Sagittarius Elixir Rite - Year Eight

Today's Magick Monday post is a full script for the Sagittarius Elixir Rite that we will be performing tomorrow, Tuesday December 17th, at the ritual workshop. We will be starting the ritual around 8 PM.

0. The Temple

The ritual space is set up with an altar table in the center. The bell chime, banishing dagger, and invoking wand are placed on the altar. In the center of the altar is placed a cup of wine for creating the elixir, within the Table of Art corresponding to Sagittarius. The sign Sagittarius is attributed to the power of “Transmutations." It is also the only sign attributed to a vision, the "Vision of Universal Peacock." This vision is a significant step in alchemical processes. Transmutation is a general power with many applications, since in a sense all magical operations represent attempts to transmute or transform some aspect of yourself, the external world, or both. So any intent along those lines would be in harmony with the power of the sign. The Via Solis Elixir Rites were written by Michele Montserrat in 2010 for the Comselh Ananael magical working group.

I. Opening

All stand surrounding the altar. Officiant inhales fully, placing the banishing dagger at his or her lips. The air is then expelled as the dagger is swept backwards.

Officiant: Bahlasti! Ompehda!

Officiant then performs the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. All rotate accordingly.

Officiant: We take refuge in Nuit, the blue-lidded daughter of sunset, the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night sky, as we issue the call to the awakened nature of all beings, for every man and every woman is a star.

All: MAKAShANaH

Officiant: We take refuge in Hadit, the secret flame that burns in every heart of man and in the core of every star, as we issue the call to our own awakened natures, arousing the coiled serpent about to spring.

All: ABRAHADABRA

Officiant: We take refuge in Heru-Ra-Ha, who wields the wand of double power, the wand of the force of Coph Nia, but whose left hand is empty for he has crushed an universe and naught remains, as we unite our awakened natures with those of all beings everywhere and everywhen, dissolving all obstacles and healing all suffering.

All: AUMGN

Officiant: For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.

All: All is pure and present are and has always been so, for existence is pure joy; all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass and done; but there is that which remains. To this realization we commit ourselves – pure and total presence. So mote it be.

The Enochian Master Class is Back!

A number of years ago I put together a set of videos for an Enochian Master Class organized by Jason Augustus Newcomb. In addition to adding his own set of videos, he enlisted Aaron Leitch to provide a set as well. The class was unavailable for quite some time, but you can now enroll here. Note that Jason hosts the class, so if you run into any technical issues with it he's the person to contact.

As you probably know from reading Augoeides, the three of us disagree on a number of issues related to the Enochian system - and that's a good thing! Enochian is a complex topic, and it is very helpful to sample a wide variety of opinions on the subject in order to learn as much as you can about it. I obviously work with the system the way I do because I have found that way to work best for me over the years, and I assume the same about Jason and Aaron.

Jason mostly sticks with the "Neo-Enochian" Golden Dawn/Thelemic system. Aaron addresses Enochian from the "Dee Purist" standpoint, looking only at the Dee spirit diaries. And I wind up somewhere in the middle, working with "Dee Purist" diary attributions but also including modern forms like pentagram and hexagram rituals corresponding to those attributions. Between the three of us, we cover most of the approaches to the system that you are likely to come across.

Purchasing the course will give you access to all three sets of videos so you can compare and contrast them on their relative merits. Each of us have provided videos on the following topics:

1. THE HISTORY OF PRACTICE
2. THE NATURE OF SPIRITS
3. SETTING UP THE TEMPLE
4. PRAYERS AND CONJURATIONS
5. SCRYING AND EVOCATION
6. PRACTICAL MAGICAL OPERATIONS
7. INDIVIDUAL ADVICE FROM EACH PRACTITIONER

As some of the videos were long enough to be broken up into two parts, this makes for a total of 23 videos with perspectives from three experienced practitioners with very different takes on the system. It's well worth it if you want to become an expert on the Enochian system and are looking to explore it thoroughly. Also note that along with book sales, proceeds I receive from class enrollments help to support all the free material posted at Augoeides. If you value what I do here, consider enrolling (and buying books) to help keep it all going.

Ancient Wisdom Beats Psychoanalysis

I recently came across this article discussing a recent study on managing anger. The study examined the concept of "venting" to see if it reduced anger effectively. This concept is very much a part of our popular culture, and it goes back to the psychoanalytic model of the mind proposed by Sigmund Freud over a hundred years ago. Freud was not a good scientist, but he was a pretty amazing popularizer.

It is something of a cliche that psychology (and magick, for that matter) tends to latch onto the latest new technology as a metaphor for how the mind works. The recent fascination with computer-like models bears this out today. Before computers it was telephone switchboards, before that it was electricity, and back in Freud's day, psychoanalysis latched onto a model based on something akin to hydraulic pressure. Freud saw emotions as a kind of energy that could be bottled up ("repression") or transformed into socially viable outlets ("sublimation") rather than expressed directly in socially unacceptable ways.

The idea of venting anger comes right out of this schema. Anger is seen as a building up of pressure, like water boiling in a closed pot. "Blowing off steam" in theory reduces this pressure. But in reality, the scientific basis for this has not been supported by studies. Conditioning theory, for example, suggests the opposite, that acting out in anger feels good in the moment but reinforces acting out. This can lead to more suboptimal behavior, not less. But again, studies that directly support this conditioning model are likewise sparse.

So that is what these researchers sought to test, in order to determine how to actually reduce anger. What they found was interesting because it lines up perfectly with recommendations from ancient spiritual practices and does not exactly fit either of the modern models. The most effective methods for curbing anger were found to involve reducing physical arousal - by means of, for example, meditation. That's advice they could have gotten from the Buddhist sangha up the street, and from many other sources including Hinduism and even contemplative Christianity.

InfoWars to Remain Fake News

The long saga of Alex Jones and InfoWars appears to be coming to an end. After declaring bankruptcy in response to the billion dollar judgment leveled against him by the parents of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, InfoWars and its assets were put up for auction. In a delightful turn of events, the winning bidder was veteran fake news purveyor The Onion. You, from back when fake news was fake news, not just whatever news coverage folks like Jones don't happen to like.

The Onion’s monumental media scoop was made in partnership with the families of Sandy Hook victims, whom Jones owes at least $85 million after he lost a $1.5 billion case for claiming that the massacre, which claimed the lives of 20 first graders and six adults, was a hoax.

Ben Collins, The Onion’s CEO, playfully shared the news on social media, asking if anyone needed “millions of dollars worth of supplements.” As the news broke, The Onion—in true form—published an article by Bryce P. Tetraeder, the so-called CEO of Global Tetrahedron (The Onion’s “parent company”), in which the faux executive praised the conspiracy network as an “invaluable tool for brainwashing and controlling the masses.”

“With a shrewd mix of delusional paranoia and dubious anti-aging nutrition hacks, they strive to make life both scarier and longer for everyone, a commendable goal,” the satirical piece read.

Congratulations to The Onion for successfully taking over the dubious operations of InfoWars and kicking Jones to the curb. Bad fake news is all Jones knows and he will undoubtedly set up some other platform from which to broadcast his nonsense, but it's also true that judgments cannot be discharged in bankruptcy and whatever new platform he sets up is going to be more marginal than the one he spent decades building up. And maybe, just maybe, he'll think twice next time about setting his rabid followers loose to harrass a bunch of grieving parents.

Via Solis Scorpio Elixir Rite - Year Eight

Today's Magick Monday post is a full script for the Scorpio Elixir Rite that we will be performing tomorrow, Tuesday November 19th, at the Ritual Workshop. We will be starting around 8 PM.

0. The Temple

The ritual space is set up with an altar table in the center. The bell chime, banishing dagger, and invoking wand are placed on the altar. In the center of the altar is placed a cup of wine for creating the elixir, within the Table of Art corresponding to Scorpio. The sign Scorpio is attributed to the power of “Necromancy." Note that this refers to work with the spirits of the dead, including ancestors, rather than magick involving dead things such as body parts and so forth. The Via Solis Elixir Rites were written by Michele Montserrat in 2010 for the Comselh Ananael magical working group.

I. Opening

All stand surrounding the altar. Officiant inhales fully, placing the banishing dagger at his or her lips. The air is then expelled as the dagger is swept backwards.

Officiant: Bahlasti! Ompehda!

Officiant then performs the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. All rotate accordingly.

Officiant: We take refuge in Nuit, the blue-lidded daughter of sunset, the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night sky, as we issue the call to the awakened nature of all beings, for every man and every woman is a star.

All: MAKAShANaH

Officiant: We take refuge in Hadit, the secret flame that burns in every heart of man and in the core of every star, as we issue the call to our own awakened natures, arousing the coiled serpent about to spring.

All: ABRAHADABRA

Officiant: We take refuge in Heru-Ra-Ha, who wields the wand of double power, the wand of the force of Coph Nia, but whose left hand is empty for he has crushed an universe and naught remains, as we unite our awakened natures with those of all beings everywhere and everywhen, dissolving all obstacles and healing all suffering.

All: AUMGN

Officiant: For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.

All: All is pure and present are and has always been so, for existence is pure joy; all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass and done; but there is that which remains. To this realization we commit ourselves – pure and total presence. So mote it be.

Via Solis Libra Elixir Rite - Year Eight

Today's post is the full script for the Libra Elixir Rite that we will be performing tomorrow, Tuesday October 8rd, at the Leaping Laughter Ritual Workshop. We will be starting around 8 PM.

0. The Temple

The ritual space is set up with an altar table in the center. The bell chime, banishing dagger, and invoking wand are placed on the altar. In the center of the altar is placed a cup of wine for creating the elixir, within the Table of Art corresponding to Libra. The sign Libra is attributed to "Works of Justice and Equilibrium." So those sorts of intents are most appropriate, and as this is a general and highly adaptable power, it can be used for many different purposes, from obtaining justice in the external world to balancing your internal magical energies and/or spiritual perceptions. The Via Solis Elixir Rites were written by Michele Montserrat in 2010 for the Comselh Ananael magical working group.

I. Opening

All stand surrounding the altar. Officiant inhales fully, placing the banishing dagger at his or her lips. The air is then expelled as the dagger is swept backwards.

Officiant: Bahlasti! Ompehda!

Officiant then performs the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. All rotate accordingly.

Officiant: We take refuge in Nuit, the blue-lidded daughter of sunset, the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night sky, as we issue the call to the awakened nature of all beings, for every man and every woman is a star.

All: MAKAShANaH

Officiant: We take refuge in Hadit, the secret flame that burns in every heart of man and in the core of every star, as we issue the call to our own awakened natures, arousing the coiled serpent about to spring.

All: ABRAHADABRA

Officiant: We take refuge in Heru-Ra-Ha, who wields the wand of double power, the wand of the force of Coph Nia, but whose left hand is empty for he has crushed an universe and naught remains, as we unite our awakened natures with those of all beings everywhere and everywhen, dissolving all obstacles and healing all suffering.

All: AUMGN

Officiant: For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.

All: All is pure and present are and has always been so, for existence is pure joy; all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass and done; but there is that which remains. To this realization we commit ourselves – pure and total presence. So mote it be.

Seb-Hed Ritual for 2024

Today's post is the full script for the Seb-Hed Ritual that we will be performing tomorrow evening, Sunday September 24th, for the Autumnal Equinox at Leaping Laughter here in Minneapolis. The Seb-Hed is based on a rite of renewal practiced for the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, updated with modern ritual forms and so forth. It invokes the balanced energies of Set and Horus, who in ancient times represented Upper and Lower Egypt. Doors open at 6:00 PM with the ritual to start at 7 PM.

0. The Temple

The Set altar is in the North, and Horus altar is in the South. The material basis is placed on each altar; red wine or juice for Set, white wine or juice for Horus. A statue of each deity is placed on the corresponding altar. A third larger altar with a chalice is placed between them and slightly to temple east. This allows the Officiant and other participants to stand directly between the Set and Horus altar during the ritual. The invoking wand and banishing dagger are placed on this central altar.

I. Opening

Officiant performs the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram using the banishing dagger.

Officiant: We take refuge in Nuit, the blue-lidded daughter of sunset, the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night sky, as we issue the call to the awakened nature of all beings, for every man and every woman is a star.

All: AUMGN

Officiant: We take refuge in Set-An, the secret Black Flame that burns in every heart of man and in the core of every star, as we issue the call to our own awakened nature, arousing the coiled serpent about to spring.

All: XEPER (pronounced KEH-fer)

Officiant: We take refuge in Har-Wer, who wields the wand of double power, the wand of the force of Coph Nia, but whose left hand is empty for he has crushed an universe and naught remains, as we unite our awakened natures with those of all beings everywhere and everywhen, dissolving all obstacles and healing all suffering.

All: THELEMA.

Officiant: For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.

All: All is pure and present and has always been so, for existence is pure joy; all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass and are done; but there is that which remains. To this realization we commit ourselves – pure and total presence.

All: So mote it be.

Officiant performs the Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram (Comselh Ananael or standard version) using the invoking wand, replacing ARARITA with SOTHIS.

Via Solis Virgo Elixir Rite - Year Eight

Today's Magick Monday post is a full script for the Virgo Elixir Rite that we will be performing tomorrow, Tuesday September 17th, at the Ritual Workshop. We will be starting around 8 PM.

0. The Temple

The ritual space is set up with an altar table in the center. The banishing dagger and invoking wand are placed on the altar. In the center of the altar is placed a cup of wine for creating the elixir, within the Table of Art corresponding to Virgo. The sign Virgo is attributed to the powers of "Invisibility, Parthenogenesis, Initiation." Magical invisibility is more about avoiding being noticed than transparency, parthenogenesis can be used to create artificial spirits such as the servitors made by chaos magicians, and initiation is a general power that can be employed to set in motion just about anything in your magical or mundane life. So those sorts of intents are most appropriate. The Via Solis Elixir Rites were written by Michele Montserrat in 2010 for the Comselh Ananael magical working group.

I. Opening

All stand surrounding the altar. Officiant inhales fully, placing the banishing dagger at his or her lips. The air is then expelled as the dagger is swept backwards.

Officiant: Bahlasti! Ompehda!

Officiant then performs the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. All rotate accordingly.

Officiant: We take refuge in Nuit, the blue-lidded daughter of sunset, the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night sky, as we issue the call to the awakened nature of all beings, for every man and every woman is a star.

All: MAKAShANaH

Officiant: We take refuge in Hadit, the secret flame that burns in every heart of man and in the core of every star, as we issue the call to our own awakened natures, arousing the coiled serpent about to spring.

All: ABRAHADABRA

Officiant: We take refuge in Heru-Ra-Ha, who wields the wand of double power, the wand of the force of Coph Nia, but whose left hand is empty for he has crushed an universe and naught remains, as we unite our awakened natures with those of all beings everywhere and everywhen, dissolving all obstacles and healing all suffering.

All: AUMGN

Officiant: For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.

All: All is pure and present are and has always been so, for existence is pure joy; all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass and done; but there is that which remains. To this realization we commit ourselves – pure and total presence. So mote it be.