Ritual And The Modern Magician - Part One

Ritual and the modern magician - Part One

Let’s take a look at magick ritual from the perspective of the modern magician. Much of the material written on the subject is extremely prosaic and written for a bygone era. We, as magicians do not need to pay inordinate homage to the past. Instead, we must ruthlessly take what we want from the works and integrate into an understandable system for our time. For that reason, I urge you to avoid the pitfall of overly admiring work that doesn’t seem to make sense to you, but seems somehow smart nonetheless. Don’t forget, charlatans in magick can also be good writers, and will tend to put a ton of seemingly legitimate verbiage to work in an effort to impress the uninitiated. Remember a common warning from recent culture: if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

To read much of the extant literature, and this includes the venerated works of Crowley, you’d get the idea that practing magick is something akin to studying rocket science. It need not be so. Indeed, I think it fair to say that the only requirements to successfully perform Planetary Magick is a genuine desire to evolve. This means you can learn as you go, and improve with practice. This, to me, is evolution, and one can’t fail in improving their skills by getting their hands dirty. So I suggest reading enough books to get a basic understanding, but don’t bog down in pursuit of the one “secret” which will grant you incredible superpowers. Any type of power comes only through constant application.

Now, let me be clear that I’m not maligning any particular work in the Western Esoteric Tradition. Indeed, there are many rituals that are clearly works of Art. But my point is simple: if the work resonates with you, use it. If not, discard it in favor of the work of your own genius. All written rituals are the work of the magician who wrote them, and are personal and effective for him. What would make you think that your personal ritual won’t be perfect for you? It will be. Just stick to the basics and you can’t go wrong.

You don’t need to memorize anything to begin your work. Just drawing the sigils will activate latent powers, and continously contacting the planets will improve your personal power. Don’t bog down with the “lust for results”, instead focus on the continous project. It’s no different than someone trying to lose 100 pounds. It will take them time to drop the weight, based on new habits they develop, and there’s no point in fretting about how much work is left to be done. Time will pass, and the results will follow.

The concepts of using ritual still apply, but I have to admit that what I’m proposing is a bit different than most of what you’ll find in current books. My emphasis is on simplicity and obtaining practial results in the most efficient way possible. If I can save anyone the frustration of wasted time, it will help them advance more rapidly, and that’s bound to make them more excited about their work. Love for your work will endure, whereas passion is often fleeting.

Planetary magick runs like a stream through much of the western tradition. But what’s surprising to me is that it hasn’t ever been presented as a complete whole. To understate the sublimity of this supreme system is outrageous, especially when you consider the material is often lumped into books right next to the Enochian magic, Tarot meanings, and a cookbook of “spell recipes.” This does not do the Hidden Universe justice, and is a slight that hopefully will be redressed as more people discover the true nature of the planets.

Continued: Ritual and the Modern Magician - Part Two