The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) · 89 of 175 · tr. Arthur Edward Waite
Page 44 (part 2)
Fit the knife with a handle of white wood cut at a single stroke with a new sword or knife, and on this handle engrave the following characters:-- Click to view Fumigate as before, and with this knife do all things needful to the Art, the circle excepted.
But if such a knife be too difficult to manufacture, procure one of the same form ready made; steep it in the blood and juice as above; fit thereto the same handle bearing the same characters, and upon the blade, proceeding from point to handle, write with a male goose-quill the words: AHARARAT, TÔ.
Perfume as before, sprinkle with exorcised water, and place in the silken wrapper already mentioned.
That with the black handle, destined to describe the circle and intimidate the spirits, and for performing other similar things, must be made in every respect like the first, except as regards the day and hour, which should be those of Saturn.
The steel should be extinguished in the blood of a cat and the juice of hemlock, while the handle should be of sheep's horn.
The Click to view PLATE VII: INSTRUMENTS OF BLACK MAGIC poniard or stiletto and the lancet should be made after the same manner on the day and in the hour of Mercury, and the steel extinguished in the blood of a mole and the juice of the herb Mercury.
They should be fitted with horn handles, shaped with a new sword in the day and hour of Mercury, and should bear these characters upon the said handles.-- Click to view Fumigate as before, and use in their proper place as required.
The Grimorium Verum , which makes for simplicity, reduces the steel instruments to three--namely, knife, graver and lancet.
The two first should be made on the day and in the hour of Jupiter, with the waxing Moon in the ascendant, which is at issue with the previous authority.
When finished, the following Prayer or Conjuration must, in each case, be recited over them.
The knife should be large enough to sever the neck of a kid at one blow; it should be fitted with a haft of wood, made on the same day and in the same hour, and graven with magical characters.
The instrument should then be sprinkled, fumigated and preserved for use as required.
CONJURATION I conjure thee, form of the instrument, N., by God the Father Almighty; by the virtue of Heaven and by all the stars Which rule; by the virtue of the four elements; by that of all stones, all plants and all animals whatsoever; by the virtue of hailstorms and winds; to receive such virtue herein that we may obtain by thee the perfect issue of all our desires, which also we seek to perform without evil, without deception, by God, the Creator of the Sun and the Angels.
Amen .
Recite the Seven [Penitential] Psalms, and add these words: DALMALEY, LAMECK, CADAT, PANCIA, VELOUS, MERROE, LAMIDECK, CALDULECH, ANERETON, MITRATON, most pure Angels, be ye guardians of these instruments, which are needful for many things .
The lancet, which is mentioned but not described in the Book of True Black Magic , should, according to the Grimorium Verum , be made in the day and hour of Mercury, the Moon waxing, and should be conjured after the same manner as the knife and graver.
If assistants accompany the operator, each must be provided with his knife, and the like rule obtains concerning the Sword of the Art, which should be polished on the day of Mercury, from the first to the third hour of the night.
The doctrine and worldview that natural phenomena, places, and objects possess inherent spirit, soul, or personality — and that the cosmos is populated by countless local, plural, embodied divine agents: kami in mountain and tree, sidhe in cairn and well, landwights in field and stone, nymphs in spring and grove, haltija in forest and lake, lares and penates in household and threshold, Iamblichean daemons in element and place. Distinct from monotheism (single transcendent God), pantheism (one underlying substance), and emanation_hierarchy (cascading single source); animism's signature is the plurality, locality, and embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.
The text treats natural substances (blood, herbs, wood) as possessing inherent virtues that can be transferred to the instruments.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The passage explicitly links specific materials, planetary hours (Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter), and substances (blood of cat/mole, hemlock) to the function of the instruments, reflecting the Hermetic axiom of cosmic correspondence.
The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.
The instructions rely on the belief that specific planetary hours and sympathetic substances (blood, herbs) imbue the instruments with specific virtues or powers.
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 implies the operator's intent to 'obtain by thee the perfect issue of all our desires' through the consecrated tools.
Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.
The text references specific numbers of hours (first to third hour) and instruments (three steel instruments), implying a structural significance to these counts.
The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.
The preparation involves fumigation, sprinkling with exorcised water, and specific timing to ensure the instruments are ritually clean and consecrated.
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 text describes instruments destined to 'intimidate the spirits' and includes a conjuration invoking angels to guard the instruments for use in commanding spiritual forces.
The rule of the stars and planetary powers over mortal destiny — the astrological governors whose spheres bind souls to birth, error, and death; in Sethian gnosis the 'error of the stars' that the savior exposes, and from which the incorruptible generation alone is free. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of universal affinity) in being a bondage-to-powers claim, and from archons (the rulers as personal beings) in concerning the astral machinery itself.
The efficacy of the instruments is tied to specific planetary hours (Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter), acknowledging the influence of celestial bodies on magical operations.
Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.
The text outlines a ritual practice engaging divine or spiritual powers through consecrated material symbols (instruments) and actions to achieve specific ends.
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 passage details the recitation of specific conjurations and prayers over the instruments to activate their magical virtue.