Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) · 27 of 123 · tr. A.E. Waite
4. The Conjuration Of The Four-e
Fulfil, Judgment, by fire in the virtue of Michael.
Angel of the blind eyes, obey, or pass away with this holy water!
Work, Winged Bull, or revert to the earth, unless thou wilt that I should pierce thee with this sword!
Chained Eagle, obey my sign, or fly before this breathing!
Writhing Serpent, crawl at my feet, or be tortured by the sacred fire and give way before the perfumes that I burn in it!
Water, return to water; fire, burn; air, circulate; earth, revert to earth, by virtue of the Pentagram, which is the Morning Star, and by the name of the Tetragram, which is written in the center of the Cross of Light!
Amen.
The Sign of the Cross adopted by Christians does not belong to them exclusively.
This also is kabalistic and represents the oppositions and tetradic equilibrium of the elements.
We see by the occult versicle of the Lord's Prayer, which we have cited in our “Doctrine”, that it was originally made after two manners, or at least that it was characterized by two entirely different formulae, one reserved for priests and initiates, the other imparted to neophytes and the profane.
For example, the initiate said raising his hand to his forehead, “For thine,” then added “is,” and continuing as he brought down his hand to his breast, “the kingdom,” then to the left shoulder, “the justice,” afterwards to the right shoulder, “and the mercy” - then clasping his hands, he added, “in the generating ages.” Tibi sunt Malkuth et Geburah et Chesed per aeonas - a Sign of the Cross which is absolutely and magnificently kabalistic, which the profanations of Gnosticism have lost completely to the official and militant Church.
This Sign, made after this manner, should precede and terminate the Conjuration of the Four.
To overcome and subjugate the elementary spirits, we must never yield to their characteristic defects.
Thus, a shallow and capricious mind will never rule the Sylphs; an irresolute, cold and fickle nature will never master the Undines; passion irritates the Salamanders; and avaricious greed makes its slaves the sport of Gnomes.
But we must be prompt and active, like the Sylphs; pliant and attentive to images, like the Undines; energetic and strong like the Salamanders; laborious and patient, like the Gnomes: in a word, we must overcome them in their strength without ever being overcome by their weaknesses.
Once we are well established in this disposition, the whole world will be at the service of the wise operator.
He will pass through the storm, and the rain will not moisten his head; the wind will not move even a fold of his garments; he will go through fire and not be burned; he will walk upon water and will behold diamonds within the crust of the earth.
These promises may appear hyperbolic, but only to vulgar understanding, for if the sage do not perform such things materially and actually, he accomplishes others which are much greater and more admirable.
At the same time, it is indubitable that we may direct the elements by our will up to a certain point and can really change or hinder their effects.
For example, if it be established that persons in an ecstatic state lose their weight for the time being, why should it be impossible to walk upon the water?
The convulsionaries of Saint Medard felt neither fire nor steel, and begged for the most violent blows and incredible tortures as a relief.
The extraordinary climbings and miraculous equilibrium of some somnambulists are a revelation of these concealed forces of Nature.
The doctrine and worldview that natural phenomena, places, and objects possess inherent spirit, soul, or personality — and that the cosmos is populated by countless local, plural, embodied divine agents: kami in mountain and tree, sidhe in cairn and well, landwights in field and stone, nymphs in spring and grove, haltija in forest and lake, lares and penates in household and threshold, Iamblichean daemons in element and place. Distinct from monotheism (single transcendent God), pantheism (one underlying substance), and emanation_hierarchy (cascading single source); animism's signature is the plurality, locality, and embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.
Elemental spirits like Sylphs and Undines are treated as distinct personalities with specific defects and strengths inherent to natural phenomena.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The operator must embody the qualities of the elements to rule them, reflecting the Hermetic principle that human will mirrors cosmic forces.
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 describes ritual practices using consecrated symbols like the Cross and Pentagram to engage and command spiritual powers.
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 is structured as a magical conjuration where spoken commands and names directly compel elemental spirits to obey.