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The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) · 126 of 175 · tr. Arthur Edward Waite

Page 63 (part 3)

The name of the required spirit must here be added on the parchment, when he will duly appear-the ordinary accidents excepted--and will grant what is desired of him--that is to say, if it so happen--after which he may be dismissed by the previous Discharge. The characters should be burnt in each case, as they avail once only. ANOTHER CONJURATION I conjure thee, N., by the great living God, the Sovereign Creator of all things, to appear under a comely human form, without noise and without terror, to answer truly unto all questions that I shall ask thee. Hereunto I conjure thee by the virtue of these Holy and Sacred Names . Click to view THE IMP STATUE. LINCOLN.
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Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The spirit is commanded to appear under a 'comely human form', attributing human characteristics to the summoned entity.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

The conjuration addresses 'the great living God, the Sovereign Creator of all things', emphasizing divine activity and presence.

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Magical Willpraxis

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 commands the spirit to appear and answer, asserting human volition over a spiritual entity through ritual means.

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Sacred Namestheology

Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.

The text explicitly invokes the 'virtue of these Holy and Sacred Names' as a mechanism for the conjuration.

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Spirit Conjurationpraxis

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 instruction and formula for summoning a spirit ('I conjure thee... to appear'), commanding its form, obedience, and dismissal.

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Word Power Incantationpraxis

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 the spoken or written word ('I conjure thee', 'characters should be burnt') to effect magical change and compel appearance.

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Related passages · 6 parallels
egyptian|The Egyptian Heaven and Hell|Chapter 6 (part 5)
The Rubric had, in fact, so far back as B.C. 2600, become a traditional magical formula of a most powerful character, and it must have been composed at the time when the abode of the blessed was supposed to resemble the "great field" in wh…”
Shared concept: Sacred Names — Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XIX
But neither does the cause [of the energies] of more excellent natures subsist as a certain middle instrument, nor does he who invokes operate through him who prophesies; for to assert these things is impious. And it is much more true to sa…”
Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 2, Section 1o
Yet It is a Whole because It includes the true existence of all things, and is Partitive because It contains the principle of separate Individuality whereby Christ possesses a Human Soul distinct from all other human souls, and whereby, too…”
Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XXI
The division, however, of the passive from the impassive , which you adopt, may perhaps be rejected by some one, as not adapted to either of the more excellent genera, through the causes which we have before enumerated; and it also deserves…”
Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism|Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter LXXI — Of Many Words Joined Together, as in Sentences and Verses; and of the Virtues and Astrictions of Charms|Chapter LXXI, Section 1a
CHAPTER LXXI. Of Many Words Joined Together, as in Sentences and Verses; and of the Virtues and Astrictions of Charms . Besides the virtues of words and names, there is also a greater virtue found in sentences, from the truth contained in…”
Shared concept: Word Power Incantation — 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. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Third Dialogue-b
It is not a fury of black bile which sends him drifting outside of judgment, reason, and acts of prudence, and tossed by the discordant tempest, like those who, having violated certain laws of the divine Adrastia, are condemned to be scourg…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)