Why should a magician study astrology?

Why should magicians and witches study astrology? Because it is damn useful if you are working with either practical magic or spiritual development.

Now if you believe that rocks, bits of ice, and hot balls of super-heated gas have no effect upon you, then you can skip the rest of this and safely leave astrology out of your studies....because nothing I say will convince you otherwise.

And there are a lot of people who are just looking for an excuse, so that they do not need to study astrology. After all, astrology is complicated enough that you can spend an entire lifetime studying it; and who has that amount of time when you are busy trying to knife your way to the top of the food chain? Won't it just be better to study some form of chaotic new age woo woo that does not give any credit to the whole astrological nonsense?

And if you can reproduce the effects of astrological magic without resorting to the use of astrological magic, then good for you. Go forth with your bad-ass chaotic new age woo woo-ist self.

But some of us find that astrological based magic works pretty well.

There are two underlying assumptions beneath astrological magic. One is that the universe was set in motion by a divine force, and that there is a plan for the universe with the planets and stars being hands on a cosmic clock enabling one to figure out the current state of the universe and the people who inhabit it. The second assumption is that the celestial bodies are the bodies of supernatural intelligences who can influence events on Earth.

As such, a study of astrology will boost the effects of any magic cast at the right time and place, the act being imbued with the time stamp of the celestial bodies present in that moment. In other words, the moment that a spell is cast colors the spell, just like your birth moment colors your personality and potential.

And with the right techniques, one can overcome the effects of one's birth-chart with magic. For an instance, a person born under a sun in Virgo can over time become more like a person who was born under a Leo sun---if the magician desired such a change. And someone who had a crippled moon in a water sign could lessen the effect that transits of the moon had on one's daily emotions and reactions.

Now, it should be noted that such changes do happen naturally, but the changes come slowly and only work in one direction as one birth-chart progresses forward. The magician does not have to accept this snail-pace of change. A magician can override this slow gradual development and choose to be a product of an early century if they feel like putting in the work. Or a much later century. One should note that such a grand working would make it harder to interact and understand those of this century, but great mages are never concerned with the real world because of their unique nature and need to be greater than the drooling mass of humanity that surrounds them.

The basic way of working with astrological magic is though symbols. For instance, the fixed stars are associated by tradition with powers and entities, who in turn are associated with names, which are composed of magical alphabets and magical images. By using the images, one can use the forces of the energies of the celestial entity to work change in oneself and the world.

For those who are curious of what such symbols would look like, just take a look at the cards of a Tarot deck. Thanks to a great magus in the past, the stars are connected with the Hebrew alphabet, which in turn is associated with the Tarot cards. This is why one can both study astrology with a Tarot deck, as well as perform magic with a deck of cards.

So yes, the study of astrology is a long and hard process, but there are reasons to undertake it if you are a witch or magician. Bottom line: it is damn useful.

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!

Poor magicians

One of the reasons that I am welcome as a plague in certain circles is the simple fact that I became a magician to keep the wolf away from the door. I am not in the esoteric arts for spiritual development or to be a service to mankind; I am here merely because I was looking for a big enough stick to smack the wolf on the nose and survive the crisis of being a poor kid and young adult.

Now, there are some that will roll their eyes, and ask how poor could I have been when I entered the field. Let's see, my father lost everything that he owned; I am the oldest of eight kids; and I grew up constantly wondering if I would have a roof over my head tomorrow. Plus, where my next meal was coming from was always a concern. I wore whatever could be brought at yard sales for a quarter. When I left home, I joined the military...because I was poor. I was a high school dropout that got bad grades because my folks could not afford a real babysitter. And I worked twenty years in food service making minimum (or just above) wages.

And if you still don't believe that I know what it is like to be poor, just remember that I have done Tarot readings and practical spells for the payment of government surplus cheese and peanut butter--because all I had to offer was my skill as a magician, and all my clients had to offer was some food (which I was very glad to eat).

Just admitting this stuff bars me from entry to certain select circles. Part of it is simply misunderstandings of what magic is. [If you want to know why I started to think about these matters today, go read this entry on Aaron's blog.]

Talk to most people in the Golden Dawn/Western Mystery Tradition community (and this includes Thelema and Wicca) and you will hear that the purpose of the mysteries is spiritual development and service to mankind. In fact, there are groups that will bar you from entering if you say anything other than those two reasons for wanting to join. Anything else, especially practical magic, is viewed as black magic and power seeking.

But this is what the documented record of Western magic is all about--weather magic, power magic, legal magic, treasure magic, health magic, love magic--all about fulfilling basic needs in a hostile wolf at the door world. Even alchemy was about the practical nine times out of ten. Yet we in the modern world are not allowed to have these needs or desires.

Why? Because H. P. Blavatsky tells us that it is wrong. Yes, the modern view that the only acceptable uses of magic are spiritual development and service to mankind comes straight out of the writings of Blavatsky, the mother of Theosophy. And the modern Orders have embraced this fact, rejecting anyone who admits that they actually need to practice practical magic. Blavatsky made the esoteric Orders into the mystic dreamlands they are today. You can mediate all you want on the glories of the divine, just don't attempt to better your life conditions with practical workings.

Therefore, we do not find truly poor magicians in the ranks of the Orders (unless they lied to get in). The members of a Law of Attraction group are always living above the poverty level. The members of your typical esoteric Order can always pay their annual dues, no matter how much they are. And people can charge hundreds of dollars to do workshops, to teach magic that does not actually work, because everyone who attends can afford for magic not to work. It is all theory and no practice because anything other than spiritual development and service is considered black magic.

In the meantime, people like myself tend to remain outside the Halls of the "True Mysteries" working our small low practical spells, hoping to keep the wolf from the door for one more day. We are simply too poor to be worthy of proper training. And Heaven forbid that we ever decide to retake the mysteries back; after all, we are the unwashed, unsaved, impure masses.