dar205

Recently, I have been fascinated by Confucianism. It created a meritocratic system of self-cultivation that lasted for centuries. While its practice may never have matched its ideals, I think we can learn much from this tradition. The official Thelemic viewpoint on Confucianism is favorable as well. The prophet references it in his new comment for verse III:53. Mongol is taken to be a probable reference to Confucianism (personally, I think it refers to all traditions of the “Mongols”). It, along with Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Qabalah, are taken as correct in essence, but imperfect in practice.

These practices have, by virtue of Crowley, Guénon, and Evola, had their flesh torn, as per III:53. The sole exception seems to be Confucianism. Crowley addressed Buddhism, Qabalah, Taoism, and the two traditions from III:51-52 (Christianity and Islam). Guénon dealt with Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Evola addressed Buddhism. These aren’t exhaustive, but reflect their work in conjunction with III:50-54. Other than a brief mention in Evola’s work on Taoism (in itself, a brief gloss), Confucianism has been largely ignored. This is unfortunate, as few traditions have the innate restorative power for a world fallen into the Kali Yuga as does Confucianism. It’s meritocratic methodology would restore the “confusion of the castes” that Guénon and Evola chronicled. Further, it would be self-selected and free from any bias other than the inherent bias of ascription to the principles being espoused (in this case, Thelema). Also, the intent of Confucianism seems to be replicated in Crowley’s vision of the AA and the reading lists.

The purpose of Confucianism is the cultivation of the superior man. To achieve this, one studies and practices the prescribed teachings. Beyond this, many Chinese dynasties utilized Confucian knowledge as the base for selecting government officials. Testing was a necessary component and one’s score determined one’s position within the government. These tests looked much like those I have seen for entrance into the A∴A∴. While some questions were capable of being answered by rote memorization, certain questions were designed so as to allow the student to show their own comprehension and internalization of the material. These questions had no specific answer (though they probably had wrong answers).

The A∴A∴ system, as it was written by Crowley, seems to be Confucian in nature. One is given Thelemic texts to study, along with materials meant to illuminate understanding and provide background to the texts. These are conjoined to practices which are meant to provide an experiential reference.

Liber Resh vel Helios sub figurâ CC is listed as the second practice in de Cultu. The first being to study and practice the Holy Books. The initial version I was taught had two parts: the adoration of the solar god of the quarter and the “adoration that is taught thee by thy Superior.” The initial adoration that I was taught was a subset of “A Paraphrase of the Inscription upon the Obverse of the Stèle of Revealing,” starting with the verse “Unity uttermost showed!” Since then, I have learned an extended form. This form is said to have been taught by Crowley at the Abbey of Thelema. I will break this down into five parts. Parts two through four have associated footwork. Steps one, three, and five have associated god forms.

Resh is to be performed at dawn, noon, dusk, and midnight. For these I use solar noon and midnight, so it is not at precisely 12 o’clock. Also, if I forget a station, I will still perform it. E.g., if I forget noon, at dusk I will do Noon Resh, then Evening Resh. As for fitting this into the daily practice, My morning has Star Ruby, Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram, and Resh. Noon/Midnight has Resh. Evening has Resh, (Phoenix)*, and the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.

In the Morning, face East (which you will be if you just finished your TLIRP), make the Sign of the Enterer and say “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” From the Sign of the Enterer, flow into the Sign of Vir. Next, make your feet into a reversed ‘L,’ with the right foot facing forward and the left forming a 90° angle.

Facing forward from this position, recite the solar adoration from Liber Resh, “Hail unto Thee who art Ra in Thy rising…” Once complete, bring the left foot parallel to the right, forming an ‘I.’ Cross the arms to assume the Sign of Osiris Risen and recite the entire Obverse of the Stèle of Revealing. Once that is complete, rotate the right foot to form a 90° angle, drop your arms, face the next quarter, and sing “A ka dua / Tuf ur biu / bi a'a chefu / Dudu nur af an nuteru” as per the instructions in Liber XV.

Finally, make the Sign of Mulier, and say “Love is the law, love under will.” Finish with the Sign of Silence.

The other quarters are similar. For Noon, face South, make the Sign of Mulier, adore Ahathoor, and finish with the Sign of Puer. Dusk requires one to face West, adore Tum, and close with the Sign of Puer. Midnight faces North, has the Sign of Puella, adores Kephra, and creates a loop by ending with Vir. One should notice that the Signs of NOX of each quarter match the Thelemic deity from the Star Ruby and Liber V.

The Obverse of the Stèle of Revealing can be recited in various ways. One can sing it. It can sound quite beautiful. I believe it is reminiscent of Christian devotionals. Since I cannot sing, I avoid this. For me, I chant the adorations in full sentences, or at least in component parts. (“Above the gemmed azure is the naked splendour of Nuit” *pause* “She bends in ecstacy to kiss the secret ardours of Hadit.”) Choose the method that you enjoy best.

The image of Ra is that of a hawk-headed lord. On his head rests a solar disk entwined with a serpent. Ahathoor, a variation of Hathor, is a Cow Goddess, depicted as a woman with long cow horns in which is nestled a solar disk and serpent. Tum is depicted as the one who takes the soul of the departed king to the stars. He is depicted as a man wearing the royal headdress or dual crowns, and is associated with the serpent. Kephra is imagined as a dung beetle. One should imagine these forms when performing one’s adoration.

I covered the Star Ruby, so let us move to the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram. I must admit that I avoided this ritual when I first started ceremonial magick. A sticking point was the use of Hebrew/Christian gods and angels. In my youth, I was exposed to fundamentalist/charismatic Christianity and was rabidly anti-Christian. (I have since mellowed so that I only see it as yet another weak and oppressive form of herd morality.) Due to this aversion, I threw myself whole heartedly into the Star Ruby. It’s use of Thelemic deities, Greek language, and Chaldean entities made it a perfectly valid alternative to the hated Christian ritual.

Unfortunately, the Star Ruby is a banishing ritual. To my knowledge, there is no invoking form. This was not a problem at first since we only did banishings anyway (keith418 has written extensively on this problem). However, the time came when I was actually ready to do magick and I needed an invoking pentagram ritual. I could only see two options. The first was to eschew proper ritual format and allow Christianity to control my life through my aversion. The alternative was to overcome these barriers and master the ritual.

I went through many mental games on my way. The first was to create an arbitrary division between the tetragrammaton and Yahweh. In the east, I would intone each letter, telling myself that this was the true god and that Yahweh was the demi-urge. My sense of aesthetics broke this one, since it is imbalanced to spell YHVH, but not ADNI, EHIH, and AGLA. Especially, AGLA since it is an acronym. Today, I realize that I am not going to let some bloodthirsty, desert totem of genocide mar my spiritual practices. I hope this digression has been of help to anyone dealing with similar issues.

The lesser ritual of the pentagram has two forms, the banishing and the invoking. They are commonly abbreviated as LBRP and LIRP. I indicate the Thelemic variant by prefacing a ‘T’ to the previous acronyms. The difference between the “classical” and Thelemic variants lie in the Qabalistic Cross. In the “classical” version, one makes an equal armed cross. In the Thelemic, one makes a Calvary Cross and inserts the name of one’s Holy Guardian Angel, if known, or “Aiwass,” who can be seen as the archetypal HGA. The lesser pentagram ritual is a building block and component of all Western ceremonial magick. Its importance, and mastery, cannot be understated.

The ritual is actually very simple. It is composed of four parts (the Star Ruby has six). These parts are: (1) The Qabalistic Cross, (2) The Charging of the Quarters, (3) The Invocation of the Archangels, and (4) repeat The Qabalistic Cross. For reference, the Star Ruby’s parts are: (1) The Casting Out of Demons, (2) The Cross Qabalistic, (3) The Charging of the Quarters, (4) The Paean and -Godforms, (5) The invocation of the Chaldean entities, and (6) The Cross Qabalistic.

You begin the Qabalistic Cross by standing in the Sign of Silence while facing East and holding the dagger (note, Liber O says “usually the wand,” but I have always seen it performed with the dagger). Inhale, and with the hand that is holding the weapon, one touches one’s forehead and vibrates “ATEH.” Bringing the hand down to the heart, one vibrates “AIWASS.” Next, one brings one’s hand to the groin (Svadisthana Chakra) and vibrates “MALKUTH.” I do this as one breath. This can be roughly translated as “Unto thee, my HGA, is the Kingdom.” Next is the crossbar. Inhale and touch the right shoulder while vibrating “VE-GEBURAH.” Bring the hand across to the left shoulder and vibrate “VE-GEDULAH.” This is also completed in one breath. This is commonly translated as “and the Power and the Glory.” Finally, inhale and bring the hands together while saying “LE-OLAHM AMEN.” One should end in a posture similar to that of prayer, though as magicians and Thelemites, that is not the mental attitude. This can be thought to mean “To the Ages, AMEN.” Then return to the Sign of Silence.

The second section is the charging of the quarters. For the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, one uses the pentagram of Earth for all four quarters. The invoking pentagram is drawn from the uppermost point (attributed to Spirit) to the lower left point (attributed to Earth). The banishing pentagram is done in reverse, starting with the lower left and moving upward. Note that these describe the first line of the pentagram and one should draw the remaining lines sequentially (i.e., invoking: Spirit, Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Spirit). Since the magician is standing at the intersection of Pe & Samekh (Tower & Art), my imagery is related to the Sephiroth of the Qabalistic Tree of Life.

To the East (Tiphareth) visualize the symbol of the sun and trace a golden pentagram about it. Make the Sign of the Enterer and vibrate “YHVH” (yahweh) while visualizing a anthropomorphic solar burst. Return to the Sign of Silence. Turn to the South (Netzach) and visualize the sign of Venus. Trace a green pentagram, make the Sign of the Enterer, vibrate “ADNI” (adonai) while visualizing a beautiful youth (the Morning Star, Lucifer), and return to the Sign of Silence. Turn to the West (Yesod). Visualize the Lunar symbol. Trace a Violet pentagram. Make the Sign of the Enterer, vibrate “AHIH” while visualizing a Warrior with a bow, and return to the Sign of Silence. Finally, Turn to the North (Hod). Repeat as before, but the sign is Mercury, the color orange, and the image should be that of Atu I, the Magus, of the Thoth Tarot deck. Turn back to the East.

For the Invocation, Make sign of Osiris Slain while standing in the center and visualize each angel as you vibrate their name. “Before me Raphael, Behind me Gabriel, On my right hand Michael, On my left hand Auriel.” Next say “For about me flames the Pentagram.” Make the Sign of Osiris Risen and finish with “And in the Column stands the six-rayed Star,” followed by the Sign of Silence.

To end, one repeats the Qabalistic Cross. By finishing in the Sign of Silence, one is ready for the next ritual. In the case of one’s morning adorations, this would be Resh.

While writing this, I found that I had made an error with the colors for Yesod/AHIH. All of the other quarters use the Queen scale of colors, which coincide with the planetary colors. However, Yesod is violet, but the Moon is silver, so I was drawing a silver pentagram. I will change this for future practice.

To clarify a few points from yesterday’s post on the Star Ruby. When I stated “I do each line of the cross with one breath,” I meant the following: I raise my right hand above my forehead, inhale. I vibrate “Soi,” while touching my forehead. I bring my hand down to my groin and vibrate “O Phalle” and exhale any remaining breath. I inhale again and touch my right shoulder vibrating “Ischuros.” I touch my left shoulder while vibrating “Eucharistos” and exhale any remaining breath. I then stand in the sign of the cross and bring my hands together while vibrating “IAO.” Typically, I bring my hands together over my heart with palms pressed together.

My inspiration for vibrating words comes from Tibetan Chants. I try to have the sound originate in my stomach/torso such that it resonates with my entire body. I want my entire body to vibrate with the sounds I am making.