Ritual Stuffs, Woo, magick gear!

So, what stuff do you use during your rituals?

If you don't have a camera please feel free to just write a brief description of your ritual space.

Pic 1: My altar.


This is my super-cool altar. In the back stands Liber AL - The Book Of The Law, mimicking the placement of Liber AL in the mass (though mine is closed, whereas it is held open during mass). in front of that is a white candle representing the Lantern that guides the Magus along his path. And in front of that is a statue of Ra-Hoor-Khuit, Child and Master of this Aeon. This is symbolic of one's progression through Thelemic magick and therefore somewhat reminiscent of the Middle Pillar. Ra-Hoor-Khuit, a perfect yet external manifestation of the fight which is the Great Work; the Lantern, a symbol of internal guidance, having come to understand the and begin the Great Work; and Liber AL, a symbol of the True Will - the accomplishment of one's True Will, the Great Work, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.

Continuing my Gnostic Mass theme, the left side of the altar is home to a bowl of water and a little cup of salt (earth), symbolic of the Pillar of South and the Negative Child, while the right side has some incense (air and fire) which represents the Pillar of North and the Positive Child - Both are used for consecration and purification.

Pic 2: Me in ritual garb.


Okay, technically that ought to be a robe, but I don't like robes, I couldn't find one at the time, and I like to do my yoga practice right after ritual and it's a crap load easier to just have one set of clothes which are both ritual and yoga friendly. They are black, the appropriate color for magickal works on this side of the abyss, and represent protection. I'm wearing for other things (which I wear all the time); high around my neck is a unicursal hexagram - one of the symbols of Thelema. Over my heart is a pendant of Ur-Heru (Horus), of whom Ra-Hoor-Khuit is an aspect. On my left wrist (left representing south - earth and water, and therefore my emotions and behavior) is a leather band dedicated to Coyote. On my right wrist (right representing north - fire and air, and therefore my thoughts and drive) is a red band given to me by Ynpw (Anubis). I'm standing in the Dieu Garde, the position assumed by the congregation at all points in the mass when one stands and is not giving a hailing sign or taking communion.

Pic 3: My ritual stuffs.


On the top left are the blades I was commanded to get by Ra-Hoor-Khuit after an invocation thereof on Monday the 18th. On the right is my pendulum and the bag it "lives" in. My pendulum is actually very interesting looking - it's actually a 3D hexagram made by two intersecting pyramid-like shapes (I forget the actual name of this shape - my apologies) each made of four triangles. At the bottom is my Thoth tarot deck and the deer-skin bag they are kept in. On the top is my favorite card and the card which set all of this into motion; the Tower Card.

Pic 4: One of my Ra-Hoor-Khuit blades.


And this shot was mostly so you could get a better look at these and how they compare in size to my fist.

I am not going to post pictures of my ritual things or me in my ritual things yet. No camera

My altar and ritual space is the temple of man. Thusly, my magick circle has both a diagram of the tree of life and a pentagram on it. The triangle of the art, when used, stands about 2 foot infront of my own circle.
My ritual clothes are merely a black cloak, black canvas trousers and a loose black canvas top with a silver band for the foreheasd and a silver belt.
My athame and ritual knife come in a two peice set. The athame is the larger of the two blades, however, it is not used for cutting. An athame is only ever used for directing energy. The ritual knife is smaller and for crafting or cutting any ritual add-ons you might use such as herbs.
One of the most important things I use in ritual is my sword, two and a half feet long, carbon-steel, hand-and-a-half blade with serpents carved into the hilt, tribal patterns up the blade and a wider top to emphasise the importance of "rending" (such is the purpose of a ritual sword). The sword represents the left hand of man. His ability to be ruthless, to judge and wrath in all that it is.
The final peice I use if my staff. The staff is a common bo-staff with chinese dragons and flower patterns carved up it and then re-coloured. The staff goes in the right hand and symbolizes the ability to love. It is the sceptre so to speak.

I will post pictures in due time.

Not one for feng shui, i see.

Is that a comment on the mess visible in the background?

almost, you just have to turn that chair facing north then it would be awesome

almost, you just have to turn that chair facing north then it would be awesome

Why must everyone mock the disarray of my room!? Can't we talk about fine magickal things?

sorry but i just don't get the whole ritual magick stuff. in mulitipul aspects. i don't have the slightest knowledge of magick and i don't get why. if it is for a religion i can understand why you would, but other stuff i just don't get. not trying to put it down or anything, it just dousn't make sense to me.

You mean you don't understand why one would want to perform ritual magick outside of religion?

Howabout spiritual growth and union with the divine?

wouln't union with the divine be in the religion category? and i don't see how setting up a bunch of stuff doing a chant, or a set of motions, or whatever you do does anything for spititual growth.

I was thinking that myself. But to each his own. We all have different views, beliefs and experiances. I myself am more like Blade but from my mediumship and magick days i can also see where TC is coming from.

this is kind of off topic but i just noticed the news thing at the top of the page saying the site construction is halted and stuff, what'd i miss?

Doesn't have to. Religion tends to include set beliefs, rules, stories, and expectations.

It doesn't. All the important stuff is completely internal and can be done independently of all else. However, getting into that mindset is pretty hard without things to help you get there.

You missed a lot of IM convos about the new Shadow Sword and our collective dissatisfaction with him. He effectively stated that he can't train and lead at the same time (and yet made no move to stop being in a leadership position). He also gave up the computer for lent which was real nice of him since that effects us, not just him. I likened it to the only person in the house who can cook giving up cooking for lent.

oh yea looks like i did miss some stuff. well he should be back on after easter so we can talk to him then. as for the ritual stuff i can see how you would use it to get into the right state of mind, but i would rather not build my dependence on it. and i still don't see your argument for the religion thing.

so does set organized rituals. not all the stuff you said but set rules and ways to do things, belief systems, ect. what do you use it for anyway?

i think she means that there is a difference between religion and spirituality, for example, i am a mormon, and not particularly religious, for example, i dont believe in everything they say, i am (somewhat overly) accepting of other belief systems, and i tend to skip church a lot (to catch up on training and whatnot. However, i am very spiritual, for example, i meditate often, i pray (well, okay, that was a lie, i dont pray very much), and i seek to develope a stronger bond with God (or whatever divinity is out there).

i hope i explained it well enough.

almost, you just have to turn that chair facing north then it would be awesome

Why must everyone mock the disarray of my room!? Can't we talk about fine magickal things?

Well, you kinda had it coming. XD.

But I am very interested in your pendulum. That shape is itching at my brain. Are there any better pictures of it?

i definately agree there is a difference between religion and spirituality, even though they do overlap sometimes. i was talking about the uinion with the divine thing.

Yeah, and unless you start hitching all sorts of dogma and names to the divine it doesn't need to be religious, just spiritual.

maby, i think anything that focuses on a diety is a religion though. accually the dictionary.com definition includes alot of thing that don't. a set philosophy could technically be called a religion by there's. anyway, it doesn't really matter that much.

okay, her eis an example.
mormons call themselves shristians, but this really depends on your definition of "christian". they define christian as one who believes that Christ was divine, that he did all of that stuff and whatnot, but thats about the only thing tying them to christianity. if you define christian as someone who believes in the bible, goes to church, and follows, *list of certain rules*, then it is very possible that mormons arent (depending on what the list of rules are).

btw: i think its kind of... idk, desperate? well, thats not a good word, but it kind of irks me that mormons, in response to the "your not christian" argument, come up with their own (loose) definition of christian that (of course) includes them.

all religions do. The church of england is a breakway christian religion, why? because i believe Henry the 8th wanted to devorce his wife and devorce was not allowed. So he broke away from the vatican, changed a few laws, created a religious head (nowadays the queen!) and we have the church of england, which is a christian religion that benefits the king at the time. All religions are the same, are they wrong? not really. They teach morals. I tend to get on with religious people more than spiritual people because spiritual people have god complexes and think their special, which is pretty much what the King did by changing the religion to suit his needs, nowadays spiritual people change religion so that they become the centre of the universe like the main character of a soap opera.