The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) · 148 of 175 · tr. Arthur Edward Waite
Page 71 (part 2)
Click to view For Wednesday, to Astaroth This experience is performed in its circle at night, from ten to eleven o'clock; it is designed to obtain the good graces of the King and others.
Write in the circle as follows: Come , ASTAROTH!
Come , ASTAROTH!
Come , ASTAROTH!
CONJURATION I conjure thee, ASTAROTH , wicked spirit, by the words and virtues of God, by the Powerful God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth , unto Whom all demons are submitted, Who was conceived of the Virgin Mary; by the mystery of the Angel Gabriel, I conjure thee; and again in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; in the name of the glorious Virgin Mary and of the Most Holy Trinity, in Whose honour do all the Archangels, Thrones, Dominations, Powers, Patriarchs , Click to view Prophets, Apostles and Evangelists sing without end; Hosannah, Hosannah.
Hosannah, Lord God of Hosts, Who art, Who wast, Who art to come, as a river of burning fire!
Neglect not my commands, refuse not to come.
I command thee by Him Who shall appear with flames to judge the living and the dead, unto Whom is all honour, praise and glory.
Come, therefore, promptly, obey my will; appear and give Praise to the true God, unto the living God, yea, unto all His works; fail not to obey me, and give honour to the Holy Ghost, in Whose name I command thee .
For Thursday, to Silcharde This experience is made at night, from three to four o'clock, at which hour he is called, and appears in the form of a King.
A little bread must be given him when he is required to depart; he renders man happy and also discovers treasures.
Click to view Write about the circle as follows: Holy God!
Holy God!
Holy God!
CONJURATION I conjure thee, SILCHARDE , by the image and likeness of Jesus Christ our Saviour, Whose death and passion redeemed the entire human race, Who also wills that, by His Providence, thou appear forthwith in this place.
I command thee by all the Kingdoms of God.
I adjure and constrain thee by His Holy Name, by Him Who walked upon the asp, Who crushed the lion and the dragon.
Do thou obey me and fulfill my commands , being Powerless to do harm unto me or any person whomsoever, either in body or soul.
For Friday, to Bechard This experience is performed at night from eleven to twelve Click to view o'clock, and a nut must be given to him.
Write within the circle: Come , BECHARD!
Come , BECHARD!
Come , BECHARD!
CONJURATION I conjure thee, BECHARD , and constrain thee, in like manner, by the Most Holy Names of God, ELOY, ADONAY, ELOY, AGLA, SAMALABACTAY , which are written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin; by all the sacraments, by all the names written in this book; and by him who drove thee from the height of Heaven.
I conjure and command thee by the virtue of the Most Holy Eucharist, Which hath redeemed men from their sins; I conjure thee to come without any delay, to do and perform all my biddings , without any prejudice to my body or soul, without harming my book or doing injury to those that accompany me .
For Saturday, to Guland This experience is performed at night from eleven to twelve o'clock, and so soon as he appears burnt bread must be given him.
Ask him anything that you will, and he will obey you Click to view on the spot.
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 invokes God's Providence as the force that wills the spirit to appear ('Who also wills that, by His Providence, thou appear forthwith').
Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.
The conjuration references the future judgment ('Him Who shall appear with flames to judge the living and the dead') as a source of authority.
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The conjurations address God as active and responsive ('Lord God of Hosts', 'Who art, Who wast, Who art to come'), invoking His power to enforce commands.
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 repeatedly asserts their will over the spirits ('obey my will', 'fulfill my commands'), demonstrating the doctrine that human volition can compel spiritual entities.
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 entirely composed of ritual instructions for commanding and binding spirits (Astaroth, Silcharde, Bechard, Guland) using circles, names, and invocations.
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 spoken words of conjuration and command ('I conjure thee', 'Come') to alter reality by summoning spirits.