Revised Liber Resh

Now that I understand the purpose of Liber Resh (pls read post prior to this one), I'm more comfortable performing it.  Changing the words to modern English helps also.  Even though I've learned that the Egyptian deity associations are somewhat off, I've decided to leave that alone.  If in my mind I had already formed a firm idea about this matter, I would change it so that I could perform the Liber Resh without internal contradictions.  But since I don't, then I rather join in with everyone who's ever done this as Crowley cooked it up.

Once again, the first card I drew was a Major Arcana.  This time, it was the High Priestess and I felt immediately drawn to the pomegranates behind her, which are placed in the positions of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

And most particularly to the pomegranate by the High Priestess' head which seeds are not colored red like the others.  This pomegranate corresponds to Da'at (knowledge) in the Tree of Life. In general, Da’at is not really a sephirot, and it operates on two levels: higher knowledge and/or hidden knowledge.  Not educational knowledge but rather to experiential Knowledge through union with the object in question… To experience the Divine, is to Know the Divine. 

 

And I also find this all fitting in light of the fact that I will begin to read about Kabbalah today in Lesson Two.

Not alone at all

I guess I am not the only who finds the funny medieval language a bit forced.  I was able to find two alternate translations.  This one is a modern but bland:

Hail, Sun in the morning!
Spreading rosy fingers over the world,
Bringing new light and purpose to the day!
Welcome from the realm of night! 

This one maintains the Egyptian deities and uses modern language:

Hail, Ra in your triumph and strength!
Coursing through the heavens at sunrise!
Horus at the helm and Thoth at the prow.
Hail to you from the realm of night! 

I'm going to need to research who these deities are, though I know they are all forms of the Egyptian solar god as the sun travels across the sky during the day.  My understanding, after doing a bit of research, is that Crowley assigned the deities to the classically incorrect time of day, as Ra is associated with noon, not sunrise.  This is actually a good thing, as it shows that practitioners can adapt and change old rituals in order to develop something personally workable and meaningful.

The purpose of Liber Resh is for the magician to connect with the divine, via the classic Solar principle, by identifying with the Sun as it progresses across the heavens during the day. This regular, daily practice reminds the magician that he/she is a magician. And to draw spiritual sustenance or energy from the  sun / the divine.

It is fair to assume then, that Liber Resh is essentially a daily invocation to one's Higher Self, using the sun as a proxy, and is intended to ultimately put the magician not just in touch with his/her own Higher Self, but the Divine.  So the ritual itself should be malleable and personal, the real point being a simple focus of will to open one's awareness of the infinite and to doing the Great Work.

Well, it's time for this gal to go greet Khephra and go to sleep!

Medieval English

Woke up and did the morning Liber Resh.  Didn't care for the language, it felt so artificial:

Hail unto Thee who art Ra in thy rising, even unto thee who art Ra in thy strength, who travelest over the heavens in thy bark at the uprising of the sun. Tahuti standeth in his splendor at the prow and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto thee from the abodes of night!

I am going to translate it into modern English.  I'm pretty sure that the Liber Resh has been done in many languages, and that medieval English was modern by ancient Egypt standards, so I’m sure Ra will be fine with it.  How about…

Greetings to you who are Ra in your rising, even unto you who are Ra in your strength, who travels over the skies in your vessel at the rising of the sun. Tahuti stands in his splendor at the prow and Ra-Hoor abides at the helm. Greetings to you from the dwellings of night!

I’ll have to translate all the others, which are mostly the same, except for a change in deity and characteristics.  And I might change it further at a later point. This modern girl doesn't do medieval.

On another note, the LBRP felt more powerful this morning.  I'm starting to get all the details down.  I've also decided to begin again with the Gateway Experience program, and listened to the orientation recording for Wave I.  There was stuff there I didn't get the other times I learned it. And I had totally forgotten that there was a Focus 3.  I find this very interesting, and it's the reason I go over basics from time to time.  It's amazing what you miss. I'm going to replace the Relaxation Ritual with the Gateway Experience, going over each recording every day for a week to be sure I cover it all thoroughly. 

And the Major Arcana Tarot card I drew today was The Moon.  I've gone back to using my Radiant RW.  I didn't want to use it because I didn't want to take out the Major Arcana in order to do the TCR, but then I realized that I really didn't need to, and decided to simply shuffle the cards, cut them, and then draw cards until the first Major Arcana turned up.  Today, however, The Moon was the first card.

I think it's fitting considering I decided to begin the Gateway Experience again and a confirmation that I am on the right track,  There's a path to the mountain, and you have to go through the gates to reach it.

Holding Steady

For the greater part of the week I have simply been practicing.  Meditation, LPRP, Tarot, with some astrology thrown in for good measure since that's my foundation.  I don't have a whole lot to report.  The practice part of most disciplines is not always remarkable.  If I were to comment on any difference in the past few days it would be that everything seems somewhat brighter.  Living in South Florida, we are used to it being sunny all the time, but that's not the type of brightness I'm talking about.  Things look different.  Sharper somehow. Like maybe there was some sort of film that I wasn't aware was there until it finally dissipated.  Or it could just be my imagination, getting away from me..

I noticed that what followed after the LBRP and Liber Resh in Lesson 2 was several pages on kabbalah and decided to leave the reading of kabbalah for the weekend as it is somewhat complicated and requires concentration to follow, let alone understand.  So instead, I re-read some of what I had already read, hoping to find information I might have missed.

I've gotten quite good at the LBRP, and can do it in a few minutes.  Have not begun the Liber Resh, but plan to tomorrow.  Figure I'd try it out during the weekend, and become familiar enough to be able to begin to perform during the week.  Still not sure what I'll do about the noon-time ritual.

Psychic Attacks

Proceeding right along with Lesson 2, I was quite heartened to learn that the author and I share similar views regarding psychic attacks.  For starters, we agree that most people who believe they are under psychic attack, seldom truly are.  This has been my experience also, but how do you talk someone out of something they truly believe?  I don't see any point in it, I rather give people advice on how to protect themselves rather than to try to talk them out of their feelings of psychic victimization.

The second thing we agree on is that the few people who are truly under psychic attack, are often under an unintentional attack from the person doing the attacking.  This is because if someone is VERY angry at you, they might not be aware that they are sending a lot of angry energy your way, making you feel as though you are "under attack".  Of course, in a perfect world, we would seek to not anger anyone this much, but misunderstandings happen and sometimes it's just the person's character to become overly upset with real or imagined wrongs.

Those of us who know how to do a psychic attack on another, have also learned why we shouldn't resort to this, even when provoked.  No bueno for us.  Actions have consequences.  So not worth it.  The book provides a small ritual to perform when one feels they might be under psychic attack, which should be immediately followed by the LBRP.

Additionally, Lesson 2 introduces four daily Sun salutations (Liber Resh vel Helios) which are four daily adorations to the Sun common to most Magick practitioners, performed upon awakening, noon, sunset, and before retiring.  I have to admit that I find saluting the Sun and invoking Egyptian "deities" a bit of a far-fetched thing for me to do, but I DID agree to follow this as verbatim as possible, except when it is incredibly inconvenient or incredibly silly (like wearing robes). I'll have to sort out how to do this during lunch, as I work M-F.  Maybe I'll just look at the sun and salute it militarily? LOL

And on a sad note, I just learned today that the author, Donald Michael Kraig, passed away this past March after a short, two month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Modern Magick Editions

I've had the Second Edition of Modern Magick for a while, but must say that the Third Edition is quite an improvement!  Aside from adding an extra lesson, the book is much larger.  (The 2nd Ed. is better to read in bed, though)

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Since I am using both of these books, I am able to appreciate all the extra work that went into the 3rd Edition.  I love the added points of view in performing the Kabbalistic Cross, for instance, as well as the author's encouragement to try things out for one's self, and see what works best.  The Third Edition also adds many graphics which may be very important to those who may not have ever witnessed the rituals described or to understand how to visualize the energy - that alone is a great improvement:

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I learned additional things I didn't know about the LBRP and how it should be performed.  The author recommends a "ritual bath" prior to doing any ritual.  I'm all for bathing.  I do this regularly anyway, but the only way I can do a "ritual bath" prior to a ritual is if I perform the ritual in the morning.  I don't really see myself taking a second bath in the afternoon, not with my already dry, middle-aged skin! As for the garb, I'm going to have to wing it for now.  The only "robe" I have is a pink terry cloth one, not exactly "magickal" material!

The book also has some really good advice as to what to do if one's room is not aligned with the directions (if true East/West/North/South ends up being in the corners of the room)

Now, for the next couple of days or so, the practical daily work is 1) the Relaxation Ritual, 2) the LBRP, and 3) the Tarot Contemplation Ritual.  I'll get on this soon. I overslept and woke up with barely enough time to get dressed before my father arrived, and we've had some beers with our lunch, so waiting for the buzz from those to wear off before getting all magickal.

Going Smoothly

It's Saturday and I'm going to spend the weekend reading books and relaxing as this is the only weekend in the month that I'm completely without any obligations to show up anywhere - socially or otherwise.

I finished the first chapter, this final part discussed the reasons for doing the LBRP, which "coincidentally" I had a really great class in about a month ago at a friend's house. One of the reasons it gave was that it would expand one's aura.  Well, I have never heard of that one before, but I can say that I understand why it would probably be true.  Meditation does this also, and it's going to be interesting to see what additional energies I note in my aura once I begin doing the LBRP regularly.

Then the lesson goes into how to prepare for ritual magick, what to consider buying, the altar, candles, "robe" or special clothing and ends with how to draw an Banishing Earth Pentagram in the air, which is what is used in the LBRP, and how to visualize it.

I'm not sure I could wear a ceremonial robe without giggling uncontrollably, though I am not opposed to finding a nice solid-colored housecoat or caftan to wear temporarily as I do a ritual.  I'm going to have to give this some thought. 

The first lesson ends with the advice of practicing the rituals learned in the chapter, and the material, for one month before continuing on to the next lesson.  And even though I said I would follow the book to the letter, here I am on day 5 making an exception.  Considering I have an established meditation practice, I teach tarot (so we can assume I'm familiar with it), and I've known about the LPRP for decades now, I'm not sure I can stick to this chapter for a month without getting bored before this time next week and moving on to something else. So, I'm going to move on to the next lesson.

I've discarded doing the ritual journal in Word, and moved on to put it in a Penzu journal.  This is how the book suggests the journal should be:

 

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And this is my Penzu version:

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I didn't have as much to write today as it's a peaceful, easy day of rest.  Being an astrologer, of course I'm going to detail anything significant occurring in the sky and what might be making aspects to planets in my chart.  Sorry about all the red underlining. 

Then I decided to the Split Hexagram Spread just to see what it would be like.  I used my tablet and the Sacred Isle Tarot deck.

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1) Temperance - unknown spiritual influences
2) The Star - unknown spiritual influences (strongest influence)
3) The Chariot - spiritual advice for the matter
4) Death - unconscious desire
5) The Hanged Man - conscious desire
6) The Hermit - practical advice
7) The World - outcome

I believe these are pretty good cards about beginning a study of Magick.  What more could one want?

Well, that's it for now.  Tomorrow I'll start reading the second lesson and I'll return to report.

The rest of the day will be spent reading, watching movies, and cleaning house.

Tipping Sacred Cows

You have to fall in love with a book that calls absurd the notion that Tarot originated in Egypt.  Even though there is absolutely no proof of this, there are those who want to make Tarot more mysterious than it already is.  Sometimes, it surprises me that people don't attribute it to Atlantis or Lemuria! 

Other times I wonder if Tarot readers have astrology envy.  Astrology has been studied for about as long as humans have been on the planet because, lacking TV and entertainment, our ancestors really did not have anything better to do than look at the night sky.  But I digress...

The book has a good definition of fortunetelling vs divination. Basically, fortunetelling says something will happen and one has no choice in the matter, whereas divination says certain things could happen, and it's up to you whether to allow them or prevent them.  Far more empowering.

Then the book moved on to a Split-Hexagram spread which is a 7 card Major Arcana spread representing spiritual forces being brought down to the physical plane and conscious/unconscious desires, with an outcome card in the middle.  The spread is intended to be used to determine the outcome of Grey Magick in order to avoid unwittingly practicing Black Magick.

Yes, this was the right book for me!  Starting with Tarot is so awesome!

The True Power of Magick

The true power of Magick is power over yourself and the ability to achieve whatever you desire.  It is actually more scientific that people realize.  I love the quote that greets us at the first lesson:

No one can give you magickal powers,

You have to earn them.

There is only one way to do this:

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Even though the study of Magick may not be classically scientific, we can approach learning or practicing it as a scientific process where we take notes and detail what takes place.  This is why it's important to keep track of the work in journals.

So I have been writing down the dreams, and today I finally created the Ritual Magick Journal template in Word.  I am ready to go!

Today I read further and discovered that the next "ritual" is to be performed following the relaxation ritual.  It is called the Tarot Contemplation Ritual.  Basically, it consists of shuffling certain Major Arcana cards, draw one, and contemplate it for no more than 3 minutes.  Following that, write in the journal any thoughts, feelings, impressions that arose when contemplating the card.

I like that the lessons begin with dreaming and with Tarot.  I also love any book that recommends you read other books in order to have a different view of the material, or to go more in depth in a particular subject.

So far it's been easy and enjoyable.

First Day

I read a few pages last night, it was mostly about dreaming, which is something I know a little about. The first thing we are asked to do is to begin to keep a dream journal, which I already do, and to begin a ritual journal which is new to me. Apparently, we're going to be asked to do certain rituals and we're supposed to keep track of how we are feeling at that moment, what the weather is like, and the phase of the moon, in order to find the most optimal combination for us. 

The first "ritual" is a simple meditation for relaxation that has you visualizing a ball of light traveling from our feet to our head. I did it, but I haven't created the ritual template for the journal yet, so I haven't begun the ritual journal yet.  I plan to create this journal electronically so I can search through it and come up with stats for it.  I did, however, journal the dream I had last night which was about taking an astrology test.

Even though I have studied quite a bit about dreaming and dream work, the book did offer new information. Particularly, a mnemonic for remembering a dream that we've had in the middle of the night, when one doesn't want to turn on lights to write in a journal.

Everything Starts at the Beginning

I have to admit that I don't know what I am doing, and that that has never stopped me.  Today I have decided to formally begin a structured study of Magick because I realized last night at the Full Moon Drum Circle that I have memories of being a magician in a prior life and I'm tired of suppressing it and pretending it's not part of me.

Also, I've recently discovered that I have the asteroid "Merlin" exactly conjunct the Midheaven. While SolarFire, the astrology software I use does not have the minor asteroid Merlin as one of the options, I was able to plug it into Astro.com and it's 3 minutes from the MC and conjunct the South Node, which you can't see here, but you will extrapolate its location from the larger chart I will share further along in this post.

I should also admit, in all candor, that even though I formally began a structured study of Magick on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2014 at around 10pm, I have been for over a year in one case, and for over 8 months in another, a member of two secret Magick groups, both of whom invited me in, despite my being lukewarm about the subject. (Honestly, I have no idea how people find me, or why they invite me to join secret groups I'm not really interested in!)

Of course, I had to create a chart for the memorable moment when I decided to start studying Magick, because I'm an astrologer first and foremost, and I know that nothing happens by chance.  Astrology works!  And I wanted to know what interesting treasures it might hold.

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The transiting Sun is conjunct transiting Mercury, transiting Merlin, and my natal IC & North Node, (which means it's also opposing natal MC & South Node).  So we see that both Merlin & Mercury, which rules magicians and magick in general, are conjunct the most powerful body in the sky and on a very sensitive spot in my natal chart. I'd say that's a great sign!

There's a whole lot more going on in this chart,  not the least of which is transiting Mercury beginning a domino effect via a conjunction to natal Uranus and a trine to natal Venus, which I may speak about at a later time.  Enough astrology for one day.

Even though I'm a member of two groups, and each have their own teachings, self-reliant autodidact that I am, I've elected to use  Modern Magick: Twelve Lessons in the High Magickal Arts by Donald Michael Kraig as my syllabus.  I've actually had this book in its 2nd Edition.  I think I bought it in 2005 after I moved to the beach.

I can't say it will be the only book I will refer to.  After looking at several different books, I concluded that the lesson plans in this one made the most sense to me, but there are others I own that I might refer to as the need arises.

I will try to do everything exactly as it states, until I discover a reason why I should not.  Suspending all the cultural messages I have received that seem to say that all magicians are selfish, evil people who have no regard for hurting others.  That can't be true, as I know of some caring magicians who continuously give of themselves to help others.  And it has actually been their example that has motivated me to rethink my position in all of this.  That, and one other thing I will speak about in some later post.