Book One - Squarespace

Quareia—The ApprenticeBook One

Josephine McCarthy

For more information and all course modules please visit www.quareia.com

Copyright 2014 ©Josephine McCarthy

All rights reserved

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any formor by anymeans (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without prior permissionof the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

Published by Quareia Publishing UK

ISBN 978-0-9933480-0-6

Cover illustration by Stuart Littlejohn

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Quareia team that made this course possible:Frater Acher, Alex A, Stuart Littlejohn, Aaron Moshe, Michael Sheppard,

and to Toni Paris for her astrology input.

And thank you to all the donors who made this course a reality.

Course Advisory

TheQuareia takes amagical apprentice from the beginning of magic to the level of adeptship and beyond.In order for this course to work, it is wise to work with the lessons in sequence. If you don’t, it will not

work properly.

1. Pace yourself. Some modules can be done together, some cannot. You will quickly realisewhich ones are weekly exercises that are ongoing, and which ones you need to focus onexclusively. Work out a rota of study/experimentation that works for you. There is noclock ticking, and it is not a race.

2. Keep paper and online notes. This is very important. Get an exercise book for each module.Clearly mark which lesson the notes refer to and when you finish that module, put thenotebook away. It is important that you work on paper as well as computer. Do your essaysandwritten tasks on computer and store them on aUSB stick so they are safe. If youwish tobe mentored through the Initiate and Adept training, these online and paper written noteswill be a part of your application. Without them, you cannot be mentored.

3. Learn to be flexible and adaptable. If you come across something in the course you are not surehow to do or do not fully understand, take a step back and think about it. It is important tolearn how to adapt, experiment and move forward without having every step re explainedmany times over – if you get stuck, work it out for yourself!

4. Do not skim through the lessons. You simply will not learn and you will not properly develop.Slow down, take your time.

Contents

I Core Skills 9

1 Meditation Techniques 101.1 Practical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101.2 First meditation exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111.3 Second meditation exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111.4 Third meditation exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121.5 Magic and Meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121.6 Task: Daily meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131.7 Task: Keeping notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2 Tarot Basics 152.1 The Rider Waite deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152.2 Major arcana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152.3 Minor arcana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162.4 Working with the cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172.5 Four-directional layout using six positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172.6 Task: Reading about the energy in your home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182.7 Task: Balancing a difficult space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.9 Task: Keep a tarot journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.10 Task: Further readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.11 Task: Keeping notes and following up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212.12 Addendum: Cleaning and care of cards and yourself after reading . . . . . . . . . 21

3 Visionary Magic Basics 223.1 Exercise 1: Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223.2 Exercise 2: Navigating a space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233.3 Exercise 3: Going for a walk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243.5 Task: Work with this method of visualisation for ten sessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4 Ritual Techniques 264.1 How does a ritual work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274.2 Ritual micro-actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274.3 Task: Body stretching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294.4 Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

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4.5 Example of a directional ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304.6 Analysis of the ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314.7 Directional ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344.8 Practical directional work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354.9 Working the directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364.10 Task: Practising the directional ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384.11 Task: Keeping notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

5 Inner Senses 405.1 Inner Hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415.2 Inner sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445.3 Inner touch and smell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455.4 Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455.5 Precognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455.6 Task: Inner touch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465.7 Task: Inner sense—feeling power patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475.8 Task: Inner and outer boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

6 Sacred Language &Magical Scripts 516.1 Magical Scripts and the 16th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516.2 Creating Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536.3 Magical Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536.4 Sigils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546.5 Sacred language and utterance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546.6 Translations of sacred languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556.7 Sound and symbol in magical action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566.8 Practical work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576.9 Working with magical symbols: Pentagram, Hexagram, Cruciform . . . . . . . . 576.10 Working the pentagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586.11 Task: An experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

7 Magical Protection 607.1 Threats and Saviours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607.2 Getting clean and staying clean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627.3 The ritual cleansing of a person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637.4 The ritual cleansing of a space, room, or house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647.5 Other cleaning methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657.6 Smells that clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667.7 Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677.8 Getting and staying balanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707.9 Task: Pentagram research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727.10 Breastplates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737.11 Talismans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747.12 Task: Making a Talisman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757.13 Task: The experiment’s results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767.14 Working these talismans for protection: points to remember . . . . . . . . . . . . 777.15 Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

8 Astrology 788.1 The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

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Contents

8.2 Transits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798.3 Astrological signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798.4 Houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808.5 The Planets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 818.6 Task: Investigating your own chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 838.7 Task: Ritual exercise—the pentagram and the natal chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 848.8 Task: Your personal pentagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858.9 Module One Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858.10 Basic Astrology—Extension Lesson by Toni Paris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868.11 Basic Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868.12 Chart shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 878.13 Signs, planets, and houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888.14 Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888.15 The signs in the natural horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888.16 The twelve houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 918.17 The planets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 928.18 Putting it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 928.19 The aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 928.20 Analysing your natal chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 928.21 Lunar aspects: following the moon through your natal chart . . . . . . . . . . . . 938.22 References: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

II Patterns and Maps in Magic 95

1 Directions 981.1 Directional dynamics of power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981.2 Task: The visionary ritual of the directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001.3 Task: Ritual of confirmation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1011.4 Task: Directional ritual of power, Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1021.5 Task: Directional ritual II (the full ritual) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1041.6 Task: Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1051.7 Task: An experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

2 The Tree of Life Tarot 1072.1 The tarot Tree map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1092.2 Working with the Tree layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1092.3 Interpreting the reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102.4 Example reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1112.5 Task: Practising this spread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

3 The Full Pentagram Ritual 1143.1 Task: Working with the Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1143.2 The Full Pentagram Ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1213.3 Experiment: Adjusting the ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1243.4 A note on letting go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1243.5 Task: Researching the Grindstone and the Threshing Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1253.6 When to use this ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

4 The Full Hexagram Ritual 126

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4.1 Hexagram ritual, part one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1274.2 So what was happening? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1304.3 Hexagram ritual, part two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1324.4 Task: Learning and practising the ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1344.5 Task: Mapping the sigil of the ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1354.6 Task: Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

5 The Elemental Patterns and Maps 1375.1 The magical elements in nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1375.2 Regional elemental expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1385.3 Analysis of the findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1405.4 Practical work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1425.5 Task: Identifying elemental manifestations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1425.6 Task: Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1435.7 Working: The ritual communication with the land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

6 The Metatron Cube and the Quarry Mark 1506.1 Task: Drawing and working with the Metatron Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1526.2 Experiment: Energies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1536.3 Task: Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1536.4 Experiment: Modelling the Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

7 Combinations 1567.1 The Cruciform and the Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1587.2 The Sword and the Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1607.3 Task: Practical Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1627.4 Task: Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

8 Natural Patterns of the Land 1668.1 Task: Visiting the site in vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1688.2 Task: Visiting the site physically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1708.3 Module Two Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

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Apprentice Module I

Core Skills

9

Lesson 1

Meditation Techniques

There is a very good reason why meditationis the very first skill that you learn in magic:without knowing how to use your mindproperly, there is no magic. To be still, to clearyour mind and to direct your thoughts arenecessary skills for operating magically. Tobe able to do those things, one must meditatedaily.When an aspirant first begins to meditate

it can often be a struggle: the mind andbody can be difficult beasts to tame, but withperseverance, meditation eventually becomesa normal part of your everyday life. Once youget to adept level, you should be able to closeyour eyes and immediately go into a very deepspace where you can draw upon power andwhere your inner (psychic) senses are alwaysready and available. How you get there isthrough practice, practice, practice.

1.1 Practical Considerations

There are a few practical considerations that Iwould like you to pay attention to before youstart your meditation practice. These consid-erations can have a bearing on how well yourmeditations go.Meditation does not need to be done on the

floor with your legs twisted like a pretzel. Ifyou already sit that way, through practicingyoga etc., then all is well and good. If you arenot used to doing yoga and have not meditated

before, then do not think you must struggle tosit in a position that is not easy for you. Sit in anupright chair, or on amat on the floor. The onlything I would advise against is lying down:you are not going to sleep, you are meditating.Lying down will encourage your mind to gointo sleep mode, which is not what you wantat all. So if you were considering lying down,stop being a wuss and sit in a chair.

Wear comfortable clothing. Have a silentclock placed nearby so that you can see it ifyou open your eyes. During the first stages ofmagical training, you will be timing yourself.Have a window open if at all possible, even if itis noisy: the fresh air and the energywithin theair is good for you. If possible, choose a roomthat is not near a road so that you can openthe window and not breathe in fumes. Turnoff phones etc.

If at all possible, get up an hour earlierthan normal and meditate first thing in themorning. It will be a struggle at first, but itwill set up your mind for the day. If this istruly not possible (i.e. you already get up forwork at 5am) then meditate late afternoon,early evening. Try to avoid meditating later atnight. But magically, the best time to meditateis dawn.

If you already meditate and are able to stillyour mind, don’t skip this lesson as there area couple of techniques introduced here whichare vital to this course. You will just find it

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Lesson 1. Meditation Techniques

much easier to do these exercises if you alreadymeditate.

1.2 First meditation exercise

Light a candle, note the time, sit down andclose your eyes. Turn your head to the right,take in a deep breath and then breathe out.Turn your head to the left, take a deep breath,and then breathe out. Face forward, take adeep breath and then breathe out.With your right hand (regardless of whether

you are right or left handed), place your thumband fourth (ring) finger on either side of theroot of your nose where your eyes and nosemeet, and place your index finger on yourforehead just above the nose/eyebrow line(third eye area). Sit and breath normally, beingaware of your finger on your forehead. Focuson your finger. Every time your mind wandersand you begin to think about mundane things,bring your focus back to your finger.Once your arm is tired, drop your arm and

keep focusing on that spot on your forehead.See yourself breathing in white smoke andbreathing out grey or black smoke. As youbreathe in, imagine that the white smoke isfilling your body and pushing out the staleblack smoke.Every time your mind wanders, pull it back

to the spot on your forehead. Once you feelyou cannot focus anymore, open your eyes andcheck the clock. If you have not sat for at leastten minutes, close your eyes and continue. Ifyou have sat for longer than ten minutes, closeyour eyes again for a few moments and tap onthe third eye area with your right index fingerwhile taking good deep breaths through yournose.Get up. Stretch up with your arms and

then, keeping your legs straight, stretch downto put your hands on the floor. Hold for afew seconds. Stand up, turn your body rightwhile keeping your hips facing forward, armsoutstretched, and hold. Turn and repeat onthe opposite side. Stand facing forward, armsoutstretched, and look at what is before you.As you look at what is before you, also thinkaboutwhat is behind you, what furniture, wall,

door, etc. Stand and make sure your brain canprocess looking at one thing while thinkingabout something else.Finally, turn to the east, bow, and finish.

You are bowing in recognition of every adeptwho has gone before you, every student whohas made real adept level and beyond. Youare bowing in recognition of all the inner andouter teachers. And it is also practice for whenyou come to work in the inner worlds. Thisis a deep sign of respect in magic: do notjust mindlessly bob your head or body in ameaningless gesture. Think about what youare doing. As you bow, be aware that you areentering a line of historic magicians, an ancientline, an ancient tradition that deserves yourrespect.Remember, twenty minutes a day of

meditation is far better than one or morehours once or twice a week. Little and often isthe key.

1.3 Second meditation exercise

Once you have mastered the previous meditationexercise, keep practicing it for ten minutes or moreeach day, and practice the following technique fora further ten minutes or more a day. End yoursession with the stretch and bow outlined in the firstmeditation exercise.Once your system is settled and you are used

to the basic meditation technique outlined inthe first exercise, then it is time to work withcolour. This is the foundation of learning howto move power in and out of your body. Theadvanced technique begins here. First youlearn how to move colour in and out of yourbody; then you learn how to trigger the regen-eration and cleaning of your inner energies.You are going to work with three colours,

red/left, blue/central, and white/right.Starting with the right side, block your left

nostril by pressing against it with your leftindex finger. Breathe in through your rightnostril and as you breathe in, imagine theright side of your body filling with whitesmoke. Breathe out through your mouth andimagine that you are breathing out white

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smoke. Breathe in white, breathe out white.Repeat this whole sequence three times.Now press on your right nostril with your

right index finger and breathe in throughyour left nostril. Imagine you are breathing inred smoke that fills the left side of your bodyand breathing out red smoke through yourmouth. Repeat this three times. Place yourhands on your lap and breathe in throughboth nostrils, imagining that you are breathingin blue smoke that fills the centreline downyour body from head to toe, and breathingout blue smoke from your mouth. Repeat thisthree times.Once you have finished, sit quietly and

imagine the blue channel flowing downthrough your centre, the white channelflowing down the right side of your body, andthe red channel flowing down the left handside of your body. Spend some time just sittingand being aware of the three colours flowingin your body.Finally, spend a little time sitting quietly and

allowing the mind to silence itself. If youfind yourself remembering things or thinkingabout things, just gently stop thinking aboutthem and return to silence. This is the hardestskill of all to learn in meditation, and it is bestto build it up a few minutes at a time untileventually the bulk of your meditation time isspent being still.

1.4 Third meditation exercise

Once you are accustomed to visualizing inmeditation and are able to sit for half an houror more, then it is time to learn the meditationof the inner flame. This is the start of a skill setthat, once you have mastered it, will be one ofthe many tools you can engage to help protectyou, transport you, heal you and energize you.It is an ancient method of magical meditationand something you will use throughout yourmagical life.Essentially this meditation works with the

image of a flame. This image will be slowlyconnected, through your training, to a stateof mind and a state of power called the Void.This power is something that exists within all

living beings, and all elements, substances andpatterns: it is the nothing fromwhich all thingsflow. To connectwith that power youmust firstlearn how to work with it in meditation, andthat is done using the element of fire. Youmustlearn to visualise a flame in front of you and aflame within you.For now, you will learn the very basic

meditation of the ‘flame within.’ Close youreyes and do one of your simple breathingexercises until you are still. Using your mind’seye, imagine a flame burning gently in thecentre of your body. It does not harm you,it does not burn you; it is a flame of vitalforce that energises you, and it is an aspectof your life force. As you breathe in and out,be aware of the flame within, ever constant,ever present. Notice its colour. Notice how itmoves gently as you breathe.Every time your mind drifts away from the

flame and thoughts start to crowd into yourhead, gently stop the flow of thoughts andremember the flame in your centre. Focusback on the flame, on the feeling of its warmththrough your body. Notice how safe it feelsand how beautiful it is.Open your eyes and check your clock. If you

have been sat for more than ten minutes, getup, stretch and do your bow. If you have onlybeen sat for a few moments, close your eyesand focus your mind back on the flame in thecentre of your body.

1.5 Magic and Meditation

Meditation is a central and core skill for magic,as magic uses the mind in many differentways and learning how to operate the mindconsciously is very important. A still mindallows the magician to focus power, and theability to consciously use the imagination tobuild images in the mind’s eye allows themagician to form patterns and doorways thatallow their consciousness to expand beyondtheir body. In today’s world of constant noise,media, and chatter, it can be very difficultfor the aspiring magician to learn how to bequiet, how to listen, and how to be still. Theway to overcome that difficulty is to work at

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Lesson 1. Meditation Techniques

it. For some of you, your mind or your bodyor both will rebel. Don’t turn your meditationsessions into a battle; rather turn them into arhythm. Remember as a child not wanting tobrush your teeth or wash your face, or to sitquietly until the adults had finished eating? Itwas hard as a child to do such disciplines, andyet as an adult you move through such thingswithout even thinking about them. So it willbecome with meditation. And that stage isarrived at by doing it every day.I used to practice meditation with a baby

on my lap, or on the bus on longer journeys:that put me in good stead for later yearswhen I would find myself suddenly facing apowerful being or a dangerous situation—Icould instantly become still and focused.Magic flows from that still, focused place.

Robes and tools and altars are a part of magic,but if they become a crutch then you aredoomed to destruction or failure. A magicalattack will not wait patiently for you to finishwhat you are doing, put on a robe and pickup a sword: it will catch you unawares in themidst of a busy day. As you will learn in yourtraining, while youwill usemagical tools, yourbody is also all of those tools combined, andyour mind is the most potentially powerfultool you can use. That power comes first frommeditation, and then from the use of visionarymagic.

1.6 Task: Daily meditation

Meditate each day for a minimum of twentyminutes. Initially, start with just the firstmeditation. Once you have understood andare able to do the first meditation, add thesecond meditation. Once you have masteredthat, go on to work with the flame meditation.Once you have mastered all three forms, starta regular daily routine that incorporates allthree in succession: first the clearing of thebody (white smoke/black smoke), then theawakening of the third eye (the finger-pressand tapping technique), then the energisingand alignment of the three channels (red,blue, white) and finally the flame meditation.Meditate for a minimum of twenty minutes

each day without fail. But do not meditatemore than an hour a day.

1.7 Task: Keeping notes

Keep short notes in your journal of yourprogress in your meditations: list how longyou meditated (and be truthful!), whetheryou felt it was easy or hard, and how you feltafterwards.

Your early warning system

The reason for keeping a daily note of howyou felt at the end of your meditation is thateventually it will show you how your earlywarning system is developing. As the weekspass and you become more experienced inmeditation, there will be times when youemerge from your meditations feeling slightly‘off’ or ‘jangled.’ This can often be an earlywarning of trouble or illness. It is like a very,very quiet whisper at first, something you canbarely feel.But as you work more, and as you practice

other core skills, slowly but surely you willstart to recognise your ‘good’ energy feeling,your ‘bad’ or ‘getting sick’ energy feeling, andyour early warning system of ‘something is notquite right.’ Once you have recognized thedistinctive feel of the early warning system,you can use other core skills to identify what ispotentially going wrong, or if you are in somesort of danger.The more you recognise these signals,

the stronger they will become over time.Sometimes it is just your own consciousnessplaying tricks on you, but you need to learn tofeel the differencewhen that happens. Becauseeveryone senses things in slightly differentways, the only way to truly learn what yourown feelings in stillness are telling you is byobserving them through a daily journal.If you get sick, look back a few days in your

journal to see how you felt after meditation.Sometimes the body gets a little energy hightwenty-four hours before sickness: this is yourimmune system gearing up for the attack.Others feel out of focus, and some people

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Quareia—The Apprentice, Book One

describe feeling like they are the ‘wrongshape’ just before they get sick.If something bad or difficult happens, again,

look back over your journal. A couple ofwordseach day are all that it takes. As you start to seea pattern develop through your descriptions,you will begin to recognise the quiet warningsthat your inner energy or body tries to giveyou. So write them down each day withoutfail.Daily meditation will become an aspect of

your daily life for the rest of your life, so getused to it!

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Lesson 2

Tarot Basics

If you already work with tarot, do not skipthis lesson as there are certain points withinit that are essential for future work in thiscourse. Just read through the lesson and if youfind any exercises, layouts, or other elementsthat you have not done before, focus on themand complete them. (If you have worked withthe basic tarot module presented in Choosing aMagical Path, there are major differences in thislesson, so do not skip it.)

Tarot is a core skill formagical training and itwill become amajor tool in yourmagical life. Itis of the utmost importance that youmaster theskill of tarot if youwish to grow into an initiateand eventually into an adept.Some people learn the various tarot skills

quicker than others, and if you find themdifficult it is important to keep practicinguntil you become proficient. Do not measureyour level of accomplishment against theachievements of others: everyone who trainsin magic is better at some things and weakerat others. It is rare that any magician becomesadept at all the magical skills in their lifetime.The key is to become proficient at all of them,and adept at some of them. The skill of tarotcomes from practice, and plenty of it.

2.1 The Rider Waite deck

Before you tackle actual readings, it isimportant to get to know the deck in basic

terms. So let us have a look at the deck tosee how it works. The Rider Waite tarotfollows the classic tarot format, and it is thebest deck for a beginner to use. Once youhave learned how to work with this deck, youwill eventually learn to work with all sorts ofdifferent oracle decks that are not based on thesame tarot system. Many tarot decks on themarket today are different expressions of thisbasic deck. So learn this one first before youbranch out to work with other forms of tarotand divination oracle decks.

2.2 Major arcana

The classic tarot deck is divided into the majorarcana and theminor arcana. Themajor arcanatells you about the powers and influences thatare flowing through a person or a situation.The minor arcana shows you how these influ-ences actually manifest in a situation.

Power in people, events, and nature

Separate out the major arcana from the minorarcana and put the minor cards to one side fornow. Spread out the major cards and put themin numerical sequence. You will notice as youlook at them that some of the cards representtypes of powers that run through people (theFool, the Magician, the High priestess, etc.),some depict forces that influence events (theTower, Death, theWheel, etc.) and some depict

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Quareia—The Apprentice, Book One

powers that affect every living thing (The Sun,the Moon, the Star, etc.).The ‘people’ powers tell you about various

stages of human development that we all gothrough in one form or another. As amagician,you will learn to interpret these people powersin relation to who the person is, and if they area magician or not.For example, the Hierophant can represent

an adept who has learned how to bridgebetween the worlds. But it can also representsomeone who holds power in a spiritual orreligious form, but is not a magician. So forexample, if you were doing a reading abouta nation and the Hierophant showed up, itis very likely that the person who wields themost power in that nation is a religious leader.

TheHierophant can also represent dogmaticadherence to a religion. Really, it is all aboutthe question, the context and the peopleinvolved. Such skill of interpretation takestime and lots of practice, and that will notcome overnight.Without me giving you guidance, separate

out the major cards into three groups: powerin people, power of events, and power innature. Write down which cards you havegrouped into the three different groups. Lateron, revisit these groups to see if you wouldchange anything as your understanding hasgrown.

Finding your key words

Bearing in mind the three groups you havecreated, now look at the little booklet that camewith the deck. Look up the major cards andread through their descriptions. If you have atarot book, look up the meanings behind eachcard. There will be subtle differences betweena book and the booklet depending upon whowrote the book.Don’t worry about that for now; everyone

views each card slightly differently, but eachcard has a common theme. Spot the commontheme, think of one word that encapsulatesits meaning, and write it down beside thename of the card. Ensure that the one word(two at a stretch) also reflects the group that

you have placed that card in. So for example,staying with the Hierophant, the key wordcould be ‘bridge’, or ‘priest’, both of whichessentially mean the same thing, but whichcan be interpreted very differently in readings.It is important that you settle on a word thatworks for you and that also reflects the card’sdescription in the book.

2.3 Minor arcana

Once you have a list of key words for each ofthe major cards, put them aside and get outthe minor cards. Lay them out in front of youand you will notice that they are divided intofour sets: swords (air), cups (water), pentacles(earth) and wands (fire). This is the first stageof learning about the four magical directions.

The four magical directions

These four suits will teach you about thedifferent expressions of influence that flowfrom the four magical directions, and they willalso teach you about the four magical toolsthat belong in the four directions: the sword,the wand, the cup and the shield. They willteach you about how the elemental powerscan manifest, how the magical tools can work,and what sort of power they bring through.That learning will come as a result of yourwork with tarot, and also through your ritualand visionary work as you go through eachmodule.

Finding your key words

For now, look through all the minor cards,starting with the sword/air cards, then thewand/fire cards, the cup/water cards, andfinally the pentacle/earth cards. Look at thepictures to see what they tell you. Then lookat the booklet or book that you have on tarotand see what it tells you about each card,and when you have a reasonable idea of itsmeaning, choose a key word for the card.Write your key words out in an easily

readable list and when you do readings, useyour key words for the major and minor cardsto guide you in your interpretation. Don’t

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Lesson 2. Tarot Basics

worry about card reversals: we will not beworking with those as it can just make lifemore complicated than it needs to be. Thenegative aspect of a card can be discernedfrom a combination of the card in relation tothe question, and in relation to the position itlands in.To get started with reading the tarot, we

will first work with the four-directional layout.This layout will help you to develop yourunderstanding of the magical directions whenyou come to work with them in the ritualmagic lessons.

2.4 Working with the cards

Shuffling

How you approach shuffling the cards canbe just as important as any other aspect ofworking with tarot. Everyone develops theirown shuffling technique, but there are somepoints to consider in order to help the shufflingbe successful.One key factor is to ensure that you are fully

focused on the question in hand as you shuffle.Do not be distracted by talking or allow yourmind to wander: keep the question foremostin your mind as you work the cards. Also keepin mind as you shuffle what layout you willuse: you need to focus on the question and thelayout.One good method for doing this is to work

with your eyes closed. As you shuffle, thinkabout the question, the layout you are goingto use, and imagine you are searching forsomething through a ‘mist.’ Use your innervision and imagination to create the sensationof trying to ‘pierce a veil.’As you develop your own technique, you

will find that after the initial shuffle, your handaction begins to slow down so that the cardsare placed more precisely in their order. Onceeverything is in the right position you will feelthem ‘lock’ in place. The accuracy of a readingrelies on the focus of intention you hold as youwork the cards.

Laying out

Once your deck is ready, then work from thetop of the pile and place each card out. Onceyou have become accustomed to workingwith the cards, you may find that the answeryou were looking for seeps into your mindeven before you lay the cards out. It is as ifyou get a preview of what is coming. Not allreaders have this experience, but for thosewith a strong natural ability, the flavour of thereading often emerges in the reader’s mindbefore the cards are laid out.

Interpreting

Once you have laid out the cards, take amoment to look at them in their positions.Remember, the meaning of the card andthe meaning of its position should be readtogether. Go through each card one by oneuntil you get to the end, and then go backto the beginning. Often a card/position willnot make any sense until you have looked atthe whole reading; then the meaning starts tounfold. If there is still something you are notgetting, sometimes it works to sit quietly andsay to yourself, ‘okay, tell me about this’. Writedown the reading so that you can go back toit after a few hours and look again. What Ihave always found is that when in doubt, thesimplest interpretation is often the right one.

2.5 Four-directional layoutusing six positions

The directional attributes

These are general magical attributes that canbe used not only in magic, ritual and vision,but also in divination. Once you have a basicidea of the powers that flow from thesemagicaldirections, you can use that knowledge toworkwith the directions for tarot readings.

1. Centre. Body/self/land/starting point.(Always start at ground zero—you areseeing from this perspective and this is

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Quareia—The Apprentice, Book One

Figure 2.1: The four-directional tarot layout.

what all of the directional powers areaffecting.)

2. East. Air, swords, words, spring, intellect,training, mind.

3. South. Fire, summer, wands, success,rulership, kings, gods, immune system,male.

4. West. Water, autumn, cups, emotions,relationships, psychic ability.

5. North. Earth, winter, pentacles,substance, ancestors, elders, queens,goddesses: female.

6. Relationships. This position is abouthow things directly affect you and yourrelationship with them.

There are many more directional attributes,and as you develop as a magician you willlearn far more subtleties, interlinks andconnections. But it is unwise to swampyourself beneath a ton of lists: start simple andgo from there. These are a very basic list ofmagical directional powers and how you usethem in readings will depend largely on whatyou are reading about and what you need toknow.

2.6 Task: Reading about theenergy in your home.

In your first reading, you will look at theenergy in your home. This is an importanttarot skill to develop, and over time you learnmany different ways to look at the energy ofa place. Different reading layouts can be useddepending on what you are looking for andwhat the situation is, but for now you willwork with this simple layout. Today you aresimply going to look at the overall energy ofthe space in which you live. If you live in ahouse with more than one storey, do a readingfor each storey in turn.

Doing the reading

Mix up your deck properly and shuffle themusing the shufflemethod outlined above. Keepin mind your question, which is ‘show me theenergies present in my living space,’ and alsokeep inmind the directional pattern thatworksthrough the layout: 1 = centre, 2 = east, 3 =south and so forth.When you have finished shuffling, lay out

your cards in the sequence pictured in thediagram above and then sit back and look atit. Look first at the centre of the reading. Thisshows you the core energy that is currentlyin your living space. Then look at what is inthe east (position two). Think of that card inrelation to what is in the east section of yourspace: is it a bedroom? A kitchen? Look ateach of the directions and think of the spacesthat are in those directions.Once you have spent a little time looking at

the cards, looking at the pictures and under-standing what element it is (fire/wands?air/swords?) or what power it is (is it a personcard like a king or queen?), then write downthe reading so that you have a record of it. Youcan take a picture of it, but also write it downin your journal.The first thing to note in your interpretation

is, where are the major cards? If any majorcards have fallen in any of the directions, thatwill tell you that the power coming from thatdirection, be it good or bad, is stronger than the

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Lesson 2. Tarot Basics

others. If you get a lot of major cards (and youhadmixedup your cards properly and shuffledwell), then it may be an indication that you aresat on top of a power spot. Youwill learn aboutthose later in the course. For now, just take anote of that.

Identifying good and bad areas

If you get a very bad card in one (or more) ofthe directions, then you need to identify whichroom it refers to and mark that down in yourjournal. Once you have finished this generallook at your living space, youwill focus on anyreally difficult areas.In the general reading, note the very good

directions and the very bad. Identify whicharea of the house or which room that refersto. The good ones will show you where thestrong, healthy and regenerative areas of thehouse are, and the bad ones will show youwhere there are unhealthy areas of the house,or even an object that is a bad influence in thehouse.

Transient energies

If you get minor cards that are not lookingso good, they may refer to transient energies,so you would need to repeat the exercise in aweek’s time to see if the difficult influence isstill present. If it is, you will need to address itby doing a directional reading for the difficultroom.Write downwhich areas show up as difficult

(if you are unlucky, all directions will showproblems).

Figuring out why an area is difficult

Now go and look at those areas in the house.Are there statues, magical objects, mirrors,piles of clutter, or anything obvious that couldpotentially cause an issue?Is it an area of the house that is very busy

and used a lot? There are a variety of basicthings you can do for now to make your spacea bit easier energetically until you learn how totackle the problem properly.

2.7 Task: Balancing a difficultspace

Once you have identified the difficult areasof the house, clean up any clutter, organisewhatever is in that area or room, and makesure the room is clean. Use the four-directionalreading to identifywhich direction in the roomhas the most problems (major bad card, or lotsof swords). In each very difficult directionplace a good sized jar filledwith three quarterssalt and a quarter water. If there are artworksor sacred pieces (demon masks, deities andso forth) in the direction, you need to discernif they are helping, hindering or causing theproblem.The way to find that out is to do a four-

directional reading for the room asking “whatwould the energy of this room look like if I tookoutX?” That way you will be able to figure outwhat is helping andwhat is not by the answersthat you get.If there is a serious problem, don’t panic:

you have lived there okay so far, but it issomething that you will need to tackle in thelong term. Follow the advice in this lesson,and as you progress, you will learn more andmore techniques for dealing with problematicenergies. You need to learn how to do thosetechniques properly for them to be effective,and that is going to take time.For now, the salt water cure will lessen any

issues. And keep the problem areas as quiet aspossible. If there is a sound system there, moveit. If there are lots of very ‘busy’ things likecomputers, toys etc., move them. What willalso help is to identify the really good energyareas in the house and use themmore than thebad energy area.

Flying Star Feng Shui

If the balancing of house energies is somethingthat really interests you, then look up theFlying Star Feng Shui system. I have found itvery useful in difficult houses, but I have alsofound that it does not work exactly: maybe theland where it developed and the land whereI lived were not quite the same in terms of

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Quareia—The Apprentice, Book One

relationships with the stars etc., but it wasnear enough to be very useful. Again, use thetarot layout to track your progress, to see whatwould work and what would not.

Example: a difficult kitchen

Let’s suppose we have done a reading fora house and in the south, the Tower cardappears. We identify the south room on thatfloor of the house as being the kitchen. Sowe do a second reading for just that room,and once again a destructive card, the Ten ofSwords (which is the lesser version of theTower), appears in the south position. We lookaround the kitchen with a compass and notethat the cooker is in the south.Now, remember that often the simplest inter-

pretation is the best. In a kitchen, we have acooker in the south (which is a fire position).A cooker is also often a source of house fires(fryers bursting into flames etc.).So you need to find out if there is a fault

with the cooker that is going unseen and willset the house on fire, or if there is just toomuch of the element of fire in that direction.Sometimes, particularly if you are on a fiery

land (like desert or a volcanic outcrop etc.)having a cooker in the south in a south roommight just be a bit too much. You will need todo two further readings. The first one wouldask, what would the energy of this room looklike if we fixed or replaced the cooker? If thereading looks fine, then there is a hidden faultin the cooker which is building up to becomea house fire. Remember, energetically, a firestarting in the south of a roomhasmore energybehind it to take off. (This might be reversed ifyou live in the southern hemisphere.)If the problem still shows, then you most

likely need to move your cooker. I know thatis easier said than done if you live in a smallspace like I do, or you are on limited funds, orboth.In such circumstances, do a further reading

to see what the roomwould look like if you gotan old large pan, filled it with water, and justkept it on top of the cooker permanently andchanged the water occasionally to introduce a

body of water into the fire area. Often that canbe a good second choice solution.

2.8 Summary

Learning good tarot skills is paramount toyour success as a magician. Do not fall intothe trap of learning tarot through psychologyor heavily interpreting your tarot throughpsychology: it really does not work well thatway. Learning tarot in the way I suggest abovewill give you a wide field of understandingthat will grow and develop as you grow anddevelop into an initiate, and finally, an adept.These first steps of learning how to read

using the directions will provide you with arock solid magical base of understanding thatdovetails in with the early phases of your ritualand visionary training. Together, these willprovide you with the most ancient magicalkeys that are necessary in order for you tomove forward with your training. Like allmagical skills, tarot is about practice.

2.9 Task: Keep a tarot journal

Have a separate journal that you keep (aphysical one, not an online one) for all of yourtarot readings. This is really important. Yourtarot lessons and your tarot practice shouldbe written down in such a way that you canlook back in a year or two’s time and stillunderstand what you’ve written. Not onlywill you be able to gauge how much progressyou have made, but you will also be able totrack the events, powers and influences thatare running through your life.

2.10 Task: Further readings

Do a four-directional reading for your home.And then do one for each room in the house.Write down the results and any remedies youdecided to use to balance troublesome areas ofthe house (salt/water etc.).If you decide to look up Flying Stars

Feng Shui, do a map of your house for theyear—many of the influences change eachyear as they are working astrologically.

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Lesson 2. Tarot Basics

Once you are used to the layout, do a four-directional reading for your neighborhood,and then one for your city. Work with thedirectional layout to look at different thingsover a period of two weeks, until you feel thatyou are getting the hang of the layout and areable to interpret it adequately.

2.11 Task: Keeping notes andfollowing up

Write each reading down, take note of thedifficult areas it reveals in your neighbourhoodand city, and then if you can, go visit themto see if you can feel the energy—or evenidentify where the bad energy is comingfrom. Take notes on your observations andany actions that you take to change a room orspace. When you have changed a space, doa followup reading to see if the change wasa good remedy or if more action is needed.Write everything down.

2.12 Addendum: Cleaning andcare of cards and yourselfafter reading

Once you have finished reading, it is advisableto go and wash your hands with soap. If ithas been a difficult reading, or if the readingwas used to look at difficult, dangerous orunhealthy situations, it is a good idea to putsome salt in the cup of your hand beforeadding soap and water. This will break anyenergetic ties, and it will also clean off the‘sticky’ energetic residue that can sometimesaccumulate during readings.

Cleaning the deck

Depending on howoften youuse the deck (andalways after very difficult readings) it can bea good idea to clean the deck itself. This canbe done by ‘bathing’ the deck in the smoke offrankincense resin burned on charcoal, or byputting the deck in a plastic bag, pouring indry salt, and giving it a good shake.

This limits the lifespan of a deck, but it ismore important to stay clean than to have agrubby favourite deck for years. This is why,for most readings, it is wiser to use a common,simple deck that can be easily and affordablyreplaced on a regular basis. My deck usuallylasts me about a year before I have to replaceit, and I use my deck regularly.Store your deck in a box, and keep it away

from children, pets, etc. Wrapping the deckin a cloth and using a cloth for layouts alsohelps to limit any unhealthy energy residuefrom being left behind on the surface that youlay the cards on, and also it helps to stop thedeck getting dirty. The cloth should bewashedregularly.

Cleaning yourself

The first rule for keeping yourself clean aftera reading is to wash your hands with saltand soap as soon as you have finished. Donot do or touch anything else until you havecleaned your hands. If the reading session wasparticularly hard or the subject matter wasvery unhealthy, then also rub some salt overyour ‘third eye’ area, and then wash your face.

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Lesson 3

Visionary Magic Basics

Note: If you have worked with the following exercisebefore, through the module on ‘Choosing a MagicalPath,’ go down to the bottom of this lesson and checkthe tasks list to make sure you have done all that isneeded.

Visionary magic uses the imagination as aninterface that allows the magician to accessinner beings and inner realms. When I sayinner, I do not mean inside you, but insidea dimension that is not of the physical realm(some call it the astral realm). This dimensionis accessed through the use of the imagination,through the mind’s eye, hence the term ‘inner.’First you need to learn how to use your imagi-nation in a controlled way. Then you need tolearn how to trigger events with spirit beingsand inner places by using your imagination.

Psychologists, artists and thinkers all usetheir imaginations as a tool in order to do theirwork. A magician also uses the imaginationas a tool, but what makes it different for amagician is the use of the imagination as adoorway through which their mind steps inorder to reach other places.

In order to use your mind in such a way,you must first be able to meditate—which iswhy your very first lesson was in meditationtechniques. Secondly, you must be able tointeract with your mind in a focussed way, totrigger your imagination, and to hold yourfocus. Learning how to imagine something,learning how to see the ‘something’ that

you have imagined in your mind’s eye, andlearning how to build an image using yourimagination are all of paramount importancein magic.Skill in this area is achieved through a series

of specific exercises which you will learn inthis lesson. These exercises must be done andmastered before you go on to attempt visionarymagic.

3.1 Exercise 1: Memory

This exercise is designed to tap into yourmemory and use the mechanism that yourbrain uses in remembering. Working with thisexercise not only helps your memory; it alsoteaches you to use wider areas of your brainwhen engaging the imagination.

1. Sit quietly after you have meditated fora few minutes to silence yourself. Thinkof an event that happened five years ago,an event that is easy for you to remember,like a birthday, an accident, or a familycelebration. See yourself in that event:observe yourself from a distance, asthough you were stood in the corner ofthe room. Remember the people whowere there, what the room looked like,any smells that were apparent. Then seethe event from within yourself lookingout at the other people, look around

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Lesson 3. Visionary Magic Basics

the room, watch any details you canremember.

2. Now remember something from fivedays ago. Remember waking up, makinga drink, or going to work. Were youdriving? Can you remember the road,the cars on the road, what the traffic waslike, people you passed by? Or choosean event from that day and focus on it.See it from outside of yourself first, andthen see it from inside yourself: you arewatching yourself driving or working.Observe your moods, your actions of thatday during a particular incident or event.

3. Repeat the whole exercise by remem-bering something from ten years ago andthen ten days ago. Watch the memoryfrom outside yourself and then frominside of yourself.

The object of this exercise is to train theimagination to focus while also engaging thelong-term and short-term memory. Engagingthe long-term memory first (which is a filingsystem that is usually fairly efficient and acces-sible) also triggers the short-termmemory fileswhich are often harder to access and slightlymore chaotic. This iswhy if youwish to try andremember something froma fewdays ago, firstremember something from a few years ago.Opening your long-term memory helps you toremember short-term events.Linking the memory and the imagination

together allows the visionary process to engagewider areas of the brain, which in turn helpsthe visionary process to become more solid.

3.2 Exercise 2: Navigating aspace

This is the next step in training the imagi-nation. Learning how to move around aspace using your mind is a good exercise,and it is also the first step in learning howto step through the imagination into actuallytravelling using your mind. It is also a majortraining exercise for remote viewing, which isthe term for using the imagination to travel

about in the physical world and observehappenings.To prepare for this exercise, do a round

of meditation or breathing exercises or both.Once you are nice and still and your mind iscalm, begin by imagining yourself steppingout of your body. Turn around and look atyourself sitting on the floor. Look at the roomyou are in, look at the window and workout what direction it is in relation to yourbody. Turn and look at the door, and thenlook around the room, noting the colours andtextures of the room’s furniture, and if there isa mirror, go and stand before it. Look at yourreflection and note how you look in spirit: it isoften different from how your body appears.Next, go to the door and out into the next

room or hallway. Walk around the room,noting the windows, doors and any fireplaces(entrances and exits), note the furniture, thetextures and colours, and any creatures (catsetc.) in that room. If there are people inthat room, observe them closely, look at theirexpressions, actions, and movements. Thenlook at them again, noting if they emit anyparticular colour. (Colour is a frequency ofenergy, a vibration. The colours that peoplegive off can tell you a great deal about theirhealth and state of mind.)Repeat this action in each room of the house

or building you are in, until you find that yourimagination is starting to break up and youare losing focus. At that point, start walkingback to your body, noting each room you passthrough to get back to your body. Once you getto your body, step in, settle yourself down, andwhen you are ready, open your eyes.Don’t be tempted to ‘jump’ from place to

place. Make sure you walk the space: it isreally important for later magical skill that youlearn towalk fromplace to place and are able tohold the focus necessary to do this. This disci-pline begins to work your visionary ‘muscle,’and it can be quite hard and tiring at first. Themore you practice each day, the longer youwillbe able to sustain the vision and the further youwill be able to go without losing focus.Another important reason for making sure

you walk through the exercise is that when

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you use visionary methods to reach into theinner worlds, taking your time to get there bywalking through the various stages in betweenhelps your mind to transition from imagi-nation to actually seeing what is happeningin a particular space. It helps to loosen yourmind and spirit, and it also works with amagical dynamic of tides and oppositionswhich you will learn about later in the course.It is a particular feature of visionary magicthat the time taken to get to a place helps thegathering of power, helps the body adjust tothe changes in power, and also helps yourbody to cope with the impact.Once you have mastered that technique, it is

easy to come back quickly and jump from onespace to another, but the going to a locationmust always be unfolded slowly and neverrushed, no matter how experienced you are.

3.3 Exercise 3: Going for a walk

Once you have managed to walk arounda few rooms in a house, and can hold thevision so that you can observe the details ofa room, then it is time to learn how to leavethe building that you are in. Start the exercisein the same way: stillness—breathing—stepout of body and observe the room in whichyou are seated. Pick a nearby building andsee yourself stepping out of the house andwalking down the street. Note the cars, thepeople, and the animals that you pass.Enter your chosen building through its door

and go to one particular room that you havechosen. Walk into the room, look around,and note the entrances, windows, fireplace,etc. Look at any people in the room. Goup to one of them and, using the breathingexercise of colour that you have practiced, seeyourself gently blowing white smoke towardsthe person. Note any reaction and then drawaway.See yourself walking back out of the

building, back down the street and into yourhouse. Go back to the room where you firststarted, sit down into your body, and whenyou are ready, open your eyes.

3.4 Summary

Work with these various exercises until youcan do them with ease, and once you get tothat stage, you can begin to tackle the nextlevel of visionary exercises. Don’t skip anyof the stages, as they are designed to slowlybuild your inner skill for visionary work, andsome people will gain the skill quicker thanothers. If you build a solid skill for movingabout using your imagination. That skill willput you in good stead should you encounterdifficulties when navigating the inner worlds.Hence it is important to become familiarwith the sensation of using the mind to moveabout, and to be able to hold the vision ifyou encounter unexpected beings, powers orevents.Most injuries and shocks sustained while

working in vision happen because themagician is not used to holding the visionin the face of the unexpected, so taking thetime to build a solid working technique is wellworth the effort. Using visionary skills in thisrealm is also a handy tool to use to check yourhome when you are away, to ensure there is noone in the building who should not be there,and that the building is safe. This is a form ofremote viewing.

3.5 Task: Work with thismethod of visualisation forten sessions.

If after ten sessions you are able to visualiseyourself moving about with ease, are able toswitch perspectives from looking out fromwithin your body to looking from an outsidepoint of observation, and are able to visualisegoing out of your house and going to somebuilding down the street, then you are readyto move on.If you are still struggling with these

exercises, don’t rush yourself. Everyone isdifferent; everyone develops at their own pace.Keep working with this phase of the workuntil you are happy that you have gained theskill. Don’t try and skip this phase if you are

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struggling with it, as it is the core skill thatenables visionary magic to work. It does notmatter if it takes you a year to learn this skill:all that matters is that you learn how to doit. Keeping working with the exercises andalso study the other lessons in the module,but don’t attempt any more visionary magiclessons until you have mastered these basics.In terms of remote viewing skills, working

with these exercises every so often throughoutyour magical life will help to develop deeperability in remote viewing techniques. Theseskills can be very helpful if you need to checkon a family member from a distance, or checkout the safety of a space before you go there.

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Lesson 4

Ritual Techniques

Before we dive in to learning how to do a ritualand how to do ritual magic, let’s first havea look at what ritual magic actually is. Youwould be surprised at the number of peopleinvolved in magic who have no real under-standing as to what a ritual actually is andhow it works. Many people think that therobes, tools, altars, speeches and officers arethe ingredients that make a ritual work. Thatis a common incorrect assumption.

A ritual is a pattern of energy created by acertain action, utterance, substance and toolsbrought together in a certain way and theninfused with inner power and contact to bringit to life. The latter part of that descriptionis the part that is most often missed. Why?Because so much modern magical trainingonly focuses on the outer aspect of the ritual,i.e., the recipe book. The grimoire or ritualtext is often mistaken for being the wholeritual, but it is not. It is only fifty percent of theactual ritual; the rest consists of magical skillapplied through the use of inner vision, powermediation and inner contact. Throughouthistory magical texts leave that part out, notjust to protect the magic from dabblers, butbecause there is no point in adding it in.

Either the magician is properly trained andknows how to switch the ritual into life, or theydo not. If they do not, they will achieve at besta fragment of what the ritual has the potentialto trigger. This protects the dabbler from

their own ignorance, protects the integrity ofthe magic, and protects everyone around thedabbler.

If a ritual pattern has been used repeatedlyin the same way over a long period oftime, it can potentially work regardless ofwho operates it, provided it was originallyconstructed with inner contact, and it isconducted with the key elements present. Butin general, the inner connection is the key tosuccess. You can give someone a script fora ritual, a robe, a wand, a sword, an altar,officers, the whole works. . . and nothing willhappen if they do not have the power andability to make it all work.

On the other end of the spectrum, a properlytrained adept can walk up to a candle, or goout into the sunshine or the wind, or can walkinto a church or temple and just stand there.They can utter a single ritual call or intent withno dressing, no candles, no robes, scripts, orwands, and all the power will immediatelyswitch on and start working. That is becausethe adept is plugged into the power properlyand the simple action of intent with focus,uttering that intent or using a physical action totrigger exteriorization of that intent, will bringthe magic powerfully into action.

It is this need for both sides of the coin tobe present to make the work successful thatprotects the ritual texts, grimoires, and ancienttemples. You can recreate complex rituals from

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books and grimoires till the cows come home,but if you do not have the ritual plugged intopower, or do not know how to access thatpower, then it just will not work; or if anybeings are around you, it may raise a small puffof power—but nothing more.That is why it is very important for any

budding magician to ensure that they learnboth ritual magic and visionary magic: ritualmagic is the construction of outer patterns andalso puts out the call, and visionary magicaccesses the power and consciousness of innerworlds, and bridges the beings that bring theritual magic to life. Ritual magic gives formto the inner power, and the inner power fuelsthe ritual. One without the other is a waste oftime.

4.1 How does a ritual work?

The construction of a ritual has two mainaspects: human and energetic. The actualstyle of magic used (the language, tools, robes,incantations etc.) largely depends on whattype of magic you are doing and what you aretrying to achieve. The elements of the styleof magic are not the magic itself: they are thesurface variables, the details of the ‘dressing,’and they are not actually necessary for thefoundational construction of a ritual; ratherthey give the ritual a particular ‘accent’ whichin turn attracts the attention of specific spirits.The foundation of the ritual itself consists of

the combined platform of energy and humans.Let’s have a look at the human aspect of ritualfirst.All humans have ritual in their liveswhether

they realise it or not. Rituals make thingseasier, more predictable and more efficient.They are the things we do the same way everyday: howwe brush our teeth, howwewake up,howwe drink our coffee, howwe dress. We allhave our own ways of doing things, and as weget older our patterns becomemore settled andpredictable.A ritual begins to form when a person

chooses to do something in a particular way.If they continue to repeat this action in thesame way over a long period of time, the

action becomes engrammed into their brain andconsciousness until it becomes an unconsciousaction. Driving a car is the most commonlyunderstood example of engramming, whichmeans repeating a pattern of action in exactlythe same way on a regular basis until itbecomes second nature.This method of pattern making, which is

what both magic and engramming is, canoften be observed in the training of gymnasts,acrobats, ballet dancers and silk weavers.Repeating a movement exactly the same wayover a long period of time results in your beingable to execute the action at far greater speedand power than an untrained person could.When you combine an engrammed action

with the focused use of your mind, you havethe foundation of a ritual. Making your coffeein a certain way each morning to help you getfocused and ready for the day can become aritual: it is the use of a repeated action to affectconsciousness. It is not a magical ritual, but itis a ritual nonetheless.So what does this have to do with ritual

magic? Everything. It is very important tounderstand the different forms of ritual thatexist in our lives, and it is very important toknow all of the components that go into theconstruction of a successful magical ritual.How you physically do your magical

ritual, particularly if it is one that you oftenrepeat, is very important: your own physicalpattern of behaviour builds a doorway in yourconsciousness and your body which enablesyour mind and body to then fully engagewith the power the ritual can connect youto. That physical engagement with the ritualcan take the form of processing around thedirections, standing before an altar, usingphysical stances, mudras, body actions. . . allthese physical patterns can be components ofa ritual.

4.2 Ritual micro-actions

As the magician becomes more advancedin ritual, something happens that very fewmagicians are aware of, but which canultimately undermine rituals that use high

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levels of power. That something is called a‘micro-action.’ This is a pattern of behaviourthat you need to be aware of from the veryearliest stages of your training, so that you canspot it when it starts, and remove it from yourbody.When a magician repeats the same ritual

on a daily basis over a period of time, itbecomes engrammed. Once the ritual actionis engrammed into the brain, the brain startsto get ‘bored’ and will fight the engram byintroducing a micro-action into the ritual.This is a phenomenon that is known in thevarious forms of classical dance that requirethe dancer to perform repetitive actions over along period of time. A micro-action manifestsin a way that is very subtle and can seemharmless, and it is often mistaken for ‘personalstyle.’Let’s have a look of a practical example of

micro-actions invading an engram so that youget a good idea of what I am talking about.A magician is working a hexagram ritual

each day to instill balance within herself andbalance in the working space, as well as usingthe ritual as a moving meditation. The ritualinvolves her moving around the room, makingcertain arm actions and speaking certainwords. After a few months of repeating thisritual, the magician can do it without thinkingand often works through the ritual withoutremembering doing it: she is on autopilot, andthe ritual is an active engram.One day, without noticing what she’s doing,

when the magician uses her finger to traceshapes in the air she finishes the tracing witha small flourish of her finger or wrist; andwhen she walks from direction to direction,she turns in a small ‘flourish’ or adds in aparticular small head movement. These littlenovelties immediately reward her brain witha small dose of ‘feel-good’—and that is howyou recognise when your brain is fighting anengram. Repeated engrammed movementsdo not reward the brain in the same way aschange does: they are not as interesting. So thebrain adds in new actions in order to generaterewards in those parts of the brain that like toreceive performance feedback. The brain does

not wish to work like a machine; it likes toperformwith tiny variables that are quirky andinteresting.So what has this to do with magic? Well,

quite a lot actually. That tiny micro movementof dissent can change the structure of theinner sigil or pattern that is being formedby the repeated ritual, which subsequentlyundermines its power. It is also a signal thatthe magician’s focus is not as good as it shouldbe. Magic is all about absolute focus, whereyour conscious intent is in total control, notthe body itself. Micro-actions are the result ofa subtle power struggle, and the sooner theyare recognised and restrained, the better themagician will be.You are essentially teaching your body to

work in a way that gives no immediate reward:each time the brain adds in a small flourishit gets a chemical treat and the magician feels‘important’ or ‘powerful.’ But it is a fakefeeling, as it comes purely from brain treats,not from real power itself.When a magician’s brain chemistry is out of

balance, it can often be spotted in the overex-aggerated use of flourish during rituals (andalso during conversations, public speakingetc.). The person will have a series of bodymovements that are like ‘catchy phrases’: ourown brains become interested when we seethem and we latch on to them. This is howsubtle advertising works at its best. The catchyphrase or action is hardwired to give a ‘braintreat.’In everyday life we are constantly exposed

to these ‘brain treats,’ and if one’s personalityis young, underdeveloped or weak, it willimmediately latch on to those brain treatsin order to get the chemical boosts whichgenerate feelings of pleasure and power.This is why such underhand advertising

methods work best on teens and young adults:that is a prime time for feeling powerless, andalso when the personality is still not yet fullydeveloped. In everyday life, enjoying thesebrain treats does no real harm and we oftengrow out of them naturally.In magic however, micro-actions can be

the little grains of sand that slowly grind

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away until they have torn apart a chunkof the magician’s power. Hence the needfor this rather long section on the subject:knowing about micro-actions is fifty percentof the problem solved. The other fifty percentconsists of being vigilant, spotting micro-actions as they occur and reining in yourfocus. Once you have learned a ritual by heartand you are working in an engrammed wayor on autopilot, watch for these tiny flourishestrying to creep into your actions. As soon asyou spot them, be aware of how they makeyou feel on a subtle level, recognise at whichpoint of the ritual action they creep in, andstop the flourish from happening.It can feel surprisingly intense to block such

micro-actions, but it is the start of learninghow to be completely and utterly focused,and in control of your mind and body. Byslowly training out any micro-actions, you arebeginning the real training of absolute focusof action, and that in turn will blossom into amagical focus that is like a laser point. In timeyou will learn how to create and dismantlemagical patterns simply by looking at a flame,and the skill set required to perform suchpowerful actions comes first from being ableto direct a focused action without any inter-ference from your brain, body or wanderingmind. In this way, the inner patterns and innersigils you create will be exact, powerful andsolid.

4.3 Task: Body stretching

The other important element of preparation forpowerful ritual is the flexibility and stabilityof the musculoskeletal system. Traditionallythis preparation for magical power was donethough the practice of yoga. Yoga preparesthe body slowly for the influx of power thatadvanced ritual brings, and ensures thatthe body’s structure can process that powerproperly.

It is not about building muscle, but flexi-bility: the more the body has the capabilityto properly stretch and flex, the more power itcan cope with as it passes through and aroundthe magician. Through learning physical flexi-

bility, the inner body too becomes more pliantand able to bend and flex against impact: bytraining the outer body, you also train the innerbody.When you begin any serious practical study

of magic, such as this course, it is importantalso to take up a physical discipline like yoga,martial arts, classical dance, or anything thatpushes the body in terms of stretching andlong muscle strength and stability. Bodybuilding, circuit training or other heavyimpact or aerobic exercises do not have thesame benefit: you do not want to ‘bulk up’against power so much as learn to ‘bend’ andflex with it.To this day I still do a daily stretch and

muscle stabilising routine. Just ten minutesa day is all that is needed to maintain myflexibility and core strength. Find somethingthat works for you and do it daily. If youcannot do it daily, then a minimum of threetimes a week will suffice. When I walk intoa room of magicians, I can spot immediatelywhichmagicians have such a routine disciplineand which do not: the way their body holdsitself energetically is directly linked to how itis maintained and cared for.

4.4 Energy

The second component of a ritual is energy.Energy is needed to construct an inner patternthat will focus and channel power in theintended direction. And I do not meanphysical energy. In the energetic componentof a ritual, energy from the elements are linedup and woven into a particular inner shapewhich in turn creates a pathway for power tobe conducted along. Think of it like a circuitboard: the energetic pattern of the ritual is thelines and channels that power flows down thatin turn triggers a successful outcome.That energetic pattern is built from the

directional elements. When someone looks ata ritual that has been properly constructed,a successful one will have ingredients ofenergetic directional patterns: these willinclude a properly enlivened tool (i.e. sword,wand, or finger), the use of speech to call a

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beingwhich is often, but not always, connectedto an elemental direction (St Michael/southis a popular example), people/magicians,spirit/beings, an altar or multiple altars, andthe use of elements themselves (flame, water,rock, speech/air/incense).Often when people are taking part in a

ritual, they do not realise this is how theseobjects, words, beings and substances work.They think the objects, words and flames‘represent’ something, but they do not—theyare something. Let’s put this into a practicalcontext to make it easier to understand.

4.5 Example of a directionalritual

Let us look at a ritual designed to protect aspace from a specific threat (as opposed togiving general protection).

The magician places an altar in the east. Sheputs a plain white altar cloth upon the altarand also a plain white candle. She takes amagical consecrated sword out of its scabbardand places the sword on the altar. She thengoes to prepare by taking a ritual bath.The magician returns to the ritual space

in clean clothing, closes the door behind herand sits down in the centre of the space. Shemeditates for a short while and works withvisionary meditation to go into the void, intoa visionary state of nothingness. (That is thefirst step of the ritual—cleansing, clearing.)The magician then stands up, staying

within the state of nothingness, and faceseast towards the altar. Instead of walkingstraight to the eastern altar, she simply bows,and then turns and walks a full clockwisecircle around the room before arriving at thesouth. The magician stands before the southwall, is aware of the power in the south, thesolar deities, angelic beings, spirits and innercontacts. She bows to them and utters anacknowledgement of them. She repeats thataction in the west and north before turningback to the east.As she approaches the altar in the east,

the magician takes a deep breath and, withinher stillness, remembers the feeling of the

power of air in its purest, most magical form;and she breathes that power through herinto the direction of east. She is still holdingthe sense of nothingness and thinking aboutnothing except the simple ritual actions sheis undertaking. Then it is time to light thecandle.The magician stands before the altar and

deepens the sense of the void within her.She becomes aware of herself as a shell thatencases a spark of Divinity. She sees that sparkof Divinity as a flame. The magician stands,aware of the flame within her, aware of thepower of the south/fire/male to her right, andthe power of earth/north/female to her left.She is aware of the west/cup/water behindher and of the east/air/sword before her.With that pattern of awareness building, themagician then lights the candle flame. Thatis the construction of the energetic patternfrom the elements. To do that constructionsuccessfully, the magician must have absolutesingle focus, and be able to connect at an innerlevel with the magical power of a directionjust by thinking about it.The magician positions the sword on the

altar so that it lies across the altar like a barrier.The magician, using her mind, builds up theimage of the gates of the east opening, andfeels the wind of the east blow over her asthe gates open wide. She becomes aware inher mind of the contacts and spirit beings thatwork regularlywith her, and she acknowledgestheir presence and thanks them for helping.The magician then places her hands upon

the blade and, using her voice, calls into theeast for the particular power that she wishesto come and help her. This could be a deitypower, an angelic power, a demonic power,or a land consciousness power. How shecalls upon them depends on what type ofbeing it is. For example, deities often havespecific prayers and appeals that trigger them,whereas angelic or planetary beings havespecific words that trigger them but tend notto need or want appeals—they prefer simple,direct instructions.As the magician is reciting the request, she

has full physical contact with the consecrated

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Lesson 4. Ritual Techniques

sword, thus bringing it into her energeticsphere. She has been maintaining the voidmeditation throughout this ritual, but at thispoint she becomes still more deeply aware ofthe void and its potential. All things flow fromthe void, and the opening and holding openof the void creates a threshold for beings andpower to pass through.Then the magician, as she is reciting, picks

up the sword and turns around to face theroom. The sword is held up, blade pointingdown (guarding/defence) and at the endof her recitation the magician takes a deepbreath, holds the awareness of the open eastgates behind her, and blows the power of airover the sword while uttering the name of thebeing she wishes to help her. The magiciancloses her eyes and becomes aware of thepower streaming out of the east, through thesword and into the room.The use of the sword focuses and directs

the beings/power into a defensive or guardingstance: it is a filter that says, ‘defend.’ Stillholding the sword, the magician walks to thecentre of the room and then conducts a ritualaction to specifically direct the beings and thesword to defend the east, south, west, north,centre, above, and below. The magician thenplaces the sword on the floor in the centre ofthe room and goes to the east altar.She bows and thanks the spirits for their

help. The magician will then either blow outthe candle but ‘see’ in vision the inner candlestill burning andworking, or the magician willleave the candle burning indefinitely.This is just one ofmany different ritual forms

that can be done to protect a space, building ortown. The size of the area protected dependson the mental projection of the magicianduring the part of the ritual when she definesto the beings what area she wants defending.The use of the four directions when workingin the centre defines the shape of the space:if the magician wishes to protect a large area,she projects the sense of ‘south’, for example,as being as far south of her as necessary to hita city boundary. The magician should alreadyknow where those boundaries are, so that shecan project that mental image to the beings

working with her.

4.6 Analysis of the ritual

So let us have a closer look at what was goingon in that simple ritual, and what ingredientswere used to make it work.

The first thing to notice is that the ritual didnot rely on grimoire-type magic or prescribedrecipe book magic—this is not a type of ritualthat anyone can do if they have the book/scriptand description. This ritual depends almostexclusively on the skill and knowledge of themagician: it is an adept ritual, but one thatclearly and simply demonstrates the use ofbasic, simple elements and ingredients increating a successful ritual.

You will also notice is that there was nouse of banishing or protection before the ritualstarted. The need to banish and protect isdrilled into almost all beginner students thesedays and they are told it is the corner stoneof adept magic. No, it is not. Those actionswere originally introduced into ritual magicas a beginner exercise, and while there aredifferent versions of banishing and protectingrituals that you will learn on this course, it isvery important that, as a student, you under-stand that they are not a major part of adept-level magic—and let me show you why.

The first action of the magician was to takea ritual bath. This purifies her of all energeticdirt, minor magical attacks, any hangers-on,etc. It cleans, purifies and helps the magicianto think clearly and cleanly. She then puts onclean clothing. It is important that her body,mind and clothing are clean with nothing thatcan potentially interfere with the magic. Shedid not use ritual robes.Ritual robes have two realmagical functions:

the first is that the robe is ritually clean, andthe other use of a robe is where the robe hasbeen consecrated and worked with magicallyto shield the magician.A robe can act in some circumstances like

a bulletproof vest to deflect attacks whenneeded. But it is very rare that such use in

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ritual is actually necessary if you are properlytrained. How many times do you wear abulletproof vest in your everyday life? Andhow many times, when you have been insudden danger, have you had time to put on aprotective body shield? It is important to learnhow to work without such robes, so that youcan learn to be ever-ready, using simply yourown skills and knowledge.

Once she is clean, the magician returns tothe ritual room. The first thing she does ismeditate, and then she goes into the deepnothingness of the void. That is the innerbulletproof vest needed for inner work:absolute stillness in the ‘nothing.’ Should abeing try to attack her, then because she isholding the nothingness, not only is she moreor less unseen in the inner worlds, there isno discernible form for that being to grabonto—she appears shapeless.This skill takes a long time and a lot of

practice to acquire, but it is with you at alltimes and instantly accessible. If you are usedto hiding behind robes, amulets and banishingrituals, you will get caught out one day. Youcannot spend your whole magical life hiddenbehind armour: there comes a time when youneed to learn inner social skills, true magicalmartial skills, and safety awareness.

From that stillness the magician introducesa pure element that she will work with asthe primary threshold—the flame. She alsoworks with the element of air, and uses herknowledge of the inner power of air to bringthat inner power and outer breath together.

From there, she can use that empoweredbreath to call upon the beings that she needs tohelp her. The empowered breath ensures thather call is heard by the beings it is directedto—a bit like a personal telephone. Thatempowered breath comes from long-termtraining in the use of the magical elementsas tools, something you will learn during theApprentice section of the course.The intent and the names used direct the

call, and the empowered breath fuels thecall; it also ensures that it reaches the right

frequency of beings. The use of breath andname informs the beings that they are beingcalled to work with a human who is pluggedinto the inner Divine manifestation of life:the use of sacred breath is the most powerfulmagic of all. Sometimes the magician will notcall upon beings, but will use the empoweredbreath to utter a sacred combination of lettersor sounds that express a particular aspect ofDivinity. That action triggers a specific type ofinner pattern that can then power a ritual, andit is also an inner pattern that automaticallyprotects the working space along with themagician.

From there, themagician then used a rituallyconsecrated tool to direct the being/powerinto action. The use of a magical swordsays defend, guard or attack, and when thebeings see the use of this ritual tool and feelits frequency, they know what is being askedand expected of them. They can work throughthe sword, using its substance, its consecratedpower and its shape to do their job. Themagician used the four directions to mapout the area that needs defending, and thebreath across the sword ensured that the deepinner power of air was awakened within thesword. That awakening creates another layerof automatic protection: an awakened swordin action blocks out interference.The sword will then be kept out of its

scabbard, with the scabbard kept close to it,and it will work for however long it has beendirected to work. The beings that were calledupon to help will have empowered the ritualpattern and they will uphold that patternfor the required length of time and will alsoprotect it. Each day the magician will tunebriefly into the pattern, and she may alsolight a candle in the east each day, just to keepthings ticking over.

So the ingredients are: fire, air, sword,inner contact, utterance, meditation, void, andmovement around the directions to establisha pattern. The use of speech, breath, use ofmind/vision, movement, a candle, a swordand an altar is all very simple, and also veryeffective. The pattern, elements and actions

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create a frequency in the spacewhich automat-ically excludes interference by beings, powersor other magicians.

Let’s have a look at how that ritual willoperate in and protect a space. If you wentinto that protected room to look at it froman inner point of view, there would be a fewthings you would see.The first would be open gates in the east:

notice she did not close the directional gatedown; she simply blew out the outer candlewhile letting the inner candle still burn, andshe left the gates open.The second thing you would see from an

inner point of view is the pattern of the fourdirections and a clockwise walking pattern.That creates an inner pattern that looks a bitlike a spinning circle. It is a turning circularmovement that, once set going, will continueto turn until it is closed down.The third thing that you would see is the

inner pattern of the sword. Every outer objecthas an inner version. Every outer consecratedsword is merged with the one, big, original,archetypal consecrated sword, and if youlooked into that space in vision, what youwould see is a very large, very impressive-looking sword with a lot of power emanatingfrom it. This sword will create an environmentwhereby nothing gets into the space exceptthe being that was called upon to help andany others who are compatible with the workbeing done: the space becomes tuned to a veryspecific frequency.And that will be the fourth thing that you

would see: the being that was called upon.If the being called was a deity, then the deityitself would not be stood in the room, but thepower signature of the deity would be there,and that power signature works in the sameway that the deity does. Anything that tries tointerfere with that space will bump up againstthat deity power, and if that deity power isaggressive then the intruder will most likelyget attacked.If the being that is working with the ritual

is angelic, it will appear as a pattern orshape in the room that nothing can penetrate.

No matter what any intruder tries to do tomagically invade the space, they will justbounce off as though there is an invisiblebarrier (which there is).If the magician called upon a land being or

spirit, or a demonic being to guard the space,then the being will appear to anyone who istrying to invade the space: they would seea terrifying face with lots of eyes, teeth andweapons threatening them.The cleanliness of the magician ensures that

the being sees only the magician and doesnot mistake them for anything else, so cleanequals safe. The specific use of directions andelements ensures that the frequency of theritual is such that it excludes low-level beings,invaders, ghosts, parasites, etc. (hence noneed for banishing), and the use of the sword,inner contact, empowered breath, utteranceand being ensures that no aggressive spiritor magician can interfere. It also ensures thatenergetic filters are in place to stop any sort ofpower surge.A power surge is where the gates are

opened, power is called upon, but there is noproper filter to step down the power to makeit safe. The inner contacts in the directions,the gate, and the constant working with thecircular pattern in vision which then triggersduring ritual, and the consecrated swordacross the threshold of the altar all ensure thatpower filters are in place.

So you can see how there are many differentskills that are brought into work with a ritual,and that it is not just a matter of having certainrobes, speeches, actions, etc. Effective ritualcannot be copied out of a book; it is a coming-together of a varied amount of well-practisedskills.The first step towards acquiring that skill

level is learning how to open and close gatesin ritual, how to move around a space in ritual,how to use tools, how to use your voice, andhow to pull all of those things together, alongwith using your mind in vision while alsodoing the ritual. We will start that process bylooking at the use of the elements, tools anddirections in ritual, and then we will go on to

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practical exercises.

4.7 Directional ritual

Many ritual foundations, regardless of style,work with specific magical directions thatallow the magician to access certain streams ofconsciousness and power. Not all ritual usesdirectional application, but once you havelearned it and know how to work with it, youwill begin to recognize it in many differentforms, and not just in magic—the use of thedirectional powers is also evident in manyancient and more modern religions.Some styles use directional ritual in a very

obviousway, whereas other styles use a patternthat is not obvious in its directional use. Onceyou have learned the skill and have workedwith it for a while, you will recognize its usein the most obscure ways. The knowledge ofhow to operate with magical directions allowsyou also to access the inner and more mysticalaspects of religions, as well as magical forms.

The first thing that is important in a ritualis to know the physical directions of the spaceyou are working in, and to be clear aboutwhich direction/directions you are workingin and why. The reason for this is that eachdirection has a certain quality of power thatflows through it, and that flow of power willaffect your work. If you have a working spacethat is not aligned straight to the directions,then you choose the magical direction byworking with the walls/altars that are thenearest to a direction. So for example if a wallin a working space is NNE, then it becomesmagical north.

The definitions of directional powers varyaccording to which tradition or magicalmethod is being used, but in the northernhemisphere it is generally expressed asfollows:

• Air, utterance, sword, religionsof the book in the East

• Fire, creativity, future, solarreligions in the South

• Water, emotions, cups or vessels,religions of the waters or moonin the West

• Earth, land, death, shield,religions of the underworld inthe North

The use of directional magical patterns canalso be apparent in many religions that useritual, if you know how andwhere to look. Forexample, if you were to walk into a Normanchurch, you would immediately recognize themagical use of directional powers in the layoutof the church.The altar is in the east and this is where

the priest works. East is the power of air,utterance and the ‘Word.’ The priest worksin that direction, uttering the sacred wordsto the people and offering the ritual to thedeity (Jesus) who is in the east. When youread parts of the New Testament, you will findmany references to the ‘Word’, and also to the‘Sword’. It is also a religion of the ‘book.’If you look west in the church, you will

find the doors that open out to humanity(God in the east, humans in the west). Andthe baptismal font, the vessel of water, is inthe west. The priest stands in the east andmediates the Word of God from the east to thepeople in the west.To the south, usually depicted as a south

transept, you often find images of St. Michaelthe Archangel, who is the power of fire.In the north transept you will find the Lady

Chapel or side chapel to Mary, the femaledivine power and the female expression of theDivine Container (Earth).Also in the north, particularly in very old

churches, you will find the Lyke door: adoor that opens out to the graveyard whichis traditionally in the north: North—earth—ancestors—female.In many churches after the reformation, the

north transept was ritually blocked off andyou will find that area of the church is oftenwalled off, curtained off and filled with trash,old furniture, or the organ. This is a delib-erate attempt to block both the power and theworship of the female Divine powers.

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This layout is not used throughout theChristian world, but it was a feature of theNorman conquest of northern France andBritain, and the magical mysteries theybrought with them. The blocking off of thenorth transept is most commonly found inBritain andwas a direct result of the protestantinfluence.

Churches in other countries that were notpart of the Norman territory have differentritual layouts and it can be very interestingindeed to go around these sacred places indifferent countries to see how various magicalritual patterns were used. Most churches builtafter the 1600s do not have ritual layouts, as bythen that knowledge had been lost.

The idea of the ritual layout in a churchwas that it enabled directional powers to bebrought into the space and gather at the centrewhere all the directions came together. Somechurches had their altar there, a stone altarknown as the Corpus Christi (Body of Christ),and all the powers were funneled into thatsubstance which then became the centre of theritual. All of the powers, the utterance andthe magician/priest worked with the stone/substance of the altar to bring Divinity intophysical manifestation, which was then takenin by the people (transubstantiation ritual).

You can see examples of this sort of ritualpatterning and use of power in Europeanchurches, and once you know the techniquesfor opening the gates, you can sit in a church,open the gates and feel the power flow intothe space. One word of warning though:if you do such an action, do it with respectfor the religion. If you open the gates, do itwith the intent that the power flows throughthe Christian pattern and nourishes thecongregation.

It serves no purpose to be hostile to anyritual expression of Divinity, no matter howhumans have corrupted it. The other reasonfor being respectful is that such churches oftenhave guardians, and you can get your assslapped if you do not operate with integrity.

4.8 Practical directional work

So now that you have an idea of how the direc-tional powers can work in ritual, it is time tolearn the basics in a practical way. For this youwill need a compass.

The first step is to choose a working space.This can either be a room set aside for ritual,an actual temple space (lucky you!), or it canbe a regular room in a house used for normallife. Or you can work outdoors. Indoor work isusually best for ceremonial/ritual magicians,and outdoors for earthmagicians/witches, etc.In reality, for training purposes, it is wise towork in both ways, to learn how the differentspaces operate andhowdifferent themagic canbecome.A goodmagician can work anywhere, at any

time and with any style. And if you are beingtrained by me, then you will learn all ways: Iexpect my students to be adaptable and ableto work in any magical form from shamanisticstyles ofmagic to high ceremonial ritualmagic.

We will start with indoors. Pick a room andstand in it with your compass. Take a note ofthe directions and if your room is not directlylinedupwith the directions, assign themagicaldirections to the nearest fourwalls (a south eastwall can become ‘south’ if it is more south thaneast).Take a note of where the windows, doors

and any fireplace are (potential portholes), andtake a note of potential altar surfaces. This canbe cabinets, chests of drawers, tables, chairs,bookcase tops, etc.; I have even worked on topof the cooker in the kitchen when needed.You need four clear surfaces that you can

use, and a central surface (like a stool or box).You also need five plain white cloths to use asaltar cloths. A good cheap way to do that is toget a plain bed sheet and cut it up.Mark each cloth with the initial of the

direction, so that you can identify it andcontinue to use it in the same direction. Getfive white candles and also mark the candlesand holders so that you continue to use thesame candle/holder in each direction. Why?Energetic build-up.

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When something is repeatedly used in thesame magical direction, it slowly builds up aharmony with the energetic frequency of thedirection. So a skilled magician will poten-tially be able to pick up a directional candleholder or tool, and will be able to sense whichdirection it has been working in. The repeateduse of the same things in the same place is thevery beginning of energetic engramming: welooked earlier at physical engramming, but italso works in terms of ritual energy.

Altars

Set up your altars in the four directions andone in the centre. Each altar should onlyhave a cloth and a candle at this phase. Itis very important to learn how to operatealtars properly. An altar is a workspace anda threshold. All that should be on it are thespecific tools you are going to work with. Amagical altar is very different from a spiritualor religious altar, and all of them are differentfrom a New Age ‘feel-good’ altar. A religiousaltar will have a deity image, offerings, andthe preferred tools of that deity on it.A new age ‘feel-good’ altar will have various

deities, images, gifts, trinkets, oils, incense,and lots of other trash. Such an altar doesnothing spiritually or magically, it just makesthe owner feel good (in the sameway a toy traincollection does) and it becomes a status symbolsplashed about on social media. All it actuallydoes is advertise how little a person knows.For now you will work with no tools until

you learn how to open the gates. Before youlearn how to open the gates you need to learnhow to create the energy pattern in the room.This is done by ‘working the directions.’Once you have set up your altars, have all

five candles ready and a box of matches. Thenit is time to prepare yourself. Go and get a bathor shower, or at leastwash your hands and face,brush your teeth, and put on clean clothing.

4.9 Working the directions

Start in the east. Whenever you work direc-tional magic, always start in the east. This

is where the power opens, and it also helpsyou to tap into a ritual pattern that has beenused for millennia. The pattern you create willresonate with the ancient pattern and will befuelled, stabilized and brought to life throughthis resonance.

When you walk into the room, walk afull circle around the central altar, walkingclockwise, and then approach the altar in theeast. Always walk clockwise to build up thatflow of power, and never approach the eastaltar directly; always walk a full circle beforeyou start any initial ritual action.

Approach the east altar and stand before it.Take a fewmoments to close your eyes and stillyourself before you begin to work. When youare ready, open your eyes and light the candle.Stand for a moment before the candle and tryto empty your mind. After a fewminutes, takea step or two back, turn and walk to the southaltar and repeat the same action: stillness, lightthe flame, be silent for a few moments. Repeatthis in the west and the north. When you havefinished in the north, step back, turn, and go tothe central altar. Repeat the same action. Onceall the candles are lit, walk a full circle aroundthe central altar and approach the east altar.

Stand before the altar and close your eyes.Imagine that you see two large gates beyondthe altar. Take your time. Build up the image,note if they are made of metal or are woodendoors; allow an image to build. When you feelyou have a nice strong image of an east gate,take a step back from the altar, turn and goto the south. Repeat the same action in eachdirection. You may find that each gate in eachdirection is different; each direction will have aunique type of gateway.Once you have finished in the north, turn to

the central altar, stand before it (facing south)and close your eyes. Imagine a large columnof fire that reaches up beyond the ceiling andstretches into the stars, and it also plungesdown into the underworld: a column of firethat is like an axis that goes through all theworlds.

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Open your eyes andwalk a full circle aroundthe centre altar and approach the east. Placeyour hands upon the altar at either side ofthe candle flame and look beyond the flame.With your eyes open, use your mind’s eye toimagine the east gates. Using your voice, utterthe following words:

“I acknowledge the gates of the east, Iacknowledge the angelic threshold ofthe east and I acknowledge the windof the east.”

Step back from the altar, turn and walk tothe south. Repeat the same exercise, using thewords:

“I acknowledge the gates of the south,I acknowledge the angelic thresholdof the south and I acknowledge thefire of the south.”

In the west, do the same and repeat thewords:

“I acknowledge the gates of thewest, Iacknowledge the angelic threshold ofthe west and I acknowledge the waterof the west.”

And in the north:

“I acknowledge the gates of the north,I acknowledge the angelic thresholdof the north and I acknowledge thestone of the north.”

When you have finished in the north, takea step back, turn and stand before the centralaltar. Remember the visual of the column offire and utter the words,

“I acknowledge the central fire thatflows through all worlds, all timesand all substance, I acknowledgethe angelic threshold of the void,the threshold of Divinity as it flowsthrough all things, and the light ofall living beings as it flows from thestars to the underworld.”

Close your eyes and imagine the stars in thesky above you. Imagine the earth below you,the east wind to your left, the western water toyour right. Be aware of the power of fire in thesouth before you, and of the power of the earthin the north behind you.Imagine a spark or flame deep within your

centre, a light that stretches up to the stars anddown to the earth—it meets in your centre inthe form of a small flame within you. This isthe spark of Divinity within all things and itembeds the pattern of the central axis not onlyin the centre of the ritual room, but also in thecentre of your own body.The use of thewordDivinity does not denote

a deity; rather it recognises the creative anddestructive power of the universe.Build up that sense of the elemental powers

in the directions around you. Open your eyesand look at the central flame. Hold out yourarms and declare:

“The sword in my left hand, the cupin my right hand, the fire of inspi-ration before me, and the rock of myancestors behind me.”

Drop your arms andwalk a full circle aroundthe flame and once you have done a full circle,go to the east and turn to face the central flame.Hold out your arms and declare:

“The wand of creative fire and thefuture in my left hand, the shield ofthe ancestors and the past in my righthand, the cup of humanity before meand the breath of God behind me.”

Eventually you will learn to do this magicalpositioning with the powers and tools for allthe directions, but two directions is enough toget you started. Eventually you will be ableto use this directional and elemental tuningwithin seconds by simply thinking about it, butthat skill is built through repeated use of thisritual in the early stages of training.

When you have finished, walk a full circlearound the central altar and go to the east. Seein your mind’s eye the gates of the east. Blow

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out the candle and see the gates vanish. Stepback, bow to acknowledge the powers, andrepeat that action in the south, west and north.

Step back from the north, bow and turn toface the central flame. Stand before the centralflame and see in yourmind’s eye the column offire that reaches through all of the worlds.Notice that in the centre of the column,

where the candle flame is, there seems to be asmall void, a nothing in the centre of the light.Utter,

“I acknowledge the void in the centreof the light, the nothing from whichall comes.”

Blow out the candle flame and bow.

Sit down and close your eyes. Meditate fora few moments to still yourself and be awareof the directions around you, the east to yourleft, the west to your right, and rememberthe elements in each direction, air, fire, water,earth, the light in the centre, and rememberthe magical tools in each direction: the sword,wand, cup and shield. Remember the void inthe centre of the flame.Allow those images to rise and then fall away

from your mind until you are simply seated inthe room. Rememberwhat the room looks like,see the door in your mind’s eye, see the walls,the room’s contents, and see yourself seatedbefore the central altar. When you are ready,open your eyes.

Starting in the east, collect up the cloths, foldthemup, andwrap them around the candles orput them carefully in a box. They must not beused for anything else. Put the room back intoits normal state.

This exercise is akin to learning how to singscales. It builds up the magical directions, theelements and tools in your mind, it starts thebuilding of the gates that you will learn how toopen and close, and it starts to form the circularmotion of power in the space. This should bedone weekly for at least a couple of monthsuntil it has built strongly in your mind anduntil you body has become used towalking the

room in a certainway (clockwise starting in theeast).At this stage of your early training, it is likely

you will feel nothing happening in terms ofpower, unless you are a natural magician.Don’t worry about that. At this stage you aresimply learning the scales: once that patternis built up strongly within you by memory,then the power will slowly start to flow: at thatpoint you will start to feel the power that thesimple tuning ritual can trigger.Do not skip this exercise; it is probably the

most important foundational exercise youwill ever learn. Do it again and again untilyou can do it automatically, from memory,without needing to refer to notes. It also instilswithin you the power connections betweenyour body and the directional magical tools.The repetitive element of this exercise instilsthese dynamics deep into your psyche, likelearning something rote fashion. When youcome to wield the magical tools in the depthsof power, this rote learning will trigger deepreservoirs of power within you, and will allowyou to plug directly into the inner magicalpowers that flow through the tools.Once the full extent of the directional

powers are embedded within you, when youcome to work different forms of magic, it willautomatically trigger this deep pattern justby the action of thinking about it, and it willopen out the deeper hidden aspects of manymagical rituals. You will be in the midst of aritual and suddenly become aware of all theinner powers around you, the directional gatesopening, and the enlivened tools plugginginto their directional ‘batteries.’

4.10 Task: Practising thedirectional ritual

Do the directional ritual once a week, on thesame day each week for two months. Youwill be doing other tasks through each weekthat are assigned in the other lessons of thismodule, so ensure that you have enough timeset aside to do this discipline.Once you are coming to the end of the two

month exercise, experiment to see how well

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it has engrammed into your mind: stand ina room, any room, or outside, and face east.Close your eyes and imagine you are standingin front of the east altar, imagine the south altarto your right and the north altar to your left.Once you have a feel of that, now take threesteps forward, turn and face south.Imagine the central flame before you, that

sense of the column of fire that reaches fromstars to underworld, and imagine the southaltar in front of you beyond the central flame.Hold out your arms. Imagine the swordin your left hand and the cup in your righthand. Do you get a sense of the ritual? Canyou imagine all of the altars around you,their directions and their flames? Can youimagine the four gates in each direction andthe flame before you? If you can, then youhave established the pattern within you.If you are still struggling to retrieve that

sense of the ritual, or to imagine the four direc-tional powers, gates and altars, then you needto work with the ritual for another month, ortwo to three times a week until it is embeddedin yourmind.. At the end of themonth, try thistesting exercise again. It does not matter howmany months it takes you; there is no compe-tition or deadline, it will take as long as it takes.The important thing is that you do get it.This is the foundation stone for learning how

to switch on a ritual at speed, how to switch ona sacred space, and how to bring power aroundyou at a moment’s notice, wherever you areand whatever you are doing. Eventually youshould be able to retrieve this pattern in yourmind and senses within seconds, in the midstof a busy city street, or in a room full of people.

4.11 Task: Keeping notes

Keep notes in your journal of when you dothis ritual, what dates you work on, what itfelt like, if it was easier or harder than usual,and anything else that crops up. When youlook back over the journal, you will be able totrack your progress and see if your ability towork is enhanced or withheld by astrologicalor physical variables. Is it harder or easier at afull or newmoon? Is it harder or easier during

a period if you are a woman? Or is it constant?Write down everything you observe and reflectback on your notes from time to time.

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Lesson 5

Inner Senses

Everyone has some sort of inner sense to agreater or lesser degree, but most Westernchildrearing and education tends to teach asmall child how to filter it out, to ignore it, andto suppress it. This can be a major stumblingblock for many budding magicians, and tryingto recover lost senses is a slow and sometimesfrustrating process.

Think of it in terms of everyday senses. Ifa very young child is taught that eyes do notsee anything, if they are actively discouragedfrom using their eyes, and all interaction cuescome from hearing and touch, eventually thequickly developing brain of the child willadapt, rewire, and rely less and less on thesense of sight. So it is with inner senses.

What exactly are inner senses? There are awide variety of inner senses that are hardwiredinto the human body and most are suppressedvery early on. Some senses can be stronger insome and weaker in others, and most vanishas the child grows up and they are ignored orsquished into a dark corner of the brain, onlyto pop out at inopportune moments.

The full array of inner senses would includethings like inner hearing, inner sight, innertouch, inner smell, inner emotive triggers,inner immune triggers, precognition and timejumping. This all sounds very exciting, butin reality it is pretty mundane. Because ofthe influence of Hollywood, and the humanpenchant for drama and excitement, any

understanding of the subtlety of inner sensesgets drowned out in a chorus of overhypedfantasy. People who have been raised byHollywood ideals have an unnatural viewof inner senses and with that, unnaturalexpectations.

Inner abilities were most likely a part ofour survival mechanism that has been slowlycast aside in modern life, a sort of inner ‘fightor flight’ adrenal mechanism, and just likenatural physical mechanisms, inner sensesare often tied to actual organs and seem tofunction through the central nervous systemand brain.

Some people tend to keep these sensesdespite their upbringing, and others manageto retain them because of their upbringing; sosocial/cultural aspects are only one part of thestory. There are some people who appear tohave no inner senses whatsoever: these peopleare like sensory bricks, and that can be a curseor a blessing, just as with someone who hashighly developed inner senses: either extremecan cause great distress or can be a wonderfulgift. It all depends on how the person liveswith them.

Whatever your natural level of inner senses,and whatever type of inner senses you havethat are dominant over the others, you candevelop your natural facility through workingwith them. What cannot be done is to forcethe development of an inner sense that you

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just don’t have. Very few people have all theinner senses; like everything else in life, someget more than others, and everyone has verydifferent combinations.The first step is to identify which inner

senses you are most likely to have, and thenwork at developing them. It is not somethingwhere you do a few exercises and ping! youhave it. It is a lifetime of development thatyou start in your early training and the sensesgrow as you grow, mature and develop.For some the inner senses can be

overwhelming, and upbringing is not quiteenough to shut them down. In such instancesit is not about developing latent skills, it isabout learning how to manage uncontrollableskills and bring them to a level where you canlearn to live with them. Too much inner senseis as much of a curse as no inner sense at all.There are instances where an inner sense

can be suddenly switched on, but such forcingof a sense is pointless. For example, when amiddle-aged person who has been blind frombirth has surgery to give them sight, they donot immediately have wonderful sight that canprocess everything meaningfully: the brainhas to learn how to process the signals fromthe eyes and make sense out of what they areactually seeing. After a person has the surgerythey can see the doctor, the nurses, the room,the equipment, the bleeping lights, the cleanerpushing a vacuum past them, etc.But the signals from their eyes to their

brain are unfiltered, unsorted, and have noestablished vocabulary. So the newly seeingperson finds it hard to figure out what part ofthe jumble of images they are seeing are thehumans and which parts are the furniture; norwill they be able to process the moving cleanerand his vacuum, as their brain will have novocabulary for processing visual movement.Over time the brain will learn the language

of images and will take cues from the senses ofhearing and touch which are well-establishedwith the patient. If the patient was deaf andblind from birth and they are given sight andhearing, the chances are that they will never,as an adult, be able to use those senses in anyreal meaningful way: their brain will have

no reference points besides touch and smell.And so it is with inner senses that are beingawoken. If they were used in childhood andthen faded off (which is common), there isat least a baseline pattern in the brain thatcan relearn how to process the incominginformation. Over time the skill becomesnormalised and becomes a part of everydaylife like smell, sight, and so forth.If someonewas shut down from birth or had

blocked senses from birth, and the inner sensesare forcibly triggered, then they will not be ofany use: there will be no processing pattern.Such total shut-down is actually quite rare, andmost people have fragments of inner sensesthat they are just not aware of. They can beso subtle as to be easily missed—and this iswhere Hollywood has done so much damage:our expectations are unrealistic, so the actualreality gets ignored, as it is too subtle in the faceof full-on drama.So first, let’s briefly go through the various

inner senses, and see how they can manifestquietly in a life, often unnoticed. This will helpyou to spot which (if any) of these senses youactually have and didn’t realise. Then we willlook at exercises to strengthen them and bringthem right out over time.

5.1 Inner Hearing

This description is longer than the others,simply because it contains many differentdynamics that also apply to the other skills.So remember, what applies in this descriptionalso applies in the others.Inner hearing can manifest, like most inner

senses, on two different levels, one beingmuchrarer than the other. Inner hearing can eitherbe a literal hearing with the ear, which is veryrare, or hearingwithin themind. Often the twotypes of inner hearing are combined, with theformer being a rare occurrence and the latterbeing its more normal everydaymanifestation.Inner hearing that manifests by the subject

hearing sounds or voices outside of themselvesusually only happens in extreme potentialdanger. It can occasionally be objective (i.e.

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someone else also hears it), but it is most oftensubjective.Before we get into the reality of inner

hearing, it is important to discount otherhearing anomalies that can manifest and bemistaken for inner hearing, but are in actualfact biological processes. Some of the rarermanifestations of tinnitus can lead someoneto believe that they have inner hearing, whenin fact their auditory nerve or their brain isplaying up.This often manifests as the subject hearing

music or sounds that do not in fact exist. Thisis known as musical hallucination, and it is arare form of tinnitus. It can be triggered bybrain tumours, epilepsy, migraines, and it isan occasional occurrence with OCD sufferers.The musical hallucination is often markedby the music being something the personremembers from childhood, and it tends notto be music that the subject is unfamiliar with.The other biological event that can be

mistaken for inner hearing is symptomsof paranoid schizophrenia. In such casesthere is often a whole array of mental healthsymptoms that help to rule out inner hearing.As with musical hallucinations, there areoften underlying medical conditions that arealready known about, and the ‘hearing’ is justone of a number of symptoms.When however a subject is mentally stable,

healthy, and most important of all, the eventin question is a manifestation of an experiencethat the subject has always had, then it is likelythat the subject does indeed have inner hearingabilities.Inner hearing with the ear can manifest as

the person hearing their name shouted in anempty room, or a sudden warning whisperedor shouted into the person’s ear. I am in myfifties and it has happened to me three timesthat I can remember, and each time it was awarning of impending immediate disaster.For example, once I heard ‘slow down’

shouted loudly close to my ear. I was alonein my car, with the music blaring, and thevoice was clear and loud enough for me tohear over the music. I immediately slowedright down and narrowly missed being hit

head-on by an oncoming truck. Slowing downgave me enough time to safely pull my carover into a lay-by as a truck, coming at meat high speed and overtaking on a corner,was coming straight at me on a single lanehighway. If I had been going at my regularspeed, I would not have been able to processevents fast enough to get out of the way, andmost likely I would also have lost control ofthe car.Those types of spectacular hearing events

are rare in most people, except for a very smallselection of people who have very definedauditory inner skills. The most common typeof inner sense, and one that most people tuneout or discount, is the small inner voice thatcan talk to you in your mind.The inner hearing happens within your

mind’s hearing, but it has a subtle differenceto your own mind rambling along. Sometimesit is your deeper subconscious ‘self’ talkingto you, and other times it is beings aroundyou talking to you, and you process thatcommunication as a voice within your mind.As you develop that sense, it will eventually

become clear to you what an ‘outside’ voice isandwhat your owndeeper voice is. Sometimesit is impossible to distinguish between the two,and sometimes it really doesn’t matter, so longas you learn to listen and act.One of the things that magicians come to

realise, if they are truly immersed in magic,is that everything communicates in one wayor another. The skill is to learn what to tuneout and what not to tune out—just like normalhearing.So for example, say you are walking through

a city, and your mind is rambling along in itsusualway, and suddenly the dialogue changes.Your mind’s voice says something like, ‘whenyou walk around that corner you will meetsomeone who is going to offer you a job, takeit.’ You walk around the corner and someoneyou know from years ago crosses your path.You get talking and they offer you a job.Maybe they are looking for a worker in an

area of work youwould not normally consider.The fact that the voice gave you a heads-up isa signal that the job is something you need to

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accept, because it is going to lead to somethingimportant.It does not matter whether the voice is your

own subconscious or an outside being; whatis important is that you act upon the message,particularly when it presents in such a waythat you could not possibly have known whatwas coming. Accepting and acting upon suchcommunication helps to widen the channel soto speak, so eventually you will learn to distin-guish between the feel of the voice that is yourdeeper self, and the voice of a being communi-cating with you through your mind.As with all inner senses, you can immedi-

ately see the dangers of confusing inner senseswith mental obsessions and illnesses, and aswith all things magical, you must approachsuch things intelligently, carefully and withcommon sense. If you hear voices telling you tokill people, you have a problem. Clean yourselfup magically, and if you are still hearing them,go see a doctor.But if you are hearing things that tend to

come true, or are validwarnings that save yourass, then it is your inner hearing kicking in. Ihave stones talk to me, trees, beings, houses,deities. . .hell, everything talks. I also hearsnatches of people’s thoughts, which can bevery distressing, and I have learned over theyears to tune a lot of that out, as it is useless,intrusive and stressful.Inner senses are very strong in some of the

women in my family, and I was lucky enoughto have a mother and older sister who did notseek to shut it down or to dramatise it, as eitherare destructive.Sometimes inner hearing is extremely

helpful, and other times it is trivial andbaffling. For example, “your sister is aboutto call you,” and then the phone rings a fewseconds later and my sister is on the other end.So what??Some manifestations can appear trivial

to us, but in fact it is guardian beings justdoing their job. A voice says, “there is a mangoing to knock on the door,” and a couple ofminutes later there is a knock at the door anda rather overworked delivery man is standingthere with a package. The guardians are just

doing their job of warning you that a potentialintruder or unexpected person is coming intoyour space.Another manifestation of inner hearing is a

call for help. One particularly stunning onethat happened to me still makes me smile tothis day. I was walking in the woods nearmy house, which is an ancient burial areaand full of springs, standing stones etc. I waswandering about enjoying the rare springsun, when I heard a distinct voice in my headsaying “help me!” It was very insistent, and Ipresumed an animal was in distress, as theyare pretty good at sending out signals.I could not see anything that would be in

potential distress, but the voice kept going. AsI got to a pile of wood from trees that had beenlogged and harvested, the voice got stronger.Still I could not see anything. But I did notice alarge piece of wood that felt really interesting.I like toworkwith such bits ofwood for art etc.,so I picked it up and as I picked it up the voicestopped.Because I am dumb, I did not equate the

cessation of the voice with the large lump ofwood in my arms. It was a slice of a very largetree, not a branch, but a slice of the trunk. Ifigured I could strip the bark off of it and use itto carve designs on.I got the wood home and the moment I

walked through the door, all of the spiritsthat live with me got very excited and startedchattering. That should have alerted me, but itdidn’t: like I said, dumb.The day after, I started to strip the bark

off the wood and a very clear “thank you”echoed around my head. Now I was reallyconfused. I looked closer at the wood that wasnow debarked and my heart stopped.In the natural shape of the wood was a

youngwoman, with small breasts, a cloak, anda black face of very fine features. Wow! A treespirit! I began to oil her to feed the wood, andto massage her body. “Turn me around” rangthrough my head. So I turned her around anddid one of those cartoon gulps.On the other side of the young woman was

a shape made up of wood scar regrowth, andthe shapewas very clear, very defined and very

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detailed. In the wood was an old woman, hersagging stomach, her old face, her long thinglegs that ended in hooves instead of feet.I then finally realised what I had brought

home. She was a natural image manifestationof the most important ancient goddess ofthis land. This was the Cailleach, the ancientgoddess of the land who shows herself on oneside as a strong young woman (Brigh) and onthe other side as an old hag.This naturally-formed image would allow

that consciousness to interface with me, andI could work with her to help bring balanceto this localised area. Since that time she hasbecome very vocal, very protective and isteaching me a great deal.So the first step is to learn to listen and act.

At first youwill not be able to distinguish whatis going on, but you must learn not to dismiss,but rather to listen, regardless of whether youthink it is your mind or an outside being. Firstjust learn to listen; discernment comes later.

5.2 Inner sight

Inner sight, like inner hearing, can manifest ina number of ways.The most common manifestation is looking

at something solid, like a human, but seeingthings that are not apparent to the normalhuman. So for example, looking at someonewho looks beautiful and healthy, but seeingthem as ugly or sick: you cannot understandwhy people think they look great.What is often happening here is that the

inner and outer sight are overlaying eachother and the brain processes both lots ofinformation as coming from one source (i.e.your optic nerve).The other way that inner sight can manifest

is seeing something supposedly solid that isnot there, or is not seen by others. A commonexample is someone seeing a building inthe distance, looking away, looking back,and finding that the building has vanished.Sometimes the person is seeing the ‘innerbuilding’ or ghost of a building that wasonce there, or they are seeing a building thatexists only on the inner planes. This has

been described in detail by people around theworld.

A striking example is a group of people outon a hike in Iceland. They paused at the topof a hill and all pointed at an unusual-lookingstrange coloured house that seemed to be in themiddle of nowhere.

The group began to walk towards it, and asthe path took them out of view of the house,and then back in to view from behind trees,the house vanished. The men presumed itwas some sort of ‘snowmirage’ until later theyfound that many people had indeed seen thishouse over the years, and it was consideredlocally as a house of the Huddle Folk (faerybeings).

Sometimes people with inner sight will lookat something and it just doesn’t look right; thatis usually because there is in fact somethingwrong with what they are looking at. Deeperskills with inner sight allow people to ‘see’beyond barriers, blocks, or walls. This is astranger form of inner sight and it takes sometime to develop.

Personally I think it is a form of passiveremote viewing as opposed to actualplain inner sight, as though the spirit orconsciousness of a person can move aheadof the body and perceive what is behindsomething. Sometimes it is a deeper skill, lessof a ‘sight’ and more of a ‘feeling.’ It doesn’tmean that someone can stare at a buildingand see everything inside it—life is not a sci-fimovie! But it does mean that someone withinner sight who is searching for say, a missingchild, will be able to look at a building andascertain whether that child is in the buildingor not. They will ‘see’ the light of the life forceof the child in the building.

As the magician works with various experi-ments and exercises, they will find their ownunique expression of the inner sight. Mineseems to work almost exclusively in tandemwith my actual eyes, so sometimes I can havegreat difficulty in separating out what I amseeing with my outer eyes and what I amseeing with my inner sight.

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5.3 Inner touch and smell

These are the most common inner senses andtend to be something that almost everybodyhas to some degree. Something will just notfeel right when it is touched, or somethingor some place will smell bad (and there areno drain issues, farting dogs, etc.). This candevelop into to learning how to recognisecertain beings by their signature smell, orto know when something is energeticallyunhealthy by the horrible feel of it.Sometimes the sense of inner touch doesn’t

work through the hands, but the hands triggerit. So for example a person picks up anobject that has really bad energy attachedto it, maybe a knife used to kill someone(extreme example!). Upon touching the object,the person feels horrible, panicked, dirty,or has flashes of images appearing in theirimagination of people being hurt. The touchtriggers deeper senses.These two senses are not only the most

common, but are the easiest to train intousable skills for magic.

5.4 Dreams

The issue of dreams spans different avenuesof magic, and they manifest as different typesof dreams. Dreams that come from our innersenses kicking into action tell us what ishappening to or threatening our bodies, ifsomething magical is threatening us, or if aninner contact, dead person or being is tryingto communicate with us.Threat dreams are the most common, and

the key is in the interpretation. Inner sensesworking through our dreams are usuallythe purest form in which our inner sensesmanifest: when we dream, our consciousminds are in a passive state, so deeper sensescan rise to the surface.Bear in mind that our dreams also process

everyday things and are involved in brain filingand reorganising, so not every vivid dream isan inner senses dream.Threats to the body such as infection,

physical or psychic intruders, or impending

accidents trigger vivid dreams that can oftenbe confounding if one does not know how toread them. If the body is infected with a virusor bacteria that also has a consciousness (notall do, but some do), we can dream of strug-gling with a person who is being aggressive.These dreams often rise to the surface once wehave begun chemical treatment for the illness,or when our immune systems are getting theupper hand.When we are not doing well in the infection

battle, the consciousness of the infectionstays hidden from us and we just feel verysick. But once the infection is weakened, its‘cloakingmechanism’ fails andwe start to ‘see’it: this often appears in dreams as battlingwith a person or an animal or even a strangebeing (viruses often appear as bizarre lookingbeings). It is important to take note of whatyou see, as it can give you clues as to how tospeed up the recovery and prevent reinfection.Using magic to take the inner power out of anouter infection is a skill you will learn later inthe course.If you are under threat from an intruder,

particularly if you have spirit guardiansworking with you, you will be alerted in yourdreams by being shown the intruder, and oftenyou will find that you are awoken suddenly inorder to deal with the threat.If this happens repeatedly, you need to

ascertain if it is a physical intruder stalkingaround the outside of your home, or if it is amagical or spirit intruder that has been sentmagically. To differentiate, you can use tarotto pinpoint what type of intruder it is, andalso what their intentions are. Again, these areskills you will learn later in the course, onceyou have acquired the necessary interpretationskills

5.5 Precognition

Most of us are already familiar with the ideaof precognition, so there is no need to gointo depth, and this lesson is already longenough. Precognition can range from fullflashes of dangerous future events whichare either processed by inner sight (you see

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a scene unfolding), or in dreams (the samething basically, just triggering in sleep), to astrong but indefinable sense that somethingwill happen. Sometimes it is combinations ofthese, if the risk is great.One weird aspect of precognition is that not

only do precogs get warnings of dangers, theyalso get warnings of completely trivial events.The precognition itself can be quite strong andspectacular, but the event that is predicted isoften as silly as “a green car will drive past atexactly 10.31am with an old woman driving.”Really. . . ? Sure enough, at 10:31am precisely, agreen car driven by an old lady lumbers past.What the hell was that all about?

Okay, that is enough background infor-mation for you on all the different types ofinner senses; now it is time to roll your sleevesup and get to work.

5.6 Task: Inner touch

Do this during a daytime when you are nottired and have time to be able to not rush thisexercise.You are going to go to different stores that

sell used goods. Different types of stores willgive you different experiences. Before you goout of the door, wash your hands really wellwith liquid soap1 and a spoonful of salt. Whenyour hands are dry, how do they feel? Do theyfeel very clean and smooth?

When you go out, take with you a bag ofsalt, a small bottle of liquid soap, a small cleantowel, a coursework notebook2 and pen, and alarge bottle of water with you.Plan to visit a charity/thrift store, and then

an antique store, themore upmarket the better.Before you go into each store, pour some liquidsoap, some salt and thenwater into your handsand wash them so that they are clean.

Go to the thrift/charity store first. If you can,pick one in a poor area. Walk around thewholestore: look at the various shelves, racks, etc.

1Use one that is not heavily perfumed and that is notantibacterial, or use a plain, unperfumed soap bar.

2Keep a set of notebooks for your course notes.

and see if anything really jumps out at you. If itdoes, pick it up and handle it. As you handle it,still yourself and then feel into your emotions:how do your feelings change, if at all? If theydo change, it may be very subtle, so learn tolisten carefully.Then put the object down. Move away and

feel your hands: how do they feel? Pick uprandom objects (not clothing, that is coming)and do the same thing again. How do youremotions feel? How do your hands feel whenyou have put them down? Do they feel sticky,or rough, or wrong in any way?Now it is time to go through the clothing.

Feel through the clothing, hold the clothingout: what do you feel? How do your handsfeel? How does your body feel? Doesanything give you a headache or make youslightly nauseous? Test different selectionsof clothing of different sizes, and feel thedifference between young/teen clothing andclothing that is obviously for elderly people.Remember the various feelings and when

you leave the store, clean your hands againwith the soap, salt, and water, and then noticethe difference.Now write down your findings. What were

the differences between objects and clothing?Whatwere the differences between various agegroups of clothing? If you got nothing at all,then simply write that down in your notebook.If anything gave you a headache or made

you feel strange, a cup of coffee with somesugar will usually stop it.

Now it is time to go to an antique store.Go to a nice one that is not cluttered and ismore on the pricey side. Do exactly the sameexercise: pick up things, see how they makeyou feel physically and emotionally, and seehow they make your hands feel. See if there isa difference between non-personal items andthings that people would have kept close tothem. Write down your findings after cleaningyour hands.

The third part of the exercise is to go to adecent clothing store that sells new clothing.Run your hands through the clothing and seeif they make your hands feel different, or if

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they remain the same. Remember how newclothing feels.

Finally, go back to the thrift/charity storeor go to a different one and run your handsthrough the clothing again and handle varioustypes of clothing. Remember how it makesyour hands feel. Wash your hands and thenwrite down your findings.

5.7 Task: Inner sense—feelingpower patterns

We are often confronted by inner powerpatterns that are magically or psycholog-ically constructed on purpose to achievean aim. It is important to be able to spotthese patterns using your inner senses. Mostpeople would be shocked to know the amountof large companies and corporations thatuse psychology, chemistry or even magic tomanipulate the customer. (More than youwould think. . . I know, I have worked for afew in my more stupid past.)

Again this is an exercise of shopping. Havea day set aside when you can do this withouthaving to rush around. Choose a smallindependent café, a corporate food chain, alarge chain clothing store that has a nichemarket, a small indie clothing store, a highend health food supermarket, and then anordinary supermarket.What you are looking for is a lot more

subtle than your thrift store experience, so payattention. Take with you a notebook and pen.

First go to a small independent café and havea drink and a snack so that you have somethingin your stomach (this bit is important). Sitvery calmly with no screen in front of you, justyour notebook, andwatch people come and go.What is the base atmosphere of the café? Doyou feel any particular urge to eat more? Doyou feel any stress reactions? Or do you feelcalm, relaxed, and happy with what you have?As you watch the people come and go, what isyour first impression of them emotively? Writedown your findings.

When you are ready to leave, go straight to acorporate food chain outlet, buy only a drink,and go sit down. Still yourself and place yournotebook before you. How do you feel? Doyou feel the urge to get something to eat eventhough you have just eaten something? Or areyou fine? Do you feel relaxed or do you feelalert and watchful? Is there any shift in youremotions?Look at the people (without looking like a

crazy person), and then look down at yournotebook but ‘feel into’ the person. How dothey feel? Do they feel stressed or relaxed, dothey feel strange? Do they look strange?Write down your findings and anything else

you observe that catches your interest. The keyis to be still: recover that stillness feeling fromyour meditations, remember what it feels likeso that you become still: the inner senses workmuch better in stillness.

Now it is time to go around the shops.Feel the subtle differences between the highenergy corporate niche stores, and the smallindependent stores. How do the high endplaces make you feel? Do you want tospend money even though you do not needsomething? Is there a difference in thosefeelings when you visit a small store? Howdoes your subtle energy react to the big storesas opposed to the little ones? Do the megahealth stores make you want to buy lots ofthings, whereas a small one does not have thesame effect? Write down your findings.

Remember, there are no right or wronganswers, and there is nothing to prove. Thisis about learning how places make you feelin a subtle way that you might not havenoticed in the past. You are training yourselfto pay attention, and to spot the feel ofdifferent patterns used in marketing and sales.Some major companies use psychology andchemistry (smells) to entice people to buy orto want. Such use often opens up patternsthat inner power can flow into, which inturn makes it stronger. Sometimes this isaccidental, and sometimes this is intentional.Some mega health stores use a small group

whomeditate and project a pattern onto a store

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to encourage people to want to stay longerand buy more. It is a subtle form of magicalmanipulation. I have come across some majorcompanies that use all out magic to influencetheir customers. Naughty.Through these exercises, you will learn to

feel that subtle manipulation, be it magical orpsychological, or even working by triggeringyour brain chemistry (smells). Being aware isusually enough to obviate its effects upon you,or at least allow you to override the effects andignore them.

5.8 Task: Inner and outerboundaries

Learning how to recognise and establish innerand outer boundaries is very important for amagician’s overall safety. Just as in life we haveour own personal space and house space, sotoo does the spirit.

Learning to work with your own bound-aries is a sideways method for triggering innersenses that relate to ‘early warning systems.’Such warnings can work through a variety ofthe inner senses, and through this work youwill learn to distinguish communications withthe land and inner beings around you, alongwith learning how to recognise your own innerradar system.

Go out of your house. Take your journalor notebook with you and a compass. Walkaround the boundary of the property whereyou live, and then go stand before your frontdoor. If you live in an apartment building,walk around the building and then standbefore your own front door. If you live in thecountry and a patch of land is part of yourproperty, walk first around the boundary ofthe property, and the around the house itself.As you walk around the boundary, look

closely at what is naturally occurring aroundthe boundary: look at what trees are there,how old they are, what plants are growingnaturally (nettles, wild garlic, etc.), any rockoutcrops, wells, springs, watercourses likerivers or ponds, and if there are any hills ormountains nearby.

Also look at what man-made things arearound your boundary like electrical trans-formers or substations, churches, temples,factories, schools, etc.Write all of them down in your journal. Also

look to see if any of the buildings have carvedfaces or images, gargoyles (they appear in theweirdest places) and statues.

Now it is time to go and look at your frontdoor. Stand in front of it and look closely. Areany spiders living around your door? Do youhave a face on a door knocker? Do any animalslike dogs or cats regularly sleep by your frontdoor? Write down everything you observe.If your front door is not inside a building,

turn around and look at what is directlyopposite your front door. Is it someone else’sfront door? Is it a building, a tree, a fastmovingriver or a gentle stream?

Write everything down and then drawa map of the boundary. Mark down thedirections, which direction your front doorfaces, where spiders, trees, water, rocks, keybuildings are, etc.

Nowwalk the boundary again with the mapand stop at every key natural feature. Standbefore them and quieten yourself. What doesthat feature ‘feel’ like? Listen to your own innersenses, emotions and thoughts. Do any of thenatural features cause a subtle shift in how youfeel? Write down on your map a key word thatwould describe that shift. Take your time withthis. It may take a few times of walking theboundary and visiting these natural featuresbefore you begin to sense them.Once you have visited the natural features,

go around again and talk to each one in turn.Talk in your mind and also with your voice(unless there is a real risk of being draggedoff for being a nutter), say hello, introduceyourself, ask if they need anything, tell themwhere you live. Treat everything as if it hada consciousness, even the rocks, the rivers, thespiders: talk to everything.Do the same for any outstanding man-made

structures like churches, carvings, statues,fences: talk to everything. What you are doing

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is opening lines of communication to thebeings that live around you, alerting them tothe fact that you are willing to acknowledgethem, listen to them and work with them. Ifyou find rocks that appear to have faces inthem, ask one if you can place it by your frontdoor as a guardian.

Everything has the potential to talk back toyou, but opening those lines of communica-tions in a human that has been shut down cantake practice. For others it triggers quickly andeasily. For example stones themselves do nottalk, but beings that livewithin or around themdo. By talking to the stone, you are opening adoorway for communication.And the act of talking to everything and

anything begins to loosen your ability to hearinner sounds: you learn to blur your ownboundaries so that other consciousnesses cancommunicate with you.

Spend fiveminutes each night sitting quietlyor lying in bed, and in your mind, go aroundthe boundary, check each feature that youhave been talking to, any door spiders (theyare wonderful early warning systems formagicians), rocks, trees. In your mind, go toeach one and say goodnight and ask themto alert you if an intruder crosses into yourterritory. If you live in an apartment block,focus the boundary checks on two levels: thefirst being the outer boundary of the building.Just ask them to alert you to any human orbeing with violent intent. And talk to anyfeatures on your front door and ask to bealerted if anyone approaches it. Having adoor knocker with a face, creature or lion onit makes it easier. You can talk to the face andask it to watch over the door.When you talk to man-made images like

that, you are creating a subtle link with theimage and your own consciousness: it is thefirst stage of creating a thought form. Youslowly learn how to use the face as an extensionof your own consciousness.

Walk the boundaries and say hello to all thefeatures at least three times a week. The rest ofthe week, use your mind to check in with the

features at night before you go to sleep. Thisslowly builds up a pattern of consciousnessso that when something is coming that is apotential threat, the features will communicateback to you. This can come in the form of asudden ‘feeling’ that something is not right, ora voice in your mind saying, ‘intruder,’ or youwill get a sudden flash out of the blue in yourmind of a specific feature.You may suddenly see the tree you talk to at

the back of your house: it may appear in yourmind suddenly for no apparent reason. Whatis happening is that the tree is communicatingwith you to tell that something is coming thatis a potential threat. It may be an intruder, buttrees also warn about earthquakes, dangerousstorms or magical attacks.If your communication is from an old tree,

and the warning is about an impending earth-quake, just remember that their measure oftime is very different fromours. ‘Immediate’ tothem could mean in the next couple of weeks.If you get such a warning about an

impending natural disaster, just make sureyour house is ready for an earthquake and thatyou have a supply box ready, or make sure youhave an emergency water/food/flash-lightsupply ready and up-to-date.If you get an intruderwarning out of the blue

and it is night time, switch all of the lights onimmediately and make sure you have a phoneto hand: that is often enough to deter someoneor something intending to intrude.

The other extension of this boundary-keeping which triggers your inner sensesis to have a night-time routine that youdo (regardless of what anyone else in thehousehold does) of checking locked doors andwindows.As you check them, have an image in your

mind of you sealing that window or door witha line of dark blue light. Again, this builds upan inner boundary and wards off physical orspirit intruders.

Ensure that the natural features you workwith have what they need. If it is a tree,hang a bird feeder in it (trees and birds havea wonderful symbiotic relationship). Water a

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plant or bush or weed, touch a stone: learnto tend them as well as talk to them. So ifthey need something in return, they will letyou know. Learn to listen and see with yourmind aswell as your ears and eyes. Write downoccurrences, events and feelings that triggerinto your journal.

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Lesson 6

Sacred Language &Magical Scripts

There is a great deal of misunderstanding inthe modern magical world when it comes tomagical scripts and sacred languages, and itis crucial that magicians have a basic under-standing of the origins, history and early useof these scripts as well as learning what works,what doesn’t, what should not be worked withand why.

Basically this topic divides into twocategories: magical script and sacred sound(the root of sacred language). Let’s have a brieflook at the magical scripts first. Before youread any further, go to a search engine on theweb and look up the following scripts.Download examples of the following

alphabets (Wikipedia is a good source forpublic domain images): Malachim, Celestial,Passing the River, and Enochian. Once youhave downloaded them, look at each scriptindividually so that you get an idea of theirstyles, forms, similarities, and differences.Now do a search and look up the alphabet

for Tifinagh, which is a North African Berberscript. Have a good look at it. And then finally,look up and download the Hebrew alphabetand also Paleo Hebrew. Once more, sit and havea good look at them.

Now you should have a basic idea of whatmagical scripts look like, and also whatHebrew and Paleo Hebrew looks like, so thatwhen you read about the evolution of thesescripts, you can see some of the history of

these scripts seeping through the images.Most magical scripts in use by magicians

today date back to the early to mid- 16thcentury, with a smattering emerging in the15th century. The following lesson willhighlight to you just how important it is forthe magician to have a solid backgroundknowledge of history, which in turn allows formore discernment.

6.1 Magical Scripts and the 16thCentury

From the late 15th century to the end of the16th century in Europe was a peak time formagical texts, scripts and early books. Butto understand those scripts and books, it isimportant to understand the culture of theperiod that these things emerged from.It was a time of major change in Europe on

lots of fronts, but one of the key ingredientsthat led to the emergence of these scripts andbooks was the expulsion of Jews from Spainand Portugal in the 15th century.Some fled to Turkey, some fled to North

Africa, and some moved to various regionsin Europe including, most crucially, northernItaly. Many Jews passed through northernAfrica before moving into northern Italy,and these migrations resulted in variouscross-fertilizations between languages andculture.

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It was during this fertile time that earlybooks on Kabbalah and on magic began toemerge. The Kabbalists in northern Italywere rubbing shoulders with astrologersand alchemists, and the rise in interest inmystical magical texts was becoming veryfashionable in major centres such as Londonand Venice. It would have been fascinatingfor the European Christian-based magicians,who drew heavily upon Greco-Roman texts,to come across Kabbalist magicians who useda mystical written language that would havelooked completely alien to them. These JewishKabbalists would also have been familiar withTifinagh from North Africa.So our first ingredients are European

Magicians working from fragments of Greek,Alexandrian and Roman texts within a Chris-tianised cultural format, and Jewish Kabbalistswho used a sacred script magically, and whoalso knew a very alien-looking script theylearned in North Africa.Our second ingredient is a wish for power.

Many of the Jewish communities in northernItaly and northern Europe lived under theconstant threat of expulsion. In Venice, forexample, they lived with heavy trade restric-tions and were forced to live in a particulararea of the city known as the Venetian Ghetto.It was also a time of the emergence of the

Sculo, or confraternities in Venice for thelower and middle classes, based upon theirtrade skills. These confraternities were highlyritualised and ceremonial, giving themerchantclasses a sense of importance, identity andinvolvement. This was very necessary in orderto maintain peace and control in the city:many cities were well aware of the peasantrevolts that had happened in England in theprevious century.It is important to really understand these

ingredients, as they cast a light on the shadowyworld of ‘special magicians’ from that time.It was a time when being seen to belong toan order or fraternity that used secrecy, ritual,and special signs was a sign of someone whowas doing well, a person to be respected andlooked up to. In a time when not having statusor money meant that you were condemned to

a brutal life of extreme poverty and hardship,there was a massive incentive to be seen tobe doing well, to being knowledgeable and incontrol of one’s life.The ritual element of the confraternities

would have triggered an overall interest inritual, which in turn would have encouragedthese middle class merchants to seek outmagicians to get an ‘edge’ on their businesssuccess.As we all know, demand creates a scramble

to supply, and these cities soon had a fewnotable magicians that people would consult.And do not forget that at this time people

(particularly the merchant class and nobility)were travelling quite a lot from place to place,picking up bits, passing bits on, gossiping;doing what humans do. Soon it would havebeen a struggle to stand out as the best, andmagicians would have taken advantage of thecross-pollination that was happening betweenthemselves and the Kabbalists in order to gainmagical knowledge and skills that others didnot have.The magicians watched the Kabbalists use

a sacred language that the magicians couldnot penetrate: the Kabbalists used their magicseemingly for protection, money, status andhealth. And they always seemed to dowell. Sothe magicians needed their own sacred secretmagical language.Just as now, in those days there were

honourable people and not so honourablepeople, there were drama queens, pedestal-standers, snake oil salesmen, the clueless, theclever con artists and the few genuine folks.People were discovering ‘secret ancient texts’all over the place, and were being channeledmagical scripts from ‘angels’ (Enochian,Malachim, etc.).Soon we had a mix emerging that consisted

of fragmented Greco-Roman magic, Christianoverlays, astrology, Kabbalah, Hebrew,Tifinagh, early mystical texts, and god knowswhat else thrown into the pot—pots whichended up presented as ancient texts such asThe Keys of Solomon.People needed a recipe book that could be

shown to be the font of all magical knowledge:

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a magician could walk into a royal or noblecourt, quietly infer that they had the magicalsecrets ofwealth, power and happiness, secretswhich those who were totally fascinated bysuch subject matter would have paid a trulyprincely sum to get their hands on. Thoserecipe books also had great street cred for anymagician known to have one—and also to beable to read it.

Now this is where we step back a bit, andwe have to tread cautiously. These booksand scripts are still in use today and theyare very fashionable indeed. (History alwaysrepeats itself, which is why it is good to learnhistory. . .you spot the same patterns.)Can youmake these books work? To a lesser

degree yes, and to a greater degree no. As amagical student, you need to be very awareas to why these scripts work a little bit andnot a lot; you need to learn the mechanicsof how these scripts operate. Now that youknow the historical background of why andhow they emerged, you can put to one sidethe glamorous idea that they are indeed scriptsfrom angels, and we can look at how scriptsthat were created this way can be triggered inmagic.

6.2 Creating Patterns

When a script is created and then put to use, ifit is done without an inner construction it willnot work at first. But if it is repeatedly usedover a period of time, and used in exactly thesame way, a pattern is created that power canflow through. If the pattern is not magicallyconstructed, the ‘gateway’ for power andcommunication builds slowly over time ina natural way and is similar to the idea ofengramming that you were introduced to inan early lesson.Actions repeated in exactly the same way,

with intent, over a period of time, create adoorway that power can flow into. Mostmagical scripts, including Enochian andCelestial, were haphazardly created. Buttheir repeated use over long period of timetriggered a doorway to emerge.

This haphazard construction is not withoutproblems: when a doorway is created in thisway, the magician has no control over whatpasses through that doorway. The idea that aname of a being will force that being to passthrough or communicate through that scriptis a fallacy; more often that not what passesthrough these doorways are opportunisticlow-level beings that are parasitical in nature.These beingswill cooperate with themagician,but often at high long-term cost: the parasite’sonly reason for cooperation is ameal of energy,usually the energy of the magician.If the magician has a good idea of what they

are doing, and uses symbols that are alreadyengrammed to actions connected to specificpowers or deities, then the script can work,albeit in a haphazard way. Sometimes thiscan result in brilliant breakthroughs, thoughthey are often unpredictable. Why is this?Often problems and instabilities in scriptsoccur because the magician is not aware ofthe difference between a functional sigil orsymbol, and a letter that is magically tied intosound (which is sacred language, and we willlook at that in a moment).This lack of knowledge can be clearly

observed when a magician uses a functionalsymbol to represent an alphabetic letter orvice versa. They are two very different things,and operate in very different ways. Let’s lookfirst at a magical symbol.

6.3 Magical Symbols

Let’s have a look at an ancient symbol thatwas misused in a badly-created magical script.Look at the page of the Malachim script,and look for the symbol that is an X with aline going down the middle of the X. In theMalachim script this represents the letter S. Sohere it is used like an alphabet letter.This symbol is very ancient indeed, and

is a root pattern that is deeply connected tothe Metatron Cube, a Kabbalistic pattern thatis about creation. When used magically, itis an anchor or foundation stone in magicalconstruction. But what it is not is a sound inmagical terms. When used in written script

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in order to construct a magical sentence,the use of this image acts a block of stonewhich will stop the flow of power. So it iscounterproductive to use it in magical script.When used properly, this symbol has such

a strong magical effect simply because it islike a ‘prime’ symbol that has been usedfor thousands of years in a very tuned andknowledgeable way. Using it as an anchoror foundation stone in magical constructionwould ensure that the base of the constructionis very solid and connected into true magicalpatterns that in turn would filter out parasiteinfestation.So you can see how using these symbols

properly can be powerful indeed, but usingthem without knowledge can be very counter-productive. By looking closely at so called‘powerful grimoires’ you will be able torecognise which ones are indeed working withtrue magical knowledge and which ones arenot.As an aside, in true magical grimoires,

the incantations and spells are usually notactually a part of the magic; rather they areblind alleys put in to protect the magic. Atrue magician will know how to operate thegrimoire, whereas an interloper will blindlyfollow the incantations, usually to limitedsuccess.

6.4 Sigils

Sigils are essentially signs that a magicianmakes to connect with a very specific power.To work the most powerfully with sigils, themagician connects with the power using innervision and visionary ritual, and then formsa sigil that becomes a ‘signature’ mark thatallows the power to flow through it into a textor object.1

1When you come to doModule II Lesson 1, youwill doa directional ritual pattern. When you have finished thatlesson, draw out the shape of your movements aroundthe directions. That pattern will show you a sigil: that isthe sigil of that specific ritual. I will not mention it in thelesson, so take note now and remember. It is the sigil forthat specific power action. Whenever you see that sigilin ancient text (not 16th century), you will know that asimilar power dynamic is at play.

Copying sigils created by other magiciansonly works if you are connecting from an innermagical perspective to the same power withthe same level of communication. A properlycrafted sigil is like a vessel that power can flowinto, and over time it becomes a container fora specific power, activating action and commu-nication.These days the use of sigils in some areas

of magic has devolved down to fashion andglamour. But there are some magicians whowork very powerfullywith sigils toweave linesof connection and power into the sign.

6.5 Sacred language andutterance

True sacred magical language is rare indeed,simply because it takes so much to fullyconstruct one, often taking generations, andrequires a magician of a high skill level anddeep mystical knowledge.An example of a true sacred magical

language is Hebrew, and another survivoris Egyptian Hieroglyphs. They work on asurface level in very different ways, but theirunderlying structural construction and use isthe same. Both work with magical sound andvibration, and the use of image as a doorway.

Hebrew

In Hebrew, each letter is a root sound andhas a connected utterance. These root soundsand the use of them in utterance is compatiblewith the frequencies of angelic thresholds(something you will learn about in anothermodule). Angelic beings are triggered by, andoperate with specific sounds or frequencies ofsound that activate them to a specific action.That action is usually holding a door open forDivinity to flow through in one filtered form(Names) or another. The sounds themselvesare learned and acquired through deepvisionary work, and the symbols connected tothem are then created by the consciousness ofman in order to convey the sound.The actual symbols of the Hebrew letters

are magically constructed to be interfaces

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for those sounds, so combining the lettersin a script will trigger a magical action inthe same way that combining the soundswould. However, the use of the script is likea computer program that runs automatically,whereas the actual utterance of the sounds inthe right way, in the right combination, andwith the right inner resonance will open adoorway far wider and deeper than the simpleuse of the script would.

The ingredient that creates that depth ofaction is the living breath of a human being.But someone who does not have deep innerconnection will not be able to reproducethe same level of power from the use ofthe sounds that a properly trained JewishKabbalist would. And that again protects themagic, and protects the outsider or dabblerfrom their own stupidity. The use of magicalrecitation with Hebrew is very much thedomain of a specific mystical element of areligion: it is not a plaything to experimentwith.When these sacred languages, or Divine

sounds, are used repeatedly in a consecratedspace, it creates and upholds a constant flowof Divine power into a space: the fabric ofthe building absorbs the vibration which inturn keeps the space sacred and powerful.The Jewish Kabbalist would use Hebrewin complex patterns, the magician woulduse Divine sounds that are not connected tolanguages.

Hieroglyphs

Egyptian hieroglyphs work in a very similarway, but also have included within themspecific deity images and symbols that help tofilter and tune the use of sacred sound. Theutterances alongwith the deity symbols wouldensure a constant presence of the deities ina temple or tomb space, and not only wouldthey instruct the priests, but they would alsocreate a powerful inner construct that vastpowers can flow through.Walking around some of these temples still

embedded with the sounds and images is atruly remarkable magical experience. Evenafter thousands of years, these spaces still work

powerfully and will trigger if a magician whohas inner connection walks into the space.

6.6 Translations of sacredlanguages

This is where magicians frequently trip up.You cannot translate and then use a magicalsacred language in your own tongue. It wouldbe akin to buying a diesel car and puttingpetrol in it. It just does not work, and morethan that, it triggers a blind loop to trapmagicians in a dead end. This is a defencemechanism in magic and is also a part of amagician’s development: if magicians do notstay focused, they are often led down blindalleys that lead to dead ends.Let’s have a look at an example. A common

one is whereby a Western magician attemptsto access the powers that flow through JewishKabbalah in order to do ‘results magic’ or‘psychology magic.’ Jewish Kabbalah in itsreal form is a deep, powerful, and mysticalinterface with Divinity, designed and usedby a specific peoples; it does not find parkingspaces for you.The magician translates the Hebrew words

into English and then uses them in ritual andmagical scripts. The first thing that happens isthat when you take a sacred name in Hebrewand translate it into English, all you get is theouter meaning of the word. It will have nopower, no inner connection, andwill not createan interface.So for example, the magician focuses upon

the word Netzach, which is the name of aSefirot on the Tree of Life. The use of the wordNetzach in Jewish Kabbalah roughly equatesto victory or endurance (victory throughendurance). The use of the Hebrew lettersthat make up the word Netzach, when usedmagically by a Jewish Kabbalist, will trigger aflow of power into the life of the person thatwill teach him or her the wisdom that strengthcomes from endurance. It will literally triggersituations around the person that gives theopportunity to grow strong through constantstruggle: not something that most magicianswould choose to do.

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The letters can also be used magically whenlife is throwing buckets full of shit at theKabbalist in a seemingly endless fashion. Itdoes not stop the buckets being thrown, butit helps the Kabbalist engage the power ofNetzach to learn how to endure, be victorious,and consequently become strong and knowl-edgeable by overcoming adversity. But theability to use the words in such a way comesfrom the Kabbalist’s deep understandingand knowledge of the Torah, of the sacredlanguage, and how to work with it mystically.If aWesternmagician converts the word into

English and uses Tree of Life patterns with theEnglish translations, then all that happens isthat you learn the outer names and qualitiesof the Sefirot, but any engagement directlywith that power is simply a psychologicalengagement with the self. That is somethingvery different and is not a magical use per se.The deeper powers and angelic beings thatflow through that Sefirot are not engaged andare not working with intent through and withthe magician.This in turn triggers a pattern of behaviour

whereby the Tree and the Sefirot (through theuse of translated names) become puzzles thatthe magician tries to unlock, and the magiciancan spend years going around in circles tryingto intellectualise the use of these powers.They are not puzzles to be deciphered, nor

are they psychological pointers; they are livingbreathing powers in their own right and mustbe respected.This course will have no Kabbalah in it, as

it is not necessary nor do I think it is appro-priate. It has been very fashionable since thenineteenth century to have aspects of Hebrewand Kabbalah in magic, and I for one also ranwith that for the longest time. It took me awhile to learn that it is not necessary for a fullmagical education, as you will eventually findout.You will learn how to work with the powers

and dynamics that underpin these sacredpatterns and languages: it is important formagic to move forward in development,not constantly be stepping backwards andco-opting religious structures you are not

connected to.It is important, however, for the magician

to understand these sacred languages, wherethey come from, how they are used, and howthey aremisused. You cannot change them, co-opt them, or dabble with them.To develop as a true mystical magician you

must learn about sacred sound in a Divine butnon-religious way. It is important to under-stand the dynamic behind sacred languagesand how mystical sounds, directed utterance,etc. works, and learn about them in a way thatforges forward into the future.There are sounds that trigger actions, and

the magician creates images vibrate with thesounds. Those sounds are angelic calls andtrue angelic ‘language.’ Be very clear aboutthis before you begin to step into magicalwork using sacred sound: know the differencebetween sacred language, magical symbols,and language that conveys meanings. Theyare all completely different things in terms ofmagical work and use.

6.7 Sound and symbol inmagical action

Briefly, the combinations would be used likethis. The magician is constructing a ritualpatterned image to trigger a magical action orresponse. Themagician uses sacred sound (theroot principle of a sacred language) to connectthe work to specific angelic beings who willbe the triggers and doorways for the power.That sound will have a sigil or letter that thesound is magically connected to. A magicalsymbol or sigil (such as the one we looked atearlier) is placed strategically to be an anchoror foundation stone for the ritual action.The magician then includes magical

symbols that are doorways for specificbeings, be they deities, underworld beings, orguardians. Then the magician adds in wordsthat denote specific actions (the intent of theritual).These letters and symbols are then encased

in an overarching symbol that is a vessel—thehexagram is the most often used container as

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the image is literally a container that allowspower to flow in and out in a balanced way.

Once it is completed, the magician thenuses the calls for the angelic thresholds usingthe sacred utterance, and while calling, themagician is also working in inner vision tobridge the connection between the innerbeings and the outer pattern. The magicianthen uses their own everyday language tocommunicate with the beings triggered bythe ritual action: this ensures that everyoneinvolved knows what is happening, whatis being asked for, and why. The everydaylanguage by the magician is only used tocommunicate individual requests, interac-tions, and intentions.So you begin to see how these grimoires

were originally constructed, and why it is soeasy to spot a fake one. The ones that havecome down to us from the 16th century aremore often than not fake and are people’sattempts at that time to mimic what theyperceived as being powerful magic. Thefakes were also often peddled simply to makemoney by selling them to rich but cluelessnobles.So now that you are aware of the differences,

it is time to learn the beginnings of how toworkwith them.

6.8 Practical work

Coherence and foundation are importantwhen you first start to learn how to work withsigils, symbols, and sound. As an apprenticein magic, you are not yet at the stage whereyou can fill these symbols or sigils with power,or use any sacred sound, but learning thefoundation actions of using themwill give youa platform of experiential learning that willprepare you and give you the necessary skillsfor later work.When you are ready, you will learn how to

fill these images with power, and how to workwith the roots of magical utterance that is thefoundation of all sacred language.Take plenty of notes during your exercises

and experiments, as you will need to referback to this lesson in the future in order to

remember howyouworked: youwill learn halfof the skill set now, and the rest later in thecourse.

6.9 Working with magicalsymbols: Pentagram,Hexagram, Cruciform

Draw out a pentagram. Have your notes fromyour ritual magic lesson that worked withthe four directions and the powers that flowthrough those directions. The ritual exercisesthat you did in that lesson will now transferonto paper so that you can see another way ofworking with the same technique and power.Mark the head of the pentagram with the

word ‘South.’ Now draw a line from the topof the pentagram to the bottom so that theline passes between the two legs and finishesbelow them. Mark the bottom of that line‘North.’ Now draw a line from one arm of thepentagram to the other. Mark the left arm ofthe pentagram ‘East’ and the right arm ‘West.’Draw a small hexagram over the head of

the pentagram. Draw a small cruciform inthe ‘hand’ of the left arm of the pentagram,and a cup shape (half circle) in the right‘hand’ of the pentagram. Draw an earthsymbol at the bottom of the line, opposite thehexagram (circle with an equal-armed cross init). Finally, draw a small circle in the centre ofthe pentagram.Now write the words ‘I will be’ over the

top of the head of the pentagram. Placing thewords ‘I will be’ over the pentagram is the startof learning how to create a seal for the future.If English is not your first language, then useyour first language expression for ‘I will be.’Underneath the earth sign at the bottom

of the pentagram, write your family name(surname) that you were born with. On theleft side of the pentagram, over the cruciform,write ‘I give.’ On the right side, over the cup,write, ‘I receive.’ These words should be inyour own first language (don’t use English if itis your second language).In the centre, write your own first name, the

name that your mother called, you. (so if you

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now use a middle name, but your mother usedyour first name, use your first name). Draw acircle around the whole thing to enclose it.This is your seal in primary terms. The

pentagram, which is badly misunderstood, isabout Man, or the individual human that youare. The hexagram is Divinity; the pentagramis humanity. When you work with the seal of ahuman, it becomes the magical container thatvarious magical acts can be connected to. Putthis seal in a frame and place it somewherewhere you can see it, but other people, likehouse visitors, would not. Make sure it isbehind glass to protect it: you will be workingwith it.In the future you will learn different appli-

cations for this seal: you will learn how touse sigils, hieroglyphs, and symbols in itsconstruction, and how to use sound and innervision to enliven it. But for now you are goingto learn how it is you, and how to work withit as an expression of you. It can work as astabiliser for you, and as a minor shield.

6.10 Working the pentagram

Stand in front of the image of your seal (hang iton the wall or prop it up on something). Lookat it and fix the symbols in your mind. Holdyour arms out to your sides so that you make acruciform. Look at the hexagram at the head.This is the sign of Divinity that breathes downinto your life. Say the words “I will be.”Now look at the earth sign, and say your

surname (family birth name) and “I camefrom.” Look at the cruciform in the left handand say “I give,” and then look at the cup inthe right hand and say “I receive.” Look at thecentre of the pentacle and say “I am,” and thenyour first name that is written in the centre.Now close your eyes. See in your mind’s eye

the hexagram above you, and be aware thatthis is Divinity flowing down into creation,into you. See in your mind’s eye the earth sign,your roots, and be aware that this is whereyou come from. See a sword in your left hand(holding the blade so it makes a cruciformshape) and a cup in your right hand. Imagine a

small flame or spark in your centre, your vitalforce.Hold those images, and imagine the sense of

power flowing down into you from the starsabove you, and power flowing into you fromthe earth beneath you. Imagine the sword andthe cup, and your spark in the centre, and thatyour centre spark is the fulcrum between twoscales, the sword on one side and the cup onthe other: through actions that give and takein equal energy, you retain magical, energetic,and spiritual balance.Do this exercise every day for a week.

Should something happen to you in life thatthrows you, drains you, or stresses you, repeatthis exercise. It is a basic shield and anchorfor you. It will not protect you in the face ofdanger, but it will stabilise you and allow youto draw on your own inner power and thepowers around you in a balanced way. Thisin turn helps you to act magically in a moreefficient way when you are under threat.The more you do this exercise, the more

you will begin to make connections and gainawareness of certain symbols and their usage.Write those revelations down as they come toyou, and take note of other things that riseinto your mind in connection with this seal.Later will learn how to work with it in moreadvanced ritual ways.This exercise has taught you the beginning

foundation of the combined use of everydaylanguage, magical symbols, and magicalpatterns. In the second module of theApprentice series, you will learn how to dosome of these patterns in full rituals, mostimportantly the complete pentagram ritualand the complete hexagram ritual.

6.11 Task: An experiment

Get a large sheet of paper or a canvas, someacrylic paints, and a charcoal pencil. Paint apicture of yourself face on,2 full length, witharms outstretched in the stance you used in thepentagram exercise. It does not need to be amajor work of art: no one is going to see it.

2It will be a mirror image: the left arm in the imageis your left arm as you face the image.

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Paint in a sword in your left hand and abowl in your right hand. Now lightly draw thehexagram over your head and the earth signbetween your feet, and a small spark of lightin your centre. Trace the pentagram over yourimage with the charcoal.Around your head, limbs and centre, and

inside the pentagram, think about whatcolours would emanate around each limb/body part. There is no right or wrong answer,this is purely personal to you. Work instinc-tively, not intellectually, just put colour whereyou feel it should be. Paint it in and then sitback and look at it. What colours have beenplaced around you?Now think about the health of your body

and those limbs/body parts (arms, legs, head,centre). What do the colours tell you aboutwhat is going on in your own body? Do theyseem to match? Is there any connection or not?Again, no right answers. . . You are learningto explore your own body’s inner energies andtheir fluctuations.Think also about whether you are right

handed or left handed. What magical tool(sword or cup) is in your dominant hand?Think of the base energy movement

attributes (give or receive) and how you arein your personality. Is there an imbalance?Giving and taking can be positive or negativein many different ways. Having a receivingquality as a dominant feature can mean eithertaking a lot, or putting up with a lot—like thesaying, “I will take a lot of shit before I reactand take action.”.Meditate upon this and see if there is any

balance you need to restore in your life. Lateryouwill learn how to use these different handsand qualities in specific magical actions.

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Lesson 7

Magical Protection

In this lesson we will look at the beginnings of basicmagical protection: how it is used, when it shouldbe used, and when it should not. Wewill also look atthe wider issues pertinent to magical protection, togive you as a student a much deeper understandingof magical protection than is normally taught thisearly on in your training.

How to protect yourself magically is a majorpart of any magical training, but for the mostpart this sort of training tends to consist of‘recipe’ magic (spells, rituals, talismans, etc.)to address specific situations—for examplehow to protect against another magicianhurting you, how to protect yourself and yourhome from invasive spirits, etc. This approachto magical protection is commonplace andvery few magicians actually stop to think pastthe recipe and look at the deeper and morelong-term consequences.

Throughout your magical life, there willof course be times when you need to protectyourself, your family, and your home by usingmagic, and throughout this course you willlearn a variety of approaches and techniquesso that you will have a wide range of skills todraw on for specific situations.

But before you learn how to protect yourself,you need to learn to distinguish between whatare true dangers and what are not, and—mostimportantly—when not to protect yourselfand why. The latter is complex, as complexas creation itself, but with some insight you

will hopefully be able to make more informedchoices.For the first part of this lessonwewill look at

the rarely considered or discussed peripheralissues that have a direct influence on magicalprotection. Then we will work practically withbasic early-level protections that you can easilyhandle and not do yourself any harm with.

7.1 Threats and Saviours

Because ofmodernmedia, film, and TV, a lot oftheWesternworld in general lives in a constantstate of fear. We are told that there are threatsaround every corner, that our children mustnever go outsidewithout supervision or an all-over body suit, and that if we go out at nightthe zombies will eat us.The younger generations in particular, who

have had a very poor quality education, haveno discernment or reference point beyondwhat the media tells them, and they drink inthe bullshit which consequently puts them ina daily struggle with fear.The second lump of proverbial concrete

around a person’s neck is being raised in areligious country. Most American and Englishfolks would not say they had a religiousupbringing or that religion had affected theirlives, but the subtle conditioning of a person’smind from birth within such a culture leavesits mark. It defines how we view the inner

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worlds, howwe viewmagic, and it also defineswhat we fear.We Westerners live in a heavily dualist

society, with the angels, faeries, and goodfolks on one side, and the demons, spirits,devils, and evil people on the other. Howevermuch a person may have risen above thatchildish view, some of it still sticks. Andwhat sticks affects the magical training of apotential magician. So we need to look atthat a bit closely, so that you fully understandexactly what really is a threat and what is not.The first tripping point for people is

our culture’s lack of understanding of thedifference between Divinity and deity. InChristian societies, ‘God’ is approached andthought of in a way that is actually deityworship, and not a direct connection withDivinity. So God is appealed to as you wouldappeal to a father, as though youwere commu-nicating with a human being, and when suchan appeal is not answered, or something verybad happens, God is blamed or the personfeels abandoned.In a later module we will look in depth at

the difference between deity and Divinity,and also at the many different types of beingsthat surround us. But for now, just keep anawareness that the way you think of religionis heavily coloured by your culture. Jesus is adeity. Divinity is Divinity: it has no religion,but flows through all of them.And this takes me to my second point,

which it is important that I make before wego any further. And that is the validity ofreligions. Many pagans and non-Christianmagicians are very hostile to Christianity,without really understanding what it is theyare hostile to.Religion is a pattern constructed by man

in order to talk to Divinity. As a humanconstruction all religions have great failings,but they also have sparks of Divine wonderwithin them, along with magical patterning.Various religions can become very usefulto the magician, not in terms of worship,but in terms of operating systems. The truecommunion between Divinity and humanityis an individual relationship between a human

and non-human Divinity.But religions have within them various

‘programs’ that can be worked with in order toachieve something, usually protection. Thinkof religions as computer programs withinan operating system, whose worshippers areoften akin to the viruses, cookies, bugs, andgod knows what else that slow that systemdown and make it inefficient: just think ofthe way people throughout history have usedreligion as an excuse, a prop, or a tool ofstatus. But a magician can dodge past most ofthat and tap into the program itself to get a jobdone.So do not discount using certain religious

patterns for protection because of your dislikefor religions. Through your training you willlearn how to navigate such work withoutfalling into traps or using obsolete techniquesthat leave you defenseless. The threats thatmost training magicians think about areghosts, demons, and devils, with the oddevil magician thrown in for good measure.During the early part of your training, some ofthese (well, the ones that actually exist, not thefantasy versions) will generally not be a threatto you as you will still be very much ‘belowtheir radar’ in magical terms.The three most common threats to a

budding magician are parasites (low-levelbeings that feed off people’s emotions andenergies), land beings that you happen totrigger and/or otherwise piss off by mistake,and predatory humans.Apart from these threats there is also

something that is rarely thought of andaddressed, but is very simple, and that ispsychic muck. This is decaying energy that iscomposting, and you can get covered in it ifyou are not careful. Some cities are full of it,as are some people. Think of psychic muck interms of excrement. If you don’t have goodpersonal hygiene; if you wallow in sewers andwash your hands in a toilet full of feces, youwill get sick.The majority of magical protection, partic-

ularly at the early stages of magical training,consists of three things: stay clean, staybalanced, and stay alert. Those three things

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alone will keep you out of trouble. A fourthprotection technique is an actual shield thatyou raise when there is real threat.Later in training, you will learn many

different methods of protection, as no one sizefits all situations and you need to be ready todeal with anything that can potentially comealong. But if you learn powerful shielding tooearly on in your training, you will not developany magical muscle-power at all. You do notwalk around in a bullet-proof all-over bodysuit in your everyday life, and you certainlydon’t need to do that in your magical life.So let’s first have a look at staying clean. You

have already started this process in your lessonon inner senses. Now you get the next step.

7.2 Getting clean and stayingclean

You must never overuse any form of magicalcleaning or protection, as this would begin tomake you more vulnerable. Being exposed tosome low-level threats helps to slowly build upyour inner immune system, which is vital forevery magician who wants to stay strong andhealthy (just as a child needs to be exposed tocertain types of viruses and bacteria).

Ritual cleaning can be used more often thanprotection, and use your common sense whenit comes to how often you use it. If you havebeen into a city or a place that is particularlypsychically grimy, you will feel it. You will feel‘dirty’ and tired. Then it is time to have a ritualbath. Once you have felt what it is like to beclean, and you get used to that feeling, youwillbe able to better recognise when you suddenlybecome energetically dirty.This type of magical cleaning should not be

used routinely, but only when it is needed.Think of it in terms of real life—if you are everstuck for a reference point in magic, alwaysconvert it to a real life equivalent and go fromthere. You do not scrub your hands excessivelyevery hour of the day: some bacteria on yourskin and in your system is very necessary foryour health, which is why antibacterial soapsare so damaging to us. It is the same withmagic. A bit of psychic dirt helps us to gain

immunities, too much makes us ill, and toolittle makes us vulnerable.But it is vital that a magician knows when

they need to get clean, because it can save youfrom all sorts of problems. If you go a magicalgathering which is unbalanced, and you comehome feeling odd, dirty, or drained—then geta ritual bath. You need to learn the ritual byheart so that you can do it on the spot withoutpapers should you need to. Take the time tolearn and practice it.

The following are two versions of the sameritual. One is to cleanse the body and the otheris to cleanse the home. If there are seriousenergetic problems in your home, then youwill obviously need to ritually clean it on aregular basis. If your house suddenly startsto feel ‘wrong,’ or still feels grimy even afteryou have physically cleaned it, then it is timeto ritually cleanse it.To get the ritual into your head and get used

to it, do it for your home and your body once aweek for six weeks. This will also peel off anydeep layers of muck on you and your home,which in turn will help you to recognise what‘clean’ actually feels like. After that, only usethese rituals when needed.Bear in mind that, as with most magic, ritual

cleansing is not a cureall, but it is a useful tool.It handles low- and medium-level problemsvery well; but if you are on the receiving endof an attack from a serious magician or a majorland or underworld power (very unlikely earlyon in yourmagical career), ritual cleansingwillbe one of a range of tools you will need to use,not the only one. And get out of the mindsetthat magic has one banishing ritual or oneprotection ritual that can save you—that is notonly incorrect, but potentially very dangerous.If you are under serious attack that threatensyour life, you have to use a combination ofmethods that are specific to the problem: realmagic is truly an art form.These rituals, because they are so important

and useful, have been placed on all of mywebsites and in most of my books. If you havealready used them, then make sure you knowthem by heart and do not need notes/scripts

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to perform them. It is very important that youknow both versions of this ritual inside out. Ifyou already know the ritual by heart and haveused it on yourself and your home, then moveon to the next part of this lesson, but first readthrough this section of the lesson in case thereis something here that you have missed.When it comes to the list of the clearing

(where it lists all the things to be removed)if there is a specific thing that is not listed,something that you need to be rid of, then addthat thing to the list. If that thing is a naturebeing (like a faery being), then do not cast itout: simply talk to the space, tell it that it needsto go, open the doors so it can get out, or puta stone down in the room for half an hour andtell it to get into the stone. One it is in the stone,take it out and put it on the earth and thensimply sprinkle the mix around the room.

7.3 The ritual cleansing of aperson

Teaching Note: when you exorcise by the ‘gods,’you are calling upon the deities, the ‘substations’ ofDivinity to act, and are calling upon the substanceyou are exorcising to ‘stand to attention.’ Thena specific name of Divinity is used that bridgesbetween the substations and Divinity. That namefocuses a particular quality of Divinity that isrelevant to the substance in question. And thenfinally the element or object is consecrated into theservice of Divinity unnamed (not deity) so that itwill work regardless of area, religions, styles, etc.

Have a bath full of water and a large bowl ofsalt. Light a candle in the bathroom. Use thefirst two fingers of the right hand to point atwhat you are working on.Where you see + it means make the sign

of an equal-armed cross over whatever youare working on. This is nothing to do withChristianity; it is about the sign of earth, ofMalkuth: the action of the equal-armed cross isused whenever you are tuning or consecratingsomething that is substance: a body, a stone,salt, water; anything of physical substance. Itis the reiteration of the four directions.

Recite over a bowl of salt while pointing firsttwo fingers:

“I exorcise thee, creature of the earth,by the living gods + the holy gods+ the omnipotent gods + , that thoumayst be purified of all evil influencein the name of Adonai, lord of allangels and men.

Hold the flat of the hand over the salt:

“Creature of the earth, adore thycreator. In the name of God thefather + and God the mother + , Ibless thee and consecrate thee to theservice of Divinity.”

Recite over the bath while pointing first twofingers:

“I exorcise thee, creature of the water,by the living gods + , the holy gods+ , the omnipotent gods + , that thoumayst be purified of all evil influencein the name of Elohim Savaoth, lordof all angels and men.”

Flat of the hand:

“Creature of the water, adore thycreator. In the name of God the father+ and God the mother + , I consecratethee to the service of Divinity.”

Recitation of pouring—recite the followingas you pour the salt into the bath:

“Lord God, father of the heavensabove; great Goddess, mother of theearth, grant that this salt will makefor health of the body, and this waterfor health of the soul.”

Pour the salt into the water.

“Grant that they may be banishedfrom whence they are used allpowers of adversity; every artifice ofevil shall be banished into the outerdarkness, in thy holy names, Amen.”

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Now that the salt and water are consecratedand primed, you need to instruct the mixturein what needs cleaning off whoever is goinginto the bath.With the two first fingers of the right hand

trace a triangle in the air over the bath whilereciting:

“In the Names which are above everyother Name, and in the power of theAlmighty. . . ”

(point to the top of the triangle)

“. . . and of the Mother. . . ”

(to the bottom right hand corner of thetriangle)

“. . . and of the holy spirits. . . ”

(bottom left hand of the triangle)

Complete the triangle and then point in themiddle of the triangle:

“I exorcise all influences and seeds ofevil from the person who will bathein this bath:

I exorcise all demons, parasites,thought-forms, golems, all ghosts,I exorcise all spiritual dirt and evilinfluence, I exorcise all magicalattacks: all spells, curses andbindings sent by other magicians. Icast upon them all the spell chainsand I cast them into the outerdarkness where they shall troublenot these Servants of God.

Amen, Amen Selah.”

Now get into the bath and make sure thatyou go under the water at some point, so thatevery inch of your body has been submerged.When you get out, put on clean clothing.

7.4 The ritual cleansing of aspace, room, or house

Have a bowl of water and a bowl of salt. Lighta candle and put the two bowls in front of thecandle. Use the first two fingers of the righthand to point at what you are working on.Where you see + it means make the sign ofan equal armed cross over whatever you areworking on.

Recite over a bowl of salt while pointing firsttwo fingers:

“I exorcise thee, creature of the earth,by the living gods + , the holy gods+ , the omnipotent gods + , that thoumayst be purified of all evil influencein the name of Adonai, lord of allangels and men.”

Hold the flat of the hand over the salt:

“Creature of the earth, adore thycreator. In the name of God thefather + and God the mother + , Ibless thee and consecrate thee to theservice of Divinity.”

Recite over a bowl of water while pointingfirst two fingers:

“I exorcise thee, creature of the water,by the living gods + , the holy gods+ , the omnipotent gods + , that thoumayst be purified of all evil influencein the name of Elohim Savaoth, lordof all angels and men.”

Flat of the hand:

“Creature of the water, adore thycreator. In the name of God the father+ and God the mother + , I consecratethee to the service of Divinity.”

Recitation of pouring—recite the followingas you pour the salt into the water:

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“Lord God, father of the heavensabove; great Goddess, mother of theearth, grant that this salt will makefor health of the body, and this waterfor health of the soul.”

Pour the salt into the water.

“Grant that they may be banishedfrom whence they are used allpowers of adversity; every artifice ofevil shall be banished into the outerdarkness, in thy holy names, Amen.”

Once the salt and water are poured together,themix is ready to cleanse and purify anythingit touches.

Cleansing a space

Once you have consecrated the salt and waterand poured them together, then it is time to usethat mix to cleanse a space. If you are doing ahouse, make sure you do each room individ-ually. If a room has been changed from tworooms to one room, do the original two rooms.

Stand in the centre of each room, and withthe two first fingers of the right hand tracea triangle in the air and then point throughthe centre of the triangle while reciting therecitation of clearing:

“In the Names which are above everyother Name, and in the power of theAlmighty. . . ”

(point to the top of the triangle)

“. . . and of the Mother. . . ”

(to the bottom right hand corner of thetriangle)

“. . . and of the holy spirits. . . ”

(bottom left hand of the triangle)

Complete the triangle and then point in themiddle of the triangle:

“I exorcise all influences and seeds ofevil from this room.”

Now begin to sprinkle the mix around theroom as you recite. Sprinkle above, below andaround the directions.

“I exorcise all demons, parasites,thought-forms, golems, ghosts andI exorcise all spiritual dirt and evilinfluence, I exorcise all magicalspells, curses and bindings from thisspace.

I cast upon them the spell chains andI cast them into the outer darknesswhere they shall trouble not theseServants of God.

Amen, Amen Selah.”

7.5 Other cleaning methods

There are other things you can do to keep yourliving/working space clean, and also to keepyourself clean. These techniques use soundand smell, which both affect inner beings quitestrongly.Different beings react in different ways to

smells and sounds, and this can be usefulwhen it comes to staying clear. Versions of theuse of sound and smell can be found in mostolder religions and magical systems, and theycan range from super-efficient to sort of okaydepending on what you use and what you useit for.Smells come in handy for discouraging

certain types of beings from wandering intoyour home, or to stop them from invadingyour body-space. The same goes for sounds.These are methods of ‘passive cleansing,’which means they will not work alone whena banishing is needed, but they are a tool thatcan be used along with banishing methods.The use of sounds and smells really comes

into its own when you have ritually cleared aspace and want to keep it clear.The right sounds and smells discourage

parasites, land beings, faeries etc. fromtrying to invade your space or from taking upresidence with you. But if you go into a spacethat is already heavily infested, you need toclear first, and then use sounds and smells.

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You can also use them before an exorcism(which you will learn in the adept phase oftraining) to loosen the grip of powerful beingsin a space before you remove them.So let’s have a look at smells.

7.6 Smells that clear

Each country around the world has aromaticplants or tree resins that affect intrusive oraggressive beings by discouraging them fromentering a space.

There is great wisdom in nature, and whennature has a poison, the cure is usually foundvery close by: the two are always presentedtogether. This is a dynamic that is crucial fora magician to understand, as it helps them tonavigate through some of the more difficultsides of dealing with energies and spirits. Andjust as a poisonous plant often grows nearits curing counterpart, so a difficult or badly-haunted patch of land often has its cure nearby.If you have a garden or a patch of land, it is

very helpful (and it also earns massive magicalbrownie points) if you take the time to researchwhat should be growing there naturally (bearin mind it can be different just a few milesdown the road). If you can find out, then getthose plants growing in your garden: they willcome in very useful at some point.

Back to smells. An example of a naturalsolution in nature is one that we will easilyrecognise, and that is wild garlic. Wildgarlic grows in abundance where there isnatural death energy in the land. These areasare like portholes into the underworld andthey are often heavily haunted, energeticallydisruptive, and generally difficult to learn tolive with. If you live in such an area, growlots of wild garlic around your boundaries,and always have some hanging and drying inyour house—this is where Bram Stoker got hisvampire/garlic shtick from: it is a local folkcure.When it comes to oils and incense, it

depends upon the strength of the problemand also what area you are in. For example,in Montana, white sage and sweet grass (used

seasonally) is a good cleanser for the home,but it doesn’t work in Britain. So don’t followthe plethora of recreated spiritual paths thatare now so abundant: think about where youare and what you need.Frankincense is a good all-over cleanser for

a space, and it seems to work everywhere.Smudging a home with frankincense resin oncharcoal (not incense sticks), or making yourown mix of frankincense, oppoponax, clovesand benzoin will clear most spaces anywherefrom low-level issues. Similarly, pure frank-incense oil either worn or on a diffuser in thehome will deter low-level beings from cominginto the house. This is why it is used so exten-sively in Orthodox and Catholic churches, andwhy it was so precious to the Egyptians.Experiment with smells. But use pure resins

and essential oils, not other people’s mixes, orincense sticks etc. as they often have a lot ofchemicals in themwhich don’twork in clearingand can sometimes make the problem worseby attracting parasites.Parasites gather where there is a place or a

person they can feed from. When a personuses a lot of chemical perfume on their body orin their home, it slowly affects their outer andinner immune systems, making them morevulnerable to being fed off. This is why it israre to find a proper magical adept who wearschemical perfumes or uses them a lot aroundthe house.

If you build up a range of essential oilsand resins, you can begin to experiment withsmells. Use one at a time for a week or soand just observe any subtle shifts in how theymake you feel or how the house feels. Writeyour results down in your journal.The smells that work well are the ones for

you to focus on using in your magical practice.This can be very individual to the human andthe space: there are only a few ‘one size fitsall’ smells. If you have a very aromatic plantgrowing naturally around your home or in thearea where you live, harvest some and bring itinto your home.Again, see if there is any subtle shift in the

space. If you have sleep issues, try putting

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some of the local aromatic plants in yourbedroom in small bunches and see if yoursleep changes. If it does, then your sleepdisturbance is not physical; it is psychic. If itis a plant that an essential oil is made from,then you have found an oil that can be aningredient for your own personal magical oilmix.If there does not seem to be an oil made from

a local aromatic plant that works for you, getsome frankincense oil and use it as a base. Puta few chopped and bruised leaves from thearomatic plant into the frankincense oil, andthat becomes the ‘starter’ of your own magicaloil mix.It can take a while for you to hit upon the

series of smells that works very well for you,but once you have found the right combi-nation, use it regularly on yourself and in yourhome. If you are going out to a difficult orcrowded place, put your oil on and observethe reactions of the people around you. Somewill gravitate into your space and will subcon-sciously feel safe around you; others, usuallypeople who are heavily parasited, will reactstrongly to the scent of your oil and will backaway from you.

Here is a short list of what I call ‘priestlyoils,’ which are smells that seem to be universalin their actions; and then a list of nature oilsthat tend to be more localised in their actionto where these plants live. It will give yousome ideas that you can then build upon andexperiment with. This is the beginning of thealchemical side of your magical training.

Priestly oils

Frankincense, Myrrh, Oppoponax, Vetiver,Benzoin.

Nature oils

Cloves, Garlic, Pine, Mint, Cedar, Sage,Sandalwood, Wormwood, Osha root, Rose,Jasmine.

7.7 Sounds

Sounds are also very important for affectingchange in your space and in your own body.The deeper you go into magic, the more youwill learn about how different sounds, voices,and music can subtly affect you at a deeplevel. Some types of sound and music ‘callin’ parasites, underworld beings, and loadsof psychic dirt, whereas other types of musiccan dispel such forces. There are also typesof sound and music that cannot clear dirt andproblems, but once the space is clear, they willkeep it clear.The same is true for your body and spirit:

once you are clean, certain types of music cankeep you clean and help to keep you balanced.So let’s have a look at some different types ofsounds that can cause a change around andwithin you. And bear in mind this is notabout finding music that is to your personaltaste for entertainment; this is aboutmusic thatwill work as a specific magical tool. If yourpersonal taste inmusic includesmusic that canattract parasites, just bear that in mind—andput clearing music on afterwards.As you become very clean, you will find that

some of the music you used to enjoy listeningto starts to make you feel drained: that iscaused by the parasites that come with themusic, and your clean state is allowing you tofeel the difference.

Chant

Chant, particularly very old chants withoutmodern mixing or instruments, can bevery powerful in rebalancing a space andquietening it down. A fashion evolved in the1980s for mixing chants with drums, electronicmusic, or flutes, etc., and while these versionsare all very nice and relaxing to listen to, theydo not work in the same way or with the samelevel of power.The sounds and vibrations of the human

voice can have quite a strong effect upon aspace, andwhen this is coupledwith particularuses of language, the result can become quitepowerful, magically speaking. Bear in mindthough that just as there are powerful peaceful

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chants, there are also types of chant that aredesigned to destroy, or to wake up the moredangerous side of humanity. These types ofchantwere used to prepare for battle, so chooseyour sounds wisely!The most common forms of chant that are

available to us on modern media (CDs etc.)and that are effective to work with magicallyare plainchant, Sufi chants, and Tibetan chants.Before you rush off to search for things to

download, bear in mind that an MP3 file ofa chant may be nice to listen to but it willnot work magically. When a music file isconverted to an MP3 the sounds that thehuman ear cannot hear are taken out andthe overall sound is shortened: the result isthat the magical power within the sound isdisabled and becomes useless. What is leftmay still relax you, but the sound will notwork at a deep level, which is where magiciansreally need it to work.It is best to workwith CDswhichweremade

before recordings began to be shortened andmessed with, or with modern recordings thathave not been squashed.Each type of chant works in a slightly

different way. Plainchant for the most partstills a room, and tunes it to a specific ‘priestly’connection. This is why chants were usedin the churches: to keep that inner priestlyconnection going. Eventually the musicdevolved down into hymns and chants thatwere ‘showy’ and were more about showingoff, gaining funds, and being ‘pious.’ But weare lucky in this day and age that we can buyCDs of very early Christian chant, where theearly notations have been revived and adheredto.Look for chants from the Syriac church, and

also the Armenian Church. (Though many ofthese have been affected by the Soviet era styleof music, there are still some Armenian chantsavailable that are the very old traditional ones,and these are one of the oldest forms of chantsstill being used today.) Look also for Orthodoxchant and early chants of the Catholic Church.True Sufic chant is harder to find, but there

are some out there. Sadly Sufism has beenhijacked by Western New Age fashions in

Europe, so if you wish to work with Suficchant, look for ones produced in the NearEast, like ones from Turkey and Egypt. TheEgyptian Sufic chants are a lot stronger thanthe Turkish ones, and are less likely to be theproduct of pseudo-Sufism.The same is true of Tibetan chants. Most

modern recordings are whimsical and specifi-cally designed for a New Age Western market.But there were solid, powerful chants recordedin the seventies and early eighties, and thesetend to be a lot more effective and workmagically.Tibetan chant works in a different way to

plainchant: they tend to push out parasites andlow-level beings, and pull in powers that areprotective and cleansing. They are best usedafter doing a ritual clean of the house. Theycan also be put on to still the house duringvolatile times: just set them going and leavethem going while you are out of the house.

Drums

Certain drum sounds can also quieten a housedown, depending upon what they are. MostAfrican drums wake things up, get thingsready for war or for sex, or raise spirits. Tradi-tional African drum sounds should be usedwith caution, as they can be powerful and theytend to be specific calls to land beings in theregion that the music comes from.When African drumming is played on

foreign soil, it can trigger an aggressivereaction from land spirits, so do not use themunless you know what you are doing.In fact, most indigenous drum sounds are

designed to stir things up, to wake things up,and to pull in energy—sometimes energy thatis a bit too adrenal for cleansing a home. Butwhen you come across a single drum with aslow beat, it can act like a heartbeat for the landand calm the room down.

Nocturnes

Classical music by visionary composers,particularly nocturnes, can really still a housein a very natural way. The power that cancome through them is not ritualised or sacred;

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however it is often the voice of nature thatflows through the composer.Playing gentle, meditative compositions

with the windows open so that the trees,plants, and birds can hear them can bring asettled energy to a house and a person.Not all classical music works this way: it

seems to depend on the visionary qualityof the composer. If you are not familiarwith classical music, learn to experiment.Nocturnes and adagios have layer upon layerof emotive frequencies within them, and thoseintricate frequencies weave a solid ‘airspace’in the house.

Modern music

The beat of Africa has woven its waythroughout all modern music. At worst itcan trigger violent energies, and at best it is agreat mind entertainment or a raiser of energy.But modern music has no inner quality bynature of its composition and use of electronicinstrumentation and mixing. The soundsthat a real, physical instrument makes havea very different effect on a space comparedto the sounds that a computer or electronicinstrument makes. Use modern music foryour own pleasure and entertainment, andmore ancient music for your magical work,and learn to feel the difference.If you are not used to listening to classical,

sacred or indigenous music, your ear will notbe tuned to their sounds and it may take a littlewhile for your ear and mind to get used tothem. Modern music wires the brain one way,and ancientmusic wires it a different way. As amagician, you need the capacity to understandboth.

Experiment, and you will find your ownrepertoire of music that fits with you and thatyou can work with. To get your ear and brainused to music that is strange to you, put iton while you are doing mundane jobs likecleaning, tidying, etc.Let your brain listen to it while it is doing

something else. Like all strange music, youprobably will not really like it at first, as weare beings that like familiaritywith sounds and

smells: it is part of our makeup. But once youhave heard some new styles of music enoughtimes, you will learn to differentiate betweenwhich work for you and which don’t.

Here is a short list of music and soundswhich can be bought on CD.The sacred music is particularly effective at

stilling a space. But you will notice that on allof these CDs, some of the tracks work whileothers do not: this will make for a good lessonin learning how to feel what different piecesof music do magically. When you feel thedifference, note that difference down in yourjournal. The list of sacred music will get youstarted, give you some ideas, and lead you tofinding your own sacred music.The short list of classical music will give

you somewhere to start in that genre, too, andwhen you start hunting for your own taste inclassical music, look for adagios, nocturnes,and meditative pieces. Some of these willmake you feel still, but would not necessarilystill a room. A lot depends on the composerin question, and whether they were tuned intoinner powers or not.Once you have listened to some of the sacred

music, you will learn what ‘still’ feels like,and then you will have a reference point whenit comes to discovering other types of music.Essentially, anymusic that is the voice chantingand nothing else will have an effect on a space:it is up to you to discover exactly what effecteach piece has and whether or not it was theeffect you were looking for.

Sacred music

• Any chants by Hildegard von Bingen

• Shvedov: Liturgy of St John of the Cross

• Ancient Voices/Vox Sacra by theAnonymous 4 and Soeur Marie Keyrouz

• Armenie 1: Chants Liturgiques Du Moyen-age et Musique Instrumentale1

• Any Gregorian chant without instrumen-tation

1The folk instrumentations on this album are aparticularly good ‘nature’ tuner.

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• Chants de L’Eglise Milanaise

• Tibetan Sacred Temple Music by EightLamas from Drepung

• Tibetan Buddhism: Tantras of Gyuto–SangwaDupa/Mahakala

Classical music

Chopin’s Complete Nocturnes, JS Bach’s CelloSuites, Debussy—and if you want to feel whatit is like to draw faery beings into your house,play Stravinsky with the windows open. A lotof his work was influenced by faery contact.

7.8 Getting and stayingbalanced

In the previous lesson, you learned aboutusing the Pentagram as a tuning mechanismfor your life force. That was the first stepof learning how to actively and consciouslyengage your humanity rather than just ridingthrough life unawares. The action of mentallytuning yourself to the Pentagram, with theother magical symbols, the sacred language,and the shape pattern brings you into a‘wholeness’ and tunes you properly to aconsciously magical state: this is the magicalequivalent of learning a martial arts fightingstance. The martial artist learns how to forma stance that is ready for action and that putstheir body in an easily defended position. It isvery hard to knock a martial artist off-balanceonce they adopt their fighting stance.

In the early stages of magical training, thefirst line of protection is learning how to adopta ‘prepare for action’ stance, whereby you caneasily defend yourself and cannot be easilyknocked off balance. The most an apprenticemagician can expect to have to cope with areparasites, curious ghosts, curious land beings,infantile magicians trying to harass youmagically, and unhealthy objects inadvertentlybrought into your space.Serious all-out magical attacks or super-

aggressive beings are in general a rarity in theWestern world, but when they do make anappearance, it tends to be more of an issue for

adepts or the occasional initiate who has eithercrossed a line somewhere in their behaviour,or become very visible to hostile humans orbeings.Before you can learn anything about

defensive magic, you have to learn how tobalance, be still, be solid, and be strong. Thenthe more intricate defensive techniques can siton that solid base, which in turn makes themvery efficient.Most low-level issues, attacks, etc. can be

dealt with in two steps: anchor and thenshield. To anchor means to create a statewhereby you are hard to knock over, hard tograb, and not easily manipulated emotionally(many beings try to scare humans).One of the best anchors is the pentagram

pattern. The pentagram was used by theoriginal nineteenth century Golden Dawnmagical group as a method for teachingbeginners ritual patterning using sound,shape, and movement. However, it somehowmorphed into a mishmash of fragmentedunderstanding, immature use of deity patternsand Divine names, and a good sprinkling ofdrama. That became known as the LesserBanishing Ritual of the Pentagram: the onlything it really banishes is the magician’scommon sense.However, the pentagrampattern itself can be

a very powerful anchor, as the pentagram isabout being a human. It is a magical patternthat consciously declares, tunes, and roots ahuman life: it takes you to conscious awarenessof the powers that flow through your space, thepowers that open your future, and the powersthat support you through your blood, and it isa pattern that reiterates the directions aroundyou.It also establishes in your sphere the patterns

of the two foundational magical tools: thesword and the cup. Eventually you will learnhow this pattern operates through Kabbalah,but for now it is your solid anchor: it is yourfighting stance.If you have practiced your pentagram seal

exercise fromyour previous lesson, you shouldby now be able to stand, close your eyes, and‘see’ with your mind’s eye the pattern of the

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pentagram all around you, with the magicalsigns, root declarations in your own languageand the root magical tools. The pentagramis never projected outside of yourself (the bigmistake of the LBRP), rather you are ‘in’ it: itis the pattern of your humanity that you standwithin.If you feel yourself to be at magical risk

in a situation, you can make mental use ofthe pentagram. If you have practised, youwill be able to stand with your eyes open andvisualise the pentagram as your body, thehexagram over your head, your ancestors/theearth/family name (Mother) below you, themagical implements in your hands, and yourspark of life in your centre with your firstname. Once you are able to do that, then youcan declare what is known as the breastplate.(I will talk about its origins and actions in amoment.)The breastplate as used with the pentagram

is a ritual declaration which can be spokenout loud or said in the mind when you needto be verbally silent. The skeleton action ofthe breastplate has many different styles andusages, but to use the breastplate with thepentagram, you would declare this recitationonce you have the image of the pentagramaround you:

“The Father is above me, The Motheris below me, the sword to my left,the cup to my right, the guardianangel behind me, the Sandalphon,the noble Companions before me,within me is life, within me is thebreath of God: I Will Be.”

Before we move on, let’s just take a littletime to see how that recitation works, why itis constructed that way, and when you woulduse it. As I said earlier, this is a ‘passive’form of protection: it is an anchor or fightingstance. The shape of the pentagram is theshape of humanity. That is the first layer ofits anchoring strength: in our modern day oftrying to be everything that we are not, we alsosubtly loosen our understanding of what andwho we are.

Impressing the shape of the pentagramupon ourselves reiterates the magical patternof creation in terms of the human body: thehuman body is the body of clay that is readyto be filled with the breath of Divinity.The second layer is the conscious awareness

of Divinity ‘above’ us in the form of thehexagram, which in turn is a shape of Divinecompletion. In magic, ‘up’ is the future, theforming of creation, and the breath of Divinity.This breath flows down into creation. In thepentagram, you and the pentagram are‘creation,’ with Divine consciousness aboveyou. You will learn more about this later onin the course. This pattern is where the ‘godis up’ concept in religion comes from, thoughit is badly misunderstood and has become adegenerate concept.In balance to Divine consciousness (which

has no material form) above, you haveearth/your ancestors below. This is also‘creation’ which is the whole world, and is thereceiving feminine aspect of Divinity: you arereiterating where you come from. By doingthis, you anchor yourself deeply in the earthwhich is the female Divinity, and acknowledgethat you are the sum total of your ancestors.This roots you in the strength of consciousnessthat flows through your blood: literally, yourfamily upholds you.In the left hand you hold the sword. You

have not yet learned how a magical swordworks, but by ‘seeing’ it in your mind’s eye,in its correct position, you begin to establishthe timeless line of magic that flows throughyour life. You hold it now in innocence, buteventually, as an adept, you will hold it ingnosis. By holding the sword in innocencenow, you connect to your magic in the future.It is difficult to explain to a beginner, but

there is no ‘time’ in magic. By holding themagical tools, not only do you step into thepattern of the magician, but you connectyourself to the work you will do in the future:this creates a loop of power that flows out oftime.The sword in the magician’s left hand

is not a defence; rather it is an estab-lishing of the power of utterance: it is the

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magician consciously engaging with thatpower that flows from Divinity. In a three-dimensional pattern, the sword in the east andthe hexagram above are two sides of the samepower—The Divine power flows down fromabove and when it reaches the threshold ofCreation, our world, it ceases to be a simpledownward flow and instead is perceived byus as flowing into creation via the directions.The breath of Divinity flows to us from theeast, and when we initiate a magical act, wealso start in the east and we ‘give.’ Thus thesword/east is ‘I give.’The cup in the right hand is the receiver

of power: it is a vessel waiting to be filled.It connects deeply to Creation, which is thevessel that receives Divine breath in order toexist.So you begin to see that the pentagram is a

magical pattern of the creation of Man, andalso the creation of magic by the magician. Byincluding the two foundational magical tools,and working consciously with the pattern,you step from being a human who is buffetedhelplessly by fate to being a human whoconsciously engages all the powers of creationaround them.This is one of the layers of meaning in the

mystical maxim:

“Man, know thyself.”

Then the ritual pattern establishes andacknowledges the angelic powers that workwith humanity, and specifically with thatportion of humanity that has consciouslyengaged at a deep inner level with theMysteries.A person’s individual angelic being, who

acts as their guardian, their threshold for life, isbehind a person. They do not protect you fromyour own ignorance and stupidity; rather theyquietly nudge you in the right direction.Before you is the Sandalphon, the angelic

power that guides humans into the Mysteriesand shows them the way if they are willing tolisten carefully. The Sandalphon is an angelic‘companion’ to the magician, a passive teacherthat points the way; hence they are ‘before’you: “the guardian angel behind me, the

Sandalphon before me.” You are sandwichedbetween the two.Finally comes the declaration of creation,

“within me is life, within me is the breath ofGod: IWill Be.” You declare that you are finallyaware of the flow of creation: the breath ofDivinity flowing into the vessel (in this case ahuman body), and you declare I will be. Thisis both a declaration of your constant evolutionas a magical being, and an acknowledgementthat you exist and will continue to exist onlythrough the action of Divinity.Now, hopefully, you understand how the

pentagram can act as quite a powerful shieldfor your early days in magic, and why itfunctions as a fighting stance that someonewould have a great deal of trouble knockingyou over from: you become so rooted inwhat you are, and so aware of the DivineBreath flowing within you, that most low levelbeings, attacks, etc. would not be able to stick.It would take a focussed and specific attack toknock you out of this ‘stance.’Also, now that you know a bit more of

the secrets behind the pentagram, if you dosome historical research, particularly in termsof ancient cultures, wall paintings, religiouspatterns, and wherever else the pentagramturns up in history, youwill now have a deeperunderstanding at what the artist, religion orpriest was hinting at.The pentagram is badly misunderstood

in modern magic, and many of the ritualsof modern magical schools project thepentagram outside of themselves (they formit in the air), and add Hebrew letters (usuallybadly pronounced), different deities, etc., allof which create antagonistic patterns that fightthe human form in its balance.

7.9 Task: Pentagram research

Now that you knowhow the pentagramworks,do some research and look at the use of theshape through history (not modern usage) andinwhat context it was used. From there, list thevarious cultures that used the pentagram, inwhat situation/context they used it, and then,rather than reading the modern interpretation

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of what archaeologists or historians thought,look at the symbol for yourself and see whatunderstanding slowly rises to the surface ofyour mind.This is the beginning of the process of

learning how to extract ancient informationthrough simply looking and meditating onan image. Don’t worry about whether it isyour interpretation that is coming to mind,or whether you have managed to tap into themystery behind an image; just let the ideasflow and write them down.Copy and draw or paste the images along

with their surrounding images: for examplewhere it appears in Egyptian texts, copy allthe hieroglyphs, deities, and images that thepentagram appears alongside.Write an essay from your notes and the

images. Use the statement: “In the historyof this culture, the historians say the use ofthe pentagram in this context meant X, butafter studying it, from what I now know ofthe pentagram, I feel it was used for Y.” Ifyou agree with the history books, that is fine:say so, and why. If you do not agree with thehistory books, say so and why.In the future you will revisit this essay,

once you have worked deeply with magicalpatterns, and it will give you insight intohow far you have progressed, and how yourunderstanding has deepened and matured.

7.10 Breastplates

Various incantations known as ‘breastplates’can be in modern magical texts, and oftenthey are touted as being the ‘Breastplate ofSolomon.’ It is assumed to be an ancient incan-tation and there are many variants aroundthese days. A breastplate incantation is verysimilar to the pentagram ritual above, in that itdefines a power above and below you, to yourright and to your left, before you, behind you,and within you.The first written description in the West

of a breastplate incantation is a part of theFaeth Fiada. It is called the breastplate of StPatrick, and it is an old Irish prayer whichwas first written down in the 8th century. It

is most likely a remnant of a pre-Christianincantation, which is apparent through theuse of the elements and weather as a part ofthe breastplate.There are also similar incantations found in

the Pyramid texts that suggest the use of abreastplate incantation for the Pharaoh as hetraversed through death.

“I arise todayThrough the strength of heaven;Light of the sun,Splendour of fire,Speed of lightning,Swiftness of the wind,Depth of the sea,Stability of the earth,Firmness of the rock.”

This is the calling of the elements and earthpowers, and it establishes the speaker as a partof the natural elements. A later part of theprayer adds:

“Christ with me,Christ before me,Christ behind me,

Christ in me,Christ beneath me,Christ above me,

Christ on my right,Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,Christ when I sit down,

Christ in the heart of every manwho thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of every manwho speaks of me,

Christ in the eye that sees me,Christ in the ear that hears me.”

Now we begin to see the co-opting ofChrist as overall protector as opposed to themale/female Divinity, the angelic presence,and the Divinity within humanity. But theunderlying structure is still there: there is

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power and presence all around and withinyou: you are truly not alone.Reciting a breastplate when you are stressed

or going into a dangerous situation brings thelens of existence into sharp focus, and alerts thespirit beings around you that you are in needof protection.Towork a breastplatemagically and success-

fully, it must have male and female Divinity,angelic presence, ancestral presence, andmagical tools. That is topped by the utteranceof conscious existence.To use the pentagram breastplate as an

immediate call for protection, you woulduse the incantation once you have quicklyvisualised the powers, symbols, tools, andbeings around you:

“The Father is above me, The Motheris below me, the sword to my left, thecup to my right, the guardian angelbehind me, the Sandalphon beforeme, within me is life, within me isthe breath of God: I Will Be.”

Learn this incantation off by heart, andlearn how to visualise the images and shapesquickly.I have reiterated and talked quite a lot about

the Pentagram for good reason (I am sureyou are now sick to death of it): each sectionof the lessons that talk about the pentagramgo deeper and deeper, inch by inch, into itsmysteries. In the next module you will learnthe full Pentagram ritual, how it works, andwhy. There will come a day when you will beglad that you know it inside out.

7.11 Talismans

For a beginner there are two basic ways tocreate and use a talisman. From these twofoundations, you will eventually learn all sortsof different methods and techniques, but fornow you will learn two distinct, old-fashionedand very useful ways to protect yourself.One basic talisman method is passive, and

the other is active. As a magician, you willcome to realise that all magical protection fallsinto one or the other of those two categories.

Whereas passive protection ticks quietly awayin the background, active protection targetsa specific threat such as a magical attack, orlooks after you when you have to go into avery dangerous situation. You should onlyuse active protection when it is truly needed.If you use active protection all the time,particularly as a developing magician, it willbecome seriously counterproductive. This issomething we will look into in more depth ina future lesson.Passive protection can take the form of an

image (usually an underworld deity) or asacred text. Remember your lesson on sacredlanguage: there is a major difference betweenlanguage with magical meaning, and sacredlanguage where the letters themselves havetheir own power.The two most active and powerful sacred

languages are Hebrew, and Egyptian (Old andMiddle Kingdom) hieroglyphs.Using Hebrew letters in text combinations

from the Torah, for example, puts the sacredlanguage into a context: one of the uniquethings about the sacred use of Hebrew is thata section of text has many layers to it.The first layer tells you a story. The second

layer has names hiddenwithin the letters of thetext. The third layer has numerical harmonicswoven within the text that create a specificmagical pattern.The forth layer is the vibration of the

combined sounds that affect a space andchange the power operating within it. Becausethe pattern of letters is intoned around theworld on a daily basis, simply having thattext on the wall is enough to trigger passiveprotection.For active protection, talismans with specific

actions are needed. So to bring this lessonto a close, let’s look at one of the very basicways to create and use an active talisman forprotection.This method draws upon the visionary

learning you did in the earlier lessons. Mostpeople would think that a method that usesvision is quite advanced, but in fact it is muchharder to make a talisman without usingvision if you want it to actually work well. It is

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also important that you learn all the differentlayers of vision use in the earliest part of yourtraining.

7.12 Task: Making a Talisman

You will need a plain metal or stone pendant.Choose something you can keep on your bodyfor a week and that you are willing to throwaway afterwards. You will also need a bowl ofsalt and five candles.This is a silent, simple ritual that also uses

visionary technique to pull power from theinner worlds into substance in order to get ajob done. You act as a focal point, director, andbridge as you ask for a specific quality fromeach direction to be placed in the talisman.Later in your training, when you become

more skilled at magic, you will learn how tocombine these simple skills with outer ritualskills to create a full talisman using vision,ritual, sigils, magical symbols, and sacredsound. It is pointless being able to do all ofthe flashy stuff if you cannot make the innerconnection—so that is what you learn first.You can use the following method to make

a talisman when you (or your children) needprotecting from danger. When you work thissimple ritual for real (not for an experiment)you have to be very careful how you phrasewhat you are asking for. We will go into thatafter we have gone over the experiment.For this experiment, the exercise is point-

specific: you are going to ask for a specificthing to be put into the talisman. That is so thatyou can feel it working, feel it doing a specificthing. Once you have felt it and understood thefeeling, then you can take it off.An added bonus of this experiment is that

it will teach you how it feels to have yourenergies shifted by magic, so that if someonelater tries to bind you magically you willrecognize the effects immediately.

Setting up

Get a cheap, plain pendant necklace, ring,or bracelet (a neck pendant is best) madefrom metal, with no magical quality, i.e. a

silver chain with a small stone on it or a metalshape. Don’t use a pendant with any magical,religious or New Age images: the plainer thebetter (a clean slate to work on). Put it in abowl of dry salt and leave it there for at least24 hours.You will need five plain white candles and

one long ordinary candle to use as a taper.You will also need five altars or small worksurfaces located in the four directions and onein the centre. (Note how you are continuingto work with a directional pattern, which inturn will help to deepen your understandingof how many different ways you can use thedirectional powers.)Place the candles in the four directions and

one in the centre. Use altars if you can, buthave nothing on the altars except the candles.If this is not possible, use small plain surfacesin the four directions (I have used largehardback books with white cloths over them)or place the candles in the directions directlyon a clear floor. This is called creating a neutralspace. Do not have images, ritual objects etc.on the altars, as these will influence or blockthe powers that you will need to work with.Ensure doors are locked, phones are switchedoff, and that nothing can disturb you as youwork.

Creating the talisman

Take the pendant out of the salt and place it onthe central altar. Light the candle that sits uponthe central altar. Close your eyes and still yourmind: spend a few minutes in stillness/voidmeditation before focusing upon the centralflame using your inner vision.

Perform the directional ritual you learned inlesson four—ritual magic lesson. Go aroundthe directions starting in the east. Do thespoken acknowledgements of the directions,and the declaration of the sword and the cup.When you have finished, stand in front

of the central flame, facing the south altaron the opposite side of the central altar, andremember the pentagram shield. Place yourarms out and be aware of the magical symbolsaround you, seeing them in your mind’s eye.

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Make the spoken declaration of the pentagramfinishing with the words “I Will Be.”Those two ritual actions open the directions,

establish your power and presence withinhumanity, and get you ready to work.

Walk a full circle around the central flameand go to the east altar. Imagine with yourmind’s eye that beyond the flame you can seegates. See the gates opening and a shadowyfigure standing in the gateway, waiting. Holdthe pendant over the flame (without setting fireto yourself) and say:

“Powers of the east, I ask that youplace into this pendant the power ofinvisibility, so that no being, spirit,thought form, or parasite can see me.Iwish to learn the skills of theQuarry.I am a student of the Quarry, and Iwish to learn the feeling of silence andinvisibility. I will honour the powerof the lesson, and remove the pendantonce the lesson is learned.”

See in your mind’s eye the figure reachingout to touch the pendant. Hold the pendantthere for however long the figure touches it.Once the figure withdraws their hand, takethe pendant from the flame and hold it toyourself. Take a step back, bow to acknowledgethe contact, turn and go to the south altar.Repeat the whole process again in the south,

west, north, and finally also the central flame(you should be facing south with the flamebefore you).

Once you have finished, put the pendantback on the central altar. Walk a full circlearound the flame and go to the east. Bow andsay thank you. In your mind’s eye, see thegates close. Once they are closed, blow out thecandle, take a step back, turn and repeat in thesouth, west and north.

Once the directional candles are out, take thependant and hold it in your hands. Sit downon the floor facing south with the central flamebefore you.Cup the pendant in your hands and close

your eyes. Your intention with putting on this

pendant is to be fully cloaked so that beingscannot see you and you cannot see them. Withyour eyes closed, put the pendant on andimagine a black heavy shroud descendingupon you, a shroud that totally envelops you,shuts out all light, all sounds, all images. Sitfor a moment in that darkness and when youare ready, open your eyes and blow out thecentral flame.

7.13 Task: The experiment’sresults

This experiment has two lessons: one is whatit feels like to be shrouded, and the other isthe experience when you take it off. If you arevery sensitive or psychic, this can be a toughlesson, as the silence can be shocking: you donot realise quite how much you hear on a day-to-day basis—your mind tends to tune it outand you do not realise howmuch spirit chatterthere is until it goes.If you are not psychic or sensitive, the lesson

will not be so shocking and you will have tolearn to pay attention to subtle shifts in yourenergy. You will most likely feel the differencemore when you take it off.Keep the pendant on for a week. The

sensitive people may want to throw it aftertwenty-four hours: do not do that. You mustlearn this lesson for a variety of reasons: first,you need to know how these talismans work.You also need to know what everyday lifeis like for those who are not sensitive. Youcannot serve or help as an adept in the futureif you have no understanding of the silencethat many people are trapped in, and thesubsequent dangers that this silence can putthem in.If you discover through this experiment that

you are a non-sensitive person, then you mustlearn to optimise what senses you do have.All of your senses work on an inner level

as well as an outer level. Once the talismanis on, pay close attention to whether you findyourself doing things slightly differently. Areyou driving differently? Are you talking withpeople differently? Are you finding it harderto weigh people up? Are you sleeping better

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or worse? Are you hungrier or not hungry atall?All of these shifts, however subtle, will

tell you where you had an inner sense orconnection that has suddenly been shut down.Once you know what has changed (sense ofsmell, hearing, sight, mood, dreams, sleep,taste, energy) then you know how your bodywas actually operating at a psychic level, justvery quietly. From there, you know whatsenses you can work on to strengthen them.

Keep a daily journal or notes that outlineany shifts, and any incidental occurrences,(people not seeing you on the street andwalking straight into you etc.). Note downyour sleep and appetites, whether you getmore or less tired, etc.At the end of the week, take off the talisman

and throw it in a river or lake, or bury it if youare not around water.When you take it off, pause for a moment,

be aware of the directions around you (see thealtars in your mind and recover the feel of theworking space), say thank you for the lesson,and then dispose of the pendant safely. Nowgo take a ritual cleansing bath.For the first twenty-four hours, note down

any shift again: is everything louder andbrighter? How long did it take for the chatterto come back? Is there no difference? Thereare no right or wrong answers with theseexperiments: it is all about learning your ownindividual level of sensitivity.

Note: do not try to do any magical work orexercises during your talisman lesson week—whileyou have it on you will not be able to do any magic,it just won’t work.

7.14 Working these talismansfor protection: points toremember

Don’t try and ‘fix’ intent into these talismanswhen you are looking for protection. Simplyask the contact in each direction to put inwhatever is needed for you to stay safe atthat time (and give a time span, like 2 months

or a week). That will ensure you are trulycovered in terms of safety without blockingany learning experiences you need to gothrough.So for example if you said, “protect me

from my violent neighbour,” and you thenget hit by a bus, you were not well protectedfrom danger. Let the contacts see from theirperspective what you need to stay safe duringa dangerous time. And don’t get into wearingthese sorts of talismans all the time: you willregret it.Use protection when it is needed, and only

when it is needed. There may come a time inyour later years, or during a long-term illnesswhere you will need to wear a talisman fora prolonged period of time, but that is anunusual situation. In general, constant usewill only weaken you.

7.15 Maintenance

Don’t take the talisman off, even for a shower.A talisman has a limited lifespan and you willknow when it has finished its job as you willeither feel the shift or it will break and falloff. Talismans are meant to be for short-termprotection, so don’t overuse them or you willnot gain your own inner protection.If the talisman takes a hit (breaks, explodes,

refuses to stay on) then it is time to take it offand bury it or drop it in a river. Do not betempted to keep it and reuse it.

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Lesson 8

Astrology

Astrology is one of the many tools a magiciancan employ in order to look at a situation, atide of power, or themselves. Astrology—realastrology, not the newspaper entertainmentvariety—is like a weather report for magicians:you can look at your transits and see whatpowers are currently in action in your life andwork.

To learn astrology in its depths requiresa long-term commitment to an art form,and some magicians take on that herculeantask, whereas others do not: it all dependswhere your focus of work lies. But for mostmagicians, a simple, rudimentary under-standing of astrology can be very helpfulwhen they need to peer into the depths to getan overview of what forces are currently inaction around them.

A magician can use their natal chart totell where certain qualities lie, and it canhelp the magician focus on their strengths,while understanding and working on theirweaknesses. The chart of a place or event canalso shed a beam of light in understandingwhat underlying forces are at work at a giventime.

I am no adept at astrology by any means,and my understanding of the art form is basic,but it is enough for me to be able to draw outinformation offered in a chart which in turnhelps me understand certain events, tides, andpowers that run through my life, my work,

and the events that happen around me. Suchsnippets of information can be of great usewhen it is imperative for a magician to have asmuch information as possible on a given issue.At the end of this lesson there is another

astrology lesson attached which is not writtenby me, but by an adept who is also anastrologer. Her lesson goes into more depthabout how to read a chart, how to spot aspects,and how to overview a chart.Whereas my lesson approaches this topic

from a purely magical perspective (and froma stance of rudimentary knowledge), Toni’slesson opens out the information to an overallastrological viewpoint. This will give you adeeper understanding of charts and how theywork.It helps greatly to have an understanding

of the powers that flow from the planets andaffect everything of substance, particularlywhen it comes to planetary magic, fate, andritual that works with planetary influence—allof which you will look into later in the course.This lesson will give you a basic background

of the astrological chart and enable you to lookat your own chart, or the chart of an event,from a magician’s perspective. It also lays thefoundations for later learning in the coursewhen you will come to work with planetarymagic in depth.If you already have a background in

astrology, still have a look through the lesson,

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as the angle of this lesson looks at the planetsand forces specifically from a magician’sperspective. If you already understand that,simply look at the section of the lesson thatdeals with the astrological natal chart andthe pentagram: it shows how the individualnatal chart and the pattern of the personalpentagram can be brought together to gaininsight into your own magical potential.

8.1 The Basics

A natal chart looks at the position of theplanets at the moment you were born inrelation to where you were born. Theascendant, or first house, shows you thehorizon when you were born, and what was‘to the east’ of you at the moment of yourbirth. In a natal chart, you are in the centre,and everything revolves around you.Your natal chart shows you what tools and

potentials you were born with. What you dowith those tools and potentials is purely upto you: you can make the most of them andwork with them, or you can ignore them andbe enslaved, buffeted, and driven by them. Themagician slowly learns to recognise what toolsand gifts were given to them at the momentof their birth, and then learns how to optimizethose gifts in their training and practice.It also shows you where your weaknesses

and vulnerabilities are: by knowing yourweaknesses, you learn how to strengthenthem, and also how to protect that vulnerablepart of you. Your natal chart shows you theraw materials; it is up to you as a magician totake those raw materials and turn them intosomething beautiful, productive, and useful.You can also draw up a natal chart for a

specific event. Thiswill showyouwhere all thepowers are, how they are presenting, andwhatthe tides of power are doing at a particularmoment in time.It is unwise to planmagical actions or events

to coincide with specific astrological events;rather it is better to let the natural flow of fatedo its job. You can look at the chart of an eventonce its details have been set, and it will giveyou an idea of the deeper actions that were

flowing into our world at that particular pointin time.

8.2 Transits

Transits are the current (or future if you lookforward in time with a chart) positions of theplanets in relation to the natal chart. Usuallythe positions of the planets in your natal chartare drawn inside the chart, and the transits areshownmoving around the outside of the chart.The natal positions and transit positions areviewed in relation to each other, and in respectof which house the transit falls in.When a transiting planet works its way back

to the position it was in when youwere born, itdeeply triggers that planet’s action in your life(this is called a return).

When the planets fall at specific angles toeach other, they produce a tension of powerthat strengthens, weakens, or otherwisealters the influence of both planets upon you.The meetings of planets can be volatile orproductive and helpful, depending on theangles at which they connect with each other.They can be face to face, or at certain degreeangles to each other, or they can wave at eachother from across the chart.The complexities of these meetings can be

enormous, hence to really understand a chartin depth takes years of study and practice.If you do not have the time or resources to

do that, then there are many online programsand books that can work for you as a referencepoint. So long as you understand the basics,you will be able to make sense of the infor-mation in front of you.

8.3 Astrological signs

We all know about the astrological signs(Cancer, Aries, Scorpio etc.), or we should.You can simply look them up on the internetif you are not sure about them. Look at theirelement (water, earth, etc.), look up how theywork (mutable, fixed, etc.), and look up theirqualities and personalities.When you look at a chart, and you look at

the houses, you will see that each house has a

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dominant astrological sign. That sign is like abackground weather report for that house.

8.4 Houses

The 1st house: the Ascendant

This is the core of who you are, how youappear to others, how your personalityfunctions, and any physical traits. It is locatedon the left hand side of the natal chart and isthe threshold of the horizon when you wereborn.

The 2nd house: Finance and belongings

This shows how you earn money, how youprocess money, and your material belongings.

The 3rd house: Communication, family

How you communicate with your immediatefamily and community, how you operate withcommunications. It is also a house that showslearning in terms of apprenticeships andstudies.

The 4th house: the Imum Coeli

Home life, family, roots. This is where youcome from in blood terms, and also showsyour home/family through your life. This isyour foundation. It can also indicate influencesfrom the mother.

The 5th house: Creation and true love

This is the house of children, of true and deeplove, and also the house of your art form:whatever you create, be it a child, a book, apainting, an invention, this is the house ofwhat you bring into this world, creations thatyou love unconditionally.

The 6th house: The house of Service,and also the house of health/illness

This house shows you if you are going into alife of serving through whatever it is that youdo, and it also shows long-term illnesses thatmust be endured.

The 7th house: the Descendant

Unions, marriage. How you deal withrelationship or contract partners, openenemies. This house is about how you relateto other individuals that you are in a directenergy connection with. It is opposite theascendant and is positioned on the right handside of the natal chart: it is where the sun sets.

The 8th house: transformation, death,sex, magic, and other people’s money

This house tells you about how deep hiddenpowers work through your life and how youconnect with them. It is about power fromoutside of you coming to you and interactingwith you: the power of magic, the power oftransformation, the power of resources thatcome to you from outside of your own action(other people’s money). This is an importanthouse for magicians to understand: throughthe power of transformation and your ability tooperate in a balanced way with energy (goodor bad) coming to you, you will learn how towield power maturely and successfully.

The 9th house

This house works in reflection to the thirdhouse and tells you about higher learning,religious or mystical patterns, other cultures,travel to other cultures, and is another housethat is very important for magicians to under-stand. It will show what astrological toolsare at your disposal or present difficulties foryou plugging into ancient mystical patterns,religions, and cultures. Whereas the thirdhouse shows apprenticeships, this houseshows advanced learning.

The 10th house: the Midheaven (top ofthe chart)

This is the house of government, of profes-sional standing and achievement, and of socialstructure. It also has connotations towardswhat influence your father had upon you (itsits opposite the 4th house/mother).

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The 11th house

This house tells us about our friends, ourcommunity, and how we are perceived byour chosen community. It represents groupactivities, your place within your community,and how your friends and community interactwith you. It is a very humanitarian house.

The 12th house

This house shows hidden ordeals, hiddenenemies, secrets, struggles, and solitude.It is a house of isolation, be it a hospital,prison, or the isolation of an inner crisis.This house shows us how we deal with ourhidden enemies, what fate patterns of hiddenordeals are in our life, and how we deal withmeltdown, isolation, and crisis.

8.5 The Planets

Starting with the slow-moving planets thathave a deep effect upon a chart, and oftenshow generational tendencies, we will look atthe individual planets briefly, and view themfrom the point of view of a magician.

Pluto

Pluto is necessary destruction before regen-eration. Pluto strips away all unnecessarybaggage: he confronts your weaknesses andbrings transformation.It is an underworld planet in that it also

governs the powers of sex, magic and themediation of power.Pluto is the cleaner: Pluto shows you what

is no longer viable in your life and teaches youto let go of things. If you work with Pluto,you learn how to become efficient, you learnto know yourself, your limitations, and yourstrengths.Through Pluto you also learn the true

meaning of magical power. If you resist Pluto,he will destroy you mercilessly.

Saturn

Saturn is the universal taskmaster. Saturnslows you down, makes you focus on the

boring details, the discipline, and accuracy ofyour true work.Saturn gives you burdens to carry in order to

strengthen you, he teaches you about bound-aries and discipline, and most of all, particu-larly formagicians, shows youhow to be of use,of service, and how to gain fortitude in the faceof difficulty.

Uranus

Uranus is a dynamic and sometimes viciousenergy. Uranus brings unforeseen elementsto a situation: a sudden change of power, arevolution, independence and inventiveness.Uranus is eccentric, he thinks sideways, he

does not run with the pack but forges a uniquepath that is unpredictable and flexible. For amagician, the impact on Uranus can be goodor bad depending on the magician’s ability tothink and operate outside the box.If you are a ‘glass half empty’ type of

person, Uranus can bring untold suffering ashe pushes you to think independently andforces you to come up with your own uniquesolutions. Uranus hits like a lightening boltout of the blue, shaking you out of compla-cency and confronting you with situationsthat are unexpected and unknown.If you are a ‘glass half full’ kind of person

and are adaptable, Uranus sprinkles yourlife with unexpected opportunities that oftencome out of disaster. For every destructiveexperience that Pluto can bring, Uranus canturn up the unexpected jewel twinkling in theruins.For magicians, Uranus is the unexpected

solution, the sudden inspiration, theunforeseen lightning strike. Uranus is thepower that keeps you alert, on your toes, lean,and ready for action.

Neptune

Neptune is the planet of hidden qualities, ofthe inner sight. He is inspiration, he ismystery,and he is water. He is the power that canflow at great depths, the power that cleans,the element that cannot be easily grasped. Inthe chart of the magician, depending on which

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house this planet falls in the birth chart (natalchart) he hints at inner abilities, hidden depths,and parts of yourself that are a mystery to youand everyone around you.When he is transiting your chart, he can

show where something is being hidden, orwhere the power of water is flowing, or whereyour deep inner qualities are in action. In anatal chart, if he is very close to the IC, hecan point to a person who has inner visionarysight.He can also indicate where you can have

‘blind spots,’ fake paradise, or psychologicaldifficulties.He can also indicate a deep inner awakening.

Jupiter

This is the power of expansion, of goodfortune, of teaching, benevolence, and goodluck. If his power flows in a chart that isself-centred, he can indicate a tendencytowards pretentiousness and exaggeration.But overall, his influence is about success,honours, stability and joy.He is a power that governs teachers and

lawyers: Jupiter is full of charisma, he wishesto share and educate, andmost importantly, heis the power of Justice and fair play.

Mars

The power that flows from Mars is action,power, courage, virility, and combat. Marsputs power and energy behind things: heplugs you into your ability to forge forward,to fight, to produce, and to win.He is also sexual power, the testosterone

that flows through both men and women, andwhen his power is balanced in your life, youcan achieve great things. If you are not careful,Mars can turn you into a bully.Mars is also the power of the magical sword,

the power of ‘I give’ in terms of action.

Venus

Venus is sensuality and beauty, and acts as abuffer for the raw power of Mars. Venus isthe brightness, the estrogen in both men and

women, the ability to seduce, to charm, tolight up a room, and is the magical power ofreceiving/the cup.Venus can also indicate a love or talent in

art, music, poetry, and dance. For magicians,Venus is the bright light of artistic expressionwithin magic, the ability to hold power (thecup) and transform it into something beautifuland creative.

Mercury

Mercury is themessenger of the gods. He is thepower of communication, of sacred language,of communion with inner beings, and governsall exchanges between minds.He points to the intellectual capacity, the

ability to work magically with the utterance,and to study in depth the mysteries hiddenwithin texts.Mercury governs the tongue: he enables the

magician to utter the sacred sounds, to expressthe communications of the inner worlds, andto work with knowledge in the form of text.

Sun

The Sun shines a light on the individualpersonality, and is the truth of a person, asopposed to the Ascendant which is the publicpersona of a person.The Sun is noble, gives life and strength, and

is the male quality within a person regardlessof gender. The Sun can also shine too brightlyif it is not worked with and balanced, bringingpride and self-aggrandizing qualities.The Sun shows where you shine, and warns

you not to bask too much in the sunlight ofyour own personality.

Moon

The moon is a fast-moving body and casts ashadowed light at best.The moon is creative in visionary depth and

reflects in the natal chart, for magicians, wheretheir creative visionary ability will have itsmost profound impact on those around youand within yourself.

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It can also show you were you are veiled,hidden, where you can fly under the radar andwork magically to bring subtle influence.The Moon also governs dreams, and where

it falls in transit around your chart can indicatewhere your dream-self is workingmagically asyou sleep.The moon is an indicator of the female

quality within you regardless of gender.

Chiron

Chiron is a comet that operates between Saturnand the outermost planets. It is also influ-enced by Uranus and brings a healing qualityto the life challenges that Saturn and Uranuscan present.Chiron is the governor of deep inner

wounds, and the situations that Saturnpresents in life in the form of restrictionscan indicate where deep healing, courtesy ofChiron, can bubble up to the surface in themidst of that restriction.When Chiron is placed close to another

slow-moving planet in the natal chart, itcan indicate the possibility of deep healingthrough the influence of the other planet. Sofor example it if is placed close to Jupiter inthe natal chart, it can indicate that a positiveattitude and humour in the depths of crisiscan facilitate healing within yourself and thosearound you.When Chiron in transit activates a part of

your natal chart, it can indicate the chance fordeep healing within that section of your life.Chiron is a mediator, one who filters the

power of a large planet as it flows into your life,and offers the chance for you to heal deep andlasting wounds through the action of the largeplanet it is activating.

8.6 Task: Investigating your ownchart

Note: Read the extra lesson that is attached to thislesson and then come back to this section. If you canprint out the lesson, it will make it easier for you torefer to it as you look at your chart.

On the internet, go to astro.com and sign upas a member (it is free). Then go to: horoscopedrawings. . . chart ascendant. Fill in your detailsand itwill drawup a chart for you. You can runmany charts for free on this site, and once youget to know your way around, you will find allsorts of resources that you can use.Look at your natal chart. Notice the pattern

the chart makes, look at where most of theplanets are, look at the houses and whatplanets are in them. Take notes, and don’tworry if it doesn’t make sense to you at first:interpreting a chart takes time, as it is likelearning a new language. Whatever jumps outat you, simply write it down.When you have looked as much as you can

at your natal chart, now go on the astro.comwebsite and click on personal daily horoscope.Scroll down to the bottom and click on the linkto natal chart with transits. Now look at yourchart with the transits.Look and take note of which transiting

planets are triggering planets in your natalchart. You will be able to tell which ones areactivating natal planets by their angle, or bythe relationship between the transiting planetand a natal planet. Note what house that ishappening in.astro.com also has short reports on your

transits, so you can look up what some of yourcurrent transits are, read how they may affectyou, and then look back at the chart again tosee if you can spot the transit and understandits action.Sit and think about what is going on in your

life at this present time. Does the descriptionof the transit bear any resemblance to yourcurrent situation? If so, look more deeply intothe descriptions of the transit to see if there isadvice in there for you about how to engage thetransit consciously.Like any form of divination, astrology

takes time to learn, so don’t expect to ‘haveit’ straight away. Once you are comfortablewith navigating the astro.com website,explore different charts by putting in differentpeople’s dates or the dates and times of events.Curiosity and playfulness is the best way tolearn these skills in a basic form.

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It took a while for me to be able to look ata chart and get a rough idea of what it wassaying. These days I find it very useful to lookat charts for energetic ‘weather’ reports, and tolook at my transits to see how I can best engagepositively with current tides in my life.Write down all of your findings in your

journal, write down your current transits (thewebsite will have a list of them), and print outyour natal chart with transits so that you canwork with it. Keep it in your journal so thatyou can look back at it.

8.7 Task: Ritual exercise—thepentagram and the natalchart

Draw a pentagram on a sheet of paper: thisrepresents you standing in the centre of yourchart. The arms of the pentagram are thehorizon on the natal chart with the Ascendant(first house) on the left/east: the left arm of thepentagram is your left arm if you were stoodfacing south.

Now look at your natal planets on yourchart. Remember that the horizon is yourarms in this exercise. Put the pentagram andthe chart side by side. Now look for wherePluto is in your natal chart. If you put thepentagram over the chart, where on the pageof the pentagram would Pluto sit? Is he byyour right hand? Or your left leg? Or nearyour head? Look at the astrological sigilfor Pluto (the sigils are on your chart) andplace it in the relevant position around yourpentagram.Now do the same for all of the other planets.

When you have finished, you should have apentagram that represents you, with the sigilsof your planets marked around it in a two-dimensional pattern. Look at their positionsin relation to your body, and in relation tothe two-dimensional aspect of the pentagramritual. (Hexagram above you, earth belowyou, sword to your left/east, cup to yourright/west.)Look carefully at the position of each sigil.

See which planets jump out at you the most,

and choose one, two, or three planets to focuson. Alternatively you can start practicing thistechnique with only one planet, and add inmore as your confidence increases. So forexample you may have Mercury in the upperright quadrant near your head, Saturn by yourleft foot in the lower left quadrant, and Jupiteron your eastern horizon (left arm).Look up the qualities of those planets, then

remember the qualities of the pentagramdirections. If you use the planets I have justmentioned, you would read it something likethis:Mercury upper right quadrant, positioned

between the hexagram and the cup—Divinityand the quality of receiving—Mercury is themessenger of the gods: this planet in thisposition in your pentagram indicates deepinner communication potential.For a magician, this could be used for

learning, teaching, or communicating withinner contacts. So when the magician does theritual of the pentagram and uses her mind tosee the sword/cup/hexagram etc., she wouldalso add in the sigil of Mercury which shewould see hanging in the air to her right,maybe slightly forward of her face to give itmore of a three-dimensional aspect.So you start to see how you can engage

with the gifts that the natal planets giveyou by locating them on your own personalpentagram and working with them, firstthrough visualising them in your pattern,and later through the use of seals, rituals andvisions. This is one more baby step towardsplanetary magic.If you wish to experiment further with

this technique, work with a specific planetof your natal chart and find its location onyour own pentagram. Now find out whereit is currently transiting in regards to yourpersonal pentagram, and be aware of thetwo positions as you work the pentagramritual. If you choose a slow-moving planetlike Saturn and work with it in its natal andtransit positions in your pentagram (see theSaturn sigil in each of the two positions), youcan build up the work over weeks or monthsas the transit position will hardly change.

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This in turn will really strengthen yourrelationship with that planet’s powers andinfluence upon you, which in turn will helpyou to engage actively with its energy. Thiswill help you to activate the positive aspect ofthe planet fully, which will also help you tolearn, grow and strengthen.If you are ambitious, once you are able to

visualise a natal and transiting planet’s sigilsin your pentagram, start to build an awarenessof where the various houses would be placedin your pentagram. If you can do that, it willgive you a great deal of insight into your body,your energy sphere, andwhy certain things arehappening around you.The permutations of this pattern are endless,

and with a bit of imagination, curiosity anda sense of experimentation, you can take thispentagram/chart exercise in many differentdirections.

Journal

Write down all the experimental work youdo with your chart and the pentagram. Writedown any inspirations that bubble up to thesurface, any ‘ah-ha!’s and write down anycorrelations about transits and body healththat may emerge from this work.

8.8 Task: Your personalpentagram

Draw out your personal pentagram and put allof your natal planets around it. Choose twoof the natal planets and look at their relationto the pentagram/your body. Now go backin your notes/journal to lesson six, and yourexperiment with drawing out the pentagramand adding in colours.

Look at your pentagram and the colours,and now look at your pentagram with theplanets. What does the combination of thecolours and the planets tell you about yourbody? Locate its strong points, weak points,sick points, etc.Here is an example of how to read the two

pentagrams side by side. A pentagram of aperson that has Saturn in the sixth house in

their chart. (Service, also long-term illness.)Saturn is currently transiting in the pentagramin the right hand arm of the pentagram(arm/hand). The colour on the pentagramfor that arm is red. Does the person havejoint pains in the right arm or hand? Or dothey work hard with their right hand but itis currently restricted? (Saturn can indicaterestriction.)This is a very loose way of working and

sometimes just brings up nonsense, but othertimes it can give quite startling insights. Playaround with the chart/pentagram, and takenotes of anything that seems to be important.By this point in your first module, you

should be sick to death of doing pentagramwork. But this repeated looking at thepentagram from all different angles ensuresthat you gain a deep and very useful magicalunderstanding of this shape that will embeditself in your consciousness.That embedding and deep understanding is

how the pentagram can become a powerfultool and shield in your magical work. By nowyou should have a goodunderstanding ofwhatit is and how it works, and you should beable to do the simple pentagram shield withease and fluency. This will put you in goodstead when it comes to doing deep ritual workwith the planetary powers and angelic inter-faces (for example the Arbatel).

8.9 Module One Summary

At this point of your early training, youshould have a solid basic grounding in a fewkey magical techniques: meditation, vision,ritual, and pattern-making. You should alsohave by now settled into a good personalmethod of record-keeping, observation, andexperimentation.Establish for yourself a rhythm of

meditation, practicing skills already learned,and learning new skills. Develop a scheduleof work that functions best for you and youreveryday life, so that you do not becomeoverwhelmed in your studies or shut outpartners, family, or everyday life activities:

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magic should dovetail into your life, not takeit over and isolate you from others.Each time you start a new module, start a

new journal so that each module has its ownjournal, notes, experiments, and essays. Use amix of computer files and paper journals, andmake sure that your online notes, essays etc.are backed up on a USB stick that is kept onlyfor your magical study and work.Well done for getting this far. You havemade

your first major step in magical education!

8.10 Basic Astrology—ExtensionLesson by Toni Paris

The natal chart is like a photograph of theposition of the stars and planets in the skiesat the moment of a soul’s birth taken from theposition of their birth. To construct a natalchart you need the person’s exact date, time,and location of their birth.There are amultitude of computer programs

that you can buy to do the calculationsfor you—or you can simply log on towww.astrodienst.com—open a free accountand you can erect and save charts. They alsohave an impressive selection of asteroids andfixed stars to add to the chart—but that isat the end of a long road of learning for thenovice astrologer.All the elements that go into chart inter-

pretation, planets, signs, houses, are intercon-nected and as you learn about one element,you are learning something about the others.However, without any real understanding ofthe planets, houses, signs, and aspects anyonecan begin a basic interpretation of the natalchart simply by looking at it. The pattern of thechart can tell you quite a bit about the personit represents.If you see many planets in a particular

house or quadrant of the chart you will knowthat that area is of particular importance andfocus for the person. Conversely, if a house orquadrant is empty it is not very important.

8.11 Basic Orientation

The first quadrant

Relates to the individual and identity andso a multitude of planets in this quadrantwould indicate that the person is focusing onthemselves, is very independent, a leader, aninitiator—and this is very Aries-like.

The second quadrant

Relates to a personwho is very good at puttinga plan in action. This person is a follower (notnecessarily like a lemming) and can admin-

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ister, anticipate, and solve problems and workwell with others. This person is often the‘behind the scenes’ leader—very Cancerian.

The third quadrant

Points to a person who always puts the otherfirst. This is the therapist who is only inter-ested in your troubles and never disclosesanything about themselves, the martyr,the Human Resources manager, the dotingMother or partner who is always concernedwith the other’s own good—and this personcan be tremendously passive-aggressive andmanipulative. This is very Libran.

The fourth quadrant

Is indicative of the person who ‘gets it done.’This person—also very much a leader—takesprojects and ideas to their conclusions andfinishes what they start. They are solid,reliable, a bit relentless—and this is a veryCapricorn-like person.So, knowing a bit about the 4 quadrants of

the natal chart you also now know a bit aboutthe 4 cardinal signs—Aries, Cancer, Libra andCapricorn. Cardinal signs are initiators—andthe sun’s entrance into their signs signals thebeginning of a new season.

The chart is also divided intohalves—really 4 halves.

The lines of demarcation are from Asc(ascendant) to Dsc (descendant)—first houseto seventh house; and from Mc (MediumCoeli) or Midheaven to Ic (Imum Coeli) orNadir.Many planets in the half of the chart, the

East, from Mc to Ic involving the first housepoint to someone who sees things through thelens of their own experience and tends to putself first.

If the other half, West, is where the majorityof planets lie (seventh house) this person putsothers’ needs and wants before their own.There is a clue here to the meanings of the

first and seventh houses and the signs that rulethem, or have their natural homes there. First

is self, ego, and the home of Aries. The seventhis other and is the home of Libra.If you see many planets above the chart’s

horizon, the South (the line stretching from theASC to DSC involving the tenth house) pointsto a person who is outgoing, socializes well,likes to be out in the world, and can be a bitof an extrovert.If you find many planets below the horizon

(the North, involving the fourth house) youare seeing amore introverted person, someonewho is more of a homebody and would shyaway from large gatherings.This also gives you further understanding

of the fourth and tenth houses and their rulingsigns. The fourth house is about the home,family, the weaker parent, and is home toCancer. The tenth is about ego, career, thestronger parent, and is the natural home ofCapricorn.

8.12 Chart shapes

There are many different shapes the chart cantake. Basic shapes are presented below, butthe place of the shapes should be taken intoconsideration as well. This would mean youneed to blend the shape meaning with thehemisphere or quadrant being affected.

Scattered

If you see planets scattered all throughout thechart you can guess that this person is a bitscatterbrained and/or multi-talented. This isreferred to as the splash pattern and could beconstrued as very Gemini-like.

See-saw/hourglass

A see-saw or hourglass shape would point toa person who is very black and white and mayhave strong success and failures in their lives.This person is relentless and has tremendousstaying power. This has a Capricorn-like flavordue to the extreme successes and failures andan excellent example of the see-saw hourglassand Capricorn is the life and times of USPresident Richard Nixon.

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Bowl

Abowl pattern has all of the planets in only onepart/half of the chart. This particular patternindicates the person is very self-contained andmay have difficulty with self-expression.

Bucket

The bucket pattern is a bowl with a planetoutside the bowl forming a ‘handle.’ This isalso referred to as the locomotive pattern. Thisplanet is the person’s way out of the bowl. Theplanet, sign, and house will describe how andwhere the person can express themselves thebest.There are more patterns, but these are the

most obvious to the casual observer.

8.13 Signs, planets, and houses

In the basic natal chart there are three basicelements: the signs, the planets, and thehouses. The planets represent our basicdrives; the signs describe how these drives areexpressed; and the houses are the areas of ourlives where these drives will be played out.As stated before, these three essentials relate

to one another, and as you understand one youunderstand all three.The signs are ruled and described by

individual planets, and these signs andplanets have their own houses in the basicchart.Astrologers use a bit of shorthand when

writing the signs and planets. These shortcutsare referred to as glyphs. Most people arefamiliar with many of them.Many of the signs and planets are also

named after ancient Gods and Goddesses.They share their namesakes’ attributes, forgood and for ill, and a passing knowledgeof mythology is helpful in understandingthem. Each sign also has an animal, human,or inanimate symbol attached to it, and thiswill further illustrate the meaning of the sign.

8.14 Elements

In addition to houses and planets, the signsrepresent one of the four elements (fire, earth,air, or water) and fall under one of the threequalities: cardinal, fixed, or mutable.The element of fire is all about energy,

drive, and creativity. Earth signs are practical,sensual, and take time to ponder. Air signsare communicators and put an emphasis onknowledge and learning. Water signs areempathetic, intuitive, creative, and deal withemotions.The cardinal signs are initiators,

independent, and lead the way. The fixedsigns dig in and get things done. The mutablesigns are flexible, change, and disseminateinformation.

8.15 The signs in the naturalhoroscope

Aries—I am

The first sign of the astrological year, ruler ofthe natural first house, and the harbinger ofspring.Aries is a fire sign and named after the god

of war. This sign is considered the adolescentof the zodiac and is all about the self. Ariesare the initiators, but tend to lose interest in thelonghaul. They are a bit self-absorbed but havea tremendous amount of energy. . . and a bit ofa temper.The animal associatedwithAries is the Ram,

in the sense that it will beat its head against awall. The Aries native is headstrong and willhurl head first into any situation, consequencesand forethought be damned.Aries is ruled by the planet Mars—more

about him later, but the relationship is prettyapparent. Aries is a cardinal sign, initiatingspring.

Taurus—I have

Is the second sign of the zodiac and rules thesecond house.

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Taurus natives take time to ponder, andvalue security and ‘nice’ things. Taurus has avery strong sense of aesthetics. Money may beimportant, but it is not important for its ownsake but more for what it can be used for.Taurus is a very practical sign, very earthy

(it’s an earth sign), and has tremendousendurance.The bull is the animal symbol for the sign of

Taurus. The planet that rules Taurus is Venus,in her artistic and pleasure aspect. Taurus is afixed sign, underlying its bullheadedness.

Gemini—I think

Rules the third house of the natural zodiac andis the 3rd sign.This Air sign has high energy, quick intel-

ligence, is tremendously creative, commu-nicative, and can get bored easily. Gemininatives tend to be interested in everything, atleast for a while.Twins are the symbol for this sign, as it is

very dualistic, picking up and dropping thingsquickly.The planet associated with Gemini is

Mercury, in his purely messenger aspect. Itis not about the information disseminated asmuch as the act of carrying information.Gemini is a mutable sign, which emphasizes

its quicksilver, changeable nature.

Cancer—I feel

Is the fourth sign of the natural zodiac andrules the fourth house. When the sun entersthe sign of Cancer we welcome summer.Cancers are sensitive, devoted to the home,

and tend to be nurturers. Cancers protect theirloved ones and themselves from hurt—real orimagined.Cancers tend to worry and can let these

worries get in the way of things. The symbolfor Cancer is the crab, and like the crab Cancerstend to sidestep confrontations.The planet that rules Cancer is the Moon,

and Cancer is a water sign very influenced byher planetary ruler. Cancer’s emotions tendto ebb and flow like the tides. Cancers need

emotional security, and home and family (as asymbol of this) are very important to them.

Leo—I will

Is the fifth sign of the zodiac and rules the fifthhouse.This sign is ruled by the sun, a fire sign, and

the Leo native wants to shine and be appre-ciated.Leos are very generous, full of energy, and

great charismatic leaders.Leo is confidence, and the symbol for this

sign is the lion: leader of the pride, and theleader who presents himself to his adoringminions.Leos love to have fun and their natural confi-

dence makes them gamblers. Leo is a fixedsign, so it’s a bit hard to change this sign’smind.

Virgo—I analyze

Is the sixth sign of the natural zodiac andtherefore rules the sixth house.As a mutable earth sign, Virgo is interested

in analyzing data. Virgos are detail-oriented,meticulous, and practical. This meticulousapproach can cause the Virgo native to be a bitof a perfectionist and a bit of a worrywart, asthings are never really perfect.Virgo is also ruled by Mercury in his aspect

as disseminator and analyzer of information.

Libra—I balance

Is a cardinal air sign. As the seventh sign of thezodiac, Libra rules the natural seventh house.When the sun enters this sign we welcomeautumn.The element of air in Libra points to skill

in diplomatic communication. Libras wantto keep the peace and create harmony intheir relationships and environment. Becauseof their aversion to disharmony, Libras canappear to be indecisive.They are artistic, creative, and romantic. The

symbol for Libra is scales—asLibras are alwaysseeking balance in all things.The planetary ruler of Libra is Venus, in her

harmonious, romantic aspect.

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Scorpio—I desire

Is a fixed water sign. As the ruler of the eighthhouse of the natural zodiac, Scorpio is theeighth sign.Scorpios are fiercely private, loyal, and

devoted. The sign is about transformation andis the only sign that has two planetary rulers.The original ruler of Scorpio was Mars, andmore recently Pluto.The Pluto rulership relates to Pluto as God

of the Underworld. Scorpios look deeply intothings and are not afraid to turn over the rockto see what lies underneath.Like their unusual dual planetary rulers,

Scorpios also have three symbols: the scorpion(relating to the Scorpio’s propensity to stingthemselves because of their intensity andsomewhat obsessive nature), the eagle(relating to the Scorpio’s ability to see thingsfrom a higher perspective), and finally thephoenix (pointing to the Scorpio’s transfor-mative drive).

Sagittarius—I aspire

Finds its home in the ninth house of the naturalzodiac and is the ninth sign. It is a mutable firesign and so it has tremendous drive, creativeenergy and wide ranging interests and ideas.The Sagittarian ideal is to wander, to learn,

and to expand. The planetary ruler is Jupiter inhis aspect of law-giver, and Sagittarius is veryconcerned with fairness and equality.The symbol for this sign is the centaur about

to release his arrow to the heavens.Sagittarius is a true creature of the earth,

but also concerned with spirituality andphilosophy—big ideas. All things about Sagit-tarius are big, and Jupiter, the largest planet inour solar system, is all about expansion.

Capricorn—I use

Is a cardinal earth sign. This sign’s home isthe tenth house, which is theMidheaven of thechart.Capricorns are very practical, concerned

with appearances, and tend to take great pridein their careers and social status. Capricorns

are concerned with accumulation of materialthings, and can be collectors.The symbol for this sign is the goat, as a

cautious climber. The planetary ruler is Saturnin his guise as Father Time. As the sun entersCapricorn, we welcome the season of winter.Capricorns tend to caution, take their time,

and play things close to the vest.

Aquarius—I know

The eleventh sign of the zodiac is a fixed airsign, which finds its home in the eleventhhouse.This is the pioneering sign: future thinkers,

rebels, and seers, humanitarians.Aquarians can be seen as a bit eccentric

because they are strongly individualistic.Aquarians have strong and often unconven-tional ideas and like to share their ideas withgroups.The planetary ruler is Uranus, and the

symbol for Aquarius is the water bearer—ifyou think of water as nourishment, Aquariansnourish humanity with the water of theirideas.

Pisces—I believe

Is the twelfth and final sign of the naturalzodiac. It is a mutable water sign, findingits home in the twelfth and final house of thenatural chart.The Pisces native is intuitive and feels a

complete and inexplicable spiritual connectionto the source. Pisces tend to be dreamy,creative, and have trouble relating to themundane aspects of reality. It is difficult forPisces to communicate their feelings and theytend to be buffeted by the emotions of thosearound them.The symbol for Pisces is two fish joined

together, but swimming in opposite direc-tions. The planetary ruler is Neptune, the Godof the depths of the oceans, and in that senseit represents illusion and delusion. Water isclear but can cause distortion when lookingthrough it, and one can become intoxicated bywater.

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8.16 The twelve houses

The houses are the playground—or the placeof work—where the aspects will occur. Whenyou look at a specific house, its opposite shouldbe considered as well. If an aspect is occurringin the first house (the self) one should look atthe seventh house (the other).

First house—I

The sign on the first house cusp is referred toas the rising sign and describes how a personappears and their public face. Often whenyou get to know someone and they are muchdifferent than first impressions it is because thesign here is different from the sun (personality)sign.

Second house—Mine

This house describes material assets andattitudes towards money, earning capacity,and is the house of usable assets. It can also bemoral values.

Third house—Neighbourhood

This is the house of early childhood, earlyeducation, close relatives, short trips, andcommunication of all sorts. This can bedescribed as our neighborhood.

Fourth house—Personal/inner

This house describes the person’s security,shelter, family life, the last quarter of life, andthe inner self. This house was traditionallyascribed to the Mother, but can really berepresentative of the less influential parent.

Fifth house—Love

This house represents lovers, children,speculation, the creative self, gambling, andcourtship.

Sixth house—Work/service/physicalhealth

This is the placement of necessity andservice—what must be done. The capacity for

work is described here, as well as the nature ofpotential illnesses or where the person coulddevelop trouble.An example is that if the native had Pisces

on the cusp and/or Neptune in the housebadly aspected, the person could suffer footproblems, as Pisces rules the feet.

Seventh house—Others

This is the house of partnerships, consultants,spouses, and open enemies. This can beregarded as the house of cooperation andrelationships.

Eighth house—Yours/ours

This would be the position of other people’sfinances (your partner, family, etc.). It is thehouse of sex, death, and the occult.

Ninth house—Out there

This represents our relationship to what isremote, long journeys, distant places andpeople, relatives, in-laws, higher education,philosophy, and our conscience.

Tenth house—Public/outer

This is the position of authority, profession,honor, ambition, superiors, and that which haspower over us. It also represents the moreinfluential parent.

Eleventh house—Friends

The eleventh house is the place of higheraspirations, group memberships and partici-pation, friends, hopes, and shared goals.

Twelfth house—Fear/institutions/mentalhealth

This house describes one’s relationship to one’sself, the unconscious, and all forms of institu-tionalization and seclusion—including impris-onment. This is the position of hidden enemiesand all that is considered confidential.

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8.17 The planets

Mars Energy, drive, life force

Venus Beauty, harmony, affection, arts,attraction

Mercury Communication, mental acuity,sense of humor

Moon Emotions, sensitivity, empathy, tides,cycles, the Mother

Sun The personality, ego, self, Father

Pluto Power, obsession, addiction,destruction, transformation

Jupiter Luck, expansion, inspiration,optimism

Saturn Restriction, focus, structure, limitation

Uranus Genius, revolution, insight,restlessness, freedom

Neptune Mysticism, illusion, delusion, imagi-nation

8.18 Putting it all together

Here are a few examples of how to put this alltogether.

A sun in Scorpio would be very quiet andfeel more comfortable in the backgroundmanipulating things: the behind-the-scenespower broker. However, if that sun wereplaced in the first house, it would take on anAries flare and would be more apt to be aleader and far more up front.A personwithNeptune in the seventh house

(or Pisces on the cusp) would tend to idealizetheir partners, put them on pedestals, and bedevastated when reality intrudes.A personwith theMoon in the second house

would see their finances go up and down likethe cycle of the moon.

8.19 The aspects

Aspects in astrology describe how the planetsbehave together. The major aspects are:

Conjunction: 0–5 degrees

These planets are within a few degrees of eachother and put forward a united front. Thecloser the aspect (1–3 degrees separating) themore intense the blending will be. A sunconjunct the Ascendant would be a personwho is exactlywhat they seem, and that personwill take things very personally.

Opposition: 180 degrees

This aspect points to a pair of planets that areopposite each other (in the first and seventhhouses, for example). This is a mirror aspectand the other is reflecting what is going on.

Square: 90 degrees

The qualities of the planets involved eithersquare or oppose. So for example, anyplanets in Leo (fixed) would square theScorpio/Taurus axis. Any planets in Sagit-tarius would square the Pisces/Virgo axis, andso forth. This aspect indicates that the planetsare at oddswith each other and tension occurs.This tension can cause action or problems.

Trine: 120 degrees

All planets in the same element trine, forexample all water signs, Cancer, Scorpio,Pisces would trine. This aspect indicates thatthe planets are working in harmony: there is aflow of energy between them.

8.20 Analysing your natal chart

A good exercise to understand how all of thiscomes together is to get a copy of your natalchart and begin to analyze it. Use the followingsteps to begin with:

• Look at the chart and determine whatshape the chart is.

• Look at what quadrants the planets lie in.

• Look at empty and full houses

• Look at each planet, their sign and house.Tell yourself a story about what that

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means. For example, “my Saturn is inVirgo in the tenth house so there wouldbe restrictions to developing a career inhealthcare or service until later in life.”

As you get comfortable and begin to see howthe planetary energies work through the signsin their home bases you can move on to anexercise to learn how aspects work.

8.21 Lunar aspects: followingthe moon through yournatal chart

You follow the moon through your natal chartfor twenty-eight days (one lunar cycle). Toaccomplish this you will need an ephemeris.The Llewellyn calendars and pocket plannerscan be purchased and have a daily ephemeris.You can also find a monthly ephemeris at thefollowing website:www.cafeastrology.com/2013ephemeris.htmlLook for the symbol of the moon and see

where it is in the sky. Then find that locationin your natal chart. Then try to determinewhat aspects it is making—how it is relating tothe planets in your chart. Note the aspect (oraspects) and possible meaning in the morningand then in the evening see how the aspect(s)actually worked out.You’ll find a brief description of the various

aspects the moon can make to the planetsbelow but remember you need to blend thesemeanings with the house and sign. A moonin Scorpio—secretive—is very different from aMoon in Aries, open and brash.

Moon aspects to the Sun

Conjunction Good for cleaning, getting housein order.

Opposition Others can make emotionaldemands.

Square Family and domestic matters needflexibility. Irritability and frustration.

Trine Indulge yourself—things go smoothly.

Moon aspects to Mercury

Conjunction Chat more about emotions.

Opposition Hard to express self to others,hard to communicate clearly.

Square Misunderstandings, feeling lack ofappreciation, difficulty focusing.

Trine others nurturing, short trips takenand/or planned, home changes(decorating?).

Moon aspects to Venus

Conjunction very sensitive, empathetic toothers.

Opposition Conflict with obligations to selfand others moodiness.

Square Moody, oversensitive—good day to bealone.

Trine Get along with everyone, everythinggoes smoothly.

Moon aspects to Mars

Conjunction Lots of family activities, possiblefever/flu.

Opposition Hardwork to keep thingsmovingsmoothly, family/others demanding.

Square Irritable, mood swings, trouble withwomen.

Trine Loads of energy and focus to accom-plish things.

Moon aspects to Jupiter

Conjunction Difficulties easy to fix,optimistic, extra money.

Opposition Financial extravagance with costshigher than expected.

Square Emotional strain, don’t over-spend,issues blown out of proportion.

Trine Very peaceful, money and business verysatisfactory, travels planned.

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Moon aspects to Saturn

Conjunction Need to organize, developroutine, feel solitary, confined, not muchenergy.

Opposition Other(s) a disappointment, lackof support, delays, penny pinching.

Square Depressed, everything seems tedious,boring, money very tight.

Trine Elders help, organized, efficient andpractical.

Moon aspects to Uranus

Conjunction Fluctuation, change in dailylife—very erratic.

Opposition Unexpected visitors, suddenchanges in all areas, other feels unstable.

Square Feel the need for dramatic changesand rebellion. Changes are notpermanent, instability.

Trine Sudden new people and new ideas.Stimulating changes occur in daily life.

Moon aspects to Neptune

Conjunction Very sensitive, creativityenhanced, tendency to day dreaming.

Opposition Others confusing, vague, feelingparanoid, looking for escape – tendency tooverexaggeration.

Square Feeling anxious, disappointed withvague reasons.

Trine relationships seem idyllic; dreams cometrue, very content.

Moon aspects to Pluto

Conjunction Relationships intensified,emotional upheaval, power plays, manip-ulation.

Opposition Problems saying no, conflictswith people especially women.

Square Others demanding, heavy emotionalpressures, unconscious needs/drivessurface.

Trine intense intuitive insights, stress eases,let go of self-destructive patterns.

8.22 References:

• Modern Transits—Lois M. Rodden

• Horoscope Symbols—Robert Hand

• The Astrologer’s Handbook—FrancesSakoian & Louis S. Acker

• www.astrodienst.com

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Apprentice Module II

Patterns and Maps in Magic

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Study Guide for Module II

A lot of the lessons in this module are about learning to execute certain ritual patterns (andyou have two easy lessons with not much action). It is important that you learn each ritual inturn, learning the recitations by heart, and learning the coordinated movements.Once you have learned a ritual and are able to do it properly, and have absorbed the lesson,

you will have been instructed to repeat that ritual for a certain period of time. As you practice,you are also ready to continue on to the next lesson.So your rhythm of study should be: read the lesson—practice the ritual movements and learn

the recitations—do the ritual ‘proper’—set up a timetable to repeat it—start the next lesson.Each week you should be doing meditations, tarot reading practice, practicing rituals from

previous lessons, learning new ritual/lessons, doing research or writing.If you have a heavy work schedule and cannot commit to that type of a time frame, work

at your own pace: the main thing is that there are things you do regularly, and that you arepracticing the previous lesson while learning the new one, so that they overlap a little.Above all, make sure that you stay in the sequence of lessons and do not hop forward a few

lessons.

Lesson 1

Directions

The second module of the apprentice trainingis all about magical patterns. Patterns arethe skeletons and nervous systems of magic,and without the use of patterns, magic fallsapart. If the magician does not understandthe patterns they are using, they will severelylimit their work, learning, and power. Thisis why it is very important to learn some ofthe key patterns in the early stages of yourtraining, so that all of your magical learninghas a foundation to sit upon.

The first lesson of this module is about thedirectional pattern. In the first module, youlearned the very basics of how to acknowledgethe powers of the four directions and the powerin the centre. That is the base template forrituals and visions that work around the direc-tions. From that template, you now need tolearn how to operate with the directions invisionary ritual in order to prepare for makinginner contacts and working with them.

The four-directional pattern is probably theoldest pattern we are aware of in magic, and itis also the most versatile. It is used for makinginner contact, for moving power around,for magical construction, for sending andreceiving magic, for tuning, for protection. . .The applications of the four-directional patternare wide-ranging because it is a template forthe physical world. It is the map of the earth interms of creation as viewed through the lensof Western magic.

Throughout your magical training you willrevisit this patternmany times in very differentways, so that you slowly build up a strongunderstanding of the breadth and depth of thissimple system. The four-directional pattern,along with certain other patterns inherentwithin magic, is a major key to working magicsuccessfully. For this reason it is importantto learn all these patterns’ different levels,applications, methods of operation, and themagical interactions that flow through them.Before we step into the practical work of

visionary ritual, we need to shine a light onsomeof thework youhave alreadydone to giveyou a deeper understanding of what you havebeen working on. Let’s open out the deepermysteries of the magical directions a little bit,and give you a peek of how the powers work,what they are, and how youworkwith them asa magician.

1.1 Directional dynamics ofpower

East—West

When you work ritually around the directionsand in vision, the power of humanity flowsthrough the east–west axis. The two root toolsflow from these directions, and out of thesedirections the full magical power of humanitycan be drawn. Whenever a magician does a

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magical action, it will flow out of one or bothof these directions.So far in your basic ritual training, you have

visualized a sword held in your left hand. Thismeans you are facing south in your ritual work(facing south directs themagic into the future).The power of the east is the power of utterance,learning, and the sacred breath of life; and it isembodied within the sword—which is held asa magical being, not as a magical weapon.The key word of the east is I Give. This ritual

positioning enables you to take action actively,to instigate a magical act that adds somethingto the universe. The keyword I Givemeans youare initiating an action: you are creating.This puts the magic into the flow of creation,

a flow that is constant, powerful, and Divine:“In the beginning was the Word.” Thefirst act of creation is the breath of DivineConsciousness uttering from the void.This is why all magic starts in the east, with a

word or a breath, andwhy the sword (Air) livesin the east. This is also why religions basedaround the utterance turn east to pray. The eastis male, not in a gender sense, but in the sensethatwhen it acts creatively its power outputs or‘gives’ like semen. The prayer that is physicallyuttered is powerful, and magic that is physi-cally uttered is also the most powerful. Here isan example from a religion.

“Adonai s’fatai tiftach, ufi yagidt’hilatecha.”

(Transliterated Hebrew. Translated:)

“Adonai openmy lips, that mymouthmay declare your praise.”

That Hebrew prayer holds a great manymagical keys of understanding hidden withinit. East is the beginning of a magical actionfor us as humans. But it is not the actualfirst step. Before us, everything has to flowfrom a Divine or Universal Power source.The first step of a true magical action is theimpulse leaving the void and beginning itsjourney to express itself in the human world.The magician taps into that expression andmediates it through them in an act of release.

The sword as a magical object guardsthe Word, the magical utterance, and keepsits action limited, restrained, and focussed.Remember the sword’s powers when we laterdiscuss the subject of using ritual action toconnect with inner contacts, as the contactsare filtered by its attributes.The west is the female direction in that it

receives in the creative act like a womb does:the vessel. This is not about being wateryand feminine; rather it is about the capacityto contain power and form it. The vesselreceives the utterance or Word and incubatesit, contains it, and forms it into somethingtangible. So you see that either human-baseddirection cannot work in isolation: the givingpower needs to be received, and the vessel canonly receive if something is actually placedwithin it.Just as the east is dawn, the beginning, the

west is sunset. By the time the vessel fullytransforms the power it has received, it isalready marching towards destruction. Allcreation is either rising to a peak or falling intodestruction—there is never a plateau. Just asevery human life grows, reaches a peak, andthen immediately begins its slow decline todeath, so too does all magical power instigatedby humanity.The key is to map out the future fate path

of the magic so that it achieves its purposewhile cycling through its rhythm of creationand destruction. That is done by balancingthe creation (east) and destruction (west) withtime: past and future. The magician standsin the present and draws power from the eastto create a magical cycle, but that magicalcycle must connect into the flow of time andsubstance in order to work. And this is wherethe other two directions come in.

North—South

North is the past, the ancestral realm, theancient Mother, the rock beneath you. Northis both behind you and beneath you: theshield that has your back is also the rock uponwhich you stand. You hold the sum total ofyour ancestral wisdom in your blood, and that

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blood wisdom is something a magician drawsupon heavily.As a magician in a contacted line, you are

also the sum total of every magician who hasgone before you: that line buffers you andstrengthens you.So when the magician stands with her arms

out, sword in her left hand (east) and cupin her right hand (west), her back is to thenorth: the shield guards her back and therock/ancestors beneath her give her a hugereservoir of wisdom, stability, and strength todraw from: beneath and behind work togetherand are essentially the same directional power.South is the future. South is the angelic

threshold of the future; it is also the directionof potential as that potential is still beingformed. This path of future potential is fuelledby angelic beings that create an interface forthe future to flow through. This interfaceis perceived in magic as ‘above.’1 This iswhy on your pentagram shield the hexagram(Divinity in balance) is above you. Thehexagram pattern flows down into manifes-tation and into the earth— which is why youhave the symbol for earth below the genitals(generations) of the pentagram. Are youconfused yet?Hopefully by this stage you will begin to

realise that the four-directional pattern isnot four-directional at all: that is a hugelysimplified reduction of a complex andbeautiful pattern. And it should also bedawning on you that not only is the four-directional pattern multidimensional, butit is roughly divided in two: creation anddestruction.So, place yourself in the centre of the direc-

tions. The east and above work together tocreate the utterance, which is then sent onits path into the future via the south: whichis why magicians point wands (or fingers)—wands/fire/south. The wand directs themagic into the future, into action, by way ofthe inspirational fire that brings formation.The west, the north, and below all work

together to receive that magical action, to1Why this is so will become very apparent in your

adept studies.

ground it, root it, contain it, and form it into asolid pattern.Through the tension and polarity

of the south/future/potential and thenorth/past/substance—with the magicianin the centre to act as the fulcrum—a powerbuilds up that is contained, formed, energised,and ready to burst into the future. And whenI say future, remember that in magic “future”can mean in a hundred years’ time, in a year’stime or in three seconds’ time.All magic must be created for the future,

otherwise it just will not work. If you makethe mistake of creating magic for ‘now’ it willfail as there is no such thing as ‘now’—time isconstantly flowing.If you are confused at this point, go back

and reread this section and maybe draw outthe pattern described, or stand and imagineit around you until you start to get a feel ofits multidimensional aspect. Take your timeunderstanding this: it can be a massive leap,but it is a necessary and important one if youare to be successful in your magical actions.Now it is time, if you have basically grasped

this multidimensional pattern, to begin towork it ritually and in vision. In the firstmodule you learned how to use your mindto move about a space. This next practicalexercise will build upon the directional ritualpattern you learned in module one, and willstep your visionary process forward an inchin preparation for you stepping into the innerworlds.You learned tomove about your living space

in your mind; now you need to learn howto move about a magical space both physi-cally and in vision. At the same time youneed to begin to learn how to move poweraround using your mind. This will prepareyou for working with inner contacts and alsofor working with magical tools.

1.2 Task: The visionary ritual ofthe directions

Working in your ritual space with the fivealtars, go around the directions lighting the

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lights and visualising the gates in the methodthat you learned in previous lessons.

Go and stand before the central flame,facing south. Be aware of the four directionsaround you, and of the fifth direction which isthe centre. The centre direction is also aboveand below: it is the column of power that isthe central fulcrum for all substance, and it isthe highway of time (above = future, centre =present, below = past).

Remember the breastplate from Module I,Lesson 7. Standing before the flame, hold outyour arms and close your eyes. See the swordin your left hand and the cup in your righthand.Imagine, using your mind’s eye, a road

opening up before you that vanishes off intothe south, and behind you a line of peoplethat seems to vanish off into the depths of thenorth.Between you and the line of people (the

ancestral line) is your guardian angel, who hasa hand upon your shoulder. Before you, onthe path that goes off to the southern horizon,stands a group of angelic beings. These appearin your mind as humans with angelic wingsand very long hair that trails on the groundbehind them. They are holding out an arm asif to show you the way ahead. Holding thoseimages in your mind, recite the breastplate:

“The Father is above me, The Motheris below me, the sword to my left, thecup to my right, the guardian angelbehind me, the Sandalphon beforeme, within me is life, within me isthe breath of God: I will be.”

That ritual action and utterance has nowtuned the space and tuned you to a frequencywhere you can work properly and safely.

1.3 Task: Ritual of confirmation

Only do this ritual once—it is a declaration thattriggers the magical process of receiving the magicaltools in the future.

Walk a full circle around the central altar,bow to the east altar, and walk a full circlea second time, finishing standing before theeastern altar.In your mind’s eye, while also keeping your

eyes open, ‘see’ the gates which are open. Nowclose your eyes. Imagine you extend your leftarm across the altar and hold out your hand tothe gates. Keeping your eyes closed, and usingyour physical voice, ask:

“I, [say your name], as an apprentice ofthe Quareia, ask that I may begin thejourney of the sword.”

Now extend your physical left arm outover the altar (be careful of the flame). Withyour eyes closed, using your mind’s eye, seea shadowy figure emerge from between theopen gates.The figure looks at your hand and then

touches it as if feeling for something. Keepthat image for however long the figure holdsyour hand. Once the figure lets your handgo, with eyes remained closed and holdingthe vision, physically bow and withdraw yourhand.Take a step back, turn and walk a full

circle around the central altar, and stop at thesouthern altar.

Place both your hands on the altar and closeyour eyes. See in your mind’s eye the opengates. Look beyond the open gates and see aroad going off into the horizon.On the road you will see some figures. One

of them has a hand held up in a ‘stop and wait’position. The being is showing you the wayahead but warning you that it is not yet timeto step into and onto that path: first you mustgain the skills needed to walk that path. Butthey are waiting patiently for you and will bethere when you are ready.Open your eyes and using your right hand,

index finger pointed, draw a line straight downfrom ‘above to below.’ Now draw a diagonalline from upper left to lower right, and thena diagonal line from upper right to lower left(drawing an X through the line). This is the

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quarry mark: you are defining your path aheadwith the magic of the quarry.

Take a step back, bow and turn. Walk a fullcircle around the central flame and then endat the western altar. In your mind’s eye, whilealso keeping your eyes open, ‘see’ the gateswhich are open.Now close your eyes. Imagine you extend

your right arm across the altar and hold outyour hand to the gates. Keeping your eyesclosed, and using your physical voice, say:

“I, [say your name], as an apprenticeof the Quareia, ask that I begin thejourney of the cup.”

Now extend your physical right arm outover the altar (be careful of the flame). Withyour eyes closed, using your mind’s eye, see ashadowyfigure emerge frombetween the opengates. The figure looks at your hand and thentouches it as if feeling for something. Keep thatimage for however long the figure holds yourhand.Once the figure lets your hand go, with eyes

remained closed and holding the vision, physi-cally bow and withdraw your hand.

Take a step back, turn, and walk a full circlearound the central altar, ending at the northernaltar. In your mind’s eye, while also keepingyour eyes open, ‘see’ the gates which are open.Place your hands upon the altar and close youreyes.Using your mind’s eye, using your imagi-

nation, look at the open gates and see manypeople gathering at the threshold of the gates:these are people you are connected to intime, be they blood ancestors, companionsfrom other lives, etc. None of them crossthe threshold to join you; they stay on thethreshold, just showing you that they arethere, that they ‘have your back.’

One of them shines a lot brighter than theothers, and when you look closely, you see theeyes of this person are like stars: it is then thatyou realise this is not another human, but yourguardian angel.

Do not try to make any verbal contact: itis too early in magical terms to make fullcontact—it is enough that you see, recognise,and acknowledge. Bow to the gathered peopleand the angel, and say out loud:

“Thank you.”

Open your eyes and take a step back.

Turn and walk a full circle around thecentral flame, and then stand in the north,facing south, with the central altar before you.Sit down and close your eyes.Meditate for a few minutes and think about

the images and people in each direction thatyou have just visualised.When you are ready, either stand up and go

around the directions to close the gates down,or continue on to your next ritual exercise.

Notes on this ritual

The ritual of confirmation is a very simple andyet deep-acting ritual that introduces you as amagical apprentice to the inner contacts. Theapprentice asks to begin a journey that willlead to the magical tools, and also begins tosee and acknowledge the contacts in the direc-tions.Regarding the inner contact touching the

inner hand of the apprentice: through thisvisionary touch, the inner contacts can ‘see’ thebest way to align your path to the path of thespecific magical tools that you will work within the future. It is amagical way of saying helloand handing over your resume.

1.4 Task: Directional ritual ofpower, Part I

If you are continuing on from your confirmationritual, do a stillness meditation for a few minutesand then see the room and the altars with the flamesin the directions in your mind’s eye.If you are starting this ritual afresh, light the

directional lights and visualise the opening of thegates using the method you learned inModule One.Once the gates are open, sit down before the central

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altar, facing south, and do a stillness meditation fora few minutes.Once you are still, you are ready to work.

The next part of the ritual is done seatedbefore the central flame, with you facing east.You are going to work with visualisation withyour eyes closed, using your imagination.

Turn your attention to the central flame. Seea column of light coming down into the room,passing through the central flame and thenplunging down into the ground.See a thread of light coming out of the east

and joining the central flame. From there itshoots out into the south, passing through thesouthern flame and through the open gates.See the thread of light returning from the

southern gate, passing through the centralflame and going into the west. It hits thewestern flame and passes through the westerngates.The thread of light then flows back from the

west to the central flame before passing intothe north. It passes through the northern flameand vanishes through the northern gates.So the flow of light processes as follows:

From the east, centre, south. From the south,centre, west. From the west, centre, north.

See this flow of light/power pass around thedirections from east to north three times untilyou can imagine the flow with ease. After thethird time of imagining this power flow, openyour eyes and stand up. Pick up a taper or longcandle.

Process a full circle around the central altarand stop before the eastern altar. Light thetaper from the eastern flame and say:

“I give.”

Turn to the central flame and join the flameof the taper with the flame of the central flame.Say:

“I create.”

Now turn and walk to the southern altar.Join the taper flame with the southern flameand say:

“I give to the future.”

Nowblowout the taper flame andwalk a fullcircle around the central flame, returning backto the southern altar.

Light the taper from the southern flame andsay:

“I receive for the past.”

Walk with the taper straight to the westernaltar—bypass the central flame for thisparticular part of the ritual. Join the flame ofthe taper to the flame on the western altar andsay:

“I receive.”

Turn and walk to the central altar and jointhe flame of the taper to the flame of the centralaltar and say:

“I destroy.”

Turn and walk to the northern altar and jointhe taper flame with the northern flame andsay:

“It is done and I release the fragmentsinto the past.”

Blow out the taper and put it on the northernaltar. Turn and walk a full circle and finishbefore the eastern altar. Pause for a moment,say thank you, see in your mind’s eye the gatesclosing, then blow out the eastern flame. Stepback, bow, say thank you. Repeat in the south,west and north. Turn to the central altar, bow,say thank you, and blow out the central flame.Stand for a moment in the silence before

leaving the room.

Do this action seven times (no more thanonce a day), until you have a strong sense ofhow it works and you can do it with ease. Thisis simply a template for the ritual. Once youare comfortable with the ritual so far, then it istime to step it up by introducing contact andpower. The way to do this is as follows.

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1.5 Task: Directional ritual II(the full ritual)

This ritual uses a lot of visualisation. The best wayto work is if you can use your mind’s eye to imagineimages while your eyes are still open. If you cannotyet do that, don’t worry, just close your eyes for thevisionary aspects of the ritual and then open themwhen you have to move around or do an action.

Start first with a stillness meditation. Lightall of the directional flames, starting in the east,and see the gates opening. Go back to thecentral altar, stand facing south with the altarbefore you, and stand for a few moments insilence to prepare yourself. Utter the breast-plate. Now you are ready to work. Pick upa taper and start by approaching the easternaltar.

When you approach the east with the taper,see in your mind’s eye a shadowy figurestanding at the threshold of the gates. As youapproach the eastern altar, the figure holds outtheir hand, and you see that a flame is nestlingin its palm. They hold their hand out over theeastern flame so that the flame in their palmand the flame on the altar become one.As you light the taper from this flame, be

aware that you are lighting it from the innerflame and the outer flame. This timewhen yousay “I give,” you direct that utterance to theflame of the taper.

As you step back, see a thread of lightattached to the taper’s flame, so that as youwalk around the room, the taper leaves a trailof light where it has been. Go to the centralflame. As you hold the taper’s flame to thecentral flame, you see in your mind’s eye alarge burst of light in the central flame. Thatlight starts to form a shape. You say, “I create.”That shape passes into the taper’s flame and,

using your mind’s eye, you see the shape heldin the taper flame as you process to the south.(Do not try to force a shape with your imagi-nation, just let whatever shape it is form itself.)

When you go to the south, see in yourmind’seye the path through the gates and the beingsstood on the path.

Touch the taper’s flame to the southerncandle’s flame. A being holds out his handand accepts the shape of light in the flamefrom you. He walks off down the path intothe future with the shape of light glowingbrightly.

Blow out the taper’s flame and walk a fullcircle around the central altar, and finish at thesouthern altar once more.Close your eyes and see the gates, the path

ahead, and a figure walking down the pathtowards you holding something that looks likeit is breaking down, or dark.Light the taper with the southern flame and

hold the taper’s flame in the southern flame.See with your mind’s eye the figure place theshape into the taper’s flame. Say, “I receivefor the past.” Bow, step back, and turn to thewestern altar.

Stand before the western altar. Join the taperflame to the western flame and see a shadowyperson standing at the threshold of thewesterngate.They take the shape and roll it in their hands

until it is condensed and contained. Then theyplace the condensed shape into the taper flame.Say, “I receive.”(Now comes the critical learning curve.) See

the condensed shape pass from the westernflame and from your taper into your body’scentre, where your own flame of life resides.The shape is held within you, and the taper’slight upholds you as you hold the shape.A thread of light connects the shape you are

holding within you to the taper’s flame: youare simply holding the shape briefly withinyou, but it is still connected to the taper’s flame.

Turn to the central flame. Join the taper’sflame to the central flame and say “I destroy.”See the shape passing from your centre,through the taper’s flame and into the centralflame. As it passes from you, it is torn up intosmall pieces. See the pieces hanging in thecentral flame.

Turn and face the northern altar. As youwalk to the northern altar, see a thread of light

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Lesson 1. Directions

running from the central flame to the taper thatfollows you as youwalk. In that thread of light,see the fragments as they travel inot the northflame. Touch the taper flame to the flame inthe north and see all the fragments pass intothe northern flame. Say ‘It is done and I releasethe fragments into the past.’See in your mind’s eye the northern gate

with the people standing on the threshold.They take the fragments and kneel down to theearth. They place the fragments into the earthand then stand back up. Bow to them and say“thank you.”

Step back, bow once more, and walk a fullcircle around the room and finish before theeastern altar. Say ‘thank you,’ bow, and blowout the eastern flame. Repeat in the south,west, north and then centre (stand facingsouth). Stand for a moment in the silencebefore leaving the room.

Notes on this ritual

This ritual is something you can practice oncea week for a few weeks. It is a key foundationof all ritual that moves power around throughtime, and in and out of the material world.For now, the ritual teaches you how to take asimple fragment of energy, bridge it into thefuture, take it from the future, and place it inthe past. It is about creating and destroying,power in and power out.It also teaches you how the directions work

with power, which directions ‘output’ power,which directions ‘input’ power, and whichdirections do both.This ritual also begins the process of

learning how to establish inner contacts thatyou can work with in ritual. For now, you arelearning how to bring these contacts to thethreshold of your space. Later on you willlearn how to bring them fully into your spacesafely, and also how to pass into their realmsto work with them in their own worlds.This is also a good exercise to learn how

power moves around, and how you can eitherhold power in a flame, and/or hold it withinyourself safely. This foundation ritual can beused regularly (once a month, for example) to

build up your inner muscle and to adjust yourspirit and body to moving power around: it isa foundational action and an exercise.The longer you work with this ritual, the

more powerful it will slowly become. As youget stronger and more solid in your work, thepower handed to you will be greater.Never ever be tempted to keep the power

that is handed to you: the power that comesout of the east is not for you, it is for thefuture; you are merely the bridge for it. If youtry to take it into yourself and hold onto it,it will destroy you. And that is not an idleor drama-ridden warning: although this is abeginner exercise, once you learn how to dothis ritual, you will in fact be given power tomove around and practice with, and there isalways a temptation to hold onto that poweronce you start to feel it.The reason the power would destroy you

is that it is generally not compatible with thehuman body for more than a few seconds. Youare a vessel, and as a human vessel, you aredesigned to carry power as a bridge. If youhang on to that power, the vessel comes undertoo much pressure and cracks.Further into your training youwill learn how

to reach for power that you can safely keepand work with. But this directional exerciseis specifically tuned to connect you into direc-tional power that is about the forming of thefuture, fate paths, and learning. Hanging onto it would be akin to placing a paving stonewithin you.

1.6 Task: Journal

Write downyour observations and experienceswith these directional rituals. Go back to yourlessons and notes from the firstmodule, partic-ularly the tarot module, and remember thequalities and attributes of the directions thatyou used in your tarot layouts. Look at thoseattributes and then think about the directionalflow of power you have just worked with andmeditate/ponder over the connections. Writedown any inspired thoughts that come fromthat observation.

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1.7 Task: An experiment

Choose a day and do the full directional ritual(II) with the intent that whatever power youmove around will be for the benefit of the landyou live on.Before you start the ritual, be aware of what

landmarks and landscapes are around yourarea and think carefully about the boundaryof the area you are going to work with (yourgarden, your block, your neighbourhood,your town, etc.). Don’t choose too big an areaas it will exhaust you. Your garden or yourblock/immediate area is enough.

Stand in the room or the outside space youare going to work in, and in your mind’s eyesee the boundaries and landmarks in eachdirection. As you light the first candle to startthe ritual, declare:

“I do this for the good of the landupon which I stand. I do this in thespirit of service and of learning.”

As you do the ritual, take a mental note ofthe shape the energy forms in the central flame.Note how it feels. When the degrading shapeis taken to the west, take note of how it feels.When it is placed within you, note how it feels,and any image or thought that flashes into yourmind.When you release the fragments into the

north, remember how that feels, and alsoremember what the people of the thresholdlook like in terms of age, culture, or time.When you do this work specifically in servicefor the land, the contacts that appear on thenorthern threshold might not be your ownancestors; they could be the ancestors or landspirits of that place.

When you have finished, write everythingthat you noticed into your computer log orjournal, and draw a map of the area that youworked on. Over the coming months, takenote of any unusual things that happen withinthat boundary, particularly things that createpermanent change.

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Lesson 2

The Tree of Life Tarot

Figure 2.1: The Tree of Life.

Note: For this lesson, you will need your tarotpack.

The Tree of Life is a foundational patternfound in various forms throughout westernmagic, not just in Kabbalah. It is a map of howpower flows and it is useful for all magicians

to learn this pattern. This lesson is about theTree of Life pattern in terms of divinationand as you progress through the course,you will begin to recognise the patterns inmany different aspects of magic, cultures, andmystical expressions.So let’s have a look at the Tree of Life shape.

It is essentially a map of creation. Note theuse of the word map: many make the mistakeof thinking that the shape or pattern is themagical ‘truth’—it is not. The Tree of Life issimply a map for an inner dynamic that youcan interact with. Learning the shape, pattern,and flow of the map before you come toactually learn about its expression in magicaldynamics will help you enormously. Figure2.1 shows an image of the Tree without anywords, shapes, symbols, or attributes.Note that there are ten spheres with a

‘hidden’ sphere marked in shadow. That is notactually a sphere, but it is a point on the mapof great importance, something you will learnabout later. The top sphere is the beginningand the bottom sphere is the outcome.Note the line running down the middle: the

middle pillar. This is the highway of creationand is the map for the column of light in thecentre of your directional ritual work. It flowsfrom above, from the beginning, down into theearth. Everything revolves around that middlepillar. Now let’s look at this map in terms oftarot.

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Figure 2.2: The Tree of Life tarot layout.

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Lesson 2. The Tree of Life Tarot

2.1 The tarot Tree map

Themeanings of the positions on the tarotmapare simplistic in order to gain a clear meaningfrom the cards that land in that position. Ifyou study the tarot map, you will notice thatone side of the Tree is about power coming intosomething: it is a giving side. The other side ofthe Tree unravels and takes away.

The centre is about how the story begins,what it revolves around, how it affects ourfamily/home, and finally the outcome.Just as an aside, when people work

magically with the Tree, they often equate theright side of the Tree (looking at it on paper)with the right side of their body. This is anincorrect assumption that has snowballed intoa ‘truth.’ You do not look at the Tree as areflection; you are in the Tree. So see it as ifyou are backed into it: what appears on paperas the right hand side is in fact your left handside—you and tree on paper are looking ateach other face to face.

2.2 Working with the Treelayout

So let’s get straight to work. Get your cards,and remember your lesson about shuffling andlaying them out. To start with, we are goingto concentrate on learning how to work withthe layout, so do not be concerned at this stageabout the accuracy of the reading.

Pick a public figure, think about that person,and then think of a specific question relating tothem: this layout is good for specific questions,but weaker at overall pictures.The reason for picking a public figure is

that you can track their life’s progress throughthe media if you wish to keep an eye on thereading’s outcome. It is also better, when firstlearning to work with layouts, to do readingsfor things that are not too close to home. Ifyou see something destructive in a reading,and are not yet feeling fully confident in yourreading ability, you can end up terrifyingyourself unnecessarily.

As you shuffle, keep thinking of the nameof the person, and when you feel the shuffle isdone, lay out the cards using the layout above.

Before you get into interpreting eachindividual card, just take a moment to lookat the general feel of the reading. Are thereany predominant elements, like a lot ofswords (air) or a lot of pentacles (earth)? Is itmainly minor cards with no—or just one ortwo—major cards? Or are there a lot of majorcards?

Now look at the middle pillar. What is thegeneral ‘flavour’ of the cards running down themiddle? Have your card interpretation bookor notes nearby (and your journal) but alsojust look at the pictures and see what they tellyou. Once you have a feel of the general energyrunning down the centre of the reading, writedown a key word that for that general feeling.

Look to the right hand side of the reading.Remember this is an ‘inflow’ into the person’slife. What is flowing into their picture? Lookat the images on the right hand side of thereading: what powers are they? Are theyminor cards, people cards or major cards?Write down your overall impression of what isflowing into the person’s life.

Look to the left hand side of the reading.This is the ‘outflow’ current. What is flowingaway from the person’s life? Again, look at thetypes of cards, their strength, and think of anoverall term or feeling-word for that outflow.

By doing this, you gain a vague idea of whatis going on at a deeper level in this person’s lifebefore you start interpreting individual cards.By looking at these power currents flowingthrough the reading, you tap into the deeperpatterns that are operating through a person’slife; the individual cards in their positions tellyou how that power manifests for them.

Let’s get to the individual card interpre-tation. I do not use reversals, as I use thepositions of the cards to tell me whether a cardhas a negative or positive meaning.

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2.3 Interpreting the reading

Position one, two and three

Are read together. This tells you what thestory is about. The first card is the root of thequestion, the second card is what is cominginto the situation, and the third card is whathas gone from the situation. Neutral, positive,negative.

Position four

Is what is been given that will ultimately help,even if it is a bad card. Position four is theexpansion of the card that falls in position two:what is coming into the situation is now takinga form where it can express itself.

Position five

Is what is being currently withheld so that itcan be taken permanently out of a situation:the card in this position tells of the power,person, or event that is being prepared forcomposting/full removal.

Position six

Is the fulcrum of the situation. It is the positionthat balances the positive/giving position four,and the negative/withholding position five.It is also the full potential, should that fullpotential be realised.Nowwe are getting to the part of the pattern

that tells a more complex story. In the Treepattern, positions seven, eight, and nine arethe spheres that directly pass into our minds,actions, bodies, and situations. Up to thispoint, the positions are about dynamics, poten-tials, and powers. Now we start to see howthose dynamics play out in our lives.

Position seven

Is the part of us that is being ‘worked’: it is aposition of a grindstone and it is also a positionof emotion.Our emotions trigger us to act and react.

Through our emotions we carry burdens,process through restrictions, and we either

learn to self-restrict through the adversity ofour emotions or we are consumed by them.The card that appears in position seven tells

us how we cope with a situation, what ouremotions are, and what boundaries can helpor hinder us depending on how we view andapproach them.As we get closer to the outcome (position

ten), you can see how the possibilities of inter-pretation become more complex, just as lifebecomesmore complex as itmatures. Interpretthese lower positions in relation to the questionand the subject matter.

Position eight

Is that part of us that can free things up orcan unravel us. It is also the position of themind andmagic: the creativity of themind andmagic comes into full flow when we step awayfrom conformity.But without a balance with restrictions and

boundaries we easily unravel: hence positionseven and eight work together to create abalance through polarity and tension. Each ofthese positions have cause and effect, problemand solution within them.

Interpreting positions seven and eight

Here is a simple key to help you interpret thecards that fall in these positions:

Position seven Emotions, look for what needslimiting, or look at what is being limitedand see that the key to that is emotions.

Position eight Look for what needs looseningup, and see the mind or magic as the key,or see what in the mind or magic is beingunravelled.

Sometimes these positions can be read reallysimply as seven = emotions, eight = mind.

Position nine

Is the position of the moon: this is dreams,imagination, family, ancestors or the home.Read it in relation to the question.

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Position ten

Is the outcome or full manifestation of thepicture.

Key words

Write down in your journal the reading youdid for the public figure.Go through the individual positions and

think of a key word for each card and writeit down. Alongside that key word, writedown a second key word for the position: youread them together. Now look back over thereading and see if you can get an inkling ofwhat it is telling you. Bear in mind that thisis a very simple pattern that does not giveyou much detail; it simply highlights the keydynamics of an event.Later on you will learn much more complex

patterns that give you far more detail, but firstyou need to learn to walk before you beginflying and jumping off of buildings!

2.4 Example reading

Let’s have a look at an example reading for apublic figure. I have chosen General Sisi, thenew president of Egypt. My question is:

“Does President Sisi have theinterests of the Egyptian people atheart, or is he grabbing power forhimself?”

Get your deck, find the following cards, andlay them out in the Tree of Life layout so thatyou can look at the reading with me.The cards came out as:

1 Magician2 Three of Swords3 Knight of Swords4 Knight of Pentacles5 Tower6 Seven of Swords7 Five of Cups8 Four of Wands9 Nine of Wands10 Hermit

This is an interesting reading in that it showsan evolution of intention and understanding asthe reading progresses.

Analysis

We startwith theMagician: this is theman Sisi,using his power to manoeuvre, control, andmake something happen to his own agenda.

He makes that happen by bringing in apower of separation (Three of Swords) whichgot rid of the Muslim Brotherhood, and whatis withheld is the Knight of Swords, which isthe dissent/aggression that attempted to stopthat separation.

In the forth position is the Knight ofPentacles. In the context of this question, thisearth card refers to the people whom he seesas being young and needing to be protected.Earth/pentacles is interpreted in the magicalearth context of ancestors tribe, etc.

In the fifth position we see the Tower. Thetower is withheld and shows that by doingwhat he did, he averted amajor disaster for thepeople.

In the centre in position six is the Seven ofSwords. My key word for the seven of swordsis ‘sneaking.’ This suggests he used underhandmethods in order to avert the disaster.

Nowwe are getting to the last four positionsthat show how the dynamics of the first sixcards play out.

In position seven we have the Five of Cups.My key words for the Five of Cups are ‘disap-pointment’ and ‘guilt.’ The man cries over thethree spilt cups but does not see the two fullcups still standing.In an emotive position like position seven,

this tells me that Sisi has feelings of regret andguilt, and is in danger of being overwhelmedby negative emotionwhen there is still positivehope just out of sight.Remember the dualistic nature of

this position. It is about necessaryrestriction/boundaries and emotion. Through

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his sense of disappointment and guilt, he hasthe potential to self-restrict in order to fullypartake of the two remaining cups.

In position eight we have the Four ofWands—celebration. Again remember thedualistic nature of this position and althoughintellectually he is celebrating his victory,that celebration, if not checked by more soberemotions, can unravel him.In that position, the Four of Wands has the

potential to manifest as arrogance in victory,but because of the emotive qualitywe see in hisposition seven, the guilt and disappointmentbalances and limits the sense of relief andcelebration in position eight.

In position nine we see the Nine of Wands.My key word for this card is ‘survival.’ Hehas survived the change in government and hiselection.It also shows, being the position of the

tribe/ancestors, that it was—and still is—adifficult battle for him on all fronts, and likethe surviving of all major battles, it leaves youchanged. It takes your innocence and shapeshow you view the world. He has survived, butat great cost.

His outcome is the Hermit. This is a veryinteresting outcome and shows the trueevolution of a person who is going throughmassive change.At the beginning of the reading, President

Sisi presented as the magician: the man whomanipulated and juggled power for control.Now we see President Sisi as man changed bya bitter struggle, a struggle in which he had tobehave in an underhand way in order to averta disaster.We see through the reading his emotional

introspection and his battered survival. Whatit has transformed him into is a man who feelsvery alone and burdened with the knowledgethat only he can light his own way forward.The Hermit tells us about wisdom from

bitter experience, the shedding of dogma,innocence, the loss of safety from structure.He stands alone at the top of high mountain

with only his experiences to light his wayahead.The Hermit is also a very spiritual card: it is

the person who has moved beyond religion tofind an individual path to the Divine, a paththat has no easy answers.

Interpretation

My original question was “does he have theinterests of the Egyptian people at heart?” Myanswer is yes, but it has come at a bitter price,and his understanding of his role, the people,and the path ahead has changed dramaticallysince he set out of this path to power.At that start of this process he wanted to be

Pharaoh. Now he is in that position, he finallyrealises what a tremendous burden it truly is.At the start of this process he felt in control, andprobably felt very sure about his own ‘honour’and righteous intention.Through this journey he has learned the

limitations of his honour, and that the world isnot so black and white as it appeared. He hasalso learned that righteous intention is oftena fallacy enjoyed by those who have not beenpushed to their limits. This process has madehim grow up.We can only hope, with the terrible trials that

the Egyptian people have suffered over the lastfew years, that President Sisi continues to keephimself in check, and that the wisdom of theHermit truly blossoms within him so that hecan effectively guide that large, unruly nationtowards a better future, rather than attemptingto hang on to power at all costs.If the Hermit turns sour, which can happen

if the self-imposed limits are tossed to one sideand the unravelling power takes over, then wewill see Sisi descend into a self-serving tyrantwho will be difficult to get rid of.When you do your own public figure

reading, don’t be influenced by what youknow about them; let the reading speak. Oftenwhat we see in public is only a fraction ofthe reality: learn not to judge, but to look foryourself.

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2.5 Task: Practising this spread

Do several of these public figure readings sothat you get used not only to the layout, butalso to working without predefined ideas of aperson or a situation.

Interpret the reading in direct connection tothe question. Remember, if you ask about aperson’s actions, you will get the informationabout how that person interacts with thesituation. Don’t assume the cards only tell youabout the person; they can also tell you aboutthe burdens or gifts that affect them. Howthe person reacts to those burdens and giftswill tell you a great deal about their deeperqualities.Once you have used this layout for a

few public figure readings and you feelconfident about your baseline ability to readand interpret it, then widen out your fieldof reading. Look at situations as opposedto people. (For example, “what will be theenergy flowing through an area this month?”or “show me the health of my car” or “what ismy month going to look like in general?”)

When you come to doing your own personalreadings, or readings for those close to you, trynot to frighten yourself. Bad things happen inlife as well as good things: look at the yearyou have just lived through and think of thebad things you experienced aswell as the goodthings. Think about where those experiencestook you, what they taught you, how theychanged you: sometimes good comes out ofdifficulties, just as difficulties can come fromgood things.If you see things you do not understand,

simply note them down and revisit them oncethe situation has passed so that you can geta better understanding of how the cards wereexpressing that situation.

If in a personal reading you see a lot of badthings, don’t panic. Your next question shouldbe “can I change this through my intentions,direction, or action?”If the answer is a good card, then you need

to sit quietly and think about what options forchange are available to you, even if you don’t

particularly like them. Narrow the optionsdown to two or three, and then look againat the situation outcome if you made thosechanges.If the answer comes back that you cannot

change what is coming, then you needto think carefully about the best way tonavigate through the difficult situation, howto transform it into something that can bringpositive change, and then do a reading to lookat “what will be the long-term outcome forme of this difficult situation?” Often whatis currently a bad situation is ultimately acatalyst for positive change: if we step up tothe challenge, we transform ourselves, ourlives, and the lives of those around us.I speak as someone who has had the

readings from hell in the past, and whosubsequently went through that hell. Butlooking back I would change nothing, aseach challenge and disaster gave me strength,understanding, and matured me.That is not to say that we should passively

accept every disaster that comes our way.Sometimes it is very necessary to dodgebullets, and the first step of dodging a bullet isknowing that it is coming.From there, you can do readings to look at

different options for avoiding or modifying anupcoming situation.

Work with this reading layout often, as itwill become a major tool in your future workas a magician. It will also teach you about theprofound power of creation and destructionthat flows constantly through the mundane inour lives. It is also a very useful divination tool,and divination is as useful on a daily basis to amagician as a knife and fork.

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Lesson 3

The Full Pentagram Ritual

As a magician, you cannot work a ritual inisolation: you must work it in harmony withyour life in order for it to be fully successful.A ritual is a final externalisation of inner

patterns and powers, and the human is itsfulcrum, its enactor, and also its vessel. If thatvessel is cracked or badly formed, then theritual’s power will trickle through its cracks,and this will ultimately destroy the vessel.Heavy words indeed.It is crucial to understand this dynamic at the

very earliest stages of your magical practice. Ifthe apprentice grasps this notion and workswith it, then slowly the vessel (the magician)will strengthen and come into balance.No magician starts out in their training

as a harmonious vessel. Becoming one cantake many years, and the process has manydifferent layers to it. But step by step theapprentice can stabilise, tune, and eventuallystrengthen the vessel. This does not resultin a perfect human being; rather it results ina human being who is functional enough towork as a magician.

The first step towards this stabilisation canbe approached through the Pentagram Ritual.The ritual itself does not do the stabilising;it highlights what potentially needs adjustingand brings it to your awareness, so that youstep into a process of constant evolution.By now you will have worked with the

Pentagram a few times in different forms, so

you will understand that it is about ‘Man,’ notabout projecting an external shield. It is thefirst step of “Man, know thyself.”Just as a body can successfully fight infection

if it is balanced and healthy, so too can themagician fight attack or intrusion if they aremagically balanced and healthy.

3.1 Task: Working with theDynamics

Beforewe get to the ritual itself, we first need tounderstand and implement the dynamics thatflow through the pattern of the ritual in orderfor it towork. Wehave looked at the Pentagramin terms of directional elements, tools, time,and Divine power. Now we need to look at itin terms of human action.

The following text may come across asspiritual idealism, but it is not—though theprocesses it describes are where such idealism,however misunderstood, comes from.Some spiritual or ethical ideals are formed

by culture or religion. But others are actuallythe remnants of forgotten knowledge aboutpower dynamicswhich have transformed, overtime, into religious ideals. It is important for amagician to be able to recognise which idealsspring from an active power dynamic, andwhich do not.

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So throughout what follows, bear in mindthat we are looking at how a particular powerdynamic works in relation to the human bodyand spirit, not at idealism. Do not fall intothe trap of taking on board ideals: learn aboutpower dynamics, how we interact with thosedynamics, and act accordingly.Because this particular dynamic is so

important to ritual magic and can be verycomplex, I am addressing it here in detail.And yet I am still only skimming its surface.In later lessons we will address deeper anddeeper layers of this dynamic to ensure thatyou fully understand it for what it is—and forwhat it is not.

I give

Get out your paperwork from your previouslessons about the Pentagram. Look at the lefthand of the pentagram in the diagram youdrew. It holds a sword and has the declaration“I give.” This is the first dynamic that you needto recognise and work with: that you cannotreceive unless you have first given.For a human, a magician, this give action

is an externalisation of a creative force. Thereceiving dynamic is already the first stage ofdestruction. You cannot destroy until you havefirst created: the magician is the last mediatorin the chain of creation and the first mediatorin the chain of destruction. Just as the first actof Divine Power is to utter into the void, tobreathe the breath of life into everything, so toothe first act of a human must be an outflow ofpower.For the magician there is also an interesting

power dynamic: by mirroring Divinity’s firstcreative act, you align yourself with the DivineStream. This gives you access to a muchgreater stream of energy to power the workthan any human could create for themselves.This can seem all very mystical and

highbrow, but when it is applied to ourphysical world and our external actions in thatworld, it becomes very simple. We give andtake in a constant dance of moving energy.

Before we can learn how to give at a deepspiritual and energetic level, first we need to be

able to give at an outer level. This immediatelybrings in a sense of defensiveness, as giving ismore often than not an issue of resources.When we humans are well resourced, most

of us are generous. When we are not wellresourced, we pull up the drawbridge andthe archers come out ready to defend. Andyet the magical act of outer giving can takemany forms, from breathing out, to shitting,to dropping a dime in a hat, to feeding birds,to donating blood: it is about letting go.Giving can happen in many ways and does

not necessarily have to be about resources,but that does not let us off the hook. Whenan apprentice steps into magic, they stepinto a pattern that will shape and form them.Sometimes that shaping is painful. I rememberwhen I was very young and had my very firstlesson on this dynamic. It horrified me andintrigued me at the same time.

The lesson went a bit like this: each of us inthe group of students wrote our name downon a piece of paper. Those names went into ahat. We were instructed that, whichever namewe pulled out of the hat, we were to be thatperson’s guardian angel for a year.We were to give them gifts, keep an eye out

for them, protect themwhen necessary, ensurethey had what they needed, etc. And thenwe were to choose something that was verydear to us, an object or a belonging, and giveit away. Throughout this we were to remainanonymous, so that the recipient would haveno idea who their ‘angel’ was.The lessons I learned from this exercise have

stayed with me to this day. Some of thoselessons were obvious, some were misunder-stood, and some took many years to dawn onme.At first I dived into the process with a great

zealous muster. I picked my favourite baubleand dropped it in the bag of the person whosename I’d drawn. I gave them goodies everyweek, left them food, drink, money, watchedtheir back, averted various fights and conflicts,and so on. I was very self-satisfied. I felt partic-ularly smug because I did not actually muchlike the person I had foundmyself landedwith.

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(Ah, those good childhood Catholic morals. . . )Slowly this turned into a control issue. I

gave, they received, and as I controlled theirmoods I got a feedback of self-congratulation.Eventually they got ‘receiving fatigue’ andstarted to grumble about what they weregetting and whether it was on time. (While allthis was going on, I was still waiting for myguardian angel to kick in. . . it never happened.)This was not what I expected, and it robbedme of my feel-good factor.When the year came to an end Iwasmightily

relieved. Not because I could stop giving—I have always loved giving—-but because theexercise had become a confusing and deflatingexperience for me. I had not understood it,which in hindsight was no surprise, as I wastoo young.

The key to triggering the dynamic of giving,in a magical sense, is to give without seeingwhere it goes, who gets it, what they use it for,etc. The outer phrase is “I give,” but in factits hidden magical dynamic is “I let go” or “Irelease.”This is really, really important in terms

of this magical dynamic and magical devel-opment in general. If you cannot let go, trulylet go, then you will not make it to become atrue adept.So what has this to do with the Pentagram

Ritual? Hang with me, we will get there. . . thistruly is important if you want to work realmagic with the Pentagram.

Before you can mediate real power withoutthe potential for real corruption, first youmust be able to release, from your depths, andunconditionally. That does not come fromdeep meditation, or from saying “I have noattachments”—yes you do, we all do. Havingattachments is part of human nature. The jobof a magician is not to suppress human nature,but to focus it and train it.Remember the engram? True power comes

from being able to react at speed, from yourvery depths, and often subconsciously. Thatspeed and power comes from repeated, slow,deliberate, outer physical actions.

So your first job is to learn how to releasepower through the action of “I give.” And thatmeans giving and letting go without reward.That is hard. Giving with acknowledgementand congratulations is actually receiving, notgiving. There is nothing wrong with that, andit should be a part of your everyday life. Butrecognise that acknowledged gifting is morereceiving than giving.But this is an important lesson, and it is

not a one-off lesson either: it is a throughoutlife lesson, and that lesson is about releasing,giving, letting go. And that can be anything,not just resources. It can be an identity, agrown child, your youth—do you get thepicture? Many people will try to dodge thislesson, and will try to justify or convincethemselves that they are releasing when theyare not. Do not fall into that trap. You fool noone but yourself, and this is about you andyour own magical development.The deep inner process cannot be engaged

consciously until you first begin with babysteps in the physical world. It starts from theoutside and works inwards into your depths.

Find something that is precious to you,something of real value, something that youwould rather not lose. Put it in a bag. Do notchoose something that you like but wouldnot really miss. This is about you, about yourability to truly let go of things that are preciousto you.Now go through your clothing. If you have

more coats than are functional,1 choose a goodcoat or something similar from your surplusand put it in the bag. Take that bag with thecoat and the precious item to the local thriftor charity store and hand it over. Do not get areceipt for it, do not take a tax break on it. Justlet it go. Walk out before they can see what isin the bag.When you get your next paycheck, draw out

25% of your food/entertainment/eating outbudget for that month. Whatever that amountis, get it in cash and go for a walk in yournearest city. When you see a homeless person,

1i.e. you need one warm winter coat, one summercoat, and maybe a coat for interviews, funerals etc.

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give it to them. Do not question whetherthey would use it for drugs, do not questionwhether it would be too much to give, anddo not cherry-pick which homeless personyou give it to. Just give it to them and walkaway. Do not give them chance to say thankyou. And make sure it truly is 25% of yourfood/eating out budget, so that you have tomiss a meal or two or cut back on what youbuy that month.

Besides the ethics, emotions, andpsychology of these actions, there is a deepand lasting magical dynamic that is triggeredby them. You learn to let go in a way that isuncomfortable, that does not benefit you inany way, and that does not give you status orpositive feedback. This is true giving/release.This in turn prepares you, and at a very deepsubconscious level, for those occasions inthe future when you will need to mediate avast amount of power and release it withoutquestion.This sort of giving should not be a one-off

event in your life. Learn to do this every sooften, particularlywith letting go of things thatare very precious to you and that have value.Do not hoard, do not cling. Learn to keepthings moving.As you continue to do this in your life, it

will loosen you up at a deep level. It willalso teach you about what is really preciousand what is not. You will also see a deepmagical dynamic kick into action, which is thatyou cannot actually give anything away: italways comes back somewhere, sometime inthe future when you need it—but only when itis given unconditionally and without thoughtfor receiving.It may take you until you are in your adept

studies to really, truly understand what ishappening here. But when you do come tounderstand it, truly, in its magical depths, itwill blow you away. Giving is a deep magicaldynamic that you will learn more about in thecoming modules: the releasing of a belongingis just the most surface presentation of adeeply profound energetic dynamic.

I receive

The right-handed dynamic is “I receive.” Onthe surface this can manifest as being able toreceive without the need to give somethingback in return.Some people (myself included) find the

receiving dynamic rather difficult, becausealthough it is naturally balanced by theleft-handed releasing dynamic, the action ofreceiving without giving in return can bringabout a deep sense of failure or weakness:none of us like to be in a position where weare in need of receiving without having thepower to give back in return. And this abilityto receive unconditionally once more takesaway our power of control.

The ability to receive without giving back isalso a deep magical dynamic. The action ofthe left hand power releasing unconditionallyand the right hand action of receiving uncon-ditionally are two interlinked dynamics thatare separated out consciously. This keeps theirenergies in a balanced tension. When we mixthem unconsciously (which is how it tends towork in normal life), we cannot isolate thepower of the left or right hand and work withit specifically.And this gets down to the most basic

dynamic of magic: stepping away from theunconscious acceptance of a dynamic, andlearning instead to engage consciously withthat dynamic’s individual, polarised powersin a balanced but unique way.So we can passively accept a dynamic, or we

can consciously engage with it in a balancedway. In between those two approacheslie unbalanced forms of engagement, oneswhich favour one of the two poles of thedynamic over the other. This is the result ofattempting to engage with a dynamic withouttruly understanding how it works, and itis what we generally find in religions (andin some magical systems). Some religionslean towards, say, a vow of poverty and non-ownership (“I let go”); others lean towardstaking everything to which one feels entitled(“I receive”).

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Both of these stances are unbalanced andflawed. The most glaring modern exampleof this is the Western Buddhist’s mantra of“I have no attachments,” when in fact theyare attached to all manner of things andcontinually wrestling for control. Again, thisis something we will examine in more depthand in magical terms later in the course. Firstit must be learned in a practical, exteriorisedway.

The receiving element of this powerdynamic is not just about receiving stuff. It isabout receiving stuff unconditionally, whetherit is something nice or something bad.When the vessel is filled magically, it can

be filled with resources and energy, or itcan be filled with illness, suffering, anddefeat: actually, it will be filled with whateveris necessary to move you forward out ofinertia. But when this receiving quality istaken out of balance, away from the lefthand power of giving/releasing—i.e. themagician works only with the receiving armof the Pentagram—you get either greed orglamorised suffering (an example of which isthe consciousness of the Catholic Church). Asyou hopefully can begin to see, receiving andgiving is a fine balancing act.

The release/give must be of itself and notconnected to receiving. And the receivingmust be of itself and not connected torelease/giving. But they both must becontained in a balance of action: the magicianmust do both, but each action must be acomplete action of itself and not connected toits polar opposite.The human is the fulcrum in the middle.

If you consistently engage one arm of thePentagram without the other, you get imbal-anced. If you meld both dynamics togetherand make them dependant on each other, youalso get imbalanced.

The task of the magician is first to beconscious of these dynamics (by physicaldoing), then to understand the dynamics (bypersonal reflection and magical work), andfinally to engage the dynamics as separate

energies that are harmonious of each otheryet not dependant on each other. This in turnallows the magician to stand in the centre ofpower and act as fulcrum and conductor tothe vast powers of creation and destruction asthey flow in and out of our world.When you engage all of this, first through

outer physical action and then throughmagical work, you will directly engage withthe maxim “as above, so below.” Magically,this is better expressed as “as is outward, so isinward.” By the outermost surface doing, thedeepest inner impulse is awakened and beginsto grow ready to work with energy and power.

You can practice receiving in a mannerthat is specific to your situation. If you areresourceless, poor, or in need, and you aregiven the resources you need, accept them.Accept them without the feeling that you needto give something back or that you need tojustify the gift, or that you now ‘owe.’ Acceptthem without feeling shame or guilt. Acceptthem as energies that are filling a deficit inthe vessel in order for the vessel to functionproperly.This can be tougher than it sounds. If you

are used to being self-reliant, it can seriouslyknock your sense of self to find yourself in aposition of need.It is important to step away from the cultural

and emotional baggage that comes with such asituation, which cuts to the core of our sense ofself. This is dangerous in magic and it createsa vulnerability that can seriously threaten youwhen you are working in the presence andmidst of great power. I know, I have been theremore than once, and still have the occasionalstruggle with it.

Another way the receiving dynamic canmanifest is in the unconditional receiving ofsomething unpleasant, difficult, or painful.This is also a really important aspect of thedynamic from a magical sense, and it is easilytwisted if you are not careful.Sometimes, particularly in the lives of true

magicians, the vessel is given energies that areextremely difficult to hold. The magician must

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be able to hold that energy for however long isnecessary in order for a job to be done.That is a deep octave of a natural dynamic

that comes into sharp focus in the life of amagician. Many times you will be called uponto hold power that is painful or uncomfortable.Sometimes it lasts a few days or weeks, othertimes it can last for years—or a lifetime. Thenit really is ‘man up’ time: that is when themagician is truly tested in terms of their abilityto hold and release power, their ability to face adangerous job or being, and their ability to dowhat is necessary in order for something to beachieved.When we experience this in everyday life,

it can manifest as a long-term illness or acontinuous conveyor belt of bad events. Weget swept with the tide and feel helpless in theface of it. When you step onto the path of themagician, you begin to fully and consciouslyengage with these powers, and that in itselfchanges the dynamics dramatically.Corrupt and fragmented magic encourages

people to dodge these events through ‘resultsmagic.’ Corrupt and fragmented magic canalso (particularly when it manifests in religion)encourage people to passively accept every-thing as “the will of God,” and then have amassive martyr ego about it. Both ends of thisspectrum are unbalanced and unhealthy.In all things that are unbalanced, there

is often a grain of truth lurking somewherein there, but it is a truth that has becomemassively distorted and is being viewed inblack and white.

A magician who engages with a difficultsituation correctly will immediately recognizewhat particular magical or energetic dynamicis in action, and carry out the appropriatework. Sometimes that can indeed meanaccepting the situation. But instead of sittingin the shit and feeling sorry for yourself, theway forward is to recognise what is happeningat a deeper level, engage it, work with it,and learn from it. Sometimes it means not‘accepting’ the situation but actively engagingwith it to bring change. The skill is knowingwhat to do and when.

In magic, and for the magician who is on amagical path, there are no accidents, no coinci-dences, and no meaningless events. Every-thing has a purpose: the skill of the magicianis to find the purpose, work with it, or learnto work around it. If something difficult ispoured into your vessel, there is a reason for it.(And I do not mean that in the New Age senseof “oh, there is a reason for your suffering.”That is just ignorance.)For example. . . let’s get personal. I will

expose my underbelly. In my forties Isuccumbed to a quite vicious autoimmunedisease. It runs in my family on both sides,and in reality I had been really lucky (and hadworked hard with magic and with lookingafter my body) not to have had it hit me fullblast in my twenties. It has limited a greatmany things for me.The reason for the disease being there is

that it is inherited. That’s it. I had two choices:collapse in a disabled heap and becomea victim, or move sideways. So I movedsideways. Nowadays it generally has a minorimpact on my life apart from the occasionalbump in the road, as I have adjusted my lifearound it. I cannot do many of things I usedto, but that is life. I have also learned a greatdeal about myself, my body, human nature,and society through this process. It has been abitter-sweet gift indeed.Magically it is like having an inbuilt early

warning system: my immune system kicks offat the slightest magical attack or imbalance.Some would consider that bad, but it is not: itis an annoying but very useful tool, a tool thathas come to be extremely useful in mymagicalwork. I have no emotion to it either way; it iswhat it is.

Do not engage in emotional or energeticattachment, either positive or negative, towhatever difficulty you face: do not get angry,sad, defensive, etc. Looking at the situationwithout being emotional about it enables themagician to slowly convert their difficulty,whatever it is, into a tool as opposed to aburden—or at least to learn to step around it,absorb it, whatever.

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The key is not to fight what is poured intoyour vessel, be it good or bad, nor to blindlyaccept it. It is vital to learn how to carry onworking on your pathwithout being distractedor sidelined bywhat is poured into your vessel.If you win the lottery, do not change your

path or your life: such a win in real magicalterms is the worst curse that could happen toany magician. The key is to continue withyourwork and trust that the vessel will processwhatever power is there in its own time.This is important. When you come to work

as an adept (although this can also happen toinitiates) there will be times when your vessel,throughmagical work, will have to hold a verydifficult or alluring power, and one that canmanifest in your life or body in the weirdestways.It is not for you to try and process that

power in any way; you simply hold it until itis ready to release (this is where the skill ofthe sword is then aligned with the skill of thevessel: hold/guard, release). The ability tohold energy in your vessel without trying toprocess it will come once you learn how notto attach emotionally or react to power as itcomes and goes within you.

Releasing/giving and receiving/containingare the twomajor power dynamics that flow inand out of the human sphere, so now we havedealt with them the rest is much easier andless wordy. Sorry that was such a long piece,but it is a key dynamic and it is vital that youunderstand it if you want to do competent andadvanced magic.

In the Pentagram pattern, remember the twodirections that engage with the power of thefuture, and the two directions that engagewiththe power of the past. Also remember theDivinity above which is air, no substance, abreath; and the Divinity below which, as avessel, receives the breath which enlivens thesubstance. These directions also work with thetwo dynamics we have just looked at in depth.Rather than go over how that works here, thisis something you can ponder for yourself andtake notes on.

Hopefully now you will also be starting tounderstand why the centre of the magician,and the centre of the directions, is the powerof stillness, of the void, of potential ready butnot yet formed.With all of time, power in and power

out swirling around the magician, the truecentre and fulcrum of all magic and allcreation/destruction is this stillness: that isthe present. It is the only place in existenceand magic where there is a constant ‘now.’Everything else is either moving away ormoving towards, going into the future orpassing into the past.Physical existence, be it the planet or the

human, is a constant dance of movement,vibration and action. Only the very centre ofspirit is still and unchanging: that is where themaxim “God is within you” comes from. It isthe breath contained within the flame of life.

So now let’s start moving towards theritual itself (phew). When this ritual is used,it solidifies, roots, and anchors us withinourselves, our existence, and our place withinthat existence.In that act of anchoring, if there is any

serious imbalance within you, it will riseup to the surface so that you can addressit. It is a simple ritual that slowly builds inpower over the years, as we engage with theopposing left hand and right hand powers ofthe pentagram.2

The more you work with and engage theleft and right hand dynamics in your life andmagical work, the more power will begin toflow into your ritual actions: you become atotally rooted, solid gateway for power thatstands at the crossroads of power in, powerout, future and past, creation and destruction.This builds and focuses over the years and

decades until the magician ‘becomes’ thepentagram rather than ‘does’ the pentagram.It becomes a ‘sense’ or ‘feeling’ that yourecover on nearly a daily basis as opposed to aritual that you blindly repeat year after year.

2Notice that this has absolutely nothing to do withthe ‘left hand/right hand path’ identities inmagic, whichare essentially ignorant bullshit.

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When you get to that stage, there is very littleindeed that can knock you.That does not mean bad things do not

happen; it means that everything is kept inbalance and nothing can knock you off thatbalance. All physical existence has to havegood times and bad times; that is how natureworks. But you move from “I am suffering,”to “I endure,” to “I flourish despite it.”If you try to dodge that growth process

through results magic, you will not only endup magically weak and ineffective, but youwill also start to slide down the long slope ofdegeneracy as a magician.For example, I have been in magic for nearly

forty years, and I have connections withmagicians all over the world. I have yet tomeet a long-term results magician who is notbroke, lonely, sick, depressed, and screwedup. They all do well for a small number ofyears. . . and then the backlash comes home toroost.

3.2 The Full Pentagram Ritual

Note: Eventually as an adept you will do this as afully contacted ritual with the contacts in the roomwith you, interlinking with you. But first you mustlearn to work the ritual pattern, invite the powersin, and then observe how they manifest in your lifeand work.

Get out your notes from your astrologylesson and your work with the chart and thepentagram. Look up your planets again inrelation to you standing in the centre of thechart/pentagram.Focus on the positions of Saturn and

Pluto: make sure you know where they arein your natal chart, and where that putsthem in relation to you standing in the room(remember that ritual action?).

Set up your work space with the four direc-tional altars and one in the centre. Go aroundthe directions: starting in the east and usingthe methods you have already learned, lightthe lights and see the gates opening.With each direction, after you acknowledge

it and as you see its gates open, become aware

of a figure coming through those gates andstanding on the other side of the altar.

Now walk to the east altar. Place yourhands upon the altar and close your eyes. Inyour mind’s eye, see the figure on the otherside of the altar hold out their hand. Imagineyourself reaching into your pocket and pullingsomething out. Using your mind’s eye, look atit. It does not matter if you cannot tell what itis.Recite:

“I, [your name], relinquish this thathas been demanded by the innercontact.”

In your mind, see yourself hand overwhatever it is to the outstretched hand.Instead of receiving what you have given, thehand closes over your hand and joins handswith you.

Step back from the altar and as you do, seein your mind’s eye the inner contact holdingonto your hand and move with you, passingthrough the altar and into the room.You may now see them with your inner

vision more clearly. Do not try to put anidentity upon them or communicate withthem.Turn and walk around the directions, aware

that the inner contact is walking with you, stillholding onto your hand. Finish in front of thenorth altar.

In your mind, see the inner contact standingbeside you. They place their other hand uponyour shoulder to support you.Using your mind’s eye, see the inner contact

from the north step forward so that they areclearly on the other side of the altar. Stretchout your hand with the gift in it, being awarethat the hand of the inner contact from the eastis also there. They are supporting you in thisact. The inner contact from the north reachesout and takes what is in your hand.Recite:

“I release this gift in an act of giving.I give it back to my past, back to my

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ancestors. I relinquish all connectionwith this gift.”

Take a deep breath, and blow out a slow,sustained breath, while being aware that youare releasing ‘power out.’ (This is connected tothe ‘breathing down the blade’ magical actionthat you did in a past lesson).Step back. The inner contact of the east still

has a hand on your shoulder. Turn and go tothe east. Place your hands upon the altar andwait until the inner contact crosses through thealtar and stands on the threshold of the gates.

Now turn, walk around the directions, andstop in front of thewest altar. Step forward andplace your hands upon the west altar.See the inner contact emerge from the gates

and stand on the other side of the altar. Seein your mind’s eye the inner contact holdingsomething out in their hand to you. Imaginethat you reach out your hand so that they canpour it into your hand. As they do, they thenhold their hand over yours to contain it.Step back, turn, and walk around the direc-

tions (north, east, and then to the south) andstop in front of the south altar. The innercontact of the west is with you, a hand uponyour shoulder and their other hand upon yourhand that contains the gift. You cannot seewhat it is.

Step forward to the south altar and see theinner contact of the south come up and standon the other side of the altar. Working with theinner contact of the west, hold out your handand expose the gift to the inner contact of thesouth so that they and you can see it. You mayor may not understand what it is.Recite:

“I accept this gift from the west,witnessed by the powers of thesouth, the powers of the future. I willretain this gift for however long isnecessary and I will willingly let it gowhen the time comes.”

The inner contact of the south steps to oneside and holds out an arm towards the gate as

if to show you something. You may see pastthe gate into a landscape, a scene, an image, aperson: it does not really matter. You will gaina certain feeling, a deep instinct into the rolethat the gift will play in your future, howeversmall or great.Regardless of whether the instinct you

gained about the gift was good or bad, nowyou must absorb it. Take in a slow sustainedbreath: be aware you are filling your lungswith ‘power in.’ The inner contact of the southreaches over their hand and cups it under yourhand.Together, you place the gift within you. See

the gift, and with your hand and the contact’shand push the gift into your abdomen or chest:the power or energy of the gift is taken intoyour being.You may feel a heaviness from the energy of

the gift as it is placed within you. The innercontact of the south withdraws back throughthe gates and stands upon the threshold.

Turn and walk a full circle around the direc-tions, and then walk to the west altar. Placeyour hands upon the altar and see the innercontact of the west pass back through the altarand stand on the threshold of the gates.Step back, walk a full circle around the direc-

tions, and finish in the north, facing the centralaltar with your back to the north altar.

Note: What follows is the second part of theritual, and the part that can be used on a daily basisto embed the pentagram within you.

Hold out your arms to the sides.Throughout this section, keep your armsoutstretched, even as you turn. They will startto hurt. Get over it. Keep your shouldersdown and your elbows held and that will help.When you stand, stand with your legs apart sothat you make the pentagram shape with yourbody.

See in your mind’s eye the sword in your lefthand, handle up, blade down. See in your righthand the cup. See above you the hexagram andbelow you the earth sign. See before you in thesouth a road going off into the distance withfull sun. See people behind you: the ancestors.

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Remember where Saturn is positioned inthis pattern in relation to your natal chart, andalso the position of Pluto.

Recite:

“In my left hand, the sword of Justiceand balance; with my left hand I giveto bring balance; with my left hand Irelease to bring balance.

My left foot stands upon the stoneof restriction, the grindstone whichforges my future.

Saturn is my grindstone.”

Now briefly visualise where Saturn wouldbe in your pattern. See a connection, a threadgoing from your left foot to wherever in thepentagram pattern Saturn is. Take note ofwhether Saturn falls near an arm, leg, head,shoulder, etc.

Recite:

“Inmy right hand, the vessel of regen-eration; with my right hand I receiveto bring balance; with my right handI accept in order to bring balance.

My right foot stands upon thethreshing floor which receives thegifts and blessings of my harvest.

Pluto is my threshing floor.”

Now briefly visualise where Pluto wouldbe in your pattern. See a connection, a threadgoing from your right foot to wherever inthe pentagram pattern Pluto is. Take note ofwhether Pluto falls near an arm, leg, head,shoulder, etc.

Recite:

“Behindme is time past, the ancestorswho walked before me. I releasewhatever is necessary to them.

Before me is the future, the path I willforge. I accept whatever is necessaryfor that path.”

Turn around and face the north altar whilestill keeping your arms outstretched.Recite:

“In my left hand is the sword ofbalance that is given to the vessel inthe west.

In my right hand is the vessel whichreceives the sword from the east.

With me is my past, the blood ofmy past, and those who birthed me.Before you and in honour of you, Ihold the power of the sword and thevessel in your name.

Beyond me is the future.

My path is forged by the grind-stone of the future, and my past ismeasured by my harvest upon thethreshing floor.”

Now turn and face the central altar inthe pentagram stance (with your arms stilloutstretched. . . stop whining).Recite:

“Aboveme is Divine Power, the fatherthat gives breath.

To the east is the power of the sword.

Below me is Divine Substance, themother that receives the breath. Tothe west is the power of the vessel.

Beforeme is the future, linedwith thenoble ones. Behind me is the past,and the angel who guards me.

Within me is stillness.

I Am [your first name].

I Will Be.”

Now you can drop your arms.

Sit down on the floor and close your eyes.Meditate for a few minutes and then, stillsitting, see yourself standing in the pentagrampattern facing south.Think about the dynamics and powers of the

pattern, and think aboutwhere the two planets

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fit within it. What are they near? Ponder onwhat that means for your life and pattern.Think about the dynamics of these two

planets, what powers flow through them,how they affect life etc., and then think aboutthem in connection with their position closeto your head, or limb, which limb it is, andwhat magical tool and power runs throughthat limb.Write your observations in your journal.

3.3 Experiment: Adjusting theritual

By now you have worked with the pentagramin a number of different but basic ways. Thepentagram ritual itself is not a dogma; rather itis an expression of the flows of power throughand around a human.

In terms of the ritual itself, if you wish towork dailywith it, you can either use it directlyas it is above using only the recitations, orusing the altar work and the recitations.If you stay with that exact pattern, write

down your observations, whether it got easieror more difficult—it is one of those ritualswhere there is elbow room for contacts to joinin and put you to work with minor jobs (here,take this, go put it over there). So keep a closenote of interactions, what you have to give andtake, and write it all down in your journal.If you wish to be more adventurous and do

some experimentation, the first experimentwould be to adjust the ritual. This is the firststep of creating your own magical patterns.You can include elements from the otherpentagram work if you wish, the key whendoing that is to think carefully about what youare including, why you are including it, if itis harmonic to the ritual, and at what point itshould be put in.Once you have adjusted it, then stay with it

as a set format. The key to building the powerof this particular type of ritual is its engramaction—its repeated action—which requiresdoing it in exactly the same way withoutdeviating from the pattern.As you continue to work with the ritual, and

once you can do it calmly, without faltering,

and from memory, the first thing you willnotice3 is that power will start to flow aroundyou. You will begin to engage very gently withthe flows of power that are constantly movingin and out of the directions.Your placement within that flow of power,

in the stance and recitation of the pentagramof humanity, slowly brings you strength andgrounding. It also begins the process ofawakening the realisation of certain deeperand more powerful magical powers.When you get to adept level and look back at

this ritual, you will understand the ritual in atotally different light and see the power hiddenwithin such a seemingly innocuous ritual.

3.4 A note on letting go

When you release/give something back to thepast, if you see it and know what it is, then letit go, no matter what it is.That means in life, give it away, throw it in

a river, etc. If it is something like your housekeys (yup, that has happened tome), bewillingto let go of the house and move if that is whatis needful. Just that willingness to let go setsthe action in motion.And trust me, even though it can seem at the

time to be a terrible “oh, shit” moment, it tendsto be for the better: it is clearing ground for thefuture.If what you let go of is a person, again, be

willing in your heart to the let them go, nomatter how much you love them.Sometimes that can indeed mean a break

with someone, but sometimes it can be abouta deeper dynamic of not clinging to a person.This happens particularly to people withchildren who have reached adulthood. Youhave to learn to let go for their good as well asyours. That doesn’t mean you will never seethem, it means that you cease to hang on tothem.This also stands for whatever you receive.

Whatever it is, be willing to accept it and workwith it.

3Besides getting stronger arms—you want biceps,here is how.

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3.5 Task: Researching theGrindstone and theThreshing Floor

In the second part of the ritual, you willhave noticed that a new element has beenintroduced: the Grindstone and the ThreshingFloor. (Throughout the course, new elementswill be slowly introduced for you to work withand understand.)

The Grindstone is the stone that sharpensthe blade (the magician), and the ThreshingFloor is the stone that receives the harvest ofa magician’s life, a harvest that is weighed onthe scales of Ma’at as the magician enters intodeath.Rather than outline here the deep magical

connotations and mysteries woven within this,you can research, discover, and ponder it foryourself. Look up threshing floor, altar, andthe First Temple of Solomon.If you research further, youwill discover just

how deep the magical action is of setting yourright foot upon the threshing floor.

3.6 When to use this ritual

Use your abridged or adjusted version of theritual a few times a week for a few weeks sothat it becomes second nature. But do thewhole ritual at least once or twice in that time.The whole ritual is excellent to use when

you become blocked, stuck, in a rut, or cannotsee a way forward from a very difficult orstagnant position. Completing the wholeritual in such an instance, and then doing theabridged version on a daily basis, will begin toshift stuck energies. It gets the power moving,the future opening up, the past falling away,and it stands you firmly on the ground. Thatmakes you very hard to knock over.Don’t be tempted, once the power gets

moving and your life starts changing, to do theritual more and more in the hope of gettingbetter/stronger/faster—that is not the rightreason to do continuous work. Do the fullritual to get things moving. Do the daily or atleast frequent abridged version to keep things

moving, and then, once that action begins tomaterialise in your life, switch ritual focus.You don’t need to keep revving the engine

once it is going; you need to get it in gear, putyour foot down, and go somewhere—whichmeans learning new useful skills, and thenputting those skills into action and service.

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Lesson 4

The Full Hexagram Ritual

When you worked with the Pentagram ritual,you learned about the power that flowsthrough the life of a human. There areelements hidden within that ritual that willeventually dawn upon you as you progress inyour studies in the adept section, which willshow you how Divine Power not only flowsinto the human/pentagram, but also triggersexternalisations of power that move you alongyour fate path.In the Pentagram ritual, you placed a

Hexagram over your head, which is the markof the Divine Breath as it flows from un-beinginto being, from no substance to enliveningall substance (creation). Now we will learnabout the Hexagram itself, and how thatsymbol/filter tells us about that first step ofthe breath of Universal Power as it breathesout of the void, out of un-being.

The Void itself is something that manymagicians (and mystical religions) work withand it is something that you too will also workwith. The Void is the nothing which is full ofpotential: it is the cusp, the threshold for theaction of creation to begin from.As the breath of Universal Power is uttered

out of the Void (“In the beginning was theword. . . ”) it hits its first filter which enables itto pass into form, into creation. That first filteris something we understand via the magicalsymbol of the Hexagram.The reason we approach this filter through

a magical symbol is that our tiny minds arereally incapable of truly understanding thesheer complexity of this creation process.Working with the symbol of the Hexagram,breaking it down into its power dynamics,and then reassembling it helps our brains toprocess what is actually happening.This first filter, the Hexagram, is about

Divine Power that has done its first division:just like a fertilised human egg starts lifeby making a first division, so also Divine orUniversal Power first divides into two: positiveand negative, male (releasing/giving) andfemale (accepting/containing).This creates an opposition of power, a

tension which allows form to exist. Every-thing in creation is polarised; everything increation has a tension which creates energyand movement.The Hexagram teaches us about this basic

foundational dynamic. Without that under-standing, we fall back upon giving Divinitya human face, emotions, and humanesquereactions. This is a great folly, and it hasno place in real magic (or mystical religion).Deities have such qualities, but Divinity doesnot. Divinity has consciousness, but it is of anature far beyond what we can understand.Through working with the Hexagram, the

magician slowly learns how this polariseddynamic works, and learns how powercan have consciousness without being

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humanesque.Before we can work with deities as

magicians, we must first learn about thepowers of Divinity itself. This power flowsthrough everything in creation, and thereforeflows through all of magic. It flows throughevery magical action, every thought, everymovement, and once you come to under-stand these flows of power, how this intricatebalancing act works, you can then engage thatunderstanding in advancedmagic so that yourwork flows in harmony with creation and notagainst it. You work with creation; you do nottry to control it.Whenever as an adept you come to a point

in your work where you feel lost, or that youdo not understand what is happening, thenyou return to the Source. And you do thatby working with the Hexagram in ritual andmeditative thought. It opens the gates in yourconsciousness so that you can directly engagewith its flow of power, which in turn bringsyour mind back into focus so that you canreengage with your work in a balanced way.Once the magician has worked with this

ritual pattern for a while, they will slowlybegin to understand how the Hexagramworks, what powers flow through it, and howit is then applied in various magical streams.Its actions are often sadly misunderstood in

modern magic, but if you reach back to muchearlier forms of magic and magical religions,you will begin to see its use subtly hiddenwithin certain religions and magical texts.

4.1 Hexagram ritual, part one

The first part of the ritual is about understandingpower in and power out, about Divinity in its polar-isation and its echo within ourselves. In this sectionwe learn how these polarised powers work with andflow through the directions, and how those polarisedforms can be put together and overlaid to create afilter of creation/destruction, power in/power out, afilter of power balance and harmony.This in turn creates a simple but effective flow

of power that the magician can then engage with intheir work. It is a flow of power that is balanced,and that can be approached from a variety of angles

depending on what work the magician is going todo.So first let’s go through the first part of the ritual

which opens the gates to this power. Learn the ritual,do it a few times, and then we can discuss what ishappening, how it works, and what it works with.Then we will move on to the second part of theritual.

Open the directions by lighting the candlesin each direction in the way you have beentrained to, and visualise the gates in eachdirection. When you have been around allof the directions, return to the east altar andstand before the candle flame.

Place your hands upon the altar on eitherside of the candle flame and look beyond theflame. With your eyes open, use your mind’seye to see the east gates open. Using yourvoice, utter the following words:

“I acknowledge the gates of the east, Iacknowledge the angelic threshold ofthe east, and I acknowledge the windof the east.”

Step back from the altar, turn, and walk tothe south. Repeat the same exercise, using thewords:

“I acknowledge the gates of the south,I acknowledge the angelic thresholdof the south, and I acknowledge thefire of the south.”

In the west, do the same and repeat thewords:

“I acknowledge the gates of the west,I acknowledge the angelic thresholdof the west, and I acknowledge thewater of the west.”

And in the north:

“I acknowledge the gates of the north,I acknowledge the angelic thresholdof the north, and I acknowledge thestone of the north.”

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When you have finished in the north, takea step back, turn, and stand before the centralaltar. Remember the visual of the column offire and utter the words:

“I acknowledge the central fire thatflows through all worlds, all timesand all substance, I acknowledge theangelic threshold of the void, thebreath of Divinity as it flows throughall things, and I acknowledge thelight within all living beings as itflows from the stars to the under-world.”

Close your eyes and imagine the stars in thesky above you. Imagine the earth below you,the east wind to your left, the western waterto your right. Be aware of the power of firein the south before you, and of the power ofthe earth in the north behind you. Imagine aspark or flame deep within your centre, a lightthat stretches up to the stars and down to theearth, which meets in your centre in the formof a small flame within you.

Turn and go to the east altar. With your eyesopen, in your mind’s eye, see the gates of theeast wide open.Turn and face the central flame. You are

going to trace a triangle in the air. Withyour right hand, pointing with your first twofingers, starting with your arm outstretchedhigh above you, recite:

“In the name of the Great Father. . . ”

Now bring your point down to the righthand corner:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatMother. . . ”

Now trace your point to the left hand corner:

“. . . and in the name of the greatSpirits. . . ”

Trace your point back to the top to completethe triangle:

“. . . I give.”

Walk a full circle around the central flame,and then go stand before the altar of the west.

With your eyes open, in your mind’s eye, seethe gates of the west wide open. Turn andface the central flame. Now you are goingto trace an inverted triangle. With your armoutstretched, pointing to the left corner recite:

“In the name of the Great Mother. . . ”

Trace your point across to the high rightcorner:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatFather. . . ”

Trace your finger down to the low bottom ofthe triangle:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatSpirits. . . ”

Trace your point back to the high left cornerto complete the triangle:

“. . . I receive.”

Walk a full circle clockwise around theflame, and then stand before the north altar.

See in your mind’s eye the gates of the northwide open. Turn your back to the altar and facethe central flame. You are going to repeat theinverted triangle. Starting with the high leftcorner, recite:

“In the name of the Great Mother. . . ”

Trace your point across to the high rightcorner:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatFather. . . ”

Trace your finger down to the low bottom ofthe triangle:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatSpirits. . . ”

Trace your point back to the high left cornerto complete the triangle:

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“. . . I Come From.”

Walk a full circle clockwise around the flameand stand before the south altar.

See in your mind’s eye the gates of the southwide open. Turn your back to the altar andface the central flame. You are going to tracean upright triangle. With your right hand,pointing with your first two fingers, startingwith your arm outstretched high above you,recite:

“In the name of the Great Father. . . ”

Bring your point down to the bottom righthand corner:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatMother. . . ”

Trace your point to the left hand corner:

“. . . and in the name of the greatSpirits. . . ”

Trace your point back to complete thetriangle:

“. . . I Am Going To.”

Walk a full circle around the flame and standupon the first cross-quarter, the space betweenthe north and east altars.

You are going to trace both triangles, one ata time. With your right hand, pointing withthe first two fingers, starting with your armoutstretched high above you, recite:

“In the name of the Great Father. . . ”

Bring your point down to the right handcorner:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatMother. . . ”

Trace your point to the left hand corner:

“. . . and in the name of the greatSpirits. . . ”

Trace your point back to complete thetriangle.Immediately use your point to draw a circle

from the apex of the triangle and finish thecircle at the upper left hand corner, in order tobegin the second triangle, the inverted triangle.Recite:

“In the name of the Great Mother. . . ”

Trace your point across to the high rightcorner:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatFather. . . ”

Trace your finger down to the low centre ofthe triangle:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatSpirits. . . ”

Trace your point back to the high left cornerto complete the triangle. Recite:

“. . .We Are.”

Sit down in that cross-quarter and close youreyes.Do a simple breathing exercise: imagine

yourself breathing in white smoke, and seeyourself breathing out black smoke. Do thissimple exercise for five minutes.When you have finished, sit still and silent

for thirty minutes. You can sit with your eyesopen or with your eyes closed. But you mustnot let your mind wander.Focus your attention on stillness for a brief

period of time, and then imagine the triangletraced before the east altar and remember theFather, Mother, and Spirits’ positions and thedeclaration of “I give.” Once you havewatchedthat triangle and studied it, silence your mindonce more.

After a period of silence, imagine theinverted triangle traced before the west altar.Remember the Mother, Father, and Spirits’positions and the declaration of “I receive.”Repeat the same stillness meditation andbreathing, and then go on to remember the

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action/words for the inverted triangle in thenorth and the upright triangle in the south.

Sit for a while in silence and remember thedouble triangle traced in the cross-quarterwhere you are seated. Imagine the trianglebeing traced in front of your seated body.Eventually and with practice, you will learnhow to instantly visualise the hexagram andfeel all of the directional flows of power thatcome together to make it.

At this point you can close down the direc-tions, or you can continue on to the second partof the ritual.The meditation aspect of this ritual section

is a once-only thing (unless you wish to do itmore often). It is to allow a space within yourmind for understanding to bubble up. It willnot drop instantly into your brain like a file; itis something that will slowly dawn out of thespace you have given it.The actual ritual actions of this first part of

the ritual are ones that you would combinewith the second part of the ritual to make acomplete ritual.

4.2 So what was happening?

In your previous lessons you have learnedabout the power flows, time, tools, dynamics,and gates of the four directions. The fourdirections are the pattern of creation: theytell you how power flows into creation andexpresses through the magical directionswhich in turn form the power into particulardynamics of power in, power out, past, future,substance, non-substance, etc.The Pentagram ritual taught you about how

the power that flows from the magical direc-tions is engaged by the human magician, andalso how it flows through all of humanity. Thedifference for the magician is that the power isconsciously engaged and worked with, ratherthan passively accepted.Now the Hexagram teaches you how Divine

Consciousness flows through those magicaldirections, and how it is shaped into specificdynamics by those directional filters.

Remember how in the Pentagram ritual theHexagram was above you? Now, through thefirst part of the ritual, you learn how to workwith the Hexagram power around and withinyou as opposed to above you: you consciouslyengage the breath of Divinity within you andwork with that in your magic.That comes into full force in the Adept

level of training, but for now, the simple ritualgestures and meditations will awaken yourmind to the structure and filter.

You will notice that when you worked in thedirections, you turned your back to the altars.Why? Because youwere not talking to or inter-acting with the power of the direction, youwere mediating it through you. This is thevery first baby step towards mediating powerthrough you and out into the world.You face the direction to interact with the

power, and you turn your back to it whenyou are pulling the power through you anddirecting it somewhere. This is the first steptowards training the body to act as a bridge forpower. It is a simple action, and you will likelynot feel much in power terms at this stage, andthat is how it should be. It is like weightlifting:start small, and work up slowly.

In the east, which you now know to be adirection of release/giving, youwill notice thatthe Hexagram’s action is ‘male.’ It starts withthe father, with the upright triangle. This is theoutput of breath, the output of the sperm thateventually triggers life.This is the direction where you would stand

as an adept (male or female, both sexes workthis power in the same way), with your back tothe east altar, with your mind focused on themale hexagram, and you would utter/breatheout power into existence.Starting the Hexagram action with the

upright/male expression defines the magicalaction as ‘outputting’ i.e. the start of a poweraction. The same is true of the south, which isalso a male power.1 The east male Hexagrampattern breathes something into existence

1Meaning it is a power that gives, not that it hasballs. . .

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(which is why religions of the ‘book’ tend toface east). The south male Hexagram patterngives it a future.

In the west, which you now know to bea direction of receiving/containing, you willnotice that the Hexagram pattern starts withthe ‘female’ action: it starts with the Mother,the downward-pointing triangle.This is the vessel that receives power just

as the egg and womb receive the sperm, justas the earth receives the breath of Divinity inorder to come to life (look up references toAmun in Egyptian texts in connection with theBreath that has no known form). The westreceives the power and contains it. The north,also female, gives it a past.

But unlike the Pentagram symbol, which hasa distinct ‘up’ and ‘down’, which defines thehuman stood upon the earth, the Hexagramhas no ‘up’ or ‘down’: it is a composite ofthe two polarities combined—Divinity withand without substance which together make awhole.Essentially the Hexagram is the ‘whole

thing’—the symbol of Everything. One aspectis inextricably linked with the other.When you do the full Pentagram ritual, the

Hexagram is above you: it flows through everyaspect of the ritual, focussing, filtering, anddefining power. The aspects of the Pentagramritual define the magician’s acknowledgementof Divine Power.When you work with the Hexagram ritual,

you as the human, in your Pentagram pattern,bring the Hexagram pattern down into yourworld: it defines your communication andrelationship with Divine Power.The symbols and tools in the Pentagram

tell you how the human works with andprocesses the Divine Power through magic.The Hexagram tells you what that DivinePower is, and begins the process of opening aline of communication.Later, as an adept, you will work with this

pattern in a much deeper way, but to get theretakes work, slow progress, and understanding.The seed is planted here. Howyou harvest thatseed’s fruit as a future adept will depend on

your own work, development, and maturity asyou walk through life.

Hopefully now youwill begin to understandhow these variousmagical patterns are inextri-cably interwoven and interconnected. Do nottry to bring them together magically or rituallyat this stage—you need to learn the individualsteps of the dance and learn to execute each oneof them properly before you can put them alltogether in a dance of creation and destruction.

So why the execution of Hexagram at thecross quarter? The cross quarter of northeastis the position for all living beings of materialsubstance on the cusp of expression: it is themagical position that defines the step into life.That step is magically perceived as being in thenortheast: passing from the deep sleep of thenorth into the dawn of the east.This is depicted on the Tarot trump the

Wheel: the human is draped over the wheel ina ritual position as he tumbles into conception.This is something you will learn more aboutin the Initiate section.You work the Hexagram while standing

in the northeast because from a ritual stand-point you are placing yourself in the magicalposition you occupied at the moment justbefore your conception. You are reiteratingyour eternal spirit that exists out of time as itis about to fall into life, and you are reiteratingyour conscious acceptance of the polarisedexpressions of Divine Power at that thresholdof personal creation. It is when those twopolarised powers are brought together inritual harmonics that life begins.

This is why it is important to then sit downand meditate in this position, after doing thataction. It is very early days in your magicaltraining, but by sitting and meditating afterworking the Hexagram, you allow spacefor deeper understandings that are alreadyembedded within you to find a way to surface.You can do that once or many times, it is

up to you. And don’t expect a file downloadin your brain—this is a deep primal under-standing that is held in each of your cells. Byconsciously sitting down and being silent in

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the midst of such ritual, you slowly triggera response from deep within you. It willsurface through your dreams, or throughsudden inspirations days or weeks later; or itmay rise into your consciousness during themeditation.It will not rise as ‘facts’ or ‘information’:

rather it will rise as a ‘knowing,’ a feeling, ora focus of understanding.

Journal

Every time something connected to thisbubbles up into your mind, no matter howfragmented or strange, write it in your journal.It is amazing how many times somethingcan appear in your mind and seem to makeno sense, or is a mere glimpse, but whenyou look back in future years, you will seehow you were bouncing around the edges ofprofundity.

4.3 Hexagram ritual, part two

Note: To conduct this second part of the Hexagramritual, take out the central altar and candle. If youhave closed down the directions, open them backup and go through the first part of the Hexagramritual without the meditations. If you have alreadydone the first part of the ritual and you are movingdirectly on to the second part of the ritual, simplyput out the central candle, bow, and then clear thealtar away out of the room.

Go back and stand at the northeast cross-quarter. To start with, you are going to repeatthe declaration of the two triangles, but withone difference at the end.With your right hand, pointing with the

first two fingers, starting with your armoutstretched high above you, recite:

“In the name of the Great Father. . . ”

Bring your point down to the right handcorner:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatMother. . . ”

Trace your point to the left hand corner:

“. . . and in the name of the greatSpirits. . . ”

Trace your point back to complete thetriangle.Immediately use your point to draw a circle

from the apex of the triangle and finish thecircle at the upper left hand corner, in order tobegin the second triangle, the inverted triangle.Recite:

“In the name of the Great Mother. . . ”

Trace your point across to the high rightcorner:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatFather. . . ”

Trace your finger down to the low centre ofthe triangle:

“. . . and in the name of the GreatSpirits. . . ”

Trace your point back to the high left cornerto complete the triangle.Recite:

“. . .We are, and from ‘We,’ I shallbecome.”

Walk around the directions, going fromthe northeast cross-quarter, past east, and allaround until you come back to the east.

Stand before the east altar, hold out yourarms to the sides and recite:

“I call upon the powers of the east towitness the giving of Divine Breathinto life.”

Step back and bow. Turn and go to the southaltar.

Stand before the south altar, hold your armsout before you and recite:

“I call upon the powers of the south togive safe passage to the Divine Breathonto the path of life as it vanishes intothe mists of the future.”

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Step back and bow.

Turn and go to the west altar and hold yourhands out before you in a cupped position andrecite:

“I call upon the powers of the westto witness the receiving of DivineBreath into substance.”

Step back and bow. Turn and go to the northaltar.

Stand before the north altar, hold down yourarms with hands pointing to the floor andrecite:

“I call upon the powers of the northto witness the release of the DivineBreath back to its source.”

Step back and bow.

Turn and walk around the directions andstand in the west with your back to the westaltar and recite:

“Powers of the directions, you aremy witness. I have announced thepassage of the Divine Breath fromits first aspiration, to its containmentin the vessel, and then its passageback to the Source. I declare that Iunderstand. I am a vessel. I am life. Icontain the Divine Breath within meand I honour that Divine Breath thatgives me life.”

Take a deep breath in. Focus your mind onthe direction east that is opposite you, and thatthe air you breathe in flows from this magicaldirection, and then exhale.Take a step forward and take in another

breath, breathing in the air from the magicaldirection of east, and then slowly exhale.Repeat this action until you are stood in thecentre of the directions, where the centralcandle flame would be.

Turn and face the south, feet apart. Raiseyour arms straight up above you, arms straightand locked.

Bring your arms down, outstretched to thesides, keeping your arms straight, and followyour left handwith your eyes, so that your eyesand head face eastwhile your body stays facingsouth.As your left hand reaches east, it lands

palm facing up, while your right arm, withoutbending, lands west with the first two fingersof the right hand pointed.Ensure that your hands, eyes and head all

move at the same time, in harmony, so thatyour left hand and your eyes land east at thesame time.Bring your right hand above you (centre, top

of the triangle), then bring it down to the east,across to the west and back to above to makethe ‘up’ triangle.Recite as you do the action:

“The Divine Breath that brings life toform flows from the east; the fathergives.”

Imagine the up triangle hanging in the airbefore you. Bring your hands to your chest(containment—you are the vessel).

Now walk around to the other side ofthe triangle (passing on the east side of thetriangle). Stand facing north.Extend your arms up above you (inhale

as you do that action). With arms straight,bring your right arm down to the east, righthand landing east, palm up, with your headfollowing your right hand so you are lookingeast.The left hand moves straight down in front

of you to point at the floor with the firsttwo fingers pointed. This is all done as oneharmonic movement.With the left hand, trace the down triangle

starting ‘down/point’ to west. As the handmoves to the west, the head turns to the west,and you exhale and begin to recite.Ensure the head and hand arrive west at

exactly the same time—head stays west. Asyou recite, trace west to east, east to down.As the hand arrives at ‘down’ the head is setstraight looking north.As you do the action, recite:

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“The Divine Vessel in the west thatcontains the Breath: the Motherreceives. The wind that blows fromthe east finds the vessel of the west.”

Drop your arms by your side (release).Close your eyes. See in your mind’s eye thehexagram hanging before you.With your mind’s eye, see a flow of

power/energy come down from above andfrom the east at the same time, joining withand filling the east half of the hexagram (alongwith the east & up section of the space) with agolden light.As the power settles in the east half of the

hexagram it flows out of the east side of thehexagram, flows towards and through you,and vanishes behind you. As it flows towardsyou it turns red, passes through you, andvanishes through the south gate.

In your mind’s eye see the red flow back outof the south gate behind you, and pass into youon your west side.As it passes through you and leaves you, it

turns into a bright white light that dazzles you.It flows into the west side of the hexagram,filling it with a very bright, pure light. It alsofills up the west direction and down section ofthe space.The bright light flows out into the north

before you until the hexagram and thespace around you is totally empty. The darkhexagram outline hangs before you, filledwith emptiness.

Close your eyes (if they are not alreadyclosed for visualising) and take a step forwardso that you are stood in the space of the emptyhexagram.With your eyes closed, clear your mind. Feel

the nothing all around you. Feel the blackness,the space without time, motion, light, sound: atotal black stillness. Stay in that silence for aslong as you feel you need to.

When you are ready, take in a deeper breathand hold it, eyes still closed. Take a stepforward, open your eyes, and breathe out, allat the same time. Then recite:

“I am born of the void, the breaththat breathes life out of the nothing,the breath that contains everything. Istep into life with the Divine breathflowing through me.”

Turn and face east. Step to the altar, blow outthe candle, and bow. Repeat in the other direc-tions going clockwise until the room is darkand silent.

Stand for a moment in the darkness andsilence. Be aware that this ritual is aboutthe birth of life, of Divinity breathing lifeinto substance. Be aware that the DivineBreath flows through you. Your breathand your words have the power of DivineConsciousness flowing through them. Usethat breath wisely and with balance.

4.4 Task: Learning andpractising the ritual

Learn the sequence of the ritual from an outerperspective, without the candles and altarsetc. until you can do the movements andrecitations fluidly and by heart. Particularlywork on the second aspect of the ritual, whichhas very defined, coordinated actions betweenyour hands, eye, breath, mind, and body.Only when you can execute the second part

of the ritual with total fluency, by heart, it istime to actually ‘do’ the ritual using the altars,flames, and intention.

At first, particularly for a beginner, thisritual act can seem fairly easy with not muchgoing on. That is because you are not yetfully ‘plugged in.’ However for some naturalmagicians, or older ones with experience, thisritual can trigger deep, powerful connectionswith the Divinity within and all around you.

Use this ritual as a monthly focus toreconnect with the Divine breath. Work outa time each month that is right for you, (themost powerful time for this ritual is dawn)and work with it before you then go on to doother magical work.

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It can also be used as a meditative actionto reconnect you with the sense of Divinityaround you.

Note: play to your weaknesses

If you are a patterns kind of person (you likepuzzles, math, etc.) do not get engrossed inthe patterns—focus instead on the meditativeaspect and visualisation aspect.If you are a creative or visionary kind of

person, focus more on the pattern aspect ofthe ritual. In other words, don’t play to yourstrengths; play to your weaknesses in order tostrengthen and discipline them.This particular ritual, of all rituals, be they

advanced or beginner, is the one that cantruly tap into the flow of Divine Power in avery simple way. By working with this ritualin order to strengthen your weaknesses, itreleases its power into you to guide you andassist you.The moment you engage in the action of

development, all the powers and contactscome up behind you to help you and tocheer you along. If you simply play to yourstrengths, they will stand by and observe,without helping.

The hand/eye coordination, while speakingat the same time, is a very important aspectof the ritual, as it is training your two sidesto work in harmony but independently ofeach other. Remember in the previous lessonthe work that looked at the two balancedpolarity powers working independently but inharmony with each other?When you start to express that dynamic in

simple, physical terms, it changes how yourbrain operates: it teaches the brain to operatethe body in harmonic movements that workseparately and yet together. For some peoplethis will be very easy; for others it will not.Deeper magical power dynamics cannot be

fully understood by the consciousness and thespirit until the body itself understands and canact, process, and execute those dynamics inbasic, simple physical form. It starts from theoutside and works in.

4.5 Task: Mapping the sigil ofthe ritual

Get a pen and your journal. Draw out a map ofthe movements of the ritual, first for part oneand then for part two.A straight line where you walked a straight

line, a small circle where you turned, a dot fora particular action, and a bigger circle whereyou circled something. You will end up witha pattern before you. Work with that pattern,adjusting it, refining it until you end up with asigil that is that ritual.

Now look at the sigil and remember theritual’s actions as you look at each aspect of thesigil. Choose one of the ritual’s actions that isdefined as a line, circle, or dot.Now close your eyes and remember that

particular action. What is the colour thatimmediately springs to mind? Don’t thinkabout it logically or psychologically; this ispure instinct. When you recover a sense of theaction’s colour, then colour that mark in thesigil. Do this for all the major aspects of theritual that jump out at you.

This is the very first stage of learning howto work with magically empowered sigils.First you must develop a relationship with theconcept. Eventually as an adept you will beable to ‘capture’ the essence of a ritual andinfuse it into a sigil that is specific to a ritualin a way that is unique to you. You will thenuse that sigil to keep the power of the ritualflowing in the long term.You will also learn in your adept training

how to look at a sigil or sacred writing and‘see’ whether it has power within it or not. Todo that, first you must learn to fill a sigil withpower, and to do that, you must learn how thewhole process works. Baby steps. Makes for asafe magician!Go back over your journal and notes, and

sigilise each of the rituals you have done. Youwill realise that some rituals can be sigilisedand some cannot: some power will just not becontained.This is also why writing by hand in your

journal is so very important. You need to learn

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how to use your hand and ink to infuse power.That process is started by using your handand ink to express power by talking about it,drawing it, scribbling it.General notes, essays, readings etc. can all

be done on computer, but there are certainthings that must be done by hand in yourjournal as it is kindergarten training for thegreatness that is to come.

4.6 Task: Research

Research different religions, magic, andcultures that have a symbol that depicts ashape upon a shape that is equal and haspositive/neg, or up/down (ying yang, forexample). Look at the shapes. Draw them out.See by drawing them over and over how thatculture is expressing the same dynamic but ina very different way.Then read the explanations that the culture

gives for the shape. As you read differentinterpretations by different writers on thesame symbol, you will begin to see which onesactually understood it and worked with it, andwhich ones did not. Sometimes the differenceis glaringly obvious; sometimes it is not soobvious.Choose one of the symbols/cultures and

write an essay on how that culture perceivesthe expression of that symbol. What doesit mean to them? How do they work withit? What does it appear in relation to? (i.e.teachings, actions, lifestyles, etc.)There are quite a few of these Divine

symbols out there in different parts of theworld, but it may take you some time to findthem. Take the time, as it will surprise you asto how and where these symbols appear.The shapes that they take will tell you a lot

about the power that flows through the landand the people. It will tell you about thedominant elements, how and if they includetime in the process, if it is related to human lifeor not.You can do this as a computer document or

you can do it as a scrap book with pictures andwritten text. It is totally up to you.

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Lesson 5

The Elemental Patterns and Maps

Note: for this lesson you will need your tarot pack,a bowl of water, a stone, and a candle/flame—andsomewhere outdoors to work.

In the last few lessons, you have learnedabout the elemental powers that flow out ofthe magical directions. Now you need to knowhow they express through a patch of land, asthat pattern varies from landmass to landmass,and also from small region to region.This in turn will enable you to learn how

to draw on local power flows in your magicalwork, and also how to adjust your magicalwork to take into account regional fluctuations.This is very important because if you do not

take these local flows into account, you can runinto some rather difficult power imbalancesthat will directly affect how you work, whatyou work on, and also how your body copeswith the magic.

This is also the first lesson in the course thatbegins to teach you ‘nature magic.’ Magicshould never be solely removed from yourenvironment. Magic should be fluid, andshould be in harmony with the land uponwhich the magic is done. There are times forworking magic in a temple space, times forworking magic out in nature, and times tocombine both approaches.This lesson works with magic outdoors and

then brings the outdoors into the ritual space.If you live in a city, pick a day that you can go

to the nearest patch of countryside that is closeby, to an areawhere you canwork undisturbed,or find a local park, or best of all work in yourgarden if you have one. If you work at dawn,it is less likely that you will be disturbed, bevulnerable, or look like a nutter.

Before we get to the practical work, let’s lookat what it is we are actually going to workwith. Let’s look at how it works, why it worksthe way it does, and why it is so important inmagical training.

5.1 The magical elements innature

When I say magical elements, I am talkingabout air, fire, water, and earth. Some systemsand cultures add in other elements or workwith a different set of elements entirely. Noone system is correct or incorrect, they arejust different in how they work with theworld around them, and that difference isoften deeply connected to their landmass andculture. Western magic works with the fourelements, so we will focus on those.The magical element system is a pattern that

expresses on the cusp of manifestation. It is apattern (among many) that is an inner pattern,which is to say it is a deeper expressionof power which is then filtered throughform which in turn finally expresses itself

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into physical manifestation in our materialworld. So wherever you are in the northernhemisphere, that pattern will work in deepmagic. What happens to it in the southernhemisphere is a mystery to me, as I have neverworked magic south of the equator.Speculation in magic is useless. You have to

have direct experience to be able to talk withcertainty; you cannot hypothesizewheremagicis concerned (hence everything in this course iswork that I have done and that I know works).So if you are south of the equator, you are goingto have to figure out for yourself by experimen-tation how it expresses for you.

Once that inner pattern externalises on alandmass, it shifts and changes accordingto the vessel. Each area has its own uniqueexpression of how it externalises the elements,and that can be specific to a small area ora large area. You cannot generalise withelemental magic, as its variant expressions canbe very localised indeed.These localised elemental variants can have

a direct effect on your magical work anddevelopment. When you work magic, youwork with the elements around you whetheryou are aware of them or not. They are partand parcel of the forces of nature, forces thatmagic directly engages. These forces can makeyour work harder or easier depending on howyou work and how conscious you are of thesepower flows.The inner elemental fluctuations around

you, along with planetary influences andthe outer elemental expressions around you(rivers, mountains, volcanoes, hot springs,desert, etc.) all affect how you work magicallyand how your magical work affects you, theland, and everything around you. It can beharmonic or it can be an aggravator. So it isimportant to know all the variables so that youcan work with them in cooperation, modifythem when appropriate, draw upon them, orstrengthen them.They are sometimes worked with and

sometimes not dependent upon what it is youare doing. But to get to that stage, first youmust be able to magically identify what is

around you and where it is.So let’s have a look at a practical example

which will give you a better idea of what I amtalking about, and we will look, though thatexample, how it is worked with by a magician.

5.2 Regional elementalexpression

You know by now the magical expressions ofthe elements in the four directions. Amagicianmoves to a patch of land he is unfamiliar withand before he starts to work magically, he firstneeds to identify what type of land he hasmoved to, what the powers are like, and whatelemental expressions are there. Heworks firstto talk to whatever beings are upon the land(something youwill learn how todo later in thecourse). Then he begins the process of learningwhat elemental expressions are upon that areaof land.The magician will be working with the four

magical element system, but he has to takeinto account the regional expressions of theelements in the directions in order to workharmoniously with the land. If the magiciandoes not do this, he will be working againsttides rather than with them.In his preparation to work magic, the

magician must first find out what physicalelements are expressing through the direc-tions so that he can adjust his working spaceaccordingly, and also combine the outer andinner elements in his work. The magician goesout on the land near his house and prepares towork in two very different ways, so that he cancompare the two results and make a decisionbased on his findings.

First he needs to find out the gender thatexpresses through the land. In modern magicwe always think of the earth as ‘female,’ whichin a deeper magical sense it is. But withinthat overall ‘female’ identity there are smallregional ‘flips’ of the polarisation. Just aswith the magnetic polar expression throughthe planet: there is an overall ‘polarity’ in thenorthern hemisphere and an opposing onein the south, but small pockets of the reverse

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‘pole,’ condensed in a particular area, can befound scattered across the planet.

To find out what the gender of the patchof land is, the magician uses divination toask the gender of that part of the land. Afterthat, he will need to find out how far that‘gender’ stretches—it can be a few squaremiles or it can be a huge area. Also, withinthat area there can be changes and differences,so it can get complicated. To avoid confusionand making mistakes, the magician definesan area as his working area (within a fewmiles of his working space) and double-checksthrough divination the gender power thatflows through that space. He then also looksbeyond the defined area to see if it changes orif it is constant.That is important for more advanced work

that would draw on a larger area, or formagical work that is intended to support thewider landmass. If you are going to supportand work with something, first you need toknow what it is you are working with.

So the gender is established. Let’s say themagician found that his particular patch ismale. As a male magician, that means for himthat the power flowing through the land doesnot compliment him; rather it amplifies hismale power. If the magician is fairly youngand has high testosterone, he will be awarethat he will have to tread cautiously so asnot to overwhelm his hormone system orto have the emotional issues that manifestwhen testosterone is too high or out of control(violence and mental instability, for example).If he is older, he would be aware that he

would be at greater risk of prostate cancer ifhe is working on a powerful male land for anextended period of time. So he would haveto make adjustments to that work by incor-porating modifying influences, for instanceworking with a female deity.

Now that the gender has been established,he needs to identify which elements are thestrongest in which direction.The first method he uses relies on his inner

skills (which you started to learn about inmodule one). He starts with a candle flame

in order to search for the strongest directionalexpression of fire. The magician has notworked with a compass, so he is not awarewhich direction is which on the land. This isimportant, so that you do not subconsciouslyidentify element to direction (i.e. fire/south).Themagician first works the direction facing

him. He walks a few steps forward holding acandle flame. Because it is slightly windy, hehas the candle in a jam jar to protect the flame.As he steps forward, he holds an intentionin his mind to find where the element of fireexpresses upon the land. He is totally focussedupon that intention andwhen he steps forwardand stops, he ‘sees’ the inner candle flamewithin his inner imagination.The flame does not appear to change. He

waits for a few minutes, feeling into the flameto see how it is reacting to the direction.Nothing happens. So then he moves to thenext direction, following the same method ofwalking around the directions that he usesin his magical space. He repeats the sameaction: waiting, intention, watching, feeling.Again, nothing happens. He then moves on tothe next direction. Again he repeats the sameaction, but this time the candle flame that heis observing with his ‘inner vision’ leaps tolife, growing stronger and glowing brightly.He has found where the flow of elemental fireexpresses through a local direction. He placesthat candle on the floor in that direction tomark it.Next he takes the bowl of water and repeats

the same exercise, going around the directionsuntil he finds one that appears in his innervision to cause the bowl of water to overflow.The bowl of water is placed on the ground tomark that direction.He repeats the same exercise with a small

rock. As he goes around the directions henotices that in one particular direction that therock seems heavier and denser. He places it onthe floor.So now he must find the last element: air.

This one is harder, as there is nothing to hold.So he goes around each direction in turn, facesthat direction, and then turns around. Hestands, takes in a deep breath, and then exhales

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slowly. He takes note of how it feels andhow it appears in his inner vision. In oneparticular direction, as he exhales, it feels andlooks from an inner point of view as if a largewind is blowing through him. He also hasfound an added bonus: as he breathes outin this direction, a physical wind suddenlypicks up and blows around him. The magiciansmiles. He has hit the jackpot.Not only has he found the air direction, he

has also found that the land is very responsive,and that the air element is very strong on thatpatch of land. This will really help himmagically in his work. As he mediatedmagical breath, the physical outer windresponded by blowing all around him: thewind answered the call.

To confirm his findings, the magician thenuses a second method: he goes around thedirections on the land with his magical toolsand observes how they react to each direction.The tools will feel different, they will suddenlybut subtly spring to life when they are held ina direction that is elementally compatible withtheir magical element. This is something youcan practice once you have come to the stage oftraining later in the apprentice section whichdeals with magical tools.

At this point the magician gets out hiscompass and marks down which directionis which. If he has been working at crossquarters without realising (for example wherehe placed the candle is WNW) then he willlook at which is the nearest straight directionand will assign that as a specific direction.So WNW becomes west. This is important,as it enables the magician to tie in the outerdirectional elemental expression with themagical pattern he has built up of the magicaldirectional powers and contacts in his workingspace: he places the magical elemental patternand the outer elemental pattern together andbrings them into sync.

5.3 Analysis of the findings

So let’s presume the magician’s findings wereas follows: east—air, south—water, west—fire

(WNW) and earth, but in the north—nothing.And his divination told him the land is ‘male.’This presents the magician with a bit of a

dilemma. This is not the best place for a malemagician to be working magic. But then thereare few perfect places, so the magician mustadjust how they work to accommodate thelocal dynamics. But why is this such a difficultarea?We have already addressed the issue of a

male magician working on a male land: it canquickly become ‘too male’ which in turn canseep aggression and conflict, ego and angerinto the magic. So he has already thoughtabout working with a female deity that canbalance but also match that power (a gentlemother goddess will not cut it).His second stumbling block is the east/air

elemental dynamic, coupled with the magicalelement of air in the east, all on a male land.It will be very powerful, hence the gust ofwind when he breathed out. East is also male,and when used in unskilled hands it canbecome very fundamentalist and combative.In skilled hands it can be very powerful, butit will be very focused and difficult to keepin check. East wind/male/sword on a landthat oozes testosterone can make for a veryconflict-ridden mix if it is not worked withproperly.It is tempered a little by the water in the

south (a male/female mix) and the fire in thewest (again female/malemix). The earth in thewest is a double female mix and will help to‘take the fire’ out of the male pattern, as willthe water in the south.It also gives him a clue as to which female

deity to work with: west is the threshold ofdeath; fire and earth in that threshold is amale/female mix in a female direction. Death,female, fire, testosterone in a female vessel,and earth all point to a warrior or destructivegoddess: so for example Sekhmet would beperfect for him to work with. She works withdeath, disease, the out-of-control ‘warriorkilling frenzy,’ and she also carries the powerof the sun/fire. Sekhmet is an ancient deitythat is very primal in her power and thereforevery stable. She is also a deity that is not

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tied to a specific landmass: even thoughshe appears to us as Egyptian, in magicalreality she appears in the land throughout thenorthern hemisphere in various forms. Herdeeper power has a long reach.

But would that not be too dangerous? No.Would it not be better to have a watery female?No, definitely not. The powerful, focused andunemotional (air) male power upon the landneeds a polarity that can match it in battle,a power that has equal strength to keep it incheckwhile also having opposite qualities: sheis emotional, she rages, and she is female. Thetwo powers are equally matched in combat.A watery feminine power would be quicklyoverwhelmed and slaughtered.So the magician decides to work magically

(not religiously) with Sekhmet as a guide andadvisor, as a guardian and teacher, and inreturn he would do ‘jobs’ for her as requested.He would have to ask her if she was willing towork with him and if she says no, he will haveto try and find a similar goddess and ask her.This is where working with deities comes inas an aspect of magical work, something youwill learn about further into your apprenticetraining.

The magician also needs to think about howhe works with the outer and inner elements incombination, in relation to his work. So let’slook at the elements physical and magical intheir working combinations, as they presentedto this magician.East is air, so it is the same pattern as the

magical direction. This will make that aspectof the magical pattern very strong indeed.So the magical work the magician does willmake use of that dynamic by ensuring that thework engages with a lot of magical utteranceand sigil techniques, lots of giving/releasingof new patterns into the future, and lots ofcreation work. The sword will be totallyfocused on balance/justice work and not usedin a defensive way as it would engage theblood-lust of the overly male power on theland.The water in the south is a combination of

inner fire and outer water that works with the

future. The inner fire ‘heats up’ the water, andsouth is the future: the magician will engagethat direction to ‘cook’ magical aspects for thefuture. Heat and water are ingredients for thebirth of new lands (volcano/sea), and that veryancient pattern in the land can be tapped intoon a land with such an elemental combinationto enable very long-term magical projects thatwill birth new substance in the future.The fire and earth in the west, which is a

water direction, will be an interesting one forthe magician to work with. The inner magicalelement is always stronger than the outerelement, so the water will dampen down thefire and nourish the earth element. This againpoints to perfect conditions to focus magicon long-term projects that will ‘birth newsubstance.’The north has no outer elemental

expression, and it is the direction ofearth/female. It is also the direction ofpast/ancestors. This means that the land isnot conducive to ancestor work, death work,or underworld work: the whole pattern of theland is about the birth of new substance, newland mass, new patterns for the future: thisland is a cradle. Think in terms of our planet’sancient history when it was a bubbling massof hot lava, seas, earthquakes, and the birth ofnew islands, landmasses, and the beginningsof life. This is the sort of magical pattern youwould expect to find in a country such asIceland, where that process is still happeningin a very visible way.

The magician is intrigued. He gets online orgoes to the library and researches the historyand mythology of the local area, along withlooking at the geological outlay of the land.He finds that the geology is very much about‘new land’: fault lines, young mountains, anda constantly shifting and evolving landscape.The history of the land is littered with tribalwars, conflict, male dominated societies, andexamples of very ‘testosterone’ men. Now hefinally understands the foundation layer of theland that he has moved to and will be workingwith.This tells him that he cannot do certain

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types of magic on the land, as certain typesof magical work will aggravate the powerflow and be volatile. It also tells him not totry and do ancestor work, any magic thatinvolves conflict, and not to work with anymale warrior deities. Once he has engagedthe elemental patterns properly, he can workwith that elemental pattern to make friendswith the local land beings so that he works inharmony with them.

He thinks very carefully about his magicalwork for the length of time that he will liveon this land. He consults through divinationto see what positive role he can take while helives here, and he also consults with his innercontacts to see why he is there from a magicalperspective.He then decides on two courses of action.

One is to adjust his regular and ongoingmagical work that is his usual project ortraining work so that it flows more harmo-niously with the elemental pattern; the otheris to directly engage the volatile creativeaspect of the land to assist in that ongoinggrowth dynamic in the land. He will work as amediator and conductor for the flows of power:one human directly and consciously engagingmagically, in gnosis, with the ongoing landdynamic will have a long-reaching effect farbeyond the normal capacity of one human: hebecomes a catalyst.He will most likely never really see the

outcome of his work, but he will observechange, sometimes quite big change, in theland and the people as a result of his work. Interms of land/time, his work will be a contri-bution of less than a second in a time span of amillion years. And yet that ‘second,’ because itis magically focused and in tune with the flowof creation, will be a key ‘second’: a turningpoint in a vast expansion of development forthe land.

5.4 Practical work

So now that you are beginning to understandwhy it is so important towork in harmonywiththe combination of magical, inner, and exter-

nalised elements, it is time for you to exper-iment and discover for yourself.You will also begin to see how the course

is slowly introducing more and more platesfor you to spin in your magical work. Thisapproach does away with the forcing ofa generic magical pattern that most magicalsystems use, an approach thatwas popularisedin the nineteenth century and is still used tothis day by magical groups. That approachseverely limits the growth, expansion, andpower of magic and effectively hobbles themagician.Learning to work magically by taking

all these different aspects and powers andweaving them into a pattern that is unique tothe magician and the land upon which theystand allows the magician to truly tap into thevast resources of power that flow through aland. It also works in harmony with the land,the elements, and the dynamic forces aroundyou, so that you jump into a fast-moving riverof power rather than trying to dam and deflectit.

5.5 Task: Identifying elementalmanifestations

First, find out what externalised elementalmanifestations are around you: rivers,mountains, caves, hot springs, etc. and takenote of them.Using the method outlined in the practical

example, work on the land upon or very nearwhere you live. If youdo thiswork too far awayfrom where you live and do magic, you mightfind that you are working with dynamics thatare not relevant to your actual working space.First, work with your tarot deck using the

Tree of Life layout to ascertain what gender thearea of land is. The final card will give youyour answer. The question you need to ask is:“tell me the gender of this land area where Iam standing. Is it male or is it female?”The interpretationmay be obvious: a Queen,

the High Priestess, or Strength (it is a femalecard). Or it may not be obvious and maytake more than one reading to get a straightanswer. If you get a non-gendered card (the

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Wheel, for example), mark that result down inyour journal (keep very tight records of thesereadings, even if you do not understand theoutcome—the information will quite likelywill be helpful in the future). Don’t forgetthat almost all of the trumps have one genderpower or the other, although many are notobvious at first glance.

If you are not sure about which trumpsare male and which are female, look at thedepiction of the card, and place it in a directionfrom the four directional elemental patterns.Remember which directions are male andwhich are female. So for example the towerwould go in the west, which is female (adestructive power that is breaking somethingdown), or the death card which belongs in thenorth which is also female.With a non-gendered answer, you need to

ask in a different way. You would ask: “is thisland female in its power?” If you get a cardsuch as the Three of Swords (separation) thenit is likely that it is not female. You would thenask: “is this land male?” If you still get a “no”answer, there is a possibility that the landpatchis not gendered.Non-gendered patches of land do happen

but they are not common: they are eitherneutral, which can be easy to work with,or it could be that the patch of land has nogender but has a specific quality of powerthat flows through it. That can express as theFool, which tells you it is a young and notyet fully-formed power. That tells you thatalthough it is currently ungendered, it willeventually transform into a gender power. Sothen you would ask: “when this land maturesinto its own power, what gender will it bethen?”Again it may appear as a non-obvious

gender, or as a power that has no gender.Whatever your final conclusions are, writethem down.

Now it is time to work, as the magiciandid, outside with the candle flame, the bowlof water, the rock, and your own breath, andfind out which elements are the strongest inwhich direction. Once you have identified

the direction where an element is at itsstrongest, use a compass to identify where theactual directions are. Adjust the direction asnecessary so that you end up knowing whichelements express through which compassdirections (i.e. if the bowl of water you placedon the floor shows on the compass as ENE,then mark it down as east).As the magician found in the example,

sometimes you can get more than one elementin one direction and none in others. This isunusual but normal. Just work with what youfind.

5.6 Task: Mapping

Now that you have your gender and elementalinformation, you need to map it and look atit so that you can then use that information inyour future magical work.Get paper and pen. Mark out east, south,

west, and north on the top, bottom, and edgesof the paper.Now draw a small pentagram in the centre:

this is you. Draw the sword in the east/lefthand of the pentagram and a cup in the righthand (keep this small so that you have room toadd things in around the pentagram).Now get out your journal notes from

Module one lesson six. Remember colouringin aspects of your pentagram? Using thosecolours, colour the top, bottom legs, and sidearms of the pentagram in the colours youassigned them in lesson 6. (Once you havefinished mapping, have a look at the elementsand the colours in your pentagram to see ifhere is a connection between the elements andthe colours of your pentagram.)Now you need to list the elements in the

directions that you found them outside. Youcan use the words (fire, water, air, earth).If your land’s gender is female, draw a

down-pointing triangle around your smallpentagram to enclose the pentagram, and anupward triangle if the land is male. If the landshowed in the readings to be both, then drawa hexagram around the small pentagram (andagain think of the magical implications ofwhat that is telling you).

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If the land showed as being neutral, but ofa particular type of power, you need to settleupon a symbol that will tell you what powertype it is, using magical symbolism.So if it showed as a destructive power you

could use the lightening flash that would passthrough the pentagram. If it is a combativepower, use a cruciform shape inverted(battle-ready sword) passing through thepentagram. If it is a power of justice/balance,use the upright cruciform (justice). If it isa nurturing power, circle the pentagram(encompassing). . . etc.There are many combinations, and part of

the learning process is to be able to reason,identify, and apply the right shape to thepurpose at hand by using instinct and logic.Just think carefully about what you use andwhy.

Now go to your journal notes from theastrology lesson in module one. Remembermapping out your planets around thepentagram/directions? Look at wherethe different planets of your chart are on thetwo-dimensional layout. Remember that thecentre is you, and the left side is the risingsun/left arm of your chart. Look at yournatal chart and your notes. Mark down onthe map, using the astrological symbols forthose planets, where Saturn, Pluto, Jupiter,Neptune, Uranus, Mars, Venus, Mercury, theMoon, and the Sun lie in this two-dimensionalpattern.Look up the elements assigned to the

planets so that you know which ones are fire,water, air, etc. Colour the symbols (drawover the symbol with a coloured pencil)according to their elements: yellow/air,red/fire, blue/water, black/earth. Now dothe same with the elemental shapes or words.Study this map for a few minutes and see

if there is an elemental/colour cluster inany particular direction or if they are fairlyevenly spaced out. Look at those elementalclusters in relation to the magical elementaldirections and the natural homes of magicaltools (sword/east, wand/south, etc). How dothey match or clash?

In your journal, divide the map into foursections. Look at all the different influencesflowing into the space, gender polarities, theelements, the planets, etc. and look wherethe planets and gender influences strength anarea, where the influences compliment eachother, and where they are either too strong ortoo antagonistic. It may take you some timeto work out the subtle combinations and howthose combinations may affect the power thatflows around your working space.If you have a heavy concentration of one

element in a particular quadrant, that couldbecome counterproductive: for example toomuch fire, particularly if you live in a hot place,can bring a volatile element to your work. Asimple remedy for that, when you come to doany magical work in your space, is to place abowl of water in the work space that is rightwhere the fire is. So for example if you have firein the south, and Mars and/or the Sun near orin the south, then you are going to need a bowlof water there.If however you are going to be working

magically with fire, then that is the areain your space to work. If you are a man,ensure you are aware that it might triggerlatent aggression in you. Awareness is halfthe problem solved, and learning to controland channel it through physical work likedigging, running, martial arts, and mediatingit through you will solve the rest (put yourhands on a rock and ‘see’ the fire/aggressionflow into the rock or the land).

So you begin to see how such a map can bevery useful in your magical work. As an adeptit can truly make a major difference to yourmagical work as you learn to gather up andwork with all of that power.If you have the luxury of a dedicated

working space and you can mark the floor,then mark it with the elements in theirpositions, and if possible mark the planetarysymbols on the ceiling, sides, and floor1 etc.That way you stand and work from within themap.

1The floor would show the planets that are below thehorizon.

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If that is not possible, just redraw the mapon a good-sized bit of paper, do it neatly, andhang it on the wall of your working space.

Note: If you live in an area where there is no greenspace fairly close to your work space, i.e. you live ina large, sprawling city with no green space for miles,then as a last resort you can do this in your workingspace itself. But that is a very poor option, as it trulycuts a lot of the pure elemental connections—youcannot breathe the wind indoors, for example.Even if you have to drive out of the city for an

hour or so, do that so that at least you get to feelwhat it is like to connect with the elements out innature. This is very important for the land magicthat you will do later in the course.

So by now you should have a map thatshows the power flows in your workspace.Each direction should be marked with themagical elements in the directions, theelements that express naturally through theland should be marked in the directions, thegender of the land should be on the map,and the planets of your natal chart shouldbe marked around the map as they appearon your chart. Because you are working in atwo-dimensional setting, remember that the‘down’ aspect of your natal chart (below thehorizon) is the north aspect of your workingspace.This map does not become a gospel that you

have to work to; rather it is a tool that you useshould you need it. If, when you come to domore involved magical work, you are findingenergetic resistance for example, then you canlook to the map and see if what you are doingis clashing with the power that flows throughthe space.Similarly, if you are doing some powerful

work and you need every bit of energeticsupport that you can get, then you can look tothe map, see where the strongest powers are,and incorporate them into your work. Thisis something you will learn to do in the laterpart of the course.To get to that standard of work, first you

simply need awareness of what flows aroundyou all the time and to know how to interactwith that flow: this map is the first step of

that awareness. Later you will learn a similartechnique for finding the inner contacts thatflow naturally around the space where youwork, so that you can start to make friendsand communicate with them. You will learnthat there are ‘families’ of beings that clusterin particular land areas, and as a magician youcan learn to connect, cooperate, and work withthem to mutual benefit.

5.7 Working: The ritualcommunication with theland

Note: you will need ten pieces of paper, a markerpen, a rock from outside near your home, and thenrocks, bowls of water and extra candles for the landelements aspect of this work. You will need threegood sized sticks or twigs, or a length of string, anda pin to prick your finger.

The extra rock that you find outside nearyour home is a key element of this ritual, soyou need to choose it carefully. The way to dothis is: walk instinctively around the land withthe intention to find a rock that would be goodas a vessel to work with.It does not matter how big or small it is,

just that there is no resistance in the rock toworking with you. In your mind, talk to therock and tell the rock that you are about towork magically for the good of the land andask the rock if it is willing to act as a vessel andmediator of that work. If you feel no resistance,then you are good to go. If not, and you feelresistance, then put the rock down and go findanother one.It is not the substance of the rock that any

resistance will come from; it is any being thathappens to be residing in the rock. What wecall faery beings, land beings, often take upresidence in rocks and stones.You have to make sure that the rock is not

occupied, and if it is, you need to ensure thatthe occupant is willing to work with you.Having a pissed off faery being in your workspace is not a good idea.You do not need to do this for the other rocks

that will mark out where the earth element is

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in your space, as they will not be directly inter-acted with. Just ensure that you put them backwhere you found themwhen you have finishedthe work. Remember this: if you work withrocks magically and directly, remember thatthere are sometimes beings in those rocks thatcan assist or block your work.

Read through this ritual and note down theelements and planets in the directions that youare going to identify and work with. Inserttheir names into the ritual recitation and writeout the recitations for each direction with theelemental and planetary variants in it so thatyou have a ritual script that is unique to you.(I have only written the recitation for the east;you can do the rest using that same template.)

Warning: the recitations with the innercontacts in the directions are very specific:do not do your own interpretation or add inwords. Through the recitation you ask theinner contact to put into the rock whateveris needful for the land. Should you decideto change “needful” for something else, like“regeneration” or “peace,” you can triggeruntold damage. It is not for you to decidewhat the land needs; that is the job of theinner contact. Do not be arrogant enough topresume that you know what the land needs.

Do this on computer or in your journal, thechoice is yours, so that you have a record of itand can also use it for the ritual itself. If you doit on computer, print it out and place it in yourjournal afterwards.

In your work space, set up the four direc-tional altars and the central one, and then placeupon them the magical elements (fire/south,water/ west, etc.): a candle flame in the southfor fire, a bowl of water in the west, a rockin the north, and just the usual candle in theeast—youdonot need anything for themagicalelement of air; it is all around you. Somemagicians use incense, but that is actually acombination of 3 elements, not one (fire, earth,and air).So each altar will have a candle (which is the

working threshold), and a magical element (sosouth will have two candles at this point).

Now place on the altars the inner localelements that you discovered outside on theland: an extra candle flame in the directionwhere the fire is, a rock for earth, bowl ofwater, etc.Get three sticks or twigs or a length of

string. Remember that south is ‘forwardand up.’ Make the shape of the triangle thatrelates to the gender of the land that you areon and place it around the central flame. Sofor example if the land is female, create adownward-pointing triangle with the ‘down’pointing towards north. If you are on land thathas no gender but has a power dynamic, puton the altar, under the flame, the tarot trumpthat is closest to the description/image youhave of the land.Get ten pieces of paper and draw out the

planetary symbols and their names. Placethem on the floor in relation to where theywould be in the two-dimensional natal chart.Put the pin on the central altar inside thetriangle. Finally, get the extra rock that comesfrom the land around you and place it on thecentral altar inside the triangle. Now you areready to get to work.

Open the directions and gates. Then do theHexagram ritual to tune the space to Divineworking. When you have finished, turn to facethe central altar. Pick up the rock and hold itquietly. Tell the rock you are about to beginworking with it so that any being inside isprepared.

Walk around the directions and then go tothe east altar. See in your mind’s eye thegates opened and an inner contact standingin the shadows of the threshold. Look at theelements depicted on the altar: these will actas a filter for the work. Hold the rock out tothe inner contact (careful of the candle flame)and recite:

“I ask the inner contact at thethreshold of the east to bridge intothis rock whatever is needful for theland upon which I work. That poweris filtered through the elements of air

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and [insert whatever element if any isthere].”

Now stand in silence. See in your mind’seye the inner contact reach out and placesomething into the rock. It may take only afew seconds or it may take minutes. Wait untilthe inner contact withdraws their hand.Recite:

“The gift from the inner contactresides within the rock. The powersof the elements [say them, air and theothers] in this direction fuel that gift.”

Bow, pick up the rock and step back.

If there is one of your natal planets close toor in that direction, moving clockwise, go andstand on the paper with the name/sigil of theplanet (so at the east altar if the planet is tothe left of you/the altar and more than onestep away, do not go against the clockwise flow,work with them at very end of the cycle).Recite:

“I ask the angel of the planetX, whichflows through me in this direction,to help me use my own potential toassist in this work. Help me to findwhat qualities and gifts the planet Xbestows upon me, that I may engagethose gifts in my service.”

Think about the influence of that planetin that direction (i.e. Mars would bring apotential for vitality and energy). Buildup in your mind a shape that representsthat potential, any shape that reflects toyou that energy. Now see yourself withinand surrounded by that shape. See energystreaming into you from the planet andfilling the shape. Cup the rock in yourhands and hold it to your chest. See in yourmind’s eye the rock being brought into yourenergy pattern/field. Let it bathe in thatpattern/energy.

Now move on to the south and repeat thewhole process. Work your way around thedirections, working with the inner contacts,

with the elements and the planets, until therock has been filled by the four inner contacts,and has bathed in each of your planetary influ-ences.

When youhave finished, go and stand beforethe central altar with your back to the north.Cup the rock in your hands and hold it to yourchest. Recite:

“GreatMother,2 bless this rock, that itmay carry back to the land all of thegifts, powers, and energies we havemediated in to it. May the gifts heldin this rock flow out upon the land,and bring whatever is necessary tothis land.

I thank you Mother3 for allowingme to live here. I thank you rock forworking with me and for being avessel, and I thank the inner contactsfor their gifts. May this service begina process of change.”

Now pick up the pin and prick your finger,dripping the blood on to the rock. Hold it backto your chest. Recite:

“I give of myself to the land, to bea part of the family of the land, tobe a brother4 to all beings that liveupon this land for however long orshort a time I will be here. Fatherabove me, Mother below me, beingsall around me, flame of life withinme, please help me to be a part ofthe family of this land and not anenemy or outsider. Guide my hand,my thoughts, my deeds and my eyes,so that I may see, hear, feel, and sensewhen my family needs my help.May my feet tread wisely upon thisland and may the land uphold myfootfall.”

2Or “Father”—use the gender of the land or the nameof the power that flows through the land.

3Or “Father.”4Or “sister.”

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Bow and step back. Leave the candlesburning (make sure they are safe and cannotcause a fire).

Go from this space and take the rockoutside. Let the rock guide you as to where itwishes to be. You will feel instinctively whereit wishes to go. Place the rock down andensure that it is hidden enough that someonewill not randomly pick it up.Before you leave, stand before the rock and

take in a deep breath, and as you breathe in, seein your imagination the sword held in your lefthand, blade down, and the cup in your righthand. Breathe out with intention. Breatheout with the sense that the wind is breathingthrough you. Breathe out with the magicalintention tomediateDivine Breath to thewind.Breathe out as if it is your first breath of life.

Now go back to your working space. Putout the flames in the four directions, but see inyour mind’s eye that the gates stay open andthat the inner flame of the candle still burns.Leave the central flame burning if it is safe todo so (if not, put it out but see the inner flamestill burning).Get a cushion and walk around the direc-

tions until you feel the part of the room whereyou need to be. Put the cushion down and liedown. Still your mind with your eyes closedfor a few minutes, and then allow yourself todrift into sleep or semi-sleep. Stay there forhowever long or short a time you feel you needto be there. Sleep there all night if you feel thatis right.By doing this you are allowing yourself to

bathe in the energy of the work you have justdone, and it will allow your deeper inner spiritto continue working with the rock out on theland. You may find that you fall asleep anddream wildly. If you do, write down what youcan remember of those dreams as soon as youawaken. Do not leave it until later, as you willforget.

When you are ready, get up and blow out thecentral candle. See in yourmind’s eye the innercandles in the four directions going out and thegates closing. Bow and leave the room.

Note down in your journal where youreplaced the stone and what direction it wentinto. Ponder upon the choice of directionthat the stone took, and see if you get anyinspiration as to what the stone is doing:where it wanted to go, what direction it is in,and what it is near will give you clues.Start to keep a close eye on the area and

the happenings in the area. The change, if itcomes, tends to be slow but defined. Whatyou have done is create a small catalyst, agentle nudge of power that triggers a process ofchange. It is like dropping a stone in still waterand watching the ripples move outwards.When I did this work on the land where I

live, the change indeed came slowly but in avery specific way. People who were bad forthe area moved out, people who were good forthe land moved in. Rare local plants started tomake a comeback out of seemingly nowhere.Within three years of doing that work (and

I used to go and talk to the rock regularly,pour water over it, honey over it, etc.) veryrare creatures started to make a comeback. Wenow have a glut of badgers, we have beavershere for the first time in centuries, ravens,eagles, reptiles, rare butterflies—the local landis really changing and renewing itself.This small action is like popping a boil that

has come to a head: it does not take a majorpowerful action. It is often better to do a smallbut well-timed and specific action that is smallenough to not trigger resistance, but magicalenough to awaken the rebalancing process.It also has deeper implications for the

magician: you are learning to start the processof cooperation and giving back with the landaround you. Magic does not flourish in aclimate of control and hostility. But it doesflourish in a space of mutual cooperation,respect and work.Later in your training, you will learn

techniques that work deeper with the landand bring the contact with the land beingsinto sharp and immediate focus. This actionyou have just done opens a conversation withthe land and all the beings that live aroundyou, and brings you into a more aware spaceof how everything around you has life, has

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consciousness and is a family that you are apart of. Guard your land, respect it, tend itand communicate with it.

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Lesson 6

The Metatron Cube and the QuarryMark

Note: you will need paper and pens, and your tarotdeck for this lesson.

The Metatron Cube is a deeply magicalpattern that is profoundly misunderstood andhas been turned into yet another New Agepile of bunkum. If you research the MetatronCube online, you will find a vast array of sitesclaiming everything from “it is the root of allPlatonic solids” (no it’s not, it can contain threeof them only), to “it is the Merkaba vehiclethat can take you to ascension” (again, not it isnot, though it is connected).Sadly this is a result of a combination of

ignorance, a wish to make money from thegullible, and the idea that something deep andmystical can be understood and used at thedrop of a hat to circumvent the process ofspiritual maturation.Humans love patterns. Humans love to

find symmetry in things and then assignmeanings into neat little boxes that make theworld an understandable place. The worlddoes not work like that and in magic, just asin mysticism, there are no easy boxes and noneat digestible packages of ‘truth.’

So why have the Metatron Cube in thiscourse? Moving all the bullshit to one side, thepattern is one that points to a deeply profoundand powerful magical aspect of creation and

destruction. The secrets and keys are not tobe truly found in its pattern; rather it is a sigilin the true sense: it is a map to a stage in theact of Divine creation. That stage in the act ofcreation is something you will observe as anadept and come to understand through yourdeeper angelic work later in the adept sectionof the course.

At this stage of your training, you will notwork ritually or magically with it, so this willbe an easy lesson. And yet it is an importantlesson. Just as I pointed out in a past lessonthat writing by hand in your journal is the firststage in a long process of learning how to workwith power in sigils, so too working with theMetatron Cube in a very simple way preparesthe magician at a deep, subtle level for what isto come.

By learning how to draw and observe theCube, the apprentice slowly begins to embedthe pattern into their consciousness whereit will stay like a seed, ready to flower lateron in your magical understanding. So at thisphase of your training, do not try to discover‘truths’ in this pattern: simply learn it, drawit, play with it, and get to know it. It becomessomething akin to a dream that you cannotfully recall, but tiny flashes still surface in yourmind—enough for you to know somethinginteresting or important was happening as

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you slept.Working with your hands to draw, write,

and create patterns is akin to learning timestables as a child. When I was a kid in primaryschool, the schools still taught mathematicaltimes tables and we had to chant them eachmorning before class. Slowly over three yearswe learned the full tables and we all had asense of great achievement when, at ten yearsold, we moved into the ‘top class,’ into aclassroom that did not have the tables on thewall, as we were expected to now know themall by heart.It was only at that point, when we began

to learn more involved mathematics, that itslowly dawned on us how helpful it was tohave those tables in our heads. This was theera before calculators; everything had to bedone in your head and because of our rotelearning we had our own inbuilt calculatorthat we carried around in our brains. It wasalso at that time that I slowly began to realisethat numbers worked in patterns and workedlogically.So it is with learning magical patterns

as an apprentice. First the patterns aredrilled into you. Some are easier to under-stand than others, but slowly, through rotelearning, you instil those patterns deep inyour consciousness. Later, as you move on toadvanced magic, those patterns reemerge astools, calculators, keys, references, and mapsthat you have instant and deep access to. Firstyour hand learns them. Then your body learnsthem. Then your memory holds them andwaits with them until you cross paths with anangelic being, an inner contact, an inner realm,or a flow of power that is directly related to apattern (or rather the pattern related to them).Suddenly the pattern re-emerges into your

consciousness and you finally make sense ofit as you find yourself standing in the centreof the power that the pattern is a map for.By having the map in your head, you under-stand your terrain better and knowwhat to do,where to go, and can spot the door that youhold the key to.And this is how theMetatron Cubeworks. It

is a sigil and map of a particular flow of power

in a particular inner realm, andwhenyou cometo work as an adept in that place, knowing thepattern of the Metatron Cube will help you tounderstand and interact with the forces youwill stand before.So why is there so much bullshit around the

Cube? Well, humans love bullshit and theylove patterns, so put the two together and youhave the New Age.A good example of this human dynamic can

be observed in the old movie, The Life of Brian.It is silly, dated humour but also very cuttingand profound in its observations of humannature in relation to religion and beliefs. Ifyou haven’t seen it, get it and watch it. Itsmessage directly relates to our stupidity whenit comes to religion and also to magic (whichmany approach like a religion). If you haveseen it, the clamour around the Metatron cubeis akin to the ‘holy shoe.’

So how are we going to work with the Cubetoday? First let’s start by looking at it. Onthe following page is an image of the MetatronCube.

The skeleton of the Cube is the quarry mark,the X with a line running through it. Thatis the skeleton for many magical patterns andtells you that this pattern, which has the quarrymark, is about creation in its celestial stages.The quarry mark is the foundation pattern

for substance. As you will see, there are lots ofshapes to be found inside the Cube andmost ofthem are shapes and patterns used in magic.Many different shapes are harmonic with

this pattern and some are not. That is a disap-pointment to the New Agers who like neatboxes where everything fits. What the “crystallicking dolphin kissers” do not understand isthat nature is profoundly asymmetric in itssymmetry (chew on that one).To work with and understand the Cube,

you do not unravel it like a puzzle; yousimply draw it, repeatedly, and see the variouspatterns emerge out of your drawing. That’sit at this stage—that is all you need to do.And you work with that drawing in a numberof ways to observe passive resonance intoa space. The cube, when drawn properly,

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because it is a charged sigil, will subtly affectthe space that it is placed in. There is nothingdeep and mystical about that, it is just howthese patterns work. So let’s get practical andactually do something.

Figure 6.1: The Metatron Cube

6.1 Task: Drawing and workingwith the Metatron Cube

Draw the Cube. That is easier than it sounds,and there is a particular way to draw it thattriggers the magical embedding and learning.

You can use a set of compass or a largecoin to draw out the thirteen circles. So geta good-sized sheet of paper and map out thethirteen circles. That is the skeleton shapeof the Metatron Cube and it is a foundationquarry mark (which as an aside was used inancient Egypt as a quarry mark).Once you have the skeletonmarked out, then

you need to mark a dot in the exact centre ofeach circle.Now comes the fun bit. You cannot use a

ruler or any straight edge to do the next part;it must be free hand. This again is a baby steptowards the magical creation of a sigil with theuse of your hand—no tool must be used. Thishas a deepermagical dynamic thatwill becomeapparent to you later in your training, and you

will find that the closer you come to magicalbalance and stability, the easier it will be foryou to draw ‘straight’: you learn to draw fromthe depths of your magical being.To get to that stage, you have to go through

the process of learning how to create with justpaper and pen. It is the lines and their connec-tions in this pattern that trigger that process,not the circles. Again, this is something thatwill become much clearer to you later on. Andthat is something that has to evolvewithin you,alone, and by your own hand; it cannot beoutlined to you by someone else.So begin by connecting up the dots with

straight freehand lines. Many differentpatterns will emerge as you draw and you willconstantly find new patterns that are createdby joining up the dots.Once you have finished, sit back and look at

it. Look at it in relation to the ritual patternsyou have already worked with and see howthose patterns interrelate. You will also findpatterns within the patterns. Do not try toforce patterns that do not fit.As you look at the pattern, one thing you

may notice is that in relation to your magicalfour-directional pattern the Cube has noeast/west axis. This is because the Cube isnot about humanity specifically, and does nottrigger the creation/destruction pattern that isinherent in the Divine act of utterance. Ratherthis is a pattern that the utterance passesthrough on its journey into creation. Again,something you will learn far more about in theadept section when you are ready and strongenough to withstand the work.

Repeat this exercise of drawing out the Cubetwo or three times a week for a month, more ifyou wish but certainly no less. Once you candraw it accurately, draw it out on a piece ofcard and place it above your bed. Sleep withthe pattern over your bed (directly over yourhead) for a week and note down any shift insleep or dream patterns.After a week, take it down. Whether or not

it affects you very much depends on varyingfactors including your own sensitivity andwhat else is happening energetically in the

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house. After your sleep exercise, now it istime to experiment. We will do this in a fewdifferent ways so that if you are not sensitive,it will give you a way to explore the energy ofthis pattern from a different angle.

The sleep exercise and the experiments aresomething that you can do while you alsomove on to the next lesson; you can work thislesson and the next one concurrently if youwish to.

6.2 Experiment: Energies

Remember your tarot lesson in module one?Go to your notes in that module’s journal.Remember the readings you did for yourliving space. Identify which area of yourliving space is the most difficult area energeti-cally. It is likely that you have already takensome remedial action to settle that area, so weneed to take that into account. Before you doanything else, do a four-directional reading forthat space and write it down in your journal.

Now pin up the picture you have drawn ofthe Cube on card onto thewall in that area. Pinit up high on the wall in the direction which isthe most out of balance.If you feel that it is unfashionable or will

spoil the look of the house while you do this,get over it. You do not live in a fashion show.If anyone comments, tell them it is a memoryexperiment. Your home is not only your safeplace, it is your ‘magical kitchen’ where youcook and experiment.After twenty-four hours repeat the four-

directional reading for that space and see ifthere is any difference in what the readingtells you about that space. Leave the image onthe wall for a full week and at the end of theweek do a four-directional reading again forthat space to see if having it there for a weekmade any difference. Note it down and thentake the image down.Twenty-four hours after it has beendown, do

yet another four-directional reading to see howthe space has changed now that the patternis off the wall. Also note if there was anydifference in the energy of that space, or inthe house in general, or any odd behaviour of

animals in that space if you have pets. Alsonote down any difficult, out of the ordinarythings that might have happened to you thatweek.Now move the drawing to the area of the

house that shows in the readings you did inmodule one to be the best, strongest, and mostvital area of the house. Again pin it up highand do a four-directional reading for that spacebefore you pin it up, twenty-four hours afteryou pin it up, and then again at the end of theweek before you take it down.

This is a subtle experiment in that you get tosee if and how simply putting a magical sigilor map on the wall can change a space. Somecan andwill, others do not. How a space reactsto a pattern or map depends very much on theland you are on, the house itself, what powersflow through the house, what time of the yearit is, etc.: all the power variables define how aspace reacts to the inclusion of a magical mapor sigil.It can also be an interesting experiment to

put it up in your magical working space fora length of time, positioning it in the south(which is its natural home) and seeing if itaffects how you work magically.Later on, when you are in the midst of adept

training, it can be very interesting to repeat thisexperiment, as your inner senses will be farbetter tuned by that point and you will also bemore conscious of how magical energy affectsthings: you notice the very subtle shifts andactions that would have evaded your attentionin the early part of your training.

6.3 Task: Research

Do some internet research on the image.Because there is so much bullshit about theMetatron Cube, and virtually nothing of anyreal magical sense or clarity, don’t even try toresearch the Cube itself (it will do your headin or you will get sucked into the bullshit zone,which can be very alluring).Instead, search for the foundation quarry

mark, and for the other shapes that emerge outof theCube. Look for them in images of ancient

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texts, wall carvings, temple symbols, sacredarchitecture, etc.Through researching the patterns and maps

that you have already worked with and havebegun to understand, you will be able to spotthe state of magic in a given time and placeaccording to how those patterns were used,and why they were used. Like all things, thiswill not tell you thewhole story, as it is never asgeneral as that. But it will tell you what stagethat civilisation is at.

Each civilisation goes through stages ofdevelopment; rising to a peak and thendescending into degeneracy which thensloughs around in a Dark Age of totalignorance before starting the long climb backto development again. You can track thosestages through the use of magical symbolism,magical art, architecture, religion, and culturalexpression.At present we in the West are on a slow,

painful descent back into a Dark Age. We seethat through the degeneracy and commer-cialism in our magic, culture, and religions.As always in such a dynamic, there is often anopposing force operating within that pattern,and in each degenerate slide can be founda spark of brilliance or a seed of discoverythat will facilitate the next climb. So when inyour research you come up against the use ofmagical patterns in a decaying culture, lookmore closely at some of the art, philosophy,magic and architecture of that time, andbehind the glamorous façade, you will oftenfind new seeds lurking.

In some magical symbols you will see thedeeper magical intention, particularly if theyare used in a new religion. Look at the earlyChristian symbol of the Chi Rho, which is aform of the quarry mark that is a sigil for‘foundation.’ As you research theChi Rho (twoGreek letters) you will find that it is indeed anancient symbol that was co-opted by very earlyChristians and used as a foundation sigil forthe new religion.If you read Plato’s Timaeus (do try andmake

the effort to read it, and if you do, take notesof what ‘ah-ha’s come into your mind), you

will find that Plato alludes to a form of thequarry symbol (the Chi or X) as the foundationof creation, which is exactly what it is. It is theroot skeleton fromwhich a pattern is built (theMetatron cube) which in turn acts as a filterthat sits in between the Divine first utteranceand creation.

It is pointless for me to go into any furtherdepth about this symbolism at this stage inyour training, as it would only devolve intoan intellectual puzzle-solving pursuit, whichis exactly where I do not want you to go withthis. I want you to look, see, recognise, anddiscover—nothing more.Later, as an adept, you will stand deep in the

inner worlds and will see these patterns/mapsin operation for yourself, and have directexperience with the angelic consciousness thatflows through them. That way you will trulylearn what they are about.But as you read Plato and various other

ancient writers, you will realise, eventually,that they too stood deep in the inner worldsand saw for themselves. And that no amountof explanation can sufficiently portray thedepths of power and contact that these signsand symbols point to. It is enough, as anapprentice, that you are simply aware ofthem, that you are aware that most writingsover the last two thousand years about thesesymbols are just intellectual conjecture andreligious dogma in the making, and that youwill truly not understand some of the deepsymbols until you are directly experiencingthem magically.Then you will also understand that they

are merely road signs to something thatcannot possibly be reproduced, boxed, andunderstood intellectually or philosophically.Their purpose is to point the way for thosewho already understand them, to affect thesubstance they are upon, to focus magicalpatterns, and to mark the way for other adeptson a journey. As an aside, the quarry markwas also used in classical texts to mark animportant passage—like putting a star atthe side of text to tell you “this is new andimportant!”

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Spend a good deal of time looking atcultural, religious and magical markings fromthe ancient world and from far-flung ancientcultures. Look in iconography, paintings,books, buildings, jewellery: do not limitwhat you look at. When you find somethinginteresting that catches your eye, even if youdo not know what it is, save it, print it out,or draw it out. Do not bother with moderninterpretations: learn to look and think foryourself.

6.4 Experiment: Modelling theCube

If you are truly ambitious and like makingmodels, get thirteen reasonably-sizedpolystyrene balls and some sticks withsharp points at both ends, and make a 3Dmodel of the Metatron Cube. Again, this isabout playing, creating, and then letting thepattern sink into your subconscious. If yousucceed, string it up somewhere where youcan look at it as you walk past.

Don’t use a computer program to createthe Cube: this is not an artistic or intellectualact; it is about using your actual hands tocreate something. There is a major differencemagically, and you need to know how thatmagical dynamic slowly develops as you useyour hands more and more.

Well that was an easy lesson! This isyour little lull and break after a few heavierlessons—enjoy it while it lasts. Essentiallythis lesson was about two simple things:separating out the bullshit connected to theMetatron Cube, and also learning how to spotmagical patterns, which then allows you toascertain the state of magic in a particularculture and time.

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Lesson 7

Combinations

At this stage in your training, you have lookedat using patterns and working with directionsfrom a variety of different angles. This is toensure that you get a good solid groundingin working with the foundational patternsof magic: the work with the elements anddirections is the cornerstone of magic. Youwill continue to look at the same patterns fromdifferent perspectives, discovering deeperand deeper layers to them, so that when youreally start to engage themmagically, they will‘switch on’ for you.

Attempting to do magic without a goodunderstanding of these dynamics willseriously limit your capacity to do magic,particularly when you come to do visionarymagic, which is a key ingredient in successfulmagic. The directional ritual patterns anchorand give form to the power and innerconsciousness that you work with in magicalvision.

In the next module you will learn aboutthe powers of creation in terms of magic. Tobe able to understand those powers, first youneed to know, from a magical perspective, theroads those powers take in our existence ashumans. These patterns are those roads. Anormal human is pulled along these powerpatterns like a leaf in a fast-moving river;understanding and working with those powerpatterns as a magician allows you to swimsafely and effectively in that river.

The pattern combinations that we are goingto look at, in particular two specific combi-nations, will show you the skeleton form ofthe power patterns behind many myths andlegends. That in turn will enable you to spotmyths that aremore than just tribal stories: youwill be able to identify those myths that tell ofancient interactions with the directional forcesthat flow in and out of the world. You will alsobe able to ritually engage those pattern combi-nations in your visionary and ritual work.

At this point in your apprentice training, itis important that you focus on standing andwalking before you learn to run and jump (andnot doing yourself or others any harm). So wewill look at combinations that do not involvethe future, as that is the aspect of these patternswhere most apprentice magicians make themost blinding and dangerous mistakes. Thosesorts of mistakes are not easily correctedand can have long-term consequences, so fornow you will learn how to operate withincombinations that are grounded, well-used inmagic, and ritually/magically powerful: it isvery hard to move a mountain accidentally.

You will instantly recognise these patternsas they are so deeply established in culturalexpressions, myths, and stories. So be careful,as you read the text before you get to thepractical work, that you do not allow precon-ceived ideas to rise into your mind regardingthese powers. Like all powerful magic, when

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it is described in stories and myths, it is oftensurrounded by dead ends and traps to protectthe truth hidden deep within the myth. Thosedead ends and traps tend to be the outerexpressions of the story.

This is also the stage of training where youwill begin to learn about the expressions ofthe magical tools. You will be learning howto work with the physical magical tools prettysoon in the course, so as an aside, now is thetime to start looking for them. Start planningnow to find a sword that you can afford. Itmust be plain, with nothing written on theblade, no faces, no overt ornamentation, andhave a cross hilt, etc.You need a plain cruciform-shaped sword

that is properly balanced. (Where the handleand the blade meet, hold it there on twofingers. If it balances, you have a good sword.)Start looking, as you will need it a month ortwo from now. Also look for a plain glass ormetal chalice that you can work with. Findone with no ornamentation or imagery on it.

Back to the combinations. We will startby looking at the combination of air/east andwater/west. That ritual combination is knownas the sword and cup or the Cruciform and theCup.The magical pattern of the Cruciform and

theCup is one of the longest-survivingmagicalpatterns known in the Western World. We seethe earliest form of this pattern emerging inthe burials of the Beaker People (from 2900bc)in Europe and the Naqada I people in Qena,Upper Egypt (From 3800bc).Now at this stage we have to immediately

stop and think. Both of these ancient culturesfeatured vessels and blades in their ritualburial patterns. But we do not knowwhy. Andit is really important to realise that we do notknow why, and not try to impose our modernritual understanding upon an ancient culture.It is most likely that these objects were in

tombs/burials because theywere key elementsof survival: a vessel to hold food/water, ablade to hunt and cut with, or an image ofhumanity in the form of a cruciform figurine.1

1Lempa woman from Cyprus—look it up.

It is probably that simple: two main tools forsurvival. But as a modern magician, that initself holds a great deal of interest for me asto the slow, steady of evolution from objects ofsurvival (and therefore of great importance) toobjects that mediate ritual power. We observethose ritual tools evolving to become vesselsfor power, a power that is an octave of survivaland human existence.

Rather than turn this into a history andarchaeology lesson, which is not my intention,we will be focusing on the magical aspect ofthese two implements. We will also not lookat the implements themselves, implementsthat have evolved over time to become theSword/Blade and the cup, as that will come inother lessons when you work directly with thephysical tools.First we will work with the actual forces

that come through these ritual implements,so that you understand the powers that flowthrough them. That in turn will give youfar more understanding when you cometo look at religious iconography and ritualimagery/sigils: you will know what powerthey are alluding to and what process they aredepicting.And before we go any further, a warning

to you about ritual patterns: do not fall intothe trap of wishing to fit patterns that youwork with onto other patterns. In differentcultures you will find similarities in religious,mythological and ritual/magical structures,patterns, and stories. This is often becausethey spring from the same inner source, butalso sometimes they are borrowed.There are only so many patterns that exist,

and we have a common way of approachingthings, discovering things, and organisingthings, so different cultures often come tothe same conclusions in their quest to makepatterns. Trying to fit different patterns ordifferent expressions into some overarching‘truth’ not only leads to fantasy structures, butcan seriously undermine the development ofa magician. Let things be themselves; nod atsimilarities, but leave it at that: don’t theorise,condense, or delve into ancient conspiracy

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theories: it is a waste of time and does notallow you to accept that things just need to bewhat they are. We need to get out of the habitof neatly boxing everything.

7.1 The Cruciform and the Cup

The Cruciform and the Cup refer to twomagical base dynamics: the outputting ofDivine Breath into life, and the Divine Vesselthat receives that life and gives life.Magically at their root they are male and

female respectively. However that is not afixed, dogmatic structure: the gender expres-sions are often reversed according to what isbeing outputted and what is being received.When you come to study the individualmagical tools, we will look at that flip ofpolarity in detail. For now, just file that bit ofunderstanding away in your memory.So let us look at the Cruciform first, and then

we will look at the Cup. Then you will put thetwo together in magical action.

The Cruciform—the breath of life

You already know about the use of the swordin the east and the breath that flows out of theeast, as you have worked with that structure inyour ritual work. But you have not yet workedwith the sword itself. First you need to learnhow to work with the power behind the swordin a practical but simple way. Later on, in theapprentice section, you will learn the deepermagical dynamic behind this power so thatyou will then come to fully understand whythe breath is depicted magically by a sword.

When you work with the breath magically,it can take the form of simply breathing intosomething with magical intent, the use of thevoice in utterance, a song, a chant, or the useof a word to form magical patterns. It can alsobe used to call the wind and storms. Look upthe use of the ankh in Egyptian sacred art: it isa perfect example of the use of the cruciformshape in depicting the mediation of the Breathof Life.The sword is not an extension of that power;

it is a filter that governs how you use that

power, to ensure that you do not overstep asacred boundary in the use of a power that is apart of the cycle of creation and destruction.The magical use of breath, in its most

advanced form, can wreak devastation on aperson, place, or thing, or it can breathe lifeinto something lifeless. The inner and outersword acts as the limiter which helps preventpowerful misuse of this magical dynamic.A historic, mythical version of that action

can be seen in the tale of the Sword ofDamocles. The king holds Divine power andresponsibility, and the sword hangs over hishead, held only by a hair. One misstep orabuse of power brings the sword crashingdown.

For a magician, this dynamic shifts andchanges as they become more adept at magic.In the beginning of training, the sword bringsthrough the power of balance and justice,helping the magician to find their place asa fulcrum in the centre of the elements, andhelping the magician to find balance withinthemselves. It guards the magician fromtheir own stupidity, and guides the magicianforward in learning.Later the sword acts as an engine governor

to the adept, making itself known in visionand through bodily effects when the adept hasoverstepped a mark in magic.

So—back to the breath.The first step towards the adept use of this

power is learning how to use your breath ina magical way, to transfer something from the‘inner’ pattern to outer manifestation: breathboth mediates and elicits change.The magical breath when used by a human

does not ‘create,’ even if it appears to; ratherit triggers a latent pattern into action. Itdraws from what is already forming in theinner worlds and gives it a focused pathwayto externalise in our world, which you thenmediate and release.So for example, you may have already

experienced this in a very minor way whenyou were working with finding the elementsin the directions: the action of breathingout triggering the wind. If that happened to

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you during that exercise, it was not that youcreated the wind; rather you called for itsattention.

The magical use of the breath can takemany forms. The most powerful and hardestto achieve is the breathing of the Breath ofLife into a vessel, an action which enlivenssomething inert. This was part of the magicalprocess used in Ancient Egypt to turn astatue into a vessel or window for a deity.Another form is the use of the breath inchants or making sounds that trigger angelicconsciousness into action in a focused way.Yet another is the recitation of words or sacredlanguages, done with ritual intent, to effectchange in the substance or consciousness ofsomething, or to begin a cyclical unfolding ofa powerful event.One form of working with the breath

magically is to bridge something from theinner world to the outer world, something thatis a catalyst for change. Often when doingthis, the magician has no real idea of whatthey are bridging, only that it is the rightpower or pattern for the job at hand. Thebreath becomes a road that an impulse cantravel down as it passes over the thresholdinto physical manifestation. It is the use ofthe mind and the imagination, the filters thatgive shape to power and energy, that formthe power within the breath into a workingaction. When that is done in combination withthe sword as a ‘governor’ to the human spirit,then it can become powerful indeed.

The Cup

The Cup, as you well know by now, is thevessel that receives (and also nourishes). Acup is limited in what volume it can hold, andthat limitation depends on what substance it ismade from and how big it is.The Cup, like the Sword, is not the vessel

itself, but is the governor of the magicaldynamic of receiving/containing. Throughworking with the Cup in ritual, we learn theenergy dynamics of how a vessel ‘contains,’and the use of the Cup limits the amount of

‘receiving’ power that the actual true vesselcan contain when working magically.So what is the true vessel? A vessel is

anything that can hold and contain. In magicthis can be a stone, it can be water, a body,a womb, a tree. . . anything that is capableof holding energy in a contained way. So atree/rock/body that has a defined physicalshape will hold power in a certain, specificway.Water however does not have the same

physically-defined limitations—and here iswhere it gets interesting. Water carries andcontains, but in a very different and deeperway: it holds information, vibration, and verysmall molecules within its substance as itflows, but it does not have defined boundariesof substance in the way that a rock or treedoes.So it is still a vessel, but a vessel that works

in a very different way to most vessels; and theuse of the ritual vessel, the cup, gives limita-tions and boundaries to the water where ithas none. That is important for a magician tounderstand, so that they choose the right vesselfor the job. Air does not contain in the sameway that water does, but it can move thingsabout and is a good ‘bridge.’ Fire, too, does notcontain, but it transforms.

Air and fire as elementswork in similarwaysto each other, and so too water and earth workin harmonic ways.Air and fire transport and transform: they

are things that bring the future into being.Earth and water contain and condense: theyare things that solidify what has been createdand bridged, and then begin the process ofsending it into the past.Two elements create and give future, two

elements condense and then break down.Only the magician as fulcrum holds thebalance of ‘now.’ So when you as the magicianuse two of the opposing elements, like air andwater, you have a complete cycle. Those twodifferent dynamics are condensed, contained,and filtered through the two root magicaltools.

Let’s get back to the vessel. An example of

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this dynamic can be observed in themythologyof Miriam, the sister of Moses, who carried avessel out in to the desert in the mythical storyof the Exodus.That vessel, depending on which source you

look at, is a cup or a rock,2 both of whichprovide water in the desert.Incidentally, that magical use of the vessel

was in a ‘giving’ action, not a receivingaction. And although the vessel is primarily acontainer in a magical sense, it outputs as wellas receives: it has the power to give as well asto take or hold. In the Midrash, we learn thatMiriam had a stone that followed her in thedesert, and when she sang to it, it gave forthwater. When she died, it dried up.So here we have a simple but well-known

magical dynamic emerging. Air triggering avessel: the combination of air, water, and earth.The air begins the impulse which triggers thevessel to yield its contents. The stone is thevessel which holds the water: do you see thecombination of earth/north and water/westworking together as one magical tool? And itis all hidden away in a story.Note also that when Miriam dies and the

stone dries up, Moses asks God for help. GodtellsMoses to utter to the stone (using the samemethod as Miriam), but he also strikes it withhis staff (wand, fire, future. . . a bad magicaldecision). The east/west magical axis workswell, as does east/north, but using thewand totrigger the stone for water, as opposed to usingmagical air, took away the future ofMoses. Filethat one in the back of your mind and thinkabout it.And this brings me to the other root magical

combination that we will work with and lookat, and that is the combination of the Swordand the Stone.

7.2 The Sword and the Stone

I don’t need to go into the sword again, as wehave just looked at that. The stone, however, isa very important dynamic that is often missedin magic. In modern Western ritual magic,the North is often depicted as a shield. The

2It is a rock in the Midrash.

shield is used as an altar-top and the ritualtools are placed upon it. This really misses thepoint of this foundational tool and reduces theability of themagician to fully engagewith thisdynamic, powerful aspect of magic.The stone is a scabbard for the sword: it is a

vessel that receives the Breath of Life (sword),and unlike the Cup of the West which is also avessel, rather than receive, condense, and giveas the Cup does, the stone holds and assimi-lates.And that holding is a completion. Just as

the Breath of Life reaches its completion inthe stone, so too does the Breath of Life findits home in the completion of an ancestralline. We will look deeper into that later in thecourse. That is the deepest manifestation ofthese dynamics: another thing to file awayin the back of your head for later on in thecourse.From a more direct magical perspective, the

stone is the scabbard/natural home/protectorof the sword; it is also the rock of the ancestors,which in turn is your shield. That is somethingyou have already touched on in your ritualwork, so you should already understand it.

When the sword and the stone are combinedin ritual magic, you have the sword whichgoverns the magical use of breath, and thestone which guards and guides the magicianwho wields the sword: the stone is theelemental expression of the guardian angel, ofthe ancestral line whose shoulders you standupon, and of the female Divinity in substance.It is also the completion of the cycle of life anddeath.When used in magic, the stone/earth

completes the pattern so that it can beexpressed in the outer world. Just as death isassigned at birth, so too a magical pattern, if itis to be stable and effective for its prescribedlength of working time, has to not only haveits path marked out in the future, but itscompletion marked out that will take it intothe past. The end of a cycle must be embeddedin its birth, whether that cycle is life, magic,whatever.So when we look at magical myths that

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work around the sword and the stone, weknow that we are looking at a story of powercompletion, and an energetic tension betweenpast guardianship and the releasing orsuppressing of justice/balance for the future.

In the Arthurian myth, when you wipeaway all the additions and decorations fromthe myth, you are left with this: a sword sitsin a stone. The sword that brings balance isembedded in a pattern of completion. It tellsof a cycle finished, and the sword is held byancestral consciousness until the new cycle isready to begin.The cycle can only begin again when the

sword is taken out of its scabbard, out of itsstone. Once it is removed from the stone, ittriggers a new cycle of the Breath of Life inits journey to bring balance and justice. Thesword cannot be used to shed blood, as it is nota weapon; rather it is a governor of the hand ofthe king (fire, future).So far in the myth, we have the sword

out of the stone and in the hands of a king(fire, future—the south is kingship). It is notbalanced by a receiving vessel (the Grail) andonce it has been used in battle, which happensin the myth, it ceases to be a sword that is thepath for the Breath of Life into substance: it isbroken. Another sword is sought, one that canbe used in battle (the story of Caliburn andExcalibur).The battle sword cannot be usedmagically to

balance the elements or operate within a cycleof completion. The quest for the Grail in orderto bring balance is fruitless, as first the swordof justice must be held—only a sword of justicecan balance the Grail and also fit back into thescabbard/stone. So in the story, the nation isdoomed as the sword of justice is broken andthe grail is missing.

We see remnants of the use of thispattern in the modern British monarchy,a kingship/queenship that works on a landthat is deeply embedded with this magicalpattern.At their coronation, the sovereign holds in

one hand the orb, which is the sword in thestone, the sum total of ancestral knowledge

(completion) within the land; and in the otherthe sceptre, which is the wand that points andopens up the future. The two are kept separatein separate hands, and the power that theywillmanifest in the reign of the sovereign dependson which hand they hold which tool in.

The Arthurian myth tells us about the deepdynamics of the magical tools as they manifestthrough humanity, and how they are misusedand misunderstood. It tells of greatness givento humanity only for humanity to misuse anddestroy it. This is the same story as that of ofMoses and the Ten Commandments, which isalso a sword and stone story.

Moses mediates the utterance (air/sword)from God which is then carved upon/withinthe stone. Moses brings this great gift tohumanity, but it all goes badly wrong, soMoses has to get a much lesser version, aversion that does not have the deep, powerful,and beautiful Divine magic within it.

It is a lesser version which exteriorises thatdeep power of Justice and Balance into a listof simplistic dos and don’ts. The list of rulestells us how to prepare for the deeper powerof the Breath of Life to flow into us, so thatwhenwe are evolved enough, it can flow freelyinto the vessel of humanity. Seeing as we have,as a species, still not managed to live by thosesimple boundaries, chaos continues.

These tales warn us of the breadth of powerwithin these tool/power combinations, andtell us what can go wrong and how to avoid it.

As all magic works in octaves, thesepowerful tales that shaped nations holdexactly the same powers and dynamics asmagic done by a single magician; they arejust different octaves of the same powers.This is why it is critical to look at thesedeeper dynamics at an early stage of magicaltraining, so that you realise you are engagingin something that can have far-reaching effectsfor good or bad depending on what you dowith it.

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7.3 Task: Practical Work

So let’s get down to practicalities. You havealreadyworkedwith the combination of swordand stone in a very simple form. You don’tremember? Lesson five, where you workedwith a stone, going around the directions andworking by putting things into the stone. Thatis the kindergarten version of the sword in thestone. It builds from there.Now we will work with the Cruciform and

the Cup. Working ritually with this methodfor someone else or for the environmentcan have far-reaching, unseen consequences,and although you are an early apprenticeand therefore not yet plugged into power,an apprentice who is a natural magician (anatural mediator of power) can inadvertently,if they misstep, trigger a major reaction acrossthe land or to the genetic line of a person. Soyou will learn this technique first by workingupon yourself.Formany of you, this will simply be learning

a technique that is not yet connected to a powersource, so you are learning the steps before youeventually ‘do the dance.’ However if you area natural magician, it will trigger a response inyour body.Because you are limiting the action to

yourself, within your own fate boundary, itis very unlikely you will trigger any majorresponse, but you will get some form ofresponse—so see that as an added bonus ofthe lesson.If you learn the technique on yourself, you

are far more likely to follow the action of thelesson carefully, so as not to harm yourself.This is akin to learning the sharpness of a bladeby gently touching the sharp edge for yourself,rather than swinging the blade at someone orsomething and killing it. . . and then thinking“oops, that is sharp.”Learn and familiarise yourself with the

ritual and make sure you know the visionaryand recitation steps very well, so that you donot need to refer to notes as you do the ritual.Practice the actions a few times until you feelready to do it properly.

For this ritual you will need a glass of water.

Use a glass you are happy to bury or destroyat the end of the work. Work with the fourdirectional altar patterns, and the altar in themiddle. Do the hexagram ritual first (to tune inDivinity into the space to govern your actions),then do the pentagram ritual to root yourselfinto who you are and what you are. Thatprepares the space and prepares yourself.

Once you have finished, place the glass ofwater on the west altar and remove the centralaltar from the room (you may have alreadytaken it out for your pentagram ritual).Circle the directions and go to the east altar.

Look at the open gates and ‘see’ the innercontact standing upon the threshold. Bow tothem and recite:

“I wish to engage the Divine powerof the Breath of Life, to bring itinto myself to trigger regenerativechange.”

Place your hands upon the altar to steadyyourself and close your eyes. You are going towork in vision.With your mind’s eye, using your imagi-

nation, see the inner contact bow to you, turn,and vanish through the gates. You must standin silence until they return.You see movement through the gates, and it

seems as though the usual mists that obscurewhat is beyond the gates clear. You can nowsee into a library with many shelves stackedwith scrolls and books that stretch from floorto ceiling.You see the inner contact looking for

something on the shelves. The contact picksup a scroll or book and walks back towardsyou.The inner contact walks back out through

the gates carrying the book or scroll. Thecontact walks straight up to you and pushesthe book into your chest. Your body absorbsthe book and you feel the weight of it withinyou. This is the passage of knowledge fromthe inner worlds that is placed into your verysubstance.Next the contact tells you to open your

mouth. You open your mouth wide, and the

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contact blows into your mouth. You take adeep breath in, breathing in the breath thathas been mediated from the inner worlds toyour inner body. Take a physical breath in atthis point in the vision.The contact then points to the west altar

behind you, indicating that you now need togo and work in the west. The contact bowsto you and you bow back both in vision andphysically. The contact retreats back to thethreshold of the gates and will stay there whileyou complete your work.

Open your eyes and take a step back. Turn,and go stand before the centre where the altarwould be, facing south with the north altarbehind you.Stand in silence, and in your mind’s eye

remember how you stood in the centre ofthe directions while doing the pentagram:recover that feeling of being in the centre of allthings. Remember the book within you, andremember the breath that was breathed intoyou. Recite:

“I am in the centre of all things.I stand between the past and thefuture, with the sword to my leftand the cup to my right. I have abook of knowledge within me thatis needful for me to understand, andI have the mediated Breath of Lifeflowing through my body: I am thevessel for the Breath of Life, I amthe sum total of my ancestors. I amthe earth, enlivened with the breathwhich unfolds in the future, andwhich flows from my ancestors inthe past. I wish that the words andbreath within me release whatever isnecessary for my evolution and theevolution of my ancestral line as itflows into the future.”

Walk straight to the south altar, bow toacknowledge the future, and then walk a fullcircle around the directions, finishing beforethe west altar.

Stand before the altar, bow, and place yourhands upon the altar. Close your eyes.

See beyond the gates, through the mists,and see a priestess walking towards you.You notice that she is walking in a river asshe moves towards you. She passes straightthrough the altar and comes to stand beforeyou on your left hand side.Open your eyes briefly, and with your left

hand pick up the cup/glass of water. Hold theglass of water and close your eyes again. Thepriestess places her hand on your left shoulder,as she is going to work with you and supportyou in the mediation you are about to do.With your inner vision, your mind’s eye,

see yourself standing before the altar with thepriestess standing to the left of you, her handupon your shoulder and the glass in yourhand. As you look at yourself, see a strangeyellow light glowing inside of you. It seems tobe filling every part of you. This is the breathand the book within you, still in the elementof air.Focus on the inside of your body, on the

strange light in your body. Have the intentionin your mind that you are going to gather upthat air energy, hold it in your lungs, and thenexpel it into the glass of water. See the strangelight begin to turn, like a circle of stars. Seethe circle of stars get denser as the circle turns,drawing in the light from around your bodyinto a concentrated circle in your chest. Onceall of the strange light is circling in your chest,feel the build-up in your lungs.Take your time. Watch the circling, like a

galaxy of stars in your chest getting faster asit turns, getting more condensed and brighter.Look closely at it. See within the condensedlight sigils, letters, words, and shapes, allswirling around in a tight, circulating light.Take time: watch and observe.

When you feel your body cannot hold it anymore, then it is time to release it. Still workingin vision, you notice that the priestess movesfrom your left side to standing directly behindyou, and holding both of your shoulders.When you get a strong visual image and

sense the priestess upholding you frombehind, bring the glass up to your lips. Takein a deep breath and slowly breathe in a long,

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slow, controlled breath over the surface of thewater in the glass. In your inner vision/mind’seye, see the swirling light power in your chestflow from your chest, up your throat, outthrough your mouth, and into the glass.See the light in the glass turning and

swirling with the sigils, words, and signs inthe light.Put the glass down carefully on the altar

(opening your eyes briefly if you have to),and then see the priestess walk through you,placing her hands over the glass.As you watch, the light in the water changes

colour from yellow to blue, the sigils andwords change into natural shapes, and thewater seems to burst with bright light. Shetakes her hands off the glass, walks throughthe altar, and returns to the threshold of thegates. She turns around and bows. Open youreyes and bow to her.

Now pick up the transformed water. Recite:

“I partake of the river of pastand future, I drink the words ofthe ancients, transformed by thePriestess of the West, I accept theBreath of Life transformed by thewater, that it will bring whatever isnecessary for my evolution: I acceptthe gift unconditionally and withrespect.”

Drink the water slowly.

When you have finished, bow to thepriestess, who then vanishes back into thewest. Go around the directions, starting in theeast, putting out the flames and closing thegates.Put the glass inside a bag or wrap it in a

cloth, take it outside and stamp on it to breakit. Bury the bits.Now go and sleep. Sleep for a few minutes

or for many hours, it does not matter. All thatmatters is that you sleep uninterruptedly andthat you wake when you are ready. This helpsthe power placed within you to settle.

For some apprentices little will happen, asyou are still in the early phases of training:

you are doing this to learn the technique, notparticularly to gain from the ritual. But forsome apprentices this will act as a catalystfor major change, a change that can comesuddenly or can unfold over months or evenyears. The change will be to do with yourprocessing, working with, and understandingknowledge.Knowledge has been placed within you, and

then it was mediated into water, transformed,and reabsorbed. It was woven in with theBreath of Life, so the knowledge containedwithin youwill slowly unwind and reveal itselfas and when you need it.I did a version of this many years ago and

what was placed within me was many books.This was before I started writing. Not longafter, I wrote my very first book (a novel,terrible it was). That process of starting towrite triggered the inner books within me,and they have served as a wellspring for mywork for a long time since.Another way this can manifest is that you

start to make and understand magical connec-tions, understandings, and patterns that youcould not grasp before.Essentially, this ritual triggers a download

of magical knowledge that can slowly unwindwithin you, supporting your learning as youstudy. Sometimes what is put within youhas nothing to do with magic but is aboutsomething else, but the same principle applies.One thing that is common with all manifes-tations of this power: what comes out is notonly for your own evolution; it is also for theevolution of your family in the future, be theyyour own children, or the children of others inyour bloodline.

What you do need to know is that thisritual action is not just about learning magicalknowledge; that is a side product of this work.What you have learned is how to draw upon

the power of air, inwhatever form that can takethat you happen to be working with, and youlearn how to contain it within you, transfer itinto a vessel that governs it, and then retakeit into yourself as the final vessel for it. Thataction moderates the air power so that your

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body can take the air power in without it beingtoo powerful or disruptive to your health.

That dynamic that you were introduced toin the ritual process is one of filter and focus.You asked for the Breath of Life to bring regen-eration to you. That was in your first recitationin the ritual. Then that recitation was filteredin two ways: first as the formation of a bookfrom the Inner Library (something you willlearn about in a future lesson) and then it wasalso filtered through the inner contact, whichmodifies it. Eventually you will learn to takein the breath from the whirlwind: the pureelement of Divine Breath.The request for regenerative air, filtered

through the book and the contact, ensuredthat the form the breath would take as itexternalises in your life will be throughdeep knowledge embedded within you. Theknowledge passed on to you will unravelthrough your learning process and is a deeperform of the knowledge mediation that youhave already experienced in a previous lessonthat prepared you for this (remember?).The form that the knowledge took in the

ritual is drawn from the Inner Library, whichholds all knowledge accessible to humanity.But your body would need some help toprocess this level of mediation, as it is a morepowerful way of taking the power of air intoyourself. So you worked with a contact inthe west. You had to externalise the powerand reform it with the help of the priestessfrom the west, so that it would not only bemore accessible to your mind, but less likelyto aggravate your body.Taking in this level of air power in the form

of knowledge can impact your body quiteprofoundly, as I learned in my younger days,so it is necessary to work with inner contactsto modify the power in order for your bodynot to react to it.

If this process worked for you, you will findit easier to absorb and process knowledge andto recall it. You may also find that you ‘know’something without knowing how you know.If the process did not work for you—and

you will not know that for certain until a few

months have passed—don’t worry about it.The whole point of this lesson is not for theritual to work, but for you to learn the ritualand let the deeper implications around it sinkin to your consciousness at a deep level.If it does work, that is an added bonus.

You will be revisiting this process again inthe future in different ways, and there willbe plenty of opportunity for success with it.You get what you need when you need it, notwhen you want it!Keep a diary in your journal or notes on

your computer, just outlining any observa-tions you make around any shift in how youprocess knowledge. Also list any minor bodilyreactions to the work, and any dreams thatsurface within days of doing this work.

7.4 Task: Research

Go online or visit a good library and look atimages of different kings, queens, pharaohs,and deities. Look for the combinations ofcup/sword, or cup/sword/stone, or orb(stone and sword), wand, staff, sceptre, oriconography of a deity stood in a cruciformshape in a cup: start with looking for theicon of the Theotokos as the Mother of God of theLife-giving Spring or Life-giving Font.Look in Christianity, at medieval coronation

paintings; look at Egyptian, Mesopotamian,Roman, and Greek images; and look for themagical tools. Pay particular attention to thecombinations of the tools, what hands they arein, and what is around them. Put together alittle file or scrapbook so that you can return tothis research. Don’t try and reason too much;just let ideas filter into your head.Later youwill revisit these images when you

understand more about the tools, the innerpatterns, and powers, and it will give you awholly different understanding as to what theimages are depicting. That in turn will tell youa lot about the magical power worked with ina particular culture, and you will be able totrackwhat went wrong (it always goes wrong),when, and why. That knowledge will informyour own evolution.

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Lesson 8

Natural Patterns of the Land

At this stage of the course you have lookedat foundational ritual patterns, the magicalelements, the natural local elements, and youhave also worked with the foundations ofvisionary magic. Now it is time to pull thesevarious skills together in order to learn howto work with the landscape, and with thosebeings within the landscape that are a part ofthe land upon which you live.We will start by looking at what major

features are on the land which surrounds you.If you live in a large city, you may find thatthese features are still there on the land, oryou may find that you have to reach beyondthe city to connect with them.When I say features, I mean rivers, lakes,

hills, mountains, forest, plains, desert, caves,burials, etc. Some areas are littered with thesefeatures and some are not: some people livein cities surrounded by mile after mile of flatgrassland, whereas others are nestled betweenrivers and mountains. Whatever surroundsyou will have power and contact within it, andyou need to learn what is there, even if it ishidden, so that you can engage and work withit.

Many magicians, particularly ritualmagicians, fail to understand just howimportant these features are to their magicalwork: they operate in isolation to everythingaround them. This isolationist approacheventually limits the magician severely, as

these natural features, and the conscious-nesses within them, play a major role inadvanced magic. They can also becomeexcellent co-workers in your magical work ifyour work is compatible with their existence.In return, the magician helps and workswith the consciousnesses of these features tomaintain a harmonious relationship betweenthe land and the magician—it is always giveand take.

To discover what is around you, you canuse Google Earth, OS Maps, or any similarsoftware.How far do you look beyond your own

home? How long is a piece of string! Amountain that is forty or fifty miles away islikely to have an influence on where you are,whereas a river a similar distance away isunlikely to have any effect on your immediatearea.To gauge what has an effect and what does

not, draw out a simplemap, marking the direc-tions, andmark what is there in each direction:burial grounds, underground cave systems,hills, rivers, etc. Go as far as you need to go inorder tomark a feature in each direction and inthe cross quarters.Once you have that map, then look up

any local faery tales, myths, legends, and oldstories connected with any of those features orthat focus on a specific area around you.

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If you are lucky, you will find local legendsabout a cave, a hill, a river, etc. and the talewill give you clues as to what is going onin that feature. Just be wary of taking thestory literally, as they were often slantedtowards a Christian agenda to warn peoplefrom connecting with what would havepossibly been a Pagan site of focus. That is lesscommon in newer societies like the USA, andmore likely in old, established societies in (forexample) Europe.And do not assume that a natural feature

will connect happily with you: the land beingsthat inhabit these places are sometimes inter-esting and good to work with, and sometimesthey are hostile.

Some features will have just the naturalconsciousness of that land and others willhave more formed, conscious beings whomyou can interact with.So for example you may find an old tree

that has a wonderful feel to it and that you canconnect easily to, but it has no humanesquepresentation or form of communication thatyou can easily interact with. Other timesyou will find features that have inner beingsresiding within or around them: land beingsand faery beings often inhabit these places,and they will either work happily with you orthey will be hostile to you, or a bit of both.Remember; you are treading into uncharted

territory, so use your common sense. Even ifa contact is mildly hostile, gentle forays intocommunications can turn that around and youcan still make enduring friendships: just beaware that some powerful beings always needto be treated with caution. It is like makingfriends with a tiger: don’t do the Disney realm,use your brains.

Here is an example. When I lived inTennessee, I lived near an area upon whichwas the Bell Witch Cave. This is a famouscave that is said to be haunted by a witchwho would attack people. There are manyfamous stories about her. So I decided to goand investigate, introduce myself if it wasappropriate, and see for myself what wasthere.

The first thing that struck me was theidea that the contact was limited to the cavewas complete bullcrap. That whole area ofland had a very strange feel to it. I wentinto the cave, went around the surroundingcountryside, into the local graveyard, and justpottered about, trying to get a feel of what wasthere.The first thing I can tell you is that it is no

witch that lives there—in fact, it is not humanat all. And it was not one person/being. Thewhole area was inhabited by strange faerybeings that were not overly impressed byhumans and were mildly hostile.There was also an overarching

consciousness there, female, that had asimilar feel to a deity, but it was not a deity: itwas a powerful female land consciousness thatwas highly intelligent and did not particularlylike humans, as they were disrespectful to her.This type of consciousness is often the

foundational aspect of a local land deity,in that the form of the deity is a human-constructed interface that then allows thebeing and the humans to interact.With a being like this, it is possible to open

a dialogue, perform a careful exchange ofgifts, and establish a mutually respectful andbeneficial working relationship, so long as onetreads very carefully and is always mindful ofbeing respectful.

Sometimes the contact in a feature is verypowerful and destructive towards humanity.Sometimes that is because of the behaviour ofthe humans in that area, or it can be becausethey are just not compatible with our speciesand tend to be either hostile or predatorytowards us. Some just ignore us.You need to be aware of these types of

consciousness when you work as a magician,so that you do not antagonise or confrontthem with your magical work. It is better toidentify them, tentatively reach out to them inrespectful friendship, and tiptoe around themas you work. After all, they have been herefar longer than we have and we are in theirbackyard, not the other way around.If you are lucky you can fall across a

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consciousness within features that is verycompatible with humans, is not hostile, andis very willing to work with you magically ifyou are willing to work magically for them onoccasion.This can slowly build into a long-term

working relationship that is mutuallybeneficial: they can provide guardianship,warnings about storms or large dangers, andthey can teach you land magic—and theyoften become very protective towards you.In return you can take gifts (honey always

goes down well with everyone), sing to them,move things for them, plant things for them,look after the creatures around them, or workin vision with them in various tasks.

So let’s get straight to the practicalwork. Youwill work in vision and then youwill go out onthe land. So plan this lesson’s practical workin a schedule that will allow you to visit atleast one site within seven days of doing thevisionary work.If you only have one feature that is dominant

in your land area, work with that. If you havemore, visit as many as possible in vision andthen physically visit them in turn. You can alsouse these techniques tomake contact with landpowers in areas that you are visiting.

8.1 Task: Visiting the site invision

The first step in this work is to go in vision andconnect with the site. Sometimes it is betterto visit physically first, but there are manytechniques wrapped into this lesson whichwould dictate that you work first in visionbefore you visit the site. You will learn why asyou go along.

This is your first real foray into vision workin this course. Learn the steps in the visionlike a story until you know all of the stepsand points of contact; then do the actual visionitself.Do not second-guess yourself or try to prove

anything to yourself, just work in your imagi-nation, which is your tool to interface withbeings: through your imagination, you will

learn to use your mind as a form of commu-nication and as a form of travel.Don’t worry that it is ‘all in your head’—you

will become aware at some point in your visionwork, now in this lesson, or in a future lesson,that you have broken through into workingoutside of your own sphere. Don’t force that, itwill come in its own time. Don’t intellectualiseover things or try to self-limit—learn to let yourimagination take the reins.

Get the map you have drawn of yourlandscape’s different features. Mark out thedirections, and also mark on the map what thelocalised elements were that you found in yourlesson on finding the gender and elementalpowers in your local area. Look at this mixof information and see if anything strikes youabout the relationships between the features,the gender and the elements.Ensure that you have time and space to work

without being disturbed. As an experiencedmagician you would either just sit and do thevision, or you would go to the site, sit down,and visit in vision while also being physicallythere. But we are going to use a method thatis important for you to learn and work in away that builds magical muscle: this is not justabout doing something, it is about learning aspecific skill set.

Choose the first place or feature you aregoing to visit, and know which direction it isin relative to where you live. Have your mapwith you and place it before you. Work in yourritual space with the four directional altars (nocentre altar for this), and start by lighting thedirections and opening the gates. When youhave opened the gates, do the pentagram ritualto tune yourself and the space to work.Now sit down in the centre of the direc-

tions. Close your eyes and do a few minutesof stillness meditation until you feel ready towork.You are now going to work in vision, similar

to the exercise you did in module one. This iscalled visionary work: it works through yourimagination.Before you start, with your eyes closed,

imagine yourself looking at the map. See if

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anything stands out: is there a bright spot?If you do see anything, just file it away inthe back of your mind and when you havefinished your vision work, mark down on themap what area lit up.

Now see yourself stand up out of your bodyand walk to the altar that is in the direction ofthe feature that you are going to visit. Bowbefore the altar and then see yourself walkthrough the altar to the threshold of the gate.Stand on the threshold of the gate and

declare (in vision but also use your physicalvoice, with your eyes still closed):

“I am going to visit X1 with theintention of paying my respects andintroducing myself.”

As you look through the gates, see the landoutside your house that is in the direction ofthe gate you are stood in and the direction youintend to explore.Step through the gate and find yourself

outside your home. Set off walking in thedirection of the feature you are going to visit.If it is a long way away, don’t worry about that,just keep focus on the place that you are goingto.

As you walk and look at the land, houses,roads, whatever is around you, you notice thatthey slowly start to fade away as you walk, andnature takes over more and more.You walk and walk, and find yourself

walking in a changing landscape, where thefootprint of human habitation and farmingvanishes, and the land takes on more andmore of its primal nature.You may find that you have to climb over

rocks, or push through brambles, dense under-growth, or high grass, or swim through waterthat is not normally there. Nature seems tomake the path hard for you and you struggleto get to where you are going, while keeping aconstant focus upon your destination.This period of walking may take some time:

look for creatures, birds, animals, insects, andanything else lurking in the shadows as you

1Mountain, river, whatever.

walk, but do not stop, do not be diverted fromyour path: stay very focussed as to where youare going. Do not rush this part: take yourtime.

When you finally get close to where you aregoing, stop for a moment and look around.Take note of what is around the feature, whatother land features are there, or any animals;anything that catches your eye.Now look up. Even though it may be

daytime, you can also see the stars. One ortwo particular stars may catch your eye. Lookat them for a moment: they are connectedto the land feature you are about to connectwith. Keep an awareness of those stars as youcontinue to walk.

Take a few steps closer to the feature andkneel down. Place your hands upon theground so that they sink into the earth. Asthe land feels you out, tell the land who youare, where you live, who your family is, andwhat you intentions are: to learn, to connect,to be respectful and to serve if that is neededor wanted.Now kneel closer to the land and place your

forehead upon the land. Be still. Listen tothe land by feeling through your emotions andimagination. Howdoes the land feel about youbeing there? Take your time and just allowyour own spirit to feel into the land, and forthe land to respond. You may or may not get aresponse.Nowget up. Start walking again towards the

feature—and sing as you go. Sing a song youremember from childhood while also keepingyourmind fixed upon the feature ahead of you.

Something or someone steps out of nowhereonto the path before you. This is the guardianof the site. Do not try to form the image in yourmind. It may be very clear or it may just be afeeling. Don’t try to force anything, just let thecontact be itself. Again, repeat your intention:to make contact, to be respectful, and to be ofhelp if it is needed.The contact will come right up to you and

check you out, or if it is a strong contact, theymay ask you questions. Just answer truthfully,

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always. The contact will then either tell youto leave, or will guide you forward. If they tellyou to leave, go straight back theway you cameuntil you see the gate into your room. You willhave to try again with another feature.

If they lead you forward, walk with themand answer any questions that rise up in yourmind.When you reach the feature, and the

guardian stands to one side, you will findyourself before the feature, and out of thefeature will come either a human or animaltype shape, or you will simply get a senseof a conscious energy. Tell them about whoyou are, and use images in your mind toshow them that you are trying to learn howto live and work on the land as a responsiblemagician.When you have done that, wait for an

answer, which may come as a conversationor as thoughts/feelings/senses. When theexchange is over, do not go into the feature,even if you are invited. Politely decline andthank them. Tell them you will return in yourbody soon and that you will bring gifts.Bow, turn, and go back the way that you

came. Retrace your path until you see the gatebefore you that you stepped through.Step through the gate and through the altar.

Stop and look back; youmay see that either theguardian or another being has followed you.Bow to them, then go back to your body and sitinto yourself. When you are ready, open youreyes.

Write down everything that you saw, usinga computer, andwhat impressions and interac-tions you had of what happened.Once you have done that, go back to your

ritual space and go around the directions,closing them all down except for the directionthat you visited. Blow out the candle in thatdirection, but see the gate stay open. Within aweek of doing this work, as soon as you can,go and visit the site physically.

8.2 Task: Visiting the sitephysically

When you are ready, it is time to go and visitthe site. Take with you gifts of honey, choppedup fruit (like grapes or apple chopped intosmall bits), and take a pin to prick yourfinger. Leave your phone in the car or turn itoff—work without distraction.When you get to the site, take your time

walking about it to get a feel of it and also toallow the land to adjust to your being there.Find a spot where you can sit and not bedisturbed. Still yourself and sit quietly. Justlisten and observe nature around you: watchthe birds, insects, spiders, etc. all doing theirwork.

Once you are nice and quiet, remember theguardian and retrieve the image or feel of theguardian: focus on the guardian and on noother thoughts. Ask permission in your mind,and also using your voice, tomake contactwiththe spirit of the site/feature.Observe any changes around you, any birds,

insects, or animals that appear around you,and be respectful to them (like don’t squish aspider that appears at your feet, for instance),as they are all children of the site.Close your eyes and retrieve the sense you

had in vision of being before the spirit of theland there. Once youhave a sense of that being,or can imagine a shape or image for that being,then once more introduce yourself.Take the pin and prick your finger. Squeeze

the blood onto the ground and once more tellthem about who you are and who your familyis. They may or may not appear to you invision; don’t worry if they don’t, but if they doand you get a sense of their power, and whatthey are, ask if they would be willing to let youlearn how to work with the land as a magician.If you do not get a visionary connection,

don’t worry: sometimes the first connectworksin other ways, particularly if you are not yetskilled in vision work. Sometimes it is justa feeling, sometimes it presents through thebirds and creatures, or the wind.

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Get up and find a safe place to scatter thefruit bits and to pour the honey. The fruit is forthe birds and creatures, and the honey is for thebeing/land. Speak out loud, saying that youwish to learn how to work with that land andthat you are willing to help the land/spirits inany way that you can.

Move away from where you put the gift andhave a wander around. Watch the ground foran interesting stone or a curious stick: if thereis something there for you to take away andwork with, it will stand out for you.At this stage, various different things can

happen (and take your time in this place, don’trush around, often the contact needs time tounfold). You may find an interesting stone,stick, bone, or feather, or you may come acrossan injured creature/bird which is presented toyou for help. Or you may have an encounterwith a bird, insect, or creature: these are alldifferent, subtle ways that the land can reachout to you.I have had times when virtually nothing

happened, and other times where astonishingthings happened. It all depends on the powerof that land, the willingness of the contacts tocommunicate with you, and whether there isa need within the land spirits to connect witha human magician.

As you wander around, pick up any trashthat you find. This is a really powerful thingand is something very few magicians thinkabout.Trash can sometimes be annoying but

harmless; other times it can devastate an areain terms of damage to wildlife, and physicalobjects are not things that spirits can pick up,but humans can. The simple act of takinga bag out with you and picking up trashwhenever you find it is a major service. Thissimple act tells the local spirits that you careand are willing to maintain an area.Visiting a site regularly andpicking up trash,

and leaving food for the birds, are all simple,undramatic actions that you can take whichmake a big difference and are a form ofmagicalservice to a land. Later you will learn ways ofworking magically to help an area be properly

maintained energetically, and this in turn willlead to friendships with local beings who willwork magically with you.

When you have finished your visit to the site,(stay a while, sing to the land, hang out, laydown and sleep, or just wander about) keep adream diary over the coming days and weeksto see if the spirits of the site reach out toyou in your sleep. Sometimes you get veryclear communication dreams; other times itcan trigger strange dreams that make no sense.Don’t worry about that, just write them downand keep a record that you can go back to inthe future.

Learning to connect with the nature aroundyou is a very powerful and ancient magicalworking method, but because most humanshave been cut off from nature for so long itwill take time to re-establish lines of commu-nications. Take it slow and steady. Adopt asite, go and visit regularly, hang out, watch thebirds, let things talk to you, and slowly build arelationship with it.When the time is right, which could be

straight away or may take time, the land spiritswill slowly start to connect with you andshow up in visions, magical workings, anddreams. Birds will come and visit your home,and things will start to change around you.Sometimes if the site is very powerful you mayget quite immediate communications and ashift in your early magical work. Whicheverway it goes, just go with the flow and use yourcommon sense.

If you come home with a feather, stone,stick, bone, whatever, place it on the altar ofthe direction that the site is in. Don’t placethem according to the pattern of magical tools(stick/south, feather/east), because they arenot magical tools; rather they are gateways tocontact.Through the object, you can maintain a thin

line of connection to the site, and by havingit on the altar when you work it will alert theland beings at the site that you are workingmagically, which in turn will let them knowthat youmay be someone worth working with.

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You can use the object as a way to strengthenthe contact if you sit with it in your handduring a meditation. You can also use it as afocus to continue visiting the site in vision.

Visit the site in vision once a month, usuallynear a full moon, using the same pathway thatyou used in the above vision. Go, say hello,ask if there is anything they need, observe,listen, communicate, and then come back.Don’t go and dump on the site by tellingthem your problems, or asking them stupidquestions (can you tell me about god, or howto get power). And physically go to the siteonce a month or more, clean it up, hang out,take gifts, and just chill out.Eventually you will learn to step into the

inner magical realm of these land beings andcommune with them directly in a powerfulway. You will also learn to work with thecreatures of a site, learn how to look throughtheir eyes, to read the weather from the waythe land and creatures act, and that in turnwillteach you how to work with the raw elementsof nature as magical tools and co-workers.

I wrote a book specifically about naturemagic called Magic of the North Gate. Thismight be a good time to get that book andread it. It goes into depth about various waysof working with nature, and I will not berepeating those methods in this course (asthere is no need to, it is already in the book).Instead the course will look at nature magicfrom another angle, so that, along with whatis in the book, you will get a whole tool kit ofnature magic techniques.Keep good records of your interactions and

experiences with nature, and these notes canbe on computer, it is not necessary for these tobe handwritten.

8.3 Module Two Summary

By now you have learned the base foundationskills of ritual, tarot, vision, and patterning,and you should be practising these skillsregularly. You have also begun the process,through writing a journal, of learning how touse your hand to transfer power into a sigil or

a word. These baseline skills are a rock thatyou stand on in magic.Magical training is not about learning an

endless ream of rituals and incantations, nor isit about owning tons of grimoires: that is thesign of not knowing how magic works.In reality, the magician has an under-

standing of base structures and techniqueswhich is often not a large base, but animportant one. From there, the magicianlearns about all the different powers, beings,realms, and actions which inform them aboutwhich base techniques to use when, whereand why.

This module that you have just finishedtaught you about basic patterns and howthey work. From that understanding, youwill slowly learn how to construct your ownunique working patterns that are individualto you, but most importantly, because youare learning the actual nuts and bolts ofpatterning, any pattern you do create in thefuture will work and will work well.

The next module is about deep innerpowers. It might seem an early point intraining to introduce these powers to you(don’t worry, you will not be dipping your toeinto the magical depths yet) but without anunderstanding of these power dynamics youwill not fully understand some of the magicaltechniques that you will learn in modules fourand five.You will be introduced to these powers of

creation through reading the texts, and then byapplying various methods of engagement thatwork from the baseline of the physical worldof your own life before you later go on to learnhow to engagewith themdirectly in the depthsof the inner worlds: that is the work of anadept.

Make sure that you have by now establisheda rhythm of work in which you are practisingthe rituals and techniques that you havealready learned and that you need regularpractice with, while also studying a newlesson.

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If you are getting to a stage where questionsare arising for you in your training, do notseek to find answers from me or anyone else.Simply write down those questions and thinkabout them. Come to your own solution andconclusion for now, as you really do have tolearn to make steps, decisions, and discoveries(and mistakes) on your own.

Well done for getting to here and not givingup. Practice your rituals until they are secondnature: you will need that skill in the workthat is to come. You are making major leaps,probably without realising it, and while youare learning those base techniques you are alsolearning how to mature as a spiritual being.Well done!

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