Transcendental Magic — Éliphas Lévi
The text is shown on its own: no facing layer is held for this issue.
p. 239amorous operations, the vestment should be of sky blue, the hangings of green and rose, the ornaments of polished copper, the crowns of violets, the wreaths of roses, myrtle, and olive ; the ring should be enriched with a turquoise ; lapis-lazuli and beryl will answer for tiara and clasps ; the fans must be of swan's feathers, and the operator must wear upon his breast a copper talisman with the character of Anael and the words : AVEEVA VADELILITH.
On Saturday, a day of funeral operations, the vestment must be black or brown, with characters embroidered in black or orange coloured silk ; on the neck must be worn a leaden medal with the character of Saturn and the words : ALMALEC, APHIEL, ZARAHIEL ; the perfumes should be diagridrium, scammony, alum, sulphur, and assafcetida ; the ring should be adorned with an onyx, the garlands should be of ash, cypress, and hellebore ; on the onyx of the ring, during the hours of Saturn, the double head of Janus should be engraved with the consecrated awl.
Such are the antique magnificences of the secret cultus of the magi With similar appointments the great magicians of the Middle Ages proceeded to the daily consecration of talismans corresponding to the seven genii. We have already said that a pantacle is a synthetic character resuming the entire magical doctrine in one of its special conceptions.
It is, therefore, the full expression of a completed thought and will ; it is the signature of a spirit. The ceremonial consecration of this sign attaches to it still more strongly the intention of the operator, and establishes a veritable magnetic chain between himself and the pantacle. Pantacles may be indifferently traced upon virgin parchment, paper, or metals.
What is termed a talisman is a sheet of metal, bearing either pantacles or characters, and having received a special consecration for a defined intention. In a learned work on magical antiquities, Gaffarel has scientifically demonstrated the real power of talismans, and the confidence in their virtue is otherwise so strong in nature that we gladly bear about p. 240us some memorial of those we love, persuaded that such keepsakes will preserve us from danger and increase our happiness. Talismans are made of the seven Kabbalistic metals, and, when the days and hours are favourable, the required and determined signs are engraved upon them. The figures of the seven planets, with their magical squares, following Paracelsus, are found in the " Little Albert.
It should be observed that Paracelsus replaces the figure of Jupiter by that of a priest, a substitution not wanting in a well-defined mysterious intention. But the allegorical and mythological figures of the seven spirits have now become too classical and too vulgar to be any longer successfully engraved on talismans ; we must recur to more learned and expressive signs.
The pentagram should be invariably engraved upon one side of the talisman, with a circle for the sun, a crescent for the moon, for Mars a sword, a G for Venus, for Jupiter a crown, and a scythe for Saturn.
The other side must bear the sign of Solomon, that is, the six-pointed star composed of two superposed triangles ; in the centre there is placed a human figure for the talismans of the sun, a chalice for those of the moon, a dog's head for those of Mercury, an eagle's for those of Jupiter, a lion's head for those of Mars, a dove's for those of Venus, and a bull's or goat's for those of Saturn.
The names of the seven angels are added either in Hebrew, in Arabic, or in magical characters like those of the alphabet of Trithemius, The two triangles of Solomon may be replaced by the double cross of the wheels of Ezekiel, which is found on a great number of ancient pantacles, and is, as we have observed in our Doctrine, the key to the trigrammes of Fohi.
Precious stones may also be employed for amulets and talismans ; but all objects of this nature, whether metals or gems, must be carefully kept in silken bags of a colour analogous to that of the spirit of the planet, perfumed with the perfumes of the corresponding day, and preserved from all impure glances and contacts. Thus, pantacles and talismans of the sun must not be seen or touched by deformed p. 241or misshapen persons, or by immoral women ; those of the moon are profaned by the looks and hands of debauched men and menstruating females ; those of Mercury lose their virtue if seen or touched by paid priests ; those of Mars must be concealed from cowards ; those of Venus from depraved men and men under a vow of celibacy ; those of Jupiter from the impious ; those of Saturn from virgins and children, not that their looks or touches can ever be impure, but because the talisman would bring them misfortune and thus lose all its virtue.
Crosses of honour and other kindred decorations are veritable talismans, which increase personal value and merit ; they are consecrated by solemn investiture, and public opinion can impart to them a prodigious power.
Sufficient attention has not been paid to the reciprocal influence of signs on ideas and of ideas on signs ; it is not less true that the revolutionary work of modern times, for example, has been symbolically resumed in its entirety by the Napoleonic substitution of the Star of Honour for the Cross of St Louis.
It is the pentagram in place of the labarum, it is the reconstitution of the symbol of light, it is the Masonic resurrection of Adonhiram. They say that Napoleon believed in his star, and could he have been persuaded to explain what he meant by this star, it would have proved to be his genius ; he would therefore have adopted the pentagram for his sign, that symbol of human sovereignty by intelligent initiative.
The mighty soldier of the Eevolution knew little, but he divined almost everything ; so was he the greatest instinctive and practical magician of modern times ; the world is still full of his miracles, and the country people will never believe that he is dead.
Blessed and indulgenced objects, touched by holy images or venerable persons ; chaplets from Palestine ; the Agmis Dei, composed of the wax of the Paschal candle, and the annual remnants of holy chrism ; scapulas and medals, are all true talismans. One such medal has become popular Q
No commentary for this page under the selected tracks.
There is commentary on page 1.