Psyche, Magical Journeys of the Goddess
Fellowship of Isis Liturgy by Olivia Robertson
Part I. The Spiral of Tiamat
Magical Journey to
The Triple Moon. 2nd Sphere
Ritual no. 2
ORACLE OF THE GODDESS NGAME
Priestess: (Invocation) I invoke your inspiration, O Ngame, Triple Moon Goddess of Whom None in the Universe is greater. Caught in the dull web of our daily lives we look to Thee for the promise that lies concealed beneath Thy mysterious veils of magic.
Oracle: You cannot see your own body save for the tip of your nose and the front of your body down to your toes! You need to gaze into still water or a looking-glass in order to see yourself: and even then the image is reversed. All you have learnt from science is but a limited area of knowledge deduced from insufficient information, garnered through extended five senses and logical inference. You can, however, only understand the hidden spheres of the occult if you learn the language of symbols. Each symbol embodies a reality on another plane. The moon which I hold in my dark hands is the mirror both of the polarized rays of the sun, and of your own earth, when its shadow blackens the moon. So those who fear the eclipsed Full Moon reject their own shadow! The moon symbolizes duality, a duality that is even manifested by the Solar Deities, Who yet cast a shadow upon the lower earth plane. The God when reversed is a devil. Yet the moon in triple form shows forth that harmony which resolves duality.
The aetheric matrix of your earth appears to you as a dream reflection of physical life, to vanish at day-break. But in fact it is the causal essence of the physical plane. You can only alter physical matter through making changes in its aetheric counterpart. A table cannot be moved an inch without psychic volition. To do this knowingly is the art of magic. Spiritual transformation, rather than mere aetheric manipulation, is also the gift of the moon. As it is impossible for you to see your own face save in a mirror, so in order to know and transform your soul, you need to gaze into the aetheric lunar mirror. What you see therein may delight or terrify you! The ugly may see an angel: the handsome a monster. Union is achieved when the persona and soul are one: so the spirit is in harmony with itself. For what seems alien, even macabre, is your hidden self which, if banished, creates a vacuum in your soul. So deprived, you became psychically maimed.
During the past two thousand years, mankind has attempted to vault over the psychic spheres of the moon, and achieve the higher planes without it. Femininity, magic, the occult, were all despised, feared and exorcised in temples and churches; convents and colleges; in monasteries and laboratories. But now the time has come when mankind the student grows to adulthood. Each of you must face the reverse image instead of attacking it, labelling it heretic, devil, black witch, lunatic, hallucination! For the Three lunar spheres, psychic, spiritual and cosmic are an essential curve in the evolutionary spiral. In the Piscean age it was necessary for devotees to struggle with their own souls to achieve one-pointed purity. But in this coming Aeon of the Winged Ones the shadow image must be absorbed. So may the Greater Self include both higher and lower selves. Duality is resolved not through conquest but through harmony.
Every planet has its reverse twin and I preside over them all. And I also rule over the mightier duality of the shining stars burning in black space. Darkness and light are united in My cosmic embrace. I hold them in My arms as I do each one of you.
1st and 2nd Priestesses wear silver crowns and carry silver wands. 1st and 2nd Priests wear white and silver mitres and bear white staffs. Voyagers wear silver headbands and all wear white and silver robes. On black draped altar are three lighted candles, burning incense and a silver vessel of spring water. In the centre of the temple is a crystal ball or round magnifying mirror on stand covered with black, white and silver veils. Jug of water and glasses nearby.
1st Priest: (strikes three times on ground with staff) Fellow voyagers who seek the Truth that underlies visions and revelations, we are assembled to make a trance journey to the three Spheres of the Psychic Moon, her horns that wax and wane, her fullness and her darkness. The Moon is our sister planet and her influence moves both the tides of the seas and our own souls. As she waxes end wanes she affects all plant life and our own emotions. In her fullness she is a mighty mirror that reflects to us the polarized rays of the sun. In her eclipse she shows us our own black image, the earth's shadow. So she is an enigma that conceals the truth. For everything in this physical world is but a reflection of greater spheres. We need to know ourselves through the moon's magic mirror, so that we may transform the world. Let us invoke the Moon Goddess!
1st Priestess: (makes the sign of the Triple Moon Goddess, an "S" with a circle) I invoke the Triple Moon Goddess Ngame, of Whom there is none greater throughout the Universe. Wherever there is a material planet, O Queen of Night, there art Thou, an inseparable twin world. Thou with Thy divine imagination createst dreams that haunt the human heart. Without Thee, O lovely Goddess, we are dull things, without wonder, vision and hope.
1st Priest: (offers incense) I offer Thee this incense, Ngame, in honour of Thy Divinity. The peoples of Nigeria and of Akan, the Libyan Berbers and their kin the Irish and the Welsh, once adored Thee As Ngame. Beneath Thy silver veil is concealed the Water of Life; the secrets of love lie hidden beneath Thy white bridal veil: and for ourselves who seek the wonders of magic, lift Thy black veil of occult Mystery!
2nd Priestess: I bless this water in Thy Name, Ngame! (She consecrates water in silver vessel with moon sign) Thou Who commandeth the tides, bring us a flow of inspiration to guide us in our voyage! (She anoints each brow.) May you find true vision and inspiration.
BUILDING THE SHIP
2nd Priest: Let us build the Ship Luna in the aether through our creative imagination! (Music. Debussy’s "La Mer" and Ravel are suitable.) Beautiful is the bright ship Luna that draws the souls of wanderers to the magical moon! Let us build the white deck, dancing widdershins on the Moon path. (He marks out circle with staff. Voyagers dance right to left until they are giddy. Colours silver, green and copper may be seen.)
2nd Priestess: The walls of the lovely ship Luna are silver. (She marks walls in circle with wand. Voyagers dance creating walls with uplifted arms.)
1st Priest: How beautiful is the gleaming dome of the magical ship Luna! (He creates dome with staff. Voyagers dance with fingertips held aloft creating dome.)
1st Priestess: The soft white light of the ship comes from a crystal that hangs from the centre of the dome. (She creates crystal with wand and Voyagers converge on centre with upraised fingertips creating crystal light.)
1st Priest: Behold, the ship Luna is created, visible to the inner eye Let us sit in a circle within her, and face our voyage. (All sit. He removes silver veil from centre.) Our ship glides through clouds towards the moon. * * * Crystal Music.
THE HORNED MOON
1st Priestess: We have entered the Sphere of the two horned Moon. Harken well to its legend. In a deserted church a young girl knelt before a statue of a lovely Maiden robed in white. The statue was of poor quality, and cheap artificial flowers lay at her little plaster feet. The church was dusty and neglected. Suddenly a Hunchback stood beside the girl and told her: "Watch the statue." To her amazement a mighty Cone of White Light descended from on high upon the head of the plaster figure and permeated it. "This Light," said the Hunchback," is the Light of Truth, the greatest Power in the Universe. Look further." And behold, the statue slowly became alive in the likeness of a young girl with long dark hair; but her face was half concealed by a black mask over her eyes. She had a lovely smile. Then to the sound of music to the beat of three, she descended from her pedestal and glided, still smiling, out of the church and through the doors into the world. "What does this mean?" asked the girl. As she asked, the hunchback was transformed into a white winged Angel. "There are those on earth who see this and know what has happened," he said. "It is good for the Virtuous: but bad for the wicked."
1st Priest: Know that the Maiden and the Hunchback haunt the imagination of succeeding generations who seek to penetrate the veils of the Moon. To the Egyptians she was Hathor with Her magic mirror and her dwarf companion, the God Bes the Ugly One. To Africans She was Ngame the Moon Goddess with her Herald the Humpback. The French poet Victor Hugo recognised her as Esmeralda the Gypsy Maid and Quasi-Modo the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Italians acted them as Columbine the Dove and Punchinello: and to children they are both loved and feared as Judy and Punch, the Hanged Man. The Divine Maiden drives men to fanaticism and violence as She sings of impossible ideals, Her voice rising octave upon octave. Yet she is the Pure Channel of virtue and compassion. The Hunchback of the Moon haunts the dreams of madmen with macabre nightmares, for he is the fear-bringer. Yet as Moon God he bestows poetic inspiration and spiritual revelations. We must face these twain if we wish to know ourselves.
Music.
1st Priestess: Before us is a silver mirror the length of a human-being. It is our aetheric doorway. Each of us has a wish. Only through this door may we find the realm of fulfilled wishes that cast their influence on earth. Let us rise in our psychic bodies and approach the mirror. It becomes transparent. Through it we catch a glimpse of ourselves. The world behind the mirror is a replica of our world, but more real and alive, and everything has an aura of shifting colours. We pass through it. * * *
Silence
1st Priestess: It is time for us to return to the Ship Luna through the silver mirrors. * * * If our wishes were truly imagined, they will be fulfilled.
THE FULL MOON
2nd Priest: Let us journey to the sphere of the full moon. (He removes white veil from crystal.) Our beautiful ship Luna flies swiftly through moonlight.
2nd Priestess: See with your mind's eye the myth of Selene and Endymion. A poet, wearied with life's dull round, seeks solitude in a grove of cypresses. As night comes he lies down and falls asleep. Slowly the dark sky begins to glow with a pale light. From on high a Goddess of magical beauty appears above the trees, and sees the sleeping youth. Her black hair spreads about Her, glittering with stars, and Her face and naked body are made of crystallised White Light. She falls in love with the beauty of the poet's soul. She touches him with her long white fingers. He opens his eyes and sees Her and he marvels at her transcendent loveliness. She draws him upwards into the night sky. The two are made One, surrounded by a radiating white aura. Upon the earth lies the dead body of the youth, face upwards, his unseeing eyes fixed on the full moon.
2nd Priest: Let us make our voyage to the Sphere of the full moon in our fair ship Luna. (Music) We Sail through bright moonlight into Selene's spiritual realm. The moon in her beauty inspires the romantic dreams of poets and lovers, so that the humblest woman becomes a Goddess of eternal loveliness: a hump-backed man is transformed through love's eyes into a God. And this is no illusion, but the banishing of a false transient image. For ugliness, stupidity and cruelty are but distortions in our shadow world of the perfection that is our true being. Those who despise others are deluded by the passing play: wise are those who adore the ideal in their lovers.
"Lady of Night, two-horned, Lover of nightlong dances,
Look through the latticed windows, O Moon with thy quivering ray,
On my golden lass, Callistion! Immortal glances
May linger unforbidden on mortal lovers' play.
Sure on us both, O Moon, there rests thy benison
Once was Thine own heart kindled to love Endymion."
2nd Priestess: Treasured in every heart is the secret image of the Immortal Beloved! Behold, the door to love's hiding-place is before us, covered with a white veil. We arise in our psychic bodies and glide towards the door. We lift the veil and see before us a landscape of faery-like magic. Deer and hares play without fear with beautiful men and women. Music is wafted to us from little silver bells strung from the branches of blossoming trees. We pass through the doorway in search of our heart's desire. * * *
Silence
2nd Priestess: We return from our search through the doorway of the white veil, holding in our hearts that which we have received.
THE DARK MOON
1st Priest: The final sphere of the dark Moon is the most feared because it is the least known. Let us with strong hearts journey there. (He removes black veil from crystal.) Our noble ship Luna travels at great speed through starry space.
Music.
1st Priestess: Harken to the Mystery of the Eclipsed Moon. "And I beheld a mighty Goddess and Her head with its dark waving hair reached to the heavens, and Her feet stood within the abyss and a black panther with blazing golden eyes was coiled about them. Her naked body was black as night and the only light therein were two white crescents about her majestic dark eyes. In Her hands She bore a rough rock of quartz. And I knew that She held the Moon and that She was Ngame."
1st Priest: The sphere of the eclipsed Full Moon is only truly experienced by Initiates. Hear the words of Lucius Apuleius, Priest of Isis: "As I lay by the seashore I awakened with sudden fear and saw the moon shining bright. Then I thought that this was the most secret time, when that Goddess had most puissance and force. I made this Oration to the puissant Goddess: "O Blessed Queen of Heaven, the original and motherly source of all things, Thou hast power with triple face to protect and doth illuminate us by Thy feminine Light, Grant peace and rest and protection." And there appeared to me from the midst of the sea a Divine and venerable Face, worshipped even of the Gods Themselves. I saw the whole figure of Her Body, bright and mounting out of the sea and standing before me. She had a great abundance of hair, flowing and curling; on the crown of Her head she bore many garlands of flowers, and in the middle of Her forehead was a plain circle in fashion of a mirror, borne on either side by serpents. Her vestment yielded diverse colours, white, yellow, rosy red and flaming, and, (which troubled my sight and spirit sore) her cloak was utterly dark and obscure, shining black and upon it stars glimpsed, and in the midst of them was placed the moon in mid-month, which shone like a flame of fire. And with Her holy voice she uttered these words to me:
1st Priestess: 'Behold, Lucius, I am come. I am She that is the natural Mother of all things, Mistress of all the elements, the initial progeny of worlds, Chief of the Powers Divine, Queen of all that are in Hades, the Principal of them that dwell in Heaven, manifested alone and under one form of all the Gods and Goddesses, DEORUM DEARUM-QUE FACIES UNIFORMIS. I am known by Ten Thousand Names and the Egyptians, excellent in ancient doctrine call me ISIS. Behold, the healthful aeon has come which is ordained by My Providence."
Fellow Voyagers, let us face the Mysteries. Before us is a low doorway covered with a black curtain. Only through our Cosmic Selves may we accomplish our destiny. Let us approach the door and lift the black veil. All is blackness. Then we glimpse stars. We discern a gleaming pathway and we go forth
Silence
1st Priestess: We return to the Ship Luna through the dark doorway, bearing with us that which we have been given.
THE RETURN
2nd Priest: Fellow voyagers, let us return through the three spheres of the Triple Moon to our earth, in our ship Luna. We travel through starry space * * * through white moonlight * * * through clouds until our ship lands in our earthly Temple. We are once more seated therein in our circle.
2nd Priestess: We need to dissolve our ship created in the aether. (Priesthood dissolve ship with wands and staffs in reverse order to its creation and voyagers do likewise. 1st Priest strikes ground three times with staff.) We have returned from our trance journey and resume complete control of our physical bodies.
Glasses of water are handed round to ensure return from trance.
1st Priestess: Let us share our experiences of our trance journey to the three spheres of the moon, only retaining that which is secret. (Reports given.) May psychic radiations be sent forth to all who long for mystery, love and beautiful imagination.
Many-Coloured lunar radiations are sent forth. The power is silver, green and copper coloured. Priesthood give thanks to Ngame, Selene and Isis.
Sources: "The White Goddess", Graves, Faber. "The Golden Ass", Lucius Apuleius, trans. William Adlington, 1560. Poem by Philodemus of Gadara from "Greek Poetry", 40 BC, trans. F. L. Lucas, Everyman's Library. "Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and the Homerica", trans. Evelyn-White, Heinemann, Harvard.
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