The Rose Cross Ritual

Jim Eshelman

@h3fall3n777 said

"Well, the R.C. Ritual just seems like a much simpler, more elegant ritual that then pentagram rituals, with the following listed benefits (taken from "The Golden Dawn," by Israel Regardie.

{...}

Why wasn't it included in the AA system? Perhaps in Liber E?"

Well, it would have been in Liber O, not E. And, while I can't say for sure that I know why it wasn't included, it seems pretty evident that the main reason is that it's a very secondary ritual or little (I didn't say "no") distinctive use. A secondary raeson may have been that it is so emphatically Christian.

"Does the LBRP have the same benefits?"

More or less, yes.

"It seems to me that this ritual would be a safer way for an initiate, due to the benefit of the enclosure of the aura...."

And yet, even in the G.D., one didn't get this ritual until 5=6. It was never (in its original context) taught to beginners.

Frater Pramudita

I apologize, I hope I didn't give the impression that I was "talking up" or otherwise saying that the H.O.G.D. is any better than the AA, quite the contrary, I can easily see why the G.D. fell apart. I wasn't aware that the Rosy Cross ritual wasn't taught until 5=6, but if it's true about the aura enclosure, and not attracting astral entities, than don't you think it may have been a good pursuit for initiates? Reading through the ritual I didn't notice anything particuarily Christian.... and apologies about getting Liber E and Liber O mixed up..

Aside from the symbology of the Cross though, what is Christian about it? I was looking at the words...

1.) Stand with arms outstretched in the form of a cross. Face East

2.) Vibrate I. (Yod) N. (Nun) R. (Resh) I. (Yod) - Make the sign of Osiris Slain.

L. - Sign of Mourning of Isis
V. - Sign of Typhon and Apophis
X. - Sign of Osiris Risen

Repeat L.V.X. Lux.

Make the sign of The Light of the Cross.

Virgo Isis Mighty Mother
Scorpio Apophis Destroyer
Sol Osiris Slain and Risen

Gradually raise arms:
Isis Apophis Osiris

Arms above head, face raise.
I. A O.

Now Vibrate the four Tablet of Union Names to equilibrate the Light.
Exarp Hcoma Nanta Bitom

Aspire to the Light and draw it down over your head to your fee.t
Let the Diving Light Descend.

I'm just trying to understand, as even though I have a magickal background, I am or would obviously be not even a Student as far as the AA goes, and was trying to get a sturdy path set out....

Jim Eshelman

@h3fall3n777 said

"I apologize, I hope I didn't give the impression that I was "talking up" or otherwise saying that the H.O.G.D. is any better than the AA"

I didn't get that impression. (And you'd be entitled to your opinion, regardless.)

"I wasn't aware that the Rosy Cross ritual wasn't taught until 5=6"

That's why it's in the Second Order instruction section of the original 4-volume Regardie G.D. books. (I almost never reference the DoorStop Edition, just the Llewellyn one.)

"but if it's true about the aura enclosure, and not attracting astral entities, than don't you think it may have been a good pursuit for initiates?"

I didn't say I did or didn't think anything about it BTW a coworker and I discussed this "not lighting you up on the astral" detail of the Rosy Cross quite a lot when we were starting out - how the absence of (say) the Qab Cross makes the R.C. ritual "quieter" on the inner. Then, one afternoon when I was out at Regardie's hosue on Coldwater, I asked him about this and - he blew me away! - he demonstrated it ending with the Qabalistic Cross. ROFL I said that wasn't in the book, and he said I was correct, he hadn't put it in.

I also have personally always felt that the "lighting you up on the astral so suddenly all the astral entities in town know there is a new kid to pick on" phenomenon of learning the Pentagram Ritual was kinda part of the whole drill. It gives you unambiguous sense that there's such a thing as magick. It often gives months of a sense of having entered the Twilight Zone - and I never actually thought of that as a bad thing (especially if one is undergoing formal training or working with an experienced mentor).

But yes, some have opined that the R.C. ritual is a "kinder, gentler" way to introduce people to magick. I never felt it was worth the bother, and (I'm just about the only person who can say this) we haven't incorporated it anywhere in the T.'.O.'.T.'. curriculum, First or Second Order.

"Reading through the ritual I didn't notice anything particuarily Christian.... and apologies about getting Liber E and Liber O mixed up."

The vibration of Yeheshua (Jesus) nine times is a bit Christian - and then there's the whole Calvary Cross thing, y'know.

In the version you quote, you're also beginning with the Analysis of the Keyword. That wasn't in the original instruction (except at the end). I'm not sure what instruction set you're using. FWIW this is the Slain God (Christ-Osiris, pre-Thelemic) form of the Analysis, but it is still quite valid for those working through issues of their mortality.

Oh, wait, now that I look at it, you haven't even included the Ritual of the Rose Cross. You've included only the Analysis of the Keyword. In whatever manuscript you're examining, you probably need to back up a couple of pages to get the part that goes before this.

Jim Eshelman

Here's the Rose Cross ritual...

With a lit stick of incense go to the SE corner of the room and draw a large Calvary Cross (top to bottom then left to right), then a circle around the center (within the bounds of the length of the shortest arms) starting at the right enge and going clockwise. Hold the incense stick to the center and vibrate: YEHESHUA.

With arm outstretched so that you are drawing a line in the air from the center of that cross, go to the SW corner and repeat.

Continuing the line, go to the NW corner and repeat.

Continuing the line, go to the NE corner and repeat.

Continue back to the SE, closing the box. (These lines have all been rectilinear. What follows are curves.)

From the original starting point in the center of the SE cross, curve upward to strraight over your head, draw the cross and circle again, and vibrate the Name.

Continue down to the NW, pause momentarily at the center, and then continue to straight under you. Repeat as in the ceiling.

Continue up to the SE, pause at the center, go straight down the south side as before to the SW cross. From its center, arch upward to straight over your head, repeat as before. Curve down to the NE, pause briefly, continue to straight under you, do as before. Continue to the SW.

Following the original square edges of the first part of the ritual, trace from the SW center to the NW, NE, then to SE so you get back to the starting point.

In the same place as the original cross, draw a much larger and more intense cross and circle (embellished as inner imagination permits) and, with greater concentration, this time vibrate: YEHESHUA YEHOVASHA.

Go to the center of the room and visualize the six crosses about you and the whole astral network you've drawn.

Optionally recite the Analysis of the Keyword (the part you gave earlier), giving the signs etc. as taught in the 5=6 initiation. Optionally drawn down the D.W.B.

gmugmble

@Jim Eshelman said

"I also have personally always felt that the "lighting you up on the astral so suddenly all the astral entities in town know there is a new kid to pick on" phenomenon of learning the Pentagram Ritual was kinda part of the whole drill. It gives you unambiguous sense that there's such a thing as magick."

Jeez, I must be doing it wrong. Or maybe I'm just uninteresting to astral entities.

"It often gives months of a sense of having entered the Twilight Zone"

I only have to look at ordinary people doing ordinary things or look at a newspaper to feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone -- but that's not what you meant.

Frater Pramudita

Just to say, I did intentionally only include the Analysis of the Keyword, as therein would have lain the Christian correspondences that I didn't see that you thankfully pointed out to me. Thank you

As far as the actual R.C. Ritual and Analysis, just to be clear, you perform the Analysis at the conclusion of the Ritual yes? The problem I have mostly with these Golden Dawn manuscripts is that they're written in a bit of vagueness. Maybe it's just me.

For instance, instruction 2

Vibrate these words:
I. N. R. I.
Yod Nun Resh Yod
The Sign of Osiris Slain.

Does this mean that while making the Sign of O.S. you Vibrate the words, or make the Sign after vibrating the words? I know, it's semmantics, but I guess this is a prime example of the necessity of having a teacher and group work, so that someone who knows what they're doing can make sure you're doing it correctly. Imagine spending weeks performing a Ritual ending in frustration & no effects simply because you weren't doing one small thing right.

Jim Eshelman

@h3fall3n777 said

"As far as the actual R.C. Ritual and Analysis, just to be clear, you perform the Analysis at the conclusion of the Ritual yes?"

Yes.

"The problem I have mostly with these Golden Dawn manuscripts is that they're written in a bit of vagueness. Maybe it's just me.

For instance, instruction 2 {...} Does this mean that while making the Sign of O.S. you Vibrate the words, or make the Sign after vibrating the words?"

Actually, you don't vibrate those words, you just say them. Give the sign and, while holding the sign, say the phrase. - You may find that A.'.A.'. Liber O makes this clearer. ordoaa.org/maindocs.htm

Heru

@gmugmble said

"
@Jim Eshelman said
"I also have personally always felt that the "lighting you up on the astral so suddenly all the astral entities in town know there is a new kid to pick on" phenomenon of learning the Pentagram Ritual was kinda part of the whole drill. It gives you unambiguous sense that there's such a thing as magick."

Jeez, I must be doing it wrong. Or maybe I'm just uninteresting to astral entities."

ROFL!!!

That's my experince too. After over 2 years worth of solid daily practice with the LBRP I can confidently say that I have not even had a sniff of an astral entity. If the LBRP really does "light you up on the astral", I've yet to see the proof.

Quaestor Lucis

93!

Mr. Eshelman, please clarify some practical points in RC-ritual! I intend to experiment with it but I want to be sure I'm doing it correctly!)

Why the crosses in ritual text above should be drawn in the corners and not in the quarters? In their 12 steps Regardie says to draw them in the quarters, so I'm confused. And why do these crosses is connected in the form of square and not of a circle?!
What is the orientation crosses over one's head and under the feet? ( I mean the direction of the longer arm of the cross)
How to draw the cross under feet? It's not convenient! Though I may not understand something
The final cross involves two names. If I vibrate ABRAHADABRA instead of YEHESHUA, what I need to vibrate instead of YEHOVASHA?

Thanks in advance!

Jim Eshelman

@Quaestor Lucis said

"1) Why the crosses in ritual text above should be drawn in the corners and not in the quarters?"

You're forming the cube, so you create the corners.

"In their 12 steps Regardie says to draw them in the quarters, so I'm confused. And why do these crosses is connected in the form of square and not of a circle?!"

I'd be very surprised if it's the quarters, but I'm not where I have that book handy. Why a square? Because you're making a cube with a vaulted ceiling.

"2) What is the orientation crosses over one's head and under the feet? ( I mean the direction of the longer arm of the cross)"

I always make it along the axes that are being drawn through it, which makes it an X.

"3) How to draw the cross under feet? It's not convenient! Though I may not understand something "
The idea isn't under feet at the moment, but under the center, at the center of the floor where you were standing. You can just step aside for a moment.

"4) The final cross involves two names. If I vibrate ABRAHADABRA instead of YEHESHUA, what I need to vibrate instead of YEHOVASHA?"

You'd have to make that up yourself.

Quaestor Lucis

Thank you Mr. Eshelman!
From your answer I concluded that crosses over my head and under feet can be equal-armed (Greek one). Did I understand correctly?