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The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) · 129 of 175 · tr. Arthur Edward Waite

Page 64 (part 3)

FIRST PRAYER O great and living God, subsisting in one and the same person, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; I adore Thee with the deepest veneration., and I submit with the liveliest confidence to Thy holy and sufficient Protection. I believe with the most sincere faith that Thou art my Creator, my Benefactor, my Preserver and my Lord, and I testify to Thy sovereign Majesty that my sole desire is to belong to Thee through the whole of eternity. So be it. Amen . SECOND PRAYER O great and living God, Who hast created man to enjoy felicity in this life, Who hast adapted all things for his necessities, and didst declare that everything should be made subject to his will, be favourable to this my design, and permit not the rebellious spirits to be in Possession of those treasures which were formed by Thine own hands for our temporal requirements. Grant me, O great God, the power to dispose of them by the potent and terrific names in Thy Clavicle: ADONAY, ELOIM, ARIEL, JEHOVAM, TAGLA, MATHON , be ye propitious unto me. So be it. Amen . OFFERTORY I offer Thee this incense as the purest which I have been able to obtain, O sublime ADONAY, ELOIM, ARIEL and JEHOVAM ; vouchsafe to receive it as an acceptable holocaust. Incline to me in Thy Power, and enable me to succeed in this great enterprise. So be it. Amen . FIRST CONJURATION Addressed to the Emperor Lucifer Emperor Lucifer, Master and Prince of Rebellious Spirits, I adjure thee to leave thine abode, in whatsoever quarter of the world it may be situated, and come hither to communicate with me. I command and I conjure thee in the Name of the Mighty living God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, to appear without noise and without any evil smell, to respond in a clear and intelligible voice, point by Point, to all that I shall ask thee, failing which, thou shall be most surely compelled to obedience by the Power of the divine ADONAY, ELOIM, ARIEL, JEHOVAM, TAGLA, MATHON , and by the whole hierarchy of superior intelligences, who shall constrain thee against thy will. Venité, Venité! Submiritillor Lucifuge , or eternal torment shall overwhelm thee, by the great Power of this Blasting Rod. In subito. SECOND CONJURATION I command and I adjure thee, Emperor Lucifer, as the representative of the mighty living God, and by the power of Emanuel, His only Son, Who is thy master and mine, and by the virtue of His precious blood, which He shed to redeem mankind from thy chains, I command thee to quit thine abode, wheresoever it may be, swearing that I will give thee one quarter of an hour alone, if thou dost not straightway come hither and communicate with me in an audible and intelligible voice, or, if thy Personal presence be impossible, despatch me thy Messenger Astarôt in a human form, without either noise or evil smell, failing which I will smite thee and thy whole race with the terrible Blasting Rod into the depth of the bottomless abysses, and that by the Power of those great words in the Clavicle--By ADONAY, ELOIM, ARIEL, JEHOVAM, TAGLA, MATHON, ALMOUZIN, ARIOS, PITHONA, MAGOTS, SYLPHÆ, TABOTS, SALAMANDRÆ, GNOMUS, TERRÆ, CŒLIS, GODENS, AQUA. In subito .
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Themes
Archonscosmology

Malevolent planetary rulers or demiurgic powers that govern the material world and obstruct the soul's ascent.

Lucifer is addressed as 'Master and Prince of Rebellious Spirits,' functioning similarly to archonic rulers in this magical context.

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Covenanttheology

A binding agreement or relationship between the divine and a people or individual, establishing mutual obligations.

The language of belonging ('my sole desire is to belong to Thee') and protection implies a relational bond between the practitioner and God.

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Divine Providencetheology

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 prayers acknowledge God as the one who 'adapted all things for his necessities' and orders the universe.

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Living Godtheology

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

The text repeatedly addresses 'O great and living God' and emphasizes His active role as Creator, Benefactor, and Preserver.

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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 asserts command over spirits ('I command and I conjure thee') based on divine authority granted to their will.

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Prayerpraxis

Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.

The text begins with two explicit prayers of adoration, submission, and petition addressed to God.

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Ritual Firepraxis

Fire as medium of divine presence.

Incense is offered as a 'purest' holocaust, implying the use of fire in the ritual context.

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Sacred Namestheology

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

The passage relies heavily on the invocation of specific divine names (ADONAY, ELOIM, ARIEL, etc.) as sources of potent power and authority.

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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 core of the text consists of formal conjurations commanding Emperor Lucifer and Astarôt to appear and obey.

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Theurgypraxis

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 employs consecrated material symbols (incense, Blasting Rod) and ritual actions to engage divine power for a specific end.

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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 efficacy of the ritual depends on the utterance of 'potent and terrific names' and commands that compel spirits through verbal force.

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