The Purifying and Closing of A Magical Ritual
“The magician should perform some version of an opening purification rite to begin and operation and some closing rite to conclude it. Such operations frame the greater working, setting apart, and thus sanctifying, the time and space in which it is carried out.
The whole idea of “purification” is just another way of saying “concentration of essence.” When a person or area is “purified” it is dedicated to a single, pure, and simply purpose – that of the working. This involves two things, which are the exclusion of things detrimental to the concentrated purpose and the concentration of essence on the purpose of the operation. This is how purification is best considered.”
- Hermetic Magic
“To close any operation after the completion of the working phase, a customary ritual should be developed by every magician. It is important to signal the end of the working so that the magical effects which you have set in motion can begin to work independently of your own concentrated will. In order to have this happen you must give all forces gathered for the working leave to depart and you must break the encircling surrounding the place of operation. These ends are most easily reached by uttering a verbal formula. Then simply step outside the area purified and sanctified for the working and put the events of the operation out of your mind.”
- Hermetic Magic
“One of the functions of the closing ritual is to put an “official” end to the working. This concentrates the magical will in a definite space and time. The main operative benefit of this is that the dynamis of the magician can be freed from the limitations placed on it by mental constraints such as anxiety over the success of the rite, or desire for the result. Once the working is done it is already successful.”
- Hermetic Magic
“You will need a place set aside for your rituals where you can feel safe, at peace with your emotions, secure from interruption and distraction. You must be able to concentrate completely on one purpose during the time of the ritual. If the person in the next apartment is blasting the stereo, and this gets on your nerves, it is a poor ritual place. You must conduct your rituals at a time when this distraction does not exist, or find another place.
As far as possible, everything in the ritual place that is not in harmony with the ritual purpose, whatever it may be at that time, should be minimized or excluded. Everything that supports the ritual purpose should be prominently present, with the proviso that clutter is always a distraction.”
- Hermetic Magic
“USE VISUALIZATION OR VERBAL THOUGHT -WHATEVER COMES MOST NATURALLY TO YOU. BUT DO NOT CONCENTRATE UPON ANY LACKS, JUST UPON YOUR DESIRE. USE ALL YOUR ENERGY AND ATTENTION. THEN FORGET ABOUT IT. DO NOT CHECK TO SEE HOW WELL IT IS WORKING. SIMPLY MAKE SURE THAT IN THAT PERIOD YOUR INTENTIONS ARE CLEAR.”
- SETH (The Nature of Personal Reality)
