Category: Evocation

  • One’s First Evocation by André Consciência

    One’s First Evocation by André Consciência

    The matter of one’s “First Evocation” has been a hot topic since at least “Students of Franz Bardon”, although with scarce material. 

    To compensate, I will address the theme in two ways: one not exemplar at all, which is how I did it, progressively, and the other how I suggest you do it according to Franz Bardon’s take. 

    How I did it

    After years of seeing spirits and having visions as a child, in my early teenage years there came the transmissions. I would write them all in a big journal with a cipher alphabet. Eventually, I had an eye in the triangle with side eyebrows in the shape of two lightning bolts that climbed as a three-step ladder. Above the eye, the lower one said something like spectral world, above that, psychic world, and then spirit world (astral plane, mental plane, akasha). This is approximate, for after decades with the journal a bug started to eat its pages and I left it behind when changing home. I had no occult studies whatsoever, except for the teachings of my grandmother, and hadn’t even started to study spiritism. The internet was just starting to be a thing and we would pay it dearly by the hour. The web did not have much, but I wanted to understand how to master these teachings and made some use of it. I came face to face with a website about a spirit owl that helped with astral travel, Stolas, that I now know from the Ars Goetia.

    There was an invocation and evocation on the website that would lead to astral travel. I tried it, and was transported by Stolas, and from that day on, I could do mental wandering by myself. 

    I can hardly count this as a first evocation, as I didn’t even truly know what an evocation was. 

    In my later explorations I realized I was very good at consciousness transference (before knowing Bardon and knowing the technique by this name), and realized I could transfer my consciousness to a being or creature in such a way that the space of the entity and my own would merge and I would be able to see it and influence it (if an embodied creature) or communicate directly (if a disembodied being). Later I would be able to explain this method in theory and practice, which I do at Beyond the Veil of Illusion (to be published by Falcon Books Publishing). The method is easy, quick, natural and effective. This way, I would communicate with some entities when exploring theosophy. 

    But this is not Bardon’s evocation, and it is far from the possibility of materialization. Now proficient in Initiation Into Hermetics and under the guidance of my mentor we evoked the beings astrally, first he unto both our presences and eventually me by myself. Our method at this time was very much like that of William Mistelle, in which the physical apparatus and most of the ritual structure are dispensed. 

    The time came for me to evoke the messenger by a method that was secret and unlike that of Bardon, involving two columns and a mediumistic connection to the Fiery Lamb as the force that gives shape to God or rather the shapes that receive God’s forces. In The Practice of Magical Evocation Franz Bardon writes, concerning The Book of Formulae, this: 

    “Generally speaking, the only success that untrained persons will have in this case, is hallucinations, phantoms or delusions, or incomplete, mediumistic results which need not be dealt with here. Usually such mediumistic results are, provided that they are genuine at all, the outcome of the exteriorisation of the person’s unconsciousness. Sometimes elementals, and should the person concerned have a strong capability for emanation, even elementaries might be formed which the genuine magician has already been informed about in Initiation into Hermetics. These elementaries are falsely regarded as the beings which are the object of evocation, and a person whose astral senses have not yet been sufficiently developed is not able to tell the difference or to control the situation.” 

    Add all of the described possibilities together, and here is the messenger described in a nutshell. Instead of demonising it, we are to know it to such an extent that it can no longer trick us, and to the extent that it becomes of service. This shapeshifting amalgamate can actually be the source of wisdom regarding self-knowledge and the understanding of the transitory world we inhabit, and a guardian of our memories. After this stage had been mastered, I then evoked my Guardian Genius using the same method. This methodology was used only for these two beings.

    Back to William Mistelle’s ways, someone kept evading me, the original intelligence or monarch, Aschmunadai. I tried the full set of evocation as per Bardon, and this time Aschmunadai showed up, and surprisingly, I came up with a technique to stop hearts, almost stopping my own. This revelation was not arbitrary; it was meant to lead me away from an order I was involved with and to show that this technique was not a myth.

    Aschmunadai’s appearance in the triangle was gigantic, like a tower of light towering over itself with multiple structures, but resembling the shape of a human being. The world around him was larger on top and funneled to a concentric point at the base of the triangle, whose vertices were literally illumined by his presence.  In other words, the materialization was holographic but powerful enough to change the angles with which the physical realm is perceived. This change in angles could be felt as a warm and cold tingling in the skin and throughout the body, accompanied by a pressing vertigo that lifts.

    For some reason, I could not yet consider this my first evocation. I placed strategically in the walls of my house PME elementals inside triangles and seals, a talismanic method I used that opened the windows permanently to the elementals and their dominions, keeping it localized. These talismans functioned as mirrors and served as permanent evocations within them. However, I didn’t feel that would be enough. 

    I worked with Lilitha next and gave attention to the original intelligences and monarchs. By then, I had been criticised for only working with systems derived from Semitic astrology and mythology, and eventually, I had a dream with the Greek God Pan that was horrific. One of the worst I had, not because of anything in particular happening: I was simply entering a chamber that was a temple to Pan, to Pan as a living creature instead of a statue or an icon. But the darkness in the chamber had such great saturation that it was the reason for the whole discomfort. In the dream, I walked to Pan, and Pan tried to lend me his scepter, the moment I woke up. I was feeling disturbed and it carried out during the day.

    That day, I came across a pamphlet of a witch crouching face to face with the devil, muzzle to muzzle. I decided: why not confront Pan face-to-face and understand what’s going on? And that was what I consider my first materialization. I could smell Pan’s breath, feel its rhythm on my skin, and this materialization had effects on my physical body, such as my legs getting substantially stronger and hairier. 

    Don’t ask me why, but this still wasn’t it. There was a lot of blind impulse, and I wasn’t omniscient during the process. A full evocation must imply full mastery in awareness, no matter how impactful the results are.

    Eventually, I found myself wrestling with Bael to cut away a job someone had requested from him, and he didn’t give it up easily. It was my first evocation meant as an exorcism. Bael fired up the candles until the roof caught fire and so on, but it worked out fine in the end. This realization was one more brick in my temple, but not it, not it. 

    Later in time, I was, I believe, now quite proficient at evocation, although, again, not there yet. I say proficient because, beyond the inner processes and results, I collected a variety of evidence of success, including Nature and people’s responses in ways that would rival fantasy fiction. But I knew a great deal of this was lent power by the beings evoked. The God in the evocational space should not be the one evoked but the one evoking. That said,  I had been working at an abandoned convent for years. It had three floors: the lower floor with a grid of talismans buried beneath, the upper floor (the terrace) with an altar, and the inner courtyard having the arches functioning as planetary gates. The chapel, all covered in conch, served for meditation and preparation activities. And above, the moon, below, the serpentine hills and their tall trees. It was a luxury magician’s temple that, over the years, got sealed and later reopened as a luxury hotel. 

    That day, I had just finished an evocation and was in a state of vacancy of mind when a tailed lizard humanoid got into the inner courtyard. There were none of the signs that accompany a vision or clairvoyant activity, nor any of the controls available during evocation, for all effects, there really was a physical tailed lizard humanoid penetrating the chamber and coming my way. When you read this, you may dismiss it as a hallucination or a mental manifestation, but you must truly imagine this happening completely in the material plane so that you have the chance to understand me. I went from vacancy of mind to my heart missing a number of beats, my body freezing, electrified like thunder had just hit me, and I realized in a few seconds, the whole world seemed to freeze along, there being only the chamber breathing together with the moving humanoid lizard. Strangely enough, it passed right in front of me without seeing me and left. 

    From this episode, I extracted an essential key. Evocation would have to reproduce this thunder-like effect that freezes time and space, the self and the other, inner and outer, as if one is witnessing the world from inside the speed of light. That was the ideal silence for the most direct contact possible. 

    A couple of years later or more, when I was working with the Olympian (Olimpick) Spirits in evocation at the attic during a whirlwind occurrence, I finally felt that was it. I remember these intelligences being stronger than usual, but I was omniscient, I realized their name was legion, and I had a firm grasp of every legionnaire, they all moved within my omnipotence.

    How I Suggest you Do it according to Franz Bardon

    It’s all in “The Book of Magic Formulae” mentioned in The Practice of Magical Evocation, and all I have to do is add some sparks to the fire.

    1. Purpose of the operation

    Make sure you know your purpose. Let’s say you wish to evoke a being of Mars for the mastery of righteous force, the tempering of passion, and the art of sovereign courage. Examine this very well, build it a soul mirror.

    For the sake of example we will work with “righteous force”. What is the positive side of it, and what may be the negative side? Give four examples of each, one for each element. 

    In this case, regarding the positive aspects fire bears heroic valor, water merciful justice, air clear and swift discernment, and earth unwavering fairness. Regarding the negative aspects, there is fanaticism in the fire, smothering in the water, slander in the air, and rigidity in the earth. 

    Bearing the negative aspects in mind, you may wish to rephrase and substitute “righteous force” to “sanctified power”, since it no longer can fall into the claws of self-righteousness. You are not right nor is the power yours, it is of what is higher than itself and sanctifies it. 

    You must, as well, make sure your purpose and the nature of the being, the purpose of its existence, meet and are one and the same.

    Then you write the first portion, regarding the how:

    “By the unbroken thread that binds my breath to the starry Crown of the Infinite, I will this operation to draw forth the Intelligence of Mars, named Graphiel, Guardian of the Crimson Flame, that I may cause instruction in the mastery of sanctified power in its heroic valor, merciful justice, clear discernment and unwavering fairness; the tempering of passion in its purpose, compassion, vision and practical service; and the art of sovereign courage in its precision, strength to feel, truth and endurance.”

    At this point you should also know what for you find yourself wanting these things.  Again, you may use the elements. 

      “May these be granted that I ignite purpose and transform through action (fire), heal and harmonize (water), illuminate mind and spirit with truth and clarity (air), ground power in stability and endurance (earth), and integrate all forces into wholeness (akasha).” 

    We have the what for, so what about the why?

    “Because of the urgency of becoming; Because of the paradox of identity and otherness; Because of the burden of consciousness; Because of the weight of finitude and responsibility; and because of the quest for unity in fragmentation”. 

    Add something that connects the intelligence with the purpose:

    “So oh Glorious Graphiel,

    Radiant Intelligence of the Crimson Flame,

    Guardian of Mars’ sacred fire,

    You of consecrated might.

    Who tempers the fiery passions of the heart,

    Dispensing truth with clear discernment

    By your divine command, the flame is refined

    In your luminous presence,

    I place my will beneath the starry Crown of the Infinite,

    That power be sanctified, passions tempered,

    And courage be sovereign and pure.

    Graphiel, flame eternal,

    Listen to this voice.”

    2. The being, power, sphere etc. to be evoked

    Something of this was explained above. The purpose of your being and yours should coincide. But although the beings of Mars can be quite responsive, they may be hard to handle, and for a first evocation, an elemental, earth belt zone spirit or moon spirit would be better, the moon spirits being softer. Better yet is the guardian genius, and you should devote your first evocation to no one else, except the messenger, in case you have a supervisor working with you.

    3. The place selected for the magical operation

    Here, allow me to cite from my work A Magical Study Series Volume I: A Guide to the Elementals:

    For cosmic beings, the background is usually impregnated by the image of the infinite expanse inside the circumference of the universe. For elemental rulers, a general scope may suffice, such as the sky, the ocean, the underground vistas or the magma centre of the earth. Elemental kings may have the breadth of their kingdoms as the background, while local elementals could require the magician to have a particular cave, atmosphere, volcano, lake or river in the background.

    Micro elementals will require, for instance, a particular plant, tree, or stream. Together with the natural background comes the character, that is, the image of the being with whom the magician is communicating. His mind will put together seemingly disjointed characteristics into a single image that is easier to remember if under a humanoid form. Some beings appear in different guises, for our capacity for image making is limited, but the different appearances connect to each other like different pages of a single book. The same happens when the magician is envisioning the kingdom of an elemental king. It is impossible to remember a whole kingdom and the magician may be under the impression that he is perceiving different kingdoms. In his mind, he is to create or explore entrances and paths that unite the different parts, so that, with time, his understanding of such a kingdom grows in integrity. When the magician is using the limited space of the triangle, he should, likewise, create linking points in his memory between the different sessions of evocation, so that he sees the different moods and apparitions of the being not as fragmented and disperse but as continuous. To this end, the magician’s own grimoire of operation is of the utmost importance.

    The way in which different backgrounds can be linked is not to be left to chance, instead, it must be conscious and ordered in its symbolism and choice. Different backgrounds should not be nearly merged nor too distant to cross without putting objective memory at risk. The magician may also link different domains from different beings of the same element, building a better and more conscious understanding of the elemental kingdom itself and, with patience, he can even link the elemental kingdom of the earth with the elemental kingdom of the water and so on.

    How to set the background

    In all cases, the backgrounds should neither be too bright nor too dark, for it will render it harder for the magician’s mind to remember his communications with the invisible world.

    Additionally, the backgrounds will still pose an obstacle to communication unless they are rendered possible to transform upon receiving images, in order to accommodate these images, adding to their meaning and sense. That is, the backgrounds must with no doubt be sensible places, capable of reacting. The domain and appearance of the being, represented by what we have named the background, is passive to the being’s actions and thoughts, such as the wax being altered by the impression of a new image. We can say, therefore, that there are two natures or layers to the backgrounds, appearances and domains of the beings, for there is a substance and the way in which it changes according to what is being attributed to it. Or, better put, the being and his domain plus the astral imaginary that fills the spaces created according to the being’s intelligence. It is through this second layer that communication takes place between the magician and the being, for the magician is perceived in a similar guise by the being and the two domains and appearances transfer images and crafted memories.

    All these operations take place either while the magician is sitting in the centre of his circle and looking at the magical mirror or triangle or if he is mental wandering. In the former case the operations, in all their variety, take place semi-consciously, attention being given to the most objective phenomena, and while mental or astral wandering, they take place consciously in all morphology and detail.

    4. Preparation of all magical implements needed for the operation

    I will keep citing from the same source:

    The Virtues Necessary for Magical Evocation

    The ideal is that the magician needs no ceremonial aids whatsoever. He then may choose to use them or not, for the sake of his own pleasure. What renders the magical tools optional is the magician’s virtues, might and powers. The magician is to keep in contact with the highest concept of existence at all instances, not only during wanderings or magical evocation, but for as much as possible in his daily life, for contact with one of the entities about to be mentioned in this book can echo back and forth in time.

    Perfecting the assumption of our own god in the four hermetic principles of omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence and immortality is essential. In his daily life the magician must have an unshakable will, act with wisdom and love, and be able to persevere independently of any obstacles. If these virtues are perfectly established on his soul mirror, it will be but a matter of imagination and meditation to bring them to their four divine or absolute states.

    Akashic trance is also essential, and together with the four qualities, it represents the circle. This is connected with the capacity of the magician to enter a timeless and spaceless state of consciousness that is all-penetrating through the limits of time and space. Franz Bardon gives a shortcut to attain it, being that the magician transfers his consciousness to the center of his body and imagines himself becoming infinitely small and the body infinitely large until he enters an altered state of mind. An alternative method is for the magician to imagine his body becoming infinitely small together with his limited astral and mental forms and the part of his mind that is connected with the universal mind becoming infinitely large until, at some point, the body disappears and only the cosmic mind of the divine remains in pair with the magician’s awareness. Yet another method and maybe the best method, is for the magician to assume godhood and then imagine his microcosmic god expanding until it merges with the macrocosmic god and acts through it. It is easy to see that we are not yet where we are required when our actions contradict the feeling of the infinite and the awareness of the sacred and of the divine. Of this we must keep vigilant.

    The magician must be in control of his mind, emotions and of his body, as well as in dominion of his own aggressiveness and his own subjection. He is not subject to these things, but drives them effortlessly with skill and ease according to his mighty will, uncompromised wisdom, pure kindness and acute consciousness. His feelings should always remain open to his intellect and his intellect to his will-power. His power should run with the flow of life unobstructed and guided by wisdom. Although he can use aggressiveness or passivity, he is neither aggressive nor passive but neutrally aware. This is analogous to the triangle, for it is through perfect self control that the magician will allow himself to receive the impressions of the beings, also limiting their actions to his field of interest.

    The capacity to deal with mental wandering or astral projection, the ability to harness and control the fluids of the elements, the electrical and the magnetic fluids as well as the strength to build electromagnetic volts is also of importance to create the proper set for the elementals and to give the magician some kind of control over the atmosphere or to make it possible for the magician to become an elemental himself and travel to the realms of the elements. These things have been dealt with in Franz Bardon’s books as well as in my work, Through the Soul Mirror to the Sphere of the Sun. The magician will have to, likewise, be a master of plastic imagination and over all of his senses, and to be enlightened in the ways of cognition and experienced in the ways of intuition. His will must be powerful and strong to keep his mind connected to the intelligences and their realms without suffering from outside interference. Most importantly, the magician’s word must be firm and above the temptations of any power or being and he will be always safe and respected as an authority by all beings.

    At all times, not just when the magician is working with the elementals, his intentions must be pure, for the magician’s intentions appear as his ranking garment in the invisible plane. With his magical equilibrium well established through the works of the soul mirror, his power will be, by such means, always of a universal nature, obeyed without delay.

    5. The actual magical operation

    To be built from the remaining points. I will go back to this point at the end of the article, so bear with me.

    6. Assuming the shape of the deity controlling the being concerned, that is connection with the relevant deity, its attributes, faculties etc.

    From A Guide to the Elementals

    There are different arrangements that can be worked on, depending on the magician’s magical systems or religious beliefs. I will delineate one example for practical reasons. The first Assumption or Divine Form must always be the one that embodies the four divine principles in a single form of ecstasy, which we may represent by the formula of YHVH as we have approached it in earlier chapters. JHWH as Bardon puts in the fourfold section of The Key to True Quabbalah is equally effective to the magician experienced in the cosmic ecstasies. ‘J’ invokes cosmic consciousness as it stands floating in love, the first ‘H’ brings about the intuition with which this cosmos operates, the intuition of Divine Providence itself. ‘W’ manifests the actual voice of Divine Providence and the truest entity behind mysticism and religions’ power, and the second ‘H’ realises it in the magician on the material plane.

    Intelligence does not regard these two as different formulas. The ‘J’ is the ‘Y’ of divine fire in that cosmic consciousness is brought about by the omnipresent light which is considered omnipotent in its victory over the darkness of the void. The first ‘H’ is divine water in that Divine Providence’s intuition is the thought of eternity. The ‘W’ is divine air in that ‘JH’ finds its representation as an entity in the source of all things, Omniscience. The last ‘H’ is divine Earth in that it is the realisation of God in the material plane, and therefore omnipresent. They are put together in that they are phonetically the same, and one may make use of the Mudras described to highlight each element in its electric or active and magnetic or passive attributions.

    For ‘Y/J’ (to sound as Yod or Jod) he uses the right forefinger to access omnipotence and the left forefinger to access all-penetrating power. For the first ‘H’ he uses the right thumb for eternity and the left for the intuition of unconditional love. For ‘V/W’ he uses the right pinky to obtain the ecstatic state of omniscience and the left for mystical wisdom. Finally he sounds and performs the second ‘H’ using the right ring finger for omnipresence and the left for realisation. This gives back to the magician all-penetrating omnipotence, eternal love, omniscient wisdom and omnipresent realisation, and the all-penetrating omnipotence of the eternal love of the omniscient wisdom in omnipresent self-realisation.

    About self-realisation, one should remember that the Divine Name of God, YHVH, translates in the material plane as Adonai, meaning Sovereign and Ruler. It is this God Head that later assumes the shape of one of the four Archangels, depending on which element is about to be worked. Uriel is indicated for the earth-element, Gabriel for the water-element, Raphael for the air-element, and Michael for the fire-element.

    Therefore, the first circle should have the letters of YHVH and the second the names and representations of the four Archangels, while the third circle is to have the elemental rulers of each element: Nicksa for water, Paralda for air, Ghob for earth, and Djin for fire. The circle is to be, therefore, divided in three layers and the magician is to assume God, God assumes the archangel, and the god-archangel the ruler.

    The names attributed to water should be to the west axis of the circle, air to the east, earth to the north and fire to the south. In the triangle, then, disposed in one of these directions according to the element of the being evoked, stands the elemental that is subordinate to the ruler of his quadrant, the ruler who will immediately be recognised in reverence.

    Having this arrangement in mind, you must only come to the realization that, concerning the planetary beings, you will be dealing with the archangel of the sphere and instead of elemental rulers you will be dealing with the being from the sphere above your sphere of operation that influences the same astral range according to the degrees of the zodiac. In this regard, the information provided in my A Magical Study Series Volume III: A Guide to Stellar Magic & Astrological Mysticism will come in handy:

    Bardon states that “there is nothing else but the Divine Light, the inconceivable and indescribable, called Divine Providence by us. There is nothing higher than that in our cosmic hierarchy.” He mentions, nevertheless, the highest sphere in our solar system: the sphere of Pluto, which we know to be responsible for transcendence in astrology. Yet, Franz Bardon adds that the magician has nothing to gain from it at the present time, since humanity cannot work with such sphere.

    This sphere is, to my own knowledge and exploration, represented by a single being, influencing the whole 360 degrees of the elliptic and the 360 days of the year in equal measure, so that it cannot truly be differentiated or identified. Such a being, if a being it can be called, can never be perceived in a state of duality. Even so, ultimately, all beings are this being, to the final detriment of the beings they are being, for being is one and not many.

    In as far as the elliptic is concerned, each being of a lower sphere is subordinate to the beings of the higher spheres influencing the same degrees. There are exceptions, such as the monarchs of the Zone Girdling the Earth, mentioned by Franz Bardon but not dealt with here. There are also exceptions to this rule in beings residing in centers further away from the Sun, such as the beings of Uranus and Neptune and even, to some extent, the beings of Saturn, these beings ruling mainly by cosmic principle alone and not by alignment.

    For the sake of brevity, we can exemplify the method of understanding lineages, useful to gain authority in evocations, with one of the signs of the Zodiac. To do that, we shall pick the first sign, that of Aries.

    ◦ 1º The being in Pluto rules over all: the lineage begins with this being, in all instances. He represents absolute transcendence.

    ◦ 2º In Neptune: the divine principle behind Ia rules Uranus, Neptune and Saturn. This is the principle of divine will.

    ◦ 3º In Uranus: we know Da represents Aries, so we shall begin Aries with Da (vision into reasoning, breath into power, all objects of perception). We may also notice that Da, even having his own most transcended principle in Neptune, is in Uranus subject to the Divine principle behind Ia. At the same time, by order of alignment (range of influence) in the ecliptic Al and Ba influence Aries, namely Al creates through graduation from above to below, and Ba represents the active power of consciousness.

    ◦ 4º The four first Judges of Saturn influence Aries: These are subordinate to Da by principle, namely the judge judging the vital and physical impulses of the Earth zone; the Judge judging the astral plane of the Earth Zone; the judge judging the mental plane on the Earth zone; and the judge judging love on the Earth Zone. By range of influence, the first and second judges are subject to Al, the third and fourth to Ba.

    ◦ (The archetypal cosmology, in respect to powers and mights, shows that Unity controls Divine Will. Divine Will regulates vision, reason, breath, power and perception, but also creativity and consciousness. Now the combination of vision, reason, breath, power and perception regulates vitality, emotion, intellect and attraction. The creative principle regulates vitality and emotions. An active consciousness regulates intellectual faculties and sympathy).

    ◦ 5º Malchjdael, the first head of Jupiter, represents Aries as a whole: His attributions are Electric Fluid & Fire. This being is partially subject to each of the first 4 judges of Saturn. Magically speaking, this puts the electric fluid and fire element subject to a combination of vital force, astral perception, the focus of the mind and the magic of sympathy.

    ◦ 6º Rarum, Gibsir and Rahol, from the Mars Sphere, are subordinates of Malchjdael: This teaches us that the electric fluid and the element of fire can render the magician perfectly centered, infinitely creative, open to all active forces and erotically passionate.

    ◦ 7º In The Sun Sphere: Emnasut (fire element) is subject to Rarum (creative centre); Lubech (electric fluid) is subject to Gibsir (all active forces) and Rarum (creative center); Teras (fire element and electric fluid) is subject to Gibsir and Rahol (all active forces and erotic passion) and Dubzeh (electric fluid) is subject to Gibsir and Rahol as well.

    ◦ 8º In The Venus Sphere: Omah and Odujo are subject to Emnasut; Obideh and Onami are subject to Lubech; and Ophse and Orif are subject to Teras. Obanch and Odumi are subject to Dubzeh. The eight beings attributed by Bardon to Aries on the Venus Sphere are all experts in sex magic. It tells us that sex magic (in Venus and under Aries) works under the influence of the electric fluid and, in a lesser degree, of the fire element.

    ◦ 9º In The Mercury Sphere: Vehuia (magic) is subject to Omah and Odujo, Jeliel (love) is subject to Odujo and Obideh, Sitael (consciousness) is subject to Obideh and Onami, Elemiah (fate) is subject to Onami and Ophse, Mahasiah (quabbalah) is subject to Orif and Obaneh and Lelahel (sex magic) is subject to Obaneh and Odumi, this according to the days of each. One concludes that magic, love, consciousness, fate, quabbalah and sex magic in Mercury and at least under the influence of Aries all have their essence in the manipulation of the powers of attraction in Venus.

    ◦ 10º In The Moon Zone: Ebvap (tides) is subject to:

    — Vehuiah (magic), Jeliel (love) and Sitael (consciousness)

    — Emtircheyud (rhythm) is subject to Sitael (consciousness), Elemiah (fate) and Mahasiah (quabbalah)

    — Exhesekis (akasa and success) is subject to Mahasiah (quabbalah) and Lelahel (sex magic)

    We see then the proper combinations that can control the tides, the combinations that can control rhythm, and the combinations that can lead to the akashic trance and to success in life, being that in this last case a component falling under the influence of Taurus is missing.

    ◦ 11º In the Earth Zone: under the rule of Ebvap (tides and electromagnetic fluid in Moon Magic) are:

    — Morech (invention)

    — Malacha (alchemy)

    — Ecdulon (love)

    — Lurchi (love and prosperity)

    — Aspadit (luck)

    — Nascela (writing)

    — Apollogon (magic)

    — Ramara (magic)

    — Anamil (electric-magnetic fluids)

    — Tabori (magic and the water element)

    — Igigi (magic)

    — Bialode (alchemy and Sun Magic)

    Subordinate to Emtircheyud (rhythm) are:

    — Opilon (magic and science)

    — Jrachro (magic and eloquence)

    — Golog (science and philosophy)

    — Argilo (love)

    — Barnel (love)

    — Sernpolo (language)

    — Hyris (water magic)

    — Hahadu (water magic)

    — Oromonas (magic)

    — Bekaro (justice)

    — Belifares (magic)

    — Nadele (medicine)

    — Yromus (alchemy)

    Under Exhesekis (akasha, correlative influences of the moon, timeless and spaceless happiness, physical success) are:

    — Hadcu (magic)

    — Balachman (astrology)

    — Jugula (talismans)

    — Secabmi (spagiry)

    — Calacha (water magic)

    To mention remain the beings under the range of Taurus. This example should suffice for the magician seeking the correspondences of the whole.

    It must be stated that Bardon sees the spheres as organic, vital and natural, so that this orderly cosmic disposition happens via natural tendencies, i.e. if the magician synchs in the akasha to this and that house and degree of the zodiac he will likely be contacting one of these beings, one of their subordinates, or different beings that are similar heads. The mentioned heads of the Earth Zone themselves are thus masters with their own students (to whom we use the medieval term subordinates).

    7. The drawing of the magic circle according to the magician’s connection with the deity. If the operations are carried out with a magic circle sewn on a piece of linen, piece of cloth, or the like, it has to be re-drawn

    The attentive reader may have realized I have given in this article two kinds of circles: one to work with the elementals but that can be adapted to the beings of the spheres, and that has three layers: Godhead, Archangel, and elemental ruler (or being raking in the astral range of the sphere above the being to be evoked) and one of up to 10 layers.

    Beyond that, remember the circle is formulated most of all by the depth point, which is to say the magical trance. For this, I should redirect you to yet another article:  From the Depth Point to Life on Venus, by André Consciência.

    8. Drawing of the magic triangle

    If you ever worked with the cosmic letters you know the meaning of the so-called threefold intonation. Bardon speaks of creation, preservation, destruction; material, astral and mental; past, present and future; electric, magnetic and electromagnetic, and so on, regarding the triangle, but the the threefold consciousness present in the cosmic letters is equally important and to be integrated, which means the light oscillation or fluid of the being, the sensation attached, and the sound of the element (cosmic mother letters) or of the sphere (see A Magical Study Volume II – A Guide to Sphere Quabbalah). 

    Keep in mind as well that every evocation into the triangle is an act of Saturn, and should bear its strength.

    Whatever you are drawing, do not forget to use your three bodies, and to highlight it I am forced again to cite from A Guide to the Elementals:

    First, the magician is to activate his spirit by invoking the original light (the light of all lights) in akashic trance and having it manifest as spiritual illumination in his mind, magnetism in his soul and substance in his body. When this is done, he will be able to gaze into the Akasha without obstructions, and he takes upon him the GodHead as has been taught in Initiation Into Hermetics.

    He then, as an awakened spirit, activates his mind by invoking the power of the verb in akashic trance and letting it flow to the mind, becoming influence, influence becoming self-preservation in the soul, and finally self-preservation giving place to physical memory and analogy. He is now able to perceive the mental plane, and he traces the first circle in there, inspired by his own omnipotent spirit.

    His mind awakened, he proceeds to fully activate his soul. Meditating, in akashic trance, on the power to penetrate all, his mind starts to see clearly the qualities of all things, his soul is flooded with mystic feelings, and his body receives and transmits the flush of the four fluids. His senses pierce through the astral veil, and he now traces the second circle, his spirit inspiring his mind and it acting through his astral body.

    Finally, in akashic trance, he meditates on divine inspiration. His now enlightened mind will automatically position itself so that it can understand intellectually what divine inspiration is, and his open soul will absorb all that is good. When the senses of the body accept it, the physical body awakens and the magician has a crystal clear vision of physical reality. He now, with his mind inspired by the spirit and acting through his soul that in turn takes possession of his body, draws the third circle and the previous circles physically, together with the triangle, sigils or signs, and all that is necessary.

    9. Putting censer into the correct place, including, if necessary, the way of censering

    The censors are addressed in PME, and although there could be further elaboration and I could provide the alchemical way of their preparation, I’d be making this article unbearably long. All I can do is a very quick resume:

    Dedicate a day to fasting from meat and abstaining from distractions, and in the morning of this day, take a bath with salt, rosemary and rue, practicing magical washing and pray for cleansing.

    At night meditate at the depth-point of your chest center and once there is silence, quietness and stillness, begin to assume your personal deity according to IIH’s step 10. At this point you will charge the resin, herb, leaf, bark, root, essential oil or tincture with its telesma (that is, with its mission, creating an elementary inside it). You are to write the mission on a paper that will then be burned in the mix, according to Bardon’s elemental magic at IIH. 

    In the longest version you’d assume the archangel connected with the sphere or element of the incense and then the spirit or elemental ruler, and strengthen the telesma with the blessing of these beings, then performing quabbalistic formulas over the incense when grinding and using magical breath upon blending with oil or tincture. 

    Remember to leave the incense one or two weeks in the shade and program it to grow in power and influence. Wrap it then in silk for seven days and unwrap it only to recharge it in the corresponding planetary hour. The incense should be burned by a candle also devoted to the same planet or element, and the essential oil is to be prepared alchemically as well. 

    In any case, too much smoke will distort the operation and I can add that, in time, I discovered that activating flowers via Quabbalah works better or, if you are not learned in Quabbalah, activating their smell via alcohol. 

    For a little more on basic magical perfumes read my article The Adept – Perfumes & Cognitions.

    10. Lighting of the magic lamp, including meditative attitude to cause intuition and enlightenment

    From Beyond the Veil of Illusion (to be published by Falcon Books Publishing)

    You are to observe your thoughts, without identifying with or engaging them, simply observing them. Do it consciously and for a long time. If you can only manage short periods at first, repetition will take you as far as it goes.

    When this is as easy as breathing, proceed to observe the observer, that is, to observe the one who or the faculty that was observing before.

    You will notice that while before you were identifying yourself with the observer, now, even though you are indeed observing this previous observer, you can no longer be the observer. You remain aware of the existence of this faculty that observes, but your awareness is in your presence and not in your action.

    When this state of consciousness has become quite natural, proceed to observe this presence that was aware of the faculty of observation to observe the observer. Do it so that you are now far removed from both, you cannot be the one who is observing nor the one who is simply present or that is the presence.

    Then, when identification ceases entirely you will know that you have succeeded, for a force will flood your whole body that is not your body anymore, and it will start shaking.   

    Another method is the Ogdoad method. The Ogdoad are four couples. Amun and Amunet are said to erase knowledge. Stay only with the sparks of thought, eyes open, in that even the objects of the senses become sparks before formation.

    The second couple is Kuk and Kauket, said to stop the absolute from dissolving all potential. Remove the sparks of thought, so that what is left is a single materialization of the absolute.

    Then Heh and Hauket, remove space and time. Remove the observer that observes the absolute. There will be an absence. Awareness of nothing. Presence in the nothing.

    The last couple is Nun and Naunet. I see Nun as the Hindu Shiva, and Nun is described in Egypt too sometimes as a dark blue bearded man. Naunet I see as a dark blue starry serpent walking around Shiva’s body. The thing to do is to now remove even the absence previously mentioned. You will feel pure boundless energy and your body will quiver intensely. Your body will likely freeze except for this, and for a minute you will find it hard to breathe. But do breathe. The ability to move will likely return before you come back to thinking or feeling. In time, the shift will be much subtler as your normal state will be more and more like this state of ecstasy.

    It is this solar power that has been described in the cosmology of many holy books, the so-called Fiat Lvx, because of true awareness and power coming into being. This power and this awareness is the original or cosmic fire. 

    11. Charge of the seals, pentacles or lamens of the being desired

    From A Guide to the Elementals:

    Now, regarding the imagination, except in its outward projection, there is no major difference between the pen and the writer. A sign might show a pen, his character might appear as a writer. Similarly, the magician knows a being that is a patron of writers, and he might include or be shown a pen as part of the sign of this being. The same goes for the arrow and the archer, etc.

    Because a being’s signature is the conjunction of his most prominent faculties, virtues and abilities, the sign brings the conjunction of the attributes to life by awakening the intelligence, that then has to solve all the symbols of the attributes into a living and more abstract expression that puts them all together, forming a world. Any sign that calls a being also opens his world, his domain.

    Let’s say we have a bent line, a white cascading shape above, and five undulating lines on each side of the bent line. In the left corners there is a shield and a fly, in the right corners there is a spear and a pen. The central shapes evoke the image of an old man, the bent line projects as a bent back, the white cascading shade as white air, and the five undulating lines as trembling hands. Around the old man and inside him revolve four powers, as the four symbols in the corner come to be inhabited by imagination. They indicate he is an angel of war and a messenger of the dead.

    The mind immediately asks where this old man is and from this old man spawns a context and a world of his likeness. This world, in turn, has the mind ask what the old man is doing in this world. Then the old man acts.

    While the magician has extracted and summoned these animated images from the graphic in the sign, the being who is most naturally attracted to them comes to inhabit them and to truly speak through them. If the magician is ill-trained, he may let other thoughts interfere and anything can come to inhabit what he has summoned, or it may be the case that he isn’t rich and pure enough to attract more than astral larvae.

    12. Charge of the magic mirror, or several magic mirrors, depending on the special purposes they are to serve

    I suggest you work with the magic mirror in inner alchemy before using it for the operation. Which means if you, as in the case of Graphiel, wish sanctified power you will work your soul mirror together with the magic mirror in order to cultivate sanctified power. There is nothing the being can do for you about what you don’t bring with you to the operation. In other words, be the master of the art you wish to perfect with a specialist. For this purpose, make use of my article Magic Soul Mirrors

    13. Putting on of the magical garment and meditative attitude to cause protection, purity etc.

    From The Way of Abrahadabra (to be republished by Black Moon Publishing)

    Once, the magician has stepped out of his physical body to roam with his astral body, and also out of his astral or physical body as he projected his mind. Now, the magician is without the shadow of a doubt a mature magician, and he should, instead, let his etheric body swallow his physical body, so that even on what seems to be the physical, the magician will start to see the world in terms similar to those of infrared vision. 

    If the magician further allows the etheric body, swollen by the physical body, to be absorbed by the astral body, he will start to perceive the physical world as if a dream or a journey of hallucinatory nature.  If, even then, he lets himself be swallowed by the mental body, all will be light, sound and geometry.  At this stage, if he allows himself to be wholly taken by the gates of Akasha, the magician will penetrate a new kind of akashic trance.

    14. Putting on of the magical headgear – crown, cap or magusband and meditation to bring about the contact with the deity

    Reach the depth point of the deity, dislocate it to the depth point of the magusband, wear it and let it take over your mind, your whole perception becoming the web of this divine spider. When working with certain beings and making use of the deity that governs them, this means the being’s mind will as well be taken over.

    15. Girding on the magical belt with the right attitude to bring about the magician’s power to control all powers, especially the elements

    The belt, connecting micro and macrocosm, also connects the magician to the world. Without this alignment, the encounters of evocation can be so otherworldly that they go beyond repair: that is, the magician cannot translate them into anything useful on this Earth and he himself disconnects further and further from his own life mission. Therefore, I suggest my method from The Way of Abrahadabra:

    The magician is to find a name that is suitable to him as a worker of the Great Work . He is to proceed with it in the same manner as he did with the names of the beings and the divine names of the spheres. 

    The original name should have a quintessence, translating into a mantra and a threefold intonation.

    We give the example of the author’s magical name, Panreva. Its number is 887, and it may be read as «Psyche and Cupid» on the mental plane, «Mind Body Spirit» on the astral plane, and «Divine Circle» at the physical. Its keyword is «The Abyss is Locked» and its mantra «Here divinity sees energy, breathes in and binds the magician». So, in its original concept, it stands for the overcoming of all steps between the union of life and desire. This is also present at the union of Eve and Pan under the Sun, Eve being the matrix for sublunar life and Pan its living expression, the instincts inherent to desire, while R stands for Resh, the radiation of the sun, that is, of consciousness. On an emotional level, that concept turns into a feeling of oneness between thought, instinct and enthusiasm. On a physical level its translates as Divine Circle because once the union of these aspects is achieved the magician moves about the universe as a star in its proper rout, and because of it the abyss is locked, no manifestation can counter Agape et Thelema for every event comes to feed the purpose of their marriage, which on and by itself may already describe the meaning of the mantra. The number for these expressions is 887, but the reader is not obliged to use gematria.

    After the study and definition of one’s own name is accomplished, the magician is to find a duty connected to it. He should find a verb to which all other verbs should connect easily, for the more isolated his verb stands, the harder it will make the magician’s job. Nonetheless, he should not choose a helping verb like the verb to be, do, or have. He should also find an adjective to describe how he will be doing the verb chosen. For instance, «To dream out loud», the magician’s duty, or his word as a Magus, would then be to dream out loud. Every other verb can be preceded by this verb. i.e. «To dream out loud of flying».  

    Some words may be ambiguous, so the magician is to describe what he means by dreaming with three other expressions. What does he personally mean by dreaming: on a rational basis, on an emotional basis, and as a practical activity? He should also use this method on the adjective and form three other sentences based on it. 

    For instance: 

    «To elaborate with precision»

    «To hope with passion»

    «To create with intensity»

    So the following is now his manifesto: 

    «To dream out loud,

    To elaborate with precision,

    To hope with passion,

    and to create with intensity» 

    In the original sentence, he should have added his objective. «To dream out loud in order to inspire those around me. » The objective is to define the balance of his duty, and the four elements should define that balance. Inspiration needs determination on the fire element, freedom on the element of air, a celebrative spirit on the water element and thoroughness on the element of earth. Whatever the objective of the magician, he is to find the proper elemental associations and practice their balance.  These elemental virtues act as the four sentinels of the Work. Their imbalance can collapse the structure of the duty, and therefore of the magician himself.

    The magician is still to nominate by which means he is to do his duty and enumerate them on a document. He will be able to change that document to accommodate the needs of his evolutionary work concerning his duty. 

    The document could be written in the following manner:

    «In order to comply with his duty, Panreva commits to: 

    1 – Work on one or more magical systems and elaborate his own;

    2 – To study philosophy and apply it as a tool to work on his own thesis, the best of which he is to present to the world;

    3 – To inspire his community with expressions of the highest ideals;

    4 – To do works of illustration and set them out to the world, to write prose and poetry and to publish them, to make music and play it live, to perform theatre on stage. 

    The four commitments refer to the four lines on the manifesto.

    Each of these paragraphs should also have a temporal paper assigning the initiatives the magician is to take forward in order to serve their content. And they should dictate the course of the magician’s actions towards his duty during a one-year period.

    For instance:

    1 – To join the order of ____ and attain to the grade of ____. 

    2 – To refute ___’s theory and seek to present a seminar. 

    3 – To create a cooperative and to work with the community of ____.

    4 – To get exhibited, get one show on tour and a book about ___ finished for release. 

    This book of minutes should be sealed with the magician’s own sigil, which is to be received while the magician is meditating on his own magical name. Further validation is needed, and the sigil is to be recognized by the guardian genius before the duty is consecrated. 

    The original sentence of the duty is to be inscribed on a belt which the magician should use during magical operations, and the sigil is to be inscribed at its lock. At his belt, the magician rests his wand. The belt signifies the region between micro and macrocosmos, above and below. The belt of the magician is like the serpent Uraeus worn by initiates of the Nile, it guards the channel of ascent, and holds fast the divine authority entrusted to the magician.

    16. Girding on magic sword to magic belt with the meditative attitude of absolute victory; re-charging, with magic wand in the right and concentrating on the idea that the magician’s absolute will be realised

    General response from A Guide to the Elementals

    In physical evocations or journeying in subtle bodies, it is in the wisdom of magic to add further substantive backgrounds, such as magical weapons. These are to be inserted as fixed images that cannot dissolve and they are connected to the feeling that has been bestowed upon them. For instance, the magician’s magical sword represents his absolute victory over the world of phenomena.

    No matter what the scenario is, if the sword is there, the outcome can never contradict the meaning of the sword, for part of everything the magician is experiencing is being given life by the sword itself. Of the same order are the sigils or signs that give the life of the being himself and his aspects to the whole scenario.

    Regarding the elemental wands, and from the same source:


    Formulas to Activate the Wand

    A different wand can be used for each of the four elements. The wands represent the will of the magician piercing through all layers of the element, mastering it and ruling it.

    Wand of Fire:

    The magician can inscribe, after mastering them, the cosmic letters “Sh H S T” as portrayed in The Key to TrueQuabbalah by FranzBardon. They should be painted in their corresponding colors. The wand must be charged in one end with a volt of the element of original light enveloped by the fluid of understanding, which is the mental structure of the principle of light. The other end should be charged with the light of clairvoyance and the power of analogy. Both volts should grow until they merge and compress into the form of the wand of fire. This can be done by the magician imbuing himself with these qualities and passing them to the wand in the form of volts or by drawing, by power of imagination, these fluids from the universe itself into the wand and forming the volts. He then breathes into the magical tool the intelligence of the original light and the power of the verb, and has it inspire the electric fluid and exhale creativity.

    Wand of Air:

    The magician may inscribe the cosmic letters “A C L H.” The wand is to be charged at one edge with the feeling of the highest wisdom enveloped by a mental layer, forming a volt. At the other end, a volt of the feeling of understanding enveloped by the fluid of cosmic equilibrium. In all cases, the volts should grow in size, fuse and compress into the form of the magical wand until it stands glowing wide. One then infuses into it the intelligence of wisdom and the power to acquire all qualities, and has it inhaling virtue and exhaling comprehension.

    Wand of Water:

    The letters are “M N W G,” one volt of the principle of fluidity with the principle of the mind, another with wonderment and abundance. One then creates in it the intelligence of original water and the life of supreme happiness, having it invoke concentration in and evoke peace all around it.

    Wand of Earth:

    Are to stand the letters “Ae I F R,” one volt of the fluid of life and death covered by a sphere of memory and consciousness and another volt of astral or magical equilibrium enveloped by the fluid of reason. The intelligence of life itself is given to it and the power over evolution, cause and effect. It is made to start getting inspired by the universal laws and to express absolute security.

    Operating with Wands

    Wand of Fire:

    To conjure and master salamanders the magician must manage this wand with an attitude of absolute victory through understanding and a feeling of embodying the prophecy that molds the astral world itself. To use the wand to materialise such elementals that have been conjured, he invokes the origin of fire in himself and the power to overcome destiny, he then generates for the being to inhabit a volt of heat and light—the heat being the inner part and the light the outer part—and lets him take it into his shape.

    Wand of Air:

    The wand of the air is to be brandished with the attitude of an influential enlightened being and a feeling of standing as the cosmic balance that influences destiny. The beings it conjures can be materialised by invoking mastery over the air element and absolute influence over the mental plane, then creating for the elemental the volt of weightlessness and dryness.

    Wand of Water:

    The wand is held with an attitude of one who is the source of all sensory perception of life and master over all the intellectual perceptions of the mind, the feeling is that of a mystical sense of happiness. The beings it conjures can take on full shape by the magician invoking into himself a sense of being the selfsustaining master over all waters and magnetic fluids, then creating for the being a volt of cold and moisture.

    Wand of Earth:

    The attitude with which this wand should be used is one of the master of his thoughts, memories and consciousness, with the feeling of innocent and natural magical equilibrium. The earth elementals can take on material appearance by the invocation of the feeling of being master over all desires and astral phenomena, then creating a volt of gravity and darkness for the gnome to take upon himself.

    Regarding planetary wands, from Beyond the Veil of Illusion:

    The premise to explain cosmic harmony can be quite simple too, as most solar teachings. It says the magic wand, loaded with cosmic radiation, works for the magician in all spheres because the magician works for the universe in all spheres through universal radiation.

    At first, this simple axiom might leave the reader wondering about its meaning. Luckily, we are still magicians, and we can load our magic wand with cosmic radiation, finding the axiom in practice. We will not enter details on how to charge or load and consecrate a magician’s wand, this is not that kind of book. I have, however, written enough books that explain the method with some amount of precision, and Franz Bardon has given as well enough elucidations in this kind of procedure, either through his work Initiation Into Hermetics or The Practice of Magical Evocation.

    For the work at hand and having cosmic radiation into account, it is enough to remind the reader that the light infusing the wand must be imagined (created) with the quality of a will that feeds itself and of itself, becoming an unbreakable ring of unity and power, whose name is cosmic harmony. 

    In other words, the use of this ring, figuratively speaking but also magically speaking, is the entrance to the realm of cosmic harmony, where all things work for the same end and where the magician himself sacrifices to (becomes) that end.

    Beyond what has been said, we can add that cosmic harmony is represented by a lion-serpent. The Ancient Egyptians knew this symbol as the royal seed of the pharaohs, where the pharaohs are Osiris (the continuity of consciousness throughout all dissolution).  

    As a symbol, this solar figure, the Chnoubis , was used for protection, banishing all hindrances to cosmic harmony and ensuring health and enlightenment throughout the cycles of life.

    17. Entering of the magic circle with the simultaneous feeling of ties and symbolization of the microcosm and macrocosm

    This has been entertained in various ways, and although more could be said, this article has limits.

    18. Concentration on the magic space, that is, the complete elimination of the ideas of time and space

    For the quabbalist, it should be sufficient to practice the letter N in the akasha. For others, I should like to quote again from the yet unpublished Beyond the Veil of Illusion, so as to feed the practitioners meditation on the subject:

    Focusing on the personality of the masters is stripping the contacts that are about to take place of their cosmic quality, so do keep your own personality and the personality of the master in the background. 

    Some notes should be given in this book as well regarding the process of evocation itself, for there have been many misconceptions about the whole process, and some I seemingly have not been able to clarify in previous books. 

    If a cosmic master wants to materialize, the cosmic master will, and there are enough accounts of this happening. During evocations, however, the materialization of the master in the room comes most often than not from the consciousness of the magician being projected through the akasha to the spiritual abode of the being, so that the being appears in the room as the senses channel the impressions, but there is no room where the master is and both the consciousness of the master and of the Adept are reunited nowhere and everywhere. 

    More, some people ask me if one or another master is still available in the spiritual realms or if this or that master has reincarnated. 

    There is little essential in this question. If we are to take essence into account, whatever being lives in the spiritual realm exists in no time and at all times. This means that the many stages of a spiritual entity exist without limitation of extension, that is, the beings are available through the akasha eternally in all their facets. The reason why this is not often spoken of is that, even for very knowledgeable and experienced magicians, it confounds the concept of personality, for if, in spirit, we exist in all manners that we have existed and will exist, how can we maintain our individuality? However, the mind of a cosmic master is not limited by notions of time and space except to operate in time and space, and it is expressed by the hive mind of all these possibilities. 

    In other words, incarnation and reincarnation are measured sequentially from the standpoint of time and space, but from the akasha, all incarnations happen simultaneously, and all disembodied journeys too.

    19. Repeated contact with one’s deity

    Two suggestions. Assume the deity as taught in step X of Initiation Into Hermetics and, as the deity, communicate with the deity in all things external, so that all phenomena is a manifestation from the deity to the deity.

    The second suggestion for repeated contact figures in my Through the Soul Mirror to the Sphere of the Sun:

    Once the magician learned to meditate on his spirit, composed of fire as willpower, air as cognition, water as feeling, and earth as consciousness, he has learned to think with all four heads simultaneously, then adding a fifth, that of the astral senses, and finally, the physical senses. He has brought the six heads to think in harmony.

    The seventh head is that of the God-Head. The magician has learned this seventh head too; all six heads have bowed to the seventh, and during such trances, the pyramid has become wholly the centre at the top.

    We will now learn how to articulate the seventh head in a different shape. Let the magician transfer himself to his spirit, his mental body, standing beside his physical body. Let the mental body meditate on the godhood that it has known, calling it forth from out of its depth point. Then, the magician will imagine the God-Head leaving the mental body as the hand leaves the glove.

    The explorations the magician will be capable of are not possible to describe, but let him gaze on the mental body now, for it will become omniscience itself, and let him look at the astral body and it will become the eternal sea of love; let him look at the physical body, and it will become omnipresence.

    This is the Philosophical Stone, said to make its owner capable of feeling the sweeping of all stars, and it is the Grail of the Scarlet Lady kept and carried by the seven-headed beast.

    20. Placing of the magician’s whole personality into the relevant mental sphere with all his implements

    Not only this, which may easily be achieved by performing the sphere tone quabbalistically (again, A Guide to Sphere Quabbalah) or by Bardon’s imagination of the light oscillation, the chamber of operations (in the subtle plane) should also be transported to the corresponding sphere. 

    21. Giving orders to the being or power of that sphere in regard to its evocation and imaginative forming of shape in which the being or power is to appear in the magic triangle or magic mirror

    Forget monopoly over the being’s shape and let the being have its mode of expression. Focus instead on filtering the quality of the experience: you want the best outcome under the best of luck and for the experience to bless you supremely and totally.

    22. Returning with consciousness to the operating room

    Bring not only the being but the very sphere or elemental kingdom with you into the room.

    23. Wanting or ordering a spirit to communicate a message or do a certain job in whatever sphere necessary

    Addressed in the beginning.

    24. Conscious dismissing of the being, at the end of operations, to the sphere from which it has been evoked and the finishing of the operation by saying a prayer of thanks

    Nothing to add to Bardon’s suggestions.

    25. Storing up of all magical implements, including the magic circle etc.

    As a curiosity, my old mentor once taught me to have all my magical tools loaded into rings, bracelets and pendants that I could carry with me, wear and undress at all times and places. I go as far as to state that you can encode the magical tools in ritual gestures or seals. See my article Magical Gestures by André Consciência.

    26. Entering the total course of operation, the time it needed, its success etc. into the Book of Formulae.

    Have two different books. Let one be of pure recording and evidence, for later consultation. On the other book, translate all experiences into bodies of wisdom, practice and method. Magic should become science, art, worldly activity or philosophy. Evocations are useless otherwise. 

    Also, remember that it is not enough to register successes and failures merely; it is essential to identify the causes of success and failure, as well as how to replicate success and overcome failure.

    Now we can finally return to point 5: 

    I will not be focusing on the ceremony itself, you have PME for that effect and Bardon’s example. In itself, it is quite sufficient, and all that I am adding is purely extra content. But I will focus on a preparation that leads to an impactful first evocation, capable of serving as a deep initiation.

    Magical Belt

    Reduce the magical belt operation to nine months if you must, but do engage and give it great priority. Then renew it, make it a way of life if you are up to it. If you don’t align your mastery with your worldly call to action you risk severing the connection during evocation.

    Evoking your subconscious

    Despair not, for during these nine months you will be working other aspects as well. Start by evoking your subconscious and interacting with it. This process is personal but the universal goal is to have it become obedient, non-active during the operations and only working to maximize the undistorted signal of the evoked beings.

    If you can’t simply evoke the subconscious (this should be no big challenge if you have completed IIH) engage in mental wandering, which will help you define the background.

    If that seems to be beyond your reach also, try a cave with reflective dark waters and moving glyphs. Inside the waters, there is a submerged twilight temple with a labyrinth whose turns and chambers change according to your thoughts, and inside this labyrinth, there is a library of shadows, dreams and emotions. The library is the messenger. Interact with this library.

    Later, you do not find the library but a dreaming child’s room where the toys engage and speak to you. They are the messenger.

    Then, at some point, instead of the dreaming child’s room in the labyrinth, you find a theatre, and scenes play out both directed and played by the messenger, who is all actors. 

    Finally, you find nothing, but the walls of the labyrinth are all made of mirrors and your reflections do not obey you. They are obeying the messenger. When you can bring him from the mirrors to your front, you will easily get indications on how to evoke him successfully.  

    Whatever the case, provide the background intimacy, making it inner and suggestive (mutability and association), rather than cosmic or elemental. You can use, during such explorations, the help of your guardian genius if it is not distorted, and during the evocations, the assumption of your personal deity.

    The messenger must always answer to divinity under whatever form or shape, for although the messenger rules psychic form and shape, it has no rule and only subservience towards divinity. That said, the specific deity that governs it directly appears as a masked king, the mask showing no recognizable feature and the crown radiating with infinite light. 

    Additionally, it will be easy for the magician to capture the seal of their subconscious through automatic drawing and similar techniques, as taught in IIH through passive communication. Besides, a universal seal can be a triple ring inside which there is a crescent moon held in a mirror, and in this crescent moon, a black drop. Inside this black drop, there should be your birth chart’s moon.  Obviously, if you use this sign, later the messenger will provide unique and personal alternatives. 

    Evoking your Guardian Genius

    You will be able to test if your work with the subconscious is successful when you can, without disruption, evoke your guardian genius with the utmost clarity, and the line is unimpeded within all extrasensory abilities. Since the magician has met the Guardian Angel or Genius already in IIH, spiralling up where all shadows are banished to that white-gold temple floating above the boundless sea of thought, instructions will be given by the Genius.

    At this point, you are already practicing knowing well the purpose of your evocations, and proceeding as indicated in point 1 when it comes to the evocation of the messenger or the evocation of the guardian genius. In fact, all the delineated steps are being put into practice, although some of them are still being refined towards perfection. 

    To evoke the guardian genius, the personal deity is optimal, but something that could work universally is the omnipotent head of Ra or Atum-Ra, the contemplative chest of the omniscient Apollo, the abdominal region of the eternal Ahura Mazda, to whom the world is his bosom, and the ever-reaching limbs of the very Guardian Angel.

    Obtaining the personal seal from your guardian genius is imperative. A generic seal that might help is a six-petaled flower inside a hexagram. At the top triangle of the hexagram, there is a crown, and at the bottom triangle, a magical mirror. The other triangles should contain the letters of YHVH, each one letter, correspondingly, in the Hebrew glyph. And around a circle should close with the inscription: “In silent radiance, I behold the Face of My Star”. 

    Meditative Light

    During these nine months a very important aspect will be to practice the meditative attitude with which to light the magical lamp. That is, the practice of the meditation we have given. It should develop to a point as further described in Beyond the Veil of Illusion:

    The second task is that of maintaining the trance state generated in the previous step. The longer one maintains it, the stronger the consequences and transformations. Without the transformation that comes from the permanence of this state, all that will result from the Ogdoad Method is a cathartic moment after which there will be no fruits to reap.

    One can strive to remain in this state for one minute, then two, then three, up to five, and up to half an hour. Maybe one hour. Then in daily life, while engaging in daily activities and performing daily duties, until this state becomes our natural state of repose and balance.

    From remaining in the trance of cosmic creation or fire, we begin to exhale the so-called cosmic emanation. In the “Way of Mystery – Magick, Mysticism and Self-Transcendence”, Nema  speaks of this state in an elucidating descriptive manner. I will, therefore, use her better words.

    What she calls rapture , and we cosmic emanation is, in her words, “a sense of being seized and swiftly carried upward, like a fish or a rabbit in the talons of an eagle or a hawk. Solid footing is gone, and struggle might result in a fatal plunge. There is often a sensation of being surrounded by and merged with light. In my own experience I’ve encountered a warm golden haze, a brightness of pure light, a silver-blue radiance as well as occasions of vivid, living darkness, a light beyond sight. In each case, the radiance is inhabited by an intelligence that stays at the edge of awareness, scarcely glanced, almost seen, haunting, familiar, and strange. The light and darkness pierce and penetrate every part of you, charging your vibratory rates with new energy while bearing its information into you.”

    In other words, the cosmic emanation is the rapture of surrender, whose name is ecstasy, and it removes experience, physical pleasure, and instinct from their commanding stations so that bliss now guides the magician, and he or she becomes the mystic saint whose presence can produce miracles like healings, bi-locations, sightings, etc. The mystic will produce his or her miracles often unaware of them, but the magician knows that this cosmic emanation also translates into an astral fluid that intoxicates the air with the perfume of sanctity, being a visionary light that gives him or her and the bodies around him or her their glowing countenance and halos.

    This fluid can be harnessed and worked consciously in and with the mind, the soul, and the body, and through the mental plane, the astral plane and the material plane.

    The Order of Works

    So, during these nine months in which you are solidifying the work of the belt, you are also doing concurrent operations.

    In the first three months, you are conquering the messenger while working alongside your guardian genius. You are also training the meditative light daily and obtaining a sense of sainthood.

    In the next three months, you are focusing on the work with your guardian genius, and working the magic mirror with the soul mirror to make sure all those virtues that the magical tools symbolize are fixed within your character. 

    The next three months, you dedicate to mastering the mandala or Vimanarupa of the sphere or elemental kingdom you wish to work with in your first official evocation, according to my article “From the Depth Point to Life on Venus”, and transporting the room to the sphere. You are also practicing repeated contact with your deity, and leaving your mental body within the Godhead, then inhabiting with the Godhead your bodies down to the material body and in this state absorbing the material with the etheric body, the etheric body with the astral body, the astral body with the mental body and absorbing the mental body back to the akasha state of the Godhead. You should also be able to reproduce this effect with whole rooms. 

    After these nine months, it is time to research for a whole moon all that is necessary to know about the being you will evoke. 

    Let us pick, for the sake of example, Aschmunadai:

    You have spent a whole moon understanding your purpose and the purpose of the monarch, adapting your soul mirror with the aid of the magic mirror for this operation and gaining insight into all the characteristics of the being yourself. You have now charged all magical tools and mastered the corresponding meditations, states of consciousness, or attitudes.

    You have become acquainted with raising consciousness to the abodes of your guardian genius and lowering those abodes to the very room, after charging it with the guardian’s light, and all other preparations, such as the timeless and spaceless state and so on. You can become your deity at will, and all the general steps have been mastered. 

    Aschmunadai’s first seal is given by Franz Bardon (PME), so we need not delve into that. We need to get acquainted with the place of evocation, which is to say, most importantly, the background. 

    Bardon described Aschmunadai in the following manner:

    “Aschmunadai – is a powerful initiate in the zone girdling the earth. He has the rank of an absolute monarch. His universal seal, as shown in picture 1, is very complicated, but is a graphical representation of all the fundamental qualities with which this high intelligence is equipped with regard to the zone girdling the earth and also with regard to our physical world. For the first evocation this seal has to be drawn in blue, red, green and yellow colours and has to be placed into the triangle outside the magic circle in front of the magician. As soon as he has been able to contact Aschmunadai he will get from him an abbreviated sign by the help of which the magician will be able to call the intelligence. This simplified sign of Aschmunadai’s seal must not be used unless approved by Aschmunadai. Aschmunadai can make the magician acquainted with all laws governing the mental and astral sphere of the zone girdling the earth and enable him to apply these laws. With Aschmunadai’s help the magician can get under his control the total zone girdling the earth and gain plenty of knowledge. Since Aschmunadai is in possession of a great number of servants, he can place at the magician’s disposal, if asked by him, servants who will assist him either in the zone girdling the earth or in our physical world and do everything he wants.”

    This leaves us with a domain that is the magnetic and symbolic envelope of the Earth, the intermediary between the terrestrial and the celestial. For instance, a vast temple suspended in space, from whose balconies the continents are visible.

    Since the seal is drawn in blue, red, green, and yellow, which directly correspond to Water, Fire, Earth, and Air, the background must radiate balanced elemental power. Given Aschmunadai’s monarchic status, a throne is appropriate. A transparent crystalline seat formed of interwoven elemental fluid, suspended in the zone, its form shifting subtly, making known his mental sovereignty.

    His seat is encircled by spirits, luminous figures in orbit, like satellites of choirs: his servants or aspects of his intelligence.

    To reflect his control over mental and astral laws, the background features floating diagrams or scrolls of light that inscribe themselves around the monarch in a horizon that contains both stars and minds, where thought and cosmos are one.

    Ethereal geometry, platonic solids, sigils, and mandalas drift or orbit, while Aschmunadai holds their laws with living presence. There is an ambient luminosity, as if these laws themselves emit light.

    Then, the magician, seated in the centre of his circle, beholds through the triangle a curved sphere of vast magnitude, encasing the Earth like a subtle membrane. Within it floats a crystalline throne, whose frame undulates between the elemental colors: red fire curling into blue water, green earth rising into yellow air. Upon the throne sits Aschmunadai, not robed in fabric but clothed in light-geometry and abstract crown, his face noble and vast, unreadable yet familiar. Behind him, the four elements spiral in immense arcs, and around him, seals drift like satellites, releasing the laws of matter, thought, and soul. In this space, symbols become alive and breathing. The practice for half a moon (from New Moon to Full) of this magical cartography and its plastic materialization is enough to get the magician introduced to Aschmunadai. When the magician visits him in the Earth Belt, things might be different, or if the magician invites Aschmunadai to possess this scenario and take body during the Full Moon, Aschmunadai will certainly take over and surprise the magician.  

    Finally, I suggest adding to this visualization of the background a second session devoted only to the character background in all its iconography. The first session is generalist and leaves more room for the influence of the intelligence, the second is quite detailed, zoomed, and holds greater psychic pressure from the magician. 

    The iconographic representation of Aschmunadai stands tall and regal, in a slightly abstracted anthropomorphic form, cloaked in flowing robes made of translucent astral energy, segmented and alive. The body itself has the form of the outer contour of the seal, a double-winged cloak built of the fluid of his aura. This becomes part of the robe or mantle. He towers as a hierophantic figure, seated on his crystalline throne shaped like a cube intersected by waves.

    Atop his head is a double red disc, of solar authority and earth-zone dominion. It is made of a halo of red-gold, with two discs intersecting and floating above the head like a planetary alignment. From the discs descend two vertical rods into his temples, directing the influx of universal law. His face is serene and abstract, half human, half mask, transpiring hidden knowledge. The eyes are crystalline and slightly closed, turned inward.

    Over the heart there stands a red-and-white shield with the letters Æ E S carved into the plate like a glyph of sovereignty. This quabbalistic formula discloses the threefold power of mental, astral, and physical dominion over the Earth zone, the first letter indicating Aschmunadai sees through all thoughts, actions and wishes concerning matter and is their absolute master; the second that Aschmunadai understands the perception of the remotest past, the present, and the future, indiscriminately of distance or kingdom, i.e., human kingdom or animal kingdom; the third letter revealing Aschmunadai has control of the consciousness of any human being or being of any sphere or plane of our macrocosm, starting from the kingdom of the elements up to the highest angels, original beings, genii, etc. 

    In the neck Aschmunadai has banded seal of the Egyptian scarab Kephra. This radiating jewel pulses with lines representing the flow of thought. On one side of the torso there is a butterfly-like glyph and on the other a spiral form, emanations of force and delegation, along with four small cherubic faces emanating from him at cardinal points.

    Additionally, the iconographic living figure presents four arms, in red, blue, yellow, and green, each holding an elemental wand:

    Red: Staff of Fire

    Blue: Staff of Water

    Yellow: Staff of Air

    Green: Staff of Earth 

    The lower torso catches three red-wave patterns that connect him to the fluid mental and astral currents of the earth zone. At the feet there stand intertwined elemental serpents coiling around a ringed globe, showing Aschmunadai’s rulership over the totality of elemental zones. Embedded into the surface of his mantle, as part of his robe’s iconography, there is a dice to his left shoulder and a playing card to his right.

    Behind him, a radiant wheel with compass-like arrows, the Wheel of Law, displays Aschmunadai’s insight into fate, cycles, and astral coordination. Influenced by the double disc it turns slowly behind his head like a celestial clock.

    In sum, Aschmunadai stands as a monumental form of light, his four arms holding the elemental staves, his mantle flowing like curved magnetic geometry. A double sun crowns his head, and in his breast shines the sigil ÆES, carved like a seal upon a divine tablet. From his back emerges the wheel of heavens, and his robe is inscribed with symbols of fate, elemental balance, and mental law. Beneath his feet, a globe is circled by spiraling bands. His presence is that of a mind-shaped flame, robed in elemental light, crowned with a radiant double-sun. His face is calm, abstracted, mirrored, his eyes are not for seeing but reflecting. And you feel the pull of order and the demand for clarity.

    Final Template

    To be performed in the Circle with Triangle prepared, Aschmunadai’s seal inscribed in red, yellow, green, and blue, and placed within the Triangle of Art. The magician wears white or gold, and carries a wand or sceptre crowned with a clear crystal or solar glyph. The ritual may take place at dawn or dusk, under a temperate sky. The elemental tools should be present in their proper quarters. And everything we have learned should have been taken care of. 

    You should have reinforced the operation by breathing into your robe the breath of silence, into your wand the fire of the stars, into your mirror the waters that reflect the astral planes, into the triangle the earth that bears the mystery of form, into the circle the spirit that binds all into wholeness, etc, always proceeding in wisdom, in harmony, in balance and peace.

    Now, in the center of the circle, with all it implies, and facing the Triangle, with all it implies, place the tip of your wand upon your heart:

    “By the unbroken thread that binds my breath to the starry Crown of the Infinite,

    I will this operation to draw forth the Intelligence of the Zone Girdling the Earth,

    The Great Monarch named Aschmunadai,

    Sovereign Architect of the Elemental Equilibrium,

    Master of the mental and astral legislations of Earth,

    That I may cause instruction in the noble art of inner dominion,

    Comprehension of the subtle statutes of causality and motion,

    Movement with poise across the corridors of force,

    And craft a soul palace governed by order, balance, and clarity.”

    (Fix the seal of Aschmunadai)

    “May these things be

    That I establish a dwelling-place of peace at the center of my being,

    That I administer the faculties of mind, imagination, and will

    That I walk the boundary between manifestation and intention

    That I perceive the concealed architecture of cause and effect,

    And inscribe new meaning in the soul mirrors

    With deliberate and reverent hand.”

    (Place both hands over your heart. Speak slowly.)

    “Because I am the sovereign of my inner world.

    Because form meets freedom in the temple of consciousness.

    Because I listen through silence.

    Because the mental realm is a kingdom,

    And I wear the crown of responsibility.

    Because beneath all multiplicity is one order,

    And I serve that order in fullness of will.”

    (Hold the wand vertically before you. Call forth the backgrounds and fix your gaze on what you see.)

    “So, O Sovereign Aschmunadai,

    High Initiate of the Zone that girdles the Earth,

    Supreme Mediator of Element and Idea,

    You whose thought is law and whose law is balance,

    Who holds the mirror of the Earth between the realms,

    And teaches the magician how to reign in reflection and radiance.

    By your command, the four elements are yoked in harmony.

    By your voice, the mind becomes luminous and silent.

    In your presence, the realms realign into their proper tone,

    And the ladder of ascent is guarded but clear.

    In the sanctuary of your dominion this divinity visits,

    By your sigil this divinity knocks, by your seal this divinity waits,

    And in reverence this divinity asks:

    Unveil the statutes of your kingdom.

    Show the ways of rulership without tyranny.

    Place in this keeping a servant of your light

    To instruct according to readiness and truth.

    Aschmunadai, Monarch of the Encircling Flame,

    Listen to this voice.”

    As for the rest, you know what to do. 

    The best of luck,
    André Consciência


    A Guide to Sphere Quabbalah

    This book covers aspects of The Key to True Quabbalah, by Franz Bardon, and expands them. It is divided into four parts that serve the magician, the theurgist and the learning quabbalist. 

    A Guide to Sphere Quabbalah by Andre COnsciencia
  • Martial Arts, Energy Work & Practical Alchemy: An Interview with Marissa Newell

    Martial Arts, Energy Work & Practical Alchemy: An Interview with Marissa Newell

    Introduction

    In this interview, we get to learn from a seasoned practitioner, Marisa Newell who’s been on a long, hands-on journey through martial arts, energy work, and practical magic. We cover various disciplines—from the early days of learning Tai Chi in Thailand and working with teachers like Sifu Rod Savvides, to deep dives into inner alchemy and evocation with Sifu Mark Rasmus, Sifu Ludovic Pernot, and Sifu Michael Lamb. I hope you enjoy.

    If you would like to learn more about Marisa’s work please visit her website here.


    Background

    ● Please tell us about your background and how you came to be on the path

    ● Can you discuss any teachers or guides who helped you on the path and what they shared with you? From your website it looks like you have a great deal of experience with many varied teachers.

    Kung Fu

    ● Could you share a little about your martial training? The different teachers and systems?

    ● Sifu Rod Savvides

    Thanks for this opportunity, James – I appreciate the work you’re doing and the support for practitioners.

    The start of my journey began by relocating from Australia to Thailand in 2004, and subsequently meeting the Russian psychic Diana Manilova in Chiang Mai. Diana suggested that I learn tai chi – which I knew nothing about at the time (2007) – and also astrology and crystal singing bowls. The following week I saw a flyer at a local cafe for tai chi chuan training with Sifu Rod Savvides at his Body and Mind Healing school … and that’s how I came to be on this path. The astrology and crystal singing bowls never eventuated.

    Under Sifu Rod, I trained Wudang Practical Tai Chi Chuan of Sifu Dan Docherty lineage which involved hand and weapons forms and applications, pushing hands, Baduanjin chi kung, zhan zhuang, and nei gong over the span of nine years.

    The majority of the training was purely physical with a focus on learning forms and how the forms are used in self-defence applications, along with some listening and sensitivity exercises like reeling silk. The Wudang Practical Tai Chi Chuan short and long hand forms are initially taught in a ‘square’ style – with each physical posture and movement separate from the other – before being taught ‘round’ with the postures flowing into each other in movement. It was a long learning process and certainly taught me about discipline and patience.

    While I enjoyed the training, over time I felt a huge lack of internal energy understanding and that the system was missing aspects to support inner development. So, seeking a practice beyond physical movement naturally led me to new teachers.

    Having had the opportunity to train with some great teachers and get a taste for different systems, I can attest that the teachers who have had the most impact upon my studies and path, and where I find the most resonance, are Sifu Mark Rasmus and Sifu Ludovic Pernod.

    Sifu Mark Rasmus

    ● Can you share about your first experience with Sifu Mark?

    ● What made you decide to pursue in depth study with Sifu Mark

    My first day of training with Sifu Mark Rasmus was exciting, intimidating and humbling. When I walked through the door he said, “I know you – you’re that warrior woman. You’re scary, throwing your spear around in the park.” He also likened me to Fudo Myoo, which I wasn’t sure how to take at the time. 

    I honestly didn’t feel much or understand a lot of Sifu Mark’s teachings in the beginning because I was so closed, despite being a sensitive type of person. The energy inside the training hall and the exercises – just at a vital level – touched a lot of my resistances, so my initial experience was quite difficult and chaotic. I knew how to show up and train regardless, so that’s what I did until I finally got things. It was a slow process for me and, thankfully, Sifu Mark was very welcoming and kind. This initial training period primarily revolved around building vital energy and training my physical body through building the ball, power stretches, eight powers, throwing exercises, and tree qigong. Another important area of focus was getting my astral body in equanimity. I would practice at Wat Umong temple every day and build the four elements into my astral body, and strengthen my connection to Akasha and Non-Dual White Light for self-healing. After about a month of this – just this practice alone – there were noticeable energy shifts or changes and this was massively encouraging and empowering. I had never worked with energy previously in such a way to affect real change as I did with Sifu Mark’s teachings.

    I took, and still do take, a very practical approach with my own training because I learn best through doing. I’m firmly convinced that we can only affect change through action. Understanding how energy works comes through experiencing it ourselves. A teacher can provide the theory and energy transmission, but you’ve got to be able to feel and reproduce the energy on your own with your own effort in order to take ownership of the teachings and transmissions.

    Over the years of training with Sifu Mark my interest in tai chi chuan and martial aspects in general gradually faded (although I still enjoy the rebounding force component of Sifu Mark’s system) and my focus shifted towards spiritual, ascension aspects of qigong and Hermetics. 

    I’m extremely grateful to Sifu Mark for sharing his knowledge so openly – it’s like standing on the shoulders of a giant – and I aim to live up to his ability, kindness and generosity as a teacher. 

    Learn from Sifu Mark Rasmus on Perseus Arcane Academy

    Sifu Ludovic

    I can’t write about Sifu Mark Rasmus without mentioning one of his senior students, Sifu Ludovic Pernot. Sifu Ludovic is a powerhouse healer and teacher. With a military and martial arts background, he emphasises training the quantitative aspects of power and willpower through building proper vital energy foundations, and this is demonstrated by his powerful ability to bring energy into form.

    In 1995, at the age of 25, Sifu Ludovic met Taoist healer Sifu Liu in France and followed him to China in order to study with him until 2017. The lineage of Sifu Liu translates as ‘the people from Penguin Mountain’. Sifu Liu is not a master you’ll find on YouTube, but from the footage shared with me of his Taoist singing/chanting, tai chi / qigong forms and administering energy healing he was certainly special and you can sense that influence of energy in Sifu Ludovic’s field. Sifu Liu passed away on 23rd February 2025.

    On my first day of training with Sifu Mark, I met Sifu Ludovic and we subsequently trained together in the mornings before class. In classic military style I was expected to be at the park for training exactly on time – no excuses – and I thrived inside of that discipline which fueled my willpower to practice. I remember getting up early, riding on my bicycle in the dark to the park or the temple, very little talking and a lot of quality practice – standing and also seated meditation on uncomfortable benches while being swarmed by mosquitoes, bugs and insects, but with my spirit feeling completely invigorated.

    Sifu Ludovic is one of the hardest teachers I’ve ever had, but I’ve also had some of the best experiences and breakthroughs training with him. The countless hours of training together and friendship on the path has had a huge impact on my development and I’m fortunate to have Sifu Ludovic as a teacher.

    Hermetics and Kabbalah with Sifu Michael Lamb

    Michael is a wonderful character, can you share what it was like working with him? Despite him and Sifu Mark sharing the same teacher in William Cook I imagine both have their own expression.

    Sifu Michael Lamb is certainly quite the character! And yes, he and Sifu Mark have their own individual approach, personality and expression of the Hermetic teachings from their teacher, William Cook Edwards. 

    I met Sifu Michael in 2023 during the lead-up to Sifu Mark’s annual trainings in Chiang Mai. Sifu Michael had scheduled his Kabbalah and the Tree of Life workshop to follow soon afterwards. 

    Senior students were generously given the opportunity to practice and learn energy meditations with Sifu Micheal in the evenings and that was a lot of fun. One evening Sifu Michael took us on a mental wandering exercise up Doi Suthep mountain (which backs on to the training hall), mentally moving from the training room, up the mountain, feeling the vegetation and coolness, and then slowly settling on the top of the mountain. As we settled there and became one with the mountain, I felt the entire mountain move – serpent and circular-like – and all of a sudden, I felt a power rising up and the head of a giant naga (Asian serpentine dragon) appeared in front of me – blazing and golden – and I was face-to-face with it for some minutes. It was an incredible and unforgettable experience and I see that mountain with different eyes now. 

    Sifu Michael is a wealth of knowledge and he led us through wonderful meditations with our chakras, the elements and the Kabbalah letters during his workshop. We also worked with constellations, which was new for me, and I had some very memorable and interesting experiences, particularly with the stars Arcturus and Sirius. The training is excellent for developing psychic senses and he runs this course online with his partner, Manuela Elphame, through their M&M Hermetic Mastery programs.

    ● How do you apply the teachings you received to your own programs? Internal Alchemy & Qigong Level 1

    ● Please tell us about this program, would this be something similar to the work of Franz Bardons first book?

    My training programs are based upon the teachings of Sifu Mark and Sifu Ludovic, with Franz Bardon having obviously influenced their teachings. Training is centered around developing the feeling sense perception of energy – clairsentience – and, through that, students are better able to navigate and understand energy and states of consciousness. 

    I tend to attract people who are seeking healing and spirituality. My students are a mix of beginners wanting to heal and find more meaning in life and established healers, therapists and teachers who have been practicing in their fields for a long time but feel they’re missing the energetic aspects.

    My Inner Temple program is inspired by evocation work with four elemental beings Pyrhum, Parahim, Amasol, and Mentiful, and the Earth sphere being Aschmunadai.

    In Foundations of the Inner Temple: Internal Alchemy & Qigong Intensive (Level 1) we focus on the vital, astral and mental energy layers with an emphasis on the four elements to build a framework primarily for inner work, self-healing and raising our consciousness. We incorporate basic mental training to develop the observer mind; astral training to investigate our astral personality and how the elements express in our black and white mirror, and how to alchemise our emotions; and vital training with the use of a chi brush and vital breathing each day to build energy for energy transformation work. 

    My approach is extremely practical. The majority of the internal alchemy and qigong exercises are done in seated meditation, with corresponding partner work to increase awareness of how energy affects not only themselves but other people. I find that people learn and understand much more through partner work. The basic starting point for partner work is learning how to feel our training partner’s feet through the tension line of their body and to open and float them with vital energy and, from that, increasing the complexity of partner exercises primarily for healing.

    ● How long does it usually take for students to get accustomed to the elements and develop their clairsentience?

    By the end of Level 1 – 40 hours over ten days of training – students will have developed clairsentience with the ability to feel the vibrational scale of energy and feel stronger with the harmony of the four elements in their vital, astral and mental bodies. 

    Occasionally some students find it difficult to feel energy, but because the training resonates with them and they see other students having experiences they continue training – often working harder than the students who are more sensitive and intuitive. 

    Towards the end of the Level 1 training I introduce Akasha and Non-Dual White Light. I find that this transmission connects people to a higher state that they haven’t touched before, or may have touched before but haven’t had the mechanism or way to get back to that experience, and it can be a profound experience that inspires them on their path.

    By the end of this training students have a lot of information, practices and a clear framework to take home and support their inner work, healing and growth. I also have an online Telegram group to support the students and so that everyone can stay connected.

    ● Leading on from the elements, what needs to occur for students to move onto the akasha and non dual light?

    I simply offer Akasha and Non-Dual White Light teachings for those who want to learn after completing Level 1. Some do and others don’t. By the end of Level 1 students know if they are ready to do that work or need time to integrate what they have already learned before continuing further study. 

    In Building the Inner Temple: Internal Alchemy & Qigong Intensive (Level 2) – also 40 hours over ten days – the program focuses on Akasha and Non-Dual White Light exercises. We continue to build vital energy each day and also the elements in the three bodies, and learn how to invoke the elements from Akasha. 

    We go into deeper aspects of self-healing and also healing techniques with our training partners using the elements, Akasha and Non-Dual White Light. We connect to our spiritual guides and I introduce the Buddhist deity Akashagarbha and we learn how to work with Akasagarbha and our spiritual guides inside of our healing work, and on a path of service. Students usually have memorable peak experiences inside of Akasha and Non-Dual White Light, and for long-time practitioners a lot of what that they have previously learned and experienced makes greater sense inside of those frequencies.

    In meditation we have our own interaction with the spirit/deity/intelligence and afterwards journal and share our experiences within the group.

    Marissa Newell

    ● How long would students need to work with this material before looking towards Evocation?

    For students who have completed Levels 1 and 2, I offer guidance in evocation. Again, students usually know whether they’re ready for learning these techniques or instead need more time to integrate what they’ve learned in the first two levels. My evocation groups tend to be smaller, more intimate.

    Expanding the Inner Temple: Practical Magical Evocation Workshop (Level 3) consists of three hours per day of meditation with different spirits/deities/intelligences over nine days. We refine the mechanics of transforming energy, releasing our bodies, raising up into Light, opening a circle, and with invocation each day.

    Approaching this work on a path of service, evolution and ascension, we start with invocation of the elemental spirits and Aschmunadai to build a stable and quiet Inner Temple space for practice, and then progressively work with intelligences from the Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Sun planetary spheres. 

    In meditation we have our own interaction with the spirit/deity/intelligence and afterwards journal and share our experiences within the group. Student experiences will range from deep healing to profound insights, information to evolve their current life interests, and clair-senses awakening and developing. It’s a lot of fun.

    This workshop provides a simple and powerful way to connect and work with spirits/deities/intelligences utlising the framework learned from Levels 1 and 2, with a practical energy and feeling perception-based approach.  

    I’ve evolved the trainings over time, drawing upon feedback from students, trying to better understand what people seek in trainings, and taking into consideration potential availability and the realistic time commitments that students face. I’m sure that what I offer and my development as a teacher will continue to evolve into the future.

    Evocation

    ● This is very personal experience but if you are able can you share about any notable experiences? Whether that be due to the entity in question or as a result of the practice.

    ● What can you tell us about your work with Evocation? Does it strictly follow the course that Bardon lays out?

    ● I notice you work with Buddhist and Taoist deities, how did you go about contact these initially? Via Mental Wandering?

    Evocation is what I enjoy the most and I follow the method as taught by Sifu Mark Rasmus which utilises Franz Bardon’s The Practice of Magical Evocation as a guide to the intelligences. I use the same method for working with Buddhist and Taoist deities too.

    The platform for connecting to spirits/deities/intelligences is through Akasha and Non-Dual White Light. The deity is invoked through the crown and into the mental body, working with our feeling sense gate. We feel the deity enter the mental body and then there is a process of releasing the mind, sense of self, mental body and facial muscles to come into resonance with the deity. Feeling the energetic signature of the deity over your face provides a marker for staying connected or in contact with the deity.

    Interacting with the deity inside of Light and our mental body, the energy translates into information and insight on our path. Healing can also take place as Light filters down into our astral and physical bodies. I’ve had a lot of profound experiences in evocation. 

    My entry point was practicing deity yoga with Buddhist deity Fudo Myoo, breathing to and from a printed image of Fudo Myoo and connecting with it energetically – vital, astral, mental, Akasha, and Non-Dual White Light – sensing the effects upon the three bodies. In vital one immediately feels the power of the vital energy from Fudo Myoo. Moving into the astral one gets a sense for how the heart centre opens through his love and compassion for all beings. In the mental body an understanding of the immovable nature of his mind – to be concentrated and still. After establishing a connection to Fudo Myoo in this way for some time, I then practiced evocation and the energy and experiences began to amplify. Most notably when I first experienced fire rising from the ground into the space/room and through the three bodies as a type of purification and how Fudo Myoo regulates energy for healing.

    Sifu Ludovic introduced me to the Taoist deity, Ancestor Pengzu, from his time with Sifu Liu in China. Ancestor Pengzu is the father of qigong who emits a light of longevity, and there is a specific five organs practice (Yang Sheng) which has an incredible effect on the physical body – particularly, for women, regulating the menstrual cycle. Over one particular period of time, I was working with Ancestor Pengzu each day, inviting the deity into the space and doing the five organs practice. Amidst different energy experiences, I began having clairvoyant experiences. Ancestor Pengzu appeared along with other Taoist deities, most notably a female deity named Xi Wang Mu, also known as the Queen Mother of the West. Over that month I was given information on different herbs to eat and drink that were all associated with longevity and health. I experienced past lives as a Taoist monk, was shown specific qigong forms for longevity, and also encountered dragons. I always feel very good when I work with the energy of Ancestor Pengzu, particularly at a vital-physical level and I return to the five organs practice time and time again.

    Working from Franz Bardon’s book, the Sun sphere intelligences have had the greatest impact upon me and I would say that most students who train with Sifu Mark sense the connection and alignment to the Sun sphere through his teachings. I feel that the personal and spiritual evolution inside of my own practice and development as a teacher is supported by the beings of Sun. 


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  • Sixty Skills Five Part Curriculum

    Sixty Skills Five Part Curriculum

    About Sixty Skills

    In this video, the founder shares insights into the Sixty Skills material. With over 30 years on this path, the founder has traveled the world in search of living traditions, gathering invaluable knowledge along the way. The Sixty Skills curriculum is the result of that extensive exploration.

    For a deeper dive, check out the interviews below and visit his about page on his website. This page is designed to give prospective students all the information they need about the teacher and their teachings.

    If you have any questions, feel free to reach out via our contact page.

    Interviews

    Interviews with Sixty Skills


    Sixty Skills: Five Part Curriculum

    1. Master Course Curriculum

    The Master Course is an 18-Month Curriculum leading to Magical Independence. If you intend to take this training as far as you can and actually experience what so many can only read about then the Master Course is a rare opportunity to access everything you need. Regardless of your experience, if you follow the instructions in each course and invest the recommended number of hours into your practice then in 18-Months you will be pleasantly surprised with what you are now capable of.

    The Master Course allows you to purchase ALL of the courses in the 18-month curriculum, the reason to do this is to obtain a big saving and secure access to everything you need to take you from zero experience to a level of proficiency where you can generate your own Akasha and Non Dual Light (See the importance of that here), as well as invoke and evoke with a full understanding of the underlying mechanisms leaving you free to explore the magical universe. You will know how to wield the elements, create rituals, charge objects and magical spaces, perform evocations and so much more…you will know how to do these things and most importantly you will know why it works.

    Each level of the curriculum is listed below. We also wrote about the benefits of the Master Course here, and here we provided an extended preview of each course – up to 30 mins for many of the courses – this provides enough information to make an informed choice as to whether the material is for your or not.

    Level 1

    • Mental: How to Concentrate
    • Astral: Building the Chi Ball, What is the Secret Smile
    • Physical: What are the Electric and Magnetic Lines of Force?

    Level 2

    • Mental: Auto Suggestion: What is the Mala Method?
    • Astral: How to Breathe Astral Energy?, Developing Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, and Claireaugstance
    • Physical: Training the Electric/Magnetic Lines of Force with Movement

    Level 3

    • Mental: How to Generate Mental Energy
    • Astral: Creating Your Life’s Movie
    • Physical: Training the Electric/Magnetic Lines of Force with Movement

    Level 4

    • Mental: Creating Your Life’s Movie
    • Astral: Training the Four Elements (Fire, Air, Water, and Earth), Room Impregnation: Filling Your Sacred Space
    • Physical: Resistance Training for Magicians: The Yoga of Strength

    Level 5

    • Mental: The Three Transformations: How to Convert Your Energies
    • Astral: Establishment of Equilibrium: The Four Elements and Magic
    • Physical: Training the Electric/Magnetic Lines of Force with Movement

    Level 6

    • Mental: Transference of Consciousness and the Grain of Sand
    • Astral: Room Impregnation: Filling Your Sacred Space
    • Physical: Astral Walking

    Level 7

    • Mental: Transference of Consciousness and the Grain of Sand
    • Astral: Establishment of Equilibrium: The Four Elements and Magic
    • Physical: Power Walking with Weights: The Walk of the Magicians

    Level 8

    • Mental: The Zero Point: Out of Body Projection for People Who Can’t
    • Astral: Creation of Elementaries
    • Physical: Walking with the Elements

    Level 9

    • Mental: Mental Wandering: Intelligence Gathering and the Real OBE
    • Astral: The Void Meets Infinity: Akasha and Non-Dual Light Breathing
    • Physical: Rebounding: Fah Jin, Empty Force, and Fascia Development

    Level 10

    • Mental: The Void Meets Infinity: Akasha and Non-Dual Light Breathing, How to Learn Kabbalah from the Spirit World Via Evocation
    • Astral: The Chi Circulation Method, Advanced Clairvoyance Training
    • Physical: Volting: Expressing Your Will in the Universe, The Void Meets Infinity (Akasha and Non-Dual Light Breathing)

    2. Kabbalah (Quabbalah) Curriculum

    Franz Bardon’s Kabbalah (Quabbalah) is a system of three-point meditation, is a universal teaching of great antiquity and depth. Throughout the ages, adepts of every time and place have achieved the highest levels of magical attainment through the understanding of sound, color, number and vibration as embodied in the Kabbalah. It involves working with 27 letters that represent different energies on multiple levels. This Kabbalah serves as an internal system of cultivating personal abilities to harness natural forces, rather than relying on external rituals or entities.

    1. Introduction

    • Discord Group
    • Introduction

    2. Theory

    • How to Train the Letters
    • How to Ventilate
    • Requirements
    • How to Counterbalance
    • Progression with the Letters

    3. Build the Ball

    • Introduction
    • Introduction – Three Primary Exercises
    • Introduction – How to Perform the Exercises
    • Theory and Practice – Organization of the Phenomenal World
    • Theory and Practice – Energetic Realm
    • Theory and Practice – How To Pore Breath
    • BTB Techniques – Building The Ball
    • BTB Techniques – How To Move Energy Through The Body
    • BTB Techniques – How To Use The Fingers
    • BTB Techniques – How to Cup Energy Along The Body
    • Last Thought and Course Conclusion – The Roll of Will Power
    • Last Thought and Course Conclusion – Conclusion

    4. Astral Energy

    • Introduction
    • Things Needed to Practice
    • Theory and Practice – MEST and Suspension of Time
    • Theory and Practice – Need for Body and Breath
    • Theory and Practice – Connection to the Body
    • Theory and Practice – Astral versus Mental
    • How To Astral Breathe – Preparation and Practice
    • How To Astral Breathe – Astral Breathing Practice
    • How To Astral Breathe – Different Ways to Practice
    • Conclusion – Things Not Covered in this Course
    • Conclusion – Ending and Thanks

    5. Mental Energy

    • Introduction
    • Requirements
    • Theory and Practice – Suspension of Space
    • Theory and Practice – Concentration and Will Power
    • Theory and Practice – Relationship to the Body
    • Theory and Practice – Astral Versus Mental Wandering
    • How to Practice – Preparation
    • How to Practice – Posture
    • How to Practice – Mental Expansion
    • How to Practice – Different Ways to Practice
    • How to Practice – Energies and How They Can Be Used
    • Conclusion – Things Not Covered Here
    • Conclusion – Ending and Thanks

    6. The Three Transformations: How to Convert Your Energies

    • Introduction
    • Requirements
    • Theory and Practice – Why Perform the Three Transformations?
    • Theory and Practice – Going Up and Coming Down the Energetic Pathway
    • Theory and Practice – Vital Energy as Your Base
    • Theory and Practice – Passive Conversion of Energy
    • Theory and Practice – Do Not Mix Energies
    • Theory and Practice – Different Manifestations of Energies
    • Theory and Practice – Clairsentience
    • How to Practice – How to Go Up the Path of Enlightenment
    • How to Practice – How to Go Down the Chain of Manifestation
    • How to Practice – Things to Think About
    • Conclusion – Things Not Covered Here
    • Conclusion – Ending and Thanks

    7. Mother Letters

    • Sch/Fire
    • A/Air
    • M/Water
    • Umlaut A/Earth
    • E/Akasha

    8. Equilibrium

    • Introduction
    • Requirements
    • Theory and Practice – What is the Establishment of Equilibrium?
    • Theory and Practice – Akasha and Non-Dual Light with Equilibrium
    • Theory and Practice – Power Building and Equilibrium
    • Theory and Practice – Practice Design
    • How To Practice – Fire to Head
    • How To Practice – Air to Chest
    • How To Practice – Water to Abdomen
    • How To Practice – Earth to Legs
    • How To Practice – Establishment of Equilibrium
    • How To Practice – Things to Think About
    • Conclusion – Things Not Covered Here
    • – Conclusion – Ending & Thanks

    9. Fire Letters

    • FLS Fire Letter Variants Preview
    • FLS Introduction
    • FLS Requirements
    • FLS Reading on the Letter C
    • FLS Reading on the Letter D
    • FLS Reading on the Letter K
    • FLS Reading on the Letter R
    • FLS Reading on the Letter S
    • FLS Letter C Invocation
    • FLS Letter D Invocation
    • FLS Letter K Invocation
    • FLS Letter R Invocation
    • FLS Letter S Invocation
    • FLS Letter T Invocation
    • FLS Things to Think About
    • FLS Things Not Covered
    • FLS Conclusion

    10. Air Letters

    • ACL Air Letter Variants Preview
    • ACL Introduction
    • ACL Requirements
    • ACL Why Learn H, L, and Z
    • ACL Letter H Reading
    • ACL Letter L Reading
    • ACL Letter Z Reading
    • ACL Letter H Invocation
    • ACL Letter L Invocation
    • ACL Letter Z Invocation
    • ACL TNCH
    • ACL TTTA
    • ACL Conclusion

    11. Water Letters

    • Invocation of the Letter W
    • Invocation of the Letter N
    • Invocation of the Letter J
    • Invocation of the Letter Ch
    • Invocation of the Letter G
    • Letter W Reading
    • Letter N Reading
    • Letter J Reading
    • Letter Ch Reading
    • Letter G Reading

    12. Earth Letters

    • Earth Variants Course Preview
    • ELTS Introduction
    • ELTS Requirements
    • ELTS Why Learn
    • ELTS Posture and Counterbalance
    • ELTS Letter B Reading
    • ELTS Letter F Reading
    • ELTS Letter I Reading
    • ELTS Letter O Reading
    • ELTS Letter P Reading
    • ELTS Letter B Invocation
    • ELTS Letter F Invocation
    • ELTS Letter I Invocation
    • ELTS Letter O Invocation
    • ELTS Letter P Invocation
    • ELTS Things to Think About
    • ELTS Things Not Covered
      – ELTS Conclusion

    13. Akashic Letters

    • Akashic Letters Preview
    • AKL Introduction
    • AKL Requirements
    • AKL Why Train Y, Umlaut O, and U
    • AKL Invocation of the Letter U
    • AKL Invocation of Umlaut O
    • AKL Invocation of the Letter Y UE
    • AKL Karma and Akasha
    • AKL Letter E Reading
    • AKL Letter U Reading
    • AKL Umlaut O Reading
    • AKL Letter Y UE Reading
    • AKL TNCH
    • AKL TTTA
    • AKL Conclusion

    14. The Four Letter Combinations

    • Four Letter Element Theory
    • Four Letter Fire
    • Four Letter Air
    • Four Letter Water
    • Four Letter Earth
    • Four Letter Akasha
    • Four Primary Energies
    • Four Letter Mental
    • Four Letter Astral
    • Four Letter Vital

    15. Master Meditation

    • 20 Letter Theory
    • 20 Letter Stack

    16. Additional Information & What Comes Next

    • Four Corners Theory
    • Four Corners Elemental Meditation
    • Charging Substances Theory
    • EN
    • BH

    17. Invocation of Radina

    • Introduction
    • Requirements
    • Theory and Practice – Why Evoke Radina?
    • Theory and Practice – The Planetary Path of Advancement
    • Theory and Practice – Ball Above Head and the Head
    • Theory and Practice – How Spirits Manifest
    • Theory and Practice – Different Levels of Development
    • Theory and Practice – Mediumship Versus Evocation
    • How to Practice – Evocation of Radina
    • How to Practice – Things to Think About
    • Conclusion – Things Not Covered Here
    • Conclusion
    • Sigil

    18. Sixty Skills Question and Answer

    • April 2024 – Q&A for Master Course and Kabbalah Students
    • October 2024 – Q&A for Master Course and Kabbalah Students


    3. Planetary Kabbalah (Quabbalah) Curriculum

    Planetary Kabbalah is an advanced esoteric practice that involves placing the energetic essences or “power aspects” of planets within different parts of one’s body in order to generate specific effects. This is akin to working with multi-letter Kabbalistic practices from the Franz Bardon lineage. However, to even begin studying Planetary Kabbalah, one must first master the foundational “mother letters” representing the elemental forces of fire, air, water, earth, and akasha, as well as develop the ability to discern between the vital, astral, mental, and akashic emanations of energy.

    After gaining mastery over the elemental forces, the next step is to work through a series of planetary meditations, starting from the near-Earth planets out to at least Jupiter, or ideally all the way out to Pluto if taking a more modern approach. This process, which can take 18-36 months, allows the practitioner to intimately understand the individual effects of each planet’s energy upon the human body. Only then can one begin the actual practice of Planetary Kabbalah by emplacing the spirits or power aspects of planets, rather than their associated intelligences, into specific areas of the body.

    One basic Planetary Kabbalah technique described is the “kabbalist’s or magician’s prayer,” where the Moon’s power aspect is placed at the solar plexus to generate an astral field, and the Sun’s power aspect is placed at the heart center to create a balanced, unified force. More advanced practices involve placing multiple planets within the body in specific configurations to produce desired effects, which is akin to “playing chords” with these planetary energies. After mastering Planetary Kabbalah, even higher levels exist, such as Zodiac Kabbalah, followed eventually by working with the energies of the Sephiroth itself. But first comes Planetary Kabbalah, something you will rarely see discussed let alone practically explained in the way Sixty Skills does in this course.

    1. Planetary Kabbalah Series

    • Planetary Kabbalah Discord Group
    • Introduction
    • Requirements
    • Why?
    • Esoteric Hygiene
    • The Need to Counterbalance
    • Dangers of the Outer Planets
    • Sigils

    2. Near Earth Zone Block

    • NEZ Theory – The Planetary Path of Development
    • NEZ Theory – Sigils
    • NEZ Theory – Ball Above Head and the Head
    • NEZ Theory – How Spirits Manifest
    • NEZ Theory – Different Levels of Development
    • NEZ Theory – Mediumship versus Evocation
    • NEZ – Power Aspect
    • NEZ – Intelligence (Radina)

    3. Lunar Zone Block

    • Excerpt from future book about Lunar
    • Lunar Zone Theory – The Function of the Lunar Realm in Energetic Development
    • Lunar Zone Theory – The Kabbalah Spirit of Luna
    • Lunar Zone Theory – How to Practice with Lunar Power
    • Lunar Zone Theory – Planetary Structure and Development Writ Large
    • Lunar Zone – Power Aspect
    • Lunar Zone – Intelligence (Ezhobar)

    4. Mercury Zone Block

    • Mercury Zone Theory – The Energetics of Mercury
    • Mercury Zone Theory – Kabbalah Spirit Reading
    • Mercury Zone Theory – How to Practice with Mercury
    • Mercury Zone Theory – The Grand Library and the 72 Spirits of Mercury
    • Mercury Zone – Power Aspect
    • Mercury Zone – Intelligence (Nith Hal’ah)

    5. Venus Zone Block

    • Venus Zone Theory – How Venus Works Energetically
    • Venus Zone Theory – The Relationship Between Venus, Wealth, and Health
    • Venus Zone Theory – How to Work with Venus Energy
    • Venus Zone Theory – Dangers of Working with Venus
    • Venus Zone Theory – Mars and Venus
    • Venus Zone – Power Aspect
    • Venus Zone – Intelligence (Podme)

    6. Solar Zone Block

    • Solar Zone Theory – Energetic Effects of the Sun Sphere
    • Solar Zone Theory – Use of the Sun Sphere as a Counterbalance
    • Solar Zone Theory – The Need for Purity When Engaging the Sun Sphere and Inherent Dangers
    • Solar Zone Theory – The Sun Sphere and Kabbalakh
    • Solar Zone Theory – The Sun Sphere as an Endpoint
    • Solar Zone – Power Aspect
    • Solar Zone – Intelligence (Levum)

    7. Mars Zone Block

    • Mars Zone Theory – The Energetics of Mars
    • Mars Zone Theory – Differences in Dealing with the Outer Planets
    • Mars Zone Theory – Classical Misunderstandings of Governing Mars
    • Mars Zone Theory – Why Mars is Hard
    • Mars Zone Theory – Mars and Venus
    • Mars Zone – Power Aspect
    • Mars Zone – Intelligence (Mirvellion)
    • Mars Zone – Intelligence (Wizol)
    • Mars Zone – Intelligence (Barrae)

    8. Jupiter Zone Block

    • Jupiter Zone Theory – The Energetics of Jupiter
    • Jupiter Zone Theory – How to Train with Jupiter
    • Jupiter Zone Theory – Side Effects of Working with Jupiter
    • Jupiter Zone Theory – Using Jupiter to Work Kabbalah
    • Jupiter Zone Theory – Jupiter as a Checkpoint
    • Jupiter Zone – Power Aspect
    • Jupiter Zone – Intelligence (Nisin)

    9. Saturn Zone Block

    • Saturn Zone Theory – The Energetics of Saturn
    • Saturn Zone Theory – The Dangers of Saturn
    • Saturn Zone Theory – Dissolution of Boundaries
    • Saturn Zone Theory – The Home of Karma
    • Saturn Zone Theory – Problems with Bardon’s Second Book The Practice of Magical Evocation
    • Saturn Zone – Power Aspect
    • Saturn Zone – Intelligence (Sirene)

    10. Uranus Zone Block

    • Uranus Zone Theory – The Energetics of Uranus
    • Uranus Zone Theory – The Realm of Technology
    • Uranus Zone – Power Aspect
    • Uranus Zone – Pericline
    • Uranus Zone – Daniz

    11. Neptune Zone Block

    • Neptune Zone Theory – The Energetics of Neptune
    • Neptune Zone Theory – Neptune: The Realm of Fame and Media
    • Neptune Zone – Power Aspect
    • Neptune Zone – Evanura and Shemtom

    12. Pluto Zone Block

    • Pluto Zone Theory – (Overview)
    • Pluto Zone Theory – Energetics of Pluto
    • Pluto Zone Theory – The Realm of Hidden Magics, Nuclear Power, and the Underworld
    • Pluto Zone Theory – The Kabbalah Machines
    • Pluto Zone Theory – The Planetary Libraries
    • Pluto Zone – Egregores and Pluto
    • Pluto Zone – Plutonian Spirits Horens and Sonal
    • Pluto Zone – Invocation of Horens
    • Pluto Zone – Invocation of Sonal

    13. Extra Solar Zone Block

    • Extra Solar Zone Theory – Energetics of the Extra Solar Region
    • Extra Solar Zone Theory – Extra Solar Kabbalah
    • Extra Solar Zone Theory – Dead Worlds, Rogue Planets, and Events Lost to Time
    • Extra Solar Zone Theory – Extra Solar Egregores
    • Extra Solar Zone Theory – Hadcu and Elhowar
    • Extra Solar Zone – Power Aspect of the Extra Solar Region
    • Extra Solar Zone – Invocation of Elhowar
    • Extra Solar Zone – Invocation of Hadcu

    14. Emnasut Block

    • Emnasut Block Theory – A Brief Discussion of Emnasut
    • Emnasut Block – Invocation of Emnasut

    15. Magicians Prayer Block

    • The Magicians Prayer Theory
    • Magicians Prayer Exercise

    16. Planetary Fusion Block

    • Planetary Fusion Theory
    • Planetary Fusion Exercise

    17. First Stacking Block

    • First Stacking Block Theory
    • Planetary and Kabbalah Letters Stacking Exercise

    18. First Zodiac Meditation Teaser Trailer

    Cancer Zodiac Meditation Sample

    First Zodiac Meditation Teaser Theory

    4. Zodiac Curriculum

    Coming 2025.


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  • School of Visionary Hermeticism

    School of Visionary Hermeticism

    Introduction

    At Perseus we offer a range of education from our in-depth interviews with many being from 5-10k words to our free courses that allow new students to start building a foundation with absolutely no cost. We then have more serious in-depth curriculums for those that wish to build specific skill sets based on the experiences of our teachers. These are all very much one way traffic in that you are provided with the material and then have to get on and do it. Now what you will see here with The School of Visionary Hermeticism is that it is a format that is built on a two-way traffic system. Teachings are provided and students need to do the work and obtain their own results in order to progress to the next semester. The school is led by Andre Consciencia and is the result of ongoing discussions between Perseus and Andre.

    About the School

    The School of Visionary Hermeticism is a specialized learning institution dedicated to exploring the mystical, philosophical, and esoteric traditions. It offers a structured curriculum for seekers interested in personal mastery. Drawing from magic, mysticism, and philosophy, students align with universal principles through technique and theory.

    The school’s courses range from foundational spirituality and philosophy to advanced magical practices like ceremonial magic, quantum magick, and shamanism, paired with scientific principles and creative exploration.

    Mission

    The School of Visionary Hermeticism aims to guide persons to connect to Hermetic principles and share their knowledge through creative expressions like grimoires and magical systems, eventually integrating them as teachers.

    The School of Visionary Hermeticism doesn’t promise answers. Instead, it offers keys to doors you may not yet have noticed and the knowledge to open them.

    For those willing to explore, to reflect, and to engage, the question is not, “What will I learn?” but rather, “Who will I become?”

    This is the heart of the School of Visionary Hermeticism: a place where the seeker transforms into the seer, and the seer into the visionary.

    The Learning Curve

    Students ground themselves in universal wisdom by connecting to humanity and the evolution of thought. Here, introspection becomes the mirror through which the seeker gazes into the world and finds the self reflected back.

    Deepening the process, esoteric practices, astral exploration, and elemental integration guide the student into the heart of Hermeticism.

    Then, students are led to the dance of Hermetic elements with quantum forces.

    The Method

    What sets the school apart is its fusion of structure and freedom. Every course is meticulous yet invites each student to bring their individuality into the fold. The student is not a passive recipient but an active co-creator.

    In the curriculum below you will see two courses in each semester, these are completed at the same. One semester is 6 months.


    Curriculum


    Course Title:
    Unified Wisdom: Spirituality, Philosophy, and Human Evolution (four months)

    Module 1: Foundations of Unified Thought

    Lessons:

    1. Introduction to Collective Consciousness
      • Exploring the concept and its relevance in today’s world.
    2. Universal Experiences and Values of Humanity
      • Nine universal experiences (e.g., relationships, joy, fear).
      • Key human values (e.g., empathy, fairness, honesty).
    3. Understanding Global and Universal Issues
      • Topics: poverty, pollution, migration, and conflict resolution.

    Evaluation:

    • Reflective essay: “How do personal experiences contribute to collective consciousness?”
    • Write a discussion on global challenges and potential solutions.

    Module 2: Religion, Spirituality, and Human Potential

    Lessons:

    1. History of Religions: Animism, Polytheism, and Monotheism
      • Comparative analysis of major traditions.
    2. Commonalities in Religious Practices
      • Prayer, meditation, and rituals as universal expressions.
    3. The Role of Spirituality in Personal and Collective Growth
      • Practices for self-awareness, union with the divine, and transcendence.

    Evaluation:

    • Design and perform a simple ritual template that integrates elements from different traditions.
    • Journaling to reflect on personal spirituality.

    Module 3: Philosophy and the Evolution of Thought

    Lessons:

    1. Philosophical Traditions: From the Greeks to Modern Thinkers
      • How philosophical systems influence society.
    2. Practical Applications of Philosophical Ideals
      • Justice, balance, and ethical decision-making.
    3. The Interplay of Philosophy, Science, and Art in Shaping the Future

    Evaluation:

    • Write a debate with the title: “Is philosophy essential for societal progress?”
    • Analysis paper: “Choose a philosophy that aligns with your vision of a unified humanity.”

    Module 4: The Golden Age and Human Evolution

    Lessons:

    1. Double Consciousness: Bridging Personal and Collective Realities
      • Telepathy, empathy, and collective awareness.
    2. Homo Veritas: The Next Evolutionary Step
      • Traits and responsibilities of a unified human species.
    3. Visioning the Wordless Aeon
      • Imagining humanity’s potential beyond physical communication.

    Evaluation:

    • Creative project: Write a short story or create an artwork envisioning the Homo Veritas stage.
    • Presentation: Propose strategies for fostering empathy and double consciousness in modern society.

    Sixth Month: Evaluation and Assessment

    Supplementary Materials

    1. Books:
      • Relevant texts from major world religions and philosophies.
    2. Audio-Visuals:
      • Documentaries on collective consciousness and human evolution.
      • Guided meditation tracks.
    Course Title: The Way of Cosmic Alignment

    Lecture 1: Understanding Abrahadabra

    Overview

    In this lecture, we will explore the foundational formula of Abrahadabra, its symbolism, and its relevance to Hermetic practice. This ancient word, reimagined by Aleister Crowley, encapsulates the interplay between the unmanifest and the manifest, the microcosm and the macrocosm, and the transformations of the magician.

    Key Concepts

    1. Abrahadabra as a Formula:
      • Derived from “Abracadabra,” Crowley’s version incorporates the holy spirit as a visionary agent.
      • Represents the dynamic union of force and matter, symbolizing cosmic creativity.
    2. The Five Symbols:
      • The Crown: Mind’s dominion over phenomena.
      • The Wand: The magician’s tool for perceiving spirit through layers of experience.
      • The Cup: The capacity to consciously channel infinity.
      • The Sword: Fusion of individual and cosmic will.
      • The Rosy Cross: The orgasmic union of cosmic and individual consciousness.
    3. The ISIS Formula:
      • A tantric cycle representing the interplay of perception and matter.
      • Continuous evolution: Mind molds impulses, gains consciousness, and integrates with the world.

    Evaluation

    • Meditate on the formula of Abrahadabra, visualizing its symbols.
    • Reflect on how these symbols manifest in your personal experiences.

    Lecture 2: The Pentagram and Elemental Balance

    Overview

    The Pentagram symbolizes human perfection and equilibrium, aligning the elements under the conscious will. In this lecture, we explore the Pentagram’s role in achieving balance within the microcosm and its correspondence to the macrocosm.

    Key Concepts

    1. The Pentagram and Elements:
      • Air (Top Left): Intellect and intuition.
      • Earth (Bottom Left): Stability and physicality.
      • Water (Top Right): Emotions and adaptability.
      • Fire (Bottom Right): Passion and transformation.
      • Spirit (Center): The unifying force.
    2. Elemental Interaction:
      • Force (right column) and Matter (left column) balance through the interplay of elements.
      • Spirit’s connection to extremes enables transcendence.
    3. Practical Application:
      • Mnemonics to memorize elemental correspondences.
      • Exercises to visualize the flow of elements in your body and surroundings.

    Evaluation

    • Meditate on the Pentagram, assigning qualities to each element.
    • Practice balancing these elements within your thoughts and emotions.

    Lecture 3: The Antinomian Spark

    Overview

    This lecture introduces the antinomian spark, a method to ignite creative and transformative energy by uniting opposites within oneself.

    Key Concepts

    1. Merging Opposites:
      • Holding two opposing thoughts, emotions, or sensations simultaneously.
      • Discovering unity and stability in duality.
    2. The Role of the Magician:
      • Transcending instincts and automatisms through conscious will.
      • Using this balance to create inner and outer harmony.

    Evaluation

    • Identify an instinct or thought and consciously counter it with its opposite.
    • Practice holding both until they stabilize into a higher understanding.
    • Record your observations in a journal.

    Lecture 4: Astral Projection and Mental Travel

    Overview

    Astral projection allows the magician to navigate the mental, astral, and etheric realms, expanding consciousness and exploring the connections between self and universe.

    Key Concepts

    1. The Mental, Astral, and Etheric Bodies:
      • Mental: Thoughts, reason, and cognition.
      • Astral: Emotions, sensations, and vibrational light.
      • Etheric: The energetic counterpart of the physical body.
    2. Techniques for Projection:
      • Relaxation and detachment from the physical body.
      • Movement through willpower and visualization.
    3. Exploration of Realms:
      • Mental: Accessing zones of memory, reason, intuition, and cognition.
      • Astral: Navigating feelings, emotions, and pure light.

    Evaluation

    • Lie down, relax, and visualize leaving your physical body.
    • Explore the mental plane’s zones and document your findings.

    Lecture 5: Binding Vices and Harnessing Virtues

    Overview

    In this lecture, students will learn to identify and transmute vices into virtues, creating a balanced inner foundation for the Great Work.

    Key Concepts

    1. Personification of Vices:
      • Vices manifest as mental or astral entities.
      • Binding these entities transforms them into allies.
    2. Harnessing Virtues:
      • Virtues are masters of guidance, balancing inner energies.
    3. Sigil Creation:
      • Symbols representing vices and virtues aid in transformation.

    Evaluation

    • Meditate on a personal vice, visualize its essence, and transform it into an animal guide.
    • Create a sigil representing the transmutation and document its effects.

    Lecture 6: Electromagnetic Volts and Energy Circulation

    Overview

    This lecture explores the body’s electromagnetic properties and teaches students how to create and circulate energy for personal transformation.

    Key Concepts

    1. Electromagnetic Dynamics:
      • Nervous system (electric), bones (magnetic), and blood (electromagnetic).
      • Understanding these dynamics as a foundation for Hermetic practice.
    2. Creating Volts:
      • Combining passive (magnetic) and active (electric) forces within the body.
      • Quadripolar structure: memory, meaning, cognition, and light.

    Evaluation

    • Perform visualization and breathing exercises to circulate energy.
    • Map your body’s energy centers and practice aligning them through focused will.

    Lecture 7: Elemental Integration Through Ritual

    Overview

    This lecture focuses on connecting with elemental forces through rituals and advanced visualization techniques.

    Key Concepts

    1. Advanced Elemental Asanas:
      • Fire: Heat and transformation.
      • Water: Coolness and fluidity.
      • Air: Lightness and openness.
      • Earth: Stability and grounding.
    2. Ritual Practice:
      • Creating elemental circles and invoking elemental energies.
      • Techniques for maintaining balance during ritual work.

    Evaluation

    • Perform the asanas for each element, visualizing their qualities.
    • Create an elemental circle and invoke the elements for alignment.

    Lecture 8: The Council of Eight (completion unlocks Esoteric Practices for Spiritual Mastery)

    Overview

    In this lecture, students will learn to balance their virtues and seek guidance from the archetypal Council of Eight.

    Key Concepts

    1. The Council of Eight:
      • Symbolizes the eight virtues necessary for balance.
      • Guides students in refining their strengths and aligning their energies.
    2. Balancing Virtues:
      • Using virtues to counter and complement one another.
      • Integrating their wisdom into daily practice.

    Evaluation

    • Pathwork to meet the Council of Eight in meditation.
    • Record insights and tasks given by each archetype.

    Lecture 9: The Sword and the Wand

    Overview

    This lecture delves into crafting and mastering the Sword and the Wand, essential tools in Hermetic practice, representing cosmic authority and creative willpower, respectively.

    Key Concepts

    1. The Sword as a Symbol of Authority:
      • Represents justice, balance, and alignment with cosmic principles.
      • Functions as the bridge between individual and universal will.
    2. The Wand as a Creative Extension of Will:
      • A channel for focused energy and manifestation.
      • Symbolizes the magician’s ability to direct creative forces.
    3. Crafting and Consecrating the Tools:
      • The importance of intention and focus during the creation process.
      • Techniques for imbuing tools with personal and universal energy.

    Evaluation

    • Create or consecrate a personal Wand or Sword, focusing on its symbolic significance.
    • Perform a ritual using the tool to align with cosmic authority or creative will.

    Lecture 10: Crossing the Abyss

    Overview

    In this lecture, students will engage with the concept of the Abyss—a state of formlessness and infinite potential that defies personal identity and facilitates spiritual growth.

    Key Concepts

    1. Understanding the Abyss:
      • Represents the threshold between finite existence and infinite possibility.
      • Symbolizes the dissolution of the ego and reunion with the All.
    2. Navigating Chaos and Void:
      • Techniques for embracing uncertainty and tapping into creative formlessness.
      • Using meditation to align with higher cosmic principles.

    Evaluation

    • Meditate on the Abyss, visualizing yourself dissolving into its vastness.
    • Record insights and emotional responses during this practice.

    Lecture 11: Manifesting the Great Work

    Overview

    The culmination of Hermetic practice is the realization of the Great Work, the alignment of personal will with universal creation.

    Key Concepts

    1. The Great Work Defined:
      • Integrating microcosmic and macrocosmic energies.
      • Achieving harmony with the universal flow.
    2. Steps to Manifestation:
      • Applying all learned principles in a cohesive manner.
      • Performing advanced rituals for creation and alignment.

    Evaluation

    • Design a personal ritual representing your Great Work.
    • Perform the ritual and reflect on its effects in a detailed journal entry.

    Break – 2 Months (during which the teacher evaluates, gives feedback, and allows passage to the second semester or asks you to repeat)


    Course Title: Esoteric Practices for Spiritual Mastery

    Module 1: Foundational Concepts of Esoteric Practices

    1. Lecture 1: Overview of Aeonic Systems of Magick
      • Introduction to the Aeons: Nameless Aeon, Aeon of Isis, Aeon of Horus, Aeon of Maat.
      • Key principles: Creativity, analogy, imagination, and material applications.
      • Preparatory texts: “Psychonaut Field Manual.”
    2. Lecture 2: The Role of the Magician as a Shaman
      • Understanding pre-historic magickal practices.
      • The paradigm of observer/observed.
      • The significance of negotiation with spirits.
    3. Evaluation 1:
      • Reflective diary entries on truth, balance, and justice.
      • Submission of a “magician’s tree of life” exercise.

    Module 2: Practical Exercises for Personal Mastery

    1. Lecture 3: Perceiving and Interacting with Non-Ordinary Realities
      • Exercises on randomness, patterns, and the web of connections.
      • Practices to shift paradigms of dominion, submission, and continuity.
    2. Lecture 4: Entering the Lower, Middle, and Upper Worlds
      • Techniques to interact with spirits in these realms.
      • Using imagination and physical spaces for exploration.
    3. Evaluation 2:
      • Completion and documentation of Exercises 1-10 from the text.
      • Guided feedback from instructor.

    Module 3: Advanced Techniques of Shamanism and Magick

    1. Lecture 5: Healing and Divination Practices
      • Diagnosing ailments and using consciousness transference.
      • Divination techniques: Bone throwing, scrying, and prophecy.
    2. Lecture 6: Interacting with Elemental and Astral Forces
      • Understanding and invoking elemental forces.
      • Advanced visualization and energy redirection techniques.
    3. Evaluation 3:
      • Practical assessment: Create a totem using stones and plants.
      • Journal entry: Reflection on interactions with astral forces.

    Module 4: Interactions with Higher and Cosmic Forces

    1. Lecture 7: Entities of the Nameless Aeon
      • Study of the beings described: spider entities, ancient gods, and extraterrestrial forces.
      • Practical techniques for contacting these beings.
    2. Lecture 8: Practices of Sexual Magick and Vital Energy Manipulation
      • Techniques for channeling sexual energy into spiritual growth.
      • Exercises for activating the body’s energy rivers.
    3. Evaluation 4:
      • Create and submit a guided meditation or ritual plan using these techniques.

    Module 5: Integration of Esoteric Practices

    1. Lecture 9: Integrating the Natural Kingdoms
      • Working with minerals, trees, plants, and animals.
      • Combining elements to form magical invocations.
    2. Lecture 10: Accessing Akashic Realms and Dream Worlds
      • Exercises to access dreams and enter akashic states.
      • Connecting the microcosm with the macrocosm.
    3. Evaluation 5:
      • Final project: Design a complete ritual incorporating elemental, mineral, and akashic principles.
      • Instructors review and feedback.

    Module 6: Advanced Rituals and Exercises

    1. Lecture 11: Final Practices and the Holy Guardian Angel
      • Exercises to connect with cosmic energies (Exercises 29-47).
      • The role of the Holy Guardian Angel and final visionary practices.
    2. Lecture 12: Necromancy and Communication with Saints
      • Advanced necromantic practices, including evocation and conjuration.
      • Interactions with historical figures and saints for magical guidance.
    3. Evaluation 6:
      • Practical: Perform a necromantic ritual or visionary exercise (e.g., Exercise 35).
      • Reflective essay: “The Role of Liberated Will and Transcendent Ecstasy in My Journey.”

    Final Examination (during the seventh month)

    Module 7: Culmination and Great Work

    1. Lecture 13: The Crystal Sphere and Visionary Integration
      • Engaging with the crystal sphere and cosmic energies (Exercises 45-47).
      • Visualizing and embodying the Great Work.
    2. Lecture 14: The Path to Immortality
      • Exploring the final exercises related to the tree of life and divine connection.
      • Immortality through legacy and the “starseed” teachings.
    3. Evaluation 7:
      • Comprehensive ritual integrating all practices learned.
      • Presentation of the magician’s “Great Work.”

    Supplementary Materials

    • Recommended Texts:
      • “Book 4” by Aleister Crowley.
      • “Initiation into Hermetics” by Franz Bardon.
      • “Psychonaut Field Manual” by Arch-Traitor Bluefluke.
    • Meditative Practices:
      • Guided audio tracks for visualization and akashic exercises.
    • Interactive Tools:
      • Digital diagrams for the magician’s tree of life.
      • Virtual representations of elemental forces and spirits.

    Course Completion Requirements

    • Participation in all modules and submission of all evaluations.
    • Completion of at least one personalized magical ritual.
    • Final reflective essay: “How Esoteric Practices Have Transformed My Perception of Reality.”
    Course Title: Ancient Practices for Modern Magicians: A Grimoire-Based Approach

    Module 1: Introduction to Lusitanian Magic

    Lesson 1.1: Historical Context of the Lusitanians

    • Overview of pre-Roman Iberian culture and Celtic influences.
    • Introduction to Lusitanian deities and cosmology.

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Timeline of Lusitanian history.
    • Map of Lusitanian territories and key archaeological sites.

    Evaluation:

    • Short essay: Analyze the impact of Roman conquest on Lusitanian traditions.

    Lesson 1.2: Principles of Lusitanian Cosmology

    • Understanding the three planes: Earth, Ocean, and Underworld.
    • Role of the warrior and ampilua (priestess) in rituals.

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Diagram of Lusitanian cosmology with the warrior, wolf, and serpent symbolism.
    • Guided meditation script: Journey through the three planes.

    Evaluation:

    • Practical exercise: Perform the guided meditation and document your experience.

    Module 2: Traits and Practices of the Warrior

    Lesson 2.1: Traits of the Warrior

    • Exploring key concepts: Doenti, Secias, Arimo, Coemina, Taurom Ifadem.

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Printable chart of warrior traits with definitions and applications.

    Evaluation:

    • Reflective journal: Identify which warrior traits resonate with you and how you plan to embody them.

    Lesson 2.2: Tools and Symbols

    • Crafting and using the pentacle, falcata, and Tongo (altar).

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Diagram of the Patera de Perotito (pentacle).
    • Tutorial: Crafting and consecrating a Tongo.

    Evaluation:

    • Practical task: Create your own Tongo or pentacle and write a report on its symbolism and use.

    Module 3: Ritual Techniques

    Lesson 3.1: Foundational Techniques

    • Angom (trance), Enetom (consciousness transfer), and Ailatio (idol impregnation).

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Step-by-step guide: Performing Angom safely.
    • Meditation practice: Enetom with a chosen object.

    Evaluation:

    • Demonstration: Perform Enetom with an object and document your observations.

    Lesson 3.2: Evocation and Invocation

    • Steps to invoke deities using seals, canti (incantations), and praisom (pacts).

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Sample seals for practice (Reve, Nabia, Ataegina).
    • List of Lusitanian phonemes with their meanings.

    Evaluation:

    • Practical exercise: Invoke Nabia using her canti and seal, and reflect on the experience.

    Module 4: The Lusitanian Pantheon

    Lesson 4.1: Deities of the First Order

    • In-depth exploration of Reve, Nabia, Trebraruna, Ataegina, and Endovelico.

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Profiles of each deity with descriptions, best sites, and rituals.
    • Guided visualization: Meeting a Lusitanian deity in the Oceanic Plane.

    Evaluation:

    • Creative project: Compose a new canti or prayer for one of the first-order deities.

    Lesson 4.2: Deities of the Second Order

    • Overview of Quangeio, Arentio, Munidis, and others.

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Comparative chart: First-order vs. second-order deities.
    • Guided exercise: Identify the deity best aligned with your current goals.

    Evaluation:

    • Practical task: Prepare an idol and invoke a second-order deity of your choice.

    Lesson 4.3: Working with Ancestors

    • Techniques for necromancy and communion with Sintamom.

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Instructions for crafting offerings (bread, chestnuts, alcohol).
    • Mask-making guide: Creating a horned mask for ancestor rituals.

    Evaluation:

    • Ritual documentation: Conduct an ancestor ritual and reflect on the outcomes.

    Module 5: Magical Tools and Language

    Lesson 5.1: Sorcery of Articulate Phonemes

    • Indo-European phonemes and their applications.

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Phoneme flashcards with meanings and pronunciations.
    • Audio recordings for practicing Lusitanian phonemes.

    Evaluation:

    • Master key phonemes and explain their uses in rituals.

    Lesson 5.2: Crafting Sacred Objects

    • Techniques for engraving seals and preparing idols.

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Tools and materials checklist for creating idols.
    • Engraving seals safely and effectively.

    Evaluation:

    • Hands-on project: Engrave a seal for a deity and prepare a ritual using it.

    Module 6: Practical Applications

    Lesson 6.1: Seasonal and Elemental Rituals

    • Aligning rituals with natural cycles and weather conditions.

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Ritual calendar based on Lusitanian cosmology.
    • Seasonal altar setup guide with examples.

    Evaluation:

    • Design a ritual for an equinox or solstice.

    Lesson 6.2: Advanced Techniques

    • Sexual magic (Teucaecom), marriage with deities (Murim), and rebirth rites.

    Supplementary Materials:

    • Guided meditation: Entering the Oceanic Plane for rebirth rituals.
    • Ethical guidelines for advanced magical practices.

    Evaluation:

    • Final project: Design and perform a full ritual, incorporating advanced techniques. Document your process and results.

    Break – 3 Months (during which the teacher evaluates, gives feedback, and allows passage to the third semester or asks you to repeat), the first being occupied with the seventh module of Esoteric Practices for Spiritual Mastery.

    Course Title: Mastery of the Aeon of Maat

    Course Overview:

    Advanced course designed for adept magicians to delve into the practical applications of the Aeon of Maat, quantum magick, and hermetic wisdom. The course blends mystical insights, scientific principles, and magical practices, empowering practitioners to achieve mastery over their inner and outer realities.

    Curriculum Outline:

    Module 1: Foundations of the Aeon of Maat

    • Lesson 1: Introduction to the Aeon of the Daughter
      • Understanding timeless and spaceless trance states
      • Practical exercises in transferring consciousness and elemental manipulation
    • Lesson 2: Exploring Yin-Yang and Elemental Mastery
      • Applying natural breath-like magical practices
      • Integration of elemental wisdom through experiential methods
    • Evaluation: Written reflection on trance states and a guided visualization log.
    • Supplementary Material: Excerpts from “The Way of Abrahadabra” and “The Path of Ipsos Vol I.”

    Module 2: Symbolism and Guardians of Maat

    • Lesson 1: The Lion-Flower and Eagle-Bee Hybrids
      • Mental and astral assumptions of courage, liberation, and love
      • Creating electromagnetic volts using symbolic hybrids
    • Lesson 2: Tuning Perception with Emanations and Colors
      • Learning sephirothic correspondences to colors and oscillations
      • Applications of the kabbalistical periodic table
    • Evaluation: Color meditation journal and quiz on correspondences.
    • Supplementary Material: Color charts, meditation audios, and diagrams of hybrids.

    Module 3: Magickal Periodic Table

    • Lesson 1: Introducing the Elements as Magical Forces
      • Solid, liquid, gaseous, and akashic categories
      • Anchoring elements through talismans and volts
    • Lesson 2: Noble Gases as Archetypes of Kether
      • Mental emanations of Helium, Neon, Argon, and beyond
      • Stabilizing and materializing elements through akashic trances
    • Evaluation: Creation of talismans for noble gases and peer-reviewed demonstrations.
    • Supplementary Material: Periodic table visualization and talisman templates.

    Module 4: Combining Elements for Mystical Operations

    • Lesson 1: Synergizing Elements for Magical Applications
      • Developing the CHONPS cycle (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, etc.)
      • Applications in healing, transformation, and elemental evocation
    • Lesson 2: Quantum Magick and Elemental Interaction
      • Working with astral fluids and higher-dimensional correspondences
      • Case studies: Elemental combinations for practical results
    • Evaluation: Presentation on elemental combinations and their uses.
    • Supplementary Material: Case studies and a formula reference guide.

    Module 5: Advanced Elemental Practices

    • Lesson 1: Mastering Semi-Metals and Non-Metals
      • Applications of Silicon, Boron, and Germanium
      • Harnessing electromagnetic fields and akashic alignments
    • Lesson 2: Dynamic Forces of the Post-Transition Metals
      • Working with Antimony, Tellurium, and advanced elementals
      • Techniques for astral and physical material manipulation
    • Evaluation: Individual project involving the creation of a multi-elemental magical tool.
    • Supplementary Material: Experimental reports.

    Module 6: The Wordless Aeon and Future Pathways

    • Lesson 1: Understanding the Wordless Aeon
      • Historical exploration of the Horus-Maat Lodge
      • Experiencing mystical insights through meditation and scrying
    • Lesson 2: Preparing for the Wordless Aeon
      • Techniques for direct perception of authentic mystical states
      • Cultivating divine intuition and creative liberation
    • Evaluation: Self-reflective essay and recorded guided meditation.
    • Supplementary Material: Recordings of Horus-Maat rituals and historical texts.

    Evaluation Methods:

    • Reflective journals and logs
    • Quizzes on theoretical foundations and correspondences
    • Presentations and discussions
    • Creation of physical talismans and magical tools
    • Peer-reviewed demonstrations of practical techniques
    • Final self-assessment essay or video presentation

    Supplementary Materials:

    1. Books:
      • “Maat Magick” by Nema
    2. Visual Aids:
      • Color-coded periodic table of elements
      • Diagrams of hybrid guardians and their assumptions
    3. Templates and Charts:
      • Talisman design templates
      • Sephirothic and elemental correspondence charts

    Conclusion:

    This course curriculum offers a structured yet experiential pathway for adepts to achieve mastery over advanced magical principles.

    Course Title: Mystical Technology and Esoteric Consciousness

    The course will be divided into four primary modules:

    1. Foundations of Mysticism and Esotericism
      • Introduction to Lam and its significance
      • Role of imagination in mysticism
      • The concept of Baphomet and its relationship to humanity
    2. Techniques for Self-Initiation
      • The heart as the center of transformation
      • Regulation of bodily processes (temperature, balance)
      • Meditation techniques for self-awareness and cosmic connection
    3. The Lodges and Advanced Practices
      • Exploring the Red, Black, and White Lodges
      • Meditation techniques for solar and void energies
      • Aligning with the forces of emanation and withdrawal
    4. The Mystical Gates
      • Understanding and working with the Tunnels of Set
      • Engaging with preterhuman intelligences
      • The Ultraterrestrials and their mystical significance

    3. Curriculum Details

    Module 1: Foundations of Mysticism and Esotericism

    • Lesson 1: The Mystery of Lam
      • History and interpretations of the Lam painting
      • Kenneth Grant’s influence and the ALW Cipher
      • Practices for connecting with Lam’s energy.
    • Lesson 2: Imagination as a Tool of Transformation
      • Exercises to integrate logic and imagination in mystical practice.
    • Lesson 3: Symbolism of Baphomet
      • Study of universal lifeforms and their metaphysical representation.

    Module 2: Techniques for Self-Initiation

    • Lesson 1: Solar Heart Meditation
      • Cultivating the heart’s energy as the center of the aura.
    • Lesson 2: Regulating Temperature and Balance
      • Exercises for internal bodily awareness and control.
    • Lesson 3: Developing the Beastly and Human Selves
      • Practices to awaken animal instincts and integrate higher consciousness.

    Module 3: The Lodges and Advanced Practices

    • Lesson 1: Introduction to the Lodges
      • Differences and connections between the Red, Black, and White Lodges.
    • Lesson 2: Liminal Meditation Techniques
      • Embracing the space between subject and object.
    • Lesson 3: Gnosis
      • Engaging with the solar and void aspects of consciousness.

    Module 4: The Mystical Gates

    • Lesson 1: The Tunnels of Set
      • Meditation and visualization practices for traversing the tunnels.
    • Lesson 2: Engaging with Ultraterrestrial Intelligence
      • Using sex magick and meditation to open gateways to preterhuman entities.
    • Lesson 3: The Final Integration
      • Reaching a state of perpetual awareness and connection with higher intelligences.

    4. Evaluations

    • Reflection Essays: Students write essays on their experience with key practices (e.g., heart meditation or balance exercises).
    • Meditation Logs: Students keep a journal of their meditations, noting insights and progress.
    • Creative Visualization Task: Design a visualization exercise based on lessons learned from the course.

    5. Supplementary Materials

    • Primary Text: The Inner Gates of Lam by André Consciência
    • Audio Companion: Flute of Lam album by André Consciência
    • Recommended Readings:
      • Initiation Into Hermetics by Franz Bardon
      • Maat Magick by Nema
      • Book Four by Aleister Crowley
    • Interactive Tools: Access to gematria calculators and visualization tools.

    Completion

    Completing a program like the “School of Visionary Hermeticism” will optionally include you in The Priesthood of the Secret Fire (informal group),your mission in it is to yourself, and do it in your unique language and creative angle:

    We will help you build and publish:

    1. A Grimoire: Compile your learnings and experiences into a grimoire. This book includes insights, rituals, meditative practices, and reflections developed during the course.
    2. Capstone Ritual or Ceremony: Design, perform and share a unique ritual (in as many parts as it takes) that encapsulates your personal transformation throughout the course.
    3. Masterpiece Artwork or Artifact: Create a symbolic artifact, such as a consecrated wand, pentacle, or painting, that represents you as an Adept.
    4. Community Project: Host workshops, lectures, or guided meditations for others, sharing your knowledge and practices.

    How to Join

    As you can see the teachings are very involved and really cover every subject you could hope to learn, setting you up upon completion of the 3rd Semester as someone with true ownership over the material and ready to start the next phase of your journey in helping others.

    Cost: The cost for each semester is $349, this includes materials, examinations, one on one discussion with Andre. Each semester is planned for 6 months but you may spend longer if you do not pass on the first attempt, private community (planned Q2 2025). Payment for this school is by WIRE transfer only.

    Due to popular demand we opened this up – Semester 1 will determine the seriousness with which students approach the work.


  • Honoring Rawn Clark: A Guiding Light to Franz Bardon’s Teachings

    Honoring Rawn Clark: A Guiding Light to Franz Bardon’s Teachings

    It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Rawn Clark, a guiding light to so many in the Franz Bardon community. Rawn’s unwavering dedication to Bardon’s teachings and his selfless efforts to support others on their spiritual journeys have left an enduring legacy. When I began studying Hermetics in 2008, Rawn’s work and insights that he expressed in the online communities at the time were a tremendous help, I read through A Bardon Companion numerous times when working on the first steps.

    Through his website, A Bardon Companion, Rawn shared resources that have helped students around the world. His contributions include:

    These works reflect Rawn’s lifelong commitment to making Hermetic teachings approachable and practical.

    His book, A Bardon Companion, is particularly valuable for anyone following Bardon’s system of initiation. The updated second edition offers thoughtful insights and practical advice that many have found indispensable in their studies.

    Rawn’s generosity and dedication have been a source of inspiration to countless people, and his teachings will continue to guide others for years to come.

    Rest in Peace Rawn.


    Gratitude should go to the ‘Blue Magician’ for hosting a snapshot of Rawns website after it became unavailable several years ago. See the site here.

  • Exploring Ceremonial Magic: From Ghostly Encounters to Soul Mirror Work

    Exploring Ceremonial Magic: From Ghostly Encounters to Soul Mirror Work

    Introduction

    In this interview, we explore Alex’s journey through the world of ceremonial magic and mystical practices. From a childhood surrounded by subtle spiritual influences to a deeper study of ritual magic and self-discovery, they share insights into their experiences, the traditions they’ve explored, and the personal transformations along the way.


    PAA: Could you share some insights into your background and what initially drew you to magic and mystical practices?

    I grew up with two parents who had a certain mystical background. On the surface they were very down to earth and ordinary people, but they had been part of a Magical circle which felt it was conducting spiritual warfare on the side of light. My Dad was a deep trance medium in the group and my Mum was an astral traveller. I had no idea about this background until I started to have certain unusual experiences as a teen and my Mum said “Talk to your father”. As I grew up, I had several ghostly encounters and helped resolve a few hauntings. On one such occasion I watched in disbelief as scratches appeared out of nowhere on my Dad’s skin as he attempted to ‘move on’ an unpleasant spirit. So although my upbringing was in most ways very normal, it was peppered with incidents that were totally bizarre. As I got older I read more and trained in various spiritual disciplines but never forgot my first lessons with my father.

    As an adult I was a fan of Grant Morrison and his works on Chaos Magic and sigils were my first exposure to ritual magic beyond the few things that my parents had taught me.

    Over time I scaled up my practise and started carrying out larger workings, drawing on sigils, ritual magic, long meditations, mantras, offerings and anything else I could think of. During the pandemic I was really struggling as my industry had been hit hard, so I called on a deity to help me get back on my feet. The rite lasted several days and one week after it was done I was approached by a company that actually had that same deity’s symbol as its logo. That company offered me the best job I’ve ever had, completely transforming my life for the better and I worked with them for the next three years.

    I came to realise that magic could affect both the external and internal landscape of my life, and both “results” magic and internal alchemy have their place.

    PAA: What are some of the magical paths and traditions you’ve explored along your journey, and how have these shaped your current practice?

    I spent the longest time in the Eastern traditions. I was a half decent martial artist for most of my life and learned Qigong from a Shaolin master who had a big influence on me. I later spent some years involved with plant medicine and Ayahuasca in particular. This was highly transformative for me and gave me some incredible insights about the world and myself, but I felt it wasn’t enough to simply take the medicine, there needed to be real action taken in tackling the problems that the medicine revealed. I ended up refocusing on practices that didn’t require any external stimuli. Eventually I also noticed that in every group I was ever involved with, group dynamics became a problem and even in martial arts groups the familial structure can become cult-like. So, I resolved to be a solo practitioner which led me to self-initiation.

    PAA: How did you discover Franz Bardon’s work, and what aspects of his teachings have resonated with you the most?

    I was part of Jason Louv’s original “Adept Initiative” course which was my first structured exploration of magic. Jason was a big proponent of Bardon’s Black and White Mirror practice and encouraged us to do this as part of the course. The idea of delving into one’s psyche and facing up to every little grubby part of one’s character and systematically uprooting it seemed pretty revolutionary to me. It also resonated with something I learned during an Ayahuasca ceremony, that there should be no part of your own mind where you’re afraid to venture. There are hidden reserves of energy that are clogged up in that darkness, if we can only be brave enough to delve down into them. There is a certain sense of courage that comes with Bardon work which really appeals to me.

    PAA: Mental wandering is a key exercise in Bardon’s approach, requiring focus and self-control. How did you find this practice? Did it come naturally, or was it something you developed over time?

    I had always been prone to experimenting with my mind and had developed certain techniques of my own that could be described as mental wandering. I would lie on my bed and focus on creating gateways in my mind that I would then mentally walk through. Those gates might be tattvas into the elemental realms (as described in the Golden Dawn curriculum) or simple doorways that I would draw a symbol on that represented the subject I wanted to investigate.

    Several years ago I became a qualified hypnotherapist and found many of the trance induction techniques could be applied to mental wandering. “The Staircase deepener” where you imagine yourself walking down a flight of stairs, doubling your sense of relaxation with each step, is one that I successfully adapted to mental wandering. In my case I substituted the stairs for a huge desert of colossal rolling sand-dunes that I would walk up and down, sending myself deep into trance. Bardon stresses the importance of using of all the senses, as did my hypnosis teacher, so I would focus on feeling the sinking sensations and the warmth of the sand on my feet and the blowing of the winds. I would draw symbols in the sands to represent the object of my investigation, then keep walking until that landscape started to shift and change.

    Just a couple of weeks ago I found good use for mental wandering when my partner complained about hearing a lot of spooky noises in an empty house where she was working. The owner of that house had also said they were starting to think it might be haunted. So one evening I built a mental double for myself and walked to the house in real time, making the world as real and vivid as I could. When I reached the house I began wandering around and asking if anyone was there. I began receiving answers in the form of symbols that guided me to a trapped spirit. I eventually found this strange, sad man ranting about something from his past. He gave me the feeling of being trapped in a sack that he was desperately trying to claw his way out of. I asked for help from the higher powers in assisting him and something light, white and comforting descended and wrapped itself around us. This was very similar to the kind of work I once watched my Dad carry out, although at the time I couldn’t really see what he was doing. So I’m very glad to have learned to follow in his footsteps now that he’s gone.

    PAA: Approach to Soul Mirror- MMI and Andres ‘Through the Soul Mirror to the Sphere of the Sun‘ are much more in depth approaches to soul mirror work. Can you discuss some of the challenges and benefits that this brings with it?

    Andre’s focus on breaking things down into tiny details has been really powerful for me. The very first exercise of ‘Thought Observation’ in Bardon’s IIH was something I never really paid much attention to until working with Andre. I thought I was already beyond that level and didn’t need to bother. But Andre had me spend time watching my thoughts and actually speaking aloud anything I noticed, recording my findings into my phone. This was the first step in building the mirror of thoughts. This was unbelievable to experience and showed me how much I was missing. Speaking aloud became a kind of fishing-net that allowed me to capture so much more than I had previously been aware of. There were layers of thoughts, and thoughts of different types. Thoughts that were barely noticeable ripples of feeling on the surface of my mind, thoughts that were simple awareness, and then awareness of that awareness. And on and on it goes! After just a few sessions of this training, the thoughts weren’t just coming from inside me but seemed to be coming from elsewhere. I would be listening back to my recordings and writing down all the mundane thoughts popping up, when suddenly my voice would change slightly and I would say something bizarre like “An owl with a crown!” or “A being of light!” or “A man with blue skin!” and would have no memory of saying that at all. This practise showed me how much we miss and how we really only detect the barest sliver of reality. We are transmitting and receiving, but we’re mostly unaware of the difference.

    PAA: Using Andre’s approach what can you say about his bridging of the Bardon Tradition and
    the Golden Dawn
    ?

    I already had a sense that the Golden Dawn methods could be done in a much more in-depth way than was commonly practiced. I had been practicing the LBRP for some time and doing it exactly as Israel Regardie instructed and found it cleansing and grounding. Yet I also began to practice it in my astral temple in my mind, and amping up the theatrics as much as I could. In my mind I found I was able to boom the God names across the universe in ways my vocal cords could never achieve, and the pentagrams could expand to become the size of suns. When practicing physically I always felt good and clear headed at the end, yet when practicing internally I began to have actual visitations from the spirits I was calling out to. On one memorable occasion two beings turned up who looked so alien as to be terrifying. One had a burning pyramid for a head and the other had a flaming crater where its face should have been.

    So when I saw that Andre was teaching a method of practising the Golden Dawn rituals in the more granular, Bardon-like way, I had to jump at it. I am still working through the ‘Grand Ritual of Purification’ (which ties in with the Middle Pillar of Golden Dawn), as I’m determined not to rush through it, but the results have already been fascinating.

    Just the practise of colour oscillation, where you focus on varying colours of light has been incredible. I initially thought I was failing the practise as each colour was causing me to experience some quite distinct mental phenomena so I thought I was getting distracted, but Andre explained that I was actually connecting to the energy of the planets that the colours represented, and that these experiences were a sign of progress.

    PAA: How important do you think it is to have a guide to work with on this material?

    This is one of the great things with working with Andre. His courses feel more like a mentorship than simply running through a bunch of video recordings. He actually encourages you to email him regularly and he really takes the time to go through your reports and feedback. I’ve not had that before with other teachers as it’s more common that they write back a single line response, if at all. The other benefit of having a personal tutor is that Andre has been actively tailoring the training to my needs. By reading my reports he was able to gauge my level and get a sense of what instruction I might need besides just having me follow the course material blindly. He’s provided individual extra-curricular exercises to support me and my development, which I’m truly grateful for.

    PAA: Thank you, Alex, for sharing your journey, I am sure these answers will inspire many in their practice.


    Further Information

    Andres Teacher Page
    Ceremonial Magick and the Bardon Tradition
    Magical and Mystical Introspection

  • Masterclass: Franz Bardon’s Initiation into Hermetics, Evocation and Kabbalah

    Masterclass: Franz Bardon’s Initiation into Hermetics, Evocation and Kabbalah

    Imagine being in your late teens or early twenties and you make the decision to defer college and societies expectations and instead travel for extended periods of time in SE Asia working on the Internal Martial Arts, Initiation into Hermetics, Evocation and Kabbalah. Imagine being able to do this under the tutelage of one the main public teachers of this material, a teacher who is known for his generosity and ensuring his students really ‘get it’.

    Would this not be the ideal start to a life dedicated to Mastery of Franz Bardon’s teachings?

    This is the foundation that Jake has had, it has resulted in someone who is young and has their whole life ahead of them yet has a wealth of experience and thousands of hours invested in this practice in a semi retreat setting. This is rare, most of us find this material while we have other responsibilities.

    To get even a glimpse into what Jake has invested would require getting on a plane and heading over to Thailand to stay with Sifu Mark Rasmus. Just staying for a week or two would costs you thousands in flight and training costs. Well worth it but a huge commitment. It is a huge commitment, as this kind of training though wonderful is not something you can put on your resume later on in life, so there is also a cost of opportunity in doing this.

    So, Jake understands as do I, the difficulties of being able to do this while having a life and /or family. To solve this and to share with the community Jake has put his approach to these teachings down in a format that he calls the ‘Masterclass’.

    Masterclass

    I REALLY appreciate these Masterclasses; I actually flew out to train with Sifu Mark Rasmus for the first time in 2012. The training was absolutely game changing and transformed my approach to the work. But in the week that I spent in Thailand I treated it as an intensive retreat, when I was not in class with Sifu Mark I was practicing in my room. But despite this intense and practiced focus approach there was still so much information and knowledge that went in one ear out the other. I just could not absorb it all.

    This is something I think Jake is aware of so in these Masterclass courses he teaches every minute detail, everything you may wonder about, Jake filmed a lesson on it. Add to that if there is subject that you feel needs more information, all you need do is let Jake know and he creates the lesson for you. The more you ask the more you get in these, constantly expanding courses.

    Previously in another post I explained two routes the engineering approach which is used by Sixty Skills, it is more like college it is hands off. You get on with the work and communicate if you need help. Then you also have a much more communicative and mentorship style which is what you get with Andre Consciencia’s approach. I would position Jakes material somewhere in the middle of these two approaches. He does everything he can to assist.

    Who is Jake?

    Though I have written a little at the beginning of this post I wanted to provide more resources, it is important to know who you are dealing with.

    Interviews on Perseus

    Magical Evocation and Invocation Simplified – An Interview with Jake Green – Perseus Arcane Academy

    Illuminating Kabbalah: Jake Green’s Approach to Franz Bardon’s Arcane Tradition – Perseus Arcane Academy

    Unveiling the Masterclasses: Jake Zenn’s Illuminating Journey into Hermetics, Evocation, and Kabbalah – Perseus Arcane Academy

    Worth It?

    I think if you were considering a trip to study with a teacher or you would like to but life, schedule, family responsibilities mean you just cannot get away, then I think these Masterclasses are the perfect answer. As you can get the bundle for less than a flight, tuition and accommodation of just a week’s training. So, it really makes sense as you have access to these courses for as long as the internet exists. Plus, you have access to someone who has genuine experience but is also young enough to be very flexible and adaptable in how they teach. From the internal arts I know working with the young and energetic teachers was always better than working with the Grandmaster who was often stuck in their ways. So, this is a great opportunity to work alongside Jake, it suits someone who wants to make the most of Jakes openness. His accessibility is a huge added bonus to these courses. Someone who has done the work who is willing to create customized videos just for you, on any aspect of the training! Where else will you get that?


  • Andre Consciencia and his Training Curriculum

    Andre Consciencia and his Training Curriculum

    Introdcution

    Having a clear curriculum and knowing what the stated goals of the training are and how it all interrelates is extremely important. This is the current development of the curriculum that Andre has recently released, what I love about what Andre has done here is that even his curriculum is a thing of beauty, inspired in how it is put together. There will I believe be developments and additions to this, but this should give anyone who is interested a clear idea of what to expect. Thank you Andre.


    1 – Triangle of Adepthood

    The first is a triad, pictured as a triangle, and represents the stage in which the spirit inhabits the human being and becomes fully operational in its functionality.

    The line (bottom of the triangle) joins two points: Through the Soul Mirror to the Sphere of the Sun and The Way of Abrahadabra. These two works are optimal when worked together. Through the Soul Mirror being more introspective and The Way of Abrahadabra being purely practical, both work towards the same end: the maturation of the Adept and the construction of the body of light. 

    Less we mistake progress for technique, the books should be accompanied by the Magic & Mystical Introspection course. It will keep evolution on the path organic and personal. This course is ongoing and may keep as the flexible spinal bone throughout the whole mandala.

    The tip of the triangle at the top is the Path of Ipsos (Vol I and Vol II). After exploring Through the Soul Mirror to the Sphere of the Sun together with The Way of Abrahadabra, this is the book to give it all a practical playground that is innovative, complete, extensive and creative enough for the Work to keep breathing and living on its own, becoming not only second nature, but first nature. 

    2 – The Square of Mastery

    The square goes inside the triangle. In other words, the Adept, who has previously mastered the microcosm and opened himself to the macrocosm, truly masters earthly and heavenly powers, starting with the earthly ones by engaging with A Guide to the Elementals and The Lusitanian Grimoire, again simultaneously. These, put together, draw one end of the square, and as A Guide to the Elementals will specialize the Adept in the elements and the elementals, the Lusitanian Grimoire will in turn specialize the Adept in the ancestors and pagan deities of the land. This line of work should be accompanied by the course Journey to the Spirit World – Exploring Neoshamanism. As Magic & Mystical Introspection did before, this course will melt technique into instinct, know-how and natural flowingness.  

    The pair that comes to complete the square, after A Guide to the Elementals and The Lusitanian Grimoire, is A Guide to Sphere Quabbalah conjoined with The Inner Gateways of LAM (Esoteric Pillars). In this marriage it is mostly A Guide to Sphere Quabbalah that is metaphysical and The Inner Gateways of LAM mystical. Worked simultaneously, they cover the celestial and the ultraterrestrial powers, logics and intelligences. This will pair well with the course Ceremonial Magic and the Bardon Tradition, whose practices integrate quite consciously the heavenly spheres, creative blocks, hierarchies, divine names and divinities. 

    3 – The Circle

    The circle goes inside the square, the conjunction forming the Philosopher’s Seal, and is constituted by the wheel presented at The Dragon Tarot (The Inner Circle and the Triangle). Although this is a book suitable for the beginner, it as well solidifies and sediments all that has been learned, leaving the Adept with an exterior tool of his mastery composed of 62 living pieces, after having been initiated into 62 magical tablets. This book should be paired with the course Introduction to Magic, a course for beginners that will test if the essential and basic structure of the Adept as such is still intact. 

    Other books, other courses are on the way, and they too, will further add to the mandala. I believe one of the most peculiar traits about all the works is that they never repeat one another but rather strengthen each other mutually.

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  • Enochian Magick: Chris Johnson’s Path into the Angelic Mysteries”

    Enochian Magick: Chris Johnson’s Path into the Angelic Mysteries”

    Introduction

    In this the post we talk to Chris Johnson about Enochian Magick. Huge thanks to Chris for sharing his experience with us in such detail.

    The Enochian system of angelic magic, first transcribed by scholars John Dee and Edward Kelley in the 16th century, is said to allow humans to communicate directly with angels. In this extremely detailed discussion, occultist Chris Johnson pulls back the curtain and shares their decades-long journey of mastering this powerful and controversial magical practice.

    Chris provides a rare insider’s look at the complex components of the Enochian system, like the Enochian Watchtowers said to be guarded by angelic sentinels. In this discussion we discover the indispensable books and resources that aided Chris’s learning process over the years. From theories on the system’s origins to sharing his unique personal experiences working with the angelic forces, this is an in-depth glimpse into the modern practice of Enochian magic from someone fully immersed in its mysteries.

    If you enjoy this discussion then please take the time to look at the links provided at the end of the post, where we provide you with further opportunities to follow Chris’s work.


    Chris Johnson

    Enochian System of Magick

    PAA: How did you first become interested in the Enochian system of magic?

    For those who don’t know, Enochian Magick is a system that draws upon the writings of Enoch and allows us to talk to Angels—in particular, those who helped humans rise above the level of animals to become gods. The system itself was received by Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley in the 16th century (approximately between the years of 1582-1587), but, arguably, it was intended for our times. In other words, their records provide instructions on how we can speak with Angels today. In their operations, Dee performed invocations and prayers while Kelley served as a medium (skryer) where he received visions using a reflective surface.

    That aside, to answer your question, I’ll have to provide a bit of context and background. In my teens I found two influential books that led me to Aleister Crowley: The Illuminatus! Trilogy1 and Cosmic Trigger2 by Robert Anton Wilson. These led to the purchase of my first Crowley texts, namely Magick Without Tears3, The Collected Works4, and The Book of Lies (Liber CCC)5. (As fortune would have it, a store named The Wizard of Odds had just opened in my small hometown where I found them.) 

    After finishing these texts and wanting to find out more about Thelema, I did research on various occult organizations on the Internet, finding out that only two were located nearby that actually performed initiations. The first was the S.O.T.O., which was in Tennessee at the time; the second was the O.T.O., which had just happened to open a camp in my hometown (I later found out, after meeting the Camp Master and his girlfriend at Applebee’s that they in fact lived one floor up from my apartment). The important point here is that both organizations seemed to provide initiations that would progressively open the chakras, which is one of the prerequisites for refashioning the body as a divine vehicle (although this reasoning was largely unconscious on my part in retrospect).

    My next move was to take the Minerval degree of the O.T.O. in November of 1998, and over the next couple of years I took both I° degree and II° degree. It was during this time that I and the same camp master, Frater IWR, performed an Enochian ritual in the basement of my house around 2001. It was an immediate success. It was then that I began to realize that the system was no joke. It would be years before I would do anything more with it. 

    Soon thereafter I took a hiatus from the O.T.O. Altogether, I continued my Work, but it was independent of any organization or group for approximately 15 years following the Enochian ritual and my II° degree initiation (I had self-signed the Probationer and Neophyte Oaths of the A.A., Crowley’s inner School, but I wasn’t associated with any lineage). Being married, having a child, and running a business with my father occupied my time during these years. Nevertheless, I continued to read and practice both ritual and meditation. For most of this transitional period it was as though I was on autopilot. That is, until the day came when I realized in an intense flash of self-awareness that although it subjectively seemed like only a few months had passed and that I was still a young man, the reality was that I had fallen asleep and I was suddenly in my mid-thirties. 

    In response to this existential crisis, I stepped back and analyzed my priorities seriously. As a result, I renewed my association with the O.T.O. and began investigating the option of formally joining one of the existing A.A. lineages that I felt was calling me. In the meantime, I read and reread books by Crowley, Israel Regardie, and others. 

    It was in the midst of this chaotic time that my interest in the Enochian system was rekindled. Specifically, not long after I closely read Crowley’s The Vision and the Voice (Liber CDXVIII)6, I began researching available source and secondary materials to learn what tools were specified by the Angels as necessary according to the often-contradictory instructions contained in the original system. Then I ventured to create them myself as far as my natural skills would allow.

    Overall, I spent around five years researching and creating my own tools whenever I had the chance (or saving up for others such as the PELE ring and the Ensigns of Creation). 

    Luckily, it turned out that I had intuited the overall importance of the Enochian system, which was further emphasized years after I began researching and practicing it regularly—especially when I learned that Enochian magick was one of, if not the, foundational system for both the Ordo Templi Orientis (viz. Sections X and XI in the VIII° degree document De Nuptiis Secretis Deorum cum Hominibus7) and the A.A. (see Liber Nu (Liber XI8) and Liber Had (Liber DLV9), among others).

    As technology progressed, most of the “secret” documents had become available to qualified and unqualified readers both in print and on the Internet, so even though the highest degree I ended up taking in the O.T.O. was Perfect Initiate (P.I.), I had multiple copies of these and other upper-degree documents readily available for study since 2002 at least.

    PAA: What were some of the initial hurdles you faced when beginning Enochian practice in terms of developing skills like concentration and visualization?

    I’ve never had any significant problems with concentration or visualization given my extensive experience with Vipassana meditation, which I began by attending 10-day courses regularly starting in 2007, and practicing various Astral exercises since the late 1990’s.

    The hardest part to overcome was ensuring that my transcription of the Enochian characters onto the Holy Tables I created were correct. I often found that I had skipped a character or made some other careless error despite the rarity of such mistakes for me when constructing magickal implements in other contexts. Luckily, I was able to overcome this tendency relatively quickly, although the first Tables I made ended up with multiple coats of paint by the time I was finished.

    PAA: How central is the practice of scrying or traveling in the spirit vision to working with the Enochian system?

    I would say that skrying is absolutely central. I work primarily with the 30 Aethyrs, so skrying is an integral and necessary component to the Enochian workings I perform. Nevertheless, the Elemental workings also rely upon skrying. It has also been theorized that the Angels will only speak with humans who manifest into visible appearance to them. If this is in fact true, the system is useless for the practitioner who doesn’t skry. 

    PAA: What has been your approach to understanding and working with the Enochian Watchtowers?

    Assimilating an understanding of the knowledge provided by the Angels has been an ongoing project—especially given that much of the material is either incomplete, contradictory, or missing altogether. For instance, the differences in the designs and measurements of the Holy Table itself range from extreme to extremely subtle, even down to determining the correct coloring and orientation of the letters; the latter confusion is apparent between two of the most similar designs, namely the version depicted in True & Faithful Relation (TFR10) and Crowley’s A Brief Abstract of the Symbolic Representation of the Universe Derived by Doctor John Dee through the Skrying of Sir Edward Kelley11. The Holy Table (or Table of Practice) is a sacred device used to communicate with the angels by means of ritual invocation. In other words, the Holy Table creates a space wherein man and angel can meet and communicate. The border contains 84 Enochian letters, and the middle contains the 12 larger Enochian letters that fill the center square. 

    Even though the skrying of the Aethyrs does not necessitate many of the objects described in Dee and Kelley’s heptarchic communications, I do feel that these objects enhance one’s environment such that a divine sacred space is created wherein these communications become more consciously accessible.

    As for comprehending the system itself, I’ve found that it’s easier to understand how Enochian magick operates by narrowing it down into three primary structures (partially constructed by a helpful summary of the system’s main aspects by David R. Jones in Volume 4, Number 2 of the O.T.O. journal Lion and Serpent, which was published in 2001):

    1. Zodiacal—The 30 Aethyrs/Aires—which represents the structure of their Universe—each of which has a hierarchy of Governors and their respective relationships to different Parts of the Earth (which ties the Zodiacal to the Elemental given that the structure of the Watchtowers correlates to the latter while also sharing relationships with the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 permutations of IHVH, and so on). Some believe it is necessary to recite the first 18 Keys in reverse order, one per day while oriented toward a specific direction, prior to beginning the exploration of the 30 Aethyrs; afterwards, one then performs one call per day of the 30 Aethyrs (preferably during the month of August according to Dee’s and Kelley’s angelic communications); finally, the last two days of this 50 day operation consist of vibrating the primordial unwritten key and then engaging in a “day of attainment”.
    2. Planetary—The Sigillum de Aemeth (“Seal of God’s Truth”) forms a sevenfold magical structure that relates to traditional sevenfold systems (the 7 days of creation in Genesis, the combinations in Revelation, the 7 Tablets of Creation on the Holy Table, etc.). It is a beeswax disk 8.5” diameter and 1” thick that is placed in the center of the Holy Table. The skrying crystal is positioned on top of it after placing a cloth covering over the surface of the table as a whole. It is the centerpiece, along with four identical smaller versions placed under the legs, through which all Heptarchic Magick is channeled. The most famous quote associated with this holy object is almost universally cited (here I’ve revised the original in favor of modern English): “Seven, rest in 7: and the 7, live by 7: the 7, govern the 7: and by 7 all Government is” (Peterson, John Dee’s Five Books of Mystery, Michael to Dee and Kelly on March 20th, 1582, p. 11712). The Sigillum also prevents the Angels summoned from telling untruths.
    3. Elemental— The Enochian Tablets are four in number, each referring to one of the elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. In addition to these four, there is another smaller Tablet, which is called the Tablet of Union, referring to the fifth Element of Ether or Spirit. The Enochian Watchtowers represent how the interactions of the Elemental, Planetary, and Zodiacal energies manifest in the realm of the divine. A Watchtower or Guardian is a tutelary spirit of one of the four cardinal points or quarters (North, East, South, and West). They are also variously associated in many traditions with each of the four classical elements. They are sometimes also understood to represent the Archangels Uriel, Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel. The Watchtowers are “doors”, or “gates”, that elaborate the hierarchies of Angels that include the Elemental, sub-elemental, Zodiacal, and Planetary forces as outlined above via the arrangement of characters in the 156 squares of each. In other words, the Watchtowers are the roads that these forces use to travel from the Sun to Earth by means of emanations of the elemental tides, or Tattvas. Simply stated, the Watchtowers are where the angelic sentinels are stationed to guard against the profane entering into God’s Kingdom (i.e., “against the usurping blasphemy, misuse, and stealth of the wicked” (TFR, p. 170)13 as the agents of “Coronzon”). It is interesting to note that the words “Angel”, “Overseer”, “Castle”, “House”, and “Watchtower” are essentially synonymous.

    When one attempts to put together the details of the Enochian universe, a Merkavah, as outlined in the book of Revelation, is thereby revealed:

    A diagram of the zodiac<br><br>Description automatically generated

    Together, the Throne of God (1), the Zodiacal (12), Planetary (7), and Elemental (4) comprise the 24 “Elders” that represent the forces of the Zodiac (i.e., 1 + 12 + 7 + 4 = 24).

    PAA: How do you view the origins and source of the Enochian system – was it a genuine revelation to John Dee and Edward Kelley or something they constructed?

    I believe that the Enochian system was genuinely received, but that it was also punctuated by manifestations of deception, so I would venture to say that it was both revelatory and that attempts were made, by Kelley in particular, to “construct” parts of the system out of self-interest. If the latter is true, then I am almost certain that Dee wasn’t a part of it, especially given his piety, reverence, and religious devotion.

    This is all besides the fact that I have witnessed it in action many times. There has yet to be a single occurrence where my wife Erica and I didn’t receive a series of visions, most of them involving communication—half of which was in the Enochian language itself, which often required the somewhat frantic use of Aaron Leitch’s The Angelical Language dictionary!14

    A common example that illustrates how it would be difficult, if not impossible, to fabricate the angelic communications was elaborated in the following manner by David R. Jones in “The System of Enochian Magick, Part II: The Evolution of the Tablets” (2001)15:

    The student of Enochian can compare the lists of names with the sigils, which formulate their existence on the Watchtowers, and easily see the correlation. But realize that the names were delivered first and then the Watchtowers horizontally line by line and after having both figures at hand. The Angels demonstrated that, by discrete (7 letters, the number of letters in each Governor’s name) linear connections, all of the letters given in the Watchtowers could be accounted for from the letters that formulate names of the Governors previously given. This would require either a monumental and complex second and third order memorization (2 dimensions to 1 dimension then back to 2 dimensions and with directional correlation from a 3-dimensional origin to a 3-dimensional conclusion) on Kelly’s part or an elaborate and extremely obtuse deception on Dee’s part. This constitutes one of the chief proofs of the system.

    David R. Jones in “The System of Enochian Magick, Part II: The Evolution of the Tablets”

    For the more skeptically-minded, see the discussion in the Introduction to John Dee’s Five Books of Mystery by Joseph H. Peterson titled “Conclusion: The Evidence”16.

    PAA: Do you incorporate other occult systems or elements into your Enochian work, or keep it strictly Enochian?

    Unless the ritual used in conjunction with Enochian magick serves to banish, consecrate, or is preparatory to the ceremony then I tend to avoid mixing anything else with it. I’ve performed rituals such as the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) and various purification ceremonies that seem entirely compatible. The most radical thing I’ve done is perform The Mass of the Phoenix (Liber XLIV17) to positive effect beforehand. 

    For example, I’m always surprised and bewildered by magicians who integrate the Goetia or Azoetia or similar incompatible systems into their Enochian ceremonies. There it’s only a matter of time until they are dramatically changed and not for the better. From what I’ve seen, many of the people who have misused the system end up realizing too late that the results are irrevocable in that one can be potentially affected for the rest of their life (and perhaps for one or more future incarnations). The bottom line: like the Ouija board or the practice of sex magick, the occult itself is not a game, least of all where Enochian magick is concerned, especially for mundane purposes.

    A quote from the Angel Galvah comes to mind when I contemplate the folly of those who try to work the Enochian system for their own ends instead of in the service of Truth:

    The Servants of darkness have their Garments stained: their mouths stink of blasphemy, and lies, but our Garments are no such, neither do our lips speak any untruth and therefore we are of God, for whosoever is of the truth, is of God…. [Further] the wicked Spirits always abhor this word Mercy. (TFR, p. 20)18

    Angel Galvah

    PAA: Are there particular ethical principles or guidelines you follow when working with the Enochian forces and energies?

    Besides only using the system of Enochian magick for furthering the Divine Will, since the Enochian system is one of the most effective and powerful in existence, we find it to be our duty and advantageous to provide any of our students who express their interest in the system with information on the correct performance of rituals before skrying the Aethyrs or doing Elemental Workings. It is also our duty to clearly outline its potential pitfalls. Crowley indicates the potentially dangerous nature of the system in The Vision and the Voice (p. 7)19: “…the genuineness of these Keys, altogether apart from any critical operation, is guaranteed by the fact that anyone with the smallest capacity for Magick finds that they work.” 

    If Crowley’s statement is true, in what way is this a dangerous proposition? Donald Tyson provides one very important reason in Enochian Magic for Beginners20

    Enochian magic holds out the promise to reach beyond the sealed gates of the four Watchtowers and gain the authority and power of the higher angels who have never fallen from grace or walked the byways of the earth. Conversely, it also allows communion with the dark angels who have been cast down into the Abyss for their sin of rebellion. The gates of the Watchtowers are the gates to both heaven and hell. (p. 154)

    Donald Tyson “Enochian Magic for Beginners

    Currently I serve as the Inner Head of the Order (IHO) for the Grady McMurtry lineage of the A.A. One of the first important questions I needed to reflect upon after assuming this position was “Should the Teacher encourage students to engage in Enochian workings?” My response to the Adept who asked this question took the following form: 

    I wouldn’t go so far as to encourage it, but I don’t think it should be discouraged. (To be clear, we are talking here about skrying the Aethyrs and not the elemental workings.) Even Jerry [J. Edward Cornelius] states, regarding the O.T.O., “how do they expect their Upper Degrees to be able to fulfill sections of the Grade Paper titled Deorum cum Hominibus, De Nuptiis Secretis or Of the Secret Marriages of Gods with Men where Enochian magick is required if they have not prepared their students along the way? In other words, it is totally impossible” (J. Edward Cornelius, Red Flame Issue No. 7 (The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley), “Epistle No. 8”, p. 90) [emphasis added]. (Private Email Correspondence, 3/11/2024)

    PAA: Are there any indispensable resources – books, teachers, groups, etc. – that aided your learning of Enochian magic?

    Here are a few books on Enochian magick that I’ve found helpful over the years:

    1. John Dee’s Five Books of Mystery by Joseph H. Peterson—Provides information on the various layouts of the Table of Practice, the requisite prayers, and visual representations of other ritual items (besides being the original record of his and Kelley’s communications with the Angels, which, in itself, is invaluable).
    2. True & Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Years between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits by John Dee and Some Spirits by Meric Casaubon—Provides a multitude of valuable information including the uncorrupted description of the Watchtowers and their intended coloring, etc. (although the Table version included therein is not accurate in comparison with those of similar design found in John Dee’s diaries).
    3. The Lost Art of Enochian Magic21 by John DeSalvo—One of the few sources that provides instructions for performing the call of the 1st Aethyr (which he feels he has discovered and had been considered lost, as well as too holy for humans to employ); moreover, the book includes a CD that demonstrates and offers guidance on the correct pronunciation of the Enochian calls.
    4. Enochian Vision Magick22 by Lon Milo DuQuette—An excellent book where DuQuette simplifies many of the theories concerning the Enochian system and the purposes behind each of the ritual implements used by Dee and Kelley (whenever possible). He gives well-researched instructions on how to perform both the Elemental Calls and the Calls of the 30 Aethyrs. 
    5. Red Flame No. 723 (The Magical Essence of Aleister Crowley)—Specifically, “Epistle No. 8” and “Epistle No. 9” (pp. 91-106), which give invaluable information on a hidden Aethyr (the 31st) that Jerry Cornelius attributes to LAXDIZI, which was discovered through his investigation of the seven unaccounted-for squares on the Watchtowers, which, in the end, ties in with the Watchers and accounts for the reason why the 30th Aethyr has four governors, but the 1st Aethyr only has three (an apparent imbalance). Simply stated, his discovery reveals that LAXDIZI perhaps refers to the fallen Watcher “who at one time sat by the side of God in the highest and supposedly resided in the 1st Aethyr” (p. 104). He explores other interesting facts throughout as well—such as the LAXDIZI square’s symbolism happening to be an X encircled, the same as the sign of N.O.X., and so on. We are currently in the process of preparing a re-release of this rare publication.

    There are more books I could add—such as Gerald Schueler’s Enochian Magic: A Practical Guide and The Essential Enochian Grimoire by Aaron Leitch—but I think the above texts are enough to keep anyone busy for quite a while. Again, I spent over five years studying and constructing or purchasing the materials before skrying for the first time. In any case, the system never fails to work—hence the potential dangers.

    PAA: Thank you for sharing so much with us.


    This is the first installment of answers from Chris, and we look forward to posting his next batch of answers where we cover other subjects.


    Useful Links


    Footnotes


    1. Shea, R. and Wilson, R. A. (1975/1988).
      The Illuminatus! Trilogy .
      New York: Dell Publishing.
      ↩︎

    2. Wilson, R. A. (1977/1996).
      Cosmic Trigger: Volume I
      . Tempe, AZ: New Falcon Publications. ↩︎

    3. Crowley, A. (1973/1991).
      Magick Without Tears
      (I. Regardie, Ed.). Tempe, AZ: New Falcon Publications. ↩︎

    4. Crowley, A. (1905).
      Collected Works of Aleister Crowley with Portraits
      . Des Plaines, IL: Yogi Publication Society. ↩︎

    5. Crowley, A. (1913/1997).
      The Book of Lies
      . York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc. ↩︎

    6. Crowley, A. (1972).
      The Vision and the Voice
      . Dallas, TX: Sangreal Foundation, Inc. ↩︎

    7. Crowley, A. (1973).
      The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O.
      (F. King, Ed.). New York: Samuel Weiser, pp. 187-205. ↩︎

    8. Crowley, A. (1912).
      The Equinox, Vol. I, No. VII
      (M. D. Sturges, Ed.). London, W.C.: Wieland & Co., pp. 11-20. ↩︎

    9. Crowley, A. (1912).
      The Equinox, Vol. I, No. VII
      (M. D. Sturges, Ed.). London, W.C.: Wieland & Co., pp. 85-91. ↩︎

    10. Dee, J. and Kelley, E. (1659).
      True and Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Years Between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits
      (M. Casaubon, Ed.). Kessinger Publishing. ↩︎

    11. Crowley, A. (1912).
      The Equinox, Vol. I, No. VII
      (M. D. Sturges, Ed.). London, W.C.: Wieland & Co., pp. 229-248 and continued in Crowley, A. (1912).
      The Equinox, Vol. I, No. VIII
      (M. D. Sturges, Ed.). London, W.C.: Wieland & Co., pp. 99-128. ↩︎

    12. Dee, J. And Kelley, E. (2003).
      John Dee’s Five Books of Mystery
      (J. H. Peterson, Ed.). York Beach, ME: Weiser Books. ↩︎

    13. Dee, J. and Kelley, E. (1659).
      True and Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Years Between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits
      (M. Casaubon, Ed.). Kessinger Publishing. ↩︎

    14. Leitch, A. (2010).
      The Angelical Language: Volume II
      . Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications. ↩︎

    15. Jones, D. R. (2001). “The System of Enochian Magick, Part II: The Evolution of the Tablets” in
      Lion and Serpent Vol. 4, No. 2
      . Portland, OR: Sekhet-Maat Lodge, O.T.O. ↩︎

    16. Dee, J. And Kelley, E. (2003).
      John Dee’s Five Books of Mystery
      (J. H. Peterson, Ed.). York Beach, ME: Weiser Books, pp. 37-41. ↩︎

    17. Crowley, A., Desti, M., and Waddell, L. (1994/1997).
      Magick, Liber ABA, Book 4: Parts I-IV
      (H. Beta, Ed.). Yorke Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc., pp. 571-572. ↩︎

    18. Dee, J. and Kelley, E. (1659).
      True and Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Years Between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits
      (M. Casaubon, Ed.). Kessinger Publishing. ↩︎

    19. Crowley, A. (1972).
      The Vision and the Voice
      . Dallas, TX: Sangreal Foundation, Inc. ↩︎

    20. Tyson, D. (1997).
      Enochian Magic for Beginners
      . St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications. ↩︎

    21. DeSalvo, J. (2010).
      The Lost Art of Enochian Magic: Angels, Invocations, and the Secrets Revealed to Dr. John Dee
      . Rochester, VT: Destiny Books. ↩︎

    22. DuQuette, L. M. (2008).
      Enochian Vision Magick: An Introduction and Practical Guide to the Magick of Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley
      . San Fransisco, CA: Weiser Books. ↩︎

    23. Cornelius, J. E. and Cornelius, M. (1999).
      Red Flame Issue Number 7: The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley
      . Berkeley, CA: J. Edward & Marlene Cornelius. ↩︎

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  • A Deep Dive into Mesopotamian Mysteries: An Interview with Samuel David, Author of “Rod and Ring”

    A Deep Dive into Mesopotamian Mysteries: An Interview with Samuel David, Author of “Rod and Ring”

    Introduction

    Samuel David’s fascination with the ancient polytheistic beliefs, rituals, and symbolism of Mesopotamian spirituality is truly compelling. In this insightful interview, we delve into what inspired the author of “Rod and Ring: An Initiation into a Mesopotamian Mystery Tradition” to immerse himself in the study of one of the earliest known civilizations. From personal experiences and academic research to a profound connection with this enduring tradition, discover how Samuel’s groundbreaking book was shaped by his exploration into the mysteries of Mesopotamia.


    Interview

    Introduction to Samuel David and his book “Rod and Ring: An Initiation into a Mesopotamian Mystery Tradition”

    PAA: Samuel, what initially sparked your interest in Mesopotamian polytheism, and how has your personal journey influenced the writing of your book?

    My interest in Mesopotamian polytheism developed over time from childhood with my first illustrated Bible – “The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes”, and later, the Epic of Gilgamesh which was included in a book of fairy tales and myths given to me by my grandmother, as well as Halley’s Bible Handbook. The awe I
    felt in reading those texts at a young age is something I hope to maintain as my spiritual journey and
    written explorations continue during the passing years.

    PAA: Could you share a pivotal moment or experience that inspired you to embark on the path of writing “Rod and Ring,” and what message do you hope readers will take away from it?

    A great deal of material found in “Rod & Ring” was being composed starting in 2016 as contributions to
    the spiritual community that I found within the Temple of Sumer, the Temple of Inanna, my local pagan
    group (which sadly disbanded at the start of the COVID epidemic), and events such as Pagan Spirit
    Gathering, Paganicon, Ishtarfest, and The Scottish Pagan Federation’s “Visions of Magick” conference. It
    was largely due to outpouring support I had from others that compelled me to compile much of my work
    for eventual publication.

    PAA: As a writer, researcher, and educator in the field of Mesopotamian spirituality, what advice would you give to individuals who are new to this tradition and eager to learn more about it?

    Sadly, there’s a great deal of information in the esoteric section of many bookstores that disregard the
    rich history, culture, religion, and magical traditions of the various Mesopotamian peoples in favor of
    alternate history and dubious theories concerning extraterrestrials. I urge those interested in this rich,
    complex spiritual current to not be afraid of the research section of their local library or bookstore – you’ll
    be surprised at the rich selection hiding under your nose.

    Book Content and Approach

    PAA: What inspired you to take a practical approach rather than an overly scholarly or artistic one in writing “Rod and Ring”?

    Aside from notable titles such as Simon’s Necronomicon – so long as one excludes all the Lovecraftian
    elements or the presentation of Marduk’s fifty names as individual spirits, there exists little in the way of
    practical material that remains true to the spiritual and magical legacy of the Mesopotamian peoples.
    Much of the extant material is either a derivative of The Necronomicon or heavily relies upon western
    ceremonial lodge magic. The latter of which can be somewhat disappointing. A rich corpus of cosmological traditions, practices, and rituals that are complete unto themselves with their own formulae and modes of operation already exist in the historical record.

    With regards to scholarly elements, I was unable to acquire permission from academic publishers after
    reaching out to several institutions with requests to include direct translations of historical texts. In fact,
    one publisher simply returned my letter with no response.

    PAA: Can you elaborate on how readers can actively engage with the content of your book in their spiritual practice?

    Throughout the course of the book are a series of sequential rituals and evocations as well as formularies
    and instructions on creating ritual garments which serve to immerse the ritualist into a living mythopoetic
    epic if you will. I also provided a means in which one may determine their initiatory theophoric name.
    Elements drawn from the myths of Inanna such as her acquisition of the ME and her descent, as well as
    Gilgamesh’s quest for meaning are woven together along with rituals dedicated to a total of twenty-four
    gods. These rituals are composed in such a way that an individual or a group such as a coven or temple
    may approach the material as part of an initiatory process either alone or together. The reader may also
    utilize incantations from the book to secure working ritual spaces, establish protocols to magically protect
    their home, and ritually purify themselves or others.

    PAA: How do you envision your book contributing to the broader understanding of ancient Mesopotamian religions?

    I sincerely hope that my work speaks to those who are looking for something that more prominent
    esoteric and alternative spiritual movements aren’t providing them. Cuneiform is one of the earliest forms
    of the written language and the various Mesopotamian peoples’ dedication to documenting everything
    imaginable, including religious, cultic, and ritual texts is a testament to their timeless legacy. Speaking
    candidly, I know that I am not alone when I say that contemporary spiritual or esoteric practices derived
    from western lodge magic or contemporary interpretations of European paganism or even Wicca don’t
    speak to everyone.

    Ancient Mesopotamian Religions and Influences

    PAA: Could you share more about your journey from your Christian upbringing to exploring ancient Mesopotamian religions?

    I often joke that the Bible was my “gateway drug” into paganism, polytheism, and the esoteric altogether.
    I was raised in a Pentecostal household and attended Pentecostal and Charismatic churches for the
    greater part of my life. For those unfamiliar with these sects or traditions of Christianity, aside from the
    mystical elements like speaking in tongues among other gifts of the Holy Spirit, there is a great deal of
    emphasis placed upon the various figures of the Old Testament. In the narratives found throughout the
    texts, there are countless examples of conflicts between the early Jews and their contemporaries. There
    are several passages that struck me and compelled me to ask uncomfortable questions about accounts of
    the ancestors of the Jews living beyond the Euphrates in the city of Ur who worshipped other gods (Joshua 24:2-3); the worship of the Queen of Heaven and the prosperity the people enjoyed when she was publicly worshipped (Jeremiah 44); the references to the worship of the god Tammuz (re: Dumuzid) and the epiphanies of various gods as astral bodies (Ezekiel 8:14-16); the accounts of Daniel living in Babylon as one of the divination experts in the court of the king in Babylon. Another part of my journey includes the mild obsession from an early age with the debunked and quite outlandish theories of individuals such as Alexander Hislop, who asserted that Babylon has maintained its occult hold on the modern world under
    the guise of Catholicism. This material was so intriguing to me that I often spent a great deal of time
    reading prophetic texts from both the Old and New Testament to better understand the great power of
    “Mystery Babylon”. I find this quite humorous now because there were several individuals throughout my
    life that insisted that “the Lord was calling Samuel to ministry through the power of his word”.

    PAA: What specific aspects of Mesopotamian mythology and deities resonate with you the most, and why?

    Within my own private praxis, I have a room dedicated as a temple with separate shrines for my personal
    pantheon comprised of Inanna/Ishtar and her spouse Dumuzid/Tammuz; the solar god of justice,
    Utu/Shamash; the storm god, Ishkur/Adad; the lunar god, Nanna/Sin and his spouse, Ningal; the god
    Marduk. Except for Marduk, these deities form a holy family and I perceive that they oversee the
    agricultural wellbeing of the region of the American Midwest in which I live. I have also developed a
    relatively minor devotional praxis involving the chthonic deities Ereshkigal and Nergal, and the titanic
    forces that are embodied in the apotropaic demon-god, Pazuzu, and the terrifying ogre named Humbaba.
    The most poignant aspect of Mesopotamian mythology concerns the plight of humanity explored in the
    mythical Epic of Gilgamesh as well as the countless narratives concerning the prevailing power of order
    over entropy and chaos. The lack of anthropocentricism in Mesopotamian cosmology as well as the
    philosophy concerning life and death are of particular interest to me. While there is an emphasis on
    hospitality, honorable words, and honorable deeds, there is no ideology concerning some eternal reward
    or an apocalyptic end of the world. Humans were seen as a part of the same “ecosystem” in which animals, divine spirits, and immortal gods inhabit and death is the great equalizer.

    PAA: How do you navigate and reconcile the differences between various Mesopotamian cultures in our book?

    While the respective spiritual expressions or magical traditions may vary from on period or culture to the
    next, I focus upon the similarities or parallels and historical examples of syncretism that exist. Thankfully,
    a blueprint already exists thanks to the efforts of the Akkadians who sought to harmonize their own
    culture with that of the Sumerians to soothe racial tensions after they conquered and colonized the
    Sumerian population. This began under the reign of Sargon of Akkad, who installed his daughter,
    Enheduanna, as the high priestess of the city of Ur. She is credited as the first known author in written
    history and composed dozens of liturgical texts dedicated to the gods as well as various temples
    throughout ancient Iraq. Other people groups such as the Babylonians and Kassites, for example, would
    take this even further by elevating aspects of Sumerian culture, including the use of Sumerian cuneiform
    to compose numerous myths, liturgical texts, and exhaustive comparative and lexical catalogs of gods.
    Topic: Significance of the Rod and Ring Symbol

    PAA: In your book, you discuss the rod and ring symbol as representing divine authority and order
    in Mesopotamian civilization. How do these symbols manifest in historical texts and artifacts, and what role do they play in contemporary spiritual practices?


    These symbols manifest in historical texts such as the Enuma Elish, or Babylonian creation epic, and the
    Descent of Inanna as tools of divine office. They are also found in historical reliefs which depict deities
    presenting these to a king. The most famous example is found on the Stele of Hammurabi, where the solar
    god, Shamash, extends these items in one hand in an act of benediction.
    It is my personal interpretation that the motif of the rod and ring may serve as an adequate image to
    symbolize the Mesopotamian spiritual current – much in the way that movements such as Asatru utilize
    Mjolnir or Kemetic groups utilize the ankh.

    PAA: Can you elaborate on the ritual significance of the rod and ring symbol, particularly in the context of Mesopotamian ceremonies or religious rites? How do practitioners today incorporate these symbols into their worship or rituals?

    Aside from their presentation symbols of divine authority over cosmic order and civilization, these items
    are understood to be the equivalent of a ruler and a coiled measuring line which were used in times of
    peace when kings measured and established the foundations of temples to not only commemorate their
    achievements but also serve as a public declaration of their service to the god or godsthat they venerated.
    Personally, I utilize these items in my own praxis to serve as tangible reminders of my responsibility to my
    temple and the gods whom I serve both publicly and privately. To me, they are symbols of my role as a
    steward of the temple and a leader in my community.

    PAA: As someone deeply immersed in Mesopotamian polytheism, how do you interpret the symbolic meaning of the rod and ring in relation to broader themes of cosmic order, divine sovereignty, and human destiny?

    I interpret these items beyond their historical meaning as symbols that represent the connection between
    the realm of the gods and mortals; the astral, terrestrial, and chthonic realms in the form of the rod. The
    cycle of the seasons and the human lifecycle are represented by the ring.

    Personal Experiences and Rituals

    PAA: Could you share more about your personal experiences during rituals, such as the instances of synchronicity you mentioned?

    There are so many experiences I could talk about! One of the most poignant experiences involved a ritual
    recitation of a text I wrote which recounted the events of the Babylonian creation epic and the battle
    between Marduk and Tiamat. This ritual was conducted with both my local pagan group and with several
    participants at Paganicon. During the ritual, when Marduk is invoked, there were some incredible
    epiphanies. During the ritual with my pagan group, which took place outside, a sudden wind picked up.
    There was no inclement weather in the forecast. The ritual space was surrounded by lit torches and the
    altar had an iron cauldron with a steady flame. The fire guttered and was snuffed out while the wind grew
    steadier and cloud cover formed overhead. The ritual came to an end with the symbolic slaying of Tiamat
    which involved me striking the ground with an axe. In that moment, the wind stopped. When this ritual
    was observed at Paganicon, during the same moment of triumph over chaos resulted in the fire alarm
    going off at the same time throughout the entire hotel. There was no threat of fire and it the cause of the
    alarm could not be determined.
    During another ritual – again, there was no inclement weather in the forecast, an item was being
    consecrated to the service of the god Ishkur/Adad. During the ritual, my pagan group gathered with
    several instruments that were used in succession to evoke the sound of a gentle rain, then a steady
    downpour, and finally, thunder and lightning. The god was then invoked by name, offerings were
    presented, and he was petitioned for his providence. A heavy storm started the following day and lasted
    for approximately three days and nights. During that time, the county was inundated with rain which
    caused localized flooding. This was taken as a sign that the god, his emanation, or attending spirits heard
    us. To this day, the item that was consecrated to his service has been used with the utmost care.

    PAA: How has your involvement with a local pagan group influenced your understanding and practice?

    I am thankful for the challenges that the group brought, especially in terms of public speaking, addressing
    an audience, and more importantly, commanding a ritual setting with concise instructions. I love devotional ritual, however, being part of a large group who have gathered for a singular purpose is a
    beautiful experience. It has also compelled me to write and present material in a manner that doesn’t rely
    upon academic terms and concepts. I present the material in a way that is approachable, even for those
    who are unfamiliar with the subject matter.

    PAA: What advice would you give to those interested in incorporating Mesopotamian rituals into their spiritual practice but unsure where to begin?

    There’s an adage I’ve heard several times: “perfect is the enemy of good”. I encourage everyone who is
    interested in incorporating these practices into their own praxis to experiment and find ways that make
    the most sense to them. I also have a concise list that was put together by myself and other members of
    my spiritual community that provide titles for relevant texts that can enrich one’s praxis. I also encourage
    everyone to take time and be comfortable in silence. Gods and spirits don’t always speak with proverbial
    booming voices. Sometimes their answer or presence is affirmed by synchronicity, innocuous epiphanies,
    or even the words of a friend.

    Artistic Presentation

    PAA: What inspired the aesthetic design of the artisan edition, and how does it enhance the reader’s experience?

    The cover of the artisan edition features an embossed reproduction of a cuneiform tablet, which records
    part of a balag, a song of lament that accompanied a stringed instrument. The text is typical of the Seleucid period, where the words are written in Sumerian but with many lines accompanied by an Akkadian translation. Sumerian was the language spoken in southern Mesopotamia until around 2000 BCE, while Akkadian had probably ceased to be a spoken language by the time this tablet was written, having been replaced by Aramaic and Greek throughout much of the Near East. However, both Sumerian and Akkadian continued to be written in cuneiform until the early centuries of the Common Era by learned scribes. This tablet contains a lament by Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of fertility, over the destruction of her cities and shrines, and contrasts her present humiliation with her previous power. There are parallels with well-known myths dating from the late third and second millennia BCE — such as the Sumerian version of the myth of Inanna’s descent to the Underworld — demonstrating the very long-lived literary tradition maintained by the temple scribes of Mesopotamia. The reason why I chose this image as the inspiration of this book’s cover is because I am deeply moved by these laments and see my work — and the work of my peers who also venerate the gods of the Ancient Near East, as building blocks that are rebuilding and reestablishing what was lost to time.

    PAA: Have you considered making artwork available as standalone pieces, and what factors would you consider?

    The artist of Rod & Ring is Johnny Decker Miller and he has made his artwork available in the past. Perhaps when and if the book is re-released by Anathema in a paperback edition, prints of various images may be produced as well. In my own time, I produce my own artwork as expressions of devotion.

    PAA: How do the visual elements contribute to appreciation and understanding among readers?

    Several illustrations serve to instill a sense of the world as the ancient Mesopotamians perceived it as well
    as the epiphanies of the gods. One illustration, for instance, is found on page 325 presents the astral,
    terrestrial, and chthonic realms of the mortal and the divine. Above the “circle of the earth” is a massive
    ziggurat surrounded by clouds. Below the “circle of the earth” is an inverted ziggurat surrounded by the
    river that separates the living from the dead and far below it, the primordial cosmic sea. For those who
    are curious and may find it humorous, yes, the Mesopotamian peoples were “flat-earthers” – just as
    countless other cultures were in the ancient world.

    Future Projects

    PAA: Can you share anything else you are working on?

    Aside from Rod & Ring, I have two other publications that are available. The first is “Lioness: the Song of
    Inanna” which can be purchased through Miskatonic Books. The second is one that was released last year
    which was a labor love devoted to the god, Dumuzid, titled “The Red Shepherd”. This text serves to present a contemporary cultic practice dedicated to this complex deity who is more than just the effete
    husband of Inanna who was unfortunate enough to take her place in the Underworld at the close of her
    descent myth.
    I have two other projects in the works. The first concerns the Enuma Elish (or Babylonian creation epic)
    and the second concerns the application of elements from the Epic of Gilgamesh within the framework of
    a psychospiritual esoteric praxis.

    PAA Where can people follow your work?

    I’m available on Facebook, Instagram (@rodandring), Youtube
    (@rodandring), and my website.

    PAA: Thank you very much taking the time to answer our questions.


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