Tag Archives: Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition

The Bornless Ritual

The famous “Bornless Ritual,” otherwise known as the “Preliminary Invocation of the Goetia” is a subject about which I have written before. Now however I want to share with you the results of some discoveries I  made when I was doing some scholarly research in London just the other day. Although the Bornless Ritual was made famous by Aleister Crowley in his edition of the Goetia of The Lesser Key of Solomon in 1904, it was in fact  in circulation amongst the Adepti of the original Golden Dawn, i.e. Isis-Urania Temple – thus indicating that it was yet another GD teaching that Crowley half-inched.

For example: a copy of the Bornless Ritual may be found in the Library & Museum of Freemasonry amongst the papers of the Rev Ayton, bound in the same volume in which I found A Method of Vibrating Adonai Ha-Aretz To Unite Yourself with your Personal Kether.

Now it so happens that Israel Regardie, in his book The Golden Dawn constructed a Z2 Spiritual Development ritual based around the Bornless Ritual – however, when comparing this to the original GD manuscripts which I have seen it is clear that Regardie’s approach is overly sophisticated. The Adepti of the original GD would in fact simply perform the ritual without adornment – save that at key-points, they would make the Kerubic Sigils with their elemental tools. Moreover the version circulated within the original GD retains the correct spellings of the “Barbarous Names of Evocation” which unfortunately Regardie’s version does not have. (I mention this because one of the themes with which I was concerned when I wrote about the Bornless Ritual previously was the “Barbarous Names” may well have significance in terms of Isopsephos, i.e. Greek Gematria).

Hence: I present below a transcription of “The Bornless Ritual” as it would have been used within the original GD.


An Extremely Powerful Invocation For Daily Use And Work

Thee I invoke, the Bornless One! Thee that didst create the Earth and the Heavens, Thee that didst create the Night and the Day, Thee that didst create the Darkness and the Light.
Thou art Osorronophris, whom no man hath seen at any time. Thou art Iabas; thou art Iapos.

Thou hast distinguished between the Just and the Unjust. Thou didst make the Female and the Male. Thou didst produce the Seed and the Fruit. Thou didst form Men to love one another, and to hate one another.

Hear thou me, for I am Mosheh thy servant, unto whom Thou hast committed thy Mysteries, the ceremonies of Israel.

Thou hast produced the moist and the dry, and that which nourisheth all created life. Hear me, for I am the Angel of Paphro Osorronophris: this is Thy true name, handed down to the prophets of Israel.

[Handwritten: Aquarius symbol with the words “with Air Dagger.”]
Hear me: Ar, Thiao, Rheibet, Atheleberseth, A, Blatha, Abeu, Ebeu, Phi, Chitasoe, Ib, Thiao.

Hear me and make all spirits subject unto me: so that every spirit of the firmament and of the ether; upon the Earth and under the Earth; on dry land or in the water; of whirling air or of rushing fire; and every spell and scourge of God may be obedient unto me.

[Handwritten: Leo-symbol with words “with Wand.”]
I invoke Thee, the terrible and invisible God who dwellest in the void place of spirit: Arogogorobrao, Sothou, Modorio, Phalarchao, Ooo, Ape, The Bornless One.

Hear me and make all spirits subject unto me … (etc)

[Handwritten: symbol of Eagle’s head, with words “with Cup.”]
Hear me: Roubriao, Mariodam, Balbnabaoth, Assalonai, Aphniao, I, Thoteth, Abrasax, Aeoou, Ischara, Mighty and Bornless One.

Hear me and make all spirits subject unto me … (etc)

[Handwritten: Taurus-symbol, with words “with Pentacle.”]
I invoke Thee: Ma, Barraio, Ioel, Kotha, Athorebalo, Abraoth.

Hear me and make all spirits subject unto me … (etc)

[Handwritten: Spirit-symbol, with words “on ground with Incense.”]
Hear me: Aoth, Abaoth, Basum, Isak, Sabaoth, IAO.

This is the Lord of the Gods;
This is the Lord of the Universe;
This is He Whom the winds fear;
This is He Who, having made Voice by His commandment, is Lord of all things – king, ruler and helper.

Hear me and make all spirits subject unto me … (etc)

[Handwritten: Spirit-symbol, with words “in air above with Incense.”]
Hear me: Ieou, Pur, Iou, Pur, Iaot, Iaeo, Ioou, Abrasax, Sabriam, Oo, Uu, Adonaie, Ede, Edu, Angelos Ton Theon, Anlala Lai, Gaia, Apa, Diachanna Chorun.

I am He, the Bornless Spirit! Having sight in the feet – strong, and the Immortal Fire!
I am He, the Truth!
I am He, who hate that evil should be wrought in the world.
I am He who lighteneth and thundereth.
I am He from whom is the shower of the life on Earth.
I am He whose mouth ever flameth.
I am He, the Begetter and Manifester unto the Light.
I am He, the Grace of the World.

“The Heart Girt with a Serpent” is My name.

Come thou forth and follow me, and make all spirits subject unto me, so that every spirit of the firmament and of the ether, upon the Earth and under the Earth, on dry land and in the water, of whirling air and of rushing fire, and every spell and scourge of God, may be obedient unto me.

IAO. Sabao. Such are the words!

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The Ultimate Sigil

This is a re-post of something which I did last year which appeared on my Facebook page but not on my website.


The Ultimate Sigil

So there I was,  tinkering around with sigils, and I thought to myself: “Hang on! Creating a new one for every new magic spell is a bit of a rigmarole? Why not just create one all-purpose sigil?”

The Ultimate Sigil with elemental colours.

After some experimentation, I came up with this design (see left). Given that there are 26 letters in the English language, it follows that one sigil which contains all of them therefore represents all possible sigils that can ever be expressed in English. The Ultimate Sigil, in which all 26 can be found, thus represents Omneity, in which all things exist in potentiality like an acorn which contains a full grown Oak.

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Magick, Wicca, Witchcraft, Christianity

Magick is an old English spelling of Magic which was revived by Aleister Crowley. He defined it as “the science and art of causing change in conformity with Will.” The crucial word in this sentence is Will. This does not mean any passing fancy, but refers to the great spiritual forces which are driving ones soul. Magick is therefore really about finding your Soul’s purpose – and then giving effect to it.

The concept of True Will is something Crowley took – like most things – from the Golden Dawn. True Will is what occurs when your ordinary everyday conscious Will is perfectly united with your Higher Will – which is your aspiration to that which is highest and most spiritual.

Wicca is a term most associated with the movement first brought to public consciousness by Gerald Gardner in the middle of the last century. It is primarily concerned with worship of the Goddess and God, and the observance of the traditional pagan festivals (Sabbats) and full-moon ceremonies (Esbats). There is now evidence to suggest that what we now know as the modern Wicca movement was founded in the 1920s by former members of the Golden Dawn who believed that they had been Witches in previous incarnations. Gardner did not found Wicca, but he was the first person to actively publicise it. See, for example, Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration by Philip Heselton (which coincidentally I once reviewed in the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition).

Witchcraft is a general term for the historic Witch tradition. Many Wiccans would say that Wicca is Witchcraft, or at least a part or an example of Witchcraft: I do not particularly want to get into an argument upon the matter.

Can a Christian ever practice Magick – and remain a Christian? Certain elements of Thelema and Wicca have a religious character, so in these instances, probably not. However, one should also remember that for 1900 years prior to the 20th century, magick was being preserved and studied by Christian scholars. Not, of course, those who slavishly followed the dictats of the Church, but freethinkers who believed that the Kabbalah was the perfect synthesis between magic, mysticism and religion – even though at times they were persecuted by the mainstream Church for daring to say so.

So for a modern day Christian who is thinking of magick I would say if you are such a Free-Thinker then yes it is possible – you would then find Christian overtones in Martinism, the Elus Cohens, Waite’s Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, Dion Fortune’s Society of the Inner Light, and even in the Golden Dawn.

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