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This aim must then become your desire - and a ritual is a means whereby this desire
may be achieved. It is essential, of course, for this desire to be strong, and the
techniques of magick are simply a means whereby this desire can be strengthened and
directed.
The easiest technique to use and master is frenzy. This is when you gradually work
yourself up to a height of emotion and excitement - and the ritual form is a means
to aid this, providing a setting in both time and space. In a ceremonial ritual,
for example, you should use the set texts (such as the Satanic 'Our Father' or the
Invokation to Baphomet) as a means of generating from within yourself the necessary
emotion, saying the words forcefully and with drama. If you are conducting a ritual
with others present, get them into the right frame of mind beforehand as this helps
to generate from them a certain amount of magickal energy - you might, for
instance, keep them in a dark room for about half an hour before the start of the
ritual. It is essential for you to stage-manage the ritual, making it a memorable
event. The whole ritual from beginning to end should be emotive.
To achieve and sustain such emotion and drama takes practice. A good magickian will
'play to' his congregation like a good actor in a theatre does - ceremonial magick
has always been a dramatic Art. The adept sorcerer (or sorceress) will also
sometimes invoke extempore in ceremonial rituals, and for this some chants should
be memorized beforehand: to be used as and when the occasion demands.
Rituals - both ceremonial and hermetic - demand energy, and you are the spark which
ignites the Promethean fire. To generate this spark requires effort, both physical
and mental, and you should at the end of any ritual feel elated but tired: be, in
fact, almost on the edge of exhaustion. If you are not, the ritual is unlikely to
be successful. This is one of the most important things to remember. It is no good
just saying the words, doing a bit of chanting or waving implements about: you must
be emotional. You must literally drive yourself almost to the point of possession,
of divine/diabolic madness but always with your desire (i.e. the aim of the ritual)
firmly before you, stopping just short of total abandonment. You must be prepared
to dance, leap, laugh, cry and shout - but must be capable of changing abruptly:
cultivating the dramatic silence and stare.
Rituals work through energy: this energy is directed via visualization and
chant/vibration through your own desire. That is, the living ritual is the channel
or 'Gate' which allows a flow of acausal energy into the causal ('everyday')
universe. This energy re-orders the causal - that is, produces changes.
One of the first priorities of any aspiring sorcerer should be to acquire and
furnish an area as a Temple - and/or find a suitable isolated location outdoors.
Temple furnishings should be simple, and space must be left for movement. Be
creative and individual about creating the right atmosphere in the Temple - for
example, a 'plasma ball' in a candle-lit Temple is more impressive than a boring
collection of old bones or a skull. Do not use symbols or designs which you
yourself do not understand/know the meaning of and keep to one tradition. For
example, a genuine, traditional Satanist would never use any qabalistic symbolism
or statues/implements/sigils from dead Aeons (e.g. Egyptian, Sumerian). Instead,
there would be septenary and Dark Gods symbolism (for which see 'Codex Saerus' and
'Naos - A Guide to Sinister hermetic Magick').
This may seem pedantic, but it is essential for you to feel part of a living,
exclusive tradition - someone party to secret knowledge which outsiders do not
possess nor understand if shown. For successful magick, being exclusive means added
power and charisma.
Develop your chanting and vibrating ability by regular practice, and do not be
afraid of using Latin chants. They are not used simply because few understand the
language - but because of all languages, Latin lends itself best to being chanted
according to the principles of esoteric chant (qv. 'Naos'). It was also the
language used in the traditional Black Mass, and a few untranslated chants have
survived the centuries. These chants should be among those memorised to be used
extempore.
Chant Examples: