Magical Advice Pt. 6, From Mysticalgod

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INTRODUCTION The heart of this lesson is based upon RITUAL, and how to create your own, based upon the structure of others or upon a structure you design yourself from scratch. Don't let anyone fool you into believing there is a set way to perform any ritual. We will examine how others approached the process of their rituals. We will cover a vital area, an area usually overlooked by almost all occult books. The aforementioned vital area is that of the state of mind or "state of consciousness". This state will allow you to shift reality in order to make the ritual work for you. Without this proper state of mind, the ritual is reduced to a theatrical performance, although this too is an important role in a ritual. We will step further into "reality shifting", providing you the proper tools to step into another dimension. Next, we should also look at some of the "necessary" components of rituals. This description shall not be all-inclusive but will provide a springboard upon which you may launch ideas of your own into your Magical Grimoire. I hope that you will practice the techniques prescribed in the foregoing lesson. Lastly, we will look at the works of some notable occult subjects of rituals, Voodoo and Kabbalah. The information will train youand inspire your creative mind in magical ritual. This lesson will arm the apprentice with extreme levels of power. It is cautioned that you wield this great power responsibly. Cultivate it to help others, and never use it for attack. The knowledge contained herein will allow for major transformations in consciousness and reality. file:///C|/Mysticalgod/Magical%20Advice/advice%207a.html (1 of 11)2/23/2009 10:48:52 PM

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TRANSFORMING

YOUR

REALITY

What is a state of consciousness? I could spend pages on explaining the meaning of this, but I won't. Instead, I will take you by the arm and walk with you through this dark place. Have you ever gone into a building with many rooms, did something, attempted to leave, and despite the fact you just walked in, you felt everything looked different, and you didn't know the way out? Or, have you ever heard a song somewhere, and suddenly it reminded you of a moment from the past, instantly making you feel like you were there once again? Or, have you ever been in a theater, and found that you were so deep into the movie that you realized you forgot you were in the theater, or worse, you also forgot where you parked (Smile)? If you have had these experiences, or similar, then you have experienced an "altered state of consciousness" (ASC). I've experienced severe states like these. For example, I could be in a place, a building, a city, or even in my own home, and instantly feel like I was somewhere I'd not been before. Some believe that ASC must be induced. I know otherwise. ASC can come intentionally or unintentionally. The type we want to utilize is the "intentional ASC", for magical purposes, of course. First, I want you to know a secret. Through the use of ASC, you can literally transform "your world" (not "the world"), into another world. To be clearer on this let me use a simple example. 1. you enter an ASC and believe you are in a world of Demons (hell); 2. you then begin to see strange and horrific things; 3. you perceive people as

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evil beings or possessed by evil beings; 3. you perceive the nights are longer. This list may continue indefinitely. It's important to know why I termed the world "your world". In magic, always understand you live in a "make believe" world. Whatever you believe, is what you literally make it. This is a very dangerous knowledge, so handle it with care. Or, you could find yourself in a place a long, long way from home. Incidentally, Some movies I enjoyed, which dealt with transformations of reality were Phantasm, Hell Raiser, and Darkness. In Darkness, the ultimate transformation took place near the end of the movie. See these. You can use ASC to transform your world into any kind of world you desire. This is not without proper practice. One does not merely just think of something and suddenly, poof! The art requires a persistent, earnest application. Oh but wait, this forest is deeper than that! There are Karmic ties to this journey. If you take pleasure from the universe, by creating your own paradise, there are invisible beings who will visit you for some type of repayment. The point here: use this art responsibly. And if you gain pleasure from this, then you must make a sacrifice and/or help others to have a better life. Now it time for me to hand you the keys and show you which door. First start with breath. Learn to control your breathing. Observe how deep your breathing affects you. Next, get in touch with your body. Learn to be in touch with how it feels, emotionally and physically, every minute. By doing this, you shall start to record the various "states" your body is "capable" of. By knowing the states, thoroughly, you will then be able to summon the state you want and then use it for its power. You could walk into a room with four white walls and a chair, and after sitting into the chair, you will be able to close

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your eyes, and upon opening them, suddenly feel as if you were sitting somewhere entirely different, such as in your favorite chair at home. (You could research how some people can even alter bodily responses through these principles. And, in Magical Advice Seven, we will cover some incridible knowledge along the lines of perception. You will be amazed.) Next, eat foods which give you energy. A lack of energy degrades your capacity to enter into a desired state. Next, through regular, daily meditation, learn the control your mind. You must be able to control your mind as you would a horse, a car, or a bicycle. Please, let this flow from an egoless state, or you will only be spinning your wheels, getting nowhere. Finally, I must say, if you haven't tried any drugs, then you can choose to experiment. However, don't depend on them. Experiencing LSD (or similar) in small doses only, is important for understanding the capacity of your own consciousness. Slap my hand if you must, but trust me on this. Weed/pot, likewise is important. I don't use any drug currently. It's been a long time, but I can recall how it opened doors of consciousness. Hear me. Unbelievable, as it may seem, if you don't understand something in your life, smoke a joint, and the tackle the problem. You'll find that it forces you to struggle with the problem from "another perspective", which may lead to a viable solution. Moreover, pot, in my opinion, is considerably useful for self-evaluation. If you sit down and seriously analyze yourself, using pen and paper, while stoned, you will come out ahead. I don't recommend that anyone with a weak will power toward drugs attempt either of these. Most people with a strong will power can try these drugs and not have a need for them afterward. This is the case with me.

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When you reach the level of being able to enter any desire ASC, then you are ready to design your ritual with the "explicit state" written into it. At this point, you are empowered to enter realms where your magical supplications can truly retain substantial substance, returning with a force that mortals cannot produce on their own. Now we may consider aspects of the "Ritual" The following articles shall provide sufficient review of ASC. Be sure to retain notes in your study booklets.

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Altered States of Consciousness and Psychotherapy A Cross-Cultural Perspective Mário Simões Psychiatric University Clinic Lisbon, Portugal

The main physiological and induced Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) are outlined, as well as methods of induction. The phenomenology of ASCs is described and related to psychopathology. A short commentary is given about ASCs used in some ethnopsychotherapies. Psychotherapies of Western origin using ASCs, especially hypnosis, Holotropic Breathwork, and Personalized Experiential Restructuralization Therapy (Past-Life/Regression Therapy) are outlined and discussed.

Altered (Waking) States of Consciousness (ASCs)

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were included, although in a limited fashion, in the diagnostic manuals ICD-10 (World Health Organization, 1992) and DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). As Fabrega (1995) points out, the study of the cultural sciences as they pertain to psychiatry offers a necessary corrective to the increasing impersonality and reductionism that has come to characterize the neurobiological approach. A major enterprise in cultural psychiatry in recent years has been the integration of clinical science and anthropology (Minas, 1996). This paper is also an attempt to make such an integration. It deals with a psychological phenomenon that is rooted in the cultural life of a wide variety of peoples and which has only recently come to the attention of Western researchers, in spite of a long European tradition in research on Altered States of Consciousness (Beringer, 1927; Stoll, 1947). There is a current view that accepts the existence of different levels of reality, according to the state of consciousness (level) which an individual is in at the moment. Normal daily consciousness (the ordinary state of consciousness) gives access to an ordinary reality, ULTURAL ISSUES

but altered states of consciousness, for example, in dreaming, permit contact with a nonordinary reality. Less familiar forms of consciousness are those categorized under the general designation of altered states of consciousness (ASC). These should be understood as altered or modified in relation to the waking state of consciousness, since this ordinary state of consciousness can be considered, itself, an unusual state, impossible to maintain for long, and secured only by a modicum of perceptual intake and continuous interior discourse (Gowan, 1978). In fact, a discrete fluctuation in the ordinary state of consciousness exists, giving rise to what Tart (1975) calls discrete states of mind. An ASC is present when there is a deviation in subjective experience or psychological functioning from certain general norms for that individual, recognized by the subject or observers (Kokoszka, 1987; Ludwig, 1966). Some authors (Dittrich, von Arx, & Staub, 1986) add some other features to this basic definition: 1. Every ASC has certain verbally comprehensible features which occur only infrequently during the normal waking state. The number of such differential characteristics determines the state of an ASC on dimensions ranging from the normal waking state to an extreme ASC.

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2. ASCs normally last for only a few minutes to hours, which is an important difference from psychiatric diseases. 3. ASCs are self-induced, that is, they are usually voluntarily induced, or may occur in the normal way of life. They are not the result of illness or adverse social circumstances. 4. The various means of inducing ASC can be grouped into four types: (a) hallucinogens of the first order (e.g., LSD, DMT, THC); (b) hallucinogens of the second order (e.g., Scopolamine, nitrous oxide); (c) reduction of environmental stimulation or contact in the broadest sense (e.g., sensory deprivation, meditation, falling asleep, awakening); and (d) increased environmental stimulation and contact (e.g., intense rhythmic stimulation, extremely variable stimuli).

Using the APZ (Abnorme psychische Zustaende) questionnaire (Dittrich, 1975) for scanning ASCs of the different types mentioned above, various authors in different countries (Dittrich, von Arx, & Staub, 1986; Simões, Polónio, von Arx, Staub, & Dittrich, 1986) found that some common characteristics of ASCs remained sufficiently stable under different methods of induction. Analyses on a dimensional level identified three primary subscales, positively intercorrelated, and designated as follows with regard to content: (1) Oceanic Boundlessness; (2) Dread of Ego-Dissolution; and (3) Visionary Restructuralization. The first subscale describes a state similar to mystical experiences; the second subscale contains features which indicate a very unpleasant state, similar to what is called a “bad trip” by drug users and similar to some symptoms in schizophrenia; and the third subscale includes items on visual (pseudo)hallucinations: visions, illusions and coenaesthetic hallucinations, or a change of significance of the surroundings. As Dittrich, von Arx, and Staub (1986) point out, referring to Huxley (1961), it could be said that the three primary etiology-independent aspects of ASCs correspond to Heaven, Hell, and Visions.

Altered States of Consciousness and Society

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SCs, even when recognized in Western societies, still possess negative connotations. They are labeled as different, irrational, strange, abnormal, or pathological. This is more likely to

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happen if these states emerge spontaneously, because the so-called “functional” psychiatric diseases also arise in an apparently spontaneous way. An acute paranoid syndrome triggered by marijuana, in its early stages, is very similar to an acute schizophrenic episode, giving some support to the classification of an acute paranoid syndrome as an ASC (Simões, 1995). The phenomenology included in the three subscales mentioned above can be present simultaneously in a psychotic and in a spiritual/mystical experience, but the degree of involvement of each subscale is different in the two kinds of experience (Dittrich, 1988). These data indicate the possibility that both experiences may have a common psychophysiologial basis, such as a common path of final expression. As Mandell (1982) admitted, this common path may “reflect the neurobiological mechanisms underlying transcendence, God in the brain,” or, metaphorically, the brain as a hologram of the all-one. But the question remains whether a given ASC is to be considered pathological. Its classification as pathological is not strictly based on biological or phenomenological criteria, for the stigma of pathology can as well be seen as a measure of social control (Dittrich, 1996). Crombach (1974) believes that ASCs would lose their strange and “irrational” character if they were considered as “another” way of getting knowledge or “framing reality.” Pathological ASCs should be recognized as those that arise spontaneously and present the following characteristics: (1) they are a dominant experience in daily life; (2) they serve to enable the experiencer to avoid the necessity of finding adequate solutions for the problems of daily life; and (3) the context in which they emerge provides no cognitive or social structures with which those ASCs can be dealt with. The last situation, for example, is the case where societies, although used to spontaneous or induced ASCs, cannot integrate in their cultural frame the ego dissolution experienced by schizophrenic patients (Scharfetter, 1990). Ethnological studies (Bourguignon, 1973) indicate that in ninety percent of societies quoted in the Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock, 1967), ASCs are used for some social events, so one can speak of them as an anthropological constant. Earlier on, ASCs were thought to be an uncommon experience in Western societies, and those

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experiencing them did not talk about the subject, fearing to be considered psychiatric patients. But now, the results of a survey conducted by Hay (1982) have been confirmed (Kokoszka, 1989; Valla, 1992) and indicate fifty-four percent of the population experiencing a “deep” (mysticlike) ASC, whereas eighty-four percent referred to some form of “slight” (alteration in reality feeling and disturbance of cognitive process) ASC, occurring more often in religious situations than in everyday situations or during cognitive processes. The tendency to emphasize rationality and intersubjective communication makes an ASC more likely to be considered abnormal. It evokes fear of mental disease because it does not conform to experiential stereotypes. It should be noted that relaxation techniques, socially spread as meditation or autogenic training, can be followed by ASCs. In Western societies, mysticlike ASCs can be considered as a healing mechanism (Lukoff, Turner, & Lu, 1992; Valla, 1992).

diction here because according to the current understanding of the interdependence of the mindbody, psychological processes affect biomedical changes and vice versa. When we study ASCs in different cultural settings, the first problem we must face is whether these states are internally consistent or dependent upon social or cultural factors (Ward, 1989). The data indicate that these positions are not antagonistic. Although behavior during ASCs in some aspects can be different, ways of induction, and social and cultural objectives exhibit some similarities. There is not always social and functional equivalence, however, even when neurophysiological mechanisms are common. The greatest difference between what is observed in Western cultures and those of other cultures in relation to psychotherapy has to do with causal attribution (Lambek, 1989). It is interesting to note that in Western societies there are different schools of psychotherapy, each with its own etiological model of disease.

Altered States of Consciousness in Ethnopsychotherapy

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ANY NONINDUSTRIAL cultures

employ ASCs in various spiritual and healing rituals. Anthropologists have used phrases such as trance or possession states to describe these practices. Psychologists have used other terms to describe them in Western cultures: hypnotic states, mystical experiences, and hysterical dissociation are some examples (Jilek, 1989). Differences among these states are considered to be more cultural than psychological or neurophysiological in nature. The capacity to enter into an ASC is common to all human beings, but frequency is a function of social and cultural variables. Among these, there is the possibility that an individual may be required to fulfill certain social roles in the culture, to practice certain permitted “roles” sometimes sought after in that culture to satisfy social, personal, or other healing needs. Some cultures use ASCs in healing rituals that are similar to Western psychotherapeutic techniques. These rituals may employ psychoactive plants (Rios, 1989) or rhythmic stimuli such as dancing or drumming (Jilek, 1989) in the induction process, while in the Western psychotherapeutic context, other means (e.g., sensory overload or deprivation, with or without guided visualization) are generally preferred. There is no contra-

Yoga

Y

been practiced in Asia for millennia, and has often been used therapeutically in contemporary times to treat insomnia and other psychological problems (Hehr, 1987). A practitioner of yoga strives to become aware of corporeal sensations and perceptions, while keeping this bodily awareness free of ego involvement. To attain this state, one uses visualization techniques as well as physical postures, or asanas, frequently in combination with controlled breathing. This state has neurophysiological correlates which are similar to those observed in opium smokers (Hehr, 1987) —thus leading to the endorphin hypothesis for explaining these sensations associated with Yoga. OGA HAS

Umbanda and Voodoo

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EALING CEREMONIES in Umbanda (Brazil) and Voodoo (Haiti) cults contain psychophysical techniques which manipulate consciousness. According to Umbanda, the etiology of disorders is centered on supernatural fluids that are prejudicial because of ethical-religious errors, magic, spiritual and karmic forces, or derived from an underdeveloped mediumship. Therapy is executed by a medium in an ASC under the influence of a spirit of a deceased person that

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blows away those fluids. Many clients themselves seek to become mediums, which brings them social prestige and assists in the cure. Voodoo technique is partly similar to Umbanda, and both aim to promote social and psychological integration (Pressel, 1987). The types of “spirit” that orient therapy, through the medium, which are the caboclo (handsome man), preto velho (old man), criança (child), and exu (a supernatural being), represent aspects of a socially well-adapted personality, which explains the frequency with which they appear in terreiros (ceremony playgrounds) (Pressel, 1987). Voodoo ceremonies are not principally for healing as in Umbanda—and animal sacrifice is often involved. The concept of supernatural fluids permits the medium an approach to modern neurophysiological and biochemical correlates on one hand and the social relations of the patient and other persons on the other hand. It can be seen as part of an organized, integrative effort by that society to satisfy the need of its members to know life’s meaning, as well as a biological need for a cure (Pressel, 1987). Induction processes used are dance, mainly around the body axis, and rhythmic drumming and hand clapping. These belong to the category, listed earlier, of ASC induction by sensory overload with simultaneous rhythmic monotony. Both rhythms belong to the EEG theta frequency (4-7 hertz/second) which is the most common frequency found in ceremonies that lead to trance (Jilek, 1989) and is confirmed in ceremonies accompanied by rhythmic batuque in Siberia, Haiti, Africa, and Indonesia (Neher, 1962). American Indian Dance

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through dance have also been observed among North American Indians (Salish, Algonqians, Kiowa) (Jilek, 1989). The patient is brought into an ASC, following the instructions of an “initiator” and helped by the community. Production of these ASCs generally occurs without use of hallucinogenic drugs (e.g., peyote, psilocybin). These states are provoked through waking-sleep variations, hypo- and hyperventilation, or rhythmic acoustic and motor stimulation (Jilek, 1989). Considering this type of therapy from a Western point of view, various therapeutic parameters are clear: occupational and activation therapy, group psychotherapy, cathartic abreaction, psychodrama, suggestive

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support, and physical exercises. The psychosocial function of these ritualistic dances with healing properties can be interpreted as a way to obtain emotional and spiritual well-being and responsibility and self-esteem for autochthones, especially in modern times when they have difficulties in finding their identity in a society dominated by white North Americans (Jilek, 1989).

Altered States of Consciousness in Western Psychotherapies Because hypnosis, bodywork, and so-called “image work” are currently popular, I will briefly consider them. Hypnosis

A

WELL- KNOWN

joke is that the first use of hypnosis was when God hypnotized Adam in order to take his rib for the creation of Eve. While this may be stretching things a bit, hypnosis is certainly an ancient technique, in use for millennia. We find the phenomenology of hypnosis in Egyptian sleep temples, for example, as well as in numerous other sites around the world. Many famous physicians were involved in the development of hypnosis in one way or another: among them, Paracelsus, Mesmer, Faria, Braid, Charcot, Freud, Pavlov, and Janet. The Portuguese Abade Faria is notable in that he was the first to consider hypnosis to be a state of autosuggestion. Interest in hypnosis is still strong (Burrows & Stanley, 1995; Walter, 1995; Araoz, 1998). The hypnotic state (as opposed to the practice of inducing hypnosis) can be defined as an ASC characterized by attentive and receptive concentration with a relative suspension of peripheral awareness (Spiegel & Spira, 1993). To date, neurophysiological or clinical correlates have not been found to be specific to this state (Walter, 1995), which is why some authors claim that it does not exist at all (Barber, 1970; Wagstaff, 1981). Others see it as self-controlled behavior by individuals in response to demanding social roles, while being present as passive actors in a drama in which they could lose control (Spanos, 1989). Still others think that a true ASC is involved as well as learned responses to social roles (Hilgard, 1986; Tart, 1975). Experiences and behavior under hypnosis are associated with a subjective conviction similar to

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delusion, and with a sense of unwillingness similar to compulsion (Kihlstrom, 1985). These aspects have contributed to some popular misconceptions: that hypnosis is a dream; that it is passive (something one does to somebody else); that everyone is hypnotizable; that it is dangerous; that it is therapeutic per se; or that it is a special susceptibility or spiritual weakness. Hypnotic susceptibility can be evaluated through tests, and it is influenced by the rapport or trusting relationship that is established between the therapist and patient. In hypnosis, “resistance” does not come from the patient, as in psychoanalysis, but from a failure in rapport. The success of the session depends also on hypnotic susceptibility, which has also been shown to vary widely among different people, and to vary in individuals over their lifetime. Hypnotizability seems to be something that is inherited, in that parents who are easily hypnotized are more likely to have children who share this susceptibility (Matthews, Conti, & Starr, 1998). Methods of induction are based on monotonous rhythmic stimuli in an environment of little or no other acoustic or visual input. Trance levels range from hypnoidal to somnolent states, and some of the different phenomena which can be observed include hallucination, anesthesia, age regression, and post-hypnotic suggestion. The spectrum of possible use is wide-ranging from the treatment of phobias and multiple personality disorder, to modern research on traumatic childhood memories (Kluft, 1995). Hypnotic-like procedures are found in Shamanism, and native practitioners utilize the same human capacities (Krippner, 1999; Richeport, 1987). Krippner (1999), as a cross-cultural psychologist, remarks that the human psyche cannot be extricated from the historically variable and diverse “intentional worlds” in which it plays a co-constituting part. There is another therapeutic technique in some Western countries that also uses hypnosis—spirit releasement therapy—developed by Baldwin (1993). Such an approach will stretch or overstep the bounds of some therapists’ credulity and it is advised that psychotherapists who do this type of work have a working knowledge of metaphysics, spirituality, and nonphysical levels of reality (Wicker, 2000). There is some controversy about the use of hypnosis in recovering repressed memories (Yapko, 1995) that would not exist if therapists

were more careful about verifying subjective “certainty.” Of course, material obtained under hypnosis must be considered as deserving further research—especially when suspicion of sexual abuse persists. Hypnosis can be considered an ASC similar to others common in daily life (e.g., relaxing, reading a book in deep concentration), but different from the normal waking state in relation to dreaming or sleep, where the distinction between these is stable both for humans and other mammals (Stengers, 1993). Holotropic Breathwork

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of this psychotherapy—holotropic— derives from the Greek, meaning both “whole” and “moving toward.” Developed by Grof (1979), this method facilitates altered states of consciousness by means of conscious breathing, evocative music, and focused bodywork. Grof ’s research led him to a map of consciousness with three levels: the biographical, perinatal (related to traumas of biological birth), and the transpersonal (experiences supposed to happen in a time and space out of the ordinary frame). The holotropic approach is intended to bring into consciousness content from the unconscious that has a strong emotional charge and is relevant from a psychodynamic point of view (Grof, 1996). In this therapy, symptoms are seen as the first stage of healing. Though the majority of emotional problems have their roots in childhood, others originate in the other aforementioned levels. A resolution of problems means letting the patient experience the other levels associated with the problems under treatment. Grof (1996) uses holotropic breathwork to activate the selfhealing potential guided by one’s own deep inner intelligence. HE NAME

Personalized Experiential Restructuralization Therapy (Past-Life/ Regression Therapy)

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HIS DESCRIPTIVE title is intended to summarize and integrate what in some circles is known as “Past-Life/Regression Therapy,” recent discoveries on imagery (Achterberg, 1985), and clinical applications of nondrug-induced states (Budzinski, 1986). In its early days, this therapy referred to a concept somehow strange to Western culture—the notion of reincarnation—the

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possibility that an individual could experience various lives in different bodies in different times and cultures through the agency of an immortal spirit or soul. This idea is not strange for many Eastern societies and can even be found in some Western cultural circles. Because it is beyond the scope of this work, I will not discuss reincarnation here, although there is a growing literature of rigorous scientific investigations into the matter (Stevenson, 1970, 1983; Andrade, 1988; Keil, 1994). This brief introduction makes clear that it is more neutral to call the therapy “Personalized Experiential Restructuralization Therapy.” Being symbolic in nature, imagination permits representations of things that do not exist or which are approximations of reality. It is a capacity that allows elaboration of concepts or precognitions which would be impossible to realize in any other way. The graphic representation of mental disorder in a patient’s inner world is sometimes like a Bosch picture. In reality though, one’s world is more similar to daily life than to the representations of Bosch. There are cognitive distortions leading to fantasies, logically unsolvable, but able to be represented in consciousness. This imaginative potential can be used for healing purposes when combined with an ASC (Achterberg, 1985). This procedure is based on hypnosis, and has been used by Wambach (1978) in an effort to obtain answers to certain questions. For example, some seek proof of memories of a supposed past life or to discover areas in the mind able to be activated under hypnosis but not in the waking state. Others that have contributed to “regressive” therapy include Netherton and Shiffrin (1978), who called it “PastLife Therapy.” The idea of exploring reincarnation is close to the therapeutic concept that a patient must reexperience the primal trauma to exhaust emotion tied to it. It is arguable whether or not hypnosis is being used since patients remain awake and in contact with the therapist in a dreamlike situation, oscillating in alpha-theta EEG frequency (Simões et al., 1998). It does not matter if experiences are true or not; what is important is that an event is experienced in a personalized way. These scenes can be dramatizations of unconscious material, facts experienced in a supposed past life or really in the biographic life—whatever they are, they are always accepted as they “happen” (Peres, 1992). It seems that believing in reincarnation is not important for success (Clark, 1995), and sometimes the contents

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of experiences have nothing to do with past lives (Baldwin, 1993). The growing importance of these issues is indicated by the appearance of several journals and a handbook devoted to the subject (Lucas, 1993). As in any psychotherapy, rapport is very important and is a very good clinical indicator in relation to the success of treatment. Induction of the ASC varies, depending on the author or therapist in question; hyperventilation, minimalist music, autogenic training, or hypnotic suggestions can all be used. The experience must be accomplished in the evolutional stages (in the womb, birth, childhood, and adulthood) and involve experiences that the patient attributes to past lives. Some of these experiences are evoked through a bodily stimulus that lets the patient reexperience bodily sensations (Woolger, 2000). According to Peres (1992), each session takes nearly two hours and passes through several phases, the core of which is the subjectively identified trauma and, afterwards, a cognitive restructuralization is done by the patient, helped by the therapist. As in hypnosis, a “hidden observer” (Hilgard, 1986) controls emotions and the patient experiences only what he or she can comfortably handle. In this procedure the patient acts as therapist and works as a helper of the therapeutic process throughout the session. Afterwards, a positive suggestion for the future concerning the problem is made and the patient is brought slowly back to a normal waking state. Problematic personal relationships, phobias, and a lack of meaning and purpose in life have been the conditions most successfully treated with this therapy; addictions, weight problems, and depression have been cited as the least successfully treated (Clark, 1995).

Some Final Considerations

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common to Western and shamanic psychotherapies consists in a reconciliation with one’s destiny, social group, and the domain of the transpersonal. These objectives are attained with a modification of perspective in each of these three domains, within an ASC where there is an intense cathartic and dramatic experience conforming to the prevailing cultural concepts of disease, shared by patient and therapist. Use of ASCs in psychotherapy requires a change in the usual scientific paradigm (Kuhn, 1962) HE FACTOR

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concerning Kantian logic and consciousness as exclusive products of the brain. ASCs warrant more research in terms of their psychotherapeutic application and will come to be seen as an important way to understand the mind of an individual in a cultural context. Notes I thank Christopher Ryan for help in the translation of the manuscript and for some suggestions about the content. The elaboration of this manuscript was part of a research project supported by a grant from the Bial Foundation (Porto, Portugal).

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The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 2002, Vol. 21

The Anthropology of Altered States

Psychological Anthropology (Transpersonal anthropology) • relationship between altered states of consciousness  and culture. • transpersonal psychology: altered states of  consciousness (ASC) and transpersonal experience – differs from mainstream transpersonal psychology: cross‐ cultural

• role of culture in laying the foundations for, in evoking,  in cultivating or thwarting, and in interpreting ASC – fundamental to understanding the incidence and function  of transpersonal experiences

altered states of consciousness  • conditions in which sensations, perceptions,  cognition, and emotions are altered • characterized by changes in: sensing, perceiving,  thinking, feeling • modify the relation of the individual to self,  body, sense of identity, the environment of  time, space, or other people  • induced by modifying sensory input – directly by increasing or decreasing stimulation or  alertness – indirectly by affecting the pathways of the sensory  input by somotopsychological factors

Features of Altered States alterations in thinking disturbed sense of time loss of control changes in the expression of emotions changes in body image perceptual distortion changes in meaning and significance assigned to  experiences or perceptions • a sense of the ineffable • feelings of rejuvenation • hypersuggestiblity

• • • • • • •

Some Types of Alerted States • • • • • • • • • •

Trance shamanistic ecstasy  prayer ecstasy sorcery  "highway hypnosis"  Hypnosis alcohol / drugs yoga / meditation dream states  Culture bound syndromes

Stimulation & Consciousness • a decrease form a presumed preexisting "normal" level of stimulation or  activity • highway hypnosis • sensory deprivation produced either experimentally or as a result of  solitary confinement  • involves an increase form a presumed preexisting "normal" level of  stimulation or activity • religious conversion  • healing trances in revivalistic settings  • "dance and music trance"  • battle fatigue  • hysterical conversion neuroses  • dissociational states  • mob contagion  • increase of alertness or mental involvement – prolonged vigilance or sentry duty, watching a radar screen, fervent prayer  • decrease in alterness or mental activity – relaxation of critical faculties in daydreaming, boredom, profound  relaxation, mediumistic trance, meditation states

Stimulation & Consciousness • ‘somatopsychological’  factors

– drug‐induced  states – states resulting  from other  changes in body  chemistry

Some Culture Bound Syndromes SYNDROME

CULTURAL / GEOGRAPHIC  LOCATION

SYMPTOMS

amok

Malaysia and Indonesia

dissociative episodes, outbursts of violent and aggressive or homicidal  behavior directed at people and objects, persecutory ideas, amnesia,  exhaustion

latah (startle reflex)

Malaysia and Indonesia

afflicted person becomes flustered and may say and do things that  appear amusing, such as mimicking people's words and movements

Mediterranean and Latin  American Hispanic  populations

fitful sleep, crying without apparent cause, diarrhea, vomiting, fever  in a child or infant

Latin American Hispanic  populations in U.S.A., Mexico,  and Central and South  America

usually associated with a broad array of symptoms, including  nervousness, anorexia, insomnia, listlessness, despondency,  involuntary muscle tics, and diarrhea; thought to be caused by fright  that results in loss of soul from the body; causes can be natural or  "supernatural" ‐‐ natural susto may occur after a near miss or  accident, a supernatural susto may occur after witnessing a  supernatural phenomena such as a ghost; a supernatural susto might  be sent by sorcerers; those most likely to suffer from susto are  culturally stressed adults‐‐women more than men

mal ojo (evil eye) susto (fright sickness)

SYNDROME

CULTURAL /  GEOGRAPHIC  LOCATION

SYMPTOMS

pibloktoq (Arctic hysteria)

Inuit of the Arctic,  Siberian groups

brooding, depressive silences, loss or disturbance of consciousness during seizure, tearing off of  clothing, fleeing or wandering, rolling in snow, speaking in tongues or echoing other people's  words

windigo

Cree, Ojibwa, and  related Native  American

depression, nausea, distaste for usual foods, feelings of being possessed by a cannibalistic  monster, homicidal or suicidal impulses

ghost sickness

Navajo of the  southwestern  United States Yoruba (Nigeria)

weakness, bad dreams, feelings of danger, confusion, feelings of futility, loss of appetite, feelings  of suffocation, fainting, dizziness, hallucinations and loss of consciousness

Aiyiperi

hysterical convulsive disorders, posturing and tics, psychomotor seizures 

anfechtung

Hutterites withdrawal from social contact, feeling of having sinned, feeling of religious unworthiness,  (Manitoba, Canada) temptation to commit suicide

brain fag

Nigeria and East  African students

pain, heat or burning sensations, pressure or tightness around head, blurring of vision, inability  to concentrate when studying, anxiety and depression, fatigue and sleepiness

cholera

Guatemala

nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, severe temper tantrums, unconsciousness and dissociative  behavior

koro

South China,  Chinese and  Malaysian

anxiety in males that the penis will recede into the body and for females that the vulva  and breasts will recede into the body

shinkeishitsu

Japan

fear of meeting people, feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, obsessive‐compulsive symptoms,  hypochondriasis

Cross‐Cultural Observations & Altered States • • • •

diagnosis and healing divination and reading signs Dreaming and dreamworking  Trance as evolutionary variable – significance in human life derives from the symbolic  transformation of experience and the capacity to share  intrapsychic states.  – Unlike dreams, ASC derive from models based on  pathological states – serve as coping mechanisms for both the individual and  the society and thus provide a basis for culture building.

Power & Self • two forms of possession: ritual and peripheral – ritual is displayed in a ceremonial context and  includes the social function of reinforcing cultural morality and established power. – peripheral represents a more long‐term state in  which the individual believes that he is unwillingly  possessed by intruding spirits and functions as an  indirect form of social protest

• Ritual possession operates as a socially  sanctioned psychological defense mechanism,  while peripheral possession constitutes a  pathological reaction to individual conflict.

Alterations & The State • legal and illegal • emphasis on the relationship between these  alterations and the individual body, the social body,  and the body politic • Economies of alterations (political economy) • motivations behind the development and global  marketing of both legal and illegal alterations • policy  • psychological normalcy • demographics of legal and illegal use • historical shifts in the legal/illegal distinction itself.

Deviance & Society • Modes of action which do not conform to the  norms or values held by most of the members  of a group or society.  • What is regarded as 'deviant' is as widely  variable as the norms and values that  distinguish different cultures and subcultures  from one another.  • Many forms of behaviour which are highly  esteemed in one context, or by one group, are  regarded negatively by others. 

Abnormals • abnormal types in the social structure are culturally selected by all groups from every part of the world • different degrees of ease with which abnormals function per each culture • many abnormals function with ease and even honor without danger to the society

Deviance and Conformity • Social constructions • idealized conduct is most clearly seen in  marginalized people • deviance forces them into "discredited" or  "discreditable" groups, based on the nature of  their stigma • deviance & the existence of a stigma

Normality/abnormality • Multi‐dimensional concepts – Represents a range of possible perceptions • Of what is normal and not normal • Whether it is controlled or not by the norms of society

• Times & places people can behave in an   abnormal way • Most cultures disapprove of forms of public  behavior that are obviously not being  controlled

Zones of social behavior

Zones of social behavior • Not static, fluid categories, spectrum of  possibilities – Change with time & circumstance – Normal in one group – abnormal in another

• • • •

Controlled normality (A) Uncontrolled normality (D) Controlled abnormality (B) Uncontrolled abnormality (C)

Zones of social behavior • A, D, B – it is assumed that the individual is at  least aware of what the social norms are – Whether they conform or not

• Substance use – Traversing the categories of “bad” and “mad” – Criminal & Intoxication – Temporary madness

• Altered States:the cultural and social politics  of subjectivity 

The Anthropology of the Senses • Comparison & relativism – “diverse sensory SYMBOLISM and experience – study of the senses out of the realm of natural  history into that of social history • does not deny the natural history of the senses ‐‐ the  general process of sensorial experience and its natural  processes

• able to break the mould of our own sensory  bias & experience radically different ways of  making sense of the world

The Anthropology of the Senses • the particular & the general • sensory journeys through time and space • dominant sensory medium of symbolic orientation can vary  widely ‐‐ can only be understood in the context of a particular  society & not through generalized external sensory paradigms – Tzotzil of Mexico – heat – Ongee of Little Andaman Islands – smell – Desana of Columbia ‐‐ color & multi sensory, chromatic  energy flows – dominant sensory symbolic order of west ‐‐ seeing &  hearing  • one kind of visuality (to picture) & one kind of aurality/orality

• “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives  this, and this gives life to thee.” (Shakespeare)

Anthropology of the Senses • “Western” conceptual framework of typical/  “normal” sensory experience – From confusion to order – Developmentally through repetition and habit – Physically through neurochemical processes – Through new sensorial skills – desire to avoid vague sensations

• OR, another: To perceive the true substance of  the world beyond sensory & mental habits  •

All bodhisattvas, lesser and great, should develop a pure, lucid mind, not depending  upon sound, flavor, touch, odor, or any quality. A bodhisattva should develop a mind  which alights upon no thing whatsoever; and so should he establish it. (Diamond Sutra  10) 

Participant‐Observation & Altered  States • Cross‐cultural experience & altered states as a  psychosis – observations vs. participant  observation • Sorcerer’s apprentice • Going native • Trust and science

One ‘Popular’ Consciousness Vision/Version • field expedition to Mexico or someplace ‘other’ • observe the rituals of an isolated Indian tribe, who are said to  preserve ceremonies that go all the way back to the Toltecs or  some ‘other’ ancients • rituals involve the consumption of a potion made with  powerfully hallucinogenic mushrooms • not content merely to observe, but an active participant • unifying theme emerges in hallucinations ‐‐ the origin of life, the  origin of the Earth, the origin of thought, the origin of humanity. • opened up a kind of physiological pathway that gives access to  the vast untapped recesses of his genome – the primitive, atavistic genetic heritage of humankind’s most  distant ancestors that lies inactive at the center of his every  cell

Anthropologies of Alcohol and  “Drinking”

“Styles” of Alcohol Use as Social Practice • A “style” of alcohol use is not: – a psychological manifestation of the individual nor only determined by  environment

• “Style” as social practice – “expressive equipment” or “social capital” – Available for the production of subjectivity (self & identity)

• “universe of stylistic possibilities”  – represents differing ways to “craft self” and be a “person” 

• Alcohol use is a social and cultural practice some find useful in  the context of a set of ongoing social relations

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THE

ART

OF

THE

RITUAL

My interpretation of a ritual is: any act that is carried out to achieve a particular "meaning". In magic, that "meaning" takes on a life of its own to carry out your wish. Here is just a few categories of ritual -- keep in mind that you can implement techniques from any, or all, of these, placing them into your ritual: 1. Masonic 2. Christian 3. Voodoo 4. Wiccan 5. Santerian 6. Muslim 7. Hermetic 8. Druidic 9. Satanic 10. Angelic 11. Demonic 12. Superstitious 13. Traditional

file:///C|/Mysticalgod/Magical%20Advice/advice%207a.html (6 of 11)2/23/2009 2:01:56 AM

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14. Seasonal 15. Yogic 16. Transitional 17. Egyptian 18. American Indian (many tribes) 19. Lunar or Solar 20. Aztec 21. Taoist 22. Buddhist

When I began my journey into rituals, I had an enormous wealth of material to obtain from a wonderful magic publisher known as The Magickal Childe. They were based in New York, and they were extremely influential in the genre. Taking up to two or more blocks, they sold everything related to magic, from swords to herbs, books, and talismans to herbs, candles, and clothes. Then...as if by a curse, they one day decided to close their doors permanently, and they shut down everything. I think it was because Horrible Herman died. Prior to the power of books on the internet, I had to buy my school books from Magickal Childe. I spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars, and I wasn't rich. If $70 was all I had in my pocket, I was spending $65 and using the rest for lunch, so to speak. Fortunately, their prices were very excellent. Publishers now sell the same books at nearly 125% or more of what they sold for at Magickal Childe. One of my first ritual lesson books was called "The Witches Bible Compleat", which is the same book noted below. I paid $20, plus shipping. After losing the book to a storage lien/auction, I chose to repurchase the book a few years later, because it is a

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notable book, stuffed with reliable information. The current version had cost about $30, with free shipping. Once I began practicing rituals, I witnessed my reality make an extensively enchanting shift. I felt a transformation. I felt energy from every living thing, especially plant life. Many doors opened, and I learned to appreciate so much more. The rituals in the book are intended for witchcraft. Although the rituals are for witchcraft related matters, they will provide the right atmosphere to perform any magical operation you desire. It is a good beginner’s structure, after which the new magician may begin to add or remove structures/ procedures from the ritual. There are many ways to approach a ritual, and you will run across many persons who will kick you in the shin if you don't do it the right way. Well, there is no right way. But there are some basic "right elements", or Components. These are as follows: 1) You must clearly know exactly what you want to achieve. The best way to do this is to write it on paper (or e-paper). If you are confused, or contradictory, in your request/intention, then so shall be the results of your ritual. 2) As stated above, you must enter the most effective state of consciousness. 3) You must have faith in the outcome. Tip: Your subconscious mind can have its own opinions and beliefs. Often a person will say they have faith in a particular matter, while their subconscious mind is resisting the same matter the entire time. My point: be in absolute harmony with the beliefs of your subconscious mind. How? Through meditation. (as instructed in pervious Magical Advice lessons.) Once again, I must emphasize the need to study the previous lessons before continuing

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in this lesson. Meditate. Get in touch. 4) Know the risks involved. Obviously, if you are tossing a curse at someone, you should know the karmic affects of such. If you are summoning a spirit, you should know the personality of the spirit, or at least know the temperament of the being. Some summon powerful spirits, disturbing them from rest, and order them to do things that even a human would be insulted if asked to do. Then they wonder why the spirit turns on them and starts shredding their life into tiny pieces. When dealing with destructive spirits, be warned, it is what they like to do. So approach this wisely, or not at all. Also, never step outside your area of protection until finished -- never. 5) Know what you are going to do. If you are halfway into your ritual, and you think, "Gee wiz, I forgot the salt, or roots...", or "I don't know if this should be four home made candles, or three...", then you are weakening your structure and doomed to fail. Plan, know, believe, and act. 6) Leave it be when it's complete. This means, avoid changing your thoughts, or perception, on any aspect of the ritual when you are done. The best way is to forget about it. Your thoughts can weaken the "wine", so be careful. 7) Keep it within the circle. If an outsider touches, sees, or knows any aspect of your ritual, this too can weaken the "wine". Where should you perform it? Anywhere you wish, granted it allows you to follow the previous steps. The ritual may be complex, or it may be as simple as chanting while lighting your

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wish upon a small candle. Although, summoning may be simple, but it should be one with knowledge and protection. When I was a young wizard, I was foolish to think that I could summon a spirit without having protection. It was a simple ritual. Upon calling up the spirit/demon, an unexpected thing happened. It caught me completely by surprise. The spirit/demon took away my breath. For a very long 15 seconds, I could not breathe. It felt like forever before I could breath again. When I was able to breath, I banished the spirit and put away my tools, and I never made that mistake again. Be sure you know the place well enough to be safe. I learned this the hard way. One night, in a cemetery, after finishing some important things, alone, I was on my way out when I thought I saw several shadows moving about in a strange manner, several yards in front of me. I stopped. It was too dark to see what they were, and the large, steel, gated exit was on the other side of the shadows. Earlier, on my way into the cemetery, I saw a strange fellow, sitting on a tombstone, shaking a can of what sounded like spray paint, spraying it into a rag and sniffing it. I recalled movies where such persons weren't real people, and the thought spooked me. I wondered if the shadows were made by the paint sniffer. I decided to make my exit out the side of the cemetery. I hurried for the bushes which lined the side of the cemetery. A very surprising thing happened when I tried to pass through the bushes and small trees. I found myself stuck and sinking into the ground. I gasped in disbelief. If I sank in this place, no one would ever have known, and my body would never have been found. I grabbed at whatever branches I could. The branches my hands found were thorny rose bush branches. Although painful, I pull myself out of

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muddy hole, and crawled out onto the safety of the sidewalk on the outside of the cemetery. Cemeteries...they can provide a potent magical working atmosphere, but they have to be given respect. Or you might find yourself in a hole you can't get out of. In the following pages, I provide you with images from "The Witches Bible Complete" now names "A Witches Bible". Please don't overlook the fact that The Opening Ritual, and Closing Ritual, is provided for you to use, or for you to use as an example for your own ritual, if you need it. Some are new at this. Warning, the images contain NUDITY, because these witches work rituals "skyclad" (nude). So, this is not for those under 18. But if you feel under 18, maybe we'll also have you skip that section. (Smile). Following that is a lengthy discussion on rituals. Beyond that will be a group of writings which I shall provide for your education and use in constructing your own magical rituals.

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VENEFICIUM SACER Part I The Occult Sciences The Volitional Faculty - The Will and Imagination - Adeptship - Astrology - Kabalism - Talismans - Numerology Palmistry - Hypnotism, Etc., Etc.

Introduction Astrology - Section I I

The Alphabet, etc.

II

The Aspects

III

The Signs

IV

The Houses. Astrology - Section II

I

Making a Horoscope

II

Foreign Horoscopes Astrology - Section III

I

Personal Appearance

II

The Constitution

III

Health

IV

Character

V

Accidents

VI

The Fortunes

VII

The Position

VIII

The Occupation

IX

Marriage

X

Progeny

XI

Travelling

XII

Friends and Enemies

XIII

Kinds of Death Astrology - Section IV

I

The Measure of Time

II

Example of Directions

III

Secondary Directions

IV

Transits and Eclipses, etc.

V

Mundane Astrology

VI

Other Methods Palmistry

I

Types of Hands

II

Mounts or Cushions

III

The Phalanges

IV

The Lines

V

Nine Prinipal Lines

VI

Incidental Marks Thaumaturgic Arts

I

The Kabala

II

The Calculatory Art

III

Of Evil Spirits

IV

Man's Spiritual Freedom

V

On Talismans

VI

Numerology Hypnotism and Mesmerism Part II The Occult Arts On the Art of Divination and the use of the Automatic Faculty - The Subconcious Intelligence - Clairvoyance, Psychometry, Dreams, Etc. To Which is Appended an Essay on Alchemy.

I

Divination

II

The Tarot

III

Cartomancy

IV

Various Methods

V

Crystal Gazing

VI

Preliminaries and Practice

VII

Visions and Interpretations

VIII

Some Experiences

IX

Geomancy

X

Casting and Judging the Figure

XI

Symbols in the Twelve Houses

XII

Psychometry

XIII

Dreams

XIIV

Sortileges Alchemy

"Sorcery has been called Magic: but Magic is Wisdom, and there is no wisdom in Sorcery" PARACELSUS. INTRODUCTION IT is not my intention in these pages to attempt an exposition of the deeper arcana in connection with the various subjects treated of; but rather to place before the lay reader a number of methods by means of which he will be able to demonstrate to his own satisfaction, and that of others, that there is a deep substratum of truth in what is usually called "Occultism," and that the occult arts are sure and definite means of exploring them. The ancient Hermetic philosophers were well aware of a certain subtile correspondence or analogy existing between the superior and inferior worlds, the world of causation and that of effects. They traced a connection between the noumenal and the phenomenal, between the mind of man and his bodily condition, between the spiritual and the natural. They affirmed all this in a trite axiom: As above, so below. This philosophy extended to concrete observations, and became a science which they embodied in the Doctrine of Correspondences. The hieroglyphic writings of the Chinese, Egyptians and Assyrians are the outcome of this science, portions of which are current in our own thought and language. Thus when we speak of commerce, the merchant and the market, we are going back to traditional knowledge which associated the "winged messenger" of the gods with the ship in full sail; the word merx (trade) being at the root of the name Mercury, and the symbol the hieroglyph for all that the name imports. We call the Sun "he" and the Moon "she," tracing unconsciously a subtile correspondence between the day and the active male function in nature, and between the night and the passive female function. We speak of jovial men and infer their connection with the planet Jupiter; and all our destructive and hurtful ideas are embodied in such words as "to mar," "martial," "murder," etc., linking them to their source in the root marna (to strike), because the destructive element in nature is represented in our system by the planet Mars. This Doctrine of Correspondences is at the root of all occult interpretation. It is our human presentation of the Universal Law which binds the Microcosm to the Macrocosm as an effect to its antecedent cause. The mystic, the poet and the creative artist are all unconscious interpreters of this universal law. They have in some degree the universal sense by which their souls are rendered responsive to the pulsations of Nature’s own heartbeat. The sybil, the diviner and the seer are in even closer touch with the Great Life, while they have less conscious enjoyment of that intimacy. Others there are who reach to the heart of things by a clear and conscious intellection, understanding what they see, analyzing and interpreting what they feel. These are the Occultists, the true masters of the secret knowledge. Here it is perhaps necessary to mark the distinction which exists between occultism and mediumism, between the voluntary conscious effort of the trained intellect and the automatic functioning of the natural "sensitive," in their respective relations to the occult world.

The Occultist is one who intelligently and continuously applies himself to the understanding of the hidden forces in nature and to the laws of the interior world, to the end that he may consciously cooperate with nature and the spiritual intelligences in the production of effects of service to himself and to his fellow-beings. This entails upon him a close study of the mystery and power of sound, number, colour, form; the psychological laws underlying all expression of faculty; the laws of sympathy and antipathy; the law of vibration; of spiritual and natural affinity; the law of periodicity, of cosmic energy, planetary action; occult correspondences, etc. To these labours he must bring a natural gift of understanding, an unusual degree of patience and devotion, and a keen perception of natural facts. The Medium, or natural sensitive, is one who holds himself in negative relations to the interior worlds, and submits himself to the operation of influences proceeding from things and persons, as well as to that of discarnate intelligences. The medium cultivates an unusual degree of responsiveness to environment and to the emanations (atomic, magnetic or psychic) and suggestions of other persons. The phenomena developed by this process of mediumism include automatism (temporary loss of control over the motor nerves), as in the phenomena of involuntary speech and automatic writing; hypercesthesia, as in the function of clairvoyance, clairaudience, psychometry, etc.; trance, with its attendant phenomena of unconscious cerebration, obsession, and a variety of physical effects of a supernormal character. In its highest manifestation, following upon the "crucifying of the flesh," the subjugation of the passions, and a process of intense religious aspiration, mediumism is frequently followed by spiritual revelation and spontaneous prophecy. "But this sort cometh not but by fasting and prayer." The various forms of divination to which recourse is had in so-called occult circles rest largely upon the exercise of a faculty which is compounded of occultism and mediumism. They are seen to employ the automatic faculty in conjunction with an empirical knowledge of certain occult methods of interpretation. The following pages are intended to place the lay reader in possession of some of the principal methods of the occultists and mediums; and although nothing of a purely esoteric nature is divulged, it will nevertheless be found that everything necessary to an initial understanding and practice of the various occult arts is included in this work. It is within the author’s purpose to place so much information at the disposal of the student as will effectually debar him from any excuse of ignorance concerning the psychic powers latent in man and the verity of the occult sciences. it is within the power of everybody to be convinced, and to convince others, while he who perseveres to the point of perfection in the exercise of his faculty may justly be dignified by the name of Adept. The Magi of ancient times were astrologers, diviners and prophets all, and he who would aspire to their high degree must pursue their methods and live their life. They have committed to us the following maxims, which are still preserved in the schools— KNOW - WILL - DARE - KEEP SILENT; and to the rule of life they enjoin RIGHT THOUGHT - RIGHT FEELING

RIGHT SPEECH - RIGHT ACTION RIGHT LIVING.

PART I THE OCCULT SCIENCES

AMO Astrology - Section1 Chapter 1

SECTION 1 CHAPTER I ASTROLOGY THE astrologic art is held to be the key to all the occult sciences. Certainly it is the most ancient, and that which most readily lends itself to scientific demonstration. Much that is contained in this and the following chapters is traditional knowledge but some portion of it is the result of modern discovery and experiment. Thus the nature and - significations of the signs of the zodiac and the planets, the aspects and some other parts of the groundwork of astrology, have come down to us from times immemorial; but the methods of computing the periods, the exact tunes of events, together with some methods of interpretation, are of modem or comparatively recent Origin. Of course, all that is known of Neptune and Uranus is the result of modern discovery. The subject before us can be divided into three parts :1. The alphabet. 2. The reading. 3. Time measures. I will deal in this chapter with THE ALPHABET This includes the symbols and names of the planets and the signs, their groupings and dominions. The PLANETS (including, for convenience of phrasing, the Sun and Moon) are nine in number. Stated in the order of their distances from the earth they are as follows :The Moon, which returns to the same place in the zodiac in about 27 days, and to its conjunction with the Sun in about 29 days. Every 19 years the New Moons fall in the same part of the zodiac. The Moon’s characteristic is change or mobility.

AMO Astrology - Section1 Chapter 1

Venus, which returns to the same part of the zodiac about the same date in 8 years. It is at its nearest to the earth when in inferior conjunction with the Sun. Its characteristic is placidity or peace. It is called by the Greeks Aphrodite. Mercury, when in inferior conjunction with the Sun, is next in distance from the earth. It returns to the same longitude on the same date in 79 years. Its characteristic is activity. The Sun is the chronocrater of our system, and all time is measured by its apparent movements. It has an apparent motion round the earth in hours and 4 minutes, and an annual motion through the zodiac in 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 49 seconds. The earth is nearer the sun than it used. to be, the day is shorter, and the precession of the equinoxes is greater The equinoxes pass through each sign in about 2,160 years The vernal equinox is now m the constellation Pisces, and in about 700 years will be m Aquarius The characteristic of the Sun is vitality. Mars returns to the same part of the zodiac about the same time at the end of 79 years Consequently it forms its conjunction with ~ in the same part of the zodiac at the end of that period. Its characteristic is energy. Jupiter returns to the same longitude about the same ‘date every 83 years It is called the Greater Fortune Its characteristic is expansion Saturn has a period of 59 years, after which it comes to the same longitude about the same date. It is called the Greater Infortune. Its characteristic is privation. Uranus has a synodic period of 84 years. Its characteristic is disruption. Neptune has a period of about 165 years and its characteristic is chaos. The periods of the planets according to the Chaldeans are 4 years, 10 years, 8 years, 19 years, 15 years, 12 years, and 30 years. Thus the rules the life from birth to 4 years of age and is succeeded by up to 14, then to the age of 22, the Sun from 22 to 41, to which succeeds until 56, and is followed by , who rules followed by Saturn. the life up to the age of 68, the last 30 years, up to the age of 98, being dominated by These are the periods recited by Shakespeare in his famous passage in As You Like It, beginning "All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Thus the is the babe, "mewling and the soldier, the judge "with good capon puking in its nurse’s arms." is the scholar, the lover,

AMO Astrology - Section1 Chapter 1

lined," and , the "lean and slippered pantaloon." The last stage of all is that of paralytic senility of which condition is so aptly described by the Bard.

(disruption), the

Planetary Colours. Neptune. - Mauve, lilac, heliotrope (admixtures of pale blue and scarlet). Uranus. - Grey, black and white mixed, in checks or stripes. Saturn. - Dark brown, black. Jupiter. - Violet, purple. Mars. - Scarlet, crimson. Sun. - Orange, gold. Venus. - Pale blue, turquoise. Mercury. - Indigo, dark blue. Moon. - Opal, iridescent sheens, yellow, and in watery signs (

,

,

) sea green.

Planetary Numbers. The following numbers transmitted by John Heydon in the sixteenth century have been proved correct:8, 3, 9, 6, 5; (negative) 4, (positive) 1. " 2, " 7. Planetary Metals. (unknown);

iron;

uranium;

copper;

lead;

quicksilver;

tin;

silver;

AMO Astrology - Section1 Chapter 1

gold. The atomic weights of the ancient metals are not presumed to have been known to the ancient astrologers, yet we find they named the planets and ascribed their dominions in the mineral world in exact accordance with the facts of modern science. The atomic weights of the various pure metals known to them are contained in the following glyph :-

This seven-pointed star is read from the ray marked

towards the left. The result is -

atomic weight 56;

iron, copper

"

63;

silver

"

108;

tin

"

118;

gold

"

196;

quicksilver

"

200;

lead

"

207.

Read alternately in the reverse order we have ruling Sunday, " Monday,

AMO Astrology - Section1 Chapter 1

" " " "

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,

"

Saturday.

If we read from point to point so as to make a heptagram or seven-pointed star, or a star of seven angles, we have the order of the planets according to the Chaldean system: ,

,

,

,

,

,

.

Sympathies. The following glyph (see page 9) exhibits at a glance the sympathies and antipathies of the planetsThus Saturn is opposed to the Sun and Moon, Jupiter to Mercury, and Venus to Mars. This is exhibited in detail by reference to the Dominions of the planets, which are set forth in the following schedule governs

and

opposed to governing

and

governing governs

and

opposed to governing

and

governs

and

AMO Astrology - Section1 Chapter 1

opposed to governing

and

The "Dominions" are sometimes called "Houses" from domus, a house, but as other divisions of the heavens are so called, I prefer to use the term "dominions" to describe the signs of the zodiac ruled over by the planets. In a general sense, and having regard to the specific nature of each planet, Saturn is in sympathy with Mars, Mars with the Sun, Jupiter with the Moon and Venus; while Mercury is variable, taking its radical tincture from that planet to which it is in closest aspect at birth. The following figure shows at a glance the signs owned or ruled by the planets and the luminaries :-

AMO Astrology - Section1 Chapter 1

It will be observed that each planet has two signs, the Sun and Moon one each. Neptune is found to have , Pisces, and Uranus with , Aquarius; but these are modern empiricisms affinity with the sign and for some time must be received with caution.

CHAPTER II THE ASPECTS THE ancients have handed down a tradition which informs us that the triangle is a symbol of the spirit and is efficacious for good, while the cross which is formed on the square is a symbol of matter and is of evil import. In practical astrology we find this dictum to be true. Thus the aspect, or angular distance between two celestial bodies, or points of the zodiac, is the means by which we determine whether a planet favours our fortunes or the reverse. The trine aspect of 120° is good, and produces harmonizing effects whenever and wherever it occurs. The

sextile aspect of 60° is half the trine, and is good in like manner but in less degree.

The semisextile of 30° is similarly propitious, but in a very subsidiary degree. It serves, however, to turn the scales when the influences are conflicting. These, then, are the good aspects :-

120° 60° 30° and to these are added the conjunctions of

and , and of

when in good aspect to another planet.

The evil aspects are :The opposition

of 180°, which makes for disunion and inharmonious results.

The

sesquiquadrate or square and a half aspect of l35° is powerful for evil.

The

square or quadrature of 90°, which is only a degree less evil than the direct opposition.

AMO Section 1 Chapter 2

The

semisquare of 45°, which is similarly, but in less degree, evil.

To these are added the conjunctions of , , and , together with when in bad aspect to another is the interpreter of the gods, and brings to us the message of that sphere with which it is body; for found in association at any time we may consult the heavens. The astrological aspects are found to be those angles at which the superior metals crystallize. Water crystallizes at an angle of 60°. Again, the angles or complemental angles of any regular polygon which may be inscribed in a circle will be found to be comprehended by the astrological aspects. Thus our earliest progenitors are found to have been both metallurgists and geometers. The evil aspects are all included in this ancient glyph :-

and similarly the good aspects are included in the following symbol, known as "the seal of Solomon" :-

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The key was found engraved on the back of the Great Tortoise, discovered by Yaou, the Chinese patriarch and ruler, in the Yellow River, about 2,300 b.c. It forms the basis of interpretation to the oldest book in the world, known as the Yih King, or Book of Transformations. It is used by the Chinese for all purposes of divination, and is the basis of their astrological system. Besides these there are many other points of interest vested in the astrological aspects, and as I shall have occasion to refer to them in the next chapter of this section, 1 will pass them for the moment.

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CHAPTER III THE SIGNS THE signs of the zodiac are the symbols of those living forms which among the ancients stood for certain cosmic principles and evolutional processes. In the zodiacal scroll the gifted interpreter of symbols will find the history of the human race already depicted. The typical forms represent various stages of human evolution, as well individual as racial. But we are not now concerned with these esoteric matters, but rather with the exposition of astrological principles. Observe, then, that the zodiac is composed of asterisms which, in the year 25,400 B.C., corresponded with the solar signs bearing the same names. The signs are counted from the vernal equinox, or that point where the sun’s path crosses the earth’s equator. The line traversed by the sun in its annual path through the asterisms is called The Ecliptic. This ecliptic circle is divided into twelve equal parts, called Signs, which, counted from the vernal equinox, are as follows: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces. They have the following relationships and groupings :is opposed by is opposed by is opposed by is opposed by is opposed by is opposed by The Elemental Natures of the signs, with their human correspondences, are shown in the following tabular scheme:-

AMO Section 1 Chapter 3

Element.

Sign.

Principle.

Property.

Fiery signs

Spirit

Inspiration

Aerial "

Mind

Reason

Watery "

Soul

Emotion

Earthy

Body

Sensation.

"

The majority of the planets being in the Fire signs, shows that the life is expressed chiefly in the inspirational, aspirational and intuitive faculties. In Air signs, the intellectual life will be dominant. In Water signs the passional, emotional and imaginative qualities are more pronounced; while if the majority of the planets are in Earth signs, the more material, matter-of-fact and sordid aspects of the nature absorb the vital powers. These groups are otherwise known as the igneous, gaseous, fluidic and mineral, analogous to the upward evolution of the material universe, which is counterbalanced by the downward involution of the corresponding immaterial principles. and signs are related to the formless or The analysis of the sign groupings shows that the and signs relate to the inferior or formative world. Again, it will be superior universe, while the noticed the air and fire are mutually conformable, ignition depending on atmosphere; while similarly water is necessary to the earth for its fertilization. These sets of signs are in mutual sextile to one another. Thus to

and

to

and

to

and

to

and

The Constitutional Natures of the signs are derived from another grouping. They are known as the Fixed or Basic;

AMO Section 1 Chapter 3

Common or Flexed; Movable or Cardinal. They may very appropriately be expressed as the acute

, the grave

and the circumflex

.

The grouping for this division of the signs is thus:Acute, Grave, Circumflex, When the majority of the planets are found at the birth of a person to be in Fixed Signs - the nature will be independent, self-reliant, pivotal, self-centred, original, cautious, firm and steadfast. Common Signs.- the nature is versatile, flexible, complacent, sympathetic, suave, and capable of adapting itself to changes of company and environment. Movable Signs. - the nature shows ambition, aptitude, executive ability, capable of cutting out a line in life for itself and making headway in the face of obstacles. The driving power is represented by the fixed signs, the sharp instrument by the cardinal or acute signs, and the body that is riven or shaped is denoted by the common or flexed signs. The thinkers, philosophers, inventors and originators are of the basic or fixed type. The pioneers, the executive, the partisans and zealots are of the acute or cardinal type. The common populace, the passive crowd; the numerous agents, fetchers and carriers of business; and whomsoever works at the direction and under the leadership of others, all and sundry are of the flexed type. The hand of the archer is fixed, the arrow is direct and acute, and the bow is flexed. These correspondences are the keys to the interpretation of many occult mysteries. Sex of Signs. The signs are alternately male and female, namely :-

AMO Section 1 Chapter 3

Male.

Female.

The signs are divided into three parts, each of 10°, called decanates. These are related to the superior, middle and lower regions of the zones governed by them, or to which they correspond. The ancients had a conception of the macrocosm under the image of a man, which they called the Grand Man or Adam Kadmon, and to which the microcosm or individual corresponded more or less perfectly at all points. The zones of the body covered by the signs are, in this scheme, as follows :the head; the neck;

the loins; the excretors;

the arms;

the thighs;

the breast;

the knees;

the heart; the bowels;

the shins; the feet.

From what has been said above it will he seen that if a planet is in 5° it has its location in the would be located in the middle region superior region of the head, while one in the 17th degree of of the bowels. As to whether it be upon the right or left side of the body will depend on the location of the planet in the heavens, which involves a knowledge of the Houses. These are dealt with in the next chapter. If in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th or 11th House, the left side in a male and the right side in a female is denoted; and mutatis mutandis if in one of the other Houses. Thus a planet in 5° in the 6th House would denote the right upper arm in a male and the left upper arm in a female. This example will doubtless serve for all others. The signs are also said to have dominion over certain places and countries, but as these do not form an

AMO Section 1 Chapter 3

essential part of the doctrine of Nativities which I am now considering, I may be allowed to pass it by. The signs, however, have an affinity with those elements to which they belong in the elemental grouping, and this with be found of practical use in the interpretation of horoscopes. The Lunar Mansions begin at 0° and are 13° 20’ each in extent. The Arabians gave them specific names and influences. Modern astrologers have for the most part given them little attention. Yet they are at the root of the Oriental system of astrology, and are by them known as the Stations of the Moon, or nakshatrams. They have analogy with the diurnal motion of the Moon. The Mansions are 27 in number, each of 800’ extent. The Moon changes its signification as it goes from one to another Mansion. The critical degrees, or points of change, are as follows :0° 0’; 13° 20’; 26° 40’; 10° 0’; 23° 20’; 6° 40’; 20° 0’; 3° 20’; 16° 40. There are thus nine divisions or Mansions in each 120°. The Hindus ascribe a specific planetary influence to each of them, and give to each a period of dominion over the life. (See "Hindu Astrology," in the Manual of Astrology, by Sepharial.) The student will do well to consult also the system which divides the zodiac into 28 parts, each quadrant being subject to a sevenfold division.

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CHAPTER IV THE HOUSES If you face the south where the sun is at noon, there is a point on your horizon to the left, one immediately over your head and another on your horizon to the right. An imaginary circle drawn through these three points and continued round the earth is called the Prime Vertical. An equal division of this circle into 12 parts gives rise to what are called the Twelve Houses. They are numbered, for purposes of reference, from the east horizon below the earth to the west horizon, and thence through the zenith to the east horizon again. The diagram on the next page will perhaps convey the idea better than words. The horizon east forms the cusp of the 1st House, the upper meridian forms the cusp of the 10th House, the west horizon forms the cusp of the 7th House, and the lower meridian that of the 4th House. The 1st and 7th Houses are also called the "Ascendant" and "Descendant" respectively. The 1st, 10th, 4th and 7th are called the Angles. The 2nd, 11th, 5th and 8th are called Succeedent. The 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th are called Cadent Houses. Planets in the Angles of a horoscope are by that position rendered more powerful in their action and are more conspicuous in the life of one born when they are so placed. Many planets in Cadent

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Houses will render the career inconspicuous and in a measure servile. Many planets in Succeedent Houses are an indication of a career that is helped by persistent endeavour. Thus the angular Houses correspond with the cardinal signs, the succeedent with the fixed signs, and the cadent with the flexed signs; and this correspondence may be traced throughout the circle, with the with the 2nd, with the 3rd, and so on. 1st House, THE KABALA OF THE HOUSES shows them to be divided into four groups, viz:Individual, 1st, 5th, 9th; Possessive, 2nd, 6th, 10th; Relative, 3rd, 7th, 11th; Terminal, 4th, 8th, 12th. Of these, among the Individual group, the 1st is external and relates to the person or body of the man; the 5th is intermediate and has relation to the psychic nature or soul; and the 9th is internal and is related to the spiritual nature or individuality. Hence all the Houses are either physical (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th), psychic (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th), or spiritual (9th, 10th, 11th and 12th.)

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The close study of these intimate relationships of the Houses and their correspondence with the signs of the zodiac is the most profound work of the astrologer. It is the foundation of the whole art of correct foreknowledge. For practical purposes we may brief the dominations and significations of the Houses as follows :SIGNIFICATIONS OF THE HOUSES The 1st House governs the body, personal appearance, physical well-being, and accidents happening to the person. The 2nd House governs the personal property, money in hand, personal effects. The 3rd House rules the personal relations, the tie of consanguinity, brothers and sisters; also means of communication, whether by vehicle, letter post, telegraph or other means whatsoever. It denotes cables, bridges, telegraph wires, viaducts and other means of connection; writings, letters. The 4th House governs the end of the physical life, the grave; material products, mines, farming produce; land, houses, freeholds, leases, tenancies and hence landlords. The 5th House is the extension of the 1st and governs the psychic nature; progeny; passions, pleasures, love affairs; hence theatres, places of amusement, sport, etc.; the younger generation and such things and persons as tend to their wellbeing. The 6th House. is an extension of the 2nd; it governs the food, clothing, servants, personal comforts, relative possessions generally; also the work or profession in which the subject engages; whatever contributes to the well-being of the subject’s possessions. The 7th House is an extension of the 3rd; it governs the tie of conjugality, the marriage partner; persons in contract; rivals (as opposing the 1st House). The 8th House is an extension of the 4th; it governs the dissolution of the vital forces; death, matters relating to the dead; wills, legacies, etc., and (being the 2nd from the 7th) dowry or personalty of the marriage partner. The 9th House is an extension of the 5th; it governs the spiritual nature; "the far-off land," whether it be that across the ocean or beyond the veil, teleological subjects, theology, philosophy; publications; the law, lawyers; insurances; dreams, visions and other-world experiences. The 10th House is an extension of the 6th; it denotes the ambitions, success, attainments of the subject;

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honour, credit, public esteem; the father or mother. (The 10th is always of the same sex as the 1st, and in a female horoscope denotes the mother.) The 11th House is an extension of the 7th, and denotes the tie of friendship; congeners; associates; syndicates, companies, leagues, clubs, associations of which the subject is a member; his confederates and supporters. The 12th House is an extension of the 8th, and denotes privation, confinement, restraint; the hospital, prison or other place of detention; sequestration, exile; ambushes, plots, secret enemies; the occult. It will be seen that many other interpretations apply to the House by reflection. Thus the 1st being the subject of the horoscope and the 7th his wife; the 3rd his relatives and the 9th his wife’s relatives, the latter house comes to mean brothers- and sisters in-law, i. e. marriage relatives. The 10th being the father and the 4th the mother (in a male horoscope), the 7th is the maternal grandfather and the 1st the maternal grandmother. The 6th being the uncles or aunts on the mother’s side (i. e. maternal aunts or uncles), the relatives of the mother, the 5th (progeny) from the 6th (i. e. the 10th House) will denote maternal cousins. Similarly with all those relations which "a man may not marry," as expounded in the Book of Common Prayer. We have now before us the whole of the alphabet of astrology, and may now proceed to frame a horoscope and read it by the language of the heavens. It is important that the whole of the planetary natures should be learned, together with those of the signs and the significations of the Houses, before the next step is taken. When the alphabet has become a language, that language may be interpreted. Until then we are faced only by dead symbols.

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SECTION II CHAPTER I MAKING A HOROSCOPE FOR the practical pursuit of astrology a horoscope must be drawn for the moment of a birth. It is of first importance to understand clearly what is meant by "birth" in the astrological sense. Observe,’ then, that there are three stages in the process of obstetrics : (1) Extrusion, (2) Abscission, (3) Independent and. sustained breathing. The moment of birth is that at which the first breath, usually accompanied by a cry, is taken and followed by regular breathing. For it should be noted that a spasmodic breath, followed by a cry, may be only the first of a series of intermittent breathings, regular breathing being established only after a considerable interval. The beginning of regular breathing having been noted, the astrologer may thereafter draw a correct horoscope of the birth. This horoscope, which shows the relative positions of the celestial bodies at the time of the nativity as regards one another, and their positions as seen from the place of birth, is called the RADIX. It is the root from which springs the whole tree of life. It represents the environment of the new life, the conditions under which the incoming soul will be required to express itself, develop its powers, and gain its new load of experience. That which, as environment, presses it most closely, is the physical body with all its hereditary tendencies and acquired habits. Beyond this there are the wills of other units of life, all striving towards the satisfaction of common human needs, and spurred by individual ambitions. The horoscope of birth is in this sense accidental and not incidental, and cannot be consulted in any matter prior to the act of birth, nor in regard to the essential nature, origin, power and motive of the soul. There is a system of horoscopy which claims to go deeper, and to concern itself wholly with the evolution of the soul and its migrations; but this has no part in my present scheme and may be conveniently ignored. In order to draw a horoscope of the birth, it will be necessary to obtain (1) an Ephemeris of the planets’ places for the year of birth; (2) a Table of Houses for the place of birth, or an approximate latitude; (3) a set of Transit Tables extending over a hundred years. An Ephemeris is an astronomical calendar showing the positions of the celestial bodies at noon each day throughout the year. This information is extracted from the Nautical Almanac or the French

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contemporary Connaissance de Temps. It gives the geocentric longitudes and the latitudes and declinations of the bodies, the sidereal time of the day corresponding to the Sun’s true Right Ascension at noon; and the aspects formed between the planets (called "Mutual" aspects) and also the solar and lunar aspects. Some of these terms need explanation to the lay reader. Geocentric longitude is the position of a body in the ecliptic as seen from the centre of the earth. Heliocentric longitude, from which geocentric longitude is converted, is the ecliptic position as seen from the Sun. In astrology we use the geocentric longitudes because we are considering the action of the planets upon the earth and its inhabitants. If we lived on Mars we should have to take the positions as seen from Mars. The ignorant contention that the discovery of the heliocentricity of the system invalidates astrology is of course without rational foundation. Declination is distance from the equator north or south. It corresponds to geographical latitude. The line apparently traversed by a star or planet in its diurnal passage round the earth is called the "parallel of declination." Latitude of a celestial body is distance north or south of the ecliptic. Sidereal time is the Sun’s true Right Ascension at noon, measured on the equator from the vernal equinox and corrected by the difference between Right Ascension and mean or clock time. It may be expressed in °, ´, •, or in h., m., s., the circle of the equator being equal to 24 hours. Tables of Houses are computed for various latitudes (as for New York, Paris, London, Liverpool, etc.), and serve for all places of the same or approximate latitude as these towns, whether north or south of the equator. The Tables show the points of the ecliptic cut by the cusps of the Houses; thus the cusp of the 10th House is the same as the meridian of longitude, and the point of the ecliptic thereon, at the time for which the calculation is made, will be that which is on the meridian and culminating. Local time is the time corresponding to Greenwich time at any moment. The correction to be applied to Greenwich time in order to find the local time is 4 mins. for every degree of longitude east or west. If east, add to Greenwich time; if west, subtract from Greenwich time in order to get the local time. With the ephemeris in hand, turn now to the date of the birth. Against this date, in the left-hand column, you will find the sidereal time at noon. To this sidereal time add the "local time" elapsed since the preceding noon, together with an equation at the rate of 10 secs. for each hour. The sum will be the sidereal time on the midheaven at the time of birth.

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Next turn to the Tables of Houses for the latitude of the place of birth and find this sidereal time. Against it, under the column marked 10 (10th House), you will find the degree of the ecliptic which is on the meridian. This is technically called the "midheaven." In the next column (11) you will find the degree of the zodiac which is on the cusp of the 11th House. In the next column that which is on the cusp of the 12th House. In the next column, marked "Ascendant" or "Asc.," you have the degree which is rising in the east ; the next column gives the degree on the cusp of the 2nd House, and the last column that which is on the cusp of the 3rd House. The 4th House will hold the same degree of the opposite sign to that which is on the 10th cusp. The 5th cusp holds the opposite to the 11th, and the 6th the opposite to the 12th, and so on to the 7th, 8th and 9th cusps. The "skeleton" figure is then complete. The planets’ places must next be inserted, and as the ephemeris is constructed for Greenwich mean time, the Greenwich time of the birth must be used instead of the local time. The places being given for each day at noon, the longitudes can readily be found by proportion for any intermediate hour. For the purpose of illustration we may take the horoscope of King George V. The King was born on the 3rd of June, 1865, in London, at 1 hr. 18 min. a.m. In the ephemeris for 1865 we find against the 2nd of June, at noon preceding the birth H. M. S. Sidereal time To which add time since

4

13 18

0

2

13

_

_

_

18

4

5

And equation at 10" per hour

S.T. on midheaven at birth

43 52

This sidereal time corresponds with the 1st degree of Capricorn, which therefore occupies the midheaven. The skeleton is then completed from the Tables of Houses for London; and the planets’ places and those of the luminaries are taken from the ephemeris for the 3rd of June, at 1.18 a.m., and in effect we have the horoscope as follows :-

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It is to be observed that the planets are in "aspect" to one another when at birth they are within 5 degrees of the exact angle; and the luminaries are in aspect at a distance of 7° from the exact angle; and that angle to which they are severally nearest must be taken as the aspect then in operation. Thus, with the Sun in 0° and in 17°, the angle is 47°, which is nearest the semi-square of 45°. The Sun is then semisquare Mars. But if with the in 0° Mars should be in 23°, at an angle of 53°, then the nearest aspect is the of 60°, and the Sun is then said to be in sextile to Mars. It is to be observed that the groupings of the Signs already given in Chap. II will be of much use in the computation of the aspects, for all signs of the same Elemental nature are in trine to one another; those of the same Constitutional nature are in square aspect to one another. Any form of horoscopical figure may be used, and each has its advantages. That given above dispenses with the circle and consists of a series of straight lines, representing the celestial sphere on a Mercatorial projection.

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CHAPTER II FOREIGN HOROSCOPES SUPPOSE that the birth took place abroad, let us say in Berlin. The "skeleton" is set for the local time, and the planets’ place are taken, from the Greenwich ephemeris, for the corresponding Greenwich time. The Tables of Houses used must be those for the latitude of Berlin. In all cases the Midheaven is calculated for local time, and the Tables for the Houses must be those due to the latitude of the place. And in all cases where the Greenwich ephemeris is used, the corresponding Greenwich time is employed when calculating the planets’ places. SOUTH LATITUDE When the figure is to be set for places south of the Equator, calculate the Midheaven for local time as before. Then add 12 hours to the sidereal time on the Midheaven, refer to the tables for the corresponding North latitude, and take the opposite signs to those found on the cusps of the Houses, retaining, however, the same degrees. Thus, if a birth has taken place in latitude 51° 30’south, at 1.18 a.m. on the 3rd of June, 1865 (see horoscope of King George V), the sidereal time on the Midheaven is found to be 18 h. 4 m. 5 s. As the latitude is south we must add 12 hrs., thus H. M. S. S.T. on M.C. at birth

18

4

5

Add

12

0

0

_

_

_

30

4

5

24

0

0

_

_

_

6

4

5

Subtract the circle

S.T. on midheaven at birth

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Referring now to the Tables of Houses for latitude 51° 30’ (London) against sidereal time 6 h. 4 m. 5s., 1°. you will find Place this on the lower meridian, which is the cusp of the 4th House, and follow with 7° on the 5th 7° on the 6th, 0° 47’ on the Descendant, or 7th, 25° on the 8th, and 25° on cusp, the 9th cusp, as you find them in the Tables. Then complete the circle by inserting the same degrees of the opposite signs on the remaining cusps. The places of the celestial bodies are then calculated for the Greenwich time corresponding to the local time of the place of birth. The student who finds any difficulty in following these instructions will probably be better guided by carefully following some of the many examples published in the text-books, manuals and guides, which are very plentiful and moderate in price. C’est le premier pas qui coûte, it is true, but once the initial stages of Astrology are passed successfully, a world of fascinating study will reward the careful and patient worker. Note. - It should be observed that the Midheaven and Ascendant are the only points which are mathematically determined by the calculation of a horoscope. The degrees on the cusps of the other Houses may conveniently, and indeed rationally, be allotted by dividing the entire degrees contained in each quadrant by three and adding the result to the degree on the Midheaven, or the Ascendant, according to quadrant involved. This is the method I myself use in practice.

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SECTION III READING THE HOROSCOPE CHAPTER I PERSONAL APPEARANCE THE personal appearance at maturity is to be judged from a combination of the following elements:1. The rising sign. 2. The sign occupied by its ruler. 3. Planets in the rising sign. 4. Those planets in exact aspect to the rising degree. Note that Saturn rising makes the complexion darker and the face thinner. Jupiter rising gives a fuller habit. Mars rising disposes to more colour or ruddiness and increases the stature. Thus a child born on the 7th of July, 1909, at 10.20 p.m., with the Moon and Mars rising in Pisces, showed giant proportions before she was a year old, being then of dimensions equal to a well-nourished child of four years. The Sun rising gives a fair complexion but often freckled or sunburnt in appearance. Venus gives a beautiful and florid type. Mercury gives an alert look, with rather small, wizened features. The Moon gives fullness and disposes to lymphatic pallor. Mars rising generally gives a red mark, scar, cut or mole upon the face. Chaucer the poet, who was born with the rising of Mars in Taurus, says of himself: "Yet have I Martes mark upon my face." There are usually to be found moles or marks upon that part of the body which is ruled by the rising sign; that which is on the cusp of the 6th House; and the sign occupied by the Moon. This is so generally the case that I have frequently used these marks successfully in planning a horoscope where the time of birth was in doubt. Neptune rising usually gives blue eyes, with a mystical expression. When this is absent, the deportment is often limp and the expression drowsy and dazed. Uranus rising gives angularity and slenderness to the body, together with a marked brusquerie or

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eccentricity of action. THE TYPAL FORMS due to the rising of the twelve signs are briefly as follows :Aries. - Slender figure, lean body, long neck, broad forehead, narrow chin, curling hair, either sandy or black. Taurus. - Full body, strong shoulders, full neck, waving brown hair. Gemini. - Tall, well formed; long limbs, slender bands, long nose, rather wide mouth, brown hair, generally fine and straight. Cancer. - Short stature, broad chest, rounded features, brown hair, usually of a light tinge; full, fleshy body; small hands and feet. Leo. - Tall, well-developed and upright figure; curling or wavy hair, florid complexion and large grey eyes. Virgo. - Lean body, large forehead, high cheek-bones, square jaws, long upper lip., brown hair. Libra. - Elegant figure, oval face, neat features, good complexion; rich brown hair, good teeth and nails. Scorpio. - Thick-set figure, sturdy appearance, swarthy complexion, wavy or curling hair; glittering bright eyes. Sagittarius. - Tall, well-developed figure; high forehead, long features;. full, expressive eyes; brown hair. Capricornus. - Strong, prominent features, moderate or small stature; dusky complexion, dark hair. Aquarius. - Well deve1oped and full figure; fine complexion; blue eyes; flaxen or light-brown hair; defective teeth. Pisces. - Small but full figure, small hands and feet; full eyes; pale, dusky complexion; black, straight hair. It is to be observed that pure types are seldom met with, but when a planet rises in its own sign it may be regarded as astrologically pure, if at the same time no planet is in close aspect to the rising degree. There remains, however, the fact of heredity, which will always operate towards the reproduction of the family type; so that it becomes a matter of great experience and skill to correctly depict a person from the

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horoscope alone. It is a fact, however, that astrologers learn to recognize the various zodiacal types with great facility. King George V, it will be seen, is of the Aries type, blended with that of Leo in which Mars is posited. Neptune is rising, and the King early espoused the naval profession. Many of the King’s portraits reflect the "drowsy" look peculiar to the planet Neptune.

CHAPTER II THE CONSTITUTION is governed by the Sun and the rising sign. The vital signs are and . while the weakest are , ,

,

,

, the airy signs are less vital;

The well aspected shows a strong constitution, with freedom from hereditary taint or organic disease. When badly aspected it shows organic troubles which in favouring circumstances will readily develop. Hereditary disorders are also thus discovered. The affliction being from fixed signs shows diseases of the heart, throat, blood and excretory system; flexed signs, the lungs, bowels and nervous system; cardinal signs, the head, loins, stomach and skin. Saturn denotes obstructions, defects, privations; Jupiter enlargements and congestion; Mars inflammatory action, lesions and remedies by the knife; Uranus shows paralysis and rupture; Neptune hyper-aesthesia and neuropathic conditions, hysteria, etc., and all insidious wasting diseases. Venus shows defects of the mucous membrane and effects of poisonous elements; -Mercury nervous disorders, especially of the voluntary arc of nerves and the cerebrum. The Moon disposes to irregularities and lack of co-ordination in the system.

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CHAPTER III HEALTH THE is the chief factor, denoting the functional powers. When badly aspected it shows functional disorders in the same way that the Sun denotes organic disorders. The Sun shows incidental and the Moon accidental effects. The one is inherited and the other acquired. A functional derangement may excite an organic disorder and become a chronic illness. When the constitution is weak and the health good the person may live to a good age, but the first serious illness may kill. When the constitution is strong and the health bad much sickness may be endured without fatal effect. Consider, then, the Sun first of all, in regard to the constitution; and next the Moon, in regard to the health. When the Ascendant is weak, and both the luminaries afflicted, predict a short life. When the rising sign is strong, and both Sun and Moon well supported, predict a long life. Moderate years are the result of mixed influences. When maladies are indicated by a planet afflicting the or by evil aspect, the malady will be of the nature indicated by the afflicting planet, and the part of the body affected will be that indicated by the in in square to in would indicate inflammatory action in the sign it occupies. Thus the in in square to in would denote obstructions in the excretory system, throat, while appendicitis, etc. Children born when a malefic planet is rising and close to the Ascendant, or setting in opposition there to, while at the same time the is applying to an ill aspect of the malefics, seldom live beyond infancy. The time of their demise in such case can usually be measured by the number of degrees between the and its complete aspect to the nearest malefic, accounting one month for each degree.

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CHAPTER IV THE CHARACTER TAKE the constitutional groupings of the signs (Section I, chap. iii) and see whether the majority of the bodies are in fixed, flexed or cardinal signs. Judge of the mental type accordingly. Next observe the elemental groupings and note that which contains the majority of the bodies; and from this you will know whether the character will be expressed on spiritual, mental, psychic or physical lines. The relative groupings will therefore work out to one of the following types :-

These symbols have already been explained (Section I, chap. iii), together with their applications, so that there is no need to repeat them here. Thus, if the majority of the planets are in airy signs, and next in watery signs, the type will be of the mental-psychic; and if the majority are also in acute or cardinal signs, you will get the pioneer, with the initiative and progressive tendency working along intellectual and social lines; the intellect having, however, control over the emotions. The individual characteristics are contributed by those planets which are in aspect to governs the rational faculty and the the natural, as Ptolemy affirms.

in the

for;

Thus the manner and disposition, the expression of feeling, and the domestic and social traits are chiefly shown by the planetary aspects to the Moon; while the intellectual and business faculties are shown By the condition of Mercury. Those planets which at birth happen to be on or near the Ascendant, or in the 9th or 3rd Houses, will

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greatly characterize the individual, on account of the great influence these parts of the heavens exert upon the mind. The specific characteristics of the planets and luminaries are as follows :Neptune: subtlety, planning and scheming. A tortuous mind, but suave manner. Clever at plot and counterplot. A diplomat. Disposed to the drug, nicotine or other insidious habit. Fond of mysterious and detective work. Frequently touched with a mania for something. A possible genius. Uranus: inventive faculty, originality, waywardness, independence of spirit, abruptness. Saturn: secretiveness, caution, reserve, self-control, temperance, soberness; philosophical, thoughtful, brooding, melancholic, faithful. A good staunch friend, and an unrelenting enemy. Jupiter: generous, just, sympathetic; possessing a knowledge of human nature; joviality, a good judgment, fruitful intellect; confidence; sometimes too optimistic and even bombastic. Mars: courageous, daring, energetic; fond of exploits; enterprising; frank, outspoken, petulant, zealous, and fond of freedom. The Sun: proud, dignified; possessed of self-confidence, generosity and magnanimity; disposed to the grandiose and magnificent; sometimes vain and haughty, yet free from meanness, and loving fair play and transparency; generally honest and opposed to all cliques and cabals. Venus: gentle, kind, docile and persuasive; loving music and the fine arts, bright and joyous scenes, jewels and flowers; fond of pleasure, and frequently self-indulgent. Mercury: active, business-like and capable in affairs; of voluble speech; attentive to details; punctilious and easily irritated; loving knowledge for its own sake; accessible and communicative. The Moon: changeful, vacillating; versatile; imaginative; romantic; loving travel and change of scene; sensitive and whimsical. Judgment as to character is first made by the grouping of the signs in order to get the type to which the subject belongs, and then by the aspects of the Moon and Mercury to determine the specific traits or characteristics. Planets in the 1st, 9th and 3rd Houses have a very marked influence on the expression of character. It is here to be observed that the same indication and its corresponding trait of character will work out differently in persons of the various types. Thus conjunction in a purely emotional type is liable to produce dangerous and destructive passions, which in an intellectual type would find expression in

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critical diatribe and free-thought; while in the spiritual type it would beget a zealot; and in the material type a violent and unscrupulous firebrand, a maniac. There is one axiom which cannot be too strongly emphasized, and the student will do well to keep it always before him: The planets act upon us only in terms of ourselves. Mental derangement is shown by the affliction of , or , in , , or . Acute mania is shown to and epilepsy by afflicted by . But in such case there will be no by conjunction or remedial aspect from the benefic planets and none between the , and the ascending degree.

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CHAPTER V ACCIDENTS DISPOSITION to accidents is shown by the affliction of the Ascendant or the by the adverse aspects and . If both the Sun and Moon are so afflicted and the afflicting planet be of the violent planets , elevated above the luminaries, there is liability of a fatal termination, which only the intervening good or can prevent. aspect of Note that a planet intervenes only when its aspect is formed be/ore that of the afflicting body. Mars when so afflicting the Ascendant or luminaries disposes to accidents by fire; also cuts, bleeding wounds and abrasions. In human signs , , , it may bring operations or hurts by human hands. In watery signs, scalds; in fiery signs, burns; in earthy signs, abrasions. Saturn thus afflicting denotes falls, fractures, bruises, blows from falling objects, etc. In earthy signs by falls, earthquakes, explosions of mines, etc.; in watery signs, drowning; in airy signs, by falls from a height; in fiery signs, by explosive missiles, etc. Uranus similarly afflicting denotes ruptures, broken bones, compound fractures, accidents by machinery, and all extraordinary casualties. Neptune shows danger of poisoning by drugs, noxious gases, etc. The source from which danger emanates is to be seen from the position of the afflicting planet, as if be in the 6th House, the hurt will come from physicians (surgeons) or servants; in the 3rd, on short journeys; in the 9th, in foreign lands; in the 5th, by sport or play, etc. The affliction being from the 8th House is especially sinister, as it threatens a fatality. It may perhaps be well to note in these days of extended means of locomotion, that has special denotes collisions, reference to hurts proceeding from defective machinery, break-downs, etc. firing or ignition, and when these planets afflict the Ascendant or luminaries from aerial signs, the danger of aviation is increased; in watery signs, aquatics should be avoided; and in earthy signs motoring will add to the peculiar dangers to which the subject will be liable.

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CHAPTER VI THE FORTUNES THE luminaries being in mutual good aspects, and the otherwise well supported in the horoscope by benefic aspects, shows a successful career. If the planets are chiefly under the horizon or "below the earth," as it is otherwise called, then success comes after marriage, or late in life, as the case may be. But if above the horizon, then success is speedily achieved. Evil planets in the 4th House near the lower meridian show a poor termination to the career, even after a life of much success. Saturn in the Midheaven will bring a person to a good position and afterwards denude him of all benefits. Impediments come from those sources indicated by the Houses occupied by the malefic planets or those badly aspecting the , as if in the 7th by marriage or contracts; in the 8th by legacies; in the 4th by should be mining, farming and real estate; and so of the rest. To be exceptionally fortunate the planet in good aspect to one of the luminaries and angular, especially in the 1st or 10th. A benefic planet in the 4th House, not afflicted by adverse aspect, shows a successful finish to the career. The periods of good and ill fortune are to be specifically known only by reference to the "Directional arcs" (see "Measure of Time "). Jupiter in good aspect to Uranus shows legacies and windfalls, while the same in good aspect to Saturn gives promise of an inheritance. Planets in the 2nd House are especially to be regarded in this matter, as that House has reference to the personal possessions and generally to the financial status of the subject. The luminaries therein, or one of them, well aspected by etc., will give financial competence; as or therein, free from affliction by adverse aspects. The malefics therein, or the luminaries also badly aspected, show poverty and a continual struggle for a competence. Here again there is the personal equation involved, and all judgment is to be regulated by reference to the sphere of life into which the subject is born, his responsibilities, etc. The poverty of one man might well constitute the wealth of another in a humbler sphere of life. The planets act upon us in terms of ourselves and in proportion to the measure of our individual powers. Note.- In a female horoscope the apply.

will replace the , but in other respects the rules here given will

AMO Section 3 Chapter 7

CHAPTER VII THE POSITION THE majority of the planets rising between the 4th and 10th eastward, show an ambitious and aspiring nature, a candidate for responsibility, one who will be independent, a "free lance," and restless under the yoke of servitude. Thus placed, the planets denote effort and ambition which will result according to that planet which is nearest the Mid-heaven and on the oriental side of it. The more planets there are in angles, the 1st, 10th, 7th or 4th, the more conspicuous will be the subject in his sphere of life. If at the same time in cardinal signs, he will be an epoch-making man or remarkable pioneer. Planets above the horizon show responsibility and some degree of eminence. Below the horizon and occidental, there is less prominence in the life. Benefic planets in the 10th House (which governs the credit, honour and esteem) will contribute their aid in bringing the subject to a position of influence in his sphere of life. The end of life is shown by the 4th House. Malefic planets in the 10th bring a man early to a downfall, but if in the 4th House the end of life will be passed in tribulation or obscurity. If a man rises by patronage there will be indications of it in the 11th House; and the horoscope of the benefactor will show marked sympathy with that of his beneficiary. The mundane aspects are of some considerable significance in this matter, for planets on the cusps of the Houses will materially affect the position for good, inasmuch as they are then in or to the Midheaven or Ascendant. Perhaps not enough has been made of these mundane aspects, and it is well that they, should not be overlooked. Placidus de Titus, in his Primum Mobile, makes them the basis of his system of Prognostics. Similarly it has been observed that when planets are on the cusps of the Lunar Mansions, the person then born rises to eminence (Section I, chap. iii.). The majority of planets in or near any such degrees, viz, the 1st, 13th and 25th of the cardinal signs, the 9th and 22nd of the fixed signs, or the 4th and 17th of the common signs, denotes one born to distinction.

AMO Section 3 Chapter 7

King George V has 5 planets, as well as the Midheaven and Ascendant, close to such degrees.

AMO Section 3 Chapter 8

CHAPTER VIII THE OCCUPATION THIS is to be judged from the 6th House and the planets therein, together with the sign on its cusp. The signs have affinity with those things ruled by the Houses to which they correspond, as to the 5th, etc. House,

to the 3rd

The planets have their own significations:Saturn has relation to minerals and heavy bodies, lead, etc. Jupiter to legal affairs, ecclesiastical matters. Mars to fire and iron, fighting, the military profession. The Sun to gold; civic dignitaries, the Crown and its officers, ambassadors, etc. Venus to art, music and matters of adornment. Mercury to literature, mercantile pursuits and affairs of traffic. The Moon to public employment, catering, retail business, etc. Uranus to electrical and scientific pursuits, and also to affairs of propaganda; the civil service and positions of civic authority. Neptune to psychological and mysterious pursuits, also travelling and seafaring. These are, of course, but loose and general significations. The position of the majority of the planets will indicate whether the life-work should be along spiritual, mental, social or mercantile lines, and the sign on the 6th House, the position of its ruler and the nature of any planet in the 6th House, will guide to a specific occupation. Fixed signs show inventors and producers, manufacturers.

AMO Section 3 Chapter 8

Flexed signs purveyors and factors, importers, travellers. Cardinal signs retailers, dispensers, organizers and directors, managers and those in prominent positions. Some illustrations of known cases may serve to illustrate the manner of interpretation :1.

in

in the 6th House - a dairy company manager.

2.

in

on 6th House - an accountant in a large tea importer’s.

3.

on 6th and

4.

in

5.

in

in the 6th - an estate agent. in the 6th, with

6.

on the 6th and

7.

on 6th and

8.

on the 6th, with

9.

- a writer on occult philosophy.

in

in in

in

- a stockbroker. - a company promoter.

- an exploration promoter. in

- a coal merchant.

in the 6th - an artist.

Judgement on the choice of occupation must of necessity be guided by a number of considerations, questions of aptitude, education, training, sex, etc., being all largely involved. Taking all the planets in all the signs we have but 108 possible significations, while there are obviously more than that number of distinct occupations. It must therefore suffice if the astrologer can give some hint of the line along which the occupation may be found. Thus fiery signs may denote spiritual things equally with those in which the element is the chief agent. Airy signs all mental occupations from the clerk to the professor of philosophy, as well as all those trades and occupations in which the pneumatic or air force is employed, even the lately developed pursuit of aviation and aeronautics generally. Watery signs may denote the social or emotional side of business, and all trades in which the watery element is chiefly employed, as in navigation, laundry work, the manufacture and sale of beverages,

AMO Section 3 Chapter 8

painting, etc. Earthy signs may denote the manual and practical occupations, equally with those in which the products of the earth, mining, agriculture, estate development and similar occupations are concerned.

AMO Section 3 Chapter 9

CHAPTER IX MARRIAGE ON this most important of all questions depend many very vital issues. Not only is the moral and spiritual welfare of the contracting parties involved, but that also of successive generations. It is not within the scope of this treatise to consider questions of expediency or fitness, or the deeper psychological questions of fascination, attraction and destiny. Suffice it to say that all horoscopes present themselves to the expert as either marriageable or misogynous. The indications of marriage are as follows :In a male horoscope the Moon (in a female the Sun) being oriental, i.e. in the S.E. or N.W. quadrant, arid increasing in distance from the other luminary, shows an early marriage. Oriental and decreasing, or occidental and increasing, marriage at a more mature age. But if occidental and decreasing in distance from the other luminary, marriage will be deferred to a period past the prime of life. Venus at a male nativity (Mars at that of a female) being afflicted by Saturn shows disappointed affections in early attachments; by Uranus, romantic attachment followed by enforced breach, or estrangement and rupture of relationship by exceptional incidents; by Mars (Venus in a female case), impulsive attachments of a passionate and dangerous order ; by Neptune, deceptions and seductions, impositions and fraudulent representations. The luminaries being in square or opposition to one another, and Venus afflicted, there will be no marriage. The 5th House governs all considerations of love affairs; the 7th House those of marriage. Saturn brings about loss of the partner by death, or it militates against happiness in marriage by defects of nature, by jealousy, coldness and suspicion. Uranus produces rupture of the marriage tie, divorce or separation, and, by marked eccentricity of the

AMO Section 3 Chapter 9

partner, tends to disturb the relationship. Mars shows licence, freedom, frequent quarrels and lack of forbearance and self-control. It frequently leads to violence and fatality. Neptune deception and insidious hurt. The partner is afflicted mentally or has unnatural and perverted appetites and desires. The partner may have a legal tie already, and generally has a history. In female horoscopes we substitute the is made for both sexes alike.

for the , and Mars for Venus; but in other respects judgment

Happiness in marriage is shown by the being or ; and by or , well aspected, being in (female) first forms an aspect ( , , , the 7th House. Also if the planet to which the (male) or or conjuction) after birth, be a benefic and well-aspected, or any planet in good aspect to the benefics, there will be harmony in marriage. Unfortunate and unhappy unions take place when the (or in the case of a woman) applies by evil aspect to a malefic planet, and the 7th House is occupied by a malefic or a planet badly aspected. In a female horoscope, the condition after marriage may be fairly predicted by reversing the horoscope and looking at it from the point of view that the Descendant is then the Ascendant and the Mid-heaven the Nadir. The marriage partner is described by the rules of the ‘7th House and the sign it occupies, or if it be retrograde, by its dispositor. [N.B. - A planet is said to dispose of another when the latter is in a sign it rules. Thus , since Jupiter is the ruler of . ] disposed of by

in

is

A man is most frequently attracted to a woman whose sun at birth occupies the place of Mars in his horoscope; and always it will be found that a strong attachment is the result of this or a similar coincidence of the planets in horoscopes of the parties involved.

AMO Section 3 Chapter 10

CHAPTER X PROGENY THE 5th House and the 11th (being the 5th from the 7th), the 4th House and the 10th, are regarded in this matter. The Moon governs the maternal capacity, and the 4th and 5th Houses are those which give succession. In a male horoscope the 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th represent the succession on the male side; the 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th on the female side. In a female horoscope the 5th, 7th, etc., denote daughters, and the 4th, 6th, etc., sons. These points being duly noted, see if the 4th, 5th, 10th and 11th are free from malefic planets. If so, and the Moon is in a prolific sign , , , then there will be progeny. But if the malefics occupy any of these Houses there will be some loss of progeny. A benefic, or the family.

well aspected in a fruitful sign

,

,

and in the 5th House, shows a large

Lack of progeny is shown by Saturn, Uranus or Mars in the 5th House in a sterile sign ( , , ); or the so placed in any House and afflicted by Saturn; and usually Saturn denies succession along those lines indicated by its House, according to the sex of the horoscope. It has been argued that when children are born at the same time, the potential of the horoscopes of the respective parents operates for a difference of fortune. Thus, if two women give birth to progeny at the same time, and one parent has in the 5th House, while the other parent has there at birth: the result may well be that one child will be properly developed and nourished, while the other, under the maternal tradition of an evil Saturn, will be puny and of weak vitality. But this is an argument which by the premises is not, in fact, in accord with nature, for when this diversity of fortune as regards progeny is shown in the horoscopes of different parents, it will be found that the progeny are born at times which develop influences in accord with the potential of the parental horoscopes. Twins are generated by those in whose horoscopes the planet is in such a sign in the 5th House at birth.

is in a double-bodied sign

,

,

, or a

AMO Section 3 Chapter 10

The phenomenon of twin births is a complete argument for the truth of Astrology. We have the Oases of the Cloughs of Pudsey, the Webbs who played the two Dromios in the Comedy of Errors; the famous Morrell twins, and many others whose lives were exactly parallel from birth onwards. The case of John Hemming the ironmonger’s son, who was born at the same time and in the same Parish of St. Martins-leFields as King George III, proves that planetary influence is more significant than heredity. For John Hemming’s father died, and he succeeded to the business at the same time that George II died and George III came to the throne. They were both similarly afflicted by temporary loss of mental faculty, they had the same number of children, and they died on the same day and nearly at the same hour. It is to be observed that there are two kinds of twins: monovates and biovates. Monovates are born from a double fertifization within the same amnion, while biovates are born from two distinct ova. In the latter case we may look for a great diversity of faculty and development. The fact that two children born at different times of the same parents, brought up under exactly similar conditions, and fed at the same board, develop along widely divergent lines, goes to show that heredity may count for something, but that planetary influence counts for a great deal more.

AMO Section 3 Chapter 11

CHAPTER XI TRAVELLING THE signs of travelling are as follows :The majority of the planets in cardinal and common signs (otherwise called movable and flexed), or, alternatively, many planets in angles and cadent Houses, show travelling. The circumstance of travelling is judged from the 3rd House for short (inland) journeys, and from the 9th House for voyages and long journeys. If the malefic planets are in these Houses, judge evils will befall of the nature of the planet, as Saturn delays, impediments, privations; Mars hurts and disputes, fighting, fires, etc; Uranus a breakdown, sudden calamities, mechanical defects, etc; Neptune ambushes, plots, betrayals, frauds, treacheries. When malefic planets occupy these Houses, it is not good for the subject to travel. By regarding the threatening planet and the nature of the sign it is in (fire, air, water, earth), you may predict the exact nature of the danger. But if the benefic planets are in the 9th House, benefits will arise from foreign travel. Where there are no planets so placed, regard the nature of the rulers of the signs on their cusps, the aspects they receive, and judge as if that ruler were actually in the House itself. Thus if no planet is in the 9th, and the sign on the cusp is Capricorn, then look to Saturn’s position and aspects. If in the 8th House and afflicted, there is danger of death; in the 2nd, well aspected, gain will follow a long residence abroad; and so of the rest. Observe that Saturn always demands the "time" consideration. He does nothing quickly, but he rewards patience. Uranus, on the other hand, acts without warning either in rewarding or despoiling. Mars always exacts a tussle, and you must work strenuously and fight hard for his best gifts. Neptune favours a scheme or plot, and dearly loves the diplomat. These interpretations may be read into other sections of the book of life. They do not specifically or solely apply to travelling. Planets well aspected, especially benefic planets in the 1st, 4th or 10th Houses, promise success in the

AMO Section 3 Chapter 11

land of one’s birth. The allurements of foreign travelling should in such case be ignored. This matter has much bearing upon the question of emigration.

AMO Section 3 Chapter 12

CHAPTER XII FRIENDS AND ENEMIES THE Moon or Mercury well aspected will give many friends; benefic planets in the 11th House, or the ruler of the 11th House well aspected, the same. The in good aspect to the always gives many favours and general success through friends. The case is quite otherwise if you find these significators badly aspected or malefic planets in the 11th House. Judge of the effects by the nature of the planets involved, as well as their aspects. The 7th House shows rivals and open enemies, opponents in business, etc.; but the 12th House shows secret enemies. Malefic planets in the angles of the horoscope show many contentions and fatal disputes. Benefics there denote abundant success through the support of adherents and friends. SYMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY It will be found that persons whose horoscopes are in disagreement will inevitably quarrel or oppose one another’s interests; while those whose horoscopes are in agreement will mutually assist one another and evince consistent good-will. Some of these relationships may be localized by reference to the positions of the benefic and malefic planets in a horoscope. Thus if be in 10°, it will follow that any person born on or near the 1st of Sun at his or her birth in the same place as this Saturn, and this is April in any year will have the quite sufficient cause for him whose Saturn it is to avoid all persons born on the 1st of April. The

in one horoscope on or in good aspect to the

When in one horoscope is on be developed.

in another, will warrant a close friendship.

in another, and they are of opposite sexes, a dangerous passion may

Nothing, perhaps, in the whole system of astrology can answer more clearly and satisfactorily to the test of experiment than this matter of sympathy and antipathy as shown by the relative positions in two horoscopes. Did space permit, it would be possible to display the foundations of every great feud or war

AMO Section 3 Chapter 12

which has set man against man and involved the fate of whole empires and the lives of thousands of men. It is significant that everything is to be traced back to the relative positions of the planets in the horoscopes of the rival kings or rulers.

AMO Section 3 Chapter 13

CHAPTER XIII THE KIND OF DEATH THE positions of the malefic planets must be considered, especially regarding such as may be in the 8th or 4th Houses, or those which may afflict the or when in these Houses. The nature of the sign occupied by the afflicting planet, together with that of the planet itself, will determine the cause of death (see "Constitution," Section III, chap. ii.). Violent deaths are threatened when both the and are separately afflicted by a malefic ( , , , ), or one of the luminaries has a double affliction by the conjunction or evil aspect of the malefics. Saturn thus afflicting brings falls, crushing, suffocation. Uranus electrocution, lightning-stroke, sunstroke, accidents by machinery, and suicide. Mars wounds by steel and iron, burning, explosions; scalding by virulent acids; surgical Operation, etc. Neptune ambushes and traps; insidious poisoning; obsession, etc. As regards the nature of the signs: Fiery signs have relation to electrical, heat and other phenomena. Airy signs are related to human agency, atmospheric phenomena, gaseous effects. Watery signs have relation to the passional phases of human life, and to the watery element, as well as to inflammable oils, petrol, etc. Earthy signs have relation to mining disasters, matters relating to the earth and its products, coal and other minerals, earthquakes and seismic effects generally. A violent death is not to be predicted when, the or being thus afflicted by the malefics, there is an or , for then there will be intervention and succour. interposing ray from one of the benefic planets An interposing ray proceeds from any planet which throws a benefic aspect to the luminary so that it falls between the malefic aspect and the luminary. This is called "abscission" by the old authors. It is too often overlooked by modern exponents.

SECTION IV THE MEASURE OF TIME CHAPTER I ON DIRECTIONS A VARIETY of methods have been employed by astrologers at different periods and in various countries to ascertain the precise time at which the portents of the horoscope will find fulfilment. The Hindus divide the whole life into periods called dashas, and these are again divided into bukthis, and these again into antarams; so that a very close calculation may be made by this means. The method, however, is based upon the Sâyana system of astronomy, which reckons from the fixed star Revati (? Fomalhaut) and ignores the precession of the equinoxes. The system is perfectly consistent, but it cannot readily be applied to the European zodiac; and it may be omitted from the exposition without hurt to its integrity. The student is referred to the work of Parâshara known as Parâshara Hora for full instruction as to the methods of this System, and some account of it will be found in my Manual of Astrology. The Chaldeans - and after them the Arabians - took account of the progress of the planets and the luminaries after birth, accounting each day after birth as a year of life; and from the aspects formed between the celestial bodies by their progress among themselves and as regards their positions at the birth, they judged of the course of events. This system is the one most in vogue among astrologers today, and, rightly regarded, it is undoubtedly a ready means to a correct forecast of the time and nature of events. Claudius Ptolemy took account chiefly of the rising and culmination of the bodies by the rotation of the earth on its axis, whereby the bodies are carried round the earth forming aspects to the radical positions. The measure of time used by him was that of Right Ascension, accounting 4 mins. or 1 degree to each year of life. The analogy between this system and that of the Arabians is that the Sun’s progress in the zodiac after birth is at the approximate rate of 1 degree per day, which is accounted as 1 year of life, while 1 degree of Right Ascension is also equal to 1 year of life. Placidus confirmed this system and added the mundane aspects, bringing the bodies to the cusps of the Houses to form "directions "to the Ascendant and Midheaven, and to proportionate distances from the meridian or horizon to form mundane aspects to other bodies not at birth upon the cusps. In this system

AMO Section 4 Chapter 1

one-third of the semi-arc of a planet was accounted equal to one House, and half the semi-arc was equal to an aspect of 45°, the semisquare. The method I have advocated for many years and have consistently used in practice is as follows :For each year of life add one day to that of birth and set the figure for the hour and place of birth. This will give the progressed Midheaven, the progressed Ascendant, and the progressed place of the Sun. The aspects formed by these to the planets at birth and in the progress will constitute PRIMARY DIRECTIONS, and the aspects formed by the progressed planets to the Midheaven, Ascendant, Sun and Moon in the Radix will also be included in this category. This system has the advantage of calculating the Arcs of Direction and equating them by the Sun’s true motion at the same time. If it be contended that the arcs thus obtained are not as exact as those obtained by spherical trigonometry, inasmuch as they only measure to the nearest year of fulfilment, I would ask how many Arcs calculated by the latter method find fulfilment at the fractional part of the year represented by the minutes of a degree? "Zadkiel" (Commander Morrison, R.N.) frankly admitted that the influence of an Arc of Direction extended over a considerable period and that it was brought into effect by the concurrence of Secondary or Lunar Directions, transits and eclipses. Hence the experiences of "Zadkiel" and myself are entirely in accord, and I have no hesitation in saying that all the periodic changes in life may be accurately foretold by reference to the Primary Arcs formed by the diurnal progress of the planets; while the precise time of the crises and the specific nature of events may be known by reference to the radical import of the planets involved, and to the aspects formed by the Moon in its progress. The PRIMARY DIRECTIONS, therefore, will comprise :1. Aspects formed by the progressed Midheaven to the radical and progressed places of the planets. 2. Similar aspects formed by the progressed Ascendant. 3. Similar aspects formed by the progressed Sun. 4. Aspects formed by the progressed planets to the Midheaven, Ascendant, Sun and Moon in the Radix. It is thus possible at any time to determine the influences operating in a horoscope. Let us take those of King George V in the year 1911.

AMO Section 4 Chapter 2

CHAPTER II EXAMPLE OF DIRECTIONS Primary Directions in Horoscope, 3rd June, 1865 at 1.18 a.m., London. Arc for 1911 = 46 days, or July 19, 1865. h. m. Midheaven, at noon 18-7-’65 Time since noon

7 49 10 13 18

Equation for 13 h. 18 m. at 10"

0

2 12 _

Midheaven progressed

s.

_

21

_

9 22

This gives the Midheaven in 15° and reference to the Tables of the Houses for London shows the 21°. The Sun’s progressed position is 27°. Ascendant then to be in We thus have the following positions :Midheaven P. Ascendant P.

15° - ab 21° - ab

Sun P.

27°-

Sun R.

12° - ad

R- ad

R, ab P, ab

P - ad R,

R, ad R,

R. R.

R. P.

[Note.- Progressed positions are marked P, and Radical positions R.] It will be seen, then, that the Midheaven is departing from a good aspect of the

R and in 1911 will be

AMO Section 4 Chapter 2

exactly in opposition to

P.

Observe that at birth was on the cusp of the 2nd House, and has a distinctly financial bearing on the destiny. Here it opposes the Midheaven. Hence there will be disquieting developments in financial circles, and the fiscal position will be such as to create anxiety throughout the country. Taurus, wherein Mercury was at birth, rules Ireland, and Leo, where the planet is situate in the progress, rules Australia. We may thus expect many governmental anxieties to arise from these parts of the King’s dominions. The ASCENDANT is approaching the good aspect of Saturn, which will contribute to the advantage of the Queen at a near date. The semi-square of Venus about the same time - namely, three years hence will bring a bereavement; while the opposition of Jupiter a year later will produce losses through the interference of a foreign Power and troubles in Spain (ruled by Sagittarius). The SUN is in semi-square aspect to its own place, which disposes to discord in the capital and threatens some unpleasant incidents in the course of short journeys. There may also be dissensions among the King’s relatives. But the approach of Venus to the radical place of the Sun will largely operate to forfend against all evils of health or estate, and will in due course contribute to the King’s revenue. The PRIMARY DIRECTIONS are therefore mainly beneficent. It will be seen that King Edward VII died under the influence of , , , and Ascendant , , and a transit of Uranus over the opposition R in this horoscope. of Sun P, following the lunar eclipse of the 4th June, 1909, in opposition to the A glance at the Tables of Houses will reveal the fact that the Ascendant is approaching 29°, in which degree the malefic planet is situate at birth; while a cursory view of the Ephemeris for 1865 shows the and will Sun at the same time close to the place of Mars in the horoscope of birth, and as both P it may be inferred with some certainty that the then be in the early degrees of Leo in transit over health and fortunes of the King will then be jeopardized. This calculation brings out the year 1918 as critical. The Midheaven of the horoscope will then be in the 23rd degree of Aquarius where is in transit, the Ascendant in Gemini 29° being in the longitude held by at the King’s birth.

AMO Section 4 Chapter 3

CHAPTER III SECONDARY DIRECTIONS IT has been seen that the Primary Directions give the general tone of the life at any specified period without definition of time or circumstance. The features are lacking; we have only the general outline. It is to the Lunar Directions, the aspects formed month by month in the Moon’s progress after birth, that we must look for the details - or at least some considerable part of them. The method employed in calculating the Secondary or Lunar arcs is as follows :Take the age of the subject at the commencement of any secular year, in years, months and days. Call the years days, multiply the months by 2 and call them hours, and the days by 4 and call them minutes. Thus :yrs. mths.

days

1911

1

1

=

1865

6

3

= 3rd June, 1865.

_

_

_

45

6

28

2

4

_

_

13h.

52m.

1

18 a.m.

_

_

115

10 a.m.

12

0

_

_

_

Add birth time

To convert -

=

1st Jan., 1911.

45y. 6m. 28d.

AMO Section 4 Chapter 3

3 1

10 p.m.

When this amount exceeds 24 hours, subtract 24 hours and add one day to the first column.

We therefore add 45 days to the date of birth, and take the Moon’s place at 3.10 p.m. on that day. From 3rd to end of June 1865 = 27 days, and 18 more will make 45 days = 18th July. The

's longitude on this day at 3.10 p.m. =

4° 14’.

The 's diurnal motion at this time is 13° 45’which we divide by 12 = 1° 9’ nearly, since 1 day = 1 year, and 2 hours = 1 month. The 's directional motion is therefore 1° 9’. We can now prepare a table for the whole year, as follows, filling in the progressed places of the planets, thus :-

's aspects to the radical and

1911 Jan. 4°

14’

Feb.

5

23

March

6

32

April

7

41

May

8

50

June

9

59

R

/5

R R

July 11

8

P

Aug. 12

17

R

Sept. 13

26

Oct. 14

35

Nov. 15

44

Dec. 16

53

P

/7/1/3 /3 /4

P P

/6 / 12

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The positions of the planets are marked R (radical) and P (progressive), together with the signs they are in and the House they occupy in the Radix or Progress, as the case may be. It will be observed that the completes its course and comes again to its own place at the nativity after 27 days, when it begins again to form the same series of aspects to the radical places of the planets, as in the preceding revolution. But the solar aspects will have changed entirely and do not repeat themselves for 365 years. Meanwhile the Progress has carried the planets into different signs, and in some cases into different Houses also; giving them new meanings and significations and bringing them into play under entirely different relative conditions. The interpretation of the above directions must have reference to the nature of the planet, the House and the sign it is in. Thus:February will be likely to develop martial stimulus; increase of military strength; success in arms if engaged at this time; successful projects and enterprises; colonial expansion and development; military honours may be given to a Prince of the Royal House. May brings some danger of indisposition to the Queen. At this time treaties are rescinded or impeded. June brings naval honours, development of the marine interests; favourable interventions; some pageants, festivities or celebrations; a prosperous and enjoyable period; felicitations and pleasures. July is unfortunate for journeys by short sea passage. The health of His Majesty may show signs of reaction, inducing a feverish habit and some passing derangement of the digestive organs. August gives opportunity for beneficial changes and journeys, honours, éclat, conventions, etc., in the capital. September gives activity, change of venue, successful journeys, beneficial administration of property. It is particularly to be noted that the Lunar Directions .are subsidiary to the Primary Directions in force, and can only operate to produce marked effects when in agreement. When contrary to the Primaries they may pass without appreciable variation of the fortunes. The tendency indicated by the Lunar Directions will, however, be sufficiently in evidence to warrant attention, even when at variance with the Primaries. A good period under Primary influences cannot, however, be negatived by Secondaries, but only temporarily interrupted during the sway of the adverse Lunar configuration. Thus in the Royal Horoscope we find coming to the Sun’s radical place, and in June 1911 conjunction . The summer season will therefore in every way comport with the auspicious influence of the planet Venus.

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Observe, also, that in every case what is not potential cannot be expressed from the horoscope; nor can the planets dispose after a manner that is unnatural to the subject, but in all cases the planets evoke that which is potential in the character and possible in the circumstances. It is in this sense that character and environment shape our destiny under the action of the celestial modifiers.

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CHAPTER IV TRANSITS AND ECLIPSES THE Transits of the major planets , , , , , are of great importance. They are capable of interfering with the fulfilment of any measure of good or ill fortune indicated by the "Directions." The most marked effects follow upon transits that are in agreement with the nature of current directions. The word "effects" is of course privileged : a better term is indications. The reason for this is that a planetary transit or direction may operate in the horoscope of a man to indicate the death of his father, but it cannot be said with any show of reason that it caused the death, and it is an open question whether similar positions in the horoscope of the parent can be said to "cause" his demise. It is, at all events, a point on which I am not prepared to dogmatize. Be that as it may, it is certainly the fact that the transits of the major planets are of singular value in this system of prognostics. The points of the horoscope to be regarded in this connection are the longitudes of the Midheaven, Ascendant, Sun and Moon, both in the Radix and Progress. The portent of such a transit must be derived from the House in which the planet may be found: (a) in the Radix, when the transit is over a radical point; (b) in the Progress, when it is over a progressive point. The stationary positions of the planets when coinciding with the significant points of the horoscope are of special significance and have, in the estimation of most astrologers, a value equal to Primary Directions. The transits in the Royal Horoscope for 1911 are as shown in the following schedule :-

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The most important of these are , , P, which is in operation more or less throughout the year, and R in October. These will undoubtedly have a disturbing the stationary position of Mars close to the effect on the affairs of the Empire, and as is in Capricorn it is to be judged that India will be the scene of many political upheavals. Affairs of State will not go smoothly in the Peninsula, and the political insurgent will be to the fore. Foreign affairs, denoted by the 9th House of the Progress, will give rise to many surprising developments. The transits of Mars are less significant, being of short duration, but the stationary position is very critical and disposes to strained relationships and frequently threatens war. In the interpretation of planetary positions in a Royal Horoscope it will be found that a more than personal signification must be given to them; for the horoscope of a king is representative and focal as much as personal. ECLIPSES The lunations or conjunctions and syzyges of the luminaries recur on the same day every 19 years. During the course of the year the lunations gain from 10 to 11 days upon the calendar. But whether a new Moon constitutes an eclipse of the , or a full Moon an eclipse of the Moon, will depend upon the nearness of the Moon to its Node at the time. The node is that point where the 's path crosses the ecliptic or path of the Sun.

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From most ancient times it has been known that eclipses recur after a period of 18 years and 10 to 11 days. Consequently, we know that the eclipse cycle is carried forward through the zodiac at the rate of about 10° in 18 years, and that the same eclipse recurs after an interval of 651 years, when the eclipses will fall in the same part of the zodiac. Eclipses falling on the significant points of a horoscope portend evil. Affecting the Midheaven, they are disastrous to the position, honour and credit of the subject. On the Sun they threaten male life, and on the Moon female life; and are dangerous to the parents or such as may be of the indicated sex, as well as to the subject of that sex. On the Ascendant, eclipses threaten the health of the subject. Falling on the places of the planets they show hurts of the nature determined by the planet and affect the affairs governed by the House in which it falls. Thus in 1909 there was an eclipse of the Sun in 26°, which fell in opposition to the Ascendant of King Edward’s horoscope, and in the same month there was a total eclipse of the Moon in opposition to the place of the Sun in the horoscope of the Prince of Wales. Thus King Edward’s health was threatened, and danger to the father was shown in the Prince’s horoscope. Eclipses do not operate at once, but are brought into effect at a time proportionate to their distance from the horizon at the time of the ecliptic conjunction of the luminaries, and are subsidiary to the Primary Directions in force at the period. LUNATIONS have a current influence in regard to the events likely to happen during the succeeding month. The lunation falling in good aspect to the radical places of the planets shows a successful month, the benefit coming from the source indicated by the House in which the planet was at birth. The positions of the planets at a lunation in regard to the positions of its significators (Midheaven, Ascendant, Sun and Moon) at birth, are of great importance, and can freely be used as indicators of events during the succeeding month. THE DIURNAL HOROSCOPE This scheme is set each day for the hour and minute of the birth, so that the Sun is always at the same distance from the meridian as at the nativity. The days on which the malefic planets cross the angles of the figure, and those on which the radical places of the malefics similarly affect the meridian and horizon, may be regarded as of evil import. Thus on the 6th May, 1910, the diurnal horoscope of King George V showed

5° on the Midheaven

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and 5° rising. Mercury on that day was in 5°, and therefore in opposition to the Midheaven, 5° was setting, in opposition, therefore, to the Ascendant of the while the place of Mars at birth in was in the 5th House, which is the 8th from the 10th, diurnal horoscope. At the birth of King George showing the death of the father. King Edward died near midnight of that day, and this sad event was very clearly anticipated and predicted. In King Edward’s diurnal horoscope for this date (Neptune) was setting.

was culminating and the radical place of

The diurnal horoscope may often be used to correct the time of birth, when it is not accurately known, providing that the exact date of some important event is given. Thus on the 24th June, 1902, when King Edward was suddenly taken ill on the eve of the projected Coronation ceremony, Mars in the diurnal horoscope occupied the Midheaven, and from this circumstance - taken in conjunction with the recent eclipse of the Sun in opposition to the Sun’s place at the nativity - the opinion was freely expressed that the intended ceremony would not take place then. PLANETARY CONJUNCTIONS Great importance is attached to the conjunctions of the major planets, and it may be said that no phenomenon of this kind ever happens but it is attended by great mutations and upheavals in the political, religious and physical worlds. The conjunctions of Uranus with Neptune recur in about 170 years, the last being that in Capricornus in 1821, and the next, which will occur in the same sign, does not happen until 1991. The conjunctions of and the next being in the sign

occur every 46th year, having taken place in 1806, 1851 - 52, and 1897, in 1942.

Those of Saturn and Jupiter occur every 20th year, e. g. 1821, 1842, 1861, 1881, 1901, 1921. The conjunctions of the two malefic planets and , which being of opposite nature appear to produce very remarkable and violent effects, are worth more than cursory notice. They almost constitute chronometric or historical pointers. Thus in November 1897 there was a conjunction of and in , the ruling sign of Spain, and in April of the following year Spain was involved in the disastrous war with the United States of America, by which Spain lost the last of its foreign possessions in the Philippines and was heavily indemnified. In December of 1899 another conjunction occurred and the following year King Humboldt of Italy was assassinated. Predictions of the HispanoAmerican War and of the Red Hand in Italy may be found in

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"Coming Events" for the years 1897 and 1899. At the end of 1901 there was a conjunction in the sign Capricornus. In December 1903 the conjunction took place in Aquarius, the ruling sign of Russia, and was immediately followed by the Russo-Japanese War in which Russia, represented by Aquarius, was defeated. In December 1905 the conjunction again fell in Aquarius, and was followed by the terrible massacre on "Red Sunday" at Moscow. In December 1907 the conjunction was in Pisces, the ruling sign of Portugal, which was followed by the assassination of the King and Crown Prince of Portugal on February 3rd, 1908. In December 1909 the conjunction took place in , the ruling sign of England. The death of King Edward VII followed in May 1910, after a great political crisis in the beginning of the year. The next conjunction will fall in the ruling sign of Ireland, in the month of August. The last such conjunction took place in 1881, the year of the Phoenix Park murders. Who can doubt, in the face of such evidence as the above, that a period of great distress and violence will ensue? In the year 1913 the greatest conflagration that has taken place since the Great Fire will probably be recorded, for then the malefic planets are conjoined in the ruling sign of London. A great upheaval will also doubtless take place in America. It will be observed that the conjunctions of sign further advanced in the zodiac.

and

take place every second year, when they are one

I find a specific reference to this phenomenon in the Works of Sir George Wharton, edited by John Gadbury, wherein Wharton devotes an essay to Ireland’s War, and this event was referred to the conjunction of Saturn and Mars in 14° 27’, on the 12th June, 1646 (O.S.). In 1648 the conjunction fell upon the 28th June (O.S.), and was in II (Gemini),the ruling sign of London. The fate of King Charles I and the Irish Rebellion are in strict astrological accord with these positions of the malefic planets. In 1650 the conjunction fell in Cancer, the ruling sign of Scotland, and immediately Cromwell invaded Scotland, which country had espoused the cause of Prince Charles, and in event the Reformer accounted for 3,000 killed and 10,000 prisoners. In Holland, also ruled by Cancer, there were at this time terrible inundations, predicted by Mr. Culpepper. Dating back to 1644, when the conjunction fell in Aries, the ruling sign of England, we find the decisive battle of Marston Moor, the bloodiest of the whole Revolution in England, in conformity with the canons of astrology and the reputation of the malefic planets. It will be seen that the conjunctions of the two malefics produce sharp and sudden calamities, and as

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"chronocraters" they form a valuable feature in celestial revolutions. After 265 years the conjunction occurs about the same place in the zodiac. Thus in parallel we have the following :1644-1909 Conjunction in Aries 1646-1911 Conjunction in Taurus 1648-1913 Conjunction in Gemini 1650-1915 Conjunction in Cancer, etc., etc. The effects of the conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter last for 20 years, those of Saturn and Mars only two years; yet the latter are mostly to be feared, because of their calamitous nature, their swiftness and violence. Great mutations and reforms are inaugurated under the influence of conjunction , conjunctions , and the effects are seldom religious and sectarian strife generally follows upon conjunction is of a violent, prolonged beyond two years in any one place; while the influence of revolutionary and sanguinary nature. It is rather in the hope of stimulating research than of presenting a complete case for astrology that the foregoing notes have been introduced to these pages, Michael Nostradamus was a master of planetary periods, and his prophecies are among the most remarkable on record. CONCLUSION The doctrine of nativities as outlined in the foregoing pages will be found one of the most fascinating and instructive studies to which the mind of man can be directed. Needless to say, the conviction of the fact of interplanetary action and that of planetary action in human life cannot fail to open up new views of life and to stimulate deeper thought concerning the nature, origin and destiny of the soul of man. Other aspects of the same subject are to be found in State Astrology, which concerns the destiny of nations and kingdoms, the condition of the people, and matters of a general or public interest. This phase of astrology is chiefly confined to the writers of almanacs. Astro-meteorology is now in a position to successfully compete with any system of weather prediction based upon observations. Although inadequate to an unerring forecast of the daily changes of weather, it can with great accuracy afford remarkable prediction of storm periods and earthquakes, and has the advantage of not being limited to current observations. The storm and earthquake periods are given in the almanacs a year in advance of the event. The general condition of the weather over any period can also be given with much accuracy. Horary Astrology is a method of divination based upon the fact of planetary influence, and the sympathy

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existing between the constituents of the system to which we belong. A figure is set for the moment of a discovery, the receipt of a letter or message, the origination of any affair whatsoever, or the moment of an impression concerning which the mind may be anxious. The positions and aspects of the planets are then consulted with a view to determine the outcome of such a matter. It was used as a system by William Lilly with much success, and is still in vogue to some extent among modern astrologers. To know the measure of one’s soul in the universe, to see the end from the beginning, and to follow the line of least resistance - this is, in brief, the purport of Astrology.

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CHAPTER V MUNDANE ASTROLOGY THIS branch of the subject has for a considerable period been left in the hands of the almanac-makers; but there is no doubt whatever that anciently it held a place of great importance inasmuch as the rulers were in the habit of looking to their state astrologers for intelligence concerning the welfare of the country and the people. The astrologer was expected to give timely warning of eclipses, of the probable condition and yield of the crops, the danger of intestine or foreign warfare, and other matters of moment to the conduct of public affairs. In the Historical Classic of China, it is said that HI and Ho, the Observer and Recorder at the Observatory of Pekin, failed in their duty to give due warning of a partial eclipse of the Sun in B.C. 2154, which occurred in the constellation Fang (Caput Scorpionis), when Chung-Kung ruled the Yellow Empire; in consequence of which the whole country was thrown into a state of confusion. The penalty prescribed by the Book of Regulations was death, and this sentence was duly carried out, it having been proved that the officials named had neglected their duties and had been addicted to drink. Thus it is said :-" At that time HI and Ho corrupted their principles and abandoned themselves to wine; they neglected their offices, forsook their posts, began to confuse the celestial laws and ignored their functions." The eclipse, which took place on the 12th October, 2154 b.c., at about 7.34 a.m. at Pekin, is of considerable astronomical interest, being probably the earliest phenomenon of the kind on record. It is confirmed by Tang in the Kang-Muh. The Earl of Yin at this time proclaimed the virtue of ancient rulers in observing celestial portents, and it is evident that they regulated their affairs by astrological precepts. They recognized the scientific importance of eclipses and made extensive observations of the effects which followed them. They argued from physical effects to moral causes, and from physical causes to moral effects, and held a rational astrology as an essential part of their system of government. In the Babylonian Empire also, and in India under the Râjâs, the astrologer held an important position in the affairs of state; and even at this day, when civilization pretends to be above the need of such instruction, we find the Râjâs still retain their court astrologers. A capable people can deal with difficulties as they arise, but a wise nation would already be prepared. The day cannot be far distant when this fact will be brought home to us, for, as the astute Lord Beaconsfield once said, "Nothing is so likely to happen as the unexpected." In Mundane Astrology judgment is made from the positions of the celestial bodies in relation to any place or centre of government at the time of an eclipse, a great planetary conjunction, a lunation, or a solar ingress. The Houses bear the same general significance as in the horoscope of an individual, the 1st House being

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representative of the people and the 10th of the government; the other Houses being in similar manner related to the same things as are denoted in the individual case. Thus :The 1st House denotes the people and their general condition and mood. The 2nd House: home trade, the money market. The 3rd House: railways, bridges, canals, postal service. The 4th House: farming and mining interests, the crops, coal pits, quarries, etc; the Opposition party in Parliament. The 5th House : the rising generation; playhouses, sports ; speculative interests, the Stock Exchange; dependencies, colonies, etc. The 6th House: the public health, sanitation, food-stuffs; the national service, army, navy and police. The 7th House: foreign relations; belligerent powers; treaties. The 8th House: deaths, probates, losses. The 9th House: foreign lands; the high seas; ecclesiastical and legal professions; religious affairs. The 10th House: the King and his government; the prestige of the country. The 11th House: the Exchequer; allies of the country. The 12th House: prisons, asylums and hospitals, places of detention ;- the enemies within the camp. If the figure is drawn for a solar ingress, the position and aspects of the Sun must be taken chief notice of, especially those aspects about to be formed. If a lunation, the Moon’s place is the centre of influence, as also at an eclipse. At a planetary conjunction the position and aspects of the conjoined bodies must be taken chief notice of. All eclipses fulfil their portents within a year, but the effects are frequently enduring. According to ancient writers, the effect of a solar eclipse will endure for as many years as there are digits of the solar disc obscured, the totality being 10 digits. The magnitude of a solar eclipse being 7.50, the effects will, by this computation, endure for seven and a half years. Similarly the magnitude of a lunar eclipse will determine the number of months the effects will endure. But I have found that a crisis directly due to the eclipse, and signified by it, will take place at a point of time denoted by the distance of the luminary from the horizon it last crossed. The time of sunrise being known, and also the time of a visible eclipse, the difference in hours and minutes divided by 2 will give

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the number of months and days from the date of eclipse when the crisis occurs. If the eclipse be invisible because of it taking place at night, the time of sunset must be taken from the time of the eclipse and the difference divided by 2 will give the months and days which must elapse before the chief effects are seen. The Moon’s eclipses are similarly dealt with, but the time of the Moon’s rising and setting must be taken as the basis of the calculation. The chief effects may be expected in that part of the world where the luminary is immediately over head at the time of greatest obscuration; but also those places at which the eclipsed body is just rising, setting, or on the lower meridian will share in the adverse conditions indicated by the general horoscope for that time and place. At an ingress, as that of the Sun to the cardinal signs, the effects indicated usually come to pass when the Sun in its progress through the zodiac comes to the aspects of the several planets in the horoscope for the ingress. Thus when a planet is in good aspect to the Sun at an ingress, or promising some good by its position and aspects, such will come into effect when the Sun reaches the conjunction, sextile or trine aspect of such planet; and vice versa when evil is threatened. Earthquakes usually follow immediately on an eclipse, especially in those parts where the luminary is at the zenith at the time of eclipse. Recurrences may be looked for when one of the major planets passes the ecliptic longitude of the luminary or that of a major planet at the time of the eclipse. Whatever may be said of the claims of this subject it is beyond dispute that some of the most remarkable events in the history of our times have been accurately predicted by modern astrologers. The present writer is responsible for the successful prediction of the following among other events within recent times :- The Chino-Japanese War and the outbreak in Korea; the Russo-Japanese War; the HispanoAmerican War; the Leiter Wheat Corner; the Russian insurrection; the South African War; the Portuguese Rebellion and the revolutionary attempt to end the dynasty by the assassination of the King of Portugal and the Crown Prince; the General Election in the United Kingdom and the Tariff Reform effort in 1910; the death of King Edward VII. It is within our experience also that the principles of astrology have been successfully applied to Stock Exchange fluctuations and other speculative matters; and indeed there are few departments of life in which astrology cannot be employed with conspicuous success.

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CHAPTER VI OTHER METHODS HORARY ASTROLOGY THE name horary (hora, an hour) is given to that section of the science which is applied to the resolution of questions which may arise in the mind. A figure of the heavens is erected for the time at which news comes to hand, concerning which the mind is troubled and anxious to know the upshot; or the time a proposal is made; or that at which a person sets forth upon a journey or a ship sets sail; the moment a thing is discovered to be lost, and other similar contingencies. In all these schemes the 1st House and the rising sign denote the querent or consultant, and the matter inquired about must be referred to its proper House, as set forth in the preceding first section. The position and aspects of the ruler of the sign occupying that House, and its relations to the ruler of the Ascendant, enable us to determine what is the disposition and course of the matter and how it will affect the consultant. In the pursuit of this branch of astrology, numerous books have been written since the days of William Lilly, who wrote in the 17th century, under the patronage of Sir Elias Ashmole, his famous work Christian Astrology. Such works- being always accessible to the student, there is no need to enter fully into an exposition of the principles of Horary Astrology. The terms peculiar to this system clearly indicate an Arabian origin, and there can be little doubt that the art was extensively followed by them to the exclusion of Genethliacal Astrology, which began to assume a coherent form under the hand of Claudius Ptolemy, the famous geographer and astronomer of Alexandria, who wrote his Tetrabiblos (or "Four Books on the Influence of the Stars ") in the 3rd century A.D. Many exponents of astrology prefer the horary method, because it allows fuller play to the intuitive faculty, and is less constrained by the rigid rules of art than the more precise and scientific doctrine of nativities. The whole system of Horary Astrology rests upon the occult sympathy existing between man and nature, so that the same influences which dispose the mind to the formulation of a question may be said to determine its answer. I am quite convinced from experience that there is much that is both fictitious and erroneous in Horary Astrology as expounded, and likewise that there is much truth in the general statement that a figure of the heavens set for the moment of an initiation will determine the result. KABALISTIC ASTROLOGY

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In this system the numerical value of the name of a person enters as a factor with the date of birth into the calculation of the horoscope. The Christian and surnames having been converted into the equivalent numerical value, they are added to the sign and degree of the zodiac held by the Sun at the time of birth, and the result is a key number which, when added to the year of birth and reduced to a unit value, gives the sum of the horoscope answering to one of the twenty-two major Arcana of the Tarot, from which prognostics are drawn concerning the life and character of the subject. Entry is then made into the circle of that planet ruling the year at a point corresponding to the Sun’s position in the zodiac, and progression is made by means of the several values of the sum of the horoscope, the surname, the Christian names, the position of the Sun, and the year of birth, each of which yields a point corresponding to a planet in a Sign, and thus the horoscope is completed. The system requires that the Ascendant of the horoscope is in that sign occupied by the Sun. The measure of time is made by profection, i. e. the successive rising of the Signs, the Ascendant passing through one Sign each year; and also by the annual conjunctions in the Alfridary, an example of which is appended. The system has been thoroughly explained in my Kabalistic Astrology, to which I must refer the student for further particulars. CHINESE ASTROLOGY The Chinese divide the heavens into eight sections. They draw lots by means of reeds, after the manner of the geomantic system, there being twelve lots, eight of which are included in the figure and four are stationed at the cardinal points. They then judge the figure according to the principles of astrology, inasmuch as each of the symbols represents a certain planetary influence and each section of the figure has relation to certain departments of civil and political life. The more modern practitioners divide the heavens into twelve parts corresponding to the twelve asterisms of the zodiac, and employ also the planetary bodies. At best the method amounts to little more than a process of divination, with the signs and symbols as pointers to guide the intuition. HINDU ASTROLOGY The Hindus employ the same signs and planets as ourselves, but they add also Rahu and Ketu, the Dragon’s Head and Tail, investing them with specific influences and ascribing a periodic rule to them. The signs, although bearing the names equivalent to ours, are counted by the natural asterisms and not from the vernal equinox. The Sun’s entry into Aries (Meshâm of their zodiac) takes place about 20 days after our equinox, which is the amount due to precession since the two zodiacs coincided in the year AD. 498. The signs and planets are as follows :Meshâm

Tulâm

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Vrishabha

Vrischika

Mithuna

Dhanû

Katakam

Makaram

Simha

Kumbha

Kanya

Mîna

S’ani, Guru or Brihaspati, Kuja or Angarika, North Node - Rahu, South Node - Ketu.

Surya,

S’ukra,

Budhan,

Chandra,

The measure of time is effected by counting from the asterism or nakshatram occupied by the Moon at birth. Each asterism is under the rule of one of the nine "planets," and the 27 lunar stations are thus apportioned to them at the rate of three nakshatrams of 13° 20’ each to every planet. The whole circle is divided into 120 years, the successive periods of the planets being: North Node - 18 years, 16 years, 19 years, 17 years, South Node - 7 years, 20 years, 6 years, 10 years, 7 years - in all 120 years. Thus if one were born when the Moon was in the middle of the asterism ruled by North Node , which has a period of 18 years, he would continue under that "star" for 9 years, and in his 10th year (Jupiter), under whose influence he would continue for 16 years and then would enter the period of pass to Saturn. There are many ramifications of this system, and those who would study it more closely are recommended to read Brihat Jâtaka, by Varaha Mihira, Parâshara-hora and the other works of Paràshara, and the Brihat Samhitá, together with other works more or less accessible to English readers, and on sale at most Indian booksellers’. ALFRIDARIES There are Alfridaries of all sorts in existence, each adapted to the system from which it is evolved. An example of one from the Hebraic system is appended. The idea involved is that the celestial bodies rule the life in rotation, beginning with the . The rotation of the planets in the reverse direction at the same time brings another influence to bear upon the life, so that at any given period of the life there is a double influence in force, the combined effects of which are said to determine the course of events in a general sense. A "diurnal" horoscope in this sense is one that is generated from the Sun, whose position is supposed to be on the upper meridian; and consequently any birth taking place between noon and midnight is under the Sun and takes its origin from the left side of the Alfridary; while, on the contrary, a Moon or nocturnal birth is one that happens between midnight and noon, and this takes its origin and course on the

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right side of the Alfridary. The planets jointly ruling any year of the life are taken account of according to their natural relations in the astrological system, and particularly in the horoscope of the birth, and prognostications are made in accord with these indications.

A person born at 4 p.m. is under the Moon for 7 years, in conjunction successively with the Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter and mars, for 1 year each; then passes to the 7-year period of Mercury, under the same order of annual conjunctions. At 46 he is in the period of Saturn, and the sub-period of the Moon. A person born at 2 a.m. will be under the Moon for 7 years, with the annual conjunction of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, and Jupiter and Saturn in rotation. At 46 he is in the period of Saturn, and the sub-period of the Sun. These examples will no doubt serve for the use of the table in any case that may be required. Ptolemy made use of a species of Aifridary in which he ascribed the "seven ages of man" to the rule of the planets in the following order :- the Moon 4 years, Mercury 10 years, Venus 8 years, the Sun 19 years, Mars 15 years, Jupiter 12 years, Saturn 30 years; and these he combined with the ruler of the "profectional ascendant" to obtain the annual conjunctions. Shakespeare makes use of the above "seven ages of man" in his play As You Like It, where the melancholy Jacques is represented as saying :"All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances,

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And each man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages." These ages are enumerated, and are found to correspond to: the infant, the school-boy, the lover, the soldier, the justice, the lean and slippered pantaloon, ending the story with the senile paralytic. It will be noticed that the Sun period is omitted, the manly ambitions generated under the solar influence being given definition and focus in the period of Mars. According to Ptolemy, a person born with Aries rising would be under the Moon and Mars for the first year, then the Moon and Venus, then Moon and Mercury, and end the fourth year under the double influence of the Moon. The fifth year would come under and ; the sixth under 's double influence, the seventh year under and , the eighth under and , and so on; each year being governed primarily by the planet of the period and secondarily by the ruler of the profectional rising sign. Aifridaries exist among the Hindus and Mohammedans, and are in much repute with the Arabs.

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PALMISTRY CHAPTER I TYPES OF HANDS THE science of Palmistry, with its two divisions of Cheirognomy and Cheiromancy, properly belongs to the domain of Occultism in the sense that has already been indicated. Although in its popular application it is certainly to be regarded as a means of divination, yet it is not dependent on the use of the automatic faculty but upon an empirical knowledge of the significance attaching to the lines of the hand. In this way it may be regarded as upon the same foundation as the science of Astrology, and although it cannot be said to have attained the same degree of development, it does nevertheless hold a bona fide certificate for a certain measure of reliability, and therefore warrants our consideration. The outlines of the subject will probably suffice to indicate the methods employed, and will serve to guide the student in his critical work of testing and proving the claims of Palmistry for himself. CHEIROGNOMY is that section of Palmistry which deals with character and aptitude. The shape, texture and development of the hand as a whole is consulted for this purpose. The Three Primary Types of hand are the Conical, the Square, and the Spatulate. The Conical hand is that in which the fingertips are tapered and pointed, the nails being of the filbert shape, smooth and well arched. The fingers from the root to the tips gradually taper, the flesh being smooth and the joints small and well covered. With this type of hand there is to be found a love of art and adornment; the subject is fond of embellishments, and possesses what is known as the florid style. The tastes are refined, and the nature very sensitive to environment. The beautiful and good-looking, the pleasant and agreeable attract him rather than the useful and practical. The subject is little suited to the work-a-day world or to the strenuous competition of business life. Sports have no attraction for him, and even domestic duties are positively repulsive. Yet the owner of the conical hand will be found to make much of culture, refinement and good taste. You will find many of these people among the cultivated flowers of social life and in the artistic professions. The conical hand denotes neatness, order, love of music, flowers, scents, brightness, gaiety, beauty. It is essentially Venusian, and may easily run to self-indulgence and to licence; but all that it pretends to is

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good taste, refinement and sensitiveness. It lives in the emotional and psychic. Its subjects are intuitive, impressionable, capricious, and frequently impulsive and inspirational. Feeling predominates over judgement. It is incapable of the mathematical faculty, and is often illogical. It is not found in connection with the exact sciences, nor any handicraft except millinery; but art, music and the drama are well represented by this type. The Square hand is usually large and broad, the finger-tips are square, the thumb of fair size; and there is a degree of hardness in the palm. This hand belongs to those who have a love of order, neatness, punctuality and decision. The emotional and artistic are not so much in evidence, but the logical and the mathematical faculties are prominent characteristics. In art they are disposed to exact methods rather than inspirational effects, and are critical of form rather than colour. Justice is a strong point with them. Exactness, precision and deliberation are essential qualities of this type. They are not carried away by their feelings, nor are they brusque or churlish, but observe generally the path of moderation in all things. They can, however, be very critical, and may even appear narrow-minded on account of a lack of elasticity in their nature. They are conservative and not very readily open to the reception of new views or doctrines. Self-restraint, caution, method and patience are the chief business qualifications, and this type of people are capable of gaining their ends by industry and staying-power rather than by ambitious ventures or by a tour de force. They have few friends, but frequently have long friendships for one or two of a congenial type. They make good lawyers, accountants, bankers and secretaries, and many of this type are to be found in the educational world and in responsible positions of the commercial world. The Spatulate hand is known by the spade-like tips of the fingers, which broaden out from the joint to the extremity, the hand being fairly large, firm and muscular. People with this type of hand are possessed of practical ambitions. They are essentially matter-of-fact and utilitarian, and are generally hard workers, with a turn for mechanics and handicrafts. They are possessed of much determination and grit, and can undertake pioneer work. When musical they prefer instrumentation, and the practical side of art also attracts them, the applied arts being especially followed by them. Sculpture, mechanics, engineering, building and architecture claim many representatives of this type. The character is honest and straightforward, the manner brusque and sometimes churlish. These people are capable of forcing their way forward and making headway against all obstacles. They are not inventors, but are very capable agents and exploiters of new ideas. They stand for the practical as against the theoretical, but nevertheless they would be of little use without the man of ideas behind them. MIXED TYPES It necessarily follows that beside the Three Primary Types indicated above there are many hands which are a blend of two or all of them. There are hands in which one finger is square, another conical, and the other spatulate. In a case like this a little attention should be given to the predominating type, and also the

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thumb should be consulted. The thumb being short in the first phalanx, from the tip downwards towards the root, shows a not very pronounced type of mind. Such show aptitude in carrying out the ideas and orders of others; but to be inventors and leaders there must be a good length of the first and second phalanges. A small thumb or at least a small first phalanx with a mixed type of fingers - indicates a useful servant but an indifferent master, and one of no originality or decision. Versatility is the chief asset of this mixed type of hand, and such people frequently change their pursuits and take on a new set of ideas with every fresh suit of clothes or change of circumstance. What is called the Philosophic hand is known by the protruding joints of the fingers, the long middle finger, and the well-developed thumb. It shows a love of philosophy, a desire to know the "reason why" and the "way how" a thing happens. It is concerned chiefly with the imponderables in Nature, and has a taste for metaphysics, logic, and analytical methods. They love truth for its own sake and beauty on account of its harmonious elements. They are sincere, care little for the practical aspects of life, and are quite content if they can find a reason for things as they are. They are discoverers of laws and principles, elaborators of philosophical systems; they are very rarely practical or ambitious in a worldly sense; but are capable of dying for the sake of their beliefs. The Psychic hand is allied to the conical, but the palm is long and narrow, the flesh soft and the fingers long and tapering; while the thumb is very pointed and small, but well formed. This hand denotes a sensitive, impressionable nature, fine nervous organism, quick intuitive mind and an impractical, idealistic temperament. Mediums, psychometrists and inspirational writers are the most representative of this type. It is frequently found allied to the artistic temperament, and it has all the flexibility, weakness and enthusiasm of the psychic nature. The type of hand1 referred to is well portrayed by Burne-Jones in his figure studies.

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CHAPTER II THE MOUNTS OR CUSHIONS THE ancients have allocated the planets to the several Mounts, or Cushions, which are to be found in every well-developed hand. These Mounts, and the planets associated with them, are as follows 1. The Mount of Jupiter lies at the root of the forefinger (called the Index, because it is that used for indicating or pointing). 2. The Mount of Saturn at the root of the second finger. 3. The Mount of Apollo, or the Sun, at the root of the third finger or anularis (so called because it is the ring finger). 4. The Mount of Mercury at the root of the little finger or auricularis. 5. The Mount of Mars lies below the Mount of Mercury on the "percussion" of the hand, between the lines of the Heart and the Head (which see). 6. The Mount of the Moon is below the Mount of Mars, between the extremity of the Head line and the wrist. 7. The Mount of Venus is at the root of the thumb, between the second joint of the thumb and the wrist. In the following diagram the planetary symbols are used for the purpose of location. A study of the ancient distribution of these symbols will show that

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Fig. 1. the whole art of Palmistry is based upon astrological interpretations. The Significations of the Mounts answer closely to the astrological natures of the planets which are said to rule them: and it may be said that the characteristics of the several planets are found to be prominent features in the character of a person in whose hand they are found to be well developed. Thus Jupiter well developed denotes generosity, sympathy, love of justice, conviviality, nobility of disposition, and a true sense of religion. Defective - The nature denotes an absence of these qualities. Excessive - Bombast, pride, ostentation, extravagance and carelessness. Saturn well developed shows caution, carefulness, watchfulness, sincerity, strong attachment, patience and thrift.

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Defective - There is a tendency to self-regard only, and a lack of the sterling qualities which inspire confidence in others. The person is not reliable. Excessive - It disposes to misanthropy, melancholy and miserliness. There is a tendency to religious mania when this mount exceeds that of Jupiter. The Sun well developed shows dignity, sincerity, magnanimity, love of the fine arts, high ideals, great projects. Deficient - The nature is proud, assuming, frequently vain, and a tendency to rely upon appearances rather than upon faculty and attainments, and to play the showman upon all occasions. Excessive - It denotes a tyrannous, autocratic and despotic character, very proud and haughty, an inordinate ambition and love of power. It is often shown by a love of pageants and great shows, and when art is followed it favours the colossal and magnificent. Mercury well developed shows eloquence, capacity for the pursuit of literature, activity, alertness, a good memory, desire for knowledge, inquisitiveness. A commercial life is followed with much intelligence and industry. Defective - It denotes a mean, querulous and fretful nature, small mental power, a tendency to spy and play the part of a busybody, a "picker-up of unconsidered trifles," generally cunning and loquacious. Excessive - The mind runs to the material side of Nature for all its evidence; there is a self-assertion and positiveness which is seldom warranted. The nature is prolix and concerned with more things than would fill an encyclopedia or stock a museum. Such people make a business of their hobbies or a slavery of their business. The Moon well developed shows a romantic, idealist nature, fond of travelling, with a disposition to the mystical, marked intuitive power, sentimental and sometimes dreamy. Deficient - It denotes a prosaic and worldly nature, not affected by the consciousness of the larger life or the greater universe, and quite devoid of the emotional and imaginative powers. Excessive - The nature is fantastic, given to exaggeration, hypersensitive, vacillating, fickle and apt to be carried away by the emotions. Unless Saturn controls and the Head line is well defined there is danger of insanity. Mars well developed shows courage, strength, prowess, freedom, frankness and well-defined ambitions. It denotes an aspiring and enterprising character, willing to take risks and showing a "scorn of consequence" which inspires others to deeds of daring.

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Deficient - The nature is lacking in courage and the manly attributes, and will never be a pioneer unless it be in the religious or intellectual worlds. Yet even so there is a lack of zeal and fire which is not apt to be convincing. A soldier without Mars well developed may be set down as a dandy. Excessive - The temper is ungovernable, the projects speculative and rash, and the whole nature runs to overheated determinism and impetuous self-assertion. Venus well developed shows a refined, genial and sociable person, kind to children, fond of his home, gallant to women, neat and orderly in his person and ménage, fond of music and festivity, bright lights, flowers, sunshine and the pleasures of society. Deficient - There is a lack of taste and refinement; the person and home are disorderly or only superficially clean; there is a lack of comradeship and a distaste for social life; the friendships are of a commercial, or possibly a platonic, nature, but never infused with any great degree of affection. The beautiful in nature and art does not make any appeal to him. Excessive - The nature is coarse and disposed to debauchery, and the lower sensual appetites are allowed to have full sway. The sensuous and material are of first consideration, and all the powers are directed to the attainment of luxuries and the gratification of the passions.

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CHAPTER III THE PHALANGES, ETC. THE three sections defined by the joints of the thumb and fingers are called phalanges. The relative length and shape of these have to be taken into consideration when estimating character and aptitude, and chiefly the form and development of the thumb. The first phalanx of the thumb which holds the nail denotes the will-power; the second phalanx stands for the intellect; and the third, which subtends the Mount of Venus, denotes the animal part. When, therefore, you find a long and broad upper phalanx, you may be sure there is plenty of determination and self-reliance; and if it is supported by a long second phalanx the intellect will be adequate to supplement the efforts of the will and to guide it into useful channels. A well-developed thumb is inseparable from a high order of intelligence, but a poorly developed thumb is an indication of small capacity, an inconstant, restless and credulous character, easily swayed by the opinions of others, and possessing little ability in the management of his own affairs. Fingers that are short and thick show an abrupt manner and wilful nature, with very little foresight or diplomacy. But long fingers, especially if smooth and slender, denote a character that is subtle, diplomatic and astute, attentive to details and capable of finesse. With a short first phalanx of the thumb, this type of hand shows deception. A person who carries his thumb in the palm of the hand, with the fingers bent loosely over it, is one whose nervous energy is fast exhausting itself or whose intellect is embryonic. This is the custom of idiots, of paralytics and babes. As individuality asserts itself the thumb is unconsciously protruded more and more, and in the person of concentrated ambition it is found most frequently folded over the fingers, or standing out at a considerable angle from the hand. Fingers that are well fleshed and thick at the base show a luxurious nature, and if they lie compact and close together they show a selfish and self-indulgent nature, and frequently a sordid character. Fingers that have plenty of air-space between them denote a careless and extravagant nature, but frequently inquisitive. If allied to an intellectual type of hand, in which the knuckles are large and the second phalanx of the thumb well developed, this separation of the fingers shows a keen, inquiring mind. Observe that the shorter and broader the hand the more dogged and resolute the character will be; while long, slender hands denote a more subtle, shifty and diplomatic mind, with more suavity and politeness

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of manner, but less stability of character. Rugged hands show a rugged and straightforward nature, a love of Nature and an abhorrence of social observances ; a short and rugged hand denotes a blunt, outspoken and determined character. But smooth hands show finesse, suavity and gentleness, with a love of refinement and a respect for les convenances; while if they are long and smooth there will be subtlety and craft in the character. These points being duly considered, the character of any mixed type of hand can be readily estimated. A thorough understanding and recognition of the primary types is, of course, essential to a proper use of the art of Cheirognomy. We may now turn our attention to Cheiromancy, which appears to claim more general interest, inasmuch as it purports to define the circumstance and incident of life by the lines and markings of the hand. Character, as defined by Cheirognomy, must always be the dominant factor in human destiny, but environment and incident, as limiting the expression of character in certain directions and at the same time developing it in others, is certainly also of great importance.

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CHAPTER IV THE LINES IF the palm of the hand is distended it will be found that the normal markings take a definite position and direction, but that a great variety exists in the depth, length, direction, colouring and clearness of these lines in several hands. It is from consideration of these variations from the normal that there arises the wide variety of differences to be noted in character, ability and fortune. It is a fact sufficiently well known not to need special comment that ability is not the only measure of success, and that character bears no necessary relation to fortune. Consequently, it may be assumed that the indications relative to mind, body and estate are to be sought in different parts of the same hand. That this is so will sufficiently appear in the following designation of the lines. The main lines are six in number, comprising :1. The Life Line, which surrounds the Mount of Venus at the root of the thumb. 2. The Head Line, which joins the Line of Life midway between the root of the index finger and the thumb and stretches across the hand in a slightly downward direction almost to the percussion of the hand. 3. The Heart Line, which arises on the percussion of the hand below the Mount of Mercury and proceeds across the hand, terminating on or beneath the Mount of Jupiter. 4. The Girdle of Venus, which begins between the index and second fingers and follows a curved course, embracing the Mounts of Saturn and the Sun and terminating between the third and little fingers. 5. The Line of Fate, which has its rise at the wrist near to the end of the Life Line, and proceeds sharply upward through the palm, terminating on the Mount of Saturn. 6. The Health Line, which has its origin near the wrist by the Mount of the Moon and proceeds upwards to the Mount of Mercury. In addition to these there are found in some hands the Line of Fortune, arising in the palm of the hand and running upwards to the Mount of Apollo, and the Marriage Line, which arises on the percussion of the hand and crosses the Mount of Mercury. Finally, there is the Bracelet, consisting of one or more lines across the wrist immediately below the natural fold of the wrist at the root of the hand.

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The meanings of these lines will vary according to their length, definition and colour. When straight, single, deep and red they indicate all the best elements of character and destiny.

FIG. 2. The Head Line governs the intellect, the mental attainments and natural aptitudes. The Heart Line governs the affections and emotions, and has an equal influence with the Head Line over the fortunes.

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The Life Line shows the constitution, vital powers, and the probable duration of life. The Fate Line denotes the course of destiny, that which is inevitable, the stages and crises of life. The Line of Fortune has relation to honours, ambitions and attainments. The Girdle of Venus denotes the degree of sensibility possessed by the person. The Health Line shows the condition and probable course of the health. The Lines, Mounts and types of fingers are all shown in the diagram on page 121, which will serve as a general guide to the reader in the study of the observations made in the course of this brief exposition. In some abnormal hands the lines are so widely different from the general direction as to be hardly recognizable. In others one or more of the chief lines are entirely absent, while in others again there are additional lines. Some of these abnormalities will be considered in due course.

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CHAPTER V THE PRINCIPAL LINES 1. The Life Line. WHEN clear cut, well formed and free from intersecting Lines, it shows a good constitution and a probability of long life. But it should encircle the whole Mount of Venus and proceed to the wrist without a break. Its whole span is equal to 90 years, the count beginning at the source above the thumb and proceeding by stages of 5 or 6 years to the middle point of 45. Some practice is required before the student can successfully use these time indications. When the Life Line is chained, crooked, shallow or pale, it denotes delicate health and a feeble constitution. If terminating or broken off sharply without continuation, the end of life is shown at an age corresponding to the position of the break or fracture (see Fig. 2). When both hands show the same termination or fracture it may be regarded as decisive, but otherwise a critical illness only would be shown. But if with a short Life Line you find also indications of strong will-power in a long and broad first phalanx of the thumb, and a twin or sister-line running parallel to the Life Line and continuing beyond it, then the crisis may be overcome by willpower or the care and protection of somebody nearly affected, such as a sister, lover, wife or mother. A line coming from the thumb, cutting through the Life Line and proceeding to the palm of the hand, denotes a great illness or misfortune which produces a shock to the system. A line cutting through the Life Line and proceeding on to the Mount of Saturn shows a fatal illness, and is especially dangerous in the case of a woman approaching maternity at the age indicated. The point at which the line cuts the Life Line must be taken in estimating the age at which the danger is threatened. A line from the Life Line to the Mount of Jupiter shows an ambition realized, success and fortune. A line from the Life Line to the Mount of the Sun gives fame, celebrity and honours. A line to the Mount of Mercury denotes success in commerce or science, the achievements of the intellect.

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In a general sense the Mount of Venus with its encircling Life Line represents the vital energy and the lines coming away from it denote the lines of energy along which the vitality will be utilized and expended. A line going out on to the Mount of the Moon from the Line of Life shows fantastic pursuits, frequent travelling and change of life and occupation; but in an artistic hand it may dispose to publicity and a passing recognition of the person’s faculty. 2. The Heart Line. The Heart Line denotes the quality and direction of the affections, the condition of the vital organ, and the interests in which the mind is centred. When well defined and unbroken, single and free from blemish, it shows a sincere nature with healthy affections and a nature that will command friendship and esteem. The longer the line may be the stronger are the affections. When terminating beneath the Mount of Apollo, the affections are inconstant and the nature vain; and if the Heart Line extends to the Mount of Saturn there will be greater constancy but a fatality or disappointment attaching to the affections; the disposition is then apt to be marred by jealousy and mistrust. When the Heart Line extends to the Mount of Jupiter, the affections will be true, sincere and enduring, and if the line forks on to the Mount, it shows energy, strength of purpose, and successful pursuit of congenial projects. When the Heart Line turns down beneath the Mount of Jupiter and touches the Head Line, the affections will be under the control of the mind, and the nature will hence be more practical; and if at the same time it throws a branch upward to the Mount of Jupiter, there will be a successful issue to the fortunes after marriage. If the Heart Line joins the Head Line beneath the Mount of Saturn it is an augury of a sudden, if not a violent, end. Many small lines cutting across the line of the Heart shows some functional disorder of the corresponding organ of the body, and if the Heart Line is broken beneath the Mount of Saturn or punctured by a purple or dark blue pitmark, it shows seizure or a serious heart attack which may end fatally. 3. The Head Line. The Head Line being long, clear and well marked shows good intellectual ability and capacity to cope

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successfully with the problems of life. The Head Line is best when starting from a conjunction with the Life Line, for it then shows that the intellect is not dissociated from feeling and refinement. When separate from the Life Line it denotes a rash and impulsive nature, sometimes egotistical and too full of self-confidence. A line falling from the Head Line and going on to the Mount of the Moon shows a tendency to mysticism and a love of exploration and discovery. A line going from the Head Line on to the Mount of Mars shows rashness, a headstrong character, of fevered imagination and great enterprise. A line rising to the Mount of the Sun from this line denotes honours and success through the use of the intellect. A line joining the Head and Heart Lines denotes an intellect that is swayed by the affections to a large extent and is capable of erring on the side of generosity when its judgement is appealed to. A short Head Line shows a practical rather than an intellectual character. It also threatens a short life by nervous derangement if terminating under Saturn and the Life Line also short. A line running up from the Head Line to Saturn shows a fatalistic tendency or a fondness for philosophy; but there is a menace of nervous disorders. A double Head Line shows duplicity, an adventurer. No Head Line at all shows an impulsive and childlike nature, all feeling and no judgment, and frequently subject to obsession. A break in the Head Line shows danger of concussion or cerebral injury. The Head Line being wavy and irregular denotes a weak and irresolute nature. 4. The Fate Line. This line shows the worldly fortunes, success or failure, and the position to which we may attain in our sphere of life. It shows the inevitable outcome of the free use of all our powers, passions and tendencies. It is capable of modification as the powers of the nature are brought under control and directed into useful channels. It is the line of fatality only in the sense that Jab karoge tab saoge - As you sow, so you will reap. The Fate line extends to a greater or less length in various hands. Its length has a relation to the duration

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of life. The count of years is made on the Fate Line from its origin near the wrist upwards. Where it crosses the Head Line is at the age of 35 years. At the Heart Line the 50th year is reached. By subdividing these sections any required age may be discerned. The condition of the line at various stages shows the fortunes at the corresponding period of the life. The Fate Line may not always start from or near the wrist, but may begin on the Mount of the Moon, or on the Life Line, the Head Line, the palm, or even the Heart Line. When rising from the wrist in a straight and unbroken line direct to the Mount of Saturn it shows success in life and a good fortune. But if stopped at the Head Line it denotes an error of judgment or wrong use of the intellect will mar the progress and spoil the fortunes. If stopped by the Heart Line there will be a romantic episode in the life or a fatality arising out of an affection or friendship. When starting on the Mount of the Moon the Fate Line denotes success through the influence of women or the reverse, according to its own characteristics. If rising in the Life Line it shows a Fate that is within the power of the individual to possess or to relinquish. When rising in the palm of the hand between the Head and Heart Lines, in what is called the Plain of Mars, it shows many crosses and struggles; but if it runs well up on to Saturn it will give success at last. The Fate Line to be at its best should be long, clear and unbroken, and should reach the root of the second finger, but should not go beyond it. Wherever the Fate Line begins to take a clear and unbroken course, at that age there will be a turn in the fortunes for good, and this will be continued as long as the Fate Line continues clear and unaffected by cross lines. Ending on Jupiter’s Mount it shows success through a happy marriage or an inheritance. When ending on Sol it shows honours at the end of life. 5. The Health Line. This line is governed by the functions of the digestive organs and liver, in the same way as the Heart Line is related to the heart and the Head Line to the nervous system. When clearly marked and unbroken it shows good health, especially if it rise near the Life Line without touching it and proceeds direct to the Mount of Mercury.

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In some hands it is absent, but it may then be concluded that the health is good if the Life Line is clear and long. A broken Health Line or an island (see Chapter VI) or a black spot or other discoloration of the line, shows a serious illness, frequent attacks of dyspepsia or gastritis, and general debility. A line from the Health Line cutting into the Head Line shows nervous disorders. A line from the Health Line crossing the Heart Line denotes palpitation, heart affection. A line from the Health Line cutting into the Life Line denotes venery or excess of the passions in a degree detrimental to health; the constitution is affected by dissipation and pleasure-seeking. This particularly in a soft hand with a small first phalanx to the thumb. 6. The Ring of Venus. The Girdle or Ring of Venus, wherever present, shows sensibility. It is never absent from the. poetic hand. In the intellectual hand it shows touchiness and a worrying disposition, and in the vital hand it shows restlessness. When extending on to the Mount of Mercury, it denotes the study of Occultism, and a mind that is controlled by the mysterious. The sole meaning of the Girdle of Venus is sensibility, i.e. capacity to suffer or enjoy. 7. The Line of Fortune. This line, starting from a variety of places, is identified by its eventual course to the Mount of the Sun, which it crosses. It is the index of fame, honour, merit, especially in art, literature and science. When clear, deep and straight it denotes good fortune. If there is more than one line on the Mount of Apollo, there will be natural talent and ability which will meet with recognition in high quarters. When absent from the hand, there will be misfortune or at least no recognition of ability and endeavour. Such people should work for the future and live again in their children. What they sow, others may reap. Position without wealth is shown by a good Line of Fortune and a bad Line of Fate. When the Line of Fortune rises from the Moon it shows gain by women who assist the career; from Venus, by art and the dramatic profession; from Mars, by bold enterprises, pioneer work or military service; from the Head Line, by the use of the intellect; and from the Heart Line, by advantageous

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friendships or associations of an artistic nature; while if rising between the Heart and Head, it may give success through dramatic work. 8. The Marriage Line. The Marriage Line being clear cut and unbroken is an index of a deep and enduring attachment to one of the opposite sex. When broken it shows an engagement or attachment which does not reach its consummation. When the Marriage Line splits into two to form a fork, or when a line from the Line of Fate or the Heart Line cuts through it, there is danger of separation after marriage, and if a line from the Moon also joins the indications, there will be divorce and publicity. Two marriage lines show a second attachment. The evidence of several lines frequently signifies the free lance or coquette. The Line of Marriage joining the Girdle of Venus so as to continue it to the percussion of the hand is a sign of idealism which marriage does not satisfy. Small lines running up from the Marriage Line to the root of the little finger indicate progeny, the number being shown by the number of such bars or striae. But these are not necessarily the progeny of one union, as may be the case where two marriages are denoted. When the Line of Health rises on the Head Line in a cross forming a star with the Head Line, it is a sign of an anchorite; and if the Life Line at the same time is exceptionally near the root of the thumb, so that the Mount of Venus is small, there will be no marriage, or yet a barren one. 9. The Bracelet. This is also called the Rascette. It consists of lines below the fold of the wrist (i.e. where the palm joins the wrist) and parallel to it. When clearly marked it is an additional sign of a long and useful life. Lines coming up from the Rascette to the Mount of the Moon and crossing it to some extent denote voyages. These lines may be seen by compressing the hand. . The meaning of such a line from the Bracelet may be known by tracing it to its destination. To Jupiter, it is highly propitious; to Saturn, sinister and dangerous; to Venus, likely to result in a pleasant association or profitable affiance; to the Sun, honours; to Mercury, good business and a possible inheritance or windfall.

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General Note. Never read the lines singly, but take them in their bearing upon one another, and in relation always to the type of hand you are dealing with. It is very seldom that we find a strong Head Line in a purely psychic hand, but it would be by no means remarkable if in a hand of this type the Line of the Head is altogether absent. But it should not thence be inferred that the intellect was a minus quantity. Madame H. P. Blavatsky had the pure psychic hand with but a single line stretching across the palm. Of her intellectual powers there can be no doubt, while her spontaneous, frank and ingenuous nature was altogether suggestive of a strong Heart Line. Possibly Head and Heart were in unusually close alliance.

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CHAPTER VI INCIDENTAL MARKS BESIDE the principal lines to which reference has been made in the preceding chapter, it will be found that there are a number of other markings, either isolated or affecting the lines themselves. These are in the nature of Triangles, Crosses, Squares, Stars, Grilles, Islands and Spots. The Great Triangle embraces the space enclosed by the lines of Health, Life and Head. When the Triangle is well formed, distinct and embracing a large space, the person will be of a generous and upright nature with wide sympathies. When small and formed by broken lines, the character and disposition are cramped and mean, and the life is far from fortunate. The health also is more or less badly affected. When there are crosses within the area of the Triangle there will be many misfortunes in the life, and the person will occasion many enmities. A Star therein shows eventual success. Lesser triangles about the hand show success in that department of life which is related to the lines or mounts affected. Thus a triangle formed on the base of the Head Line shows intellectual achievements, A Cross is bad wherever it is found, and especially if it affects the principal lines. When found in the Great Triangle, it shows crosses and difficulties in early life; between the Head and Heart Lines, difficulties and misfortunes in middle life; and above the Heart Line, similar distress in the latter part of life. A Cross on a mount tends to vitiate or pervert the character or fortunes in the direction indicated by the mount, but on the Mount of Jupiter it is held to signify domestic happiness. Nevertheless, there will be many trials and vexations to be shared by those in whose hands this sign appears. A Cross on any of the principal lines is evil, but especially when on the Life Line and the Line of Fate. A Square is a protection wherever it is found, and denotes security of health and fortune to those who possess it. Consider the line upon which it is formed, or the mount or part of the hand where it may be,

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and judge accordingly; remembering always that it is a protection. Thus, on the Head Line, it would denote difficulties surmounted and overcome by the use of the intelligence; on the Heart Line, by the instrumentality of friends; on the Moon, by a voyage or the intervention of women. The Star denotes a danger, except on the Mount of Jupiter, where it shows a winning hazard, or good fortune by a bold stroke. On Mars it denotes violence. On the Moon, a dangerous voyage or a serious trouble through women, danger from the populace. On Saturn, a fatality by violence. On the Sun, the evils of inordinate pride. On Venus, disappointment in love. On Mercury, cupidity and cunning. A star on the principal lines must be regarded as a menace to that aspect of the life which is denoted by the line so affected: as the Life Line, the constitution is affected; the Head Line, there are mental troubles; the Heart Line, social affairs are adversely affected, etc. . The Grille (see Fig. 1 on Mount of Venus) is an indication of excess. When found on any mount it augments the activity of the corresponding characteristic. Thus :A Grille on Jupiter shows extravagance and bombast; on Saturn, great misfortune and a chequered career, ending in trouble; on the Sun, inordinate love of display, consuming pride; on Mercury, peculation, theft, cunning; on Venus, disappointed affections; on Mars, danger of violent action, frenzy and woundings; on the Moon, a wandering, restless nature, and sometimes exile. When in the palm of the hand traversed by the Line of Fate, it indicates much misfortune, especially at that period of the life denoted by the position of the Grille as measured on the Fate Line. Islands are formed by the splitting and joining together again of a line in its course. The period embraced by this Island will be one of dangerous sickness, difficulty, mental incapacity, social ostracism, imprisonment, etc., according to the line on which the island is formed and the attendant indications. A small Island shows a difficult crisis; a long Island denotes a protracted period of misfortune or sickness. An Island is frequently the sign of hereditary disease, either functional or organic. If on Jupiter’s Mount it shows lung disease; on Sol, the heart may be affected; on Saturn, the liver; on Mercury, the organs of speech or brain are affected; on the Moon, the stomach is deranged. Frequently the Island shows some mystery attaching to the career. If at the origin of the Life Line, there is some mystery regarding the parentage, and if at the same time the Fate Line has an Island at its source, it is an indication of illegitimacy. When the Island is formed on any of the principal lines, it will denote danger to the health and fortunes from some malady or abuse of the faculty or organ involved or denoted by the line.

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An Island on the Head Line shows occlusion of memory, amnesia, loss of mental faculty for the period involved. A double Head Line whose extremities meet so as to enclose a continuous Island will therefore denote chronic nervous affection and with concomitant signs (such as degenerate thumb and a chained Line of Fate) will denote insanity. An Island on the Line of Health shows a long illness, debility, and a delicate constitution. If on the Mount of the Moon at the beginning of the Health Line, it shows somnambulism or medium-ship, arising out of an abnormal condition of the sympathetic nervous system. Similarly, judgement is to be made in respect of other indications of the Island, by its coincidence with the mounts or lines. On the Fate Line it sometimes denotes imprisonment, especially if the Mount of Mercury has a grille or cross upon it. Spots are always blemishes and denote crises and dangers. They are generally red or purple, but sometimes black. They show dangers affecting the Life, Head, Heart, etc., according to the line or mount affected. If on the Fate Line, a grave and sudden crisis in the fortunes. On the Life Line a spot frequently shows hurt or injury to the eyes, sometimes blindness. Thus, by a consideration of the typal form of a hand, its mounts, lines and incidental markings, you may certainly define much of the character and destiny of an individual. But nothing is absolute in the future. Changes are continually taking place, not only in the main lines of the hand, but also in the incidental markings of the mounts. Thus if you take an impression of the hand at any period of life, and another successively on every anniversary, it will be found that in the space of a few years a great difference is to be detected. You will see islands and grilles forming, squares and crosses coming into existence, lines breaking up, or becoming firmer and more distinct. The hand is, in fact, a mirror of the interior nature and expresses very intimately the realized experience of the soul, whether subconscious or conscious. The subconscious experiences well up into consciousness as effects springing from their causes, like bubbles which detach themselves from a submerged body and rise to the surface. The connection of Palmistry with Astrology will be obvious to any student of both subjects, and Astrology affords an explanation of the changes taking place in the hand. The planets at birth show certainly radical tendencies, while their progress in the horoscope thereafter will denote, by their mutual configurations, the changes which will take place in the tendency and environment of the life. Hence, Palmistry is effective in the prediction of tendency but not of event, because it has not the means of calculating the future configurations of the planetary bodies.

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THE THAUMATURGIC ART CHAPTER I THE KABALA THE Telesma, or Talisman, was anciently held in great esteem by the Thaumaturgists. We find evidence of its universality in China, India, Egypt, and among the Semitic nations, the Greeks and Romans, as well as among the ancient populace of Central America, Peru, Australasia, and the islands of the Pacific. Indeed, there seems every reason to believe that the telesmic art was in vogue among the Atlanteans, and by them transmitted to the surviving nations. It comes to us in a modified form from the Hebrews, who adapted it to their own theological system. A brief account of the principles of this art and its methods can hardly be omitted from a work of this character, inasmuch as it is directly connected with Astrology and the Power of Numbers, and forms a very important part of the equipment of the magus. Necessarily the mind of man must have concrete methods of expression; the most common and limited of which is language. Symbolism, on the other hand, may be regarded as the common language of humanity, as also it is that of the gods. The universe is a symbol; so also is man. Colour, Number, and Form - what are they but symbols? A circle, a triangle, a square, a cross - these are but letters in an universal language, the only natural medium by which we can compel the notice of the gods. Such was the belief of the Pythagoreans and the Thaumaturgists of ancient Greece. The Kabala, or secret interpretation, is divided into three sections The Gimetria, the Notaricon, and the Temurah. It will be necessary to know these before entering upon the telesmic art, for nothing is brought to perfection in this art without the magical use of names and numbers. By magical use we are to understand something in distinction from natural use, as the difference between the supreme power of the creative will in man and the inherent vegetative power of the soul and of natural bodies. First, then, let us examine the principles of the Kabala. Man is the subject of all magical considerations, as he is also the agent of all magical operations. The Kabalists divide Man into four principles - viz. Spirit, Mind, Soul, and Body, corresponding to the four "elements " of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. Of these the Spirit and Mind are Formless, and the Fluidic Body or Soul and the Physical Body are Formative. Yet there are three aspects of the Spirit, viz. Life, Will, and Effort, and three aspects of the Mind, viz. Perception, Reason, and Memory. So also the properties of the Soul are three: Desire, Imagination, and Emotion; and of the Body three: Absorption, Circulation, and Secretion. For in one aspect Nature is volatile, in another fixed, and in another mutable.

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Humanity consists of three orders: Lapsed Souls, Elementary Souls, and Demoniacal Souls. We distinguish between the Spirit and the Soul. The Spirit in itself is of Divine origin, a scintilla of some spiritual hierarchy to which it is directly related and from which it receives its energy and direction. These "imprisoned lights" are related to Deity through the spiritual hierarchies to which they severally belong and of which they are the earthly representatives The Soul, on the other hand, is not of Divine origin, but is derived mediately from the nature-essence through the operation of the Human Imagination, or - as in the case of the brute creation - by Desire and the instinctual sense. Lapsed Souls are such as have fallen from their first estate or pristine nature, and will, by regeneration, eventually regain their lost heritage. Elementary Souls are such as have come into human generation in the course of natural evolution or by magical art, and of these the Sylphides are such as neighbour the human race most nearly. Coming as strangers into an atmosphere for which their powers are not yet sufficiently evolved, they are born as naturals, simpletons and fools, a condition which is successively improved during their human incarnations. Once entangled in the human system of evolution, they cannot go back. By this humanity of theirs they acquire an immortality not otherwise attainable. Of the same category of Elementaries are the Undines, Salamanders, and Gnomes, these names being related to the elements of Water, Fire and Earth, as Sylphs to that of Air. Demoniacal Souls are such as have by violence thrust themselves into human life by obsessions, overshadowings and infestings of the bodies of men, whether in frenzy or in trance, in epilepsy or other abnormal conditions of the mind and body. They are like robbers who take possession of the house while the owner is away. But some such are born into the world by the will of the gods, operating by means of sidereal influences, for the fulfilling of large destinies, the despoiling and punishing of nations, and are demons from their birth. Concerning such an one the Christ said: "You twelve have I chosen, and one of you is a devil," meaning that Iscariot. From this it will be seen that not all human forms are invested with human souls. Also there are certain times and seasons when angels and archangels are temporarily invested with the human flesh for the high purposes of life, some as teachers and prophets, others as messengers of peace; but all such are free from the taint of the soul while obeying the laws of their mortal selfhood, yet acting in all else under the direct inspiration of the Spirit. Of such high order was Melchizedek, the King of Righteousness, "without father and without mother, having neither beginning of life nor end of days," with whom Abraham talked as recorded in the Genesis. Melchizedek was, in fact, a presentation of the Christ, a great and mighty spirit in temporary human form then reigning in Chaldea over the sons and daughters of the Magi. But also there are those spirits of the nature of Apollyon, who are "Princes of Darkness," and whose dominion is over those "wandering stars for whom is laid up the blackness of darkness for ages upon

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ages." These malevolent beings, acting under the laws of their own nature, do from time to time manifest in human form for a more speedy judgment of the world. They are the Caligulas and Neros of the world’s history. The earth is therefore the theatre of a great variety of different souls, and is such because it is in equilibrium between the Heavens and the Hells, and in a state of freedom where good and evil may commingle. It is in truth the Field of Armageddon, where must be fought out the great battle between the Powers of Light and the Powers of Darkness. The Kabalists mention Seven Heavens and Seven Hells, presided over by the Seven Archangels and the Seven Princes of Evil. The Archangels of the Seven Spheres of Light are : Michael, Gabriel, Kamiel, Raphael, Zadkiel, Uriel, and Zophkiel, standing for the Might, Grace, Zeal, Saving Power, Justice, Splendour, and Mystery of God. These names are invoked under appropriate symbols in the telesmic art of which the Kabala forms an essential part. Michael, the archangel associated with the Sun, is derived from the syllables Mi, who; cah, like; al, god; i. e. He who is like unto God; or Who is like unto him? Gabriel, from Gibur, power; Kamiel, ftom Chem or Kam, heat; Raphael, from Raphah, healing; Zadkiel, from Zadok, justice; Uriel, from Aur, light; and Zophkiel, from Zophek, a secret. As spiritual entities they are the express embodiments of the Divine attributes, though while unrevealed to us they continue only to stand for certain human conceptions of the Divine Being expressed in terms of human character. All definition is limitation, and all limitation is imperfection, yet God is the only Perfection and beyond all naming.

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CHAPTER II THE CALCULATORY ART As already indicated, there are three sections of the Kabala, and these may now be examined more fully. The Gimetria ascribes to each letter of a name or word a certain numerical value. The Kabalists give the following values to the Hebrew and Chaldee letters, the English equivalents being substituted and the order retained :Units - a 1, b 2, g 3, d 4, e 5, v 6, z 7, ch 8, th 9. Tens - y 10, k 20, l 30, m 40, n 50, s 60, o 70, p 80, ts 90. Hundreds - q 100, r 200, sh 300, t 400. Finals - ch 500, m 600, n 700, p 800, ts 900. Pythagoras has been credited with having preserved an ancient table of numbers, together with their meanings. They are as follows :A 1

E

5

I

9

B 2

F

6

K

10

C 3

G

7

L

20

D 4

H

8

M

30

N 40

S

90

Z

500

O 50

T

100

Ch 600

P

60

U

200

V

700

Q 70

X

300

Hi

800

R 80

Y

400

Hu 900

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W 1400 THE INTERPRETATION 1.

Ambition, Passion, Purpose.

2.

Death, Destruction.

3.

Destiny, Faith, Religion.

4.

Strength, Stability, Power.

5.

Marriage, Happiness, the Stars.

6.

Completion, Attainment.

7.

Rest, Freedom, the Path.

8.

Protection, Equity.

9.

Grief, Wounding, Anxiety.

10.

Success, Logic, Renovation.

11.

Offence, Deception, Strife.

12.

The City, a Town, a Witness.

13.

Obliquity, a Crooked Road.

14.

Sacrifice, Surrender.

15.

Virtue, Culture, Piety.

16.

Luxury, Sensuality.

17.

Misfortune, Carelessness, Loss.

18.

Vice, Brutality, Harshness.

19.

Folly, Insanity.

20.

Wisdom, Abnegation, Austerity.

21.

Creation, Mystery, Understanding.

22.

Punishment, Vengeance, Calamity.

23.

Prejudice, Ignorance.

24.

Travelling, Change.

25.

Intelligence, Progeny.

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26.

Beneficence, Altruism.

27.

Bravery, Firmness.

28.

Love, Presents, Gifts.

29.

News, Information.

30.

Fame, Marriage.

31.

Integrity, Ambition.

32.

Union, Embraces, Marriage.

33.

Gentleness, Chastity.

34.

Suffering, Pain, Recompense.

35.

Health, Peace, Happiness.

36.

Genius, Profound Intellect.

37.

Fidelity, Domestic Happiness.

38.

Malice, Avarice, Maiming.

39.

Honour, Credit, Laudation.

40.

Holiday, Feast, Weddings.

41.

Shame, Disgrace.

42.

Short and Unhappy Life.

43.

Churches, Temples, Worship.

44.

Sovereignty, Elevation, Power.

45.

Progeny, Population.

46.

Production, Fruitfulness.

47.

Long and happy Life.

48.

Judgment, a Court, the Judge.

49.

Avarice, mercenary spirit.

50.

Relief, Pardon, Freedom.

60.

Loss of husband or wife.

70.

Science, Initiation.

80.

Protection, Recovery, Convalescence.

90.

Affliction, Grief, Error, Blindness.

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100.

Divine favour, Angels, Spirits.

200.

Hesitation, Fear.

300.

Defence, Philosophy, Belief.

400.

Distant journeys.

500.

Holiness, Virtue.

600.

Perfection.

700.

Power, Dominion.

800.

Empire, Conquest.

900.

Strife, Eruption, War.

1000. Sympathy, Mercy. In addition to these, the table contains some specific numbers, namely :81.

The Adept.

120.

Honour, Patriotism, Praise.

215.

Grief, Misfortune.

318.

Divine messenger.

350.

Justice, Confidence, Hope.

360.

A House, Home, Society.

365.

The Science of the Stars.

490.

Priesthood, Ministration.

666.

An Enemy, Malice, Plots.

1095. Reserve, Silence. 1260. Annoyances, Terrors. 1390. Persecution. Unfortunately, the method to be followed in the use of these numbers has not been handed down to us, but I conceive that a method similar to the Hebrew notaricon may not be entirely amiss. Thus the name of the great Napoleon is enumerated N 40

B 2

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a 1

u 200

p 60

o 50

o 50

n 40

l

a 1

20

e 5

p 60

o 50

a 1

n 40

r 80

e 5

t 100 e 5

_

_

271

539

The sum of these numbers is 810, which is equal to 800 = empire, conquest, and 10 = success, logic, renovation. The words "empire, conquest, success, and renovation" have certainly a singular appositeness in this connection. It is obvious, however, that the import of a name would be altered by change from one language into another, and it is reasonable to presume that the original or mother-tongue in each case must be adopted. The Gimetria ascribes to each letter a definite value, as we have already seen. The sum of a name is then reconverted into letters of equivalent value, and the meaning of the name thus derived. Thus we read that an angel talked with John of Patmos, who would have fallen down and worshipped him but was forbidden. The angel speaks of himself as a man, one of the "keepers of the sayings in the Book." The word "man" in Hebrew is Aish, the value of which is A 1, i 10, sh 300 = 311 and the name of the great recorder is Raphael R 200, ph 80, a 1, l 30 = 311. For this John of Patmos was of the Order of the Recorders and of the Hierarchy of Raphael. Of the Order of Calculators and Measurers is the Intelligence of Sephery; of the Order of Ordainers and Judges is the Intelligence of Zadok; and these, with others, are extracted from holy writ wherein their offices are covertly referred to. Therefore, if any would know the name of their office, let them take the sum of their name and convert it

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by the Gimetria according to the rules of the kabalistic art. Thus the name "Sepharial" of the Order of the Sephery is thus computed :S 60, ph 80, r 200, i 10 a 1, l 30 = 381 which is equivalent to: a 1, sh 300, p 80 = 381, the word Asoph being from the root Ashp = a star-gazer or astrologer, the astrologers of Chaldea being known as the Ashpim. The Notaricon is used for extracting the Divine names, and those of angels or spirits from sacred writ. The telesmic art requires that these names shall be employed in the construction of Talismans, as by their correspondence in numerical value they have a compelling influence over all things which answer to the same root value. Thus by taking the letters from the beginnings of words, or their finals, and by other measures of a secret nature, the names of Spiritual Powers are derived. The Divine Being is of infinite power and presence, and therefore His names, as expressing the infinite variety of powers, intelligences and forms within the universe, can never be exhausted. The kabalist, therefore, only seeks to discern those which are of efficacy in the matter in hand. From a certain text of three verses in Exodus which begin with the words: Vayiso, Vayibo, and Vayot respectively, the seventy-two Divine names are derived. These are the Shemhamphore corresponding to the seventy-two Elders ruling over the Church Universal, i.e. the Middle Spiritual Kingdom. The method followed in this case is as follows :The first verse is written in Hebrew characters, which are seventy-two in number, from right to left, as is usual with Semitic texts. The second verse is written from left to right, and the third verse from right to left as usual, the Hebrew text being used throughout. Then by reading the three letters which fall together as one word, we have seventy-two triliteral words, to which is added the affix of the sacred names El or Jah. From the text "Thou art the mighty Lord for ever" is derived the potent name Agla; and from the sacred affirmation "The Lord our God is one God" we derive the name Yaya. Thus :Jehovah Alohenu Jehovah Achad. Likewise from the text "One source of His unity one source of His individuality, His vicissitude is one" we have the magical name Ararita, which is found inscribed on the Seal of Solomon the King. From the text "Holy and blessed is He" we derive the name Hagaba. From the sentence in the prophetic blessing of Jacob "Until Shiloh come," when the patriarch was predicting the fate of Judah, we have the name Jesu. The well-informed kabalist, however, knows that this text has reference to the rising of the Star Shuleh in the constellation of Scorpio; for Leo, the lion of Judah, with Cepheus the Lawgiver beneath, does not depart from the Midheaven until Scorpio rises in the East. Again, from the text "The Lord our King is true" we have the word Amen.

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The Temurah, which means "change," also yields its secret interpretations by the transposing and exchanging of letters according to the rules of the kabalistic art as set forth in the Table of Tsiruph; and by the application of this to the Gimetria and Notaricon, we derive the names of spirits and angels whose offices are expressed in the texts whence they are derived. Some of these are evil and are referred to as "vessels of iniquity" and "vessels of wrath" and also "lying spirits." Every man is beset with some temptations arising from his association with the world of spirits, every good ministration implying a possible evil by perversion, to which evil the malevolent forces correspond. Thus man has both a protecting angel and an assailant, and he may thus incline to good or to evil, being, while in the middle world, in a state of equilibrium or freedom. Moreover, it is said that preference among men is from the superior power of the spirits attached to one man over those of another, for by the intensity of their wills these men are able to link themselves with the powers of good or evil allied to them by nature. Every work undertaken by man has a twofold presidency of spiritual powers attaching to it, whereby it is brought to perfection or overthrown. Among the kabalists there is a method of deriving the names of those spirits presiding over the nativity. The figure of the Heavens being erected, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are set round in the order of the signs, beginning at the Ascendant; and those letters which fall on the places of the Sun, the Moon, and the ruler of the Ascendant when brought together yield the name of the presiding angel or benefie Intelligence. But the same calculation made from the Descendant, of the horoscope yields the name of the evil spirit or Cachodemon. Others affirm, however, that the places of the benefic planets must be employed, together with that of the ruler of the Ascendant for the Agathodemon; while the places of the malefics with that of the ruler of the Descendant must be taken account of to compute the name of the Cachodemon. But names in themselves bear only such meanings as we attach to them; their real efficacy consists in their numerical correspondence with the nature of the symbols employed and their relation to the purpose in hand, and thus in their confirming the mind in that faith and intention without which, together with the united action of the will and imagination, no magical work can be brought to completion. For the will is the male force and the imagination the female power which, by their union, are capable of creating that which is desired. The evocations within the magic circle, the conjurations of spirits to the crystal, the construction of talismans, sigils, seals and other works of the thaumaturgic art, have their root in this covert agreement between Nature and the Soul of man, whereby Spirit answers to matter and Force to form, so that the material form of every symbol stands for the embodiment of a corresponding Spiritual Force.

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CHAPTER III OF EVIL SPIRITS THE Prince of Darkness, Beelzebub, presides over nine orders of infernal spirits, according to the Kabalists. These spirits are the tempters of mankind. The Occultist affirms that they are the disembodied spirits of evil-minded men confirmed in wickedness by the perversity of their wills. Even presuming that they are no more than the evil thoughts and imaginings of embodied humanity, there is yet nothing, in a world where "thoughts are things," to prevent such from taking bodily shape and substance and thus, when stimulated by the force of men’s evil desires, becoming active powers for evil. Everybody has read of Frankenstein’s Monster, that weird output of the imagination of the beautiful Mary Shelley, but few people have realized that the story embodies a great occult truth. It is perhaps not difficult to trace this creation of the daughter of Charles Godwin. One has but to study his work on The Lives of the Necromancers to be confirmed in the idea that what the father suggested the daughter elaborated in the laboratory of her own gifted mind. It was in the nature of a competitive essay, and gained the prize of publication. Study this story, and also the chapter on "The Dweller on the Threshold" in the popular novel by Buiwer Lytton, and you will have some notion of the experiences of those who are capable of creating, and thereafter of being obsessed by, the images of their own minds. Will and Desire created the universe. It should not be strange that it may create something equal to man when both the will and imagination of man are consciously directed to the process. Of the Nine Orders of Evil Spirits, the first is that of False Gods. Here we have the concentrated worship and imagination of thousands directed to the same effect, the creation. of "gods." We have knowledge of the Saturnalias and Baldachinos, the Bacchanalias and orgies of the heathen world. Such a god was that Satan who tempted the man Jesus. Swedenborg defines the difference between the satans and the devils when he says that the former apply themselves to the minds of men, instilling false doctrines and lies, blinding intelligence, stimulating pride and inciting to heresies and seditions; while, on the other hand, devils are such as apply themselves to the appetites, and by their affinity with the emotional faculty (whence they have their origin) seek to instil lust, greed, avarice, hatred, and every kind of illicit affection and perverted or depraved appetite. It may be well to accept this distinction. The second order are called Lying Spirits, of which sort were those who obsessed the prophet Ahab ; and over these is set a spirit called Pytho, who is the father of lies. These spirits apply themselves to the interiors of the vocal and respiratory organs by means of the brain centres. Some such are to be heard speaking through the mouths of persons entranced, such as demoniacs, pythonesses, and spirit mediums. Such an one is mentioned in the Bible as crying out in pain at the approach of Jesus, saying: "What have I to do with Thee, O Son of David ? I know Thee who Thou art!"

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The third order of evil spirits are those called "Vessels of Iniquity" and "Vessels of Wrath," who are the inventors of all vices for the infesting of men and their ruination. Their prince is called "Belial," who is without a yoke, being a renegade and disobedient spirit not subject to control. Of this order are the violent and lawless,murderers, and some suicides who kill themselves in frenzy. Of this order St. Paul speaks to the Corinthians, saying: "What agreement hath Christ with Belial?" For these spirits of Belial have no agreement with any, being, as it were, the Ishmaelites of the underworld. The fourth order of evil spirits is called "The Revengeful," their prince being called Asmodeus, who is the occasion of judgment. They were of the order let loose upon Egypt in the visitation by plagues, as recorded in Exodus. The fifth order of evil spirits is called "The deluders," whose satan is called Nahash, the chief of those who have the spirit of the serpent. These cause signs and wonders a.nd work all sorts of marvels in order to seduce men’s minds from the truth. They are represented by the Black Magicians, the wonder-workers who seek to efface God and arrogate to themselves the power to control the spiritual world. In reflected degree they work through the minds of cheats, forgers and charlatans. That Satan who tempted Eve is of this order of the Nahash or Serpents. Of him it is said : "He it is who seduces the whole world, doing great signs and causing fire to descend from heaven in the sight of men, seducing the inhabitants of the earth by these which are given him to do," as appears in the Apocalypse. The sixth order is that of the "Turbulents," presided over by Meririm, the Prince of the Powers of the Air. It is they who affect the air with tempests, corrupting the air with blights and poisonful exhalations, destroying crops and polluting the waters of the earth. St. Paul speaks of this "Prince of the Powers of the Air." These spirits have affinity with the thoughts and passions of men, and are evoked by the turbulence and passions of men’s minds, as may be seen in great wars and revolutions. The seventh order is that of "the Furies." Their Prince is called Apollyon, or in the Hebrew Abaddon, which means "the Destroyer." They are the cause of madness, frenzy, murders, massacres and intestine wars. The eighth order of evil spirits is called "The Accusers" or "The Inquisitors." They are under the dominion of one called Ashtaroth, i. e. "The Searcher." In the Greek he is called Diabolos, or the Calumniator, and in the Apocalypse is referred to as "the Accuser of the Brethren, accusing them night and day before the face of God." For these spirits delight in persecuting the righteous, searching out their weaknesses and railing against them because of their imperfections. The common faultfinder is well within the category of those who owe allegiance to Ashtaroth. The ninth order is that of "The Tempters." These are in close association with mankind, and one of their number is present with those who are in any way subject to the worldly spirit of greed and avarice. Their prince is called Mammon, i.e. Covetousness. These nine orders of evil spirits are called transgressors, for they violate the commandments which in the

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Hebrews are but nine only, and not ten as commonly conceived: the first and second of the "Decalogue" being one only, and having reference to the worship of the true God and the sin of the making of false gods, whether subjective or objective; and Beelzebub is that supreme False God whom the sinful serve by error under whatever name it may figure.

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CHAPTER IV MAN’S SPIRITUAL FREEDOM To the end that mankind may be in freedom and reserve to itself the power to cast in its lot with the good or evil powers, these nine orders of evil spirits are, according to the kabalists, counterbalanced by a corresponding array of angelic orders. These are known as Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, Do-minions, Powers, Virtues, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. These Nine Orders are otherwise referred to as the Metratton, "they who stand about the Throne "; the Ophanim, otherwise called the Wheels of Life (referred to by Ezekiel); and the Seven Planetary Spirits, which include the Archangels and their hosts of subservient angels. These by their representatives are set over mankind for his government and wellbeing; else were man wholly abandoned to the machinations of evil spirits. In the apocryphal book of Tobias it is related that the Archangel Raphael did apprehend Asmodeus, and bound him in the wilderness of Upper Egypt. It has been thought that this story has reference to the presence of the planet Jupiter in the sign Gemini; for Asmodeus is of the sphere of Jupiter’s evil spirits, and Raphael is Mercury, whose sign Gemini is said to rule over Egypt, and moreover it is the sign of Jupiter’s debifity. Ingenious as this interpretation may be, it appears to rest upon the association of Asmodeus with Jupiter, which may very well be the case, as Asmodeus, like Jupiter, is related to the office of the Judges; but it is not the fact, astrologically speaking, that Gemini rules Upper Egypt, but Capricorn, or - according to the Egyptian zodiac - the Crocodile. Hence the Egyptians were called the Mizraim (those born from the crocodile). Concerning the sphere of Jupiter, Hesiod says: "There are thirty thousand of the spirits of Jupiter, pure and immortal, who are the keepers of men on earth that they may observe justice and mercy, and who, having clothed themselves with an aerial form, go to and fro everywhere upon the earth." No man could continue in safety, it is said, nor any woman remain uncorrupted, and none ‘could come to the end designed by God, but for the assistance given them by the benefic spirits, or if evil spirits were alone allowed to sway men’s minds. Thus every man has a guardian angel and a good demon, as Socrates affirms, and likewise there are spirits of evil attaching to all in whom the passions are allowed free play; and these good and evil forces contend for the victory, the decision being in the hands of the man whose soul is the coveted prize. For man is in the middle ground of equilibrium, and freedom being allied to both the superior and inferior worlds by the dual aspect of his mind, being stirred by passion from below and illumined by intelligence from above, it is therefore in his will to whom the victory shall be given. Therefore, we cannot impute evil to spirits that are by nature evil, neither lay our failures to their blame; nor accuse the benevolent spirits of any lack of zeal, seeing that it is by our own consent that this or that

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advantage is gained by the powers of evil. But the evil powers, once overcome, lose their influence over us in a great measure. And this is the meaning of the saying, "I will give you power to tread upon scorpions; nevertheless, rejoice not that ye have power over the spirits, but that your name is written in heaven." Thus it is seen that evil spirits are compared to scorpions, and that they may be rendered ineffectual and harmless by the power of the celestial name, which is that spiritual or "new name" which is written upon the White Stone, as is said in the Revelations. The Christ, or Man made Perfect, is Venus, the Light Bearer and the Messenger of Peace, who gives his qualities to the overcoming of evil, and "To him that overcometh I will give the, bright and morning star." Opposed to Venus in the spheres is Mars, the god of war, the promoter of strife and discord, the ruler of the "Scorpions." He rules over the eighth sphere and the eighth sign of the zodiac, i. e. Scorpio, which is associated with the House of Death, the terminal house of the natural soul. When good spirits and powers dominate this principle in man’s nature - i.e. the Scorpio principle - there is the better hope of a deliverance from the evil of these spirits. When it is said that Michael (the Sun-Angel) contended with Satan (i.e. Saturn) for the body of Moses, we understand kabalistically that the good and evil principles were in strife, Saturn contending that the body belonged to him by natural agreement, while Michael affirmed that he had redeemed it even from decay; for Moses was an Initiate of the cultus of Ammon-Ra, and his name denotes not only drawn forth and elected, but kabalistically he is nominated, for he was one of those named and appointed to a typical work. This association of the spirits with man, and the sympathies and antipathies arising therefrom, is the reason that certain men are naturally friends or enemies of others. A certain magician warned M. Antoninus of his friendship with Octavius Augustus, with whom he was accustomed to play, Augustus always coming off the conqueror. The magician, it is said, reprimanded Antoninus because he continued to consort with Augustus, although better born, more skilful and older than he, for, the magician continued, "Thy genius doth much dread the genius of this young man and thy fortune flatters his fortune, so that, unless thou shalt shun him, it appears wholly to decline to him." Thus it is that some men are brought to positions of preference and power irrespective of their individual merits, because the genius which directs them and presides over their fortunes is more powerful than that of their rivals. But the Genius of Fortune is not that of Life, nor that of Intelligence, these three being distinct: so that a man may become possessed of great wealth and die young, or show remarkable faculty without commensurate benefit. Therefore the Genius of Fortune and Life must be in agreement if the position is to be enjoyed, while that of the Intelligence and Fortune must be equally well disposed if the full reward of one’s labours is to be enjoyed. Thus, all things considered, the choice must be in regard to that calling or profession which most suitably comports with the Genius of Fortune. This is taught in the horoscopical science, but otherwise is kabalistically determined according to names and numbers. These things, which have relation to the freedom of man, must be understood by those who would make election of times and seasons. It is good and proper to know whence benefits will be derived and whence evil will assail us; also those days, hours and seasons which are proper to our purposes, and those again which are incompatible; so that between that which is good and that which is evil we may so work that

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ultimately we may prevail.

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CHAPTER V ON TALISMANS ON the back of the Great Tortoise which the Emperor Yaou found on the banks of the Yellow River after the great flood of 2348 B.C., there was found inscribed a square of numbers which is now of universal fanie. It comes to us through the Hebrew Kabala as the Seal of Saturn, or the Table of Fifteen, being composed of the figures from one to nine so arranged that every way it adds to 15. But the Chinese call it the Patao, or Eightfold Path, these ways or paths being represented by the numbers leading from the central figure, which represents Man. Thus we have the most ancient telesma in the world, the mystic Table of Saturn :4

9

2

3

5

7

8

1

6

This telesma is made on virgin parchment, or lead, which is the metal of Saturn, and on a Saturday, in the hour of Saturn, being the first and eighth hour after sunrise. On one side is inscribed the above table of figures, around which is a circle enclosing the name Agial, which is the sum of the numbers included in the table, namely 45. Thus :A 1, g 3, i 10, a 1, l 30 = 45. On the reverse side is the Sigil of Saturn and the Seal, together with a text importing the purpose for which the telesma is made.

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The Table of Jupiter is a square of four, comprising the numbers from 1 to 16 in such form that each way shall amount to 34, the total of all being 136. The Table of Mars is a square of five, from 1 to 25. each column and diagonal amounting to 65, and the sum of all to 325. The Table of the Sun is a square of six, from 1 to 36, the sum being 111 in every direction, and the total of all the numbers 666. This is the mystical number which stands in opposition to the "Number of the Beast." The Table of Venus is a square of seven, comprising the numbers from 1 to 49, amounting to 175 in all directions, and the sum of all the figures to 1225. The Table of Mercury is a square of eight, being numbers from 1 to 64, adding to 260 in all directions, the sum being 2080. The Table of the Moon is a square of nine, adding to 369 in all directions, the sum of the numbers being 3321. Each telesma has to be made in the hour and on the day ruled by the planet, when the Moon is increasing in light and in good aspect to the ruler of the hour. An illustration of the method of employing these telesmas may be cited. If the position is to be improved, take the influence of the planet Jupiter and on a Thursday in the hour of Jupiter, the Moon being in good aspect to that planet and increasing in light. On a piece of tin, silver or parchment, inscribe the Table of Four, and over it the name of the Intelligence of Jupiter, which is Jophial, and beneath it the symbol of the planet. Enclose these in a circle and write around it the names of Aba. Hevah, Ahi, Alab, which are the powers of its numbers. Close them with another circle. On the reverse side, inscribe the planetary seal, and the sigil of the planetary intelligence, and enclose them in a circle. Around this write the purport of the telesma in a verse taken from Scripture which is appropriate to the operation in hand. Close all in a circle. The telesma thus made is to be worn upon the person until such time as its operation is effected, when it is to be regarded as a "dead" talisman, and thereafter will serve for no other person or purpose. Now in order to complete the knowledge of this telesmic art, the following sigils are given, to be inscribed on the reverse side to the table of numbers.

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As to the construction of the magical tables of numbers, the following rules are to be followed :For evenly-even squares, i. e. such as have 4, 8 and 12 bases, e. g. the squares of Jupiter and Mercury, write down the figures in their natural order, as here :1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

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Now draw a square divided into 16 cells. Fill in the numbers in this order, viz, keep the corners as they are, 1, 4, 13, and 16. Transpose the figures to their diagonal opposites, namely, 5 and 12, 9 and 8, 2 and 15, 3 and 14, leaving the central square of four cells in their natural order. You will then have a square in which the numbers are so disposed that they add up to 34 in any direction, thus :1

15

14

4

12

6

7

9

8

10

11

5

13

3

2

16

For oddly-even squares, as 3 x 2 = 6, 5 x 2 = 10, 7 x 2 = 14, a rather different method is employed. Take a natural square of six. Keep the corner numbers 1, 6, 31, 36 in their natural places, transfer the central square of four cells to their diagonal opposites, namely, 15 and 22, 16 and 21. Keep the corners of the next square, 8, 11, 26, 29, in their natural places. We now have the square in this condition :1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

22

21

17

18

19

20

16

15

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

showing the two diagonals of the grand square completed. Now transpose 27 and 28, then lift them to the places of 9 and 10, bringing these down to replace them. Next transpose 17 and 23, and carry them across to the places of 14 and 20, bringing these latter over to replace them. Next transpose 12 and 30, and carry them across to the places of 7 and 25, bringing these latter back to replace them.

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Transpose 19 and 24, leaving 13 and 18 in their natural places. Transpose 4 and 34, leaving 3 and 33 in their natural places. Finally, transpose 32 and 35, and carry them across to the places of 2 and 5, bringing these down to replace them; you will then have the Magic Square of Sol. 1

35

3

34

32

6

30

8

28

27

11

7

13

23

22

21

14

18

24

17

16

15

20

19

12

26

9

10

29

25

32

2

33

4

5

36

All squares may be dealt with on the principle which is here followed. It will be of interest to note that the seals of the planets are derived from the numerical sequence of their tables. Thus in the square of three, which is the Table of Saturn, if you draw a line from 1 to 2 and thence to 3, another line through 4, 5 and 6, and a third line from 7 to 8 and thence to 9, you have the Seal of Saturn. But the other forms of the seals have been simplified and rendered as equivalent glyphs. Various other talismans have been handed down to us beside those appropriate to the planets. Thus we have the most Sacred Seal of Solomon the King, which is a square of four inset with the sacred names whose letters replace the figures, the same being inscribed in a circle within which are written the words: Jehovah elohim Jehovah achad (The Lord our God is the only Lord). On the reverse side are the interlaced triangles with the symbol of Deity, the Yod or perfect number 10 set in the midst. Another telesma attributed to Solomon is displayed on page 174. The Seal of Solomon is shown on one side with the word Berasit, i. e. "In wisdom" or "In the beginning "; and on the reverse side is the name of Solomon with his sigil or mystic signature. By whatever means we may constrain spiritual forces to our purpose, whether by sigil, charm, telesma or invocation, it is only by the faith of the operator, aided by the trained will and imagination, which are the

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magical faculties of the human soul. Imagination is the creative or formative power of the mind by which a matrix or mould is delivered to Nature for the vitalizing power of the Will. For of these faculties the imagination is female and receptive, while the will is masculine and projective. What in the common mind operates as desultory thought and desire, the thought taking form and the desire giving life to it, is replaced in the mind of the magician by an ardent will and conscious imagination directed to the creation of definite things. To a certain extent, all lovers, all poets and artists are magicians equally with the makers of empires and the reformers of the religious world. They have definite objects in view; their imaginations are fired with the vision of a thing greatly desired of them, and their wills are potent and effectually directed to the goal of their ambitions. These are the people whose dreams come true. Only, when art supplements and fixes the form, giving voice to the powers which reside in Nature, calling them forth to defined and determined uses, their efficacy is brought within the control of the human will as raw materials wrested from the bowels of the earth and fashioned for a purpose. Paracelsus conveys this same teaching when he says: "The power of the will and the intention of the soul are the main points in magic as in medicine. A man who wishes everybody well will produce good effects, while one who begrudges everybody all that is good and who hates himself may experience in his own person the effects of his poisonous thoughts." That the magical faculty does not rest with the good and virtuous alone we are well aware; for the magical power is inherent in every human soul, and has the power of acting not only immediately, upon bodies that are present to the sense, by means of the subtle powers of the eye and the breath, but also at a distance, upon bodies and persons more remote, by means of the desire and phantasy of the soul acting upon the vital principle within them. Recognize only that thoughts are things, creatures of life when animated by human desire, and in all respects obedient to their creator man, and what hinders that they should obey the behests of the soul, when sufficiently enforced by the impelling power of the will? Therefore, we may see that it is motive alone which distinguishes good from evil in the use of occult forces. That which links the mind to its subject is thought; that which gives it form is imagination; and that which vitalizes it is the will. The will has no direct relations with motive, and may be used with equal power for good or evil. Will is but the vital or life-giving power to thought. Life has no qualities per se, though potential for all things; but it gains qualities by use or function. Motive determines the quality of our thought, inhering in and tincturing with its own nature every mental action. The motive is a power in itself, apart from the act, as the soul is a thing apart from the body, though expressing itself therein. Therefore causes that are brought into play by occult means will differ in their ultimate effects by reason of the motive which ensouls them, though to the outward eye appearing in all respects identical.

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Hence, to quote the words of a modern physician, "Whoever undertakes to govern and direct these mysterious powers, attempts a bold task. Let him consider well that he is penetrating, as far as is possible, into the highest laws of Nature. Never let him enter the sanctuary without reverential fear and the most profound respect for the principles which he endeavours to set in operation." Every person has this magical faculty within him, and it only stands in need of waking up. There is no limit to human perfectibility and power, and nothing which can be conceived of by the human mind that cannot ultimately be realized by man. Therefore the Magi have but four precepts :KNOW - WILL - DARE - KEEP SILENT.

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CHAPTER VI NUMEROLOGY THE great philosopher of Croton declared that the universe was built upon the power of numbers. The divine Plato affirmed the same thing when he said: "God geometrizes." To understand the power of numbers, their properties and virtues, is the first key to a knowledge of the magic of nature. Number, whether expressed as quantity, sound, form or colour, will ultimately be found to determine all sympathies and antipathies, all discord and harmony between natural bodies and between the soul of Nature and that of man. To understand the power of one’s own soul in the universe is the first essential of the magical art. To know ‘that power, one must know his number and thence his sympathies and antipathies in the soul-world. Name and quality, what are these but number, when brought to the last equation ? By the right use of numbers all magical operations are effected, and by the perfect knowledge of numbers the predictive art is brought to its perfection. Daniel the Prophet said of himself in Babylonia: "I, Daniel, found out by the books, the numbers of the years," and this knowledge was not foreign to the great astrologer Michael Nostradamus. All numbers have an occult relation to sounds. Gaffarel says that the Hebrew alphabet was invented by the first astronomers, who took their forms from lines joining the stars of the zodiacal constellations and the asterisms north and south of the Zodiac. This is in agreement with the teaching of the Kabalists, who preferably make use of the Hebrew alphabet in all magical operations. Each letter holds a signification in reference to the three worlds, the Natural, the Intellectual, and the Divine, in three degrees :-

• Self-dominion, Austerity, Selfishness. • Thought, Science, Ambition. • Tenderness, Enjoyment, Luxury. • Wisdom, Ability, Pride. • Reverie, Repose, Idleness.

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• Aspiration, Freedom, Self-Indulgence. • Triumph, Conquest, Anger. • Justice, Equilibrium, Calculation. • Prudence, Caution, Fear. • Faith, Learning, Self-Confidence. • Force, Effort, Violence. • Patience, Investigation, Indifference. • Hope, Devotion, Destruction. • Temperance, Moderation, Vacillation. • Occult Science, Eloquence, Fatality. • Veneration, Belief, Abandon. • Immortality, Beauty, Expression. • The Universe, Reflection, Error. • Religion, Reason, Vanity. • Life, Impulse, Vegetation. • Existence, Sensation, Folly. • The Absolute, Truth, Success. The names and values of the letters have already been given. In making sigils of names, the quarters of the kabalistic tables are taken instead of the letters they contain. These are combined to form the figure or

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sigil which contains these forms in combination: thus the name Jacob is defined:-

By permutations and combinations of numbers many choice secrets are discovered, not only in relation to individuals but in regard also to nations and the world in general. Such combinations result in the establishing of important epochs when things are brought to their climax and to their end, or when a new order of things arises and is brought to its issue. If we examine the power of numbers in certain wellestablished historical cases, we shall have quite sufficient evidence to warrant our thesis that Number lies at the root of all things. Thus, the House of Valois began with Philippe and ended with Henri. Philippe has 8 letters. Henri has 5 Henri de Valois 13 The House of Brunswick affords a similar kabalism :Ascension of George I

1714 1+7+1+4=

13 ____

Ascension of George II 1+7+2+7=

1727 17 ____

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Stuart Rebellion

1744 1+7+4+4=

16 ____

Ascension of George III

1760 1+7+6=

14 ____

American Rebellion

1774 1+7+7+4=

19 ____

French Revolution

1793 1+7+9+3=

20 ____

The Grand Alliance against Napoleon 1813 Again, the history of France affords an epoch in the Fall of Robespierre

1794 1+7+9+4=

21 ____

Fall of Napoleon

1815 1+8+1+5=

15 ____

Fall of Charles X

1830 1+8+3=

12 ____

Death of Duc d’Orléans, the heir apparent 1842 It has been well said that "history repeats itself." Nothing perhaps could so intimately portray this fact than the parallelism, even to minute details, of the lives of St. Louis of France and King Louis XVI of France, as here set forth in detail :-

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Birth of St. Louis, April 23

1215 An interval of years

539 ____

Birth of Louis XVI, August 23

1754

Birth of Isabelle, sister of St. Louis

1225 Interval

539 ____

Birth of Elizabeth, sister of Louis XVI

1764

Death of Louis VIII, father of St. Louis

1226 Interval

539 ____

Death of the Dauphin, father of Louis XVI

1765

Minority of St. Louis begins

1226 Interval

539 ____

Minority of Louis XVI begins

1765

Marriage of St. Louis

1231 Interval

539 ____

Marriage of Louis XVI

1770

Majority of St. Louis (King)

1235 Interval

539 ____

Accession of Louis XVI

1774

St. Louis concludes a Peace with Henry III

1243 Interval

539 ____

Louis XVI concludes a Peace with George III

1782

An Eastern Prince sends ambassador to St. Louis, desiring to become a Christian 1249

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Interval

539 ____

An Eastern Prince sends ambassador to Louis XVI with the same object

1788

Captivity of St. Louis

1250 Interval

539 ____

Captivity of Louis XVI

1789

St. Louis abandoned

1250 Interval

539 ____

Louis XVI abandoned

1789

Birth of Tristan (Sorrow)

1250 Interval

539 ____

Death of Dauphin

1789

Beginning of Pastoral under Jacob

1250 Interval

539 ____

Beginning of the Jacobins

1789

Death of Isabelle d’Angoulême

1250 Interval

539 ____

Birth of Isabelle d’Angoulême

1789

Death of Queen Blanche, mother of St. Louis

1253 Interval

539 ____

End of the White Lily of France

1792

St. Louis desires to retire and become a Jacobin

1254 Interval

539

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____ Louis XVI quits life at the hands of the Jacobins

1793

St. Louis returns to Madeleine in Provence

1254 Interval

539 ____

Louis XVI interred in the Cemetery of Madeleine

1793

In this return to their native soil the two remarkable lives of these remarkable Kings of France came to a parallel close. It would of itself appear to afford sufficient grounds for a belief in the reincarnation of souls. By a certain numerical valuation of the name St. Louis, which is composed of 6154361 = 26 = 8, it is found equal to 539 = 17 = 8, the number of years between the two kings. Also Louis XVI = 63116 = 17, which again yields a unit value of 8, the number signifying "Cyclic revolution" or, according to the Kabala, "Justice, equilibrium, the balance." Here it would certainly appear that St. Louis had "come again to his own." The law of periodicity has been the means of many remarkable scientific observations, and the law of cycles has been applied to the facts of history with some startling results, as we have already seen. It has been shown that a cyclic wave of activity extending over 250 years passes from one quarter of the world to another with regular precision. Thus :1750 B.C., Mongolian Empire established. 1500 B.C., Egyptian ascendancy. 1250 B.C., Greek epoch. 1000 B.C., Trojan crisis. 750 B.C., Scythian invasion. 500 B.C., Persian Monarchy. 250 B.C., Alexandrian epoch. A.D. 0, Christian era. A.D. 250, The Huns.

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A.D. 500, Persian new era. A.D. 750, Byzantine Empire. A.D. 1000, Second Roman Empire. The Papacy. A.D. 1250, Chinese incursion. A.D. 1500, Ottoman Empire. A.D. 1750, Russian Empire. A.D. 2000, British Climacteric ? THE MINOR KEY The following simple Kabalism of Numbers has been given for purposes of divination by means of names and dates. In this system One denotes individuality and possible egotism, self-reliance, affirmation. Two - Relationship, psychic attraction, emotionalism, sympathy or antipathy, doubt. Three - Expansion, increase, intellectual capacity, riches and success. Four - Realization, property, possessions, position and credit, materiality. Five - Reason, logic, ethics, travelling, commerce, utility. Six - Co-operation, marriage, reciprocity, sympathy, play, art, music, dancing. Seven - Equilibrium, contracts, agreements, treaties, bargains, harmony or discord. Eight - Reconstruction, death, negation, decay, loss, extinction, going out. Nine - Penetration, strife, energy, enterprise, dividing, anger, keenness. A square of three, which gives nine compartments, is used for the purpose of location. Thus :-

AMO - Thaumaturgic Art Chapter 6

4

9

2

3

5

7

8

1

6

The date of a person’s birth being the 18th June, ‘79, the figures 18679 are marked, and the characteristics and fate are discerned by these numbers. Thus we should read in this case :"You have much self-confidence, but your aspirations and expectations do not turn out to your satisfaction. You feel to be worthy of a better fate than falls to your lot. Beware lest pride goes before a fall. You feel most confident when least secure. Yet you may have success in work that others have abandoned as useless. You have sympathy, and are especially responsive to praise and sensitive to blame. You will most probably marry. The fine arts and social life have their attractions for you. You have a fine sense of value and will be able to estimate the cost of things. You would make a good contractor, or negotiator. You have some penetration and enterprise; you are keen, alert, and energetic." And of course much more that is true could be said if the individual environment were known. It is to be observed that the century is not included, as all who are born therein have this in common. Moreover, the figures of the year 7 and 9 give only a tendency in the third degree, which may be considered weak. The figures of the month (June = 6) are more particular, and have a secondary degree of efficacy; while the day of the month becomes of primary or particular significance. It here stands for "egotism and self-reliance," with "undoing." Finally, in order to gain the bearing of the whole Kabalism, we must add together the figures 18679 = 31 = 4, always reducing them to the unit value. We then find that the nature is a practical one, "seeking material realization, yet one who may easily grasp the shadow and lose the substance." The sum of the figures composing the date will reinforce any number of the same value which is in the date, so that a secondary or tertiary comprised in the month or year will thus become a primary. As in the date 29th January, 1864 = 29164 = 22 = 4, we find that there is a practical and material side to the character which seeks concrete realization of its projects; the number 4 being in the sum as well as in the year of the date. In dealing with inanimate objects or the brute creation (as ships, horses, etc.) which have names we convert the letters into numbers and take the sum of them, thence deriving our prognostic concerning them. But this is an art attended with some difficulties and many pitfalls, which it may not be convenient to enumerate. THE SECRET PROGRESSION Some years ago I published a curious Kabala known as "The Secret Progression," by which numbers in lotteries and other affairs apparently governed by chance might by diligence be discovered. There was at

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one time a circle of occultists who had their head-quarters at a certain place in Italy. Prominent among the members - of this fraternity was Giuseppe Balsamo, Comte di Cagliostro, whose wealth (acquired none knew how) not less than his learning, was the marvel of all with whom he had relations. For a short time he dazzled the Courts of Europe, and disappeared with the suddenness of a meteor. It has been said that he died in prison by poisoning, but I am not now concerned with his history. He-was at all events a past master in the magic of Numbers, as is evident from the fact that on three separate occasions he gave Madame de la Motte the winning number in the Paris lotteries. By the Kabala of the Secret Progression it is possible, when a series of numbers is known, to determine the next. Some years ago a well-known weekly publication instituted a Birth Competition which was to predict the number of births in 36 large towns of Great Britain during a particular week, the births during the corresponding week for five successive years being given. Considering this to be a good opportunity of, testing the method of the Illuminati, I accordingly took the problem in hand. The births in the 36 towns during the specified week in the preceding five years totalled as follows:Year

1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899

Births 6351 6906 6017 6715 6430

?

Taking the highest and lowest of these totals, 6906 and 6017, and allowing a good margin, we may expect to find the required number between 6000 and 7000. We now proceed to find the key number. 1. By the Minor Differential. 1894 - 6351 = 15 } -6 1895 - 6906 = 21

} = 13 } +7

1896 - 6017 = 14

} = 12 } -5

1897 - 6715 = 19

} = 11 } +6

1898 - 6430 = 13

} = 10 } -4

1899 - ?

= 17

AMO - Thaumaturgic Art Chapter 6

The series is found by adding together the integers of each given number, thus : 6351 = 6 + 3 + 5 + 1 = 15. It will be seen that the result gives 13, 12, 11, 10, a numerical series whose intervals are equal. We therefore require a number whose integers added = 17. 2. By the Minor Additive. 1894 - 6351 = 15 } 36 1895 - 6906 = 21

} = 71 } 35

1896 - 6017 = 14

} = 68 } 33

1897 - 6715 = 19

} = 65 } 32

1898 - 6430 = 13

} = 62 } 30

1899 - ?

= 17

Here also the intervals are equal in the final series. We therefore are confirmed in the knowledge that the required number belongs to the series of 17. 3. By the Major Differential. 1894 - 6351 - 555 = 15 = 6 1895 - 6906

} 13 + 889 = 25 = 7

1896 - 6017

} 12 - 698 = 23 = 5

1897 - 6715

} 11 + 285 = 15 = 6

1898 - 6430

} 10 -?=?=4

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1899 - ? Again the intervals are made equal by the supposition of the figure 4. The number required, therefore, is one which, when 6430 is taken from it, leaves a number whose integers = 4, 13, 22, or 31 = 4. 4. By the Major Additive. 1894 - 6351 } 13,257 = 18 = 9 1895 - 6906

} 17 } 12,923 = 17 = 8

1896 - 6017

} 14 } 12,732 = 15 = 6

1897 - 6715

} 11 } 13,145 = 14 = 5

1898 - 6430

} 8 ? = 12 = 3

1899 - ? The series 17, 14, 11, 8 shows equal intervals. The required number, therefore, is one which, added to 6430, gives a sum whose figures add to 12. Consequently, we now know that the number is one whose integers add to 17; and that it is a number which, being added to 6430, yields a sum whose figures add to 12. Having ascertained these facts concerning the hidden or unknown number, the task is not now a difficult one to anybody accustomed to handling figures. Between 6000 and 7000 there are only 70 numbers whose integers add to 17. Between 6000 and 7000 there are only 31 numbers whose figures amount to 12. Of these 31 numbers there are only 14 numbers whose difference of 6430 is a number whose figures add to 13. Finally, there are only 7 numbers within these limits which exactly satisfy all the conditions of the Kabala of the Secret Progression. These are: 6470, 6632, 6641, 6650, 6731, 6740, and 6830. By the third process the Major Differential we found the number to be greater than 6430, so that the field of inquiry

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was limited to numbers between 6430 and 7000. We have found seven numbers which are capable of satisfying all the conditions imposed by the different processes, and since the master-key is not to be divulged we must be content with a statement which reduces the possible number of chances from 1000 to 7 only. The Registrar-General returned the number 6731. A moment’s study will show how exactly it fits all the requirements of the several processes. 1. Minor Differential. - 6731 = 17, which compared with 13 shows the latter yields 4, which added to 6 = 10. 2. Minor Additive. - 6731 = 17, which added to 13 = 30, which added to 32 = 62. 3. Major Differential. - If from 6731 we take 6430, we have 301, which = 4. 4. Major Additive. - 6731 added to 6430 = 13,161, which yields a unit value of 12, which equals 3, which added to 5 gives 8. With this singular and unique Kabalism I may now bring the subject of Numerology to a close, and end the first section of my study of the Occult Sciences.

HYPNOTISM AND MESMERISM

HYPNOTISM AND MESMERISM IT will no doubt be questioned whether either Hypnotism or Mesmerism forms any legitimate part of Occultism, and indeed I have put the question to myself before finally deciding to include them. My reason for so doing is that formerly the whole of the magnetic art, then known as "Fascination" and the "Laying on of Hands," was an essential factor in the curriculum of the thaumaturgist.. Scripture references to the transmission of vital energy to those sick or dying, or even dead to all appearances, are numerous and well known. The use of oil as a medium for the conveyance and retention of the vital or magnetic energy is also noticed and is commonly in use in India and other parts of the Orient at this day. Mesmerism may be distinguished in a popular manner from Hypnotism in that it presumes the existence of an effluvium which is in the nature of a subtle essence capable of being transmitted from one body to another under the direction of the Will. Paracelsus calls it the Archeus or Liquor Vitae. "The Archeus is an essence," he says, "which is distributed equally in all parts of the body if the latter is in a healthy condition; it is the invisible nutriment from which the body draws its strength, and the qualities of each of its parts correspond to the nature of the physical parts which contain it. . . . The Archeus is of a magnetic nature and attracts or repels other forces belonging to the same plane. The individual power of resistance will determine how far a man is subject to astral influences. The vital force is not enclosed in man but radiates around him like a luminous sphere, and may be made to act at a distance. In those semimaterial rays the imagination may produce healthy or morbid effects. It may poison the essence and cause diseases, or it may purify it after it has been made impure and so restore the health. . . . If we separate the vital force from the physical form, the latter will die and putrefy; and by impregnating a dying body with vitality, it may be made to live again." Paracelsus further states that diseases may be transmitted from one person to another, or from man to animal, or animal to plant, by means of the magnetic emanations, and we have ocular demonstration that this is a belief firmly held by those nations of the East among whom it is practised. The story of the Gadarene swine is in line with our own experience of the epidemic of crime which follows upon the death of a renowned criminal. "If a person dies," says Paracelsus, "and seriously desires that another should die with him, his imagination may create a force that may draw a menstruum from the dead body to form a corpus, and it may be projected by the impulse given to it by the thought of the dying person toward that other so that he may also die. Such especially may be the case with a woman dying of puerperal fever, for if such should desire that the whole world might die with her, an epidemic may be the consequence of her poisoned imagination." The suggestion in this case has regard to the known contagious influence of the corpse of a woman dying of puerperal fever. The point, however, is that the will of the dying person is capable of distributing such contagion.

HYPNOTISM AND MESMERISM

I have cited these opinions in order to show that Mesmerism, of which Paracelsus was undoubtedly the earliest known European exponent, has little in common with the beliefs and practice of the Hypnotists. The Mesmerists, or those who believe in the transmission of animal magnetism, whether we regard it as the Archeus of Paracelsus or the Odyle of Reichenbach, affirm that the emanation is most active through certain channels - e. g. the eyes, the lips, and the finger-tips. They also state that certain natural bodies, such as oil and water, are capable of holding the magnetism better than others; while vinegar is capable of augmenting the efflux and thus of increasing the transmission. Volatile spirits are, on the contrary, completely destructive of the magnetic transmission and storage. Earth and clay are excellent storage mediums, or mumia as Paracelsus would call them. There is nothing singular in this, if we reflect that all the forces of nature of which we have any knowledge require certain media through which to operate. Electrical energy, for example, cannot be conveyed through a length of rope or wood, but only through a natural conductor of electricity, such as steel or copper. When it is said that Jesus spat upon the ground and made clay and anointed the eyes of the man who was blind from birth, we see that use was made of the natural odylic power of the saliva, and the powerful storage medium of clay or earth. The rest is explained by the powerful will of the magician as expressed completely and decisively in the single exclamation Ephphatha! The laying on of hands for the cure of sickness is one phase of Mesmerism or Animal Magnetism of which there is abundant evidence and which conclusively proves the existence of the magnetic fluid. Touching for king’s-evil or scrofula was in use among our own kings until Rome discountenanced any delegation of its powers. "Le Roy te touche, Dieu te guerys" (The King touches thee, God heals thee) had brought new life to thousands before the Divine right of kings was assailed. Dr. James Esdaile, at one time the Presidency Surgeon at Calcutta, has left us a very remarkable series of cases which prove the surpassing value of Mesmerism in the medical and surgical treatment of disease. His book on Natural and Mesmeric Clairvoyance is among the best upon this subject. Incidentally, he mentions two phenomena by which I think I may claim complete justification for the inclusion of this subject in a work upon magic. The first is the dislocation of the senses. Normally each of the senses has its appropriate organ, as the eye, ear, nose, etc. They are not in themselves the only organs of the corresponding senses of sight, hearing, smell, etc., but have become specialized as such. This is shown by the fact that in natural and induced somnambulism, the whole sensorium may be transferred to the finger-tips or the pit of the stomach, or even the soles of the feet. Fredrika Wanner, better known as the Seeress of Prevorst, was a natural somnambulist, and in her trances was particularly sensitive to the presence of other persons, discriminating between them as painful or soothing to her. And on such occasions it was found that her eyes being closed, or the senses incapable of being affected by ordinary stimuli, she could see, hear, and even taste by means of the epigastric region.

HYPNOTISM AND MESMERISM

Prof. Dumas is quoted by Dr. Esdaile to the same effect : "It is possible that, by a singular concourse of circumstances, certain organs become apable of exercising properties and fulfilling functions to which they have hitherto been strangers and which even belonged to different organs. If rare and extraordinary facts did not inspire distrust, I could allege the singular transference of the hearing and sight, which, abandoning their usual seat, have appeared to be transferred to the stomach - so that sounds and colours excited there the same sensations as are ordinarily conveyed through the ears and eyes. Five years ago a young woman from the department of Ardèche, who gave an example of a very strange phenomenon, came to Montpellier to consult the doctors for a hysteric affection attended with catalepsy. She referred all the sensations of sight, hearing and smell to the region of the stomach, the appropriate organs being insensible to the usual stimuli." The second phenomenon to which I would call attention is the transference of the senses. In the former cases we have the dislocation of the normal centres of sensation to the region of the sympathetic ganglion at the pit of the stomach, and now we may consider the marvellous fact of sensation being transferred from one person to another. Finding a specially sensitive subject in the person of Babu Lali Mohun Mitra, a young Hindu of twentytwo years, Dr. Esdaile, after curing him of a loathsome disease for which he had come to the hospital, subjected him to some experimental development. He would place his watch in Mitra’s hand and with a few passes would render the whole arm so rigid that under no bribe or persuasion or threat could the young man stir a finger to loose the watch as he was bidden. "Seeing this man’s extreme sensibility, I thought it probable," says Esdaile, "that he might exhibit community of taste with his mesmerizer, and here is the result of the first experiment made upon him. He had never heard of such a thing nor had I even tried it before. "One day that the Babu came to the hospital to pay his respects after getting well, I took him into a side room and, mesmerizing him till he could not open his eyes, I went out and desired the native assistantsurgeon to procure me some salt, a slice of lemon, a piece of gentian, and some brandy, and to give them to me in any order he pleased when I opened my mouth. We returned, and, blindfolding Lali Mohun, I took hold of both his hands, and opening my mouth had a slice of half-rotten lime-fruit put into it by my assistant. Having showed it, I asked, 'Do you taste anything? ' 'Yes; I taste a nasty old lime,' and he made wry faces in correspondence. He was equally correct with all the other substances, calling the gentian by its native name, cheretea; and when I tasted the brandy he called it shrâb (the general name for wine and spirits); being asked what kind, he said: ‘What I used to drink -brandy.'" It should here be remarked that Dr. Esdaile had cured this man of confirmed brandy-drinking as well as of his terrible disease. As to the local rigidity of the arm of the patient who otherwise had full and perfect control of his faculties, it should be remarked that the mesmerizer can not only saturate his patient with his own nervous fluid, but also determine the energy to various parts of the body so as to place them in effect beyond the patient’s control. In similar manner local anæsthesia or insensibility can be produced at the will of the operator. When the volition can no longer act upon a part of the body, it is found that its

HYPNOTISM AND MESMERISM

sensibility is at the same time inhibited, which proves that volition and sensation are consentaneous. When voluntary action is restored, sensation is simultaneously developed in the part. The nervous fluid not only follows the direction of the will, but is moreover impressed with our individuality, both physical and mental. It bears the signature of our thought, it carries the healthy or diseased tendencies of our body, it is moved by our will and coloured by our desires and passions. The dictum of Lord Bacon: "The human mind can be placed in communication with other minds and transmit their impressions," is not inclusive enough to cover the phenomena of statuvolism, animal magnetism, electro-biology, mesmerism, or by whatsoever name we may indicate the use of this mysterious agent. It is a force that can be set in motion at any time and made to operate at any distance apart from any suggestion of the effects it is required to produce. Herein it differs entirely from the "hypnotic suggestion" of the medical schools and the "auto-suggestion" which the critical writers wholly unskilled in the knowledge of Occultism bring to bear as explanation of every fulfilled prediction, every thaumaturgic effect, every case of healing which is in distinction from the known and approved methods, the clinic and pharmacy, of the medical profession. On the question of animal magnetism, either as a psychological or a therapeutic agent, the Occultist will always prefer the experience of such men as Esdaile, Gregory, and Baron Du Potet to the uninstructed opinions of the critic, however skilful he may be in his own field of research or work. Baron Du Potet, in his Manual de l’Etudiant Magnetiseur, says: "Nature herself discovered the secret to me. And how? By producing before my own eyes, without waiting for me to search for them, indisputable facts of sorcery and magic. And what is it determines these sudden impulses, these raving epidemics, antipathies and cries, the convulsions that one can make durable? What if not the very principle we employ, the agent so thoroughly well known to the ancients? What you call nervous fluid or magnetism the men of old called occult force, the power of the soul, subjection, magic! An element existing in nature, unknown to most men, gets hold of a person and withers and breaks him down as the raging hurricane does the bulrush. It scatters men far apart, it strikes them in a thousand places at the same time without their perceiving the invisible foe or being able to protect themselves. But that this element should choose friends and elect favourites, obey their thoughts, answer to the human voice and understand the meaning of traced signs, that is what people cannot realize and what their reason rejects, and that is what I saw; and I say it here most emphatically that for me it is a truth and a fact demonstrated forever!" And this is a phase of Animal Magnetism that has been repeatedly offered as the only intelligible explanation of the phenomena of sorcery and as repeatedly rejected by the schools that have no knowledge either of the facts or the agent which alone is capable of explaining them. According to the experience of mesmerists, the magnetizer can communicate his fluid to a variety of objects, which thus become conductors or agents of his action to all persons with whom he is in magnetic relations. These agents are water, oil, woollen and cotton materials, trees, etc. Charles Dickens found a means of magnetizing water by means of pieces of sugar which had been subjected to magnetization,

HYPNOTISM AND MESMERISM

which were then readily distributed among the old country folk in Kent. Magnetized water is one of the most powerful agents that can be employed, inasmuch as it is conveyed at once to the stomach and thence distributed throughout the system, acting upon the circulation and the digestion, taking in turn, according to the immediate needs of the body, the place of anodyne, diaphoretic, prophylactic and purgative. An agent of such universal utility is necessarily not thought very highly of by those whose business it is to scare Nature into obedience by cryptic prescriptions and unnatural concoctions. Given normal health and a desire to heal the sufferer, you may take a vessel of water, and having thoroughly cleansed the hands, dip them in vinegar. Shake off the superfluous moisture by flicking the hands violently towards the ground. Continue so to do until the finger-tips tingle, with a slight streaming sensation down the forearm and hand. Now take a clean glass and pour into it some fresh cold water, which must not have been boiled or heated previously. Place the glass upon the left hand with the fingers closed around it to steady it, and with the right hand make passes from above the glass downwards for a score of strokes or more. Then bunch the finger-tips above the mouth of the glass, bringing them almost in contact with the water, and impregnate it with the nervous fluid by a sustained effort of the will to that effect, letting the mind dwell the while upon the result you would obtain. A glass of water may thus be treated in from one to two minutes. Thus given to the patient it immediately goes to work and produces the most remarkable results without in any way complicating matters, as may be readily done by the administering of improper drugs, and without having any deleterious reaction, even when used as a soporific. That such an agent, so inoffensive, so natural and, above all, so efficacious and sure, should have escaped the recognition of medical men appears to me to be inexplicable, except on the grounds of complete ignorance of its properties and action. I do not pretend to explain by what magical process the mind of man is capable of acting upon a glass of water to the end that it becomes either a powerful astringent or a laxative, or an anodyne, or a stimulant. The chemical nature of the water remains unchanged. It is still a mechanical compound of H2O. But something has happened, and this something the will of man can determine while yet his intellect fails to understand. What I am now saying is not a tradition or an effort of the imagination. It is the record of my own personal experience. Suggestion ? How does one suggest purgation to a babe that is teething, or peaceful sleep to one delirious ? The suggestion, if there is one, is directed, not to the mind of the patient, but to Nature herself, and the suggestion of an intent will is equivalent to a command. In the use of magnetized water as a purgative, no colic pains are felt either during or after the action. As an anodyne it leaves no sense of depression or lassitude behind it; while as a tonic it is not accompanied by any rise of temperature nor followed by the slightest constipation. A magnetic subject will readily distinguish magnetized water from water that has not been so treated, and I have known persons who could normally distinguish between them, though at first I was unwilling to believe this and only convinced myself of it after trying a number of tricks to discover if there were a possibility of suggestion or fancy. But all I discovered was the fact that in some remarkable way magnetic water could be distinguished by its taste.

HYPNOTISM AND MESMERISM

But whatever agent we make use of for the purpose of conveying the nervous or vital fluid, it has been thought, even by those who practise magnetism, that rapport with the patient must first have been established. This, however, is not the case; though undoubtedly it is more certain in its action when magnetization by contact has preceded the use of an agent. The agent is the means of continuing magnetization, and especially of attacking diseases that are internal and deep-seated and not merely nervous or superficial. But for all that, there is. no reason whatsoever why magnetization should not be begun by means of a suitable agent. Contactual magnetism is not generally effective at once, but becomes so by persistence, the action being cumulative. So if water or any other agent is persisted with, it will bring about the desired effect. Of this I am quite certain, since I have treated persons at a distance by this means alone, never having set eyes upon them. Yet so wonderful is the sympathy existing throughout Nature, that I have been presently conscious of changes taking place in my own body, of pains and sickness, which had no other origin than the subtle connection of sympathy between my subject and myself viâ the agent I had employed. I know of persons who are capable of communicating their sensations at a great distance to one with whom they are in close sympathy, though nothing in the nature of thought transference is observable between them. With others there is ready communication of thought or of mental images but no community of sensation. Hypnotism proposes to secure the same results. as magnetization by mechanically-induced trance supplemented by suggestion. But while this process lends itself peculiarly to the production of phenomena, and is extremely useful for experimental purposes and psychic research, it cannot pretend to have the same therapeutic value as magnetization, inasmuch as it does nothing to reinforce nature or to supplement depleted vitality. Where insensibility is the effect aimed at it is equally useful, and as in all induced somnambulism the automatic and subconscious self is rendered alert and active, very valuable results may be produced by hypnotic suggestion. If, however, you induce the hypnotic sleep by any of the usual methods and then stand aside while a phonographic record film is set in action to voice the number of original "suggestions," the effect will surprise many into an entirely new view of the matter, and those who do not now believe that the personal factor is at all considerable, will come to the conclusion that it is the only factor which counts for anything in the whole process. The complete insensibility to written or spoken instructions, other than those which pass through the mind of the magnetizer, is in itself a suggestion which the upholders of the non-magnetic position would do well to ponder. I prefer, however, to leave the schools of the Salpétrière and Nancy to thresh out the question to its natural and inevitable conclusion. Deleuze, who followed the teaching of Puysegur, of Mesmer, Van Helmont and Paracelsus, has some excellent admonitions to those anxious to practise Animal Magnetism, which may very suitably be quoted in conclusion : - "Persons who follow this subject may be divided into two classes. "The first class comprehends those who, having recognized in themselves the faculty of doing good by magnetism, or at least hoping to succeed therein, wish to make use of it in their families, or among their friends, or with some poor patients, but who, having duties to fulfil or business to follow, do not magnetize except in circumstances where it appears to them necessary, without seeking publicity,

HYPNOTISM AND MESMERISM

without any motive but that of charity, without any other aim than that of curing or relieving suffering humanity. "The second class is composed of men who, having leisure, wish to join in the practice of magnetism, the study of the phenomena it exhibits, to enter largely into it, to establish treatments for taking care of several patients at a time, to form pupils capable of aiding them, to have somnambulists who may enlighten them to examine closely, compare and arrange the phenomena, in such a way as to establish a regular code of laws whose principles may be certain, and whose consequences, extending daily, may lead to new applications. "This class is separated from the preceding by a great number of degrees which must be successively mounted before one can find oneself situated where he can command a more extensive horizon. I therefore advise those of the former class not to think of passing beyond their limits unless they are masters of their own time and have some preliminary knowledge. Their lot is very good; they are strangers to the vanities and inquietudes which attend new attempts, to the uncertainty which springs from the conflict of opinions and of various points of view under which things are presented to us; they taste without mixture or distraction the satisfaction of doing good. . . . As to the persons who desire to belong to the second class, I advise them to consider at first the extent of the career they will have to run. It is better not to enter it than to stop in the midst of their enterprise. In what pertains to practice, a prudent simplicity is preferable to science. In what relates to theory, imperfect notions expose us to dangerous errors. The labourer who cultivates his farm as his fathers did before him, collects every year the price of his labours. Should he give way to an inclination to pursue experimental methods, he may be ruined before he is enlightened by his own experience." Up to a point this is very good advice, but it is doubtful whether any amount of advice, however sound, will deter men from making experiments and sacrificing both life and fortune to the satisfaction of that desire for knowledge which is inherent in every active and well-developed mind. As between the curative and experimental practice of Mesmerism and Hypnotism there can be little doubt that Mesmerism as understood by its best exponents is more adapted to the curative method, while Hypnotism is peculiarly adapted to the development of experimental psychology. As to which branch of the subject has the greater claim to our consideration, is a matter not so easily answered, seeing that a profound knowledge of psychology is very necessary to the practice of even curative magnetism, and the more we know of the psychic origin of disease the better we shall be equipped to successfully deal with morbid conditions as they arise. METHOD OF MAGNETIZING These brief notes on the subject will hardly be complete without some practical instruction. The following method of inducing the mesmeric sleep has been found easy and reliable. If the patient is able to sit up, place him in a comfortable chair with fairly upright support at the back. Take a seat opposite to him. Take hold of his thumbs and bring your own thumbs into the palms of his hands with a gentle pressure. Now engage his attention, and fix your eyes steadily on his for five minutes. Allow him to close

HYPNOTISM AND MESMERISM

his eyes should they tire meanwhile. At the end of five minutes let his hands fall loosely into his lap, rise to your feet and place your hands firmly on his shoulders for a few moments. Next raise your hands above his head and make passes downwards along the arms as far as the knees. Do this for five minutes. Now take his right hand in your left, as at first, and with your right make rapid but slight shampoo strokes over the eyes. These strokes are made with the hand and forearm working loosely from the elbow, and require practice; the palm of the hand barely touches the closed eyelids. At the end of half a minute, when you will have made upwards of 200 strokes, give a slight jerk to the right arm of the patient with your left, and press with the right thumb between his eyes, the fingers of your right resting on the top of his head. If the patient has surrendered to this treatment it will be found that the arm, if lifted, will fall back when loosed as a dead weight. The eyelid being raised, the pupil of the eye will be found to have turned upwards and inwards to the root of the nose. The breathing will be soft and regular, and a mild warmth and moisture will pervade the skin. That will suffice for the first sitting. The patient may be roused by a few sidelong passes right and left over the eyes, and by blowing into them or wafting a fan over the eyes. A few upward passes must then be made from the knees to the shoulders, and the patient invited to stand up and thoroughly shake off the influence. The next day at the same time and place (this is important) proceed as before. It will be found that premonitory symptoms of the magnetic sleep will soon be developed. The patient yawns, shivers and flushes in turn as if hot and cold water were running down his back; there are spasmodic twitches of the arms and legs, the latter kicking out forcibly from time to time. When these symptoms appear the magnetic sleep rapidly deepens and fascination1 or rigid catalepsy may be induced. For curative purposes it is not necessary that the cataleptic stage should be reached, for once the magnetic sleep is obtained, the patient is not only susceptible to curative agency but also is capable of localizing the complaint and prescribing a method of treatment which the magnetizer should do all in his power to carry out. For surgical purposes, however, catalepsy and complete insensibility are essential, but my readers will hardly require further instruction under this head than is to be found in the works by Dr. James Esdaile and others who have success-fully applied magnetism to clinical practice. 1The

state in which the phenomenal side of the automatic faculty is conspicuously displayed.

PART II THE OCCULT ARTS

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER I DIVINATION IN the succeeding sections of this work I intend to deal with that aspect of the subject of Occultism which depends for its evidence on the exercise of the mediumistic or divinatory faculty. What has been said in Part I has relation to the exercise of a purposive faculty, guided by intelligence and experience. It represents Determinism in its application to the hidden laws of Nature. We are now, however, concerned with the automatic faculty, the intuitive and divinatory process of the human mind. Many of the methods by which the automatic faculty finds expression are allied to the purposive methods of the Occult arts. Cartomancy or divination by cards, for instance, can only be effected after a preliminary understanding of the meanings attaching to the cards, and this is in no sense an automatic or unconscious process, but a voluntary and empirical one. We do not begin to employ the automatic faculty until we shuffle the cards with a view to ascertain the unknown elements. Even the disposition of the cards for this purpose is a purely voluntary empiricism. It controls our interpretation and our prognostics. The construction of the cards, the meanings attached to them, and the method of laying them out for a divination are all prejudicial elements of the art. The automatic faculty triumphs over these limitations in the simple act of "shuffling" - and therein lies the whole secret of Nature. Let us suppose for a moment that we decide upon a certain combination of cards falling together that they shall signify Death. The odds against these cards coming up in the required order and combination are thousands to one on any occasion. That they do occasionally turn up is not, however, so remarkable as that, whenever they do, a death immediately follows, and the faculty of the Cartomante lies in predicting to whom that judgment is determined. In seership or scrying by means of the crystal, etc., a distinction exists between the purely involuntary or passive use of the faculty of clairvoyance and that in which media are used. Moreover, some passives see directly and describe things as they actually are or will be at the time indicated, while others do not see otherwise than by symbols which require rational interpretation. In Geomancy also the automatic faculty is directed by definite methods and is supplemented by the use of the rationa1 faculty in the process of interpretation. Marks made haphazard in the sand or upon a piece of paper have no meaning for those who are ignorant of geomantic symbolism, so that inasmuch as the symbols gain their meaning by the intention of the mind, there is a consent between the rational and the instinctual faculties in man. It is by reason of this consent in nature that the methods of divination we are about to consider are rendered possible. Nevertheless, it is not possible to apply any dogmatism or arbitrary methods to the interpretation of symbols. We cannot, for instance, determine that a flight of two crows is a symbol of death and one of seven crows a marriage, and straightway go forth to observe if death or marriage is our immediate fate. A

CHAPTER I

symbol is such by reason of its analogy and correspondence with certain principles in nature which are reflected in our minds. Thus we may speak of the universe as a symbol of the Deity, and of man as a symbol of the universe (which indeed was anciently depicted as the Grand Man, Adam Kadmon, etc.), and these are not arbitrary relations but have their origin in a natural correspondence which exists quite apart from our recognition of it. The symbol is the means by which we express our recognition of that relationship. Figures are primarily symbolical; if we use them to denote quantities it is a mere convention. Every material form is a symbol of the forces which generated it. When we come to the consideration of the automatic faculty, we have to suppose a superior degree of intimacy between the soul of Nature and that of the individual in whom the divinatory faculty is active. It is undoubtedly a fact that the more practical the individual may be the less intimate are his relations with that subconscious or submerged part of his nature which is related to the Universal Soul. Individual consciousness cannot actively engage in that which is external and that which is internal at one and the same time, except the person be in a state which is altogether abnormal. The normal mind is active in the waking consciousness during the day and active in the sleeping consciousness during the night. The waking consciousness is otherwise known as the attentive mind, and it is by the depolarization of this that sleep is induced. In certain phases of hypnosis both aspects of the mind may be simultaneously active in part, and the same phenomenon is observed in somnambulism. The following diagrams illustrate (1) the normal waking consciousness, (2) the normal sleeping consciousness, (3) the hypnotic or somnambulic semi-consciousness, and (4) permanent dislocation of the mental axis in cases of insanity: -

The faculty of self-depolarization and of diving down into the region of the submerged consciousness appears to be naturally developed in the genuine medium and the diviner. Others may induce this faculty by the use of suitable media such as the hypnotic disc, the crystal or "the magic mirror." In others, again, it is induced only by hypnotic treatment. It is chiefly when in doubt that we make our appeal to it, and no Divination would be possible without its consent of function. It has been affirmed, with some show of reason, that the subconscious mind is the intelligence principle of the evolving human entity, and that it is the storehouse of the digested memories of all past incarnations. Others, however, affirm that it is nascent and rudimentary, the intelligence of the animal soul, in distinction from the rational principle of the human soul. But whatever we may argue concerning

CHAPTER I

its status and functions in the human economy, we cannot deny that its powers transcend those of the supraliminal mind and that its association with the Soul of things is far more intimate. All divination, in effect, consists in the ability to bring into the region of our normal waking consciousness the things which lie hidden in the womb of Time. Some of the means by which this is effected will now be explained.

CHAPTER II

CHAPTER II THE TAROT DIVINATION by means of cards is a very ancient practice. It has been affirmed that the cards as we know them were invented for the purpose of beguiling the hours of a feeble-minded monarch. My only comment on this statement is that any king who believed the story would be very easily beguiled. I do not presume to say when cards were first used for gaming purposes, but the Tarot from which ordinary playing-cards are obviously derived, has a very ancient origin and moreover a very profound one. It is said that Hermes the Thrice Great engraved the symbols of the Tarot upon 22 laminæ of gold. Various expositions of the Tarot have appeared from time to time, and all agree in tracing a connection between the Twenty-two Major Keys and the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, beginning with Aleph. Several attempts have been made to associate the symbols of the Tarot with the Three Divine Principles, the Twelve Signs and the Seven Planets, but all attempts appear to me fanciful. In addition to the Twenty-two Major Keys there are fifty-six Minor Keys, and these are the same as the ordinary pack of 52 cards, with the exception that there are 4 knights, one of each suit, in addition to the knaves. These knights or heralds precede the ace of each suit. Of the 52 remaining cards we have four suits corresponding to the four seasons of the year - Cups, Batons, Deniers and Swords, otherwise called Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds and Spades. These are disposed as follows :Spring . . . Diamonds Summer . . . Clubs Autumn . . . Hearts Winter . . . Spades The 52 cards correspond to the 52 weeks of the solar year. Several works have recently appeared setting forth the meanings of the Tarot cards and the methods of employing them. Various methods have been invented for the use of the Tarot cards, which those who desire to follow the art of divination by this means will find fully set forth in the works of Mons. Encausse (Papus), L’Abbé Constant (Eliphas Levi), and P. Christian, to which I would add the more recent work by Mr. A. E. Waite.1

CHAPTER II

It will suffice if I here give the interpretation of the 22 Major Arcana, about which many ingenious theories have been circulated from time to time. 1

The Key to the Tarot. London: Wm. Rider & Son, Ltd.

Every Arcanum has a threefold application, having relation to the spirit, soul and body of man, or the spiritual, intellectual and material worlds, according to those Kabalists who have attempted an exposition. But I conceive a fourfold application, viz, the Spiritual, the Intellectual, the Psychic or Emotional and the Material or Physical; for the soul of man has two distinct aspects, the Nous, or mind, and the Antinous, or passional principle; these being otherwise referred to as the Higher and Lower Self or the Human and Animal Man, the form or Corpus being altogether material and of no active power save what it derives from the animal soul investing it. On these lines the following interpretation may be found a useful key to the TWENTY-TWO ARCANA 1. The Magician - represented by a figure of a man holding a baton or wand over the three symbolical forms: the Cup, the Sword and the Denier. Around him are springing up roses and lilies. Over his head is a double nimbus in the form of the figure 8. This is the magician, he who is master of the four worlds, the four elements and the four principles, who is capable of exercising the creative will - an adept. In the Spiritual world he stands for the Creative Will. In the Intellectual world - The pure volition. Transformation; resolution; the ability to propound and to resolve a problem; to control the mind. In the Psychic world - Desire, which is the lower expression of the will; the ability to generate and to destroy; the control of the psychic forces and the mastery of the passions. In the Physical world - The control of the elements; the mastery of physical forces; the power to acquire and to dispose of the material benefits of life. A great inventor. 2. The High Priestess. - The figure of a woman seated, her head surmounted by a solar disc between horns. On her breast is a cross, and on her lap the Tora or Book of the Law, while at her feet is the lunar crescent. She is seated between the pillars of the temple called Jachin and Boaz - Security and Strength. It represents Isis, Maya and the Virgin Mother of the world. This Arcanum is also called "The Door of the Hidden Sanctuary." In the Spiritual world it denotes the Divine Sophia, the creative imagination, the universal matrix, in and through which the supreme will is manifested.

CHAPTER II

In the Intellectual world. - The Binary or reflection of Unity, the law of alternation, the pairs of opposites, positive and negative, etc.; the reason, which weighs and balances, discerning by comparison of known things. In the Psychic world - Attraction and repulsion; the relations of the sexes; love and hatred. In the Physical world - Chemical affinity (as acids and alkalis); trade, commerce, interchange, barter. The woman related to the man for the furtherance of the ends of destiny. 3. The Empress, otherwise Isis-Urania. A female figure reclining. She holds the symbol of Power in her hand, and at her feet is the Ankh or symbol of life - Venus. At her feet the corn springs full-eared and plentiful. She is surrounded by the beauties of nature. She represents Nature in association with the superior world, or Super-nature. She is the first product of the Supreme Will and Imagination, the progeny of Divine Wisdom and Love, and unites in herself intelligence and power in their highest manifestation. In the Spiritual world this Arcanum denotes the knowledge of the two worlds, the manifest and unmanifest; the past and future united in the eternal Now. In the Intellectual world - Ideation, the productive power of the mind, discrimination. In the Psychic world - The art of generation, fecundity, parentage. In the Physical world - The power of expansion, of multiplication; growth, development; wealth, plenty. 4. The Stone Cube, also known as the Emperor. A man of mature age seated upon the Chair of Initiation, the Masonic Cube. In his right hand is the sceptre of deific power, the ansated cross; and in his left the globe, the symbol of possession. In the Spiritual world this figure represents the realization, successively and continuously, of the Divine Virtues in oneself. In the Intellectual world - The realization of the idea of related and dependent existence; affirmation; negation; discussion and solution. In the Psychic world - Attainment of happiness by the satisfaction of desires; the realization of the dual nature in male and female successions. In the Physical world - The realization of material effects. The reward of effort and correct judgment. The concrete. Foundation, establishment.

CHAPTER II

5. The Hierophant, or Master of the Secrets. On his head is the Mitre, in his left hand the triple Cross. His right hand is uplifted with the sign of the Benediction. At his feet are the Keys of the Kingdom, which unlock the Gates of Life and Death, of Heaven and Hell. He is the symbol of the Grand Master. In the Spiritual world it denotes the Universal Law, by which the infinite manifestations of the Divine Being are regulated. In the Intellectual world - Religion, the connection between the Infinite and the Finite, the One and the many. In the Psychic world - The regulation of the passions; self-control; discipline. In the Physical world - Liberty within the limits of the law; direction and control of natural forces. 6. The Two Ways, or The Lovers. Beneath the outspread hands of a flaming Cherub stand a man and woman, with the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge upon either hand. Around the Tree of Knowledge the Serpent is coiled. In the Spiritual world this Arcanum symbolizes the knowledge of good and evil; the conscience. In the Intellectual world - The laws of Necessity and Liberty, of Duty and Privilege. In the Psychic world - The choice between denial or consent to the promptings of the lower nature. The determination of conduct. The experience of indulgence and abstention. Instinct. In the Physical world - The antagonism of natural forces; dissociation; disintegration; fractures, divorce, parting. 7. The Chariot of Osiris. The figure of the Sun-God stands in a car drawn by two sphinxes, the one black and the other white. It represents the illumination of the lower nature by the Higher Self, of the earth by the solar orb, of the soul by the Spirit. In the Spiritual world - The sacred Septenary; the ascendency of Spirit over Matter; the penetration of the mysteries by the light of Divine Intelligence. In the Intellectual world. The dispersal of doubt and error by the light of the intellect. Mental acumen. In the Psychic world. The dissemination of vital energy by magnetic vigour; geniality and warmth of nature; vitality. In the Physical world - The gamut of the seven senses. Radiation; energy; force. The fulfilment of

CHAPTER II

ambitions. 8. Justice, or the Sword and Balance. Justice is seated and vested in the robes of the judge. In the left hand she holds the scales evenly balanced, and in her right the sword uplifted. She represents the impartiality of Heaven, and proclaims that God is no respecter of persons, that Heaven has no favourites, but always rewards virtue and punishes vice. In the Spiritual world - Divine justice. In the Intellectual world - Pure reason, correct judgment, comparison, equity. In the Psychic world - The attainment of peace and happiness by moderation, temperance and impartiality. In the Physical world - The balance of forces. The law of equilibrium. Attraction and repulsion. Compensation. Sense of Value. Rewards and punishments. 9. The Veiled Lamp, or the Hermit. The figure of a sage or philosopher carrying a lamp in one hand and a staff in the other. He represents the pilgrim soul, the seeker after truth. In the Spiritual world it denotes the realization of the Divine selfhood by manifestation or embodiment. In the Intellectual world - Prudence and circumspection, discrimination of true and false, of right and wrong; classification. In the Psychic world - Selection, choice, likes and dislikes; morality. In the Physical world - Molecular construction; science; discovery; distinction of caste; order and arrangement; carefulness, caution. 10. The Sphinx, or Wheel of Fortune. The Rota or Wheel on which is seated the Sphinx upholding the sword. Around the wheel are the letters of the law as defined in the Tarot, and the four fixed signs of the Zodiac, the man, lion, bull and eagle. It represents the law of correlated succession. In the Spiritual world - The Law of Karma; spiritual cause and effect; spiritual selection. In the Intellectual world - The rational faculty; induction and deduction; connectedness; perception of relativity and time intervals, progression. In the Psychic world - The regulation of the emotions and passions and the application of the psychic forces by the moral law. Regime, training, orderliness.

CHAPTER II

In the Physical world - The law of action and reaction; good and bad fortune; the cyclic law of events; periodicity; rise and fall; revolution; circulation. N.B. - This symbol is that of the aspirant to Occult Initiation. The symbols of the man, bull, lion, and eagle or serpent denote the four maxims: Know, Will, Dare, Keep silent, which are imposed on all neophytes. These are the keys to the attainment of power. 11. The Muzzled Lion, or Strength. A woman closing the mouth of a lion by a strength which demands no effort. In the Spiritual world - The omnipotent. In the Intellectual world - Moral and intellectual force ; the determination of energy to the accomplishment of things by knowledge of the law. In the Psychic world - The use of the psychic forces in the process of development; the conquest of the animal nature. In the Physical world - The conservation of energy; control and direction of force; mastery of the elements; vitality; rejuvenation. 12. The Sacrifice, or the Hanged Man. A man with a golden halo is suspended by one foot from a tree; the free limb being placed so as to form an inverted figure 4. It represents the Divine Giving-forth, the revealed law. In the Spiritual world - The sacrifice of the spirit to matter for the ends of evolution. In the Intellectual world - The law of repression; antagonism; inversion and self-sacrifice. In the Psychic world - Madness, offensiveness, misanthrophy. In the Physical world - Depolarization; reversal; penalty; reaction; loss and undoing. 13. The Reaping Skeleton, or Death. The figure of a skeleton riding upon a horse, to whom even the great ones of earth do homage. It represents the Divine Law of reversion, the going back of things to their source; inbreathing. In the Spiritual world - It denotes manifestation of the Divine activity and life. Creation and transformation. In the Intellectual world - The law of action and reaction ; introspection ; inductive reasoning ecstasy.

CHAPTER II

In the Psychic world - Disappointment; denial of affections ; reclusiveness; deprivation of psychic force; catalepsy. In the Physical world - Death; ruin; paralysis; collapse; nullity. 14. The Two Urns, or Temperance. An angelic figure pours pure water from one vessel to another. On his forehead is the symbol of Life, and on his breast the ineffable name, Adonai, and the triangle within the square. It represents the Divine life in activity. In the Spiritual world - The eternal movement of life. In the Intellectual world -The combination of ideas; friendship; sociology. In the Psychic world - The interplay of the emotions; reciprocal affection; intercourse; social life. In the Physical world - The relations of the sexes; chemical combination; amalgamation; public intercourse. 15. Typhon, or The Devil. The Evil One seated upon a throne in the Inferno, his footstool an iron cube to which male and female devils are chained. It represents the spirit of Discord. In the Spiritual world - The principle of evil, the refractory will opposed to the predestined order of things. In the Intellectual world - Magic, mystery; the unknown; controversy; freethought; fatalism. In the Psychic world - Anger; passion; hatred; malice and fear. In the Physical world - Antipathy; discord; strife; repulsion; riot and lawlessness. 16. The Blasted Tower, or the Lightning Flash. A tower struck by lightning. A crown is seen falling from the pinnacle, and also two men. It denotes the Divine visitation. In the Spiritual world - The overthrow of spiritual pride; the descent of Typhon; the fall of the angels. In the Intellectual world - The pride of intellect and its consequence; the law of retribution; insanity. In the Psychic world - Psychic repercussion; ostentation; the humbling of the autocrat. In the Physical world - Cataclysms; earthquakes, storms; overthrow; reversal; ruin; fatality; sudden

CHAPTER II

death; catastrophe; accidents. 17. The Star of the Magi, or the Star. A female figure pouring water from one vessel into a lake and from another upon the dry land. Above her are the seven stars, among which there shines the great Pole Star of the Magi. It represents the Divine Expectancy. In the Spiritual world - Faith, the realization of Hope. The manifestation of the unrevealed. The beatific Vision. In the Intellectual world - Absolute knowledge; the evidence of experience; illumination; astrology. In the Psychic world - Expectancy; geniality; sympathy; charity; optimism; confidence. In the Physical world - Birth ; success ; relief sustenance. 18. The Twilight, or the Moon. A night scene, the luminary distilling dew upon the earth, while a dog and a wolf are baying the moon and a crab is crawling from the water. It denotes the Great Infinitude. In the Spiritual world - The abysm of the Infinite; the womb of Time; the Divine amplitude; infinity; spiritual darkness. In the Intellectual world - The darkness of negation; imbecility; lunacy; vacuity; time and space as distinguished from duration and distance. In the Psychic world - Doubt; despair; hesitancy; vacillation and inconstancy. In the Physical world - Darkness; emptiness; denial; enemies; snares and ambushes. 19. The Resplendent Light, or the Sun. A child with the banner of Life seated upon a white horse. The child’s head is adorned by a chaplet of flowers, while above him shines a brilliant sun. It represents the Divine Effulgence. In the Spiritual world - It is the supreme Heaven; the Presence of the Divine Being; the Kingdom of Heaven; the angelic life. In the Intellectual world - The first principle; the origin and source of things; the laws of being. In the Psychic world - Vital energy; magnetic power; radiant joy; happiness; benevolence. In the Physical world - Life; energy, force; success, honours; elevation, attainment.

CHAPTER II

20. The Resurrection, or the Judgment. The Angel of Life sounding the Trumpet, while the dead rise from their tombs. It represents the Great Vocation. In the Spiritual world - Spiritual awakening; the call to the Divine Life and Presence; the Divine Consciousness. In the Intellectual world - Revelation of genius; aspiration. In the Psychic world - Responsiveness; activity; conversion; moral regeneration; new regime. In the Physical world - Response to stimulus; reflex action; elective affinity; elevation; mission; office; utility; work. 21. The Crown of the Magi, or the World. In the centre of a circle is seen the figure of a woman, representing Nature. The circle is variously a serpent with its tail in its mouth, representing eternity, and a wreath of laurels denoting conquest or attainment. At the four corners are seen the four fixed signs, denoting stability and endurance, the four quarters of the world and thefour "elements." It denotes immortality. In the Spiritual world - Divine continuity. Immortality. In the Intellectual world - The mystery of the ages. Adeptship. The law of continuity. Supreme knowledge. In the Psychic world - Patience; endurance; steadfastness; fidelity; morality; integrity; perfect satisfaction; the virtuous enjoyment of all delights. In the Physical world - Position; power; honour; distinction; wealth; long life; happiness; inheritance. 22. The Blind Fool, or Folly. A vain and bedizened youth, carrying a staff and bundle upon his shoulder, holds in his hand the flower of daffiance. With haughty mien he walks blindly to the verge of a precipice. It is the symbol of the Divine Inscrutability. In the Spiritual world - The law of Divine Necessity. In the Intellectual world - Fatalism; egotism; blind credulity; ignorance; error. In the Psychic world - Unrestrained passions; selfishness; vanity; speculation. In the Physical world - Inconsequence; blindness; danger; ruin; detachment, isolation; conspicuous folly.

CHAPTER II

These interpretations are not presumed to be exhaustive nor to follow any other order than that of the Tarot cards, which, needless to say, have been shuffled considerably since their delivery to the world by the thrice great Hermes. They represent the three stages of Initiation, with their ten, seven and three steps, culminating in Attainment (21) or Failure (22). He who can so dispose the symbols of the Tarot, or Golden Book of Hermes, will need no other initiation than he can himself effect.

CHAPTER III CARTOMANCY THE following methods have reference to the ordinary pack of 32 cards, the twos, threes, fours, fives and sixes being rejected. THE SHUFFLE This should be done without effort, prejudice or design. The cards should lie loosely in the left hand while the right manipulates them, the mind meanwhile resting intently upon the object desired of the divination. If the consultant is not expert at shuffling, so that it cannot be done automatically and without the attention being fixed upon it, the cards should be laid face downwards upon a table and mixed by a light circular pressure with both hands. They are then brought together to form a pack. THE CUT The cards being placed face downwards, the pack must be cut with the left (the passive) hand into three lots, turning them face upwards. THE CARTOMANTE then takes the lots one by one, taking note of the cards which lie exposed on the top of each lot. The pack is then put together in the same order as before the Cut. A variety of methods may be followed in laying out the cards. Much depends upon the object in view as to what method should be employed. It will doubtless be sufficient if I recite several of the more approved methods, leaving the reader to make selection of one or more of them as occasion may require. But first let us learn the meanings of the cards. THE SUITS Diamonds have relation to money, profit, loss. They are governed by the cards which are in touch with them. In questions of time they denote speed. Clubs denote business, profession, position; mental pursuits.

CHAPTER III

Hearts govern domestic affairs, social relations, love, affection. Spades denote sickness, death, loss, disappointment, delay, distance. TIME Diamonds denote the morning. Clubs, midday. Hearts, evening. Spades, night. COMPLEXIONS Diamonds show very fair people, with flaxen or sandy hair and blue eyes. If aged, white-headed, Clubs show persons of medium colour, inclining to be dark, with brown hair and eyes. Hearts show rather fair people, with fresh complexion, brown hair and blue or grey eyes. Spades, very dark people, with black hair and dark complexion, deep brown eyes. POSITION Diamonds show officials and persons in authority; also very old people. Clubs show professionals and such as live by the use of their intellect. Hearts denote social and domestic attendants; also lovers and friends. Spades, lawyers (acting under diamonds); widows, widowers; persons in mourning; also those of mean calling, artisans, etc. INTERVALS Diamonds denote speedy effects. Clubs, punctuality.

CHAPTER III

Hearts, leisurely results. Spades, delay, impediments or failure. SEX Kings of the suits stand for men of the appropriate colouring (see "Complexions "). Queens represent women. Knaves denote the thoughts of persons indicated by the king or queen of the same suit. SPECIFIC MEANINGS Diamonds. Seven stands for a gift, jewellery, children. Eight, roadway journeys, short travels. Nine, speed, sharpness; wounds, quarrels; sudden events. Ten, a city, town; success. Ace, money; a ring; a letter. Clubs. Seven, victory, success; achievement by intelligence. Eight, papers, documents; a firm friend; agreements, contracts. Nine, merrymaking; pleasure; society. Ten, distant journey by land; business; success by the use of faculty; surmounting. Ace, good fortune; success; preferment. Hearts.

CHAPTER III

Seven, a small wish; slight gratification; domestic changes. Eight, clothes; invitations; love and courting; furniture. Nine, the wished-for thing; gratification; joy. Ten, marriage; a fortunate change; success. Ace, the house; a cot or cradle; good fortune. Spades. Seven, an upset; a removal; disorder; a reversal. Eight, night-time; sickness; loss; a split or quarrel. Nine, disappointment; delay; death; loss; undoing and failure. Ten, water; a voyage; a great distance; things remote. Ace, the grave; a foundation; a post or position. The nine of Diamonds is called the "Sword" and "the curse of Scotland." The ace of Clubs is called "the Horseshoe," and other cards have their own appropriate symbolic names. COMBINATIONS Every card has its own specific meaning, but is capable of conveying a flexed meaning by combination with other cards. Thus you may have a clutch of two or three cards touching one another, the result being indicated by the combined meanings of the cards involved. The following combined meanings will aid in the process of interpretation :— A Clutch of Two. Eight of Hearts and Ace of Diamonds, an affectionate letter; a proposal of marriage; a letter of invitation. Seven of Clubs and Ten of Diamonds, successful business; financial victory. Nine of Clubs and Ace of Spades, a will. Seven of Spades and Ace of Hearts, a change of residence.

CHAPTER III

Eight of Diamonds and Ten of Spades, a wet journey. Ten of Clubs and Ten of Spades, a long voyage. Nine of Diamonds and Seven of Spades, an accident; a flight. Nine of Diamonds and Nine of Spades, death. Eight of Hearts and Eight of Clubs, a contract. Seven of Spades and Eight of Hearts, a change of clothes, or furniture. Nine of Diamonds and Eight of Clubs, a writ; a summons, or telegram. Similarly all pairs of cards may be combined to form a reading. The meanings derived will have reference to any person indicated by the Court Card they may touch. In this respect Cards above the person signified denote that to which he is striving. Cards below denote that which lies at his feet, things accomplished. Cards to the left show what is thrown away or to be avoided; the results of past action; antagonisms. Cards to the right indicate that which the future holds; the outcome of present action. A Clutch of Three. Three Aces, a rise in position. Three Kings, success. Three Queens, scandal; company. Three Knaves, embarrassments. Three Tens, a rise in position. Three Nines, delay, if including the Spade Nine; disappointment, if the Heart Nine is absent. Otherwise, speedy success.

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Three Eights, success. Three Sevens, an upset; derangement. A Clutch of Four. Four Aces, a denial ; refusal. Four Kings, a court case; a meeting; a convention. Four Queens, slander; publicity. Four Knaves, distraint; imprisonment; an impasse. Four Tens, great success. Four Nines, robbery; bankruptcy; failure; dead loss. Four Eights, achievement; success; merrymaking. Four Sevens, walled in; confinement; stoppage. Note. - A preponderance of red cards in any combination is more hopeful than if they were black. A Run. A run or sequence of Diamonds shows financial competence; of Hearts, domestic and social happiness; of Clubs, good business and intellectual achievements; of Spades, illness, misfortune, failure.

CHAPTER IV VARIOUS METHODS 1. THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE IN this method the 32 cards only are used. The "positions" correspond to the twelve astrological Houses (which see), and have the same significations. The cards are laid out in the order indicated by the numbers in the following diagram, and the pairs are read in relation to their positions. The 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th cards are called the governing cards. The 17th is the keg card. The three cards left over are what goes out of the life. Diamonds belong to the 1st House; Clubs to the 10th; Hearts to the 7th; and Spades to the 4th. The ace of any suit is in its strongest position when occupying its own House. The kings are in best position when they are the governing cards of their own angles, e. g. the King of Diamonds in the 13th position; the King of Clubs in the 14th; the King of Hearts in the 15th; and the King of Spades in the 16th position. Each of the Houses can be occupied by one of two cards, which will then be in position of greatest strength; and the angles will have three cards, similarly placed in positions of strength. Thus :1st House is strengthened by Ace of Diamonds, 7 Hearts, or 10 Spades. 2nd House, 8 Hearts, Jack of Spades. 3rd House, 9 Hearts, Queen of Spades. 4th House, Ace of Spades, 10 Hearts, or 7 Clubs. 5th House, Jack of Hearts, 8 Clubs. 6th House, Queen of Hearts, 9 Clubs. 7th House, 7 Diamonds, Ace of Hearts, 10 Clubs. 8th House, Jack of Clubs, 8 Diamonds.

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9th House, Queen of Clubs, 9 Diamonds. 10th House, Ace of Clubs, 10 Diamonds, 7 Spades. 11th House, Jack of Diamonds, 8 Spades. 12th House, Queen of Diamonds, 9 Spades.

The cards being shuffled and cut, they are laid out as shown above. The cartomante will then begin the interpretation, by giving the combined meaning of cards 30, 31, 32, throwing them away as of no further consequence. The reading of the future begins with 18-1-13; the pair 18-1 being read together in relation to 13, which controls the combination. This pair 18-1 has relation to the Consultant. Next pair, 19-2, is read in connection with finance. Next pair, 20-3, in regard to letters and relations. The 12 pairs are finally exhausted in the same way. The key card is that which for the time being dominates the life and fortunes, the means by which success or failure will come, and if a Court Card a person of that colouring will dominate everything. It is he or she who can say yes or no, confirming or denying the means.

CHAPTER IV

If the cards read well in the pairing, and appear to promise good fortune, the key card will show the means by which this good will come, and vice versa. When the angles or cardinal points - the 1st, 10th, 7th and 4th cards - are good, the whole fortune will be greatly enhanced for good. But when evil cards occupy these positions, any good will not be of a permanent or secure nature. The angular cards, 1, 10, 7 and 4, are to be referred to the governors, numbers 13, 14, 15, 16, respectively, and thence to the key card. The wheel may be set out thrice at a sitting. Any questions can be answered from the second tirage or setting, after the general prognostics have been obtained. In answering to a specific question the cartomante will only consult those sections of the wheel which have relation to the matter preferred. Anything in the nature of a second general reading is to be avoided. It is the first setting of the Wheel only which is to be relied on for a true prognosis. 2. THE STAR The Consultant’s card is first taken from the pack and set in the centre of a small round table. This card will answer to the sex and colouring of the Consultant. The latter then takes the 31 cards remaining and shuffles them thoroughly, desiring to know what is immediately surrounding him or her. The cards are cut. The cartomante now takes the cards and lays them out as shown in the diagram on page 244, where C is the Consultant. The rest of the cards are then laid aside. The 13th card is laid upon the top of C. It is the Court of Final Appeal, and if a good card, especially a Heart, it will give a hopeful issue, whatever may be otherwise predicable. In reading from the Star the 5th and 7th are obstacles and are to be read together, and also in combination with or reference to 9 and 11. They have a bearing upon what is past. Cards 1 and 3 are read together, and in reference to 9 and 10. These cards will show the aspirations, hopes and intentions of the Consultant. Cards 2 and 4 are read together, and referred also to 11 and 12; the augury having significance in regard to fortune achieved, the present condition and what lies at the feet of the Consultant as his own.

CHAPTER IV

Cards 6 and 8 are read together and in relation to 10 and 12, in reference to what is coming; the future; the result of present action. After the general reading note the cards touching the Consultant or centre card and also the 13th card; also the general tone of the cards above and to the right. For if the cards above and to the right are red or predominantly so, or Clubs touched by Hearts or Diamonds, and especially if the 13th card is a good one, then you may safely promise the attainment of the ambitions and a brilliant future. When the tirage has relation to a specific question, the Nine of Hearts must be present and the Nine of Spades absent, or the wish will fail of fulfilment or be abandoned. 3. THE TABLET The 32 cards are all employed in this method of divination. After shuffling and cutting the cards are laid face upwards in four rows of eight cards each, from left to right, working downwards. The Consultant being found by the sex and complexion, the count is made from this to the ninth card in every direction, the cards being paired up and read together with those which lie in contact with them. The cards surrounding the Significator or consultant card must be taken special note of as indicating events near at hand, the environment, etc.

CHAPTER IV

The House-card or Ace of Hearts is then taken, and the count made from it in the same way, to find out what fortune attaches to the home. If there is a dominant wish the Nine of Hearts is taken as Significator, and the count made in the same manner as before. If it counts up to the Consultant or the House-card, there will be realization of the hopes and desires. Count can also be made from the left-hand card in the top row (that which was first laid down). The ninth card in every case, and the ninth from the ninth continuously, are noted and read in connection with those touching them. Finally, the cards are taken up in pairs, the 1st and 32nd, the 2nd and 31st, and so on, ending with the 16th and 17th. These pairs are read together and prognostics drawn from their combined meanings. Many other methods of laying out the cards are in vogue, and there is one which has special application to the events which occur from day to day, but I am not privileged to give this in its true form, and must therefore content myself by omitting it entirely. The above methods will, however, serve for all practical purposes, and will be found to contain a complete justification of the use of Cartomancy.

CHAPTER V

CHAPTER V CRYSTAL-GAZING FORTUNATELY I do not feel called upon to give a scientific explanation of the phenomenon known as Clairvoyance. The facts are numerous; the evidence is unimpeachable; and the exercise of the faculty is too well attested the world over to leave any manner of doubt as to its claim to a place in the category of occult phenomena. Two facts, however, appear to have been established in regard to it, viz. : (1) The faculty is not normal to the same degree in all persons; (2) in those in whom it is a more or less constantly active faculty it is nevertheless beyond the control of the will. The function of the brain - which may be regarded as the bulbous root of a nervous plant whose branches grow downwards - is duplex; to affect and to be affected. In its active or positive condition it affects the whole of the nervous and muscular processes in man, finding expression in vital action. In its passive or negative condition it is affected by impressions coming to it through the organs of sense, the results being expressed by nervous and mental action. It is this latter phase of brain function with which we are concerned in the study of clairvoyance, whether natural or induced. The range of our sense-perceptions puts us continually in relations with the material world, or rather with a certain part of it only. But the gamut of sensation is limited in us. Many insects, birds and quadrupeds have keener sense-organs than we. The photographic plate can register beyond the highest range of our sense of sight. The X-Rays have put us in relations with a new order of impression-records quite beyond normal sense perception. The animalculæ and microbic life, itself microscopic, have yet their own senseorgans related to a world of life beyond our ken. We know most positively that Nature does not cease to exist where we cease to perceive her. Yet there are people foolish enough to require the evidence of the senses in proof of things which cannot normally be perceived and who would scout the idea that visions may be seen in a crystal unless they could be pointed out and perceived by them. The relation of our sense-organs to the several degrees of matter, to solids, fluids, gases, etc., vary very considerably with different persons. The average wool-sorter would leave many an artist behind in his discrimination of colour-shades. Odours are not only differently sensed by various individuals, but also they affect people differently. The perception of sound also affords evidence of a wide range of variability in the acoustic sense. Neither is it wholly a matter of quantity. Sounds, colours, odours and flavours have a qualitative value which differs with the individual percipient. Hence arises the variety of "tastes," of likes and dislikes

CHAPTER V

observable in a mixed community. The experience is a general one,but the principle involved appears to have escaped recognition simply because it is a psychological and not a material or physical one. But to come to the practical part of our subject, let us examine first of all what we understand by the terms Clairvoyance and Crystal-gazing. Clairvoyance or Clear Vision may be natural or induced. Natural clairvoyance is more common among certain communities than others. It has been stated that the inhabitants of basalt territory are disposed to natural clairvoyance, which, if true, would certainly lead to the conclusion that the faculty is normal to man and under certain favouring conditions will become active. It is an established fact that certain sensitive persons are nervously affected by the presence of water, and this has been utilized by some for the purpose of finding springs and underground currents. Such persons are known as "Dowsers." If these are affected by the presence of underground water it is quite reasonable to suggest that others may be similarly affected by the presence of basaltic rocks beneath the surface of the land. Natural clairvoyants, then, may be regarded as those in whom the faculty is more or less persistent. In coming into a locality they will describe things which have already taken place there as if they were presently conscious of them, or as if the events were actually taking place before their eyes. At other times they will describe events which are subsequently enacted. There appears to be no sense of time attaching to the vision. Induced clairvoyance is, in effect, nothing more than the faculty of natural clairvoyance brought into temporary activity by suitable excitation. The Crystal is a ready means of developing clairvoyance where a tendency to it is known to exist. It is clear pellucid quartz or beryl, sometimes oval in shape, but more generally spherical. Baron Reichenbach credited it with highly magnetic qualities capable of producing, in a suitable subject, a state analogous to the ordinary waking trance of the hypnotists. Reichenbach has shown, by a series of experiments upon sensitive and hypnotized subjects, that metals and other substances produced marked effects in contact with the human body. The same substance was found to affect different patients in diverse manner. The hypnotic experiments of Dr. Charcot, the well-known French biologist, have also demonstrated the rapport existing between the sensitive and foreign bodies in contact; as, for instance, when a bottle containing poison was taken at random from among a number of others and placed on the back of the patient’s neck, the hypnotized subject would at once develop all the symptoms of poisoning by arsenic, strychnine, prussic acid, etc., it being afterwards ascertained that the bottle thus applied actually contained the toxine whose effects had been portrayed by the subject. It is not, therefore, a matter of surprise that the crystal, which is a highly "magnetic" body in the sense that Reichenbach uses the term "odylic," should produce marked effects upon a certain order of sensitiveS. The fact that it does not act similarly upon all subjects seems to indicate that the difference is not in its action but in the predisposition of the subject. Where the Crystal does not answer it is often found that the black concave mirror is effective. I have prepared a mirror of this nature after the recipe of Sir Richard Burton, and the effects have fully justified the claim that for purposes of clairvoyant

CHAPTER V

development the "Magnetic Mirror" is not to be surpassed. A bowl of water has been found effective as a medium in some cases, and we learn that Jacob Boehme, while engaged in his work as a cobbler, was suddenly entranced by the sight of the sun’s rays falling on a vessel containing water. From that time his interior vision was opened, and we have in consequence a number of remarkable works from an unlettered man, including "the Aurora," "the Four Complexions," "the Signatura Rerum," and other works. As to the medium employed for inducing clairvoyance, it cannot be definitely prescribed. It must remain a matter of experiment for each investigator. The degree of sensibility to stimulus of this kind differs with the subject. There are some in whom the psychic faculties are more active than in others. In some these powers are hereditary, in others they are developed by an innate tendency aided by favouring circumstances. In most persons the natural powers take a more practical turn, making them successful in mundane affairs rather than in those that are psychic and spiritual. All are not constituted alike, and it is well that it is so. The distribution of natural gifts proceeds from the celestial world, and is so ordered that each person born on this planet may take his part in the economy of life. The spiritual needs of mankind are included in this economy, and there are born into the world from time to time those who are specially endowed with the faculty of spiritual interpretation, with psychic gifts such as clairvoyance, telepathy, psychometry, etc., such persons being the natural channels of communication between the superior and inferior, or the internal and external worlds. They are to humanity what a certain order of microbic life is to the body of man - organic interpreters, translating the elements of food into blood, nerve, fibre, tissue, etc., agreeably to the laws of their being, Among any people who are alive to the paramount importance of maintaining the open door between this world and the spiritual universe, such media are cared for and protected and suitable conditions are supplied for the exercise of their faculty. It was so in the case of the Sybils among the Greeks; it is thus also in India to-day.

CHAPTER VI PRELIMINARIES AND PRACTICE IN the practice of Clairvoyance by natural means, patience is very necessary. Admitting that the germ of the faculty is there, Nature requires not only suitable conditions, but also adequate time in which to display her powers. Here again we find temperamental differences; and it may be useful in this place to indicate by what means and by what persons seership may most readily be attained. In regard to the subject, medium or seer, there are two distinct temperaments in which the faculty may be expected to develop very readily. There is the nervous temperament associated with a high muscular development, classified as the "mental motive" temperament. It is characterized by great activity of body and mind, a certain nervous tension and excitability, prominent features, full osseous development, prominent brows, intent gaze, and sallow complexion. Mr. Evan Roberts, who figured so prominently in the Welsh Revival of 1905, is a characteristic example of this class of subjects. The other class in whom the passive temperament is present and to whom visions come by reflection as images mirrored in a moveless lake, are known by the following characteristics: full and lymphatic habit, pale or delicate complexion, blue eyes, straight fine hair, small, plump and cold hands, and a languid disposition. There are many variants from these two main types, of course, but they are cited as being very distinctive, and also they obtain their development by quite opposite means. The positive seer works with effort, throwing out the soul-images by the power of the will, perceiving them with more or less accuracy, and thereafter turning them over in the mind, reasoning and questioning concerning their import and meaning. The passive seer, on the contrary, works not at all and makes no effort, the visions coming imperceptibly, almost unconsciously, and having generally a literal interpretation or fulfilment. In the case of the positive seer the visions are symbolical and seldom capable of a literal application, even though they may be found to have a material fulfilment. With the passive seer it is otherwise, the visions being actual visions of what has happened or will thereafter transpire. Of these two kinds of seership the passive is the more serviceable because more perspicuous, but it has the disadvantage of being largely under the control of external influences, and so frequently incapable of being exercised at all.

CHAPTER VI

The positive type of seer exercises an introspective vision, searching inwardly towards the soul-world whence revelation proceeds. The passive seer, on the contrary, remains in statu quo, open to impressions coming inwards towards the perceptive faculty, but making no effort towards them. The success of each depends upon being allowed the free and uninterrupted exercise of that method which is natural to their respective temperaments. In practice it is necessary that self-possession and confidence in one’s own soul-power should be maintained. Faith is the firm rock upon which all revelation must rest. Let the intention be pure and a desire for Truth constantly present in the mind. Clairvoyance is not an undisputed possession, but a gift of the Spirit, and accepted as such in a spirit of humble recognition it is more capable of proving a real and lasting blessing than that "terror of the soul" it is sometimes seen to be. And if under the best conditions the quest is unsuccessful after a prolonged period of earnest trial, it must be taken as sufficient evidence that the faculty of Clairvoyance is not in the category of one’s individual powers. Possibly the same qualifications brought to bear along some other line of psychic development will result in a commensurate degree of success. So far, then, in regard to the preliminaries. A word or two now as to practice. Having obtained a good rock crystal (the glass balls sold as such are quite useless) or a black concave mirror with a base of bitumen, the same should be kept out of the Sun’s direct rays, and when not in use may be conveniently kept in a black velvet or silk bag, which will not scratch the surface. It must not be thought that the visions are in the crystal or mirror itself. They are in the subconscious mind or soul of the seer; but the mirror serves as a medium for visualizing the impressions which come up before the mind’s eye, and also produce inhibition of the basilar portion of the brain through the optic thalami, thus placing the attentive mind in a passive condition. Etheric perturbation caused by combustion disturbs the odylic substance, and therefore no direct rays of light should be allowed to fall on the mirror. The diffused light just after sunset is the best for purposing and seering, and the position of the seer should be facing west with the direct light on the back of the mirror and only reflected rays upon its surface. If by artificial light, the gasalier, candle or lamp should be behind the mirror, the latter being between the light and the seer. The crystal or mirror must be in contact with the sitter, and no other person should be within arm’s length. A person seated behind the seer may act as prompter or director of the séance, and another similarly placed may act as recorder. The positions are then as shown in the diagram.

CHAPTER VI

The Director will maintain an even and quiet tone, suggesting from time to time what may be looked for. Thus :Director. There is a house in S. Street; it is No. 17. You will enter by a gate and go along a short pathway to the door, which is of a green colour. You will go through the door and along the vestibule. Turn into the room on the left. Now tell me who and what you see there. The direction should be made by easy stages, and no step should be taken until the seer confirms the previous direction by saying, "Yes, I am there," or similar form of assent. The director will then know how the seer is progressing. The "push-off" is very necessary in the early stages of development, and the above suggestion will be found extremely useful. When once the seer is "on the move," so to speak, he can be left to himself and will then either recoil at once to a complete consciousness of his physical surroundings or will go on to the exercise of the clairvoyant faculty. The Recorder will make notes of everything that is said during the séance; and the results should be tested and proved so that imagination may not pass for clairvoyance, as it is apt to do before the faculty is really developed. At no time during the séance should the director lose psychic touch of the seer, but as soon as a direction

CHAPTER VI

is satisfied another should be given with, as far as possible, a connecting link, so that the transitions are rendered natural and not abrupt. Sudden dislocations are apt to break the spell under which the seer is carried away. No séance should last more than fifteen minutes, and sittings should be made at the same time of day and in the same place repeatedly, so that a cumulative effect is produced. A psychic habit is induced by this means, and it is extremely valuable in all functions of an automatic nature. Visions when fully developed are of two kinds, Direct and Symbolic. In most cases it will be found that answers to detached questions take a symbolic form. Passive seers usually have direct visions, and positive seers favour the symbolic form. The former feels first, and then sees; the latter first sees, and then thinks. Special attention must be given in the early stages to the important process of direction. During the process of abstraction which precedes every vision, the consciousness is gradually withdrawn from the physical surroundings. The seer forgets that he is in this or that place, or in the presence of this or that person. He forgets that he is gazing into the mirror or crystal. He hears nothing consciously and sees nothing save that which is passing before the eyes of his soul. For the time being he loses sight of his own identity. When, therefore, the soul is suddenly arrested by an apparition which it has not consciously evoked, the reaction is apt to be violent and rapid and frequently carries the seer back to his normal condition. The process of direction, however, if properly conducted, tends to establish a condition of preparedness in the seer which is decidedly beneficial. If there is a suspicion of telepathic communication between the seer and the director or recorder, it can be obviated by directing the seer to a point where the knowledge of those present at the séance is equally nil. All independent intelligence communicated by the seer can be subsequently checked and tested.

CHAPTER VII VISIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS THE passive or direct vision is presumably a representation of the actual state of things perceived, whether relating to the past, present, or future. The circumstantial account given by the seer is sufficient to indicate that it is a direct vision. The symbolic vision is, however, fraught with many difficulties for those who are unacquainted with symbolism and the method of interpretation. Something, therefore, may be said on this point. Symbols are thought-forms which convey, by the association of ideas, a definite meaning to the mind which perceives them. They depend entirely upon the Laws of Thought and the correspondence between the spiritual and material worlds, between the subject and object of our consciousness. Among the ancients, symbols were the original form of record, of communication, and of writing. The hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, the word pictures of the Mayas of Central America, the ideographic writing of the Chinese are all forms of symbolism derived from natural objects. The Hebrew alphabet is quite symbolical. Any letter speaks to us of the nomadic people who were "dwellers in tents." Such names as ox, tent, tent-door, tent-peg, camel, fish, fish-hook, eye, hand, basket, rope-coil, ox-goad, water, are names of letters which cannot fail to convey an idea of the primitive Semites. They are all names of natural objects, and they are all symbols. Bring together the letters yod (hand), daleth (tentdoor) and oin (eye), and you have the word yedo. The hand denotes action, power; the door, an entry, initiation; the eye, sight, perception, - literally, opening the door to see; ideographically, knowledge. Similarly, in Chinese the words for wall, face, and man, when brought together as a symbol, indicate a wall-facing man, by which we understand a prejudiced and bigoted person, one who will not see or enlarge his horizon. All symbols may be interpreted by their known natures, qualities and uses. Thus an arm will signify defence, power, protection; a mouth speech, revelation; an ear news, information; if distorted, scandal, abuse. The sun prosperity, life, honours; the moon crescent, prosperity, increase, improvement; when gibbous, loss, decay, decline. The sun eclipsed, death of a man; the moon eclipsed, death of a woman; bread, food, sustenance, knowledge, preservation; and these are all natural interpretations. Every symbol has reference to the Three Worlds, the physical, intellectual, and spiritual, i. e. to Nature, Man, and God. If the question be concerning the material world, a ship as a symbol would show commerce, trade, a voyage, good or bad according to the condition of the ship; as if in full sail under a clear sky, prosperity is signified; if in distress or with flagging sails, an unfortunate condition is signified.

CHAPTER VII

If the question has relation to the intellectual world, the same symbol would denote the interchange of ideas, good or bad news, etc.; if to the superior world, the same symbol would denote that communication with the spiritual world is increasing or decreasing, as the symbol may indicate. A pirate ship might thus refer to plunder, slander, infringement of rights, or death. Symbols are almost infinite in number, and the interpretation of them requires unprejudiced skill, but they are nevertheless an important subject for study, and the use of the Crystal or Mirror by a positive seer can hardly be beneficial without a profound understanding of this subject. Although every symbol has some general signification in agreement with its natural qualities and uses, yet it obtains a particular meaning in relation to the individual. This is also the case in dreams, where every person is a natural seer. Few, however, pay that attention to dreams which their source and nature warrant. The Crystal is but a means of bringing the normal dreaming faculty into conscious activity. No definite rule can be laid down as to the interpretation of visions, and the seer or seeress will be found the best interpreter. Yet the differences of meaning, whether in dreaming or visions, of any particular symbol is of common experience. Thus to dream of a naked child imports trouble to some people, while others have a standard dream of wading in water whenever trouble is to be faced. To dream of butcher’s meat means financial troubles to some people, while to others it imports gain by speculation. The controlling factor in this matter is probably to be found in the constitution of the psychic and mental faculties of the seer as expressed in the nativity. A great deal may be said for a system of interpretation that has for its basis the dominion of the signs of the Zodiac at the birth of an individual and also the horary positions of these signs at the time of the visions or dreams as the case may be.

CHAPTER VIII SOME EXPERIENCES IT may serve in some part to illustrate the foregoing remarks if I here recite some experiences which have come within my knowledge and have been either witnessed by me or have been the result of my own exercise of the faculty of induced clairvoyance. Being of a positive type of mind, and not normally clairvoyant, the visions have chiefly been of a symbolic character. A lady friend came to me in June 1896 and asked me to look at the Crystal for her, as her mind was much exercised on a certain point. In due course she was told that she would hear news from abroad concerning the birth of a child in some hot country; it would be a boy, and would arrive in the month of February of the following year. This was not at all what the lady was inquiring about, although I had no means of knowing what was in her mind as no intimation of any sort had been given to me by her. Nevertheless, she did hear such news, and in February 1897 a boy was born to the lady’s sister in India, the late Queen Victoria being godmother to the child. I next told her that on a certain date, while travelling, she would meet with an accident to the right leg. On that day my friend actually slipped between the platform and footboard while getting into a train and suffered severe abrasion of the shin of the right leg, together with serious muscular strain from which she suffered for several days. It was further said that this lady would hear some good news concerning her son in connection with papers and a contest. This was to happen in the month of October, and at that time her son passed his examination for the military college with honours. As an illustration of the direct or passive vision, the following is of interest :Mrs. H. the seeress was consulted by a lady of some ability in a special line of literature, though this fact was not within the knowledge of the seeress. The lady was told that she would go up a staircase into a dingy room with a roll of papers under her arm. She would see a dark man who was thick-set and of quiet demeanour. The man would take the roll, and it would be a source of good fortune to her. at a later date. These circumstances were literally fulfilled by the lady taking a manuscript to a publisher, who accepted and published it. The description of the man was quite accurate, as .1 who know him can testify. These two cases will serve as illustrations of the two orders of vision, the symbolic and the literal. The symbolism of the former case not being recorded, however, but merely the interpretation and its

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fulfilment, it will be of interest to cite another instance in which the symbolism is preserved:Vision. - A public square is seen in which was the effigy of a lamb mounted upon a pedestal. A flash of lightning is seen to strike the image, melting off one of its ears. A Catholic priest came along and pointed at the figure. Interpretation. - A member of the community to which the consultant belonged would thereafter be converted to the Roman Church. Fulfilment. - By the next mail the consultant learned that such was the case, an important member of the body having gone over to the Catholics as predicted. Vision. - A man is seen dressed in black, wearing the habit of a judge. He holds some papers which he endeavours to conceal beneath his robe. He appears unsuccessful. The papers are too large. A snake is seen at his feet. It rises up against him. Interpretation. - A certain man who is indicated by his profession will be guilty of obscuring the truth and of misrepresentation. He will be the subject of criticism from a source that is not suspected. Fulfilment. - The man conspicuously indicated. had followed the legal profession. He was convicted of having issued misleading and fraudulent testimonies with intent to deceive. Criticism led to inquiry and conviction. Vision. - The same man is seen lying on a bed. He is in extremis. Interpretation. - The man so indicated will be cut off by death three years from this time. Fulfilment. - His death took place by strangulation due to a throat affection exactly three years from that date. It is not always conspicuous from what source the seer derives his interpretations. We have to remember that the condition in which the seer voices his predictions is a psychological one, whether natural or induced, and in that state natural symbols take on a very different significance to that which they would hold in the normal waking consciousness. It is similarly the case with dreams. They may be perspicuous and natural, or wholly symbolical. The influence they have upon the dreamer while asleep bears no sort of relation to their significance to the waking consciousness. How pregnant with meaning and how important and real they appear in the dreaming, only to dissolve into ridiculous triviality and seeming nonsense the moment our wide-awake reason is brought to bear upon them! It would appear that between the visionary and waking states of consciousness there is a complete hiatus, so that even the laws of thought undergo a change when the centre of consciousness is removed from the inner world of thought and feeling to the outer world of sense and action.

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Not infrequently the visionary state is induced by excessive emotion. Some persons of peculiarly sensitive nature will fall into the clairvoyant state while engaged in deep thought. This is akin to the "brown study" when "a penny for your thoughts" is likely to prove a good investment if you are a student of psychology. In such cases the thread of thought appears to be broken and a vision, wholly unrelated to the subject but a moment ago in the mind, suddenly appears to usurp the field of consciousness. It is as if the soul of the sensitive, while probing the depths of thought, suddenly comes into contact with the thin partition dividing the outer world of thought from the inner world of knowledge, the domain of doubt and reason from that of intuition and direct perception; and, breaking through this partition, the soul emerges into the field of light beyond. A rapid alternation of the centre of consciousness from the dream or psychic state to the waking or normal state will, if sustained, assuredly bring about the phenomenon known as clairvoyance. Swedenborg claimed to have been-simultaneously conscious in two worlds for days together. But the centre of consciousness cannot be located in two places or states of existence at one and the same time, and it may therefore be said that the alternation was exceedingly rapid and continuous, giving the sensation of being thus divided in consciousness. I have myself experienced this condition both experimentally and naturally, and at such times it would be impossible to say whether I was in this or that of the two bodies, one corporeal and the other ethereal, through which I was conscious of functioning.

CHAPTER IX GEOMANCY Probable Chinese Origin. THIs art is of very ancient origin, and is to be found among the earliest literary monuments. The Yih King, or Classic of Changes, already mentioned in the course of this work, employs it in the very highest connection. It would appear that a complete system of occult philosophy is founded upon the changes produced by the interplay of two Principles in Nature which they call the Yin and the Yang, or the Light and Dark, active and passive, male and female principles. Thence is derived the "Law of Alternation" figured by the symbol -

There is a statement to the effect that "the One produced the Three, the Three produced the Seven; the Seven produced the Ten; these Ten are all things." The symbols or Kwei employed by the Chinese in their system of Geomancy are based upon the square of three,which in our section on Talismans was shown to be the exact replica of the Hebrew Table of the planet Saturn; a square of 9 cells in which the numbers add to 15 in all directions. The philosophy of the Yih King does not at the moment concern us, although it is an exceedingly fascinating subject, and I therefore propose to pass at once to a consideration of the divinatory method employed in ancient China in connection with "the Reeds and the Tortoise." On the back of the Tortoise which stood for the world and humanity, and in a particular sense was symbolical of the Chinese Kingdom and its people, was inscribed the famous Key of the Pa-Tao, thus :-

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In the centre is the figure 5, which stands for humanity, and the consultant. Around are the numbers 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9, which represent respectively the Five Factors, namely water, fire, wood, metal, and earth, corresponding to the five planets Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. Five Faculties, shape, speech, sight, hearing, and thinking. Eight Regulators, the controllers of food, of prosperity and public works; the minister of instruction, the sacrificer, the criminal judge, the receiver of guests, and the general of the army. Five Disposers, the Zodiac, the Moon, the Sun, the planetary hour, and the planetary aspects. Three Virtues, impartial justice, rigid rule, and temperate government. Examination of Doubts concerning the five divinations and the two prognostics. General Verifications as to rain, fine weather, heat, cold and wind in their seasons. Five Blessings, long life, wealth; tranquillity; love of virtue; foreknowledge of the end of life; to which are contasted the six extremities. The Tortoise being set in the midst, reeds to the number of 36, of which 12 are of the full length of a span and 94 of half-a-span each, are taken in hand. The geomantic marks having been made, the corresponding reeds are set around the Tortoise and divination is made according to the positions and forms resulting. An odd number is represented by a long reed and an even number by two short ones. Thus we have the eight primary Kwei :-

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and these constitute the geomantic figures in the most ancient Chinese system. By combining 1 with 2 3 4, etc., successively, 2 with 1 3 4, etc., and so on throughout the entire scale, as well as by doubling each of the primary forms, they obtained 64 distinct kwei to each of which a definite meaning and prognostic was attached. By this means they guided their affairs of state and their private matters. Similarly they divided their heavens into eight equal parts and attributed similar meanings to them, judging by the positions of the planets how the various departments of the public service would be conducted. In this scheme the emperor was placed in the centre of the wheel of eight spokes, being the neutral point about which the wheel of the law was said to revolve. When the Tortoise and the reeds were in agreement, the result was adjudged to be highly goo4, and vice versa. The Sun stood for the King, the Moon for the Nobility, the planets for the officers of State, and the stars for the People. The Tortoise represented internal affairs and the reeds external-matters. The Hebrews are also known to have evolved a system of divination by reeds or rods, and the practice of geomancy or its equivalent is. found among all ancient civilizations. It is not, however, my intention to examine these at the present time, and I may at once pass on to an exposition of the system in vogue among Europeans. THE SYMBOLS There are sixteen geomantic figures, the evolution of which appears to have been lost to us, but there can be little doubt that they are all traceable to the Chinese kwei already referred to. In the European system each symbol is derived from four lines of points, one point denoting an odd number in the line and two points an even number. Thus. if I make four lines of points :-

I then derive the symbol of Fortuna Major, which is a symbol of the Sun in its strongest degree of

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influence. The seven celestial bodies Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon have each two symbols, one of which is Dexter, or fortunate, and the other Sinister, or unfortunate. The Moon’s nodes are also represented by the Dragon’s Head and Tail, each of which has a separate symbol. The geomantic symbols of the planets and the nodes are as follows :-

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CHAPTER X CASTING THE FIGURE A GEOMANTIC figure is made for the purpose of divination by making haphazard, in the sand or upon a piece of paper, sixteen lines of punctures or dots. Before making these lines, the mind should be allowed to dwell steadily upon the question to be resolved. While thus immersed in the question, the hand should be allowed automatically to make the lines of points. When sixteen lines of points have thus been made, the number of points in each line is to be counted. If even, two small circles are made at the end of the line, but if an odd number of points are in the line, one small circle must be set against it. You wifi now divide the sixteen lines into groups of four lines each, and thus will be derived the first four geomantic symbols.

Note. - The whole of the 16 lines of points must be completed before the counting is begun. At the end of each fourth line a geomantic symbol is formed, and this may be separated from the next by a stroke as shown above. These symbols are to be numbered 1 2 3 4 in the order in which they are formed. The automatic process, on which the divination rests, is completed from the moment that the sixteen lines of points are finished. The rest of the process is an empiricism founded upon ancient practice. It is

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necessary to follow the method closely, or the whole scheme will be vitiated. The next four symbols, Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, are derived from the combination of the first four. Thus: take the top line in each of the symbols 1 to 4. This will form the 5th symbol. Then take the second line in each of symbols 1 to 4, and this will give the 6th symbol. Next take the third line of the same symbols to form the 7th symbol, and finally take the last line in each of the first four to form the 8th symbol. Thus from the four symbols already given above we derive symbols 5 to 8 as follows :-

The next four symbols, Nos. 9 to 12, are derived by reading together symbols 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, thus

Reading the first and second across, we find 4 points in the top line, 3 points in the second line, 2 in the third line, and 2 in the fourth line. These give us the 9th symbol. The others are formed on the same plan. The Two Witnesses are now formed by combining symbols 9 and 10, and 11 and 12, in the same manner, and from the 13th and 14th symbols thus derived, the Judge is finally evolved. These, in the illustration before us, are :-

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The first 12 symbols may now be set in a horoscopical figure. The 1st symbol is to be placed in the 1st House, the 2nd symbol in the 10th House, the 3rd in the 7th House, and the 4th in the 4th House, etc., as shown below :Positions of Symbols. 1st symbol in the 1st House 2nd symbol in the 10th House 3rd symbol in the 7th House 4th symbol in the 4th House 5th symbol in the 2nd House 6th symbol in the 11th House 7th symbol in the 8th House 8th symbol in the 5th House 9th symbol in the 3rd House 10th symbol in the 12th House 11th symbol in the 9th House 12th symbol in the 6th House

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The Left Witness, or 13th symbol, is placed on the left of the horoscope in relation to the 1st House; the Right Witness, or 14th figure, to the right of the horoscope in relation to the 7th House; the Judge, over the head of the horoscope in association with the 10th House, and the 16th symbol, or Appeal, at the foot, in association with the 4th House. You will then have the complete figure as here shown :-

The Arabic figures show the numbers of the symbols as generated. The Roman figures denote the Houses. JUDGING THE FIGURE The status or nature of the person or thing about which inquiry is made must be carefully considered. The consultant is represented by the 1st House, and the person inquired about is denoted by the 7th House, if unrelated to the consultant. The significators of the Houses follow the same plan as in Astrology (see Part I, section I, chap. vi.). In a legal suit or criminal case the 1st is the prosecutor and the 7th the defendant. In a match or contest, the challenger is denoted by the 1st House and the acceptor by the 7th.

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If the question concerns gain or loss it must be referred to the 2nd House; and so of the rest, according to the canons of Astrology; for let it be understood that the system of Geomancy was founded upon the accredited influences of the planets, the symbols taking the place of those employed by astronomers, and the method of computing them was designed to replace the anciently complex process of finding the positions of the celestial bodies. With the specimen figure before us, let it be supposed that the question has reference to a suit at law. Here we find Fortuna Major in the 1st and Caput in the 2nd, showing good fortune and gain. In the 7th there is Via (a malefic indication), denoting that the course of affairs is adverse to the defendant, while Cauda in the 8th shows his financial prospects as likely to suffer by this suit. The witnesses are both of equal strength, being denoted in such case by Acquisitio. The Judge (symbol 15) is repeated in the 5th House (which is the 11th from the 7th), and this shows the Judge to be favourably disposed to the defence. But nothing can overrule Destiny, and the 16th symbol, derived by combining the 15th and 1st symbols, viz. Populus and Fortuna Major, must inevitably give the verdict to the Prosecutor. Had the question been concerning a speculation, then Populus in the 5th upheld by the Judge, with the 1st and 2nd Houses well occupied, is sufficient augury of a successful result. As will be readily seen from this brief exposition of practical Geomancy, the basis is wholly dependent on the exercise of the automatic faculty; but like most of the divinatory processes it is linked on to a system which is entirely judicial. It has the advantage of being free from all complicated or intricate calculations, and where the automatic or divinatory faculty is actively developed it can be safely relied upon to give a true and speedy answer to all questions whatsoever. Similar in many respects to this geomantic art is the Hebraic method of divination, called Kabalistic Astrology, of which I have already given a complete exposition in a separate volume, so that there is perhaps no need to advert to it in this place. It may facilitate the process of judging a figure if I here give an interpretation of the effects due to the positions of the various symbols in the several Houses of the horoscope. But it should be remembered that the repetition of a symbol in two or more Houses may materially alter its final significance; while invariably the summation of the figure and the conclusion of the whole matter is in the hands of the Judge; or if there be any element of doubt, the sixteenth figure, which is the Appeal, will give a conclusive verdict.

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CHAPTER XI SYMBOLS IN THE TWELVE HOUSES

Tristitia 1. IN the 1st House this symbol denotes short life if the question be to that point; but not otherwise. Much vexation, sorrow and disappointment. The mind is melancholy and misanthropic, brooding and taciturn. 2. Acquisitiveness is strong. Money will be acquired by slow, penurious methods. Losses occur through forgetfulness, displacement, and lack of initiative. The stolen goods will not be returned. 3. Relatives are few. The subject will outlive his kindred. His journeys will be unfortunate. Letters will be delayed. 4. The house will prove unfortunate. Mining and real estate investments will cause losses. The parent will not survive except to cause trouble. The end of life will be miserable. 5. Children are denied. Love affairs prove unfortunate. Speculations will cause trouble and loss. There is no patrimony or inheritance. 6. The health is afflicted. Servants are a source of annoyance and trouble, and yet difficult to get rid of. The occupation is not profitable. 7. Marriage is delayed. The wife is of a sickly nature. Contracts are fulfilled after delay only, and generally show a loss. The opponent is not likely to succeed except he takes much time to do so. 8. Death is the result of a protracted illness. There will be no dowry. Legacies, if any, will be the occasion of trouble. 9. The dream is unfortunate, denoting grief and loss. - The voyage will not be successful, and may prove dangerous. Publication will prove successful only after a long time. The lawyer will cause disappointment. 10. The credit will be secure but not large. The position steady. The preferment will not be obtained.

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Powerful but unpopular. 11. Steadfast friends, but some bereavement. A friend inquired about is unhappy. The wish will not be granted at once, or if obtained will prove disappointing. 12. Enemies are not numerous but persistent. The prisoner will be convicted. The secret will be kept. The confinement will prove unfortunate.

Carcer 1. A short life. A cramped and impoverished nature; selfish and taciturn. 2. Much poverty. The property will be lost, or hidden away. Goods will be confiscated or seized. Anything lost will be locked away. 3. Restraint and even hatred among relations. The journey will be very unfortunate. Letters will be lost or detained. 4. The house will be distrained upon. No value attaches to the estate. Minerals cannot be worked. The end of life will be in an asylum or other place of detention. There will be dissension with the parents. 5. No children or those born will be very unfortunate. Speculations will prove disastrous and may leave the person penniless. Love affairs will be secret and unfortunate. 6. The sickness will be enduring. Servants will cause loss. Creature comforts will be difficult to obtain. The occupation will be sedentary or much confined. 7. There is no love between the partners in marriage. Contracts are broken. The opponent will be withheld or rendered powerless. 8. The wife will have no dowry or it will be tied in trust or chancery. Death takes place obscurely, or by violence and in solitude. There will be no legacy. 9. Exile; the traveller will not return. The voyage will not be fortunate, and the ship may be stranded. The dream is very unfortunate, and denotes privation and suffering. Legal affairs cause loss. Publications will be quite unsuccessful. 10. A bad master. No position, credit or esteem. Separation or estrangement from the parents. 11. A paucity of friends. Loss of those associated. The wish will never be fulfilled. The advice is evil.

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12. Many enemies. Prisoners will be detained. The confinement will be dangerous and tedious. Affairs do not improve. There is no way out of difficulty.

Laetitia 1. The health will be good. The person jovial, bright and winsome, pleasant and kind to all. A long life. 2. Financial affairs will be quite satisfactory. But expenses will be heavy. Things lost will be recovered. Prosperity will increase with time. 3. Harmony will abound between relatives, but they will die before the subject and be a source of benefit to him. Journeys will be more pleasant than profitable. The letter will be satisfactory and may cause merriment. 4. The property will give adequate profits. Agreement and affection with the parents. Mining interests and estate investments will be fairly successful, but not without commensurate expense. The end of life will show a competence and much happiness. 5. Children will be bright and happy and distinguished by their good qualities. A son will be born, who will be tall, fair, handsome and prosperous. There will be a moderate inheritance. Speculations will be satisfactory. Love affairs will proceed smoothly. The affection will be returned. 6. Servants will be honest and devoted. The health will be good. The sickness will be soon over. Food and clothing will be adequate. The occupation should be moderately remunerative. 7. A handsome and well-endowed wife is shown. Contracts will be equitable and of profit. The opponent will be well equipped and qualified, and may win. 8. The wife will have money by a legacy. You will have money left to you. The colleague is faithful but needs watching. 9. The voyage will be bright and prosperous. The traveller is well and happy. The lawyer will prove satisfactory. The dream is auspicious and prognosticates joy. Publications will be successful 10. Honours will be attained. The position will be influential, and the credit good. High patronage. Good social standing. The parent lives to a good age and is respected. 11. Many friends. Conviviality. The wish will be fulfilled. Associations more numerous than profitable. 12. The enemy will become a friend. The prisoner will be liberated. The confinement brings happiness.

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Good fortune attends alienation or sequestration.

Acquisitio 1. The life will be long and flourishing. The person is of full stature and well developed; fair complexion. The person will prevail by influence and means. Well-disposed but mindful of his own interests. 2. Much wealth. You will gain. The goods will be found. Success in dealing with real estate, stocks and shares. 3. Relatives will be well disposed and moderately fortunate. The letter will bring you benefit. The journey will be profitable. 4. The parent will live long and be very prosperous. The property will extend and be very valuable. Mining interests will bring profit. The end of life will be very fortunate and highly prosperous. 5. Few children, but those very fortunate. There will be an inheritance of considerable value. The speculation will be successful and profitable. Love affairs will succeed. 6. The sickness will be a long and difficult one, due to congestion or surfeit. Servants will be a source of benefit. The occupation will be profitable. Creature comforts will be plentiful. 7. A rich wife. Will probably marry again. The opponent will have means to pursue the suit and will gain the victory. Contracts will be highly profitable. 8. A dowry is denoted. Legacies will be received. Colleagues are staunch and faithful. 9. The voyage will be prosperous. The lawyer will be grasping but capable. The dream denotes gain and prosperity. The publication will be highly remunerative. 10. High position; honours. Good credit. The parent will live long. The judge will be severe but just. 11. Many and influential friends who will be a source of benefit. The wish will certainly be obtained. Profitable alliances and good advisers. 12. The prisoner will be detained. The exile will not return. The confinement will be enduring but safe.

Puer

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1. Life of moderate length. Great energy, frank and open character, strong temper. ‘ Executive abffity. A good soldier or pioneer. Subject to fevers and wounds. 2. Good earning capacity and always busy, but not able to save money. Speculative and rash. Loss by theft or’ fire. The goods will not be recovered. Disputes on financial matters. 3. Dangerous journey. An irritating letter. Quarrels with relatives. 4. Property spoiled by fire or plunder. Mining interests of no profit Disputes with a parent. The end of life unfortunate. 5. No inheritance. Children will be male. Superior achievements among the progeny. Speculations hardly successful. Love affairs unfortunate and disputatious. 6. The health suffers from a fever. Servants will be thievish. Creature comforts difficult to maintain. The occupation is in fire, iron or hardware. 7. An unfortunate and short-lived wife. Disputes in marriage. Contracts only occasion strife and rivalry. The opponent is strenuous but hardly fortunate. 8. Money by marriage; a small legacy. The colleague is too venturesome. The death is due to violence, or poison by acids. 9. Dangerous voyage. A dream denoting strife and loss. The lawyer is alert and active. There is no success abroad. 10. Position attained by own efforts. Some scandal. The parent is fairly long-lived but of contentious mind. Credit good. The judge will show asperity and hastiness. 11. Friends will not be good counsellors. Dissensions occur with associates. The wish will come speedily if at all. 12. The prisoner will be freed. The exile is in danger. The confinement will be hazardous and painful. The distress will be raised with loss.

Rubeus 1. A short life and a dangerous one. Violent disposition, unscrupulous. Brusque and. forceful manner. Ruddy complexion.

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2. Loss and difficulty in finance is shown. The goods will not be retrieved. Extravagance will result in need. The livelihood is precarious. 3. Estrangement from relatives. A dangerous journey and accidental. The letter will be disagreeable and offensive. 4. The parent will not live long, and will be of ill-disposed nature. Mining interests will fail. The house is in danger of fire or accident. Property will depreciate. 5. Poor and ill-conditioned progeny. Dangerous liaisons or love affairs. Speculations very ruinous. No inheritance. 6. Poor health. Deceitful servants. Needy surroundings. Arduous but ill-paid work. 7. A bad wife of irregular habits. Contracts will not prove remunerative. The opponent will lose his case. 8. There will be no dowry. The death will be-violent and ignominious. No legacy. The colleague is untrustworthy. 9. The voyage will be highly dangerous. The dream is of sinister import. The lawyer is not to be trusted. The publication, will fail. 10. Without hope of a good position. Small credit. The parent is irascible and badly disposed. The judge will prove adverse. 11. Friends are of low degree. Associates not advantageous. The wish will not be granted. 12. Vindictive enemies. The prisoner will be punished. The confinement will be unfortunate and dangerous. The exile will not return.

Fortuna Major 1. A long life. Open, honest and fearless character. A tall fair person. Very fortunate and well, beloved. 2. The fortunes will be excellent. Riches. The lost goods will be recovered. 3. The journey will be bright and prosperous. Relatives will be attached and noted for high

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accomplishments. The letter will be of pleasant import. 4. The parent will enjoy long life and be distinguished. Property will be increased and will gain in value. There will be gold found. The end of life will be brilliant. 5. A rich inheritance. A son of great promise. Favours and high fortune in love affairs. Domestic and social felicity. Speculations are fortunate. 6. Excellent health. The sick will recover quickly. The servant is loyal and faithful. There will be good fare and fine clothing. The occupation may be artistic, but in any case will be distinctive. 7. A wealthy wife and one who is beautiful, but not very long-lived. The opponent will lose the suit or contest. Contracts will prove moderately profitable. 8. A dowry is shown. A rich legacy. The colleague is faithful but proud. 9. The voyage wifi be abundantly successful. The dream is most auspicious. The lawyer will be distinguished and capable. Publication will be highly successful. 10. High honours. A title. Patronage of royalty. An excellent position. Sound credit. The parent will live to old age. The judge is perfectly honourable. 11. Friends not very wealthy but sincere and of good position. Advisers not fortunate in their advice. The wish will be granted, but not fully. 12. The prisoner will be released. The exile will return. The enemy will be powerful. The confinement highly successful.

Fortuna Minor 1. Good vitality but some feverish ailments. A person of small stature but proud. Freckled or sunburnt complexion. 2. Moderate means. Prodigality. Things lost will not be recovered. 3. Unfortunate relatives. An unpleasant letter. The journey will not be very fortunate. 4. There is nothing to sustain the value of property The house is not fortunate The parent is of short life.

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Mining interests are slow in development and expensive The end of life will be moderately fortunate. 5 A small family, mostly boys The child to be born will be male Love affairs are not fortunate, but honourable. Speculations will hardly be successful and at best but moderately so There will be a meagre inheritance 6 The sick will continue so awhile The health is indifferently good The servant is honest but lax. Creature comforts will be moderately abundant. The occupation will be fairly remunerative and honourable. 7. A happy marriage but not a rich one. Wife lives to middle years. The opponent is not very influential and the result is doubtful. Contracts will be carried through with difficulty. 8. A small dowry. There will be a small legacy. The colleague is hardly reliable. 9. The voyage is troublesome and not very fortunate. The dream denotes vexation. The lawyer will be of quite moderate ability, but honest. The publication will hardly pay. 10. Honours of minor degree, but position unstable. Credit moderately good. The parent will soon die. The judge will be overbearing and censorious. 11. Friends induce to bad effects. Associates are not profitable. The wish will be denied or very much delayed. 12. The prisoner will continue in custody. The exile will not return. Enemies are numerous, but of low degree. The confinement will hardly be fortunate and will be protracted.

Puella 1. The life will be happy, peaceful and moderately long. A fair complexion, graceful and slim figure, grey or blue eyes. 2. Wealth will accumulate but much will be spent on pleasure and finery. Lost things will be restored. Gain by women and gaming. 3. Sisters will be genial and kind. The letter will be pleasant and will contain an invitation. The journey will be safe and moderately fortunate. 4. The parent will be beloved, and will live to moderately long years. The mine will contain silver or copper. The house will be advantageous and very pleasant. Property will increase. The end of life is

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happy. 5. A small inheritance. Love affairs numerous and generally of good effect. Domestic happiness. Successful speculations. A girl is born. 6. The health is weak and the patient in a bad way. Servants will be of irregular habits and bad character. Creature comforts adequate, but tending to depreciate and diminish. 7. A beautiful and good wife. Contracts will be very profitable. The opponent is strong and has support from women of position. 8. A small dowry soon expended. No legacy of significance. Death by poison. The colleague should not be trusted. 9. The dream is very auspicious. The voyage. will be bright and fortunate. The lawyer is capable. and will be sincere. Publications will prosper. 10. The position can be improved or ruined by women’s influence. The parent is of sordid character. The credit is moderate only. 11. Friends will be numerous and beneficial. The wish will be granted and will give pleasure. The associates are fairly fortunate. 12. The prisoner will be set free. The exile is in great prosperity. The enemy will be a woman who is short and dark. The confinement will result favourably and be quite normal.

Amissio 1. The person is of short life, ill-favoured in appearance, and distorted in character. 2. There will be loss and squandering of money. Riches will diminish. The lost goods will not be recovered. Gaming and women will be the ruin of this person. 3. Few and uncongenial relatives. The journey will be unfortunate. The letter will speak of loss or be the occasion of loss. 4. The parent has a short life. Property will diminish. The house is unhealthy. Mining interests will be unfortunate and a dead loss. End of life penurious. 5. No inheritance or one that is lost. Love affairs disappointing. Death or separation comes to the loved

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one. Speculations will be ruinous. Children, if they live, will be ill-favoured and deformed. 6. The health is bad. The patient will not recover. The servant will cause loss and trouble. There will be a lack of comforts. Occupation mean and unprofitable. 7. The wife will soon die or will abscond. Contracts will cause loss. The opponent lacks means and will lose the case. 8. No legacies, no dowry. A violent death, or by poison in the system. The colleague is despicable. 9. The voyage is unfortunate and will be the cause of loss. The dream is unfortunate and denotes failing health and fortune. The lawyer will be extortionate and untrustworthy. 10. Position of no importance, or ruined by women. No credit. The parent will die early. Dishonour. The judge will be adverse. 11. Friends will be ruinous and dissolute. Advisers and associates of no value. The wish will be denied. 12. The prisoner will perish. The exile is abandoned to his fate. The confinement will be dangerous and disappointing or abortive. The enemy is a low-minded and despicable woman.

Albus 1. A sprightly, active and intelligent person, talkative and a busybody. In danger of an accident. Sharpwitted and cunning. 2. Gain by trade or the use of the intellect. The goods lost may be recovered if followed up quickly. 3. Relatives will be numerous but scattered. The journey will be successful but worrying. The letter is about business and will be satisfactory. 4. The parent is weak and irritable. The house is not fortunate and very unsettled. Mining interests are not without prospects if well worked. Quicksilver or silver ore may be found. Property. will be a contentious matter and will hardly increase. The end of life will be restless and unsettled. 5. No inheritance of value. Love affairs unsatisfactory. Progeny intelligent but few. Speculations not very fortunate and causing anxiety. 6. The patient will recover. The health is good. Servants are industrious but inquisitive and talkative. A mercantile or clerical occupation. Commensurate creature comforts, food, clothing, etc.

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7. A good and industrious wife with some artistic faculty. The opponent will hardly sustain his cause. Contracts will prove mainly beneficial, but will require hard work and alacrity. 8. Disputes will occur about legacies. A small dowry, if any, and that soon dissipated. The colleague is very acute and cunning. 9. The voyage will not be fortunate. The dream is contentious and denotes quarrelling. The lawyer is not dependable. The publication will fail. 10. The position is hardly assured. Honours attained with patience and industry. Credit, doubtful. The parent will live long but is very aloof. The judge will be stern and severe. 11. Friends will be numerous and beneficial. The wish will be granted. Associations will lead to business and profit. 12. The prisoner has no hope. The exile will never return. The enemy is a trifler and has no position or influence. The confinement will be unfortunate arid anxious. The distraint will be withdrawn with loss to you.

Conjunctio 1. The person is of a subtile and crafty nature, of mean appearance, small sharp features, unfortunate and dishonest. 2. Gain by the sharp use of faculties; but in danger of spurious methods. The goods will not be found or returned. The financial prospects are hazardous and chiefly associated with litigation. 3. Relatives will be inimical. The journey has its dangers but is fairly successful. The letter proposes a meeting or understanding. 4. The parent is of low degree and of short life. The House is unfortunate. Mining prospects are hardly good, bringing disputes and anxiety. The end of life will be full of small troubles and anxieties. 5. The child will be a girl. The progeny are few, well equipped and fairly fortunate. Speculations are not profitable. There will be no inheritance. Love affairs cause anxiety. 6. The health is rather poor. The patient may recover with care and attention. Servants will be deceptive and gossiping. There will be anxiety as to the livelihood. 7. The wife will be well-disposed and, intelligent, but will not live long. The opponent will fail. The

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contract can hardly be made to pay. 8. There will be no dowry, but disputes arise's about the wife’s money. No legacies, but quarrels over the goods of the dead. The colleague is beyond. all trust, being crafty and. d.eceitful. 9. The voyage is very unfortunate. The dream denotes loss, trouble and disputation. The lawyer is not to be relied upon, and will seek to defraud. The publication has no chance of success. 10. The position is sustained by the use of the faculties, but there are no honours. The credit is indifferent and liable to be assailed. The judge is querulous and crotchety. The parent will be a source of trouble. 11. Friends will be of little avail. The wish will not be attained. Associates are not the best advisers; they can well be fewer and better. 12. The prisoner is condemned. The exile will remain in oblivion. The enemy is petty and vindictive. The confinement will be dangerous. Distraint is enforced with loss.

Via 1. The person is tall and slender and has a clear-spoken and direct manner. A long and successful life. 2. Gain by new openings and enterprises. Good fortune. The lost goods will be recovered if followed. 3. The journey will be successful and without delays. Relatives are few, but well disposed. The letter concerns a journey and will be fortunate. 4. The parent is well favoured and will travel much. The house is fairly fortunate. The property will be cut up. Mining is fairly successful. Silver may be found in small quantity. The end. of life will be unsettled and changeful. 5. Love affairs will be moderately favourable. The child will be a male. Progeny few, but gifted. Speculations show small profits. There will be an inheritance for partition. 6. The health is good. The patient will recover. The servant is useful and industrious. The livelihood will be assured. The occupation involves travelling. 7. A good and capable wife. The opponent will lack support but will proceed successfully. Contracts will be carried through. 8. Only a small dowry. A legacy will be secured. The colleague may be relied upon.

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9. The voyage is successful and smooth. The dream denotes a journey in store and a way out of difficulties. The lawyer is master of his case. The publication will meet with a ready reception. 10. The parent is unfortunate and of narrow -views and close habits. Honours are attained. The credit is good. The judge will be impartial but impatient. 11. Friends will be fortunate. Associations profitable. The wish will be granted. 12. The exile will return. The prisoner will escape. The confinement will quickly be over. The enemy is a dark, slender woman. The distraint is effected.

Populus 1. The person is fair, short and of full figure. Moderately long life. 2. Changeful but increscent fortunes. Gain by public service or publicity in some capacity. The lost goods will be restored in part. 3. Many relatives, but also many troubles with them. The journey is good. The letter is concerning a public affair, and is of good import. 4. The parent is fortunate, but changeful. There will be gain from property. The house is fortunate. Mining interests will be supported. The end of life will be by the sea or in the midst of an assembly. 5. The child will be female. Love affairs fickle and uncertain. Speculations fairly successful. A small inheritance which will be divided. 6. The health will be uncertain and changeful. A dropsical affection. The patient is in danger of a relapse. The servant is not dependable. The occupation is connected with the public and is precarious. The livelihood is uncertain. 7. The wife will be good looking and pleasant, but fickle. The opponent will have public sympathy, but will hardly succeed. Contracts more numerous than profitable. 8. A legacy is lost, but disputes and falls into Chancery. No dowry. The colleague is vacillating and inconstant. Death by drowning or in a public place. 9. The voyage will be fairly fortunate. The dream denotes publicity and increase. The lawyer is too much occupied and cannot be relied upon. The publication will become popular.

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10. The position is unstable and the credit doubtful. Honours may be achieved by public aid or recognition. The parent is unfortunate, short-lived and very restless. The judge will be controlled by public opinion. 11. Friends more numerous than useful or dependable. Associates will change with circumstances. The wish will be granted at the full of the moon. 12. The prisoner will be released by petition or not at all. The exile will come back to his country. The distraint will not be effected. The confinement will be difficult but safe. The enemy is a short, stout and fair woman, a great busybody.

Caput (ascending node) 1. The person is tall and fair; of fortunate and honest nature; a good organizer. Long life. 2. Abundant means. Gain by initiative and the use of the faculties. The lost things will be recovered. 3. Fortunate relatives and well-disposed. The journey will be successful. The letter makes a proposal and is of good import. 4. The parent is fortunate and long-lived. The property is good. The house is desirable. The mines will yield well and will be extended. The end of life will be highly fortunate. 5. The child will be a male. Progeny will be highly fortunate. Love affairs will prosper. The speculation is sure to be successful. There will be a rich inheritance. 6. The health is good. The patient will recover quickly. The servant will be faithful and trustworthy. Livelihood is well assured and abundant. The occupation may be medical and will be fortunate. 7. A good marriage, but bereavement; and more than one marriage is denoted. The opponent will be powerful and a man to be feared. Contracts will be profitable. 8. A rich dowry. Certain legacies. The colleague is capable and will benefit you. Death by snake or insect bite or poison. 9. The voyage will be highly fortunate. The dream denotes success and a new opening. The lawyer will do himself credit and benefit you. The publication will be well received. 10. Certain honours. High patronage. Good credit. The parent is long-lived but impulsive and headstrong.

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The judge will be impartial and just and inclining to a good cause. 11. Faithful and good friends. Honourable associations. The highest wish will be obtained. 12. The prisoner will be pardoned. The exile will return quickly. The confinement will be fortunate and safe. The enemy will be active and persistent.

Cauda (descending node) 1. A short life and a miserable one. The person is of poor aspect and mean disposition, crabbed and vindictive. 2. Poor estate. A competence earned with difficulty. Failing fortunes. The goods will not be recovered. 3. Few relatives and those distant or unsympathetic. The journey will be highly dangerous and may be fatal. The letter concerns a departure and is unfortunate. 4. The parent dies early. The property is of no value. The mine will not yield anything. The house is fateful and may be demolished. The end of life is miserable. 5. The child will die at birth. The progeny will be few and ill-favoured. There will be no inheritance. Speculations will ruin you. The beloved will die or become as dead to you. 6. The health is very bad, the excretory system is imperfect. The patient cannot recover. The servant is wholly undesirable and will be a source of great danger. The livelihood is poor. The occupation is menial and undesirable, or yet nefarious. 7. The wife will be ill-disposed and violent, or there may be no hope of marriage at all. The opponent has no chance of success. Contracts, will never be completed but to your ruin. 8. No dowry but an extravagant wife. Legacies are very remote from you. The death will be a violent one. The colleague is malicious and to be avoided entirely. 9. The voyage will be fatal. The dream portends dire distress and trouble. The lawyer will fail to pursue his case. The publication is a dead failure. 10. The parent is shortlived and of ill repute. Honours are distant and beyond your reach. The credit is assailed and cannot be upheld. The judge will be malicious and will exceed his functions. 11. Friends will prove ruinous and a cause of danger. Associations unprofitable. The wish is denied.

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12. The prisoner will perish if he does not escape. The exile will never return. The enemy is very malicious. The confinement will be extremely dangerous. The foregoing interpretations are due to the signification of each of the symbols in the Twelve Houses, and will apply to all questions which are proper to each House. Judgment is not, however, to be made from the single position, but must also take into account the duplicated or repeated positions, the witnesses and the judge. Observe that the 13th symbol is the witness for the inquirer or consultant; the 14th for the opponent; the judge is impartial and is related to the 10th House, while the 16th symbol is the final appeal and is the end of the matter, as denoted by the 4th House to which it is related. Any question can be answered by relating it to its proper House (see "Astrology," Part I), and observing what symbol falls in that House, how it is sustained by the witnesses, or reflected in other parts of the figure, and what the judge may determine. The Geomantic art is by no means an easy one except to those versed in the nature and signification of the symbols, the Houses, and the planetary affinities. Some attempt has been made by Agrippa and others to introduce the signs of the Zodiac into the Geomantic scheme, but the evident disagreement between the various methods submitted clearly shows that they form no part of a coherent tradition. It will be found in practice that the signs normal to the Houses can be presumed with satisfactory results; the 1st House and Aries, the 2nd and Taurus, and so on, being the foundation of the true Geomantic figure, the modifications being, of course, due to the symbols which fall into them. The root nature of the symbols should be known, for many of them are capable of considerable variation of meaning, according to the Houses they fall in, the corresponding signs, and the nature of the question to be resolved. Root Meanings of the Symbols. Carcer. - A prison. Denotes privation, confinement, restriction, inaction. It corresponds to Tristitia. - Sorrow. Denotes grief, disappointment, bereavement, condemnation. It is of the nature of Laetitia. - Joy. Denotes joviality, success, laughter, good health, and confidence. It corresponds to

. .

Acquisitio. - Obtaining. Denotes gain, achievement, success, fulfilment and expansion. It corresponds to . Puer. - A boy. Denotes impulse, ardour, zeal, impetuosity and energy. Corresponds to

.

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Rubeus. - Redhead. Denotes a rash, passionate and fiery nature; accidents, violence. It corresponds to

.

Fortuna Major. - Great fortune. Denotes success, honours, illumination and protection. It corresponds to . Fortuna Minor. - Lesser fortune. Denotes the above in less degree; benefits conferred rather than attained. Corresponds to . Puella. - A girl. Denotes pleasure, gaiety, brightness, things that are pretty and sweet, attractive but elusive schemes, a promise but not a certain fulfilment. It corresponds to . Amissio. - Loss. Denotes bereavement, reversal, expenditure, loss (whether of faculty, position, money, etc., according to its House), and is unfortunate. It corresponds to . Albus. - White head. Denotes intelligence, experience, wisdom, judgment, and is fortunate, of the nature of . Conjunctio. - Union, Denotes combination, counsel, coming together, support, partnership, marriage. It is good or bad according to the House-sign with which it is associated in the figure. Of the nature . Via. - A way, or road. Denotes a passage or way through, an entrance and exit, a direct course, a means to an end, connections, singleness, communication. Of the nature of the New Moon. Populus. - People. Denotes a mass, swelling, gathering together, a crowd, plurality, the tide of opinion. It is fortunate and of the nature of the Full Moon. Caput. - The head. Denotes entering in, accession, increase, ascending, acquiring and absorbing. Of the nature of tile Dragon’s Head or Moon’s Ascending Node. Cauda. - The tail. Denotes going out, recession, decrease, descending, losing and relinquishing. Of the nature of the Dragon’s Tail or Moon’s Descending Node. The Pairs It will be observed that the sixteen symbols are brought into relations as eight pairs of opposites. Thus : Acquisitio Laetitia

and Amissio. Tristitia.

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Puer

Puella.

Albus

Rubeus.

Fortuna Major

Fortuna Minor.

Caput

Cauda.

Populus

Via.

Conjunctio

Carcer.

These "pairs of opposites," which are at the root of the ancient Chinese system of Geomancy, have no relation to the natures of the respective planets involved, or the signs or Houses ruled by them, but -they are founded upon the natural antithesis of certain spiritual principles which begin with the yin and the yang, the dark and light sides of the manifested universe, and extend to all the relationships of the cosmic elements. Those who would pursue the subject should take in hand the text of the Yih King with the commentary by Confucius, who said of this great work that if he lived to one hundred years he would devote thirty to the study of it. What has filtered through to the Occident is a simple but practical system of Geomancy which I have here attempted to display.

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CHAPTER XII PSYCHOMETRY THE trained occultist is capable not only of manifesting intense psychic activity under the direction of his will, but also on occasion of maintaining a perfect passivity which enables him to receive and register impressions of a subtile nature from the external world and to give free play to the subconscious side of the mind-sphere. The psychometric sense is that by which we receive impressions coming to us imperceptibly through the sense-organs. The functions of this sense imply not only the existence of a subtile aura attaching to every material object, but also the ability to perceive the effects produced in ourselves by attention to the auric emanations of such objects. The occultists affirm the existence of an aura to, every solar system, to every planet of that system, and to every person or thing upon that planet. This aura is a plastic sensitized medium of an etheric nature which interpenetrates and extends beyond every material body. It is the storehouse of every experience attaching to the body it is related to. A piece of rock will thus preserve to us not only the record of the earth of which it is a part, but also the individual record of its detached existence; and this will be the case with every minutest particle, in less degree of intensity, of any body whatsoever. The greater the mass the stronger will be the auric emanation. In the case of the molecule, the aura would seem to correspond with the heat-sphere; but unlike the aura, the size of the heat-sphere will depend on the elasticity of the atoms composing it, and this again on the activity of its electrons. The aura which surrounds the earth has been called Alkahest, "the Astral Light," and the Memoria Mundi. It is the universal library of fact and fiction to which every sensitive, every writer, every inventor, every occultist, has conscious or unconscious access. Not only does it contain the record of all that has happened in the world, but also all the thoughts that have been projected from men’s minds, and all the plots and schemes and glorious ideals which have found place in the imaginations of sinners and saints the world over. This recording film, this cinemato-phonograph, is capable of reproducing its records or rather we are capable of perceiving them, wherever the faculty of clairvoyance or clairaudience is developed to a sufficient degree to be able to penetrate beyond the riot of auric emanations by which we are continually and immediately surrounded. But even without either clairvoyant or clairaudient faculty, we may contact this emanation by the Psychometric sense. It is inferred from the conditions under winch Psychometry is practised that the range of this sense is not comparable with that of either "clear" seeing or hearing. In the exercise of the faculty it is necessary to have some object such as a letter, a lock of hair, a glove, belonging to the person concerning whom

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inquiry is made. This object is then held for a short while between the hands of the psychometrist or "Passive" and sometimes it is raised to the level of the forehead and placed between the eyes. If the Passive is sufficiently sensitive to get en rapport with the subject, there will arise before the mind’s eye a series of pictures or scenes, or yet only vague apperceptions of form, colour, distance, locality, time, etc. These must nevertheless be at once communicated byword of mouth to a Recorder, however detached and irrelevant they may appear. The mind of the Passive must be kept entirely free from speculation, reasoning or guessing. If the automatic faculty is allowed free play it will inevitably lead to correct impressions after it has been allowed a certain amount of free exercise. When it is considered how seldom in daily life this subconscious self is allowed to function, it is hardly to be wondered at that a faculty which has lain dormant since childhood should, upon being aroused by the will, take occasion in the first place to stretch its limbs and gather its forces. Give it opportunity and time in which to carry out the behests of the Will, and it undoubtedly will prove itself a faithful servant. The psychometric sense is in all respects analogous to that exercised by the passive seer in the act of crystal-gazing or "scrying"; only it does not necessarily or generally extend to vision, but rests in a certain apperception or "impression" which takes no definite mental form. There are, moreover, certain difficulties always to be encountered in the exercise of psychometry. "Clouding" may result from a state of incomplete rapport, which does not always rest in the degree of sensitiveness enjoyed by the Passive. It may well be due to the fact that the glove or article submitted for contact has not sufficiently strong associations with the person to whom it belongs. A letter, for instance, has frequently but slender association with the writer of it, while it is saturated through and through with the magnetism of the recipient owing to its having been long carried about by him. "Overlapping" may arise from cross-influences, as when an article, long in the possession of one person, is given as a memento or keepsake to another, and then is submitted for contact by the Passive. In such case the whole of the later associations have to be waded through and obliterated from the test before the information sought concerning the original possessor can be arrived at. Meanwhile, the psychometric sense is becoming tired and blunted in its perception, so that little that is to the actual point of inquiry may be elicited at first. In a second or third test from the same article the familiar surface ground will be traversed more speedily and there is then every likelihood of a satisfactory conclusion. "Obliquity" may very easily result from the error of applying remarks concerning one set of impressions to the wrong person. Thus if I go to a Passive to make an inquiry about a person named A, and take with me an article which was at one time in A’s possession, but has some time been held by me, the Passive may very well be voicing some valuable information about myself while I am erroneously trying to apply it to the subject of my inquiry, namely A. Until therefore the Passive has given some unmistakable indication that he or she is on the track of the actual point of inquiry, care must be exercised in the

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interpretation or application of any remarks that may be made. It is usually found that the best results are obtainable under conditions of complete isolation both physical and mental. If the mind of the Passive is troubled about his own affairs or is labouring under the least degree of physical discomfort, there will be a surface-ripple or superficial disturbance of the mindsphere which will effectually prevent the Passive from getting down to those still, mysterious depths of consciousness in which the secrets of the ages lie hidden. "Misinterpretation" may occur in cases where the clairvoyant faculty lends itself to the psychometric and evolves a symbolic figure by way of expression. Thus I was once asked to psychometrize an envelope taken haphazard from a packet of papers then in the possession of Colonel Olcott at Madras. On applying the envelope to my forehead I was presently affected with a sense of distance and some degree of giddiness. The inference was that I was in contact with conditions which implied estrangement, loss or obscuration, and that the position referred to was an elevated one either physically or spiritually. Following on this immediate perception I saw a black vault like an ebon sky in which flamed a comet. This passed away and nothing more, was seen or sensed. I suggested that the comet was a stranger to the system, implying a person of wandering habits, one who had distinctive merits or a certain celebrity - a possible "cynosure for wandering eyes." And then comet from Latin coma, the hair - was there any suggestion there? Assuredly there was, for on disclosure I saw that the envelope contained a lock of black hair which I was told was that of Damodar K. Mavalankar, a young student of Occultism, who had been fired with an ambition to go to Tibet and who last was heard of from Darjeeling before crossing into Tibet. Involuntarily there sprang to my mind the words of Tennyson: "And some of them have followed wandering fires, lost in the quagmire." In some few minds there still lingers a belief - or it may be only a hope - that the pilgrim will one day return. Another instance of a more direct sensing owing to the illumination of the symbolic element, was afforded me by a lady who had an eye to the value of test conditions. This lady handed me a box of some three inches cube, wrapped around with a paper which was tied and sealed. On holding this in my hands I presently perceived a wide flowing landscape of undulating fields on which were cattle grazing. I remarked with interest that they were of milky whiteness. On the neck of one of superior proportions a bell was hanging. I heard this bell ring, and from that point I gathered no other impressions save that the country to which this scene belonged was Greece. On opening the package at request, I found it to contain the box first mentioned, and within, securely packed and stuffed with soft paper - the identical cow-bell of which I had received both clairvoyant and clairaudient impression! Providing the student is willing to be perfectly honest with himself and frank with others, there is nothing that should prevent him from acquiring a mass of first-hand evidence of the existence and exercise of this psychometric faculty.

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I would particularly recommend a reading of Denton’s The Soul of Things as being one of the earliest and most convincing of the many works extant dealing with this subject. DOWSING The psychometric sense is very clearly displayed in the process of water-finding by means of the hazelrod, called "Dowsing." The following account of some successful experience of this sort will prove of interest. "A few weeks ago," says the Westminster Budget of December 1893, "there took place some operations with the divining-rod by Mr. Stears, of Hull, who was called to Mr. S. Campion’s farm at East Hesluton, near Malton, to search for a water supply. At that time he marked two places near the farmhouse where, he said, the. presence of water was indicated by the rod. Since then Mr. E. Halliday, plumber, of Malton, has bored an artesian well at one of the places indicated and found a plentiful supply of water at a depth of 87 feet, after going through sand, clay and a bed of what Mr. Halliday says is quartz and lead ore. Mr. Campion, who was previously without a supply of pure water, is delighted with the results of the visit of the diviner, and has faith in the power of the rod. These and other experiments were conducted in the presence of Julia Lady Middleton, the Hon. Geoffrey and Mrs. Dawnay, Lord Middleton’s agent, and others. Mr. Stears also claims to be able to locate minerals as well as water, and affirms that not one person in ten thousand can use the rod successfully." I do not know how Mr. Stears arrives at his figures, and I do not suppose that one person in ten thousand has ever attempted to employ the faculty. As a fact well within the experience of students of Occultism, and fully illustrated nearly a century ago in a book called Welton’s Rod, it serves but to enforce the fact that the divinatory faculty extends to all the senses, including that of sight, that of hearing, of smell, of touch, and even, as here, the nervous sense of feeling, which is not the same as touch, but is an auric sense extending over a very wide area. As yet, however, the majority of people are oblivious of the fact that such psychic faculties exist, and even those who possess them and have them in something like working order are conscious of having but little control over them. The functions of the higher senses are as yet imperfectly understood. Every sense has its octave, but the involuntary functioning of any "sense octave" is apt to be regarded as a sign of insanity by those who have no knowledge of the psychic faculties. Even genius has been related to insanity and Lombroso and Nordau have sought to prove genius is often a form of insanity. It should rather be regarded as an exaltation of faculty which relates -its subject to a plane of consciousness removed from one’s normal experience by some degrees. Thus while new centres of activity are being opened up, and are as yet under imperfect control, whole areas of the brain are left in neglect. Hence, to the casual observer, genius is not distinguishable from some incipient forms of insanity. The eccentricity of genius is one of the most significant indications of the functioning of the subconscious part of the mind. In just the same way the opening up of new centres of activity in the psychic nature of man is frequently attended by temporary loss of control over the normal brain functions. Loss of memory (amnesia), hysteria, absent-mindedness, unconscious utterance of one’s thoughts, illusions and

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hallucinations, irritability, indifference to one’s surroundings, spasmodic muscular actions and similar eccentricities, are among the products which signalize the evolution of the newly-acquired psychic faculty. These symptoms will, however, subside as soon as the new faculty has been established. Nature is jealous of her offspring, and all her forces are concentrated in the process of generation. The abnormalities incident to the period of gestation clearly prove this. Once her end is attained, however, she resumes her normal functions. Those who aim at the development of psychic faculties must therefore be prepared to pay toll to Nature, according gladly whatever she demands by way of tribute. "The universe is thine. Take what thou wilt, but pay the price." And what is the price of seership, of the divinatory faculty, of any of these superior gifts of Nature ? What is it worth to oneself? That is the price we may be expected to pay.

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CHAPTER XIII DREAMS ACCORDING to the Yoga Philosophy of India, the states of consciousness are primarily threefold: -(1) Jagrata, or waking consciousness; (2) Svapna, or -sleeping consciousness; and (3) Sushupti, or spiritual consciousness. That which is normal to the dreamlife is svapna. It is convenient to regard the ego or conscious individual as a thread (sutrâtma, the thread-soul, as the Hindus call it), upon which is a bead representing the centre of consciousness. If the thread be divided into three coloured sections, we shall then have the three planes of life upon which the centre of consciousness can function. In the present instance we are concerned with the a middle stage or plane, that of dream-life. There is a neutral or nodal point separating each of these stages of consciousness from that above it. As regards the mass of people, the jagrata, or waking consciousness, is the norm. But in mystics and visionaries the svapna, or dreamconsciousness, is the norm, and just as the ordinary, matter-of-fact person passes in sleep from jagrata to svapna, so the visionary to whom svapna is normal, passes in sleep to sushupti. This being understood as the concomitant result of variety of evolution or individual development as distinguished from mere intellectual accomplishments, we may next consider the nature and cause of sleep and then pass to a study of dreams, their nature and significance. During the activity of the body during the day every muscular action, every mental effort, is followed by the breaking down of a number of minute cells all of which discharge their vital contents into the system. This vital content of the cell is called in the Yoga philosophy prâna. It is like an electrical charge. So long as it remains in the cell it can be used and directed at will in the form of a current of energy, but when the cell is broken up the force is dissipated into the free ether of space, and goes to swell the sum total of latent energy in the world. When this process of breaking down has gone on in the system for some time, the body is flooded with the vital principle, and if this were to go on to any great extent, disease and death would be the inevitable result. Vitality is not to be measured by the amount of the prâna in the body, but by the amount of it we have under our control. There is a good deal of life in a putrid carcase, but none of it is co-ordinated or under control. For the purpose of reabsorbing the vitality and repairing the cellular structure of the exhausted battery, Nature has provided that exhaustion shall be followed by sleep; as day is followed by night and summer by winter. When the powers of recuperation become impaired, when this subtile Archæus passes beyond our power of automatic refreshing, then age and disease begin to assert themselves. Ad rem. - We sleep because we are exhausted; we awake because we are refreshed. When we are asleep we dream, because the immortal soul of us, that which we call the Man (manas, or mind.) never sleeps,

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since it is never exhausted, and this transference of its activity and of its dual functions to a higher or more interior plane of consciousness is the cause of dreaming. Of what nature, then, are dreams? Obviously they are only the perceptions of the soul in its middle or twilight state of consciousness. Dreamland is shadow-land, neither darkness nor pure light, but a chiaroscura of mingled perceptions. Dreams are primarily of three kinds :(1) Those which arise as memories of the waking state of consciousness; (2) those which have their origin in the current changes of thought and feling taking place in the dreaming state; and (3) those which descend as illuminations from the superior plane of spiritual consciousness. These three kinds of dreams may be called the memory dream, the phantastic dream, and the clear dream. They are related to the physical, psychic and spiritual principles in man. The transition from one stage to another is called mutation, and the sleeping condition is then known as the higher or lower mutative sleep. The following diagram shows the various stages of consciousness :-

Every kind of dream is in some measure illuminative, for even though the dream may consist entirely of our memory-products, it is the selective faculty of the soul which, taking a little here and a little there, fashions the fabric of a dream and builds up the mosaic from the multitude of detached experiences. The dream thus presented to the mind is reflective of a state of existence which is interior to that of the waking perception and to that extent instructive to it. Excessive or indiscreet feeding will cause disturbed

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dreams, nightmare and a sense of oppression, and this instructs us that even though mind forms matter, it is certain that matter conditions mind, and that undigested or unassimilated food, which would hardly trouble the wakeful mind, becomes a source of impediment to the soul that would willingly spread its wings were it not hindered and restrained by its care for the body. A good tenant cannot go away upon a holiday leaving his house in disorder, for should he do so it would be a constant source of anxiety to him. It is right that he should find it clean-swept and garnished at such time as he would again take possession. The greater number of dreams are of this psycho-physiological nature and origin, and must chiefly be interpreted in relation to the body or those mundane events which bear upon the immediate personal interests of the dreamer. Dreams that are disconnected from the physical senses are in the nature of soul images, for the soul thinks in symbols and understands by natural interior perception of their significance. Hence, frequently the allegorical or symbolic dream carries with it to the waking perception a sense of its true significance. All true dreams can be interpreted by natural correspondence, and anybody who is versed in symbology, not as an archaeological science but as a soul-language, can interpret dreams. But in order to apply such interpretations to the individual dreamer it is necessary to know to what order in the sidereal world such individual may belong. In so far as the individual is reflected in the horoscope of birth by means of his physical persona, it becomes possible to use the astrological key for the interpretation of dreams. To many people flowers mean sickness, while to others they signify joy and festivity. A probable explanation of this difference lies in the fact that certain persons are in the habit of being visited with gifts of flowers during illness, and there is hence an associated idea of flowers and sickness; while others not so fortunately placed as to be recipients of floral condolences have only associated flowers with the brightest days of their lives, for flowers belong to the summer days and to the country, where leisure and rest are usually sought. In similar manner names have a distinct significance when closely associated with events of our waking life. Thus I know a lady to whom any name with the syllable NOR in it is disastrous; and "Normanhurst" was lost by her through an unfortunate financial crisis; "Norma" was the name of a fine pedigree St. Bernard dog that died from pneumonia brought on by careless exposure while the animal was with the veterinary surgeon; "Norsa" was the name of a ship christened by her which went down on its first voyage; "Norland" was the name of a place in which her child was rendered speechless through a fail; and I regard this as sufficient reason why, without being able to ascribe any reason for her prejudice, the name of Nora puts her on the defensive whenever she meets a person of that name. The soul in the dream-state instinctively surrounds itself with the images of those things, their forms, colours, names, which in waking experience have been associated with happiness whenever its interior state is a happy one; and, on the contrary, when its unclouded perception of the future is fraught with prognostics of evil import, it throws down upon the brain of the sleeping personality the images of such things as, within the experience of that personality, are associated with danger or hurt to mind, body or estate. With such solicitude does the soul

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watch over its physical instrument that it will forewarn it of any danger that is likely to befall it providing the conditions for conveying and registering such a I message are present. Similarly the Spirit of Man watches over its Psyche, or female counterpart, and in clear dreaming conveys to it that degree of spiritual instruction or admonition which it is capable of receiving or of which it has present need. This Spirit has its own imperishable vehicle, the solar body, into which the soul or lunar body is merged after the death of the physical. The solar body is called the "golden bowl," the holy grail; the lunar body or thread-soul is called the "silver cord," and the physical body is called "the pitcher" and the vessel of clay Thus in Ecclesiastes we read: "And desire shall fail, because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets : or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain." These things are necessary to be known before we can attempt to regulate our knowledge concerning the nature and origin of dreams. The symbolism of dreams has therefore a threefold application: a material, a psychic, and a spiritual or mental. We call that spiritual which arises in the mind from the illumination of the spirit, that psychic which arises from the emotions, and that physical which has its origin in material experiences. The spiritual dream is distinguished from the psychic by its being unattended by any degree of emotion as doubt, anxiety, trouble or fear; but only a sense of great beatitude, the mind being detached from the vision and regarding it as a magnificent spectacle. The psychic dream, on the contrary, is attended by a distinct emotional disturbance, and if the dreamer does not actually take an active part in the scene as one of the dramatis personæ, it at least identifies itself sympathetically with one of the actors and experiences by repercussion just as much as if it were taking an active part. What a mother feels for her child in joy or sorrow, in pleasure or in pain, the Psyche feels for the images of its creation, for they are indeed its children. It is a rare, but nevertheless certain, fact that men experience in their physical bodies that which they have been dreaming. Thus I have recently read of a man who dreamed that he was lying upon the sands exposed to a burning sun, and on awaking he continued to experience the burning sensation in his face, and going to the mirror discovered to his vast astonishment that his face was actually and most thoroughly sunburnt. This phenomenon is known as astral repercussion. I once saw the wraith of a living person walk into the room where I was sitting in company with others, and it was observed that the wraith, which appeared in all respects a figure of flesh and blood and properly clothed, knocked his head against the projecting corner of a wardrobe and instantly disappeared in thin air. The next morning the person whose wraith we had seen appeared with his eye bandaged up and explained that he had a bruised swelling and must have been stung in the night by a mosquito. We, however, told him a different story.

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Paracelsus says: "Artists and students have frequently obtained instruction in their dreams regarding things which they desired to learn. The imagination was thus free and commenced to work its wonders. It attracted to it the Evestra of some philosophers, and they communicated their knowledge to them. "Such occurrences frequently take place, but it often happens that part of that which is communicated is forgotten on awaking to the outer world. In such case it is necessary to observe strict silence, not to speak to anybody, nor to leave the room, nor take any note of things ; but to eat nothing and remain still; and after a while we shall remember the dream." I have found that if, on awaking from a dream part of which is obscure or forgotten, I continue in the same position, keeping my eyes closed to all external things, and then go over the dream in my imagination, the missing part is generally restored, as if I had dreamed the dream all over again. Every one knows how readily a disturbing dream may be dispelled by changing the position of the body. It is sometimes more convenient to change the position of the mind. "The astral life," says a well-known occultist, "is most active in man during his sleep. The sidereal (solar) man is then awake and acts through the evestrum (or astral body), causing occasionally prophetic dreams, which the person will remember on awaking. But there are also elusive dreams, caused by other influences, and man must therefore use his reason and discrimination to distinguish the true from the false." But, according to Paracelsus, "There may be more reliance placed in dreams than in the revelations of the necromantic art; because the latter are usually false and deceptive, and although the elementals which use the astral bodies of the dead on such occasions will give correct answers to questions and often confirm their assertions with oaths, yet no implicit confidence can be placed in what they say because they do not wish to speak the truth nor are they able to speak it. "Therefore the patriarchs, prophets and saints preferred visions and dreams to any other method of divination. . . . Supernatural dreams take place at times among the present generation, but only the wise pay any attention to them. Others treat them with contempt, although such dreams are true and do not deceive. "There are some people whose natures are so spiritual and their souls so exalted that they can approach the highest spiritual sphere when their bodies are asleep. . . . Dreams, visions and omens are gifts of the sidereal man, and not of the elementary body. . . . The elementary body has no spiritual gifts, but the sidereal body possesses them all. Whenever the elementary body is at rest, the sidereal body is awake and active, because the latter needs neither rest nor sleep; but whenever the elementary body is fully awake and active, the activity of the sidereal body is then restrained, and its free movements are impeded or hindered like those of a man who is buried alive in a tomb." A man who is content with the rushlight of his own reason will hardly welcome the effulgent rays of the universal sun. What benefit can such people derive from the most perspicuous dream?

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Localization of dreams is a very remarkable phenomenon. Yet almost all persons have some select spot, some haunt to which they repair from time to time in their dreams. It is always the same place and thoroughly well known to the dreamer, though quite outside all waking recognition. At such places one meets the same persons, and the dream is continuous of that which preceded it. For many years I had such a place where I met and discussed with one whose name I afterwards saw in an old Italian book of biographies, and since then I have not been able to revive the experience in my dreams. But I know that in some cases these localizations are retrospective and are reminiscent of a former life, while in others they are prospective and have reference to a place and environment which will eventually be known in experience (See the Occult Review, August 1910, in which many remarkable cases are given). "The interpretation of dreams," says Paracelsus, "is an art that is known to the wise." Many books proposing to interpret dreams have appeared from time to time, but from their contents it is readily seen that they are designed to impress the ignorant reader or to express the ignorant author, for by no rule of art or understanding of universal symbolism (which is the only language known to the soul of man) can the interpretations be justified. A very valuable initiatory work has been delivered to us by Emanuel Swedenborg, the Swedish seer, in his Hieroglyphic Key to Natural and Spiritual Mysteries. I consider it a misfortune that the enlightened author did not see fit to extend his work, but so much as appears is of the utmost value, especially when the sense is extended beyond the ordinary limit of the mere word. The present work does not permit of a thorough exposition of the symbolism of dreams, and it is not therefore thought advisable to attempt the task of formulating a system of interpretation. Such a system, however, does exist and has been reflected in all the scriptures of all peoples from time immemorial. The universe and man are consentaneous. There is an universal symbolism, an universal language, and - if you please - an universal Dream-book. But this same book needs reading.

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CHAPTER XIV SORTILEGES AMONG all the methods of divination which have found favour in the eyes of the uninitiated, none has received greater recognition than that of sortileges or "drawing lots." Admitting the sanctity which attaches to any body of scripture to be acknowledged by the consultant, what method of obtaining a knowledge of the will of Heaven could be more facile or more dependable than to take haphazard a text from the revealed Word? The Bible among Christians, the Koran among Mohammedans, and the religious books among various nations have been consistently used for purposes of divination by sortilege. Various of the religious books of India are consulted in the same manner, and like ourselves they have books constructed for purposes of divination. In all sortileges drawn from holy writ the direct action of the divinatory faculty is relied upon, and the lot drawn is accepted as the expressed will of Heaven in regard to the matter about which the inquiry is made; the belief in such a divination being that the Spirit not only directs the mind to this means of resolving its doubts, but also guides the hand to an appropriate and true selection. In the case of books constructed specially for the purpose of divination, of which there are a great number, the automatic or divinatory faculty is by means of numbers, geomantic points and other intermediaries, so t-hat in effect the diviner is guided to a sortilege or oracular sentence which is designedly in apposition to the question and presumed to satisfy it, being favourable or otherwise according to the lot or number involved. The usual method of making such books of divination is to formulate a certain number of questions, from which the diviner may choose such as answer nearest to the matter in hand, and then to arrange a codex by which each question is related to a variety of answers, so that at some point or other in the process the automatic faculty may avail itself of the element of "chance." Thus, while there is a great variety of methods, the principal factor in all cases is the exercise of the automatic or divinatory faculty. And if we rightly consider the matter there is no reason why such sortileges should not be true and effective, for it is constantly under observation that problems which cannot be solved by the voluntary exercise of the faculties will be speedily and successfully surmounted by the automatic or involuntary action of the brain. Such cases are on record in connection with the experience of somnambulism or sleepwalking, from which it appears that a person may retire to sleep with the mind in a state of anxiety concerning some problem of study, some article lost, some circumstance forgotten, and during sleep the person will rise from his bed and go about without harm or danger to himself and accomplish with great ease that which had been upon his mind before falling asleep. The morning finds the problem solved, the

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lost article restored, the forgotten incident carefully set down in writing. These facts prove two things: (1) that the soul of man knows more than it can impress upon a tired or disturbed brain; and (2) that all action is followed by reaction. Concerning the first of these, it is well known that intuitive knowledge transcends reason and that instinct surpasses the highest use of the senses. What intuition is to the mind of man, instinct is to the animal soul. Both are in the nature of direct and unerring knowledge, but the one is related to the imponderable and the other to the material world. When the brain is at rest, and when Reason, the great Doubter, has done its best and failed, then the soul is able to throw down the images of its thought upon the clear and unruffled surface of the mind, as if it should say, "Be still and know that I am the lord!" As to the second deduction from experience, one may quote Scripture to the same effect: "Ask and ye shall receive; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you." But it is also possible, and to the ordinary mind may be more acceptable to cite a common experience of everyday life. A name is forgotten which it is important should be recollected; we worry over it, we twist and turn about in the storehouse of the memory to find that particular name; we go through the alphabet in the hope of getting a lead-off in the right direction from the initial letter; we make various futile attempts at a combination of sounds; but all to no purpose. We give it up and turn for distraction to some other theme. No sooner has the attention become entirely diverted than, spontaneously and perfectly, the much-sought name springs to the brain, the eye, the tongue on the instant. The moral of this is: When you have ploughed and sown, leave the harvest to Nature; or, as I have heard it otherwise put: "When you can’t crack a nut, give it to a monkey," which means, I take it, that Nature is allsufficient and that what she can make she can break, by one means or another. And this is the faith of the devout; for, having tried by all rightful means to compass an end, and finding the task beyond his powers, a man does well to leave the issue in higher hands. By doing so he affirms his faith in the beneficent power of his Creator. An instance of the kind of sortileges referred to as "indirect," may be found in the "Wheel of Pythagoras," though it is difficult to trace any connection between this and the philosopher of Croton. A person desires an answer to a question. Such answer may be propitious or adverse, of immediate fulfilment, or delayed, according to the quarter of the heavens to which the divination refers. The letters of the alphabet are valued for this purpose as follows: 2Y

11 I J N

21 G

3Z

12 E L R P 26 C

4AFS

13 C

6BT

16 K

8Q

18 D W

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9 O U V 19 M The days of the week, with their corresponding numbers and the planets governing them, together with their numbers, are contained in the following Table :Sun Mon

Tues Wed Thurs Fri

Sat

106

52

52

102

31

68

45

34

45

39

114

78

45

55

In order to effect the divination, it is first of all necessary that the diviner should think of a number, and set it down. To this must be successively added: 1. The initial of the Christian name. 2. The number of the day of the week. 3. The number of the planet answering to the day. The sum of these four numbers is then to be divided by 30, and with what remains the diviner must refer to the

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If the number is found in the 1st quarter of the Heavens, success will come speedily. If in the 2nd quarter, success will be delayed. If in the 3rd quarter, failure will be met speedily. If in the 4th quarter, failure will attend in the end, and after delay. Moreover, the four quarters correspond to seasons, I Spring, II Summer, IV Autumn, Winter. Also to the four physical types, I - tall and fair, II - short and fair, III - short and dark, IV - tall and dark. If the question be in regard to time of day, its Spring corresponds to the morning, the Summer to the afternoon, the Autumn to the evening, and the Winter to the night. Here it will be seen that the divination is regulated from the commencement of the number thought of in connection with the subject of inquiry. When in India I learned a system of arudha, i. e. the undiscovered, which is based entirely on this occult law of the geometrical relations of thought. By means of this I have constantly been able to find things that were lost and to give circumstantial answers to questions propounded, to define the nature of a person’s thoughts and perform many other apparently marvellous feats. But the only marvellous thing in

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the whole matter is the aforesaid correspondence, which exists between a person’s thoughts and the number which spontaneously springs into his mind in association with such thoughts. An instance or two will suffice to show the method followed. On taking our places at table one evening, my viv-à-vis suddenly discovered that her coral necklace with pendants in gold had disappeared. I at once engaged to find it for her. After dwelling intently on the image of the thing in her mind she gave me the number 43. I then said she had been a short Journey and that the necklace was lost at a place where there was an iron fencing, and that she would know the spot by the fact that a horse was standing close to it. I assured her she would recover the articles, and on learning that she had only been for a short walk of a mile or two along the riverside, I elected to go in search of the thing myself, which I did without delay, fearing that the conditions which then obtained would presently alter. Walking quickly in the direction indicated, I found the footpath by the river flanked by continuous hedges and trees, beyond which were fields. But at last I came to a place where the hedgerow was broken and some old iron rails had been set to fill the gap, and there also was the horse with his head over the railings. It was now quite dusk, and I had to strike several matches in succession to obtain light enough. But almost the first thing I saw was the broken necklace, not much scattered, upon the ground; and I returned with it in complete satisfaction. Speaking of this system to a gathering of occult students on a recent occasion, I was asked to give them an illustration of it. I therefore asked my hostess to think of any event in her past life, as, for example, marriage, and then give me the first number that came into her mind. But I warned her not to think of her marriage, as I had suggested it. Presently she gave me the number 25. I was surprised, and my first comment was that she had thought of something connected with her marriage On admitting that this was the case, I said it concerned a short journey, a removal from the house, and a jewel which was a gold ring set with a blue stone, most probably a turquoise. In confirming this divination, the lady informed us that she had set out for a drive with her husband, starting from home, and had met with an accident, in which she lost a gold ring set with a turquoise, and that was the subject of her thought. The ring had been a wedding present. Another kind of sortilege or divination akin to it, but somewhat in the nature of a Kabala, is contained in a manuscript by Born written in old Italian. The method is as follows :- A question of any sort being written down, the number of words in the sentence are noted and successively the number of the letters in each of the words. These numbers are set in a row, and are then added by pairs from right to left, the nines being excluded and the remainders set down in a second row. The same process is followed out continuously until, at length only two numbers remain to be added together, and the sum of them gives the final number, which may be 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9 on the one hand, or on the other 2, 4, 6, or 8. If the number be odd, the result is adverse; but if even, the augury is good. An example will serve for all cases. Let the question be - Will my operation be successful? The number of the words is 5, and the number of letters in the words successively are 4, 2, 9, 2, 1. The word successful has ten letters, but rejecting the nine, 1 is left. These figures are then set out in order from left to right:

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5

4 9

2 6

6

9 2

8 5

2 2

4 3

8

1 3

5 9

3 2

and added together in pairs, rejecting the nines when the sum of any two exceeds that number. As a final result we have the figure 2, which shows that the operation will be successful, and that speedily, for the smaller the number the quicker will be the realization of the good or evil thus prognosticated. From a similar configuration Cagliostro, following the methods of the Illuminati, would have foretold that the winning number of the next lottery would be 22,246; but his method was more complex and involved the extraction of a series of numbers The divination in the above example rests upon the unpremeditated and spontaneous use of words which are employed to express the question in mind. It is perhaps needless to add that the forcing of a sentence by studied art is not in the nature of an appeal to the automatic or subconscious part of one’s nature, and no reliance can be placed upon an answer thus obtained. Neither is it possible to successfully engage the divinatory faculty upon all and trivial occasions. The use, as distinguished from the abuse of the faculty, consists in its employment only upon serious occasions and concerning issues which cannot be otherwise known. There is in Nature a conspiracy between the volitional faculty and the rational faculty, and another between the automatic faculty and the intuitive faculty, and these alliances are set in opposition to each other, so that the ascendency of the one means the subjugation of the other. This being understood, and also that the Rational Soul and the Psyche are opposed to one another by nature and constitution and method, the one being as it were the man and the other the woman within us, there remains to us the choice of either. But in the Adept, who has brought his nature into equilibrium and has celebrated the Nuptials of the Soul, these two act as one to the production of the most perfect results.

ALCHEMY IT has always been within the scope of practical magic to attempt the Magnum Opus, which consists in the production of the Elixir Vitæ and the Lapis Philosophorum. Those who have failed in the great work have consoled themselves with the belief that there is an alchemy of the soul of greater consequence to immortal man than the mere transmutation of gross metals. Hence we have the two schools, everywhere in evidence in the literature of this subject, the Alchemists who claimed that all metals sprang originally from a single menstruum - and are convertible by art; and the Higher Alchemists or Mystics, who saw in the principles and prescriptions of the spagyric art nothing but a sublime system of spiritual philosophy having direct reference to the spiritual regeneration of man. The Alchemists affirmed that the ens of gold or silver could be extracted and a subtile tincture made by which all the gross metals such as copper, lead, etc., could be impregnated and changed to the pure gold or silver, copper lending itself more agreeably to the tincture of gold and lead to that of silver. They affirmed, moreover, that this ens of gold could be fixed and rendered as a red "powder of projection" which, being applied alchemically to Mercury, would change it into gold. "All metals in the earth are generated from Mercury," says one writer, "and thus Mercury is the first matter or prima materia of all metals." Avicenna illustrates thig dictum, to which he gives consent, when he says: "As ice, which by heat is dissolved into water, is clearly generated out of water, so all metals may be resolved into Mercury, whence it is clear that they are generated out of it." Bernard of Trevisa is quoted to the same effect:"Similarly quicksilver is the substance of all metals: it is as a water by reason of the homogeneity which it possesses with vegetables and animals, and it receives the virtues of those things which adhere to it in decoction." And he further says: "Gold is nothing but quicksilver congealed by its sulphur." Elsewhere he says: "The solvent differs from the soluble only in proportion and degree of digestion, but not in matter, since Nature has formed the one out of the other without any addition, even as by a process equally simple and wonderful she evolves gold out of quicksilver." Now, in the name of Occultism I affirm that the conclusions of Bernard Trevisan are as fully entitled to credence among the scientific as that of Sir William Crookes, whose Protyle or Mother-substance lies at the base of all modifications of matter, and is responsible for the genesis of the elements. The same daring thinker has been credited with the statement, though I have not myself seen it, that it is

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scientifically conceivable that we may take copper or any other metal and, having resolved it into that prime element from which it is a differentiation, thereafter shunt it on to the lines which make for gold. The alchemical idea is that all metals are generated from, and are indeed only modifications of, a primum ens or original matter, and that they are mutually convertible; the medium in all cases being Mercury, which is the coagulated menstruum of this Mother-substance. Again: "The sages have it that gold is nothing but quicksilver perfectly digested in the bowels of the earth, and they have signified that this is brought about by sulphur, which coagulates the Mercury and digests it by its own heat. Hence the sages have said that gold is nothing but mature quicksilver." (The Aichemical Writings of Edward Kelly, by A. E. Waite. London: Wm. Rider and Son, Ltd.). Certainly it does not seem improbable that chemical science should be able to bring about in a short time that which Nature produces in the course of years or even ages. And the alchemists may be right in their assertion that all metals have a common base in Mercury, and that this Mercury is the menstruum of all metals, and itself the coagulate of the Prima Materia. We do not know certainly what these metals are, nor by what process they are delivered to us by Nature, but we know that primarily they all come from the same homogeneous and universal substance, which some call ether, others protyle, the elementum, akâsa, primum ens; meaning, in effect, one and the same thing. The honour of having revived the principles of Alchemy is accorded to Hermes the Thrice Great, and hence it is called the Hermetic Art. According to Bernard of Trevisa, Hermes found seven tablets of stone at the foot of Mount Hebron, on which the principles of the seven liberal arts had been inscribed before the flood. From Hebron the arts penetrated to Persia, Chaldæa, and Egypt; and were variously called by them Magia, Kabala, and Sophia. The principles of Alchemy have a dual application, the spiritual and the terrestrial; and these are represented by the Triangle and the Square, or the Pyramid and the Cube, or again the square pyramid, i. e. a pyramid with a square base, the area of which base is equal to the area of a circle whose radius is the perpendicular axis of the pyramid. Such a pyramid is that which was completed by Khufu or Cheops under the superintendence of one of the Hyksoi. "The One emaned the Three, the Three evolved the Seven," as expressed in the symbol on page 348. (Webmaster's Note - the next image) When reversed we find the Mason’s Apron, part of the insignia of the craft, but the fact that the thing is worn upside down need not trouble us, for we know that the Little Man or Microcosmos is but the inverted reflection of the Grand Man or Macrocosmos. Alchemy teaches us also that the elements are mutually convertible, and how one comes to predominate over others and whence the substance of metals is generated. The Four Elements were figuratively spoken of as Fire, Air, Water and Earth, and their qualities are fourfold, hot, cold, moist and

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Dry. Two are imponderable and two heavy. The substance of all metals is the living Mercury, as distinguished from quicksilver. To this Nature added sulphur and also salt, and these three things digested together and coagulated. "The mineral principles are living Mercury and sulphur. From these are generated all metals and’ minerals, of which there are many species, possessing diverse natures." "Gold is a perfect body, of pure, clear red Mercury, and pure, fixed, red, incombustible sulphur." Primum Ens Sulphur-Mercury-Salt Gold With what perfect facility the writings of the ancient Alchemists lend themselves to the higher interpretation may be illustrated by an extract, which formed part of the treatise written for the edification of King Rudolf of Hungary by Edward Kelly :- "When the soul of gold has been separated from its body, or when the body, in other words, has been dissolved, the body of the Moon should be watered by its proper menstruum and reverberated, the operation being repeated as often as is necessary, i. e. until the body (of the Moon) becomes supple, broken up, pure, dissolved, coagulated. This is done, not with common fire, but with that of the Sages, and at last you must see clearly that nothing remains undissolved. For unless the Moon or Earth is properly prepared and entirely emptied of its soul, it will not be fit to receive the Solar seed; but the more thoroughly the Earth is cleansed of its impurity and earthiness, the more vigorous it will be in the fixation of its ferment. This earth or Moon of the Sages is the trunk upon which the solar branch of the Sages is engrafted. This earth with its water, putrefies and is cleansed; for heat, acting on a dry substance, causes whiteness. Azoth and fire wash Laton, or earth, and remove its opacity."

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Obviously, the Mystic, who has no sense of the greed of gold in him, who regards values as in relation only to their ultimate products, and finds the virtue of all things to consist only in their uses, may be justified in his Higher Alchemy. He reads the. above quotation, not literally, but allegorically, and paraphrases in accord with his perceptions, somewhat as follows :When the spiritual Soul is freed by death from the body, the animal soul reverts to its own sphere and is afterwards reincarnated, the operation taking place as often as is necessary, in fact, until it has become so highly evolved as to constitute an apt matrix for the implanted germ of the solar body. And this is to be effected, not by means of the terrestrial, but the celestial fire, which is the Fire of the Holy Spirit; and at length it will come to pass, after many incarnations, that the Lunar Body or astral soul will be purged of all impurities. For unless the astral, and the physical by means of the astral, is entirely emptied of its soul which is the brute or passional nature, and the cupidity of the lower mind, it will not be fit to receive the spiritual seed. But the more completely the lower nature is purged, the more perfect will be the union of the spiritual soul with its Psyche. This Psyche is the stock upon which is engrafted the spiritual branch bearing seed fruit, whose seed is in itself, a tree springing up as a Tree of Life. The body, with its astral or fluidic counterpart, putrefies and is cleansed; for the fire of the Spirit, acting on the dry substance of the dead body of Adam, produces in it a whiteness and purity and renders it crystalline by the removal of its gross elements. Thus the whole body becomes full of light, spiritualized and free from corruption, and the Psyche partakes of the immortality of the Solar Man. The key to this interpretation is as here shown in the glyph of

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Yet it would be altogether foolish to presume the Higher Alchemy of the Mystic to be the only possible application of the Arcana. The spiritual interpretation infers the material in this world of relativity. The one is based upon the other. They are in apposition. The salting of the earth is the work of the Initiates of all ages. They themselves have effected the Higher Alchemy of the Soul, or they possess the key to the lower or chemical art, for they know the correspondence of things spiritual and natural. If the Abbot of Glastonbury essayed the Magnum Opus before he was himself prepared, he had only himself to blame that his vessels were overturned by the elemental forces he invoked without understanding; for one inversion is followed by another, and the material can never take precedence of the spiritual without incurring great risk of hurt. Hence, the admonition: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. But what was found by the despoilers included only a manuscript and two small ivory vessels, one containing a red powder and the other a white powder; and these, for the sum of one guinea, passed into the possession of Edward Kelly, who afterwards allied himself to Dr. Dee. Then later on we find these two colleagues engaged, under the patronage of King Rudolph, in making transmutation, for which work Kelly obtained the distinctions of a Marshal. That Kelly was no Alchemist, but only a usurper and

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profligate user of the treasure trove of Glastonbury, appears from the fact that "the powder, diminished by excessive projection, became exhausted; it was squandered still further in futile attempts to increase it; and when the Emperor (Rudolph) commanded his guests to produce it in becoming quantity, all experiments proved failures. The impotence of the exhausted Alchemist was attributed to obstinacy, and the guest was changed into a prisoner . . . confined in a dungeon of Zobeslau. To regain his liberty he promised to manufacture the stone, on condition that he was permitted to return to Prague and take counsel with Dr. Dee. To that city he was permitted to go back, but his house was guarded, and as fresh experiments in the composition of the transmuting powder were abortive as ever, the alchemist, seized with rage, made a futile attempt to escape, which ended in the murder of one of his guards." (‘Edward Kelly: Alchemy and the Alchemists, by Louis Figuier.) This incident resulted in a second imprisonment, and although at the instance of Dr. Dee, Queen Elizabeth was pleased to claim Kelly as her subject, the King of Hungary would not release him, but held him on the grounds of the murder of one of his own subjects. From this second incarceration Kelly attempted to escape by means of a rope, but falling from a height he sustained injuries which led to his death at the age of forty-two. Sir Edward Kelly was born at Worcester on the 1st August (O.S.), 1555, at about four o’clock in the afternoon, and those who care to examine his horoscope will observe that the conjunction of Mars, Uranus and Jupiter in the Midheaven is in singular conformity with his strange and eventful career, promising as it does a rich windfall fraught with the danger of the Sword in the Balance! Nor is it possible to overlook the significance of the planet Neptune in opposition from the lower meridian, with its sinister indication of plots and schemes directed against his person and reputation; in which even one sees that this exploiter of treasure trove and usurper of the supreme title of Adeptus came by some of his own in the final settling of accounts. That he was actually possessed of the Powder of Projection and the method of Projection, there seems no reason to doubt, for else he had not been able to satisfy the numerous demands of his royal patron and newly-made friends at Prague. But that he was not master of the art and had no knowledge or means of increasing the Powder of Projection or making more, even when it would have saved his life, not to mention the satisfaction of his own cupidity, is also a matter beyond all question. His writings on the alchemical art are chiefly valuable on account of their reference to the writings of others. There is, however, the great probability that the Book 0f St. Dunstan, as it is called, and so mentioned by Dr. Dee, in connection with "the powder found at the digging in England," is the original manuscript of the Glastonbury sage, or at least founded upon it, and so of much value to the purpose of this inquiry. There seems to be some warrant for the belief that Kelly did, so far as his knowledge extended, seek to satisfy the demands of King Rudolph, inasmuch as he hoped thereby to regain his liberty. The King, however, was not to be appeased by obscure discourses on the Hermetic Art. He wanted the plain rules of procedure for the making of gold, and this Kelly could not give him. Yet for all that there is reason to think that he probably gave him of his best. Beside the art of the Transmutation of Metals, the Alchemic Art is applied to the production of certain powerful medicines, including the Elixir Vitæ. Paracelsus has stated that there is a gold which can be rendered permanently fluid - an aurum potabile, and he speaks also of the production of Tinctura Physica in a work of that name. He has left us a prescription for the making of the magic Electrum, a

amoalc

combination, according to alchemic art, of the seven "primary metals." He also gives instructions for the making of the Primum Ens Melissæ and the Primum Ens Sanguinis. I am of opinion that Paracelsus’ prescriptions are to be taken literally, but some of his commentators, being solicitous of popular opinion and not wishing to be thought crude, advise that they should be taken in an occult sense, whatever that may mean, when the whole process is in itself the very expression of practical occultism. Paracelsus himself affirms that he had seen the Electrum Magnum on frequent occasions, and he recites many of the wonderful phenomena produced by its means. When the learned are disposed to accept Paracelsus at his word the world will be more generously disposed concerning this great philosopher, who stands in singular distinction from the majority of Initiates in his freedom from all ambiguity and obscurantism. It is in the same spirit of unfettered freedom of thought that I have endeavoured to treat of some. aspects of Occultism and allied subjects, with, 1 trust, no greater hurt to my reputation among those whose opinion I value. THE END

Untitled Document

RITUALISTIC

KNOWLEDGE

The section to follow contains material to educate you on the origin of two predominant fields of magic, Voodoo and the Kabbalah. I selected these works because of their clarity in covering the subject matter, as well as their usefulness. The Practical Kabbalah is presented by Robert Ambelain, who has many other occult related books for review. I want you not to struggle with every detail as if reviewing a law book, but rather examine it for its methods and style. Ask yourself, If you were to write your version of similar material, how would you go about it; what material would you include within its pages; what things would inspire your magical creativiy? Likewise, do the same for "Voodoos and Obeahs", presented by Dr. Joseph Williams. The combined knowledge and prescribed practices in this lesson will make you a very powerful Wizard, Witch, of Magician. I wish you good speed on your journey.

file:///C|/Mysticalgod/Magical%20Advice/segment%20C.html2/24/2009 1:55:32 AM

MAGICAL 333

VOODOOS AND OBEAHS Phases of West India Witchcraft BY

JOSEPH J. WILLIAMS, S.J. Ph.D. (Ethnol.), Litt.D.

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; Fellow of the Royal Geographical and the American Geographical Societies; Honorary Member of the Société Académique Internationale (Paris) Member of the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures (London); Member of the Catholic Anthropological Conference; Member of the American Folk-lore Society; etc. Author of "Hebrewisms of West Africa, "Whence the 'Black Irish' of Jamaica, "Whisperings of the Caribbean," etc.

LINCOLN MAC VEAGH DIAL PRESS INC. NEW YORK MCMXXXII

COPYRIGHT, 1932, BY JOSEPH J. WILLIAMS {copyright lapsed due to non-renewal} {scanned at sacred-texts.com, August 2001}

First printing December, 1932 Second printing January, 1933 MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE VAIL-BALLOU PRESS, INC., BINGHAMTON, N. Y.

INTRODUCTION The NEW YORK TIMES of August 14, 1925, printed the following news item:--"SEIZE PRICE LISTS OF VOODOO DOCTOR--POLICE GET CIRCULARS OFFERING 'WISHING DUST' AND LUCKY

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MAGICAL 333 CHARMS TO NEGROES AT $1 TO $1,000.--Special to the New York Times.-ATLANTIC CITY, Aug.

13.--Twelve thousand circulars said to have been sent to this city by a New York voodoo doctor were seized by the police here today as they were being distributed to negro homes on the north side by six negro boys. "The circulars bore the address of D. Alexander of 99 Downing Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. "All sorts of love powders, wishing dust, lucky charms and incantations are offered for sale in the circular, with prices ranging from $1 to $1,000. "'Guffer Dust, New Moon, No. 1, good, $50; Happy Dust, $40; Black Cats' Ankle Dust, $500; Black Cat's Wishbone, $1,000; King Solomon's Marrow, $1,000; Easy Life Powder $100; Tying Down Goods, $50; Chasing Away Goods, $50; Boss Fix Powders, $15, and Buzzard Nest, $100,' were some of the goods offered." "Inquiry developed that 'Bringing Back Powders' were designed to return an errant wife or husband to a grieving spouse, 'Tying Down Goods' were said to keep the subject of one's affections from departing, while 'Chasing Away Goods' had the opposite effect. 'Boss Fix Powders' keep one's employer in a friendly mind." Four days after the appearance of the foregoing in The Times, we find this despatch from Cuba on the first page of The BOSTON POST:-"SAVE CHILD FROM TORTURE--RESCUED DURING VOODOO DEATH RITES--HAVANA, Aug. 17.--Paula Cejes, a three-year-old white girl, was saved from a horrible death at the hands, {p. vi} of Voodoo worshippers at Aguacate, Havana Province, today, due to the rapidity of a search after she had disappeared. "Paula, who lives with her parents on the Averhoff sugar plantation, was enticed away by Voodoo worshippers who bound and gagged her in a cane field and were in the act of performing their rites when a posse of searchers came upon them. "Rural guards later captured a white man and a colored man who had in their possession articles used by voodooists in sacrificing life." It may have been items such as these that inspired William Buchler Seabrook to go to Haiti with the set purpose of learning first hand whatever he could of Voodoo and kindred practices. At all events, after some stay in the island, he published in 1929 The Magic Island which at once became the centre of heated controversy. To some it was a weird conglomeration of fact and fancy worthy of little serious consideration and of even less credibility.[1]

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MAGICAL 333 On the other hand, the usually conservative LITERARY DIGEST[2] apparently accepted it in its entirety as historic fact, and without question or cavil devoted five entire pages almost entirely to excerpts from its more startling passages and the reproduction of [1. Note:--Magic Island was unquestionably received with fulsome praise by reviewers generally. Thus THE BOOKMAN, February 1929, p. 68: "It has been a long time since a volume has held my attention so completely as W. B. Seabrook's Magic Island. It is not a twice told tale but a vivid record of things seen." The NEW YORK HERALD-TRIBUNE, January 8, 1929: "Here in its own field is the book of the year." The NEW YORK EVENING POST, January 12, 1929, calls it "a sensational vivid and immensely important book." To the OUTLOOK, January 9, 1929: "It is a prize among travel books." While the SATURDAY REVIEW, February 23, 1929, declares: "Mr. Seabrook has done justice to this remarkable subject not only in investigating the system, but in presenting the results of his work." The more thoughtful reviews, however, refuse to be entirely carried away by the general acclaim, and modify their praise with almost hesitant reserve. Thus the YALE REVIEW, Autumn, 1929, p. 185, makes the restriction: "He spoils much of his material by his exaggerated style and his dubious psychology." The AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, September, 1929, p. 316, insists: "He has written as an artist, not as an ethnologist." And the NATION, February 13, 1929, p. 198, urges: "It is time for a tempered intelligent presentation on the manner in which they live, one that staying close to facts, probing under the surface, and eschewing rumors, will make quite as fascinating a tale." We may be pardoned, then, if we seem to delay too long on Mr. Seabrook and his sensational book, but we must risk the criticism in the interest of fair play as regards Haiti and the popular estimate of Voodoo. 2. February 23, 1929, p. 35 ff.]

{p. vii} several photographs. One single reference to "the element of the occult which Mr Seabrook seems to believe" is the nearest approach to a guarded caution about the actuality of the most improbable details, a few of which may be mentioned in passing, Thus, for example, at the "blood baptism," a truly voodooistic rite, when the author was to receive the "ouanga packet" prepared for him by Maman Célie, after the preliminary sacrifice of two red cocks and two black, an enormous white turkey and a pair of doves," in due course the sacrificial goat was led forth. "He was a sturdy brown young goat, with big, blue, terrified, almost human eyes, eyes which seemed not only terrified but aware and wondering. At first he bleated and struggled, for the odor of blood was in the air, but finally he stood quiet, though still wide-eyed, while red silken ribbons were twined in his little horns, his little hoofs anointed with wine and sweet-scented oils, and an old woman who had come from far over the mountain for this her brief part in the long ceremony sat down before him and crooned to him alone a song which might have been a baby's lullaby."[3] After a further ritual with the goat, Catherine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of Maman Célie was led in by her brother Emanuel who "had to clutch her tightly by the arm to prevent her from stumbling when they brought her to the altar. Maman Célie hugged her and moaned and shed tears as if they were saying good-bye forever. The papaloi pulled them apart, and some one gave the girl a drink from a bottle. She began to protest in a dull sort of angry, whining way when they forced her down on her knees before the lighted candles. The papaloi wound round her forehead

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MAGICAL 333 red ribbons like those which had been fastened around the horns of the goat, and Maman Célie, no longer as a mourning mother but as an officiating priestess, with rigid face aided in pouring the oil and wine on the girl's head, feet, hands and breast. All this time the girl had been like a fretful, sleepy, annoyed child, but gradually she became docile, somber, staring with quiet eyes, and presently began a weird song of lamentation."[4] The song [3. Seabrook, Magic Island, New York, 1929, p. 61. 4. Seabrook, l.c., p. 62.]

{p. viii} itself is summed up in the last verse: "So I who am not sick must die!"[5] The author then continues: "And as that black girl sang, and as the inner meaning of her song came to me, I seemed to hear the voice of Jephtha's daughter doomed to die by her own father as a sacrifice to Javeh, going up to bewail her virginity on Israel's lonely mountain. Her plight in actuality was rather that of Isaac bound by Abraham on Mount Moriah; a horned beast would presently be substituted in her stead; but the moment for that mystical substitution had not yet come, and as she sang she was a daughter doomed to die." "The ceremony of substitution, when it came, was pure effective magic of a potency which I have never seen equaled in Dervish monastery or anywhere. The goat and the girl, side by side before the altar, had been startled, restive, nervous. The smell of blood was in the air, but there was more than that hovering; it was the eternal, mysterious odor of death itself which both animals and human beings always sense, but not through, the nostrils. Yet now the two who were about to die mysteriously merged, the girl symbolically and the beast with a knife in its throat, were docile and entranced, were like automatons. The papaloi monotonously chanting, endlessly repeating, 'Damballa calls you,' stood facing the altar with his arms outstretched above their heads. The girl was now on her hands and knees in the attitude of a quadruped, directly facing the goat, so that their heads and eyes were in a level, less than ten inches apart, and thus they stared fixedly into each other's eyes, while the papaloi's hands weaved slowly, ceaselessly above their foreheads, the forehead of the girl and the forehead of the horned beast, each wound with red ribbons, each already marked with the blood of a white dove. By shifting slightly I could see the big, wide, pale-blue, staring eyes of the goat, and the big, black, staring eyes of the girl, and I could have almost sworn that the black eyes were gradually, mysteriously becoming those of a dumb beast, while a human soul was beginning to peer out through the blue. But dismiss that, and still I tell you that pure magic was here at work, that something [5. Ditto, p. 63.]

{p. ix} very real and fearful was occurring. For as the priest wove his ceaseless incantations, the girl began a low, piteous bleeting, in which there was nothing, absolutely nothing, human; and soon a thing infinitely more unnatural occurred; the goat was moaning and crying like a human child. . . .[6]

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MAGICAL 333 "While the papaloi still wove his spells, his hands moving ceaselessly like an old woman carding wool in a dream, the priestess held a twig of green with tender leaves between the young girl and the animal. She held it on a level with their mouths, and neither saw it, for they were staring fixedly into each other's eyes as entranced mediums stare into crystal globes, and with their necks thrust forward so that their foreheads almost touched. Neither could therefore see the leafy branch, but as the old mamaloi's hand trembled, the leaves flicked lightly as if stirred by a little breeze against the hairy muzzle of the goat, against the chin and soft lips of the girl. And after moments of breathless watching, it was the girl's lips which pursed up and began to nibble the leaves . . . . [7] "As she nibbled thus, the papaloi said in a hushed but wholly matter-of-fact whisper like a man who had finished a hard, solemn task and was glad to rest, 'Ça y est' (There it is). "The papaloi was now holding a machette, ground sharp and shining. Maman Célie, priestess, kneeling, held a gamelle, a wooden bowl. It was oblong. There was just space enough to thrust it narrowly between the mystically identified pair. Its rim touched the goat's hairy chest and the girl's body, both their heads thrust forward above it. Neither seemed conscious of anything that was occurring, nor did the goat flinch when the papaloi laid his hands upon its horns. Nor did the goat utter any sound as the knife was drawn quickly across the throat. But at this instant as the blood gushed like a fountain into the wooden bowl, the girl with a shrill, piercing, then strangled bleat of agony, leaped, shuddered, and fell senseless before the altar."[8] But let us pass to an even more grewsome narrative. According [6. Ditto, p. 63 f. 7. Ditto, p. 65. 8. Ditto, p. 66.]

{p. x} to Seabrook, Celestine, the daughter of Antoine Simone,[9] "although under thirty, was reputed to be secretly the grande mamaloi of all Haiti, its supreme high priestess."[10] The author adds: "And not only Celestine herself but her father, Antoine Simone, president of the Republic, was reputed to be active in black sorcery. It was commonly said that magical rites and practices occurred even within the confines of the palace walls and probably they did."[11] In explanation, then, of his chapter "Celestine with a Silver Dish," Seabrook writes: "The story of the silver dish is based on the evidence of two credible eye-witnesses, one a Frenchman who may still be seen and talked with at the Cape, the other a Haitian now dead. I talked with numbers of people about it and found none who questioned its approximate truth. It is current among the Haitians themselves; so they will forgive me for including it." . . .[12] "One moonlight night in the Spring of 1909--it was during Easter week--the Frenchman who now lives at the Cape was sitting in one of the vine-covered summer-houses with his Haitian friend. . . . Towards one o'clock in the morning they heard a tramping of feet from the direction 5

MAGICAL 333 of the palace, and presently saw a black sergeant with two squads of soldiers marching toward the stable yard, along a pathway of the deserted gardens. They passed close to the summer house. Behind them, at a little distance, came Celestine. She was barefooted, in a scarlet robe, and carried in her hands a silver dish. "In a small, open, moonlit glade, close to the summer house, the sergeant halted his eight men, and lined them up at attention, as if on a parade ground. Except for his low voiced commands, not a word was spoken. Celestine in her red robe which fell loose [9. Note:--The author spells it with a final e, Simone. While in Jamaica, the family themselves always spelt it simply Simon. 10. Seabrook, l. c., p. 117. 11. Note:--As one who knew the Simons in Jamaica, I can categorically deny both this assertion as well as the plausibility of the pseudo-voodooistic murder which is shortly to be described. 12 Seabrook, l. c., p. 121.]

{p. xi} like a nightgown to her bare feet, laid the great silver platter on the grass. "The sergeant handed Celestine a forked bent twig, a sort of crude divining-rod, and stepped back a little distance. Celestine, holding the wand loosely before her, facing the eight soldiers standing at attention, began a gliding, side-stepping dance, singing her incantations of mixed African and Creole in a low voice alternating from a deep gutteral contralto to a high falsetto, but never raised loudly, pointing the wand at each in turn as she glided to and fro before them. "The men stood rigid, silent as if paralysed, but following her every movement with their rolling eyeballs as she glided slowly from end to end of the line. "For a long ten minutes that seemed interminable, Celestine glided to and fro, chanting her incantation, then suddenly stopped like a hunting-dog at point before one man who stood near the center of the row. The wand shot out stiff at the end of her outstretched arm and tapped him on the breast. "'Ou la soule, avant!' ordered the sergeant. (You there, alone, step forward.) "The man marched several paces forward from the ranks, and halting at command, stood still. The sergeant, who seemed unarmed, drew the man's own knife-bayonet from its scabbard grasped the unresisting victim by the slack of his coat collar, and drove the point into his throat. "While this was taking place, the other seven men stood silent obediently at attention. The victim uttered not a single cry, except a gurgling grunt as the point went through his jugular, and slumped to the grass, where he twitched a moment and lay still.

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MAGICAL 333 "The sergeant knelt quickly over him, as if in a hurry to get .the job finished, ripped open the tunic, cut deep into the left side of the body just below the ribs, then put the knife aside, and tore out the heart with his hands. "Black Celestine in her red robe, holding the gleaming platter before her, returned alone beneath the palm trees to the palace, {p. xii} barefooted queen of the jungle, bearing a human heart in a silver dish."[13] The general reaction on the author of such scenes, whether given as personal experiences or otherwise, is utterly appalling. Thus he tells us in connection with the ceremony described a few pages back: "Not for anything, no matter what would happen, could I have seriously wished to stop that ceremony. I believe in such ceremonies. I hope that they will never die out or be abolished. I believe that in some form or another they answer a deep need of the universal human soul. I, who in a sense believe in no religion, believe yet in them all, asking only that they be alive--as religions. Codes of rational ethics and human brotherly love are useful, but they do not touch this thing underneath. Let religion have its bloody sacrifices, yes even human sacrifice if thus our souls may be kept alive. Better a black papaloi in Haiti with blood-stained hands who believes in his living gods than a frock-coated minister on Fifth Avenue reducing Christ to a solar myth and rationalising the Immaculate Conception."[14] Of an earlier function at which he was present, he wrote: "And now the literary-traditional white stranger who spied from hiding in the forest, had such a one lurked near by, would have seen all the wildest tales of Voodoo fiction justified: in the red light of torches which made the moon turn pale, leaping, screaming, writhing black bodies, blood-maddened, sex-maddened, godmaddened, drunken, whirled and danced their dark saturnalia, heads thrown wierdly {sic} back as if their necks were broken, white teeth and eyeballs gleaming, while couples seizing one another from time to time fled from the circle, as if pursued by furies into the forest to share and slake their ecstacy. "Thus also my unspying eyes beheld this scene in actuality, but I did not experience the revulsion which literary tradition prescribes. It was savage and abandoned, but it seemed to me magnificent and not devoid of a certain beauty. Something inside myself awoke and responded to it. These, of course, were individual [13. Ditto, p. 122 f. 14. Ditto, p. 61 f.]

{p. xiii}

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MAGICAL 333 emotional reactions, perhaps deplorable in a supposedly civilized person. But I believe that the thing itself--their thing, I mean--is rationally defensible. Of what use is any life without its emotional moments or hours of ecstasy?"[15] We must not be surprised, then, that after watching the construction of the "ouanga packet" that was to preserve him "safe from all harm amid these mountains"[16], when bid to make a prayer, this should be the author's response: "May Papa Legba, Maitresse Exilee and the Serpent protect me from misrepresenting these people, and give me power to write honestly of their mysterious religion, for all living faiths are sacred."[17] And how was this unholy pact carried out? Candidly, the glaring mistakes in ritual that the author makes in connection with his description of a Catholic funeral service,[18] which is open to the whole world to witness, does not inspire confidence in his exposition of the esoteric functions that are jealously reserved for the initiated alone. As a matter of fact, Mr. Seabrook has divided his volume, perhaps of set purpose, into two distinct parts. First we have 282 pages devoted to the general story with weird fantastic drawings, more suggestive than illuminating, wherein the details are at variance with the text. Then follows, 52 pages under the general caption, "From the Author's Notebook" together with 27 photographs by the author. This second part is made up of quotations from standard authors and other references, with very few personal experiences and those of the most ordinary type. While accepting, then, the latter portion of the book at its face value, it would seem safer to classify the earlier section as that sensational type of narrative that has become associated with the name of Trader Horn. This impression is strengthened by the fact that many passages in the story, especially those placed in the mouths of Louis and other informants, read almost as paraphrases [15. Ditto, p. 42. 16. l. c., p. 48. 17. l. c., p. 53. 18. l. c., p. 118 f. Note:--For example, not only is the Dies Irae badly misplaced, but there can be no Credo in a funeral Mass.]

{p. xiv} from some of the authors who are mentioned later as references, and it seems as more than a coincidence that the quotation from Labat appearing on page 292 is probably copied without acknowledgment from Eugène Aubin,[19] as the same two variations from the original[20] appear in both places. The opening word has been changed from "ces" to "les" and "ils" has been omitted before "conservent."

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MAGICAL 333 It is not at all surprising, then, that Dr. Price-Mars of Petionville, Haiti, whom Seabrook actually mentions in the course of his narrative[21] should publish an indignant reply to what he must needs consider a gross libel against his native island. Of Magic Island as a whole, Dr. Price-Mars says: "This is nothing more than a chronicle, a rather long chronicle, if you will, but throbbing, passionate, sensational. It contains whatever Mr. Seabrook has seen, or thinks that he has seen, in Haiti, during a few months stay. I am forced to remark that this book is throughout very amusing and very cruel--amusing, on account of the material replete with savage humor, and abominable, because the American reader, and even the Haitian who is not in a position to check up the facts advanced, is drawn to ask himself: 'Is what he relates true? In any case, these grewsome facts, such as are recorded, seem likely if they are not true.'"[22] Dr. Price-Mars further states: "From the very beginning, Mr. Seabrook. . . . has grasped the two essential elements of Voodoo, religion and superstition; religion, whose rites are preserved by oral tradition alone, and superstition which is its grotesque caricature. Not only is this distinction unknown to nine-tenths of the Haitians, but most assuredly, as the writer expresses it, Voodoo is a cause of astonishment, nay of a scandal, for most of us. And it is on account of this disdain, of this fear of a fact, however important, in the life of our plebian and rural masses, that our pitiful ignorance records the sinister narratives [19. En Haïti, Paris, 1910, p. 46. 20. P. Labat, Nouveau Voyage aux Isles de L'Amérique, La Haye 1724, Vol. II, p. 44. 21. Seabrook, l. c., p. 318. 22. Dr. Price-Mars, Une-Étape de I'Évolution Haïtienne, Port-au-Prince, 1929, p. 153.]

{p. xv} of which we make ourselves the complacent echo. And it is no less in this way, that, as a ripple of culture, our mystic mentality displays itself. When, then, foreign writers arrive among us, I mean above all journalists who as a rule are in quest of sensational copy, they have only to imbibe at this fount of absurd beliefs the most marvellous discourses and put them on the lips of authentic individuals, to color them with an appearance of truth. Their misconception or even evil intention is nothing in comparison with the Haitian ignorance. How pitiful!"[23] Dr. Price-Mars stamps the "Goat-Cry--Girl-Cry" episode as "A ceremony in which he pretends to have taken part. But to my way of thinking, this ceremony is a creation of his fertile imagination."[24] And again, he positively asserts: "As regards the ceremony of initiation, it is in every way false."[25] Furthermore, after recounting the description of the "Petro Sacrifice" which Seabrook[26] claims to have attended, Dr. Price-Mars continues: "And was he, then, the spectator that he claims to be? I don't think so. It is probable that he did assist at Voodoo ceremonies. I personally sought to secure the opportunity for him, because, in the interviews that we had, I was made aware that he

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MAGICAL 333 was familiar with the comparative history of religions, and the occasion seemed to me opportune to call attention to certain rites which indicate the antiquity of Voodoo, the solid foundation of my theory, to wit, that Voodoo is a religion. I was disappointed in my purpose, because I encountered a persistent distrust on the part of the peasants to whom I addressed myself, despite my long established and friendly relations with them. That Mr. Seabrook may have succeeded in winning the confidence of a Maman Célie. I am willing to concede to him, on the condition, however, that he does not dramatize the situation by depicting to us the peasant community whose guest he has been as a nook lost in the highest and most inaccessible mountains, isolated from all communication with urban centres. These conditions render his account absolutely [23. Dr. Price-Mars, l. c., p. 154 f. 24. Ditto, p. 54. 25. Ditto, p. 172. 26 Seabrook, l. c., p. 28 ff.]

{p. xxi} improbable, because there is not a single peasant in a true rural centre who would consent to organize real Voodoo ceremonies for the sole pleasure of a stranger. On the other hand, the ceremony which he has described is only half true. At the very outset, he has committed a ritual absurdity in making the bull the principal sacrificial matter of the Petro. They sacrifice the bull as the fowl and the goat in nearly all the Voodoo ceremonies, but the victim proper to the Pedro is the pig. The absence of this animal in a ritual display of Pedro is equivalent to a blunder so stupid that it would falsify its meaning. Moreover, the sacrifice of the bull considered as a god, or symbol of a god, is totally unknown in Voodoo. It seems to me an invention or at least a very fantastic interpretation and which the footnote of Seabrook sufficiently explains."--This reference is to "the Bacchae" of Euripides.[27] Here we may leave Mr. Seabrook for the present.[28] Just as fetishism was for a long time accepted as a generic term covering all that was nefarious in the customs of the West African tribes, so in the popular mind today, Voodoo and Obeah are interchangeable and signify alike whatever is weird and eerie in [27. Dr. Price-Mars, l. c., p. 161 f. 28. Note:--It must not be supposed that what has been written is intended in any way to impeach the veracity of Mr. Seabrook. Personally I am convinced of his sincerity and straightforwardness and that in his really fascinating account he is no party to an imposition. Of course I can never agree with his extraordinary profession of faith, and I doubt if he really takes himself seriously in that regard. He was probably carried away by the spirit of his narrative. As regards the story itself, I honestly believe that he has tried to stick to facts as he has seen them or in many cases as they have been told to him, with perhaps just a little of the personal element added for effect. But what I do fear is that he has been too credulous in accepting all that has been told to him. The West Indian Negro, especially if paid by results, is a mine of "information." The workings of his imagination are extraordinary. A couple of years ago I was striving to collect all the various anansy stories, in connection with a

10

MAGICAL 333 folk-lore study of Jamaica. The teacher of a government "bush" school, seriously offered to invent for me all the stories, that I wanted if I gave him sufficient time and paid for the results. Fortunately for the value of my collection I was restricting the contributors to children of school age. I have no doubt that Mr. Seabrook must have encountered the same generous spirit, especially if he was paying by results. Even the goat scene may have been a clever piece of acting. The histrionic powers of the West Indian are no wit inferior to his ability as a raconteur. But in any case, no matter how we are to explain away the objective inaccuracies of Magic Island, even if we must invoke hallucination or that subtle form of hypnotic influence, such as is at times ascribed to Voodoo worship, let there be no suspicion that there is any intention of questioning Mr. Seabrook's honesty of purpose.]

{p. xvii} the practices of the descendants of these same tribes as they are found throughout the West Indies and the southern portion of the United States. And yet technically, not only are Voodoo and Obeah specifically distinct, one from the other, both in origin and in practice, but if we are to understand the true force and influence which they originally exercised over their devotees, we must dissociate them from the countless other forms of magic, black or white, that have gradually impinged themselves upon them as so many excrescences. Logically, then, we must begin our study, not in the West Indies but in Africa itself, going back as far as possible to the origins of the present day practices, and watching their development, both before and after their transplanting, through the medium of slavery, to new and fertile soil where they have become a rank, though exotic, growth. The present writer first visited Jamaica in December, 1906, and he became at once intensely interested in the question of Obeah, and in a less degree in Voodoo. Since then he has made three other visits to the island and has spent there in all about six years. He has penetrated to the least accessible corners of mountain and "bush" and has lived for some time in those remote districts where superstitious practices are prevalent. He has steadily sought to extend his knowledge of the Black Man's witchcraft, both by conversation with the natives of every class and by seeking out its practitioners. He has conversed with professional Obeah men, whom, however, he has invariably found evasive and noncommittal. But despite this latter fact he has by chance, rather than by any prearrangement, had occasion at times to watch surreptitiously the workings of their grewsome art. Meanwhile, for a quarter of a century he has culled the works of others and sought not only to familiarize himself with the smaller details of Voodoo and Obeah, but no less to discriminate judiciously between fact and fiction to the best of his ability. The result of his researches and observations are now set forth in the following pages. {p. xix}

11

MAGICAL 333

CONTENTS CHAPTER

PAGE

INTRODUCTION

V

I

AFRICAN OPHIOLATRY

1

II

SERPENT CULT AT WHYDAH

22

III

VOODOO IN HAITI

56

IV

ORIGIN OF OBEAH

108

V

DEVELOPMENT OF OBEAH IN JAMAICA

142

VI

CONCLUSIONS

209

BIBLIOGRAPHY

237

INDEX A--PLACES, PEOPLES, ETC

249

INDEX B--TOPICS

252

INDEX C--INDIVIDUALS AND REFERENCES

254

{p. 1}

Chapter I AFRICAN OPHIOLATRY Edward B. Tylor writing as long ago as 1871 observed: "Serpent worship unfortunately fell years ago into the hands of speculative writers, who mixed it up with occult philosophies, Druidical mysteries, and that portentous nonsense called the 'Arkite Symbolism,' till now sober students hear the very name of ophiolatry with a shiver.'[1] Yet it is in itself a rational and instructive subject of inquiry, especially notable for its width of range in mythology and religion."[2]

12

MAGICAL 333 Dr. C. F. Oldham, Brigade Surgeon of his Majesty's Indian Army, tells us in the Preface of his interesting little volume, The [1. Note:--Cfr. C. Staniland Wake, Serpent-Worship and other Essays, London, 1888, p. 105 f.: "The facts brought together in the preceding pages far from exhaust the subject, but they appear to justify the following conclusions:-"First. The serpent has been viewed with awe or veneration from primeval times, and almost universally as a reembodiment of a deceased human being, and as such there were ascribed to it the attributes of life and wisdom, and the power of healing. "Secondly the idea of a simple spirit re-incarnation of a deceased ancestor gave rise to the notion that mankind originally sprang from a serpent, and ultimately to a legend embodying that idea. "Thirdly, This legend was connected with nature--or rather Sun-worship--and the Sun, was, therefore, looked upon as the divine serpent-father of man and nature. "Fourthly, Serpent worship, as a developed religious system, originated in Central Asia, the home of the great Scythic stock, from whom all civilized races of the historical period sprang. 'Fifthly, These peoples are the Adamites, and their mythical ancestor was at one time regarded as the Great Serpent, his descendants being in a special sense serpent-worshippers." This of course, would presuppose that Adam was the founder of only a family and not of the human race that long antedated Adam. Wundt, on the other hand, with equal assurance, suggests as a reason for the fact that spirits are so often depicted as assuming the shape of snakes, since the serpentine form naturally suggests itself to the primitive mind through the association of ideas with the maggots that commonly infest dead bodies during the process of decay.--Cfr. C. Meinhof, Die Dichtung der Afrikaner, Berlin, 1911, p. 18. This is perhaps about as reasonable as the claims of those who connect the snake with phallic worship. 2. Edward B. Tylor, Primitive Culture, Boston, 1874, p. 239.]

{p. 2} Sun and the Serpent:[3] "This work, which is based upon papers read before the Royal Asiatic Society in 1901, was at first intended to refer only to Indian serpent worship. It was soon found, however, that the serpent worship of India did not originate in that country but was, in fact, a branch of the worship of the Sun and the Serpent, which was once well-nigh universal. It became evident, therefore, that a history of the Indian cult would go far to explain the nature and origin of serpent worship, in other countries and in other times." While we cannot accept many of the views expressed in the course of this work, his final conclusion is most important, coming as it does from such a source. He says: "It would seem, moreover, that the deification of totems, of kings, of ancestors, and of the heavenly bodies, which furnish so many of the divinities associated with the Sun-god; as also the human sacrifices and other abominations, which occurred in some Sun-worshipping countries, all arose from the corruption of the earlier worship of a supreme deity who was believed to reside in the Sun. The Gayatri--the most sacred text of the Veda, which must not be uttered so as to be overheard by profane ears, and which contains the essence of the Hindu religion, is a short prayer to the Sun-god, who is addressed as Savitri, the generator or creator. The early Egyptians, and other ancient peoples also, seem to have worshipped the Sun-god as the Creator."[4]

13

MAGICAL 333 [3. London, 1905, p. 5. 4. Ditto, p. 206 f. Note:--Dr. Oldham also states, p. 183: "It seems in the highest degree improbable that this close connection between the Sun and the serpent could have originated, independently, in countries so far apart as China and the west of Africa, or India and Peru. And it seems scarcely possible that, in addition to this, the same forms of worship of these deities, and the same ritual, could have arisen, spontaneously, amongst each of these far distant peoples. The alternative appears to be, that the combined worship of the Sun and the serpent-gods must have spread from a common centre, by the migration of, or communication with, the people who claim Solar descent." This is Elliot Smith's theory which would derive the entire cult from Egypt. Oldham, however, differs from Elliot Smith in as much as he would make Asia and not Egypt the point of origin. Thus, p. 197: "The social customs and religious rites of the Egyptians were closely related to those of the Sun-worshipping people of Asia. There can, indeed, be little doubt as to the Asiatic origin of the Pharaohs and their followers." Nevertheless, {footnote p. 3} Wilfrid D. Hambly, in the case of serpent worship, at least, rejects the whole explanation. He finds in zoological evidence, sufficient reason for spontaneous origins of the serpent cult in various parts of the world.--Cfr. Wilfrid D. Hambly, Serpent Worship in Africa, Chicago, 1931, Chapter VII, p. 68 ff. Cfr. also, John Bathurst Deane, The Worship of the Serpent, London, 1830, who states in his Preface, p. xii f.: "The plan of this treatise is simple. It professes to prove the existence of Ophiolatreia in almost every considerable country of the ancient world, and to discover in the mythology of every civilized nation, evidences of a recollection of the events in Paradise. If these facts can be established, the conclusion is obvious--that all such traditions must have had a common origin; and that the most ancient record, which contains their basis, must be the authentic history. The most ancient record containing this basis is the Book of Genesis, composed by Moses. The Book of Genesis, therefore, contains the history upon which the fables, rites, and superstitions of the mythological serpent are founded." The Reverend Mr. Deane, M.A., F.S.A. is recorded in the first edition of his work as "Late of Pembroke College, Cambridge: Curate of St. Benedict Finck; and evening preacher at the Chapel of the Philanthropic Society." His avowed purpose, the support of the Biblical narrative and his unquestioning acceptance of the Mosaic origin of Genesis, etc., effectively excludes him from the consideration of most so-called critical scholars. However, while admitting his partiality and bias, and even his lack of modern scientific methods, there is much that he has to say that is really worthy of serious consideration. Reference should also be made to Professor Clemen of Bonn, who after stating: "Every possible kind of animal is regarded as a higher being by both primitive and civilized peoples, and it is not always easy to give a reason in the various cases," adds: "Especially frequent is the worship of the snake, whose power of locomotion without feet, as well as its repeated sloughing of its skin, its fixed gaze and its poisonous fangs, no doubt attracted special attention." Carl Clemen, Religions of the World, New York, 1931, p. 30. Finally, M. Oldfield Howey, The Encircled Serpent, Philadelphia, 1928, p. 17, asserts: "The origin of Egyptian Ophiolatry is lost in the mists of antiquity, but it is said to have been derived from Chaldea, which country is thought to have given it birth, and certainly produced enthusiastic adherents of its tenets. Put the serpent is everywhere in the mythologies and cosmogonies of Eastern lands, so that to trace out the ultimate source of its appearance in so ancient a civilization with any certainty is probably impossible."]

{p. 3} in speaking of Africa, however, Egypt, at least for the present must be excluded from our consideration. For our question now deals with rites distinctively belonging to the black tribes, whether we class them as Bantus or Negroes in the strict sense of the word. And while at first glance it seems but natural to assign an Egyptian origin for the cult, as far as the dark continent is concerned, Wilfrid D. Hambly, Assistant Curator of African Ethnology at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, the first to produce a strictly scientific work on the question of serpent worship in Africa[5] after a prolonged and careful study, has adduced strong and convincing reasons to the contrary. Hence his conclusion: "Examination of African Python worship in relation to cults and beliefs from other parts of the world provides 14

MAGICAL 333 [5. Field Museum of Natural History Publication 289, Chicago, 1931, Anthropological Series, Vol. XXI, No. 1.]

{p. 4} no evidence that Africa received Python worship from extraneous sources. On the contrary, the evidence is strongly in favour of an indigenous origin of Python worship."[6] And again: "There is nothing more than a superficial resemblance between the snake beliefs of Africa and those of ancient Egypt."[7] In any case, the subject does not really come within the scope of the present work. We are, it is true, in quest of the origin of Voodoo as a serpent cult, but precisely, as we shall see later, under the particular aspect of worshipping the non-poisonous python. We have nothing to do here directly with rainbow-snakes, or other like variants of the serpent cult.[8] Canon Roscoe furnishes us with a description of the principal centre of serpent worship in East Africa. He tells l-is: "The python god, Selwanga, had his temple in Budu, by the river Mujuzi, on the shore of the lake Victoria Nyanza. . . . The appearance of the new moon was celebrated by a ceremony extending over seven days; for this the people made their preparations beforehand, because no work was done during the festival. A drum was sounded as soon as the moon was seen, and the people gathered together to make their requests and to take part in the ceremonies. Those who wished to make any request brought special offerings, whilst the rest brought beer and food as they pleased. The priesthood of this deity was confined to members of the Heart Clan; the chief of the. state upon which the temple stood was always the priest. His dress was the usual priestly dress, that is, it consisted of two barkcloths, one knotted over each shoulder, and two white goat-skins as a. shirt; round his chest he tied a leopard-skin decorated with beads and with seed of the wild banana, and in his hand he carried two fly-whisks made from the tails of buffalo. The priest first received the offerings for the [6. Ditto, p. 74. 7. Ditto, p. 75. 8. Note:--Hambly remarks, p. 55: "My general conclusion is that Python worship is an indigenous factor of Negro culture; but on the contrary African ideas of rainbow-snakes, snake-monsters, and birth-snakes, are derived from Hamito-Semitic beliefs of southwestern Asia." And again, p. 64: 'I am reluctant to accept any statement with regard to. the Egyptian origin of snake-sun beliefs. There are, however, many Egyptian serpent beliefs, both ancient and modern, which may assist in tracing the origin of African beliefs and customs."]

{p. 5} god and heard the people's requests; then, going into the temple to the medium, he gave the latter a cup of beer and some of the milk from the python's bowl mixed with white clay. After the medium had drunk the beer and milk, the spirit of the python came upon him, and he went down on his face and wriggled about like a snake, uttering peculiar noises and using words which the people could not understand. The priest stood near the medium and interpreted what was said. During the time that the medium was possessed the people stood round, and the temple drum was beaten. When the oracle ended, the medium fell down exhausted, and would lie inanimate for a long time like a person in a deep sleep."[9] 15

MAGICAL 333 To further clarify our position, we may at the outset accept Hambly's distinction between worship and cult as a scientific working basis. Thus he says: "The difficulty of supplying a rigid and logical definition of an act of worship is indisputable, but in practice confusion of thought may be avoided by using the word in connection with certain beliefs and acts. These might reasonably include ideas of a superhuman being, a priesthood, provision of a special house or locality, and also the employment of sacrifice and ritual procedure. The word 'cult' may be used to designate beliefs and acts whose nature is less clearly defined than is the case with concepts and ceremonies surrounding an act of worship. . . . The subject of serpent worship has suffered from hasty generalizations and a lack of classificatory treatment. Consequently there have been assumptions of similarities and identities where they do not exist."[10] Of Africa in general, Hambly says: "The distribution of Python worship is clear. The main foci are the southwest shore of Lake Victoria Nyanza; also several centres in the coastal regions of the west, from Ashanti to the south of the Niger. Python worship was probably indigenous to an ancient possibly aboriginal Negro population, which was driven to the west by [9. John Roscoe, The Baganda, An Account of their Native Customs and Beliefs, London, 1911, p. 320f. 10. Hambly, l. c., Preface, p. 8.]

{p. 6} racial pressure in the cast. Eventually the python-worshipping people were forced into unfavourable situations in the Niger delta, where they are found at present. Around the main centres of python worship are python cults; also python and snake beliefs."[11] Let us now follow Hambly's argument and see in a general way what facts have led him to this conclusion. "West Africa," he remarks, "undoubtedly yields evidence of python worship, especially in Dahomey and southern Nigeria. There is also supplementary evidence with regard to python cults and beliefs. . . . A geographical survey through the Congo, South Africa, and up the east is negative with regard to the existence of python worship.[12] Not until the region of Lake Victoria Nyanza is reached is there evidence of a definitely organized python worship with a sacred temple, a priesthood, and definite ritual acts including sacrifice. There appears to be no definite evidence of python worship in Cameroon, but the serpent design is often employed in wood carving and the equipment of medicine-men."[13] [11. Ditto, p. 75. Cfr. also p. 48: "Python and snake worship were undoubtedly more firmly established in Africa years ago than they are at present." And, p. 55: "Python worship of West Africa is found to be strongly intrenched among people of Negro blood who speak non-Bantu languages, and of these the Ijaw are the best example. In East and West Africa the python is associated with success in agriculture and fishing. These occupations were followed by Negroes who were driven out by pastoral immigrants." 12. Cfr., however, Thomas J. Hutchinson, Impressions of Western Africa, London, 1858, p. 197. Writing from Fernando Po, where he was his Britannic Majesty's Consul, having spent eight years in West Africa, Hutchinson says: "The coronation of a king is a ceremonial that I have not yet had the pleasure of witnessing; but it has been reported to me as one possessing interesting features. It is so bound tip with their notions of a spirit or devil, that I deem it necessary to explain the peculiarity of their belief on this latter point. 'Maaon' is the title given to the devil, and the Botakimaaon (his high priest) is supposed to have influence with him through communication with the cobra-capella, the 'Roukarouko.' Their faith in God, to whom the name of 'Rupe' is given, is a loftier aspiration than

16

MAGICAL 333 that of the devil; but they believe that the Deity's favour can be only obtained by intercession through the 'Botakimaaon' with his master. At the ceremony of coronation, the Botakimaaon steps into a deep hole, and pretends to hold conversation with one of the Roukaroukos at the bottom; the candidate for regal honours standing alongside, and all his subjects, in futuro, being about. This conference is, I believe, carried on by means of ventriloquism,--a faculty with which many of the Fernandians are reported to me to be endowed. The Botakimaaon then delivers to the king the message from the Roukarouko for his guidance in his high station." The "Maaon" referred to is probably not the devil, but some ancestral or other spirit as happens elsewhere in the serpent worship. 13. Hambly, l. c., p. 18. Hambly further observes, p. 69: "Pythons of various kinds have a distribution ranging from the southern Sahara to Natal. The {footnote p. 7} Python sebae, the largest of all, may be found almost anywhere through the Sudan from Senegal to Dafur. Pythons of some species attain enormous size, have great crushing power, are non-poisonous, are easily tamed, seldom attack human beings, and are slow to bite if handled gently. With these points in view it is not difficult to understand why the python should have been selected as a suitable snake for captivity in temples. The reptiles are easily controlled by priests, and at the same time are harmless to those who come with petitions and sacrifices." He had already said, p. 44: "Most observers have remarked on the fearlessness with which priests and priestesses handle large pythons. These snakes are, however, non-poisonous, and their general harmlessness and domesticability are well attested. Very seldom do they attack human beings. The question of immunity in handling poisonous snakes is another problem, but in this connection it must be admitted that many poisonous snakes, unless disturbed suddenly and startled, are reluctant to strike."]

{p. 7} Again: "There are two unquestionable areas of python worship, namely West Africa and a smaller region in Uganda, but there is no definite evidence of similar institutions in the great extent of country between the two centres. There are, however, usages which may be the residue of a decadent python cult. . . . The following factors are common to the East and West African forms of python worship: (1) The python only, but no other snake, is selected for definite worship. This choice may be due to the impressive size of the large species of python. The reptiles are tractable and non-poisonous. All observers are agreed that the python rarely attacks a human being. (2) Hut structures (temples) contain internal arrangements for feeding the reptiles. (3) The python embodies a superhuman being, god of war, spirit of the water, patron of agriculture, or goddess of fertility. (4) The king sends messengers and offerings. He asks for prosperity. (5) Sacred groves are found in addition to temples. (6) Acts of worship bring people who offer sacrifice and make requests. (7) Priests and priestesses are employed; the latter are wives of the python. Both dance themselves into ecstatic trance in which they make oracular utterances which are given in a language not understood by the worshippers."[14] Hambly later returns to the same point: "One of the most important questions is the possible relationship between the python worship of Uganda and that of West Africa. The points of comparison between these two centres have already been given in [14. Hambly, l. c., p. 29 ff. Note:--He has already observed: "In Uganda the main ceremonies of supplication are carried out at new moon; to this I have found no parallel in the ceremonies reported from West Africa."--l. c., p. 21.]

{p. 8} detail. Briefly they are: The acceptance of the python as a supernatural being; the honouring of the reptile, which is fed and generally cared for; the appointment of priests and priestesses who undergo special preparation; belief in the python as a source of productiveness in relation to human fecundity, agriculture, and fishing; making of petitions and the offering of sacrifice; 17

MAGICAL 333 ecstatic dances of priests and priestesses. These go into trance during which they prophesy and answer the requests of worshippers. These points suggest relation rather than independent origin, though it has to be admitted that the points of resemblance are of a rather general nature. Zoological observations prove that the python is likely to be accepted anywhere as an object of adoration."[13] Despite the last assertion, then, Hambly would trace the python worship of Uganda and West Africa at least to a common source rather than ascribe them to independent origin. He continues; "Knowledge of racial migrations in Africa points to the probability that python worship passed across the continent from east to west.[16] To a certain extent the movement of African races are understood; the defect of our knowledge lies in the absence of a chronology for the mass movements of races. It is known, however, that under Hamitic pressure in the Horn of Africa the primitive Negro of the Lake Region moved across the continent from east to west, sending branches of the migratory stem into the Congo area, in which the movement was from north to south and from east to west. There is not a fragment of evidence to suggest that the intrusive Hamites brought python worship with them. The most reasonable suggestion is that the worship is indigenous to the early Negroes of Uganda though the ritual is now practiced by people who are somatically and linguistically Hamitic. The migration of python worship was probably of a purely racial character. The forms of worship are found in their fullest structure and activity at both ends of the main racial [15. Hambly, l. c., p. 49. 16. Note:--Later he states, p. 75: "Within the African continent itself migration of ideas has probably played a more important part than has independent invention. Easy communication from east to west, and from north to south; known Hamitic and Semitic movements; also the appeal made by transmigration and fecundity ideas in all grades of society, have assisted a ready diffusion."]

{p. 9} migratory line; that is, in Uganda at the eastern end, and southern Nigeria and Dahomey at the western end of the line. . . . When the main masses of migrants had passed across the continent, they were fifteen degrees north of the equator, that is, to the north of Dahomey, Ashanti, and Nigeria. Owing to pressure from the Fulani and the Hausa, these Negro tribes from East Africa had to move south into the unfavourable coast regions of the area from Liberia to the mouth of the Niger. It is precisely in these non-Bantu regions that python worship, cults, and beliefs are found at present. They were exceptionally strong at Brass, the terminus of some of the oldest of these racial migrations."[17] This theory of Hambly is amply supported by independent observations. Thus as regards East Africa, we may quote one or two in passing." A. L. Kitching published a work in 1912 of which he says himself: "This book embodies the experiences and observations of ten years spent among the outlying tribes of the Uganda Protectorate."[19] In the chapter on "Superstition" he writes: "While some of the tribes in Uganda may be said to know God in a certain sense, and to look to and pray to a Supreme Being, whose influence is expected to be benign and helpful, the religion of the majority . . . consists largely, in common parlance, of dodging evil spirits."[20] Then, speaking of the Gan' people of northwest Uganda, he states: "In the same vague fashion

18

MAGICAL 333 sacrifices are offered to demons on the rocks that abound throughout the district; the spot usually preferred is one where there is a hole in which dwells a snake. The demon, so I was informed, is supposed to reside in the body of the snake, a statement which has decided Biblical flavour, although there was no suspicion of Christian knowledge about my informer."[21] Canon Roscoe writing of the Banyoro, or as he prefers to call [17. Hambly, l. c., p. 50 f. 18. Note:--The fact that among the Lango only the wizards eat snakes might indicate at least a vestige of serpent cult.--Cfr. J. H. Driberg, The Lango, a Nilotic Tribe of Uganda, London, 1923, p. 105. 19. A. L. Kitching, On the Backwaters of the Nile, London, 1912, Foreword, p. xi. 20. Ditto, p. 256. 21. Ditto, p. 259.]

{p. 10} them the Bakitara, located along the eastern shore of Lake Albert in Uganda, stresses the point that in the common estimation rivers and waterholes are usually under the guardianship of snakes to whom sacrifices are offered. Thus, for example, "At the Muzizi there was a medicine-man, Kaupinipini, who was in charge of the river and cared for the snake, to which he made offerings when people wished to cross. He affirmed that it was useless to attempt to build a bridge over the river for the snake would break it down, and the only means of crossing was by large papyrus rafts on which the people, after giving offerings to the medicine-man for the snake, had to be ferried over. The king sent periodical offerings of black cows to this snake and the medicine-man presented them to it with prayers that it would not kill men."[22] And again: "Pythons were held to be sacred, and in some places offerings were made regularly to them to preserve the people. A few men kept pythons in their houses, taming them and feeding them on milk with an occasional fowl or goat. It was said that these pythons did not kill children or animals in their own villages but went further afield for their prey. The king had a special temple at Kisengwa in which a priest dwelt with a living python which he fed on milk."[23] [22. John Roscoe, The Bakitara or Banyoro, Cambridge, 1923, p. 42 21. Roscoe, l. c., p. 44. Note:--After twenty-five years of missionary work in Africa, Canon Roscoe undertook an ethnological expedition there in 1919. He tells us, John Roscoe, The Soul of Central Africa, London, 1922, Preface, p. vii: "For some time funds for such a purpose were not available, but Sir James G. Frazer, who first aroused in me an interest in anthropology, was unceasing in his attempts to find some means of financing the work. At length, owing to his efforts, Sir Peter Mackie, of Glenreasdell, became interested in the project, and most generously came forward and shouldered the whole financial burden, handing over to the Royal Society ample sums for the purpose." It is interesting then, to find Frazer writing from Cambridge on Feb. 5, 1908, to his friend Sir Spencer Gillen in Australia, Spencer's Scientific Correspondence Sir J. G. Frazer and others, Oxford, 1932, p. 107: "I wish if possible to relieve J. Roscoe of his mission work in Central Africa, and set him free there entirely for anthropology. We should learn very much from him. I know no keener anthropologist than he." Particular value, then, is attached to the following testimony of Roscoe, taken from the very book that we have quoted in the text, The Bakitara or Banyoro, p. 21: "Though the Bakitara had a great number of objects of worship, there was but one god, Ruhanga, the creator and father of mankind. With him were associated the names Enkya and Enkyaya Enkya, whose identity it is not easy

19

MAGICAL 333 to separate from that of Ruhanga. One man asserted that they were a trinity and yet one god; but as he had been for some years a devout Christian, in constant attendance at the Roman Catholic Mission Station his statement may have {footnote p. 11} been coloured by Christian ideas. The general impression gathered, however, was that their belief was entirely monotheistic, and that, if the three were not one deity, then Enkya and Enkyaya Enkya were subordinate gods whose appearance in their theology was later than that of Ruhanga, and more frequently, Enkya and Enkyaya Enkya were called upon by the people in distress or need; prayers were made to them in the open, with hands and eyes raised skywards." In connection with East African Ophiolatry, the following citations might be noted. "The only disquietude to a stranger in their houses arises from the snakes which rustle in the straw roofs, and disturb his rest. Snakes are the only creatures to whom either Dinka or Shillooks pay any sort of reverence. The Dinka call them 'brethren' and look upon their slaughter as a crime. I was informed by witnesses which I have no cause to distrust, that the separate snakes are individually known to the householder, who calls them by name, and treats them as domestic animals."--Georg Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, London, 1874, Vol. I, p. 158. "When a medicine-man or a rich person dies and is buried, his soul turns into a snake as soon as his body rots; and the snake goes to his children's kraal to look after them."--Masai saying recorded by A. C. Hollis, The Masai: Their Language and Folklore, Oxford, 1905, p. 307. "Under ordinary circumstances a snake is killed at sight. A snake is also killed if it enters a house, and a hole has to be made in the wall in order to eject the body, as it may not be thrown out of the door. But if a snake goes in to the woman's bed, it may not be killed, as it is believed that it personifies the spirit of a deceased ancestor or relation, and that it has been sent to intimate to the woman that the next child will be born safely."--A. C. Hollis, The Nandi: Their Language and Folklore, Oxford, 1909, p. 90. "According to the belief of a great many Bantus, especially in South Africa, the dead appear chiefly in the form of snakes."--Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, The "Soul" of the Primitive, New York, 1928, p. 292. "The Zulu . . . recognizes the soul of an ancestor in the snake which visits his kraal."--Frank Byron Jevons, An Introduction to the History of Religion, London, 1896, p. 303. These instances refer rather to serpent cult than to formal Ophiolatry.]

{p. 11} it is well to note here what has been remarked by Hambly: "The Wa Kikayu regard the snake and some other animals as having a mysterious connection with spirits. When a snake enters the village the people offer it milk and fat. These snakes are not exactly the spirits themselves, but their messengers, who give warnings of future evils and come to indicate that an offering to the spirits will be opportune.[24] Having thus sufficiently established the fountain-head of Negro Ophiolatry at Uganda, we may turn to West Africa for a more intimate and detailed study of its development at what Hambly calls the western end of the racial migratory line. Major Arthur Glyn Leonard, writing in 1906, after ten years of personal contact with the natives of South Nigeria, came to the conclusion that here at least the Ophiolatry practiced was a [21. Hambly, l. c., p. 34.]

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MAGICAL 333 {p. 12} form of ancestor worship. In his opinion the Nigerian venerates the snakes precisely because he believes that the spirits of his ancestors are embodied in them. Thus he states: "In Benin City, at Nembe, Nkwerri, and in various localities all over the Delta, Ophiolatry, so-called, exists and flourishes, as it has always done ever since man taught himself to associate the spirits of his ancestors with the more personal and immediate objects of his surrounding. And as snakes-living as they did in the olden days in caves and trees, and as they now do not only in the towns, but inside the houses, underground as well as in the thatched roofs-were very closely associated with man, it is no wonder that they were early chosen to represent ancestral embodiment."[25] [25. Arthur Glyn Leonard, The Lower Niger and its Tribes, London, 1906, p. 327. Note:--In a Preface to Major Leonard's work (p. xii) Professor A. C. Haddon thus explains the author's general animistic theory. "We learn that the religion of the Niger delta natives is based on the adoration of ancestral spirits, materially represented by emblems, the latter being nothing more nor less than convenient forms of embodiment which can be altered or transferred according to circumstances. These objects, rude and senseless as they may be, are regarded as vehicles of spiritual influence, as something sacred because of their direct association with some familiar and powerful spirit, and not as objects which in themselves have, or carry with them, any so-called supernatural powers. It is not the object itself, but what is in or is associated with it. The object accordingly becomes nothing more nor less than a sacred receptacle, and its holiness is merely a question of association. The thing itself is helpless and powerless. it cannot do harm, just as it cannot do good; the spirit, which is invariably ancestral, even when deified, alone does the mischief and wrecks the vengeance in the case of neglect or impiety, or confers the benefits and the blessings when the ancestral rites are performed with due piety by the household." According to Major Leonard, ancestor worship eventually postulated a Supreme Being. Thus he argues, p. 89: "Surrounded on all sides by evil, i. e. by people who were inimical to him, and spiritual influences, who sought his life on every opportunity, the family looked to its head for protection. But he, poor man, was to a greater extent then this family circumvented by enemies on all sides, and in spite of his skill, his strength, and his prowess, he felt himself powerless in the face of them all. So in his misery he turned to the spirit of his father, whom during his lifetime he had honoured and revered, and to whose spiritual aid, when he was victorious, he had once attributed the victory. But victory did not always shine upon him, for the race was not always to the swift, nor was the battle always to the strong. Therefore it was in these moments that be looked beyond his father to the first or spirit ancestor who had made every man and everything, good or evil. A moment this of supremest exaltation, arising out of the lowest depths of despair. Of supremest triumph also, for the Supreme One had once more asserted his power and given him the victory. Having recognized the existence and presence of a Creator, and evoked his aid, the next stage in the process was the formation of a system by which the victory of the Supreme One and his great influence were to be commemorated and kept alive." We cannot accept the Major's process of reasoning on the part of the so-called primitive. But it is sufficient for our purpose that he does require a Supreme Being in the present-day belief. To all appearances, Major Leonard is {footnote p. 13} only following Frazer who says: "The theology of the Bantu tribes, especially of such of them as have remained in the purely pastoral stage, appears generally to be of the most meagre nature: its principal element, so far as we can judge from the scanty accounts of it which we possess, is the fear or worship of dead ancestors, and though these ancestral spirits are commonly supposed to manifest themselves to their descendants in the shape of snakes of various kinds, there is no sufficient ground for assuming these snakes to have been originally totems."--J. G. Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, London, 1910, Vol. IV, p. 32. In his chapter on "The Gods of the Priests and People," Major Leonard states; p. 416: "This system of religion is based fundamentally--that is, purely and entirely--on the close and naturally inseparable ties and associations of family or ancestral relationships, which is regarded by these natives as a natural order, direct from the Supreme God."]

{p. 13}

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MAGICAL 333 To one observation of Major Leonard we must draw particular attention. It is this: "Irrespective of tribe and locality, one fact in connection with these natives impressed me very forcibly, and that was that in every case, with regard to snakes, the emblem revered is the python, and not one of the poisonous varieties, such e.g. as the cobra or horned viper. . . . The snakes whose bite means death are looked on as representing the spirits of evil."[26] In Northern Nigeria there are comparatively few vestiges of the serpent cult, which may formerly have existed there, as indicated by certain finds. Thus C. K. Meek reports in connection with the Bauchi Plateau:[27] "From a surface deposit at Rop there was discovered a representation in tin of a coiled snake. This evidently had some religious or magical significance, and once again points to the presence of a former people who knew how to work in tin, who had a developed artistic sense, and among whom the cult of the serpent was perhaps a feature of their religion."[28] And again, "The Hausa states were foreigners from the East and all belonged to the same racial stock. . . . The legend further suggests that the ancient people of Hausaland reverenced the snake. This we can readily believe, as certain snakes are still regarded as sacred by the Angas, whose language is closely allied to Hausa, and representations of snakes have been dug up on the Bauchi Plateau."[29] Later he adds: "Before the introduction of Islam, among the early peoples of the Hausa states various snakes were apparently common totem animals, especially among [26. Leonard l. c. p. 328. 27. Located about N. 10º; E. 10º. 28. C. K. Meek, The Northern Tribes of Nigeria, Oxford, 1925, Vol. I, p. 54. 29. Ditto, p. 76 f.]

{p. 14} the people of Katsina and Daura. The Abayajidu invaders of the Daura traditions would appear to have slain the local snake and substituted their own sacred animal, e. g. the lion (zaki), or some other worship instead."[30] Percy Amaury Talbot of the Nigerian Political Service published [30. Meek, l. c., p. 174. Note:--In a later work, Tribal Studies in Northern Nigeria, London, 1931, Meek adds further details. Thus, Vol. I, p. 164, we read: "The Melim are natural objects worshipped publicly in the bush, but families and individuals protect themselves with minor objects known as 'habtu' which are amulets or 'fetishes,' according as the efficacy is transmitted from outside or is due to the presence of an indwelling spirit." He is referring to the Bura and Pabir tribes located around N. 12º½; E. 10º½. Again, p. 165; "Habtu Pwapu is a striking representation in iron of a snake (pwapu means 'snake') which is commonly seen in houses. Or it may be attached to the leg as an amulet. In the houses they may be seen set in pairs (male and female) in the shell of a baobab nut. They are said to ward off evil influences and appear to have a fertility signification. Their custodians are women, but every householder must at harvest offer benniseed and cotton and the blood of a chicken to his Habtu Pwapu, otherwise one of his household will be bitten by a snake. It may be noted here that the figure of the serpent appears as a personal or house-protecting amulet all through Egyptian history. A specimen of a Habtu Pwapu was obtained."

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MAGICAL 333 Writing of the Mumuye, located about N. 9º; E. 11º½, Vol. I, p. 468, Meek states: "The rain cult par excellence for all the Mumuye and surrounding tribes is that centred at Yoro. When a serious drought occurs all the senior priests of the tribe proceed with gifts to the rain-maker Yoro. To this cult even the chief of Kona appeals as a last resort, by sending numerous gifts. The rites are said to be as follows. The priest (the kpanti mi, i. e. rain-chief) removes from a large pot the symbol of the cult, which is a piece of iron fashioned like a snake. It is kept rolled up in a curtain of black string. The priest unwinds the curtain and fastens it to two pegs on opposite walls of the hut. Then taking a blacksmith's hammer in his right hand and a pair of iron scissors in his left, he says: 'What I am about to do my forefathers did before me. Grant that this drought may cease, and that we may have corn to eat.' He then chews a piece of the vitis quadrangularis creeper and spits it out on the implements. which he lays on the ground. Picking up the iron snake he says, 'You we received from Yoro in the East; a drought has come upon us, and if we do not have rain, how shall we obtain food to eat? Grant, therefore, that by your graciousness we may have rain in abundance. and that in due course we may reap a sufficient harvest,' He again takes a piece of the creeper, chews it and spits it out on the iron snake. He then hurls, the snake against the hammer and scissors, and it is said that as soon as this is done the first peal of thunder is heard. It is a sympathetic rite, the clanging of the iron being a simulation of thunder." As regards the Hausa, C. G. Seligman, Races of Africa, London, 1930, p. 81 f., records the derivation of the word title which now signifies king or chieftain in the Hausa language. The founder of the royal line was said to have been a son of the King of Bagdad. On his arrival at Daura he found the well guarded by a serpent called Ki Serki, who prevented the drawing of water. He slew the serpent, married the Queen of the country, and was thereafter called Mai-Kai Serki, the man who killed Serki. Seligman adds: "This legend is recorded since. on the one hand, it seems to preserve some features of the older organization of the land (matrilineal descent, snake-worship): and on the other emphasizes the constant tendency to borrow and greatly exaggerate Eastern connections, due to the increasing prestige & pressure of Islam."]

{p. 15} in 1912 the conclusions resultant of five years of intimate contact with the Ekoi who were located on both sides of the boundary between the Cameroons and Southern Nigeria. It is his suggestion that Ophiolatry reached Nigeria from Egypt and had its origin in the introduction "of non-poisonous snakes into granaries, in order to protect their contents from predatory rodents." He writes: "Possibly the cult of the snake and crocodile has come down from very ancient times. It is well known that both were honoured in Egypt as tutelar gods, and if the Ekoi have trekked, as seems likely, from the cast of Africa, it is probable that the original reason for deifying snake and cat, i. e. that these creatures were the principal scourges of the plague-carrying rat, lies at the back of the powerful snake cult, while traces of cat worship are still to be found. Rats are a great pest all over the land, and every possible means is taken to keep them down, though with little result. In Egypt the snake was not only the guardian of house and tomb, but a snake goddess presided over the harvest festival, held in the month of Pharmuthi or April. Doubtless among other attributes she was regarded as the protectress of the garnered grain, and her cult grew from the practice of introducing non-poisonous snakes into granaries, in order to protect their contents from predatory rodents."[31] Fourteen years after the appearance of his first book, Talbot brought out a truly scholarly work in four volumes entitled, The Peoples of Northern Nigeria.[32] He was still of opinion that "The striking resemblance between the Nigerian cults and those of [31. P. Amaury Talbot, In the Shadow of the Bush, London, 1912, p. 25. Note:--Of the religion of the Ekoi, Talbot says, p. 13: "The religion of the Ekoi is altogether a fascinating study. Its principal features are the Cult of Ancestors and of Nature Forces.... Of actual Deities there are only two, Obassi Osaw, the Sky God, and the Earth God Obassi Nsi."

23

MAGICAL 333 Major A. J. N. Tremearne, The Ban of the Bori, London, 1914, p. 413, remarks: The names of many snakeworshipping tribes in the West Sudan consist of sa or so, in combination with other letters. But sa or za alone or in combination, also mean chief and rulers with these names are said to have come from the cast; Sa, a younger son of Misraim or Menes, the earliest historic king of Egypt, being given the district bordering the Fezzan route to the desert." He personally rejects the opinion of those who hold that the Sa in question really stands for serpent. 32. Oxford, 1926.]

{p. 16} ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean area generally can only be explained by intercourse, direct and indirect."[33] The following excerpts are of interest: "Minor deities often assume the form--or inhabit the bodies of snakes, some species of which, especially pythons, are held sacred throughout the region of marsh-lands and waters inhabited by the most ancient tribe of all, the Ijaw, while there are traces of Ophiolatry in many other parts."[34] "The chief juju in the Badagri region used to be Idagbe, symbolized by a large python."[35] "In some parts of the Brass country, the principal worship is that of Ogidiga which was apparently introduced from Benin by Isalema, the first settler at Nembe. He is represented by a python and is supposed by some to be identical with the Bini and Yoruba Olokun, God of the Sea."[36] "The Elei Edda worship a male Alose named Aru-Nga, who resides in a very nimble snake, probably Dandrapis augusticeps. If anyone kills this, a chief dies. It lives in a grove near the town and comes out when the priest sacrifices to it; it is supposed to bite and kill any bad person."[37] "The Ake-Eze Edda chiefly worship Ezi-Aku, 'the property of the Quarter,' to whom sacrifices are offered at the foot of a special tree. Snakes are called her children and no one may touch or hurt them."[38] "Among the Ekoi the most usual name for juju is some form of Ndeum. . . . The Ejagham appear to confine the word to those spirits, usually female, who live in trees, though they manifest themselves at times in the shape of snake or crocodile."[39] Finally after another six years, Talbot further enhances his reputation as the leading authority on Southern Nigeria by publishing [33. Ditto, Vol. II, p. 14. 34. Ditto, Vol. II, p. 83 f. 35. Ditto, Vol. II. p. 93. 36 Ditto, Vol. II, p. 103.

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MAGICAL 333 37 Ditto, Vol. II, p. 112. 38 Ditto, Vol. II, p. 112. 39 Ditto, Vol. II, p. 126.]

{p. 17} his Tribes of the Niger Delta,[40] where we read: "There is a special snake called Adida, which is also worshipped at Tombia. This is said to be the wife of Simingi and may never be slain. Should any Oru-Kuru-Gbaw find one of these lying dead, she would give it burial just as the juju priests do for the Adumu serpents."[41] That this serpent cult can have its disadvantages at times is evidenced by the following incident related by Talbot: "One evening, when staying in the rest house at Omi-Akeni, an Ibo town in Owerri District, Chief Gabriel Amakiri Yellow came to say that he had heard of a woman's juju named Ogugu, the shrine of which was near at hand. Our informant began: 'Ogugu is the chief juju of the women of this country, and is very powerful for the granting of children. . . . If anyone promises something to the juju and fail to give this, or swear on it name but does not carry out the thing, Ogugu always sends visitors to remind the person. Big snakes she sends to lie across the threshold of the house. At midnight, one will creep into bed, or coil by the head of the sleeper. Never, never does such a messenger leave again until the promise has been fulfilled.'"[42] Before passing on, it should be remarked that despite the insistance of Mr. Talbot that the serpent cult of Nigeria probably owes its origin to Egypt, as he bases his supposition in great part on the fact that the Ijaws are ultimately from distant East Africa, so far from weakening Hambly's theory, he only strengthens it as the latter has already shown that the Ijaw derive their origin, in all probability, not from Egypt but from Uganda. Stephen Septimus Farrow, in his thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, 1924, tells us: "Among the Ibo tribes of the Owerri District (near neighbours of the Yorubas) the boa-constrictor is worshipped. On the 27th day of each month a white cock is offered to him, with cowries, palm-oil or palm-nuts, white cloth and kola nuts. The sacrifice [40. London, 1932. 41. Ditto, p. 78. 42. Ditto, p. 92.]

{p. 18} is deposited at cross roads, away from the town. There is, however, no reptile worship among the Yorubas, except in the case of crocodiles, belonging to Olosa the lagoon-goddess.[43]

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MAGICAL 333 Briefly, then, to sum up our present chapter. Prescinding from the question whether African Ophiolatry is a diffusion from abroad or of independent origin, we may accept Hambly's theory that as regards the Dark Continent itself, the local centre from which it eminated was in all probability in Uganda. Further we may accept his assertion that it was indigenous to distinctively Negro tribes which under pressure from Hamitic invasion, trekked across the continent, carrying with them their old tribal beliefs and customs. Thirdly, we agree that while the oppressors in East Africa assimilated in some small degree more or less of its principles, West and not East Africa gradually became its true centre of influence. While the examples thus far cited in connection with the practice in West Africa have savoured rather of the cult than of the formal worship of the serpent in the strict sense of the word, still the following points are of value. Independently of Whydah, where in the next chapter we will find Ophiolatry practiced in detail, scattered around this centre we have all the requisites to satisfy our definition of serpent worship. True, it is, that they serve as confirmatory evidence and nothing more. But the very fact that they are scattered over many localities and not restricted to one place, adds to the strength of the argument. For local causes may at times lead to some particular introduction of a temporary cult, as in the instance related by Colonel Ellis, who writes: "Djwi-j'ahnu . . . was a god who formerly resided at Connor's Hill. Tradition says that the people of Cape Coast first discovered his existence from the great loss which the Ashantis experienced at this spot on the 11th of July, 1824. The slaughter was so great, and the repulse of the Ashantis so complete, that the Fantis, accustomed to see their foes carry everything before them, attributed the unusual result of the engagement to the assistance [43. S. S. Farrow, Faith, Fancies and Fetish, or Yoruba Paganism, London, 1926, p. 20.]

{p. 19} of a powerful local god. They accordingly sacrificed some prisoners to him, and sent to Winnebah to inquire of the priests of Bobowissi if their surmise was correct. The reply being in the affirmative, a regular cult was established, according to the directions of the priests of Bobowissi. At that time Connor's Hill was covered with usually dense bush, which swarmed with snakes. Indeed, even at the present day, when the bush is cleared every year, they are still very numerous, and large numbers are killed by the West India soldiers employed in his work. From this circumstance probably arose the idea that Djwi-j'ahnu ordinarily presented himself to his worshippers in the shape of a serpent--in the shape of the cerastes, one of the most deadly of the ophidia.[44] Other snakes accompanied him, and were regarded as his offspring or dependants. The first sacrifices offered were human victims, but in later times eggs became the ordinary offering. If the god did not present himself to his worshippers in his assumed form., it was imagined that one of their number had given him offence, and the priests then made inquiries to discover the offender. He, being found, would then be mulcted of a sheep, a white cloth, and some rum; and with this special propitiatory offering the worshippers would again proceed to the hill. If the god still remained invisible, it was assumed that he was still dissatisfied, that the atonement was insufficient; and additional offerings were enforced upon the guilty member till the god revealed himself. Djwi-j'ahnu was also believed to assume other shapes; and a leopard, which some thirty years ago haunted the vicinity of the hill, and became by its depredations the terror of the neighbourhood, was believed to be the god who had adopted this form. When undisguised, Djwi-j'ahnu was believed to be of human shape and black in 26

MAGICAL 333 colour, but of monstrous size. He was represented as bearing a native sword in his right hand. His worship has now been extinct for some twenty years, the acquisition of [44. Note:--Here we should observe that in the case of this local cult the serpent chosen is a poisonous one; which fact immediately distinguishes it from the general acceptation of the non-poisonous python. Indeed if the origin of this local cult had not been preserved for us historically, the instance might have been quoted to weaken the claim that one of the characteristics of the serpent peculiar to African Ophiolatry is that it is of the non-poisonous type.]

{p. 20} the hill by the Imperial Government, the clearing of the bush, and the building of huts for the accommodation of troops, having proved fatal to the continuance of this particular cult."[45] Before going on to examine Ophiolatry as it existed at Whydah, we must accentuate one detail that already asserts itself, and that is the prevalence with which the veneration of the serpent, whether as a cult or worship, is associated with what is usually called ancestor worship. But even here, while the reptile may be regarded as the receptacle or dwelling place of the spirits, they in turn are only intercessors or messengers of the Supreme Being to whom the petitions or venerations ultimately tend.[46] It is not, then, idolatry, if we confine ourselves to the strict definition of the word, as was so frequently assumed by the early African travellers who came in contact with it and only too frequently described it in distorted terms.[47] [45. A. B. Ellis, The Tshi-Speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast of West Africa, London, 1887, p. 40 ff. 46. Note:--Cfr. C. Staniland Wake, Serpent Worship, p. 28: "The fact is that the serpent was only a symbol, or at most an embodiment of the spirit which it represented, as we see from the belief of several African and American tribes, which probably preserves the primitive form of this superstition. Serpents are looked upon by these peoples as embodiments of their departed ancestors, and an analogous notion is entertained by various Hindu tribes." Also, M. Oldfield Howey, The Encircled Serpent, p. 17: 'The religion of ancient Egypt is from the earliest times closely interwoven with the symbolic worship of sun and serpent. Not only was the serpent looked upon as an emblem of Divinity in the abstract, but it was connected with the worship of all the Egyptian gods." And a couple of pages later, p. 19: "Both serpent and sun were emblems of the Celestial Father and participated in the honours that through them were paid to the Supreme Being." And finally, J. B. Schlegel, Ewe-Sprache, p. xiv: "Serpents hold a prominent place in the religions of the world, as the incarnations, shrines or symbols of high deities. Such were the rattlesnake's worshipped in the Natchez temple of the Sun, and the snake belonging in name and figure to the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl; the snake as worshipped still by the Slave Coast Negro, not for itself but for its indwelling deity!' As quoted by Edward B. Tylor, Primitive Culture, p. 241. 47. Note:--In cases where the serpent cult of Africa may actually imply more than the invoking of the intercessory power of ancestors with the Supreme Being, and where seemingly perhaps the Deity himself is venerated in the reptile, before ascribing the act of worship to idolatry, it would be well to weigh carefully Father Hull's explanation of a similar phase of Hindu worship in India, where not serpents but figures of stone are the object of the cult.--Cfr. Ernest R. Hull, Studies in Idolatry, Bombay, 1912, p. 1 ff. He says: "A European just come out to India, if asked what he means by idolatry, will point at once to some Hindu salaaming or prostrating himself in front of a lump of stone. 'That man,' he says, 'is worshipping a stone. He is paying to it that supreme reverence which is due to God alone. Idolatry means worshipping a stock or stone as God, and instead of God.' {footnote p. 21} "Now it is difficult to believe that idolatry of this crude kind exists. Could any man short of an idiot believe that a stone--as such--is God?

27

MAGICAL 333 "Those who think that the uneducated Hindus really regard the material object as God seem to be misled by the crude way in which simple Hindus express themselves. They certainly do call the stone object a God. But they must all know well enough that before certain ceremonies the stone was an ordinary stone; and in one of their festivals they actually drive the God out of the image before throwing it into the sea. This clearly shows that the God is rather an inhabitant of the stone than the stone itself. In short, all the facts we know about Hindu worship are totally against this view. . . . "A second explanation current among the exponents of Hinduism, is as follows:--The man does not believe that the stone as such is God. What he believes is that a stone, when selected, and set up, and consecrated in some way, becomes the dwelling place of God. In this case, worship is directed, not to the stone as such, but to the God present in the stone, which is merely an outward and visible object marking that presence. . . . Hence the material stone is reverenced or respected as sacred on account of its connection with the divine presence. But no Hindu, they say, dreams of paying divine worship to the stone as such. . . . It is true that the common people do not think metaphysically on the subject. The divine presence is in the material object, and they venerate the object in the rough divine. Still there is. no difficulty in allowing that their worship is far removed from the utterly preposterous idea that God is the stone as such, or that the stone as such is God. The real object to which their worship is directed, is sometimes as it were behind the stone-some preternatural being, real or imaginary, whom they believe to be God, whose special presence has been induced therein by certain religious rites. "As far as one can see, the normal belief of the mass of Hindus, is of this kind. A fairly educated Hindu layman and a well educated Hindu priest may be quoted for this. The layman said:--'I believe in the divine presence in the image, and I suppose three-quarters of my fellow Hindus do the same.' The priest said:--'The common people believe that the image contains the God, but we educated men do not. What we believe is that the object is a representation of an avatar, i.e. the form under which God has manifested himself on earth; or, if not a representation of the actual form, it is a symbolic representation of some divine attribute manifested to man.' This introduces the third view, according to which the object is a mere stone unendowed with any divine presence; it is at most a symbol or representation embodying some divine fact. The image in this case is respected as sacred, being devoted to a sacred purpose; but worship is not directed to it. An educated Hindu praying towards it is really praying not to it but to his God; that is to say, his worship, which is outwardly directed towards the stone, is internally directed to the God in heaven, and not to the God as specially present in the stone." In the African serpent cult the second explanation holds true in such cases as the serpent itself seems to be venerated. Usually, however, the reptile is merely the habitation of some spirit, ancestral or otherwise, who acts as an intermediary with God and through whom the veneration is actually. given to God himself.]

{p. 22}

Chapter II SERPENT CULT AT WHYDAH Père Labat writing of the year 1698 in the Island of Martinique, recounts what he had personally heard from the lips of Père Braguez, who in turn had actually witnessed the serpent cult at Whydah when the King himself was in attendance to consult the oracle. This is probably the earliest recorded account of an eye-witness, before European contacts had modified the ritual. The narrative runs as follows: "The people on their knees and in silence were withdrawn some distance apart; the King alone with the Priest of the country entered the enclosure, where after prolonged prostrations, prayers and ceremonies, the priest drew near to a hole where supposedly he had a serpent. He spoke to him in behalf of the King and questioned him as regards the

28

MAGICAL 333 number of vessels that would arrive the following year, war, harvest and other topics. According as the serpent replied to a question, the priest carried the answer to the King who was kneeling a short distance away in an attitude of supplication. This by-play having been repeated a number of times, it was finally announced that the following year would be prosperous, that it would have much trade, and that they would take many slaves. The multitude expressed their joy by loud shouts, dancing and feasting." Père Braguez further stated that he had subsequently interviewed the officiating priest who assured him: "That the cult rendered to the serpent was only a cult in its relation to the Supreme Being, of whom they were all creatures. That the choice was not left to themselves, but that they had adopted it through obedience to the common Master's orders, which were always founded on sound principles. The Creator knew perfectly the dispositions of the creatures who had come from his hands, and {p. 23} appreciated only too well man's pride and vanity, not to take every means suitable to humble him; for which purpose nothing seemed more effective than to oblige him to bow down before a serpent, which is the most despicable and the vilest of all animals."[1] Reynaud Des Marchais, the French navigator, went on his first voyage to Guinea in 1704. During the next twenty years, on recurrent visits, he made a close study of the customs and practices of the various kingdoms. In 1724 he sailed on his last voyage to the Coast and spent several months carefully revising his notes and checking up on his sketches. Shortly before his death he gave his manuscript to Père Labat who published it in 1730.[2] In his Preface Père Labat accentuates the fact that on the voyage of 1724 Des Marchais had corrected "the observations which he had made on several earlier ones."[3] The narrative itself shows that Des Marchais was an eyewitness of the scenes that he describes concerning the serpent cult at Whydah and the dates on his sketches indicate that he attended these functions in different years. Concerning the origin of this worship of the serpent at Whydah he states: "The principal divinity of the country is the serpent, although it is not known just when they began to acknowledge him, to render him a cult. They only know as absolutely certain that this pretended divinity came from the Kingdom of Ardra. These Whydahs having undertaken to give battle to the Ardras, a large serpent left the enemy's army and came to deliver himself to that of Whydah. But he appeared so gentle, that instead of biting like the other animals of his species, he caressed and embraced everybody. The chief sacrificer made bold to take hold of him and raise him up on high to bring him in view of the entire army, which, astonished at the prodigy, prostrated themselves before this compliant animal, and rushed on their enemies with such courage that they completely routed them. They did not fail to attribute their victory to this serpent. They respectfully carried [1. P. Labat, Nouveau Voyage aux Isles de l'Amérique, Vol. II, p. 41 f. 2. Cfr. Nouvelle Biographie Générale, Paris, 1860, Vol. XXXIII, p. 467. 3. P. Labat, Voyage du Chevalier Des Marchais en Guinée, Isles Voisines, et à Cayenne, fait en 1725, 1726 & 1727, Amsterdam, 1731, Vol. I, Preface, p. ii.]

{p. 24}

29

MAGICAL 333 him along, built him a house, brought him sustenance, and in a short time this new god eclipsed all the others, even the fetishes which were the first and oldest gods of the country."[4] Des Marchais adds: "It is of particular note that the most thoughtful Negroes very seriously assert that the serpent which they venerate today is really the identical one which came to find their ancestors, and which enabled them to achieve this famous victory which freed them from the oppression of the King of Ardra."[5] This would suggest that the centre of Ophiolatry at Whydah is of comparatively recent origin, and other indications point strongly in the same direction. Up to the beginning of the nineteenth century the capital of Whydah is usually marked on the maps as Xavier or Sabi, also spelt Sabe, Saby, Savi, etc., and presumably a corruption of the word Xavier which alone appears on the D'Anville map of Guinea dated April, 1729. Des Marchais, also, heads his chapter on the subject merely as "The Town of Xavier."[6] It is hard to believe that at so early a date this name should have been applied anywhere except to a Jesuit Mission. As a matter of fact from about 1600 to 1617, one or more Jesuits were labouring continuously along the Guinea Coast with headquarters at Sierra Leone. In 1607 Fr. Balthasar Barreira, S. J. certainly visited Benin and in 1613 Fr. Emmanuel Alvarez, S. J. built a chapel at Lagos.[7] Whether or not the Jesuits did actually establish a mission in Whydah and named it Xavier, this much is certain; that, in connection with their labours along the Guinea Coast, there is absolutely no mention of serpent worship in any form. And as [4. Labat, Des Marchais, Vol. II, p. 133 f. 5. Ditto, p. 134. Note:--For his own part, Des Marchais seems to be rather sceptical about the longevity of this serpent. He writes: "If he is still alive, and it has always been so believed since he was given to this people, he should be of prodigious length and thickness. But it is needful to pay attention to what these people say of it and then believe what one thinks proper. For it is only the chief Sacrificer who has the privilege of entering its secret apartments, the King himself can do so only once when he goes to present his offerings, three months after his coronation."--Des Marchais, l. c., Vol. II, p. 136. 6. Ditto, Vol. II, p. 36. 7. Cfr. Antonius Francus, Synopsis Annalium S. J. in Lusitania, 1540-1725, Augsburg, 1726.]

{p. 25} the Jesuits in their Relations are proverbially so detailed in such matters, we have a strong presumption that it was non-existent within their field of activity at the beginning of the seventeenth century. This presumption is strengthened by the fact that Charles Chaulmer in 1661, while describing the fetish practices of Guinea does not mention the subject." Moreover Dr. O. Dapper who goes into great details about each of the Guinea Kingdoms and their religions in 1668,[9] as well as John Ogilby, two years later,[10] are both silent on this point of serpent worship. 30

MAGICAL 333 From all this it is safe to conclude that in all probability the Ophiolatry of Whydah had its origin in the latter half of the seventeenth century as it was well established there before the century's close. The whole story of the advent of the serpent, it must be admitted, if taken by itself savours somewhat of a mythological derivation of the cult from neighbouring Ardra. But this suggestion would be scarcely compatible with known facts, as we find no indication that Ophiolatry had any previous existence there. Actually Des Marchais takes care to point out that, in the fetishism of Ardra, it is the buzzard that is singled out for veneration, and that they show these birds "the same respect and the same attention as is had for the good serpents at Whydah."[11] But even if we exclude this mythological aspect of the story, at least as far as Ardra is concerned, there is still a possibility that it may have reference to some migration from the east that brought to Whydah, together with Ophiolatry, much-needed succour in the time of some war against Ardra. Before leaving Des Marchais, attention should be called to his minute description of the procession held on April 16, 1725, in honour of the serpent after the coronation of the King of Whydah.[12] He also goes into great detail about the recruiting and [8. Charles Chaulmer, Le Tableau de l'Afrique, Paris, 1661. 9. Dapper, Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaensche Gewesten, Amsterdam, 1668. 10. John Ogilby, Africa, London, 1670. 11. Labat, Des Marchais, Vol. II, p. 261. 12 Ditto, Vol. II, p. 145 ff.]

{p. 26} training of little girls for the future office of priestesses and their subsequent marriage to the serpent.[13] We may now take up chronologically the principal accounts of the serpent worship at Whydah that have come down to us. The earliest detailed narrative and antedating even that of Des Marchais is from the pen of William Bosman, the Chief Factor for the Dutch at the Castle of St. George d'Elmina. Written originally in Dutch in 1700, it was quickly translated and circulated throughout Europe. Concerning Whydah, or as he calls it Fida, he declares: "It is certain that his country-men have a faint idea of the true God, and ascribe to him the attributes of Almighty and Omnipotent; they believe that he created the universe, and therefore vastly prefer him before their idol-gods: but yet they do not pray to him, or offer any sacrifices to him; for which they give the following reason. God, say they, is too high exalted above us, and too great to condescend so much as to trouble himself or think of mankind: wherefore he commits the government of the world to their idols; to whom, as the second, third and fourth persons distant in degrees from God, and our appointed lawful governors, we are obliged to apply ourselves.

31

MAGICAL 333 And in firm belief of this opinion they quietly continue. Their principal gods, which are owned for such throughout the whole country, are of three sorts. First, a certain sort of snakes, who possess the chief rank amongst their gods. . . . Their second-rate gods are some lofty high trees; in the formation of which Dame Nature seems to have expressed her greatest art. The third and meanest god or younger brother to the other is the sea. These three mentioned are the public deities which are worshipped and prayed to throughout the whole country.[14] "They invoke the snake in excessive wet, or barren seasons: on all occasions relating to the government and the preservation of their cattle, or rather in one word, in all necessities and difficulties in which they do not apply to their new batch of gods. And for [13. Ditto, Vol. II, p. 144 ff. 14. William Bosman, A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea, divided into the Gold, the Slave, and the Ivory Coast, London, 1705, p. 368.]

{p. 27} this reason very great offerings are made to it, especially from the King.[15] "The snake-house . . . is situated about two miles from the King's village, and built under a very beautiful lofty tree, in which, say they, the chief and largest of all the snakes resides. He is a sort of grandfather to all the rest; is represented as thick as a man, and of an unmeasurable length. He must also be very old, for they report that they found him a great number of years past; by reason of the wickedness of men, he left another country to come to them, at which being overjoyed, they welcomed their new-come god with all expressible signs of reverence and big veneration and carried him upon a silken carpet to the snakehouse, where he is at present."[16] This is a slight variation from the account of Des Marchais. Bosman continues: "The reverence and respect which the Negroes preserve for the snake is so great that if a black should barely touch one of them with a stick, or any otherwise hurt him, he is a dead man, and certainly condemned to the flames. A long time past, when the English first began to trade here, there happened a very remarkable and tragical event. An English Captain having landed some of his men and part of his cargo, they found a snake in their house, which they immediately killed without the least scruple, and not doubting but they had done a good work, threw out the dead snake at their door, where being found by the Negroes in the morning, the English preventing the question who had done the fact, ascribed the honour to themselves; which so incensed the natives, that they furiously fell on the English, killed them all and burned their house and goods.[17] "In my time an Aquamboean Negro took a snake upon his stick, because he durst not venture to touch it with his hands, and carried it out of the house without hurting it in the least, which two or three Negroes seeing, set up the same cry that is usual on account of fire, by which they can in a small time raise the [15. Ditto, p. 369.

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MAGICAL 333 16. Ditto, p. 370. 17. Ditto, p. 376.]

{p. 28} whole country. . . . By these instances we are deterred from meddling with the accursed gods or devilish serpents, notwithstanding that we are frequently molested by them, since in hot sunshine weather, as if they were lovers of darkness, they visit us by five and six together, creeping upon our chairs, benches, tables, and even our beds, and bearing us company in sleep: and if they get a good place under our beds, and our servants out of laziness don't turn up our bedding, they sometimes continue seven or eight days, where they have also cast their young. But when we are aware of these vermin and do not desire to be troubled with them any longer, we need only call any of the natives, who gently carries his god out of doors.[18] "But what is best of all, is, that these idolatrous snakes don't do the least mischief in the world to mankind. For, if by chance in the dark one treads upon them, and they bite or sting him, it is not more prejudicial than the sting of the millepedes. Wherefore the Negroes would fain persuade us that it is good to be bitten or stung by these snakes, upon the plea that one is thereby secured and protected from the sting of any poisonous snake. But here I am somewhat dubious, and should be loth to venture on the credit of their assertions, because I have observed that the gods themselves are not proof against these venomous serpents, much less can they protect us from their bite. We sometimes observe pleasant battles betwixt the idol and venomous snakes, which are not wanting here.[19] "The species of these idol serpents here are streaked with white, yellow and brown; and the biggest which I have seen here is about a fathom long, and the thickness of a man's arm."[20] "If we are ever tired with the natives of this country, and would fain be rid of them, we need only speak ill of the snake, after which they immediately stop their cars and run out of doors. But though this may be taken from a European that they like; yet, [18. Ditto, p. 377. 19. Ditto, p. 379. 20. Ditto, p. 380.]

{p. 29} if a Negro of another nation should presume to do it, he would run no small risk.[21] "In the year 1697, my brother factor Mr. Nicholas Poll, who then managed the slave trade for our Company at Fida, had the diversion of a very pleasant scene. A hog being bitten by a snake, in revenge, or out of love to god's flesh, seized and devoured him in sight of the Negroes, who were not near enough to prevent him. Upon this the priests all complained to the King; but the hog could not defend himself, and had no advocate; and the priests, unreasonable enough in their

33

MAGICAL 333 request, begged of the King to publish a royal order, that all the hogs in his kingdom should be forthwith killed, and the swiny race extirpated, without so much as deliberating whether it was reasonable to destroy the innocent with the guilty."[22] Twenty years after Bosman wrote his narrative, John Atkins, Surgeon in the Royal Navy, sailed from Spithead, February 5, 1720, on an expedition in quest of the pirates that were infesting the slave route from the Guinea Coast to the West Indies. Under the caption "Whydah" he wrote in his account of the voyage: "This country is governed by an absolute king, who lives in Negrish majesty at a town called Sabbee, six miles from the sea. His palace is a dirty large bamboo building, of a mile or two round, wherein he keeps near a thousand women, and divides his time in an indolent manner. . . . He is fattened to a monstrous bulk, never has been out since he became king (nigh twelve years)."[23] Concerning the religion of the country, Atkins remarks: "The most curious of their customs, and peculiar to this part, is their snake worship, which, according to my intelligence, is as follows. This snake, the object of their worship, is common in the fields, and cherished as a familiar domestick in their houses, called deyboys; they are yellow, and marbled here and there, have a [21. Ditto, p. 381. 22. Ditto, p. 381. 23. John Atkins, A Voyage to Guinea, Brasil, and the West Indies in His Majesty's Ships, the Swallow and Weymouth, London, 735, p. 110.]

{p. 30} very narrow swallow, but dilatible (as all of the serpent kind are) to the thickness of your arm on feeding. It is the principal deity or fetish of the country, and brought into more regularity than others, by the superior cunning of their fetishers, who have one presiding over them, called the grand fetisher, or high priest, who is held in equal reverence with the King himself; nay, sometimes more, through gross supersitition and fear, for they believe an intercourse with the snake, to whom they have dedicated their service, capacitates them to stop or promote the plagues that infest them. He hath the craft by this means, to humble the King himself on all occasions for their service, and to drain both him and the people, in supplying their wants. It is death for a native to kill one of these snakes, and severe punishments to Europeans. When rains are wanted at seedtime, or dry weather in harvest, the people do not stir out after it is night, for fear of the angry snake, which, provoked with their disobedience, they are taught, will certainly kill them at those. times, if abroad, or render them idiots."[24] All this was written on the eve of the destruction of Whydah as a nation. The Dahomans of the interior were bent on securing an outlet to the sea, that they might eliminate the coastal tribes from their position of middle-men in the lucrative slave trade. After the conquest of Ardra, Whydah alone stood between them and the consummation of their plan. Ordinarily a stout resistance might have been expected. But, as Atkins' description has shown us, the reigning king was devoid of the most fundamental qualities for directing affairs in such a crisis.

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MAGICAL 333 William Snelgrave who visited the country three weeks after the event, places the date of the destruction of Whydah by the Dahomans as March, 1727.[25] In this connection he writes: The King of Dahomey "was obliged to halt there by a river, which runs about half a mile to the northward of the principal town of [24. Ditto, p. 113. 25. William Snelgrave, A New Account of some Parts of Guinea and the Slave-Trade, London, 1734, p. 2.]

{p. 31} the Whidaws, called Sabee, the residence of their King. Here the King of Dahomey encamped for some time, not imagining he could have found so easy a passage and conquest as he met with afterwards. For the pass of the river was of that nature, it might have been defended against the whole army, by five hundred resolute men: but instead of guarding it, these cowardly luxurious people, thinking the fame of their numbers sufficient to deter the Dahomans from attempting it, kept no set guard. They only went every morning and evening to the river side, to make fetiche as they call it, that is, to offer sacrifice to their principal God, which was a particular harmless snake they adore, and prayed to on this occasion, to keep their enemies from coming over the river. "And as worshipping a snake may seem very extravagant to such as are unacquainted with the religion of the Negroes, I shall inform the readers of the reasons given for it by the people of Whidaw. This sort of snake is peculiar to their country, being of a very singular make; for they are very big in the middle, rounding on the back like a hog, but very small at the head and tail, which renders their motion very slow. Their color is yellow and white, with brown streaks; and so harmless that if they are accidentally trod on (for it is a capital crime to do so wilfully) and they bite, no bad effect ensues; which is one reason they give for their worshipping of them. Moreover, there is a constant tradition amongst them, that whenever any calamity threatens their country, by imploring the snake's assistance, they are always delivered from it. However this fell out formerly, it now stood them in no stead; neither were the snakes themselves spared after the conquest. For they being in great numbers, and a kind of domestic animal, the conquerors found many of them in the houses, which they treated in this manner. They held them up by the middle, and spoke to them in this manner: If you are gods, speak and save yourselves: Which the poor snakes not being able to do, the Dahomans cut their heads off, ripped them open, broiled them on the coals, and ate them. It is very strange, the conquerors {p. 32} should so far condemn the gods of the country, since they are so barbarous and savage themselves, as to offer human sacrifices whenever they gain a victory over their enemies."[26] Another valuable witness is William Smith who was sent out by the Royal African Society of England which desired "an exact account of all their settlements on the coast of Guinea."[27] He arrived at Whydah. Road, April 7, 1727, that is, immediately after the snake incident. He adds many interesting details to Captain Snelgrave's account. Thus he tells us: "His Majesty of Whydah, who is the largest and fattest man I ever saw, thinking himself a little too bulky to fight, 35

MAGICAL 333 was, upon the first alarm, privately conveyed away by the main strength of a couple of stout lusty Negroes in a hammock, by which means he saved his life.[28] "The city of Sabee was above four miles in circumference. The houses neatly built, though only mud-wall covered with thatch, having no stone in all that country nor even a pebble as big as a walnut."[29] Concerning the serpent worship, Smith states: "They are all pagans and worship . . . a large beautiful kind of snake, which is inoffensive in its nature. These are kept in fittish-houses, or churches, built for that purpose in a grove, to whom they sacrifice great store of hogs, fowls, and goats, &c. and if not devoured by the snake, are sure to be taken care of by the fittish-men, or Pagan priests. . . . The laity all go in a large body by night with drums beating, and trumpets of elephant's teeth sounding, in order to perform divine worship, and implore either a prosperous journey, fair weather, a good crop, or whatsoever else they want. To obtain which from the snake, they then present their offering, and afterwards return home. They are all so bigoted to this animal that if any Negro should touch one of them with a stick, [26. Ditto, p. 10 f. 27. William Smith, A New Voyage to Guinea, London, 1745, p. I. 28. Ditto, p. 190. 29. Ditto, p. 192. Note:-According to Robert Norris, Memoirs of the Reign of Bossa Ahadee, King of Dahomy, London, 1789, p. 69: "The infatuated Whydahs contented themselves with placing, with great ceremony, the fetish snake in tile path, to oppose the invading army, which not answering their hopes and expectations, they deemed all other resistance vain, and fled precipitately before the conqueror."]

{p. 33} or otherwise hurt it, he would be immediately sentenced to the flames. One day as I walked abroad with the English Governor, I spied one of them lying in the middle of the path before us, which indeed I would have killed had he not prevented me, for he ran and took it up in his arms, telling me, that it was the kind of snake which was worshipped by the natives, and that if I had killed it, all the goods in his fort, and our ship would not be sufficient to ransom my life, the country being so very populous that I could not stir without being seen by some of the natives; of whom there were several looking at us that happened to be on their march home from their captivity at Adrah. They came, and begged their god, which he readily delivered to them, and they as thankfully received and carried it way to their fittish-house, with very great tokens of joy."[30] The destruction of Whydah as a Kingdom did not put an end to the veneration of the serpent there. According to William Davaynes, who was one of the directors of the East India Company and who had left the Coast of Africa in 1763 after having resided there twelve years, eleven years as Governor at Whydah and the other at Annamboe, "The snake was the peculiar worship of the ancient people of Whydah, and when this province was conquered by the King of Dahomey, the worship of the snake was continued upon motives of policy. Formerly a person

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MAGICAL 333 who killed a snake was put to death; but now a goat is sacrificed as an atonement."[31] The last statement must apply to the case of Europeans alone, for as we shall see the death penalty against [30. Ditto, p. 196 f. Note:--Speaking of Dahomey and vicinity he says, p. 213: "All the natives of this Coast believe there is one true God, the Author of them and all things." C. des Brosses, Du Culte des Dieus Fetiches, ou Parallèle de l'Ancienne Religion de l'Égypte avec la Religion de Nigritie, Paris, 1760, pp. 25-37, drawing his information principally from Atkins, Bosman and Des Marchais, gives us a detailed account of the serpent cult at Whydah which he calls by its old name Juidah. As the title of his book suggests, he would make Egypt the source of this Ophiolatry of West Africa. 31. Note:--Cfr. Report of the Lords of the Committee of Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to trade and foreign Plantations, London, 1789. Part I, View of the Evidence that the Committee had obtained of the present state of those parts of Africa from whence slaves have been exported.--This is a large folio volume of some twelve hundred pages which are unfortunately not numbered, thus making reference difficult.]

{p. 34} natives who injured the sacred snake continued for some time to come. Concerning the continuation of the serpent cult itself, Robert Norris states: "By Trudo's management (in tolerating his subjects with the free exercise of their various superstitions; and incorporating them with the Dahomans by intermarriage if it may be so-called), no distinctions being made between the conquerors and the conquered, who were now become one people, many of those who had fled their native countries, to avoid the calamities of war, were induced to return and submit quietly to his government."[32] And "The remnant of the Whydahs who had escaped the edge of Guadja's sword, were abundantly thankful to him, for permitting them to continue in the enjoyment of their snake worship.'[33] Archibald Dalzel went out to Africa as a surgeon in the year 1763, and resided three years on the Gold Coast, some little part of the time as Governor, and four years as Governor of Whydah, returning to England in the year 1770. He was one of the witnesses who testified before the Committee of Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to trade and foreign plantations. Reference has already been made to the Report of this Committee which was published in 1789, and which contains the following statement: "With respect to the religion of the people at Whydah and the general object of their worship, Mr. Dalzel observed that in no part of Africa had he been able to understand the religion of the natives. At Whydah they pay a kind of veneration to a particular species of large snake, which is very gentle. In Dahomey they pay the same kind of veneration to Tigers. Thus veneration does not prevent people from catching and killing them if they please, but they must not touch the beard, which is considered as a great offence. They have a great number of men they call Fetiche men, or padres. The word fetiche is derived from a Portuguese word meaning witchcraft."[34] [32. Norris, Memoirs of the Reign of Bossa Ahadee, King of Dahomey, p. 2. 33. Ditto, p. 105, Note. 34 Note:--Cfr. also, Archibald Dalzel, History of Dahomey, an Inland Kingdom of Africa, London, 1793, Introduction, p. vi: "Most of the savage nations {footnote p. 35} have some confused notion of a Supreme intellectual Being, the maker of the universe; but this idea not being easily understood among a people not much

37

MAGICAL 333 addicted to metaphysical reasoning, a variety of corporeal beings have been selected as objects of devotion, such as the sun, moon, living animals, trees, and other substances. The tiger is the fetish of Dahomey; the snake, that of Whydah."]

{p. 35} For the condition at Whydah in the closing days of the eighteenth century, when throughout the British Empire the slave trade was coming to an end, we have the testimony of Dr. John M'Leod formerly of the British Navy who in 1803 served as surgeon on a ship, bound from London to the Coast of Africa, in the slave trade. On this occasion. he visited the centre of the serpent cult and tells us: "In Whydah, for some unaccountable reason, they worship their Divinity under the form of a particular specie of snake, called Daboa, which is not sufficiently large to be terrible to man, and is otherwise tameable and inoffensive. These Daboahs are taken care of in the most pious manner, and well fed on rat, mice and birds, in their fetish-houses or temples, where the people attend to pay their adoration, and where those also who are sick or lame apply to them for assistance."[35] That the British abolition of slavery made little change in the serpent worship at Whydah, is evidenced by ample testimony. Thus, John Duncan in his journal records at Whydah in the Spring Of 1845: "The snake is also a fetish here; and houses are built in several parts of the town for the accommodation of the snakes, [35. John M'Leod, A Voyage to Africa with some Account of the Manners and Customs of the Dahomian People, London, 1820, p. 32. Note:--Dr. M'Leod had previously stated of Dahomey in general:--Snakes of the boa species are here found of a most enormous size; many being thirty to thirty-six feet in length, and of proportionate girth. They attack alike the wild and domestic beasts, and often the human kind."--l. c., p. 32. These are certainly not the sacred species, as he tells us on the very next page: "The bulk of the animals these serpents are capable of gorging would stagger belief, were the fact not so fully attested as to place it beyond doubt. The state of torpor in which they are sometimes found in the woods after a stuffing meal of this kind, affords the Negroes an opportunity of killing them"--l. c., p. 31. If they were of the sacred variety they would not be killed by the Negroes. To this same period belongs Pierre Labarthe, who writes, Voyage à la, Côte de Guinée, Paris, 1893, p. 133: "They have here a kind of high-priest whom the Negroes call the Great Fetisher or Great Voodnoo; he claims to have descended from heaven and poses as the interpreter of the gods on earth; under this guise he demands the same honours as are shown to the King." And again: "Despite their superstitions, these people have a confused idea of a Supreme Being, all Powerful, immense; they seek to placate Him through their fetishers: they are persuaded that God is too good to do them harm: that is why they render Him no worship."--l. c., p. 135.]

{p. 36} where they are regularly fed. These houses are about seven feet high in the walls, with conical roof, about eight feet in diameter, and circular. The snakes are of the boa-constrictor tribe, and are considered quite harmless, although I have my doubts upon it. They generally leave this house at intervals, and when found by any of the natives, are taken up and immediately conveyed back to the fetish-house, where they are placed on the top of the wall, under the thatch. It is disgusting to witness the homage paid to these reptiles by the natives. When one of them is picked up by anyone, others will prostrate themselves as it is carried past, throwing dust on their heads, and begging to be rubbed over the body with the reptile. After taking the snake up, a very heavy penalty is incurred by laying it down, before it is placed in the fetish-house. Wherever a

38

MAGICAL 333 snake is found it must be immediately carried to the fetish-house, whether it has ever been placed there before or not. Snakes abound about Whydah; their average length is four feet and a half; head flat, and neck small in proportion."[37] Another entry in Duncan's Journal is of particular interest, as it gives us in detail the punishment inflicted on the natives for even accidentally killing a sacred serpent. Earlier writers merely indicate that such an individual was given to the flames. Here, however, we have a full description. Under date of May 1, 1845, he writes at Whydah: "Punishment was inflicted for accidentally killing two fetish snakes, while clearing some rubbish in the French fort. This is one of the most absurd as well as savage customs I ever witnessed or heard of. Still it is not so bad as it was in the reign of the preceding King of Dahomey, when the law declared the head of the unfortunate individual forfeited for [36. John Duncan, Travels in Western Africa in 1845 & 1846, London, 1847, Vol. I, p. 126. Note:--The Reverend Thomas B. Freeman, who visited Dahomey in 1843, to promote the interests of the Wesleyan Missionary Society under date of March 14th records in his journal, Journal of various Visits to the Kingdoms of Ashanti, Aku, and Dahomi in Western Africa, London, 1844, p. 265: "When we had proceeded about two miles and a half we passed one of the King's fetish-houses; from whence a fetishman came and pronounced a blessing, begging of the fetish a safe journey for us to Abomi. Though I pitied the people on account of their superstitions, yet I could not help admiring their apparent sincerity."]

{p. 37} killing one of these reptiles, even by accident. The present King has reduced the capital punishment to that described below. On this occasion three individuals were sentenced as guilty of the murder of this fetish snake. A small house is thereupon made for each individual, composed of dry faggots for walls, and it is thatched with dry grass. The fetish-men then assemble, and fully describe the enormity of the crime committed. Each individual is then smeared over, or rather has a quantity of palm-oil and yeast poured over them, and then a bushel basket is placed on each of the heads. In this basket are placed small calabashes, filled to the brim, so that the slightest motion of the body spills both the oil and the yeast, which runs through the bottom of the basket on to the head. Each individual carries a dog and a kid, as well as two fowls, all fastened together, across his shoulders. The culprits were then marched slowly round their newly prepared houses, the fetish-men haranguing them all the time. Each individual is then brought to the door of his house, which is not more than four feet high. He is there freed from his burthen, and compelled to crawl into his house on his belly, for the door is only eighteen inches high. He is then shut into this small space with the dog, kid and two fowls. The house is then fired, and the poor wretch is allowed to make his escape through the flames to the nearest running water. During his journey there he is pelted with sticks and clods by the assembled mob; but if the culprit has any friends, they generally contrive to get nearest to him, during his race to the water, and assist him, as well as hinder the mob in the endeavours to injure him. When they reach the water they plunge themselves headlong into it, and are then considered to be cleansed of all sin or crime of the snake-murder."[37] Mr. Duncan subsequently returned to Whydah in 1849 as Vice Consul to the Kingdom of Dahomey,[38] and it was at his personal request that Commander Forbes was appointed to accompany him

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MAGICAL 333 [37. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 195. 38. Frederick E. Forbes, Dahomey and the Dahomans: being the Journals of two Missions to the King of Dahomey, and Residence at his Capital, in the years 1849 and 1850, London, 1851, Vol. I, p. 43.]

{p. 38} to the Court of Dahomey in the interests of the suppression of the slave trade. We may profitably cull some extracts from the Journal kept by Commander Forbes on this occasion. Thus he writes: "The religion of Dahomey is a mystery only known to the initiated. There is no daily worship, but periods at which the fetish-men and -women dance. They who are initiated have great power and exact much in return. It is a proverb that the poor are never initiated. The Fetish of Abomey is the leopard, that of Whydah the snake. The human sacrifices at the See-queah-nee are neither to the invincible god 'Seh,' nor to the fetish Voh-dong,' but to the vitiated appetites of the soldiery. At the Cannah Customs there are sacrifices to the Voh-dong; and at the See-que-ah-nee there are sacrifices to the manes of their ancestors; the Dahomans, like the disciples of Confucius, looking to their departed ancestors for blessing in this life."[39] March 8, 1849, he records: "The lions of Whydah are the snake fetish-house and the market. The former is a temple built round a huge cotton tree, in which are at all times many snakes of the boa species. These are allowed to roam about at pleasure; but if found in a house or at a distance, a fetish-man or woman is sought, whose duty it is to induce the reptile to return, and to reconduct it to its sacred abode, whilst all that meet it must bow down and kiss the dust. Morning and evening, many are to be seen prostrated before the door, whether worshipping the snake directly, or an invisible god, which is known under the name of 'Seh,' through these, I am not learned enough to determine."[40] In a supplementary chapter on "Religion," however, he states unequivocally: "The 'Voo-doong,' or fetish, represents on earth the supreme god 'Sell,' and in common with thunder and lightning,' Soh.'"[41] Humour at times creeps into the Journal. On March 10th, Commander Forbes writes: "Called on the viceroy, and had a long conversation with him about trade. . . . On leaving a fetish-man [39. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 32. 40 Ditto, Vol. I, p. 108 f. 41. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 171.]

{p. 39} was passing the gate, with two large snakes. State officers in most barbarous countries find it more convenient to remain at home, except when duty calls them abroad. The burly officer, was, according to custom, seeing me beyond his gate-and this was an opportunity not to be lost,-the fetish-man addressed him at great length, in praise of his extraordinary liberality to the fetish, for which be had no doubt to pay handsomely."[42] And again, on July 12th he records: "On leaving the British fort this morning, we learned that an extraordinary instance of the gorging of the

40

MAGICAL 333 fetish snake had taken place in the night. The reptile lay in the kitchen in dreadful pain, trying to force the hind legs and tail of a cat into his distended stomach, now in the shape of the halfswallowed victim. A fetish-woman arriving, carried the deity to the temple."[43] It is not so surprising then, to find Father Lafitte, who arrived at Dahomey in 1861, and devoted eight years to missionary work, reporting that among those employed in the service of the sacred serpents was a physician, "charged especially to watch over the welfare of their laborious digestion."[44] Another witness covering this same period is J. Leighton Wilson, who devoted eighteen years to missionary work in Africa and subsequently became a Secretary of the American Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. Of the sea-port town of Whydah, he says: "There is no place where there is more intense heathenism; and to mention no other feature in their superstitious practices, the worship of snakes at this place fully illustrates this remark. A house in the middle of the town is provided for the exclusive use of these reptiles, and they may be seen here at any time in very great numbers. They are fed, and more care is taken of them than of the human inhabitants of the place. If they are seen straying away they must be brought back; and at the sight of them the people prostrate themselves on the ground, and do them all possible reverence. To kill or injure one of them is to [42. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 112. 43. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 201. 44. J. Lafitte, Le Dahomé, Tours, 1873, p. 101.]

{p. 40} incur the penalty of death. On certain occasions they are taken out by the priests or doctors, and paraded about the streets, the bearers allowing them to coil themselves around their arms, necks, and bodies."[45] This brings us to Richard F. Burton of Arabian Nights fame, who, writing in 1864, more than a century and a quarter after the event, thus details the debacle of the over-trustful devotees of the serpent-god at Whydah. "The infatuated "Whydahs," he says, "instead of defending their frontier line, were contented to place with great ceremony Danh, the fetish snake, Dan-like, in the path. Agaja had retired to levy his whole force, leaving the field army under his general. The latter seeing only a snake to oppose progress ordered 200 resolute fellows to try the ford. They not only crossed it unimpeded, but were able to penetrate into the capital."[46] He has already said: "When the Dahomans permitted [45. J. Leighton Wilson, Western Africa, Its History, Condition, and Prospects, London, 1856, p. 207. Note:-Wilson says of himself, Preface, p. iv: "The writer has spent between eighteen and twenty years in the country. He has had opportunity to visit every place of importance along the seacoast, and has made extended excursions in many of the maritime districts. He has studied and reduced to writing two of the leading languages of the country, and has enjoyed, in these various ways, more than ordinary advantages for making himself acquainted with the actual condition of the people. He claims for his book the merit of being a faithful and unpretending record of African Society." Of West Africa in general, he asserts, p. 209: "The belief in one great Supreme Being, who made

41

MAGICAL 333 and upholds all things is universal. Nor is this idea imperfectly or obscurely developed in their minds. The impression is so deeply engraved upon their moral and mental nature, that any system of atheism strikes them as too absurd and preposterous to require a denial. Everything which transpires in the natural world beyond the power of man, or of spirits, who are supposed to occupy a place somewhat higher than man, is at once spontaneously ascribed to the agency of God. All of the tribes in the country with which the writer has become acquainted (and they are not few) have a name for God, and many of them have two or more, significant of his character as a Maker, Preserver, and Benefactor." And again, p. 218: "On some parts of the Gold Coast the crocodile is sacred; a certain class of snakes, on the Slave Coast, and the shark at Bonny, are all regarded as sacred, and are worshipped, not on their own account, perhaps, but because they are regarded as the temples, or dwelling-places, of spirits. Like every other object of the kind, however, in the course of time the thing signified is forgotten in the representative, and these various animals have long since been regarded with superstitious veneration, while little is thought of the indwelling spirit. . . . The snake at Popo has become so tame that it may be carried about with impunity, and is so far trained that it will bite, or refrain from biting, at the pleasure of its keeper." 46. Richard F. Burton, A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome, London, 1864, Vol. I, p. 146.]

{p. 41} serpent worship to continue, the Whydahs abundantly thankful, became almost reconciled to the new stern rule."[47] The serpent revered as sacred in Burton's day was clearly of identical species with that first described by visitors to Whydah. For he says: "The reptile is a brown yellow-and-white-streaked python of moderate dimensions; and none appear to exceed five feet. The narrow neck and head tapering like the slow-worms, show it to be harmless; the Negro indeed says that its bite is a good defence against the venomous species, and it is tame with constant handling. M. Wallon saw 100 in the temple, some 10 feet long, and he tells his readers that they are never known to bite, whereas they use their sharp teeth like rats. Of these 'nice gods' I counted seven, including one which was casting its slough; all were reposing upon the thickness of the clay wall where it met the inner thatch. They often wander at night, and whilst I was sketching the place a Negro brought an astray in his arms; before raising it, he rubbed his right hand on the ground and duly dusted his forehead, as if grovelling before the king. The ugly brute coiled harmlessly round his neck, like a 'doctored' cobra in India or Algeria. Other snakes may be killed and carried dead through the town, but strangers who meddle with the Danhgbwe must look out for 'palavers' which, however, will probably now resolve themselves into a fine."[48] Then follows a description, differing [47. Ditto, Vol. I p. 96. Note:--According to Burton, Vol. I, p. 61: "The word 'Whydah' is a compound of blunders. It should be written Hwe-dah, and be applied to the once prosperous and populous little kingdom whose capital was Savi. A 'bush town' to the westward, supposed to have been founded and to be still held by the aboriginal Whydahs, who fled from the massacres Dahome, retains the name Hwe-dah. The celebrated slave-station which we have dubbed 'Whydah' is known to the people as Gre-hwe or Gle-hwe, 'Plantation-house.'"--Cfr. also, Archibald Dalzel, History of Dahomey Preface, p. xii: "Whydah," as it is Pronounced by the natives who sound the w of it strong, like in whip, the French write Juida; the Dutch, Fida, &c." Burton also asserts, Vol. I, p. 96: "Ophiolatry in our part of Africa is mostly confined to the coast regions; the Popos and Windward races worship a black snake of larger size; and in the Bight of Biafra the Nimbi or Brass River people are as bigoted in boa-religion as are the Whydahs. The system is of old date: Bosman at the beginning of the last century, described it almost as it is at present. It well suits the gross materialism of these races, and yet here men ought to be tired of it."

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MAGICAL 333 48. Burton, l. c., Vol. I. p. 94.]

{p. 42} only slightly in detail from Duncan's account of two decades earlier. Thus: "In older times death has been the consequence of killing one of these reptiles, and if the snake be abused, 'serious people' still stop their ears and run away. When under former reigns, a native killed a Danhgbwe, even accidentally, he was put to death; now the murderer is placed somewhat like the Salamanders of old Vauxhall, in a hole under a hut of dry faggots thatched with grass which has been well greased with palm-oil. This is fired, and he must rush to the nearest running water, mercilessly belaboured with sticks and pelted with clods the whole way by the Danhgbwe-no, or fetish-priests. Many of course die under the gauntlet."[49] Of the "Boa Temple" he observes: "It is nothing but a small cylindrical mud hut-some fetishhouses are square-with thick clay walls supporting a flying thatch roof in extinguisher shape. Two low narrow doorless entrances front each other, leading to a raised floor of tamped earth, upon which there is nothing but a broom and a basket. It is roughly whitewashed inside and out, and when I saw it last a very lubberly fresco of a ship under full sail sprawled on the left side of the doorway. A little distance from the entrance were three small pennons, red, white and blue cotton tied to the top of tall poles."[50] And again: "On the other side of the road the devotees of the snake are generally lolling upon the tree roots in pretended apathy, but carefully watching over their gods. Here, too, are the fetish schools, where any child touched by the holy reptile must be taken for a year from its parents--who 'pay the piper'--and must be taught the various arts of singing and dancing necessary to the worship. This part of the system has, however, lost much of the excesses that prevailed in the last century when at the pleasure of the strong-backed fetishmen, even the king's daughters were not excused from incarceration and from its presumable object. The temple is still annually visited by the Viceroy, during the interval after the Customs and before the campaigning season. He takes one bullock, with goats, fowls, [49. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 95. 50. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 93.]

{p. 43} cloth, rum, meal, and water to the priest, who holding a bit of kola nut, prays aloud for the king, the country, and the crops."[51] Burton relates one incident which shows what a hold the fanaticism had on the people at large even in his day. Speaking of the Catholic Mission Station at Whydah which was located in what was known as the Portuguese "Fort": "In March, 1863, the fort was struck by the lightning-god, Khevioso, the Shango of the Egbas; and they are not wanting who suppose that the fetishers, having been worsted in dispute by the Padres, took the opportunity of a storm to commit the arson. As the inmates impiously extinguished the fire, they were heavily fined; and, on refusing to pay, the Father-Superior was imprisoned. In June of the same year occurred another dispute, about a sacred snake that was unceremoniously ejected from the mission premises, and doubtless this anti-heathenism will bring them to further grief."[52] 43

MAGICAL 333 Pierre Bouche who spent seven years on the Slave Coast, was resident at Whydah in 1868, where, as he tells us, he witnessed this scene: "One day I was on my way to visit a sick person. The boy who accompanied me suddenly cried out: 'Father, a fetiche!' I turned quickly, and saw a large serpent which had passed by me. Before it, a black prostrated himself, placing his brow in the dust and bowing low. His prayer deeply distressed me: 'You are my father, you are my mother,' said he to the reptile; 'I am all yours . . . my head belongs to you! . . . Be propitious to me!' And he covered himself with dust as a mark of humiliation."[53] Writing of the same period, E. Desribes tells us: "The cult of living serpents is in vogue at many points along the Coast; but no where have they temples and regular sacrifices as at Whydah. . . . At Grand Popo not far from Whydah, the serpents have no temple, it is true, but they receive a cult even more revolting. There is there a species of large, very ferocious reptiles; when one of these serpents encounters small animals, he mercilessly devours them; and the more voracious it is, the more it excites the devotion of its [51. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 98. 52. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 71. 53. Pierre Bouche, La Côte des Esclaves et le Dahomey, Paris, 1885, p. 389.]

{p. 44} worshippers. But the greatest honours, the greatest blessings are bestowed on it when, finding a young child it makes a meal of it. Then the parents of the poor victim prostrate themselves in the dust, and give thanks to one so divine as to have chosen the fruit of their love to make of it a repast."[54] We shall have occasion to refer to this incident later. Our next witness is J. A. Skertchley who tells us: "In the early part of 1871 I left England with the object of making zoological collections on the West Coast of Africa."[55] On account of local wars, he was unable to penetrate the interior at Assinee and Accra and so proceeded to Whydah, where he was induced to visit King Gelele at Aborney, where he was detained as a "guest" for eight months. Incidentally he relates: "Opposite Agauli, hidden from profane eyes by a thick grove of fig trees which form but a mere undergrowth when compared with several tall bombaxes in their midst, is the far-famed snake house, or 'Danh-hweh,' as it is usually called. The name is derived from Daub, a snake, and Hweh, a residence. It is sometimes called Vodunhweh, i. e. the fetiche house; and again, 'danhgbwe-hweh,' or the big snake (python) house. I was much disappointed at this renowned fetiche, for instead of a respectable temple, I found nothing but a circular swish hut, with a conical roof; in fact, an enlarged model of the parian inkstands to be seen in every toy-shop. There was a narrow doorway on the eastern side[56] leading to the interior, the floor of which was raised a foot above the street. The walls and floors were whitewashed, and there were a few rude attempts at reliefs in swish. From the roof there depended several pieces of coloured yarn, and several small pots containing water were distributed [54. E. Desribes, L'Évangile au Dahomey et à la Cote des Esclaves, Clermont-Ferrand, 1877, p. 184 f. Note:-Another instance of exaggerated deference to the serpent is given by Mary H. Kingsley, West African Studies,

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MAGICAL 333 London, 1899, p. 483, as follows: "The python is the Brass natives' titular guardian angel. So great was the veneration of this Ju-Ju snake in former times, that the native kings would sign no treaties with her Britannic Majesty's Government that did 'lot include a clause subjecting any European to a heavy fine for killing or molesting in any way this hideous reptile." 55. J. A. Skertchley, Dahomey as it is; being a narrative of eight months' Residence in that Country, London, 1874, Preface, p. vii. 56. Note:--This fact may strengthen the supposition that the cult came originally from the east.]

{p. 45} about the floor. The roof was raised above the circular walls by short projecting pieces of bamboo; and coiled up on the top of the wall, or twining round the rafters, were twenty-two pythons. The creatures were the ordinary brown and pale yellow reptiles, whose greatest length is about eight feet. They were the sacred Danhgbwes whose power was relied upon to save the kingdom from the conquering armies of Agajah. It was the tutelary saint of Whydah, and when that kingdom was conquered, was introduced into the Dahoman pantheon. As recent as the late King's reign, if a native had the misfortune to accidentally (for no one would have had the temerity to purposely) kill a Danhgbwe, he was at once sacrificed, and his wives and property confiscated to the church. At the present time the defaulter has to undergo a foretaste of the sufferings of his portion hereafter."[57] Then follows a description of the ordeal by fire which has already been described. Incidentally, Skertchley gives indication of a decadence having [57. Skertchley, l. c., p. 54. Note:--Skertchley later observes, p. 461: "The Dahoman religion consists of two parts, totally distinct from each other. First a belief in a Supreme Being, and second, the belief in a whole host of minor deities. The Supreme Being is called Man, and is vested with unlimited authority over every being, both spiritual and carnal. He is supposed to be of so high a nature as to care very little for the circumstances of men, and his attention is only directed to them by some special invocation. He resides in a wonderful dwelling above the sky, and commits the care of earthly affairs to a race of beings, such as leopards, snakes, locusts, or crocodiles, and also to inanimate objects, such as stones. nags, cowries, leaves of certain trees, and, in short, anything and everything. This deity is said to be the same as the God of civilization; but the white man has a far freer access to Him than the Negro, who is therefore obliged to resort to mediators. Hence the origin of fetishism." Cir. also, A. Le Herissé, L'Ancien Royaume du Dahomey; Mœurs, Religion, Histoire, Paris, 1911, p. 96: "The Dahoman believe in a Supreme Being whom they call Mahon (God) or Se (Beginning, Intelligence). They have neither statue nor symbol to represent Him, they dedicate no cult to Him; His name is only pronounced in some exclamations or invocations. Mahou has created the universe; He has in particular created the fetishes, Vodoun, and has given them certain forces, certain powers of which they made use in their own way to govern human destinies. These Vodoun moreover, are not, in the strict sense, intermediaries of Mahon, but rather his free and independent agents: 'The fetish is a creature of God'--'Vodoun e gni Mahounou.' Or, again: 'God possesses the fetish--'Mahou oue do Vodoun.' The Vodoun are innumerable for, to the Dahoman, every monstrosity or phenomenon which exceeds his imagination or his intelligence is fetish, a creature of God which demands a cult. The thunder, small-pox, the sea are all fetishes; the telegraph and our railways would most assuredly also be so, if they were not a 'machine of the whites.'" M. Le Herissé was writing as Administrateur des Colonies. He is dealing with ancient Dahomey and consequently independent of the Whydah influence.]

{p. 46}

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MAGICAL 333 set in, at least as regards external discipline. That reverence for the sacred serpent, as regards the populace, is becoming subservient to greed oil the part of the custodians of the temple, is evidenced by the following passage: "The doorway being always open, the snakes frequently make excursions after nightfall. Should an unfortunate person of either sex meet the strolling deity, he is obliged to prostrate himself before it, and then, taking it tenderly in his arms, carry it to the priests. Of course he is rewarded by these gentlemen for taking care of the god, says the reader. No such thing! He is fined for meeting the snake, and imprisoned until it is paid to the last cowrie."[58] Eight years after Skertchley, Colonel Ellis visited Whydah and thus describes his experience: "While at Whydah I stayed at the French Factory, and there I had a rather unpleasant adventure on the night of my arrival. It was a very close night, and I was sleeping in the grass hammock slung from the joists of the roof, when I was awakened by something pressing heavily on my chest. I put out my hand and felt a clammy object. It was a snake, I sprung out of the hammock with more agility than I have ever exhibited before or since, and turned up the lamp that was burning on the table. I then discovered that my visitor was a python, from nine to ten feet in length, who was making himself quite at home, and curling himself up tinder the blanket in the hammock. I thought it was the most sociable snake I had ever met, and I like snakes to be friendly when they are in the same room with me, because then I can kill them the more easily; so I went and called one of my French friends to borrow a stick or cutlass with which to slay the intruder. When I told him what I purposed doing he appeared exceedingly alarmed and asked me anxiously if I had yet injured the reptile in any way. I replied that I had not, but I was going to. He seemed very much relieved, and said that it was without doubt one of the fetish snakes from the snake-house, and must on no account be harmed, and that he would send and tell the priests, who would come and take it away in the morning. He told me that a short time back the master of a merchant vessel had killed [58. Skertchley, l. c., p. 56.]

{p. 47} a python that had come into his room at night, thinking he was only doing what was natural, and knowing nothing of the prejudices of the natives, and had in consequence got into a good deal of trouble, having been imprisoned for four or five days and made to pay a heavy fine. "Next morning, I went to see the snake-house. It is a circular but with a conical roof made of palm branches,[59] and contained at that time from 200 to 250 snakes. They were all pythons, and of all sizes and ages; the joists and sticks supporting the roof were completely covered with them, and looking upwards one saw a vast writhing and undulating mass of serpents. Several in a state of torpor, digesting their last meal, were lying on the ground; and all seemed perfectly tame, as they permitted the officiating priest to pull them about with very little ceremony. "Ophiolatry takes precedence of all other forms of Dahoman religion, and its priests and followers are most numerous. The python is regarded as the emblem of bliss and prosperity, and to kill one of these sacred boas is, strictly speaking, a capital offence, though now the full penalty of the crime is seldom inflicted, and the sacrilegious culprit is allowed to escape after being mulcted of his worldly goods, and having 'run-a-muck' through a crowd of snake-worshippers 46

MAGICAL 333 armed with sticks and fire-brands."[60] Evidently the ordeal of the burning huts has been mitigated, still another indication of the decadence in ritual. Ellis continues: "Any child who chances to touch, or to be touched by one of these reptiles, must be kept for a space of one year at the fetish-house under the charge of the priest, and at the expense of the parents, to learn the various rites of Ophiolatry and the accompanying dancing and singing."[61] Abel Hovelacque, writing in 1889, thus depicts the formal nuptial ceremonies with the serpent which the priestess undergoes when she has attained the marriage age of about fourteen or fifteen [59. Note:--We must here notice that in the case of the snake-house, the mud hut has given way to one of palm branches. This is another indication that decadence in the worship has begun. 60. A. B. Ellis, The Land of Fetish, London, 1883, p. 43 f. 61. Ditto, p. 46.]

{p. 48} years: "They are brought to the temple. On the following night they are made to descend into a vaulted cellar, where it is said that they find two or three serpents who espouse them in the name of the great serpent. Until the mystery is accomplished, their companion and the other priestesses dance and sing with the accompaniment of instruments. They are then known under the name of wives of the great serpent, which title they continue to carry all their lives."[62] During the last half of the nineteenth century a rapid decay set in as regards the veneration of the serpent at Whydah, due no doubt to increasing contacts with the white man and consequent European influences. Thus Édouard Foà, a resident in Dahomey from 1884 to 1890, describes conditions as they existed at the time of the French occupation which was completed in 1894. Remarking the extraordinary prestige which Dangbe enjoyed, he tells us: "One being alone, however, makes exception to the rule: it is the pig. When he meets the god (which happens at every step in Dahomey and Popo) without regard for the veneration of which it is the object, kills it, eats it up, or at least tramples it under foot when he has sufficiently gorged himself with the kind."[63] And apparently there are now no retaliatory measures on the part of the devotees of the serpent. Finally M. Brunet, who was the delegate of Dahomey at the World Exposition of 1900, while stating that no mother would dare rescue her own child if seized by one of the sacred snakes, asserts later that for some years the cult of the serpent has been on the decline, and adds: "Today, when a black has accidentally killed or injured a reptile, they are content to have the culprit flogged."[64] [62. Abel Hovelacque, Les Nègres de l'Afrique Sus-Équatoriale, Paris, 1889, p. 403. Cfr. also M. Malte-Brun, Universal Geography, Philadelphia, 1827, Vol. III, p. 23: "In Whydah a serpent is regarded as the god of war, of trade, of agriculture, and of fertility. It is fed in a species of temple, and attended by all order of priests. Some young women are consecrated to it, whose business it is to please the deity with their wanton dances, and who are in fact a

47

MAGICAL 333 sort of concubines of the priests. Every new king brings rich presents to the serpent. (Des Marchais, II, p. 180. Oldendorp, p. 328)." 63. Édouard Foà, Le Dahomey, Paris, 1895, p. 226 f. 64. L. Brunet, Dahomey et Dépendances, Paris, 1901, p. 353 f.]

{p. 49} The evidence adduced in the present chapter shows conclusively that the Ophiolatry as practiced by the Whydahs was worship in the strict sense of the word. Its ultimate object is a superhuman being: we find a well organized priesthood; the snake-house or temple is described by all visitors; sacrifices are certainly employed and there is ritual procedure. When we first come in contact with the worship of the serpent at Whydah towards the end of the seventeenth century, we find it well organized and in full vigour. Still there are indications that it had not been long established there. Certainly, all traditions point to the fact that it is not indigenous and that it has come presumably from the cast. This is in conformity with the supposition that Uganda is the fountainhead of African Ophiolatry. After the destruction at Sabee of the original centre of Whydah Ophiolatry, it springs up again and is extended to other localities. For the most part, it follows closely at first the old ritual, but as time goes on and European contacts assert themselves, modifications gradually creep in, and we find at one centre at least, Grand Popo, the introduction of a decadent variant. A human child becomes a victim when the sacred serpent sees fit to appropriate one for the purpose. Thus while the worship of the serpent was well regulated and clearly defined, should a child come in contact with one of the sacred reptiles, it was regarded as a sign of vocation to its service, and the little one was immediately attached to the school established for the purpose, where the service of the deity was formally taught. In the decadent days, however, as witnessed independently by Desribes and Brunet, mothers readily yielded up their children not merely to the service of the sacred snakes, but as a living holocaust should one of these reptiles appropriate the little one for the purpose. We must also notice, that especially in the earlier accounts of the worship at Whydah there is no question of idolatry. The serpent itself is not the object of adoration, it is merely a medium of giving worship to the Supreme Being, whatever concept in the native mind this term may represent. In the present work we are excluding all theological considerations and we must leave to a {p. 50} later volume the analysis of what the real divinity was that was usually honoured by the title of Creator or Maker. Furthermore, there are indications, as noted by Forbes, that the superhuman being to whom the Whydah addressed himself was probably the ancestral spirits, and that these were in some way connected with the sacred pythons.

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MAGICAL 333 The Reverend Robert Hammill Nassau, a Presbyterian minister, with a Doctorate both in Medicine and in Sacred Theology, was for forty years a missionary in French Congo, and published in 1904 a work on fetishism in West Africa, wherein he gives us the fruit of his lifestudy of native customs and superstitions. Mary H. Kingsley gives due credit to Mr. Nassau for much valuable information on fetish, and then playfully takes him to task for not having thrown open to science the mass of valuable material collected in long years of research. Thus she writes: "I am quite aware that Dr. Nassau was the first white man to send home gorilla's brains: still I deeply regret he has not done more for science and geography. Had he but had Livingstone's conscientious devotion of taking notes and publishing them, we should know far more than we do at present about the hinterland from Cameroons to Ogowe, and should have for ethnological purposes, an immense mass of thoroughly reliable information about the manners and religions of the tribes therein, and Dr. Nassau's fame would be among the greatest of the few great African explorers-not that he would care a row of pins for that."[65] All unknown to Miss Kingsley, Dr. Nassau had been taking the necessary notes and the publication of his book repaired the other shortcoming referred to by his critic who had been so deeply impressed by the Doctor's "immense mass of thoroughly reliable information about the manners and religion of the tribes" he had visited. Dr. Nassau, it is true, is treating of the Bantu tribes situated for the most part south of the equator, but much that he says is also applicable to the Negroes in the strict sense of the word, namely, those tribes from which the bulk of the slaves were drawn, and which go by the generic term of West Africans. [65. Mary H. Kingsley, Travels in West Africa, p. 394 f.]

{p. 51} Quite possibly, Miss Kingsley, if asked, might not have given to the finished book the same encomium which she extended to the material in hand. Still as she was like Ellis, whose writings carry great weight with her, to a certain extent a professed follower of Spencer, her general approval of Dr. Nassau's conscientiousness and ability in his scientific researches, should lend considerable support to the facts adduced as well as to the conclusions drawn. Dr. Nassau is unreserved in his assertion: 'I see nothing to justify the theory of Menzies[66] that primitive man or the untutored African of today, in worshipping a tree, a snake, or an idol, originally worshipped those very objects themselves, and that the suggestion that they represented, or were even the dwelling-place of, some spiritual Being is an after-thought up to which we have grown in the lapse of ages. Rather I see every reason to believe that the thought of the Being or Beings as an object of worship has come down by tradition and from direct original revelation of Jehovah Himself. The assumption of a visible tangible object to represent or personify that Being is the after-thought that human ingenuity has added. The civilized Romanist claims that he does not worship the actual sign of the cross, but the Christ who was crucified on it; similarly, the Dahoman in his worship of the snake."[67] Again Dr. Nassau asserts: "The evil thing that the slave brought with him was his religion. You do not need to go to Africa to find the fetich. During the hundred years that slavery in our 49

MAGICAL 333 America held the Negro crushed, degraded, and apart, his master could deprive him of his manhood, his wife, his child, the fruits of toil, of his life; but there was one thing of which he could not deprive him,-his faith in fetich charms. Not only did this religion of the fetich endure under slavery---it grew. None but Christian masters offered the Negro any other religion; and by law, even they were debarred from giving them any education. So fetichism flourished. The master's children were infected by the contagion of superstition; [66. History of Religions, p. 129 ff. 67. Robert Hammill Nassau, Fetichism in West Africa: Forty Years' Observation of Native Customs and Superstitions, London, 1904, p. 48.]

{p. 52} they imbibed some of it at the Negro foster-mother's breasts. It was a secret religion that lurked thinly covered in slavery days, and that lurks today beneath the Negro's Christian profession as a white art, and among the non-professors as a black art; a modern memory of the revenges of his African ancestors; a secret fraternity among slaves of far distant plantations, with words and signs,--the lifting of a finger, the twitch of all eyelid,--that telegraphed from house to house with amazing rapidity (as today in Africa) current news in old slave days and during the late Civil War; suspected, but never understood by the white master; which, as a superstition, has spread itself among our ignorant white masses as the 'Hoodoo,' Vudu, or Odoism, is simply African fetichism transplanted to American soil."[68] Père Baudin, while labouring as a missionary among the Dahomans, writes: "Their traditions and religious doctrines suggest a people more civilized than the blacks of Guinea of the present day. And on the other hand, many customs, usages, and industries show clearly that they are a people in decadence. The wars, particularly the civil wars, which have laid waste, and still continue to lay waste, these countries, have caused them to lose what they had preserved of their ancient civilization, which was in great part Egyptian, as indicated by many customs and usages. . . . "Though scattered over an immense extent of country, these fetish-worshippers have a certain uniformity of religious belief; [68. Ditto, p. 274. Note:--Cfr. also J. J. Cooksey and Alexander McLeish, Religion and Civilization in West Africa, London, 1931, p. 82, in reference to Dahomey: "The native fetish priests are not the simple, ignorant men, many in Europe suppose them to be, on the contrary, they belong to the élite of the people and are of more than average intelligence. Actually a cunning sage, the fetish priest uses uncanny tricks designed to lead the common people to believe that, by virtue of an initiation of which he holds the secret, he can command the good or evil powers of the spirit world. On all sides in Dahomey, whether around Port Novo, the capital, or away in the northern bush country, wayside shrines, snake temples and sacred groves are seen, all furnished with fantastic objects of veneration. The terrific hold of fetishism which was responsible for the revolting butchery of 'The Annual Customs' still persists in Dahomey, and is the great obstacle alike to civilization and the progress of the Gospel." Then in a footnote is added the remark: "The tremendous hold which this Voodoo worship has over its votaries is seen in its persistence in the Republic of Haiti, in which many people from Dahomey are found."]

{p. 53}

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MAGICAL 333 their divinities are identical, differing only in name; and the particular details which we give of the blacks of the Slave Coast of Yoruba, Dahomey, Benin, and other neighbouring kingdoms apply to all fetish-worshipping nations."[69] Of "The Religious System of the Negroes of Guinea," he asserts: "The religion of the blacks is an odd mixture of monotheism, polytheism, and idolatry. In these religious systems the idea of a God is fundamental; they believe in the existence of a Supreme Primordial Being, the Lord of the Universe, which is His work. Monotheism recognizes at the same time numbers of inferior gods and subordinate goddesses. Each element has its divinity who is as it were incorporated in it, who animates and governs it, and is the object of adoration. After the gods and goddesses there are infinite numbers of good and evil genii; then comes the worship of heroes and great men who were distinguished during their lives. The blacks also worship the dead, and believe in metempsychosis, or the migration of souls into other bodies. They believe in the existence of an Olympus, where dwell the gods and celebrated men who have become fetishes, and in an inferior world, the sojourn of the dead, and finally in a state of punishment for great criminals. They have also their metamorphosis, their sacred animals, their temples and their idols, etc. In a word, their religion is similar in all things to the old polytheism of the ancients; and notwithstanding the abundant testimony of the existence of God, it is practically only a vast pantheism, a participation of all the elements of the divine nature, which is as it were diffused throughout them all."[70] He then proceeds to go into details: "The idea of God--Although deeply imbued with polytheism, the blacks have not lost the idea of the true God; yet their idea of Him is very confused and obscure. . . . They represent that God, after having commenced the organization of the world, charged Obatala with the completion and government of it, retired and entered into an eternal [69. P. Baudin, Fétichisme et Féticheurs, Lyon, 1884, p. 3. 70. Ditto, p. 5.]

{p. 54} rest, occupying Himself only with His own happiness; too great to interest Himself in the affairs of this world. He remains like a Negro king, in a sleep of idleness. "Thus the black renders no worship whatever to God, completely neglecting Him, to occupy themselves with the gods and goddesses and the spirits to which they believe themselves indebted for their birth, and their fate in this life and the next. However, although they seem to expect nothing from God, the Negroes by instinct naturally address themselves to him in sudden danger or in great afflictions. When they are victims of injustice, they take God to witness their innocence."[71] This last statement nullifies in great part what he. has just said about God being unconcerned about the affairs of the blacks, and their reciprocal neglect of Him. Elsewhere this condition certainly does not exist. As we shall see among the Ashanti, for example, he actually has his temple and his priesthood. As regards the demi-gods, Père Baudin gives us the following explanation: "A family establishes itself near a river, a forest, a rock, or a mountain; imagination aided by the fetish-priests soon 51

MAGICAL 333 creates a belief in a demi-god, a tutelary genius of the place, and thus a new divinity makes its appearance in the Negro pantheon, and it is not long before it has its legend also.[72] "The worship of the dead has greatly aided in augmenting the number of the gods. joined to the worship of nature is that of humanity. The descendants from generation to generation offer presents and sacrifices on the tomb of their ancestor, and end by adoring him as a local divinity, the origin of which becomes more and more obscure and consequently more and more venerable. This occurred at Porto-Novo in the case of the chiefs of families in various parts of the city, of whom the inhabitants are the real descendants."[73] Concerning the lesser spirits, Père Baudin writes: "After the gods and the demi-gods come: the spirits or genii. The genii are [71. Ditto, p. 6 f. 72. Ditto, p. 37. 73. Ditto, p. 37.]

{p. 55} very numerous; some are good and some bad spirits. A certain number serve as messengers to the gods and demi-gods, some are considered nearly as powerful as the gods themselves and have authority over lesser spirits who are their messengers, and these in turn command others, forming a hierarchy which is not very defined. The more ordinary spirits dwell in the forests and deserts."[74] One of these lesser spirits has its own interest for us. We are told: "Audowido, the rainbow, is a genius, held in great veneration at Porto-Novo. In Yoruba he is called Ochumare. The temples dedicated to this genius are painted in all the colors of the rainbow, and in the middle of the prism a serpent is drawn. This genius is a large serpent; he only appears when he wants to drink, and then he rests his tail on the ground and thrusts his mouth into the water. He who finds the excrement of this serpent is rich forever, for with this talisman he can change grains of corn into shells which pass for money."[75] [74. Ditto, p. 40. 75. Ditto, p. 45. Note:--Against the tendency of those who would exclude from scientific consideration the testimony of missionaries, under the pretence that they must of necessity show bias in their views, let us quote Sir James George Frazer, who will scarcely be accused of being prejudiced in their regard. In connection with the anthropological study of still surviving savage or barbarous peoples, he says, Garnered Sheaves, London, 1931, p, 244: "The method is neither more nor less than induction, which after all, disguise it as we may under the showy drapery of formal logic, is the only method in which men can and do acquire knowledge. And the first condition of a sound induction is exact observation. What we want, therefore, in this branch of science is, first and foremost, full, true, and precise accounts of savage and barbarous peoples based on personal observation. Such accounts are best given by men who have lived for many years among the peoples, have won their confidence, and can converse with them familiarly in their native language; for savages are shy and secretive towards strangers, they conceal their most cherished rites and beliefs from them, nay, they are apt wilfully to mislead an inquirer, not so much for the sake of deceiving him as with the amiable intention of gratifying him with the answers which he seems to expect. It needs a

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MAGICAL 333 peculiar combination of intelligence, tact, and good nature to draw out a savage on subjects which he regards as sacred; to very few men will he consent to unbosom himself. "Perhaps the class of men whose vocation affords them the best opportunities for observing and recording the habits of savage races are missionaries. They are men of education and character; they usually live for many years among the people, acquire their language, and gain their respect and confidence. Accordingly some of the very best accounts which we possess of savage and barbarous peoples have been written by missionaries, Catholic and Protestant, English, French, Dutch, German and Spanish."]

{p. 56}

Chapter III VOODOO IN HAITI The Report of the Lords of the Committee of Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to trade and foreign plantations, published in London, in 1789, states, "Mr. Dalzell supposes that the number of slaves exported from the Dominions of the King of Dahomey amounts to 10,000 or 12,000 in a year. Of these, the English may export 700 to 800, the Portuguese about 3,000, and the French the remainder." This will explain how the Dahomans with their serpent cult became so centred in the French islands of the West Indies, and especially in Haiti. William Snelgrave who, as we have seen, was the first to visit Whydah, after the conquest by the Dahomans, says of the slavery there: "And this trade was so very considerable, that it is computed, while it was in a flourishing state, there were above twenty thousand Negroes yearly exported thence, and the neighbouring places, by the English, French, Dutch, and Portuguese."[1] As he was in the trade himself, he may be regarded as speaking with authority. It is with good reason, then, that Colonel Ellis states: "In the southeastern portions of the Ewe territory, the python deity is [1. Snelgrave, A New Account of some parts of Guinea and the Slave-Trade, p. 2. Note:--On p. 159 of the same book, Snelgrave states that from the entire Guinea Coast, the Europeans of all nations "have in some years, exported at least seventy thousand." Cfr. also, W. D. Weatherford, The Negro from Africa to America, New York, 1924, p. 33: "Dahomey, a small kingdom on the Slave Coast, has sufficient open country, to allow of cooperation and aggressive military operations. It is said that this state at one time had an army of 50,000 mien and its terrible fighting Amazons of 3,000 women were no inconsiderable military force. . . . This Dahomey kingdom flourished for centuries and was one of the most powerful allies of the slave traders during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is supposed that this country alone, at the height of the slave trade, delivered an annual quota of fifteen thousand slaves, most of which were captured from neighbouring tribes."]

{p. 57}

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MAGICAL 333 worshipped, and this vodu cult, with its adoration of the snake god was carried to Haiti by slaves from Ardra and Whydah, where the faith still remains today. In 1724 the Dahomies invaded Ardra and subjugated it; three years later Whydah was conquered by the same foe. This period is beyond question that in which Haiti first received the vodu of the Africans. Thousands of Negroes from these serpent-worshipping tribes were at the time sold into slavery, and were carried across the Atlantic to the eastern island. They bore with them their cult of the snake. At the same period, Ewe-speaking slaves were taken to Louisiana."[2] Elsewhere Ellis remarks: "That the term vodu should survive in Haiti and Louisiana, and not in the British West India Islands, will surprise no one who is acquainted with the history of the slave trade. The Tshi-speaking slaves (the Ashanti and kindred tribes) called Coromantees in the slave-dealer's jargon, and who were exported from the European fort on the Gold Coast, were not admitted into French and Spanish colonies on account of their dispositions to rebel and consequently they found their way into the British colonies, the only market open to them, while the French and Spanish colonies drew their chief supply from the Ewe-speaking slaves exported from Whydah and Badogry."[3] Richard F. Burton had already asserted positively: "I may observe that from the Slave-Coast 'Vodun' or Fetish we may derive the 'Vaudoux' or small green snake of the Haitian Negroes, so well known by the abominable orgies enacted before the (Vaudoux King and Queen) and the 'King Snake' is still revered at S'a Leone."[4] He had previously stated: "Vodun is Fetish in general. I hardly know whether to write it Vodun or Fodun, the sound of the two labials is so similar."[5] [2. A. B. Ellis, On Vodu-Worship, POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, Vol. XXXVIII (1891), p. 651 ff. 3. A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa, London, 1890, p. 29. Note:--The bodyguard of Christophe was known as the "Royal Dehomays."--Cfr. Blair Niles, Black Hayti, New York, 1926, p. 289. 4. Burton, A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome, Vol. I, p. 98. 5. Ditto, Vol. I. p. 79. Note:--In the opening number of the JOURNAL OF AMERICAN, FOLK-LORE issued in 1888, William W. Newell, under the caption Myths of Voodoo Worship and Child Sacrifice in Haiti, strives to annihilate the whole question of Voodoo in Haiti. He thus enunciates his purpose, p. 17 f.: "Although all the {footnote p. 58} writers who have alluded to these superstitions have assumed that they are an inheritance from Africa, I shall be able to make it appear first, that the Vaudoux, or Voodoo, is derived from a European source; secondly,, that the beliefs which the word denotes are equally imported from Europe; thirdly that the alleged sect and its supposed rites, have in all probability, no real existence, but are a product of popular imagination." His own conjecture is even more fantastic than the most extreme tenets of his adversaries. He would have us believe that the word itself as used in Haiti was derived from the followers of Peter of Lyons who was condemned by the Council of Verona in 1184, and who came to be known as Waldenses or Vaudois. According to his theory, "the word vaudois, feminine vaudoise, had in fact come to mean a witch, as its abstract vauderie or vauldoverie signified sorcery," and was brought to Haiti in the seventeenth century when the rule of the island passed from Spain to France. He continues: "To establish my second proposition, that the characteristic practices ascribed to the alleged Haitian sect, as well as the name, are of European origin, it will only be necessary to compare the charges now made against the Vaudoux of Haiti with those which in the fifteenth century were made against the Vaudois of France and Switzerland." And as both accusations were groundless, according to his theory, although three centuries apart, the one must be the source of the other. It is difficult to see logic in such deductions. In fact in a subsequent issue of the JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE, Vol. II, 1889, p. 41, Mr. Newell makes the suggestive confession: "A

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MAGICAL 333 few days before the publication of the article in question appeared the third volume of a history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages by Mr. H. C. Lee in which a like derivation of the name Voodoo is incidentally set forth." "Incidentally," too, Mr. Newell makes the further admission, p. 45: "Whatever opinion may be entertained about the worship, which I consider as probably imaginary, there can be no doubt concerning the habitual practice, even at the present day in the United States, of sorcery under the name of Voodooism." Further while quoting Mr. B. F. Whidden, United States Minister to Haiti, as saying that the trial and conviction of certain Voodooists at Port-auPrince in 1864, was unfair, since the "evidence was extracted by torture," p. 41; he adds, seemingly with approval: "Mr. Whidden is of opinion that, if the truth were ascertained, there would be found no more cannibalism in Haiti than in Jamaica. On the other hand he thinks that there is no doubt concerning the existence of a Vaudoux worship and dance, which latter he has frequently seen and heard."]

{p. 58} There is extent but one detailed account of Haitian Voodoo as it existed in the days of slavery, but that description, being by an experienced eye witness is invaluable for our present purpose. In fact it would be difficult to find a man better qualified than Moreau de Saint-Méry to place before us the true picture of the period. His youth in Martinique, his years as a legal practitioner and later as a Magistrate in Haiti, his executive and administrative ability as shown in the most trying days of the outbreak of the Revolution in France, all mark him out as a witness of the utmost reliability.[6] [6. Note:--We must crave pardon if we seem discursive in giving a brief outline of the principal events in the life of our witness on the difficult question of Voodoo as it existed in Haiti immediately before the slave insurrection. Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry was a West Indian by birth and through marriage a distant relative of the Empress Josephine of France. Born {footnote p. 59} in Martinique, January 13, 1750, he came to Paris at the age of nineteen to enlist in the King's Gendarmes. During his three years of service he continued his studies and qualified as a barrister. To recoup financial losses, he took up the practice of law at Le Cap in Haiti about 1772, and some eight years later he entered the Superior Council of the Island. Thenceforth he devoted the hours of leisure afforded by his office of magistrate, to classify and arrange the laws of the French Colonies. In 1780 the fruits of his earlier labours had appeared in Paris as a five volume work, which immediately attracted much attention. Louis XVI called him to Paris to assist in the colonial administration and he was received with acclaim by the learned world and was honoured by men of letters. With the outbreak of the French Revolution, Moreau de Saint-Méry took a leading part in the political life of Paris. As President of the electors assembled there, he was twice called upon to address the King, and, it is said, it was he who prevailed upon his colleagues to place Lafayette at the head of the National Guard. The appreciation of his efforts was shown when the Assembly unanimously voted him a medal. In 1790, he represented Martinique in the Constitutional Convention where he made the affairs of the colonies his chief concern, and in the following year he was a member of the Judicial Council established by the Minister of Justice. While a partisan of liberty, he was the uncompromising adversary of licence, and as such he incurred the enmity of Robespierre. A few days before the fatal August 10th, the latter's partisans attacked and seriously wounded Moreau de Saint-Méry, who was thus forced to retire to a seaport town in Normandy. This accident probably saved his life, as on the dissolution of the Constitutional Assembly, he was immediately proscribed, but escaped the scaffold through the devotion of one of the local guard to whom he had done some favour in the past. Making his escape to the United States, he remained there until 1799, when he returned to France, and held several state and diplomatic posts until in 1806 he fell into disfavour with Napoleon. Thereafter until his death at the age of sixty-nine, he scarcely kept body and soul together, and even that: was made possible solely through the charity of the Empress Josephine, and later through the bounty of Louis XVIII. He died at Paris on January 28, 1819.--Cfr. Nouvelle

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MAGICAL 333 Biographie Générale, Paris, 1861, Vol. XXVI, p. 498; F. X. doe Filler, Dictionaire Historique, Lyon, 1822, Vol. CII, p. 546.]

{p. 59} Moreau de Saint-Méry classified Voodoo among the various dances of Haiti which he thus describes.[7] "What enraptures the Negroes, whether they were born in Africa or America was their cradle, is the dance. There is no amount of fatigue which can make them abandon going to very great distances, and some times even during the dead of night, to satisfy this passion.[8] [7. Note:--As the work that we are quoting is extremely rare, we feel justified in giving the entire passage especially as the description will enable us later in the final' analysis, to distinguish the other dances that are today so often mixed in with Voodoo in a most confusing manner. The full title of the work is: Description topographique, physique, civile, politique, et historique de la partie Française de l'isle Saint-Domingue. Avec des observations générales sur la population, sur le caractère et les mœurs de ses divers habitants; sur son climat, sa culture, ses productions, son administration, &c. &c. Accompagnées des détails les plus propres à faire connaître l'état de cette Colonie à l'époque du Octobre 1789; et d'une nouvelle carte de la totalité de l'isle. Par M. L. E. Moreau de SaintMéry, Philadelphia, 1797-98. Our quotation is from Vol. I, pages 44 to 51. 8. Cfr. also Pierre de Vaissière, Saint Domingue: La Société et la vie Créoles sous l'Ancien Régime (1629-1789), Paris, 1909, p. 177. In reference to the only rest days of the slaves, namely Sunday and Feast-days, he remarks how "some {footnote p. 60} spent them in a complete stupor, stretched out before their doors," while the greater number "passed their leisure in drinking and dancing, the only distraction from work with which they were familiar. The dance especially is with them a real passion!"]

{p. 60} "One Negro dance has come with them from Africa to San Domingo, and for that very reason it is common also to those who are born in the colony, and these latter practice it almost from birth, they call it the Calenda. "To dance the Calenda, the Negroes have two drums made, when possible from the hollow trunk of a tree in a single piece. One end is open and they stretch over the other a skin of sheep or nanny-goat. The shorter of these drums is named Bamboula, because it is sometimes formed out of a very thick bamboo. Astride of each drum is a Negro who strikes it with wrist and fingers, but slowly for one and rapidly for the other. To this monotone and hollow sound, is joined that of a number, more or less great, of little calabashes half-filled with small stones, or with grains of corn, and which they shake by striking them on one of the hands by means of a long haft which crosses them. When they wish to make the orchestra more complete, they add the Banza, a kind of Bass viol with four strings which they pluck. The Negresses arranged in a circle regulate the tempo by clapping their hands, and they reply in chorus to one or two chanters whose piercing voice repeats or improvises ditties. For the Negroes possess the talent of improvising, and it gives them an opportunity for displaying especially their tendency to banter. "The dancers male and female, always equal in number, come to the middle of a circle (which is formed on even ground and in the open air) and they begin to dance. Each appropriates a partner to cut a figure before her. This dance which has its origin on Mt. Atlas, and which offers little variation, consists in a movement where each foot is raised and lowered successively, striking with force, sometimes the toe and sometimes the heel, on the ground, in a way quite similar to 56

MAGICAL 333 the English step. The dancer turns on himself or around his partner who turns also, and changes place, waving the two ends of a handkerchief which they hold. The dancer lowers and raises alternately his arms, while keeping the {p. 61} elbows near the body, and the hand almost closed. This dance in which the play of the eyes is nothing less than extraordinary, is lively and animated, and an exact timing lends it real grace. The dancers follow one another with emulation, and it is often necessary to put an end to the ball, which the Negroes never abandon without regret.[9] "Another Negro dance at San Domingo, which is also of African origin, is the Chica, called simply Calenda in the Windward Isle, Congo at Cayenne, Fandango in Spanish, &c. This dance has an air which is especially consecrated to it and wherein the measure [9. Père Labat, Nouveau Voyage aux Isles de l'Amérique, Vol. II, p. 51 f., writing of the year 1698, devotes a lengthy chapter to the West Indian slaves. While resident in Martinique at the time, his remarks are general. He says of the Negroes: "The dance is their favourite passion. I don't think that there is a people on the face of the earth who are more attached to it than they. When the Master will not allow them to dance on the Estate, they will travel three and four leagues, as soon as they knock off work at the sugar-works on Saturday, and betake themselves to some place where they know that there will be a dance. "The one in which they take the greatest pleasure and which is the usual one is the Calenda. It came from the Guinea Coast and to all appearance from Ardra. The Spaniards have learned it from the Negroes and throughout America dance it in the same way as do the Negroes. "As the postures and movements of this dance are most indecent the Masters who live in an orderly way, forbid it to theirs, and take care that they do not dance it; and this is no small matter; for it is so to their liking, that the very children who are as yet scarcely strong enough to stand up, strive to imitate their fathers and mothers whom they see dancing, and will spend entire days at this exercise." He then describes the two drums used as accompaniment in the Calenda, the larger to beat the time and direct the dance, while the smaller is beaten much more rapidly as all undertone with a higher pitch. Seemingly the one really directs the dance, the other arouses the passions. The dance itself is thus described by Père Labat. "The dancers are drawn up in two lines, one before the other, the men on the one side and the women on the other. Those who are waiting their turns and the spectators make a circle around the dancers and the drums. The more adept chants a song which he composes on the spur of the moment, on some subject which he deems appropriate, the refrain of which, chanted by all the spectators, is accompanied by a great clapping of hands. As regards the dancers, they hold their arms a little after the manner of those who dance while playing the castanets. They skip, make a turn right and left, approach within two or three feet of each other, draw back in cadence until the sound of the drum directs them to draw together, striking the thighs one against the other, that is to say the man against the woman. To all appearances it seems that the stomachs are hitting, while as a matter of fact it is the thighs that carries the blows. They retire at once in a pirouette, to begin again the same movement with altogether lascivious gestures, as often as the drum gives the signal, as it often does several times in succession. From time to time they interlock arms and make two or three turns always striking the thighs and kissing. One easily sees from this abbreviated description how the dance is opposed to decency." It will be noticed that this is not the real Calenda but rather a modified form of the Chica which as stated by Saint-Méry in the next paragraph of the text, was called Calenda in Martinique as one of the Windward Islands.]

{p. 62} is strongly marked. The proficiency in the dance consists in the perfection with which she can move her hips and lower part of the back while preserving the rest of the body in a kind of

57

MAGICAL 333 immobility, that even the slightest movement of the arms which balance the two ends of a handkerchief or her petticoat does not make her lose. A dancer approaches her, all of a sudden he leaps into the air, and lands in measured time so as almost to touch her. He draws back, he jumps again, and excites her by the most seductive play. The dance becomes enlivened and soon it presents a tableau, of which the entire action at first voluptuous afterwards becomes lascivious. It would be impossible to depict the Chica in its true character, and I will limit myself to saying that the impression which it produces is so strong, that the African or Creole, it does not matter of what shade, who comes to dance it without emotion, is considered to have lost the last spark of vitality. "The Calenda and the Chica are not the only dances in the Colony derived from Africa. There is also another which has been long known there especially in the western part, and it is called Voodoo. "But it is not merely as a dance that Voodoo deserves consideration, or at least it is accompanied by circumstances which ranks it among those institutions where superstition and bizarre practices have a considerable part. "According to the Negro Aradas,[10] who are the real devotees of Voodoo in the Colony, and who keep up its principles; and rules, Voodoo signifies an all powerful and supernatural being on whom depends whatever goes on in the world. But this being is the nonpoisonous serpent, or a kind of adder, and it is under its auspices that all those assemble who profess the same doctrine. 'Knowledge of the past, realization of the present, foreknowledge of the future, all pertain to this adder, which, however, agrees to communicate [10. Saint-Méry, Vol. I, p. 29, explains that the word Arada is a corruption of the pronunciation of Ardra, the name of a kingdom on the Slave Coast, which was prior to its conquest by the Dahomans located between Dahomey and Whydah. The term Aradas, then, applies specifically to the people of Ardra, but generically to any tribes from the Gold or Slave Coasts. Here it seems to signifiy {sic} Dahomans, including those from Ardra proper and Whydah.]

{p. 63} its power, and make known its wishes, only through the medium of a high priest whom its devotees select, and even more so through that of the Negress, whom the love of the other has raised to the rank of high priestess. "These two ministers who claim themselves inspired by their god, or in whom the gift of inspiration is really manifested for the devotees bear the pompous names of King and Queen, or the despotic ones of master and mistress, or finally the touching titles of papa and mama. They are, for life, the chiefs of the grand family of Voodoo, and they have the right to the limitless respect of those who compose it. It is they who determine if the adder approves of the admission of a candidate into the society, it is they who prescribe the obligations, the duties which he must fulfil; it is they who receive the gifts and presents which the god expects as a just homage; to disobey them, to resist them, is to resist God himself, and expose oneself to the greatest misfortunes.

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MAGICAL 333 "This system of domination on the one side, and of blind obedience on the other, once well established, they meet at fixed intervals at gatherings where King and Queen Voodoo preside, according to those usages which they may have brought from Africa, and to which Creole customs have added many variants and traits which disclose European ideas; for example, the scarf or the rich belt which the Queen wears in this assembly, and which she sometimes varies. "The reunion for the true Voodoo, that which has least lost its primitive purity, never takes place except secretly, when the night casts its shadows, and in a secure place, and under cover from every profane eye. There each initiated puts on a pair of sandals and fastens around the body a more or less considerable number of red handkerchiefs or at least of handkerchiefs in which this colour is strongly predominant. The Voodoo King has more beautiful handkerchiefs and in greater numbers and one which is entirely red and which he binds around his brow is his crown. A girdle, usually blue, puts the finishing touch to display his striking dignity. {p. 64} "The Queen clad with a simple luxury, shows also her predilection for the colour red, which is most frequently that of her sash or belt. "The King and Queen take their place at one end of the room near a kind of altar on which is a box where the serpent is kept and where each member can see it through the bars. "When they have made sure that no busy-body has gained admission to the enclosure, they begin the ceremony with the adoration of the adder, by protestations to be faithful to its cult and submissive to whatever it may prescribe. With hands placed in those of the King and Queen, they renew the promise of secrecy which is the foundation of the association, and it is accompanied by everything horrible that delirium has been able to devise to make it more impressive. "When the devotees of Voodoo are thus disposed to receive the impressions which the King and Queen desire to make them feel, they finally take the affectionate tone of compassionate father and mother, boasting to them of the good-fortune which is attached to whoever is devoted to the Voodoo; they urge them to confidence in it, and to give proof of this by following their advice as to the way they are to conduct themselves in the most important circumstances. "Then the crowd scatters, and each according to his needs, and following the order of seniority in the sect, come to implore the Voodoo. For the most part they, ask of it talent to direct the mind of their masters; but this is not enough. One asks for more money, another the gift to please an unresponsive one; this one wishes to recall a faithless mistress; that one desires a speedy cure, or a long life. After these, an old hag comes to conjure the god to end the disdain of him whose happy youth she wishes to captivate. A maid solicits eternal love, or she repeats the malediction with which hate inspires her against a preferred rival. There is no passion which does not utter a vow, and even a crime does not always disguise those who have for object its success. "At each of these invocations, the Voodoo King is wrapped in thought; the spirit is working in him. All of a sudden he takes the

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MAGICAL 333 {p. 65} box wherein the adder is, places it on the ground and makes the Voodoo Queen stand upon it. As soon as the sacred ark is under her feet, the new pythoness is possessed by the god. She shivers, her entire body is in a convulsive state, and the oracle speaks by her lips. At times she flatters and promises happiness, again she inveighs and breaks out in reproaches; and according to her heart's desire, or her own interests, or her caprice, she dictates as obligatory without appeal whatever it pleases her to prescribe, in the name of the adder, to the imbecile crowd which opposes not even the smallest doubt to the monstrous absurdity, and which only knows to obey all that is despotically prescribed. "After all the questions have received some sort of an ambiguous answer from the oracle, they form. a circle, and the adder is replaced on the altar. This is the time when they bring to it a tribute, which each one has tried to make most worthy of it, and which they place in a covered hat, that a jealous curiosity may not cause anyone to blush. The King and Queen promise to make this acceptable to it. It is by the profits of these offerings that they pay the expenses of the assembly, that they obtain help for members absent or present, who are in need, or from whom the society expects something for its glory or its renown. Suggestions are made, measures are determined, actions are prescribed which the Voodoo Queen always declares to be the will of god, and which have not as invariably good order and public tranquillity as an object. A new oath, as execrable as the first, engages each one to silence as regards all that has passed, to give assistance to whatever has been determined, and sometimes a vessel wherein is the blood of a goat, still warm, goes to seal on the lips of the congregation the promise to suffer death rather than reveal anything, and even to inflict it on anyone who forgets that he is thus solemnly bound to secrecy. "After that, there begins the dance of the Voodoo. "If there is a candidate to be received, it is with his admission that the ceremony begins. The Voodoo King traces a large circle with some substance that blackens, and places therein the one who wishes to be initiated, and in his hands he puts a packet of herbs, {p. 66} horse-hair, pieces of horn, and also other disgusting objects. Tapping him lightly, then, on the head with a little wooden wand, he intones an African chant which those who surround the circle repeat in chorus; then the candidate begins to tremble and to dance; this is what is termed to 'make Voodoo.' If by mischance the excess of his transport makes him leave the circle, the chant ceases at once, the Voodoo King and Queen turn their backs on him to avert misfortune. The dancer recovers himself, reenters the circle, begins anew, drinks, and finally becomes convulsive. Whereupon the Voodoo King orders him to stop by tapping him lightly on the head with his wand, or stirring stick, or even with a blow of the voodooistic whip if he judges it fitting. He is conducted to the altar to take the oath, and from that moment he belongs to the sect. "The ceremonial finished, the King places his hand or his foot on the box wherein is the adder, and soon he becomes agitated. This condition he communicates to the Queen, and by her the

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MAGICAL 333 commotion is spread around, and each one goes into contortions in which the upper part of the body, the head and the shoulders seem to be dislocated themselves. The Queen above all is a prey to the most violent agitations; she goes from time to time to seek new frenzy from the Voodoo serpent; she shakes the box, and the little bells with which it is decorated produce the effect of a fool's bauble. The delirium increases. It is even further aroused by the use of spiritous liquors which in the intoxication of their imagination the devotees do not spare, and which in turn keeps them up. Fainting fits, swoonings follow for some, and a kind of madness for others; but with them all there is a nervous trembling which they seem unable to control. They ceaselessly whirl around. And finally it comes about that in this sort of Bacchanalia, they tear their clothes and bite their own flesh; others who become senseless and fall to the floor, are carried, without interrupting the dance, to a nearby room, where in the darkness a disgusting prostitution holds the most horrible sway. Finally, weariness puts an end to those demoralizing scenes, but for a renewal of which they have taken good care to fix a time in advance. {p. 67} "it is most natural to believe that Voodoo owes its origin to the serpent cult, to which are particularly addicted the inhabitants of Juida (Whydah), who it is said come originally from the Kingdom of Ardra, of the same Slave Coast, and when one has read to what an extreme these Africans carry the superstition for this animal, it is easy to recognize it in what I am about to relate. "What is unquestionably true, and at the same time most remarkable in Voodoo, is that sort of magnetism which prompts those who are assembled to dance to insensibility. The prepossession in this regard is so strong that even the Whites found spying on the mysteries of this sect, and touched by one of the members who have discovered them, are sometimes set to dancing, and have agreed to pay the Queen Voodoo, to put an end to this punishment. Nevertheless, I cannot refrain from remarking that never has any man of the constabulary who has sworn to fight Voodoo, felt the power which forces one to dance, and which has doubtlessly preserved the dancers themselves from the necessity of taking flight. "Without doubt, to assuage the fears which this mysterious cult of Voodoo causes in the Colony, they pretend to dance it in public, to the sound of drums and with the clapping of hands; they even have it follow a repast where they eat nothing but poultry. But I affirm that this is nothing more nor less than a scheme to escape the vigilance of the magistrates, and the better to assure the success of these dark conventicles which are not a place of amusement and pleasure, but rather a school where feeble souls go to deliver themselves to a domination which a thousand circumstances can render baneful. "One cannot believe to what an excess extends the dependence in which the Chiefs of the Voodoo hold the other members of the sect. There is not one of these latter who would not choose anything in preference to the misfortune with which he is threatened if he does not go regularly to the assemblies, if he does not blindly obey whatever the Voodoo commands him. One has seen that the fear of it has been sufficiently aroused to deprive them of the use of reason, and those who, in a fit of frenzy, have uttered shrieks,

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MAGICAL 333 {p. 68} shun the gaze of men and excite pity. In a word, nothing is more dangerous, by all accounts, than this cult of the Voodoo, founded on this extravagant idea; but of which one can make a truly terrible force where the 'ministers of being' whom they have honoured with the name, know and can do everything. "Who will believe that Voodoo gives place to something further, which also goes by the name of dance? In 1768, a negro of Petit-Goave, of Spanish origin, abusing the credulity of the Negroes, by superstitious practices, gave them an idea of a dance, analagous to that of the Voodoo, but where the movements are more hurried. To make it even more effective the Negroes place in the rum, which they drink while dancing, well crushed gun-powder. One has seen this dance called Dance to Don Pédro, or simply Don Pédro, induce death on the Negroes; and the spectators themselves, electrified by the spectacle of this convulsive exercise, share the drunkenness of the actors, and hasten by their chant and a quickened measure, a crisis which is in some way common to them. It has been necessary to forbid dancing Don Pédro under grave penalty, but sometimes ineffectually."[11] [11. Moreau de Saint-Méry, l. c., Vol. I, p. 44 ff. Note:--Moreau de Saint-Méry, Loix et Constitutions des Colonies Françoises de l'Amérique sous le Vent, Paris, 1780, Vol. I, p. 4,5, shows that the Code Noir, published in March, 1685, by Article II prescribes that slaves must within a reasonable time be instructed and baptized as Catholics. By Article III, Masters who permit their slaves to gather for religious purposes other than Catholic service are as liable as if they took part themselves in such gatherings. By Article XVI, Gatherings of slaves belonging to different masters are forbidden "either by day or night, under pretence of weddings or otherwise, either on the premises of one of the masters or elsewhere, and even more so if on the public highway or in hidden places." Corporal punishment is prescribed for the first offence, with the death penalty for repeated infractions. By the next Article, Masters who permit such gatherings are liable to fines, etc.--Cfr. also: Vol. V, p. 384: Official Orders for the Police of Port-au-Prince, issued May 23, 1772. Article II forbids all kinds of assemblies and gatherings of slaves under pain of corporal punishment. And Article VI forbids even free Negroes and persons of color from holding night-dances or the Calenda. Even the dances that are allowed to them must stop at 9 P. M. Vol. IV, p. 234: On August 5, 1758, Sieur Lebrun, manager of the Carbon Estate at Bois de L'Anse is fined 200 pounds "for having permitted an assembly of Negroes, and a Calenda on the 23rd of July preceding, on the said Estate." Vol. IV, p. 829: Order of the Governor General dated January 15, 1765, for the formation of a Corps of Light Troops, to be known as the "First Legion of San Domingo." It assigns as one of their duties: "To break up the assemblies and Calendas of the Negroes." That the Calenda was danced despite all legal restrictions, we have ample evidence. Thus for example, the Baron Wimpffen, who spent two years in the island during the period of unrest that immediately preceded the actual uprising of the slaves, records in his diary in August, 1789, that the day of the {footnote p. 69} arrival of the French mail was celebrated as a festival for the Negroes who were dispensed from work, feasted and allowed to dance a Calenda. In the same entry of the diary we read that baptism meant practically nothing for the Negroes generally except a change of name, which was frequently thereafter ignored--the sole motive being to please the master and nothing else.--Cfr. Albert Savine, Saint-Domingue à la Veille de la Révolution, Paris, 191I, p. 93.]

{p. 69} According to Moreau de Saint-Méry, then, four kinds of dances were indulged in by the Haitian slaves before the insurrection. The Calenda and the Chica have accompaniments of drums, etc. and the Voodoo and Don Pédro in which there is no mention of such instruments. In fact, drums and the clapping of hands are actually introduced at the pretended Voodoo which was invented

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MAGICAL 333 as "a scheme to escape the vigilance of the Magistrates and the better to assure the success of these dark conventicles which are not a place of amusement and pleasure," as we are expressly told. Here we have the first main distinction-the presence or absence of drums. Don Pédro, being an outgrowth from Voodoo with even the year of its origin, 1768, clearly defined, may be passed over for the present with the single remark that in place of the goat of Voodoo, the pig becomes the particular animal of sacrifice. Voodoo itself as described by Moreau de Saint-Méry bears a close resemblance to its prototype of Whydah, making due allowance for local conditions, and it clearly satisfies all our requisites to be classed as worship in the strict sense of the word, as distinct from a mere Cult.[12] Furthermore, despite the rankling controversy [12. Dr. Price-Mars, in setting out to prove that Voodoo is a religion, accepts as his definition of the word religion, that adopted by the "sociological school of Durkheim."--Ainsi Parla L'Oncle, Compeigne, 1928, p. 30. Then follows a quotation from J. Bricourt, Où en est l'Histoire des Religions, Paris, 1912, p. 15, which is ultimately taken from Durkheim's chapter on "Definition of Religions Phenomena and of Religion"--Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, London, 1926, p. 37. The words quoted really form no part of Durkheim's definition which is only formulated towards the end of the chapter, where it runs as follows: "A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden--beliefs, and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them."--p. 47. However the two are perfectly compatible and Voodoo satisfies them both as well as most of the other definitions of religion, enunciated by standard authors. Thus for example, "Religion may be defined subjectively and objectively. Subjectively, it is the knowledge and consciousness of dependence upon one or more transcendental personal Powers, to which man stands in a reciprocal relation. Objectively, it is the sum of the outward actions in which it is expressed and made manifest, as prayer, sacrifice, sacraments, {footnote p. 70} liturgy, ascetic practices, ethical prescriptions, and so on."--W. Schmidt, The Origin and Growth of Religion, New York, 1931, p. 2. Dr. Price-Mars, Ainsi Parla l'Oncle, p. 32, advances his claim as follows: "Voodoo is a religion because all the adepts believe in the existence of spiritual beings who live in part in the universe in close touch with human beings Whose activity they control. These invisible beings constitute a numerous Olympus of gods, of whom the highest among them bear the title of Papa or Great Master and have the right to special homage. "Voodoo is a religion because the cult developed to its god, demands a hierarchical sacerdotal body, a congregation of faithful, temples, altars, ceremonies, and in fine, altogether an oral tradition which certainly has not come down to us unchanged, but thanks for it, has transmitted the essential part of the cult. "Voodoo is a religion because through the medley of legends and the corruption of fables one can disentangle a theology, a system of representations, thanks to which, primitively, our African ancestors had an explanation for the natural phenomena and which in a hidden way lays the foundation of the anarchistic beliefs on which rests the hybrid Catholicism of the masses of the people." Then after considering the other side of Voodoo which consists of magic or witchcraft, concludes, p. 37: "And now, if we summarize the results of this he brief discussion, we may draw a first conclusion, to wit, that Voodoo is a very primitive religion, founded partially on the beliefs in all powerful spiritual beings--gods, demons, disincarnated souls--partially on the beliefs in witchcraft and magic. If we evaluate this double character we will disclose in proportion to our researches the state more or less pure in its country of origin, and on our soil, modified by its more than a century of juxtaposition to the Catholic religion adapted to the conditions of life of our rural masses, fighting against legal statute of the nation which wished to free itself of all contact with this form of beliefs, from which it has nothing else to expect. And there you have in brief the position which Voodoo occupies in our social status."]

{p. 70} 63

MAGICAL 333 concerning modern Voodoo in Haiti, all disputants seemingly accept Moreau de Saint-Méry's account, at least substantially. We are safe, then, in making this our starting point in our study of Haitian Voodoo. It is also generally agreed, that the slave insurrection was fostered and made possible by nocturnal assemblies that have been commonly ascribed to Voodoo. This uprising of the slaves which resulted in the first massacre of the Whites in Haiti, in 1791, is thus described by Dr. Dorsainvil: "It was then that Boukman entered on the scene and determined to arouse the imagination and the senses. Born in Jamaica, Boukman was a N'Gan or priest of Voodoo, the principal religion of the Dahomans. His tall statue, his herculean strength, had attracted the attention of the Master of the Plantation, Turpin, who had him appointed successively an overseer and a coachman. Over all the slaves who came in contact with him he exercised an ascendancy which became extraordinary. {p. 71} "To put an end to all hesitation and to arouse complete devotion, he gathered together on the night of August 14, 179I, a large number of slaves in a clearing in the Caiman woods, near Morne-Rouge. All were assembled when a tempest broke. The jagged flashes of lightning illuminating a sky of low and sombre clouds. In a few minutes a torrential rain flooded the ground; at length under the repeated assaults of a violent wind, the trees of the forest writhed, moaned, and even their heavy branches, torn away, fell with a crash. "In the midst of this impressive setting, the bystanders, motionless, seized with holy terror, saw an old Negress arise, her body shaking with prolonged shivers; she chants, spins around, and whirls a large cutlass above her head. Rigid stance, gasping breath, silence, blazing eyes fixed on the Negress, the audience is fascinated. Then is brought in a black pig, whose grunting is lost in the uproar of the storm. With a quick movement, the inspired priestess plunges her cutlass into the throat of the animal. The blood gurgles forth, it is collected foaming, and distributed round about to the slaves, all drink of it, all swear to carry out the orders of Boukman."[13] Since Boukman was a Jamaican it would be reasonable to suppose that he introduced Jamaican features into the cult as he practiced [13. J. C. Dorsainvil, Manuel d'Histoire d'Haïti, Port-au-Prince, 1925, p. 81 f. Note:--Cfr. also Thomas Madiou, Histoire d'Haïti, Port-au-Prince, 1922, vol. I, p. 102, who states briefly: "On the night of August 14, 179I, 200 delegates from the ateliers of the northern province assembled in the Lenormand plantation. There a coloured man harangued them about a pretended decree whereby the King granted them three days of freedom each week. It was decided then the 22nd of the same month the insurrection should be general." Concerning the originator of the Don Pédro, Dorsainvil asserts, Vodou et Névrose, Port-au-Prince, 1931, p. 46: "Popular tradition, well after Independence, speaks among others of a certain Don Pédro, a being of flesh and bone, who, at a certain time, had come from the Dominican Republic to take up his abode in the mountains of the Commune of Petit-Goave. This Don Pédro was the introducer of that violent dance which by corruption the people call: the Pétro. At his death, Don Pédro did not delay in taking all honourable place in the Voodooistic pantheon, drawing in his train an entire progeny, such as Jean Philippe Pétro, Criminel Pétro, etc."--Cfr. also, D. Trouillot, Esquisse Ethnographique: Le Vaudoux, Port-au-Prince, 1885, p. 28: "It was from the Dominican Republic, at the time a Spanish Colony, that there came to Haiti in the last century, the famous Don Pédro, an African who founded

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MAGICAL 333 at Petit-Goave the infernal sect, known under the same name as its author. The Don Pédro is a dance of Vaudoux where the most unbelievable orgies are perpetrated; this sect, diminishing daily, is only found in the hills of the place of origin."]

{p. 72} it. In all probability he had been banished from Jamaica for complicity in previous unrest there. His administering of the solemn fetish oath bears resemblance to the Myalistic ceremonial that will be discussed in a later chapter. In any case the sacrificial victim was a pig, the rite strictly speaking belonged to the Don Pédro and not to Voodoo proper. This fact alone suggests that Don Pédro, which had started only twenty-three years previously, in its very origin, may have been devised precisely in preparation for such an uprising. Very little notice was paid to Haitian Voodoo by the outside world until 1884, when there appeared a book which has caused no end of controversy from that day to this. It was entitled Hayti or the Black Republic, and the author was Sir Spencer St. John. His claim to credibility was based on the following facts. Before becoming her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico, he had been England's Resident and Consul-General in Haiti for more than two decades. Secondly, as he says himself, he had personally known "the Haitian Republic above twenty-five years."[14] Again writing from. Mexico, November 13, 1888, in the introduction to his Second Edition, he says of his original work: "The most difficult chapter to write was that on 'Vaudoux-worship and Cannibalism.' I have endeavoured to paint them in the least sombre colours, and no one who knows the country will think that I have exaggerated: in fact, had I listened to the testimony of many experienced residents, I should have described rites at which dozens of human victims were sacrificed at a time. Everything I have related has been founded on evidence collected in Haiti, from Haitian official documents, the press of Port-auPrince, from trustworthy officers of the Haitian Government, my foreign colleagues, and from residents long established in the country,--principally, however, from Haitian sources."[15] And: "As my chapter on Vadoux-worship and Cannibalism excited considerable attention both in Europe and the [14. Spencer St. John, Hayti or the Black Republic, London, 1889, Introduction, p. vii. 15. Ditto, p. xi.]

{p. 73} United States, and unmitigated abuse in Haiti, I decided again to look into the question with the greatest care. The result has been to convince me that I underrated the fearful manifestations; I have therefore rewritten these chapters, and introduced many new facts which have come to my knowledge."[16] In view of this last statement all our quotations will be taken from this Second Edition of the work. Let us, then, carefully weigh the testimony of Sir Spencer St. John. At the very outset, he states: "I must notice that there are two sects which follow the Vaudoux-worship--those who only delight in the flesh and blood of white cocks and spotless white goats at their ceremonies, and those who are not only devoted to these, but on great occasions call for the flesh and blood of

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MAGICAL 333 'the goat without horns,' or of human victims. It is a curious trait of human nature that these cannibals must use a euphemistic term when speaking of their victims, as the Pacific Islanders have the expression of 'long pig.'"[17] We must here remark the careful distinction between the cults in Haiti, and while the author does not also distinguish them by name, the legitimate cult, if we may so term it, is Voodoo proper, while the cannibalistic element belongs to Don Pédro. Further, it should be noted that while the human sacrifice is called the "goat without horns" it is really substituted, not for the goat of Voodoo, but for the pig of Don Pédro: just as in those Pacific Islands that are referred to, where the term "long pig" is used. But to resume St. John's narrative: "When Haiti was still a French Colony, Vaudoux-worship flourished, but there is no distinct mention of human sacrifice in the accounts transmitted to us. In Moreau de Saint-Méry's excellent description of the island, from whose truthful pages it is a pleasure to seek for information, he gives us a very graphic account of fetishism. as it existed in his day, that is, towards the close of the last century." He means of course the eighteenth century. Then follows a lengthy citation from the very passage that we have already quoted. [16. Ditto, p. xiii. 17. Ditto, p. 192.]

{p. 74} At the close of the quotation, St. John observes: "In studying this account, freely taken from Moreau de Saint-Méry, I have been struck how little change, except for the worse, has taken place during the last century. Though the sect continues to meet in secret, they do not appear to object to the presence of their countrymen who are not yet initiated. In fact, the necessity of so much mystery is not recognized, since there are no longer any French magistrates to send these assassins to the scaffold."[18] A few pages further on, we read: "After studying the history of Haiti, one is not astonished that the fetish worship continues to flourish. The Negroes imported from the west coast of Africa naturally brought their religion with them, and the worship of the serpent was one of its most distinguishing features. Saint-Méry writes of the slaves arriving with a strange mixture of Mohammedanism and idolatry, to which they soon added a little Catholicism. Of Mohammedanism I have not myself observed the faintest trace. When the Negroes found the large, almost harmless serpent in Haiti, they welcomed it as their god, and their fetish priests soon collected their followers around them. The French authorities tried to put down all meetings of the Vaudoux, partly because they looked upon them as political, but they did not succeed. Many of the tribes in Africa are to this day cannibals, and their ancestors no doubt imported this taste into the French colony."[19] Sir Spencer St. John had already remarked, "I have been informed on trustworthy testimony that in 1887 cannibalism was more rampant than ever,"[20] and now in the body of his work he writes: "There are in Haiti, as I have before noticed, two sects of Vaudoux-worshippers; one, perhaps the least numerous, that indulges in human sacrifices;-the other, that holds such practices 66

MAGICAL 333 in horror, and is content with the blood of the white goat, and the white cock. . . . In the country districts the Catholic priests say these fetish-worshippers call themselves 'Les Mystères,' and [18. Ditto, p. 199. 19. Ditto, p. 229. 20. Ditto, Introduction, p. xii.]

{p. 75} that they mix Catholic and Vaudoux ceremonies in a singular manner; the name probably refers to the rites they practice."[21] And, "I have been informed that, besides the goat and cock, the Vaudoux priests occasionally sacrifice a lamb. . . . It is carefully washed, combed, and ornamented with bunches of blue ribands before being sacrificed."[22] Let us come now to a spectacle that is even more revolting than any of those already describedone, in fact, where we are told that the rites actually included human sacrifice. The following letter appeared in the NEW YORK WORLD of December 5, 1886. The writer of it is personally vouched for by Sir Spencer St. John who quotes the letter in full. "I spent some weeks in Cap Haitien, one of the largest and most important cities in Haiti, and while there I met a number of Dominican gentlemen, who for various reasons had been compelled to spend a long time in the sister republic. These gentlemen talked a great deal about the existence of cannibalism, and insisted that its existence was not, as all Haitians claim, merely in the minds of the writers who desire to publish sensational stories. I had shut my eyes and ears to the customs of the country people, and moreover I never allowed myself to think it possible that such horrible practices, as these gentlemen assured me were common, existed. Therefore I tried in every way to disabuse them of the illusions which I thought they entertained. Among these Dominicans was one who, irritated by my constant denials, determined to prove to me that his assertions were true. In April (1886) the workers on one of the coffee-plantations near Le Cap intended to have some kind of demonstration in honour of one of their superstitious observances, and my friend learned that, incidental to the Vaudoux-worship (which by the way, unaccompanied by human sacrifices no Haitian will deny exists), there would be a human sacrifice. In some manner my friend had ingratiated himself with certain of the Negro labourers who were to attend the sacrifices, and induced them to allow him and me to be present, also. On the [21. Ditto, p. 130. 22. Ditto, p. 231.]

{p. 76} evening of April 19 he came to my house, where both of us dressed ourselves in the ordinary country working-man's costume, and then had our hands and faces well blacked by the Negro who was to conduct us to the Vaudoux temple. To reach the temple we rode out over the smooth

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MAGICAL 333 wagon-road which runs to and through the place called Haut-du-Cap, and when we had gotten about three miles beyond the little tavern on that place, where everybody stops for refreshments, our conductor suddenly left the highway, and by a little winding bridle-path led us up the big mountain to a spot about half-way up the side. "Here the Negroes had constructed a rude wooden shanty among the trees and where it could be hardly noticed by any passer-by, if such there might be in that lonely quarter. Into this miserable hut we were ushered by our guide, who to obtain admittance, uttered some signal words to the two brawny Negroes who stood guard at the entrance, and who closely interrogated every person who entered. We were apparently a little late. In the single room there was a motley crowd of Negroes, men and women, congregated round a sort of wooden throne erected in the centre of the room. On this throne arranged in many coloured long gowns and adorned with tawdry finery, there sat on chairs draped with flaming red cloth, a mail and a woman. They were the Papaloi and Mamanloi, or priest and priestess, of the order of the Vaudoux. At their feet was the box which contained the 'holy serpent,' which was being worshipped by this ungodly assemblage. Behind the throne was stretched across from wall to wall a red cloth partition, which divided the room, or rather which made another and smaller apartment behind it. As we entered the people were singing a chant low and monotonous, and at a sign from our mentor, we, my friend and I, joined it. When this chant had been finished, there succeeded an interval of deathly quiet during which the worshippers appeared to be engaged in prayer. Suddenly the silence was broken by the priest, who with violent gestures, and almost shrieking his words, harangued his audience for ten or fifteen minutes. He told them there was but one thing to do by which they might obtain spiritual as well as temporal {p. 77} reward, to adore the serpent and obey implicitly and without question its slightest order. The attitude of the people showed that they comprehended the injunction and would obey. When he had wrought the crowd to a sufficiently high pitch of enthusiasm, the priest suddenly dropped his talk, and bursting into a chant again, was immediately joined by the others. A weird dance followed, the people singing as they danced, and gradually becoming almost delirious in their fervour. The place was soon in ail awful tumult, some of the women, who especially seemed to have lost all control over themselves, even climbing up to the rafters, wriggling their bodies, hissing, and trying in every way to imitate the movements of the snake. "This ghastly dance was continued for two hours more, when silence was again produced by the appearance from behind the red curtain of two men leading by the hand a little trembling Negro boy in white robes. The child was led to the throne, and mounting it, he prostrated himself twice before the man and woman seated there. The Papaloi, holding his hands over the boy's head, blessed him in the name of the sacred serpent, and then asked him in pompous language what he most desired in the world. The little fellow, glancing up into the faces of his two conductors, replied (and the reply had evidently been taught him), 'That object above all other objects in the world which I most desire is the possession of a little virgin.' Hardly had he spoken when from the encurtained apartment came two women leading a Negro girl of four or five years, also dressed in the purest white. The second child was led to the throne and stood confronting the

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MAGICAL 333 boy. Again the boy was asked what he most desired, and when he had repeated his former answer, both he and the girl were at once thrown down on their backs and bound band and foot. "A burly Negro, knife in hand, separated himself from the crowd, who had been watching the proceedings with breathless interest, and mounted the throne. Reaching the boy, he said something to the men, who with their hands over his mouth was trying to stop the little fellow's cries, and they held their victim {p. 78} by the feet up in the air. With a single slash across the little throat, the brutal executioner killed the child, and the others held him whilst the life-blood gushed into the receptacle placed below to receive it. "At this moment an involuntary exclamation of horror escaped me, and immediately all eyes were turned towards me, looking with distrust and suspicion. The horrible proceedings on the throne were suspended, and a hasty consultation was held among the people on it. Fearing for my life, and obeying a slight signal from our guide, I somehow got out of the door, mounted my horse and rode as hard as I could to the town. The worshippers did not suspect that I was a white man. They assumed probably that I was a novice and not yet hardened to the sight. At any rate I was not pursued, and my friend was not interfered with. He remained until the end, joined me that night, or rather morning, and told me that the little girl had been killed in the same manner as the boy, and that then the bodies had been cut up, cooked, and eaten by the wretches. The whole awful orgy was ended only when every person present had become helplessly intoxicated."[23] [23. Ditto, p. 203 ff. Note:--St. John further quotes p. 243 from THE EVENING POST Of New York, for February 25, 1888: "Port-au-Prince, February, 1888. Recently the body of a child was found near this city; an arm and a leg had been eaten by the Vaudoux. During Christmas week a man was caught in the streets here with a child cut up in quarters for sale. Cannibalism still prevails, despite all the forced statements to the contrary. President Salomon, to please the masses, the Negro element, allows them to dance a Vaudoux dance formerly prohibited." He also cites many "fully-authenticated" cases, some of them falling under his own observation, of the administering of drugs to induce apparent death. Subsequently the victims were brought back to consciousness, not infrequently after burial and disinterment, that they might be murdered and certain portions of them at least used in the ungodly sacrifices of Don Pédro. He concludes: "It was by these means that the Papalois probably were enabled to obtain their victims during the French colonial period."-1. c., p. 241. The following quotation from St. John, p. 232, should also be noted: "Moreau de Saint-Méry, in naming the different tribes imported into Haiti during the last century, says:--'Never had any a disposition more hideous than the last (the Mondongoes) whose depravity has reached the most execrable of excesses, that of eating their fellow creatures. They bring also to Santo Domingo those butchers of human flesh, for in their country there are slaughterhouses where they Sell slaves as they would calves, and they are here, as in Africa, the horror of the other Negroes.'" Here we have additional evidence that whatever cannibalism may have existed in Haiti in connection with the Don Pédro rites, must not be {footnote p. 79} ascribed to Voodoo, but rather to other agencies, even as it was noticed in the decadent cult of the serpent at Grand Popo.]

{p. 79}

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MAGICAL 333 James Anthony Froude, writing in 1888, refers to Sir Spencer St. John's account, "Which," he says, "they cry out against with a degree of anger which is the surest evidence of its truth."[24] Of his own visit to Port-au-Prince, he writes:--"Immorality is so universal that it almost ceases to be a fault, for a fault implies an exception, and in Haiti it is the rule. . . . So far they are no worse than in our own English islands, where the custom is equally general; but behind the immorality, behind the religiosity, there lies active and alive the horrible revival of the West African superstitions; the serpent worship, and the child sacrifice, and the cannibalism. There is no room to doubt it. A missionary assured me that an instance of it occurred only a year ago within his own personal knowledge. The facts are notorious; a full account was published in one of the local newspapers, and the only result was that the president imprisoned the editor for exposing his country. A few years ago persons guilty of these infamies were tried and punished, now they are left alone, because to prosecute and convict them would be to acknowledge the truth of the indictment."[25] Two years later the accusation was renewed by Hesketh Prichard in the following words: "Vaudoux, according to its more elect disciples, is an all-powerful deity, but the idea of the masses does not rise above the serpent, which represents to them their god and which presides, in its box, over all their services . . . Vaudoux is cannibalism in the second stage, In the first instance a savage eats human flesh as an extreme form of triumph over an enemy; so the appetite grows until this food is preferred to any other. The next stage follows naturally. The man, wishing to propitiate his god, offers him that which he himself most prizes. Add to this sacrifice the mysteries and traditions of the ages, and you have the Vaudoux of today. . . . Cannibalism has been brought as a very general accusation against the Haitians, but [24. James Anthony Froude, The English in the West Indies; or, the Bow of Ulysses, London, 1888, p. 343. 25. Ditto, p. 344.]

{p. 80} although there is no doubt that the child sacrificed in the worst Vaudoux rites is afterwards dismembered, cooked, and eaten, I do not think of recent years the practice of cannibalism, unconnected with sacrifice, is in any degree prevalent, although it is equally certain that scattered instances do still come to light. Haiti is the sole country with any pretence to civilization where a superstition contaminated by such active horrors exists."[26] Such scathing accusations, whether true or false, could not fail to attract the notice of friends of Haiti, and many official and unofficial answers or rather refutations have been attempted. Notable among these defenders of the reputation of the Black Republic may be cited J. N. Léger, who, while Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Haiti to the United States, in 1907 published simultaneously in French and English a work entitled Hayti. Her History and Her Detractors.[27] However, his partisan and exaggerated view is betrayed by his statement: "The island which is now called Haiti is the only one in the West Indies where cannibalism has never prevailed."[28] No doubt his ire has been provoked by the assertion of Prichard, "Haiti is the sole country with any pretence to civilization where a superstition contaminated by such active horrors exists," which we have recently quoted. But in any case, the very aspersion which 70

MAGICAL 333 he so indignantly repudiates in the case of his native island, he gratuitously cast against all the rest of the West Indies. This in itself might well make us cautious about accepting his reliability as a witness. And further on the very page where we find this bald accusation, he admits on the authority of Moreau de Saint-Méry[29] that of the Blacks imported to the Island of Haiti as slaves, one tribe at least was anthropophagous. This he terms "the small tribe of the Mondongues," but seeks to show that the gentle influence of the Congo Negroes entirely tamed this unnatural instinct and [26. Hesketh-Prichard, Where Black Rules White: A Journey across and about Hayti, Westminster, 1900, p. 76 ff. 27. French Edition; Haïti. Son Histoire et ses Détracteurs, New York, 1907. 28. English Edition, p. 346; French Edition, p. 345. 29. Moreau de Saint-Méry, Description de la Partie Française de Saint-Domingue, Vol. I, p. 33.]

{p. 81} blotted out the practice. But where has it been recorded of savages, that those of gentler traits prevailed over the warlike and the blood-thirsty? To Sir Harry H. Johnston more attention must be paid when he comes forward as a defender of Haiti's fair name and reputation. He writes: "At least two out of the three millions of Haitian Negroes are only Christians in the loose statistics of geographers. They are still African pagans, with a vague recognition of the Cross as an unexplained but potent symbol. They believe in a far off scarcely heeding Deity and a multitude of spirits, ancestral and demiurgic. Magic or empirical medicine ('Wanga') is, of course, believed in; and ranges in scope from genuine therapeutics to sorcery, mesmerism, and poisonings. As to Vuduism, much exaggeration and untruth have been committed to paper on this subject, so far as it affects Haiti. Snake worship is of doubtful occurrence, owing to the rarity of snakes in Haiti.[30] Such harmless snakes as do exist are tolerated in some villages or fetish temples for their rat-killing propensities. The idea has therefore got abroad that they are 'kept' as sacred animals by the Vudu priests or priestesses. Sacrifices of eggs, rum, fowls, possibly goats (white fowls or white goats preferred) are offered to ancestors or minor deities presiding over the fertility of crops, rainfall (nature forces in fact), and various small animals (perhaps even human remains) are deemed useful in sorcery. . . . Isolated instances--about four or five--of cannibalism (the killing and eating of children) [30. Note:--Wilfrid D. Hambly here takes exception as follows, Serpent Worship in Africa, p. 59: "Johnston (1910) says that snake worship in Haiti is of doubtful occurrence owing to the rarity of the snakes there. Such harmless snakes as do exist are tolerated in some villages and fetish temples for their rat-killing propensities. The idea has therefore got abroad that they are kept as sacred animals by the voodoo priests and priestesses. Those seeking scientific truth on voodooism should doubt much of what has been written on this subject. Johnston rather negatives his own cautionary remarks by stating that the python worship of Africa was no doubt introduced by slaves into Haiti, Cuba, Louisiana, Carolina, Jamaica, the Guianas, and Brazil. If this is admissible, it is difficult to understand why the evidences of St. John respecting the survival of snake cults in Haiti (1889) should be discountenanced. Furthermore, Johnston's idea that snakes are rare in Haiti is a misconception, as snakes are both abundant and conspicuous oil the island, though there are only a few species, and Haiti, like the rest of the Greater Antilles, has no poisonous snakes. There are boas, blind snakes, and also some Colubrine snakes."]

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MAGICAL 333 {p. 82} have occurred in the criminal records of Haiti during the last twenty years, but the convicted were, in nearly all cases, punished with death; the one or two not executed had been proved to be mad, and were confined in prison or asylum. These acts of cannibalism were mostly examples of mad religious exaltation. Haiti 'Vuduism' has absorbed elements of Freemasonry and Christianity. It predicts the future, investigates crime, arranges love affairs. . . . The 2,500,000 Haitian peasants are passionately fond of dancing, will even sometimes dance almost or quite naked. And following on this choreographic exercise is much immorality. It is for these dances and not for mystic 'Vudu' purposes that the drums may be heard tapping, tapping, booming, rattling at night. No secret is made, nor is any shame felt about these village dances, in which many young people take part."[31] Of the neighboring island of Cuba, Johnston writes: "The white Cubans charge the Negroes with still maintaining in their midst the dark Vudu or Hudu mysteries of West Africa. There seems to be no doubt that the black people of Cuba (not the mulattoes) do belong, to a number of secret or Masonic societies, the most widely-heard-of being the NYANNEGO; and it is possible that these confraternities or clubs are associated with immoral purposes. They originated in a league of defence against the tyranny of the masters in the old slavery days. Several of them (as described to me) sounded as harmless as our United Order of Buffaloes. But those seeking after scientific truth should discount much that may be read on Vuduism. This supposed Dahomean or Niger cult of the python or big serpent (Monitor, lizard, crocodile or leopard), with which are associated frenzied dancing, mesmerism, gross immorality, cannibalism or corpse eating, really exists (or existed) all over West Africa, from Sierra Leone to Tanganyika, and no doubt was introduced by Inner [31. Harry H. Johnston, The Negro in the New World, London, 1910, p. 193 f. Note:--He is giving the "official" explanation for the sound of the drums. As we have noted there should be no drumming at real Voodoo or Don Pédro rites, although in practice a dance usually precedes the Voodoo function to "disguise" the purpose of the gathering, as an alibi for the local authorities who may have given tacit permission for the meeting which officially they should contravene.--Cfr. Seabrook, Magic Island, p. 54: "There was no reason to suppose that we might be disturbed, but as an extra precaution a gay danse Congo was immediately organized to cover the real purpose of our congregation."]

{p. 83} Congo, Niger Delta or Dahomey slaves into Haiti, Cuba, Louisiana, South Carolina, Jamaica, the Guianas and Brazil. Where Christianity of a modern type has obtained little or no influence over the Negro slaves and ex-slaves, these wild dances and witchcraft persist.[32] They are fast becoming a past phase in the life-condition of the American Negro, and much of the evidence to the contrary is out of date, or is manufactured by sensation-mongers for the compilation of magazine articles."[33] Of the kindred cult in Cuba, Johnston further states: "The last vestige of noxious witchcraft lingering among the Cuban Negroes is (said to be) the belief that the heart's blood of the heart of a white child will cure certain terrible diseases if consumed by the sufferer. The black practitioners who endeavour to procure this wonderful remedy are known as 'Brujos' or 'Brujas' (i. e. male or female sorcerers). At the time I was in Cuba (December, 1908), there were four or five Negroes awaiting trial on this charge at Havana. Other cases--said to have been proved beyond a doubt--have occurred in Eastern Cuba within the last two or three years. But all these 72

MAGICAL 333 stories and charges are vague hearsay, and during the short time at my disposal I was not able to get proof of one. There is little doubt that occasionally in the low quarters of the old Spanish towns little white girls do disappear. It is too readily assumed that the Negro is at fault."[34] Scarcely had these words of Johnston in defence of Haiti been written before a new attack was launched. Stephen Bonsal asserts without hesitation: "The truth is, that while you need have no fear whatever of eating human flesh in Haiti disguised as roast or as a round of beef, there is no place in the world where you could so easily satisfy a cannibalistic craving as in this land. . . . "Voodoo is not a written creed over which a house of bishops presides publicly, a fact which should account for the many and [32. Note:--Is not this condition verified, then, in Haiti, where Johnston's own estimate was, as noted above, The Negro in the New World, p. 193: "At least two out of the three millions of Haitian Negroes are only Christians in the loose statistics of geographers. They are still African pagans, etc." It really looks as if Johnston had done more harm than good to Haiti's cause. 33. Johnston, l. c., p. 64 f. 34. Ditto, p. 66 f.]

{p. 84} extremely varied versions of its practices which are in circulation through the world. It is certainly not a mere veneer or an old garment from the Congo days of the black race which has not yet been cast away. But it is a substantial edifice of West African superstition, serpent worship, and child sacrifice which exists in Haiti today, and which undoubtedly would become rampant throughout the island were it not for the check and control upon native practices which the foreign residents exercise. "Several Roman Catholic priests, who have long resided in the heart of Haiti, told me that one of the hardships and difficulties of the combat against African darkness upon which they are engaged, is the extreme reticence not only of the active Voodooists themselves, but of all blacks in regard to the fetish-worshipping rites. "A Haitian is often absolutely lacking in that form of self-respect which is the last to depart from the most ignoble white. 'All will confess the most despicable crimes,' said my priestly informant, 'and admit having sunk to the lowest form of human degradation, but even should you see him at the dance under the sablier tree at night, all smeared with the blood which may have flowed in the veins of a cock, or goat, or even a human child, he will deny having anything in common with the Voodoo sectaries."[35] Again: "Of course, the real charge against Haitian civilization is not that children are frequently stolen from their parents and are often put to death with torture, and subsequently eaten with pomp at a Voodoo ceremony, but that Haitians officials, often the highest in the land, not only protect the kidnappers, but frequently take part in the cannibalistic rites which they make possible. This is the charge which I bring and which I am prepared to substantiate in every

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MAGICAL 333 particular upon evidence which appears to me, and to many others to whom I have submitted it, to be absolutely unimpeachable."[36] Finally: "Every moonlight night in Haiti you hear in the woods the tom-toming of the Voodoo drums and you know that the devil's priests are astir. On the horizon burns a great campfire, and around [35. Stephen Bonsal, The American Mediterranean, New York, 1912, p. 88 f. 36. Ditto, p. 90.]

{p. 85} it dance weird and shadowy forms. Now and again a piercing shriek rends the air, whether of joy or pain or uttered at the sight of death, you know not, and your friend and mentor, acclimated by twenty years of residence and sophisticated by much study of this strange people, takes you by the hand and says, at least so did mine; 'It is time, high time, to go now.' "So I never saw the dark frenzy of the African rites descend to the level of the cannibalistic feast which, at least in the last generation, became so frequently a matter of court record, and I believe that today there is only one white man in Haiti, a French priest, who has seen the Voodoo rites carried out to their ghastly conclusion. The little green serpent, the ruling spirit of the abject Guinea coast sect, is often worshipped and the feast terminates in scenes of the most vile debauchery, the 'goat without horns,' however, is not always being sacrificed. "The cannibalistic feed is only indulged in on rare occasions and at long intervals, and is always shrouded in mystery, and hedged about with every precaution against interlopers; for, be their African ignorance ever so dense, their carnal fury ever so unbridled, the papalois and mamalois, the head men and head women of the serpent worshippers never seem to forget that in these vile excesses there should perhaps be found excuse enough for the interference of the civilized world to save the people of the Black Republic from the further degradation which awaits them. "Within the last fifteen years human victims have been sacrificed to the great god Voodoo in the national palace of Haiti. Last February there was assembled in the national palace what might justly be called a congress of serpent worshippers. During the life of Mme. Nord, which came to an end in October, 1908, not a week passed but what a meeting of the Voodoo practitioners was held in the executive mansion, and her deathbed was surrounded by at least a score of these witch doctors. "General Antoine Simon, who recently achieved the presidency, may be the intelligent man he is represented to be by not a few White residents who have come in close contact with him during the years of his government of the southern arrondissements of the {p. 86} island. But one thing is quite sure: if he wishes to remain in the Black House and rule, he must share his sovereignty with the Voodoo priests. If he should exclude them from power and banish 74

MAGICAL 333 them from his presence, his term of office will be of short duration." This prophecy was only too well verified. President Simon ruled about two years and a half, from December 17, 1908 to August 2, 1908, when he made his escape to Jamaica. Bonsal continues: "There is generally, in fact invariably, much diversity of opinion in Haiti about things Haitian and a host of contradictory counsellors, but upon this point there is practical unanimity. No government can stand in Haiti unless it is upheld by the Voodoo priests or by foreign bayonets. At least two governments in the last fifty years, that of Geffrard and that of Boisrond-Canal, have tried to dispense with the priestly poisoners of men's minds and bodies without at the same time inviting the active support of the civilized world, and in each instance these governments ended in disaster and in bloodshed which lasted for years. "But while few, if any, of the white men who are at present residents of the island have witnessed the sacrifice of the 'goat without horns,' it is the easiest thing in the world to assist at the preliminaries at least of a Voodoo feast. While my two visits to Haiti, taken altogether, do not cover quite a month, I have without great difficulty attended Voodoo feasts in town and country, in the open air under the moonlit heavens, and in the slums of the capital under the, pallid glare of the electric light."[37] This would almost indicate that even as visitors to Chinatown are said at times, to be allowed to visit some stage-set opium dive, where the actors for the occasion play up to the part with grewsome reality, so too, perchance the Haitian brethren of the cult may not be averse to turn an honest penny by staging, in the hopes of a small consideration, a Voodoo spectacle to satisfy the demands of tourists who in all good faith fancy that they have been admitted to the most secret mysteries. This would explain much that Seabrook has reported. Bruce W. Merwin, Assistant Curator at the University of [37. Ditto, p. 101 f.]

{p. 87} Pennsylvania Museum, writes in THE MUSEUM JOURNAL,[38] under the caption "A Voodoo Drum from Hayti" as follows: "During the first three centuries of colonization of the New World many of the native customs and beliefs of West Africa were introduced and retained by the slaves. Of these fetish worship with considerable development or modification survives even to the present time. In Haiti, as the Voodoo cult with its human sacrifices, this worship is the most primitive and degraded in the two Americas. Attention was drawn to the cult recently by a Voodoo priest's drum presented to the University Museum by Mr. J. Maxwell Bullock, who had received it from 'Major Alexander Williams of the United States Marines. During the insurrection in 1916 in Haiti it had been confiscated and its head punctured because the beating of a drum was the signal to assemble the Voodoo devotees and to incite them to a religious race war." This statement must be accepted with restrictions. The term Voodoo is here employed not technically but in its broadest possible sense. Moreover, anyone familiar with the famous talking drums of Africa might suspect here that during the Haitian troubles messages were actually transmitted through the island by drum language. While I have never found among West Indies the slightest vestige of what must now be a lost art among them, certainly their ancestors were 75

MAGICAL 333 most proficient in this regard and it is still actively practiced in Africa. This much, however, is certain; that the average drummer of the West Indies is as proficient as any army bugler in the conveying of conventional calls and commands. Merwin further states: "The incessant booming of the drum, the sight and taste of blood, and the great amount of rum drunk cause a religious form of hysteria to sweep over the audience. At the close of the sacrificial ceremony the worshippers begin a dance called the 'loiloichi,' or stomach dance, which is well known in West Africa. The dance gets wilder and. wilder and more degraded until it ends in an orgy of the worst description which lasts until daylight. . . . In Haiti the basis of Voodooism is the frank worship [38. Vol. VIII (1917), p. 123 f.]

{p. 88} of the sacred green snake that must be propitiated in order to keep off the evil duppies."[29] We have here to all appearances the Chica dance of slave days with a title that combines the old name with the Voodoo "loi." Hence we may conclude that it was presumably a Voodoo feast at which the Chica was danced. George Mannington, in 1925 published a work on the West Indies in which he tries to sum up the whole question dispassionately. His book boasts a Foreword by the Rt. Hon. Baron Olivier, a former Governor of Jamaica. The following statement is of interest: "Voodooism or serpent worship, is a degraded form of religion commonly practiced by the ancestors of the present Negroes in the forests of Africa, and was the only religion known to the slaves in the early days. It is said to be followed still in the remoter parts of some of the islands-especially Haiti. It is only fair to say, however, that the more self-respecting of the people indignantly deny that such practices are now followed even among the most backward of the race. But reports to the contrary still persist. It is certain that the Haitian Negroes still assemble in groves or clearing in the forests and dance until they are exhausted to the accompaniment of tom-toms and wild chantings; rum-drinking adds zest to the proceedings. These scenes are occasionally witnessed by spectators concealed from view; it would not be safe to show themselves openly. Whether or not the more degraded forms of Voodooism are associated with these gatherings cannot be positively stated, though such an assertion is made by many. The belief of the Voodoo (or Vaudoux) votaries appears to be that an all-powerful non-venomous serpent controls all human events, knows all things past, present and future, and communicates his power and will to the priest and priestess who administer the rites, and who are called Papaloi and Mamaloi, loi being the equivalent of the French roi and stands in the Negro terminology--which is without gender-for both king and queen. This 'deity' is supposed to require the sacrifice of 'a goat without horns.' Accordingly the sacrifice of goats accompanied by incantations was the common [39. Ditto, p. 125.]

{p. 89}

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MAGICAL 333 practice, the animals being afterwards cooked and eaten. It is alleged that the phrase 'goat without horns' was also interpreted to mean a child, that small children were killed and eaten in secret groves, and that the mothers were proud that their children should be chosen for sacrifice. The victim's blood was mixed with rum and drunk."[40] Dr. Price-Mars, whom we quoted at length when considering Seabrook's Magic Island, gives us an extended view of Voodoo as be sees it. Being a devoted and loyal son of the little isle that was once so glorious as the proudest boast of Colonial France, he may be partial in his views at times, but his sincerity cannot be questioned. Of the rise of the Haitian community, he tells us: "We know, it is true, what elements have made up the Haitian community. We know that a drove of slaves, imported to San Domingo from the far-stretched western coast of Africa, presented in its entirety a microcosm of all the black races of the continent. We know how from the promiscuous intercourse of the white with his black concubine, and from the artificial conditions of a society governed by the law of castes, there developed a group intermediate between the master and the body of slaves. We know further how the clash of interests and passions, how the confronting of egoisms, and how the principles evoked by the strange revolution, all brought about the insurrection which led the erstwhile slaves to found a nation. Such in a few words is the origin of our people."[41] Concerning the days that preceded the slave uprising, Dr. Price-Mars writes: "We have at hand two documents whence we may gather valuable information. The first is entitled L'Essai sur l'Esclavage et Observations sur l'État Présent des Colonies. It treats of the anxiety which was aroused among the whites by the frequent nocturnal gatherings of the slaves, where they fomented their plots, against the colonial regime. In this connection, the author makes the following remark: 'Their designs would have [40. George Mannington, The West Indies with British Guiana and British Honduras, New York, 1925, p. 267 f. 41. Dr. Price-Mars, Ainsi Parla l'Oncle, p. 107.]

{p. 90} been undiscoverable if they had not been betrayed by the women concubines of the whites to whom they were generally very much attached. The dance called at Surinan, Water Mama, and in our Colony the Mere de l'eau, is rigidly forbidden. They make it a great mystery and all that can be said of it is this, that it greatly excites the imagination. They work themselves up to debauchery when they keep the mind fixed on evil purposes. The leader of the conspiracy goes into an ecstasy so as to lose all consciousness; on returning to his senses, he pretends that his god has spoken to him and has commanded some undertaking, but, as they do not adore the same god, they hate him and they spy one on another,--and their projects are nearly always denounced.' "From this curious document may be drawn an important conclusion. It is that at the period to which it makes reference, probably about 1760, the religion of the slaves had not yet been unified, and without questioning the fact, the author of the Essay gives the reason when he informs us that the Negroes do not adore the same god."[42] 77

MAGICAL 333 Dr. Price-Mars goes on to state that while at this time, probably about 1760, there could have been no uniformity of religious cult among the Negro slaves, yet "less than thirty years later, we find under the name of 'Voodoo' a religious establishment of which Moreau de Saint-Méry was the first to give a detailed analysis and which has remained famous, and has become the theme, enlarged and borrowed, of most of the accounts which have been given of the cultural ceremonies of Voodoo by writers who have not themselves had the occasion of observing them."[43] Dr. Price-Mars remarks elsewhere: "The great mass of Negroes gathered from different parts of Africa and brought to San Domingo were from pious races attached to Mohammedanism, Dahoman religion, and a few Catholics."[44] However, "With many of the slaves Christianity was little more than an external formality to be observed during the hours of the [42. Ditto, p. 113f. 43. Ditto, p. 114. 44. Dr. Price-Mars, Une Étape de l'Évolution Haïtienne, p. 127.]

{p. 91} day. By night they met in small groups to practice surreptitiously their old tribal Customs."[45] Gradually "These nocturnal meetings became regular occurrences under the indomitable influence of tile Aradas, the Ibos and the Dahomans."[46] Showing that during the long formation period there steadily developed a composite religious cult by a process of assimilating the various animistic beliefs of Africa, Islamism included, he observes: "But there was only one religion which retained a solid framework of disciplinary traditions, a sacredotal hierarchy, capable of imposing some of its rites upon the composite beliefs, and this was the Dahoman."[47] In connection with his criticism of Seabrook's Magic Island, Dr. Price-Mars asks a question and then answers it: "Is there a Voodoo initiation whereby a neophyte, it matters not who he is, thanks to the good will of the hougan,[48] may be admitted to the congregation? It seems not. Listen, however. If anyone believes in the rites of Voodoo and he desires actually to take part in some ceremony, rites of exorcism, of annual commemoration, expiatory rites, etc., be he white or black, he has only to address himself to the first hougan met, who will give him the mode of procedure. As a general rule, the one officiating will not trouble himself to find out how far the applicant is sincere. His mere application is [45. Ditto, p. 139. 46. Ditto, p. 141.

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MAGICAL 333 47. Ditto, p. 142 f. Note:--After observing that the Dahoman rites have undergone great chances and adaptations in the process of absorption, he adds, p. 144: "One may remark, in passing the ritual gesture of the Mohammedan in the habitual salaam of the official who holds his hands towards the east before beginning each Voodoo ceremony. One finds there, too, taboo of the forbidden foods and the unlucky days." And he sums it all up on the next page, p. 145: "It is nothing less than a syncretism of beliefs." Cfr. also, D. Trouillot, Esquisse Ethnographique: Le Vaudoux, p. 28: "The Creole Vaudoux is a syncretism of the different sects of the primordial Vaudoux and of the superstitions as well African as Aryan mingled together by slavery. It is certain that if an old Guinean was to return, he would not know what to do in the midst of the dance and Vaudoux ceremonies of today." 48. Note:--Dr. Price-Mars tells us that the word Hougan signifies fire or the warmth of fire, p. 144. It is derived from the Habbes of the Central Nigerian Plateau so well described by Louis Desplagnes.--Cfr. La Plateau Central Nigérien, Paris, 1907. Referring to the Hougans as "magico-religious leaders of our rural population of the north and southwest," he continues: "These leaders are constrained by the ceremonies of initiation to a life of austerity which bespeaks the great moral authority which they enjoy."--Cfr. Dr. Price-Mars, l. c., p. 130.]

{p. 92} sufficient guarantee of good faith. Seabrook was in a position to make such an application, and I believe that nothing more unusual was done for the sake of making sport. "On the contrary, is the individual a menial who is ignorant of his own prerogatives? I mean to say supposing that he is an individual, who thus far has been shut out from all participation in the ritual obligations of the Voodoo, and who has suddenly become aware of them, and has been inspired by 'the mysteries.' He may wish 'to renounce,' to wit, to make up the arrears due to the gods, and take a more intimate part in the congregation. Then the hougan proceeds to those ceremonies which are more or less the rites of initiation-baptism of 'loi bossales,' and of the 'hounsis' and of the 'hougainikons.' "But these initiations are all esoteric. They are accomplished only by degrees. In the case suggested, the first order of the hougan to the neophyte, is a severe penance, sexual and dietary abstinence, penance as regards clothing; then there is the rigorous retreat and the fast, followed by the ceremony of initiation and finally the trials. "As regards this part of the rite, the initiation is in every way secret. Moreover the ceremony allows variations. Sometimes the hougan keeps himself in a darkened room where he has a pool, the candidates, clothed in white, are stretched on couches in the adjacent room, having each a wide-mouthed pitcher full of water which is supposedly ready to receive the 'Mystery' with which the hougan is going to converse. In fact, the congregation outside the enclosure can hear at a given moment a kind of conversation between the one officiating and the pretended 'Mystery' which, having come at his call, may converse with the subject whom he has honoured with a fellow-feeling towards him, the 'Mystery.' To my mind, this conversation--a probable effect of ventriloquism---is the boldest of trickeries and it is on that account that there is so much need of obscurity and of solitude as is claimed by the hougan. When, at last, the 'Mysteries' have taken possession of the elect, these come forth from the enclosure in procession, carrying their pitchers on head and shoulder, make the round of the arbour {p. 93} 79

MAGICAL 333 where the bulk of the congregation is gathered, taking part in the feverish ecstasy of the dances and submitting to the ordeal of the 'Canzo' which consists in plunging the hand into a boiling pot of mess intended for the cult meal. The aroused congregation cries out at this moment: 'Aie Bobo! Aie Bobo!' "At other times, it is at a spring, or occasionally on the bank of a river, or, if in a locality where there is neither water course nor Spring, it is beside a large cistern, or even a half-cask that the hougan establishes a 'shrine,' made of a trellis of reed, on which are spread large white cloths. There the gods are thought to establish their temporary domicile. The one officiating enters alone. By his interpretation, the gods, whom certain ones who have died 'serve,' constrain the voice of the dead to converse with their kindred, their friends among the congregation which is kept at a respectful distance. In this variant, the rite assumes a character, half-expiatory, half initiatory, as it is assumed that the hougan can transfer to the living 'the Mystery' of his departed parent."[49] Throughout these initiation functions, we notice in clothing and draperies the entire absence of red, which is the characteristic colour of Voodoo. If the rites described really belong to presentday Voodoo, then a marked change has been effected in the whole cultural ritual. As a matter of fact, the entire ceremony as described by Dr. Price-Mars suggests Ashanti origin rather than Dahoman or Whydah. After a lengthy quotation from Moreau de Saint-Méry, Dr. Price-Mars observed in his earlier book: "This page of Moreau de Saint-Méry assumes in our eyes an importance of the very first order, not only because it is the only authentic document which contains serious facts on the religious manifestations of the Negroes of San Domingo, but on account of the fulness of details, the precision of delineation, the character of the whole work, one recognises at once the evidence of the truth. Well does the author tell us that the sect was secret--and it is still so in our day--his relation actually gives us the impression of a deposition of an eye-witness. However, if as we believe, and as we shall prove later, the ritual of [49. Dr. Price-Mars, l. c., p. 172 f.]

{p. 94} cult is sensibly modified since the colonial epoch, many of the distinctive details in the celebrated description have remained unchanged even today. They help us to establish the primordial elements of Voodoo."[50] Dr. Price-Mars now makes a very serious mistake by assuming that Voodoo, as he sees fit to portray it at the present day, is substantially unchanged in one hundred and fifty years, and that it is specifically the same rite as it was in slave times. Rather, since he admits that Moreau de Saint-Méry has described accurately the real Voodoo of Colonial times, it would be more profitable to us if he had simply pointed out the present variants; perhaps, however, it would be more accurate to say that it has been so radically changed that the term Voodoo can be applied to it only by an extension, if not distortion, of its meaning. That is, of course, providing that Dr. Price-Mars is actually describing present-day Voodoo to us and not some kindred rite, when he says: "Of these traits the most characteristic is the state of trance in which the individual 80

MAGICAL 333 possessed by the god finds himself enthralled." This is certainly more like an Ashanti function than one from Whydah as noted previously. "The second trait," we are told, "which gives its tone to the ceremony is the dance, a rhythmic dance, to the sound of a trio of long drums to the cadence of the 'assons,' executed on the syncopated airs which a leader improvises, his voice being echoed multifold by the enthusiastic congregation." Drums at a Voodoo ceremony! And what of his assertion that "the initiation is in every way secret." And: "Well does the author tell us that the sect was secret--and it is still so in our day." What secrecy, or even privacy can be had with the blatant summoning of the drums? "As regards the rest," he continues, "what seems to be the essential of the belief--we speak of the adoration of the adder--this part of the rite has been eliminated from Voodoo or relegated altogether to the background of the ceremonial. We believe it is almost abolished. On this point we may be permitted to give our personal testimony. In the course of our investigations, we have had occasion to assist at numerous Voodoo ceremonies-a hundred [50. Dr. Price-Mars, Ainsi Parla l'Oncle, p. 117 f.]

{p. 95} at least--of which some were celebrated in the most remote districts, we have never seen, not even once, homage rendered to the adder. And, a remarkable coincidence, the writers either Haitians or foreigners, who have seriously devoted themselves to the question, are unanimous in remarking the same, whether they say it explicitly or they fail to make mention of such a ceremony."[51] With all due respect to the experience of Dr. Price-Mars, one cannot refrain from making the reflection:--Either he was fully initiated into the cult, or he was not. If he was, then he has taken the oath to conceal the true facts; if he was not, then from his own statements, being an uninitiated, he would never be admitted to the full ceremonies.[52] Furthermore, if the present state of Voodoo in Haiti, is precisely as Dr. Price-Mars describes it, with the serpent eliminated, there must have been a very radical change quite recently. Some twenty years ago, I was assured personally by Haitians in Jamaica, whom I certainly considered worthy of credence, that to their own knowledge, the mixture of Voodoo and Catholicism in Haiti had given rise to many altars with regular tabernacles, such as are commonly found in Catholic churches, but in each case the tabernacle was reserved by the owner for the use of the serpent. This view is further confirmed by the personal experience of one [51. Ditto, p. 118 f. 52. Note:--Prichard is not far wrong in his conclusions, Where Black Rules White, p. 81: "Vaudoux is so inextricably woven in with every side of the Haitian's life, his politics, his religion, his outlook upon the world, his social and family relations, his prejudices and peculiarities that he cannot be judged apart from them." Arthur W. Holly, Les Daïmons du Culte Voudu, Port-au-Prince, 1918, starts his Preface with a blatant profession of faith: "Without vanity or false shame, or cowardice, I declare that I am an esoterist--that is to say one initiated to the sciences whose roots are deep set in Ethiopic-Egyptian antiquity--sciences which allow one to recognize in the priestly writings the cosmogonic beginnings, to disengage from a symbol, a sign, a given letter the value of the idea,

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MAGICAL 333 its metaphysical sense or its true scientific character." The work itself is merely an esoteric pretence of the most amateur type and of practically no real value. However, Dr. Holly stresses one point that may be significant, Preface, p. x: "Definitively I have good reason for asserting that the Negro initiated in the true Voodoo cult, in conformity with pure traditions, enters into no relations whatever with Satan. The demons to whom they accuse him of sacrificing are not tile spirits of darkness, and therefore malevolent. They are rather the Daimons according to the Greek concept, that is to say 'bright spirits.' Witchcraft, sordid magic, is incompatible with the great principles preconized {sic} by Voodoo morale."]

{p. 96} who spent many years in Haiti and Jamaica. While not free to disclose the name of the party in question, whom we may refer to as Madam X., the writer can unreservedly attest her honesty and sincerity. She was a lady of education and refinement, and the exemplary mother of a family. Of her stay in Haiti she subsequently told a missionary in Jamaica: "When I first moved there, I was told that I must be very careful about my baby, because the natives often stole babies, white babies especially, to use them in their obi rites or services." By obi is here meant witchcraft in its generic form; though, of course, Voodooism would be specifically more correct. Madam X. continues: "Soon after I arrived, a woman living next door, whose husband had been a notorious Obeah man and had died just a short time before, came to visit me. She was very friendly, and when she saw my chapel, she said; 'You know I have a chapel, you must come over and see me and see my chapel which I have for my services; my husband was a great Obeah man and all the great people came to him.' When I went to see her, she showed me a room generously fixed up like a chapel; there was a box corresponding to our tabernacle, an altar and two statues. . . . There was a white goat there which was used in Obeah rites, she used to dress up this goat in the most costly robes; there was a barrel in which was a large snake which was dressed in ribbons. She showed me lots of costly presents which had been given her by rich people, costly robes for the goat, wine, jewels, etc. After her husband's death she had kept up his work. She said that all the people from the president down, even practical Catholics, went to the ignorant Obeah men and women. She added, that in order to get sacred particles the Obeah men and women used to go to communion, keep the Hosts dry in their month, and bring them home to their Obeah chapel and keep them in their tabernacles."[53] Despite his perfervid descriptions, Seabrook has much of real value and particularly as already noted in the second portion of his book. Thus for example: "Voodoo in Haiti is a profound and vitally alive religion . . . . Voodoo is primarily and basically a form of worship, and . . . its magic, its sorcery, its witchcraft [53. A. J. Emerick, Obeah and Duppyism in Jamaica, Woodstock, 1915, p. 192 f.]

{p. 97} (I am speaking technically now), is only a secondary, collateral, sometimes sinisterly twisted byproduct of Voodoo as a faith."[54] And "Voodoo is not a secret cult or society in the sense that Freemasonry or the Rosicrucian cult is secret; it is a religion, and secret only as Christianity was secret in the catacombs, through fear of persecution. Like every living religion it has its inner mysteries, but that is secretness in a different sense. It is a religion toward which whites generally have been either scoffers, spyers, or active enemies, and whose adherents, therefore, have been forced to practice secrecy, above all where whites were concerned. But there is no 82

MAGICAL 333 fixed rule of their religion pledging them to secrecy, and Maman Célie was abrogating nothing more than a protective custom when she gave me her confidence."[55] Again he says: "Although Damballa, the ancient African serpent god remains enthroned as its central figure, this Voodoo ceremony is not the old traditional ritual brought over from Africa, but rather a gradually formalized new ritual which sprang from the merging in earliest slave days of the African tradition with the Roman Catholic ritual, into which the slaves were all baptized by law, and whose teachings and ceremonials they willingly embraced, without any element of intended blasphemy or diabolism, incorporating modified parts of Catholic ritual--as for instance the vestments and the processional--into their Voodoo ceremonials, just as they incorporated its Father, Son, Virgin, and saints in their pantheistic theology."[56] [54 Seabrook, Magic Island, p. 12. 55. Ditto, p. 3 1. 56. Ditto, p. 34. Note:--Gr. also Seabrook, p. 89: "In America the word Voodoo has come to mean indiscriminately any Negro sorcery, secret ceremony, or old African witch-doctor practice. In Haiti the word is similarly loosely used sometimes even by natives, so that when they wish to distinguish sharply they are likely to use the word Rada as the name of their religion, and Service Petro, or Service Legba for their ceremonial religious rites." P. 295: "Petro or Service Petro is the name given to the blood-sacrificial Voodoo ceremony. It derives from the name of a slave who was a famous papaloi in colonial times." p. 308: The following literally translated, is one of the formulas pronounced by the sorcerer over a death ouanga before hiding it in the secret place where it is to lie rotting: "Old master, now is the time to keep the promise you made. Curse him as I curse him and spoil him as I spoil him. By the fire at night, by the dead black hen, by the bloods, throat, by the goat, by the ruin on the ground, this ouanga be upon him. May he have no peace in bed, nor at his food, nor can he hide. Waste {footnote p. 98} him and wear him and rot him as these rot." But this is not Voodoo, it is undiluted witchcraft.]

{p. 98} We rather suspect that the following passage is, partially at least, ascribable to Dr. Price-Mars from whom much of Seabrook's technical information was gathered. "The worship of the snake in Haiti," he declares, "is by no means so literal as commentators have supposed. It is true that on every Petro altar in Haiti there is a serpent symbol, sometimes painted on the wall, sometimes carved of wood and elevated on a staff. It is true also that living snakes are regarded as sacred objects, not to be injured or molested. One of the commonest and handsomest is a harmless green tree snake which grows to three or four feet in length, but all snakes are held sacred. But the serpent is worshipped symbolically, and not because they believe he has any power of his own; he represents the great god Damballa. . . . So far as I am aware no living serpent is kept 'in a box' or otherwise on any Voodoo altar to-day in Haiti. A negro friend has told me, however, of an Obeah ceremony which he had seen in Cuba in which a living snake was the central object. He said that a large, non-poisonous snake was kept in a big earthern jar on an altar, that some ten or fifteen negroes made a sort of circular endless chain beginning and ending at the rim of the jar by lacing their arms around each others shoulders: that the snake was then drawn from the jar and induced to crawl over their shoulders, making the circuit and returning to the jar."[57] Finally Seabrook tells us: "It is not my intention to gloss over the fact that actual human sacrifice is also an occasional integral part of the Voodoo ritual in Haiti. . . . That human sacrifice in Voodoo today may seem strange and to many persons horrible, but only, I think, because they 83

MAGICAL 333 consider it in terms of 'time.' . . . I have described no human sacrifices on the pages of this book solely for the reason that I never saw one. If I had lived for many years instead of months with Maman Célie in the mountains, it is probable that I should have seen one. Such sacrifices, however, Maman Célie tells me, are rare and performed only under stress of [57. Ditto, p. 311.]

VOODOO IN HAITI 99 seeming necessity. That they never reach the courts or public notice is due to the fact that when they are pure authentic Voodoo, the sacrificial victim is never kidnapped, stolen, or procured by other criminal means, but always voluntarily offered from within tile religious group. Occasionally also, however, occurs some extraordinary criminal abuse of this practice, followed by denunciation and prosecution. In this category was the case of Cadeus Bellegarde which occurred in 1920. He was a papaloi turned criminal, a pathological monster."[51] Dr. J. C. Dorsainvil, a Haitian physician of standing, in an address to the Historical and Geographical Society of Haiti stated in 1924: "Ten years ago, in a study published by the review HAITI MEDICALE, we asserted that Voodoo in its psycho-physiological effects consists in this, it is a racial psycho-nervous disorder, of a religious character bordering on paranoia. Our opinion has in no way changed. But as you see the question was then viewed from a medical standpoint.[59] "We are permitted today to present to you the same question under another aspect, the philological viewpoint. This will be nothing else but a study chapter wherein we trace our origins. "As much if not more than our revolution, Voodoo has tended to destroy the reputation of our country. The imagination of well-meaning chroniclers, such as St. John our latest visitor, to pass over Alaux, Texier and others, who does his utmost to discover in the frequently inoffensive ceremonies of this cult, the most repugnant [58. Ditto, p. 319 f. 59. Cr. also, J. C. Dorsainvil, Vodou et Névrose, p. 48: "We affirm that Voodooism satisfies a nervous racial habit firmly established by the belief in secular practices among many Haitian families. The proofs of such a condition are plentiful, if one will only take the trouble to observe well the facts." However, we cannot endorse Dr. Dorsainvil's explanation of a "dual personality" even in the broad sense in which he uses the term. Trouillot, Esquisse Ethnographique: Le Vaudoux, p. 10, thinks that excessive alcoholism and feverish excitement induces a sort of hypnotic effect at the Voodoo dances so that it makes the participant insensible to pain as when he plunges his hand into the boiling caldron. He further observes, p. 10 f.: "It is a fact that the financial return of a dance and the orgiastic pleasures which it furnishes to dancers and spectators are the only and real perpetuation of Vaudoux. It is no longer a religion with its dogmas and rites, it is only a gross indulgence having preserved the empty form of a vanished belief." And it was as far back as 1885 that these words were written!]

{p. 100}

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MAGICAL 333 scenes of cannibalism and orgies. Some of our journalists even speak of it with that inconsideration and absence of study, with which one can too frequently reproach them. "We have then a deep interest in shedding the clearest light on the origins of this mysterious cult. This work is easy today, for the activity of investigators has left unturned no corner of the vast moral world of humanity."[60] Taking up the meaning of the word, Dr. Dorsainvil asserts: "Voodoo . . . is simply a generic term of the fongbe dialect. . . It is the most important word of the dialect since it includes nearly the whole moral and religious life of the Fons and is the origin, or rather it is the invariable root, of an entire family of words. What is the precise meaning of the world in fongbe? It designates the spirits, good or evil, subordinate to Mawu and, by extension, the statue of one of these spirits, or every object that symbolizes their cult or their power, protective or malevolent."[61] Again, "The most celebrated expression of the religion of the Voodoo is the cult of the serpent or of the adder Da, pronounced Dan, incarnating the spirit Dagbe, pronounced Dangbe." He is writing as a Frenchman. "The two principal sanctuaries of this cult were found in the sacred woods of Somorne near Allada and at Whydah. Among us by contraction, the Dahoman expression Dangbe Allada has become the loa (a Congo word) Damballah, of which the symbol still remains an adder."[62] Of the establishment of the cult in Haiti, Dr. Dorsainvil has this to say: "By comparison with other African tribes, the Aradas, Congos, Nagos, etc. the Fons have been very much in the minority in San Domingo. How, then, explain the strong religious impress with which they have marked the people? It is here that shows forth all the importance of the Voodoo cult in San Domingo. Whether it is pleasing or not, Voodoo is a great social factor in our history. The colonials tolerated all the noisy dances of the slaves, but feared the Voodooistic ceremonies. They instinctively [60. J. C. Dorsainvil, Une Explication Philologique du Vòdú, Port-au-Prince, 1924, p. 14 f. 61. Ditto, p. 18 f. 62. Ditto, p. 20.]

{p. 101} dreaded this cult with its mystical movements, and felt in a confused way that it could become a powerful element of cohesion for the slaves. They were not mistaken, for it was from the heart of these Voodooistic ceremonies that the great revolt of the slaves of San Domingo developed. Toussaint himself knew this so well that when he became the first authority of the colony, he no longer tolerated this kind cult"[63] He adds later: "Religion so hierarchic, so enshrouded in mystery, should, it is clear, exercise a powerful attraction in the other African tribes represented in San Domingo. It offered them a body of religious beliefs which were not in the least to be found in the superstitions practiced by themselves. But in branching out, Voodoo divested itself of its original characteristics. It overburdened itself with parasitic beliefs, Aradean, Congoleon, etc."[64]

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MAGICAL 333 Dr. Parsons thus begins her article on the Spirit Cult of Haiti, "During a recent folk-tale collecting tour to the south coast of Haiti, I had opportunities to observe combinations in cult of African paganism and French Catholicism of much interest to the student of acculturation, as well as to West Indian folklorist or historian. That this cult has heretofore passed undescribed in Haiti is probably due to the diversion of interest to one of its reputed features, ritual cannibalism or, in journalistic term, voodoo human sacrifice, the folklore of which is wide-spread among all foreigners, white and coloured, in Haiti, as well as among Caribbean neighbours. Some St. Lucia boys shipwrecked in San Domingo told me there that they had become afraid of going on to Haiti, as they once thought of doing, since they had heard how they killed and ate people in Haiti. It was the same story I had heard fifteen years before from the French wife of a Syrian merchant at the Haitian town of Ganaives. This lady felt outraged against the Island 'sauvages.' . . . If human sacrifice occur or has ever occurred in Haiti, it is in connection with the Taureau Criminel, the Criminal Bull, one of the spirits or loi of which there is a large number, both Catholic and African. Between patron saint and West Indian fetish [63. Ditto, p. 29. 64. Ditto, p. 37.] {p. 102} no distinction is made in the cult which may be described as a theory and practice of possession by spirits. There is little or no philosophic or religious expression of the theory to be heard in Haiti, but descriptive details of the practice abound."[65] Perhaps the most dispassioned account of Voodoo comes from the pen of one who had lived for years in Haiti towards the close of the last century and had sought to study the question scientifically. Eugène Aubin, in giving the results of his researches, dissociates himself from the partisans of every phase of sentiment. His narrative is simple and to the point."[66] Thus: "In the settlement as in the home, Negro life is dominated by old African superstitions, that is to say by the Voodoo cult. Although they point out many traces of it in the United States and in certain islands of the Antilles, it is nowhere more prevalent than in Haiti where its development remains unimpeded. Elsewhere it restricts itself to the exploitation of witchcraft for the profit of some shrewd individuals, which they call Obeah in the English colonies. The historic development of San Domingo is sole cause for the difference in Haiti. Whereas in the other islands fetishism tends, if not to disappear, at least to disguise itself under the influence of Christianity, supported by external force; the independence of Haiti encourages parallel progress, even the confusion of the two beliefs. . . . "The study of Haitian fetishism is not easy. Those who treat of the subject do so with prejudice or inaccurately. The Fathers Du Terte and Labat scarcely touch on it. The latter restricts himself to a mere expression of distrust. 'The Negroes,' he writes, 'do without scruple what the Philistines attempted; they associate the ark with Dagon and secretly preserve all their old idolatrous worship, [65. Elsie Clews Parsons, Spirit Cult in Hayti, Paris, 1928, p. 1.

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MAGICAL 333 66. Note:--Cfr. Seabrook, The Magic Island, p. 316 f.: "Eugène Aubin, a French writer who lived in Haiti for a number of years prior to 1898, interested himself in the study of Voodoo without ever apparently having wished to witness or participate in its sacrificial ceremonies. It is possible that he was restrained by moral scruples. He wrote, however, an excellent book called En Haïti, published in Paris in 1910, which shows he was on the friendliest terms with the leading papalois and hougans of that period. He discussed sympathetically and at length with the more intelligent ones the nature of their creed and was admitted to a number of their temples."]

{p. 103} with the ceremonies of the Christian religion.' A 'trusty and intelligent Negress' understood little of anything at Descourtelz. As ever Moreau de Saint-Méry was the best informed of colonial writers. The educated creoles pretend complete ignorance of things so gross; unconsciously there survives in them the old prejudices of times when the planter felt himself insecure in his isolation among the Negroes, dreaded their mysterious cult, their secret meetings, their witchcraft and their poisons. For his part, the Negro remains attached to his practices, observant of his initiations.--Z'affe mouton pas z'affe cabrite.--The affairs of the sheep are not those of the nannygoat, says the creole proverb; the things of the blacks do not concern the whites. "However uncouth may seem the cult sprung from Haitian fetishism the fault is in no way due to the fundamental principle of their beliefs, which restrict themselves to seeking out the manifestations of the Divinity in the forces of nature. It is a pantheism, as any other, classified by the same standard as ancient paganism or the religions of India. The great wrong of the Negroes was to overindulge life, in exaggerating the evil character of the supernatural world and in conceiving the universe as peopled with predominantly evil spirits, among which the lois and the ancestors freely enjoyed an aggressive rôle as regards suffering humanity. They came to the conclusion that it was necessary to conjure these evil influences by witchcraft, gifts and sacrifices; to the papalois or sorcerers, people well versed in the mysteries, fell the charge and the profit of these conjurations. . . . "According to the tribe, the rites and the traditions differ. just as the Negroes of San Domingo came in great numbers from all coasts of Africa, Haitian Voodoo results from the confusion of all the African beliefs. However, there stands out two principal rites, each constituting a distinct cult, the rite of Guinea and the 'Congo rite.' Although the blacks of this colony came in greater numbers from Congo than from Guinea, the followers are divided about equally, according to the origin or the convenience of the families. But, nevertheless, the superstitions of Guinea exercise a prepondering influence on the actual doctrines of Voodoo. In each {p. 104} of the two rites, experts remark a series of subdivisions, corresponding to the different tribes of the north and of the middle coast of Africa. Arada, Nago, Ibo belong to the rite of Guinea; it seems that the north coast has had more agreeable fetishism and freely admits good spirits. The Arada would be the simplest and purest cult of all, knowing nothing whatever of witchcraft. The spirits venerated on the southern coast are more frequently wicked: these latter frequent the subdivision of the Congo rite, the Congo Franc, the Petro, and the Caplaou.

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MAGICAL 333 "The scenes of cannibalism which occur even now at times (an example of this kind was tried in 1904 by the criminal court of Port-au-Prince) would be the work of the adherents, fortunately few in number, of the particular divisions of the Petro and the Caplaou; some may be ascribed to the Mondongue, of which the character is a little out of the ordinary, although belonging to the Congo rite. "The paraphernalia of all these rites have created a veritable mythology in Haitian Voodoo. The lois, saints, the mysteries found in nature, have received the names of ancient African kings or indeed of the localities where they have been deified. They add the title of Master, Papa or Mister. Legba, Dambala, Aguay, Guede, derived from the rite of Guinea, are the object of an almost universal cult; Master Ogoun, Loco, Saugo, Papa Badère . . . and they have also no end of others. The King of Engole (Angola) and the King Louange (Loango) belong to the Congo rite. . .. "All the lois wish to be 'served'; and their service belongs to the papalois. Do these ministers restrict themselves to the good lois, namely to the rite of Guinea and to those elements of the Congo, as they say 'who serve with one hand alone'? 'To serve with two hands' implies no less the cult of the evil lois, pitiless deities, craving for blood and vengeance. The houmforts, sanctuaries of these multiple spirits, are on every hand in the plains, where the people, better circumstanced, take care to surround their fetishism with elaborate ceremonies, unknown in the uplands. "The papaloi is a man versed in the rites, by heredity or study, who has gradually risen in the Voodoo hierarchy. He has sometimes {p. 105} attended the famous houmforts of the plains of Leogane and Arcahaye, received the most secret initiations and undergone the ordeal of an ordination. When these final ceremonies are concluded, the new papaloi presents himself to the faithful, and possessed by the spirit, he intones the chant proper to the loi who, during his life, will be the Maître-caye, the Maître-tête, and to whom will be consecrated the houmfort which he is about to enter. "The foundation of the Voodoo cult is found in the family. Each familyhead, clothed with a family priesthood, honors the spirit of the ancestors and their protecting lois."[67] To our way of thinking, then, Voodoo as first found in Haiti was substantially the serpent worship of Whydah; and in the beginning at least, it was but slightly modified by local conditions. As the children of the African "bush" were ruthlessly torn away from their native haunts, they naturally carried with them the practices and superstitions that served as cherished memories of the past, and thus introduced to their new surroundings the diverse forms of perverted worship or sorcery, as the case might be, and for a time at least clung to their own peculiar customs.

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MAGICAL 333 Those who had practiced Ophiolatry in Africa, had a great advantage over the rest. Seemingly they had not lost their deity after all. For the non-poisonous python was waiting their arrival in Haiti. It was the one familiar object to meet their gaze. It was the one connection with the past. Naturally any of the priests and priestesses who were among them would not be slow to put the incident to good account. In any case, Voodoo quickly became the dominant form of worship among the slaves, but as was to be expected it gradually suffered modifications and even split tip into various sects according to the whim and fancy of some new leader who gained influence among the general body of the slaves. Thus in 1768, Don Pédro came into being, as seems probable, directly as a means of stirring up the slaves to insurrection. At Whydah the serpent was consulted about the undertaking of war, and in a sense represented the god of war. But now something [67. Eugène Aubin, En Haiti, Paris, 1910, pp. 43-51.]

{p. 106} more aggressive and emotional was required. The serpent naturally was retained, but in the ritual not only were the dances quickened in their tempo, but the pig was substituted for the goat as the sacrificial animal. With the arrival of Broukman from Jamaica, the Don Pédro cult in Haiti developed further, as it began to take on more and more the form of sorcery. Its religious element is gradually transferred from the service of the good spirits to that of evil spirits, and in course of time it becomes the cult of blood par excellence and finds its climax, at least on rare occasions, in human sacrifice and cannibalistic orgies. As regards Voodoo proper, the account of Moreau de Saint-Méry, it must be admitted, might seem to indicate that the cult had become formal idolatry. But we should remember that the atheistic tendencies of that day would probably influence the point of view of one who subsequently was to take such an active part in the events that led up to the French Revolution. There are equally strong indications from the testimony of later observers, that Voodoo in the nineteenth century could still be classed as formal worship, substantially unchanged though modified in many details. However, it appears that the religious element in the cult was gradually yielding to social influences. Voodoo feasts are introduced, probably at first as a disguise for the secret session that will follow later. But in time, more and more is made of the accompanying dance, with the consequences that Voodoo in the strict sense of the word begins to wane. And unless Dr. PriceMars is entirely wrong in his estimate of conditions, the present century finds the cult so modified and changed that it is now Voodoo in name only.

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MAGICAL 333 Meanwhile we have a general conglomeration of all the old cults, combined with dances of every description, all imbued with every form of witchcraft and sorcery, posing under the generic term of Voodoo. The religion of the Whydahs has become the witchcraft of the Haitians! As regards the much resented accusation of human sacrifice {p. 107} and cannibalism, the weight of evidence would indicate that while these abuses are by no means common in Haiti, nevertheless, at times there are sporadic outbreaks. And it would be strange if the orgies of nerve-racking debauchery and dissipation so peculiar to tropical dances when the strong arm of the law does not intervene, did not at times evolve a paranoiac state of irrational craving, and subsequent surreptitious gratification of the lowest instincts in degraded human nature-the animal-like gratification of the "goat without horns" in Haiti and the "long pig" in the distant Pacific Islands. It must not be supposed, however, that these disgusting orgies are countenanced by the present Government authorities, or that they are of frequent occurrence. Certainly within the coastal districts which are watched over by the American Marines, public Voodoo is non-existent. But back in the hills there must still be many a secret gathering as in the days of slavery, where Voodoo and even Don Pédro at times find outlets for pent-up energy and orgiastic excesses. Nor on the other hand must this abnormality on the part of a few be held as a reflection on the Haitians as a people. The chapters of recent crimes in our own country, which may bespeak degeneracy and moronism on the part of individuals, would not ascribe these reproaches to the entire nation. {p. 108}

Chapter IV ORIGIN OF OBEAH Just as in the case of Voodoo there is a fundamental document that has served as a starting point for all writers on the subject, so we have a similar source of information as regards Obeah. This is the Report of the Lords of the Committee of the Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantation, London, 1789.[1] Part III is entitled: [1. Note:--As mentioned before, this is a large folio volume of over twelve hundred unnumbered pages. As it is difficult of access, although a copy may be found in the Boston College Library, a somewhat lengthy citation may be permissible. Bryan Edwards says of this Report: "It was transmitted by the Agent of Jamaica to the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council, and by them subjoined to their report on the slave trade; and, if I mistake not, the public are chiefly indebted for it to the diligent researches, and accurate pen, of Mr. Long."--Bryan Edwards, The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies, London, 1793, Vol. II, p. 88. As Edwards

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MAGICAL 333 was writing less than four years after the publication of the Report, his statement may be relied upon as accurate. The Long referred to, was Edward Long, the historian, He was the great-grandfather of Sir Esme Howard, recently the British Ambassador to the United States. His own great-grandfather in turn, was at the age of sixteen attached as Lieutenant to the regiment of his kinsman Col. Edward Doyley when he set out on the original Cromwellian Expedition that seized Jamaica in 1655. The Secretary of the Commissioners dying, young Long succeeded him. This started him on a career that found him Speaker of the House of Assembly of Jamaica at the age of thirty-three and Chief justice of Jamaica at thirty-eight. In the family tree with all its ramifications we find the names of nearly all the leading gentry of the island, and if we trace it back far enough it has a common origin with that of General Washington, the American patriot. Even Sir Henry Morgan, the notorious buccaneer, who on three separate occasions acted as Governor of Jamaica, was connected with the Long family by marriage. Edward Long, the historian, was born in England, but went to Jamaica in 1757 at the age of twenty-three. He was a member of the Jamaica Assembly from 1761 to 1768, and its Speaker for a time. Shortly afterwards he returned to England and died there in 1813.--Cfr. Robert Mobray Howard, Records and Letters of the Family of the Longs of Longville, Jamaica, and Hampton Lodge, Surrey, London, 1925, Vol. I, p. 119 ff. Bryan Edwards' supposition that the Report was chiefly the work of Edward Long is strengthened by a letter written by his daughter Jane Catherine Long to her brother Edward Beeston Long, under date of March 6, 1785, where we read in the postscript: "You must not expect to hear from my Father. He is obliged every day either to attend Mr. Pitt or a West India Committee."--l. c., Vol. I, p. 178.]

{p. 109} Treatment of slaves in the West Indies, and all circumstances relating thereto, digested under certain heads, and begins with a consideration of Jamaica, and as noted, the information is furnished by "Stephen Fuller, Agent for Jamaica, and assisted by Mr. Long and Mr. Chisholm. Questions 22 to 26 are as follows:-"Whether Negroes called Obeah men, or under any other denomination, practicing Witchcraft, exist in the Island of Jamaica? "By what arts or by what means, do these Obeah men cause the deaths, or otherwise injure those who are supposed to be influenced thereby; and what are the symptons {sic} and effects that have been observed to be produced in people, who are supposed to be under the influence of their practice? "Are the instances of death and diseases produced by these arts or means frequent? "Are these arts or means brought by the Obeah men from Africa, or are they inventions which have been originated in the islands? "Whether any or what laws exist in the island of Jamaica for the punishment, and what evidence is generally required for their conviction?" The answer to this questionnaire follows. "The term Obeah, Obiah, or Obia (for it is variously written), we conceive to be the adjective, and the Obe or Obi the noun substantive; and that by the words Obiah-men and women, are meant those who practice Obi. The origin of the term we should consider of no importance in our answer to the questions proposed, if, in search of it, we were not led to disquisitions that are highly gratifying to curiosity. From the learned Mr. Bryant's ' Commentary on the word Oph, we obtain a very probable etymology of the term: 'A serpent, in the Egyptian language, was called Ob or Aub.'--'Obion is still the Egyptian name for a serpent.''--Moses, in the Name of God,

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MAGICAL 333 forbids the Israelites even to enquire of the daemon Ob, which is translated in our Bible, charmer or wizard, divinator aut sortilegus.'--'The woman at Endor is called [2. Mythology, Vol. I, p. 48, 475, and 478.]

{p. 110} Oub or Ob, translated pythonissa, and Oubaios (he cites from Horus Apollo) was the name of the basilisk or royal serpent, emblem of the sun, and an ancient oracular deity of Africa."[3] "This derivation which applies to one particular sect, the remnant probably of a very celebrated religious order in remote ages, is now become in Jamaica the general term to denote those Africans who in the island practice witchcraft or sorcery, comprehending also the class of what are called Myal men, or those who by means of a narcotic potion made with the juice of a herb (said to be the branched calalue or species of solarium) which occasions a trance or profound sleep of a certain duration, endeavour to convince the deluded spectators of their power to reanimate dead bodies. "As far as we are able to decide from our own experience and information when we lived in the island, and from concurrent testimony of all the Negroes we have ever conversed with on the subject, the professors of Obi are, and always were, natives of Africa, and none other, and they have brought the science with [3. Note:--Cfr. also, The Discoverie of Witchcraft: proving that the compacts and contracts of witches with devils and all infernal spirits or familiars are but erroneous novelties and imaginary conceptions. . . . By Reginald Scot Esquire. Whereto is added an. excellent discourse of the nature and substance of devils and spirits, in two books. . . . London, 1665.--p. 71: "Book, VII. Chapter I. Of the Hebrew word Ob, what it signifieth where it is found: Of Pythonisses called Ventriloquae, who they be, and what their practices are; experience and examples thereof shewed. This word Ob. is translated Python, or Pvthonicus spiritus; sometimes, though unproperly, Magus. . . . But Ob signifieth most properly a Bottle. and is used in this place, because the Pythonists spoke hollow. as, in the bottom of their bellies; whereby they are aptly in Latin called Ventriloqui; . . . These are such as take upon them to give oracles, etc." Reginald Scot's work first appeared in 1584. and provoked a reply from no less a personage than King James I of England, whose treatise Demonologie, in forme of a Dialogue, Divided into three Bookes, Edinburgh, 1587, expressly declared itself "against the damnable opinions of two principally in an age, whereof the one called Scot an Englishman, is not ashamed in public print to deny that there can be such a thing as Witchcraft: and so maintains the old error of the Sadducces, in denying of spirits, etc." Montague Summer, who edited a new edition of Scot in 1930, says in his introduction, p. xxviii: "That Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft is both historically and as a literary curiosity a book of the greatest value and interest, no one, I suppose, would dispute or deny." While not quoted as such. Scot in all probability was the source from which is the entire theory of the Egyptian Ob being the origin of the term Obeah. However, as shown elsewhere, Hebrewisms of West Africa, p. 13 ff., the word Ob did not originate with the Egyptian but may he traced back to the Canaanites from whom the Egyptians as well as the Hebrews derived it and if there is any value at all in this suggested derivation. it would be at most the indication of an Hebraic influence on the parent stock of the Ashanti from whom, as we shall see shortly, West India Obeah is directly derived.]

{p. 111}

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MAGICAL 333 them from thence to Jamaica, where it is so universally practiced, that we believe there are few of the larger Estates possessing native Africans, which have not one or more of them. The oldest and most crafty are those who usually attract the greatest devotion and confidence, those whose hoary heads, and something peculiarly harsh and diabolic in their aspect, together with some skill in plants of the medicinal and poisonous species, have qualified them for successful imposition upon the weak and credulous. The Negroes in general, whether Africans or Creoles, revere, consult, and abhor them; to these oracles they resort and with the most implicit faith, upon all occasions, whether for the cure of disorders, the obtaining of revenge for injuries or insults, the conciliating of favour, the discovery and punishment of the thief or the adulterer, and the predicting of future events. The trade which these wretches carry on is extremely lucrative; they manufacture and sell their Obies adapted to different cases and at different prices. A veil of mystery is studiously thrown over their incantations, to which the midnight hours are allotted, and every precaution is taken to conceal them from the knowledge and discovery of the white people. The deluded Negroes, who thoroughly believe in their supernatural power, become the willing accomplices in this concealment, and the stoutest among them tremble at the very sight of the ragged bundle, the bottle or the eggshells, which are stuck to the thatch or hung over the door of the hut, or upon the branch of a plantain tree, to deter marauders. In case of poison, the natural effects of it are by the ignorant Negroes ascribed entirely to the potent workings of Obi. The wiser Negroes hesitate to reveal their suspicions, through a dread of incurring the terrible vengeance which is fulminated by the Obeah men against any who should betray them; it is very difficult therefore for the white proprietor to distinguish the Obia professor from any other Negro upon his plantation; and so infatuated are the blacks in general, that but few instances occur of their having assumed courage enough to impeach these miscreants. With minds so firmly prepossessed, they no sooner find Obi set for them near the door of their house, or in the path which leads to it. than {p. 112} they give themselves up for lost. When a negro is robbed of a fowl or a hog, he applies directly to the Obiah-man or woman; it is then made known among his fellow Blacks, that Obi is set for the thief; and as soon as the latter hears the dreadful news, his terrified imagination begins to work, no resource is left but to the superior skill of some more eminent Obiah-man of the neighbourhood, who may counteract the magical operations of the other; but if no one can be found of higher rank and ability, or if after gaining such an ally he should still fancy himself affected, he presently falls into a decline, under the incessant horror of impending calamities. The slightest painful sensation in the head, the bowels, or any other part, any casual loss or hurt, confirms his apprehensions, and he believes himself the devoted victim of an invisible and irresistible agency. Sleep, appetite, and cheerfulness, forsake him, his strength decays, his disturbed imagination is haunted without respite, his features wear the settled gloom of despondency; dirt, or any other unwholesome substance, becomes his only food, he contracts a morbid habit of body, and gradually sinks into the grave. A Negro who is ill, enquires of the Obiah-man the cause of the sickness, whether it will prove mortal or not, and within what time he shall die or recover? The oracle generally ascribes the distemper to the malice of some particular person by name, and advises to set Obi for that person; but if no hopes are given for recovery, immediate despair takes place, which no medicine can remove, and death is the certain consequence. Those anomalous symptoms, which originate from causes deeply rooted in the

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MAGICAL 333 mind, such as terrors of Obi, or from poisons whose operation is slow and intricate, will baffle the skill of the ablest physician. "Considering the multitude of occasions which may provoke the Negroes to exercise the powers of Obi against each other, and the astonishing influence of this superstition upon their minds, we cannot but attribute a very considerable portion of the annual mortality among the Negroes of Jamaica to this fascinating mischief. "The Obi is usually composed of a farrago of materials most of {p. 113} which are enumerated in the Jamaica Law (Act 24, Sect. 10, passed 1760), viz. 'Blood, feathers, parrots beaks, dogs teeth, alligators teeth, broken bottles, grave dirt, rum, and eggshells.' . . . "It may seem extraordinary, that a practice alleged to be so frequent in Jamaica should not have received an earlier check from the Legislature. The truth is that the skill of some Negroes in the art of poisoning has been noticed ever since the colonists became much acquainted with them. Sloane and Barham, who practiced physic in Jamaica in the last century, have mentioned particular instances of it. The secret and insidious manner in which this crime is generally perpetrated, makes the legal proof extremely difficult. Suspicions therefore have been frequent, but detections rare. These murderers have sometimes been brought to justice, but it is reasonable to believe that a far greater number have escaped with impunity. In regard to the other and more common tricks of Obi, such as hanging up feathers, bottles, eggshells, &e. &c. in order to intimidate Negroes of a thievish disposition from plundering huts, hog-styes, or provision grounds, these were laughed at by the white inhabitants as harmless stratagems, contrived by the more sagacious for deterring the more simple and superstitious Blacks, and serving for much the same purpose as the scarecrows which are in general use among our English farmers and gardeners. But in the year 1760, when a very formidable insurrection of the Koromantin or Gold Coast Negroes broke out in the parish of St. Mary, and spread through almost every other district of the Island; an old Koromantin Negro, the chief instigator and oracle of the insurgents in that Parish, who bad administered the fetish or solemn oath to the conspirators, and furnished them with a magical preparation which was to render them invulnerable, was fortunately apprehended, convicted, and hung up with all his feathers and trumperies about him; and this execution struck the insurgents with a general panic, from which they never afterwards recovered. The examinations which were taken at that period first opened the eyes of the public to the very dangerous tendency of the Obiah practices, and gave birth to the law which was then enacted for their suppression and punishment. {p. 114} But neither the terror of the Law, the strict investigation which has ever since been made after the professors of Obi, nor the many examples of those who from time to time have been hanged or transported, have hitherto produced the desired effect. We conclude, therefore, that either this sect, like others in the world, has flourished under persecution, or that fresh supplies are annually introduced from the African seminaries. . . .

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MAGICAL 333 "We have the following narratives from a planter in Jamaica, a gentleman of the strictest veracity, who is now in London, and ready to attest the truth of them. "Upon returning to Jamaica in the year 1775, he found a great many of his Negroes had died during his absence; and that of such as remained alive, a least one-half were debilitated, bloated, and in a very deplorable condition. The mortality continued after his arrival, and two or three were frequently buried in one day, others were taken ill, and began to decline under the same symptoms. Every means were tried by medicines, and the most careful nursing, to preserve the lives of the feeblest; but in spite of all his endeavours, the depopulation went on for above a twelvemonth longer, with more or less intermission, and without his being able to ascertain the real cause, though the Obiah practice was strongly suspected, as well by himself as by the doctor and other white persons upon the plantation, as it was known to have been very common in that part of the island. Still he was unable to verify his suspicions, because the patients constantly denied having anything to do with persons of that order, or any knowledge of them. At length a Negress who had been ill for some time, came one day and informed him, that feeling that it was impossible for her to live much longer, she thought herself bound in duty before she died, to impart a very great secret, and acquaint him with the true cause of her disorder, in hopes that the disclosure might prove the means of stopping that mischief which had already swept away such a number of her fellow-slaves. She proceeded to say, that her step-mother (a woman of the Popo[4] country, above [4. Note:--As this woman came from the Popo country, one would immediately classify her as a Dahoman, but there is every possibility that she may have been {footnote p. 115} an Ashanti or from some other tribe, brought from the interior after capture. A slave was generally spoken of, not by the name of the tribe from which he had originally come, but from the district of the African coast-line whence he had been shipped.]

{p. 115} eighty years old, but still hale and active) had put Obi upon her, as she had also done upon those who had lately died, and that the old woman had practiced Obi for as many years past as she could remember. "The other Negroes of the plantation no sooner heard of this impeachment, than they ran in a body to their master, and confirmed the truth of it, adding that she had carried on this business sit-ice her arrival from Africa and was the terror of the whole neighborhood. Upon this he repaired directly with six white servants to the old woman's house, and forcing open the door, observed the whole inside of the roof (which was of thatch), and every crevice of the walls stuck with the implements of her trade, consisting of rags, feathers, bones of cats, and a thousand other articles. Examining further, a large earthen pot or jar, close covered, was found concealed under her bed.--It contained a prodigious quantity of round balls of earth or clay of various dimensions, large and small, whitened on the outside, and variously compounded, some with hair and rags and feathers of all sorts, and strongly bound with twine; others blended with the upper section of the skulls of cats, or stuck round with cats teeth and claws, or with human or dogs teeth, and some glass beads of different colours; there were also a great many eggshells filled with a viscous or gummy substance, the qualities of which he neglected to examine, and many little

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MAGICAL 333 bags stuffed with a variety of articles the particulars of which cannot at this distance of time be recollected. The house was instantly pulled down, and with the whole of its contents committed to the flames, amidst the general acclamation of all the other Negroes. In regard to the old woman, he declined bringing her to trial under the Law of the island, which would have punished her with death; but from a principle of humanity, delivered her into the hands of a party of Spaniards, who (as she was thought not incapable of doing some trifling kind of work) were very glad to accept and carry her with them to {p. 116} Cuba. From the moment of her departure, his Negroes seemed all to be animated with new spirits, and the malady spread no further among them. The total of his losses in the course of about fifteen years preceding the discovery, and imputable solely to the Obiah practice, he estimates, at the least, at one hundred Negroes. . . . "The following paper relating to the Obeah man in Jamaica, was delivered by Mr. Rheder. "Obeah men are the oldest and most artful Negroes; a peculiarity marks them, and every Negro pays the greatest respect to them, they are perfectly well acquainted with medicinal herbs, and know the poisonous ones, which they often use. To prepossess the stranger in favor of their skill, he is told that they can restore the dead to life; for this purpose he is shown a Negro apparently dead, who, by dint of their art, soon recovers; this is produced by administering the narcotic juice of vegetables. On searching one of the Obeah men's houses, was found many bags filled with parts of animals, vegetables, and earth, which the Negroes who attended at the sight of, were struck with terror, and begged that they might be christened, which was done, and the impression was done away. In consequence of the rebellion of the Negroes in the year 1760, a Law was enacted that year to render the practice of Obiah, death. "The influence of the Professors of that art was such as to induce many to enter into that rebellion on the assurance that they were invulnerable, and to render them so, the Obeah man gave them a powder with which they were to rub themselves. "On the first engagement with the rebels nine of them were killed, and many prisoners taken; among the prisoners was a very sensible fellow, who offered to discover many important matters, on condition that his life should be spared, which was promised. He then related the part the Obeah man had taken, one of whom was capitally convicted and sentenced to death. At the place of execution he bid defiance to his executioner, telling him that it was not in the power of white people to kill him; and the Negro spectators were astonished when they saw {p. 117} him expire. On the other Obeah men, various experiments were made with electrical machines and magic lanterns, which produced very little effect; except on one who, after receiving many severe shocks, acknowledged his master's Obeah exceeded his own.

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MAGICAL 333 "I remember sitting twice on trials of Obeah men, who were convicted of selling their nostrums, which had produced death. To prove the fact, two witnesses are necessary, with corroborating circumstances." As regards Barbados in this same Report, Mr. Braithwaite, Agent for the Assembly of the Island, stated: "Negroes formerly called Obeah men, but now more commonly called Doctors, do exist in Barbados, but I understand that they are not so many at present as formerly, and that the number has diminished greatly in the course of the last twenty years." The Council of the Island answered the same question: "There is hardly any estate in the island in which there is not some old man or woman who affects to possess some supernatural power. These are called Obeah Negroes, and by the superstitious Negroes much feared." As regards the origin of Obeah, Mr. Braithwaite answered: "Most undoubtedly imported with them from Africa." The Council replied: "It has been so long known here, that the origin is difficult to trace, but the professors are as often natives as Africans." The investigation concerning Antigua elicited the information that a few Obeah men were still to be found there though in decreasing numbers. Also that "the arts and means they use seem to operate on the mind rather than on the body; for though it has been supposed that they have occasionally been guilty of administering poison, Dr. Adair has never had just ground for believing that any disease could be traced to this cause, though he does not deny the probability of it." Mr. Spooner, the Agent for the Islands of Grenada and St. Christopher, testified: "Obeah among the Negroes must be considered in the same light as witchcraft, second-sight, and other pretended supernatural gifts and communication among white men, with this difference only, that in proportion as the understanding of the Negroes are less cultivated and informed, and {p. 118} consequently weaker than those of white men, the impressions made on their minds by Obeah are much stronger, more lasting, and attended with more extraordinary effects." And further: "Obeah has its origin in Africa, and is practiced entirely by natives from thence: the creole Negroes, seldom, if ever, laying any pretensions to it." Strange as it may seem, even at the date of this Report, 1789, practically nothing was known of Obeah which had already begun to threaten the white rule in Jamaica. They were satisfied to accept it as the remnant of "a very celebrated religious order in remote ages." It was a reflection of the distant Egyptian Ob of antiquity, etc. The Council of Barbados alone was awake to the fact that Obeah is itself a vital, living force; that it is self perpetuating. Elsewhere it is taken for granted that Obeah men are to be found solely among "salt-water" Negroes; that with the abolition of the slave trade, Obeah must of necessity die a natural death, as the race of imported Obeah men become extinct. Even in Jamaica, up to the rebellion of 1760, Obeah occasioned nothing more than scornful mirth at the absurd superstitions of the blacks, and yet for more than a century, a terrible menace

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MAGICAL 333 had been gathering force and threatening to obliterate the civilization and the morality of the island. Mary H. Kingsley, in reference to that part of West Africa which had been described by Colonel Ellis, remarks: "From this one district we have two distinct cults of fetish in the West Indies, Voudou and Obeah (Tchanga and Wanga). Voudou itself is divided into two sects, the white and the red--the first a comparatively harmless one, requiring only the sacrifice of, at the most, a white cock or a white goat, whereas the red cult only uses the human sacrifice--the goat, without horns. Obeah on the other hand kills only by poison--does not show the blood at all. And there is another important difference between Voudou and Obeah, and that is that Voudou requires for the celebration of its rites a priestess and a priest. Obeah can be worked by either alone, and is Dot tied to the presence of the snake. Both these cults have sprung {p. 119} from slaves imported from Ellis's district, Obeah from slaves bought at Koromantin mainly, and Voudou from those bought at Dahomey. Nevertheless it seems to me these good people have differentiated their religion in the West Indies considerably; for example, in Obeah the spider (anansi) has a position given it equal to that of the snake in Voudou. Now the spider is all very well in West Africa; round him there has grown a series of most amusing stories, always to be told through the nose, and while you crawl about; but to put him on a plane with the snake in Dahomey is absurd, his equivalent there is the turtle, also a focus for many tales, only more improper tales, and not half so amusing."[5] Here Miss Kingsley is as much in error when she associates Obeah with serpent worship, as she is when she ascribes to the Anansi of Jamaica any rôle at variance with his established place in Ashanti folklore.[6] W. P. Livingston has well said "Obeahism runs like. a black thread of mischief through the known history of the race. It is the result of two conditions, an ignorant and superstitious receptivity on the one hand, and on the other, sufficient intelligence and cunning to take advantage of this quality. The Obeah Man is any Negro who gauges the situation and makes it his business to work on the fears of his fellows. He claims the possession of occult authority, and professes to have the power of taking or saving life, of causing or curing disease, of bringing ruin or creating prosperity, of discovering evil-doers; or vindicating the innocent. His implements are a few odd scraps, such as cock's [5. Mary H. Kingsley, West African Studies, London, 1899, p. 139. 6. Note:--Captain Rattray, Ashanti, p. 162, shows that Miss Kingsley was not familiar with the Ashanti language and attributes much to fetishism that has nothing whatever to do with the subject. in one place he naïvely remarks that it is fortunate that she could not understand what seemed to interest her very much. As to the information which she honestly thought that she was picking up from her West Indian informants, it is well to remember that the Jamaican, like our Southern Negroes, or I suppose any other child of Africa, is only too ready to furnish just the information that is most desired, especially if he is being paid for results. As a Resident Magistrate in Jamaica once said: "The real Jamaican in a Court of Law is essentially afraid of the truth, and seems to prefer to lose a case than abide by facts." When it comes to Obeah and the like he is even more reticent and deceptive with the "bockrah Masser"--

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MAGICAL 333 white Master--and the real child of the "bush" will either assure you: "Me no belieb Obi, Sah!" or else will greet you with the laconic: "Me no no, Sah!"--I don't know.]

{p. 120} feathers, rags, bones, bits of earth from graves, and so on. The incantations with which he accompanies his operations are merely a mumble of improvised jargon. His real advantage in the days of slavery lay in his knowledge and use of poisonous plants. Poisoning does not now enter his practices to any extent, but the fear he inspires among the ignorant is intense, and the fact that he has turned his attention to particular persons is often sufficient to deprive them of reason. Obeahism is a superstition at once simple, foolish, and terrible, still vigorous, but in former times as powerful an agent as slavery itself in keeping the nature debased."[7] The Jamaica term Obeah is unquestionably derived from the Ashanti word Obayifo, which according to Captain Rattray signifies "a wizard, or more generally a witch."[8] As noted else where:[9] "An Ashanti legend runs as follows. When Big Massa was busy with the work of creation, it happened that the little monkey Efo was making himself generally useful, and when the task was accomplished, he asked Big Massa that, in return for the help rendered, all creatures should bear his name. To this Big Massa acceded to such an extent that henceforth certain classes of creatures added to their proper names the suffix FO, in acknowledgment of the little monkey's part in the work.[10] Such is the Ashanti fable, and hence we find the suffix FO in the names of [7. W. P. Livingston, Black Jamaica, London, 1890, p. 19 f. Note:--The power of fear is well illustrated by an example given by Lillian Eichler, The Customs of Mankind, London, 1925, p. 631: "Superstition caused Ferdinand IV to die of fright. The story is that in 1312 Peter and John Carvajal were condemned to death for murder on circumstantial evidence. They were sentenced to be thrown from the summit to jagged rocks below. Ferdinand IV, then King of Spain, resisted obstinately every attempt to induce him to grant a pardon. Standing upon the spot from which they were to be thrown, the two men called upon God to witness their innocence, appealing to His high tribunal to prove it. They summoned the King to appear before this tribunal in thirty days. His Majesty laughed at the summons and gave the sign to proceed with the execution. In a few days the King fell ill. He retired to his country residence, ostensibly to rest, but really to shake off remembrance of the summons which somehow persisted. He could not be diverted. He became more and more ill, and on the thirtieth day he was found dead in bed--a victim to the mysterious dread which had gripped his heart from the moment the summons had been uttered." Some such fear works its effect in Obeah. 8. R. S. Rattray, Ashanti Proverbs, Oxford, 1916, p. 48. 9. Williams, Hebrewisms of West Africa, p. 17 f. 10. Cfr. Rattray, Ashanti Proverbs, p. 54.]

{p. 121} peoples, nation and occupations. Dropping the suffix, then, from Obayifo, the resulting Obayi, as heard from the lips of the Koromantin slaves (shown to be Ashanti, at least as regards their leading spirits), was variously rendered by the Jamaican whites as obeah, obia, etc. For even now there is no agreement as to the correct spelling of the word. . . . Both with the Ashanti themselves and their descendants in Jamaica the word is commonly shortened into Obi. Thus we find the

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MAGICAL 333 Obi country referred to in the history of the Ashanti Fetish Priest, Okomfo-Anotchi, that is Anotchi the priest. About the year 1700 after committing a capital offence, as Captain Rattray tells us, he 'fled for his life to the Obi country. Here he had made a study of fetish medicine and became the greatest fetish-man the Ashanti have ever had.' Referring to the Obi country, Rattray notes: 'I have so far been unable to trace this place, but to this day in Ashanti any big fetish priest is called Obi Okomfo, that is, Obi Priest.' So also in Jamaica, in the practice of Obeah, the natives 'make obi' even today." Captain Rattray, whose scholarly works on the Ashanti really led the way to a complete revolution in the study and evaluation of West Africa customs, fearlessly abandoned the trodden path of narrow prejudice and a priori reasoning of the Spencerian School, and literally reconstructed the entire system of scientific research among the Negro tribes. We cannot do better then, than to study in some detail the Ashanti prototype of the Jamaica Obeah as described by so discriminating a scholar, who knows nothing of the bearings his observations will have on Jamaica witchcraft, but is conscientiously setting down the facts as he sees them in his own chosen field where he is the undisputed master.[11] [11. Note:--Previously, Ellis, Dennett and Miss Kingsley held complete sway, despite the fact that they were utterly unqualified for the task that they had undertaken. Stephen Septimus Farrow well adjudges their claims to credibility in his thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, in 1924. This Essay drew from Dr. R. R. Marett, Rector of Exeter College, Oxford, the encomium: "Dr. Farrow, I think, has disposed of the all-toofacile explanations of earlier investigators."--Faith, Fancies and Fetish, or Yoruba Paganism, p. vii. Of Col. Ellis, Farrow asserts, p. 5: "It is, unfortunately, not possible to exonerate the gallant colonel from a measure of antiChristian bias, which at times leads him to jump to conclusions which are scientifically untrue." Concerning Dennett and Miss Kingsley, he writes, p. 5: "Mr. Dennett was intimately known to the writer, whose wife was first cousin {footnote p. 122} to this gentleman. Mr. Dennett never learned to speak the language, but wrote down Yoruba words as given to him by others; but, as he went openly to priests and keepers of shrines and asked direct questions, this thoroughly British and un-African method of inquiry was very likely, indeed certain, at times to lead to imperfect, and, not seldom untrue answers. Mr. Dennett's interpretations, deductions and conclusions are often at fault, owing to his poor acquaintance with the language, and also to the very free play he gave to his imagination. This is very prominent in his pamphlet, My Yoruba Alphabet. . . . It is also to be remembered that Dennett and Miss Kingsley alike borrow from Ellis and are influenced to some extent by his ideas." Despite the fact that Ellis published grammars of more than one West African language, he was forced to do his work through an interpreter as he never acquired a conversational knowledge of any one of the languages about which he wrote.]

{p. 122} Captain Rattray is unequivocally of the opinion that the Ashanti worship a Supreme Being, Onyame.[12] Furthermore he states: "I am convinced that the conception in the Ashanti mind, of a Supreme Being, has nothing whatever to do with missionary influence, nor is it to be ascribed to contact with Christians or even, I believe, with Mohammedans."[13] Bosman had noticed at the beginning of the eighteenth century as regards certain West African tribes: "By reason God is invisible, they say it would be absurd to make any corporeal representation of him . . . wherefore they have such multitudes of images of their idol gods, which they take to be subordinate deities [12. Rattray, Ashanti Proverbs, p. 18. Also, R. S. Rattray, Ashanti, Oxford, 1923, p. 139.

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MAGICAL 333 13. Rattray, Ashanti, p. 140. Note:--Rattray had previously written, Ashanti Proverbs, p. 19 f.: "In Ashanti, in remote bush villages, buried away in impenetrable forest, and as yet even untouched by European and missionary influence, it would seem incredible that the Christian idea of a one and Supreme Being should, if a foreign element of only some two or three hundred years' growth, have taken such deep root as to effect their folklore, traditions, customs, and the very sayings and proverbs with which their language abounds. These proverbs and traditions, moreover, which speak of and contain references to a Supreme Being, are far more commonly known among the greybeards, elders, and the fetish priestly class themselves than among the rising younger generation, grown up among the new influences and often trained in the very precincts of a mission. Fetishism and monotheism would at first sight appear the very antithesis of each other, but a careful investigation of facts will show that here in Ashanti it is not so." Of the Ashanti Proverbs given by Rattray we need quote only the following: Proverbs #1, 10, 15: p. 17 ff.: "Of all the wide earth, Onyame is the elder." "The words that Onyame had beforehand ordained, a human being does not alter." "All men are the children of Onyame, no one is a child of earth." Rattray further shows that this Supreme Being has a temple and a regular priesthood, Ashanti, p. 144, for which a three years novitiate is required, Religion and Art in Ashanti, Oxford, 1927, p. 45, and the prayer of consecration uttered by the priest begins with the words, l. c., p. 45: "Supreme Being, Who alone is great, it is you who begat me, etc."]

{p. 123} to the Supreme God. . . . and only believe these are mediators betwixt God and men, which they take to be their idols."[14] This condition is verified by Rattray in regard to the Ashanti. He tells us: "In a sense, therefore, it is true that this great Supreme Being, the conception of whom has been innate in the minds of the Ashanti, is the Jehovah of the Israelites. As will be seen presently, every Ashanti temple is a pantheon in which repose the shrines of the gods, but the power or spirit, that on occasions enters into these shrines, is directly or indirectly derived from the one God of the Sky, whose intermediaries they are. Hence we have in Ashanti exactly that 'mixed religion' which we find among the Israelites of old. They worshipped Jehovah, but they worshipped other Gods as well."[15] These intermediary deities engross the chief attention of the Ashanti and their religious system consists principally in their service and veneration. One by one they come into fashion and then pass out of vogue, only perhaps to bob up again if the right individual is found to espouse their cause. Listen to Captain Rattray's description of the origin of one such spiritual entity: "The word shrine is used in this particular context, to designate the potential abode of a superhuman spirit. It consists (generally) of a brass pan or bowl, which contains various ingredients. This pan upon certain definite occasions, becomes the temporary dwelling, or resting-place of a non-human spirit or spirits. . . . "The following is an account, from a reliable source, checked and rechecked from many independent witnesses, of the making and consecration of a shrine for one of the Tano gods. . . . "A spirit may take possession of a man and he may appear to have gone mad, and this state may last sometimes even for a year. Then the priest or some powerful god may be consulted and he may discover, through his god, that it is some spirit which has come upon the man (or woman).

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MAGICAL 333 The one upon whom the spirit has come is now bidden to prepare a brass pan, and collect water, leaves, and 'medicine' of specific kinds. The possessed one will [14. Bosnian, New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea, p. 179 f. 15. Rattray, Ashanti, p. 141.]

{p. 124} dance, for sometimes two days, with short intervals for rest, to the accompaniment of drums and singing. Quite suddenly he will leap into the air and catch something in both his hands (or he may plunge into the river and emerge holding something he has brought up). He will in either case hold this thing to his breast, and water will be at once sprinkled upon it to cool it, when it will be thrust into the brass pan and quickly covered tip. The following ingredients are now prepared: clay from one of the more sacred rivers, like the Tano, and the following medicinal plants and other objects; afema (Justicia flavia), Damabo (Abras precatorius), the bark of the odum, a creeper called hamakyerehene, any root that crosses a path, a projecting stump from under water, the leaves of a tree called aya--these are chosen which are seen to be quivering on the tree even though no wind is shaking them--the leaves, bark and roots of a tree called Bonsam dua (lit. the wizard's tree), a nugget of virgin gold (a gold that has been in use or circulation must not be used), a bodom (so-called aggrey bead), and a long white bead called gyanie. The whole of these are pounded and placed in the pan, along with the original object already inside, while the following incantation or prayer is repeated: 'Supreme Being, upon whom men lean and do not fall, (whose day of observance is a Saturday), Earth Goddess (whose day of worship is Thursday), Leopard, and all beasts and plants of the forest, today is a sacred Friday; and you, Ta Kwesi (the particular god for whom in this case the shrine was being prepared), we are installing you, we are setting you (here), that we may have long life; do not let us get "Death"; do not let us become impotent; life to the head of the village; life to the young men of this village; life to those who bear children, and life to the children of this village. O tree, we call Odum Abena (to whom belongs the silk-cotton tree), we are calling upon you that you may come, one and all, just now, that we may place in this shrine the thoughts that are in our heads. When we call upon you in the darkness, when we call upon you in sunlight, and say, "Do such a thing for us" you will do so. And the laws that we are decreeing for you, this god of ours, are these--if in our time, or in our children's {p. 125} and our grandchildren's time a king should arise from somewhere, and come to us, and say he is going to war, when he tells you, and you well know that should he go to fight he will not gain the victory, you must tell us so; and should you know that he will go and conquer, then also state that truth. And yet again, if a man be ill in the night, or in the daytime, and we raise you aloft and place you upon the head, and we inquire of you saying, "Is So-and-so about to die?" let the cause of the misfortune which you tell him has come upon him be the real cause of the evil and not lies. Today, we all in this town, all our elders, and all our children, have consulted together and agreed without dissent among us, we have all united and with one accord decided to establish your shrine, you, Ta Kwesi, upon this a sacred Friday. We have taken a sheep, and a fowl, we have taken wine, we are about to give them to you that you may reside in this town and preserve 102

MAGICAL 333 its life. From this clay, and so on to any future day, you must not fly and leave us. From this day, to any future day, you, O Tano's fire, in anything that you tell us, do not let it be a lie. Do not put water in your mouth and speak to us. Today you become a god for the chief, today you have become a god for our spirit ancestors. Perhaps upon some tomorrow the Ashanti King may conic and say, "My child So-and-so (or it may be an elder) is sick," and ask you to go with him, or maybe he will send a messenger here for you; in such a case you may go and we will not think that you are fleeing from us. And these words are a voice from the mouth of us all.[3] "The various sacrifices are then made, and in each case the blood is allowed to fall upon the contents in the brass pan. "I have had many similar accounts of the consecration of a new shrine as the temporary home of a new manifestation of a spirit universal and always present, but not subject to control. "It will be noted that other minor spirits or powers of nature are not wholly ignored or neglected, and that all are considered as able in some manner to help the greater spirit that is called upon to guide and assist mankind. "The priests tell me that at times, when the greater emanation of God is not present, that the spirits of some of the lesser ones {p. 126} will flash forth for a moment and disclose their presence. For example, a priest will suddenly burst forth, singing, odomae, die odo me omera ('I am the odoma tree, let him who loves me come hither'). It seems that the priest and priestess, when in the ecstatic condition, are subject to many spirit influences. I have heard a priestess begin to talk in a different dialect from her own. This did not at all surprise the onlookers, who merely said, 'Oh that is the spirit of So-and-so'--a dead priestess of the same god, who had come from another district, and had used that dialect. . . . "Once the ingredients described have been put into the shrine, that is apparently an end of them. They are not directly mentioned, and it is only when the spirit of one of the ingredients the shrine takes charge, as it were, for a moment, that they even considered,"[16] In connection with the Ashanti religious practices there is a strong veneration for ancestors as shown especially in the functions connected with the stools which are supposed to be closely associated with the vital spirit of these forebears. So also we encounter animism in its broadest sense. This is well illustrated in the use of the protective charm or suman which really forms an integral part of the Ashanti religious practice. In describing some "proverb" weights, Rattray calls attention to the fact that they really represent a medicine man sacrificing a fowl to one of the best known charms in Ashanti, the "nkabere charm" and adds, "I once witnessed the making of one of these charms, and the following short account may be of interest. That this

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MAGICAL 333 [16. Rattray, Ashanti, p. 145 ff. Note:--Cfr. also Rattray, l. c., p. 182: "Grouped round the walls of the temple and raised a little from the floor upon their stools were several shrines-all but two of these, I was informed, were now mere empty receptacles. The priests who had formerly tended them when they were active shrines had died, and since then the spirit that had formerly manifested itself within them had ceased to do so. 'Some day this spirit might descend upon someone who would then become their priest.' "Several priests and priestesses I had spoken to told me that this was how they had first become priests. They had been seized with a spirit and had either lost all consciousness or seemingly had become mad. A god would be consulted, and he might say it was an effect of an outpouring of such and such a spirit. in which case, if there were a shrine already, such as had been described, its cult would be once again revived. If no shrine existed, then a new abode would be prepared."]

{p. 127} charm should have been represented shows how generally the rite is seen. "The object upon the ground, over which the offering is being held . . . is known throughout the Ashanti as a charm (suman) called nkabere, and the ceremony the medicine man is here seen performing is the sacrifice of a fowl preparatory to or after the ceremony known as Kyekyere nkabere, lit. to tie or bind the nkabere. The nkabere consists of three sticks: (a) A stick from the tree called bonsam dua, lit. the wizard's tree. (b) A piece of the root of a tree called akwamea, taken where it crosses a path. (c) A stick from the tree called adwin. These three sticks are placed upon the ground, or sometimes upon an inverted pot, along with some pieces out of a sweeping broom. A piece of string is placed on top of all. "The medicine man or priest now retires a few paces and then advances towards the charm with his hands behind his back, crossing one leg over the other as he walks. When he reaches the charm he stands with legs crossed, with his hands still behind his back, and stooping down sprays pepper and guinea grain--which he has in his mouth--over the charm, saying: 'My entwining charm Nkadomako (Note: "A title of Tano. The priest whom I saw performing this rite informed me that he gave his suman all these high-sounding titles to please and flatter it, as if it were really a god."), who seizes strong men, mosquito that trips up (Note: "The word used literally signifies to trip in wrestling.") the great silk-cotton tree, shooting stars that live with the Supreme Being, I have to tell you that So-and-so are coming here about some matter.' Here he takes his hands from behind his back and, stooping down, picks up the sticks and twine. Making a little bundle of the sticks, saying as he does so: 'I bind up their mouths. I bind up their souls, and their gods. I begin with Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.' As he repeats each day he gives a twist of the string round the sticks till he has bound them all together, when he knots the string to keep it from unravelling, ending by saying: 'Whoever comes may {p. 128} this be a match for them.' From time to time a fowl will be offered to this suman. The medicine man or priest will advance upon it with crossed legs and hands held behind the back and perhaps with a whistle in his mouth, to call up the spirits, and will stand over the charm with legs crossed.

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MAGICAL 333 He then holds the fowl by the neck and blows the whistle. This is what is shown in the weight." [17] Thus far we have briefly outlined what might be called the religious atmosphere of the Ashanti. Concomitant with this and essentially antagonistic to it, we have another condition of affairs which may be summed up as witchcraft. Of this phase of life, Rattray says: "Witchcraft was essentially the employment of antisocial magic. The belief in its general prevalence was largely due to the fact that certain forms of illness resulting in death could not otherwise be accounted for. There appears to be considerable logic in regarding killing by witchcraft as akin to murder, even if its classification as such by the Ashanti was not directly due to an acknowledgment of a fact which was in many cases true, i. e. that poison in some form or other was often an important stock-in-trade of the professed witch."[18] As already stated, the Ashanti word for witch was Obayifo, and they have the proverb, "Obayifo oreko e! obayifo oreko e! na wonye obayifo a, wuntwa wo ani.--A witch is passing! a witch is passing! (someone cries), but if you are not a witch you do not turn your eyes to look."[19] This mysterious being is thus described by Rattray: "Obayifo, Deriv. bayi, sorcery (synonymous term ayen), a wizard, or more generally witch. A kind of human vampire, [17. Rattray, Ashanti, p. 310. 18. Rattray, Ashanti Law and Constitution, Oxford, 1929, p. 313. Note:--The association of poison with witchcraft is not peculiar to the Ashanti. It is recurrent throughout the history of magic. Thus Theocritus, writing in the third century B. C., describes a scene at Cos where a fire spell is laid against a neglectful lover by a maid whose affections have been spurned. Before a statue of Hecate, barley-meal, bay-leaves, a waxen puppet, and some bran are successively burned with appropriate incantations. Then follows a libation and the burning of herbs and a piece of the fringe of her lover's cloak. The ashes are to be rubbed by an attendant on the lintel of the lover. The maid's soliloquy shows that should her incantations fail to win back the faithless one, she has poisons in reserve to prevent his affections being bestowed elsewhere.--Cfr. J. M. Edmonds, The Greek Bucolic Poets, London, 1916, p. 24 ff.; Theocritus, The Spell. 19. Rattray, Ashanti Proverbs, p. 53.]

{p. 129} whose chief delight is to suck the blood of children whereby the latter pine and die. "Men and women possessed of this black magic are credited with volitant powers, being able to quit their bodies and travel great distances in the night. Besides sucking the blood of victims, they are supposed to be able to extract the sap and juices of crops. (Cases of coco blight are ascribed to the work of the obayifo.) These witches are supposed to be very common and a man never knows but that his friend or even his wife may be one. When prowling at night they are supposed to emit a phosphorescent light from the armpits and anus. An obayifo in everyday life is supposed to be known by having sharp shifty eyes, that are never at rest, also by showing an undue interest in food, and always talking about it, especially meat, and hanging about when cooking is going on, all of which habits are therefore purposely avoided. A man will seldom deny another, even a stranger, a morsel of what he may be eating, or a hunter a little bit of raw

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MAGICAL 333 meat to anyone asking it, hoping thereby to avoid the displeasure of anyone who, for all he can tell, is a witch or wizard. "The obayifo can also enter animals, etc., e. g. buffalo, elephant, snakes, and cause them to kill people. The obayifo is discovered by a process analogous to the 'smelling out' of witches among the Zulu, i. e. the 'carrying of the corpse'. Witches and wizards are guarded against by a suman, and a little raw meat or other food is frequently placed at the entrance to a village for them to partake of. This offering also frequently takes the form of a bunch of palm nuts pinned down to the ground with a stick."[20] Hence the proverb: "Obayifo kum wadi-wamma-me, na onkum wama me-na-esua.--The sorcerer kills (by magic) the one who eats and gives him nothing, but he does not kill him who eats and gives him (even) a little piece."[21] Another Ashanti proverb runs: "Sasabonsam ko ayi a, osoe obayifo fi.--When a sasabonsam (devil) goes to attend a funeral, he lodges at a witch's house. 1~ 2 "This Sasabonsam will be met with [20. Rattray, Ashanti Proverbs, p. 47. 21. Ditto, p. 53. 22 Ditto, p. 47.]

{p. 130} again in Jamaica. Rattray here remarks well to our purpose: "Sasabonsam, Deriv. bonsam, a devil, or evil spirit (not the disembodied soul of any particular person, just as the fetish is not a human spirit). Its power is purely for evil and witchcraft. The obayifo is perhaps its servant as the terms are sometimes synonymous. Sasa or sesa is the word used for a person being possessed of a spirit or devil (oye no sesa)." 23 And again: "The Sasabonsam of the Gold Coast and Ashanti is a monster which is said to inhabit parts of the dense virgin forests. It is covered with long hair, has large blood-shot eyes, long legs, and feet pointing both ways. It sits on high branches of an odum or onyina tree and dangles its legs, with which at times it hooks up the unwary hunter. It is hostile to man, and is supposed to be essentially at enmity with the real priestly class. Hunters who go to the forest and are never heard of again--as sometimes happens-are supposed to have been caught by Sasabonsam. All of them are in league with abayifo (witches), and with the mmotia, in other words, with the workers in black magic. As we have seen, however, and will see again farther on, their power is sometimes solicited to add power to the suman (fetish), not necessarily with a view to employing that power for purposes of witchcraft, but rather the reverse. I cannot help thinking that the original Sasabonsam may possibly have been a gorilla. Under the heading of Witchcraft we shall see how the Sasabonsam's aid is solicited to defeat and to detect the very evil with which he is thought to be associated indirectly."[24] That the Ashanti clearly distinguished between religious practices and witchcraft is evidenced by the following observation of Rattray: "From the information at our disposal, we now know that 106

MAGICAL 333 the Ashanti makes a distinction between the following: the okomfo (priest) the sumankwafo or dunseni (the medicine man); and the Bonsam komfo (witch doctor). The word okomfo, without any further qualification, refers to a priest of one of the orthodox abosom (gods). We see, however, that a witch doctor [23. Ditto, p. 47. 24. Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, p. 28.]

{p. 131} is allowed the same name as a kind of honorary title or degree, being known as a Bayi komfo (a priest of witchcraft). Again, the ordinary medical practitioners are never termed okomfo, they are sumankwafo, dealers in suman; or dunsefo, workers in roots; or odu'yefo, workers in medicine."[25] Clearly defined Ashanti witchcraft, then, as a practice of black [25. Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, p. 39. Note:--Despite the fact, then, that in theory witchcraft is antagonistic to their religion, the Ashanti, as is so common elsewhere, in practical life blend the two without qualm or scruple. A further instance of this is found in the case of the talking drums. The first time a drummer uses them oil a particular day, he begins by pouring a few drops of wine on the edges as he invokes the various parts of the drums and invites them to drink and concludes: Rattray, Ashanti, p. 264 f.: "Obayifo, gye nsa nom (Witch accept wine and drink). Asase, gye nsa nom (Earth deity accept wine and drink). Onyankopon Tweaduampon Bonyame, gye nsa nom (Supreme Being Nyankopon, Tweaduampon Creator, accept wine and drink)." Then in connection with the drum history of the Mampon division of Ashanti, Rattray tells us, l. c.: "Before the serious business of drumming the name of the chiefs begins, the spirits of the various materials, which have gone towards the making of the composite drum, are each propitiated in turn, and these spirits are summoned to enter for a while that material which was once a portion of their habitation. The drums thus, for a time, become the abode of the spirits of forest trees and of the 'mighty elephant.' The deities of Earth and Sky are called upon in like manner. Even the hated and dreaded witches (abayifo), who prey upon the human body and gnaw the vitals and hearts of men (just as humans partake of meat and other food), are not forgotten, lest in anger they might seize upon the drummer's wrists and cause him to make mistakes. A drummer who falters and 'speaks' a wrong word is liable to a fine of a sheep, and if persistently at fault he might, in the past, have had an ear cut off." The prelude referred to above precedes every drum "piece," and closes with the invocation of the witches which is thus translated by Rattray, Ashanti, p. 280: "Oh Witch, do not slay me, Adwo,* Spare me, Adwo, The divine drummer declares that, When he rises from the dawn, He will sound (his drums) for you in the morning, Very early, Very early, Very early, Verly {sic} early, Oh Witch that slays the children of men before they are fully matured, Oh Witch that slays the children of men before they are fully matured, The divine drummer declares that, When he rises with the dawn, He will sound his drums for you in the morning, Very early, Very early, Very early, Verly {sic} early,

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MAGICAL 333 We are addressing you, And you will understand." * Note:--"A title of respect given to chiefs, by women to their husbands, and children to their elders." This same introduction of an evil influence into a good or "lucky" charm is indicated in the following news item taken from the PHILADELPHIA EVENING TELEGRAM for August 7, 1884: "The left hind foot of a graveyard rabbit, which has a potent influence among the Southern Negroes has been presented to Governor Cleveland as a talisman in the campaign. The rabbit from which the foot was taken was shot on the grave of Jesse James."]

{p. 132} magic, is in theory at least essentially antagonistic to religion in any form, and as clearly dissociated from the making of a suman, which may be regarded as white magic, as its practitioner, the Obayifo, is distinguished from the medicine man Sumankwafo. Nevertheless, the title Bayi komfo, a priest of witchcraft, would indicate that even in Ashanti, there has developed a phase of what might be called devil-worship in as much as the Sasabonsam, or devil, is so closely associated with witches.[26] In all this, however, we do not find any real evidence of Ophiolatry, either as regards the religion or the witchcraft of the Ashanti.[27] No doubt the Obayifo affected at times the rôle of medicine man. He might remain respectable before the community at large as a Sumankwafo, while in secret he plied his trade as a wizard. So, too, he must naturally have borrowed occasionally from the suman-maker's technique to effectually disguise his own incantations. If in the making of a suman the real Sumankwafo actually invaded his realm by soliciting the aid of Sasabonsam, why should he not return the compliment in kind? Practically, in a general way, the differentiation was in the specific object of the rite which determined whether the magic was to be regarded as white or black.[28] But over and above all this, [26. Note:--This would explain the statement of J. Leighton Wilson who when writing of the district of West Africa, between Cape Verde and the Cameroons, says: "Fetishism and demonology are undoubtedly the leading and prominent forms of religion among the pagan tribes of Africa. They are entirely distinct from each other, but they run together at so many points, and have been so much mixed up by those who have attempted to write on the subject, that it is no easy matter to keep them separated."--Cfr. Wilson, Western Africa, Its History, Condition and Prospects, p. 211. 27. Note:--Among the Ashanti, it is true, the python is a totem of the Bosommuru, the most important of all the ntoro exogamous divisions on a patrilineal basis.--Cfr. Rattray, Ashanti, p. 47. In this connection Hambly remarks: "Rattray's description of reverence for the python in Ashanti includes statements which might reasonably be regarded as evidence of a decadent python cult. But the information is more correctly classified under totemism."-Hambly, Serpent Worship in Africa, p. 13. Furthermore, a complete absence of serpent cult seems to be implied by the Ashanti Proverb: "Wonho owe, to a, wommo no aba.--Unless you see a snake's head, you do not strike at it."-Rattray, Ashanti Proverbs, p. 72. 28. Note:--W. G. Browne, Travels in Africa, Egypt and Syria, from the Year 1792 to 1798, London, 1806, p. go, notices at Kahira a similar distinction in connection with Egyptian magic which is divided into "halal, lawful, and

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MAGICAL 333 haram, unlawful." This division of Magic into White and Black, as determined by its lawfulness or unlawfulness has since come to be generally recognized.]

{p. 133} there was also a wide divergence in the ingredients employed, just as the knowledge of vegetable qualities, good and evil, was used for curative or destructive purposes, according to the profession of the herbalist. In fact, it would be natural to suspect that the really skilful Obayifo would play the double rôle from motives of self-protection if not from any mercenary reasons.[29] D. Amaury Talbot, wife of the District Commissioner of the Nigerian Political Service, in her book, Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People, devotes a chapter to "Love Philtres and Magic" wherein she tells us: "The principal ingredients in these philtres are the hearts of chickens pounded up to a smooth paste, together with leaves thought to contain magical qualities. It is not without significance, that among the Ibibios, save when administered in 'medicine,' intended to weaken the will and destroy the courage of the recipient, the hearts and livers of chickens are carefully avoided as food, since it is thought that those who partake will become 'chickenhearted' in consequence. In order to render the charm efficacious it is necessary to draw forth the soul of some person and imprison it amid fresh-plucked herbs in an earthen pot never before used. The vessel is then hung above a slow fire, and, as the leaves dry up, the body of the man or woman chosen for the purpose is said to wither away."[30] Of course a little poison judiciously administered will supplement the efficacy of this sympathetic magic. Père Baudin, in turn, speaking of fetish beliefs in general, [29. Note:--Anyone who has lived for some time in Jamaica has come in contact with really marvellous "Bush remedies." For example, a throbbing headache is quickly relieved by the application of a particular cactus which is split and bound on the forehead; and a severe fever is broken effectively by a "bush tea" made from certain leaves and twigs known only to the old woman who gathers them, and whose only explanation is "Jes seben bush, Sah, me pick dem one one." Too frequently, the Obeah man makes use of this knowledge of herbals in connection With his art. In a particular case of Obeah poisoning that came under my personal notice, just as the victim was on the point of losing consciousness, the very individual who was for good reasons suspected of being the cause of the trouble, suddenly entered the sick room unannounced and administered the antidote. A change of heart or more probably fear of the consequences, had probably saved the life. 30. D. Amaury Talbot, Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People, London, 1915, p. 138.]

{p. 134} tells us: "The great or chief fetish priests have a secret doctrine, which differs greatly from the popular doctrine. In this secret doctrine they gradually initiate the priests of the lower ranks." Among these secrets he includes: "the medicinal receipts, especially those for poisons," and immediately adds: "I do not believe that there exists in the world more skilful poisoners. They preserve these receipts with great care."[31]

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MAGICAL 333 Moreau de Saint-Méry assures us: "It is unfortunately too certain that some of the old Africans profess at San Domingo the odious art of poisoning. I say profess, for there are those who have a school where hate and vengeance has sent more than one disciple."[32] Louis p. Bowler, who urges as his credentials for presenting his little volume: "Eight years' experience in the jungle of the Gold Coast Colony,"[33] recounts a number of cases of poisoning which came under his personal observation. From his narrative we may quote the following instances: "Another case was brought to my notice where a European unwisely parted with money to a chief for consideration on a concession. After obtaining the chief's promise to accompany him to the coast town to sign the usual declarations before a District Commissioner, it appeared that he had previously sold the same concession and obtained money thereon. The European dies mysteriously the night before his projected departure. He was fond of pineapples, and the chief sent him a couple as a present, which he unfortunately partook of. It seems that the chief, or his medicine man, had inserted a deadly poison into the pineapple with a piece of thin wire."[34] It may be objected that this is not Obeah, but cold-blooded murder. Yes, and the same may be said of Obeah wherever the end is produced in this way. No doubt the natives ascribed the untimely [31. Baudin, Fétichisme et Féticheurs, p. 86. 32. Moreau de Saint-Méry, Description de la Partie Française de Saint Dominigue, Vol. I, p. 36. 33. Louis p. Bowler, Gold Coast Palava: Life on the Gold Coast, London, 1911, p. 17. 34. Ditto, p. 136 f.]

{p. 135} death to the workings of Obeah, and it is equally probable that the agent employed was himself an Obeah man. The second instance which we are about to relate is, in a way, even more characteristic. Bowler writes: "I remember an instance of very fine powdered glass being placed in some soup on the table of a European, which fortunately was discovered in time. Powdered glass is a favourite Fantee[35] means of injuring or killing those they have a grudge against. It is broken up fairly fine, put into kankee or fufu (native food), and when swallowed lacerates the bowels, setting up internal hemorrhage. Another of their methods is to rub the sticky latex of the rubber vine on the latch of the doors, rails of beds, on the loin cloths, or anything their victim is likely to touch. They then shake the poisoned broken glass on the sticky rubber, and any person taking hold of these things and receiving a prick in the hands is inoculated with the poison. There are many deaths of Europeans in West Africa that are put down to fever, black-water, typhoid, and stomach complaints, that if their true cause were investigated, would be found to arise from irritants and other poisons that the natives are adepts at using."[36]

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MAGICAL 333 It is with good reason, then, that Norman Eustace Cameron, Principal of the Guianese Academy, insists: "I believe that African medicines should be taken more seriously, even though we in British Guiana and the West Indies are accustomed to think of African medicine in terms of Obeah practice. It is true that the native doctors (called medicine men or witch doctors by those who will not regard them with dignity) were acquainted with many deadly poisons; as, for instance, those which were used for poisoning their arrows in war; and it is also true that the Kings of Benin and Zimbabwe took precautions against death by poisoning. But we ought to bear in mind that poisoning any member of an [35. Note:--It is equally common in Ashanti, and is also found in Jamaica today. I never met with any case where it was administered to human beings, but I have known live stock to be destroyed in this way. I lost a horse myself on one occasion through this very means. The technical term is "obi-water" and it produces dysentery and a slowwasting death. 36. Bowler, l. c., p. 137 f.]

{p. 136} African community was and is considered by the community as murder, and if a person was suspected of having been killed by poison, elaborate inquiries were made to detect the murderer who would be tried and executed, sometimes cruelly, if found guilty."[37] This is in keeping with the practice of the Jamaica Myalist to "dig up Obeah." And as we shall see in the next chapter, it was precisely with the suppression of the Myal dance in Jamaica that Obeah began to gain an ascendancy and develop into a quasi-religion with hatred of the white man and the ultimate overthrow of the white masters as an object. In view of all this, it is hard to understand how Sir Harry Johnston could have written: "Obia (misspelt Obeah) seems to be a variant or a corruption of an Efik or Ibo word from the northeast or east of the Niger delta, which simply means 'Doctor.' . . . Obia is like Hudu or Vudu a part of the fetishistic belief which prevails over nearly all Africa, much of Asia, and a good deal of America. . . . In its 'well-meaning' forms, it is medical treatment by drugs or suggestion combined with a worship of the powers of Nature and a propitiation of evil spirits; in its bad types it is an attempt to frighten, obsess, and hypnotize, and failing the production of results by this hocus-pocus, by poison."[38] Far more accurate is the definition of The Encyclopedic Dictionary:[39] "Obi (Obeah), A system of sorcery prevalent, though not to so great an extent as formerly among the Negro population of the West Indian Colonies. It appears to have been brought from Africa by Negroes who bad been enslaved, and to these obeah-men (or women) the blacks used to resort for the cure of disorders, obtaining revenge, conciliating favour, the discovery of a thief or an adulterer, and the prediction of future events. The practice of Obi had become general towards the close of the last century, both in the West Indies and the United States, and there [37. Eustace Cameron, The Evolution of the Negro, Georgetown, Demerara, 1929, Vol. I. p. 179. 38. Johnston, The Negro in the New World, p. 253, Note 1.

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MAGICAL 333 39. Philadelphia, 1894.]

{p. 137} is little doubt that the Obeah man exercised vast influence, and that they carried on a system of secret slow poisonings, the effects of which were attributed by their more ignorant fellows to Obi. The system resembles other superstitions of savage peoples. It may have originated in ancient religious practices, in which sorcery bore a large part." Hesketh J. Bell who spent many years in the British Colonial Service in the West Indies and was subsequently Governor of the Island Mauritius, has written at length on the subject of Obeah and incidentally contributed valuable data gathered either from personal observation or through reliable eye-witnesses. Writing of Granada, an English island in the Windward Group, Bell says: "Before the emancipation, the practice of Obeah was as rampant in all the West Indian colonies, and laws and ordinances had to be framed to put it down, and combat its baneful influences. There were few of the large estates having African slaves, which had not one or more Obeah men in the number. They were usually the oldest and most crafty of the blacks, those whose hoary heads and somewhat harsh and forbidding aspect, together with some skill in plants of the medicinal and poisonous species, qualified them for successful imposition on the weak and credulous. In these days, an Obeah man would be hard to distinguish from other blacks, and might only be known by wearing his hair long, or some other peculiarity, or else by possessing a good substantial house, built out of the money obtained from his credulous countrymen, in exchange for rubbishing simples or worthless love-spells. The trade which these impostors carry on is extremely lucrative. A Negro would not hesitate to give an Obeah man four or five dollars for a love-spell, when he would grudge three shillings for a bottle of medicine, to relieve some painful sickness. A veil of mystery is cast over their incantations which generally take place at the midnight hour, and every precaution is taken to conceal these ceremonies from the knowledge of the whites. The deluded Negroes who thoroughly believe in the supernatural power of these sorcerers, screen them as much as possible and the {p. 138} bravest among them tremble at the very sight of the ragged bundle, the eggshells or Obeah bottle stuck in the thatch of a hut, or in the branches of a plantain tree to deter thieves. "The darker and more dangerous side of Obeah is that portion under cover of which poison is used to a fearful extent,, and the dangerous and often fatal effects of many a magic draught are simply set down, by the superstitious black, to the workings of the spells of Obeah, and never to the more simple effects of the scores of poisonous herbs growing in every pasture, and which may have formed the ingredients of the Obeah mixture. Owing to the defective state of the laws relating to declaration of deaths and inquests, it is to be feared that very many deaths occur from poisoning, which are set down to a cold or other simple malady."[40]

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MAGICAL 333 Bell recounts the following narrative as he received it from the lips of a French priest in Granada: "I was riding to see a sick person living on the other side of the parish, when I happened to pass a small wooden house, before which a number of people were congregated, all talking together and evidently much exercised in their minds about something inexplicable. On asking what was the matter, I was told that the owner of the house was lying dead, and that he was an Obeah man who had lived quite alone in the place for many years, and that there was consequently no one willing to undertake the job of looking after the corpse and burying it. In fact no one would go inside the hut at all, as it was affirmed that his Satanic Majesty was there in person looking after the body of the Obeah man, which now undoubtedly belonged to him. To allay their alarms, I got off my horse, and with the assistance of a couple of men broke open the door and entered the hut. Lying on a wooden stretcher was the body of the unfortunate individual, whose death must have occurred a good many hours before, and the body was in urgent need of burial, so after scolding the people for their cowardice I prevailed on them to see about a coffin and other details as quickly as possible, It was, however, only in evident fear and trembling that any of them would enter the room, and the slightest noise would make [40. Hesketh J. Bell, Obeah; Witchcraft in the West Indies, London, 1889, p. 9 f.]

{p. 139} them start and look towards the door, in the expectation of seeing le diable en personne coming to claim his property. "The dirty little room was littered with the Obeah man's stock-in-trade." Then after the catalogue of gruesome finds, he continues: "In a little tin canister I found the most valuable of the sorcerer's stock, namely, seven bones belonging to a rattlesnake's tail--these I have known sell for five dollars each, so highly valued are they as amulets or charms--in the same box was about a yard of rope, no doubt intended to be sold for hangman's cord, which is highly prized by the Negroes, the owner of a piece being supposed to be able to defy bad luck. "Rummaging further, I pulled out from under the thatch of the roof an old preserved-salmon tin, the contents of which showed how profitable was the trade of Obeah. It was stuffed full of fivedollar bank-notes, besides a number of handsome twenty-dollar gold pieces, the whole amounting to a considerable sum, which I confess I felt very reluctant to seal up and hand over to the Government, the Obeah man not being known to have heirs. I then ordered the people to gather up all the rubbish, which was soon kindled and blazing away merrily in front of the hut, to the evident satisfaction of the bystanders, who could hardly be persuaded to handle the mysterious tools of Obeah. The man, I heard, had a great reputation for sorcery, and I was assured that even persons who would never be suspected of encouraging witchcraft had been known to consult him or purchase some love-spell."[41] Another incident related by the same French priest in Granada to Mr. Bell, must close this chapter. The incident runs as follows: I will give you an instance which happened to me, and which I have never been able to explain satisfactorily. "Some years ago I was in Trinidad and had been sent by the Archbishop to take charge of a parish far in the interior of the island, and at that time but very little known and developed. There 113

MAGICAL 333 being no presbytery, I had to make shift, until I could build one, with part of a small wooden house, of which one room was occupied by an old coloured woman, who lived there with a little girl. This [41. Ditto, p. 14 f.]

{p. 140} woman was looked on with a good deal of dread by the people, being supposed to possess a knowledge of a good many unholy tricks, and it was confidently hoped that my near neighbourhood would do her good, and at all events induce her to be seen now and then at church, which is here a great sign of respectability. When taking possession of my part of the house, I was shown her room, and noticed particularly that it contained some really handsome pieces of the massive furniture so much esteemed by Creoles. A tremendous family four-poster, with heavy, handsomely turned pillars, stood in one corner near a ponderous mahogany wardrobe, and various other bits of furniture pretty well filled the little room. The door of her apartment opened on to my room, which she had to pass through every time she went out of the house. This was an unpleasant arrangement, but was shortly to be remedied by having another door made in her room leading outside. However, the night after my taking possession, I heard a monotonous sound through the partition, as if someone crooning a sing-song chant. This continued for over an hour, and more than once I felt inclined to rap at the partition and beg the old dame to shut up her incantations, but it finally acted as a lullaby and I soon dropped asleep. The next morning having got up and dressed, I noticed that all was perfectly silent next door, and on listening attentively failed to hear a sound. I feared something had gone wrong, but noticed that the door leading outside had not been opened, as a chair I had placed against it was in precisely the same position as I had left it. I then knocked at her door several times, but obtained no answer; fearing an accident had happened, I opened the door, and as it swung back on its hinges I was astonished to see the room perfectly empty and evidently swept clean. On examining the room carefully I found it only had two small windows besides the door leading into my room. From that day to this neither I nor anyone living in that district have ever seen or heard anything of that woman or of her little girl. How she moved all her heavy furniture out of that little room, has ever remained an inexplicable mystery. I would have defied any man to move the wardrobe alone, and even if the old woman had {p. 141} had strength enough to carry the furniture away, she never could have dragged it through my room without disturbing me. However, these are the facts of the case, and I have never been able to explain them."[42] [42. Ditto, p. 17.]

{p. 142}

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Chapter V DEVELOPMENT OF OBEAH IN JAMAICA As shown elsewhere it was the Ashanti in Jamaica who, during the days of slavery, maintained a commanding influence over all the other types of slaves, even imposing on them their peculiar superstitions and religious practices, and who have left their impress on the general population of the Island to such an extent that they may undoubtedly be declared the dominant influence in evolving our Jamaica peasant of the present day.[1] Thus, to briefly summarize a few of the principal facts, in Jamaica folklore, or Anancy stories, we find the spider, anancy, as the central figure and his son Tacoma as next in importance, with both names and characters derived directly from the Ashanti. Here also the Ashanti name of Odum is perserved {sic} for the silkcotton tree. These stories are passed along by the Nana or Granny, and again the function and title are both Ashanti. The funeral custom of raising and lowering the coffin three times, seemingly as a courtesy to the Earth Goddess before starting for the grave, while peculiar to the Ashanti in West Africa, is still prevalent in the Jamaica "bush" where they know nothing of its origin or significance, and where they give as the sole reason for doing so, that it is always done that way. Again, the fowl with ruffled feathers, and half-naked neck and which the Jamaica "picknies" call peal-neck, i. e. bald-neck, is technically known as sensey fowl in Jamaica and asense in Ashanti. So, too, the staple food of the Ashanti is fufu, consisting usually of mashed yarn, and sometimes of mashed plantain. The term is the reduplicated form of fu, meaning white. In the Jamaica "bush" there is a particularly fine grade of white yam that is known as fufu yam, and it has lately been brought to [1. Williams, Hebrewisms of West Africa, Introduction.]

{p. 143} my attention that mashed yam in Jamaica still goes by the name of fufu. Many other details of identity in words and customs might be adduced but these must suffice for the present. True it is, the Ashanti are not always expressly named as such in the rôle they occupied in Jamaica. It is as Koromantins that they figure so prominently in the history of the island, especially as regards the various slave-uprisings that so often threatened the white supremacy. But, as has been shown, the Koromantin, while generically Gold Coast slaves, were specifically, at least as applies to their leading spirits, Ashanti.[2] Gardner declares: "Little can be said with confidence as to the religious beliefs of these people. The influence of the Koromantins seemed to have modified, if not entirely obliterated, whatever was introduced by other tribes. They recognized, in a being called Accompong, the creator and preserver of mankind; to him praise, but never sacrifice, was offered. . . . The tutelary deities included the departed heads of families, and the worship of such was almost the only one observed to any great extent by Africans or their descendants in Jamaica."[3]

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MAGICAL 333 The Supreme Being among the Ashanti, as we have seen, was Nyame, and his primary title was Nyankopon, meaning Nyame, alone, great one. Accompong, then, was the white man's attempt to transliterate the Nyankopon which he so often heard on the lips of the expatriated Ashanti. As previously noted: Bryan Edwards, in his brief outline of the religious beliefs of the Koromantin slaves, asserts: "They believe that Accompong, the God of heavens, is the creator of all things; a Deity of Infinite goodness. In fact we have in Jamaica today, in the parish of St. Elizabeth, a Maroon town called Accompong, which according to Cundall, the Island Historian, was so called after an Ashanti chief who figured in one of the early [2. Ditto, p. 9. 3. Gardner, History of Jamaica, p. 184. Note:--Gardner further observes p. 184: "It is and ever has been very difficult to extract from an old Negro what his religious belief really was, but it seems probable that there was some idea that departed parents had influence with the supposed rulers of the world beyond the grave, and that prayers were offered to them in some such spirit as that of the Roman Catholic who appeals to the saints in his calendar."]

{p. 144} rebellions of the Island. One's first impression would be that this chief had abrogated to himself the title of Deity. But we are assured by J. G. Christaller that among the Ashanti the Divine Name was frequently given to a slave in acknowledgment of the help of God enabling the owner to buy the slave."[4] Herbert G. De Lisser, a native Jamaican whose facile pen has won for him well-merited distinction, writes: "The West African natives and particularly those from the Gold Coast (from which the larger number of Jamaica slaves were brought) believe in a number of gods of different classes and unequal power. All these gods have their priest and priestesses, but there is one particular malignant spirit, which on the Gold Coast has no priesthood. He is called Sasabonsum, and any individual may put himself in communication with him. Sasabonsum's favorite residence is the ceiba, the giant silk-cotton tree. He is resorted to in the dead of night, his votary going to the spot where he is supposed to live, and collecting there a little earth, or a few twigs, or a stone, he prays to the god that his power may enter this receptacle. If he believes that his prayer has been heard he returns home with his shuman, as the thing is now named, and henceforth, he has a power which is formidable for injurious purposes, to which he offers sacrifice, and to the worship of which he dedicates a special day in the week. By the aid of this shuman he can bewitch a man to death. He can also sell charms that will cause death or bodily injury. His charms may also be put to other and less pernicious uses. Thus the shuman charm in the shape of a bundle of twigs, if hung up where it can be seen, is very efficacious for keeping thieves away from a house or provision-ground. Anyone may go out and get a shuman if he likes, but few there are who dare to do so, through fear of Sasabonsum, the witch's god, and public opinion which looks down upon a man with a shuman. The legitimate priests whose office it is to approach the gods also sell charms both for good and injurious purposes, but the main functions are to propitiate the gods and bewitch the people. They were called upon to undo the injury caused by the wizard and his shuman. Both [4. Williams, Hebrewisms of West Africa, p. 16.]

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MAGICAL 333 {p. 145} witches and wizards, priests and priestesses were brought to Jamaica in the days of the slave trade, and the slaves recognized the distinction between the former and the latter. Even the masters saw that the two classes were not identical, and so they called the latter 'Myal men' and 'Myal women'-the people who cured those whom the Obeah man had injured. Of the present-day descendants of these priests or Myal men more will be said later on. It is probable that many of the African priests became simple Obeah men after coming to Jamaica, for the simple reason that they could not openly practice their legitimate profession. But when known as Obeah men, however much they might be treated with respect, they still were hated and feared. Every evil was attributed to them. The very name of them spread dread."[5] Myalism, then, was the old tribal religion of the Ashanti which we have studied in detail in the preceding chapter, with some modifications due to conditions and circumstances. It drew its name from the Myal dance that featured it, particularly in the veneration of the minor deities who were subordinate to Accompong, and in the commemoration or intercession of ancestors. The old antagonism to Obeah or witchcraft on the part of the priesthood becomes accentuated, and gradually takes on a rôle of major importance, so that it actually forms a part of the religious practice. In Ashanti, the Okomfo openly combated the Obayifo as a matter of principle, and he had the whole force of Ashanti religious traditions and public sentiment to support him, until he eventually looked down with more or less disdain on the benighted disciple of Sasabonsam. In Jamaica, on the other hand, native religious assemblies were proscribed by law, as we shall see shortly, which greatly hampered the Okomfo in his sphere of influence, even his title being changed to Myal man, while the Obayifo or Obeah man, who had always worked in secret, flourished in his trade. For the very status and restrictions of slave life put his fellows more and more at his mercy and filled them with a growing fear of his spiteful incantations, backed up as they were with active poisonings. Their gods had abandoned them; why not [15. Herbert G. De Lisser, Twentieth Century Jamaica, Kingston, 1913, p. 110 f.]

{p. 146} cultivate the favour of the triumphant Sasabonsam, or at least assuage his enmity and placate his vengeance? It was natural, too, for the Okomfo to adapt his practice to the new state of affairs. His hated rival, the Obayifo, must be conquered at any price. Personal interests demanded this as strongly as religious zeal. Since public service of the deities was no longer possible, he in turn was forced to work in secret, and it is not surprising that he met fire with fire, incantation with incantation. His religion had aimed primarily at the welfare of the community, even as the object in life of the Obayifo was the harm of the individual. Open intercession for tribal success and prosperity necessarily gives way to secret machinations to break the chains of bondage. A fanatic zeal takes hold of the Myalist Okomfo and he devises the most impressive ritual he can, to arouse the dormant spirits of his fellow-slaves.

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MAGICAL 333 Thus it came to pass that it was the Okomfo and not the Obayifo, as is generally assumed, who administered the terrible fetish oath. It was he who mixed the gunpowder with the rum and added grave dirt and human blood to the concoction that was to seal upon the conspirators' lips the awful nature of the plot for liberty, and steel their hearts for the dangerous undertaking. It was he, no less, who devised the mystic powder that was to make their bodies invulnerable, and enable them to meet unscathed the white man's bullets. Finally, it was the Okomfo and not the Obayifo who, taking advantage of herbal knowledge, induced a state of torpor on subservient tools, that he might seem to raise the dead to life. Yet, through it all, while he frequently substitutes for his own religious ceremonial the dark and secret rites of his rival practitioner, his aim at least is still within the tribal law, as he works white magic for the welfare of the community, no less than he continues to combat the black magic of his adversary. It is not surprising, then, that the rôle of the Myalist Okomfo has been so little understood, and that his most effective work was ascribed by the whites of Jamaica to the agency of Obeah and that Myalism itself should become confused with witchcraft and {p. 147} even regarded by some as an offshoot of Obeah and nothing more. Gardner is only partially correct when he states: "Of late years Myalism has generally been regarded as an art by which that of the Obeah man could be counteracted. Its first mode of development was as a branch of Obeah practice. The Obeah man introduced a dance called Myal dance, and formed a secret society, the members of which were to be made invulnerable, or if they died, life was to be restored. Belief in this miracle was secured by trick. A mixture was given in rum, of a character which presently induced sleep so profound, as, by the uninitiated and alarmed, to be mistaken for death. After this had been administered to someone chosen for the purpose, the Myal dance began, and presently the victim staggered and fell, to all appearance dead. Mystic charms were then used; the body was rubbed with some infusion; and in process of time, the narcotic having lost its power, the subject of the experiment rose up as one restored to life, a fact for which the Obeah man claimed all the merit. The plant said to be used was the branched calalue, or solanum. If so, it can only be the cold infusion which has the narcotic power, and which is stated to belong to the European variety; for when boiled it is harmless. It is commonly used in Jamaica as a substitute for spinach, and enters largely into the composition of the famous pepper-pot."[11] Matthew Gregory Lewis records in his diary under date of February 25, 1817: "The Obeah ceremonies always commence with what is called, by the Negroes, 'the Myal dance.'[7] This is intended to remove any doubt of the chief Obeah man's supernatural [6. Gardner, History of Jamaica, p. 192. Note:--In this connection it is interesting to find A. W. Cardinall, In Ashanti and Beyond, London, 1927, p. 239, who had spent many years as a District Commissioner of the Gold Coast, when describing the initiation to a Bimoda secret society, observing: "If a Kussassi Youth wishes to become a member he has to undergo a rather frightening ordeal. He is cut with a knife and medicine is inserted in the wounds: thereby he

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MAGICAL 333 is reduced to unconsciousness for a long time. 'He dies for five days' is the expression used. They then anoint him with medicine, and he returns to consciousness." 7. Note:--Lewis is evidently describing a Myal rite in the strict sense of the word. His reference to it as the opening of an Obeah ceremony is due to the common error of his day on the part of the whites who had not yet learned to distinguish between the functions of the Myalist Okomfo and the Obeah man, although it is clearly implied in the present instance by the subsequent reference to the officiating functionary whom he calls by his proper title "the chief Myal man" to whom he had previously misapplied the term "chief Obeah man."]

{p. 148} powers; and in the course of which, he undertakes to show his art by killing one of the persons present, whom he pitches upon for that purpose. He sprinkles various powders over the devoted victim, blows upon him, and dances round him, obliges him to drink a liquor prepared for the occasion, and finally the sorcerer and his assistants seize him and whirl him rapidly round and round till the man loses his senses, and falls to the ground to all appearances and the belief of the spectators a perfect corpse. The chief Myal man then utters loud shrieks, rushes out of the house with wild and frantic gestures, and conceals himself in a neighbouring wood. At the end of two or three hours he returns with a large bundle of herbs, from some of which he squeezes the juice into the mouth of the dead person; with others he anoints his eyes and stains the tips of his fingers, accompanying the ceremony with a great variety of grotesque actions, and chanting all the while something between a song and a howl, while the assistants hand in hand dance slowly round them in a circle, stamping the ground loudly with their feet to keep time with this chant. A considerable time elapses before the desired effect is produced, but at length the corpse gradually recovers animation, rises from the ground perfectly recovered, and the Myal dance concludes."[8] With the decline of Myalism from its early religious standards, it took on more and more a character of antagonism to Obeah until eventually to "dig up Obeah" became its principal differentiation from witchcraft, at least as far as the uninitiated were concerned. The spirit of fanaticism, however, held apace and after the abolition of slavery, when the restrictions on assemblies were removed, there was a recrudescence of the cult, sometimes referred to as "Revivalism" that has disturbed at times the peace of more than one Jamaica community. Thus for example, Gardner tells us: "In 1842 several Negroes residing on an estate near Montego Bay gave themselves out to be Myal men; and in St. James, Westmoreland, and Trelawney, thousands of deluded people became their followers. They were accustomed to meet together after [8. Matthew Gregory Lewis, Journal of a West India Proprietor, kept during a Residence in the Island of Jamaica, London, 1834, p. 354 f.]

{p. 149} nightfall, generally beneath the shadow of a cotton tree. Fowls were sacrificed, and wild songs sung, in the chorus of which the multitude joined. Dancing then began, becoming more and more weirdlike in character, until one and another fell exhausted to the ground, when their incoherent utterances were listened to as divine revelations. Half-demented creatures sat among the branches or in the hollow trunks of trees, singing; while others with their heads bound in fantastic fashion, ran about with arms outstretched, and declared that they were flying. It became

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MAGICAL 333 necessary at last to swear in several hundreds of special constables, and to punish numbers of these deluded people for disturbing the peace. . . . Some six years later a Myal man, called Dr. Taylor, gave much trouble in Manchester and Clarendon, drawing great crowds after him. He was sent to the penitentiary, where he was accidentally killed. In 1852, the delusion again appeared: some now gave themselves out to be prophets, and saw visions, but the firmness of the missionaries soon put an end to these practices."[9] There are some interesting details of the Myalistic outbreak of 1842 given by the Reverend R. Thomas Banbury, a native Jamaican, in a little volume which he published at Kingston, in 1895 on Jamaica Superstitions. He tells us: "It took its rise at Newman Hall estate in St. James and went through that parish, Westmoreland and Hanover, increasing as it went until it consisted of hundreds of deluded fanatics. They went by the name of 'Myal people'; they were also called 'angel men.' They declared that the world was to come to an end; Christ was coming, and God had sent them to pull all the Obeahs, and catch all the shadows that were spell-bound at the cotton trees. In preparation for these events they affected to be very strict in their conduct. They would neither drink nor smoke. Persons who were known to be notorious for their bad lives were excluded from their society. They went from place to place pulling out Obeahs and catching shadows and uttered fearful threats against sinners. About the time mentioned there was a very extraordinary comet, which continued in the heavens for several weeks. It was in the west, and the shape of it [9. Gardner, History of Jamaica, p. 460.]

{p. 150} was like a 'salt fish' (a cod fish split in two, with the head cut off), the head square and the body tapering off to a point. It was remarkably brilliant. These people made reference to it in their songs and pointed to it as an illustration of their divine mission, and the people were not a little alarmed at its appearance. . . . Many songs were used when taking up Obeahs, which they did openly in the daytime, in the presence of a large concourse of people who flocked from all parts to see it. The overseers and bookkeepers on the sugar estates all were present. There were present an attorney and a proprietor. An Englishman and a member of the House of Assembly, who took them on his estate gave them room and encouraged them in every way. They publicly dug out of his yard a lot of Obeahs for him. . . . The amber was a talisman by which they pretended to divine. Both Myal men and Obeah men use it. Anything through which they look at the Obeah, either in the ground or skin is called an amber, the name not being strictly confined to the substance properly so-called. "Four shillings was the price for pulling an Obeah and six shillings for catching a shadow, and they did make money. They accompanied their operations with violent singing and dancing. They worked themselves into violent animal excitement and fanaticism, jumping about, yelling like so many demoniacs. It was frightful to hear them. Sometimes one would bolt out of the ring and run into the bush and then the others would go after him, declaring that the spirits had taken him away. They had vials filled with the juice of bad-smelling bushes which they called 'their weed.' It was said that it had the effect of causing those upon whom it was sprinkled to become Myal people. Not a little injury was done to the churches by this Myal procession. A number of young people, especially females, were drawn away. They followed them all about and fell into 120

MAGICAL 333 immorality with the men, notwithstanding the affected piety of the latter. They went into the churches on Sundays and interrupted divine services by pulling out persons whom they suspected of dealing in Obeah, or who were so reported to them. Old men who looked suspicious were beaten, rolled in cotton bush and half killed. {p. 151} "In a Baptist church at Slater's Hill an attack of this kind was made on a man whom these people considered notorious for Obeah. Afterwards the authorities had to take cognizance of their outrages and sent some of them to prison. In returning from prison their song was: Myal nigga, we come oh, We go da jail, we come out. Myal nigga, we come oh, We work again, we come back, Myal man we come oh. And according to the song they did begin their revelries again. "There is no doubt that these people laboured under a delusion from the devil. The Myalism of these people also put on a somewhat different feature from that which existed before. They professed to take up Obeahs, which the regular Myal man never did, for the work of the latter was confined to shadows, recovering persons who were struck by duppies and bringing home those who were carried away into the woods by the spirits."[10] In this last statement, we fear, Mr. Banbury is a little confused, since "digging up Obeah" was the distinctive characteristic of the Myalist, while we have here for the first time any reference to "catching shadows," and their connection with "duppies." But what, it may be asked were these shadows and duppies? Captain Rattray calls our attention to the fact that "The Ashanti use a number of names translated in to English by the words 'soul' or 'spirit' or 'ghost'." He then proceeds to define these various terms. Thus Saman "is a ghost, an apparition, a spectre; this term is never applied to a living person or to anything inherent in a living person. It is objective and is the form the dead are sometimes seen to take, when visible on earth. . . . The word 'has no connection whatever with any kind of soul."[11] This is the Jamaica "duppy," in every detail. Again, he tells us: "The sasa is the invisible spiritual power of a person or animal which disturbs the mind of the living, or works [10. R. Thomas Banbury, Jamaica Superstitions, or The Obeah Book, Kingston, 1895. 11. Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, p. 152.]

{p. 152}

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MAGICAL 333 a spell or mischief upon them, so that they suffer in various ways. . . . The sasa is essentially the bad, revengeful, and hurtful element in a spirit; it is that part which at all costs must be 'laid' or rendered innocuous, the funeral rites . . . are really, I believe the placating, appeasing, and the final speeding of a soul which may contain this very dangerous element in its composition."[12] This is the "shadow" of Jamaica, where, however, both "duppy" and "shadow" have gradually assumed a material element in the general acceptation of the "bush." Thus for example, on the occasion of deaths in the neighbourhood, especially if by violence, the superstitious will plug up every crack and crevice of their hovels at night, "to keep the duppies out," an entirely useless precaution if the expected visitants were purely spiritual and so impassible. After the hurricane in Montego Bay in November, 1912, when about a hundred were drowned, I wanted to send a messenger on the following day on an errand that would keep him out after dark. It was with the greatest difficulty that I found one--the usual form of excuse being: "Everybody stay home a night. Too many det (dead) round, Sah!" So, too, at a "bush" funeral, the most important circumstance is frequently the catching of the "shadow." I have more than once watched the process from a very short distance, near enough, in fact, to be able to hear all that was said, and to watch carefully most that was done, as the actors, for such I must call them, scrambled and grasped at empty nothingness, with such realism of pretence, that I found myself actually rubbing my eyes, almost convinced against myself that there must be an elusive something that escaped my vision. When sufficient rum had been imbibed, and the singing led by a "selfish" voice had keyed up the assembly to the proper pitch, someone would excitedly cry out: "See 'im yere!" Immediately two or three or even more rival hunters would start after that "shadow" at one and the same time. From outside where I stood, it looked as if a general scramble had started in the hovel and I could see forms falling over one another and hear the imprecations [12. Ditto, p. 53.]

{p. 153} and exclamations. After a time, one more "forward" than the rest would claim to have caught the prey, only to be greeted with cries of scorn: " 'Im get away! See 'im dah!" Whereupon the scuffle would start anew. Eventually when all of them were breathless, dripping with perspiration, their clothes soiled or at times actually torn, and eyes almost popping out of their heads with excitement, while a general condition of hysteria had taken possession of the entire gathering, the feat would be accomplished by some belligerent individual, who would clasp his hands and let out a veritable Scream of defiance: "Me got 'im! Me got 'im!" with such vehemence that he would literally shout down all protests to the contrary, with perhaps just a little hint of possible physical violence that might follow as a support to the power of his vociferation. Then a box or at times a small coffin would be produced and with much ado, not perhaps without a final effort to escape, the poor "shadow" would be securely fastened in and properly "laid" to be buried later at the funeral.

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MAGICAL 333 I have further listened to two disputants on the following morning, while the rum fumes were still assertive, almost coming to blows as to which one of them had actually accomplished the feat of catching the shadow, and yet when I questioned them individually a few days later, despite the fact that I knew them intimately, both of them in perfect scorn, asserted, almost in the same identical words: "Me no belieb in 'shadow,' Sah! 'Im all nonsense, Sah!" As far as I could form any judgment from my own observations, it seemed to me that one of the supposed avocations of the Obeah man was to catch the shadows of the living and nail them to a cotton tree, while the Myal man, to undo the damage, was busying himself by "pulling" the shadows from their imprisonment in the tree. Again as the shadow may be harmful to the family of the deceased, it is the function of the Myal man and not the Obeah man to catch them at the funeral--for this is a beneficial act. Reverend A. J. Emerick, who devoted more than a decade to {p. 154} mission work in Jamaica, in a privately printed article gives us valuable information about Myalism as it existed at the beginning of the present century. He writes: "To attempt to describe Jamaica Mialism, a superstition imported from Africa, is like trying to describe the intricacies of the most cunningly devised Chinese puzzle. Mialism is so mixed up with Obeahism, Duppyism and other cults of African warp, together with whatever in Protestantism or Catholic ritual that may appeal to the bizarre African imagination, that it is hard to tell which is which and what is what. But for all that it is a most interesting study for the student of folklore. . . . "But whatever may have been its origin, Mialism, properly so-called in Jamaica, is a species of Spiritualism, mixed with a peculiar form of animism. Mialism with its Mial men and Mial women, has been just as prevalent in Jamaica as Obeahism with its Obi men and Obi women. At present you do not often hear the words, 'Mialism and Mial people,' but they are still there in large forces, masquerading under other names. "The mysterious operations of Mialism consist in communications with spirits or deaths ('dets' as the Jamaican terms it). The persons who are favoured with communications with spirits are called 'mial' people. They are said to be 'fo-eyed,' that is four-eyed, by which is meant that they can see spirits and converse with them. Both sexes make pretention to this power; hence you have mial men and mial women. They are believed to be able to kill or injure anyone by aid of spirits. A mial man and obi man are equally dreaded. The mial man harms by depriving persons of their shadows, or setting deaths upon them.[13] It is believed that after a person's shadow is taken he is never healthy and if it be not caught, he must pine away until he dies. It is said that the word for shadow in the language of some African tribes is the word for soul. Obi men and mial people sometimes carry little coffins to catch and keep shadows, which shadows they are supposed to nail to the cotton tree. This cotton tree in the days of slavery, like the oak in the days of Druidism was worshipped [13. As just noted, in my own experience that was the work of the Obeah man. The Myal man released them.]

{p. 155} 123

MAGICAL 333 and sacrifices were offered at its roots. This tree was held in veneration and it was hard to get Negroes to cut it down because they were afraid that if they did so the deaths which took up their abode at its roots would injure them. There are many interesting superstitions connected with the cotton trees, one curious belief about them was that they had the power of transporting themselves at night to hold conferences together. . . . "In connection with shadow taking is shadow catching, that is, -the restoring of the shadow to the person who had been -deprived of it. The performance is rather strange. Shadow catching is invariably done in the night. The person suspected of having lost his shadow is taken to the cotton tree, where his shadow is, as the Jamaica people say, 'pell bound,' that is spellbound, or to which it was nailed. The mial men and mial women are accompanied by a large concourse of people. The victim is dressed all in white, with a white handkerchief about his head. Eggs and fowls are taken together with cooked food, to the cotton tree. The mial men and mial women parade up and down before the cotton tree with white cloths over their shoulders, singing and dancing, and all the people join in the chorus. The cotton tree is pelted with eggs, and the necks of fowls are wrung off and the bodies are cast at it. This is done to propitiate the deaths or duppies that had their shadows enthralled at the tree. The singing and dancing proceed more vigorously as the shadow begins to make signs of leaving the tree. A white basin of water to receive it is held up. After they have sung and danced to their heart's content, they suddenly catch up the person and run home with him, affirming that his shadow is caught and covered up in the basin. When the patient has reached his home, a wet cloth is applied to his head and his shadow is said to be restored to him."[14] The narrative may here be interrupted to remark that Fr. Emerick fails to make the clear distinction between Obeah man and Myal man, since at times the two functions are so confused and even exercised by the same individual under a dual rôle. In general, however, Obeah is secretive and malicious; Myalism is open [14. A. J. Emerick, Jamaica Mialism, Woodstock, 1916, p. 39 ff.]

{p. 156} and benevolent. When the "shadow" is "pulled" at the cotton tree, or "caught" at the funeral, just as when Obeah is "dug up," the larger the body of witnesses the greater is the satisfaction of the Myal man in this good deed which he performs. The Obeah man, on the contrary, seeks to avoid all publicity, as his purpose is evil. And even if, as occasionally does happen, the same individual is today an Obeah man and tomorrow a Myal man, to the best of my knowledge, he observes perhaps unconsciously the technique of the rite which he is performing, and his entire manner and method will change overnight. Bringing the subject up to date, Fr. Emerick states: "Bedwardism has all the ear-marks of mialism, and in its fetish origin is fundamentally the same. Its founder was a lunatic, named Bedward, who was suffering from religious monomania. He claimed that he had visions from God, and that the spirit of God had descended upon him and that in him the prophets were reincarnated, at one time Jonas, at another Moses, then John the Baptist. He declared that in a vision God had made known to him that the water of Hope River cleansed from diseases and sin. It was rumoured that a sick woman was cured by partaking of this water. Belief in Bedward's 124

MAGICAL 333 miraculous powers gradually grew until persons from all over the island carne to get the healing waters from him and stories of wondrous cures by him were spread about. The craze grew until as many as twenty and thirty thousand Negroes used to gather every Wednesday morning along the river bank at a place called August Town, on the Hope River. In the great throng were hundreds of the crippled, the deformed, lepers, the blind, consumptives and sufferers from every form of disease. At a few moments of nine the so-called prophet would appear in flowing white robes, and with a wand in his hand, with elaborate and majestic ceremonies, he would bless the water, whereupon, these thousands of men, women and children of all ages would strip naked and jump into the water. An indescribable scene followed. . . . I only introduce this short account of it here as a help to my study of Mialism and because Bedwardism seemed {p. 157} to have a parental affinity to Revivalism[15] which is now rampant it, Jamaica and which is nothing but Mialism pure and simple under a new name. . . . "The Revivalists masquerade as a Christian sect and cover themselves with a glamour of Christianity, by such practices as exclaiming in the mialistic songs. . . . such expressions as 'Lord have mercy on us,' 'Christ have mercy on us,' words evidently taken from the Catholic Mass. But despite all this they are but pagan mialists, and their service is pagan. The mialists as a body as well as individually, believed and especially FELT themselves called by the spirit for their work. Their supreme effort in their demoniacal, frenzied worship was to get a plenitude of the spirit. So also the Revivalists believe and feel an excited call to perform some work or give some message. Sometimes individuals, getting the spirit during the night, arise and in a frenzied condition go over the hills and along the roads, stopping sometimes before houses and shouting at the top of their voices, quoting Holy Scripture, giving warning, and announcing what they consider their God-given message. They will sometimes give warning by shouting 'Hammer and nails!' This is intended to be a death warning. During the day you will sometimes see them making curious marking on the road before certain houses. One night while I was going along a mountain path I met a woman who was under this peculiar spell. She seemed to me like one of the frenzied Eumenides whirling by me. You see again from the name of 'Angel people,' as they call themselves, where they get their idea of being messengers from heaven." At one place in the mountains, I have myself heard one of these unfortunate creatures, half-crazed with emotionalism, as night after night for weeks on end, she stood up against a flat wall of rock which served as a sounding board and sent her voice booming out over the valley in a seemingly interminable repetition of "Fire and brimestone {sic}, Fire and brimstone, judgment on men, judgment on men!" [15. Note:--On the contrary Bedwardism is an offshoot of Revivalism which dates back to the closing days of slavery.]

{p. 158} After stating: "The original mial dance is said to be an old West African priest dance," Fr. Emerick continues: "The Mialists robed themselves in white and affected the power of divination. The Revivalists do all this. There was a band of Revivalists who met every Thursday at a place called Retirement, in the Dry Harbour Mountains. I often heard them, for it was one 125

MAGICAL 333 perpetual howl from morning till night, like the rise and fall of tidal waves on the sea beach. I have gone to see them and any account of demoniac possession that I ever read seemed tame in comparison with the demoniacal contortions, the hysterical singing and moaning, the frenzied gyrating, swaying, dancing and the abominable jerkings, of these people in the heat of their wild African, weird fetish worship to become possessed by the spirit. They form a compact circle, or rather wheel, of men and women. The whole living, squirming wheel circles and swirls in a body and each individual gyrates at the same time with many a curious bow and bend and dip and twist. Alternately they sing and moan and shout and scream. Every now and then by spells they go through abdominal contortions, just as if some infernal spirit of wondrous strength gripped them and threw into convulsions every fibre of their being. Their eyes and faces with the demon of possession looking from them made a horrible sight to see, and once you have seen it you will never forget it. They all do not do the same thing at the same time, some are doing one thing and others are doing different things, but all together they make a harmonious inharmonious whole. Each one held in his hand a green piece of bush or twig. I asked the reason for this, but got no satisfactory answer. . . . There is always one man who is called the leader, or band master. He stands still not performing any of the gyrations, but directs the performance like the director of an orchestra or band, and announces the revelations which those possessed by the spirit receive."[16] Describing. a similar open-air meeting of Revivalists, De Lisser says: "Each of the white-robed women had a bit of withe twisted round her left wrist, and each carried a short cane. Noticing this, [16. A. J. Emerick, l. c., p. 47 f.]

{p. 159} remembered that when the priests and priestesses of the African Gold Coast were about to dance in honour of their gods and to become possessed by them, they bound their wrists with addor and carried bundles of canes in their hands. Here then, clearly, was the survival of an African custom masquerading as a native Christian revivalist demonstration."[17] Whatever, then, may be thought of the present-day decadent Myalism as seen in Bedwardism and other revivalist outbreaks, it is certain that in its inception, as the offshoot of the old Ashanti tribal religion, it was of so potent a religious force, that it ha survived a century and a half of legal proscription and still a further century of an undisguised death-struggle with the powers of Obeah, and still is able to vitalize each recurrent upheaval against formal Christianity, even as it inspired the futile efforts to break the chains of slavery and cast off the white man's rule, before constitutional methods had found a way to right the crying wrong of humanity. It is not surprising, then, that from the earliest days of legislation in Jamaica, a serious source of danger to the peace of the Colony was recognized to be ever present in the assemblies of slaves where the old religious tribal dances were openly accompanied by drumming which aroused the fanaticism of Africans to such a pitch as to endanger a general uprising. Before long it was discovered that a second cause of danger, this time a personal one to master and slave alike, was to be traced to the secret poisonings that were ever becoming more common. And yet many years passed before it was even suspected that there could be any connection between this state 126

MAGICAL 333 of affairs and Obeah, which was looked upon with amused toleration as foolish superstition and nothing more. But even when the rebellion of 1760, disclosed the connection of Obeah and poisoning, and there was a set determination to crush the dread menace at any cost, it was not suspected that they were not dealing with witchcraft alone but a recrudescence of the old religious spirit in a new and more dangerous guise. In early legislation we find accentuated the danger from fanaticism [17. De Lisser, Twentieth Century Jamaica, p. 134.]

{p. 160} aroused by religious assemblies and nothing more. Then appears due provision against the menace of poisonings and finally formal condemnation of Obeah. But through it all the secret phase of Myalism and its confederation with its archenemy Obeah against the oppressor of both, never seems to have been suspected. We may be pardoned, if we review somewhat in detail the legal development of this phase in the Law of Jamaica. Appended to the Laws of Jamaica passed by the assembly and confirmed by His Majesty in Council, April 17, 1684[18] immediately following the Royal Confirmation and consequently disallowed, we have "An Act for the better ordering of slaves," wherein we find the words: "And it is further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every master or mistress or overseer of a family in this island shall cause all slaves houses to be diligently and effectively searched once every fourteen days, for clubs wooden swords, and mischievous weapons, and finding any, shall take them away and cause them to be burnt."[19] This would indicate that even at this early date there was danger from a slave uprising. Among the Acts passed in 1696 is one entitled: "An Act for the better order and government of slaves." Herein we read under Clause XIII the very same words as in the above Act which was disallowed in 1684.[20] Clause XXXII of this new Act runs as follows: "And whereas divers slaves have of late attempted to destroy several people, as well white as black, by poison; the consequences of which secret way of murdering may prove fatal, if not timely prevented: Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any Negro, or any slave or slaves, before the making of this Act, have maliciously given or attempted to give, or shall hereafter maliciously give, attempt or cause to be given to any person whatsoever, free or slave, any manner of poison, although the same was never taken, or if taken, death did not or shall not ensue upon the taking thereof; the said slave or slaves, together [18. London, 1684, p. 140 ff. 19. Ditto, p. 142. 20. Acts of Assembly, passed in the Island of Jamaica from 1681 to 1737, inclusive, London, 1743, p. 50 ff.]

{p. 161}

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MAGICAL 333 with their accessories, as well before as after the fact, being slaves, and convicted thereof . . . shall be adjudged guilty of murder, as if the party or parties that took or shall take the same had died; and shall be condemned to suffer death, by hanging, burning, or such other way or means as to the said justices and freeholders shall seem most convenient."[21] Moreover Clause XXXIV of the same Act prescribes: "And for the prevention of the meeting of slaves in great numbers on Sundays and Holidays, whereby they have taken liberty to contrive and bring to pass many of their bloody and inhuman transactions: Be it enacted by the aforesaid authority, That no master, or mistress, or overseer, shall suffer any drumming or meeting of any slaves, not belonging to their own plantations, to rendezvous, feast, revel, beat drum, or cause any disturbance, but forthwith endeavour to disperse them, by him, or herself, overseer or servants; or if not capacitated to do the same, that he presently give notice to the next commission-officers to raise such number of men as may be sufficient to reduce the said slaves."[22] Failure in duty on this point, the commission-officers included, carries a penalty of "forty shillings for every offence." This Act was confirmed, January 5, 1699,[23] and thus became the first approved Code Noir of Jamaica. We have, then, in the very foundation of the Jamaica Slave Law, and that before the close of the seventeenth century, a clear distinction between danger from the rebellion of slaves and danger from poisoning. In 1717 there was passed "An Act for the more effective punishing of crimes committed by slaves,"[24] of which Clause VIII thus accentuates the danger of slave uprisings: "And whereas the permitting or allowing of any number of strange Negroes to assemble on any Plantation, or settlement, or any other place, may prove of fatal consequences to this your Majesty's Island, if not timely prevented: and forasmuch as Negroes can, by beating on drums, and blowing horns, or other such like instruments of [21. Ditto, p, 55. 22. Ditto, p. 55. 23. Acts of the Privy Council, Vol. II, p. 834. 24. Acts of Assembly, l. c., p. 108.]

{p. 162} noise, give signals to each other at a considerable distance of their evil and wicked intentions: Be it further enacted, That in one month's time after the passing of this Act, no proprietor, attorney, or overseer, presume to suffer any number of strange Negroes, exceeding five, to assemble on his plantation or settlement, or on the plantation or settlement under the care of such attorney or overseer; nor shall any proprietor, attorney, or overseer, suffer any beating on drums, barrels, gourds, boards, or other such like instruments of noise on the plantations and settlements aforesaid." The penalty for each offence is to be ten pounds in the case of proprietor or attorney, and half that sum for overseers. This was an early recognition of the power of the "talking drums" which so long mystified African travellers.

128

MAGICAL 333 In this Act of 1717, there is no mention of the danger of poisoning. However, in 1744, in consequence of a frustrated rebellion of the slaves, wherein "a general massacre of the white people was intended," there was passed: "An Act to explain and amend an Act, entitled, 'An Act for the better order and government of slaves,'" in which it is explained: "That it was the true intent and meaning of the said Act, that the crime of compassing and imagining the death of any white person by any slave or slaves, should be deemed and adjudged a crime of as high a nature as the crime of murder, and should be punished as such,"[25] and again reiterates "although the bloody purposes of such slave or slaves be prevented before any murder hath been or shall be committed."[26] Thus what was originally applicable to the case of poisoning alone, is now by extension applied generally to any attempt whatsoever at the taking of the life of any white person. Again, before this last Act, the danger from rebellion had been clearly dissociated from the danger of poisoning. Henceforth, while the two groups of prohibitions will be preserved, the danger of rebellion is recognized in both. However, the second group of Clauses [25. Acts of Assembly, passed in the Island of Jamaica front 1681 to 1754, inclusive, London, 1756, p. 263 ff. 26. Ditto, p. 264. ff.]

{p. 163} are now formally connected with Obeah, while the prohibition against assemblies becomes more detailed and specific in purpose. Gardner tells us: "The safety of the island was again imperilled by the Koromantins. Several of the leaders met in St. Mary's in July 1765, when the solemn fetish oath was administered. Into a quantity of rum, with which some gun-powder and dirt taken from a grave had been mingled, blood was put, drawn in succession from the arm of each confederate. With certain horrid ceremonies this cup was drunk from by each person, and then came the council. It was agreed that during the ensuing Christmas holidays the rising should take place, and in the meantime all were to obtain companions."[27] The impetuosity of one of their number frustrated the plans of his associates who were acting not under the influence of Obeah but of Myalism, as the "solemn fetish oath" makes clear. On Dec. 21, 1781, there was passed "An Act to repeal several Acts and Clauses of Acts, respecting slaves, and for the better order and government of slaves, and for other purposes."[28] The purpose of this consolidated Act was to rewrite the Code Noir in its entirety, and being passed for three years only, it was to expire with December 31, 1784. Clauses XII to XIV renew the former prohibitions about assemblies of slaves but the penalties are greatly increased. The master, owner, guardian or attorney is now liable in the sum of one hundred pounds, while overseers and bookkeepers may be punished with six months' imprisonment for violations of the code. As regards amusements which are permissible among their own slaves, the use of "drums, horns and such other unlawful instruments of noise" are of course prohibited. Clause XLIX takes direct cognizance of Obeah. It runs as follows: "And in order to prevent the many mischiefs that may hereafter arise from the wicked art of Negroes going under the the {sic} appellation of Obeah men and women, pretending to have

129

MAGICAL 333 [27. Gardner, History of Jamaica, p. 141. 28. Acts of Assembly, passed in the Island of Jamaica, from 770 to 1783, inclusive, Kingston, 786, p. 256 ff.]

{p. 164} communication with the devil and other evil spirits, whereby the weak and superstitious are deluded into a belief of their having full power to exempt them whilst under protection from any evils that might otherwise happen: Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the first day of January, aforesaid, any Negro or other slave who shall pretend to any supernatural power, and be detected in making use of any blood, feathers, parrots-beaks, dogsteeth, alligators-teeth, broken bottles, grave-dirt, rum, eggshells, or any other materials relative to the practice of Obeah or witchcraft, in order to delude and impose on the minds of others, shall upon conviction before two magistrates and three freeholders, suffer death or transportation; anything in this or any other act to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding."[29] This Act never received the Royal Assent and at its expiration the matter was allowed to rest for a couple of years, but the action of the Assembly in Jamaica during the years 1787 and 1788 resulted in what was commonly called "The New Consolidated Act,"[30] to which Stephen Fuller refers as "being the present Code Noir of that Island." Clauses XIX to XXI prohibit the meetings of slaves, etc. along the general lines of previous Acts. Clause XL represents the restrictions on Obeah without enumerating the paraphernalia, but specifies as the purpose of the deed: "In order to affect the health of lives of others, or promote the purposes of rebellion." 31 In Clause XLI, we find repeated the old penalty against poisoning, which had been overlooked in the Act of 1781, where it was supposed to be contained under the general decree against Obeah.[32] December 14, 1808, there was passed "An Act for the protection, subsisting, clothing, and for the better order, regulation, [29. Ditto, p. 277. 30. Stephen Fuller, New Act of Assembly of the Island of Jamaica commonly called the New Consolidated Act, London, 1789, 31. Ditto, p. 10. 32. Ditto, p. 11. Note:--This Act failed to receive the Royal Assent and we find no mention of its provisions in An Abridgement of the Laws of Jamaica being an alphabetical digest of all the public Acts of Assembly now in force, published at St. Jago de la Vega, in 1802. In fact there is no reference there in any way pertaining to assemblies of slaves, Obeah or poisonings.]

{p. 165} and government of slaves, and for other purposes," which was replaced on December 19, 1816, by "An Act for the subsistence, clothing, and the better regulation and government of slaves, for enlarging the powers of the council of protection; for preventing the improper transfer of slaves; and for other purposes."[33]

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MAGICAL 333 In the latter Act, Clauses XXXIV to XXXVI prohibit the assemblies of slaves in the usual form, but under the section permitting, amusements on the properties to which they belong, "so as they do not make use of military drums, horns and shells" we find the further restriction, "Provided that such amusements are put an end to by ten o'clock at night." [34] Clause XLIX (p. 123 f.) deals with Obeah and Clauses LII and LIII[35] repeat the former penalties for poisoning and having poisons in one's possession. By Clause L, placed immediately between Obeah and poisonings, slaves are forbidden to preach or teach "without a permission from the owner and the quarter sessions," and by Clause LI nightly[36] and other private meetings of slaves are declared unlawful. And as there is no mention of outside slaves or drumming or dancing we may safely conclude that these two new Clauses are associated with Myalism in its new form, the true nature of which even here escapes detection.[37] This surmise is strengthened by the fact that the whole matter is thus placed immediately after Obeah to which the legislators evidently thought it was connected. Clause LIII proceeds to extend the scope of previous legislation against the danger from poisonings and further identifies the process with Obeah. It runs as follows: "And be it further enacted, That if there shall be found in the possession of any slave any poisonous drugs, pounded glass, [33. John Lunan, Abstract of the Laws of Jamaica relating to Slaves, St. Jago de la Vega, 1819, p. 105. 34. Ditto, p. 118. 35. Ditto, p. 124 f. 36. Ditto, p. 124. 37. Lunan, l. c., p. 124, Note:--While the non-conformists have always felt that this legislation was aimed solely at their missionaries through motives of bigotry, more sincerity of purpose should be accredited to the Assembly than was generally accorded. The objective of the law is the Revivalist meetings initiated by the Methodists, it is true, but the real motive is self-protection against the rising spirit of Myalism fostered in these gatherings.]

{p. 166} parrot's beaks, dog's teeth, alligator's teeth, or other materials notoriously used in the practice of Obeah or witchcraft, such slave upon conviction, shall be liable to suffer transportation from this island, or such other punishment, not extending to life, as the court shall think proper to direct."[38] The Act of 1781 had made the use of such instruments unlawful, the present Clause is directed against even having them in possession. The prevalence of poisonings in Jamaica about this period is evidenced by a visitor to the island in 1823, as follows:[39] "A Negro man, named Schweppes or Swipes, to which his comrades had added the appellation of Saint, took it into his head to poison a preacher at Montego Bay. He but half killed the poor creature, who discovered the nature of the poison in time to prevent its fatal effects, though it is more than probable he will never recover his former health. The maniac did not escape, but argued that the spirit moved him to kill Massa Parson. He affirmed that the preacher always said 'he longed to lay down his burden; to quit this mortal life; to go to Abraham's bosom, to the bosom of his Saviour, to glory' and so forth--and he Swipes (whose brain was turned topsy-turvy) out of good-will and love, wished to help him to Heaven and 131

MAGICAL 333 glory, for which he was anxious." Again while visiting an estate on Morant River, we are told: "The cook a few days before, had endeavoured to poison Mr. G. and his family, by mixing, I think he said, ground glass in some soup, which was, however, fortunately detected in time to prevent mischief."[41] Finally, just before sailing from Port Antonio, he thus describes the contents of the "cutacoo" of a vagrant Obeah man who was apprehended: "There was an old snuff-box, several phials, some filled with liquids and some with powders, one with pounded glass; some dried herbs, teeth, beads, hair, and other trash; in short the whole farrago of an Obeah man."[41] On December 22, 1826, was passed "An Act to alter and amend [38. Lunan, l. c., p. 124 f. 39. Cynric R. Williams, A Tour through the Island of Jamaica, from the western to the eastern end, in the year 1823, London, 1826, p. 38 f. 40. Ditto, p. 240. 41. Ditto, p. 344.]

{p. 167} the Slave Laws of this Island." Clause LX to LXIV cover unlawful assemblies of slaves. The time for "innocent amusements" on their own properties is extended to midnight.[42] Clause LXXXII deals with Obeah and the following Clause repeats the prohibition against slaves preaching and teaching without permission, another evidence of rejuvenated Myalism.[43] In Clause LXXXIV there is a further extension of the general safeguard against the formation of "plots and conspiracies"[44] whereby meetings of sectarians between sunset and sunrise are prohibited: "Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be deemed or taken to prevent any minister of the Presbyterian kirk, or licensed minister, from performing divine worship at any time before the hour of eight o'clock in the evening at any licensed place of worship, or to interfere with the celebration of divine worship according to the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish and Roman Catholic religions." Then follows an article for the punishment of designing teachers for laying contributions on slaves[45] and the usual prohibition against nightly meetings of slaves and the Clauses on poisoning.[46] Clause LXXXIV prohibiting meetings of sectarians between sunset and sunrise aroused strong opposition, especially on the part of the Methodists who claimed that the instruction of the slaves was thereby practically restricted to the Established Church of England,[47] and the Act was accordingly disallowed. The despatch thereupon sent by W. Huskisson, His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, addressed to the Governor of Jamaica, Sir John Keane, under date of September 22, 1827, states, in part: "Among the various subjects which this Act presents for consideration, none is more important in itself, nor more interesting to every class of society in this kingdom, than the regulations on the subject of religious instruction. The eighty-third [42. Slave Law of Jamaica with Proceedings & Documents relative thereto, London, 1828, p. 95 ff.

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MAGICAL 333 43 Ditto, p. 108. 44 Ditto, p. 109. 45 Ditto, p. 110. 46. Ditto, p. 111. 47 Ditto, p. 231.]

{p. 168} and the two following clauses must be considered as an invasion of that toleration, to which all His Majesty's subjects, whatever may be their civil condition, are alike entitled. The prohibition of persons in a state of slavery assuming the office of religious teachers might seem a very mild restraint, or rather a fit precaution against indecorous proceedings; but amongst some of the religious bodies who employ missionaries in Jamaica, the practice of mutual instruction is stated to be an established part of their discipline. So long as the practice is carried on in an inoffensive and peaceable manner, the distress produced by the prevention of it will be compensated by no public advantage. "The prohibition of meetings for religious worship between sunset and sunrise will, in many cases, operate as a total prohibition, and will be felt with peculiar severity by domestic slaves, inhabiting large towns, whose ordinary engagements on Sunday will not afford leisure for attendance on public worship before the evening. It is impossible to pass over without remark the invidious distinction which is made not only between Protestant dissenters and Roman Catholics, but even between Protestant dissenters and Jews. I have indeed no reason to suppose that the Jewish teachers have made any converts to their religion among the slaves, and probably, therefore, the distinction in their favour is merely nominal; still it is a preference, which, in principle, ought not to be given by the Legislature of a Christian country."[48] Again he says further on:[49] "It may be doubtful whether the restrictions upon private meetings among the slaves, without the knowledge of the owner, was intentionally pointed at the meetings for religious worship. No objection, of course, could exist to requiring that notice should be given to the owner or manager whenever the slaves attended any such meetings; but, on the other hand, due security should be taken that the owner's authority is not improperly exerted to prevent the attendance of the slaves. "I cannot too distinctly impress upon you that it is the settled [48. Ditto, p. 146. 49. Ditto, p. 147.]

{p. 169}

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MAGICAL 333 purpose of His Majesty's government to sanction no colonial law, which needlessly infringes on the religious liberty of any class of His Majesty's subjects, and you will understand that you are riot to assent to any bill imposing any restraint of that nature, unless a clause be inserted for suspending its operation until His Majesty's pleasure shall be known." Later, taking up the question of Obeah, he writes: "The definition of the offence of Obeah will be found to embrace many acts, against which it could not have been really intended to denounce the punishment of death. The definition of the crime of preparing to administer poison is also so extensive as to include many innocent and even some meritorious acts. Thus also the offence of possessing materials used in the practice of Obeah is imperfectly described, since no reference is made to the wicked intention in which alone the crime consists."[50] The acknowledgment, to the Governor, of the receipt of this communication, on the part of the House of Assembly, on December 4, 1827, contains these significant words: "In enacting the eighty-third, eighty-fourth, and eighty-fifth clauses, which are particularly objected to, the House had before them the example of Demerara, and they deemed the restrictions necessary, as well for the peace of the colony as for the well-being of the slaves; that opinion the House still retains, and consequently are unable to present to your Honour any modified law on this subject."[51] In the formal answer to the letter, passed unanimously[52] by the Jamaica House of Assembly on December 14th we read: "The eighty-third clause prohibits the preaching and teaching of slaves, not because mischief might possibly accrue, but because it has been found by experience, as the preamble in the clause declares, 'to be attended with the most pernicious consequences, and even with the loss of life.' So long as the slave subsists at the cost of the master, so long must that master's right be admitted to watch [50. Ditto, p. 156. 51. Ditto, p. 159. 52. Ditto, p. 189.]

{p. 170} over his actions, on which depend his health and his life. Neither health nor life can be secure, if slaves are allowed to unsettle the understanding of each other, by mutually inculcating their crude notions of religion, and have free license to meet under the pretence of preaching at unseasonable hours and in improper places. The House duly appreciate the pious motives of the King's ministers, who would extend the blessings of religion all over the world, but nevertheless it is their opinion, that no persons are competent to judge of regulations intended to restrain the malpractices of 'ignorant, superstitious, and designing slaves,' unless they have made themselves acquainted with the African character by a long residence among them. These remarks equally apply to the eighty-fourth clause. Meetings for religious worship between sunrise and sunset, are prohibited only to unlicensed preachers; and it is believed that in no well organized society are persons, without character or of doubtful or secret views, suffered to go at large, under shelter of the night, amongst an ignorant peasantry, and make upon their minds an impression that may be dictated by political or religious fanaticism. . . . Although the slaves of Jamaica have advanced

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MAGICAL 333 rapidly in civilization within a very few years, yet it is not pretended that their progress has been so great that all those guards can be dispensed with which were thought essential by our predecessors. The eighty-third and eighty-fourth clauses are not innovations, as Mr. Huskisson seems to suppose; they are taken from the old slave law, and come again into operation on the disallowance of the new law, with this difference, that the new law provides against any misconception of the law in respect to Catholics and Jews, and permits licensed ministers to perform divine worship at any licensed place of worship to the hour of eight; and when it is remembered that in Jamaica the setting sun varies from half-past five to half-past six, it will appear that time enough is afforded for the night worship of slaves. . . . "The remarks of Mr. Huskisson, on the clause for the punishment of Obeah, naturally offer themselves to one ignorant of the extent of African superstition, and the horrible crimes Negroes {p. 171} will perpetrate sometimes to gratify revenge, and often to acquire influence that may enable them to levy contributions on the fears of their more timid fellows. Negroes are seen to pine away to death under the pretended sorceries of the Obeah man; and, where the imagination does not perform the work of death with sufficient celerity, the more certain aid of poison is called in, to hasten the fate of the victim. Mr. Huskisson considers, that under the next clause, many innocent and some meritorious acts are exposed to punishment. But it is submitted, that the possession of poisonous drugs by Negroes cannot be innocent, unless confided to them by their masters; which fact can readily be proven."[53] Both sides to this controversy were right in part, and yet they both failed to discern the real point at issue. To the home government, there was actual need of suppressing what appealed to them as an outburst of religious bigotry against the non-conformists; to the planters in Jamaica it was clear that there was growing up among the slaves a religious fanaticism and unrest that could augur nothing but another upheaval of the social order with attempted massacre and destruction of property. What neither side of the argument even suspected was that under guise of Methodist Revivalism, the long persecuted and seemingly forgotten Myalism was taking a new lease of life and imbuing the slaves in general with its own peculiar religious mania in preparation for the day when the solemn fetish oath might be administered for the general overthrow of the white regime. And the Methodist authorities, on their part, could only see a consoling outpouring of the spirit, and countless brands saved from the burning, when in reality the consequence of misguided zeal was a dangerous recrudescence of pagan practices with a veneer of Christianity, cloaked and disguised as a Methodist Revival.[54] Similar excesses were experienced later by another group who surpassed even the Methodists in the unbridled spirit of Revivalism. [53. Ditto, p. 164 ff. 54. Note:--Cfr. also D. Trouillot, Esquisse Ethnographique: Le Vaudoux, Port-au-Prince, 1885, p. 27, where Jamaica Revivalism is classified with the Haitian "Fandango," a Chica Dance and claimed to be a form of Voodoo in the wide sense of the word.]

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MAGICAL 333 {p. 172} Gardner thus describes the facts. "With a few exceptions, native Baptist churches became associations of men and women who, in too many cases, mingled the belief and even practice of Myalism with religious observances, and who perverted and corrupted what they retained of these; among them sensuality was almost unrestrained. Their leaders or 'daddies,' as a class were overbearing, tyrannical, and lascivious, and united the authority of the slave-driver with the darkest forms of spiritual despotism. Of scriptural teaching there was little. Simple facts were so perverted, that they would have been ridiculous had they not been blasphemous."[55] It was this condition of affairs that led up to the final slave-rebellion just before emancipation went into effect. As recently as October 12, 1932, a letter appeared in THE DAILY GLEANER of Kingston, Jamaica, entitled "An Open Letter to Ministers of Religion" and signed by R. H. Ferguson, wherein the latest form of Myalistic Revivalism, known as Pocomanism, is thus described. "I see a house yonder. Those within are singing. Come stealing sweet cadences the notes of that wellknown hymn 'Day is dying in the West, Heaven is touching earth with rest.' "The hymn ceases and ah! they strike up some lively tune as 'Bright soul, wha' mek you tun' back?' Bodies are swaying, and, oh soul of Bacchus! Are they drunk? Pandemonium!--a religious frenzy. I am minded of the Berserkers--a little madness as men and women jumping like kangaroos, to a well-timed rhythm place their hands to their mouths, grunting (is it grunting?) for all they are worth, like wild boars sounding their war-cries as they resist the onslaught of the charging hounds. "That exercise over, a stalward Negro man, wearing a red and [55. Gardner, History of Jamaica, p. 358. Note:--The so-called "Native Baptist Churches" are not to be confused with the regular Baptists. They had their origin, it is said, in groups expelled from the older organization for superstition and immortality. They carried with them the name of Baptist and little more.--Cfr. Samuel Green, Baptist Mission in Jamaica, London, 1842, p. 19 f. Many of the leaders in the insurrection of 1831 in St. James' parish, as well as not a few of those who were associated with the Morant Bay Rebellion Of 1865, were connected with these Native Baptist Churches.]

{p. 173} white bandana, steps forth and makes an oration. Listen. 'I come here to take off ghosts and if the Devil himself come with you, him must go!' Can it be possible in law-abiding Jamaica? Sick folks are washed and anointed with evil-smelling oils, presumably, 'oil a tun' back,' 'oil a carryaway,' 'oil a keep him down,' 'oil a bamba,' 'dead man drops.' Oh shade of Æsculapius! Songs, songs, sacred songs. "Does the law punish the man who practices Obeah? Are these practices a form of Obeah? If so, are they carried on in the guise of Christianity? Do such meetings contribute to the uplift of the people, and make of the children the ideal citizens of the days to come? . . .

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MAGICAL 333 "My humble opinion is that that sect should not be allowed to broadcast such demoralizing influences. The island can safely do without Pocomanism. . . . "With the greatest alarm I once listened to a man haranguing a crowd in New Town. Said he, 'Your ministers tell you when you die, you gwine a heaven go drink milk and honey. Who tell dem say God have cow-pen a heaven? etc.' . . . And now I am asking potently, should such people be allowed to carry on and broadcast heresies, pernicious, destructive, damning? . . . "I respectfully beg your fraternity to get together and represent this matter to the legislators to the end that our fair island may be saved the disaster of a religious upheaval brought about by whom? An ignorant set of dancing, prancing, steppers, a set of howling windbags--men too lazy to work, and so elect to collect toll while preying on the credulity of the simple--self-styled 'shepherds' determined to make a mess of Christianity." This letter evoked the following editorial in THE DAILY GLEANER Of the following day. "POCOMANISM. Mr. R. H. Ferguson cries aloud in his Open Letter to Ministers of Religion (published in this paper yesterday) that Pocomanism is 'tearing at the vitals of the Church.' He is aware that this 'Pocomanism,' which he says is the result of Pocomania, will strike the average reader as being something strange and weird; therefore in this letter to the ministers of religion he explains what Pocomanism {p. 174} is, and it turns out to be neither more nor less than our old friend Myalism, which is much better known in these days as Revivalism. Pocomania, then, is a frenzy brought about by men and women exciting themselves--'jumping like kangaroos,' as Mr. Ferguson expresses it--singing hymns calculated to stimulate the emotions, deliberately surrendering their minds and bodies to superstitious influences. The leaders of these revivalists or pocomaniacs claim to be able to exercise ghosts that are haunting afflicted persons, and also to cure the sick by anointing them with special mixtures, usually of an evil-smelling description. These men are nothing but a survival of the 'Myal men' of a hundred years ago, and of West African priests who practiced the same rites in their native country. And they seem to thrive on their deceptions. "It is a pity that Mr. Ferguson writes in a manner that suggests a sort of long, loud scream of the pen, varied by spasmodic jumps, for the evil to which he calls attention is one that should certainly not be overlooked. His application to it of the term 'Pocomanism' is very effective in directing notice to the thing to which it refers. Religious revivals are of all sorts and descriptions; to speak of a revival merely, therefore, is not to evoke in the mind of the average hearer any startling picture of physical obscenity or moral degradation; which perhaps is why, when a protest is voiced against 'Revivalism' of the ghost-catching or 'balm' healing type, not much notice is taken of it. Yet those who have seen the ceremonies by which ghosts are supposed to be laid and sickness to be cured, recognize that even the ejaculatory manner adopted by Mr. Ferguson in describing- them does not exaggerate the facts. The thing itself is worse than any picture of it could be, and it is no wonder that he wants to know whether these practices are not a form of Obeah, even if carried on under the guise of Christianity. He suggests that legislation

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MAGICAL 333 should be brought to bear on this Pocomanism and that the ministers of the island should unite to crush the Pocomaniacs, 'an ignorant set of dancing, prancing, steppers, a set of howling {p. 175} windbags, men too lazy to work, self-styled "shepherds" determined to make a mess of Christianity.' "The language is strong, but not too strong; the denunciation is fully merited. We agree entirely that this sort of Revivalism, or Pocomanism, must have a bad effect upon the minds and morals of the younger people who witness it and that it deliberately encourages the basest forms of superstition. But it is no use appealing to the ministers of religion; they cannot put a stop to it. preaching and teaching will doubtless have a salutary effect in the long run, but that long run means years and years, a couple of generations, perhaps a century. We ought to have quicker and more effective action to deal with the evil; such action means legislation, and that in its turn will demand a comprehensive description and definition of the practices to be suppressed. That may not be easy, but we should hope that it will not be impossible. The claim to 'take off ghosts,' to heal diseases by anointing with oil, and incantations, is really a form of fraud such as Obeah is defined to be in our laws. A disguise is thrown over these thing by the use of terms current in the Christian religion, but the fraud, the superstition, the vileness of the dancing and the sexual excitation that follows are patent to everyone except the willingly deluded. It will have to be the lawyers, however, who must try their hands at framing legislation to suppress the practices complained of. We hope these lawyers will be equal to the task, for these orgiastic revival dances--this Pocomanism which seems to be more common than should be possible at this date of our history--undoubtedly do much to frustrate the efforts made by educationists and the religious organizations in this country." But even if they do legislate against this latest Myalistic outbreak, it is to be feared that they will at best abolish for a time the public expression of the real spirit which we must expect merely to retire once more to secret functions in preparation for the day when it will ultimately break out anew under another guise in which it will not be immediately recognized. It is not always easy to analyze the Negro's purpose in a dance. {p. 176} In quite recent times, I have personally known well-meaning Ecclesiastics, comparatively new to Jamaica and its ways, commenting with approval regarding the Minto dance, that it was graceful and free from the objectional embraces of most modern dances. In their innocence, or rather ignorance, they never suspected the entire purpose of the dance which consists in the arousing of the passions, being derived from the same source as the Haitian Calenda already described. When told of its true import they blushed at the memory of the interest they had shown in watching the dance. An interest that had probably made the participants chuckle shamelessly at Parson's lack of understanding,--"'Im ignorant fee true, Sah!"--For they who dance the Minto know full well its evil purpose.

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MAGICAL 333 William Wilberforce asserted: "The Jamaica planters long imputed the most injurious effects on the health and even lives of their slaves, to the African practice of Obeah, or witchcraft. The Agents for Jamaica declared to the Privy Council, in 1788, that they 'ascribed a very considerable portion of the annual mortality among the Negroes in that island to that fascinating mischief.' I know that of late, ashamed of being supposed to have punished witchcraft with such severity, it had been alleged, that the professors of Obeah used to prepare and administer poison to the subjects of their spells; but anyone who will only examine the laws of Jamaica against these practices, or read the evidence of the agents, will see plainly that this was not the view that was taken of the proceedings of the Obeah men, but that they were considered as impostors, who preyed on their ignorant countrymen by the pretended intercourse with evil spirits, or by some other pretences to supernatural powers."[56] And remarks on the very next page: "No sooner did a Negro become a Christian, then the Obeah men despaired of bringing him into subjection."[57] This statement of Wilberforce brought almost immediately from the Reverend George Wilson Bridges, an Anglican Clergyman [56. William Wilberforce, An Appeal to the Religion, Justice, and Humanity of the Inhabitants of the British Empire, in behalf of the Negro Slaves in the West Indies, London, 1823, p. 22. 57. Ditto, p. 23.]

{p. 177} in Jamaica the following caustic retort: "You speak of the African practice of witchcraft, called Obeah; and referring to the laws which make the dreadful effects of that superstition punishable by death, you call it 'folly' to attempt 'rooting out pagan superstition by severity of punishment.' Are you then so ignorant, Sir, of the manners and customs of the people whose cause you profess to advocate, as not to know that Obeah, and death, are synonymous: that the latter is the invariable end and object of the former, and that this imported African superstition is widely different from the harmless tales of witches and broomsticks, which once frightened you in the arms of your nursery maid? Your feelings have probably been shocked by stories of burning old women for bewitching pigs, and swimming them for assuming the shape of a hare; but are you not to be told that Obeah is a superstition dreadfully different from these fantasies; that it is, in fear, the practice of occult poisons: by which thousands have suffered in these islands, and which, though gradually giving way beneath the spreading influence of Christianity, must nevertheless, in every proved case, be punished by human laws, as severe as those which attach to the convicted murderer in every land."[58] And yet, as we have seen, Wilberforce was not far astray in his estimates, not only of the Laws of Jamaica, but also of the general attitude of amused toleration with which Obeah was usually regarded by the planters of the island, until the rebellion of, 1760 opened the eyes of all to the connection between Obeah and poisonings, and led the Assembly to legislate directly against the practice of this black art. Still, despite the fact that chroniclers made no specific mention of the dangerous pest as such, there are many indications that it exacted an awful toll of human lives from the earliest days of Jamaica as an English Colony.

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MAGICAL 333 In an appendix to his Reports of the Jamaica Assembly on the subject of the slave trade, Stephen Fuller gave a summary of the [58. George Wilson Bridges, A Voice from Jamaica; in reply to William Wilberforce, London, 1823, p. 28 f.]

{p. 178} Negroes from Africa who were sold in Jamaica between 1764 and 1788. During this period some 50,000 slaves were imported by the five principal agents and of these nearly 15% came from the Gold Coast and about 10% from Whydah. One firm, Messrs Cappells, who seemingly specialized in Gold Coast Negroes, reports between November, 1782, and January, 1788, out of a total of 10,380 importations, 5,924, or nearly 60% as from the Gold Coast and only 444 from Whydah.[59] But it is not only numerically but also by his dominant spirit, as we have seen, that the Gold Coast or Ashanti slave asserted an ascendancy over the rest of the slaves and firmly established in Jamaica his own form of witchcraft, Obeah, with its concomitant poisonings. Robert Hammill Nassau states: "The slaves exported from Africa to the British possessions in the West Indies brought with them some of the seeds of African plants, especially those they regarded as 'medicinal,' or they found among the fauna and flora of the tropical West Indies some of the same plants and animals held by them as sacred to fetich in their tropical Africa. The ceiba, or silk-cotton tree, at whose base I find in Africa so many votive offerings of fetich worship, they found flourishing in Jamaica. They had established on their plantations the fetich doctor, their dance, their charm, their lore, before they had learned English at all. And when the British missionaries came among them with school and church, while many of the converts were sincere, there were those of the doctor class who, like Simon Magus, entered into the church-fold for sake of whatever gain they could make by the white man's new influence, the white man's Holy Spirit. Outwardly everything was serene and Christian. Within was working an element of diabolism, fetichism, there known by the name of Obeah, under whose leaven some of the churches were wrecked. And the same diabolism, known as Voodoo worship in the Negro communities of the Southern United States has emasculated the spiritual life of many [59. Stephen Fuller, Two Reports from the Committee of the Honourable House of Assembly of Jamaica, London, 1789, Appendix.]

{p. 179} professed Christians."[60] Again he says, "There are native poisons. It is known that sometimes they are secretly used in revenge, or to put out of the way a relative whose wealth is desired to be inherited. . . . The distinction between a fetich and a poison is vague in the thought of many natives. What I call a 'poison' is to them only another material form of a fetich power, both poison and fetich being supposed to be made efficient by the presence of an adjuvant spirit. Not all deaths of foreigners in Africa are due to malaria. Some of them have been doubtless due to poison administered by a revengeful employee."{p. 61}

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MAGICAL 333 Sir Hans Sloane, who accompanied the Duke of Albermarle to Jamaica in 1687, in capacity of physician to the Governor, remarks of the slaves: "They formerly on their festivals were allowed the use of trumpets after their fashion, and drums made of a piece of a hollow tree, covered on one end with any green skin, and stretched with thouls or pins. But making use of these in their wars at home in Africa, it was thought too much inciting them to rebellion, and so they were prohibited by the customs of the island."[62] Again he says: "The Indians and Negroes have no manner of religion by what I could observe of them. 'Tis true they have several ceremonies, as dances, playing, &c. but these for the most part are so far from being acts of adoration of a [60. Robert Hammill Nassau, Fetishism in West Africa, London, 1904, p. 25. 61. Ditto, p. 263. Note:--Nassau further states, p. 264: "An English traveller recently in the Igbo country of Nigeria, in discussing the native belief in occult forces, says: 'It is impossible for a white man to be present at the gatherings of "medicine men" and it is hard to get a native to talk of such things, but it seems evident to me that there is some reality in the phenomena one hears of, as they are believed everywhere in some degree by white men as well as black.' However that may he the native doctors have a wide knowledge of poisons; and if one is to believe reports, deaths from poison, both among the white and black men, are of common recurrence on the Niger. One of the white man's often quoted proverbs is. 'Never quarrel with your cook'; the meaning of which is that the cook can put something in your food in retaliation if you maltreat him. There is everywhere a belief that it is possible to put medicine on a path for your enemy, which when he steps over it, will cause him to fall sick and die. Other people can walk uninjured over the spot, but the moment the man for whom the medicine is laid reaches the place, he succumbs, often dying within an hour or two. I have never seen such a case myself; but the Rev. A. E. Richardson says he saw one when on the journey with Bishop Tugwell's house-party, He could offer no explanation of how the thing is done, but does not doubt that it is done. Some of the best educated of our native Christians have told me that they firmly believe in this 'medicine-laying.'" 62. Hans Sloane, A Voyage to the Islands, London, 707, Introduction, p. lii.]

{p. 180} God, that they are for the most part mixed with a great deal of bawdry and lewdness."[63] With the suppression of drumming and assemblies, the Myal dance (and in a disguised form) was all that was left of their religious practices that could be produced in public. In passing Sloane remarks a couple of cases of poisoning, but makes no mention of Obeah as such.[64] Charles Leslie, writing in 1740, states: "When anything about a plantation is missing, they have a solemn kind of oath, which the eldest Negro always administers, and which by them is accounted so sacred, that except they have the express command of their master or overseer, they never set about it, and then they go very solemnly to work. They range themselves in that spot of ground which is appropriated for the Negro burying place, and one of them opens a grave. He who acts the priest, takes a little of the earth, and puts it into every one of their mouths; they say, that if any has been guilty, their belly swells, and occasions death. I never saw any instance of this but once; and it was certainly a fact that a boy did swell, and acknowledged the theft when be was dying: But I am far from thinking there was any connection betwixt the cause and the effect, for a thousand accidents might have occasioned it, without accounting for it by that foolish ceremony."[65] While this passage is frequently quoted as an example of Obeah, it is really a religious ordeal, similar to so many practiced in Africa. It is employed publicly and for the general good. Consequently we must ascribe it to Myalism and not to Obeah.[66]

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MAGICAL 333 [63. Ditto, Introduction, p. lvi. 64. Note: Retribution falls heavily on the slave of his day, if we may judge by the following statement of Sloane, Introduction, p. lvii: "The punishment for crimes of slaves, are usually for rebellions burning them, by nailing them down on the ground with crooked sticks on every limb, and then applying the fire by degrees from the feet and hands, burning them gradually up to the head, whereby their pains are extravagant. For crimes of a less nature gelding or chopping off half of the foot with an ax. These punishments are suffered by them with great constancy." 65. Charles Leslie, New History of Jamaica, London, 1740, p. 308. 66. Note:--Dr. Patrick Browne, The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, London, 1756, p. 25, like his predecessor, Dr. Sloane, remarks the presence of poisonous plants. However he ascribes the high death rate among the slaves not to poison but rather to the poor medical attendance on the island. Speaking of the diseases so prevalent among the slaves, he is decidedly outspoken: "These are indeed frequently of a peculiar nature, and require a consummate knowledge of symptoms and disorders, to discover the real forces of them; yet the owners, {footnote p. 181} whose interest depends chiefly on their welfare, will commit them to the care (f some raw youth, or ignorant assumer, that is hardly skilled enough to breathe a vein, or dispense a dose of physic; but this proceeds more from ignorance and vanity, than any real want of humanity; for few of them are judges of physic, and each would be thought to have a doctor of his own."]

{p. 181} Edward Long, the first historian to refer to Obeah by name is writing after the revelation caused by the rebellion of 1760. As yet his views are not as set as we find them fifteen years later in the document studied in an earlier chapter, and he quite naturally confuses Obeah and Myalism. He says of the slaves: "They firmly believe in the apparition of spectres. Those of deceased friends are duppies; others, of more hostile and tremendous aspect, like our raw-head-and-bloody bones, are called bugaboos. The most sensible among them fear the supernatural powers of the African Obeah men, or pretended conjurers; often ascribing those mortal effects to magic, which are only the natural operation of some poisonous juice, or preparation, dexterously administered by these villains. But the creoles imagine, that the virtues of baptism, or making them Christians, render their art wholly ineffectual; and for this reason only, many of them have desired to be baptized, that they might be secured from Obeah. "Not long since, some of these execrable wretches in Jamaica introduced what they called the Myal dance[67] and established a kind of society, into which they invited all they could. The lure hung out was, that every Negro, initiated into the Myal society, would be invulnerable by the white man; and although they might in appearance be slain, the Obeah man could, at his pleasure, restore the body to life. The method, by which this trick was carried on, was by a cold infusion of the herb branched calalue; which, after the agitation of dancing, threw the party into a profound sleep. In this state he continued, to all appearances lifeless, no pulse, nor motion of the heart, being perceptible; till on being rubbed with another infusion (as yet unknown to the whites), the effects of the calalue gradually went off, the body resumed its motions, and the party on whom the experiment had been tried, awoke as from a trance, entirely ignorant of anything that [67. This is the common misconception, already noticed, of considering Myalism as an offshoot from Obeah.]

{p. 182}

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MAGICAL 333 had passed since he left off dancing."[68] A few pages later, Long adds: "Bits of red rag, cats teeth, parrots feathers, eggshells and fish-bones are frequently stuck up at the doors of their houses when they go from home leaving anything of value within, (sometimes they hang them on fruit trees, and place them in cornfields), to deter thieves. Upon conversing with some of the Creoles upon this custom, they laugh at the supposed virtue of the charm, and said they practiced it only to frighten away the salt-water Negroes, of whose depredations they are most apprehensive."[69] Long seems too easily satisfied with the explanation of this Creole. Even today, every Negro in Jamaica has a superstitious fear of anything that is referred to, even in joke, as preternatural. On more than one occasion I have seen a gentleman throw a piece of ordinary paper on the floor and say to the housemaid, a married woman of exemplary character and a regular church-member: "Look out Aida, duppy there." To which Aida would invariably reply with a laugh: "Me no belieb duppy, Sah! All nonsense, Sah!" And yet she would give that piece of paper a wide berth, and if told to bring something that would necessitate her passing the suspicious object, she would walk all the way around the room to avoid it. When asked why she did not go direct, she would explain: "Me prefar walk dis way, Sah!" And that paper would remain there untouched until a friendly breeze blew it out of the house. During the last quarter of the eighteenth century, there lived one of the most desperate characters in Jamaica history. His depredations accomplished single handed and over a wide area left the impression that he was the head of a numerous and well-organized band of robbers and his very name became synonymous with terror throughout the country districts. Owing to the loss of two fingers in an early encounter with a Maroon, he was generally [68. Edward Long, History of Jamaica, London, 1774, Vol. II, p. 416. 69. Ditto, Vol. 1I, p. 420. Note:--In reference to the slave law of Jamaica, Long writes, p. 493: "The Negro code of this island appears originally to have copied from the model in use at Barbadoes; and the legislature of this latter island, which was the first planted by the English, resorted to the English villeinage laws, from whence they undoubtedly transfused all that severity which characterizes them, and shows the abject slavery which the common people of England formerly laboured under."]

{p. 183} known as Three-finger Jack. Concerning this desperado, many accounts have come down to us, all of which show that his chief reliance was the machinations of a notorious Obeah man. Thus we are told: "Dr. Moseley in his Treatise on Sugar, says, 'I saw the Obi of this famous Negro robber, Three-finger Jack, this terror of Jamaica in 1780. The Maroon who slew him brought it to me. It consisted of a goat's horn, filled with a compound of grave dirt, ashes, the blood of a black cat, and human fat, all mixed into a kind of paste. A cat's foot, a dried toad, a pig's tail, a flip of virginal parchment, of kid's skin, with characters marked in blood on it, were also in his Obeah bag."[70] Burdett thus describes the Obeah man who bestowed this grewsome gift on Mansong: "Amalkir, the Obeah practitioner, dwelt in a loathsome cave, far removed from the inquiring eye of the suspicious whites, in the Blue Mountains; he was old and shrivelled; a disorder had contracted all his nerves, and he could hardly crawl. His cave was the dwelling-place, or refuge of robbers; he encouraged them in their depredations; and gave them Obi, that they might

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MAGICAL 333 fearlously rush where danger stood. This Obi was supposed to make them invulnerable to the attacks of the white men, and they placed implicit belief in its Virtues."[71] He evidently played the rôle of Myalist as well as Obeah man. Coming now to the nineteenth century, as would be expected, [70. William Burdett, Life and Exploits of Mansong, commonly called Three-finger Jack, the Terror of Jamaica, Sommers Town, 1800, p. 34. 71. Ditto, p. 17. Note:--Robert Renny published in London in 1807: An History of Jamaica, . . . To which is added an illustration of the Advantages, which are likely to result, from the Abolition of the Slave Trade. He remarks, Preface, p. xi: "Perhaps an observation will be deemed requisite respecting the non-quotation of authorities, for the various historical facts, related in the Present volume. For this conduct, the conciseness requisite in a short history, will Probably account in a satisfactory manner." The entire work lacks originality and is little more than a reprint from others. Hence we may confine ourselves to the following brief quotation, p. 169 f.: "Whatever their notions of religion may have been, they, not unlike their European masters, seem to pay little regard to the ceremonies of any system in Jamaica. But they are not on that account, the less superstitious. A belief in Obeah, or witchcraft, is almost universal among them. The professors of this occult science, are always Africans, and generally old and crafty. Hoary heads, gravity of aspect, and a skill in herbs, are the chief qualifications for this curious office. The Negroes, both Africans and Creoles (i. e. those born in the island), revere, consult, and fear them." Then follows an account which is little more than a paraphrase from the Report of 1780.]

{p. 184} every writer in Jamaica has something to say about Obeah which still remains, however, a great enigma to be explained according to each individual's point of view. Thus Stewart writing in 1808, and expressing the opinion that was commonly maintained by the missionaries: "There is one good effect which the simple persuasion of his being a Christian produces on the mind of the Negro; it is an effectual antidote against the spells and charms of his native superstition. One Negro who desires to be revenged on another, if he fears a more open and manly attack on his adversary, has usually recourse to Obeah. This is considered as a potent and irresistible spell, withering and palsying, by undescribable terrors, and unwonted sensations, the unhappy victim. Like the witches' cauldron in Macbeth, it is a combination of all that is hateful and disgusting; a toad's foot, a lizard's tail, a snake's tooth, the plumage of the carrion crow, or vulture, a broken eggshell, a piece of wood fashioned into the shape of a coffin, with many other nameless ingredients, compose the fatal mixture. It will of course be conceived that the practice of Obeah can have little effect, without a Negro is conscious that it is practiced upon him, or thinks so: for as the sole evil lies in the terrors of a perturbed fancy, it is of little consequence whether it is really practiced or not, if he only imagines that it is. An Obeah man or woman upon an estate, is therefore a very dangerous person; and the practice of it for evil purposes is made felony by the law. But numbers may be swept off by its infatuation before the practice is detected; for, strange as it may appear, so much do the Negroes stand in awe of these wretches, so much do they dread their malice and their power, that, though knowing the havoc they have made, and are still making, many of them are afraid to discover them to the whites; and others, perhaps, are in league with them for sinister purposes of mischief and revenge. A Negro under this infatuation can only be cured of his terrors by being made a Christian; refuse him this indulgence, and he soon sinks a martyr to imagine evils. The author knew an instance of a Negro, who, being reduced by the fatal influence of Obeah to the lowest state of dejection and debility, from which there were little hopes of 144

MAGICAL 333 {p. 185} his recovery, was surprisingly and rapidly restored to health and to spirits, by being baptized a Christian; so wonderful are the workings of a weak and superstitious imagination. But, though so liable to be perverted into an instrument of malice and revenge, Obeah, at least a sort of it, may be said to have its uses. When placed in the gardens and grounds of the Negroes, it becomes an excellent guard or watchman, scaring away the predatory runaway, and midnight plunderer, with more effective terror than gins and spring guns. It loses its effect, however, when put to protect the gardens and plantain walks of the Buckras."[72] [72. J. Stewart, An Account of Jamaica and its Inhabitants, London, 1808, p. 256 ff. Note:--In the second edition of this work which was published under the title, A View of the Past and Present State of the Island of Jamaica, Edinburgh, 1823, for some unexplained reason, this passage is rewritten and considerably changed with the element of poison in Obeah introduced.--Cfr. p. 276 f.: "The most dangerous practice, arising from the superstitious credulity, prevailing among the negroes is, what is called obeah, a pretended sort of witchcraft. One negro who desires to be revenged on another, and is afraid to make an open and manly attack on his adversary, has usually recourse to obeah. This is considered as a potent and irresistible spell, withering and palsying, by indescribable errors and unwonted sensations, the unhappy victim. Like the witches' caldron in Macbeth, it is a combination of many strange and ominous things--earth gathered from a grave, human blood, a piece of wood fashioned in the shape of a coffin, the feathers of the carrion-crow, a snake's or alligator's tooth, pieces of eggshell, and other nameless ingredients, compose the fatal mixture. The whole of these articles may not be considered as absolutely necessary to complete the charm, but two or three are at least indispensable. It will, of course, be conceived, that the practice of obeah can have little effect, unless a negro is conscious that it is practiced upon him, or thinks so; for as the whole evil consists in the terrors of a superstitious imagination, it is of little consequence whether it be really practiced or not, if he can only imagine that it is. But if the charm fails to take hold of the mind of the proscribed person, another and more certain expedient is resorted to--the secretly administering of poison to him. This saves the reputation of the sorcerer, and effects the purpose he had in view. (The negroes practicing obeah are acquainted with some very powerful vegetable poisons, which they use on these occasions.) An obeah-man or woman (for it is practiced by both sexes) is a very wicked and dangerous person on a plantation; and the practice of it is made a felony by the law, punishable with death where poison has been administered, and with transportation where only the charm is used. But numbers may be swept off by its infatuation before the crime is detected; for, strange as it may appear, so much do the negroes stand in awe of those obeah professors, so much do they dread their malice and their power, that, though knowing the havoc they have made, and are still making, they are afraid to discover them to the whites; and others perhaps, are in league with them for sinister purposes of mischief and revenge. A negro under this infatuation can only be cured of his terrors by being made a Christian: refuse him this boon, and he sinks a martyr to imagined evils. The author knew an instance of a negro, who, being reduced by the fatal influence of obeah to the lowest state of dejection and debility, from which there were little hopes of his recovery, was surprisingly and rapidly restored to health and cheerfulness by being baptized a Christian. A negro, in short, considers himself as no longer {footnote p. 186} under the influence of this sorcery when he becomes a Christian. But, though so liable to be perverted into a deadly instrument of malice and revenge, obeah--at least a species of it-may be said to have its uses. When placed in the gardens and grounds of the Negroes, it becomes an excellent guard or watch, scaring away the predatory runaway and midnight plunderer with more effective power than gins and spring-guns. It loses its power, however, when put to protect the gardens and plantain-walks of the Buckras." B. Pullen-Bury, Jamaica as It Is, 1903, London, 1903, p. 140, says of recent times: "Some planters adopt Obi to ensure themselves against thieving. They take a large black bottle, fill it with some phosphorescent liquid, and place within it the feather of a buzzard, the quill sticking uppermost. This they fasten to a tree on the outskirts of the coffee-patch or banana-field, where it can be well observed by all who pass near. The dusky population, firmly believing it to be the work of the Obeah man, refrain their thieving propensities accordingly."]

{p. 186}

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MAGICAL 333 Matthew Gregory Lewis, who was already quoted on Myalism, records in his diary, in his own delightful way, an accusation of Obeah brought by one of his own servants, Pickle, against a fellow-servant Edward, as follows: "He had accused Edward of breaking open his house, and had begged him to help him to Ills goods again; and 'Edward had gone at midnight into the bush' (i. e. the wood), and had gathered the plant whangra, which he had boiled in an iron pot, by a fire of leaves, over which he went puff, puffie: 'and said the sautee-sautee; and then had cut the whangra root into four pieces, three to bury at the plantation gates, and one to burn; and to each of these three pieces he gave the name of a Christian, one of which was Daniel; and Edward had said, that this would help him to find his goods; but instead of that, he had immediately felt this pain in his side, and therefore he was sure that, instead of using Obeah to find his goods, Edward had used it to kill himself.'"[73] Even in my time in Jamaica, it was enough to threaten to "burn whangra" within the hearing of some petty thief, to have the goods returned at once. I understood that failure to do so, would cause the body of the thief to break out into the most terrible sores, in case the threat had been carried into execution. Another entry in Lewis' diary is worth repeating here. Under date of January 28, 1816, we find it recorded: "There are certainly many excellent qualities in the negro character; their worst faults appear to be this prejudice respecting Obeah, and the [73. Lewis, Journal of a West India Proprietor, p. 134.]

{p. 187} facility with which they are frequently induced to poison to the right hand and to the left. A neighbouring gentleman, as I hear, has now three negroes in prison, all domestics, and one of them grown grey in his service, for poisoning him with corrosive sublimate; his brother was actually killed by similar means; yet I am assured that both of them were reckoned men of great humanity. Another agent, who appears to be in high favour with the negroes whom he now governs, was obliged to quit an estate, from the frequent attempts to poison him; and a person against whom there is no sort of charge alleged for tyranny, after being brought to the doors of death by a cup of coffee, only escaped a second time by his civility, in giving the beverage, prepared for himself, to two young bookkeepers, to both of whom it proved fatal. It, indeed came out, afterwards, that this crime was also effected by the abominable belief in Obeah, the woman who mixed the draught, had no idea of its being poison, but she had received the deleterious ingredients from an Obeah man, as 'a charm to make her massa good to her!' by which the negroes mean, the compelling a person to give another everything for which that other may ask him."[74] James Stephen, on the other hand, writing in 1824, in defence of the slaves, still clings to the old estimate of Obeah as being for the most part fanciful. Thus he argues: "Obeah also is a practice, which has, by laws of Jamaica and Dominica, all of a modern date, been constituted a capital offence: and many negroes have of late years been executed for it in the former island, though in many of our other islands it has never been considered as worthy of having a place in the copious and comprehensive catalogues of crimes furnished by their penal slave laws. Obeah and poison are deserving of a particular consideration, because they were: once seriously alleged by the Agent of Jamaica and other colonists, as great causes of the dreadful mortality which prevails

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MAGICAL 333 among the slaves in our islands. The subjects also are curious in their nature, and I was prepared to offer much authoritative information upon [74. Ditto, p. 148 f.]

{p. 188} them, tending to prove that they are for the most part the grounds only of fanciful, though fatal imputations on the unfortunate slaves."[75] This passage drew a sharp reply from Alexander Barclay who had just returned from a twentyone years' residence in Jamaica: "Another part of the slave law which Mr. Stephen disapproves of is the punishment of Obeah with death but he has not assigned his reasons for thinking that 'it has been, for the most part, the ground of a fanciful though fatal imputation on the poor slaves.' The deaths which the Obeah man occasioned by working on the imaginations of their superstitious countrymen, and by poison, certainly were not 'fanciful,' whatever their pretended supernatural powers might be. "I was present some years ago, at a trial of a notorious Obeah man, driver on an estate in the parish of St. David, who, by the overwhelming influence he had acquired over the minds of his deluded victims, and the more potent means he had at command to accomplish his ends, had done great injury among the slaves on the property before it was discovered. One of the witnesses, a negro belonging to the same estate, was asked--"Do you know the prisoner to be an Obeah man?' 'Ess, massa, shadow-catcher, true.' 'What do you mean by shadow-catcher?' 'Him ha coffin, (a little coffin produced), him set for catch dem shadow.' 'What shadow do you mean?' 'When him set obeah for summary (somebody), him catch dem shadow, and dem go dead'; and too surely they were soon dead, when he pretended to have caught their shadows, by whatever means it was effected. Two other causes, besides the law, have contributed to make this now a crime of much less frequent occurrence,--the influence of Christianity, and the end put by the abolition to the importation of more African superstition."[76] George Wilson Bridges, in his Annals of Jamaica, is also outspoken. In explaining African Fetishism he observes: "The Obeah, [75. James Stephens, The Slavery of the British West India Colonies, delineated, London, 1824, Vol. I, p. 305. 76. Alexander Barclay, A Practical View of the Present State of Slavery in the West Indies, London, 1828, p. 185 f.]

{p. 189} with which we are so fatally familiar in Jamaica, is no other than this doctrine of the fetish."[77] He had previously said: "The dexterity with which the Negroes make use of poison to gratify their human propensities, surpasses the utmost refinements of Asiatic cruelty . . . it is concentrated in so small a compass, that the immersion in any liquor of the finger in whose nail it lies concealed, causes the immediate death of the drinker."[78]

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MAGICAL 333 In the closing days of slavery, on the very eve of Emancipation, we have the testimony of Dr. R. R. Madden, who, as he tells us himself was one of six stipendary magistrates who in October 1833, were sent out to Jamaica.[79] In a letter dated Kingston, September 8, 1834, Madden writes: "An Obeah man was lately committed to the Spanish Town prison for practicing on the life of a Negro child. It appeared in evidence that he went to a Negro hut, and asked for some fire to light his pipe; that he was seen to put some bush (herb) into the pipe, and then placing himself to windward of the child, commenced smoking, so that the fumes were directed by the wind towards the child. Immediately after he went away, the child was taken alarmingly sick; the father pursued the man suspected of Obeahing, and brought him back. He was accused of being an Obeah man, of having injured the child; and being threatened with violence if he did not take off the Obeah he consented to do so, and accordingly performed certain ceremonies for that purpose; the child improved and he was suffered to depart. The improvement however was only temporary; he was again sent for and with a similar result. "I have copied the account of his examination by the attorney-general, from the original document. He confessed that he was a practicer of Obeah, that he did it not for gain or vengeance, but solely because the devil put it into his head to be bad. He had learned the use of the bush from an old Negro man on . . . estate, where master had been poisoned by old man. It was a small plant which grew in the mountains, but did not know the [77. George Wilson Bridges, Annals of Jamaica, London, 1828, Vol. II. p. 404. 78. Ditto, Vol. II, p. 404. 79. R. R. Madden, A Twelvemonth's Residence in the West Indies, during the Transition front Slavery to Apprenticeship, London, 1835, Vol. I. Preface, p. vi.]

{p. 190} name of it; (he gave some of the dried leaves to the attorney, who showed them to me for examination; but they were so broken that nothing was to be made of them). He said it did him no hurt to smoke this plant; but whoever breathed the smoke was injured by it; he had no spite against the father or mother of the child, nor wish to injure them. He saw the child, and he could not resist the instigation of the devil to Obeah it, but be hoped he would never do it any more; he would pray to God to put it out of his head to do it. Such was the singular statement made to the attorney-general by the prisoner; and the attorney-general informed me, made with an appearance of frankness and truth which gave a favourable impression of its veracity."[80] This looks like smoking whangra or wanga which has become very common of recent years. The effect on the smoker, however, is similar to that of Indian hemp, and renders many of the devotees veritable maniacs. Dr. Madden also records: "There are two descriptions of Obeah; one that is practiced by means of incantations; and the other by the administering of medicated potions in former times, it is said of poisons, and these practitioners were called Myal men."[81] He is here mixing up the two, Obeah and Myalism, as might be expected from one insufficiently acquainted with the island to discriminate. The whole subject interests him nevertheless, as he takes note: "In the criminal record-book of the parish of St. Andrews, I find the following obeah cases:

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MAGICAL 333 "1773. Sarah, tried 'for having in her possession cats' teeth, cats' claws, cats' jaws, hair, beads, knotted cords, and other materials, relative to the practice of Obeah, to delude and impose on the mind of the Negroes.'--Sentenced to be transported. "1776. Solomon, 'for having materials in his possession for the practice of Obeah.'--To be transported. "1777. Tony, 'for practicing Obeah, or witchcraft, on a slave named Fortune, by means of which, said slave became dangerously ill.'--Not Guilty. [80. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 93. 81. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 97.]

{p. 191} "1782. Neptune, 'for making use of rum, hair, chalk, stones, and other materials, relative to the practice of Obeah, or witchcraft.'--To be transported."[82] Immediately after Jamaican emancipation, and during the trying days of reconstruction of the entire social order, with a readjustment to conditions that were so vastly different from the accepted status of nearly two hundred years when the word of the master usually stood against the world, free rein was given to the religious frenzy that brought again into vogue the Myalistic spirit so long repressed. A spirit of exultation naturally drove the slave of yesterday to take advantage of his freedom and sate himself with long-forbidden joys and the outbursts of religious fanaticism became so intermingled with nocturnal saturnalia, that for a time it was difficult to distinguish the one from the other. The old objective of Myalism quickly reasserted itself. Now that the shackles had been stricken from their bodies, why not strike the chains from their souls as well? To "dig up Obeah" consequently became widespread and persistent. This gave witchcraft a set-back for a time, or rather made it even more secretive and vindictive. As a consequence, there was no abatement in the general fear and terror in which it was held by Negroes without exception. And it cannot be surprising if occasionally the practitioner of Obeah, perhaps for self-protection, assumed the rôle of Myalist, and "dug up" perhaps the Obeah that he himself had planted. In public, too, he might became a Myalist Doctor, while in secret he was still the Obeah man. He could apply the healing properties of herbs to counteract the very [82. Ditto, Vol. I, p. 98. Note:--Dr. Madden later makes the observation on p. 108: "The Africans, like all other people who profess the Mohammedan faith, have an opinion that insanity and supernatural inspiration are frequently combined, and consequently, knaves and lunatics (partially insane) are commonly the persons who play the parts of santons and sorcerers. The Africans carried most of their superstitions to our colonies, and, amongst others their reverence for those either whose physical or mental peculiarities distinguished them from the multitude,--and such were the persons who in advanced age, usually took on themselves the Obeah character. It is evident to any medical man who reads these trials, that in the great majority of cases the trumpery ingredients used in the practice of Obeah were incapable of producing mischief except on the imagination of the person intended to be Obeahed." The good Doctor here overlooks the element of poison and greatly underrates the power of superstitious fear on the part of the Negro.]

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MAGICAL 333 {p. 192} poisons he had occultly administered. Finally, together with the vile concoction devised at the midnight hour for harm and ruin, he might fashion the protective fetish as a counter-irritant. And the Myal man in turn! Is it entirely improbable that he may have on occasion stooped to unprofessional practices, and with his knowledge of vegetable poisons played the rôle of his rival in herbal lore? In any case, from this time on, we find an ever increasing confusion of Obeah and Myalism in the accounts that have come down to us. Thus John Joseph Gurney, in a letter addressed to Henry Clay of Kentucky and dated Flushing, L. I., June 8, 1840, writes as the tourist and not as a scientific investigator. He is describing his visit to Jamaica a few month earlier, and remarks: "Under the guidance of our friends J. and M. Candler, we drove several miles into the country, to breakfast at Papine, the estate of J. B. Wildman, late member of parliament for Colchester. There we were entertained by William Manning, a catechist of the Church Missionary Society, who like other agents of that institution in the island, is very valuable and useful. . . . "We were disappointed, on visiting the sugar works of Papine, to find them stopped; and we saw young men, doing nothing, in some of the comfortable cottages which have been built on the property. The reason assigned was, that there was 'a matter to settle.' The said matter turned out to be the trial of a 'Myalist,' or 'black doctor,' one of those persons who hold communion, as is imagined, with departed spirits, and practice medicine, under their direction, for the cure of the living-the diseases themselves, being ascribed to Obeah, or evil witchcraft. These superstitions, although not nearly as prevalent as formerly, still prevail in some places, and deprived as the Negroes now are of regular medical attendance, some of them have recourse to these magical quack doctors, to the great danger of their lives. The whole day was now given up by the people to this strange concern; but under a promise of their working for their master two of their usual spare days, in lieu of it. The Myalist, a young fellow of eighteen or twenty, dressed in the height of fashion and jet black, {p. 193} was brought up before our friend Manning to be examined--several men, and a crowd of women, being in attendance. He openly confessed his necromancy, and as a proof of its success, showed us two miserable women, one sick of fever, the other mutilated with leprosy, whom he pretended to have cured. The evidence was regarded by the people as resistless, and our plain declaration of disbelief in Myalism, were very unwelcome to them, They said it was 'no good.' We were sorry to observe the obstinacy of their delusions, but such things will be gradually corrected by Christian instruction."[83] If Mr. Gurney could only have looked well into the future, he might have revised his prophecy! The same fatuous hopefulness inspired the Reverend James M. Phillippo of Spanish Town, who spent twenty years as a Baptist Missionary in Jamaica. Writing of this same period, he says: "It may be remarked that the spell of Obeism and its kindred abominations is broken. In some districts, it is true, Myalism has recently revived; but it has been owing to the absence of a law since the abrogation of the Slave Act, by which the perpetrators could be punished, together with

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MAGICAL 333 the difficulties and expensiveness, in many districts, of procuring proper medical advice and aid. Thus the Myal men having most of them been employed in attendance of the sick in the hospitals of estates, and thereby acquiring some knowledge of medicine, have, since the abolition of slavery, set up as medical men; and, in order to increase their influence, and, consequently, their gains, have called to their aid the mysteries of this abominable superstition, in many cases accomplishing their purposes by violence as well as by terror. The more effectually to delude the multitude, the priests of this deadly art, now that religion has become general, have incorporated with it a religious phraseology, together with some of the religious observances of the most popular denominations, and thus have in some instances succeeded in imposing on the credulity and fears of many of whom better things had been expected."[84] [83. John Joseph Gurney, Familiar Letters to Henry Clay of Kentucky, Describing a Winter in the West Indies, New York, 1840, p. 76. 84. James M. Phillippo, Jamaica: Its Past and Present State, London, 1843, p. 263.]

{p. 194} We will find our next witness more discriminating. From long experience and close contact with every class of Jamaicans, he had learned to recognize the fundamental elements that made up their natural religious and superstitious tendencies, so commonly confused and intermingled in practice, but nevertheless, even then actually distinguishable in their principles. In consequence of the rebellion that started at Morant Bay in October, 1865, and which led to the trial and execution of George William Gordon, a Royal Commission was appointed "to inquire respecting certain disturbances in the Island of Jamaica." Oil February 26, 1866, Beckford Davis, Clerk of the Peace of St. George's, now a part of the Parish of Portland, appeared before the Commission and was examined under oath. One point on which he was questioned in detail was the prevalence and influence of Obeah. His evidence, in part, was as follows: "It is a twofold art; it is the art of poisoning, combined with the art of imposing upon the credulity of ignorant people, by a pretence of witchcraft. Its effects are produced by poisoning. The Obeah men are parties who are acquainted with many of the simples of this country, which are not known, and they administer them with a very pernicious effect. . . . I can only imagine what they are from the effects which I have seen produced on individuals. . . . I did not see the poison administered. I know that the general belief is that Obeah men are acquainted with the venomous plants of this country; their habit of practice in it is by imposing on the Negroes by means of charms and things of that kind, such as dried fowl's head, a lizard's bones, old eggshells, tufts of hair, cats' claws, ducks' skulls, and things of that kind. I have seen a good deal of it." Asked: "Are these Obeah men still much consulted?" he answered: "Very much indeed; and their influence is so great that nothing that can be said to the black population can induce the more ignorant of them to question the power of the Obeah man. . . . They have no fixed residence. They wander about the country wherever they can pick up dupes. . . . The people have many superstitions about them, but they are mortally afraid of them." {p. 195}

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MAGICAL 333 He testifies about one particular Obeah man who was apprehended in his district but was sent to Port Antonio for trial, and describes the contents of his chest "and a book full of strange characters." Among the Obeah articles noted in the chest was a white powder, which was identified by Dr. Robert Edward Gayle of St. George's as being arsenic. Being asked: "Did you ever see an Obeah stick?" he replies: "Oh yes, plenty of them." "With twisted serpents round them?" "Yes, some; and some with the likeness of a man's head, only of a very deformed cast. They have different kinds of things on them. The Negroes are in great dread of them; they consider if an Obeah man touches you with one of these sticks, some great misfortune will happen, if not death itself." Questioned further if he had ever seen an Obeah man with "a globe of glass into which persons look to see the future?" he asserts: "They have not arrived at that stage of superstition yet. Grave dirt is a favourable article with the Obeah man. . . . It is the grave dirt taken from whence the corpse is buried. It is supposed that if an Obeah man throws that at a person, he will die." To the inquiry: "Are the Obeah men solitary persons or have they wives and families?" he answers: "Those that I have seen have always been single men." "Has he any distinct mark by which he is known?" "None in particular, that I know of, except that he is generally possessed of a very bad countenance. . . . There is generally a peculiarity about them." Finally asked: "Do not they possess the art of curing as well as poisoning?" he declared: "No; it is another class that do that, called 'Myal men'; they profess to undo the work of the Obeah man." "They are the antidote, not the bane?" "Just So."[85] The real sinister element of Obeah now began to assert itself. As the entire tone of the Royal Commission had been from the start antagonistic to Governor Eyre and its every move was sympathetic towards the restless masses who had been implicated in [85. Report of the Jamaica Royal Commission, 1866, London, 1866, Vol. 1I, p. 52I, Items 26459-26540.]

{p. 196} the Morant Bay uprising where Obeah had played its evil part, many an Obeah man boasted of the influence he had exercised throughout the conduct of the investigation and consequently applied his trade with new energy and the general terrorization of the island. Seven years after the publication of the Report of the Jamaica Royal Commission, Charles Rampini writes: "Of all the motive powers which influence the Negro character, by far the most potent, as it is also the most dangerous, is that of Obeah. . . . The Obeah man or woman is one of the great guild or fraternity of crime. Hardly a criminal trial occurs in the colony in which he is not implicated in one way or another. His influence over the country people is unbounded. He is the prophet, priest, and king of the district. Does a maiden want a charm to make her lover 'good' to her? does a woman desire a safe delivery in child-birth? does a man wish to be avenged of his enemy, or to know the secrets of futurity?--the Obeah man is at hand to supply the means and to proffer his advice. Under the style and title of a 'bush doctor' he wanders from place to place,

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MAGICAL 333 exacting 'coshery' from his dupes on all hands; supplied with food by one, with shelter by another, with money by a third, denied naught from the mysterious terror with which he is regarded, and refused nothing from fear of the terrible retribution which might be the consequences of such a rash act. His pretensions are high; but he has means at hand to enforce them. He can cure all diseases, he can protect a man from the consequences of his crimes; he can even reanimate the dead. His knowledge of simples is immense. Every bush and every tree furnishes weapons for his armoury. Unfortunately in too many instances more potent agents are not wanting to his hand. His stock in trade consists of lizard's bones, old eggshells, tufts of hair, cats' claws, ducks' skulls, an old pack of cards, rusty nails, and things of that description. 'Grave dirt,' that is earth taken from where a corpse has been buried, is also largely used. . . . But ground glass, arsenic and other poisons, are not infrequently found among the contents of {p. 197} the Obeah man's 'puss-skin' wallet, and it is not difficult to conjecture for what purposes these are employed. "As an outward and visible sign of his power, the Obeah man sometimes carries about with him a long staff or wand, with twisted serpents or the rude likeness of a human head carved round the handle. He has his cabalistic book, too, full of strange characters, which he pretends to consult in the exercise of his calling. One of these is now in my possession. It is an old child's copy-book, well thumbed and very dirty. Each page is covered with rude delineations of the human figure, and roughly traced diagrams and devices. Between each line there runs a rugged scrawl, intended to imitate writing. . . . "There is something indescribably sinister about the appearance of an Obeah man, which is readily observed by persons who have mixed much with the Negroes. With a dirty handkerchief bound tightly round his forehead, and his small, bright cunning eyes peering out from beneath it, he sometimes visits the courts of. petty sessions throughout the island, if some unfortunate client of his who has got into trouble requires his aid to defend him. . . . "Serpent or devil worship is by no means rare in the country districts; and of its heathen rites the Obeah man is invariably the priest. Many of them keep a stuffed snake in their huts as a domestic god-a practice still common in Africa, from which of course the custom has been derived."[86] This is evidently an element of decadent Voodoo that temporarily impinged itself on Obeah. I have found many references to this in recent writers but never came across any indication of it in my own investigations. As regards the cabalistic book, referred to by both Beckford Davis and Rampini, we have possibly a residue of Mohammedanism. In the Report of 1789, answering the question about the religion of those among the slaves who were not Christian, Stephen Fuller replied, "They are either Pagans or Mohammedans, but principally Pagans. The Mohammedans [86. Charles Rampini, Letters from Jamaica, Edinburgh, 1873, p. 131 f.]

{p. 198}

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MAGICAL 333 are those that come from the Mandongo Country chiefly." Père Labat had already stated: "Nearly all the Negroes are idolators. There are only those from the neighbourhood of Cape Verde, of whom some are Mohammedans. When they bring these last to the Islands, it is necessary to be on one's guard in assuming charge of them. For besides the fact that they will never embrace Christianity they are extremely subject to the abominable sin which caused the destruction of the four ill-famed towns: and it is of the greatest importance that this vice be not introduced among the Negroes nor in the country."[87] He is writing in the year 1698. Much of the sensuous in Voodoo is probably due to this influence of these Mohammedans, and possibly Obeah, too, may owe to a like source some of the more repulsive features of its later practice.[88] Rampini gives some of the results of his own investigations concerning Obeah and incidentally mentions in passing: "I have before me the records of the slave courts held in the parish of Portland between the years 1805 and 1816. They are full of cases of Obeah. One woman attempts to murder her master by putting arsenic into his noyeau; another by mixing pounded glass with his coffee; a third is charged with practicing upon the credulity of his fellow-slaves by pretending to cure another of a sore in his leg, and 'taking from thence sundry trifles,--a hawk's toe, a bit of wire, and a piece of flesh.' "On 22d February, 183 I, William Jones was tried and sentenced to death 'for conspiring and contriving to destroy William Ogilvie, overseer of Fairy Hill estate in the Parish of Portland.' The notes of the evidence taken at the trial state: 'This prosecution arises out of the confession of Thomas Lindsey, who was shot to death pursuant to the sentence of a court-martial, on the 31st day of January, 1832. The part of the confession which inculpates Williams Jones is as follows: About three weeks before [87. Labat, Nouveau Voyage aux Isles de l'Amérique, Vol. II, p. 46. 88. Note:--The real Negro who has remained uncontaminated by Mohammedan influence has a degree of morality that puts the average white to shame, e.g.;--Cfr. J. H. Driberg, The Lango, London, 1923, p. 209f., especially the Notes. Here we find the death penalty for those sensual acts which are usually classified as being "against nature."]

{p. 199} Christmas me and David Anderson; and William Rainey, and Alexander Simpson being together, the devil took hold of us, tell us we must destroy the overseer; and we agreed to go to a man named William Jones, belonging to Providence Mountain, an Obeah man, to give us something to kill the busha, so that his horse may throw him down and break his neck in a hole. Jones said as this was a great thing he could not do it for less than a doubloon, and we had only five shillings to give him. But we agreed to carry him a barrow (hog) with five dollars, and a threegallon jug of rum, and three dollars in cash. He then gave us something and told us to give it to the waiting-boy to throw it in the water, and that would kill him. The waiting-boy, James Oliver, did throw it into the water, but it did the busha no harm and the waiting-boy said the Obeah man was only laughing at us. We then went to the Obeah man, and he said the waiting-boy could not have put the things into the water. And then he came himself one day, took the bag of an ant's house, etc. etc. etc.' 'Here,' says the report, 'follows an account of Obeah tricks practiced.'"[89]

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MAGICAL 333 Finally Rampini warns us: "The Obeah man must not be confounded with the Myal man, who is to the former what the antidote is to the poison. He professes to undo what the other has done; to cure where the other has injured, but it must be confessed that, both in its operation and its results, the cure is often worse than the disease. In truth, the boundary line between the two classes of professors is oftentimes but a shadowy one."[90] We have already seen that the Ashanti Obayifo is in league with Sasabonsam, the forest monster or evil spirit.[91] Now, Bryan Edwards, in his day recognized as a result of his direct inquiries among the Gold Coast slaves that besides their belief in Accompong, the Nyankopon of the Ashanti, the God of the Heavens [89. Rampini, l. c., p. 135. 90. Ditto, p. 142. 91. Note:--Cfr. also J. G. Wood, The Uncivilized Races of Man, Vol. I, p. 550: 'Sasabonsam is the friend of witch and wizard, hates priests and missionaries, and inhabits huge silk-cotton trees in the gloomiest forests; he is a monstrous being, of human shape, of red colour and with long hair."]

{p. 200} and the Creator of all things, they lived in fear of a malicious deity, the author of all evil, whom he calls Obboney.[92] The very title, which is Edwards' attempt to transliterate the name as he heard it from the slaves, is suggestive of the deity's connection with the Obayifo, or witch, and in many respects this evil spirit corresponds with the Sasabonsam of the Ashanti. Hence it is that we find modern Obeah classified at times as devil worship, in which guise it poses more and more as a religion. It would seem that during the days of slavery, with the drastic suppression of Myalistic meetings, the need was felt more imperative of placating the other deity. And so it came to pass that Obeah did in a sense develop more and more as a religion in which, of course, the object of worship was not the Divine Being but rather the evil spirit whether we refer to him as Sasabonsam or Obboney, and whom we must regard either as the Evil One, or perhaps more properly one of his satellites. The act of worship, however, is not really one of adoration, but pacification or propitiation, wherein an effort is made to assuage his enmity and restrain his vindictiveness. It is not surprising then to find the Reverend R. Thomas Banbury, writing towards the close of the last century, thus describing the Obeah man: "He is the agent incarnate of Satan, the Simon Magus of these good gospel days, the embodiment of all that is wicked, immoral and deceitful. You may easily at times distinguish him by his sinister looks and slouching gait. An Obeah man seldom looks you in the face. Generally he is a dirty-looking fellow with a sore foot. But some few are known to be decent in appearance and well clad. He never goes without a wallet or bag in which he carries his things. He is a professional man that is as well paid as the lawyer or doctor, and sometimes better. It is a well known fact that in cases of law-suits the Obeah man is retained as well as the lawyer, and at times he not only works at home on the case but goes to the court with his client for the purpose of stopping

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MAGICAL 333 [92. Edwards, History of the British Colonies in the West Indies, Vol. II, p. 71. Note:--Trouillot, Esquisse Ethnographique: Le Vaudoux, p. 39, tells us that in Haiti Sassa-Boussa is recognized as "the devil of the Bambaras."]

{p. 201} the mouth of the prosecutor and his witnesses and of influencing the judge and jury."[93] A more recent writer remarks: "Obeah! What's in an imposing name? Evidently a good deal; for, though owing to the attitude taken by the law in Jamaica with regard to these esoteric principles, the high priests and high priestesses of the cult efface themselves as much as possible, it would appear from what can be ascertained that their system is rudimentary compared with the complicated forms of devil worship that obtain in India and elsewhere. "Obeah is an ignorant, superstitious foreigner, but owing to 'man's eternal sense of awe,' to the indestructible desire deep down in the breast of most human beings to connect themselves with the unseen world, and to that most powerful of all reasons, the thirst of revenge, it has not died out. There are outward and visible signs of this mangrove-rooted curse well known to the police. A white cock, it would seem, plays a similar rôle to that personated by the black cat of the witch in medieval times. Whether the prime movers in this money-making business really believe in all the accessories of their trade, or whether their by-play resembles merely the conjurer's arts, when he attempts to divert the attention of the onlookers while he performs his tricks, I have not heard, but this is sure: that the strength of their influence lies in one word--poisons." 94 A few pages later Miss Cook thus describes a part of a conversation which was held at the home of a resident magistrate in Jamaica, just after his return from Court where he had tried a case of Obeah: "'Oh! Obeah!' said the winter tourist, 'I have heard of that, I think, a ridiculous superstitious idea. How very stupid all these people must be!' 'I beg your pardon,' objected the pen-keeper's wife, 'that only states half the case. These Obeah men and women (whom you can so seldom catch) do, no doubt, pretend to cure diseases which they know little or nothing of, shamelessly extracting money from a too credulous public, though [93. Banbury, Jamaica Superstitions. 94. E. M. Cook, Jamaica: The Lodestone of the Caribbean, Bristol, 1924, p. 115 f.]

{p. 202} it is a fact that they well understand the preparation of simples; but the dread of Obeah, which is another name for witchcraft, is not altogether caused by superstitious fear. Obeah often means poison. When anyone wishes to be revenged on his enemy he puts Obeah on him: that is, he first consults the Obeah man as to the best mode of procedure, with the result that poison is administered in such a cunning manner that it is almost impossible to find it out. The strange thing is that those who give the poison hardly realize what they are doing, but attribute the result to supernatural agency.' 'That is true ' corroborated the hostess."[95]

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MAGICAL 333 We cannot close this chapter without quoting again from the experienced missionary who threw so much light on the question of Myalism. Father Emerick is speaking from eleven years of experience and close study in some of the most pronounced Obeah districts of Jamaica. Space, however, restricts us to a few of the more striking passages taken from his valuable and careful study. Thus he says: "The West Indies are like so many little Africas or African colonies, with many of the customs, ideas, words, observances and superstitions of their home country, Africa, still clinging to them. Since a nation's religion exerts the strongest influence upon its people, for they cling with greater tenacity to it than to anything else, it is natural to suppose that the last thing that they would give up, and that only after a great struggle, would be what to them was their religion, their fetish worship and superstitious practices. Thus it is that the Africans brought with them their African superstitions, which soon became prevalent in all the West Indies, and I can assure you that Jamaica has its share of them. "There was a saying in vogue that the African Obeah man carried his Obeah magic under the, hair of his head when he was imported; for this reason the heads of Africans were shaved before landing. It was also said that before leaving Africa he swallowed his magical instrument. These imported superstitious practices flourished in the island, in spite of the fact that these people have been under the civilizing influence of a christian nation for 400 [95. Ditto, p. 125.] {p. 203} years, and in spite of the fact that slavery in Jamaica has been abolished since August 1, 1824, Obeah flourishes in Jamaica although the most drastic laws have been passed against it. . . . and in spite of the fact that twelve months' hard labour and the lashes of the cat-o'-nine-tails are inflicted upon those found guilty of practicing it. Obeah may be defined in general to be a superstitious belief that certain men and women, known as Obeah men and Obeah women, can exercise certain preternatural power over places, persons and things and produce effects beyond the natural powers of man, by agencies other than divine. It seems to be a combination of magic and witchcraft. Magic, we are told, is an attempt to work miracles by the use of hidden forces beyond man's control, so it is in Obi; it is an attempt to produce by some undetermined, invisible power, effects out of proportion to and beyond the capabilities of the things and activities employed. In witchcraft, we are told, . . . there is involved the idea of a diabolical pact, or at least an appeal to the intervention of the spirits. In the history and make up and practice of Obi there is involved the idea of association with the devil. . . . "His Satanic majesty is the invisible head of Obeah. The visible agent, head and front of Obeah is the Obeah man or Obeah woman, more often and more characteristically the Obeah man. Who and what is the Obeah man? In general the Obi man or woman is any man or woman who is supposed to have communication with some invisible agent through which he or she can exert preternatural power over animate and inanimate beings. You have Obi men of all sorts, just as you have professional doctors and quack-doctors. As Obeahism is so common among the people and is a form of religion, it comes natural for any individual to practice it as he would practice any religious rite. From this you can easily understand how any rascal who wants to gratify his

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MAGICAL 333 revenge, avarice or lust, can work upon the superstitious, practice Obi and get a following as an Obi man. Hence Obi-working is very common. . . . "The Obi man's incantation is generally the muttering of strange sounds, often meaningless, the pronouncing of some word {p. 204} or words over the objects to be Obeahed, joined with some grotesque actions. It may consist in words or actions alone. "The following lines which I find in my notes on Obeah, by a Jamaican poet describe an Obi man at work: Crouched in a cave I saw thee and thy beard, White against black, gleamed out; and thy gaunt hand Mixed lizard skins, rum, parrots' tongues and sand Found where the sinking tombstone disappeared. Sleek galli-wasps looked on thee; grimly peered Blood-christened John Crows with a hissed demand Who art thou? then like ghouls to a dim land Fled for they saw thee working and they feared. "Compare this description of the Obi man making Obeah or an Obi charm with that given by Shakespeare in Macbeth of the witches making a charm through which they raised spirits and deceivingly foretold to Macbeth his future; and you will find that they have much in common. . . . "If a gentleman in Jamaica find a rusty nail or knife hanging over his door he knows that it is an obeah, it has been placed there by one of his servants who has been offended or discharged. The idea of placing it there is that when the master passes under it he will meet with a violent death, or be afflicted with some misery, or that he will be compelled to reemploy the discharged servant. If you should happen to go to Jamaica and find under your pillow at night some grave dirt, or a bit of feather in your soup, or a few lizard bones in your coat pockets, you had better look out, someone is trying to work Obeah on you. It is the custom in Jamaica in the coloured Protestant Churches to expell members who are guilty of certain crimes, or as the Jamaica peasants says, 'Cratch der name off der church book.' If the minister, after one of these suspensions, finds when he opens the bible on the pulpit for his text, a quaint collection of cat claws, feathers, dried leaves, eggshells, etc., he is not puzzled as to the meaning of it all. He knows that is expresses 'Quashie's' desire to be received back into the membership of the church. Teachers will sometimes scatter obeahs over the school floor to compel {p. 205} the government inspector of schools to give the school good marks. . . .

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MAGICAL 333 "The Obeah credulous entertain the greatest dread of anything supposed to be an Obeah, an egg seen on the road, or anywhere, supposed to be placed designedly, would not be touched; they would not walk near it. It would be accounted madness to step over an egg or any parcel wrapped up with a string, found in the yard or on the path. They will not walk near it, but take a circuitous way to avoid it. Even money would not be picked up if there was a suspicion that it had been used by the Obi man in washing some diseased person and cast in the road to transfer the disease to the person picking it up. But of all things an egg is perhaps the most dreaded. The story is told of an old woman giving her parting advice to her son going far away from home; 'James, my bwoy, you do go wa fra mi, alla warra you da go, no li, no tief, no swa, but if you do even tief, my bwoy, no tief fole egg; because if you do tek people's fole egg, my bwoy, dem tek narra fole egg go trowa same ina sea, same fassion de sea rowl as so you belly bottom da rowl.' That is: 'James my boy, you are going far away from me; but wherever you go, do not lie, do not steal, do not swear, but if you do even so forget yourself as to steal, do not steal a fowl egg, because if you do the person from whom you steal the fowl egg will take another fowl's egg and throw it in the sea, and as the sea waves roll so will the bottom of your belly roll' . . . "Very frequently Obeah is used to bring about an influence over the mind of another, in order to gain some advantage from or over the person. It is a sort of hypnotism. This they call, 'Turn him yeye,' that is "Turn his eye,' the eye in the phrase meaning his mind or will, or the controlling of his actions. This frequently happens in law-suits. The Obi man at times is retained as well as the lawyer and the former is considered as indispensable, if not more so, than the later. The Obi man sometimes not only works on the case at home but also goes to the court with his client for the purpose, as, they call it, of 'Topping de mouts'--stopping the mouths, of the prosecutor and his witnesses and influencing {p. 206} the judge and jury. This is understood to be 'turning dem yeyes.' "There is a 'Turn him yeye' Obeah, which is the equivalent of the 'Love Potion' in witchcraft: the Jamaicans call it 'De tempting powder.' Men and women use this 'Turn him yeye' Obeah in fits of jealousy. A Lady Clara de Vere must be very careful about breaking the heart of some country swain. He might get a 'Tempting powder' from the Obi man and put it in her tea and then she will fall madly in love with the broken-hearted swain. It is said that the making of this love potion is unspeakably filthy and disgusting. . . . "Here is a case of an Obi man undertaking to force an undesirable lodger to leave a man's house: 'An old Obi man heard a respectable Negro proprietor say that he wished he could make a lodger leave his house as he was a nuisance. The Obi man offered to manage it for a price. The proprietor must get two white fowls, a white shirt, a pint of rum, some black thread, a bundle of wood, two nails and a hammer. It was then arranged that they meet at the proprietor's house. The proprietor pretending to agree, went and told the police. At the appointed time he concealed two policemen in some coffee bushes where they could see all that went on. After some weird incantations, the Obi man drove one nail into the front door and another into the back door of the house, tying the black thread from nail to nail. He then produced a flask filled with a mixture of oil, rum and fowl's blood and lubricated the string, at the same time monotonously chanting. The

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MAGICAL 333 remnants of the liquid he threw into the fire. The next part of the ceremony was to kill the two white fowls and sprinkle their blood on the floor. The Obi man then demanded seventeen shillings and three bangles, remarking at the same time, "I gib dat fellow one day fe clear out, if him don't go, I catch bin, shadow and him go fe tru." The detectives then stepped in and arrested him.'"[96] In rejecting the Slave Act of 1826, one reason assigned was. as we have seen, the restriction placed on preaching and teaching [96. A. J. Emerick, Obeah and Duppyism in Jamaica, p. 190 ff.]

{p. 207} on the part of the slaves, as it was claimed that "amongst some of the religious bodies who employ missionaries in Jamaica, the practice of mutual instruction is stated to be an established part of their discipline."[97] The deleterious effect of such practice is shown in an earlier protest of the Jamaica Assembly against the rejection of the Slave Act of 1807, as we find it in the Report of the Committee of the Assembly dated November 16, 1809,[98] how two dissenting ministers while making application for a license before the Magistrates of Kingston in August, 1809, admitted freely: "That they had been informed that their predecessors did, upon many occasions, conduct themselves improperly, and did inculcate improper notions in the minds of the slaves."[99] Too frequently well-meaning ministers of the gospel, especially in the first days among the slaves, easily were misled to believe that what was in reality nothing but fanatical emotionalism consequent on the arousing of the spirit of the old African religions, was to them an awakening of the spirit. Even for the experienced it is hard at times to distinguish between the hysterical dementia of an old-time camp-meeting and the obsession of Myalism in a degraded form. "So late as 1861," as Gardner remarks, "during the revival, as it was termed, a party of young women, in a state of religious excitement, went to the house of a reputed Obeah man, residing in one of the suburbs of Kingston, and brought him, with all the implements of his art, to the parade. His box contained not only nearly all the abominations mentioned, but ... in the midst of all, sad to say, was a number of class tickets, indicating that he had been a member of a religious body for a good number of years."[100] Thus not only the persecuting Myalists but their victim the Obeah man as well, could be church members in good standing, during this weird stage of Revivalism. And if the zealous, well-meaning Methodist missionaries were so easily deceived, why should we be surprised in our own day [97. Slave Law of Jamaica and Documents relative thereto, p. 146. 98. Ditto, p. 249. 99. Note:--The full petition may be found, l. c., p. 252 f. 100. Gardner, History of Jamaica, p. 188.]

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MAGICAL 333 {p. 208} that such egregious blunders are made at times by chance visitors to Jamaica or even by the more experienced folklorist who spends a few hurried months in the island interviewing the very class of individuals who are least likely to furnish correct information, since they feel themselves called upon to deal with the whole question as a foolish superstition of the low and ignorant, and usually too, out of local pride, gloss over or deny the real workings of Obeah.[101] [101. Note:--Cfr. Martha Warren Beckwith, Black Roadways; a Study of Jamaica Folk Lore, Chapel Hill, 1929. Miss Beckwith opens her chapter on "Obeah," p. 104, with the following paragraph: "We have seen that all Jamaica Negroes believe in a spirit world. Many think that there are mischievous spirits who have the power to take animal shape and go about making themselves troublesome to men; these they say are the ghosts of evil men. Even the ghosts of good men, whose souls the Christian religion teaches them to look upon as happy in heaven, may come back to their friends on earth 'to keep holiday,' and may at times be hovering about the house where they have lived on earth. There is a general inclination today to associate these hauntings with the 'shadow' of the dead which lingers about the grave and which, if properly solicited may be persuaded to take a part in human affairs. This 'shadow,' which is the duppy, may be tempted out of the grave by a member of the dead man's family and 'set' upon someone against whom the exorciser has a grudge, or it may be made to perform other services to his disadvantage. The practice of this power over the shadow world is called obeah, and the so-called obeah religion depends on the belief that such spirits may be employed to work harm to the living or may be called off from such mischief. 'Working' obeah means to 'set' a duppy for someone; 'pulling' obeah means to extract the obeah set by another." Miss Beckwith tells us in her Foreword, p. vii: "Between the summers of 1919 and 1924 I made four visits to the island of Jamaica." If these four short visits had been lengthened out into four full years, she would not have been so ready to settle offhand the difficult question of just what is Obeah, and her conclusions would unquestionably have differed greatly from what she has written. Again, p. 106, she asserts absolutely: "Obeah is merely sympathetic magic." In her foreword, too, p. vii, she states: "When the confidence of the people has been won and my own knowledge widened, I could question them about beliefs and customs. To three such informants I am especially indebted--to Wilfrid Bonito of Richmond (but brought up in Manderville), etc." Her friend, then, must have been amusing himself at her expense at times, if we may judge from the following, p. 108: "The real Obeah man, says Wilfrid, must kill one of his own family--it may be an infant. Wilfrid did not say so, but I suppose in this way the Obeah man secures the duppy who acts as his 'familiar' or 'control.'"]

{p. 209}

Chapter VI CONCLUSIONS As Moreau de Saint-Méry remarks: San Domingo was the first place in America where African slaves were introduced. It was proposed to use them in place of the Indians who were dying off in consequence of the hard work in the mines to which they were ill-adapted.[1] At that period, there were two sets of Negro tribes, one group back of the Gold Coast, the other further to the east across the Volta River, both in the formative stage and as yet unknown to the white man. These two groups, to be known later as the Ashanti and the Dahomans, were in time to become not only rivals for the supremacy of West Africa, but were destined to establish in the

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MAGICAL 333 West Indies two distinct spheres of influence, as antagonistic in slave circles as their own political ambitions were to be at home.[2] Among the Ashanti tribes, there was a strong religious organization with well defined ritual, inspiring a coordination and spirit of nationalism that later drew from Lord Wolseley the encomium: "From the Ashantis I learned one important lesson, namely that any virile race can become paramount in its own region of the world, if it possesses the courage, the constancy of purpose, and the self-sacrifice to resolve that it will live under a stern system [1. Moreau de Saint-Méry, Description de la Partie Française de Saint Dominigue, Vol. I, p. 24. 2. Note:--Commander Frederick E. Forbes, Dahomey and the Dahomans, London, 1851, Vol. II, p. 7 f., writes: "On the western and north-western side the stream of the Volta alone separates Dahomey from its great rival monarchy of Western Africa, the kingdom of Ashantee. Time alone can develop the consequences to Africa of such powerful and ambitious nations being divided by no more difficult boundary than the far from wide or impassable waters of the Volta. Already on that side the Attahpahms and Ahjabee have been defeated although not annexed to the rapidly increasing territory of Dahomey. If we turn to the East, we find the extensive provinces of Yoruhbah looked upon with cupidity, and marked out for devastation, slaver, and murder."]

{p. 210} of Spartan military discipline enforced by one lord, master or king." 3 It was as a matter of fact, the exalted religious spirit that principally gave to the various tribal units the cohesive power that formed the Ashanti into a warlike people, and tended to crush down the antagonistic magic of the Obayifo. Meanwhile at Sabee, the capital of the Kingdom of Whydah on the Slave Coast, well established Ophiolatry was extending its sway as a religious force of such proportions that the Dahomans themselves fell under its influence when once they had extended their domain to the sea through the conquest of Whydah. It is clear, then, that in its inception, Voodoo, as the West Indian offshoot of the Ophiolatry of Sabee, must be considered technically as a form of religion. The serpent worship of its African prototype was ultimately addressed to the Supreme Being through the ancestral spirits supposedly indwelling in the sacred serpents. The same conditions undoubtedly marked the Haitian Voodoo when it was first established in its new field, but its ritual quickly suffered modifications through contacts with the other religious influences derived from every part of the dark continent through the influx of the heterogeneous masses of slaves that found their way to West Indian bondage. Shortly before the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution, an offshoot of Voodoo developed into the more sanguinary Don Pédro rites, but Voodoo itself continued for a time, substantially unchanged. It was a secret religious function with its own peculiar dance unaccompanied by drums or other instruments. Gradually it was found desirable to cloak the real Voodoo rites by holding in advance a public dance which was summoned and accompanied by the loud beating of the drums, presumably as 162

MAGICAL 333 an official excuse for the local authorities who secretly sanctioned all that was going on. This dance in turn developed into what came to be known as a Voodoo feast, since prolonged dancing without refreshments is scarcely compatible with the Negro temperament. [3. H. Osman Newland, West Africa, London, 1922, p. 94.]

{p. 211} Meanwhile the religious element in Voodoo became somewhat decadent and superstitious practices associated themselves with its ceremonies at times. The Voodoo feast, in consequence, was more and more accentuated. It was developing into a social function, and amusement rather than worship frequently became the real objective. Today it is difficult to believe, that, except in rare cases, do we find Voodoo in Haiti, strictly speaking, an act of worship. At least in the public estimation almost everything is classified as Voodoo and the very drums that were originally debarred from Voodoo by necessity if not by choice have actually come to be known by the name of Voodoo drums. Magic and even witchcraft have entered into an unholy alliance with Voodoo and the Papaloi and Mamaloi have somewhat assumed the rôle of medium if not that of witch and necromancer. We are even told that the serpent has now been eliminated from the ritual. This may be true. We would not like to question the reliability of such an authority as Dr. Price-Mars in the matter. However, if so, the change must have been effected within the past few years, as I know from reliable witnesses that the practice was still in vogue well after the opening of the present century. In any case it seems inconsistent to have our friend Dr. Price-Mars insisting on this disappearance of the serpent from present-day Voodoo, and yet demanding that it still be classified as a religion. Let us quote his very words: "It is inconceivable that the Dahoman traditions should disappear without leaving traces in the Haitian beliefs. There remain as survival a few touches. We remark that the fear noticed among our peasants of killing adders (a species of water boa, ungalia) is the most pronounced manifestation of this survival. If, therefore, we omit the cult of the adder on which rests the whole economy of colonial Voodoo, probably because it approaches more closely to its Dahoman connection, what remains then of the original belief? Nothing except the dance and ecstasy, both strengthened by sacrifices. May we not be permitted to point out that these three elements: the dance, the ecstasy and the sacrifice, formed or form the permanent parts {p. 212} of religious rites and that one finds them connected or separated in the most exalted religions."[4] But if you eliminate the serpent from the cult, it should no longer be called Voodoo. Can you play Hamlet without the title part? It should at least be known by some other term, more generic and including all Negro cults, as did fetishism a generation ago. We can admit that much of the emotional religious manifestations of the Haitians today is not Voodoo in the strict sense of the word, but with all due respect to Dr. Price-Mars, we are not entirely convinced that the serpent cult, substantially the same as practiced in the last century is not still secretly in vogue in Haiti. The transition seems too sudden. Possibly, too, there is just a little verbal quibble in the repeated assertions that the serpent is no longer worshipped. Our 163

MAGICAL 333 contention, too, is that it was never worshipped. It was merely venerated as a depository of some spiritual entity, not even itself divine, but only an intermediary to the Divine Being, who is ultimately and alone worshipped.[5] Arthur C. Millapaugh who was the Financial Adviser-General Receiver of Haiti, 1927-1929, in depicting the condition of Haiti, in the eve of intervention in 1915, simply states: "In the interior the practice of Voodooism persisted but it was neither general nor open and tended to disappear."[6] But while he fails to define what he means by Voodooism, since his references are to Kilsey, St. John and Seabrook, we must conclude that he is taking it in its worst possible sense. Certainly the wholesale confiscation of "Voodoo" drums by the [4. Dr. Price-Mars, Ainsi Parla l'Oncle, p. 120. 5. Note:--Dr. Price-Mars, however, goes too far when, in a lecture delivered before the Society of History and Geography in 1926, he allows his fervour and patriotism to carry him away and in an oratorical outburst asserts that Voodoo which he defines as an animistic religion is not "opposed to the religion of the one God, sovereign and supreme master of the Universe. "--Cfr. Une Étape de l'Évolution Haïtienne, p. 115. He states specifically, p. 130: "This animism which deifies the forces of Nature renders homage to the spiritual genii which they incarnate, this animism, in fact, which renders to deceased ancestors a cult of veneration and implores their favour and protection, is it a religion in opposition to the religion of the one God, sovereign and supreme Master of the Universe? No, certainly not." It is monotheistic, yes, and in that restricted sense his statement might stand, and possibly that is all that he really meant to signify. 6. Arthur C. Millapaugh, Haiti, under American Control 1915-1930, Boston, 1931, p. 20.]

{p. 213} American Marines shows that the popular form of Voodoo was still very much in evidence. As regards the conditions at the time of writing in 1931, Millapaugh has nothing to say about Voodoo beyond a passing remark in a footnote wherein he ascribes to the Medical Service the principal factors in the combating of ages of superstition and voodooistic beliefs.[7] Possibly the fact that he is writing for the World Peace Foundation makes him avoid whatever might offend the self-respect of the Haitians to the detriment of general peace and harmony. Concerning human sacrifice, "the goat without horns" and cannibalism, despite the loud protests of the friends of Haiti, it is hard to believe that the practice is entirely extinct. It would, of course, be a grave mistake to suppose that it is a regular practice or connived at by the present government authorities. Still it would be even more surprising if the sexual excitement of their various dances with the concomitant excessive use of stimulants, did not at times break down the nervous systems of individuals here and there, and induce a kind of paranoia with a recrudescence of all that is vilest and most degraded in fallen nature. At all events, when such half-crazed outbreaks do occur, they are to be associated with the Don Pédro swinish rites where the ordinary victim is the pig, and where the human substitute would be more appropriately called not the "goat without horns" but the "long pig" as was done under similar circumstances in the distant islands of the Pacific.

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MAGICAL 333 As regards Obeah, we find at work a process directly opposite to that noticed in the case of Voodoo. Obeah, no less than Myalism, as we have seen, derive their origin from the Ashanti. The latter was the old religious dance modified somewhat by circumstances and surroundings in Jamaica, but substantially the same as practiced in West Africa. The former, on the other hand was Ashanti witchcraft, essentially antagonistic to Myalism which made one of its chief objects the "digging up" of Obeah. The Ashanti warlike and indomitable spirit was not crushed [7. Ditto, p. 140, Note 27.]

{p. 214} by slavery, and the old religious practice easily stirred them up to a point of rebellion. Hence from the earliest days of legislation in Jamaica, the tribal religious dance remained inactive as assemblies were strictly prohibited. During the long years of slavery, then, Myalism might be regarded as dormant. There was no opportunity of its development or branching out. It was preserved secretly and cherished as the fondest tradition of the past. No doubt the hours of amusement allowed to the slaves on their own cultivations, preserved in some degree the Myalistic rites, disguised as one of the social dances that were countenanced by the planters. The native African is essentially religious in his own way and as formal ceremonies were debarred he found an outlet by associating with Obeah an element of worship, if not of Accompong, at least of Sasabonsam or Obboney. If he could not venerate the Supreme Being through the minor deities and ancestral spirits, he might at least placate the evil one, and bespeak his influence for purpose of revenge or to coerce his master to grant him something that he sought. We find Obeah thus really becoming a form of devil worship in the Christian sense, and when at length Myalism entered into an alliance with it for the overthrow of the white regime it naturally gained in the popular estimation of the slaves, since its archenemy Myalism had come to recognize its power. And yet this public esteem was not one of devotion but of unholy fear, which the Obeah man naturally played up to his own advantage. With Emancipation, Myalism made haste to assert itself in an endeavour to regain its pristine ascendancy and made open war on Obeah, at the expense be it said of the general peace of the community. Its new-found independence led to excesses of every kind and in course of years it became as great an evil as Obeah itself. Its old priestly class was dead, for a generation none had come from Africa, and there had been no opportunity of establishing a succession in the craft or of passing along the ritual in practice. The traditions and nothing more could have remained, and it is questionable whether the new leaders had any legitimate claim to

165

MAGICAL 333 {p. 215} the exercise of the rôle that they assumed. It is simple, then, to see that the decay of Myalism as a religious force was inevitable. And it would certainly soon have been entirely eliminated had not its spirit and much of its traditional ritual found new scope in the kindred spirit of the emotional Revivalism of the Methodists and even more so among the so-called native Baptist congregations. But perhaps it is more conspicuous of all among the Bedwardites, so characterized by the peculiar hip-movement that is clearly African, and which shows itself not only in their dance but also in their religious processions, and gives a peculiar lilt to all their hymns. Here, strictly speaking, Myalism disappears as a separate entity, and its very name is dying out except as a mysterious something that has endured in its opposition to the Obeah man who more and more assumes the dual rôle of Myalist by day and Obeah man by night, using the title as a safeguard from the law in the prosecution of his real aims in life. As a further consequence, Obeah is taking on more and more of a religious aspect and it is now, not entirely undeservedly, classified by many as devil worship. My first experience with an Obeah man in Jamaica was as follows. Accompanied by a native of the district I was returning late one night to my residence high up in the mountains, when suddenly my companion who was leading the way shrank back and pointing a trembling finger through an opening of the coffee walk where we happened to be passing, whispered almost inaudibly: "Obi, Sah!" It was a bright moonlight night, and a short distance off the path might be seen a filthy-looking bedraggled fellow plying his art of Obeah for weal or woe. I drew my reluctant companion behind a shrub to watch the process which is so seldom vouchsafed to the eye of a white man. The Obeah man had placed on the ground some sticks, feathers, eggshells and other objects that could not clearly be distinguished. A piece of string was placed on top of the little heap. He then retreated for a short distance and began a mumbling incantation {p. 216} which was accompanied by a rhythmic swaying of the body. With hands behind the back he next approached, crossing one leg over the other as he slowly advanced and drew near the incongruous ingredients of what was evidently intended for a fetish. With legs still stiffly crossed and swaying body he stooped and breathed upon and spat at it, and then gathered up the articles one by one, still mumbling some weird incantation as he placed the sticks together and crushed the eggshells and other ingredients within them and finally bound all together with the piece of string. When the task was accomplished a cringing woman advanced from the shadow of a tree where her presence had not previously been noted. The Obeah man passed her the fetish charm and with fierce injunction charged her to hasten on her way without looking back or speaking to a living soul. She was especially warned to guard her fetish from every moisture. Should river or

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MAGICAL 333 rain or dew, or even the perspiration of her own body chance to wet it, not only would all efficacy be lost but it would inevitably turn against herself. I could not follow all the words despite my knowledge of the language of the "bush," but I had been able to gather the general gist of the instructions which were almost in the form of an invocation or curse.[8] Strictly speaking what I had been watching was not really the practice of Obeah but rather the making of a protective fetish or good luck charm, our friend was working in the rôle of Myal man and cared nothing if he was observed. Had he been really making Obi he would have been surer of his privacy and would have squatted on the ground surrounded by his paraphernalia and this would have been the scene with little variation: Most of the ingredients to be used are concealed in a bag from which he draws them as he needs them. The special offering of his patron which must include a white fowl, two bottles of rum, and a silver offering are on the ground beside him. Before him is the inevitable empty bottle to receive the ingredients. The incantation opens with a prolonged mumbling which is supposed to be "an unknown tongue." This is accompanied by a swaying of the body. [8. Note:--Compare this scene with that described by Rattray on page 127.]

{p. 217} Gradually ingredients are placed in the bottle, and a little rum is poured over them. The throat of the fowl is deftly slit and drops of blood are allowed to fall first on the silver offering, and then on the contents of the bottle to which is finally added a few feathers plucked from various parts of the fowl with a last libation of rum. During all this process the Obeah man has been drawing inspiration from frequent draughts of rum, reserving a substantial portion to be consumed later when he makes a meal off the flesh of the fowl. When the bottle concoction has been completed and the last incantation has been said over it, the Obeah man entrusts it to his patron with minute instructions how it is to be buried on some path where the intended victim is sure to pass or as near his dwelling as possible. In the days of slavery, the expert in Obeah was frequently distinguished by being physically or mentally defective or abnormal. So we find today that not a few of the pretenders to expertness in Obeah affect a disregard for cleanliness and hygiene, at strange variance with the Jamaican's characteristic love of bathing and neatness. If not actually disfigured, then, the Obeah man usually presents a disgusting and filthy appearance especially when actually making Obi. Again, he cannot as a rule meet your gaze, but shiftily moves his eyes around and nervously distorts his countenance, although on the other hand he will stare fixedly at the blazing tropical sun without blinking an eye. Possibly his very hang-dog look may be explained by injury to the optic nerve induced during his long preparation for his future avocation when as a little fellow he was forced to stand motionless by the hour with every muscle tense and set while he stared the sun out of countenance. Another peculiarity of Jamaica Obeah should be noted here. Possibly through contact with missionaries at an early date in West Africa, Obeah in its various manifestations makes use of crosses to a great extent. In the making of a fetish, as we have seen, the Obeah man approaches his task, carefully crossing his legs at every step. So, too, while crouched over the bottle, in making 167

MAGICAL 333 {p. 218} real Obi, he is particular to keep his legs crossed under him. Many crosses are made during the ritual and sticks are crossed and re-crossed again and again. It is no uncommon thing to find a sickly child to whom the Obeah man has been called all marked up with crosses made with indigo or coloured clay. For "big obi" the wax drippings from altar candles and the refuse from the censer after benediction but especially the grains of unburnt incense, are particularly in demand. This last is probably explained by what follows. The Obeah man has a wholesome fear of the priest and usually tries to avoid his presence. There is a conviction among them that the priest can exercise a more powerful influence than any Obeah man. This belief is expressed by the aphorism: "French obi, him strongest." The first priest to become well known through the Jamaica "bush" was a Frenchman, and the Catholic Church in consequence has come to be known familiarly as the French Church. Hence "French obi, him strongest" really means that the Catholic Church exercises the strongest Obeah. It is also accepted as a fact by the devotees of the Obeah cult that the priest can give evidence of this dominant power by "lighting a candle on them." This process is thus described: "Fadder take pin and Fadder take candle; and him stick der pin in der candle; and him light der candle on you. Der candle him burn, and him burn, and him burn. And you waste, and you waste, and you waste. And when der flame touch dat pin--you die." So that it is only necessary for a priest to make the playful remark to some black fellow in the "bush," "I think I'll have to light a candle on you," to bring him to his knees with: "O Fadder, don't." The Ashanti Mmoatia, or little folks, are associated with the forest monster Sasabonsam and the Obayifo or witch in imparting power to the suman or fetish.[9] According to A. W. Cardinall they are "Preeminently mischief-workers, and are said to 'throw stones at one as one passes through the bush.'"[10] Captain Rattray calls them "fairies," and also tells us that in the Ashanti belief they are "Of three distinct varieties: black, red and white, and [9. Note:--Cfr. Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti, p. 23. 10. Cardinall, In Ashanti and Beyond, p. 224.]

{p. 219} they converse by means of whistling. The black fairies are more or less innocuous, but the white and the red mmoatia are up to all kinds of mischief."[11] For this latter group perhaps imps would be a more appropriate name than fairies. Be that as it may, the Jamaica duppies or ghosts are notorious for their stone-throwing propensities, and this poltergeist, as it is technically called, is associated in the popular mind with evil agencies. In this connection it is interesting to note the testimony of no less an authority than Lord Olivier, a former Governor of Jamaica, who recently wrote to me: "The occasional outbursts of this 'poltergeist' phenomenon in Jamaica is remarkable. I investigated with some care the evidence as to one case which occurred when I was in Jamaica and there have been very full reports in the local Press of another recent occurrence which seems to have been carefully investigated without detecting any possibility of corporeal agency." 168

MAGICAL 333 The phenomenon itself is ascribed by the peasantry to duppies or ghosts who despite their intangible nature are extraordinarily good shots to all appearances. True, it is a frequent means of frightening or annoying an enemy to cast stones from a distance so that they will fall on the roof of his house and make him think that the duppies are after him. On the other hand there are undeniable instances of persons being stoned and that, too, by no determinable agency. The stones for example, simply came out of the trees with truly remarkable accuracy and no one can be found either in the trees or on the line of fire. A Jamaica missionary already quoted on Myalism and Obeah, graphically describes some of his own experiences and gives many instances that he has investigated where the stones thus thrown seem to violate all the laws of science. For example, "Some of the stones which came from the bushy declivity, after smashing through a window, turned at a right angle and broke the teacher's clock, glasses, etc., on a side-board."[12] A man running from the stone-thrower turns and fires a gun in the direction from which [11. Rattray, 1. c., p. 25 f. 12. A. J. Emerick, Jamaica Duppies, Woodstock, 1916, p. 342.]

{p. 220} the stones were coming, and as he does so another stone comes from the very opposite direction and hits him in the back of the neck.[13] "Some of them seem to come in the open door, turn around and fall at the teacher's feet."[14] A stone that has come flying into the house is marked by one of the occupants and thrown out again with the remark, "If him be a true duppy, him will throw this stone back," and back it came, "proving that the stone-thrower was a true duppy," in the common estimation.[15] At times these duppies, imps, evil spirits, call them what you will, have other means of disturbing one's peace of mind. On one occasion I was on the outskirts of a notorious Obeah district when a man, a non-Catholic, came to me and begged me to come and bless his house as his children were starving. "Why don't you give them something to eat?" was the obvious question. "Dem can't eat, Fadder," was the astonishing reply. "Someone put Obi on dem." He explained further that when they tried to eat, the food would fly up and hit them in the face, but that they could not get it into the mouth. Absolutely incredulous, I mounted my horse and followed him to his house. The entire village was assembled around the dwelling and a state of panicky hysteria had taken possession of all. While I did not actually witness the diabolic display myself, as I did not feel justified in provoking the evil one to an exhibition merely to satisfy my curiosity, all the men, women and children there present agreed in their testimony of what had happened. I blessed the house, but whether the blessing took or not, I cannot say, as I was shortly leaving Jamaica and never revisited the district. To understand the rapid transition from Myalism to Revivalism in Jamaica, it is necessary to go into the question of the religious condition of the island in the closing days of slavery.

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MAGICAL 333 In his chapter on "Religion and Education" prior to 1782, Gardner writes: "It is no easy task to portray the religious history of the colony during the period now under review. With the [13. Ditto, p. 342 14. Ditto, p. 343. 15. Ditto, p. 343.]

{p. 221} exception of some letters written by the rector of Port Royal, immediately after the earthquake (preserved in GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE) there appears to be no document in existence which in any way illustrates the spiritual labours of the clergy. From Mr. Bridges, as a clergyman, we might have expected some account of the labours of his brethren; but though he devotes considerable space to the history of the established church, it is only so far as the emoluments and status of its clergy were concerned. "Amidst the dearth of information, the letters of the Port Royal rector are of peculiar interest. Writing of the day of the earthquake, he says, 'On Wednesday, the 7th, I had been at prayers, which I did every day since I was rector of Port Royal, to keep up some show of religion amongst a most ungodly and debauched people.' This description of the general character of the population applies, it is to be feared, to the whole island, but it is questionable whether the incumbent of the doomed city was not almost singular in his zeal."[16] Then after quoting further from the letter, Gardner adds: "For more than two generations we shall search in vain among the records of the colony for any further illustration of ministerial zeal and fidelity."[17] Edward Long states: "The bishop of London claims this as a part of his diocese; but his jurisdiction is renounced and barred by the laws of the island, in every sense, except so far as relates or appertains to ecclesiastical regimen of the clergy; which imparts no higher power than that of granting orders, and giving pastoral admonitions."[18] On the following page he asserts: "The governor as supreme head of the provincial church, and in virtue of the royal instruments, is vested with a power of suspending a clergyman here, of lewd or disorderly life, ab officio, upon the petition of his parishioners; and I can remember one example of this sort. The governor inducts into the several rectories within the island and its dependencies, etc."[19] This power of patronage on [16. Gardner, History of Jamaica, p. 192. 17. Ditto, p. 193. 18. Long, History of Jamaica, Vol. II, p. 235. 19. Ditto, p. 236.]

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MAGICAL 333 {p. 222} the part of the governor naturally led to abuses as in the case of the Satirist "Peter Pindar" who was the last person one would expect to find gracing the pulpit of a church. And yet we read in Chambers's Cyclopedia of English Literature: "Dr. John Wolcot (1738-1819) was a coarse but lively satirist, who under the name of 'Peter Pindar,' published a variety of effusions on the topics and public men of his times, which were eagerly read and widely circulated. Many of them were in ridicule of the reigning sovereign, George III, who was a good subject for the poet; though the latter, as he himself acknowledged, was a bad subject to the king. . . . Wolcot was instructed in medicine, and 'walked the hospitals' in London, after which he proceeded to Jamaica with Sir William Trelawney, governor of the island, who had engaged him as his medical attendant. The social habits of the doctor rendered him a favourite in Jamaica; but his time being only partly employed by his professional avocations, he solicited and obtained from his patron the gift of a living in the church, which happened to be vacant. The bishop of London ordained the graceless neophyte and Wolcot entered upon his sacred duties. His congregation consisted mostly of Negroes, and Sunday being their principal holiday and market, the attendance at the church was very limited. Sometimes not a single person came, and Wolcot and his clerk--the latter being an excellent shot--used at such times, after waiting for ten minutes, to proceed to the sea-side, to enjoy the sport of shooting ring-tailed pigeons! The death of Sir William Trelawney cut off all further hopes of preferment, and every inducement to a longer residence in the island. Bidding adieu to Jamaica and the church, Wolcot accompanied Lady Trelawney to England, and established himself as a physician at Truro, in Cornwall."[20] This prepares us for the startling testimony of Charles Leslie, written in 1840: "'Tis surprising that such worthless and abandoned men should be sent to such a place as this. The clergy here are of a character so vile, that I do not care to mention it; for except a few, they are generally the most finished of our debauchees. [20. Chambers's Cyclopedia of English Literature, London, 1899, Vol. II, p. 24.]

{p. 223} Messrs. Galpin, Johnston and May, are indeed men whose unblemished lives dignify the character they bear. They generally preach either in their own churches, or to a few in some private houses every Sunday; but for others, their church doors are seldom opened. "[21] With such an account of the clergy, it is not surprising to find Stephen Fuller, the Agent for Jamaica at London, addressing the Earl of Shelburne as regards the pressing military needs of the island, painting the free Negroes and mulattoes in sombre colours. Thus he writes on April 2, 1782. "The free Negroes and mulattoes have been reckoned about 900 fencible men, out of which number not above 500 can be employed to any useful purpose; the greatest part of them being the most idle, debauched, distempered, profligate wretches upon earth. Besides this, there is an insuperable objection to their being armed, as they are not to be trusted in Corps composed of themselves, and the incorporating them with the whites will not be endured."[22] What, then, the religious and moral condition of the slaves themselves must have been, can well be surmised.

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MAGICAL 333 William Wilberforce, writing in 1823, states: "It cannot be denied, I repeat, that the slaves, more especially the great body of the field Negroes, are practically strangers to the multiplied blessings of the Christian Revelation. What a consideration this! A nation, which, besides the invaluable benefit of an unequalled degree of true civil liberty, has been favoured with an unprecedented measure of religious light, with its long train of attendant blessings, has been for two centuries detaining in a state of slavery, beyond example rigorous, and in some particulars, worse than Pagan darkness and depravity, hundreds of thousands of their fellow-creatures, originally torn from their native land by fraud and violence. Generation after generation have been pining away; and in this same condition of ignorance and degradation they still, for the most part, remain."[23] [21. Leslie, New History of Jamaica, p. 303. 22. Cfr. Stephen Fuller, Original Letter Book, 1776-1784, Boston College Library, MS. No. 6002. 23. Wilberforce, Appeal etc., p. 19.]

{p. 224} It was Wilberforce's Appeal that drew an answer from the Reverend George Wilson Bridges, Rector of the Parish of Manchester (1817-23) and later Rector of the Parish of St. Anns (182337) of whom Frank Cundall says, that he "as a rule displays more fertile imagination than Long without half his trustworthiness as a historian."[24] Cundall further observes in his regard: "In 1823 he published his Voice from Jamaica, written in defence of slave-owners, for which the Assembly two years later voted him 700 pounds."[25] This fact in itself renders Bridges' evidence of questionable value. As regards the particular citation which we have given from Wilberforce, Bridges replies in part: "As to the 'pagan darkness' of the Negroes, though their progress certainly does not keep pace with our anxious wishes to see them in that state which would make it safe to confide ourselves to their estimation of a Christian oath, nor in that condition which would render it advantageous to themselves to be trusted with the liberty of self-control, yet the promises of Christianity are so far understood, and its preliminary rites so ardently desired by them, that during my residence in this parish, I have actually baptized 9,413 Negro slaves, many of them attend church; some have learned the Lord's prayer, and ten commandments, and a few have so far advanced, as to be now disseminating their little stock of religious knowledge on the estates to which they are attached. As I said before, I believe all my fellow-labourers here have been at least as assiduous as myself, and some more successful. I expect therefore that you, sitting by your own fireside, four thousand miles off, will not refuse credit to the unanswerable fact, advanced by one who is on the spot, an actor in the deeds he records, and who has certainly the better means of forming a correct judgment, on the point at issue."[26] Here is a direct challenge, and it is taken up by a brother clergyman, also long resident in Jamaica. Reverend William James Gardner, Congregational Minister, who (11(2d in charge of [24. Cundall, Historic Jamaica, London, 1915, p. 5.

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MAGICAL 333 25. Ditto, p. 372. 26. Bridges, Voice from Jamaica, p.26 f.]

{p. 225} the North Street Church, Kingston, in 1874, reviewing the whole question, takes Mr. Bridges to task in no uncertain manner. Thus he writes: "The Rev. G. W. Bridges, the annalist, stated in 1823, that he had baptized 9,413 slaves during two years, and that many of them attended church. The proportion must indeed have been small, for the church he refers to (Mandeville) could not at that time have held a twentieth part of that number. Most of these slaves paid half-acrown each as a baptismal fee. Mr. Bridges, in happy oblivion of what he had said of the money given to missionaries being the result of a cruel and heartless imposition on their superstition and ignorance, observes of the fees received, that 'this laudable desire of exchanging worldly goods for celestial rewards,' evinces 'a measure of faith words cannot express.' By the end of another year this zealous baptizer was able to report that 12,000 out of 17,000 slaves in the parish had received the holy ordinance, and he adds 'happily there are no sectarians,'"[27] This last remark probably explains the bitterness of Mr. Gardner himself. However, the general estimate given is supported by the Reverend R. Bicknell, a contemporary of Mr. Bridges and like him a Minister of the Established Church, who was stationed at Kingston and Port Royal during the period that Mr. Bridges was at Manchester. He says: "In the parish church of Clarendon I have often been, and never saw a hundred of all colours there, latterly a much less number, and once in particular, about ten or twelve only; though within five or six miles of the church there were several thousands of inhabitants. The churches of St. John's, St. Thomas's in the Vale, St. Dorothy's, St. George's, St. Mary's, Hanover and Vere, are but little better attended, some of them even worse, as I can testify from my own knowledge, and the assurance of creditable persons; the remaining churches I believe to be but little better, with the exceptions of those in the parishes of Kingston, St. Thomas in the East, St. Catherine, Port Royal, and St. Andrew."[28] Certainly if Mr. [27. Gardner, History of Jamaica, p. 334. 28. R. Bicknell, The West Indies as they are; or a Real Picture of Slavery; but more particularly as it exists in the island of Jamaica, London, 1825, p. 74.]

226 VOODOOS AND OBEAHS Bridges had been really accomplishing anything out of the ordinary some mention of it would be expected here. The Reverend John Riland, Curate of Yoxall, Staffordshire, somewhat facetiously styles Mr. Bridges' claims of 9,413 baptisms of slaves: "A direct illustration of Obeah practice under the forms of Christianity." And adds: "If we assume these 9,413 to have been also actually converted from Paganism to Christianity, or even to have been taught enough of the fundamental truths of the Gospel to understand the engagements into which they entered, we have here a miracle as great as was exhibited on the Day of Pentecost. And if they were not converted to Christianity, of if they did not understand the nature of the solemn vow and covenant they were called to make,

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MAGICAL 333 what a mockery of religion, and what a prostitution of the sacred initiatory rite of baptism, is here made the subject of boast."[29] But let us return to Mr. Bicknell whom we have recently quoted. We find him advertised as: "A member of the University of Cambridge, late Naval Chaplain at Port Royal, sometime Curate of that Parish, and previously of the City of Kingston, in the aforesaid island." His description of conditions among the slaves is not a pleasant one. Thus he declares: "It is not enough that most of the slaves must work in their grounds a part of that Holy day, but to add to the abomination, a market must be kept also on the Sunday, for the sale of provisions, vegetables, fruit, &c. It is the only market-day, fellow-countrymen, and fellow-Christians, which the poor Negroes and coloured slaves have, and instead of worshipping their God, they are either cultivating their portions of land to preserve life, or trudging like mules with heavy loads, five, ten, or even twenty miles, to sell the little surplus of their provision grounds, or to barter it for a little salt fish to season their poor meals: or what is much worse, to spend, very often, the value in new destructive rum, which intoxicates them, and drowns for a time, the reflection that they are despised and burdened slaves. I shall never forget the horror and disgust which I felt on going on shore, for the first time, in Kingston, in the [29. John Riland, Memoir of a West India Planter, London, 1827, p. 186 f.]

{p. 227} month of August, 1819; it was on a Sunday, and I had to pass by the Negro Market, where several thousands of human beings, of various nations and colours, but principally Negroes, instead of worshipping their Maker on this Holy day, were busily employed ill all kinds of traffic in the open streets."[30] Again he tells us: "I have resided nearly five years in Jamaica, and have preached two or three sermons every Sunday; many other clergymen have also exerted themselves, but to very little purpose, as far as slaves are concerned, as those horrid and legalized scenes are just the same; for this Sunday market is a bait of Satan, to draw away the ignorant Negro; his temporal and pressing natural wants are set in opposition to his spiritual ones, and the former prevail to that degree, that most of the churches ill the island are nearly empty."[31] He adds later: "I am aware that there is a law in Jamaica imposing a fine on proprietors or overseers for compelling the Negroes to do certain kinds of labour on the Sabbath; but it is notorious that this law is altogether a dead letter, and that in respect to their grounds, the Negroes not only go of their own accord to work there, as not having sufficient time allowed them otherwise; but if they are found inattentive, it is a custom to send one of the bookkeepers, on that Holy day, to see that all the slaves are at work, and to watch them a certain time, that there may not be a want of food. For putting the mill about (viz. for making sugar) on a Sunday, there is a fine of 50 pounds, one half of which, I believe goes to the informer; but though this is done in defiance of law in almost every, if not every parish in the island, I never heard of an information being laid for that. offence, as those planters who do not put their mills about, wink at it in others, and no clergyman or other religious person would venture, I think, to inform, as he would be sure to meet with insult, or some worse injury, for his conscientious interference."[32]

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MAGICAL 333 Mr. Bicknell's conclusion is: "Nearly the whole of the field [30. Bicknell, l. c., Flyleaf. 31. Ditto, p. 67. 32. Ditto, p. 73.]

{p. 228} Negroes (nine-tenths of the population) have not even the outward form of religion, and are just as great heathens as they were on the banks of the Gambia or Niger."[33] The Reverend Peter Duncan, a Wesleyan-Methodist missionary, arrived in Jamaica early in 1821 and laboured there for over eleven years. In reference to Dr. Coke's visit to the island in 1789, he writes: "The island has been under British government for upwards of a century, yet scarcely anything had been done for the souls of the people. The habits of the whites had indeed become much more settled. They were friendly and hospitable in their intercourse with each other, and had improved in many of the external civilities of modern refinement, but the hallowed restraints of religion were as much unknown as ever. They were strangers to the enjoyments of the domestic circle, and throughout the whole country the standard of morals was deplorably low. It is true, emigrants from Great Britain were constantly arriving, but they left their profession of Christianity behind, and were soon assimilated to the corrupt mass by whom they were preceded. The ordinances of religion in many parts were rarely administered. There was a famine of the bread of life. There was indeed a church in almost every parish, but many of the benefices were generally vacant; and excepting on the occasion of funerals, the churches in the country parishes were seldom open for divine service, even upon the Lord's Day. Numbers of the clergy were living openly in concubinage and were otherwise unblushingly immoral; and it may be fairly questioned whether before 1789 that Sabbath ever dawned upon Jamaica, which witnessed five hundred [33. Ditto, p. 71. Note:--The Home Government made futile efforts at times to check the growing abuses, if we may judge from a letter of the Duke of Halifax answering one from Stephen Fuller who had sought an extended leave of absence for the Rev. John Venn, at that time Rector of St. Catherine's, Jamaica, and dated April 17, 1764, wherein he states: "I shall be ready to move his Majesty to grant him that indulgence, upon being assured that Governor Lyttleton is satisfied of the necessity and approves of the curate who is to officiate in his stead. For I must acquaint you that, upon the complaints which have been made by the Bishop of London of the bad consequences arising from the general and frequent absence of the clergy from their livings in the West Indies, I have made it a rule never to procure any such indulgence, unless the application be so granted."--Cfr. Stephen Fuller, Original Letter Book, 1762-1771, Boston College Library, MS. No. 6001.]

{p. 229} persons in all the places of worship put together out of a population of between four and five hundred thousand souls."[34] The Reverend Claudius Buchanan while examining the "State of our Established Church in the West Indies, in regard to its efficiency as an instrument of instructing the people"[35] asserts: "In

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MAGICAL 333 Jamaica there are twenty parishes. Supposing that there are also twenty Rectors (in some islands there are many pluralists) we shall then have twenty Clergymen in an island which is 150 miles long and 40 in a medium broad; which gives a district of 300 square miles for the labours of each Clergyman. The population of the island is stated by Mr. Edwards to amount to 30,000 whites, 10,000 free persons of colour and 210,894 slaves: which, when divided among twenty Clergymen, will give to each a cure of 12,554 souls. It will hardly be necessary to say more of the utter inadequacy of the public means of religious instruction in Jamaica. This island is a favourable specimen of the state of the Established Church in the old islands. "On the whole it may be safely affirmed, that no human zeal could be equal to a tenth part of the duties of the parochial Clergy, were the slaves practically regarded as belonging to their flock. But the truth is, that this unfortunate mass of the population has, with very few exceptions, never been so regarded, either by the Government or the Clergy."[36] The Reverend Peter Samuel reached Jamaica in January, 1832, where he was to labour as a Methodist missionary for over eleven years. In his account of the development of his denomination in the island, he stresses among the obstacles encountered at the start: "The pernicious influence of Obeahism and African superstitions"[37] and adds: "The immense influence possessed and exercised by West Indian proprietors in the Parliament of the mother country, as well as in the Colonial Assembly, gave a respectability, [31. Peter Duncan, A Narrative of the Wesleyan Mission to Jamaica, London, 1849 p. 7 f. 32. Claudius Buchanan, Colonial Ecclesiastical Establishment, London, 1812, p. 53. 33. Ditto, p. 60 f. 34. Peter Samuel, The Wesleyan-Methodist Missions in Jamaica and Honduras, Delineated, London, 1850, p. 9.]

{p. 230} a consistency, an air of justice, and a degree of power sufficiently formidable to the apparently weak efforts of a few humble missionaries."[38] We have indicated here the foundation of the bitterest religious controversy in the history of Jamaica. When Dr. Coke first visited the island in January 1789, he was deeply touched by the condition of religious abandonment that he found amongst the slaves. He was not slow on his return to England to send out the Reverend William Hammett in that same year to establish the Wesleyan Missionary Society in Jamaica. The emotional element in Methodism immediately appealed to the kindred Myalistic spirit among the Negroes, and as they found in the assemblies which the newly-arrived missionaries were convoking in open defiance of the authorities and in face of the opposition of the planters, an opportunity of renewing much of their own Pagan rites in connection with the Christian service, they were not slow to take advantage of the general confusion of ideas, and forthwith the "digging up" of Obeah again became much in evidence. And the missionaries, good, well meaning souls, derived comfort and consolation among their hardships and persecutions, in what

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MAGICAL 333 they must have regarded as promising manifestations of faith. They watched with delight the zeal to stamp out this African superstition, which seemed to them the Negro's real religion, and which they rightly interpreted as a form of devil worship. And yet they were unconsciously fostering and abetting a movement among the slaves that was for the most part as Pagan as the Obeah that they were "digging up." Space will not permit our going into this controversy in detail. We can only touch on it as far as it has reference to our present study. The nucleus of the Wesleyan Mission in Jamaica was really formed of refugees from what is now the United States in consequence of the Revolutionary War, at least as regards the leading spirits. This in itself may have stirred up opposition.[39] On one occasion, Dr. Coke himself, while preaching in Kingston, was al[38. Ditto, p. 10. 39. Note:--Cfr. Duncan, Wesleyan Mission to Jamaica, p. 11.]

{p. 231} most dragged from the hall by a party of whites who seriously threatened him with bodily harm.[40] In November, 1790, the Grand jury of Kingston presented to the Court of Quarter-Sessions a complaint against the Methodist Meeting in that city as a nuisance, on the grounds that it is "injurious to the general peace and quiet of the inhabitants of this town."[41] Buchanan tells us: "After the Methodist Missionaries had been about ten years in the Island of Jamaica; and had built a chapel at Kingston, which was attended by some whites, and by many people of colour and Negroes; the Colonial Legislature passed an Act, on the 17th December, 1802, by which they prohibited, and made penal, 'preaching or teaching in a meeting of Negroes, or people of colour, by a person not duly qualified.' There had hitherto been no law in Jamaica for Dissenters to qualify at all; and the Legislature thought fit to determine, that a person regularly and legally qualified in England, under the Toleration Act, was not duly qualified for Jamaica. In consequence of this law, two of the Missionaries were thrown into prison. The penalty for first offence was 'one month's imprisonment, and hard labour in the common workhouse.' The penalty for the second offence was, 'imprisonment and hard labour for six months,' or such further punishment 'not extending to life, as the Court should see fit to inflict.'-Such a law, in relation to a white man, had never been heard of before in Jamaica; for the laws there are highly respectful to the privileged order. If again, a black man should 'teach or preach in a meeting of Negroes, not being duly qualified,' he was 'to be sentenced to receive, for the second offence, a public flogging, not exceeding thirty-nine lashes.' "By the operation of this law, the places of worship of other denominations of Christians besides the Methodists, were shut up. The preachers were silenced; and among the rest, a regularly ordained minister of the Church of Scotland. The missionaries, in the extremity of their sufferings, compared this legal opposition, [40. Note:--Cfr. Duncan, l. c., p. 8 f.

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MAGICAL 333 41. Duncan, l. c., p. 16.]

{p. 232} and its effects, to the persecution of Diocletian; only that the punishments were not, as the law expressed it, 'to extend to life.' "The alleged ground for passing this Edict in Jamaica, whatever the truth of the case might be, was certainly similar to that of the Edicts of Diocletian. It was stated in the preamble: That the Slaves, by being permitted to assemble at these meetings to hear Christian instruction, were in danger of being 'perverted with fanatical notions; and that opportunity was afforded them of concerting schemes of much public and private mischief.' "On an application made by the different religious societies in England whose missionaries had been silenced, the Committee of the Privy Council for matters of Trade, examined the merits of the new Act; and upon their Report, it was disallowed by his Majesty, and consequently ceased to have any force in Jamaica."[42] While we cannot help admiring the energy and long-suffering manifested by the Methodist missionaries in their misguided zeal with the slaves, as we read their glowing reports of souls reclaimed, we must keep in mind the warning of Mr. Gardner: "With the exception of one or two denominations, copious accounts have been published by missionaries of the labours in which they have taken part in Jamaica. It may be asserted, without any violation of Christian charity, that the most glowing descriptions of the results which have followed such labours are the least trustworthy. Honest, well-meaning men have frequently described as fruit that which was only blossom; while vain, though pious men, too anxious for the praise of their fellow-creatures, and ambitious of the ephemeral fame of missionary chronicles or the applause of public meetings, have sometimes injured the cause they wished to serve by too highly-coloured descriptions of their success."[43] In a Report of the committee of the whole house which had been appointed "to inquire into and take further into consideration the state of the island," presented to the House of Assembly [42. Buchanan, Colonial Ecclesiastical Establishment, p. 76 ff. 43. Gardner, History of Jamaica, p. 340.]

{p. 233} of Jamaica on Dec. 20, 1815, we find the words:[44] "The subject of religion, and the best method of introducing genuine Christianity in the mild and beneficent spirit of its founder, is of so great importance that the committee decline going deeper into it at present; but recommend that early in the next session a. committee may be appointed, for the special purpose of discussing and considering the most eligible manner of diffusing religious information amongst that class of society.

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MAGICAL 333 "The Assembly has always been against communicating to them the dark and dangerous fanaticism of the Methodists, which, grafted on the African superstitions, and the general temperament of Negroes in a state of bondage, has produced, and must continue to produce, the most fatal consequences, equally inimical to their well being and comfort in this world, and to the practice of those virtues which we are led to believe ensure happiness in the next. "But the representatives of the people have not displayed any of that aversion with which they have been charged, to encourage the propagation of Christianity in the form which they thought likely to be beneficial. . . . "It shows further, however, that the representatives of the people have always been desirous to encourage the introduction of pastors, whose education gave security for the nature of the doctrines which they were to inculcate. "They continue of that disposition, although equally satisfied, as in former times, that to communicate the lights of Christianity through Methodism would have consequences the most fatal to the temporal comforts of the slaves, and the safety of the community." This Report was accepted unanimously, and on December 22, 1815, a resolution passed, also unanimously, to this effect: "That early in the next session, this house will take into consideration the state of religion amongst the slaves, and carefully investigate the [44. Note:--Cfr. Further Proceedings of the Honourable House of Assembly of Jamaica, relative to a Bill introduced into the House of Commons for effectually preventing the unlawful importation of slaves and holding free persons in slavery in the British Colonies, London, 1816, p. 40f.]

{p. 234} means of diffusing the light of genuine Christianity, divested of the dark and dangerous fanaticism of the Methodists, which has been attempted to be propagated, and which, grafted on the African superstitions, and working on the uninstructed minds and ardent temperament of the Negroes, has produced the most pernicious consequences to individuals, and is pregnant with imminent danger to the community."[45] As already noted, neither side of the controversy even suspected the real root difficulty. The Methodist Missionaries felt that they were the victims of the rankest bigotry and cried aloud in protest. If they had only realized that they were offering themselves as martyrs to revivify and extend absolute Paganism with a veneer of Christianity in the resuscitated Myalism that was parading as Revivalism, they might have been less outspoken in their denunciation of the entire House of Assembly. If the planters, on the other hand, who honestly recognized in the unrest, caused by the activities of the Methodists, among the slaves, the significant forerunners of serious disorders, if they had only been able to really analyze the situation, and distinguish between the strong Myalistic tendencies and the Methodistic emotional susceptibilities, they might have been able to direct the latter influence into less dangerous channels and have opened the eyes of its proponents to what was actually afoot. But each side of the controversy was deaf to the arguments of the other, just as they were both blind to the real nature of the terrific forces for harm that were accumulating among the mass of the blacks. 179

MAGICAL 333 When the dreaded uprising actually began in St. James Parish on the night of December 28, 1831, the feeling of bitterness on both sides was intense. The Reverend David Jonathan East, writing on the West Indies in the Centenary Volume of the Baptist Missionary Society,[46] admits that the insurrection "broke out in the very district in which missionary labours had been most successful," and adds at once: "It is not perhaps surprising that the [45. Ditto, p. 42. 46. London, 1892, p. 191.]

{p. 235} first thought of the planters was that missionaries were the authors of the rebellion." Exaggerated as this view of the planters certainly was, it is no more extreme than the attitude of some of the missionaries themselves. Thus the Reverend Peter Duncan, who was a Methodist Minister in Jamaica at the very time of the slave-rebellion, fosters his own resentment, and writing eighteen years after the events, unhesitatingly insinuates, seemingly with absolutely no foundation in fact: "Time may yet show, whether, in some instances, the negroes were not directly instigated to violence for the purpose of casting odium upon the missionaries."[47] And in a note he explains: "This thought has been ridiculed, and it has been asked, whether it can be believed, that any man would instigate the negroes to destroy his own property: Perhaps not; but it never was pretended that the instigators of the negroes had property to destroy. The overseers, the parties alluded to, had no property. Such found it easier to kindle the fire than to put it out. It is not, however, suspected that many directly instigated the negroes to the work of destruction. "[48] If both sides could only have understood the insidious workings of Myalism as we do today, how much different might have been the closing days of slavery in Jamaica. In place of the mutual antagonism, and bitter recriminations, they might have worked harmoniously together for the peace and prosperity of the entire community." The years of apprenticeship might then have witnessed [47. Duncan, Wesleyan Mission to Jamaica, p. 223. 48. Ditto, p. 273, Note 1. 49. Note:--We might then have been spared this terrible arraignment: "The misdirected efforts and misguided counsel of certain Ministers of Religion, sadly so miscalled, if the Saviour's example and teaching is to be the standard, have led to their natural, their necessary, their inevitable result (amongst an ignorant, excitable, and uncivilized population)--rebellion, arson, murder. These are hard and harsh words, gentlemen, but they are true; and this is no time to indulge in selected sentences, or polished phraseology."--Speech of His Excellency, Edward John Eyre, Governor of Jamaica, before the Legislative Council, Tuesday, November 7, 1865, at the opening of the first session after the Morant Bay Rebellion.--Cfr. Augustus Constantine Sinclair, Parliamentary Debates of Jamaica, Spanish-Town, 1866, Vol. XIII, p. 3. And the Assembly in their answering Address to the Governor, on the following day, state: "We desire to express our entire concurrence in Your Excellency's statement that, {footnote p. 236} to the misapprehensions and misrepresentations of pseudo philanthropists in England and in this country. . . . and to the misdirected efforts and misguided zeal of certain miscalled ministers of religion, is to be attributed the present disorganization of the colony, resulting in rebellion, arson, and murder."--Cfr. l. c., p. 13.]

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MAGICAL 333 {p. 236} a gradual enlightenment of the masses of former slaves, spiritually as well as intellectually. And with their freedom from bondage, they might naturally have acquired a disillusionment as regards Myalism and Obeah alike, In that case the recrudescence of Paganism that blighted the early days of reconstruction might never have occurred. In any case, the fact remains that actually the forces of Myalism and Obeah today have degenerated into a common form of witchcraft not unfrequently associated with devil worship, and even those of the blacks who belittle its general influence, in practice show a wholesome fear of the powers of the Obeah man. And here we must leave the question for the present, reserving for a future volume a detailed study of Duppyism and kindred subjects. {p. 237}

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MAGICAL 333 SAVINE, ALBERT. Saint-Domingue à la Veille de la Révolution. (Souvenirs du Baron Wimpffen), Paris, 1911. SEABROOK, WILLIAM BUCHLER. The Magic Island, New York, 1929. TROUILLOT, D. Esquisse Ethnographique: Le Vaudoux, Port-au-Prince, 1885. VAISSIÈRE, PIERRE DE. Saint-Domingue: La Société et la Vie Créoles sous l'Ancien Regime, (1629-1789), Paris, 1909. WEATHERFORD, WILLIS DUKE. The Negro from Africa to America, New York, 1924. WRIGHT, J. Voyage to Saint Domingo in the Years 1788, 1789, and 1790, by Francis Alexander Stanislaus, Baron Wimpffen. Translated front the original manuscript which has never been published, London, 1817. III. BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR JAMAICA OBEAH, MYALISM AND REVIVALISM ANONYMOUS. Acts of Assembly, passed in the Island of Jamaica from 1681 to 1737, inclusive, London, 1743. Acts of Assembly, passed in the Island of Jamaica from 1681 to 1754, inclusive, London, 1756. Acts of Assembly, passed in the Island of Jamaica from 1770 to 1783, Kingston, 1786. Consolidated Slave Law, passed 22 December, 1826, London, 1827. Continuation of the Laws of Jamaica passed by the Assembly and {p. 245} confirmed by His Majesty in Council, December 26th 1695, London, 1695. Further Proceedings of the Honourable House of Jamaica, relative to a Bill introduced into the House of Commons, London, 1816. Hints respecting Christian Education of the Negro Population in the British Colonies, London, 1833. Religious Instruction of the Coloured and Slave Population of Jamaica, London, 1832. Report of the Jamaica Royal Commission of Inquiry respecting Certain Disturbances in the Island of Jamaica and the Measures taken in the Course of their Suppression, London, 1866. Report of the Lords of the Committee of the Council appointed for the Consideration of all Matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantation, London, 1789. Review of Hamel, the Obeah Man, London, 1827. Slave Law of Jamaica and Documents relative thereto, London, 1828. BARCLAY, ALEXANDER. A Practical View of the Present State of Slavery in the West Indies, London, 1828.

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MAGICAL 333 ROSE, G. H. Letter on the Means and Importance of Converting the Slaves in the West Indies to Christianity, London, 1823. SAMUEL, PETER. Wesleyan-Methodist Missions in Jamaica and Honduras, London, 1850. SCOTT, SIBBALD DAVID. To Jamaica and Back, London, 1876. SHORE, JOSEPH. In Old St. James, Kingston, 1911. SINCLAIR, AUGUSTUS CONSTANTINE. Parliamentary Debates of Jamaica, Vol. XIII, Spanish-Town, 1866. Chronological History of Jamaica, Jamaica, 1889. SLOANE, HANS. Voyage to the Islands . . . and Jamaica, London, 1707-1725. {p. 248} STEPHEN, JAMES. The Slavery of the British West India Colonies, delineated, London, 1824. STEWART, J. Account of Jamaica and its Inhabitants, London, 1808. View of the Past and Present State of the Island of Jamaica, Edinburgh, 1817. UNDERHILL, EDWARD BEAN. West Indies: their Social and Religious Condition, London, 1862. WATSON, RICHARD. Defence of the Wesleyan Methodist Missions in the West Indies, London, 1817. WILBERFORCE, WILLIAM. An Appeal to the Religion, Justice, and Humanity of the Inhabitants of the British Empire, in behalf of the Negro Slaves in the West Indies, London, 1823. WILLIAMS, CYNRIC R. Tour through the Island of Jamaica from the Western to the Eastern End, in the Year 1823, London, 1826. WILLIAMS, JOSEPH JOHN. Whisperings of the Caribbean, New York, 1925. Hebrewisms of West Africa, New York, 1930.

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MAGICAL 333 YOUNG, ROBERT. View of Slavery in connection with Christianity, London, 1825.

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ROBERT AMBELAIN

PRACTICAL KABBALAH INTRODUCTION to the study of Kabbalah, both mystical and practical, and to using its Traditions and Symbols with a view to Theurgy (MAGICAL 333 -- One Sign. One Group)

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WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR Éléments d'Astrologie scientifique : Étoiles Fixes, Comètes et Éclipses ; Beetmale edit., Paris, 1936 (out of print). er

Traité d'Astrologie Ésotérique, t. I (Les Cycles), Adyar edit., 1937 (out of print). Éléments d'Astrologie scientifique : Lilith, second satellite de la Terre ;Niclaus edit., 1938 (out of print). Traité d'Astrologie Ésotérique, t. II (L'Onomancie), Adyar edit., 1938 (out of print). Dans l'Ombre des Cathédrales : Étude sur l'ésotérisme architectural et décoratif de Notre-Dame de Paris ; Adyar edit., 1939 (out of print). Adam dieu rouge : La Gnose des Ophites ; Niclaus edit., 1941 (out of print). Traité d'Astrologie Ésotérique, t. III (L'Astrologie lunaire), Niclaus edit., 1942 (out of print). Au pied des Menhirs : Essai sur le Celtisme ; Niclaus edit., 1945 (out of print). Le Martinisme contemporain et ses Origines, Niclaus edit., 1948 (out of print). La Talismanie pratique, Niclaus edit., 1950 (out of print). Les Tarots, comment apprendre à les manier, Niclaus edit., 1950 (out of print). Les Visions et les Rêves, Niclaus edit., 1953 (out of print). Le Dragon d'Or : Aspects occultes de la recherche des Trésors ; Niclaus edit., 1958 (out of print). La Magie sacrée d'Abramelin le Mage, d'après le manuscrit de l'Arsenal, Bussière edit., 1986. L'Alchimie Spirituelle (Technique de la Voie intérieure), La Diffusion Scientifique edit., 1961. Le Cristal Magique ou la Magie de Jehan Trithème, Bussière edit., 1988. L'Abbé Julio, sa vie, son œuvre, sa doctrine, La Diffusion Scientifique edit., 1962. Sacramentaire du Rose + Croix, La Diffusion Scientifique edit., 1964. Cérémonies et Rituels de la Maçonnerie Symbolique, Niclaus edit., 1957 (out of print). Jésus ou le mortel secret des Templiers, Robert Laffont edit., 1970. La vie secrète de saint Paul, Robert Laffont edit., 1971 (out of print). Les lourds secrets du Golgotha, Robert Laffont edit., 1974. Le Vampirisme, de la légende au réel, Robert Laffont edit., 1977. Cérémonies et rituels de la Maçonnerie symbolique, Robert Laffont, 1978. Crimes et secrets d'État : 1783-1830, Robert Laffont edit., 1980. Drames et secrets de l'Histoire : 1306-1643, Robert Laffont edit., 1981. Symbolisme et rituel de la Chasse à courre, Robert Laffont edit., 1981. Les Traditions celtiques, Dangles edit., 1981. La Chapelle des Damnés : 1650-1703, Fouquet le régicide, le complot des Protestants, la véritable affaire des poisons, Robert Laffont edit., 1982. L'Astrologie des interrogations, Robert Laffont edit., 1984. La Géomancie arabe, Robert Laffont, 1984. Le Fal-Nameh ou Livre du Sort, Bussière, 1985. La Franc-Maçonnerie oubliée, Robert Laffont, 1985. Capet, lève-toi... (Louis XVII), Robert Laffont, 1987. Le Secret de Bonaparte, Robert Laffont, 1989. NOTE: Most of the books listed as out of print have in fact been recently reprinted.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. – DOCTRINAL ELEMENTS..............................................................................................................4 PREFACE................................................................................................................................................6 I. — ORIGINS AND DEFINITION OF KABBALAH.........................................................................10 A. — Its Genesis................................................................................................................................10 B. — Its development: The Kabbalah and its different Schools.........................................................17 I. — Isaac the Blind......................................................................................................................18 II. — Ezra-Azriel..........................................................................................................................18 III. — Nachmanides.....................................................................................................................20 IV. — Eleazar of Worms..............................................................................................................23 V. — Abulafia...............................................................................................................................24 II — METAPHYSICAL ELEMENTS...................................................................................................26 A. — The Sephiroth...........................................................................................................................26 B. — Ain Soph = The negative existence of God..............................................................................31 I. – Ain Soph Aur..........................................................................................................................31 II. – Ain Soph................................................................................................................................32 III. – Ain........................................................................................................................................32 C. — The Cineroth or “Paths”............................................................................................................37 D. — Texts in Action.........................................................................................................................44 III. —THE DIVINE “EXISTENCES”...................................................................................................46 1st) Aziluth..........................................................................................................................................46 2nd) Briah............................................................................................................................................57 3rd) Yetzirah........................................................................................................................................63 4th) Assiah...........................................................................................................................................64 5th) Tables of Correspondences..........................................................................................................65 6th) Being and Non-Being...................................................................................................................75 IV. — THE “QLIPPOTH”.....................................................................................................................76 The Tree of Death...............................................................................................................................76

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I. – DOCTRINAL ELEMENTS “There exists in the Soul a Principle superior to external Nature. For by this Principle we may surpass the Cosmos and the systems of this Universe. When the Soul raises itself up towards those natures superior to its own, it abandons this Cosmos to which it is temporarily linked. And through a mysterious magnetism, it is attracted to a Higher Plane with which it joins and identifies itself...” “Theurgy unites us so closely to the Divine Power generated by itself; it unites us so closely to all the creative activities of the Gods according to the capacity of each, that the Soul which has accomplished the sacred Rites is affirmed in their actions and understanding, and finds itself at last placed within the God-Creator Himself...” (Iamblicus : On The Mysteries, V, VI, VII). “Whomsoever works by Religion alone, without the aid of other virtues 1, is absorbed and consumed by Divinity, and cannot live long. And whomsoever draws near without being purified draws down condemnation upon himself, and will be delivered up to the Evil Spirit...” (H. Cornelius Agrippa : Occult Philosophy, book III, IV).

1

From the Latin virtus : strength, influence.

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PREFACE “All Wisdom comes from God, the Sovereign Lord”. (ECCLESIASTES, I-1)

It seems that the Kabbalah is doomed never to be other than the manifestation of «mystery» itself! Indeed, no doctrine has been or is more misunderstood by the general public. From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, as now, the most staggering silliness, the most unjustified reproach circulates about the subject 2. For such a Jesuit Father of the seventeenth century, “the Kabbalah is only a Grimoire of Sorcery, whose author is a famous sorcerer, called Kabbalah”... For another, it was a “Magical treatise, analogous, though greater in improbability than the famous Jewish Grimoire called ‘Talmud’...” As P. Vulliaud amusingly notes in his work on the Kabbalah, it is “claimed that music is superior to the valve trumpet!” Nowadays it is still the same... During the five years that the men of the Vichy Government exercised their fanaticism of another time, books and manuscripts on the Kabbalah had the honor, along with those on Illuminism and Masonry, of being plundered from private libraries for the personal activity and interest of the officials... In another realm, it was the same. For the majority of German scholars of our age, specialists in the subject, it didn’t seem that the Kabbalah contained anything other than the art of drawing mystical anagrams from the official text of the Pentateuch, and so enrich the already long list of “Divine Names”. In reality, the Kabbalah is the traditional “Initiatory Path” of the Western Christian. As Swami Sidesvarananda recommended, the purely Asiatic method was not created for European man: despite its seductive appearance – and with only rare exceptions – it can only lead to a dead end. In fact the Kabbalah rests upon the exoteric Judeo-Christian tradition. It consists of metaphysics and philosophy, from which can be drawn a mystical way, which is applied and regulated through personal asceticism, consisting of Theurgy or Practical Kabbalah. The latter is divided into two sections. The first comprises a type of Western yoga, and this is the interior aspect of this practice. The second is of a ritualistic, ceremonial form; and this is the exterior aspect. Man being a microcosm, asceticism allows him to attain particular levels of consciousness, inaccessible to the ordinary man, so equating to an indisputable “initiatory realization”. Practical Kabbalah is thus to Mystical Kabbalah what realization is to elaboration. If the latter familiarizes the student with this formidable metaphysical whole which is comprises, it is only intellectually so. Practical Kabbalah launches the Adept upon the «Direct Path», if he then knows how to triumph over the “Dragon of the Threshold” he will gain considerable advantage over the one who practices the “Inner Way” alone, since he will have established a close psychic contact 2

The word itself comes from the Hebrew Cabalah, signifying «tradition».

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with the Superior Planes. “True Philosophy”, Sir Bulwer Lytton tells us, “above all seeks to understand rather than to deny...” 3 and the amateurs of Kabbalistic lectures and theses who recoil at the idea of applying their favorite doctrine are those inconsequential people who deliberately deprive themselves of the fruits of their endeavors. Let us also listen to the counsel of the wise Iamblichus 4: “There exists in the Soul a Principle superior to external Nature. For by this Principle we may surpass the Cosmos and the systems of this Universe. When the Soul raises itself up towards those natures superior to its own, it abandons this Cosmos to which it is temporarily linked. And through a mysterious magnetism, it is attracted to a Higher Plane with which it joins and identifies itself...” The Hermeticist Van Helmont tells us almost the same thing: “An occult power, asleep since the Fall, is latent in Man. It can be reawakened by divine Grace, or indeed through the Art of Kabbalah...” 5. Certainly, it is necessary to already be familiar with the didactic Kabbalah (metaphysical, theodicity, etc) before launching into the redoubtable operations of Practical Kabbalah. When the student of this Science has familiarized his spirit with the works of Philippe de Aquina, Reuchlin, Pico della Mirandola, Rosenroth, and Molitor, then, as Dr. Marc Haven said: “If he is called to the Spiritual Way, these pages will shine forth to him. But if he attacks these studies in vain ; if he has not ?broken in his mind on the Hebrew forms, read and assimilated the preparatory works which we have cited, and accustomed his soul to the mystical life...” The goal of the Art is thus, in practical terms, to put the Adept in psychic liaison with the Higher Planes and the Intelligences who live there; moreover, to act altruistically and occultly on his fellow man, to further the higher interest of the human Collectivity. The Knowledge in question (Theurgy) rests on handling the knowledge of the Mystical Kabbalah, and on its application. The principal means are Ceremonies, and the elements of these residing in the use of Pentacles, Invocations, and above all in appropriate “Divine Names”, true “words of power” without which no occult life will animate the pentacles and invocations. And if we do not try to justify the “magical” aspect of Practical Kabbalah, it is because we refuse to grant it this characteristic. Ceremonies of High Knowledge are religious ceremonies, of an extremely pure character, in a cultic form, in the same vein as those of the great official religions. The Kabbalist who burns his incense before the Pentacle where flames the Divine Tetragrammaton is not a different person to the Catholic priest standing in adoration before the monstrance or the lama before the image of the protecting deity. His soul-state is that of all mystics, and he has the right to the same respect as the monk of Solesmes or St. Wandrille, for, as Marc Haven tells us, “it is the destiny and the glorious characteristic of mystical doctrines to be elusive to the crowd and impenetrable to the learned; all incursions into its domain; all dissections, all explanations reveal nothing of their reality. Historians and critics remain at the doorway, examining the brambles or the sculptures which conceal it, scraping the floor before the closed sanctuary. And when they depart, believing that they have explored, described, and sufficiently profaned the sanctuary, the inviolate Temple guards its magic perfume and its profound secrets for the Children of Love, as pure as before their vain incursion into these regions which could never be theirs...” 6. 3

« Zanoni », p.135. Iamblichus: « On the Mysteries », VII, 7. 5 J. B. Van Helmont : « Hortus Medicinæ ». Leyde, 1667. 6 G. Marc Haven: Preface to the translation of the work of Jacques Gaffarel: “The profound mysteries of the Divine Kabbalah”, by Ben-Chesed. 4

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There remains a problem... Should we deliver up these pages to the general public? The fact is that there are no longer burning stakes and tortures which would justify continuing the silence of Adepts of olden times on the subject of the “Arcane iniquities”, and above all the fact that all theurgic work is impossible to accomplish without a knowledge of the two poles put into play: the divine one which provides our support, and the demonic one, against which we strive: so we have decided to publish all the essential keys to the system. This is why the Tree of Death is as detailed as the Tree of Life, and why the “demonic Names”, and the “Magical Images of the black Sephiroth are unveiled for the first time. But here we abjure the student of the High Knowledge never to act lightly. He is in the Universe of destructive and malefic “Forces” which one cannot unleash nor handle with impunity; and behind the “devils” and “demons” of legend, are concealed energetic and conscious “currents” whose powers put man’s on the level of insects... We have without sufficient preparation ourselves trodden the two Ways: and we have almost lost our life among the shadows of the Left-Hand Path... We again abjure the student reading this book to take care. There is a vertigo which seizes the semi-profane looking into the Abyss. It is always the same, and it has two names: Psychosis and Suicide... “Those who come to possess Divine Knowledge, will gleam with all the brightness of the heavens, so the Zohar tells us. But those who teach it to men according to the ways of Justice, shine like the stars for all Eternity...” Let us now, with the help of the Divine Instructors, follow these Ways of Equity, and never bear involuntary responsibility! * * * It remains for us to explain the layout of this work. When one gives into the care of a modeler the task of creating – at a suitable scale and as accurately as possible – a model of a monument, a ship, an industrial machine, etc, one doesn’t ask for a perfect reduction; one doesn’t impose upon him an unreasonable amount of minute detail; one only asks one thing – that the final outcome will be as perfect as the modeler can make it. But one doesn’t tell him that every detail must be expressed and realized exactly as in the original. If the “model” of a great ship functions in a basin of water as well as the real thing does on the ocean, it is of little import if the internal fixtures and fittings, or any installations which are invisible on the outside and have no function in the overall shape, have been created or not. In this Synthesized (and occult...) Resumé of one of the most prodigious philosophical systems generated by Man, it is the same 7. Pico della Mirandola, Reuchlin, Spinoza, Molitor, Drach, Rosenroth and others have differently envisaged, translated, and expounded upon the profound concepts of the Kabbalah. If, like these prodigious authors, we permit ourselves to pass over suchand-such sidebar or such-and-such detail, this is solely for the profit of the whole and its precision, in such a minuscule study as this. This book does not pretend to enter the Temple, but only to offer 7

The format of the work and the limits imposed by its publication have regrettably forced us to abridge the chapters somewhat.

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the keys... May he who applies this teaching, as the epigraph says above, so behold the Illumination he seeks as a recompense for the diligence of his efforts. As for him who only sees base and material uses, simple profit, low magic or stupid vanity here, may the ritual malediction of Leviticus fall upon him: “Thus sayeth the Lord: ‘I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass’”. (Leviticus: XXVI, 19).

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I. — ORIGINS AND DEFINITION OF KABBALAH

A. — Its Genesis It would be vain to suppose even for a moment that the Jewish religion before our times was characterized by an absolute monotheism on the one hand, and by a rigorous orthodoxy among the whole of its faithful on the other. If the early years of nascent Christianity presented an aspect of incessant swarming of sects and individual belief systems, each more strange than the other, then for the Jewish nation it was the reverse phenomenon which took place. At the time of the departure from Egypt, the cult of the God of Israel was a whole. No doubt remnants of more ancient and primitive cults (notably those of the Baalam, the Ephod, the Teraphim, etc.) still manifested themselves within families and clans, but as a private observance, and generally in secret. Then, with time came contact with foreign philosophies, the sojourn in Babylon (caused by the captivity and deportations of the population), study by its doctors, and the exchange of ideas with the intellectual and mystical portion of the Jewish people. Some lived and prospered in a completely official manner, and we know the principle of these sects: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Therapeutes. But this is to ignore the existence among the popular masses of more secretive schools, diverse sects, sometimes showing a spirit of opposition to the ‘official’ sects. If would indeed be a most grave historical error to imagine that Judaism formed a singe bloc, which has given birth to no theological, esoteric or heretical variation. We have seen that in his work on the formation of Christianity, Drews concluded that before the Christian era, there already existed among the Jews a representation of the Messiah, which would become that of Christianity. Later on, the disciples of Jesus rightly sought to present him as having united in his life all the circumstances which had been abundantly described by the Prophets, and did this in order to prove his legitimacy after he had accomplished his mission. Equally, we noted that Drews, in agreement with B. Smith, affirmed that alongside orthodox Judaism there existed in Israel, or at its borders, sects which had assembled the essential elements of the Christian legend – and this long before the birth of Christianity – around a god which they called Iesoushouah 8. In this name, Drews found the name of Jesus, for the Hebraic orthography is identical. This fact is significant: it is the first trace of the existence of the Kabbalah, Iesoushouah being one of the “Divine Names” of the Sephira Geburah. What we glimpse in the doctrine of these sects puts them in rapport with a syncretistic religion, spread across all Western Asia, in the centuries preceding the Christian era, and which engendered numerous religious groups with specific tendencies. This was Mandeanism or Adonaism. This syncretist religion is based on esoteric revelation, a “gnosis” (manda is synonymous with gnosis), brought down by a god named Ado (“Lord”). In this name we rediscover the root which governed the formation of many of the divine names of these regions: Ado, Ada, Adonai, Adonis, Adam, Atem, Atum. In reality, this esoteric tradition is made from pieces and fragments, and it is 8

“God of Salvation”

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constantly in a state of theological parturition! All the Shemite, Ophite, Naassenian, Cainite, Essenian, Ebionite, Peratean, Sethian and Heliognostic people, and all the pre-Gnostic sects before our era, awaited the mysterious Being who would descend from Heaven and be incarnated in a human form to disperse Demons, purify the Earth and Men, and lead them to the place of the Fortunate Souls in the “Realm of the Father”. Historical research reveals many Palestinian Jewish doctors in sympathetic relations with the ideas of these sects, which were foreign to Israel. Let us avoid being derailed by the historical error of a strictly faithful monotheistic Judaism, confined within a sealed vase, without any intellectual and dogmatic evolution! Before our era, Mandean sects with a Jewish foundation existed, and there were those – B. Smith proved it – which rightly gave the name of Yeshu, Yeheshuah, Yesoushouah, to a Saving God for whom they waited. Yesh, in Hebrew, signifies fire; at the same time, it designates the lineage, the genealogy. Their Saving God is thus a god of light and of fire. What does Moses tell us? “God is a Fire which burns...”. What was the name of these sects? Iesseenes, Nazoreans, Nazireans... So we know that the Jewish esoteric sects venerated a Saving God, which they named Yeshu, or Yeheshuah, or Yehoushouah, and a papyrus preserved in the National Library of Paris (N° 174, Greek foundation supplement) contains formulae of conjuration such as: “...I conjure thee, by Yeheshuah Nazarean...” and later on: “...I conjure thee, by the God of the Hebrews: Yeoushuh...”. We repeat: these sects were before Christianity... Following the advent of this, and with the mystical mingling which followed on the dispersal of the Jewish people, their contacts with the Arabs of North Africa, then those in Spain and Portugal, with their close links with the Greek, Turkish and Balkan populations (contacts which were contemporaneous with this dispersion), all of this secret doctrine was re-melted, boiled and fermented. Finally, facing the danger of such an effervescence, the doctors of Israel, in possession of the true doctrinal esotericism of the Torah, decided amongst themselves to finally reveal the essence of this secret teaching, and we will now see how... * * * On the Galilean Synagogue of Capernaum, recently brought to the light of day, at the front of the temple, shines a Five-rayed Star, the “Shield of David”, the Pythagorean Pentagram, symbol of Knowledge and Understanding. Now, the national emblem of the Jewish people is the “Seal of Solomon”, the Six-rayed Star, the Hexagram of Medieval Magic, symbol of the Solomonic tradition. Who can explain this difference? Why these different paradigms? The “Seal of Solomon” has its significance partially revealed if one knows that in Hebrew Salem signifies Bliss, and Shlom: Rigor, Justice, Equilibrium. The Hexagram, emblem of General Law, is associated with a Just God, a doctrine supported by the metaphysical concept of Retributive Justice. This is the “Law of Karma” of Far-Eastern philosophies, and that of the Judaic Talmud. 10

On the other hand, in Hebrew, David signifies: both the historic person of this name and Divine Love. The second school, of which the Synagogue at Capernaum was one of its temples, was connected with the esoteric tradition of “Liberation by Love”, bringing into action the mysterious Law of Pardon which is the arcane guide of Christianity. With the destruction of the Temple, and the dispersal of the proletarian Jewish tribes, the systematic destruction of the military tribes (Judah, Benjamin), and the sacerdotal tribe (Levi), the elite of Israel disappeared almost completely. Rome knew where to strike... Nowadays, one fact remains almost ignored, and that is that the Jewish people no longer have any sacrificers, the legitimate heirs of Aaron; and rabbis are simple doctors of the Law... But we ourselves know that this destruction was incomplete, and that there still exist, almost unknown, legitimate descendants of this esoteric priesthood, which we shall consider shortly, in whom are united on the one side the bloody priesthood of Moses and Aaron; and the non-bloody line of Melchizedek, “King of Salem”, entrusted to Abraham. Martinez de Pasqually, and after him his rare Réaux-Croix, are those people. It is an historic fact, ignored by the public at large, which consecrates the true union of the priesthood of Israel and Operative Freemasonry, or the Judaic Fellowship 9. Upon the death of Nero, Vespasian returned to Rome. Titus, succeeded his father as Commander of the Roman troops, and seized Giskhala, Gamala, and Tabor. It was a bloodbath, a total massacre, we are told by A. Séché. Johanan took refuge in Jerusalem, where Pharisees and Zealots, aristocrats and plebeians, fought each other in a fratricidal war. Blood flowed in Jerusalem — and Titus was at the gates... It was then that Simeon bar Yohai, the holy doctor, depositary of the arcane secrets of the Torah, secretly quit Jerusalem and took refuge in Jabhe... The Kabbalah was saved! And by chance in the great ideological eddies and great persecutions which disturbed the Middle Ages, a priest who was wholly Judaic in origin, left the safety of the ghettos for the wide roads and Rosicrucian cenacles, and was able to penetrate environments which were no longer essentially Jewish, but simply philosophical. Here, we make allusion to the great secret societies which were born during this epoch 10. But, back to the point… We know that at the margin of the Torah, or official version of the Law, a secret, esoteric version developed, the soul and reason for the existence of the sects encountered during the course of our research. In the voice of the Prophets, the Old Testament frequently insists on the fact that external influences, contact with other peoples, and different religions have been introduced. Truly, that which is called “corruption” should more equitably bear the name of “evolution”, “interpretation”, and “development”, superior to the exclusive use of an intellectual elite more advanced than the general masses. The primitive Law was not only a sacred book, where the faithful could find, along with the elements of their religion, religious prescriptions, rituals and morality. It was at the same time a civil and criminal code, from which the legislators of Israel extracted maxims and decrees 9

It is a fact that before the fall of Jerusalem, the Grand Master of Stonecutters was proclaimed Pontiff. See our work “Martinism”, p. 47 et seq.

10

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regulating the relationships between members of the profane community. After the Captivity of Babylon, the life of the people changed, evolved. Esdras “renewed” ‘the sacred texts’, and one may suggest, without daring to swear to it, that these texts, taken in their literal sense, while good for a pastoral and primitive life, no longer sufficed to govern all aspects of the life – above all the spiritual life – of the Jewish people. On the other side, the special character of national life pushed Israel to isolate itself, to reduce contact and relations with foreign people as much as possible. Israel was, before anything, a proud and haughty people, who did not wish to humble itself by asking its neighbors what it considered it could find itself. At the very least, it doubtless adopted some doctrines of foreign origin and, by reason of this, impure in the words of the Torah, but it took good care to recognize this, and qualified them as very old and purely Judaic, and this hand would be played!... (The Haggadah of the Talmud, as well as the Mi-draschim (Midrash) however, admitted that the Hebrew people had brought back from Babylon the names of the months of the year, those of Angels, and in general the whole of the Kabbalah...). Driven by the national subtle yet argumentative spirit, the doctors of the Law – combining the functions of legislators, theologians and casuists – abandoned themselves to it to their heart’s content. Among them, a few great and good intelligences, building up a framework with foreign materials, and completing it using particular interpretations as materials, came to hatch the most prodigious metaphysical temple which could issue from human thought. From their metaphysical speculations were born firstly the Mishna, a complementary interpretation of the five books of the Pentateuch or Torah, an interpretation pursued in the minutest detail. The teaching of this would be given by the Tannaim, or doctors of the Law, who from 150 B.C. to 220 A.D. – that is for almost four centuries – would comment with indefatigable zeal upon the Torah. Before the third century of our era, the Mishna was fragmented. By then the metaphysical baggage transmitted by the Tannaim had become such that its sheer size necessitated such division. Rabbi Yehudah (Judah the Prince), surnamed Ha Nasir, the “Patriarch”, compiled elements of the first collections into a type of manual. The Mishna of Yehudah is still considered to be like a Canon which was soon held as a greater prize than the Pentateuch itself. Thus the treatise Sopherim says that: “The Torah is like water, but the Mishna is like wine”. This is in a double sense. Allegorically, we understand the drunkenness which carries away the drinker of wine, and the cold rationalism which is the portion of the drinker of water; but also in an esoteric and Kabbalistic sense, since the word wine, in Hebrew yain, is numerically equivalent to the word sod, signifying mysteries! One may divine from this conscious subtlety that the Mishna holds the “spirit” of Tradition, and the Torah possesses only the “letter”. One is esoteric, and the other exoteric. Then, just as the Torah has been commented on and clarified, so the Mishna in its own turn was commented on and clarified within the mystery schools. The successors of the Tannaim, called the Amoraim, or rabbinical “commentators”, in the Synagogues of Libya, Sephoris and Lydda, in Palestine; Syra, Nehardea, Pumbeditha and Uscha in Babylonia, took them as the text for their passionate controversies for three centuries. The conclusion of this secular discussion was called the Gemara, or “complement” (implying the Mishna). A vaster compilation, reuniting the decisions of the Amoraim and the Tannaim was then established, and this was given the title of Talmud, a Hebrew word signifying “ritual”. This shows that, if the Talmud is a summary of the Gemara, that the Gemara is the commentary 12

and the complement to the Mishna, and that the Mishna is the esoteric text of the Torah; then the Talmud is still more esoteric and more allegoric than the Mishna itself, since it aims to reveal, in an even clearer manner, its mysteries! Now, we know from experience that every time one reveals the sense of a religious text, it is under a new allegory... We may conclude that to take the Talmud word for word, in applying its teachings to Israel, the Jewish people, and its anathemas to the Goyim, or uncircumcised peoples, is to fall back into the exotericism of the Torah and to reveal nothing at all. On the contrary, the Talmud and all its teachings do not apply themselves to an elect people and to reprobates of this world. In fact, another capital work will teach us this in a few moments, named the Sefer-ha-Zohar, the “Book of Splendor”. A final conclusion: both Anti-semites and Israelites – fanatics of both camps – are in error, for the Talmud does not address itself to men here below! Israel is the company of the elect, the “blessed of my Father”! Two Talmudic compendia existed: the one of Jerusalem, completed in the fifth century of our era, and that of Babylon, completed at the beginning of the sixth century. Both reproduced the Mishna, well enough, but the first one gave us the Palestinian Gemara, and the second the Babylonian Gemara. The latter is by far the more considerable. The Talmud of Jerusalem comprises one thin folio, while that of Babylon requires twelve thick volumes in the same format! Therefore it is this latter one which is, nowadays too, the true expression of the Talmud. In Babylonia, Talmudic studies continued to flourish for a long time, well after all social and intellectual life had apparently disappeared from Palestine. We find these theological organizations again at the end of the twelfth century, in Spain and Portugal. In the twelfth century, in Grenada, Samuel Ibn Naggdila published a remarkable introduction to the study of Talmud; and Gershom Ben Yehudah brought out “Commentaries” of fourteen treatises on Talmud in Mayence and Metz. Another doctor, Solomon Yitzchaki, surnamed Rashi, wrote Aramaic “Commentaries” on almost all the treatises, accompanied by a Gemara. In the twelfth century the famous Maimonides composed a commentary on the Mishna in Arabic, a commentary which remains, even in our times, one of the celebrated classics. In the thirteenth century, German and French rabbis, writing in Aramaic, expanded on the commentaries of Solomon Yitzchaki. Up to the seventeenth century, the Babylonian Talmud preserved an authority superior to that of the Torah itself. This is quite understandable, as it claimed to give the key to the latter; and the majority of Jews only knew the Torah by quotations from the Talmud! The Haggadah of the Talmud, to which we made allusion above, which talks of the Months and the Angels, gave birth to a veritable Judaic “gnosis”, driven by the mystical fever of doctors of the Law. This gnosis rested upon esoteric commentary on the biblical narratives. This commentary itself had oral tradition as a starting point, issuing from a certain intellectual illumination, which gave real meaning to the texts and banal interpretations that the ignorant crowd were only able to comprehend at that level. This oral tradition, coming from mystical illumination, is the “Word”, or “tradition transmitted by word“, in Hebrew Cabala and in French Kabbale! (see in particular the Jerusalem Targum, called the Targum of Onkelos). So we can see that, as in Christian texts, there was a long period of fermentation, official or occult, which ceaselessly brewed and adjusted that original “revelation” obtained by illumination, added commentaries which sometimes came from foreign concepts, and attached other heterodox or 13

external “practices” in terms of their origins, which brought about Judaic esotericism, or Kabbalah. One can say without fear that it was the universal and eternal initiatory fermentation which, deposited in the heart of the esotericism of Israel, as in the heart of any religion, made known or not, gave rise to the birth of the Kabbalah. The Kabbalah is but the Eternal Doctrine, dissimulated under all Symbols and in all legendary stories, simply conveyed by the traditions come from the beginning of ages, and which drop their roots in the original mystery of the people of Sumeria and Akkadia. It is the semitic appearance of this eternal Doctrine, which can only borrow its ways of expression from among the racial, hereditary or didactic concepts of Western peoples, and more precisely Mediterranean peoples. Christianity has been its principal messenger, which rests before all other influences upon the Old Testament. This Kabbalah was the crucible where, in the Middle Ages, that peculiar heritage of the peoples of the white race of Western Europe came to blend with the later Celtic traditions. This resulted in a curious metaphysical and philosophical ensemble, in which the pagan resurgence, specifically that of Ancient Italy and Greece; the traditions of Pythagoras, borne by the corporations and trades; Celtic survivals in the tradition of popular and earth-based sorcery; and Gnostic Christian esotericism, constituted this strange “climate” in which was born Medieval Magic: the Faustian cycle... It is then that the Sefer-ha-Zohar or “Book of Splendor” appeared. We do not insist on the historic detail of its origins, for they remain uncertain. Its first publication, and even all or part of its drafting, is attributed to Moses de Leon, a Jew living in Spain in the thirteenth century. But the doctrines taught by the Zohar are linked to those of mystical Hebrew works earlier than the aforementioned thirteenth century. Moses de Leon attributes it to the famous Simeon, called bar Yohai, the disciple of Akiba, but the best legitimization of a work is in its intrinsic worth; the author and the date are less important than the book, and the sublimity of the Zohar remains uncontestable. We conclude that the Zohar is the exoteric summarization of thirty centuries of Judaic mysticism. It is composed of eight principle treaties, which are: 1) the “Mysteries of the Torah”, 2) the “Youth”, 3) the “Mystical Midrash on The Torah”, 4) the “Mysterious Search”, 5) the “Come and See”, 6) the “Great Assembly”, 7) the “Lesser Assembly”, 8) the “Book of Secrets”, or the Sepher Dzeniouta. The classic editions are those of: Mantoue (1560, in-quarto), Dublin (1623, in-folio), Constantinople (1736), Amsterdam (1714) and (1805). That of 1714 is considered to be the best, and it is upon this that Jean de Pauly established his French translation of the Zohar, edited by Lafuma. * * * And so it is indeed by means of the Kabbalah that, in the laboratory of Doctor Faust, he sees the warm hues of his stained glass windows light up, where the Hexagram of Solomon and the Pentalpha of Pythagorus unite and entwine around the Eglantine of the disciples of Hermes, itself irradiated in the heart of the Celtic trefoil! The Easter morning church bells, which tear the Doctor from his mortal melancholy, also celebrate the resurrection of the Temple at Jerusalem which the builders of the Cathedrals transpose in our great gothic metropolitan Cathedrals. It is in these that 14

we once again find this effort towards Synthesis. The Celtic trefoil becomes the modest trilobal rose window; the Hexagram and the Pentagram sign their blind arcades, and the proportional “sections” of the same Eglantines now become marvelous “roses”, bathing (according to the happy definition of Grillot de Givry) the transepts of our sleeping Cathedrals in an unreal light... And it is also by means of this same kabbalistic “light” that the great Judeo-Christian fusion, foretold by the Doctors of the Church, will be accomplished. Possessing the keys to the Kabbalah, Johannite Christians such as we are, disciples of Martinez de Pasqually or of Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, we may better penetrate the mysteries of the two Testaments. Without changing their orthodoxy, we will incorporate them into the very heart of this synthesis. And, according to the enigmatic prophecy of Genesis: “Japheth shall dwell in the tents of Shem”. By exploring the Kabbalah, pious and sincere Jews will learn that its teachings do not have the polytheistic implications that they wrongly attribute to it. Then, perhaps, as Albert Jounet said in his “Key to the Zohar”, Jews and Christians together will raise their common hopes towards the Uncreated Word, soaring in His eternity, and Who waits for their reconciliation, it seems, in order to manifest Himself anew under the appearance of the Glorious Christ. And so, according to the mysterious Kabbalistic promise, “the Messiah shall come into the World through the merits of the Sepher-ha-Zohar...”.

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B. — Its development: The Kabbalah and its different Schools The adepts of the modern Kabbalah themselves report most distinctly their origin with Isaac the Blind or even his father Abraham, born David of Posquières. Joseph Gikatilla, one of the most fervent, wrote in his Perusch Hahagadah, preserved in the Sefer Hanefesch Hachochamah of Moses de Leon: “The Kabbalah which is in our hands goes back through the chain of traditions to the Maaseh Merkabah from which it passed to the right-hand column, the pious rabbi Isaac the Blind”. Ben Aderet, in his Respp. (I, No. 94) made allusion to the same men, and didn’t even designate them any more by the word “kabbalists” calling them “masters of the mysteries of the Torah”. “For every precept, he said, certain men who are holders of the mysteries of the Torah, have in their spirit very venerable reasons, though the sins of this generation has dammed the sources of tradition maintained since the destruction of the Temple”. Above all the Kabbalah stands in opposition to Talmudic casuistry or, if you will, a form of revolt of faith against the law. It is the refuge of those spirits who find themselves ill at ease in the subtle and inextricable mesh of Talmudic laws and who, in the narrow cadre of ritual, cultural and liturgical formulae, seek a source of the living waters. With the Kabbalah, a very notable intrusion of Christian elements appeared in Jewish mysticism, and that was due to several causes: on the one hand, there was a spirit of opposition against the rationalism of Aristotle which reconciled the spirit of Neoplatonism, and so led them right to the source of ancient philosophy which had contributed the most to feed the fundamental dogmatism of Christianity. On the other hand, the spirit of opposition to Jewish dogmatism often led beyond the true boundaries which separated Jewish doctrine from Christian doctrine. Finally, and independent of all logical reason, fortuitous connections between Jewish and Christian mysticism and their representations were fertile with ideas which were contained in both doctrines at the same time. In the space which separates mysticism prior to the Kabbalah and the Zohar, we can perceive a particular essay at systematization and classification which allows us to distinguish five principle schools: 1°) The school of Isaac the Blind which one might call the metaphysical school, not because metaphysics was the exclusive element, but because it was the predominant element; 2°) That of Ezra-Azriel, which came from it; 3°) That of Nachmanides, his disciple; 4°) The school of Eleazar of Worms, who especially applied himself to the mysticism of letters and numbers; 5) The school of Abulafia, which followed the two previous schools and developed them in the sense of pure contemplation. I. — Isaac the Blind About Isaac the Blind himself we know very little. His successor spoke with respect about his commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah, and on his gift of discerning new souls from old souls, which is to say those which were in their first marriage with the body from those which, according to the laws of metempsychosis, were already making a second or third pilgrimage. Like many of the great initiators, such as Pythagoras and Socrates, he appears mainly to have acted through verbal instruction. In his Bade Aaron, Shem Tov ibn Gaon said many times: “R. Ezra de Geronde (the disciple of Isaac the Blind) composed a commentary on the Haggadoth such as he had received from his master Isaac the Blind”, which certainly seems to indicate that Isaac the Blind concerned 16

himself with interpreting the Haggadoth and prayers, that is to say assuredly to spiritualize them in the sense of his system. But at the same time it resulted in his writing of few works himself. His blindness, common in the traditions of the Kabbalists, was also a sufficient reason alone to explain his moderation as a writer. In any case, it was at BEAU-CAIRE, in this Province, crossroads of so many ideas, the point of intersection of the North and South, with Isaac the Blind, that we can locate the cradle of Practical Kabbalah. The characteristic of his teaching and the school that he founded appeared immediately in the teachings of his principal disciple Ezra-Azriel. It has never been known if these two names represent one and the same person or if they correspond to two disciples of Isaac the Blind. Later Kabbalists always confuse them. In his Yuchasin, Jacubo makes Ezra the master of Nachmanides; by contrast, Meir ben Gubbai and others attribute this honor to Azriel. Recanati attributes the Commentary on the Song of Songs to Azriel; Isaac of Acco and others put the same work in the account of Ezra. In our eyes, Ezra and Azriel constitute names of a single and same person. Jewish literature is full of confusion of this manner and particularly with the names of Uzziel, Azriel, and Ezra. Ezra-Azriel lived from 1160 to 1238. He told a story about himself: that in his youth he traveled greatly in search of a hidden doctrine explaining God and His creation. After long peregrinations, he found a man who claimed an antique and accredited tradition, and who assuaged his doubts 11. II. — Ezra-Azriel This is the doctrine of Ezra as he laid it out in his work entitled: Explanation of the ten Sephiroth in questions and answers. “The Infinite is a Being who is absolutely perfect and without lacuna. So, when one says that there is within him a limitless power, but not the power to limit himself, one introduces a lacuna into his fullness. On the other hand, if one says that this universe – which isn’t perfect – proceeds directly from him, one is declaring that his power is imperfect. Now, as one cannot attribute a lacuna to his perfection, it is necessary to admit that the Ain Soph has the power to limit himself, which power is itself limitless. “Once this limit issued from him in a first line, and these are the Sephiroth which constitute both the power of perfection and the power of imperfection”. And here now is their gradual action. The first is destiny where presides the power divine, the second is to the power of the angels, the third to prophetic power, the fourth to shed mercy throughout the superior essences, the fifth to shed forth the terror of his power, the sixth to shed pity upon inferior things, the seventh to make grow and fortify the sensitive soul under development, the eighth to produce successive gradation, the ninth to have the power of all the rest emanate forth, the tenth to be the way by which the ensemble of all the other powers spread themselves across the inferior world. In reality, we think that the Sephiroth originally reduced themselves to the number three and were first of all a reflection of the system of emanation, such as we have met in Ibn Gabirol. With the Treatise on Emanation which belonged to the same school, we have a conception which is a little different from the doctrine; we have moreover a first attempt to reconcile it with anterior mysticism and return this mysticism to the body of the new mysticism. It is not without reason that the author chose the prophet Elias to be his mouthpiece. In fact, Ezra-Azriel alluded to the 11

S. Karppe: “Origins of the Zohar”. (Alcan, Ed. Paris, 1901).

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philosophies because he himself sought to win over everyone to faith. “It is not enough”, he wrote, “to be worthy of these great revelations, to be a studious man; it is necessary above all to be a man of faith. It is not enough to know the Bible, the Mishnah, the Haggadah. All that is vain if one has no faith, if one does not aspire with confidence, in the lassitude of the ordinary course of life, to the sublime and mysterious Merkabah”. Jellinek (Auswahl Kabbalist Mystik, I, 1853. Leipzig) attributed this work to R. Jacob Nasir (12th Century) and this because Recanati (Comment on the Pentateuch, 173 d) and Isaac of Acco (in his Meirat Enaym, said that the prophet Elias referenced in this work appeared first of all in R. Jacob Nasir. Yet why attach such importance to this pseudo-epigraphy of Elias? For time immemorial, Elias has been an image which has been made to serve all. The Talmudic epoch had already identified him with the Messiah and reserved to him a solution to the problems that the casuists held in suspense and thus unresolved. In the homiletic literature, he is the great censor, the great moralist. It is hardly surprising that the Kabbalists, in their turn, took shelter under the name without which they would have had to reveal that the ideas were their own. Besides, if the revelations of Elias, according to the authors, were reported to Jacob Nasir, these same authors similarly had them come down to Isaac the Blind, Azriel and Nachmanides. We believe it is more likely to attribute this work to a disciple of Isaac the Blind or Ezra who, mourning for the old mysticism, wanted to adopt the new Kabbalah without prejudicing the old one, and attempt a reconciliation between the two. Sometimes it is thought that the “Prayer of R. Nehunyah ben Hakanah” or the Bahir and “The Book of Intuition” are attached to the same school. For the latter, there is no doubt, but for the Bahir nothing is less certain. It is necessary to say a few words about this. The Bahir is written as a fictional dialogue held between two imaginary doctors. There we find the doctrine of the Sephiroth, perhaps understood in the sense of the new Kabbalah. I say perhaps, for the Sephiroth did not appear there with the names they carry across all theoretical Kabbalah, but under the past denomination of Maamarim, discourse, creative word, word of action. The time of the appearance of the Bahir is quite difficult to identify. We know, on the one hand, that it existed in 1245, since from this time it was attacked by doctor Meir b. Simon de Narbonne. On the other hand, grammatical observations found there stop us from rejecting a date after the period which has been called the «Age of Hebrew Grammar». These upper and lower limits take us between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The date is definitely close to the birth of the Kabbalah, but it does not prove by that a connection with or dependency on the Bahir and the school of Isaac the Blind. It is not the same with the Book of Intuition. The Book of Intuition put forward a treatise on the relationship between the Sephiroth with the Ain Soph. God is one, identical in all his powers, like a flame which plays in a variety of colors. These powers emanate from him, as light emanates from the eye, like a scent emanating from a perfume, like the flash of a flame emanating from another fire without which the latter would lose something (here we find both the terminology of Ibn Gabirol and that of Ezra-Azriel). Before creation, God was one, in himself, without movement, without limit, without distinction. The best way to know him consists of combining and calculating the letters of his name. Thus, this leads one to affirm the sole point that one is able to affirm, that one might know what is obscure, enveloped in itself and without differentiation. This, in its substance, is close to the doctrine of Isaac the Blind and his school; that is to say, the first form of the Kabbalah. (It is important not to forget that each time this word Kabbalah appears.) One can see that this first use was metaphysical, from an abstraction via neo-Platonic 18

abstractions, from a reprise and an arbitrary multiplication of the intermediaries of Ibn Gabirol. Through its attempt to differentiate the creative modes, it leads us towards pantheism. It includes an attempt to give physical color to the metaphysical laws, borrowed precisely from the color of light, which is also to be seen in the poetry and metaphysics of the Zohar; and finally it is to give spirituality to traditional religion, a mystical idealization of all the elements of the past which can be transformed, a development of new aspirations using ancient formulae. From all this, the body of the Zohar is created. III. — Nachmanides The efforts of Ezra-Azriel would perhaps not have conquered the Kabbalah with the success they hoped for, if they hadn’t had Moses ben Nachman, commonly called Nachmanides, for a disciple who, coming late to mysticism, benefited it in the eyes of otrthodox and dogmatic doctors with the authority of a lifetime devoted to the study of dogmatic Judaism. After that nobody dared to voice suspicion about a doctrine approved of by a man such as Nachmanides, renowned besides for his traditionalist piety. The poet Meschulam in Vedas Dasiera (Dibre Chachanim, 77) chants thus: “For us the son of Nachman is a sure citadel; Ezra, Azriel have taught us without error; They are my priests, they illuminate mine altar”. Later on a legend grew up about the manner by which Nachmanides came to the Kabbalah. It is said that, despite the efforts made towards him by an old initiate, he remained intransigent. One day, this Kabbalist committed a flagrant offense and was condemned to death. Before the execution, he called Nachmanides and affirmed that that very evening he would come and find him to celebrate the Sabbath Agape. Indeed, by an occult procedure he substituted an ass for himself which was executed in his place, and that evening he suddenly entered into the room of Nachmanides. This event converted him. Beyond the prestige that Nachmanides brought to the Kabbalah by his person, he rendered it a second service. First of all, he entered resolutely upon the path that Ezra-Ariel had hardly committed himself to, that is not to content himself with founding a philsophical, theoretical Kabbalah, but to use it to penetrate the law, that law which up till then had been the portion of the Talmudists and Haggadists alone. It was not enough to enunciate mystical doctrines; it was also necessary to use them to vivify the spirit of the Scripture, and above all to interpret the precepts of the Bible – and particularly the Pentateuch – in this way. Nachmanides accorded an important place to this type of vulgarization of the Kabbalah. He was one of those who contributed the most to grafting it onto the sacred texts. Here are one or two examples which show how Nachmanides pushed spirituality to the limit. He admitted that the first man had been created an androgyne. But he also admitted that the divine breath to animate and ennoble this double form was placed at the intersection of the two bodies, and in order clarify an important idea of the Zohar in advance, we would add that each distinct part carried half a soul. Nachmanides loved to quote and develop the following Midrashic passage: While man sleeps, the body talks with the sensual soul, the sensual soul talks to the rational soul, the rational soul talks to the angel (guardian angel), etc. For Nachmanides the soul felt itself in bad company with the body, and broke up this marriage whenever it could. Even before the definitive divorce, it took fleeting leaves of absence, going to wander the heavens, making contact once more with its sisters; and when it returned to the body, the latter became conscious of all that the soul had seen. This explains the visions one has in dreams. One may clearly sense the theories dear to the Orphic, 19

Platonic and other initiations. Nachmanides, while generally maintaining his poems in the realm of traditional Judaism, impregnated some with a mysticism which is somewhat less than conformist with tradition. There we sometimes even find a singular mixture between Kabbalistic and Gnostic elements, between the doctrine of the Sephiroth and that of the Pleroma. Above all it is with regard to the soul that the comparison makes sense. It is by means of channels, called the “channels of error” that, according to Nachmanides, the souls flow out of the “great reservoir”, a term absolutely reminiscent of the nd

gnostic pleroma (Néander, Kirchengesch. I, 2 part, p. 745 and Matter, Gnosticismus, p. 95 et seq). The union of the soul with the body only soils it and whatever it may do, it has no salvation save in divine love, which, having allowed it to stray, takes it back to itself. The Gnostic Sophia, too, having long erred, cannot achieve her salvation except through the direct intervention of the Father. Nachmanides also takes the effort of his mysticism to a new point: ethics, already in his commentary, but above all in a special work entitled: The Door of Remuneration. The theme dominating this work is his mystical conception of suffering. According to Nachmanides, suffering is almost always a suffering of love. For some it is a warning: God sees with sorrow the celestial soul mired in the misery of the body, and to stop this, He sends him sorrows. It is a great affliction among the heavenly souls and angels to see one of their companions rendered unworthy of its origin and its destiny. Then they all seek to press God, in the hope that, curbing the goodwill which He is ever ready to pour out for a moment, He will rap on this soul with salutary blows. If the soul remains dense to these warnings, they redouble their violence to make the soul pay its ransom on earth, so as not to be obliged to have to pay it in heaven. Even for the just there is a suffering of love; for even the just themselves are not perfect. They have dross within them which the crucible of love separates from their souls. But man cannot inflict these sufferings of love upon himself: he must receive them, and receive them with joy from the divine hand. Woe to him who does not suffer, for this happiness implies that God had abandoned him, and that He had condemned him to not enjoy future happiness ; that He has left him untouched in his present happiness so that he will do nothing to claim his destiny. Man’s sufferings are the wages of extra-terrestrial joy; in addition certain woes are designed to give man a harder life, thereby to make a greater effort and to grow in merit, and therefore earn his right to a joyous future. Finally, there are sorrows which are used to transform into action the seeds of good which the human soul carries within itself. These are to some extent the birth-pangs of a soul rich in virtue. Nachmanides was already the Master of Practical Kabbalah. For him: “In creating all things God made it so that the superior things would lead the inferior things, and He gave power to the earth and to all that it contained according to the laws fixed by Astrology. For the stars and the angels who are their guides it was His will that their souls and their superior conjunctions would have a repercussion on peoples and on men. There were established also certain laws which allow one to read the future in the entrails of birds, in their voices, and in their flight. This is what the Scripture meant when it said of King Solomon that he knew how to talk to birds”. Nachmanides also wrote on necromancy, magic, and etc. (Ex., 20, 2; Deut. 18, 9). The evocation of demons or Evil Spirits was, according to him, an art which is required to be studied at length. He spoke about talks he had had with certain masters of the art of conjuration, and he mentioned treaties pertaining to relationships with the Evil Spirits and the manner of making the required instruments (Genesis, 4,22; Derescha, p. 8 and 11).

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We can see that the mystical activity of Nachmanides extended itself across the majority of questions then being raised by the theoretical Kabbalah. Nachmanides was reported in particular by disciples of the metaphysical school to be inclined towards speculation to theurgic ends, since to his eyes mysticism, far from being confined to pure research, should lead quickly enough to the conquest and enslavement of cosmic powers. After the Zohar, when the folly of this theurgy affected reason, Nachmanides was one of those to whom lost souls turned with the most kindness 12. In the school of Isaac the Blind, there were still lively glimmers of philosophical speculation. Although these glimmers were too often obscured by clouds of extravagances and a fantastic application of non-Jewish doctrines to Jewish texts, nevertheless one feels that philosophy passed by this route. IV. — Eleazar of Worms It was not the same in what is generally known as the German school, a school which most probably had R. Jehudah Chasid (the Pious) of Ratisbonne as its founder and, in any event, in R. Eleazar of Worms, his disciple, its famous representative. It is his doctrine which will help us to characterize the doctrine of this school. Its traditions had originated in the German school, which goes back to Babylonia. So R. Schem Job said in his Emmunot (39 b) that at the news of the arrival of a great Babylonian Kabbalist, named R. Keschischa, in Apulia, R. Jehudah the Pious ran from Ratisbonne to Corbeil, and from Corbeil to Apulia, to be initiated into the sacred teachings. R. Eleazar of Worms cited other initiators like R. Samuel Ha Chasid, R. Eleasar of Spire, and R. Kalonymos, who in 787 had been transplanted from Lombardy to Mayence by Charlemagne himself (v. Luzzato, il Giudaismo Illustrato, I, 30 et seq.). It was not that Eleazar of Worms was particularly preoccupied with metaphysical problems. On the contrary, he ignored or claimed to ignore the speculations of the school of Isaac the Blind. He didn’t use the word ‘Ain-Soph’ once, nor that of the ‘Sephiroth’ in the sense that Isaac the Blind and his disciples used them, but proceeded directly to Ibn Ezra and pushed the mathematical form of the mysticism of Ibn Ezra to its final limit, in order to introduce all that inspired him about the mysticism of the Gaonim, and particularly the practical or applied Kabbalah whose most fertile promoter he was. We should here take a quick look at the work of Eleazar of Worms who through Abulafia and through the Zohar caused the bifurcation of theoretical Kabbalah towards practical Kabbalah; and we will speak of the Sefer Raziel. The Sefer Raziel is said to have been communicated by the angel Raziel (‘Mystery of God’) to Noah at the moment of his entry into the ark. It was written, on a sapphire stone; “in it are great mysteries, the mysteries of the higher degrees, the stars, their revolutions, the function and habit of all the celestial bodies; through the knowledge that it gives one may obtain all the secrets of things, of death and life, the art of healing and the interpretation of dreams, the art of making war and bringing peace”. This stated, the Sefer Raziel is presented as a work having provided the applied Kabbalah and to the Jewish tradition in general its rich arsenal of amulets, talismans, propitiatory formulae, curative formulae, images, magical mixtures, philtres of love and of hate. Even today the echo of these traditions, like that of the name of Eleazar of Worms is not extinct. Among the disciples of Eleazar of Worms we shall only speak of Menachem, notably of his work entitled “Crown of the Supreme Name”. This work is under the direct influence of the master and in part the “Book of the Name” of Ibn Ezra. It mainly discusses the Tetragrammaton and the ten Sephiroth and he links the one to the other.

12

Let us not forget, in fact, that the extremists of these doctrines were themselves the cause of their downfall.

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This disciple of Eleazar and the second representative of the German school leaned towards making a primary synthesis between the gifts of this school and the metaphysics of the speculative school, and naturally he did this to the detriment of the latter. The adepts of the German school propagated their form of mysticism as far as Spain. Solomon b. Adret, in his Respp. (No. 548), spoke of a disciple of Eleazar of Worms called Abraham of Cologne (also honorably known in his school). This Abraham of Cologne came to Spain, taught there, and even explained his doctrine before the king of Castille, Alphonse X. And so we come to him who tried to mix the two schools into a whole in order to put it to the service of pure contemplation, that is to say, to the service of a rather higher form of the Merkabah of the Gaonim. We wish to speak of Abulafia. V. — Abulafia To properly understand the ideas of Abulafia, one must take a look at his life. Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia was born in Saragossa in 1240. Up to his thirtieth year, he studied the Bible, the Talmud, medicine, philosophy, notably the works of Saadia and Maimonides. He was an assiduous reader of Ibn Ezra. As for his mystical studies, he himself said in his letter to R. Jehuda Solomon (whom we will meet shortly), and in his mystical commentary on Maimonides that he had been initiated into the doctrine of the school of Nachmanides. “It is there”, he said, “that I was taught the ways by which are revealed true intentions, the mysteries of the Law, and these ways number three: Notarikon (acrology), Gematria (numerical evaluation), and Ziruf (permutation 13)”. The life of Abulafia, though known only from his general works, demonstrates that his spirit tended towards a form of mysticism going beyond the Kabbalah itself. To this point we have several very precise and significant letters. R. Solomon ben Adreth, consulted by the Jews in Italy about the activities of the Prophet-Messiah, wrote a letter to a certain Achitob of Palerma in which he had vigorously attacked Abulafia and had reproached him for understanding nothing of the essential elements of the Kabbalah, nor the doctrine of the Sephiroth, nor that of emanation; and accused him of setting forth a new and strange doctrine relating to letters and numbers with a view of leading him to a prophetic spirit. We do not have the letter of Solomon ben Adreth ; rather the indirect replica which Abulafia made when sending it to a certain R. Jehuda Salmon. First of all st

nd

Abulafia distinguished four sources of knowledge: 1 the five senses; 2 ideas or the 10 abstract numbers; 3rd universal consent; 4th tradition. Without developing the first two which are known, nor the third which does not in itself have a very great power of truth, he passed on to the fourth : tradition (Kabbalah). Yet it was not the general tradition that he wanted to study, but only the Kabbalah specific to Kabbalists, ignored by the common rabbis, who spent all their time on the Talmud. Now, this Kabbalah consisted of two areas: one concerned itself with the knowledge of God by means of the ten Sephiroth, and the other concerned itself with the knowledge of God by means of the twenty-two letters which comprise the names and signs, and which lead to prophetic inspiration. Abulafia assiduously practiced the teachings of Ibn Ezra, and claimed the authority of Eleazar of Worms and Nachmanides. The point in common between these mystics was that they all agreed upon giving strong focus to the mysticism of letters, numbers and divine names. Abulafia is thus, above all, an adept of this mystical form. It is this that he takes as his point of departure. On the other hand, we have seen that he engaged in the study of more than a dozen commentaries on the Sefer Yezirah, which confirms us in our idea concerning his main leanings. For whereas the Sefer 13

In fact, Ziruf is combination of letters and Temurah is the permuttion of letters - PV.

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Yezirah places letters and numbers in the service of the cosmogony, and whereas the masters named above subordinated them to the Kabbalah of the Sephiroth where they made a frame for mystical speculation, Abulafia claimed to surpass this speculation and worked, on the union of the rational soul with God, using arithmetical combinations as a basis, a union which Ibn Gabirol and Maimonides made the fruit and the recompense for philosophical study. Abulafia entertained a theory from the Christian mysticism of St Bonaventure, relating to the seven levels of contemplation (this citation implies that he studied and had a knowledge of Christian mysticism!). On the other hand, we find in these writings a call to Christian dogma. When speaking on the three divine names Yhvh, Yh, Elohim, he said: “These are the three sacred names which mark the mystery of the Trinity and the Trinity of Unity. Just as Wisdom, Intelligence and Knowledge are three, yet one single and same thing, so the expressions, he was, is and shall be, are but varieties of the same essence, and the three Persons make but one Person, at the same time both single and triple. “If this is so, then God has the name one, indicating his substance as one, and which is still triple, but this trinity is one. This should not seem strange, for already these names should explain the idea to you... these names which are three and which all three designate a unique substance, identical to itself, as does the triple invocation of “Holy, Holy, Holy”... and, on the other hand, the concept of, the Trinity of Wisdom, Intelligence and Knowledge”. With his Messianism, we believe that Abulafia was not aiming at Jews alone, but all humanity. So this concession to the Trinity was an appeal to Christianity. It was on this very basis of Christian dogma that he claimed to convert Pope Martin IV to his prophetic mysticism of letters and numbers and won him over to his Messianic vocation. According to him, he was assuredly the new Christ; yet the Ancient One had not deceived man by presenting to them a God in three persons, and to explain this, as often as he spoke on the Sephiroth, Abulafia insisted on their Trinitarian division, their wholeness and their partial grouping.

II — METAPHYSICAL ELEMENTS A. — The Sephiroth The Hebrew word Sephira (plural, Sephiroth) signifies Number, Numeration. (In this one can see the influence of Platonic, Pythagorean and Alexandrian ideas on the Hebrew Kabbalah). In fact, since it comprises the generative process of the Five Persons, the Two Couples and the Two Aspects, the student of the Kabbalah comes to abandon them, and, decomposing this basic system into new elements, expressed in new terms, he is led to struggle with the study of the Sephiroth. The Sephiroth enable us to penetrate the domain of the Absolute. They allow us to some extent to adapt to the conditions of Relativity. Its system lays out the circumstances of intelligibility and existence of all non-absolute reality (as they exist in the plane of Natura Naturante). For Man, they mark the emanation through Divine Thought of the circumstances of potentiality for the Creation, Preservation and Perfection of all reality. 23

Thus they summarize Divine Thought, insofar as they are manifest by the bringing into existence of Living Entities, and as they are made known to these Living Entities. The Sephiroth express the adaptation of absolute nature to the conditions of Relativity, in step with Life, all things proper to the Sphere of Creation. * * * Universal Active Powers, “God-Names”, whose study explains in some measure the techniques and the operative processes by which the Absolute, concretized by the Son, or Creating Word, condescends to raise His Creature up towards Him. Studied across the rules and techniques of the two Kabbalahs (mystical and practical), they are the stages which will serve to mediate between the Absolute and the Relative. By making deductions from these transitive conditions, their constitution and studying the Divine Names (those imaged expressions of aspects of the Absolute regarding this relative being which is Man), the Kabbalah draws out the hierarchy of the four worlds, which we see from a distance. There Man finds the reflection of the Universal Whole, the multiple aspects of the Absolute. As a relative Being, the Man-Archetype cannot thus survive in the Natura Naturante, except insofar as he submits himself to the same conditions which in this Sphere constitute the principle force of existence, intelligibility, and possible actions. We conclude that only the perception and the conception of the “divine” permits Man to preserve Life in the bosom of this ever-changing kaleidoscope, and to become an immortal being. What we defined at the beginning of this work, under the name of “Divine Knowledge, is thus effectively the key to an eternal becoming. * * * We can see from this explanation that the Sephiroth are not divine persons, but simply emanations. Modern Kabbalists often incorrectly attribute the three first Sephiroth to the three Persons of the Trinity. They are only their image, their reflection. The Kabbalists of olden times were not mistaken this way. The Zohar tells us that the Sephiroth are “Forms, which God produced to direct those worlds unknown and invisible to Man, as they do the visible worlds...” (such are the Aeons of the Gnostics). Ezra-Azriel declared that they are: “the power of being of all that is, of all that falls beneath the concept of Pure Number”. According to Irira 14: “These are spiritual instruments which serve their Infinite Emanator, to create, form, build, and preserve”. 14

Abraham Cohen Irira (d. 1631) – ed.

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He adds: “Therefore they are not creatures in the true sense (as they serve to create), but the rays of the Infinite, which descend from the Supreme Source however, they are really separate”. Moses of Cordova tells us: “They adhere to the First Cause with regard to essence, but regarding operation (from the Latin opera: works), they are mediators who represent the First Cause, entirely inaccessible in Himself. They emanate immediately from Him, and by virtue of this same First Cause, produce and govern all the rest”. We conclude that the Sephiroth are demiurges, or the Pleroma of the Gnostics. * * * It is useful to give an analysis of the Sephirotic ideal following the ethics of Spinoza, such as it was presented by Dr. Jellincks, in his “Study on the Kabbalah” 15. * * * st

1 ) By the BEING who is the Cause and Governor of all things, we understand that it is Ain Soph, who is an infinite being, free, absolutely identical to himself, united within himself, without attributes, or will, or intention, or desire, or thought, or word, or action, these actions in fact depending one upon the other. * * * nd

2 ) By the Sephiroth, we understand Potentialities emanated by the Absolute, Ain Soph, and which are all necessarily entities limited by quantity which, like will, without changing nature, differentiates things which are “potentialities of multiform objects”. In fact, every effect has a cause, and everything which shows order and intention has a director. Moreover, everything has a limit; that which is limited is completed, and that which is completed is not absolutely identical. The First Cause of the world being invisible, it is thus limitless, infinite, and absolutely identical and corresponds to the definition of Ain-Soph.

15

Leipzig, 1852.

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Fig. 1. The Great Sephirotic Tree, after Kircher. Thus, the First Cause of the world being infinite, nothing can exist outside of it. It is immanent.

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* * * rd

3 ) The Sephiroth are necessary intermediaries between the Absolute Ain Soph and the contingent world. This world is limited and imperfect. Thus it does not proceed directly from Ain Soph. Now, Ain Soph must necessarily exercise its influence over it; if it were otherwise, this world would not exist! From this we see the necessity of an intermediary, the ensemble of the Sephiroth, which, in their intimate connection with Ain Soph, constitute a perfect Whole, but which however in their plurality, are of necessity imperfect. So, since all existing things are born through their action, and as they themselves differ from each other, there is thus a summit, a median state, and a lower level to the real world. * * * Why are there ten Sephiroth? According to Jellincks, Spinoza tells us the reason hereafter. All bodies having three dimensions, and each repeating the three others, by placing them in Space we obtain: (3 X 3) + 1 = 10. Now, as the Sephiroth are the possibilities of all that is, they must be equal to the number ten. However, this number, defining the plurality-type, also constitutes a return to unity, since it contains in itself all the number-principles from one to nine. * * * On the fact that the Sephiroth are emanations and not creations, one can say this: As it is understood that they proceed from Ain Soph, which is Absolute Perfection, they must so necessarily be perfect, each in its own domain. From this we may conclude that they are not known to be created, but that they are consubstantial with Ain Soph, and simply emanated. * * * The Sephiroth are not outside the unity of Ain Soph; each of them must receive from the one which precedes it and communicate with that which follows, that is to say that they are at the same time both receptive and communicative, a little like the flambeaux which one lights together, without which each loses something in the course of this communication of light. Yet how should we conceive their source? This is what we will now try to explain. 27

B. — Ain Soph = The negative existence of God I. – Ain Soph Aur Beyond all which is conceivable, beyond all that Man can imagine, conceive, envisage, beyond all that which is, for him, the GOOD, and beyond all that which is EVIL, there is yet “another thing”. This “some thing” is an “Impossibility”, even more abstract than the impossibilities accessible to our spirit. That is the negative existence of GOD, all that is GOD conceived by Man, that is ‘not’. * * * To define that which GOD is not is thus impossible for Man. But to admit that this must necessarily be, is to already propose the first term of a particular definition of this ABSOLUTE. Philosophers and mystics, expressed jointly in theodicity, tell us that anagogical reverie and reasoning have allowed them to set down some metaphysical certainties regarding God. In doing so they also set the boundaries of their domain. Beyond what they have collected in the nets of their researches is EMPTINESS, certainly, but a luminous emptiness since the ultimate image held by man makes him conceive GOD as a Brilliant Light, blinding, cold, immobile, silent, and odorless. This dazzling domain, opening beneath the feet of the mystic at the extreme limit of his journey, is what the Kabbalah calls the “Empty Limitless Light”, in Hebrew: “Ain Soph Aur”. This composite work derives from Ain: nothing, empty, from Soph: limits, boundaries, and from Aur: light 16. * * *

II. – Ain Soph If we admit (as was said in paragraph 1), that beyond what is conceivable and translatable, there is a domain from which we cannot draw a single «image», we are then led to recognize that this notion of “Light” is yet another one! Let us reject this, too, as being one of the last veils which masks the Eternity of God from our view, and call Nothingness to our aid! The Nothingness entrusts us with another secret: it makes us conceive of a “region” of the Unknown from which no “Light” emanates. Before us, clinging to 16

It is clear that this is about the use of metaphysical elements of expression. These terms have no connection with physical light or corresponding darkness... Ain Soph Aur equates with the idea of Spiritual Illumination and Ain Soph to that purely agnostic Total Ignorance. As for Ain, it is the annihilation of all thought, all conception, the loss of knowledge, in the esoteric sense of the word...

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the edge of the Abyss, is nothing more than an inky, terrifying “Night” of shadow and silence. These shadows we divine to be without limit, as was itself the preceding “Light”. This, beyond Ain Soph Aur, is the “Luminous Emptiness”, beyond this “Light” which was also a reality, this is called “Ain Soph”, the “Obscure and Limitless Emptiness”. * * * III. – Ain But this “Night”, so terrifying in itself, is still only a relative reality, since we are able to conceive of it! It ‘is’, in its own way, and if it makes us conceive «Absolute Nothingness», better than the preceding «Light», which was a still more tangible reality, it offers us another possibility of evasion... Let us then plunge into the obscure ocean, into this black and cold immensity. At the end of the Voyage, when, having been beyond the “Limitless Light”, and explored the “Shadows without limit”, we shall have rejected all notion or all image of the INEXPRESSIBLE itself, when we feel our spirit falter, when the vertigo of Folly has carried us towards the “Horror-Which-HasNo-Name”, towards the INCOMPREHENSIBLE, then we shall see appear the end of this demonic “examination”... We will greet with joy the liberating annihilation! For a new metaphysical “region” will open its “Gates” before us, and above these Gates we shall finally read the Word which will allow us to sleep, cradling our sorrows and calming our wildly beating heart, and this final Word is “Ain”, which means: NOTHING... We can therefore conclude that beyond what is possible, beyond that which is no more, in one case as in the other, is “NON-BEING”. * * * This “NOTHING”, this domain where God is concealed “that which will not be, that which is not and that which has never been”, is the immediate antipodes of another «region», where God manifests “that which has been, is, and shall be”. Between these two worlds is a “passage”, which we will revisit shortly, which is more accentuated. This passage is in a way a “Threshold” and it is called Kether, the “Eternal Crown”. From Kether is born another manifestation of God, in a different plane or world, and which descends, from “reflection” to “reflection”, to the material universe, to Man, to plants, and to minerals. If we go still further, descending even lower, towards the Nothingness of origin, towards the Abyss where all the ghosts of “what will be” begin to teem, dance and float, we continue to distance ourselves a little more from Kether. Nevertheless, slowly but surely, passing one after the other through the zones visited by Dante, we pass successively, after “the World”: “the Pit” (or Sheol), “Perdition” (or Abron), “Garbage” (or Tit Aisoun), the “Well of the Abyss” (or Bershoat), the “Shadow of Death” (or Irasthoum), the “Gates of Death”, (or Ozlomoth), the “Valley of Affliction” (or Gehenna), the “Valley of Sleep” (or Gehenom), and finally the “Valley of Forgetfulness” (Gehennain). Beyond this, Tradition tells us, comes the “Horror-Which-Has-No-Name”. ourselves, on the edge of the ultimate “Threshold”.

There we find 29

Night, cold, black as the Grave; and Emptiness too! This Emptiness manifests itself through the sensation of a fall without end. We are before Ain, the “NOTHING”... And we have ringed the periphery... * * * From this fantastic conception of Absolute Nothingness, required by Maimonides, Ibn Ezra drew his genesis of the Sephiroth. “The concept which reunites the whole of these negations is the concept of Ain Soph (without end, infinite). Ain Soph is limitless, one, in itself, without attribute, without will, without idea, without intent, without word, without action. This Being could not have willed Creation, since will implies an imperfection in the agent which wishes for the change”. But if this Being is infinite, all is within him, and nothing is outside of him. Now, if all is within him, it follows that the limited and defective universe is also within him, for if he hadn’t the power to realize the end, his power would be limited and would not be infinite. Here we should let the author speak: “The Infinite is a Being who is absolutely perfect and without lacuna. So, when one says that there is within him a limitless power, but not the power to limit himself, one introduces a lacuna into his fullness. On the other hand, if one says that this universe – which isn’t perfect – proceeds directly from him, one is declaring that his power is imperfect. Now, as one cannot attribute a lacuna to his perfection, it is necessary to admit that the Ain Soph has the power to limit himself, which power is itself limitless. “Once this limit issues from him in a progressive line, these are the Sephiroth which constitute both the power of perfection and the power of imperfection. Indeed, when they receive the superabundant fullness which results from his perfection, they have a perfect power, but when the flow does not come to them, they have an imperfect power. In consequence, they have the power to act both in a perfect and an imperfect manner. Perfection and imperfection blend a variety of things. “Moreover, to say that God directed his will upon the creative Act without the intermediary of the Sephiroth is to expose oneself to an objection: that volition implies imperfection in the subject who did the willing. To say on the contrary, that his will did not direct the creative Act, is to raise the objection that Creation was a work of chance. Now, all that is born out of change has no established order. Yet we can see that created things have a sure order: they are born, subsist and perish in compliance with this order. So, this order is the totality of the Sephiroth. The Sephiroth are the power of being of all that is, of all that falls under the idea of number. As the existence of created things is due to the intermediation of the Sephiroth, they are necessarily distinguished the one from the other, and within them are a superior, inferior and middle region, though all issue from a single fundamental root, Infinite, without which there are none”. Thus the existence of the Sephiroth has been demonstrated, but how can one then prove that they number ten, united into a single power? The Sephiroth, as we said, are the beginning and the principle of all which is limited. Now all that is limited is resolved into one substance and one place, for there is no substance without place and there is no place without the presence of a 30

substance. But the substance cannot be recognized by less than a triple power (superior, median, inferior). So, when this triple power extends in length, breadth and depth (height), this gives nine possibilities; then, as a substance cannot subsist without place, and vice versa, it follows that the number which envelops substance and place cannot be less than ten. This is why it is said (in the Sepher Yetzirah) “Ten and not nine, ten and not eleven, for if one may believe that the three become nine, the four become six, which cannot be, for one must consider that the place only exists as a result of substance, and the substance and place constitute but one single and same power”. The number ten is not incompatible with the unity of Ain Soph, since unity is the foundation of all numbers, and multiplicity issues from unity; just as a fire, a flame, a spark, a light, a color, though distinct, nevertheless have a single cause. And, as for the proof that the Sephiroth are emanated and not created? This comes from the perfection of God whose means of production of the universe is Emanation; that is to say, a means which can expend itself without losing anything. Otherwise where would the mark of divine perfection be, since the characteristic of created things is precisely to not be identical to each other and to diminish? Moreover, how else could the Sephiroth meet all the needs of the universe without measure and for ever? Yet if the Sephiroth are emanated, how can they be limited, measurable and concrete? Concrete and measurable reality is a consequence of their limit and they have a limit in order to mark on the one hand, as we have said, the power of God to limit Himself, and on the other hand because all things must be limited in order to be perceivable to the spirit; so the Sephiroth destined to be raised up to the glory of God are destined also to be known by Man. But if the Sephiroth are limited, their limits emanate from God in an unlimited manner. This is why it has been said (in the Sepher Yetzirah): “their measure is ten without end”. Does Emanation have a beginning or is it eternal? If it began one might object: how can there be novelty and change in the Absolute? And if one says that it is eternal, one is exposed to hear the objection: but then the Sephiroth are equal and identical to Ain Soph. One must admit that among the Sephiroth there is one, the first, which in fact existed in God for all eternity, but only “in power”. As for the objection of the identity of the Sephiroth among themselves, one can reply using the comparison of a flame with which one could have lit all sorts of luminaries, which though coming from the same principle, would be more or less brilliant. In the same way, the Sephiroth differ between themselves in their greater or lesser precedence. One would therefore be wrong to consider the Sephiroth as planes in which the divine essence necessary for the very existence and maintenance of Total Creation are nuanced and unequally apportioned. On the contrary, they are in a very direct sense of the word demiurges (divine workers) of the Intelligent Energetic Powers. * ** In their more-or-less great distancing from the essence of Ain Soph Aur, the negative-Divinity creates from them a hierarchy. We rediscover this Intelligent Decade deformed and bastardized in the Christian theogony in the nine choirs of Angels, namely: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Powers, Virtues, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. The last choir is 31

constituted, in the opinion of the majority of theologians, of the Glorified Souls. Common Judaic exotericism designates them under the name of Chayoth ha Kodesh (word for word: animals of sanctity). The Greek translate this as aggelos, messengers, intermediaries. These two latter expressions are correct enough: ‘messenger’ and ‘intermediary’ are near to demiurge or divine worker. Here are their names in Hebrew: Ophanim (“who unravel chaos”), Aralim (who maintain the form of subtle matter), Chashmalim (who assure the representation of the effigy of the body and material forms), Seraphim (who produce the elements), Malachim (who produce the mineral kingdom), Elohim (who produce the vegetable kingdom), Beni Elohim (who produce the animal kingdom), Cherubim (who presided at the creation of Man and who lead them towards Life Eternal), Ishim (who give Men intelligence and understanding of divine things). We do not commit the error of Manichean authors, who put a Somber Decade opposite the Divine Decade, comprising elements of opposing powers. Dualism is an error. Evil as a pure entity does not exist. It’s the more or less great absence of the Sovereign Good (the divine essence, we have seen, more or less withdrawn from something) which gives this illusion. But there is nevertheless an inverse aspect to the ten Sephiroth. We will return to this soon. The word ‘choir’ employed by Christian angelology is quite precise, signifying in Greek “an assembly of beings or things according to a predetermined order and driven according to precise laws”. This Sacred Decade is also found in Greek Mythology, with Apollo and the Nine Muses: Apollo (Glory), Clio (History), Urania (Metaphysics), Thalia (Comedy), Melpomene (Tragedy), Polymnia (Eloquence), Calliope (Epic Poetry), Erato (Love Poetry), Euterpe (Music), and Terpsichore (Dance). The esotericism of these definitions, their roots in the psyche of Man and the metaphysical links which result, are easy to discover. In India, Brahmanism gives us the same Divine Decade: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Maya, Om, Harangher-Berah, Persh, Pradjpati, Prakrat and Pran. The Celtic faith knows the “nine daughters of Hugh Kadarn”, which makes ten with this god. Pythagorism underlined more than any other philosophical movement the importance of the Decade and the Ten Pure Numbers composing it. * ** As the Sephiroth are emanations and intelligent planes, it is thus through them and in them that the eternal creations of God are realized. * ** In the diagram marked figure 1, all the Sephiroth are laid out according to a specific decreasing and proportional order. In truth, the picture does not show their differences, but rather their states; 32

for one cannot affirm from it that the Sephira Malkuth is farther away from Kether than that of Yesod. It is a simple distribution diagram. At the summit of the Tree we have three Names. Kether is the ultimate manifestation of the Son before re-entering into His own essence, and in this we already wait to meet the Total “Divinity”. These three names effectively only arrange the mystery of the Triple-God. Ain signifies Negation, Ain Soph is Limitless, and Ain Soph Aur, Limitless Light. Immediately after the last emanation Kether, in terms of observing the Divine, we leave the domain of reality, of the creation. Then, naturally come the opposites: Unreality and Unbeing. The Son, for us, is the last manifestation of the Divine. He is still perceptible to us in the form of Man-God; and we visualize Him just a little, since we are but fragments of Man-Archetype, made in His image. If we were reintegrated into His essence (which is impossible since we are only a creature), we would then be able to dimly perceive the Mother, the second Person of the Trinity. We would be unable to go further because it would be impossible for us to be incorporated into Her. This second person obstructs the perception of the first person from us. The Spirit of Man loses itself in Her, and cannot go beyond. She is thus for us the Limitless, as Ain Soph 17 is defined. On the subject of the Father, about whom we can learn nothing, we are reduced to an intellectual silence. To say nothing, is almost to repudiate Him. Hence the expression Ain: Negation 18. * ** Hebrew tradition defines the manifestations of the Ten Sephiroth with the assistance of the Ten Divine Names. These Ten Divine Names do not offer their names (as a means of action through the Human Word) as words of power. Man is not permitted to use the Energetic Powers in question for occult service. They do not define ten different gods. They simply express the Son, that is to say despite all, God, manifesting Himself in a manner conferred by one of these planes. So we must translate them into the vernacular in order to understand the name and the nature of the Name and the Sephira. These are modes of definition. But the Practical Kabbalah preserves them in their Hebraic 19 form. * ** Being Energetic, Creative, Intelligent Powers, the Sephiroth are naturally the realm towards which the evolutionary activity of Man must necessarily turn. For him they should be refuges, protectors, and agents of his salvation. 17

Black Virgins are an image of this “Divine Darkness”, called Ain Soph. Bythos:'Abyss of the Gnostic. 19 Here the Word SON does not signify the third Person of the Christian Trinity, but the BRIDEGROOM, the KOL, of Microprosopus, as opposed to the MOTHER, the QUEEN, the BRIDE, whose partner he is. We use the term because it is a term familiar to Western mystics. 18

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It is through them, from sphere to sphere, that he must elevate himself towards the Divine, as high as he can reach, when he finally succeeds in separating his own essence from the Gehenna which molded and mired him, when he wished to be the equal of God.

C. — The Cineroth or “Paths” The Kabbalist on arriving at Kether, the supreme Sephira, will then see God face to face, under the aspect of the Son, His divine model. He should then stop there. If he seeks to perceive and define, the second Person, the Mother, he will then enter into Aïn Soph, the Limitless. There he will stray as in a shadowy desert. The third aspect of the Triple-God, Ain, Negation, will fling him back again to the metaphysical antipodes of the divine. A second fall will then consume him, justifying the words of Scripture: «You cannot see My Face and live». Perhaps this ascension and this descent are eternal. Perhaps Aspiration and Expiration, this type of Divine “respiration”, are quite simply the true conditions of the Eternity of Creation, and, in consequence of the Immortality of Man-Archetype. * ** In each of the Sephiroth, the generative process encountered before now in the study of the “TriUne” God is reproduced. Thus a Sephira, properly speaking, is constituted from its Principle, symbolized by the Divine Name to which it corresponds. This Principle subdivides itself into two others, themselves generators of a third. In their turn, each of these three terms emanates two secondary factors, and another for the first original element. This already gives us the unity, the ternary, and the septenary. The decade is now reconstituted, born from the two, final schemas, as in the Divine. This leads us to twenty and a second element. The twenty-second is but the result of their activity on the phenomenal World. Thus : 1 3 7 10 1 — 22

(One-God) (Triple-God) (Seven Spirits) (Ten Sephiroth or demiurges) (Man-Archetype or the World) (Number of Creation according to the Kabbalah)

(The Number of Letters in the Hebrew alphabet and the Paths of the Symbolic Tree.) This explains how Letters are images of Creation itself, or rather factors.

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How does this Creation take place at the heart of the Natura Naturante? This is what the Sepherha-Zohar says. “Let us recall, in order to better place the problem, that the Son emanates the Substance of this Natura Naturante, the external reflection of the Trinity, from the Eternal Mother or Second Person. It is through the action of the Word on the Natura Naturante that Creation is concretized”. Here is the text of the Zohar. “One must not conclude that Matter was created with the Word or Creative Logos, since He has already been manifested before Creation. It certainly existed for all eternity, but It was only manifest for the first time when Matter was created. “Previously, the mysterious Divine Infinite manifested His Omnipotence and Goodness through the mysterious Thought, of the same essence as the Word, but silent and interior. The Word, manifested at the time of the creation of Matter, existed previously, in the form of the Thought: for if the Word is capable of expressing all that is material, it is then unable to manifest the immaterial. This is why Scripture says: “And Elohim said”. That is to say that God manifested Himself in the form of the Word. This Divine Seed, by which Creation was effected, came to germinate, and in transforming itself from Thought to Word, made Thought Reality. Thus, through a most impenetrable mystery, the Infinite, with the sound of the Word, struck the Emptiness, though sound waves could not be transmitted there. The sound of the Word was thus the materialization of the Emptiness. “But this materialization would have remained forever in a state of imponderability, if, at the instant of striking the Emptiness, the sound of the Word had not caused the spark to burst forth – that origin of Light, which is the supreme mystery, and whose essence is inconceivable. This is why the Word is called the Beginning, being the origin of all Creation” (See St. John, I). “The Word took the form of the Letters of the Alphabet, which emanated from the Supreme Point (Kether). “The Twenty-Two Letters of Scripture are included in the Ten Sephiroth and inversely (the Letters being the manifestation of the Creator Word, and the Sephiroth being situated in the domain of Creation), the Ten Sephiroth are included in the Letters...” * ** The 22 Letters are thus representative Signs of Sounds, these Sounds being the manifestation of the Creator Word. Yet before all, the Kabbalah claims to understand the Chayoth ha-Kodesh, or sacred beings. “The Chayoth, crowned with Letters, descending from the intelligible region of ‘On High’ into the inferior region”. At the moment of Creation, the constitutive elements were not refined. It is by combining themselves together – in superposing themselves – so forming particular materializations of Divine Ideas, that the Letters gave birth to all forms and all Images which exist in the Created World within the Natura Naturante.

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The Zohar concretizes them in the form of animated and intelligent beings. Thus, each word, composed of letters, is a living being, then an object, a form or an image. There are as many beings and things as there are possibilities of expression for the Creator Word. Each object has a particular creator, which animates it and leads it towards its end, and the small-footed demiurge is a “Chayoth crowned with letters”, to use the image in the Zohar. The Chayoth are thus divine ideas, working at the heart of each Sephira. To reiterate, these are the Æons of Gnosis. But above all, there are twenty-two principals, each of which correspond to one of the twentytwo Letters. The reason for this is that each Letter is the initial, the head, the conductor of a wordidea of the Creator Logos. This explains why the Kabbalah considers in the twenty-two primordial Chayoth twenty-two attributes of the Divine, also defined by Twenty-Two Divine Names, of which each Letter is the initial. We have seen before how these idea-forces are twenty-two in number (the sum of the creative elements, expressed in the Natura Naturante). These are the Names (see figures 3 & 4). * ** Now one can conceive of a traditional Kabbalistic technique, one of whose branches (Temurah), consists of transposing the letters of a word to create another out of them (what we commonly call an anagram) unites with verbal alchemy, since it effects a real transmutation of the Chayoth. Equally, as everything arithmetically reduces ineluctably to a number between one and ten, we see that all the words, that is to say all the Chayoth haKodesh, can be led through the addition of the numerical values of the Letters which compose them, to one of the ten primordial numbers, and thus attached to one or other of the Sephiroth. This justifies the second branch of Kabbalah, Gematria, which gives the names having the same 36

numerical total as being of the same family, so that, for example, the words yaïn (wine) and sod (mysteries), which in Hebrew both sum to 70. They therefore belong to the same Sephira. Finally, by taking the initial letter of several words forming an intelligible and complete sentence, one forms a new word, that is to say, a new Chayoth. An example is the sentence “Atah Gibor Leolam Adonai” (“Thou art a Strong God throughout Eternity”), whose initials gives the famous word AGLA. By this means, called Notarikon, Kabbalah discloses a new Chayoth. Being expressed normally and in ordinary forms, it is closer still to the Divine (that is, the Creator Word) and has a greater occult power 20. It is thus evident that such words serve to express pure, noble, elevated, and divine concepts (such as the attributes of God) and that they are animated and conducted by the Chayoth; and are more elevated and pure than those guides of common words. This theory of living words leads us to the tradition of incantations, mantras, the “words of power’ of all ancient magical systems. In this we once again encounter the occult power of Sound, graphically represented by the Letter, oriented by the means of the Word, dynamized by its placement in the heart of a geometric figure, the whole constituting a pentacle, a yantra... Just as the layout of the Sephiroth assumes it’s complete and original form within the Natura Naturante, so it is with the Total Creation – as this is repeated in each of the Sephiroth in order to allow it to be in itself – for these ten Divine powers are inseparable in reality. If we take any Sephira, at its head we will find a reflection of Kether, and at its end, a reflection of Malkuth. In parallel, deriving from the denary Sephirotic layout, regardless of the Sephira, there will always be twenty-two Chayoth, a repetition of the twenty-two original Chayoth 21. * ** With the Chayoth ha Kodesh, we have met what we call Entities, in our Western mode of expression. We are now going to study them as individual beings. * ** But first, let us reach some conclusions. A figure is not a Number. It is only a conventional graphic expression. It evokes an “additive succession” of Unity, whereas Number expresses this in an active manner in the higher domain. Number is, in sum, a dynamic metaphysical force, a true entity. A Figure is to a Number what the body of flesh of a citizen is to the Collective Soul of his race, to the national Egregor; a representation situated in time, fleeting and imperfect. 20

Whence come the Divine Names of “n” (12, 22, 42,72, etc.) letters, real Egregores of secondary Names which concretize into a single one. 21 Note that the 32 “Paths of Wisdom” of the Kabbalists (composed of the 10 Numbers (Sephiroth = Numeration) and the 22 Letters), are equivalent to the 32 primordial Æons of the Gnostic School of Valentinian, the 33rd Æon being the result of the a common action of the first 32, and emanated after them.

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Number cannot properly apply to a succession of contingent yet disparate objects. While a Figure can express plurality in difference (example: “all three”, when referring to a man, his horse and his dog), a Number can not properly express plurality in this manner (example: “all three”, can only refer to three men). Now, in Hebrew Sephiroth signifies numeration. The Sephiroth are thus Whole Numbers, and we have already been informed of the fact that they number ten, a scale of One must not conclude that Matter was created with the Word or Creative Logos, since He has already been manifested before Creation. It certainly existed for all eternity, but It was only manifest for the first time when Matter was created. In consequence of this, the Cineroth, or channels, are also called “Paths”, terms which indicate that they link the Sephiroth together and permit travel both to them and from them, revealing new and unexpected aspects. In fact, our Cineroth are thus: 1)

Metaphysical elements giving access to an understanding of Pure Numbers, and how to approach them. As such, they are “Paths”;

2)

Metaphysical elements linking Pure Numbers each to the other, and as such these are “Channels” in which (in the loosest sense) things may circulate.

So the Cineroth are both the keys of numerical understanding and the mutual supports of these elements. Thus it is the study and use of these Cineroth which constitutes a large part of the Kabbalah. Now, the Cineroth are identical to the Letters, with which they form but one unit. A Letter is a Cineroth just as a Number is a Sephira. The relationship established between a Letter and a Number equates to the relationship which exists between the Word and the Thought. “One must not conclude that Matter was created with the Word, since He has already been manifested before Creation. It certainly existed for all eternity, but It was only manifest for the first time when Matter was created. Before, the mysterious Infinite manifested His omnipotence and His Infinite Goodness with the aid of His own Thought, of the same essence as the Word, but silent 22. Then the Word struck the emptiness, and threw out light into it, the origin of all creation (I, 16 b). To do this, the Word took the form of the Letters of the alphabet. Everything was emanated from the supreme and initial Point». So Number equates to one of the ten essential Thoughts of the Absolute; and Letter equates to one of the twenty-two essential Manifestations of this Absolute. The numbers and the letters equate to the relative “Thoughts” and “Manifestations” of the Absolute, as combinations of the preceding ones, summed.

22

Not objective, but subjective.

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Figures 3 & 4

THE TWENTY-TWO PATHS N° of the Path

01 02 03 04 05

Course of the Path

From Kether to Chokmah From Kether to Binah From Kether to Tiphereth From Chokmah to Binah

Divine Name of the Path

Name of the Intelligence governing the Path

Corresponding Lunar Day st

Eheieh

Aiah

1 day

Bachour

Biah

2 day

Gadol

Giah

3 day

Dagoul

Diah

4 day

Hadom

Eiah

5 day

nd rd

th th

Vezio

Viah

6 day

07

From Chokmah to Tiphereth From Chokmah to Chesed From Binah à Tiphereth

Zakai

Ziah

7 day

08

From Binah to Geburah

Hasid

Hiah

8 day

09

From Chesed to Geburah

Tehod

Tiah

9 day

10

From Chesed to Tiphereth From Chesed to Netzach

Iah

Iiah

10 day

Kabir

Kiah

11 day

From Geburah to Tiphereth From Geburah to Hod

Limmud

Liah

12 day

Meborak

Miah

13 day

06

11 12 13

th th th th

th th th th

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14

th

Nora

Niah

14 day

Somek

Siah

15 day

Hazaz

Aiah

16 day

17

From Tiphereth to Yesod From Netzach to Hod

Phodeh

Piah

17 day

18

From Netzach to Yesod

Tzedek

Tsiah

18 day

19

Kadosh

Quiah

19 day

20

From Netzach to Malkuth From Hod to Yesod

Rodeh

Riah

20 day

21

From Hod to Malkuth

Shaddai

Shiah

21 day

22

From Yesod to Malkuth

Thechinah

Thiah

22 day

15 16

From Tiphereth to Netzach From Tiphereth to Hod

th th th th th th st

nd

D. — Texts in Action In the preceding chapter we saw that letters and words are alive. We will not resume the theme. Let us simply remember that the letter is the material form of sound, its body. The word is the vehicle, the corporeal envelope, the image of thought. We conclude that thought is the soul of the word, as much as it is its manifestation. From this theory is born the belief in texts endowed with a particular virtue. Just as a specific text can awaken various ideas and sensations in us, and set in motion the physical organs of our body which correspond with these sensations (eroticism, anger, envy, etc...), so other categories of texts can awaken particular spiritual centers in us, and set in motion energetic forces enclosed in us in a latent state 23. Now, Man is a microcosm. Individual Man is the reduced image of the Man-Archetype. The Archetype is the reduced image of the Word. We may conclude that there is a correspondence between these three worlds. Just as the string on a violin can vibrate sympathetically with a similar string, in like manner, if we set something in motion in the microcosm, we set something in motion in the macrocosm in direct correspondence with the amplitude of the force used. 1

To bring these inner Powers into action, religions and magicians have always used immutable texts which explain the looked-for result, and which, by reason of their immutability and common repetition, are “living” texts, composed of “living” words, with real egregores in their turn. The soul of the text is that which is expressed thereby, the general idea which emanates from it. The material body is the word which expresses it. The double, the plastic intermediary, is the human thought which accompanies the word. From this quick explanation one can see the grave disadvantage of the disturbing of common prayers and invocations, and of substituting more or less successful adaptations for them: the living 23

“Many images borrowed from very different orders of things can, through the convergence of their actions, lead the consciousness to the exact point where there is a certain intuition to grasp”, says Bergson in his “Introduction to Metaphysics”. This is the occult purpose of litanies, to create a chain of images...

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formulae are thereby abandoned for the adoption of others, which are devoid of all life. Initiates in all ages have therefore normally used the holy texts of their own country, or of the nation which has taken them in. In India, these are the Vedas, the texts of Manu; in Tibet, the Tantras; in China, the Tao; the Christian West uses Gnostic formulae, invocations taken from old Kabbalistic “Clavicles” or more simply from the Old and New Testament. Those most particularly used include: the verses from Genesis, the Psalms, the Gospel according to St. John, the Apocalypse, or texts taken from Catholic ceremonies (Office of the Holy Spirit, Penitential Psalms, etc...). This explanation has been necessary to give a good understanding of the rules which have served to develop the theurgic rituals which follow.

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III. —THE DIVINE “EXISTENCES” Positive Existence: The Sephiroth in the Five Worlds st

1 ) Aziluth We now return to our metaphysical “observatory” of a short time ago. Let us stand upon the “Threshold of Eternity” (Kether), and turn towards Ain Soph Aur, the “Empty and Limitless Light”. We are before the first “Door”, that which leads to NON-BEING. And from this “Door”, by means of one of the first sacred artifices which comprise the “Art of Kabbalah”, arises the BEING, “Manifesting-Manifest” GOD, for we are going to evoke GOD... * ** If we wish to see the Negative Light, infertile and cold, shed forth from Positive Light, fertile and warm, we must put ourselves, in our imagination, inside a cloud, white as snow, immobile, without warmth and without cold, without taste and without odor. We are “in the white”. This Solely-White, this pervasive “luminescence” which allows us to distinguish all that, is the proof that we have arrived at the limits of Ain Soph Aur 24. Then, alone, before us, in the middle of the shining whiteness of the cloud, ?web ring into existence a great triangle of golden light; we imagine it translucid, more dazzling than the most dazzling summer sun, living, warm, radiant. This Triangle appears alive and beating, a little like a marvelous “heart” belonging to another world. And suddenly, in the very center of this “image”, we feel the presence of the ABSOLUTE, its first manifestation, for the symbolic Triangle is alive, more alive than all ordinary beings. We have met a new concept, a new “state” of BEING, and that is AZILUTH. * ** What, then is Aziluth, this plane of Pure Divinity? It is in it that we shall meet, in the course of our first metaphysical deductions, the essential actions of the ABSOLUTE. Aziluth is still GOD Himself, as we have defined in the course of our ordinary theological conclusions; it is GOD-ALONE, in all His aspects certainly, but without contact with Creatures. Aziluth is the ensemble of the “Divine Persons”.

24

It is important for the Student to live these states of the soul in order to understand them...

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Now let us visualize our Golden Triangle, luminous and living. In our imagination, let us bring to life an “image”, adorned with detail and warm with perfect color, the Face of a majestic Elder with skin warm as bronze, with flowing hair and beard, whiter than snow, with blue eyes “like the very heavens in their brightness”. Let us maintain this “image” to the maximum, and contemplate it for a long time. We will see it detach itself from our imagination, to live a strange and independent life, a little as though we had only called to it. We are in the presence of He whom the Kabbalah names “the Ancient of Days”, the “White Head”, “the Ancient of Ancients”, “the Existence of Existences”, “the Admirable and Recondite Intelligence”, the “Original Glory”. Let us now name Him! In Hebrew, the sacred language of the Kabbalah, we breathe his mysterious Name: “EHEIEH”, “HE WHO IS”. * ** Ain Soph is, according to Isaac Luria, “the Omnipotent and Most High Infinite Light, which no human thought or speculation can attain, and whose existence is far above all intellect, which existed before all things which were produced, created, formed and made through emanation, in which time has never existed, and which never had a beginning, for It has always existed, and It lives and shall live forever without beginning or end”. Aziluth, we now see, is GOD who veils Himself and clothes Himself in an anthropomorphic “form”, the better to unveil Himself... * ** This first “manifestation” is KETHER, in Hebrew: “The Eternal Crown”. KETHER is the source of ALL. All that we are about to describe has issued from KETHER: and KETHER itself is at the same time the inferior aspect of the unmanifest INFINITE, and the higher aspect of the manifest INFINITE. Through KETHER, Being passes back and forth, going from GOD to Matter and form Matter to GOD, from the “possible” to the “real-momentary”, and from the “real-momentary” to the “definitive-eternal”. * ** But we already know – and this by theological reasoning – that God is “three in one”. It remains to us to seek the two other “images”. Then, we will have discovered what the Sepher ha-Zohar calls the MACROPROSOPUS, or “Greater Countenance” (the assemblage of the Ancient-of-Days), constituted by the Ancient-of-Ancients and the “Balance”, or Couple (an allusion to the pair which form the two scales of a balance and which seek the perfect equilibrium belonging to them). This Couple is called the “Higher Pair”, composed of the FATHER and the MOTHER, both issued forth from the ANCIENT. 43

* ** Now we return to our contemplation, focusing on the divine Face of the “Original Glory”. And now it is that, gently, the Holy Face of the majestic Elder becomes blurred and fades, and the luminous Golden Triangle slowly reappears. But this is only for a moment, for, blurring once more, we see a new “image” appear. We leave this to resolve, and now we are in presence of the Face of a younger Being, with a high forehead, brown or light Beard, dark Hair spread across the Head, and soft, grave eyes. It is the Elder of a few moments before, rejuvenated, or His SON! And, effectively, it is the “Son of the Father”... His Name is “the Second Glory”, the “Supreme Father”, the “Creator Power”. These qualifiers define Him well. * ** This second “manifestation”, issuing from the first, is CHOKMAH, or “Divine Wisdom”. We welcome Him with the Divine Name which is His own: “IOH IEOHOUAH”, which is the Hebrew, word for word, for: “You the Being of Beings”, or “God of gods”. * ** If we continue to contemplate the Face of the “Second Glory”, we will then see it dilute, melt, and disappear: and from the luminous, gilded mist of the great evocatory “Triangle”, we see that a new “image” seems to be appearing. Slowly, taking form, color and life, we see the wonderful face of a woman appear. Grave and gentle, serious and benevolent, the Face of the “Great Mother”, dear to all ancient peoples, She shines forth in Her turn. The face is that of a mature woman, a “matron”, still beautiful and young despite everything. In her we see the Virgin Maiden that she was, the Woman that she is, and the Mother that she will be, this last work having the sense of grandmother, welcome, protection. And we will not be in perfect accord with this mysterious influence which appears and glows, if we do not feel within us a curious mixture of filial love, platonic love, and intelligent adoration. Let us visualize her as a woman of flesh in whom we rediscover, at different times, the companion of our adolescence, the idealized lover, the collaborator in our works and researches, and the mother, confidant throughout our lives 25. As we already proposed in our original meditations (simples reveries ventured in the realm of Metaphysics), the “Mother” issues from the “Father”, just as the “Father” issues from the “Ancient of Ancients”. Let us name her, for she is BINAH, or “Divine Intelligence”, and she is God in his third and last major aspect, which the Kabbalah calls so well “YEHOVAH ELOHIM”, or “SHE-the-Gods”, or again “The Being of Beings”, but in the feminine, the terms being the same as the masculine CHOKMAH. It is also called the “Sanctifying Intelligence”, the “Foundation of Wisdom”, the “Creator of 25

It is important that these Figures appear illuminated from within.

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Faith”, the “Dark Sterile Mother”, and at the same time the “Brilliant Fertile Mother”. Finally, it is the “Throne of Wisdom” of the Litanies of the Virgin, and in Hebrew “Mara”, the “Great Mother”... * ** These Three Divine “Persons” are thus Veils, Masks, with which the ABSOLUTE clothes Himself before the creature so that he can visualize Him. Metaphysically this is a “parallel”, an “example”, which the master cites to better make the pupil understand. But one would be grossly wrong to imagine three different beings, each with their own personality. It is only in Christian Theodicity that the “Father” is distinct from the “Son”, and the “Holy Spirit”, while proceeding from their mutual Love, is nevertheless separated from the two initial aspects of the One-God. In the Kabbalah, this division of the ABSOLUTE does not exist, and he who holds to such commits a fundamental error. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord Thy God is One,” we are told by the Scriptures. This is true, for GOD being all is much more than “three” images... He reveals Himself by as many masks and veils as there are Emanations. This is why, to better understand this mystery, the Kabbalah also calls Him the “Mystery of Mysteries”. We will end with a final visualization exercise. * ** Now let us visualize BINAH, the “Great Mother”. Merge this image into that which we created previously, that of CHOKMAH, the “Father of All”. When we have mastered these two “thoughtforms”, so that they appear to our simple mental call, let us try to visualize both of them at the same time, side by side first of all, then sideways. We will then see their profile, the “Father” being on the right and the “Mother” on the left. Then, slowly, let them dissolve. At the same time that these two image disappear, see that of the “Ancient of Ancients” appear... And behind this image, once more, we see the Great Golden Triangle of Light: and when this has, in its turn, disappeared, the Great White, Luminous Cloud. We are before AIN SOPH AUR once more. * ** The “Sepher ha-Zohar”, and more particularly the “Sepher Dzenioutha”, explain that before the Beginning of All Things, “the Face did not regard the Face”. It is from this opposition that the six “Kings of Edom” were born. These Metaphysical Powers could not support the presence of the “First Glory” (Kether) and became the “Broken Vessels”. This allowed Martinez de Pasqually, in his Treatise on “the Reintegration of Beings”, to tell us that in the Beginning, “God emanated spiritual Beings who prevaricated”. Then comes the equilibrium of the two scales of the Balance. The Couple composed of the “Father” and “Mother” are in harmony in their actions, and so are born Emanations which are more harmoniously conceived. These are the “Kings who come to meet with the other Kings” of the 45

Sepher. In fact the Kabbalah, with its lively, oriental images, has named the ensemble of the three first divine “Persons” the Macroprosopus, or “Greater Countenance”. From this Countenance, it creates a symbolic “Beard”, which is synonymous with the “Kings” standing in opposition to the Kings of Edom, “Members” of the Microprosopus (or “Lesser Countenance”, situated below the former), and which is sometimes called the “Inferior Couple” (as opposed to the “Superior Couple”: ChokmahBinah), when it envisages them conjointly with a seventh emanation. This Microprosopus, also bears the names of “King” and “Bridegroom”, when it is conjointly evoked with this seventh emanation, about which we will meet shortly. * **

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Fig. 5.

Now, just as the “Beard” is born at the base of the Countenance, from the very flesh, so the six inferior Emanations giving rise to the six Kings of Edom are born from the three original “Persons”. As the hair of a beard grows, each constitutive cell being born from the previous one, so our six secondary Emanations are born two-by-two from the three superior Emanations. 47

Here we note that the Kabbalah calls these Emanations, these symbolic Personae of ONE-GOD, spheres, in Hebrew “Sephiroth”, in the singular “Sephira”. Already we can easily see that, since these six secondary Sephiroth are born from the three first, they are inferior to them, subject to them, as a son born to a father is subject to him, as a branch growing from a tree is of lesser importance than it. * ** In Table 5 we can see the Sephirotic hierarchy, their names, the symbolic “groups” they constitute, the relationships which unite them to each other, etc. Let us return to the mental “evocations” already used. Visualize the “Elder” as before, with his hair and beard as white as dazzling snow, his blue eyes “like the very heavens in their brightness”. Then see raying out around him a resplendent golden “glory”, standing out against the silver cloud of our earlier exercises. Immediately, for these “images” are real, and have been vitalized by centuries of ritual exercises, we truly see in silhouette the shoulders of the “Ancient of Ancients”, his chest, the whole upper part of his profile, covered in a purple tunic. We must now come to a perfect visualization, where the blue of the eyes and the silver of the head and beard stand out perfectly against the purple of the Robe. Then we will “conceive” that the six new Sephiroth are not located in the symbolic “Beard” alone, but indeed in the whole body, and if we still do not discern the Feet, this is because we have not yet studied the final Emanation. On the forehead of the “Ancient of Ancients”, we will immediately see the shining forth of KETHER, the “Eternal Crown”. We see that KETHER, manifesting itself towards us, in Aziluth, is the Forehead, but that KETHER manifests itself towards Ain Soph Aur, being born there; it is the “Glory” which radiates around the Forehead! And so KETHER is truly the “Threshold of Eternity”. Since we know that BINAH and CHOKMAH are born out of KETHER, we can but suspect that they are behind the “Forehead”, and effectively, they equate to two brains, and are manifested by the two “Eyes”, doors open to the real, the concrete, organs which serve to bring Understanding and Wisdom from outside the body . * ** On the “Shoulders” of the “Ancient of Ancients”, we discern that there are two other Sephiroth, whose action is prolonged in the symbolic “Arms”. We will now name them (see the Table): they are GEBURAH, “Divine Justice” or “Strength”, and CHESED, divine “Mercy”. CHESED is sometimes called GEDULAH, in Hebrew “Love, Grace, Majesty”. She is the “Receptive Intelligence”, or moreover the “Cohesive Intelligence”. 48

GEBURAH is sometimes called DIN, in Hebrew “Justice”, or PACHAD, “Fear”. It is the “Radical Intelligence”. From these two Sephiroth come two mysterious “Powers”, two special magnetisms. These are the “right” and the “left” of GOD of which the Scriptures speak. A third magnetism emanates from the chest, the neutral, equilibrium. In effect, the generative symbolism which presided at the personification of CHOKMAH and BINAH is renewing itself. KETHER has been redoubled in these two new Emanations. Both are reflected in the two following, CHOKMAH and BINAH, for CHESED (like CHOKMAH) has as a symbol a “King crowned, seated on his throne, meting out justice”. GEBURAH has in opposition: a “King armed, standing upon his chariot”. The King of peace and the King of war. * ** In their turn, CHESED and GEBURAH constitute a new Triangle, the reverse of KETHER’s triangle, and they fuse together, thus giving birth to: TIPHERETH, or “Divine Beauty”, also named the “Mediating Intelligence”. It has a “Majestic King” as a metaphysical “image”. Later on, those of “A Young Child”, or of a “Sacrificed God” have been added through various influences. It is further called Zair Anpin: the “Lesser Countenance”, as opposed to KETHER, exactly situated above it, but who is the “Greater Countenance”, since all the other Sephiroth emanate from it. It is also Melekh: “the King”, Ben: the “Son”, and Adam, “Man”. We will call it: “Eloah”, being the feminine singular of Elohim. * ** The same emanating process continues to work. Doubling out from the last term envisaged (Tiphereth) into two new Sephiroth: NETZACH, “Glory” or “Eternity”, and HOD, “Victory”; then, in parallel, doubling from the superior Sephiroth BINAH and HOCHMAH, which give on the one side GEBURAH-HOD, and on the other CHESEDNETZACH. Then, the from the fusion of NETZACH-HOD, a new term is generated: YESOD, “Foundation”, and thus doubling KETHER, which generates TIPHERETH and YESOD, the metaphysical “Sun” and “Moon”. These Sephiroth are given various names and possess particular “images”: – NETZACH, the “Occult Intelligence” (the magical arts, forbidden sciences), visualized as a “Beautiful, naked young Woman”. – HOD, the “Absolute and Perfect Intelligence” (the classic arts and sciences); as its “image”, one should see it under the aspect of hermaphrodite Mercury, the Androgyne. 49

– YESOD, the “Pure Intelligence” (as Intuition). Image: “A magnificent nude athlete”. But all these are only reflections of the central Sephira: TIPHERETH, the “Majestic King”. They all constitute the “Microprosopus”, the “Lesser Countenance”, the “Inferior Couple”. We will use an admittedly heterodox example, to better explain this concept of the group of six Sephiroth in question: KETHER-CHOKMAH-BINAH form the “Greater Countenance”, the FATHER, and TIPHERETH, manifesting in CHESED-GEBURAH, NETZACH-HOD and YESOD, is the SON, the “Lesser Countenance”. If we want to visualize this new aspect of the TRINITY, let us take up once more the contemplation we began on the “Threshold” that is KETHER. Visualize the dazzling silver Cloud, then the Golden Triangle of Light, the largest possible, born at its center. Then, now we are sufficiently focused, the “Face” of the “Ancient of Days” itself is born; the Majestic Elder, with hair and beard of silver, with clear skin, blue eyes, “like the very heavens in their brightness”, shoulders and chest covered by a purple Tunic, enlightening image of the interior, shining from within. From the chest of the “First Glory” is born the “Second Glory”, the SON (already manifested by CHOKMAH). Its Face has already been described above. It is situated immediately below that of the Ancient of Days, and his hair partly masks the white Beard. His tunic is white, a dazzling white like silver in the sun, and, with the purple background of that of the Ancient of Ancients, the contrast is even more accentuated. Thus the Lesser Countenance succeeds the Greater Countenance, the Microprosopus born of the very “Beard” of the Ancient of Days. And that is why the color of his tunic is the same as the Beard. Are we to conclude then that the esotericism of the Sefer ha-Zohar affirms that we should never take the metaphors of its writers to the letter?... That we should strip them of all anthropomorphism? And yet, it is only by means of a new anthropomorphism that we can achieve this stripping down! * ** The same Kabbalistic teachings tell us that a final Sephira exists, separated from all the others. This is MALKUTH, the “Kingdom”. Make a careful note of this word, for it has a particular importance... MALKUTH, like all the other Sephiroth, possesses a specific Hebrew expression to define it, ADONAI MELEKH, the “Lord and King”. It is also called the “Resplendent Intelligence”, the “Threshold” (and by this is has a clear analogy with KETHER, since it is through this that one leaves the material “World” to remount towards the Divine); the “Threshold of Death” (this is a second analogy with KETHER, since, like the latter, one passes this “threshold” – leaving the Divine – to descend towards the shadows and the kenome. For MALKUTH is also the “gate” which leads from the material “World” towards the QLIPPOTH, the “external shadows”...). Then it is called the “Threshold of the Shadow of Death”, the “Threshold of Tears”, the “Threshold of Justice”, the “Threshold of Prayer”, the “Threshold of the Daughter of Powers”, the “Threshold of 50

the Garden of Eden”, for it thus evokes realms where, by taking one direction or the other, one can successively attain the Path of Light or the Path of Shadows. Like KETHER, MALKUTH is a place of passage, a door, a porch, through which one passes... It is also and above all that which has a “Young Woman, crowned and seated upon a throne” as an “image”. It is the INFERIOR MOTHER, in relation to BINAH, it is “Malkah”, the “Queen”, in relation to TIPHERETH, (the “King”). She is “Kalah”, the Bride of the former, the Black VIRGIN of theogony, and also the “WIDOW” of Freemasonry, since she is partly separated from her SPOUSE. How? By the very function which is attributed to her of being a “Door”. Of necessity opened upon the “dark side” (the QLIPPOTH, or infernal Sephiroth), this double nature separates her from complete union with the BRIDEGROOM. It is for this reason that the “Divine Name” given to her by the Kabbalah: ADONAI MELEKH (“Lord and King”) is doubled with another Divine Name: ADONAI HA-ARETZ, “Lord of the Earth”. * ** We know that she is the Queen, the BRIDE, and that she forms a distinct section in the group of ten Sephirotic Emanations. This is who she is - the Spouse of the Microprosopus, the Daughter of the Macroprosopus, the Widow of the Sacrificed God of Tiphereth. Let us take up our habitual visualization once more. Contemplate for a long time the FATHER, clothed in purple. At his chest is the Face of the SON, clothed in dazzling white. Here at the chest of the latter is born the Face of the Spouse, the Mother, the Daughter. The head of the young woman has dark, ebony hair, with colored skin, her shoulders and chest veiled in black. Let us contemplate these Three Holy Faces, staged the one above the other. On this triple foundation of black, white and purple we have the three stages of the SEPHIROTIC TREE, in the three following groups: Fig. 6 AIN AIN SOPH AIN SOPH AUR...

the FATHER

the SON

The HOLY SPIRIT (Paraclete)

KETHER BINAH CHOKMAH GEBURAH CHESED TIPHERETH HOD NETZACH YESOD MALKUTH

The “MACROPROSOPUS”, the “Group of the Ancient of Days”, the “Superior Couple” The “MICROPROSOPUS”, the “King”, the “Bridegroom”, the “Spouse” of the “Inferior Couple”, the “Sacrificed God”.

The “SPOUSE OF THE MICROPROSOPUS”, the “Bride”, the “Queen”, the “Widow” of the “Sacrificed God”, the “Threshold”

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To the QLIPPOTH ↓

* ** Scripture tells us that “Woman” was drawn forth from the flanks, or rather from the “side” of “Man”, during his sleep. Later on the Christian Evangelist teach us that Man and Woman are one and the same flesh. The first Woman is named Heva, “Alive” and the Hebrew roots which constitute this word preside equally over the words “dream, sleep”. From this comes the esotericism of the Adamic myth. Thus MALKUTH is flesh of TIPHERETH, the Queen is flesh of the King!... Beside the MICROPROSOPUS is the SPOUSE. MALKUTH is thus both one of the Sephiroth, the last of the “Tree of Life”, and at the same time she constitutes a second Tree of Life, as great as the first, its reflection, its shadow or double, if you will. So the Woman is beside her Husband, but there she is linked to him at the back 26. In this secondary Tree are reflected all of the Sephiroth of the original Tree. Thus, MALKUTH is the “Shekinah”, or “Presence of God”, for all the Attributes of the original Tree are found represented in a single Sephira. If we examine the word “represented”, we find within it the word “present”. Thus is explained the word “ELOHIM”, signifying “She-the-Gods”, a feminine singular word, associated with a masculine plural! ADONAI MELEK (“Lord and King”) is also ADONAI HAARETZ (“Lord of the Earth”)! Material Creation issues from MALKUTH, and it is the divine “Person” who rules there. The World is the Work of the “Queen”, the “Mother”, the “Widow”, and that is why Goddesses (Isis, Demeter, Cybele, etc...), preside over the Earth, not only the planet earth, but the Earth-Universe. This also allows us to evoke a mystery belonging to a more recent religion, Christianity. The mystic union of CHRIST and his CHURCH is nothing more than the “Newly-Weds” the “King” and the “Queen”, the union of MALKUTH and TIPHERETH (TIPHERETH being considered as the synthesis of a metaphysical “body” of which it is the “head” and GEBURAH-CHESED, NETZACH-HOD, and YESOD, the “members”), the union of the HUSBAND and the WIFE.

26

Goetic rites tell us of the necessity, when there are sorcerers present, at the Shabbat,that they dance back to back.

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* ** Regarding the idea of “presence”, which constitutes the great mystery of the “SHEKINAH”, we are going to give a simple example. It constitutes the best introduction to the study of the second emanated “world”: that of BRIAH, which follows that of AZILUTH. Let us imagine a terrestrial realm, very ordinary. The people, going about their business, are a material creation, “Men”. Representing the Supreme Power, the “Royalty”, and set above the people are the administrative authority: policemen, functionaries, etc... These are the Angels, Dominations, etc..., of classical theodicity. Then comes the true “person” of the King. One might conclude that there where he is situated, is the monarchy, he is its living manifestation, active, and above all he personifies it. But “Monarchy” as a political principle is everywhere, and is everywhere expressed through the Sovereign, his Functionaries, the administrative Attachés, etc... Just as the Monarchy-principle is thus invisible, but everywhere present or represented, so DIVINITY is itself expressed in Attributes, Emanations, Creatures ; but it is itself personified and localized by a series of essential “mysteries”, of which the “Shekinah” constitutes the greatest of all. nd

2 ) Briah The “world” of AZILUTH expresses PURE-DIVINITY revealing itself through the Divine “Persons”. In these “Persons” are two distinct groups. One expresses the three highest attributes of God. Their “images”, to better underline their spirituality, have no body but only heads or “faces”. This is the MACROPROSOPUS. The other, to demonstrate the lower side of these secondary “persons”, has complete silhouettes as an image, with limbs, trunk, etc... This is the MICROPROSOPUS. Thus, the spiritualistic experience which claims that “spirits” which manifest in the form of a complete human being indicate the recently disincarnated, who are still very close to the physical plane. On the other hand, those in whom one can only distinguish the head or bust, express different degrees in spirituality and distancing from the material plane. From this we get the symbolic wings of angels, or the “winged heads” of allegorical Cherubim. * **

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Fig. 7

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With the “world” of BRIAH, we penetrate into a definitely inferior domain compared to that of AZILUTH. There, in Aziluth, each Sephirotic “plane”, each Sephira itself, is only “personified” by a divine “person”, or ELOI (“eloi” is the masculine singular of “elohim” and “eloah” is its feminine singular). It is on the contrary, in Briah, a SEPHIROTIC SPIRIT, or ARCHANGEL, which manifests, as a creature closer to us, the Divine-Force of the aforesaid Sephira. Thus, by adding EL or YAH (masculine and feminine endings signifying god or goddess), the Hebrew language has the equivalent of the same Greek endings teos and tea of divine significance, or those of the same Latin endings deus and dea. It suffices to take the name of each Sephira, and by adding these terms, one gets: KETHERIEL BINAEL CHOKMAEL GEBURAEL GEDULAEL TIPHERIEL HODAEL NETZAEL YESODIEL MALKUTHAEL In the same manner, expressing their different divine attributes, for each Sephiroth we obtain: METRATON TZAPHKIEL IOPHIEL KAMAEL TZADKIEL RAPHAEL MIKAEL HANIEL GABRIEL SANDALPHON (SANDALPHON being replaced by the name EMMANUEL in certain tables). * ** One can conceive the principle of the Archangel as being the same as that of a “Collective Spirit”, spirit of “collectivities” that we will shortly envisage as the “world” of YETZIRAH. In a family, each member has his or her own personality, but, however numerous they may be, the general ambience created from the in-common things by which all these people find themselves linked to each other: interest, heredity, common residence, origins, etc., constitute what one rightly names “family spirit”, this general ambience is a little like the Archangel-Principle of a “metaphysical family”. Similarly, each cell in our body has its own life, end, usefulness, qualities and defects, physiological or psychological, and each has its own soul, a microcosm, a reduction of the great soul which is ours. This latter, our total-soul, constitutes the “Archangel-Principle” of all our little 1

cell-souls . 55

* ** rd

3 ) Yetzirah By virtue of the previous, we now find a fourth Sephirotic Tree, that of Yetzirah. There we find more Divine Names expressing divine “Persons”, more Archangels, representing these “Persons”. But these “collectivities”, constitutive cells of the Archangel, constitutive microcosms of this macrocosm which is the living Egregor in BRIAH. Here they are, disposed as previously according to the Sephirotic diagram: CHAIOTH HA-KODESH OPHANIM ARALIM SERAPHIM CHASHMALIM MALACHIM BENI ELOHIM ELOHIM CHERUBIM ISHIM

2

All the Hebrew names can be expressed in English. Thus the Chaioth ha-Kodesh are the “Holy Animals” of Ezekiel, the Ophanim: the “Flashing Wheels”; the Aralim are the “Powerful Ones”; the Chashmalim are the “Sparkling Dominators”, etc.... All these Races of Spiritual Beings are totally different from the Human Race. They are as foreign to us as an insect or a cetacean is to a plant or a chemical composition. There is as much distance between a chemical formula expressed in the sides of a matras and a musical staff, between a musical composition and a painting or a statue, as between an Aralim and an Ishim, or an Ishim and an Ophanim. We place these “Beings” and like to compare them using mundane examples, rather like claiming to place something “between Marseilles and Pentecost”, according to the apt popular (French) expression... * ** Now we come to MALKUTH, the “Kingdom”, the SPOUSE, the “CHURCH” of the Christians, or the “QUEEN” of the Kabbalists... We know that it reflects a complete SEPHIROTIC TREE within it, and that within it we are going to be able to discover a three-dimensional landscape, familiar to our human comprehension, to express ourselves in a manner other than using words warped and empty of their usual sense. 1 2

Totemism and Heraldry belong to this spiritual theory.

Remember that the Ishim being glorified human souls, do not figure on the Great Tree of the book-plate, as Malkuth is absent on this diagram. 56

To understand the total inner life of the aforesaid KINGDOM is to understand the complete KABBALAH, and that is to grasp the mechanism of THEURGY, and possess the key of the Words of Power. And this leads to the study of the world of ASSIAH. th

4 ) Assiah Let us now leave the “spiritual regions” which we have frequented up till now! Let us descend, and place ourselves in MALKUTH, in the very heart of the “KINGDOM”. We are in the Universe, a Universe which we understand to be dual, half-spiritual and half-material. Now, MALKUTH reflects the superior Sephiroth in itself (to which we have no direct access). This is why MALKUTH is cleanly separated from the MICROPROSOPUS. But it also reflects these Powers in the planes which are immediately subjacent. The role held by the SEPHIROTHIC SPIRITS, or Archangels, and by the SEPHIROTH themselves, we will return to later. It contains: 1) the (Ten) Orders of Fortunate Human Souls, or Ishim, for the Sephirotic Choirs, 2) the Symbolic Patriarchs, the Evangelists, for the Archangels, Principals of the Sephirotic Orders, for the very Names of these persons, who are claimed to be human beings who are now reintegrated, are “Names of Power”, uniquely useful in ASSIAH, as was discreetly said by Martinez de Pasqually; 3) the Sidereal “Spheres” (planetary, zodiacal) for the Sephiroth themselves. There, too their Hebrew Names are “Words of Power”, as powerful from a magical point of view as those of the Sephiroth. * **

Let us leave descriptions, and carefully study the Tables of Correspondences below. They will reveal more than any commentary... th

5 ) Tables of Correspondences GENERAL TABLE OF CORRESPONDENCES OF THE SEPHIROTH

“Names of Power” of Sephirothic Attributes in the 4 Worlds Sephiroth KETHER.......

Aziluth

Eheieh Yod Yoh

Briah

Ketheriel Metatron Serpanim

Yetzirah

Chaïoth haKodesh

Assiah Reshit Hagalgelim

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CHOKMAH..

BINAH .........

CHESED....

GEBURAH...

TIPHERETH. NETZACH.... HOD ............. YESOD.........

MALKUTH..

Yod Yehovah Yah El Yaoh Yehovah Elohim Yeahou Shaddai El Yehovah Agla Elohim Gibor Elohim Elion Yeshuah Eloah va-Daath El MIBOR Yehovah Sabaoth Ararita Elohim Sabaoth Yehovah Shaddai Yehovah Tzabaoth Adonai Melekh Elohim Tzabaoth

Chokmaël Jophiël Ratziël

Ophanim

Mazloth

Binaël Tzaphkiël

Aralim

Shabbathai

Chesediël Tzadkiël

Chashmalim

Tzedek

Geburaël Kamaël Samaël

Seraphim

Madim

Tipheriël Raphaël

Malachim

Shemesh

Netzaël Haniel

Elohim

Nogah

Hodiël Mikaël

Beni Elohim

Kokab

Yesodiël Cabirël

Cherubim

Levanah

Emmanuël Melkoutaël Messiah Sandalphon

Ishim

Olam Yesodoth

GENERAL TABLE OF CORRESPONDENCES OF THE SEPHIROTH Meanings KETHER CHOKMAH BINAH CHESED GEBURAH

Crown Wisdom Understanding Mercy Strength

Chayoth ha-Kodesh Ophanim Aralim Chasmalim Seraphim

Holy Beings Wheels Powers Blazing Dominators Powers of the Fire-Principle.

TIPHERETH NETZACH HOD YESOD MALKUTH

Beauty Glory, Eternity Victory Foundation Kingdom

Malachim Elohim Beni Elohim Cherubim Ishim

Kings of Heaven Gods of Heaven Sons of the Gods Conductors The Fortunate, Glorified Souls

Ketheriel

Crown of God Metatron Sarpanim Wisdom of God

Prince of Countenances

Chokmaël

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Binaël Understanding of God Chesediël Mercy of God Geburaël Justice of God Tipheriël Beauty of God Netzaël Glory of God Hodiël Victory of God Yesodiël Foundation of God Malkuth Kingdom of God Messiah Emmanuel Sandalphon Rashith ha-Gilgalim Mazloth Shabbathai Tzedek Madim Shemesh Nogah Kokab Levanah Olam Yesodoth

Jophiël Courier of God Tzaphkiel Vision of God Tzadkiel Justice of God Kamaël Strength of God Raphaël Remedy of God Haniël Grace of God Mikaël Reflection of God Gabriel Work of God Savior Sent by God Praise of God Sphere of the Primum Mobile Sphere of the Zodiac Sphere of Saturn Sphere of Jupiter Sphere of Mars Sphere of Sol Sphere of Venus Sphere of Mercury Sphere of the Moon Sphere of the Earth

MEANINGS OF THE “DIVINE NAMES” _________ EHEIEH......................................“You Who Were, Are and Shall Be”. YOD..........................................“You”. YOH..........................................“You Alone” or “Living God”. YOD YEHOVAH............................“You, Being of Beings”. YAH..........................................“Essence of You Yourself”. EL............................................“God”. YEHOVAH ELOHIM........................“God of Gods, Being of Beings”. YESHU SHADDAI...........................“All-Powerful Savior”. EL............................................“God, my God”. YEHOVAH...................................“Being of Beings”. ELOHIM GIBOR.............................“Strong God”. ELOHIM ELION.............................“Most High God”. YESHUAH...................................“Savior of Beings”. ELOAH VA-DAATH........................“God of my Wisdom”. EL GIBOR....................................“Strong God, my God”. YEHOVAH TZABAOTH....................“Lord God of Hosts”. ARARITA....................................“Immutable, Indivisible God”. ELOHIM TZABAOTH.......................“God of Gods of Heaven”. 59

SHADDAI....................................“Almighty”. ADONAI MELEKH..........................“Lord and King”. * ** ROLE AND ACTION OF THE SEPHIROTIC POWERS MANIFESTING IN “YETZIRAH” Hebrew Name Chayoth haKodesh

Angelic Choir Seraphim

Ophanim

Cherubim

Ordering and emanating primordial Chaos, they give Man the light of Thought, the strength of Wisdom, the highest Ideas, and the Figures by which we can visualize divine things here below.

Aralim

Thrones

They maintain the heart of subtle Matter, the primordial Forms and Order established by the Ophanim. They give Man the sense of Union, the strength to meet, and to meditate. They allow our Memory to take hold of Spectacles which the Ophanim procure for us.

Chashmalim

Dominations

They assure the effective representation of the Effigy of the Body and perpetuate it. They give Man the inner strength necessary to conquer the inner Enemy, and to arrive at the End assigned to him.

Seraphim

Powers

They produce the Four Subtle Elements: Fire, Air, Water, Earth. They give Man their support against the external Enemies of his corporeal form.

Malachim

Virtues

They produce the Mineral Kingdom, Metals, Gems, and are the soul of all mineral medicine. They give Man the necessary strength to conquer the Powers of Lies, and offer him the recompense for which he is wandering here below.

Elohim

Principalities

They produce the Vegetable Kingdom and give their virtues to the simple. They give Men the submission of all things, embracing all powers by attracting him towards them by a celestial and secret virtue.

Hebrew Name

Angelic Choir

Action They give and spread the principle of Universal Life, manifesting the “Glory” of God, constituting His Rays. They give Man the perfect conflagration of Divine Love, so allowing it to live fixed in Them.

Action

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Beni Elohim

Archangels

They produce the Animal Kingdom and give their virtues to animals. To Man they give domination over all things to which he has a right, in conformity with his nature and the circumstances of his creation, to govern: animals of the earth, animals of the waters, animals of the air, etc...

Cherubim

Angels

They preside over the genesis of Men, insofar as individuals, and lead them towards Life Eternal. They make them announcers of divine will, and interpret this Thought, giving them moral discernment in this.

Ishim

Glorified Souls

They give to Men intelligence and the comprehension of Divine Things, as well as the same faculties in the arts and ordinary knowledge. They protect them corporeally, counsel them spiritually, and constitute in them that echo of memory and hereditary experience.

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* **

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“MAGIC IMAGES” OF ARCHANGELS “Kether” Metatron Serpanim: “Figure of a Man with a Face shining like the Sun at full power, bearing two identical horns above the forehead, like molten bronze from the feet to the waist, and of brightest fire from the waist to the head. He holds in his right hand a measuring stick, and in the left, a Cord of pure linen”. “Chokhmah” Jophiel: “A man like the brightest light, clothed in a long immaculate Robe, girded with a Golden Cincture, with Hair as white as sun-bathed snow, with Eyes of silver flame, Feet shining like bronze from a stirred-up furnace, holding in his right Hand “Seven Stars” with six branches, a Sword with two sharp edges bursting forth from his Lips”. “Binah” Tzaphkiel: “A man like brilliant bronze, clothed in a Robe of white linen, holding an Inkstand in his hand”. “Chesed” Tzadkiel: “An Angel with four immaculate white Wings, clothed in a long Robe the color of purple, holding a Crown in one hand and a Scepter in the other”. “Geburah” Kamaël / Uriel: “An Angel with four immaculate white Wings, clothed in a long orange Robe, bearing a Sword flat across his two hands plat, before a shooting Flame”. “Tiphereth” Raphaël / Mikaël 27: “An Angel with four immaculate white Wings, clothed in a long Robe the color of gilded white, crushing the Dragon, holding a Palm and a white Standard bearing a Red Cross”. “Netzach” Haniel Anaël: “An Angel with two immaculate white Wings, clothed in a long pink Robe, bearing white Roses in a fold of the robe”. “Hod” Raphaël / Mikaël 28: “An Angel with two immaculate white Wings, clothed in a long grey-green Robe, bearing a Pyx in one hand, the other leading a young Child carrying a large Fish”.

27 28

This is the Magical Image of the Archangel Michael who is alternatively ascribed to Hod. This is the Image for the Archangel Raphael sometimes placed in Tiphereth.

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“Yesod” Gabriel: “An Angel with two immaculate white Wings, clothed in a long blue-tinged white Robe, bearing a lit Ruby-Red Lamp in his two Hands”. * ** THE INNER SEPHIROTH OF THE “KINGDOM”

Malkuth, constituting the “Kingdom”, reserved to fortunate and glorified human Souls (“The Great Communion of Saints”) sees, according to Kabbalistic Tradition, a second, interior, Sephirotic Tree created within itself. Indeed, this Sephira is both the base (“feet”) of the Overall Tree, and its double (“back”), similar to the front and obverse sides of a Medal. In each of the ten Sephiroth interior to Malkuth, the ten Categories assembling the “Ishim” (Choir of Malkuth) are distributed, comprising the Eight Beatitudes, to which are added two higher categories, indicating entry into this Tree and this Sephira and departure: a passage to and from “Orders” of Holy Beings other than the “Ishim”.

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* **

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These “Beatitudes” are those in the Gospels and which Cornelius Agrippa gives in his “Octenary Table” (Occult Philosophy, L. II). We have but clearly expressed this “beatitude”, which is usually defined (wrongly), as the price they have paid here below, and we have done the same with each of the corresponding categories of the Elect. To complete the Sephirotic Decade, we mentioned what the theologians have named the Militant Church, which are Souls still in the course of incarnation, but already “elect”, then from the supreme “Crown”, we have already drawn the tenth, which we called “The Glorious”

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ACTION OF THE TEN ORDERS OF THE FORTUNATE ONES

I. – The “Glorious” – Manifesting divine glory in human Works. They help us against “False gods” and allow their disclosure and conquest. II.

– The “Peace-Makers” – They allow us to do battle against the “Lying Spirits” and conquer them. They give Man peace of heart and soul.

III. – The “Lovers of Justice” – Facilitators of retribution for our Actions. They turn us towards the expiation of our faults and errors, inflict purifying proofs and also allow us to free ourselves from the demonic yoke of the “Vessels of Iniquity” which we have selfimposed upon ourselves and which would be endless without these expiations. IV.

– The “Benevolent” – Make us miserable and indulgent, making us beneficiaries of Divine Mercy, and allow us to so vanquish the evil angels, “Avengers of Crimes”.

V.

– The “Triumphant Ones” – Make us equitable and just, without delinquent weakness. They help Man in the battle against “Prestidigitators” and bring about their vanquishing.

VI. – The “Pure in Heart” – Give us here below a sound understanding of divine things, raise us towards the absolute Truth, make us conceive it, and understand God from whom it emanates. They allow us to vanquish the angels and “Powers of Air”. VII. – The “Merciful” – Make Man charitable and compassionate, make him understand and assimilate the notion of Divine Love, reflected in His creatures. They help us to vanquish the “Furies Who Sow Evil”. VIII. – The “Rich” – Separate us from things here below, and make us measure the wealth of this world as to its true worth. They help Man to vanquish the “Accusing and Executing” angels. IX. – The “Fortunate” – Give us the moral consolation necessary to endure the trials of this world, help us to conquer the temptations which tighten around us by the “Tempting and Spying” angels. X.

– The “Elect” – Although they don’t yet belong to the “Realm of Heaven” and are still incarnate here below, these Souls are still attached, through some mysterious predestination, to this “ Realm”. They help us to approach God, console us, counsel us, materially express by example the duties that are ours. They are our tangible “Guides” here below. They allow us to vanquish the “Damned Souls”, our evil counselors in this world. th

6 ) Being and Non-Being If we try to summarize the double aspect of God, which we have brought to your attention in the two theologies, both affirmative and negative, we find ourselves with these four groups:

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1) God as the totality of Manifestation, but also as having impermanent and conditional attributes. 2) God as the totality of possibilities of Manifestation, but also as having permanent and unconditional attributes. 3) God, as the totality of possibilities of Non-Manifestation, having attributes absolutely beyond all imaginable conception, and beyond plurality as beyond unity. 4) God, being neither “knowing” nor “unknowing” from the various modes of Manifestation, the Divine Unconsciousness 30. These four states are found in Man, and René Guenon gives us these relationships: state of vigil, which corresponds to gross manifestation; state of dreaming, which corresponds to subtle manifestation; deep sleep, which is a “causal” and an informal state. To this state one may sometimes add another, that of death or of Ecstatic Sleep, considered as an intermediary between Profound Sleep and death 31. * ** And so is the God of the Kabbalah presented in the three “emptinesses”: Ain Soph Aur, AinSoph and Ain. But these three terms are themselves capable of allowing us to recover, beyond their abstractions, the ultimate, immanent, eternal Reality. Qu'on en juge. It is traditional in Kabbalah to seek the secret essence of a sentence, by constituting a keyword using the first letter of each of its words. This is by use of notarikon. So, if we contract the aleph (A), the shin (S) and the aleph (A), the initials of Ain Soph Aur, we obtain the word Asha, signifying in Hebrew: “Burning Fire” 32. The second term: Ain-Soph, gives Ash, being in Hebrew: “He is” 33. The third term, Ain, only gives only one letter: aleph. Now, in the Phoenician alphabets, it was usually represented by a “bull’s head”. This gives us the final meaning... Let us recall the symbolism of the Golden Calf (the calf is a virgin bull...), whose cult was, in the eyes of the wise men of Israel, “the abomination of abominations”... Let us also recall the “Absurdity of the Bull’s brow”... Let us recall Melkart, or the Carthaginian Moloch, devourer of infants within his furnace. Moloch, who was a bull of bronze...

30

“What is God?”, says the Buddha. “He alone follows, not even perhaps...”. It is to this aspect of the Divine that the fourth aphorism above refers. And Ibn Arabi tells us: “There is nothing, absolutely nothing, which exists ourside of Him (Allah), but He understands His own existence without this understanding existing in any manner”. (Treatise on Unity). 31 René Guenon : “Man and his Becoming according to the Vedenta”. Chacornac, editor. 32 “And the countenance of the Eternal being like a devouring fire...” (Exodus, XXIV, 17, 18). 33 “Then God said unto Moses: “Thou shalt say unto the Children of Israel: He whom is called I am hath sent me unto ye... “ (Exodus, III, 14).

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* ** From the preceding, we can deduce that the God of Israel is well described in the symbolism of the Temple of Jerusalem. In the Holy of Holies, behind the purple Veil, there is no clarity, and obscurity reigns. It is Ain Soph, the obscure emptiness. “Darkness is my domain” Deuteronomy tells us. His name is Yahweh: “He is”. He is Non-Being, the Primitive Abyss. In the Temple, before the Veil, is the Seven-Branched Candelabra, the sacred light. It is Ain Soph Aur, the “Burning Fire”. Moses, who saw Him in this image, in the burning bush of Mount Horeb, tells us: “God is a fire which burns...”. And Revelation explains: “You cannot see my Face without dying...”. As for the altars of animal sacrifice, they were furnished with bull-like horns at the four corners, as emblems of the places and means of destruction of life, linked to Ain.

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IV. — THE “QLIPPOTH” “PURITY is only found in Paradise or in Hell”. (St. FRANÇOIS de SALES)

The Tree of Death MALKUTH is the “nadir” of evolution, the lowest point – in “ASSIAH” – which the Being in process of elaboration can normally face. Its extreme aspect is thus the “World”, but this “World” of Souls, is called to climb up again towards KETHER. We have seen that these necessarily incarnate souls, during the course of this incarnation, bear the name of the last category of Ishim, that of the Elect. Opposing them, and in the “World”, are lined up the “Damned Souls”, synthesizing these two categories of the front line in the eternal combat of GOOD and EVIL, two Powers equally opposed: HELI, who was Enoch, John the Baptist, and all the great leaders of Humanity, and BEHEMOTH, the personification of all the Antichrists permanently incarnated. This latter is also the “Great BEAST”, whose “Number”, in the sayings of the Apocalypse, is 666. But, because it is situated at the last rung of the TREE OF LIFE, MALKUTH is in osmotic contact with the TREE OF DEATH, the inverted Tree. Just as the Secondary Tree of MALKUTH is called the “Queen”, the “Bride”, the “Virgin”, and the SPOUSE of the Microprosopus, to this inverted Tree is given an analogous but contrary name: it is called QELIPHAH, the “Prostitute”. It is effectively this Hebrew term which recurs the most often in the metaphorical expressions of the Prophets, admonishing the people when they degrade themselves or abandon the “WAY” of the Lord. It is this same term which the Apocalypse also employs to designate the BEAST, and we are going to see that this term was not at all an exoteric expression unconsciously chosen by misogynistic ascetics or exaggerating puritans! * **

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THE “WHEEL” Fig. 8

All that is corrupt in Life, contrary to the eternal designs of the ABSOLUTE and eternally rejected by Him, must be expelled, and this type of metaphysical “execration” takes place in the inverted Tree the TREE OF DEATH (as opposed to the TREE OF LIFE), beyond the SPOUSE, in the PROSTITUTE... For we cannot ignore that GOD, in Whom reside all “Possibilities” of good and ill as a result of his absolute Omniscience, operates for all ETERNITY an eternal discrimination between what He keeps, chooses, adopts and realizes by means of His “Emanations”, and what he refuses, rejects and reproves. That which He rejects constitutes the Evil Powers, the sinister “KINGS OF EDOM” who existed before all that is now drawn from the Nothingness. These are the broken VESSELS of which the Zohar speaks. In this fraction of MALKUTH which is in contact with the upper part of the QLIPPOTH (and which is its Malkuth, since the Kether of the QLIPPOTH is evidently situated far below...), cosmic 70

refuse cannot be reborn in the planes of organized form before finding equilibrium, and the eternal purpose which has been assigned to them. Thus, in the World of the Qlippoth (plural of QLIPPAH), there is a “sphere” which is not “Hell”, but rather “Purgatory”. This is a reservoir of disorganized powers, resulting from forms that have been destroyed and rejected by evolution. It is this reservoir of powers which the “Shells”, to use Dion Fortune’s term, the imperfect entities use to construct their vehicles, which they quickly succeed in. All the entities which manifest in the course of magical subterranean evocations, or of a necromantic character, are partly constructed with this particular substance of CHAOS. * ** This evolution and this involution can constitute a very long journey – perhaps even eternal? Now, esoteric Judaism affirms the preexistence of souls, and it draws its arguments (and irrefutably, besides), as much from the Old Testament as from the New. Let us quote from memory the famous passage from Deuteronomy (XXIX, 14, 15), where Moses finds himself obliged to give this justification to his people: “It is not for you alone that I make this covenant and these execrations, but also for all those who are PRESENT before the Lord our God, but who are NO LONGER with us”. And this: “And I more abundantly praised the dead than the living, and I judged them even happier than them, those who have not yet been born, and who have never seen the evil which is done under the sun”. (Ecclesiast. of Solomon: IV, 23). “And I was an intelligent child, and I received a good soul. And becoming more and more good, I came into an undefiled body “. (Book of Wisdom: VIII, 19, 20). * **

In his book “De Creatione”, Manasses Ben Israël cites the following passage from the Gemara Chagiga: “In the Empyrean Heaven is the abode of life and peace, where are found the souls of the just and the celestial spirits, and also the souls which must come into the world “. * **

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THE “KINGDOM BELOW” AND THE “QLIPPOTH” To the Sephirotic Tree manifesting in Malkuth corresponds an inverted Tree, which is its tenebrous reflection. Kabbalistic Tradition classifies them as the “Perverse Beings” in categories corresponding to the several Classes of the “Fortunate Ones” or to various Angelic Choirs. Bright Opposing Sephiroth

Names of the “Perverse Beings”

Archdemon 35

1 Malkuth/Kether 2 Malkuth/Chokmah 3 Malkuth/Binah 4 Malkuth/Chesed 5 Malkuth/Geburah 6 Malkuth/Tiphereth 7 Malkuth/Netzah

Dark Sephiroth or “Qlippoth” 34 the “Valley of Death” the “Vale of Forgetfulness” the “Vale of Sleep” the “Gates of Death” the “Shadow of Death” the “Wells of the Abyss” The “Rubbish Pit”

“False Gods” “Spirits of Lies” “Vessels of Iniquity” “Avengers of Crimes” “Conjurers” “Powers of Air”» “Furious Sowers of Sickness”

Beelzebub Python Belial Asmodel Satan Meririm Abbadon

8 Malkuth/Hod 9 Malkuth/Yesod 10 Malkuth/Malkuth

“Perdition” the “Ditch” the “World”

“Accusers-Executioners” “Tempters and Sneaks” “Damned Souls”

Astaroth Mammon Behemoth Antichrists

* **

ACTIONS OF THE TEN DEMONAIC ORDERS The “False gods” — Try to encourage a cult of latria (worshipping sub-ordinate powers), turning Man from true Gnosis and true Wisdom, substituting this for God and His Emanations to induce him into error. Cause religious fanaticism, ideological persecution, and the destruction of works of the spirit. The “Spirits of Lies” — Mislead Man through pseudo-prophecies, lying Oracles, illusions of reasoning, false philosophical or metaphysical conclusions. Make those responsible for the conduct of people, and religious chiefs, err. The “Vessels of Iniquity” — Also called “Vessels of Anger”, sowing Hate between creatures, inciting them to harm each other, inspiring discoveries that will encourage the growth of 34

Here are the Hebrew names used in the ritual texts to designate these categories: 1 = Gehenomoth 4 = Ozlomoth 8 = Abron 2 = Gehenom 5 = Irashtoum 9 = Sheol 3 = Gehenna 6 = Bershoat 10 = Aretz 7 = Tit Aisoun 35 Here are the meanings of these Demonaic Names: Beelzebub: “Old god”. Python: « Serpent ». Belial: “Without Balance”; “Apostate”; “Rebel”. Asmodeus: “Executor”. Shatan: “Adversary”. Meririm: “Noonday Demon”. Abbadon: “Devastator”; “Exterminator”. Astaroth: “Spy”. Mammon: “Cupidity”. Behemoth: “the Beast”.

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the ills of unbridled ambition and envy; generators of both wars and broken covenants. They break up friendships and spoil love. The “Avengers of Crimes” — Incarnate malefic “fatalism”, setting themselves to ruin all that Man imagines to be beautiful and good. Hinder moral and material evolution and progress. They unleash blind Destiny so that they are ever most harmful to living creatures, directing accidents and releasing catastrophes. The “Conjurors” — Imitate real miracles, facilitating ephemeral and false results to pseudo-mages, leading astray philosophers who do not follow true asceticism, frighten the timorous during individual initiation, infest places known as “haunted”, molest saints and ascetics, to make them recoil from the true way of salvation. The “Powers of Air” 36 — Unleashing natural scourges so that their destructive effects are amplified. They are the motive elements of Thunder, Hail, destructive Wind, maritime Tempests, Earthquakes, etc... Liberate unexpected natural energies, generating explosions, fire, inundation, etc... The “Furious Sowers of Sickness” — Cause discord and war, accentuating the malefic work of the “Avengers of Crimes”. They further worsen their preparatory actions. Cause desolation, pillaging, and the bloody and destructive revolt of all. Ignite the homicidal instinct in the hearts of men. The “Accusers and Executioners” — Inspire calumnies, cause scandals, sowers of misfortune. Facilitate the task of spies, leading their spirit towards the sought-after but ignored goal, in order to generate the greatest misfortune through such revelations. Often ‘pseudo-guides’ of inferior divines, and inspirers of bad judges, themselves the supporters of revolt and violence. The “Tempters” — Awaken in Man’s heart those various temptations capable of slowing his journey towards spiritual salvation. Through the use of imagination, develop all tools which can facilitate their task. Inspire various spectacles, writings, arts capable of awakening in Man an attraction to base instinct: lechery, cupidity, pride, laziness, etc. The guides of pornographic writers, politicians who promulgate hatred, and immoral or amoral philosophers. The “Damned Souls” — Since they are already incarnate here below, these Powers animate the bodies of those who facilitate the task of evil Powers, inspiring and leading the material activity necessary for the execution of their secret designs. Indicated by those “possessed” intellectually, the perverse, and those who turn aside upright beings from their normal course. * **

36

Ether or the Astral of Matter.

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“NAMES OF POWERS” AND “DEMONAIC NAMES” When one operates theurgically in the dorsal Malkuth of the principal Tree, one uses the ten categories into which the “Ishim” are divided up, by opposing them in the ten categories of the “Perverse Beings” distributed within the Qlippoth. Here are these oppositions, fundamental to the establishment of all Kabbalistic «conjuration» putting these “Powers” into action. * **

Fig. 9 Planetary Correspondences of the Sephiroth in Modern Astrology

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Kether

“ Specific” Divine Names of these Sephiroth Yod

Adam

Shem

Chokmah

El

Seth

Arphaxad

Binah

Shaddaï

Enos

Salé

Chesed

Jehovah

Cainam

Heber

Malalael

Phaleg

Jared

Reu

Enoch

Sephiroth in Malkuth

Geburah Tiphereth

Netzah Hod Yesod Malkuth

Helion Yeshuah El Bagour Elohim Asher Eheieh Ararita Eloah veDa’ath Jehovah Zidkerur Jehovah Ioah

Names of the Patriarchs – Symbolic Leaders of the “Orders”

Secondary Choirs of the “Ishim” ruled by these Patriarchs the “Glorious” the “Peacemakers” the “Just” the “Benevolent” the “Triumphant”

Secondary Qlippoth in Aretz

Secondary Categories of the “Damned Souls” 37

Demonaic Names Leaders of these Categories 38

Gehenomoth

Thamachim

Samael

Gehenom

Chaïgidel

Belzebub

Gehenna

Satorichim

Lucifer

Ozlomoth

Ganichiloth

Astaroth

Irashtom

Gralabim

Asmodel

the “Pure”

Ber Shoat

Tagarinim

Belphegor

Sarug

the “Merciful”

Tit Aisoun

Harab Seraphael

Bel

Mathuselah

Nachor

the “Rich”

Abron

Samaelim

Adramelech

Lamech

Thare

the “Fortunate”

Sheol

Gamalielim

Lilith

Noah

Abraham

the “Elect”

Aretz

Reschaïm 39

Nahema

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Here are their names in English, in order: “Spirits of revolt” — “Spirits of lies”; “Spirits of falsehood” — “Spirits of impurity” — “Spirits of anger” — “Spirits of discord” — “Ravens of death” — “Battlers” — “the Obscene”. 38 Given with reservations, (bastardized and suspect tradition). 39 The Reschaim (or Elementals), are themselves subdivided into four secondary categories: Gibburim (Violent Ones) or Salamanders (Fire). Rephaim (Lazy Ones) or Sylphs (Air). Nephilim (Voluptuous Ones) or Undines (Water). Anakim (Revolters) or Gnomes (Earth).

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THE “MAGIC IMAGES” OF THE QLIPPOTH It is not without considerable hesitation that we deliver the following Table to the public view. Certainly the “Images” of the Dark Sephiroth have already been published in hermetic works of former times, but none of them specified anything other than their usefulness (?) in material talismanic work. It was the ancient Gnostic texts which allowed us to identify these “Images”, and to give back to them their true origin. If the student of the High Science still has any concerns, let him simply note the differences that exist between these figures, almost all having animal features and always endowed with equivocal and awkward attributes, and the “Images” of the Archangels as previously given. Finally, and this is most important, a final counsel. We implore the student of the High-Science never to try to perform a meditation, visualization or evocation (even simply mental, as in an overly long daydream) upon these Powers. Reason, health, happiness – in a very short time none of these things will remain. As one who has the confidence of twenty years’ experience in these realms, once again, we implore the reader. There are currents, powers, rays, with which one may not play with impunity, and it is these Paths which lead to Madness or Death just are surely as poison... * **

NAME of

the Qlippoth

NAME of the Leading Demon

“MAGIC IMAGE” of the QLIPPOTH

@

Aretz (the “World”)

Behemoth (the “Beast”)

“Woman clothed in purple and scarlet, decked in gold, precious stones and pearls, holding a cup, and seated on a scarlet hydra with seven heads and ten horns”. 40

‚

Sheol (the “Ditch”)

Mammon (“Cupidity”)

“Horned Woman, mounted on a bull, clothed in white and green. In her right hand she holds an arrow; in her left a mirror. Two serpents are entwined about her horns, and one at each of her feet and her hands”.

40

The woman figured in Aretz is the whole Qlippoth properly speaking, the “Great Prostitute” of the Apocalypse. She is irreductibly opposed to Kalah, the “Fiancée”, the “Virgin” of de Malkuth, the divine Spouse of Adam-Kadmon. If Kalah is “Celestial Jerusalem”, the “Kingdom”, domain of the Izchim, Qlippoth is “Infernal Babylon”, the Kenome which will be destroyed at the end of time. The Beast which bears her is the Tree of Death itself. The ten horns are the ten symbolic branches, and the seven heads the seven black Principals which give us the “Magic Images”. We should note here, too, that if there are ten horns, and unquestionably only seven heads, we can see that three of the Qlippoth, the three last ones then have no symbolic images. They are the inverted forms of the three superior Ainim: Ain Soph, Ain Soph Aur, Ain. Or perhaps they are one and the same, located at the two extremities of the Divine Ouroboros...

76

77

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

THE PRACTICAL KABBALAH (--------- PART 2 -----------) by Robert Ambelain trans. Piers A. Vaughan

II. – OPERATIVE ELEMENTS I. –

Theurgy I. – II. –

Definition Applications a. The Theurgist b. Required Knowledge c. Lifestyle d. Ritual Objects and the Oratory e. The Sacramentary III. – Energetic Forces a. Entities b. Egregores c. The “Realm of Shadows” IV. – The Operations A. Preliminary Notes B. Daily Teachings on the XXII Paths a. The Role of the “Schema” or Prayer, in the Awakening of the Ruach Elohim b. Mental Concentration and Rhythmic Breathing c. Ritual for the Daily Operation of the 22 Divine Names d. The “Great Operation” e. Spiritual Alchemy V. – The Shemhamporasch VI. – The Ritual of the Covenant1

II. –

Demiurgy Ceremonial Evocations

1

This was not referenced in the original Index of R. Ambelain, but is included here. I am calling “Le Rite de l’Alliance” the ‘Ritual of the Covenant’ – PV. 1

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

2

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

I. – THEURGY “A magical Power, put to sleep by the Fall, is latent in Man. It can be reawakened by the Grace of GOD, or by the Art of KABBALA…” (J.-B. Van Halmont: “Hortus Medicinæ – Leyde 1667).

1. – DEFINITION Theurgy (from the Greek theos: God, and ergon: work), is the highest, the most pure and also the most wise aspect of that which the vulgar call Magic. To begin with the latter, then to only keep the essence and most refined purity, is to arrive at the former. According to Charles Barlet, “Ceremonial Magic is an operation by which Man seeks to constrain – by means of the very play of Natural Forces – the Invisible Powers of various Orders to act in accordance with what he requires of them. To this end, he seizes them, surprises them, that is to say through projection (by means of analogical “correspondences” which comprise the Unity of Creation); these Powers over which he is not master, but to which he can open extraordinary pathways, to the very heart of Nature. To this end he uses Pentacles, special Substances, rigorous conditions of Time and Place, which he must observe under pain of the gravest of perils. For, if the path sought is even a little lost, the audacious one will be exposed to the force of these “Powers” before which he is but a speck of dust…” (Charles Barlet: l’Initiation, January 1897 edition). Thus we can see that Magic is but transcendental Physics. From this definition of Theurgy there is but one practical application: that of the Law of Analogous Correspondence, comprising: 1. The Unity of the World in all its parts; 2. The Analogous Identity of the Divine Plane and the Material Universe, the second being created “in the image” of the first and remaining its reflection, inferior and imperfect; 3. An enduring rapport between the two, a rapport flowing from this analogous identity, being able to be expressed at the same time as it is established, by a secondary science, called Symbolism. Regarding the “domain” in which these secondary principles are going to be utilized, Theurgy cleanly separates itself from Magic.

3

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

The latter only puts Natural Forces into action, be they terrestrial or cosmic, and only operates in the purely material domain which is the Universe and, in consequence not even at the level of the Secondary Causes, and at the very most at the level of the “intermediaries” or “Tertiary Causes”. In consequence the action of the Magician disturbs the process of the Secondary Causes, who can only express themselves by means of the Primary Cause, being motivated by one of His “potentialities”. Out of this comes the inevitable re-establishment of the broken equilibrium, called the “shock of return”, which follows all magical results: the violence of this contrary effect being proportional to the size and duration of the results obtained. For this is an imprescriptible law: that the Magician must pay in sorrow for the joys which his Art has dragged from the “Eternal Images” issued from the ABSOLUTE, then oriented and fixed by the Secondary Causes. Everything else is the domain of Theurgy and the factors which it puts in play, purely metaphysical factors besides, and in consequence never cosmic or hyperphysical. For it is in the very heart of the Archetype, in the “possibilities” which pass – as fugitive images – in the PRIMORDIAL INTELLIGENCE, that Theurgist works. Let us therefore define this domain. * * * The Theurgist necessarily believes in the existence of a single BEING, Unique, Eternal, Omnipotent, Infinitely Wise, Infinitely Good, Source and Conservator of all emanated Beings and of all transient Beings. This Unique BEING is called many names by him, each expressing but one of the “Rays” of His Glory, and which here we will simply call: GOD. Because GOD in Himself is infinite in power and possibilities, Good and Evil coexist and are eternally in balance. But, because He is also infinitely Wise, and Absolute Good, envisaging all eternity in His Omniscience, all the possible outcomes, he operates among them eternally, and through His Omnisapience, a Discrimination that is also eternal. This eternal Discrimination thus constitutes Good and Evil, face to face. That, which GOD admits, retains, welcomes, realizes and preserves, constitutes the Ideal, or Archetypal Universe. This is the “World Above”, or Heaven. That which He refutes, rejects, reproves and wishes to efface, constitutes the “World Beneath”, or Hell. And now we understand that Hell is eternal, as is the Evil which it expresses. As God is eternal, and as He contains within Himself all “possibilities”, Evil is eternal and He cannot destroy it. And as He is infinitely Good, He does not wish it to endure. And so, since He is also Infinitely Wise, God transforms it into Good… But, since Evil is also eternal, at least in “principle”, eternal too is this Work of the Redemption of rejected elements, just as the Good which it manifest and realizes is eternal too.

4

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Man, like all creatures, carries within himself a Divine spark, without which he would not know how to exist. This spark is LIFE itself. This Divine “Fire” carries within itself all possibilities, like the ORIGINAL FIRE from which it emanates. Good as well as evil. For he is only its reflection; and there is no difference in nature between the brazier and the spark! This “fire”, then, is able to “reflect” Good or “reflect” Evil. When Man tries to approach GOD, he fans and animates the “clear fire” within himself, the Divine fire, the “fire of joy”. When he tends to distance himself from GOD, he fans and illuminates in himself the “somber fire”, the infernal fire, the “fire of wrath”. Thus, he generates in himself, just as GOD does in the great ALL, Good or Evil, Heaven or Hell. And it is within ourselves that we carry the root of our sorrows or our joys. It is to this Work of Universal Redemption and Communion, which makes Man an auxiliary to GOD, that Theurgy invites the Adept. Perhaps he will not achieve visible miracles, and perhaps he will be forever ignorant of the Good, which he will have realized. But in this very ignorance, his work will be one hundred times greater than that of the black magician, even if the latter accomplishes the most astonishing spells. For these latter types will only express the reality of archetypal Evil and collaborate with it. Nobody can doubt the reality of this Evil, and collaboration with it is truly of no use… Magic shows us that nothing is lost, and that all comes back to take its place once more. “Each shall sow that which he shall reap, and reap that which he sows”, Scripture tells us. The Black magician, at heart, is an ignorant man who plays the game of the fool! His desires or his hates poison his days, and represent lost time for true Knowledge. In the twilight of his life, he will get the point. Neither Love nor Fortune nor Youth nor Beauty will be at his bedside to justify his wasted Hours. There will only remain one thing: a debt to pay, in this life or in another, and no creature on God’s earth will be able to pay it for him. For, in desiring to mold such powerful and unknown “Forces”, as mysterious as they are redoubtable, to his fleeting fantasies, he will perhaps become their unconscious slave, but never their master! ... Without knowing it, he will have become their servant … “When we lie and defraud”, said Mephistopheles, “we give what is ours!” In the voice of Goethe, it is that anonymous crowd of Initiates through all ages which warns us!

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

* * * Those “principles” which GOD preserved, since He desired them throughout all eternity, were emanated by Him. They then individualized themselves, and then expressed themselves in turn according to their proper nature which is the Original Divine Idea. The totality of these “emanations” constitute the Divine Plane or Aziluth. Each of them is a Metaphysical Attribute. There are thus: “Justice”, “Severity”, “Mercy”, “Mildness”, “Strength”, “Wisdom”, etc. As they are of the Divine Essence, one may conclude that oriental metaphysical philosophers, having named them, then added the endings “El” or “Yah” which signified GOD in the masculine or feminine. From this one obtains these conventional denominations: “Justice-of-God”, “Strength-of-God”, “Mercy-of-God”, etc… Each of these Emanations, as they are themselves constituents of the ONEDIVINITY, emanate in their turn secondary modalities of their own essence. And so on. Thus are created those particular beings which we call Angels, Geniuses or Gods, beings which Theodicy has grouped into ten conventional divisions. These are the nine angelic choirs, to which are added the “glorified bodies” of Judeo-Christian Theology and the Kabbalah. In the “World Below” which GOD rejects (the Qlippoth, or “shells” of the Kabbalah), each of them has its antithesis, an absolutely opposed being, emanated by one of the Contrary-Attributes, and which GOD wishes to evolve towards the Best and the Good. There are therefore “Injustice”, “Weakness”, “Cruelty”, “Hardness” and “Error”, and by adding complementary endings, -El or -Yah, one obtains the Demoniacal Names: “Supreme-Injustice”, “Supreme-Weakness”, “Supreme-Cruelty”, etc… * * * All the “potentialities” rejected “below” are destined to become “living beings” and, emerging from the Abyss through the Grace and Love of GOD, they then constitute the World of Proofs and Necessity, the “Earth”, in Hebrew Aretz, the only higher reflection of this Abyss. For all the Beings who, in all eternity, are not “God-Attributes” of the ABSOLUTE, are born in the Abyss, together with those whom the Eternal Wisdom forever rejects, it appears that, these Beings from the Lower World must all finally come “Above”, to reach the “Palace of the King”, attached to one of the Ten Spheres mentioned earlier, but improved, evolved, finally becoming what GOD eternally desires, and rich in the totality of their memories and their past experiences.

6

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

And so all these Beings will beforehand rise up across all the possible and imaginable “forms” of Life, in this vast kaleidoscope which is ETERNAL NATURE; forms which are successively visible or invisible, mineral or vegetable, animal or human. Arriving at this last estate, a crossroads where they await moral Liberty and Responsibility, they then constitute the World of Proofs and Fatality, which is “Earth”, precursor to the symbolic “Heavens”. By virtue of this Liberty and this Choice, and since they find themselves on the plane of Aretz (“earth”), submitted to Experience, and so to Suffering and transforming Death, Men may, through their acceptance or refusal, their intelligent or unreasonable choice, climb or descend the Ladder, the ladder of “becoming”. One will note that the Kabbalah gives the same numerical value to the word Sinaï as the word Sulam, signifying ladder (130). Here, Gematria shows us one of the principle keys of Kabbalistic metaphysics. In fact, this “ladder” is linked to the legend of the patriarch Jacob, a word signifying “he who supplants”. For one soul it is a place to climb, for another to descend. (see in the “Mabinogion” or “Stories for the Disciple”, Bardic teachings on this subject, in the telling of Peredur ab Ewrach). Also, on the Eternal Wheel, all souls successively pass through all states (see the Shaar HaGilgulim, "The Gates of Reincarnation," of Rabbi Isaac Luria). In this climbing of the ladder, one soul is the “supplanter” while another is the step… For, arriving a first time at the “Celestial Palace”, the world of Plenitude, where he finally rediscovers the totality of his memories and faculties, the Being can re-descend voluntarily on “Earth”, on Aretz, and be reincarnated there, either with the objective of obtaining the new experiences and benefits that flow from this, or with the altruistic intention of helping other beings to liberate themselves from the Abyss, and to leave Sheol (“the Sepulcher”). And to do this as many times as they desire, protected by Forgetfulness. – Can we imagine the mental hell, which Life would be if we could remember everything we had been before? Imagine, for example, our immortal self having been a spider? We would see ourselves, a spider spinning a carpet in an infected hole, dancing upon a canvas, receptacle of every pus or speck of dust, and chewing upon the cadavers of decomposing flies with our open mandibles? “Forgetfulness of prior lives is a blessing of GOD …” the tradition of the Lamas tells us! And because Divine Eternity and Infinity ensure that the ABSOLUTE remains forever inaccessible to Beings, even when they come to the “Palace of the Heavens”, eternal in duration, infinite in possibilities; such are the “experiences” of the Creature, and so Divine Wisdom and Love allow it to participate in a relative eternity and infinity, which are images and reflections of the Divine eternity and infinity, and, in the same way, generators of an eternal becoming. * * *

7

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

In any case one is unable to confuse Beings in the course of evolution towards the Divine Plane with the attributes of the Divine, which are the constitutive parts of GOD. And it is by the omnipotence of the Word, expressed through Prayer and Holy Orisons, through a life approaching – so far as it is given to Man – its own perfection, that the Theurgist awakens and puts into action the Divine Attributes, by raising himself up to them… And it is through Symbolism that he is able to channel and conduct this activity, by “placing” himself in Time and Space, that the Theurgist then acts indirectly on the Being and material Universe. For, originating in the universal initiatic principle that the “part” is a reflection of the “Whole”, and “that which is below is as that which is above”, this Symbolism allows him to realize a true microcosm through analogous identity with the Macrocosm. This theory can be found, in degraded form, in the principle of Magical Spells and of creating a “power battery”. Through Symbolism the Theurgist realizes upon his Altar, on his Pentacles, or in his operative Circles, the true “batteries” of the Celestial World, of the material Universe, of the Beings who reside there, and the Powers who are therein contained. But, contrary to the practice of vulgar Magic, which is really linked to the particular virtues of his objects, to his ingredients, and to the rites (which have now become superstitious formulae) of his Sacramentary – like the Physician or Chemist at his laboratory apparatus, to the chemical used and to the formulae in his manual, the Theurgist does not possess this superstitious servitude. He only uses Symbolism as a means of expression, complementary to his word, itself expressive of his thought. For Symbolism (in the realm of inanimate things) completes the Gesture of the Theurgist, and his Gesture completes his Word, his Word expresses his Thought, and his Thought expresses his Soul. And this is truly the secret of the “Fertile Marriage between Heaven and Earth”. So in the Divine Trinity and Human Trinity: ONE-GOD Father Son Holy Spirit

ONE-SOUL Thought Word Action

Finally, the Theurgist does not pretend to make submit, but to obtain: and this is very different! For the Magician, a rite inexorably manipulates the Powers he addresses. To possess their “Name” and to know their “Charms” is power to enchain the Invisible Ones, as universal magical traditions affirm.

8

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Yet logic, in the face of this pretension, only admits three justifiable hypotheses: a) Either these subjected Powers are simply inferior in power to the Magician himself. Then there is no merit in subjecting them, and no benefit will attend this action. For official Science, with patience and time, will get there by itself… b) Or they pretend they are subjected as a ruse, pretending a momentary servitude in appearance only, and awaiting a deadly result, stealing away from man in a game, which must logically profit them. In this case, the Magician is duped, Magic is dangerous, and as such must be fought against… c) These Powers are unconscious, and therefore unintelligent, and in consequence natural. In this case, the pretension of the Magician of submitting the “powers’ of the Beyond to his control is but a chimera. His fastidious ritual, irregular in its effects, unpredictable in his ultimate consequences, should be replaced by a scientific study of these phenomena, as a prelude to their incorporation into the domain of the profane arts and sciences. Then, there is no more Magic… * * * For the Theurgist, no “explanation” to diminish his powers need be feared, since at the very first moment he discards all material factors endowed with an occult virtue, all powers contained or infused through the rites in his material props. Symbolism alone can unite him with the Divine, with the transport of his soul as his vehicle. From the start he poses the problem: how to address himself to GOD through the channel of Spirit and Heart, and so no defloration of the great arcane need be feared, and, whatever may befall him in his various realizations, the Mystery of these latter vehicles remains intact. What the Magician will pay for in sorrow, the Theurgist will complete in joy. And as the Scripture says, the Theurgist amasses enduring treasures, while the Magician makes an unwise investment…

II. – APPLICATIONS A. Theurgy It is true to say that any discrimination between the two sexes relative to the practice of Theurgy is misguided, and it seems certain that there is nothing against the theory of a woman following Kabbalistic asceticism and applying its teachings. However, we must note that men are more drawn to these teachings in their active practice, and women tend to be drawn towards more passive exercises. Mediumship, with its derivatives (clairaudience, clairvoyance) is more predominantly reserved to women, and evocation or conjuration more to men.

9

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

A belief in the inferiority of the feminine soul in comparison to the masculine soul, derives from traditional Symbolism, key and rule of Theurgy itself. In fact, Woman represents by analogy the Virgin Mother, or Eternal-Nature, naturata as naturanda. Man himself expresses above all the image of the Logos, the Word, Creator, emanator and impregnator of this same Nature. As the Virgin Mother is equal to the Son and to the Father in the Divine Trinity, Woman is the spiritual equal of Man. But, just as Nature lives in submission to the Creator, so Woman is corporeally inferior to Man. Let us add as well that her menstrual impurity, which risks all, and which in olden times would have soiled the floor of Oratories or Occultums (due to the almost total absence of undergarments), and which for several days of the month also made the female body a condenser of purely magical fluids, by reason of this very rhythm, represents the lunary element of the Human Couple. Woman is in fact and because of this role analogous to Night, Silence and Water; just as Man is the solar element of the said Couple, analogous to Day, Light, the Word and Fire. And the popular saying that: “sad is the poulterer when the hen sings and the cock remains silent…” seems to tell us of the importance of the masculine Word, reserving to the woman the role of the fecund yet passive support of this creative word2.

B. Required Knowledge He who wishes to become a Theurgist must possess a general education at least at the level of a Bachelor of Arts. The works of the ancient authors are not at all clear, and therefore a basic understanding of Latin; Greek and above all Hebrew are indicated! Let us add a fair knowledge of classical philosophy, metaphysics and even theology, and we will have satisfied the exigencies of regularly required knowledge. But this will not be all, since the Theurgist of old was a savant, a priest and a mage as well… In the domain of hermetic knowledge, it is the same. One should have read the ancient classics (Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, Robert Fludd, Henry Khunrath, Jakob Boehme, etc); have a solid understanding of Astrology, both judicial and Kabbalistic; knowledge of the general laws, principles and vocabulary of Alchemy; and know the basic laws and applications of Magic. Finally, and above all, one must be acquainted with the Kabbalah. Kabbalah is the very foundation of Theurgy. We don’t wish to say that other spiritual exercises, relying on different customs though tending towards the same end, but deriving from philosophies foreign to Europe, would not know how to lead one to the same result. But in this work, aimed at Europeans, we only deal with Theurgy which rests on the one hand on a Judaeo-Christian documentary and mystical foundation, and on the other hand on a Celto-mystical magic. That is to say that it is the medieval 2

All I can say is remember the time that this was written – in early 1950! I am reminded of a poster in the London underground from the era of World War II on not discussing secrets, which said: “Be like Dad – keep Mum”, a sentiment which would engender lawsuit nowadays! – PV. 10

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

and Faustian “climate” which provides the fabric from which we are going to unravel the spiritual exercises which we will reveal for the first time. In this, we will commit no perjury, for we are not bound by any obligation, as these things have come to us by means of the Theurgic path itself, and they are the result of our meditations, our Operations, and these alone – by means of Ritual – constitute a traditional “deposit”. Finally, it will be necessary to have some rudiments of Hebrew, and a grammar and dictionary will be indispensable.

C. Lifestyle It matters not if one is single or married. The essential point in both cases is not to exaggerate the importance of sexual activity. A permanent repression of desire, difficult to sustain in a young person, would be a ball and chain to drag behind one. One the other hand, overly frequent repetition of the sexual act, and overly exhausting and attractive voluptuous “games” are each as harmful to the psychic equilibrium as they are to spiritual and moral elevation. Both repression and exaggeration of the venereal act or its frequency indicate obsession, which is completely contrary to the asceticism of Theurgy. It is the same in the domain of nutrition. Excess in anything is a fault, and one should observe a complete continence and fasting (partial or absolute) during the period preceding Great Operations. Do not overindulge in meat and spices in the regular diet. Their psychic properties are often opposed to certain work. The only domain in which no limit may be admitted is that which flows out of reading and meditation. One should focus on traditional works: the Sepher Yetzirah, the Sepher ha Zohar, and all the classics of the Kabbalah: Kircher, Khnor von Rosenroth, Drach, Luria, etc…(refer to the bibliography of the Kabbalah in the work of Papus entitled “The Qabbalah”). One must live “in the spirit”, and this to the maximum. * * *

11

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

BIBLIOGRAPHIC INDEX OF THE WORKS CITED FOR THE CREATION OF THE THEURGIC ORATORY ____________________ AGRIPPA

(H.-C.). — Occult Philosophy or Magic — (Paris, 1911, Chacornac, editors).

AMBELAIN

(R.). — Treatise on Esoteric Astrology Vol. II: Onomancy. (Paris, 1937, Editions

Adyar). AMBELAIN

(R.). — In the Shadow of the Cathedrals (Paris, 1939. Editions Adyar).

AMBELAIN

(R.). — Magical Geomancy (Paris, 1940. Editions Adyar).

AMBELAIN

(R.). — Practical Talismans (Paris, 1949. Editions Niclaus).

BOSC

(E.). — Magic Mirrors (Paris, 1912. Bibliothèque des Curiosités).

GALLAIS JOIRE

(A.). — The Mysteries of Magic (Paris, 1909. J. Fort, editor).

(Dr. P.). — Psychic and Supranormal Phenomena (Paris, 1909. Vigot Frères, editors).

KHUNRATH (H.). — The Amphitheater of Eternal Wisdom (Magdebourg, 1602. Photomechanical reprinting by Derain, editor. Lyon, 1947). LÉVI (Eliphas). — Dogma and Ritual of High Magic Vol. I: Dogma, Vol. II: Ritual. (Paris, 1861. Baillère, editor. Paris, 1947. Niclaus, editor, photomechanical reprinting). LE FORESTIER (R.). — Occult Freemasonry in the 18th Century, and the Order of Elus Cohen (Paris, 1928. Dorbon, editor). MARQUES-RIVIERE

(J.). — Amulettes, Talismans et Pentacles. (Paris, 1938. Payot, éditeur).

MORA

(Pierre). — Les Véritables Clavicules de Salomon. (Paris, 1914. Daragon, éditeur).

PAPUS

(Dr.). — Traité Elémentaire de Magie Pratique. (Paris, 1893. Chamuel, éditeur).

PIOBB

(P. V.). — Formulaire de Haute-Magie. (Paris, 1937. Dangles, éditeur).

PORTAL

(F.). — Des Couleurs Symboliques de l'Antiquité à nos Jours. (Paris, 1938. Niclaus,

éditeur). SABAZIUS

(R. P.). — Envoûtement et Contre-Envoûtement. (Paris, 1937, sans nom d'éditeur).

12

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

D. Ritual Objects and the Oratory N.B.: In citing bibliographic sources, we will limit ourselves simply to giving the author’s name, and the page of the work, referring to the list above. * * * The best situation is clearly to have a room especially disposed for this purpose. When this is absolutely impossible, one should at least set up an altar (in the North or East) in a room in which no gross activity takes place. A study, a drawing room or a studio will serve the purpose perfectly. At the worst, a dining room or bedroom. But this latter is not advisable when a couple uses it. If there were a room used by a single or individual person, this would clearly be suitable. A. The Place and its Furnishings The room will be decorated in red, preferably purple or crimson. Never use a garnet, blood or vermillion color. It should always be newly laid in the case of an integral realization of a theurgically perfect Oratory. Only smooth or marbled wallpaper should be used. Paper decorated with any motifs other than geometric themes (Greek, Arabesque, etc) should be rejected. The painting of dados3, wainscoting and doors should be of a slightly darker shade. The ceiling is covered with gelatinous or painted white: either is acceptable. But this will be mixed with a shade of pale orange, the color of dawn, saffron-colored, or celestial blue. If possible it should not be left plain white. The windowpane(s) should be covered with a good quality paper “stained glass window” effect, whose general shade is yellow, orange or clear red. Genuine stained glass is ideal, so long as it does not bear any designs reproducing animated creatures (animals, flowers, people). This interdiction, repeated in the Mosaic Law, derived form the fact that in a place in which an intense occult life will hold sway, where Symbols and Pentacles will ceaselessly dynamize the cerebral concepts given out by whoever is present, thought-forms have a tendency to be objectivized through images and effigies. This explains the error and danger of idols, terraforms and ephods forbidden in the Old Testament. The windows should be covered with thick curtains of matching material (purple or crimson), which will cover the windows when night comes, and to preserve heat in winter, which is important. The cold hinders spiritual activity considerably. The door should be covered with a door-curtain of the same color. Velvet material is a good choice, being a magnetic conductor (like wax, gelatin and egg-white). 3

Lambris – PV. 13

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

The floor, of wooden floorboards, flagging, or composite material, should be completely covered by a thick pile carpet, uniform, red, hyacinth, navy blue or any other dark shade instead. Many authors use the same name Oratory, or “occultum”. The same type of ideal Oratory for a practitioner of Magic was described in “In the Shadow of the Cathedrals4”, pages 20, 21 and 22. The idea of coloring the ceiling in blue is taken from Masonic tradition, which prefers to do this in its Lodges. The presence of stained glass was also justified in our work: “In the Shadows of the Cathedrals”, on pages 217 and 218. Finally, an “Occultum” was described (under this name) in the engraving on page 23 in R. P. Sabazius’ book: “Spell5”. The traditional shades prescribed for the decoration of such an Oratory are taken from the text of Exodus (the Tabernacle tents, the Holy-of-Holies of the Temple of Solomon, etc). B. Oratory Furniture The furniture is composed of an Altar, a Chair, two Wardrobes, a Table, a Lectern, to which can be added, for certain practices: a prie-Dieu, or, better still, a special “prayer mat”. This last item, it is true, is not mentioned often in hermetic materials. Yet for meditations taking the form of adoration, of long duration, it has its advantages. Moreover, the position of the Theurgist, kneeling immediately upon it, his gaze on the Oratory, makes them very particular generators of a mental state. By means of it, the subconscious leads us towards certain states of consciousness, which no other physical position can create. a) The Altar – either a cupboard around 80 – 90 cm. high, or a rectangular table about 1.3 meters by 70 cm. If one decides on a cupboard, this also removes the need for one of the two wardrobes. This cupboard then serves to organize certain regularly used accessories: jars of resin, perfumes, coals for the censer, lamp oil, parchment, etc. The presence of an altar in the Oratory is indicated by the following authors: Cornelius Agrippa, Book IV, page 35; Eliphas Lévi, t.1, page 287; Alphonse Gallais, pages 98-99; P. Piobb, page 231, Papus, page 296; R. Ambelain, “Cathedrals”, page 67. According to these authors it is made of wood and often serves as a cupboard to contain accessories. b) Prie-Dieu – As we have said, it serves for long prayers of the half-meditational, half-adoring form. It should be of classic style, with a red cushion affixed to it with the aid of four cords or Cordeliers attached to the two uprights and the two feet, which should be conveniently placed. A prolonged time which is painfully spent on the knees is

4 5

“Dans l’Ombre des Cathédrales” – PV. “Envoûtement” – PV. 14

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

contrary to a perfect intellectual abstraction: a square mat is preferable according to traditional6. c) Chair – Comfortable, armchair style, stuffed, and matched to the prie-Dieu. d) Wardrobes – One of them, as we have seen, could be replaced by a cupboard for the Altar. If not, one should be selected with interior shelves to house the same accessories as would be placed in the cupboard (jars, virgin skins, coals, etc). The presence of one or several wardrobes in a Magical Oratory is indicated by: Pierre Mora, pages 13 and 14; Papus, page 297; Alphonse Gallais, page 98. It is used for the customary purpose. The second, without interior shelving, should be furnished with hanging space, and a rod should be fixed inside, with some coat hangers. This will house the ritual clothes on one side, and will serve as the “cloakroom” for the Operator7. To separate these two functions, one ritual and the other profane (and imbued with “souvenirs” which are often impure and commonplace), the wardrobe should be divided into two parts by a vertical partition of wood or laminate if possible, or at least with hanging material8. e) Table – It will be used for several purposes. Upon it the Theurgist grinds the aromatic resins, mixes their respective quantities, makes the inks and the talismanic “designs9”, copies the ritual texts, the lectures, the works for study, etc. Tables of analogical correspondences could be fixed to the wall above this table, taken from the “Virga Aurea” or the “Magical Calendar” of Duchanteau. f) Lectern – the lectern is a high desk of wood, intended to support the Theurgic Ritual, also called the “Sacramentary”. It can be made at home, using the music stands of musicians, used by conductors, as a model. It can either be made of metal or wood. However, wood is preferable overall, since one should avoid overly gross metallic masses in certain works which come closer to Magic than pure Theurgy, which is inevitable in certain phases of theurgical training. A lectern or desk, intended to hold the Sacramentary, appears in the ancient engravings representing magical Oratories. Let us simply refer to Henry Khunrath, to diagram II of his “Amphitheater of Eternal Wisdom”, and Alphonse Gallais, page 49 (engraving).

6

While Ambelain does not state this clearly, I believe he is suggesting sitting on the mat, probably in crosslegged form, in preference to kneeling at a prie-Dieu – PV. 7 In the absence of a ‘walk-in’ closet as described, I am sure the Operator is permitted to robe in the Oratory! – PV. 8 It is hard to see how this can be achieved unless the Theurgist strips naked in his ‘cloakroom’ before walking into the ritual side to retrieve his vestments, to protect them from the ‘profanity’ of contact with the daily world! Seriously, while this sounds nice, reality would normally dictate that the Theurgist would change in the Oratory or outside – PV. 9 Calames – PV. 15

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

g) Library – an excellent step consists of installing the Hermetic library in the Oratory. By this one rids oneself of inconvenient comings and goings, and even just for reading, the Oratory is an excellent room. N.B.: All these pieces of furniture should be painted a dark shade. If white wood is being used, they should first be tinted with dark walnut stain, then regularly stained and polished. C. Ordinary Accessories These are the most indispensable accessories. 1) Mortar and pestle: to grind the aromatic resins, which are normally purchased in tears, into a fine powder. Tears are to be preferred over pre-ground resin, in which one risks finding a little of everything. The resinous tears can be pulverized by firstly crushing them between two zinc or copper plates under forearm pressure (or desk press). Form this one can get a pancake of compact powder, which one can then process easily with the pestle to reprocess it. 2) Silver spoon: to mix these resins and to count out the “parts” asked for in the formulae. 3) A couple of dozen glass carboys, half a liter capacity, to contain pure resins, specific mixtures, and accessories (pulverized poplar charcoal, saltpeter, etc). A label should be affixed to the jar, with the contents written in large letters. Do not write too small, since it is generally difficult to read fine script in the reduced lighting of the Oratory, when one is performing Operations. 4) Parchment. A certain quantity of parchment should be kept in reserve, the sheets kept flat. Genuine parchment should be used, not artificial (sulfurized paper). Real parchment is made from the skin of lamb, sheep, goat or kid. It is used to create the ordinary Pentacles. It can be easily found at parchment makers’ shops. Before being used, in free time, one should pumice the parts which are still rough and trim the sides smoothly. The use of virgin parchment is not new. Pierre Mora, page 18; Papus, pages 312 and 315; and R. Ambelain (“Cathedrals”), pages 22 and 276 discuss the subject at length, as well as Alphonse Gallais, page 100 and Agrippa, book IV, page 31. 5) Pens. In order to associate Nature symbolically with his action, the Theurgist should not use steel or iron nibs. One should use goose feathers, or those of doves, turtledoves, eagles, or other solar animals (never the feathers of night birds, such as the raven, magpie, etc). One can often find goose-feather commercially prepared, already cut, in middle-sized stationers. One may also use a very fine paintbrush.

16

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

One should also have a 45 degree square, a 60 degree one, a protractor, a compass, pencils and a flat ruler, in order to pre-draw the schemas. Pierre Mora, on page 21, indicated the use of a raven feather for talismans. The ancient use of goose feathers is known! On page 315 of his book, Papus cites the following: “Exorcism of pens….you will wet the end of the feathers…”. These items should be put in the drawer of the ordinary Table, and a writing-pad a small drawing-board, completes this ensemble, together with a pen-box, eraser, etc… 6) Inks. In operative Theurgy, one can acceptably use commercial inks. Only the color is symbolic, and the ingredients entering into their composition are only of importance in the domain of pure Magic. Four good quality inks will be sufficient: (China) black, ultramarine blue, red (carmine or poppy), and green (a good jade color) will be adequate for all work. 7) Charcoal. The best are those specially made for church censers, and which can be found in shops specializing in liturgical accessories. They light easily from the flame of a candle. If they burn with difficulty, one may pass them for a moment through a warm oven, in order to dry them out without lighting them. The use of charcoal briquettes as used in the Catholic Church, has been indicated since 1937 on page 2176 of our work: “Treaty on Esoteric Astrology, Volume 2: Onomancy”. 8) Perfumes. Symbology attributes a perfume to each of the seven original Planets. Bearing this in mind, one may easily discover multiple correspondences with the Septenary, uniting the resins and perfumes with the Macrocosm. These are the attributions: -

Frankincense…………………Sun Myrrh………………………...Moon Galbanum…………………….Mars and Earth Siamese Benzoin……………..Jupiter Sumatran Benzoin……………Mercury Sandalwood…………………..Venus Storax…………………………Saturn

They are normally only used according to well-defined and extremely ancient formulae. Here are a few, selected from among the most common.

17

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Rose-Croix Incense: Pure Frankincense – Myrrh – Siamese Benzoin – Storax – Cascarilla – Powdered Sugar – Pulv. Wood Carbon – Saltpeter –

250 parts 200 parts 125 parts 60 parts 30 parts 50 parts 100 parts 75 parts

Church Incense:

Pure Frankincense – Siamese Benzoin – Storax – Saltpeter – Powdered Sugar – Cascarilla –

450 parts 250 parts 120 parts 150 parts 100 parts 60 parts

Incense of the Magi: Pure Frankincense – Myrrh – Sumatran Benzoin –

240 parts 240 parts 120 parts

Jerusalem Incense:

350 parts 250 parts 200 parts 125 parts 60 parts 50 parts 30 parts 75 parts 100 parts

Sandalwood – Frankincense – Myrrh – Siamese Benzoin – Storax – Powdered Sugar – Cascarilla – Saltpeter – Pulv. Wood Carbon –

The use of aromatic resins such as frankincense, myrrh and galbanum is as old as the world. They are already mentioned in the Old Testament. One can find the planetary correspondences given by us in our book: “In the Shadow of the Cathedrals”. Regarding the three formulae: Rose-Croix Incense, Incense of the Magi and Jerusalem Incense, recreated by us in terms of proportions, they are our intellectual property. We have outlined them first, and we forbid the commercial use of these three names. One will always find it useful to add pulverized wood carbon and saltpeter to those compositions, which do not indicate them, in the proportions of 1/8th carbon and 1/10 saltpeter respectively. These ingredients facilitate combustion, preventing the resins from turning into ‘glue’ and extinguishing the fire. They can be found at drugstores, pharmacists, etc.

18

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

One should try out these mixtures in small quantities, in order to see which have particular effects on the psyche of the Operator. There are those which can be used as a vehicle to the Operator, a conducting chariot, to raise him up and allow him to reach those states of consciousness normally forbidden to the profane. The one felt to be the most “mystical” should be reserved for meditational worship; the one felt to be the most “intellectual” for meditation and purely doctrinal speculations. Another, more solemn, heavier, more mysterious, for evocations, etc. 9) Oil of Unction. An oil of unction will be necessary for ceremonies consecrating ritual Objects, liturgical Vestments, and to perform the various “Sacraments of the Order” which might occupy the Theurgist with his followers. This is one given to us in the very old “Keys of Solomon” and which we use ourselves: – Pulverized Myrrh………………….100 parts – Finely Pulverized Cinnamon………200 parts – Galanga Root (Indies)……………… 50 parts – Pure Olive Oil……………………...200 parts From this one gets an unctuous paste with should be enclosed in a clear glass container (without a narrow neck). This should be stopped with a hermetically sealed lid. Six months later the paste should be placed on a fine cloth and gently pressed to express the perfumed Oil, which will be collected in a small bottle. This bottle should have a ground stopper. This is the oil of the Pontiffs of Israel, used in the Temple of Jerusalem at the ordination of the High Priests, and given to us in Exodus (XXX, 23, 24, 25): – Myrrh dissolved in alcohol………..500 shekels – Pulverized Cinnamon……………...250 shekels – Sweet Calamus…………………….250 shekels – Cassia……………………………...500 shekels – Olive Oil…………………………...a “Hin” The formula published here is the one given in a manuscript from the 18th Century, form the Arsenal Library, originating from the archive Paulmy d’Argenson, and titled: “The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage”. Agrippa indicates the use of an oil of unction in book IV, page 35.

19

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

D. Liturgical Objects We denote as being Liturgical Objects those intended to “appear” permanently or at certain phases of the Operations, on the Altar Stone, properly stated. Liturgy is a word derived from the Greek lithos: stone, and ergon: work. Thus liturgy is work upon the “stone”, or the shaping of the symbolic “Stone”… These Objects are for the Theurgy which concerns us here: -

Altar cloth, Altar Stone, Lights, including the Candlesticks, Candles and Cherubim, Sanctuary Lamp, Censer and Boat, Crystal Sphere, Great Metallic Pentacle, Luciferum, or Active Candle, Sword, Pentacles, Almond-tree Wand.

1) Altar cloth – Of white linen, with a wide lace border in matching white. This should be covered with another cloth, of crimson red, over the entire upper surface of the Altar, a cloth that will be trimmed with gold edging. For ceremonies following the rhythm of the planetary Week, one may adopt an upper cloth in the color of the Day on which one is operating: Sunday: Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday: Saturday:

Sun, orange-yellow Moon, pale blue Mars, bright red Mercury, yellow or silver-gray Jupiter, purpose or violet Venus, jade green Saturn, indigo, navy blue, clear brown

The use of cloths for magical altars is attested to by Agrippa, book IV, page 235, by Papus, page 297 and other authors. 2) Altar Stone – One should procure a pure marble plaque 65 centimeters square by 20 millimeters thick. One should have a Pentagram engraved on one side and a Hexagram on the other, and then gild these engravings. One side or the other will be used depending on the ritual polarity (see correspondences and their diagrams). Eliphas Lévi, indicates the use of a stone on the magical altar. Vol. I, pages 267 and 268, see also in our work: “In the Shadow of the Cathedrals”, page 257.

20

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

3) Lights – a) Candlesticks. Generally two will suffice to begin with. But soon one will find that to symbolize certain Forces or Attributes, four – or even five – will be necessary. One could buy all of them at the outset: and very beautiful ones can be found in antique stores. b) Candles. The best way is to procure candles made of “liturgical wax” (stearine with 40% beeswax) which are intended for the two Candlesticks necessarily placed on either side of the Crucifix on a Catholic Altar, symbolizing the two great Archangels, Michael and Gabriel, the two Luminaries of the Sun and Moon, or according to others the two other Persons of the Trinity: Father and Holy Spirit. c) Cherubim. – Intended to represent the “Holy Animals” or Chayoth-ha-Kodesh of Ezekiel. One can also use Sphinxes, or two figures, one masculine and the other feminine. One can find bookends or copper firedogs, which will perfectly fit the situation. In the case of bookends, it is preferable for them to be made of wood rather than plaster or agglomerate. d) Seven-branched Candelabra. – A Seven-Branched Candelabra should also be procured, as it figures in certain Ceremonies, which we will discuss later. But it is not generally required. The use of candlesticks or flambeaux with wax candles is referred to by: Agrippa, book IV, pages 35 and 38; Pierre Mora, page 149; by Papus, page 306; and by R. Ambelain, in “Treatise of Esoteric Astrology”, Vol II; “Onomancy”, page 217, and in “Magical Geomancy”, page 37. 4) The Sanctuary Lamp. – A Lamp as found in the Sanctuary, Chapel or Church Choir, with gilded copper or gilded silver feet, with solid ruby-red glass. The lamp from a Mosque is a less attractive proposition, as the glass is green and covered in gold filigree, and this would modify the ambience of our Oratory considerably. The mystical orientation would be very different. This lamp is normally placed, regarding its symbolism of fire (Shin), upon the Altar. Its practical use resides in the fact that it does not give off much light, the better to reveal apparitions, and above all once lit, its emits an intensely mystical and religious atmosphere. One should naturally select an oil lamp, with glass shaped like a floral calyx or a uterus, but one should only ever burn wax or stearine nightlights in it, which will last for around eight hours. Oil, apart from necessarily giving a coat of grease to all the glass surfaces of the lamp through capillary action, could fall over on the Altar or the floor, causing irreparable havoc. The use of a special lamp of the sanctuary type, is recommended and written about in the manuscript cited above: “The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage” (Arsenal Library), and by Eliphas Lévi: Vol. II, pages 132 and 133, and page 102 (engraving). Alphonse Gallais on page 32 included a footnote which shows a lamp of this type.

21

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

5) The Censer and Boat. – A Church Censer or else an oriental-style incense-burner, either in copper or brass, gilded or not. In the latter case, one should remove the crescent moon, which is most often figured upon it, from the top cover. The church type, which is tall and narrow with chains, is to be preferred, as this facilitates the ritualistic censings in the room, about the Theurgist. With an ordinary incense-burner it is always possible to burn the fingers even after only a short time. The Censer is accompanied by a Boat, which is a little receptacle in the form of a boat or antique lamp, which can also be in copper or not, and which holds the incense. It is also place upon the Altar, beside the Censer. A little spoon is usually attached to it by means of a short chain. Khunrath, in diagram 11 of “Amphitheater of the Eternal Wisdom” shows a censer among the objects furnishing the magical Laboratory; Agrippa, book IV, page 36, mentions it among the ritual objects of the magician; Piobb, page 240, also mentions it. Adding a boat, a little container for the incense, is not unusual in itself since the censer is always sold with a boat, and this is often accompanied by a little spoon for the incense by the makers of religious artifacts. The censer with chains allows for circular fumigations, which an incense-burner does not. 6) The Crystal Sphere. – A crystal ball, obviously. These balls are still called “Hindu Mirrors”. They are normally used in operations of seeing (crystallomancy). One should use one with a diameter of 10 to 15 centimeters, and select one, which is quite spherical. Get rid of the wooden support, which comes with the ball, and replace it with a copper bowl, which fits the bottom of the sphere well, to a height of less than a centimeter, so that it doesn’t wobble. An incense-burner in the shape of a bowl of oriental style performs this duty well, but one needs to use a conical or truncated conical shape, since an incense-burner with three feet risks being easily knocked over. Beneath the ball, in the bowl, one puts some water, so that it is bathed in it. One may also put down a small metal or parchment pentacle, and we shall see what type shortly10. The water can also sometimes be replaced by fine river sand. These balls, serving both as a magic mirror and a condenser, have been purchasable at occult bookstores for over thirty years, both in France and abroad. Made by Carl Zeiss, at Iena, before the War the best ones were destined for temples in Asia. These balls are always purchased together with a black wood support, which are quickly discarded so that one may moisten the bottom of the ball. They are cited in the book by Bosc: “Magic Mirrors” (Paris 1912), and by Dr. Paul Joire, in his work “Psychic Phenomena” (Paris 1909). The idea of adding a pentacle on parchment, under the ball, as is also spoken of in our “Practical Talismans”, is unpublished.

10

One assumes Ambelain means beneath the bowl which, if it going to contain water, would quickly erase any design on a parchment! – PV. 22

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

7) The Great Metallic Pentacles. – The described Pentacle is in reality double. A Hexagram (Seal of Solomon) and a Pentagram (Star of David). One is in lead, the other in copper (they should regularly be of silver and gold), contained in a circumference of 20 to 30 centimeters in diameter, and which will be used simultaneously. When one of them is vertical, and hanging on the wall above the Altar, between the two Candlesticks placed a little in front, the second is in front of the Lamp and between these two Candlesticks, a little behind the Censer and the Crystal Sphere (in the center of the triangle formed by the Lamp-Censer-Sphere). Neither of them should be enclosed in a “circle”: on the contrary, the points of the stars must ray freely. The Hexagram signifies “Severity” (in Hebrew, Solomon signifies prison, punishment); the second signifies “Mercy” (in Hebrew, David signifies Love). The first has two senses: Salem or Salom, meaning Peace, Equilibrium, Beatitude, and also Shlom: Severity, Punishment, Prison. This is the seal, which Solomon used to imprison the genies, as legend tells us… The Pentagram is indisputably the star of light and love, being the symbol of Venus, of Anael, and thus in correspondence with the equivalent Sephirotic level. The Hexagram is Faith, Understanding. The Pentagram is Knowledge, Hope and Charity. The Hexagram is the image of the Father; the Pentagram that of the Son. The idea of having a pentacle above the Altar, and another on the Altar itself, and the idea of only using the Pentagram (star with five points) and the Hexagram (star with six points) is not new. Eliphas Lévi, Vol. I, page 268 and Vol. II, page 96; and Agrippa, Book IV, page 35, teach it. 8) The “Luciferum” or Active Candle. – The Luciferum is a special candle, analogous to that carried by penitents and the faithful in processions or religious ceremonies. One should select a candle about a meter tall, and with a diameter going from 40 to 15 millimeters from one end to the other. It should be decorated with a holder made of red velvet, fringed with gold (velvet, wax, gelatin and wood charcoal are all substances which condense “astral light” perfectly). This holder should be fixed about a third up the candle. As the candle is conical, and since the holder might slip, it may be fixed with two silk ligatures. The substitution of the almond or hazel Wand of the magicians of former times by a wax taper is well known. Le Forestier, in his book on the “Elus Cohen”, page 85, cites texts from the Eighteenth Century, drawn from letters by Martinez de Pasqually to his disciples, which show him using the wax candle in place of the operative wand. Upon the wax, immediately after its consecration, the following “Divine Names” are to be engraved near the base, beneath the holder, with the aid of a silver or copper needle (gold is best), each occupying one of the four sectors of the section:

23

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Yvcb 11 Hyn 12 Hyz Hyd

“Bachur” (Light). “Niah” (God of Light). “Ziah” (Shining and Luminous God). “Diah” (Gates of Light).

Towards the top, close to the extremity of the candle, just before the wick, one engraves the fifth Hebrew Divine Name:

Avayav

“Aeyahouah”

Acrostic of the Hebrew phrase signifying “And God said let there be Light…” (Genesis 1:3). The Luciferum is the magic wand of Theurgy, replacing the branch of almond or hazel, which are mentioned in ordinary magic rituals. When not being used and held in the right hand of the Theurgist, it is put upright into a Candlestick, at the foot of the Altar. 9) The Sword. – This is a sword with a straight blade, full bladed or two-edged (and a lozenge in cross-section), with a grip in white, black or light horn; pommel and crossguard in copper, which may be gilded. The guard must always be crucial. An old Masonic sword would be well suited, in view of the symbols, which it bears, signifying the construction of an ideal Temple, both terrestrial and celestial. It should be 80 to 90 centimeters long. One can engrave the following inscription in Hebrew upon the blade: “Agla” (alga) a Kabbalistic acrostic of the famous device (taken from Exodus): “Atah Gibor le-Olam Adonai”, meaning “Thou art mighty forever, O Lord”14.

11

This should surely be Bahir (ryhb), meaning bright, shining? – PV.

Nur (rvn) meaning fiery and the Divine Name, Yah. –ed. This and those that follow are examples of Kabbalistic Notariqon, in which the initial letters of the words of a phrase from the Hebrew Scriptures are used to form a new word condensing the meaning of the original phrase. –ed.

12 13

14

Ynda ilvol rvbg hua – PV. 24

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

On the other side, one may also engrave the word:

abkm “Makaba” Acrostic of this other Kabbalistic device: “Mi Komoïkou boëlim Adonai:, meaning “Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the Gods?” (Exodus, XV:11). The use of a special Sword in magic is well known. Agrippa, book IV, page 43; Eliphas Lévi, vol. I, page 268, and vol. II, pages 131 and 132, talk of it. The latter author has it figure in one of the designs ornamenting vol. II. Alphonse Gallais, page 32, in a plate, shows the magician armed with the ceremonial Sword for conjurations. We speak on it in our book, “In the Shadow of the Cathedrals”. 10) Pectoral and Dorsal Pentacles. – In Operations of exorcism and anti-demoniac conjurations when one will be in direct contact with Powers issuing from the Qlippoth, one should take care to wear two Pentacles, one at the height of the solar plexus, and the other on the back at the same height. They should be made from two pieces of lead, around 20 centimeters in diameter, and about one centimeter or less thick (total weight: around 6 kilograms), carrying engravings of the figures of a Hexagram and a Pentagram. The first will be pectoral (chest) and the second dorsal, according to the times of the Operations. One may add Kabbalistic inscriptions drawn from the Scriptures to these Figures. They can be carried with the aid of two straps passing over the shoulders, and fixed on the torso by two red velvet ribbons joining the two together. The necessary wearing of the Pentagram and the Hexagram, as protecting pentacles, upon the Operator himself, is attested to by Eliphas Lévi, vol. II, page 66 and 96. We cite the pectoral and dorsal pentacles in lead in “Cathédrales”, pages 60, 61, 64, 65, 66 and 67. One can forge them oneself with the aid of a plumber’s torch (or at least an old iron stove). The plaster mold is prepared in advance, in a plate or metal receptacle. When the lead is liquid, it is carefully poured into the mold; with the help of an iron fork or spoon one should remove the slag floating on the surface, and leave it to cool. It can be taken out of the mold when it is well set. Take care to ensure that no moisture remains in the plaster. This can result in spattering by the molten metal. The design is traced on the lead with the aid of a metal point or a colored pencil. The design is cut out by cutting the plaque to a depth of less than three millimeters with the help of a drill (around 10 to 12 millimeters large). Then one will attack the metal with a metal saw.15

15

The next sentence reads: au pis aller, une hégoïne à bois suffit. This says that at worst a wooden tool will do, but I don’t know what the tool is – PV. 25

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

The rough sections are polished with a file, then emery board. Both sides are polished in the same manner, since one of them will usually have many flaws (pits) arising from the cooling of the lead. For our part, we give preference to Pentacles without circles around them. The points of the stars are thus more exposed, and can freely radiate, which is essential. A circle modifies the radiation of the Pentacle. E. Ritual Vestments The ensemble consists of undergarments and symbolical vestments. The first are to help the Operator avoid being in contact with underwear polluted by everyday by use, or through contact with corporeal organs. The latter have the effect of making of the Theurgist a true microcosm, in which symbols and paradigms, as expressed in the embroidery, establish points of contact with the Superior Attributes of the Macrocosm. We will see this shortly. 1) Undergarments. – The operator will furnish himself with a shirt of linen cloth, with drawers in the same material. The shirt will have long sleeves, closed at the wrists, and a collar, which can be tightened with a running ribbon or small cord. The drawers are short, down to the knees at most. It should have a waistband of cord or, better still, buttoned straps or an elastic martingale. 2) Symbolic Vestments. – These comprise a Cloak, a Miter or a Tiara, and Sandals. The Robe is a long tunic falling to the ground, a few fingers above the floor. The sleeves have drawstrings at the wrists, like those on the shirt, to avoid the possibility of upsetting any of the objects on the Altar. The neck is closed at the shoulder or the chest by three or five buttons covered with the same materials as the robe. It will be bound at the waist by a cincture made of a band of material or by a large Cordelier, in a color a little darker than the Robe. One can be content with a single Robe to begin with, and this should always be white. If one can, three Robes may be used for the following Operations: a) Purple or Crimson Robe: Ceremonies of Evocation and Invocation of Higher Powers. b) White Robe: Operations of occult Therapeutics: magnetism, etc… c) Black Robe: Exorcisms, conjurations of Malefic Forces, and spiritual Meditations or Exercises. These Robes should be of linen, silk or, at a pinch, satinette.

26

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Undergarments. – Alphonse Gallais, page 120, cites them, as well as several other ancient authors. Symbolic Vestments. – Robes are cited among the indispensable costume in ceremonial magic by Piobb, page 231; Eliphas Lévi, page 268 of vol. I; by Agrippa, book IV, pages 35 and 36; and by us, in “Cathédrales”, page 21. We stress that there should be one, or three. The necessity of the ternary in practical Magic is identified and developed by Eliphas Lévi in his vol. II, page 64. The nuances of these three robes are drawn from the prescriptions of the Old Testament, with the costume of the High Priest of Israel. The reason and significance of these colors are given by the Baron of Portal in his book “On Symbolic Colors” (Paris 1837), page 142. The use of sandals is given by Le Forestier, page 78 in his book on the “Elus Cohen”, and by Pierre Mora, page 21 in his. The use of gloves is indicated by Pierre Mora, page 21 of the same work. The following authors attest to the fact of wearing a miter or frontal band: Agrippa, book IV, pages 35 – 36; Eliphas Lévi, page 268 of vol. I; by P. Piobb, page 231; by us in “Cathédrales”, pages 22 and 67; in “Magic Geomancy”, page 39; and the miter figures in the engraving on page 49 of the book by Alphonse Gallais, which represents a Mage in the act of performing an operation. On his feet the Theurgist wears Sandals or low Shoes, in leather, canvas, cork, etc. Rubber is proscribed, as it is too isolating and generates a dampness contrary to good fluidic circulation. There should be three pairs of Sandals corresponding to the Robes, if possible. It is better to avoid leather, which usually requires a fair metallic presence in the nails, which hold it together. Regarding the head, one may operate with head bare or covered. This depends on the circumstances. In the case of paragraph “a” one will operate with head bare: in the case of paragraph “b” or “c”, with a frontal band, or miter, or tiara, in the same color as the Robe. These headdresses can be made by cutting the framework out of rough and rigid material, which will serve to support the softer parts in the design. This can then be covered with material identical to that of the Robe. On the middle of the base of this headwear, so that it will be in front in the center, one will have embroidered a Triangle in gold, point upwards, with the Hebrew word:

xaq

KAES

27

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Signifying (through contraction of the initials into a single word): “Kadosh Adonai Elohim Sabaoth”, meaning, “Holy is the Lord God of the Armies of Heaven”16. In Operations “b” and “c”, one can also use Gloves of fine stuff or skin, white. The left glove bears the Hebrew word embroidered in silver

hrvbg

GEBURAH

Signifying “Rigor, Justice”. The right glove carries the Hebrew word embroidered in gold

dsc

CHESED

Signifying “Mercy, Clemency”. If one prefers, one can replace these Kabbalistic devices by Alpha and Omega17. "CELESTIAL" ALPHABET Teth Cheth Zayin Vav He Daleth Gimel Beth

Aleph

Tzaddi Pe Ayin Samekh Num Mem Lamed Caph Yod

Tau

Shin

Resh

Qoph

"MALACHIM" ALPHABET CALLED "THE WRITING OF THE ANGELS" OR "ROYAL" Zayin

Vav

He

Daleth

Yod

Gimel

Beth Aleph

Nun

Mem Lamed Caph

Tau

Shin Resh Qoph Tzaddi Peh Ayin

16

Teth

Cheth

Samekh

In general, remember that the Triangle with point down “calls” Divine, Celestial and Malefic Powers, and that the triangle with point up “raises up” the propitious Prayer of the Operator towards these same Powers. 17 Alpha on the right and Omega on the left. –ed. 28

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

ALPHABET OF "PASSING THE RIVER" Cheth Zayin

Samekh

Tau

Nun

Shin

Vav

He Daleth Gimel Beth Aleph

Mem Lamed Caph

Resh

Qoph

Tzaddi

Yod

Peh

Teth

Ayin

Fig. 10 If one wants to realize to a maximum the Symbolism, one can embroider the Robe and the Sandals too. For the latter, the right sandal will bear the Hebrew word embroidered in gold

y

JAKIN

Signifying “Duration, Foundation”. The left sandal will have embroidered in silver the Hebrew word

b

BOAZ

Signifying “Strength, Power”. These inscriptions will be embroidered in a crown of fleur de lys (the lotus of Egypt, which decorated ancient temples). On the Robes, one may wear, on the anatomically corresponding places, the Hebrew letters designating the parts of the human body, the Kabbalistic “Paths” and the Divine Names, with their analogical correspondences. See the Table of Correspondences of the XXII Letters and Paths. Then, in putting on this Robe, the Operator will truly be the “reflection” of Archetypal Man, of the Kabbalistic Adam Kadmon, since each of the regions of his body of flesh will be linked by a Paradigm to one of the “spiritual regions” corresponding to the Great Metaphysical Man.

29

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Fig. 11 Man and his Planetary and Zodiacal Correspondences The purple or crimson Robe will have characters embroidered in silver in the writing called “Celestial”. The white one, embroidered in gold, will use the “Malachim” script. The hyacinth18 Robe, in the writing called “Passing the River” and in silver (See Figure 10). Each of these categories of characters corresponds to one of the three Planes of Archetypal Man: and to one of the three Worlds of Emanation: Symbolic Alphabets 1) “Celestial” alphabet 2) “Malachim” alphabet 3) “River” alphabet19

In Man Neshamah Ruach Nephesh

In the Archetype Briah Yetzirah Briah

To the Robes, one may add a Mantle in chasuble style. This can be worn when one may be cold (it is useful to have a maximum of mental liberty, and any kind of cold is very harmful to the good outcome of an Operation. Saint Thomas20 himself declared that a minimum of comfort is necessary to be able to properly practice asceticism). F. The Sacramentary, or “Ritual” It is the Formula in which the Theurgist will transcribe his Prayers, Consecrations, Exorcisms, etc. For this one should use a rigid binder which opens flat, and which holds the pages by two metal shanks which perforate them. One should use good quality strong paper, vegetable parchment, or true vellum. This latter allows the Ritual to be illuminated, thus obtaining a magnificent Sacramentary. The leaves, through this process 18

This is at odds with his earlier comment that the three Robes are White, Red and Black! – PV. The River being crossed is the Astral, the aura of the earth. 20 Aquinas – ed. 19

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

of mobile binding, will open flat. They should be perforated at the width and diameter of the metal shanks. If non-perforated vellum or paper is used, one can mark the place for all the sheets to be pieced, then perforate them with a small hole-punch and a light hammer. One should add some bookmarks of varying colors, large ribbons decorated with a lead seal at their ends, which will serve to mark the pages in a permanent manner, and sometimes the verses. Three bookmarks are enough: one black, one white, and one red. The Sacramentary should be permanently deposited, closed upon the lectern. The necessity for a Book, a true ritual, containing the Prayer, formulae of Consecration, etc, is attested to by Agrippa, vol. IV, pages 31 to 34; Eliphas Lévi, vol. II, page 168; Alphonse Gallais, page 121. The term itself figures in the shorter “Larousse Dictionary” with the same meaning as “Ritual”. G. Chalice and Paten For Operators in possession of esoteric Sacerdotal Orders, called the “Priesthood of Melchizedek”, carrying the “power” to offer Bread and Wine, the liturgical accessories are completed with a Chalice and Paten. The first is a cup of crystal, silver, silver-gilt or gold. The second is a small round plate, of the same material as the Chalice. The various models employed by Christian Churches serve perfectly. Let us remember that the filiation of “Priests according to the Order of Melchizedek” is nothing else than an apostolic filiation21. The “Philosophical Floorcloths” In order not to soil the carpet of the Oratory with crayons or charcoal, it is a good idea to paint the Circles for the Operations on pieces of fine cloth, about two meters square. One can affix the cloth with the aid of sharp fine points22 to the floor. Carefully find the middle using two threads running diagonally from the corners. Then place a sharp point in this center and trace the Circles with the aid of a small cord ending in a ring holding a pencil. One may then retrace the track of the pencil carefully with a paintbrush in Chinese ink, and leave it to dry. Then one can paint the Names of God, Angels, Patriarchs, etc, in red. * * * The Wand. – The Wand will be made out of a branch of an almond tree, single and straight, about the length of an arm. It must be cut by the Operator himself, in Spring, at 21

I think the point Ambelain is making is that the priesthood is just another form of initiation ceremony – PV. 22 Thumbtacks – PV. 31

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

dawn on Sunday, facing the East. The Moon should be waxing, coming towards full. If the Virgin’s Ear, or Formalhaut, is rising or culminating, so much the better. It is possible that the almond branch which Eliphas Lévi associates with the Key of Solomon (the Hexagram in the Pentacle), in Operations of Theurgy, cited in the “Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage”, and the Ritual of Avignon (“Illuminati” of Don Pernetty), is in fact an error, arising from a poor translation of the Scriptures. In fact, in identical Ceremonies, Martinez de Pasqually and the ritual of the Elus Cohen, proscribing the sword or wand, impose the use of a wax Candle. Now, in the Book of Jeremiah (I, II), the translators have severally translated this verse, hesitating to translate “shaked” (almond) or “shakad” (watcher). Only the masoretic points would allow the distinction of this nuance. Sometimes one may read: “The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch for the execution of my Words…” Other times it is translated: “…And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I am a Rod who watches for the execution of my Words…” Now, the rod, which watches, is incontestably a Candle. Around the Christian altar, Candles symbolize the Angels of the Celestial court, and the two candles, which must be of beeswax (in the terms of the Canon), on either side of the vertical crucifix, are the two great Archangels. And the Book of Enoch calls Angels the “Watchers of Heaven”. Lenain, in his book “Mysterious Science”, tells us the following on the subject of the Theurgic Wand: “Kabbalists write the name Agla on the mysterious wand which serves in Kabbalistic events, and here is how they do it: one must cut a branch of one year of age, of virgin hazel tree or bush, which is to say that the tree must never have born fruit, and that no branch should have been cut or broken, which is easy to find on a small shrub tree with new growth. It is cut between the hours of eleven and midnight, under influences favorable to the experience for which one works. It must be cut with a new knife, which has never been used and held high, in cutting the wand; certain words are said while facing the East. Then he must bless it, and write on the larger end the name AGLA, in the middle the word ON, and on the thinner end the name TETRAGRAMMATON. These three names must each be accompanied by a cross and with their mysterious character, and when the Operator proceeds to the evocations, he beats the air in the form of a cross with this wand, held towards the four parts of the world beginning in the East, then the south, then the West, then the North, each time pronouncing the following words: “I conjure you O Angel… to obey me now: by the Living God, by the True God, by the Holy God”, and he beats the air each time, forming the cross.

32

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

“As everyone knows the analogy between the circular figure and the unity which is the perfect symbol of God, it is for this reason that he must enclose himself in this mysterious character23 and in the center of a triangle, every time that he proceeds with his evocations”. East

East

Fig. 12

Fig. 13

Pentacle circling the luminaires

Pentacle circling the Censers

Fig. 14 Pentacle circling the crystal. Trace the word Ariel in Hebrew on the sphere with Oil of Unction 23

Fig. 15. Little complementary circle.

That is, the magic circle – PV. 33

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

E. THE SACRAMENTARY (Various Formulae of Exorcisms and Consecrations of Ritual Objects24) “Consecrations are achieved by two means: by the virtue (power) in the person himself, and by that of the prayer used at that consecration”. (H. C. AGRIPPA: Occult Philosophy, IV, 6)

1. – THE INCENSE “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto You. The Lord be with us, and with Your Spirit”. * * * “I exorcise you, Creature of Frankincense, Myrrh and Aromatics by YAH, the Living God, by IOA, the True God, by IAO25, the Holy God. I beseech you by Him who, in the Beginning, separated you from the “Rest of Things”, so that you would be beneficial and retain in yourself nothing of the Dark Power which reigned over you until that time. May you become, on the contrary, the health, inspiration and light, both spiritual and material, of those who believe in your efficacy, so that wherever you are used, at all times and in all places, you will be a remedy and a protection against the snares of the Invisible Adversary. And You, O Powerful and Holy Lord, Whom I confess to be the only True God, I ardently supplicate You to cast a favorable and merciful eye upon me, and to sanctify, through the Power of Your Benediction, this Creature of Frankincense, Myrrh and Aromatics, and to chase away forever the Demonic Spirits which haunt or reside in it. Through Your Most Holy Names: ELOHIM GIBOR, AGLA, YEHESHUAH, ELOHIM HELION. Amen.” * * *

24

Although Ambelain does not indicate this, it would be appropriate to make the Sign of the Cross over the articles while blessing them. The most obvious places to do this are at the Holy Names, and also any words of blessing – PV. 25 It is normal to vibrate Divine Names. These are EE-OH-AH and EE-AH-OH respectively. Note also that ‘Jehovah’ is nowadays usually vibrated as ‘Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh’ – PV. 34

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

“Let us pray. By the intercession of the Blessed Archangel Michael, who stands before the Altar of Perfumes; by the intercession of the Blessed Archangel Raphael, who led and instructed the young Tobit, may the Lord deign to bless this Frankincense, Myrrh and these Aromatics, and accept them in their fragrant odor of sweetness. May this Frankincense, Myrrh and Aromatics be for Your servants redeemed and delivered by You O Lord, our One True God, for a perpetual defense against all the Dark and Evil Powers, and that in every place where the odor of this aromatic Perfume spreads, may no malefic and diabolic molestation ever be able to endure. On the contrary, may They instantly be chased away, and disappear forever under the immensity of Your Force and Strength, as well as by the Power of Your Most Holy Names: ELOAH, EL GIBOR, ELOHIM TZABAOTH and JEHOVAH. You who lives and reigns forever in the immensity of eternity. Amen.” 2. – THE OLIVE OIL “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto You. The Lord be with us, and with Your Spirit”. “I exorcise you, Creature of Oil by YAH, the Living God, by IOA, the True God, by IAO, the Holy God. I beseech you by Him who, in the Beginning, separated you from the “Rest of Things”, so that you would be beneficial and retain in yourself nothing of the Dark Power which reigned over you until that time. May you become, on the contrary, the health, inspiration and power, both spiritual and material, of those who believe in your efficacy, so that wherever you are used, at all times and in all places, you will be a remedy and a protection against the snares of the Invisible Adversary. And You, O Powerful and Holy Lord, Whom I confess to be the only True God, I ardently supplicate You to cast a favorable and merciful eye upon me, and to sanctify, through the Power of Your Benediction, this Creature of Oil, issued from the fruit of the Olive Tree, and to chase away forever the Demonic Spirits which haunt or reside in it. Through Your Most Holy Names: EL, YAH, YOD JEHOVAH, ELOHIM GIBOR, AGLA, YEHESHUAH, ELOHIM HELION. Amen.” * * * “Let us pray. Almighty Lord, before Whom stand all the Armies of Heaven, known to us by the spiritual services that they render us, deign to look down and bless, consecrate and sanctify this Creature of Oil, which You have drawn from the juice of Olives, fruit of the Olive Tree which symbolizes Your divine Wisdom. May all having spiritual or material illnesses which will be anointed according to Your commandment, having recovered health in mind and body, give thanks to You, YAH, the Living God, and IOA, the God of Truth. O Lord, we pray You, may all those who will use this Holy Oil, which I bless in You Name now in this place, be delivered from all weakness, illness and all snares of the Dark and Evil Forces, and may it be Your Creature, sanctified in

35

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Your Name. May all adversaries be kept far from those redeemed by the Grace of Your Precious Son, so that they may never more be wounded by the bite of the Ancient Adversary. Through the same YEHESHUAH, Your Glorious and Wise Son, who lives and reigns forever with You, O Lord my God, in the unity of the RUACH ELOHIM, forever and ever, and through Your Holy Names: EL, YAH, YOD, JEHOVAH. Amen.” 3. – THE SEA SALT “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto You. The Lord be with us, and with Your Spirit”. “I exorcise you, Creature of Salt, issued from the Waters, by YAH, the Living God, by IOA, the True God, by IAO, the Holy God. I beseech you by Him who, in the Beginning, separated you from the “Rest of Things”, so that you would be beneficial and retain in yourself nothing of the Dark Power, which reigned over you until that time. May you become, on the contrary, the health, inspiration and intelligence, both spiritual and material, of those who believe in your efficacy, so that wherever you are used, at all times and in all places, you will be a remedy and a protection against the snares of the Invisible Adversary. And You, O Powerful and Holy Lord, Whom I confess to be the only True God, I ardently supplicate You to cast a favorable and merciful eye upon me, and to sanctify, through the Power of Your Benediction, this Creature of Salt, and to chase away forever the Demonic Spirits which haunt or reside in it. Through Your Most Holy Names: ELOHIM GIBOR, AGLA, YEHESHUAH, ELOHIM HELION. Amen.” * * * “Let us pray. Almighty and Eternal God, I humbly implore You in Your limitless clemency, to deign in Your mercy to bless, sanctify and consecrate this creature of Salt which You have created for the use of Men. May all those that will use it obtain salvation of the soul and health of body, and that all those and all things which will be touched or impregnated by it will henceforth be purified of all impurity and all invasion by the Dark and Evil Powers. Through Your Most Holy Names: SHADDAI, JEHOVAH TZABAOTH, ADONAI MELEKH, ADONAI Ha-ARETZ. Amen.” 4. – THE WATER “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto You. The Lord be with us, and with Your Spirit”. “I exorcise you, Creature of Water by YAH, the Living God, by IOA, the True God, by IAO, the Holy God. I beseech you by Him who, in the Beginning, separated you from the “Rest of Things”, so that you would be beneficial and retain in yourself nothing

36

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

of the Dark Power, which reigned over you until that time. May you become, on the contrary, the health, inspiration and purification, both spiritual and material, of those who believe in your efficacy, so that wherever you are used, at all times and in all places, you will be a remedy and a protection against the snares of the Invisible Adversary. And You, O Powerful and Holy Lord, Whom I confess to be the only True God, I ardently supplicate You to cast a favorable and merciful eye upon me, and to sanctify, through the Power of Your Benediction, this Creature of Water, and to chase away forever the Demonic Spirits which haunt or reside in it. Through Your Most Holy Names: SHADDAI, JEHOVAH TZABAOTH, ELOHIM GIBOR, AGLA, YEHESHUAH, ELOHIM HELION. Amen.” * * * “Let us pray. O Lord who, for the salvation of Men, established through the substance of Water Your greatest Sacraments, be propitious to my prayer, and upon this Element which must serve in so many purifications, deign to spread Your Holy Power and Your Benediction, so that this Creature of Water, used in Your Mysteries, may serve through an act of your Divine Grace, to make the Dark and Evil Powers flee, and to chase away all sickness, and wherever this Water will be spread or thrown, whether it be on a being, an object, in a habitation, or a place or by any other use, all may become clean and pure from all stain, freed from that which is harmful. May no pestilent breath or any corrupt atmosphere, which may be dispensed by the Hidden Adversary ever, take hold there. And if it is a person or thing, which could harm the health, or repose of those who live there, then by the aspersion of this salutary Water may it dissipate and be dispersed. May the grace and health asked in invoking Your Most Holy Names: SHADDAI, JEHOVAH TZABAOTH, be a shelter from all attacks of the Beings from below. Amen.” 5. – THE PENTACLES “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto You. The Lord be with us, and with Your Spirit”. “I exorcise you, O Symbols by God, the Almighty Father, Who created the Heaven and the Earth, and all beings contained therein. By these Pentacles may all Force that the Dark Powers possess, the whole Army of the Evil Spirits, and all attacks and illusions of Satan our Adversary, be uprooted and put to flight. May he who makes use of these Symbols obtain health of Body and Soul. In the Name of ADONAI, AB SHADDAI, of YEHESHUAH BEN SHADDAI, and of RUACH ELOHIM. Amen. * * *

37

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

“O Lord, deliver and save Your Servants whose hope is in You. Be unto us, O Lord, an invincible Fortress in the face of the Enemy. It is the Eternal One who gives Strength and Courage to His people. It is in His Name that the Man of God does battle. From the heights of Your Sanctuary, O Lord, send us Your aid; and from Zion, deign to protect us. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let me cry come unto You.” 6. – THE CENSER “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto You. The Lord be with us, and with Your Spirit”. “I exorcise you, Creature of Copper26 by YAH, the Living God, by IOA, the True God, by IAO, the Holy God. I beseech you by Him who, in the Beginning, separated you from the “Rest of Things”, so that you would be beneficial and retain in yourself nothing of the Dark Power which reigned over you until that time. May you become, on the contrary, the health, inspiration and purification, both spiritual and material, of those who believe in your efficacy, so that wherever you are used, at all times and in all places, you will be a remedy and a protection against the snares of the Invisible Adversary. And, O Powerful and Holy Lord, Whom I confess to be the only True God, I ardently supplicate You to cast a favorable and merciful eye upon me, and to sanctify, through the Power of Your Benediction, this Censer, Creature of Copper, and to chase away forever the Demonic Spirits which haunt or reside in it. Through Your Most Holy Names: ELOHIM GIBOR, AGLA, YEHESHUAH, ELOHIM HELION. Amen.” * * * “Let us pray. By the intercession of the Blessed Archangel Michael, who stands before the Altar of Perfumes; by the intercession of the Blessed Archangel Raphael, who led and instructed the young Tobit, by the Prophets and Sacrificers called Moses, Aaron, Eleazar and Tobit, may the Lord deign to bless this Censer, and dedicate it to His Service, in the fragrant odor of sweetness. O Lord God, True God, may this Censer be for Your Servants, redeemed and saved by You, a perpetual defense against all the Dark and Evil Powers, and that in every place where the odor of the aromatic Incense which it consumes and the Holy Flame which burns there is spread, may no malefic and diabolic molestation ever be able to endure. On the contrary, may They instantly be chased away, and disappear forever under the immensity of Your Force and Strength, as well as by the Power of Your Most Holy Names: ELOAH, EL GIBOR, ELOHIM TZABAOTH and JEHOVAH. You who lives and reigns forever in the immensity of eternity. Amen.”

26

Or earth if one is consecrating an earthenware casserole. –RA As also in all these blessings, making appropriate substitutions wherever different materials have been used. – ed. 38

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

7. – THE LAMP, CANDLESTICKS & CANDLES; THE VOTIVES “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto You. The Lord be with us, and with Your Spirit”. “I exorcise you, Sources of visible light, Creatures of glass, wax and metal, by YAH, the Living God, by IOA, the True God, by IAO, the Holy God. I beseech you by Him who, in the Beginning, separated you from the “Rest of Things”, so that you would be beneficial and retain in yourself nothing of the Dark Power which reigned over you until that time. May you become, on the contrary, the health, inspiration and illumination, both spiritual and material, of those who believe in your efficacy, so that wherever you are used, at all times and in all places, you will be a remedy and a protection against the snares of the Invisible Adversary. And You, O Powerful and Holy Lord, Whom I confess to be the only True God, I ardently supplicate You to cast a favorable and merciful eye upon me, and to sanctify, through the Power of Your Benediction, this Lamp, these Candlesticks, these wax Candles and Votives, and to chase away forever the Demonic Spirits which haunt or reside in them. Through Your Most Holy Names: ELOHIM GIBOR, AGLA, YEHESHUAH, ELOHIM HELION. Amen.” * * * “Let us pray. May it be for me as in times Past, as in the days when God kept me, when His Lamp shone upon my head, and His Light guided me in the Darkness. “O Lord, You Who has been, Who is and Who shall be, Powerful Being of Beings, God of Gods, my God: bless and consecrate this Lamp, these Candlesticks, these Candles and Votives to our present prayers. Spread upon them, O Lord, by the Power of Your Holy Law, Your Celestial Benediction, O You who has made the Illuminating Sun for the Human Race. O Light of Lights, dissipate all the Shadows, and through this holy consecration, may this Lamp, these Candlesticks, these Candles and Votives receive such a Benediction that in whatever place where they are lit or spread their purifying flame, the Powers of Darkness and their material Emanations will immediately retire and flee in fear and trembling. May they forever have no more power to trouble us or to molest Your Servants, O Almighty God Who lives and reigns forever throughout eternity. Through Your Most Holy Names: ELOHIM GIBOR, AGLA, YEHESHUAH, ELOHIM HELION. Amen.” 8. – THE HOSTS “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto You. The Lord be with us, and with Your Spirit”.

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

“I exorcise you, Hosts, Creature of Wheat, by YAH, the Living God, by IOA, the True God, by IAO, the Holy God. I beseech you by Him who, in the Beginning, separated you from the “Rest of Things”, so that you would be beneficial and retain in yourself nothing of the Dark Power which reigned over you until that time. May you become, on the contrary, the health and spiritual nourishment of those who believe in your efficacy, and who will take you for the sustenance of the Soul, having dedicated you to the Lord, to God Omnipotent, the Most High God, King of Heaven and Earth. And may you, Offertory Hosts, once again be accepted as pure and immaculate victims by the God I revere. May you be consumed by the Fire of Holy Sacrifice, and rise up towards the Heavens and the Heaven of Heavens, up to His Glory, as a bearer of my repentance, my prayer and my thanksgiving. And You, O Powerful and Holy Lord, Whom I confess to be the only True God, I ardently supplicate You to cast a favorable and merciful eye upon me, and to sanctify, through the Power of Your Benediction, this unleavened Bread, and to chase away forever the Demonic Spirits which haunt or reside in it. Through Your Most Holy Names: EHEIEH, ELOHIM GIBOR, AGLA, YEHESHUAH, ELOHIM HELION, SHADDAI, ADONAI MELEKH, ADONAI Ha-ARETZ. Amen.” * * * “Let us pray. By the intercession of Melchisedek, King of Salem, and priest of the Most High God, through the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, O Almighty God bless and consecrate this Bread, fruit of the Earth, and the Wheat, which it carries in its belly. By Your Grace, may any who receive it immediately and forever obtain salvation of the soul and health of the body, the certainty of Salvation and solidity of Faith, the completeness of Charity and the Power of Hope; and may the Ruach Elohim, Your Holy Spirit, visit and inspire them. Deign also, Almighty Lord, to accept these holy Hosts when they are offered to You through the channel of Fire, in holocausts of expiation, prayer or thanksgiving, and hearken to him or them who offer them. Through Melchidesek, Your Priest, and through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Your Servants, and through Your Most Holy Names: EHEIEH, SHADDAI, ELOAH, EL GIBOR, ADONAI MELEKH, ADONAI Ha-ARETZ. Amen.” 9. – THE WINE “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto You. The Lord be with us, and with Your Spirit”. “I exorcise you, Creature of Wine, fruit of the Vine which God created, by YAH, the Living God, by IOA, the True God, by IAO, the Holy God. I beseech you by Him who, in the Beginning, separated you from the “Rest of Things”, so that you would be beneficial and retain in yourself nothing of the Dark Power, which reigned over you until that time. May you become, on the contrary, the moral and spiritual health, inspiration

40

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

and purification of those who believe in your efficacy, so that wherever you are used, at all times and in all places you will be a remedy and a protection against the snares of the Invisible Adversary And You, O Powerful and Holy Lord, Whom I confess to be the only True God, I ardently supplicate You to cast a favorable and merciful eye upon me, and to sanctify, through the Power of Your Benediction, this Wine, issued form the Vine, and to chase away forever the Demonic Spirits which haunt or reside in it. Through Your Most Holy Names: ELOHIM GIBOR, AGLA, ELOAH, YEHESHUAH, ELOHIM HELION. Amen.” 10. – THE SWORD “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto You. The Lord be with us, and with Your Spirit”. “I exorcise you, Sword, Creature of steel, copper and horn, by YAH, the Living God, by IOA, the True God, by IAO, the Holy God. I beseech you by Him who, in the Beginning, separated you from the “Rest of Things”, so that you would offer salutary protection to him or them who will use you, and that you will retain in yourself nothing of the Dark and Evil Power which reigned over you until that time. May you become, on the contrary, the spiritual and material help, the safeguard and protection of those who believe in your efficacy, so that wherever you are used, at all times and in all places, you will be a remedy and a protection against the snares of the Invisible Adversary and his legions. And You, O Powerful and Holy Lord, Whom I confess to be the only True God, I ardently supplicate You to cast a favorable and merciful eye upon me, and to sanctify, through the Power of Your Benediction, this Sword, Creature of steel, copper and horn, and to chase away forever the Demonic Spirits which haunt or reside in them. Through Your Most Holy Names: ELOHIM GIBOR, AGLA, YEHESHUAH, ELOHIM HELION. Amen.” * * * “Let us pray. By the intercession of the Blessed Archangel Michael, who fought and defied Satan and his Legions; by the intercession of the Blessed Archangel Uriel, who watches at the portals of Gehenna over the Gates of the Shadowy Realm, by the intercession of the Blessed Archangel who conducted Joshua, by the aid and strength of the Patriarchs who fought, vanquished and enslaved the Dark, Demoniacal Forces, and Solomon, Moses and all the Holy Ones of the Lord God, may the Eternal God deign to bless and consecrate this Sword and accept it into His service. May this Sword be for Your Servants and Your Priests, O Lord and True God, accompanied and watched over by Your Angels, a sure safeguard against all the Dark and Evil Forces, and that in any place where it is used, at any time and in any Operation, no sorcery or disturbance affect them. But on the contrary, may such be chased away and disappear forever under the

41

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

immensity of Your Power and Strength, through the Virtue of Your Most holy Names: ELOHIM GIBOR, AGAL, YAHASHUAH, ELOHIM HELION, MAKABA, and that of the glorious METATRON SARPANIM, Your Envoy. You who lives and reigns forever through all ages, world without end. Amen.” 11. – THE LUCIFERUM27 Same exorcisms and consecration as for the ordinary Candles, but add to the Divine Names utilized those which are graven upon the wax, at the head and base of the Candle. 12. – THE CRYSTAL BALL “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto You. The Lord be with us, and with Your Spirit”. “I exorcise you, Creature of Crystal, by YAH, the Living God, by IOA, the True God, by IAO, the Holy God. I beseech you by Him who, in the Beginning, separated you from the “Rest of Things”, so that you would offer salutary protection to him or them who will use you, and that you will retain in yourself nothing of the Dark and Evil Power which reigned over you until that time. May you become, on the contrary, the image, reflection and double of this Universe, both celestial and terrestrial, created by Almighty God, and may you be on the contrary the new “Witness” and the New Ark of the Covenant by which God will manifest to Man His merciful and salutary “Ways”, and may his Angels therein come to reveal all that is necessary for the spiritual and material health of those who will have recourse to it with faith. And You, O Powerful and Holy Lord, Whom I confess to be the only True God, I ardently supplicate to cast a favorable and merciful eye upon me, and to sanctify, through the Power of Your Benediction, this Creature of pure Crystal, and to chase away forever the Demonic Spirits which haunt or reside in it. Through Your Most Holy Names: ELOHIM GIBOR, AGLA, YEHESHUAH, ELOHIM HELION. Amen.” * * * “Let us pray. Almighty God, Being of Beings, You who have been, is and shall be, Lord of the Armies of Heaven, You who manifested Yourself to Adam our Father, in the Garden of Eden; who manifested Yourself to Noah, to Moses and to Solomon, I pray You most humbly to consecrate, bless and sanctify this Creature of pure Crystal, the image of this Universe which You created. May it manifest the divine Arcana of Your Wisdom and the Sacred Mysteries of Your Presence in its inner light, limpid and clear like living water springing from its source. Within the Confines of this New Abode which I dedicate to You, O Lord my God, may Your Angels of Light come to live, and 27

The central operative candle – PV. 42

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

most particularly Your Servant Ariel. May he summon, command and order his Companions, Your subjects, to instruct me, to reveal and explain the Holy “Ways”: the secrets of the Past, the enigma of the Present and the mysteries of What Is To Come! Bless, O Lord, him, her or them who will have recourse with veneration and faith to this Crystal. Preserve, O Lord, this Creature of Crystal without spot or stain. Almighty God, Who said to Your Servant Moses: “I will be standing there in front of you, on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and Water will come out of it, so that Israël may drink…”, inspire me and give me Your Strength.” (A short time is spent in silence and meditation). (The Operator then raises his hands towards the Heavens, and lowers them slowly upon the Crystal Sphere, joined, one upon the other, thumbs in a square). “Eternal God, Strong and Wise, Powerful Being of Beings, come into this object. Sanctify it with Your Presence and through Your Majesty, so that Purity, Chastity and the Fullness of Your Law may dwell herein. And as the smoke of this Incense rises towards You, may Your Virtue and Benediction descend into it. Angles and spirits, be present at this consecration: by the Living and Eternal God, Who created you out of nothing, like me, and Who can plunge me with you back into Nothingness in an instant, through His Wisdom. Amen.” “And so by virtue of these Words, by Oil, by Water, by Ashes and by Wine, I purify you, Creature of Crystal, I sanctify you and I consecrate you28. May you flow forth like a spring of living water, and shoot forth God’s Intelligence and Wisdom like a fertile wave!” “Come Angels and Celestial Spirits! Come Ariel, come, and may it be your pleasure to be in me, through your Will, through and in the Name of the Almighty Father, in the Name of the Most Wise Son, in the Name of the Most Kind Holy Spirit. Come Ariel, in the Name of EHEIEH! Come Ariel, in the Name of ELOAH! Come Ariel, in the Name of ELOHIM! Come Ariel, through the arms of the All-Powerful Metatron! Come to me, and command your Angels to instruct me in the Mysteries of God with love, joy and peace.” (The Operator kneels, hands joined together): “Almighty Lord, who sets in motion all that You have created, grant my prayer, and may my wish be acceptable to You. Look down, O Lord, upon this Crystal Sphere, and bless it, so that your Angel Ariel will rest there with his Companions, to satisfy N. Your humble and obedient servant. O God, Who is Blessed and Exalted above all the Celestial Spirits, who lives and reigns forever throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

28

It would be logical to apply these substances in the form of a cross upon the Crystal as they are invoked or to pour a mixture of these substances previously prepared – PV. 43

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

* * * INVOCATION OF SOLOMON Powers of the Kingdom, be beneath my left foot and in my right hand! Glory and Eternity, touch both my shoulders and direct me in the paths of Victory! Mercy and Justice, be the Balance and Splendor of my life! Intelligence and Wisdom, give me the Crown!29 Spirit of Malkuth, conduct me between the two Columns on which rely the whole edifice of the Temple! Angels of Netzach and Hod, affirm me on the Cubic Stone of Yesod! O Gedulael! O Geburael! O Tipheriel30! O Binael, be my Love! Ruach, Chokmael, be my Light! O Ketheriel, be what you have always been, what you are and ever shall be! Ishim, assist me in the name of Adonai! Cherubim, be my strength in the name of Shaddai! Beni-Elohim, be my Brothers in the name of the Son and through the virtues of Tzabaoth! Elohim, fight for me in the name of the Tetragrammaton! Malachim, protect me in the name of Jahweh! Seraphim, purify my love in the name of Eloha! Hashmalim, enlighten me with the splendors of Elohim and of the Shekinah! Aralim act! Ophanim turn, be resplendent Holy Forces whirl, shout, spread the Divine Virtues! Kadosh! Kadosh! Kadosh! Shaddai! Adonai! Iotchavah! Eiazerieth! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!31

29

This line is missing in the script – however, other versions contain it and it is most likely that the invocation to the top three Sephiroth was simply missed – PV. 30 Tiphereth in the original script, but it seems more likely the invocation of the angel – PV. 31 Other version and translations are in existence – PV. 44

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

INCANTATION OF THE DIVINE NAMES Eheieh: Yod: Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh Elohim: El: Elohim Gibor: Eloha: Adonai Tzabaoth: Elohim Tzabaoth: Shaddai: Adonai Melekh:

Sch’ma Teflou! Sch’ma Teflou! Sch’ma Teflou! Sch’ma Teflou! Sch’ma Teflou! Sch’ma Teflou! Sch’ma Teflou! Sch’ma Reflou! Sch’ma Teflou! Sch’ma Teflou!

CONJURATION OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS Angel with the Dead Eyes, obey me, or be repelled by this holy water! Winged Bull, work, or return to the earth, if you do not wish to feel the point of this sword! Chained Eagle, obey this sign, or be borne away before this puff of wind! Moving Serpent, creep to my feet, or be tormented by the sacred fire and evaporate in the perfume which I burn! May Water return to Water! May Fire burn! May Air revolve! May Earth fall upon Earth! By virtue of the Pentagram, the Morning Star! In the Name of Tetragrammaton, written in the center of the Cross of Light! In the Name of INRI! Through Him who was born at Night, Who Shines and brings Light to all! Amen.

Holy Spirit :$8% %&9& Hakodesh Verouah

Son 0" Ben

God .&8/ Makom God Uni-Trinity !-#! Agla

Father "! Ab

Hebrew orthography

45

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

SEPHIROTH

NAMES OF GOD ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF LETTERS

Crown :9;, Kether Wisdom %/,% Chokmah Intelligence %1*" Binah Generosity :$2( Chesed Strength %9&"# Geburah Beauty ;!95; Tiphereth Victory (71 Netzach Praise $&% Hod

Me :* I God Being in himself -! %* El Yah Jesus Omnipotent :&:* *$: Yeshouh Schaddai Being of Beings :%&%* Jehovah Savior God Most High %&:%* .*(-! 0&*-3 Yeheschuah Elohim Helion Dieu fort 9&"# -! El Gibor Immuable !;*9!9! Ararita Knowledge of God %&%* Jehovah Of armies Lord ;"!&; %&%* Tzabaoth Jehovah Of armies God ;&!"; .*%-! Tzabaoth Elohim

Foundation $&2* Yesod Kingdom ;&,-/ Malkuth

KABBALISTIC NAMES OF GOD I will be %*%! Eheieh Being of Beings Me %&%* * Jehovah I God Being of Beings .*%-! %&%* Elohim Being of Beings God :-! El Strong God 9&"# .*%-! Gibor Elohim God %&-! Eloah Of armies Lord ;&!"7 %&%* Tzabaoth Jehovah Of armies God32 ;&!"7 .*%-! Tzabaoth Elohim Omnipotent *$: Shaddai Lord *1$! Adonai

Hebrew orthography (ctd)

32

Being Hebrew, the phrases should be read right to left. Here ‘God of Armies’ (Elohim Tzabaoth) – PV. 46

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

INTELLIGENCES OF THE SPHERES

ORDERS OF THE BLESSED

Prince of the World 0&9))/ Metatron Messenger of God -!*79 Ratziel Contemplation of God -!*857 Tsaphkiel Justice of God

Seraphim Holy Animals :$&8% ;&*( Hakodesh Chayoth Cherubim Wheels :.*15&! Ophanim Thrones Powers :.*-!9! Erelim Dominations Sparks .*-/:9 Haschmalim Powers Flaming Ones .*59: Seraphim Virtues Kings .*,-/ Malachim Principalities Gods .*%-! Elohim Archangels Children of God .*%-! &1" Elohim Beni Angels Support of children .*"&9, Kerubim Blessed Souls Men .*:! Ishim

Tzadkiel Punishment of God -!/2 Samael Like unto God -!,*/ Michael Grace of God -!*1,( Haniel Healer of God -!59 Raphael Man of God -!*9"# Gabriel Messiah :0&9))/ Metatron

Hebrew Orthography (ctd)

47

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

III. ENERGETIC FORCES We have seen that Forces, roused by the Powers of the Kabbalist, are the Energetic Forces, rising up from the Universe in its totality, or simple relating to one of its parts, and the knowledge of them is attached to the study of Traditional Metaphysics. These Forces are subdivided into: a)

Entities (from the scholastic Latin entitas: being). The Entity is a “principle” whose existence is distinct from the actual thing it denotes. The union of many Entities constitutes an Egregore.

b)

Collectivity, or Egregores, a union of Individualities, which emit a general or particular character common to all of them (form the Latin colligere: unite).

a. Entities Entities are named differently according to race, religion and epoch: Gods, goddesses, seraphim, cherubim, archangels, angels, devas, gandarvas, daimons, geni(us)es33, etc, and designate different natures in detail, but always one in principle. Their purpose is, in their own little sphere or in the plane in which they evolve, to collaborate as much in the creation as in the preservation of the Universe. The creative Logos uses them to administer His Work. As such, they are thus, in the full sense of the word, demiurgii (Divine workers). * * * Compared to Man (individualized man), Entities cannot take corporeal form like him. If they have sometimes been able to show themselves, within theurgic ceremonies, as clothed in material form, this is only in outward appearance. Their existence is not like that of God, omnipresent and eternal. They live in the higher planes to that in which men move, according to their more or less elevated level of spirituality, equating to the greater or lesser grand action of Divine essence within them. They are subject to Time, not being eternal like God. They are subject to Space (at least to a certain type of Space) being creatures, which move in Time. They can thus go from one place to another, even be they the most distant points, as if instantaneously.

33

I prefer to translate this as ‘geniuses’ instead of ‘genii’ as the term has more currency in Western mysticism, including the geniuses of the planets and stars – PV. 48

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

They can also leave one place slowly and go slowly to another, as it pleases them. For their movement is but the successive application of their own activity on various beings or in various places which are nevertheless parts of the same whole. * * * As spiritual creatures, Entities have an existence consisting of knowing and acting. In them is found a purely intellectual knowledge. There is no experiential knowledge as found in individualized man, for the simple reason that this experiential knowledge is made through the intermediary of a body, which Entities do not possess. Not being able to draw their knowledge from an exterior world, they seize the true aspect of things from a single perception without the need to reason – as is necessary for man – thus, their knowledge is more perfect than his. For this reason they are superior to him. * * * Entities necessarily perceive all that takes place in the world exterior to them, for the ideas of their spirit are manifested to them as they take place. However, the domain of pure thought escapes them, for insofar as a thought is not expressed by a word, they cannot join in the necessary chain of exterior events. Entities therefore cannot know human thoughts unless man reveals them through his acts or through his words34. It follows that they have a view of the Future, which is restricted to a single realm by means of a partial realization. When an unexpressed thought prepares to disturb the anticipated unfolding of the Future, and it then takes place in reality, the Entities will be misguided in their prescience of the Future… On the other hand, the Present and the Past are accessible to them, as least insofar as it does not exist in the realm of pure thought. * * * The ancient and medieval theologians and philosophers wrote at length about the world of Entities. All of them concluded that the sidereal bodies, the stars, like all spiritual or material communities in our terrestrial world, have invisible governors, charged with leading them to the place which Providence has, for all eternity, determined. 34

From this comes the need to perform an act or word. A mental welcome is usually ineffective. The “spoken word”, through its deep-seated instinctiveness, takes on a power possessed by a heavy and ripened phrase, rightly restrained by the care that one takes to elaborate and construct it…It only finds its power under the form of ritual formulae: it is the repetition and importance given to its use that restores power to them. 49

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Such was the belief of Eusebius Pamphilus in his “Theological Solutions”, of Augustin in his “Enchiridion”, of Albertus Magnus in his “Four Coequals”, of Thomas Aquinas in his books on “Spiritual Creatures”, of John Scott in the second book of “Sentences”, and of Bishop William of Paris (who was an Alchemist and to whom are attributed the hermetic bas-reliefs of Notre-Dame) in his “Sum of the Universe”. Before them, Plotinus, Iamblichus, Pythagoras, Plato, Socrates, Moses, and all the mystics had reached the same conclusion. * * * According to universal tradition, there are three types of Entity. Only terminology differs between races, religions and places. Those in the First Order belong to the supercelestial world. They have no government over the things of the world, and perform no ministry. They are intellectual spheres, “pure spirits” in the complete sense of the word. They alone are turned towards the Absolute. Moreover they serve as the executive channel with regard to the median class. Catholic Angeology has the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones in this class. Those in the Second Order, or intermediary class, are situated in the celestial world. The ancient philosophers called them mundane daimons, since they did not work in the direct service of the Creator, but in the spheres of the World. These are the animators of the Primum Mobile. Catholic theologians class them as Dominations, Powers and Virtues. Kabbalists see them simply as the Angels of the spheres of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the lunar planet. To this class also belong the geniuses of the Decans, Faces and Degrees, of the Zodiacal sphere or the Fixed Stars, and those of the Twelve Celestial Signs. Finally, the third category is that of terrestrial geniuses. Hermetic philosophers placed them in four categories, according to the four elements (fire, air, water, earth). Origen, the Christian philosopher, tells us that they participate in our lives here below by guiding our actions, according to the nature peculiar to each of them. The Catholic theologians see in them the three final choirs of Angels, which include Principalities, Archangels, and “guardian” Angels35. The Hermetists assure us that these beings orient us towards the domain which is proper to them when we are, in ourselves, turned towards them spiritually. It is for this reason it appears that the daimons of Fire follow the thoughts of higher souls, and guide them towards the contemplative life and of things sublime. The 35

No correspondence with those of the Elements, besides. 50

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

daimons of Air make us reasonable people, preferring to awaken rational powers in us, freeing us to some measure from sensual and vital power. They lead us toward an active life. The daimons of Water follow imagination and the senses. They lead us toward a sensual and voluptuous life. The daimons of Earth are of a still other nature, poorly defined by the ancients. One may admit that they are neutral in their action, and lead us towards a purely vegetative life, if we attach ourselves too closely to inanimate matter (avarice, indifference towards ideals, etc…). * * * In these four elements (Fire, Air, Water, Earth) one shouldn’t see the physical things defined in present day expression, but symbolic essences, with all that this analogy suggests. Then our Reason will be able to conceive these Beings as currents, intelligences, living things, but with a rudimentary intelligence, for example, ignorant that elements different to theirs exist. We will return to them shortly, while studying “Matter”, material support of talismanic “Form”. These currents, these forces, connect to us through our spiritual or sensual orientation. We establish a contact with them, and in their turn they take us in the exact direction of the beyond, into the spiritual realms, which are their own. And if we visualize them in the course of metaphysical manifestations, either ecstatic or magical, we will be led to express them according to an exact mode, unchangeable whatever the individual who is the object. And herein is the key. Human morphology alone does not people the psychic universe, for the thoughts of man and the games of his creative imagination are only one of the many aspects of Universal Life. Eternal substance thus assumes many forms in the heart of which strange creatures are manifested. It is certain that these forms do not in fact assume the intuitive countenances given them by our imagination in its analogical reverie. These corporeal realizations are far from the feeble stability of tangible Matter. They are infinitely free, moveable, fluid and changeable. But since our intellect intuitively acts to recognize Man as being the highest aspect of Form, and since logical experience gives him proof of this, it follows that rightly or wrongly we almost always attribute an anthropomorphic countenance to the entities which populate the eternal substratum36. 36

The Astral of occultists. 51

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

From this comes the fact that individual transcendental entities are frequently given a human appearance. In fact, if we examine figure No. 11, we will prove that the human form is the harmonious geometrical synthesis of all traditional graphic symbols comprising all possible correspondences of lines, dimensions and movements37. “Wherever the spirit can fashion this supreme organ, the revealer of its harmonies38”, says Paul Richard, “ the form of Man appears, more perfect than the human state can be”. But does the formal beauty in which we instinctively clothe them imply a moral beauty? Not at all! For we only perceive the external side of these beings, and not their inner state, which is only visible through experience and after these beings are revealed to us over a long time through their actions. Until then, we only perceive one thing, an intelligence at work in a substance more refined than ours (and which creates an illusion for us), which it moulds, kneads, and transforms at will. Also, the Beings, which live in the heart of the eternal Substratum, can fascinate us with an apparent beauty, proceeding from their essential superiority over us. But this is not a strong proof of Goodness and Purity. And these Beings have the same interest in us that we have for bees, which give us their honey. “The Gods”, Shakespeare tells us, “serve men as men serve torches! They only illuminate them for their own use…” Certainly it is possible for them to commune to a certain extent with the Superior Divine Power Himself, within the limits of their greater or lesser spirituality. Without doubt, power put into service of the most egotistical intelligence in existence is less frightening than the fearful and destructive stupidity of an obscuring Power. But for these Gods it is a necessity; man however great his holiness, cannot prolong his life except by destroying the life of other natural beings, be they vegetable or animal. The East speaks to us of “human livestock, fattened by the gods!” The West tells us that “God is a fire which burns!” and the mystics agree that it is enough to have been placed for a single instant in the presence of a beloved God so that, receiving the kiss of fire of these mysterious nuptials, “the soul is overcome in Him forever…”. Also if, as Martinez de Pasqually affirmed to his disciples, “Man is by right their Master”, how many theurgists are nevertheless strong enough to approach these psychic Beings, and understand them rather than to intuit them, and to preserve themselves from the fatal “attraction” which constitutes this very method? Very few, no doubt! And yet this is the great secret of operative Gnosis, the redoubtable arcana of “Life Eternal”, known to the gods, and liberated from them. This is why the Apostle could say that Ignorance is the worst of evils, since we are enslaved by the Archons. 37 38

See “The Number of Gold” by Matila Ghyka, an extraordinary study of the mystery of the Pentagram. P. Richard: The Gods. 52

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

* * * An abstract thing is impossible to visualize except in a familiar form. So sculptors and painters have seen fit to give Angels a more or less large number of wings, in order to symbolize their more or less great spirituality of essence, or the image of a majestic old man to God, His “age” thereby evoking His Perpetuity In the same way, the demons of popular legend are always horrible and menacing in their traditional representations, whatever the continent, whatever the race. Now, in a theurgic or magic operation, it is the same. The higher consciousness sees directly, in their essence, the beings in question. At this moment in time there is a contact, and interpenetration between the Operator and the Entity. The subconscious receives this perception from the higher consciousness, a little like a vague intuition, poorly defined. To understand it, to express it in a physical sense, it uses images, and symbols, as does a Sybil. The key to these latter forms we will define as such. * * * When we are dealing with a purely anthropomorphic form, a human form but with a more or less large number of specifics (wings, rays, glories, etc), we are dealing with a creature of the higher planes: celestial or supercelestial. The details of the image specify this for us. When the visualized form is half-human and half-animal, the entity is clearly from a lower plane. The characteristic of its partial animality will define its true nature. As such were represented the gods of ancient Egypt, gods with heads of a lion, a lioness, a hawk, a cat, an ibis, etc., or the gnostic Abraxas, the man with the head of a cockerel, image of the Sun (the bird which announces the rising of this astral body). When the visualized form is purely animal or monstrous, it is rare for it to act in a perfectly natural form. Usually the apparition will be composite. We can then be sure that this entity in question is close to us and that this should incite us to be suspicious. If we see wings, it will be more intellectually elevated than if we only see limbs. However, this would not confirm a certain moral superiority! Claws, horns, reptilian forms, creeping forms, a plurality of form, the impression of “swarming” should indicate certain danger to us.

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

If we simply “see” a vague or dull form, it comes from an unintelligent, natural power, at the limits of the tangible. Of such type is the famous “black veil” of Scottish tales, announcing death or mourning. (It is the veil, which separates this world from the other. It evokes something of the unknown). If we have to deal with an auditory and not a visual phenomenon, the same keys will be useful. Our subconscious translates them according to the same rules. Let us quote from memory the screeching of the cartwheels of the Ankou39, and the beating of the Washerwomen in the legends of Brittany. Symbols and images awaken in us a link with the traditions we are familiar with, or restore our racial subconscious. But, once more, let us note that these Entities are powers, currents, and nothing more. We visualize them in two dimensions, but this should not convince you that they are two-dimensional beings. Perhaps they sometimes only have one dimension… We also translate certain natural powers and concepts according to identical rules. So we speak of the “Spectral fairy” which represents Death in the image of a skeleton armed with falsehood40, or that of the political image of a country having its own image (that of the French Nation wears a Phrygian cap, the ancient symbol of emancipation), that Plenty has its Horn, that blind Fortune spins its Wheel, and that Love bends its bow! These are concepts, vitalized by time immemorial, and visualized by equally immemorial custom. The Holy Scriptures, the Gospel according to St. John, the books of the Prophets (Ezekiel, Daniel, etc…), the Apocalypse, all give us frequent representation of this type of image (the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Animals of Ezekiel, etc…). * * * Time-honored experience has proven that evocations brought about by the same ritual generate identical manifestations. In the factors of time, place and name, the Powers are thus set in motion. The Ritual is thus a true formula of transcendental physics, the operator being the prime matter subjected to the actions of this formula, being both the Object of the operation and also the Result.

39

I am not familiar with Brittany legend, but apparently this refers to a gruesome legendary tradition of burying an unmarried person alive in a grave, so that their restless spirit would protect the graveyard. The moral: get married!– PV. 40 I do not know this reference, which in French reads: « nous parlons de la ‘fée Electricité’, que nous représentons la Mort sous l’aspect d’un squelette armé d’une faux » – PV. Scythe ? –ed. 54

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

b. Egregores We give the name Egregore to a Force generated by a powerful spiritual current and later fed at regular intervals, conforming to a rhythm in harmony with the Universal Life of the Cosmos, or to a meeting of Entities united by a common characteristic. In the Invisible, outside of the physical perception of Man, there exist artificial beings, generated by devotion, enthusiasm or fanaticism, which we call egregores. These are the hearts of the great spiritual currents, good or evil. The Mystical Church, Celestial Jerusalem, the Body of Christ, and all such titles, are the qualifications, which give communion to the egregore of Catholicism. Freemasonry, Protestantism, Islam, and Buddhism have egregores. Great political ideologies have them too. Psychically integrated through ritual initiation or through an intellectual adherence to these currents, the affiliate becomes one of its constitutive cells. He augments the power of the egregore through the qualities or faults which he possesses, and in exchange, the egregore isolates him from the external forces of the physical world, and with the collective force it had previously stored, greatly enhances the feeble means of activity of the man who joins with it. Instinctively, popular language gives the name of “circle” to an egregore, thus intuitively expressing the idea of a circuit. Between the constitutive cell and the egregore – that is to say, between the affiliate and the group – a sort of inner psychic circulation is thereby established. This explains why opponents of such a concept, on studying the origin, nature and life of this concept, often end by joining with it or at least by espousing a part of the theories, even without their knowledge. They are connected to a current, which, as it is more powerful than those who are primitively linked to it, carries them unknowingly away from the road that they imagined they were following. If they were free of any affiliation41, this action would only be the more brutal and strong. This rule holds for all great currents of ideas: philosophical, religious and political. * * But a spiritual current cannot become alive in the occult sense of the word, unless rituals vitalize it. Egregores are vitalized concepts. This explains why only human associations having a ritual character (Catholic religion, Masonry, Martinism, etc) can expect to generate an egregore, and consequently, for it to endure for a long time.

41

This works on both a physical and psychic level: any scientific writer proposing a radically different theory to the norm will find him- or herself ostracized by the scientific community, as well as feeling the force of going against its egregore (for right or wrong), if he or she does not belong to another powerful egregore (perhaps a scientist trying to introduce astrological theory into astronomy will to some extent be shielded by the egregore of astrologers?) in the first place – PV. 55

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

The destruction of an egregore can only be rapidly achieved through the death by fire of its living members, the destruction of the symbols which concretize it or which are linked to it, as well as all the writings connected with it (rituals, archives, etc). The egregore will be slowly destroyed when it is abandoned to itself, with no rituals, no spiritual current being generated through precise occult rules, which would perpetuate its existence. The incineration of its living members and the writings connected with it, alone assure the destruction of the physical body and of the double of all beings or all things. A simple, ordinary death (without the total destruction of the image), while it removes material life, is not an obstacle to astral life. Moreover, a death accompanied by the shedding of blood will only strengthen the occult vitality of an egregore, by virtue of the mysterious power of blood when it is liberated under a sacrificial form. This explains why the pagan persecutions against Christianity in fact only served to increase its abundance; equally, the fact that heretics and their writings were often destroyed by fire. Here one can see that the Catholic Church surmised the secret of the life of egregores. The reactions of the egregore towards an expelled cell are often very dangerous, although always affecting a perfectly natural demeanor. Most often this rejection will considerably modify the destiny of the “excommunicated”, a destiny already modified once before through the affiliation. When quitting an egregore, he would be prudent to integrate himself, even if only for a moment, with the idea of an equivalent but opposite power. * * * Just as the constitutive cells of an egregore are drawn from humanity itself, form the material plane, so other constitutive cells of this egregore are extracted form the world of entities. Thus the egregore lives on the physical plane (where it acts through the intermediary of Man) and on the higher plane (where it acts through the intermediary of the Entities). It thus possesses a body, a double, a soul. This has its equivalent in the triple Church: militant (terrestrial), suffering (astral), and triumphant (celestial). * * * The rhythm of life of the egregore being assured through ritual, one may easily understand that the least disturbance of this ritual brings with it an identical disturbance

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

in the vital rhythm of the concept42. It is a little like a human organ which starts to function abnormally. Once established and perpetuated through usage and time, a ritual cannot be modified without causing a weakening of the egregore. This explains why this secret is of particular importance in rituals of Initiation. * * * Just as Divine Names, Words of Power, etc (that is to say, ritual definitions hallowed by custom), concurrently allow formulae, prayers and invocations (also hallowed by custom) to establish a spiritual rapport between Man and God, so also special and secret names, words and formulae are used to awaken and establish the egregore. But if the passive life if this “vitalized concept” is assured through the mass of the faithful, its active life can only be assured by those certain members who are the most constant and the most qualified. This implies that there is, of necessity, a hierarchal structure in all Associations. Equality, if one must have equality, can only be set up for the “inner circle” placed in charge of the egregore. * * * Finally, the great cosmic laws and most particularly those relating to time, epochs, duration, must collaborate in the life of the egregore. This explains why all great ceremonial rituals, be they religious or philosophical, are held at the equinoxes and the solstices, or on dates corresponding with these four great annual divisions, and their flows. Equally, the progression of the Stars is observed, as well as the influence, which can be obtained from a location, and orientation, etc43… * * * The conventional image of an egregore, its mental representation, equate to a reality in the astral plane or immediate hyperphysical world. Republic, Country, Justice, 42

From this arises the certain occult efficacy of a profanation, which consists of a revelation or public exposition of that which should remain hidden. (the French says: “d’où l’efficience occulte certaine d’une profanation, laquelle peut ne consister qu’en une divulgation ou une exposition publique de ce qui devait demeurer caché :. –PV) 43 We need look no further than the Catholic Church for an example of the astronomical observations necessary to determine Easter, the Eastward orientation, etc – PV. 57

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

War and Famine are images of egregores. Man, in visualizing these concepts, necessarily anthropomorphizes them. In the Divine Plane, where everything is equated to a numeration, to a divine number, it is the “sign” or seal (sigillum), which concretizes the egregore. Such are, successively, the Seal of Solomon or Hexagram, the Pentagram or Star of David44, the Latin Cross, the Masonic Triangle and the innumerable signs and seals, representing Entities, which are transmitted to us in the books of Magic and Kabbalah. All egregores must therefore possess a sign, characteristic of its nature, its ends, its means. Regarding the affiliate, this sign is both a protection, a support and a point of contact. It thereby becomes a true Pentacle45. * * * When an egregore has lived for a long time, it acquires a relatively independent existence. Then it no longer obeys the impulses, which the masters of the sect transmit to it through the intermediary of ritual, and, no longer a docile slave, it often becomes a fierce tyrant. This explains why, quite often, a movement later deviates far from its originally declared goals. Also, the egregore can affect the material. The secret of conquering an egregore through evoking it was a secret known to the priests of Rome. The psychic formation of egregores had long been described in many works of occultism. The rules of yoga form part of them. The “Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius”, a work known to all the disciples of the Jesuits, is also a part of this body of work. * * * The occult life of egregores is assured through processes identical to those used by Magic to vivify those forces called elementaries. The blood of victims (holocausts of adoration or expiation), aromatic resins, frankincense, myrrh, etc., (the blood of vegetables), the visualization of a concretizing image, mental currents, chains of union, etc., form part of this animating and preserving ritual book of egregores. * * *

44

Note that Ambelain calls the Hexagram (Macrocosm) the Seal of Solomon and the Pentagram (Microcosm) the Star of David, contrary to the usual modern usage of the six-pointed star as the Star of David – PV. 45 The Shield of a very old family is its Pentacle, the Genealogical Tree its “magical” chain. “Suddenly the descendants form but one Being”, said Maurice Barrès. 58

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

The material life of egregores is assured through the number of their members, their discipline, their spiritual union, their strict observance of the vivifying and preserving rituals. Equally assured is the life of currents of sympathy or antipathy, generated in the profane world, and extremely harmful to the vitalization of concepts as well as their actions. All the more reason that the processes of occult action through traditional Magic and Theurgy are powerful means of application or combat regarding egregores, so long as their power is in harmony with the aforementioned concepts. This explains why sacrilege and profanation have, in all times, been considered to be religious crimes. * * * We now come to explain the role and purpose of the Masonic “Chain of Union”. Generator and animator of the Egregore of the Order, it has no other purpose than that of sending into the “spiritual realms” closed to carnal senses and to their action, currents of power to generate a metaphysical being, free from all anthropomorphism. Issuing from this human assembly, born from its will and its ideal substance, this being of another world becomes the God-leader. A reproduction of the directing principle of Freemasonry and desiring the power born from the majority, it will only become the authority when it has extracted it from them. Then it becomes the Masonic “spirit”, the true egregore of the Order.

c. The “Realm of Shadows” Beings who, either being malefic by nature or because of their point of involution, seek every possible means to safeguard their existence thus defined, by assuring themselves of the correct conditions, have already found a realm ON EARTH. This is the cone of shadow, which the earth carries behind it, sweeping across interstellar space, and which solar light never directly penetrates; only the full Moon reflects it there, at the time when the two luminaries are in opposition. All beings, in order to develop and subsist, consciously or unconsciously seek the environment, which can assure it both of possible growth and sufficient nourishment (physical or psychic). It is logical to state that those beings inimical to Light will assemble themselves in the Shadows, and an examination of material Nature proves to us the regular nocturnal nature of animals and insects which crawl in shade and humidity. Physical light is destructive to them, but also a purifier, in its most material aspect: Fire.

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Left to itself, Water corrupts46 everything sooner or later, since it can itself serve as an external and relative purifier. Also, if left to itself, Fire can extinguish itself, but can never corrupt itself. And in Nature, dark, shadowy and humid places express through themselves as much as through the fauna and flora, which haunt them, their equivocal, perfidious or malefic nature. In parallel, if the Night hatches errors, hauntings, nightmares, the Day makes them flee and restores serenity to the human soul which was prey to the agonies of the Unknown. This is why the works of low Magic, those dark rites undertaken with egotistic or criminal intent, and even simply material gain, require the night in general, and more particularly a night with no moon, in order to obtain the maximum obscurity. It is thus that, in all times and in all places, the night of the New Moon, when the Night Star is conjoined with the Sun and reflects none if its rays, is one of charms and enchantments. Still more particularly reserved is the night of the New Moon (Néoménie) of the Winter Solstice, when the Sun is most feeble and when the nocturnal hours are the longest. At midnight, or better still, at the middle of the night47, the black magician finds himself in the very center of the cone of shadow, literally surrounded by all the obscure creatures that gravitate there. On the other hand, the night of the Full Moon of the Summer Solstice, the famous Night of St. John (which is not, in occult terms, the date given on a calendar), sees the greatest moment for the activity of the Forces of Light against the notorious cone of shadow. In fact, the Moon in her fullness then reflects the ardent solar light48. And if, rather than midnight, we choose midday as the hour of observation; we can say that the influences of the infamous cone of shadow have been reduced to the maximum extent. The cone no longer pours out its sinister and darkening rays over our heads. At the zenith, the Sun comes to its apogee and, from Earth to Heaven, at the Nadir; the Moon reflects the intense rays of the God of Day into the cone of shadow. * * *

46

i.e. rusts, oxidizes – PV. That is, at the exact midpoint between sunset and sunrise – PV. 48 From this comes the Wésak of Lamaism. 47

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

We conclude that physical Light must thwart all those beings, which are different to us in terms of their essence, since, in order to unite with them, the magician49 seeks a time and creates a natural ambience from which this same Light is carefully excluded. He, who wishes to fight with like arms against the malefic action of black entities, should realize the need to take time to investigate and find a natural ambience, which would be absolutely hostile for them. Let us note in passing that along with St. John of Summer, Easter is an annual date reserved for all theurgic work. Easter is always on a Sunday, day of the Sun (sol dii50) and the first following the full Moon after the Spring Equinox, annual and monthly time when a part of the Moon lights to the maximum the cone of shadow, and where the sun, coming into Celestial Aries (sign of the Lamb), mounts once more towards the sidereal horizon. From this comes the legend which tells of the Rose+Croix assembled in the crypt of a Cathedral at the stroke of midday, on Easter day, come from all parts of the world to give account of their mission51. * * * The cone of shadow is an egregore in the current sense of the word. A composite, it is at the same time a unity. If we could use an image, we would say that, if we consider the Earth to be a living being, the luminous cone, which leaves it towards the sun, is the Soul, the material globe is the Body, and the cone of shadow is the Astral Body. The luminous cone is its conscious, the material globe the unconscious and the cone of shadow the subconscious. In taking one’s nourishment habitually from the flesh and blood of an animal, one psychically incorporates the qualities and vices of that animal. Now, the cone of shadow is made from the least noble and the least pure elements of men who have departed their terrestrial skin. This cone is the dolorous abode of trials, where all insufficiently purified souls linger, in order to consummate their second death by shedding their astral form. Pythagoras called this place (as did all occult Hellenists besides) the “Abyss of Hecate”, and also the “Field of Persephone”. There, in this tenebrous abyss, reside all souls, which 49

That is the black magician mentioned earlier. –ed. Latin – PV. 51 It appears that Ambelain has Easter marked down as the famous ‘Day ‘C’ of the Fama Fraternitatis, when all the members of the Order of the Rosy Cross assembled once a year to give account of their activities, or provide an excuse for their absence – PV. 50

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are still clothed in their fluidic envelope, their astral body. This is earthly hell, with the esoteric Cerberus guarding the Gates. According to the individual case, the cone of shadow can perhaps be Hell or the true Purgatory, which is spoken of, in Christian theology. These souls, prisoners in an astral body not yet dissolved because of their own will, enrobed in its fluidic atmosphere, suffer a real martyrdom in this place, as prey to the agonizing assault of specters, born from their vices, from their remorse, and which, like all beings, wish to survive… These specters, expelled from the cadaver of flesh through their very widowhood and its rapid decomposition, have elected to live in the double, the fluidic nimbus covering the soul, and seek to prolong their parasitic existence by simply forcing themselves upon the souls of those who tolerate it. Now, this very tolerance assures that soul of a prolongation of his stay in this place of suffering. One the other hand, the purification of the Soul is the required state for his liberation from the tenebrous sojourn. This law was formulated by Egyptian asceticism thus: “None may approach the Throne of Osiris without first being purified by Water and by Fire”. That is to say, having first rejected the material body (Water) and the astral body (Fire). In this we see the inner torment, frightening and endless, of the human Soul who is prey to the perpetual dilemma: reject the specters born of his desires and his links with the material world and liberate himself; or tolerate them and become their slave. In principle, the cone of shadow is only a domain of passing trials, a purgatory. For those alone who willingly perpetuate their sojourn, or who are bound to that place beyond the limits of the flesh through some intellectual pact with the malefic beings who also live there, or with the very egregore of the cone, it becomes the bottomless pit spoken of in the Scriptures, hell. Towards the summit of the cone, farther away from the earth, the material shadows are less dense; and consequently the spiritual shadows too. It is at the very summit, at the infinitesimal point where the shadows and solar rays are joined, what the symbolic “Gates” are situated, spoken of in esoteric tradition: these “Gates” which must be passed to liberate the terrestrial World. This is why the lower regions of the cone of shadow are more dense in evil than its summit, where imperfectly purified souls, despite everything, may discern through some vague twilight, the Hidden Light beyond the half-open “Gates”… Finally, the astral “shells”, the fluidic doubles, abandoned by those finally liberated souls, become so many means of manifestation for the perverse beings which haunt the cone permanently. These doubles, these shells, provide evil “daimons” with the

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primary passive matter necessary for their active will to disturb and pervert our physical world. From this we see the absolute need to purify the cone of shadow. This purification can take on many forms: dissolution of astral shells, exorcisms against malefic beings, etc… All these activities constitute the whole of Theurgy. * * * The very soul of the cone of shadows has been personified in the expression Satan. Shitâne, Saïtan, Sathan and Set are eastern variation of the same name, signifying in Hebrew “across”. This is why he is also called “the Adversary”. He is the Very Low One, the God of the Realm of Darkness. One may give him a more precise definition in saying that he is the semi-conscious spirit (we use the word ‘conscious’ as an accountable synonym) of this realm, which is limited in Space, and constitutes the Cone of Shadow. If one absorbs Shadow and Ignorance and Evil, as others absorb Light and Spirit, one will think with some logic that it is there that all creatures live, conscious or not, which through affinity fear the luminous vibrations and find shelter in the domain which is most kindred with nothingness. The Soul of this realm, the Black Egregore, when it is personified or manifests itself, has various names. It is called Satan, Behemoth, and Leviathan, to the Christian or the Talmudist. He is the god avid for blood, sexual impurity, and all concepts of hate or intolerance. He will have as minister Nero as well as Torquemada, Attila as Simon de Montfort. But, just because of his vastness and complexity, or because Disorder is his essence, and prevents his personification, men will never agree on his precise definition and personification. Nevertheless he is found in the fundament of all that we call Evil, Ignorance, Destruction and Nothingness. In “Faust” we see Mephistopheles affirming this: “I am the Spirit which is always denied, and that with good reason, for all that exists merits being utterly destroyed, and it would be much better if nothing existed. Also, all that you call by, destruction, corruption, sickness, in a word: Evil, this is my element!” Effectively, we see from experience that everything obtained by the means of ordinary Magic (low Magic, and not Theurgy), however good the original intent, usually turns against the interest of the petitioner and then against those mixed up in the affair52. Sooner or later the currents used return to their true nature and bestow the fruits, which 52

In French: « au contraire des intérêts du demandeur et des tiers mêlés à l’affaire » - PV. 63

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

are theirs. “When we lie and dupe”, retorted the demon of Faust cynically, “we give what is right and proper!” Purity is contrary to him. All pure thoughts emitted during the night will meet with a resistance equal to the strength of that emission, a resistance that does not exist during the day. Who has not felt his hold? The man, who wakes during the night, a little after midnight, finds himself in a state different to that in which he was before going to sleep. He will be exposed to a type of psychic weakness, which he did not feel when the sun bathed the hemisphere with its rays. The cause is not his short passage through the world of sleep. Sleep offers total security. But a door has been closed on this foreign land, which allows the being to renew himself. The bad influence comes from the shadows themselves, since all that is contained in the cone of shadow of the Earth, all this mass of hostility and millenary hate, returns against the living. The power of temptation is nocturnal because the refuse of the world, which serves jealousy, acts on man to make him regress. Then old desires which one believed dead resurface, for they have found food in ambient shells and avid thought-forms in order to materialize in the aura of man, in elements similar to themselves, from which nocturnal matter takes its life. The cone of the shadow of the earth is small in comparison with the sidereal immensity, but it is immense in terms of the planet itself. It is, we repeat, the place of destruction, of dissociation, of souls who have condemned themselves to return to nothingness by refusing the saving work of fighting against those forces, which tempt and swallow them up. The psychic influence of the place of death acts upon the living through anguish, disgust, then despair. For it is nocturnal despair which has no remedy save the coming of the Morning light. With the shadow of the night comes the reign of Satan, or Azrael, god of Death. It is through his power that the breath of the dying is more fragile in these hours, and one breathes his last at this time more often than during the diurnal part of the day. Unconsciously, thoughtless people have called mid-night “the hours of Crimes”… These are the hours, which have always been chosen by the priests of the Troubled Realm, the followers of the Most Low, to perpetuate the rites of madness, crime or debauchery. But Satan himself is only an image, a name, cast like tinsel on the emptiness, on the nothingness… The cone of shadow is an abyss, and to define it through personification is to lessen the horror of its control. *

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

* * The Moon itself, satellite of the Earth, plays an equivalent role in this respect. If, outside of the influence of the Sun, it serves as a reflector of the solar light, if it is then the sole element susceptible of projecting light in the shade of the cone of darkness, it serves in its other phases as the intercepting screen of these same solar rays. Thus the Néoménies, or conjunction of the Sun and Moon (new moon) is a monthly date reserved for operations of low magic. In effect, at that very moment, the Moon intercepts the solar rays. Now, studies in Astrology show the funereal role, played in human destiny by this astral aspect, with regard to events and moral changes undergone by the psyche. This is explained by the fact that the beneficial solar influences do not arrive directly on our globe. It is the same for all stars with which the Moon seems (in the astrological heavens) to be in conjunction or to influence the conjunction. The physical and moral qualities implied by planetary symbolism to each of the planets will be corrupted by the interposition of this satellite between the star and the earth (we say ‘corrupted’ as meaning materialized, and not weakened…). Regarding the Moon itself, seers have often had curious intuitive thoughts about it, corresponding to astrological observations and with esoteric philosophy. Catherine Emmerich, the famous seer, described the Moon thus: “The Moon is cold and stony, full of high mountains and deep troughs. It exercises in turn an attraction and a pressure upon the Earth. Then it seems men become melancholic. I have observed many beings whose forms vaguely resemble the human figure, and who always flee towards the shadows before the light, at the bottom of gorges and caverns, as if they were ashamed of themselves. One could say that they have a bad conscience. I see that more often towards the center of the Moon. There I no longer see worship offered to God53”.

53

Life of Catherine Emmerlich. III, 15 to 18, 65

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

IV. THE OPERATIONS A. Preliminary Notes According to Tradition, the “Book of Wisdom”, attributed to Solomon and in reality a work of the Hellenistic Jews of the Alexandrian age, is especially revelatory. The Invocation of Solomon to Divine WISDOM is full of esoteric teaching. According to Henry Khunrath, (“Amphitheater of Eternal Wisdom”) the “Song of Songs” contained the mysteries of Unitive Life; the “Book of Proverbs”, attributed to Solomon, contained the mysteries of Purificative Life; and the “Book of Ecclesiastes”, which had Jesus ben Sirach as its author, revealed those of the Illuminative Life. * * * For the inner evocation of Divine WISDOM (Chokmaël, the Divine Spirit of the Sephira), one should study the diagram by Khunrath in the “Amphitheater of Eternal Wisdom”, titled “Laboratory”. There one may see the speculative Alchemist, engaged in searching for the Ergon, and kneeling before the “Book”, the Pentagram and another Pentacle. The light issues from a seven-branched lamp behind him, and he kneels with his arms crossed, his shadow forming the sign of Redemption (“In Cruce Salus”)...The words of the prayer are those of Psalm 15 in the Vulgate. According to certain commentators, Elohim sends the Angel Chokmaël. The perfume used is pure Incense. * * * Sédir gives the repertory of Rosicrucian “Keys” of spiritual Alchemy in the work: “The Rosy Cross”, page 196 onwards, according to the works of Franz Hartmann. * * * In his work on the Kabbalah, Papus said this, citing Kircher: “The 32 Paths of Wisdom” are the luminous Paths (Cinneroth) by which holy men of God hope, after prolonged custom, prolonged experience of Divine things, and extended and deep meditation of them, to reach the hidden center. When Kabbalists wish to talk with God by means of such a Way, they proceed thus: 1. In preparation prior to the exercise, they consult the 32 places of the first Chapter of Genesis (Sepher Bereshit), that is to say the “Ways of Created Things”, making a study of them;

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

2. Then, by mean of certain Prayers, drawn from the Hebrew name of ELOHIM (and its derivatives), they pray to God to give them the plenitude of Light necessary for the Way sought, and they imagine themselves, through suitable Ceremonies, that they are adepts (adeptus: being acquired) to the Light of WISDOM (Chokmah), so much that they hold, through their unshakable faith, to the Heart of the World to ask Him”.

Part of illustration of Khunrath’s Laboratory, showing the elements mentioned in R. Ambelain’s text54.

So that Prayer may thenceforth have a greater power, they use the NAME of Forty-Two Letters, and through this, are certain that they will receive what they ask for. “(N.B. The Name of 42 Letters is indicated in the Tree of Life of Kircher, who gives the 72 Names, and after this page reproduces the flyleaf in the work of Papus, The Qabbalah)”55. In fact, it acts by means of a veritable litany.

54 55

This image is not in the original book, and is included for interest – PV. Niclaus, Editor. 67

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

* * * There are 22 Divine Names, each of three letters, composed of the Yod and Heh, and preceded by one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet. By adding the five terminal letters (Kaph, Mem, Nun, Peh and Tzaddi), one now has a series of 27 Divine Names, equivalent to the 28 Lunar Mansions. One should also note that the Hebrew Alphabet includes 22 Consonants, it also includes 5 principal Vowel Points (not taking into account their various nuances: long, semi-long and short, which are only variable “finesses” with probable different Jewish roots). The Hebrew Alphabet is therefore in reality – like all oriental alphabets – purely lunar, since it is subsumed under the number 27: 22 consonant characters 5 vowel characters __ 27 characters These five vowels are: A, E, I, O, U (ou). If we class them in decreasing order, going from the most sharp to the most flat56, we get this order: I, E, O, U, A (Iéo-oua57). Then the vocal cords naturally exteriorize these vowel-sounds, and those consonant-sounds are necessarily articulated with the help of the tongue, teeth and palate (on the Name of Forty-Two Letters, see “History of Esoteric Doctrines” by J. MarquèsRivière). * * * The Kabbalah teaches that Man exactly represents within himself the constitution of the entire Universe. From this comes his title of Microcosm. The Kabbalah also teaches that Matter is an adjunction, created after all Beings, consecutive with the Fall of Adam.

56

In French accents are categorized as ‘aiguë’, sharp or right-pointing, and ‘grave’, flat or left-pointingPV. 57 AEIOU is pronounced ‘oo’ or ‘ou’ in French, and IEOUA is pronounced ‘eeayooah’ or ‘Iéo-oua’ in French – PV. 68

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Man is composed of: Neschamah Ruach Nephesch

= Divine Spark = Mediator = Form, inferior Principle

= the letter Shin (w) = the letter Aleph (a) = the letter Mem (m)

Man has been emanated as Neschamah. But this “Divine Spark” was polarized; there was a “Neschamah-male” and a “Neschamah-female” side. Genesis tells us that “God made Man in His Image, male and female created He them”. So we are led to see in Adam Kadmon the presence of the association: “Chokmah-Binah”. He then sub-multiplied, divided into a series of beings, also androgyne (the Kabbalah probably gives us the origin of androgyne human Souls, the Ishim of the “Kingdom” of Malkuth). Then, after the Fall, these Souls materialized and disunited, giving birth to the male and female individuals of carnal Humanity. Their collectivity forms the Human Terrestrial Being, “Cosmic Man”, animating the material World, in which, through this polarization; is the contradiction, the duality. The Kabbalah therefore believes in Pre-existence and in Reincarnation. We should note that the Form of Adam Kadmon (Nephesch) is not fallen Matter in our understanding. * * * The highest level of existence which a susceptible being can attain (there are seven, which in the Zohar are called the “Seven Tabernacles”), is the Holy of Holies, where all Souls go to reunite with the Supreme Soul and to complete themselves the ones in the others. There, all re-enter Unity and Perfection, all merge into a single “Thought”, which spreads throughout the Universe and fills it completely (In this he acts in the total Universe and not just in the material Universe which falls under the control of our senses). But the basis of this “Thought”, the Light which is hidden within it, can neither be grasped nor known: one can only grasp the “Thought” which emanates from it. Finally, in this state the Creature cannot distinguish himself from the Creator, for the same “Thought” illuminates them; the same will animates them. The (collective?) Soul as well as God, thus orders the Universe (visible and invisible) and He who gives the orders, God (God “in the world”, that is, manifested), this God accomplishes it.

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

The Name of Three Letters – Emesh – (formed by the three letters Aleph-MemShin) gives the Trinity of the Kabbalists: Shin (w) Aleph (a) Mem (m)

= God-Spirit = God-Mediator = God-Universe

= Neschamah = Ruach = Nephesch

= Adam Kadmon

* * * The Sephirotic Tree is thus at the same time: - The manifestation of God Himself, or SHEKINAH. - Adam Kadmon, first emanation of Manifested God, - All the androgyne Souls (“Kingdom” of the Ishim)58. * * * The three Pillars of the Tree equate to the three manifestations of these various states: male, neuter, female. * * * The “Fifty Gates of Intelligence” originate in the five median Sephiroth, encircling Tiphereth and joined with it. They are thus born from Netzach, Hod, Geburah, Chesed (Gedulah) and Tiphereth, ending with Netzach. Each Sephira sees the entire Tree reflected within it. There are therefore fifty combinations, formed from one of the five each containing the ten others. Another Sephirotic series generates the “Fifty Gates”. These are the seven first Sephiroth, going from the base of the Tree. They are formed from the combination of the seven Sephiroth in question with themselves. This second series begins in Malkuth, and ends at Binah, crossing: Yesod, Netzach, Hod, Tiphereth, Geburah, Chesed. Thus there are 7 x 7 Sephiroth = 49 “Gates”, the 50th being Binah. Each of these seven corresponds to each of the seven Liberal Arts (see the symbolic ladder of the “Knights Kadosh” of Freemasonry). 58

The Ishim, final choir of celestial beings, equivalent to the glorified human Souls. This is the tenth of the angelic choirs. 70

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

* * * The two names of Yehovah and Adonai express Mercy and Power respectively. They form the combination Yahadonaï (Aleph-Heh-Daleth-Vav-Nun-Yod). This is the name of seven letters59. This Name of Power expressed the desire of Pious Man to be in union with God, and at the same time with the Divine Unity. It is the affirmation of faith (Amon or Omon)60. In all circumstances of Life, the mystic pronounces this collection of letters, so operating the liaison of the two Sacred Names. * * * The four letters of Adonai can be arranged in 24 transpositions. These are the 24 tribunals for the 24 hours of the day and night. And the 24 mysterious names of the 24 Elders of the Apocalypse. * * * A pious silence also constitutes the supreme adoration of God. Nevertheless one should not believe that this pious silence is devoid of all intelligence, in the manner of modern pseudo-mystic Christians. * * * “He who prays must strive to engage the Names by all the bonds of a harmonious meditation on his object. All his desires are thereby granted, as well as the individual desires of the Assembly. The request, which must be addressed to the Lord, is normally composed of nine parts. It is made, either alphabetically or by evoking the Attributes of God, which are: Merciful, Gracious, etc (see the Divine Names of the Koran, in parallel). These Names are those of the decade: Eheieh, Yah, Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh, El, Elohim, Jehovah Tzabaoth, Shaddai, Adonai61. Or also by the evocation of the Ten Sephiroth, beginning with Malkuth, Yesod, Hod, Netzach, Tiphereth, Geburah, Chesed, Binah, Chokmah and ending with Kether. Or again by the evocation of the Just Ones,(Tzaddikim) who are the Patriarchs, Prophets and Kings. Or by the Canticles and Praises in which are found the true Tradition or “Kabbalah”. 59

I have faithfully translated this portion of the text although it makes no sense. We are told that the name is made up of seven letters but Ambelain only lists six! Also, five sections later he lists the same name as having eight letters! This latter is the most correct, as it is made up of Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh and Adonai (aleph-Daleth-Nun-Yod) and rendered: Yod-Aleph-Heh-Daleth-Vau-Nun-Heh-Yod by kabbalists as symbolizing the union with God Ambelain describes. – PV. 60 The gematria of AMEN (Aleph-Mem-Nun) is 91, the same as that of the union of the Divine Names, YHVH and Adonai just mentioned. 61 That is, the Divine Names of the Ten Sephiroth, of which some are, listed here – PV. 71

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

“The Prayer is improved further if one knows how to command the “forms” of his Lord as is proper, or else if one knows how to climb from Below to On High, or if one knows how to make the influx (shefa) descend from On High to Below. Whatever one does, in all the “Nine Manners of Proceeding” the greatest focus (kavannah) is required. For of those who do not pray in the correct manner, it is said: “those who scorn me shall be scoffed at” (I Sam. 11-30)62”. Sefer Dezeniutha * * * Note that the Kings mentioned here are not those of the Old Testament, historical or political personages! One needs to understand what the Sefer intends by this word which we are going to study. This expression ‘Kings’ is in fact symbolic. It is said in the Sefer Dezeniutha that there are seven kings who were not able to subsist. The “Thirteen Kings” represent the attribute of Mercies, opposed to the attribute of Severity, which goes under the name of the Seven Kings of Edom. The Thirteen Kings correspond to a part of the Tetragrammaton (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh) and to its twelve transpositions63. According to the principle that each transposition (tzeruf) of the 13 Chavayoth contains great marvels and encloses profound secrets, Kabbalists have drawn certain conclusions regarding verses or many parts of verses whose words are composed of letters, in which sometimes the first and sometimes the last letters regularly reproduce the holy Tetragrammaton. So it is that the combination Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh mysteriously contains the words: “Ithallel Hamitallel Haçeketh v’iadeah” signifying “may He be glorified, He who glorifies me because He has Knowledge and He knows me …”. The four first letters of these words form the Tetragrammaton. Kabbalists have remarked that, in the sacerdotal Benediction, reported in verses 24, 25 and 26 of the fourth64 Chapter of “Numbers”, there are thirteen Yods. These symbolize the “thirteen drops of balm”, an idea relating to the quality of Mercy65, expressed in the Thirteen Kings. * * * 62

I could not find the reference in the Old Testament – PV. Remember that two of the letters are the same so the maximum transpositions possible are 4 x 3 = 12 = PV. 64 In fact this should be Numbers Ch. 6, verses 24 – 26: “The Lord bless thee and keep thee: the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” Each verse in fact begins with a Yod.– PV. 65 The kabbalistic “thirteen attributes of Mercy” derives from Exodus 33:18-34:8 – ed. 63

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

These Eight Letters form the sacred Name Yahadonaï. One lays them out in an octagon to form a Latin cross and a cross of St. Andrew placed one upon the other. They then constitute a Talisman or Pentacle of universal Benediction. For example: Yod Aleph Vav Yod

Heh66

Daleth Heh Nun

a y d v h y h n * * * In the Tetragrammaton, one finds the two great Divine Couples: Yod – the Father and Heh – the Mother, to which correspond: Vav – the Son, issued from the two, and Heh – the Daughter, reflection of her Mother. The Son and Daughter are also the King and Queen, the Bridegroom and the Bride (Tiphereth and Malkuth67).

66

I have added the diagram to clarify the description – PV. Sometimes referred to as ‘Malkah’ (hklm), the Queen or ‘Kalah’ (hlk), the Bride, titles of Malkuth when considered as the spouse of ‘Zair Anpin’ (Oypna ryvaz), the Microprosopus. – PV. 67

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

B. Daily Teachings on the XXII Paths a. The Role of the “Schema” or Prayer, In the Awakening of the Ruach Elohim Man is thus a quadruple composite, formed from the Image of the great “Tree of Life”. In him, created in the Divine image as Genesis tells us, are found the four Worlds of Emanation, but these Worlds are in that case the levels of his essence, equivalent to the states of consciousness, and no longer bear the same names. The world of Aziluth, that domain where God alone manifests Himself in His ten essential Personae, corresponds to the pure spirit of Man, which in the Kabbalah is called Neschamah. This is the eternal, higher Soul. The world of Briah, the domain where the Divine Personae become “manifestations” which are already individualized, (Principal Archangels of the Ten Orders), corresponds to the instantaneous manifestation of this eternal, higher Soul. The first is the self, imperishable, eternal, the divine spark of the Adamic myth. The second is the fortuitous aspect, the consequence of his preceding lives, the momentary result of these. It is the “point” which makes Adam eternal. It is also called the mens. As it draws its manifestation from the Divine animating fraction of the created Universe, it therefore depends on Malkuth, the Queen, last and lowest phase of the Divine manifestation itself. It is this that Kabbalists call Ruach. It is the “glorious body” of the theologians. In the world of Yetzirah, the purely creator aspect of the preceding “planes”, corresponds to our carnal life, made up of all the miniscule souls animating our cells. We already know that the Archangel of a Sephira is a collective soul, and our Ruach is our collective and general soul. Thus, Yetzirah being the specific souls issued from the Sephirotic Archangel, it must correspond in us to another world, from which are born our cell-souls, which constitute our present me. This inferior soul is the Nephesh. Finally, the world of Assiah, the last aspect of Divine Creation, equates to G’uph. This is our fleshy envelope, with its reactions and its subconscious life. Reflecting the “Qlippoth”, in an analogical relationship with the Inverted Tree, a final spark smolders within us. This is the Habal of Garbim, or the “spirit-of-bones”. It lives in the heart of our skeleton, and justifies the use of funereal debris in certain rituals of lower magic (skull, tibias, etc). Because it is the final step of the Divine spark emanated from Aziluth, it is also the last hope of our survival. When it is extinguished, that which was a living being is definitively departed into the great night of Ain, after having passed through all the grades of the Qlippoth, thus having passed through the three ultimate “Valleys”: of Sleep, Death, Forgetfulness. *

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

* * We have thus explained that, in us, Ruach puts us in contact with Malkuth. Because we are in Malkuth, the “Mother”, Malkuth is within us. If we reintegrate ourselves into its aspects and higher planes, we will enter into the hall of the Divine. Since Malkuth is in the Lower Pair, it is in the Microprosopus. So the Mother is one with the Father, and we also… As the Father is one with the Ancient of Days, and as we are in him, so we are also within the Ancient of Days. So if we recapitulate the steps of our Reintegration into the Divine, we can state the process as follows: 1.

Man is a reduction of the Universe, an image of God. We carry in us a spark emanated from the “MOTHER” (Malkuth). If we bring this spark to life, we allow the Divine essence of the “MOTHER” to penetrate us, and we assimilate it. When the “MOTHER” is within us, we are, by the channel of analogical correspondence, in the “MOTHER”.

2.

If the “MOTHER” is one with the Son (or Father), being in the “MOTHER”, we are in the Son, and the “MOTHER” being in us, the SON is also there…

3.

If the SON (or Father) is one with the FATHER (or Ancient of Days), then the SON is within us, and the FATHER is also within us. And if we are in the SON, we are in the FATHER too…

These three postulates flow from the very concept of the Divine TRI-UNITY. And so, the key to all success resides in the art of awakening in us the Divine spark emanating from the “MOTHER”. How? This is the purpose of the Chapters, which follow. * * * From the beginning of this study, let us remember that, by virtue of the correspondences given, Ruach Elohim is synonymous with the Holy Spirit, and synonymous with the Mother (Malkuth). * * * When we meditate, untimely thoughts emerge out of the subconscious, and throw disturbances into our ideas. This is an indication that inner purification should be followed before anything else is done.

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Now, if we focus on our Eloï, or personal deity, chosen from among the multiple aspects of the One Divinity, we impregnate ourselves with affection and knowledge at the same time, because we establish a point of spiritual contact between an affective and initiatic source and ourselves. On the other hand, if we take for our object of meditation something in the material realm (a flower, a rock, etc), we would not achieve this so easily, for these objects are not centers of energy for affectivity and knowledge. To clean the deepest parts of our individuality, such is the task which is a duty in our spiritual life. The most successful and rapid active means to achieve this is, without fear of contradiction, meditation. How should we meditate? How may we truly purify ourselves? The schema68 furnishes the means. It puts in our reach a proven technique, a technique known in the Orient under the name of Yoga. What is the schema? As a matter of fact, this Hebrew word does not signify a design, although (often expressed as a Pentacle), it may justify this name in material terms, appearing to be synonymous with a design. But it is much more the methodical repetition of a sacred formula (generally a verse from the Scriptures, or Psalms), analogous to the Asiatic mantras, which should be envisaged in this Hebrew word. Let us explain that the schema is only really effective if the Kabbalist, in practicing this exercise, always keeps in mind the spiritual significance of the schema. The Catholic Nun counting off the beads on her chaplet, the Tibetan Yogi doing the same, the Sufi who imitates them: all repeat litanies. In one instance as in the other, the objective remains the same; one strives always to implant a veracious suggestion in the spirit. By this very repetition, we assemble and unify all the independent energies, which normally impede each other, while acting in our mentality. We thus create an inner rhythm capable of breaking the resistance offered by the conscious part of our individuality. Rhythm is everything. Sometimes it is enough for a weak modulation, rising up from the street, to shatter a crystal object enclosed in a heavy piece of furniture. A metal bridge will collapse under the rhythmic footfall of a marching detachment. A suitable rhythm will bring about the end of the strongest resistance… And the schema will produce a similar effect in us! 68

It is unclear from this text as to what, precisely, Ambelain is referring to by “schema”. He may mean, simply, the recitation and kabbalistic meditation upon Divine Names (Heb. Shemot, pl. of Shem), perhaps the Ten or Twenty-Two specifically or one Name of the chosen Eloi repeated, or this could refer specifically to the Shema: Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheynu Adonai Echad (Hear, O Israel, The Lord thy God The Lord is One); being recited as a mantra. Both are known in kabbalistic practice. In either case, his main point is clear. – ed. 76

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

* * * The schema possesses two different values. One is its exoteric value, the other its esoteric value. The first, exoteric value lies in the spiritual sense, which awakens the vibration of a resultant sound in us. a.

Each sound is intimately associated with an idea, which forms the counterpart. Through this, when we evoke a particular sound in our mentality, an idea which is linked to it immediately appears. If we continually maintain a like spiritual idea in the consciousness, mentality liberates itself little by little from its impurities, its nature is refined and it then transmutes into Fire, issued forth from Malkuth, the superior fire. Ruach, the very essence of the “MOTHER” then shines forth in its entire splendor. The mentality, composed of subtle essences, invisible substances, then sees the schema restored in full, to these constitutive elements, their original purity.

b.

The schema establishes a new field of spiritual magnetization within us. In creating the awakening of spiritual energy, that is to say, in awakening in us the “MOTHER” which slept, we both initiate and direct our evolution.

c.

This reflection of the “MOTHER” which we carry within us, this Divine spark which emanates and situates itself at the lower extremity of the vertebral column, in the region of the organs of generation, groups in a single bundle all the various energies (conscious and unconscious) which had played, each in its own way, in the mentality. And it now makes them work in a common direction.

A well-known example in physics explains the occult influence of sound. Witness the diapason, whose vibrations form geometric patterns, with the aid of grains of sand which one spreads across a vibrating membrane. These lines and designs (sometimes very similar to the famous “planetary seals” of classical Magic) bear the name of nodal lines. Now, our mentality is like the flat bed of this fine sand. The constant vibration of a sacred verse or of a “Divine Name” repeated by us leaves a tangible imprint on it. It confers a specific configuration upon it. This is why our mentality gradually models itself on the Eloï, or Divine “image” which we will have selected as our support. From the spiritual point of view, repetition of the schema has the effect of provoking in us an identical transformation.

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

As for the esoteric significance of the same schema, it is based on the knowledge by which the student of Kabbalah learns the secret of stirring up the sleeping Divine spark within, to draw the cosmic Energy from its torpor, that Power emanating from the “MOTHER” which habitually resides in all living beings. This power is the oriental technique known as kundalini, or Ruach Elohim to the Kabbalist, and the Holy Spirit to the Christian. * * *

One knows that the Tree of Life and its Ten Sephiroth, provides the framework for the whole of the World of Emanation, the whole of celestial Creation, the whole of the material Universe, and all living beings. In consequence the Tree is reflected in the most precise manner in Man, “made in the image of GOD”.

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

In him it shows itself in three different paths. One, the equivalent of the “Pillar of Severity”, includes Binah, Geburah and Hod; the second, equivalent to the “Pillar of Mercy”, includes Chokmah, Chesed and Netzach. The final one connects Da’ath, Tiphereth and Yesod. At the ends of these three paths, Kether and Malkuth mark the extreme limits of this periple of the Ruach Elohim. This Pillar is called the “Pillar of Equilibrium”69 or the “Royal Road”. The true awakening of Ruach and spirituality takes place when the Ruach rises up along the vertebrae column, passing through the central channel of this fluidic column (which has no connection with the spinal marrow), which constitutes the central pillar or “Pillar of Equilibrium”. In the majority of human beings this column generally has its transmitting center at the base of the spinal marrow, asleep and sealed away. A weak derivation of this MOTHER-Energy passes, still sleeping, into the lateral pillars of Or-HaJaschar and OrHaChoser70. It manifests there as the vital-force and as the normal functioning of our psycho-physiological organism. If the psychic “valves” are closed, then no supranormal results can be obtained in Theurgy, Magic or even Clairvoyance or Clairaudience. As long as the central passage remains closed, Ruach remains asleep. Sometimes, however, for some reason or other, the Power of Malkuth acts within us, in its somnambulist torpor, and filters across our interior “Sephiroth”. Then the slightest expression of this Power is enough to momentarily illuminate the living individuality, for it immediately notices a clear elevation in the level of consciousness. But this rise of “spiritual sap” in the great human vegetable only releases an accidental and fleeting phenomenon, for it is effected through the lateral “Pillars” of the Sephirotic Tree: OrHaJaschar on the left and Or-HaChoser on the right, on either side of the “Middle Pillar”. Therefore do not rely on this method to obtain great spiritual results. The true path of Ruach Elohim is that which goes from Malkuth to Kether, passing through Yesod, Tiphereth and Da’ath. If, on the contrary, the individuality has been completely purified through a strict moral discipline, the sacred formula or schema will, through repetition, act directly upon the central channel which then opens wide, and the spiritual Energy of the “MOTHER”, which was literally blocked in the lowest psychic center, equivalent to our interior “Malkuth”, then circulates freely from one end to the other of the “Pillar of Equilibrium”. It is then that the “Nuptials of the KING and QUEEN”, the Nuptials of Melekh and Malkah, the “Betrothal” of the Microprosopus and of the Virgin takes place.

69

Also, of course, the “Middle Pillar” – PV. “The Zohar makes a distinction, at any rate, between the hajaschar ("the light Forces"), the hachoser ("Reflected Lights"), and the simple phenomenal exteriority of their spiritual types” (from Mme Blavatsky) – PV.

70

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

And if we pour over the ancient grimoires on Alchemy, both operative and spiritual (Archimy), we learn that the vocabulary used by the old masters is identical to that of the Kabbalists… When Ruach Elohim, that is to say the Divine Energy emanating from the celestial MALKUTH, is put into motion by the several Pillars, it halts at the different stages of this ascension, and illuminates the different centers of consciousness (or human Sephiroth) by activating the radiating energy, as it moves higher and higher71. When Ruach rises like this up the lateral pillars (and even sometimes in the central one), it usually gives birth to a sensation of heat, tickling in the spinal region, or sometimes even subjective auditory or visual sensations. One should not attach any importance to these phenomena, which are purely inferior. One should only retain those obtained from the entire Operations, such as the Evocations of great deities. In one’s early experiences one should not believe them to be precise reactions engendered by the rising up of Energy of the “MOTHER” across our interior Sephiroth and our two lateral “Pillars”. We should not imagine that spiritual experience is acquired at such little cost. It is only through the pursuit of laborious and persevering efforts, applied with an inflexible discipline, composed of total chastity and a very high moral life, that our interior Sephirotic organization will become sensitive to the subtle vibrations of the schema, which will operate on the “Royal Road” from Malkuth to Kether through Yesod and Tiphereth, and then it will enter into interior contact (and no longer exterior) with the “Spiritual Realms” of the DIVINE PLAN, and this by means of analogical correspondence… The value of the schema, from an esoteric point of view, rests completely on the traditional certainty that the schema is an objective element, which can assure our spiritual development. What should we understand by this? That the schema, whether expressed by a Word or a Pentacle, is nothing else than God Himself, manifested in two different ways. For a Catholic, the consecrated Host is not a “symbol” but the true body of the Savior. For a Tantric, the Yantra, who follows a cult of adoration ruled by the minutest ritual, is also a divine effigy, a “vehicle”. It is the same for the Kabbalist: the “Divine Name” as a word, or the same word drawn in a Pentacle, is a “vehicle” of the Divine. From this we can see the need to consecrate the support (virgin parchment, usually) beforehand, and not after it has been drawn… For the final consecration is included in the very act of drawing the Holy Name (hence the need for a perfectly purified support, and a prior awakening of the energy which naturally resides within it). The vitalization of the Pentacle is achieved through the repetition of the correct formula; and the awakening of the occult life residing in the Divine Name which is drawn there is a separate operation comprising the consecration of the support. 71

What a wonderful description of the Middle Pillar exercise, albeit moving upwards rather than downwards! – PV. 80

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

One does not consecrate the pen, carbon or ritual objects after their use, but well in advance. * * * Each of the “Eloï” of the Sephirotic Tree has an “Image” and a “Name” which belong to Them alone. This Name and this Image cannot be separated from one another. The Name is composed of different signs, which are presented in a predetermined order. They constitute a veritable “chain”. This is why Name and Image form a single thing. The one is not different from the other, and this particular association of syllables occurs when it is reproduced without cease, in order to give life to the constitutive letters of the Name. When this transubstantiation happens, then the Divine Sephiroth become almost objectified, and reveal themselves to us in a state of wakefulness, passing from Assiah to Aziluth. This is the driving force behind the Gnostic and Egyptian traditions, which sought to possess certain names or words of passage, in order to open the Gates of Eternal Sojourn to the deceased Initiate. Ruach Elohim is usually asleep within us, and He lives, as a spark and potential, in the lowest Sephira, our own Malkuth. At this time he is in a causal and unmanifest state. By means of Orisons and Invocations, of Schema untiringly repeated, and by a visualization supported and ruled by its “image”, Ruach raises itself up by following the “Royal Road”, the “Pillar of Equilibrium”. It manifests itself there as a real spiritual entity, and the Divinity thus assumes the very form of our Ideal person, our “Eloï”. * * * During the course of its ascent up the “Middle Pillar”, Ruach Elohim invades the various Sephiroth, which are stationed along this reflection of the Tree of Life, which we carry within us. Gradually the higher centers of consciousness and the levels of consciousness are illuminated and reached. Ruach occupies higher and higher levels, and finally reaches the supreme center, human Kether… We have now arrived at the Un-Manifest72, which is the basis of manifestation, the support of the sensual world. It is then that, from the microcosmic point of view, the Great Arcana is unveiled! The substratum of Manifestation is achieved! When our ego has passed through all the stages of purification, and when it ends by dissolving completely, the form of the directing Eloï is established in the Impersonal. Union is 72

Ain Soph Aur – PV. 81

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

achieved in the highest Sephira, and the Microcosm and the Macrocosm are no longer separate, but become one. And when the Kabbalist returns to the plane of Malkuth, he has lost the sense of me, which he previously possessed. Henceforth, in some inner Sephiroth in which Ruach may temporarily locate, he knows that the manifestation is reflected there in par or on total. Everywhere he finds Malkah, Kalah, the Divine “MOTHER”, and it is She who is mirrored in every aspect of the Universe. If the Kabbalist wishes to grow his subjective experience further, the whole ensemble of manifestation – the exterior World in material form – will appear to him as Cosmic Energy itself, or as Ruach Elohim, the “MOTHER” herself. Now, he cannot ignore that the “MOTHER” is the Spouse, the Queen, the Bride of the KING and of the FATHER. He knows that She can only become one with Him, and that both are one with the “Ancient of Days”... For him, the World is therefore not a gross illusion, a dream without justification, phantasms born from an error in understanding. It is an aspect of Divinity itself. And the unpardonable error of certain European schools, which have poorly understood the Oriental Tradition, is one that the Kabbalist does not commit! Everywhere Life sings, and manifests God! And then the cry of faith of the Masters of the Kabbalah is justified: “Hear, O Israel. THE ETERNAL ONE THY GOD IS ONE…” * * * The East in its wisdom had no other school than this adoring and persevering meditation. And the Bhagavad-Gita is even more generous than us: “For it is through meditation that certain aspirants come to contemplate the UNIVERSAL SELF, within themselves and through the individual self. Others will get there as well, through Knowledge or Action. Yet still others, incapable of following one of these three Paths, simply practice the Religion they have been taught. And these also go beyond Death, for they have as their ultimate refuge that Divinity about which they have heard the simple story…” Bhagavad-Gita XIII, 24, 25). We would be incomplete and our study dangerous, if we did not signal a real danger in the awakening of the Mother-Energy, in the rising up of Ruach Elohim. Often enough, impatient for a personal “experience”, the explosion of a violent sensation gives us a particularly harmful illusion: that the phenomenon produced may lead to its incorrectly being taken for a spiritual realization. In fact, as long as the purification of affectivity has not been achieved – and here, only the practice of truth and continence have some efficacy – we should always fear danger when an elevation of consciousness is produced prematurely. For a fortuitous

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incident, the emotive power which occurs in one of the higher Sephiroth of our personal Tree can, like an avalanche, descend abruptly on a lower Sephira and give birth to an abnormal excitation of the animal reflexes on which it depends. Then our nature, which still retains its impurities, is swamped in its animal impulses and its biological “souvenirs”. The Kabbalist must then rely on all his moral energy and on Divine Providence, in order to overcome such a trial. In general, when an initiation is very powerful, or when we have a particular affinity with it, it awakens within us the Tiphereth center, or that of Kether (initiations expressed through anointing or blows to the top of the head, on the forehead or the chest), we are then exposed to a more or less long period of temptations and moral tests of every sort. Then we imagine ourselves to be the prey of a whole horde of demonic tempters! (There is actually a certain occult truth to this…). These proofs are usually manifested by three of the principle “deadly sins”, being pride, anger and lust. This is because the Ruach Elohim has been imprudently awakened and because in its turn, it has abnormally accelerated the “radiation” of one of the latter interior Sephiroth: Yesod. This Sephira is referred to the sexual centers, and these are linked to pride (exaggeration of virility), anger (exaggeration of combativeness), and lust (exaggeration of affectivity). Being familiar with psychology, a psychoanalyst will understand this concept better than a simple moralist! Let the reader not scorn this advice: the author of these pages has encountered the “narrow path” in question here! He speaks from experience…

b. Mental Concentration and Rhythmic Breathing Universal Tradition, and more particularly the Western current, tells us that Man is but a reflection of GOD, and a reduction of the World. As a consequence, if we try to penetrate into certain “spiritual realms” (which metaphysical terminology calls “planes” or “spheres”), it is sufficient for us to break off relations with the exterior world, and to enter into ourselves, there to attain certain levels of consciousness inaccessible to us in normal, daily routine. Now, such exploration of distant and little known realms of ourselves is only achievable through procedures, which above all we should be able to justify scientifically. * * * The method we are going to outline rests essentially on the link, which unites thought to the corporeal organs.

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On the one hand, it uses to the maximum, and more than is customary, the action of thought on the body (An aspect of this ‘thought’ is mastery of oneself!). On the other hand, it uses, as far as possible, this body for the development and culture of Thought. The fundamental principle to remember is the homology between the Psychic and the Physical. For years mystics have concentrated their thoughts on a single subject: the images, ideas, etc…of their religion. This concentration is voluntary and accompanies the most elevated ideas. A phenomenon comparable to hallucination then emerges: the Vision. But, because this concentration is voluntary, the mystic remains – to a large extent – master of this Vision. And, because this concentration is focused on the highest possible subjects, the Vision displays grandiose spectacles, which nothing can equal, to his eyes. For let us not forget that, if the power of concentration is to a large measure hereditary or race-related, the theme on which this mental concentration acts is by no means such! From this we can see the possibility of absolute confusion on a particular subject, or of becoming unbalanced by nourishing a banal and materialistic “obsession”, or of becoming fixated on or clinging to a metaphysical “image”, which will carry him, like a ship, towards transcendental “realms” where the presence of the ABSOLUTE can be pierced… Let us explain here and now that “images” which can serve well in the exercise of mental concentration are innumerable, but that the Kabbalist has an interest in only using those which have already been vitalized by traditional and secular usage. These are the “vitalized-concepts”… Let us also note that color is not unimportant here. Red, especiallypurple or crimson, has a tonic, exciting effect on psychic life. By contrast, the color blue is calming, quieting. We will return to this idea later. But what we must strive to obtain before all else is the luminosity of these “images”. We must see them illuminated from the inside, as if they are radiating this light themselves. We must never see them shaded by a troubled illumination coming from the side. The problem of the luminosity of “images” is most important. Our Science makes of Light an electromagnetic vibration, in which electricity is the basis of the structure and the equilibrium of all molecules. A growing taste for life in the open air, and for sunbathing, represents an instinctive return towards this material Light, which is an image of Metaphysical Light… As for an identity between the “Inner God” reunited by mental concentration on an “image” and the same “light” obtained through this concentration, one may see it laid bare by all founders of religion if one strips the texts of all secondary interpretations and

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takes them in their literal sense. For Scripture tells us that “God is a consuming Fire”; the Koran that the believer should imagine “God is a Light within a Light”; and the Gospel of Saint John that: “...in him was Life, and the Life was the Light of Men…” The meditation-respiration combination was introduced into Kabbalah by Abraham Abulafia who, moreover, added the secret of attitude (postures), as in yoga, and also that of movements. Why, at the heart of this self-realization, does rhythmic breathing occupy such an important place? Because it joins together all the principal mechanisms: physiological action on the circulation, above all of chemical exchanges (not only pulmonary but also at a cellular level), the great plasticity of rhythm, and a freedom of thought commensurate with the respiratory act. It is also respiration which is the characteristic function of Life on which we unceasingly depend in our living environment and, at the same time, the only function of our vegetative lives which we can distinctively modify through exercising our will. The respiratory function establishes a liaison between our relative life and our vegetative life. It therefore has a fundamental place in the mastery of the body. By means of modifications, respiratory changes lead to chemical changes at tissue level brought about through an increase in energy exchanges, the Brain finds itself in exceptionally favorable conditions for the enhancement of thoughts during such an exercise. * * * The “sense of the Divine” expresses itself above all through religious emotiveness and by means of the rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices which flow from them. It reveals its highest expression through Prayer. “Holy men of God”, Kabbalistic tradition tells us, “when they wish to journey on the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom, begin by meditating on the holy Psalms, and prepare themselves beforehand through holy orisons”. But Prayer, like the “sense of the holy” which it expresses, is from all evidence a spiritual phenomenon. And, like the judicious observation of Dr. Carrel, the Spiritual World is beyond the reach of our modern experimental techniques. How then may one acquire a positivistic understanding of Prayer? The scientific world fortunately includes the totality of all that is observable, and through the intermediary of Physiology, it can be extended to the manifestations of the Spiritual. Thus, by systematic observation of man in the act of prayer, we will learn: what comprises the phenomenon of Prayer, the technique for its production and its effects. In fact, Prayer represents Man’s effort to commune with any of the incorporeal or metaphysical entities: ancestors, guides, saints, archetypes, gods, etc., or with the Primal Cause, summit of the preceding pyramid. Far from consisting of a vain and monotonous recitation of formulae, true Prayer represents a “mystic state” for man, a state in which

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consciousness is absorbed into the Absolute. This state is not of an intellectual nature. It also remains inaccessible – even incomprehensible – to the Philosopher and the Thinker. In order to pray, one must make an effort to strain towards Divinity. “Think of God more often than breathing…” said Epithets. Even very short mental invocations can keep man in the “presence” of God. Besides, another aspect of Prayer is its “constructive” role, working in the “spiritual realms”: which remain unknown or unexplored. “Ora et Labora”, says the ancient hermetic motto, “pray and work”. A popular adage adds: “To work is to pray”. Let us conclude that perhaps, in the same order of ideas, praying equates to working. All depends on what is understood by this word. Perhaps the man who prays is building for himself, in another world, his “glorious body”, the “body of light” of which the Manicheans spoke, and which is his “Celestial Jerusalem”, his own “Divine City”, his “Interior Temple”? Then one may admit that the man who does not pray does not weave his own immortality, and that he deprives himself of an important treasure. Then each of us would find, “beyond death”, everything he had hoped for and encountered in this terrestrial life. The atheist, therefore, travels to Nothingness, believing it to be another Life. Psychologically, the “sense of the Divine” seems to be an impulse which comes from the deepest part of our nature, a fundamental activity, and it may equally be found among primitive tribes and in civilized society. These variations are linked to many other fundamental activities notably: moral sense, aesthetic sense, and personal will. The opposite is also true. And, as Dr. Carrel observed, history shows that the loss of moral and sacred sense in the majority of people who compose a nation quickly leads to its fall and its subjection by a neighboring people, who have preserved what this nation lost through its own fault. Greece, Rome, etc, are examples, which illustrate this point. On the other hand, man is a composite of tissues and organic liquids, penetrated by an imponderable element called Consciousness. Now, the living body, sum of its tissues and organic liquids, has its own existence, linked to a regular correspondence with the contingent Universe. Isn’t one therefore allowed to suppose that Consciousness, if it lives in material organs, also continues at the same time outside of the physical continuum? Can we not believe that we are immersed in a “Spiritual Universe”, (by the fact of our Consciousness), a universe through which we cannot pass except through our body of flesh in the Material Universe, from which the elements of one’s preservation are extracted: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and through the work of nutritional and respiratory functions? In this “Spiritual Universe”, in which our Consciousness draws the very essence of its own preservation and its moral “health”, is it permitted to see the IMMANENT BEING, the First Cause, which ordinary religions call “God”? If we answer in the affirmative, Prayer could then be considered to be the agent of natural relations between Consciousness and its own milieu, in the same way that respiration and nutrition are for the physical body.

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From this it would not be more prideful – whatever Nietzsche says – to pray than to breathe, to meditate than to eat or drink. Prayer is also the equivalent of biological activity, dependent upon on our structure, and this is thus a natural and normal function of our spirit. To neglect it would be to atrophy our own “principal”, in a word, our soul. Still it is important to distinguish form from act! The recitation of foolish formulae, repetitions in which the spirit has no place, where the lips alone have any true activity, is not to pray! Moreover it is necessary for the inner man, which Claude de Saint-Martin called the “Man of Desire”, to be attentive and dynamize that which lips and brain together express. Joined to intuition, to moral and aesthetic sense, and to the intellect, the “sense of the Divine” brings the human being to fully bloom. So, it is not in doubt that success in life requires a full and integral development of each of our physiological, intellectual, emotional and spiritual faculties. Spirit is both Reason and Sentiment, and we must love the Beauty of Knowledge as much as the Beauty of Ethics, Form as well as Action. In this, Plato was right when he told us that to merit the name of man, one must have “made a child, planted a tree, and written a book”. For Claude de Saint-Martin, since the “Word” of the Absolute was necessarily concretized in a new “hypostasis”, alone penetrating the contingent world, it is because it is possible that the “Word” of Man, in its turn, could create the possibility of entering the “Spiritual Universe” when it is expeditiously attracted and oriented by his Superior Consciousness.

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c. Ritual for the Daily Operation of the “22 Divine Names” A kind of Kabbalistic yoga, resting upon the occult power of the Divine Names of the Kabbalah, on that of the design supporting and encircling the operator, this type of Operation has as its objective the development of the transcendental faculties sleeping in Man, by means of creating a permanent state of high mysticism. These Operations take place over three weeks. They begin on the first Sunday on the evening of the lunar Equinox of Spring or Autumn. For the Theurgist they can then be continued consecutively, and can be followed all year. 1. On a fine linen cloth (flax) or a wooden board, draw a Circle about one meter in diameter, whose design appears below. 2. Consecrate this Circle and the Circles corresponding to the four angles by reciting the following Psalms. 3. Each evening, between nine o’clock and midnight, alone in the Oratory, light a candle in the center of the Circle, and place it upon the “Shin”. The Operator will stand in the center, with the candle between his legs, below the ritual robe tied with the cordelier73, barefoot on the carpet.

East

w v West

73

Hence the requirement that the robe is not too long! – PV. 88

Candle

h

North

h

y

South

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Having censed the circumference of the Circle three times on the first night of the Operation, it will not be necessary to cense it again in like manner until the last night. Nevertheless one should take care to light a little incense in the censer each night in the room. Standing thus in the middle of the Circle, a second Candle in his left hand, he will read aloud each evening, in the order corresponding to the 22 Hebrew Letters, one of the 22 sections of Psalm 119, each of which constitutes an acrostic of each letter. The operative layout should be completed with a circle, smaller in size (a cubit – around 0.65 meters – in diameter), completed by an equilateral triangle drawn within it. At each angle of the triangle a lit candle is placed. In the center is placed the Divine Name of the day, written in Hebrew characters, with the corresponding Divine Seal. * * * Consecration of the Circle above In the East, cense three times and recite Psalm 1974:

74

1

The heavens declare the glory of IOH; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

2

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

3

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

4

Their teaching is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun.

5

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

6

His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

7

The law of ADONAI is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

8

The statutes of ADONAI are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

In the King James’ edition – PV. 89

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

9

The fear of ADONAI is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

10

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

11

Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

12

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.

13

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

14

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O ADONAI, my strength, and my redeemer.

In the South, cense three times and recite Psalm 11: 1

In ADONAI put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?

2

For, lo, the wicked bend their bow; they make ready their arrow upon the string that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.

3

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

4

ADONAI is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

5

ADONAI trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

6

Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

7

For the righteous ADONAI loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

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In the West, cense three times and recite Psalm 15: 1

ADONAI, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

2

He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

3

He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

4

In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear IAOH. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

5

He that lendeth not out his money for usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

In the North, cense three times and recite Psalm 8: 1.

O ADONAI our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

2.

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

3.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4.

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5.

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6.

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

7.

All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

8.

The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

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9.

O ADONAI our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! * * *

DAILY INVOCATION OF THE “TWENTY-TWO DIVINE NAMES” Lunar day of Operation 1st (Sunday) 2nd (Monday) 3rd (Tuesday) 4th (Wednesday) 5th (Thursday)

Divine Hebrew Name Elohim Eheieh Elohim Bachur Elohim Gadol Elohim Dagul Elohim Adur

6th (Friday) 7th (Saturday) 8th (Sunday) 9th (Monday) 10th (Tuesday) 11th (Wednesday) 12th (Thursday) 13th (Friday) 14th (Saturday) 15th (Sunday) 16th (Monday) 17th (Tuesday) 18th (Wednesday) 19th (Thursday) 20th (Friday) 21st (Saturday) 22nd (Sunday)

Elohim Vesio Elohim Zakai Elohim Chesed Elohim Theor Elohim Yah Elohim Kabir Elohim Limud Elohim Maborak Elohim Norah Elohim Somek Elohim Hazaz Elohim Phodeh Elohim Tzedek Elohim Kadosh Elohim Rodeh Elohim Shaddai Elohim Teguinah

Divine Name in Latin Infinitus Electus juvenis Magnus Insignis Formosus Maiestosus75 Cum splendore Purus Mundus Misericors Mundus Purus Doctus Potens Doctus Laudatus76 Formidabilis Fulciens Firmens Fortis Redemptor Justus Sanctus Imperans Omnipotens Gratiosus

Hebrew Letter Aleph Beth Gimel Daleth Heh

Divine Name in English Divine essence Chosen Great Well-known Magnificent

Vav Zayin Cheth Teth Yod Kaph Lamed Mem Nun Samekh Ayin Peh Tzaddi Koph Resh Shin Tau

Splendorous Pure Merciful Spotless Divine Powerful Knowing Praiseworthy Formidable Supporting Strong Redeeming Just Holy Commanding Almighty Favorable

* * * THE TWENTY- TWO PRAYERS Aleph. ELOHIM EHEIEH! God of God! 1st Lunar Day.

75 76

1

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.

2

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

3

They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways

Original reads ‘Formosus Majestuosus’ – there should not be a first ‘u’ in the Latin - PV. Original reads ‘Louangé’ – this is French! The Latin would probably be as above – PV. 92

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

4

Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.

5

O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!

6

Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

7

I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.

8

I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. ●

Beth. ELOHIM BACHUR! Chosen God! 2nd Lunar Day. 9

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. 12 Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes. 13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. 14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. 16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. ● Gimel. ELOHIM GADOL! Great God! 3rd Lunar Day. 17

Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.

18

Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

19

I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.

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20

My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.

21

Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.

22

Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.

23

Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.

24

Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. ●

Daleth. ELOHIM DAGUL! Well-known God! 4th Lunar Day. 25

My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.

26

I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.

27

Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.

28

My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

29

Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.

30

I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.

31

I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.

32

I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. ●

Heh. ELOHIM ADU! Magnificent God! 5th Lunar Day. 33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.

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34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. 35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. 36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. 37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. 38 Establish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear. 39 Turn away my reproach, which I fear: for thy judgments are good. 40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness. ● Vav. ELOHIM VESIO! Splendorous God! 6th Lunar Day. 41 Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word. 42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word. 43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments. 44 So shall I keep thy law continually forever and ever. 45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. 46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. 47 And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. 48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes. ●

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Zayin. ELOHIM ZAKAI! Pure God! 7th Lunar Day. 49 Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. 50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. 51 The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law. 52 I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself. 53 Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law. 54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. 55 I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law. 56 This I had, because I kept thy precepts. ● Cheth. ELOHIM CHESED! Merciful God! 8th Lunar Day. 57

Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.

58

I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word.

59

I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.

60

I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.

61

The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law.

62

At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.

63

I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.

64

The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes.

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Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

● Teth. ELOHIM THEOR! Spotless God! 9th Lunar Day. 65 Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word. 66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. 68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes. 69 The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. 70 Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law. 71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. 72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. ● Yod. ELOHIM YAH! Divine God! 10th Lunar Day. 73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments. 74 They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word. 75 I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. 76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. 77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.

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78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts. 79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies. 80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed. ● Kaph. ELOHIM KABIR! Powerful God! 11th Lunar Day. 81

My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.

82

Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?

83

For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.

84

How many are the days of thy servant? When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?

85

The proud have dug pits for me, which are not after thy law.

86

All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.

87

They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.

88

Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. ●

Lamed. ELOHIM LIMUD! Knowing God! 12th Lunar Day. 89

Forever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

90

Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.

91

They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.

98

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92

Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.

93

I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

94

I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.

95

The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.

96

I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad. ●

Mem. ELOHIM MABORAK! Praiseworthy God! 13th Lunar Day. 97

O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

98

Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.

99

I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

100

I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

101

I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.

102

I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.

103

How sweet are thy words unto my taste yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104

Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. ●

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Nun. ELOHIM NORAH! Formidable God! 14th Lunar Day. 105

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

106

I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

107

I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.

108

Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.

109

My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.

110

The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.

111

Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage forever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.

112

I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes always, even unto the end. ●

Samekh. ELOHIM SOMEK! Supporting God! 15th Lunar Day. 113

I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.

114

Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

115

Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.

116

Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.

117

Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.

118

Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.

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119

Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.

120

My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments. ●

Ayin. ELOHIM HAZAZ! Strong God! 16th Lunar Day. 121

I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.

122

Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.

123

Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.

124

Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.

125

I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.

126

It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.

127

Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.

128

Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way. ●

Peh. ELOHIM PHODEH! Redeeming God! 17th Lunar Day. 129

Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.

130

The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

131

I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.

132

Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

133

Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

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134

Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.

135

Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

136

Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law. ●

Tzaddi. ELOHIM TZEDEK! Just God! 18th Lunar Day. 137

Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.

138

Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.

139

My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.

140

Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

141

I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.

142

Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.

143

Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.

144

The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live. ●

Qoph. ELOHIM KADOSH! Holy God! 19th Lunar Day. 145

I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O LORD: I will keep thy statutes.

146

I cried unto thee; save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.

147

I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.

148

Mine eyes prevent the night watches that I might meditate in thy word.

149

Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O LORD, quicken me according to thy judgment.

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150

They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law.

151

Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.

152

Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them forever. ●

Resh. ELOHIM RODEH! Commanding God! 20th Lunar Day. 153

Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law.

154

Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.

155

Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.

156

Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments.

157

Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.

158

I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.

159

Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness.

160

Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever. ●

Shin. ELOHIM SHADDAI! Almighty God! 21st Lunar Day. 161

Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.

162

I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.

163

I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.

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164

Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.

165

Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

166

LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.

167

My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.

168

I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee. ●

Tau. ELOHIM TEGUINAH! Favorable God! 22nd Lunar Day. 169

Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word.

170

Let my supplication come before thee: deliver me according to thy word.

171

My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes.

172

My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.

173

Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts.

174

I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.

175

Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me.

176

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments. ●

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d. The “Great Operation” Note: – In this synthesis, we shall cite some of the specific variations in each of three documents that give the details of the ritual costume and accessories. Regarding the actual Ceremony, its scheme is not actually from that of any one single ritual; but in it there is more of the ritual called “The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage” than of the two others being cited. * * * I. – The Choice of Place77 The complete Operation lasts six lunar cycles, and runs from the new moon of the Spring Equinox until the Autumnal one. This is what Martinez de Pasqually called “our year”. In fact, for the Elus-Cohen, the year was six months long, running from one equinox to the other. To begin with, it is convenient to choose the place where one will operate during the following six months, shortly before Passover78. If one lives in the country, in a remote place, one has the choice of selecting a small forest with spaces and clusters of trees. In a clearing, set up a small altar of turf, covered with an edifice of twigs. On the altar, one places the Lamp and the Censer. The Lamp must remain constantly lit during the six lunar cycles. Around the altar, seven steps away, prepare a low pile of flowers, grass and green shrubs, so that this hedge clearly separates the consecrated space from the rest of the wood. The altar is in the circle; outside is the “profane world”. One will take care to leave an adequate opening in the hedge. It helps, if this is possible, if the wood is situated at the top of a small hill or an elevation. If one lives in town, one should select a house endowed with an adjacent terrace, preferably covered and with white pine flooring. The adjacent terrace should have a covering of river sand, fine and clean, to a depth of two fingers. The altar will be erected in the center of the Oratory. It could be of wood, and present the aspect vertically of a double cube, the height of a cubit and a half (one meter). The altar destined for an outside Operation can be of unfinished stones, set up to form a rough cube. In the Oratory, one should set aside an armoire destined to hold the Vestments and sacred Objects, as well as reserves of ingredients: oil, charcoal, incense, etc… In case of difficulty in achieving all these conditions, one should do one’s best to do as much as possible. 77

This entire section, the objects and the basic ritual, come from ‘Le Martinisme’ by R. Ambelain This refers to the Passover of the Old Testament, being the new moon of the sign of Aries (first appearance of the crescent). 78

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II. – The Ritual Objects The Robe In the prescriptions of Martinez de Pasqually, it is of white flax, falling to the ground, with a fiery red border at the bottom and around the sleeves, with a waistband of the same color. In those of the ritual of Avignon, it is made of crimson silk, covered in an alb of white lace, which falls to the knees. There is no waistband. In the ritual of Abramelin, the Robe is limited to a crimson and gold jacket, which falls to the knees. The waistband is of the same color. In the ritual of the Elus-Cohen, the Operator is bareheaded. In the ritual of Avignon, he wears a “low” gilded miter. In the ritual of Abramelin, the Operator wears a band about the forehead, a hand’s width wide, in crimson and gold silk. The Operator who follows the prescriptions of Dom Pernetty (Ritual of the “Illuminated of Avignon”) also carries upon his low miter, a triangular golden plaque (or, at a pinch, silver) on which is engraved in Hebrew characters the word “KAES” (Kaph, Aleph, Heh, Shin79). It would be a good idea to have a clean white housecoat, of linen or flax, which one wears to enter the Oratory and is reserved for this use. It could be kept in the armoire when one dons the ritual clothing described above. A pair of Sandals, of stuff or coarse linen, completes the costume. The Cohen ritual insists that the soles must be of cork. III. – The Pentacular Objects The ritual of Martinez de Pasqually allows the wearing of a “scapular” and a triangular “talisman”. The ritual of Avignon allows the wearing of a “Pectoral” for which we have been unable to find the design. There is no description or figure in the documents we have regarding this Pectoral. It is perhaps based on that described in Exodus. The ritual of Abramelin does not mention anything similar. 79

I believe that this should be: Kaph-Aleph-Aleph-Tzaddi, being a notariqon for “Kadosh Adonai Elohim Sabaoth”. The first Aleph is also sometimes seen as a Yod thus substituting the Teragrammaton for Adonai, which, in fact is the substitute for Tetragrammaton in the original text. – ed. 106

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THE CEREMONIES A) The First Two Moons Before engaging in any work of the Operation which begins at Easter, the Rituals of Abramelin and Avignon prescribe Holy Communion. This is required according to the particular religion of the Operator (Jewish or Christian), in a communion service enacted according to the rites of the Adept. So one may, as one chooses, communicate in a synagogue, a church, a temple, or alone, with a few Brothers, etc… The rite itself depends on one’s religion (paschal lamb for the Jews, host for Catholics, bread and wine for reformed or Greek rites, etc…). * * * The first morning following Easter, having thoroughly washed or bathed and having put on new vestments or the housecoat mentioned in the present Ritual, enter the Oratory a quarter of an hour before sunrise. Kneel in front of the altar and, facing the window or door leading to the terrace, invoke the Name of the Lord. Thank Him for his grace, abase yourself and ask His pardon for your faults and errors, implore His benevolence and his kindness in sending you his Holy Angel who may serve as you guide in the True Way dispelling all sins of oversight, ignorance and weakness. This prayer is to be repeated each morning at dawn throughout the two lunar cycles, even if the Operator is sick. Conjugal rights are permitted during these two months. Each Sabbath (being Saturday for Jews, Sunday for Christians, and Friday for Moslems), cense the altar, and change vestments for the day having brushed and perfumed them. Give alms or perform a charitable act during the course of the day. B) The Second Two Moons Same ritual, but the prayer is repeated in the evenings, a quarter of an hour before sunset, which makes two prayers each day. Before each of them, purify the face and hands with lustral80 water.

80

This clean water from a flowing source and may be blessed. In some traditions it is mixed with other ingredients such as ash, oil, rose petals, etc. –ed. 107

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The twice-daily Orison for these two months should be longer than that used in the first two lunar cycles. One should spend longer asking for grace to enter the True Way, to one day achieve true wisdom and knowledge by the intermediation of the Holy Angels. One may still engage in conjugal rights during these two moons. Each Sabbath eve wash or bathe thoroughly, and cleanse the vestments or brush and perfume them. That day one should take no food between the rise and setting of the Sun, and abstain from living too finely or abundantly. Fasting is recommended. On the day of the Sabbath, perform the same actions as for the first two moons. C) The Last Two Moons In these two last months before the Grand Evocation, perform three prayers in place of the two. These take place a quarter of an hour before dawn, a quarter of an hour before noon, and a quarter of an hour before sunset. Wash the face and hands with lustral water upon entering the Oratory, and before reciting the holy orisons, say a prayer of confession for the pardon of sins. Ardently ask the Lord for grace to enjoy and bear the presence of the Holy Angels, and ask Him to deign, through their mediation, to give the secret knowledge. The prayer is thus longer than those of the previous two moons. When lighting the incense before each prayer, do not forget to use a brief prayer to dedicate the censing to the Name of the Lord, to His glory; and pray for the Holy Angels to be present and henceforth to assist at the Operations during these two moons. It is best to pray with the heart. For that, study the Holy Scriptures, and the Eternal One will illumine the mind of the Operator to this end, and the Holy Spirit will penetrate little by little. Coitus is forbidden in these last two lunar months. General Prescriptions Live as alone as you can and avoid becoming angry during these six months. After the main meal, study the Holy Scriptures and the Kabbalah for about two hours. After Morning Prayer, one may sleep a little more if desired. The only thing one must not do at any cost is to interrupt the daily Orisons. The room in which one sleeps should, if possible, be adjacent to the Oratory. It should be clean and neat, and avoid all profane objects or decoration. One’s bed should

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be clean, and one should change the sheets each week on the Sabbath eve, and on each of those occasions the room should be censed. These prescriptions should be followed throughout the six moons. * * * Regarding the prayers, one will carefully note that the orisons for the first two months (lunar cycles of Aries and Taurus) are preparatory prayers. One asks the Lord to send you His Holy Angel, in order to guide you in the True Way, and to protect you from failure. In the orisons of the second following lunar cycles (Gemini and Cancer), you ask God to instruct you through His Holy Angels. In the two last moons (Leo and Virgo), you ask the Lord to give you the strength to rejoice in the presence of his Holy Angels, to have the strength of soul to bear this presence, and to grant you, through their meditation, the secret knowledge, and, to the Angels themselves, to be present and assist the Operator, even when invisible. Finally, at the time of the Grand Evocation, you ask only for their appearance, under one form or another (face, human silhouette, supernatural light, etc…) D) The Consecration After the two last lunar cycles are complete, the Operator has come to the end of his long ascetic period. The Néoménie of the Autumnal Equinox, the time and date of the Grand Evocation, begins. The morning of the first day of the Moon of Libra, pray like the previous evening, but barefoot. As usual place coals in the censer and dress in the prescribed Vestment81, placing the almond Wand lengthways upon the altar and place in front of the Wand the flask of the Oil of Unction. Throw a large amount of Incense on the coals, kneel and pray thus: “O Lord, God of Mercy, Patient God, Most Blessed, Most Bountiful and Wise, Who grants Your grace in a thousand ways and generations, Who forgets the iniquities, sins and transgressions of men, in Whose Presence none are found innocent, who visits the failures of the fathers on the children and descendants unto the third and fourth generation, I know my wretchedness and know that I am not worthy to come before your Divine Majesty, nor to implore and pray Your Goodness and Mercy for the least grace…Nevertheless, Lord of Lords, take pity on me. Remove all iniquity and malice from me. Wash all impurity of sin from my soul. Renew Your Spirit within me. Let me understand the mysteries of Thy Grace and the treasures of Thy Wisdom! Sanctify me 81

In some rituals a separate penitential vestment, as in the section below, is prescribed for this day, thus allowing for the anointings described later in this section. –ed. 109

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with the Oil of Your sanctification, with which You purified Your Prophets. Sanctify in me all that belongs to me, so that I may become worthy to converse with Your Holy Angels, and may Your Divine Sapience at last grant me the same power given to Your Prophets over all impure spirits. Amen, Amen, Amen.” Then rise, anoint the middle of your forehead with a little of the Oil of Unction. Then, having plunged the first three fingers of your right hand into the Oil, anoint the four upper corners of the altar, the pieces of ritual costume, the waist-band, the miter or the headband, and the almond Wand, on both sides. Then, do the same to the door and the window, if there is one. Finally, with the fingers covered with oil, trace these words on the four sides of the altar: “In whatever place, where My Name shall be commemorated, I shall come to you and bless you”. The consecration is ended. Lay out the Objects and Vestments, kneel again and pray with the heart (The Objects should never leave the Oratory during these six months). Henceforth, the Operator will go barefoot in the Oratory. E) About the Angelic Summons The day following the consecration of the altar, before dawn, get up early. Do not proceed as usual, with lustral ablutions. Dress in Vestments of mourning, and, barefoot, enter the Oratory. Take some coals from the Censer from the previous evening and mark the forehead and hair with ash. Now place fresh coals in the Censer then, returning to the threshold, prostrate yourself, face to the ground, fists crossed beneath the head, which is covered with a black veil. Here the ritual of Abramelin prescribes a rite, which is not found in that of the “Illumined of Avignon” nor the Elus-Cohen. However, it appears in an analogous ritual of “Mystic Masonry”. “The morning following the Consecration, rise at an early hour. Do not wash; dress in clothes of mourning; enter the Oratory barefoot. Go to the side of the Censer, and take ashes from it, placing them on the head. Light the Lamp. Place glowing coals in the Censer. Open the window; return to the door and there prostrate yourself, face to the ground. Have a child, 6, 7 or 8 years old at most, dressed in white, wearing a white silk veil, fine and transparent which covers the forehead down to the eyes, to enter the Oratory, to place fire and Incense in the Censer, and to kneel before the altar, on which one will have placed a silver Plate. One’s own head is covered with a black veil and, humiliating oneself with the greatest fervor before God and His Celestial Court, one prays the Angel to show himself to the child, by giving the child a “sign” on the silver Plate. Do not look at the altar and pray with great fervor until there appears an extraordinary splendor, accompanied by an indescribable odor. Then the child will see the Angel. Then pray the Angel to “sign” and to write the sign of its “summons” on the silver Plate, together with all the instructions necessary to its future appearance. Then the

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Angel disappears, but the splendor remains. The child must carry the silver Plate. Then exit the Oratory, leaving the window open and the Lamp lit. Do not enter the room again that day; speak to nobody, and avoid replying, even to the child whom one now dismisses”. This is evidently referring to a real Child, analogous to that (or rather to those), used by Cagliostro as a medium to detect symbolic scenes in his celebrated crystal decanter filled with magnetized water, which he then interpreted. But it is probable that the child in question must be “prepared” according to an appropriate ritual. The child must be pure, both morally and physically. That is to say, in warmer countries (the Ritual comes mainly from Arabic inspiration), there would be no question of a young boy or girl of 8 having already lost their physical virginity, taking into account their ultra-precocious education. Above all, the child must be gifted with a natural ability to ‘see’, or be – like those used by Cagliostro – plunged into somnambulistic sleep. Here the silver plate performs the office of a “magic mirror”, and it is probable that this Plate should be poured out, cut and consecrated according to an appropriate ritual. It is probable that the primitive text envisaged a simple visualization, - in this “mirror”, - of the Angel’s seal, an image that the child must then describe to the Master conducting the Operation. The day following this ceremony, if one has singularly benefited from the appearance of a luminescent “glory” and the perception of an extra-terrestrial odor, then continue the ceremony in the manner described below. Before daybreak go to the Oratory, light the Censer and throw a large pinch of Incense on the glowing coals. Once more, in mourning Vestments, head covered with a black veil, prostrate yourself at the entrance and ask the Lord God to grant you a vision of the Holy Angels. Pray that the Celestial Spirits will grant you their intimate presence. This prayer should continue (repeated or continued in a variety of ways) for about two or three full hours. At midday, one should pray for another hour. In the evening, at sunset, another hour. One fasts all day, only taking food when the Sun sets. When the third day has finally arrived, having bathed or washed all over, enter the Oratory, barefoot, then light and fill the Censer with coals and Incense. Kneeling before the altar give thanks to the Lord of Heaven, asking him for the help of the Holy Angels in the Magical Operation being performed. Then, the Angel set over you as your guardian will finally appear. A conversation in which no words resonate in the silence, where everything is intuitively and spiritually perceived and expressed: such is the essence of the ecstasy into

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which the Operator is now plunged. You will have no idea of the time elapsed for the excellent reason that you are no longer of this world during the time of the appearance. You will not interrupt this mystic meeting yourself: besides, you couldn’t if you tried. Consciousness of what has happened slips away. The Angel, or the “glory” which he manifests, where all hieroglyphic “signs” radiate in space, in front of you, behind you, at the right of the altar, will become blurred. The Operator regains consciousness of the place and the time. You leave without touching anything. In the evening, offer another prayer of thanks, for about an hour. The following day, fourth day of the principle Operations, enter the Oratory again, light the Censer, and put on the Vestment described at the beginning of this Ritual. This done, pray God that he will give you His grace, so that the Operations will always be to His glory. Pray to your Angel. Then, Wand in the right hand, ask God to give it the power which he gave of old to the Wands of Moses, Aaron, Elias and the other Patriarchs and Prophets. Once this consecratory prayer is ended, set aside the Wand. Later, each time you want the company the Guardian Angel, when you need his counsels or his light, after each prayer before the altar, trace in the air before you the glyph that he indicated to you on the first day of his manifestation. This will be sufficient for him to hear your call. It is then, says the “Ritual of Abramelin the Mage”, that the convocation and exorcism of Impure Spirits takes place. * * * THE HOLY ORISONS For the first two Lunar Cycles “Our Strength is in the Name of the Lord, who hath made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto Thee.” * * * “O Lord, God of Mercy, Patient God, Most Blessed, Most Bountiful and Wise, Who grants Your grace in a thousand ways and generations, Who forgets the iniquities, sins and transgressions of men, in Whose Presence none are found innocent, who visits the failures of the fathers on the children and descendants unto the third and fourth generation, I know my wretchedness and know that I am not worthy to come before your Divine Majesty, nor to implore and pray Your Goodness and Mercy for the least grace…

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“Nevertheless, Lord of Lords, take pity on me. Remove all iniquity and malice from me. Wash all impurity of sin from my soul. Renew Your Spirit within me. Let me understand the mysteries of Thy Grace and the treasures of Thy Divine Wisdom! “Sanctify me with the Oil of Thy Sanctification, with which Thou hast sanctified Thy Prophets. Purify all that is mine within me, so that I may one day be worthy of conversation with Thy Holy Angels. And finally, may Thy Divine Sapience give me the power sent to Thy Prophets over all impure Spirits. Amen. Amen.” * * * “May the Eternal One, the God of Israel, be blessed forever, unto all ages. Amen. Amen.” * * * Each Thursday during these first two moons, here add the “De Profundis” and the “Miserere Mei”. * * * “MISERERE MEI” (Psalm 51) 1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. 5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6. Behold, thou desireth truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 7. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones, which thou hast broken, may rejoice. 9. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

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14. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 15. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall sing forth thy praise. 16. For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 19. Then shalt thou be please with the sacrifice of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.” * * * “De PROFUNDIS” (Psalm 130) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. 7. Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” * * * For the next two Lunar Cycles “Our Strength is in the Name of the Lord, who hath made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto Thee.” * * * “O Lord, God of Mercy, Patient God, Most Blessed, Most Bountiful and Wise, Who grants Your grace in a thousand ways and generations, Who forgets the iniquities, sins and transgressions of men, in Whose Presence none are found innocent, who visits the failures of the fathers on the children and descendants unto the third and fourth generation, I know my wretchedness and know that I am not worthy to come before your Divine Majesty, nor to implore and pray Your Goodness and Mercy for the least grace…

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“Nevertheless, Lord of Lords, take pity on me. Remove all iniquity and malice from me. Wash all impurity of sin from my soul. Renew Your Spirit within me. Let me understand the mysteries of Thy Grace and the treasures of Thy Divine Wisdom! “Sanctify me with the Oil of Thy Sanctification, with which Thou hast sanctified Thy Prophets. Purify all that is mine within me, so that I may one day be worthy to penetrate the Truth, Path of Wisdom and Knowledge, and this through the direct help of Thy Holy Angels. And finally, may Thy Divine Sapience give me the power sent to Thy Prophets over all impure Spirits. Amen. Amen.” * * * “Angel of the Lord, who art my Guardian, to whom I am entrusted by Divine Goodness, deign to enlighten, direct and govern me. Amen. Amen.” * * * “May the Eternal One, the God of Israel, be blessed forever, unto all ages. Amen. Amen.” * * * Each Thursday of these two moons, add here the “De Profundis” and the “Miserere Mei” to the evening prayers. For the last two Lunar Cycles “Our Strength is in the Name of the Lord, who hath made Heaven and Earth. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto Thee.” * * * “To the glory of the Eternal One, I shall approach the altar of God, the God who fills my Soul daily with new joys. May my invocation, O Lord, rise up towards Thee as the perfume of this incense! “Eternal God, Wise and Strong, Most Puissant Being of beings, come to this Place! Sanctify it by Thy Presence and Thy Majesty, so that purity, charity, and the fullness of the Law may abide here. And as the perfume of this incense rises towards Thee, may Thy Quality and Thy Benediction descend upon these flagstones…

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“And Thee, O Angels and Celestial Spirits, be present at this Consecration! Through the Living and Eternal God, who created thee, like me, from nothing, and who can, at this very instant, plunge thee with me back into Nothingness by His Wisdom. Amen. Amen.” * * * “O Lord, God of Mercy, Patient God, Most Blessed, Most Bountiful and Wise, Who grants Your grace in a thousand ways and generations, Who forgets the iniquities, sins and transgressions of men, in Whose Presence none are found innocent, who visits the failures of the fathers on the children and descendants unto the third and fourth generation, I know my wretchedness and know that I am not worthy to come before your Divine Majesty, nor to implore and pray Your Goodness and Mercy for the least grace… “Nevertheless, Lord of Lords, take pity on me. Remove all iniquity and malice from me. Wash all impurity of sin from my soul. Renew Your Spirit within me. Let me understand the mysteries of Thy Grace and the treasures of Thy Divine Wisdom! “Sanctify me with the Oil of Your sanctification, with which You purified Your Prophets. Sanctify in me all that belongs to me, give me the grace to be on the True Path of Wisdom and Knowledge through the aid of Thy Holy Saints; give me the strength to endure and to rejoice in their presence, and deign, O Lord, through their mediation, to grant me the Secret Knowledge, that which allows domination over perverse Spirits and creatures, and to conceive all the dispersed mysteries of Thy Creation, those of the Heavens and of the Earth, of this World and the Next!” * * * “May the Eternal One, the God of Israel, be blessed forever, unto all ages. Amen. Amen.” * * * An Operator who is accustomed to straightforward ceremonial Magical Operations, would have been astonished by the ritualistic simplicity reigning over the preparation of the almond Wand, whereas the Wand in regular Clavicles is generally covered with a layer of engraved red copper, encircled with rings of gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, etc… and it is also prescribed never to leave the ends free: they must either be covered by magnetic balls, or sealed with virgin wax. The almond Wand in the Ritual of Abramelin or that of the “Illumined of Avignon” is purely symbolic. It is the tangible “witness” of the real powers, which the long asceticism of six months has legitimately procured for the persevering Adept. That

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is to say that it draws its power only from that which he inwardly discovered in his Theurgic work. Whoever has the least doubt about the value of his interior work, and the value of the Wand, is diminished in the same proportion. The symbolism of the almond is as follows. It is the “wood of Angels” for the Kabbalists of yore. Now, the Hebrew word “shaked” signifies “almond” and the Hebrew word “shakad” denotes “watcher”. And this distinction (of shaked from shakad) can only be found in Hebrew which uses masoretic points. In ancient mystic Hebrew the same word is written Shin-Heh-Kaph (khw), so it would be impossible to distinguish the nuance except by reason of an esoteric oral Tradition, properly called the Kabbalah. The “almond” (shaked) is the tree of “those-who-watch” (shakad), that is to say the Angels, whom the Book of Enoch calls the “Watchers of Heaven”. It is the Wand the Gods of the Armies of Heaven, Elohim Tzabaoth, required of Priests. In hermetic symbolism, the almond is the symbol of Birth, earthly Birth as well as celestial Birth. Hence the candles at baptism. Its fruit easily evokes the feminine sex, containing the future seed: the Child. It is the tree of the Virgin Mother, and Mary is often depicted in the middle of an almond (see Notre Dame of Paris), because she is the Virgin Mother, and because she is also the “Queen of the Angels”, the Queen of the Watchers of Heaven. Finally, with its silver foliage and its green fruit, it is the Venusian-Lunar tree par excellence. For Jewish Kabbalists or Arab Magicians it evokes the Star of David; and the Pentagram (linked to the color green), which surmounts the Crescent moon (linked to the color silver). It is the sign of Chance and Good Fortune. But above all the almond tree is the tree, which seeks the light. Frequently blossoming during Spring, before the last frosts have passed, it hastens to see the solar rebirth in realizing the symbol of the Sage who confronts death with no fear, in order to sooner see the hoped-for Life. All other appropriate materials, apart from the Silver Plate, can be used to advantage: notably the plate of virgin wax, virgin lambskin or veal skin, etc… The impregnation of a “seal” upon a material body is described in the Old Testament: this is the episode of the “Tablets of the Law”. “When the Eternal One had finished talking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of Testimony, Tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” (Exodus: 31:18). “Moses returned and went down from Mount Sinai, and the two Tablets of ‘Testimony’ were in his hand. The two Tablets were written on both their sides, they were written on one and on the other side. The Tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraven upon the Tablets.82” (Exodus: 32:15). 82

These two quotations approximate the King James Version, but Ambelain added words to emphasize his point, which are not in the bible – PV. 117

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

It would be wrong to see in these stone Tablets, written by the very finger of the Elohim whom Moses contemplated on the mountain, a legislative text, summarizing the long prescriptions that God gave in a living voice to his representative. These prescriptions cover twelve Chapters of Exodus, and are then repeated many times. It would also be futile to see in this just the engraving of the Ten Commandments, for the holy text is very precise on this matter, and it is imagination on the part of the exegetes who believed they saw this passage as being about the ten primary prescriptions: in reality it is about something completely different! In Chapter 25 of Exodus, paragraphs 16 and 17, the Eternal One, having given His instructions for the construction of the Ark of the Covenant, a little box of two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits tall and wide, says the following: “Thou shalt put into the Ark the ‘Testimony’, that which I shall give thee.” Now, we have seen above that the ‘Testimony’ in question is the two Tablets. Why this expression? Because these stone plaques, for Moses and the People, will be preemptory and decisive proof of the reality of the miracle! In contemplating these Tablets, Moses will never again thereafter, despite the passage of time, doubt the foundation of his mission, and of his souvenirs! Never will he be able to dream that he dreamed the magic! The ‘Tablets’ will be there, as witness, with the supernatural imprint that they received, that Yahweh truly manifested before the face of the leader of Israel. The text of Exodus tells us that they were “written on both sides”. This gives us Ten Commandments, distributed over four sides! This is neither easy nor harmonious. But if one admits that they were two stone Pentacles, all becomes clear. For all Pentacles have two sides, both engraved with the appropriate symbols. If two “Tablets” were necessary, that is to say, a double “Witness”, it is because, as we are told in Genesis (Chapter 1), Elohim is a ‘double’ God: “God made Man in his image, male and female created he them”. Here we see the expressions of God’s “right” and “left”. This duality is recalled by the two Cherubim who, in the words of Chapter 25 of Exodus (18, 19), must spread their wings above the Ark, and the pure gold Mercy Seat, which dominates it. And the proof that the presence of the Eternal One, the God of Israel, is linked to the two ‘Pentacles’, which are the two ‘Tablets’, is also in Exodus, which tells us: “And Thou shalt put the Mercy-seat above and upon the Ark; and in the ark thou shalt place the ‘Testimony’ that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the Mercy-seat, from between the two Cherubim which are upon the Ark of the ‘Testimony’, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 25:22). The sequel to this prescription was that the very many places of cult worship that the people and the indolent Kings allowed to occur or persist throughout the territory of

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Israel, were closed or destroyed by the Priest-guardians of the purity of the Law, wherever they were able! Since, for them, the God of Israel could only be manifest at Jerusalem, in the Holy of Holies, above the Ark of the Covenant, containing the famous “Testimony”… For, there where is the Ark, is the Elohim: “Thou shalt make me a sanctuary, and there shall I live, in the midst of you…” * * * This traditional prescription, implying a “support for manifestation” for the Deity evoked, is common to all magical ceremonies, whatever the tradition: Western, Eastern, ancient, medieval, modern. This is the role of the “mandalas” and “yantras”, which is the same as for “pentacles” or “circles”. This is why the “Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage” anticipates the necessary presence of a Plaque of pure silver, impregnated and “signed” by the Angel, as a first condition to all subsequent manifestation. We will find this rule in the tradition in which the “Grimoires” were written, on virgin parchment in the Operator’s own hand, and that the demons thus evoked imposed their “signature: upon each of the pages attributed to them. There, Sorcery, Magic and Theurgy were joined together, in a complete ritual identification. * * * Regarding the special role reserved, in certain sacerdotal functions, to young children, here is what the “Book of Judges” tells us further (17:1 to 683): “And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. And he said unto his mother, the eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursest, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, blessed be thou of the Lord, my son. “And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had a house of gods, 83

Original text reads: “1 to 8” – PV. 119

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and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” * * * And so we see from the preceding text that Micah used one of his children as an “intermediary” between himself and the entity which he venerated. This entity was figured in an Oratory (“And the man Micah had an house of gods”, that is, a chapel) by means of two different objects; one carved and the other cast. Here, too, the metal used was silver. It acted as a double representation; there were two teraphim, just as there were two Cherubim, and two Tablets of “Testimony”. One of the teraphim was male: this is the one, which was carved, thus recalling the modeling of Adam, the First Man, by the very hands of the Eternal One. The other teraphim was poured, recalling the creation of Eve, the Woman, issued from Adam by dividing into two. The first teraphim was evidently the mould for the second one. So we may conclude that, in the “Ritual of Abramelin the Mage”, the child is a real infant, and it is not necessary to investigate, with the aid of Gematria, Temurah or Notariqon, what other name, of equivalent Kabbalistic and numeric value, could be concealed in this image. We need no longer imagine that the child and the pentacle (both emblematic of “mediators” between the Evoked and the Evoker) as anything but a single, united accessory. There are together both a real infant in the Ceremony, and a silver Plaque, which receives the angelic “Seal”, upon the altar of the Oratory.

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e. Spiritual Alchemy “The Chrysopage of the Lord” by the well-beloved Raymond Lully, on the Greek text in the possession of Master Henry Khunrath, translated by Thomas Weilley (1668): “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” Epistle of James, 3.17 – 18 Observation of Men has revealed a peculiar aspect of their nature, which shows that among them Laziness is the mother of all Vices. This can be explained by the fact that the refusal of the Flesh to participate in the demands of the works of the Spirit, inexorably leads to the generation within them of contrary elements, which are open to better serve this shameful defect. Therefore one can understand that that the Soul thus invaded by such a Vice (the manifestation of an intelligent Principle which is conscious of its perverseness), is going to be open to the invasion of other vices, which the first one which forced entry will call to assist it, in order to preserve the stronghold it has just gained. But if this process can only be expressed in an inverse manner, a natural process of generation of the Soul’s attributes, it is because the Soul exists by itself, and, in consequence, the Virtues of the Soul are open to harmonic manifestation and development, their blooming forth and their permanence dependent upon their completeness. So, just as in an edifice one stone calls for another, and just as two require a third, and so on until the final placing of the “key”, in the same way a Virtue and a Vice generate other Principles, and so on up to the opposition of the final whole. This is why, O Son of the Sun and Moon, that the language of the Philosophers is not completely unintelligible to you, in their obfuscation of the teachings. Scorning the dread lust for Gold, or that empty and artless curiosity which remains unsatisfied because it has never set a direction to pursue, you will then know how to pierce the secret of the true Son of Fire. You alone will understand that this Fire is not in fact that somber and satanic fire, which parches both the flesh and heart of the false sage or the ignorant and pompous man: on the contrary, this Fire is in truth the HOLY SPIRIT, THE COMFORTER revealed to us by the Holy Gospels. Then you may have the Power to put into practice the true secrets of the Art which I give you here. Then you may be led to the benefit of the Work of your own

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Redemption and thus attain the ultimate Illumination which was promised to the holy men of God. And then it is, O Son of the Sun and Moon, that you will desire your Brother in Jesus Christ – may His Holy Name be Blest – with all your heart! Amen. * * * The Tradition of those who preceded us on the Way of Wisdom, tells us that all things proceed from the Four Elements, and that these Four Elements are the foundation of all. They are Earth, Water, Air and Fire respectively. The Alchemists knew how to draw two Principles from these Four Elements, male and female respectively, and a third – Neuter – Principle. These are Philosophical Sulfur, Philosophical Salt, and Philosophical Mercury. Thus, by means of a simple and salutary Operation, the Masters tell us, the Four are reduced to three. But Philosophical Sulfur, Mercury and Salt only constitute an intermediary aspect of the evolution of our Elements. From their production are born two Principles, superior to all the others. These are Wise Sulfur and Wise Mercury. Here are in reality our two supreme Arcana of the Art, and it is in their ultimate copulation that the Chrysopage will finally be born. This Tetractys was well known to the students of Pythagoras the Wise and the Holy Saints of God, Who poured out the knowledge, nor were they ignorant of the use of His Holy Names. Such that it comprises the whole of the key of our Alchemy. * * * In Man, the Elements capable of beginning the Work are the Four Cardinal Virtues, namely: Power, Prudence, Temperance and Justice. The Wise Man who has learned how to develop these Four Virtues in his Soul is assured, by their very presence, of seeing the development in their turn of the three Theological Virtues within him, namely: Faith, Hope and Charity. So attentive and regular practice of the Cardinal Virtues generates and gives rise to the action of the three superior Virtues. In turn, when these, our three superior Principles, have become completely introduced within us, they hasten to awaken other Presences, those of the Powers of the supreme dyad: Intelligence and Wisdom.

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ILLUMINATION

xP Palace of the King King”” “

Wise Sulfur INTELLIGENCE

“

Phil. Sulfur FAITH

FIRE POWER Billious

Wise Mercury WISDOM

Phil. Mercury HOPE

AIR JUSTICE Sanguine

Palace of the Queen”

Phil. Salt CHARITY

WATER TEMPERANCE Lymphatic

EARTH PRUDENCE Melancholic

The Hermetic Tetractys And in their turn, these two divine graces awaken one more in us: that which cannot be expressed in words and images. In this final Virtue is all the Beatitude promised to the elect, and through it we creatures shall participate in the Life Divine. It would be vain to believe that the practice of a single Virtue would lead to the generation of the others; in the same manner that the child is born of the father and the mother, and as the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, so can no Virtue come into being unless proceeding from two others. Thus, we create the Tree of our Knowledge. * * * The first Virtue that it is important to develop in ourselves is that of Power. How else can we embark upon such an enterprise if we are not predisposed to bring it to a

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satisfactory conclusion? So we must be strong; strong against the world, strong against ourselves, strong against our Vices. The second Virtue to develop is Prudence, for she teaches us to be mistrustful of the World, ourselves, the subtle cunning of the Vices, and our conscious and crafty Enemies. For, once again, one must never see these Vices as instinctive and mechanical reactions of our own Flesh. Without doubt, it serves as the vehicle of the Demonic Spirit, which lives within it, since it is both its author and animator, inspiring the vessel and channel for these reactions. It is through the flesh that the Spirit of Darkness expresses itself; and when it makes it to vibrate beneath its control, as a viol under the fingers of the fiddler, we must, as a free spirit, beware of all that it brings in its many suggestions, both compliments and reproaches, counsels and negations, all which seem to present a justification for the preeminence of Flesh over Spirit. All these suggestions must be rejected. This is the Virtue of Prudence. From the general practice of these two primary Virtues, Power and Prudence, are born respectively two others: Temperance and Justice. When Power has the tendency to overflow its bounds, and Prudence is momentarily diminished, Justice appears. For Justice is: precise reward; and through a purely mechanical reaction, the momentarily disturbed equilibrium reestablishes itself. But when Prudence is submerged by Power, then Temperance appears. It is also called Mercy, Mildness, Indulgence and Pardon. On the scales of the balance it stands opposed to Justice, whose rigorous precision ignores the varieties created by the infinite love of beings for other beings, and of God for them all. * * * When these Four Cardinal Virtues will have become a constant actuation in you, O Son of the Sun and Moon, the Elements of the Work will be ready to enter into the play of higher generations. Now three new visitors will appear in your Soul, the Theological Virtues, called Faith, Hope and Charity. Power was Fire; Justice was Air; Temperance was Water; and Prudence was Earth. In this second series, Faith will be Sulfur, Hope will be Mercury and Charity will be Salt. Faith is born from the practice of Justice and Temperance. Faith, above all, takes its origin in truth and sincerity. When you posses Truth, Certainty, then you believe steadfastly in the fact of what you are considering; and the strength of your belief is the fruit of your certainty. Then realize that the Faith, which you can create in another, depends completely on the truth of your words, acts and above all of your thoughts. Think truly, in order to speak sincerely and act rightly. Faith is Honesty above all and

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before all. Faith is Sincerity! Do not lie, for Falsehood kills Faith, and in doing this, you weave a mist about you which hides God, the Ultimate Truth, from you. In order to believe rightly, one must think or act truthfully. Once this is done, you will give birth to a real Faith, the daughter of Certainty; and Certainty is the true Reality… * * * Justice and Honesty give rise to Hope. For who could deny that Reason, born of Justice, and Certainty, daughter of Honesty are alone capable of fearlessly laying the foundation of your Hope? Likewise, Faith and Temperance give birth to Charity. For Honesty and Mildness require that we will do unto others that which we would wish other would do unto us. And so Charity is born, another aspect of the Love of beings for other beings. But Honesty and Hope also give rise to Charity and this for the same motives. The Certainty that gives Hope rests upon Truth and Honesty, to show us that the final end state of Beings is exactly the Love of these same beings for each other. Thus, Faith and Hope give rise to Charity. * * * Here, the Septenary is established. Within you, O Son of the Sun and the Moon, Power and Justice, Temperance and Prudence have been successively generated, giving birth to Faith, hope and Charity. Issuing from the Four Elements, Fire, Air, Water, Earth, appear blazing like figures in stained-glass windows: Philosophical Sulfur, Mercury and Salt… But in the same way that our Alchemist couldn’t act on the Four Elements and the Three Principles without recourse to a material vehicle (the “prima material”), so, as the Archemist84, you have an obligation to act in the contingent world in order to channel and to carry out your actions. That which was the Athanor, the Crucible, the Prima Materia for the vulgar Blower, so human – then divine – Knowledge will be this for you, and you will know how to be satisfied with them. Gnosis is the base lead on which your moral power is going to act. If you know how to become its master, without being mastered by it, you will then be able to bring the Chrysopage to successful creation. 84

“Archymiste” in the original text – PV. 125

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

* * * O Son of the Sun and Moon, Gnosis and Hope will summon Intelligence in you; which is Comprehension. For we already know that Hope is also Certainty, and that Gnosis is Knowledge. Since Certainty is born out of Truth (or Honesty), Gnosis can only be Perfect Knowledge. This is why Perfect Knowledge and Certainty lead to Understanding. On the other hand, and in parallel, Gnosis and Charity summon Wisdom in you, just as Gnosis (or Perfect Knowledge) united with Understanding, generates this Wisdom. But what is Wisdom? We now understand it: Intelligence and Wisdom are, respectively, the Wise Sulfur and Wise Mercury of our common Alchemists. Wisdom is Usage, as Intelligence is Understanding. The first is active, and the second is passive. The union of the two must finally give birth to the ultimate and final terminus of the Work, the Philosophical Stone, the Illumination, which refers to you, O Son of the Sun and Moon, to that Celestial Creature which you were at the beginning of time. * * * “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews, 13.20)

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V. – THE SHEMHAMPHORASH

Textual basis of the Shemhamphorasch85 Lenain has taken the seventy-two pentacles described below from various Magical manuscripts of the Arsenal Library and from the Collection of the Comte de Boulainvilliers. In his work entitled “La Science Cabalistique”, Lenain gave only the text, which we have reproduced below. We extracted the Seals of the Seventy-Two Angels of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life from a magnificent manuscript of the 18th Century. The reader will find them below. Without them Lenain’s work is unusable. One should trace them in red on virgin parchment, surrounded by a double circle in black, within which one traces the corresponding verse from the Psalms, either in Latin or preferably in Hebrew, in red. One may copy it faithfully from a Hebrew Bible. The name of the Angel should be traced above the seal, in “Malachim” characters. In order to consecrate them, one should utilize the following ritual: The Altar is decorated in the usual manner (red cloth), with luminaries lit; and then one places the parchment Pentacle on the lead Hexagram of the Altar Stone. It is copiously censed while the Grand Invocation of Solomon is recited, followed by: “Thus said Adonai86, The heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made.” Thus said Adonai: “I was glad also, when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together, Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For except Adonai build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except Adonai keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 85

Verses 19, 20 and 21 of Exodus are each composed of 72 letters. Taking the first letter of Verse 19, the last of Verse 20 and the first of Verse 21, one has the first root (radical), to which one adds “iah”. One now has the name of the first Angel in the series. One does the same for the other, adding (according to a simple key), the endings “el” or “iah”, expressing God in the masculine or the feminine. 86 It is evident that the pronunciation and transcription of the extracts of the Psalms must be made in Hebrew. Because of this it is necessary to have a printed edition of the Torah. – RA All biblical translations will use the King James Version of the Bible. All Psalm and verse numbers are therefore adjusted to this Bible. In many cases the verse quoted and the verse number do not match. In all cases the Latin given has been used to identify the correct verse. The ‘keen student’ might consider buying a Hebrew-English Bible to obtain the relevant verses in Hebrew. However, learning their correct pronunciation will be a major investment of time and effort. Using the Latin is a good compromise – PV. 127

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

“Father of Power and Greatness, Being of Beings, Almighty Sanctifier, who created all things from nothing, despise not Thy servant, but let it please Thee to purify, consecrate and sanctify this place dedicated to Thy service; command Thy angel to descend, reside and remain, for Thy Glory and Service. Amen.” One then asperges the Pentacle with lustral water, and then with salt, while reciting Psalms 98 and 102 (from the Vulgate): “The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble…” and ”Bless the Lord, O my soul …”. Then one lays it under a lit lamp87, in the middle of the lead Hexagram and collects one’s thoughts for a significant period of time. If the Operation was successful, a marked coldness will spread through the room, and one will then notice a progressive animation in the Pentacle, which will give the impression of beating like a heart88. It is then that one will be able to conjure the Entity according to the following ritual.

ANGELIC CONJURATION I conjure thee in the name of the Twenty-Four Elders, in the name of the Nine Choirs to which you belong, O ! I conjure thee in the name of Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominations, Principles, Powers, Virtues, Cherubim and Seraphim! In the name of the Four Mysterious Powers which carry the Throne of the Most High, and who have eyes before and behind; in the name of all that contributes to our Salvation! I conjure thee, Spirit of Light, in the Name of the True God, the God of Life! In the name of the Seven Mysterious Candlesticks in the right hand of God! In the name of the Seven Churches of Asia! In the name of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. I conjure thee by Heaven and Earth, by Sun and Moon, by Day and Night; by all that exists and all the Virtues therein encompassed; by the Four Primordial Elements; by all which may be said or thought by the Sovereign Creator, through His Supreme Will and the Celestial Court in which He reigns; through Him who has produced all from nothing; through the Glorious Phalanxes to which you belong; through the Saints, through all those who, night and day, endlessly cry: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and Earth are full of Thy Glory. Glory be to Thee, O Lord Most High.”

87

Given the fact that one has then to observe its ‘beating’ this would be best accomplished by putting it before a light (candle) rather than pinning it beneath! - PV. 88 Some members of the Martinist Group of the “Alexandria of Egypt” Lodge, which functioned from 1941 to 1945, witnessed strange results obtained in this area. 128

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

I conjure thee, Illuminating Intelligence, Messenger of Light! I conjure thee in the name of Uriel, Guardian of the North! I conjure thee in the name of Raphaël, Guardian of the South! I conjure thee in the name of Mikaël, Guardian of the East! I conjure thee in the name of Gabriel, Guardian of the West! I conjure thee, O Divine Messengers, by the Seven Golden Candlesticks, which burn before the Altar of God; by the Company of the Blessèd who follow the footsteps of the Immaculate Lamb! I conjure thee, O Celestial in the name of all the Saints whom God has chosen from and before the Creation of the World, because of their merits, which are agreeable to God! I conjure thee, O Invisible yet Immanent Power, and I conjure thee through the Redoubtable Power of the Lord’s Name; through the Glory of this Divine Name, manifested in the World, where the most beautiful attributes of God find expression. I conjure and implore thee, O in the Name of these Attributes! May you quit the Celestial Abode at the call of their syllables! May you deign, O Illuminating Power, when they are invoked, to descend to this place, there to instruct thine Unworthy Servant. I conjure thee in the name of Adonai Melech, Master of the Realm of Form! I conjure thee in the name of Shaddai, Mirror of Truth! I conjure thee in the name of Hod, Lord and Master of the Divine Words! I conjure thee in the name of Netzach, Sovereign Essence of Beauty! I conjure thee in the name of Tiphereth, Principle of the Realm of Glory! I conjure thee in the name of Geburah, Principle of Infinite Justice! I conjure thee in the name of Chesed, Divine Mercy! I conjure thee in the name of Binah, Uncreated Wisdom! I conjure thee in the name of Kether, the Horizon of Eternity! I conjure thee, O Celestial Teacher, in the Name of the Tetragrammaton! I conjure thee in the Name of Eheieh! I conjure thee in the Name of Elohim! I conjure thee in the Name of Eloah! May it be thus in the Blessed Name of the Lord. ??? I implore thee, O Celestial , in memory of the Seven-Coloured Rainbow, which appeared in the skies, so showing the Covenant between God and Noah the Patriarch! I conjure thee in memory of the Luminous Cloud, which surrounded the Ark of the Covenant, so showing the Covenant between the Eternal One and the Sons of Abraham89. I conjure thee; Celestial Powers, in memory of the Signs, which thou had, appear in the skies, shortly before the destruction of the Temple! I conjure thee, O Spirits of Light and Truth, in memory of the Signs, which accompanied the birth of the Saviour; in memory of the Alleluias in the valleys of Bethlehem; in memory of thy message to the shepherds; in memory of the Blazing Star, which guided the Mages! May thy Sign be to me the symbol of protection, which thou deign to grant to this Theurgic Work! I implore thee, O Celestial in memory of the Signs, which thou deigned to transmit to Thine Apostles! Deign, O Spirit of Light, to show thy agreement and thine aid! (Silence and meditation).

89

In the original: Fils d’Aber – PV. 129

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

THANKSGIVING Angels of Light and Peace, Messengers of Divine Glory, Illuminating and Glorious Powers; may the fumes of this Incense be to thy intention, the pledge of my gratitude and my thanks! Deign, O Spirit of Light and Knowledge, to continue to grant to thy faithful servant the marvelous treasure of thy inspiration, thy assistance, and thy support. Henceforth may Peace Divine be between thee and me. Amen. ? * * * 1st – VEHUIAH. His attribute is interpreted as “God elevated and exalted above all things”. He rules over the Hebrews. The name of God in that language is called Jehovah. He governs the first ray of the East in the spring season, that is to say the first five degrees of the circle which begins at midnight on 20th March until the 24th inclusively, corresponding to the first decade of the sacred calendar, and to the first angel, called Chontare90, under the influence of Mars: this angel, and those which follow up to the 8th one, belong to the First Order of Angels which the Orthodox call the Choir of the Seraphim. He inhabits the realm of fire: his sign is Aries, and he rules the following five days: 20th March, 31st April, 11th August, 22nd October and 2nd January. His invocation is made towards the East, from midnight exactly until 12:20am, to receive light. It is by virtue of these divine names that one may become illuminated by the spirit of God; one must pronounce them from midnight precisely until 12:20, reciting the third verse of Psalm 3: “But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head” (Et tu Domine susceptor meus et gloria mea et exaltans caput meum91). His talisman must be prepared according to the principles of the kabbalistic art. The person who is born under the influence of this angel has a skillful nature; being blessed with great wisdom, a lover of the Arts and Sciences, capable of undertaking and executing the most difficult things; having a love for military service, due to the influence of Mars; having abundant energy, due to the dominance of fire. The bad (negative) angel influences turbulent men; and rules over promptness and anger. 2nd – JELIEL. His attribute is “Helpful God”. He rules over Turkey (these people give God the name of Aydy). His ray begins from the 6th degree until the 10th inclusive, corresponding to the influence of the angel called Asican (see the Sacred Calendar) and

90

Chontaré in French. Note, these ‘secondary’ angelic names are based on Egyptian astrological angelic forces attributed to the decans. The names used in this document appear to be a mixture between those listed by Hephaestion (Greek) and Firmicus (Roman) – PV. 91 The Latin in the book has not been checked – but it is clear that some errors have crept in. The reader is cautioned to check the original Latin – PV. 130

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

to the first decade. He presides over the following days: 21st March, 1st June, 12th August, 23rd October and 3rd January92. One invokes this angel to calm popular sedition, and to obtain victory over those who would attack you unjustly. One must pronounce the request with the name of the angel and recite the 20th verse of Psalm 2193: “But be thou not far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me” (Tu autem Domine ne elongaveris auxilium tuum a me ad defensionem meam conspice). The favourable hour begins at 12:20am up to 12:40am. This angel rules over kings and princes, and keeps their subjects obedient; he has influence over the generation of all beings which exist in the animal realms; he reestablishes peace between spouses and maintains conjugal fidelity. Those born under this influence have a cheerful spirit, agreeable and genteel manners; they are passionate in sex. The bad angel dominates everything detrimental to animate beings; it delights in sundering spouses by distracting them from their duties; he inspires a taste for celibacy, and bad morals. 3rd – SITAEL. His attribute is “God, the hope of all creatures”. His ray begins at the 11th degree of the circle to the 15th inclusive, corresponding to the second decade and to the angel called Chontachre, under the influence of the Sun; he presides over the following days: 22nd March, 2nd June, 13th August, 24th October, 4th January. One invokes this angel against adversity; one makes the request with the divine names and the 2nd verse of Psalm 90: “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust” (Dicet Domino: susceptor meus es tu et refugium meum: Deus meus, sperabo in eum”. The favorable time begins at 12: 40am and continues to 1:00am. He rules over nobility, magnanimity and great works; he protects against arms and ferocious beasts. A person born under this influence loves truth, keeps his word and takes pleasure in helping those who need assistance. The bad angel rules hypocrisy, ingratitude and perjury. 4th – ELEMIAH. His attribute is “Hidden God”. He corresponds to the holy name of God: Allah in the Arabic language. His ray begins at the 16th degree of the circle up to the 20th inclusive, corresponding to the second decade and to the angel called Senacher. He rules over the following days: 23rd March, 3rd June, 14th August, 25th October and 5th January. One invokes this angel against spiritual torment and to know the names of traitors. One should state the request with the 4th verse of Psalm 6: “Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake” (Convertere Domine, et eripe animam meam: salvum me fac propter misericordiam tuam). The favourable time begins at 1:00am up to 1:20am. This angel rules over travel, maritime expeditions, and over useful discoveries. The person born under this influence will be industrious, happy in his enterprises, and will have a passion for travel. The bad angel rules over bad education, discoveries dangerous to society; he brings hindrance to all enterprises. 92 93

We will leave the question of national correspondences to Lenain!... The quotation actually seems to be verse 19 – PV. 131

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

5th – MAHASIAH. His attribute is “God saviour”. He corresponds to the holy name of Teut or Theuth94, after the Egyptian language. His ray begins at the 21st degree up to the 25th degree inclusive, corresponding to the third decade and the angel called Seket, under the influence of Venus; he rules over the following five days: 24th March, 4th June, 14th August, 26th October and 6th January. His invocation is performed from 1:20am till 1:40am. One invokes this angel to live in peace with the entire world; he must say the divine names and the 4th verse of Psalm 33: “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Exquisivi Dominum, et exaudivit me: et ex omnibus tribulationibus meis eripuit me). He rules over the high sciences, occult philosophy, theology and the liberal arts. The person born under this influence learns all that they desire with ease; has an agreeable physiognomy and character, and will be keen on honest pleasures. The bad angel rules ignorance, libertinage and all bad qualities of mind and body. 6th – LELAHEL. His attribute is “Praiseworthy God”. He corresponds to the name Abgd, from the Ethiopian language. His ray begins from the 26th degree to the 30th inclusive, corresponding to the third decade and to the angel called Asentacer; he rules over the following days: 25th March, 5th June, 15th August, 27th October, 7th January. One invokes this angel to acquire knowledge and to cure illnesses; one should recite the 11th verse of Psalm 9: “Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings” (Psallite Domino, qui habitat in Sion: annuntiate inter gentes studia ejus). The favorable time begins at 1:40am till 2:00am. This angel rules over love, renown, sciences, arts and fortune. The person born under this influence will love to converse, and will acquire fame through his talents and actions. The bad angel rules ambition; he brings men to want to elevate themselves above their fellow man; he influences all those who seek to acquire a fortune through illicit means. 7th – ACHAIAH. His attribute is “Good and Patient God”. His ray begins at the 31st degree of the circle up to the 35th inclusive, corresponding to the fourth decade and to the angel called Chous, under the influence of Mercury. He presides over the following days: 26th March, 6th June, 16th August, 28th October and 8th January. The invocation is made from 2:00am till 2:20am. One must recite the 8th verse of Psalm 102: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Miserator et misericors Dominus: longanimis et multum misericors). This angel rules over patience; he reveals the secrets of nature; he influences the propagation of knowledge and industry. The person born under this influence will love to learn about useful subjects; he will glory in executing the most difficult works, and will discover many useful practices of the arts. The bad angel is the enemy of knowledge; he rules over negligence, laziness and insouciance for study. 94

This name is written with four letters in Egyptian characters. The ‘h’ is not a letter, and only marks an aspiration; as the Greek ‘theta’ is a single letter. 132

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

8th – CAHETHEL. His attribute is “Adorable God”. He corresponds to the holy name Moti from the Georgian language. His ray begins at the 36th degree of the circle up to the 40th degree inclusive, corresponding to the fourth decade and to the angel called Asicat. He presides over the following days: 27th March, 7th June, 17th August, 29th October and 9th January. The aid of this angel is invoked by reciting the 6th verse of Psalm 94: “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker” (Venite adoremus, et procidamus: et ploremus ante Dominum, qui fecit nos). He serves to obtain God’s blessing and to chase away evil spirits. This angel rules over all agricultural production, and principally those, which are necessary to the existence of men and animals. He inspires man to raise himself towards God, to thank Him for all the goods He sends to the earth. The person born under this influence will love work, agriculture, the countryside and hunting, and will be very active in business. The bad angel provokes all that is harmful to agriculture; he incites man to blaspheme against God. 9th – HAZIEL. His attribute is “Merciful God”. He corresponds to the holy name Agzi, from the language of the Abyssinians. His ray begins at the 41st degree up to the 45th degree inclusive, corresponding to the fifth decade and to the angel names Ero; under the influence of the Moon. This angel and those, which follow up to the 16th, belong to the Second Order of Angels, which the Orthodox calls the Choir of the Cherubim. He rules over the following days: 28th March, 8th June, 18th August, 30th October and 10th January. The invocation must be done from 2:40am to 3:00am, by reciting the 6th verse of Psalm 24: “Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old” (Reminiscere miserationum tuarum, Domine, et misericordiarum tuarum quae a saeculo sunt). He serves to obtain God’s mercy, the friendship and favours of the great, and the execution of promises made by a person. He rules over good faith and reconciliation. Those born under this influence will be sincere in their promises, and will easily pardon those who commit any offence against them. The bad angel dominates hate and hypocrisy; he rules those who seek to deceive by all possible means; he keeps enemies irreconcilable. 10th – ALADIAH. His attribute is “Propitious God”. He corresponds to the divine names of Siré and Eipi, in the tongue of the Persians. His ray begins at the 46th degree95 to the 50th inclusive, corresponding to the fifth decade and to the angel called Viroaso. He rules the following days: 19th March, 9th June, 19th August, 31st October and 11th, January. The invocation is made from 3:00am till 3:20am, reciting the 22nd verse of Psalm 32: “Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee” (Fiat misericordia tua Domine super nos: quemadmodum speravimus in te). He is good for those who have hidden crimes and who fear discovery. This angel rules against rabies and plague, and influences recovery from illnesses. The person who is born under this influence enjoys good health, and will be happy in his 95

The original incorrectly stated ‘41st Degree’ – PV. 133

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

enterprises. Esteemed by those who know him, he will frequent the most sophisticated societies. The bad angel influences those who neglect their health and business. 11th – LAUVIAH. His attribute is “Praised and Exalted God”. It corresponds to the holy name Deus from the Latin tongue. His ray starts at the 51st degree of the circle up to the 55th inclusive, corresponding to the sixth decade, and to the angel named Rombomare, under the influence of Saturn. He rules the following days: 30th March, 10th June, 20th August, 1st November and 12th January. The propitious time begins at 3:20am till 3:40am. One says the 50th verse from Psalm 17: “The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted” (Vivit Dominus et benedictus Deus meus, et exultatur Deus salutis meae)96. He serves against lightning97 and to obtain victory. This angel rules renown; he influences great persons, the wise, and all those who become famous through their talents. The bad angel rules pride, ambition, jealousy and slander.

96

Lenain committed an error, which we corrected. This correction mentioned by R. Ambelain is itself an error! The verse quoted by him is in fact verse 46 – PV. 97 Foudre: this could be taken as meaning ‘against sudden emotions, such as love or hatred’ – PV. 134

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

12th – HAHAIAH. His attribute is “God of Refuge”. He corresponds to the holy name “Theos” from the Greek tongue. His ray begins from the 56th degree of the circle to the 60th inclusive, corresponding to the sixth decade and to the angel called Atarph; he rules over the following days: 31st March, 11th June, 22nd August, 2nd November, 13th January. One invokes the help of this angel against adversaries; say the 1st verse of Psalm 10:

135

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

“Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? (Ut qui Domine recessisti longe, despicis in opportunitatibus, in tribulatione). The auspicious period begins at 3:40am and lasts till 4:00am. He rules over depths, and reveals hidden mysteries to mortals. He influences wise, spiritual and discreet persons. A person born under this influence has affable habits, a pleasant physiognomy and agreeable manners. The bad angel rules indiscretion and untruth; he rules over all those who abuse peoples’ trust. 13th – IEZALEL. His attribute is “God Glorified In All Things”. He corresponds to the holy name of the God “Boog” from the Illyrian tongue. His ray begins at the 61st degree and goes to the 65th inclusive, corresponding to the seventh decade and to the angel called Theosolk, under the influence of Jupiter. He rules over the following days: 1st April, 12th June, 23rd August, 3rd September98, 14th January. The propitious time begins at 4:00am and ends at 4:20am. One must recite the 4th verse of Psalm 98: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise” (Jubilate Deo omnis terra: cantate, et exultate, et psallite). He rules friendship, reconciliation and conjugal fidelity. A person born under this influence will learn everything he desires with ease; he will have happy memories and will distinguish himself through his speech. The bad angel rules over ignorance, error and lies, and influences those limited souls who wish neither to learn nor to do anything. 14th – MEBAHEL. His attribute is “Conservative God”. He corresponds to the holy name “Dios”, from the Spanish tongue. His ray begins at the 66th degree up to the 70th degree inclusive, corresponding to the seventh decade and to the angel called Thesogar. He rules over the following days: 2nd April, 13th June, 24th August, 4th November, 15th January. One invokes this angel against those who seek to usurp another’s fortune; one must recite the 9th verse of Psalm 9: “The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble” (Et factus est Dominus refugium pauperis: adjutor in opportunitatibus, in tribulatione). The auspicious time begins at 4:20am till 4:40am. He rules over justice, truth and liberty; he delivers the oppressed and makes truth to be known. The person born under this influence will love jurisprudence and will distinguish himself at the Bar99. The bad angel rules over calumny, false witness and proceedings. 15th – HARIEL. His attribute is “Creator God”. He corresponds to the holy names “Idio” or “Iddio”, from the Italian tongue. His ray begins at the 71st degree up to the 75th degree inclusive, corresponding to the eighth decade and to the angel called Ouere. He rules over the following days: 3rd April, 14th June, 25th August, 5th November, 16th January. One invokes this angel against those who blaspheme against religion; one must recite the names with the divine names and the 22nd verse of Psalm 94: “But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge” (Et factus est mihi Dominus in refugium: et Deus meus in adjutorium spei meae). 98 99

Should be November, according to the sequence. –ed. Here, too, we have corrected an error by Lenain. 136

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

The auspicious time begins at 4:40am till 5:00am. This angel rules over the arts and sciences; he influences useful discoveries and new methodologies. The person born under this influence will love the company of good people; he will love religious sentiment and will distinguish himself through the purity of his morals. The bad angel rules over schisms, and religious wars; he influences the impious and all those who spread dangerous sects and who search for the means to establish them anew. 16th – HAKAMIAH. His attribute is “God Who Establishes The Universe”. He rules over France and corresponds to the name of “Dieu” in the language of this nation. His ray begins at the 76th degree up to the 80th degree inclusive, corresponding to the eighth decade and to the angel called Verasua. He rules over the following days: 4th April, 15th June, 26th August, 6th November, 17th January. One invokes this angel against traitors, to obtain victory over the enemy, and to be delivered from those who wish to oppress us; one must recite their names with that which follows: “O God Sabaoth, thou who created the universe and protects the French nation, I invoke thee, in the name of Haramiah, that thou mightest deliver France from its enemies.” Then one must pronounce the first mysterious verse of Psalm 88: “O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:” (Domine Deus salutis meae, in die clamavie, et nocte coram te). One must recite this prayer every day, face turned towards the East, from 5:00am till 5:20am. This angel rules over crowned heads and great captains; he gives victory and warns of sedition; he influences fire, arsenals and all things connected with the genie of war. The man who is born under this influence has a frank, loyal and brave character, susceptible to honor, faithful to his obligation and passionate in love100. The bad angel rules over traitors; he provokes treason, sedition and revolt. 17th – LAUVIAH. His attribute is “Admirable God”. He corresponds to the name of “Goth”, from the German tongue. His ray begins at the 81st degree up to the 85th degree inclusive, corresponding to the ninth decade and to the angel called Phuor, under the influence of the Sun. He rules over the following days: 5th April, 16th June, 27th August, 7th November, 18th January. This angel and those which follow belong to the Third Order of Angels called the Choir of Thrones The invocation is made each day, fasting, from 5:00am till 5:20am; one should recite the 1st verse of Psalm 8: “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens“ (Dominus Deus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra). He serves against spiritual torment, sadness and to sleep well at night. He rules over the high sciences, marvelous discoveries, and gives revelations in dreams. The person who is born under this influence will love music, poetry, literature and philosophy. The bad angel dominates atheism, impious philosophers and all those who attack religious dogma. 18th – CALIEL. His attribute is “God Prompt To Grant”. He corresponds to the name “Boog”, from the Polish tongue. His ray begins at the 86th degree of the circle up to the 90th, corresponding to the ninth decade and to the angel named Tepistatosoa; he rules the 100

Passionné pour Vénus in the original - PV. 137

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

following days: April 6th, 17th June, 28th August, 8th November, 18th January. One invokes this angel to obtain prompt assistance in the face of some adversity; one must recite the 8th verse of Psalm 7 “Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me101” (Judica me Domine secundum justitiam meam, et secundum innocentiam meam super me). The auspicious time begins at 5:40am till 6:00am. This angel allows knowledge of truth in proceedings, and allows innocence to triumph, he confounds the guilty and false testimony. The person born under this influence will be just and possess integrity, love truth, and will distinguish himself in magistracy. The bad angel rules over scandalous processes and influences, vile, base and rampant men, and those who seek to confound business and enrich themselves at the expense of their clients. 19th – LEUVIAH. His attribute is “God Who Forgives Sinners”. He corresponds to the name “Bogy” of the Hungarian language. He governs the first ray of the South, which begins at the 91st degree up to the 95th degree inclusive, corresponding to the tenth decade and to the angel named Sotis, under the influence of Venus; he presides over the following days: 7th April, 18th June, 29th August, 9th November, 20th January. One invokes the aid of this angel towards the south, from 6:00am to 6:20am, reciting the 1st verse of Psalm 40: “I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me102” (Expectans expectavi Dominum, et intendit mihi). 20th – PAHALIAH. His attribute is “Redemptor God”. He corresponds to the holy name “Tios” in the Muscovite tongue. His ray begins at the 95th degree to the 100th degree inclusive, corresponding to the tenth decade and to the angle called Sothis; he presides over the 8th April, 19th June, 30th August, 10th November, 21st January, which correspond to the influence of Venus (see the Sacred Calendar). The invocation is performed from 6:20am to 6:40am; he must recite the 2nd verse of Psalm 120: “Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue” (Domine libera anima mean a labiis iniquis, et a lingua dolosa). He serves against the enemies of religion, and to convert people to Christianity. This angel rules religion, theology and morality; he influences chastity and piety in those whose vocation is towards the ecclesiastical state. The bad angel rules irreligion, apostates, libertines and renegades. 21st – NELCHAEL. His attribute is “God is One and Unique”. He corresponds to the name Bueg in the language of the Bohemians. His ray begins at the 101st degree up to the 105th degree inclusive, corresponding to the eleventh decade and to the angel called Sith, under the influence of Mercury. He presides over these days: 9th April, 20th June, 31st August, 11th November, 22nd January. The invocation is made between 6:40am and 7:00am. One should pronounce the 14th verse of Psalm 31: “But I trusted in thee, O 101

The first phrase appears to be missing. The full text of Psalm 7, verse 8 is: “The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me” – PV. 102 The last phrase is missing. The full text of Psalm 40, verse 1 is: “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry” – PV. 138

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Lord: I said, Thou art my God. MY times are in thy hands103” (Ego autem in te speravi Domine: dixi Deus meus es tu: in manibus tuis sortes meae). He serves against calumniators104, charms, and works to destroy the power of evil spirits. This angel rules over astronomy, mathematics, geography and all abstract sciences; he influences the wise and philosophers. The person born under this influence loves poetry and literature, and has a passion for study; he will distinguish himself in mathematics and geometry. The bad angel rules ignorance, error and prejudice. 22nd – IEIAIEL. His attribute is “The Right of God”. He corresponds to the holy name “Good”, in the English language105. His ray begins from 106th degree of the circle up to the 110th inclusive, corresponding to the eleventh decade and to the angel called Syth, under the influence of Mercury. He rules over the following days: 10th April, 21st June, 1st September, 12th November, 23rd January. The invocation is made from 7:00am until 7:20am; one pronounces the 5th verse of Psalm 121: “The Lord is thy protector, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand” (Dominus custodit te; Dominus protection tua, super manum dexteram tuam). This angel rules over fortune, renown, diplomacy and commerce; he influences voyages, discoveries and maritime expeditions; he protects against tempests and shipwrecks. The person born under this influence will love commerce, be industrious and will distinguish himself through his liberal and philanthropic ideas. The bad angel rules over pirates, corsairs and slaves; he influences maritime expeditions. 23rd – MELAHEL. His attribute is “God who delivers the evil”. He corresponds to the name Dieb in the Hibernian language. His ray begins at the 111th degree of the circle up to the 115th inclusively, corresponding to the twelfth decade and to the angel called Chumis, under the influence of the Moon. He rules over the following days: 11th April, 22nd June, 2nd September, 13th November, 24th January. The invocation is made from 7:20am to 7:40am, reciting the 8th verse of Psalm 120106: “The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore” (Dominus custodiat introilum tuum, et exitum tuum: et ex hoc nunc, et in saeculum). He serves against arms and to travel in safety. This angel rules water, all products of the earth and, principally, those plants necessary to the cure of illnesses. The person born under this influence is naturally hardy and capable of undertaking the most perilous expeditions; he distinguishes himself through honorable actions. The bad angel influences all that is harmful to vegetation; he causes illnesses and plague.

103

In the King James’ version, the last sentence is the first phrase of verse 15 of Psalm 31 – PV. Caliomnateurs in French, I could not find a good translation of this – PV. 105 One lecture in the Lyonnais Martinist school identifies the name of God as being composed of four letters in almost all languages. It is notable that Ambelain ensures that the names of God in this list are all four letters long. This is probably why he gives the name “Good” to “God” – PV. 106 In the Vulgate; Psalm 121: 8 in the KJV, as given here in accordance with the Latin text. – ed. 104

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24th – HAHIUIAH. His attribute is “God good in himself”. He corresponds to the holy name Esar in the Etruscan language. His ray begins from the 116th degree of the circle to the 120th inclusive, corresponding to the twelfth decade and to the angel called Thuimis. He rules over the following days: 12th April, 23rd June, 3rd September, 14th November, 25th January. The invocation is made from 7:40am to 8:00am; one says the divine names

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with the 18th verse of Psalm 33: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;” (Ecce oculi Domini super metuentes eum: et in eis, qui spirant in misericordia ejus). He serves to obtain grace and mercy from God. This angel rules over exiles, fugitive prisoners and condemned prisoners; he works against the discovery of secret crimes, and those men who commit them will escape justice provided they do not fall back into the same criminal ways. He protects against harmful beasts and he protects against robbers and assassins. Those born under this influence will love truth and the exact sciences; they will be sincere in their words and their actions. The bad angel rules over harmful beings; he leads men to commit crimes, and influences all those who seek to live by illicit means. 25th – NITH-HAIAH. His attribute is “God who gives wisdom”. He corresponds to the holy name of God “Orsy” in the language of the Magi. His ray commences at the 121st degree of the circle up to the 125th inclusive, corresponding to the thirteenth decade and to the angel called Charcumis, under the influence of Saturn. This angel and those, which follow up to the 32nd, belong to the fourth Order of Angels, which the Orthodox calls the Choir of Dominations. He rules over the following days: 13th April, 24th June, 4th September, 15th November, 26th January. The invocation is done from 8:00am till 8:20am; you say the divine names along with the 1st verse of Psalm 9: “I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: I will shew forth all thy marvelous works” (Confitebor tibi Domine in toto corde meo: narrabo omnia mirabilia tua). He serves to gain wisdom and to discover the truth of hidden secrets. This angel rules over all the occult sciences; he gives revelations in dreams and particularly to those born on the day over which he rules; he influences wise men who love peace and solitude, and those who seek truth and practice the magic of the sages, which is that of God. The bad angel rules over black magic, which is that of the evil principal, the demon; this consists of making a pact with the same through which he renounces God, he brings evil to mankind, animals and to products of the earth. 26th – HAAIAH. His attribute is “Hidden God”. He corresponds to the holy divine names of “Agdi” and “Abdi” in the language of the Sarazins. His ray commences from the 126th degree up to the 130th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirteenth decade and to the angel called Aphruimis. He rules over the following days: 14th April, 25th June, 5th September, 16th November, 27th January. The invocation is done from 8:20am till 8:40am. The Divine Names are pronounced and the 145th verse of Psalm 118: “I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord: I will keep thy statutes” (Clamavi in toto corde meo, exaudi me Domine; justifications tuas requiram). He serves to win judgments and to render judges favorable. This angel protects all those who seek the truth; he brings men to the contemplation of divine things; he rules over politicians, diplomats, plenipotentiaries, ambassadors, peace treaties, dealings and all pacts in general; he influences couriers, communications, agents and secret expeditions. The bad angel rules over traitors, the ambitious and conspirators.

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27th – IERATHEL. His attribute is “God Who Punishes The Wicked”. He corresponds to the holy divine names of “Teos” in the language of the Copts. His ray commences from the 131st degree up to the 135th degree inclusive, corresponding to the fourteenth decade and to the angel called Hepe, under the influence of Jupiter. He rules over the following days: 15th April, 26th June, 6th September, 17th November, 28th January. The invocation is done from 8:40am till 9:00am. The Divine Names are pronounced and the 1st verse of Psalm 139: “Deliver me O Lord, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man“ (Eripe me Domine ab homine malo, a viro iniquo eripe me). He serves to confound the wicked and slanderers, and to be delivered from our enemies. This angel protects those who provoke us and unjustly attack us. He rules over the propagation of light, civilization and liberty. The person born under this influence loves peace, justice, sciences and the arts, and he distinguishes himself in literature. The bad angel rules over ignorance, slavery and intolerance. 28th – SEHEIAH. His attribute is “God Who Heals The Ill”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Adad107” in the language of the Assyrians. His ray commences from the 136th degree up to the 140th degree inclusive, corresponding to the fourteenth decade and to the angel called Sithacer. He rules over the following days: 16th April, 27th June, 7th September, 18th November, 29th January. The invocation is done from 9:00am till 9:30am. The Divine Names are pronounced with the 13th verse of Psalm 70: “O God be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help” (Deus ne elongeris a me: Deus meus in auxilium meum respice). He serves against infirmities and thunder. This angel protects against fires, ruined buildings, collapse, maladies, etc. He rules over health and longevity of life. The person born under this influence will be full of good judgment; he will only act with prudence and circumspection. The bad angel rules over catastrophes, accidents and the cause of apoplexies; he influences people who never think before acting. 29th – REIIEL. His attribute is “God Quick To Help”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Zimi” in the language of the Peruvians. His ray commences from the 141st degree up to the 145th degree inclusive, corresponding to the fifteenth decade and to the angel called Phupe, under the influence of Mars. He rules over the following days: 17th April, 28th June, 8th September, 19th November, 30th January. The invocation is done from 9:20am till 9:40am. The Divine Names are pronounced with the request, and the 4th verse of Psalm 53: “Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul” (Ecce enim Deus adjuvat me: et Dominus susceptor est animae meae). He serves against the impious and the enemies of religion, and to be delivered from all enemies both visible and invisible. This angel rules over all religious sentiment, divine philosophy and meditation. The person born under this influence will be distinguished by his virtues and his zeal to propagate truth; he will make every effort to destroy impiety through his writings and by example. The bad angel rules over fanaticism and hypocrisy; he rules over all those who propagate irreligion through writings and dangerous maxims. 107

The name Adad signifies alone; it comes from the word sol, qui designating the sun, to which it corresponds. 142

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30th – OMAEL. His attribute is “Patient God”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Tura” in the language of the Indians. His ray commences from the 146th degree up to the 150th degree inclusive, corresponding to the fifteenth108 decade and to the angel called Phuonisie. He rules over the following days: 18th April109, 29th June, 9th September, 20th November, 18th January. The invocation is done from 9:40am till 10:00am. The Divine Names are pronounced and the 5th verse of Psalm 71: “For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth” (Quoniam tu es patientia mea Domine spes mea a juventute mea). He serves against chagrin, despair and to have patience. This angel rules over the animal kingdom; he watches over the generation of beings, in order to see special multiply and races perpetuated; he influences chemists, doctors and surgeons. The person born under these influences will distinguish himself in anatomy and medicine. The bad angel is the enemy of the propagation of beings; he influences monstrous phenomena. 31st – LECABEL. His attribute is “Inspiring God”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Teli” in the language of the Chinese. His ray commences from the 151st degree up to the 155th degree inclusive, corresponding to the sixteenth decade and to the angel called Tomi, under the influence of Sol. He rules over the following days: 19th April, 30th June, 10th September, 21st November, 1st Februry. One invokes the aid of Lecabel to have lights and for useful advantages in one’s profession. The invocation is performed between 10:00am until 10:20am. The request must be said with the Divine Names and the 16th verse of Psalm 71: “I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only” (Quoniam non cognovi literaturam introibo in potentias Domini: Domine memorabor justitiae tuae solius). He rules over vegetation and agriculture. The person born under this influence will love astronomy, mathematics and geometry; he will distinguish himself through his luminous ideas, by resolving the most difficult problems and his talents will make his fortune. The bad angel rules over avarice and usury; he influence those who enrich themselves by illicit means. 32nd – VASIARIAH. His attribute is “Just God”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Anot” in the language of the Tartars. His ray commences from the 156th degree up to the 160th degree inclusive, corresponding to the sixteenth decade and to the angel called Thumis. He rules over the following days: 20th April, 1st July, 11th September, 22nd November, 2nd February. One invokes the aid of this angel against those who attack us in the courts110, and to obtain the grace of those who have recourse to the clemency of kings; in this case one must name the name of the person you are attacking111 and recite 108

Incorrectly listed as the 9th decade in the original – PV. Incorrectly listed as 28th April in the original – PV. 110 If the person attacked realizes in his soul and conscience that he is wrong, he should consequently invoke this angel to come to an amiable conclusion with the adverse party, else he will not succeed. 111 It is unclear from the text whether this ‘attack’ is the attempt at reasonable settlement, or whether following an unsuccessful attempt, you then use the same angel to ‘attack’ your opponent – PV. 109

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the motive; then pronounce the Divine Names and the 4th verse of Psalm 33: “For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth” (Quia rectum est verbum Domini, et omnia opera ejus in fide). The auspicious time runs from 10:20am till 10:40am. This angel rules over justice; he influences nobility, legal executives, magistrates and attorneys. The person born under this influence will have a good memory and speak eloquently with ease, and will be amiable, spiritual and modest112. The bad angel rules over all the bad qualities of the body and the soul. 33rd – IEHUIAH. His attribute is “God Who Knows All Things”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Agad” in the language of the Hesperides. His ray commences from the 161st degree up to the 165th degree inclusive, corresponding to the seventeenth decade and to the angel called Ouestucati under the influence of Venus. He rules over the following days: 21st April, 2nd July, 12th September, 23rd November, 3rd February. This angel and those, which follow up to the 40th, belong to the Fifth Order of Angels, which the Orthodox call the Choir of Powers. The invocation is done from 10:40am till 11:00am. One must recite the 11th verse of Psalm 92: “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity” (Dominus scit cogitations hominium quoniam vanae sunt). He serves to recognize traitors, to destroy their projects and their machinations. This angel protects all Christian princes; he keeps their subjects in obeisance. The person born under this influence will love to fulfill all the works of his estate. The bad angel rules over insubordinate beings; he provokes the seditious to revolt. 34th – LEHAHIAH. His attribute is “Clement God”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Aneb” in the language of the people of the Congo. His ray commences from the 166th degree up to the 170th degree inclusive, corresponding to the seventeenth decade and to the angel called Thopitus. He rules over the following days: 22nd April, 3rd July, 13th September, 24th November, 4th February. The invocation is done from 11:0am till 11:20am, reciting the 3rd verse of Psalm 131: “Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever” (Speret Israël in Domino; ex hocnunc, et usque in saeculum). This angel rules over crowned heads, princes and nobles; he maintains harmony, understanding and peace between them; he influences the obeisance of subjects towards their princes. The person born under this influence will become famous through his talents and his actions; he will have the confidence and favor of his prince, which he will merit because of his devotion, fidelity and the great service which he will render him. The bad angel rules over discord; he provokes war, treason and the ruin of nations. 35th – CHAVAKIAH. His attribute is “God Who Gives Joy”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Anup”. His ray commences from the 171st degree up to the 175th

112

While it is not my intention to editorialize, I cannot resist pointing out that he cannot have met many attorneys! – PV. 144

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degree inclusive, corresponding to the eighteenth decade and to the angel called Aphoso, under the influence of Mercury. He rules over the following days: 23rd April, 4th July, 14th September, 25th November, 5th February. One invokes the aid of this angel to return to favor with those whom one has offended. The subject must pronounce the request, the Divine Names and mention the person; then you say the 1st verse of Psalm 116: “I love

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the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications” (Dilexi quoniam exaudiet Dominus vocem orationis meae). This must be recited each day, until one is reconciled with the person. The favorable time begins from 11:20am till 11:40am. This angel rules over testaments, successions and all amiable distributions; he supports peace and harmony in families. The person born under this influence will love to live in peace with everybody, even to the cost of his interest; he will make it his duty to repay the fidelity and good offices of those in his service. The bad angel causes discord in family arrangements; he provokes unjust and ruinous procedures. 36th – MENADEL. His attribute is “Adorable God”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Alla” in the language of the Moors. His ray commences from the 176th degree up to the 180th degree inclusive, corresponding to the eighteenth decade and to the angel called Aphut. He rules over the following five days: 24th April, 5th July, 15th September, 26th November, 6th Februry. This angel is invoked to retain one’s employment, and to preserve the means of existence which one enjoys; one pronounces the request with the Divine Names and the 8th verse of Psalm 26: “Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth” (Domine dilexi decorum domus tuae: et locum habitationis gloriae tuae). He serves against calumnies and to deliver prisoners. The auspicious time begins at 11:40am till 12:00 noon exactly. This angel gives light to distant people who have received no news for a long time; he brings exiles back to their native land, and uncovers mislaid or disturbed belongings. The bad angel rules and protects all those who seek to flee abroad to escape justice. 37th – ANIEL. His attribute is “God of Virtues”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of God “Abda” in the language of the ancient Philosophers. His ray commences from the 181st degree up to the 185th degree inclusive, corresponding to the nineteenth decade and to the angel called Souchoë, under the influence of the Moon. He rules over the following days: 25th April, 6th July, 16th September, 27th November, 7th February. The invocation is done from midday till 12:20pm. The Divine Names are pronounced and the 7th verse of Psalm 79: “Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved” (Deus ad virtutem converte nos: et ostende faciem tuam et salvi erimus)113. He serves to give victory and to raise the siege of a town. This angel rules over the sciences and the arts; he reveals the secrets of nature and inspires wise philosophers with their meditations. The person born under this influence will acquire celebrity through his talents and his enlightenment, and he will distinguish himself among the wise. The bad angel rules over perverse spirits; he influences charlatans and all those who excel in the art of misleading men. 38th – HAAMIAH. His attribute is “God, the Hope of All the Children of the Earth”. He corresponds to the great name of God “Agla” (God Three In One). Following the 113

The verse was quoted as being the 8th verse of Psalm 79 – PV. 146

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Kabbalists, this name is drawn from the mysterious verse in Scripture, which in French signifies: You are the strong God forever114. It is composed of the first letters of these four words, beginning from the right to left115. His ray commences from the 186th degree up to the 190th degree inclusive, corresponding to the nineteenth decade and to the angel called Serucuth. He rules over the following days: 26th April, 7th July, 17th September, 28th November, 8th February. One invokes him with the Divine Names to acquire all the treasures in heaven and earth; one must recite the 9th verse of Psalm 90: “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation” (Quoniam tu es Domine spes mea: altissimum posuisti refugium tuum). The Kabbalists say that this Psalm works against thunder, arms, ferocious beasts and infernal spirits (see the Kabbalah of the Psalms). This angel rules over all religious cults116, and above all those which relate to God; it protects all those who seek truth. The bad angel rules over error and falsehood and influences all those who have no religious principles. 39th – REHAEL. His attribute is “God Who Received Sinners”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Goot” in the language of the Scottish. His ray commences from the 191st degree up to the 195th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twentieth decade and to the angel called Techout, under the influence of Saturn. He rules over the following days: 27th April, 8th July, 18th September, 29th November, 9th February. The invocation is done from 12:40pm till 1:00pm. One must recite the 13th verse of Psalm 29: “Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper” (Audivit Dominus, et misertus est mei: Dominus factus est meus adjutor). He serves as a cure for maladies and to obtain the mercy of God. This angel rules over health and long life; he influences paternal and filial love, and the obeisance and respect of children for their parents. The bad angel is called Terre-Morte or Terre-Damnée117 following the expression of Eteilla, in his Philosophy of High Sciences, page 83. He is the most cruel and treacherous of all; he influences infanticides and parricides.

114

See Agrippa, from the 3rd book of his Occult Philosophy, page 41. A La Haye, 1727. It can also be found in Kircher. Œdipus Egyptiacus, tome 2, page 115. 115 By this means you have the key of the 72 Hebrew verses written around the talismans of the 72 geniuses, which are found in the Kabbalistic sphere. Each of these verses contains the name of God and the attribute of the angel to which it corresponds. The Abbé de Villars recounts wonderful things while speaking of the great name AGLA, in his work entitled Le Comte de Gabalis (see the third conversation). The best edition is that by Amsterdam, by Jacques Lejeune, in 1700. It assures us that with this name one may work infinite marvels, even when pronounced by a profane mouth; it claims that those who desire to convince themselves of the truth of this must raise their imagination and their faith, and then turn towards the East, while performing all that is written in the Kabbalistic Rite. Wise philosophers say that this name was revealed to Jacob when he saw in a dream the ladder of 72 rounds, with the 72 angels climbing to and descending from the place called the door of heaven; and they claimed that it was by this (word) that Joseph was delivered from his brothers and interpreted dreams, notably those of Pharaoh. 116 ‘Cult’ is not here being used in the modern, pejorative sense. –ed. 117 Dead-Earth or Damned-Earth – PV. 147

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40th – IEIAZEL. His attribute is “God Who Rejoices”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Goed” in the language of the Belgians. His ray commences from the 196th degree up to the 200th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twentieth decade and to the angel called Aterchinis. He rules over the following five days: 28th April, 9th July, 19th September, 30th November, 10th February. The invocation is done from 1:00pm till 1:20pm. The request is voiced with the Divine Names and the 14th verse of Psalm 88: “Lord, why castest thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me?” (Ut quid Domine repellis orationem meam: avertis faciem tuam a me). This Psalm has marvelous properties; it serves to deliver prisoners, give consolation and to be delivered from one’s enemies. This angel rules over printing and libraries; he influences men of letters and artists. The person born under this influence will love speaking, design, and all sciences in general. The bad angel rules over all evil qualities of the body and soul; he influences somber spirits and those who flee society. 41th – HAHAHEL. His attribute is “God in Three Persons”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Gudi” in the language of the Irish. His ray commences from the 201st degree up to the 205th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-first decade and to the angel called Chontare, under the influence of Jupiter. He rules over the following days: 29th April, 10th July, 20th September, 1st December, 11th February. This angel, and those who follow, up to the 48th, belongs to the fifth order of angels, which the Orthodox call the Choir of Virtues. One invokes this angel from 1:20pm till 1:40pm, pronouncing the 2nd verse of Psalm 120: “Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitfujl tongue” (Domine libera animam meam a labiis iniquis et a lingua dolosa). He serves against enemies of religion, the impious and slanderers. This angel rules over Christianity; he protects missionaries and all the Disciples of Christ, who announce the words of the Scripture to nations; he influences pious souls, prelates, ecclesiastics and all those related to the priesthood. The person born under this influence distinguishes himself by his greatness of soul and his energy; he is completely devoted to the service of God and does not fear martyrdom for Christ. The bad angel rules over apostates, renegades and all those who dishonor the priesthood through their scandalous behavior. 42nd – MIKAEL. The Kabbalists give him the following attributes: “Virtue of God, House of God, Like unto God”. He corresponds to the holy divine names of “Buib” or “Biud” in the language of the Canadians. His ray commences from the 206th degree up to the 210th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-first decade and to the angel called Arpien. He rules over the following days: 30th April, 11th July, 21st September, 2nd December, 12th February. The invocation is done from 1:40pm till 2:00pm exactly on says the request with the Divine Names and the 7th verse of Psalm 121: “The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore” (Dominus custodit te ab omni malo; custodiat animam tuam Dominus). He serves to assist for travel in safety. This angel rules monarchs, princes and nobles; he keeps their subjects subservient, uncovers conspiracies and all those who seek to destroy their persons and governments. The person born under this influence will

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become involved in political affairs; he will be curious, and will want to learn the secrets of private offices and foreign news, and he will distinguish himself in affairs of State through his knowledge of diplomacy. The bad angel rules over traitors; he influences malevolence and all those who propagate false information. 43rd – VEUALIAH. His attribute is “Dominating King”. He corresponds to the Holy Name of “Solu” in the language of the Californians. His ray commences from the 211th degree up to the 215th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-second decade and to the angel called Stochene, under the influence of Mars. He rules over the following days: 1st May, 12th July, 22nd September, 3rd December, 13th February. The invocation is done from 2:00pm till 2:20pm, pronouncing the 13th verse of Psalm 88: “But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee” (Et ego ad te Domine clamavi: et mane oratio mea praeveniet te). He serves to destroy the enemy and for deliverance from slavery. This angel rules over peace and influences the prosperity of empires; he affirms tottering thrones and kingly power. The person born under this influence will love the military state and glory; he will be continually engaged in those sciences which are in rapport with the angel of war; he will become famous through the means of arms, and will attract the confidence of his prince through the services we renders him. The bad angel puts discord between princes; he influences the destruction of empires; he supports revolutions and party spirit. 44th – IELAHIAH. His attribute is “Eternal God”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Bosa” in the language of the Mexicans. His ray commences from the 216th degree up to the 220th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-second decade and to the angel called Sentacer. He rules over the following days: 2nd May, 13th July, 23rd September, 4th December, 14th February. One invokes this angel to obtain success in a useful enterprise; one should state the request with the Divine Names and the 108th verse of Psalm 119: “Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me thy judgements” (Voluntaria oris mei bene placita fac Domine: et judicia tua doce me). He is good for getting the protection of magistrates and to win a lawsuit. This angel protects against arms; he gives victory. The person born under this influence will love to travel in order to learn, and will succeed in all his undertakings; he will distinguish himself through his military talents and his bravery, and his name will be famous in the pomp of glory. The bad angel rules over war, and causes all the calamities which arise from it; he influences all those who violate surrenders and massacre their prisoners without pity. 45th – SEALIAH. His attribute is “Mover of All Things”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Hobo” in the language of the people of Quito. His ray commences from the 221st degree up to the 225th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-third decade and to the angel called Sesme, under the influence of the Sun. He rules over the following days: 3rd May, 14th July, 24th September, 5th December, 15th February. The invocation is done from 2:40pm till 3:00pm. One must pronounce the 18th verse of Psalm

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94: “When I said, my foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up” (Si dicebam, motus est pes meus: misericordia tua Domine, adjuebat me). He serves to confound the evil and the haughty; he lifts up all those who are humiliated and fallen. This angel rules over vegetation; he bears life and health to all that breathe and influences the principal agents of Nature. The person born under this influence will love to learn; he will have many resources and facilities. The bad angel rules over the atmosphere; he incites great heat or cold, great aridity or excessive humidity. 46th – AIRIEL. His attribute is “Revealing God” 118. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Pino” in the language of the people of Paraguay. His ray commences from the 226th degree up to the 230th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-third decade and to the angel called Tepiseuth. He rules over the following days: 4th May, 15th July, 25th September, 6th December, 16th February. One invokes this angel to have revelations; one makes the request with the Divine Names and the 9th verse of Psalm 145: “The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works” (Suavis Dominus universes: et miserationes ejus super omnia opera ejus). He serves to thank God for the gifts He has sent us. The favorable hour begins at 3:00pm until 3:20pm. This angel discovers hidden treasures; he reveals the greatest secrets of Nature and he shows the objects of one’s desires in dreams. The person born under this influence is blessed with a strong and subtle spirit; he will have original ideas and sublime thoughts; he will be able to resolve the most difficult problems; he will be discreet and will act with much circumspection. The bad angel causes tribulations of spirit; he brings men to commit the greatest indiscretions and influences feeble people. 47th – ASALIAH. His attribute is “Just God, Who Points To Truth”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Hana” in the language of the people of Chile. His ray commences from the 231st degree up to the 235th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-fourth decade and to the angel called Sieme, under the influence of Venus. He rules over the following days: 5th May, 16th July, 26th September, 7th December, 17th February. The invocation is done from 3:20pm till 3:40pm, pronouncing the 24th verse of Psalm 104: “O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches”(Quam magnificata sunt opera tua Domine! Omnia in spientia fecisti: impleta est terra possessione tua). He serves to praise God and to rise towards Him when he sends us light. This angel rules over justice, men of probity, and over those who raise their spirit to the contemplation of divine things. The person born under this influence will have an agreeable character; he will be passionate to acquire secret light. The bad angel rules over immoral and scandalous acts, and over all those who spread dangerous and chimerical schemes.

118

We think this should say Ariel: “Ark of God”, or “Lion of God” (N.D.A.). 150

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48th – MIHAEL. His attribute is “God, Rescuing Father”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Zaca119” in the language of the Japanese. His ray commences from the 236th

119

The holy name Zaca corresponds to Zacael and to Psalm 42, “Like as the hart…” etc (see this subject in the Kabbalah of the Psalms). He serves to deliver souls from Purgatory, to obtain all spiritual and temporal benefits, and to have revelations in dreams. The request must be just and agreeable to God (according to Lenain). 151

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degree up to the 240th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-fourth decade and to the angel called Senciner. He rules over the five following days: 6th May, 17th July, 27th September, 8th December, 18th February. The invocation is done from 3:40pm till 4:00pm, pronouncing the 2nd verse of Psalm 98: “The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen” (Notum fecit Dominus salutare suum: in conspectus gentium revelatit justitiam suam). He serves to preserve peace and union between married couples. This angel protects those who turn to him. They will have presentiments and secret inspiration about all that will happen to them. He rules over the generation of beings and he influences friendship and conjugal fidelity. The person born under this influence will be passionate for love; he will love walking and all pleasure in general. The bad angel rules over luxury, sterility and inconstancy; he creates discord between married couples and causes jealousy and inquietude. 49th – VEHUEL. His attribute is “Great and High God”. He corresponds to the holy name of God “Mara” in the language of the inhabitants of the Islands of the Philippines. His ray commences from the 241st degree up to the 245th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-fifth decade and to the angel called Reno, under the influence of Mercury. He rules over the following days: 7th May, 18th July, 28th September, 9th December, 19th February. This angel and those, which follow up to the 56th, belong to the seventh Order of Angels, which the Orthodox call the Choir of Principalities. The invocation is done from 5:00pm till 5:20pm. The request is pronounced with the Divine Names and the 3rd verse of Psalm 145: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable” (Magnus Dominus et laudabilis nimis et magnitudinia ejus non est finis). One should recite the Psalm in its entirety when one is tested by afflictions and when one has a vexed spirit. He serves to make one enflamed towards God, to bless Him and to glorify Him, when one is touched with admiration. This angel rules over great people and those who raise themselves and distinguish themselves through their talents and virtues. The person born under this influence will have a sensitive and generous nature; he will be held in esteem and will distinguish himself in literature, jurisprudence and diplomacy. The bad angel rules over egotistical men; he rules hate and hypocrisy. 50th – DANIEL. His attribute is “Sign of Mercy” and, according to others, the Angel of Confessions120. He corresponds to the holy name of “Pola” in the language of the Samaritans. His ray commences from the 246th degree up to the 250th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-fifth decade and to the angel called Eregbuo. He rules over the following days: 8th May, 19th July, 29th September, 10th December, 20th February. The invocation is done from 4:20pm till 4:40pm, reciting the 8th verse of Psalm 103: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Miserator et misericors Dominus: longanimis et misericors). He serves to obtain God’s mercy, and to receive consolation. This angel rules over justice, counsels, attorneys and magistrates in general. He gives inspiration to those who are encumbered by many things, and do not know how to take decisions. A person 120

Kircher, Œdipus Egyptiacus, tome 2, pages 266 and 267. 152

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born under this influence will be industrious and active in business; he will love literature and will distinguish himself through his eloquence. The bad angel rules over those who live by their wits, and all those who hate work and who seek to live by illicit means. 51st – HAHASIAH. His attribute is “Concealed God”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of God “Bila” in the language of the Barsians. His ray commences from the 251st degree up to the 255th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-sixth decade and to the angel called Sesme, under the influence of the Moon. He rules over the following days: 9th May, 20th July, 30th September, 11th December, 21st February. The invocation is done from 4:40pm till 5:00pm, pronouncing the 31st verse of Psalm 104: “The glory of the Lord shall endure forever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works” (Sit gloria Domini in saeculum: laetabitur Dominus in operibus suis). He serves to raise the soul to the contemplation of divine things and to uncover the mysteries of wisdom. This angel rules over chemistry and physics; he reveals the greatest of Nature’s secrets, notably the Philosopher’s Stone and the Universal Physic. The person born under this influence will love abstract sciences; he will be particularly attracted to the knowledge of the properties and virtues attributed to animals, vegetables and minerals; he will be distinguished in medicine through wonderful cures, and he will make many discoveries useful to society. The bad angel rules over charlatans and all those who abuse others’ good faith by promising them extraordinary things. 52nd – IMAMIAH. His attribute is “God Raised Above All Things”. He corresponds to name of “Abag” in the language of the Melindais. His ray commences from the 256th degree up to the 260th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-sixth decade and to the angel called Sagen. He rules over the following five days: 10th May, 21st July, 1st October, 12th December, 22nd Febuary. The invocation is done from 5:00pm till 5:20pm, reciting the 17th verse of Psalm 7: “I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high” (Confitebor Domino secundum justitiam ejus: et psallam nomini Domini altissimi). He is good for destroying the power of enemies and to humiliate them. This angel rules over all travel in general; he protects prisoners who call upon him; and inspires in them the means to obtain their liberty; he influences all those who seek the truth of good faith, and turn away from their mistakes by making a truly sincere return to God. The person born under this influence will have a strong and vigorous temperament; he will bear adversity with much patience and courage; he will love work and will complete everything he wishes with ease. The bad angel rules over pride, blasphemy and evil; he influence coarse and quarrelsome men. 53rd – NANAEL. His attribute is “God Who Brings Down The Proud”. He corresponds to the holy divine name of “Obra”121 in the language of the. His ray commences from the 121

The holy name Obra corresponds to Psalm 12, according to the Kabbalah. This Psalm teaches us that all men should love one another as brothers, and that they should be united among themselves. He serves to obtain friendship and the favors of those one desires, and to live in peace with all men. 153

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261st degree up to the 265th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-seventh decade and to the angel called Chomme, under the influence of Saturn. He rules over the following days: 11th May, 22nd July, 2nd October, 13th December, 23rd February. The invocation is done from 5:20pm till 5:40pm, by pronouncing the Divine Names and the 75th verse of Psalm 119: “I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me” (Cognovi Domine quia aequitas judicia tua: et in veritate tua humiliasti me). This Psalm is divided into 22 equal parts, corresponding to the 22 Hebrew letters and to the 22 sacred names of God, which correspond to each of these letters, and which indicate the ladder by which wise men climb towards the contemplation of God. The Kabbalists claim that the Holy Virgin recited it each day (see the Kabbalah of the Psalms). This angel rules over the high sciences; he influences religious men, teachers, magistrates and men of law. The person born under this influence will possess a melancholic demeanor; he will pursue a private life, rest and meditation, and he will distinguish himself through his knowledge of the abstract sciences122. The bad angel rules over ignorance and all bad qualities of body and soul. 54th – NITHANAEL. His attribute is “King of Heaven”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Bora” in the language of the Zaflanians. His ray commences from the 266th degree up to the 270th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-seventh decade and to the angel called Chenon. He rules over the following days: 12th May, 23rd July, 3rd October, 14th December, 24th February. The invocation is done from 5:40pm till 6:00pm exactly, pronouncing the 19th verse of Psalm 103: “The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens: and his kingdom ruleth over all” (Dominus in coelo paravit sedem suam: et regnum ipsius omnibus dominabitur. He serves to obtain the mercy of God, and to obtain long life. This angel rules over emperors, kings, princes and all civilian and ecclesiastical dignitaries. He watches over all legitimate dynasties and over the stability of empires; he gives a long and peaceful reign to princes who have recourse to him, and protects all those who wish to remain in their employ. The person born under this influence will become famous through his writings and his eloquence; he will have a strong reputation among the wise, will distinguish himself through his virtues and will merit the confidence of his prince. The bad angel rules over the ruin of empires; he causes revolutions and overthrows; he influences all those who unite for the overthrowing of monarchies to seize authority and preferred positions. 55th – MEBAHIAH. His attribute is “Eternal God”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Alay” in the language of the people of Ormuz. His ray commences from the 271st degree up to the 275th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-eighth decade and to the angel called Smat, under the influence of Jupiter. He rules over the following days: 13th May, 24th July, 4th October, 15th December, 25th February. The invocation is done from 6:00pm till 6:20pm; the request is pronounced with the Divine Names and the 12th verse of Psalm 102123: “But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever: and thy remembrance

122 123

We will leave to Lenain the responsibility for the Kabbalistic exercises of the Holy Virgin. Verse 13 is incorrectly cited in the original – PV. 154

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unto all generations” (Tu autem Domine in aeternum permanes: et memoriale tuum in generationem). He is good for obtaining consolation and for those who wish to have children. This angel rules over morality and religion; he influences those who protect them with all their power and spread them by all possible means. His good works, his piety and his zeal for completing his duties before God and man will distinguish the person born under this influence. The bad angel is the enemy of virtue; he influences all those who wish to destroy religion and the princes who protect it in order to prevent the great work of the regeneration of the human race. 56th – POIEL. His attribute is “God Who Supports The Universe”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Illi” in the language of the people of Aden. His ray commences from the 276th degree up to the 280th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-eighth decade and to the angel called Themeso. He rules over the following days: 14th May, 25th July, 5th October, 16th December, 26th February. The invocation is done from 6:20pm till 6:40pm; one must pronounce the 15th verse of Psalm 145: “The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down” (Allevat Dominus omnes qui corrunt: et origit omnes elisos). He serves to obtain what one wants. This angel rules fame, fortune and philosophy. For his modesty, moderation and agreeable humor all will hold the person born under this influence in esteem; he will only make his fortune by talent and his conduct. The bad angel rules over ambition and pride; he influences all those who set themselves up as masters and wish to raise themselves above others. 57th – NEMAMIAH. His attribute is “Praiseworthy God”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Popa” in the language of the Sirenians. His ray commences from the 281st degree up to the 285th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-ninth decade and to the angel called Sro, under the influence of Mars. He rules over the following days: 15th May, 26th July, 6th October, 17th December, 27th February. This angel and those who follow up to the 63rd belong to the Eighth Order, which the Orthodox call the Choir of Archangels. The invocation is done from 6:40pm till 7:00pm, reciting the 11th verse of Psalm 115124: “Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; he is their help and their shield” (Qui timet Dominum speraverunt in Domino: adjutor eorum et protector eorum est). He serves to bring prosperity in all things and to deliver prisoners. This angel rules over great captains, admirals, generals and all those who fight in a just cause. The person born under this influence loves the military state; and he will distinguish himself through his actions, bravery, and greatness of spirit, and he will endure hardship with great courage. The bad angel rules over treason, the cause of disagreement among leaders; he influences pusillanimous men and those who attack defenseless people. 58th – IEIALEL. His attribute is “God Who Hears The Generations”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Para” in the language of the Selamites. His ray commences from the 124

Incorrectly listed as verse 19 of Psalm 113 in the original – PV. 155

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286th degree up to the 290th degree inclusive, corresponding to the twenty-ninth decade and to the angel called Epima. He rules over the following days: 16th May, 27th July, 7th October, 18th December, 28th February. The invocation is done from 7:00pm till 7:20pm. The Divine Names are pronounced and the 3rd verse of Psalm 6: “My soul is sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long?” (Et anima turbata est valde: sed tu Domine usque quo?). He serves against chagrins and cures illnesses, principally problems with the eyes125. This angel rules over fire; he influences armourers, metal-workers, cutlers and those involved in commerce; he confounds the evil and those who bear false witness. The person born under this influence will be distinguished by his bravery and boldness, and he will be passionate for Venus126. The bad angel rules over anger; he influences the evil and homicides. 59th – HARAHEL. His attribute is “God Who Knows All Things”. He corresponds to the holy name of God “Ella” in the language of the Mesopotamians. His ray commences from the 291st degree up to the 295th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirtieth decade and to the angel called Isro, under the influence of the Sun. He rules over the following days: 17th May, 28th July, 8th October, 19th December, 1st March. The favorable time begins at 7:20pm till 7:40pm; one must pronounce the name of the angel with his attributes, and the 3rd verse of Psalm 113: “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised” (A solis ortu usque ad occasum, laudabile nomen Domini). He serves against the sterility of women and to make children subservient and respectful towards their parents. This angel rules over treasures, agents of change, public funds, archives, libraries and all rare and precious closets; he influences printing, the book trade and all those involved in this business. The person born under this influence will love to be instructed in all sciences in general; he will be busy in business, will follow the activities of the Stock Exchange, will speculate successfully and be distinguished by his probity, talents and fortune. The bad angel rules over the enemies of illumination; he causes ruin and destruction through fire; he influences embezzlement and fraudulent bankruptcy. 60th – MITZRAEL. His attribute is “God Who Comforts The Oppressed”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Gena” in the language of the people of Tibet. His ray commences from the 296th degree up to the 300th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirtieth decade and to the angel called Homoth. He rules over the following days: 18th May, 29th July, 9th October, 20th December, 2nd March. The invocation is done from 7:40pm till 8:00pm, pronouncing the 18th verse of Psalm 145127: “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works” (Justus Dominus in omnibus viis suis: et sanctus in omnibus operibus suis). He serves to heal spiritual ills and for deliverance from those who persecute one; he rules over illustrious people who are distinguished by their talents and virtues; he influences the fidelity and obeisance of subordinates towards their superiors. The person born under this influence will unite all the fine qualities of body and soul; he will 125

On this subject see the Enchiridion of Pope Leo, page 4. Again, in matters of love, as above. –ed. 127 Incorrectly cited as verse 18, Psalm 144 in the original – PV. 126

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distinguish himself through his virtues, spirit, and agreeable humor and will have a long life.

The bad angel rules over all insubordinate beings and influences all bad physical and moral qualities.

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61st – UMABEL. His attribute is “God Above All Things”. He corresponds to the name of “Sila” following the language of the ancient Bethulians. His ray commences from the 301st degree up to the 305th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirty-first decade and to the angel called Ptiau, under the influence of Venus. He rules over the following days: 19th May, 30th July, 10th October, 31st December, 3rd March. The invocation must be done from 8:00pm till 8:20pm: one pronounces the Divine Names and the 2nd verse of Psalm 113: “Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time froth and for evermore” (Sit nomen Domini benedictum, ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum). He serves to obtain a person’s friendship. This angel rules over astronomy and physics; he influences all those who distinguish themselves in these fields. The person born under this influence will love travel and all honest pleasures; he will have a sensitive heart and love will cause him grief. The bad angel rules over libertines and particularly those who deliver themselves up to passions contrary to the order of nature. 62nd – IAHHEL. His attribute is “Supreme Being”. He corresponds to the name of “Suna” following the language of the ancient Carmanians. His ray commences from the 306th degree up to the 310th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirty-first decade and to the angel called Oroasoer. He rules over the following days: 20th May, 31st July, 11th October, 22nd December, 4th March. The invocation is done from 8:20pm till 8:40pm; one must pronounce the 159th verse of Psalm 119: “Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O Lord, according to thy lovingkindness” (Vide quoniam mandata tua dilexi Domine, in misericordia tua vivifica me). He serves to acquire wisdom. This angel rules philosophers, enlightened ones and all those who wish to retire from the world. The person born under this influence will love tranquility and solitude; he will precisely fulfill the duties of his state and will be distinguished by his modesty and virtues. The bad angel rules over those who commit scandals; he rules over luxury, inconstancy and divorce; he provokes disunion between spouses. 63rd – ANAUEL. His attribute is “Infinitely Good God”. He corresponds to the holy name of God “Miri” in the language of the Camboans. His ray commences from the 311th degree up to the 315th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirty-second decade and to the angel called Asau, under the influence of Mercury. He rules over the following days: 21st May, 1st August, 12th October, 23rd December, 5th March. The invocation is done from 8:40pm till 9:00pm, pronouncing the Divine Names and the 11th verse of Psalm 2: “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Servite Domino in timore: et exultate ei cum tremore). He serves to convert nations to Christianity and to confound those who are its enemies. This angel protects against accidents, he preserves health and cures illnesses; he rules over commerce, bankers, businessmen and clerks. The person born under this influence will have a subtle and ingenious spirit; he will distinguish himself through his industry and his actions. The bad angel rules over folly and prodigality; he influences all those who ruin themselves through their bad conduct.

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64th – MEHIEL. His attribute is “God Who Vivifies All Things”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Alli” in the language of the Mongols. His ray commences from the 316th degree up to the 320th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirty-second decade and to the angel called Astiro. He rules over the following days: 22nd May, 2nd August, 13th October, 24th December, 6th March. The invocation is done from 9:00pm till 9:20pm, pronouncing the Divine Names with the 18th verse of Psalm 33: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy” (Ecce oculi Domini super metuentes eum: et in eis, qui sperant super misericordiam ejus). This Psalm is good against adversities; he grants the prayers and wishes of those who hope in the mercy of God. This angel and those who follow, up to the 72nd, belong to the Ninth Order, which the Orthodox call the Choir of Angels. This angel protects against rabies and ferocious animals; he rules over the wise, teachers, orators and authors; he influences printing and bookshops and all those who engage in this type of business. The person born under this influence will distinguish himself in literature. The bad angel rules over all false wise men; he influences controversies, literary disputes and criticism. 65th – DAMABIAH. His attribute is “God Fountain Of Wisdom”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Tara” following the language of the Gymnosophs. His ray commences from the 321st degree up to the 325th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirty-third decade and to the angel called Ptebiou, under the influence of the Moon. He rules over the following days: 23rd May, 5th August, 14th October, 25th December, 7th March. The invocation is done from 9:20pm till 9:40pm pronouncing the 13th verse of Psalm 90128: “Return O Lord, how long? And let it repent thee concerning thy servants” (Convertere Domine, et usque qua? Et deprecabilis esto super savos tuos). He serves against sorcery and to obtain wisdom and success in useful enterprises. This angel rules over seas, rivers, springs, maritime expeditions and naval construction; he influences sailors, pilots, fishing and all those for work in this line of commerce. The person born under this influence will distinguish himself in marine affairs through his expeditions and discoveries, and he will amass a considerable fortune. The bad angel causes tempests and ship wrecks; he influences unhappy expeditions. 66th – MANAKEL. His attribute is “God Who Supports And Maintains All Things”. He corresponds to the name of “Pora” in the language of the Brahmans. His ray commences from the 326th degree up to the 330th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirty-third decade and to the angel called Tepisatras. He rules over the following days: 24th May, 4th August, 15th October, 26th December, 8th March. The invocation is done from 9:40pm till 10:00pm, reciting the 21st verse of Psalm 38129: “Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me” (Ne derelinquas me Domine Deus maus; ne discesseris a me). He serves to appease God’s anger and to cure epilepsy. He rules over vegetation and aquatic animals; he influences sleep and dreams. The person born under this influence will unite all the good qualities of body and soul; he will bring about friendship 128 129

Incorrectly identified as verse 15 in Psalm 89 in the original – PV. Listed as verse 22 in Psalm 37 in the original – PV. 159

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and goodwill among all good people through his pleasantness and through the sweetness of his character. The bad angel rules over all bad physical and moral qualities. 67th – EIAEL. His attribute is “God, Delight Of The Children Of Men”. He corresponds to the name of “Bogo” in the language of the Albanians. His ray commences from the 331st degree up to the 335th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirty-fourth decade and to the angel called Abiou, under the influence of Saturn. He rules over the following days: 25th May, 5th August, 16th October, 27th December, 9th March. The invocation is done from 10:00pm till 10:20pm; one pronounces the request with the Divine Names and the 4th verse of Psalm 37: “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Delectare in Domino et dabit tibi petitiones cordis tui). He serves to receive consolation in adversity and to acquire wisdom. This angel rules over change, the preservation of monuments and long life; he influences the occult sciences; he reveals truth to those who have recourse to him in their works. The spirit of God will illuminate the person born under this influence; he will love solitude and will be distinguished in the high sciences, principally astronomy, physics and philosophy. The bad angel rules over error, prejudice and those who propagate erroneous schemes. 68th – HABUHIAH. His attribute is “God Who Gives Freely”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Depos” in the language of the Peloponnesians. His ray commences from the 336th degree up to the 340th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirty-fourth decade and to the angel called Archatapias. He rules over the following days: 26th May, 6th August, 17th October, 28th December, 10th March. The invocation is done from 10:20pm till 10:40pm, reciting the 1st verse of Psalm 106: “Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus: quoniam in saeculum misericordia ejus). He serves to preserve health and to cure diseases. This angel rules agriculture and fertility. The person born under this influence will love the countryside, hunting, gardens and all things connected with agriculture. The bad angel rules over sterility; he causes famine and plague; he influences insects which harm produce from the soil 69th – ROCHEL. His attribute is “God Who Sees All”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Deos” in the language of the Cretans. His ray commences from the 341st degree up to the 345th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirty-fifth decade and to the angel called Chontare, under the influence of Jupiter. He rules over the following days: 27th May, 7th August, 18th October, 29th December, 11th March. The invocation is done from 10:40pm till 11:00pm exactly, pronouncing the 5th verse of Psalm 16: “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintaineth my lot” (Dominus pars haereditatis meae, et calicis mei: tu es, qui restitues haereditatem meam mihi). He serves to find lost or hidden objects, and to know the person who has removed them. This angel rules renown, fortune and succession. He influences jurisconsults, magistrates, attorneys, solicitors and notaries. His knowledge of morality, custom and

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the spirit of the laws of all people will distinguish the person born under this influence at the bar. The bad angel rules over reports, testaments and bequests which are made to the detriment of legitimate inheritors; he influences all those who cause the ruin of families, by provoking high fees and interminable court cases. 70th – JABAMIAH. His attribute is “Word Which Produces All Things”. He corresponds to the holy name of “Aris” in the language of the Boetians. His ray commences from the 346th degree up to the 350th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirty-fifth decade and to the angel called Thopibui. He rules over the following days: 28th May, 8th August, 19th October, 30th December, 12th March. The invocation is done from 11:00pm till 11:20pm. The Divine Names are pronounced and the 1st verse of Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. This angel rules over the generation of beings and phenomena of Nature; he protects those who desire to regenerate themselves, and to reestablish in themselves that harmony which was broken by the disobedience of Adam, which they will accomplish by raising themselves before God and purifying those parts which constitute the nature of man through the elements: thus they will regain their rights and their original dignity. They will once more become the masters of nature and will enjoy all the prerogatives which God gave them at their creation. The person born under this influence will be distinguished by his genius; he will be considered one of the great luminaries of philosophy. The bad angel rules over atheism and all those who spread dangerous writings; he influences critics and literary disputes. 71st – HAIAIEL. His attribute is “God, Master Of The Universe”. He corresponds to the name of “Zeut” in the language of the Phrygians. His ray commences from the 351st degree up to the 355th degree inclusive, corresponding to the thirty-sixth decade and to the angel called Ptibiou, under the influence of Mars. He rules over the following days: 29th May, 9th August, 20th October, 31st December, 14th March. The invocation is done from 11:20pm till 11:40pm, pronouncing the 30th verse of Psalm 109: “I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude” (Confitebor Domino nimis in ore meo: et in medio multorum laudabo eum) He serves to confound evil and to be delivered from all those who wish to oppress one. This angel protects all those who have need of him; he gives victory and peace; he influences weapons, arsenals, fortresses and all connected with the military genius. The person born under this influence will have a lot of energy; he will love the military state and will be distinguished by his bravery, talents and actions. The bad angel rules over discord; he influences traitors and all those who become famous because of their crimes. 72nd – MUMIAH. His attribute is “designed by the Omega”, which symbolizes the end of all things; he rules over Thrace or Roumélie130. His ray commences from the 356th degree up to the 360th and last degree of the sphere, corresponding to the last decade and to the angel called Atembui. He rules over the following days: 30th May, 10th August, 130

I cannot find a translation for this word – PV. 161

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

21st October, 1st January, 14th March. The invocation is done from 11:40pm till midnight precisely; one must pronounce the Divine Names, namely Alpha and Omega, with the

name and attributes of the angel, and the 7th verse of Psalm 116: “Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee” (Convertere anima mea in requiem tuam: quia Dominus beneficit tibi).

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One must have a talisman, which is on the frontispiece, with that of the angel written on the other side, which should be prepared under favorable influences as indicated in the chapter on Kabbalistic Astrology. This angel protects in mysterious operations; he brings success in all things and brings all things to their conclusion; he rules over chemistry, physics and medicine; he influences health and longevity. The person born under this influence will be distinguished in medicine; he will become famous through his marvelous cures, will unveil many secrets of nature which will lead to the prosperity of the children of earth, and he will devote his labors and his care to ease the poor and the sick. The bad angel rules over despair and suicide; he influences all those who hate their life and the day that they were born. * * * Following this text we present a reproduction of the KABBALISTIC TREE of P. Kircher, taken from his celebrated work: Œdipus Ægypticus. The reader who does not possess the original work of Lenain may transcribe the precise Hebraic letters for the 72 names of the Angels of the Shemhamphorash, as well as the initials of the 42 words comprising the “Name of Forty-Two Letters”, from this diagram.

In this republication of the work published in 1951, the author would draw the reader’s attention to the Seals incorrectly attributed to the 72 Divine Names. These Seals are in reality their opposites. Conclusive experiments occurring between 1955 and 1960 allowed us to establish their eminently malefic and excessively dangerous character: incidents of cancer, suicidal obsession, corporeal possession and infestation have been observed and are beyond possible argument. December 1989, R.A.

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VI. – THE RITUAL OF THE CONVENANT by Aurifer, S. I. The Ritual below has been created by us, drawing upon the “Clavicles” and being inspired by the instruction given by Lenain in his work “Kabbalistic Science” (Amiens, 1823). It is perfectly within the specific secret tradition of the “Elus-Cohen”, since it aims to establish firstly a spiritual contact and then a material one, between one of the great Angels of the “Name of Seventy-Two Letters” and the Operator. This contact is implicitly included in the secret teachings of Martinez de Pasqually, and explicitly required in the great “Invocation of Reconciliation”, of which a manuscript copy in SaintMartin’s own hand is lodged in the Library of Lyons. * * * The “Secret Teachings of Martinez de Pasqually”, a work by Franz von Baader, translated from the German by René Philippon (Chacornac, ed. Paris, 1900), tells us that “…Martinez de Pasqually restored the fasts of the Ancient Covenant for his disciples…”. This “Covenant” was that concluded by Moses, Aaron and the seventy elders of Israel, in the name of the Jewish people, with one of the “Elohim”. This is why the Ark was called the “Ark of Testimony”, or the “Ark of the Covenant”, for it contained the true witness to the divine manifestation. In faithful witness to this covenant, Israel has continued to commemorate the day when it concluded this veritable “pact” at each new moon. The purpose of this Ritual is to realize at an individual level what was done on a collective level five thousand years ago. Regular holders of the Elus-Cohen lineage are in possession, depending on their grade, of the lineage of the Levites, of that of the Cohenim, indeed of that of the Judges (according to Philippon). And so nothing stands in the way of this ‘microcosmic’ revival of the greatest theurgic Work known in the history of Humanity. * * * At the beginning of all Operations, one must distinguish a point of prime importance: according to some letters of Martinez or his closest friends, there are “passes” which confirm to the Initiator approval of his intention regarding a disciple’s advancement in grade. Similarly, it is not the Operator who chooses his spiritual Guide, but indeed the Angel who chooses – or receives from God – the Initiate whom he is to lead, instruct and illuminate. It is only when the “Grand Master Cohen” (or “Grand Architect”) has been the recipient of manifestations or “passes”, which permit him to recognize the Entity

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manifested to him and to catalogue it in one of the angelic Choirs, that this Ritual of the “Covenant” should finally be undertaken. Tradition and time-honored documents allow one to make this identification, and to specify the Name of the Entity. * * * Spiritual awakening was begun when, as an “Elect Master, beneath the Black Band” , during the first three Quarters of the Moon, he practiced the Invocation of the Twenty-Two Divine Names of God, derived from the Twenty-Two Letters, and given in Psalm 119 (separate instruction given to Master Elect Cohens). 131

The active side of this spiritual “impregnation” was commenced with the Equinox Operations, and the request for “Passes”. We believe that the “passes” obtained in consequence are sufficiently explicit, together with the counsel of Brothers of the same Lodge, to allow the Entity who has chosen the Operator as a disciple to be identified; and that the time for its Evocation has arrived. Specialized tables give these “correspondences” (time, hour, astrological angle, analogical and planetary correspondence, perfume, etc…). * * * We reiterate, what follows has been tested by us and our successes confirm its validity. Moreover, it was the dreams, always occurring towards dawn, following nocturnal Operations of Invoking the Angel, which, by means of symbolic but very clear visions, truly taught us the detail of this Ritual. We would add that coincidences, completely unexpected indications, or the opposite of what we were expecting, showed us without possible contradiction that the reactions of the Subconscious were not for nothing. Some Brothers were instructed gradually from these revelations as the work progressed from the journals of dreams experienced the following mornings. Finally, some were present at abridged Operations, or the Operations’ beginnings, with the sole purpose of convincing them of the reality and value of these Rituals. Their witness corroborates our findings. * * * One should first procure a Censer or an incense-burner of copper or bronze. One should select one, which is a quality product and heavy, and not one of those shoddy, colonial, dirt-cheap ones. Similarly, one should purchase a Sanctuary Lamp with red glass, of the type, which is constantly lit in churches. In this one may burn stearine or wax night-lights, or one may burn Oil, according to one’s preference. The ensemble is completed with a clear Crystal Ball, which will rest upon a copper, bronze or silver stand. 131

This is a poetic referral to the sash worn by the Master Cohen at the 7th Grade – PV. 165

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

These Objects will be arranged on a white or purple Cloth, the Lamp at the back, and, in front, the Censer to the left and the Crystal Ball on the right. An Incense Boat and a liturgical Bell completes the Altar. All these objects will be duly consecrated using the Divine Names of the Sephira to which each symbolically corresponds (see the Table). One should also place a Sword with a crucial guard upon the Altar, or an Almond Wand, if one possesses these Objects. They are purely symbolic and the former is never used in this Ritual. * * * One will make two Pentacles, one pectoral (pentagram) and one dorsal (hexagram), bearing the appropriate Divine Names. They will be cut and engraved in lead plaques having a thickness of less than one centimeter and a circular diameter of twenty centimeters. They will be joined by two straps or two cords (green or red), with the purpose of keeping them on the two shoulders of the Operator. Both should also be consecrated according to usage132. * * * At the day and hour governed by the Angel, one takes a page of virgin parchment, cuts it into a disc around twenty centimeters in diameter, finishing it off by polishing it with the aid of a new pumice-stone. The Skin is exorcised and consecrated, as well as the pen and inks destined to draw the sigils. Two inks are required: one good quality pure black Chinese ink, and one scarlet one, slightly vermilion (but don’t use those carmine inks which sometimes give an almost rose-colored tint). Having lit the Censer and the Sanctuary Lamp, one throws on a little Incense of the Angel. One should preferably choose night hours to do this. If this is impossible, carefully draw shutters, curtains, etc… We should explain here that the Altar, once fixed in place, must never be disassembled, and that the ritual Objects must only be wiped by the Operator himself, with the aid of a white piece of cloth especially reserved for this purpose. Because of this select a suitable, clean, private room, where unknown people do not have, if not access, at least the opportunity to come and go. Places of noisy traffic, corridors and oftenpopulated venues are absolutely contrary to the success of such an operation. * * * 132

Thus the pentagram and hexagram of lead, suitably engraved with Divine Names, are suspended over the chest and back by two green or red cords or straps to hold them in place – PV. 166

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

TWICE-DAILY INVOCATION CALLED THE SUMMONS “My Power is in the Name of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth! O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto Thee…” “Lord, God of Mercy, Patient God, Most Favorable, Bountiful and Wise One, Who grants Thy Grace to generations in a thousand ways, Who forgets the iniquities, sins and transgressions of Men; in Whose Presence none are found innocent, who visits the sins of the Fathers on the children and descendents even unto the third and the fourth generation; I know my wretchedness, and I know that I am not worthy to appear before Thy Divine Majesty, nor even to implore and to beg Thy Goodness and Thy Mercy to show the least Forgiveness. “Nevertheless, O Lord of Lords, have pity on me. Remove all iniquity and malice from me; wash my soul of all the filth of sin; renew my Spirit within me. Let it finally come to understand the mystery of Thy Grace and the treasures of Thy Divine Wisdom! “Sanctify me with Thine Oil of Sanctification, with which Thou sanctified Thy prophets. Purify all that is within me, so that one-day I may be worthy of conversation with Thy Holy Angels. And finally, may Thy Divine Wisdom accord me the power given to Thy Prophets over all impure Spirits. Amen, Amen! “May the Eternal One, the God of Israel, be blessed forever, for all eternity. Amen.” * * * One day each week, at the choice of the Operators, the “De Profundis” and the “Miserere Mei” are to be added to the evening Invocation. * * * One will begin this twice-daily exercise at Easter (Vernal New Moon). For the evening Invocation it is a good idea to light the Lamp and Censer and burn a little incense. * * * When the Day ruled by the Angel arrives, one goes alone into the Oratory, stands before the Altar, the Lamp extinguished, but with the Censer lit and incense added. One should perform the Operation of preference in the Morning, at sunrise.

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One then traces the Pentacle and waits for the Hour of Consecration of this Pentacle, which will be that of the first Evocation of the Angel. Generally, the effect will take place after a period of time, sometimes up to forty days, at most fifty days. For some experienced Operators, the delay may possible be quite short. One places the Pentacle in the center of the Altar, and places the lit Lamp in the center of the Pentacle, the only glimmer lighting the darkened room. One places the smoking Censer and the Crystal Ball in their usual places, in front of the Pentacle, and touching its sides. One may place this ensemble upon a linen “Almadel” to advantage, on which the Divine Names of the Cardinal points and those governing the Angel in question are painted. One puts on the lead Pentacles, traces the Circle of Evocation (see the diagram below) in Hebrew Letters, and, with the “Almond Wand” in the right hand, a wand which, in this instance is replaced by Candle of lit wax (this is a trick of practical Kabbalistic work, substituting one object with another because of a similarity of the name in terms of Gematria), one recites the Invocation of Consecration, a Theurgical consecration like that of the Pentacle.

Circle of Evocation. Note that the Alpha and Omega of the old Grimoires of former times are, in reality, the letters Aleph and Shin, in cursive Hebrew. They signify the disposition of the Elements of Air (aleph) and Fire (shin), and to the corresponding ritual Objects (Coagula, Solve).

* * *

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INVOCATION OF CONSECRATION (following that of the Summons) “Therefore, O Lord my God, receive the offering which I make unto Thee of these faculties which make me truly Thine Image in this World, and which, as such, must render me redoubtable to all Enemies of Thy Holy Law. Command my faculties so thoroughly that they have no life but for Thee alone, through Thee alone, and in Thee alone, Who art the Life, the Way and the Truth. Through the power of Thy Formidable Name, which I cannot utter without trembling, O True King, ensure that all the Powers of Darkness might remain far from me and never return, and that they will leave me to enjoy the comforts which Thou accordest to those which, through their true desire and their perseverance in Thy Ways, have become worthy to have knowledge of the faithful and mighty Angel which Thou hast bound to Thy Servant. “For this reason I conjure thee, N…. (name of Angel), to bind thee constantly to my person, and to direct me in all my actions, both spiritual and temporal. For this reason I deliver completely to thee my free-will, so that in exchange my desires and my will and all my actions might conform entirely to the Divine Laws, by virtue of the charge by which thou hast been entrusted to watch over me. “Forewarn me of all events which might harm me, either temporally or spiritually; forewarn me of all wiles and attacks of the Evil Spirit which would seek to ensnare me. Keep far from me all hurtful suggestions, preserve me from any interaction with beings that would persecute me, so that there may be nothing in me which does not act and exist agreeably to the designs which the Eternal One has planned for me. “For this reason I conjure thee, O Spirit which I have invoked and which I also evoke, to receive and to accept the trust which I place in thee this day and in this place, sincerely offering to renounce the feeble and modest will which was mine before today, and nevermore to act except according to thy spiritual designs for me. I swear this most solemnly, before thy Symbols, and I promise by the Terrible and Formidable Name of God: (here pronounce the Tetragrammaton), grant my request at this moment, O N… (name of Angel). “Bring me to know thy aid through some Hieroglyphic Character, or by some other clear and luminous Sign, or by any other manifestation in the tangible World, which will permit my present feebleness to support thy sight, to rejoice in thy presence, and to understand thy teachings. Prepare my Form of impure matter so that it may, at this very moment, be suitable to receive communication of thy celestial thoughts. I conjure thee, O N… (name of Angel), by the Divine Names of N……. (name the principle Elohim of the Sephira associated with the Angel, and those of the higher Sephiroth of the same “Pillar” on the Tree of Life), and by that of the Archangel N… (name of Archangel), Leader of thy Cohort. Amen.” * * *

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EVOCATION WITH VISUALIZATION For the Evocation with visualization, one proceeds thus: choose one of the days ruled by the Genius as the day of the Operation, observing a preparatory period of corporal and spiritual purification. Fasting for around twelve hours beforehand, one enters the Oratory and places the Pentacle of the Angel (drawn and consecrated on one of the days ruled by him), at the center of the Triangle of Evocation, a Classic magical design. One places the following three objects at the corners of the Triangle: the Lamp (at the top of the Triangle, on the center of the Pentacle), the Censer (with incense on the hot coals), and the Crystal Ball (or deep glass of water). One selects a Turtledove or a Pigeon, male, white, and slits its throat with a brand new copper knife, after consecrating the animal and the knife to the Angel in question. One then makes the “libation” and the Blood offering, then sprinkles the edge of the Triangle and each of the ritual Objects. One puts the rest (collected at the time of the pouring forth of the blood, in a pure Crystal Goblet) in the center of the Triangle and the three Objects133. One then stands in the Theurgic Circle (see the diagram and special note above), Almond Wand in right hand. One then recites the following invocations: • • • • • • • •

De Profundis Miserere Mei Conjuration of Four Conjuration of Ten Invocation of Solomon Consecration of the Place Daily Invocation called the Summons Invocation of Consecration, modified thus:

The last paragraph: “Bring me to know thine aid through some Hieroglyphic Character, etc…” will be replaced with the following: “Purify my Body of impure matter so that it might, at this moment, be fit to receive the communication of thy celestial Thoughts, and to contemplate thy Countenance. And so I conjure thee, O N… (name of Angel), by Ioh, the Living God; by Ioah, the True God; by Iaoh, the Holy God, to manifest thyself to me in a Form visible to my eyes and to my other senses, at this moment and in this place, in this Space consecrated to thy service. Appear, O divine N… (name of Angel). Appear, Flame of the Celestial Palace, Light of the Sanctuary On High, Eternal Watcher of the King of

133

We consider it preferable to offer unleavened bread on a fire over the holocaust of a living entity. Bread and Wine constitute the true sacrifice of Melchisedek. (N.D.A.). 170

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

Kings! Leave the Celestial Realm! Hasten to this Place! And may thy glory burst forth, a tangible reflection of the Glory of my God!” When pronouncing the Divine Names (Ioh, Ioah, Iaoh), one makes the sign of the cross in the air with the Almond Wand (Lenain, Kabbalistic Science, pages 70 – 71). For the consecration of the Victim and the Knife, one should slightly modify that of the Sword for the latter and that of the Azyme (unleavened bread) for the former.

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II. – DEMIURGY Ceremonial Evocation It is only when the Theurgist has accomplished the preceding Operation with complete success that he or she should be confident of being in a position to proceed to the following work, infinitely more dangerous to him, both morally and physically. Now, with the occult connection strongly established with the plane of Yetzirah, and with the known protecting entity previously contacted; it then becomes possible for the Operator to penetrate into certain “planes” or lower “spiritual regions” without immediate danger. These Operations can be divided up as follows: 1st – Evocation of Demons (in order to conjure their actions); 2nd – Evocation of the Dead (with the purpose of appeasement); 3rd – Evocation of the Living (in order to console or morally improve them); 4th – Evocation of Collectivities or State Egregores134 (political activity). One may be astonished to see a work of Theurgy include the means of evoking demonic forces in its procedures. In fact, the “Ritual of Abramelin” tells us that this is required in order to restore the equilibrium of the Operator, who risks being disturbed – even destroyed – by the Superior Forces contacted, as surely as by those from Below. One should remember the warnings of the Scriptures: “God is a fire WHICH BURNS…” “You cannot see my face WITHOUT DYING…” “Seek not the Truth too hard; why do you wish to IMMOLATE (aneantir?) yourself?” For completeness’ sake, we have decided to indicate these four methods of theurgic Action. However, we will stop there. Indeed, since 1935, letters received by us following the appearance of our books have become much more numerous. Most of those who discussed Astrology, Symbolism, and all those relating to practical Occultism were driven by total materialism! Spells for hate or love, “obtaining affection”, social preeminence, etc., have been the usual themes. We have wasted many hours in listening to strange confessions or in listening to descriptions of less than elevated projects. In addition, readers should not be offended if we do not publish the four Rituals to which we alluded above. The person who has “the right to understand them” will himself know how to recreate them from what we have given in these pages, and will be sufficiently

134

Roman Priests know the secret of neutralizing the gods of inimical peoples. 172

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advanced to possess them without using them. For the others, the Door of the Threshold must remain closed135. 1st – The Operational Circle The Magic Circles are not always made the same way, and differ according to the place, the time, the nature of the Work and that of the Entities to whom one has recourse. One should not necessarily imagine just a simple protecting line, but also a diagram, representing the Metaphysical Universe and specifying the rapports of the Angelic Orders between them. In the center of the diagram, the Magus represents the Primary Cause, and it is in his name that he commands the Intelligences whose Names are contained within the diagram. The Circle is the “condenser” of the World on which he wishes to act… In the center of the Operative Circle, the old medieval authors recommended tracing the Alpha and Omega. In reality, this is only a bad translation from the original Hebrew diagrams. The Alpha and the Omega are really the cursive Aleph and Shin, comprising the word aesch, or fire in Hebrew. This fire is the burning bush of Moses, the last and ultimate image of the Supreme God perceptible to the man of flesh136. But these two letters also indicate the Elements, Aleph equivalent to Air, thus to the Censer; and Shin to Fire, and thus to the lit Candle. In Theurgy, the censer and the perfumes which one burns there in honor of the Planetary Spirits equate to the Wand of Ordinary Magic; the candle equates to the Sword. The first is ‘coagula’ and the second is ‘solve’. * * * The tracing of the traditional Circle is done as follows. Draw three concentric circles, the largest diameter being about 2.7 meters, each circle being smaller than the previous one (around 20 cm.), the second diameter being 2.3 meters, and the inner circle being 1.9 meters137. This is important, since it is the last one, which is really the circle of protection, the others being purely symbolic of the ‘places’, the ‘spheres’, etc… And this circle of protection must have a diameter equal to the height of the Operator. In fact, if the circle of protection is situated on a plane, it is then no longer necessary to enclose it in a sphere for its protection to effective. In this case this sphere must necessarily be of the same diameter as the height of the Operator. 135

We should also announce that we can neither meet anyone nor reply to any letters or requests for correspondence; time being, unfortunately, at a premium. 136 It is also a practical and material indication, being the “W” that the Elus-Cohen know well…We can say no more on this matter. 137 Approximately 9 feet, 7.5 feet and 6 feet respectively- PV. 173

Practical Kabbalah – R. Ambelain (19XX). trans. Piers A. Vaughan

In order to give the Work undertaken all the qualifying attributes of the “things that have been, are, or shall be”, it is necessary to link it to Time and Space, introducing the request into the contingent Universe so that the result shall also come about, whence the directing Names of the Powers of the hour, the season, etc… Without these precautions, we have seen Ceremonies, which not only failed, but also had catastrophic results because of the chronological difference coming between the request and the result. The Circle of Protection must not be confused with the Circle of Evocation. This is circle of smaller diameter, specially destined to enclose the entity invoked. Thus is comprises: a. The use of a procedure which permits the entity to be located in our “world”, and to draw the necessary substance for its manifestation, b. The use of a process to prevent the dispersion or loss of this substance during its gradual condensation. This is the external circle. Paragraph a. implies the establishment of a perfect rapport of the identity with the Power. This is in fact a true ‘double’ which it acts to animate, a ‘condenser’, to use classical terminology, where the Power is unable not to manifest. It is his Pentacle and his Seal, which make it, materialize to the maximum. Paragraph b. requires a more lengthy explanation. * * * The Powers to which we have just referred are of two types: -

permanent (divine attributes; mother-ideas; archetypes); impermanent (Beings of other planes, angels, entities, etc…).

The first case belongs to the category of “beings” (viewed as Æons in Greek), in one dimension. The line, which is but a point repeated indefinitely, is its image, and esoterically evokes the principle of Emanation. The second case are beings whose relative and subtle essence submit to more precise spatial localizations, and they are therefore considered in the category of beings in two dimensions. * * *

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Now, the fact of possessing no more than two dimensions places them in a perfectly flat world, where the third dimension is unknown. Flatland, in its “Romance of many dimensions”, shows us that a being of two dimensions is but a surface being. If we try to envisage a creature who is only a surface, we must abandon the effort! For despite ourselves, in seeing it evolve, we give it a thickness, however thin it might be… And so we can conclude that such a world with two dimensions eludes our imagination, just as such a world with one dimension does! And so for this surface-being, solids and the entire body of our Universe of three dimensions only reveal itself to its sense in the form of lines, without exploring their surface138… Moreover, even a material plane constitutes for us an obstacle to our forward progression; just as for it all displacement is forbidden to it as soon as it encounters the end of a plane, that is to say, a line… Now, if we enclose our surface being in a circle (following the traditions of magic) not only can it not leave it, but also it cannot even imagine that such a procedure exists! In order to escape, it would have to have access to a third dimension: height, which alone would permit it to leave the circle. It is the same with us. Locked within a closed room, with a continuity of walls, ceiling and floor, we can only escape in spirit, that is to say, in the fourth dimension… Returning to the idea of a diagram, one can see that it is possible for him to isolate the operator of the Power on which he is concentrating, by enclosing it in an exact condenser. Such is the role of the diagram in theurgy: such as Operational Circles, Pentacles, etc… * * * The matter destined to serve to attract the demonic Entity evoked is always a Pentacle expressing its attributes, lying on a squared cloth soaked in fresh blood. In the middle of the Pentacle, one places an earthenware or copper bowl, in which incense in rapport with the Entity is burned. In the first part of this book, and in the book “Practical

138

No more than we can explore a volume…

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Talismans”139, all the correspondences of time (month, day, hour) as well as incenses can be found. * * *

139

Niclaus, editor, not in print. 176

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CONCLUSION

Hopefully his has been of great benifit to you. Each Magical Advice lesson is narrowed to a particular area in order to strengthen you and provide an accelerated method of magical understanding and growth. The material you have been provided is extremely valuable, even if you don't perceive it as such. Afterall, just because a diamond is valuable does NOT make it more visible in the dirt. You have come into arms reach of this material, and Magical 333, for a reason, not by accident. Take this and benefit well from all of it. For "they" are watching you, while invisible to your eyes. Yet with each passing moment, here with us, you will begin to see and perceive more than you ever have before. When you are aware that you are receiving greater power, please make a good effort to do your part by helping others in the name of Magical 333. As you use your increasing magic in this way, you will grow stronger yet. I am certain. I conclude with a poem I wrote for this lesson book.

I close my eyes again to unite with an unearthly power, I manifest in darkness to illuminate my desire, electricity forms the construct of my skin and becomes fire, those I create to express their hate shall hide, destroy, and conspire, within me I am and me yearns to satisfy destiny's thirst, perpetual colors of expression in every love, line, and verse, suddenly a flash as unworldly as ever divides great waters, and seven gates open letting in many wise ones to wonder, then I cast my gaze upon those unwise as they scream, as I become puzzled watching them seek and suffer bad dreams, Instantly, My likeness moves from symbol to symbol star, stone, saint, sapphire, expanding and expending forever nothing can be as it truly seems in their eyes not now or ever, file:///C|/Mysticalgod/Magical%20Advice/segment%20d.html (1 of 2)2/23/2009 11:12:35 PM

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not while diamonds lay scattered upon a dust and blood covered floor, while I sit for a moment and ponder the meaning of their vast war, yet let paradise not only be for me since once it was so lonely, I can only hope they believe that time is real in time to join me Wonderfully real for those who seek to be one throughout eternity

One Sign. One Group.

Mysticalgod 2.23.2009

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