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Enochian : occultists :: Linux : computer geeks

"An Abramelin Ramble"

Moina MacGregor Mathers's Abramelin illustration.

This article is taken from a lecture by Bill Heidrick, who clearly knows what he is talking about.

This lecture will teach you a tremendous amount about magic on both the specific and abstract levels, covering topics that are rarely explained with such lucidity, in a very short amount of time. It's the closest thing to "instant gratification" I've found in quite some time.

The heart is eternal.

[T]he amulet of the heart ... was directed to be made in the form of the scarab at a very early date. We can trace the ideas which the Egyptians held about this insect as far back as the time of the building of the Pyramids, and there is no doubt that they represented beliefs which even at that early period were very old.

The Egyptian seems to have reasoned thus: since the physical heart is taken from the body before mummification, and the body has need of another to act as the source of life and movement in its new life, another must be put in its place. But a stone heart, whether made of lapis-lazuli or carnelian, is only a stone heart after all ...

But the scarab or beetle itself possesses remarkable powers, and if a figure of the scarab be made, and the proper words of power be written upon it, not only protection of the dead physical heart, but also new life and existence will be given to him to whose body it is attached...

The unseen power of God, made manifest under the form of the god Khepera, caused the sun to roll across the sky, and the act of rolling gave to the scarab its name kheper, i.e., "he who rolls." The sun contained the germs of all life, and as the insect's ball contained the germs of the young scarabs it was identified also with the sun as a creature which produced life in a special way.

Now, the god Khepera also represented inert but living matter, which was about to begin a course of existence, and at a very early period he was considered to be a god of the resurrection; and since the scarab was identified with him that insect became at once the symbol of the god and the type of the resurrection.

But the dead human body, from one aspect, contained the germ of life, that is to say, the germ of the spiritual body, which was called into being by means of the prayers that were recited and the ceremonies that were performed on the day of the funeral; from this point of view the insect's egg ball and the dead body were identical.

From Egyptian Magick by E.A. Wallis Budge, ca 1901. Emphasis mine.

Book of Spirits

The book of spirits is not a grimoire, and not the workbook of a witch or magician – it is an empowered object of immense potency that has the potential to act independent of its maker, or even against his desire, if carelessly handled. Merely to open the book is to summon a spirit. Which spirit is summoned depends on which page is opened. There is no requirement for elaborate rituals in order to use the book. Indeed, the greatest ritual care must be taken to seal and ward the book so that it cannot cause spirits to manifest spontaneously.

Read the rest of this article by Donald Tyson here.

More on Curse Tablets.

This time from Greece, along with a primer on the ancient magic of the Athenians, from someone who really, like, knows this stuff.

Mexican Milagros and Their Dark Sisters

If I were to strike up a collection of anything, it might be these. It's a very ancient and powerful practice dating back to before the Roman era.



The tradition of curse tablets is rather less darling, but equally fascinating.

The incisions of the stylus when freshly written would have shone against the grey oxidised surface of the lead. After writing the tablet was folded or rolled and the ends of the sheet were tucked over, making the document legible to the god alone. The rolling and folding also assisted in its magical effectiveness, helping to ‘scramble’ the text and perhaps the victim (see People goods and gods - the workings of magic). Often the tablet was pierced by nails: a tablet from London was pierced seven times. In literary accounts, witches kept nails among their magical toolkit: Pamphile (see Introduction - curses from Greece and Rome) for example kept nails from crucifixions among her magical paraphernalia. Nails and pins were also pressed into the wax figurines created for some binding spells. By a ‘sympathetic’ connection (see People, goods and gods - the workings of magic), nailing helped the curse to ‘bind’ or ‘fix’ the individual(s) named by the curse, rendering them unable to act until they had made amends.

Click here for the rest.