Earth – Between The Pillars

Urban Occultism

December 6, 2018June 11, 2020Tagged astrology, body, city, Earth, Expereinces, focus, guide, Knowledge, magic, magick, mind, new age, night, Occult, power, prayer, religion, self, spirit, spiritual, spirituality, sun, urban, yoga5 Comments

Written: December 6th, 2018 | Edited: 28th March 2019

I’ve been thinking about what to write next. The purpose of this blog was never really to talk about occult theory or kabbalistic correspondences, because I don’t like to think of myself as a teacher. Instead, it was to talk about personal experiences with magick, mysticism, the occult and other spiritual stuff.

I haven’t invoked or evoked any Spirits in a while, because I haven’t really needed to. I did have a little encounter with Lovecraftian magick, but I’m still not fully sure about the safety and potential benefits of something like that. I don’t think that’s something that should just be put on a public blog like this. More of something the advanced occultist will figure out and engage in themselves, if one should feel inclined to and see a real reason to do so.

So, I thought why not write about the fact that I live in an Urban environment, and that’s a pretty unique, yet such widespread situation. There’s probably thousands of occultists and magicians practicing in the hearts of metropolitan cities, and it’s certainly not how it was traditionally done. So, in the spirit of modernity and pursuing the Great Work against all adversity, this is what today’s post is about. There’s also some stuff about protection against unwanted subconscious control (which everyone in the modern urban environment is subject to, except for one who knows his own mind, and one who lives away from society).

Traditional Occult Practices

There are hundreds of different branches of occult, from various eras and cultures around the world. However, one way to distinguish them is by putting them in two broad categories: organised and folk traditions. Folk traditions refer to most ancient pagan systems, and naturally most neo-pagan practices of today, as well as Tantra, Witchcraft, Hoodoo etc.

Folk traditions were often carried out in the rural areas and the countryside. Some existed at the fringes of civilized society, where the Known met the Unknown. Today, people who continue to live in such areas find it easy to follow such traditions, and there is a great connection with the land, and importance of sourcing everything yourself, going out into natural places like forests and lakes, performing rituals at various odd times like midnight, exploration, and all sorts of other things that require outdoor space and considerable amounts of free time. It is a very hands-on approach to the occult, and it is the easiest way to fully connect to the Source, and to gain understanding of the Self. People who live in the countryside seem to be able to do it without much hassle.

Then, we have the highly organised traditions like the Vedanta, Egyptian magic, Kabbalah, The Mystery traditions, Alchemy (Al-Khemi) etc. These traditions often emerged out of city centers (such as Alexandria, Rome, London, Varanasi, Kyoto, Tenochtitlan, Damascus, Baghdad etc.), and were closely tied to organised religion (since they were probably practiced in close proximity to religious centers). Today, such traditions are still practiced by people who live in towns and cities, and smaller urban settings. There is usually not an emphasis on sourcing material or going into nature, since it would have been, and still is, somewhat tricky to simply go into the forest to do a daily ritual. People in such settings also have less time, even if they do not waste time in pointless tasks.

On the other hand, people in cities would usually have much more indoor space, and access to materials and knowledge beyond what was locally available. This is perhaps why such traditions, instead of working with nature, are usually associated with elaborate, consecrated Temples, which is usually furnished with items having very specific correspondences. The city dweller would usually not have any trouble finding materials, getting access to books and learning specialized skills like herbalism or metallurgy. In addition, one would not have to worry about things like food and water, due to the division of labour. The lack of time, space and nature was made up for by access to materials and knowledge, ability to devote oneself to specialised study, and space for a temple, library, laboratory etc.

This setting is, while less conducive to being in touch with Nature, is extremely good for understanding extremes and confronting the Shadow.

While rural occultists would play an integral part in their community as community leaders (shamans, seers, medics, cheifs etc), urban occultists would play an integral role in a society as specialists (doctors, lawyers, politicians, priests etc). Together, humanity progressed forward,

This has pretty much been the state of things since the birth of organised cities around 3000 BCE.

A New Society

Since the end of World War II, a new kind of society has been emerging. A kind of human habitation that has never truly existed in the past, driven by technological and scientific innovation that cannot even be fathomed by the human mind, an explosion of culture, moral values, cooperation between all nations of the world on a common platform, the rise of the Internet, and, most importantly, Occult knowledge being freely and publicly available, on a scale never before possible. I mean, just think about how common it is for even the most average person, who knows nothing of mysticism or religion, to be familiar with basic ideas of spirituality like meditation, the power of the mind, what is good or bad for the body, and the notion of individualism.

However, as the Law of Polarity goes, this incredible Golden Age, which has really kicked off in the 21st Century, and gone into high-gear after 2012, has it’s various disadvantages and evils, which are just as extreme as it’s advantages, only much more subtle. While there is a steady increase in peace and quality of life as we overcome more problems (which we should all be extremely thankful for, by the way), there is a steady decline in true spirituality, magick and mysticism, along with the increasing attempt to remove these things from all sections of society. The average person might say that the trade off is well worth it, but i’m not sure. There’s a thin line between Utopia and Dystopia.

There has never been this much control and power over the masses. Never before have governments had access to private conversations, or international corporations such reach and resources. Never in all of human history has “mind control” been anything more that a delusion. Now, we live in a time where if Alex Jones gets drunk and starts rambling about conspiracy theories, you have to sit there and question how much of it is probably true. It’s strange when you think that everything he says is probable to some degree, and that’s terrifying. In the past, at best you had to worry about the King sending his troops to burn the crops. Now you wonder if your phone’s listening to you, if there’s an AI directing your daily actions, and if some shady international body has an algorithm that can predict where you’ll be before you know it (*cough* Google)

Now, with all that dark stuff out of the way, let me raise your mood by talking about how practicing Magick in the Urban metropolis may be made easier, and how most of it’s superficial challenges can be easily overcome. I don’t generally live in fear because when I think about just how massive and complicated human habitations have become, I feel like even the most powerful shady organisation is more or less powerless to control anything. If you really think about it, our society has become so intricate that no one really could control it. The only reason everything doesn’t spontaneously go to shit is because of mutual co-operation.

The Urban Metropolis

The Metropolis: a large, sprawling jungle of glass, steel and concrete. Brightly lit and well interconnected, it is usually brimming with a diverse population of hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, or in a few cases, even tens of millions. On one hand, it looks like a City of Dreams, but on the other hand it is also a City of Illusion. You see, that is only from an observer’s perspective. To the people living in a metropolitan city (which at this point happens to be most of the populations of the Orient, parts of the Middle East, Western Europe and North America), it feels like home, like any other place in the world.

From the looks of it, the rest of the world will soon follow. If you’ve seen the design proposals for Pyramid cities, vertical cities, layered cities, aquatic cities, Moon/Mars colonies and heck, a full fledged artificial Moon (thanks China), you know it’s only just beginning.

In the 1920s, there was a dystopian horror film called Metropolis. I suppose back then the idea of such cities was terrifying. I happen to live in such a city, and I recently found out that my city is actually a popular location for horror, mystery and murder novels for people living in other, more traditional places within India.

This is very strange to me, since I grew up here, and as far as I’m concerned it’s a totally normal place. Past the facade of glass and steel, we got our little suburbs, with it’s local parks where children play, and the local grocers where we buy fruits and vegetables by the kilo. We have our schools, which are probably like any other public school anywhere else, and offices where people work (even if they are suspended a hundred feet in the air in a glass megalith shaped like a shoe).

So yeah, let’s be honest, even though metropolises were once the terrifying dystopia, life has worked out pretty well in them. Human beings wont change, even in a jungle of glass and steel, and a majority of the population already lives or is destined to live in a metropolis. Right now, all over the world, villages and towns are changing into cities and cities will change to metropolises. This is not the case everywhere though, but what’s important to note is that there’s a surge of populations into metropolises. Even if villages, towns and small cities remain, they’ll be largely devoid of population. This can already be seen in India and Western Europe.

In a way, it is actually going to solve most of the problems that the Industrial era brought, so I think it’s worth giving gratitude. But I feel a sense of uneasiness.

The problem however, is that the average metropolis, though giving people health, freedom and individual liberty, was designed with material and moral fulfillment in mind, but not necessarily spiritual. Magick has never been mainstream, and probably won’t be for some time still. Religion and New Agery may soon be well accommodated, but this doesn’t mean it gets any easier for actual occultists. So unless you want to renounce worldly life and go off to live in the mountains, we have to make the necessary adjustments.

Essentials

Let’s give a little background to the usual Metropolitan environment. Most people live in apartments (or flats). Based on the size of the building, you may be suspended hundreds of feet above the ground. Size of the apartment and number of rooms varies.

Usually residential and economic areas are separated, and multiple forms of public transport carry people from home to work, and back, and this is also when considerable amounts of time are wasted. Public spaces include squares, malls, shopping districts and promenades. Schools and Public service buildings are scattered about evenly. The cities are divided into various sections that have little to no interaction. Commercial buildings are glass, steel and concrete, while residential areas are plaster or brick and mortar.

“Nature” is limited to public parks and trees/shrubbery on the divisions between the large multi lane roads. If you’re lucky enough to be in a country like the Netherlands, you’ve got lakes and canals, though they’ll be off limits. Radio waves, smoke, bright light and noise may interfere with Magickal practice. I suggest working in the early morning, at late night or with windows closed.

Also, probably give up on observing the night sky in any meaningful way for astrology. Either you can’t see anything, or shit is behind buildings. There’s no way to see a full horizon.

Pollution is a thing, though the amount of it is based on how adept the Municipal corporations are, and the population is likely not homogenous, consisting of people speaking various languages, from various parts of the country, and many even from foreign countries.

Food, electricity and water is not a problem, opportunities and jobs are common and there’s a mix of rosy optimism and abject depression in the population. Everyone pulls their weight, there’s almost no idleness, people are always in a rush and have short attention spans.

Nothing is really seen as weird, including strange occult practices and fringe spiritual traditions, and there’s a general sense of comfortable chaos that everyone is used to. Everyone has strong political opinions but no one acts on it because the Left and the Right are forced to live in close quarters and co-operate to run the city. The intellectual nazi and the urban marxist may sometimes talk rather passionately about various subjects they know nothing about, but will usually go back to being busy with their own life. It’s never really dark or quiet. Ambient noises include the footsteps and chatter of thousands of people, distant drilling and machinery, cars, birds, and the low, perpetual hum of generators.

Sound familiar? Good. If you can relate to about 50-70% of the above, then you may find what I’ll write next as useful.

Temple

First off, the Temple. In any ceremonial tradition, the importance of a Temple is usually insisted upon. A general dedicated area where you can do your magick. Usually, a room is suggested. There may be specifications for the room too. You may read that an alchemical lab would need the space and fittings needed to carry out experiments, along with running water and a window or chimney, and heating apparatus. For a Kabbalistic temple, you may be told to use a square, empty room with the windows facing the cardinal directions, and be able to hang stuff on the walls, light candles, and if you’re up to it, install literal pillars. In the Book of Abramelin the Mage, an entire house is needed specially, and an entire room becomes the invocation circle, with a balcony separated by glass being the Triangle.

I’ll be blunt: in magick, you reap what you sow. That is true. The elaborate care taken in building a suitable place for magical work is with good reason. It’s the same idea as religious places of worship. However, we may also adapt our practice to the modern day.

Whatever path you’re following, learn what the core elements of your space/temple are, so you can simplify it. Cleanliness is a must, and it’s good to map out the cardinal directions. Remember, it does not have to be a room, but any dedicated space is enough. If there’s a small cubical gap in your home, you could clear it out of stuff, and put a rope circle on the floor. That’s a good enough Temple. I used one like it for 6 months. The idea is to have a place where you can do magick, and if possible it should be consecrated. All the other stuff can be added however you feel it should. Instead of Pillars, one can use a black and white curtain.

If you can’t find a special area, then you could just make a “collapsible Temple”. Simply put, you have all the implements stored away, and during ritual you can bring them out and establish a temporary Space. Once you’re done you could put everything away. Much like a Temple is meant to be closed to outsiders, I suggest storing the implements discreetly, and not visible to the world, like in a drawer or something. Don’t use the consecrated implements and furniture for anything else, and pick a spot that you will use each time.

It’s a good idea to keep the Temple portable. It’s your choice how many implements you want to use. Make it so that if you’re travelling, you can securely carry key implements. For things like Alchemy and Herbalism, the kitchen is plenty for most of the initial work. If you’re working with metals though, I say find an outdoor area.

You could rent a space or an office and use that for your Temple. Of course, rent is usually high in Metropolitan cities. Better off looking in the suburbs. This is not ideal for daily work, but not a bad idea for occasional work that is more grand.

I do none of that though. Personally, I just do all my rituals in my room, in the space between my desk and cupboard. I just move my chair out of the way, use some chalk to draw the circle on the floor, along with any other symbols needed, and do it that way. I keep the windows open so it doesn’t get stuffy, and that’s it. When I’m done, my few implements go into a drawer, and I wipe the circle off. Done!

Herbs

There’s always this thing about growing sacred herbs in your backyard or garden (something I don’t think even exists where I live) or going out to collect the needed materials (nowhere withing several hundred kilometers for me).

If you have a balcony, get plastic tubs or pots and grow some herbs. Ideally, it’s always a good idea to grow plants, and just because we don’t have a garden shouldn’t be an excuse. Growing local plants, flowers, and herbs is a good idea. Other than that, learn the correspondences of the herbs and spices you have in your kitchen, and use them. This is of great use when making incenses or oils, and most of what you want is usually found in the kitchen. It’s a far easier option than having to go out and buy or order exotic herbs every time you want to make a custom incense of oil, which I’ve seen people do. I’ve seen witches in India go out of their way to track down Irish moss or lavender, instead of use the marigold in their home or cinnamon in the kitchen.

So, instead of panicking when you can’t find Irish Moss or Dragon’s blood, learn to work with things like sandalwood and lemongrass (and yes, i’m well aware that it will vary from place to place. Apply the principle to where you live). And by growing stuff in the balcony, you’ll at least learn how to tend to plants. Do the hedge Wicca thing if you can’t do anything else. It’s an authentic enough spiritual practice.

It’s usually not hard to order very specific things online these days, but you wont be able to find things that don’t have commercial value, so knowing the correspondences of what you actually have access to is paramount. In a way, doing so is not very different from what the village shamans did in the olden days, when they learned about the herbs growing in the immediate vicinity.

Travel

Living in an Urban metropolis means you have little access to both natural places, like forests, lakes and mountains, and great artificial structures, like monuments, temples, cathedrals, museums. If you happen to live in some of the better planned metropolises, you may have intact forests and such nearby. Similarly, in cities of historic significance, you will probably be able to visit monuments.

Even so, travelling is great, and it should be of interest to any magician to explore and experience new things, and push himself out of his comfort zone. But it’s even more important to metropolis dwellers, both from a mystical and non-mystical sense. Being shut up in a city and going about your busy day is not enough. There’s a reason depression can run high in these places. Other than that, travelling will often give you a chance to do important Occult activities that you normally can’t do, like collecting stones, or wood for your wand, or observing celestial bodies, or collecting sea water and collecting dirt from specific places. Most of these are common in more folk paths. For urban paths, you can visit libraries, look at ancient relics, go to places where great events happened, or make a pilgrimage to religious grounds.

I could go on and on about the benefits of travel, but I’ll stop here. Yes, a more skeptic individual will say “Hah! We have the Internet! We have public parks! I could easily do most of this stuff without even leaving my own neighbourhood!”

To him I’d say: yeah, probably. But where’s the fun in that? Trust me, travel! It’s good for you. Some of the most profound mystical moments in my life have been when I’ve traveled. It’s good for the soul.

Remember, most Occult grimoires were written either in a time when people lived in vivid environments, or for people who traveled a lot anyway. The urban metropolis is a strange and modern phenomenon, and most Occult philosophy was probably written with the expectation of the individual experiencing certain things in life that people these days do not. No doubt Hermes Trismagistus would be confused if you told him you couldn’t understand his quote about “finding your haunt in every living creature” because the most complex animal you ever saw was a pigeon.

Get Used to Artificial Materials

Get used to the idea of using stainless steel, glass, plastic and plywood. I’ve sometimes seen people go to unreal lengths to find “natural” materials like Iron, wood, ceramic, natural stone such as granite, gemstones and heck, even pure gold. Look, it’s always important to use the best quality materials you can get when creating implements for magical work.

I find it is not a good idea to shortchange yourself or cut corners, especially if the desired material is within reach, but you’re too lazy or stingy to use it, since these things have a profound impact on the subconscious. Any material will also generate the energy it corresponds to during ritual. However, many a times the “best” materials available to you WILL be things like paper, steel or plastic. My own banishing dagger is made of stainless steel. I spent a lot of time trying to get the best thing I could, and this was what I found. When I make seals, I use good quality cartridge paper. After all, there’s a limit to what I can reasonably find and use, and vellum and parchment are out of the question in a big city, because they have little commercial benefit (and as we know, in the metropolis economy, only things that make money can survive).

Similarly, when I created my first proper Triangle of the Art, I used cardboard and painted acrylic. After all, I don’t just have a garage where I could do carpentry in order to make it out of wood, or cut glass.

I always try to find the best things I can find. The best paints, paper, wood or metal available to me. But, most likely those will be very different that what was traditionally available. So I wouldn’t be too upset if you, say, have to use a plastic stand on your altar. Don’t just make the new age fallacy of regarding all things artificial as “evil”. It’s no more artificial than iron, and ultimately everything is derived from nature. As for energy being generated, all objects have correspondences. A piece of gold will generate the energy corresponding to the Sun, but so will yellow ink and the circumpent (symbol of the Sun). An iron dagger will generate martial energy, but so will a steel one, and so will an image of war.

Recycled Stuff

I probably don’t need to tell you this, but it isn’t a good idea to use recycled material for magical implements, or materials which have been used for some other purpose before hand. If you do so, I suggest a formal cleansing and reconsecration. In my life I have tried to reuse old materials, but I find that over time I naturally accumulate fresh and new things. I actually collect items and materials expressly for magick purposes. Sometimes, it won’t actually be in use, but I don’t use it for anything else either. I store it away, so that if a time comes when I require something, I already have materials that can be used.

However, there are plenty of things that merely aid the magical work, but aren’t key components of it. A simple example would be jars or bottles, to store incense, oils and the like. I’ve seen people run off to hobby stores to buy brand new “antique” looking jars. The most amusing things are those jars that have purposefully made to look second hand, or “raw”, like those which have fake corks.

Ever seen a modern hippie who buys expensive mugs that are made to look like mason jars, and have a lid that’s plastic but looks like a cloth cover? He then pretends to be like the old hippies who used actual mason jars to drink. That’s what this reminds me of. Something stops being “hippie” once it’s mainstream.

Anyway, don’t waste time and money when it isn’t required. The amount of waste produced by big cities is already unreal, so we don’t need to add to that. Most of the stuff you’ll end up recycling, like jars and bottles, are high quality anyway because they’re mass produced in factories for a competitive market. Chances are your bottles of sauce, jam, and other drinks are good enough to be washed and recycles. In the city, almost everything is designed to be reused. Just consecrate and reuse, and save yourself a whole load of hassle. However, do not hoard. And stay away from plastic when you can, especially to store liquids.

Keep Things Very Clean

Speaking of not hoarding stuff, it is common knowledge that most students of magick keep their surroundings clean. You know how Jordan Peterson keeps saying “Clean your damn room”. In that statement he is conveying a deep and profound spiritual truth.

“Clean your damn sword, bucko!”

As within so without. The existence of filth and mess in a person’s surrounding is a reflection of everything around him. Now, this means just a little bit more in a big city.

Big cities represent, at their core, Chaos. Unlike a peaceful and serene environment of a town or village, where everything is Orderly and the magicians sometimes NEED to consciously bring in Chaos as the counterbalance, here it is flipped. Everything is highly Chaotic and the magician has to strive to bring in Order. So you’re not just cleaning up, you’re bringing Order.

Personally, to me cleaning is almost an alchemical process. When I clean up and set everything in Order, I feel like my heart is cleansed of darkness (and no, i’m not even exaggerating). I think this is similar to what the ancient alchemist experienced when refining metals. Gold from lead.

So, cleaning out the apartment or house is the cleansing of filth and removal of entities, the archetypal act of bringing Order out of Chaos, and the alchemical transformation of the mind and soul.

Adding to this is the fact that the air is big cities usually has industrial pollutants or smoke. Not always, but very often (especially if you’re somewhere it doesn’t rain a lot), so that just wafts through your windows and settles on your floor, shelves, carpets. Everything really. It’s enhanced by the dust from construction sites. You could just stay in and keep everything closed, but then I’m not sure what magick you’ll end up doing.

In the United States, Japan and other such countries this is less, thanks to strict regulation, but in India and China this is now probably the single largest concern (and I’m considering wearing a fucking gas mask if we can’t fix it soon. Can’t even leave my window open in winters without feeling like i’m in gas chamber. Fuck).

Update (2019): So I made a talisman that protects me from pollution. It is the post after this one. Click here to read it.

Just remember: unwanted entities dwell in filth and squalor. There’s a reason religions emphasise ritual purity, especially the older traditions.

On the other hand, try not to make things too sterile or perfect. That removes the soul from it. Obsessive cleanliness is as bad for you as untidiness.

Eat Normal Food

This is perhaps the most common thing I have seen in every great city I have visited: a population hopelessly addicted to processed or refined food. I’ll keep this one short because I don’t want to sound like some stuck up nanny, and I don’t think I actually need to tell people to eat healthy.

Simply put: try to cook your own food from good ingredients, avoid the sugar that’s in practically everything around you, and try not to live on frozen or instant meals….unless you’re in London, in which case you can’t buy the extravagantly expensive food anyway.

Sugar and salt directly affect the emotional balance of the body, so it is very important, especially for someone doing magick, to be careful of foods which have too much of either. Not to mention processed sugar practically works like cocaine (did you know the original recipe for Coca Cola used 9 milligrams of cocaine? These days they use “spent coca leaves”. Ha!)

I’m not going to go crazy and demand that you only eat raw vegan organic food. Just try to be healthy, and limit the alcohol. If the body is weak, no amount of mental, emotional or spiritual fortitude will help. Malkuth is the Kingdom on which all else stands. Magicians are very concerned with guarding against unwanted spiritual influences, thoughts and emotions. How about extending that favour to the body as well? Also, work out, because if the body isn’t fit, it will hinder the spirit. This isn’t just me, but one of the direct teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Additionally, try to do some yoga everyday. It is important to do yoga so that you can control your mind, body, and all it’s spiritual extensions.

I’ve known particularly gifted magicians to go haywire, because they ignored yoga and were unable to control themselves and their surroundings. Trust me, when things go wrong, you want to have that strength of Will that yoga produces. In the metropolis, you’re also much more likely to have less physical exertion, and you don’t want to let yourself become fat, weak or pasty.

Guard the Subconscious

One of the common aspects of large cities is that there is advertising everywhere. In other words, there subliminal stimulus everywhere, pushing you on to buy, eat and consume more and more and more.

Honestly, I don’t have a problem with advertising. It’s not that bad, but i’m not just talking about any old advertising. No, i’m talking about city centres, filled with neon lights, sounds and advertisements in every direction. Although I guess the TV and online ads replicate it pretty well now.

Once you’ve done magick for long enough, you begin to under the powerful effect these superstimuli have on the subconscious, and the subliminal stimuli hidden in them. It is important to not let your mind wander off in these situation, or you’ll end up with all sorts of programming entering the psyche. No matter how strong your will is, and how consciously dedicated you are, these things will keep popping up and creating challenges to the work of Self Realisation. I mean, yes, many advertisements these days have a very positive message. A Nike ad telling you to “Just Do It” with the name of the Goddess of Victory on it and an archetypal symbol of success may not be so bad. But an advertisement telling you to buy the latest product from a certain company so you can indulge in a lot of sex is just trying to create an association between consumption and sex, and in turn encouraging more consumption and sexual excess.

Even if you consciously recognize that drinking Coke isn’t actually going to give you a life full of happy memories, your subconscious isn’t that smart. It’ll simply remember that association and give you a craving for Coca Cola when you’re unhappy or lonely.

Look, as I said, i’m not against advertising or the free market. I fully understand that advertising is essential to sell products, and can ultimately be a force for the greatest good in making society better and improving the quality of life. However, it is important in big cities that you be vigilant and pay attention to your surroundings. We city folk have adapted to have short attention spans for that precise reason, to be able to notice everything around us quickly. THAT is why people in big cities have shorter attention spans than people who live in the forest. That also means you notice a lot of things in a short period of time without consciously understanding what it is, allowing all of it to directly go into the subconscious.

Would you ever inject food directly into your veins, without letting it go through the digestive system? No right. This is the same principle. Subliminal programming means that you’ll basically be doing subconscious magick without even wanting to. Maybe you work out each day, but can’t loose fat because you’re subconscious has been programmed to believe that unless you use a specific product, you cannot be thing. You may not even believe it, but your subconscious does. I mean, they’re literally using your own mind to do magick that hinders you. And most people don’t even know about magick. You know, when you live a newspaper lying around, you may ignore it but your subconscious sees everything. It sees all the ads and all the shitty news. You become a conduit to the astral plane for these people (I’m not even sure who ‘they’ are) to manifest their desires. For example, if a nation is flooded with subliminal messages promoting illness or civil war, the collective subconscious force of the population exposed to this propaganda will bring it about! If this isn’t like the Matrix, where the robots where using human beings as batteries, I don’t know what it.

Guard the subconscious!

If you consciously catch everything that you see, it won’t enter the subconscious directly, and will be processed instead. That, by the way, is one of the meanings of the god Anubis guarding the Gates of the Temple, as well as the Hall of Judgement from the dog faced demons.

Lighting

Update (2019): This wasn’t part of the original post, but I’m adding it in now.

Lighting profoundly affects your mood, and it has astrological symbolism. Generally, yellow lighting, such as produced from filament bulbs, has a strong sun correspondence. it will uplift your mood. The same can be achieved through yellow LED lights. That’s why most ‘fine’ establishments has yellow lighting. It calms you down and produces a similar affect to the sun, or fire. Our ancestors evolved to regard such lighting as positive.

On the other hand, white lighting is negative lighting. It is cold, bleak and sterile. It affects our psyche and produces depressive or negative states of mind. It isn’t homely.

Why do you think schools and offices have all this white lighting. It’s so that you’re not in a good mood. Basically, lighting is an important part of magickal practice, and has important occult significance. Remember to get out in the sun, and try to use warm lighting when you can. Avoid cold lighting.

My own room has cold lighting, but I do most of my work during the day. If you’re one of those people that does most of their stuff at night, I suggest buying some new lights. If you’re crazy enough, you can work at night using candles. I do so sometimes.

Alright well, that was fun. I have nothing more to say, and I hope this is of help to someone, or simply makes for an interesting read.

Remember to follow the blog, and you can also follow me on Instagram @WhiteRavenMagus

Until next time.
~White Raven

The Tree of Life in Assiah: My Journey

November 17, 2017June 11, 2020Tagged alchemy, assiah, body, Earth, elements, Expereinces, golden dawn, great work, hermeticism, hinduism, initiation, journey, kabbalah, magic, magick, new age, Occult, order, philosophy, religion, self initation, self transformation, spirituality, tree of life6 Comments

Written: November 17th, 2017 | Edited: 20th March 2019

I just realised I have not written anything on here in about 4 months. Well, you know what Magick is like. Every now and then you’re thrown into a state of chaos and forced to figure things out in order to move ahead, both in life and along the path of mysticism.

Anyway, let’s get to today’s topic: My 10 week long journey, traversing up the Kabbalistic Tree of Life in the Plane of Assiah.

What is Assiah?

There are four planes of existence, and most systems of magick acknowledge this. There’s many variations, and lots of different perspectives of course, but in Ceremonial Magick we classify them according to the four elements: Earth, Air, Water and Fire.

Each element corresponds to one of the four Planes of Existence: Assiah (Physical plane), Yetzirah (Astral plane), Briah (Archetypal, or Etheric plane), and Atziluth (Creative plane).

This is a very complicated topic, and an entire book could be written about it (check out Israel Regardie’s The Tree of Life), so don’t get upset if I simplify things quite a bit for the sake of convenience.

Assiah is the name of the first world, and corresponds to the element of Earth. It is the plane of material reality and matter. Put simply, this world in which your body exists, that you currently inhabit and are full conscious of.

The screen on which you read this, and the material it is made of, is part of Assiah. Not just matter, but your family bonds, personal relationships, your career, wealth and psychical well being, are also part of Assiah. From the fundamental particle, to everything you can physically perceive in the Universe, as well as any bonds or attachments you form to material reality, are part of Assiah.

And when it comes to the Magician, the part of him that anchors him to Assiah, is his physical body, and extends to his personal, subjective reality, aka his ‘Kingdom”, or Malkuth, the 10th Sephiroth.

This diagram is mixture between Hebrew and Japanese (Shinto/Buddhist) cosmology I found. They are very similar.

Now, each of the four planes corresponds to one of our four bodies, or vehicles. No doubt you’ve heard of people learning to use their astral body, which new agers dub as “light body”, and sometimes even using their etheric body. It’s interesting how many beginner spiritualists enthusiastically dive into these higher worlds, without focusing on the first, most crucial one: the physical one.

Malkuth corresponds to the GD Grade of Zelator, and it is during the first phase of this grade that one builds his body in Assiah. It is essential that one master his body, and gain a certain degree of mastery before going much further. Even if you don’t follow the GD system, it’s never too late to revisit something simpler. I like to think that it doesn’t matter when we do stuff, as long as we do them.

In this post, I want to talk about each sphere. The exercise basically involves entering each Assiatic House, of which there are 10, each corresponding to a Sephiroth in the Tree of Life. You meditate on each house for a week. During this process, your earthly qualities are brought out, and you’re forced to face them, as they reintegrate into your body, now awakened. Sometimes it’s pleasant, sometimes not. But it’s all worth it at the end.

Olam Yesodoth |Earth | The Elements

Olam Yesodoth is Hebrew for “Sphere of the Elements”, and corresponds to Malkuth in Assiah. This was the very first week and I did not know what to expect. The way I see it, Olam Yesodoth corresponds to the Physical Body and the base physical feelings and desires. It is also as low as a man can go on the Trees. We magicians are used to dwelling somewhere in Yetzirah and Briah, so falling to Assiah can be rough. You must make your way to Yetzirah once again, and re-live all of the material stages of development, which as you may know is the “lower” or “baser” nature of man.

Perhaps it has to do with learning empathy as well. Suffer like those on the lower rungs, those still in Assiah, and perhaps you will see what motivates and drives them, and why you cannot understand them. But, it is also a realisation and acceptance of your own lower nature, and how you’re also human at the core.

After all, each human being in reality spans from Malkuth in Assiah to Kether in Atziluth. He is just not fully aware of this yet.

During this first week, I just lost all will to do anything. I was exhausted, tired and bored. Everyday, i’d come home and just sort of lie on the floor, until I could eat and sleep. I watched some videos, but mostly I just wanted to sleep. It was as if the very vitality was sucked from me. This is how I used to be before I got into spirituality, and I had forgotten how being tired all the time even felt. I’d gotten out of the habit of sleeping during the day, so I never actually did so this time. This week was lazy and uneventful. I shudder to think that many people do live like this on a daily basis. (But the age of Aquarius is starting to I am certain it shall end. It already is starting to appear visibly in society)

Levanah | The Moon

Levanah is the Hebrew name for the Moon, and corresponds to Yesod in Assiah, which corresponds to the genitals and one’s libido. So, what do you think happened?

Let’s just I had a heightened libido during this week, and I took care of it however I could. It was like being a hormonal teenager, or a pervert. Another week of nothing, just realising how perverted one’s mind can be, and how easy and tempting it is to give in to complete lust.

I imagine this is the path that leads to hedonism. Usually, somewhere along that line, people get “saved” by religion or spirituality. I’m one of those people who got into magick early, so I have little experience with such feelings, except as a younger teen, and that’s my only reference point.

Kokab | Mercury

Now, things started to get kind of interesting.

Kokab is the Hebrew name of Mercury, corresponding to Hod in Assiah. This, I feel, must correspond to the digestive system and food habits. During this week, I suddenly had stomach problems, like acidity and aching. See, when I was younger, I used to have this problem perpetually. Then, it sort of improved as I got older and stronger, but now it was suddenly back, and I was forced to take a long hard look at my diet.

Ever since I became a magician, I decided to eat healthy, but I never REALLY did. I quit meat, and cut down on junk food, but I still sort of cheated and ate some shit. During this week, it ALL went. Anything and everything: cafeteria snacks, soft drinks, sugar, chips (or crisps), most biscuits, juices, and processed food. I began to prefer Sattvic food (look it up), and boy, was it great. I didn’t quit delicious food, I just quit the stuff that’s bad but pumped full of enough chemicals to make you think it’s “delicious”, when it’s really just addictive.

My health, body and energy levels improved dramatically, and I ended up saving a lot of money too. It’s strange when you realise how much we actually need to eat, and how much we actually eat. Two balanced meals a day is actually enough, along with fruits and nuts at certain times. Everything else, I see as an occasional luxury. Although, I still drink coffee, the holy nectar : )

Black of course. And home brewed, like it should be. None of that instant 280 g of sugar per cup bullshit (we got Starbucks in India. Not the biggest fan). I’m not saying be a vegan, but all religions and spiritual practices recommend a certain kind of diet, from the ancient Egyptian priests to New Age gurus, from the frugal yogi to the rich Mason. They aren’t just all saying mumbo jumbo meant to keep you from happiness, trust me. Eat clean, pure and high vibration foods as much as possible. It’s worth it. After some time, you won’t even miss that can of coke you drink daily.

Nogah | Venus

Nogah is the Hebrew name of Venus, corresponding to Netszach in Assiah. I can’t actually tell which part it corresponds to, and my best guess is going to be the stomach.

You ever skip a meal or two? Or just go hungry for a day? You start to feel sort of sad, or depressed, or have pessimistic thoughts, and you’re not sure why. Nothing severe, just sort of a negative feeling, that disappears immediately after you eat a nice meal.

Well, it’s because your brain runs on Glucose, and without that, your moods get erratic. Furthermore, low blood sugar is known to cause depression. Well, for that reason or some other, this week I got depressed. Severely.

Like REALLY depressed. People keep pointing out that simply being sad is very different from real depression. Well, what I felt was more like real depression. I wasn’t sad, really, nor was there any particularly negative thoughts. I just couldn’t find the motivation to do…anything at all.

I simply could not get myself out of bed in the mornings. I didn’t feel like playing games, or reading, or even watching a movie. It took everything I had just to do my daily ritual. I couldn’t enjoy anything. At times, I even felt energetic, and motivated, but couldn’t channel it into anything, or be happy doing anything. In fact, not just happiness, I couldn’t even feel angry, or sad, or emotional. It was just dark, and empty. Made me understand what it would be like to have no purpose in life, and no reason to live. It was desolate.

I also had a SEVERE crisis of faith. In magick, in the Divine, in the Self. I didn’t want to continue. Just give up, and become a nihilistic atheist. What if all this was a sham? What if all my prior success was just one big coincidence? What if nothing had meaning after all? What if I was just going mad?

Update (2019): This crisis of faith was basically me passing through Paroketh (The Veil) in Assiah. This lies above Hod/Netszach, and below Tiphareth.

But this was promptly restored. I ended up reading a Hindu blog about the lack of faith. Hinduism approaches the idea of faithlessness very differently than, say, Christianity, so I ended up feeling reassured after that. It doesn’t condemn you for not having faith, but assures you that you need to stay true to yourself, but also tells you rather sternly that no one will save you but you, so get your shit together and figure it out. At the very least, it says that whatever you’re feeling is true and real, that you’re not just “wrong” for these feelings. It says if you’ve ended up an atheist, then it’s better to be one than force faith. At the same time, if you choose to be faithful, then you have to find that yourself. Anything else would be empty.

Go find your salvation, or accept your life. Whatever gives you satisfaction. Don’t worry about what any scripture says, since ultimately your life is yours. Just as Arjuna had to go face a war, and do his duty as a warrior. Krishna was with him throughout, but never raised his weapons, though he was the Lord of the Universe.
No one saved Arjuna. No divine miracles were performed, none of his sins were pardoned. There were no Gods on his side, and no angels singing in the sky. The future for him, looked bleak and bloody. But still he fought, and won.

All he was given was a sermon, and a vision. And the he rode out to meet his fate.

Shamash | The Sun

Finally, in the 6th week, I left the lower spheres behind and entered Shamash, the Sun, corresponding to Tiphareth in Assiah.

The Sun corresponds to your Heart, and what is in it. This is where the Self is.

This was a great week. It’s difficult to put into words, but this week I was at my creative best, and I put in a lot of work. The desire to succeed and produce something good, to improve my skills and let the Higher Genius flow through, became very strong. And so, I ignored everything else, and I put in the work. This week jump-started the main goal of the Zelator grade: that of mastering the element of Earth. Now that the lower nature had been overcome, every week from then on brought more positives than negatives. This was when I felt better again. Christ has been resurrected.

Maadim | Mars

This was an intense phase. Maadim, as you can guess, is Mars, corresponding to Geburah in Assiah. The energies of this week were so strong, that their influence remained with me long after the week was up, and even after the entire exercise was up. Eventually, they faded, but they left a permanent impact upon my beliefs and opinions, which I don’t think will ever go.

Maadim is fiery and intense, and thus, deeply connected to your religious, political and social beliefs and opinions. Even though we magicians should be depolarised, we’ll always have some subjectivity, and certain leanings. Maadim polarised me to a immense degree, but due to this, it changed my thinking. Or rather, helped me think for myself rather than simply be led on by whatever was told to me by any side.

I wouldn’t say it put anything new into my mind, but brought out and laid bare what was already there. In a way, it forces you off the fence, and makes you take a stance in life, and after the week was over, I was much more certain of where I wanted to be in life, and even after I centered and grounded myself later, these things became a part of me, because they resonate with me deeply, though I never realised this before.

I wouldn’t say I, or anyone else is forced to submit due to social norms. Rather, we’ve accepted certain norms from birth, and never truly questioned them, or how we feel and think. Imagine North Korea: most of the world’s actually just a milder version of it. We were taught certain things were good and accepted, and we shunned everything else so strongly we never gave them a chance. For me, entering the occult was part of stepping out of the firelight.

A majority of the people are stuck in such a state of indecisiveness and neutrality, making it easy to sway them to either side, with enough incentive.

I remember, one night I didn’t even sleep, because I was too agitated at my own thoughts, and how far they could go. At the same time, I also recognized an intense hate, and maniacal rage. I understood, for the first time, how The Nazis must have thought and felt as they unloaded their rage onto those whom they deemed to e responsible for their suffering. Though I understood this, I couldn’t help but be swayed by it, and it would be long before I would calm down.

Nonetheless, it is important to understand this inner monster that is Mars. Only by understanding it, can you control it and use this energy to constructive ends. Interestingly, this is not only how the tyrants felt, but also the heroes. Both Hitler and Churchill. Same energy, just depends on where you direct it.

Anyway, i’m much more sure of myself now, and much more confident.

Update (2019): Ultimately, these feelings would stay with me for the next year and a half, and then it would take another 6 months before I could call them “resolved”. I thought everything could be fixed by having a logically coherent political ideology. But humans aren’t “logical”. We’re too complex, reality is too fucking complex.

India was having quite the political crises at the time, and I was too willing to take sides.

I never did anything physically, but mentally I went DEEP. But eventually I went so deep, that an abyss opened up in my belief systems. Suddenly everything collapsed, and I realised the futility of it all. This was partly shown to me by higher forces. They showed me the sheer intricacy of this system and society we have built over 2.3 million years, and our place in the cosmos.

Maybe it was just be transitioning from the idealism of my teen years to the realism and practicality that marks adulthood. But at least I gained the ability to think for myself. I was freed from the fear of social conformity.

Tzedek | Jupiter

Tzedek is the name of Jupiter, and corresponds to Chesed in Assiah. Now, bear in mind that the energies of Mars were still very active and strong.

Tzedek rules our ability to be reasonable and think clearly. Just as Maadim is the Right Shoulder, the force and power behind our dominant hand, Tzedek is the Left Shoulder, the hand of mercy and receiving. I calmed down somewhat. I believe all that really happened is that I was able to see the OTHER side of every argument. I didn’t agree with it, but I could somewhat relate to and appreciate other opinions. At the very least I felt a bit more merciful. During this period I just stopped and began to reflect, looking upon the long, long road ahead of me. The Golden Dawn self initiation is no joke after all. It’s not quick or easy.

I also became confident and my opinions became set in stone, after being tossed up and rapidly changed in the chaos of Maadim, they were cemented by Tzedek. At the same time, I was made to come face to face with my out of control tendencies I started to not enjoy any sort of mindless indulgence anymore.

The paths from Tiphareth to Geburah, and then to Chesed also represent overcoming the Shadow. This was all aspects of my Shadow I’d discovered. You could say this was a period when I became less hedonistic and much more disciplines, and almost monastic.

Shabbathai | Saturn

Shabbathai is Saturn! It corresponds to Binah in Assiah. This corresponds to the Right hemisphere of the brain. It rules intuition, subjectivity and creativeness. The sacred feminine, the subconscious, and Chaos.

With this, I crossed the Abyss (not the big one, but just the “Abyss” in the context of this 10 week exercise. A part of me crossed a part of the Abyss, you could say) and enter the Supernal Triad in Assiah.

This was a strange week. I felt the prevalence of of two emotions: agitation and lethargy. I’d get easily riled up and angry over stuff, especially the news. The Maadim energies were coming back.

For some idiotic reason, I also got the idea of pulling all nighters to work, as Saturn also rules over hard work and rigour. However, every time I tried, I’d always end up falling asleep anyway and waking up tired and annoyed. It’s not like I haven’t stayed up before, but during this time I just couldn’t.

I worked hard though, on all my work, and it felt good. The rigour and pain taught me much, and to accomplish things after giving it your best just feels so much more rewarding, and your work naturally gets better. However, it also brought with it just a tinge of sadness and loneliness…

If I was to use one word for this week, it would be “internal turmoil”, but it was all for the better. By the end of it, I’d made a habit of avoiding any and all agitating and polarising stuff. I had developed a dedication to more important things in life, and all other things just became less important, especially things that simply to satisfy the Ego. My opinions did not change though, but the obsession was over.

Mazloth | Neptune | The Zodiac

Now we enter the great Sphere of Chokmah, to which Mazloth corresponds. This sphere rules over the Zodiac, as well as the planet Neptune. It is the Left hemisphere of the brain, and thus, it is divine logic, higher intellectual thought, the conscious, and Order. The sacred masculine.

This was a good week. I became wiser, and calmer. The Maadim energy finally began to subside and balance out. I began to prefer positivity, and things with higher value.

I felt much, much less drawn to negative, weird, and sensational things. Despite having previously thought I knew the “truth” in Maadim, I now realised that I could take nothing for granted. The rabbit hole goes very, very deep. I mean, I began to read some of the actual history and literature about my own country, and it’s leaders, including Gandhi.

Man! Imagine finding out that you’ve been blatantly lied to, through every imaginable medium, from school textbooks to movies, about every aspect of your culture and society. It’s not a pleasant thought. And this brought with it, a new sense of nationalism. The kind that everyone swears they do not have, or shun, until they actually start looking at stuff objectively. It brought to light both good things and bad things.

Not the lowly, shitty “nationalism” that involves claiming the achievements of your ancestors and finding scapegoats that you can blame. Not the kind that make you insist that anyone who doesn’t see things your way is “anti national”. No, more of an understand of where you’ve come from, and how many sacrifices have been my by your ancestors. I began to think about what it all meant, to belong to a place, to call it your home, and also what responsibility that might bring. What are we meant to do, by “belonging” to a nation. What does it mean to love one’s “Motherland”, or to hate it’s “enemies”?

But. as Buddha said “All is Illusion”.

My country is just one example. I began to develop a habit of looking “deeper” into things, to understand and perceive reality with an objective mind, and learn to follow my gut and intuition.

I had new ideals to strive for. Real ideals.

Rashith ha Gilgalim | Uranus | The Pole Star

You’d think the Crown, the sphere of Kether, would be some kind of amazing, revolutionary phase. Rashith ha Gilgalim corresponds to this highest sphere. It means “The Great Swirlings”, refering to the Pole Star, and the stars that circle around it, as well as Uranus, the Father of Thought.

It rules the Pituitary gland (master gland). Unlike what I imagined, this week was fairly mundane. I had a bitcoin mining craze for a day or two, until realising my GPU wasn’t really fit for it. I went and bought some new clothes.

By the end of the week, I had normalised again. All the energies the past 10 weeks had brought settled down and began integrated. I became whole again.

It felt like I was no longer swayed and controlled by the forces, but instead that all these new forces and energies I had discovered and been exposed to had become tools in my arsenal, reserved for when needed.

As I returned to being a mundane fellow, I knew I had changed internally, and irreversibly. I had become a wholly new person, one who had awakened every earthly force that existed withing him.

Thus, I ended my journey up the Tree of Assiah, and prepared for the rest of the grade of Zelator. There was still a long road ahead.

I follow the self initiation methods given in the book Kabbalah, Magick and the Great Work of Self transformation, by Lyam Thomas Christopher. It’s probably the most popular around right now for those who want to self initiate using the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn tradition. Highly recommended if you’re serious about magick and spirituality.

Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed reading that, and would like to read more of my work. In that case, why not follow my blog?

Trust me, it’s great! And sometimes, it even makes sense! Other than that, do check out some other stuff I’ve written.

If you have hate for me or want to get into a long, pointless, time consuming debate about philosophy, leave a comment!

Well, that’s all for now. Do check out some of my other writings, you’ll probably find something useful. You can also follow me on Instagram @WhiteRavenMagus

Until Next time.
~White Raven

Archangel Uriel tells me about Manifestation

March 4, 2017June 11, 2020Tagged Angel, Archangel, archangel uriel, armadel, body, conjuration, Earth, expereince, focus, good vibes, grimoire or armadel, healing, kabbalah, Knowledge, magic, magick, new age, Occult, philosophy, prayer, religion, soul, spirit, spirits, spirituality, summoning, universe, Uriel, vibrations, white raven16 Comments

Written: March 4th, 2017 | Edited: 19th March 2019

Hello, and welcome to my blog! There’s all kinds of things here, from New Age to full fledged Ceremonial Magick. Stay a while, see if you like something. I am White Raven, and today I’ll be telling you a story, that I hope you will find entertaining and informative.

I have a tendency to write long posts, but have patience. I promise it’ll be worth it.

In all forms of Ceremonial Magick, there are four chief Archangels, each attributed to a cardinal direction and alchemical element. They are often called the Watchers.

Uriel is the Angel of Earth, in the West. A little while ago, I invoked her, and this is my personal experience, what methods I used, what I learned, and what happened afterwards. I have also got invocations of Raphael and Gabriel.

The Name and It’s Meaning

Uriel, pronounced “Ooriel” or “Auriel” means “God is my Light”, though you may interpret it as “Light/Glory of God” or “God, the Light”.
It also has a more unsettling interpretation as “Fire of God”, but we’ll get to that later when I talk of the more martial aspect of Uriel that has pretty much been dropped in New Age traditions.

It’s spelled אוּרִיאֵל, and so the numerical correspondence is 1+6+200+10+1+30=248. Interesting fact: there are 248 positive commandments in Judaism, and said to be 248 parts of the body in the Torah.

It originates in Babylon, where people spoke Akkadian, an ancient Semitic language from which Hebrew and Arabic come. Many angelic names come from Zoroastrianism and their 7 aspects/children of Ahura Mazda, known as the Immortal Ones.

In Religion

Note: I will refer to Uriel as “she” but it should be noted that in Abrahamic scripture Uriel is male. While undoubtedly of supreme importance in Magick and the occult, Uriel’s standing in the Abrahamic religions is kind of sketchy, and i’ll go over this briefly.

In Judaism, only the first three Archangels are mentioned by name, and Uriel is only ever named when there is need to add an Angel for the fourth cardinal direction, though he/she is usually seen as one of the 7 holy archangels.

She is generally considered to be the “illuminator” and the source of heat and light, but Uriel also turns martial (from a modern perspective) very quickly. Uriel is often identified as the Angel with the flaming sword who guards the gates of Eden. There is an important mystery here, related to the Path of the Flaming Sword, that can be seen on the Tree of Life if you connect all 10 Sephiroth. If the Triad is the Garden, where do you think Uriel would stand? ^_^
Understand this and the entire post will make a lot more sense, as well as her “darker” aspect.

She was also named as the Angel overseeing “thunder, earthquakes and calamities”, as well as the one who checked for the name of God written in blood outside the homes of the Jews in Egypt. So, along with Illuminator, Uriel also becomes the Angel of Repentance. This is mostly due to the Abrahamic perspective of what “illumination” was, being the same to them as conversion to their faith and repenting one’s sin. (Hint: it involved a lot of bloodshed, mainly of Pagans, who were usually actively at war with the monotheists, except hat one time they got together to build Solomon’s Temple, which the Pagans would later lay siege too.)

In The Book of Enoch, Uriel is mentioned first as the ruling Angels of Tartarus, and he is also seen as the ruler of Gehenna, which is the Jewish equivalent of “Hell”, or more specifically, the Greek Fields of Punishment. He guides Enoch, the Abrahamic patriarch and also warns Noah of the Flood. Again, connect this to the position of Uriel on the Tree.

In Christianity, Uriel’s story is dependent upon the source you use, but she is generally thought to be one 7 Archangels by the Pseudo-Dionysus teachings. Though she is depicted in Catholicism when talking of the 4 Archangels, she not canonized ,and so her relevance is only to the Orthodox and Protestants. Some interpret her as the Angel of Light, especially Orthodox, while to others she is the Angel of Fire. The Anglicans consider her a Saint.

Within Islam, the 4th Archangel is Azreal, the Angel of Death, so Uriel is not an important part of the religion.

In Magick

In Magick, Uriel has long been regarded as an important Archangel, and is found in several grimoires and sources. In the Grimoire of Armadel, which I’m using here for her seal, she is mentioned as:

“Spirit who did reveal unto the Prophet Esdras every description of Prophesy, he did also aid the Children of Israel in the Camp of the Babylonians. He teacheth natural Sciences, Physics, and Medicine”.

“In this Sigil there be taught the method of understanding what and of what Kind were those twin Souls (namely) Henoch. The faculties of the Mind and Understanding are purified, and these also in such a manner that they may be exalted from the lowest degree unto that which is most perfect of all. By the which composition also there can be a transmission made of the participating Power or that power of communication of the comprehension of Spirits”

Within the Golden Dawn system, she is the Archangel ruling in the North over Earth, generally depicted holding a book or an Earth Pentacle, strong and unwavering. Her symbol is that of a Circle with an equal armed cross, a “plus” inside. The Arms are generally the colours of Malkuth. The Bull, which is incidentally an animal of the Underworld, can be associated to Uriel, as the Holy Living one of Earth is in the form of a Bull.

Uriel is, strangely, not the Ruler of Malkuth, making her the only Watcher who does not rule a Sephiroth. Nonetheless, she will be placed on Malkuth. She stands instead as the protector of Knowledge, and hers is the flaming sword. However, I invoked her as an angel of Malkuth and watcher of Earth. To invoke her other aspect is not something I am ready for, yet.

And I’m guy who’s invoked Yog Sothoth without any bad consequences. I do know what I’m doing, so trust me when I say I don’t feel ready to Invoke Uriel as the guardian of Knowledge.
Tell me if any of you try though, those who get what I really mean. I’m interested to hear about it.

As for astrology, she is not attributed to any Planet since she rules the Earth itself, and her Zodiac sign will be Taurus primarily, and Virgo/Capricorn secondly.

Associations

Name: Uriel
Rank: Archangel, Cardinal Angel (Watcher), Guardian of Eden and Keeper of Gehenna in Tartarus
Element Ruled: Earth
Quadrant Ruled: North
Zodiac: Earth/Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Sephiroth: Malkuth
Colours: Black and White (Magick), Green (Alchemy), Orange (Abrahamic)
Magick Symbols: Pentacle of Earth, Equilateral Cross, Flaming Sword
Other symbols: Fire, Scroll, Book

Prep Work and Altar

Uriel is the Archangel of Earth, so there isn’t really a specific time or hour when she is strongest. I just did my invocation on a Monday, at midnight, and it worked out fine. Just like with Rapahel, I used the sigil and made a name plate to go along with it, which has Uriel’s Hebrew name in black on white.

I decided to take a slightly more traditional approach than usual, using a crystal ball.

The crystal in question was a sphere of Blue Anhydrite (anhydrous calcium sulfate). The New Agers call it Angelite, so it seemed apt (also, it’s the only crystal sphere I own, and ideally I’d prefer obsidian).

I put it on top of an Earth Pentacle, and used some stones leading out from the centre to divide the altar into 4 halves, the way the alchemical symbol for Earth is, in which I then put the sigil and name card, a bowl of Earth, a bowl of Salt and the Ace of Pentacles Tarot Card. When it comes to the altar, I don’t really have a scheme, and just let my imagination run wild for each Ritual.

I used a Green Candle and vetiver root as incense (though the Golden Dawn recommends patchouli for Malkuth, vetiver is more suited to my culture).

When I felt like the Altar felt complete and the associations were correct, I pointed it towards the North, did all the preliminary stuff, and began the Invocation.

Update (2019): For the preliminary stuff, I recommend the LBRP, and then Invoking Earth. For this, trace a green invoking pentagram of Earth as you vibrate ADONAI HA’ ARETZ. Then draw a black symbol of Taurus in the centre as you vibrate ADONAI.
Remember to do the same again at the end of the ritual, this time doing a banishing pentagram. The LBRP will also suffice, since it also banishes Earth.
You can also try the more complex meditations prescribed by Gareth Knight, but when I did this ritual I didn’t know any of this and still had success. This is all for that extra umph.

The Invocation

I called to Uriel, and she came. Uriel, ruling over a feminine element, appeared to me as a pleasant lady with short hair, wearing something that looked like a dark kimono. It was the same colour as blackish, fertile earth, the way it would look after tiling. Around her waist was a white belt.

She held a book, and that was it. No wings, or anything spectacular. I guess you would say she was very grounded, which makes sense. She had a sort of protective, wise and motherly feel about her, perhaps because as humans we usually regard the Earth as our mother. And of course, that androgynous, ideal perfection that’s characteristic of Angelic beings, which I have always considered breathtakingly beautiful, though somewhat distant and inhuman (which I guess it is).

At first I was trying to manifest an image in the crystal ball, but instead my eyes kept being drawn to the candle flame. That’s where the manifestation began to happen, but I began to try and force it on the ball, but that broke my trance, and I took some time to go back and see Uriel in the fire.

At this point Uriel suddenly spoke, and told me not to have divided attention.

“The key to any manifestation, is to give it complete focus. Stop being divided and make decisions without fear or hesitation. Look at where the manifestation happens. Do not force it, for it is born first in the Unconscious.”

She also told me to not have a cluttered altar, which is how I’ve seen many altars done these days, and how I did them until this point.

“Don’t confuse the mind. Choose one point of focus, build the altar around it”.
Normally, I’d just have a candle, but I had a crystal ball right next to it, and my eyes kept switching from one to the other. I guess that was some valuable insight for me. After all, the ancient grimoires have very simple settings. It’s only these days that people make overly complex altars. Or maybe it’s just me. I used to keep it simply, maybe it’s time to go back.

Update (2019): Since then I’ve always built simple, focused altars, and it’s worked GREAT!

Next, she told me about the physical body, and how to make it better.

“You, as a magician, strive for mental discipline. The same must be done for the body. As Above So Below. You reject negative, depressing, or inhibiting thoughts such as self pity, though they are gratifying, the same must be done for bad physical habits. It will be painful and hard at first, but rewarding. Do not indulge the body! Learn to abstain!”

The body will naturally try it’s best to match your self image, so first, I’d suggest developing a positive one in the mind, before you go trying to change the body itself.

“All four Great Planes are made of vibrations. They vary in degree, but the Earth plane, your body, does not differ from the mind and soul. Sound is what controls this plane, as thoughts control the mental, and emotions control the emotional plane. The body is identical in nature to the mind and soul”

I thought about this. Sound is essentially produced by vibrations, and as you know, EVERY atom in the physical plane vibrates. Everything technically produces sound, even if it’s inaudible to us. I think she meant that what we hear, the vibrations that enter us are what are the major influencing our bodies the most. Light also vibrates, so I guess vision also matters, but if you think about how many people we talk to, how much music we listen to, i’m sure she meant sound. During a ritual, there’s only so much you can decorate the Temple and visualise, but you can speak infinitely. Even as a type this, and even as you read this, there’s a voice in your head narrating this to your mind. Your eyes are not the main input for this data. They are telling that voice what to say.

Finally, I asked about a personal problem, namely, how to overcome my chronic habit of procrastination (as I write this sentence, it’s been almost a month since I began this article. Of course, I was very busy for about 2 weeks, but even so I put it off longer than I wanted to.

“The solution is simple, use Magick”

Gee, thanks. Why didn’t I think of that before.

No, really, I was confused, but then I realised it was very obvious.

“Everything is contained and controlled by the Subconscious, which is altered with Magick. The Conscious mind does nothing but observe and interact with the World. It is not what controls your actions and behaviors.”

I should mention, this ritual was done a little after New Year’s.

“Conscious resolve does not mean anything, if the Subconscious programming goes against it. Right now, think of all the people who have pledged to go to the gym. They are motivated, and want to push themselves, but most of them will lapse, because the subconscious will resist anything that goes against it’s conditioning. Magick is not a short cut, so do not scorn it. It is the KEY! The Key to all change, to all things! Magick is the key to the lock that is the subconscious. With Magick, you can condition yourself as you please.”

That made me think. Magick of course, does not just mean rituals. It is a perspective, a way of thinking. I’ll admit, at this time I wanted to get to working out, but I knew that, like before, I would lapse. You see, I’m quite bad at keeping schedules. Daily workout, or studying back when I was in school, even daily yoga: things which were tough, were things I could not keep up. But, there is one daily thing that I’ve been able to keep up: My magickal practice. When I started this routine, I surprised myself that I had not just let it drop.

I asked Uriel’s help in reaching bodily perfection, and thus sealed this into my subconscious. After that, I’ll happily say I’ve managed to workout every single day. Naturally, it is difficult to properly describe every single change that took place in life. After all, self transformation is an continuous process, but this is a gist of what it taught me.

Update (2019): Since then I’ve always built simple, focused altars, based on her advice and it’s worked GREAT!
I’ve also learned to stop procrastinating in the past 3 years, based on her advice. Heck, now I’ve become that guy who schedules his day hour by hour, week for week. To an extent, life is so different I couldn’t ever go back. If I don’t schedule things or be productive, I feel bored.
I’ve also grown older and more mature, but at the time this was what I needed. I could have never imagined finishing work on time or waking up at 7am then, and I was full of self loathing. I also understand that she revealed some very important mysteries, which I could not appreciate fully at that time. I’m also very fit. At the time I could not even imagine not being skinny and potbellied. Now I feel weird if I don’t work out and do yoga each day. As I’m editing this post, I’m just realising that I’m actually not the same person as 3 years ago. I guess no one is. We all change, like the mutable Earth of Virgo. It’s up to us if it’s for better or for worse. So, I say if you need help and advice for your life in the physical plane, finances, careers, body goals etc, call on Uriel for help.
Many magicians I’ve met become infatuated with the spiritual and mental compenent of magick, but totally lose interest from the material world (aka the “real” world) and withdraw into their homes. They will call on the great Archdemons of the black Legions, but to wake up at dawn or go jogging, to deal with annoying co-workers and keep deadlines is torture to them.
Are they strong or weak? You tell me.
Do not be like that. If you’re like I was, raise yourself up.

Thank you for reading. I hope you found my account interesting and motivating ^_^

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Until next time
~White Raven