Astral Projection Exercises

Astral Projection and Dreams...

When we dream, we have out-of-body experiences on the astral plane. Conscious astral projection involves getting into a meditative state, moving your astral body out of your physical body, and traveling around on the astral plane.

Astral Body

Between you as spirit and your physical body there is an intermediate body known as your astral body. It is lighter and more changeable than your physical body. But the astral body has more shape and density than pure spirit. Your astral body may often be recognizable as your human form, but it can also change appearance, shift shapes, and do fun things like moving through walls.

Astral Plane

The world between the physical and spiritual world is known as the astral plane, or the astral. While it is commonly referred to in the singular as the astral plane, there are actually many different levels of the astral, or astral planes. We move through these astral planes in our dreams.

Astral Travel

The astral world is much more fluid than the physical world. Astral travel is not bound by the limitations of time and space. You can visit different dimensions and travel to past or future experiences on the astral. For many people, it is also easier to connect with deceased loved ones on the astral.

Astral planes vary from the ordinary, to the phantasmagorical, to the divine. Defying easy definition, the astral planes intersect with both physical reality and the symbolic realms of the dream world. Astral travel can take you to dimensions beyond your imagination.

Astral Dream Experiences

Your astral body plays a key role in creating new developments which have not yet manifested in your physical life. The astral is like a giant laboratory in which you experiment with your life and your creations.

The astral can also offer great insight, as it allows you to come at things from a different angle. Astral dream experiences allow you to see things from a different perspective than your normal awareness. As a result, astral dreams can be especially useful for working on situations that--for one reason or another--may be difficult to face directly in daily life.

Astral Projection Meditation

Astral projection typically involves getting into a meditative state so you can consciously move your astral body out of your physical body. With practice, astral projection allows you to develop greater awareness of out-of-body and astral experiences.

These are simple directions for an astral meditation that is suitable for beginners...

ASTRAL PROJECTION EXERCISE:

Preparing the Space, Preparing Yourself...

Find a quiet, comfortable place for yourself--where you will not be disturbed. Create a relaxing atmosphere. You may want to light a candle, burn incense, or play some quiet, soothing music in the background. Begin to relax in general. Take some deep breaths and perhaps do some light stretching. Sit upright in a comfortable position with an open posture.

Part I: Aura Meditation

Get yourself centered and grounded by doing the Aura Meditation in How to Meditate. You will also need to repeat this after your astral projection meditation.

Notice how you experience yourself before doing the Astral Projection exercise. Then close your eyes and focus your attention inward...

Part II: Astral Projection Meditation...

Be aware of your body. Notice how you experience the density of your physical body. Then be aware of your aura about an arm's length all the way around your body. Notice how you experience the lightness of your spiritual energy. Then start to open up your awareness of an intermediate body between your physical body and you as spirit. Notice how you experience the vibration of your astral body.

Allow yourself to shift your awareness to your astral body. Be present in your astral body.

Float your astral body up to a corner of the room. Be present in your astral body in that upper corner of the room. From that upper corner of the room, be aware of your physical body down below you, sitting in the chair. Notice how you experience your physical body down below you.

Then float your astral body up through the ceiling and be on the roof of your building. Be aware of your astral body standing on the roof of your building. On the roof, move around a bit in your astral body. Notice how you experience being in your astral body. Be aware of the world around from the roof of your building. Notice how you experience the world from your astral body.

Then bring your astral body down through the roof and be in an upper corner of the room again. From the upper corner of the room, notice your physical body sitting in the chair below you.

Float your astral body above your physical body. Notice what it's like to be above your physical body. Then gently lower yourself down into your physical body. First be aware of being in your astral body in your physical body. Then allow yourself to shift your awareness to your physical body itself. Allow yourself to come back fully into your physical body.

Part III: Repeat the Aura Meditation

Get yourself centered and grounded by doing the Aura Meditation in How to Meditate. Draw all of your energy back from above you. Feel your feet on the floor. Feel your legs, torso, arms, neck and head. Be aware of your aura an arm's length around your body. Notice what it's like to be grounded back in your body.

When you feel ready, take a few deep breaths, gently open your eyes, and slowly begin to move. Notice how you experience yourself after doing the Astral Projection exercise. Give yourself some time to integrate this experience and enjoy being relaxed before moving on to other activities. (Especially after you first start practicing this meditation--you may want to journal your experience, have a cup of tea, or go for a quiet walk.)

If you practice astral meditation on a regular basis, it will become easier to do and your out-of-body experiences will gradually become clearer.

Another Invocation of Osiris

"I am Osiris Onnophris who is found perfect before the Gods. I hath said: These are the elements of my Body perfected through suffering, glorified through trial. The scent of the dying Rose is as the repressed sigh of my Suffering. And the flame-red Fire as the energy of mine undaunted Will. And the Cup of Wine is the pouring out of the blood of my heart, sacrificed unto Regeneration, unto the newer life. And the bread and salt are as the foundations of my body, which I destroy in order that they may be renewed.


For I am Osiris Triumphant. Even Osiris Onnophris the Justified One. I am He who is clothed with the body of flesh yet in whom flames the spirit of the eternal Gods. I am the Lord of Life. I am triumphant over Death, and whosoever partaketh with me shall with me arise. I am the manifester in Matter of Those whose abode is the Invisible. I am the purified. I stand upon the Universe. I am it's Reconciler with the eternal Gods. I am the Perfector of Matter, and without me the Universe is not."

Blood Sacrifices: a Brief introduction

This intense ritual has been around forever and still exists today in many parts of the world. 

We have the Aztecs who were very big on Human and animal sacrifice. It was an integral part of their Religion. They had many Blood thirsty Gods that needed to be pleased. 

As they saw it, the offering of blood through human sacrifice ensured the perpetuation of the universe. Spanish observers found the practice utterly revolting for Aztecs would take their victims... make them lay perfectly still while the High Priest took a stone knife and cut out their heart. 

 The Aztec priests were also into self mutilation. For instance, cutting their own genitalia and worst of all they would take a rope and embed it with large thorns. Then they would pierce their tongue and thread the thorn embedded rope through the tongue. The likes would have to be such an excruciating pain that they would leave their bodies and travel to other dimensions. 

Similar to the American Indians who would do piercing to achieve OBE's. Reference the movie "A man called Horse". Now in the ancient days the ultimate sacrifice was to be that of a virgin young boy. Even today human sacrifice goes on, but only in the most secretive places. 

Now for the Truly brave Sorcerer, he will use his own blood which I myself am accustom to. But the norm is to use that of an animal. For instance, using white doves or chickens. There are many different animals that can be used according to who you are conjuring up. Remember if they are virgin animals, it is all the more pleasing to the Entity. 

 Why do you need to use blood? 

Because blood is life. It has an energy, a life force. So Demons are attracted to it. Plus, it gives them some substance to take some form. If only you could see the demons attracted to the fresh corpses of the newly killed on the battlefield in times of war. 

 Now, when you sacrifice an animal and pour the blood into the Triangle of Solomon... it has only a life force time of about fifteen minutes. Once the life force is exhausted the Entity will probably leave. 

You can take note of a similar situation when Crowley conjured the Mighty Demon "Chorozon" in the desert. You will also take note that Crowley's partner was almost killed when attacked by the Demon and many believe that this conjuring of Chorozon led to Crowley's eventual death. 

This is because Crowley let the Demon take possession of his body so it could talk through him. Now their are many of you who would never think of doing such a thing and that is fine. For you like many others may use Incense. For it is also pleasing to the entities and will give them something to help them take form. 

 One last note. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!

The origins of the Hand of Glory

What was a Hand of Glory and what did it look like?


A Hand of Glory was the dried pickled hand of a man who had been hanged, which, when used as either a candle or candle holder, was meant to have special magical properties. Descriptions of the hands vary but they were all pretty gruesome. The hand was grey and withered due to its preparation. In stories such as this one, where the fingers themselves are used as a wick, either the back of the hand provided a rest and the finger were bent upwards, or it was placed in some kind of holder with the hand straight and the fingers upright. Where the hand is used as a candle holder the fingers are bent around the candle which was usually made from the fat of the dead man with the dead man’s hair as the wick.

What special magical properties was it meant to have?

The magical properties of the hand vary from story to story but they always relate to things that would help a thief to enter a house at night without opposition. They include:

Giving light only to the holder whilst others are left in darkness or, alternatively, making the owner invisible

Being able to burn forever, once alight, without being consumed

Having the power to open any lock in the vicinity

Putting to sleep occupants of a house or rendering motionless all persons to whom it is presentedIn stories where the fingers themselves act as candle wicks, each finger that catches fire means somebody inside the house is sleeping and once the finger is lit they will be unable to wake until the flame is extinguished. If a finger does not light then it means the person is awake or that there are fewer people in the house than there are fingers on the hand. This is important in these stories, as the thieves are usually caught by misjudging the number of people in the house and therefore the number of people asleep.

How was the Hand of Glory made?

Firstly, the hand had to come from the corpse of a villain still hanging from the gallows. Usually it is the right hand that is taken, especially in stories where the hand is that of a murderer, as this is the hand that is most likely to have done the deed (most people at that time were trained to use their right hands). In other versions of the story, the left hand is used as this was thought of as the sinister hand. The hand had to be taken at the dead of night, preferably during a lunar eclipse. Next, any remaining blood was drained out of the hand and the fingers positioned. It was then wrapped in a specially prepared cloth and pickled in a solution of saltpetre, long peppers and regular salt. After two weeks the hand was removed and left for several months to dry. If the fingers were to be lit, they were dipped in wax, if not a candle was made. The whole process was accompanied by certain rituals, including a poem or incantation chanted when the hand was used.

How could you protect yourself against it?

The candle could only be extinguished by blue (sterilized) milk. However, you could protect your home, so that the hand would not work, by anointing the door step and window ledges with an unguent composed of the gall of a black cat, the fat of a white hen and the blood of a screech owl. This had to be prepared during the dog days of the summer – not an easy task!

How did the name arise?

The term ‘hand of glory’ is believed to be derived from the French ‘main de glorie’, the name for the supposedly magical mandrake root - ‘mandrogore’ being the French for mandrake. The legend of the hand was thought to be related to the legends of the mandrake, a plant that was believed to grow under the gallows from the seed of a hanged man. Their leaves were thought to resemble hands. In Saxon times, mandrakes were also believed to shine at night like a lamp, which may have added to the idea of a light for criminals. The legend can be traced at least to the 15th century, but the name ‘Hand of Glory’ was only used later.Did these hands really exist?

Yes, they existed; until recently one was on display in Whitby museum. There are a number of folk stories associated with the hand, many in the North of England where the belief was most common. Similar myths are known across Europe. Such items were highly prized by criminals in the 16th to early 18th centuries. Indeed there are cases of witches being accused of creating a hand of glory during the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1590 John Fian, for example, confessed under torture, during his witch trial in Scotland, to breaking into a church using a hand of glory. However, as the witch hunts drew to a close with the dawn of the age of reason, the practice of creating Hands of Glory died out, along with belief in the protection they offered.Why did people believe they would work?

This has its roots in the once widely held belief that certain objects, or living things, had powers that were related to their looks or characteristics. For example, if a plant had a red stem it was thought to be good for curing blood diseases or if a leaf was kidney shaped for treating kidney disease. This belief was true, not just in folk medicine, but also for objects considered magical. This is now known as ‘sympathetic magic’. There was also a widely held belief in the magical power of human remains, especially the remains of executed criminals and the more notorious the criminal the greater the potency. Criminals like the rest of the population were a superstitious lot, so what better, they assumed, to put people into a death like slumber, than the burning of a dead man’s hand? Or what could create darkness more effectively than the hand of a dark-souled individual removed at the dead of the night? And what could possibly be more helpful for magically picking locks than the hand of a dead thief and murderer? Milk however is associated with new life, nourishment and growth, the very opposite to that of the hand of glory in terms of sympathetic magic; hence its ability to neutralise its power.

Introduction To Enochian Scrying

A Magical Space for Enochian Scrying

Since the Enochian powers are so sensitive to the visual symbols in a magickal space, the general-purpose magickal space developed in the preceding sections of this paper is likely to be inappropriate for Enochian work. The profusion of objects with which you have populated the landscape would all tend to anchor the forces in unexpected or undesired forms. A space with a more neutral visual appearance needs to be used.

A woman I once met made a habit of surveying people about the appearance of their magickal spaces. Amusingly, nearly all the Enochian magicians she knew (most of whom did not know the others) had chosen to build essentially identical spaces for their work. This space might thus be considered an archetypal Enochian workplace. It consists of a broad, gray plain, surrounded at the horizon by low hills; both plain and hills are illuminated in a flat, sourceless light of relatively low intensity. Overhead, there is a night-sky filled with stars. The plain is large enough that the magician always has a previously-unused area available in which to perform a new series of invocations.

The remaining few magicians in her survey had chosen to go even further in the direction of minimalism than this Michael Moorcock landscape. Their workspaces consisted solely of a clear space within a gray mist, with a featureless gray floor underneath, created ab initio for every invocation.

My feeling is that the plain has a slight advantage as a work-space. It allows for the establishment of long-term or permanent structures, useful for advanced works in which the invocations must be done in section, or for building a temple appropriate to a range of Enochian works.

Scrying Techniques for Enochian Magic

Both the “magick mirror” technique and its extension as a “gate” work as well with Enochian powers as they will with other, more conventional magickal powers. I would recommend that you create a new mirror in your Enochian workplace for every series of invocations that you do, and destroy it after completing the series. Since the Enochian powers tend to accumulate over time, this prevents residual forces from previous works from interfering with a new work.

However, as mentioned above, it is often necessary to provide a firm visual anchor for Enochian powers; you may find that the mirror technique is insufficiently exact, and only gives you confused or contradictory results. If that is the case, one of the following methods will be more effective.

The Golden Dawn devised a technique for using visualizations of truncated pyramids as the starting point for visions of individual squares from the Tablets. This practical method has been proven by use to be very effective, precisely because it provides a well-defined symbolic “anchor” for the Enochian powers. I recommend this technique for beginners, both for this reason and because it tends to focus the powers into their most “earthly”, most readily-comprehensible form.

The basic technique is to build a truncated pyramid in your magickal space. The flat top has an area one-ninth the area of its base. The relative sizes of the top and bottom means the sides are tilted inwards at an angle of forty-five degrees. The letter of the square is visualized on the flat top. The sides of the pyramid are colored and labeled with symbols and images according to a complex system of attributes.

(The G.D. system of attributes is described in detail in book 4 of Regardie’s The Golden Dawn; my own alternate system (which I believe to be a substantial improvement over the G.D. system) is described in the papers titled “Godzilla Meets E.T.”, which can be found at: http://www.hermetic.com/browe/index.html. The pyramid method works very well with either system.)

The pyramid is visualized as being large enough to stand on the top. Having vibrated the appropriate Calls for the name in which the square lies, the magician then stands on top of the pyramid in his astral body, and vibrates the hierarchy of names. As he vibrates each name, the magician imagines the power of that name gathering around the pyramid.

When the last name is vibrated, the magician imagines that each side of the pyramid is gathering in the attracted energy, each taking the type appropriate to its attributes and symbols. This energy is seen moving upwards, being focused as it goes by the narrowing of the sides. The flows of energy from the sides reach the top simultaneously, run into each other, and form a beam of light shining up and outwards into the astral worlds, forming a path to a region of magical space governed by the square. The magician then follows this beam in his astral body until a landscape or other scene forms around him. This scene should symbolize various aspects of the square invoked. From that point, the techniques describe earlier can be used to explore the region.

When the energies traveling up the sides reach the top, they come together on the letter and then shine downwards into the pyramid, illuminating the interior. The angel governing the square is invoked to visible appearance within the pyramid and is tested there. After testing, the angel conducts the magician to various scenes that illustrate the square’s nature.

Since a session using this technique only explores the power of one letter of an angel’s name, you only get a partial view of the angel’s nature. To fully understand an angel, all the letters of its name should be explored in sequence.

When you wish to invoke all of an angel’s powers at once rather than a single letter, it is more convenient to make your anchoring image something like a magickal circle, or a talisman sufficiently large that you can stand on it. A example design for such a circle would have the divine names superior to the given angel written around the rim of the circle. The name of the angel being invoked would be written within the circle, oriented so that it appears upright when you are facing in the direction in which you want the angel to appear. If the angel is associated with a particular magickal formula (e.g., Kerubic angels and the INRI formula) symbols appropriate to that formula might also be drawn within the circle.

Note that the intent of this figure is much closer in function to a talisman than to the traditional idea of a magickal circle. It is not intended to block off its interior from the exterior areas; you should feel free to move in and out of it at will. Nor is it intended to “contain” the invoked force. Rather, the idea is that the charged figure will serve to attract the attention of the appropriate being — like putting a big illuminated sign saying “Land Here!” next to a runway — and will also serve to condition the surrounding magickal space so that it reflects the nature of the invoked powers.

Vibrate the appropriate Calls several times; then enter the magickal space and create the circle. Vibrate the divine and angelic names, and as you feel the invoked power arrive, direct it into the lines and letters in the circle so that they glow and re-radiate the power to the surrounding environment. Keep vibrating the names until the intensity of invoked power seems to level off, then vibrate only the name of the being you wish to contact, asking it to appear before you. Vibrate the angel’s name until it does appear; then apply the tests, and ask the angel what you will.

Calling the angel to the circle is my personal preference; I would rather have the guide take me to the place I want to go than go there first and find a guide afterwards. The reverse may be more comfortable for you. If that is the case, you can vary the above method by concentrating the invoked force in the circle instead of allowing it to radiate. Then imagine that the force is creating a “gate” to the power’s magickal space; imagine the center of the circle opening up as the magick mirror did in the earlier exercises, so that you can step directly through it into that space. Or you can imagine that the powers form a beam of light shooting up from the circle, which you can ride to the powers’ space.

A simple Evocation

I call forth the force that is the Universe by the Authority I possess,

I call you to me to be used by my will,

for as long as I breath, feel, see and hear we are one.

For it is I who controls the winds and the rain, 

The Sun and the Moon.

For I am one with them and they are ONE with ME, 

I Transcend ALL physical matter and only Energy exists.

I AM THE GREAT I AM,

I AM the Beginning and the End, 

For there is NO Beginning and End.

There is Only Existence.

This is MY will So IT WILL BE.

The Four Pillars of Destiny (Chinese Astrology)

The Four Pillars of Destiny is an important component of Chinese fortune telling. The 'four pillars' refers to the year, month, day and hour pillars of a birthday in Chinese solar calendar. It is also known as the 'eight characters of birth time', the translation of Chinese phrase, Sheng Chen Ba Zi, shortly as Ba Zi. Ba Zi (Eight Characters) is represented by four pairs of characters respectively saying the year, month, day and hour of a birth time. Two characters in each pair are made up of one character from the Heavenly Stems and one from the Earthly Branches.

The theory of the Four Pillars of Destiny is based on Yin Yang and Wu Xing, and the pillars are represented on the basis of the heavenly stems & earthly branches.

Year Pillar – Ten Heavenly Stems and Twelve Earthly branches combines and create a sexagenary cycle (See this chart to find the year pillar. If your birth year is not in the 60-year circle, it can be calculated by extrapolation from the figures.) Here is a quick way to convert a year in western calendar into the one represented by stem and branch.

Year's Heavenly Stem – Last number of a year will indicate the year's stem

Jia	Yi	Bing	Ding	Wu	Ji	Geng	Xin	Ren	Gui
4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3

Year's Earthly Branch – the reminder (1-11) of the year divided by 12 will indicate the year's branch

Zi	Chou	Yin	Mao	Chen	Si	Wu	Wei	Shen	You	Xu	Hai
4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	0	1	2	3

Take the year 1985 for example. Last number 5 refers to Yi. 1985 divided by 12 equals an integer 165 with a reminder of 5. Number 5 refers to Chou. So 1985 is Yi Chou year.

Month Pillar – Month pillar has fixed early branches, lunar January to October represented by Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai, Zi and Chou. The heavenly stem is changing according to the year pillar. In fact, the division of two month branches is usually up to the 24 solar terms. From the Beginning of Spring which regarded as the real start of a year, the branch shifts every two solar terms. The representation by lunar months is only an only an approximation.

Earthly Branches and 12 Months

Branch	Zi	Chou	Yin	Mao	Chen	Si
Lunar	Nov.	Dec.	Jan.	Feb.	Mar.	Apr.
Solar	Daxue- Xiaohan	Xiaohan- Lichun	Lichun- Jingzhe	Jingzhe- Qingming	Qingming- Lixia	Lixia- Mangzhong
Branch	Wu	Wei	Shen	You	Xu	Hai
Lunar	May	Jun.	Jul.	Aug.	Sep.	Oct.
Solar	Mangzhou- Xiaoshu	Xiaoshu- Liqiu	Liqiu- Bailu	Bailu- Hanlu	Hanlu- Lidong	Lidong- Daxue

Day Pillar – The recondition to know a day's stem and branch, one should remember the stem and branch of the first day of that year in Chinese lunar calendar. Then, Chinese calendar has bigger and lesser month, respectively having 30 or 29 days. One stem-branch cycle needs 60 days. If the stem and branch of the first day of that lunar month has been known, there is a way to extrapolate any day within the month, by the different extrapolation rules applied to bigger and lesser months.

Hour Pillar – Similarly, the heavenly branches of the hour pillar is fixed. Jia hour refers to 23:00-01:00, and so forth. The heavenly stem of each day is up to the stem and branch of the day pillar.

Earthly Branches of 24 Hours (12 Shi Chen)

Zi	Chou	Yin	Mao	Chen	Si
23:00-00:59	01:00-02:59	03:00-04:59	05:00-06:59	07:00-08:59	09:00-10:59
Wu	Wei	Shen	You	Xu	Hai
11:00-12:59	13:00-14:59	15:00-16:59	17:00-18:59	19:00-20:59	21:00-22:59

Here is the Four Pillars Chart for an individual born at 18:00, on April 12, 1985 (lunar February 23, 1985) in western calendar for example. Generally, a yellow calendar book is necessary to help find the accurate pillars. Now, it is not difficult to find an online Ba Zi calculator.

 

Pillars	Hour	Day	Month	Year
Heavenly Stems	Ding	Ding	Geng	Yi
Wu Xing/Yin Yang	Yin Fire	Yin Fire	Yang Metal	Yin Wood
Earthly Branches	You	Chou	Chen	Chou
Wu Xing/Yin Yang	Yin Metal	Yin Earth	Yang Earth	Yin Earth

It has only eight characters, but the relation of the eight characters is very complicated. According to the four pillars' representation theory, year pillar represents ancestors and parents; month pillar represents brothers and sisters; day stem represents oneself; day branch represent spouse; hour pillar represents offspring. In addition, the heavenly stems have their own characteristics which are related to the Five Elements (Wu Xing). The missing element in a baby's 'eight characters of birth time' will be usually added into its name as an action of compensation. Among the ten heavenly stems, there are compatible and opposite relations. While among the earthly branches, the relations are more complex, combination, clash, restriction, harm, etc. Abundant relationships may have accurate explanation on the luck of one self or relatives.

The ancient people believed that birth time is a kind of Qi (aura, something of spirit). People born in the Wei hour have an aura field of Wei. If the birth time is in Wei hour but closing to Shen, the aura field has changed gradually to that of the Shen hour. The Four Pillars was created based on vague time, as the time division in ancient time could not be accurate as it is in modern times. So, are there any errors if calculating the Ba Zi because of the time difference? An individual is unique replying on the combination of time, space and spirit. While the Four Pillars mainly talks about time, occasionally space but non spirit. It is an outcome of Chinese metaphysics which is special, interesting but the accurate is debatable.

A Mythraic Ritual

THE RITUAL

THE FATHER'S PRAYER

O Providence, O Fortune, bestow on me Thy Grace - imparting these the Mysteries a Father only may hand on, and that, too, to a Son alone - his Immortality - [a Son] initiate, worthy of this our Craft, with which Sun Mithras, the Great God, commanded me to be endowed by His Archangel; so that I, Eagle [as I am, by mine own self] alone, may soar to Heaven, and contemplate all things. 

THE INVOCATORY UTTERANCE (LOGOS)

1. O Primal Origin of my origination; Thou Primal Substance of my substance; First Breath of breath, the breath that is in me; First Fire, God-given for the Blending of the blendings in me, [First Fire] of fire in me; First Water of [my] water. the water in me; Primal Earth-essence of the earthy essence in me; Thou Perfect Body of me - N. N. son of N. N., son of N.N. (fem.) - fashioned by Honoured Arm and Incorruptible Right Hand, in World that's lightless, yet radiant with Light, [in World] that's soulless, yet filled full of Soul!

2. If, verity, it may seem good to you, translate me, now held by my lower nature, unto the Generation that is free from Death; in order that, beyond the insistent Need that presses on me, I may have Vision of the Deathless Source, by virtue of the Deathless Spirit, by virtue of the Deathless Water, by virtue of the [Deathless] Solid, and [by virtue of] the [Deathless] Air; in order that 1 may become re-born in Mind; in order that 1 may become initiate, and that the Holy Breath may breathe in me; in order that 1 may admire the Holy Fire; that 1 may see the Deep of the [New] Dawn, the Water that doth cause [the Soul] to thrill; and that the, Life-bestowing Æther which surrounds [all things] may give me, Hearing.

3. For 1 am to behold to-day with Deathless Eyes - I, mortal, born of mortal womb, but [now] made better by the Might of Mighty Power, yea, by the Incorruptible Right Hand - [I am to see to-day] by virtue of the Deathless Spirit the Deathless Æon, the master of the Diadeins of Fire - I with pure purities [now] Purified, the human soul-power of me subsisting for a little while in purity; which [power] I shall again receive transmitted unto me beyond the insistent Bitterness that presses on me, Necessity whose debts can never go unpaid - I, N. N., son of N. N. (fem.) - according to the Ordinance of God that naught can ever change.

4. For that it is beyond my reach that, born beneath the sway of Death, I should [unaided] soar into the Height, together with the golden sparklings of the Brilliancy that knows no Death.

5. Stay still, O nature doomed to Perish, [nature] of men subject to Death! And straightway let me pass beyond the Need implacable that presses on me; for that I am His Son; I breathe; I am!

THE FIRST INSTRUCTION

1. Take from the [Sun-]rays breath, inhaling thrice [as deeply] as thou canst; and thou shalt see thyself being raised aloft, and soaring towards the Height, so that thou seem'st to be in midst of Air.

2. Thou shalt hear naught, nor man nor beast; nor shalt thou see aught of the sights upon the earth, in that same hour; but all things thou shalt see will be immortal.

3. For thou shalt see, in that same day and hour, the Disposition of the Gods - the Ruling Gods ascending heavenwards, the other ones descending. And through his Disk - the God's, my Father's - there shall be seen the Way-of-going of the Gods accessible to sight.

4. And in like fashion also [shall be seen] the Pipe, as it is called, whence comes the Wind in service [for the day]. For thou shalt see as though it were a Pipe depending from His Disk; and toward the regions Westward, as though it were an infinite East Wind. But if the other Wind, toward the regions of the East' should be in service, in the like fashion shalt thou see, toward the regions of that [side,] the converse of the sight.

5. And thou shalt see the Gods gazing intently on thee and bearing down upon thee. Then straightway lay thy dexter finger on thy lips and say:

THE FIRST UTTERANCE

Silence! Silence! Silence!
The Symbol of the Living God beyond Decay.
Protect me, Silence! †!
Next "hiss" forth long: Sss! Sss!
Then "puff" saying: †!

And thereon shalt thou see the Gods gazing benignly on thee, and no longer bearing down upon thee, but proceeding on the proper order of their doings. 

THE SECOND INSTRUCTION 

When, then, thou see'st the Upper Cosmos clean and clear, with no one of the Gods (or Angels) bearing down on thee, expect to hear a mighty thunder-clap so as to startle thee. Then say again:

THE SECOND UTTERANCE

O Silence! Silence!
I am a Star, whose Course is as your Course, shining anew from out the depth †.
Upon thy saying this, straightway

His disk will start expanding.

2. And after thou hast said the second utterance - to wit, twice Silence and the rest - "hiss" twice, and "puff" twice; and straightway shalt thou see a mighty host of stars, five-pointed, emerging from His Disk, and filling all the Air.

3. Then say again:

O Silence! Silence!

And when His Disk is opened [fully] out, thou shalt behold an infinite Encircling and Doors of Fire fast closed.

Straightway set going then the utterance that follows, closing thy eyes:

THE THIRD UTTERANCE 

1. Hear me, give ear to me - N. N., son of N. N. (fem.) - O Lord, who with Thy Breath hast closed the Fiery Bars of Heaven; Twin-bodied; Ruler of the Fire; Creator of the Light; O Holder of the Keys; Inbreather of the Fire; Fire-hearted One, whose Breath gives Light; Thou who dost joy in Fire; Beauteous of Light; O Lord of Light, whose Body is of Fire; Light-giver [and] Fire-sower; Fire-loosener, whose Life is in the Light; Fire-whirler, who sett'st the Light in motion; Thou Thunder-rouser; O Thou Light-glory, Light-increaser; Controller of the Light Empyrean; O Thou Star-tamer!

2. Oh! Open unto me! For on account of this, the bitter and implacable Necessity that presses on me, I do invoke Thy Deathless Names, innate with Life, most worshipful, that have not yet descended unto mortal nature, nor have been made articulate by human tongue, or cry or tone of man:

ëeö · oëeö · iöö · oë · ëeö · ëeö · oëeö · iöö · oëëe · öëe · öoë · ië · ëö · oö · oë · ieö · oë · öoë · ieöoë · ieeö · eë · iö · oë · ioë · öëö · eoë · oeö · öië · öiëeö · oi · iii · ëoë · öuë · ëö · oëe · eöëia · aëaeëa · ëeeë · eeë · eeë · ieö · ëeö · oëeeoë · ëeö · euö · oë · eiö · ëö · öë · öë · öë · ee · ooouiöë! 

3. Utter all these with Fire and Spirit once unto the end; and then begin again a second time, until thou hast completed [all] the Seven Immortal Gods of Cosmos. When thou hast uttered them, thunders and crashings shalt thou hear in the Surround, and feel thyself a-shake with every crash. Then once more utter Silence! [and] the utterance [following it].

4. Thereon open thy eyes ; and thou shalt see the Doors thrown open, and the Cosmos of the Gods that is within the Doors; so that for joy and rapture of the sight thy Spirit runs to meet it, and soars up. Therefore, hold thyself steady, and, gazing steadily into thyself, draw breath from the Divine. When, then, thy Soul shall be restored, say :

THE FOURTH UTTERANCE

1. Draw nigh, O Lord! Upon this utterance His Rays shall be turned on thee, and thou shalt be in midst of them.

2. When, then, thou hast done this, thou shalt behold a God, in flower of age, of fairest beauty, [and] with Locks of Flame, in a white Tunic and a scarlet Mantle, wearing a Crown of Fire. Straightway salute Him with the Salutation of the Fire:

THE FIFTH UTTERANCE

1. Hail Lord! O Thou of mighty Power; O King of mighty Sway; Greatest of Gods; O Sun; Thou Lord of Heaven and Earth; O God of Gods! Strong is Thy Breath; strong is Thy Might! O Lord, if it seem good to Thee, make Thou announcement of me unto God Mosthigh, who hath begotten and created Thee !

2. For that a man - N.N., son of N.N. (fem.), born of the mortal womb of N.N. (fem.), and of spermatic ichor, yea, of this [ichor], which at Thy Hands to-day hath undergone the transmutation of re-birth -, one, from so many tens of thousands, transformed to immortality in this same hour, by God's good-pleasure, of God transcendent Good-, [a man, I say,] presumes to worship Thee, and supplicates with whatsoever power a mortal hath.

3. Upon this utterance He shall come to the Pole, and thou shalt see Him moving round as on a path. Then gaze intently, and send forth a prolonged "bellowing," like to a horn-note, expelling the whole breath, with pressure on the ribs, and kiss the amulets, and say first to that upon the right:

THE SIXTH UTTERANCE

Protect me! †!

When thou hast uttered this. thou shalt behold the Doors thrown open, and, issuing from the Depth, Seven Virgins, in byssus-robes, with serpent-faces. and golden sceptres in their hands.

These are they who are the so-called Heaven's Fortunes (Tychai).

When thou dost see these things, make salutation thus:

THE SEVENTH UTTERANCE

Hail Heaven's Seven Fortunes, Virgins august and good, ye sacred ones who live and eat with †!
Ye holiest Protectors of the Four Supports!

Hail thou, the First, †! 

Hail thou, the Second, †! 

Hail thou, the Third, †! 

Hail thou, the Fourth, †! 

Hail thou, the Fifth, †! 

Hail thou, the Sixth, †! 

Hail thou, the Seventh, †! 

2. There come forth others, too - Seven Gods, with faces of black bulls, in linen loincloths, with seven golden fillets on their heads. These are the so-called Heaven's Pole-lords. And in like fashion unto each of them thou must make salutation with his special name.

THE EIGHTH UTTERANCE

1. Hail Guardians of the Pivot, ye, sacred sturdy Youths, who all, at once, revolve the spinning Axis of Heaven's Circle, ye who let loose the thunder and the lightning, and earthquake-shocks and thunder-bolts upon the hosts of impious folk, but [who bestow] on me, who pious am and worshipper of God, good-health, and soundness of my frame in every Part, and Proper stretch of hearing and of sight, and calm, in the now Present good-hours of this day, O mighty Ruling Lords and Gods of me!

Hail thou, the First, †! 

Hail thou, the Second, †! 

Hail thou, the Third, †! 

Hail thou, the Fourth, †! 

Hail thou, the Fifth, †! 

Hail thou, the Sixth, †! 

Hail thou, the Seventh, †! 

2. Now when they [all] are present in their order, here and there, gaze in the Air intently, and thou shalt see lightnings down-flashing, and lights a-quiver, and the earth a-shake; and [then] a God descending, [a God] transcending vast, of radiant Presence, with golden Locks, in flower of age, [clad] in a Robe of brightness, with Crown of gold [upon His Head], and Garments [on His Legs], holding in His Right Hand the golden Shoulder of the Calf. This latter is the Bear that moves the Heaven[-dome], and changes its direction, now up now down, according to the hour. Then shalt thou see lightnings leap from His Eyes and from His Body stars.

3. Straightway send forth a "bellowing" prolonged, with belly-pressure, to start thy senses going all together-prolonged unto the very end, kissing again the amulets and saying:

THE NINTH UTTERANCE

 [O Lord] of me - N. N. - abide, with Me, within my Soul! Oh! leave me not! For † bids thee [remain]. And gaze intently on the God, with "bellowing" prolonged, and thus salute Him:

THE TENTH UTTERANCE

 Hail Lord, Thou Master of the Water!
Hail, Founder of the Earth!
Hail, Prince of Breath! O Lord, being born again, I Pass away in being made Great, and, having been made Great, I die.

Being born from out the state of birth-and-death that giveth birth to [mortal] lives, 1 now, set free, Pass to the state transcending birth, as Thou hast stablished it, according as Thou hast ordained and made, the Mystery.

An Introduction to Magic

Here is a video I made to help you understand what Magic is. I hope you enjoy

A Spell for Binding

You'll need:

• A piece of lightweight cardboard
• Writing/drawing utensils
• Black yarn
• A fireplace, bonfire, cauldron, or other safe place to burn the cardboard

Cast a strong protective circle around yourself and all participants before you begin.

Take a piece of light-weight cardboard and draw images and write words on it to represent the evils that you wish to bind. For example, draw a man with an X crossing out his heart to show it is closed, write words like "Greed", "Irresponsibility", "Disrespect", etc. Then crumple the cardboard up into a loose ball.

Take a piece of black yarn and wind it around the cardboard twenty one times. With each time you loop the string around the cardboard, say one line of the following chant...

With the thread of the crimes 

of your own design 

I bind your evil 

Three times seven times.

I bind you from Behind 

I bind you from Before 

That you'll hurt my people 

never ever more

I bind you from the Left 

I bind you from the Right 

I bind you by Day 

And I bind you by Night.

I bind you from Below 

I bind you from Above 

That you may ever know 

The laws of Life and Love

I bind you with your own 

Good conscience Within 

And so let this magic 

Unfold 

And spin....

Tie off the ends of the yarn with three sturdy knots to seal the spell. When done with this, burn the wrapped images and words in a loud, strong, crackling fire. Chant these words until it is thoroughly burned:

Goddess of darkest night 

Send our troubles all to flight 

Burn them in thy sacred fires 

And replace them with our hearts' desires!

Once the image is burned and all negativity removed, do a positive visualization to replace it. For example, visualize people laughing and dancing in rainbows, etc.

Lectures: The Japanese demon Datsue

奪衣婆

だつえば

TRANSLATION: clothes-stealing old woman
ALTERNATE NAMES: sōzukaba, ubason
HABITAT: Meido, along the banks of the Sanzu River

APPEARANCE: Datsueba and Keneō are a terrifying pair of elderly oni. They guard the bridge and the banks of the Sanzu River. All souls must pass by them before moving on to Meido to be judged.

INTERACTION: During a Japanese funeral, 6 mon (and old form of currency) are placed in the coffin to be used as a toll to enter the underworld. Upon reaching the Sanzu River, the souls must cross either by bridge (if they were good in life), by wading in the shallows (if they were only somewhat good), or by swimming across the deepest part of the river (if they were wicked).

After crossing the river, each soul encounters Datsueba, who accepts the toll and strips the souls of the clothes on their backs. Datsueba hands the clothing to her partner, Keneō, who hangs it from a tree by the riverside. The amount that the branch bends under the weight of the clothes serves as a measure of the weight of the sin each soul carries, and is used as evidence in the trials to come. Of course, the clothes of those who had to ford the river or swim across are heavy and wet, which only makes the branches of the tree sag lower. If a soul arrives with no clothes, Keneō flays his or her skin and hangs it from the tree instead.

Datsueba and Keneō perform a little bit of torture themselves, breaking the fingers of those guilty of theft, and so on. They also roam the banks of the river, tormenting the souls of children who are too young to cross the river and must wait for salvation to come to them instead.

According to some accounts, Datsueba is the wife of King Enma. In the Edo period, she became a popular object of folk worship, and temples dedicated to her began to spring up around Japan. Prayers and charms dedicated to Datsueba were used as wards against disease and coughs, in particular for children’s coughs.

Lecture: The Japanese Demon Onryo

怨霊

おんりょう

TRANSLATION: grudge spirit, vengeful ghost

HABITAT: found all throughout Japan

DIET: none; survives solely on its wrath

APPEARANCE: The most dreaded type of yūrei is the onryō. They are the ghosts of people who died with such strong passions –jealousy, rage, or hatred – that their soul is unable to pass on, and instead transforms into a powerful wrathful spirit who seeks vengeance on any and everything it encounters. Onryō appear as they did when they died. Often they were victims of war, catastrophe, betrayal, murder, or suicide, and they usually display wounds or marks indicative of the way they died.

INTERACTIONS: Their motive is always the same: vengeance. Onryō are easily powerful enough to swiftly kill any person; however, they prefer letting the object of their hatred live a long life of torment and suffering, watching those he knows suffer and die. They inflict a terrible curse on the people or places that they haunt. This curse can be transmitted to others through contact like a contagious disease, creating a circle of death or destruction that is far more devastating than any ordinary ghost. They make no distinction in whom they target with their grudge; they just wants to destroy. Moreover, this vengeance can never be satisfied as it can for most ghosts. While most yūrei only haunt a person or place until they are exorcised or placated, an onryō’s horrible grudge-curse continues to infect a location long after the ghost itself has been laid to rest.

Occasionally, an onryō’s curse is born not out of hatred and retribution, but out of intense, passionate love which perverts into extreme jealousy. These onryō haunt their former lovers, exacting their wrath onto new romances, second marriages, their children, and eventual end up destroying the lives of the ones they loved so much in life. Whatever the origin, the onryō’s undiscriminating wrath makes it one of the most feared supernatural entities in all of Japan.

LEGENDS: Unquestionably the most well-known onryō, and one whose grudge-curse exists to this very day, is the ghost of Oiwa: a young woman who was brutally disfigured and then murdered by her wicked and greedy husband in an elaborate plot. Her story is told in Yotsuya Kaidan, The Ghost Story of Yotsuya, and has been retold many times, in books, ukiyo-e, kabuki, and film. Like with Shakespeare’s Hamlet, legend has it that a curse accompanies her story, and that those who retell it will suffer injuries and even death. To this day, producers, actors, and their crews continue to visit the grave of Oiwa in Tokyo before productions or adaptations of Yotsuya Kaidan, praying for her soul and asking for her blessing to tell her story once again.