Rufus Opus

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  • The Fourth Pentacle of Jupiter from the Key of Solomon

    I’ve decided to make a talisman of the fourth pentacle of Jupiter from the Key of Solomon. The timing is all wrong, at the moment, and it would be a while if I waited until the stars were aligned right. So this post is about how to make the best of a bad astrological timing through the conjuration of spirits.

    Mathers‘ edition of the Key of Solomon has the following to say about the Fourth Pentacle of Jupiter:

    The fourth pentacle of Jupiter.– It serveth to acquire riches and honor, and to possess much wealth. Its angel is Bariel. It should be engraved upon silver in the day and hour of Jupiter when he is in the sign Cancer.

    Being the erudite occultist that you are, you are no doubt aware that Jupiter is not in Cancer. Nor will he be until June 25, 2013, five years and three months from now. How do we make an effective talisman for a spirit that is specifically supposed to be made at a time that’s beyond our reach? No matter what we try to do now, when Jupiter is in Capricorn, we aren’t going to be able to have it be as propitious as it would be if the timing were absolutely right. But we can try to come close.

    The first thing we’re going to need to do is create the same kind of astrological influences as we would have if the timing were right. We’ll need something to bring in the forces of Cancer to create a backdrop, and then something to bring in the forces of Jupiter to focus those forces through his lens. Since I work so much with the angels of the spheres, I elected to use Muriel, the Angel of Cancer, and Tzadqiel, the Archangel of Jupiter to bring their influences to bear upon this talisman.

    Considering that I’m trying to replicate the sphere of the constellations being in a particular relationship to the sphere of Jupiter, I thought it would be a good idea to draw out the talisman with an additional two spheres represented.

    When I look at any seal that is made of circles, in my mind’s eye I see it as a cross-section of a sphere. The center circle represents the core of what you’re trying to manifest in the mundane realm. Around that is usually some specific manifestation of God or his representatives. Each space between concentric circles represents a particular sphere, and within that sphere you write the symbolic representations of the forces of the higher sphere that you are depending on to make what you want in the center sphere manifest.

    So in the center sphere of the Fourth Pentacle of Jupiter, there’s the Name ADNI on one side of the seal, and the Name Bariel written on the other side. Within the center is the figure that represents what it is we want to manifest, riches, honor, and much wealth. I personally feel it is a derivative of the geomantic symbol “Joy, Laughing, Healthy, Bearded.” It’s in Agrippa’s Three books of Occult Philosopy, Book II, chapter xlviii. Page 398 for those with Llewellyn’s Tyson translation, or here for people looking for a link.

    In the table of geomantic figures, the figure is listed as corresponding to the planet Jupiter and the constellation Taurus. That makes sense. Because the intent of this talisman is to pull down not only the wealth and riches that a luxury-loving Taurus would desire, it is inscribed in silver when Jupiter is in Cancer to include the manifestation of honors and glory that come with Jupiter in Cancer.

    Around this inner circle is inscribed a star of David and Psalms 112:3 “Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endureth for ever.” The Star of David represents the “as above, so below” principle of the Emerald Tablet, and the Psalm describes what part of the above should be made to manifest below, specifically wealth and riches.

    Now, since I’m not in the mood to wait five years for this ritual, I created another circle around this inscription. Within this sphere, I wrote out the name and seal of Tzadqiel and the planetary images of Jupiter. These are all available within Agrippa’s Three Books, and I’m not looking up the reference for it right now. It’s where I found them though.

    Around this circle, I drew yet another circle and inscribed the name of Muriel, the Angel of Cancer along with its seal from The Magical Calendar. The end result is a talisman with four concentric spheres (fitting for Jupiter), with the Seal, the Versicle, Tzadqiel-Jupiter, and Muriel-Cancer represented.

    While drawing out the seal, I definitely felt the presence of Bariel, or at the least the forces represented by the seal manifesting. As I wrote out the versicle, the feeling of the presence became even greater. I felt a tingling in my forehead, which was not anointed with Abramelin oil or any other substance that might have made it feel odd. This spread around my head, and I felt quite stoned by the time I was finished with that part of the talisman.

    I finished the other parts of the talisman another day, in the hour of Jupiter. Before beginning, I conjured my HGA, and then I conjured Tzadqiel to bring the forces of Jupiter to bear and Muriel to bring the forces of Cancer to bear. Within their presence, I wrote out their seals on the talisman. Later tonight, since this is the Jupiter Day, I will be performing a full consecration as I paint the image. I don’t have the tools to inscribe a finely detailed silver talisman at the moment, and to make it big enough to capture all the details, I would need quite a bit more silver than I have on hand. As a result, I’m sticking with Virgin Parchment and paint in the appropriate colors from Agrippa.

    Note that for the conjuration I will be using the modified formal conjuration I discuss in my ebook A Modern Angelic Grimoire, available for purchase from my web site.

  • 3.2 – Using the Glyph in Practice

    Once the Altar was laid out appropriately, methods of using the Glyph in practice came naturally.

    The binding of the Demonic Kings immediately cut off a great deal of mischief in my life. People at work that were obstacles to accomplishing my work suddenly became too distracted doing their work to give me grief, and began giving me the information I needed to do my job quickly to get rid of me. The kids behaved better. My spouse and I understood one another better. I quit running over curbs. (This is a big deal. For some reason, I’ve been running over curbs a lot in the last few years. It twisted the frame of one van, and popped the tire of another.)

    The placement of the elemental Kings in their appropriate locations (that is, not the traditional GD quadrants) brought me into harmony with the tiny parts that go into the moments I experience. The first few days, I had supra-luminescent vision, that transcendentalist-painting-vision, where the underlying divinity of all things is bursting through the edges of the forms they’re wearing to manifest in. I performed (successfully) workings within the elemental kingdoms for the first time in my magical career since leaving behind the 21 Lessons of Merlin. (Don’t read it.)

    My elemental weapons have gained a “shine” to them that wasn’t there previously. I don’t feel at all silly using the wand or dagger like I used to. They’ve become a natural extension of my Work. The Elemental realms themselves appear at the edges of my Altar space in the astral temple I use. My favorite is Raphael standing on the windswept mountains of the West. Reminds me of Colorado.

    The Planetary Talismans… Well, let’s just say things are going as well there as they are everywhere else in my Work. I’ve been doing a lot more Work with Michael in the Sun for others as part of the Solar Attunements included with the Genius rites I have performed for people, and it’s been… wonderful. I can’t recommend highly enough the importance of having a talisman for each planet on your altar arranged in the right place. Wonderful.

    Enough of the Bliss. It’s good, trust me. But the practical benefits are awesome too. Having the Talismans in their appropriate place in the physical representation of my magickal sphere has resulted in the effects of those planets integrating in ways I didn’t expect. I can be fifty miles away from home at work, and feel a planetary influence, conjure the archangel or one of their legions, and receive something I need right then and there. The communications are bi-directional, and the results are cumulative.

  • Why the Church Gets to Collect a Tithe: It’s a Mystery!

    In my previous post, I talked about the logistics of the “tithe,” the offering of 10% of your gross income to the Temple or the Church. This money is supposed to cover the operating costs of the clergy, provide the clergy with food shelter and clothing, and the things they need to get by in life.

    I also talked about what I consider the criteria for clergy getting supported by the congregation: If the clergy is providing information, instruction, and insight that leads to the laity having a better financial, emotional, and spiritual life, they deserve to get supported so they can spend more time developing the materials that would help more people get more money and happiness and gnosis in their lives.

    There’s a Mystery of the doctrine of the Tithe, a spiritual truth that translates into substantive blessings in the lives of those who practice this discipline. I believe the Tithe is appropriate because I personally know that you get a lot more than you give when you tithe, and I’m not talking about the umbrella services of the church or whatever it is your tithe supports. There’s a spiritual mystery to it.

    First of all, where does everything in the Universe come from in the Hermetic Cosmology? Everything, we believe, is an emanation of God. Some people call it by other names, others are more comfortable leaving it nameless. I prefer to think of it as the Prime Mover, the First Father, but people I have deep respect for see it as an impersonal force, a fount of information that expresses itself in various levels of complexity that we experience and sort through in our lives.

    Whatever. I find it hard to have a personal relationship with knowledge, it’s all cold and compassion-less. Not much fun in that.

    So everything is a manifestation of God. that means you and me and the chairs we’re sitting in, the clothes we’re wearing, and the cat shit that stinks up my basement if I don’t change the litter box. Everything that exists is a manifestation of God according to Hermetic doctrine.

    If everything that exists is a manifestation of God… who does it all belong to? Whose money gets put in whose account when you get paid?

    Philosophically understanding, theoretically seeing that everything is an emanation of God is pretty simple. Seeing our paychecks as a direct provision from God is something else altogether. After all, God didn’t work for that money, didn’t put up with my boss’s bullshit for 60 hours while only getting paid for 40 last week. Hell, God manifested as my boss in the first place. Why should I give him the first 10%?

    It was easier when people were in an agrarian/nomadic culture. The crops depended on the right amounts of Rain and Sun, the animals’ health depended on the same. The weather was under the direct control of one or more Gods, so it was easier to see that what you had at harvest was a direct manifestation of the local deity’s pleasure or displeasure with you. His pleasure was maintained by offerings.

    The Tithe, while in essence an offering, was different. The tithe was the portion of the year’s earnings that belonged to God no matter what kind of weather you get. Spending the tithe was stealing from God. Sacrifices and offerings were given above and beyond the tithe. They weren’t automatically God’s portion, they were your specific attempt to express gratitude to or request favors from the deity receiving the offering. Tithes weren’t sacrifices, they were a public acknowledgment that everything was God’s anyway.

    One of the neat things about the tithe is that the more God blesses you, the more he gets. It’s sort of an incentive for God to give you more, when you think about it. Not that he needs the tithe, everything is his already. Everything IS God and he doesn’t need anything more. “My God ain’t short on Cash, Mister,” as Bono put it.

    But if God doesn’t need any of it, what’s the tithe for? Is it just a conspiracy by the Clergy to keep themselves in business? It does keep them in business, it’s true, but in order to manifest, it had to be purposed in the Mind of God. The tithe is part of the Purpose of God.

    The tithe is a spiritual discipline. It’s a gift for us, a tool, a practice that reveals a secret about the manifestation of God. See, when you give the tithe regularly, off the top, you prosper. It’s weird, but when you give money away, intentionally donating it to God in whatever manifestation of clergy or spiritual teacher he manifests in your life, you have everything you need. Why? I don’t know. But it works.

    It’s the one thing in the Bible that God commands people to do that he also says you can test him on. You give God 10% of your income, and watch the blessings pour in. It’s a spiritual law. It doesn’t come from the person or group you gave it to, either. It’s not that direct. I tithed on my unemployment when I was unemployed, but did the Church that got the money provide for me and my family? They brought me a couple of casseroles, but they didn’t pay my rent or my utilities bills.

    But those bills were all paid. For almost a year from 2002-2003. There’s no explanation for that. The need would arise, and a pile of money would appear. I didn’t get ahead financially, but I maintained my existence. I know a lot of people who tithe regularly, and they are living testaments to this spiritual fact. If you give the first 10% of your income to god’s representatives in your life, whether they deserve it or not, you will be blessed. Your physical, material life will have a spiritual foundation that provides for all your needs. The tithe and the resulting blessings forms the solid bedrock of financial prosperity that everything else we do with magic can add to over time.

    See, the Church, by teaching this spiritual truth even though it has been misrepresented as coercion (“give me money or burn in hell”), is actually giving the laity a spiritual discipline that personally and miraculously benefits them. That’s why they deserve to get the tithe, because they meet my criteria for making your life better through their doctrines.

    Because this revelation of spiritual truth was recorded and popularized primarily within the Hebrew and Christian religions, pagans miss out on the benefits. Their clergy misses out on a regular source of income (though typically only 10% of the congregation tithes regularly as noted in the previous post). The coven members or grove members or whatever miss out on having all their basic needs met consistently by the powers of the gods.

    Magicians miss out too. We miss out on a chance to learn something fundamental about manifestation magic.

    Now, if you want to enjoy the benefits of the tithe, but you aren’t Christian or Hebrew, and besides the Romans tore apart your Temple in 70 AD anyway, there are some things you need to understand. The tithe isn’t Christian or Jewish. It’s one of those spiritual laws that apply to anyone. You don’t have to tithe to an organization; anyone in your life that is doing God’s work (or the Work of the Gods, whatever) would be a good person to receive the tithe. Anyone who teaches magic, paganism, or any spiritual practices that benefit you personally and draw you closer to God is a worthy recipient of the tithe. That includes BLOG AUTHORS like Jason, Kenaz, and Witchdoctor Joe. Scott Rassbach, the good Gnostic Monsignor qualifies. Yours truly wouldn’t be a bad choice either. I would be honored to be the recipient of your tithe, but I’m not 501c3 compliant, you totally wouldn’t get a tax credit.

    It doesn’t matter WHO you give the tithe to, because you aren’t really giving it to THEM. You’re giving it to God, as a means to recognize that everything is his already anyway, in faith that he will provide all your needs. It’s the intent that determines the spirit you receive, as Agrippa says, and when it comes to the tithe, it’s the intent that you are giving it to God that triggers the blessings in your life. In the Bible, it says that if you can’t make it to Jerusalem to give the tithe to the Temple, you’re supposed to take the tithe and EAT IT. You use it to have a celebration in honor of God. You and your friends, family, strangers, the poor, everyone in the community feast on the tithe in thanksgiving to God, and then whatever is left over is left out for the animals to eat.

    That doesn’t mean you get to take the first 10% and go to the movies and say it’s in honor of God, by the way. Any secret justifications for spending the tithe on yourself negate the whole thing. It has to be for God, and the best way to do that is to take 10% and give it to someone doing what you consider God’s Work on Earth.

  • 2.1 – The Lamp

    The first post of the Practical section is mercifully brief, but I think it’s important to include the Lamp in your list of required magickal tools. Its influence and usefulness will help with the application of the subjects that follow.

    The Lamp is a tool I hadn’t really used much before getting the vision of that Glyph that started this series of posts on the NP basics. Usually, I would light some appropriately-colored candles in my Work, and either let them burn out as part of the ritual, or snuff them and relight them later.

    Then Modrocus posted a couple of experiments he had been doing using the Papryi Graecae Magicae (PGM) at the ritual_magic yahoo group. This was about a day or two before I had a revelation about the Glyph and the altar setup it implies. When the revelation came, the role of the Lamp became pretty clear.

    In the PGM, the Lamp is used as a means to commune with the spirits. In some rituals, when the spirit is present, the magician or skryer can see their presence as a quality of the light around the Lamp that isn’t there when the spirit isn’t present. In other rituals, the Lamp is like a transmitter, with the wick being made out of a cloth with the spell written on it and then burned. I thought that was pretty cool.

    Then I had the revelation of the Glyph, and it became apparent to me that the Lamp plays another role as well. In order to be effective in this role, the Lamp must be positioned outside the circle of the planetary talismen, representing the realm of infinite light that surrounds the divine darkness in which the Good dwells. This minor little detail has made a big impact in my Work. I never grasped the far-reaching effects a properly laid-out altar can have on your personal and magickal life. The altar is the representation of the macrocosm and the implements at your disposal to function within that macrocosm as a magician. Just setting up your altar properly results in a fundamental change in your life.

    My “Lamp” is a tall brass candle stand, about 18 inches high. I have a tea-lite candle holder on top of this, and I can drop in a tea-lite before the ritual begins, and it has a really neat effect on the rest of the altar layout. It provides just the right ambiance for scrying in a crystal, and as I go through the various stages of the Work, I can check the Lamp to see if I’m where I need to be. If the Spirit of God is present, it shows.

    In addition, I can use the Lamp as a transmitter through the use of tea-lites appropriately inscribed and anointed, following the guidelines of the PGM.

    So in addition to the “standard” elemental tools a magician in the NP system has on their altar, I strongly urge you to include a Lamp. It completes your altar in a way that can’t be easily described, but is almost instantly understood when implemented.

  • 3.2 – Using the Glyph in Practice

    Once the Altar was laid out appropriately, methods of using the Glyph in practice came naturally.

    The binding of the Demonic Kings immediately cut off a great deal of mischief in my life. People at work that were obstacles to accomplishing my work suddenly became too distracted doing their work to give me grief, and began giving me the information I needed to do my job quickly to get rid of me. The kids behaved better. My spouse and I understood one another better. I quit running over curbs. (This is a big deal. For some reason, I’ve been running over curbs a lot in the last few years. It twisted the frame of one van, and popped the tire of another.)

    The placement of the elemental Kings in their appropriate locations (that is, not the traditional GD quadrants) brought me into harmony with the tiny parts that go into the moments I experience. The first few days, I had supra-luminescent vision, that transcendentalist-painting-vision, where the underlying divinity of all things is bursting through the edges of the forms they’re wearing to manifest in. I performed (successfully) workings within the elemental kingdoms for the first time in my magical career since leaving behind the 21 Lessons of Merlin. (Don’t read it.)

    My elemental weapons have gained a “shine” to them that wasn’t there previously. I don’t feel at all silly using the wand or dagger like I used to. They’ve become a natural extension of my Work. The Elemental realms themselves appear at the edges of my Altar space in the astral temple I use. My favorite is Raphael standing on the windswept mountains of the West. Reminds me of Colorado.

    The Planetary Talismans… Well, let’s just say things are going as well there as they are everywhere else in my Work. I’ve been doing a lot more Work with Michael in the Sun for others as part of the Solar Attunements included with the Genius rites I have performed for people, and it’s been… wonderful. I can’t recommend highly enough the importance of having a talisman for each planet on your altar arranged in the right place. Wonderful.

    Enough of the Bliss. It’s good, trust me. But the practical benefits are awesome too. Having the Talismans in their appropriate place in the physical representation of my magickal sphere has resulted in the effects of those planets integrating in ways I didn’t expect. I can be fifty miles away from home at work, and feel a planetary influence, conjure the archangel or one of their legions, and receive something I need right then and there. The communications are bi-directional, and the results are cumulative.

  • 3.1 – Putting it all Together: The Altar Layout Revisited

    The first thing I did, being the pragmatic Tech-writing Taurus that I am, was to draw up the Glyph on my computer. It’s easier to do concentric circles and save them as images in Visio. What I ended up with is this:

    As you can see, there aren’t seven circles for the spheres of the planets, or four for the elements as you might expect. I drew out all the spheres in earlier drawings, but they’re just too big. This suffices, and it has a circle for each of the primary items one works with as an incarnate magician.

    The inner three circles represent the sphere of the incarnate magician. They are divided into four quadrants, one for each of the cardinal points. In the innermost circle are the four Demonic Kings of the corners of the world. The brackets here represent their influence upon the magician being bound. Surrounding them are the Four Angelic Kings of the four corners of the World. These angels bind the influence of the Demonic Kings from the sphere of the magician. In the circle around the angles, I placed the elements as presented in Agrippa’s Scale of the Number Four.

    In the outermost circle are the planets. The order is very specific. If you look at the table in Agrippa’s Book 2, Chapter vii, you’ll see why they are placed where they are placed.

    The order of the planetary spheres as the spirit descends into matter is Saturn-Jupiter-Mars-Sun-Venus-Mercury-Moon. However, we’re already incarnated, and when we look up at the spheres from the world of manifestation, we’ll see them from the perspective of the material realm.

    Placing the planets in their respective quadrants as seen from below represents understanding the place of the incarnated magician in the cosmos. We are spirits, sparks of the Logos, of the Race of Gods. Our origin is from beyond the stars and the planets they influence. Yet our home, our sphere of influence is the material realm. We transcend through the realms of the planets to return to God, yet we retain our places in the manifest world, anchors, as it were, for the power of God to return with us to this realm.

    Not to get all loopy or anything. There’s only so much theory and metaphysics I can personally stand. It doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t affect anything, in my opinion, and it was vitally important to get the harmony represented in the Glyph grounded in my sphere.

    Where is the magician’s sphere represented physically? Their altar, of course. It holds their elemental tools, the symbols of their authority over the essences that Plato taught combined to form all things. It’s also the Table of Practice, the key to working with the spirits of each realm. It represents the access point for the Magician. It’s the pivotal point between the realms Above and the realms Below. It represents everything spiritual in the magicians manifest realm.

    So I took the Key to Everything represented in the Glyph and put it in place on my altar. The first thing I did was bind the Demonic Kings in miniature Spirit Pots. Then I created miniature talismans of the Angels of the four corners of the Earth using the Kings of the elements in the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. Beside each of these cards on the Altar, I placed the Elemental weapons associated with the Corner. That was great for the physical sphere.

    For the planets, I placed the seven talismans in the layout in the outermost circle of the glyph. Outside the circle of the planets, I placed my Lamp, to represent the Source of all, the True Father, the Speaker of the Word who dwells in perfect darkness within the source of the radiating Light.

    Immediately I began to see the effects of cleaning up my altar space on my Work. The Spirits of the planets come more quickly, and every aspect of my life has been drawn into an increasing harmony. My credit has cleared up, my job has become more secure, communications that were blocked are open now. Questions I have are resolved quickly and “miraculously.”

    Everything isn’t perfect, of course. We’re still in the manifest realm. But I do have an insight and a position of stability and authority from which to oversee the sources and interactions of the forces behind the scenes in my life.

    Life is truly Good.

  • 3.1 – Putting it all Together: The Altar Layout Revisited

    The first thing I did, being the pragmatic Tech-writing Taurus that I am, was to draw up the Glyph on my computer. It’s easier to do concentric circles and save them as images in Visio. What I ended up with is this:

    As you can see, there aren’t seven circles for the spheres of the planets, or four for the elements as you might expect. I drew out all the spheres in earlier drawings, but they’re just too big. This suffices, and it has a circle for each of the primary items one works with as an incarnate magician.

    The inner three circles represent the sphere of the incarnate magician. They are divided into four quadrants, one for each of the cardinal points. In the innermost circle are the four Demonic Kings of the corners of the world. The brackets here represent their influence upon the magician being bound. Surrounding them are the Four Angelic Kings of the four corners of the World. These angels bind the influence of the Demonic Kings from the sphere of the magician. In the circle around the angles, I placed the elements as presented in Agrippa’s Scale of the Number Four.

    In the outermost circle are the planets. The order is very specific. If you look at the table in Agrippa’s Book 2, Chapter vii, you’ll see why they are placed where they are placed.

    The order of the planetary spheres as the spirit descends into matter is Saturn-Jupiter-Mars-Sun-Venus-Mercury-Moon. However, we’re already incarnated, and when we look up at the spheres from the world of manifestation, we’ll see them from the perspective of the material realm.

    Placing the planets in their respective quadrants as seen from below represents understanding the place of the incarnated magician in the cosmos. We are spirits, sparks of the Logos, of the Race of Gods. Our origin is from beyond the stars and the planets they influence. Yet our home, our sphere of influence is the material realm. We transcend through the realms of the planets to return to God, yet we retain our places in the manifest world, anchors, as it were, for the power of God to return with us to this realm.

    Not to get all loopy or anything. There’s only so much theory and metaphysics I can personally stand. It doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t affect anything, in my opinion, and it was vitally important to get the harmony represented in the Glyph grounded in my sphere.

    Where is the magician’s sphere represented physically? Their altar, of course. It holds their elemental tools, the symbols of their authority over the essences that Plato taught combined to form all things. It’s also the Table of Practice, the key to working with the spirits of each realm. It represents the access point for the Magician. It’s the pivotal point between the realms Above and the realms Below. It represents everything spiritual in the magicians manifest realm.

    So I took the Key to Everything represented in the Glyph and put it in place on my altar. The first thing I did was bind the Demonic Kings in miniature Spirit Pots. Then I created miniature talismans of the Angels of the four corners of the Earth using the Kings of the elements in the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. Beside each of these cards on the Altar, I placed the Elemental weapons associated with the Corner. That was great for the physical sphere.

    For the planets, I placed the seven talismans in the layout in the outermost circle of the glyph. Outside the circle of the planets, I placed my Lamp, to represent the Source of all, the True Father, the Speaker of the Word who dwells in perfect darkness within the source of the radiating Light.

    Immediately I began to see the effects of cleaning up my altar space on my Work. The Spirits of the planets come more quickly, and every aspect of my life has been drawn into an increasing harmony. My credit has cleared up, my job has become more secure, communications that were blocked are open now. Questions I have are resolved quickly and “miraculously.”

    Everything isn’t perfect, of course. We’re still in the manifest realm. But I do have an insight and a position of stability and authority from which to oversee the sources and interactions of the forces behind the scenes in my life.

    Life is truly Good.

  • 3.1 – Putting it all Together: The Altar Layout Revisited

    The first thing I did, being the pragmatic Tech-writing Taurus that I am, was to draw up the Glyph on my computer. It’s easier to do concentric circles and save them as images in Visio. What I ended up with is this:

    As you can see, there aren’t seven circles for the spheres of the planets, or four for the elements as you might expect. I drew out all the spheres in earlier drawings, but they’re just too big. This suffices, and it has a circle for each of the primary items one works with as an incarnate magician.

    The inner three circles represent the sphere of the incarnate magician. They are divided into four quadrants, one for each of the cardinal points. In the innermost circle are the four Demonic Kings of the corners of the world. The brackets here represent their influence upon the magician being bound. Surrounding them are the Four Angelic Kings of the four corners of the World. These angels bind the influence of the Demonic Kings from the sphere of the magician. In the circle around the angles, I placed the elements as presented in Agrippa’s Scale of the Number Four.

    In the outermost circle are the planets. The order is very specific. If you look at the table in Agrippa’s Book 2, Chapter vii, you’ll see why they are placed where they are placed.

    The order of the planetary spheres as the spirit descends into matter is Saturn-Jupiter-Mars-Sun-Venus-Mercury-Moon. However, we’re already incarnated, and when we look up at the spheres from the world of manifestation, we’ll see them from the perspective of the material realm.

    Placing the planets in their respective quadrants as seen from below represents understanding the place of the incarnated magician in the cosmos. We are spirits, sparks of the Logos, of the Race of Gods. Our origin is from beyond the stars and the planets they influence. Yet our home, our sphere of influence is the material realm. We transcend through the realms of the planets to return to God, yet we retain our places in the manifest world, anchors, as it were, for the power of God to return with us to this realm.

    Not to get all loopy or anything. There’s only so much theory and metaphysics I can personally stand. It doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t affect anything, in my opinion, and it was vitally important to get the harmony represented in the Glyph grounded in my sphere.

    Where is the magician’s sphere represented physically? Their altar, of course. It holds their elemental tools, the symbols of their authority over the essences that Plato taught combined to form all things. It’s also the Table of Practice, the key to working with the spirits of each realm. It represents the access point for the Magician. It’s the pivotal point between the realms Above and the realms Below. It represents everything spiritual in the magicians manifest realm.

    So I took the Key to Everything represented in the Glyph and put it in place on my altar. The first thing I did was bind the Demonic Kings in miniature Spirit Pots. Then I created miniature talismans of the Angels of the four corners of the Earth using the Kings of the elements in the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. Beside each of these cards on the Altar, I placed the Elemental weapons associated with the Corner. That was great for the physical sphere.

    For the planets, I placed the seven talismans in the layout in the outermost circle of the glyph. Outside the circle of the planets, I placed my Lamp, to represent the Source of all, the True Father, the Speaker of the Word who dwells in perfect darkness within the source of the radiating Light.

    Immediately I began to see the effects of cleaning up my altar space on my Work. The Spirits of the planets come more quickly, and every aspect of my life has been drawn into an increasing harmony. My credit has cleared up, my job has become more secure, communications that were blocked are open now. Questions I have are resolved quickly and “miraculously.”

    Everything isn’t perfect, of course. We’re still in the manifest realm. But I do have an insight and a position of stability and authority from which to oversee the sources and interactions of the forces behind the scenes in my life.

    Life is truly Good.

  • Meditation on a Spark

    I was thinking about rising through the Spheres of the Planets tonight, and the image of a spark came to mind.

    You know, bonfires, they shoot out sparks. The sparks rise up high into heavens before they burn out. A little tiny ash floats back down to the earth. Every bit of it that could burn is consumed.

    So we’ve got seven planetary heavens, right? And under the lowest, the Lunar sphere, hanging off the lowest edge of heaven is the Elemental sphere of Fire, the highest and purest form of matter. Below that is Air, and below that Water. At the bottom is good old solid Earth, the most material of material realms.

    And here’s this spark. It’s sunshine and minerals from the earth consumed in the release of all that energy it absorbed while it was alive. As it goes through its final transformation, it shoots up through the aethers aiming for heaven, using the heat of its own combustion to get higher, and leaving behind a husk of itself to drift back down to earth, empty of all the power and effort that went into creating it in the first place.

    So, neat stuff. I don’t like ham handed mataphors, but I do seem to have a habit of using them myself.

  • The NP Basics Series to Date

    If anyone wants to see the whole NP Basics series from start to the latest post, click the little green NP Basics link beneath the post. You'll have to scroll down to get to the beginning, and then go up. Or you can click this link, and it will take you there too:

    http://headforred.blogspot.com/search/label/NP%20Basics