THEOMAGICA • making the serpent bite its tail

H O M E B LO G E S S AY S B O O KS TO P I C S V O I C E S TO O LS A N T I V E N O M

The Arbatel Experience

The Ritual of PHUL

The Ritual of PHUL

On Monday, 22nd of November 2010, a night of full moon and during the first hour of the moon I
performed the first ritual of the Arbatel series. The ritual of the Olympic Spirit of the Moon whose
governor is Phul.

A close friend and I had been working since the beginning of the year, with multiple interruptions
of our day jobs, to bring together the full Arbatel ritual structure as well as all necessary
paraphernalia. Both of us are practicing magicians since many years and so we had the usual stock
of ritual equipment. As I am living on the countryside we also had the luxury of a spacious temple,
fitted into an old saddle factory barn next to my house.

The following document is my personal report on the preparation, completion an conclusions of

the evocation of the Olympic Spirit of Phul. Everything expressed is an accurate and honest
account of the preparation and work done between December 2009 and November 2010.
Everything stated is also nothing but my personal experience and opinion. Still, I hope it will serve
others in their practical work and can contribute to further maintain both of pillars of our craft -
science and art.

1) Preparation
Our journey started from Joseph Peterson's critical edition of the Arbatel - the magic of the
Ancients from 2009. This beautiful book provides the full Arbatel text in Latin and English
translation. Moreover, the Arbatel rites had been performed multiple times before and several
magicians had kindly shared their experiences online.

What was rather obscure, however, was the actual ritual structure that is
supposed to frame the Arbatel prayers. As it wasn’t given in the Second or
Third Septenary andthe main corpus of the Arbatel was lost or never even
published, we had to f ill in these blank spots ourselves.

On first reading of the Arbatel aphorisms it becomes obvious that there are no
clear instructions included on how to ‘call’ the Olympic Spirits. It might seem
ambiguous for example wether the prayer in the Second Septenary, Aphorism
14 is meant to be integrated into a larger ritual structure or simply recited in
front of an altar, with the sigil of the Olympic Spirit underneath a holy cross.

The author, however, hints at several points in the text to the fact that the
spirits are to be summoned or evoked rather than prayed to under the
protection of God alone. The most obvious hint is the fact that the author
deliberately offers his knowledge to “the true and divine Magician” and not to a
scholar, mystic or monk. Secondly, the language in the quote below invokes
the impression of a master-servant relationship which is so typical for many
Grimoires. This type of relationship is hard to establish in a mystical prayer
without any protection of a magical circle or other consecrated paraphernalia that extend the
might of the magician beyond his individual persona:

“The true and divine Magician may use all the creatures of God, and off ices of the Governours of the
world, at his own will, for that the Governours of the world are obedient unto them, and come when
they are called, and do execute their commands (...)”
(Third Septenary, Aphorism 17)

These indications led us to believe that the author actually meant ‘evocation’ when he wrote
‘prayer’ in the following two quotes.

“Magically the Princes of the seven Governments are called simply, in that time, day and hour
wherein they rule visibly or invisibly, by their Names and Off ices which God hath given unto them;
and by proposing their Character which they have given or conf irmed.”
(Third Septenary, Aphorism 17)

“When you would call any of the Olympick Spirits, observe the rising of the Sun that day, and of
what nature the Spirit is which you desire; and saying the prayer following, your desires shall be
perfected.”
(Third Septenary, Aphorism 21)

Finally, at the end of the evocation that follows the quote above the magician gives a license to
depart to the spirit. This ritual element together with stated gratitude of the magician for the
appearance and obedience of the spirit are clear testaments that the Third Septenary of the Arbatel
is meant to provide instructions on how to actually summon the Olympic Spirits in a ritual setting
rather than purely praying for their appearance.

Having clarified the basic approach to the evocation of the Arbatel spirits, we were still left with a
lot of blanks in the actual ritual structure. Especially the frame rituals for establishing a banned,
consecrated space and heightening the mind and trance of the magician had to be decided.

We settled on the principle to try the most simple approach f irst - and alter it as we continue to
perform all seven Olympic Spirit rituals in case the desired effects weren’t achieved with the initial
structure. Therefore we chose the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram together with a slightly
adjusted version of the Ritual of the Hexagram as frame rituals. The adjustment in the hexagram
ritual was to replace the symbol within the Hexagram with the sigil of the spirit in question. I.e.
for Phul we would draw hexagrams of water in all quarters of the earth and one additional
hexagram above the altar facing west. Yet we would use the sigil of Phul in the centre as opposed to
the traditional head of an eagle.

This allowed us to come up with the following basic ritual structure:

1. Kabbalistic Cross
2. Lesser Banishing ritual of the Pentagram
3. Welcoming of God in the four quarters of the circle
4. Adjusted Hexagram ritual of the Moon
5. Gesture of the opening of the veil
6. Arbatel prayer for protection of God and consecration of Table of Practice (from Second
Septenary, Aphorism 14)
7. Arbatel evocation of Phul (from Third Septenary, Aphorism 21)
8. Communion with Phul
9. Gesture of the closing of the veil
10. Lesser Banishing ritual of the Pentagram
11. Ritual license to depart

Finally, we had to decide on the locus of evocation, the place for the spirit to manifest or
concentrate its influence in. We settled on Trithemius’ famous Table of Practice as the appropriate
place to bind the spirit forces in. The creation of this device took almost six months and I have
shared the related report in this article.

Having clarified our structural approach to the rite let me briefly talk about my personal attitude
and intention for the acts(s). It was important to me that the successful communion with the
respective Olympic Spirit should be the only goal of the rites. Rather than performing the rituals
for reasons of personal material gain or spiritual support, my focus should be entirely on
understanding the nature of the Olympic Spirits themselves. The series of rituals therefore was
conceived as an exploration into the nature of the Olympic Spirits through evocation and spirit
communication.

With this brief introduction to our general approach, let me share the description of my personal
experience of the Arbatel ritual of the Olympic Spirit of Phul. I have tried to keep this description
as true and faithful as possible to what happened on this morning. Therefore the report might
come with some obvious statements for experienced magicians but hopefully provide many
personal details I had hoped to hear about during the early years of my own magical journey.

2) Ritual Description
“All things are possible to them that believe them, and are willing to receive them;
but to the incredulous and unwilling, all things are unpossible (...).”
(Third Septenary, Aphorism 20)

2a) Opening

I entered the temple an hour before the f irst hour of the Moon on Monday, 22nd of November. It
was very cold in the unheated, large room and I moved through the darkness as I prepared the
circle candles, altar and paraphernalia for the ritual. My hands were numb by the time I settled into
my meditation position under a warm black cloak and brought my mind to rest. I meditated my
standard opening: long breaths of Pranayama followed by a journey to a wooden platform high
above the forests where I swept the floor and met my holy guardian angel (HGA). I felt calm and
focussed, yet excited and tense at the same time as always before such a ritual I had prepared for
several months.

Then I put on my sacred robe and paraphernalia. The belt for taming my desires, the crown for
taming my mind, the moon stone ring for directing the energies released from my right, the Lamen
to protect my heart and to put it under the protection of the operating spirit, Phul.

(Note: here is a digital copy of the Lamen of Phul used in the ritual. The design follows my general
approach for creating a Lamen: in the center the sigil of Phul is depicted, surrounded by a sigil of circles
and crosses which my HGA gave me specif ically to protect and charge talismans. This is surrounded by
Psalms, or in this case by the f irst and the last sentence of the Phul evocation. I printed this design,
copied it with carbon paper on virgin papyrus and painted it with colors on the papyrus surface. Finally
I cut it out and slid it into the Lamen frame (see below). This frame is a simple cubic frame from copper
which allows me to wear the Lamen tied around my neck and back in the middle of the chest over my
heart.)

I entered into the circle which I wouldn't leave until the ritual was completed. I lid the candles and
started with a kabbalistic cross to center the energies of my body, spirit and the ritual space of the
circle. I took the dagger and started to perform the lesser banishing ritual starting in the East. On
closure I welcomed God behind the gates of the four directions of the sky and returned to the altar
facing West.

2b) Immersion

Next, I recited the f irst prayer of the Arbatel text, invoking the protection of God and consecrating
the Table of Practice. Then I lid the charcoal which took longer than usual as it seemed not to be
entirely dry. I put the incense of moon on the glow and the sweet mixed smell of copal, olibanum,
myrtle, sandalwood and jasmine started to f ill the circle.

At this point in the ritual the consecrated space of the circle extended high above and below me.
When I closed my eyes I saw the dark centre of Kether high above me. On the next level below it
was a circle of nameless angelic beings whose dark shapes I perceived in silence. Below this circle
of angels the sun of Tiphareth or the blinding light of my guardian angel hung above me glowing in
the dark. Surrounding me I perceived the four archangels and their pentagram gates to the four
directions of the sky and the sublunar elements. Underneath my feet opened an abyss of darkness
over which I was able to walk just like a dancer on the wire f inding his place between heaven and
earth. Thus - if looked at from the outside - my place was within the Etz Chiim, right on the
middle pillar and reflecting the astral perception of Yesod.

Wether this astral structure surrounding me is a projection of my heightened imagination or a pure

and rather objective external perception I cannot tell. I am aware that Rufus Opus is describing a
similar astral structure in one of his older posts. I can only conf irm that this perception or
imagination comes without any effort or conscious intention at this point in the ritual. It is
completely effortless and I can look at it from different angles with closed eyes on turning my
head. May others f ind out whether this is a subjectively projected thought matrix or a living
mandala of our spirit... It makes no difference to the results of the ritual and the act of spirit
communication.

- picture of ritual dagger and sword, before polishing & consecration -

I grabbed the dagger again and performed the adjusted hexagram ritual of the moon. Instead of the
traditional elementary sign I drew the sigil of Phul in the middle of the hexagram body. As I
opened the four hexagram gates I could feel the energy in the circle intensify. It didn't had any
specific quality; the energy simply became denser as if the air pressed against my robe and clothes
tighter than before. As usual at this point my mind was focussed and in a light trance. My eyes
don't move at free will but follow the tightly arranged movement of my body as if their sight would
touch and change any object they met. Every movement in the circle is conducted clockwise, at any
point my hands are taking the shape of a prayer mudra in front of the Lamen or holding the dagger
tightly. My eyes are focussed on my hands or any object they are touching... I returned to the altar,
facing west and added more incense to the coal. Then I recited the evocation of Phul.

2c) Communion

This evocation I had to repeat three times until I could feel the text come alive. In my mind this
hymn - maybe every part of these prayers - need to be recited as if speaking to a lover you’ve been
missing for a long time. It's only when I can feel the words in my heart, rushing in my blood and
breaking down the barriers between my physical body and the space in the circle that I am content
to move on to the next phase. To be quiet honest, understanding this crucial element of any
successful ritual probably took me half a decade of magical training. One could think that modern
ritual magic puts so much emphasize on technique, on timing and tradition that it almost has
forgotten about the heart and its central role in communicating with spirits?

With the risk of getting derailed, let me make this point really clear: It took me nine years of
training to truly f igure out that my HGA is in touch with me - literally - every second of my life.
Our bodies mingle, our lights transform and our thoughts meet in dreams. The (Abramelin) goal of
higher communion with it/him/her that I had aspired to for such a long time is actually present in
my life every day. It's only my consciousness that failed to allow me to participate in this
communion consciously. For years I had been living like a blind, furiously working to repair the
sight of my eyes with great techniques and tools. However, often it simply makes more sense to
accept blindness and use hands to feel and touch instead. My ultimate goal always had been to
move my state of being from one Sephira to another, one by one and to advance on my spiritual
journey - wether I am guided by the sight of my eyes or the touch of my hands. I recall a quote that
our guardian angel is praying downwards to us since the f irst day of our lives. Only once we stop
and concentrate on our faith and its/his/her presence around us, are we starting to pray upwards to
it/her/him...

I recited the prayers several times until I could fully feel the effect. Then I put the liturgic book
down... Well, maybe this is another point worth getting derailed? It seems a fundamental
discussion if a magician enters into the circle with the entire ritual tex learnt by heart - or with a
cheat sheet as some might call it or a liturgic book as I call it. Even though I had problems learning
texts by heart from early days on, I still wouldn’t accept any compromise if I felt using a written
copy of the prayers would be 'cheating'. As a solitary magician I have all the time in the world to
prepare for a ritual. No rush, no hectic, every step in its own time. Every full moon returns and no
constellation is worth a rushed or ill prepared ritual.

I still decided to use a written copy of my prayers as it enhances accessing and remaining in
magical trance for me. Because I can fully concentrate on the flow of gestures and words and I
don't need to worry about forgetting the next line or misspelling a deity or barbaric name. All my
energy goes where it belongs: in the awareness of the words and images that reach my mind, in the
automated movement of my body in the ritual and the empathy and energy that fills my liturgies
and vibrations of names. For other magicians another approach might work better. This is not
about wrong or right, this is about creating the desired effect with the least effort. Every magician
has to find his/her own access and what makes the machine - made up of body, soul and mind -
switch into perception of and interaction with the higher planes with the least effort.

I put down my liturgic book and started to stare into the black mirror on the Table of Practice. I
had practiced Tratak - the technique of staring at a single point without blinking your eyes - for
several years. Still on some days it works better than on others. I actually don't worry too much
about getting my staring right. The long, undisturbed look into the mirror is a wonderful way to
enhance the state of self-hypnosis as Carroll Poke Runyon so clearly and passionately describes. It
'blanks' all senses and helps opening up awareness to and perception of what lies behind our
physical senses. This is the moment where I start hearing, where I start getting in touch and
communion with the spirit I called.

When I felt stable in my magical trance, I closed my eyes and looked upwards.
Only at this moment did I realize that the moon had descended right into my
circle. It hung over my head like a huge silver cloud. Had I raised my hand I
could have touched the round belly of the moon. The entire circle under my
closed eyes was filled with silver light.

In this state of awe I asked my f irst question and listened for an answer. Now,
let me be open on how this type of spiritual telepathy works for me. In this
state of raised consciousness and trance it simply is a matter of formulating a
single thought or question, speaking it out loud - and then waiting for an
answer to arrive on the paper of my mind.

The answer normally takes shape of a single letter f irst. I hear the vibration of
a letter in my mind. Then it is like the fumbling of a blind; I reach out from
one letter to the next until I have the full word or sentence clearly captured in
my mind like on a chalk board. Sometimes these words make sense in a
language that I speak and sometimes I need to unlock them subsequent to the
ritual as they might be a gematric key or a plain hebrew word I don't know. How I know which
letter or words is 'right' is hard to describe. The best comparison I can come up with is the process
we know from movies, when the thieve tries to f ind the combination of a safe to unlock the door
by paying complete attention to the sounds of the turning wheel of the lock. The right letter or
word just clicks on a heart-level. However, the one rule of thumb I discovered long ago is that
every answer from an external entity comes as a complete surprise. The reply breaks establish
thought patterns and works like an intervention to things I took for granted or did not see at all.
The best analogy might be the conversations with creatures from lucid dreams we recall in the
morning. If their answer doesn't come as a surprise but matches our conscious expectations we
aren't really in touch yet. From personal experience I would say Tattwa or kabbalistic paths
journeys are a great preparation and exercise for this type of spirit communion.

In this case my first question to Phul was: Who are you and what is the name of your Olympic
Spirit? The first letter I received was a capital 'R'. While waiting and keeping my mind calm I heard
the full word 'Rider' and then the full answer: 'I am a rider, I ride the light of the stars.'

This answer perfectly captured the essence of all of the questions I had brought to the ritual - yet
took me completely by surprise. As often in these cases for me the f irst contact and sentence with
the entity works as a key that unlocks the safe door to a wealth of understanding that hits me
completely unprepared. In this case it was no different. Phul's answer that s/he is a rider on the
light of the stars opened my heart to the message and provided me with a deep (non-verbal)
understanding of her/his nature and function in alignment with the other Olympic spirits or
planetary forces. The following questions served to fully verbalize this knowledge.

As Phul hadn't directly answered my question on the name of its Olympic Spirit I repeated this
part. Phul answered the name to be used in calling him is Aka if called as a male and Lakal if called
as a female entity. However, the letter 'k' was written slightly different: it was a double k mirrored
around the vertical axis of the letter and merged back to back, thus providing a letter that 'looked'
into two directions at the same time and resembled the wiccan sign of the waning, waxing and full
moon. The simplicity of this name yet the depth of thought around it made me instantly smile.

- the secret names of Phul as given to me during the ritual -

- the tripple moon in the Wicca tradition -

I continued with a question on what would hinder one from making contact with Phul/Aka/Lakal.
Phul immediately replied 'clothes', followed by: 'Take off your clothes and approach me naked.
Clothes hinder the contact with me.’ For a second I saw myself naked in the yard outside my
temple, surrounded by night and snow and ascending on the light of the moon.

I returned to the belly of the moon that still hung above me, round and ripe like the belly of a
pregnant woman and asked my next question: Which parts in the human body do you govern? Phul
replied without hesitation: 'All the waters in the human body and the resulting processes and fluids
of the spleen.' Luckily I know nothing about neither standard nor occult medicine. So I simply
accepted this answer and continued to listen...

At this point I lost the sequence of questions I had prepared for Phul in advance of the ritual. Like
a wave Phul’s presence started to cover my mind and thought. I heard the answers to my previous
questions again and mingle with additional information I hadn’t asked for... Below is the best
report I can give of this wave of presence that f illed every inch under my magical robe. It was
flowing through the Lamen on my chest, through the serpent on the crown on my forehead and
through the top of my skull into my body and mind.

Phul said: “I am a rider. I am riding the lights of the stars. I am binding the lights of the planets and
direct them like a group of wild horses. I am the gate through which they enter and I am the gate
through which you ascend. Anything that passes through me transforms, I am a collector and I am
shapeshifter. I am a concave mirror unifying everything reflected. I am the keeper of the treasure
house of pictures, collecting the pictures of humans and stars. I rule all waters and fluids in the
human body and the effusion of the spleen. My influence is solvent. My light is making you receptive
to life. I am the water in the chalice of your body in which the might of the planets is united, through
which all creation is present within you. I am the state of passive absorption, of calm conception, of
acceptance without resistance, there is no good or bad no wrong or right in light of my mirror. You
can approach me in the light of the moon. Take off your clothes and take a baths in my light. I am
not talking in symbols, my resistance are your clothes. Ride on my light and ascend to me. Stride
through the gate that I am and advance into the space beyond me. My name is Aka as a man and
Lakal as a woman. Come and enter.”

2d) Closing

Once this wave was reducing its presence I knew that I had been blessed with as much knowledge
as my untrained mind could take at a time. Coming to the closure of the ritual I felt full of
gratitude for the communion and contact with this gentle yet powerful spirit. My heart was full of
thankfulness as I felt the presence of Phul around and above me and the impact of her/his answers
on my mind. The best analogy to a similar experience in Malkuth must be the gratitude a farmer
feels when he stands in front of a f ield freshly broken up and sowed with the right nurturing
weather approaching him... What a blessed and sublime experience to be in touch with this
planetary spirit without the usual numb f ilters of Malkuth, yet to meet him/her eye to eye and
heart to heart.

I made the sign of the closing of the veil and felt the energy of Phul disappearing out of the sacred
space of the circle. I grabbed the dagger, turned around to face east and started the closing lesser
banishing ritual of the pentagram.

My mind was centered on the presence of the four archangels as I closed the ritual. Then I recited
my standard license to depart to allow all spirits and energies still bound from the ritual act to
return to their normal place and state of being. I closed the lid of the censer and wiped out the
altar candles.

3) Conclusions
A few of my personal conclusions from this ritual are included in the description of the rite
already. The direct contact and interaction with the spirit Phul was a humbling experience, may it
have happened on a subjective or objective level. For magic to work luckily this distinction is
irrelevant.

3a) Influence of Paraphernalia

However, I do want to share a few observations and thoughts that evolved once the rite was
completed. First of all, it’s an interesting question to consider whether I can tell the different
influences the paraphernalia used in this rite had on the actual experience. I find myself unable to
answer this question with precision. Obviously the incense had a direct effect on my conscious, as
had the coldness in the room, the darkness of the veiled temple space as well as the long time of
preparation for the rite. Yet, the specif ic influence of the dagger, the crown, the lamen or - maybe
most importantly to me - the Table of Practice I cannot tell.

It seems to be a distinct feature of any ritual experience that the performance of the rite creates a
space of synchronized sensual experience. I.e. all senses are activated and fully focussed on a single
experience. It is the visual and sensual stimuli - which were carefully prepared and aligned in
advance - combined with the tight choreography of movements, gestures and recitations which are
creating a unique experience that aligns all senses. The ritual effect can best be compared to metal
chipping in a magnetic f ield which all adopt precisely the same orientation and thus changes
consciousness in the ritual performer. in this state of heightened awareness, trance or even self-
hypnosis a space is opened in which no past or future but only present time exists. No reflections
or associations on past or things to come, nothing outside the temple walls or the line of the circle
on the floor enters into this space. At least in my case this goes along with the inability to actually
differentiate specif ic sensual influences subsequently - as they were all united while living through
the experience.

Thus, whether the presence and voice of Phul entered predominantly through the lamen on my
chest, through my ears, through my forehead or the top of my skull I cannot tell. Yet, I can tell that
all these organs were in contact with Phul’s voice at the same time. On reflection I can see
psychologically how much the Table of Practice helped to induce self-hypnosis as the black surface
of the mirror captures the gaze so easily while not providing any f ixed objects for the stare to settle
on. From a magical perspective, however, I am unable to tell how the spirit influence was
transferred between the outside of the circle, the Table of Practice, the lamen and my bodily and
mental senses.

So much to the ritual experience itself. Let’s take a moment to reflect on the actual messages I
received from Phul and how they relate to more traditional information on the Moon in magic.

3b) The names 'AKA' and 'LAKAL'

On looking at the two names received from Phul we have to differentiate between the spiritual
entity Phul and the Olympic Spirit of the Moon. Phul is the name of the actual visible star, i.e. the
moon according to the ‘Olympic speech’. Yet it’s not the actual name of the respective Olympic
Spirit or - as they are also called - governor or prince of the government.

There are seven different governments of the Spirits of Olympus, by whom God hath appointed the
whole frame and universe of this world to be governed: and their visible stars are Aratron, Bethor,
Phaleg, Och, Hagith, Ophiel, Phul, after the Olympick speech.
(Third Septenary, Aphorism 16)

The true name of the Olympic Spirit of the Moon is referenced as a ‘constellation’ and undisclosed
by the author of the Arbatel. The reason he provides for this is that the true names of the Olympic
Spirits only are effective for the Magician to whom they were revealed under the specific
constellations of the ritual performed. Their eff icacy seems to be limited to about 40 years, which
at the time of the transcript of the Arbatel was slightly more than the average life expectancy.

“There are other names of the Olymick spirits delivered by others; but they onely are effectual, which
are delivered to any one, by the Spirit the revealer, visible or invisible: and they are delivered to every
one as they are predestinated: therefore they are called Constellations; and they seldome have any
eff icacie above 40 yeers. Therefore it is most safe for the young practisers of Art, that they work by
the off ices of the Spirits alone (...)”
(Third Septenary, Aphorism 18)

In light of this it seems plausible that Aka and Lakal are the names of the Olympic Spirit of the
Moon which are effective between 2010 and somewhere close to 2050 for my personal magical use.
I promise to put a note in my diary to check on this in January 2045... - On a more practical note
currently I cannot tell if and which actual difference there is between Aka, Lakal and Phul. This
would require additional rituals, dedicated to Aka or Lakal and more direct communication to see
what they have to share.

From A perspective of Gematria the values of AKA and LAKAL are 22 and 82. I could not find any
relevant connections to hebrew words of similar value which hint at the moon. The only
interesting fact seems to be the Notarikon of the name of god ‘Yehova Elohim Yehova Achad’ (i.e.
Yod-Aleph-Yod-Aleph) which also has the value 22. However, I didn’t find any planetary references
for this specific Notarikon or name of god. Neither did the sum of 104 or the checksums of 4 and
10 produce any results based on my limited gematric knowledge and skills. Should you have deeper
insights and spot connections I have missed, please do contact me and share them.

3c) Rulership in the human body

As in the previous cases Phul’s reply on this question was very direct: All fluids in the human body
as well as the effusion of the spleen are under his rulership. I verif ied this against my personal
standard book on planetary medicine, Samuel Sagan’s ‘Planetary Forces Alchemy & Healing’ from
1996.

As one would expect Sagan conf irms that the moon is ruling all fluids of the human body. The
spleen and its function in the human body, however, is assigned as the main organ of Saturn. This
is derived from the fact that in occult medicine the spleen’s function is to transform external
Od/Prana/Chi consumed from food into energy that carries the specific signatures of the
individual and can be integrated into the physical and astral body.

So Phul’s reference to the spleen as his organ in the human body creates an interesting connection
between the Moon, Phul and Saturn. If one studies the function of Saturn in the human body and
psyche a bit deeper one learns that he truly is the archetype of a gatekeeper. Saturn is the essence
of the creation of borders and separation and next to the spleen his main organ of the human body
is the skin. The skin is the organ which separates us as individuals from the environment, a
gatekeeper that provides a sense of being distinct and captured in a specific shape.

If I just follow what I have learned from Phul he seems to be a reflection of Saturn at the other end
of the planetary spheres. Where Saturn marks the border (of the human body and) the classical
solar system into the alchemical 8th Sphere, Phul is the opposite gate out of the planetary realm
and into the sublunar realm. Only at this point did I understand why so many classical magical
sourcebooks put such an emphasize on the sublunar (i.e. below the sphere of the Moon) and
supralunar (i.e. beyond the sphere of the Moon) spheres of planetary influences. It is the essence of
Phul’s function in our body (microcosm) and solar system (macrocosm) that is represented by this
distinction.

Finally, I checked and realized that this also made sense from a kabbalistic point of view. Saturn is
the first Sephira above the Abyss. Thus representing the border before one fully ascends into the
first triad of the Tree and becomes absorbed in Chokmah and Kether ultimately. On the other end
of the tree Yesod is the f irst Sephira below the veil of Paroketh. Thus representing the last Sephira
before one transcends the borders of human personality into the full awareness of spirituality.
Both, Moon (Phul/ Yesod) and Saturn (Aratron/ Binah) are gatekeepers to the most concrete realm
of human experience on the one hand and the most sublime and transcendental realm of human
experience on the other hand.

LVX,
Frater Acher
May the serpent bite its tail.

Selected Resources
Legard, Phil, An Approach To The Operation Of The Arbatel Of Magic (online resource)
Magian Rumination, Everything Arbatel - Digest of Internet Links
Peterson, Joseph (ed.), Arbatel - Concerning the Magic of the Ancients, Ibis Press, 2009
Rankine, David & Sorita d’Este, Practical Planetary Magick, Avalonia 2007
Turner, Robert (ed.), Arbatel - Of the Magic of the Ancients, The greatest Studie of Wisdom (online
resource)
SOL Lodge Merlin, The Olympic Hierarchy, 2007 (online resource)
Sagan Samuel, Planetary Forces Alchemy & Healing, Clairvision 1996
Rufus Opus, Holistic Wholeness and Perfect Goodness, blog post from 24/01/2007, link here
Rufus Opus, Goetic Kings, blog post from 22/09/2008, link here

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