Via Solis Capricorn Elixir Rite

Today's Magick Monday post is a full script for the Capricorn Elixir Rite that we will be performing tomorrow, Tuesday Januray 16th, at Leaping Laughter Oasis, our local Twin Cities body of Ordo Templi Orientis. Going forward, we will be performing one of these per month, once for each of the twelve signs, in a ritual series called Via Solis (the way or path of the Sun). I will be posting the full scripts here on the preceding Mondays so people can take a look at them if they want to attend. Also, if you are in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota) and would like to attend, let me or someone at the lodge know. This is a public ritual and all are welcome.

0. The Temple

The ritual space is set up with an altar table in the center. The bell chime, banishing dagger, and invoking wand are placed on the altar. In the center of the altar is placed a cup of wine for creating the elixir, within the Table of Art corresponding to Capricorn.

The sign Capricorn is attributed to the powers of "The Witches' Sabbath so-called, the Evil Eye." The latter is a general form of cursing cast by line of sight, but keep in mind that as Capricorn rules the Evil Eye, this sign can be employed both to cast such curses and protect you from them. Seeing as the "Witches' Sabbath" is not a real magical operation, but rather an invention of Medieval witch hunters (as the "so-called" likely acknowledges) the latter requires some explanation.

According to the imagination of witch hunters, the Witches' Sabbath was a ritual in which witches copulated with the Devil in order to obtain magical powers. So in the context of real magical operations we are talking about sex magick in various forms, whether symbolic or actual. Liber A'ash vel Capricorni Pneumatici, for example, is attributed to this sign and describes in (only slightly) veiled symbolic language a sex magick technique similar to Spare's well-known sigilization method. The Great Rite in the Wiccan tradition would be another example.

In addition, one of the magical weapons attributed to Capricorn is "the secret force" which is a reference to internal energies such as kundalini, whether employed in sex magick operations or otherwise. So another application for Capricorn would be to develop and/or strengthen those energies by magical means.

This ritual may be performed with one, two, or three officers, who may alternate taking the Officiant role and divide up the reading from Liber 963. The Via Solis Elixir Rites were written by Michele Montserrat in 2010 for the Comselh Ananael magical working group.

I. Opening

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

Officiant: Bahlasti! Ompehda!

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

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

All: MAKAShANaH

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

All: ABRAHADABRA

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

All: AUMGN

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

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

Bell chime.


II. The Magical Field

Officiant performs the Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram (Comselh Ananael or standard version). All rotate accordingly.

All: Now I begin to pray, thou child,
Holy thy name and undefiled.
Thy reign is come, thy will is done,
Here is the bread, here is the blood,
Bring me through midnight to the Sun.
Save me from evil and from good
That thy one crown of all the ten
Even now and here be mine.
AMEN.

Officiant: In my breast I carry the mark of the Living God.

All: I adore thee, thou light of the world. I adore thee thou Light of the Grail. I ask nothing from thee for I am become thee. I and thee are one in the perfection of the Mystery of Life.

Bell chime.

III. The Preliminary Invocation

Officiant: And before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal, and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. Without stopping day or night they were saying…

All: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is coming – IAO

All make the Sign of Apophis and Typhon.

Officiant: Holy art Thou, who art Universe,
Holy art Thou, who art in Nature formed,
Holy art Thou, the Vast and the Mighty,
Source of Darkness, Source of Light.

All make the Sign of Silence.

All: Lord all mighty and all powerful, hear our Prayers
Command thy holy Angels above the fixed stars
To be Assisting and Aiding of thy people
That we may command all spirits
Of the air, fire, water, earth, heaven and hell
So that they may tend to the glory of God and Man

Bell chime.

IV. Tuning the Space

Officiant performs the Greater Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram for Capricorn (Hexagram of Saturn in indigo with ARARITA, symbol of Capricorn in amber with HYHV). All rotate accordingly. Officiant(s) then read the unification statement from Liber 963, alternating the first twelve lines between them and reading the thirteenth together in unison.

1. O Thou steel-girdered mountain of mountains, Thou crested summit of Majesty! Yea, as I climb Thy grandeur, I find I have but surmounted one mote of dust floating in a beam of Thy Glory.

2. O my God, Thou Mighty One, Thou Creator of all things, I renounce unto Thee the goatish ache of the years, and the cryptic books, and all the majesty of their enshrouded words; so that I may be entangled in Thy wordless Wisdom, and be consumed in the unutterable joy of Thine everlasting rapture.

3. O Thou ruin of the mountains, glistening as an old white wolf above the fleecy mists of Earth; I swear to Thee by the galaxies of Thy domain, to press Thy lamb's breasts with the teeth of my soul, and drink of the milk and blood of Thy subtlety and innocence.

4. O Thou Sovran Paladin of self-vanquished knights, whose path lieth through the trackless forests of time, winding athrough the Byss of unbegotten space. I know Thee! O Thou despiser of the mountains, Thou whose course is as that of a lightening-hoofed steed leaping along the green bank of a fair river.

5. O Glory be to Thee, O God my God; for I behold Thee in the precious stones of the black earth: Thou hast lightened her with a myriad eyes of magic, so that she may wink forth the Glory of Thy Name.

6. O Thou mighty God, make me as a flint-black goat that pranceth in a shining wilderness of steel; I beseech Thee, O Thou great God! That I may paw one flashing spark from Thy Splendour, and be welded into the Glory of Thy might: O Thou God, my God!

7. O Thou wine-voiced laughter of fainting gloom, who art as a naked faun crushed to death between millstones of thunder; make me drunk on the rapture of Thy song, so that in the corpse-clutch of my passion I may tear the cloud-robe from off Thy swooning breast.

8. O Thou God of the Nothingness of All Things! Thou who art neither the Pan-pipe in the forest; nor life's blue sword wrapped in the cloak of death: O Thou who art not found amongst the echoes of the hills; nor in the whisperings that wake within the valleys! I deny Thee by the powers of mine understanding; Crown me in the unity of Thy might, and flash me as a scarlet tongue into 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 zigzagged effulgence of the burning stars; Thou wilderment of indigo light; Thou grey horn of immaculate fire: Yea, I rejoice in Thee, Thou embattled cloud of flashing flame; O Thou capricious serpent-head of scarlet hair! I rejoice, yea, I shout with gladness! till my roaring filleth the wooded mountains, and like a giant forceth the wind's head through the struggling trees, in the Glory and Splendour of Thy Name.

10. O my God, behold me fully and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before Thee; for all my searching is as a bat that seeks some hollow of night upon a sun-parched wilderness.

11. O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all my faith is as a filthy puddle in the sinister confines of a forest, splashed by the wanton foot of a young gnome. Yet like a wildfire through the trees at nightfall do I divine the distant glimmer of Thine Eye.

12. O what art Thou, O God my God, Thou disrober of the darkness of the Abyss? O Thou veil'd eye of creation! Thou soundless voice who, for ever misunderstood, rollest on through the dark abysms of infinity! O how can I learn to sing the music of Thy name, as a quivering silence above the thundering discord of the tempest?

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!

V. The Conjuration

Officiant: Oh Glorious and Mighty HANAEL, You who command and rule over the spirits of GEDI, Behold me, and in the name of the same your God, the rushing and earthly HYHV, Attend and Appear before us in this circle of art! Full powers and wonders of the Sign of Capricorn do we rightly desire! Enlighten our understanding, encourage our hearts, and manifest unto us now as we partake of your spiritual realm.

All: So mote it be.

All vibrate the name HANAEL repeatedly until the presence of the angel is perceived by Officiant. Officiant rings Bell Chime to stop the chant. The following section then alternates between OFFICIANT(S) and ALL.

You are holy and your name is holy. You are exalted and your name is exalted. You are mighty and your name is mighty. You are strong and your name is strong. You are honored and your name is honored. You are true and your name is true. You are ancient and your name is ancient. You are blessed and your name is blessed. You are chosen and your name is chosen. You are great and your name is great. You are praised and your name is praised. You are power and your name is power.

Officiant: Gloria Patri et Matri et Filius et Filia et spiritui sancto interno et spiritui sancto externo ut erat est erit in saeculo saeculorum sex in uno per nomen septem in uno…

All: ARARITA

VI. Charging Elixir

Officiant: O rushing and earthly HYHV. To thee we present this talisman of our magickal will! We ask thee, Oh Exalted One, to receive this body of our rite into the light of thy presence. As we proceed in making this Elixir of Capricorn, charging it with the creative energies of GEDI, we shall achieve a true alchemical ferment, mighty in Yetzirah and vitalized by thy blessing. In partaking of this Mystery, let there be unto us vitality of soul, increase of sight, true gnosis, and complete manifestation of the wonders of thy Sphere!

All make one clockwise circumambulation, visualizing a wall of indigo light whirling rapidly in the same direction about the circle. When finished, the wall of light is allowed to fade. Beginning with Officiant and proceeding clockwise, the cup is passed to each participant. Each holds cup at heart level and says:

Creature of Wine who art established in the Sphere of Capricorn: by the vital force of my breath I enliven thee to perfect this work of Holy Magick in the realm of GEDI.

Each participant then breathes into the wine and passes cup clockwise. When finished, the cup is replaced and all circumambulate the altar 3 times. Officiant then raises power, visualizing a continuous spiral of indigo light ascending from the ground at feet, whirling clockwise around body and ascending until it disappears above head. Officiant holds this visualization, and then vibrates the permutation of the divine name once: HYHV

Each participant in turn, clockwise around circle, does the same as above. Note that this is power raised WITHIN YOURSELF. The power raised is NOT being projected into the elixir cup at this point. When finished, all join hands and vibrate once more: HYHV

All now extend hands toward elixir cup. THIS is where the power is projected into the elixir cup. Visualize beams of indigo light emanating from both hands and entering into the cup. When the cup feels “full,” Officiant ends visualization, folding hands on breast left over right. All do likewise. Finally, Officiant traces the symbol of Capricorn in a horizontal plane while vibrating once more: HYHV

All make one complete circumambulation of the circle. Battery: 1. Officiant raises cup.

Officiant: Behold the Elixir of Capricorn! For all and for each it is prepared! Let each and all receive its magick virtue!

Officiant(s) drink first, followed by all participants. Each person takes a drink and visualizes or speaks their intent, either to themselves or out loud. The cup should not be entirely drained. When all are finished, Battery: 1.

Officiant: (indicating the cup, which should still contain some of the elixir) Glorious and Mighty HANAEL, we make this offering unto you, that it may nourish and fortify you as you attend to your appointed tasks. Be the ferment of our spiritual alchemy mighty in the crucible of our souls!

All: So mote it be!

VII. Closing

Officiant: O thou HANAEL, Praise and honor be unto thee for the Splendor of thine office and the majesty of thy being. And the blessing of thy God and Mine, the rushing and earthly HYHV. Because thou hast diligently answered unto our demands, and hast been very ready and willing to come at our call, we do here license thee to depart unto thy proper place; without causing harm or danger unto man or beast. Depart, then, I say, and be thou very ready to come at our call, being duly exorcised and conjured by these sacred rites of magick. We charge thee to withdraw peaceably and quietly, and that the peace of the Almighty, Eternal, True, and Living God be ever continued between us. AMEN.

All: So mote it be!

Officiant: May Life, Light, Love, and Liberty be extended universally to all under the regency of the one law of Thelema. May all attain the Stone of the Wise, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.

All: May the benefit of this act and all acts be dedicated unto the complete liberation and supreme enlightenment of all beings everywhere, pervading space and time. So mote it be. May the benefits of practice, ours and others’, come to fruition ultimately and immediately and we remain in a state of presence. AH!

Officiant(s) perform the Qabalistic Cross.

Officiant: I now declare this temple duly closed.

Bell Chime. The rite is at an end.