TIPS
FOR THE MALLBOOKSTORE MAGICIAN
Streamlining
the Watchtower ritual for modern use.
A
good part of what is practiced as Ceremonial Magick these days derives either
directly or indirectly from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
Even the A:.A:. system of magick,
which often reflects itself in the OTO, is made up primarily of
“Thelemicized” Golden Dawn material and Patanjali’s Yoga sutras. More recently, a lot of solo magicians have been getting
their introductory training from books such as Donald Michael Kraig’s: Modern
Magick, Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts. This too, is based
primarily on Golden Dawn material. The
Golden Dawn constructed a ritual that they use to open temple whenever practical
magick is involved. Kraig stresses this opening rite as necessary for any
work meant to effect anything outside the magician, yet I have hardly ever seen
it put to use outside of a Golden Dawn temple. Most of the magicians I know that
work the GD derived currents simply ignore its existence. The A:.A:.
doesn’t, to my knowledge, have a corresponding ritual. This is most likely due
to the fact that Crowley, who left the G.D as a Zelator Adeptus Minor, was never
taught the ritual or for that matter any of the more complex enochian based
workings. But today the watchtower
ritual has been printed in many forms and seems relatively accessible, why then
are people not using it? Could it be that it is too damn long?
I
have seen versions of the Watchtower ritual that are in excess of 8 pages long
and filled with seemingly endless recitation and prayers. This I believe is the
number one reason that it is not often used today. Even the version in Modern
Magick, itself an abridged version of the rite, is a little too wordy for the
modern magician and a little too pious for those of a pagan or thelemic bent.
The versions of the ritual published in Golden Dawn manuscripts are
filled with signs and other symbology that is only important if you have gone
through that degree system.
So
why bother with it all you may ask? Because it is POTENT! The ritual sets up a
space that will act as a catalyst, a superconductor, and a gateway all in one.
Its worth doing magick in a space like that, even if it tacks on a little extra
time to the ritual. Which is why I have taken the liberty of dumping some of the
rituals excess baggage.
What
follows is an examination of the theory and practice of a streamlined version of
the Watchtower ritual that should be suitable for those who don’t want to
spend an hour opening up temple, or supplicating a creator god. I have also gone
into detail on some of the mind/body keys that will help unlock the mudras and
signs used in the rite as I believe these are of great importance.
I have taken quite a bit of liberty with the interpretation of the rite,
but I have had much success with this and I think that others would benefit.
The
cosmology drawn upon in the watchtower ritual is enochian. Enochian considers
that reality is made up of five basic elements: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and
Spirit. The first four elements are represented by zones of that energy called watchtowers. Each of these
watchtowers is divided into four subwatchtowers corresponding to the same
elements for example: Fire of fire, air of fire, water of fire, and earth of
fire. Sprit is the all-pervading force that binds the watchtowers together and
that from which the watchtowers have arisen. What the ritual intends to do is
open gateways to all four of these watchtowers and call forth the powers
therein. This is accomplished by means of material, somatic, mental, and verbal
components. The material components are the use of elemental tools and tablets,
while these are helpful, it is possible for the more realized magician to do
without them, but for our purposes I will include them in the instruction. The
somatic components of the ritual are the gestures, walks, and signs that are
performed during the rite. I consider these very important and will go into
greater detail on how to perform them as they come up in the ritual. The mental
components are the visualizations, which are rather simple and straightforward.
What is important to remember about visualizations is that you are not just
fantasizing, it is your minds way of commanding energy. Later when you can feel
and see the energy without effort of mental visualizations, it will simply “be
there” and manipulating it will come as natural as moving the digits of the
hand.
The
verbal components of this ritual are exceedingly important as they are mostly
enochian. Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelly discovered the enochian language in the
16th century. It is believed to be the language spoken by the angels
themselves and to have derived from the original word of creation. (For more
information on the origin of enochian see my article “Just who the Hell is
this Enoch Guy Anyway?” in Behutet #1). There are different opinions on how
Enochian is to be pronounced, what I present here is how the Golden Dawn
pronounced it. I will include an appendix to the article that gives an alternate
perhaps “truer” pronunciation of the language, I leave it up to the reader
to judge which is used. When one is using the language one should keep in mind
that you are calling the spirits in their own tongue and that they will most
certainly stand up and listen. Chris Hyatt gives the example of a mouse crawling
up on your shoe and starting to squeak, you probably wouldn’t think much of it
outside of “get this mouse off my shoe!”. If however a mouse crawled up on
your shoe and Said “Oh thou grand upright one, who leaves droppings of food on
the floor, come forth and hear me!” No matter how garbled the mouses English
was you would probably pay attention.
The
watchtower consists of two parts: opening and closing. The opening actually
begins with two smaller rituals
banishing by pentagram and by hexagram. Most ceremonialists know one or two
versions of these, and I have written this for those who are already familiar
with them.. The Pentagram banishing ritual (LBRP, Star Ruby, or similar ritual)
serves to remove any earthbound influences from the area: anything from ghosts
and demons, to unwanted thoughtforms and “vibes”. The hexagram banishing
serves to banish higher influences, be they positive or negative, such as
astrological influences and higher plane beings.
It is only after the space has been cleared by these means that the
opening can take place.
The
first section of the rite is actually invoking the energy of the watchtowers,
this is accomplished by means of invoking pentagrams similar to those used to
banish in a regular pentagram ritual. As anyone performing this should already
know the pentagram banishing I won’t go into detail on how to draw them.
Instead I would like to talk about vibrating
words of power. In this ritual when we vibrate we use the sign of the
enterer. To do this: stand upright with feet straight and breath deeply,
actually see the breath enter in through your nostrils and move through your
sinuses and down your center channel curling at the base of the spine. Now
“vibrate” the formula that is called for while stepping forward with your
left foot and thrusting your arms forward, pointing at the pentagram in front of
you. When you do this you should see the air that you took in during the
inhalation pattern itself into the words the you are about to utter, if you have
a working knowledge of enochian, all the better that you see them in enochian
characters in the color appropriate to the watchtower. As you vibrate the words
see them ripple through space to the infinite ends of the watchtower and than
ripple back upon you carrying with it the blessings of that plane. You should
use all of your breath to vibrate the sentence. Some say that when done
appropriately the adept will come to the point of almost passing out! With that
said let’s begin the first section.
SECTION
1 – INVOKING THE WATCHTOWERS
Beginning
in the South using the wand, or another tool associated with the element of
fire, you summon forth the feeling of pure elemental fire, which has the
qualities of Expansion, Dryness, and Heat. Feel it actually come rushing in from
the south, over you and through you, the energy is electric in nature. Shake the
wand three times in that direction, once to the left, once to the right, and
once to the center. Consider this action an invitation to the energy. Proceed
around the room in a clockwise direction, holding aloft the wand, walking the
element around the perimeter of the circle, impregnating the space with its
qualities. When you arrive back at the south draw in the air a red fire invoking
pentagram with the wand. Draw a blue circle around it making a pentacle. Making
the sign of the enterer, vibrate the three holy names of the watchtower of fire
OIP TEAA PEDOCE (oh-ee-peh teh-ah-ah peh-doh-kay). Consider that these words
activate your invoking pentagram and makes it into a gateway directly into the
watchtower of fire. Look through the gateway/pentacle and see the “fire and
brimstone” landscape on the other side, filled with beings of pure elemental
fire. Say to those beings: “BY THE NAMES AND LETTERS OF THE GREAT SOUTHERN
QUADRANGLE I INVOKE YE, YE DAEMONS OF THE WATCHTOWER OF FIRE”.
Moving
to the west take up the cup, or another tool associated with the element water.
Summon forth the feeling of pure elemental water, which has the qualities of
Contraction, Wetness, and Cold. Feel It rush over you and through you like you
were just hit with a tidalwave from the west, try to feel the magnetic nature of
this energy. Shake the cup three times to the west: once to the left, once to
the right, and once to the center. Consider that this invites the energy of the
watchtower. Proceed as before in a clockwise direction around the room, holding
aloft the cup, walking the element through the sphere, impregnating the space
with its qualities. When you arrive back in the west make a blue water invoking
pentagram, than a blue circle around it Making the sign of the enterer vibrate
the three holy names of the watchtower of water: MPH ARSL GAIOL (em-peh-heh
ar-sel ga-ee-ol). Consider that this activates your invoking pentagram and
transforms it into a gateway to the watchtower of water. Gaze through the
gateway/pentacle into the watchtower, see the underwater landscape on the other
side, filled with beings of pure elemental water. Say to those beings: “BY THE
NAMES AND LETTERS OF THE GREAT WESTERN QUADRANGLE, I INVOKE YE, DAEMONS OF THE
WATCHTOWER OF WATER”.
Moving
to the east take up the dagger, or another tool associated with the element air.
Summon forth the feeling of pure elemental air, which has the qualities of
lightness, Wetness, and Heat. Feel It rush over you and through you as if you
were just hit with a gust from the east, try to feel the electromagnetic nature
of this energy. Shake the dagger three times to the east: once to the left, once
to the right, and once to the center. Consider that this invites the energy of
the watchtower. Proceed as before in a clockwise direction around the room,
holding aloft the dagger, walking the element through the sphere, impregnating
the space with its qualities. When you arrive back in the east make a yellow air
invoking pentagram, than a blue circle around it Making the sign of the enterer
vibrate the three holy names of the watchtower of air: ORO IBAH AOZPI (oh-roh ee-bah-hah
a-oh-zod-pee). Consider that this activates your invoking pentagram and
transforms it into a gateway to the watchtower of air. Gaze through the
gateway/pentacle into the watchtower, see the spacious sky on the other side,
filled with beings of pure elemental air. Say to those beings: “BY THE NAMES
AND LETTERS OF THE GREAT EASTERN QUADRANGLE, I INVOKE YE, DEAMONS OF THE
WATCHTOWER OF AIR”.
Moving
to the north take up the pentacle, or another tool associated with the element
earth. Summon forth the feeling of pure elemental earth, which has the qualities
of heaviness, Dryness, and Cold. Feel It rush over you and through you as if you
were just hit with a landslide from the north, try to feel the all encompasing
nature of this energy and how all the other elements are represented within it.
Shake the cup three times to the west: once to the left, once to the right, and
once to the center. Consider that this invites the energy of the watchtower.
Proceed as before in a clockwise direction around the room, holding aloft the
pentacle, walking the element through the sphere, impregnating the space with
its qualities. When you arrive back in the north make a black earth invoking
pentagram, than a blue circle around it Making the sign of the enterer vibrate
the three holy names of the watchtower of water: MOR DIAL HECTEGA (ee-mor dee-al
hek-teh-ga). Consider that this activates your invoking pentagram and transforms
it into a gateway to the watchtower of earth. Gaze through the gateway/pentacle
into the watchtower, see the subterranean landscape on the other side, filled
with beings of pure elemental earth. Say to those beings: “BY THE NAMES AND
LETTERS OF THE GREAT NORTHERN QUADRANGLE, I INVOKE YE, DEAMONS OF THE WATCHTOWER
OF EARTH”.
Return
to the center of the circle, west of the altar, facing east.
SECTION
TWO – RENDING THE VEILS
Standing
at the center of the sphere, consider that you are the center of the multiverse.
Do not consider that you are imagining this, but know that it is true! The
Multiverse’s center is everywhere and its circumference is nowhere, so calling
this to mind, see yourself as the center of it all, the axis point. Vibrate the
call:
OL
SONUF VAORSAGI GOHO IADA BALTA.
ELEXARPEH
COMANANU TABITOM
ZODAKARA
EKA ZODAKARE OD ZODAMERANU
ODO
KIKLE QAA PIAP PIAMOEL OD VOANU
Which
is pronounced:
Oh-el
soh-noof vay-oh-air-sah-jee goh-ho ee-ah-dah bahl-ta
El-ex-ar-peh-hay
Co-mah-nah-noo Tah-bee-toh-ehm
Zohd-ah-kah-rah
zohd-ah-kah-ray zohd-ah-mer-ah-noo
Oh-doh
kee-klay kay-ah-ah pee-ah-pay pee-ah-moh-el oh-dah vay-oh-ah-noo.
Which
means:
I
reign over you, says the god of justice.
(Names
of the three governors of the abyss)
Move
therefore and appear. Open the mysteries of creation
Balance,
righteousness and truth
While
doing this make the mudra of rending the veils. This is accomplished by placing your hands in front of you,
palms held together. “Feel” for the presence of the three dimensions of
space, side to side (width), up and down (height), back to front (depth). With
the force of your will move your hands between the first dimension of space,
splitting it and rending it apart. Move your hands apart from each other like
you are parting a great and heavy curtain. If this is done correctly you will
actually feel the strain on your hands and your mind. After your hands have
moved as far as they can, keep rending it mentally until it has reached the edge
of the sphere. Next split the space up and down, either mentally or moving your
hands between the space. Finally back to front. All this can be done with the
mind alone but I find that the use of the physical hands helps make the
experience concrete and tangible. There are of course more dimensions than those
of space, and these too can be rended, but it would be very difficult for me to
write out how to do so, as it is based entirely on your perception of these
dimensions, which remain theoretical until actually perceived. I find that splitting space is best done in co-ordination
with the three names in the call. Which are the governors of the great Abyss,
the aethyr which separates phenomenal reality from non-phenominal reality.
PART
3 – FORMING THE VORTEX
Move
to the North East and face outwards, proclaim: “The visible sun is the
dispenser of light unto the earth, let us now form a vortex in this chamber that
the invisible light of spirit may shine herein.” Move to the east but do not
face east. Give the sign of the enterer to the direction that you will be
walking- clockwise around the circle. Pace the circle like a tiger stirring all
of the energy, which has been brought into the sphere to action. If you are
familiar with the Castenada system this is similar to the “spirit walk”
Complete three circumambulations giving the sign of the enterer in the direction
that you are heading (don’t turn to face east) each time you pass the east.
Move to the center of the sphere, the center of the very universe itself, and
know that anything that is done from this point (ie:your main working) will be
carried out with the will of the universe behind it!
NOTES
TO THE OPENING
Note
that the order of invoking the quarters is not the usual circular pattern but
starts in the south to west to east to north. By invoking the elements in this
manner you are mimicking the creation of a universe. From nothingness, the ain, arises fire, the primordial
element. From fire arises its opposite-water. Fire and water combined creates
humidity – air (remember warm and wet) the settling of this humidity creates
earth. This can also be viewed as Fire representing will, the divine spark.
Giving rise to Water representing understanding and emotion. Giving rise to air
representing analysis or thought processes. Giving rise to Earth,
representing body or physical appearances. Yet another interpretation is: Weak
force, Strong force, Electromagnetism, and Gravity. The possibilities for
interpretation are endless but the idea is the formless moving into form. Thus
the reason why this is such an excellent space to conduct practical magick in,
or call forth higher energies to take form in this reality (evocation).
The
instructions given on rending the veil are a shammanic technique that was passed
on to me. It corresponds quite well to the rending of the veil mudra and adds a
needed “kick” to the ritual so don’t search the Golden Dawn documents
looking for these instructions, because they wont be there.
It
is very important to keep the view that you are the center of the multiverse
during the course of this ritual, only from that vantage point will you find it
possible to split space and create the vortex properly.
THE
CLOSING
After
the work is finished the space should be closed. This is done quite simply.
First
circumambulate widdershins (anti-clockwise) dissipate the vortex. Next perform
the closing of the veil, which is simply drawing your hands out from you sides
and bringing them back to their original position, palm to palm. As you do this,
will the three dimensions of space to fall back into place, if you split the
space correctly you will feel a mental relief at having done this. Than banish
the area once again by pentagram and hexagram. Knock once on the altar and
declare the temple closed.
Here
is a simplified step by step rundown, without all the visualization instruction.
1.
Declare
the Temple open: “HEKAS HEKAS ESTE BEBELOI”
2.
Perform
Pentagram Banishing (or similar rite)
3.
Perform
Hexagram Banishing (or similar rite)
4.
Move to
south shake wand three times L,R,C and invite the element of fire.
5.
Circumambulate
Clockwise
6.
Make Fire
Invoking Pentacle in south
7.
Sign of
the enterer and vibrate “OIP TEAA PEDOC”
8.
Repeat
steps 4-7 starting at west, using the cup, inviting the element water, and
vibrating “MPH ARSL GAIOL”
9.
Repeat
steps 4-7 starting in east, using dagger, inviting air, and vibrating “ORO
IBAH AOZPE”
10.
Repeat
steps 4-7 starting in north, using pentacle, inviting earth, and vibrating
“EMR DIAL HKTGA”
11.
Move to
center and meditate on oneself as center of the universe
12.
Rend the
veil and vibrate : INSERT CALL HERE
13.
Go to NE
and proclaim: The visible sun is the dispenser of light unto the world, let me
now make a vortex in this chamber, that the invisible light of spirit may shine
herein.
14.
Circumambulate
the chamber three times clockwise creating the vortex as you go.
15.
To close
simply undo the vortex, close the veil, and banish by pentagram..
This
ritual should take about 15-20 minutes to perform properly and, I feel, it is
well worth the effort. I hope that by trimming down some of the recitation and
supplying some of the subtle keys that don’t often get passed down in books,
this ritual will be made more use of and that helps those who perform it
accomplish the great work.
JASON
MILLER
PHILADELPHIA
1998
