Producing the Telesmatic Image

Golden Dawn Flying Roll XII.

     Golden Dawn Flying Roll number twelve is an instructive piece written by S. L. MacGregor Mathers aka G.H. Fr. D.D.C.F.  The subject of the instruction is in constructing a type of mental picture that is imbued with a divine nature or force.  Mathers labels these mental constructs "Telesmatic" images.  The use of the word Telesmatic seems to be a play on the word Talisman, as a Talisman is a physical object that attracts, and is imbued with a magical quality to perform a specific function, so the Telesman is a mental or astral creation of the same manner. 

     For those that have studied and practiced Talisman craft using symbols and sigils and Hermetic Qabalah this will be easy to follow.  Mathers' procedure for construction is fairly simple;  Take the the name of the entity that you wish to craft mentally and transliterate it into a spelling using the 22 letter Hebrew alphabet, divide the name into three parts representing upper, middle and lower portions of the body and then "craft" the image of the entity using attributes assigned to the letters.  Once the image is formed, either in the mind or on paper for later reference, a rose cross sigil of the name is added to the chest and the name of the entity formed on a belt around the waist.

     There are two forms of Telesmatic image that Mathers puts forth; one that is crafted and generated outside for the aura and one that is crafted and generated or invoked inside the heart.  We may draw an opinion that these two forms are related to two other Golden Dawn practices; evocation and God Form as the image that is crafted before the magician is evoked and the image crafted inside is invoked as a sort of overlay.  Nevertheless, besides forming the image from the letters of the name there are two items which energize and fuel the creation; spirit / light and vibration of the name.

     To understand how spirit and vibration work to fuel the creation of the Telesmatic image, we need to look at the ritual put forth by Mathers.  First, Mathers gives warning up front that the mind of the practitioner must be in the most divine state and that creating an image just from the astral is a recipe for attracting unwanted or harmful debris.  His warning serves to point out that he views this operation as using Divine power and authority in conjunction with individual imagination and will.  Mathers then instructs the magician to perform a q. cross, and lesser banishing ritual as these will undoubtedly set the magicians mind right and create a sacred work space.  Next, Mathers instructs the magician to perform a Rose Cross rite which includes an IAO and LVX vibration in each quarter.  IAO and LVX in combination with a Rose Cross tracing accomplishes the act of summoning spirit into the reality of the space under the authority of a solar God Form (Cross and Circle = Elements and Spirit; IAO = Beginning, Middle, End; LVX = Life, Death, Resurection).  After a circle has been established and spirit invoked the letters of the name are visualized and a bright white light of Kether is visualized descending upon the name setting it brilliantly a blaze.  At the same time that this is visualized the name is vibrated by the magician.  The result should be visualized as a sort of white fog or nebula, from which the Telesmatic image can be shaped and formed by the astral eye of the magician.

What's in it for me?

       Whether you are a self proclaimed Golden Dawn magician, a Chaos magician or a practitioner of witch craft there is a practice here that can be understood and adapted to your endeavors.  Constructing a telesmatic image is not limited by any certain alphabet so long as the characters used have a uniform attribution.  By imbuing an astral creation with a pleasing image constructed from names and letters, Mathers may have "invented" the first doctrine on non-physical talismans attracting forces and energy of nature allied to the purpose of the magician.  Also, by using ritual to summon spirit, Mathers gives us a source of energy that is in compliment to our self energy and lessens the hazard of fatigue, parasitic energy drain and paranoid self shadow delusion.  Using the Telesmatic technique for magical purposes is only limited by the imagination and resourcefulness of the magician, it can be used to construct not only an interface with Divine and Angelic energies, but also with other spirits and entities and in the construction of other devices making the practice a valuable tool.  While the commentary above goes over the barest of bones of Flying Roll XII, the actual document can be read for free online.  For further commentary and expansion, I would recommend the following source: The Golden Dawn Community, Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls, Dublin. Kerubim Press. 2013. Print.