Ave,
I know this is obvious to some, but Incantation is more than just Vibration. It is not enough to deeply vibrate the words to make them an Incantation; including the other senses involved in the words of Power used-be they Qabalistic, Enochian, or otherwise-is key. Incantation can serve as the entirety of a magical ritual, if it is approached and understood correctly.
Franz Bardon delves into this some in his "Key to the True Qabalah". Each letter in a magical language has layers of meaning and a full understanding of these layers-brought about through gnosis of each letter-is essential to powerful and meaningful incantation. For example, look at the Greater Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram. In our Order, we intone the Enochian call related to the Element involved to further power the ritual. The entire point of the pentagram-drawing and symbol drawing involved in the ritual is to create layers of meaning within which the invoked force can manifest energetically. We surround ourselves and our senses with symbols of the force, so that we can vibrate in harmony with it and create an environment suitable for it's manifestation. After doing this, we then vibrate the Enochian call, which is tuned to the force as well. This ritual is almost invariably successful when it comes to Invocation of an element because it has built in layers of redundancy. The vibration and incense also serve the purpose of altering our state of mind, so that other than normal energetic states may be attained without automatic interference from the conscious mind. With proper Incantation, most of that business is unnecessary, because proper Incantation stimulates all of your clarient senses through vibration and visualization. The Enochian call is more than enough-if Incanted properly, it can be overwhelming in it's power alone.
Internalizing a Magical Alphabet
In order to Incant properly, the magical alphabet being used must be internalized-this is not memorization! It means you must have gnosis of each of the individual letters through meditation, and that an internal understanding and relationship is gained of the letter. For example, when meditating upon the Hebrew letter Aleph in order to internalize it, it appeared to me colored in a blue to white gradient, like the sky. It tasted strongly sour and smelled of Citrus. It felt textured and dry. This may not agree with the standard correspondences for the letter, and that is more than fine. This is a true, personal correspondence, and this is how the letter acts upon my consciousness...and is far more effective in Theurgy and Thaumaturgy than a correspondence gained purely from reading a book. You'll find that many of your internal correspondences agree with the standard, and many don't. Always err on the side of your personal correspondence, as it will be true for you specifically.
Using a voice recorder, record your visions when meditating and vibrating each letter. Write down the correspondences of taste, color,sound, feel, and smell that come with each letter. Do this for each letter of the Magical alphabet you work with, creating an Alphabet of Experience. In order to ground the meanings into your depth self, practice Incanting each letter repeatedly-to Incant, you must vibrate, visualize, taste, feel, smell, and hear the tone of the letter all at once. You will find that even doing one letter requires all of your attention and concentration. It is impossible from what I know to both Incant something and have the mind wander-the intensity of the experience requires your full attention to work, and that is part of why it's so powerful. Using all of your senses at once to experience a vibrated letter will alter your state of mind almost immediately.
Don't take my word for it. Try it!
Now, when vibrating Aleph, I also see it's color, taste it, feel it, smell it, hear it's tone-and when it is included with other letters to form a Word, a whole series of senses and experiences are brought to light, a song consistent with it's tones is heard, and a state of being consistent with those experiences is brought about.
This is key to Incantation, this is true Incantation. Words become the key to the magic, and transfer of magical current is possible with what appears to be sound alone. We have to visualize, taste, feel, smell, and hear each Holy Letter. After a couple of repetitions, Words take on a character that is greater then the sum of the parts of each individual letters meaning. After earnest use and meditation, entire Incantations (such as the Enochian Calls) take on a meaning and power greater than that of the combined Words, which are already full of meaning and power. When done this way, I say from experience that drawing symbols in the Air and aether is entirely unnecessary, as you will create the necessary meaning with each Word uttered. This is an emulation of the way in which the World was created. I mean that in the mystical sense, of course.
This is the secret to Incantation. My personal system of Magic is almost purely Incantatory-I perform the Grade rituals as part of my curriculum, but I don't need all that to invoke the forces. I use the Enochian Calls, and the Holy names of God from the Tablets and SDA to invoke the various celestial forces through Incantation alone ( I say use lightly; it has taken me months to learn to properly incant the Calls of the Elemental forces that I have used-the series of sensations is powerful and overwhelming. It is like conducting an orchestra. When done correctly, it is simply amazing. You feel like you are thrumming with power.) In order for this to be effective, the groundwork has to be laid. Once the individual letters are internalized, meditate upon the individual Words in an Incantation the same way, and experience the combined meaning of the letters. From there, internalize the phrases, and from thence the entire Incantation. Exploring the Enochian Calls in this way reveals a world of meaning, and an incredible reservoir of power. I don't mean to sound like an Evangelist, but no one seems to talk about this, and it's a true thing. So here we are. This is how you Incant.
I'll write down my experience of a proper Incantation next time I get, so that there is a frame of reference for those of us who have not experienced it.
In LVX,
AIT
I know this is obvious to some, but Incantation is more than just Vibration. It is not enough to deeply vibrate the words to make them an Incantation; including the other senses involved in the words of Power used-be they Qabalistic, Enochian, or otherwise-is key. Incantation can serve as the entirety of a magical ritual, if it is approached and understood correctly.
Franz Bardon delves into this some in his "Key to the True Qabalah". Each letter in a magical language has layers of meaning and a full understanding of these layers-brought about through gnosis of each letter-is essential to powerful and meaningful incantation. For example, look at the Greater Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram. In our Order, we intone the Enochian call related to the Element involved to further power the ritual. The entire point of the pentagram-drawing and symbol drawing involved in the ritual is to create layers of meaning within which the invoked force can manifest energetically. We surround ourselves and our senses with symbols of the force, so that we can vibrate in harmony with it and create an environment suitable for it's manifestation. After doing this, we then vibrate the Enochian call, which is tuned to the force as well. This ritual is almost invariably successful when it comes to Invocation of an element because it has built in layers of redundancy. The vibration and incense also serve the purpose of altering our state of mind, so that other than normal energetic states may be attained without automatic interference from the conscious mind. With proper Incantation, most of that business is unnecessary, because proper Incantation stimulates all of your clarient senses through vibration and visualization. The Enochian call is more than enough-if Incanted properly, it can be overwhelming in it's power alone.
Internalizing a Magical Alphabet
In order to Incant properly, the magical alphabet being used must be internalized-this is not memorization! It means you must have gnosis of each of the individual letters through meditation, and that an internal understanding and relationship is gained of the letter. For example, when meditating upon the Hebrew letter Aleph in order to internalize it, it appeared to me colored in a blue to white gradient, like the sky. It tasted strongly sour and smelled of Citrus. It felt textured and dry. This may not agree with the standard correspondences for the letter, and that is more than fine. This is a true, personal correspondence, and this is how the letter acts upon my consciousness...and is far more effective in Theurgy and Thaumaturgy than a correspondence gained purely from reading a book. You'll find that many of your internal correspondences agree with the standard, and many don't. Always err on the side of your personal correspondence, as it will be true for you specifically.
Using a voice recorder, record your visions when meditating and vibrating each letter. Write down the correspondences of taste, color,sound, feel, and smell that come with each letter. Do this for each letter of the Magical alphabet you work with, creating an Alphabet of Experience. In order to ground the meanings into your depth self, practice Incanting each letter repeatedly-to Incant, you must vibrate, visualize, taste, feel, smell, and hear the tone of the letter all at once. You will find that even doing one letter requires all of your attention and concentration. It is impossible from what I know to both Incant something and have the mind wander-the intensity of the experience requires your full attention to work, and that is part of why it's so powerful. Using all of your senses at once to experience a vibrated letter will alter your state of mind almost immediately.
Don't take my word for it. Try it!
Now, when vibrating Aleph, I also see it's color, taste it, feel it, smell it, hear it's tone-and when it is included with other letters to form a Word, a whole series of senses and experiences are brought to light, a song consistent with it's tones is heard, and a state of being consistent with those experiences is brought about.
This is key to Incantation, this is true Incantation. Words become the key to the magic, and transfer of magical current is possible with what appears to be sound alone. We have to visualize, taste, feel, smell, and hear each Holy Letter. After a couple of repetitions, Words take on a character that is greater then the sum of the parts of each individual letters meaning. After earnest use and meditation, entire Incantations (such as the Enochian Calls) take on a meaning and power greater than that of the combined Words, which are already full of meaning and power. When done this way, I say from experience that drawing symbols in the Air and aether is entirely unnecessary, as you will create the necessary meaning with each Word uttered. This is an emulation of the way in which the World was created. I mean that in the mystical sense, of course.
This is the secret to Incantation. My personal system of Magic is almost purely Incantatory-I perform the Grade rituals as part of my curriculum, but I don't need all that to invoke the forces. I use the Enochian Calls, and the Holy names of God from the Tablets and SDA to invoke the various celestial forces through Incantation alone ( I say use lightly; it has taken me months to learn to properly incant the Calls of the Elemental forces that I have used-the series of sensations is powerful and overwhelming. It is like conducting an orchestra. When done correctly, it is simply amazing. You feel like you are thrumming with power.) In order for this to be effective, the groundwork has to be laid. Once the individual letters are internalized, meditate upon the individual Words in an Incantation the same way, and experience the combined meaning of the letters. From there, internalize the phrases, and from thence the entire Incantation. Exploring the Enochian Calls in this way reveals a world of meaning, and an incredible reservoir of power. I don't mean to sound like an Evangelist, but no one seems to talk about this, and it's a true thing. So here we are. This is how you Incant.
I'll write down my experience of a proper Incantation next time I get, so that there is a frame of reference for those of us who have not experienced it.
In LVX,
AIT
This is brilliant. May I link to this post?
ReplyDeleteThank you, and certainly.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting thread. I was wondering, do you see any value in the English Language as a magical tool?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely; it can certainly serve. I've found Jake Stratton-Kent's work on the English Qabala to be laudable, and absolutely worth a read.
ReplyDeleteCool, thanks!
ReplyDelete