The Book of Ceremonial Magic. The Secret Tradition in Goëtia, including the rites and mysteries of Goëtic theurgy, sorcery and infernal necromancy by Arthur Edward Waite

Author:Arthur Edward Waite [Waite, Arthur Edward]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Monographie
Published: 1912-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

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§ 3. Concerning Continence and Abstinence

The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy, referred to Cornelius Agrippa, but composite in character and spurious in attribution, as already seen, gives an exceedingly curious explanation of the rule of sanctity prescribed by all forms of Ceremonial Magic. The instruments used in the Art are ineffective without consecration. The act of consecration is the act by which virtue is imparted to them, and this virtue derives from two sources, the power of sanctification residing in Divine Names and in the prayers which incorporate them, and the power of sanctification residing in the holiness of the person consecrating. 1 An indispensable part of this holiness was the preservation of chastity for a defined-but, it should be observed, a limited-period preceding operation, and it was to be combined with a fast of graduated severity. In their directions concerning these points the Rituals of Black Magic differ little from their prototypes, the earlier Keys of Solomon, the work of pseudo-Agrippa, 2 or The Magical Elements of Peter de Abano. Here is the direction of the Neophyte which occurs in the Grand

[145] Grimoire: “You must abstain during an entire quarter of the moon from the society of females, so as to protect yourself from the possibility of impurity. You must commence your magical quarter at the same moment with that of the luminary itself, by a pledge to the Grand Adonai, who is the Master of all Spirits, to make no more than two collations daily, that is to say, in every twenty-four hours of the said quarter of the Moon, which collations should be taken at noon and midnight, or, if it better please you, at seven o’clock in the morning and at the corresponding hour in the evening, using the following prayer previously to each repast during the whole of the said quarter:—

PRAYER

I implore Thee, O Thou Grand and Powerful ADONAY, Master of all Spirits! I beseech Thee, O ELOIM! I implore Thee, O JEHOVAH! O Grand ADONAY, I give unto Thee my soul, my heart, my inward parts, my hands, my feet, my desires, my entire being! O Grand ADONAY, deign to be favourable unto me! So be it. Amen.

Then take your repast, disrobe as seldom and sleep as little as possible during the whole of the said period, but meditate continually on your undertaking, and centre all your hopes in the infinite goodness of the Great Adonay. 1

The Grimoire of Honorius, which is intended exclusively for persons in Holy Orders, restricts the period of fasting to three [146] days, as will be seen later on, and makes no condition of continence in those who are devoted to celibacy. The Grimorium Verum prescribes a similar period and adds that the fast should be most austere, that human society and human communications must be avoided as much as possible, but those of women especially. The Book of True Black Magic varies the instruction as follows: 1 If the Priest-Exorcist would succeed in operation, he must,

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