Musings of Sifu H.A. Diop 12.25.06

On the Art and Practice of Conjure, Conjuration and Hoodoo Rootwork. . .
Recollect, Wise-Folk know more than the average mortal being. . .
More than one will ever be privy to know, realize or understand. . .
Possession of all-encompassing esoteric, arcane spiritual-magickal knowledge
and powers are mightier than any possessor of the evil eye, poison pen or
dagger.

Gardnerian BoS (An Excerpt)

The Gardnerian Book of Shadows

by

Gerald Gardner

sacred-texts.com

Winter Solstice

Form circle in usual manner, invoking the Mighty Ones.

The Cauldron of Cerridwen is placed in the circle at the south wreathed with holly, ivy, and mistletoe, with fire lighted within it. There should be no other light except for the candles on the altar and about the circle.

After all are purified, the Moon should be drawn down.

Then the High Priestess stands behind the Cauldron in pentacle position, symbolizing the rebirth of the sun. The people, man and woman alternately, stand round the circle. The Magus stands facing the High Priestess with a bundle of torches, or candles, and the book of words of the incantation. One of the officers stands beside him with a lighted candle, so that he may have light to read by.

The people begin to slowly move round the circle sunwise. As each passes him the Magus lights his candle or torch from the fire in the Cauldron, which may be simply a candle, till all have lighted candles or torches. Then the people dance round slowly as he reads the incantation. (A real fire must now be kindled in the Cauldron.)

Queen of the Moon, Queen of the Sun. Queen of the Heavens, Queen of the Stars.

Queen of the Waters, Queen of the Earth. Who ordained to us the child of promise:

It is the Great Mother who gives birth to him, He is the Lord of Life who is born again, Darkness and tears are set behind,And the star of guidance comes up early.

Golden sun of hill and mountain illumine the land, illumine the world, illumine the seas, illumine the rivers,Grief be laid, and joy be raised.

Blessed be the Great Mother, Without beginning, without ending, To everlasting, to eternity, I O. Evohe, Blessed be."

The dance commences slowly, in rhythm with the chant, all taking up the call "I. O. Blessed be."

The Priestess joins dance and leads them with a quicker rhythm. The cauldron with burning fire is pushed so that the dancers leap or step over it, in couples. Whichever couple is passing it as it goes out, should be well-purified, three times each, and may pay any amusing forfeit as the High Priestess may ordain. Sometimes the cauldron is relighted several times for this purpose.

Official Announcement

Greetings,

We are pleased to announce that the Temple of Kheti ministry and metaphysical organization, eGroup, and website have undergone a name (and organizational) change to the "Temple of Kemetic Wicca". To access the Temple's website and eGroup, please click on the following links:

Temple of Kemetic Wicca

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Temple_of_Kemetic_Wicca

The Temple of Kemetic Wicca (based in Denver Metro, Colorado) has openings for clergy. If you are interested in applying for one of the following positions below, then send an e-mail outlining your intent and qualifications to:

Temple_of_Kemetic_Wicca(at)yahoo(dot)com

1. Hemet-netjer tepey (High Priestess)
2. Kheri-heb (Lector Priest)
3. Sem Priest (Mortuary Priest/ess)
4. Wa'eb Priestess (Assistant to the HPS)
5. Wa'eb Priest (Assistant to the HP)
6. Sesh (Scribe Priest)

Ideally, it would be great if prospective candidates reside in or around Colorado already but we are flexible and adaptable.

Other than that, it's (spiritual) business as usual.

Brightess Blessings & Merry Yule,

Dr. K.A. Sahure,
Elder High Priest & Spiritual Overseer
Temple of Kemetic Wicca
Eclectic Priestesses & Priests of Ma'at

Must Reading - "Drums and Shadows"

Drums and Shadows

Georgia Writer's Project
Work Projects Administration
Mary Granger, District Supervisor
[1940, copyright not renewed]

This collection of oral folklore from coastal Georgia was assembled during the 1930s as part of a WPA writers' program, under the supervision of Mary Granger. The accounts in this book, framed by colorful descriptions of the rural locales where they were collected, were principally from elderly African-Americans, some of them centarians. Most had been slaves. In some cases they had known first generation slaves who had been born in Africa.

This book focuses on a set of beliefs and magical practices (some of which are today known as 'Hoodoo'), including root doctoring, the existence of spirits, talismans, lucky and unlucky acts and omens and more. The interviewer also investigates the use of drums and dancing during celebrations, funeral and baptism rituals, food taboos, and other aspects of folklore and ethnology. This study dispels any lingering doubt that these beliefs are derived directly from Africa--it exhaustively cross-references the narratives with an appendix of quotes from African ethnographers, folklorists and explorers.

Do not be put off by the use of phonetic dialect spelling. This is not being used here to belittle the speakers or cast them as ignorant. Rather, this book is scrupulously non-judgmental. This is simply how oral accounts were transcribed before there were portable tape recorders or camcorders. It takes a bit of work, but after a few pages, these potent and long-dead voices come to life. --JB Hare

Source:
Sacred Texts -
www.sacred-texts.com/afr/das/index.htm

Egypt and Her Mighty Pharaohs

Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire
by

Drusilla Dunjee Houston
[1926, no renewal]

CHAPTER VII.
EGYPT AND HER MIGHTY PHARAOHS.

M. Chabas regards a space at least of 4000 years, preceeding the first Dynasty as absolutely necessary to such development as Egypt possessed at the time of the fourth Dynasty. The art of the Old Empire was vigorous and full of original genius but the art of later times was stiff and conventional. The oldest religion had been pure, as proved by the monuments. The reign of Menes began about 3895 B. C. He was a prince of Upper Egypt. The records of Egypt say that prior to Menes were ten Thinite kings of Upper Egypt, the older of the two countries, as proved by this statement. There were still earlier ages when demi-gods ruled and a vast period when God himself ruled the universe. There is nothing at all in this incongruous with Bible statements. The Scriptures said that there were ten ante-diluvian patriarchs preceeding the Deluge. The Hindu, Chaldean, Arabian, Greek and Celtic chronicles named ten primitive kings. The part of Egyptian chronology, which we cannot understand is that division extending beyond the Hood.

Sir J. Gardner Wilkerson in The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians thought that civilization advanced northward from the Thebaid to Lower Egypt. Hieroglyphics show that in Upper Egypt were the older cities. Menes founded Memphis, but This on the Upper Nile was a royal city, where kings ruled long before the time of Menes. This was a suburb of Abydos. Here have been unearthed many relies of the Old Race. Because of this evidence, Renan asserts that Egypt had no infancy, no archaic period, because her first colonists were civilized in Ethiopia. Athotis, a successor of Menes, wrote anatomical facts. A medical papyrus in the British museum curiously illustrates this fact. Under the fourth Thinite king a great famine ravaged Egypt. Mantheo speaks of many wonders and a very great plague under the seventh king. In the Second Dynasty the worship of the bull Aphis was introduced at Memphis. Under another of these kings a law was passed where women could hold sovereign power.

Dynasty III was Memphite. We read of a revolt of Libyans showing that Egypt even then held dominion beyond the Nile. The Rebu, a dark people, appear on the monuments as kindred of the Egyptians. Dr. Brugsch calls attention to the general absence in the titles of the kings of the name Ra, which afterwards was essential to throne names. Dynasty IV the first king was Khufu or the Cheops of Herodotus. This was an epoch when pyramid building reached its zenith and was the beginning of the brilliant era of Egyptian history. We can judge this by the magnificence of the sepulchers of these Pharaohs. The kingly power was then supreme. These rulers were positively worshipped. These were reigns of peace the age before the Old Empire extended itself out over the continents. Khufu built the Great Pyramid and the temple of Isis. near the Great Sphinx, which was carved by some earlier monarch. This disproves the charge of impiety against him. Britannica says that the cost of life in building the pyramids could scarcely have equaled the loss in long wars.

Dynasty IV was 3700 B. C. Recent excavations have enabled us to look upon the face of Khufu. He possessed a giant Ethiopian profile. Petrie says of him: "The first thing that strikes us about him is the enormous driving power of the man, the ruling nature which it seems impossible to resist. As far as force of will goes, the strongest characters of history would look pliable in his presence. There is no face quite parallel to this in all the portraits that we know--Egyptian, Greek, Roman or modern." Myers says that these figures standing so far back in the gray dawn of the historic morning mark not the beginning but in some respects the perfection of Egyptian art. It is this vast and mysterious background that impresses us more than these giant forms cast up against it. The ancient Cushite looks at you out of the face of Khufu. Examination of the countenances of any of these first Pharaohs reveals all of the true Ethiopian types and there was more than one of them. Their parallels may easily be found in Ethiopian types around us today. Khufu was author of part of the funeral ritual. His wife was a priestess of Thot.

An ivory statute of a king of the First Dynasty taken from Petrie's Abydos shows the flat nose, prognathous jaws, and the long head of the Cushite. Sheikh-el-Beled, in the museum of Gizeh, a supposed overseer of the Great Pyramid is the exact prototype of a modern mulatto. The Sphinx was the form of the ancient god Horus. This Great Sphinx, the sphinxes at Tanis and the colossi at Bubastis, all represent black, full featured Africans, that are emblematic, says Dr. Dubois, of kings of the earliest dynasties. Under the rulers of the fifth and sixth Dynasties, there was a notable decline in power and achievement. A less careful style of architecture appeared and there were less pains in the excavation of tombs. In the Fifth Dynasty the capital was moved to Middle Egypt. . The royal forces at this time were composed chiefly of Ethiopians and their pictures appear largely in the pictured priesthood. Tylor points, out that 2000 B. C. Negroes by the tens of thousands were in the Egyptian service, carrying her dominion into Syria and Arabia. After the Sixth Dynasty there is a blank in the records. We have no monuments to guide us.

2400 to 2000 B. C. brings us to the Middle Kingdom. The reigns preceeding it were probably Memphite. The three following were Theban, Egypt always rose in art and achievement when the south was supreme. With Dynasty Twelve came the Golden Age of Egypt. These Theban rulers laid Syria waste. Amenemhat I of Cushite blood ruled beyond Egypt southward as Lord of the Two Lands. All Egypt came under his domination. He extended her boundaries. Sculpture and architecture were revived. The blood that had given Egypt her civilization was again upon the throne. Tens of thousands of acres of marsh were drained and a wonderful system of artificial reservoirs built to hold the surplus waters of the Me. Theban glory began with the rise of these monarchs. Amenemhat reclaimed 20,000 acres of fertile land. He settled these districts with people from the south. Under these Cushite cultivators the yields of grapes, flax, cotton, peas, beans, radishes, melons and other vegetables were enormous. Under Usurtesen II, the kingdom reached the highest prosperity. The monuments tell of the grandeur of the works and the armies that marched out of the Hundred gated Thebes to foreign conquests. In Dynasty XII Cushites were formidable rivals of Egypt.

The Two Lands were pulling apart, though Ethiopians still sat upon the throne of Egypt. By the Two Lands we mean Egypt and Ethiopia. Ethiopia in those ages extended to the northern confines of Upper Egypt. Amenemhat II and III and Usurtesen I were Ethiopian Pharaohs of this Nubian line. Look at authentic cuts of these kings (see page 209) and you will be satisfied that they were Cushites. During their reigns, the ancient glories of Egypt were restored. No Pharaoh had had a reign so glorious for conquest and works of engineering as Usurtesen III.

On his cartouch was the symbol of the union of the Two Lands. He was worshipped as a god in Nubia in subsequent times. Amenemhat III of the same Nubian line, constructed a vast artificial reservoir, Lake Moeris. Near the lake he built the famous Labyrinth, the most justly celebrated structure of antiquity. Herodotus who saw a declared it greater than all the temples of Greece. He was struck dumb by the magnificence of its three thousand apartments. The domestic life of this age excites our admiration. We read of no expeditions into Nubia. These monarchs seemed anxious to build up the country.

1700 B. C. finds Egypt invaded and conquered. Dynasty XIII brought another blank in the monumental records. Egypt had broken into two really separate kingdoms. This enfeebled the country for the conquest of the Hyksos. During their stay, the native princes at the south maintained themselves. 2080-1525 B. C. these Shepherd kings ruled over Egypt. They were a barbaric and nomadic race from Asia which destroyed the temples and left no monuments standing in Egypt. Those who contend that the origin of the civilization of the Nile was from Asia should note that under these Asiatics, Egypt entered into the darkest period of her history. The Shepherds were expelled from Egypt by Aahmes, a mulatto and a Theban. He was the Amoisis of the Greeks and king of the north and south. He secured the favor of the Cushites by marrying Nefruari, the black princess of Ethiopia, famous for her dusky charms, wealth and accomplishments. The marriage of the Pharaohs to black princesses was frequent and seemed to establish the legality of the claim of descent from the black god Amen-Ra, whom the ancients represented as Cush of Ethiopia.

Nefruari or Nefertari was by the inscriptions, the most venerated figure of Egyptian history. She was a queen of great beauty, strong personality and administrative ability. Her son, Amenhotep the Amenophis of the Greeks, reigned jointly with her for many years. Mariette discovered in 1850 the mummy of Queen Aahotep, the Nubian mother of Aahmes. The ornaments now preserved in a museum near Cairo are of such marvelous workmanship that modern jewelers confess their inability to even imitate them. Under Aahmes Egypt again became supreme. The decayed and ruined temples were restored to their ancient richness and splendor. In a few years she had regained what had been lost in the five Centuries of rule of the Hyksos. The country became covered with edifices and new roads were opened for commerce and trade. Aahmes founded an empire that lasted 1500 years, a period rich in its records of history and growth for Egypt. As late as 663 B. C., Psamtik, a Pharaoh of Libyan origin strengthened his claim to the Egyptian throne by marriage to an Ethiopian princess, the daughter of Sabako. The father of the great Ramses II followed the same procedure.

Dynasty XVIII, 1500-1300 B. C. Egypt attained the summit of her power. She became the arbitress of the whole world. Sayce says that they returned with new rolls of conquered provinces and with the plunder and tribute of the east. Amenophis I, son of Aahmes and Nefertari, carried on the Ethiopian wars. Ethiopia was breaking away from Egypt. His son Thotmes I, subdued Phoenicia and Syria. His daughter, Hatasu, called herself daughter of Amen and his incarnation. She had a strongly mulatto countenance. The name of her father occurs at Meroe. His son Thothmes I ordered offerings made to the gods of the south. He sent out expeditions to Khent-hen-nefar, probably the country known today as the western Soudan. He was called sovereign of the Two Lands. He was the first of a long line of conquering pharaohs. The astonishing resemblance of the art of the Fourth, Twelfth and Eighteenth Dynasties, the great periods of Egyptian history lies in the fact that they were dynasties that were purely Ethiopian. They represented the best genius of the race that had given Egypt her civilization. When they were out of power her culture always declined.

The great Thotmes III was of all the Pharaohs, unquestionably the greatest. During his long reign of fifty-four years, the country was covered with monuments and became the center of trade and intercourse. Sayce says that countless treasures flowed into Egypt and Thebes became the capital of the world. Thotmes created a considerable navy upon the Mediterranean and was absolutely supreme upon its waters. Monuments of his reign have been found in Algeria. In the Hall of Ancestors, Karnak, Thotmes III, may be seen making offerings before sixty-one of his ancestors. This will give us some idea of how many Ethiopian monarchs had sat upon the Egyptian throne. He called himself the royal son of the land of the South. He erected in Nubia many more edifices than any other monarch. There he appears worshipping the gods of the south. From his expeditions into Asia he returned with enormous spoil. He was undoubtedly, the Alexander of Egyptian history. He conquered the known world. Thothmes III carved the names of 628 vanquished nations and captured cities on the walls at Karnak. Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Armenia, Abyssinia and Nubia were parts of his domain.

This Pharaoh was also a magnificent builder. His works are almost numberless. One being a portion of the temple of Karnak, the most magnificent ruin in the world. During the reign of Thotmes III, Mycenaean culture was at its zenith. Sayce shows that he established royal botanical and zoological gardens, stocked with curious plants and animals which he brought back with him. Year after year tribute and taxes of every kind came regularly to the Egyptian treasury from the towns of Palestine, Phœnicia and northern Syria. From Cush and Punt came offerings. He received also the tribute and homage of the Assyrian and Chaldean kings. This was without doubt the Middle Ages when the Cushite race ruling from Thebes as a center, sought to follow and hold the old lines of the more ancient Cushite empire of Ethiopians. that in the ages of Amen-Ra and Osiris had covered three worlds. In an earlier age, the central seat had been the primitive Meru. In the latter days of the Egyptian empire, the priestcraft and soldiers retired and set up a new capital at Napata; but the days of world empire were over, which empire had lasted, some authorities say, for six thousand years.

The next king of this dynasty was Amenhotep II, the son of Thothmes III. The Egyptians under his lead captured Nineveh. He brought back the bodies of seven kings that he had taken in battle. He put up their heads as trophies on the walls of Thebes. A new strain of Ethiopian blood appears in this line through the Nubian queen, Metuma, about 1400, B. C. Her son, Amenhotep III, the Amenophis of the Greeks, covered the banks of the Nile with monuments remarkable for their grandeur and perfection. He was the Memnon of the Iliad, who came to the relief of Troy. There he is called the black prince. He built monuments inscribed with his name. At Sulb, he and his wife, Tai, appear making offerings to Amen-Ra. He built the great temple at Luxor and the colossi at Thebes and was called by the Greeks the miracle working Memnon, who each morning with musical sounds greeted his mother. His rule extended from southern Ethiopia to Mesopotamia. He seemed to have wished to make the Soudan prosperous.

Thotmes III, Amenophis III and Amenophis IV were in appearance unmixed Negro types. Darwin was struck by the extremely Ethiopian characteristics of the statute of Amenophis III. We will pause here to glance at a son of Amenophis who in our day has aroused universal interest. Tut-ankh-amen was born 1350 B. C., long before the days of Athens and Rome. His tomb was discovered in a limestone cliff in the Valley of Tombs about five miles from ancient Thebes. It had practically been unmolested for thirty centuries. Here were the tombs of the other Pharaohs of the 18th, 19th and 20th Dynasties. All had been ruthlessly pillaged. Every effort had been made to conceal the spot. Herbert Carter, for thirty years had searched for the tomb. He found it in 1922. He knew by the seals on the door that it had been undisturbed. He sent at once to his generous patron Lord Carnarvan, and sought the aid of the world's greatest Egyptologists.

One of the first visitors to enter the tomb was Professor Breasted. He said: "It is a sight I never dreamed of seeing--the antechamber of a Pharaoh's tomb, filled with the magnificent equipment which only the wealth and splendor of the imperial age of Egypt could have wrought or conceived. In quality it is an astonishing revelation of the beauty and refinement of Egyptian art--beyond anything I had imagined." The first room of the tomb entered contained statutes, caskets, chests, beds, chairs and chariots all beautifully carved and decorated. On the lid of one chest were hunting scenes. The beauty and minuteness of the details of the painting excels the finest Chinese and Japanese art. Still more valuable articles besides these which filled the room had been plundered. The kings robes were elaborately decorated with beads of gold. There was a beautiful amber necklace. His sandals of leather were inlaid with gold. The king's throne was one of the finest specimens of Egyptian art ever found in a tomb. It was covered with gold and silver and inlaid with sparkling gems. Several very beautiful alabaster vases were found. Perfumes 3000 years old still gave forth a pleasant odor. Behind this chamber was another packed five feet high with innumerable objects.

Harold M. Weeks says, "This imperial age or first empire, now shines out as one of the world's most astounding epochs. It is needful only to point out that objects in Tut-ankh-amen's tomb have been valued at such sums as $10,000,000 (though it is futile, to price the priceless), and then to remember that Tut-ankh-amen was but a weak declining star compared to the other brilliant Pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty constellation." At this age the nations of Asia were pouring tribute into Egypt. These nations remembered the terrible power of Amenophis and trembled. From the statutes and the wall paintings, the king of this tomb was black. This may have had something to do with the hasty closing of the tomb. His name ended with Amen, the black god of the Soudan and Egypt. With his name the Egyptians began and ended their prayers. We of the Christian world, through the Hebrews have appropriated it and use the title of the great Amen at the close of our petitions. During the Hyksos invasion, the native royal family of lower Egypt took refuge in Ethiopia. Alliance with Cushite princesses was common. Moses, says Giekie, only followed their example.

Amenophis IV. tried to establish a new religion. Open war broke out between him and the priests of Amen. In enforced flight he retired to a new capital. Weakened by this strife he lost his hold upon the Asiatic provinces. The close of his reign found Egypt shorn of all that had been won by his predecessors. His successor speedily made peace with the priests of Amen and was permitted to be buried in the royal burying ground. Dynasty XIX, 1300 B. C. brings us to Ramses I and Seti I who restored the waning glory of Egypt. He strengthened his claim to the throne by marrying princess Tai, granddaughter of Amenophis III. Remeses II, the son of this marriage became the legitimate king. He was the Sesostris of the Greeks. He reigned sixty-seven years. The temple of Abydos records the names of sixty daughters and fifty-nine sons. He built two magnificent temples in Nubia and part of the temples of Karnak and Luxor. Around his name, says Lenormant, clustered the lustre of his predecessors. We know he subdued Syria, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Media, Persia, Bactrina and India even to the Ganges, the Scythians and the inhabitants of Asia Minor. All of these regions were anciently Cushite. He returned after nine years loaded with captives and spoil.

Great changes were taking place in world populations. The emigration southward had begun that made the modern Persian nation, Armenians, Turo-Scythic populations were pouring down upon Greece. The old Cushite colonists of the great belt that had once stretched from India to Spain became restless and chaffing under the inroads of these barbaric hoards they began a movement southward--an attempted return to the regions of their origin. Egypt strong, fully populated, did not feel inclined to receive them. As these new infusions entered and changed the life and ideals of Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor and the Ægean, their attitude toward Egypt became more hostile. These conquered nations revolted and the Egyptians were driven back to almost the valley of the Nile. Remeses III was the last of the heroes, when he assumed the crown Egypt was surrounded by enemies. The Libyans had established themselves in the western portion of the Delta. They attacked Egypt but were repulsed. The successors of Remeses were insignificant sovereigns; the high priests of Ammon at Thebes usurped their power and 1100 B. C. set aside the heirs and seized the throne. They did not long retain this dignity.

The Tanites 1090 B. C. succeeded in expelling the priests of Ammon and established dominion over Egypt. They reigned one hundred years. They were succeeded by the Bubastes of Lower Egypt. With the Tanite dynasty, the high priesthood which had been so powerful from early ages, with the royalty, retired to Ethiopia and set up a rival state at Napata. Azerch-Amen, King of Ethiopia starting from Napata invaded Egypt, traversed the whole length and penetrated Palestine at the head of an army of Ethiopians and Libyans. 800 B. C. Pianki made the Thebaid a simple province dependent upon Ethiopia. The people of Egypt favorably received his accession to the throne at Thebes. They were better disposed toward an Ethiopian king than one from the Delta. 693 B. C. Tarkaka conquered the whole Nile valley. Thebes welcomed him with enthusiasm. Priests opened the gates of Memphis. He fixed his capital at Thebes. Strabo said that Tarkaka rivalled Remses II in his conquests, which extended westward to the Pillars of Hercules and eastward to the Assyrian domains. With the wrestling of Egypt from Ethiopian conquerors, the old empire died.

670 B. C. in the twenty-third year of his reign, the Assyrians drove Tarkaka out of Egypt. His successor Tanut-Amen determined to wrest Egypt from Asia. Thebes and Memphis opened their gates and even Tyre sent help, but the Assyrians returned and executed a terrible vengeance. 660 B C. Psammeticus, of Libyan origin, threw off the yoke. He married an Ethiopian princess as so many Pharaohs that had preceeded him. This prince of the final line of native sovereigns gained the throne by aid of Greek mercenaries. He throw open the door of Egypt to foreigners, especially Greeks. Greek travelers visited the cities of the Nile. The Greek colony of Naucrates was given special privileges. He entrusted some of the highest offices of Egypt to foreigners. The military class because of this emigrated to Ethiopia. Psammeticus humbled his pride and sued for their return but these two hundred thousand preferred Ethiopia. 343 B. C. the last native dynasty ceased, with the flight of Nektanebos with the treasury of Egypt to Ethiopia, upon the approach of Persian conquerors. Persia did not enjoy sway over Egypt very long, her sceptre soon passed to Alexander.

332 B. C. Egypt was glad when the empire fell to Alexander the Great. He was welcomed in Egypt as a deliverer. 331 B. C. he visited the oases of Ammon in the Libyan desert where he was recognized by the priests as the son of Amon. In the winter of the same year he founded the city of Alexandria. Ptolemy I, 306 B. C., raised Egypt again to first rank. Alexandria became the foremost city of the world as a center of commerce and culture. The famous museum and library attracted to Alexandria men of science and letters from all parts of the Hellenic world. Under his successors Egypt prospered greatly. Philadelphus is said to have suggested the preparation of Manetho's Egyptian History from native sources. The line of Ptolemies ended with Cleopatra, who through her influence over Caesar managed to preserve the nominal independence of Egypt. At her death the land of the Pharaohs became a Roman province. Christianity was early introduced and at first was severely persecuted. 391 A. D. it became the state religion 639-641. A. D. Mohammedan Arabs conquered Egypt. Cairo became the capital and a great center of religion and learning.

So we might continue on down the line of changing sovereigns to modern times, but that is not the purpose of this book, which seeks only to follow the more ancient traces in Egypt of the ancient Cushite empire of Ethiopians. Diodorus Siculus said of the work of the closing Ethiopian dynasty, that there were numerous canals built and embankments, intended to keep the towns above the level of the Nile. Hosea, king of Israel, sent presents to Shabaka. Amen-Iritis his sister was a woman of rare intelligence and superior merit. She was three times regent of Egypt under three sovereigns of the Ethiopian dynasties, showing the respect the Ethiopian had for his womankind. Amen-Iritis was very popular at Thebes. Shabaka abolished capital punishment and substituted hard labor. At Luxor he appears making offerings to the gods of Thebes as a native sovereign. Tarkaka in 693 built the great temple of Gebel Barkel. Many of the reliefs of the pyramids present the Ethiopian rulers as Lord of the Two Lands, with the throne titles Amen and Ra. They wear the same symbols upon their heads. We read the names Ankh-Ka-Ra, Alu-Amen, Amen-Ark-Neb, showing that for ages Nubia and Egypt were ruled as one land, ages far earlier than the period marked in the average history as the Ethiopian dynasty.

The original inhabitants of Asia Minor, of the South Caspian and the basin of the Mediterranean were closely related to Egypt. They had the cranial formation of Upper Egypt. In Egyptian war scenes there appeared very strangely formed and remote nations, that because of distance had lost the ancient race type. We see red hair, blue eyes and tatooing on the legs like the ancient Scythian. These may not have been aliens but northern branches of the Cushite race. The extended conquests of the Egyptian kings do not seem at all impossible when we remember that they were recovering and reclaiming regions anciently their own. We know by the records that Amenophis (Memnon), seized the whole coast of Arabia, Libya and Ethiopia. In the Iranian histories he had extended his conquests to far Bactrina. Amenophis subdued the Scythic nations in the Caucasus. He marched into Colchis which was Ethiopian (Her. II, 104) and marched as far as the Don. These were but old Cushite dominions. The passage of Hercules represents the early colonization of Western Europe by the race. Other ancient records tell us that the Ethiopian Cymandes led an immense army to conquer the Bactrians. The triumphant arms of Osiris reached from the sources of the Ganges to the Danube in Europe. Western Europe had its legends of the passage of Bacchus and Dionysus.

The Heptameron

The Book of Ceremonial Magic
by

Arthur Edward Waite
[1913]

§ 6. The Heptameron

The Fourth Book of Cornelius Agrippa was much too informal, and left too much to the discretion of the operator, to be satisfactory for a science so exact as that of Ceremonial Magic. A form of procedure which bequeathed nothing to the imagination and asked no other skill than the patient exactitude of the rule of thumb was necessary to the weakness of the ordinary sorcerer. The Heptameron, or Magical Elements ascribed to Peter de Abano is an attempt to supply the want and to offer to the neophyte a complete wizard's cabinet. Cornelius Agrippa, says the introduction, which might, ex hypothesi, be that of a later hand, seems to have written for the learned, for the well-experienced in this art; he does not treat specially of the ceremonies, but mentions them in a general way. Those who have not "tasted magical superstitions" may here find them ready to their hand. "In brief, in this book are kept the principles of magical conveyances." It may be conceded at once that the undertaking is scrupulously fulfilled; what the operator must do and how he should perform it, so as to "draw spirits into discourse," are matters set forth so plainly that the wayfaring man need not err therein. Assuming the sacerdotal office of the operator, or a priest for an accomplice, it is all so simple that failure could not well be ascribed to a blunder on his part.

It would be invidious to suppose that the Heptameron is more authentic as regards its attribution than the work to which it is professedly a sequel; its real authorship is involved in much the same kind of obscurity as that of pseudo-Agrippa. There are several grave reasons why the pupil of Trithemius should not have written the spurious Fourth Book, but Peter of Abano is not an unlikely personage to connect with the Magical Elements, if it were not for a trifling chronological disparity of about three hundred years. It is true that Agrippa professedly wrote upon Magic, and the other upon Astrology and Geomancy, unless his imputed works in these departments of occult science are also forgeries; but the Heptameron was never heard of for the space which I have mentioned after the death of its reputed author, which occurred in 1316, and it is too obviously later in its tone, too obviously a sequel [1] to a much more recent work, for it to have been possibly a memorial of the fourteenth century.

Peter of Abano, a town in the vicinity of Padua, was born in 1250 and was a learned physician of his period, who attempted to conciliate the different medical systems and is supposed to have been the first European who quoted Averroes. He established himself at Paris, but at the instigation of jealous professional brethren he was accused of heresy and fled to his native place. At Padua a chair of medicine was created for him, but the accusation followed its victim; by some he was charged with denying the existence of demons, by others with obtaining his knowledge from seven imps whom he kept in a bottle. However this may be, the Inquisition instituted a process, but the designed sufferer was delivered by death--as some say, on the eve of his execution. The intervention infuriated the Tribunal, though the testament left behind him by Peter of Abano affirmed his belief in the orthodox faith. The magistrates of the city were ordered, on pain of excommunication, to exhume his body, but it was removed by a faithful servant and buried secretly in another church. The Inquisition clamoured for the punishment of the offender but was content in the end to burn the dead physician in effigy. As a counterpoise, a century later his bust was placed in the town-hall of Padua. His undoubted works, which are frankly unreadable, betray no acquaintance with the occult sciences beyond a belief in astrology, which in those days was catholic as Rome and powerful as the Holy Tribunal. He remains, therefore, one of the moral martyrs of Magic, faussement accusé, as Gabriel Naudé has it. His accusation and the mode of its prosecution remain also among the lesser glories of the Holy Office.

Accepting the Heptameron as a work belonging to the period of its first publication, it is here placed among the Rituals of a composite character, not because it professedly deals with devils, but because the nature of its angels and spirits is indicated by the manner of their conjuration; in a word, they are described as angels and threatened as demons.

The procedure is divided into two parts--a general method for the evocation of the Spirits of the Air, who are undoubtedly demons, and a set of angelical conjurations proper to each day of the week. The second section presumably belongs to the department of White Magic--if I may adopt this glorious distinction in the ribaldry of a passing moment--as the intelligences concerned are said to be good and great, though their offices are mixed and confusing, including the discovery of treasures, the detection of secrets, fomenting war, opening locks and bolts, procuring the love of women, inclining men to luxury and sowing hatred and evil thought. Obviously, White Magic of this kind is much blacker than it is painted. Though the entire Heptameron appears under one attribution, the first part only is ascribed in the text to Peter de Abano. Therein the personal preparation of the operator corresponds to that given in the Second Part of the present work, and the ceremonial itself, which, if cited at all, would have to be printed in extenso, as it contains no detachable portions, is much too elaborate to be inserted in this place, more especially as that of the Lemegeton will provide later on a fairly complete notion of the scope and purpose of the Composite Rituals, taken in their broad aspect, and will illustrate the fact that all conventional distinctions dissolve therein.

Footnotes
[1] A sequel, moreover, which contains several direct references, as, for example: "But after what manner they appear has been described already in the former book of magical ceremonies"--The Conjuration of the Lord's Day. This recurs with slight variations throughout the Heptameron. It may be advisable to add that Agrippa was of the sixteenth century.

Shoppes of Isis

Merry Ye Meet,

The Shoppes of Isis webring directory is now operational. If you have an online or brick n' mortar shoppe, store, home business that offers metaphysical supplies, items, music, art, herbals and botanicals, resources, and services related to Ancient Egyptian culture--then feel free to list with our ring!

It's FREE advertisement for your business:

http: // h . webring.com/hub?ring=shoppesofisis

Merry Ye Part

Musings of Sifu H.A. Diop 11.19.06

"Moreover Magic must not be confounded with Magism. Magic is an occult force, and Magism is a doctrine which changes this force into a Power . A Magician without Magism is only a Sorcerer. A magist without magic is only one who KNOWS. The author of this work is a magist who does not practise magic; he is a man of study and not a man of phenomena."

Excerpted from:

THE PARADOXES OF THE HIGHEST SCIENCE

"Synthetic Recapitulation

MAGIC AND MAGISM"
by

Éliphas Lévi

[1922]

Progressive Witchcraft

What is Progressive Witchcraft?

By
Terminus

"We do not see our 'trainees' as empty vessels, waiting to be filled up, but as individuals with a wealth of experience and ideas which they can contribute to the craft. (Rainbird, 1993)

The use of the term progressive arose from a discussion between Ariadne Rainbird and Tam Campbell in London in the late 1980s (*3) They were discussing the evolution of Wicca, and the fact that it had moved on over the decades, beyond the labels of "Gardnerian" or "Alexandrian". They clearly stated that the term was being used to describe a trend, not a tradition, and that any coven that was eclectic in its approach and not limiting itself to the Book of Shadows was being progressive.

In 1991 Ariadne Rainbird formed a network for covens who subscribed to a more eclectic view of Wiccan practice, called the Progressive Wiccan network (*1). This network included covens in Wales, England, Germany and Canada. 1991 also saw the first Grand Sabbat, at Lughnasadh, with around 30 witches from six different covens meeting up to camp out in the wilds of South Wales and celebrate together. This tradition was to continue for some years, developing into an annual weekly gathering in Cornwall for members of different covens to work together.

In 1992 David Rankine became the editor of the magazine Dragon's Brew, which became the magazine of the Progressive Wiccan movement. Dragon's Brew was created by Chris Breen in 1990, originally as the house magazine for the Silver Wheel Coven (*1).

To quote from the magazine (1992):
"Progressive Wicca is a movement which spans the traditions and emphasises networking, closeness to nature, personal growth and co-operative development. Personal experience of other paths is welcomed and integrated into covens, and we do not slavishly follow a Book of Shadows, as we see Wicca as an ever growing religion and the Book of Shadows changes and grows with each new Witch." (*1)

Contact details for a number of covens were given in the back of each issue of the magazine. The editorial stance of the magazine was actively supportive of environmental protection, detailing protests, distributing leaflets and supporting organisations like Dragon (eco-magick environmental network) and Friends of the Earth Cymru in their actions. Campaigns like the ones to save Oxleas Wood and Twyford Down were covered, as well as events in other parts of the world, like proposed wolf culling in Canada, tiger conservation in India, and anti-nuclear testing by the French in the Pacific. (*1)

Dragon's Brew ran quarterly until 1997, with a circulation of several hundred copies, and covered a wide range of subjects, from chakras and kundalini to Enochian magick and running effective open rituals. Different pantheons were also explored, including the Welsh, Greek, Sumerian and Egyptian. A number of prominent academics also contributed to the magazine, which received articles from distinguished figures such as Professor Ronald Hutton and the Egyptologist Terry DuQuesne. (*1)

By 1994 Progressive Witchcraft was widely known throughout Europe. David Rankine gave a number of talks at events like the Talking Stick Meet the Groups conference in 1994, and at various University Pagan Societies. The growth of the movement was acknowledged by Michael Jordan, who gave it a sizeable entry in his 1996 book Witches: An Encyclopaedia of Paganism and Magic. (*3)

To avoid some disharmony caused by the term "Progressive" in the Wiccan community the term was changed from "Progressive Wicca" to Progressive Witchcraft in 1993, as was demonstrated by the cover of Dragon's Brew (*1). In combination with this Ariadne Rainbird and David Rankine set up the Progressive Witchcraft Foundation, to deal with enquiries about Progressive Witchcraft, and also ran workshops under the banner of Silver Wheel with other coven members on a variety of related subjects.

In 1994 Ariadne Rainbird and David Rankine started running correspondence courses on natural magick based on much of the (non-oathbound) Progressive Witchcraft material. This material was to form the basis for their book Magick Without Peers: A Course in Progressive Witchcraft for the Solitary Practitioner, published by Capall Bann in 1997. (*2)

Reference Material
-------------------------
(*1) Dragon's Brew, a Magazine of Magick, Paganism & Progressive Witchcraft, (1992 -1997)
(*2) Magick Without Peers, A Course in Progressive Witchcraft. Capall Bann 1997
(*3) Witches, An Encyclopaedia of Paganism and Magic; Michael Jordon, 1996
Patchwork of Magic, Julia Day, Capall Bann, 1995
(*4) Talking Stick Magical Directory, 1993

This article was written by Terminus, 2000 and provided for free distribution.

Musings of Sifu H.A. Diop 11.03.06

Phaedrus. I come from Lysias the son of Cephalus, and I am going to take a walk outside the wall, for I have been sitting with him the whole morning; and our common friend Acumenus tells me that it is much more refreshing to walk in the open air than to be shut up in a cloister.

▪ Excerpted from Plato's Phaedrus 360 BCE - translated by B. Jowett [1871]

Year End & Beginning

Hetep-u!

I wish to take a moment to thank all of our readers of and visitors to the ILMJ during the past year. Look for more new content, positively enlightening, and inspirational information, as always, from the ILMJ as the new year emerges forward.

In the Realm of the Goddess,

Blesséd Be!

▪ Rev. Dr. K.A. Sahure, D.D., Msc.D., 5º H.P.
▪ Rev. Sifu H.A. Diop, 3º L.P.
▪ Rev. D.M. Raven, 2º S.P.
The Temple of Kheti
The Occult Metaphysical Sciences Institute

Musings of Doc Kheti 10.18.06

I have lifted my daughter Nut atop me,

that I might give her to my father Atum in his utmost extent.

I have put Geb under my feet,

and this god is knotting together the land for my father Atum.

~ Shu ~

Musings of Sifu H.A. Diop 10.13.06

"A PROCESSION of the damned.

By the damned, I mean the excluded.

We shall have a procession of data that Science has excluded.

Battalions of the accursed, captained by pallid data that I have exhumed, will march. You'll read them--or they'll march. Some of them livid and some of them fiery and some of them rotten.

Some of them are corpses, skeletons, mummies, twitching, tottering, animated by companions that have been damned alive. There are giants that will walk by, though sound asleep. There are things that are theorems and things that are rags: they'll go by like Euclid arm in arm with the spirit of anarchy. Here and there will flit little harlots. Many are clowns. But many are of the highest respectability. Some are assassins. There are pale stenches and gaunt superstitions and mere shadows and lively malices: whims and amiabilities. The naïve and the pedantic and the bizarre and the grotesque and the sincere and the insincere, the profound and the puerile.

A stab and a laugh and the patiently folded hands of hopeless propriety.

The ultra-respectable, but the condemned, anyway.

The aggregate appearance is of dignity and dissoluteness: the aggregate voice is a defiant prayer: but the spirit of the whole is processional.

The power that has said to all these things that they are damned, is Dogmatic Science.

But they'll march.

The little harlots will caper, and freaks will distract attention, and the clowns will break the rhythm of the whole with their buffooneries--but the solidity of the procession as a whole: the impressiveness of things that pass and pass and pass, and keep on and keep on and keep on coming.

The irresistibleness of things that neither threaten nor jeer nor defy, but arrange themselves in mass-formations that pass and pass and keep on passing.

* * *

So, by the damned, I mean the excluded.

But by the excluded I mean that which will some day be the excluding.

Or everything that is, won't be.

And everything that isn't, will be --

But, of course, will be that which won't be --

It is our expression that the flux between that which isn't and that which won't be, or the state that is commonly and absurdly called 'existence,' is a rhythm of heavens and hells: that the damned won't stay damned; that salvation only precedes perdition. The inference is that some day our accursed tatterdemalions will be sleek angels. Then the sub-inference is that some later day, back they'll go whence they came."

▪ Excerpted from Chapter I - Book of the Damned [1919] by Charles Hoy Forte (1874-1932) .

▪ Forte was an American writer who researched and wrote about Anomalous Phenomena and Paranormal Phenomena.

Musings of DM Raven 10.09.06

Clawe of Lynx

Bon of Weasel

Spina of Snake

Taloun of Raven

Toth of Equine

Twigge of Rowan

Charcole of Aspen

Poetry by Bronwen

WHY IS IT

Why is it we choose our lives to be the way they are?
We have lives that are difficult and complicated
With pain and suffering

We made those decisions to live this way
Only to complain about the things that went wrong
Mistakes are repeated over and over again
Until we learn the lessons that are there

If everyone choose to learn without pain
We would all find it easier to experience life
We could all enjoy the beauty of things from within
The light in everyone’s souls

But so many do not choose that path
They prefer to see life’s lesson the hard way
They choose to make decisions that only will bring pain
To themselves and all others around them

If we all choose to see the true light that is from within
We would not make these wrong decisions
If every one of us could realize how lucky we are
To be here during this important time

We would make the right choices
To make our worlds transition
Into the next dimension much easier

So lets all start right now to let go of our pains
And see the positive that is within all of us
To see that is good in all
Learn the lessons the first time
So they are not repeated over and over again

This is the way to make the necessary changes for us
So that we can make that important move
That so many of us are aware of now
_______________________
WRITTEN 28/5/2000b
© 2000 by Priestess Bronwen

Musings of Sifu H.A. Diop 10.03.06

"The greatest discovery of the 19th century was not in the realm of the physical sciences, but the power of the subconscious mind touched by faith. Any individual can tap into an eternal reservoir of power that will enable them to overcome any problem that may arise. All weaknesses can be overcome, bodily healing, financial independence, spiritual awakening, prosperity beyond your wildest dreams. This is the superstructure of happiness."

► William James (1842-1910)

► Psychologist & Philosopher (Pragmatist)

Society of Egyptian Kemeticism

Mission Statement

The Society of Egyptian Khemeticism (SOEK) is an offspring of the Temple of Kheti. The major focal point of the Society of Egyptian Khemeticism is to explore, study, and research topics about the history, practice, re-creation, and reconstruction of the Ancient Egyptian religion in modern times now known as Khemeticism, a systematic belief system. The Society of Egyptian Khemeticism is part of the knowledge basis from which the Temple of Kheti draws its Khemetic doctrinal theology. For well over three thousand years, the civilization of the Ancient Egyptians developed, evolved, thrived, and prospered; and the history of this culture has spanned longer than Recorded History (i.e., history that has been recorded via the inscribing of characters onto a medium, such as--papyrus, vellum, linen, stone, etc., and/or by the use of language.

Topics of interest are drawn from the Ancient Egyptian texts, Ancient to Modern Afrocentric historiography and Egyptology:

Ancient Egyptian Language (AEL)
Ancient Egyptian Priesthood, Religious Piety, Pathways & Worship
Ankh (acrux ansata)
Amduat (Am-Tuat) - Book of the Secret Chamber, Vol. I
Book of Gates, Vol. II
The Books of the Other World, Vol. III
The Book of the Dead - Book of Coming Forth by Day
The 42 Laws of Ma'at
The Pyramid Texts
The Coffin Texts - Book of Two Ways
Khemetic Orthodox Religion
Book of Caverns
Book of the Earth
Historical Deceptions

In addition to this, related topics include reincarnation, mummification, the pyramids, hieroglyphics, pharaohs and pharaonic history, dynasties, theology, archaeology, geography, and anthropology drawing from a variety of academic and field study resources. Since this is such a massive, scholarly and unfunded undertaking (project) by all of our Temple members we will eventually get around to clearing up any ambiguities and misinformation presented on this web page and out website as time permits. Please feel free to assist us in our goal to present valid information by contacting us at: soek @ templeofkheti . org
_______________
▲ The Temple of Kheti.org

The Three Magicians

Yoruba Legends
by M. I. Ogumefu, B.A.

[London, 1929]

XVI

THE THREE MAGICIANS

A CERTAIN King had engaged in a series of wars, during which he employed three magicians or medicine-men to make charms for him, so that he might destroy his enemies.

 At the end of the war these three magicians came to the King and humbly asked to be allowed to return home. The King foolishly refused, and at this the magicians said:

 “We asked your permission out of courtesy, O King, but we can very easily depart without it.”

 Thereupon the first magician fell down on the ground and disappeared. The second threw a ball of twine into the air, climbed up the thread and disappeared p. 29 likewise. The third magician, Elenre, remained standing.

 “It is your turn to disappear,” said the King, trembling with anger, “or I will slay you.”

 “You cannot harm me,” replied the magician.

 At this the King ordered him to be beheaded, but the sword broke in two, and the executioner’s arm withered away. The King then ordered him to be speared, but the spear crumpled up and was useless. An attempt was made to crush the magician with a rock, but it rolled over his body as lightly as a child’s ball.

 The King then sent for the magician’s wife and asked her to reveal his secret charm. At last the woman confessed that if they took one blade of grass from the thatched roof of a house, they could easily cut off his head with it.

 This was done, and the magician’s head rolled off and stuck to the King’s hand. It could not by any means be removed. When food and drink was brought to the p. 30 King, the head consumed it all, so that the King seemed likely to die.

 Magicians were hastily summoned from all over the kingdom, but the head laughed at all their charms and remained fast.

 Finally came one who prostrated himself before the head and cried out:

 “Who am I to oppose you, great Elenre? I come only because the King commands me.”

 To this Elenre replied:

 “You are wiser than all the rest!” and the head fell at once to the ground, where it became a flowing river, which to this day is called Odo Elenre, or Elenre’s river.

 The magician’s wife was likewise changed into a river, but because she had betrayed him, Elenre commanded the river not to flow, and it became instead a stagnant pool.

Source:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/yl/yl18.htm

Collective Unconscious

Conceptually distinguishing between the various planes of the personal unconscious:

"The experience of the archetype is frequently guarded as the closest personal secret, because it is felt to strike into the very core of one's being . . . . (These experiences) demand to be individually shaped in and by each man's life and work. They are images sprung from the life, the joys and sorrows, of our ancestors; and to life they seek to return, not in experience only, but in deed. Because of their opposition to the conscious mind they cannot be translated straight into our world; hence a way must be found that can mediate between conscious and unconscious reality."

Excerpted from Dr. Carl Gustav Jung's (1875-1961) The Personal and Collective Unconscious (c. 1969).

Musings of Sifu H.A. Diop 09.16.06

From the immortal words of Atum (Atum-Re, Tem, Temu, Tum, et cetera) the Patron God of the Sun, Creation, and ruler-ship of the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt:

I made my body evolve through my effectiveness.
I am the one who made me.
I build myself as I wanted, according to my heart.

Moh's Scale of Mineral Hardness

Circa 1812, German mineralogist Frederich Mohs (1773-1839) chose ten (10) commonly available minerals as the basis for his Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness. Mineral hardness is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "the cohesion of the particles on the surface of a mineral as determined by its capacity to scratch another or be itself scratched." Some scientists and historians believe that the minerals selected by Moh were arbitrarily based.

Mohs Hardness Scale

1. Talc (Talcum Powder)

2. Gypsum (Plaster of Paris)

3. Calcite (Limestone and Sea Shells)

4. Fluorite (Fluorine)

5. Apatite (Phosphates, Arsenates and Vanadates)

6. Orthoclase (Feldspar)

7. Quartz (Silicon Dioxide or Silica)

8. Topaz (Emerald and Aquamarine)

9. Corundum (Sapphire and Ruby)

10. Diamond (Carbon, Native Element)

Also note that these minerals can be used in your daily magickal and energy workings.

Musings of Sifu H.A. Diop 09.02.06

Now I walk by myself whenever I wish,

I ask the price of vegetables and meal.

I often wander in the evening

through the Circus with its shops of tricky tradesmen

and through the Forum,

and visit the booths of the fortune-tellers.

~ Horace ~

Tincture and Oil of Antimony

Tract on the Tincture and Oil of Antimony

by

Roger Bacon

Preface

"Dear reader, at the end of his Tract on Vitriol, Roger Bacon mentions that because of the multiplication of the Tincture that is made from Vitriol, the lover of Art should acquaint himself with the Tract De Oleo Stibii. Therefore I considered that it would be good and useful that the Tract De Oleo Stibii follows next. And if one thoroughly ponders and compares these tinctures with one another, then I have no doubt that one will not finish without exceptional profit. Yet, every lover of Art, should mind always to keep one eye on Nature and the other on Art and manual labour. For, when these two do not stand together, then it is a lame work, as when someone thinks he can walk a long path on one leg only, which is easily seen to be impossible,Vale.

Joachim Tanckivs
De Oleo Antimonii Tractatus.
ROGERII BACONIS ANGLI
Summi Philosophi & Chemici.

Stibium, as the Philosophers say, is composed from the noble mineral Sulphur, and they have praised it as the black lead of the Wise. The Arabs in their language, have called it Asinat vel Azinat, the alchemists retain the name Antimonium. It will however lead to the consideration of high Secrets, if we seek and recognize the nature in which the Sun is exalted, as the Magi found that this mineral was attributed by God to the Constellation Aries, which is the first heavenly sign in which the Sun takes its exaltation or elevation to itself. Although such things are thrown to the winds by common people, intelligent people ought to know and pay more attention to the fact that exactly at this point the infinitude of secrets may be partly contemplated with great profit and in part also explored. Many, but these are ignorant and unintelligent, are of the opinion that if they only had Stibium, they would get to it by Calcination, others by Sublimation, several by Reverberation and Extraction, and obtain its great Secret, Oil, and Perfectum Medicinam. But I tell you, that here in this place nothing will help, whether Calcination, Sublimation, Reverberation nor Extraction, so that subsequently a perfect Extraction of metallic virtue that translates the inferior into the superior, may profitably come to pass or be accomplished. For such shall be impossible for you. Do not let yourselves be confused by several of the philosophers who have written of such things, i.e., Geber, Albertus Magnus, Rhasis, Rupecilla, Aristoteles and many more of that kind. And this you should note. Yes, many say, that when one prepares Stibium to a glass, then the evil volatile Sulphur will be gone, and the Oil, which may be prepared from the glass, would be a very fixed oil, and would then truly give an ingress and Medicine of imperfect metals to perfection. These words and opinions are perhaps good and right, but that it should be thus in fact and prove itself, this will not be. For I say to you truly, without any hidden speech; if you were to lose some of the above mentioned Sulphur by the preparation and the burning, as a small fire may easily damage it, so that you have lost the right penetrating spirit, which should make our whole Antimonii corpus into a perfect red oil, so that it also can ascend over the helm with a sweet smell and very beautiful colors and the whole body of this mineral with all its members, without loss of any weight, except for the foecum, shall be an oil and go over the helm. And note also this: How would it be possible for the body to go into an oil, or give off its sweet oil, if it is put into the last essence and degree? For glass is in all things the outermost and least essence. For you shall know that all creatures at the end of the world, or on the last and coming judgement of the last day, shall become glass or a lovely amethyst and this according to the families of the twelve Patriarchs, as in the families of jewels which Hermes the Great describes in his book: As we have elaborately reported and taught in our book de Cabala . . ."

Source & Complete Text:
www.sacred-texts.com/alc/rbacon2.htm

Musings of Sifu H.A. Diop 08.31.06

Otium diuos rogat in patenti

prensus Aegaeo, simul atra nubes

condidit lunam neque certa fulgent

sidera nautis . . .

~ From Ode 2.16 ▪ Horace ~

From "The Aeneid"

The Aeneid

Book IV

Lines 331-361

by

Virgil

[ca. 19 B.C.E.]

“Dixerat. Ille Iovis monitis immota tenebat lumina, et obnixus curam sub corde premebat. Tandem pauca refert: ‘Ego te, quae plurima fando enumerare vales, numquam, regina, negabo promeritam; nec me meminisse pigebit Elissae, dum memor ipse mei, dum spiritus hos regit artus. Pro re pauca loquar. Neque ego hanc abscondere furto speravi---ne finge---fugam, nec coniugis umquam praetendi taedas, aut haec in foedera veni. Me si fata meis paterentur ducere vitam auspiciis et sponte mea componere curas, urbem Troianam primum dulcis que meorum reliquias colerem, Priami tecta alta manerent, et recidiva manu posuissem Pergama victis. Sed nunc Italiam magnam Gryneus Apollo, Italiam Lyciae iussere capessere sortes: hic amor, haec patria est. Si te Karthaginis arces, Phoenissam, Libycaeque aspectus detinet urbis, quae tandem, Ausonia Teucros considere terra, invidia est? Et nos fas extera quaerere regna. Me patris Anchisae, quotiens umentibus umbris nox operit terras, quotiens astra ignea surgunt, admonet in somnis et turbida terret imago; me puer Ascanius capitisque iniuria cari, quem regno Hesperiae fraudo et fatalibus arvis. Nunc etiam interpres divom, Iove missus ab ipso---testor utrumque caput---celeris mandata per aurasdetulit; ipse deum manifesto in lumine vidi intrantem muros, vocem que his auribus hausi. Desine meque tuis incendere teque querelis: Italiam non sponte sequor.’”

From The Kybalion

"As above, so below; as below, so above."

"The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding."

"THE ALL IS MIND; The Universe is Mental."

▲ The Kybalion ▲

Lemegeton vel Clavicula Salomonis Regis

Preliminary Definition of Magic.
Lemegeton Vel Clavicula Salomonis Regis.

By
S.L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley
[1904]

MAGIC is the Highest, most Absolute, and most Divine Knowledge of Natural Philosophy, 1 advanced in its works and wonderful operations by a right understanding of the inward and occult virtue of things; so that true Agents 2 being applied to proper Patients, 3 strange and admirable effects will thereby be produced. Whence magicians are profound and diligent searchers into Nature; they, because of their skill, know how to anticipate an effort, 4 the which to the vulgar shall seem to be a miracle.

Origen saith that the Magical Art doth not contain anything subsisting, but although it should, yet that it must not be Evil, or subject to contempt or scorn; and doth distinguish the Natural Magic from that which is Diabolical.

Apollonius Tyannaeus only exercised the Natural Magic, by the which he did perform wonderful things.

Philo Hebraeus saith that true Magic, by which we do arrive at the understanding of the Secret Works of Nature, is so far from being contemptible that the greatest Monarchs and Kings have studied it. Nay! among the Persians none might reign unless he was skilful in this GREAT ART.

p. 16

This Noble Science often degenerateth, from Natural becometh Diabolical, and from True Philosophy turneth unto Nigromancy. 1 The which is wholly to be charged upon its followers, who, abusing or not being capable of that High and Mystical Knowledge do immediately hearken unto the temptations of Sathan, and are misled by him into the Study of the Black Art. Hence it is that Magic lieth under disgrace, and they who seek after it are vulgarly esteemed Sorcerers.

The Fraternity of the Rosie Crusians thought it not fit to style themselves Magicians, but rather Philosophers. And they be not ignorant Empiricks, 2 but learned and experienced Physicians, whose remedies be not only Lawful but Divine.

THE BRIEF INTRODUCTORY DESCRIPTION.
(N.B. This is taken from several MS. Codices, of which the four principal variations are here composed together in parallel columns as an example of the close agreement of the various texts of the Lemegeton.

For in the whole work the differences in the wording of the various Codices are not sufficient to require the constant giving of parallel readings; but except in the more ancient examples there is much deterioration in the Seals and Sigils, so that in this latter respect the more recent exemplars are not entirely reliable.)

CLAVICULA SALOMONIS REGIS,
which containeth all the Names, Offices, and Orders of all the Spirits that ever he had converse with, with the

p. 17

[paragraph continues] Seals and Characters to each Spirit and the manner of calling them forth to visible appearance:

In 5 parts, viz.:

(1) THE FIRST PART is a Book of Evil Spirits, called GOETIA, showing how he bound up those Spirits, and used them in general things, whereby he obtained great fame.

(2) THE SECOND PART is a Book of Spirits, partly Evil and partly Good, which is named THEURGIA-GOETIA, all Aërial Spirits, etc.

(3) THE THIRD PART is of Spirits governing the Planetary Hours, and what Spirits belong to every degree, of the Signs, and Planets in the Signs. Called the PAULINE ART, etc.

(4) THE FOURTH PART of this Book is called ALMADEL or SOLOMON, which containeth those Spirits which govern the Four Altitudes, or the 360 Degrees of the Zodiac.

These two last Orders of Spirits are Good, and to be sought for by Divine seeking, etc., and are called THEURGIA.

(5) THE FIFTH PART is a Book of Orations and Prayers that Wise Solomon used upon the Altar in the Temple. The which is called ARS NOVA, which was revealed unto Solomon by that Holy Angel of God called MICHAEL; and he also received many brief Notes written with the Finger of God, which were declared to him by the said Angel with Claps of Thunder; without which Notes King Solomon had never obtained his great knowledge, for by them in a short time he knew all Arts and Sciences both Good and Bad; from these Notes it is called the NOTARY ART, etc.

p. 18

THE WHOLE LEMEGETON OR CLAVICULA.
Now this Book containeth all the Names, Orders, and Offices of all the Spirits with which Solomon ever conversed, the Seals and Characters belonging to each Spirit, and the manner of calling them forth to visible appearance:

Divided into 5 special Books or parts, viz.:

(1) THE FIRST BOOK, or PART, which is a Book concerning Spirits of Evil, and which is termed THE GOETIA OF SOLOMON, sheweth forth his manner of binding these Spirits for use in things divers. And hereby did he acquire great renown.

(2) THE SECOND BOOK is one which treateth of Spirits mingled of Good and Evil Natures, the which is entitled THE THEURGIA-GOETIA, or the Magical Wisdom of the Spirits Aërial, whereof some do abide, but certain do wander and abide not.

(3) THE THIRD BOOK, called ARS PAULINA, or THE ART PAULINE, treateth of the Spirits allotted unto every degree of the 360 Degrees of the Zodiac; and also of the Signs, and of the Planets in the Signs, as well as of the Hours.

(4) THE FOURTH BOOK, called ARS ALMADEL SALOMONIS, or THE ART ALMADEL OF SOLOMON, concerneth those Spirits which be set over the Quaternary of the Altitudes.

These two last mentioned Books, the ART PAULINE and the ART ALMADEL, do relate unto Good Spirits alone, whose knowledge is to be obtained through seeking unto the Divine. These two Books be also classed together under the Name of the First and Second Parts of the Book THEURGIA OF SOLOMON.

(5) THE FIFTH BOOK of the Lemegeton is one of

p. 19

[paragraph continues] Prayers and Orations. The which Solomon the Wise did use upon the Altar in the Temple. And the titles hereof be ARS NOVA, the NEW ART, and ARS NOTARIA, the NOTARY ART. The which was revealed to him by MICHAEL, that Holy Angel of God, in thunder and in lightning, and he further did receive by the aforesaid Angel certain Notes written by the Hand of God, without the which that Great King had never attained unto his great Wisdom, for thus he knew all things and all Sciences and Arts whether Good or Evil.

CLAVICULA SALOMONIS REGIS,
which containeth all the Names, Offices, and Orders of all the Spirits with. whom he ever held any converse; together with the Seals and Characters proper unto each Spirit, and the method of calling them forth to visible appearance:

In 5 parts, viz.:

(1) THE FIRST PART is a Book of Evil Spirits, called GOETIA, showing how he bound up those Spirits and used them in things general and several, whereby be obtained great fame.

(2) THE SECOND PART is a Book of Spirits, partly Evil and partly Good, which is called THEURGIA-GOETIA, all Aërial Spirits, etc.

(3) THE THIRD PART is of Spirits governing the Planetary Hours, and of what Spirits do belong to every Degree of the Signs, and of the Planets in the Signs. This is called the PAULINE ART, etc.

(4) THE FOURTH PART of this Book is called ALMADEL OF SOLOMON, the which containeth those Spirits which do govern the Four Altitudes, or the 360 Degrees of the Zodiac.

These two last Orders of Spirits are Good, and are

p. 20

called THEURGIA, and are to be sought for by Divine seeking, etc.

(5) THE FIFTH PART is a Book of Orations and Prayers which Wise Solomon did use upon the Altar in the Temple. The which is called ARS NOVA, the which was revealed to Solomon by that Holy Angel of God called Michael; and he also received many brief Notes written with the Finger of God, which were declared to him by the said Angel with Claps of Thunder; without which Notes King Solomon had never obtained his Great Wisdom, for by them in short time he gained Knowledge of all Arts and Sciences both Good and Bad; from these Notes it is called the NOTARY ART, etc.

THE BOOK OF EVIL SPIRITS.
THE KEY OF SOLOMON, which contains all the names, orders, and offices of all the Spirits that ever Solomon conversed with, together with the Seals and Characters belonging to each Spirit, and the manner of calling them forth to visible appearance:

In 4 parts.

(1) THE FIRST PART is a Book of Evil Spirits, called GOETIA, showing how he bound up those Spirits and used them in several things, whereby he obtained great fame.

(2) THE SECOND PART is a Book of Spirits, partly Good and partly Evil, which is named THEURGIA-GOETIA, all Aërial Spirits, etc.

(3) THE: THIRD PART is a Book governing the Planetary Houses, and what Spirits belong to every Degree of the Signs, and Planets in the Signs. Called the Pauline Art.

p. 21

(4) THE FOURTH PART is a Book called the ALMADEL OF SOLOMON, which contains Twenty Chief Spirits who govern the Four Altitudes, or the 360 Degrees of the Zodiac.

These two last Orders of Spirits are Good, and called THEURGIA, and are to be sought after by Divine seeking.

These Most Sacred Mysteries were revealed unto Solomon.

Now in this Book LEMEGETON is contained the whole Art of King Solomon. And although there be many other Books that are said to be his, yet none is to be compared hereunto, for this containeth them all. Though there be titles with several other Names of the Book, as THE BOOK HELISOL, which is the very same with this last Book of Lemegeton called ARS NOVA or ARS NOTARIA, etc.

These Books were first found in the Chaldee and Hebrew Tongues at Jerusalem by a Jewish Rabbi; and by him put into the Greek language and thence into the Latin, as it is said.

____________________
Footnotes

15:1 This Preliminary Definition of Magic is found in very few Codices, and is probably later than the body of the work.

15:2 Or Actives.

15:3 Or Passives.

15:4 Or Effect.

16:1 Or the Black Art, as distinct from mere Necromancy, or Divination by the Dead.

16:2 Or Quacks and Pretenders. Vide note on p. 10.

How the World Was Made

MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE
By

James Mooney
From Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1897-98, Part I. [1900]
Scanned at Sacred-texts.com, January-February 2001

COSMOGONIC MYTHS

1. How The World Was Made

The earth is a great island floating in a sea of water, and suspended at each of the four cardinal points by a cord hanging down from the sky vault, which is of solid rock. When the world grows old and worn out, the people will die and the cords will break and let the earth sink down into the ocean, and all will be water again. The Indians are afraid of this.

When all was water, the animals were above in Gälûñ'lätï, beyond the arch; but it was very much crowded, and they were wanting more room. They wondered what was below the water, and at last Dâyuni'sï, "Beaver's Grandchild," the little Water-beetle, offered to go and see if it could learn. It darted in every direction over the surface of the water, but could find no firm place to rest. Then it dived to the bottom and came up with some soft mud, which began to grow and spread on every side until it became the island which we call the earth. It was afterward fastened to the sky with four cords, but no one remembers who did this.

At first the earth was flat and very soft and wet. The animals were anxious to get down, and sent out different birds to see if it was yet dry, but they found no place to alight and came back again to Gälûñ'lätï. At last it seemed to be time, and they sent out the Buzzard and told him to go and make ready for them. This was the Great Buzzard, the father of all the buzzards we see now. He flew all over the earth, low down near the ground, and it was still soft. When he reached the Cherokee country, he was very tired, and his wings began to flap and strike the ground, and wherever they struck the earth there was a valley, and where they turned up again there was a mountain. When the animals above saw this, they were afraid that the whole world would be mountains, so they called him back, but the Cherokee country remains full of mountains to this day.

When the earth was dry and the animals came down, it was still dark, so they got the sun and set it in a track to go every day across the island from east to west, just overhead. It was too hot this way, and Tsiska'gïlï', the Red Crawfish, had his shell scorched a bright red, so that his meat was spoiled; and the Cherokee do not eat it.

The conjurers put the sun another hand-breadth higher in the air, but it was still too hot. They raised it another time, and another, until it was seven handbreadths high and just under the sky arch. Then it was right, and they left it so. This is why the conjurers call the highest place Gûlkwâ'gine Di'gälûñ'lätiyûñ', "the seventh height," because it is seven hand-breadths above the earth. Every day the sun goes along under this arch, and returns at night on the upper side to the starting place.

There is another world under this, and it is like ours in everything--animals, plants, and people--save that the seasons are different. The streams that come down from the mountains are the trails by which we reach this underworld, and the springs at their heads are the doorways by which we enter, it, but to do this one must fast and, go to water and have one of the underground people for a guide. We know that the seasons in the underworld are different from ours, because the water in the springs is always warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the outer air.

When the animals and plants were first made--we do not know by whom--they were told to watch and keep awake for seven nights, just as young men now fast and keep awake when they pray to their medicine. They tried to do this, and nearly all were awake through the first night, but the next night several dropped off to sleep, and the third night others were asleep, and then others, until, on the seventh night, of all the animals only the owl, the panther, and one or two more were still awake. To these were given the power to see and to go about in the dark, and to make prey of the birds and animals which must sleep at night. Of the trees only the cedar, the pine, the spruce, the holly, and the laurel were awake to the end, and to them it was given to be always green and to be greatest for medicine, but to the others it was said: "Because you have not endured to the end you shall lose your, hair every winter."

Men came after the animals and plants. At first there were only a brother and sister until he struck her with a fish and told her to multiply, and so it was. In seven days a child was born to her, and thereafter every seven days another, and they increased very fast until there was danger that the world could not keep them. Then it was made that a woman should have only one child in a year, and it has been so ever since.

Musings of Sifu H.A. Diop 08.22.06

Dum spiro, spero ~ Cicero

Bene qui latuit, bene vixit ~ Ovid

Beneficium accipere libertatem est vendere ~ Syrus

Mystickal Pentagram Technique

Mystical Pentagram

by
Kathexis Brightstarr

The Mystical Pentagram is a technique which will enhance psychic self-awareness. Practiced on a daily basis it will produce surprising individual results. One of the features of this technique is that it encourages personal development by allowing each entity to discover a personal mantra which corresponds to the five elements.

To begin, you will need a table of correspondences such as "777" by Aleister Crowley. Look up the names of the gods and goddesses which correspond to the air element. Pick a name which when chanted 'feels' right for you. For example, Nu is the Egyptian lord of the firmament and corresponds to air. If I were inclined towards egyptian deities, I would chant the name Nu for several minutes to see what effect transpired. If I felt relaxed, comfortable, and generally positive I would inwardly know that this name would be in tune with my inner self. Proceed to find correspondences for fire, water, and earth in the same manner and finally for spirit since it is the aggregate of the four common elements.

Once you have found a personal mantra or a chant consisting of five names, vowel sounds, etc. You are ready to proceed with the practical application of the Mystical Pentagram.

Assume your favorite meditation position, relax and begin to breathe in a rhythmic pattern; ie. inhale count one, two, three, four, exhale count one, two, three, four and so on. Continue to breathe in such a manner for about five minutes so that a definite rhythm is firmly established.

Visualize the five psychic centers. Memorize their positions so that you become familiar with the positions.

Next visualize a brilliant white light forming a circle above your head in the spirit center. Mentally draw a white light pentagram within the circle of light. This should be an invoking pentagram.

If your mind should begin to wander, gently bring it back and vocally vibrate the mantra you have chosen for the spirit center. Let your mind dwell on this center and intone your mantra several times for at least five minutes.

Next see a shaft of white light radiate down through your skull stopping at your throat near the adam's apple. See a circle of white light begin to form and pulsate. Mentally draw an invoking pentagram within the circle of light and vocally vibrate your chosen mantra for the air center. Continue to stimulate this center for at least five minutes.

Now see a shaft of white light radiate down through your torso stopping at your fire center. This is located just above the navel. See a brilliant white light begin to pulsate at this center and draw an invoking pentagram within the circle of light. As your mind begins to wander gently guide it back to he image of the glowing white pentagram. Here vibrate your chosen fire mantra. Once this center is stimulated the sensation is unmistakable. A mild tingling or vibration of the solar-plexus area is physically experienced. Continue to dwell on this center for at least five minutes.

See the shaft of white light push down to the water center which is located in the groin area. Here, too, a brilliant circle of white light should be visualized. Again draw an invoking pentagram within the circle of light. Intone the mantra for the water center and repeat the sound several times for the next five minutes.

Having arrived thus far, see the shaft of white light radiate down through your legs stopping at the bottom of your feet which is the earth center. Form a brilliant, white, pulsating circle of light and draw an invoking pentagram within the circle. Intone your earth mantra and vocally vibrate the sound several times during the next five minutes.

When all of the energy centers have been stimulated, direct the light energy from the spirit center to the earth center. As you exhale see the light travel from the top of your head down through your body to the bottom of your feet. As you inhale see the energy travel from your feet up through your body up to the top of your head, the spirit center. These circulations should be persisted for at least seven complete circuits. See the energy cleanse and vitalize every part of your being and expand your awareness to cosmic consciousness. As you continue to repeat this technique each day you will begin to see and feel a change in your psychic awareness and a marked improvement in your health.

Don't become discouraged if you don't achieve results immediately. This technique produces very positive effects but they are cumulative in nature. Be gentle with your inner self however you must also be persistent and keep the communication open. It is also a good idea to perform this exercise at the same time each day in order to allow your body cycles incorporate the energy flow in a natural order.

Source:

Sacred Texts - Internet Book of Shadows

http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos027.htm

Suggested reading:

The Art of True Healing -- Israel Regardie
Energy Ecstasy -- Bernard Gunther