College of Thelema: Thelemic Education

Anyone else notice a definite shift in the last couple months? At least in this area, magickal activity has certainly dropped off, practioners (myself included) seem to have slowed or even stopped regular work, and there is much less chatter in the broader community.

For myself, it is almost as a period of "dryness" as Crowley mentions in Magick. This I have experienced before, and it has felt very isolated and personal.

There is a kind of different feeling to this though... the word feels like "Quiet" and is more external... regional.

Any thoughts? Have only within the past 24 hours had even the slightest inclination to return to work. Others I am aware of had been curious of the same thing. It feels bad to have to dust off the implements in the Temple, but I know I'm not the only one.

An odd shift. 2009 ought to be interesting.

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Just to add, and to some extent echo what has already been said:

The most important aspect of any magickal ritual is the formula being expressed at the core. The semantics and symbols are subject to change according to the will of the ritualist, but if the magickal formula changes, it is a very different ritual.

Take time to understand the ritual as given from another.
When the formula is comprehended, make small changes to suit your taste without disturbing the original formula.
Utilize the formula to craft a ritual entirely your own.

Not as succinct as Aum418, but it's an important point to recognize the substance of ritual as a function underlying the mechanics.

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@Law said

"Actually, I have read and reread book 4 a number of times, and nowhere in that scattered and disorganized mess does it clearly state that "the union of opposites" has anything to do with the Unicursal Hexagram, nor is there a clear definition of the tenets of Thelema. Just because some of you write "do what thou wilt" doesnt mean a thing; not any more than if I was to write "believe in Jesus" at the beginning of all my e-mails."

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Law, absolutely correct. A belief in the Holy Law, whether it be Christian, Jewish, or Thelemic, is just that: a statement of Faith. It has meaning which is derived from its significance to the individual.

Holy Bible, KJV, John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

Liber AL vel Legis, Chapter I, 39, 40 -
"39. The word of the Law is THELEMA.
40. Who calls us Thelemites will do no wrong, if he look but close into the word. For there are therein Three Grades, the Hermit, and the Lover, and the man of Earth. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. "

This, taken with I,57 "...Love is the law, love under will." represents the core philosophy of Thelema as much as John 3:16 represents one of the most sublime statements of the core of Christianity.

No one says that anyone in particular has to accept it as true, or even that it makes any sense... but for those who do, the power of faith brings light into their lives.

That said, book 4 is a treatise on Magick, not religion. The tenets of Thelema are contained in the Holy Books. I'll agree also that the discussion of these ideas as pertains to the unicursal hexagram do not appear in book 4. But the ideas themselves do, and in relation to other forms of hexagrams.

I would recommend picking up a copy of the Big Blue Brick (Magick: Book 4, Liber ABA) if you haven't one already. It is well annotated, includes Liber AL vel Legis, discussions of symbolism and rituals, curriculum of the A.A., many supplementary papers and texts, as well as all of book 4. It runs a hair short of 1000 pages I believe.

Oh, and regarding union of opposites in book 4:

"The phrase "together with the Lord," is then literally identical with the word Samadhi, which is the Sanskrit name of the phenomenon described by Saint Paul, this union of the ego and the non-ego, subject and object, this chymical marriage, and thus identical with the symbolism of the Rosy Cross, under a slightly different aspect." -- Book 4, part 2

"The adept will laugh over his early absurdities -- the disproportions will have been harmonized; and the structure of his soul will be seen as perfectly organic, with no one thing out of its place. He will see himself as the positive Tau with its ten complete squares within the triangle of the negatives; and this figure will become one, as soon as from the equilibrium of opposites he has attained to the identity of opposites." -- Book 4, part 2

And in the appendix -- The Star Sapphire.

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For what it's worth, I think a good thing to keep in mind is that the external temple furnishings have a lot less to do with what is going on in LBRP than most people think. The elemental weapons, while certainly important in their own right, and useful in many rituals, are not even necessary for an effective banishing. The dagger or sword can be helpful in banishing, but usually only after some time using said weapon in ritual.

LBRP can be, and should be able to be, performed successfully in an empty room with one's finger. The external tools and ritual setting are useful in that they give tangible symbols to attach concepts to, and a certain psychological effect: they set a 'mood' appropriate for ritual.

In the end, whatever works for you, use it. When something changes, record it. Be scientific. This action/tool/time/place produces effect A, that action/tool/time/place produces effect B. How are they different? This is the importance of keeping a magickal record.

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Jim, eloquent and academic as usual.

I agree that most things about this manuscript are purely speculative... and many points can be made through induction and observance of patterns, etc, which the acknowledgment that they are then informed, though still speculative points.

I have yet to see much of any spiritual value come from these observances, however. People study the handwriting and the word placement, compare the manuscript with the typescript, and debate the finer points of versions and gematria... to what end? Sure, the book does instruct that the original in the handwriting of the Beast be included... but what value have we seen in this, other than providing the fuel for vast debates and (at least what appear to be) distractions from the Work?

It seems a great many people want to be the one who "cometh to follow..." who will expound the mysteries. And a great deal of alphabet soup and "creative mathematics" follow.

Just as being able to argue over the details of philosophy does not make one a philosopher, being able to critique haiku does not make one Zen, and nearly always, the phrase "I understand" is a lie... it seems we deal with similar phenomenon in the treatment of the Book of the Law as well.

This is why I commented that I consider it a clever trap. There are those who will fall in, and accomplish little else. If it be their Will, so be it.

But to what end?

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I see this as a shining example of what some have referred to as the "spiritually informed editor" at work. It is easy to see the intellectual need for the first verses of chapters 1 and 2 to reflect each other:

I:1 - Had! The manifestion of Nuit

II:1 - Nu! the hiding of Hadit

and thus it could have (reasonably) been added after the fact. Crowley obviously would have been the only one qualified to do this.

I think the explanation you have given about it being added after the the rest of the chapter made it recognizable is equally possible.

In the end, it doesn't change the meaning of the work, but certainly validates the instruction that the "the original in the writing of the Beast" be included with the published book. There may be some great mystery contained therein, but my view is that it is a clever trap.

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@Oliver P said

"This leads to another question; when rituals involve direction (often clearly sun-inspired), how does one work in the Southern Hemisphere? I find it makes sense to consider North as the quarter of Fire and South as Earth; or is it more "correct" to perform any rituals as written (usually for the Northern Hemisphere)?"

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I would say it depends on the ritual. If the rite in question is Resh, then the directions written in the liber certainly are based on the course of the Sun as it appears from the Northern Hemisphere.

Noon Resh should be at the true "Mid-course of the Sun", i.e. midway through the path of the ecliptic between the horizons. As mentioned elsewhere this is rarely at noon, and will place the Sun to the south in the northern hemisphere and to the north in the southern hemisphere.

So noon Resh in New Zealand would still Fire and Ahathoor, but to the North instead of the South.

For other rituals (especially macrocosmic ones), the distinction between tropical and sidereal astrology will largely determine the nature of any difficulty. But my understanding is that latitude is more likely to change the timing of a ritual than it's format.

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@Seeker said

"I mean I completely understand the meaning behind True Will but could you elaborate on "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law?" I'm not exactly sure how that works when compared to the Wiccan Rede."

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Seeker, completely understanding the meaning of True Will will resolve the apparent disparity between the Law of Thelema and the Wiccan Rede. I say apparent, because in truth, there is none. "Harm" implies conflict and more specifically, the imposition of one Will upon another. The concept of True Will teaches that if one is doing one's True Will, it cannot, by definition, interfere or conflict with the True Will of another.

The difficulty is in the word "harm", however. It will be readily apparent that if you are doing your True Will, and have conflict with another who is not, and who may be purposefully disrupting the balance of the universe for selfish gain, then that conflict requires resolution. If you assist this person toward doing their True Will, the conflict ceases. If you injure, dismember, or deprive this person of life, then you have imposed your Will upon their existence, which is a violation of the Law... or at the very least, considered immoral by a standard of Thelemic ethics.

This is not to say that you can't defend yourself. Even by the logic of the Wiccan Rede: "An it harm none..." If you allow yourself to be harmed, then one has been harmed, not none. The Rede and the Law of Thelema are injunctions to solve our problems in mutual, rather than exclusive ways.

@Nui said

" 42. Let it be that state of manyhood bound and loathing. So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will.

43. Do that, and no other shall say nay.

44. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.

45. The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not two; nay, are none!"

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@Scarecrow said

"Alright I'm trying to understand these 2 figures and would appreciate some help.

Isis is nature & Nephthys is art is the basis of what I've found so far."

Isis is usually signified by the waters of the Nile, i.e. the waters of the womb, the source of Life. Nephthys is a greek transliteration of egyptian Nbt-Ht, which has a few disputed meanings. Among them being "Lady of the House" "Mistress of the Temple" "Pillar of the Temple"... all very earth related, physical ideas. Thus, as with most deities in the egyptian pantheon, these are two sides of one coin. There is a source, and a preserver... a progenitor and a presider.

"It seems to me after reading AC's diarys that he was big on bucking the natural order of things, the natural way, natural sex, etc. His way seems to be finding the lowest of the low, the dirtiest of the dirt, the stinkiest of the stink, and attempting to transmute it into Gold (the highest of the high), and this is his Magick, this is his Art, this is Nephthys..."

I'm not sure about bucking the way of things, as it were... perhaps more of a reaction against the way things are generally perceived and accepted. We aren't such beautifully transcendent creatures, after all, that we naturally recognize no part of ourselves as "good" or "bad". That is something which must be overcome, and when we embrace those less appealing parts of ourselves in the spiritual alchemy, the whole can be tranformed. Of course, that's just my take on his writings.

Interesting bit on Art though... the symbolism from the Atu of Thoth is fairly consistent with Nephthys. The robe is green, a color of Earth. The Lion and Eagle reflect the dual nature of the figure, and the spiritual alchemy. Self transformation. If Isis is the wellspring of Life from which comes nature, perhaps Nbt-ht is indeed the Art by which that nature is transmuted.

"So Isis might be the Virgin Mary and Nephthys might be Lilith..."

This I'm not so sure about. It's fairly easy to see how the Isis/Horus mythology would up feeding the Mary/Christ mythology. But the Nephthys - Lilith connection is a little bit confusing.

Lilith refused Adam because she did not wish to be under him. Thus she left Eden and a new, more docile woman created for Adam, from Adam.

Nbt-ht desired her husband, but could not have sex with him because he had been castrated. (The aspect of Set who was her husband was the 'good' one, and rumored to be homosexual, as well.) In her frustration, she disguised herself as Isis and slept with Osiris.

So the powerful sexual motivation, I grant, the two figures have in common... but then, only as archetypal feminine sexuality.

See also Nbt-ht / Nephthys in her role as protectress of the bennu bird... more commonly known in the west as the Phoenix.

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@modernPrimitive said

"Greetings.

I'd like to find out opinions about whether it fairly common or normal for psychological complexes to come to the fore after daily practice of the LBRP. . I suppose it is a rather stupid question as it seems that during a "purification" process the "dirt" needs to come out - so I suppose I've answered that - however I would like some verification."

LBRP can have varied psychological effects depending on the individual and their inherent imbalances and biases. I had a student once stop dead in the middle of the final QC unable to move. Apparently, she had been possessed of such anxiety suddenly that she couldn't function for nearly 20 minutes afterward.

I think this is a sign of progress. Too many people start LBRP and notice absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. To get an effect is a start. To realize that it is not the intented effect and then address the issues and move forward is good magick.

" I had a slight "breakdown" which resulted in a diagnosis of anxiety disorder. My psychologist advised that I cease with all spiritual practices - which I'm now convinced might not have been the appropriate advice. "

One could use the word "breakdown".... of course, I don't know the details of what exactly happened... but breaking things down is an important part of the process which is often psychologically unpleasant. The path of spiritual practice is not always sunshine and roses. Speaking from personal experience, the greatest insights often come from the most intense ordeals.

"Of course the story is far more complex with many other life factors coming into play - I find myself very much a "head" person trying to figure this all out and analyze precisely what it is I have to overcome yet I tend to get lost in a sea of conflicting ideas."

Yes... the intellect is the most worthy of opponents, is it not? Analysis paralysis. I offer an analogy in the form of a recent conversation I had:

"So you're having this problem with the ritual?"
"Yes. I cannot proceed beyond a certain point without losing my balance and forgetting what I am doing."
"Why is this? Have you given any thought as to why it is that specific point."
"Yeah... it's all I've been thinking about, and I can't work it out."
"Do you know how to return a tennis serve?"
"What?!?"
"A tennis serve. Do you know how to hit a tennis ball?"
"Well sure."
"Okay... how, exactly?"
"I pick up the racket and hit the ball over the net."
"Okay. So how is that different than the ritual?"
"I know how hitting the tennis ball works."
"Do you? You know all the biomechanics involved in picking up the racket, its mass, the mass of the ball, how to calculate its position in space at any given time, the physics required to calculate the trajectory of the ball so that it clears the net. That's impressive."
"No no no... I don't know all that, I just know that when I hit the ball in such a way, it works."
"Okay... so my question is, why do you treat the ritual any differently?"

"What is the course forward? It feels that persistence with the LBRP is the only key to overcoming the problem though I can think of many other practices (such as affirmation, relaxation, exercise etc) that would assist."

Repeated attempts will, of course, be required... as in any learning process. Just don't expect different results from an identical process. As far as the other practices, a daily devotional exercise such as prayer or ritual invocation, and a daily exercise such as meditation or yoga can help ease some of the more difficult transition points quite significantly.

Cultivate fortitude and serenity. Have faith. Onward.

In L.V.X.

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My experience has been that children are in a natural state of conflict. This isn't a bad thing, as it is the process by which they learn, grow, and learn all about consequences to actions. Almost by definition, however, if there is conflict, then they are not doing their True Will. This is evident in a very early concept for most children: "I want..." - i.e. children are primarily motivated by desire, not Will. Interfering with a child's (often obsessive) activities violates no rule of nature. They have not learned to become masters of themselves (how many of us have?), nor to a lesser degree, learned to live in a way that their immediate desires do not rule their behavior.

As parents, it is our responsibility to nurture them through conflict and the trials of growing up, hopefully supplying them with tools along the way so that if it is their will to discover their True Will, they are capable and free to do so.

I have two sons. One is nine, the other a year old. With the one year old, everything is nurture, provide, care for... with the nine year old, we try always to: allow him to make mistakes so that he can learn from them, provide ample opportunity for him to act on his own initiative and take responsibility for his actions, encourage him to take no action without being mindful of it and when he acts without thinking and some undesirable consequence follows - to think about it... of course, he's nine, so these ideas are a work in progress, and not absolutely enforced.

Must let kids be kids, but can't let them fly off bridges because in their imagination they can fly.

The corollary is, that as parents, we have to be careful so as not to take away their ability to fly in the process.

There should be no question of authority. It isn't that a parent should be a dictator, but that a child should be respectful of they who provide love, shelter, food, and knowledge. If that respect exists, then parental authority is implicit. I have told my nine year old a few times that if he doesn't respect me or the rules of my house, he is free to go elsewhere. He actually took me up on the offer and left for several hours... stayed out until well after dark... and then showed up at the house when it got cold and he got hungry. "Sorry Dad..." If I had been restricting his True Will, and it had been his Will to leave my house and care, who could have stopped him? Instead, he just didn't want to do what I asked of him, and he didn't want to be cold and hungry either.

I love both of my kids and will encourage them in whatever they pursue in the world... I will not tolerate them pursuing things which cause hatred, strife, violence, or destruction. Just because "there is no God but man" does not mean the concept of morality is dead.

Good luck, from one parent to another.

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errr... which interesting articles? By whom?

And I'm not sure I follow the equation of Set with Satan with Lucifer with the Devil, except perhaps in an explicitly neo-Christian context. In which case each has the property of division, and various attributes that mind says are "unholy."

I'd be interested to see an article that can turn those attributes to speaking of the Holy Guardian Angel concept. As near as I can fathom, the only possible way to do this would be to acknowledge the fault of the human in question:

1. He is misled, believes in evil beings such as his conception of Satan or the Devil or what-have-you, and has mistaken that for his HGA. (A very real possibility)

2. The process of seeking the HGA leads one slightly afield of seeking one-ness with the classical idea of God. (However, as a Thelemite and Magickian, I recognize attaining to the K&C of my HGA as an important component of the Path.)

It is true enough, our philosophies have long told us that the forces which unite in splendour are Divine, Holy and Good, and those which divide are Destructive, Evil, and Bad. I tend to view this as one of the more pernicious old aeon fallacies.

@Nui said

"
I:29 For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union.
I:30 This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all.
"

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@Modes said

"Once I did the LBPR, MP rituals in the room another person was in and he was like wanting to cry - a sign that some of his energy blocks were cleared so I think the LBPR does increase energy in you and around the place you do the ritual."

I'll agree with that, but one must exercise caution in this area. The way you describe this effect seems to indicate that it was an unintentional by-product of the ritual. There are a couple ways of looking at this: one - that there should be no unintentional side-effects... i.e. magick is an act of will, and everything that flows from it should be in accordance with that will. Two - that the use of the ritual to intentionally effect another person in such a manner is good magick, but somewhat beside the point of the intention of the rite... much has been said elsewhere regarding the dangers of thaumaturgic operations without the benefit of great discipline.

@Modes said

"I wanted to ask what practical differences are in activating the groin area in the modern LBRP QC and the original activating the heart - not the groin? I may experiment myself but so far I understood/experienced if I put energy in my groin area it helps with women and the interaction of feminine energies they posess. Am I off?"

If I understand you correctly, you are referring to two of the three variations of Crowley's LBRP. I never agreed with grounding the QC in the groin, as it carries too many complications. The groin would be Yesod in terms of Chakra/Sephira relation, and the issue gets a little trickier when you start talking about male/female as well. A friend and sister once asked me how she was to perform the Star Ruby, as she had no organ to compliment O PHALLE, etc... there are solutions to these apparent problems, but in LBRP placing Kingdom, Malkuth, at the Root chakra (indicated in the classical manner with the finger pointed downward) 'solves' things quite nicely.

The invocation of the HGA at the heart chakra is something I have experimented with before, but I find that the QC is more effective for me when just dealing with the Crown/Root, Kether/Malkuth attributions (one can make a rather more powerful vertical component from Kether straight down to Malkuth in one motion/breath without having to pause at Tiphareth.)

This is especially applicable when following it with LBRP, which forms an invocation of the HGA in its own right.

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Not sure I have much to add to Froclown's excellent mapping of the concept of True Will onto society. That perspective tends to be somewhat underplayed, especially in certain countries where the illusion of freedom must be maintained, and the mode of improving society is penal rather than progressive.

With regard to a better definition of the True Will, however... look at it like this. We are all constructed and wired slightly differently. Our physical beings and our non-physical beings are not so much bound together as they are intertwined... mated with one another for the duration of a life. It is the form that this union takes that determines the True Will.

The fundamental problem is awareness. How many are acutely (or even peripherally) aware of their own natures? I believe that Crowley gave us a set of tools for discovering this nature, and chose his words carefully along the lines of Rabelais and others to indicate that we must gain a conscious awareness of our innate nature. This makes the idea a philosophical one. The tool used is a spiritual one. The method used is a scientific one.

Since man moves through his experiential universe, that nature is not static, but possessed with a momentum and an evolution. This motion is also part of the True Will, at the very least from the perspective of the individual. Which leads us into the realm of relativistic physics, and I could very easily see professor Einstein being possessed of his own sort of enlightened adepthood through his disciplines as well.

It isn't the language "True Will", or the tool used, or the method invoked that is critical... it is the unmistakable experience of working in concert with one's own nature and the universe.

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Pardon me whilst I interject.

This is good! You are absolutely correct, that in Crowley's context (and many others who share in his particular cosmology) the idea of True Will is a somewhat more esoteric concept. It suffices to say that True Will is NOT:

"
a. Diligent purposefulness; determination: an athlete with the will to win.
b. Self-control; self-discipline: lacked the will to overcome the addiction.

3. A desire, purpose, or determination, especially of one in authority: It is the sovereign's will that the prisoner be spared.
4. Deliberate intention or wish: Let it be known that I took this course of action against my will.
5. Free discretion; inclination or pleasure: wandered about, guided only by will.
6. Bearing or attitude toward others; disposition: full of good will.
   "

However, it is a logical fallacy to attempt to determine the nature of a thing by defining what it is not. The True Will may manifest in expression in many of the above things. In this sense it is approximately Primordial Will. e.g.: When Lance Armstrong gets on his bike and wins seven Tour de France races, that he seems physically and mentally constructed to do so, we might say that he is full of "diligent purposefulness, determination." That may be a result of him doing his True Will. It may not, but it isn't for me to determine.

"I'm very interested in the many parts of Crowley, and deeply interested in the Scientific Crowley, however the concept of the True Will seems like a religious concept such as the Soul... and you might understand that I get off the ferris wheel when that one comes around."

Personally, I have never looked at True Will as being a religious idea. Certainly a little more esoteric than the dictionary definition, granted, but there are plenty of concrete ideas to stand on in a scientific mode. The idea that the dictionary definitions can be seen as an expression of the True Will in some cases gives us a place to begin. It is said that the True Will must be discovered to be done. Now that implies that there is a process of discovery which some may call Magick, and others may call life. There is a set of operators which form a construct which can lead one to the discovery of the True Will.

I would assert that the discovery of that True Will by the individual is at least unmistakable to the individual, and probably recognizable to others.

"Let me put it another way. Who's authority do we have it on, that there is a True Will that each of us have? Why do we believe him? Please speak up if you've found your TW and can educate me further on this concept, but if you haven't, aren't you dogmatically following someone's position on faith?
"

I don't believe so. We cite many so called facts and definitions from dictionaries and encyclopedias and internet articles often. That doesn't imply "dogmatic following." Science itself requires its own form of dogma in order to provide itself with an axiomatic leg to stand on. Question everything! But in order to do so, one must understand what one is questioning, and the method by which such questioning is done.

" I think the man of Faith says something like, I just know, and you'll never convince me otherwise that there is a God."
"
"

True enough. Faith leads invariably to conviction. The scientist or mathematician with his theorem and proof is a variation of this. The True Will of some men leads them toward God and a life of faith... the True Will of other towards science and a life of reason. In either case, awareness of that Will and the strength to do it are great achievements, and the fertile ground in which more great achievements grow.

Just my handful of cents.

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I would be cautious in such an endeavor. Even with a single querent, it can be difficult (as you may know) to attain the state of mind necessary for an accurate reading. As an equation, as the desire of the querant to know becomes a point, the desire of the diviner must become zero. Thus with a set of three querants, you have three points, and still the diviner must be able to be unattached and zero in the operation.

This could be made much more difficult, especially with the novelty of a new technique, and/or the fact that you are now reading a matrix of matrices and now have to sort out all the implications of that.

It may be useful to attempt, and record your observations carefully. One suggestion: you might try having the querents each take a 'role' for the course of the reading. ie: the matter will be known (presumably) to all of them, so make it clear that one person's cards will be read with regard to action, another's to influence, and the third's to consequences... or something similar... thus it is a well defined aspect of the operation from its beginning, a framework, if you will.

Bear in mind that any personal relationship you may have with these three people will certainly magnify the difficulty of obtaining a clear result.

Best of luck.

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"54. Nor shall they who cry aloud their folly that thou meanest nought avail; thou shall reveal it: thou availest: they are the slaves of because: They are not of me. The stops as thou wilt; the letters? change them not in style or value!

55. Thou shalt obtain the order & value of the English Alphabet; thou shalt find new symbols to attribute them unto. "

Forgive me for the observation that any 'forced versification' or folly on the part of the scribe seems to be addressed by verse 54. Thorough inquiry into the versification, the stops, seems to invite slavery to Because.

I read your Gematric essays with some interest, and while more complete and well thought out than many others, it brought to mind verse 55, and a quote from Liber LVIII:

"...and when the skeptic sneers "With all these methods one ought to be able to make everything out of nothing," the Qabalist smiles back the sublime retort: "with these methods One did make everything out of nothing.""

It appears that, as with most other things, even the most sublime solutions give birth to further questions.

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Just FYI: Soma Luna's Thelemic 'abramelin' incense is absolutely amazing. I keep a stock of the stuff on hand for ritual work. It is particularly well suited to temple openings and prior to invocations.

It also mixes fabulously well. Add a pinch of Dragon's Blood, and it really shines for banishing work also.

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The ineffable within,
The infinite without,

The infinite within,
The ineffable without,

The Flame of Truth,
Banishing the Illusions of within and without,
Of description,
And of Infinity,
And of Self,
And of God.

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I have been, of recent, quite interested in the rituals coming forth in light of the work of the New Aeon. Many, if not all (including my own), are based on old rituals, or the paradigms and formulae they contain. This is good if:

1. The old formulae are valid and workable by the Magickian
2. The new construct does not violate itself or any of the aforementioned formulae.
3. Ignore point 2 if you are a Chaos Magickian, for self-violation/paradox may be the exact point.

Having scanned through this ritual, I dare say that it needs the attention of a good editor.

But more importantly, a couple of points need clarification.

"-1. Put away all consecrated magical implements or anything that is charged with a specific energy"

What is being referred to? Does one need to build an altar specifically for this rite, and likewise a dagger? Surely these items have a specific energy if they have been worked with for a long time. Or am I taking this too severely?

And:

"1. Still holding wand put down pentacle and pick up chalice. State reasons why intent of spell is good. Face lamp while raising wand towards it. Say “For these reasons may AlA’s will command lAl as lAl seduces AlA with her beauty(penetrate water in chalice with wand)."

is a little confusing. Intent coming from the waters of the chalice is a clear image, but the picking up and putting down of things in this sequence... seems cumbersome, perhaps.

I especially like the Eucharist of the 4 Elements portion. I may have to experiment with that some.

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