When you have that core, you can then assign objects which are resonant or the same TO YOU as this core thing. In our case, that would be beauty.
Now, in order to involve the totality, find
1. Something you can touch, that when you touch it, you know it is BEAUTY for you. This may be a crystal (too cold for me personally) or a silk scarf. It may even be a cat! The important thing is that now you have something that is IN ALIGNMENT with the core of the spell, and that being so, will strengthen it with its presence and by bringing in your physical touch and your physicality.
2. Something you can see, that when you see it, you know it is BEAUTY. I might pick the image of a plant, or animal, or a person, you on the other hand might pick a sunset or an ocean. It is ideosyncratic (specific to any one given person) and not transferrable, as so many things in magic.
3. Pick something you can hear and when you hear it, you know that is BEAUTY. Music, natural sounds, someone's voice specifically, a particular tone on a particular instrument - whatever is correct for you, is correct.
4. Pick something that you can smell and when you smell it, you know that is BEAUTY. Perfume, incense or better still, the scent of something directly which can be much more powerful in every way than pre-processed or bottled things, such as a real lemon, or a real flower, or a spice or herb, or a cloth with somebodies or somthings scent on it.
5. Pick something you can taste, and when you taste it, you know that is BEAUTY. Try different things because to translate what we often first thought of as a strictly visual concept, like beauty, or a different idea, such as money or power, needs to be translated into this very powerful modality before eating beauty or money too is online and understood.
In the very act of assembling these objects and trying them out for yourself, rather than taking an "off the shelf" ritual that could have all the wrong meanings, energies and connotations for YOU PERSONALLY, you will already learn amazing things about the core request of your spell, even without having waved any magic wands just the once.
But now also, you are beginning to build up a multi-dimensional alphabet for creating a powerful ritual because these "beauty components" of course can be used again later and in combination with other core components, to create more elegant or complex magical events.
Let us turn now to to the other aspects of the ritual.
Order & Sequence In The Ritual
A good ritual must have an order and sequence, a beginning, a middle and an end.
Now here again, the FLOW of the ritual, i.e. what you say, do, experience and eventually call into being, is personal and always once again, custom made to the core of the spell being cast.
With your five basic physical items present, now arrange them IN THE CORRECT ORDER AND SEQUENCE.
In our example, we have one particular magician who has picked:
- To touch: A silk scarf
- To see: A rose
- To hear: Vivaldi Violin Concerto
- To smell: Frankinsence
- To taste: Lemon
As you can clearly understand on all levels, this is HIGHLY IDEOSYNCRATIC and please know that I neither recommend any of these items, nor even would think to use them myself, as this is just an example.
Now, we simply ask ourselves, which one should be first?
An arrangement tends to appear quite naturally, and if it does not, we try it out and wait for the "cold, warm, hotter, YES!" click when we just know that something is right with every fibre of our being.
In this case, the person found this arrangement to suit them perfectly:
First, the music. Then, the scent. Then the scarf, then the taste, then look at the rose.
Now, and now that we have in all ways grounded ourselves physically in the reality of BEAUTY as it is perceived by our five human senses, we move along and into the magical, and from this groundswell of connection to the meaning of beauty, we stand up and we speak the spell.
Free Talismen
The interesting thing is that of course all the items that have been assigned to BEAUTY have now become free Talismen and powerful reminders, evocations and generally strengtheners of the spell, purely by being involved in the first place and without any major effort.
Later on, we get to make symbols of such events that encompass for example BEAUTY through all the planes in every way, but that's not yet and not even necessary.
The talismen, even when nothing further is ever done, will retain a reminder and a membrance of the spell and the intentions, wherever they appear and whatever the circumstance.
That and the building symbol library is of course a fascinating process in and of itself, as you will find out, and as you move forward with your own personal explorations and learnings.
The Ritual Surround
The basic 5 senses, gathering the energy, and then speaking the spell, process is now the core of the ritual itself.
Soon enough, magicians found out that regardless of the spell or the purpose of the spell, it is always useful to have a good entry point to the whole endeavour and a neat exit as well.
So they made a variety of rituals for THAT purpose, such as retreating to special places, casting circles, dancing about for a time, drumming to get into a "deep state of meditation" and so forth.
I hold that making such a big deal of the act of casting a simple spell, be it for luck in war or protection on travel, finding a new lover and so forth creates A DANGEROUS DIVIDE between the hard and the truth of reality.
It puts magical endeavours into this "special only on Sundays or if all else has failed" category, takes it OUT of our lives and that's not how it should be.
Our lives should be magical in all ways, all the time, every day, every night, and the lessons of true magic as well as our growing experience and power with these systems MUST BE A PART OF LIFE ITSELF.
Look. You are stuck at the side of a motorway because you've run out of petrol. It is raining, the middle of the night and you're tired.
You don't have any "ritual gear" in the trunk of your car nor the "meditation drums", nor even feel up to sitting there on a mat for two hours, trying to get yourself into a deep meditative state.
That is COMPLETELY USELESS for normal everyday life.
And it is important to note that these rituals you build for yourself become entrenched very quickly, and then there's no luck to be had anymore when the rabbits foot has been unfortunately lost.
That is NOT our kind of magic at all, so bearing this in mind, I suggest you:
1. Find an entrance and exit ritual for now that is extremely fast, extremely simple and does NOT require any form of external help, i.e. so that you can perform it in a prison cell, naked, and with nothing whatsoever to hand.
2. That you make sure, especially at the beginning, to lay all thoughts of previous notions and learnings as to "how difficult it is" to get that shift into the magical operations state, completely aside and simply shift into it, quickly, instantly, and most importantly, WITHOUT A FUSS.
Here are some examples of entrance and exit "rituals" to try or to give you an idea what you might do to make that shift as a beginner.
- Imagine a strong image, such as the sun rising, for entrance into the ritual, and another, such as the sun being right above you in the sky for exit.
- Say a word out loud or in your head, such as "Sunrise" for entry and "Day" for exit.
- Click your fingers and get going, click them again when you're done.
- Take three deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth for entry and exit.
- Wriggle your nose!
Was that last one a joke?
Yes and no. Let's remember that magic is light as a feather, never dour and heavy, joyful and playful, and it cannot be approached in any other way, or you'll break its true spirit and get very little co-operation in return.
A First True Magical Ritual
Now, let's put our first ritual all together.
One deep breath in through the nose, out through the mouth.
Put on the music, light the frankinsence stick. Stroke the scarf, taste the lemon, now stand up and
Beauty comes to me
Beauty lives in me
Beauty I can see
It belongs to me.
Beauty is mine now,
joyous and free,
This is my will,
and so shall it be.
Let the power of the spell resonate and when it is done,
One deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
All done!
Rituals Exercise:
Exercise: Pick an essence such as Beauty that you would align yourself to and make friends with, and create your own magical ritual.
Conduct the ritual, and write down what you have learned.
Now, do the same with 6 more essences, always making notes of your experiences.
Lastly, look across the completed series of the 7 exercises and write down specifically what you have learned about the PROCESS OF ESSENCE RITUAL CREATION.