Magical Theory by: Adalbert Waffling

The Principles of Rituals

There is a single main definition of the object of all magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel; See the "Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage"; andLiber 418, 8th Aethyr, Liber Samekh; see Appendix 3.or, in the language of Mysticism, Union with God. The difference between these operations is more of theoreticalthan of practical importance.All other magical Rituals are particular cases of this general principle, and the only excuse for doing them is that it sometimes occurs that one particular portion of the microcosm is so weak that its imperfection of impurity would vitiate the Macrocosm of which it is the image, Eidolon, or Reflexion. For example, God is above sex; and therefore neither man nor woman as such can be said fully to understand, much less to represent, God. It is therefore incumbent on the male magician to cultivate those female virtues in which he is deficient, and this task he must of course accomplish without in any way impairing his virility. It will then be lawful for a magician to invoke Isis, and identify himself with her; if he fail to do this, his apprehension of the Universe when he attains Samadhi will lack the conception of maternity. The result will be a metaphysical and --- by corollary --- ethical limitation in the Religion which he founds. Judaism and Islam are striking example of this failure. To take another example, the ascetic life which devotion to magick so ofteninvolves argues a poverty of nature, a narrowness, a lack of generosity. Natureis infinitely prodigal --- not one in a million seeds ever comes to fruition.Whoso fails to recognise this, let him invoke Jupiter. There are much deeper considerations in which it appears that"Everything that is, is right".

They are set forth elsewhere; we can only summarisethem here by saying that the survival of the fittest is their upshot.The danger of ceremonial magick --- the sublest and deepest danger --- is this: that the magician will naturally tend to invoke that partial being which most strongly appeals to him, so that his natural excess in that direction will be still further exaggerated. Let him, before beginning his Work, endeavour to map out his own being, and arrange his invocations in such a way as to redress the balance. The ideal method of doing this is given in Liber 913 (EquinoxVII). See also Liber CXI Aleph.This, of course, should have been done in a preliminary fashion during the preparation of the weapons and furniture of the Temple. To consider in a more particular manner this question of the Nature of Ritual,we may suppose that he finds himself lacking in that perception of the valueof Life and Death, alike of individuals and of races, which is characteristicof Nature. He has perhaps a tendency to perceive the "first noble truth" utteredby Buddha, that Everything is sorrow. Nature, it seems, is a tragedy. He hasperhaps even experienced the great trance called Sorrow. He should then considerwhether there is not some Deity who expresses this Cycle, and yet whose natureis joy. He will find what he requires in Dionysus. There are three main methods of invoking any Deity. The "First Method" consists of devotion to that Deity, and, being mainly mysticalin character, need not be dealt with in this place, especially as a perfectinstruction exists in Liber 175 ("See" Appendix). The "Second method"is the straight forward ceremonial invocation. It is themethod which was usually employed in the Middle Ages. Its advantage is its directness,its disadvantage its crudity. The "Goetia" gives clear instruction in this method,and so do many other rituals, white and black. We shall presently devote somespace to a clear exposition of this Art. In the case of Bacchus, however, we may roughly outline the procedure. Wefind that the symbolism of Tiphareth expresses the nature of Bacchus.

It is then necessary to construct a Ritual of Tiphareth. Let us open the Book 777;we shall find in line 6 of each column the various parts of our required apparatus.Having ordered everything duly, we shall exalt the mind by repeated prayersor conjurations to the highest conception of the God, until, in one sense oranother of the word, He appears to us and floods our consciousness with thelight of His divinity. The "Third Method is the Dramatic," perhaps the most attractive of all; certainlyit is so to the artist's temperament, for it appeals to his imagination throughhis aesthetic sense. Its disadvantage lies principally in the difficulty of its performance bya single person. But it has the sanction of the highest antiquity, and is probablythe most useful for the foundation of a religion. It is the method of CatholicChristianity, and consists in the dramatization of the legend of the God.