Chapter 2
Magical Aids
Although a true magician
can achieve everything with his own powers — which he has earned without any
other help as a result of his spiritual maturity during his magical
development — it is his choice to make extensive use of ceremonial magic and
all the aids that belong to it.
Ceremonial magic offers
the advantage that, when used continuously and frequently for one and the
same operation, effects are produced without making use of one’s own powers.
With the help of various aids, ceremonial magic enables the magician to make
his work with occult powers easier.
All magical aids, every
single magical instrument, are basically mnemonic aids, aiding the
magician’s consciousness. When one directs his attention to a particular
instrument, this triggers in the consciousness the particular ability or
power symbolized by that particular instrument. Once a magician takes one or
another magical instrument into his hand during the evocation, he
immediately comes in contact with what this instrument symbolizes and he
achieves his purpose without much effort.
For example, the magic
wand represents the magician’s absolute will. If a magician takes the magic
wand into his hand, by making use of the wand he immediately establishes
contact through his will with the spirit he wishes to evoke. The same
applies to all the other magical aids because they symbolize spiritual
powers, laws and attributes.
Should a magician decide
to employ ceremonial magic, then he must dedicate a great deal of care to
his magical instruments. He must treat them with an almost religious awe,
because the more carefully, the more precisely, and the more attentively
they are handled, the more effective they will be. Magical instruments are
on the same level as sacred objects and they serve the magician to establish
the necessary temple atmosphere for ceremonial magic. When the magician uses
his magical instruments he must be in a state of complete rapture. If any
magical instrument were to be used, even once, for any purpose other than
that for which it was intended, then that particular instrument will
immediately cease to be magically effective and will be forever useless for
its actual original purpose.
Since all magical aids
bring forth a very special feeling of respect in every magician, they must
be hidden from the view of any uninitiated person in order to avoid any
profanation. Therefore, before a magician reaches for a magical instrument,
he must under all circumstances undergo an internal cleansing process,
whether through prayer or suitable meditation. He should never under any
circumstances touch a magical instrument if he is not in the proper state of
mind, which is absolutely essential for such a ceremony. A magician must
always be conscious of the fact that all magical aids or magical instruments
symbolize the most sacrosanct laws and must therefore be dealt with in the
same manner as one would deal with sacred relics. Only in the hands of a
magician who takes all this into very careful consideration will the magical
instruments actually bring forth magical effects.
By exactly observing the
guidelines which have been recommended here in regards to the appropriate
attitude and the preparation of all magical instruments, the magician calls
forth within himself an extremely strong state of manifestation of belief,
will and all the attributes of the law. By so doing, he thereby increases
his magical authority considerably and hence exerts the necessary influence
upon a being or a power so that the desired results or effects are actually
realized.
Even if the magician does
not use his magical instruments for a long period of time, they are still
constantly in contact with the particular attributes that they symbolize.
Since every instrument is magically charged or, in other words, consecrated
for a specific purpose, it will never lose its magical effect if it is
handled properly, even if centuries have passed since the instrument was
last used.
When the magical
instruments are consecrated and charged for use for a particular magician,
in other words, he for whom they were made, they cannot be used by any other
magician. These instruments would not be effective even if they were to fall
into the hands of a magician who is completely conversant with the holy
sciences of magic, unless he charges and consecrates the magical instruments
anew for himself.
In the chapters that
follow, I [Franz Bardon] shall describe the most important magical instruments and their
symbolic analogies as far as their practical use is concerned, and how they
are to be generally used in a ceremonial magical operation. If it seems
desirable and necessary, any magician, on the basis of my instructions, can
make his own additional magical aids for particular magical purposes, and I
[Franz Bardon] shall supply the guidelines as to how he is to proceed.
