Urania, Ceremonial Magic of the Goddess
Fellowship of Isis Liturgy by Olivia Robertson
Part II. Elemental Magic
Sun Magic of the Life Force
Ritual no. 3
ORACLE OF THE GODDESS KUNDALINI
Priestess: (Invocation) Awe-inspiring Goddess of liquid Fire, Whose serpent doth coil Herself round the Tree of Life, harken to our prayer! Bring us the seven apples of Power; the Power to know, to love, to take, to give, to rejoice, to grow, to join in the Dance of Creation! Yet protect us, weak as we are, from the consuming fires of Kali, lest we be unprepared for Thy Awakening from the Depths.
Oracle: You do well to invoke My Power, for without Me, though you have thought, feeling and existence, yet you dwell in the delusion of sloth and death. Fear Me not! I would that all beings should enjoy the fiery breath of My serpent, that brings ecstasy and eternal bliss. Not from ambition, nor from end-seeking, nor from desire to probe My secrets shall You come to Me: for wrong motive will inevitably lead to your destruction, until you learn more wisdom, and tread the path of the Virtues.
To draw My Power from the Great Deep, revere the earth your Mother through the senses. Touch the earth with the palms of your hands and kiss the ground. To bring down My Power from the heavens look upwards and wonder at the sun and the moon and the stars. So by your gaze shall you feel their harmonious influence call Me to you. But understand that no prayers, no virtuous activity, no meditation, no aspiration, no self-inflicted penances, not even adoration will call Me forth from the Mystic Cave. For I came through My Will, to the foolish, to the wise, to the prepared, to the unprepared, to the Saint, to the criminal. None may tell the hour of My Coming, nor to whom I will come. Nonetheless the wise prepare themselves, lest their habitation be destroyed by My Fire. Whether through the rushing of a powerful wind; through thunder and volcano; or through the song of birds and the dance of butterflies, or through Silence; I must come that you may awaken and live.
Let there be a central altar on which burns a charcoal fire with incense by it. 7 unlighted candles are in a circle by the walls. A vessel is by the altar. 7 Practitioners stand by each candle wearing appropriate robes and emblems representing Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn and Neptune. First Enchantress wears gold crown and gold and flame coloured robes. She holds a gold wand and wears winged disc as pectoral. 2nd Enchantress wears a gold rayed headdress and conceals herself. Magician wears gold headdress and gold and crimson robes. He wears a winged-disc pectoral and holds a gold staff tipped with winged disc.
Magician: Brothers and sisters, who speak for the Seven Holy Planets, we would invoke the Inner Sun, the Divine Sun Goddess. For without Her, our lives are as dust, flavourless, without love
1st Practitioner: Saith Mars: Are not the powerful rays of Ra, the Sun we see and feel, sufficient for our needs? For we are born and live our lives in cycles and finally we die. Wherefore should we wish for our hidden Mother the Sun Goddess, now that we are born and no longer need Her protecting care?
2nd Practitioner: Divine Venus knows that we would live in harmony evermore. Without the Inner Sun of Beauty we are as nothing.
3rd Practitioner: With Mercury the winged One I would attain the Stars and contemplate the Galaxy. Let our forgotten Mother, the Hidden One, show Herself, so that She may bestow upon us the Gnosis.
4th Practitioner: Without the compassionate Goddess, the Great Sun God is fierce and blinding and devours the planets and all creatures. Let joy and serenity come to him through the Goddess. May Surya and Surya, Sun God and Goddess, share their Love with us. So may we rejoice with Jupiter.
5th Practitioner: Saturn knows not this Sun Goddess, for He cannot prove Her existence with His practical knowledge. She has hidden Herself in a cave, the Void. So it is believed.
6th Practitioner: Uranus dreams of Her with longing, but dares not invoke Her for fear of the Sun God's wrath, Who alone would have our homage.
7th Practitioner: Neptune knows Her, for He knows the Future. But He cannot invoke Her on His own.
Magician: Without each one of you, I cannot invoke the awe inspiring Inner Sun, the Serpent Goddess Kundalini. She it is Who follows the Path of the Serpent on the Highroads of the Sun. Know that the Goddess shines in the fullness of Her lustre like lightning. She is the lotus fibre, curled three-and-a-half times round Herself. When She rises up the Tree, She hisses.
1st Practitioner: Mars would feel this Magic Fire and be mighty!
5th Practitioner: Saturn must understand this liquid Fire and increase His knowledge!
1st Enchantress: So now the seven wish to invoke Her! It is not enough: The Outer Sun Ra must long for Her presence, though Her coming bring an inner shaking and tumult. Hear how the Goddess Isis obtained the secret Name of Ra, in return for the Serpent Power which She bestowed upon Him. Isis took the spit of Ra which She found upon the ground, and She kneaded it with earth in Her hand, and She formed thereof a Sacred Serpent in the form of a dart. She did not set it upright before Her Face, but let it lie upon the ground in the path whereby the Great God Ra went forth. And Ra came forth according to His daily wont; and the Sacred Serpent bit Him. And He was overcome.
Magician: When the Great God had established His heart, He cried out, saying: A dire calamity had fallen upon Me. My Heart perceiveth it, but My eyes see it not. I came forth to look upon that which I had made, I was passing through the world which I had created, when lo! Something stung, but what I know not. is it fire? Is it water? My Heart is on fire, My flesh quaketh, and trembling hath seized all My limbs.
1st Enchantress: And Isis came, bringing with Her words of magical Power, and Her mouth was full of life; for Her word made live again the hearts of those who are dead. And Isis said unto Ra, “Tell Thy Name unto Me, for He shall live whose Name shall be revealed.”
Magician: And Ra spoke these words: “As I have been overcome by the bite of the serpent of liquid Fire sent to Me by Isis, My Name shall pass from Me into Her.” So, in the Name of Ra, let the Sun Goddess be invoked from Her hidden cave. The seven seals shall be broken and the Seven Sleepers awake from the Cave wherein they dream.
1st Enchantress: Not so fast! Discretion is needed. Has thou reflected that the Inmates of the Cave were one of the Divine signs? There were seven youths and one dog that betook them to sleep in a cave. So it is written an ancient scripture. They were struck with deafness in a cave for many a year. And thou mightest have seen the Sun when it arose, pass on the right side of their cave, and when it set, leave them on the left, while they were in its spacious chamber. This is one of the Signs of Deity. And thou wouldst have deemed them awake, though they were sleeping: and we turned them to the right and to the left. And in the entry lay their dog with paws outstretched. Hadst thou come suddenly upon them, thou wouldst surely have turned Thy back on them in flight, and have been filled with fear at them. Dangerous is it to break the seven seals. Far more dangerous to awaken the Seven Sleepers!
Magician: Those who invoke the Goddess Kundalini need the courage to accept greater Life, whatever the risks.
Enchantress: But also it is needful to have virtue to live it well. The Divine Words of Power need to be spoken that the Peaceful Deities may protect us. The Seven Planets must be in harmony with each Other and with Deity. The Prayers of the Planets need now to be spoken!
1st Practitioner: Alas! I was wandering in delusion, because of the power of violent anger. On the radiant light-path of the Virtue-seeking Wisdom, may the Divine Mother, She of Infinite Space, be my rear-guard.
2nd Practitioner: Alas! I was wandering in delusion because of deliberate stupidity. On the radiant light-path of the Mirror-like Wisdom, may the Divine Mother, She of the Buddha Eye, be my rear-guard.
3rd Practitioner: Alas! I was wandering in delusion because of the power of ignorant egotism. On the radiant light-path of the Wisdom of Equanimity, may the Divine Mother, Mamaki, be my rear-guard.
4th Practitioner: Alas! I was wandering in delusion because of the power of selfish jealousy. On the radiant light-path of the All-Perfecting Wisdom, may the Divine Mother, the faithful Tara, be my rear-guard.
5th Practitioner: Alas! I was wandering in delusion through the power of the four poisons of envy, hatred. pride and cruelty. On the bright radiance-path of the Four Wisdoms united, may the Five Orders of Divine Mothers be my rear-guard.
6th Practitioner: Alas! I was wandering in delusion because of the power of fanatical attachment. On the radiant light-path of the Discriminating Wisdom, may the Divine Mother be my rear-guard.
7th Practitioner: “Oh Ye knowledge-Holding Deities, pray harken unto me:
Lead me on the Path, out of your great love.
When I am wandering in delusion, because of devouring obsessions, On the bright light-path of the Simultaneously-born Wisdom,
May the Orders of Adepti, the Knowledge-Holders, lead me.
May the Orders of the Mothers, the Dakini, be my rear-guard;
May they save me from the follies of delusion;
And place me in the pure Paradise Realms."
Magician: Protected by the Mothers because we practice the Virtues, Let us now break the Seven Seals and awaken the Seven Sleepers.
1st Enchantress: Not by incantations alone nor by the practice of the Virtues alone, is the Inner Sun awakened within us. Know that the Sun Goddess Ama-Terasu concealed Herself in a cave. The Deities themselves could not persuade Her to come forth! Only of Her Will did she emerge, enticed by the Kagura, the Divine Dance of the Goddess Ame-no-Uzume. Uzume came before the door of the rock cave, wherein the Sun Goddess lay concealed.
As she speaks these words, 1st Enchantress mimes them until she feels an inner glow within her. She makes the sign of ‘Yin-Yang,’ an ‘S’ within a circle with her wand.
1st Enchantress: Uzume bound up Her sleeves with two serpent-like cords. And She tied around Her head a band of the heavenly vine. And She bound together bundles of leaves to hold in Her hands. She overturned a vessel, and She stamped upon it.
1st Enchantress: (overturns vessel and stamps on it.) And behold! The Sun Goddess arose from the Cave!
2nd Enchantress rises from her hiding-place. She joins the dance with 1st Enchantress and places her hands on her heart. Then she places her hands upon the heart of Magician, and between his shoulders. Power may be felt and flame colour seen. When Magician feels the glow he moves his hands to his heart and then outwards. Magician strikes with his staff upon the ground twice.
Magician: The planets draw their Power from the Inner Fire. Let it be done!
7 Participants come forward in turn and light their candles from central fire. They form a circle forming arches with their arms. The two Enchantresses and Magician weave their way through these arches and the seven follow until the final arch is made by “Uranus” and “Neptune”. Finally all meet at the centre, facing each other, and with upraised palms they form a ten rayed star. As music, Ravel’s “Bolero,” Falla’s “Ritual Fire Dance” or Richard Strauss “Dance of the Seven Veils” are suitable.
1st Enchantress: Let us send forth Rays of the Inner Sun to all beings.
All turn outwards, extending palms of hands. Gold and flame colours may be seen and an inner glow felt. All sit in a circle. Contemplation on the harmony of the spheres.
Magician: We give thanks to the Sun Goddess for everlasting Life.
Sources: "The Serpent Power, being the Satcarkra Nirupana and Paduka Pancaka", Arthur Avalon, Dover Publications, Inc. "Nihongi, Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times", W. G. Aston, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., London. "Dakini", from "Images and Symbols of the Goddesses of India, China and Japan", Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, Cesara. "Egyptian Magic", E. A. Wallis Budge, Dover Publications, Inc. "The Cave", Sura 18, The Koran. The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
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