History of Western Magic: 1. Prologue
History of Western Magic: 1. Prologue
History of Western Magic: 1. Prologue
© 1996 – 2001 by Borce T. Gjorgjievski. All Rights Reserved. No part is to be reproduced electronically, printed or in any other
form without a written permission of the author. The author can be contacted by email at borce@altavista.net .
1. Prologue
This short account (since a longer one would take many volumes) of the western
traditions of Magic and Spirituality is intended to show a continuous development line of an
uninterrupted magical thought in the Western World. We start five thousand years in the past
when our ancestors just started to build the first cities (and built them well), and we end in the
twentieth century with the techno-shamanism of the new cults. This story is about what
happened in between …
2. Asyro-Babylonian Magic
The religion and pantheon on the ground of today's Iran and Iraq 4000 years ago
resembled the ancient Indian (Arian) one. It consisted of two groups of Gods: Ahuras and
Daivas. In the beginning these two types of Gods had the same status, but then they
segregated. While in India Daivas became gods and Ahuras became demons, in the Asyro-
Babylonian civilization Ahuras became gods and Daivas devolved to demons. Asyro-
Babylonian religion relied heavily on Astrology and, in fact, the oldest concepts of astrology
come from the areas around the rivers of Eufrat and Tiger, from ancient Mesopotamia. From
here astrology was distributed to India, China, Greece and the rest of the world. The Asyrians
were the ones who invented the Zodiac, the twelve signs, the 360 degrees circle, the idea of a
“creative rest” day, the week of 7 days, the 12 months, 60 minutes in an hour, and they had
very developed mathematics, mostly for the needs of Astrology.
From the Asyro-Babylonian tradition originate the words Magic, Mage, and Magus.
Magi (Magoi) were the highest priests, or “learned men,” in the Asyro-Babylonian kingdom,
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and their art or science was called magic (or Magia). In the Bible they are occasionally
mentioned as a “tribe” which may point that the position was hereditary. Originally the Magi
were just one of the many tribes in Mesopotamia, but later most of the priests were chosen
exactly from this tribe and its name became symbol for magic and magicians. The Magi were
known for their worship of fire, and had reputation of being able to control and direct fire and
lightening. Eliphas Levi says that the Magi have discovered the secret of electricity and
“were able to generate and direct it in ways that are now unknown” (History, 55). In favor of
this may speak the artifacts that were found around today’s Baghdad, 4000 years old, and
which looked like modern batteries. When scientist filled them with alkaline solution the
“Baghdad Batteries” were perfectly able to produce electricity.
In the oldest theogonies of the Asyro-Babylonian originally the highest god was Enlil,
the Lord Wind, but in other theogonies An (Anum) was the ruling god, together with his son
Enki (Ea). Anum was the Sky God, and the king of all the other gods, while Ea was the God
of Wisdom, and also the Lord of the Earth. Although Anum was the king of the gods, Enlil
had the executive power, which he often usurped. The most important god in the Babylonian
tradition was Marduk, who originally was just an aspect of the Sun God. Under Babylonians
he achieved supreme status and was equated with Asallunhi, the God of Magic. The latter
cult of Mithraism, that was spread through the Roman Empire in the first centuries of our era
and was the main competitor to Christianity, has its origins on Mesopotamian soil. The
theogonies of the Mesopotamian cultures also contained entities which were usually not
counted as gods but were sometimes considered more powerful than gods. Such entities were
Tiamat, the mother of gods, which was identified with salt water, and Abzu, her counterpart,
who fertilized her with his seed which is identified with fresh water. Tiamat was killed by
Enlil when she tried to avenge the murder of Abzu. From the dead body of Tiamat, man was
created.
The greatest magical figure of these times was Zarathustra (or Zoroaster in Greek
pronunciation). Different authors date his life differently, and some speculate that there were
several Zarathustras. The accepted time period of his life is usually put in the VI-VII century
BCE, while some authors date it more precisely “258 years before Alexander [of Macedon].”
Zarathustra proclaimed one God from the kind of Ahuras, called Ahura Mazda, or only
Mazda, which means “Sage God” or “Sage.” Zarathustra was his prophet on Earth. But on the
opposite side of this God who represented all good and right, Zarathustra put Ahriman, the
personification of all evil. These two forces were in a constant combat with each other which
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kept the equilibrium of the universe. Zarathustrian religion was basically dualistic, because he
gave both Gods almost the same power. Zarathustrian teaching is written in the holy book
“Awesta,” and the oldest part of it consists of 20,000 verses called gathas, written personally
by Zarathustra. These verses brought him the reputation of magician, and father of magic, but
they are also beautiful as poetry. Herzfeld says about them: “The gathas are poetry. Be there
ever so much darkness in them, the train of thought clears up with the progress of
study”(238).
3. Egyptian Magic
The religion of the Ancient Egyptians was inseparably intermingled with magic. The
Egyptian religion, alike the early Mesopotamian religion, was streaming directly from
Shamanism, and therefore had more close contact with its spiritual forces. One of the
strongest characteristics of the Egyptian magic and religion was the use of the “words of
power.” The old Egyptians believed that every object, human or god, had its “true name,” and
if a magician knew that name he could control the entity that bears it. Most of the spells were
cast calling the “true names” of the deities who were supposed to obey every wish of the
operator when called by those names. These names were usually in a foreign jargon,
meaningless to the operator, and hard to pronounce. The failure of such operations was
usually ascribed to the mispronunciation of those names. We have modern variations of this
tradition especially reflected in the Enochian language and the ‘Barbarous Names’ in Chaos
Magic.
An example of the use of these “words of power” can be found in the legend of Isis
and Osiris. The goddess Isis, later the wife of Osiris, the legend says, was a mortal woman
who was very skilled in magic. She knew that Osiris was taking walks through his park every
day, and one day she concealed a poisonous snake on his path. Osiris got bitten by the snake
and he yelled for help, but no one could help him since only Isis had the antidote. She came
and asked from him his true name in exchange for the cure. At first he didn’t agree, but as
death approached him, he whispered his real name to Isis. With this name she became a
goddess and married Osiris.
The famous Egyptologist E.W. Budge, says the following about the power of the
names in ancient Egypt: “It was believed that if a man knew the name of a god or a devil, and
addresses him by it, he was bound to answer him and do whatever he [the man] wished; and
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the possession of the knowledge of the name of a man enabled his neighbor to do him good
or evil”(157).
Egyptians had particular love for amulets and talismans. They were everyday thing,
worn for health, luck, money, protection, etc. Most of the curing in the Egyptian medicine
was done through amulets and spells, and very little through material cures, since Egyptians,
despite their knowledge of the complicated mummification processes, knew very little of
anatomy and physiology, and of the causes of illnesses. Many of the Egyptian amulets are
used even today. Such are the “udjat,” or the eye of Horus, which was suppose to give the
bearer power to see things that other cannot see, also the “ankh,” the Egyptian cross, which
gives long life, and the scarab, symbol of resurrection, and thus overly used in the
mummification process.
Egyptians, alike the surrounding nations, extensively used wax figures for spell
casting and enchanting objects at distance. Usually they would ascribe the actions taken
during the casting of the spell to some deity, depending on the task, so that the punishment, in
case of failure, does not fail on the operator. There were special formulas for procuring
dreams, even for ordering certain kind of dreams, of precognitive or other nature. The
Ancient Egyptians, alike the other ancient civilizations gave special importance to dreams,
which they considered communication from the gods. Fatalism was wide spread, since they
believed the destiny of a man was set before he was born. Therefore astrology, especially in
the form of natal horoscopes, was very widely used. Connected with this was the belief in
“lucky” and “unlucky” days and according to their tables almost every third day in a year was
unlucky.
Man was considered to be consisted of nine parts: a physical body, a shadow, a
double or KA, a soul or BA, a heart or IB, a spirit or KHU, a power, a name, and a spiritual
body. The KA, was the double of the physical body and it remained around the grave after
death. In the graves of the pharaohs there were special places built for the KA, called “The
Temples of KA.” The KA was usually shown as two upward hands. The IB or the heart had
great influence after the death when the earthly deeds of the individual were judged. The
heart was measured against a feather, and if it showed heavier, the person was thrown to a
crocodile-like monster to be eaten. In the “Book of the Dead” there are special prayers with
which the person prays to his heart not to testify against him. The BA or the soul leaves for
heaven after death, and it might visit the grave from time to time. It was depicted as a bird
with the head of the person.
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The process of mummification was the most complicated ritual in the Egyptian magic
and religion. The body was anointed with countless perfumes, specially prescribed amulets
and formulas were put in special places, talismans and sacred stones were put in their places,
and many liturgies and evocations were held around the dead body. The social strata (or
“cast”) of the priests, who were the only magicians, was kept absolutely closed to outsiders.
Only in the latter days could foreigners receive initiation, and even then very rarely and under
terrible oaths of secrecy. The priests considered themselves to be the “guardians of the relics
of the former wisdom of nature” (Shepard, 287), in which definition we can recognize echoes
of the primeval Shamanism.
4. Hebrew Magic
With Judaism the polytheistic eon started its downfall while the monotheistic eon started to
rise. There were attempts at creating a monotheistic religion already in Ancient Egypt with
the pharaoh Akhenaton who proclaimed the sun god of Lower Egypt, Aton, as the supreme
and only God. He built many temples for Aton, and gave up his deity (pharaohs were
considered gods) in favor of his new God. His name, Akhenaton, means in the mercy of
Aton. Unlike the other pharaohs, Akhenaton was depicted on the frescos and the pictures as
imperfect human, bald and with a good-sized belly. The high priests of the old gods hated
him for what he has done, and immediately after his death restored the old religion and erased
the name of Akhenaton from every document or inscription they could find.
While in polytheism magic was not only allowed, but also a necessary part of religion and
people’s everyday life, with monotheism there’s a different attitude. The monotheistic God
condemns magic, because magic was always man's attempt to seize the power of God. The
standard Biblical explanation is that by magic humans violate the order in God’s universe -
they try to reach knowledge that is not meant for them (past, future, etc.); Adam and Eve
were expelled from the Paradise because they could “become like one of Us.” A monotheistic
God doesn't want rivals, and even the personification of evil, the Satan, exists only because
God allows it. In such environment only prayer was considered as a permissible mean to
influence reality. In the Old Testament there is a reference which suggest that a true believer
should not allow a witch to live.( Exodus|22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Deuteronomy|18:10 There shall not be found among you [any one] that maketh his son or his
daughter to pass through the fire, [or] that useth divination, [or] an observer of times, or an
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5. Graeco-Roman Magic
The Magic of the classical world was formed under the influence of many factors
including the preceding cultures and their own traditions. Greek magic was formed under the
influence of the Hebrew magic, Egyptian magic, Greece's own Pantheon, and the teachings of
the Pythagorean and Platonist philosophy schools. Many Greek scholars (like Solon) went to
Egypt to complete their education. They brought parts of the Egyptian culture, as well as
parts of other cultures from the surrounding countries. It is very unfortunate that the Greeks
were so amazed by Egypt and its religion that they tended to see everything as magic, even in
the most ordinary religious rituals of the Egyptians. Hence along with some real magical
information, Greek manuscripts are full of exaggerated stories about adventures in Egypt.
The famous story about Atlantis has its roots in one of Solon’s stories about his
studies in Egypt. He was talking to an Egyptian priest, after he spent a lot of time in his
temple and gained the trust of the priest, and the priest started reading him on of the texts
written on a pillar in the temple. The story was about an ancient race of people that lived long
ago from the other side of Gibraltar. The priest said that the Greeks, though they don’t know
it, look alike this race. He said that they had developed civilization, command of the air and
the water and were very intelligent. He goes on describing their capital, which consisted of
concentric circles of water and soil with ports on each land circle. On the innermost circle
was built the largest and the most beautiful temple the world has seen, and was devoted to the
fire, or the sun by some other sources. The priest told Solon how this race was in war with
another race and their land was destroyed in that war and went under the sea. The people
were forced to settle in the surrounding lands. One of the groups settled on the territory of
today southern Greece. When Solon asked the priest why he never heard about such
civilization, the priest answered that only the old cultures have preserved some memory of it,
and the Egyptians as the oldest culture, have many documents about that and other older
civilizations, since, the priest said, “many cultures have lived and died on this earth, and we
are neither first nor the last.”
Roman magic, alike Roman religion, is mainly a copy of the Greek one, but it was also
influenced by the surrounding cultures. Romans inherited the great Greek pantheon, with all
the legends and myths, but they also inherited the myths and the customs of the neighboring
Etrurian culture, which are still a great deal unknown. The Etrurians were another people
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(like the Greeks, the Basks, etc.) that do not belong into any Indo-European ethnical group.
They had their own language and alphabet and had developed culture in the time when
Romulus and Remus were still sucking milk from their wolf mother. When Romans grew
into a powerful civilization they assimilated the Etrurians and they stopped to exist as a
separate entity. The Romans accepted many customs from the Etrurians, one of the most
important one being the telling the future from the liver of a sacrificial animal or by the flight
of birds. Rome was also a place where beliefs from north like those of the Celts and the
Germans, and from south like those of the Hebrews and the Persians, met and mixed. All this,
even before the coming of Christianity, produced one very mixed and diverse environment
that was very fertile for the development of magic and magicians. Two most important
magicians from this time are Apolonius of Tyana and Apuleius.
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5.2 Apuleius
Apuleius was born in the North African Roman colonies about the first century AD.
His name appears on several books preserved today but we are certain that only three are
originally his. The first one called “Metamorphosis,” or better known as the “Golden Ass,” is
a story about how a young man is turn into an ass because of his curiosity. He watches a
young witch turning into a bird after putting magic oil on her skin, and he wants to try it too.
But he mixes the oils and ends up transformed into an ass. In the rest of the book the
adventures of the man as an ass are described and finally he is turned back into a man by the
goddess Isis herself, and becomes her priest. The book is primarily a social critique of the
society in Roman times, since the ass has free access everywhere and hears people’s most
hidden thoughts. Apuleius shows a profound knowledge of the magic done in Roman times,
and especially of the non-religion-bounded magic, which has been preserved until today.
However, it is mainly from his next work “Apologia de Res Magia” that we obtain some
more information about his magical works. This book is his defense in front of a court against
the accusation that he married a rich widow using his magical abilities. The accusers are of
course the widow's relatives who don’t want to see the widow's money going to Apuleius. In
his Apologia, Apuleius not only defends himself and is proclaimed innocent by the court, but
he also shows his great knowledge of magic. He, among the first, divides magic into harmful
and useful, i.e. black and white, and shows how magic can be used for curing and beneficial
goals. In his next work “De Daemonum Socrates,” Apuleius discusses the existence of gods
and demons, as well as the ways to communicate with them.
6. Medieval Magic
The period between VI and XVIII century is usually called the “Middle Ages” or the
“Medieval Period”. Sometimes the medieval period is divided in two sub-periods, early
medieval, from VI to XIII century AD, and later medieval, from XIV to XVIII century AD.
The early medieval period bears the imprints of the Roman Empire for a long time, especially
in the Eastern Roman Kingdom, later Byzantium. After the last traces of the Roman Empire
disappeared, Europe fell back to barbarism, correspondingly to the people who populated it.
Centuries will pass before anything similar to the aqueducts, amphitheatres, cities, roads, arts
and sciences of the Romans is replicated in Europe. Centuries of dark years, illiterate peons,
ignorant rulers and corrupt clergymen trying to extinguish every spark of free thought and
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progressive ideas, the Dark Night of the Soul for the western world. In this period we find
institutionalized Christianity already firm on its throne, and now the Christian rulers can
afford such a luxury as banning all other religions and any occult research on their territories.
However, there are hints that many priests, bishops, nobleman, kings and queens, even popes
dabbled in magic very intensely.
The later medieval period is marked by the revolution of humanism and renaissance and the
first efforts towards building empirical sciences. It opens the gates for the revival of all the
sciences in the XIX century. Classical manuscripts are being read, translated, discussed, and
speculated upon. New theories are being developed, experiments conducted, old illusions
and dogmas rejected while the Church clenched its teeth and threw nostalgic looks towards
the still smoking stakes.
The occult sciences had their revival in this period as well. After centuries of hodgepodge
from half-literate writers who compiled classical philosophical works with folk magic and
sold that to the gullible who could pay and were dumb enough to actually perform all the
gibberish inside, finally people with some mental capacity started looking at the classical
magic manuscripts. Also, the invention of the printing press brought a revolution in the book
printing business. Before the XIV century in Europe were circulating around 20,000
different books, while after the invention of the press the number of the books circulating
increased to 200,000 books in just 50 years (Breau 32). Literature about magic and the occult
was not a small part of this circulation.
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with the sole purpose of achieving material wealth or getting the love (read: sex) of women.
It is very hard to find the bits of wisdom among all that junk and many people still perform
rituals from some rotten manuscripts written by a half-literate editor who collected the stuff
from several manuscripts he never understood. This especially goes for the pronunciation and
the spelling of various magical formulas and incantations, where the mistakes are hilarious
sometimes. The Church and the Christian rulers have always prosecuted the magicians and
burned their books, but most of the Grimoires were based on the Christian tradition and
worshipped “Our Lord Jesus Christ” on every page.
6.1.1 Picatrix
This is one of the oldest existing latin grimoires from the medieval period. The
version currently existing of this grimoire is a Latin translation of Arabic original that is
probably a translation of a Greek original. The Arab culture served as a warden for Greek and
Roman works during the dark ages in Europe, when the church banned all speculation
beyond the Apostolic Canon. Islam showed much more tolerance towards metaphysical
thought and speculations. Today, we can thank Arab learned men that we have some works
of Plato, Aristotle and other philosophers still preserved today. The Greek and Latin works
were retranslated to their original languages from Arabic manuscripts during the renaissance
and Europe rediscovered what she always had.
Picatrix is a classical grimoire with spells and rituals for invoking ghosts, creating talismans,
discovering treasures, etc. It discusses the nature of demons and other spirits, mainly using
the teachings of the Neo-Platonist school, and gives several ways of communicating with
them. Aside from its non-readability, and highly confusing and metaphorical language, this
grimoire is significant because it doesn't have as much Christian influence as the others, so
we can trace the transformations of the magical thought back through history.
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attributed to one of the Magnus' students Tomas Aquinas, another of the "doctors," who was
accused that he started dabbling in magic and alchemy in his older days.
However the real author is unknown, and it might be just another compilation, but this time
by a little bit more learned editor. The book contained sections on talismans, magic power of
gems, spells, etc. In the XVII century another book appeared called "Albertus Minoris" and it
contained mainly folk magic, from the kind of how to make your cow give more milk, the
only valuable parts of the book are the ones copied from the books of Paracelzus. Albertus
Minoris is probably a compilation of the publisher who wanted to profit on the popularity of
the previous book (Breau 45).
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references about sacrificing animals, and some of them (like young goat or lamb for example)
Levi interpreted like codes for sacrificing human beings. The book had several editions, as
well as some modern reprints.
6.2 Kabbalah
About a hundred years ago Kabbalah was considered a system of Hebrew religious
and mystical philosophy. Only after the destruction of the secret magic order “Golden Dawn”
it was revealed that Kabbalah had an occult and magical tradition woven in it. The word
“Kabbalah” means “Tradition”, or literally “from mouth to ear.” The Kabbalistic rituals and
methods weren't put on paper until the “Golden Dawn.” Kabbalah is extremely important for
Western Magic because most of it is based on the concepts that Kabbalah developed.
Kabbalah teaches that the whole visible world was created by emanations from the “Superior
Being” and the Kabbalists describe that process through a diagram called “The Tree of Life”
which consist of three veils, 22 paths, 10 sephiroth (fruits), and one hidden sephira. Kabbalah
teaches that the “Superior Being” emanated itself first through the three veils than in the
highest sephiroth which is the plan of God, and continued to emanate itself in more and more
dense form until it finally came to the last, tenth sephiroth which is the material plan.
Kabbalah attributes certain powers to each of the sephiroths and essential parts of the
Kabbalah are the methods for evoking these powers. Kabbalah considers the tree of life as a
diagram of the universe (macrocosm), as well as the diagram of the human being
(microcosm).
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Kabbalah's teachings in a hidden form, the form for the non-initiated, are given in two main
books. The first, called Sefer Jecirah, in a symbolic way describes “The Tree of Life” and the
properties of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet which are attributed to the paths on “The
Three of Life.” Sefer Jecirah's oldest versions dates from the VI century AD, but it claims
that it comes from the first men on earth. The second important book is Sefer Zohar or “The
Book of Splendor”. Opposite to Sefer Jecirah, which is about 20-30 pages long, Zohar comes
in five volumes and thousands of pages more of commentaries. Zohar speaks in extremely
metaphoric language which is understandable only for the initiates of the Kabbalah. So, you
cannot understand it if you don’t know it, and you cannot know it if you don’t understand it.
After the destruction of the Golden Dawn order, the parts of the Kabbalah that were never put
in writing were published by Aleister Crowley, and later by Israel Regardie.
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used them to teach obedience to the flock. Goethe was among the first writers that granted
Dr. Faustus a happy end in his work. The previous authors almost without exception finished
their stories with Faustus being carried to Hell by the devil. What is mainly unknown is that
there is a book preserved today under Czechoslovakian translation with Faustus as an author.
The book claims to be translation of a German original and contains spells and rituals for
evoking ghost and elemental spirits, much like a classical grimoire.
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Dee was trying to communicate with spirits all of his life, mostly through other spirit
mediums, since he found out early in his career that he is not much of a medium himself. His
greatest success was in working with the Irishman Edward Kelley who had both his ears cut
off for fraud. Dee met Kelly in 1582, and despite Kelley’s difficult personality, together they
achieved great success in channeling communication from spiritual beings that Dee called
“angels.” These “angels” gave Dee an alphabet and a full-fledged language with it’s own
grammar rules and syntax, which could be used for direct communication with the spiritual
world. The language and the system were called Enochian after the biblical prophet Enoch,
to whom, the angels claimed, this knowledge was initially given. However, the apocryphical
“Book of Enoch” discovered only in the XX century has no connection whatsoever with the
system Dee and Kelly created. Usually Kelly would look into a crystal ball where he would
see an angel that would convey different messages by showing letters on a table in front of
him (the like of which Dee constructed according to the instructions from the angels) and Dee
would write down the messages and later interpret them. The angels were not interested in
helping Dee and Kelley make money (in Kelley’s case) and get political power (in Dee’s
case), but their primary interest seemed to be in transmitting the Enochian language and the
related system of magic which Dee described in several published books as well as in many
manuscripts. The most notable legacy from Dee’s research is the nineteen angelic calls that
still stir the imagination of magicians today. Very comprehensive description of workings
with these calls or keys is found in Crowley’s “The Vision and the Voice.”
6.6 Paracelzus
Even though I don't discuss Alchemy and alchemists in this work, the giant figure of
Paracelzus must be mentioned. Paracelzus burned the books of Avicena and other classical
authorities on the square in Berlin, and proclaimed nature as the only teacher he recognizes.
Then he went through all Europe collecting knowledge from village shamans and printing his
books in “vernacular” German and not Latin which was a scandal at that time. He dealt
mainly with alchemy but he contributed also for the magical thought with his theories about
the magical currents in man's body and his lengthy discourses on curing magically caused
diseases.
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7. Modern Magic
The revival of occultism is usually taken to begin in 1855-56 with the printing of the
Eliphas Levi's books “The Dogma of the High Magic” and “The Ritual of the High Magic.”
This was the time when the glory of the period of rationalism was passing and people were
starting to be disappointed by the rigidity of the rationalistic view of the world. People were
looking for alternatives, and they were staring to rediscover the occult tradition. Many half-
forgotten books were traced back to the dark shelves of the old libraries and studied with
zeal. New books were written on the old topics and new ideas were generated. In short,
occultism was blooming.
The end of XIX century is also marked by the creation and destruction of the “Golden
Dawn,” the most influential magical order in Europe. The original order lasted for less than
twenty years, but its successors orders are active even today. But with the new wave of
magical thought, the magic itself is understood (by the majority, at least) to have different
goals than before. The trends in the modern magic are to create a form of spiritual path, as a
method for accelerated evolution. Discovering treasures, and winning love and favor are now
left to the dilettantes. Most of today's spiritual paths originated at west are trying to fuse the
eastern and western wisdom in one universal path.
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He was imprisoned because of printing pamphlets with ideas not compatible with those of the
ruling class of that time. His first teacher in occultism was the polish mystic Wronski, who
wrote in his memoirs that he initiated Levi in the secrets of the High Kabbalah. After that,
Levi spent much time studying occult books and Grimoires and he synthesizes all that
knowledge in his books “Dogma and Ritual of the High Magic” (translated by A.E. Waite
under the name of “Transcendental Magic: Theory and Practice”) and “History of Magic.” By
the style of his writings he was still a magician of the old school because he didn't try to show
any concepts of magic as scientific, but by the conciseness and the comprehensives he
belongs to the new school. His language is very metaphorical, he makes a lot of references to
other books (Crowley says that Levi never read many of them), and his writing has low
readability level from time to time.
In “Transcendental Magic” he organizes the chapters by the 22 Tarot Atus (major arcane
cards, also meaning “secrets”) and claims that all the wisdom is already contained in a
symbolical form in the pictures on the cards. Although he calls his second book “The Ritual
of High Magic” it is still a great deal theoretical treatise than practical compendium. Crowley
says that the most valuable Levi’s writings are his letters of instruction to his students. Levi
could not live only from writing books on occultism (unlike many people today) so he had to
give lessons in order to feed himself. These lectures were usually in the form of letters, and
judged by many, they are his most valuable work. His “History of Magic” is very
comprehensive, but it gives very little facts about the history of magic itself, and is more a
discussion of the concepts that Levi believes are fundamental to any magical working. His
works are frequently reprinted.
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supposedly from the tradition of the Rosicrucians. From Mrs. Spriengel they received a letter
of approval for founding the secret magic order Golden Dawn with the first lodge Isis-Urania
in London. The founders and the heads of the society were Mathers, Westcot, and Woodman,
another English occultist and freemason.
The order offered a complex magical (hermetic) training, and it had degrees that
corresponded to the sephiroth of the Tree of Life. For earning each degree there was a certain
amount of theoretical and practical knowledge that should have been achieved. The obtaining
of the degrees and the initiations were performed as group rituals. The Neophyte (the
pretender to the first degree of Zelator) was given “knowledge lessons” which contained the
symbolism of the Hebrew Alphabet, astrology and Alchemy. After that there was the
initiation ritual, and later every pretender for greater degree had to pass an exam by the
higher degree members. The degrees contained such things as Kabbalistic correspondences,
making natal astrological charts, divination with Tarot and Geomancy, Clairvoyance with
tattwas, astral projection, Enochian Magic, etc. There were detailed instructions for preparing
magical weapons and robes and for their consecration. Every degree had different robe,
different emblem, magical motto, symbol, etc. The progress of the members was monitored
through keeping magical diaries, which is still wide practice today. The highest degree
holders periodically controlled them. This was mainly Win Westcot’s job, and after his death
no one could do it with his efficiency, so before the breakdown, “Golden Dawn” turned more
into a bridge club, where degrees were given without any real practical basis.
The order fell apart because of two main reasons. First, after the deaths of Westcot and
Woodman, Mathers was left as an unquestioned dictator, which he used for ruling the order
with an iron fist. Because of this, many progressive members of the order have left, and
because Mathers wasn't interested in the boring job of screening people for admission, the
new members were of poor quality. The final blow to “Golden Dawn” was given when
Aleister Crowley published all its secret materials in his magazine “Equinox.” Israel Regardie
afterwards reprinted these materials many times in many editions. The public availability of
materials with such value, written without metaphors, for instant practice, had bombastic
influence on the development of magic orders and on practicing magic in Europe. There were
several orders that sprang from the ruins of “Golden Dawn” like “Stella Matutina” and today
we still have orders that practice the orthodox “Golden Dawn” style of magic like the Oxford
based “Hermetic Order of Golden Dawn.”
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Crowley was head of O.T.O. during his life. Crowley died in 1947 in an asylum for the
elderly, abandoned by most everyone and fighting his cocaine addiction. His last words were
“I’m perplexed.”
7.4 O.T.O.
O.T.O. or “Ordo Templi Orientis” claims to originate from the knights Templars. It
was founded by Karl Kellner who claimed that three magicians from the east initiated him in
the secrets of the order. The order practiced a mixture of oriental Tantra Yoga and western
magic, mainly the Freemason tradition, which resulted in a form a sexual magic. However,
some forms of sexual magic practiced within OTO like autoeroticism have no parallels in the
Eastern Tantric teachings. Before Crowley became head of the order and reformed it, OTO
was a mainly Rosicrucian order with many Masonic elements.
Theodore Reuss, who inherited Kellner after his death in 1905, after the publishing of
Crowley’s “Book of Lies” in which Crowley discovered the highest secret of the order
accidentally, proclaimed Crowley head of the English branch. After the death of Reuss,
Crowley became the international chief of the order. He changed the rituals of the order to be
compatible with his Thelema religion, added some new rituals, and put homosexual magic as
a compulsory part of the degrees (he actually added the XI degree which was reversed IX
degree which involved heterosexual magic). After the death of Crowley in 1947, Karl Germer
took the leadership, but Kenneth Grant, influential member of the order who was not too
happy with the inside situation, formed his own branch of O.T.O in 1955. After the death of
Kellner, the order segregated in two parts, that of Kenneth Grant who excluded homosexual
magic, and included some new techniques, and the “orthodox” branch that continued with the
old practice Today there are many orders that claim the title “the only original O.T.O”
including the voodoo O.T.O.A. of Michael Bertiaux.
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provide. She was very famous psychic with high medium capabilities. She wrote several
important books for the western magical tradition of which the book “The Mystical
Kabbalah” is maybe her most important since inside Fortune gives the first systematized
presentation of Kabbalah in the written tradition. Her order still functions today, but with
much lower quality than when Dion Fortune was the leader.
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of the Shadow.” When Spare was young, he was member of Crowley's order Argentum
Astrum and Crowley continued to treat him as his student until the publishing of Spare's book
“The Focus of Life.” Spare said about himself that Ms. Peterson, very mysterious old lady
who claimed to originate from a family of witches stemming many generations back, initiated
him in witchcraft. Spare claimed that she had power to materialize her thoughts when she
couldn't express herself with words. They used to go on many Sabbaths (congregations of
witches) with their astral bodies, because the Sabbaths were held on the Astral Plan.
Spare was a gifted painter and he won the Royal Scholarship for attending a college for
painting. Spare published two books “The Book of Pleasure” and “The Focus of Life” and
also one unfinished grimoire where he presented his teachings. He claimed that his familiar,
that he called “Black Eagle,” dictated his books to him. His magic relied on the sexual energy
condensed through special sigils that he used for evoking spirits as well as for materializing
wishes. This technique of “sigilization” as well as his teachings about Zos, the body as a
whole, and Kia, the immortal soul, was incorporated and further developed by Peter Carroll
to form what is today known as Chaos Magic. Spare is considered the “grandfather” of Chaos
Magic. He died poor and deserted in a basement in London.
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on various non-productive topics. Still, his concepts and techniques, especially about the
“fluid condensers” are both original and important for the western magical tradition. Many of
today's so called “masters of magic” borrowed a great deal of their techniques from Bardon’s
work without giving him any credit.
8. Epilogue
Magic tends to incorporate itself into science again, from where it was banished long
time ago. Many fields that were seen as magic (read charlatanry) before now are parts of the
empirical sciences. Hypnosis is a classic example. It took a long time, but today hypnosis is
a tool in psychotherapy just as psychoanalysis. Today's magic doesn't intend anymore to give
the practitioner power over the world and other people, but to give him/her a time-tested
method of self-development and self-improvement. Magic, along with the other spiritual
paths, endeavors to fill the hole left in the soul of the modern man by the material sciences
that shy away from everything spiritual.
REFERENCES
Allen, Don Cameron. The Star-Crossed Renaissance. 2nd ed. New York: Octagon Books,
1966.
Breau, Jean Lois. Rituali Crne Magije. Belgrade: Arion, 1989.
Budge, Sir Wallis. Egyptian Magic. New York: University Books, 1958.
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