December 22, 2013 by Purnacandra Sivarupa Books That Blew y ind! "#nitiation #nto $ermetics% Be kind, &riendly and lenient towards your &ellow man, but but unrelentin' and pitiless with yoursel&( ) *ran+ Bardon #ve already written about #nitiation #nto $ermetics and Bardons corpus 'enerally -P. / T, but # did so &rom & rom a purely practical practica l standpoint( ow, #d like to speak more personally pers onally(( 4t the time # discovered *ran+ Bardon, # was &airly invested in the black ma'ic and demonolo'y o& various .uropean 'rimoires( # had been in the habit o& invokin' and evokin' various demonic powers, and had no scruples when it came to usin' these &orces to do harm to those who annoyed me, or even doin' so &or money on behal& o& others( #t was as # reached my depth in this area that # met and be&riended a 'uy named 5hris6 he had been practicin' &rom Bardon on and o&& &or a while, and had seen some results( 7ut o& respect &or my new &riend -who is, to this day, like a brother to me, # picked up the Bardon books and read them a bit, but ended up 8ust shelvin' them &or a while, as they did not really speak to me( ot more than two to three months later, # &ound mysel& 9uite unwillin'ly under'oin' what academics insu&&iciently call "visionary e:periences%( ;ithout 'ivin' personal details, # was ur'ently shown the error o& my ways and, merci&ully, shown a way out o& the hole which # had du' &or mysel&( 4s part o& my remedial curriculum, # was to immediately take up the work o& *ran+ Bardons Bardons #nitiation #nto $ermetics( $erme tics( 4nd that # did, with 'usto( Bardons was one o& the &irst books on occult practice which # had encountered which was as uninterested in abstractions as it was devoted to 'enuine spiritual < and not merely psychic < un&oldment( Bardon had no time &or any doctrines beyond those strictly necessary to make sense o& the practical e:ercises( =iven the si+able heap o& tan'led mental patterns with which # had to deal be&ore any si'ni&icant &orward pro'ress could be made, this was precisely the stripped>down, essentials>only method that # needed6 #, &rankly, had no room in my head &or particulars( 4nd ri'ht &rom the be'innin', ##$ did the 8ob( The knots and tan'les o& my soul be'an to come undone( o doubt, this is a &ri'htenin' process( 7n not a &ew occasions, # was 'ripped by mental &ear, buried in an'er, entrenched in sloth6 but Providence is with one who takes the ;ay ;ay seriously, so # was able to persist( ;hile &ar &rom reachin' instant enli'htenment or &ree+e>dried per&ection, within a year o& be'innin', # &ound my temper coolin' and overall sense o& sel&>mastery and understandin' increasin'( Soon enou'h, # &ound mysel& drawn to those doctrines necessary to delve more deeply( Thou'h he never says so directly, directly, it is clear that Bardons Bardons whole method is based in the cosmolo'y and theolo'y o& 5orpus $ermeticum, directly or indirectly( Bardons Bardons opus thus serves as practical coursework &or the doctrinal teachin's o& classical $ermetism, within a modern occult &ramework( But 5orpus $ermeticum is an entry &or another day( day( *ran+ Bardons $ermetic ?o'a ?o'a < Part 1! #nitiation #nto $ermetics y &irst serious &oray into spiritual practice was #nitiation #nto $ermetics -##$ by *ran+ Bardon( # had studied and practiced ma'ic and meditation be&ore then, but the &ire o& devotion was &irst
kindled by the =erman>5+ech ma'us o& Troppau>7pava( *or those un&amiliar with his written works, Bardons system o& trainin' re9uires ri'or, discipline, and constant sel&>appraisal6 in short, it is very hard work, almost a &ull>time 8ob unto itsel&( 4nd, yet, it is also very accessible, structured in a step>by>step sel& study pattern which means that anybody with the necessary dedication can make it throu'h( ;hen # discuss Bardon, people o&ten ask me < 'iven that # am now a Saivite $indu and practitioner o& ?o'a, and no lon'er identi&y as a $ermetist < "$ow &ar did you 'et@ Did you 'et to step 10@% y answer! # 'ot to step 10, and am still there( # have met a &ew who have claimed to have "completed% the tenth and &inal step, but was never convinced( The tenth step is &ocused on reali+in' &inal Anitive eali+ation, and that is not the work o& a &ew years, not does it leave ones personality as e'ocentric and obsessed with "ma'ical powers% as when one be'an( #& anythin', Bardons #nitiation #nto $ermetics < when practiced with patience, dili'ence, and sincerity < will prepare you &or and lead you toward wherever your true spiritual home may be( 4lon' with ##$, Bardon has two other -completed books, as well as some supplementary material -which # will brie&ly describe later( 4lto'ether, Bardon presents the closest thin' we moderns have to a &ull and well>'raduated $ermetic ?o'a( o so>called $ermetic ma'ical lod'e system # have encountered comes close, and all would do well to incorporate at least the &irst three or &our steps o& ##$ to their own pro'rams( The three primary techni9ues at the core o& ##$ are concentration, detailed sel&>analysis, and "pore> breathin'%6 and its three principle sta'es o& advancement are -in ascendin' order "elementary e9uilibrium%, ma'ical powers -siddhis, and &inal Anion -nirvikalpa samadhi( To any student o& ?o'a, all o& this should sound 9uite &amiliarC Bardons pore breathin' techni9ue is really a simple pranayama in which natural, diaphra'matic breathin' is paired with active ima'ination -visuali+ation o& colors, kinesthetic sense>control &or strai'ht&orward ener'y work( This, intense concentration, and radical sel&>knowled'e &orm the basis o& elemental e9uilibrium( This e9uilibrium is akin to the ethical &oundations o& ?o'a -yamas and niyamas in that it is not e:pected to produce a per&ected personality on its own, but rather to act as a solid &oundation &or deeper e:ploration and improvement( The 'oal o& elemental e9uilibrium is not to erase all ne'ative tendencies, but rather to balance ones inner resources such that no one o& the &our 'ross elements -and the behavioral tendencies which they produce are able to 'et out o& control( ;hen properly established, e9uilibrium allows &or real sel&>discipline, clear thinkin', healthy emotions, and the be'innin' o& authentic intuition( *rom here, trainin' be'ins in earnest toward deep process control within ones own psychic system and, by e:tension, ones environment( This is the be'innin' o& ma'ic( ust as in ?o'a, thou'h, Bardon makes e:plicit that ma'ical powers are not to be abused &or personal 'ain, but used as milestones &or measurin' pro'ress and then let 'o6 i& deliberately retained at all, they are only to be deployed &or "aid to ailin' humanity%( 4t step E, once elemental e9uilibrium is &irm and several siddhis have been un&olded and transcended, one may be'in to practice Bardons other two books < The Practice o& a'ical .vocation -P. and The ey to the True uabbalah -T( #t is also here that the &ocus o& e&&ort shi&ts entirely &rom ma'ic to theur'y and mysticism, and the attainment o& Anion( The techni9ue in 9uestion, at this point, combines intense concentration with visuali+ation into contemplative prayer( 7ne has moved &ar beyond the lower yo'as o& occultism and into the true ?o'a o& internali+ed worship where =od alone #s( *ran+ Bardons $ermetic ?o'a < Part 2! The Practice o& a'ical .vocation
Bardons second and third volumes do not pick up where #nitiation #nto $ermetics -##$ leaves o&&, but instead present two additional options &or e:plorin' the work o& $ermetic initiation( Thus, it is not strictly necessary &or the practitioner o& Bardons system to make practical use o& either The Practice o& a'ical .vocation -P. or The ey to the True uabbalah -T( ot every ma'ician will utili+e evocation6 likewise, not every $ermetist will need to activate the various ma8or and minor channels within the subtle body( These are the primary tasks o& these two books, as we shall see( 5orpus $ermeticum, the most complete and important o& ancient $ermetic scriptures to have come down to us, presents a path o& ascent &rom .arth to $eaven( 7ther books make it know that this path passes throu'h the planetary spheres, in each o& which the $ermetist leaves behind an envelopin' sheath identi&ied with a ne'ative moral 9uality or sin( #t is implicit that, &or each sin shed, a correspondin' virtue will un&old as a natural conse9uence( The idea, basically, is that a sin is only a warped version o& a virtue, and that said virtues are inherent to the divine #ntellect -FGH within a person( Take, as an illustration, a blinder bein' removed &rom a lantern6 the li'ht is already shinin' bri'htly inside, but cannot be seen throu'h the slat o& metal coverin' it over( Bardons P. more or less &ollows on &rom this scheme( 7nce, in the practice o& ##$, the ma'ician is capable o& sa&e and consistent mental and astral travel -steps E and I o& ##$, he or she is prepared to conduct this "risin' on the planes% -to use a common phrase in modern>day ;estern occultism( #t is not as simple, however, as 8ust travelin' &rom one sphere to the ne:t in se9uence( 5ontact must be made with intelli'ences o& any 'iven sphere, at which point those intelli'ences are individually evoked( That is, one has not "mastered% a 'iven sphere until one has drawn one or more o& the planar intelli'ences to mani&estation on .arth( 4 &ew points need to be made clear( Those &amiliar with other, popular &orms o& "evocation% only may think that evocation is usually done o& demonic &orces, and that these &orces are constrained or bound to the ma'icians service( Bardon would be the &irst to say that this is nothin' but rank sorcery( 4 $ermetic ma'ician is less concerned with bindin' demons to &ind hidden treasures, and the like, than he is with makin' &riends with intelli'ences o& hi'her order( Some o& the bein's he will meet in the spheres will be individual souls at various points within their own development, while others will be an'elic in nature( .ither way, they are to be tested -to see whether benevolent or malevolent, and then either be&riended or re8ected( 7nce be&riended, a planar bein' may then be asked &or permission to evoke( The practitioner o& $ermetic evocation need never evoke a bein' a'ainst its willC To do so is not only criminal, it is also counterproductive( #n $indu Tantra, it is known that each chakra is "ruled% by a speci&ic DevatJ( 4s one raises ones awareness &rom chakra to chakra -viewed as microcosmic anchors o& the correspondin' planes, the relevant deva is invoked and then made the sub8ect>ob8ect o& identi&ication( Thus, one sees onesel& as the deva and the deva as onesel&, never denyin' that the deva is independent o& the individual psyche -8KvJ but e:ists within the #mmanent>Transcendent Sel& -LtmJ( The same concept obtains &or the evoked bein's o& $ermetic evocation( #n order to be&riend an entity, the ma'ician must &irst empathi+e with it6 he must then be able to &ully identi&y with that entity and with the &orces o& its home>sphere in order to be able to make a temporary home &or it on the physical plane and then 'ently welcome it to that home( Thus, Bardons evocation is &irst a process o& invocation -drawin'> inward and identi&ication &ollowed by evocation -pro8ectin' outward( .ven the better>known demonic evocation o& popular occultism -such as that tau'ht in 5rowleys Thelema, etc( uses the method o& &irst invokin' and then evokin' the bein' in 9uestion, thou'h the sorcerer usually does not reali+e it( ust as the $ermetic or Tantric evocation o& a devonic intelli'ence be'ins to awaken the seven upper chakras -or the planetary sephiroth, dependin' upon model the sorcerers evocation o& a demonic or asuric intelli'ence draws consciousness down into the cthonic and
in&ernal lower chakras -9lippoth6 that which is evoked is always invoked &irst, whether we reali+e it or not, and so activated within the soul o& the individual( 7ne o& *ran+ Bardons &ondest hopes was to present to the seekers o& the world a system o& initiation and practice which could be be'un and applied sa&ely on ones own( 4s a 'uru or master is 'enerally necessary &or 'uidance, this was 9uite a di&&icult task he set &or himsel&( To sa&e'uard the buddin' $ermetist &rom 'oin' too &ar astray, he included numerous warnin's in his writin', but went one better! he built sa&e'uards into his books to ensure that those workin' &rom his teachin's would not &all o&& the led'e( 4mon' these sa&e'uards includes the &act that each and ever spheric intelli'ence included in The Practice o& a'ical .vocation was personally vetted by Bardon himsel&, and each one 'ave its word to him that any student o& Bardons work who contacted it would come to no harm by its actions( #n other words, the student o& Bardon already has a &ew &riends in each sphere alon' the way( Thou'h personal e:ploration is encoura'ed, even necessary, there is always a place to start, a contact to make which has already been established be&orehand( This is a point o& practical importance &or the ma'ician>to>beC The scheme which Bardon presents is impeccably complete, startin' &rom the start and workin' on only once each level has been &ully inte'rated( ather than 8umpin' strai'ht into the planetary spheres, the student o& Bardon be'ins with the &our elemental re'ions( 4s elemental e9uilibrium has already been established in the &irst &ive steps o& ##$, the ma'ician is in 'ood stead to e:plore the elements intimately( e:t, the sublunary sphere < composed o& the lunar>+odiacal mansions < is inte'rated( 7nly then does the $ermetist move on to the lunar sphere, then the sphere o& ercury, Menus, Sol, ars, upiter, and Saturn, in turn( #& one makes it this &ar, the spheres beyond Saturn may be e:plored, but by this point, evocation has become outmoded, because, as the spheres become more and more rari&ied, the e:perience o& "travelin' to% each one becomes more and more a unitive e:perience( Thou'h o& relatively minor import, so>called "ma'ical powers% -siddhis are developed throu'hout this process( #t is 'enerally not necessary to evoke a bein' to per&orm a speci&ic task6 once the virtues o& a 'iven sphere are inte'rated, the ma'ician need only draw &rom the bottomless well o& that spheres power -or Nakti, with which he has become identi&ied to mani&est his will( 7nce a'ain, Bardon is clear that such abilities are only to be used to aid the ailin', and never to &ul&ill petty desires -which should have been well and truly stripped>out, by this point( The importance o& the ma'ical powers is primarily in the uni&ication with the Oakti, or divine power, $ersel&, as she mani&ests in and throu'h any particular universal &orce( ust as Tantra provides a $indu with a speci&ic set o& tools leadin' toward the Anitive eali+ation, so too does evocation &or the $ermetist( The ?o'i need never practice Tantra, thou'h the Tantrika is, by de&inition, a ?o'i6 likewise, the $ermetist need never practice spheric ma'ic, thou'h the spheric ma'ician is inherently a $ermetist( Tantra and spheric evocation are not by any means "lesser% methods, but instead kits &or those who are called to use them &or their spiritual 'rowth and the liberation o& others( Altimately, in eali+ation, all ma'ical powers become instantly available when they are needed( *ran+ Bardons $ermetic ?o'a < Part 3! The ey to the True uabbalah #n traditional $indu ?o'a, much o& the work o& the Jsanas and prJnJyJmas is &or the "cleanin' out% o& the nJdKs < the nerve>channels o& the subtle, transphysical nervous system( These anatomical e:ercises not only tone and condition the body, but also the mind and that which yokes the mind and body to'ether as a unit durin' ones li&etime( #n some &orms o& Tantra, this process is au'mented by the occult ma'ical practice o& intonin' phonemes -the sounds individual letters make, or syllables which encapsulate them or make them pronounceable sin'ularly within individual
re'ions o& the body -and, thus, intersections or ple:uses o& nJdKs( This practice is accompanied by visuali+ations which invoke particular devas or ahJdevas, settin' into motion a very particular &low o& Nakti -power, ener'y within the correspondin' channels( The 'oal o& this approach is, in part, to clear out those channels very rapidly, and to 'et the Naktis movin' throu'h them sooner rather than later( Those who teach these methods acknowled'e that they are potentially 9uite dan'erous, and will only release the operative details to those who have been well and thorou'hly prepared throu'h the baptisms o& ;ater and o& *ire -o&ten in the &orm o& consistent ceremonial worship in the Tantric &ashion and the more usual ?o'a practices( 4 'reat deal o& a students work in #nitiation #nto $ermetics -##$ serves as the necessary preparation to a very similar process contained in The ey to the True uabbalah -T( 4s # said be&ore, one must have mastered at least throu'h step E o& ##$ to en'a'e in the work o& T, and not all students o& Bardon will even &ind themselves ready &or, or re9uirin', Ts particulars( #t is also recommended that, prior to movin' beyond the &irst &ew steps o& T, the $ermetist has practiced The Practice o& a'ical .vocation -P. at least throu'h the "+one 'irdlin' the .arth% < Bardons idiosyncratic title &or the astral re'ion correspondin' to the &orces and bein's o& the lunar +odiacal mansions( 4s an interestin' aside, this earth>'irdlin' +one and its devas are o& 'reat historical importance in the practical work o& $ermetic talismanic ma'ic( anuals o& this art, such as the &amous Picatri: o& #slamic>$ermetic derivation, involve the invocation o& these devonic powers by way o& appropriate astrolo'ical timin' as well as the inscription andor intonation o& relevant letters and words o& power( elevant to this discussion is the &act that these talismans are noted not only &or their e&&ectiveness in achievin' so>called "practical%, or material, ends, but also &or their visionary>mantic and even therapeutic e&&icacy( #n other words, a thorou'h course o& this lunar>+odiacal talismanry could &orm a 'entle sort o& $ermetic>Tantric practiceC QPractical in&ormation on the practice thereo& may be &ound in i'el acksons 5elestial a'ic! Principles and Practises o& Talismanic Theur'y, 2003, 5apall Bann Publishin', or compiled by the su&&iciently advanced student o& Bardons P.(R 7nce one has established the elemental e9uilibrium, mastered mental travel, and become well> ac9uainted with the "&i&th element% o& JkJNa -variously translated as "space% or "ether%, re&errin' to the subtle plasmic mind>stu&& back o& both the physical and astral worlds, one is considered to be prepared not only &or theur'ic>spheric evocation a la P., but also &or the tonal>JkJNic ma'ic o& T( This "tonal>JkJNic ma'ic% takes multiple steps o& inner trainin' above and beyond the work o& ##$ steps 1 throu'h E, and carries one into the practices o& steps I and 10 servin' as aids to the techni9ues o& astral travel and unitive bhakti yo'a( The &irst &ew steps mostly involve, as in similar tantric practices a&orementioned, intonin' speci&ic sounds mentally>astrally within correspondin' bodily or'ans, 'lands, and nerve ple:uses( 5olor visuali+ations, kinesthetic sensations, and musical notes are 'radually built on to each in se9uence until, eventually, ones entire subtle nervous system is bu++in' with with Naktis o& varyin' intensities( 4'ain, as with the tantric practices, this both cleans out the subtle plumbin', and be'ins to move &orce o& appropriate intensities throu'h all o& the pipes and streams o& the system( Thou'h Bardon only hints at this point, all o& this is ultimately in service to drawin' ones awareness every hi'her and &urther inward to the divine processes runnin' behind creation, preservation, and dissolution( ust as in ?o'a, the $ermetists consciousness < and all o& his Naktis < mer'e into the ahJNakti( This temporary samJdhi, which coincides per&ectly with the 'oal o& ##$ step 10s devotional concentration discipline, also unlocks numerous ma'ical powers( The remainder o& Ts work deals with discoverin' which o& these powers the $ermetist needs &or this li&es mission, and then settin' about to master those speci&ic abilities in turn( This is done by enterin' deeply into onesel& and, while in this meditative state, activatin' the appropriate se9uence o& "letters% -the ener'y channels developed up to this point,
thus routin' a 'reat deal o& divine power throu'h a very speci&ic course which results in the desired mani&estation( Bardons "9uabbalistic ma'ic% is the very real speakin'>into>e:istence o& a miracle < o& the sort promised and not delivered by so many throw>away evan'elical prosperity 'ospel paperbacks( 4 'reat deal o& discipline is re9uired to master these literally biblical methods o& prayer, discipline by which the ma'ician truly becomes an a'ent o& the demiur'ic o'os( Qote to the eader! #& you are at all interested in actually practicin' Bardons system < and literally any $ermetist ou'ht to at least be temptedC < # hi'hly recommend that you &ollow Bardons teachin's step>by>step with ri'or and discipline( Skippin' throu'h "the basic stu&&% will only come back to haunt you later, and any rushin' will cause you to have to double back and redo a lot o& thin's until &ull mastery is reached( # also su''est that one pick up a copy o& awn 5larks collection o& commentaries, 4 Bardon 5ompanion, available at his website o& the same title( 5larks commentaries are especially valuable on T, as the published versions o& T are evidently based on an unpolished manuscript which contains a very &ew notable typos -thou'h no ma8or mistakes, as at least one publisher o& the book in .n'lish translation says and omits some points which make practice o& the material much more strai'ht&orward( 4s such, 5larks supplement can si'ni&icantly smooth the road ahead(R ay 2I, 201 by Purnacandra Sivarupa The a'ic 5ircle! #ts *unctions / 4pplications There is no occult tool or esoteric symbol more ubi9uitous and well>known than the ma'ic circle( #t is &ound everywhere &rom &amous poetry to popular &iction, and is usually associated with the summonin' o& demons or the spirits o& the dead &or some ne&arious purpose( This, o& course, is due to the in&initely 'reater social and economic hun'er &or sensationalism than &or reality, but it at least almost 'uarantees that 8ust about everyone who has ever read a novel involvin' an evil wi+ard will at least have heard o& the concept( a'icians o& all stripes are 9uick to point out the importance o& a proper ma'ic circle in many types o& ma'ical practice, yet relatively little has been written about the precise purpose, make>up, and meanin' o& the circle( ;ith this article, # seek to add my own contribution, however minor, to the available resources( Perhaps due to the a&orementioned lack o& accessible literature on the sub8ect, there are a lot o& misconceptions even amon' those who call themselves ma'icians( *rom the amateur practitioner who will be hard>pressed to 'et beyond the most basic &orms o& practice without this in&ormation, to the e:perienced sorcerer who insists that the circle is an unnecessary accretion resultin' &rom udeo>5hristian &ears o& spirits, there are a lot o& ways to misconstrue the circles si'ni&icance( akin' the situation even more comple: is the &act that there is not 8ust one ma'ic circle( # do not mean the many possible physical &orms it may take < &rom the many kinds inscribed with symbols o& all sorts and supposed to be made &rom various -usually e:pensive materials &ound in common 'rimoires, to one rou'hly scratched into dirt or drawn with chalk < thou'h these do make the 9uestion even more di&&icult, at &irst( # am instead re&errin' to the &act that the ma'ic circle is a dramatically di&&erent animal in the hands -and, more importantly, in the minds o& practitioners at di&&erent levels o& the 4rt( ;hat &ollows is my own vocabulary6 as &ar as # know, nobody else has written about these distinctions in precisely this way( # have chosen the terms &or precision, thou'h it must be said at the outset that the division o& ideas here is not always as clear or hard>line as the application o& such terms may make it seem( y intention is not to divide all practitioners or their constructs up into three completely e:clusive 'roupin's, but to present the three ma8or coordinates alon' a sin'le continuum( ;ith that pre&ace, lets e:plore(
Sorcery is o&ten used coterminously with ma'ic( But sorcery is not 9uite the same thin'6 it is &ormulaic in nature, basically ma'ic done without a real understandin' o& the underlyin' laws, principles, and &orces( #t would be 8ust as reasonable to call this "witchcra&t%, thou'h 'iven the speci&ic connotations that word has taken on amon' occultists in recent decades, # pre&er to call this sort o& i'norant tamperin' "sorcery%( "There is no Ublack ma'ic, but rather sorcerers 'ropin' in the dark( They 'rope in the dark because the li'ht o& 'nosis and mysticism is lackin'(% -editations on the Tarot, corrected edition 2002 TarcherPutnam, p'( 3 ;e need look no &urther than the popular 'rimoires to see the &unction o& ma'ic circles in the conte:t o& sorcery( #nscribed with une:plained symbols and si'ns, and usually with corrupted kabbalistic or =recco>.'yptian words and names o& power, these circles are presented as indispensable protection a'ainst the demonic powers to be called up &rom the depths( #n &act, this is 9uite true( To attempt a 'oetic evocation without such divine protection will almost certainly result in complete &ailure, and i& any "success% is had, it will de&initely be o& a very dan'erous sort( The sorcerers circle is nothin' more than a barrier, a line drawn in the sand -sometimes literally between the sorcerer and the particular &orce or intelli'ence which he hopes to make his slave( 7& course, very &ew modern attempts at this sort o& &ormulaic evocation come to much because most contemporary sorcerers lack the one essential element which makes not only the circle e&&ective, but all other elements o& the e:periment as well! belie&( 7& course the modern sorcerer has some basic belie& that ma'ic works, or else why bother in the &irst place@ But how many o& them 'et the spectacular phenomena promised in the 'rimoires@ These results are not impossible, but they do rely on what oseph isiewski called "sub8ective synthesis%( -5eremonial a'ic / The Power o& .vocation, 200E ew *alcon Publications This synthesis is simply the sum total o& the sorcerers belie& in all o& the individual elements o& the ritual to be per&ormed6 this is why, traditionally, there is a lon' period o& trainin' and preparation which 'enerally involves daily prayers o& puri&ication, attendin' ass and takin' the consecrated $ost, etc( Sorcery almost re9uires involvement in some established, or'ani+ed reli'ion( This &aith&ul involvement provides the sorcerer with three essential elements! discipline, a pree:istin' conte:t and core belie&s upon which to build the sub8ective synthesis, and the protection o& a power&ul e're'ore( ;ithout all o& these, the use o& systems o& sorcery derived &rom the 'rimoires -which describes nearly all o& ;estern ceremonial and ritual ma'ic is a simple impossibility, and these preconditions can only be met with a &irm &aith over a'ainst the "sophistication% o& thorou'h'oin' skepticism &ound in most post>modernist approaches to ma'ic popular since 4leister 5rowley put pen to paper( The sorcerers ma'ic circle is then a spacial delimitation o& the sorcerers own sense o& purity in accordance to his adherence to his reli'ion( #t is an e:ternal barrier empowered not by the sorcerer himsel&, but by the e're'ore to which he is attached and with which he identi&ies( 4 5atholic summoner is pure by his Baptism, has authority by his 4nointin', and is protected by his 5ommunion, and this whole edi&ice, however sub8ective, must be e:ternali+ed in the &orm o& his circle inscribed with the names o& archan'els and made ready by aspersion in order &or the whole internal structure to be e&&icacious( #t is a di&&erent story &or the ma'ician < the practitioner who has come to know somethin' o& the real workin's and relationships o& the &orced made use o& in ma'ic < and the theur'ist < who has more or less mastered these &orces( The ma'ician does not re9uire protection so much as isolation6 &or him, the circle is a sterile laboratory to be &illed only with a sin'le &orce or mi:ture o& &orces, and only to the precise point o& saturation( #t is a miniature cosmos which represents the inner cosmos bein' built up within the ma'ician himsel&, and strictly under his control( ;illiam =( =ray has it that "QtoR construct a a'ic 5ircle is to create #nner 5osmos accordin' to #ntention(% ore!
"aturally the individual ability o& the operator is a decisive &actor, upon which the e&&icacious de'ree o& any circle depends( 5ircles do not put themselves to'ether without a directin' will, whether they are 5osmic creations o& a Divinity, or the personal cosmoi o& human bein's, both o& which a 'enuine a'ic 5ircle should intersect(% -#nner Traditions o& a'ic, 1IE Samuel ;eiser, #nc(, p' 12 *ran+ Bardon makes the point similarly! "The drawin' o& a circle symboli+es the Divinity in #ts per&ection, to come into contact with the Divinity, namely when the ma'ician stands in the center o& the circle, whereby, symbolically e:pressed, the connection with the Divinity is 'raphically represented( *or the ma'ician it is a connection with the macrocosm on the hi'hest level o& his consciousness( #t is there&ore completely lo'ical &rom the point o& view o& true ma'ic &or the ma'ician to stand in the center o& a ma'ic circle with the awareness o& bein' at 7ne with his universal divinity( This clearly shows that the ma'ic circle is not only a dia'ram &or protection a'ainst undesirable in&luences, but it also e:presses untouchability and unassailability as a result o& connectin' ones consciousness with the $i'hest( There&ore, a ma'ician who stands in the center o& a ma'ic circle is protected &rom all in&luences, be they 'ood or evil, because he symboli+es the Divinity in the universe( Besides, a ma'ician who stands in a circle is =od himsel& in the microcosm, who rules the bein's which are created in the universe and he is the one who e:ercises his absolute powers(% -The Practice o& a'ical .vocation, translated by Dieter V''eber', 2001 erkur Publishin', pp 22 / 23 #n both cases, what is central is not merely the ma'icians human knowled'e o& the inner &orces, but his operative identity with the Deity( Bardon emphasi+es this identity, while =ray stresses the necessity o& an intersection between the ma'icians cosmos and the Deitys 5osmos( #n other words, the ma'ician needs to be care&ul lest his cosmos lack proper correspondence to the world( The reason &or this is two&old( *irst is that the purpose o& ma'ic is not to escape reality, but to interact with it as intimately as possible( ;e can only do this i& our inner worlds and the outer world correspond to one another( Second is that, in order &or the worlds to directly interact with one another, that correspondence is a strict precondition6 i& we wish to make chan'es in the outer world, we must be'in with a model o& that world and restructure said model accordin'ly( The more e:actly the worlds correspond in the &irst place, the more e&&ectively will the modi&ications be able to mani&est between one plane and another( =od works &rom subtle to 'ross, and so must we( The hei'ht o& theur'y comes when the inner world more or less e:actly re&lects the outer world, down to details, at which point chan'es made to the inner world will &low 9uite naturally to the outer( But, in order &or any o& this to be possible in the &irst place, the ma'ician must construct the sterile chamber o& e:periments( #n the same section 9uoted above, =ray re&ers to the ma'ic circle as the Wero &rom which comes the 4ll( Be&ore the interior o& the cosmos may be populated, there must &irst be made a space, relatively empty( This Nunya, or void, is not absolutely empty < &or ontolo'ically speakin' there is no such thin' as "nothin'% < but is empty relative to =ods *ullness( -7& course, this conception may be &lipped, as in the case o& Buddhism, 4brahamic apophatic theolo'y, and Oaiva SiddhJnta, in which the 4bsolute is the Moid inso&ar as the =round o& Bein' is unreco'ni+able to our minds and senses( ow is not the time to 'et into all o& the elements o& ritual ma'ic and their uses and implications, but it is use&ul here to mention that i& the ma'ic circle is the Nunya, the ma'icians own will and intention serves as the bindu, or point, at its center which 'ives us the &ollowin' dia'ram! Sol
This, o& course, is the astrolo'ical and alchemical symbol o& Sol, our sun( The entire symbol is not intended to si'ni&y the Sun, but only the point in the center6 the circum&erence represents the solar system, or the sphere o& Sols direct in&luence( The whole thin' is a dia'ram o& Sol, his radiation, and his 'ravitation( So it is with the ma'ician, who stands at the center o& his own cosmos both emittin' the &orce o& will and drawin' in those powers which cannot resist the ine:orable pull o& his dynamism( $owever, in order &or any o& this to be possible, there must &irst be a space made which the ma'ician may then &ill with the desired in&luences, and that is the ma'icians circle( Physically speakin', the ma'icians circle may take literally any shape( 4s it is only actin' as a psychic "clean +one%, the simpler it is the better it will play its part( The complicated inscriptions o& the sorcerer are unnecessary, and may only serve as a distraction( ;hatever action is taken &or the circles consecration < aspersion with holy water, anointin' with oil or other substances, prayers and invocations, etc( < are taken &or their esoteric -i(e( inward value, rather than their e:oteric reli'ious si'ni&icance( Thou'h the ma'ician still re9uires his "sub8ective synthesis%, his is more plastic than the sorcerers, adaptable to 'radual shi&ts and tweaks toward new ends( 4s such, his physical circle serves only as a visual reminder and conceptual anchor o& his place and role(
4s we have seen, the de&inition o& these circles is lar'ely a &unction o& the practitioners relationship to the &orces with which he or she is e:perimentin'( Those &or whom the inner &orces behave as lar'ely e:ternal re9uire protection6 those who know the &orces to be inward, but still re9uire some de'ree o& e:ternali+ation re9uire isolation6 but, &inally, those who know and e:perience the &orces entirely inwardly < whose laboratory has been per&ectly inte'rated < re9uire concentration( These are the alchemists( The business o& the alchemist, whether workin' with plant and mineral in the outer laboratory or with himsel& in the inner laboratory, is the concentration and trans&ormation o& substance &or the release o& essence( The alchemist has already inte'rated all o& the &orces or, more precisely, has located those &orces within himsel&6 he has also mastered the isolation and &ocusin' o& those &orces( ;hat remains is to concentrate them and, ultimately, sublimate them( The purpose o& the alchemists circle is hinted at very directly in the dia'ram o& the Ambra Wonule editation -the circle structure o& the #nternational ath 7rder, the upper ri'ht hand corner o& which displays an alchemists retort( -Shri =urudev ahendranath, The ondinium Temple Strain, 2002 electronic edition, http!www(mahendranath(or', p' I The retort is an e''>shaped bottle with a tube spout which swoops downward and away &rom the bottle6 a &luid boiled in the retort condenses a'ainst the top o& the tube spout and runs down into another vessel at the bottom( -See ima'e below( etort -5hamberss Twentieth 5entury Dictionary o& the .n'lish an'ua'e o& 1I0E, http!www('utenber'(or'
This tool o& laboratory alchemy when used in re&erence to "inner alchemy% represents the process o& concentratin' substances by removin' what is nonessential &rom them( The Oaiva symbol &or this process is the vel or spear o& ord uru'an, which hones in precisely on the heart o& whatever it pierces( The idea o& "concentration% thus comes into play in two ways to re&er to the same notion! &indin' the essence within a substance(
The alchemists circle, then, is no lon'er an e:ternal barrier at all, but more the representation o& a process( The alchemist may visuali+e a circle around him and his meditation and worship space durin' &ocused times o& operation, but that is only an aid( The circle representin' the practitioners identity with the Divinity is now e:perienced as bein' not di&&erent &rom ones own $eart or 5enter6 the circle o& Wero -Nunya and the point o& 7ne -bindu are understood to be identical( #n terms o& ?o'a, the 'oal is now to reali+e this by unitin' Oakti with Oiva at the crown( 4'ain, uru'ans vel shows the way, as the upward>pointed spears tip rests 8ust at the crown o& the head, its hilt runnin' the len'th o& the spine( To return to the astrolo'ical dia'ram o& Sol, we learn that the point in the center is the practitioners spinal column as viewed &rom above(
y readers can see that # have chosen to use lar'ely ;estern terms to de&ine the ma'ic circle and the sta'e o& practice which they represent( This is not because those are the only appropriate words, but because they are the most &amiliar to most occultists, and because the .astern literature already has its own deep e:aminations o& this topic( ;e may see in the sorcerer, ma'ician, and alchemist, &or instance, the Oaivite phases o& caryJ, kriyJ, and yo'a( 7ne in the phase o& caryJ re9uires all o& the traditions o& ritual worship, moral commandments and ethical 'uidelines, and other e:ternalities( This is not a bad thin', but a set o& necessary prere9uisites to deeper work( 7ne in kriyJ still makes use o& these tools, but sees them now as means and methods &or achievin' a pro&ounder participation in the Divine ;ork by way o& livin' symbols and continual reorientation o& sel&>identity( The ?o'i < in a sense, one is a ?o'i the whole way throu'h, but is only &ully and deliberately en'a'ed in the process o& einte'ration durin' this third phase < is able to &ully inte'rate all o& the symbols previously e:ternali+ed( #n caryJ, the sacri&icial &ire is more or less literal, and kriyJ it is an outward symbol o& the inner *lame6 in ?o'a, there is so little distinction between outward &ire and inward *lame that only the *lame itsel& is necessary -thou'h a &ire may still be used when it is necessary to communicate the processes to others, especially those in the caryJ and kriyJ sta'es( 4s to the circle itsel&, it may take the &orms o& circles o& chains o& practitioners, mandalas lar'e enou'h to sit inside o&, or the simple act o& takin' Jsana( one o& the earlier phases are abandoned( The hi'her does not sublate the lower, but inte'rates it, reconte:tuali+es it, and maintains its value as a teachin' tool and aid to advancement( .ventually, the plant whose roots are caryJ, whose stalk is kriyJ, and whose lea& and branch are yo'a, blossoms as 8Xana -'nosis which ripens as the &ruit o& mokYa -liberation( #n the &ruit resides the entirety o& the plant in seed &orm, root to &lower( These seeds may be planted by the initiatin' preceptor in the muck o& the students mind, that the lotus will 'row there&rom( 4nd so 'oes einte'ration(
$ere we have the Triple 5ircle o& the 4rt( #n one sense, the 7uter 5ircle is alchemy, in that it contains the other two6 in another sense, the 7uter 5ircle is sorcery, in that it is the most e:oteric amon' them( Altimately, the three are 7ne, as the true 5ircle o& 4rt does not permit o& divisions, but in practice we may distin'uish between them as phases o& a sin'le process( 4s Dra8a ickaharic so wisely wrote! Bein' a ma'ician is a sta'e in the process o& developin' spiritually( #t is not the hei'ht o& development6 in &act, it is only a step in the &irst part o& the ran'e o& real human development( The &act that many reli'ious sects speak and act harshly a'ainst those who have the ability to practice ma'ic is most revealin' o& the true character o& the leaders headin' those reli'ions( Those whom they speak a'ainst may be more developed spiritually than the so>called reli'ious people who speak
a'ainst themC -Practice o& a'ic, 1IIZ Samuel ;eiser, #nc(, pa'e iiiv o& the #ntroduction ikewise, we can say that while we may not be able to recommend the practice o& sorcery, it is o&ten a steppin' stone into 'enuine theur'y, which itsel& leads us to alchemy( There is but one ;ay, but many ways may brin' us to it( #n practice, the ma'ic circle mani&ests the ma'icians own internal process, its power and &unction dependin' entirely upon the individuals de'ree o& attainment( #t is the one indispensable ma'ical tool, no matter the &orm it takes, because it truly represents the practitioners own $eart(
