There are innumerable other techniques which are included under the comprehensive term magic: divination, clairvoyance, astral projection, godforms, and many others. The only matter requiring some few words here is that of ceremonial. But the principles underlying this are so simple that the student who has understood the psychological principles laid down earlier in the book will have no difficulty in understanding its function. The purpose of ceremonial is that of all magic—the awakening of the interior man, the aligning it with the consciousness and powers of the universe about him. Its method, though, seems to the novice slightly different from the others. Actually, however, its procedure is identical with the other techniques, except that it brings them down to the physical plane. That is to say, instead of performing a series of purely introverted exercises, ceremonial magic devotes itself to enacting on the physical plane a series of psychic events. That is to say, it combines, according to its own principles, the benefits of introversion with those of the extraverted temperament.
We have seen that the ten Sephiroth represent different principles in man. The former chapters have described various methods of dealing with these constituents and with bringing them into operation. Ceremonial magic would apply itself to this problem of the manifestation of interior psychological principles in this way. It would take a room or temple, and so arrange it as to represent either the Tree of Life as a whole, or some particular aspect of a portion of it. The philosophy of the diagrammatic Tree is explained in various Qabalistic works, and an understanding of that would determine the arrangement employed. Certain stations would be set up in the temple, with officers placed there to represent the activity and operation of a certain Sephirah. Thus a ceremony, if it has been arranged by individuals who were thoroughly conversant with magical principles and with the basic principles of the Tree of Life, would be a celebration in dramatic form of the powers of these ten Sephiroth.33 The celebration of it physically, with each officer aware of the Sephirah represented and knowing how to bring the power of that Sephirah into operation either by the Vibratory Formula or by the assumption of the traditional godform ascribed to that Sephirah, will have made available an enormous amount of power. The penetration of this spiritual force into the sphere of sensation, and its reaction upon the consciousness of all present, is likely to produce a result in consciousness similar to, but much more concentrated and powerful than, the effects of the magical methods above described.
Little more need be said, but each student can work out the idea more completely. A great deal more material on the subject of ceremonial magic may be found in my Tree of Life and The Golden Dawn. But for the moment, my remarks may be limited to the above. And I must again emphasize what has been reiterated through the entire length of these pages. Ceremonial magic will avail the student nothing, and be of no practical use to him at all, until he has applied himself with great sincerity and application to the simpler practices delineated above. The Pentagram Ritual, the Qabalistic Cross and the Middle Pillar comprise the simple steps to spiritual development. It is only when these steps have been taken, and skill in their performance achieved, that he may feel it right and proper to approach that great edifice of ceremonial magic which is like a ladder, the bottom rung of which is rooted upon the earth so that all may climb quite easily. Its heights, however, are lost in the clouds of spiritual attainment where none may go until he has accomplished all that is possible here and now, and until he has integrated himself through and through. As has so often been stated here, I consider that analytical psychology must be regarded as the first part of that onward journey to the heights at the end of the distant plains. Not until the mind and the emotional system have been cleansed and unified by the cathartic process of psycho-therapy, can the full spiritual benefits of magical work be reflected into the mind of man.
Endnotes
1 This appears to be derived from a Golden Dawn formula known as the “Four Revolutions of the Breath” (see Regardie, The Golden Dawn, 347).
2 Once again, the term “circumambulation” is not appropriate here. It would be more accurate to describe this process as “circulation” or “circumagitation” of the light.
3 A Chinese Book of Life.
4 These sections refer to Malkuth as the physical realm, containing the four elements of fire, water, air, and earth. When Malkuth is considered as the primary Sephirah of elemental earth, these divisions represent the sub-elements (fire of earth, water of earth, air of earth, earth of earth).
5 See Part Two, Chapter Ten for a complete ritual of this sort, titled “The Tree of Life Exercise,” also called “The Rite of Three Pillars.”
6 Meaning “Lord, God of Knowledge.”
7 From the Neophyte ceremony. See Regardie, The Golden Dawn, 125.
8 This name may have a Greek etymological base. Possible translation: “near Thy throne.”
9 More often the divine name for Chokmah is given as Yah.
10 “The Herald of God.”
11 According to Golden Dawn tradition, the divine name for Binah is YHVH Elohim (transliterated as YHVH Alhim). This name is also used for Daath. The archangel Tzaphkiel is also used for Daath.
12 “Beholder of God,” or “the contemplation of God.”
13 The color of Daath is usually listed as either lavender or gray-white. The Golden Dawn ascribed certain colors to the Sephiroth and the paths in each of the Four Worlds of the Qabalah. The usual colors assigned to the Sephiroth are related to the world of Briah, while the paths that connect them are given colors that correspond to the world of Atziluth. The color that Regardie suggests using for Daath here (lavender), relates it to the world of Atziluth. This implies that Daath as a bridge or energy conduit has more in common with the paths of the Tree than with the Sephiroth.
14 “God.”
15 “Righteous of God.”
16 Elohim Gibor, “God of Battles,” or “Almighty God.”
17 The “Severity of God.” William Gray erroneously stated that the root of this name was khab, which meant “to suffer, to feel pain, or make war.” However, prominent Golden Dawn scholar Adam P. Forrest has pieced together the true origin of this name. According to Forrest, the original Archangel of Mars was Samael—a name that MacGregor Mathers changed to Zamael in order to avoid confusion with the Qliphotic Samael. When the Qabalists began to assign Archangels to the Sephiroth, someone attributed a list of Planetary Archangels to their corresponding Sephiroth, and the martial Samael was naturally assigned to Geburah. At some point this list was copied into Greek. In late Greek writing, the letter Sigma (the first letter in Samael) came to be drawn in the shape of a “C.” Still later, when the Greek list was copied into Latin, the copyist made the error of transliterating the Greek name of CAMAHL as Camael rather than Samael. Even later, someone (perhaps a member of the Golden Dawn) back-transliterated Camael asand thus was Camael (or Khamael) born. And although it originated as an error in translation, it does help magicians distinguish between Samael, Archangel of Evil, Zamael, Archangel of Mars, and Khamael, Archangel of Geburah.
18 Yellow.
19 YHVH Tzabaoth, “Lord of Armies.”
20 This should be Haniel, and not be confused with Anael, the Archangel of Venus. Haniel means “the Grace of God,” or “One who sees God.”
21 Elohim Tzabaoth, “God of Armies.”
22 Violet.
23 This name may have a Greek etymological base. Possible translations: “Lord of the extent of Height,” “Co-brother,” or “the sound of sandals.”
24 The colors of Malkuth are citrine, russet, olive, and black.
25 Although Regardie’s reasoning is valid, we suggest that students not mix Hebrew and Enochian here, particularly if they are unfamiliar with the Enochian system. Use the Hebrew divine and archangelic names associated with Binah as per Golden Dawn tradition.
26 This is verified by a passage in the manuscripts of the Golden Dawn, particularly a section of Z.1: The Enterer of the Threshold, The Symbolism of t
he Opening of the 0=0 grade of Neophyte (Regardie, The Golden Dawn, 346): “This is the secret traditional mode of pronouncing the Divine Names by vibration.... The Method described is called ”The Vibratory Formula of the Middle Pillar.”
27 The technique of vibrating a divine name while visualizing it flaming in the air is known as the expanding whirl of vibration.
28 That is, the transliteration of these names.
29 The technique of vibrating a divine name while visualizing it inside the heart or chest cavity is known as the invoking whirl of vibration.
30 Aleister Crowley, Magic in Theory and Practice, 379.
31 The eastern discipline of breath control. Many of the exercises in yoga are designed to extend the student’s capacity to take in and process oxygen, which changes the blood’s pH level. Practitioners of pranayama are said to have increased health, emotional balance, and vitality.
32 From the second chapter of Crowley’s Liber Al vel Legis, 51.
33 See our book Experiencing the Kabbalah for an example of this type of dramatic ritualized presentation called ”The Tree Walk.”
Part Two
The Balance Between Mind and Magic
Chic Cicero
Sandra Tabatha Cicero
A further analysis of the relationship between psychology and magic.
CHAPTER SIX
PSYCHOLOGY AND MAGIC
“We have more knowledge than our ancestors, but not more understanding.”1
Israel Regardie defended the idea that analytical psychology and magic were two halves of the same coin at a time when few dared suggest such a thing. The one is incomplete without the other. In fact, a large percentage of ancient magical knowledge is being rediscovered and renamed by today’s psychologists for modern times. Regardie considered self-knowledge and self-acceptance gained through analytical psychology as important preludes to the divine self-knowledge and spiritual realization attained through magic. When The Middle Pillar was first written, few espoused these ideas. Today, however, a growing number of psychologists are coming boldly within reach of embracing them. And many magicians are already using the jargon that psychologists considered germane to their profession only.
Today civilization looks to science to solve the major problems of humanity. In the early days when psychology was a young science, its disciples thought they were entering a time of a new renaissance when their efforts would provide “joy, zest, and richness of life” to fellow human beings—when the mental health of the average citizen would steadily improve. This did not happen. All the efforts of psychologists to understand the human mind and why we do things has not helped us put an end to violence, war, despair, global pollution, or overpopulation—which are all problems of human thought and behavior. As one modern psychologist admits, “There is a widespread belief that psychology has so lost contact with real human experience that there would be no point in asking it to solve major human problems.”2
After Sigmund Freud and his peers arrived on the scene, the clinical model of modern psychology methodically discarded any notion that the human soul was spiritual in nature.3 Why is the science of psychology incomplete without magic? Because it doesn’t go far enough—it analyzes human thought, motivation, and behavior, but not the human soul. It is “soul-less” and sterile. You won’t find the best descriptions of the human condition in a book on psychology. Look instead to literature, art, poetry, and in certain passages of the world’s holy books:It is to the literary world, not to psychological science, that you go to learn how to live with people, how to make love, how not to make enemies , to find out what grief does to people, or the stoicism that is possi- ble in the endurance of pain, or how if you’re lucky you may die with dignity; to see how corrosive the effects of jealousy can be, or how power corrupts or does not corrupt. For such knowledge and such understanding of the human species, don’t look in my Textbook of Psychology... try Lear, and Othello, and Hamlet. As a supplement to William James read Henry James, and Jane Austen and Mark Twain. These people are telling us things that are not on science’s program.4
Not only is modern clinical psychology detached from the humanities, it is divorced from spirituality. Throughout history, humans have forfeited tranquility, comfort, and sometimes life itself for spiritual motives. Spirituality is important to our health and well-being—it is so much a part of us that trying to understand human beings without it is like trying to study fish and omitting the fact that they live in water. Unfortunately, many psychotherapists have done just that, persuading themselves and their clients to believe that this spiritual portion of them either does not exist or is irrelevant.
Psychology and spirituality should not be separate entities. It is time to tear down the artificial walls that divide them. The various schools of magic and their extensive teachings comprised an enormous body of wisdom that was the forerunner of modern psychology. The ancient art of magic can give back to the modern science of psychology that which it has so unwisely neglected—a systematic practice for addressing the spiritual factor in humans, in a manner that is in accord with modern psychological principles. One of psychology’s founding fathers, Carl Gustav Jung, was aware of this even if some of today’s psychotherapists have forgotten it—a sign hanging above Jung’s office door read: Avocatus Atque Non-Avocatus Deus Aderit (“whether or not he is called, God will be present”).5 Since the goal of both magic and psychotherapy is the well-being of the individual, it is only natural they become re-acquainted with one another. Contemporary psychology must transform itself to include a more holistic approach wherein the physical, psychological, and transpersonal aspects of the individual are all seen as interconnected, and humanity’s need for healing, spirituality, and guidance is respected.
If psychology can be compared to a dictionary of words in a specific language (the human psyche), magic can be compared to a book of poetry that makes those words come alive with meaning and relevance in our lives (psychological / spiritual evolution).
Now that we have reprimanded modern psychology for its shortcomings, we can explore some of the monumental contributions it has made to the understanding of the human mind. From there we will explore how psychotherapy and magic can come together to the meaningful enrichment of both and, more importantly, for the benefit and welfare of the individual.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is the treatment of mental disorders with methods that revolve around the interpersonal relationship between therapist and client. A large portion of this entails helping clients explore their own ideas about themselves. The earliest form of psychotherapy called psychoanalysis, began with Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud discovered that the corporeal symptoms of patients suffering from hysteria often disappeared after seemingly forgotten material was brought into the realm of consciousness. From this Freud conjectured one of the most fundamental theories of modern psychology—that within the human psyche there exists a powerful segment known as the unconscious which influences all of our actions, yet functions with material or content that cannot be recalled or remembered by normal processes. He regarded the unconscious as a extensive portion of the mind that housed instinctual drives and the forgotten residue of unwanted life experiences or thoughts. Freud named this “forgetting” (or the prevention of undesired ideas from entering the conscious mind) repression. Repression is one of a number of defense mechanisms:6 unconscious reactions employed to satisfy emotional needs, balance opposing objectives, decrease anxiety resulting from unwanted thoughts, or change reality to make it more bearable. The cornerstone of Freud’s psychoanalytic therapy was the conscious recollection or recognition of repressed memories and experiences. The basic tools of this therapy were free association7 and dream interpretation.
In recent years other forms of psychotherapy, including behavior therapy, hypnotherapy, and group therapy, have become popular. In many cases psychotherapy is not only employed for the treatment of mental disorders, but for less severe proble
ms. Therapists often assist people in breaking unwanted or compulsive habits (smoking, overeating, etc.).
Freud’s Triad of the Psyche
Freud developed the theory that the conscious mind is only a small part of our mental composition, and our motivations are caused, for the most part, by factors that we are unaware of. Freud postulated that psyche is divided into three distinct factions: the id, the ego and the super-ego. According to Freud, the id is the division of the psyche that is completely unconscious and functions as the origin of instinctual impulses and demands for instant satisfaction of primal needs. It is the reservoir of unconscious drives, ruled by the pleasure principle and instant gratification. The ego is that portion of the psyche which is conscious, most directly governs thought and behavior, and is most concerned with outer reality. The ego mediates between the id, the super-ego, and the stipulations of reality or society. The super-ego, primarily unconscious, is that which is created by the internalization of moral standards from parents and society—it is the conscience and the ego ideal—a moralizing faculty which monitors and censors the ego. Because of society, parental guidance, and peer pressure, humans experience a process of repression from the day of birth. Thus the id and the super-ego are usually in conflict in most people, since as Freud thought, repression was necessary in order for humanity to live within the bounds of civilization.
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