ritual

[swampiewolfess]

Ritual



So I walk on uplands unbounded, and know that there is hope
for that which Thou didst mold out of dust to have consort with things eternal.


- The Dead Sea Scrolls



Of what use is ceremonial magic ritual?


Even if one accepts the premise that "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophies", do not the mechanizations of ritual magic seem quaint and antiquated? How can we go about performing magic rituals without feeling somewhat foolish? Is there some other point to it all than the mere acting out of a rather childish fantasy world?


Yes, there are indeed very good reasons to learn and practice the Art of Ritual Magic, even from a totally empirical point of view. There are a great many practical advantages to be realized from the practice. Far from negating the premises upon which the usefulness of ritual magic rests, modern science, particualrly psychology, supports many of the ideas encompassed in ceremonial work.


We will proceed from the premise that Magic is a part of our reality. We will accept the definition of Magic as stated by Aleister Crowley: "Magic is the Science and Art of causing change to occur in accordance with the will." A change is perceived by an individual as being desireable or necessary, and by an expression of magical will this change is induced to occur, without the direct, causal interaction with the object of the change.


It is foolish to think of Magic as being concerned with an ability to start fires with a glance or force slot machines to pay out jackpots by concentrating on them. From a purely logical viewpoint, if one had the power to do such things, one would hardly be expected to even care about doing them in the first place!


The most powerful and useful changes one can cause to occur are those changes wrought on yourself. Your entire universe begins with yourself, and any change you bring upon yourself with be reflected in the entire universe. Bring about the proper changes in yourself and the universe will be yours to command.



The Formula Of Magic



A careful survey of Magical traditions and techniques across various cultures reveals a common foundation. The "formula" of Magic can be reduced to this simple equation:



Will + Active Imagination + Gnosis = Magical Act



The use of ritual in the performance of Magical acts is universal because the performance of ritual is the most effective means to accomplish all three of the requirements of the Magical act simultaneously. These three things can be called the Keys Of Magic.


The times when magic has worked best for me, in terms of getting the results I was aiming for was: when I needed something REALLY bad, (will) I devised a very impressive way to express it (imagination), and was able to launch myself into an intense gnosis state (you get it...)



Will



The first Key Of Magic is Will. Will itself is a magical phenomenon. Though modern science can scan the brain and locate the points at which nearly all types of thought originate, "Will" cannot be traced. A subject can be wired to sensitive detectors and told by an experimenter, "Lift your hand". When the subject complies, the detection apparatus will locate the brainwave patterns that originate the impulses that travel down the nerves to the muscles, but the original "event" of _willing_ the hand to move does not appear on any known scan. As soon as the motor-control section of the brain goes into action, the impulses begin their journey. Logic indicates that the "willing" of the hand to move _must_ preceed the commencement of the impulses themselves. But the brain action of this "willing" cannot be found!


We will not explore the deep ramifications of this fact here. For our purposes, it is enough to say that Will cannot be detected or directed by conscious means. There is more to Will, even in the more limited definitions of the concept, than mere desire. To simply WANT something is not the same as Willing it.


The power and function of Magical Will is often, as Spare put it, "believed by taking it up as a hobby at a time of great disappointment or sorrow." Such was the case in my own experience. There is something about being driven by great need or fear of consequences that can spark the Will into manifestation. Once this is accomplished under such duress, the experience can often be "recaptured" later and brought under control.


Directed Will is more than simple "positive thinking", which is entirely a function of the conscious mind. Not that positive thinking isn't useful, but magical Will is far more powerful, when used in conjuction with the other three Keys.


Crowley built an entire religious philosophy, called Thelema, on the concept of True Will, which is roughly defined as being a particular person's "real purpose" in life, whatever that may be. This is not to be confused with what one simply wants in life -- in fact, one's wants or desires might be in actual conflict with one's True Will. The most important thing in life, according to the doctrines of Thelema, is discover one's True Will and follow it. If everyone did this, then no one would be in conflict with anyone else and the world would function with clockwork perfection.


It's obvious that this is a religious concept, as one must simply have faith that the above description is true, without any way to demonstratively prove it. So if the reader is interested, refer to the many available books on Thelema. Chaos Magic is not concerned with religious dogma. So although the books on Thelema also capitalize the word "Will", they do so to indicate "True WIll" as defined by their religion. In the case of this book, it is to distinguish "Magical Will" from mere desire.


But for one's desire to become magically effective, it must be accepted by the subconscious mind as well as the conscious -- or even instead of the conscious -- mind. This is how "will" becomes "Will". Therefore a way must be found to "implant" the magician's desire into the subconscious where it can be effective. This procedure is most clearly demonstrated by the mechanics of sigil magic. However, this is the end to which all magic ritual -- regardless of it's source -- is directed.


The traditional magical systems did this by first indoctrinating the new follower into the system's philosophy and symbolism, then building more-or-less effective ritual formulae on that framework. Of course, this means the student must accept this symbolism and belief-set on faith -- making it again a religious endeavor. As with any magical form, the mind must be twisted into accepting a ludicrous belief system. What is different about Chaos Magic is that the ludicrous belief system is chosen temporarily and voulentarily, and then abandoned after the work is done so a different one can be adopted next time.


Sigil Magic is popular with Chaotes because it uses the symbolic system that one is already indoctrinated with -- one's native language. And although it is very effective even in it's simplest forms, it can be used as the foundation of a more elaborate ritual working to make it even more effective.


The point of it all is that desire can be converted into Will by means of ritual magic.



Imagination



Imagination is a requirement for any artistic endeavor, and magic is no exception. Chaos Magic demands a LOT of imagination, because you're not going to be sthingy-fed everything you need to know. However, beyond imagination in the general sense, a particular type of imagination is needed; this is what Karl Jung called "active imagination".


The kind of imagination that is magically useful is that which the magician uses to induce self-directed visions, emotions and belief-states. Simply put, it's imagining something so strongly that it actually becomes "real." The banishing rituals described in the chapter on basics use this kind of imagination.


The goal of magical imagination is to induce BELIEF. As discussed in previous chapters, this is the "mental/linguistic" level of magical function. Belief is a function of the subconscious, rather than the conscious mind. To manipulate the Will one must be able to manipulate belief. To manipulate belief, one must manipulate the subconscious. It is to this end that the symbology of Magic Ritual work is directed.


Probably the most important concept in Chaos Magic is that of meta-belief. This is defined as a "belief structure" that encompasses all other belief structures. In practice, it is the ability to manipulate patterns of belief into pre-determined structures that are magically useful.


The art of Method Acting, as studied by millions of aspiring thespians, is concerned with exactly the same psychological mechanism. The would-be ceremonial magican would do well to study the works of Stanislavsky and Strassberg.


Method actors are famous for "researching" their roles. If one is to play a prisoner, they might arrange to be locked up in a jail for a few nights. Or if the role is a hunter, they go on a hunting trip with an experienced guide. They try to imprint the emotional reactions to these alien environments into their minds so those reactions can be recalled later during performance.


Magicians will often incorporate such environments directly into their work if possible. Operations concerned with the elemental symbolism of Water might be performed on the shore of the sea, for example. I have performed or assisted in operations that involved full water immersion, leaping naked over bonfires, burial under stones, tattooing, piercing and branding with hot irons, drawing and drinking of blood, escape from graveyards at night, full body mumification, and enactment (with full "costume") of the magician being devoured alive by ghouls. All for the sake of invoking a particular set of emotional reactions for magical purposes.

[swampiewolfess]

Imagination



Imagination is a requirement for any artistic endeavor, and magic is no exception. Chaos Magic demands a LOT of imagination, because you're not going to be sthingy-fed everything you need to know. However, beyond imagination in the general sense, a particular type of imagination is needed; this is what Karl Jung called "active imagination".


The kind of imagination that is magically useful is that which the magician uses to induce self-directed visions, emotions and belief-states. Simply put, it's imagining something so strongly that it actually becomes "real." The banishing rituals described in the chapter on basics use this kind of imagination.


The goal of magical imagination is to induce BELIEF. As discussed in previous chapters, this is the "mental/linguistic" level of magical function. Belief is a function of the subconscious, rather than the conscious mind. To manipulate the Will one must be able to manipulate belief. To manipulate belief, one must manipulate the subconscious. It is to this end that the symbology of Magic Ritual work is directed.


Probably the most important concept in Chaos Magic is that of meta-belief. This is defined as a "belief structure" that encompasses all other belief structures. In practice, it is the ability to manipulate patterns of belief into pre-determined structures that are magically useful.


The art of Method Acting, as studied by millions of aspiring thespians, is concerned with exactly the same psychological mechanism. The would-be ceremonial magican would do well to study the works of Stanislavsky and Strassberg.


Method actors are famous for "researching" their roles. If one is to play a prisoner, they might arrange to be locked up in a jail for a few nights. Or if the role is a hunter, they go on a hunting trip with an experienced guide. They try to imprint the emotional reactions to these alien environments into their minds so those reactions can be recalled later during performance.


Magicians will often incorporate such environments directly into their work if possible. Operations concerned with the elemental symbolism of Water might be performed on the shore of the sea, for example. I have performed or assisted in operations that involved full water immersion, leaping naked over bonfires, burial under stones, tattooing, piercing and branding with hot irons, drawing and drinking of blood, escape from graveyards at night, full body mumification, and enactment (with full "costume") of the magician being devoured alive by ghouls. All for the sake of invoking a particular set of emotional reactions for magical purposes.



Gnosis



The concept of gnosis has been discussed in previous chapters, but in ritual work it's put into actual use. The ritual is designed so that gnosis can be acheived either as an integral part of the procedure, or a "space" is provided to allow for the magician to attain the gnostic state. All of the ritual up to that point has been carefully constructed to both distract the conscious mind, and prepare the magical intent to be implanted into the subconscious when the gnosis point is reached. This is the basic "formula" for effective magical ritual.


Since there are many, many ways one can achieve the gnostic state, the technique used should be compatible with both the style of the ritual work and the goal of the working itself. Mismatching the means by which gnosis is attained with either of these considerations can not only be ineffective, but detrimental to one's magical development and even one's mental health. For example, gnosis obtained by sexual exhaustion may be appropriate to workings of desire and passion, but highly inappropriate for empowering curses.



Constructing a Ritual



Inspiration for a magical ritual can come from just about anywhere, and be as simple or complex as one desires. It can be instructive to study published ritual workings form various sources, keeping in mind the formula described above. Think of it as if you were writing a play with a particular audience in mind -- yourself. Accordingly, whatever is most likely to impress you will be most effective.


It's probably best to start out practicing completely alone, so that you're neither embarassed about performing in front of others, nor trying to impress others with your performance. You'll probably feel pretty silly at first, but this is quite normal -- don't let it stop you! There's no one around to critique you, and nothing "bad" is going to happen if you don't do everything perfectly -- the worst that will happen is, well, nothing.


If you've been practicing your banishing ritual and setting up your magical space, then you're likey used to dressing up in the silly clothes and babbling the nonsense so that you're feeling more comfortable with it. Now it's time to try some more elaborate stuff.


Whether your performing something you composed yourself, or from some other source, it's always best to memorize anything you have to recite. A wise person said that any ritual that cannot be easily memorized is in need of simplification. But for practice sake, or even for performance if the memorization is just too difficult for you, write or type out the text to be recited in large letters (to be legible in dim light) and place it on your altar where it can be read without having to hold it in your hands. A compromise is to make up some "cue cards", like regular 3x5 index cards, with the text written out and stacked in order, to be referred to if needed.


Prepare everything you need in advance so that once you begin, all of the required items are easily within reach. As with any operation, take steps to insure you will not be disturbed until it's over.


As for mistakes during ritual work: it's going to happen. It happens to even the most experienced ritualists. Don't worry about it! It's more important that the overall "flow" of the work is not disturbed, and freaking out over skipping a step or mispronouncing a word is far more disturbing than any mistake can be. The most important thing, as any stage actor can tell you, is that you don't stop! Carry on through to the conclusion as best you can before fretting over errors, unless a real disaster has occurred (like setting your robe on fire...)



Ritual and Emotional Memory



One of the most useful things about ritual is that as one becomes more experienced with it, certain actions, sounds, scents, images, etc. become connected in the subconscious mind with certain active emotional states. This is emotional memory, and it can be put to practical use by the canny magician.


The training of a method actor involves learning to control and utilize one's emotional memory. In recent years, some of the tools of the method actor have found their way into the practice of certain kinds of psychotherapy.


Psychodramtic ritual can be magically useful as well. What follows is a description of a method to formulate a personal "banishing" ritual using these techniques.


The basic foundation of this ritual is the traditional Banishing Ritual Of The Pentagram, with it's emphasis on the four cardinal directions and relating them to the traditonal "elements" of Fire, Air, Earth and Water.


Which direction relates to which element is really an arbitrary decision. To the Ptolemic Greeks of Alexandria, where the idea originated, it was likely related to their geographic situation. Fire was to the south, because it obviously got hotter the further south one went. To the east lay the arid, wind blown expanse of the Arabian desert. To the north was where the silt of the Nile provided the fertile earth for growing food. To the west lay the great sea, a seemingly endless expanse of water.


The arbitrary nature of these "elemental directions" is obvious. Below the equator, it gets colder as you go south, not hotter. In fact, the seasons themselves, thought to be so archtypical and "sacred" to Wiccans and other neo-pagans, are completely reversed! So one is completely free to reinterpret the elemental directions if so desired. (But for the sake of example, we'll stick with the traditional directions for now.)


In fact, it's far more useful to make use of what mental/linguistic states are represented by the classic Elements then their old pagan attirbutes. This could be described as follows:




Fire
=
Action

Air
=
Inspiration

Earth
=
Manifestation

Water
=
Intuition



***[Variation of GT with elemental focus here]***