A circle of Bast

(Digging though my files, I stumbled across the ritual script that I used for an Open Full Moon ritual in 2010. The quarter calls have been used on several occasions since then, with minor changes to confirm to the purpose of the ritual at hand.)

Resetting the East (if the room is not set up right for GD-style ritual):

Oh mighty Bast, granddaughter of the Creator of the Universe, Lady of the Visible Universe, who by Thy Supreme Intelligence has explored and mastered the attributes and magnitudes of the directions, we invoke Thee to grant that whatever hidden and mystic virtue doth reside in the radiant East---the Dayspring of Light---the origin of life---may in answer to this our prayer be this day conferred upon the Throne of the Hierophant of this Temple, who is emblem of the Dawning of that Golden Light which shall illuminate the Path of the Unknown and shall guide us at length to the attainment of the Quintessence, the Stone of the Wise, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.

So mote it be!

Opening East/calling Eastern quarter:

Hail Bast and the guardians of the watchtower of the East, Protectors and lords of Air. Strengthen the element of Air in us and guide us in its ways. Tonight help us build a connection to the hidden intelligences of the astrological energies. Lead us to a greater understanding of the hidden genius that underlies the rituals.

So mote it be!

Opening South: 

Hail Bast and the guardians of the watchtower of the South, Protectors and lords of Fire. Strengthen the element of Fire in us and guide us in its ways. Tonight help us build a connection to the hidden passion of the astrological energies. Lead us to a greater understanding of the hidden power that underlies the rituals. 

So mote it be!

Opening West: 

Hail Bast and the guardians of the watchtower of the West, Protectors and lords of Water. Strengthen the element of Water in us and guide us in its ways. Tonight help us build a connection to the hidden intuition of the astrological energies. Lead us to a greater understanding of the hidden wisdom that underlies the rituals. 

So mote it be!

Opening North: 

Hail Bast and the guardians of the watchtower of the North, Protectors and lords of Earth. Strengthen the element of Earth in us and guide us in its ways. Tonight help us build a connection to the hidden fertility of the astrological energies. Lead us to a greater understanding of the hidden creativity that underlies the rituals. 

So mote it be!

Opening Center:

Welcome almighty Bast, mother and protector, teacher and instructor. Plant the seed of the solar body in us and guide us in the ways of spirit. Tonight help us build a connection to the hidden spirit of the astrological energies. Bast, Heart of Isis, lead us to a greater understanding of the astrological energies’ function and role in ritual.

So mote it be!

Chant used to help charge a talisman:

Bast Guides

Bast Empowers

Bast Heals

Bast Manifests

Bast Accomplishes

Closing Center:

Thank you, almighty Bast, heart of Isis, for your presence here tonight. May what we have partaken of here tonight lead us to a deeper knowledge and connection with the divine forces of the universe. May there always be a bond of peace, harmony and instruction between us. 

Hail and Farewell!

Closing North:

Thank you Bast and the guardians of the watchtower of the North, protectors and lords of Earth, for your presence here tonight. May there always be a bond of peace, harmony and instruction between us. 

Hail and Farewell!

Closing West:

Thank you Bast and the guardians of the watchtower of the West, protectors and lords of Water, for your presence here tonight. May there always be a bond of peace, harmony and instruction between us. 

Hail and Farewell!

Closing South:

Thank you Bast and the guardians of the watchtower of the South, protectors and lords of Fire, for your presence here tonight. May there always be a bond of peace, harmony and instruction between us. 

Hail and Farewell!

Closing East:

Thank you Bast and the guardians of the watchtower of the East, protectors and lords of Air, for your presence here tonight. May there always be a bond of peace, harmony and instruction between us. 

Hail and Farewell!

The circle is open, yet unbroken. Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!

Dark Enochiana

Last night, one of my writer friends mentioned that someone was looking for Dark Enochiana material. Of course, my first question was "What the hell is Dark Enochiana?!" To which my friend responded, "Exactly, what I wondered."

Our best guess is that it must be Enochian magic that is ran though a big meat grinder turned by clowns to produce a darker, scary version of the Enochian system. Kind of like what one writer said about Enochian when he stated that the whole purpose of the Enochian system was to open the gates of hell and bring about the upcoming Christian apocalypse. You know the nasty say the spell, the walls start to bleed, and demons go out murdering people in the street type stuff. Kind of like Harry Potter for Satanists. As if we really need to darken up regular Enochian--they are not exactly the type of spirits that you invite over for tea; and there are plenty of humans killing one another as it is, so we don't really need to summon spirits for that purpose.

The closest that I have ever came to Dark Enochiana is doing extended workings with a spirit that the Christians have labeled a demon (which could be any pagan god or goddess for those of you playing at home), and I used some muddled Enochian when I wrote the chant to summon the evil Woden in my short story, Eye of the Storm (my sole contribution to the Cthulhu Mythos...well, so far). Either one qualifies me to write Dark Enochiana, but I am sure that some people will use these facts to call me a secret Christian and Satanist, instead of the British Traditional Wiccan and pagan that I actually am, and be absolutely positive that I am a Dark Enochianist to boot.

But heck, if there is a big enough market for this stuff, I am quite sure that me and my friend can hack some of it out. It is not like we actually have to make the spells work or even safe for that matter. Look at the success of the Necronomicon, after all--it is more myth than fact. It might be fun--much like teasing a cat with the red dot laser is. Of course, if we do, I am sure that both of us will hide our involvement behind pen-names...because this sounds only one step better than writing Christian Domestic Discipline erotica.

My shocking disbelief: Primordial Languages of Power (1/3)

Over on Postmodern Magic, there is a three part series about things that the blog author does not believe in--Atlantis and Secret Chiefs are the first two parts (as I write this, the third part is still forthcoming). Of course, this got me thinking about the things that I do not believe in, and I decided to also blog about three things that I do not believe in...because that is how the blogosphere rolls. Given that they chose to pick on Atlantis and the Secret Chiefs, I will pick something else to start off with.

(For the record, both Atlantis and the Unknown Secret Chiefs are high up on my list of disbelief...as they are commonly thought of in esoteric circles--go read the Postmodern Magic posts; they touch upon many of the problems that I have with the two subjects.)

One of the things that I disbelieve in is the idea that there is a primordial language out there which when you speak it, magic automatically happens.

Armanic, Hebrew, Ancient Egypt, bastardized Latin, have all at one time been thought to be a language that if you speak it, wonderful horrible things happen--walls bleed, worlds get created, Republicans burst into flames. The Enochian language of Doctor Dee is also a candidate, as well as certain esoteric forms of mathematics, for this "too dangerous to be revealed to the great unwashed" language.

Much of our time in esoteric circles and studies is involved in studying these mystery languages. If you are in the Outer Order of Golden Dawn, you spend time studying the Hebrew alphabet, which you are oathbound not to reveal to others (seriously, the Hebrew alphabet is actually oathbound in some GD circles to this very day). You also get to hear some Greek, some badly spoken Ancient Egyptian, and Enochian, as well as some Latin. In Inner Order, the RR et AC, you deal a lot with Enochian and Hebrew...not enough to order soup, but enough that one can make the occasional odd pun that no one understands.

The esoteric theory behind the Great Primordial Langauge of Magic, Light and Creation, is that it is the language of the gods, angels and ascended masters. At the beginning of the universe, some deity created the universe by uttering some magic words. Later, the same deity (often, but not always) created the art of writing. Over time, this pure language of creation got corrupted into the languages that we humans speak on a daily basis.

The important part is the idea that IF you could RESTORE the language to its precreation/creation/divine state, you can perform MIRACLES.

Think Harry Potter meets the Tetragrammaton.

Because of its awesome power, the primordial language must be guarded from those who are not yet ready to use it--aka everyone who has not paid you enourgh lodge and Order dues yet. Seriously, you would not want a Democrat to gain access to it, they might go around healing the poor for free.

And in esoteric circles, a lot of training goes into making sure that you are spiritually ready to learn the primordial language...because time spent paying lodge and Order dues are the purest form of tithing and spiritual development. Without the training, you could seriously hurt yourself using the primordial language.

Yet here is the thing to remember about the claim--secrecy reveals what it conceals, and conceals what it reveals--it is not the language that does the work; it is the training that you undergone to qualify to use the language that does the heavy lifting.

Of course, the fact that I do not believe that it is the secret esoterically guarded primordial language that is important is SHOCKING. And probably a form of Golden Dawn heresy. You can buy your pitchforks and flaming torches from several GD vendors if you want to form an angry horde and burn me at the stake (hey, I am Wiccan--I am allowed to make witchhunt jokes).

Here is the real secret to know if you see me use a primordial language of power in your presence to perform some bit of magic--what you are percieving is a mere one-seventh of what I am doing. It is not the language by itself that gives its power--it is the hidden six-sevenths that is happening elsewhere; six-sevenths that is only possible with a lot of occult training.

So the next time, you see me ignore someone's claims that they know magical words that automatically causes certain events to happen when uttered, and that one must be highly trained, developed and vetted to learn, just remember I do not believe that it is the language doing the work--rather it is the training and development that they are insisting that you do first...provided that they are actually training you and not just milking you for Order dues, which probably the thing that esoteric language most often gets used for.

Colored Enochian Tablets

For those who do not recieve their newsletter, I would like to mention that Original Falcon just put up full color pictures of the Enochian Tablets. I believe these plates are going to be part of the revised edition of the Enochian World of Aliester Crowley.

Danger from Enochian

One of the things that you hear about Enochian magic is that it is dangerous. Most of this seems to stem from the belief of Paul Foster Case that it was dangerous to use; in fact, while the rituals of the Builders of the Adtyum are remarkably similar to Golden Dawn's, they do not have any Enochian contained in them.

Now, I am not sure that Enochian is death causing, but I am sure that it is dangerous---or at least, it is dangerous for me to practice.

I am doing another round of Enochian scrying to fulfill the requirements of the subGrade that I am currently working on. And one thing that I have noticed about the work is that it leaves me mentally and emotionally off-balanced.

I first started to notice this when I realized that some of my nastier responses on the GD forums were done after doing Enochian scrying. It is very easy to annoy me the day after I do a scrying. Doing a full set of banishings after the scrying session helps, but still my tongue is wicked and my brain is unwell after scrying an Enochian square.

I know the square that puts me back into the mindset I used to have in food service; you know that nasty one where you suspect that the cook is about to go postal on someone. If I didn't have to scry it to pass my examinations, I would go near it ever again.

Essentially, I think that the problem with that particular square, and with the majority of the squares is that they are not complete elementally. And add a mind that was programmed in childhood by a lot of abuse, and you end up with an uncomfortable, if not slightly dangerous, combination.

So while I have doubts about the Enochian system being able to just kill someone mysterious, I do know first-hand that working with them is like subjecting your brain to a chemical bath. If you find the right square, it would probably help. But considering that for the most part, there is little published yet about the mental effects of most of the squares, it is like gambling in a drug den.

Or at least for me, it sure seems that way. But then again, I am one of the people that working with the Golden Dawn system has actually helped improve the mental stability of. My proof? At one time, I wouldn't have even noticed the effect of the squares I am scrying.

At least, I am improving.

So if working with Enochian is helping me, why do I consider it dangerous?

Well, it is not the system itself that seems to be the biggest problem (though I prefer more elemental balanced systems) rather it is the people who are attracted to it. You know the ones: people who have skipped though the Outer Order work, or moved the Enochian to Outer Order, or insist that the Enochian is the crown jewel of Golden Dawn and that they are not stooping down to do anything of less importance (ego issues, it is called), or decided that they are going to do a different square every day for 156 days straight. In short, put lunacy in and you are going to get lunacy out.

For these people, it is the goal that is important; to arrive at the peak is the only important thing. To them, people like me who are taking our sweet time doing the work are the ones that have it all wrong. People like me think that we have a lifetime to do the work and as long as we are continuing to put one foot in front of the other, it does not matter how slow we are working.

Eventually I am going to get to the goal. After all, I have plenty of time to get there. And I would like to have some of my marbles left when I get there. So I think that I won't do more than one Enochian scrying in any given week, just because the system seems to make my temper worse for wear.

Is Enochian magic dangerous?

One of the great debates in magical circles is whether or not, Enochian magic is dangerous. For the most part, it is a stalemate between the two sides--one that says that Enochian should be something that you prepare and build up to, the other side believing that one can dive right in without too many, if any, serious repercussions.

Personally, I am a fence sitter. I was taught in the long preparation method, though I must admit that much of the noise about the dangers of Enochian magic is exaggerated.

Yet, I must admit that there is a danger to Enochian magic. No, I am not talking about it raining fire, or entities showing up to eat your brain. Rather I am concerned about the effect it (Enochian magic) has on the minds of those who use it.

I was reminded of this concern yesterday. By nature, I try to be nice to people; but occasionally I lose it, and tell people what I really think. And Enochian studies make it worse, turning me into an outright nasty wench with bile for blood.

As I said, I was reminded of this yesterday. Unfortunately, I was on a forum site, and hit reply before I remembered that perhaps telling someone that their ideas annoyed me was perhaps not the world’s best idea.

In part, I believe that my response was just the way I feel about the subject that I was replying to; that and the fact that the person annoying me is one of those internet hounds that occasionally comes though and announces that the Golden Dawn (especially the modern version) has it all wrong, the type of person that I want to heave a brick at in when I am in the best of moods. But some of the vitriol in my reply may have to do with the fact that the night before I was engaged in some Enochian work.

If it was a one time incident, I would probably just rack it up to coincidence. Unfortunately, I have noticed that my ability to tolerate the antics of internet trolls and armchair magicians tends to be low after I have done workings with Enochian.

So does this make Enochian dangerous? Perhaps. I would have to say that it depends solely on your definition of danger; if you consider losing control of one’s tongue to be dangerous, then perhaps one should consider leaving Enochian well enough alone. If on the other hand, you just rake up my venomous replies to me being me, then by all means feel free to summon up the entities of the Air Tablet to open up that box of corn flakes for you.