An allegorical interpretation of the Heptameron spirits Part 2. A Working with the Spirits of Mercury

Here is another entry that will give you an insight into how I have come to understand and practice magic. As with the last blog entry this is part of the same group of workings I did over the course of a week at the beginning of this year, using the invocations of the day for the angel and the spirits of the air of the day from the Heptameron. 

Before I start I am going to post a quote from one of my favourite authors, which will be best kept in mind when reading today's entry.

"Esotericism should not be understood as a rebus or a secret writing, but rather as the "spirit of the letter"-that is to say, that which cannot be transcribed clearly, not because there is any desire to conceal it, but because of the "cerebral" intellect's inaptitude for comprehending it"

R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz. "The Temple In Man"   

                         The Spirits of the Air of Wednesday

Are subject to the south-west wind, there nature is to give all metals, to reveal all earthly things past, present and to come, to pacify judges, to give victories in war, to re-edify and teach all experiments and all decayed sciences, and to give infirmities or health, to raise the poor and cast down the high ones; to bind or loose spirits, to open locks or bolts. Such kind of spirits have the operation of others but not in their perfect power, but in virtue or knowledge.

                                                                    Interpretation

“To give all metals.” Represents the higher and lower qualities of the soul. For example gold is symbolic of the divine spark of light that illuminates the soul. This can been seen by looking at the word in Latin for gold; “aurum”, from which other words in different languages for gold and light seem to stem from. Like “aureole” meaning “halo”, and the Welsh “aur” for “gold”. The French word for gold is “or” and in Hebrew the word “or” is the word for “light”. This is the light that God created on the first day, like the aurora, also known as the goddess of dawn. In the words of Peter; 2.1:19 “as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts”

“To reveal all earthly things, past present and to come.” Represents the manifestation of the trinity aspect of divine consciousness. This is distinctly shown in The Egyptian Book of the Dead; “I am Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, and I have the power to be born a second time”. This second birth is the spiritual birth of divine consciousness, represented by Horus, the Christ consciousness. Which is also given in more or less the same words in the New Testament. Hebrews 13:8. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever”. The subconsciousness is yesterday, which represents the memory of our past. i.e. our divine origin. The consciousness is our present awareness “today” while living in the now . Tomorrow represents our higher consciousness which is unfolding for the future. All these three aspects of consciousness are realised while in our earthly state of being. It is our time line from remembering our divine origin to working on it now for the evolution of our divine state of being.

“To pacify judges.” This is a trait that is only attributed to the mercurial spirits of the air of Wednesday, and because of this it brings to mind the Egyptian “Hall of Two truths”, also known as the “Hall of Maat”. This is because it is here that the mercurial god Thoth plays the role of judge of truth, and records the deeds of the soul. He says; “Hear this word of very truth. I have judged the heart of the deceased, and his soul stands as a witness for him. His deeds are righteous in the great balance, and no sin has been found in him. He did not diminish the offerings in the temples, he did not destroy what has been made, he did not go about with deceitful speech while he was on earth.” (Chapt 30b)

Here Thoth pacifies the Great Ennead of gods on behalf of the soul of the deceased, and therefore the Great Ennead acknowledge this, and grant him (the deceased soul) land in the field of offerings in the presence of Osiris, where he will be like the followers of Horus. i.e. the spiritualized folk

If we apply this to ourselves, then Thoth or the spirits of Mercury are representative of the forces of intelligence which records our experiences upon the inner nature of our soul, and through the communication of these we must seek to be more favourably inclined to the judgements from others and ourselves, because it is through theses experiences that we are continually judged throughout life, and which will eventually lead us to the manifestation of a spiritual state of being and apotheosis.

“To give victories in war”. This sounds like an odd attribution for the mercurial spirits, but if looked at more closely in the allegorical context we shall see that it is rather quite fitting indeed. Most of the stories of war that are told in the mythological writings, and in the scriptures are symbolic stories of conflicts between the mental forces of the Higher nature, and the emotions and desires of the lower nature. Sometimes these stories are based on actual historical battles for the purpose of portraying a spiritual principle, like was done with the battle of kadesh which was apparently won single handedly by the Egyptian Pharaoh, Rameses The Great. The scenes of this rather unbelievable victory are engraved on the outside walls of the Luxor temple. In John Anthony West's book “Serpent In The Sky” he says; “Schwaller de Lubicz insists that the scene in its entirety, though it uses the actual battle of Kadesh as a reference point, is symbolic. Even the immodest Ramesside kings would not expect the populace to swallow the single-handed defeat of a powerful enemy, or to believe that these enemies could be vanquished by the king seated upon his golden throne in the midst of the enemy camp. The purpose of this complex relief is the depiction of the battle between the forces of light and darkness. Having vanquished the enemy, the king can enter the Temple; to enter the Temple all obstacles in the external world must be overcome. This is why the battle scenes are all on the exterior of the Temple walls”. (page 161-162)

The battle of Kadesh is a perfect example showing the triumphant victory of the higher spiritual nature (light) over the forces of the lower nature (darkness). Now as Mercury is linked to the intelligence and therefore the forces of the higher spiritual nature, it can easily be seen why the spirits of the air of Wednesday are said to give victories in war!

This is the war that is continually being fought within our soul, and for the higher spiritual nature to evolve, it must subdue the lower self and bring it under control so that equilibrium is restored, and we can enter the temple of the holy spirit to commune with our divine nature.

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”

( Corinthians. 1.15:57 )

“to re-edify and teach all experiments and all decayed sciences”. To me this seems to be a hint that the mercurial spirits can teach the lost allegorical language, also known as the language of the birds. It is something I have used different mercurial spirits for. But, also out of interest, there is in the book of the Goetia the 53^rd spirit called Caim, who it is said of; “his office is to give men ye understanding of all birds” . He just so happens to be a president, which is a mercurial spirit!

“to give infirmities or health”. I take this to mean that the mercurial spirits can cause a weakness like a moral flaw, or failing, such as theft which is an attribute of mercury, along with deceitfulness and cunningness. It is often said that some criminals have a high intelligence, which is a mercurial trait but, if the intelligence is misdirected towards the wrong ends, then the negative attributes of mercury are likely to ensue causing infirmities.

“And behold there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her. Woman thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (Luke 13:11-13) With this passage it shows the lack of completion in the lower nature of the soul, (because the word “woman” in the symbolic sense represents the lower emotional-astral nature) but through the higher spiritual nature (Jesus) one can be set straight again on the path of spiritual development to help heal the soul.

“to raise the poor and cast down the high ones”. In the word “poor” I see it to mean those who are in poverty of ignorance, and through knowledge can be raised up to partake of the richness of divine wisdom. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth or rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6. 19:20)

Who are the “high ones”? There are many stories about high ones being cast down, like Saturn who was cast down to the depths of Tartarus, and the many instances in the Bible where the hosts of heaven are cast down to earth. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and after many days shall be visited” (Isaiah 24:21-22) But, why were they cast down, and why would it be of use to the magician? The answer to this is summed up rather well by Iamblichus when talking about the powers that come down from heaven. “These, therefore, descend with invariable sameness for the salvation of the universe” (On The Mysteries page 68) For it is the powers of heaven that the magician shall bring down in order to aid the spiritual evolution of his or her soul.

“to bind or loose spirits”. This seems to be fairly self explanatory but, there are a couple of passages in the Gospel of Matthew which are quite interesting in regards to these attributes that are associated to the spirits of Mercury. “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” ( Matthew 16:19) The other passage Matt 18:18 is just a reiteration of the above

This shows the working of the “as above so below” law, and implies that if the lower forces are controlled on the physical level, then the higher forces are also under control in the spiritual level, but if the lower forces are unbound and uncontrolled on the material plane, then the higher forces in the spiritual level will be out of reach and unavailable. Or basically said, one must get their shit together before they can even think of calling up demons and invoking angels. One must have a degree of control over the forces that effect them in their daily lives because if not, then one will not have much success with working with the forces of the spiritual realm. It is with the mercurial powers of intelligence that we can use to help gain control over the forces that effect us on a daily basis. Interestingly in G.R.S. Mead's book “Thrice Greatest Hermes” he says; “Here again it is the symbolic Caduceus that represents the equilibrium between the opposed forces; it is the power of Thoth that binds and loosens; he holds the keys of heaven and hell, of life and death” (volume 1 page 61)

“to open locks or bolts”. This is obviously not meant to be taken literally because all one would need to use is a key! Not a spirit. Locks or bolts are placed on doors and gates, so allegorically speaking where do these doors or gates lead too? I would say they are the doors or gates to the different levels between heaven and hell. As said above, it is Thoth who holds the keys to heaven and hell, which is not surprising given that he rules the intelligence and the mind which lays mid way between the two. So given Thoth's mercurial nature it makes perfect sense why the spirits of mercury in the Heptameron are said to be able to open locks and bolts.

In the stories of mythology there are usually seven gates or doors to be opened. Like the seven gates that the soul of Ani travels through in the Egyptian underworld, as described in the Book of the Dead. Properly called “The Book of Going Forth By Day”. To open these gates the names of its guardians are needed to be known, and once through them the deceased is able to enter the domain of Osiris in the Field of Reeds.(the Egyptian Heaven). There are the seven gateways that Inanna passes through to go to the underworld in Sumerian mythology, and not forgetting the seven heavens of Gnostic lore, and which are also referred to in the Heptameron. I would say it is the locks and bolts of the doors to these realms that the spirits of Mercury can unlock, therefore enabling us the knowledge to gain access to these spheres where the spirits of them can initiate us further into the mysteries, which can lead us to greater spiritual awakening. 

I also believe that because the mercurial spirits impart the knowledge to help the magician unlock the doors to the other heavens, is the reason why the Heptameron says; “ Such kind of spirits have the operation of others but not in their perfect power, but in virtue or knowledge”

Here is another adapted Heptameron ritual I did at the beginning of this year on Wednesday 26^th January 2011. Time 12:45am

Invocation of Raphael and the Spirits of the Air of Wednesday

The ritual consists of the same procedure as given in my previous blog entry for the spirits of the air of Sunday, but obviously with the invocation of Wednesday instead.

Purpose : To teach me further knowledge of symbolism (allegorical language) and how to apply it practically to my workings to transform my lower qualities into higher spiritual ones, to give me a sharp mind and the knowledge of all metals, to heal my infirmities and further my spiritually development. To appear in my dreams and teach me that which I need to know.

Comments : During the rite when I stated my petition, I felt a connection, and the wind outside suddenly sounded way much more powerful. It even started making a sound through the air vent in the chimney breast, which it was not doing before. This added to the atmosphere, and for a short while I actually felt apprehensive and slightly panicky. I wanted to open my eyes and look behind me, but I didn't, and took it as a sign of acknowledgement for my petition. I was not expecting anything like that to happen straight away because I was only seeking contact in my dream state.

Diary extract 27^th January 2011. 

                                               Dreams

I went to another country which I thought was Iran. When looking at it from high up above it was very green, and also contained two bodies of water with a river running between them. There was a war going on there in this country. Next I was with a group of people in a quiet location, they were making Persian rugs. I bought two which were an orange colour, and when they were cut off it was below a label that said “made in Iran in the war. Year 2000”. The rugs cost 30 but I can't remember what the currency was, but when converted into £ it worked out that the rugs had cost me £3, and now I had three rugs! There was a man who had helped me figure out the conversion rate of the price of the rugs. He was an Arab dressed in white with a white turban on his head. He was very friendly and very helpful with things he was telling me. When I was about to leave to go back home to my country, he said to me I was welcome to come back any time if I wanted to buy more rugs from his people in this quiet village.

Interpretation

This seems like a very significant dream with relevant symbolism. Iran (ancient Persia) represents the mental plane, the plane of mind which is above the astral level. When I looked at it from above I seen the country as a vast green land, this is the symbolic colour of the astral plane because the colour symbolises growth through desire. The two bodies of water represent the two truths of the lower physical nature and the higher spiritual nature, with the river of life that the soul journeys along and is connected between the two physical and spiritual states of being. Seeing this from above means from a higher perspective in the mental plane.

The war taking place in Iran (mental plane) is symbolic of the higher nature subduing the lower nature. The people making Persian rugs is symbolic of the energies of the mental plane producing higher qualities. These qualities ( the rugs) that I purchased were of a mercurial nature because they were coloured orange, which is the colour of Hod and associated to Mercury. These higher mental qualities had been produced during the war. (Event of the spiritualisation of the lower nature) As I paid for these qualities with £3, it shows it has something to do with exchanging lower qualities (symbolised as money) into mercurial qualities expressed through the trinity of mind spirit and soul, because I ended up with three rugs. Within the process was also implied a spiritual transformation of some sort for the purpose of gaining the higher mercurial qualities. This was symbolised by the Arab man helping me to convert the payment into my own currency, so I could see and understand how much it cost me.

The Arab man dressed all in white and with a white turban, reminded me a bit of the picture of the mercurial spirit Ophiel as shown in Denning & Phillips book “Planetary Magick” I am certain that he represented a spirit of Mercury, but I do not know which one. He was very helpful and I did spend some time with him, I just couldn't remember the things we discussed, but, I felt that he was very helpful.

Given the facts that I viewed the land from above, and the spirit told me I could come back, seems to signify to me that I had travelled to the spirits sphere!

This was a very successful working, bringing to fruition exactly what I requested and in a short space of time, but also it is a process that is still continually working for me, and hopefully will continue too.

An Allegorical Interpretation of the Nature of the Heptameron Spirits

I have just started working with the angelic invocations from the Heptameron again, calling upon the angel of the day and the spirits of the air. I may put some of these up on my blog in due time, but for now I will share some of the workings I did using these invocations in January at the beginning of this year. Before I do this I need to explain the way I have learned to understand the nature of these spirits, and how I applied this knowledge to help me with what I was seeking to achieve.

The few who know me personally and my way of understanding and practising magic, know that I am particularly fond of allegorical symbolism, which is the language of spiritual knowledge and is used in mythological writings, the scriptures, alchemy, and also ceremonial magic. Although, it seems to be much less applied by current practitioners to the workings of the ceremonial magic that is found in the grimoires. This seems to be because many seem to be inclined to read the literal interpretation of these texts instead.

The allegorical language is also called the language of the gods and the language of the birds, this is because the bird is a universal symbol for spirit because it can be seen to reach the heights of heaven as it flies through the air, which, as was pointed out in one of my previous articles; the word for “spirit” in many languages is the same as is used for air, wind and breath. It is also worth taking into consideration that certain gods and angels are often depicted with wings to denote their divine position as holders of spiritual wisdom. There are also the deities that have bird heads, like Thoth and Horus, and those that are accompanied by birds such as Odin is with his two ravens, Hugin and Munin. There are many more examples that I am sure you will be able to think of.

There are many characters from mythology who are said to understand the language of the birds; such as is said of Solomon in the Quran Surah 27 : 16 And Solomon succeeded David, and he said O people, we have been taught the language of the birds, and we have been granted all sorts of things. This is indeed a great favour of Allah   

From Greek mythology there is the blind prophet Tiresias, who, in one of the stories associated to him was struck blind by Athene for seeing her bathe naked in a pool, but after hearing a plea from his mother Chariclo, Athene shown some mercy and granted him the power to understand the language of birds.

In Three Books of Occult Philosophy. Book 1. chapter LV. Agrippa mentions that “Melampus and Tiresias, and Thales, and Apollonius the Tyanean, had excellent skill in the language of the birds”. He also says; “Democrituss who declared this art, as saith Pliny, by naming the birds, of whose blood mixed together was produced a serpent, of which whosoever did eat, should understand the voices of birds. And Hermes saith, if anyone shall go forth to catch birds on a certain day of the Kalends of November, and shall boil the first bird which he catcheth, with the heart of a fox, that all that shall eat of this bird, shall understand the voices of birds and all other animals”.

The Master Alchemist Fulcanelli said; “This is the language which teaches the mystery of things and unveils the most hidden truths” ( Le Mystere des Cathedrales)

There are many adepts throughout history such as philosophers, mystics, magicians, alchemists and poets who have made use of this language in their writings.

This way of seeing and understanding the mysteries started to grow on me just over two and a half years ago, after doing workings with the Goetia in its traditional ceremonial form. In fact it was these goetic workings which led me down this road of discovery, although it was unintentional at the time. Since then it has totally captivated my attention and time, being constantly reinforced with the usual coincidences that keep on popping up, and which are the signs that are all to common to us magicians on a path of self discovery. After a while I started to see that this symbolic language was the language that presented itself through rituals of astral vision, scrying, evocation and dreaming. Upon realising this I also became aware that I had probably misunderstood a lot of what I had seen in such ritual contexts because I had not been able to read the symbols correctly. This led me to do further workings asking for the ability to be able to see and understand the symbolic language. I am still, and probably always will be in the process of learning this most magical of languages, as my eye of Horus continues to open up wider to allow more of the light in so that I can see and understand more as I grow and develop ;)

So here are a couple of workings that I did ten months ago which involve the use of communicating with the angel and spirits of the day from the Heptameron. I decided to use my dreams as the medium for contact because it felt right too, and plus, I could also bypass the influences and desires of the conscious mind. This was because I was keen on seeing if the allegorical interpretation of the spirits nature was going to work without any conscious influence that may effect the visions on my part.

The following extract is taken straight out of my diary, so please excuse it if it does not read to well at times. I have also added to my diary extract for the purpose of those reading this blog the opening ritual I used for these workings, and the conjuration which I used and recited straight from the Heptameron, along with an addition to it of the names of the spirits of the air of the day that I sought contact with. This additional call template at the end of the conjuration was taken from Joseph C. Lisiewski's book; Ceremonial Magic & The Power of Evocation.

Sunday 23 January 2011. Diary Extract. Time: 11.07pm

Just looking at the Heptameron as I was contemplating using the angelic invocations for each night. Then I looked at the nature of the spirits of Sunday; “ The spirits of the Air of the Lords day, are under the North-wind; their nature is to procure Gold, gems, carbuncles, riches; to cause one to obtain favour and benevolence; to dissolve the enmities of men; to raise men to honours; to carry or take away infirmities.”

Then suddenly it dawned upon my awareness that these attributes sound like spiritual qualities that are used to lift one out of the desert, or the wasteland of the unproductive mundaneness of the lower nature. After checking through my notes and some books I have, I appear to be right! Now the angel of this invocation, Michael, is the power that leads oneself from the imprisonment of the lower nature. i.e. The deliverer of the soul from captivity. This makes sense when seeing pictures of Michael trampling on top of Satan. And therefore healing one or delivering oneself from infirmities of the lower self. i.e. The lack of completion or lack of perfection in the qualities of the soul. Michael and the spirits of the air of Saturday are the ones who can lead oneself to gold (spiritual qualities) i.e. divine wisdom and spiritual truth. This is exactly what I need, especially after how I have been feeling lately. Down and very depressed with no interest in anything! Bedtime calls and so does a heartfelt invocation to Michael and the spirits of the air of Sunday.

Invocation to Michael and the spirits of the air of Sunday

Purpose : Asked for healing to begin, and to lead me to the truth and the spiritual gold, to be led out of the desert I am currently in, and to be free of the infirmities that effect me.

The opening ritual

1. Oration of the Vesture when it is put on. As given in the Heptameron
2. Invocation of the secret flame taken from the teachings of the Aurum Solis :  Thee I invoke the secret flame that abideth in holy and luminous silence. Thee, the light of the great gods and the life of the worlds, Thee the mighty and shinning one whose spirit filleth all things and whose holy fire is invoked in every sanctuary of the heavens.
3. Prayer of the Altar Candles : I exorcise thee O creature of fire, in the name of the sovereign and eternal Lord, by his ineffable name which is Yod He Vau He, by the name Iah, and by the name of power El; that thou mayest enlighten the heart of all the spirits which I shall call unto this place, so that they may appear before without fraud and deceit, through him who created all things. Amen
4. Solar Adoration : Salutation and praise unto thee, O life-en-kindling Sun, Child of Creations Lord, O thou lone all seeing eye of the vault celestial extend thy light that I may see, but dim thy glory that I be not blinded, unmask thy countenance O god of light for I am a lover of truth, and I would behold the spiritual essence concealed by thy golden disk, so reveal to my perception that shinning and inmost nature, even that high spirit which infuses thee and is one with the primal flame of mine own being, O life en-kindling Sun, child of creations Lord salutation and praise unto thee.
5. Qabalistic Cross
6. Qabalistic Invocation of Solomon followed by a prayer to God asking for success in this ceremony.

The Conjuration of the Lord's day

Repeated 3 x

I conjure and confirm upon you, ye strong and holy angels of God, in the name Adonai, Eye, Eye, Eya, which is he who was, and is, and is to come, Eye, Abray; and in the name Saday, Cados, Cados, sitting on high upon the Cherubim; and by the great name of God himself, strong and powerful, who is exalted above all the heavens; Eye, Saraye, who created the world, the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, in the first day, and sealed them with his holy name, Phaa, and by the names of the angels who rule in the fourth heaven, and serve before the most mighty Salamia, an angel great and honourable; and by the name of his star, which is Sol, and by his sign, and by the immense name of the living God, and by all the names aforesaid, I conjure thee, Michael, O great angel! Who art chief ruler of this day; and by the name, Adonai, the God of Israel, I conjure thee, O Michael! That thou labor for me, and fulfill all my petitions according to my will and desire in my cause and business, to send Varcan, tus, Andas, and Cynabal, and all ye, his ministers, and indeed and verily, all ye spirits of the air of Sunday to commence healing to begin, and to lead me to the truth and the spiritual gold, to be led out of the desert I am currently in, and to be free of the infirmities that effect me. Come to me this night in my dreams to show and teach me that which I ask. So be it. Amen.

Closed with Qabalistic cross and went straight to bed.

Dreams

I was in some kind of warehouse shop looking for Persian rugs. I went upstairs to do some kind of task that I was given to do. There was a man who had lots of rugs for sale and he gave me his phone number, telling me to call him any time. He was very tall and slim, possibly in his late 40s, I remember feeling slightly anxious around him, for want of a better term. On the way out of this place two boys came in, they were friends that I new and were twins (in my dream). I also seen this lovely big white Persian rug that had three green diamond patterns on it. The pile was in very good quality.

Dream 2. I was in a swimming pool watching these men and boys play water polo. One lad with blond hair was hit on the forehead, which made him bleed. He was fine though.

Dream 3. I was with a woman I know who is about the same age as me. I remember her laying on her side, but sat up. She had stomach-ache. I offered her something to eat which contained 3 ingredients, and I told her it would make her stomach-ache go away and feel much better. And so she started to feel better after eating it.

Interpretation

The warehouse was my state of mind/life, looking for spiritual qualities which were symbolised as Persian rugs. (because Persian rugs are an expensive luxury that I am very fond of and I like to collect) The walk up stairs to a higher level means searching for a spiritual answer, or raising my consciousness up a level to do a task, which symbolised the magical working I did to receive guidance from the spirits. The man I met upstairs is most likely Varcan. He gave me his phone number which symbolised establishing contact, and offering to me his communication. The twins who I new and were my friends, with me included, represent the interaction of my mind spirit and soul working or coming together harmoniously.

The 2^nd dream shows the activity of thought that is operating on the emotional level which is symbolised as water. Here the mental forces symbolised as men and boys represent the forces at play together in the emotional level. The boy who had been hit in the forehead and was bleeding possibly represents the spiritual eye of the young inner divinity that has been activated within me, because blood is the symbol of divine life manifested on the physical level.

The woman in the third dream is representative of my physical level of being (in symbolism the female always represents the material manifestation of a force) that I was trying to heal by giving a triple form of manna. This was divine sustenance.

End of diary extract

The dreams show an interesting order of development, because they start in the higher mental realms where I met the force I was seeking to contact to help me gain the spiritual knowledge I was after. After this the second dream shows the manifestation of the forces coming down a level to the emotional-astral state shown as water. After this in the third dream is where the healing on my self starts, which is on the lowest level of the physical. This was implied by the woman laying down on her side where she started to feel better after receiving the spiritual nourishment. The following day after this rite I had recorded in my diary that I felt a lot different, like a new person, because the depression and negative mood had totally gone, and I had felt so much more positive. In fact I remember feeling quite amazed at the significant change in my state of mind that literally happened over night!

I continued working with all of the invocations of the angels and the spirits of the day until I had completed the seven workings. I gained a lot of information about myself and my spiritual development from these rites. The whole process was one fantastic initiation.

I will give one more example of these workings I did, which is the last one that completed the seven workings. This one is a working of Saturn. Again this is taken straight out of my diary, although I have added in the odd reference to show my sources of information and the names of the spirits of the air that I called

Saturday 29^th January 2011

The Spirits of the Air of Saturday are subject to the south-west wind; the nature of them is to sow discords and hatred, evil thoughts and cogitations; to give leave freely, to slay and kill everyone, and to lame or maim every member.

Interpretation

To sow discords and hatred represents to create internal conflict within the enemy, which are the desires and lower qualities of the soul. Evil thoughts, possibly means ignorant ideas, and cogitations means to meditate, deep considered thought, contemplation that allows reflection while time passes. i.e. to give leave freely to allow the passage of time which teaches patients while one is working on subduing the lower desires and emotions. To slay and kill everyone means to subdue and dissipate the desires and illusions of the lower nature. To lame or maim every member means to brake down, make ineffective every part of the illusions of the lower nature

Summary

To create an internal conflict within the lower nature to subdue ignorant ideas. To contemplate and think deeply and therefore allow time to heal which results in victory because the false illusions and ignorant ideas and desires have decayed and dissipated over time. The old has been taken away in order to make way for the new. This is the process of growth, which is gained by experience over time which leads to the decline of the old in order for the new spiritual state to develop. Without cutting off the old forms the divine nature would be restricted in the old forms which would limit its manifestation.

Invocation of Cassiel & Spirits of the Air of Saturday

Start 1.50 am.    Ended -

Purpose : To teach me to recognise the ignorant ideas and desires that are limiting factors to my spiritual development. Teach me the process of growth through the experience of time to cleanse my lower nature so that it becomes free of all unhealthy things, in order for it to be a fit receptacle for the influx of divine power. And teach me how to use the energies of Saturn in a magical way to enhance my spiritual development.

As with the previous conjuration of Sunday, this conjuration was repeated 3 x asking Cassiel to send forth Maymon, Abumalith, Assaibi, Balidet, and all his ministers and spirits of the air of Saturday.

Dreams

I was observing a couple this time, a man and a woman who were married, and they were magicians. They both had dark hair and were a little older than me. The woman had moved to the town where I live, and her husband stayed with his father in the week, and worked from there. He came home at the weekends to stay with his wife. While realising this, the woman was telling me about her magical practices she does, which I think involved the use of plants and herbs.

Next dream I was in a room of my home on the ground floor looking outside, which was a bright sunny day. I then seen an old friend who ( in my dream) had the same name as me. He walked past the window outside and went into a shed outhouse building. I didn't want him to see me, so I lay down on the floor to hide myself out of site, hoping he hadn't seen me. I lay on the floor looking up at the TV, while thinking that the person I didn't want to see was going to get some drugs. Next I got up off the floor and looked on the side unit where there were lots of drawing pins with the points turned upwards. I think I remember brushing them off the side into my hand to put them away.

The 3^rd dream is a bit more vague. I was with my mum and I took her into this house that I think was my mum's house, so that she could talk to the subconscious mind while I was going to wait for her in another room in a different part of the house.

Interpretation

In the first dream the woman represents the lower nature of the soul, the material manifestation which is in alliance with the mind (her husband) this man represents the higher aspect of my mind, (man is often linked to the Latin men - “to think”) who stays with his father (God) in the days of the week, which symbolise the period of activity on the upper planes of spirit. At the weekend the higher aspect of mind descends to unite with the lower nature. (the man coming to stay with his wife). The whole week therefore symbolises a period of completion because the number seven represents completion. For example there are seven heavens, the seven colours of the rainbow, seven chakras, the seven planets of the ancients, God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. With rest comes peace, and interestingly the ancient Egyptian word for peace is “hetep” which, according to Gerald Massey is also spelt “Hept” and in Egyptian also signifies the number seven. Ancient Egypt The Light Of The World Vol. 1 pp 426. This is especially interesting because this time last week on the day before I started the Heptameron workings, (Saturday) I had a dream with the same man and woman in it as I had last night! This must also signify a cycle of completion

In the 2nd dream I was in a room of my house on the ground floor, which represents a level in the lower nature, hence why I was on the ground floor. Seeing someone with the same name as me who went into an outside shed to get some drugs, signifies an old negative aspect of myself that I want to shut away and not be effected by. Not that I take drugs, because I don't, as I view drugs in a negative way now, and hence why I gave up smoking cannabis eight years ago. So therefore the drugs must have been a symbol to represent the negative forces of my old self, or the lower nature which I did not want to be influenced by, and hence why I hid out of the way. Here is the advice on how to work with the energies of Saturn. i.e. Invisibility! The pins pointing upwards on the side unit may represent the aspect of my thoughts which are now concentrated in an upward direction towards spiritual matters which I gathered in unto myself.

The 3^rd dream possibly means that my spirit is guiding the material aspect of my self (symbolised as my mother) to successfully communicate with the deep mind or the soul to receive knowledge for my spiritual development. The two separate rooms probably represent the two aspects of the higher and lower nature, where each part of the higher (spiritual) and the lower (material) self reside in.

End of diary extract.                                              

Allegorical interpretation of Invisibility.

After realising the significance of using invisibility for magical development, I thought I needed to investigate this a bit more, because it made perfect sense according to the allegorical interpretation, and it felt right too. For why would sacred books of magic like the Key of Solomon call upon divine names of God to work at becoming literally invisible. This never really made sense to me, and I always thought that there was more to it than at first meets the eye.

So after receiving this information I opened up Mather's version of The Key of Solomon to look at the invisibility spell. Believe it or not the book opened up on the exact page on the first attempt. This is nothing special, as it is quite a common occurrence to magicians when they are searching for something in particular, but still, a tell tale sign I was heading in the right direction. What I found interesting about this spell was that the waxen image was to be made in the month of January, and in the day and hour of Saturn. Now considering the Saturnine working I had done to receive this information, I thought it was rather intriguing, especially as I had not remembered the details because I had not read it for a long time. So off I set to meditate about the significance of why it was to be done in the month of January.

Shortly into the meditation the realisation came to me that the month was not meant to be taken literally. Instead, if we take the “as above so below” Hermetic law, then the course of a year of the Sun's movements is the “above”, or exoteric (outer) perspective. The “below”, or esoteric (inner) perspective is that the Sun represents the divine part of the soul, the inner divinity of the magician. Now towards the end of December the Sun enters Capricorn the goat, the symbol of the animal nature which is the lowest level that the soul falls into when it comes down from the empyrean. Just like on the winter solstice which is the shortest day of the year when the Sun enters its lowest point in the sky. Three days later around the 25^th December the Sun is reborn and the daylight hours start to increase again, although the length of darkness still holds dominion over the daylight hours until the spring equinox in March.

If we internalise this and apply it to the magician's inner spiritual nature, we can say that once the magician has started to awaken his or her divinity then the powers and forces that effect and rule over the lower nature are still stronger because the inner divinity is still to young to deal with them. This is emphasised in such myths as that of the infant Horus who was placed in the Papyrus thicket by his mother Isis, to keep him hidden away from Set until he had grown strong enough to claim his father's throne. A very similar theme is found in the story of Moses when his mother also hides him from the Pharaoh. There is also the stories of Dionysus who as an infant was kept hidden from Hera.

Taking all this into account January is the the time that comes after the the rebirth of the Sun, and therefore metaphorically speaking it is the symbolic period after the magician has awakened his or her inner divinity of the spiritual nature. So as the spiritual self starts to grow and develop from out of the lower nature, it needs to not to be hindered or influenced by the forces that effect and rule over the lower nature, which could easily prevent the soul's growth and spiritual development.

It is no wonder that the first day of January is consecrated to the Roman two faced god Janus; the god of doorways, new beginnings and transitions. He has two faces because he looks back into the past of the old year; symbolic of the lower self, and into the future of the new year, which is symbolic of the new spiritual self.

Over the course of this week I will post up a couple more of these workings I did with the Heptameron spirits. Although I have adapted these workings to a method suitable for me to use, I got a lot out of them that shown me I was on the right track by interpreting the nature of these spirits allegorically.

As above, so below

  "As above, so below" is a phrase often used by many in the occult community, but, I often wonder if some of those who use it, understand its significance. One often hears the explanation that entails man and woman are made in the image of God, or the microcosm is a reflection of the Macrocosm, and all that is contained in the Universe is also contained within the very nature of our being. These explanations often suffice to explain the general meaning of this common hermetic phrase, although there is a lot more to be discovered about its meaning if one will but delve a bit more deeply into the ancient texts..

The sacred writings of the ancient sages are what has come down to us as mythology and holy scripture, often the latter being a retelling of the former. For example, many of the New Testament stories have striking correlations with ancient Egyptian mythology. Gerald Massey lists over two hundred and seventy such similarities in the appendix of his excellent two volume book "Ancient Egypt The Light of The World" (pp907-914).

Most of these myths have their origin in astronomical lore and the stories of these myths, as seen from an exoteric (outer) perspective, are explaining the movements of the celestial bodies such as certain star constellations, the planets, and the Sun and moon. The film Zeitgeist explains this principle very clearly in relation to the movements of the Sun with the story of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection. See here http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1543831119879192379#  But, the meaning of these stories do not end solely with this type of interpretation; there are deeper spiritual meanings which we shall take a look at shortly.

Before we look at the spiritual significance of these myths, it will do well for us to take note of a passage of writing from the Latin Asclepius. It says; “Do you not know, Asclepius, that Egypt is an image of heaven or, to be more precise, that everything governed and moved in heaven came down to Egypt and was transferred there? If truth were told, our land is the temple of the whole world.”

In other words, the ancient Egyptians mapped out there land after the constellations in the heavens. This method is called uranography, and an example of this practice can be seen in the “Records of the Past” series 1, Volume 12 inscription of Chnumhetep page 68-69. Where it says: “he established the landmark of the South; he sculptured the Northern like the heaven, he stretched the great river on its back, its place in the East was Apollinopolis, to remain in the East. Came his sanctity doing away with negligence, crowned as Atum he was Atum himself, he set right what he found wasted; he made the district in two parts, knowing its frontiers, for a district setting up their land marks like the heaven”

(See here.  http://www.brainfly.net/html/books/rop0195.pdf

It was not just the ancient Egyptians that did this, but can also be seen hinted at in a few passages in the Bible. One such example is in the New Testament, Hebrew 8:5. “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.”

The word “mount” means to go up, ascend, and in the ancient writings always signifies a place in the heavenly realm. Just like Mount Olympus for the Greek gods, and Mount Meru in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. When taking this into account it suggests that the place names on earth, in certain localities, where named after their heavenly counterparts - which came first. This can be seen with the name of the place of Jesus' birth, Bethlehem. Which means “house of bread” and is a reference to the constellation of Virgo, because Virgo is pictured as a virgin who holds a sheath of wheat. (See the link to the film Zeitgeist above)

Interestingly, St Paul mentions two Jerusalems in Galatians 4:25-26 “For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of all.”

And there is also a heavenly Jerusalem spoken about in Hebrews 12:22 “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels.”

There are other examples in Revelation 3:12 and 21:2 where it makes mention of a new Jerusalem that comes down from out of heaven. If we look at the meaning of the name “Jerusalem” we shall see that it roughly translates as “abode of peace” which is an apt title for a heavenly place. It should then come as no surprise that in the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, (which is correctly called; The Book of Going Forth By Day) the name for the Egyptian heaven is called the fields of peace! As Gerald Massey also confirms in his book, Ancient Egypt the Light Of The World page 539.

“The name of Jerusalem we read as the Aarru-salem or fields of peace, equivalent to Aarru-hetep or Sekhet-hetep, the fields of peace in Egyptian. Jerusalem below was the localised representative of Jerusalem above, the Aarru-salem or Aarru-hetep on the mount of peace in the heaven of the never-setting stars.”

As was said before: these myths were attributed to celestial events and the movements in the skies, which were also the ancient's way of describing the stories about the soul's spiritual history and its evolution while down here on earth. This is the esoteric (inner) knowledge of spirit which, I would think, is highly likely that the sky was probably the first book used to explain such principles using the daily, monthly, and yearly course of natures symbols in the sky.

For example, the Zodiac chart is divided into four quarters that have three zodiac signs allocated to each quarter. These match the four cardinal points of the compass, the four seasons, and the four elements. As the Sun (which is the symbol for the divine soul) travels through these four quarters, it represents the spiritual journey of our divine soul passing through the four elements of earth, physical; water, emotional; air, mental; and fire, the spiritual. This is the fourfold nature of the human being that the divine soul partakes of, and thus crowns the lower elemental nature with spirit to form the microcosm.

This fourfold nature is also applied to the year with the seasons of winter, autumn, spring and summer; and also to the day with morning, noon, evening and night. For example, when the Sun enters the west it goes down towards the realm of matter where it figuratively dies and traverses through the underworld around the northern quarter until the morning, when the Sun rises in the east, which symbolises the awakening of our divine nature. From there, it moves to the south where we feel its full force of spiritual power until it repeats the cycle again. It is this same spiritual theme that is naturally represented by the seasons of the year and which the ancient annual festivals celebrated with their myths.

So how can we apply this methodology of thinking to our magical practices? One of the simplest ways and probably one of the most effective, if regularly practised, is by doing adorations to the Sun. Twice a day would suffice at morning and at night. By doing this we can form a link with our higher spiritual nature through the principle of "as above, so below." For it is not the actual Sun that we are praying too, but the spiritual principle of which it is a symbol of and which is also contained within ourselves. Once we have started to awaken the spiritual nature, then it becomes easier to see the "as above, so below" principle operating in our lives, and then we are able to partake in the fruits of our spiritual labour that we witness manifesting in our daily lives. If this becomes a regular continued practice, then we learn and gain skill in uniting the higher with the lower, the subjective with the objective, and therefore making it easier to bring about the unification of a peaceful spiritual state of being. It is within this state of mind where it becomes much easier to learn, grow, and develop in our magical practices and ideas; helping in forming a solid foundation from which one can work from.

Any form of prayer or invocation that one favours can be used. For example the Oration of the Salamanders found in the Grimorium Verum. Or maybe you would prefer Crowley's Liber Resh vel Helios.

I use the Aurum Solis Adoration rite because it is simple, direct, and easy to remember; and which I give below.

Salutation and praise unto thee,

O life-enkindling Sun,

Child of Lords creation!

O thou lone all-seeing eye of the vault celestial!

Extend thy light that I may see,

but dim thy glory that I be not blinded.

Unmask thy countenance, O God of Light,

for I am a lover of truth,

and I would behold the spiritual essence concealed

by thy golden disk!

So reveal unto my perception,

that shining and inmost nature,

even that high spirit which infuses thee

and is one with the primal flame of mine own being,

O life-enkindling Sun

child of Lords creation

salutation and praise unto thee!