A New Solar Evocation Ritual

Lately I've been playing around with a few new magical techniques for planetary evocations. Years ago I posted a collection of planetary rites, and since then my methods have continued to evolve. I still am working with the intelligences and spirits from Agrippa along with the planetary angels and godnames from Liber 777 and the basic ritual structure remains the same, but I've added several new pieces that seem to work well and add to the effectiveness of the rites.

This is a solar evocation that I performed over the weekend that highlights some of this new material. At some point I'll be putting together and posting the rest of the set to update my planetary rites.

0. Setup

The temple is arranged with the table of practice in the center. The banishing dagger, invoking wand, and bell chime are present on the altar. On the table of practice is placed the tablet of the Sun and a talisman depicting the character of the Sun conjoined with the sigils of Nakhiel and Sorath, the solar intelligence and spirit from Agrippa. An orange seven-day candle dressed with solar fluid condenser and cinnamon serves as an offering to the intelligence and spirit. The ritual shall be performed in the day and hour of the sun.

I. Opening the Operant Field

Officiant performs the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.

Officiant performs the Comselh Ananael Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram.

All perform the Prayer of the Aeon, followed by Bell Chime.


II. Preliminary Invocation

I've been using the Elevenfold Seal from Liber Reguli for years as part of my daily practice, but I have more recently added it to my ceremonial rituals. I have also been working with Tahuti as a patron deity, and have found that Aleister Crowley's invocation from Liber Israfel makes an excellent preliminary invocation.

Officiant performs the Elevenfold Seal, followed by the invocation of Tahuti from Liber Israfel:

1.I invoke Tahuti, the Lord of Wisdom and of Utterance, the God that cometh forth from the Veil.
2.O Thou! Majesty of Godhead! Wisdom-crowned Tahuti! Lord of the Gates of the Universe! Thee, Thee, I invoke.
O Thou of the Ibis Head! Thee, Thee I invoke.
Thou who wieldest the Wand of Double Power! Thee, Thee I invoke!
Thou who bearest in Thy left hand the Rose and Cross of Light and Life: Thee, Thee, I invoke.
Thou, whose head is as an emerald, and Thy nemmes as the night-sky blue! Thee, Thee I invoke.
Thou, whose skin is of flaming orange as though it burned in a furnace! Thee, Thee I invoke.
3.Behold! I am Yesterday, To-Day, and the Brother of To-Morrow!
I am born again and and again.
Mine is the Unseen Force, whereof the Gods are sprung! Which is as Life unto the Dwellers in the Watch-Towers of the Universe.
I am the Charioteer of the East, Lord of the Past and of the Future.
I see by mine own inward light: Lord of Resurrection; Who cometh forth from the Dusk, and my birth is from the House of Death.
4.O ye two Divine Hawks upon your Pinnacles!
Who keep watch over the Universe!
Ye who company the Bier to the House of Rest!
Who pilot the Ship of Ra advancing onwards to the heights of heaven!
Lord of the Shrine which standeth in the Centre of the Earth!
5.Behold, He is in me, and I in Him!
Mine is the Radiance, wherein Ptah floatheth over the firmament!
I travel upon high! I tread upon the firmament of Nu!
I raise a flashing flame, with the lightning of Mine Eye!
Ever rushing on, in the splendour of the daily glorified Ra: giving my life to the Dwellers of Earth.
6.If I say "Come up upon the mountains!" the Celestial Waters shall flow at my Word.
For I am Ra incarnate! Kephra created in the Flesh!
I am the Eidolon of my father Tmu, Lord of the City of the Sun!
7.The God who commands is in my mouth!
The God of Wisdom is in my Heart!
My tongue is the Sanctuary of Truth!
And a God sitteth upon my lips.
8.My Word is accomplished every day!
And the desire of my heart realises itself, as that of Ptah when He createth!
I am Eternal; therefore all things are as my designs; therefore do all things obey my Word.
9.Therefore do Thou come forth unto me from Thine abode in the Silence: Unutterable Wisdom! All-Light! All-Power!
Thoth! Hermes! Mercury! Odin!
By whatever name I call Thee, Thou art still nameless to Eternity:. Come Thou forth, I say, and aid and guard me in this work of Art.
10.Thou, Star of the East, that didst conduct the Magi!
Thou art The Same all-present in Heaven and in Hell!
Thou that vibratest between the Light and the Darkness!
Rising, descending! Changing ever, yet ever The Same!
The Sun is Thy Father!
Thy Mother is the Moon!
The Wind hath borne Thee in its bosom: and Earth hath ever nourished the changeless Godhead of Thy Youth!
11.Come Thou forth, I say, come Thou forth!
And make all Spirits subject unto Me:
So that every Spirit of the Firmament
And of the Ether.
And of the Earth.
And under the Earth.
On dry land
And in the Water.
Of whirling Air
And of rushing Fire.
And every Spell and Scourge of God the Vast One, may be obedient unto Me!

Bell Chime.

III. Tuning the Field - Path of the Sun

An OTO brother pointed out to me that in Liber 777 there is a whole other set of godnames pertaining to the paths of the seven ancient planets. When most magicians use the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram they generally use the godname corresponding to the planet's sphere, which for the Sun is YHVH Eloah ve-Daath for Tiphareth. However, if you look further down Column V: God-Names in Assiah, you will see ALH given for key scale 30. That is the name I employ here.

The section from Liber 963 is constructed by combining the twelve solar verses from each section into a unified invocation. Since I don't repeat the keyword analysis for the Greater Hexagram if I've already done it with the Lesser Hexagram, so I like having something to bring the rite back to center after going around to the directions. I used to just say "Let the divine light descend" or something similar, but a more ecstatic piece would be nice. I also have experimented with the Orphic Hymns along the lines proposed in Rufus Opus' gate rites, but while I think they're okay for that purpose I personally like this better.

Officiant performs the Greater Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram for the Path of Sol (hexagram orange, symbol blue, godname ALH), followed by the Twelvefold invocation of the Sun from Liber 963:

O Thou golden Crown of the Universe, Thou diadem of dazzling brightness! Yea, as I burn up before Thee, my light is but as a falling star seen between the purple fingers of the Night.

O my God, Thou Mighty One, Thou Creator of all things, I renounce unto Thee all that Self which is myself, that black sun which shineth in Self's day, whose glory blindeth Thy Glory; so that I may become as a rushlight in Thine abode, and be consumed in the unutterable joy of Thine everlasting rapture.

O Thou silver axle of the Wheel of Being, thrust through the wings of Time by the still hand of Space; I swear to Thee by the twelve spokes of Thy Unity, to become unto Thee as the rim thereof, so that I may clothe me majestically in the robe that has no seam.

O Thou Sovran All-Beholding eternal Sun, who lappest up the constellations of heaven, as a thirsty thief a jar of ancient wine. I know Thee! O Thou dawn-wing'd courtesan of light, who makest me to reel with one kiss of Thy mouth, as a leaf cast into the flames of a furnace.

O Glory be to Thee, O God my God; for I behold Thee in the lotus-flower within my heart: Thou hast emblazoned my trumpet with the lion-standard, so that I may blare forth the Glory of Thy Name.

O Thou mighty God, make me as an all-consuming Sun ablaze in the centre of the Universe; I beseech Thee, O Thou great God! That I may become as a crown upon Thy brow, and flash forth the exceeding fire of Thy Godhead: O Thou God, my God!

O Thou manly warrior amongst youths, whose limbs are as swords of fire that are welded in the furnace of war; press Thy cool kisses to my burning lips, so that the folly of our passion may weave us into the Crown of everlasting Light.

O Thou God of the Nothingness of All Things! Thou who art neither the breathing influx of life; nor the iron ring in the marriage feast of death: O Thou who art not shadowed forth in the songs of war; nor in the tears or lamentations of a child! I deny Thee by the powers of mine understanding; Sheathe me in the unity of Thy might, and kindle me with the grey flame of Thine all-pervading Nothingness; for Thou art all and none of these in the fullness of Thy Not-Being.

Ah! but I rejoice in Thee, O Thou my God; Thou self-luminous refulgent Brilliance; Thou eye of light that hath no eyelid; Thou turquoise-studded sceptre of deed: Yea, I rejoice in Thee, Thou white furnace womb of Energy; O Thou spark-whirling forge of the substance of the worlds; I rejoice, yea, I shout with gladness! till I mount as a white beam unto the crown, and as a breath of night melt into the golden lips of Thy dawn, in the Glory and Splendour of Thy Name.

O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all my life sinks as the western Sun that struggles in the strangling arms of Night, flecked over with the starry foam of her kisses. Yet in the very midnight of my soul do I hold as a scarab the signet of Thy name.

O what art Thou, O God my God, Thou shrouded one veiled in a dazzling effulgence? O Thou centreless whorl of Time! Thou illimitable abysm of Righteousness, the lashes of whose eye are as showers of molten suns! O how can I reflect the light of Thine unity, and melt into Thy Glory as a cloudy chaplet of chalcedony moons?

O Thou Unity of all things: as the sun that rolleth through the twelve mansions of the skies, so art Thou, O God my God. I cannot slay Thee, for Thou art everywhere; lo! though I lick up the Boundless Light, the Boundless, and the Not, there still shall I find Thee, Thou Unity of Unities, Thou Oneness, O Thou perfect Nothingness of Bliss!

Bell Chime.

IV. The Conjuration

Officiant: ALH (x6). Come unto me, God in TIPHARETH, the sphere of SHEMESH. Send unto me MICHAEL, that great Archangel of thine, that he may answer my behest.

MICHAEL (x6). Come unto me, great and mighty Archangel of SHEMESH, by the name of the great god ALH. Send unto me NAKHIEL, that great intelligence of thine, that he may answer my behest.

NAKHIEL (x6). Come unto me, thou glorious intelligence of SHEMESH, and answer my behest. In the name of MICHAEL thy lord, compel the spirit SORATH who is under thy dominion to manifest within this Table of Practice.

SORATH (x6). Come unto me, mighty spirit of SHEMESH, and make manifest my behest. In the name of NAKHIEL thy lord, come forth within this Table of Practice that we may wield the powers of SHEMESH, the path of the Sun.

All present vibrate the four names – ALH, MICHAEL, NAKHIEL, SORATH – until Officiant senses the presence of the conjured entities. Then the Bell Chime is rung.

V. The Charge

Officiant delivers the Charge. This is followed by the Offering.

Officiant: Unto you we offer this candle, appropriately prepared, that our behest may be accomplished swiftly, skillfully, excellently, and with a perfect and thorough completion, if not by one means then by another. AMEN.

All: So mote it be.

Bell Chime.

VI. Closing

Officiant: MICHAEL, NAKHIEL, SORATH, upon the expiration of this candle I hereby license you to depart unto your proper place without causing harm or danger to man or beast. May the peace of the almighty, living, and true God be ever present between us, and may you come quickly at our call when properly conjured by these sacred rites of magick. AMEN.

All: So mote it be.

Bell Chime. The talisman is shrouded and Officiant closes with the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. The candle remains lit, and the talisman remains upon the altar while it burns.