Israel Regardie - The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic.pdf

VOLUME FOUR
It is so simple au fond that it puzzles me considerably when I find the Pentagrams
and Hexagrams depicted in diagrams in various rituals -- like the Consecration of the
Elemental Weapons, etc. It must imply that students are careless, or adopt a trifling attitude
towards these basic but most important elements of the art of Invocation. The whole art of
Magic is rooted in these basics, without which there is nothing but form and emptiness.
So let this be a word to the wise. Memorize the basics then there will be no problem. In
that case one could proceed to the next important part of ritual, the visualizations. To repeat a
former statement, there can be no magical progress without visualizing the lineal figures or the
Godforms. Take one step at a time. Start with the basics first, then proceed to the more complex.
The Godforms and the Telesmatic Images are every bit as important as are the lineal figures --
in fact, more so. They will require a good deal of practise to achieve any degree of skill. All
the more reason to memorize what can be called the more mechanical phases of magical
procedures.
One of the most satisfactory ways of learning these basics is to devise a simple ritual
which can be performed daily without too much trouble. It should include the fundamental
drills, such as the greater ritual of the Pentagram, plus a dramatic element which will do
something to and for the student.
Nearly fifty years ago I composed a short, simple ritual which I used every day for
practically a year. As time went on, and as I became more familiar with the rudiments of the
Golden Dawn system, it developed into a species of what I came to call Opening by
Watchtower. It employed all the important items of the Greater Ritual plus the use of the
Elemental Weapons. As a result, in no time at all, a considerable expertise was obtained in the
fundamental principles of magical invocation and banishing which has stood me in good
stead throughout the years. This really accounts for my adamant insistence on the elimination
of diagrams of hexagrams and pentagrams in Rituals, which appalls me more and more as I
retype some of the earliest documents of the Order.
In a book published by Aquarian Press in England, entitled Ceremonial Magic, I
reproduced this ritual with several variations. There are innumerable changes that can be rung
on a simple theme. The student who really wants to be proficient in the magical arts can take
one of these themes which I reproduce somewhere in this book and work it to his considerable
advantage. By doing so, he will come to a profound understanding of numberless other
schemata which at first sight bear little relationship to what he is about to do. (By V.H. Frater
A.M.A.G.).
THE RITUAL OF THE PENTAGRAM
The Pentagram is a powerful symbol representing the operation of the Eternal Spirit and
the Four Elements under the divine Presidency of the letters of the Name Yeheshuah. The
elements themselves in the symbol of the Cross are governed by Yhvh. But the letter Shin,
representing the Ruach Elohim, the Divine Spirit, being added thereto, the Name
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