CHAPTER SEVEN

1.The Zodiac acts rather like a filing system which is accessed on a day to day basis by the Moon. Each sign is a file of information consistent with the sign. As the Moon progresses through each sign the individual is impressed with the same information from that file, which has been updated by his experience at the last transit through the sign. Each time the Moon enters a sign the individual is confronted by a file of information and ideas that upon comprehending he can deal with. The Stellar magician approaches the collective filing system (unconscious, Astral plane or whatever one likes to call it) and modifies it according to his will using symbol systems appropriate to the requirements of the Sign. In practice the principle is more complex than this as it is rarely possible to affect the Astral filing system from below and the magician usually waits until there is a potent astrological configuration.

2.The performance of Stellar magic while the Moon is in Scorpio is not recommended, in fact we heartily advise the student to forget it. A Horary or Electional chart should be discarded if the Moon be found in the Via Combustia, events are dangerously unpredictable at this time, in our experience the period of unpredictability continues until the end of Scorpio.

3.The Moon governs the personality and the unconscious. The unconscious governs the personality because the action principles and motive of the personality are all generated by the unconscious moon. The filing system of the Zodiac is defined by the sign that mediates it. Events thoughts and ideas are strictly within the framework of the sign. Thus when the Moon is in Scorpio everything existent during that time will die or at least will not relate to the past and future, but remain isolated in a capsule of non expressibility. One tends to think of the same things over and over again month in month out for years but nothing comes of them. Plans are made in Scorpio but they lead a perverse life or have no life at all. Anything planned and executed in Scorpio will do anything but follow the original ideas of the planner.

4.Scorpio is symbolised in life by the menstrual bleed of woman, its ultimate symbol is death. The two symbols are synonymous, and one explains the other, as the following exposition will demonstrate.

5.The body dies (SCORPIO) and enters the ‘‘Hades’’ condition where all the ideas the ego had about itself must be resolved: this happens in SAGITTARIUS. When the ideas about oneself have been resolved one is free to enter the ‘‘Paradise’’ state in CAPRICORN. The spirit then is poured from the paradise state to a lower vessel and is given another idea about itself in AQUARIUS. This idea concretes into form in PISCES where as a child or seed it enters the world at ARIES. As it goes beneath the horizon it forgets all that has gone before, and begins to acquire independent characteristics in TAURUS. (Possessions = ideas). In the third house the separate ego develops, GEMINI (the twins) - the concept of ‘‘self’’ and ‘‘not-self’’ is born - which goes onto the fourth house where this new ego is tested in young adulthood by the earth (CANCER). From this interreaction a mature adult is born that is a concrete representation of its terrestrial experience up to that point (LEO). This adult-ego is then tested in VIRGO by illness. LIBRA is the point of balance with and against Aries, the place of judgement, and anything which does not balance becomes the cause of death in SCORPIO - and furthermore is transferred as Karma to the future point of terrestrial birth in Aries. It will be noted that all signs-houses-states are tested and balanced by their opposite. Furthermore, the Zodiac is a fluid flowing circle with no end nor beginning, and all signs affect each other, they cannot be considered in total isolation.

6.Relief comes to the woman in SAGITTARIUS with the end of menses; a period of happiness and peace. She doesn’t want to be committed to anything, just relax.

7.CAPRICORN: she feels at one with herself, she is in control. She can do anything.

8.AQUARIUS: she enters a period of wanting things, she feels socially inclined: desires concerning the world.

9.PISCES: she becomes a little secretive and slightly withdrawn.

10.ARIES: she feels very much alive with lots of energy, she is very outgoing.

11.TAURUS: energy increases, she is on top form. Sexually at her most active.

12.GEMINI: her intellect is at its best; really quite sociable.

13.CANCER: she feels very maternal and mothers everything and everybody.

14.LEO: she changes to the desire for social pleasures and general fun and holiday. Light-hearted.

15.VIRGO: she becomes withdrawn and tense, maybe feelings of apprehension. She doesn’t feel very creative.

16.LIBRA: she begins to bleed, her confidence is at its lowest. She becomes wise with a knowledge ...

17.SCORPIO: ..that transcends her ordinary self. She has lost her centre and is quite sensitive.

18.The mystery of death is a profound one. No one that dies comes back with any kind of credible explanation of his or her experiences, indeed the very lack of credibility of Séance room phenomena seems to be the hallmark of communication with the dead. If one is to understand death and its mechanisms one has to look at its symbols in life. It has been said that orgasm is a little death, this may be true of the experience as a culmination, but it says little of its mechanism. Symbolically the menstrual bleed is an illustration of the death process. We live as the unfertilised egg lives. We live in the body of the Goddess in the same way that the ovum lives in woman. Our experiences are the same. We are either fertilised by our experiences and bear fruit or we die as we have lived without the world in which we live having had any impression on us at all. The ovum is expelled with the blood of woman. From the world of woman the ovum is expelled into the greater world of death. The place is then prepared for new life. The woman during this time goes through the experience of death to be renewed or reborn in Sagittarius. She has identified with the seed she has carried within her and as a result experiences its experience. New life will be within her again soon, just as the spirit will be embodied to live its life. So another egg will mature within her and begin its great journey down the fallopian tubes.

19.’’Thee I invoke, thou powers of Desolation.

Thee that didst create death on earth and emptiness of the Heaven.

Thee that didst create misery and pain.

Thee that didst create dashed hopes and abandoned wishes.

Thou art the death’s head grinning skull of Chaos.

Thou art Destruction.

Thou art Regeneration.

Thou destroyest that which is and that which is to come.

Thou didst make the trap and the snare.

Thou didst produce the Hells and their sting.

Thou didst destroy and defeat men in the blood of the wise’’.

20.At the end of the twentieth century the Moon enters Scorpio, the Burning Way. As we have said, when the Moon is in this sign nothing goes according to one’s expectations. From a magical point of view this position of the Moon at the end of a thousand year period could lead to disaster, because whatever Humanity expects of the next thousand years cannot happen. If on New Year’s Eve 2OOO Humanity expects a change for the better, or that the next thousand years will be better than those preceding - they will not be! the most unexpected thing will happen.

21.We are at the end of the period of sleep, humanity is awakening - Armageddon - revelation is upon us, the revelation of our real state. For what does Armageddon mean but revelation. It is not to be feared but embraced. It cannot be stopped any more than the study of astrology can be stopped. The Sleeping Beauty - the Star Goddess is awake. We can see, literally see with a part of our minds that was once asleep. It is as if another eye has opened, revealing a world that was once invisible to us. We are one with the Gods because they are the expression of the Will of the One true God.

22.The methods of Alchemy have always been hedged about with secrecy. The substances prepared by this Art confer such great power that the secrets of their preparation must remain guarded, lest the profane in surprising its mystery cause great harm by their ill-considered experiments.

23.To perform this Art the magician must be initiated into all forms of magic. The more he knows, the greater are his arms in combating the snares and pitfalls of this great Art.

24.There is no short cut to the completion of the Great Work; nevertheless it is considered by many to be the Crown of Magic, so we have included the method of its working. We have not broken with tradition, and we too have veiled the mystery of this Art in allegory and symbolism.

25.The cycle of the Sun is from Scorpio to Scorpio, but it dies in Scorpio. Its death must always be under good stars, so that its conception is under good stars. If it dies in Scorpio then the chain is broken. The original material must be heated again and again, but only when the stars are helpful, or the delivery of its nature will be affected.

26.This aspect has been totally neglected by modern would-be Alchemists. The power of the first matter is improved by constant reheating. Only when the luminosity of the first matter reaches incandescence is it ready to be distilled over into the Circubit, but it must be delayed until Jupiter or Venus are elevated. The stars at the time of distillation must reflect the requirements of the Alchemist.

27.It is always wisest to reflux until all impurity in the prima materia has been removed. Each time it is reheated the Gods must be invoked to assist. The prima materia must be put in the vessel under the finest stars possible.

28.The process is begun by gently heating with the Philosopher’s fire that must not burn the hands, so that the light in the Temple of the Sun is constant. Do not attempt to do more than this. This heating should be gentle without the reflux condenser. Repeat the gentle heat four times for Jupiter and seven times for Venus. The prima materia should have mixed sufficiently by this time, and will now be ready to be converted into the Philosopher’s mercury. The Moon would ideally be applying to a conjunction with Jupiter or Venus during this operation.

Reflux until all the original material reaches a steady incandescence; this should take between 1O and 1OO refluxings. It is easy to tell when the conversion to mercury is achieved, as upon testing a small drop it will enable the Alchemist to enter the Astral plane and confer with the spirits.

29.At this point great care will be needed as the powers of the Philosopher’s mercury can be so great as to destroy the vessel in which it is contained. Only a very gentle refluxing is demanded now, always taking care that the Moon is free from affliction and moving to good aspects. The distillation must be performed under the finest stars possible: it must always be remembered that the end of any operation is the beginning of another.

30.The distillation must be as gentle as possible so as not to get any dross in the Circubit. Heat very gently until the Elixir just begins to come over, then stop the heat until boiling ceases. Begin again, all the while invoking the Deities to thy aid. When all the Elixir has been distilled over, allow it to cool and place it in a well stoppered bottle that has been consecrated to the Gods who preside over the spirit contained.

31.Some considerable practice is needed in the Art of Alchemy. Do not expect to succeed without having become adept in all the stages; for although there is great power in the Art, each stage needs the utmost delicacy.

32.It is wise to begin by experimenting with each stage of the operation until by diligence it is perfected. Start by heating gently and noting the changes that take place with each stage of the operation, so that nothing is a surprise to one.

33.The Circubit must be of the finest glass, without flaw, for on its disposition depends the whole operation. It should have a water jacket; but the water must not be cold, but of a gentle warmth. The control of the temperature is critical during the final distillation, as if it is too cold the material will not distil correctly, and if the water is too hot vapour will escape from the receiving vessel and an explosion will be the likely result.