by Henry Ho
Kether: Source, Overview of the reading
Chokmah: Energy, Father, Logos
Binah: Channel, Mother, Understanding
Chesed: Creativity, Wealth, Structure
Geburah: Destruction, Action, Willpower
Tiphareth: Balance, Beauty, Harmony
Netzach: Passion, Emotions, Motivation
Hod: Intellect, Beliefs, Memory
Yesod: Subconscious, Astral Plane
Malkuth: Physical Plane, End result
After reading the overview, find your significator and read the stack that it is in.
Fifth Operation Example
Kether: Queen of Disks
This reading centres on me. My significator is right there in plain sight.
Chokmah: The Magician
My Logos wants to manifest the magician archetype. To speak my Word.
Binah: 3 of Cups
Abundance is the tool which effectively channels my word. Help me do my Work. Focus on the enjoyment of the process.
Chesed: Princess of Cups
There seems to be an artistic element to my creativity. I hadn't considered that before.
Geburah: 9 of Wands
My force is balanced and active. I have been more active recently. There's been no recent instance (since I started writing this book) where I felt like I was lacking something productive to do.
Tiphareth: 6 of Disks
I am balanced in my centre. Manifesting my beauty and my soul.
Netzach: Art (Temperance)
My aspirations have been successfully harnessed towards creative endeavours. It seems that I have reached the conclusion of the problem outlined in the First Operation. This is a clear indication that progress has been made.
Hod: 4 of Wands
My intellect in complete. I interpret this as I know all I need to know in order to move forwards in this endeavour.
Yesod: Ace of Wands
There is much untapped potential in Yesod. Much in my subconscious that can be tapped for inspiration.
Malkuth: 3 of Disks
All this manifests as work in the physical realm. This does not necessarily refer only to this book that I'm writing. I have been more active in my day job as well. The increased activity has brought me a sense of overall satisfaction.
Conclusion:
In this case the Fifth Operation really did show me the “Final Result” of the situation outlined in the First Operation. I have moved from my state of stagnation to one of activity.
Kether stack
(Emperor, Queen of Disks, 10 of Cup)
I sit secure in my throne. Satisfied with my authority, power and activity.
Counting left from the Queen of Disks
(9 of Swords, Star, 8 of Swords)
I have managed to free myself of the entrapment that I felt with deep analysis.
(10 of Cups, Sun, Queen of Wands)
I have achieved what I wanted. There is a sense of play at the possibilities available to me. I feel empowered.
Counts back to the Sun card.
Conclusion:
Overall this operation has shown that I have achieved what I have aimed for in the First Operation. I won’t continue reading any longer as what we have is sufficient for our example and this is a nice conclusion to this whole narrative.
Energy Manipulation
Many systems of magick would agree that energy manipulation is the foundation to all of magick. The Golden Dawn tradition uses the rituals of the pentagram and hexagram to either invoke or banish elemental and planetary energies into yourself or the space around you. Whilst effective, I have found this technique to be cumbersome. You don’t necessarily have five minutes to perform the technique. Or perhaps you want to manipulate energy in a room full of people where you would rather to keep your occult practices to yourself. Of course you could perform the ritual in your astral body, and I have found that to work as well.
All energies of magick respond to the imagination. All you have to do is to visualise the movement of energy and it will be so. External tools such as ritual are merely props that help guide the imagination. That is my conviction and has been my own experience. Some magicians would dispute that and that’s ok. I can see that for certain forms of magick the metaphysical properties of physical tools are considered inherent[15], and that rituals intrinsically have power in them, but for energy manipulation I have found that the mind is all that is necessary.
Aura and Energy
The best theory I have come across on how spiritual energy works is in Serge Kahili King’s Mastering Your Hidden Self. I believe most of us have a conception of what aura is even if we are completely new to the occult. The aura is a field that surrounds everything in existence. Not just organic life forms. It is called astral matter by ceremonial magicians (or perhaps it is etheric matter, more on that later). It is the Holy Ghost of the Trinity, that which permeates all existence. According to the Tree of Life it relates to Yesod, the penultimate plane of existence that manifests physical reality. For nerdier readers out there, I like to think of it as The Force from Star Wars.
Aura is the substance that enables things like telepathy or various methods of manifestation and healing modalities. It responds to our thoughts and imagination. It acts both as a field that surrounds all things (both living and/or inorganic), as well as threads that connects us to everything else in the universe. Kind of like the spiritual internet. Aura is infinitely plastic and can be moulded into any shape that we desire.
Often the aura is depicted as universal energy itself, but that is not true, although it is easy to confuse the two. Aura is the fluid that contains and conducts the energy, like battery fluid is to electricity. The reason why the two are easily confused to be one is because when aura is charged with more energy, it tends to expand, and the opposite is also true. The two share a very close symbiotic relationship. However their functions are different. One being the energy itself and the other being the medium of transfer.
Invoking and Expelling Energy
By Invoking I mean “drawing into yourself.” Spiritual energy is regulated in the aura similar to breathing. In fact breathing may actually be the default method that spiritual energy flows in and out of the body, along with physical gases. I have no definitive proof of that apart from the fact that deep breathing does seem facilitate the invocation of spiritual energy. Whilst it does not seem to be required, I find that deep breathing in conjunction with the imagination helps immensely.
To fill yourself with energy, any image that suits your preference will do. My preferred method is to imagine a beam of light from the heavens coming down through the crown of my head down into the base of my spine, filling my body with white/golden energy as a cup is filled by a tap. I intuitively know my body is full through a combination of bodily sensations as well as an image in my mind’s eye. My body appears saturated with this light and is glowing white. I often get tingling sensations on my skin, as well as a feeling of pressure like I’m an inflated balloon. I combine this image with a deep breath as if I am inhaling this energy through the crown of my head.
Try this a few times and see what sensations you get. Once you get familiar with the feelings you will know how it feels to be filled with this energy.
There are many other methods and it all depends on your imagination and what you respond to. Franz Bardon prescribes a method he calls pore breathing[16]. As you inhale you imagine the energy from around you enters your body through your nose and even through your skin all around your body.
If you are worried about the energy escaping when you exhale, don’t worry. The energy mostly responds to your intent or will. As long as you decide to keep it in your body it will stay there.
I actually use both the inhale and the exhale as part of the process. On the inhale I imagine my body sucking the energy in. In this case I imagine the energy as being a translucent white “fluid[17]”. When I exhale I imagine the energy expanding my aura, like a balloon. That way
the energy is retained.
One property of the aura when functioning properly is that it acts like a spiritual skin. It regulates a constant amount of energy going in and out of it unless we want more than the usual to be invoked or expelled. Whilst this is mostly effective there are scenarios where energy does go in and out more than the regular inflow and outflow. If your aura is not in good shape, people who are emotionally distressed can suck the energy of you. On the flip side, if you are overly open, which usually manifests as you being overly empathic, you will have a tendency to pick up other people’s energy.
We are not limited to the bog standard “universal energy.” Or what Franz Bardon calls “vital energy.” I think of this as equivalent to reiki energy or qi. Alternatively can inhale everything from elemental to planetary energies, to more specialised forms of energy such as the akasha and the electromagnetic energies. Just imagine that your immediate space is filled with the energy you want and breathe it into your body. You can differentiate between them with the colour, feel or even sounds to your liking.
To expel energy out of your body you simply reverse the process. Exhale with the intent that all excess energy leaves your body. When you inhale just imagine that nothing happens, or keep your mind blank.
Alternatively you can have your feet planted into the ground and imagine the energy being transferred into the earth. Most systems call this technique “grounding.”
Generally speaking you don’t want to be hyper charged with energy for long periods of time. It’s not comfortable. It can result in a lack of sleep or restlessness or simple discomfort. Not unlike being incredibly horny after a period of abstinence. You feel like you need to discharge the energy. In fact, masturbation or sex can actually do the trick as well.
Using your imagination you can manipulate any form energy you can think of, from universal energy (chi), to the four elements, planetary energy, anything whatsoever. You can even breathe qualities or emotions in and out of yourself. Visualise the idea of peace as an energy as you breathe it into yourself. Or if you’re feeling excess anger pent up in your body, breathe it out of you. Do this for traits you want to exhibit more or less of, such as discipline, procrastination and addiction.
Space Impregnation
This is a term used by Franz Bardon, but it is essentially about filling a room with a certain type of energy. There are various ways you can do it. The purpose here is that you may want to exert a certain influence onto the room. It is possible to program universal energy to do whatever you can imagine. You can calm everyone in a room down, excite them, stimulate conversation, increase sociability or make them angry. Or you can use the energy to ward off people with ill intent, making them feel uneasy and leave. Effects are not limited to influencing people’s emotions, you can even promote or damage people’s health.
The simplest way is to invoke the energy into yourself, and then breath it out of your body and into the room you are in, using the techniques already explained. Except when you exhale the energy, you can imagine it filling up the room rather than dissipate into nothingness.
It is not necessary to invoke energy into yourself first. You can fill a room full of energy directly. Just imagine energy being sucked into the space like a vacuum. In fact, you don’t even have to be inside the room. Just visualise the room you want to affect, and in your mind’s eye, suck energy into the space with your intent.
Energetic Cleansing
No treatise is complete without writing about how to cleanse your aura or the area around you. Essentially when you are done with a particular energy you don’t want it hanging around. This is like washing your hands after you have done your cooking. Energetic cleansing is vital to our spiritual hygiene, just as physical cleanliness is important for our physical health.
Also it is just practical. You don’t want to do a ritual relating to fire and then go about your job where you have to deal with people whilst you still have a high concentration of fire energy in your aura. Having fire energy hanging around can make you short tempered at a time when you need patience.
I want to propose a few general theories. There are many ways to do it that derives from different concepts.
The first method that I learnt is the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. The idea behind it is to create a vacuum around yourself that expels energy from around you[18]. This is the same idea found in the subsection on expelling energy. Not only can you exhale energy out of your own body but you can order energy to disperse from any space in the same way. Imagine energy being expelled from an entire room or a house as you exhale.
Energy responds to will. I have come across in David Shoemaker’s book Living Thelema that you can “banish by fiat[19].” Essentially you can just declare (with focus/intent/will) that a space is clean.
The second method that I have come across in Franz Bardon’s Initiation into Hermetics, and that is present in many traditions[20] involves the use of water. He states that water has absorption properties. Just as you can charge water to hold energy, you can use water to absorb and wash away unwanted energies. Whilst you take a bath or shower, use your imagination and intent to have excess energies be absorbed by the water. For an abbreviated version you can imagine the unwanted energy flowing out of you as you wash your hands.
The most recent and most interesting idea for cleansing I have encountered is from Reiki. Rather than expelling negative or unwanted energy, reiki practitioners displace it instead. You cleanse yourself by invoking or injecting “clean” energy into a person. This would overflow and would eventually displace the energy you don’t want. Like how you pour a constant stream pure water into a muddy cup. Eventually the muddy water would overflow out of the cup, and be replaced by pure water[21]. This is a very interesting and novel idea from someone who has come from a magickal background. The concept is the foundation of the reiki healing system.
Using Your Aura
Just as energy responds to will coupled with imagination, so does the aura. It can expand, contract and take on any shape you want. Some of you may already be familiar with the idea of assuming Godforms or shapeshifting into animal shapes. This is essentially a form of aura manipulation.
The technique I most often use with my aura is to expand it to the surrounding area that I’m in to affect changes. Most often I command my aura to cleanse the area around me. This is my go-to method for cleansing because it is quick and easy to do, and I can do it discreetly.
Other uses can be to dissipate tensions within a room. To promote tranquillity, to excite etc. The uses of the aura is very similar to filling a room with energy. They can be used in similar ways. The way I differentiate the two is whether I want the effect to linger or not. Generally if I want immediate, short term results, I would use my aura. If I want the effects to hang around I will invoke energy into the room. If I go away the energy will still be there to work its magick. Whereas if I relax my focus, my aura will retract back into me.
You can use your aura for protection or even intimidation. Imagine your aura forming a spherical shield around you that prevents other’s negative energies from penetrating you. It is up to you whether you want to visualise the energy bouncing off your shield or have your shield actually dissipate the energy. I would suggest the latter. Unless the assailant is deliberately attacking you psychically, reflecting the energy back at the perpetrator does more harm than good most of the time. Usually when you use your shield it is to protect yourself against someone who is in a very foul mood and is just radiating that emotional energy to everyone in their vicinity. If you reflect that energy back at them you are only going to be amplifying the problem.
To intimidate enemies you can have your aura take the shape of something combative or scary. Charles Cosamino in Psionic Warfare uses the image of red armour that he surrounds himself with whenever he is under attack. Red is the colour of aggression so it sends the message to back off. The image of armour serves both as protection as well as intimidation.
I have used something similar when my wife sensed a spirit in our bedroom to scare it off. She is better at sensing things than I am. However be cautious when you used this though. Not all spirits are malevolent. I scared that spirit away, but during the day after that we found out that her grandfather had passed away. I can’t say for sure if it was him trying to say goodbye. But the timing suggests that this was not a coincidence.
As with energy, the uses of your aura is limited only by your own imagination. You can influence the energy or atmosphere of a space in any way you desire.
Breathing in the energy of the Tarot cards
This is a little tip that I got from Anton Rossi[22], a friend and tarot reader who currently runs the London Tarot Study Group as of writing.
Have the tarot card whose energies you desire to be invoked in front of you. Close your eyes and slowly inhale. Visualise the colours of the card itself entering through your nose and permeating your body. Stop once you feel fully charged.
Energy Manipulation Example
In the Air String, the Unaspected card suggested that if I invoked fire into myself I will have increased motivation and purpose. I can do it in one of two ways. I can pore breath fire every morning as I start my day, Franz Bardon style. Or I can use an appropriate Fire tarot card and breathe in its energies to boost my activity during the day.
Pathworking
Broadly speaking a pathworking is a guided meditation. In this case rather than follow a detailed script, we are using only the tarot cards as points of focus. More specifically pathworking is the use of scrying and/or astral projection to explore the 32 paths on the Tree of Life. Practically this means exploring the tarot cards as the tarot is used as a pictorial representation of the Tree of Life.