Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) · 30 of 123 · tr. A.E. Waite
5. The Blazing Pentagram-b
In the case of a spirit of darkness, the opposite course is pursued, but then the operator must be careful to set the end of the rod or the point of the sword upon the head of the Pentagram.
We have said that signs are the active voice of the word of will.
Now, the word of will must be given in its completeness, so that it may be transformed into action; and a single negligence, representing an idle speech or a doubt, falsifies and paralyses the whole process, turning back upon the operator all the forces thus expended in vain.
We must therefore abstain absolutely from magical ceremonies or scrupulously and exactly fulfil them all.
The Pentagram, engraved in luminous lines upon glass by the electrical machine, exercises also a great influence upon spirits and terrifies phantoms.
The old magicians traced the sign of the Pentagram upon their doorsteps, to prevent evil spirits from entering and good spirits from departing.
This constraint followed from the direction of the points of the star.
Two points on the outer side drove away the evil; two points on the inner side imprisoned them; one only on the inner side held good spirits captive.
All these magical theories, based upon the one dogma of Hermes and on the analogical deductions of science, have been confirmed invariably by the visions of ecstatics and the paroxysms of cataleptics, declaring that they are possessed by spirits.
The G which Freemasons place in the middle of the Blazing Star signifies GNOSIS and GENERATION, the two sacred words of the ancient Kabalah.
It signifies also GRAND ARCHITECT, for the Pentagram on every side represents an A.
By placing it in such a manner that two of its points are in the ascendant and one is below, we may see the horns, ears and beard of the hierarchic Goat of Mendes, when it becomes the sign of infernal evocations.
The allegorical Star of the Magi is no other than the mysterious Pentagram; and those three kings, sons of Zoroaster, conducted by the Blazing Star to the cradle of the microcosmic God, are themselves a full demonstration of the kabalistic and magical beginnings of Christian doc-trine.
One of these kings is white, another black and the third brown.
The white king offers gold, symbol of light and life; the black king presents myrrh, image of death and of darkness; the brown king sacrifices incense, emblem of the conciliating doctrine of the two principles.
They return thereafter into their own land by another road, to show that a new cultus is only a new path, conducting man to one religion, being that of the sacred triad and the radiant Pentagram, the sole eternal catholicism.
St.
John, in the Apocalypse, beholds this same star fall from heaven to earth.
It is then called absinthe or wormwood, and all the waters of the sea become bitter - a striking image of the materialization of dogma, which produces fanaticism and the acridities of controversy.
Then unto Christianity itself may be applied those words of Isaiah: “How has thou fallen from heaven, bright star, which wast so splendid in thy prime!” But the Pentagram, profaned by men, burns ever unclouded in the right hand of the Word of Truth, and the inspired voice guarantees to him that overcometh the possession of the Morning Star - a solemn promise of restitution held out to the Star of Lucifer.
As will be seen, all Mysteries of Magic, all symbols of the Gnosis, all figures of occultism, all kabalistic keys of prophecy are summed up in the Sign of the Pentagram, which Paracelsus proclaims to be the greatest and most potent of all signs.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The letter G is explicitly stated to signify 'GNOSIS,' and the text validates theories through 'visions of ecstatics,' emphasizing direct experiential knowledge.
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 'magical ceremonies,' the role of the 'operator,' and the use of symbols like the Pentagram to influence spirits, fitting the definition of ritual practice engaging divine 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 explicitly defines signs as the 'active voice of the word of will' that must be given in completeness to transform into action, centralizing the magical efficacy of the spoken/signed word.