Sulum Factum Magus

This post picks up on the previous posts on one way of working with your wand. Previously, I have discussed a preliminary exercise involving movement of the attention, which can then be built upon by channelling Earth energy. In this post, I discuss the channelling of Sun Energy.

When you are proficient at channeling Earth Energy, the same channeling exercise may be repeated but this time channeling Sun energy. As in all magical work, it is important to stay grounded, so begin this exercise by contacting the Earth Energy, as described previously. Once your aura is full of Earth energy, and your belly chakra is glowing with Earth Energy, commence the following visualisation. See a bright shining sun over your head. As you breathe in, visualise a beam of white light emerging from this sun, striking you on the centre of the top of the head (the crown chakra), and continuing on in a beam of white light straight down to the belly chakra, where a ball of white energy begins to take shape. This can be just above the ball of red Earth Energy. As you breathe out, immagine this little sun at the naval centre shining out into your aura, filling it with white or golden yellow light. Then as you finish your out breath, place your attention back in the glowing sun above your head, and as you begin to breathe in, repeat the entire process. Continue for several breath cycles until your aura is glowing with solar light, and there is a glowing charge of solar light at your belly chakra.

Then commence circulating this energy through your throat chakra, right arm, wand, left arm, and throat, just as in the circulation of Earth energy described previously. When your attention returns to the belly, recharge the solar orb at your belly by breathing in a beam of solar light from the Sun over head, and then repeating the circulation of the attention and solar energy.

Finish the execise by briefly linking with the Earth energy for several bereaths, to ensure that one’s energy is grounded before embarking upon other activities.

As you did with the circulation of Earth energy, you may begin to insert a gap between the tip of the wand and your left palm, gradually increasing the distance while keeping the flow of energy at the same intensity. As before, practice this for ten minutes a day for three weeks.

The “Book of Shadows” is the name given by certain witches to their book containing the forms and usages of ritual and magic, in particular ritual forms for the various sabbats, esbats, initiations, celebrations and magical workings. As far as I know, it goes at least back to Gerald Gardner, who, I am informed, is the founder of Wicca in its modern form. Over the years, it seems, this name has caused many people to become uncomfortable, and they have found it necessary to coin less troublesome names, such as “The Book of Light and Shadows”, or “The Book of Lights”, apparently, under the impression that there was something vaugely unwholesome or ominous about the word “shadow”. Apparently, those same people feel that “light” is somehow a more balanced, wholesome, or re-assuring epithet.

In my view, this represents a mis-understanding of the term “Book of Shadows”, based on a residual dose of Christian dualism that is, in my opinion, out of place in a pagan spiritual path. Of course people can call their black book whatever  they like – and it really doesn’t matter a fig to me! However, I think it is an interesting point of reflection for considering two very important esoteric principles, which are at the centre of my personal philosophy.

Firstly, in my world-view, and I venture to suggest, many pagan viewpoints, the world of form and manifestation is the offspring of two opposing yet equal forces or achetypes – personified as the God and Goddess, often of the Sun and the Moon. The union of these opposing principles in harmony brings balance and prosperity. The cause of many (if not all) of life’s ills, is seen as a lack of balance between these two equal but complementary opposite powers. Life and growth is seen as cyclical, moving from one state of dynamic balance to the next, in a never ending dance of union, conception and becoming.

This represents a stark contrast to the world view of many in today’s world, based on a christian conception of the ultimate good, God, opposed by the ultimate evil, the Devil. With this philosophical perspective, the desirable course of action is to seek the Good, and to shun the Devil, leading to ideas of progress from darkness to light. Life is seen as a road leading either to Heaven or Hell, and the goal of the good person should be union with the Divine, away from which lofty goal one can easily back-slide into the darkness of materiality.

I have discussed these two world views, and their consequences, in much greater depth in my book “The Great Work”.

In the christian based philosophy, which, in my view, underpins the world view of most in western society, even atheists and agnostics, there is a tendency to equate darkness and shadows with evil, and hence, by implication, the Devil. These residual christian ways of seeing are, I believe, why some people feel uncomfortable with something called a “Book of Shadows”.

However there is no such intention in the pagan way of seeing things. Which brings us to the second important esoteric principle. In my opinion, the “Book of Shadows” is so named because this is the most apt description of its contents. The rituals and words recorded within its covers are no more than shadows of the rituals brought to life within the magic circle. The words themselves, no matter how beautiful, charged, or powerful, require utterance and action in order to realize their magic, in a circle, properly concecrated and prepared. Without the focussed intent of the practitioner, the magic of the visualisation, and the energetic contact with the realities behind the words, the words are empty shells, devoid of life. The reality is not in the words, but shines brightly behind them. Thus they are but shadows, which, however, indicate the reality of the witches mysteries, to which they point. The shadows, it goes without saying, should never be confused with the reality.  In my view, as a reminder of this truth, there could be no better term than “Book of Shadows” for the witches book!

The apology by the Australian Parliament to the stolen generations of Indigenous People, and their families was, in my view, a momentous historical event in the history of the country. Many Australians, however, will not be aware that the apology has reverberated through the psychic atmosphere of Australia, and this psychic atmosphere has significantly shifted and opened in a way that is unique in my experience.

Ever since I can remember, I have felt the psychic environment of my home town, Brisbane, to be oppressive. This was expressed outwardly as the repression of the Bjelke-Petersen years, and a widespread disdain for artistic pursuits, or so it seemed to me. There seemed to me to be a blight of poverty on the place, both materially, and spiritually, causing people to work long and hard for a meargre return, with nothing left over for pursuing the richness of culture, art or spirituality.

Thankfully, this has moderated significantly in the last decade or so, and the atmosphere is much more open. I believe that this psychic oppressiveness comes from a number of causes – including the harsh history of one of the most notorious penal colonies in Australia, Moreton Bay. Its tyrannical commandant, Patrick Logan, is commemorated in the names of the Logan River, and the now city of Logan. Now it beats me why the name of this guy should be commemorated this way at all, but such is the nature of officialdom. One of his major occupations, it would seem, was stringing convicts up on wooden structures, and having them lashed to within an inch of their life. In the name of discipline. A good number of these convicts were Irishmen forced into petty theft by poverty. No wonder the man was hated and feared.

Logan was eventually assassinated by one of the local Indigenous Brothers, no doubt outraged by the atrocities that were being perpetrated under his command. The story is commemmorated in a folk song “Moreton Bay”.

But I digress. Any country must establish its own myths to believe in and give itself meaning. One of the endurring myths of Australia, much harped upon by the Howard Government during its term in office, and its gaggle of conservative commentators, is that of the glorious march of the pioneers, enduring extraordinary hardship to open up the country to farming, settlement, mining and general exploitation. This glorious myth, of course, has a dark side, that of atrocities and dispossession inflicted on the Indigenous inhabitants, who were by and large forcibly removed to “missions”, and forced to live lives without the normal freedoms that most in this country take for granted. Such freedoms as the right to earn a living, to manage one’s own finances, to leave the mission for any reason, or to bring up one’s own children were systematically stripped from our Indigenous Brothers and Sisters. And this was still taking place within the lifetime of a good many Australians living today.

It is high time that Australia apologised for such atrocities in its past, and the Apology to the Stolen Generations is a great beginning to the journey which we have in front of us. This journey, is not just about redressing the wrongs of the past, although this is very important, but about creating a future for Australia.

Pagan philosophy, and esoteric philosophy generally, recognises that reality is manifested outward from the inner dimensions. The future is created by the astral forms that are created today, and through which the future manifests. Prior to the apology, there was, it seemed to me, a strict demarcation between the astral forms of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. The astral dimension of the Indigenous people, it seemed to me, was well guarded, and few non-Indigenous people were given the opportunity of coming into contact with this Astral zone.

After the historical welcome to country at Parliament’s opening the other day, followed by the apology, it seems to me that there has been a loosening of this Astral guard. It is now easier for non-Indigenous Australians to interact with this part of the Astral sphere of Australia.

Of course, the great majority of Australians will have little interest in or awareness of such things. A new generation of Australians will come to maturity taking this loosening for granted. But let those who see and know work constructively within this newly loosened astral framework, in a spirit of respect and cooperation, to co-create a future worthy of our 60,000 years or more of human history.

And what has Captain Logan got to do with this? In my view, our Indigenous Brothers and Sisters have always had our welfare at heart, in spite of the atrocities heaped upon them by the authorities. We modern non-indigenous Australians are, by and large, the prisoners and dupes of those in power, and our own thirst for money and knick knacks that fill our lives with emptiness. Many Indigenous people, through their generosity of heart, I believe, have recognised this. Will the apology be like that spear which dispatched the tyrant Logan, and set us, the sons and daughters of convicts, free from the scourges that rake our collective soul? I sincerely hope that it will be so.

Previously, I have discussed a basic exercise for developing the skills needed to use a magic wand effectively. In this note, I will build on that basic exercise, in which the attention was circulated with the breath, through the right arm, the wand, and then the left arm, forming a continuous circuit through the arms and the wand. This second exercise adds the flow of Earth Energy to the circulating attention.

Sit as before, cross-legged before your altar, or on a chair with back straight and feet flat on the ground. As you breathe out, visualise beneath you, deep in the Earth, a ball of dark red energy. As you breathe in, visualise a beam of this energy streamng out from the ball, striking you at the root chakra at the perineum, just in front of the anal opening, and moving up through the body in a red beam to the naval centre, just behind the belly button. At the naval centre, a small red sphere of earth energy takes shape, which fills your entire aura with a deep red glow. Continue to breathe, placing your attention on the red sphere at your naval centre as you breathe in, and visualising the energy streaming in from the red ball deep within the Earth. As you breathe out, allow your attention to sink deep into the Earth, and unite with the red sphere of energy deep within the Earth.

Allow this visualisation to continue for some minutes, over several cycles of breathing in and out, until the energy filling your aura is a reality, rather than a visualisation. Hold the wand in the channeling grip I described for you previously, and place the tip of the wand in the palm of your left hand. As you breathe out, now, see a beam of red Earth light arise out of your naval chakra, going straight up to the throat chakra at the adam’s apple. As you continue to breathe out, move your attention down your right arm and into your wand through your right palm. As you move your attention, visualise a stream of dark red Earth energy moving from your throat chakra down through your right arm, and through your palm into the wand. The stream of earth energy goes through the wand, and into your left palm. Time the movement of your attention and visualisation so that as the energy reaches your left palm, it is time to begin breathing in. Continue moving your attention, and visualising the flow of energy, up your left arm, back to the throat centre. When the attention and energy flow reaches the throat centre, continue to breath in, and allow the attention and energy to drop down to the naval centre behind the belly button. As you breathe out, allow yur attention to drop down to the ball of Earth energy deep in the Earth, and then as you breathe in, visualise a stream of Earth energy beaming up from deep within the Earth, and charging up your belly centre. Repeat the two breath cycle again, moving the energy and attention through the throat, right arm, wand, left arm throat to naval, and then to deep within the Earth, and back to the belly.

Keep this up for at least ten minutes a day for three weeks, and you will be another step on the way to making excellent use of your wand. When you gain a certain proficiency wth this practice, you will be able to condence the visualisation from four breaths to just two breaths, focusing on moving energy in a circuit from belly to throat, through right arm, wand, left arm, throat to belly again. The connection to the sphere of Earth energy deep within the Earth, and the beam of light from it to your belly can be held lightly in mind throughout.

When this practice becomes an energetic reality for you, rather than a visualisation, you may extend the exercise by opening a distance between the tip of the wand and your left palm. At first, make this a small distance, no more than two or three centimetres. Work at their being no impairment to the energetic flow of the practice. Over the succeeding days and weeks, gradually increase the distance, until the gap is very large, as large as yu can make it, with no impairment to the flow of energy.

When this practice is mastered, it may be used to direct Earth energy in magical workings, for example, to cast a magic circle.

I have just been watching the coverage of the apology, by the Parliament of Australia, to the stolen generations, and their familes – the indigenous children, many now elderly or deceased,  who were taken forcibly from their families during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as late as the early seventies. It has affected me very deeply, and I am quite emotional about it – I can only immagine how indigenous Australians might be feeling at this time. It is overwhelmingly a positive step, and an historic occasion, and I only hope that we as a nation are able to live up to its promise and challenge. In my opinion, one of the most inspiring speakers wasn’t Kevin Rudd, or Brendan Nelson, but the Elder from Uluru who commented that now that the welcome to country had been performed at the opening of parliament, the energy had shifted. No longer colonizers, the newcomers to this country have become welcomed guests.

As many commentators pointed out, it is a beginning, and one which has been long overdue in my opinion. During the last decade, I have had to hang my head in shame on numerous occasions about being Australian. When I have heard the previous lot of politicians speaking about aboriginal issues, and promulgating their policies, and equally with respect to immigrants, both legally sanctioned and otherwise, and many other issues, I have often felt repulsed and ashamed that my country would be so inhumane, uncaring, and ignorant. Today, I feel proud to call myself Australian, and hope with all my heart and soul that today’s sentiments and optimism translate into tangible benefits for future generations of Australians, indigenous and non-indigenous.

How likely is this to occur? Well, we live in a democracy, so the overall driver of this change is the will of the people. In this case the will of the people has been marshalled and built and shared through grass roots movements for change over many decades, and has finally made this moment possible. While this will remains strong and alive, our leaders must take notice.

From an esoteric perspetive, the date of the apology can be viewed as significant. While not able to give an astrological analysis, I can make some comments on the numerological significance. The overall birth number is 1+3+2+2+0+0+8=16=7. The seven vibration, being associated with Saturn, indicates to me that there is much hidden from view that is still to make its way to the surface. The number also carries, to me, the vibration of a dream, whose practical implementation is not clearly discernible. The fullfillment and implementation of this dream depends on tuning into intuition and spiritual consciousness, and cannot be achieved by reason and logic alone. A subsidiary vibration is the number 13=4 from the date of the month. This provides a strong material vibration, indicating that a path forward through practical matters, and material concerns is favoured. Matthew Goodwin in “Numerology, the Complete Guide, Vol 1”, (Newcastle Publishing Company Inc, North Hollywood, 1981) has this to say about a 13 birthday, “Good organizer, manager, but may dominate and irritate others”, “Serious, sincere, persevering”, and “Concentrates on details, often misses the big picture”. This indicates a need to listen, particularly to indigenous people, and to work hard at establishing an attitude of equality and respect. This has yet to be achieved, and the signs are that this is a blind-spot on the part of the government in the process that has been set in motion. We can be re-assured, however, that in spite of this shortcoming, the current government is participating in good faith in the process. The beaurocratic process, by its nature, concentrates on details and minutiae, but the big picture, of moving forward in mutual respect and understanding to build a positive future for all, respecting culture and difference, must not be forgotten. The people will therefore have to constantly remind the government of this big picture, and that they must listen to and show respect to the voice of indigenous Australians in order for today’s beginnings to grow to their full potential.

The combination of the seven and the four is propitious, as the practicality of the four complements the intuition and vision of the seven. However the four and the seven need to learn how to communicate and respect each other to avoid problems. We saw a manifestation of this failing in the way that Brendan Nelson managed to put many indigenous attendees and supporters off-side during his speech by insensitively referring to the “good intentions” which motivated the removal of aboriginal children, by talking about the sacrifices made by non-indigenous pioneers to bring us the wealth and prosperity enjoyed today, and by mentioning the sacrifices of war veterans. This demonstrated a lack of the “seven” intuition and insight which would have alerted him to how insensitive these comments would appear. The same lack was demonstrated in Kevin Rudd’s speech who laid down firm goals for getting every indigenous four year old into pre-school, without a corresponding comitment to indigenously sensitive, culturally relevant, and community-managed education, displaying the dogmatic and over bearing tendency of the 13=4  energy.

Overall, the prognosis is positive, and a seismic shift for the better has occurred. Australia will be a different and improved place from this point forward. I think that February 13^th should become a new day of national celebration, one that all Australians can celebrate without rancour or ill-will. Its celebration each year should prompt the country to reflect on the tangible progress made towards reconciliation on an annual basis. However the people must be vigilant. The major pitfall as always, is that the most important voices, those of indigenous people, will not be heard, and more importantly, listened to, and responded to.

To some people, a wand is a magical accessory that looks impressive on an alter, or when waved about in the air. However, there is much more to a wand than this. It is a magical tool, for use in channeling and directing magical energy. Everything about a wand, in my opinion, should be calculated to improve or enhance its ability to perform its magical function. It may be fine to decorate your wand with various crystals, gemstones, sigils, markings and what not, but each should be chosen and crafted with a view to enhancing the way the wand can be used to fulfill its primary function of focusing the transmission of magical energy. For example, in my experience, energy tends to flow outward from the trunk of a tree towards the leaf ends of branches. This direction is the natural way that energy will like to flow in the finished wand. Crystals tend to also have a particular direction of energy flow, in most cases towards the pointy end. If adding a crystal to your wand, these directions of energy flow must be aligned.

The choice of adhesive is also important, as some adhesives, particularly synthetic adhesives, can interfere with the free flow of energy. Araldite is a popular choice for magical tools, but in my experience it does nothing to enhance the flow of energy. It does not completely block the flow of energy, and will result in a serviceable tool, however using a different adhesive can make a very noticeable improvement in the flow of energy. The adhesive that I have found that enhances the flow of energy most is natural tree resins. They can be mixed with alcohol, or methylated spirit to make a varnish type of adhesive, or powdered and heated in place to fuse and gel together. However, these can be difficult to work with, and a lot of trial and error is required to get it right. One doesn’t need one’s athame blade flying out, or crystal catapaulting off the end of one’s wand at a particularly artistic flourish of a tool!

I believe that hide glue should also provide a very good bond for such things as crystals and athame blades, and being derived from purely natural and living sources should enhance the flow of magical energy. However, being derived from animal sources, those with vegan leanings will want to avoid it. I will keep you posted on this front! I myself prefer the minimalist wand, without any attachment of crystals, or elaborate decorations and markings, because I like the purity of also working directly with the donor tree consciousness – which I believe is best enhanced with an un-adorned wand. However this is no more than a personal preference. Each person’s wand should be an expression of their own magical identity, and embody the significant energies with which they themselves like to work. Each adornment, of course, carries it’s own energetic connection, and its own frequency of consciousness energy.

Now there are many dimensions to the concept of channelling and directing magical energy. As with much of my magical work, I work with the energies of Earth, and Sun, and their sacred union. This is the basic exercise that I do for practicing channeling with my wand. First of all, it is necessary to hold the wand in a way that facilitates the transmission of magical energy from yourself to the wand. The grip I use is to have the base of the wand butted against the centre of my palm, with the fingers and thumb then used to grip the shaft, and hold it to the palm. To get this grip correctly, hold your right hand out, palm up. Holding the wand in your left hand, place it standing in your right palm, so that the natural direction of energy movement is upward. The base of the wand should then be in contact with the energy centre in the centre of the right palm. Continuing to hold the right palm level, left up the thumb and fingers to grasp the wand. This is the grip that I use, with the wand now forming an natural energetic extension of my body.

To practice with the wand, do the following exercise. Sit cross legged in front of your alter, or on a chair so that your feet are flat on the floor. Hold the wand as described above in your right hand, so that the natural direction of energy movement is away from you. Hold the tip of the wand in your left hand, using the same grip as the right hand. Breathe slowly and deeply. Begin with your attention on your throat energy centre. As you breathe out, move your attention to your right shoulder, down the centre of your right upper arm, through your elbow, down the centre of your forearm, through your wrist, to the centre of your palm, and then continue to move it through the wand, and out the tip to the palm of your left hand. Synchronize this movement so that as you are ready to breathe in again, your attention reaches the palm of your left hand. Then as you breathe in, move your attention from your left palm to your left wrist, up through your left forearm, to your left elbow, then through your left upper arm, to your left shoulder, and then rest your attention on your throat centre, just behind the Adam’s Apple, while you complete your breath in. Then repeat the whole process, circulating your attention through right arm, wand, and left arm as you breathe out and then in again. Repeat for at least ten minutes daily for three weeks, and you will be well on the way to using your wand as an effective magical tool.

 I am of the opinion that if one truly wishes to develop psychically, magically, and spiritually, one should spend some time each day specifically devoted to developing one’s self along these lines. Yes it’s fine to perform or attend rituals monthly, or weekly even, and go about one’s life with an awareness on one’s Deities, but more is possible. Yes, every moment is magical already, but we can train ourselves to deepen our appreciation and awareness of this magic. The mind is a creature of habit, and by conditioning magical states and perceptions with regular practice, one may provide oneself with keys to quickly and easily access different states of psychic and magical awareness. Here is something that I do as part of my regular daily practice. Its something that you can do everyday for a period, at least, and then move on to something else. It, like many of the practices I do, embodies and resonates with the Sacred Marriage.

As a younger person, I did many years of weekly Yoga lessons, and I still like to incorporate a number of Yoga stretches into my daily exercise routine. One of the highlights of my Yoga practice was the Salute to the Sun. The exercise I describe is inspired by the Salute to the Sun, but is not nearly so strenuous, and incorporates a balancing salute to the Earth! It also owes something to Starhawk who suggests a similar way of contacting Earth energies in “The Spiral Dance.” The emphasis in this exercise is a little bit different to your standard Yoga practice, at least as typically taught in the West, where the emphasis is on stretching and toning the physical body. In this exercise, which I call the Sacred Marriage Practice, the emphasis is on the contact with the spiritual energies of Earth and Sun, and their union within the body. I have often found that gentle exercise helps to clear the mind and make it receptive to spiritual experience, so this exercise incorporates some gentle stretching and ritual movements. To do this exercise, one should know how to safely perform a forward bend, and to come out of the position again, without straining the back.

Begin by standing upright, relaxed, with feet a shoulder width apart. Bring your hands together in a prayer position at the heart. Then let your hands drop downward, turning the palms inward towards your body, right palm over the back of the left hand, and gradually move into the forward bend position. Stay in the forward bend position for several breaths, and as you do so, visualize an orb of Earth Energy, glowing dark red, deep below your feet. Visualize it sending up a ray of red light, consisting of twin laser beams which strike the bottom of each foot, surrounded by a cylinder of diffuse glowing energy large enough to surround your entire body – somewhat like the teleporter beams on Star Trek!

Come out of the forward bend slowly, unrolling the spine a vertebrae at a time, from the bottom up, moving your hands up in front of your body, and as you do so, drag the Earth energy upward. It is as if your hands are pulling up the column of diffuse red light, surrounding your body with it, and at the same time pulling up the tips of the two red laser beams travelling up your legs. As you come out of the bend, the laser beams move through the hips and unite at the belly, continuing to move up the centre of the body. As your hands pass over the belly, turn them so the finger face upwards, still right palm over back of left hand. Keep moving the energy up, level with your hands, as you move them up past heart and neck. Then as your hands move past your head, visualize the energy spraying out of your crown chakra like a fountain. Rotate the arms out and around, and bring them together in front of the heart in prayer position, and then be aware for several breaths of the flow of Earth energy, up through your body, filling and charging your aura.

The next part of the exercise is to contact the Solar energy. Starting with hands in prayer position in front of the heart, move them up and apart, with palms faced upwards, and arms extended out and slightly upwards. Tilt the head back, and look upwards, and visualize a blazing Solar Orb over head. It sends out three bright rays of light, one to the centre of each palm, and one to the third eye centre in the middle of the forehead, just above the eyebrows. Feel the blazing light beaming down in these three rays, then bring the hands together palm to palm over the top of your head, and tilt the head back upright, so you are looking horizontally. Visualize the three rays coming together into one blazing beam, and begin to bring it down towards your body, as you bring your hands down, still joined palm to palm. Surrounding the central blazing ray, which hits the crown chakra as your hands pass the top of your head, is a cylinder of diffuse yellow or white light, large enough to surround your body completely. As you continue to move your joined hands down the front of your body, passing brow, throat and heart chakras, visualise them pulling down this ray and its surrounding cylinder, the ray travelling down the centre line of the body, the cylinder surrounding the body. As the hands pass the heart chakra, allow them to rotate, and continue moving them down right palm over the back of the left hand, until the arms are hanging straight down. Visualize the beam and cylinder filling/surrounding the entire body. Move the arms out to the sides, and in a circular motion, bring the hands back to prayer position in front of the heart chakra, and for several breaths allow the aura to blaze and resonate with the light of the Solar Orb.

The cycle of Earth energy and Solar energy may then be repeated as you like.

The performance of such an exercise has three phases. In the first phase, we are constructing a template for the influx of these two currents of energy. In this phase, the visualisation may feel awkward and difficult, taking a lot of mental effort. However with repeated practice, the imaginative template takes form, and the visualisation becomes easier and easier. At a certain point, the exercise ceases to be a visualisation at all, because the energies become actualities. These energy flows are conditioned to go with the movements, and the visualisations, which then become keys to the influx of the energies. Thus the second phase of the exercise is that it becomes a tool, a key, for bringing these energies into the body. The visualisation and movements can then be used, separately or together, in any situation when it is desired to bring in Earth or Solar energy. After further practice, the key becomes locked in, that is it will remain available to you even after a long period of inactivity. This is the third phase of the practice.

Generally speaking, the first phase may be as short as a few days for someone who is well experienced with magical exercises, visualisation, and the contact of such energies, or it may be several weeks or even months for someone who is new to such undertakings. The second phase, up until the key is “locked-in” may take at least several weeks of practice on most days, and a period of three months should be adequate in most cases. The third phase then commences, and the key may be used when required, but daily practice is no longer necessary. The time may be used to develop some other aspect of the magical life. The key can be kept fresh with a practice one or two days a month, if opportunities do not present themselves for its use during the course of one’s day. If the key was successfully locked in, the one or two days of practice a month will shown no diminution of the experience, and it will be gradually found to be continually strengthening with your magical advancement. If however, the key was not successfully locked in, then you will notice that the strength of the experience is diminishing with time, or becoming more difficult. In this way you can find out how long you take to lock in a key, and plan your practice accordingly!

Like any art, the more your practice, the better able you will be able to perform when called upon to do so. A good daily practice routine provides one with the keys that can be instantly called upon when the necessity arises. The more you practice in the first and second phases, the more solid and long lasting the key becomes. When sufficient practice is done to lock in the key, then it will be available for you for the rest of your life, needing only minimal refreshment from time to time. The effect of practising the various magical exercises I suggest in these pages is cumulative – that is the mastery of one makes the mastery of subsequent exercises quicker and easier.

Good luck with your practice!