Ritual Magic for Beginners E-Book

Harry Eilenstein

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 94

Beschreibung

Ritual magic is one of the most important tools in learning magic - it facilitates both concentration and imagination. Rituals are also almost indispensable for coordinating the magic of a group of wizards and witches.    A good, i.e. effective ritual needs a certain level. To achieve this, many things must be taken into account: a clear, unambiguous goal, a non-contradictory motivation, a suitable style, the right central element in the ritual structure, the conclusiveness and the arc of suspension of the ritual, the unity of all elements of the ritual, suitable symbols, a suitable source of power, and some more.    There are many good traditional rituals, as well as a whole range of ritual elements that can be used in various rituals of one's own making.    Rituals have a great variety and are found in all older cultures. They range from the sweat lodge ceremony and the rain spell, to the talismanic dedication and the initiation rituals of the Golden Dawn, to the mysteries of Eleusis.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

I What is a Ritual?

II The Structure of a Ritual

Aim

Motivation

Center

Style

Source of power

Participants

Layers

Symbols

Complexity

Arc of suspense

Old or new?

Conclusiveness

The "certain something"

The finishing touch

III Ritual Elements

Place

Time

The circle of protection

Deities and spirits

Statues

Symbols

Objects

Mandalas

Clothing

Talismans

Texts

Chants

Dances

Planned improvisation

Distribution of tasks

IV The Effectiveness of Rituals

V The Benefits of Rituals

VI The Development of Ritual Practice

VII Examples

Horus ritual

Skull bowl magic

War dance

Sweat lodges

Kabbalistic Cross

Lesser Pentagram Ritual

Extension of the Lesser Pentagram Ritual

Greater Pentagram Ritual

Planetary hexagrams

Talisman consecration

Serpent rings

Middle Pillar Exercise

Isis invocation

Integration of the shadow

Relationship mandala

Mysteries of Eleusis

Book List

I What is a Ritual?

In terms of form, a ritual is an action fixed in its course. This broad definition also includes putting one's children to bed in the evening, which always follows the same pattern to make it easier for both parents and children. The course of a federal election is also a ritual in this sense.

However, rituals can also be narrowed down by their subject matter. This book is about rituals used in magic – although there is a smooth transition from magic to meditation if you have a closer look at rituals. For example, both use certain traditional "power words" that have a magical effect: Spell-formulas in magic and mantras in meditation.

In terms of content, a magic ritual is an action that one performs in order to achieve a magical effect. Since magic is the effecting of a material change caused directly by consciousness, it is obviously not the ritual action itself that produces the magical effect. Consequently, the magical action, i.e. the ritual, is an aid to concentration and imagination for the magician.

This interpretation is also confirmed by the fact that rituals change over time and experienced magicians use less and less rituals and the words, gestures and actions needed for magic become less and less – the experienced magician does not need these aids so much. This does not mean that rituals are superfluous – with increasing experience one merely needs this tool less often.

The previous definition of a "magic ritual" also makes it possible to distinguish this form of ritual from similar "standardized actions". For example, the cult consists of a larger number of rituals, which all belong to certain contexts such as sowing, vision quest, wedding, burial, chieftain election, temple consecration, and so on.

Within a cult, it is possible that a magical effect is also attributed to the individual ritual, or that it is performed because of a hoped-for magical effect, but this is not the essential point. The aim of the cult is primarily the maintenance of the right order.

Another term that bears resemblance to "ritual" is "ceremony." It, too, refers to a traditional, regulated course of action. "Ceremony," however, has a more pompous sound than "ritual," and the association with magic is not as pronounced. Ceremonies belong more to cult – rituals more to magic. This is not a sharp definition, however, but rather a different emphasis.

Since a ritual is a "formally planned and usually often repeated action", the play in theatres would also be a ritual. The first plays in Greece actually originated from mystery plays, i.e. from rituals that depicted stories from the life of the gods. They were also expected to have a purifying effect on the spectators. They were intended as a stimulus for self-reflection and self-discovery. The play, however, has increasingly developed into a means of entertaining the spectators or instructing them. In more recent times, drama is increasingly intended to appeal to the feelings and intellect of the audience, but no longer primarily to their innermost being, their soul.

The definition of a ritual as a "formally fixed action" also fits just about all plays. If you trace back the history of games, you will eventually also come across magical rituals, although these have largely become cult.

For example, the dice games derive from the Germanic dice oracle, "chess" and "checkers" from the 8·8 field overview of the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching; the "goose game" and like games from the ancient Egyptian Senet, which represented the otherworld path; soccer, tennis, badminton, field hockey, cricket, rugby, etc., on the one hand from the Germanic ball game, and on the other hand from the Central American oracle game, by which human sacrifice was determined; etc.

- - -

The origin of rituals lies in the Neolithic period. At that time, agriculture and animal husbandry made it possible for 500 times more people to live together than before in the Paleolithic, when people had lived in groups of up to a maximum of 30 people, who lived by hunting and gathering. As a result, the previous Paleolithic principle of association was no longer sufficient to be able to have an overview – association requires getting to know each individual person.

Therefore the analogy was invented: the comparison. This led to more abstract terms that referred to a certain structure or property, such as "carpenter", "blacksmith", "sowing date", "harvest" and the like. Thus, analogy series emerged: "All blacksmiths are strong." In this way, complex archetypes developed, which had a certain quality and dynamics. These were the gods: the Great Mother, the Grain God, the Wilderness God, the Earth God, the Primordial Man or Ancestor, the Goddess of the World Tree, the God of the Ritual Potion, the God of the Straight Axis of the Potter's Wheel, and so on.

There was also the temporal analogy: the annual circle. In this circle the same activities and rituals or festivals were repeated every year. The maintenance of the order, which had proved to be the most effective so far, gave rise to the orientation to tradition. The totality of these deities, cycles and rituals resulted in the archetype of right behavior: mythology.

The observance of the right order was the central element of Neolithic behavior. The "rightness" that was thereby maintained is the central concept. It is found in all magical-mythological worldviews. It has a lot of different names, that all descibe this rightness and its effect on people.

Egyptians:

ma'at

("mother")

Sumerians:

me

("mother")

Teutons:

sidr

("ancient way")

Chinese:

tao

("way")

Tibetans:

tashi

("happy destiny")

Navahos:

ho'zhong

("beauty")

Romans:

ritus

("wheel")

Hittites:

aya

("wheel")

Indians (old):

rita

("wheel")

Persians:

asha

("wheel")

Indians (new):

dharma

("poetic metre")

Celts:

fhirinne

("truth")

Slavs:

prawda

("truth")

Greeks:

dikaios

("justice")

etc.

The different names show the quality of the rightness:

The "rules of the life force" are the "roots of truth".

They are the rightness to which behavior is related in the proven, time-honored way and which creates righteousness.

It is the right measure and also the verse measure that gives rise to beauty. It is perfectly round and balanced like a wheel.

It is the gift of the Mother Goddess that helps to go one's own way and find a happy destiny.

The word "ritual" shows that its origin lies in the idea of an action repeated at regular intervals at always the same point in the annual cycle: "ritual" derives from the Latin "rota" for "wheel".

- - -

At first sight, rituals differ very clearly in different cultures, religions and traditions. However, if we look at the content, structure and dynamics of rituals, we see that rituals follow an internal logic – more precisely, follow two forms of logic: on the one hand, the logic of the theme of the ritual (sowing, wedding, consecration, blessing, etc.) and, on the other hand, the logic of the action of the ritual (opening, connection with gods, transformation, ending).

For example, a blessing in all religions consists of the priest connecting with a deity and then allowing the power or consciousness of that deity to flow through himself to the blessed.

- - -

It can be useful to look at tried rituals to see what a ritual should look like in order to have an reliable magical effect.

II The Structure of a Ritual

In the construction of an effective, efficient ritual, several questions arise which one should answer oneself in approximately the order listed below.

II 1. The Aim

The first question to ask when constructing an effective ritual is the question of the aim. Without a clearly defined aim, there is no clear direction, nor is there a clear and great effect. Even if the aim is just curiosity about what can happen when performing a certain ritual, this aim should be clear.

II 2. The Motivation

When one performs a ritual, one intends to have a (magical) effect. So it is not a wrong investment of time and effort to sit down and take a good look at whether what you are aiming at as a goal is exactly what you really want.

Is this goal only something you want to achieve so that you can do and achieve something else?

Is the goal an extreme like addiction or asceticism, like power or powerlessness, like the desire for recognition or a hiden shame?

Is the goal an undistorted self-expression that originates directly from the heart chakra? Does the goal arise from the experience of abundance, power and self-love? Or does it arise from the experience of lack, violence, and self-doubt?

Is the goal in harmony with the other goals one has?

Is the goal in harmony with what one really wants?

Is the goal consistent with one's vision of one's own life?

The key question is:

Is the goal a "Yes, but …" desire or is it a "Yes, gladly!" desire? In the first case, one should fathom and reformulate the goal until it has become a "Yes, gladly!" desire. Contradictions in motivation will also show up in the effect of the ritual …

You don't have to ask yourself exactly these questions, but taking a little time to examine your own motivation might now and then have the advantage that you don't run off in the wrong direction with all your might.

You can also take a look at how great the need behind this motivation is – the more intense the motivation, the greater the effect of the ritual will probably be.

II 3. The Center

Once the goal has been formulated, reviewed, and possibly reformulated again, one can look at what the central process is in the ideas developed so far about the planned ritual. This central process will be a change, a transformation, a reinforcement – because if after the ritual everything should still be the same as before the ritual, you may as well leave the ritual undone (unless one wants to secure an existing condition by the ritual).

The goal is in the distance and in the future. What is the essential step that brings you to this goal?