The Authority of the Magician
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I finished an LBRP today, and the thought struck me: by what authority do I command the four archangels of the ritual? What compels them to manifest when I call them? These four are pretty illustrious beings - I'm sure they've got a lot on their plates already.
Is is the performance/power of the ritual itself? I know Crowley held it in high regard: "the Medicine of Metals, and Stone of the Wise." (Palace of the World, Works Vol. 1) Or (my guess) it is related to the light that I feel flow through me in the ritual?
"Authority" itself is an interesting term to consider, as well. It obviously contains "author", emphasizing the magickal act as creative, and it derives from the Latin auctor, meaning "author" and "originator".
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Archangels - especially those particular archangels - are especially oriented to assist humanity. There is already a strong tendency in that direction. Formally, their presence is compelled by the Divine Names already used.
Why those archangels in particular? Legend reports their strong relationship with humanity over the ages. In the Qabbalistic model, though, we have something further: The three Paths emanating from Kether are those of Air, Moon, and Mercury. The Archangels of Air, Moon, and Mercury are... Raphael, Gabriel, and Mikhael.
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@Galahad said
"I finished an LBRP today, and the thought struck me: by what authority do I command the four archangels of the ritual? What compels them to manifest when I call them? These four are pretty illustrious beings - I'm sure they've got a lot on their plates already.
Is is the performance/power of the ritual itself? I know Crowley held it in high regard: "the Medicine of Metals, and Stone of the Wise." (Palace of the World, Works Vol. 1) Or (my guess) it is related to the light that I feel flow through me in the ritual?
"Authority" itself is an interesting term to consider, as well. It obviously contains "author", emphasizing the magical act as creative, and it derives from the Latin auctor, meaning "author" and "originator"."
My two, for what that's worth...
The way I look at it, I'm not just standing in a circle commanding things around me authoritatively. I'm also placing myself within the circle of those forces (God-names, etc) to be formed by them. To me, it's ...interactive. I am Willing to be formed within that circle into something that naturally has such an authority. I am placing the rule of that structure upon myself, ordering my own chaos, and, being formed into the nature of that structure, I naturally wield its authority.
"...For around me flames the Pentagram, and with in the column shines the Six-Rayed Star."
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"The three Paths emanating from Kether are those of Air, Moon, and Mercury. The Archangels of Air, Moon, and Mercury are... Raphael, Gabriel, and Mikhael."
Fascinating, Jim - hadn't done the analysis yet. I suspect the ritual would bear much deeper investigation.
"I am placing the rule of that structure upon myself, ordering my own chaos, and, being formed into the nature of that structure, I naturally wield its authority."
I identify with this experience. For the first time, I've been doing the LBRP twice daily for over a month, and I can feel the effects changing me, subtly. I feel slightly more outgoing, more expressive, but at my core, more concentrated and condensed, like I'm wearing a bulletproof vest. Pretty great!
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It comes from the fact you are the one performing the ritual. You are the center, the axel of the wheel. The angels naturally cluster about, enamoured by thy light, caught in your gravitational pull.
Adding to earlier comments one method of viewing is that first one creates an axis. The a direction force is created, the two intertwining to bring about the entirely natural unfolding of the angels.