Invoke the Highest First

Often I find that, when I am facing a new challenge, perhaps one that I find daunting for some reason, the simplest solution is to apply basic principles. This is especially true in magick. In the Golden Dawn the most important rule of thumb is referred to as “invoke the highest first,” which is a reference to one of the clauses of the Adeptus Minor obligation: “I furthermore solemnly pledge myself never to work at any important symbol without first invocating the highest Divine Names connected therewith.”

The Highest First Principle ensures that no real magick – certainly no real GD magick – can be performed without first aligning one’s will and intentions to God. Even if the spirit that is ultimately low-down on the hierarchy of such things – a supposed “goetic” (with a small “g”) spirit, the Highest First principle – invoking first the God-name qabalistically associated with such a demon – ensures that such an operation still fits in elegantly with the transcendentalist paradigm.

The Key of Solomon

The Lesser Key of Solomon

This incidentally is also how to tell, in grimoire magick, the difference in quality between grimoires. The Keys of Solomon both Lesser and Greater (for example) are both clear on the point that spirits are to be commanded only by first making invocations to the Almighty.

But I digress. In my experience (and this is what I mean by simple solutions) the mere act of aspiring to the Highest First is often enough to cure you of what ails you, even without having to go through the whole rigmarole of going through a full ceremonial magickal operation. For example, the Middle Pillar Ritual – especially when performed on the astral, where the currents of energy can be experienced immediately and directly. Invoking the Highest First is really an essential principle of spiritual and psychic integration in its own right.