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This article is Part Five in a series. Part One can be found here, Part Two can be found here, Part Three can be found here, and Part Four can be found here.
The work of the Zodiac is neglected by most magical resources intended for beginners. The reason for this is that in the tradition, students start out studying the elemental work, move on to the planetary work, and only after that explore the system of the Zodiac. But in the context of practical work, the signs are important, because they represent half of the practical magical powers listed in Liber 777.
When going through this series, you can refer back to my Angels of the Zodiac presentation for additional information. The presentation goes into greater detail regarding some aspects of the zodiacal work, as does my Evoking Zodiacal Angels article in Liber Spirituum.
Today I will be moving on to the sign Leo. In Liber 777, Leo is attributed to the "Power of Training Wild Beasts." This power may be used to aid you in training animals, but it also has a deeper metaphoric meaning. When Buddhists talk about freeing yourself from attachments, what they are talking about is the "karma" of outdated conditioned responses that no longer serve your will. Conditioned responses build up throughout your life in a mostly mechanical way. Your brain's conditioning system simply tries to repeat behaviors for which you were positively reinforced in the past.
Since our circumstances change, running on conditioning is a poor way to become successful. In effect, you are always reacting to situations from a day or a year or even longer ago, whether or not the behavior makes sense in your current situation. As in Buddhism, one of the goals of Western Esotericism is to make our conditioned responses serve us rather than the other way around. This is accomplished by de-conditioning work combined with re-conditioning along more effective lines. In effect, conditioned responses may be thought of as a "wild beast" in this context.
In Qabalah, the signs correspond to the twelve single letters of the Hebrew alphabet. These letters are so named because they correspond to a single specific sounds. The signs are all attributed to the sephira Chockmah, and are associated with paths only in the context of practical magical work. The sephiroth represent states of manifestation, whereas the paths represent the movement of energy between those states.
This series will be covering these paths, as they correspond to practical magical operations. This is by design - some schools teach that you should master a bunch of mystical stuff before you start casting effective spells, and I just don't buy that. You should use magick for basically everything, and you should start doing it right away. Studying the differences between successes and failures will give you essential insights into the nature of your will and the quality of your technique, and besides, doing effective practical magick is awesome.
For the Path of Leo, the four scales of color are Greenish Yellow, Depp Purple, Grey, and Reddish Amber. For ceremonial forms, you use the King scale, which is Greenish Yellow. Its complement is violet. All four scales should be used to construct the sigil of the angel.
The sigil should be traced onto the Kamea of the Sun, as the Sun is the ruler of Leo. Along with the sigil itself, you can also trace the character of Leo on the Kamea. The Angel of Leo is Verachiel, spelled Vav-Resh-Kaph-Yod-Aleph-Lamed. The Sun Kamea is 6 x 6, so the highest number it contains is 36. Therefore, Resh needs to be reduced, and in this case I would reduce it from 200 to 20 rather than to 2. This yields 6, 20 (200), 20, 10, 1, 30. The final figure should look something like this:
From Liber 777, incense appropriate to Leo is Olibanum (Frankincense). The associated plant is Sunflower. The associated metal is gold, with brass a possible substitute, and the associated precious stone is cat's eye.
The plants may be dried and ground into a powder using a mortar and pestle and can be sprinkled onto the paper talisman as an offering to the angel. Likewise, a piece of cat's eye, gold, or brass may be placed on top of the paper talisman for the conjuration. You then use the paper to wrap up the whole thing when the ritual is complete and somehow bind or tape it together.
The god-name for the path of Leo is the fifth permutation of Tetragrammaton, HVYH. Some schools teach that as the name of God is ineffable, it should be spelled out by letter (Heh-Vav-Heh-Yod). However, in practice that does not work nearly as well as pronouncing the name as a word. The pronunciation of this permutation would be something like "Hev-Yah."
For ceremonial forms, I use the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram for the signs of the Zodiac when working practical magick. Apparently a number of schools teach that you should use the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram instead, but as I see it the practical zodiacal work as an extension of the macrocosm, so I prefer the hexagram. You can invoke an element using either the hexagram of the ruling planet or the pentagram of the ruling element, but in the latter case it seems more likely that what will be invoked is the sign's more microcosmic aspects, such as associated personality traits.
0. The Temple
The best time to perform a Leo operation is on a Sunday, during an hour of the Sun that falls during the day. This is because the Sun rules Leo, and because the sign Leo belongs to the Diurnal sect. Since you are employing ceremonial forms to tune the space you could do it during a night hour of the Sun as well, but a day hour is most appropriate.
To calculate the hours, divide the time between sunrise and sunset into twelve equal parts to get the hours of the day, and the time between sunset and sunrise into twelve equal parts to get the hours of the night. Days begin at sunrise. The first hour of the day is attributed to the planet ruling the day, and the subsequent hours are assigned according to the Chaldean Order.
Saturn --> Jupiter --> Mars --> Sun --> Venus --> Mercury --> Moon
Following the hour of the Moon, the order starts over again with Saturn. While it seems complicated as first, once you do it a bunch, you'll find that it actually is pretty easy. At this point I can almost do it in my head. There are also a number of software programs that you can download to do the calculation for you, and even some websites that will tell you the hours.
You should also calculate the Chart Victor for the time of your operation if at all possible. Ideally, you want the Chart Victor to be a planet that is dignified in the sign, and you should always avoid a Chart Victor that is debilitated. So the best Chart Victor for a Leo operation is the Sun (Rulership). No planet is exalted in Leo. The Chart Victor to always avoid are Saturn (Detriment). No planet is in Fall in Leo.
The other planets are essentially neutral, and will neither impede nor aid your operation. The Sun tends to be a rare Chart Victor, so you may have to go with a neutral Chart Victor, though if you can wait until the Chart Victor is the Sun you will generally get better results. Also, keep in mind that simple electional timing should be employed as well, and a positive final aspect is especially important if you are working with a neutral Chart Victor.
There are a number of different ways to arrange the temple for an operation such as this. What we do is place an altar in the center with the banishing dagger and invoking wand. Also on the altar is a containment structure such as the Sigillum Dei Aemeth or the Trithemian Table of Art. The diagram depicting the character and sigil should be placed within this structure. A small container of some sort for offerings may be placed on the Table of Art, or you can sprinkle the offering directly upon the diagram itself.
The Table of Art shown above is from The Digital Ambler. You can read about the design and how it was put together here. You can click on the image to enlarge.
If you employ scrying in your work, an appropriate device such as a crystal or mirror should also be placed in the containment structure. If you are using incense for such an operation, the traditional method is to place the incense burner between the scryer and the mirror or crystal. Otherwise, it may be placed anywhere in the space. Some scryers like to place a taper candle on either side of the device, and while I can't say that method does anything at all for me, a number of others report good results with it.
1. Opening
Light incense, if used. Open the magical field using the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram and Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram, Star Ruby and Star Sapphire, or the Field Ritual. The usual field for practical work is the operant field, with banishing pentagrams and invoking hexagrams.
2. Preliminary Invocation
Raise energy using the Middle Pillar, Elevenfold Seal (the "First Gesture" from Liber V vel Reguli), or some other appropriate ritual method as you may know how to do.
Make the Sign of Apophis and Typhon, raising both arms and holding them straight with an angle between them of 60 degrees, and proclaim, very strongly:
Then make the Sign of Silence, by standing straight with one arm at your side and placing your thumb or forefinger to your lips.
3. Tuning the Space
Perform the Greater Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram for Leo. The solar hexagram used for Leo is the longest and most complex of the hexagrams, as it is composed of the other six made beginning with Saturn and following the Chaldean Order all the way down to the Moon. I generally vibrate ARARITA for each hexagram traced, but there is no set method for doing this. Beginning in the east, go to each quarter in turn and perform the following actions.
Once the four figures are traced, return to face the east completing the circle.
Then, recite the following unification statement adapted from Liber 963.
The space should now be tuned for the conjuration.
4. The Conjuration
At this point, vibrate the name VERACHIEL repeatedly until the presence of the angel and spirits of Leo are perceived within the Table of Art. Various methods may be used to accomplish this, from simply waiting until a presence makes itself known to scrying for an image in a crystal or dark mirror. If this is being performed as a group ritual, with everyone chanting the name together, it is helpful for the officiant or scryer to have a bell chime that can be rung once he or she perceives a presence in whatever manner. At the bell chime, the chant stops.
5. The Charge
My instructions for the charge are simple and straightforward, just as you can find in my published books. Make use of an Injunction, which is what you want the angel and associated spirits to do, and a Limitation, which is what you do not want them to do. The Limitation helps you avoid "Monkey's Paw" situations in which your Injunction may manifest, but in an undesirable way.
As I mentioned above, Liber 777 catalogs the powers attributed to the sign Leo as the "Power of Training Wild Beasts." For best results, your charge should fall within that area. Otherwise, you may be asking for something outside Leo's sphere of influence, and that could cause the ritual to fail. Remember that Leo can be used to work with conditioned responses in addition to literal animal training.
At this point you may also make offerings to the angel by placing them in the small container. After the angel has had a chance to partake of the offerings, be sure to dispose of them. Alcohol such as wine may be allowed to evaporate on its own, and natural substances may be scattered outdoors. Do not attempt to reuse an offering - generally speaking, spirits do not take kindly to that.
Your other option is to place the offerings directly upon the sigil itself, if this is practical, as it is with ground-up plant material or spices. If you decide to go this route, you will be wrapping the offering up in the paper sigil and need give it no further thought. Obviously, though, this becomes less practical with liquid offerings, such as alcohol.
Also, You should get some sort of assent from the angel before you proceed to the License to Depart, or an explanation of his objection. When the charge lies outside the angel's sphere of influence, often he will be willing to direct you to another spirit that would be more suitable to conjure in order to better accomplish your intent.
6. The License to Depart
7. Closing
The ritual may be closed with either a final banishing pentagram ritual or with the Qabalistic Cross performed on its own. These should match the rituals used in the opening, so for example if you opened with a Star Ruby you should repeat it or perform the corresponding version of the Qabalistic Cross.
Generally speaking, if you want to release your intent out into the world to accomplish some task external to yourself, you should close with a banishing pentagram ritual. This is similar to the chaos magick idea of releasing a sigil once it has been created and empowered.
On the other hand, if you also want the effect of the ritual to linger within your sphere of awareness, whether or not the intent is also external, you should close with the Qabalistic Cross. This stabilizes the operation, but does not detach it from your sphere of awareness.
The work of the Zodiac is neglected by most magical resources intended for beginners. The reason for this is that in the tradition, students start out studying the elemental work, move on to the planetary work, and only after that explore the system of the Zodiac. But in the context of practical work, the signs are important, because they represent half of the practical magical powers listed in Liber 777.
When going through this series, you can refer back to my Angels of the Zodiac presentation for additional information. The presentation goes into greater detail regarding some aspects of the zodiacal work, as does my Evoking Zodiacal Angels article in Liber Spirituum.
Today I will be moving on to the sign Leo. In Liber 777, Leo is attributed to the "Power of Training Wild Beasts." This power may be used to aid you in training animals, but it also has a deeper metaphoric meaning. When Buddhists talk about freeing yourself from attachments, what they are talking about is the "karma" of outdated conditioned responses that no longer serve your will. Conditioned responses build up throughout your life in a mostly mechanical way. Your brain's conditioning system simply tries to repeat behaviors for which you were positively reinforced in the past.
Since our circumstances change, running on conditioning is a poor way to become successful. In effect, you are always reacting to situations from a day or a year or even longer ago, whether or not the behavior makes sense in your current situation. As in Buddhism, one of the goals of Western Esotericism is to make our conditioned responses serve us rather than the other way around. This is accomplished by de-conditioning work combined with re-conditioning along more effective lines. In effect, conditioned responses may be thought of as a "wild beast" in this context.
In Qabalah, the signs correspond to the twelve single letters of the Hebrew alphabet. These letters are so named because they correspond to a single specific sounds. The signs are all attributed to the sephira Chockmah, and are associated with paths only in the context of practical magical work. The sephiroth represent states of manifestation, whereas the paths represent the movement of energy between those states.
This series will be covering these paths, as they correspond to practical magical operations. This is by design - some schools teach that you should master a bunch of mystical stuff before you start casting effective spells, and I just don't buy that. You should use magick for basically everything, and you should start doing it right away. Studying the differences between successes and failures will give you essential insights into the nature of your will and the quality of your technique, and besides, doing effective practical magick is awesome.
For the Path of Leo, the four scales of color are Greenish Yellow, Depp Purple, Grey, and Reddish Amber. For ceremonial forms, you use the King scale, which is Greenish Yellow. Its complement is violet. All four scales should be used to construct the sigil of the angel.
The sigil should be traced onto the Kamea of the Sun, as the Sun is the ruler of Leo. Along with the sigil itself, you can also trace the character of Leo on the Kamea. The Angel of Leo is Verachiel, spelled Vav-Resh-Kaph-Yod-Aleph-Lamed. The Sun Kamea is 6 x 6, so the highest number it contains is 36. Therefore, Resh needs to be reduced, and in this case I would reduce it from 200 to 20 rather than to 2. This yields 6, 20 (200), 20, 10, 1, 30. The final figure should look something like this:
From Liber 777, incense appropriate to Leo is Olibanum (Frankincense). The associated plant is Sunflower. The associated metal is gold, with brass a possible substitute, and the associated precious stone is cat's eye.
The plants may be dried and ground into a powder using a mortar and pestle and can be sprinkled onto the paper talisman as an offering to the angel. Likewise, a piece of cat's eye, gold, or brass may be placed on top of the paper talisman for the conjuration. You then use the paper to wrap up the whole thing when the ritual is complete and somehow bind or tape it together.
The god-name for the path of Leo is the fifth permutation of Tetragrammaton, HVYH. Some schools teach that as the name of God is ineffable, it should be spelled out by letter (Heh-Vav-Heh-Yod). However, in practice that does not work nearly as well as pronouncing the name as a word. The pronunciation of this permutation would be something like "Hev-Yah."
For ceremonial forms, I use the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram for the signs of the Zodiac when working practical magick. Apparently a number of schools teach that you should use the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram instead, but as I see it the practical zodiacal work as an extension of the macrocosm, so I prefer the hexagram. You can invoke an element using either the hexagram of the ruling planet or the pentagram of the ruling element, but in the latter case it seems more likely that what will be invoked is the sign's more microcosmic aspects, such as associated personality traits.
0. The Temple
The best time to perform a Leo operation is on a Sunday, during an hour of the Sun that falls during the day. This is because the Sun rules Leo, and because the sign Leo belongs to the Diurnal sect. Since you are employing ceremonial forms to tune the space you could do it during a night hour of the Sun as well, but a day hour is most appropriate.
To calculate the hours, divide the time between sunrise and sunset into twelve equal parts to get the hours of the day, and the time between sunset and sunrise into twelve equal parts to get the hours of the night. Days begin at sunrise. The first hour of the day is attributed to the planet ruling the day, and the subsequent hours are assigned according to the Chaldean Order.
Saturn --> Jupiter --> Mars --> Sun --> Venus --> Mercury --> Moon
Following the hour of the Moon, the order starts over again with Saturn. While it seems complicated as first, once you do it a bunch, you'll find that it actually is pretty easy. At this point I can almost do it in my head. There are also a number of software programs that you can download to do the calculation for you, and even some websites that will tell you the hours.
You should also calculate the Chart Victor for the time of your operation if at all possible. Ideally, you want the Chart Victor to be a planet that is dignified in the sign, and you should always avoid a Chart Victor that is debilitated. So the best Chart Victor for a Leo operation is the Sun (Rulership). No planet is exalted in Leo. The Chart Victor to always avoid are Saturn (Detriment). No planet is in Fall in Leo.
The other planets are essentially neutral, and will neither impede nor aid your operation. The Sun tends to be a rare Chart Victor, so you may have to go with a neutral Chart Victor, though if you can wait until the Chart Victor is the Sun you will generally get better results. Also, keep in mind that simple electional timing should be employed as well, and a positive final aspect is especially important if you are working with a neutral Chart Victor.
There are a number of different ways to arrange the temple for an operation such as this. What we do is place an altar in the center with the banishing dagger and invoking wand. Also on the altar is a containment structure such as the Sigillum Dei Aemeth or the Trithemian Table of Art. The diagram depicting the character and sigil should be placed within this structure. A small container of some sort for offerings may be placed on the Table of Art, or you can sprinkle the offering directly upon the diagram itself.
The Table of Art shown above is from The Digital Ambler. You can read about the design and how it was put together here. You can click on the image to enlarge.
If you employ scrying in your work, an appropriate device such as a crystal or mirror should also be placed in the containment structure. If you are using incense for such an operation, the traditional method is to place the incense burner between the scryer and the mirror or crystal. Otherwise, it may be placed anywhere in the space. Some scryers like to place a taper candle on either side of the device, and while I can't say that method does anything at all for me, a number of others report good results with it.
1. Opening
Light incense, if used. Open the magical field using the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram and Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram, Star Ruby and Star Sapphire, or the Field Ritual. The usual field for practical work is the operant field, with banishing pentagrams and invoking hexagrams.
2. Preliminary Invocation
Raise energy using the Middle Pillar, Elevenfold Seal (the "First Gesture" from Liber V vel Reguli), or some other appropriate ritual method as you may know how to do.
Make the Sign of Apophis and Typhon, raising both arms and holding them straight with an angle between them of 60 degrees, and proclaim, very strongly:
Thee I invoke, who art Universe!
Thee I invoke, who art in Nature formed!
Thee I invoke, the vast and the mighty!
Source of Darkness, Source of Light.
Then make the Sign of Silence, by standing straight with one arm at your side and placing your thumb or forefinger to your lips.
3. Tuning the Space
Perform the Greater Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram for Leo. The solar hexagram used for Leo is the longest and most complex of the hexagrams, as it is composed of the other six made beginning with Saturn and following the Chaldean Order all the way down to the Moon. I generally vibrate ARARITA for each hexagram traced, but there is no set method for doing this. Beginning in the east, go to each quarter in turn and perform the following actions.
- 1. Trace the Hexagram of Leo in Greenish Yellow while vibrating ARARITA (ah-rah-ree-tah). The hexagram of the Leo is traced by:
- First, starting at the upper point and tracing the first triangle clockwise, and then moving on to the bottom point and tracing the second triangle clockwise from there.
- Then, starting at the upper right point and tracing the first triangle clockwise, and then moving on to the lower left point and tracing the second triangle from there.
- Then, starting at the upper left point and tracing the first triangle clockwise, and then moving on to the lower right point and tracing the second triangle clockwise from there.
- Then, starting at the lower right point and tracing the first triangle clockwise, and then moving on to the upper left point and tracing the second triangle clockwise from there.
- Then, starting at the lower left point and tracing the first triangle clockwise, and then moving on to the upper right point and tracing the second triangle clockwise from there.
- Finally, starting at the bottom point and tracing the first triangle clockwise, and then moving on to the upper point and tracing the second triangle clockwise from there.
- Trace the symbol of the Sun in the center of the hexagram in blue while vibrating HVYH (Hev-Yah).
Once the four figures are traced, return to face the east completing the circle.
Then, recite the following unification statement adapted from Liber 963.
1. O Thou crowned giant among great giants, Thou crimson-sworded soldier of war! Yea, as I battle with Thee, Thou masterest me as a lion that slayeth a babe that is cradled in lilies.
2. O my God, Thou Mighty One, Thou Creator of all things, I renounce unto Thee the whispers of the desert, and the moan of the simoom, and all the silence of the sea of dust; so that I may be lost in the atoms of Thy Glory, and be consumed in the unutterable joy of Thine everlasting rapture.
3. O Thou incandescent Ocean of molten stars, surging above the arch of the Firmament; I swear to Thee by the mane-pennoned lances of light, to stir the lion of Thy darkness from its lair, and lash the sorceress of noontide into fury with serpents of fire.
4. O Thou Sovran Light and fire of loveliness, whose flaming locks stream downwards through the aethyr as knots of lightening deep-rooted in the Abyss. I know Thee! O Thou winnowing flail of brightness, the passionate lash of whose encircling hand scatters mankind before Thy fury as the wind-scud from the stormy breast of Ocean.
5. O Glory be to Thee, O God my God; for I behold Thee in the Lion Rampant of the dawn: Thou hast crushed with Thy paw the crouching lioness of Night, so that she may roar forth the Glory of Thy Name.
6. O Thou mighty God, make me as a ruby lion that roareth from the summit of a white mountain; I beseech Thee, O Thou great God! That I may echo forth Thy lord-ship through the hills, and dwindle into the nipple of Thy bounty. O Thou God, my God!
7. O Thou opalescent Serpent-Queen, whose mouth is as the sunset that is bloody with the slaughter of day; hold me in the crimson flames of Thine arms, so that at Thy kisses I may expire as a bubble in the foam of Thy dazzling lips.
8. O Thou God of the Nothingness of All Things! Thou who art neither the traces of the chariot; nor the pole of galloping delusion: O Thou who art not the pivot of the whole Universe; nor the body of the woman-serpent of the stars! I deny Thee by the powers of mine understanding; Lead me in the unity of Thy might, and draw me unto the threshold of Thine all-pervading Nothingness; for Thou art all and none of these in the fullness of Thy Not-Being.
9. Ah! but I rejoice in Thee, O Thou my God; Thou jewel-work of snow on the limbs of night; Thou elaboration of oneness; Thou shower of universal suns: Yea, I rejoice in Thee, Thou gorgeous, Thou wildering one; O Thou great lion roaring over a sea of blood! I rejoice, yea, I shout with gladness! till the wild thunder of my praise breaketh down, as a satyr doth a babe, the nine and ninety gates of Thy Power, in the Glory and Splendour of Thy Name.
10. O my God, exalt me with blood and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before Thee; for all my courage is but as the fang of a viper that striketh at the rosy heel of dawn.
11. O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all the joy of my days lies dishonoured as the spangle-veil'd Virgin of night torn and trampled by the sun-lashed stallions of Dawn. Yet in the frenzy of their couplings do I tremble forth the pearly dew of ecstatic light.
12. O what art Thou, O God my God, Thou red fire-fang that gnawest the blue limbs of night? O Thou devouring breath of flame! Thou illimitable ocean of frenzied air, in whom all is one, a plume cast into a furnace! O how can I dare to approach and stand before Thee, for I am but as a withered leaf whirled away by the anger of the storm?
13. 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!
The space should now be tuned for the conjuration.
4. The Conjuration
O thou mighty angel VERACHIEL, ruler of ARI, by the name of the True and Living God HVYH, I call upon you and ask that you along with the spirits of your domain manifest themselves unto me, for I am a true worshiper of the highest. Let them come forth in a friendly and peaceful manner that I may partake of the wisdom and the pure essence of Leo, and that they may attend to my behest. AMEN.
At this point, vibrate the name VERACHIEL repeatedly until the presence of the angel and spirits of Leo are perceived within the Table of Art. Various methods may be used to accomplish this, from simply waiting until a presence makes itself known to scrying for an image in a crystal or dark mirror. If this is being performed as a group ritual, with everyone chanting the name together, it is helpful for the officiant or scryer to have a bell chime that can be rung once he or she perceives a presence in whatever manner. At the bell chime, the chant stops.
5. The Charge
My instructions for the charge are simple and straightforward, just as you can find in my published books. Make use of an Injunction, which is what you want the angel and associated spirits to do, and a Limitation, which is what you do not want them to do. The Limitation helps you avoid "Monkey's Paw" situations in which your Injunction may manifest, but in an undesirable way.
As I mentioned above, Liber 777 catalogs the powers attributed to the sign Leo as the "Power of Training Wild Beasts." For best results, your charge should fall within that area. Otherwise, you may be asking for something outside Leo's sphere of influence, and that could cause the ritual to fail. Remember that Leo can be used to work with conditioned responses in addition to literal animal training.
At this point you may also make offerings to the angel by placing them in the small container. After the angel has had a chance to partake of the offerings, be sure to dispose of them. Alcohol such as wine may be allowed to evaporate on its own, and natural substances may be scattered outdoors. Do not attempt to reuse an offering - generally speaking, spirits do not take kindly to that.
Your other option is to place the offerings directly upon the sigil itself, if this is practical, as it is with ground-up plant material or spices. If you decide to go this route, you will be wrapping the offering up in the paper sigil and need give it no further thought. Obviously, though, this becomes less practical with liquid offerings, such as alcohol.
Also, You should get some sort of assent from the angel before you proceed to the License to Depart, or an explanation of his objection. When the charge lies outside the angel's sphere of influence, often he will be willing to direct you to another spirit that would be more suitable to conjure in order to better accomplish your intent.
6. The License to Depart
Mighty VERACHIEL and the spirits of Thy domain, because thou hast-diligently answered unto my demands, and hast been very ready and willing to come at my call, I do hereby license thee to depart unto thy proper place, without causing harm or danger unto man or beast. I charge thee to withdraw peaceably and quietly with the blessings of the great god HVYH, and that peace be ever continued between us. So mote it be!
7. Closing
The ritual may be closed with either a final banishing pentagram ritual or with the Qabalistic Cross performed on its own. These should match the rituals used in the opening, so for example if you opened with a Star Ruby you should repeat it or perform the corresponding version of the Qabalistic Cross.
Generally speaking, if you want to release your intent out into the world to accomplish some task external to yourself, you should close with a banishing pentagram ritual. This is similar to the chaos magick idea of releasing a sigil once it has been created and empowered.
On the other hand, if you also want the effect of the ritual to linger within your sphere of awareness, whether or not the intent is also external, you should close with the Qabalistic Cross. This stabilizes the operation, but does not detach it from your sphere of awareness.
29 comments:
Have you ever used the form of your hacked solar hexagram for Leo rituals? If so, did you notice any difference between outcomes? Although, it's hard to compare outcomes even if you are to cast on the same thing because the surrounding conditions are always changing. This means the amount of resistance is always changing. It would probably be way better to cast on yourself, and even so... Anyway, I'm making it longer then intended :)
No, I have not tried that. This is one of those ideas that I put out there but didn't get around to doing much experimentation with. I still use the regular solar hexagram almost exclusively for practical Solar/Leo work.
It is true that you want to try and match the conditions as best you can. So chart victor and at the very least positive or negative simple election. But since that's difficult, it may prove easier to do a large set of operations and compare the overall result sets.
That's what I usually do for probability testing - it's tedious, but it will tell you more than just doing a couple of rituals and leaving it at that even when you can match conditions closely.
I see, and it makes sense to use the now classic form of the hexagram for both Leo and the Sun. And the angel of the 5th house as well, since it's mentioned in 777. By the way, would you trace the Sol or Leo hexagram if you were to conjure said angel? Crowley placed the 5th house on the Key Scale of Leo, if I'm not mistaking.
I mostly do Renaissance astrology, where there is no direct connection between the houses and the signs. However, there's even less of a relationship with the planets, so I would think the Leo hexagram would be a better fit than the Solar one if you were explicitly going for the fifth house.
Makes sense. Thank you!
I conjured Oel, the angel of the 5th house yesterday, and I used the Leo hexagram in the process. I didn't go through the whole conjuration of Leo, but I did add the names Yah and Raziel into the conjuration of Oel,besides the permutation of Leo. I made an elixir with his help and I'm pleased with the results so far, even though they're way too subjective in nature to be worth mentioning.
Anyway, the column following that of the angels of the houses is CXLIII. Crowley attributed what he calls the Twelve Lesser Assistant Angels in the Signs to it. I was wondering if you happened to have worked with any of them, because it just came to me that they could use the powers of their respective signs faster than the angels of the signs. Crowley calls the latter Geomantic Intelligences, which could be a clue that they're closer to Earth. Maybe in Assiah, but it would still be Atziluth of Assiah, since they're zodiacal. Right? I mean I think Frater RO even called them archangels when he abounded your Via Solis rites. So I'm thinking these so called Assistant Angels could be based in Yetzirah of Assiah, and therefore do the job faster. Any thoughts?
I have not worked with the Lesser Assistant Angels. I always have assumed that they were under the domain of the angel of the sign and could be dispatched by said angel as necessary. If that is the case, I expect that you probably would not see much of a difference between (1) calling the angel and giving it a tight timeframe versus (2) calling the lesser assistant angels.
You could think of the zodiacal Geomantic Intelligences as Atziluth of Assiah. I would probably say both Atziluth and Briah of Assiah (cosmic field), with the planetary geomantic intelligences as Yetzirah of Assiah (transpersonal field). I'm not sure if the Lesser Assistant Angels would be one world down or if they would reside at the same level of reality as the angels of the signs. Or maybe angels of the signs are Atziluth, lesser assistant angels are Briah?
I probably would have to call them up and ask some questions to see which set of attributions fit best.
Note that there is no difference between an "angel" and an "archangel." The only reason that four of the angels are called archangels by Christians is that they are explicitly named in the Bible. Three of the four "archangels" are also "angels" according to the planetary schema - Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael. Those are the same spirits, not multiple spirits with the same name or somesuch.
By referring to RO's way of mentioning the zodiacal angels as archangels I meant to say that they could be in the archangelic world of Briah. Don't know why I wrote Atziluth in the previous comment. Guess I was way to tired when I wrote that. So I figured that IF they were in Briah, then the lesser angels would be in Yetzirah - ie Chicken Qabalah with archangel Edison and angel Dorkael :)
Anyway, I don't think that matters so much. I was looking for options to use the zodiacal forces with the same efficiency, only faster. Because experiment, not stuck in ye Dark Ages :)
I assumed you said Atziluth because Atziluth = Chockmah and Kether and the zodiac is attributed to Chockmah. So it made sense in that context.
And as you know, I'm a huge fan of experimentation. If you do try something like that, let me know how it goes.
But of course. I hope I can manage to call on two of them in the next few days. I'll be sure to notify you should the results will be as intended and/or manifest faster.
The results so far are inconclusive. I did cast on various things, so I don't have enough rituals that target similar issues in order to see if the assistant angels work as good as the main ones, or faster. More rituals to come, but I will say I think they're worth a shot.
Thanks for the update. So far I have not seen much information anywhere on what the "Lesser Assistant Angels" do or how they are supposed to work, so experimentation along those lines could yield some pretty interesting results.
So far they seem to me like just as another spirit associated to each of the signs. I found them very willing to cooperate, and the ones I've called so far seemed happy that I've noticed them and decided to work with them. I followed your lead and did some Leo experiments with conditioning, which turned out awesome! Other rituals with these angels are still on their way to manifesting, I think, probably because they target probability shifts in the material world. It's still quite a short time between the rituals and the present moment though - a few weeks- so I guess I'll have to wait some more. I will continue doing rituals with them when the opportunity arises and let you know what happens.
Another idea would be to call them along with the "regular" zodiacal angels and see if their presence makes a difference in the outcome. In theory, my model suggests that it might because you would have multiple spirits working on your charge instead of just the one. On the other hand, if it works about the same that would suggest that the regular angels might be doing some calling upon the "assistant angels" behind the scenes. You know, like assistants.
Correction - 2 of the elixirs i did with Leo for conditioning work awesome. I did another one for the same purpose targeting a different conditional thing, but it appears as though it doesn't work. I might have to rethink my intent. Anyway, i did just that last evening, and called a regular zodiacal angel along with its assistant. I was in a rush because some public construction thing is going on outside and the noise is irritating, so i managed to find a short window with less noise in order to do the ritual. I couldn't afford to chat with the spirits for too long, but i'm sure they have told me there's no need to call on both of them for dealing with the same issue. So that's that. It was only one ritual, and i was in a hurry and kinda stressed, so i will have to double-check on that, but i will keep calling on these angels alone, as well as along the regular ones.
I believe the bottom right number in the kamea should be 31.
You have a good eye. This one is fixed now. I will go check the other one as well.
Should the sigil be ending on 30 in the Kamea ?
Yes, it should! Typo on my sigil there. I'll update the graphic.
I really wanna do this but that Sun hexagram is messing with my head!
It is by far the most difficult of the hexagrams to trace. Some Thelemites use the unicursal hexagram starting from the center point, but I went ahead and taught myself the complex standard one. It does take some practice!
From personal experience I found it easier to count all six hexagrams using the fingers of the hand you're not using when tracing the hexagrams. Another thing I found is I usually got confused whenever switching from the Mars to the Venus hexagram because they follow one another and the Mars hexagram's tracing ends at the Venus point. So my mind usually got tricked into thinking I had already gone through the Venus hexagram. And that's where counting them helped because I trained myself to pay more attention when going from the third hexagram (Mars) to the fourth (Venus).
Hi Scott,
you said that the GRP would invoke the microcosmic aspects, such as associated personality traits. You also mention conditioning as being something you could use Leo to work on. If we're using this ritual to work on personality traits such as might be caused by conditioning, would the GRP be more appropriate ?
Possibly, but that is not something I have tried. I always use the GRH on the grounds that the macrocosm includes the microcosm. But if you want to try it out, I could see it working for you.
I am once again asking basic and newbie questions :)
1. Does a relationship with Verachiel/Verkhiel (Agrippa) by association facilitate a relationship with the Solar angels or does every angel has to be conjured and befriended individually?
Since Leo can do everything the Sun can, due to it being the single sign ruled by Leo, why can we not converge our time on just one of them? Or maybe they're not the same because the Hebrew letters for both of them are different; Resh vs Teit. I ask because I keep forgoing any and all opportunities to work with Michael whenever they arrive and magick done in desperation is not a good call.
2. I don't want to use the Solar/Leo hexagram for this. It gives my arm severe pain. It's not that I can't but just don't want to draw 12x4 = 48 triangles. I wonder whether switching arms would be fine, otherwise your hacked Solar hexagram adapted to Leo or the GIRP of Leo unless you know of another method.
3. Finally, do you know of a method to further strengthen the field beyond the GRH? Maybe an initial elixir ritual of Aries can do that by tuning yourself to the energy of the sign but that itself can easily be done by charging the angel to do it or petitioning a different angel of the sign than the archangel of the sign like Verkhiel. This is probably how one would make use of one angel to get to another angel.
Each spirit is an individual, just like with people. In my experience, they need to be dealt with on that basis. A relationship with a spirit that shares a similar attribution is not the same thing.
It doesn't matter which arm you use to trace the hexagrams. You can switch if you want. Another method that a fair number of thelemites use is to trace the solar unicursal hexagram. You trace that either (A) from the top point clockwise or (B) from the center point clockwise. There's some debate over which is the best, so try both and see. I usually go with (A).
You could experiment with something like that. I haven't tried that exact combination. But one thing I have found is that there are a lot of cases where making the ritual structure more elaborate doesn't make it any more powerful beyond what you get with the operant field. If you get better at energy work, that will make a difference - the forms don't change, but the effect will be stronger if you can put more energy into them.
If I may, while Leo is the home of the Sun, the two forces are on different levels so to speak. Not only is the zodiacal realm above the planetary, but the signs are an archetypal force that dictates the nature each individual planet behaves in when passing through them. The planets still manifest their own nature, but they do so differently depending on the sign they're in at any given time. As such, I wouldn't conflate the two or even associate them too much except for recognizing the relationship of one being at peak power when transiting the other.
So the Sun is at peak power in Leo but what about Leo itself when Sun is in Aquarius? Certainly, we have to avoid signs when its ruling planet is in bad dignity. Scott, you said it clearly in your planetary magick video that if one has a good understanding with the spirit of the debilitated planet, one can ask the spirit to be spared from the effects of the retrograde, fall, detriment etc. Depending on which spirit you have a relationship with you would either ask Michael or Verchiel or both. You also said that a knowledge/mystical operation has no harm in doing.
And so, since this interaction I have taken a daily practice of invoking Verkhiel and charging him to invoke the positive aspects of his domain in my life while negating the negative aspects (lethargy, low confidence) using the GIRP of your hacked Solar hexagram adapted to Leo; form 1. This spares me from the pain of drawing 48 triangles. I haven't yet given any offerings to him since this is not a practical operation.
I would like to know what else I can do to further this process.
It is a little more complicated than that, because everything is not determined just by ruling planet. You can do a highly effective Leo operation whenever you can get the Sun as a chart victor, which is less likely when the Sun is in Aquarius but not impossible. You just need to choose your times carefully - put Leo on the ascendant, use hour and day of the Sun, pick the best house position you can, and so forth. Avoiding Leo operation with the Sun in Aquarius can be used as a rule of thumb, but it also blocks you from doing any operations for an entire month.
Your process there sounds pretty good to me. I'd keep it up for a bit to see how well it works, and based on your results you can add steps, remove steps, or just keep it the same.
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