An Essay on

© 2008 by Academic Services International, Los Lunas, NM, USA

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The Instruments - Continued

 

Coronation

The Crown is, of course, worn upon the head. But let's not get carried away and assume that this will be some elaborate affair similar to that worn by the King or Queen of England.

The most common form used by the ceremonial magician is that of the Ancient Aegyptian Nemyss, which can be made up from a square piece of striped cloth and perhaps held in placed with a band of metal that curves around the upper forehead.

Some magicians, who are affiliated with mysteries that derive from Hindu or Arabic lineages, prefer to wear a turban.

The Crown represents the Accomplishment of the Great Work.

It is also a reflection of that golden auric light that radiates around the head of the realized adept, giving rise to paintings of saints possessed of an aureate halo ...

... and even the stupid hoop-like halo found above the head in cartoon characters.

In terms of magical anatomy and physiology, the Crown represents the pineal gland of the magician and the secretion thereof called serotonin.

 

Making the Connection

The Link is an item that represents (or comes from or is associated with) the end result. A Link must have some energetic connection with the situation, person(s) or object that is to be influenced. The Link can be merely touched with a charged talisman or with the wand, or activating symbols can be traced over it.

Examples of links include (but are not limited to) articles of clothing or jewelry, business cards, or even the written name of a person or a political body. The best link would be something coming directly from the person to be influenced, like clipped fingernails, a lock of their hair or (as preferred by shamans and black magicians everywhere) a drop of their blood.

In terms of magical anatomy and physiology, the Link represents nothing of the magician, for it is an external object.

 

When you don't have Time to Open the Machine Shop

The Impromptu Instruments include everything listed above. Let's imagine that you are visiting magically-inclined friends and you determine that the time is right to perform a ceremony. But you have brought no instruments and your friends have neither temple nor tools. So ...

You arrange the furniture in the living room around a circular rug. An end table is used as the altar, candles make up the lamps for the circle and the magical Lamp itself. A trip through the kitchen finds the elemental weapons (plate, knife, goblet, and a three-pronged, wooden salad-fork for a wand). A metal ashtray makes a fine censer, cedar shavings provide incense, and multicolored bathrobes are worn.

This can be informative, effective, and fun, but don't get carried away! Impromptu rites are the exception, not the everyday rule. You are still expected to do things the right way in your search for Truth, Justice, and the Magical Way.

 

The Silence is the final secret - one that is often neglected. After all the preparation, purification, consecration, invocation, evocation, and setting-in-motion through talisman and link, it is absolutely necessary to ...

Let it go!

If the final result is "hung onto," then how can the spirits go out and influence that happy ending? Thus, there is a certain detachment that must take place as soon as the energy has been set in motion, and this letting go of any result should take place even before the closing of the ceremony. This is one reason why talismans, and even links, are often burned.

 

Rationale, Perception, and Memory

There is indeed a purpose in the corresponding colors, symbols, shapes, and attributions chosen as part of the preparation for any given ceremony. Let us pretend that your insights have directed you to bring more harmony into your life and workplace. Consulting the Tables of Correspondences (which you should have already memorized), you look up "Harmony" and find that ...

HARMONY is a quality of the Sphere of the Sun. The corresponding deity is Ra, the color is yellow or gold. The number is six and the incense is Olibanum (frankincense). The gemstone is Topaz, the animal is the Phoenix, and the instrument is the Lamen.

So you prepare the temple and the instruments as follows:

A circle is prepared that is twelve feet across (2 x 6), that has six hexagrams at its periphery upon which sit six golden lamps. Within the circle, which is laid down in yellow paint, are inscribed six names for the solar deity: Sol, Om, On, Helios, Ra, Sun.

The altar is covered with a golden cloth in the center of which rests the golden disk that supports a golden censer, next to which is a container of frankincense. A wand is prepared with a pointed Topaz set in its head and a Lamen is designed that bears an image of a Phoenix rising from the fire. An invocation of Ra is prepared, and a selection of music will be chosen for its harmonious nature.

Once the rite begins, everywhere the magician looks he or she will see gold and yellow and six. The perfume (incense) inhaled will be Olibanum and the hearing will perceive naught but harmony. Thus, all the senses are attuned to Ra and the sphere of the Sun.

The first time this is done it will have no basis for stimulating memory. But with repetition, the senses will be re-stimulated (again and again) so that the exalted consciousness of the sphere of the Sun is associated with these visual, auditory and olfactory cues. It eventually comes to pass that even a whiff of Olibanum will be enough to activate a Solar state of awareness.

Of course, this needs to be done with the other spheres as well, and that amounts to a lot of practice. The correspondences must be memorized and ultimately applied to every object and sensation in daily life. When that is accomplished, one is truly leading a magical life.

 

Cross on Over to the Other Side

The Passing On of the Instruments takes place at an advanced stage. We know that you can't take it with you, so it therefore follows that, at some point before passing on, the magician must "let go" of his or her instruments in order that their essence becomes a fully operative, internal power. In The Book of Life (and Death) it was said:

The symbolic material signs must be transformed into Spirit. Do ye thus: Transfigure these things into thyself. Thou hast made them matter; now make them Holy. Restore them unto thy Self. Sacrifice the form unto me.

This is similar to the statement that there comes a time when the initiate must burn all his or her books. That is, having made one's own spiritual connection, why continue to read other people's instructions and viewpoints?

Of course, the books don't actually need to be piled up and incinerated, but they will be set aside in favor of direct union.

Anicca, Anicca! - Everything passes away!

Anicca means "impermanence."

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