I am very late in updating my monthly progress through Donald Michael Kraig’s Modern Magic: Twelve Lessons in the High Magical Arts, mostly due to school commitments. Now that I’ve graduated, I will be catching up on my blog posts about my progress. All insights and experiences are taken directly from my notes and ritual diary entries, and all rituals described have been faithfully performed daily without fail.
I haven’t progressed through chapter five which introduces the element of Water and the Water Cup. This too is a tool that I already possess, though I need to change my old motto on it.
While this was my last month of school, I chose to continue with my existing daily practice: the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, the Middle Pillar Ritual, the Circulation of the Body of Light, and the Advanced Tarot Contemplation.
I’ve been considering adding the Minor Arcana, one element at a time to my Advanced Tarot Contemplation Ritual. I’ve been through all the Major Arcana several times so far and I’m not getting as many insights or flashes of inspiration as I once was.
Another item I’ve been working on is a nice, hardbound book of my daily rituals. I will likely add the Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram next month, and because this is a completely new ritual to me, I know that I will need a reference guide. Why not make it something beautiful as well as useful? I’ve been typing out the rituals and preparing to format and print it as a book so that I can bind it. I even have a nice parchment paper to print it on. I’ve also been working on developing some devotional rituals unrelated to my Ceremonial Magic practice which will also go in the book.
Meditation is another practice which I feel needs to be added to my daily routine. I’m unsure of how to structure it as I’m comfortable with several methods – should I stick to mantra meditation? Vipassana?
By the end of last month, I was seldom feeling dizzy or energetic spikes during the Middle Pillar Ritual or the Circulation of the Body of Light. Early this month however, a new sensation was occurring on a regular basis: I would feel very hot, like I was on fire; it was an intense burning sensation and my hands would feel very hot, like I had balls of fiery energy in each of them. Sometimes the energy would feel tingly, like my hands had “fallen asleep” and circulation was now being restored. Later in the month, the energy would simply pool in my hands, or simply feel heavy.
Visualizations during the Middle Pillar Ritual got better when I sped up the recitation of the God-names. For some reason, saying the names only once, and saying everything efficiently and quickly made it easier to hold the visualizations in my mind’s eye. I continue to use Asherah in the place of Yahweh in all rituals that require the tetragrammaton.