The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) · 14 of 175 · tr. Arthur Edward Waite
Page 5 (part 7)
I should imagine that the Lords of its Convention are to be feared in a certain manner, like the Red and the Black Death.
But the versicles and aspirations and formulæ which must be strong enough at any moment to undo all the gates of hell and to cast down all its citadels have been taught us almost at our mothers' knees.
I should think that the Noctem quietam et finem perfectum concedat nobis Dominus omnipotens would be sufficient to disperse cohorts and not only the isolated negotium perambulans in tenebris .
The Pater noster , moreover, is worth all the Golden Verses of Pythagoras, all the Commentary of Hierocles, and every oracle of Zoroaster, including the forged citations.
And, in fine, I do not think that there is any power of the abyss, or any thrice-great Magus, or any sorcerer in final Impenitence who has charm, talisman, or conjuration which could look in the face without perishing that one loving supplication: [paragraph continues] Custodi nos, Domine, ut pupillam oculi; sub umbra alarum tuarum, protege nos .
It is improbable that there is any hidden science in respect of Magic, whether Black or White, but it should be noticed that the occult sciences with which I am concerned here are reducible under this especial head, as it is the greater which includes the lesser.
Its processes lie on the surface, and the so-called sanctuaries of occultism may extend the codices but are unlikely to increase the efficacy.
In respect of Black Magic, so far as there is a textual excuse for separating it from that uterine sister which was reared on the same milk, I have indicated that there is nothing to suggest one touch of sublimity in diabolism.
In its, so to speak, pure state, but absit verbum --I should rather have said undiluted--it is the simple ambition and attempt to compel demons, and observe here that it is Satanism to deal, ex hypothesi , with the abyss, for whatever purpose.
In its worst state it is the Grimoires and the little books of wicked and ultra-foolish secrets.
The difference between the Grimorium Verum and the Key of Solomon is that the one deals openly with the devil and his emissaries, and the other with spirits that are obviously of the same category but are saluted by more kindly names.
If it were possible to formulate the motive of Black Magic in the terms of an imputed transcendence, it is the hunger and thirst of the soul seeking to satisfy its craving in the ashpits of uncleanness, greed, hatred and malice.
It is exactly comparable to the life of that Chourineur in The Mysteries of Paris who lived upon diseased offal and grew to be satisfied therewith.
But this unfortunate could not help himself exactly, while the soul of the black magician has usually sought evil for its own sake.
I recur therefore for a moment to that door of the soul which, as I have said, opens on God, and it is that which by a necessary but somewhat arbitrary distinction must be called the door to the heights.
In their proper understanding, the deeps are holy as the heights, and of course in any true philosophical sense there is neither height nor deep, for these are not journeys made in space and time.
However, that symbolic door is the golden way of satisfaction; but it is not of magic, of divination, of clairvoyance, of the communication with spirits, of what order soever; it does not offer the fabled power over Nature of which the Magus is said to be in search and to which lying rituals have from all time pretended that he can attain.
Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.
Black Magic is characterized as a 'hunger and thirst of the soul seeking to satisfy its craving in the ashpits of uncleanness,' implying a lack or distortion rather than a positive good.
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The passage addresses God as 'Dominus omnipotens' who grants quiet night and perfect end, emphasizing a responsive divine presence over abstract magic.
The doctrine that human volition, cultivated by discipline and emancipated from passion and servitude, is the primary instrument of magical operation — will confirmed by persistent acts acquires causal power over self, others, and nature; distinct from faith and from mere desire.
The text critiques the 'ambition and attempt to compel demons' as the essence of Black Magic, acknowledging the concept of will in magic while rejecting its efficacy compared to prayer.
Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.
The text centrally argues that Christian prayers like the Pater Noster and specific versicles are superior to all magical formulas and sufficient to disperse demonic cohorts.
The grimoire-tradition practice of ceremonially commanding or binding a spirit through consecrated seals, circles, divine names, and prescribed instruments, compelling its appearance and obedience. Distinct from theurgy in the direction of the power relationship — theurgy is reverent engagement with the gods on the premise of the operator's own ascent, this is subordination of a lesser spirit to the operator's will — and from word_power_incantation and sacred_names, which name components (verbal force, name-power) this practice deploys rather than the ritual structure itself.
The passage explicitly discusses the practice of compelling demons and dealing with emissaries of the devil in Black Magic (Grimorium Verum) versus spirits saluted by kindly names (Key of Solomon).
A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
The text refers to a 'door of the soul which... opens on God' and calls it the 'door to the heights,' distinguishing it from magical power over nature.
The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.
The text asserts that specific versicles and aspirations are strong enough to 'undo all the gates of hell,' attributing causal power to spoken religious formulas.