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This article is Part Six in a series. Part One can be found here, Part Two can be found here, Part Three can be found here, Part Four can be found here, and Part Five 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 Virgo. In Liber 777, Virgo is attributed to the powers of "Invisibility, Parthenogenesis, Initiation." Aleister Crowley famously experimented with the power of invisibility, writing in his magical diary that he could walk around the city dressed in outrageous costumes and the like and nobody would notice him if his invisibility spell was working. A number of modern authors have pointed out that maybe nobody interacted with him, but the people he encountered were probably just rolling their eyes at this weird guy walking around who thought nobody could see him.
The way invisibility spells work in real life is by directing the attention of others away from you. They won't turn you transparent or fool a security camera. They can be quite useful, though. I have been able to use invisibility spells to walk right past people I know on the street without them recognizing me, for example. They work even better with strangers, if you are going about your business and don't want to be bothered. But of course, dressing in ridiculous attire or doing anything to draw attention to yourself undermines the attention shift caused by the spell and will usually make it fail.
The power of Parthenogenesis can be used to create artificial spirits, which are generally called "servitors" in chaos magick and "telesmas" in Golden Dawn - influenced traditions. Contrary to what some chaos magicians believe, concentrated attention alone does not automatically create actual macrocosmic spirits. For example, people are not constantly creating spirits when they watch popular television programs or read books. The process of creation instead has to be deliberate and focused, and the conjured form must be endowed with coherence - consistency and self-referentiality - in order to truly come "alive."
Initiation can come in many forms, so this power could be applicable to a wide variety of mystical operations intended to align yourself with particular spiritual powers and/or induce mystical realizations. This will be discussed in greater detail when I move on to the Path of Initiation, a series that will follow the current series of zodiacal operations.
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 Virgo, the four scales of color are Yellowish Green, Slate Grey, Green Grey, and sh Amber. For ceremonial forms, you use the King scale, which is Yellowish Green. Its complement is crimson. All four scales should be used to construct the sigil of the angel.
The sigil should be traced onto the Kamea of Mercury, as Mercury is the ruler of Virgo. Along with the sigil itself, you can also trace the character of Virgo on the Kamea. The Angel of Virgo is Hamaliel, spelled Heh-Mem-Lamed-Yod-Aleph-Lamed. This yields 5, 40, 30, 10, 1, 30. The final figure should look something like this:
From Liber 777, incense appropriate to Virgo is Narcissus. The associated plants are snowdrop, lily, narcissus, and mistletoe. The associated metal is mercury (quicksilver) or any alloy such as brass, and the associated precious stone is peridot.
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 peridot 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 Virgo is the sixth permutation of Tetragrammaton, HHVY. Some schools teach that as the name of God is ineffable, it should be spelled out by letter (Heh-Heh-Vav-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 "Heh-Vay."
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 Virgo operation is on a Wednesday, during an hour of Mercury that falls during the night. This is because Mercury rules Virgo, and because the sign Virgo belongs to the Nocturnal sect. Since you are employing ceremonial forms to tune the space you could do it during a day hour of Mercury as well, but a night 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 Virgo operation is Mercury (Rulership and Exaltation). The Chart Victors to always avoid are Jupiter (Detriment) and Venus (Fall).
The other planets are essentially neutral, and will neither impede nor aid your operation, though if you can wait until the Chart Victor is Mercury 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 Virgo. The invoking hexagram of Virgo is traced by starting at the lower left point and tracing the upward triangle clockwise from that point, and then moving on to the upper right point and tracing the downward triangle clockwise from that point. 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 HAMALIEL repeatedly until the presence of the angel and spirits of Virgo 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 Virgo as "Invisibility, Parthenogenesis, Initiation." For best results, your charge should fall within those areas. Otherwise, you may be asking for something outside Virgo's sphere of influence, and that could cause the ritual to fail.
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.
Note that this does not mean if at some point following the ritual you do a microcosmic banishing like an LBRP as, say, part of your daily practice the ritual will be dispelled. The effect of the ritual should stabilize within 15-20 minutes, after which you can do any microcosmic banishing you please.
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 Virgo. In Liber 777, Virgo is attributed to the powers of "Invisibility, Parthenogenesis, Initiation." Aleister Crowley famously experimented with the power of invisibility, writing in his magical diary that he could walk around the city dressed in outrageous costumes and the like and nobody would notice him if his invisibility spell was working. A number of modern authors have pointed out that maybe nobody interacted with him, but the people he encountered were probably just rolling their eyes at this weird guy walking around who thought nobody could see him.
The way invisibility spells work in real life is by directing the attention of others away from you. They won't turn you transparent or fool a security camera. They can be quite useful, though. I have been able to use invisibility spells to walk right past people I know on the street without them recognizing me, for example. They work even better with strangers, if you are going about your business and don't want to be bothered. But of course, dressing in ridiculous attire or doing anything to draw attention to yourself undermines the attention shift caused by the spell and will usually make it fail.
The power of Parthenogenesis can be used to create artificial spirits, which are generally called "servitors" in chaos magick and "telesmas" in Golden Dawn - influenced traditions. Contrary to what some chaos magicians believe, concentrated attention alone does not automatically create actual macrocosmic spirits. For example, people are not constantly creating spirits when they watch popular television programs or read books. The process of creation instead has to be deliberate and focused, and the conjured form must be endowed with coherence - consistency and self-referentiality - in order to truly come "alive."
Initiation can come in many forms, so this power could be applicable to a wide variety of mystical operations intended to align yourself with particular spiritual powers and/or induce mystical realizations. This will be discussed in greater detail when I move on to the Path of Initiation, a series that will follow the current series of zodiacal operations.
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 Virgo, the four scales of color are Yellowish Green, Slate Grey, Green Grey, and sh Amber. For ceremonial forms, you use the King scale, which is Yellowish Green. Its complement is crimson. All four scales should be used to construct the sigil of the angel.
The sigil should be traced onto the Kamea of Mercury, as Mercury is the ruler of Virgo. Along with the sigil itself, you can also trace the character of Virgo on the Kamea. The Angel of Virgo is Hamaliel, spelled Heh-Mem-Lamed-Yod-Aleph-Lamed. This yields 5, 40, 30, 10, 1, 30. The final figure should look something like this:
From Liber 777, incense appropriate to Virgo is Narcissus. The associated plants are snowdrop, lily, narcissus, and mistletoe. The associated metal is mercury (quicksilver) or any alloy such as brass, and the associated precious stone is peridot.
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 peridot 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 Virgo is the sixth permutation of Tetragrammaton, HHVY. Some schools teach that as the name of God is ineffable, it should be spelled out by letter (Heh-Heh-Vav-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 "Heh-Vay."
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 Virgo operation is on a Wednesday, during an hour of Mercury that falls during the night. This is because Mercury rules Virgo, and because the sign Virgo belongs to the Nocturnal sect. Since you are employing ceremonial forms to tune the space you could do it during a day hour of Mercury as well, but a night 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 Virgo operation is Mercury (Rulership and Exaltation). The Chart Victors to always avoid are Jupiter (Detriment) and Venus (Fall).
The other planets are essentially neutral, and will neither impede nor aid your operation, though if you can wait until the Chart Victor is Mercury 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 Virgo. The invoking hexagram of Virgo is traced by starting at the lower left point and tracing the upward triangle clockwise from that point, and then moving on to the upper right point and tracing the downward triangle clockwise from that point. Beginning in the east, go to each quarter in turn and perform the following actions.
- 1. Trace the Hexagram of Virgo in Yellowish Green while vibrating ARARITA (ah-rah-ree-tah).
- Trace the symbol of Virgo in the center of the hexagram in crimson while vibrating HHVY (Heh-Vay).
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 shadowy vista of Darkness, Thou cryptic Book of the fir-clad hills! Yea, as I search the key of Thy house I find my hope but as a rushlight sheltered in the hands of a little child.
2. O my God, Thou Mighty One, Thou Creator of all things, I renounce unto Thee the green fields of the valleys, and the satyr roses of the hills, and the nymph lilies of the meer; so that I may wander through the gardens of Thy Splendour, and be consumed in the unutterable joy of Thine everlasting rapture.
3. O Thou intoxicating Vision of Beauty, fair as ten jewelled virgins dancing about the hermit moon; I swear to Thee by the peridot flagons of spring, to quaff to the dregs Thy chalice of Glory, and beget a royal race before the Dawn flees from awakening Day.
4. O Thou Sovran Singer of the revelling winds, whose voice is as a vestal troop of Bacchanals awakened by the piping of a Pan-pipe. I know Thee! O Thou dancing flame of frenzied song, whose shouts, like unto golden swords of leaping fire, urge us onward to the wild slaughter of the Worlds.
5. O Glory be to Thee, O God my God; for I behold Thee in the lap of the fertile valleys: Thou hast adorned their strong limbs with a robe of poppied corn, so that they may laugh forth the Glory of Thy Name.
6. O Thou mighty God, make me as a fair virgin that is clad in the blue-bells of the fragrant hillside; I beseech Thee, O Thou great God! That I may ring out the melody of Thy voice, and be clothed in the pure light of Thy loveliness: O Thou God my God!
7. O Thou Odalisque of earth's palace, whose garments are scented and passionate as spring flowers in sunlit glades; roll me in the sweet perfume of Thy hair, so that Thy tresses of gold may anoint me with the honey of a million roses.
8. O Thou God of the Nothingness of All Things! Thou who art neither the moaning of a maiden; nor the electric touch of fire-thrilled youth: O Thou who art not found in the hardy kisses of love; nor in the tortured spasms of madness and of hate! I deny Thee by the powers of mine understanding; Weight me in the unity of Thy might, and roll me in the poised rapture 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 ambrosia-yielding rose of the World; Thou vaulted dome of effulgent light; Thou valley of venomous vipers: Yea, I rejoice in Thee, Thou dazzling robe of the soft rain-clouds; O Thou lion-voiced up-rearing of the goaded storm! I rejoice, yea, I shout with gladness! till my rapture, like unto a two-edged sword, traceth a sigil of fire and blasteth the banded sorcerers, in the Glory and Splendour of Thy Name.
10. O my God, teach me with patience and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before Thee; for all my knowledge is but as the refuse of the chaff that is flung to the darkness of the void.
11. O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all the aspirations of my heart ruin as in time of earthquake the bare hut of an hermit that he hath built for prayer. Yet from the lightning-struck tower of my reason do I enter Thy house that Thou didst build for me.
12. O what art Thou, O God my God, Thou almighty worker ungirded of slumber? O Thou Unicorn of the Stars! Thou tongue of flame burning above the firmament, as a lily that blossometh in the drear desert! O how can I pluck Thee from the dark bed of Thy birth, and revel like a wine-drenched faun in the banqueting-house of Thy Seigniory?
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 HAMALIEL, ruler of BETULAH, by the name of the True and Living God HHVY, 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 Virgo, and that they may attend to my behest. AMEN.
At this point, vibrate the name HAMALIEL repeatedly until the presence of the angel and spirits of Virgo 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 Virgo as "Invisibility, Parthenogenesis, Initiation." For best results, your charge should fall within those areas. Otherwise, you may be asking for something outside Virgo's sphere of influence, and that could cause the ritual to fail.
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 HAMALIEL 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 HHVY, 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.
Note that this does not mean if at some point following the ritual you do a microcosmic banishing like an LBRP as, say, part of your daily practice the ritual will be dispelled. The effect of the ritual should stabilize within 15-20 minutes, after which you can do any microcosmic banishing you please.
24 comments:
I've always wanted to ask someone who's done it before about invisibility. Can the spell be used to "cloak" a person from different people, while at the same time they'd remain the same to others?
Let's say I cast an invisibility spell on myself to become "invisible" to... the police. Is the effect of the spell going to be the same for say, family&friends and other people? I wouldn't want to get hit by a car while crossing the street on a marked crossing because a driver failed to notice me for some reason :)
I suspect I'd need a link to people for whom I want to become "invisible". Or not? I mean let's say you don't want to be noticed by an asshole boss (or a few bosses) at the office, but you still want to remain the same to all your coworkers.
Sure, you can do that. You might not even need a special link or anything if you are conjuring the angel as shown here. Just build it into your charge and bind the effect to yourself (close with QC, not LBRP). That should get it done right there - but remember that it works by diverting attention. If, say, your evil boss is making a deliberate effort to look for you, the spell has to work a lot harder.
So basically if i cast the invisibility spell to ward me from Person1, P2 and P3 and anchor the spell to myself, it will activate only when those people are around me? Cool! :)
Basically. It will be active all the time, but should only redirect the attention of those particular people.
That's great! Thank you! :D
I wish to discuss the construction of servitors in relation to Virgo's power.
After making the Virgo operant field, and taken out the servitor contract/script ready to begin the birthing process, how should the charge be delivered to Hamaliel to bring the servitor to life?
I guess what I would do is take the sigil of my servitor I have chosen to make and place it on the table of art and charge Hamaliel to bring the servitor to life at that instance. Then I would assume that the servitor has been born, and would read out its contract to it and finally commanding Hamaliel to bless the servitor with its powers. But I am open to hearing how you would do it.
You pretty much have it there. You would do the conjuration, give a charge like "Hamaliel, I call on you to assist me in bringing to life." Then go through the process of doing that, and when you are done with that part call on Hamaliel to confer the power you are working with on the now-alive servitor. Then license to depart and close.
Scott, I wish to differentiate between the right power here. So the signs as you teach have so many general powers that it seems to me that some of them are overlapping and even enhancing each other. Leo, condition yourself or something to something. Virgo, initiate yourself into something. Sagittarius, convert something into something. Cancer, constantly bring something i.e magnetize. Aries, consecrate magickal items.
I just can't specify these powers. Initiation means to begin something. Magically, it means to imbue yourself with the qualities of a certain sephira or path or spirit so that you act through that way exactly the way you would put a spell on your character in a MMO video game. Which one would be selected if say, I wanted to absorb into or attune myself towards a certain goal of mine?
You would probably say to go with Leo for that, but I think you will say to pick Virgo because initiation sounds to me to mean the entire prospects of whatever it is you're asking to be initiated into, not just a part of it. I think the better word is attunement rather than initiation.
Another word is archetype. Isn't what we're doing with initiations into sephiras and paths is asking for the archetypes that they represent? So if I wanted to to ask to be initiated into the archetype of a bodybuilder, athlete, software developer or anything like that, can Virgo do that? Removing fear regarding a certain authoritative figure or group, gaining access to a certain group of people and all that, can Virgo do that?
Scott, as you teach the signs have extremely general powers which I find to be overlapping and some of them like that of Sagittarius are downright confusing, specifically Leo and Virgo.
In your video, you said that Virgo's initiation power can initiate one into the sephira of tiferat or a phase of something into our life, doesn't this mean that Virgo can 'attune' us or 'initiate' us into an archetype? If I wanted to get better at bodybuilding, I would ask Hamaliel to initiate me into the archetype of a bodybuilder, would that work? Or could be quite anything really? 'Attune/Initiate me to learn this specific skill' or 'to bring me into relationships with a specific group.' See the archetype?
You may think that Virgo would the one for it but what if Leo would be better for this because you need to be conditioned towards a certain archetype or quality? To me, Virgo's 3-fold power in 777 make it one of the most useful signs. But if I were to choose, archetypes are under Virgo and even the so-called invisibility power sounds like a specific initiatory power because in Greek lore, the Sun watches over all and hence can make one visible or invisible and even Parthenogenesis sounds like initiation, albeit more like creation than initiation.
And say if we wanted to go a bit beyond the archetype and more into something specific, like 'bring to me a spirit from the path/sephira of X that can achieve Y for me' or 'a spirit that can achieve Y with certain qualities'.
I think it remains an open question what archetypes are in respect to magick. I haven't done any work along those lines, so I'm not really clear on how that would work, or if it would work. That's probably another one you would have to experiment with.
I mostly think about initiations in the context of initiatory work I have done or participated in. For example, if I were performing or taking an OTO initiation I could invoke Virgo to make the initiation go more smoothly and be more effective. In the context of initiating something in your life, Virgo can be used as a sort of "kickoff" to start something successfully. That start, though, does not necessarily include the long-term effectiveness of that thing.
If you were looking at bodybuilding, you could use Virgo to help kick off a new workout regimen or something like that. But then you would want additional work to keep it going well after that, like Leo to develop good habits that will facilitate your long-term development and probably also Taurus, the secret of physical strength, to help those habits work better in terms of real-world results.
Parthenogenesis is completely different from initiation. Creating something like a servitor is parthenogenesis. Initiation outside the context of taking initiations and so forth just kicks something off. It doesn't necessarily keep it going. So it sounds to me like you're thinking of it in over-broad terms. Invisibility doesn't have anything to do with it either.
Initiation does NOT mean "permanently transform me so I am like this other thing," whether it's an archetype, a state of being, or whatever. It kicks off the access to that thing. You could, for example, do a Virgo operation to open you up to some sort of transformation, but you would then need something like Sagittarius to do the transformation itself.
Does that make sense?
I think I get now what you mean. So initiation is to kickstart off things regardless of whether they are archetypes or not, exactly as it means but magically speaking, isn't an initiation permanent? A successful Abramelin initiation upon completion confers the HGA upon you that lasts for a lifetime and that's how it happened in the olden times as well, just like the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus upon his baptism. Granted it took him decades to get there but it happened permanently. So I think it depends on personal ability as well. One can't simple ask Hamaliel for an initiation as the one Jesus had for example. I think transformation under Sagittarus is the right word here because it represents permanency whereas Virgo represents the starting phase of it.
I'm still thinking in terms of archetypes because to just start things off can easily fall under Aries's astrologically while Taurus would provide the strength and Leo will regulate long term success. I think Leo here is what will keep it ongoing while Virgo will kickstart it, is this correct?
Except that a Virgo evocation is nothing like completing the Abramelin, which takes six or eighteen months depending on the text. You could do a Virgo evocation to help you complete the Abramelin successfully. But you still have to do the Abramelin. The Virgo operation is not a substitute for it.
It's like you can do a Jupiter operation for political and other ascendency, but you can't just call on Sachiel to make you President and expect it to work. You still have to run for office. The Jupiter operation just makes it easier to win.
Leo will regulate long term success if such success specifically involves conditioning, like the example of bodybuilding. It's not general, though. It won't regulate long term success of something that has nothing to do with habits or conditioning.
If Leo won't regulate long term success of something that has nothing to do with habits or conditioning, then what will? I thought conditioning was one of Leo's power, not it's overall power.
I mean that it will not do that generally. Leo can also be used to help with long-term success for things that are attributed to Leo in addition to those things that involve conditioning. But it is specific to those sorts of things.
When you're making servitors birthed by Hamaliel, do you notice a difference in their performance or power levels when compared to servitors made by alone like chaotees? Second, do you store them on a physical location like an effigy, decoration piece or do you let them roam in the astral?
I adapted my technique from works I read on chaos magick. But I really did not do much work with the chaos magick version of the technique, just enough to verify that it worked. So I do not have enough comparative data to say for sure that mine are more powerful, but I think they are. The math at the very least suggests it:
Power (Me) < Power (Me) + Power (Hamaliel)
I always use a physical talismanic anchor for them, usually metal with the appropriate character or an appropriate stone used in a similar manner. But they are not confined to the talisman - while it acts as an anchor, the "soul" of the talisman is still free to move around the astral.
I did an elixir ritual as outlined back in September and charged Hamaliel to initiate me into the path of Virgo and all that, which would make Virgo my first power to be initiated into. 3 days later and still didn't notice any change in myself or any insights, I knew it was an instant failure and forgot about it. Had a friend do a divination on it recently and it indeed proved that the ritual failed and I would have to do it again.
1. How come the ritual failed?
2. Does this ever happen with you and your group when you're doing it on a Tuesday? Does a repeat of the same elixir ritual seem to solve the problem?
If I had to guess, it would be that the angel never appeared and the elixir was charged by no one.
I believe I did mention to you previously that I was not sure exactly how the initiation power would work in that context or what the result would be.
1. I have no idea. If for some reason the angel did not show up, that would be one possible explanation. I always feel for the presence of the angel before going on with the rite following the conjuration, and I have not had an instance where I felt no presence. If that were to happen, I would probably redo the conjuration or something like that until I felt the presence.
2. Doing it again should be fine. You can do the elixir rituals any number of times, for any sign, and at any time of the year you want.
The only reason we do them once per month when the Sun is in the sign is for convenience and because that is how we set up events at the local lodge. From a practical perspective, you just want to make sure you do not have a chart victor that is debilitated in the sign. That is the only meaningful practical consideration.
I do feel a bit more organized, oriented and confident after that supposedly failed general Virgo initiation elixir ritual. I have changed career paths to something totally different which I genuinely enjoy, after not being able to find a job in my former path for 8 months which I won't even reconsider going back to, and this realization occurred two months following that ritual so even if divination declared that it didn't work and I need to do it again, some of it might have worked. Virgo has to do with career too (6th house). I guess that is to be given when you feel you are working towards the career path you are supposed to.
I just watched your video on initiation and I understand it better now. The caveat is there's no way to determine what can happen after an initiation ritual.
The fact that angels might not be showing up even after 2 years of practicing evocations is disappointing but necessary to know and deal with. I have created a new table of art which just oozes power and beauty.
I will do the initiation ritual again. However, just making sure that we have to wait for a while before asking another force for initiation right? If I ask Scorpio for an initiation, then will I be beholden to complete it before go to another power for initiation?
I expect them to show up too especially considering I now chant their name for 5-7 minutes after the conjuration after I learned that spirits take time to show up. Others have told me that they have waited for as long as 10 minutes before the angel showed up.
As for their presence, I don't feel or hear anything and so I can't do anything to myself feel anything. Not having any communication, what I do try is say something like, 'In the name of [godname] and EHYH, if thou art a false spirit be banished at once' and 'if thou art truly present, then please move something in this room' which no angel has ever done.
Something I have rarely done before is a pathworking after the conjuration, like we discussed before, to commune with the spirit so that I know they are there. I keep pathworking and conjurations separate. Is this what you meant by what we are doing to sense their presence?
As for the initiation ritual, I thought going to another power before finishing the current one could cause problems in the long run like the ones discovered by your group when transitioning between water and air. I have already charged Barakhiel for an initiation in Scorpio via the elixir hence my concern.
I forgot to mention that during that Scorpio initiation, my mind may have tricked me into thinking that a voice claiming to be the angel was present and there was no need to further chant its name. I replied that I must finish the minutes remaining just to be sure. It agreed and waited until the alarm went off. I then said something like, 'If you are really Barakhiel then move something in this room.' It said, 'I can't do that. Unfortunately, I can't.' So I ignored the voice and went on with my charge to be initiated like you teach in your articles.
I've been thinking that I can conjure Sandalphon, angel of all things astral, and have him consecrate some water to be used to aid in pathworkings prior to attempting them similar to herbal water. This way at least I would know if there is a big difference afterwards which would also affirm my Sandalphon conjuration.
I use my psychic senses to perceive the spirit. In my ritual videos you will see me holding my hands on either side of the Table of Art. There is a specific feeling I get when the spirits show up. Psychic senses are different for different people, so yours may not quite work like that. You just have to practice and work it out.
The Air -> Water thing is specific to Air -> Water when working through the elements in a series. It is specific to that practice, not to anything else.
Don't test spirits by asking them to physically move things. It's very rare that the manifestation of a spirit is strong enough to do that. Even if the spirit is there, it probably won't be able to move a physical object in front of you.
Having Sandalphon consecrate water like that sounds potentially interesting. Let me know how that goes, and if it improves your results.
Oh yes, I do that too but it rarely does anything as I don’t feel anything around my hands and even when I do, it’s so subtle and weak it could be mistaken for a clear sign. I still do it as a part of the ritual.
I think you’re right about not asking spirits to move things around though it disappoints me a bit because I know a few practitioners who can get their candle flame to move upon a command like that but I will stop doing that.
The idea for the Sandalphon experiment came to me recently and I will be getting to it soon.
Candle flames can sometimes be moved by spirits. Same with incense smoke, which spirits can sometimes form into patterns. I thought you were talking about telling the spirit to move something larger and/or heavier, like a solid object. That hardly ever works whether the spirit is present or not.
If your psychic sense don't work like mine you may need to figure out a better way to detect the presence of the spirits. Everybody is different in that regard. Psychic senses generally map onto one or more physical senses - so, for example, good visual scryers have it mapped onto vision, whereas I use my hands to feel because mine are mapped more kinesthetically.
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