6

The Holy Guardian Angel, Being in the Moment &
Healing Magick

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed!”—Albert Einstein 

Part I: The Higher Self

In Chapter 5, we talked about smashing up the ego-mind. So if we are something more than the ego-mind—just what is this “more”?

What’s left of “ourselves” when the ego-mind leaves us in peace for even a few moments, whether we are lost in meditation or some moment of pleasure?

What is our higher self?

“It is easy to understand God as long as you don’t try to explain him.”— Joseph Joubert

Most philosophical or religious systems have some sort of concept of a “higher self.” Sometimes it is simply referred to as God, Buddha, or Brahman. Other times people focus more on the link between man and God; this usually manifests as the glorification of the holy “son,” as in the cases of Krishna and Jesus.

Sometimes the higher self is explained as a more personal soul such as the Atman of Hinduism and Buddhism, or the Eudaemons94 of ancient Greece (comparable to the Roman genius). All these essentially mean the same thing: there is some “higher self” in us available to access for help in guiding our actions.

Some philosophic schools and teachers focus on the process of experiencing the higher self, such as meditating and attaining “inner silence.” Zen Buddhism also falls into this category since talking about God is useless in the Zen master’s eyes—only direct experience of divinity means anything. Hence, all “foolish” tasks given by Zen masters to their students are in hopes that through the cleverly absurd stunts, the student will have a complete break from their ego-mind long enough for enlightenment to shine in.

It doesn’t matter how you view the higher self, but I do believe it is helpful to have some sort of conception of a power greater than your conscious ego-mind.

In this book enlightenment will come gradually, which is as it should be, otherwise a student can too easily fall back into “sleepwalking” through their lives.

Trust that there is something better than your ego-mind for bringing you joy. Surrender to life as it is. Give up to what is present all around you.

The “Holy Guardian Angel”

“It should never be forgotten for a single moment that the central and essential work of the Magician is the attainment of the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.”—Aleister Crowley95

The Holy Guardian Angel, commonly abbreviated to HGA, is used in magickal literature to designate the “higher self” or “True Self.”

Don’t get hung up on any of these terms. You don’t have to believe in “guardian angels.”

Crowley himself thought the phrase “Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel” was so ridiculous that anyone of intelligence would be unable to mistake the term for the actual experience.

Do I have to believe in God for magick to work?

God means a lot of things to a lot of people. Whatever your conception of God, or lack thereof, is fine. Magick wouldn’t be very magickal if you had to believe a certain way for it to work.

The underlying principles of magick are for everyone regardless of whether they believe in an ultimate Creator, Darwinian evolution, or both.

Do I have to believe in a higher self for magick to work?

A belief in something higher than your conscious mind certainly makes magick and everything else in life a lot easier and more enjoyable.

Even if you only can go so far as to say, “My subconscious has some powers and abilities that I don’t have access to directly, but maybe I can access through magick,” is good enough for using this book.

If you are completely against God or anything higher than your ego, but are still willing to practice the exercises in this book with an open mind “to see what happens”—well, that is also good enough!

So, no, you don’t need to believe in anything specific at all for the magick in this book to work. Practice and study with sincerity and you will have results.

The Perfect State of Being

The perfect state of being is often known as “being in the moment.” It is also known as “being one with the Tao” or “going with the flow.” It is when everything is evolving the way you want, yet you don’t seem to be doing anything at all. It’s not a self-indulgent state, and yet neither is it ascetic. The perfect state of being is balanced, pleasant, and doesn’t require too much upkeep.

To have enlightenment is to have intense presence of being, i.e., to be fully absorbed in what is happening right now. This occurs when you aren’t inside your head, either thinking about the past or worrying about the future. There is only one magickal state: the present moment. That is where all action takes place. The past and future do not actually exist. They are fantasies inside the mind. Only the ever-evolving present moment is real.

Enlightenment

The Buddha described enlightenment as “freedom from suffering.”

Suffering is caused by an intense desire for our life to be something other than what it is. To break through the cycle of suffering, you must learn acceptance of what is before you in every moment.

Either you find enlightenment in everything you do, or you don’t find it at all.

Transcend Time

“We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and a mystery.”—H. G. Wells

Enlightenment is being right here, right now—centered, aware, and enjoying it.

Our default state is one of blissful awe and contentment.

What “screws up” our perfect state of being is going into our heads and thinking—something most people do too much of. (Yes, even people who seem to never think at all.)

The poorest choices are those made when we get trapped within our “inner dialogue” loops. It is better to make a wrong choice than to over-think, over-analyze, and end up doing nothing.

Be present. Right here. Now. Make your decisions as they arise, not before or after, and you will be neurosis-free.

If you must plan for something, do the planning, and then let it go. In the moment is where you react the fastest and make the best decisions. In the moment is where you will enjoy yourself and get the most out of life.

Your higher-self/intuition/instinct/subconscious will give you the perfect answer in the exact moment you need to know.

Non-resistance

To struggle against the ego-mind, and to struggle against the way things are right now is to add even more tension to the trap of the ego-mind. Non-resistance is the solution to this riddle.

Allow things to be as they are. Accept what is before you. Allow all thoughts and emotions to flow through you.

What if my life is too big of a mess to let go and enjoy it?

We all want to improve our lives, but the best way to do that is to accept it the way it is already. Laugh madly at the chaos that is your life, for indeed all of our lives are chaos. Everything is impermanent, from your deepest joys to your most pitiful sorrows. All experiences pass like a breeze, but leave a mark upon your soul. Having an experience, any experience, is all that matters to the soul. All moments, anywhere, anytime, are unique. All are fleeting.

There is no ideal, no perfection to be reached other than that which you imagine for yourself. Go make a mess of life and learn to enjoy the resulting sights, scents, textures, and smells. This is the ever-evolving tapestry of your life. There is nothing else.

The Pure Fool State

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”—Rumi96

There is another way of viewing the liberated state of consciousness called enlightenment. You can liken it to the Fool from the tarot.

Here enlightenment has been raised to its highest state. The Fool’s madness is wisdom, and his folly is pure ecstasy. The Fool represents the egoless state.

All that we worry and fret over: our cars, our dates, our nails, our taxes, are but fleeting shadows across our life. Where is the cause for concern to the Fool? Every moment is equally precious, equally blissful. The Fool laughs last and laughs best.

Our physical life lasts no longer than the flutter of an eyelash upon the face of eternity. The Universe will go on without you, without me, without the whole planet. The Fool knows this to be a blessing.

The Fool has humility for he sees his own impermanence clearly.

The Fool is thankful for all the sights, sounds, tastes, and textures presented to him in every moment of his life.

The Fool is happy because he loves all of life. He doesn’t just love certain parts of it, he loves everything, knowing that all of it is fleeting, and that none of it can harm his true essence.

Strive to be also like the Fool. Be humble, be thankful, and most of all be joyous!

Do I need perfect silence?

“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open? Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. Live in silence.”—Rumi

“Stopping your internal dialogue” and “inner silence” are common terms and phrases in yoga, meditation, and magick. They are indeed worthy goals. However, there can be too much pressure put on new students to reach pure silence.

You don’t need to perfectly silence your ego-mind. Practicing the meditations in this book will give a sense of quietude and peace, but your inner dialogue never has to shut off completely.

You don’t have to do anything “perfectly” to be a success in magick or in life. To the Fool, every mistake is just one more chance to do something differently or to create something new. Use your imagination every time something “goes wrong” and the word “mistake” can vanish from your vocabulary.

If the Pure Fool state of pure being
is so great, why do we need an ego-mind at all?

Maybe we don’t anymore.

At some point in our evolution, humans felt the need to do certain things to distinguish ourselves from the animals. Manners, etiquette, ritual, art, etc., are all developed out of a need to differentiate ourselves from the animal world. Maybe our ego-mind was developed as a way of keeping our newly developed “self-awareness” from dying out, and reverting back to more beast than man.

Maybe we will evolve past our current ego-mind into something less dysfunctional. I certainly would like to attain that state. Until then it’s good enough to be the Fool whenever the spirit takes you.

Is my True Self in Tiphareth or in Kether?

Technically, Kether is our True Self in ineffable form, but it is in Tiphareth where we experience the True Self in a more tangible way. Kether meets us halfway in Tiphareth, as it were.

Tiphareth is almost too bright to gaze upon, so bright is it with the miracle of beauty. Kether is even more mind-blowing.

You may consider Tiphareth and Kether as two different levels of enlightenment, i.e., experiences of your higher self. In Kether our identity is destroyed completely, whereas in Tiphareth there is a simultaneous balance between oneness and a separate sense of identity.

On Meaning

Nothing has any intrinsic meaning. Meaning is applied by each and every one of us subjectively. When someone sees a “black cat,” for example, we all may be able to agree it’s a black cat—but beyond the term “black cat” it is not the same black cat to everyone. Your personality, your previous experiences with other cats, and black cats in particular, will color your internal image of what a black cat is.

Since there is no objective reality, we have incredible freedom in defining what happens to us in life. What any incident means, and what we do with it is entirely open for us to decide.

Have you ever met a person who is always complaining, who always sees the worst in any situation? This type of person is coloring everything that happens to them with pain and discomfort, so they end up creating more of the same. The opposite is true for an optimist. No matter what chaos or hardship besets them, they are constantly “looking at the bright side” or finding a “silver lining” in dark clouds.

Don’t be a slave to meaning and intentions implanted in you by others. Learn to dig deep, find your own True Self and your own personal meaning of life. Then you will be able to find joy and bliss in almost any life situation.

Part II: Magickal Concepts Related to Tiphareth

The Hexagram

The Hexagram is the symbol of the Macrocosm, i.e. God, the Heavens, what is outside us, etc. This hexagram is also the symbol of Tiphareth.

Both types of hexagram are appropriate for any magickal use requiring Tiphareth energy, as well as being used to invoke any of the seven planetary powers (see Chapter 10 for a ritual on how to do that):

The 5 and the 6

In the last chapter we covered the pentagram, which symbolizes man, a.k.a. the microcosm. The hexagram, as just mentioned, symbolizes God, also known as the macrocosm.

Finally, we come to the heart of all magick—the union of man and God.

God, spiritual and intangible, benefits through this union by having carnal knowledge of the transitory material world. We, as humankind, benefit from God by experiencing a taste of true eternity, which we have forgotten under the weight of the ego-mind.

The harmonious juncture of the microcosm and macrocosm is the experience of the higher self, or in technical verbiage, “Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.”

There are many ways to visualize this marriage of the macrocosm and the microcosm, including either a pentagram within a hexagram, symbolizing man within the universe, or a hexagram within a pentagram, which symbolizes God within man.

Crowley’s formula for representing this union of the 5 and the 6 is his eleven letter word: “ABRAHADABRA,” which contains six consonants and five vowels. Crowley restored the word Abrahadabra from the more famous spelling “Abracadabra,”97 which was used in ancient amulets to ward off disease.

Hexagram inside Pentagram, and Pentagram within Hexagram

Hexagram inside Pentagram, and Pentagram within Hexagram

Your Magickal Name

Many, if not most, magicians take on a magickal name or “motto” to express where they are upon their spiritual path.

Aleister Crowley’s original magickal name was the motto, Perdurabo, which means “I will endure unto the end.” He eventually went on to take several other mottos, including V.V.V.V.V.98 and To Mega Therion.99

My magickal name is “Pamphage,” which means “voracious and all-consuming.”

Your magickal name can be from literature or from your own imagination. It can be in Latin, Greek, Persian, or anything else you see fit.

The purpose of a magickal name is twofold. First, it cuts you off from your old ego-mind ties to your given-name. Second, it gives you an ideal to live up to.

Choose your name wisely, but don’t worry if it’s perfect. It will most likely change as you evolve along your path.

Magickal Orders

The subject of magickal orders, i.e., hierarchical occult organizations, could be a book in itself. As far as we are concerned, the most common orders that come up regularly in high magick are the Golden Dawn, the A A (generally considered an acronym for Argentium Astrum100), and the Ordo Templi Orientis (abbreviated as O.T.O.101).

Nowadays, there are so many different lodges of the Golden Dawn it’s impossible and unnecessary to keep track of them. Their most important work was published years ago by Israel Regardie in The Golden Dawn and that book has influenced most other books on high magick, including this one.

The A A is the magickal order that Crowley founded and continues in a similar fashion as the Golden Dawn but has a Thelemic bent; that is to say its rituals are usually based around The Book of the Law.

The O.T.O. publishes a great deal of Crowley’s work, and he was also the head of the order at one point, so the O.T.O. name will come up quite a bit in Crowley’s writing, but other than that they don’t really concern us here.

Both the A A and the Golden Dawn follow a specific grade structure commonly used by high magicians. In the following list, the number before the equal sign is the number of the grade level; the number following the equal sign is the corresponding Sephirah:

First Order (“Golden Dawn”)

• Neophyte 0°=0
• Zelator 1°=10
• Theoricus 2°=9
• Practicus 3°=8
• Philosophus 4°=7

Second Order (“Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis”)

• Adeptus Minor 5°=6
• Adeptus Major 6°=5
• Adeptus Exemptus 7°=4

Third Order (“Secret Chiefs”)

• Magister Templi 8°=3
• Magus 9°=2
• Ipsissimus 10°=1

So for example 1°=10 simply means the first grade is the 10th Sephirah. The final grade of 10 belongs to Kether, which is the 1st Sephirah. The only exception to this is the Neophyte grade (0°=0 ), which is the “prequel” introductory grade.

Does the grade system of the Golden Dawn
(and traditional Thelema) really matter?

At best, the grades serve as a helpful guideline for teachers and students. At their worst, they glorify results and only further feed the ego’s insatiable hunger for illusory attainments. The original fall of the Golden Dawn was due to egos, infighting, and arguments over who claimed to have the highest grade (i.e., who was in contact with the “Secret Chiefs.”)

I present them here as they come up often in magickal literature and they are useful in understanding the Sephiroth since each grade has specific Golden Dawn and Thelemic rituals associated with them. However, please understand that true magickal growth is far more organic, and less predictable, than this convenient structure suggests.

The Magickal Oath

Magickal oaths (or vows) are meant to give structure upon which a joyous and magickal life may grow. They are meant to strengthen our resolve and help keep us healthy during times of weakness.

In Golden Dawn and the A A , there are three especially important oaths. The Oath of Neophyte (10°=0 ), the Oath of the Adeptus Minor (5°=6 ), and the Oath of the Abyss (which leads to 8°=3 ). These oaths are meant to initiate. That is to say, they are meant to move your magickal consciousness to the next level.

All three oaths are similar in content and structure, though the student would receive these vows at very different stages in their career. The terminology in each oath changes slightly, as at each level the student is meant to assume more responsibility for their actions. The Oath of the Neophyte is given when one starts with the Golden Dawn or the A A . The Oath of the Adeptus Minor is given when a student has spent at least a year of study and practice working with the lower Sephiroth, and has an inkling of what his or her HGA is. The Oath of the Abyss is one of the highest and most important oaths a magician can make. It is only to be taken with utmost solemnity as it will push one “into the Abyss,” after which one becomes a Magister Templi.102

Magickal oaths increase your focus, help you to surrender to your higher self, and generally improve your magick across the board. If you feel you are ready, you may take the following oath.

Oath of Self-Dedication

I, [your name103], being of sound mind and body, and having resolved on this day [date] to undertake the Great Work, hereby solemnly swear:

I. To fulfill my True Will.

II. To understand all things.

III. To love all things.

IV. To do all things and endure all things necessary to the discovery of my True Will.

V. To attain the knowledge and conversation of my Holy Guardian Angel.

VI. To work without lust of result.

VII. To work in truth.

VIII. To rely only upon my True Self.

IX. To dedicate my every thought, word, and deed to the discovery of my True Will.

May the supreme and invisible Order crown the work, lend me of its wisdom to complete the work, and enable me to understand and enjoy the work!

Witness my hand,

[sign your name]

What’s so dangerous about magickal vows?

There is nothing dangerous about magickal oaths except to your ego-mind. Magickal vows taken in solemnity, whether alone or in a group, are unbreakable and will eventually lead you to enlightenment. If you take an oath and deliberately try to break or run from it, you may cause yourself some discomfort, but it’s only the pain of leaving your one true path.

What’s the “Great Work?”

It means different things in different contexts, but in this case it simply means building a connection with your higher self.

The Great Work also refers to the alchemists’ goal of finding the “Philosopher’s Stone.” This was ostensibly how to turn any metal into gold, but is really about finding joy in any situation.

The Great Work is the never ending process of attaining enlightenment.

Do I belong to a magickal order after taking this Oath?

You won’t belong to any specific magickal group (such as the Golden Dawn or the O.T.O.) unless you are actually initiated with them; however, you will be a part of the real and invisible magical order that guides the spiritual evolution of humanity.104 Crowley called this the A A , but even this spiritual order has gotten bogged down in material plane concerns. So while I believe one can self-initiate into the A A all the way up to Ipsissimus, you are better off just considering yourself as on your own and leaving the ego and politics behind.

Later you can choose to join whichever magickal orders you like, start your own magickal group, or simply choose to be the lone wolf alpha for your entire magickal career.

Do I need a magickal order?

Most magickal secrets have been published and republished. You certainly don’t need a magickal order unless you wish to work with an established group of likeminded individuals (and pay monthly or yearly dues).

Oaths for Discipline and Training of the Will

There are other oaths or vows you may wish to undertake for your personal advancement and to build up your discipline and self-control. These vows are designed to strengthen your Will and perseverance.

Here are a few tips for making vows that work:

1. Decide what it is you are going to do or abstain from.

2. Set a time limit. Don’t make it too long until you know you can handle it.

3. Have a “punishment” for when you slip up. Don’t make the punishment too painful at first. It should be something uncomfortable or disagreeable, but not excessively so, such as burning a dollar bill, twenty minutes of exercise, or giving up sweets for a week. The reason for this is that everyone slips up from time to time, and that’s fine so long as you are willing to perform the punishment agreed upon in your vow.

For example, let’s say you take a vow of silence for seven days. You write out a vow in your magickal journal:

“I, [motto] do hereby swear to not speak a word to
anyone for seven days. Every time I fail in this, I will
make one pen mark upon my arm.”

Sign it and you are good to go.

Now every time you accidentally talk, you just make a pen mark on your arm to keep track of it (and write it in your journal, too, so at the end of the week you can see how many slips you had.)

The reason this works is that after we make a mistake, our first impulse is to toss out the entire vow. But with this you won’t, because our second impulse is usually guilt that we didn’t keep to our vow. When you feel that guilt, just do your built-in punishment and know that your vow is still intact. Your vow has not been weakened by the mistake, but strengthened.

Any vow of this sort will help increase your Will, not to mention that with practice this type of vow can be used for all sorts of useful things, including quitting bad habits, or forcing ourselves into new and better routines. You need not take a vow of silence. You could sign a vow to talk to ten new people a day if you are shy, or a vow of abstinence to prepare for a really big sex magick ritual. The goals are limitless.

The Lamen

Each magician usually constructs his or her own lamen at some point, which symbolizes the magician’s modus operandi. The lamen is an elaborate symbol meant to be worn upon the breast of the magician. It is his or her formula, that is to say his or her “method of attack.” It is his or her way of reacting to circumstances.

There is no right or wrong way to construct a lamen as it is meant to be an expression of your own magickal personality.

An example of two lamens. The one on the left is the one I used for
many years. The one on the right105 is by one of Crowley’s most famous
students, Frater Achad, also known as Parzifal.

An example of two lamens. The one on the left is the one I used for
many years. The one on the right105 is by one of Crowley’s most famous
students, Frater Achad, also known as Parzifal.

The Rose Cross

The Rose Cross (or Rosy Cross) is a more generalized type of lamen symbolizing the “Great Work.” The Great Work in this sense is not only the harmonizing of man and God (man is the cross, and the circle is God), but it’s the rectification of the Wand and the Cup, the male and the female, the severe and the merciful. Indeed, any pair of opposites harmonized can be appropriately said to be represented by the Rose Cross.

You will see it in a variety of forms:

The one on the left is a simplified version of the rose and cross.

Don’t be intimidated by the fancy-pants Golden Dawn version (center). It’s still the same symbolism of the other two, but just obsessively subdivided as is typical of the Golden Dawn. The one on the right is the familiar Egyptian Ankh, symbol of life.

The Rose Cross comes up in magick on a frequent basis, so while you don’t have to completely understand its multilayered symbolism right now, do be aware that the Rose Cross is a symbol of magickal attainment. The cross is meant to symbolize our suffering and toil upon the path of magick. The rose symbolizes the joy and pleasure that blooms within our heart and within our lives by the successful pursuit of magick.

Do What Thou Wilt

For misunderstood philosophies, Crowley’s “Do what thou wilt” must rank right up there with Ayn Rand’s “Virtue of Selfishness.”

A more complete quote Crowley used was, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law; Love is the law, love under will.”106

This is symbolic language describing the Rose Cross. Will is the cross, and love is the rose.

So far from being a call to hedonism or “doing whatever you want,” Crowley’s oft quoted “Do what thou wilt” is actually a call to responsibility. Our responsibility is to connect with our higher self and in the process experience as much genuine joy as possible.

Do I need to make a lamen or a Rose Cross?

Eventually, you may make one or both, but they are not necessary for the rituals in this book.

Since it is a symbol of aspiring to your higher self, the Rose Cross is appropriate for you to wear in all magickal workings. You may use any version as you see fit, including an Ankh.

Your lamen design, however, is something that may take months or years of magickal study to create since it is meant to be a precise, symbolic representation of your True Will.

What about tattoos?

This is a matter of personal choice, obviously. The only thing I’ll say is that any magickal symbolism you use (including sigils of spirits, demons, etc.) must still be charged magickally using a ritual. Slapping a magickal symbol on your body does not automatically make it potent. However, properly used tattoos can be powerful in the same way lamens are powerful. Any magician should think through his or her tattoos more thoroughly than a layperson.

Part III: Healing Magick

The energy produced by our chakras is not of the material plane. It is too fine and ethereal a substance to be detected by Western man’s machines, anymore than a machine can detect “enlightenment.” Hindu medicine, however, has been aware of these chakras and “magickal” energies for thousands of years.

What are chakras?

The chakras are energy centers running up and down the center of our bodies. The word itself comes from the Sanskrit “wheel” or “turning.”

The chakras can be “worked.” This means that through breath control and visualization they can become more enlivened with magickal energy.

What is magickal energy?

Magickal energy is any type of energy used for a specific, intended purpose. This includes not only energy raised through our chakras, but also emotional energy, such as being excited, anxious, or angry so long as it is used in a fashion congruent with our intent.

How do I raise magickal energy?

There are endless ways to raise a variety of magickal energies, and you already work with magickal energy when you perform the Equilibrating Ritual of the Pentagram.

Another powerful method of stirring up magickal energy, specifically that of your chakras, is called the Middle Pillar Ritual. With it you will be able to raise as much magickal energy as you need and understand how to channel it for any purpose. The Middle Pillar Ritual also has the pleasant side effect of making us healthy and beautiful.

Middle Pillar Ritual

The goal of the Middle Pillar Ritual is to open up your major energy centers (chakras), and then raise and circulate as much of that energy as possible.

The chakras run up and down the middle pillar of the Tree of Life, and relate to specific points on the body:

Chakra	Location on Body	Location on Tree of Life	Color	Name to Chant
Sahasrâra	Top of head	Kether	Violet or Bright White	Eh-heh-yeh
Ajna	“Third eye”	Daleth/Gimel	Indigo	None
Vishuddha	Throat	Daath	Blue	YHVH El-Oh-Heem
Anahata	Chest	Tiphareth	Green, Yellow, or Gold	YHVH El-oh-ah V’Dah’Aht
Manipûra	Gut (navel)	Peh/Samech	Yellow or Red	None
Svadisthâna	Groin	Yesod	Orange or Red	Shaddai El Chai
Mûlâdhara	Base of Spine/Feet	Malkuth	Red or Black	Adonai Ha-Aretz

I downplay the visualization of the traditional colors. This is not to say visualizing each sphere as a specific color isn’t useful, but only that it can be distracting from sensing the actual energy.

Not everyone visualizes, feels, or senses the chakras in exactly the same way. Some people will see and feel the chakras, while others will get only the vaguest sense of their presence. For success, just assume the chakras are there while you repeat the chants. Your experience of each energy center will grow with time.

Please note that there are many types of yoga and many ways of working with the chakras. The Golden Dawn skipped two common chakras for example (Ajna and Manipûra), and there are other chakras used in Tantra that we aren’t specifically using here (such as the Bindu chakra on the back of the head.) You may add or remove chakras as you actually feel or sense them, but all you need for practical magick are the five given in the following ritual.

Part I: Awaken the Chakras

Step 1

Stand straight. You may use your hands to touch where each chakra should be if that helps your visualizations.

Visualize a brilliant source of energy glowing just at the top of your head (or just above your head). It can be quite large, spreading out over your face and neck, as high above your head as you feel comfortable.

Chant: “Eh-Heh-Yeh.”

Continue chanting at least 3–5 times, but continue as long as you like, until you are satisfied that the chakra feels like it has been awakened at least a little bit.

Eh-Heh-Yeh is a God name that means “I am.” The Hindus call this chakra the Sahasrâra, known as the “thousand-petaled lotus.”

Step 2

Imagine the stream of white light continuing from the Sahasrâra down to your throat chakra known as Vishuddha.

Chant: “YHVH107 Elohim.”

YHVH Elohim means “The Lord God.”

In Tantra, Vishuddha is known as the “poison and nectar” chakra, which is closely related to the Bindu chakra, a chakra on the back of the head said to produce “Bindu fluid,” which turns into either the nectar of immortality or the poison of death.

Continue chanting until you are satisfied with the “openness” of this chakra.

Step 3

Imagine the white stream of light continuing from Vishuddha, down to your chest and heart area, known as the Anahata chakra. This is a big, powerful chakra. Imagine it very large, glowing out even past your shoulders.

Chant: “YHVH El-oh-ah V’dah’aht.”

YHVH El-oh-ah V’dah’aht, means “Lord God of Knowledge.”  Anahata means “unhurt, unstruck, and unbeaten.”

Step 4

The white light continues down to your groin area.

Chant repeatedly until satisfied: “Shaddai El Chai.”

Shaddai El Chai means “Almighty Living God,” and the Svadisthâna chakra is known as “one’s own abode.”

Step 5

The white line of light continues down between your legs to the soles of your feet and beyond.

Chant repeatedly, “Adonai Ha-Aretz.”

Imagine this chakra at your feet, penetrating even into the ground below you.

Adonai ha-Aretz translates as “Lord of Earth.” Mûlâdhara means “root place.”

You may go back and repeat the chant for any chakras you wish. When you feel each chakra is as good as it’s going to get, then go to the next step.

Part II: Circulate the Light

Step 1

Imagine your Sahasrâra chakra giving birth to a ball of white light. You will control this “imaginary” ball of light with your breathing. You may use your hands and arms to help orchestrate the energy.

Step 2

Take a breath. As you slowly exhale, imagine the ball of light traveling from above your head down the front of you in a circular fashion to end at your feet. Then breathe in, as the ball of light travels behind you in a circular fashion to end once again above your head.

Your breaths do not have to be complete inhalations/exhalations for this. In fact, light, rhythmic breathing is all that is needed to control the very subtle light-field you have created with your imagination. Use whatever feels comfortable.

The hardest part about this exercise is not visualizations, but simply the concentration. This is not a difficult task by any means, but just to stay focused on the ball of light for very long can be a challenge to newcomers. So don’t go too fast. Stay at Step 2 until you actually enjoy doing it and it’s very easy and natural. There is no rush to learn any of these rituals. Take your time.

Step 3

Repeat Step 2, but in reverse, i.e., imagine a ball of light traveling behind you from above your head to below your feet with every exhalation, and up in front of you towards your head with every inhalation. It doesn’t matter so much if you transpose inhalations for exhalations either. The key is rhythm and concentration.

Step 4

Breathe in and visualize the ball of light traveling down your right side in a circle, from above your head to down below your feet. When you inhale, the ball continues up your left side to above your head. Do this rhythmically at your own tempo.

Step 5

The same as Step 4, but reverse the direction. Once this is fun and easy you can move on.

Step 6

Experiment with other orbits. Do “diagonal” directions, for example.

You can even do “hula-hoop” style, i.e., around your belly or hips. Also try sending the light out very far from you, even past the ends of your room. When you get more comfortable you can imagine the light spinning all around the Earth and back.

Stay at this step until you can do it for several minutes and suffer no mental fatigue, and then go on to the next section.

Part III: The Fountain of Light

Step 1

Start by imagining a huge ball of light at your feet. As you inhale, bring the light from your feet directly up the center of your body into your Sahasrâra chakra above your head.

Step 2

When light reaches your Sahasrâra chakra, exhale. Imagine the light spraying out from your head like a fountain, cascading down and around your body back to the ground.

Step 3

Inhale again, pulling the light that has scattered into the ground back into your feet, where once again it travels to the top of your head.

Step 4

Exhale as the light explodes over the top of your head once again, cascading down around you.

Continue this process for as many cycles as you like, at least 5-10 times, or as much as you can handle. Many of these exercises are so powerful that you might feel “high” or light-headed after doing them.

Part IV: Channel the Light

Once you’ve nearly climaxed with the previous section, it is time to do something with all that energy.

If you are performing a healing ritual for yourself or others, you would channel the energy directly into the area of the body that needs healing the most.

If you are charging a talisman (for any purpose), you send the light into the material basis.108

If you are doing this ritual as a stand-alone exercise, you will practice by channeling the energy back into yourself for general health and beauty:

1. Take a full, deep breath, focusing especially on your Anahata (heart) chakra.

2. As you slowly exhale, imagine the energy flowing from your chest, down your arms, and into your hands.

3. Touch your hands to your face (or nearly so), rubbing them back over the top of your head. Imagine the white, healing energy washing over you like a shower or waterfall.

4. Rub your hands sensually over your arms and chest, and over your legs and feet, as you imagine the refreshing energy streaming through your body, both inside and out.

5. When you’ve exhausted your exhalation, stop, stand straight, and make the Sign of Silence. You are done.

The importance of this ritual is to open your major chakras and to raise as much energy as possible. The ritual given here strikes a good balance for chakra work, but if you are advanced in some other form of yoga or Tantra, you can substitute your own chakra-working for the Middle Pillar Ritual.

Healing Ritual

This ritual will assist in creating an optimum immune system, which can go a long way to healing nearly almost any ailment. Working with chakras helps you become physically fit, but that is almost secondary to the results you will have unclogging personal and emotional issues on the other planes.

For a full healing ritual, simply:

1. Perform the Equilibrating Ritual of the Pentagram.

2. Carefully perform the Middle Pillar Ritual and end by channeling the energy raised into the affected part of the body of whoever needs healing (including yourself), or simply send it from head to toe to cover the patient in healing light.

3. Perform the Equilibrating Ritual of the Pentagram again. This is very important when healing others. It will protect you from accidentally taking over any of the ill health of your patient.

Exercise 6: Practice the Middle Pillar Ritual

Practice the Middle Pillar Ritual every day for at least three months. This will make sure your chakras are completely open and that you know how to raise and channel large amounts of magickal energy.

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94 . “Good demons” etymologically.

95 . From Magick Without Tears.

96 . Jalal ad-Din Rumi, Persian poet and mystic, 1207-1273.

97 . The first known mention was in the 2nd century AD in a poem called De Medicina Praecepta by Serenus Sammonicus, physician to the Roman emperor Caracalla.

98 . Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici ( “While still living, I have conquered the universe by dint of truth”).

99 . The Great Beast.

100 . “Silver Star.”

101 . “Order of Oriental Templars.”

102 . Master of the Temple.

103 . You may use your magickal name, but there can be a real advantage to using your given name and your usual signature. You may use both, such as “I, Shawn Scanlon (also known as Pamphage), being of sound mind … ”

104 . The existence of such a thing can hardly be proven, but there is a definite “Great White Brotherhood” archetype that exists in the subconscious of everyone.

105 . Originally published in The Equinox III,1.

105 . Originally published in The Equinox III,1.

106 . Made of two phrases from The Book of the Law.

107 . When you see “YHVH” you pronounce each letter as in the Equilibrating Ritual of the Pentagram: “Yod-Heh-Vah-Heh.”

108 . See the Tree of Life ritual in Chapter 10 for more details on this.