The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) · 143 of 175 · tr. Arthur Edward Waite
Page 68
CONJURATION OF THE BOOK I conjure thee, O Book, to be useful and profitable unto all who shall have recourse to thee for the success of their affairs. I conjure thee anew, by the virtue of the Blood of Jesus Christ, contained daily in the chalice, to be serviceable unto all those who shall read thee. I exorcise thee, in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity! What follows must be said before the sealing of the Book I conjure and command you, O Spirits, all and so many as ye aye, to accept this Book with good grace, so that whensoever we may read it, the same being approved and recognised as in proper form and valid, you shall be constrained to appear in comely human form when you are called, accordingly as the reader shall judge. In no circumstances shall you make any attempt upon the body, soul or spirit of the reader, nor inflict any harm on those who may accompany him, either by mutterings, tempests, noise, scandals, nor yet by lesion or by hindrance in the execution of the commands of this Book. I conjure you to appear immediately when the conjuration is made, to execute without dallying all that is written and enumerated in its proper place in the said book. You shall obey, serve, instruct, impart and Perform all in your power for the benefit of those who command you, and the whole without illusion. If perchance some of the invoked spirits be unable to come or appear when required, they shall be bound over to send others vested with their power, who also shall swear solemnly to execute all that the reader may demand, and ye are all hereby enjoined by the Most Holy Names of the Omnipotent Living God, ELOYM, JAH, EL, ELOY, TETRAGRAMMATON , to fulfil everything as it is set forth above. If ye obey me not, I will force you to abide in torments for a thousand years, as also if any one of you receive not this Book with entire resignation to the will of the reader .
A binding agreement or relationship between the divine and a people or individual, establishing mutual obligations.
The text establishes a binding agreement where spirits swear to execute commands in exchange for avoiding torment ('bound over to send others... who also shall swear solemnly').
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 reader asserts dominance over spirits through command and threat ('I will force you'), demonstrating the doctrine that human volition backed by divine authority can compel spiritual entities.
Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.
The text relies heavily on invoking specific divine names (Jesus Christ, Trinity, Elohim, Jah, El, Elohy, Tetragrammaton) to enforce authority over the 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 entire passage is a ritual text explicitly designed to command, bind, and compel spirits to appear and obey the reader.
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 operates on the premise that spoken conjurations and exorcisms directly constrain spirits and alter reality ('I conjure thee', 'I exorcise thee').