Ogdoadic Magick

154 Pages·2001·2.6 MB·English

by  Norman R. Kraft

Being a Year of Study with
an Aurum Solis Commandery
OGDOADIC MAGICK
OGDOADIC MAGICK
Being a Year of Study
With an Aurum Solis Commandery
Norman R. Kraft
WEISERBOOKS
Boston, MA/York Beach, ME
First published in 2001 by
Red Wheel/Weiser, ac
P. 0. Box 612
York Beach, ME 03910-0612
Copyright © 2001 Norman R. Kraft
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permis-
DEDICATION
sion in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser. Reviewers may quote brief passages.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kraft, Norman R.
Ogdoadic magick: being a year of study with an Aurum solis
commandery/Norman R. Kraft
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57863-208-0 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Magic. I. Title
BF1611 .K69 2001 To my mother, who inspired my journeys and taught us to
135'.4—dc21 2001017719
look to the stars. May she dance ever among them.
Typeset in Giovanni Book
TCP
This book is dedicated to all those who aspire to the
Cover art is The Annunciation. Reproduction by permission of the Syndies of the
splendor of the Star which unites us.
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. This painting is the work of an unknown 16th-
century artist from the Flemish school. It is an excellent example of the use of
symbolism in works of devotional art, containing a rich mixture of religious, geo-
metric and pagan symbols, many of which will be quite familiar to those who
practice Aurum Solis Magick. The painting has an honored place in the greater
Ogdoadic tradition and is used as a teaching tool in the Aurum Solis for students
at the intermediate level.
For a list of quoted text permissions see Acknowledgments on page xiv.
Printed in Canada
08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1992 (R1997).
CONTENTS
List of Rituals ............................................................................. xi
Acknowledgments ...................................................................... xiii
Foreword ...................................................................................... xv
Introduction .............................................................................. xix
Chapter 1 - What is Magick? 1
A Magical Theory .............................................................................. 4
Further Thoughts about Magick .................................................... 7
Chapter 2 - First Steps into Magick ............................................ 9
First Magical Rite: The Solar Adoration ...................................... 9
Chapter 3 - Magical Ethics ........................................................ 15
Magick and Ethics .......................................................................... 17
The Action-Reaction Principle .................................................... 18
Responsibility ................................................................................. 20
White and Black Magick .............................................................. 22
Working Magick on Behalf of Others ...................................... 23
A Tarot Card Divination ................................................................ 25
Chapter 4 - Call to the Journey .................................................. 29
Building Foundations ..................................................................... 29
The Magical Personality ................................................................ 32
v11
The Chamber of Art: the Bomos, Chapter 11 - Qabalah ......................................................... 159
the Lamp; and the Chair ..................................... 32 The Four Worlds ....................................................... 161
Tying Things Together ................................................ 167
Chapter 5 - Study and Practice, Yin and Yang ................... 37
The Ain Soph ............................................................. 169
Time for Study and Practice ...................................... 38
The Sephiroth ............................................................. 172
How to Read ............................................................ 40
The Tree of Life ........................................................... 173
The Magical Diary ..................................................... 45
Using the Qabalah ..................................................... 181
The Magick Ring ...................................................... 48
Chapter 12 - Establishing a Rhythm .................................... 187
Chapter 6 - Meditation .................................................. 51
A Basic Daily Routine .................................................. 187
Breath ..................................................................... 52
A Weekly Rite: The Wine Blessing ................................ 190
Posture ................................................................... 59
Focus: Mental Discipline .......................................... 61 Chapter 13 - Practical Magick ............................................. 193
Chanting: The Power of Voice ................................... 64 Does Practical Magick Work? 194
A Simple Meditation Practice ................................... 67 Building A Rite of Practical Magick .............................. 196
More Practical Magick: Finding Lost Objects .................. 204
Chapter 7 - Archetypes: The Tools of Magick .................... 71
Jung's Concept of Archetypes .................................... 73 Chapter 14 - Times and Tides ............................................ 209
Joseph Campbell: The Hero's Journey ........................ 78 The Seasonal Tides: Fire Festivals and Sun Festivals ......... 210
Vogler's Archetypes .................................................. 81 Lunar Tides ................................................................ 215
The Magical Mythic Journey ...................................... 91 The Velocia ................................................................ 216
Contact with the Archetypal World ........................... 100 Planetary Hours ......................................................... 217
Ritual Planning ........................................................... 220
Chapter 8 - Banishments, Warding, and Astral Defenses 103
Chapter 15 - A Few Last Thoughts ..................................... 223
Chapter 9 - The Magical Robe ......................................... 107
Weaving the Magick: The Lapis Lazuli Robe ................ 109 Appendix A - Aurum Solis and the Ogdoatic Tradition ....... 225
Elements of Ritual .................................................... 110 Appendix B - Recommended Additional Reading ................ 249
Chapter 10 - Sophia Terrae ............................................. 123 Aurum Solis: Order of the Sacred Word .............................. 259
The Four Elements ................................................... 123
Endnotes ........................................................................... 261
Correspondences: The Law of Similars ........................ 126
Bibliography .................................................................... 275
Elementals ............................................................. 128
Working with Elements ........................................... 130 Index .............................................................................. 279
The Fifth Element: Spirit .......................................... 146
The Magical Voice and Ritual Movements .................. 154
Study Revisited ........................................................ 156
viii CONTENTS CONTENTS ix
LIST OF RITUALS
The Aurum Solis Solar Adoration Rite 13
The Calyx 100
The Lapis Lazuli Circle of Light 104
The Lapis Lazuli Attunement of the Robe of Art 115
The Setting of the Wards of Power 147
The Rousing of the Citadels 184
The Lapis Lazuli Wine Blessing 190
A Rite of Divination for Finding Lost Objects 207
xi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I extend my grateful thanks to the following, in the full knowledge
that, without their participation, this book would never have
happened:
To the Artisans of Lapis Lazuli, who were instrumental in test-
ing this material. I will always feel deeply honored to have worked
with you for so long.
To those who read various chapters and early drafts of this
book: Sarah, Peter, Silvia, Jeanie, John, Jim, and David. Thank you
all for taking the time to read and comment upon this text while I
was pulling its various parts together.
To Leon Barcynski, Grand Master of the Aurum Solis Order, for
his inspiration and tireless efforts on behalf of the order, and for
his gracious permission to quote widely from previously unpub-
lished Aurum Solis material.
To Jeanie Marie Mossa, my wife and the talented artist behind
many of the illustrations in this book, which appear here with her
gracious permission. Her infinite patience, understanding, love
and support made this book, and my life, possible.
x iii
For permission to use copyright material, I gratefully make the
following acknowledgments:
Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. for permission to use Aurum Solis
document quotations from The Magical Philosophy, Revised Edition
Volume I: Foundations of High Magick by Denning & Phillips
1992, Volume II: The Sword and the Serpent by Denning and
FOREWORD
Phillips © 1998, Volume III: Mysteria Magica by Denning & Phillips
© 1988 and Planetary Magick, First Edition by Denning & Phillips
©1989. All published by Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. P.O. Box
64383, St. Paul, MN 55164. All rights reserved.
Harcourt, Inc. for permission to use the excerpt on page 10
from "Choruses From The Rock" in Collected Poems 190 -1962 by
9
T. S. Eliot, copyright 1936 by Harcourt, Inc., copyright 1964, To be convinced of the reality of magical power—that is, of an
1963 by T. S. Eliot. invisible force capable of producing a designated effect upon a
living person or upon an inanimate object—is not difficult if we
approach the abundant and well-attested evidence without prej-
udice, and without regard to the scientific device of naming phe-
nomena. Telepathy, hypnotism, psychic healing, psychokinesis,
out-of-body experiences, precognition, psychometry—the exis-
tence of these skills and of other techniques for winning knowl-
edge or exerting influence is widely recognized in the world
today.
The inquirer can examine the evidence and be assured of the
reality of the above-mentioned skills and techniques by accept-
ing the verdict of their senses and their reason. One need not
have, in other words, any particular faith in God or humankind,
nor even in self in order to realize they exist. Beyond this initial
tempering of scepticism, however, the mere knowledge of the
existence of magical power is not likely to be of much service to
the inquirer.
xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv
To make a real and lasting progress in the magical art requires the astral levels of the psyche with the external pulses of the cos-
much more. The aspirant needs to have a kind of "faith," which is mos. The task, acknowledged here, is not laboriously to bring into
not the nebulous or pietistic optimism that frequently goes by that existence the forces with which the magician operates; it is to rec-
name. Real faith is impossible without knowledge: you must not ognize their existing reality, to know them reverently, and to direct
only understand how to climb your rope ladder, you need to know them aright.
for a certainty that the top is firmly fixed, and fixed where you
want it, before you start from the bottom. So, too, the traveler —Osborne Phillips
upon an unknown road requires a reliable map and compass. This
perception is much to the point in the beginning made in
Ogdoadic Magick.
The aspirant's mystical map of ascent, as Norman Kraft suc-
cinctly indicates, is the Qabalistic Tree of Life, which can also be
understood as the plan of his or her psycho-spiritual being—body,
soul and spirit. And the Tree of Life is, from the outset, complete
and entire within the psyche as the aspirant's birthright, if as yet
awaiting his or her inner discovery.
Sometimes a taunt is raised against the way of High Magick, to
the effect that it is directed solely toward remote mystical attain-
ment. This criticism only shows a lack of understanding of the
necessary cause and effect. To develop and direct the relevant fac-
ulties of the physical body and of the astral and mental levels of
the psyche, as well as finding awareness of true spiritual values—
and to bring all these matters into co-ordination—will undoubt-
edly, in the long course of events, bring the aspirant to the mystical
heights. But upon that long road the aspirant utilizes this same
training in order to bring the abilities and skills of the magician to
dynamic potency within the psyche.
In Ogdoadic Magick, Norman Kraft skillfully guides the aspirant
through the early stages of magical development, to establish a
true and potent interaction of the natural faculties of the body and
xvii FOREWORD FOREWORD xvii