fulfilling the requirements of adepthood. When adepts develop the ability to contact spiritual entities and to walk the Qabbalistic Pathways of the Inner Planes, the beginning of spiritual mastery is finally established.


Definitions of Terms

Traditional definitions of evocation and invocation are confusing. That is, they do not distinguish the fact that there are two actually distinct functional processes found within the magickal ritual process called evocation. As traditionally defined, these two magickal process cause a spiritual entity to be both summoned and projected into the conscious world of the magician. The traditional definition of evocation consists of the operations that manifest daemons or neutral spirits (goetia), and the traditional definition of invocation is the operation of summoning God-forms or good spirits (i.e., Godforms, Archangels and angels via theurgia). However, in the techniques of spiritual magick there would be little difference in the methods used to summon either daemons or angels.

Essentially, there are two functional processes that are necessary to spiritual magick; these ritual processes summon the target spirit and cause its manifestation, focusing its essence so that it may be projected into the mundane world.  Specifically, the first function assists the magician to make a connection with the spirit and develop its image, ideal form and characteristics; thus giving the entity a manifested body of light through which it may interact only with the magician inside his magick circle.  The second process is where the energy and personality of the spirit is constrained to a specific purpose and exteriorized into the mundane plane from the Inner Planes, thereby actualizing the transforming potency of the spiritual contact. The first function is an internal summoning or invocation (invocare: to call in), and the second function is an external projection or evocation (exvocare: to call out). In order to precisely define the two processes involved with spiritual magick, I have chosen to ignore the traditional definitions and adopt the functional definitions in their stead. In this article I shall use these terms in the strict sense of their function.

In addition to the processes of invocation and evocation, the magician is also concerned with path working, and this process is accomplished through either skrying or astral projection. Whereas invocation establishes the spiritual contact and evocation projects the influence of the spirit into the mundane world, the operation of path working opens the world of the spiritual entity to the magician. The technique of skrying allows the magician to passively observe the domain of the spirit without having to interact with it. In this manner, visions and symbolic concepts are communicated between the two worlds. The magician may analyze and note these phenomena while they are occurring. The technique of astral projection allows the magician to dynamically interact with the spirit in its  domain and to experience initiatory revelations therein. In this manner the spiritual world reveals its secret knowledge through immersion, and the resultant ordeal causes a profound transformation in the magician.


So that’s how I define these terms, giving them an operational context. Future articles will use these specific and operant definitions when describing the methodologies used in the Order. In addition, I am assembling a book that will contain not only these articles and discussions, but also the actual rituals that are used in this system.

Frater Barrabbas

Phase Two of Final Abramelin Lunar Ordeal Working

The strenuous labor and long period of discovery for this ordeal is now over, and I can begin to relate my final experiences of the last two evenings and Sunday morning. On Friday, May 13, I performed the Bornless One Envisioning Rite in its entirety, even though the directions specified a three day period of meditating before completion. I felt that having undergone this process for over eighteen months, I didn’t need to wait any further to complete this ordeal. Within myself, I felt as if everything was completely in order and in readiness. So, I followed my intuition as is my rule in the art of magick, and was not disappointed with the results. It was wholly and completely mind blowing, and I am still reeling from its effects.

My dreams leading up to this event have been quite vivid and instructive, and they gave me a strong sense of completion and fullness. I was more than ready to begin this working, and therefore more than prepared to undergo whatever impact it was to have on me. I am delighted to state that I found the Bornless One Envisioning ritual itself to be highly effective and more intense and powerful than anything that I have previously experienced. I had no difficulties in performing it, and was able to get everything worked out, particularly the substitutions that needed to be incorporated.

The Abramelin Lunar Ordeal, now a completed suite of rituals and workings, is not only highly effective, but is even more resplendent in its overall effects for the adherent than what I had originally thought. I can’t but recommend this new method to others who are interested in experiencing a pathway to personal illumination through the art of ritual magick. With respect to those who have faithfully followed the traditional Abramelin ordeal, I believe that I have developed a suitable alternative that others, who do not have the privilege of devoting from six to eighteen months exclusively to this working, may follow and achieve a similar end. That is, of course, my opinion, and those who might be critical of my efforts will have to at least judge it by performing the rituals and experiencing them for themselves. Needless to say, I should report what I experienced as part of my final engagement with this ordeal, since nothing more afterwards will need to be said.

I have completed this long struggle and I am so very glad that it is finally done - but what an amazing journey it has been! The total irony of this working is that it took me exactly, to the day, eighteen months to complete, which is the same amount of time specified for the German version of the traditional Abramelin ordeal. It has been something of wild ride at times, where I seemed to be floating a foot or two off the ground, so intense was the overall impact and its affect on me. Presently, I feel quite grounded and completely sober, which is so unlike what I felt over a year ago. Then, I needed to process everything that hadn’t been processed in my past, and I needed to figure out the final and most important ritual in the working, which was the Alchemical Hierogamy Rite of Union, based on the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencruetz.

Determining and developing that last rite took me over a year, but once I was able to deploy it, the other pieces all fell into place. I would assume that anyone else who would perform this ordeal,  now that the complete suite of rituals has been written up, would take them around seven weekends to complete. Then, of course, the envisioning rite would be performed at the next available full moon. Still, that final working shouldn’t be performed until the magician’s internal state is fully resolved and all issues, past and present, have been adequately processed.

For those who might not fully understand the functionality of this rite, the Bornless One Envisioning is used to both realize and project into the future the full nature of one’s True Will, incorporating a charged and consecrated black mirror for this purpose. This ritual was distilled and developed from a group of rituals in the PGM (Greek Magical Papyrus in Translation) used for performing divination by skrying into a pool of ink. I had adapted these rituals into one monumental working that would divine through the HGA the nature of the magician’s past, present identity and future destiny. The divination rite is therefore split into three parts, representing the necessity for the magician to know his past, know who he is, and know what his future will be. Some of these questions can be answered by the magician, others require the intermediation of the HGA. This rite incorporates a two way methodology in regards to divination - passive perception and active projection. The objective of this rite is to project the magician’s desired and realized destiny into the future, thereby making it fully capable of being realized in the present.

Let me now relate all that happened to me on that last set of days when I performed the final ritual working in the Abramelin Lunar Ordeal.

Envisioning Rite - First Evening - Friday, May 13, 2011 (from 9:45 pm to around 12:45 am)

As I have stated previously, I decided to do the entire ritual the first night of the working. I would follow it up with smaller workings on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. On Saturday, I would just say the Mass of the Goddess and intone the Hidden Stele and the Death Delivering Stele. On Sunday, I would just intone the two Stele to complete the working. I would perform an impromptu skrying session on Saturday evening after the Mass, but only briefly connect with the black mirror on Sunday morning. Two other substitutions were also decided on for the working. I would forgo wearing a crown of ivy (because the season is still so early) and I would bless my cincture instead of using a strip of linen with words written on it, functioning as a kind of phylactery.

These are the order of ritual actions to be performed the first evening before performing the Envisioning rite:

1. Perform ablutions and then set a consecrated magick circle.
2. Bless the cincture before saying Mass, intoning the invocation instead of wearing it around my waist as a phylactery. This was well received, so I then completed the vesting for the Mass.
3. Perform the Mass of the Great Goddess up to the point of performing communion, then perform the following operations while there is still sacrament available.

• Intone the invocations of the Hidden Stele and Death Delivering Stele
• Bless the magick ring for a second time (the ring is the link to the HGA). I put on the ring, said the activating word and then summoned the HGA. The result of these operations produced a highly enhanced sensation of the HGA, and the ring was tingling with magick power.
• Consecrate the magick squares from the Book of Abramelin (selected squares printed on parchment) with sacral wine and charge with the directed power of the HGA.

I then completed the magickal Mass and proceeded with the Envisioning rite.

The intoned invocations from the Hidden Stele and the Death Delivering Stele (both of which are from the PGM) produced an incredible intensity of magickal power. I felt myself briefly enter into a trance state where I saw points of light form various kinds of star formulations and even heard some kind of celestial tinkling, like some vast, distant glass wind chime. I felt intoxicated, and a rush of euphoria filled my heart. I had to rest momentarily while I processed these experiences. I thought to myself that this is certainly quite an auspicious occurrence for the beginning of this working.

Bornless One Envisioning Rite: I wrote this ritual more than eighteen months ago, but it has never been performed by me until now. I was amazed at how well it flowed and appeared to build up the power. The invocations taken from the PGM were astonishingly powerful. I could not believe how potent these incantations were, and their overall magickal effect was completely amazing. I doubt that some of these incantations have been used in magick for nearly a couple of millennia, but they had lost nothing in the passage of time. I performed the macro-rite to summon the HGA, but of course, it was already very much present. Still, I sensed it joyously respond to the remedial summoning, making me feel as though I were enclosed in golden column of light. I then set the inverted Rose Ankh device to each of the four Angles and the center of the circle, and the accompanied incantations taken from the PGM made the performance vastly more intense and powerful. At this point in the ritual, the combined devices generated a kind of network of manifesting and empowering forces that seemed to transform the temple into some kind of royal emplacement. I almost expected to see a throne room and the royal chambers of some magnificent palace. The vortex had generated through its fused energies a kind of royal domain with the black mirror set at its core.

These final actions brought me to the place where the black mirror was ensconced, and as I sat before it I made invoking spirals over it with my transmutar wand. As I did this, while intoning additional PGM incantations, the black mirror began to glow and pulsate, going from an obsidian black to a silver white orb at intervals. I felt myself pulled into this pulsating orb, and it opened up, becoming like a vast tunnel or worm-hole between worlds, revealing itself as a kind of silver lattice structure surrounded by inky blackness. I found myself drawn deep into it, and it was as if I was within a tunnel, but it also seemed like it was within me, simultaneously. When I got to the point in the incantation where I was supposed to utter a series of magickal words like an Egyptian Baboon, the illusion ceased for a moment (due to my mirth), but then quickly reasserted itself. I then proceeded to contemplate upon the vastness of the black mirror, performing first an inquiry and projection for my past, present self-definition, and then my life’s destiny. These were the three Eyes (or I’s) in the Triangle - and I made this sign into the black mirror before starting each period of contemplation.

Contemplation on where I have been: I saw so many images of my past consisting of all of the most important and strategic moments, all of which led me to become who I am today. I saw these as a very rapid progression from the earliest memories to the present moment, yet each scene evolved slowly and fully, while my mind’s eye had already gone on to the next event. After a short while it seemed that all of these memories were unfolding simultaneously, creating a vast illusion of time and events occurring all at once. It was an amazing thing to behold, and I imagined that one perceives this when death is fully realized. At that moment, I felt a powerful thought overwhelm me that “I must fully accept everything that has happened to me as a product of my True Will and the power of fate and necessity.” I bowed to this wisdom, and felt all of these memories coalesce into a single point of light, and then enter deep into my soul. The black mirror became dark again, but only for a moment.

Contemplation on who I am - my true identity: The mirror blazed forth again, but this time I saw and felt the full force of my HGA, it entered into my being and filled me with joy, happiness, wholeness and an intoxicating euphoria. Because I had wed my HGA with the Element Godhead, it appeared to have a greater power and affinity for me, unlike at any previous time when I had performed the Bornless One invocation. Through the HGA I received a powerful and total sense of who I am, where I have been and what I must do to complete my life. I was told by it that the key to my future spiritual enfoldment was to cultivate spiritual love, bliss and ecstasy, and to realize this when summoning my higher self. Through this agency, I will experience the continual spiritual evolution that leads to mastery. Then the mirror went dark for the second time.

Contemplation on my ultimate destiny: I have accepted that I am now gone deep into middle age, and that I am passing into my final years of life. I have accomplished much, but so much yet remains to be done. My inner fear is that I will not have time to complete everything that I want to complete, in order to leave behind an effective legacy - a true measure of immortality. Yet what I have seen is that the most interesting and amazing events of my life have not yet occurred, and that I must learn to live at a far greater level than what I have been doing lately. I asked for the time and longevity to complete my work, and saw that indeed I could very well be long lived, if I work at ensuring that my gift of life is not squandered. I must work at being more healthy, and I can’t take anything for granted. The future is indeterminate, so what I have left of my years of productive life may be a decade, two or even three, but I can, by my actions, extend my life.

Yet death comes to all living beings, and I am no exception. Nothing is granted or pre-ordained to me or anyone, everything must be earned by steadfast commitments and hard, tireless work. I sensed that a number of procrastinating issues and tasks for me had been overturned, and I was now free to complete a number of outstanding tasks. I felt blessed, protected, loved and wisely guided by the HGA that was now fully activated and enshrouding me like a luminous golden cloud. Yet this great spirit was also inside of me, looking at the world through my eyes, and feeling the joy of life through my heart.

Once these events had transpired, the black mirror seemed to turn silvery white, and felt my will come from within me and project into the future that has not yet been determined. I sought to know in the remaining years of my life a profound stable simplicity, to be divested of all of the clutter and chaos of competing desires and ambitions, and to be refined and honed to one single aspiration. This aspiration was to be one with my HGA, and to waken from death seeing through its eyes and thinking and feeling with its mind. More of this incredible phenomena I can’t relate, but it went on for seemingly forever, extending from my mere physical form into the infinity of the Godhead itself, where the boundaries of time and space melted away to nothing, revealing a single blazing supernova that filled my eyes and mind with dazzling and brilliant light. I sensed during this extended moment that the HGA was with me and in me, my eternal companion in all things.

I pulled myself away from looking into the black mirror and laid down to rest, to close my eyes so that they wouldn’t see anything more. But still I saw the brilliant light and felt the bliss and ecstatic happiness until I passed into unconsciousness for a time. Finally, I woke up, and the temple atmosphere was alive with tiny sparks of light barely perceived. I marveled at these for a moment, but then sealed the circle, covered up the black mirror and magickal tools, extinguished the lamps and candles and retired for the night. Yet I was given so little peace that evening afterwards, for the visions continued on in my head deep into the night.


Continuing the Working - Saturday, May 14, 2011 (from 9:55 pm to around 11:28 pm)

The second evening came, but I was exhausted and tired from the previous evening’s working. I stumbled through the days activities, but after a couple of naps and a good meal, I felt more refreshed and ready to start the next part of the working. But in truth, the greater part of the working was already completed, and it seemed that the next two incidents were just merely the final parts of an already magnicent conclusion.

I said the Mass, and then intoned the two Stele incantations, which were just as powerful as they were previously, and after the rites were completed, I unsealed the vortices and sat before the black mirror. I uncovered it, and expected that it would be dark and lusterless, but I was surprised that it was still luminescent, but not as startling as it was previously. However, what was imparted to me indicated that the greater manifestation had already occurred, but what remained was just as important.

I was told in some manner (perhaps in my head) that the past is now completed - there is no more to be extracted from it other than memories of what had once been. The future potential is there for me to harvest, since so much has already been established by years of practice, work and research. I have not been lax all of these years of my life. Yet the key to it all is the present moment - what I do here and now will give a final shape to my remaining years. There is so much to do before I finally experience an end to this life, and previously I had so much doubt and despair as to whether all of it could even be completed. Yet now I am not alone or without an important powerful spiritual ally. The HGA has now engaged itself to me in my quest for completion, and the addition of that magick should make the future to be quite interesting. Whatever my work brings to fruition, the greatest work is the simple process of bringing my higher self incrementally closer to me, until there is no difference. I have already begun this process, but its maintenance and continuation is both simple and succinct. It is wholly up to me to ensure that it is brought to complete manifestation and total realization. So what I felt from this revelation was the impending urge and need to get to work - there is so much to do, but the joy is in the doing!

That is all I received this night, and the next day, I just performed the intonation of the Hidden Stele and the Death Delivering Stele in the morning, and lit a stick of incense. I felt completely resolved. The working was completed, and so was the ordeal. I collected up all of the sigils that had been placed in the temple so many months ago, and now I could move on to other and newer challenges. I am grateful for what I have experienced, and I feel optimistic and blessed for what the rest of my life has in store for me.

Frater Barrabbas