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The following ritual is an adaptation of Regardie's Opening
by Watchtower. It extracts the elemental portion regarding the
invocation of the powers of Elemental Earth from the Completed
ceremony, and uses that particular portion as a ritual for initiation
into the Grade of Zelator. It can also be used as a rite in and
of itself to be used in combination with any other exercises
that the Zelator may wish to perform. For instance, after the
Adoration to the Lord of the Universe in item numbered 6, the
student could then perform the Middle Pillar ritual, pathworkings
and guided meditations, or anything else that deals with the
Grade of Zelator and Elemental Earth.
This little ritual includes the highlights of the Opening by
Watchtower, in its completed form from the appendix and extracts
the basic invocations of the Deity and Archangelic names in Hebrew,
as well as the Enochian Divine Names for the governing Deity
and King who governs the Watchtower of the North.
The student should, at this point, begin a fairly thorough study
of the Zelator ritual as given in Regardie's The Golden Dawn,
or his Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic. Either book
will provide the ritual in a format that the student can follow
and study as he or she begins the process of working with Elemental
Earth within the grade of Zelator. If the student will study
this ritual as provided in either book, the underlying components
of the ritual you have before you, and the completed form of
the Opening by Watchtower, will become easier to understand,
and the reasoning behind their construction will become second
nature as the understanding and comprehension begins to slowly
grow and dawn upon the students consciousness.
It should be pointed out from the beginning that what this ritual
basically does is to invoke the elemental forces governing the
element of Earth, but it also invokes those forces that are relevant
to the sphere of Malkuth on the Tree of Life, as well as the
governing forces of the Elemental Tablet of Earth that are spoken
of in the previous paragraph. The basic format for what follows
is basically the same for the Theoricus, Practicus, and Philosophus
grade rituals. For instance, in the Theoricus ritual we would
do basically the same thing as we are doing in the Zelator ritual,
but we would instead invoke the elemental powers of Air instead
of Earth. The Practicus ritual will involve the elemental powers
of Water, and the Philosophus Ritual will involve the elemental
powers of Fire.
The Portal Ritual is one in which we will be combining all of
these various items from Zelator through Philosophus, but we
will be adding the fifth element of Spirit. It makes for a somewhat
longer ritual, but the general idea in the Portal grade is to
assemble, some would say re-assemble, the various elemental components
of ourselves under the presidency of Spirit. Hence, the use of
all of the previous components of the rituals from Zelator through
Philosophus when performing the Portal ritual.
For this ritual the student will need a table of convenient height
for an Altar, preferably draped with a black cloth. The cup of
water and incense from the Neophyte ritual will also be utilized.
In addition, the student should have an instrument for representing
the element of Earth. This could be the Pentacle if the student
has already made one. Or, alternatively, the student could use
a small saucer with some crumbs of bread and a few grains of
salt.
For the student that may be performing this rite for the first
time, between points numbered 4 and 5 below you could insert
something along the lines of the following:
"I, (state your magical motto), hereby intend to proceed
with this rite of initiation into the Grade of Zelator. It is
my intention to pursue the knowledge of this grade of the Golden
Dawn Current of Magic. May the Gods, Archangelic forces and elemental
powers that are called upon assist me in this my solemn task.
I take this oath that as I begin this work, so shall I see it
to its conclusion, until I at last attain to the heights of Spiritual
attainment."
After the Adoration to the Lord of the Universe in step IV, there
is a period when the student may proceed to any further meditations
and/or ritual work that he/she may be prepared for. This would
be a good point to include meditations upon the Major Arcana
of the Tarot, the altar diagrams for the grade of Zelator as
given in Regardie's Complete Golden Dawn System of Magick, or
even the Angels and their speeches as given in the Zelator Ritual.
For instance, the student may wish to formulate the image
of Samael in his or her mind while he mentally hears the angel
recite the following:
"I am the Prince of Darkness and of night. The foolish
and rebellious gaze upon the face of the created World, and find
therein nothing but terror and obscurity. It is to them the Terror
of Darkness and they are as drunken men stumbling in the Darkness.
Return, for thou canst not pass by."
The student could then formulate the remaining Angelic/Archangelic
beings from the ritual and go through these formulations with
the visual and auditory imagination. This type of work could
also be carried on with meditations with the aforementioned altar
diagrams, so that slowly, bit by bit, the symbology of the initiation
ritual as outlined in the Golden Dawn literature will begin to
come alive for the aspirant. In this manner, as the Ritual for
the grade of Zelator is performed over and over again, the basic
elemental energies invoked with the use of the Pentagrams and
invocations become imbedded within the aura of the student over
time, and the further symbolism of the Zelator Ritual of the
Golden Dawn will begin to unfold within the psyche and life of
the student.
The ritual for the grade of Zelator is performed as follows.
The Zelator Ritual for Self Initiation
I
Stand at Altar, facing East and announce:
HEKAS, HEKAS, ESTE BEBELOI!
Perform the Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.
Perform the Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram.
Perform the Purification with Water and Consecration with
Fire as in the Neophyte Opening Ritual.
II
Pickup your symbol for Earth and walk to the North. Shake
the instrument, or sprinkle salt, towards the North three times
in the form of the Earth triangle. Hold the instrument on high
as you circumambulate the temple once while reciting the following:
| 'Stoop not down into that darkly splendid
world wherein continually lieth a faithless depth and Hades wrapped
in gloom, delighting in unintelligible images, precipitous, winding,
a black, ever-rolling abyss, ever espousing a body unluminous,
formless and void.' |
On reaching North, again shake instrument or sprinkle salt
thrice in front of Tablet in the form of the Earth Triangle,
saying:
| 'Let us adore the Lord and King of Earth.
ADONAI HA-ARETZ, ADONAI MELEKH (ah-doh-nye hah-ahr-retz,
ah-doh-nye may-lekh). Unto Thee be the Kingdom and the Power
and the Glory.' |
Student salutes with Earth sign. Raise your right arm stiffly
at a 45 degree angle. Then lower your arm and with Earth symbol
make Circle and Invoking Pentagrams of Spirit Passive and of
Earth, before the Tablet. When this is done recite the following:
| 'And the ELOHIM said: "Let us
make Adam in our image, after our likeness and let him have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing
that creepeth over the earth." And the ELOHIM created ETH
HA-ADAM in their own image, in the image of the ELOHIM created
they him. In the name of ADONAI MELEHK and of the Bride and Queen
of the Kingdom, Spirits of Earth adore ADONAI!' |
Tracing the Kerubic Sign of Earth, Taurus, within the Earth
Pentagram, say:
| 'In the name of AURIEL (awe-ree-ale), the
Great Archangel of Earth, and by the Sign of the Head of the
Ox, Spirits of Earth adore ADONAI!' |
Here the student makes Cross and Circle with instrument or
plate of bread and salt before the Earth Tablet and says:
| The Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley,
Amen! Let the Earth adore ADONAI!' |
Sprinkling some of the salt towards the Tablet, again in the
form of the Earth Triangle, say:
'In the Names and letters of the Great Northern
Quadrangle, Spirits of Earth, adore ADONAI! In the Three Great
Secret Holy Names of God borne
upon the banners of the North, EMOR DIAL HECTEGA (ee-mor dee-ahl
heck-tay-gah) and in the name of IC ZOD HEH CHAL (ick-zohd-hay-khal),
Great King of the North, I invoke ye, ye angels of the Watchtowers
of the North.' |
III
Make the Earth Sign, Saying:
| 'O Invisible King who, taking the Earth
for foundation, didst hollow its depths to fill them with Thy
almighty power. Thou whose Name shaketh the arches of the world,
rewarder of the subterranean workers, lead us into the desirable
air and into the realm of splendour. We watch and we labour unceasingly.
We seek and we hope, by the twelve stones of the Holy City, by
the buried talismans, by the axis of the lodestone which passes
through the centre of the Earth! O Lord! O Lord! O Lord! Have
pity upon those who suffer. Expand our hearts, unbind and upraise
our minds, enlarge our natures. Thou who wearest the heavens
on thy finger like a ring of sapphire! Thou who hidest beneath
the earth in the kingdom of gems, the marvelous seed of the stars!
Live, reign, and be Thou the Eternal Dispenser of the Treasures
whereof Thou hast made us the wardens." |
Replace Earth symbol.
IV
Go around the left of the altar to the east, and then slowly
circumambulate clockwise three times. Make the Sign of the Enterer
each time you pass the east. Visualize a circular spiral of light
beginning to take form with each passing of the East and, when
finished, return to the west side of the altar and face East.
The visualizations and ritual gestures are the same as in the
Neophyte ritual for Self Initiation.
Look up and to the East. Perform the adoration to the Lord
of the Universe as follows. Make the Projecting Sign at the end
of the first three lines. Make the Sign of Silence at the end
of the fourth line - right arm hanging by your side, raising
your index finger of left hand to your lips.
| 'Holy art thou, Lord of the Universe.'
|
Give the Projecting Sign. |
| 'Holy art thou, whom Nature hath
not formed.' |
Give the Projecting Sign |
| 'Holy are thou, the Vast and the
Mighty One.' |
Give the Projecting Sign. |
| 'Lord of the Light, and of the
Darkness.' |
Give the Sign or Silence |
This completes the opening phase of the Zelator ritual. At
this point you may state your reasons for performing this ritual,
or simply proceed with your performance of any further rituals,
meditations and pathworkings that might be appropriate for the
Grade of Zelator.
V
The closing phase is performed as follows:
Perform the Purification with Water and the Consecration by
Fire as in the Neophyte Opening Ritual.
Reverse Circumambulate the temple three times, giving the
Sign of Silence each time upon passing the east. You should feel
the spiral of Light dissipating as you reverse the circumambulations,
the visualization of the Sun dissipating.
VI
If the Student is inclined to do so, he or she may, at this
point, proceed to the North and perform the Supreme Banishing
Ritual for Earth.
Perform the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram.
Perform the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.
VII
Conclude with the Following:
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'I (state your magical motto) a Zelator in the Current
of the Golden Dawn, now release any spirits that may have been
imprisoned by this ceremony. Depart in peace to your abodes and
habitations and go with the blessing of YEHESHUAH YEHOVASHAH
forever.
I now declare this Temple Duly Closed.'
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