Sunday 1 February 2015

Hermetic Tablet Volume 2


I forgot to put out a plug for this at Solstice. 
For those who are interested, Vol 2 of the Tablet -

HERMETIC TABLET

Available from Lulu.com
Price: $39.99 (hardback)
or $26.99 (paperback)
Ships in 6-8 business days.
The Hermetic Tablet is a quarterly Journal of Western Ritual Magic where people, from all traditions, share their experiences. Some of the contributors are well known names in the occult field, while others are just those who want to share knowledge and experiences with the public. This issue includes articles written by the following writers: Jake Stratton-Kent, Mike Magee, Chic & Sandra Tabatha Cicero, Aaron Leitch, Christine Zalewski, Nick Farrell, Paola Farrell, Jayne Gibson, Samuel Scarborough, Harry Wendrich, Carman Lawrick, Cynthia Caton and Angela Seraphim. The Journal covers a wide range of different subjects all related to Western Ritual Magic, including Goetia, Theurgy, Angelic Magic, Ancient Egypt, and pagan ritual. There is something for anyone, from all spiritual traditions who wants to know about practical Western Ritual Magic.

Tuesday 16 September 2014

New Hermetic Publication ( part of an ongoing series)

FIRST EDITION OF THE HERMETIC TABLET IS AVAILABLE



The Hermetic Tablet is a quarterly Journal of Western Ritual Magic where people, from all traditions, share their experiences. Some of the contributors are well known names in the occult field, while others are just those who want to share knowledge and experiences with the public. 
This issue includes articles written by the following writers:
Jake Stratton-Kent,  Mike Magee, Sandra Tabatha Cicero, Aaron Leitch, Christine Zalewski, Nick Farrell, Paola Farrell,  Jayne Gibson,  Samuel Scarborough, Harry Wendrich, Alex Sumner, Carman Lawrick, Bro. Yeheshua Netzach,  Steve Nichols, Cynthia Caton  and Alfonso Ricca.
The Journal covers a wide range of different subjects all related to Western Ritual Magic, including Goetia, Theurgy, Angelic Magic, Ancient Egypt, and pagan ritual. There is something for anyone, from all spiritual traditions who wants to know about practical Western Ritual Magic.

The proceeds of this book will go towards esoteric charities.

An edition is available in a paperback and a deluxe limited edition hardback for collectors.

How to get a copy

For details of purchase, click on link below  -




HERMETIC TABLET - General Description

The Hermetic Tablet is coming and it will be an exciting new method of communicating practical occult information to the public. The Hermetic Tablet is a meeting place of those who work within the wider Western Occult tradition. Normally these sorts of papers circulate privately within the writer’s esoteric groups or amongst those who work with them. The goal of the Hermetic Tablet is to present these papers in a journal format for the first time. Although there are some big names in this edition, some of which have not published anything publically for years, the Hermetic Tablet also aims to provide an avenue for new writers who have something to say on the field of Practical Magic. 

This will help foster a new generation of occult writers in the same way that the Occult Review helped to develop the esoteric career of Dion Fortune.

The Journal will not be specific to the Golden Dawn tradition, in fact the aim is to encourage all western esoteric traditions to contribute. Articles will be 1-10,000 words and should not include poetry (other than full on invocations) as we have no way of judging its merit.

The Hermetic Tablet will be issued four times a year in a paperback format, a limited edition hardcover version, and an ebook (several months behind the print copy). The proceeds of each edition will go to a recognised esoteric charity – the first issue is dedicated to the Golden Dawn Legal fund.  The books will be on sale through lulu, but we will be putting into the Amazon distribution system (something we are less keen on because Amazon takes a huge cut).

Here is the table of contents for the first issue which should be out at Equinox

Editorial
Nick Farrell
9
The Conjuration of Nebiros
Jake Stratton-Kent
15
Kenneth Grant and the Serpent of Fire
Mike Magee
29
Beloved of Isis:  Invoking the Divine Feminine in the Golden Dawn
Sandra Tabatha-Cicero
39

Michael Workings
Aaron Leitch
73
Ritual preparation and timing
Christine Zalewski
87
Theurgy
Nick Farrell
111
A Ritual Evocation of Isis, Nephthys, and the 19th Path on the Tree of Life.
Jayne Gibson
137
Cerberus: Guard Dog from Hell
Carman Lawrick
161
Manipura and the Opening of The Third Eye
Harry Wendrich
181
Non-Divinatory Uses of the Tarot
Alex Sumner
191
What is Done Cannot be Undone
Cynthia Caton
211
Commentary on the Lesser
Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
Jorge Quinones
216
An Ancient Hittite ritual for abundance
Dr Alfonso Ricca
220
TSAKLI – The Totemic Tibetan “Tarot”
Steve Nichols
229



Book Reviews


   Book of Uriel
Samuel Scarborough
238
   An Enochian Grimoire
Samuel Scarborough
242
   Geosophia
Aaron Leitch
248

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Commentaries on the Flying Rolls - NEW BOOK


The Golden Dawn event of the year is the release of the new "Flying Rolls" book, which I was very pleased and privileged to have contributed to (Flying Roll 4)

I can do no better than to cut and paste the description from Kerubim Press, the publisher: -




31 May 2013—Dublin, Ireland—KERUBIM PRESS has announced the release of its latest esoteric title, Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls by the Golden Dawn Community (ISBN 978-1-908705-07-5)
[launched on 14 June 2013]
The book weighs in at 440 pages, packed not only with all 36 Flying Rolls (including rare material), but with additional magical teachings, historical insights, and commentaries from members of a variety of modern Golden Dawn orders, including well-known authors like Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero, Aaron Leitch, Nick Farrell and Peregrin Wildoak.
Anyone working with the Golden Dawn system of magic, and, indeed, anyone working in the Western Mystery Tradition as a whole, will find this an indispensible addition to their bookshelves.
   
Check out the back cover description:
This book contains the 36 pivotal papers given to Adepts in the original Golden Dawn order, providing key insights and instructions into the theory and practice of magic, from theurgy, imagination and symbolism to clairvoyance, divination and telesmatic images. For the first time these texts are brought together in a single printed volume, along with some rare administrative versions that were all but ignored by modern eyes.
In addition, extensive and insightful commentaries from modern Golden Dawn magicians from a variety of orders are here provided, adding to the corpus of teaching provided in the Flying Rolls themselves.
The contributors to this book include:
Frater A.M., Frater AR, Deanna Bonds, Christopher Bradford, Chic Cicero, Sandra Tabatha Cicero, Ian Cowburn, Morgan Drake Eckstein, Nick Farrell, Paola Farrell, Lauren Gardner, Jayne Gibson, Frater Goya, VH Frater IOV, Aaron Leitch, Liza Llewellyn, Joseph Max, Frater Philomancer, VH Soror QQDAM, Samuel Scarborough, Eric V. Sisco, Rachael Walker, Sam Webster, Harry Wendrich, Peregrin Wildoak, Frater Yechidah, Frater YShY
The book will retail for $29.99, £19.99, €24.99, or AU$29.99. It will be available through all major online bookstores, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and The Book Depository. Bookstores are welcome to contact Kerubim Press to inquire about wholesale options.

____________________________________________________


Also....

please check out the following 2 related blog articles (they are well worth reading!) -
- Soror SD (Liza Llewellyn)

Wednesday 12 December 2012

The Meaning of 12


"There are Twelve commandments
There are Twelve divisions
Twelve are the 'pagans' who have mapped the sky"

  - Bruce Dickinson (from "The Tower")

 As this is the date of 12 / 12/ 12, I thought I'd publish here a reminder of what the Stella Matutina/ Golden Dawn says about the number 12

In the Zelator Ritual, we are shown the Diagram of the Table of Shewbread: -


"To the Northern side of the Holy Place, stood the Table of Shewbread. The drawing before you represents its occult meaning. On it twelve leaves were laid as emblems of the Bread of life, and it is an image of the Mystery of the Rose of Creation. The 12 circles are the 12 Signs of the Zodiac, while the Lamp in the center is symbolic of the Sun, which is the source of heat and life. The four Triangles whose twelve angles each touch one of the 12 circles are those of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water, and allude to the four Triplicities of the Zodiacal Signs. The Triangle inscribed within each of the 12 circles, alludes to the 3 Decanates, or phases of ten degrees of each sign. On one side of each Triangle is the Permutation of the Divine Name YHVH, which is referred to that particular sign, while in the opposite side of it is the name of one of the 12 Tribes which is also attributed to it. Now the 22 sounds and letters of the Hebrew Alphabet are the foundation of all things. Three Mothers, Seven Double and Twelve Singles. The Twelve Single letters are allotted to the 12 directions in space, and those diverge to Infinity, and are in the arms of the Eternal. These Twelve Letters He designed and combined, and fortified with them the Twelve Celestial Constellations of the Zodiac. They are over the Universe as a King upon his throne, and they are in the revolution of the year as a King traversing his dominions, and they are in the heart of man as a King in warfare. And the Twelve Leaves are the images of those ideas, and are the outer petals of the Rose; while within are the Four Archangels ruling over the Four Quarters, and the Kerubic emblems of the Lion, Man, Bull and Eagle. Around the great central Lamp which is an image of the Sun, is the Great Mother of Heaven, symbolized by the letter Heh, the first of the Single letters, and by its number 5, the Pentagram, Malkah the Bride, ruling in her Kingdom Malkuth, crowned with a crown of Twelve Stars. These Twelve Circles further represent the 12 Foundations of the Holy City of the Apocalypse while in Christian Symbolism the Sun and the Twelve Signs are referred to Christ and His Twelve Apostles."

Essentially it is all Astro-Theology or Stellar-Theology - the study that relates how that Religious or Spiritual symbolism is patterned after what is going on in the HeavensThis is expressed in the idea that the Microcosm reflects the Macrocosm.



Another great book on the subject


My friend, Michael Tsarion's book on AstroTheology


Table of Shewbread with 12 loaves




It is interesting to note also, that the 12 occurs in our measurement of 
(1) Hourly time:   12 hours
(2) Yearly time:   12 months
(3) Aeonic time:  12 Great Astrological Ages

12, 12, 12 !

The Sacred number of the Rosicrucian Current is 120, 12 to a factor of 10, the number of the Sephiroth.

3 multiplied by 120 is a Full Circle (infinity) - 3 being the Triad of Life, or Holy Trinity of Isis-Osiris-Horus in action.

Why did the ancients choose to have 12 zodiacal signs? Was that just what they saw in the sky? I, for one, do not think so. I think the Signs are only space-markers. It is the 12-fold division of the Zodiacal belt or Wheel that is important. 

But why 12 then? Why 12 divisions?

For the same reason that there are 12 hours in the day and months in the year (which correspond approximately to the 12 signs anyway) -

The reason is that 12 is a number that can be easily divided into quarters and thirds. Mathematically this is means it is more useful than 10. For magical systems that depend upon 4 directions in space (which is really just halving and halving again) and 4 Elements and upon sets of Trinities, Triads or Thirds, then 12 is a very useful  number indeed!

It is the perfect number for a system of astrology based on dividing the signs up into 4 Elements, with 3 phases (or "quadruplicities")  per element of Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable.

I will leave you with this interesting video discussion of the 12 from a mathematically point of view - it explains very well indeed (without mentioning anything overtly "spiritual") why our ancients, from whom we have inherited our Magical and Hermetic systems, would have loved the number 12 so much.

See:

LVX 120, Sr SD




Thursday 20 September 2012

The Moon – Water or Air??



This article, which has been sitting on my one of my pen-drives for a few months, was a development based on a comment I made to an article called “Why is the Moon grade connected to the element of Air?” on Nick Farrell’s blog. I found nothing to disagree with in what Nick said on that blog, I was merely adding my own thoughts on the Moon and the GD association with Air. The comment got so long, that I kept it on file, with half a mind to make a full article out of it and I just recently stumbled on it again, so I have decided I might as well use it now as a blog article. I added some more points to it today. Here it is:

Luna, Ruler of the Waves.
In modern occult movements like Wicca, the Moon is associated with Water and is female (as the Sun is with Fire and is male). Perhaps this all started with Dion Fortune, who says in her Mystical Qabalah. Nick mentions Ms. Fortune's book Moon Magic, which influenced Gerald Gardner and Wicca, mentions the Moon only in reference to water. It is not just in Moon Magic we see this, but also in her greatest masterpiece: The Mystical Qabalah.

This attribution is interesting, as Dion Fortune was trained in the Golden Dawn system of Qabalah and she is generally speaking very true to that system, yet the Golden dawn attributes the Moon (and Yesod) to Air, not Water. So why, in The Mystical Qabalah, does she discuss the Sephirah of Yesod in terms of the Moon and Water, and not in terms of the Moon and Air?

One reason for Ms Fortune's interpretation of the Moon as Water (despite her GD training)  is that, according to the GD Qabalistic system, both Yesod and the Moon correspond to, and are ruled by, the Archangel Gabriel, who as Fortune points out is the Archangel of Water (not Air!)

Some thoughts on this I have had over the years -

One association of the Moon with Water seems to come down to the fact that it pulls the tides.
But in this case that means it rules over water (via the tides) rather than is made itself of water.
Thus it rules water but is not itself watery. This is comparable to how Aquarius while being the “Water-Bearer” is not itself a Water sign as such. It is of course an Air sign, and Air is “the bearer of water “- as we know from dewfall and the moisture in the air.

Perhaps also an association arose because it appears silvery, like the surface of a lake.
Another watery association is with the menstrual (“moon-strual”) cycles of the female – and hence of the “female” element of water, through the amniotic fluids of menstruation and birth. However, even here there is a striking contradiction to this easy association – many of the ancient lunar deities are MALE  (e.g. Thoth, Khonsu and the Babylonian god, Sin) !

The constantly changing Moon.
Another association with water would be the *changeability* of the Moon – sometimes its full and round, sometimes only a crescent, etc – like water it is fluid, constantly in flux. However, this would also apply to Air. And there we see how perhaps the moon can justifiably be said to represent either Air or Water – because both are FLUIDS. In mainstream science, both liquids and gases are described as Fluids – i.e. they flow from one shape to another. 



Water & Air are both fluids.

So, we could say that, generally speaking, 
the Moon is the symbol of 
all that is FLUID.









But getting back to the GD’s attribution of the Moon to Air...

 It seems the only logical attribution to make. First, the reason already stated (that all GD students know) that Air is the Reconciler between the 2 “extreme” elements of Fire and Water – Air had to be on the Middle Pillar. We can also see why the Moon should be on the Middle Pillar: the Sun should be central on the Tree(being the centre of the Solar system and the supreme symbol of the redeeming Divine Light) and the moon being the reflection of this Divine Light (and the Holder of that Light in the darkness) – it was appropriate to place the Moon directly beneath the Sun and directly above the Earth/Malkuth. Essentially the two main luminaries, the Sun and the Moon, should be on the Middle Pillar. And so the moon, like Air falls on the Middle Pillar and cannot therefore be attributed to Water, at least not directly.






Nick wrote that “the association of water to the moon is a fairly modern attribution.”
Indeed, if we look at how the ancients saw it - one other point of interest is to look at the ancient Egyptian and Greek Gods again –the great Teacher of the Hermetic Tradition, Thoth (Hermes) was always associated with the Moon in ancient Egypt (Mercury  with Thoth was a later association as far as I can discern). Thoth was the God of the Mind & Communication – both of which have always been associated with the Element of AIR, not Water ; so it’s natural to associate the Moon (through the lunar Deity, Thoth) with AIR. 




My conclusion? 

- The Moon corresponds to Fluidity and Changeability - hence it corresponds to both Air and Water, as these are the fluids, the changeable substances. The Golden Dawn chose to attribute Air to the Moon directly, because it had to do so to keep the idea of Air as the central Equilibrating Element on the Middle Pillar between the Spheres of Water and Fire, while it attributed Water to the Moon indirectly by having it correspond to the Archangel Gabriel.