Basics: Tools for RItuals

Because I have been getting a lot of newcomers to the arts I thought I would try and write up a brief summery of the basic tools of the craft in a way that can apply to the various paths followed. So heres a quick crash intro course! Remember however:




EVERY ACTION DONE WITH INTENT IS AN ACT OF MAGICK!

 No1      The Extension of Your Will. 

Arguably the most important aspect of magick will be the extension of your will. Because that's what magick is. The manifestation of your will.

There are several tools to be used as extensions of  your will, the most common are as follows:

The Wand:  Corresponds to fire which is also WILL.  Several types of wands can be made for various purpose.  I fashioned my first wand from a Willow tree who's spirit called to me. That's a longer story available in my book.  For your first wand this is what I recommend based on what I did.

Go to a place that has special meaning to you.  A park, or sacred ancestral land, or into the depths of woods. The more a quest you make of it, the more it is going to mean to you. It is the extension of  your will so make your will known!   Let the tree call to you, as you telepathically send out your request for a wand, let the tree answer you and draw you to it. There are many types of woods to choose from, I grabbed this link at random.  One of the first books I read when first starting out was Donald Tyson's Ritual Magic which will have more detailed information.  I primarily use an Athame now for connivence, but have a special wand  dedicated to Dionysus. I actually made that out of a scrap of metal pipe with a pine cone attached to  it's tip (proving that anything can be an extension of thy will).

https://aminoapps.com/c/pagans-witches/page/blog/choosing-your-wand-which-tree/d3ap_V18hbuk3YPlg1R0wnv2ZNdJGv2LPV

https://www.amazon.com/Ritual-Magic-Llewellyns-Practical-Magick/dp/0875428355

(Good for lot's of basics, but please do yourself a favor and ignore the RHP bullshit about anti -Satanism. It's RHP bullshit. On second thought... don't ignore it. If you plan to take the ORDO NIHIL  System of initiation, then the first stage your going to undergo is going to be that of extreme psychodrama, in which case the more afraid you are of those things that go bump in the night, the more beneficial it will be when you ultimately embrace them!) 

Paraphrased from "Ritual Magic" ... "Wand should be the length from the tip of your pointer finger to your elbow".


Once You've cut your wand, thanked your tree and all that, let it dry out in the sun for the next 3 days time, esperging it with blessed water and sacred salt and fumigating it in incense each day along with incantations of purification and blessings.  Remember this is an extension of your will so make it appropriate to you.  ONM is a sect of the LHP, so once again I will say that I am not a fan of Solomonic Magick and do not personally like the use of angels, however basic guidelines are provided for all of these things, including suggested planetary days and hours are given in The Grimorium Verum.  I'll make photo copies of my copy and post them next week to my Scarlet Priest Tier  pledges at www.Patreaon.com/themadwitch

Once ready you can inscribe upon it your magic name along with the runes, sigils and symbols you desire to reflect your will. I usually charge my tools with blood or sexual sacrifice. 


THE SWORD: Wile the wand it thought to be passive, the ceremonial sword is aggressive in nature. I used to use the sword quite a bit after having quite the specimen fall into my lap. Now I am in no way a Nazi or racist by any means, let me make that clear, but when an SS officers saber finds you and literally tells you to take it, you do so.  Anyone who doesn't realize the amount of occult knowledge and power being attained and utilized by the Nazi's has little understanding to what was really going on during that time and should dig deeper.   That being said there are only certain times when the sword is actually necessary and that is rituals of a warlike, aggressive, or ultra masculine nature. Finding mine and exclusive usage was more than likely part of my journey and self initiation.  However here are a few examples of using a sword.   Invocations of Mars or masculinity or spells and invocations to the  Morrigan or any other war God or Goddess,  Be your own judge.  The Sword is mercurial in nature and associated with the element of air.


THE ATHAME:  The perfect combination of Air in Fire. It is by far the most used among Pagans and Ceremonial Magicians alike. It is also the easiest to acquire.  Aleister Crowley says in "Magick Theory and Practice " something along the lines that everyone has a knife in their kitchen. A kitchen knife can be an athame. Should be purchased or made or in the case of the kitchen knife purified on the day and hour of Mercury during the waning moon and then charged and consecrated on the day and hour of Mercury during the waxing moon.   But hey.. heres what Wikipedia has to say!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athame

Also for Crowley....
https://www.amazon.com/Magick-Theory-Practice-Aleister-Crowley/dp/1555217664



Boom! start with this!  Next Week We'll Talk about Water, Salt, The Feather, and the circle and the robes  and making an altar .

The Magus: Majorca Arcana One

EVERY ACTION IS AN ACT OF MAGICK! 

I'd like to take a moment to share an article from Angel Paths I ran across while researching  different perspectives concerning my latest spread. I was very impressed and inspired by the authors insights and highly recommend you read their description of the card and implement it into your daily lives.

To paraphrase, "The Magus reveals the intricate web of influences that bind the universe to itself and to all else." It teaches us that to attain your hearts desire one must learn to understand and manipulate this web in all its forms.

  It is  the Mercurius of alchemy,  The pathway from Kethar to Binah, and the 1 as a symbol for unity.  The idea of manifestation and the possibility of making that idea come true.

In the fool we are born. The babe in the egg. The card being 0, the beginning and the end. Primordial chaos and the realm of endless possibilities. The liberated freedom of the  free spirit. As we evolve into the Magus we learn how to perceive the primordial chaos as not an incomprehensible disaster of complete random factirs, but as a pattern or web that is simply too large for the uninitiated to see.  When we use our intention, and our focus to manifest our will into reality we become the Magus!

Further more, I feel this backs up my experiences with the invocation of Seth as discussed in my last post and my theory connecting him to The Magician card.  

Here is an excerpt from the Angel Path article that details how every act is an act of magick and how by simply acting with purpose and intent in your daily routine can manifest your goals! As Above, so Below!

We need to look at how every single action we take can be made into an act of magick. People miss this concept all the time. Yet holding the idea in the forefront of your mind changes the way that you approach your daily activities.

"So acting with intent is another thing we can practise on the day of the Magus. For instance, if you cook a meal, cook it with the intention that it will sustain the very spirit of those who eat it. If you do the washing up, do it remembering that you are washing away the stains of the world. If you are driving to see a friend, regard the journey as another  in your growth and development. Get the idea? Practise everything with intent. From personal experience, let me tell you it really gets the mundane stuff done quickly, efficiently and with a full heart."

THE INVOCATION OF SETH

This is just a small sample from a chapter on Seth that I am working on for my book. It's a lengthy work, and I have no inkling as to when it will finally be finished. Please follow or subscribe or friend request or whatever for updates on the full work. It will include personal experiences of the fruits of these labors. 

“I am Seth who causeth confusion and thunders in the sky’s horizon, whose heart is that

of the storm.”

- The Book of the Dead, Utterance 39

INVOCATION OF SETH

He who is cut from his mother's womb to tear the night in twain. He is of Set.

I am of Set. The greatest of our company. Each night I stand upon the golden barge of RA. Each night I battle Apophis, the Wyrm who would devour the worlds. I have done so for millions of years and no other God would dare to do as I. 

I am Set. The bear in the northern sky. 

I am Set. The boar who would eat the Moon. 

I am Set. The Bull who spills his seed in the temple to beget new life. And when Horus lays me beneath the Earth I shall be Set, friend to the dead and lift them up to heaven with earthquakes and tidal waves! 

I AM SET! I AM TYPHON! I AM BAAL! 

Notes :  I use a red candle and Egyptian Patchouli. Lettuce, especially Egyptian opium lettuce, make good offerings and invocations through devotion . For sigils there are traditional hieroglyphs and the wdj’et. 

                             The wdj'et

"The wdj'et It is one of the eldest symbols of the netjer Seth, alternately known

as Sutekh, who the Greeks knew as Typhon, the Mesopotamians as Baal, the Nordic

tribes as Loki, and the pre-Columbian Mexicans as Tezcatlipoca."

"By looking at the stark shape of the wdj’et, which symbolizes a stylized cutting

instrument - in keeping with Seth’s harsh identity as the Cutter and the Separator - you

can seize the opportunity to cut away from the fetters that bind you. Draw the spirit of

Seth embodied by the wdj’et knife into your mind. Use its sharp blade to break from any

compromises you have lazily allowed to enter your life, cut away any self-deceptions

and corruptions you may have allowed to cloud your perception. Use the symbol of Seth

to disrupt the familiar, and accept the self-created fate of the Sethian: to expose, illuminate, disillusion and enlighten yourself to the hidden nature of reality that sleep and comfort have obscured from you. Seth was not born of the natural order of the world; he cut

himself from the safety of his mother’s womb, just as he cuts through all obstacles and

boundaries that restrict lesser beings. Through experiencing the liberating sting of the

wdj’et, the candidate for Sethian initiation may begin to understand the nature of the

Storm, for it too was born from a piercing act of dissent and self-awakening from com-

forting delusion"

 - Zeena Shreck "The Storm" 

Meditation to Seth: Light the red candle and place offerings before it. I wear a makeshift shendyt and anoint myself with Patchouli as well. Assume the Lotus position. Although the throne position is essentially more of an Egyptian nature, the lotus connects you to the Earth.  Focus on the wdj’et and begin to breathe. A count of 3 on inhale. Hold for 3 and exhale for 3.  

Assume the Kuji Kiri of Rin (or strength) 

*Kuji Kiri are hand mudras derived from Taoism and used in  Mikkyo, although it is not Egyptian I was led here through gnosis and it was effective * 

(This is how I learned it from the book "The Ninja Mind" by Kevin Keitoshi C, but I have seen other variations using the middle finger instead of the index finger or not crossing the thumbs etc. Do what feels right to you.) 

(Alternate versions of Rin) 

Rin is formed by interlocking the pinkie and ring fingers while the middle fingers and thumbs twist around each other. The index fingers are pressed together and extended. The "roped" fingers represent the tying down of negative emotions while the extended index fingers form the blade of fire which cuts through illusion.  It is essentially the mudra version of the wdj'et! In Ninjitsu this mudra is used to focus your mind and gain strength and energy for battle. It is considered to be associated with the element of fire, however I contest this to be incompletely true. While the blade is most definitely the power of your will and therefore fire, the interlaced fingers and roped fingers providing the suppression of negative emotions through focus and discipline are that of the Earth. Therefore I say Seth is Earth and Fire conjoined!  He is the bear in the Northern sky and North is the direction of Earth. I also contest Seth as a God of chaos, but is the order within the chaos, taking raw chaos through the focus of will and manifesting it to create something new.. He is more than the God of storms.. He IS the EYE of the storms! The calm at its center and for that reason the only God that can keep the primordial chaos known as Apophis from enveloping everything in its wake. He is Major Arcana one in the Tarot. The Magus. And as the numeral one represents unity and therefore creation. When will, ruled by fire runs untempered it burns everything in its wake and becomes pure chaos, but when will is controlled through focus it unifies Earth and Fire and creates something new. 

These are the lessons Seth has taught to me! 

.. Now forming the Rin mudra keep breathing. Focus on your breath. Let your breath become fire. Feel the Earth beneath you. Feel the sands of Egypt beneath you. Feel the chaos that surrounds you as it surrounds us all, but do not fear it. You are the immovable one. You are like a Boulder in the desert. You can not be moved. Be still, be calm, be focused. Breathe. If you have a stray thought, visualize it floating away down the Nile. Visualize the wdj'et flaming red behind your eyes. Breath. When you are fully focused and have mastered your will, intone the invocation and visualize yourself in Seth's image. Let your words form like fire that stretches across the deserts of your mind. 

Practice this and you shall gain focus and control over your will and it will help your magic 3 fold. 

Aum Ra Aum Set! 

Side notes : It is not to imply that order should be imposed over chaos or that this is contradictory of Seth's nature. On the contrary, it is a lesson in controlled chaos. To apply it in a way that is beneficial for manifestation of one's will. Any concept of order imposed upon chaos is in itself illusory. All order is only a temporary manifestation and chaos rules supreme. (Of course I've been reading Principa Discordia and my opinions might be influenced of late). It has also occurred to me that symbolically Seth's battle with Apophis is in truth Seth's battle with himself. 

My invocation is based on both the works of "The Storm" and the following article which includes incantations taken from the scrolls and pyramids of Egypt. I'm giving you the link for reference. Set(Seth) God of the Dessert Darkness and Chaos