Transcendental Magic — Éliphas Lévi
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p. 216man who is timid in the water will never reign over the undines ; one who is afraid of fire will never command salamanders ; so long as we are liable to giddiness we must leave the sylphs in peace, and forbear from irritating the gnomes ; for inferior spirits will only obey a power which has overcome them in their own element.
When this incontestable faculty has been acquired by exercise and daring, the word of our will must be imposed on the elements by special consecrations of air, fire, water, and earth. This is the indispensable preliminary of all magical operations. The air is exercised by breathing towards the four cardinal points, saying : — The Spirit of God moved upon the waters, and breathed into the face of man the breath of life.
Be Michael, my leader, and Sabtabiel, my servant, in and by the light. May my breath become a word, and I will rule the spirits of this creature of air ; I will curb the steeds of the sun by the will of my heart, and by the thought of my mind, and by the apple of the right eye. Therefore I do exorcise thee, creature of air, by Pentagrammaton, and in the name Tetragrammaton, wherein are firm will and true faith. Amen. Sela : Fiat. So be it.
The prayer of the sylphs must next be recited, after tracing their sign in the air with the quill of an eagle. Prayer of the Sylphs.
Spirit of Light, Spirit of Wisdom, whose breath gives and takes away the form of all things ; Thou before whom the life of every being is a shadow which transforms and a vapour which passes away ; Thou who ascendest upon the clouds and dost fly upon the wings of the wind ; Thou who breathest out and the limitless immensities are peopled ; Thou who breathest in and all which came forth from Thee unto Thee returneth ; endless movement in the eternal stability, be Thou blessed for ever ! We praise Thee and we bless Thee in the fleeting empire of created light, of p. 217shadows, reflections, and images, and we aspire without ceasing towards Thine immutable and imperishable splendour. May the ray of Thine intelligence and the warmth of Thy love descend on us ; then what is volatile shall be fixed, the shadow shall become body, the spirit of the air shall receive a soul, and the dream be a thought.
We shall be swept away no more before the tempest, but shall bridle the winged steeds of the morning, and guide the course of the evening winds, that we may flee into Thy presence. O Spirit of Spirits, 0 eternal Soul of Souls, 0 imperishable Breath of Life, 0 Creative Sigh, O Mouth which dost breathe forth and withdraw the life of all beings in the ebb and flow of Thine eternal speech, which is the divine ocean of movement and of truth ! Amen.
Water is exorcised by imposition of hands, breathing, and speech ; consecrated salt, and a little of the ash which remains in the pan of incense, are also mingled with it.
The aspergillus is formed of twigs of vervain, periwinkle, sage, mint, ash, and basil, tied by a thread taken from a virgin's distaff, and provided with a handle of hazelwood from a tree which has not yet fruited ; the characters of the seven vspirits must be graven thereon with the magic bodkin. The salt and ash must be separately consecrated, saying : — Over the Salt.
May wisdom abide in this salt, and may it preserve our minds and bodies from all corruption, by Hochmael, and in the virtue of Euach-Hochmael ! May the phantoms of Hyle depart herefrom, that it may become a heavenly salt, salt of the earth and earth of salt, that it may feed the threshing ox, and strengthen our hope with the horns of the flying bull ! Amen. Over the Ash. May this ash return unto the fount of living waters, may it become a fertile earth, and may it bring forth the tree of p. 218life, by the Three Names, which are Netsah, Hod, and Jesod, in the beginning and in the end, by Alpha and Omega, which are in the spirit of AZOTH ! Amen. Mingling the Water, Salt, and Ash. In the salt of eternal wisdom, in the water of regeneration, and in the ash whence the new earth springeth, be all things accomplished by Eloim, Gabriel, Eaphael, and Uriel, through the ages and seons ! Amen.
Exorcism of the Water. Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters ; the things which are above are like unto things which are below, and things below are like unto things above, for the performance of the wonders of one thing.
The sun is its father, the moon its mother, the wind hath carried it in the belly thereof ; it ascendeth from earth to heaven, and again it descendeth from heaven to earth. I exorcise thee, creature of water, that thou mayest become unto men a mirror of the living God in His works, a fount of life, and ablution of sins. Prayer of the Undines.
Dread King of the Sea, who hast the keys of the floodgates of heaven, and dost confine the waters of the underworld in the caverns of earth ; King of the deluge and the floods of the springtime ; Thou who dost unseal the sources of rivers and fountains ; Thou who dost ordain moisture, which is like the blood of earth, to become the sap of plants : Thee we adore and Thee we invoke !
Speak unto us, Thine inconstant and unstable creatures, in the great tumults of the sea, and we shall tremble before Thee ; speak unto us also in the murmur of limpid waters, and we shall yearn for Thy love ! O Immensity into which flow
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