Preliminary Ritual for the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel
(See Liber Samekh, Liber A'ash {Aleister Crowley}; The Treasure House of Images {J.F.C. Fuller}; Seidways {Jan Fries})
(See Liber Samekh, Liber A'ash {Aleister Crowley}; The Treasure House of Images {J.F.C. Fuller}; Seidways {Jan Fries})
Date: Anno IVvi Sol 18° Cancer, Luna 4° Aquarius Dies Veneris 10 July 1998 e.v.
Place: Croydon, London.
Time: 10:30pm
The ritual was performed at the temple belonging to the organizer of LOGDOS.
Its intention was to create a connection between the participants and their respective Holy Guardian Angels (HGA) and to culminate in their possession thereby.
Five participants in total were present. Two led the ritual and were dressed in ceremonial regalia.
The altar was in the shape of the tattva Apas containing the tattva Tejas. Placed on it were two cups of silver, two red "seven day" Santeria candles in glass containers and a crystal ball. In front of it were four wands (three decorated shaman-staff type wands and one small fire wand of oak entwined with copper) and two athames. Behind it (within the arcs of the crescent shape) was a pantacle of beeswax and a wooden stele (decorated with sulphur, red sandalwood and other incenses and herbs) portraying a cup and knife conjoined. In addition there were three drums (Indian, Irish and Turkish), a pair of brass bells from India, brass incense burners and a blue glass lamp which hung from the ceiling.
The ritual was intended to be of a form that could be called "freeform Thelema/ Shamanism". It was decided that it would be spread over a large proportion of the night and would have three main parts:
1) Contacting the HGA (vision)
2) Adoring the HGA and communicating (voice)
3) Possession by the HGA.
Thirty minutes prior to the ritual all the participants imbibed a cup containing an infusion of Damayana. This had the effect (in the opinion of the present author) of causing a feeling of increased energy (and a bitter taste in the mouth!).
Throughout the ritual the temple was filled with smoke from the burning of Dittany of Crete.
The temple was prepared for the ritual by the bells being struck 3-5-3, a banishing in the form of the Star Ruby and a freeform banishing using drums and voice.
The statement of intent was made.
The first lines of the "Bornless One" ritual were read aloud:
"Thee I invoke, the Bornless one.
Thee, that didst
create the Earth and the Heavens:
Thee, that didst create the Night
and the Day.
Thee, that didst create the Darkness and the Light.
Thou art RA-HOOR-KHUIT, Myself made Perfect:
Whom no man hath seen at
any time"
Drumming commenced. The participants moved, spoke, chanted, clapped and remained silent as they felt the need to. The intent was to achieve contact with the HGA and to receive a vision pertaining to this.
The lamp hanging from the ceiling (a fairly sturdy and heavy contraption) started to swing and then to spin wildly of its own accord.
"Astrally, I saw a twisted pillar of light, like an umbilical cord, descending from the middle of the ceiling. Tendrils of light extended from it and projected to each person in the room. There was a feeling of great energy passing through me and into the ground."
"I could feel a translucent body surrounding me. It seemed to have always been there but I had not been aware of it before. It had a definite consciousness of its own and it seemed mildly amused by the proceedings."
The bells were struck 3 times.
The "169 Adorations and the Unity Thereof" from "the Treasure House of Images" was read aloud.
"A slow building of power could be perceived with each successive verse. Some of the lines were filled with great yearning. As I read from it, I felt my own HGA as energy coursing through me from the column of light above my head."
"After reading, I sat and drummed. Another drum started up and the conversation between the two drums added greatly to the build up of energy."
"I started to hum overtones along with the drums which another of the group picked up on and continued. I then started to move slowly in a serpentine motion. I shouted adorations to my HGA. I invoked it as a serpent flame of love, of life, of beauty , of ecstasy, of death; repeating each word as a mantra. I felt a slight tingling in the centre of my forehead. I continued moving in a serpentine fashion and suddenly felt engulfed by a huge deity. I started speaking in glossolalia; initially Celtic sounding later becoming, perhaps, a more primitive language (towards the end of the ritual it had become grunts, cries, coughs and whimpers...)."
"After some time, I knelt to astrally visualize the temple. I saw a disc crossed with white lines which formed the floor. A column of spiral light rose from the centre. The disc was floating in space and stars surrounded it. Tendrils of light extended to each of the group. The light was white in colour to all except one of the group who had a tendril of black light. One of the group had taken the form of a hawk or eagle, another was a Viking and a third was a black Goddess. At this time one of the group was shouting "Kali" and one "Set"."
"I felt a strong connection with Maat. I saw her as a balancing Goddess above Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Har-Poor-Kraat. I received a communication pertaining to the nature of my HGA. I gave adoration to Nuit, the star studded azure bodied Goddess of the night sky."
"I continued drumming for a while and then lay back on the floor exhausted and on the borderline of sleep. I saw a clear astral image of the temple and a dark human shaped entity in front of me which I knew to be my HGA. I merged with it and my consciousness became elevated."
"A number of the participants seemed to be deep in astral dreamwork at this point......(!!)"
The bells were struck 3-2-1-2-3
Liber A'ash was read aloud.
"I started seething and shaking... I saw an image of Maat before me whom I adored as my sister and my lover. At times the shaking was wild and uncontrollable. At others, it was much calmer. My muscles were very contracted at points and had quite a sexual feeling. I started to take on the consciousness of my HGA. I could feel a pulsating feeling below the base of my spine. I found myself throwing my hands forward repeatedly and repeating words and sounds as mantras. Energy built and built until I was shaking with the anticipation of union. At last union occurred, I whimpered with the ecstasy of it and fell to the ground. I felt warmth engulfing my whole body centred on my stomach."
The bells were struck 5-1-5.
Red Sandalwood was burned.
The temple was closed with a short statement and with the qabalistic cross.
Energies were grounded as each participant willed.