Category Archives: Supernatural

Including references to the Supernatural, Praeternatural, Paranormal, Occult, and magick generally.

December 24, 2010 · 1:48 pm

Your Mind Has Its Own Healing Power

You have the power to heal your body with your mind, or mentally improve your body’s natural healing mechanisms through willed effort. Your mental healing power is so effective you can react to a placebo positively, even whilst knowing it is a placebo. This is the conclusion drawn by scientists from Harvard Medical School.

Now I can hallucinate what all the millions of spiritual healers from various traditions are saying as they read the above paragraph: “But Alex, we already knew that!”  Yes indeed – this is just another case of scientists finally catching up with us and daring to suggest that there is a basis in science for what spiritual healers have been saying for centuries. I did a review of spiritual healing techniques in a previous blog post. Since then my own observations would seem to indicate that such practices continue to be effective – although I cannot say that I have observed an unequivocal miracle … yet.

Spiritual and magickal healing undoubtedly has the power to produce an immediate sense of increase in wellbeing. I have personally observed this in a number of healing rituals in which I have participated, in which recipients who were present as the ritual progressed reported a sudden benevolent feeling as energy was directed towards them.

I have also tried distant healing, although I recognise that none of the circumstances were in controlled double-blinded conditions. I have seen it happen on many occasions where a healing ritual was done for a person known to be ill, who later turned up in person reporting to feel better. I have written about two occasions previously (here and here), although in both of these the patients had loads of other people praying for them at the same time. Distant healing therefore is the next big objective for scientists to prove.

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December 23, 2010 · 2:50 pm

Holy Guardian Angel

News today that over a third of Britons apparently believe they have a Guardian Angel, with “17% unsure.” This plus recent discussions I have been having over the interwebby-type thing have got me thinking about the subject. The “Holy Guardian Angel” is a term that crops up a lot in the occult, mainly thanks to a certain Mr A Crowley. I wrote an article about this a little while ago, but I thought I would expand upon the subject with an attempt to debunk some myths which crop up about it.

Fiction: Attaining Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel is the be-all and end-all of Magick

Fact

If one reads the Book of the Sacred Magick of Abramelin the Mage, one finds that the “Abramelin Operation” is a preparatory step before embarking on a career as a ceremonial magician which will involve evoking all the demons of hell, charging magic squares, etc.  Moreover, if one consults other grimoires such as the Pauline Art, Trithemius’ Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals, etc, one finds that the invocation of a Guardian Angel is an important first step before communicating with other intelligences. Finally, one should note that according to “777” the so-called “Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel” is the spiritual experience not of Kether, nor even of Tiphereth, but of Malkuth.

The reality of the situation is that from being the ultimate end, KCHGA is the exact opposite – it is only the beginning of the path. The end is “Divine Union.” KCHGA on the other hand should be seen as the simple basic qualification that one is now an actual magician, as opposed to a mere theorist.

Related to this realisation that KCHGA is the beginning, not the end, is the unfortunate phenomenon one sees of people who let their egos inflate egregiously when they say they have achieved KCHGA, as if this is supposed to mean something. The true experience of KCHGA is not exalting, it is humbling – rather like one feels humbled when coming into the presence of something of great beauty like a great work of art.

The only gratifying thing that can truly be said about KCHGA is that it may be the bottom rung of the ladder, but at least it is the right ladder.

Fiction: The Holy Guardian Angel is identical to the Higher Self.

Fact:

I have dealt with this in a previous blog post. This is an assertion put about by Crowley, but the evidence breaks down when one starts to examine and compare the grimoires from the past which actually mention Holy Guardian Angels. The HGA is the Guardian Angel of the Clairvoyant process – be that a crystal ball, magic mirror, or one’s own ability to skry generally. The HGA ensures that only the spirit with which you desire to communicate speaks to you, and that it speaks the truth when it does so. In mediumistic terms the HGA is a “Spirit Guide.” Franz Bardon in his book “Initiation into Hermetics,”
and in the present day the Kabbalist Z’ev Ben Shimon Havlevi, state that the souls of departed human beings can fill this role as well.

The Higher Self is better thought of as the Yechidah, the Divine Spark within one’s own soul, which corresponds to Kether. The point being that whilst Knowledge of the Higher Self is a valid aim of magick, it is theoretically possible to achieve this without having anything resembling conversation with anything resembling an angelic being.

Fiction: The “Holy Guardian Angel” is a term used by Crowley which was not part of the GD teachings.

Fact:

This is something I have seen crop up from time to time. Yes it is true that Crowley used “KCHGA” to describe the work of the 5=6 of the A.’.A.’. . Yes it is also true that this term is not used in the 5=6 teachings of the Golden Dawn – phrases like “higher self” being used instead. On this basis I have heard it confidently asserted that the term “Holy Guardian Angel” belongs to Crowley only and does not form any part of the GD’s teachings.

WRONG. In the Stella Matutina the Holy Guardian Angel crops up in the 6=5 Adeptus Major ceremony. In a paper in W B Yeats’ collection – which is published in George Mills Harper’s Yeats’ Golden Dawn – whilst the aspirant gazes into a bowl of water during the passage of the path of Mem, his “Holy Guardian Angel” wraps him with its wings, whilst he gazes upon the image of his “resurrection body.” This is all part of the astral working that formed the structure upon which the Stella Matutina Adeptus Major ritual was based.

Hence we have primary evidence (or at least – the National Library of Ireland does) – that at least one faction of the GD incorporated the concept of “Holy Guardian Angel” at least in some respect into its Higher Grade teachings.

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December 13, 2010 · 12:42 pm

The Controversy of Astral Initiations

Burn Da Herb, Not Da Quran

Scanning the news today I note that Pastor Terry Jones, the man behind the infamous abortive Quran-burning stunt back in September, is allegedly threatening to grace the United Kingdom with his presence. He is supposedly going to be addressing a meeting of a far-right organisation in Luton – a town in Bedfordshire which so happens to have a large Muslim community.

Let us not forget that due to the successful efforts of mainly yours truly, and to a lesser extent several world-leaders and all right thinking people generally, this guy backed down from his antics last time. It may therefore be just another publicity stunt … However: just in case it isn’t, there is now a mass debate in Britain at the moment, as to whether he should be banned from entering the country or not. On the one hand, there are a load of bleeding hearts saying “freedom of speech!” etc. On the other, there are a load of law-abiding citizens in Luton who don’t want to get caught up in a riot or violent demonstration. IMHO, the way to appease both sides of the argument is so simple it is a no-brainer – SKYPE. He can address all his racist friends from Florida, without having to come anywhere near dear old Blighty. Result: riot-averted, freedom of speech preserved.

But I digress.

This has got me thinking about the wider use of modern technology generally, whilst more specifically in the context of magic. For example: could not Skype be used to link together distant magicians so they can perform a ritual? If your Golden Dawn temple does not have five adepts to sit on the Dais, you could instead set up a data-projector and a screen in the East of the room!!! Let’s face it, some Golden Dawn orders purport to conduct “astral initiations” at the moment, so it should not be too much of a stretch to conduct an initiation by Skype. If anything it would be more authentic, because you would actually see the officers conducting your astral initiation, and thus be reassured that they are not just sitting around eating pizza instead. Needless to say though that if it were a Golden Dawn Neophyte ceremony, in order to replicate the effect of a hood-wink, you would be staring at a blank screen for most of the ceremony.

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December 7, 2010 · 10:09 pm

Cosmic Ordering Calendar 2011

Currently I am working on my 2011 Cosmic Ordering Calendar – see here for my original post about the subject last year.

As regards this year’s it seems that the various things that have been occurring have done so but in the wrong order!

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December 3, 2010 · 3:13 pm

Out of Body Experiences

Non-European readers of this blog may only be slightly aware that this past week Britain has been gripped by a miniature ice-age. This has forced your humble blogmaster to take most of the week off work. On the plus side however, it has given me more time to devote myself to magical endeavours – which I have been doing astrally from a horizontal position. This has inspired me to write a post about Astral Projection and Out of the Body Experiences.

My first experience of Astral Projection – as distinct from Lucid Dreaming – came as a direct result of reading The Art and Practice of Astral Projection by Ophiel. In fact, my very first OOBE happened round about the same time that I was still learning how to dream lucidly – so it is questionable whether Ophiel or my lucid dream practice influenced me more. In time, however, I eventually learnt to have OOBEs with each of the four methods which he describes, although Lucid Dreaming remains my prime method of accessing the astral plane.

In my experience, OOBEs and Lucid Dreams are so similar in the way they feel and behave that I find it hard to distinguish them – save in the fact that in an OOBE I actually feel that I have gone “out of my body.” Other than that, the similarities are more remarkable than the differences. Both seem to require me going into an altered state of consciousness which is deeper than relaxation, and lighter than sleep per se. I have always supposed that the real difference between astral projection and lucid dreaming is how one achieves this altered state of consciousness. In lucid dreaming one ascends into it after having fallen asleep first (i.e. it is hypnopompic) whereas in other methods of astral projection one descends into it without necessarily falling completely asleep (i.e. hynogoguic).

Hence, for example, when I have practised Ophiel’s “Little Method,” what usually happens is that I repeat the prescribed visualisations over and over and over … until I fall into a sort of trance, whereupon I find I am astrally projecting. However, my best efforts at using this method have occurred when I am lying in bed of a lazy morning: hence the practical difference between this being a method of either astral projection or lucid dreaming were further blurred.

I have had similar experiences with the “Body of Light” method. Curiously though when I have tried this it has had a different “feel” to it – it felt more like Clairvoyance than an actual OOBE per se (I don’t know if this is common). The “Body of Light” strikes me as a method of causing astral projection by creating an artificial elemental – i.e. the light-body itself – and then transferring ones consciousness into it. Seen in this way, it is possible to greatly increase the potential of astral projection by using the techniques one can use on artificial elementals generally on the light-body – e.g. by deliberately enduing it with positive characteristics and magical powers when creating it. One can be very creative in this way – one is only limited by ones imagination.

I have attempted other methods of astral projection with success, e.g. I tried out one method from a book called Astral Odyssey: Exploring Out-of-body Experiences by Caroline Eby and it worked straightaway, although by that point I had grown so use to astral projection and lucid dreaming that I wonder if my prior experience did not make it easier for me.

On a few rare occasions I have become aware of a sort of Bilocation, in which I was both awake and aware of my physical body, and astrally projecting at the same time. I wasn’t actually doing anything in particular with my physical body at the time: except maintaining unbroken concentration on my astral vehicle. I have tried going for a long walk whilst doing a simple astral ritual, but I doubt that I could do anything more complicated than that. However it does suggest to me that given the right circumstances, achieving the right state of consciousness and so forth, it is possible to work on the astral plane and achieve palpable results without having a full-blown OOBE.

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November 26, 2010 · 6:54 pm

A Method of Vibrating Adonai Ha-Aretz To Unite Yourself with your Personal Kether

This is a follow up to my previous blog post, Golden Dawn Manuscripts and Where To Find Them. Your Humble Blogmaster, and basset-hound of all things GD, has found yet another cache of original Golden Dawn manuscripts, i.e. in addition to the one which I said its owner did not want publicised. This new cache, however, is reasonably accessible to the public – it is also at a venue that I happened to mention in passing the last time – the Library and Museum of Freemasonry at Freemasons’ Hall in London.

It hasn’t been hidden away at Great Queen Street all this time, it was actually purchased by them in 2008 (I would not be surprised one bit if it is Bob Gilbert’s old hoard). It has only just been catalogued in the past few weeks – i.e. since I first wrote my original blog post. Most of the papers, from my initial perusal, appear to be from the collection of the Reverend Ayton, who was amongst the very first members of Isis Urania temple. Ayton, an alchemist who had briefly met Eliphas Levi many years earlier, became a 5=6 in the original order, and stayed with Isis Urania after the split, becoming a member of Waite’s Holy Order of the Golden Dawn.

As you might expect, the contents of most of the documents have found their way into the public light by other routes, although there are a few rare gems. By way of example, I present the following ritual, which to my knowledge has never before been published. There is a saying in the Golden Dawn – “Invoke the Highest, First.” In this spirit I present the following: the first goody to be revealed from the archives at Great Queen Street is an invocation of the Highest, a ritual of pure Theurgy. It is a particular method of vibrating “Adonai Ha-Aretz” which was distributed to advanced members of the 5=6 Adeptus Minor grade. NB: This is substantially different from the method mentioned in Regardie’s “The Golden Dawn” ! It is, however, similar to a document in the other archives to which I have had access.

Unfortunately I don’t have a facsimile of the ritual. When I asked about making a copy, I was informed that they don’t do photocopies – as this damages the books. They can arrange to make digital photographs of the pages, but this is charged at the rate £2.50 per image (+ £1 for burning it to CD-Rom). Hence the ritual I present below, which was two pages long, would have cost £6 (I didn’t have any change on me at the time when I had a look at it). NB the National Library of Ireland charges similar rates for making facsimiles, which is why Yeats’ papers are not more widely known.

Hence I will have to rely on my notes which I made.

Pay attention – it’s the Scholarly Bit!

The ritual is hand-written on both sides of a sheet of foolscap octavo, which on the front bears a hexagram device in the top-left corner. It is illustrated through at key points in the text with pencil line-drawings. It is bound with other papers of different handwriting in a volume called “Grade of Geburah etc,” which despite its name contains just two documents relating to the 6=5 of the Holy Order of the Golden Dawn, whilst the rest are mainly Adeptus Minor documents of the original order, along with some miscellaneous items.

The hand-writing itself is very neat. I was not able to make a comparison with any known handwriting samples to establish precisely who copied or wrote it. The only thing I can definitely say that it wasn’t Wynn Westcott! Doubtless it would be possible to work out who did it simply by spending more time studying it.

The Ritual Itself

First clear the room with the Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.

Stand in the form of a cross. Say I N R I

YOD NUN RESH YOD*

Alex’ note: in the original this is written in Hebrew, right to left.

Virgo Isis Mighty Mother

Scorpio Apophis and Typhon Destroyer

Sol Osiris slain and risen

Isis Apophis Osiris. IAO

The Sign of Osiris Slain.

L the sign of Isis mourning.

V the sign of Apophis and Typhon.

X the sign of Osiris Risen.

Alex’ note: the above lines are each accompanied by a miniature line drawing demonstrating the signs of an Adeptus Minor. Think of a stick-figure wearing a tau-robe and you get the idea. Interestingly, the “L” is not a straight-armed “L” as given in Regardie’s books, but more of a crooked-arm swastika-like arrangement demonstrated by Crowley in the plates that accompany “Magick in Theory and Practice.” I.e. from the sign of Osiris slain, turn the right arm straight up at the elbow, and the left arm straight down from the left elbow.

L V X Lux the light of the Cross.

Trace the Rose-Cross in the four cardinal points.

Alex’ note: Here there is an illustration of the Rose-cross. Note that the ritual clearly says the “four cardinal points,” not the cross-quarters – thus differentiating it from the more well-known Rose Cross Ritual. Thence over to page 2…

Formulate whilst facing the East before you in flashing white brilliance:

Illustration from the ritual - Adonai Ha-Aretz formulated in flashing white brilliant letters. Recreated from memory. (c) Alex Sumner 2010

Alex’ note: The word Formulate conceals far more than it reveals. As a magician I would guess this means vibrate “Adonai Ha-Aretz” by the vibratory formula of the Middle Pillar 16 times – once for each letter of the cruciform version of the divine name. However – and note well – this is not indicated in the text.

Attach yourself to your Kether until you see brilliant white light.

Alex’ note: The ritual ends with a sketch of an Adept standing in the sign of Osiris slain, a globe of brilliance immediately above his head (i.e. Kether).

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November 23, 2010 · 7:12 pm

LoveFriday2011 – Addendum

By way of follow-up to my post on Wills’ & Kate’s wedding and on LoveFriday2011, I have the following interesting bit of news to report. Soon after I posted the LoveFriday2011 article I was contacted by a researcher from the BBC World Service, and ended up giving a radio interview! It was a debate between myself and a Jyotish chap from Delhi. Apparently according to his take on astrology, Friday April 29th (St Catherine’s Day – get it?) was 75% auspicious. However, when I looked at it from the viewpoint of a Western Astrologer, there was one big black mark as far as I could see – retrograde Saturn was in opposition to about 5 planets – two of which were Venus and Mercury.

The chap from India had not taken Saturn’s position into account, and in fact claimed that it was not usual in Indian Astrology to do so. I am no expert in Jyotisa although it struck me that this was a major difference between the Indian and the Western traditions.

The radio presenter challenged us to predict the weather on April 29th – the Indian chap said that he theoretically could but it would take him some time. I on the other hand politely declined to do so. 😉

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November 23, 2010 · 3:22 pm

“Love Friday 2011” – Now Free For Everyone to book their weddings!

William and Kate have shunned the best astrological advice available and chosen to hold their wedding on April 29th 2011. This despite the fact that Venus will be in its detriment in Aries, and Saturn is retrograde from January until June. However, I am not going to be so offensive as that Bishop who was suspended recently, and instead say to the couple “Good Luck” – in every sense of the term.

However, what is bad (or at least not particularly brilliant, astrologically speaking) news for the Royal Couple is good news for everyone else. Apparently many brides had been afraid that if Wills’ & Kate’s big day had clashed with their own, then the Royals would have overshadowed them. However, because the Royal Couple have now chosen to get married in April, this means that the best possible date for getting married in 2011 is now up for grabs. I.e. Friday October 7th 2011, preferably at 1.42pm (if in the United Kingdom – the exact time for other countries will vary).  I have therefore officially Sumnerened the day as “LOVE FRIDAY 2011.”

I went into detail on why this is such a good date for getting married in my previous post on the subject, but the long and the short of it is because that day there is a unique astrological event – a four way conjunction between the Venus, Saturn, Sun and Mercury, whilst the (waxing) Moon forms a trine (i.e. a harmonious aspect) to the lot of them.

IMHO, this is such a good date that I shall probably be taking the day off work that day to consecrate a Venus talisman, or do some working of that nature.

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November 17, 2010 · 4:18 pm

Wedding Date for Prince William and Kate Middleton predicted by Astrology

 

HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton

 

To His Royal Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales, Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, and Miss Kate Middleton.

Your Royal Highness, Madame,

Firstly, may I be the first astrologer, tarot reader, ceremonial magician and all-round expert on the occult to congratulate you both on the happy event of your engagement. I daresay you are giving much thought to the preparations for the big-day. It is in this connection that I, as a loyal subject and Facebook fan of your (William’s) Royal Grandmother, wish to lend my assistance – to wit: picking the best date for the Wedding.

It is possible to calculate the best time astrologically speaking for any given occasion – this is a particular discipline known as Electional Astrology. I have taken the liberty of speculating what criteria you may feel best conducive to a good Wedding:

  1. Love
  2. Longevity
  3. The beginning of a successful partnership
  4. General good fortune and happiness.

In astrological terms these are respectively represented by:

  1. Venus – for obvious reasons;
  2. Saturn (which although in one respect is the planet of death, conversely it is also the planet of long-life when well aspected);
  3. Mercury – which as the planet of communication also rules over new ventures and agreements;
  4. Miscellaneous other planets – e.g. Jupiter, Mars, Sun or Moon, so long as they are all well aspected (or at the very least, not badly aspected).

The rule of thumb in Electional Astrology is to have regard to the position of the Moon. Thus I would suggest a date to you which fulfills the following criteria:

  1. It is on the Day and in the hour of Venus (i.e. it should be on a Friday – the hour of Venus I will refer to later);
  2. It should be when the Moon is waxing – because a waxing moon is traditionally good for attracting new influences, i.e. attracting good fortune;
  3. The Moon should form favourable aspects primarily with Venus, and secondarily with Saturn, Mercury and other planets.

This actually narrows the number of dates available down in 2011 considerably. Obviously there are only 52 Fridays. 26 of these will be eliminated because they occur when the Moon is waning. Furthermore, I have eliminated all Fridays occurring between the end of January and the 13th June, because Saturn will be retrograde on those dates. Likewise, I have eliminated all Fridays which occur when Mercury is retrograde (it is always a bad idea to begin a new venture when Mercury is retrograde).

Of those that remain, most are unremarkable astrologically speaking – except one, which is the date I recommend for your wedding. It is:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7TH 2011, at 1.42pm

OK, I know the idea of an Autumn wedding is a bit unconventional but I beg to be indulged for one moment. The great thing about

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7TH 2011, at 1.42pm

is that it fulfils all the relevant criteria – the Moon is trine Venus, trine Saturn, trine Mercury and trine the Sun. A win win win win situation! The business about 1.42pm is what I was referring to about planetary hours – 1.42 is the beginning of the midday Venus hour that Friday. You could also have held it at dawn the same day, but not only would that have involved getting up far too early, the Moon would still have been within the orb of a Mars opposition. However by holding it in the afternoon this situation is neatly avoided.

 

Friday October 7th 2011, 1.42pm - Alex Sumner's suggested date for the royal wedding.

 

In conclusion, I earnestly offer you this advice freely without any suggestion of a reward *cough* KCVO *cough*. My best wishes for the future to you both,

Your obedient servant,

Alex Sumner.

PS: Any commoners reading this might actually get the hint that the same day would also be a good day for their wedding as well – to share in the Royal couple’s good fortune, as it were.

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November 17, 2010 · 10:27 am

Today is a good day for invoking Mercury

The moon is waxing and forms a good aspect with Mercury. The planetary hours for London, UK are (or were) 0722 – 0806; 1230 – 1314; and 1842 – 1958 this evening.

Planetary hours for the daytime can be calculated by taking the length of time between dusk and the preceding dawn and dividing by 12. The first hour (i.e. beginning at dawn) is always that of the planet after which the day of the week is named – it is in fact the reason why in ancient times the days of the week were named as they were. Hence: Sunday = Sun, Monday = Moon, etc. The rest of the hours follow the natural order of the planets, repeating after every seven: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon.

The planetary hours for the night-time are calculated by dividing the time between dawn the following day and dusk the previous day by 12. (See, for example, here). The planets are assigned in the same order as the day hours, following straight on from the last hour which ended at dusk.

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