Acknowledgments

Many thanks go to Betty for all the questions she asked, as well as her
help and support. She helped me to try out the ideas and exercises included,
and helped me to keep it simple. Without her this book would not exist. My
thanks also go to Bev who got me to sit down and write the first session all
those years ago. Jonathon who has travelled so far and shown what these
pages can do, he has often inspired and encouraged me. To Marion and
David who continue to work with me and support me, helping me to make
new and exciting discoveries. Last but by no means least, my thanks to the
ever resourceful Theo, who has taught me many things about the world.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
How to use this book
Why Magic?
Doorto the inner realm
Sacred Space
The nature and and purpose of power
The magician and the divine
Nature and purpose of ritual
Divination
Nature of the self
The elements
The pentagram
 The demands of the modern world upon each and every one of us is
enormous, creating stress and with it disease. Our rapid technological
development has outstripped the development of the human body and for
many of us has left us with a desire to find a sense of balance. Without this
personal balance we are prone to the rollercoaster of emotions and the trials
of modern illness in all its forms. At its root is a desire for the spiritual,
although in a deeply sceptical and secular world this is something we often
choose to deny for ourselves. Yet it remains a driving force that leads us, if
not to organised religion, to the complimentary therapist.
In all forms of complementary therapy the practitioner is accessing
subtle energy. When the healer first approaches the patient they assess the
condition of that person. In doing so they look at the subtle energies within
the person, they look for imbalance, and issues of energy flow. The healer
then seeks to redress the balance within the person, drawing on external
subtle energies and using them to repair the damage. Subtle energy
underpins the whole healing experience, as it does the very nature of our
being.
Subtle energy subtends the whole of manifestation science has shown us
that everything is simply energy in one form or another. The atom is
essentially space that is given structure by energy. The electron is an
energetic probability field, having no mass and moving so fast that it can
hardly be recognised as a particle. In quantum physics we learn that light
itself is a particle and a wave, the photon the basic building block of light is
a particle of quanta, energy. But this does not come as a surprise to those
who have studied the spiritual texts of the ages. For these documents told us
this long before science developed to its present levels.
Spiritual traditions, such as Taoism, Vedanta, Qabala, and Theosophy,
talk about the universe as an energetic manifestation, emanating from the
source. Everything is energy vibrating at a different level. Carlos Castanada
gives us a vision of the universe as an ocean of threads of energy interacting
with each other. Strangely in the West the spiritual and religious traditions
have become so entwined in politics and culture that they have become
dominated by a very materialist interpretation of existence. Yet buried deep
in the spiritual traditions of the Sufi in Islam we find teachings on the
energetic nature of creation. Even in the writings of some Christian mystics
such as Jacob Boehme we find similar ideas.
The New Age Movement has been concerned with the need for
humanity to reclaim its true spiritual inheritance. The members of this
movement have sought to free themselves from the materialist
interpretations of life on earth. In this regard it has turned to the teachings
of the East and to older spiritual movements. Yet all the time new teachings
have been given and new and deeper understandings of existence have
developed. This development of spiritual ideas has been consistently
concerned with the very nature of that energy from which all is made
manifest and its complex interactions.
The emergence of complimentary therapy has highlighted this
development, in the field of medicine more and more people are
considering the need for a less symptom based approach. Patients and
practitioners are looking for ways to approach the whole person, ways of
understanding those complex structures that make us who we are. The
aromatherapist does not simply treat the symptoms the individual describes,
they talk to them and discover as much as they can about the persons life
style, they then use their abilities to sense the flow of subtle energy within
the person and it is then the whole person that they treat. They access
subtle energies and bring balance to the patient and so they treat more than
the symptom. It is important to remember that if subtle energy subtends all
things then we too are simply a complex expression of the energies of the
universe.
What I offer in these pages is not another complimentary therapy. This
is not a text about a technique such as reflexology, or aromatherapy, as
laudable as such techniques are. Rather this is an approach to life itself. I
offer a way to interact with the subtle energies that give rise to the universe,
a way to explore and open you up to the power of change that they offer.
The methods I am about to share with you use a variety of skills that
you may already possess and practice; how to sense energy, to focus and
shape the energy through intention. These methods draw on ancient
practices, modern interpretations, and new conceptions, fused into a form of
practice. Whilst the method uses the techniques of ritual, what I seek to do
in these pages is to offer you an understanding of what ritual is. The first
part is concerned with helping you to develop and understand ritual, and
how it is created. The text will help you to explore and understand what is
meant by sacred space, it will take you into an exploration of visualisation.
It will also help you look again at what you may understand as deity. The
practices I offer here do not come with any preconceived view of deity, and
you are free to use any faith background in your approach. Over the years I
have met a wide range of people to whom I have introduced these ideas,
and people who already use them who are drawn from a very wide range of
faiths. I have entered into ritual using these techniques, with Christians and
pagans; it is up to you to use these techniques in relation to your own
beliefs.
I call this technique magic, and here it might be appropriate to say a
little about what I mean by this term. Over the years the word has suffered
the stigma of stage performers, and more recently the large number of
people who seek to manipulate the world for their own ends. Neither of
these ideas are where I or this text would want to lead you. For an
understanding of magic I turn firstly to the thoughts of the early twentieth
century psychologist Carl Jung, who saw magical practice as the
psychotherapy of the ancients. Secondly I look to the ancients themselves
who clearly did not seek to change the world but to change themselves in
relation to that world. It is on these premises that the ideas and practices
that follow are based.
If we are able to firstly develop ritual techniques, we can then use them
to explore our own selves. That is we can begin to understand what it is that
makes us who we are. Remember that we are nothing if not a complex
pattern of subtle energy. So clearly with the right tools we should be able to
take a long hard look at that pattern and recognise its imbalances, its
surfeits, and deficits. This is something the healer has being doing for the
patient from time immemorial. Yet what I am suggesting here is a more
formal approach, in an attempt to look even deeper, but to look deeper with
greater understanding of what we are looking at. To gain this understanding
we must start with ourselves.
The second part of this text seeks to help you to use the tools shared in
the first part to begin to look at yourself in this new way. Through a series
of very practical exercises it asks you to consider your own personality, and
make up. However it does not stop there, as well as looking at yourself the
text invites you to learn the hidden language of those subtle energies that
make you who you are. Then it invites you to re-address these energies in a
very practical way. Focusing as it does on the elements the text is there to
support you as you open yourself up and attune yourself to the pure
experience of one subtle energy at a time. In this instance I have used the
basic building blocks known as the elements. These traditional concepts can
be seen as simply names given to one particular type of subtle energy.
The methods used to open ourselves to these energies are simple, but
the simplest of tools can be highly effective. By using symbolism,
mythology, and story through ritual you will be able to experience the
subtle energies of the elements. You will be able to rebalance your own
lived experience of them, and come to a greater understanding of their
nature and yours.
Many readers will be aware of ideas relating to those subtle energies
associated with the planetary bodies. Those of you who have considered or
learnt about astrology will be very aware of these forces. Certainly the
planetary energies can be accessed by using the same techniques presented
here. However due to their complex nature I would advise you to begin
with the elements as presented here.
Some of the ideas within these pages will be familiar to you, others may
seem very strange. The role of myth in these practices is essential. It is
through myth that we are able to personify the subtle energies and so work
with them. Indeed that is exactly what occurred in the past, and is how these
myths came into existence.
I cannot guarantee instant success as this is not a technique that gives
instant results. This is a technique that takes time and will have you
revisiting time and time again. Such work has formed the basis of my own
practice for many years, and I am sure it will continue to do so for many
years to come. The person who claims to know it all is the person to avoid,
because they are deluding themselves. Clearly none of us know it all, even
the ascended masters tell us that they are only just discovering the real
truths. So what is needed here is a little humility, but also the passion to
explore.
In inviting you to try these techniques and experiment, I am aware that
some of you may think that trying these practices will always be a pleasant
experience. But perhaps a word of warning is needed. When we open
ourselves up to the changing power of subtle energy it is not always an easy
ride. Old and damaged patterns and experiences often rise to the surface,
only this time you cannot simply push them back. You will have to confront
issues, understand them and then through the power of the subtle energy
transform them. Only through transformation can you move beyond and
bring healing to yourself. It is this process of transformation that brings true
personal and spiritual development; it is this process that underlies all forms
of true healing.
There is scope to broaden the use of these practices to help others, but
this is not the remit of this current book. As I am sure you will have enough
to do for yourself, and it is always best to perfect techniques for yourself at
the outset. However, many people who have used these practices have
found that they have enhanced their own understandings of healing, and
given greater insight to those techniques that they already use.
The following pages have been written and used over a considerable
number of years, initially being created as a response to the needs of a small
group of friends. This group had been meeting to discuss and explore
spiritual development for some time, and decided that what they wanted
was a more practical approach. However, no text existed that seemed to
cover all of the aspects in question, and so I set about creating a series of
papers that could support interactive workshops. Within a short space of
time these became so popular that it was no longer feasible to work in this
way and so I revised the papers. This has happened many times over the
years and you now hold in your hands the product of that work.
 If all you do is to sit and read this book from cover to cover then do not
be disappointed that very little happens.
The sessions were originally written to be used by a student who was
regularly meeting with a teacher or tutor. Some of you may be lucky
enough to be able to follow this pattern, but I am aware that this is not often
possible. Either way you should not be in a hurry to complete the work of a
chapter. People have taken anything from two weeks to over six months on
each chapter, however I feel the optimal time for most chapters is one
month.
If you do have a teacher/tutor, a word of warning is necessary. The tutor
is not there to tell you the answers, they are there to ask the right questions
and to listen to you; they are in effect a life coach. They do not have the
answers for you, nor should they try to offer any. Bad tutors are easy to
find, and a good sign of one is someone who tries to tell you who you are
and what you should be thinking. A good tutor helps you to explore who
you are, without judging you, or forcing their views upon you.
On way that these texts have been successfully used is in a group
setting. Perhaps a group of friends has decided to try out the ideas, and
work through the text together. Choose a regular time to meet and discuss
your findings on each section and share your experiences, adding the
insights of others to your own where they are relevant. If you do this
remember the previous warning. Approach such a meeting in a non-
judgemental way, you are there to share ideas, not to tell other people what
to think, or even to give them your views on their experiences. Try to ask
each other questions that draw out the experiences that help you and them
to understand what it is they are sharing. Above all honour and respect the
members of your group. It is when such respect is missing, or fails, that
groups like these fall apart, or become damaging. Yet with care and the
right approach such groups can be immensely rewarding, and I have had the
pleasure of being a member of several such groups.
Before you start, buy yourself a nice notebook that you can use
throughout the course, I like to use a book with plain pages as this lets you
draw and create freely. I also like to buy books with nice hard covers so that
they last, and then you can go back and look over your ideas at any time.
Make sure that you set aside a period of time to work through the exercises
and write up your thoughts. At the start of the month read through the
chapter, noting down any unanswered questions or issues. Then slowly
work through the suggested activities, try to answer the questions posed. As
you develop techniques it is expected that you will use them and build them
into your practice.
Meditation and visualisation is a fundamental practice that you will
consider very early on. However, it is expected that after this session you
will continue to use these tools with every other session, whether that be in
following the given exercises, or meditating on the questions or issues that
you have. Later on you will be using these skills to interact with the subtle
energies and your inner-self in a very direct way.
Always write down the main ideas that arise from the exercises, but also
from your reading. Note down too those realisations you make in your daily
life. As you go through this course you will find more and more
coincidences occurring, moments when you gain sudden insights, or times
when everything becomes clear. This is quite normal, because even though
you may not be actively thinking about or working on an idea your
subconscious will not be at rest. It will be processing and trying to make
sense of your experiences. So it is helpful to note down these insights.

It is also important to read over your notebook from time to time, and I
would particularly advise you to do this before moving on to another
chapter. If you have the benefit of a tutor, or study group then you can
discuss your findings with them, otherwise just take time to review your
thoughts and feelings, before moving on.
Each chapter has exercises for you to try, it also has further reading.
Some of the texts on these lists may be out of print, but all of them have
something valuable or interesting to contribute. It is not compulsory to read
every text, and certainly you will do well, even if you read none of them.
They are there for those of you who like to hear another voice, or consider a
different point of view. I cannot guarantee that they will approach the
subject in a similar way to me, because the views of these authors are
incredibly varied. I always feel that if you are drawn to read a particular text
there is usually a good reason for it.
My final comment is probably the most important. Enjoy it! There is no
point following or trying the ideas in this book if you are not enjoying it.
Yes even difficult things can be enjoyable. If the techniques presented here
are working well for you, no matter how challenging they are, you will get
a feeling of satisfaction, and desire to continue. If this desire is absent do
not force yourself to continue, these techniques may not be right for you at
this time, put the book down and wait till the day you feel moved to try
again.
Good luck, and have fun.
 Something has guided you to consider the path of a magician, but have
you really considered what it involves, or the alternatives open to you?
In recent years the magical world has flourished once again. It seems to
follow a fairly consistent pattern. Those who study the sociology of religion
refer to the millenarian appeal of magic. That is to say people tend to
become more interested in magic around the turn of the century. The last
revival occurred around 1870, and ended about 1910. The current revival
happened in the late 60’s, to early70’s, who knows when it will end. This
does not mean that there have been no magicians during the intervening
years. However, it does question the motivation of the seeker.
Why do you want to be a magician? Motivation is the true foundation of
the magical student. Many people start to study magic because they think it
is glamorous, that they will somehow be special. They believe that they will
be able to influence the lives of other people, and perform remarkable feats
in order to impress others. Such people usually become disillusioned very
quickly, hopefully before they make a real mess. Some play with the odd
ritual or spell, and either they give up because it does not work, or they
scare themselves silly. Equally they may just be piling problems up for
themselves, until they are overwhelmed, and unable to cope. A few find a
way through the minefield, or are lucky enough to find a reputable teacher.
Finding such a person is a minefield in itself.
Quite often the starting point for many people is the local bookshop or
library. Magical books have been plentiful recently, and most libraries carry
a good range, whilst the bookshop is always keen to make money, as are
authors. There are hundreds of books clamouring to be read, many offering
instant initiation, and promising the earth. The enquirer is like a child with
the key to a sweet shop, but the child has not been told that some of the
sweets have been laced with cyanide. Indeed Aleister Crowley, an infamous
magician of the turn of the century, deliberately wrote errors into his work,
in order to trip up the unwary. What is needed is discrimination and
discernment, qualities that the enquirer will not have developed. This is a
situation when the help of those more experienced can be invaluable. But,
unless you are very lucky, they are just not there to help.
The other major growth area is the internet. On the one hand this is a
fantastic resource, allowing people to share research and help move ideas
on. On the other hand its lack of control means it is also full of self-
publicists, and those who want a following. The result is that now anyone
can publish a course, and even offer on-line training. These can only be at
most superficial as they lack the real personal contact that helps you to truly
develop. The personal touch helps you to understand what is happening,
your tutor can ask the right questions, and get a feel for your personal
energy not just read your words and guess.
The best place to start is to try and get an overview of what is currently
available to you. At present there is so much it may seem hard to know
where to start. The Pagan Federation offer a good introductory information
pack, and the local moot, if there is one, may be a good place to meet
others, and get some background. Remember that the moot is only as good
as the people that attend. Don’t expect instant solutions, there aren’t any.
Many other things may be available in your area, including; The
Theosophical Society, Meditation Classes, Psychic Circles, Earth Mysteries
etc. Seek them out if you have not already, and see what they have to offer.
 With the growth in awareness, sometimes related to the Age of
Aquarius, or called the New Age, many forms of spirituality, and paganism
have developed or emerged. At worst these tend to be very happy go lucky
spiritual supermarkets, where everything is seen through rose tinted
spectacles, and you are encouraged to believe that the world is full of loving
spiritual beings just waiting to pour their love all over you. Such groups
encourage an approach that will have you hugging trees, and plastering
your walls with Indian Spirit Guides and Dolphins. At best they will show
you that spirituality is found within yourself, and not in guru’s and books.
Many such groups attract people who are very environmentally aware,
or concerned. The growth in this form of awareness is healthy and very
welcome, particularly at a time when humanity seems bent on its own
destruction. But that does not mean you should give up the day job and go
and live in a tree on the site of a new road. Protesting is right and good, but
should be kept in perspective; it is all a matter of balance. The magician has
a concern for the environment of which they are a part, but it is not the
overall driving force, it is a part of the whole balanced system of their
existence.
There are many growing and evolving Pagan groups including;
Wiccans, Asatru, Shamanic, Gardenarian, Traditional Witches, Hedge
Witches, Seax, and Druids. All of them offer training and support. Through
the work of their leading writers and the Pagan Federation they are gaining
acceptance within society, and being regarded as a genuine form of religion.
That is exactly what they are, religions. They practice a form of ancient,
and newly reformed, spirituality, based on their relationship to the land as
Goddess and Mother. Their groups often have a structured hierarchy, with
High Priestess, and High Priest. They have clear moral guidelines, which
are found in the Wiccan Wrede. They use ritual forms of worship, often
performed outdoors, at sacred sites, or sites of importance to their tradition.
The ritual aims to attract the attention of their pantheon of Gods, and so
elicit their aid. This is done through careful re-enactments of mythical
stories, and other forms of worship. They also use methods of divination,
and some may use spell work. However, as many adherents of this form of
work have told me, the priority is service, to and for others. The working of
magic is primarily in service to others, and falls after the duty of worship.
One thing that is happening in this area is the formalisation of the
practices. In this way there is a movement toward the creation of religion
from the free form spiritual practices. What I mean is that all forms were
once open and free for experimentation, but as the movement has grown
there has been a crystallisation. Many people that have been attracted to the
movement are becoming less inclined to do it for themselves they want a
formalised system that tells them what to do. As a result paganism has
moved from being a spiritual practice, to being a religious practice amongst
some groups. If this is for you then this text is not.
To be a magician is not to be part of a religion. The work of the
magician has many similarities to that of paganism, but it has some
fundamental differences. Traditionally the division between pagan and
magician has been termed as the difference between Natural (low) magic
and High magic. The magician works with the latter, but is in no way
excluded from using natural magic, to achieve an end. High magic is a
system comprising of a practical, psychic and theoretical path. It is essential
for the magician to walk along all three paths at the same time.
The magical system is a philosophy and practice that is applied by the
magician to the whole of life. Its aim is the spiritual development of the
magician, and to this end it is highly personal. In these terms the work of
the magician appears to be very selfish, but once again this comes down to
motivation. Why do you want to develop yourself spiritually?
The magician does not worship deity, for reasons that are made apparent
in the article “Deity and the Magician”. Nor is the magician’s primary role
to serve. The magician is engaged in the pursuit of what is called the Great
Work. That is the magician seeks to accelerate his or her spiritual
development, to the point at which they become unite with the divine,
entering the spiritual ecstasy, known in Sanskrit as Samadhi. The magician
seeks through ritual to know him or herself and transform him or herself, in
accordance with the divine purpose that they were created for. That is to say
the magician seeks to know their true will, the purpose for which they came
into manifestation. Then to ensure that they live in such a way as to realise
this will. The will in these terms is not personal desire, but that divinely
inspired purpose.
Service is not seen as the major path to this achievement, rather it is the
fruit of the tree by which your journey can be seen. It is all too easy to serve
others in the blind attempt to make yourself feel good, or to look good to
others. This is not the true purpose of service, but is often the result. The
magician seeks to grow spiritually, and as a result may find that he or she is
performing more acts of service to manifestation. To know yourself is to be
true to yourself, and unless you deal with your own self-first, you are not
able to help any other being. However, it is equally true that by helping
another you help yourself, the two are both sides of the same coin.
The path of the magician requires training, self-discipline, and an ability
to organise yourself, not forgetting the drive to work.
The operation of magic is defined as the art of causing a change in
consciousness in accordance to will. In so doing the magician grows and
develops, but such change attracts personal challenges and difficulties. The
road is not a smooth one, nor should it be. It is through the problems and
difficulties that we learn to grow as spiritual beings. Although at the time it
does not feel like that. In fact these problems will probably completely
change the way you live. Are you really ready for such changes?
“To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silent” this old magical maxim,
should be at the very heart of every magician. “To know” yourself and to
accept yourself, this is the basis of any spiritual growth. “To Dare” to move
beyond your limits, since you have set them for yourself, to challenge the
situations in which you find yourself and to leap over them. That is to take
risks, and so not become caught in a social and spiritual rut. “To Will”,
much has been said on this already, but apart from your true will, it is the
training of the personal will, or ego, developing concentration, clarity of
thought, and discrimination. It is the honing of intention. “To keep silent”,
in the past this served to keep you alive, and not persecuted as a heretic, but
it still serves today, as a check to your ego. Why do you want to be a
magician? If it is just to show off then this phrase will trip you up, for you
will never want to keep silent. Silence is one of the magician’s greatest
virtues.
Intention is another of the magician’s virtues. Clarity and control of
intention is essential in all magical operations. The first step of intention is
to consider why you want to be a magician. Take time to meditate on this
question, be really honest with yourself. Write down your response, read it
several times, and question it. Are you still as certain? Are you pleased with
your response? Discuss it with your magical tutor, if you have one, or a
friend who is a magician, sharing and discussing intention is a very useful
technique in magic, helping to clarify your mind.
The study of magical history will give you a better insight into the ways
magic is used and the forms in which it is practised. You will also be able to
see how systems have developed from each other. Although much modern
work has attempted to re-interpret and recreate systems, using modern ideas
and the results of so-called psychic channelling. Whilst care must be taken
with such developments, we must also remember that we are modern
people. As such we continue to influence and develop the magical tradition.
A tradition that does not grow and evolve is a dead tradition.
The earliest pure tradition we have is that of Egyptian magic. Much of
this has initially come through the work of the Victorian scholar, William
Budge. He was primarily concerned with historical investigation,
reconstructing the ancient religion. His work is informative, but not specific
in terms of magical practice. For this we must turn to more modern texts.
Another early tradition derives from the Greek mystery schools. There
is much written on this area, again not all of it outlines a working magical
system. Whilst texts like Fraser’s Golden Bough offer a mine of
information, the author has a particular intention, which is not to teach
magic.
Many modern books have been written describing systems of Atlantean
magic. The value of these texts is clearly dependent upon your belief in the
existence of this mythical place.
The most coherent works of magic date from the Middle Ages. The
works of Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, Abramelin and John Dee, each
give us a credible magical system. The student seeking to study the original
texts of these writers, should bear in mind that they were written for their
times, when social conditions and attitudes were very different. When texts
like the Lesser Key of Solomon call for bat blood, the reader’s
discrimination becomes very important. Not forgetting a very good sense of
humour.
 It was from this base that Rosicrucian and Qabalistic forms of magic
were developed. There are many texts particular to this strand of magic,
which ultimately leads to the great Western magical systems of the late 19th
early 20th centuries. The greatest example of which must be the Golden
Dawn Order of Hermetic Magic. This system gave us some of the most
famous and infamous magicians, Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, and
William Butler. The few existent magical schools today inherit from this
movement, such as the Servants of the Light, and reformed Golden Dawn
groups. As do such teachers as Marian Green, Dolores Ashcroft Nowicki,
and Gareth Knight.
There has also been a growth in Natural or Low magic in the 20th
century. This stems from Gerald Gardener’s work, in bringing Wiccan Craft
into the open, and re-interpreting it through the medium of Golden Dawn
techniques. There are many works on this strand, sources include Gardeners
own writings, those of his High Priestess, Doreen Valiente, and the Farrars.
There are many people today who claim to be hereditary or traditional,
and in their hearts many are I am sure quite genuine. However, these
traditions are invented; paganism today is a new form it is in every way
neo-paganism. Even where old texts and folklore has been used as a basis it
is a modern interpretation of the past. We can never truly now how it was,
the past has left us few records. Even where genuine material has been
passed down we approach this material in our own modern way. The other
area of growth has been the explosion of American traditions, it seems
every group in the USA has its own tradition and its own website, yet these
groups are very young and many claim to be well established you must test
them and ask what can they truly offer you. When did they start? Are they
based on the work of one charismatic figure? What are they seeking to
achieve? For every true seeker there are at least two charlatans. So never
has the phrase caveat emptor (buyer beware) seemed more appropriate.
The best place to start investigating the history of magic is Gareth
Knight’s “History of White Magic.” This short and readable book is
essential reading for any magical student. You should try to use it to
construct a magical family tree.
The form presented in these pages inherits from a wide spread
traditions. Based in the Qabalism of the Golden Dawn, but mediated
through the simpler structures of Natural Magic, creating a system in the
Aquarian Magic Tradition begun by Marian Green. The student of this
system will be encouraged initially to use a given method, but later to take
control for their own ritual structure, and approach to magic. The approach
given in this text is about helping you to find your own voice and path. It is
not prescriptive but encourages you to experiment and develop your own
relationship with magic. The aim is to help you to grow spiritually through
ritual practice, and to understand why you are doing every part of your
ritual. The aim is to strip everything bare and allow you to really
comprehend this spiritual path.
You should start to use your notebook, your magical diary, keeping it by
your bedside in order to record your dreams upon waking each morning.
This will help you to develop and strengthen your dream work as your
journey on. It is also the book that you will keep your notes in, writing
anything that you may realise. I keep this book by my side when I am doing
any form of magical work. I will write notes from books, scribble thoughts
or realisations of my own. I also use it to record magical activities, rituals I
have written and performed, and their outcomes. Key points from
divinatory work etc. For me this is very much a working text and can be
very erratic. For this reason I have a second book in which I write up any
and all finalised work, whether that be ritual work or other realisations that
have come together in a clarified way. My own working group also keep a
group ritual diary in which everyone records their feelings about rituals, and
their realisations. You must choose how you want to record your
experiences.
It is important to keep this record because you will want to come back
and review your progress. You will also want to come back and draw ideas
together. If you do not write them down then some of the subtle nuances
may be lost, and with them an essential but subtle realisation may be lost.
Your notes reflect the pattern of your growth. They reflect the inner
development and often make it visible to you. If you get no other discipline
then have the discipline to use your magical diary.
 Book List
The History of White Magic, Gareth
Knight A highly readable and
interesting guide to the trends and
developments within western magical
traditions.

The Western Way, Caitlin & John

Matthews In two volumes,
volume I looks at the development of
shamanic traditions and Vol. II the
development of Hermetic or High
Magic. Both are well referenced and
include practical exercises.

The Gentle Arts, Marian

Green A magical primer, full of
information and ideas, taking you
through the basic work of magic and its
techniques.

The Path through the Labyrinth, M.

Green A lively exploration of
the nature and purpose of magic.

Wicca, Vivianne Crowley A good introduction to traditional

coven Wicca.
 Witchcraft for Tomorrow,
D.Valiente A classic text.

The Tree of Life, I. Regardie

Introduction to High Magic particularly
the Golden Dawn system.

Apprenticed to Magic,
W.Butler A great basic training
text

Magic: Its Ritual, Purpose & Power,

Butler A great basic
introduction.

D.Fortune, the Novels - Including

‘The Sea Priestess’ and ‘Moon
magic’ A rich source of magical
practice and purpose.

Carlos Castenada A
wonderful series of texts charting the
training and experiences of a Shaman.
 This is the first and most important of all of the magical skills.
Meditation and visualisation are skills that have been used in spiritual
training for centuries. Their origin is unknown. However, the techniques are
found in various forms in every religion of the world. Different people
acquire these skills at different rates. It is important to remember not to rush
through, but ensure that you have accomplished each stage. You should
make the practice a habit. When this session is complete you should not
need to look up any text, in the future, in order to perform any of these
exercises, not even this one.
These skills are not acquired by force; in fact quite the opposite is true.
Some systems teach that it is important to get into a habit of regular
meditation; that you should condition the body and mind into a pattern of
exercise, in order to develop the skills. However, if you are not the sort of
person who takes easily to this form of discipline, or your lifestyle does not
allow it, then you will need to find other strategies. You must decide how
you are going to approach this skill, and plan your time appropriately.
Whilst freedom in organising your study is advocated, it is wise at the
beginning not to leave long gaps between periods of work, as much that you
have gained from each session will be lost.
When most people think about meditation it is the eastern forms that
come to mind. Usually they have an image of a Buddhist monk sitting
chanting. This is a very limited conception of meditation.
Within the eastern tradition meditation takes many forms. The oldest
eastern religion, Hinduism, teaches that deity and spirituality can be
approached in many ways. The way of approach is appropriate to the
temperament of the student. The spiritual path is called yoga. For most
people this has come to mean the series of physical exercises better known
as Hatha Yoga. This system seeks to give the individual total knowledge
and control of their body. The exercises, matched with particular breathing
patterns, allow the student to experience and control their bodies to a high
degree, in so doing they attain both mental and physical concentration. The
mind is occupied by the actions of the body, and so freed from the constant
drone of everyday concerns.
It is this withdrawal from daily concerns that the student is seeking to
achieve. Hinduism teaches that this can also be done through stillness and
silence. The best text on this is Patanjali’s Yoga Aphorisms. This ancient
text offers a complete training in meditation, and a discussion on its
ultimate purpose. However, there are many texts available and not all of
them are useful. Any serious student of spiritual development should read
this text at least once.
The next branch of eastern meditation is found in Buddhism. Meditation
is considered one of the eight tools, or paths by which the Buddhist seeks to
escape what are known as the Four Noble truths. These are based on an
observation made by Siddhartha Gautama that prompted him to seek
enlightenment. He simply realised that all humanity suffers as a result of its
own greed, ignorance and hatred. It is from this condition that the Buddhist
strives to escape. There are two main styles of meditation practised in
western forms of Buddhism, both of which you will meet later. One
involves awareness of breathing, and the other is known as metabhavna and
concerns the concept of spiritual love.
Within Taoism, the ancient religion of China, meditation was and still is
practised in many forms. It is often connected with some form of physical
practice, better known in the west as martial arts. The best loved of these
forms is Tai Chi, this graceful physical meditation conceals a lethal form of
fighting. The practice of Tai Chi is wide spread and is believed to encourage
physical and spiritual well-being. This focused meditation, through the
physical actions, is believed to enhance the flow of Chi, spiritual energy.
Chi is the life force. Poor flow means bad health and vice versa. All forms
of Chinese medicine work on these principles. Whilst there are many good
texts on the practice it is best learnt from a physical teacher.
Meditation has not been absent from the western religions either. Forms
of meditation appear in the Islamic method of prayer. More sophisticated
forms arise in Sufism, the mystical path of Islam. In one form, the Mevlevi
Dervishes perform a meditational dance. Each dancer revolves about their
own axis, whilst rotating about the Sheikh, who is the firm center. Their
dance imitates the solar system. Each dancer is also caught up in a deeply
spiritual experience; they feel their consciousness spiralling up to unite with
the divine. The up turned hand channels grace down through the other hand
to earth.
Within Christianity meditation developed in two distinct strands,
although the Protestant Reformation rejected it as a form of devotion,
making some Christians deeply suspicious of the skill. In the Orthodox
Church meditation took the form of mantra, the use of a continuously
repeated phrase. The phrase is known as the Jesus prayer, and the user is
encouraged to repeat it until the prayer is being said constantly within the
heart. The best explanation of this method can be found in the beautiful
devotional text “The Way of a Pilgrim”. The anonymous author takes the
reader on his journey into the spiritual awakenings he encountered in
learning this method.
The Roman Catholic Church also developed the use of meditation, but it
is with the work of St Ignatius Loyola that it reaches an apex. Loyola was
the founder of the Society of Jesus, an order of priestly monks more
commonly known as the Jesuits. At the heart of their practice lie the
spiritual exercises created by Ignatius. They focus on a series of
visualisations that reflect on the faith of the individual, and their
relationship to Christ. A twentieth century Jesuit, Antony De Mello, wrote a
short book of similar exercises more suited to the ordinary person, called
Sadhanna. This text is well worth looking at. Other Christian mystics have
written on meditation, although their work is not always accessible.
 
Centering
Also known as grounding and relaxation, is essential if you are to
meditate successfully even if you have been practicing for years. When
starting out you may find it hard to settle and focus on your intended
activity. Part of the reason is the state of mind in which you come to the
practice. Life is full of hundreds of stresses and concerns, and even with the
best will in the world you will still bring some of them with you. As a result
you will need to make a conscious effort to put yourself into the right frame
of mind, and put aside the material world.
When starting it is useful to establish a set place in which to work. You
may dispense with this later, but while acquiring the skills of meditation
and visualisation it is helpful. Find somewhere you will not be disturbed, by
the phone, doorbell, or any other forms of distraction. Make sure there is
enough room for you to sit on the floor, or on a chair, or even to lie on the
floor. Initially you may be trying all sorts of physical postures.
You may wish to use some focal objects, a candle, pictures, or natural
objects. It is often quite helpful to develop an area of focus, where you can
place found natural objects, crystals, images and candles. The area should
become a living mandala, into which you add things at will. A mandala is
pictorial, and physical, of your own inner self, beliefs, or a particular focus.
You may find yourself changing it quite often, as you grow and develop.
The use of music is optional. However, if you do choose to use music
there are some important considerations. The music should not be so dull it
sends you to sleep, but neither should it be too lively. You do not want to be
listening to the music; its purpose is to add atmosphere. Another
consideration is the technical issue. You do not want the tape clicking off
during your practice. Nor do you want to spend ages messing around trying
to get the music to play.
Remember that whatever you use as a focus, whatever setting you
create for yourself, these things are just trappings. They are there to help
you, they are not essential to your practice, and with time you can and
probably will dispense with them. For the meditation, this altered state of
conscience is being created by you, and not those devices which you have
used to help.
When first starting it is good to try out various physical positions. The
suggested method is to sit upright on a chair that offers back support. But
really it is up to you, be sure that you are comfortable and not in a position
that may with time cause discomfort and or pain. If you lie on the floor it is
an idea not to make the floor too comfortable. You do not want to go to
sleep. During the practice you want to move as little as possible. The ideal
is not to move at all, but this is not often very practical. Nor is it suited to
all of the exercises. What you are seeking to avoid is excessive movement
that will distract you from the intended action.
After working on any of these exercises, throughout this chapter, it is
useful to take a few moments to return to normal consciousness on
completing the task. It is helpful to spend time writing down your
experiences, and noting comments for next time. Also try to have
something to drink or eat afterwards, as this will help you return to normal
consciousness.
 
Focus
This is an essential feature of any meditation work and it is important
that you get it right from the start. It is easy for your mind to wander, even
when trying the centering exercises. At first the whole thing may seem to be
a great struggle, as you may not be used to having a quieter mind. The idea
of slowing down and regarding only one activity may seem totally alien to
you. But with time you will come to enjoy it, and use this state to help with
more practical activities in the ordinary world. I find it a great help when I
am writing or planning.
So before you start explain to yourself what it is you are doing, and why
you are doing it. Then imagine what it might be like to achieve this, desire
it as the outcome. Then when engaging with the activities try not to be
harsh with your self, if you wander and lose focus, do not force your mind
back to the task, or it will resent you. Rather gently remind yourself of your
focus and intention. Do not reprimand yourself, but rather encourage
yourself, see your success, and gently carry on. You do this by simply
remembering your intention and focus. Wandering is very natural no matter
how experienced you are, have patience with yourself, and return to your
intention and focus, try to maintain a single minded intention.
  
Silence
A frequently used method for grounding is just to sit in silence. You
should just sit silently until you feel ready. However, this method is best
suited to people who have established relaxation triggers.
 
Awareness
As you sit, ready for meditation, with your eyes closed turn your
awareness or attention to the sounds you can hear. Listen to these sounds
without thinking about what they are. At first you will spend a lot of time
naming the sound, until slowly the naming will become irrelevant. This
method requires perseverance and will not happen in seconds. You will find
yourself not only hearing external sounds, but sounds that arise from your
own body, the movement of breath, the beat of the heart, or the rumblings
of your mind. As you ground and center these sounds will decrease in
volume.
Another awareness exercise is known as progressive muscle relaxation.
Starting with your feet. Become aware of each part of your body. Notice the
position, touch of clothing, any stresses or tensions. Then on an in breath
tense all of the muscles in that area, and release on an out breath. As you
release feel that area becoming relaxed. You should progress up through
your legs, body, arms, hands, head and face. When you have completed
each part in turn, turn your awareness onto the whole of your body. As you
breathe in tense the whole of your body, and on the out breath release the
tension. Feel your body becoming relaxed, light and almost floating.
Awareness of breathing is another useful exercise of this type. It is
important to breathe normally throughout this exercise. If you try to change
your breathing by force you will not achieve the desired result. With your
eyes closed, notice the first place your breath touches as it enters your body.
Notice how the breath feels, its coolness, and motion. As you breathe out,
find the last place your breath touches, and again notice how it feels. Do
this for a little while. Then follow your breath on its journey down to the
soft palate at the back of your mouth. Be aware of the breaths whole
journey, and how it feels. As you breathe out be aware of the breath moving
from your soft palate out. Continue this awareness for a little while. Then
follow your breath on its journey down through your windpipe to the top of
your chest, but not into it. Again notice the effect of the whole journey. As
you breathe out do the same again. Do this for a little while. Then follow
your breath on its journey down into the top of your lungs, notice it filling
your chest and causing it to move. As you breathe out notice the effects and
follow the journey of your breath until it leaves your body. Do this for a
little while. Then follow your breath on its journey down to your
diaphragm. Notice how it effects your belly. As you breathe out follow this
same journey. Be aware of every part of the journey. Do this for a little
while. Somewhere deep in the center of your physical body a place will
begin to tickle or throb. This is the center of your awareness, the point of
relaxation, watch it, and allow it to grow with each breath. As you breathe
in see it expand. As you breathe out see the tensions that restrict it leave
with the outgoing breath. Allow the center of your being to expand until it
ills every conceivable part of your being.
With your eyes closed try to remember the main events of the day. Start
with the most recent events. Do not go into lots of details. Rather try to fix
on one particular item or moment. Progress steadily back through your day,
picking out key events, or moments. Stop when you reach that moment just
before you woke up that morning. At that point remember how relaxed you
were lying in bed, how safe, and secure. Spend a few moments enjoying
that feeling.
This exercise is best done standing or sitting, but is a little strange if you
are lying down. With your eyes closed, try to image that there are roots
going out from your feet. They search their way down into the earth, they
continue down, into the very heart of the earth. When you feel they have
gone as far as they will go, begin to draw up the deep raw energy of the
earth. Feel it rising through the roots, flowing up into your very being.
When this flow is established, without forgetting it, begin to notice your
breathing. Image that the air you are breathing is filled with the golden rays
of the sun, that you are breathing it deep into your being, where it mixes
with the energy of the earth. Feel yourself responding, growing, and
spreading out from your own limits. Image yourself stretching out like a
tree. You may even want to move freely at this point, if so, then do it. When
you feel ready withdraw your roots, imagine then drawing back up. Allow
any excess energy to flow naturally back into the earth, or breathe it out into
the air.
Using sound is always effective, but it takes time to get over the initial
inhibitions you may have. Close your eyes, and either use a repeated phrase,
the vowels are good for this, or a sound. Voice your chosen sound, make it
loud, and clear, try to express your feelings in the sound you are making.
Allow the sound to grow and change, it may become louder or softer, it may
loose coherence. You might even begin to make strange almost inhuman
noises; you may become wild and abandoned, or fall slowly into silence.
Whatever happens allow it to do so freely. Do not feel self-conscious, as
this is the very thing you are trying to free yourself from. When you finally
feel sounded out, and there is no more to release, become silent, and for a
few moments enjoy that silence.
 In this exercise it is important to try to imagine each colour as vividly as
possible. Do not just imagine objects of that colour; feel as if you are
immersed in it. One way is to imagine that that colour light surrounds you.
Closing your eyes, start with the darkness all around you. Imagine that you
are falling through this darkness, with no particular goal or direction. The
slowly start to see the space around you fill with bright red. Let the red fill
the space totally, entering your very being. Continue falling without
direction through this colour. Slowly allow it to lighten into Orange, until
you are bathed in orange. Continue in this way through the colours of the
rainbow, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Then continue into clear
bright white light. Float here for a moment, at peace and at rest.
When you have mastered the art of grounding and centering spend some
time becoming firmly aware of the sensation. Really get to know how it
feels to be in this state of consciousness. Try to remember the feeling.
Associate a simple image with the process of grounding. Perhaps a leaf
falling to the ground, or the waves crashing on the shore. Then next time
you start to ground or center sit in silence with your eyes closed; imagine
the image you have used. As you picture the image know that you are
grounding and centering, experience the associated feelings as you have
come to know them. This system is only effective if you have already got
used to grounding and centering through other exercises, and can be used
quickly and efficiently.
Try all of these techniques. Be sure to write about your experiences, or
discuss them with your tutor. Which one works best for you? What
difficulties have you encountered?
 
Extending Awareness
 Through these exercises you aim to move your awareness beyond the
confines of your head. Most people live in their head, and are rarely aware
of their whole self. By centering, grounding, and relaxing you will be able
to extend your awareness into the whole of your body. In so doing you will
come to know and understand your body’s needs and functions.
Begin by entering a relaxed state. When you are ready take your
awareness into the center of your being. Feel this awareness expand until it
fills the whole of your physical body. Stand up, as you do be aware of every
move you make, of your physical response. Stand for a moment with your
eyes closed. Become aware of what it is like to stand. What position is each
part of your body in? How does your body feel? Inclining your head
downwards open your eyes. It is not important to look around, but you do
need to see the ground before you, so that you do not fall over in the next
part of the exercise. Begin to walk slowly around the room. Try not to think
about where you are going, or what is around you, just walk. Become aware
of the sensation of walking. Feel the movement of your muscles, the flow of
your body. Continue this for several minutes. When you are ready stop, and
return to normal consciousness.
This exercise can be extended further. You can go for longer meditative
walks, and perhaps end by contemplating the place where you have been
walking. If going for a long walk it is advisable to go with someone who
knows what you are doing. Equally you could do the exercise whilst paying
more attention to your surroundings, but this takes practice.
The exercise can also be done through dance. Select a piece of music,
which you feel that you can move freely to. When you have centered, stand
up, start the music, and begin to move in whatever way seems to suggest
itself. Completely surrender your movement to the music, without concern.
Be aware only of your body and its flow.
 Another stage of the exercise is to take your awareness beyond your
body. Look at an object or view. Allow yourself to become a part of all that
you are aware of. Try to feel as if you are the object, or part of the view.
This takes a lot more practice, but allows you to change your perspective on
issues.
A similar exercise, which appears to be simpler, but can give rise to
very profound experiences uses listening. Find a place that you feel safe in,
in town or countryside. Make yourself comfortable, ground and center.
Closing your eyes try to become aware of all the sounds you can hear. If it
is the sound of a car, or footsteps try to determine the direction they are
moving in. Try to locate the position of birds, the rustle of trees in the wind.
Listen to the symphony of the natural world. However, you will need to
resist the temptation to open your eyes and look, as to do so will almost
certainly bring the exercise to an end.
 
Seeded Meditation
In these exercises you will use a word, phrase, or object, which will
form the basis of the meditation. Through the exercise you will explore the
focus of the meditation, and attempt to make some realisations about it, and
your relationship to it.
A realisation is the result of the exercise, whether it is a meditation or
visualisation. Making a realisation is not simply describing the images or
ideas you had whilst doing the exercise. It is a process by which you work
out what the results actually mean. You will need to look over what you
have encountered and try to see the underlying meaning. A realisation is a
moment of enlightenment, that sudden awakening and knowing what the
images really mean. What has the exercise really been telling you? How to
make a realisation is not something that can be taught directly. At first you
will probably just describe what you encountered. With time you will begin
to see what these things mean, how they relate, and what the underlying
message is.
For the first set of exercises take a single word. One of the virtues such
as hope, honesty, trust, or love, might be good choices. Take a large piece of
paper and a pen, and make yourself comfortable in your meditation space.
Ground and center, then write your chosen word on the paper. With your
eyes closed say the word to yourself, in your mind, or aloud. Allow any
thoughts, images, memories, or ideas come into your mind. Do not worry
how absurd they are. As the first image begins to change into something
else open your eyes, and briefly write on your paper what you just
encountered. Once you have done this, close your eyes and repeat the word.
Continue in the same way, until you feel you have spent as long as you
want. Then look at the paper in front of you. Read what you have written.
Try to see patterns or connections. How does it relate to the word? In this
way you will begin to make your realisations.
Extend the first exercise by using phrases or sentences. You can use
sayings, or comments that you have read. For example; “Argue for your
limitations and they are yours”, or “The Spirit blows where it wills, so it is
with a person born of the Spirit.” Whatever you choose, it should be
something that you feel is important, or interesting. If it is not you will
simply get bored with the exercise.
With practice begin to put aside the paper. However, be careful not to
wander away from your chosen seed. Remind yourself of it whenever you
seem to be wandering away from the point.
You can use dreams as seeds, in order to explore their meaning. Recall
the dream as you begin to meditate. Allow it to unfold in your mind like a
film and allow it to develop. Remember that dreams are powerful tools, by
which your inner self and the realms of the other world may choose to
communicate with you.
 
Visualisation
If you did the dream exercise you have already begun to use this
technique. At the simplest level it the production of an image in the mind.
In other words it is the constructive use of your imagination. This is the root
of all magical operations. People learn the skill at different rates. For some
it involves real visual sensation, as if using the eyes, for others it is an idea
or sense. No particular expression of the skill is better. It is important to
work through these exercises in the order given, if you are to effectively
develop this skill.
Exercise 1
Start by trying to form simple objects in your mind. When you are
centered, close your eyes and try to imagine an orange. Be sure to get every
detail, the orange colour, the pitted skin, and the green stalk. Then imagine
sinking your nails into the skin, feel the resistance of the skin against your
nails. Smell the zest of the orange. Slowly peel your imaginary orange. See
the pith and the flesh beneath. Feel the juice run onto your fingers, smell it.
Take a piece of your orange put it in your mouth and taste it.
You can choose any object you like for this exercise, but make sure it is
a simple one. It may be helpful to spend some time looking at a physical
example of the object before you do the exercise.
When you are able to do this easily move on to more complex objects,
plants, trees, or animals. This takes time, as you can add sound to the
experience, and motion. Be sure to build as complete an image as possible.
Then go on to places. You could start by using a photograph. Clearly
form the place in your imagination. Use all of your senses. As yet you
should not be trying to place yourself within the image as that is part of a
later exercise.
Exercise 2
Metabhavana, a Buddhist form of meditation makes a good stepping
stone in developing this skill.
Center and ground, and with your eyes closed try to imagine yourself.
Picture yourself as clearly as possible. Imagine yourself bathed in love.
Send that love into your very being. Spend a few minutes doing this.
Picture someone you a very close to, as clearly as possible. Imagine
them bathed in love. Send that love to them. Spend a few minutes doing
this.
Picture someone you are indifferent to, as clearly as possible. Perhaps it
is someone you see every day but have not really got to know. Imagine
them bathed in love. Send that love to them. Spend a few minutes doing
this.
Picture someone you dislike, an enemy, as clearly as possible. Imagine
them bathed in love. Send that love to them. Spend a few minutes doing
this.
Picture the world. Start with your immediate area, then slowly include
more and more of the country, of Europe, through the other continents until
you can picture the whole world. Try to imagine the life force of every
living being on the planet, building it up slowly with each step. As you go
through each step imagine everything bathed in love. Send your love out to
every being in the world. Spend a few minutes doing this.
Exercise 3
You are now ready to try a few imaginary journeys. In this exercise you
will be using all of the skills that you have developed so far. The easiest
place to start is with a scripted journey. These can be bought pre-recorded
on audiotape. However, it is not possible to try out such tapes before
purchasing them. Books of scripted visualisations are available, and thanks
to the use of this technique by RE teachers, more materials are becoming
available. However, remember that the scripts will reflect the purpose the
author had in mind, and this is not always a magical purpose.
The magician uses this technique to explore the inner realms. The issue
of where the inner realms are, whether they are part of the unconscious or
have real existence in themselves is an important debate. You will find it
usefully explored in Marian Green’s book The Path Through The Labyrinth
(essential reading for the novice). Another important text in working with
this technique is Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki’s Highways of the Mind (more
essential reading). The latter book offers practical advice and examples,
which will compliment this unit and help you to develop your skills.
You will need to become familiar with the scripted visualisation in order
to use it without help. It is better to find someone who understands what
you are doing and is willing to read it to you. Equally you could record the
script onto audiotape yourself. Whichever you do, make sure that the reader
does not rush through it. Read slowly, but not too slowly. Allow short
pauses between images. If the text calls for a pause make it a lengthy one,
of several minutes. If when doing the exercise you are told to spend some
time in a place or with certain characters you will need plenty of time to do
this. In such a situation you should use the opportunity to explore the place,
or to ask questions and listen to answers.
Here is an example of a simple journey. Try out this exercise and write a
report on your experience. Try to make a realisation related to your journey.
 
Ground and Center
 You find yourself standing by a five bar gate. Look at the gate. Notice
its condition, the latch and post. Feel the wood from which it is made. Be
aware of the sensation of touch. Hanging from the gatepost is a storm
lantern, which is alight. This may be puzzling, as it is such a nice sunny
afternoon here. This lantern is your marker it will guide you home. Beyond
the gate you can see a wood, look carefully at all the different types of trees.
Either open the gate, or climb over. You find yourself on a path, leading to
the wood. Follow it, enjoying the feel of the sun on your face. As you enter
the wood, notice the coolness of the shade. Smell the resin from the trees.
Follow the path on into the wood. Look at the flowers, and undergrowth.
Hear the rustle of the trees. Feel the plants brush past you on either side.
Listen to the song of the birds. Suddenly you come into a clearing. In the
center stands a large upright stone. Go over to it. Its surface has a carved
pattern, look at it. Touch the stone and feel its surface, run your finger along
the pattern. Sit with your back to the stone. Feel it firm behind you. The sun
seems to be dipping towards the horizon, and you see its rays through the
trees before you. As you sit looking at the rays, notice the things that appear
caught and illuminated by each ray of sunlight. Quietly and calmly an
animal comes out of the wood before. Look at it, and do not be afraid, it
will not harm you. It makes its way slowly towards you, stopping by your
side. Reach out your hand and touch, notice how it feels. You seem to be
communicating with this creature without the need for language. Spend a
few moments in its company. You notice that the sun is nearly set and that
you must return home. You stand and look for your path. The creature goes
before you, it guides back along the path through the woods. Follow it. Do
not wander from this path for now. As you reach the edge of the wood you
can see the light of the lantern on the gate. Before heading for it you turn
and bid your guide farewell, for the creature can come no further this time.
Walk down to the gate. Before going through it remember what you have
seen and done. As you pass the gate you will return to this place and time.
Your journey will be over and you will back it that place you call reality.
Return and remember.
Gently awaken as if from a dream.
Have something to eat or drink and write down the results of your
journey, try to make a realisation. The creature you met is one of your spirit
animals. As such it reflects an inner aspect of yourself. Try to realise what it
reflects.
Exercise 4
Try to write your own scripted visualisation. Base it on a journey to the
cliffs, where you will meet a bird, another of your spirit animals. Try to give
your script pace, and depth of experience. Remember to return in the same
way that you went in. Make this journey and report on it, making any
realisations you can.
Exercise 5
Write a scripted visualisation. Base it on a journey to a lake, river, or the
sea. Be sure to enter the water. Leave space to meet someone or something,
but do not define what or who you will meet. Do not use any visual cues in
this script. Base the whole script on the other senses, taste, touch, smell, and
hearing. Try to give your script pace, and depth of experience. Make this
journey and report on it, making any realisations you can.
Exercise 6
Take a photograph or painting of a place. Look at it and make it your
intention to journey into the image, in order to meet the spirit of the place.
Do the exercise. Create the image in your mind, then step into it. Explore
the place and go on. Remember to return by stepping back through the
image, perhaps looking at it again in your mind’s eye. Make this journey
and report on it, making any realisations you can.
Exercise 7
Do exercise 6 again but this time use a Tarot card as the image, if you
have any. Step into the card and spend time talking to the characters within
it, before returning. Make this journey and report on it, making any
realisations you can.
Exercise 8
Use your imagination to build a door of gate through which you will
travel on your future journeys. Describe or draw it. Use it to go on a journey
to one of the places we have already visited in this unit.
All of these exercises will help you develop the true base and essence of
all magical practice. Use them, and develop your skills. Remember it takes
time, and this not a section to hurry. Good work now will ensure later
success.
 
Book List
Highways of the Mind, Ashcroft-
Nowicki A good introduction into
the how and why of visualisation.
Developing skills of travel and the purpose
of such work.
Introduction to Ritual Magic
Dion Fortune & Gareth Knight
A superb introductory text that puts the
imagination and training of the mind into
context as regards all magical practice.
 Magical Use of Thought Forms
Dolores Ashcroft Nowicki and J.H.
Brennan An excellent workbook on training
the mind to develop clear visualisation and
maintain focus.
 So what does SACRED mean?
That which is set apart, something that you have given special value to
and put in a special place or treated in a way that gives it importance to you.

But what's the secret?

None. Anything that you feel is sacred is. You create the sacred
otherwise it does not exist nothing is sacred unless you make it.
We all create sacred spaces, areas where we feel we can go to rest, to
renew ourselves. It is a simple human need. Whether we use a room in our
home, the garden, or a natural place it is somewhere in which we can feel
comfortable, safe and secure. It is a place where we feel we can be
ourselves. A place to express our inner selves, to feel emotion, to sit and
think or even just strip and go naked. Aware that in this place we are safe
enough to bare our inner selves, here we do not need the masks of the outer
world. This is our place of security.
It is not the space itself that makes us feel safe, how can it unless we
have locked ourselves in an impenetrable room. This sense of safety, of
value, of sacredness comes from within us. As we said before nothing is
sacred unless you make it so.
So where is my real Sacred Space?
I want to strip and go naked!
 Well you yourself are the center of your sacred space. That space rests
within you, within your awareness. It is something that you do not even
have to manifest in this world. Many people talk about themselves as being
a "temple." They mean their bodies of course. All that they mean is that
they think of their body as a sacred space, in which they dwell. But that like
any manifest place can be violated. True sacred space cannot, it exists in
your awareness, which is its root, not in the physical.
Puzzled Huh!
Let’s use an exercise to explain.
  
The Root of Sacred
Space
Sitting Comfortably?
Then I will begin.
Become aware of your body, the position that you have put it in. Is it
tense, itchy or aching? What have you been doing with it? How does it
feel? Become really aware of your body. Spoil it with some real attention.
But what is giving the attention?
Put your body awareness into an imaginary bag, look at it, contain it,
and step away from it.
Become aware of your feelings. What are they? What do you feel about
all this? Who is feeling? Become really aware of your feelings.
Put this feeling awareness into another bag. Look at it, contain it, and
step away from it.
Become aware of your thoughts. Don't think about them. Just watch
them moving about. They are quite happy getting on with their lives, but
who is thinking them? Become really aware of you thoughts.
Put this thought awareness into another bag. Look at it, contain it, and
step away from it.
So here you really are.
This is your true self.
It has thoughts, feelings and a body to use. But it is the root.
Choose to be yourself.
Safe
Secure
 This is your sacred space. This is the root. It is from here that you
project yourself, it is here that you truly exist. This place cannot be
violated.
When you are ready put back your tools of expression for the outer
world. You may like to consider their purpose as you restore them, in
reverse order, and come back down to earth.
____________________________
So you should have got it now. The root of sacred space is within you.
You choose to project it out, to encompass your body or any space around
you. If a place feels good you project yourself out into it. You enjoy such a
space making its limits the limits of your existence.
It is easier if the place in the outer world is somewhere that you think is
special a place that resonates with you.

You mean its got good vibes.

Yes. Well something like that. But any space can become a sacred space
if you make it so. Good vibes or not.

So how do you do that?

Well that requires some more practical work. Which is something you
should spend some time trying out several times. But do not forget always
to close down and come back to earth! Whilst you might think you can do
that by simply opening your eyes, you don't, the energy pattern you have
weaved in this work remains with you, until it very slowly fades away.
  
Creating Personal
Sacred Space.
Are you sitting comfortably?
Then I will begin.
Sitting quietly in a place of your choosing. (The surroundings do not
need to be quiet, only you do. You can even do this on the bus!)
Imagine coming out from you a ball of blue light. Imaging a paintbrush
or pencil drawing the blue light can sometimes be helpful. Now without
moving use this blue light to draw a circle around yourself, imagine it
encompassing you. This circle can be any size you want to make it.
Remember that whatever you put into the circle will be part of your
sacred space, so if you do not want the man sat next to you on the bus in
your circle, don't draw it so big!
When you have drawn your circle of light, including everything you
want in your space.
Give it a spin.
Doing this you should imagine the circle becoming a sphere around
you. This is your Sacred Space
Spend a few minutes thinking about why you want this space, what is
your INTENTION? Reinforce the sphere with that intention.
To Recharge
To Feel Safe
To Get Away
When you are ready to come back to the real world unspin your sphere
and absorb your blue light circle into yourself, after all it came out of you.
 If you forget to do this then the circle will fade away in time, but it will
not help with your social life! Since it may well make you appear socially
invisible.
_______________________________

So what has all of this got to do with magic?

I was waiting for that one.
Lots of books talk about casting magical circles. They get very caught
up in it and some make out that it must be done with such care. Well you
have just done it. The magic circle is Sacred Space. It is not chalk marks on
the ground, fancy patterns, a room specially marked out and done up as a
"temple." All this nonsense is not necessary. The essential sacred space is
the one that you create. Some people like all the nonsense, but some people
like to eat meat, smoke tobacco and have sex in the back of minis or is it
something more up market these days!
The circle is the place for your magical operation. It is where you do it,
although it does have other purposes. As for formal ways of casting circles,
they are very useful to groups, as they let everyone know what is going on,
but that is what ritual is for. We all like to do a little bit of play-acting and
dressing up don't we?
Many respected authorities carefully explain that the circle is for your
protection. It keeps out any undesirable influences. Well if you think it will
keep out the ghouls, ghosts and evil spirits good for you, it worked in
Dennis Wheatly novels. Just remember that the NASTIEST thing that you
will ever meet is already in that circle - YOU.
The real purpose of the circle is to contain the magical energies. It is a
vessel, a cup, which you fill with magical energy. You then pattern this
energy within the space, free from any external disturbance. It will not stop
the phone ringing or the Jehovah Witnesses popping round. But it does stop
the very subtle magical energies you are weaving from being blown away
by stronger, possibly more mundane energies. Such as the theme from
Neighbours! No it is not magical but all musical sound has magical force.
The circle is also a tool that allows you to focus yourself more fully on
the task in hand. It is a tool that focuses your awareness on the job in hand
rather than letting you mind the cat's business. The aim of most ritual is to
capture your attention and keep your mind on the job.

But there are magical directions, aren't there?

Yes lots: open the packet, pour boiling water on to the contents. Drink
and you have instant invisibility and powers of manifestation. You will be
master of the incredulous and the idiotic.
On a more serious note, yes we do have quartering and all that but the
only directions to be worried about at the moment are the circular motions
about the point.
CLOCKWISE - SUNWISE
ANTICLOCKWISE - NOT SUNWISE
They do have fancy names DEOSIL and WIDDERSHINS respectively.
To put it quite simply, when ancient woman looked into the sky she saw the
Sun move from East to West, and the Moon did the same. When ancient
man looked into the sky he remembered that he did not have his watch on.
Possibly because they had not yet been invented.
So woman told man her discovery and he made a watch, because he
could not be bothered with looking into the sky, he had better things to do.
But have you noticed that ever since we have used the same directions.
The watch moves to the right, east to west, jar lids and screws do up
sunwise.
Bit of a bummer if you happen to be left-handed though.
 So it is in magic, movement either drawing the circle or getting around
it was given sunwise and antisunwise direction.
Movement sunwise is seen to bring energy into the circle, it brings that
which you desire into the space. This is called INVOKING. Whilst
movement antisunwise is seen to clear forces from the space, to BANISH,
or creating banishing forces.
So you have to think about what you want the circle for.

Hi George its Hilda!

I'm not well. Can you help?

Well of course he can, he could rush round with a bottle of brandy and
the paracetamol, as all magic however simple is effective. But on the other
hand if that is not possible he might decide to work some non-manifest
magic. For this he will need his trusty magical circle,

But which direction?

Well that all depends on how he wants to help Hilda. Does he want to
banish her illness to some dark and distant corner? Or does he want to
invoke healing energies, to fill her and help her to fight the illness off?
If he decides to banish the illness he will need a widdershins circle. But
to invoke healing he will need to use a deosil circle. Well let’s leave George
to his decision and his magic. I hope she gets better soon (that's magic too!)
So what are you still doing sitting around here?
Go and play about with creating some sacred space with direction.
See how each direction feels.
How do the energies change?
Don't come back until you can feel that force!

That's great, but what about words,

 Things - you know all the stuff?
The stuff? Oh you mean ritual. Yes ritual does have a place in all this,
like everything else it helps to focus your attention. Ritual words and tools
act as an attention grabber, in much the same way that a baby is enthralled
by a rattle. When starting out or working with others it helps you know
where you are and to delegate tasks.

So what words should I use?

How about?
Agrasax Hogoni Aspexsi Hagarum Insepeloi
Yes lots of people go in for fancy words, don’t they sound grand. Nearly
as good as the POPE!
If you tried that drivel then I hope you felt stupid and looked it. Don't
say words unless you know what they mean. You cannot put intention
behind your speech unless you understand it. Even if the greatest magician
once said it while deep into his operation.
If you or your group want words then write them for yourselves. There
is nothing better. In this way you know what you really want to say.

But what do I say?

Where is the book?

I am glad you brought that up. If you are going to use words it is
ALWAYS best to use your own. If I had a tenner for every time someone
has; bought a book on ritual magic, read it, got all the gear together, stood
in a candle lit room with book in one hand and cup in the other straining to
read the words, wondering what hand to pick up the bread with, I would be
very wealthy. But on the other hand just to stand and watch would be a
fortune in laughter!
 Speak for yourself
Do not let anyone speak for you.
Especially not me!
Oh no definitely not me!
What do you say? Whatever you feel like saying. Think about what you
are doing and why you are doing it, then use those words. You can even do
this in a group, if one person has the task of casting the circle. Or you could
all share the job.
However, I make one exception an old natural magic poem that is a
complete ritual in itself. But more of that later.

Hey man - No Sounds?

What like natural ones - BURP! Oh Pardon.
You mean music, or cat wailing. Yes it is a very powerful tool. Sound
and movement, but that is more commonly associated with raising power.

Aren't you supposed to wave knives

Around or something? I always fancied that bit!

Be careful with that sword Hilda you may do yourself an injury or

wound George's pride! I did warn him of the dangers of going naked

(skyclad)

Ah but that's the fun part about getting close to nature!

To get back to the point, the knife, dagger, sword, or as it is called the
ATHAME, is often used as an aid to circle casting. The idea is to use it as a
focus of your WILL or INTENTION. Acting out physically whatever you
are doing in your mind. You hold the athame in your RIGHT hand and
visualise it marking, or cutting, out your path in blue light. You walk around
in a circle or just turn on your own axis. It depends on how big you want
your circle. The athame also acts as a tool of discrimination separating, that
which is within from that which is outside the circle.

But don't you need a special athame?

Not really, its up to you, I find a kitchen knife will do, but it is usually
best not to use something that is used daily by other people, or it gets
magically dirty! The athame is a tool of the element of AIR, so we will deal
with it more fully in that section. So just remember its use and leave it there
for now.
One thing that gets me angry is all this RIGHT hand nonsense, as you
may have guessed I am LEFT-handed. What's so bad about that? We are a
minority. The Romans even got nasty about it, in Latin the right is
DEXTER, and from this we get our word DEXTROUS. While the left was
SINISTER, need I say more. So traditionally the right was associated with
Will Power, with action but in our tradition the left was seen to be the root
of healing and divination.
The Right - Gives Out, Directs.
The Left - Receives, Blesses, Heals.
Tradition can be a funny old fish. But much of our tradition was only
recently invented!
 The Circle Blessing
This is very powerful and profound, it is in effect a ritual in itself which
I have been using for many years. I have Marian Green to thank for
teaching it to me.
Are you sitting comfortably?
Then I will begin.

Relax and take your time with this one. Either learn the words before
you do it, or record them and play the tape. You need plenty of time
between each section to visualise what has been said. Picture it clearly, feel
it happen to you.

From beneath me arises the energy of the earth,

My home and foundation.

From above me pours down the power of the sun,

And the enchanting light of the moon.

To my right hand comes the strength to control

and to direct the arts of magic.

To my left hand flows the skill to heal and to divine,

the source of true blessing.

Before me arise the perfected one I strive to become

my magical true self.
 Behind me falls the one I was
and with it all my discarded faults.

Around me circle the eternal stars

lamps of wisdom in the depths.

Within me grows the flame of experience

and the jewel of arcane knowledge.

(spend some time in the circle, when you close down say)

On me and my world may blessing be.

(Visualise the energy going out as a blessing and absorb the last of it
yourself.)

MOST OF ALL ENJOY IT.

_________________________________________________

At this point you should endeavour to read ‘Psychic Self Defence’ by

Dion Fortune. Having done so you should consider the use of the circle as a
device of protection.
 The word power is used widely within magical circles, but its real
meaning seems to be constantly glossed over. Pagans of all types talk about
raising power, charging places and objects, using power, but what is it that
they are actually using?
Within Wicca and related neo-pagan religions the participants are called
upon to raise a cone of power. There are many methods given in order to
achieve this, from chanting, through to self-mutilation. Yet there seems to
be an absence in the discussion when it comes to the nature of this power.
Two practices seem to come close to an explanation in their own nature, the
Great Rite, and Drawing down the Moon. But both of these seem to be
drawing on apparently very different forms of power.
The published material from the Order of the Golden Dawn has nothing
particular to say about power. During the ritual words will be vibrated and
connected with visualised images, in order to develop and create the
necessary power. But as to how it functions or what the power is, this
remains unspoken.
Starhawk, a leading figure in the growth of neo-paganism, especially in
the USA, has a great deal to say about power. She devotes two whole books
to the subject, Dreaming the Dark, and Truth or Dare. In both books
Starhawk uses a psychological model of power, and interprets it through
both a feminist and an environmental critique. By using these methods she
is able to construct a view of power that relates to the conscious person. Her
concept of power is both political and social in its nature.
 Starhawk gives a threefold model of power: power over, power within,
power with. Initially she argues that we are all subject to and use power
over at some point in our lives. She identifies this power with the
aggressive and political domination of people. This derives principally from
the patriarchal society. Starhawk finds this form of power demeaning to all
human beings, in that it perpetrates and allows the violation of individuals
on every level. For example: the teacher has power over the class.
Starhawk suggests that the power over model be replaced with the
“power with” model. This is what she defines as the power of the Goddess.
It is essentially the strength that arises from the knowledge that you are a
complete human being, a child of the Goddess. It is through self-confidence
and self-knowledge that the individual becomes empowered. Through
claiming their rightful inheritance and acknowledging their right to live as
they choose within society they gain access to the divine power. It is a
divine power of self-determination.
However, this model gives way to, and gives rise to the model of
“power with”. It is here that the self-actualising individual joins with and
interacts with similar people. It is the communal spirit that arises when each
person is working co-operatively. Power over is completely absent from
this model, everything is achieved through co-operative negotiation.
Leadership takes on the characteristics of the facilitator, to assist the growth
and development of the group. This then is the nature of power for
Starhawk. It is essentially a psychological self –actualisation, working co-
operatively with that of others.
As satisfying as this conception seems it still leaves a large number of
questions unanswered. The whole notion of “power raising” has been
reduced to a psychosocial level. However, magical practice seems to
suggest that it is far more than this. Starhawk acknowledges this in saying
that energy is love, is ecstasy, and that it is constantly in motion.
In his book Initiation into Hermetics, Franz Bardon suggests that power
is a tangible force. In his view it seems to take on an electromagnetic
character. It is seen as a charge that can be collected, stored and projected
out through the power of the will in order to affect and effect an external
object, or event. He develops a technique, which he calls “volting”, for the
raising and directing of power. Through certain breathing patterns and
visualisations the magician is able to induce charge, and pass it by will into
whatever he or she chooses. This idea also seems prevalent in Gerald
Gardener’s formulation of Wicca, and it can also be seen in both the Golden
Dawn system and that of Aurum Solis. However, the terminology is
different and the nature of the power is not discussed.
This idea of cosmic electricity seems to find its root in ancient Hindu
philosophy. Hinduism teaches that the whole of creation is filled with
energy, called prana. Quite simply prana is the life force of any created
object. It is the field of force that animates and shapes the object. Prana
flows about the body and needs to be renewed through both physical and
spiritual nourishment. Within the body the pranic force is thought to
separate out into various types, each collecting in a whirling center known
as a chakra. The chakra’s are the energy centers of any being, and their
condition is thought to influence the health and well-being of the whole.
The idea of a cosmic life force is also found further east in China and
Japan, here it is called Chi or Ki. This force is seen to flow through the
body in channels very similar to veins and arteries. The Chinese medical
arts are based on the flow of this energy. They seek to balance and heal the
body through the use of these energy channels. The most well known
method is that of acupuncture, the use of needles inserted in the skin to
control the flow of chi. Many martial arts, especially Tai Chi, were
developed to encourage the free and vigorous flow of chi through the body.
For the Hindu, particularly the follower of tantric philosophy, it is in
kundalini that power is at its greatest. Kundalini is said to be the serpent
power that dwells within the root chakra. It is stored here and through
sexual and meditational activity it can be aroused and released. In essence it
is the power of the orgasm. An energy that travels up through all of the
chakras and floods the body. The greater the power the more likely it is that
the person will be projected into a state of bliss or ecstasy. This state when
perfected is called Samadhi. It is considered to be a state of grace in which
union of the individual with the divine can be achieved.
In The Secret Doctrine, Madame Blavatsky takes the notion of prana,
and kundalini further. The Secret Doctrine talks of an originative power of
creation, fohat, the mother emitting and patterning all things. It is the
propelling force that brings forth the many, its character encompasses the
sexual force, eros, and that of divine love, agape. It is characterised by
kundalini, and by the realised psychic skills of humanity. It is a vital power
that sets everything in motion. Fohat “is the dynamic energy of cosmic
ideation . . . the intelligent medium, the guiding power of all manifestation.”
(Secret Doctrine Vol.1 pg16) Fohat is also “the transcendental binding unity
of all cosmic energies.” (Secret Doctrine Vol.1, Pg. 111)
It is in this definition of power that we find a combination of a
multitude of forces or powers, planetary, psychic, elemental etc. All of
which are united in this primal force that brings the universe into
manifestation. This image bears a lot of similarity to the idea of deity,
projecting forth and manifesting in various forms or principles. It is
evolution from the one to the many. Fohat is seen as the force that is
divinely manifested by which all is set in motion, a concept found in Dion
Fortune’s Cosmic Doctrine. Alice Bailey develops the concept, by
suggesting that this principal ray evolves into the Seven Cosmic rays. The
Treatise on the Cosmic Rays by Alice Bailey goes into complex detail as to
this process, and the nature of each of the seven rays.
Power is universal, its nature is like that of deity. It is mysterious and
yet perceived through its actions. Power is the motion of universe, and yet
in itself is subject to ebb and flow. It has within it tides and cycles, the
motion of time, planetary tides and the tides of life.
The human being is a repository of power, yet magicians should never
use their own personal power. Using your own energy for magical purposes
leaves you mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. In this state
you are more prone to illness, and psychic attack, if such a thing occurs.
The magician is a channel of power, the very channel of divine grace. The
magician is an intermediary through whom the power of the divine may be
made manifest and directed. This is a position of great responsibility,
requiring discipline and thoughtfulness.
In his works Carlos Castanada has much to say about power and the
way that it is gathered and used by the nagual, the Mexican shaman. For
him power is something that is stalked like an animal. The magician does
not share this idea. But his perception and vision of the universe is very
similar to that of the magician. Don Juan raises Carlos’ awareness to a point
at which he is able to perceive the filaments of energy \ power from which
the universe is created. It is a marvellous and beautiful vision.
The magician raises energy, drawing on all that is around, focusing this
power, patterning it, taking up only those strands of power that are
necessary for the task. The magician is a weaver whose threads are power
itself.
  
Power Raising
There are many different methods of power raising. Which method you
eventually choose will be a matter of temperament. You will also make the
method personal to you, for all but the more complex ritual forms. For now,
however, it is best to learn how to use them all.

Exercise 1
This is a variation of the tree exercise you met in session 2. With your
eyes closed, try to image that there are roots going out from your feet. They
search their way down into the earth, they continue down, into the very
heart of the earth. When you feel they have gone as far as they will go,
begin to draw up the deep raw energy of the earth. Feel it rising through the
roots, flowing up into your very being. When this flow is established,
without forgetting it, begin to notice your breathing. Image that the air you
are breathing is filled with the golden rays of the sun, that you are breathing
it deep into your being, where it mixes with the energy of the earth. Feel
yourself responding, growing, and spreading out from your own limits.
Image yourself stretching out like a tree. Do not allow the energy to flow
back now, rather take with you into your ritual work. Fill your sacred space
with it. When you banish \ open your sacred space allow the excess energy
to go out into the world.

Exercise 2
In this exercise you will be using sound to raise power, through the use
of a chant. You will need to find a space to work that you will feel
comfortable, but also able to express yourself through song. It does not
matter how well you sing, what is important is the rhythm and pace of your
chant.
You will need to find a suitable chant. Many have been printed, a
particularly good source is the Prana chant book. These are a group of
musicians who have written and developed their own chants. They also sell
professional recordings of the group in performance. You may even find it
helpful to sing along to the taped accompaniment. The chant should reflect
some element of your ritual purpose in its words. However, there are
several more all purpose chants that are easy to learn and sound great. With
practice you will want to write your own chants, and these are always the
best ones.

Do not worry too much about keeping to the tune, it is more important
to enter into the spirit of the chant. Relax and enjoy singing it. Allow the
music to follow its own natural rhythm, it will find and follow the contours
and pattern of the power being raised. There will come a point when you
will naturally want to stop. That is the peak of the power.
You may wish to use drumming whilst chanting. Like the singing the
drumming should be relaxed and rhythmical. Allow the drum rhythm to
flow and take up the contour of the power, just as your chanting does. It
should be a relaxed and enjoyable activity.
At some point you may wish to add dancing or simple movement to the
chanting. Move as you choose, but try to circle clockwise around your
space. Dance alone can be a very good power raiser. Allow yourself to
move freely with the music or chant, circling the space, drawing the power
with you, and spiralling it up into a cone. Fill the space with motion, and
sound, allow it to dance with your music. The feeling is the power itself,
manifesting in the energy of your action.
 This method should not leave you exhausted, but empowered. Taken to
extreme it can exhaust you. As a result you will enter a state known as
vacuity, close to trance. In this state you are able to project power, but more
often than not it is your own power. The magician should avoid using
personal power. The state of vacuity can be useful if controlled, and used to
channel power. The method is primarily used by Chaos Magicians and was
developed by Austin Osman Spare.

Exercise 3
This exercise also uses sound, but in a free form. You will need to
surrender yourself entirely to the act of making a sound. Within your sacred
space begin to make a low but regular sound with your voice. Do not worry
about what it is, but do try to avoid words. Try not to be self-conscious
relax and enjoy allowing your voice to rise and fall, to be loud and soft.
Allow your voice to find the natural contours of the power being raised.
Wild abandon is really the order of the day. However, do notice when it
feels right to stop. Once again it is easy to trip over into vacuity. If the state
of vacuity is your goal enjoy it.
A useful voice style with this exercise is called humi. It is a way of
using your voice in order to produce harmonic overtones. The Mongolians
and the Tibetans have developed this form into a fine art. It is not
something that can be easily taught from these pages. Jonathan Goldman’s
book Healing Sounds is an excellent introduction, it also has some very
useful exercises.

Exercise 4
Circumambulation has been used as a method of power raising for a
long time. Quite simply stand within your sacred space. Form a clear
intention to raise power in your mind. Then begin to walk clockwise around
the space, imagine that you are walking a giant spiral, climbing it and with
it bringing up the power. How many times you walk around is up to you.

Exercise 5
Stand in your sacred space, and visualise the power forming about you.
It is important that you have tried the other methods of power raising before
using this one. Include in your visualisation all the feelings that you have
when raising power. Know and feel that you are standing within a great
cone of energy. If it helps use spoken words to encourage the process. Just
allow phrases to spring into your mouth, voice them aloud. Call the power
into your sacred space.

Exercise 6
You now need to learn how to use and shape the power you have raised.
You can just go into visualisation and use it in that way or you can use it in
charging, blessing, and purifying objects. There will be more about these
techniques later. For now it is enough for you to shape and set the power
into motion. Raise some power, then visualise it spinning around in your
sacred space like a ball. Set spinning in either direction, change its speed,
by just using your ability to visualise. The art of visualisation patterns all
forms of energy. Get used to patterning energy, shape it, it will take on just
about any form. However, when you have finished playing remember to
return it to its raw form and release it. Otherwise you will leave a thought
form in the space you are using. Thought forms can have their own
existence separate from you, but they need to find sources of power in order
to be nourished. If they do not they slowly decay, causing problems on the
physical level of manifestation.
You will study a more ritualistic method of power raising later, it is
called the Middle Pillar exercise. However, it helps to have some
foundation in the nature of the human being and principles of QBL before
using this method. For now use these methods and report on your findings.
Investigate the nature of power and methods of raising it. Discover what
you can do with it, and what it can do to you. Write up your findings in
your magical diary.
 Before you read this chapter spend some time thinking and writing
about your personal views on the term God. What are your first thoughts on
God? What is it? Why is it? Where is it? Write a short report outlining your
personal point of view.
When the word God is used it comes as a pre-packaged concept. Quite
often the western European sees it as a personal being of great age that has
a physical existence in some place up there! This concept is a very childish
explanation, so often given by parents to young children, but never
reassessed later, as are other ideas. To make God a human being is to limit
it. It is not possible for a finite human form to have the attributes of God,
eternal, all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere. It is all too painfully
obvious that the human being is limited, finite and far from perfect. Such a
concept of God is unsatisfactory.
The starting point for the magician must be in philosophy. Anselm
called God, “a being than which nothing greater can be imagined.” This
definition appears sound, but it fails, for the human mind is incapable of
comprehending such a being. Furthermore, the mere imagining of such a
being does not, as Anselm claimed, guarantee the existence of such a being.
The exploration of the philosophy of God can be a fruitful one, and many
good texts are available.
If the magician is to conceive of such a being it is formless, existing not
within manifestation, but beyond it also. For it is the formless creator of all
things. That is it is the absolute, from which all is made manifest. It creates,
not as many Christians claim, out of nothing (ex nihilo), but of itself.
Although this could be argued to be the same thing, as it is no thing in itself.
It is not a being, but absolute being. In the process of creation it enters into
manifestation, but is not conscious of this process. It does not actively and
thoughtfully create, rather it brings forth manifestation as a tree brings forth
leaves, it is a spontaneous expression of its very nature. God is neither male
nor female, having no form. This concept is of no relevance to it.
Theosophy defines deity as follows:
IT is the mysterious power of evolution and
involution, the omnipresent, omnipotent, and even
omniscient creative potentiality.
Deity is the eternal, incessantly evolving, not
creating, builder of the universe, that universe itself
unfolding out of its own essence, not being made.
The Key to Theosophy
A study of the Key to Theosophy, or other introductory theosophical
texts, would expand these concepts further.
Approaching this pure essence, being itself, the formless unmanifest is
difficult for the human mind to comprehend. The mind cannot grasp such a
concept, even in the most abstract terms, and attempting to relate to it in a
personal way is next to impossible. As a result religion has tended to give it
a human face, to act as if it were just a scaled up human being. To make
deity in human form is to reduce and limit it. The result can only be
ignorance and confusion. For the magician, this error must stop here, or
progress cannot be made. The God in the image of humanity, is nothing
more than the Mould of Humanity, that that gave human form to the spark
of deity that formed the incarnating human ego. Don Jaun highlights this
error in Carlos Castenada’s works, which outline his training and
development as a Nagual (a Mexican Indian Magician).
The act of offering worship to the mould of man is an error. It is to
worship the very nature of humanity itself. To worship is to offer respect,
admiration, and to confer worth. Is this really the preserve of the image of
humanity?
To offer worship to the absolute deity itself is also a pointless task. Its
unconscious unfolding and evolution does not require our respect and
admiration, merely our collaboration. In the same way that our body does
not need a single cell within it to worship the whole, it merely requires that
the cell fulfil its purpose effectively. To ask what is the purpose of humanity
is to open a vast philosophical discussion. However, for the magician it is a
fundamental task. The magician seeks to find the true will. That is to say the
magician seeks to find the purpose with which they have entered the cycle
of manifestation, and to accomplish this in the most effective way possible.
In working towards this goal the magician requires a point of reference
and working relationship with the Divine. This can be done through contact
with the impassive absolute, but a more effective path may be found in the
projected aspects. The One entering into manifestation undergoes a
reflection, which creates duality.
Duality gives it a point of reference with which to begin the process of
evolution. This reflection is not simply the absolute becoming two
absolutes, this would be absurd. Rather through the emanation of the first
ray it becomes the polar duality of manifestation. Underlying all
manifestation if the division into active, and passive, positive and negative.
The Taoists call it Yin and Yang. Western pagans understand and describe
this duality as the God and Goddess, the Lord and Lady. In many forms of
paganism they become ultimately identified with nature itself, as earth
mother and sky father. Such a perception is to reduce them to the lowest
level of comprehension. They are more than this. They are the eternal
duality. Crowley called them Nuit and Hadit, but even these names limit
their nature. They are the active and passive principles of the universe.
Build your own list of duality, using as much of what you see around you as
possible. Try to identify the two distinct groups within your list. These are
your definition of Lord and Lady, and yet they are more than this.
In this form they are the summation of all the gods and goddesses
known to or worshipped by humanity. They are active living beings
partaking of the essence of the absolute, the One. They, like the families of
gods (pantheons, a further subdivision), contain the spark, the atom of the
divine, to a large degree. They act with, and for the One, yet, they are also
answerable to it. With it and all manifestation they grow, learn, and evolve.
To worship them affords their gratitude, but it results in your service to
them. That is you enter into a relationship of master and servant, worshipper
and worshipped. To worship a thing is to acknowledge its dominion over
you, and thus to surrender your life to it. This is not the role of the
magician, particularly not a magician within the Magician's Gate system. In
many older magical texts and grimoires worship formulae are used within
ritual, but it is no more than holy ingratiation.
Far richer relationships with the gods and goddesses are more familial
or personal ones, such as: parent - child, friends, siblings, or lovers.
However, the latter is prone to problems of its own. To be the lover of a
deity can be as demanding as having a human lover, in every way, including
the sexual. You only have to study the Greek myths surrounding the lovers
of Zeus to realise the problems that can result from such a relationship. The
aim to love the One is far removed from the erotic concept of love, but may
at times spill over into it. Rather it is an unconditional love that is not
possessive or demanding, and was known to the Greeks as agape. The
concept of erotic love with the absolute is pure nonsense, for the reasons
given above.
In its workings the Magician's Gate system does use the abstract,
absolute One, for some workings, but more often employs the figures of the
duality, the Lord and Lady. Further subdivisions into pantheons, such as the
Greek or Egyptian are not ruled out, but tend to be used in very specific
instances. Each individual magician is encouraged to find their own family
of gods and goddesses.
What forms of deity are you most comfortable with? What names do
you or would you give specifically to the duality?
_________________

Exercise: Finding your

deity family (pantheon)
Prepare yourself for a visualisation, either tape or memorise the main
essence of the path that follows. Set your space as you want it, use objects,
sacred space, relaxation, etc.
When you are ready, in your mind form your door to the inner world.
Go through it, and find yourself on a woodland path.
Walk along the path, noticing as much as you can along the way.
The path enters a clearing. Gather some wood and in the center of the
clearing build and light a fire.
Sit by the fire. The sun is just beginning to set. Stand and say, clearly
and loudly, I (state your name) call upon the gods and goddesses of my
family. “I call them to this place, and welcome them to sit and talk with me
around this fire I have built for them. Come in peace and brotherhood.”
 They will slowly start arriving, walking out of the woods, and
introducing themselves by name as they take their places around the fire.
Talk with them for as long as you like. When you feel it is time to go,
stand and say loudly and clearly; “ I (state your name) thank you all for
coming here, for the knowledge you have shared with me, for your
companionship around my fire. But now I must leave you all to go your own
way, for I must go mine. Merry meet, merry part, merry meet again.”
They respond with a hearty “Blessed Be”
You turn away, and move toward the path by which you came. The sun is
beginning to rise, and you can easily find your way back along the path, to
the door by which you entered.
Return to the conscious world and write a report on your discoveries.
_____________
Each aspect of the One has its own set of correspondences, those areas
for which it is responsible. It should be possible to identify the role of each
god and goddess in your pantheon. Remember that there are often many
ways to look at the same thing. Sometimes an exercise like this can be very
surprising. The use of meditation or repeated use of the exercise may be
helpful, in building up the correspondences, or more simply use the
techniques of summoning.
  
Summoning
In effect you have already used a form of summoning in the exercise.
However this skill can be seen to fall into two major divisions:
Invocation: The calling of a spirit or being into the sacred space, and
into your own self, that is to bring it to the conscious mind, and relate to it
in a personal way.
Evocation: The calling of a spirit or being into a very controlled space,
external to the operator, and having no connection to the magician, save for
those things which are directly requested of the spirit or being, by the
magician.
The act of invocation is generally used with gods and goddesses,
planetary and elemental representatives. This act identifies that which is
called with the caller, the highest form of this is known as ‘assuming god
form’.
There are many forms or styles of invocation. The traditional form
involves casting a circle, raising power and using a poetical written form of
call, such as the charge of the Goddess. There are many examples of these
formal calls in various texts, particularly those on Wicca, or with a bias to
that form of magic. Many modern groups following this formal style of
practice compose their own poetical calls. They usually refer to the virtues
of the deity being invoked, and make use of the correspondences to that
being, and any mythical story with which they may be connected. This is
not done quickly, but requires time and thought.
Try writing one for yourself, for one of your family of gods. When you
have written it, use it several times in circle, and become familiar with the
deity you have invoked. Write a report on your findings.
Another method of invocation, more often used by the Magician's Gate
in group working, makes use of spontaneity. The operator in the circle
visualises himself or herself as the channel of power, a channel through
which the deity being summoned will manifest. The operator, projects this
out into the circle, and brings through the deity being invoked. The
magician raises power, and identifies themselves with it, feeling it flow
through every atom of their being. They identify with the power, and
through the act of will, pattern it. The pattern is formed through the
conscious intention, the invocation of deity. Using the power with clear
intention, without any degree of self-consciousness the magician begins to
speak, or sing, or chant, whatever feels right. The words arise
spontaneously through the medium of the patterned power. They are not
from mind, but the inner consciousness, or the subconscious. The deity will
arrive as surely as it did previously.
With time summoning can be done with the correct vibration of name
alone, using no power. The whole act of invocation is contained in the
vibration itself. The method is not for beginners, and is usually best used
with deities that you have already worked with, and know well. When using
it a circle is unnecessary but advisable. Form a clear intention in your mind,
setting it in the will, and visualising the deity that is being invoked. In a
clear magical voice, using full vibrational effects, state the name of the
deity being invoked. Be sure that the name called resounds through space
and time itself, to the far reaches of manifestation. The being should then
arrive, swiftly and without fuss.
The ultimate level of invocation is the assumption of god form. The
invoked being not only identifies with the summoning magician, but
becomes unite with them. The astral body of the magician becomes that of
the deity being invoked. For all intents and purposes the magician and the
deity are a symbiotic whole. The magician is in charge, but only if the
magician maintains a clear will and intention. The will of the magician
guides the deity, and directs its actions. However, the deity can over awe the
unprepared magician, and take control. Equally the magician may choose to
surrender control to the deity, for what seems to be a very good reason.
However, to do this is a dangerous situation for the magician, and can result
in permanent damage, or at least a lot of serious repercussions. You do not
really want to spend the rest of your life as Isis, or at least totally
overshadowed by her, or do you?
This leads us on to the act of banishing. It is important to release the
beings that you have invoked, both out of simple politeness and to avoid
any personal repercussions. With invocation this can be quite a simple
matter. The being is thanked, for their time, effort, and support. Then you
give your farewell to that being, in this way you release them from the
invocation that has called them and held them in your sacred space. They
normally depart soon after the farewell, although some do like to return the
farewell in their own manner first. If, however, one decides not leave and
this causes you problems (can you let the family into the living room with
Osiris breathing down their necks, or Hecate telling them they haven’t
washed properly, or with Pan in your bedroom waiting to join you for sex,
or at least watch!), then you will need to use a stronger form of banishing.
This could be to the use of a written poetic dismissal, that you have
prepared, or you could use the spontaneous invocation method, but in
reverse. The best banishing tool, is the very formal and powerful ritual of
the Lesser Pentagram, in banishing mode. However, remember that this
ritual is much more than just a simple banishing tool (it is given, with full
discussion, later in the book).
 Evocation is used with less approachable and decidedly more unreliable
beings, which include certain deities, and what some sources would call
demons. In evocation rituals the circle and triangle are used. The magician
draws the triangle, much as the circle. It is drawn first and set to the East,
outside of the circle, that will be drawn next. Into the triangle are placed the
lit incense and any seals, images, tools (not your working tools), that seem
necessary. Once drawn nothing will enter the triangle, it must remain firm,
and unbroken. The magician then forms the circle, and remains within it,
the summoning will be done from here, and the only difference to the
methods used for invoking is the intention. The magician must clearly and
without hesitation visualise and will that the invoked being will enter the
triangle. Know also that once they have arrived, and entered the triangle
they are bound by it, they cannot leave until you let them. If you are using a
smoky incense you may be lucky, or is that unlucky enough to get a partial
manifestation of the being.
Evocation calls for a stern presence of mind, and rigid discipline. Your
will must be clear and direct, this is its strength. Neither the Circle nor the
Triangle should be broken whilst working. If you were uncertain enough
about the being before you called it, to use this method, then don’t change
your mind half way through. If you used evocation then you must see it
through. Do not suddenly let them out and hope they will still be nice. For
the being that is evoked the whole experience is not very pleasant, it is like
being put in a strait-jacket, or being confined in an extremely small place. If
you let them out they will happily give you a taste of your own medicine. If
at some other time you feel it would be safe to invoke them, then do so, but
at some other time.
Once the being has arrived in the triangle you may make your wishes, or
working clear to it. However, when your working is complete, you must be
sure to finish the job, either to bind the being so tightly that it is rendered
relatively safe, in an object, such as a seal or talisman. But make sure it has
no flaws. Or dismiss the being, sending about its work. This requires a very
formal banishing such as the ritual of the Lesser Pentagram. After the
working you must clear not only the circle but also the triangle, make sure
that no trace of it remains.
Many people like to use objects, images, statues, etc to help them focus
on the being that is being summoned. It is perfectly all right to use such
aids, but don’t confuse them with the real being that is being summoned,
the focus is just that, and nothing more. For the magician such objects are
unnecessary, they do nothing, they do not summon, you do. The
paraphernalia only acts as a personal prompt, as with all magic the operator
is the whole key.
  
The Wheel of the Year
The Wheel of the Year represents the cosmic cycle of the Earth, the
ever-continuing process that relates the two forms of duality. It is the
interplay of the active and passive, and the tides of manifestation. The
Wiccan system puts it far more simply, as the story of the Lord and Lady.
The Wheel of the Year consists of 8 major events, or moments. Four of
them relate to the solar tide, and the other four to the seasonal tides of the
Earth. The Sun goes through four very distinct phases, not unlike the moon,
it is new, waxes, full, and wanes, but not over a month, rather it takes a full
solar year. Our energies and life cycle follow this self-same pattern, the
more the magician aligns to the true nature of the universe, the more
apparent these tides become. The four seasonal tides again relate the
individual to the tides of the earth, the cycles of birth, growth, harvest, and
death. It is all too easy to forget, when pursuing a spiritual path, that we are
part of the very essence of manifestation itself. These festivals help us to
remember this, and to keep it constantly in mind.
The Wheel of the Year not only relates us intimately to the manifest
world, but it also reminds us of the cyclic, non-linear, nature of time. It calls
us to recognise the immanence of birth and death in our existence.
Details about the festivals may be found in various places; Starhawk
Spiral Dance, V.Crowley Wicca, Farrars Eight Sabbats for Witches, Rae
Beth Hedgewitch. Whilst these take a more craft approach they are all
invaluable as a source of basic information. Research the festivals yourself,
write your own rituals for them. The ritual does not have to be complicated,
the simplest of things will do. The more you become acquainted with the
festival the easier it will become to create a good ritual. A good way to start
is to use the ritual to make a visualised journey either to meet with the Lord
and Lady, and enter their story, or to visit an older celebration of the
festival. Another activity may be a working in service to the world, sending
out particular blessings, or focusing on a way to improve yourself in service
to others. You wish to try using the following chant which embodies the
change of season and movement forward through the cyclic process of the
world:
“We turn the wheel, the wheel of the year.”
Extra lines relating to the festival are added spontaneously. Above all
enjoy yourself, it is a celebration.
Yule Winter 21st Death and
Solstice Dec Rebirth
Imbolg Winter to 2nd Spring,
Spring Feb Courtship
Oestre Spring 21st Balance and
Equinox Mar Increase
Beltane Spring to 1st Fertility
Summer May
Litha Summer 21st Turning
Solstice June Solar Tide
Lammas Summer 1st Harvest and
to Autumn Aug Sacrifice
Mabon Autumn 21st Balance and
Equinox Sept Decrease
Samhain Autumn 31st Ancestors
to Winter Oct and
Remembrance
 Ritual is a form of drama that allows you to put aside your daily
concerns and focus on a specific area or pattern that exists within and
without yourself. The ritual allows you to enter into a psychological
relationship with the ritual intention. Enacting this play and using focal
objects will help you to change consciousness, to actively raise your
awareness and realign it.
Intention is the heart of ritual, it is important to spend time carefully
considering why you are seeking to perform the ritual. What is it that you
seek to achieve through this method? There may be a far more effective
method of producing the desired effect. For example if you or a friend is
suffering from a headache, it is far more expedient to prescribe a painkiller
than to enter into a healing ritual. However ritual can be used in order to
provide some form of service to others. Equally ritual can be used to
celebrate a festival, or to explore some deeper inner mystery of your own
being, or the nature of manifestation. The style in which you will perform
ritual depends entirely upon the intention behind it. A festival will have a
sense of jollity about it, whilst a ritual for a person’s wellbeing may be more
serious.
Intention also dictates what you will be doing within the main part of
the ritual. If you are seeking to explore some particular aspect of spiritual
philosophy and your personal relationship to it you will want to use the time
to take a visualised journey. Whilst a more practical intention may require a
more practical activity.
 Ritual should be a very personal process, whether you are working alone
or with others you should spend time preparing. Consider all of the factors
that are involved, in order to help you decide on your approach. There are
many pre-written rituals about, but they are always less effective than that
which you have developed for yourself. What follows is only a framework,
and as such will need you to develop it further according to each ritual
intention.
I suggest that this framework ritual be used at the full moon.
Traditionally this is a time of increased psychic energy. The human being is
mostly water, and in this sense is responsive to the motion of the moon, in
the same way as the sea. There are tides of life, which ebb and flow. Part of
your future work will be to become aware of your own life tides, through a
variety of means.
For ritual to work well it should be something you feel strongly related
to, that belongs to you. To that end what is presented here is a framework
ritual. You will have to think about what you want to say in each part, as
very little will be prescribed. This framework is not the only one, but has
been used successfully by those who have followed the Magician's Gate
system.
You will need some basic tools, which can be as cheap or expensive as
you wish. At the start it is not important to know too much about each one.
The tools are related by correspondence to the four elements, and to aspects
of your own inner self. They are a small knife, called an athame, this could
be a kitchen knife, hunting knife or letter knife. It is usually best if it has a
natural handle, some pagans insist on a black or white handle, however this
detail is not essential, it is one of those nice touches. It is essential that the
knife has not been used for any other purpose, and that you keep it for
magical work alone.
 You will need a candle or oil lamp. It is best not to use electric light
when working a ritual, try to get as many natural sources as possible. The
candle or lamp is used whether you are working by night or day, as it is
symbolic rather than practical.
A pot to burn incense, there are many available on the market but a
simple ceramic pot filled with sand will do. You will also need some
charcoal blocks on which to burn your incense. These can be bought as
single rolls or in boxes of 80\100. Grain incense can be bought pre-prepared
or you can buy separate herbs and resins in order to blend your own. A
good starting incense is:
3 parts Frankincense
2 parts Myrrh
a few drops Lavender Oil
a few drops Sandalwood Oil
Mix these together thoroughly and store in a jar or tin, until use. When
the charcoal is lit place a small amount of incense on the block.
A cup, this can be as simple or elaborate as you please. It is nice to pick
something with a chalice like shape, ceramic or metal, or a nice crystal
wineglass. Try to find something you really like. It is traditionally given to
you as a gift by a loved one. This will hold wine during the ritual.
A pentacle, this can be made of wax, wood, metal, or ceramic, its shape
is up to you as is the pattern it carries. Traditionally it is a circle with the
symbol of the pentagram, a five-pointed star. You may chose to use another
symbol, and the pentacle may change depending on the work you are doing.
The wand is a piece of natural wood, about two fingers in diameter and
the length of your elbow to fingertip. Ash or hazel is usually chosen, as both
are good straight woods. You can paint, or decorate, or varnish it as you
please. Equally you may wish to use a crystal wand, these can be very
effective in projecting and amplifying the will.
Prepare the altar, a small table or windowsill. You may use a cloth to
cover it. Add your tools; wand, cup, athame, pentacle, incense and pot,
lamp or candle, and some matches. You will also need some bread or
biscuits and some wine. Anything else is up to you. Some people use
images, some have flowers, it is up to you what you add. A good altar is
one that appears well balanced and not too cluttered.
You should not use electric light for ritual. Try to change the
atmosphere in the place. Put on some music to start. Have a bath or shower.
Change your clothes, maybe put on a robe. All these things will you get in
the mood. You are trying to separate yourself from your normal everyday
world, and experience a little of the special world of spirit, a place set apart,
between the worlds.
Spend some time grounding. Think about what you are about to do as
you sit in front of the altar. Be silent for a while, get used to the atmosphere.
Maybe light the candle and the incense. Use one of the grounding and
centering exercises or, you might like to imagine that you are rooting into
the earth. Then up through the roots draw raw earth energy. Fill yourself
with it. With each breath visualise golden light entering you and mixing
with the earth energy. Know that you are completely present in this time and
place. Focus your mind on what you are doing.
State your intention aloud. What are you here to do?
Take the wand or athame and walk around the altar in a large clockwise
circle. As you walk around imagine that you are drawing a circle of blue
light with the tool. As you do this you may want to hum, sing or make
sound of some sort. Use everything you have learnt in studying sacred
space, and create a ritual-working circle.
 Now you have drawn the circle, you quarter it and bring in the first
basic energies. This is the opening of the elemental gates. These gates are
the access of raw spiritual power to the circle; they each have an elemental
character. Start for now in the East, the place of the rising Sun and progress
round clockwise.
East Air
South Fire
West Water
North Earth
Moving clockwise about your circle go to the east gate, symbolically
open it. Say something, about the act, ask the element to be present, tell it
why. Visualise a landscape or image, through the gate, that you feel
corresponds to the element. For example in at the festival of Yule I might
open the east gate by saying:
“I open the Gate to the East. Come Lord of Air, bringer of laughter and
music, Lord of Misrule let your winds blow through us as we celebrate
Yule. May your winds renew us and with the Sun bring us to rebirth in the
turning of the wheel. Welcome to the circle of Yule.”
You must choose what to say. You might want to rehearse it, but I find it
best if you just do it, and let the words come into your mind at the time.
Don’t worry what you say, short or long. If you have the intention to open
that gate, and are focused on that element, it will be right.
When you have opened the gates, go into the center of the circle. Call
upon your deity to be present with you in that space. Tell them what you are
doing, thank them for their presence. You could sing them in or talk them
in, again allow the words to come to you as you do it. Try to make it clear
what you are going to do in the circle.
 At this point you start to raise the cone of power, use one of the
techniques you have already learnt. When you feel that the circle is buzzing
with energy stop. Now turn to the work that you have decided to do,
whether it is going on a journey, or working a practical spell.
Free form visualisation is useful in giving you a deeper contact with the
inner realms. If you are working in a group it is useful to share the result
with the others, when you return.
Now take the bread and wine, fill your cup with the wine, if you have
not already. Ask your deity to bless it, ask for a special blessing in that
element. When you have said your piece you might like to end by saying;
"Merry meet, Merry Part, and Merry Meet Again. Blessed Be."
This is a traditional blessing. Now eat and drink, saving some of each as
an offering. You may like to sing or play some music afterwards.
Now ask your deity to bless you. Think of anyone or any situation that
you think needs particular support. Ask that the blessing of your deity goes
out into the world. Remember that you may be the tool of that blessing. At
this point you may want to use the circle blessing that you learnt previously.
Now thank your deity and bid them farewell. Do the same with gates,
closing them in reverse order. Do not forget to thank them for their presence
as you bid them farewell. Also symbolically close the gates.
Now take the athame and go to the edge of the circle, if you are indoors
then go to the nearest point in the circle to a physical door. With the athame
cut the circle saying:
"The circle is open.
Yet ever remains a circle.
Within me and without me flows its magical energy.
Go out into the world and work its magic."
 Now tidy up your space and put things away. Do not leave your magical
tools lying about. They are not for everyday use or even for anybody else.
Magical energy will build up in them, but it easily seeps out into other
people’s hands, or around other people.
Take the offering you saved and try to find some natural place to leave
it, in a stream, river or the sea, on the earth (garden or wild place). Leave it
there do not pick it up and chuck it out if it remains untouched. It is no
longer yours, although it represents your magical work going out into the
world. To throw it away is to throw away your magical energy.
Take some time to write a report on your ritual in your magical diary, or
think over it. Review what you have done, how do you feel about it? Do
you think it was successful? What would you differently? What did you
discover? This process is just as important as the ritual itself, as it brings it
through into this world, into your everyday life.
Create a ritual for the next festival; try to think of something to do in it
that relates to the meaning of the festival.
Create a blessing ritual for your home.
Book List
The Spiral Dance, Starhawk
An excellent book full of practical
techniques, a great guide for anyone
new to magic.
A Witches Bible Complete, J &
S.Farrar A compilation of their
best books on the practice and
philosophy of Wicca.
Living Magical Arts,
R.J.Stewart This text takes the
beginner on a little further, using
Stewart’s own particular form of Magic,
there are some very useful ideas and
rituals to be explored.
 The art of divination is an important tool for the magician, but it is also
one of the most misunderstood. Literally it is the process whereby the
magician attains divine knowledge, a way of trying to see truth within the
world of illusion. However, many people use the arts of divination to try to
tell the future, and to relieve others of their hard-earned cash.
Firstly no matter how good you are at the art now, or how good you
become, never exchange your work for money. As with all magical arts this
skill is the inheritance of all human beings, and to ask another to pay you
for it is the surest way to lose the skill. Too many excellent diviners have
totally lost their skill, and had the doors to the inner planes closed to them.
Sadly very few of them realise it.
What do you really understand about the future? If you are a fatalist
then for you the future is already laid out before you, and there is nothing
you can do about it. But if that is what you believe then what are you doing
learning magic, or trying out divination, it is a total waste of time. The
future is truly an undiscovered country. From our position the future is an
endless tapestry of possibility, in which we play our part. Our personal life
can be viewed in just such terms, a magnificent tapestry that we are
weaving by our very actions and choices. The future depends on the
multitude of choices facing us now, that is to say the many threads we could
use next. Clearly in such a situation it is not possible to know the future,
and predicting it is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. If it could
be done, why aren’t more magicians winning the National Lottery?
To know the future is to affect it. If we are aware of possible outcomes
then we act in regard to this knowledge. That is we either try to ensure that
the prediction is fulfilled, or we try to avoid the inevitable, and change the
line of choices that lead us to this point. This knowledge changes the way in
which we interact with the world, at best limiting our choices, at worst
leading us into self-delusion.
The arts of divination will not tell you what is going to happen, but they
do help you to get a snapshot of the here and now. Human beings are a
complex web of thoughts, feelings, and contradictions, and often it is not
easy to see what forces are affecting us, and directing our choices. The right
choice is the first essential step into the future. Through divination you are
able to glimpse that pattern of forces, and hopefully in that knowledge
assess the possible outcomes, so helping you to make the best possible
choice.
Divination is a method of unlocking the subconscious mind and
allowing it show you what is going on within your very being. It is also a
way of allowing your higher self, and those intelligences that guide you
from the other realms of existence, to show you what is happening. As such
it requires concentration, motivation, and a great deal of intuition. As with
all magic working with divination can be done in any situation, but the
results are always enhanced if performed within sacred space.
The first thing you will need to do is choose your method, and there are
many of them.
If you have followed the earlier exercises and developed your intuitive
and imaginative skills this skill should come easily to you. It is particularly
important to use your discrimination, and be sure that what you are hearing
is not what you want to hear. Always question your results, and make
realisations. A poor reading can leave you in a bigger mess than you started
with. Be vigilant, and keep your ego in check. The messages we get are not
always nice, and are often challenging. Never be afraid to ask the next
question, or the difficult questions.
If you find yourself questioning the outcome then that is good, as it
means you are engaging with yourself. The questions that you ask will help
you to reflect effectively on your life choices. This technique allows you to
gain insight and use that insight in your personal development. It should
not be seen as the perfect oracle, such a thing does not exist. It is a tool like
any other that helps us to consider our place in the world and the way in
which we interact with it.
  

The I Ching
A good place to start as it requires little but time, a copy of the text, and
three coins. The I Ching is a Taoist form of geomancy, related to Feng Shui,
and the spiritual classic the Tao Te Ching. It takes the form of a set of sixty-
four texts each relating to a hexagram. A hexagram is a character made up
from two sets of three lines. These can be either a broken line, or a straight
line. Each line refers to one of the principles of duality. There are eight
possible combinations of the three lines, and when combined in pairs we
attain the sixty-four possible relationships. The text relating to each
hexagram is a philosophical meditation on life, relating to our attempt to
reach personal spiritual perfection.
Aleister Crowley used the I Ching when having to deal with difficult
decisions, and to show him what was necessary in his own magical
development. He found the technique to be of such value that he continued
to develop it, and related it to the Qabalistic system of magic. He even
translated the Tao Te Ching.
When buying an I Ching text it is important to take your time and
choose carefully. Try to look at a wide range of texts. Pick up each text, ask
if it is the right one for you, and open it at random. Read the hexagram
entry and decide whether or not the text clearly relates to you, does it
answer your question?
Most I Ching texts have instructions on how to use it. Remember once
you have found your hexagram it is important to allow your intuition to
guide you through interpreting the text. If you do gain some changing lines,
that is lines in the hexagram marked with an X then these can help to
determine the main concerns in the response.
It is also useful to make notes on the outcome, using these as the basis
of a seeded meditation. The realisations will give you the deeper meaning.
Do not forget to write up your consultation and realisations in your magical
diary.
There is no lesson better than actually using the method. If you have
difficulty, or your text is not helpful on how to use the method, consult your
tutor.
  
The Tarot
This is a powerful tool that is closely related to the Qabalah. Knowledge
of the Qabalah is not essential in order to use this tool, but it does add an
immense depth of understanding. However, the study of Qabalah is a long
task that you may choose to undertake later in your magical life.
It is important when choosing a Tarot deck to choose extremely
carefully. The advice generally given is to choose a deck that appeals to
you. For the novice this is very poor advice, whilst it may seem nice to
work with appealing images, many of the images on new Tarot decks owe
little or nothing to the true inner meaning of each card. The Tarot is a book
of images, built from ancient and powerful symbolism. Only a deck
constructed with this symbolism clearly in mind will be of greatest use to
the beginner. The best deck in this category is the Rider Waite deck. The
images use well-established Qabalistic symbolism that reflects the inner
meaning outwards. You might not like it but it is the best to learn from.
Later you may wish to turn to another deck, whose pictures appeal to you.
Books are helpful, but often they end up being a crutch that prevents
you from using the full potential of the deck. There is no substitute for
experience and hard work, there are no short cuts to true wisdom. The time
you spend learning to use this tool will be rewarded by your results. Two
books that are of value to the beginner are The Truth About The Tarot by
Gerald Suster, and Supertarot by Sasha Fenton. Both of these texts will
introduce you to this tool, and offer extensive exercises. A book of some
interest is The Magical Tarot by Tony Willis, the author introduces a new
way of understanding and using the Tarot, connected to older magical
practices. It is no substitute for the other two, but is an interesting
entertainment.
Begin by getting to know your Tarot, regularly choose a card and in
circle, or ritual, use it for visualisation. Look at the card, and then form it in
your mind’s eye, step into it and explore its landscape. Be sure to talk with
the character within the card, discover its inner nature. Write up your
discoveries and realisations in your magical diary.
Using the techniques in the books and this exercise you will soon be
reading the Tarot with style and confidence. Try not to be tempted to turn to
the book if you get stuck. If you do not know where to start in a reading,
dowse to discover the card to start with, or meditate on the spread for a
short while. Trust your intuition and allow it to speak to you, this will help
you to forge a personal relationship with the Tarot, with your inner self.
Only turn to the books as a very last resort, but where you have to do this
remember which card it was, and spend time getting to know it.
Perseverance alone brings skill. The Tarot can unlock all things spiritual
and physical to those who are patient.
  
Other Methods
There are many other methods of practising divination, one you may
like to look at is a system developed by Marian Green, which can be found
in her book, The Gentle Arts of Aquarian Magic. The chapter on divination
is a good introduction.
  
Astrology
Astrology is another demanding yet highly rewarding skill. There are
many books available that attempt to teach you how to do astrology, they
are worth looking at. Particularly useful are Complete Astrology by Alan
Oken, and Parkers’ Astrology. However, in this case it is best to join a class
led by a reputable astrologer. Or if you have enough funds, take the
Certificate in Astrology, offered by the Foundation of Astrological Studies.

Astrology requires a basic competence in maths and English, a lot of

intuitive skill, and masses of time. The natal (birth) chart gives a clear,
detail, and perceptive insight into the psychological structure of the
personality that you were incarnated with. Knowledge concerning this
personality is always helpful to the magician, as it well help the magician to
employ the personality in seeking and achieving their spiritual purpose.
Learning astrology is a long process, which should not interfere with the
continuation of your magical study, it should complement it, but not replace
it. If you choose to study astrology, do not put your magical training on
hold, continue with it.
It is not necessary to learn how to do astrology, but it is useful to have
your chart drawn up and interpreted for you by a reputable astrologer. Do
not use one of the computer-interpreted charts, as these tend to be very
poor, a computer does not have intuition.
Looking at your chart you will be able to see some points of immediate
use for yourself. The number of planets in each element, known as the
quadruplicity, will tell you which of the elements you may find easy to
work with, and which will be difficult. An understanding of the planetary
positions will also help when you come to work planetary magick. An
understanding of planetary cycles will help you to understand your
personality, and the forces that influence it.
Whatever you choose to do, enjoy yourself, and remember these are
skills that will last a lifetime, and should help you to maximise your
enjoyment of it. Report on your work, and explain the skills you feel you
have developed.
Book List
Magick and the Tarot, Tony
Willis An alternative exploration
of the tarot deck.

Super Tarot, Sasha Fenton A

different approach to Tarot reading.
The Truth About the Tarot, Gerald
Suster An interactive
exploration of tarot, from a Thelemic
(Crowley) point of view.
Complete Astrology, Alan
Oken A good basic text.
Parkers’ Astrology
A good basic text.
 The question of what it is that makes us human is central to magical
study. A wide range of options are presented, simply because we are
uncertain. There are many conceptions of the human being, yet in
comparison some key elements seem to be apparent.
The most basic model is that offered to us by rational science. The
physical body is the major component, but in its function a mysterious by-
product appears, the mind. Essentially the mind is the result of
electrochemical interchanges between the nerve synapses that constitute the
brain. The function of the brain can be altered through the use of chemical
substances. The effect on the mind can range from ecstatic euphoria, full-
blown hallucination, to depression. The evidence relating mind and body is
undeniable, however is that all that human existence amounts to? With the
cessation of brain function all life is lost nothing survives. What if anything
do you think survives death, and how will it do this?
Religious philosophy cannot accept this senseless waste. Any purpose
to human life is negated. All religion proposes some form of post-mortem
existence, whether in some eternal haven or in the process of reincarnation.
For such ideas to have any basis in reason it is necessary to propose a
further aspect of human existence. Greek philosophy called this the soul.
This concept has continued throughout the history of Western European
thought. The soul is conceived of as a non-material, non-manifest body,
which contains the life essence, identity and personification of the
individual. The soul is considered to be eternal and not dependent upon
body or mind for its existence. The human being is seen as an eternal soul
that has descended into a manifest physical body. The interface between
them being the mind. This simplistic model relies upon the acceptance of
the existence of the soul, despite a lack of rational evidence in favour.
If the soul does exist it seems pointless, even purposeless, to presuppose
as does Christianity, that following one period of incarnation the soul will
be judged and then languor in Heaven, or meet its doom in Hell. In such a
short period of time little can be achieved by any individual no matter how
great they are. It is perhaps for this reason that eastern philosophy has put
forward the notion of reincarnation. Putting aside the evidence of past life
memory for one moment, the theory of reincarnation appears far more
rational. The soul is seen to be engaged in a continuous process of
evolution. Existence in a manifest form offers the possibility of learning and
growing. This continues the evolution of the soul to the point of perfection.
Such a process cannot be achieved in one lifetime, hence the process of
reincarnation.
Magic accepts this latter theory, teaching that the purpose of life is to
achieve the next stage of evolution. In the magicaltraditions this may be
understood as union with the Higher Self, or Guardian Angel. Such a union
will allow the spiritual purpose of existence to be in the foreground of our
life experience. In this way we will be able to fulfil the lesson our higher
selves have chosen for this life. That is to say we will live in accordance
with our true will. This is not the end of the process, but merely a step along
the way.
The Qabbalistic conception of the person introduces four divisions, each
corresponding to the four worlds of the Tree of Life. This division starts at
the lowest point with the Nephesh, this is the animal soul. It is here in the
animal soul that we encounter our instinctual drives, the urge to eat,
reproduce, sleep, and to defend our territory and ourselves. These are the
most basic instincts, common to all living creatures, and so may be
described as being animal in nature, especially as they respond to our direct
physical requirements.
Above this is the Ruach, the conscious ego. It is the working out of the
everyday consciousness. This part of us is the ego that seeks glory, personal
satisfaction, and pleasure. It is here that we may identify our personality, it
is here that most people talk about when they talk about themselves.
However this is an error, which those who develop themselves academically
and culturally quickly come to realise.
The Neschamah is the next, the part of us that is stimulated by the use
of the higher faculties, it is in essence the higher mind. It is here that we
encounter the psychological division of conscious and unconscious. It is
here that the archetypal forces arise, and here that we encounter the anima
and/or animus. These are the archetypal models of our ideal partner, but
they are also the reflection of our spiritual self. Awareness of this can be
termed the vision of the Higher Self, or Holy Guardian Angel, depending
on your terminology. It is here that we encounter both will and
understanding. True understanding and acts of will must arise from the
higher faculties, otherwise they are merely emotional responses and desires
arising from the animal soul, or ego. The magician’s will that is used to
direct, shape and pattern power is the will that arises here. However this is
not the true will that Crowley discusses, that resides yet higher.
The Yechidah is the highest division of the qabalistic division of the
human being. It is here that the true self resides. The spiritual or divine
spark from which individuation begins is the true source of our being, often
described as the Higher Self or Holy Guardian Angel. For the qabbalist this
essence is seen to reside in relation to the three faculties, within the sphere
of the physical and energy body. Whilst it remains mostly silent until sought
out and stimulated by the lower faculties, it continues to attempt to direct
our actions within the world, and guide us in our higher purpose. For many
people it acts simply as the conscience. However, the magician, and those
following a spiritual path try to go beyond simply stimulating the
connection, they seek to become fully aware and integrate this faculty. That
is to say achieve union with the Higher Self, and so allow it to actively
direct our physical existence. This requires us to bring our lower faculties
into control, and under the direction of the Higher Self. In this way we
realise the illusory nature of the ego. It is no easy task, and is well
represented by the Chariot trump of the Tarot deck. The Chariot is the body
and animal drives which are pulled by the ego, and the higher mind. But
each pulls in a different way, which will take us nowhere unless we allow
the Higher Self to take control, and so to drive the Chariot, carefully
balancing the powerful forces of ego and mind.
This division has much to offer the student but it is not the end of the
story. This model tends to leave out large areas of the human being, which
have been encountered through practical experiment. It does not take into
account the various divisions of the energy body. Nor does it account for the
in which the link between Higher Self and the lower faculties functions. For
the most detailed explanation we must turn to the work of Madame
Blavatsky, and her work on Theosophy. Her use of eastern wisdom
mediated through a western idiom allows us the greatest insight yet.
Theosophy divides the human being into seven parts. The most basic
aspect is the physical body, which is termed the Stula Sharira. This aspect is
the most obvious and easily understood, being simply the organic body,
flesh and blood. The well-being of this vehicle is important as it subtends
all of the other aspects of the human being. If the body is under stress the
higher faculties are distracted. However some eastern methods require the
deliberate use of physical stress in order to train the higher faculties, and
develop concentration, enhancing entry into higher states of consciousness.
Crowley employs such techniques in his training work with the A:.A:.
However the value of such practices for the Westerner is dubious.
The physical body requires energy in order to maintain its function. This
leads us to the next division of the human being, the pranic or etheric body.
Prana is the sanskrit term given to the energy that maintains the body, whilst
in Western parlance the term is etheric. What is essentially meant is the
electromagnetic field that surrounds all living beings. This magnetic force
drives from both the earth and the cosmos, it is the raw form of power. Thus
the etheric body is the individual’s reservoir of magnetic energy, it is the
force that maintains the individual. It is this energy field that Kirlian
photography captures on film. It can easily be seen on another person. If
they are standing against a neutral background look slightly to the side of
them and defocus your eyes. Slowly you will see a glow appearing around
their outline, this is the etheric body.
The next division of the human being is called the astral body. This is a
subtler and more complex development from the etheric body. The astral
body is often described as being an egg shaped field of energy surrounding
the physical body. Different parts have different vibrations that manifest to
the psychic sense as colours, they may even be encountered as sounds. The
astral body has been greatly talked about of late, and there is much writing
on this aspect of the human being, but in the Theosophical division it
occupies a relatively low position.
Above the Astral body is the animal soul, or Kama Rupa, as it is termed
in theosophy. Much has already been said about this, as it clearly
corresponds to the qabbalistic Nephesh. What is important to note is the
theosophical inclusion of three lower aspects. Such a division allows the
magician and occultist far more flexibility when exploring the human being.
The next division is that of the Manas, or mind. Within theosophy this
has two aspects, the higher and lower. Each relates to the qabbalistic
Neschamah, and Ruach, respectively. The stimulation of the higher manas
is seen as being essential for spiritual growth, as this faculty is consider to
be the bridge between the higher and lower self. To fail to stimulate the
higher manas is to continue to live at the animal level, this does not mean
you do not think, but rather your concerns are far more basic and physical.
The next two divisions must be taken together for one exists as the
vehicle of the other. The highest aspect of the human being is the Atma, or
pure spirit, the divine spark that has chosen to gain experience through
manifest existence. In theosophical teaching this spirit does not incarnate as
such, it is not a part of the manifest world, rather it overshadows the
individual. In this way the spark is seen to illuminate and animate the
individual in order to accomplish its will, often called the true will. It
manifests itself it the individual through the action of the Buddhi. This is
the vehicle of the atma, acting as the vehicle of divine compassion.
None of these concepts are easy to understand and you should take time
to study them further. This will require you to take the time to struggle with
various texts, as well as engage in practical experiment.
One further division of the human being needs to be mentioned here.
That is the division of the astral and energy body into various regions. This
energy flows around the body maintaining and animating it, it is used in
most forms of eastern medicine as the basis on which to treat illness.
However one particular strand of eastern philosophy teaches that there are
junction points of this energy, where the energy forms particular eddies, or
wheels, these are called chakras. There are many chakras within the human
being, but only the seven principle chakras are important to us at this
moment. Each chakra contains a particular resonance of energy that effects
an aspect of human existence. These vibrations have a colour and sound
value that may be used in order to access them.

Mulhadara Base or root, Red Uh

in the area of
the anus.
Svadhishthana Sacral or belly. Orange Ooo
Manipura Solar Plexus Yellow Oh
Anahata Heart Green, or Ah
Pink
Vishuddi Throat Blue Eye
Ajna Third eye, or Violet, or Aye
brow Indigo
Sahasrara Crown White, or Eee
Brilliance
 Chakra Cleaning
Here is an exercise to keep them clean, because think of that different
energy floating around, all the bad energy you worked up in an argument or
someone being horrible to you. All these things stay around you like metal
attracted to a magnet. Use this exercise daily, and report on your
experience.
Make sure you are relaxed, you can lie down or sit in a chair, then take
some deep breaths. Gradually sink down where you are, imagine your feet
feeling relaxed and limp. Imagine your legs doing the same, going up
through your solar plexus and up to the base of your neck. Let it go down
your arms into your hands and to the very tips of your fingers, then go back
to the base of your neck, let your shoulders go all limp, then up to the top of
your head, now you should feel totally relaxed.
Visualise roots coming out of your feet, let them go into the ground,
visualise them going to the very source of the earth’s energy. Visualise deep
red energy and put your roots into it, then start drawing the energy up
through your roots, like a tree does with water. Then visualise a bright
golden light above you, breath the light into your lungs, like glittering air.

Draw both of these energies into your groin, which is your ROOT
chakra point. Visualise a RED disc, you should be able to see if it is dirty.
Let these energies wash over it like a wave against cliffs, washing the dirt
away. When you feel that it is done move to your BELLY chakra, which is
ORANGE, and repeat the process. Do the same to your solar plexus, which
is YELLOW, then your HEART, which is GREEN, your THROAT, which
is BLUE, then your THIRD-EYE which is VIOLET and lastly the CROWN
which is a brilliant WHITE.
 Now imagine your aura see it all around you feel it look at all the
colours swirling around, and if you feel or see any junk or dirt floating
around get the red and golden energy to flush it out never to come back
again. When you have finished that visualise your roots drawing back into
you, do not worry about the energy that is left inside you, either store it or
send it into them world.
You can stay in this state for while if you want to, but when you decide
to get up, go and have a drink or something to eat.
 Self Exploration
Use the various forms of seeded meditation taking your body as the
focus, explore its functioning and levels. Write your realisations into your
magical diary, and make a report on your findings regarding the use of this
exercise.

Use past memories as a seed, try to recall your earliest memories. Use
this form of meditation to explore issues that you may have repressed. Why
did you repress them? Were they so bad? How could you begin to deal with
them? Write up your findings in your magical diary. Report on how
effective this exercise has been, and any obstacles you encountered that
prevented you from using the exercise effectively.
If you have not already begin to record dreams that appear to be
particular vivid. Meditate upon them or use visualisation to reconstruct
them. Try to realise what these dreams are trying to tell you about your own
condition. Dreams are a major conduit between the subconscious and the
conscious mind, and a brilliant tool for learning. Report on your use of this
exercise.
Try to review your day at the end of each day. Use meditation and
visualisation techniques to go back through the day. Consider actions that
have been important, look at the ways in which you have used your magical
awareness. How has it helped? Were there opportunities you missed,
because you failed to be aware of them? Why did you miss them? Are there
things you have not done well? Do you need to restore the balance of these
events? How can you do this? Report on your use of this exercise.
 The Qabbalistic Cross
Try to use this exercise daily. For the present do not worry about the
meaning of the words. Use them as sonic keys, which together with the
correct visualisation unlock and balance different aspects of yourself. Try to
learn the ritual, and not rely on the written text. Write up your findings in
your magical diary, and report on your findings.

This is an opportune moment to talk about what is meant by vibration,

and to help you to develop your technique. The magical voice is such that it
should make your whole being vibrate, which is why we call it vibration.
The pitch of voice differs from person to person, and you should take time
finding the pitch that feels to go right through your being. It will probably
be lower than your natural speaking voice. You should do this by intoning a
single sound or humming with voice. Then keeping your voice pitched at
the found note try to form the word in question. You should start with a
simple word, try to feel the word filling your whole body with sound. The
word should seem to echo within you, to literally vibrate. This does not
necessarily require volume, in fact you should be able to vary your volume
to suit your surroundings without losing the vibration. Finally you need to
add conscious intention, this will either come from your understanding of
the word, or the visualisation that accompanies the phrase being vibrated.
Stand facing east, with your athame or wand in your right hand. If you
do not have an athame or wand, use the middle and index finger of your
right hand.
Touching your forehead visualise a brilliant ray descending from your
higher self, and vibrate the word ATEH (ah-tay) feel yourself becoming
taller, till you feel that you are towering above the earth, which is a pebble
beneath your feet. The brilliant light of the cosmos is pouring into your
crown charka, and helping you to realise that you and your higher self are
one.
Draw your athame, wand, or fingers down your body to your genitals,
visualise the ray of brilliance descending into your body, making a bright
line down the center of your being. Resting your fingers or athame on your
genitals, become aware of your whole physical body, and visualise it
becoming unite with the brilliance of your higher self. Vibrate the word
MALKUTH (mal-coot). You should feel tall, connected to spirit yet rooted
in your body, you should feel the balance of the two, united and complete.
Place your athame, wand, or fingers on your right shoulder, whilst
maintaining your earlier visualisation, visualise your will and energy,
concentrated as a ray or orb of red energy, permeating your being. Vibrate
the phrase VE – GEBURAH (vay-geb-oorah). You should feel the power of
your will linking spirit and body and projecting out through your right arm
and hand. This will descends from your higher self and is mediated by your
mind and body.
Draw your athame, wand, or fingers across your body to your left
shoulder. Visualise a path of brilliant light left in its path. At your left
shoulder visualise your compassion, as a ray or orb of blue energy,
permeating your being. Vibrate the phrase VE GEDULAH (vay-ged-oolah).
You should feel your compassion and power to heal linking with and
emanating from your higher self, entering your body and being mediated by
mind, before being projected through your left arm and hand. It is also in
perfect balance with your will as it projects through the right. The two are
one, yet different.
Place your fingers, wand, or athame at your heart center. Visualise all
four aspects of yourself coming together, higher self, body, will, and
compassion. Feel that you are transforming your whole being, becoming
your magical self, and vibrate the phrase LE – OLAM (lay – o – larm).

Pointing your athame, wand, or fingers upright vibrate the word AMEN,
and feel that the action is complete. Spend some time in this feeling.
Experience what it is like to be in this state of consciousness. Try to
remember how it feels. When you are ready return to normal consciousness,
touch the earth. Take time to write up the results of your experience, and
have something to eat or drink. Do this exercise regularly and try to learn it
so that you do not have to use this text in order to perform it.
 Sound Chakra Balance.
Try this a few times, and use it as you like. Make sure you write up your
experiences, and report on your findings.
Make sure you are relaxed, you can lie down or sit in a chair, then take
some deep breaths. Gradually sink down where you are, imagine your feet
feeling relaxed and limp. Imagine your legs doing the same, going up
through your solar plexus and up to the base of your neck. Let it go down
your arms into your hands and to the very tips of your fingers, then go back
to the base of your neck, let your shoulders go all limp, then up to the top of
your head, now you should feel totally relaxed.
Visualise a red disc, at your root chakra, and vibrate the deepest lowest
UH sound you can. Do this several times, feel it vibrate within the chakra
itself.
When you feel that it is done move to your belly chakra, visualising it in
its colour repeat the process, making a slightly higher OOO sound.
Continue up through your chakras using the colour visualisation, and
corresponding sound, you will find these on the chart in chapter eight.
Remember to increase the tone with each chakra, so the last is the highest
sound you can make. It is also good to use overtones in this exercise if you
know how to do this. Overtone chanting uses the harmonic resonances of
the vocal chords. Using base tone that is vibrated and focused in the throat
further harmonic resonances are produced within the mouth cavity. It takes
practice but is very effective, Jonathan Goldman explains the technique in
his book Healing Sounds.
You can stay in this state for while if you want to, but when you decide
to get up, go and have a drink or something to eat. Write about your
experiences and observations from the exercise.
 Astrology
Use your astrological skills, if you have developed them to explore your
psychological make up. Draw up your birth chart, and use the positions of
the planets as seeds for meditation. Consider and meditate on the different
triplicities and quadruplicites. Use the chart as a source for personal
exploration. Do not worry about interpreting it in a particular way, unless
you feel the interpretation of the chart will assist your exploration. Quite
often if not done well it will hinder you, as you can gain more insight from
a personal meditational exercise.
You could also try to visualise a conversation between yourself and each
of your planets in their positions, as a way to encounter your basic drives.
Do not forget to write up your experiments, and record your
realisations. Report on the effectiveness of these exercises.
 Divination
Use your divinatory skills to assess your current situation. Formulate
your question in this way – show me who I am and what influences me at
this current moment. Use the outcome as a basis for meditation and
visualisation. All the ideas mentioned above can be used here.
Do not forget to write up your experiments, and record your
realisations. Report on the effectiveness of these exercises.
  

The Middle Pillar Exercise.

Try this at least once, and as with the qabbalistic cross do not worry
about the meaning of the words. Use them as sonic keys, which together
with the correct visualisation unlock and balance different aspects of
yourself. Try to learn the ritual, and not rely on the written text. Write up
your findings in your magical diary, and report on your use of this exercise.
Facing east begin with the qabbalistic cross.
When it is complete visualise yourself growing into a giant figure,
towering over the landscape. Stand upright and breathe steadily.
Visualise your crown, see it flood with the brilliance of the cosmic
energy, as you vibrate the word EHEIEH (ey-hay-ey) several times. Your
whole head should tingle.
Visualise that energy radiating down into your throat, flooding it with
brilliance, vibrate the words YHVH ELOHIM (yode-hay-vo-hay el-o-
heem) several times. You should feel your arms and hands tingle.
Visualise that energy radiating down into your heart, flooding it with
brilliance, vibrate the words YHVH ELOAH VE - DAAS (yode-hay-vo-
hay el-o-ah vah dart) several times. You should feel your upper body tingle.
Visualise that energy radiating down into your root, flooding it with
brilliance, vibrate the words SHADDAI EL CHAI (shad-die el kie) several
times. By know you should feel the whole of your body apart from your
legs tingling.

Visualise that energy radiating down into your feet, flooding it with
brilliance, vibrate the words ADONAI HA - ARETZ (a-don-aye haa aar-et-
z) several times. You should feel your whole being tingling.
Now arising from your feet is a further energy, that of the earth, it mixes
with the cosmic energy. Visualise the two mixing and swirling rising up
your body like two snakes coiling in different directions about your whole
being. Until they reach your crown, where the energy flows back down the
channel you first opened. Maintain this feeling for a while. This exercise
may be used alone, or is often used to raise power for magical purposes.
When you have finished send out any excess energy, or allow it to return to
the source. Do not forget to absorb some for your own magical uses in daily
life.
You should also perform some form of closing exercise after doing the
middle pillar. One possibility is to perform the pentagram ritual, but this has
not been taught to you yet. So I suggest that you perform the middle pillar
in a circle, and close this circle afterwards. Being sure to ground yourself
and close down those active centers within you, that is whilst keeping the
balance you should ensure that you are no longer receiving earth or cosmic
energies and that you are no longer in an altered state of consciousness.
This is a powerful ritual and should be used with care and respect. It
certainly should not be taught to anyone who is untrained, as it can be
damaging to a person who is not aware of the forces involved, or its
transformative power.
Book List
The Middle Pillar,
I.Regardie A guide to this useful
exercise

The Voice of the Silence,

Blavatsky A lovely little work
on the aspiration of the great work.
The Yoga Sutras of
Patangali A beautiful text full of
wisdom, the best translation is by
Swami Prabhavananda, with help from
C. Isherwood.
The Key to Theosophy,
Blavatsky A dense but
methodical philosophical explanation of
the esoteric teachings concerning
human existence.
Healing Sounds, Jonathan
Goldman An excellent
discussion of the relation of sound to
the human being, with many practical
exercises.
 The elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, are fundamental to all
magical operations. They are used to open the Circle and to bring energy
into focus. But their use goes far beyond this.
This notion of the elements first arises in early Greek philosophy. Here
it was believed that everything was created from varying mixtures of these
elements. So an object can be described in terms of the four elements. Yet it
would be more correct to treat them as states of matter, solid, liquid, gas and
energy.
In the circle it is usual to set the quarters, attributing them with
elemental characters. In so doing we give the elements an anthropomorphic
character. They are seen to be active energetic forces that effect us and can
be controlled by us, they are the subtle energies that we have been so
concerned with. Yet as the elements are external to us they are also
intrinsically part of us. They have a close relationship to our inner being.
Through active ritual work we can explore these aspects of our inner being.
That is the purpose of ritual magic. Such an exploration can be a
challenging one.
It is my intention is to introduce you to some of the main features of the
nature and character of the elements. This is in no way meant to be a
definitive study, but an introduction to the ideas. It is down to you to
explore the elements yourself, to meet with them in meditation, daily life
and ritual. This is a starting point, a resource for you to begin your
exploration.
 Each section has a consideration of the element, and suggested magical
work pertinent to that element, along with structured and unstructured
visualisations. We must also consider the relationship of the four elements
to the fifth element, Spirit.
As with all things you will only learn and develop through practice. You
cannot hope to merely read this guide and claim that you know all there is
to know about the elements.
 Earth
This element embodies the concept of receptive energy. In personal
terms it is the process by which you absorb experience. It is not the event in
itself but the experience of it. As the earth absorbs water, or nutrients you
absorb experience and make it part of your inner self.
In simple human terms the earth is the physical body, that which
supports life and houses the self. This element makes us consider the needs
of the body. If our body is not happy then we can be sure that we will not
be. The body is a simple system that requires nourishment and exercise, if it
is unwell it needs care and medical support. It is not advisable to work
magic if you are unwell, the first thing to do is to address your physical
needs. It is good to spend time exploring the way your body responds, and
discover its needs. Spend some time doing some awareness exercises that
explore your body. Meditate on your physical nature.
The physical earth itself is the realm of this element, and is useful to
know something about its structure and nature. When working with it you
may find yourself having to interpret ideas that are related closely to the
physical nature of the planet. For example you may be shown yourself as a
particular rock, such as shale, or you may relate aspects of yourself to
crystals, particularly in crystal healing work. Knowing the qualities of these
rocks will help you to realise what you are discovering about yourself. It is
also important to become aware of and attuned to your natural environment.
What is the planet Earth made of? Create a simple diagram that shows you.
What do you know about the land on which you live, by that I mean its
physical characteristics? Try the local reference library for maps etc.
 The cave is a major feature of this element, as it is within the physical
cave that we are able to experience full immersion in this element. Are
there any caves near you? Unfortunately most of the big and famous caves
have become tourist attractions, and you are not free to just go in and
experience them, it is usual to be given a guided tour. The cave represents
the inner experience it is the realm of the inner self, the unconscious. They
have always been an important part of natural magic. The cave was quite
often part of the initiation process, it was normal for a candidate to spend
time alone in the cave. The cave gives us space to consider ourselves, away
from normal distractions. The sensory deprivation that is possible can allow
you to truly gain contact with your own inner self. Today this experience
could be attained by the use of the sensory deprivation tank. You may want
to consider the benefits of spending time underground. You do need to try
to visit a cave even if it is a show cave. You would also benefit from
spending time gaining experience of the earth in a direct way.
The earth is often described as the mother of all life, as such it is the
giver of life, the active creator of being, nurturing, protecting and sustaining
us. It is in this form that many pagans relate to the feminine aspect of deity,
the Goddess. One old image of her is the Shelanagig who holds open her
vagina, calling forth life from within the cave of her womb. In this way the
earth can be seen to contain the experience of birth or rebirth. Birth is the
act by which we move from the dark to the light. That is we move from the
unmanifest to the manifest. We continue such motion throughout life,
moving from innocence to experience. Her male partner the Lord is seen by
many pagans as the Sky Father, although he is also seen as the embodiment
of fertility. You have already considered how you would approach such a
duality and what terms or names you would ascribe to it. However, now is
an ideal time to reflect on the way you see yourself relating to that part of
the duality that is ascribed to the earth.
James Lovelock proposed the idea that the earth is a living system, and
as such that it had life in itself. This idea is called the Gaia hypothesis,
taking one of the titles given to the earth mother. It would be useful to find
out more about his views. This theory has some link with the idea of energy
lines. These are lines of force, ley lines, which are said to cross the planet
often linking important sites. Alfred Watkins identified straight paths that
link sites of special importance, publishing his work under the title, “The
Old straight track”. Standing stones, stone circles, and earth works mark
points of earth energy, they are places of mystical earth union. Guy
Underwood used the skill of dowsing to explore these links further, starting
with water and progressing to energy he discovered many interesting
phenomena. His findings were published as a book called “Patterns of the
Past”. Much work on dowsing the energy of the earth has been done and
this whole area of magic is generally called Earth Mysteries. It would be
useful to look at the texts mentioned as well as dowsing texts by Tom
Graves, and Sig Lonegrin. Their work will direct you to more detailed
works. In the meantime, what is the nearest Earthwork or Stone Circle?
What do you know about Ley Lines? How can they be detected? Visualise
the placing of the stones or mounds - describe what you see or sense or
imagine. Make yourself some dowsing rods. Go and look for the earth
energy lines. Try to discover what they are? Why do they exist? How can
we use them? This is a whole area of skill within magic.
A grove is a place of natural power, and as such make good places for
working natural magic, or for meditating in. You may want to seek one out
in your local woodland. Equally you may feel drawn to some other natural
area of beauty, a secluded beach, riverside, or meadow. Whilst not all of
your work will be done outside, you may from time to time wish to make
contact with the energy of the earth in a raw and direct way. It is important
to experience this energy in its environment, and not whilst wearing your
house. When you have this experience you will be able to recreate and use it
anywhere. The element of earth is the foundation, the firm starting point, of
all of our magic, since it is the place of our manifestation and existence. For
us it is the base of all work, no work can be considered successful unless we
bring it into manifestation on this level. Spend some time going out into the
landscape and becoming attuned to it. Seek out places to meditate on your
relationship to the earth. Sitting in the woods or on the beach, remember
meditation can be done whilst out walking.
Grounding, the magical act of balancing the inner self, and making it
more consciously present belongs to this element. As is the basic human
traits of common sense and practicality. We often call people with a large
degree of these qualities, down to earth. The skills of home and hearth
belong to this element. As with the body the state of your home is important
in magic. Your home reflects your inner self and as such you must give it
the attention it deserves. As such knowledge of the old folkways is
important to this realm, as they often relate to common human experience.
Such skills as healing with herbs, growing vegetables, cooking, and all
those old housewives tricks. Local customs are well worth investigating as
they often give us an insight into the magical realms. Knowledge of locally
occurring plants and trees, and their uses is very helpful both practically and
in terms of magical visions. - You may want to investigate some of the folk
traditions of your area as they embody the local peoples traditional
relationship with the land on which you are living. There may be places
where people have traditionally felt the energy of the earth is clearer, more
focused. If there are such places you may wish to visit them. The local
traditions also help you to become aware of the way in which the land has
provided for people over the centuries. In our busy modern technological
world we have begun to lose touch with the land and the forces of nature.
Imagine an ancient hut settlement where there is an Old Wise One -
describe your visit there.
When trying to re-establish your contact with the earth it can be helpful
to experience the joy of planting and growing, whether that is looking after
a house plant or tending an allotment. Plants draw directly on the energy of
the earth; they embody and transform it in a very direct way. In so doing
they make this energy directly accessible to us through the use of the plant
itself. Look more carefully at the world you live in, notice things that you
daily pass by. Look at trees, flowers, plants and insects. Start learning to
identify some of them. You may want to spend time experiencing the
energy of trees, these ancient plants have a wonderful energy, and like the
human being they are expressions of subtle energy. You can learn to feel
and see these energies and this knowledge can enhance your relationship to
the energy of the earth itself in a very direct way. Trees often feature in
myth and you may want to explore this further.
Crystals and stones are often used in magical practice and have even
found their way into New Age thought. They are the earth's gift to be used
and directed. Most stones work in a similar way to crystals, and are
certainly more accessible. But it is important not to pick up just any stone.
Here is a practical task. Go and find a heart stone for yourself. This is a
stone that particularly links you to the earth. It helps you ground in any
situation and also functions as a magical amplifier. Go down to the beach or
some local landscape. Sit and meditate on the place. Try to identify yourself
with it, feel your energies flowing out into the place and its energies
flowing into you. Call upon the Guardian of the place, and when they come
ask them for your heart stone. Spend some time looking around for a stone
that seems to throb with the same energies as you. It should send a tingle up
your arm when you hold it. Then spend some time holding it, allow your
energy to flow through it, feel it becoming part of you. Thank the Guardian
and go your way. Later try holding the stone and explore the ways in which
you could use it. I am not going to tell you about it, but here is a tool of
enormous potential, that you can make your own. Have fun exploring it.
You may also like to read some of a multitude of books on crystal healing.
Use the following visualisation to explore the element further. As with
all visualisations it is worth doing this several times. Write down your
experience and use it to make realisations about your relationship to this
element.
As the mist slowly clears you find yourself next to an old five bar gate,
with a stile. Over the gate lies a path through a ripe cornfield. A light breeze
makes the corn sway. As you step over the stile you find yourself on the
path. Walking along this path you find that it twists and turns. First going to
the west then almost turning back on itself it goes east. The path keeps
twisting back and forth. Still always moving forward, you seem to be
dancing towards a small wood at the center of the field. Notice the trees as
you near it. Look at the weather, the time of day, notice the sounds you can
hear. The path broadens and ends as you reach the trees. You push your way
into their shade. Feel and hear the leaves beneath your feet. A little way
ahead the trees thin into what you realise is a small clearing. In the center
of the clearing is a large standing stone, covered with carved spirals. You
move towards the stone and as you do so a figure appears from the opposite
side of the clearing. It is a woman, she appears to be very happy. She calls
you by your name, greeting you. She is the Earth Mother. Look at her
carefully. You both stand by the stone. Pause now and talk with her, ask her
your questions about her realm. She seems to tire of this talk and taking
your hand she hits the stone and merges with it, she takes you with her into
the stone. You are starting on a journey through the realms of earth, let her
guide you and show you her secrets. Remember what you see. Pause. She
brings you back to the clearing and gives you a gift. Look carefully at the
gift and remember it. Thank her and turn to leave. Walk back through the
trees to the path. As you thread your way along the path go over what you
have seen. As you reach the gate, cross it and know that you are returning to
this place and time.
Be sure to write up your experiences and your realisations.
You should try and spend sometime outside in the natural world. Try
and find a place in which you will not be disturbed. Ensure it is a place that
you like and in which you can easily feel the subtle energies of the earth. Sit
or lie in the space and gently ground yourself. Tell yourself that you are
seeking to become attuned with the earth, that you want to understand and
rebalance those energies within you. Gently breathe and enter a
meditational state, feel the earth around you. Imagine that you are becoming
part of the earth. What you are doing is opening yourself up and attuning to
the earth energy. Spend some time really feeling what it is like to be attuned
to the earth. When you are ready gently return to normal consciousness. Try
to eat and drink something and write up your experience of this exercise.
Using all the correspondences for earth that you have built up during
your work, create an image through drawing, collage, or painting, which
sums up all of the aspects of this element. You have created a mandala for
the element. Place it in your working area, in place that you will see it
regularly.
Choose a piece of music that you feel reflects the element of earth.
Listen to it and feel its energy, allow it to create images in your mind. Take
a visual journey into the music. Finally move freely to this piece of music,
creating a powerful dance of earth.
You can supplement this essay with the relevant sections from; Marian
Green’s Gentle Arts for the Aquarian Age, Starhawk’s Spiral Dance, and
other introductory texts.
Take some time to sit quietly and enter into a light meditational state. In
this state try to attune yourself again to the energy of the earth. Use all of
the experiences you have had whilst considering this subtle energy, bring
them to mind as you try to re-establish the link. Feel yourself drawing this
energy of earth into you, perhaps through a breathing exercise, or maybe
feel yourself growing roots and drawing this energy up into your body.
Place your hands in front of you, at a comfortable distance. With palms
facing, about twenty centimetres apart. Use your will to direct the energy of
the earth down into your hands. Visualise this energy flowing from the
palms of your hands. You have now used focused intention to become a
channel for earth energy. The projected energy is not yours it is the pure
energy of the earth. Feel the energy staying between your hands, feel it
begin to take the form of a ball of energy becoming more and more dense.
When you feel that this ball of the subtle earth energy is strong enough you
can do a very large variety of things with it. You can take it into your own
being, where it will act to ground you and bring stability to your life at that
moment. Or you can use this energy with others, or even with places. This
energy can be used in a multiplicity of ways. Once used remember to stop
channelling the energy, withdraw your roots, or stop breathing it in. This
exercise will help you to realise how good your connection to the subtle
energy of the earth is. It is also a technique you can use at any time to
channel and use this energy.
 When you feel satisfied that you have completed the work, go on to
perform a ritual for Earth. Follow the ritual structure, and go on a free
journey into the element of Earth. After doing the ritual write a report on
you findings. It is best to perform the ritual on the evening of a full Moon.
In the main part of the ritual sit down and call upon the element of
earth. Ask the Lady of earth to lead you into her realms. Sit quietly and
allow any visualisation to occur. This free form of visualisation is useful in
giving you a deeper contact with the inner realms. If you are working in a
group it is useful to share the result with the others, when you return.
Otherwise write down your realisations, or if you have not made any write
down the experience and continue to work on the realisations it contains.
 
Water
This element is the higher octave of receptive energy it is the next
degree from earth. In personal terms it reflects our emotional nature in
particular it shows us the ways in which we respond to situations. Our
actions are not will alone, nor are they without emotion. The capacity for
emotion is such that it shapes all human responses to all situations. There is
no state that is without emotion even disinterest is an emotional state. To
claim to be without emotion is to have succeeded in repressing your
emotional nature. It will explode out in some form, illness, or a sudden
torrent of overwhelming emotion.
It is the task of the magician to seek out and release repressed emotions
carefully and with close attention to their cause. The causes will often be
issues that we refused to deal with, moments that we have trivialised in
order to repress them. What is clear is that they have a very powerful hold
over us as people. As magicians we seek to encounter these inner demons,
and make the encounter a transformational one, this is the work of true
alchemy. Why is water related to our emotions?
The element of water tends to be dominant within our personal
relationships. The strength of this element in a natal chart can affect the
nature of our relationships with others. It is the role of the magician to bring
this element into balance and so better control our responses to others, in
order to get the best from every situation. It is in this realm that we
encounter and respond to friends, family and lovers. These responses and
relationships are not simple, they are all highly complex, and to believe that
any relationship is simple is to delude yourself. The ego constantly desires
us to see our interactions with others in a simple manner. In this way the ego
seeks to protect itself from its own flaws, from our realisation that it is not
perfect but requires much more care and attention. Often we allow the ego
to become too big, too dominant, dictating our lives to us. Working this
element helps us to begin the process by which true balance can be restored.
These are the waters of life, a phrase you should spend time meditating
on and report on your realisations. It is also important to take the time to go
on visualisations into the watery realm. Choose particular locations, a
stream, a river, a beach. Try to meet with the elemental forces of the water,
and allow them to teach you the deeper significance of this element. Spend
time visualising yourself floating in the sea, swimming beneath the waves,
flowing with the water, or watching the water move. You can also do all
these things in a meditative way, floating in the sea, sitting by a stream or
river, use the experience to form a meditation. Meditate on the waters of
life, the well springs of being, the chalice. Try to observe the motion of a
stream or river, try to watch the motion of the waves on the beach. Watch
the falling rain. Report on the experiments you have tried and note
particular realisations.
 Take the time to find a place in the real world that is close to water.
Either go to a river side, lake, or beach, where ever you choose ensure that it
is somewhere that you will feel comfortable and secure. Take some time to
get to know the place, find somewhere to sit and ensure you are comfortable
and able to see the water. If it is a really nice day you may want to soak
your feet in the water. As you sit there ground yourself and tell yourself that
you are here to attune with the energy of water. As you begin to meditate
listen to the sound of the water, fell its flow if you are in contact with it. As
you breathe begin to imagine that you are breathing in the energy of the
water, that it is flowing through you and that you are flowing with it. Take
some time to enjoy and engage with these feelings. When you are ready to
stop, let the energy of water drop from your breath, feel any extra energy
flowing back to the water. Bring your self to a normal state of
consciousness, try to have something to eat and drink, then write up your
experiences and realisations.
Try this scripted visualisation.
Close your eyes and relax.
As the mist clears you find yourself standing by a five bar gate with a
stile. Over the gate is a meadow at the bottom of which you can hear a
stream rushing along. You climb over the stile and run down the sloping
meadow to the stream. Look at the silver reflections of light, the glint of
pebbles beneath the surface. Put your hands into the water, feel it. Now
stand up and follow the low of the stream, listen to its song, its whispering
voice, full of the secrets of the waters. The stream broadens and slows
caught with eddies and pools, fish play beneath its silver surface. As you
walk onwards you hear a distant crashing of water. Soon your are standing
at the head of a waterfall as the stream crashes down into a beautiful silver
lake. Look at and listen to the waterfall, contemplate its power and joy.
Follow it as it flows out into the calm lake blending active energy with
receptive energy. As you climb down to the lake a figure steps out from the
waterfall. She calls you by your name, and you greet the Lady of Water.
Look carefully at her. She calls you to follow as she steps back into and
beyond the waterfall. You follow, feeling the water rush over you as you step
onto the ledge behind the torrent. You stand in a blue lit cave beyond the
veil of water. Soaked to the skin but happy you hear the lady ask you to sit.
You find a place to rest, she joins you and starts to talk. Pause now and
speak with the Lady of Water, ask her your questions. She tires of this talk
and taking you by the hand, she stands, and jumps into the rushing water,
taking you with her. You start upon a magical journey through the realms of
water. Pause. As your journey ends you find yourself standing in the
meadow stream, by which you started. Beside you is the Lady of Water, she
gives you a gift. Look at it carefully. Remember it. Thank her, and turn to
leave. As you walk back up the meadow recall your journey. As you reach
the gate, cross it and know that you are returning to your time and place.
Report on your findings.
Water is subject to the ebb and flow of the tides. There are tides that are
more apparent than those of the sea, they are the tides of self, being, mood,
emotion, and creativity. Human beings are mostly water, and so subject to
tidal forces that are not only lunar in nature. Notice the lunar cycle and
observe how it influences you, your inner tides. Report on your findings.
Most of all try to come into some form of agreement with your cycles of
life. Do not try to force yourself to act out of step with them, rather learn to
enjoy and use them in the way that a tidal barrage, or ship, uses the
movement of the waters to their own advantage.
The cup or chalice is the tool of this element, and if you do not already
have one now is the time to acquire this tool. Ideally the cup should be
given to you but this is not necessary. The cup may be of any material, what
is important is that you find one that you like, and feel in tune with. The
chalice is not only a symbol of the element of water it is your Holy Grail, it
is the container of all your experience, it is that which holds your life
essence. It is important to meditate on these ideas, and to report on your
realisations. The cup is magically related to your emotions mainly because
as a container it holds water, which is so closely linked to the fluid nature of
our emotional being. Emotions seem to move like the ebb and flow of the
tides, and yet they are held in a vessel that is our being. There are times
when your cup seems nearly emplty and times when it seems to overflow. It
is useful to spend some time watching your changing emotions and
visualising the condition of the chalice that is your being. You may become
aware of patterns and cycles, literally interior tides.
It is also good to investigate mythical stories surrounding Magical Cups.
There are many of them and you should read them, and try to develop a
visualisation into at least one such story. See the cup, and realise its true
purpose and nature. Such stories can be powerful tools in relating to this
element. Report on your findings.
Drawing Down the Moon, is an ancient ritual performed on the Full
Moon. It is simply an act that requests the mystical light of lunar magic to
infuse an object, and charge it, usually a bowl of water. Many variations on
this ritual exist. Here is the simplest.
Put some spring or well water into a bowl. Then either take it outside or
place it on a windowsill. Arrange it so that the moon is reflected on the
surface of the water, and will remain so for a while. Sit for a while and
focus on the intention of your action. Ground yourself in some way. Then
call upon the lunar forces or Goddess and ask them/her to bless the water
and imbue it with lunar power. Spend some time meditating on the moon
and its reflection. Imagine the energy flowing down in the light and
charging the water. You could use an athame, or wand to direct the energy
into the water, or your hand, or just your will. Thank the Goddess. Leave
the fluid to stand for some while if you can. When you feel the task is
complete spill some of the fluid on the ground as an offering of thanks.
Store the water in a dark bottle.
This water can be used to purify tools, or stones. You can use it in
healing or other work. You could add some to a bath, and ask for personal
purification or meditational contact with the energy of water. You could
also drink this water to deepen your communion with the Goddess. It is the
simplest Magical Elixir.
Take some time to sit quietly and enter into a light meditational state. In
this state try to attune yourself again to the energy of the water. Use all of
the experiences you have had whilst considering this subtle energy, bring
them to mind as you try to re-establish the link. Feel yourself drawing this
energy of water into you, perhaps through a breathing exercise, or maybe
feel yourself growing roots and drawing this energy up into your body.
Place your hands in front of you, at a comfortable distance. With palms
facing, about twenty centimetres apart. Use your will to direct the energy of
the water down into your hands. Visualise this energy flowing from the
palms of your hands. You have now used focused intention to become a
channel for water energy. The projected energy is not yours it is the pure
energy of the water. Feel the energy staying between your hands, feel it
begin to take the form of a ball of energy becoming more and more dense.
When you feel that this ball of the subtle water energy is strong enough you
can do a very large variety of things with it. You can take it into your own
being, or you can use this energy with others, or even with places. This
energy can be used in a multiplicity of ways. Water is a dynamic form of
receptive energy. It is used for purification, both outer and inner cleansing,
it is refreshing, try using this ball of energy in this way. Once used
remember to stop channelling the energy, withdraw your roots, or stop
breathing it in. This exercise will help you to realise how good your
connection to the subtle energy of the water is. It is also a technique you can
use at any time to channel and use this energy. Spend some time
experimenting with what you can do with this energy.
Try using real water to purify an object or space, then try to use the
elemental energy or force of water to do a similar task. You should spend
time exploring this aspect of magic, writing and performing your own
purification rituals. Develop and use ritual cleansing and blessings, report
on your experiments, what worked well, and what happened.
The life experience of the individual is the secret of the element of
water, for deep within us our essence springs forth like water from a spring,
or it is drawn forth as from a well. When our true essence comes forth it
gives something of us to the world in which we live. It empowers those
around us, it blesses and purifies all that it touches. The magician should be
a well spring for the transformation and purification of the world. It is
worth spending time meditating on springs and wells, visiting them, and
making some simple offering, before meeting with the spirit of the place.
What is the nearest spring, or well to your home? Where is the nearest spa
town? What purpose do they serve both today and in the past? How does
this help you better understand your own nature?
Memories are also closely related to the element of water. They are the
waters of history, a repository of personal history that is a gateway to the
inner self. The unconscious mind, the memory is often shown as a great
dark sea that lies beyond the veil of consciousness. We are able to see
glimpses, but rarely do we see the whole picture. In those fleeting moments
of enlightenment we may be able to discern a pattern in our past, perhaps it
has brought us to this point. The magician seeks such moments, seeks to
explore personal history, in order to recover, and develop the true self.
There are many tools to do this, as we have already seen. Divination,
bringing into the world the knowledge of the inner self, delves into the
waters of time.
Water scrying is an important art that you should try. It is not as difficult
as it seems. Put a little moon water in a dark bowl, or glass. Ask for vision,
and what it is you want to know. Sit comfortably and silently, gazing at the
reflective surface of the water. After a while, images may appear before
your very eyes, or perhaps just your inner eye. These images will still need
a lot of meditation in order for you to gain inner wisdom. As you finish, do
not forget your thanks. Write down your findings down, and make the
realisations.
Using all the correspondences for water that you have built up during
your work, create an image through drawing, collage, or painting, which
sums up all of the aspects of this element. You have created a mandala for
the element. Place it in your working area, in place that you will see it
regularly.
Choose a piece of music that you feel reflects the element of water.
Listen to it and feel its energy, allow it to create images in your mind. Take
a visual journey into the music. Finally move freely to this piece of music,
creating a powerful dance of water.
When you feel satisfied that you have completed the work, go on to
perform a ritual for Water. Follow the ritual structure, and go on a free
journey into the element of Water. After doing the ritual write a report on
you findings. It is best to perform the ritual on the evening of a full Moon.
 In the main part of the ritual sit down and call upon the element of
water. Ask the Lady or power of water to lead you into her realms. Sit
quietly and allow any visualisation to occur. This free form of visualisation
is useful in giving you a deeper contact with the inner realms. If you are
working in a group it is useful to share the result with the others, when you
return. Otherwise write down your realisations, or if you have not made any
write down the experience and continue to work on the realisations it
contains.

Fire
The element of fire is the creative spirit within us. It is ourpassion,
enthusiasm, the driving force of life itself. It is important for the magician
to relate the differing types of energy, remembering that they are not
separate but the same force vibrating at a different frequency. The flame of
the fire or candle is the most apparent manifestation of pure energy in the
world. We are able to see it not in itself, but as a result of what it does. Both
light and heat are a result of the release of energy. In some forms this may
not be noticeable to the human eye, but with the flame it is obvious.
Spend some time observing the flickering of flames, notice their inner
life. Watch the way fire transforms matter. Use a candle as a focus for
meditation if you like. Spend some time meditating on the Flame of Life.
Examine your driving force, your creativity. Who are you? Where does
your creativity arise? Where does your creativity manifest itself? Report on
your findings.
If possible find a place that you can have a real fire, this is not always
easy, and if you are outside make sure that your fire is safe and not
impinging on others or endangering the natural life. I use a fire bowl in the
garden that can be easily purchased from a good garden center.
Alternatively you can use the pan from a barbeque or even an upturned
dustbin lid supported on some bricks or stones so it is off the ground. Light
the fire and ensure that it is going well. I prefer to do this of an evening as
you are less likely to annoy neighbours and you will see the flames better.
Sit by the fire and make yourself comfortable. As you sit there ground
yourself and tell yourself that you are here to attune with the energy of fire.
As you begin to meditate watch the flames and the way the fire consumes
the fuel, notice patterns in the fire. As you breathe begin to imagine that you
are breathing in the energy of the fire, try to become one with it, feel
yourself as a flame moving and shining. Take some time to enjoy and
engage with these feelings. When you are ready to stop, let the energy of
fire drop from your breath, feel any extra energy flowing back to the fire.
Bring your self to a normal state of consciousness, try to have something to
eat and drink, then write up your experiences and realisations.
It is the spark of experience that brings light into the inner realms. It
was for the theft of fire that the Gods punished Prometheus, explore this
story, and enter it through visualisation. The flame Prometheus took is not
simply the fire that burns in the heart. It is the solar fire, the spark of the
divine that exists at the center of our existence. The divine spark is the true
animating force of our being, it drives us to take on life, so that it can attain
its goal, the goal of our true will. The sun has often been seen as a symbol
of this divine spark, but more than this, magicians believe that the solar
Lord is an entity of greater development than we are. The solar Lord,
empowers all of Creation, bring life and the power to develop to all beings.
Notice the motion of the sun and consider the movement of the solar
system. Look at the action of the sun. Report on your findings, and make
your realisations. Take some time to discover some mythical tales of fire,
and the solar father. It would also be of interest to look at those passages in
the secret doctrine that explores the role of the Solar Logos within our
microcosm. Many of the traditional festivals are called fire festivals, and all
use fires as a focus of ritual. Why is this?
Finding your power within is an important skill connected with this
element. All of those exercises we covered earlier when dealing with power
have some relevance here. But the principal point of the element of fire is
its transformational power. The transformation of the inner self through
active experience, this is the purpose of the magic of fire, and as such it is a
stage in the alchemy of the self. The fire burns away the rubbish we have
collected. In the receptive elements we brought forth that which has been
stored or repressed, cleansing and healing the self, now we must burn away
the dross. The action of fire renews our passion and energy it brings about
rebirth. It is most clearly seen in the energy of the creative will. An active
energy, sent out into the world by the magician, projected in order to
achieve a purpose.
The journey of fire is that which we take in growing from innocence to
experience. As such it is a journey fraught with problems for the ego. Fire
burns and burns hurt, no transformation is painless. In bringing fire into
balance it is important to realise that fire is not an element that is easily
contained. The magician is seeking to release their true power, power over
transformed into power within dissolving the first, and with it freeing us
from the abuse of power. The magician is called upon to totally responsible
for their action, the magician must maintain an ethical position that they are
able to justify. But the magician must also be ready to burn ethical codes
that serve no purpose, but have become dogmatic codes, that stifle all
creativity.
The tool of the element of fire is the wand. The cutting of a wand is no
light matter. You must be sure as to what type of wood is required, as each
tree has its own magical attribution. Usually nut trees are used to make
wands e.g. Hazel, Almond. This is not prescriptive, it is better to find the
tree that relates to you. Go out to a wooded space. Spend time there, feel the
energy of the space, invoke the God and Goddess of that place. State your
intention to cut your wand. Ask to be shown the right tree. When you feel
that you have seen the right tree and branch, spend some time talking with
that tree. Explain what it is you want to do and why, ask for the branch. Cut
it simply and quickly. Then make an offering to the tree. Traditionally this
is a drop of your blood, from a fresh wound, bonding you to that tree,
giving life for life. But it could be some wine or even plant food. As you
leave thank the God, Goddess and the tree. You will know what length to
make the wand. Traditionally this is a cubit, the length of your arm from
elbow to fingers. The wood may need time to season, to dry, or else it will
warp and crack. Leave it in a cool dry place, the rule of thumb is 1 year for
each inch in diameter. Then strip the bark and carve it if you wish, or trim it
with metal, stones etc. You could make a cyclic ritual of the whole event,
but that is up to you.
Alternatively you may wish to use a crystal wand. Making one of these
is a lot harder and you may have to go out and purchase one. When
choosing a crystal wand it is not simply about picking one you like the look
of. When faced by the coices look at them, and try to alter your state of
consciousness, look to see which one is calling you. Hold it if you can and
feel its energy. Try to develop a relationship with it, and in this way judge if
this is the wand for you. With crystal wands it is important that you choose
the right size wand for your hand. Too small and the wand will be lost in
your hand, to big and it will be unwieldy to use. This can only be judged by
holding the wand ideally it should fit comfortably into your hand and
project a little beyond it. The wand should feel like a natural extension of
your hand, and of your will.
What is the purpose of a wand? Write a ritual consecrating a wand that
patterns its projecting energy. Work this ritual and report on your findings,
as well as giving an account of the ritual.
This element is also connected with the natural magic practice of candle
magic. Explore this skill, and report on your results. This simple magical
ritual is often used for healing or to draw things to you. It is an act of
sympathetic magic, in which you use correspondences to help focus your
mind. It is best to develop your own correspondences, but the table of
traditional ones may help to start with. It is better to make your own candles
but if you cannot then bought ones are fine. Just make sure that the colour is
not only an outer covering.
Choose a candle of suitable colour for your working. Choose an
essential oil that seems right to you, and mix a few drops into base oil. Set
the altar, (I use a windowsill) put on it the oil, candle, candleholder,
matches, and anything you feel is of use, such as flowers or a photograph.
Cast a circle and state your intention. Take the oil and bless it. Then take the
candle and with your fingers anoint the candle. Rubbing the oil into the wax
until the candle feels like vibrant living thing. While doing this keep your
intention firmly in your mind, concentration is essential, try not to let stray
thoughts wander in, as they will affect your work. Put the candle in the
holder. Ask the Goddess and God to help with your intention. Light the
candle. Sit and meditate for a while, focusing on the intention. Imagine the
magical energy going out into the world with the light of the candle. Leave
the candle to burn down completely. You do not have to remain there all
that time, and there is no need to close the circle. Since the circle will
continue to act as the vessel for the magical energy. If the candle goes out
before it burns to nothing then the amount burnt will show your degree of
success.
(Be sure you have the permission of any potential recipients first.)
White Moon Monday Cleansing
Red Mars Tuesday Energy
Purple Mercury Wednesday Ideas
Blue Jupiter Thursday Gain\Giving
Green Venus Friday Love\Nature
Black Saturn Saturday Memory\Banish
Yellow Sun Sunday Healing
Try this visualisation, and report on your realisations.
As the mist clears you find yourself before a five bar gate with a stile.
Beyond it is a woodland through which you can catch glimpses of the sun.
You cross the stile and find a narrow path through the woods. The trees are
close and you feel their rough bark brush against your hands. You push past
plants that crowd the path. Breathe deeply, smell the earth and growth
about you. Listen to the birds who seem to herald the end of day. As you
push on along the path you notice the great orb of the sun dropping towards
the horizon. Its rays seem to sparkle on the surface of a great expanse of
water, which can only be the sea. The sparkles make a path across the
water, a path of fire. As you come out of the woodland, you are dazzled by
the setting sun. Its light has painted the sky whilst it is ready to plunge into
the sea. A bright red gold orb of fire. You stand a moment and watch the
sunset, contemplating the solar fire. You feel its energy flow through you. As
the last rays of the sun disappear into the sea, you look up and down the
beach. Listen to the waves breaking on the shore. Not far away someone
has lit a small fire, the flames dance before you. As you walk towards the
fire you notice a figure sat before it. Look carefully at him. As you draw
closer the Lord of Fire calls you by your name, and asks you to join him.
You sit before the flames. Pause and talk with him, ask him about his realm.
He seems to tire of the talking, and standing up he takes your hand. He
jumps into the fire, taking you with him. So begins your magical journey
through the realms of fire. Pause. As your journey ends you find yourself
standing by a lamp hanging on the five bar gate. The Lord of Fire is next to
you, he gives you a gift. Look at it carefully, remember it. Thank him and
turn to climb over the stile. As you do so you know you are returning to the
place from which you came, with new memories of the realm of fire.
Using all the correspondences for fire that you have built up during your
work, create an image through drawing, collage, or painting, which sums up
all of the aspects of this element. You have created a mandala for the
element. Place it in your working area, in place that you will see it
regularly.
Choose a piece of music that you feel reflects the element of fire. Listen
to it and feel its energy, allow it to create images in your mind. Take a
visual journey into the music. Finally move freely to this piece of music,
creating a powerful dance of fire.
Take some time to sit quietly and enter into a light meditational state. In
this state try to attune yourself again to the energy of fire. Use all of the
experiences you have had whilst considering this subtle energy, bring them
to mind as you try to re-establish the link. Feel yourself drawing this energy
of fire into you, perhaps through a breathing exercise, or maybe feel
yourself growing roots and drawing this energy up into your body. Place
your hands in front of you, at a comfortable distance. With palms facing,
about twenty centimetres apart. Use your will to direct the energy of fire
down into your hands. Visualise this energy flowing from the palms of your
hands. You have now used focused intention to become a channel for fire
energy. The projected energy is not yours it is the pure energy of fire. Feel
the energy staying between your hands, feel it begin to take the form of a
ball of energy becoming more and more dense. When you feel that this ball
of the subtle fire energy is strong enough you can do a very large variety of
things with it. You can take it into your own being, or you can use this
energy with others, or even with places. This energy can be used in a
multiplicity of ways. As with the other elements in this exercise try using
this ball of energy, see what you can do with it. Once used remember to
stop channelling the energy, withdraw your roots, or stop breathing it in.
This exercise will help you to realise how good your connection to the
subtle energy of fire is. It is also a technique you can use at any time to
channel and use this energy.
When you feel satisfied that you have completed the work, go on to
perform a ritual for Fire. Follow the ritual structure, and go on a free
journey into the element of Fire. After doing the ritual write a report on you
findings. It is best to perform the ritual on the evening of a full Moon.
In the main part of the ritual sit down and call upon the element of Fire.
Ask the Lord of fire to lead you into his realms. Sit quietly and allow any
visualisation to occur. This free form of visualisation is useful in giving you
a deeper contact with the inner realms. If you are working in a group it is
useful to share the result with the others, when you return. Otherwise write
down your realisations, or if you have not made any write down the
experience and continue to work on the realisations it contains.

Air
Air is the element of the realm of thought embodying all ideas. The
mind is a powerful aspect of ourselves, and it is here that we must
encounter it, and balance it within the whole system. Often we encounter
ourselves as beings of mind. We tend to forget the other aspects of
ourselves and focus only upon our thoughts. It is important for the magician
to realise that the mind is only a part of the whole, relying on the rest for
support, and for the raw material that it will process.
The element of air can be seen as the out working of the mind in the
abstract realms. That is to say in the element of air the magician goes
beyond the everyday realm of thought, and seeks to develop the higher
functions of the mind. For the magician the mind directed with intention is
the forming of the will. It is the will that will control and direct the magical
power, and seek to bring balance to the whole system. However, the mind is
also the ego, that aspect of personality that constantly drives us to crave for
more, or into modes of self-preservation. It is the task of the magician to
bring the ego into control, for unchecked it will dominate you. Many people
perceive their existence through this ego, being unable to recognise that this
personality is merely a tool of the real incarnating spirit. The ego is the
mediation point between manifest reality and the incarnate spirit that is you.
Discrimination is a magical skill closely related to this element. It is
important for the magician to have a degree of scepticism when regarding
everything that they do. Such scepticism is really the functioning of
discrimination, its task is to prevent excess. In magical work it is easy to go
off at a tangent, to find yourself becoming overly concerned with irrational
issues. The use of discrimination is the key. Is it really the Archangel
Gabriel that is talking to you, or are you just fooling yourself? Is the
message that you feel you have just received really make sense? Your
discrimination must test it for compatibility, coherence, and reasonableness.
Without such safe guards the mind of the magician may become the slave of
the ego, or lose itself completely in the realm of fantasy. Discrimination is
the essential tool of judgement it is the magicians only true ally.
 Thought is nothing if we are unable to communicate with others. In this
sense language is the formation of thought, making our inner thoughts
manifest. As a result we will find all uses of language to fall within the
magic of air. The use of words and sounds, the use of magical alphabets,
and the forming of sigils, and talisman are important tools of air. There is
much written on talismanic magic that is worthy of study, and you should
certainly try to construct both a sigil and a talisman for yourself. The easiest
method is that developed by Austin Osman Spare.
Write down the desired effect of the sigil in English as a sentence.
Where a letter is used more than one in the sentence cross out repeated
occurrences. Use the string of letters that remain to construct a symbol or
picture. Be sure that it is not a recognisable word, but a shape made of lines,
that share the shapes of the letters. It is then suggested that you copy the
sigil onto new paper, or a metal or wooden disc, it could even be scratched
in the earth. Empower this object in ritual. Then keep the symbol on you or
near you, try to forget its presence or purpose, allow it to function on a
subconscious level, in this regard the outcome will occur if it is meant to be.
A good source book is Jan Fries ‘Visual Magic’, and there is also material
in the Golden Dawn texts. Report on your experiments, and your findings.
The mandalas that you have been creating for each element also act as a
talisman, they are constant reminders of the elemental force, and the way in
which you work with it. Such tools are an important aspect of magic. Many
magicians believe that the classical hermetic symbols used on many a
talisman are recognised by all human beings even if only on a subconscious
level. Images like the pentagram have a powerful symbolic meaning. You
may wish to use some such symbols as a source for meditation. But you
should also meditate on language, laughter, discrimination and the breath of
life. Report on your realisations.
 The movement of air is essential for our existence, in the form of breath
air takes on a life giving and active power that can be used in many ways by
the magician. If you have not done so already this is a good time to
experiment with patterns of breathing whilst meditating. The control of
your breath can deeply influence the state of your consciousness, taking you
into heightened states of awareness. Such states are important to the
magician as they allow access to the other realms of existence through both
visualisation and astral projection. What is the difference between these two
things? How can they be achieved?
Explore the use of breathing patterns to achieve altered states of
consciousness. The patterns usually follow the form; Inhale - Hold - Exhale
- Hold - Inhale. Try different lengths of time, such as (2-3-2-3) or (4-4-4-4).
Notice the effect of such control on your awareness. Report on your
findings.
Smell is also a power method by which to alter the state of awareness,
smells can trigger memories, and change the atmosphere of a place. It is for
this reason that magicians have used incense. There are two forms of
incense, the popularised joss stick or cone originates in the East. These
usually consist of herbs and spices ground to a fine powder, mixed with a
binding agent such as tragacanth, and a little saltpetre in order to keep the
mixture burning. The smoke then carries the powerful aroma. This form
does not always please everyone, and the scent often has a very Eastern
tone. In the west most incense has come in a powder or cake form and is
burnt on small charcoal blocks. The blocks contain saltpetre to help them
light, they then will glow red hot for about an hour. As a result it is
important that you find a suitable container to hold the block. Incense in
this form can be purchased from a variety of sources. However it is always
best if you can blend it your self. This is a skill best taught directly but if
this is not possible then there is an excellent introductory text by
Cunningham, ‘Oils, Brews, And Incenses Complete’ which is an invaluable
aid when starting to mix incense. Incense should be used with care as many
people have different levels of sensitivity when it comes to smell. You may
also wish to try out the use of essential oils. Report on your exploration of
the use of smell. Describe scents, which awaken specific memories. How
does the use of incense affect your magical workings?

Weather is an important aspect of this element it is worth finding out

how different forms of weather are produced. Weather has a deep effect on
human activity, changing our responses to issues. Try to observe the way
the changes in weather effect you, and use that awareness when going
through your daily routine, try to master your responses, rather than let the
weather rule you. Spend some time meditating on the four winds. Try to
find some of the old sayings and lore regarding the weather. Then test them
out. An approach to weather working is to project your awareness up into
the sky and call upon the forces at work. You may wish to journey to the
court of the weather. There you can make your request, giving a good
reason for your request, and remembering your manners. See if it works.
Report on your discoveries.
Music is another powerful aspect of the magic of air. It has the power to
transform any place or atmosphere. Essentially music as a patterning tool,
shaping the energy of the place and giving it a different level of vibration.
You should already have explored the use of music in your magical
practice. If not now is the time to go back and do so. Listen to the effects
that different types of music have, use dance, meditation, visualisation, and
make your own music. One great experiment is to learn to play or sing the
energy of a place. Remember that all things have their own song. These
songs blend and interact with the other songs that surround them. Calm
yourself, meditate within a place, feel yourself become one with it, then try
to listen to the music of the place, freely express it through your own voice,
or a musical instrument. Most of all have fun. If you do this several times in
one place you will notice that the song changes. Experiment with the magic
of sound and report on your findings.
The athame is the principle tool of air. If you do not have one now is the
time to acquire it. Many traditions claim that this should be a short blade
with a certain type of handle. What is important is that the metal blade has a
handle made of a natural substance such as wood. The colour and design is
entirely up to you. However, the blade should be new, and not used for any
mundane purpose. The blade represents your discrimination cutting through
illusion, and seeking reality. In these days it is worth considering the laws
on carrying such a blade around with you, and may make you think about
the size of the blade.
The Lord of Air can also be related to the Lord of Misrule, who brings
laughter and joy. Like the wind he is unpredictable, working with him in
this form is not always as easy as it seems. Make the following visualisation
and report on your findings:
As the mist clears you find yourself by a five bar gate with a stile. Over
the gate the field rises gently up and then gives way to a steep slope, beyond
which you cannot see. You climb over the stile and begin to walk up the
field. As you do you notice a number of birds, many are rooting in the earth,
looking for food. They are unafraid as you approach and pass by. You can
hear the air full of bird song. There is a smell of wild flowers in the air. As
you reach the steeper slope a gentle breeze caresses your face. You enjoy
the gentle touch of the wind. Your hear the flapping of wings and watch as
two birds fly about you, clearly playing. You continue your journey up the
slope. The grass is longer here and dotted with flowers. The wind makes the
grass ripple, like the waves on the sea. The wind catches some grass seeds
blowing them in a merry dance. As you reach the top of the slope you find
yourself standing on the edge of a cliff. Far below you the land stretches out
like a counterpane. The fields and towns part of the patchwork. It gently
rolls and curls away to the horizon. You look up and out into the sky, the
clouds roll past like magnificent ships. You stand a while and contemplate
this calm activity, the rolling ocean of air. As you stand there you suddenly
feel a gust of wind rising up the cliff face. There is a rushing sound and
something seems to blur past your eyes. Some nearby speaks your name and
greets you. You turn to find the Lord of Air by your side. Look at him
carefully. He starts to talk to you. Pause and spend some time talking with
him. Ask him your questions and discover more about his realm. After a
while he appears to tire of talking, even the lord of communication knows
that there needs to be times of silence. He gently takes your hand and leaps
off the cliff, taking you with him. So begins your magical journey through
the realms of air. Pause. As your journey comes to an end, you feel yourself
float down onto the cliff from which you started. The Lord of Air hands you
a gift. Look at it, remember it. You thank him and turn to leave. As you walk
back down the slope to the gate recall the events of your journey. As you
reach the gate you realise that you are about to return your place and time.
Cross the stile and return with your memories of the realm of Air.
Take the time to find a place in the real world that is open to the air, sky
and winds. Either go to a cliff top, or hill, where ever you choose ensure
that it is somewhere that you will feel comfortable and secure. Take some
time to get to know the place, find somewhere to sit and ensure you are
comfortable and able to feel the air around you. As you sit there ground
yourself and tell yourself that you are here to attune with the energy of the
air. As you begin to meditate listen to the sound of the air, feel its flow
around your body. As you breathe begin to imagine that you are breathing in
the energy of the air, that it is flowing through you and that you are flowing
with it. Take some time to enjoy and engage with these feelings. When you
are ready to stop, let the energy of the air drop from your breath, feel any
extra energy flowing back to the air. Bring your self to a normal state of
consciousness, try to have something to eat and drink, then write up your
experiences and realisations.

Take some time to sit quietly and enter into a light meditational state. In
this state try to attune yourself again to the energy of the air. Use all of the
experiences you have had whilst considering this subtle energy, bring them
to mind as you try to re-establish the link. Feel yourself drawing this energy
of air into you, perhaps through a breathing exercise, or maybe feel yourself
growing roots and drawing this energy up into your body. Place your hands
in front of you, at a comfortable distance. With palms facing, about twenty
centimetres apart. Use your will to direct the energy of the air down into
your hands. Visualise this energy flowing from the palms of your hands.
You have now used focused intention to become a channel for air energy.
The projected energy is not yours it is the pure energy of the air. Feel the
energy staying between your hands, feel it begin to take the form of a ball
of energy becoming more and more dense. When you feel that this ball of
the subtle water energy is strong enough you can do a very large variety of
things with it. You can take it into your own being, or you can use this
energy with others, or even with places. This energy can be used in a
multiplicity of ways, try using this ball of energy and see what you can do
with it. Once used remember to stop channelling the energy, withdraw your
roots, or stop breathing it in. This exercise will help you to realise how
good your connection to the subtle energy of the air is. It is also a technique
you can use at any time to channel and use this energy. Spend some time
experimenting with what you can do with this energy.
Using all the correspondences for Air that you have built up during your
work, create an image through drawing, collage, or painting, which sums up
all of the aspects of this element. You have created a mandala for the
element. Place it in your working area, in place that you will see it
regularly.
Choose a piece of music that you feel reflects the element of Air. Listen
to it and feel its energy, allow it to create images in your mind. Take a
visual journey into the music. Finally move freely to this piece of music,
creating a powerful dance of Air
When you feel satisfied that you have completed the work, go on to
perform a ritual for Air. Follow the ritual structure, and go on a free journey
into the element of Air. After doing the ritual write a report on you findings.
It is best to perform the ritual on the evening of a full Moon.
In the main part of the ritual sit down and call upon the element of Air.
Ask the Lord of Air to lead you into his realms. Sit quietly and allow any
visualisation to occur. This free form of visualisation is useful in giving you
a deeper contact with the inner realms. If you are working in a group it is
useful to share the result with the others, when you return. Otherwise write
down your realisations, or if you have not made any write down the
experience and continue to work on the realisations it contains.
 
Spirit
Spirit is often called the fifth element, the quintessence, although we
might not consider it to be an element at all. Perhaps it is the first emanation
of all the elements, united as one. In this sense it becomes the fountainhead
of all manifestation.
Spend some time meditating on the nature of the elements in relation to
one another. How do they flow into each other? Is the water of earth like the
earth of water? How do they differ? What is Spirit? How does it embody
the elements?
You are spirit but how often are you conscious of it? The dynamic inner
being that has incarnated as you is a learning and growing spirit. The spirit
that is you is here in order to develop and achieve its will, so that it may
move closer to the completion of the purpose of its existence. Try to
increase your awareness of this spirit, your higher self, listen to it as it
speaks through your intuition, but be sure to use your discrimination in
order to filter out the demands of the ego. Also try to become aware of the
work of each of the elements in your daily life.
Construct your own visualisation of spirit. You can start by telling a
story. One that tells of the release of the inner self might be useful. Another
way to encounter spirit is to meet with your own inner child. Write the
outline of this visualisation, and report on your realisations. Remember this
encounter can be quite wonderful and very surprising. It can also be very
easy to fool yourself when working on this level, as quite often our own
ideas of who we are different from reality. This is an area where
discrimination is essential, as we do not like to face ourselves. It is also
interesting to meet our spiritual selves as they present us with the being we
are striving to realise through our magical work, and show us what more is
to be done.
In magic it is the awareness of inner self that you seek to explore,
balance and develop. This is done through ritual, meditation and
visualisation. This transformation is one in which you shed your old self
and forge the magical true self. This was the task of the alchemist, turning
the lead of the self into the gold of the true being.
You may wish to ride on the dragon of your true being, it is quite a ride!
To do so find your own method, for there are no rules, allow your inner
spirit to guide you, let it give you the ways in which to meet it. As you
progress you may choose to use the Bornless Ritual, this is an old and
powerful ceremonial magic ritual that brings the operator into total union
with their higher self, if only for a short period of time. More is said on this
in later Circle teachings, but the ritual is accessible in the writings of the
Golden Dawn.
All in all you must find your own work in this unit. Sometimes your
astrological chart or an act of divination may point you on the way.
The true experience of this point in your journey is the Experience of
the Holy Guardian Angel. Quite what this means or how to do it I will leave
you to discover.
This chapter may seem very short and you may think that I am passing
the buck by saying so little. However the encounter with spirit is a highly
personal experience, and everyone approaches it in a different way. That is
not to say it is less important, if anything it is quite the opposite. Yet you
would not thank me for telling you how to structure this encounter, or
dictating the way in which it is to be achieved. You should also see the
work in this section as a bit of a personal test. Can you take all that we have
done and put it together for yourself. This is exactly what you will be doing
very soon, as we are nearing the end of our journey together. It is not the
end of your journey, indeed you are just at the start of an amazing and
wonderful journey. One which I am on, and I hope one day to meet you on
that journey.
 Completing the
Elements
Now that you have reached spirit it is also time to consolidate your
work on the elements. By now you should have completed your
introduction to the four elements and the basic nature of ritual magic. You
should be able to:
 Outline the main features of each element. Explain the
purpose of the elemental tools. Describe and perform a magical task
relating to each of the elements.
 Construct an elemental table of correspondences. Describe the
relationship of each of the elements to your personal self. Write and
perform a ritual related to one element.
These tasks should seem to be relatively simple, but if not you may
want to use them to go back over the work you have been doing over the
last few months.

Up to this point you have only considered the elements in isolation to

one another. You must now begin to explore the way in which they relate to
one another. To do this here are a few suggested tasks. The work here will
clearly take more than a month but all of the tasks are certainly worth
doing. Ypu may want to come back to them after considering the last
chapter, but I offer them here as a part of spirit and the conclusion of the
elemental work.
1. Review all of the work you have done on the elements.
Summarise the main ideas involved in each element.
2. Meditate on each element in turn. Focusing on the way it
relates to you personally and write down your realisations, in detail.
 3. Research various magical texts and expand your knowledge
of the elements and their nature. Making notes on your findings.
4. Review your magical diary, as it relates to the four elemental
rituals you have performed, and any visualisations. Note any
particularly important or valid realisations that you made as a result of
these rituals/visualisations.
5. Meditate on the elements in pairs; earth/water, earth/fire,
earth/air, water/fire, water/air, fire/air. Make notes on any realisations
you have made on each pair.
6. Meditate on the four elements as a whole. Make notes on
any realisation you have made.
Book List
The Secret Doctrine With
care, probably the densest book in the
field. But the ultimate classic, in occult
philosophy. Some sections are outdated
but the main work is unparalleled. It
relies heavily on eastern Vedic literature
and Sanskrit terminology.
The Golden Dawn,
I.Regardie A resource book,
charting all of the major aspects of the
Golden Dawn system of magick.
Book 4, A.Crowley
Excellent introduction to yoga and the
symbolism of High Magick.
Magick in Theory & Practice,
A.Crowley Densely written with
much that will trip up the unwary, this
text is a rich mine, but to be read with
care.
Advanced Magical Arts,
R.J.Stewart A rich source of
Aquarian rituals and magical
development. Interesting reworking of
the enochian calls, as elemental phonic
calls.
 The Cosmic Doctrine,
D.Fortune Dense and unyielding
but full of wonderful concepts, waiting
to be explored.
 The ritual of the lesser pentagram is one of the few truly powerful
rituals devised by the Golden Dawn. This ritual should be practised
regularly. You should endeavour to understand what you are doing in
working this operation. The ritual in itself sets the watchtowers of the
elements. Beyond this it makes the operator a channel of grace between
heaven and earth. As such it should always be performed fully, that is using
the body and forms of gesture. Since no magic is real until it makes contact
with this level of manifestation. No less so this ritual of spiritual power.
The Pentagram itself is a powerful symbol. It represents many things
and its place in sacred geometry is guaranteed.
 Thus the pentagram represents the whole of our being, the manifest
realms. The pentagram is also the symbol of the Adam Kadmon the Divine
Man. Thus it contains within it all the aspects of the human self. Thus;
1 Spirit is the subconscious or the Inner Self made
manifest
2 Is Compassion
3 Is Feeling
4 Is Thought
5 Is Will
This makes an almighty mess of the elemental attributions as you can
see. Therefore there is something amiss here. The information is either
wrong or is functioning differently according to the four worlds. It is not an
issue of blending, but one of functionality. That is to say the pentagram as it
exists on each level is something unique to that level.
This difference of function is essential to the nature of our being, as we
are multiplanar beings. It is not, or should not be a case of learning the
attributions to each level. If you are working on a certain level then you will
work with the attributions of that level. As such you will not have to learn
them they will become a part of your magical nature. To strive beyond that
for which you are ready or to try to over leap your mark may just leave you
rote learning a pile of junk. So do not do it if you know what is good for
you. If you don't believe me try it.
So my challenge to you is this:
Work out the relationship of the elemental pentagram.
Then build the pentagram of colour and sound.
 Then try the planetary Pentagram.
By the way you will have to reason it out for yourself. Do not go
running to someone else's hurriedly written book, or you will get what you
deserve.
Finally the upright pentagram represents the descent of spirit (Shin) into
the four elements. That is to say the relationship of spirit to the elements. It
is a simple relationship where spirit brings into balance the four elements. It
is the driving force of our being holding together all of the facets of our
existence. If you see the pentagram as a representation of the human figure
then spirit forms the head. In this way spirit is seen to struggle with the
direction of the four lower elements. The magician says that shin descends
into the tetragramaton to form Yod Heh Shin Vau Heh. (Jehoshua from
Jehovah). In simple terms as spirit (shin) joins the yod heh vau heh of the
elements it transforms them. Thus the pentagram is the representation of the
sacrificial redemptor that allows humanity access to the heavenly realms
and beyond.
The inverted pentagram represents the Fall of humanity, the descent
from heaven into manifestation. Which is not an entirely evil state, but a
challenging one! In this case the rulership of spirit is overturned, and we are
dominated by the lower energies of the elements. Governed by materialistic
concerns and our most basic passions, perhaps it may be argued this more
accurately describes the current condition of western european society.
Meditate on this symbol as it will bear much fruit.
 Ritual of The Lesser
Pentagram
Qabalistic Cross

Face East.
Touch your forehead and say ATEH. Visualise your spirit or higher self
resting within you. Become fully aware of it. Touch your belly or base
chakra and say MALKUTH. Visualise your body. Become fully aware of
it. Touch your right shoulder and say VE GEBURAH. Visualise your will,
feel its strength. Become fully aware of it. Touch your left shoulder and say
VE GEDULAH. Visualise your compassion, feel its depth. Become fully
aware of it. Rest your hands over your heart and say LE OLAM AMEN.
Visualise all of the parts of your being united as one.
You have already learnt this practice and so it should be familiar to you.
Therefore I will not go through it in detail, but will remind you that the
words should be vibrated in the magical voice.

Pentagram
Before you trace the pentagram it is helpful to decide what way you are
going to operate this ritual. The direction in which the pentagrams are
traced will change the nature of the essential force of the ritual. Starting
from earth and moving clockwise to spirit will result in a ritual of
banishing. Whilst starting from spirit and moving to earth gives us an
invocational ritual. You will need to decide whether you are seeking to
banish the clutter from your life that is causing imbalance, or wanting to
invoke the balance of the elements within you. More often than not I tend to
choose the former, but it really must be a matter of personal choice and
discrimination.

Banishing
Invoking
Stand facing east having completed the qabbalistic cross, you should
have your wand or athame in your right hand. Feel yourself attuning with
the cosmic energy and begin to feel it projecting from your right hand. Still
facing east extend your right arm, trace the pentagram using the wand or
athame clearly in front of you, visualise the energy emanating as a clear
blue light. The pentagram should be large, If banishing start at your left
knee and go up beyond the height of your head and continue. If invoking
start above your head and go down to your knee. Try to make the tracing
movement as fluid as possible but also be sure that your visualisation is
strong and purposeful. The pentgram should seem to hang and glow in the
air before you.
Step forward with your right foot and extend both arms pointing the
wand, athame, or your fingers at the center of the pentagram vibrate the
phrase YOD HEH VAU HEH in your magical voice. You should visualise
your voice going out to the ends of the universe. Step back and then
keeping your right arm extended trace an arc drawing the blue energy round
as you turn to the south.
 As you face south you should again trace the pentagram in exactly the
same way but this time as you step forward and extend your arms vibrate
the word ADONAI (Ah-don-aye). Step back and trace an arc of blue
energy as you turn west, trace the Pentagram in the same way and step
forward vibrating the word EHEIEH (a-hay-a). Step back and trace an arc
of blue energy as you turn north, trace the pentagram in the same way and
step forward vibrating the word AGLA (ah-g-la). Step back and trace an
arc of blue energy as you turn back towards the east. Stand arms out
stretched and visualise the four pentagrams in the quarters and the circle of
blue light. Now as you did in the sacred space session see that blue circle
spin and create a sphere of blue light all around you, with the four
pentagrams in its walls.
Now facing east you are about to bring in the subtle energy of the four
elements. Only this time you will be using a higher vibration of that energy.
In this ritual this is represented by the four names of the archangels. The
names should be seen as both beings, and sonic keys that represent the
energy at its purist. Loudly and clearly say BEFORE ME then vibrate the
name RAPHAEL (ra-fie-el). Whilst doing this you should visualise a
figure coming towards you, through the pentagram in the east. It is a tall
figure, and should have some of the symbolism of air clearly apparent in
their dress and appearance. Some texts prescribe the appearance of this
figure, but I feel it is more important that you see and develop your own
vision of this being. With it you should feel the energy of air strongly
coming in to the space through the pentagram.
Without moving you should now move your attention to the pentagram
behind you in the west. It is important to bring this in next as it is the
balanced partner of the eastern energy of air. This time say BEHIND ME
then vibrate the name GABRIEL (gah-bre-el). Whilst doing this you
should visualise a figure coming towards you, through the pentagram in the
west. It is a tall figure, and should have some of the symbolism of water
clearly apparent in their dress and appearance. You have the idea now and
should continue in the same way, moving your attention first to the south
and saying and vibrating TO MY RIGHT HAND MICHAEL (me-kye-
el). Again using full visualisation, this time of the figure of fire. Then turn
your attention to the north and saying and vibrating TO MY LEFT HAND
AURIEL (ore-re-el) visualise the figure of earth. I personally like to
silently greet each figure as they arrive, but that is up to you.
You should now be standing arms up and legs apart surrounded by the
visualisation of the sphere of energy, the four pentagrams, and four figures
of the elements, you should feel all four energies entering the circle and
meeting in you. With all this firmly in your mind say loudly and clearly
BEFORE ME FLAMES THE PENTAGRAM, and feel that your body
has also become a flaming pentagram.
Now you need to visualise the energy of the cosmos coming down from
above, and that of the planet rising up. These energies meet within you and
deep in your being begins to glow the symbol of the six pointed star or
hexagram. At this point you should say ABOVE ME SHINES THE SIX
RAYED STAR. You should feel its energy permeate your whole being.
You should now take time to meditate and become aware of the energies
that you have been working with. Become aware of how they are effecting
you and how you now feel. You could continue now to engage in a
visualisation, divination, or any other form of ritual.
When you are ready to end the experience, you can do so in one of two
ways. You could perform the ritual again, but over the years I have found
this confusing, as the ritual is complete in itself and to perform it twice is to
change the energy balance within you too greatly. So I would advise you to
do the following.
Become aware again of the flows of energy, visualise the four figures
about you and address them. Thank them for their presence and bid them
farewell. Visualise each of them stepping back, leaving you with just the
pentagrams in each quarter. Then visualise these pentagrams beginning to
fade, until there is just the sphere of blue light around you. Stop this from
spinning so that in your visualisation your just have a circle of blue light.
You could now if you choose simply cut the circle, or draw it back into your
being. When finished you need to feel that there is no longer any flow from
the quarters, or from above and below. You will feel changed, and this is not
something you want to dispel.
You should now write up your experiences and think about how they
have affected you.
It would be useful for you now to consider the Pentagram and its
relationship to the four elements. Research various magical texts and
expand your knowledge of the Pentagram. But most of all practice the
pentagram ritual regularly and experience what it has to offer.
It is better that you work out what this ritual does for yourself, as it will
be more meaningful to you. If you are going to do this then I suggest you
stop reading for a while as I am about to offer an explanation for this ritual.
This ritual on the most basic level establishes sacred space it is
equivalent to drawing a circle and opening the quarters. Indeed many who
use this ritual do exactly this. However, they are seriously underestimating
the value of the ritual. This is because it does much more, in that it brings
balance to those subtle elemental energies with you. It also establishes the
dominance of spirit and empowers your spirit with the ability to bring your
elemental energies into alignment. It allows your spirit to access those
elemental energies within you and to cleanse or invigorate them. In so
doing it re-establishes your sense of personal control. By this I mean your
control of your life, your control over those decisions that you make, your
sense of independence and yet your sense of connection.
This ritual though is only a starting point, as is all that I have given you
in these pages. This is the start of your exploration of subtle energy. It is a
path full of ideas, a path that we are still discovering. There is so much
more to encounter and learn. I hope that these pages and exercises have
inspired you to take the journey. I hope that one day I will meet you on that
journey, and learn from you. It is my belief that we are all playful beings
who help each other to discover more about ourselves. No one is the fount
of wisdom and everyone has an amazing amount to offer.
Most of all enjoy the journey.
 Healing practices and therapies that involve
subtle energies, just as in magical operations,
require clarity, focus, and control of intention.
This book serves to develop these essential
characteristics. This book explores subtle energy
and the natural elements. The book is essentially a
course of self-development which aims to attune
the participant with natural elemental forces,
whilst at the same time accelerating personal
spiritual development.

ISBN-10: 0955312264
ISBN-13: 978-0955312267