Implications invol'ved but suffice it I~ere to state that 1h~ al~ ,of this-·~ec~r
,lAO FORMULA· form of letter magic (and mxstici~m) is the alchemical transmutation of the
&' The Alchemy of Letters
BY FRATER V. '. D. '. (Germany)
One of the lesser known but highly powerful' lTlagic'al techniques explored by German
th
magicilln,s eVer since the beginning, of the 19 century is letter magic, a sort of
vibrational alchemy effective on the physical, mental and spirituai level. Generally
speaking you can find two main branches: firstly,,,rune magic, which is fairly popular
now' in EngHsh Paganism too (even' though adepts who can read ,German, might be in
for a gr.eat surprise or two if they read ,some German authors on this subject as
i this knOWledge has so far hardly E;ven been scratched); se(:on~ly~ we find the
techniques relating to the tradition,which Rudolf von Sebottendorf (J875-1945?) called
"Turkish Freemasonry" in ·1924. Provided the system is really of. Or'iental extraction,
it would be more correct to speak of Dervish or Sufi knowledge, mainly of the· Bektashi
and Mevleki tradition but then Sebottendorf's personal claim to initiation into Dervish
orders is a bit dubious at best. it is almost certain that he plagiarized the works of the
Suavian Freemason' Johann 'Baptist Kerning 0774-1851) whose pupil Karl Kolb published
these exercises as early as 1857. They were supposedly also used by'the secret Inner
Circle of early Adyar-Theosophy, by the O.T .0., by Rudolf Steiner and Franz Bardon
and one can even find remnants in ce,rt~in prac'tices of Christian Science, while Louis
Culling's Complete Magick Curriculum of the Secret Order G.B.G. mentions a similar
techniqu~ employing I Ching trigrammes. 'Culling claims to have learned about this letter
magic from the book of a German adept named Konig, but it seems highly likely that
he really read a book by Kerning. The title he mentions (Mal) and ~Highest Purpose,
London, 1932) was in truth written by the Czech occultist Karl Weinfurter, a fact pointed
ou.t to me by Fr. ~ahamudra of Bonn. Nevertheless, there !!- ample proof for earlier
and even Islamic use .of these or similar practices so that the question regarding the
genuineiness ,of 'S~bottend6rf's and' Culling's respective claIms is mainly of academic
, interest.
Be that as ft may, the exer,cises as such are very effective indeed and
nothing f~r the weakhearted. This is nq idle warning: I am not at all fond of dogmatic
obscu,rantism and of, yellow journalism of the N.O.W. or even Dennis Wheatley
variety and when I say that these techniques are pretty heavy stuff I honestly mean
it. So be guarded, all ye flippant licks of all magick"ll trades! Anyway, this system
speaks for itself once you have given it a try of, say, threE' to four weeks.
aspirant's base substance to spiritual gold. Suc,::h a process t~kes time, of course,
so that the average span of practice wUl usually demand some 17 lunar months at
least. Some people can .do it fastE;r, especialiy if they 'are ,already trained magically,
but only' if certain aknowledged phenomena and perceptions occur which show the
strong links betw.een this, system, and prC!-ctica,1 alchemy.
This may, seem, quite a programme and so it is. On the other h~nd
the aspirant need hardly spend more than .10 - 30 minutes daily on this particular
traming and there are no other inhibitions. Vegetarianism is not strictly necessary'
but alcotlOl and other intoxicants ,should be reduced to a minimum. This applies to
the use of 'tobacco 'as well. But it is useless setting' up a leit of a priori rul~s as the
aspirant will very very very {sicfhoon find out for himself what he should do or flot.
Practice can be perfor.meq clo'thed or in the nude, but s'iJk .should be av,oided.
It is extremely important ,not to miss ouT- one single day 'once you
have started as this might throw you back for weeks! But iyou should also avoid
overdoing 'it. One~ two or 'even three exercises of appro 1'0 minutes each are quite
enough per day. It IT)ust be'pointed out that it is 'of absolutely no use trying to
force or !'sPeed up" this type of 'inner development. Overdoing.it can on"ly do harm,
never good - as elsewhere, intensity is m&e important here than frequency.
The work is divided into three part,s: ~reliminary, Main and Follow Up
practice. Techniques employed are: hand mudras, vowel sounds (I, A and 0), a
combination of the consonant 5 with these vowels, Arabic formulae, Neck Grip,
Chest Grip, Middle Grip, Master's Grip and End Grip.
PRELIMINARY WORi<;.
Hand ,rnudras and vowel activation
- ·use ,right hand unless lefthanded; make a fist and stretch forefinger
and arm straight upwardS; think 'vowel "i, i. i... &c." (Inner pro,nounci-, .
aHom "ee"). •
A - stretch hand ·and raise arm vertkaUy upwards, stretch thumb to
90" angle; thin~ vowel "a, a, a... &c." (inner pron.1 "ahh").
o - bend hand bacl~wards and curve fingers so that tip of thumb and
forefinger barely touch on~ another; tip of forefinger and inner
wrist knuckle should be in a straight line with the elbow's ml~dlel ,
the arm, of course, is again vertically raised; think vowel "0, 0, o...&c:."
(inner pron.: closed "0" as in French "mot"). - ­
...

When using the l.formul~ you should soon feel the forefinger becoming warm. Let
a~m sink and raise again to perform A-formula. Again you should feel a certain dry
warrnntlss 11l u,e thumb. Let arm sink and raise anew to perform O-formula. This
whole process should not take much longer than appro 5 - 10 minutes. (Perform for
appr . .3 days.)
Once the feeling of warmness has been achieved, proceed to activate
mudras with SI, SA and SO (pron.: "zee", "zah", "zo") (i.e. "si, si, si...&c." and so on)..
After 51-formula let arm sink when warm, raise again immediately to perform
A-mudra and activate with "sa, sa, sa...&c." until warm. Now perform NEC.K GRIP:
Place angled hand on neck: the thumb is to touch the right artery, the
forefinger rests on throat. Draw angled hand shar.ply but not too quickly off (fore­
finger "cuts" throat) until it is before right shoulder. This brings energy to .neck chakra.
Raise arm again, perform O-mudra and activate with mental mantr.a
"So, so, so...&c." until warm, then perform MASTER'S GRIP:
Place angled right hand just below navel so that fingers' tips barely
touch left arm. The thumb is stretched 90· up~.ards on body. Pull sharply to the
right until fingertips touch rillht side. (Appr. 7 days.)
MAIN WORK
Repeat Preliminary Work for seven ~ays (5 - 10 minutes daily). On
the sixth day when you have activated arm after SA-formula, bring angled hand
to nose and smell your forefinger. If you can smell a faint whiff of sulphur you may
proce~d. If not, continue Preliminary Exercises for another seven days. Thi\ is the
SULPHUR. PHASE and alchemical Putrefaction has set in.
14 days, 10 minutes daily: perform I-mudra and activate by SI-formula
until you feel warmness. Let arm sink, raise agaIn in A-mudra and activate with
mantra "alam". Perform NECK GRIP while continually repeating "alam" mentally.
Proceed to O-mudra as.before, activate it with SO-formula and perform MASTER'S'
GRIP. After 14 days' practice place tip of forefinger with angled hand on tongue.
You should n?w get a bitter taste of mercury sublimate. This is the MERCURY
PHASE.
14 days, 10 minutes daily: Activate I-mudra by 51-formula, then
A-mudra by the following formulae:
ALAM (:2 days)
ALAMAS (2 days)
ALAR V d~ys)
ALAMAR(3 days)
g:
After four days you will experience a salty taste if ~ou place tip of forefinger with
angled hand on tongue., This is the SAL T PHASE. Now is the time to sharpen your
perceptions. As soon as the aspirant sees a BLACK SHADOW he is through with
•
this part of tht.J.. work. Of course, these phenomena and perceptions may vary
slightly - this applies t9 the smells as well as to the inner "optical" percepti~ns
ilnd the tastes. Sometirhes the shadow is only seen in a very vague manner. Other
adepts IiteraJly see the alchemists' CAPUT CORVI (the raven's head). This is a
sign that Putrefaction is over. Mortification and Sublimation begins.
A note on :this ominous "shadow": we do not as yet really know what
it is about. Some theories have it that it is 'a sign of a new "inner body" developing.
Mr Peter ElIert of Bonn has pointed out to me recehtly (after more than ten years'
practice with this system) that the shadow is probably the adepts physical body seen
from the outside via the inner eye. This makes a lot of s"ense in alchemical terms.
Apparently the adept has now lost his attachment to his physical body proper and
is now in the staged~J~~P~Al1\;ensoryperceptions in the truest sense of the word.
This, of course, is a purely phenomenological description but it may be useful to
consider on it.
The following part of the Great Work is a total renewal. It can last
from a usual minimum of three lunar mantA!; to 696 days (according to the Proph~t's
Table) and more, depending on the aspirant's stage of development. The experience
can wel1 be compared to the state of the "Babe of the Abyss" as it is usually accompanied
by similar emotions and phenomena and is (or should be) followed by the true Unio
Mystica, the transmutation from lead to gold. After Mortification follows the Chymical
Marriage or Conjunction.
The aspirant activates the I-mudra and then proceeds immedIately to
the A-mudra which he activates by the following mantras (again, use only one at
a time ior a couple of days each!):
ALAR
KAHA JA AS
TAHA
TASAM
TAS
TASAM
and performs CHEST GRIP:
Place an~d hand (thumb stretched at 90· angle) on left breast so
that fingertips barely touch left arm and puU:off until fingertips touch right side.
This activates the heart chakra. (Never perform this grip more than five times
aUy; it is better to do it. only thrice per day as it is a very potent Kundalini raiser.) occaSional dizzines, fits of perspJration, nausea and even the "tiry spine" phenomenon
After the aspirant has seen the blackish shadow, his perception ought may occur; but this is harmless unless it lasts more than a couple of days. Should
to change gradual1y in a symphony of colours from ~ to blue to soft red and thes,e symptoms continue for weeks on end, stop the exercises for at least a year
!!.&!l! green which should grow brighter from day to day. Once the green "shadow" and· anew later. (lI For many are called•.. ") Experience Indicates that it will be
is very bright, this part of the work is finished.
practically impossible to continue them unless you are really ready for this method
of initiation.
The aspirant now proceeds to the MIDDLE GRIP:

Place hand a little lower (one thumbJength) than CHEST GRIP and

rhls is just a short survey. Once you are tarnillar WHI< 1I1" !",1ll<erlJUS
pull off as before,. The mantras to be used are:
forms of energy invoked, you can also activate certain parts of the body with the
ALAM
different formulae, direct streams of power at will and so forth. Magicians initiated
JAS (pron.: "jahz")

into the mystical meaning of the lAO formula will know how to use it to further
SA

their development, to activate their sigils and talismans &c. Even if I sound a bore
CHAM (pron.: very throaty "ch" as in Scottish "loch") insisting on this poi.nt so much, I have torepeat that you do need a lot of courage
and perseverance to attempt this work properly. Courage, patience and a stable
Perception now changes through another variety of colours untlJ a yellowish white
psychic ecology are always necessary for magickal work of any kind but here
is aChieved. This is turned into brilJiant ~ by use of the MASTER'S GRIP and
they are mor important than ever.
the mantras:
Readers who want to do in depth research may be advised that I
CHAM
am at present writing a book on the subject which will include a number of field
CHAM ASAK
reports and practical techniques including Rmicyoga and other practices. It will
KA.
be advertised in L.O.T. in Summer or Autumn 1983.

FOLLOW~ . VBIQVE DAEMON :. VBIQVE OEVS :.

Its aim is to change this brilliant white into a "glorious red". The only
mantra used is NA. The aspirant performs the END GRIP which .is nothing but a
shorter MASTER '5 GRIP beginning left from the navel and pulling the hand to the
right of it. The white shadow changes into a s!l!:.!t ~ out of which soon a For people interested in contacting the author, please write to:

~ red develops. Once the aspirant has achieved perception of this ~ shado"'l FRATER V:.O:. c/o EDITION MAGUS, Kronprlnzenstr. 9, 0-'))0 Koenigswinter I, Germ

he has become a "cubic stone".

True, these exercises may seem to be simple to trivial but they are
very powerful as short practice will soon prove. They tend to change the body's
chemistry so that you may exper ience stages in which you just cannot use tobacco 1!'7~*STA*ifcH*ART****HO*iios*COPE~~*MAp·S*···
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by the I-mudra and formula can be directed through the whole body by the A-mudra
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Name;
Gradually the energy will also spread to the head of its own ....ccard. Address: "llIUI!l.I!'rLDGGI-'
~\.II1Qf'
'fOIlUHIIlI. U.K.
Although these techniques are quite safe when performed moderately,
-'