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The Initiated Interpretation of Ceremonial Magic

“All sense-impressions are dependent on changes in the brain, including illusions, which are after all sense-impressions as much as “realities” are, in the class of “phenomena dependent on brain-changes.”

Magical phenomena, however, come under a special sub-class, since they are willed, and their cause is the series of “real” phenomena, called the operations of Ceremonial Magic.

These consist of:

Sight: The circle, square, triangle, vessels, lamps, robes, implements, etc.

Sound. The invocations.

Smell. The perfumes.

Taste. The Sacraments.

Touch. As under (1).

Mind. The combination of all these and reflection on their significance.

These unusual impressions (1-5) produce unusual brain-changes; hence their summary (6) is of unusual kind. Its projection back into the apparently phenomenal world is therefore unusual.

But can any of the effects described in this our book Goetia be obtained, and if so, can you give a rational explanation of the circumstances? Say you so?

I can, and will.

The spirits of the Goetia are portions of the human brain.

The names of God are vibrations calculated to establish:

General control of the brain (establishment of functions relative to the subtle world.)

Control over the brain in detail. (Rank or type of the Spirit.)

Control of one special portion. (Name of the Spirit.)

The perfumes aid this through smell. Usually the perfume will only tend to control a large area; but there is an attribution of perfumes to letters of the alphabet enabling one, by a Qabalistic formula, to spell out the Spirit’s name.

I need not enter into more particular discussion of these points; the intelligent reader can easily fill in what is lacking.

If, then, I say, with Solomon:

“The Spirit Cimieries teaches logic,” what I mean is:

“Those portions of my brain which subserve the logical faculty may be stimulated and developed by following out the processes called ‘The Invocation of Cimieries.’”

And this is a purely materialistic rational statement; it is independent of any objective hierarchy at all. Philosophy has nothing to say; and Science can only suspend judgment, pending a proper and methodical investigation of the facts alleged.”.

Excerpts from “The Initiated Interpretation of Ceremonial Magic” by Aleister Crowley.

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Ritual Mandala (Planetary Circle)

Place yourself at the centre of the Magic Circle, facing the Sun.

Think about the associations each planetary symbol has for you, whether mythological, archetypal etc., and how they relate to your own psyche.

Visualise energy flowing back and forth around the circle and along the lines.

Imagine the conjunction of Mercury (Hermes) and Venus (Aphrodite) in the centre, as well as the union of Sun (King) and Moon (Queen).  

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“A pact (contract) allegedly signed between Urbain Grandier and the Devil, one of the documents introduced as evidence during Grandier’s second trial in 1634, after the Loudun Possessions.

The text is in Latin and is written using mirror writing. Holding a mirror up to the writing will show the normal direction of the letters, so that they can be read. The second photograph above shows the mirror image.

Translated into English, it reads:

“We, the influential Lucifer, the young Satan, Beelzebub, Leviathan, Elimi, and Astaroth, together with others, have today accepted the covenant pact of Urbain Grandier, who is ours.

And him do we promise the love of women, the flower of virgins, the respect of monarchs, honors, lusts and powers.

He will go whoring three days long; the carousal will be dear to him.

He offers us once in the year a seal of blood, under the feet he will trample the holy things of the church and he will ask us many questions; with this pact he will live twenty years happy on the earth of men, and will later join us to sin against God.

Bound in hell, in the council of demons.

Lucifer Beelzebub Satan

Astaroth Leviathan Elimi

The seals placed by the Devil, the master, and the demons, princes of the lord. Baalberith, writer.” - Text from Wikipedia.

This document may obviously have been a forgery, but the Sigils of the Spirits are very similar to those found in texts like the “Grimorium Verum” (”True Grimoire”).

Note that the pact requires rejection of the Church i.e. organised religion, and by extension rejection of the Demiurge, the dualistic false god of authority and patriarchy, who has tried to suppress the Divine Feminine.

By asking these great Spirits “many questions” the devotee will gain knowledge, understanding, wisdom and gnosis.

The devotee does not give their soul away, and will instead join the Spirits in the Underworld/Otherworld upon their physical death.

These great Spirits include Lucifer (Lord of Light, the Titan Prometheus) and Astarte (Ishtar/Inanna/Isis/Aphrodite/Venus).

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The Seal of Paimon

Seal of Paimon, hand drawn in pencil and gold ink, using a compass and ruler.

Drawing the seal of a Spirit is a meditative practice, as you are willingly focusing your attention and awareness on creating a physical version of a form of that non-physical entity.

If done properly it should result in a “flow” state and a light trance, where your awareness is withdrawn from other externals and focused on the task at hand.

Since Paimon is ranked as one of the 12 Goetic Kings or Queens they are associated with the Sun, and so this was created on a Sunday and incorporated Gold in its creation. It was done just before the Sun set in the West, as Paimon is associated with that cardinal direction.

The Sun was in the 3rd Decan of Gemini (June 11 to June 20), which is when Paimon is most active.

The seal itself is a form of Magic Circle.

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The Four Demon Kings in “The Grimoire of Saint Cyprian”:

Egyn, AKA Egin, Egim or Egine (King of the North).

Oriens, AKA Baal, Bael, Uricus, Urieus, Urience (King of the East).

Amaymon, AKA Maymon, Moymon (King of the South).

Paimon, AKA Paymon, Poymon (King of the West).

Magic circle, surrounded by the sigils of the Kings.

Key to the “Transitus Fluvii” alphabet.

Images from “Integrum Morborum Mysterium“ by Robert Fludd.

The assignment of these spirits to the four cardinal directions is variable across different sources - those given are based on Agrippa.

The names of the four Archangels which correspond to these spirits are given in the “Transitus Fluvii” (”Passing Through the River”) alphabet on the right hand side of the image for each spirit, and also appear around the green section of the magic circle diagram.

The key to this alphabet is given in “Three Books of Occult Philosophy” by Cornelius Agrippa (1533).

For example, the letters given for Egyn correspond to “Lamed, Aleph (as E), Iod, Resh, Vav” in the Hebrew Alphabet i.e. “LEIRU”.

Since this alphabet is read right to left, it corresponds to “Uriel” in the Latin alphabet. The same cipher is used on the left hand side of each image to give one of the Names of God in Judaism (which again must be read right to left).

Based on this cipher, the names of the Archangels and Names of God for each spirit are as follows:

Egyn: Uriel and AChTh.

Oriens: Michael and YHVH.

Amaymon: Gabriel and HYNW.

Paimon: Raphael and ShDY.

The Latin text in the green circle is “Ego me circumcingo virtute horum nominum qiubus hic circulus est consignatus”, for which an approximate translation is “I am surrounded by this circle, which is sealed by virtue of these names of power“.

The last two images show circles with a similar schema by the Rosicrucian Robert Fludd.

For more on the “grammar” contained in grimoires, please visit “Noise vs. Signal”.

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The Seal of Paimon, as seen in a glass sphere.

The Sigil is placed upside down behind the sphere, which will result in it appearing the right side up within the glass. It faces the direction associated with the spirit (in this case the West). This approach to Goetic evocation is given in “Qabalah, Qliphoth and Goetic Magic” by Thomas Karlsson (2017) P. 211

From this perspective the symbol suggests four figures behind a table with three cups or chalices. The figures could represent Paimon and his (or her) retinue of musicians.

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How to exist completely in Idea Space?

Adopt a set of personas (archetypes) to be in that Space, the Space of Pure Idea, Pure Form, the Word, wrapped in Feeling, giving it meaning and significance.

Dantalion and Astaroth

The Goetic Duke Dantalion, of Mercurial and Lunar Aspect, and his consort Duchess Astaroth, Astarte, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Venus, Isis.

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Invocation of Iris, as dreamt by Morpheus, King of Dreams.

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Iris

Iris, the Rainbow, is a messenger of the Gods, and like Mercury she carries the caduceus. She is the Halo of the Moon, and carries a Coat of Many Colours.

She is a Goddess of Light, and messenger (Angel) of Venus.

The God of Dreams, Morpheus, dreams of her.

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Symbolic Being

The Sun King (Spirit) rules over the cross of the four elements, fire in the right hand, water in the left, earth below, air above. This forms the image of Venus (Body).

Venus is then crowned by the Moon (Soul), both equal and in conjunction.

The whole forms Mercury (Mind).

The symbols for the 7 planets (Gods) can all be derived from the symbol above. The Gods are made of language, and are the archetypes that make up your being.

See also: "Monas Hieroglyphica" by John Dee (1564).

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The Buddha

“Buddha, "Awakened One" or "Enlightened One", is the masculine form of budh (बुध् ), "to wake, be awake, observe, heed, attend, learn, become aware of, to know, be conscious again", “to awaken", “‘to open up' (as does a flower)", “one who has awakened from the deep sleep of ignorance and opened his consciousness to encompass all objects of knowledge". - Wikipedia.

Awakened to Eternity.

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The City of Brass

“The Story of the City of Brass” from the أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ‎, ʾAlf Laylah wa-Laylah (Arabian Nights), translated by Richard Francis Burton.

In Solomonic Lore, the Djinn are imprisoned by Sol-Om-On in a Brass Vessel, The Grail, filled with the Iron Blood of the Saints, which is then thrown into the Great Sea.

Brass, like Bronze, is an Alloy (Marriage) of Copper (which is of Venus) and Zinc (which is of Jupiter).

It is used by the Magus to fashion, weave and grow a Structure of such Beauty, blossoming and unfolding throughout All Time, that the Djinn and Goetia, the Daemons and Gentry, the Fey and Sidhe, are said to much desire to tarry therein, at least for a while.

In some circles it is whispered that the City of Brass is another name for the City of Babel.

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The Goetic Spirits

The 72 Spirits of the Goetia, with their titles, seals, and legions, taken from the Lesser Key of Solomon, who bound and rules these Spirits.

These Spirits can be seen as 'stepped down' versions of the 7 Planetary Gods (see "777" for how the correspondences branch out from here).

The Gods they descend from are given on either side of their title. The symbols are the planet associated with a given number e.g. Mars (♂︎) for 5, Venus (♀︎) for 7 etc.

Numbers larger than 9 are reduced (compressed) by adding their digits together. So for Earl Ipos, the 22nd Spirit: 22 -> 2 + 2 = 4 = ♃ = Jupiter.

The symbol on the left of the title is the God derived from the Spirit's number.

The symbol on the right is derived from converting each letter in the name to a number: Ipos -> 8 + 15 + 14 + 18 = 55 -> 5 + 5 = 10 -> 1 + 0 = 1 = ☿ = Mercury.

The real gender of some Spirits is also here revealed e.g. Duchess Astaroth, Queen Paimon, the Marquise Phoenix, Countess Maltas etc.

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Mapping the Maze

Mapping the Maze, Idea Space, Reality.

The Queen (Ariadne) is the most powerful player on the board.

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Duchess of Dreams (1984)

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“Labyrinthus Archidoxae” (“Labyrinth of Primary Principles”) by Joseph Uccello (2017).

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City of the Mind

The City of Babel is the City of the Mind.

Poster by Cory and Catska Ench (2010).