The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) · 123 of 175 · tr. Arthur Edward Waite
Page 62 (part 6)
Make, therefore, reasonable answers to my demands; be obedient to me, thy Master, in the Name of the Lord BATHAL , rushing upon ABRAC, ABEOR , coming upon BEROR.
He will become obedient and bid you ask what you will, for he is made subject by God to your purpose.
When he shews himself humble and meek, say:-- Welcome, Spirit (or, most noble King), welcome art thou unto me; I have called through Him Who created Heaven, Earth and Hell, with all contained therein, and thou hast obeyed, also by the like power.
I bind thee to remain affably and visibly before this circle, within this triangle, so long as I need thee, to depart not without my license, till thou hast truly and faithfully fulfilled all that I shall require .
THE LICENSE TO DEPART O Spirit N., because thou hast diligently answered my demands, I do hereby license thee to depart, without injury to man or beast.
Depart, I say, and be thou willing and ready to come, whensoever duly exorcised and con red by the Sacred Rites of Magic.
I conjure thee to withdraw peaceably and quietly, and may the peace of God continue for ever between me and thee.
Amen .
Go not out of the circle till he be gone, but make prayers to God for the great blessing He has bestowed upon you by thus granting your desires and delivering you from the malice of the enemy.
For these verbose and tiresome conjurations the Latin version of Wierus substitutes one general form of citation, in the Name of the Christian Trinity, which is not really an especial anachronism, for the compiler of the Lemegeton was acquainted at least with the books of the New Testament.
This is proved by the references in the Second Conjuration to the Living Creatures of the Apocalypse, and it leaves the attribution to Solomon in precisely that state which our respect for a prince in Israel would naturally desire.
No doubt, however, the English editor of The Key Major of Magic would see no reason to question the attribution and would explain the anachronism very simply as a late interpolation.
Click to view HELL MOUTH AND THE DEVIL CHAINED.
From Cædmon .
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
The text references God granting desires and delivering from the enemy, implying divine ordering of affairs.
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 operator asserts dominance ('be obedient to me, thy Master') and commands the spirit to fulfill requirements, demonstrating the doctrine of will over spirits.
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 is a direct example of ceremonial magic involving commanding, binding, and licensing spirits within a circle and triangle.
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 relies on spoken formulas ('I conjure thee', 'I bind thee') to effectuate the binding and departure of spirits.