Dancing under the dead stars of Missourri moonlight

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:28:57 GMT

Witchcraft is like a skeleton, clothed in an infinite variety of flesh and clothing. Just as it would be a very dull world ndeed were we all to be the Aryan ideal of humanity or wear the same dark suit, so is it with religion.
Just as people are different, so are their beliefs and one common belief among witches is that each person should follow the faith that makes them happy. With myself and others, that is Witchcraft. But just as people prefer different styles of clothing, so do they prefer differing religious forms.
The skeleton of Wichcraft is it's core beliefs that include, among others: reincarnation, the Three-Fold Law, the Wiccan Rede, The wheel of the Year, the Goddess and the Horned God and so on. But the flesh is the Tradition, be it Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Eclectic, Sheban, Dianic or whatever. And the Clothng is the Lineage, be we derived from Valeinte or Wilson.
In these pages I will attempt to explain some basic Gardnerian beliefs and workings. But be aware that although we all took the same Oath of Secrecy, we also interpret that Oath differently. So much of what is writen here will be argued by other Gardnerians of differeing Lineages. Hopefully, some of those people will offer writings to be added here.

With that said, the immediate question is: "What is a Gardnerian Witch?"

The answer is simple yet complex, very much like the religon itself.
So, rather than make a long descriptive list that will exclude anyone who I dislike and include only my close personal friends, I will keep it as simple as possible and let the following pages answer in detail.

For our purposes, I will define a Gardnerian Witch as:

* 1) Someone who was Initiated by another Gardnerian Elder.
a) using an established Gardnerian Initiation Ritual.
b) with the intent to confer Gardnerian Validity.
c) who can trace their Gardnerian Lineage back to Gardner via one of his many High Priestesses between the years of 1952 to 1964.
* 2) Who possesses the Core Gardnerian Book of Shadows.
* 3) And who practices recognisable Gardnerian Rituals.
Obviously, this list is deliberately vague. For example, you can ADD to the Gardnerian Ritual (as doing a Maypole Dance at Beltane) but you canot delete from it (as deleting the $ from the Initiation). And all additions should enhance and fit into the theme of the rite (a sweatlodge is inapropriate)
And when do your additions move you from the Gardnerian Tradition into something else? Witch Wars have been fought over this question.
I hope that I can answer some of these questions here.

Three Fold Law

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:25:36 GMT

When Gardner and the other occultists in the late 19th and early 20th century tried to explain the Law of Return, they were in a position of trying to explain a concept that was totally alien to a people indoctrinated into basic xian theology. I.e. god rewards good and punishes evil after death with heaven or hell (unless you use the escape clause of jesus in which case you can be totally evil and still be rewarded with heaven). In desperation, they tried to use the Eastern word “Karma” to explain the law of Return, some with better success than others according to their writing abilities.

The bad part of this is that many Eclectic and some Traditional Witches who never thought deeply about this tended to believe that Witches followed the “Law of Karma” which isn’t exactly true.

One must understand that Karma is an Eastern concept and Witchcraft is a Western religion so it is difficult for the two to co-exist as it is difficult for a family from India to retain their cultural identity when living in New York City.

So what does Karma really mean? In it’s simplest form, Karma means “action” and refers to the universe reacting to your actions. You perform an act and the universe reacts to that act. Like Newton’s laws of Motion. “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” So if you stand and throw a ball at someone, not only is the ball moving away from you towards your target, but you are also moving away from the target at an equal force. If you are standing on the ground, you don’t notice this but throw the ball while standing in a wagon and you will notice the difference immediately.

Karma has no time limit. It is usually accepted to mean that if you live a good life and you die, then your next life (not this one) will be better than this one. You are deferring rewards for your deeds to a future life and so your acts are tainted by selfishness. Karma doesn’t care about motives, only deeds. And many modern neo-pagans believe that this means that if you do good, karma will reward you with more good in this life. Not so.

As I mentioned before, explaining the Law of Return (called by Gardnerians “the Three-Fold Law”) to others is equally difficult. There is nothing in western religion that adequately explains this concept. Karma comes close but still misses. Explaining the Three-Fold Law is like explaining music to someone who has never heard music. And trying to explain this on paper is like trying to teach someone who has never heard music how to sing the scales.

So be aware that what I am going to attempt isn’t completely accurate but it is the closest I can come to explaining an alien concept.

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Consider the following: You are in a store and you see a mother telling a child that she cannot afford to buy him a toy because she barely has enough money to buy food. So you, for no other reason than because it is the right thing to do, buy that toy and you wait. When the mother and her child leaves the store, you ask the manager to give the toy to the child saying “Everyone needs a present sometime” and you walk away.

You have no desire for thanks or reward, you are simply doing something nice because it’s the right thing to do.

Now your body/soul/aura/whatever sends out a wave of ‘good’. This is similar to dropping a pebble into a pond. The pebble sends out ripples which continue for some distance.

Eventually, these ripples of ‘good’ will strike another person who is sympathetic and bounce back. The water ripples from your stone will strike the edge of the pond and be reflected back to the pebble.

As those waves of ‘good’ are reflected back to you, that person for reasons unknown to him sees you and does something ‘good’ for you. Maybe he stops his car and allows you to enter traffic, maybe he sees you carrying a heavy box and stops to help, maybe he … you get the idea. The waves of ‘good’ that you have sent out have influenced another person to do good and you reap the benefit.

But because the ripples in the pond bounce back to the pebble, continue on to the other edge of the pond and are bounced back to the pebble again, so are the waves of ‘good’ returned to you as they strike other sympathetic people. You have reaped a Three-Fold return for your action: once in kind, once in spirit and once in need!

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So what happens when you think “If I buy this child a toy, I’ll be rewarded?”

Unfortunatly, that’s xian thinking there. The waves that you have sent out are tainted with greed. Instead of sending out waves of ‘good’, you send out waves of ‘greed’ and when they reach a sympathetic person, that person helps you but for a selfish reason. He helps you carry that heavy package but insists that you have dinner with him regardless of your marital status. He returns to you your dropped wallet but he checks your driver’s license for your address and phone number first or removes some of the cash… you get the idea. You will receive a good return but with a price.

To keep the Three-Fold Return pure, it is important that you act out of a positive ethical position untainted by greed or such.

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And how does this relate to the world?

Those waves of ‘good’ you send out don’t strike one person, they strike a dozen. Not all will be in a position to ‘repay’ your kindness so they respond to these sudden waves of ‘good’ by being inspired to assist others. The term is ‘pay it forward’ and the world slowly becomes a better place as each person receives these waves of ‘good’ and reacts by doing good deeds which in turn send out more waves of ‘good’ to affect others until… you get the idea.

This is why it is important to do good deeds not because you worry about reward and punishment (xian concepts) but because for no other reason than it is the right thing to do.

History

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:19:50 GMT

I had the great honor to meet Raymond Buckland back in the late 90's. He was one of my favorite teachers of the faith and in just I practiced many ways in that respect though I have mastered my practice and have alternated in varieties of ways to better enhance the outcome of the practice. I recommend all keep to the old ways and practice daily and fraternally in the art. Be exquisit e in all levels of the practice such as only pure herbs, only true handmade insence of powder on charcoal, only true oil made from the purest of cloves, rose, merr, etc, only candles made of beeswax and handformed from Wiccan methods and consecrated under strict practices and etched only in Theban, etc etc. In many instances even the true witches will find the first few if not first 10 spells to sort of backfire as they are new to the art. In some cases I found that I believe it is actually the watchers of the towers or the spirits that guide these spells little way of hazing the newcommers even as for such as doing the opposite one might wish for till they feel they are true and fit mentally. Never attempt major castings when first starting out as they may have the opposite effect at first. Never ever practice under the influence of alcohol or drugs as they can weaken the spirit aura and cause you to be unprotected in your circle. I have practiced under alcohol at times and it often resulted in more of a darker magick. Never scry for future fortunes under alcohol as anything more than 8 min could have devistating effects. Learn and read and read and read and learn and never stop learning and always take bits and pieces of what is best suited for your inner feelings as only the best spells come from within and not from a book in someone elses words.

In recent years there has been a tremendous growth in the ancient religion of Witchcraft (Wicca). Unfortunately, due to the oaths of secrecy that we are required to take, the terms Traditional Witch and Gardnerian have been invested with unfortunate connotations. In this paper I will make an attempt to redefine, in more accurate words, a little bit about our Tradition. Bear in mind that Gardnerians, being Witches, will disagree with almost every sentence in this paper. Thus, this paper is a compilation of a number of papers and letters from Gardnerian Covens around the world. We sent and continue to send it to Gardnerians of various fame and authority in America, Canada, England and the Netherlands and their continuing input influences various editions of this document.

In the late 1800's, one of the Grand Masters of Witchcraft (In those days, Wicca was ruled by the Master, not the Priestess) named George Pickingill saw Witchcraft as dying. The reasons for this were complex so Old George decided to save The Craft by creating a Coven, making a few changes to conform to modern conditions and sit back to see what worked. He then would form another Coven, keep what worked, toss what didn't and make a few more changes until he had created what Gardnerians now call 'The Nine Covens'.

One of these surviving Covens took refuge in the Rosicrucion Theater in England where, if discovered performing a ritual, they could claim that it was only a play. Remember, at this time being a Witch was still a capital offense. In 1939, a retired civil servant named Gerald Gardner joined this theater and met with this Coven and was eventually Initiated as a Witch.

Gardner also saw the Craft as dying partly because of the secrecy imposed by the Burning Times and partly because all of the Witches that he knew were elderly people. Gardner was determined to write the truth about Wicca before it died out altogether but was prevented from doing so by his Priestess who feared for a revival of the Burning Times. Remember, that only a few years earlier in 1925, a Witch was burned to death in New Mexico and another would be burned to death a few years later in Mexico in 1955. Eventually, in 1949, Gardner was permitted to write a fictional work called High Magic's Aid which told a very small part of Wicca. Later when he broke away from his Coven and formed his own, he wrote The Truth About Witchcraft where he stated what Witchcraft really was and admitted that he was a Witch himself.

Far from being almost extinct, Gardner began to receive letters from all over Europe from Witches and Covens who, like Gardner, thought that they were the last of a dying religion. The Craft, once laid out for the general population, touched something deep within humanity and grew at an enormous rate. In fact, it has been said that Witchcraft is the fastest growing religion in America today.

Over the next decade, Gardner added to the fragmentary rituals that he had received from his own Coven and trained a number of Priestesses, each of whom gave their Covens their own distinctive flavor. The most famous of these was Doreen Valiente who saw the value of Wicca but didn't like a lot of the judeo-xian ceremonial magick that Gardner had added. She rewrote the Book of Shadows in the early 1950's and her ability to communicate the poetry of the Goddess encouraged the Wiccan revival. All Witches who are descended from Gardner are now called Gardnerians (just as all xians who followed Martin Luther are called Lutherans), though they may better be called Gardner- Valientians.

In 1963, Raymond and Rosemary Buckland became Initiated by Gardner and his last Priestess, Monique Wilson and brought Gardnerianism to America. Today, almost all Gardnerians in America can be traced back to the Wilson-Gardner partnership by way of the Bucklands. However, in Canada and Europe, most Gardnerians trace their Lineage back to Gardner by way of one of his other Priestesses. These differing Lineages are what give Gardnerianism it's different working methods and rules, some of which appear to be conflicting.

The First-Degree Initiation or at least the basics..muuwwhahahaa

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:03:12 GMT

This was taken from a reference and though there is much more involved at least on my standards this seems to be the general run down for anyone wishing to know some of what is in the preceedings.

The First-Degree Initiation

Draw Circle with Magic Sword or Athame.

Sprinkle with Exorcised Water.

Go round Circle with Magic Sword or Athame, Saying, "I conjure thee, O Circle of Power, that thou beest as a Boundary and a Protection to contain the magic power which I will raise within thy bounds. So do I bless thee, in the names of Aradia and Cernunnos."

Go round, saying at East, South, West, and North, "I summon, stir, and call thee up, ye Mighty Ones of the East (South, West, North), to witness the rites and to guard the circle."

Magus draws down Moon on High Priestess.

Read Charge, then say, "O thou who standest on the threshold between the pleasant world of men and the dread domains of the lords of the outer spaces, hast thou the courage to make the assay?" (Place point of the Magic Sword or Athame to Postulant's heart.) "For I say verily it were better to rush on my blade and perish than to make the attempt with fear in thy heart."

Postulant: "I have two perfect words: perfect love, and perfect trust."

Say, "All who have are doubly welcome."

Entering position: "I give you a third to pass you through this dread door." Gives it [kiss].

Lead Postulant sunwise to south of altar, and say, "O thou who hast declared intent to become one of us, hear then that which thou must know to do. Single is the race of men and of Gods; from a single source we both draw breath, but a difference of power in everything keeps us apart, for we are as nothing, but the Gods stay forever. Yet we can, in greatness of minds, be like the Gods, though we know not to what goal by day or in the night Fate has written that we shall run. Beyond all seas and Earth's la st boundaries, beyond the Spring of night and the Heavens' vast expanse, there lies a majesty which is the domain of the Gods. Thou who would pass through the Gates of Night and Day to that sweet place, which is between the worlds of men and the domains of the Lords of the outer spaces, know that unless there is truth in thy heart, thy every effort is doomed to failure. HEAR THEN THE LAW: that thou lovest all things in nature; that thou shalt suffer no person to be harmed by thy hands or in thy mind; that thou walkest humbly in the ways of men and the ways of the Gods. Also it is the law that contentment thou shalt learn, through suffering, and from long years and from nobility of mind and of purpose, FOR THE WISE NEVER GROW OLD. Their minds are nourished by living in the daylight of the Gods, and if among the vulgar some discoveries should arise concerning some maxims of thy belief in the Gods, so do thou, for the most part, keep silent. For there is a great risk that thou mayest straightway vomit up th at which thou hast not digested, and when someone shall say to thee, "Thou knowest naught," and it bites thee not, then knowest thou that thou hast begun the work. And as sheep do not bring their food to the shepherd to show how much they have eaten, but digesting inwardly their provender, bear outwardly wool and milk, even so, do not thou display the maxims to the vulgar, but rather the works that flow when they are digested. Now there is the ordeal." [This speech was added after about 1960.]

Tie cord around Postulant's right ankle, leaving ends free; say, "Feet neither bound nor free."

Leading postulant, proclaim at four quarters, "Take heed, ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the East (South, West, North), that (name) is properly prepared to be made a priestess and a witch."

Three times round the Circle with Dance step and chant.

Place Postulant in East; say, "Kneel."

Postulant kneels.

Strike eleven knells on bell; say, "Rise. In other religions the postulant kneels while the priest towers above him, but in the Art Magical we are taught to be humble, and so we kneel to welcome them, and we say:

"Blessed be the feet that have brought you in these ways [kiss];

"Blessed be the knees that shall kneel at the sacred altar [kiss];

"Blessed be thy womb (or organ of generation), without which we would not be [kiss];

"Blessed be thy breasts, erected in beauty and in strength [kiss];

"Blessed be thy lips, which shall utter the sacred names [kiss].

"Before ye are sworn, art willing to pass the ordeal and be purified?"

Postulant "I am."

Take measure: height (tie knot); around head (tie knot); around heart

(tie knot); around hips (tie knot). Prick postulant's thumb; catch blood on measure. Place measure on altar. Have postulant kneel, tie postulant's feet together, and secure cable tow to altar. Three strokes on bell. Say, "Art ready to swear that thou wilt always be true to the Art?"

Postulant "I am."

Strike seven times on bell and say, "Thou must first be purified." Scourge 3, 7, 9, 21.

Say, "Ye have bravely passed the test. Art always ready to help, protect, and defend thy brothers and sisters of the Art?"

Postulant "I am."

"Then say after me: I, (name), in the presence of the mighty ones of the outer spaces, do of my own free will most solemnly swear that I will ever keep secret and never reveal the secrets of the Art, except it be to a proper person, properly prepared, within such a circle as I am in now, and that I will never deny the Secrets to such a person if they be vouched for by a brother or Sister of the Art. All this I swear by my hopes of a future life, and may my weapons turn against me if I break this my solemn oath."

Loosen cords from ankles and from altar, and remove blindfold; assist to rise.

"I hereby sign thee with the triple sign [the point-down triangle formed by touching the genitals, the right breast, the left breast, and the genitals again.] I consecrate thee with oil. I consecrate thee with wine. I consecrate thee with my lips, Priest (Priestess) and Witch."

Remove Cords [kiss].

"I now present to you the working tools. First the magic sword. With this, as with the athame, thou canst form all magic circles, dominate, subdue, and punish all rebellious spirits and demons, and even persuade angels and good spirits. With this in your hand, you are ruler of the circle." [kiss]

"Next I present to you the athame. This is the true witches' weapon, and has all the powers of the magic sword." [kiss]

"Next I present the white-handled knife. Its use is to form all instruments used in the Art. It can only be used in a magic circle." [kiss]

"Next I present the wand. Its use is to call up and control certain angels and genie to whom it would not be meet to use the sword or athame." [kiss]

"Next I present the pentacle. This is for the purpose of calling up the appropriate spirits." [kiss]

"Next I present the censer of incense. This is used to encourage and welcome good spirits, and to banish evil spirits." [kiss]

"Next I present the scourge. This is a sign of power and domination. It is also used to cause purification and enlightenment, for it is written, 'To learn you must suffer and be purified.' [kiss]

Art willing to suffer to learn?"

Postulant: "I am."

"Next and lastly I present the cords. They are of use to bind the sigils of the art, also the material basis. Also they are necessary in the oath." [kiss]

"I now salute you in the names of Aradia and Cernunnos, Newly made Priestess and Witch."

Lead round and proclaim to four quarters, "Hear, ye Mighty Ones, (name) has been consecrated a priestess of the Goddess."

Now present new Witch to coven members. All should kiss and hug new Witch as welcome into membership.

To close circle proclaim to four quarters, "Ye Mighty Ones of the East (South, West, North), I thank you for attending and, ere ye depart for your lovely realms, I say hail and farewell."

Definition of Skyclad and why it is practiced in this manner

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 18:54:38 GMT

Skyclad

It is important to work naked from the start, so it becometh as second nature, and no thought of "I have no clothes" shall ever intrude and take your attention from the work. Also, your skin being so accustomed to unconfinement, when power is given off the flow is more easy and regular. Also, when dancing you are free and unconfined. . . . And the greatest of all, the touch of the body of your beloved thrills your inmost soul, and so your body gives out its utmost power; and then it is most important of all that there is not the slightest thing to divert the attention, for then the mind must seize and mold the power generated, and redirect it to the desired end with all the force and frenzy of the imagination. It has been said that no real knowledge may be gained our way, that our practices are such that they can only lead to lust; but this is not really so. Our aim is to gain the inner sight, and we do it the most natural and easy way. Our opponents' aim is ever to prevent man and woman from loving, thinking that everything that helps or even permits them to love is wicked and vile. To us it is natural, and if it aids the Great Work it is good. 'Tis true that a couple burning with a frenzy for knowledge may go straight to their goal, but the average couple have not this fire. We show them the way, our system of props and aids (i.e., magic ritual). A couple working with nothing but lust will never attain in any case; but a couple who love each other dearly should already be sleeping together, and the first frenzy of love will have passed, and their souls will already be in sympathy. If the first time or two they do stay a while to worship Aphrod ite, 'tis only a day or two lost, and the intense pleasure they obtain only leads them again to the mysteries of Hermes, their souls more attuned to the great search. Once they have pierced the veil they will not look back. This rite may be used as the greatest of magics if it be done with both partners firmly fixing their minds on the object and not thinking of sex at all. That is, you must so firmly fix your mind on your object that sex and all else are naught. You inflame your will to such an extent that you may create a strain on the astral such that events happen.

Make your own

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 16:44:35 GMT

The Working Tools
(1953)

There are no magical supply shops, so unless you are lucky enough to be given or sold tools, a poor witch must extemporize. But when made you should be able to borrow or obtain an Athame. So having made your circle, erect an altar. Any small table or chest will do. There must be fire on it (a candle will suffice) and your book. For good results incense is best if you can get it, but coals in a chafing dish burning sweet-smelling herbs will do. A cup if you would have cakes and wine, and a platter with the signs drawn into the same in ink, showing a pentacle. A scourge is easily made (note, the scourge has eight tails and five knots in each tail). Get a white-hilted knife and a wand (a sword is not necessary). Cut the marks with Athame. Purify everything, then consecrate your tools in proper form and ever be properly prepared. But ever remember, magical operations are useless unless the mind can be brought to the proper attitude, keyed to the utmost pitch. Affirmations must be made clearly, and the mind should be inflamed with desire. With this frenzy of will, you may do as much with simple tools as with the most complete set. But good and especially ancient tools have their own aura. They do help to bring about that reverential spirit, the desire to learn and develop your powers. For this reason witches ever try to obtain tools from sorcerers, who, being skilled men, make good tools and consecrate them well, giving them mighty power. But a great witch's tools also gain much power; and you should ever strive to make any tools you manufacture of the finest materials you can obtain, to the end that they may absorb your power the more easily. And of course if you may inherit or obtain another witch's tools, power will flow from them. It is an old belief that the best substances for making tools are those that have once had life in them, as opposed to artificial substances. Thus wood or ivory is better for a wand than metal, which is more appropriate for knives or swords. Virgin parchment is better than manufactured paper for talismans, etc. And things which have been made by hand are good, because there is life in them.

My Athame is hand made and tempered from my own hands and was shaped from the metal bar which I started with. It was done in the traditional recomedded way and to precise instruction to bring forth its shape from the metal of the Earth. Very special piece down to the handle which also crafted of my own faith.

Consecrating Tools

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 16:40:41 GMT

(Note: if possible lay any new weapon touching an already consecrated one, Sword to sword, Athame to Athame, etc.)

[1] Prepare Circle and purify. All tools must be consecrated by a man and a woman, both as naked as drawn swords; they must be purified, clean, and properly prepared.

[2] Place tool on pentacle on altar. Magus sprinkles it with salt and water. Witch passes it through smoke of incense, replaces it on pentacle. Touching with already consecrated weapon, they say the First Conjuration.

[2a] For sword or athame, say "I conjure thee, O Sword (or Athame) of Steel, that thou servest me for a strength and a defence in all magical operations, against all mine enemies, visible and invisible, in the names of Aradia and Cernunnos. I conjure thee anew by the Holy Names Aradia and Cernunnos, that thou servest me for a protection in all adversities, so aid me."

[2b] For any other tool, say, "Aradia and Cernunnos, deign to bless and to consecrate this [tool], that it may obtain necessary virtue through thee for all acts of love and Beauty."

[3] Again they sprinkle and cense, and say the Second Conjuration:

[3a] For sword or athame, say, "I conjure thee, O Sword [Athame] of Steel, by the Great Gods and the Gentle Goddesses, by the virtue of the Heavens, of the Stars, of the Spirits who preside over them, that thou mayest receive such virtues that I may obtain the end that I desire in all things wherein I shall use thee, by the power of Aradia and Cernunnos."

[3b] For any other tool, say, "Aradia and Cernunnos, bless this instrument prepared in thine honour." (For the scourge or cords, add, "That it may only serve for a good use and end, and to thy Glory.")

[4] All instruments when consecrated should be presented to their User by giving the [point-down triangle] sign salute (if they are working in the 1st degree, or the sign of the higher degree if they are working that.)

[5] Then the one who is not the owner should give the Fivefold Kiss to the owner. For the final kiss, the tool should be placed between the breasts, and the two workers should embrace for as long as they feel like, it being held in place by their bodies. The new owner should use it immediately, i.e., cast (trace) Circle with Sword or Athame, wave wand to 4 quarters, cut something with white-handled knife, etc. Cords and scourge should be used at once.

The tool should be kept in as close connection as possible to the naked body for at least a month, i.e., kept under pillow, etc. When not in use, all tools and weapons should be put away in a secret place; and it is good that this should be near your sleeping place, and that you handle them each night before retiring. Do not allow anyone to touch or handle any of your tools until they are thoroughly impregnated with your aura; say, six months or as near as possible. But a couple working together may own the same tools, which will be impregnated with the aura of both.

I firmly believe in the consecration of all items to be present in any circle or ritualistic gathering. No item of any unprotected aura is to be part of or worn by any practician. Only consecrated oils should also use in the methods described above and when text is used with etching tools only tools that have been consecrated along with Theban text should ever be etched. Magical tool shold most power when it has been handed down or given as a gift by another witch in good standing of the tradition. However all items whether a gift or passed down should always be done in the same manner as new items to cleanse and body it as well to the new hands which it will serve.

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Absolution

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 20:45:03 GMT

I would swim across oceans
Just to talk with you
I would climb a tall mountain
Just to look at you
I'd give my soul to the devil
If you asked me to
I would walk out of heaven
Just to be with you

This is absolute
This is absolution

I will be your disciple
And I'll worship you
Burn the prophets of reason
Light the sky for you
Kill the children of Eden
If you want me to
Close the dead eyes of God
If they offended you

This is absolute
This is absolution

---- Gary Numan

Fraternally,

Phreak 666

Yet another

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 20:11:22 GMT

Casting A Ritual Circle
Circle Casting is one of the distinguishing features of Neopagan Witchcraft. All religions have procedures for establishing Sacred Space, casting a Circle is the Wiccan practice that fulfills that function. The Circle establishes the outer rim of the sacred space.
The Circle sets the ritual space apart from the normal everyday space; it delineates the boundaries between our mundane practices and the realm of magical interaction. It is a declaration of parameters. It also helps to contain and focus the energies raised, it acts as a containment field for the energies that are summoned later. The casting of the circle is a magical act and should be sealed with a statement of success or some signal of completion.

When the Circle is being cast the participants should be visualizing a sphere of energy forming around them, the details of this visualization vary. Once it is cast, no one should leave without making some concession to the barrier such as "cutting a door".

This is a "Three worlds" Circle casting that I prefer because it speaks to the purpose of the Circle casting.

"Now we make our sacred space
By building a sphere of energy around us
We cast this circle of light by calling upon
the three worlds we move between
We cast this circle thrice about:
Once for the world of daylight,
For the world of intellect and clarity.

We cast this circle thrice about:
Once for the world of moonlight,
for the world of intuition and secrets.

We cast this circle thrice and last:
Once for the world out of time,
Between all places,
Where we meet to do our Work.

The Circle is cast
We stand between the worlds
Let all who enter, enter in love
Let all who leave, leave in peace."

This is the circle casting I learned from my teacher Jill Price. This is sort of an accordion piece, each verse can be stretched or condensed to last all the way around the Circle. The descriptive section, after the colon and before the final line of each section, can be improvised upon for as long as necessary.

"We cast this circle thrice about,
once for the maiden,
Innocent and free.
We are the maiden when we:
begin a new thing
know the beauty of the ordinary
marvel in the everyday
are joyful in life
we are the maiden and the maiden is us.
We cast this circle thrice about,
Once for the Mother,
Nurturing and strong.
We are the mother when we:
are Generous and loving
when we have the courage to lead
stand up for what we believe in
think of others first
we are the mother and the mother is us.

We cast this circle thrice about,
Once for the Crone,
Old and in wisdom strong.
We are the crone when we:
teach others
seek inner truth
comfort the weak
we are the crone and is us.

The Circle is cast.
We stand between the worlds,
Between all places,
Where we meet to do our Work.
Let all who enter, enter in love,
Let all who leave, leave in peace."

This is a Triple Goddess casting by my coven mate Michael wrote

I cast this circle thrice about, once for the maiden.
Carefree and innocent, she who knows the beauty of the ordinary.
She who marvels in the everyday, and is joyful in life.
I cast this circle thrice about, twice for the mother.
Nurturing and strong, she who knows the pains that make life worth
living. She who teaches us how to live, and takes away our hurt.

I cast this circle thrice about, thrice for the crone.
Aged and experienced, she who knows life's hard lessons.
She who aids us with the hard won knowledge of the ages.

The Circle is rarely perfectly round and in practice it's boundaries are somewhat flexible. You are within the Circle when you are in sensory contact with the group. As long as you are included in the interaction of the group you are within the Circle.

Cutting a door is a symbolic opening of the inclusive sphere to allow an individual to come or go. A door can be cut with an athame or parted like a veil. I like to unzip a door like a tent flap. Always close the door behind you when you leave.

Building a Circle and Altar

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 20:10:04 GMT

This is a simple circle and simplified to the complex form and ways I do things in mine. I can't specify the ways I do mine as I am solitary practitioner and I do not speak of the secrecy of my ways. I go much deeper in preparations and ritual presets as in the older ways with adds and changes and specific dieties and even to the script in which I write my spells and such the text being that of Theban or Enochian. This is a summary for beginners from an internet prepective. The herbs and oils and candles and everything I use are free from negativity and used and purchased under strict accordance of quality.

Building a Circle and Altar

The origins of the magic circle lie in ancient history, forms of it were used in old Babylonian magic and many of the Ceremonial Magicians of the Middle Ages and Renaissance used them. In pre-Christian Europe most Pagan religious festivals took place in circles, normally outdoors under the sky and stars at night. There they celebrated the Earth’s fertility and worshiped the Sun, Moon and Deities. But with the rise of Christianity and the newly powerful church, most of these pagan rites were outlawed and the oncoming persecution of witches forced the practice underground. The pagans became secretive about their rites and practiced them outside only after dark, lit by fires and torches in far-out the way places. Others brought the practice indoors away from prying eyes. Stone circles such as Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments, sacred groves and revered springs across Europe, are remnants of those ancient days.

There are two main types of magic circles used. Those formed by ceremonial magicians are designed to protect the magician from the forces that he or she raises. While those formed by witches and wiccans, are mainly used to create sacred space in which to meet and commune with the Goddess and God. With today’s more liberal view on religion, pagan rituals are once again being practiced in the open air, but these tend to be mass gatherings in specially selected areas. Most people, particularly those living in over populated towns and cities practice at home by transforming their living rooms or bedrooms into places of power and worship.

The magic circle is an area of non-physical space created and constructed of personal power (See - "What is Magick"). It’s a magical environment in which the deities are welcomed and celebrated, and where rituals and magical workings take place. In a room filled with steel, plastic and the trappings of our technological age, as well as everyday living associations good and bad, the need for a private sacred space is envisaged. The magic circle defines the ritual working area and holds in our personal power while shutting out distracting energies. In essence it creates the proper working atmosphere for the ritual. Constructed of personal power which is raised, felt and visualized as streaming out from the body through the magic knife (athame), a sphere of energy is created which encompasses the entire working area, above, below and all around it. This energy sphere is what we consider to be the magic circle.

The Physical Circle:

To aid visualization (See - "What is Magic") when creating a magic circle, most witches mark out a physical circle on the ground. Wherever you decide to form a circle, be it in the living room, bedroom or some other place, clear sufficient space to mark out a rough circle on the floor. You can do this using a length of cord laid on the ground in a roughly circular shape, or lightly draw a circle using chalk. If you don’t want to soil your nice living room carpet, use an old sheet and draw your circle on it, it can then be rolled up after you have finished and re-used on the next occasion. Personally I use a collection of stones and pebbles to outline a circle; these can easily be picked up again once the ritual is over. Other things to use might be flowers (ideal for spring or summer time rites), or pine needles (winter rites). Some people use salt, earth or crystals to outline their circles. Use objects that spark your imagination and that are in tune with the ritual you are performing.

Circles are usually nine feet in diameter but any size comfortable enough to work in is fine. Depending on your preference, the cardinal points can be marked by candles, Brown for North, Yellow for East, Red for South and Blue for West (See - "Candles"). The working tools (See - "Tools") can also be assigned to the four points, particularly if you don’t use an altar. Place the pentacle, a bowl of salt or earth to the North representing the elements of Earth. The censer containing smoldering incense is placed in the East to represent the elements of Air (Fresh flowers or stick incense can also be used). To the South a burning red candle often represents the element of Fire (A lighted oil lamp or a piece of lava rock would also suffice here). A cup or bowl of water is placed in the West representing the elements of Water, the last of the four elements.

The Altar:

Once your physical circle has been constructed, you will next need to construct an altar. The altar is normally positioned in the center, leaving sufficient room to walk or dance around it while remaining inside the circle. Most people use a table of whatever type they have available, but if you are adventurous and desire to make a purpose built one, it can be made from any substance, though wood is normally used. Many purpose built altars you can buy are made from Willow which is sacred to the Goddess. Depending on your preference it can be round or square. A round altar is symbolic of the Goddess and spirituality, while a square one represents the four elements.

The altar doesn’t have to be a table at all, particularly if you are practicing outside; tables are bulky and cumbersome things to carry around. It can be nothing more than an area of ground covered with a cloth upon which to lay out you tools. A cardboard box covered with a cloth would also suffice, as would an old log or a large flat rock or stone. Look around and use your imagination, make use of whatever is available, the more natural and nature based your material the better. Generally the altar is place in the center of the circle facing North, its association with the elements of earth makes this the direction of power, ideal if during the rite you intend to do some magical workings. Some place the altar facing East where the Sun and Moon rises, ideal if all you intend to do is commune with the God and Goddess.

While its not absolutely necessary, many witches dress their altars with an altar cloth. These can be quite ornate or as plain as you like, but they do enhance its general appearance. Altar cloths can be purpose bought if you don’t mind the expense, or you could make your own. A simple plain sheet or tablecloth folded to size and draped over or around the altar would suffice for this. If you like, you could even personalize it with runic signs and symbols. Remember also to consider the colour of your altar cloth, and its correspondences with your rite or workings (See - "Colours").

The working tools can now be placed and arranged on the altar. The left side of the altar is normally dedicated to the Goddess and tools associated with her are placed here. These are generally: the cup, pentacle, bell, crystal or wand and the cauldron. It’s also nice if you have one, to place an image or statue of the Goddess here, but if you haven’t a green, silver or white candle can be substituted. Also if you have one, a broom can be placed against the left side of the altar. The right side of the altar is reserved for the God, and his tools of association. These are: the censer, athame (black handled knife) and bolline (white handled knife). Your Book of Shadows might also be placed here. If you intend to work magic in your circle, be sure to have all your necessary ingredients and equipment within it before you start (i.e. matches, candles, herbs and oils, pen and paper etc), these can be placed on or beneath the altar as you feel fit. Finally its a good idea to have some refreshments to hand for use during ritual as offerings , or to replace spent energy while working. Most rituals finish with a "Cake and Ale" ceremony or feast.

The altar and the circle it stands in is your own personal construction, and there are no hard and fast rules as to how they should be constructed or arranged. Use you imagination and do as you feel appropriate for the rite or work you are conducting. If it pleases you, it will work for you to your own advantage and satisfaction. You are now ready to begin preparing the circle for use.

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Building a circle and altar / Preparing the circle and self / The Magick Circle

Preparing the circle and self

As with all other aspects of working magic and performing ritual, the process of casting a circle is highly individualistic. I cannot emphasize enough that there is no right or wrong way of doing things. As such, and in time, you will find there are many methods of casting a circle, and while one method may work for some, it may not work for others. You need to experiment and try different methods then improvise and do and use what works for you. By doing this you can then form your own method, unique and special to you.

Circle casting is heavily reliant on your abilities to raise power and the use of visualization. So if you are new to magic and circle casting you may wish to take time out here to read my article “What Is Magic”, in which I have explained both techniques.

Purification of Space:

If you are practicing at home as most people do, be aware that “astral garbage”, pockets of negativity and other non-productive energies collect in our living spaces. For instance, you may have had an argument with your husband or spouse, or scolded one of the kids for doing something wrong, or even received an unexpected bill and cussed the sender. These are all perfectly normal everyday happenings but all produce negative energies the residual of which hangs around and remains. As these energies can be disruptive to our “Sacred Space”, we need to ritually cleanse the area being used prior to the start of our workings.

Before lying out your physical circle and altar, clean the area physically with a brush, vacuum cleaner, or mop depending on your floor covering. Now we can clean up any negativity that might be present. There are several ways of doing this:

(1) If you have one among your tools, use the magical broom to ritually sweep away the negative clutter. This in effect is a symbolic action; the bristles of the broom need not actually touch the floor. Sweep rhythmically while visualizing energy sparks or flames shooting out of the broom, blasting all the negativity away. Know and feel it is doing so. You could also set up a rhythmic chant while doing this, using words like: “Sweep, Sweep, Sweep this place. Cleanse and clean my Sacred Space”.

(2) If you don’t have a magical broom, an alternative is to use a bell. Ringing a bell unleashes powerful energies, visualize its vibrations attacking and demolishing any negative energy. Start at the North point of the circle and work your way deosil (clockwise) through East, South and West and ring the bell at each point. Know and feel the vibrations cleansing the area. Any type of bell can be used, but if you can, choose one with a resonant tone.

(3) Another method is to simply burn purifying incense such as frankincense, myrrh, sage, thyme or rosemary (See - "Incenses"). Fumigate the area by walking deosil around the circle and visualize the smoke dispelling any negative energy.

Once the area has been ritually cleansed, mark out your physical circle and place your altar in the center, then lay out all your tools together with any other equipment necessary for your rite or magical work. Next you may wish to purify yourself with a ritual bath or shower, while at the same time preparing yourself mentally for the coming ritual. When you think about it, we are all bombarded each day with negative thoughts and images, from scenes of carnage and destruction on the T.V., and in the newspapers, to our own dark thoughts and negative reactions. Meditate for a while thinking positive things and purify your thoughts ready to begin your ritual.

Once you have bathed and the time to begin approaches, you will need to consider how to dress for your ritual. Many witches particularly those of the Gardnerian path, prefer to work “skyclad” (naked), with the body in its most natural condition. But ritual nudity isn’t for everyone, if you don’t feel comfortable working nude, even in private, then don’t, there are other options. Many wear specialized dress such as robes and tabards. These can be quite ornate or as plain and simple as you like. They can be purpose bought if you don’t mind the expense, or make your own if you are handy with cotton and thread, you can even personalized it with you own runic signs and symbols. Use natural materials and fibers such as cotton, wool or silk and remember also to consider its colour correspondences (See - "Colours").

If you don’t have specialized clothing to wear, simply wear some clean loose clothing of a neutral colour. It is normal to keep whatever you wear separate and wear it only for ritual and magic. The idea being that to slip into a garment used only for magic, lends a mystical atmosphere to your rituals by shifting your awareness to the coming proceeding and promoting ritual consciousness. Still, as long as you are happy and comfortable with what you are wearing (or not wearing) then that is fine, but you may wish to experiment and see what suits you best.

One other thing to mention here is "Music". Music and dance since ancient times has been incorporated into religious ceremonies and ritual magic. Not only does music enhance the atmosphere of ritual, it can also have a powerful effect on stimulating our actions and producing magic. Shamans of old (modern ones still do), used rhythmic drumbeats to induce trance like states in which to produce magic. Many modern day witches incorporate and use of music before, during and after their rituals. Pre-selected or recorded music can be played before the ritual to start and aid meditation and set the mood. During the ritual the steady beat of a drum may be used to set the pace of a dance or rhythmic rhyme of a chant. After the ritual has finish, joyous or celebratory music can be played while relaxing. Today there’s are a wide variety of pre-recorded Wiccan and Pagan cassettes tapes available, many are well worth investigating and trying. Alternatively you could simply record appropriate pieces selected from classical, ethnic, folk or contemporary sources.

The last and final thing to do is to make sure you will not be interrupted. Disconnect your telephone, close any open curtains and lock the doors if necessary. If you are working at home and have family, tell them you are not to be disturbed for sometime. Now you are ready to begin and cast your magic circle.

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Building a circle and altar / Preparing the circle and self / The Magick Circle

The Magick Circle

Enter your circle and light any altar candles you are using. If you are using quarter candles, start at the North point (or East if that’s your preferred direction) and light the four candles walking deosil (clockwise) around the circle. Return to the altar and light the incense. Before the start of any ritual, magical working or divinatory activity, a witch will first 'Ground and Center' to booster the self's resources by infusing 'Personal Power' with 'Earth Power' producing calm within the inner-self ready for the work ahead (see "What is Magick"). Now you are ready to begin.

Stand in front of your altar or the center of your circle if you are not using one and face your preferred direction. Concentrate and build your personal power within you (see "What is Magick"). When it has reached a fine pitch (you’ll know when it has with practice), hold out your projective hand (right if right handed) palm down at waist height and point your fingers at the edge of the physical circle on the ground (you could also use the athame if you wish). Push out with your personal power and see and feel the energy flowing out from your fingertips (athame). Visualize it as a bright light (coloured if you wish) and slowly walk deosil around the circle. Now form it with your visualization into a swirling circling band of magical glowing light the exact width of your circle.

When you can see the band of light swirling about you expand it with your visualization and stretch it over and around you in the form of a dome, it should encompass the whole ritual area. Now extend the energy down into the earth, see it forming into a complete sphere of pulsing glowing light as you stand at its center. Feel it solidifying into a living glowing reality all around you. Sense the edge of the circle and the difference in vibration within and without of it. You may even feel the temperature rise, as the air inside grows warm, charged with your energy and alive with power. When the circle seems complete and solid around you, cut off the flow of energy by turning the palm and clenching your fist pulling it back to your body.

This then is your magical circle, your sacred space completed. Time now to recoup your energies before starting the next phase of the ritual. Do this with a bite to eat or a sip of wine or water, while savoring the atmosphere you have created. What you do next largely depends on your ritual or the magical work you intend to perform. Some start by consecrating the salt and water held on the altar and using them to seal the circle. Do this with the athame; touch the blade to the salt saying something like:

“I consecrate and cleanse this salt that it be purified and fit to use in this my sacred circle. In the name of the Goddess and God, I consecrate this salt”.

Visualize energy flowing out of the athame and blasting away any negativity from the salt. Next do the same with the water saying:

“I consecrate and cleanse this water that it be purified and fit to use in this my sacred circle. In the name of the Goddess and God, I consecrate this water”.

Take up the salt and starting at the North (salt is symbolic of earth and represents North), sprinkle it around the circle moving deosil. Visualize it purifying and sealing the circle against unwanted influences and negativity. As you are doing so you might say something like:

“Here is the boundary of my circle where naught but love shall enter in, where naught but love shall escape from within. This I charge with the powers of earth.”

Completing the circle return the salt to the altar and take up the Incense. Repeat the same process with all the other elements starting at each appropriate direction. Incense for air representing East, Red candle for fire representing South (care should be taken here that it doesn’t blow out as you walk around the circle), and Water representing West. Change the wording of the verse as you use each element.

Next you may wish to invoke the rulers of the four quarters to protect and watch over your proceeding. There are various teaching regarding these rulers, some people link them as the “Spirits” of the elements, others see them as the “Old Ones” (anciently placed guardians or watchers of the four direction), still others think of them as the “Mighty Ones” (former humans who have climbed the incarnational ladder to perfection, thus allowing them to dwell with the Goddess and God). The Mighty Ones are mythologically linked to the four directions. Again here there are no hard and fast rules of which to use, so use what feels right for you.

Below is a basic method of calling the quarters rulers using the wand, however depending on the work and the forces you intend to call, a more powerful method of opening and closing the quarters is by using the invoking and banishing pentagram for added protection (see The Pentagram).

To call the rulers take up the wand in your receptive hand (left if your right handed). Stand at the North edge of the circle and hold the wand aloft saying something like:

“Spirits of the North, Old Ones of the Earth. I call upon you to attend my circle. Guard it with your powers Mighty Ones!”

Don’t just say the words; try to say them with meaning. Visualize the spirits arriving in a swirling glowing green mist, sense the earth’s energies cleansing and filling the north quarter of the circle with positive forces. Open yourself to them and invite them in, stretch out with your awareness, sense, feel, and know when they have arrived. When you can feel their presence, lower the wand and move to the East. Raise the wand again and say:

“Old Ones of the East, Spirits of the Air. I call upon you to attend my circle. Guard it with your powers Mighty Ones!”

Again don’t just say the words, believe in them and feel the spirits respond. See and sense them arriving on yellow wind blowing away any negative influences and filling the east quarter of the your circle with intellectual energy. When you can feel their presence, lower the wand and move to the South. Raise the wand aloft again and say:

“Old Ones of the South, Spirits of Fire. I call upon you to attend my circle. Guard it with your powers Mighty Ones!”

Visualize blazing orange flames of fire engulfing the whole area of the South quarter, burning, cleansing and protecting you from harmful forces. Finally, when you can feel their presence, lower the wand and move to the West. With the wand held aloft say:

“Old Ones of the West, Spirits of Water. I call upon you to attend my circle. Guard it with your powers Mighty Ones!”

See the spirits rushing in on waves of blue-green water sweeping away all doubts and negativity, filling the West quarter of the circle with the powers of life and regeneration. When you can feel their presence, replace the wand on the altar and stand still for a moment. Feel and sense the circle around you. Reach out to the spirits and welcome them, feel their presence and communicate with them. Know they are there. Feel the energies and visualize the circle glowing and growing with power. Your circle is now complete and ready for your ritual to begin.

Cutting a Doorway:

At times it may be necessary to leave the circle. Contrary to some teachings, pushing your hand into or walking through the magic sphere will not cause any undue damage. When you think about it being circular, if you stand at the very edge of the circle your head and feet will necessarily extend outside of it? At most walking through the magic sphere will give you a jolt of energy and dissipate its strength. Should this happen simply re-create it or strengthen it with renewed power.

To prevent this from happening it’s a common practice to cut a doorway through which to walk. Do this by facing Northeast and using your athame. Pierce the wall of energy near the ground and cut and trace an archway large enough to walk through. Move anti-clockwise in line with the edge of the circle as you are cutting and visualize that part of the circles energy being withdrawn into the athame. Finish back at the starting point thus creating a hole or void through which you can walk. Withdraw the athame and you are free to leave and re-enter without breaking the rest of the circle.

To close the doorway reverse the procedure. Point the athame at the lower Northeast corner of the archway and push out with your power. Visualize the energy you removed flowing out of the athame and retrace the archway by the moving clockwise. Feel the energy being replaced and converging with the rest of the circle. When you are happy the circle is complete again, cut off the energy flow and withdraw the athame. You can now continue with your rite or workings.

Closing the Circle:

Closing the circle is normally a reversal of the casting process with a few minor differences. Once the rite has finished and your magical work complete, thank the Goddess and God for their help if you have called them. Some may do this with a simple "Cake and Ale" ceremony, making offerings and toasts to the deities before they depart, some may prefer to do this after the circle has been closed, the choice of course is yours. Take up the wand and move to the North (or East if that’s were you started), and hold the wand aloft saying something like:

“Farewell, Spirits of the North, Old Ones of the Earth. I thank you for your presence. Till the next time Mighty Ones, go in peace with power”.

Repeat the same process for the other directions but this time moving “widdershins” (anti-clockwise) through West, South and East. Some people take offence at this believing that moving anti-clockwise within a circle creates negative energies. Because of this many witches now shun the practice even though it is based on orthodox teachings. Some however still use it for dispersing the circle. The choice is up to you, if you’re not happy to move widdershins, then move deosil as in the casting procedure. Remember to change the words of the verse at each direction.

Replace the wand on the altar and return to the North (or East) position. Pierce the wall of your circle with your receptive hand (or the athame if that’s what you used to create it). Moving widdershins (or deosil) visualize the circles energy and power being sucked back into your body (or athame). Feel the circle dissolving and shrinking as you pull back its energy. As you are doing so, sense the outside world regaining its dominance over the area as you finish back in the North position. Your circle is no more.

This brings an end to your use of power and energy for the time being, but while the power and energy raised during your rite or working may have been released towards its goal, residual traces of energy will still remain within the self. It is important to 'Ground and Center' yourself again and release the remaining energy back into the ground were it will safely dissipate.

All that remains now is to extinguish the quarter candles and put away your tools. Save any remaining salt for future occasions and pour any excess water outside onto bare earth. Likewise, any cake and wine left over or offerings you have made to thank the Goddess and God, should be buried outside in the earth together with the incense ashes. Next you can dismantle the physical circle and take up whatever you used to form it, also clean up any salt or other substances you may have used and scattered about during you rite. Some people leave the altar standing to allow the Goddess and God candles, as well as any working candles to burn down and out in their own time, though you may wish to move it from the center of the area.

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 19:11:00 GMT

Dr. John Dee, the Necronomicon & the Cleansing of the World -

The Necronomicon is the rarest and most terrible of the magical grimoires. According to New England horror writer Howard Philip Lovecraft, the Necronomicon was

"Composed by Abdul Al-Hazred, a mad poet of Sanaa, in Yemen, who is said to have flourished during the period of the Ommiade caliphs, circa 700 A.D. He visited the ruins of Babylon and the subterranean secrets of Memphis and spent ten years alone in the great southern desert of Arabia - the Roba al Khaliyeh, or "Empty Space" of the ancients and "Dahma" or "Crimson" desert of the modern Arabs, which is held to be inhabited by protective evil spirits and monsters of death. Of this desert many strange and unbelievable marvels are told by those who pretend to have penetrated it. In his last years, Al-Hazred dwelt in Damascus, where the Necronomicon (Al Azif) was written, and of his final death or disappearance (738 A.D.) many terrible and conflicting things are told." (Lovecraft)

In his history of the Necronomicon, Lovecraft adds that it was translated into English by Dr. John Dee. This manuscript was never published and survives only in rare and often incomplete copies. The fabulous Necronomicon (in freehand copies of the vernacular Dee translation) features in a number of Lovecraft’s better tales, such as The Dunwich Horror.

Despite many attempts to show that the Necronomicon is nothing more than Lovecraft’s literary invention, a group of prominent authors and occultists claimed to provide confirmation of part of Lovecraft’s claim. In 1978 a book researched by David Langford and Robert Turner claimed that Alhazred’s Necronomicon had been preserved by Alkindi in his treatise The Book of the Essence of the Soul. In his introduction to Turner and Langford’s book, Colin Wilson, the occult writer and author of the classic study of intellectual alienation The Outsider, details Lovecraft’s family history. He notes that Dr. Stanislaus Hinterstoisser, president of the Salzburg Institute for the Study of Magic and Occult Phenomena, claimed that Lovecraft's father was an Egyptian Freemason and that Lovecraft’s father had had access to the Necronomicon. (In point of fact, Lovecraft’s father was a travelling salesman who died a siphilitic while Lovecraft was young, and is almost certainly being confused with Lovecraft’s bibliophile maternal grandfather). Co-author Robert Turner, after extensive work on John Dee’s manuscripts held in the Bristish Museum, showed that Alkindi’s lost work had been preserved by John Dee in an enciphered form called the Liber Logaeth.

This is not an implausible suggestion. Dee was a passionate collector of books, and owned one of the largest libraries in Europe. He was familiar with ciphers and travelled widely on the continent of Europe, to the extent that at least one biographer has suggested he was a 16th. century James Bond acting on behalf of Queen Elizabeth I and her ministers. It is known that one of the foremost works on occultism and encipherment of the period, the Steganographia of the Abbot Trithemius, was copied by Dee in longhand over a period of days in an intense burst of activity. An engraved portrait of Edward Kelly, Dee’s partner and scryer in the angelic revelations, is shown holding a open volume with the name "Trithemius" on the page. The Liber Logaeth does exist (Sloane 3189????), and is a combination of an incomprehensible angelic language (which Kelly understood only while in trance) and a series of letters composed into a series of 49 by 49 squares.

As if this was not enough, another mysterious cipher manuscript has also been connected with Dee, the baffling Voynich manuscript. Despite many attempts to decipher this manuscript, it still remains unbroken. This enigmatic text has also been linked with Lovecraft’s Necronomicon. On the basis of its diagrams all we know is that it might be a herbal. It could be a cipher manuscript that Dee records as having purchased in Prague. All else is conjecture.

The claim that Lovecraft’s relatives were Masonic initiates is not substantiated by what we know of his family. An alternative explanation (promoted by the author in an extended moment of wickedness), that Lovecraft’s wife Sonia Greene associated with the notorious occultist and poet Aleister Crowley during his residence in New York in 1918 is completely plausible and consistent with both their characters, but entirely untrue.

One of the participants in the Langford-Turner spoof (Colin Wilson) has admitted in print that it is a spoof. It is a good spoof however. The best spoofs work because they are founded on truth, and the untruths are so deeply embedded one needs be an expert to winkle them out. It was a technique H. P. Lovecraft understood well, and he used it extensively to add versimilitude to his fiction. Dr. John Dee is a pivotal figure in renaissance theurgical magic, and the system he developed not only survives to this day, it is one of the most active areas of modern magic. Using Dee as a link in the history of the Necronomicon was an inspired move by Lovecraft.

There is a second connection between Dee and Lovecraft's mythos, and it is much more subtle - and in some ways more bizarre - than any spoof. This second link between Dee and the Necronomicon has grown out of a 20th. century, quasi-gnostic myth surrounding the entity Chrononzon (using Aleister Crowley’s spelling). Choronzon is a demonic entity that occurs in the transcript of a lost book that John Dee received through the mediumship of a scryer called Edward Kelley, from non-human entities who claimed to be angels. Fragments from this book, The Book of Enoch, are scattered throughout his angelic conversations and recorded in Dee's diaries of the angelic communications.

Choronzon is mentioned only once in John Dee’s diaries, during a communication from the angels concerning the expulsion of Adam from the garden of Eden:

"But Coronzon (for so is the name of that mighty devil), envying man’s felicity, and perceiving that the substance of man’s lesser part was frail and unperfect in respect to his purer essence, began to assail man and so prevailed. By offending so, man became accursed in the sight of God, and so lost both the garden of Felicity and the judgement of his understanding, but not utterly the favour of God. But he was driven forth (as your scriptures record) unto the earth which was covered with brambles. ... But in the same instant when Adam was expelled, the Lord gave unto the world her time, and placed over her Angelic Keepers, Watchmen and Princes." (James p.1)

In this context C(h)oronzon is identical with the Serpent of Genesis, and with the rebellious angel Samael in Jewish midrashic and kabbalistic legend. We can equate Choronzon with the Devil, but I must emphasise this is not the Devil of Christian myth; this is the Devil from myths that predate Christianity. In one of the earliest kabbalistic works, The Bahir, it is Samael that rebels against God and tempts Adam through the agency of the serpent:

"[Samael] said: ‘How can we cause him to sin and be exiled from before God.’ He descended with all his host, and sought a suitable companion on Earth. He finally found the serpent, which looked like a camel, and he rode on it." (Bahir p.81)

After tempting Eve

"[God] took the three of them, and decreed upon them a sentence of nine curses and death. He then cast the wicked Samael and his group from their holy place in heaven. He cut off the feet of the serpent and cursed it more than all the other animals and beasts of the field. He also decreed that it must shed its skin every seven years. Samael was punished and made the guardian angel over the wicked Esau." (Bahir p.82)

Dee's record states (see above) that

"the Lord gave unto the world her time, and placed over her Angelic Keepers, Watchmen and Princes"

There is a confusion over the identity of the ‘Angelic Keepers’ mentioned in Dee’s record above. That the earth is watched over by angels is a very old tradition, and it is fascinating to see it surface during Dee’s angelic communications. According to Dee’s angels, the Watchmen and Watchtowers are provided

"against the usurping blasphemy, misuse and stealth of the wicked and great enemy, the Devil. To the intent that being put to the Earth, his envious will might be bridled ..." (T&FR p.170)

The story appears to be straighforward according both to Dee’s angels and traditional legend: Samael/Choronzon tempted Eve, and was banished into the world with them, and Watchers were set over the creation to maintain its bounds. However, traditional legend holds a surprise:

"Samael and his angels were banished to a dark dungeon, where they still languish, their faces haggard, their lips sealed; and are now known as the Watchers" (Graves & Patai)

This legend is recounted in a book that Dee could not have read because it was lost in Europe until it was brought back from Ethiopia by the Scots adventurer James Bruce of Kinnaird in 1773. By an astonishing coincidence this happens to be yet another Book of Enoch. Although it has been dubbed one of the most boring books ever written, anyone with an interest in Dee and Kelly’s conversations with angels should read it. Too much attention has been devoted to the magical system communicated by the angels to Dee; this occupies a relatively small part of the several hundred pages in Dee’s transcripts. The angels have a great deal to say. It is interesting to meet again many of Dee’s angels in the visions recounted in the Ethiopian Book of Enoch. It is interesting to compare their concerns.

Much of the content of the Ethiopian book is about the background to the first destruction of the world, an event brought about by the evil caused by angelic "Watchers" (Patai suggests an alternative translation "guardian angels" - that is, they are identical with Dee’s Watchmen and Overseers). Much of the content of Dee’s transcript is concerned with the final destruction of the world. This theme occurs constantly, both explicitly and through symbolism which is clearly linked to the Apocalypse or Revelation of St. John. Dee was well aware of this, and his margin notes show that he understood the references. Dee divided the world into three ages: the first age up to the Flood, a second age up to the coming of Jesus Christ, and a final age terminated by the destruction of the world. In common with many (most) Europeans of his time, he lived his life in an awareness that this end was not a conjecture - it was a matter of fact - and that it was imminent. The angels confirm several times that the "end of days" is nigh.

There are so many parallels between events leading up to the first destruction of the world (the biblical Flood) and events leading up to the final destruction (the Apocalypse) that they must be considered duals - that is, not as unconnected mythic material, but as the beginning and end of the same story reflected like mirror images at opposite ends of time. The three ages of the world are in some way connected to the three mystical and visionary works that tell the story: the Ethiopian Book of Enoch, Dee’s Book of Enoch, and the Apocalypse of St. John.

The legend of the Watchers in the Ethiopian Book of Enoch, a book neither Dee or Kelly could have read, is that the angels set to watch over the creation lusted after the daughters of men and came down to earth. Their name in Hebrew, the Nephilim, means literally "The Fallen Ones". The part-human offspring of these unions were terrible and evil "giants", and Jewish commentaries on the scriptures (midrash) make it clear that the Flood was a direct consequence of the evil caused on earth by the fall of the angels (this is not entirely clear in the Bible itself, but commentaries are very clear about the causality). In his visions, the seer of the Book of Enoch is taken by the angel Uriel to a deep abyss ...

" ... with columns of heavenly fire, and among them I saw columns of fire fall, which were beyond measure alike towards the height and towards the depth. And beyond that abyss I saw a place which had no firmament of the heaven above, and no firmly bounded earth beneath it: there was no water upon it, and no birds, but it was a waste and horrible place. I saw there seven stars like great burning mountains, and to me, when I inquired regarding them, The angel said ‘This place is the end of heaven and earth : this has become a prison for the stars and the hosts of heaven .... And Uriel said to me ‘Here shall stand the angels who have connected themselves with women, and their spirits, assuming many different forms, are defiling mankind and shall lead them astry into sacrificing to demons as gods, (here they shall stand), till the day of the great judgement in which they shall be judged till they are made an end of." (Enoch)

It is estimated that the earliest parts of this work date from 200-150 BC, hundreds of years before any part of the New Testament was written. The continuity between the fall of the angels, the first destruction of the world, their imprisonment, and the final judgement and end is explicit here and in other passages:

"From the days of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the souls of whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without incurring judgement - thus shall they destroy until the day of the consummation, the great judgement in which the age shall be consummated over the Watchers and the godless, yea shall be wholly consumated." (Enoch)

There is a strong probability that the seven stars "burning like great mountains" are identical with the seven evil demons of Assyrio-Babylonian sorcery:

"Destructive storms (and) evil winds are they,
An evil blast that heraldeth the baneful storm,
An evil blast, forerunner of the baneful storm,
They are mighty children, mighty sons,
Heralds of the Pestilence,
Throne-bearers of Ninkigal,
They are the flood which rushesth through the land.
Seven gods of the broad heaven,
Seven gods of the broad earth,
Seven robber gods are they.
Seven gods of might,
Seven evil gods,
Seven evil demons,
Seven evil demons of oppression,
Seven in heaven and seven on earth." (D&ESoB)

There are many incantations and exorcisms against the terrible seven:

"Spirits that minish the land,
Of giant strength,
Of giant strength and giant tread,
Demons (like) raging bulls, great ghosts,
Ghosts that break through all houses,
Demons that have no shame,
Seven are they!
Knowing no care,
They grind the land like corn;
Knowing no mercy,
They rage against mankind;
They spill their blood like rain
Devouring their flesh (and) sucking their veins,
Where the images of the gods are, there they quake (?)
In the Temple of Nabu, who fertilizeth the shoots of wheat.
They are demons full of violence,
Ceaselessly devouring blood." (D&ESoB)

The evil giant offspring of the Nephilim in Jewish legend were also noted for their vaste appetites, eating thousands of animals a day, and even human flesh (obviously a memory of large sacrificial offerings). The "seven evil sons of Ea" described on ancient clay tablets are enumerated as the South Wind, a dragon with mouth agape, a grim leopard that carries off young, a terrible serpent, a furious beast, an evil windstorm and one that cannot be identified because of damage to the clay tablet. It is possible that these seven evil sons of Ea reappear in the Apocalypse, firstly as the seven angels with seven trumpets whose sounding progressively causes terrible events to occur that mark the end of the world, and also the "seven angels with seven plagues" carrying bowls containing the wrath of God. It is highly likely that the ninth Enochian key (from Dee's angelic transcript) evokes the same terrible seven:

"A mighty garde of fire with two-edged swords flaming (which have viols of wrath for two tymes and a half: whose wings are of wormwood and of the marrow of salt), have setled their feete in the West, and are measured with their Ministers 9996. These gather up the moss of the earth as a rich man doth his threasor: cursed ar they whose iniquities they are in their eyes are milstones greater than the earth And from their mowthes rune seas of blud: Their heds are covered with diamond: and upon their heds are marble sleves. Happy is he, on whom they frown not. For why? The God of righteousness reioyceth in them. Come away and not your Viols ..." (James)

Definitely a case of "Don’t bring a bottle" - see Revelations XV for a more explicit description of what these angels can bring to a party, hence the exhortation to "Come away and not your viols" (vials).

It can be seen that one slight reference to Chronozon in Dee’s transcript of his conversations with angels hides a rich and somewhat muddled lore. That Choronzon is identical with Samael is evident. The lore concerning Samael is somewhat confusing however. He tempted Adam and was cast out of heaven to earth. He was assigned to watch over the earth, but fell (with his angels) and begat monsters, culminating in the first destruction of mankind. He is chief of the evil seven (seven imprisoned stars in Enoch, seven Assyrio-Babylonian demons, seven deadly angels) that God keeps at hand for running the more unpleasant parts of the eschatological process. He will be judged at the end of time. He will be unleashed at the end of time.

This apocalyptic theme is strongly pronounced in the work of both H.P. Lovecraft and the 20th. century magician Aleister Crowley. Crowley had a fundamentalist Christian upbringing, and incorporated many elements from the book of Revelations into his personal myth. He reinterpreted the symbols to suit himself, but there is no question that like Dee, he had a deep and scholarly knowledge of the book. It is often forgotten just how thorough Crowley’s knowledge of the Bible was - he could quote Biblical passages with the best.

The axis around which Crowley’s life turned was the communication of "The Book of the Law" in Cairo "on three successive days, April 8th., 9th., and 10th., in the year 1904". Crowley continues:

"The author called himself Aiwass, and claimed to be ‘the minister of Hoor-Paar-Kraat’; that is, a messenger from the forces ruling the earth at present ..." (Crowley, LavL)

The idea that there are forces ruling the earth is a little odd to the modern mind, but it is consistent with very old traditions that the earth is watched over by a hierarchy of powers, and can be traced back to the earliest times when the stars and planets were worshiped literally as the divine rulers of the world (the Sumerian cuniform for a god is a star symbol). That Crowley was not a million miles from this viewpoint can be seen in his own explanation of "The new Aeon": "It explains that certain vast ‘stars’ (or aggregates of experience) may be described as Gods. One of these is in charge of the destinies of this planet for periods of 2000 years". Just in case you assume Crowley was talking purely metaphorically (he was a complex man and routinely talked on several levels at once ...) one should consider that the 2000 year period mentioned by Crowley refers to the movement of the intersection of the Earth’s equatorial plane with the ecliptic (the first point in Aries) through a sign of the Zodiac, a movement caused by the Earth’s axial precession. In other words, Crowley is referring to a zodiacal sign as being "in charge" of the planet. He is referring to the onset of what is more routinely referred to as "The Age of Aquarius".

Crowley understood the Book of the Law to be the corporate mission statement of the new planetary management, delivered by the trinity of Nuit, Hadit and Ra-Hoor-Kuit with himself as mouthpiece and prophet. It has an apocalyptic flavour, firstly because it literally marks the end of one age and the beginning of a new age, and secondly because this new age has something in common with the terrible "end-time" of Revelations. Crowley’s personal identification with the Great Beast of Revelation has deep roots in his desire to usher in the destruction of the stifling world of his childhood. Crowley admits that many people will find some parts of this small book "repugnant". It is tempting to read many passages mystically, magically or metaphorically to blunt the harshness of the message. These are some extracts from the words of Hadit:

20. Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and delicious languor, force and fire are of us.

21. We have nothing with the outcast and the unfit; let them die in their misery. For they feel not. Compassion is the vice of kings: stamp down the wretched and the weak: this is the law of the strong: this is our law and the joy of the world. Think not, o king, upon that lie: That Thou Must Die: verily thou shalt not die, but live. Now let it be understood: If the body of the King dissolve, he shall remain in pure ecstacy for ever.

22 I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge and Delight and bright glory, and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet & be drunk thereof. They shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie this folly against self. The exposure of innocence is a lie. Be strong o man! lust, enjoy all things of sense and rapture: fear not that any God shall deny thee for this. (Crowley, LavL)

And some extracts from the words of Ra Hoor Kuit:

11. .... Worship me with fire and blood; worship me with swords & with spears. Let the woman be girt with a sword before me: let blood flow to my name. Trample down the Heathen; be upon them o warrior, I will give you of their flesh to eat!

46. I am the warrior Lord of the Forties: the Eighties cower before me and are abased. I will bring you to victory and joy: I will be at your arms in battle & ye shall delight to slay. (Crowley, LavL)

If one is to offer an apology for this, then the best that one can do is observe that gods and goddesses tend to be made in the image of their worshippers, and the gods of the ancient world were almost incomprehensibly different from anything now regarded as acceptable in western culture. It is difficult to find a modern historian who will say anything pleasant about the Assyrians, a people who delighted in warfare, butchery, and torture. There is a shocked unanimity among Assyrian scholars; a numbness at having to translate too many commemorative inscriptions recalling their brutal successes in war, plunder, siege and sack. The words of Hadit and Ra Hoor Kuit have an unpleasant authenticity.

It is interesting to compare the general tone of The Book of the Law with the following passage from one of Lovecraft’s most influential stories, The Call of Cthulhu.

"That cult would never die until the stars came right again [precession of the Equinoxes? - CL], and the secret priests would take Cthulhu from His tomb to revive His subjects and resume His rule of earth. The time would be easy to know, for then mankind would have become as the Great Old Ones; free and wild, and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and revelling in joy. Then the liberated Old Ones would teach them new ways to shout and kill and revel and enjoy themselves, and all earth would flame with a holocaust of ecstacy and freedom." (Lovecraft, CoC)

Many of Lovecraft’s stories (the so-called Cthulhu Mythos) are based on the premise that at one time in the distant past, various races of beings came to the Earth from the stars. These beings were cast out or imprisoned, but await the moment when they can return to reclaim the Earth for themselves. They are neither material or immaterial, partaking of both qualities, and in their exile they are confined not in some far away place, but in dimensions of reality adjacent to our own. They are continually seeking ways to return, and the danger of texts such as the Necronomicon is that they could tempt an unwary magician into opening the Gate between their dimension and our own.

The return of the Old Ones is apocalyptic because it effectively terminates humanity’s short dominion on this planet - it is the end of our world. There is a substantial identity between the conditions required for the return of the Old Ones (outlined in the passage above) and the general conditions mediated by Crowley’s New Aeon. It is worth adding that although Lovecraft and Crowley were contemporaries, there is no evidence that either knew of the other’s existence.

In another of those strange coincidences that give the impression that there is more going on than meets the eye, Choronzon reappears (literally) in the North African desert. The event is recorded in Crowley’s autobiography, and also in a record of his progress through the thirty Enochian Aethyrs, a book he published as The Vision and the Voice in 1911 in Volume 1, No.5 of The Equinox.

Like a subterranean river, the system of magic given to John Dee by the angels had not disappeared into obscurity. It "quit the night and sought the day" almost exactly 300 years after its original revealing (Dee’s scrying transcripts with Kelly terminated in 1587, and the Golden Dawn was instituted in 1887), becoming an integral and core part of the magical syllabus taught by the now famous Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Crowley joined the Order in 1898 and played a role in its disintegration two years later. He also published much of the Order’s magical syllabus in his periodical The Equinox.

It was from the Golden Dawn that Crowley acquired his initial knowledge of Dee’s angelic magic, but in his autobiography he says that he followed that up by visiting the Bodleian library in Oxford to study Dee’s original manuscripts, in preparation for publishing the Enochian system in The Equinox - he did in fact publish a substantial summary of Dee’s system (including much that is not found in the Golden Dawn Knowledge lectures) in 1912 in Vol. 1 No.7 of The Equinox. He says he spent "much time and research" clarifying the obscurities of the Enochian system with Frater Semper Paratus (Thomas Windram), an Adeptus Major of the Golden Dawn. In other words, we must regard Crowley as an independently motivated student of the angelic system, who continued to study and use the system for a decade after he parted company with the Golden Dawn.

Crowley invoked the angels of the first two Aethyrs while travelling and climbing in Mexico in August 1900. He did not feel ready (or able) to go further for nine more years. He says he had "no special object" in going to Algiers with his magical protogee, the poet Victor Neuburg (who is better known through his friendship with Dylan Thomas). Nevertheless, he just happened to discover (nestling in a crevice at the bottom of his rucksack in amongst the fluff and kif and biscuit crumbs) one of his magical notebooks containing the Enochian keys, and also his "great golden topaz (set in a cavalry cross of six squares, made of wood, painted vermillion) , engraved with a Greek cross of five squares charged with the Rose of forty-nine petals". Well, I find that sort of thing in my rucksack all the time. I even lost my ritual double-handed broadsword once, and had to go through all the pockets before I found it.

The invocations were carried out as they walked across the desert towards Bou Saada, usually one invocation per day, and the entire series took most of a month. As the Aethyrs progressed in difficulty Crowley began to recite a passage from the Koran 1001 times each day, prostrating himself on the ground with each repetition. During each invocation Neuburg acted as scribe, and Crowley appears to have recited the Call of the Thirty Aethyrs and then pressed the shewstone against his forehead - he mentions on several occasions the extreme pain this caused. The "vision and the voice" which were obtained in trance following the Call lasted between 1.5 and 3 hours.

Crowley assigned Dee’s thirty Aethyrs to the ten sephiroth of the Kabbalah in what is know as "lightning flash" order, beginning in Malkuth with 30 (TEX), 29 (RII) and 28 (BAG). In the system of the Golden Dawn, the magician was initiated through the sephiroth in this "lightning flash" order until the sephira Chesed was reached, at which point the Abyss was encountered, an abyss which separates the microcosm of the magician from the macrocosmic realm of the three supernal sephiroth, which represent (along with Malkuth) the manifest God. According to Crowley’s assignment of the Aethyrs, the tenth Aethyr marks the abyss, and it is this aethyr which Crowley calls "accursed". It was during the invocation of this Aethyr that the encounter with Choronzon occured.

Crowley received a warning of this encounter during the fifteenth Aethyr:

And even as the shew-stone burneth thy forehead with its intolerable flame, so he who hath known me, though but from afar, is marked out and chosen among men, and he shall never turn back or turn aside, for he hath made the link that is not to be broken, nay, not by the malice of the Four Great Princes of evil of the world, nor by Chorozon, that mighty Devil, nor by the wrath of God, nor by the affliction and feebleness of the soul.

The full "terror of the situation" became apparent to Crowley during the eleventh Aethyr; the encounter with Choronzon in the Abyss would have to be experienced. Crowley asked the Angel of the eleventh Aethyr whether anyone would be appointed warden during this encounter, and received as answer "Eloi Eloi lama sabacthani " - the words of Christ in his final despair and agony. The vision of the eleventh Aethyr continued:

"And he speaketh unto me these words:

Behold, a mighty guard against the terror of things, the fastness of the Most High, the legions of eternal vigilance; these are they that keep watch and ward day and night throughout the aeons. Set in them is all force of the Mighty One, yet there stirreth not one plume of the wings of their helmets. Behold, the foundation of the Holy City, the towers and the bastions thereof! Behold the armies of light that are set against the outermost Abyss, against the horror of emptiness, and the malice of Choronzon.

These things are spoken unto him that understandeth, that is a breastplate unto the elephants, or a corselet unto the angels, or a scale upon the towers of iron; yet is this mighty host set only for a defense, and whoso passeth beyond their lines hath no help in them.

Yet must he that understandeth go forth unto the outermost Abyss, and there must he speak with him that is set above the four-fold terror, the Princes of Evil, even with Choronzon, the mighty devil that inhabiteth the outermost Abyss. And none may speak with him, or understand him, but the servants of Babylon, that understand, and they that are without understanding, his servants. Behold! it entereth not into the heart, nor into the mind of man to conceive this matter; for the sickness of the body is death, and the sickness of the heart is despair, and the sickness of the mind is madness. But in the outermost Abyss is sickness of the aspiration, and sickness of the will, and sickness of the essence of all, and there is neither word nor thought wherein the image of its image is reflected.

And whoso passeth into the outermost Abyss, except he be of them that understand, holdeth out his hands, and boweth his neck, unto the chains of Choronzon. And as a devil he walketh about the earth, immortal, and he blasteth the flowers of the earth, and he corrupteth the fresh air, and he maketh poisonous the water; and the fire that is the friend of man, and the pledge of his aspiration, seeing that it mounteth ever upward as a pyramid, and seeing that man stole it in a hollow tube from Heaven, even that fire he turneth unto ruin, and madness, and fever, and destruction. And thou, that art an heap of dry dust in the city of the pyramids, must understand these things."

Like Dee’s Watchtowers, the walls and towers of the Holy City are fortified by the legions of the Most High against the powers of the Abyss, but they look outwards, not inwards. There is a spectacular twist in this however, and it is worth examining the transcript of the tenth Aethyr in detail for the light it throws on the true nature of Choronzon. Note in the last paragraph the poisonous, corrupting and destructive nature of Chronozon.

For the invocation of the tenth Aethyr Crowley and Neuburg retreated far into the dunes, made a triangle of evocation in the sand for the demon to manifest into, and poured the blood of three pigeons at each corner to confine it:

Now, then, the Seer (Crowley) being entered within the triangle, let him take the Victims and cut their throats, pouring the blood within the Triangle, and being most heedful that not one drop fall without the Triangle; or else Choronzon should be able to manifest in the universe.

In his commentary to the electronic edition of the Vision and the Voice, Bill Heidrick remarks "Perhaps the joke here is that the manifest universe is itself, in a sense, Choronzon." The accuracy of this remark will become apparent later when the nature of Chrononzon is exposed.

Neuburg (referred to as "the Scribe" in the transcript) took his place in the magical circle, while Crowley states that he himself abode apart, in his magical robe with its hood drawn over his face. I had always assumed that Crowley was present in the triangle of evocation during the working and provided the physical basis for the manifestation of Choronzon - that is, for a time, Crowley was Choronzon. Crowley implies otherwise, stating he was in a secret place and he neither moved or spoke. On reflection, this is Crowleyan ambiguity at its worst - I believe he means that as a Master of the Temple his essential nature was across the Abyss in the "City of the Pyramids", a very secret place indeed, a place characterised by stillness and silence. Neuburg’s record of what happened suggests that the body of Crowley, possessed by Choronzon, was very active indeed. The "vision and the voice" began:

There is no being in the outermost Abyss, but constant forms come forth from the nothingness of it. Then the Devil of the Aethyr, that mighty devil Choronzon, crieth aloud, Zazas, Zazas, Nasatanada Zasas.

I am the Master of Form, and from me all forms proceed.

I am I.

I have shut myself up from the spendthrifts, my gold is safe in my treasure-chamber, and I have made every living thing my concubine, and none shall touch them, save only I. And yet I am scorched, even while I shiver in the wind. He hateth me and tormenteth me. He would have stolen me from myself, but I shut myself up and mock at him, even while he plagueth me. From me come leprosy and pox and plague and cancer and cholera and the falling sickness. Ah! I will reach up to the knees of the Most High, and tear his phallus with my teeth, and I will bray his testicles in a mortar, and make poison thereof, to slay the sons of men.

Note firstly the demiurgic declaration of Chrononzon: "I am I". This demon is the master of form. Note also that he mutilates the body of God and turns it to poison.

Choronzon hath no form, because he is the maker of all form; and so rapidly he changeth from one to the other as he may best think fit to seduce those whom he hateth, the servants of the Most High. Thus taketh he the form of a beautiful woman, or of a wise and holy man, or of a serpent that writheth upon the earth ready to sting.

At this point Neuburg literally saw these many forms of Choronzon, even the form of a woman he loved. Sometimes Choronzon spoke with Crowley’s own voice. Much of the time the voice of Choronzon was an "insane babble".

And, because he is himself, therefore he is no self; the terror of darkness, and the blindness of night, and the deafness of the adder, and the tastelessness of stale and stagnant water, and the black fire of hatred, and the udders of the Cat of slime; not one thing, but many things. Yet, with all that, his torment is eternal. The sun burns him as he writhes naked upon the sands of hell, and the wind cuts him bitterly to the bone, a harsh dry wind, so that he is sore athirst. Give unto me, I pray thee, one drop of water from the pure springs of Paradise, that I may quench my thirst.

I feed upon the names of the Most High. I churn them in my jaws, and I void them from my fundament. I fear not the power of the Pentagram, for I am the Master of the Triangle. My name is three hundred and thirty and three, and that is thrice one. Be vigilant, therefore, for I warn thee that I am about to deceive thee. I shall say words that thou wilt take to be the cry of the Aethyr, and thou wilt write them down, thinking them to be great secrets of Magick power, and they will be only my jesting with thee.

I know the name of the Angel of thee and thy brother P. . . ., and all thy dealings with him are but a cloak for thy filthy sorceries.

(Here the Scribe averred that he knew more than the demon, and so feared him not, and ordered the demon to proceed.)

Thou canst tell me naught that I know not, for in me is all Knowledge: Knowledge is my name. Is not the head of the great Serpent arisen into Knowledge?

The great serpent referred to is Leviathon, but more particularly this refers to a Golden Dawn diagram which shows the serpent reaching from the worlds of the evil shells below the Tree of Life up to the place on the Tree called Da’ath, or Knowledge. What could Neuburg tell the Maker of Worlds what he does not already know?

Images, images, images, all without control, all without reason. The malice of Choronzon is not the malice of a being; it is the quality of malice, because he that boasteth himself "I am I", hath in truth no self, and these are they that are fallen under my power, the slaves of the Blind One that boasted himself to be the Enlightened One. For there is no centre, nay, nothing but Dispersion.

Here Choronzon (or Crowley) finally and unequivocally gives the show away. It was obvious before, but now it is spelled out for us. Anyone who has read the gnostic gospels recovered from Nag Hammadi will know this demon. The etymology of the name Samael has two derivations. The most common and traditional derivation is that it derives from the Hebrew word for poison, and means "Poison of God". The identification of Choronzon with Samael was made on the basis of his appearance in Dee’s transcript as the instrument of the Fall, and in Crowley’s vision he is the poisoner and despoiler of the world.

However, the eminent scholar of Jewish mysticism, Gershom Scholem, who made an extensive study of ancient gnostic texts, shows that the oldest and most accurate etymology for Samael is "the blind archon", and he is identical with the demonic demiurge of the Ophites, Ialdebaoth. He was also known as "the blind dragon" and identified with Leviathon. In Mandean gnostism Samael is the demon of blindness. (Scholem, OotK p.295 for extensive sources).

A gnostic text found at Nag Hammadi, The Nature (Hypostasis) of the Archons, describes the demiurgic demon creator of the world:

"Their chief is blind [because of his] power and ignorance [and his arrogance] he said, with his [power], "It is I who am God; there is none [apart from me]."

When he said this, he sinned against the [entirety]. And this speech got up to incorruptibility; then there was a voice that came forth from incorruptibility saying "You are mistaken, Samael" - which is, "god of the blind".

His thoughts became blind. And having expelled his power - that is, the blasphemy he had spoken - he pursued it down to chaos and the abyss ...

When Crowley/Chronozon mentions the "slaves of the Blind One that boasted himself to be the Enlightened One", it seems unquestionable that he is referring to the gnostic myth of Samael. Another gnostic text from the Nag Hammadi corpus , "The Secret Book (Apocryphon) of John" states:

"Now the archon who is weak has three names. The first name is Yaltabaoth, the second is Saklas, and the third is Samael. And he is impious in his arrogance". (TNHG)

Choronzon is the master and the maker of form who has no face because he has all faces ( see above). Another text, quoted by Kurt Rudolph, describes Ialdebaoth as follows:

"But Jaldabaoth, Saklas, the many formed, so that he can show himself with any face, gave to them (the planets) of the fire which belongs to him; but he did not give them of the pure light of the power he had drawn from his mother. For the reason that he ruled over them, because of the glory which was in him from the power [of the light] of his mother. For this reason he himself called "God" in that he resisted the nature from which he had come into being. And he bound seven powers with the principalities."

The mother who brings forth the "abortion" Ialdebaoth is the subject of Crowley’s vision of the next (and ninth) Aethyr - he calls her "the Virgin of Eternity", otherwise known in Kabbalah as the sephira Binah.

It is significant that the words Crowley/Choronzon uses are not vague stabs in the general direction of gnostism - they might have been copied directly from gnostic texts. The Nag Hammadi texts were not discovered until 1945, two years before Crowley’s death, so we cannot accuse him of plagiarism, but (in the comical extreme) we can imagine Crowley and Neuburg stumbling across troves of Coptic texts amongst the sand dunes and translating them in situ. More realistically, Crowley, who was astonishingly erudite, could have found traces of this lore in the works of early Church heresiologists such as Irenaeus of Lyons [Note: since orginally writing this I have inspected the work of Irenaeus and find nothing that would account for Crowley/Choronzon's prescience. Any insight into a source for "the Blind One that boasted himself to be the Enlightened One" would be appreciated]

Less easy to rationalise is what comes next. When I began to read Dee’s angelic transcripts I was struck by the thought that the God of Dee’s angels was the same demonic demiurgic God I was already familiar with in gnostic texts. It is difficult to give much substance to this feeling, other than to say that the original gnostics derived their demiurge by taking the worst qualities of the God of the Jews, transforming him into a demonic entity. The God of Dee’s angels is similarly demonic - a God of wrath and punishments and ‘righteousness’ who fully intends (like the God of Revelation) to turn the world into a charnel-house. In his book Tetragrammaton, Donald Tyson points out the phrase "God of Righteousness" quoted in the ninth Enochian key (quoted earlier) is given as IAD BALTOH in Enochian, a transparent anagram of IALDBAOTH. For either of Dee or Kelly to be this ingeniously erudite beggars belief.

Crowley’s "vision and voice" continued the manifestation of Choronzon:

Would God that I were dead.

For know that I am proud and revengeful and lascivious, and I prate even as thou. For even as I walked among the Sons of God, I heard it said that P. . .could both will and know, and might learn at length to dare, but that to keep silence he should never learn. O thou that art so ready to speak, so slow to watch, thou art delivered over unto my power for this. And now one word was necessary unto me, and I could not speak it. I behold the beauty of the earth in her desolation, and greater far is mine, who sought to be my naked self. Knowest thou that in my soul is utmost fear? And such is my force and my cunning, that a hundred times have I been ready to leap, and for fear have missed. And a thousand times am I baulked by them of the City of the Pyramids, that set snares for my feet. More knowledge have I than the Most High, but my will is broken, and my fierceness is marred by fear, and I must speak, speak, speak, millions of mad voices in my brain.

The secret of Choronzon is that Choronzon and and "Most High" are the same. There isn’t a sheet of paper that one could insert between them. This is the origin of Bill Heidrick’s comment that there isn’t much point in preventing Choronzon from manifesting in the physical universe, because the universe is "in a sense" Choronzon. The "Most High" is as demonically poisonous and destructive as Choronzon, and declares, like Choronzon , the He is the only God. Every pulpit thumper is Choronzon, declaring the one truth; and the pulpit thumpers, thundering at the blasphemies and heresies and sacriligious untruths of other pulpit thumpers are the many faces of Choronzon. Every person who makes a world for other people to live in is the "Most High", setting down laws of right and wrong, good and evil, and in their demiurgic isolation they are also Choronzon. Every aspect of Chronozon, declaring "I am I" in brief isolation from the whole, is the Most High, but taken together (and there can only be one Most High) they constitute the raving dispersion of Choronzon.

Choronzon is the particular foe of magicians. Dee, for example, believed utterly in a Most High who had all knowledge. A common theme in the Enochian Keys is that the magician commands because he is a "true worshipper of the Highest". As a magician approaches the heirophantic position in Chesed, the last sephira before the Abyss, he is assumed to have all the answers. He is a pope in his own world, with faithful followers who demand mysteries with answers, who demand revelations just as Dee prayed for revelations. That is why Choronzon scorns Neuburg’s claim to know more than he - Choronzon has all the answers anyone could ever want. A problem with having all the answers is that all the other hierophants also have all the answers, and so the eleventh Aethyr is the Holy City with its mighty walls and towers and motionless legions guarding against the terrible powers of the Abyss, where everything is real, and nothing is true, and the mightiest of hierophants is nothing.

Crowley does not beat around the bush on this issue. In his own words:

For he is wisdom, and by wisdom hath he made the Worlds, and from that wisdom issue judgements 70 by 4, that are the 4 eyes of the double-headed one; that are the 4 devils, Satan, Lucifer, Leviathan, Belial, that are the great princes of the evil of the world. {142}

And Satan is worshipped by men under the name of Jesus; and Lucifer is worshipped by men under the name of Brahma; and Leviathan is worshipped by men under the name of Allah; and Belial is worshipped by men under the name of Buddha.

Poor Neuburg, alone in the protective magical circle, had to contend against all the verbal wiles of the mightiest of devils. Choronzon began to recite the poem Mad Tom O’Bedlam

With a heart of furious fancies,
Whereof I am Commander,
With a burning spear
And a horse of Air
To the wilderness I wander.

(The idea was to keep the Scribe busy writing, so as to spring upon him. For, while the Scribe talked, Choronzon had thrown sand into the circle, and filled it up. But Choronzon could not think fast and continuously, and so resorted to the device of quotation.

The Scribe had written two or three words of "Tom o'Bedlam," when Choronzon sprang within the circle (that part of the circumference of which that was nearest to him he had been filling up with sand all this time), and leaped upon the Scribe, throwing him to the earth. The conflict took place within the circle. The Scribe called upon Tetragrammaton, and succeeded in compelling Choronzon to return into his triangle. By dint of anger and of threatening him with the Magick Staff did he accomplish this. He then repaired the circle. The discomfited demon now continued:)

All is dispersion. These are the qualities of things. The tenth Aethyr is the world of adjectives, and there is no substance therein.

I am a-cold.

(Here Choronzon, being a couth and literary demon, ceases being Mad Tom O’Bedlam and becomes poor Tom of King Lear)

(Here Choronzon wanted to leave the triangle to obtain wherewith to cover his nakedness. The Scribe refused the request, threatening the demon. After a while the latter continued:)

I am commanded, why I know not, by him that speaketh. Were it thou, thou little fool, I would tear thee limb from limb. I would bite off thine ears and nose before I began with thee. I would take thy guts for fiddle-strings at the Black Sabbath.

I have prevailed against the Kingdom of the Father, and befouled his beard; and I have prevailed against the Kingdom of the Son, and torn off his Phallus; but against the Kingdom of the Holy Ghost shall I strive and not prevail. The three slain doves are my threefold blasphemy against him; but their blood shall make fertile the sand, and I writhe in blackness and horror of hate, and prevail not.

At the conclusion Crowley wrote the name BABALON in the sand with his magical ring and he and Neuburg lit a great fire in the sand to purify the place.

This incident in the desert is one of the most memorable incidents in Crowley’s vivid and memorable life; perhaps it is the most memorable. It has been enormously influential, and an elaborate mythology has accreted around Choronzon and the Abyss.

A key part of this development has been the modern interpretation of the non-sephiroth Da’ath as a gateway. Da’ath means ‘knowledge’. Where the word appears in Genesis it is translated into Greek as ‘gnosis’. When Adam knew Eve, the word used was based on the same verb root as the word Da’ath. In traditional Kabbalah Da’ath never made it as a proper sephiroth (as Sepher Yetzirah puts it, there could only be "ten and not nine; ten and not eleven", and so the eleventh quality on the kabbalistic Tree of Life has developed a mystique that comes from being unlike the others. As the sephiroth represent emantations of the divine in creation, Da’ath has progressively taken on the quality of an anti-emanation. It is difficult to place exactly in time the point at which this attribution began to find real coherence. In a book on Kabbalah published in 1965 the author Gareth Knight attributes to Da’ath the Roman god Janus, the two-faced god of portals who is forever looking two ways. However, some of the most vivid depictions of Da'ath as gateway were introduced in the mid 1970s in the writings of the British magician (and joint biographer of Crowley) Kenneth Grant.

What Grant has done can best be described by analogy. Suppose we were to take a normal person and we identified all the occasions when this person was being generous and pleasant and kind, and we also identified all the occasions when they were being irritable and selfish and malicious. Let us also suppose we gave this person two names (Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde spring to mind) and we insisted that instead of one person with a full range of emotions we were dealing with two different people each with a more limited range of emotions. Having made this distinction we could then mystify the point of transition between the two ‘identities’ (as Robert Louis Stevenson did in his novel by means of arcane chemistry). This is what Grant has done to the Tree of Life, splitting it into two Trees, one of which is the dark reflection of the other, and he has turned Da’ath into the Gateway between the two Trees. By removing much of the power from what many people think of as the ‘normal’ Tree he has created a dark reflection of the Tree and by this legerdemain he has provided himself with material for a number of books:

I am fully aware that the averse regions of the power zones are dangerous territory, and at the outset I would remind those who feel that such an exploration had better not be made that one cannot begin this initiation, or journey inward, as one begins one’s ascent from Malkuth, for only by projecting consciousness through Da’ath, the Gate of the Abyss, can one enter the Kingdom of infernal spaces that is under the dominion of Choronzon. (NoE)

For reasons already given, the transformation of Da’ath into a hole or gateway is a natural and numinous transformation of a non-sephira into something that complements the images of transition and fear of the unknown associated with the Abyss. Whether Grant’s splitting of the Tree into two is symbolically useful or merely an arch-gothic Adam’s Family caricature of a kabbalistic tradition already pregnant with representations for darkness and evil has to be questioned. Grant’s work carries gematria to new heights by showing that any concept can be related to any other, either by numbers, or by the most bewildering and fanciful etymology, so that one has to wonder whether the author himself takes it seriously. The overwhelming impression given by "The Nightside of Eden" is not that words and symbols signify anything, but they have become an end in themselves, and Grant uses them to weave Chorozonic mysteries of semiotics: the map has become the territory.

It is Kenneth Grant who brings a trail that begins with Lovecraft and meanders through the lives of Dee and Crowley back to Lovecraft once again. His books are permeated with Lovecraftian imagery. In The Magical Revival he compares Lovecraftian entities with entities from traditional magic. In a later book he writes:

"This Cult of the Spectral Hyena persisted when all other forms of its God had perished, and certain magicians and dreamers have received intimations of its existence throughout the centuries. Dr. John Dee (1527-1608), who first called it down from the spaces of Daath in historic times, named it Choronzon. Aleister Crowley, who contacted it in our own times, also called it Choronzon, while H.P. Lovecraft sensed it as the monstrous and amorphous slime known as Yog-Sothoth" (NoE)

We have come full circle, from fiction to fact and back to fiction, and if it is possible for Dee (in the world of fiction) to have translated the Necronomicon, then it is certainly possible for Lovecraft (in the world of fact) to have met Choronzon. One of the best descriptions of Yog Sothoth can be found in Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror, in a supposed extract from an incomplete copy of Dee’s translation of the Necronomicon:

Nor is it to be thought [ran the text as Armitage mentally translated it] that man is either the oldest or the last of earth’s masters, or that the common bulk of life and substance walks alone. The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, they walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They have trod earth's fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread. By Their smell can men sometimes know Them near, but of Their semblance can none know, saving only in the features of those They have begotten on mankind; and of those are there many sorts, differing in likeness from man's truest eidolon to that shape without sight or substance which is Them. (TDH)

Like the Nephilim of lore, Yog Sothoth can and does join with mortal women to father half-human abominations (that is the whole point of the story). The description of Yog Sothoth as the guardian and key to the gate entering into the chaotic dimensions of the Old Ones completes the identification with Choronzon, and it is at this point that fact and fiction blend so seamlessly into myth that in his book Tetragrammaton, Donald Tyson concludes about the Enochian Keys (and one can feel the ghost of Lovecraft guiding his pen):

"The apocalypse glimpsed in the vision of St. John is a complex magical working that cannot be initiated by the angels themselves but must be called into the universe by the living Word vibrated in a vessel of flesh that wears the form of the warrior Christ. The angels of wrath cannot call themselves into being. What they could, and did, do is teach mankind how to summon them through the guardian gates of the Four Watchtowers that sustain the universe."

"Once Coronzon and his angels gain access through the Watchtowers, their mere presence in our world will render it unfit for human habitation by increasing the degree of chaos and disrupting the balance of the natural laws that presently provide stability and order. Coronzon will transform our universe into a suitable dwelling place for himself and his ministers, in the process destroying the human race." (Tetragrammaton)

But what about the Necronomicon? We left a question hanging in the air at the beginning of this essay. Does the terrible grimoire really exist?

Well, as Lovecraft told several of his many correspondents, Alhazred was a name he took as a child because of his fascination with the exotic tales of The Arabian Nights. An enthusiastic amateur astronomer, he may have taken the name of his most famous grimoire from the Astronomica of Manilius. Yes, Lovecraft invented the Necronomicon. It is fictional. The world's most terrible book of sorcery is just a title, a brilliant and inspired title, but it is a title with no content. Although Lovecraft alludes to the book many times, he provides (if my memory serves me) only three direct quotations, and the only substantial quotation is the one provided above. The Necronomicon is a hollow vessel - it booms resoundingly, but has nothing in it but the projections of our own fantasies.

And the idea that magicians through the ages have been attempting to contact strange and terrible powers that seek to possess and lay waste to the Earth is quaintly ridiculous. Not.

My baby is doing fine.

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 19:02:47 GMT

Ok been playing a lot of Everquest lately. It's rawking. I finally got my cleric up into the 66 level and he is doing well with getting all his spells. Slowly but surely I will have him equipped and well rounded. I talked with my survivalist friends up in MO and they are all doing well. Still rolling the natural tobacco because it is cheaper that way and canning preserves etc. He says he got his wife a new toy, well lets just say it shoots rather nice and a very nice rifle indeed. My GF is doing great up there she is working a lot of overtime so that we can have money saved up when I get down that way and I can actually look for decent work without the rush. Can't wait.

I told her it wasn't necessary but she insists on having things done right. I know it is going to be fun. Haven't been there in a while. Target practice from the porch even since it is so remote. Its a quiet but fun place to be. The man there is into black magic as well...the neighbor. He was telling me last time I was there he would show me new things and such. He is from Brazil and still claims he can teach me astral projection and how to visit inside ones soul and other places with just rituals. Kinda freaky but I know all is poss since I have witnessed and encountered many times I was able to do various similar tasks through my chaotic practices of Crowley and Enochian mixed with a little Voodoo and such. That is exactly what choatic is ...taking bits and pieces of different forms of magick and beliefs to perform ultimate results since all beliefs are intertwined togther in the spiritual DNA of the spectral world. I have even had spirits whom talked to me in the midst of another whom I welcomed to watch my circle. They heard the womans voice just as I did and saw things move as I witnessed. So therefore I can't wait to learn more. Nothing more equipped to survive than a Wiccan survivalist. Getting things squared away and I will be making that move sometime in the upcomming months. Blessed be.

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 21:35:19 GMT

Dr. Dee's interest in the properties of glass soon merged with his interests in magick, and encouraged by books on demonology, he began to experiment with using glass and crystals as divination devices, a practice known as scrying (from the word descry, to catch sight of.). All of his experiments were fruitless. In despair, he turned to outside help, eventually settling upon John Talbot, a pharmacist turned alchemist who had turned to criminal means to support his obsession with alchemy. Talbot, who changed his name to Kelley upon entering Dee's employ, became Dee's full time crystal gazer.

As a piously religious man, despite the rumors surrounding him, Dee had no interest in contacting demons, opting instead to try to converse with angels. The experiment was a success- a being referring to itself as 'Madimi,' soon manifested. Kelley would gaze into a crystal and describe his visions to Dee, who posed various questions and kept scrupulous notes. The result of years of effort in this endeavor was the Enochian magical system- a means of contacting angels through the use of a system of 'calls' and a language Kelley claimed was dictated directly from the angels.

The so-called 'Enochian' language, named after the biblical Enoch, has a sophisticated grammar that has baffled skeptics. While it must be remembered that Dee had considerable background in ciphers and languages, his scrupulous diaries indicate that it was Kelley who received and dictated the material to Dee, making it that much more mysterious. Kelley was not the educated man Dee was, and had not the ability or the talent required to create such a language. In fact, Kelley seemed unaware of the spiritual import of what he was doing- during one session he interrupts the angel's message to ask for money!

Dee and kelley continued their work while travelling around europe seeking work as alchemists; Kelley eventually became suspicious of the nature of the so-called 'angels' and began to resist the work. When Dee pressed, he resumed for a little time- only to have a vision so terrifying that he refused to scry again, and left Dee's service permanently. Kelley died shortly after leaving Dee's employ, of injuries received from a fall during in an attempted prison break. Dr. Dee returned to England to find his house and library had been destroyed by a mob. He returned to the university, held various acedemic posts until 1604, when he was once again charged with sorcery, and was forced to appeal to King James for protection. He died in poverty only four years later.

John Dee's legacy is deep and broad-his cartographic tools allowed unprecedented explorations, and he made many advances in European mathematics and geometry. His fearsome appearance in a tall pointed hat and his penchant for crystal balls gave the world the archetype of the wizard after which dozens of story book wizards have been based, including Gandalf, Harry Potter, and even the Wizard of Oz. He founded the Rosicrucian order, the first of many magical secret societies, which promoted spiritual growth throughout the centuries.

Long after his death, a young man in the United States used a scrying crystal to contact an angels- who gave him a book written in a mysterious angelic language. The young man, Joseph Smith, went on the found the Mormon Church. In the nineteen fifties, archaeological digs turned up magical talismans created nearly two thousand years ago by Coptic Christians, which bear mysterious characters which bear a startling resemblance to Dee's angelic language.

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 21:18:50 GMT

John Dee (1527-1608) was a renown philosopher, mathematician, geographer and navigator during 16th century's Elizabethan Renaissance. He was educated in Cambridge and served as court astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I - even predicting her coronation would be in 1558. Nowadays, Dee is most well known for his conversations with angels.

Dee was very well respected during the early parts of his career, often in contact with higher ups in British society and the Catholic Church, and amassing for himself one of England's finest libraries. In 1582, Dee made a failed attempt to introduce the Gregorian Calendar to England, and this was also the year he met Edward Kelley. During 1583-1589, Dee spend much of his time pursuing occult sciences and touring Europe with his wife and Kelley. At times, they even stayed with the King of Poland and the Emperor Rudolf in Prague

In 1584, Dee started to find himself in hot water with Giovanni Francesco Bonomi, the bishop of Vercelli, for offering to reveal some of his angelic revelations with Rudolf II, the Holy Roman emperor. At that time, the Church didn't deny that Dee and his scryer, John Kelley's conversations with celestial beings were real - but they did question whether evil spirits were involved. Basically, the Church believed that because Dee had a wife, and therefore was concerned with "worldly" matters, he couldn't possibly be in contact with good angels, for only very holy, celibate hermits received such visits.

In 1589, he and Kelley parted and Dee and his wife returned to England. Upon Dee's return, he found few offers for patronage, and soon fell upon difficult times financially. In 1596, Queen Elizabeth made him Warden of Christ's College in Manchester until King James took over and the witch-hunts began in full swing. Dee resigned in 1905 and died shortly after in 1608.

Soon after, he was branded as a conjurer and demonized by 17th century historians. It has only been recently, with the works of modern scholars such as Frances Yates, Nicholas Clulee and Deborah Harkness, that Dee's true intellectual contributions to the Renaissance have been explored in a positive light.

Dee's Scryers

Scrying was a method of divination that involved looking into a shiny or reflective object to aid in prophecy. Angels would appear in the reflection and the scryer would hear a voice - scryers were not mediums and the angels did not speak through them. Dee believed wholeheartedly that what the angels/spirits/intelligences told him through his scryer was true and obeyed their commands religiously.

He had at least four scryers during his lifetime including Barnabas Saul, Edward Kelley, his son Arthur Dee, and Bartholomew Hickman. Barnabas Saul participated in his first conversation on December 22, 1581 though later denied he had seen anything. Dee wrote in his diary a few months later that "The injuries wihch this Barnabas had done me diverse wayes were very great."

John Kelley, the scryer most often associated with Dee nowadays, began working with him on March 10, 1582. Very little is known about Kelley's life. He was born on Aug 1, 1555 and attended Oxford as "Edward Talbot." His relationship with Dee was unstable and sometimes violent, and the men quarreled frequently, yet Dee continued to work with him because he needed a scryer to communicate with the angels.

Dee's Angels

Many of the angels appeared as men in his crystal, though a few had female form. Dee was suspicious that those that appeared as female were actually demonic spirits, but after a few conversations he was convinced otherwise.

Many had familiar names - Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel - though the majority was not. Gabriel, for instance, first appeared on June 22, 1583. He guarded Eden and was the angel of annunciation, resurrection, and revelation. Other angels considered him guardian of the moon. And at one point, he sent divine medicine to heal Dee's wife, Jane. In Islamic traditions, Gabriel dictated the Koran to Mohammad. In cabalistic traditions, Gabriel delivered the cabala to humanity. And according to Trithemius's De spetem secundeis, Gabriel oversaw the historical period beginning in 1525 AD, the time Dee lived.

Dee also had frequent communications with Michael ("strength of God"), the guardian of Jacob and Israel, who first appeared on March 14, 1582. Michael would weigh human souls at the Last Judgment and wielded his sword of justice. Trithemius claimed Michael was guardian of the sun and Agrippa considered him guardian of the metal quicksilver. Both equated him with the planet Mercury in alchemy.

Raphael ("healing power of God") first communicated with Dee on March 15, 1582. In the Zohar, he is associated with healing the earth and humanity, and is also the guardian of the Tree of Life and therefore associated with knowledge and knowledge of the future. Both Trithemius and Azalus claimed he was one of the 7 angels of the apocalypse.

Uriel ("light of God") was the first angel to speak with Dee after Kelley started scrying for him. In cabalistic lore, Urial gave humanity knowledge of the cabala and alchemy.

Anael ("the favored, wretched misery of God") was one of the seven angels of creation and had power over all things, good and evil and was the guardian of Venus.

Dee's Books

Dee wrote a number of books before he began his angelic conjurations. Some of these include the following his first esoteric book, Monas hieroglyphica, written 1564. Dee wrote this book over a period of 13 days (Jan 13-25, 1564) in Antwerp, though he mentions it was the result of a 7 year gestation. The text consists of the primary symbol and the accompanying text of 24 theorems with diagrams.

The Angels revealed several books to Dee starting in 1583, during his work with Kelley. Surviving manuscripts of these books can be found in the British Library. These works include:

Liber Logaeth - the Book of the Speech of God. This book was Dee's introduction to the angelic language, a language now referred to as "Enochic" which was to play a role in perfecting the world. The Liber Logaeth consisted of 49 calls and 95 tables consisting of smaller squares with letters placed in them. Dee was instructed to complete this book forth days after March 29, 1583.

De heptarchia mystica This reference encyclopedia contained prayers to specific angels including the days and times these prayers were to be said on as well as the seals for the 19 elemental angels.

48 Claves angelicae - the Angelic Keys. This book, written in both English and angelic, contained 48 revelations prophesized by the angels.

Liber scientiae auxilii (delivered in central Europe sometime after 1584) - Told of which angels governed various geographical areas.

Tabula bonorum angelorum (delivered in central Europe sometime after 1584) - Consisted of letter tables.

Book of Soyga. This long lost book was first mentioned in Dee's diary on January 17, 1582. The angel Uriel described it as a good that "God's good angels revealed to Adam in Paradise." Michael was its interpreter. By mid April 1583, the angels had discredited the work and it was lost or stolen until a copy (or forgery) was rediscovered in December 1595. The book is primarily astrological in nature.

There are a number of books revealed to Dee that didn't survive. At one point, the angels commanded Dee to burn a number of his books including 48 companion books to the 48 Claves angelicae, an English translation of the 48 Claves, and a book called the "Mystery of Mysteries and the Holy of Holies" that Dee had not deciphered at the time. Also, a number of manuscripts were burned after his death.

Notes

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 21:15:14 GMT

Do angels speak and manifest their thoughts to others? It would indeed be inconceivable that such a vast multitude of pure spirits endowed with superior intelligence and an abundance of clear ideas should lack the means of communicating among themselves.

Saint Paul speaks of such things as "the tongues of angels." From sacred Scripture we learn that angels do talk with one another; they talk to men every time they are sent as God's messengers into this world. The examples are many: The Archangel Raphael and Tobias, Gabriel the Archangel and Saint Zachary and the Blessed Virgin Mary; an Angel spoke to Saint Peter, etc. If they talk and they sing in a manner and a voice that is not their own, how much more must they be able to talk and sing in the language of the spirits.

At the birth of Christ, the heavenly messenger of joy and of great tidings, an angel of God announced the nativity of the Savior of the world to a few shepherds in the hill country around Bethlehem. Messengers had come down to earth many times since man's creation, to advise, to warn, to help, or to punish man. On this occasion "a multitude of the heavenly army" was heard for the first time singing, caroling, and praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will." Only the angelic mind could well understand the mystery of the Incarnation, and the great honor and dignity that had come to poor human nature when the Son of God, the Eternal Word, assumed and substantially united it to His Divine Person for all eternity.

The fact that angels possess a language of their own is beyond all doubt; the nature of that language, however, is little known to us. When the angels appear to men, a human language is spoken by them, the one spoken by the addressee. The sound of human voice is produced, and human words are spoken when the angelic apparition is a sensible one; only mental words, the conveying of ideas, are used in cases of imaginative or intellectual visions.

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 14:27:43 GMT

Intro to Enochian

In the year of 1581 through the extraordinary efforts of Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelly, the secrets that were lost with the patriarch of the Bible known as Enoch were returned to those who thirst for the knowledge of Light. Dee kept close records of their intensive work. Although some of Dee's work has been lost, much of it is to be found in Sloane Documents 3188, 3189, 3191, 3677, and 3679. These documents are to be found at the British Museum in London.

One of the most important breakthroughs in the rediscovery of these lost secrets was an entirely new language. This language contained its own grammar and syntax. It is an Angelic language often referred to as "Enochian."

Dee and Kelly used great care and effort when receiving the lost knowledge of Enoch. The dictating Angel was the Great Angel Ave. Many hours were spent bringing forth the information by Dee and Kelly. Often times sessions would last 8 to 10 hours a day. Some of the material was actually dictated backwards by the Angel so as not to invoke dangerous forces of power.

The beginnings of Enochian Magic were coming into place, but the information was just information. It was not a system of any usable value. Thus, for the most part, it remained dormant, undefined and unusable. Then, over 200 years later, this body of raw knowledge that Dee & Kelly painstakingly uncovered was given form and life by the genius of S.L. MacGregor Mathers. Under the tutelage of Mathers, the Second (Inner) Order of the Golden Dawn began working the most powerful system of magic the world has or may ever see.

Years later in Chicago, a disgruntled Paul Foster Case (after being expelled from the order by Moina Mathers) ,would lead a quiet crusade to convince fellow students that Enochian Magic was "volatile and dangerous." Case would even go so far as to have it sliced and diced out of all Inner Order Teachings of a group he founded called the "Builders of the Adytum." Others would follow in Case's footsteps, claiming Enochian was too dangerous.

Without entering into the debate on the "dangers" of Enochian Magic, when used with caution and in accordance with Second Order Teachings, it is not only safe, it is utterly effective in the physical world, and illuminating in the area of Spiritual development!

THE ENOCHIAN TABLETS

Dee and Kelly were the pioneers who blazed the trail. Along the trail of forgotten and lost knowledge were the Four Watchtowers of the Universe. These Watchtower Tablets were adapted by Mathers to represent the Four Elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth.

There is a definite hierarchy to each of these tablets. The hierarchy in its highest form is not to be found on the Tablets, but comes from the study of the Qabalah. It is the Divine Name of the Element in Hebrew that first must be intoned and invoked. The reason is that the Hebrew represents the Celestial influence and governance and the Enochian hierarchy represents the Assiac or material governance.

In each tablet there are three Secret Holy Names of God which are extracted from the horizontal cross bar of the central cross of each Tablet. In all there are twelve Holy Names on four Tablets which infer a serious connection and bridge between the Macrocosm and the personal Microcosm of one's own "sphere of sensation."

These Names are invoked during the four Elemental Grade Ceremonies (initiations) by the Hierophant of the Golden Dawn in the Outer. Through the power of the Secret Names the general nature of the element involved in the initiation is filtered through the Tablet into the "Aura" or sphere of sensation of the advancing candidate. The result is the establishment of a magical link and affinity with the element of the Initiation. This serves to empower the candidate in that new elemental powers are now available to him or her.

This process depends on a trained and empowered Hierophant, and can, in fact, be performed in full Temple "astrally" to allow the elemental link to exist for members who live hundreds or even thousands of miles from a Temple.

THE ELEMENTAL KINGS

The Elemental King is extracted from a spiral whirl around the Central Cross to be found on each Tablet. There is one King per Elemental Tablet.

When the Adept invokes the three Secret Holy Names of God, the King is also automatically activated. In addition, the King may be invoked as a specific force.

The King is always invoked when lower elemental forces on the Tablet are to be utilized.

THE SENIORS

There are six Seniors on each of the Four elemental Tablets. This makes a total of 24 Seniors in all. The Seniors follow the King in the Order of Hierarchy. The Seniors are found in the Book of Revelations as the 24 Elders who bow down before the Throne of God.

The Seniors act as a kind of funnel for the specific forces of a particular planet. The King relates to Sol. The planetary forces of the Seniors is configured and transformed within the specific elemental Nature of the Tablets.

In all workings where the King is invoked, so are the Seniors in that

they work in a kind of collaboration with the elemental King. There are rituals such as the Consecration of an Elemental Tool when the power of the Seniors are called upon. This allows the elemental Weapon to receive in the charging phase the Planetary powers through the elemental nature of the planet. Later when needed by a trained Adept, the tool can then project this force for the purpose of magical and alchemical workings.

CALVARY CROSS ANGELS (SEPHIROTIC CROSS)

There are four Sephirotic Crosses on each Tablet. They are often referred to as Calvary Crosses. There is one cross in each sub-element.

Thus, on the Fire Tablet, there are four sub-elements of Air, Water, Fire, Earth. There is a cross in each. On a colored depiction of the Tablets these crosses are white, which like the Seniors denote a spiritual nature rather than an elemental one.

There are two angels per cross. One calls forth a serviant angel and the other is used to command the angel. These angels are only invoked when the Adept wishes to work with a specific subservient angel.

KERUBIC SQUARE ANGELS

These angels work under the Angels of the Sephirotic Cross. These Angels help to regulate and balance the forces employed. They may be utilized for pyramid working and other important elemental considerations.

The Kerubic Angels are formed from the first letter in each file above the Calvary Cross and are permutated to provide (4) in total per sub-section.

TABLET OF UNION

The highest name of Spirit in this Tablet is EHNB. This is the purest Spiritual force and is only invoked when some empowering is required from the direct force of spirit.

The Tablet of Union is placed on the center Altar to act as the central hub from which the Elemental Tablets are spokes.

The Elemental Tablets are introduced one at a time in the Grade Initiations of the Golden Dawn. There is an important Initiation that is not depicted on the Qabalistic Tree of Life. It is the Portal Initiation. It is attributed to the top point of the pentagram which is Spirit. Thus, in the Portal Initiation of our Order, the Tablet of Union is introduced as it represents the building Spirit or actuating glue between the elements.

CONCLUSION

This only reveals a miniscule amount of information on Enochian Golden Dawn methodology. In fact, much of the body of the Second Order Enochian Work remains unpublished and safely in the hands of the College of Adepti.

Enochian Magic requires a solid and firm foundation in the study of the Qabalah, Geomancy, Tarot, Alchemy, and Astrology. It is not a toy but a powerful system that should be employed with the same caution a prudent person uses who would handle a loaded gun.

The above information is only a tiny fragment of Enochian knowledge. It is not complete, but rather given for the purpose of general understanding. It is vital that to fully actualize Enochian forces and powers, one must transform through Outer Order Grade Initations and beyond. There are some very good books on Enochian out on the market. However, some are extremely incomplete and over-simplified so a to attract more readers and sell more books. These books (many crammed with faulty information) are extremely dangerous in the hands of the novice. If not dangerous, then completely ineffective.

My baby is home. =)

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 14:04:16 GMT

Well, she is home in MO anyways. She called me a little earlier to say she finally got in the door and settled. I know she is exhausted but then again so am I from wondering when she would get there. Ok with that said it has been a long day I slept pretty late but then my friends called and asked me to go hang out since I hadn't done much of that since she got in town earlier in the week. I passed by but didn't wanna stay long because I was waiting for her to call me. We ate some barbeque and drank some beers wasn't too bad but as I said hard to concentrate and have fun when my mind was elsewhere. Bahhhh... nighters.

Finally

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 03:01:31 GMT

Ok she called and she is finally off the road. Said she was amazed she was able to get as far as she did but that her eyes were getting heavy on her and I know the feeling. I am tired as all heck and even with the few calls we had between her getting to teh hotel and leaving here I can finally feel ok and get some rest. I actually dozed off a bit while waiting but I feel as though it wasn't very much. I will sleep until she returns a call later today after getting back on the road. Not sure of the town she said she was in but it is somewhere just outsdie of St.Louis...still she has a very long drive being its the western side of MO by Kansas she needs to drive to. I told her it would prob be better to go further North and stay on state roads ...interstate because at least the cell phone would be working most the way. Night....be on tomorrow or should I say today.

Very saddened indeed

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 02:53:34 GMT

Ok long time or so it seems since I last posted. Today has had to of been one of the toughest days I could have ever had in a long while. I had to say goodbye again to the girl I love with all of my heart. I know this is just temporary as we vowed to stay togther but her job is needing her back in a couple days and she has used up her vacation time so there is not much we can do. I can not move there just yet but we did decide that in a few months I am probably going to make that big move back to MO and start our life back again. Did an awful alot of crying today after she left. I know this sounds kinda sissyfied but I just feel kinda hard down at the moment. I need to wait for her call when she gets half way back at the hotel. It's gonna be a 2 day trip for her and I definately won't sleep well till I know she is safe and back home again. Think I am going to go lay down and just try to relax some. I just need to calm down some before I make myself sick worrying about how she is doing. Later.

Things are going hella good... =)

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 02:33:52 GMT

Okie I don't have much time to post but was up checking email and decided to pop on here and take some time to post a quick one. She is still asleep as it was a late night again... whew been a sleepless week in many ways but I gotta say it is rawkin!! We did the French Quarter thing, took in a movie on the couch, did the dinner by candle light thing, went and visited with some of my friends and introduced them, did the touristy window shopping and even managed to get a pizza at the lil pizza place on Decator Street. I don't even want this week to come to an end but I know eventually she is going to have to get back home. At least I still have a few more days to spend with her and gonna live it up as we might not see each other for a good while afterwards till I can make it up there again. Everyone seems to like her and that is always a good thing and very important as well since chances are we are going to be back togther after this. We talked much about how it would be done and how we could manage. Long story and really not much time as I just woke up. Gonna go get some coffee going and try to find something around this house for breakfast.

Fraternally,

Phreak ^V^

Yippiieee!!

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 02:22:30 GMT

She just called and said she is in Metairrie so she is damn close and I am so fuckin nervous it isn't even funny. I will finally get to see her for almost a week. I may log into Everquest at some point for a raid but other than that I am probably not going to be posting for a while till she needs to get back on the road. This is so freakin awesome!! Bahhh been keeping her news of comming here and us talking kinda on the quiet side with many people other than my really close friends. Actually not all of them know either. Don't wanna really get too many upset at the fact I may be or at least hoping to move back south west. Damn I am one happy jumpity skipity freaky dude at the moment and this is gonna be one hell of a week. Been a while if you know what I mean. *think I am gonna get lucky* Hehheehee!! =P

Fraternally,

Phreak ^V^

Bahhaaahahaaaaa!!

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 02:11:55 GMT

LOL!! You gotta love this... OMG this is some funny ass shit!! LMFAO!!

Wooo hoooo!! My baby comming to se me ...2 more dyas!! *taps fingers impatiently*

Beauty in the castle.

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 02:03:46 GMT

Darkest Valentines to all you wicked lovers out there in the world. Today I can't stop thinking about my girl comming to see me. I decided to look at some old memory pictures of the castle ruins where we always said we would try to have our marriage at. The beauty and gothic theme to this old place just brought all kinds of thoughts to the imagination. Well, I suppose it is always poss we may have an outdoor wedding sometime in the future but I think only time will tell. At least we got a chance to talk a good while tonight. We must have been on the phone for well over an hour. Got a calling card and well as you can guess I damn near used prob 1/3 of the time I had available on it but I wanted to save some for next time we chat. I so think I am falling head over heals for her once again. I am so sorry that I ever left that place and filled a space of almost 1200 miles between us.

Worked with my friend at his house doing a few things he needed to get done. We cleaned out the boat and the truck. Can't wait till we can actually take that bad boy out on the water again. Gas has been pretty high lately so who knows. We will just have to see when the weather is good enough to get out on it. Will try to post again tomorrow if I am not glued to Everquest as I always am. Darkest dreams and black roses to all.

Fraternally,

Phreak ^V^

Here are a few pics of the kewl ass castle ruins.

Been a few days...

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 01:43:08 GMT

It's been a few days since my last post. Everything is going pretty well and doing better in Everquest that I actually play quite often now. I been doing so much better since I am in the new guild but I won't bore all of you with that...like as if anyone ever reads these posts anyway, but it's a game that few understand unless you have played it. So I shall skip that in this post. I have been busy today cleaning and painting and cleaning etc in what seems like a rush before my ex gets down here for her visit with me later in a few weeks. She has been working her ass off and I on the otherhand pretty much just the opposite. Of course I really don't wanna start working anyways since I like to always leave my options open if we decide to get back together. Crossing fingers but can only hope for the best.

More to chat later.

Things are going well...

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 01:31:51 GMT

Things should seem as though they are pretty dull but that can be further than the truth. I have been doing a lot of talking with my ex-girlfriend or should I say ex-fiance from Missourri. It is always nice to talk to her and sometimes we wonder what ever happened to cause us to go our seperate ways. I know that the reason is because she was seeing another guy at her work and that sort of hurt things without a doubt. It was then I moved back to Louisiana and figured all should be let to go seperate ways. Well, that was sort of hard to do since I know when I left her she was pregnant though she claimed she lost the baby I know that was just a lie to keep me from knowing anything about it. I was even made to believe that it was the one she was having an affair with. Long story short she had the baby and they are both doing fine and the guy she was with left soon afterwards so we have been talking ever since. Still I am not sure if the baby is mine or not but I am sure that I would love it all the same as if it was. She is actually comming down to see me around the 18th of the month. I really look forward to seeing her as it has been well over a year. Just wish she could get here for Valentine's Day but it's just a silly holiday anyway. Bahh!! Hopefully at some point we can get back together even if it means me moving back up to Missourri. It was kinda stressful last time I lived there but I think I could get back into that way of life again.

Well it's kinda late so I am gonna get going and will post more again later.

Fraternally,

Phreak ^V^