• Opening the Gates: The Power of Daily Ritual in Occult Practice

    June 26, 2025
    Basics, Ceremonial, Chaos, Rituals, Uncategorized

    (also the Monthly Mindfulness oracle pull)

    Opening the Gates: The Power of Daily Ritual in Occult Practice

    There is a secret known to every serious occult practitioner: how you begin your day shapes not only the quality of your magick but the trajectory of your entire spiritual life.

    Ritual is not just a tool; it is the foundation of the entire esoteric path. Nowhere is this more crucial than in your morning daily practice.

    In the systems of ceremonial magick, Hermetic Qabalah, Thelema, Rosicrucianism, and even broader occult traditions, the daily ritual acts as a kind of spiritual ignition. It is a metaphysical key that unlocks the gates of consciousness and aligns the practitioner with divine, cosmic, and elemental forces. It is not an add-on to your day. It is the day. Everything else proceeds from it.

    The Dawn of the Magician: Why Mornings Matter

    There is something sacred about the first light of day. In almost every ancient spiritual tradition, from Egyptian heliolatry to Vedic fire rituals, dawn has been revered as the meeting point between night and day, spirit and matter, death and rebirth.

    In Hermetic terms, dawn is the time when the Solar Logos reasserts itself over the chaotic unconscious. Psychologically, it is when your consciousness is most malleable. Spiritually, it is when our subtle bodies are freshly unbound from the dream state and most receptive to magical influence.

    To wake and immediately engage the forces of the divine is to stake your claim on the day. It is to say: “I am a co-creator with the Divine. I do not stumble blindly into the world. I shape it.”

    Ritual as Spiritual Hygiene

    Just as the body requires regular washing, so does the aura, mind, and soul. Magicians do not perform daily rituals to “look spiritual.” They do it because forces accumulate. Energetic residue, emotional sludge, chaotic thought-forms, all of these accumulate through ordinary life.

    The daily ritual acts as a cleansing, sharpening, and aligning. In magical terms, it:

    Banishes unwanted energy or spirits.

    Centers the practitioner in the microcosm and aligns with the macrocosm.

    Activates the astral body and its latent powers.

    Opens a direct channel between the self and higher forces (gods, angels, divine archetypes, the HGA).

    Grounds and integrates the magickal will into the waking world.

    Failing to do this is akin to walking into battle without armor or trying to perform surgery with unwashed hands.

    The Magical Engine: Building Momentum Over Time

    The most profound transformations in occultism don’t happen through dramatic rites, they come from the compounding power of consistent practice.

    Daily rituals are cumulative. Each time you perform a banishing, a solar adoration, a middle pillar exercise, or a personal invocation, you reinforce psychic pathways. You strengthen the bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind. You deepen your rapport with spiritual intelligences.

    Eventually, the ritual becomes a portal, not just a prayer. It becomes something that enlivens your body with power, saturates your mind with clarity, and brings tangible synchronicities into your day.

    Many magicians report that after months or years of uninterrupted daily work, the effects move beyond the ritual space:

    Dreams become prophetic or lucid.

    Coincidences accelerate.

    Emotional resilience increases.

    Intuition becomes razor-sharp.

    Inner guidance grows louder, clearer, more intelligent.

    This is no accident. You are literally changing your vibratory state every single morning, and the universe begins to respond in kind.

    A Temple You Carry With You

    One of the most beautiful teachings in ceremonial magick is that the magician is a walking temple. The circle, the altar, the compass points, the four elements, the planetary spheres, these are not merely outer constructs… They are maps of the human soul.

    When you perform a daily ritual, especially one involving the calling of quarters, the pentagram or hexagram, or the invocation of divine names, you are not just “doing” a ritual. You are reconstructing the temple of the self.

    Eventually, even when you’re walking through the grocery store or having a conversation at work, the scaffolding of that temple holds. You carry within you the stillness of the altar, the fire of the wand, the clarity of the sword. You become a point of contact between heaven and earth.

    The daily ritual, then, is how you rebuild yourself each day as a sacred vessel.

    The Archetypal Field: Aligning with Greater Forces

    One of the central goals in ceremonial magick is communion with the divine, whether through God-names, planetary intelligences, angelic hierarchies, or the Holy Guardian Angel.

    These intelligences do not operate on your schedule. They don’t dwell in the mundane world of distraction and sloth. They live in an archetypal field, a realm of symbolic clarity and spiritual law. Daily ritual is how the magician rises into that field.

    By attuning your consciousness each morning through sacred geometry (e.g. the pentagram/hexagram), divine names (e.g. YHVH, ADNI, AGLA), and gestures (e.g. Qabalistic Cross), you train your inner senses to become fluent in that archetypal language. Over time, you develop resonance with those powers. You no longer feel you are calling them “from the outside.” They move through you.

    You become a clear channel, not just a petitioner. A conduit of power, not just a seeker.

    Anchoring the Magical Will

    Aleister Crowley defined Magick as “the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.” But will is not just brute desire. It is spiritual alignment, and it must be anchored.

    The daily ritual is how you remind yourself of your True Will, not in a vague, wishful sense, but through direct contact with the divine.

    When you perform a morning invocation, say, to your Holy Guardian Angel, the solar intelligence, < insert title of choice >, you realign your path. You call down the purpose that transcends ego and personality. You ask, in essence:

    What am I for?

    What am I building with my day, my life, my soul?

    How shall I serve the divine pattern today?

    This is not just a nice sentiment. It has consequences. The world begins to bend around the Will that is reinforced ritually each morning.

    The Alchemical Day: Structure and Flow

    From an alchemical perspective, the day itself becomes a kind of Great Work. It has stages like the phases of the magnum opus:

    Nigredo – The dark, unconscious state upon waking.

    Albedo – The light of the ritual illuminating the soul.

    Citrinitas – The golden midday labors of your worldly and spiritual path.

    Rubedo – The culmination, integration, and review at day’s end.

    Daily rituals, especially those performed at solar stations (sunrise, noon, sunset, midnight), turn your entire lifeinto an alchemical vessel. They help the practitioner live ritually, not just perform ritual.

    Even the simplest act, lighting a candle, saying a prayer, tracing a pentagram, places you inside that vessel.

    Challenges to Consistency, and How to Overcome Them

    Despite the beauty and power of daily ritual, many practitioners (myself included) struggle with consistency. Life is hectic. Time is short. Energy fluctuates.

    Here are strategies to overcome these challenges:

    Keep it short, but sacred: Even a five-minute ritual, if done with presence and reverence, is potent.

    Use physical anchors: Create a set altar, use robes, light incense. These tactile cues signal the subconscious that something important is happening.

    Ritualize waking: Get out of bed and go directly into your ritual before checking your phone or engaging the world.

    Track your work: A magical diary can motivate you, build self-awareness, and provide proof of progress. (I suggest a ritual journal for all practitioners, ALWAYS)

    Remember the why: You’re not doing this for performance. You’re doing it to transform your life. Never forget the reason behind the rite.

    The Fruits: What Happens After Years of Daily Work

    The fruits of a sustained daily ritual practice are subtle at first, and then profound. I cannot speak for others, but can confidently report from personal practice:

    A growing sense of inner peace, power, and purpose.

    Heightened dream activity and lucidity.

    Stronger results in ceremonial workings.

    A deepening relationship with divine beings and archetypes.

    Spontaneous moments of ecstasy, union, or gnostic insight.

    A psychic sense of “being held” or accompanied by invisible intelligences.

    Ultimately, the magician becomes a pillar between heaven and earth, living in the world but governed by higher laws. Daily ritual is how that transformation begins, and how it is sustained.

    Final Thoughts: A World Lit from Within

    In the end, the purpose of a daily ritual is not to escape life, but to sanctifyit. To start your day as a magician is to recognize that every moment, however “mundane”, contains the spark of divinity.

    When you rise each morning and step into sacred space, you do not merely perform a rite. You affirm a truth: the temple is here. The gods are listening. The universe is watching. I am awake.

    There is no better way to begin.

    Your mission, if you chose to accept…tomorrow morning, before you check your phone, before you sip your coffee, step into the circle. Trace the pentagram. Speak the divine names. Light the lamp. Face the east. Do the thing.

    …And open the gates. 

    Extra credit? Do it every day for 1 full lunar cycle and document your day in a journal. We just had a new moon; it is a wonderful time to take that step.

    Monthly Mindfulness June into July

    This card reminds us of the beauty in not knowing. Sometimes we get so swept up in the future that we forget to be present in today. Sometimes the answer isn’t there. Sometimes we are operating blind. and that is ok. There is power in “I don’t know”, and accepting that not everything is to be revealed to us at our whim. Over the next month ask yourself:

    How do I navigate the unknown?

    Can you relinquish control to admit not knowing?

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  • The Threefold Law: A Triple Serving of Nonsense?

    June 23, 2025
    Basics, Community, Uncategorized

    (Why Karma Doesn’t Come With a Receipt)

    (everything stated in this blog is based upon my own research, personal practice, and opinion)

    Let’s begin with a bold, mildly heretical statement: the Threefold Law, as it’s commonly understood in modern Neo-Paganism, is complete and utter nonsense.

    There. I said it.

    Now, before you fetch your athame or ready your incense for an uncrossing spell, hear me out. This isn’t a jab at magick, ethics, or personal responsibility. It’s a critique of one specific concept that has taken on the weight of doctrine in certain circles: the idea that “whatever energy you put out into the world returns to you threefold.”

    Sounds poetic, right? Almost like a spiritual boomerang dipped in glitter. But the more closely we examine the origins, the logic, the implications, the more it starts to resemble a metaphysical cartoon. Cute, harmless, and utterly devoid of consistent substance.

    Buckle up, my friends. It’s time to walk the crooked path of reason and see just how wobbly the Threefold Law really is.

    What Is the Threefold Law, Really?

    In the simplest terms, the Threefold Law (also called the Law of Threefold Return or simply the Law of Three) states that whatever energy a person puts into the world, whether positive or negative, will return to them three times as strong. It’s a karmic multiplier effect.

    This idea is most famously associated with Wicca and, by extension, many branches of modern Neo-Paganism. The phrase was popularized by Gerald Gardner, and later echoed in various forms of the Wiccan Rede (“An it harm none, do what ye will”), a document that itself teeters on the edge between poetic advice and dogmatic commandment.

    But where did the Threefold Law come from?

    The earliest written appearance of the Threefold Law seems to be in Gardner’s 1949 novel, High Magic’s Aid. The idea reappeared in his writings later, but he wasn’t entirely consistent with it. Sometimes the return was metaphorical, sometimes magickal, sometimes moralistic. Doreen Valiente, one of Gardner’s high priestesses and a crucial figure in Wiccan history, later admitted that the law had been misunderstood and exaggerated.

    And yet, it stuck… Why?

    Probably because it feels good. Like a cosmic safety net. Do good things, and you’ll get back a triple helping of blessings. Do bad things, and the universe will spank you three times harder than you deserve. It’s justice, but with sparkles.

    But is it true?

    Let’s Do Some Magickal Math

    Let’s imagine a hypothetical: You light a candle and speak a blessing for someone’s healing. According to the Threefold Law, you should receive not just equivalent healing or goodwill, but three times that energy. If that were really how magickal return worked, wouldn’t you be immortal by now from all the nice things you’ve done?

    Likewise, if you hex someone’s ex to get a rash in their nether regions, are you destined to suffer three simultaneous groin-related afflictions in return?

    This isn’t just an issue of belief. It’s a problem of scale. Energy, action, and consequences are not so neatly quantifiable in spiritual or magickal work. What does “three times” even mean in metaphysical terms? Is there a karmic Excel spreadsheet somewhere tracking these ratios?

    The idea crumbles under scrutiny. And yet, many Neo-Pagans continue to uphold it like it is divine law handed down by the Goddess herself. Why?

    Why We Want to Believe It

    Because it’s comforting.

    Because it offers moral clarity in a messy world.

    Because it’s a great way to scare off newbies from dabbling in curses.

    Because it makes magick feel safe, as if there’s a built-in insurance policy.

    But… comfort is not the same as truth. And this is where the Threefold Law starts to feel less like wisdom and more like a spiritual pacifier.

    Magick is messy. Life is messy. Ethics are messy. There are no metaphysical referees throwing flags every time you send a spell in the “wrong” direction.

    A Pagan Version of Christian Sin?

    Here’s a spicy take: the Threefold Law is Neo-Paganism’s version of sin and punishment. That’s right. Despite all the efforts to distance itself from Christian dogma, modern Paganism has, in some areas, simply repackaged it.

    Think about it:

    Do good, and you’ll be rewarded (heavenly brownie points).

    Do bad, and you’ll be punished (triple hellfire).

    Be afraid of your own power, because misusing it could backfire terribly.

    This sounds suspiciously like the carrot-and-stick logic that drove much of Abrahamic religion for centuries.

    Even more ironically, many of the same Pagans who laugh at the concept of divine judgment accept the Threefold Law without a second thought. Why? Because it’s not “God” punishing you, it’s “energy”. The Universe. Karma.

    Change the words all you want, it’s still a punitive moral system based on fear of reprisal.

    The Slippery Slope of Magickal Absolutism

    Another issue with the Threefold Law is its absolutism.

    According to the most common interpretations, you are responsible not only for your intentions but also for the full consequences of your magickal actions, even those you couldn’t have foreseen. Accidentally hexed the wrong guy? Sorry, triple karma incoming. Tried to help someone, but it went sideways? Triple punishment is out for delivery.

    This is not morality. This is tyranny. A cosmic version of “zero tolerance” policies.

    It also discourages nuanced magical thought. Instead of discerning what is just, necessary, or effective, practitioners are encouraged to avoid any magic that could possibly harm anyone, ever.

    This makes practioners afraid to be practioners.

    But What About Karma?

    Ah, karma. The Eastern spiritual principle that got chewed up by the New Age movement and spat out into a glittery, digestible slogan.

    In its original Hindu and Buddhist contexts, karma is incredibly complex, tied to intention, dharma, rebirth, and liberation. It’s not a tit-for-tat system or a cosmic vending machine where pressing the “good deed” button gets you a cookie.

    But in Western Neo-Paganism, karma often gets simplified into a cosmic credit score. Good spells add points. Bad spells deduct them. If you go into spiritual debt, the Threefold Law comes to collect.

    This is not only intellectually lazy, but culturally disrespectful. Karma is not a vending machine, and the Universe is not your high school principal.

    So… What Should Replace the Threefold Law?

    Here’s the beautiful thing, you don’t need a metaphysical boogeyman to be an ethical practitioner.

    There are far more mature, nuanced ways to approach magickal morality:

    Consequentialism: Consider the likely outcomes of your spellcraft. What will this action cause in the world?

    Intentionality: Examine your motivations. Are you acting from ego, revenge, fear, or compassion?

    Responsibility: Acknowledge that magic is powerful and unpredictable. Own your actions, good, bad, or indiffrent.

    Reciprocity: Engage with the world, and the spirits within it, as a web of mutual exchange, not a coin-operated machine.

    These frameworks honor both the intelligence and the power of the practitioner. They ask you to think, not just obey.

    The Irony of “Do No Harm”

    The Wiccan Rede is often quoted alongside the Threefold Law: “An it harm none, do what ye will.”

    It’s lovely. Noble. Utterly impossible.

    All actions cause harm in some way. If not directly, then by consequence or omission. Choosing one path means not choosing another. Lighting a candle may help one person while distracting you from another’s need. Spells ripple outward, and their effects are rarely clean.

    To live ethically is not to avoid harm at all costs. It is to navigate a complex web of needs and effects with humility, awareness, and compassion. Not with fear.

    Fear-Based Magick Is Not Freedom

    Ultimately, the Threefold Law encourages a fear-based approach to magick.

    It tells you to be good because you’re afraid of being punished. It tells you not to hex because the karmic police will get you. It tells you that your spells are boomerangs instead of arrows, that the world will respond to your magic not based on intent or justice, but on a fixed, arbitrary ratio.

    This is not the logic of liberation. This is the logic of control.

    If modern Paganism seeks to free itself from the rigid structures of dogmatic religion, then it must also challenge the internal dogmas it has created, no matter how sparkly, poetic, or well-intentioned they may be.

    Let’s Grow Up a Bit

    It’s time to admit that the Threefold Law is a charming myth, not a metaphysical truth.

    It’s a story we told ourselves in the early days of modern witchcraft to help us feel safe, moral, and justified. It served a purpose. But it’s outlived its usefulness.

    We don’t need magickal bumper stickers. We need thoughtful, courageous, and evolving systems of ethics. We need to recognize that life is complex, magick is wild, and consequences are real, but not always quantifiable.

    Being a practioner isn’t about playing by rules. It’s about understanding the forces you wield and using them wisely. That means taking responsibility for your actions, not relying on mystical karma spreadsheets to sort it out for you.

    Go ahead. Light that candle. Cast that spell. Think carefully. Act with intention. Accept responsibility.

    If you still believe in the Threefold Law… May it return to you threefold.

    Whatever that means.

    1 comment on The Threefold Law: A Triple Serving of Nonsense?
  • I Am the Sun: A Living Invocation of Liber Resh vel Helios

    June 20, 2025
    Basics, Ceremonial, Rituals, Uncategorized

    (everything stated in this blog is based upon my own research, personal practice, and opinion)

    Adoring the Sun: The Esoteric Power of Liber Resh vel Helios

    At the heart of Thelemic spiritual practice lies a deceptively simple ritual: Liber Resh vel Helios. Also known simply as Liber Resh, this solar adoration rite was written by Aleister Crowley and published as Liber CC (200) in the curriculum of the A∴A∴. Despite its brevity, Liber Resh is one of the most potent daily rituals in Thelemic magick, designed to align the practitioner with both cosmic forces and the deeper dimensions of the Self.

    Find it here –  http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Liber_Resh

    This fourfold ritual, performed at sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight, invokes ancient Egyptian solar deities at each station of the Sun: Ra in the east, Ahathoor in the south, Tum in the west, and Kephra in the north. These names are not chosen arbitrarily; they represent a powerful spiritual cycle, a microcosmic reflection of the soul’s journey through light and darkness, life and death, ego and divinity.

    Origins and Symbolism: A Ritual of the Solar Mysteries

    The roots of Liber Resh lie in the solar worship of ancient Egypt, where the Sun was revered as the embodiment of divine order and the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. Crowley, influenced by both the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and his personal mystical experiences in Egypt (notably the reception of The Book of the Law in 1904), crafted Resh as a bridge between ancient symbolism and modern magickal practice.

    Each of the four solar deities invoked corresponds to a phase of the Sun’s daily cycle and, symbolically, to the phases of the magician’s spiritual transformation:

    Ra (Sunrise/East): The dawning of awareness, new beginnings, and divine inspiration.

    Ahathoor (Noon/South): The height of power, beauty, and creative expression.

    Tum (Sunset/West): Decline and reflection, the death of forms, and inner wisdom.

    Kephra (Midnight/North): The scarab god of resurrection, representing hidden transformation and renewal in darkness.

    Crowley simplified and internalized the solar framework of the Golden Dawn, reworking it to reflect the core Thelemic principles of individual will, divine identity, and cosmic alignment. In the A∴A∴ system, Liber Resh is given early in a student’s journey, forming the cornerstone of a daily rhythm that links the aspirant’s consciousness to celestial motion and archetypal power.

    Daily Practice as Magical Transformation

    The practical function of Liber Resh is both spiritual and initiatory. At its surface, it is a short series of adorations timed to the Sun’s passage. When looked at deeper we find it is a ritual of energetic alignment and consciousness training.

    Each adoration requires the practitioner to physically face the direction of the Sun’s position and speak a praise addressed to the corresponding deity. This daily discipline fosters an awareness of natural cycles, not as abstract metaphors, but as lived spiritual realities. The magician becomes attuned to the rhythm of cosmic forces, mirrored in the Sun’s journey across the sky and within the soul.

    As the day turns, so too does the soul move through phases of clarity, power, decay, and renewal. In Resh, the magician ritually acknowledges and participates in these shifts, developing a stable, solarized center of being; a consciousness that holds steady like the Sun, even as the world spins.

    Thelemic Cosmology and the Solar Self

    In Thelemic thought, the Sun is not just a celestial body, it is a radiant symbol of the True Will, the divine purpose within each person. Liber AL vel Legis: The Book of the Law (ch1v3) declares: “Every man and every woman is a star.” This star is the essential identity, the flame of Hadit, a point of infinite potential and divine purpose.

    Each of the four adorations in Liber Resh marks a movement through the alchemical process of spiritual development:

    Ra (Dawn): The first spark of Will, innocence, and awakening.

    Ahathoor (Noon): Will in full expression, joy, and creative strength.

    Tum (Sunset): Wisdom, detachment, and the descent into mystery.

    Kephra (Midnight): Transformation, gestation, and preparation for rebirth.

    By tracking the Sun’s movement and integrating it through daily ritual, the practitioner begins to live from their center, aligning their actions, thoughts, and aspirations with the divine Will. This, in Thelema, is the essence of enlightenment.

    Energetic Alchemy: The Solar Current

    Liber Resh also functions as a tool for energetic transformation. In Hermetic and Thelemic systems, the solar current is the clearest, most refined form of spiritual energy, conscious, radiant, and life-giving. Unlike lunar or chaotic forces, the solar current sharpens awareness, fortifies the will, and fills the body with clarity and strength.

    By invoking this energy four times a day, the magician bathes their mind and subtle body in light. It is an alchemical fire, gradually refining the base elements of the ego and transforming them into the gold of spiritual realization. This is the work of the inner alchemist: to expose the soul to divine heat until it shines with its own solar radiance.

    Ego Discipline and Divine Affirmation

    Crowley emphasized that Liber Resh is not a prayer of supplication, it is a ritual of identification. Each adoration culminates in a direct proclamation:

     “I adore Thee, O Ra / Ahathoor / Tum / Kephra!”

    This is a declaration of unity, not separation. The practitioner does not merely praise the Sun, they become it.

    This dual function serves the Thelemic initiate in two essential ways:

    Affirmation of Divinity: By ritually identifying with solar deities, the magician declares their own divine nature. The adoration becomes an act of sacred self-remembrance.

    Ego Discipline: In placing the personal self in alignment with a vast cosmic order, the transient ego is humbled and refined. The Self, the divine flame within, is exalted above personal whims and illusions.

    Hadit, the central flame, does not move, yet is the source of all motion. Practicing Liber Resh cultivates the ability to dwell in that still, eternal center, even amid life’s chaos and change.

    Invocation: The Arc of Becoming the Divine

    To fully grasp the power of Liber Resh, it helps to understand the deeper mechanics of invocation, the magical act of drawing a divine force into oneself, not to worship it from afar, but to become it from within.

    Invocation unfolds in a recognizable arc:

    He who is – The god is recognized in lofty, third-person terms: an exalted archetype.

    Thou art – The god is addressed directly; relationship is formed.

    I am Thou – The magician assumes the god’s essence; identification begins.

    I who am – The divine speaks through the magician; full embodiment is achieved.

    In this progression, the practitioner moves from reverence to realization, from duality to union. This isn’t roleplay or fantasy, it is the sacred act of becoming what you truly are: a vessel of divine power and cosmic intelligence. In Liber Resh, each adoration is a mini-invocation, an alignment not just with a mythological figure, but with one’s highest self.

    Vibrating sacred names/formulas like IAO, OM, AGLA, or ARARITA further deepens this transformation. These sounds resonated through breath and voice, tune the magician’s energy field like a sacred instrument, unlocking altered states of consciousness and spiritual attunement.

    A Compass for the Soul

    Liber Resh vel Helios is far more than a timekeeping exercise for occultists. It is a compass, a spiritual gyroscope, that orients the magician toward the center of their own divine flame. By adoring the Sun at its cardinal stations, the practitioner does not worship a distant god, they reclaim the god within.

    Crowley designed this ritual to cultivate what he called “solar consciousness”, a radiant state of spiritual sovereignty, unshaken by external chaos and anchored in True Will. With consistent practice, Liber Resh becomes a golden thread through the day, weaving each moment into a tapestry of meaning, power, and illumination.

    In the end, the Sun is both above and within. To adore it is to remember that you, too, are a star, a being of light, purpose, and endless becoming.

    Personalized Resh – Becoming the Embodiment of the Sun upon the Earth

    In the daily rhythm of Thelemic magick, few rituals are as simple and profound as Liber Resh vel Helios. Beneath its elegance lies a potent formula for invoking not just the outer Sun, but the divine solar self within.

    While the original ritual addresses solar deities in the second person, a powerful variant emerges when the practitioner steps fully into identification, proclaiming: “I am the Sun.” This is not metaphor. It is ritual truth. Let’s explore the symbolism and method of Liber Resh, culminating in a fully embodied, first-person version of the ritual that affirms the practitioner’s divine identity as a living star.

    The Solar Axis of Thelema

    In Thelemic cosmology, the Sun is more than a celestial body, it is a symbol of True Will, the divine core of the individual. Each human being, like the Sun, radiates a unique orbit of purpose and power. The goal of Thelemic practice is not submission to divine forces but realization of divine identity. Thus, Liber Resh becomes more than praise; it is invocation, embodiment, and exaltation.

    When performed in the first person, Liber Resh transforms from an act of worship and alignment into a magical assumption of godhood. You do not merely adore Ra, Ahathoor, Tum, and Khephra, you become them, moment by moment, light to shadow, death to rebirth.

    Ritual Structure: Invocation in Four Movements

    To recap from earlier, each performance of Liber Resh corresponds to a solar station and a godform drawn from Egyptian mythology. These are not just metaphors, they are masks of the divine Self in its changing aspects throughout the day:

    Ra (East / Sunrise): The dawning of awareness, fresh Will.

    Ahathoor (South / Noon): Triumph, beauty, full creative force.

    Tum (West / Sunset): Wisdom, joy in dissolution.

    Khephra (North / Midnight): Hidden transformation, rebirth.

    I have been practicing Liber Resh as first person, daily, for 11 years. When approached in the first person, these invocations become acts of powerful divine embodiment. The practitioner declares: “I am Ra… I am Ahathoor… I am Tum… I am Khephra.” This is magical identification, the central act of invocation, where separation vanishes and the god speaks through the self.

    First-Person Invocation: Liber Resh vel Helios Reimagined

    Below is the first-person version of Liber Resh, designed for use in daily practice. Perform each adoration at the appointed time and direction. Begin with the sign of your grade, then speak boldly, clearly, with breath and presence.

    At Sunrise (East) — Ra

    Face East. Give the sign of your grade.

    Speak aloud:

    Hail unto I who art Ra in My rising,
    even unto I who art Ra in My strength,
    as I travellest over the Heavens in My bark
    at the Uprising of the Sun.

    Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow,
    and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.

    Hail unto Me from the Abodes of Night!

    Give the sign of silence. Perform the Adoration.

    At Noon (South) — Ahathoor

    Face South. Give the sign of your grade.

    Speak aloud:

    Hail unto I who art Ahathoor in My triumphing,
    even unto I who art Ahathoor in My beauty,
    as I travellest over the heavens in My bark
    at the Mid-course of the Sun.

    Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow,
    and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.

    Hail unto Me from the Abodes of Morning!

    Give the sign of silence. Perform the Adoration.

    At Sunset (West) — Tum

    Face West. Give the sign of your grade.

    Speak aloud:

    Hail unto I who art Tum in My setting,
    even unto I who art Tum in My joy,
    as I travellest over the Heavens in My bark
    at the Down-going of the Sun.

    Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow,
    and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.

    Hail unto Me from the Abodes of Day!

    Give the sign of silence. Perform the Adoration.

    At Midnight (North) — Khephra

    Face North. Give the sign of your grade.

    Speak aloud:

    Hail unto I who art Khephra in My hiding,
    even unto I who art Khephra in My silence,
    as I travellest over the heavens in My bark
    at the Midnight Hour of the Sun.

    Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow,
    and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.

    Hail unto Me from the Abodes of Evening!

    Give the sign of silence. Perform the Adoration.

    Ritual Notes

    Each invocation ends with a ritual pause, the sign of silence, and may be followed by an adoration, prayer, or moment of inward stillness. For those who use the adoration from the Stele –

    https://www.luminist.org/archives/stele.htm

    , note I will also take it first person if/when using it in my daily practice. The ritual itself need take no more than a few minutes, but its effects are profound. It weaves your day with intention, alignment, and a golden thread of solar consciousness.

    If you desire, you may vibrate sacred names/formulas, like IAO, after the adoration, further tuning your body and subtle energy field to the divine current. These vibrations help activate the godform within you, anchoring the transformation.

    Living as the Sun: Thelemic Realization in Daily Life

    Practicing Liber Resh in the first person does more than structure your day, it reforms your consciousness. You cease to think of the divine as “out there” and begin to know it as in here. The Sun becomes not just something you orbit, but something you are.

    This is the secret of Hadit, the invisible point at the heart of every star:

    “I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star…” (Liber AL vel Legis ch2v6)

    To invoke the Sun as Self is not ego worship. It is the dissolution of the transient ego into the radiance of Will. As you proclaim “I am Ra,” you speak from that place of eternal fire. You become a conscious star, moving not by chance, but by design.

    Final Thought: The Sun Behind the Sun

    In Liber Resh, we trace the visible path of the Sun. But… the magician knows: behind the Sun is another Sun, the hidden source, the inmost light. Each time you face east or west, north or south, you are not just honoring the sky. You are reawakening to the divine that burns at your center.

    Perform Liber Resh in this spirit, not as a chore or a dogma, but as a celebration of who you truly are: a vessel of the solar flame, a radiant axis of Will and Light.

    On this Solstice, as a little treat, I leave you with the adoration I currently use after first person Resh. May it bring you life, light, love, and liberty as you bear witness to the power within.

    Hail unto Me from the Abodes of Time.
    For I am the Sun in rising, in fullness, in dying, and in return.

    I Am the Sun.

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  • Contemplations From the Woods

    June 18, 2025
    Community, Festivals/Events, Uncategorized

    This year marked my 11th Babalon Rising. For those of you who have not experienced a Babalon Rising festival, it is a festival dedicated to living by the law of Thelema, held in southern Indiana every June. For 4 days, we communally create a space where attendees have room to push themselves in the exploration of their Will. With 3 tracks of workshops covering a broad range of topics, scheduled (& unscheduled) rituals, vendors, and a main fire every night it is a festival I highly suggest.

    2025, the year of the Hierophant was a layered experience for me. Around the time I attended my first BR my etch-a-sketch had been violently shaken by the universe. Being a double Scorpio I am used to hard resets, but this one cut deep. The isolation brought by such a disruption in my world created a need to find a way out of the rubble. It wasn’t coming out of my shell, but rather it was more of digging myself out of the shattered shell before it collapsed taking me with it.

    Through the last 15 years I have used this festival for the personal “shattering” aspect of my magick. I have had the blessing of meeting authors who changed my life as a teenager. I have attended workshops that blew open the fount of my magickal perception. I’ve made interpersonal connections that are worth more than their weight in salt 1k times over. I found my people, and in doing so I have, and continue to flourish. My fears decreased over time, and slowly I found my voice again. It was only fitting to debut my first ritual/occult book at the festival this year.

    I wish to extend my gratitude to those who attended my workshops, and/or picked up a copy of Glamour of The Spheres: Practical Planetary Makeup Magick. Your interest and support in my work as I embark on this next life shift means more than you may realize. I am a firm believer in the living nature of magick, and the importance of its evolution through experimentation. I have spent the majority of my conscious magickal life pushing on the boundaries of how I practice. I often refer to it as throwing a ritual against the wall until it breaks. Breaks? Yes, I said I actively set a goal to break rituals. To paraphrase a quote a dear sister used in class Friday, you learn the rules like a professional so you can break them like a master. The rituals of old are powerful, but they can be so much more. The world is evolving…we, as a species, are evolving. It is up to us to progress the practices…to bring the magick to new heights with us. We are the weavers of our reality.

    I have had a lot of firsts over the last 15 years. My first public ritual, my first workshop, my first community magick undertaking, they all brought me to the here and now of today. I stand to embrace the side of the hierophant that rang the bell of my soul. I stand to embrace the lesson of self-guidance. I stand to embody complete confidence in foraging my own path through the jungle. I claim the courage to teach my personal system to others without the sabotage of self-doubt. I acknowledge the validity of my power to be a guide for others The path of becoming is calling us all. As I embrace my new “first” I step into my future, and I invite you all to walk with me. Let’s make some magick happen!

    No comments on Contemplations From the Woods
  • Welcome Wanderers

    May 26, 2025
    Uncategorized

    Welcome to The Art of Becoming (111). Where to began? That is always the fun question in my world. Let’s start with the recent release of my first book on ritual, Glamour of the Spheres: Practical Planetary Makeup Magick. 30+ years in the making, this work is the beginning of a journey we will take together.

    (Grab a copy https://a.co/d/izTS6SP )

    Why do we practice magick? For growth? Enlightenment? Gain? Safety? A little of each? Whatever your reason I would wager that the root is to become more than, to reach that which is seen in the distance. This journey goes by many names, this art of spiritual alchemy, of becoming that which you set for yourself. My goal with this book, and the ones to follow, is to lay out a map of what I have found works for navigating the path we all walk. Each topic is a precious stone I have carfuly sculpted over my years of study and practice. I present them to you. Work them into your crown as ye Will. Let’s experiment, and learn from each other. Magick is alive, and evolving. Let’s make some magick happen!

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The Art of Becoming

A new approach to magick

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