Talismans and Flashing Tablets Revisited

A Review of Flying Roll XIV

    Golden Dawn Flying Roll XIV, written by Westcott, is a lecture which provides some very general rules in the ethics of talismans and flashing tablets, as well as their creation, consecration and decharging.

   "A TALISMAN is a magical figure charged with the force which it is intended to represent. In the construction of a Talisman, care should be taken to make it, as far as is possible, so to represent the Universal Forces that it should be in exact harmony with those you wish to attract, and the more exact the symbolism, the more easy it is to attract the force – other things coinciding, such as consecration at the right time, etc."

Modern day magicians from varying traditions have their own personal practices and tastes when it comes to the creation of Talismans.  One practice that most every tradition respects is that a talisman and the symbols inscribed upon it are a reflection of the forces that the practitioner wishes to attract.  This consideration of symbolism must then be considered primary.  

"...A flashing colour, then, is the complementary colour which, if joined to the original, enables it to attract, to a certain extent, the Akasic current from the atmosphere, and to a certain extent from yourself, thus forming a vortex which can attract its flashing light from the atmosphere. Therefore, to make anything of this description which shall be really operative, so does it proportionately tire you. 

The complementary colours are:

White complementary to Black and Grey

Red complementary to Green

Blue complementary to Orange

Yellow complementary to Violet

Olive complementary to Violet

Blue Green complementary to Red-Orange

Violet complementary to Citrine

Reddish Orange complementary to Green Blue

Deep Amber complementary to Indigo

Lemon Yellow complementary to Red Violet

Yellow Green complementary to Crimson"

The current practice of Golden Dawn magicians is to craft talismans using correct symbolism in combination with complimentary colors.  The complimentary colored talisman then could be defined as a magical figure charged with the force it is intended to represent, the talisman is fueled into creation by a vortex of spiritual energy stemming from its creator and from its immediate environment.

Without going too far down the rabbit hole of metaphysics vs psychology, the creation and consecration of talismans is the real life practice of creating objects representing "Intentionality" as put forth by the German psychologist Franz Brentano in his work "Psychology from an empirical standpoint." (1874).  These objects which represent highly subjective ideas and archetypes are personal and localized to its creator.  However, this does not mean that the talisman is incapable of attracting the synchronicity of events for which it was created.  For this reason Westcott went on to describe ethical guide lines when considering a talisman's creation.

1. "...it is not always a just and right thing to form a Talisman with the idea of completely changing the current of another person’s Karma."

2. "What may assist in material things is often a hindrance spiritually, seeing that for a force to work, it must attract elemental forces of the proper description, which may thus, to an extent, endanger your spiritual nature."

3. "It is but rarely that a Talisman for the love of a person is a right and justifiable thing to construct. ...Talisman made for terrestrial love would be sealed with the impress of your own weakness, and even if successful, would react on you in other ways."

Westcott further reveals in flying roll XIV a method of consecrating a talisman after it is crafted using various rituals as taught in the Golden Dawn.  Since the publication of the Golden Dawn's rituals, many different traditions, such as Wicca and Chaos Magick, have adapted their own rites and ceremonies for consecrating Talismans.  Once again we find that although these rituals and ceremonies may differ in their specific construct, they nonetheless are harmonious with the forces the Talismans are intended to reflect.  For the aforesaid reason, I'll not endeavor to describe, analyze, or validate Westcott's prescribed rituals for consecration, nor will I try to compare and contrast his to the current practices of modern Golden Dawn magicians, Wiccans or Chaos magicians.  Let it suffice that each tradition specifically treats the creation, consecration, keeping, decharging and destruction of the talisman as harmonious and in alignment with the forces reflected in the talisman.  

LVX,

LiS

The Flying Rolls free online: http://www.golden-dawn.org/gd_flyingrolls.htm

A complete magic talisman making kit:   https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/the-complete-magician-s-deck-wheel-and-ritual-board-set

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.      

Elemental Systems of three,four, and five.

The Elements

        The classic theory that all things within the entirety of the known Universe are made of basic building materials and can be categorized.

The Three Element System      

   

          The three fold system contains the classical elements of Fire, Water and Air, as well as the Alchemical elements of Sulfur, Salt and Mercury.  It is symbolized, referenced, and contained in the Tarot, Sepher Yetzirah, and the Rose Cross.  Its pattern can be seen in material science as proton, nuetron and electron as well as the Christian trinity and in the Triple Goddess traditions.  This Universal system sees the Universe as a  triangle consisting of a Masculine (Fire/Sulfur), a Feminine (Water/Salt), and an Androgynous harmonizer (Air/Mercury).  

          Fire is Masculine and; in Hebrew Qabalah it is Shin, it is the Judgment Tarot card, in Alchemy it is Sulfur, in the Greek IAO it is A for Alpha and is the Father in Christian trinity.

      Water is Feminine and; in Hebrew Qabalah it is Mem, it is the Hanged Man Tarot card, in Alchemy it is salt, in the Greek IAO it is O for Omega and it is the Son in Christian trinity.

      Air is androgynous and; in Hebrew Qabalah it is Aleph, it is the Fool Tarot card, in Alchemy it is mercury, in the Greek IAO it is I for Iota and it is the Holy Ghost in Christian trinity.

The Four Element System

      Evolving from the three element system came the four element system, which beget the fourth element Earth.  Earth is the product of a combination of the prior three elements.  Like the three element system, the four element system has an Hermetic Qabalah equivalent in IHVH commonly referred to as the Tetragrammaton.  There are more than a few esoteric methods to order the four elements; by cardinal direction, the magical weapons and Kerubs of the Tarot, by the IHVH system of the Hermetic Qabalah, the Neo-Enochian system of the Golden Dawn, and the hexagram method of alchemy.  

Cardinal direction: North/Earth, East/Air, South/Fire, and West/Water.

IHVH: Yod/Fire, Heh/Water, Vav/Air, and Heh/Earth.

Waite Tarot and Golden Dawn Enochian: In the Waite Tarot the four elements ascribe to the four magical weapons pictured in the Magician card.  Also, in the Waite Tarot the four Kerubs pictured in the 10th card Wheel of Fortune and the 21st card The World represent the four elements as the creatures of the fixed zodiacal signs: Air/Aquarius/Man, Fire/Leo/Lion, Water/Scorpio/Eagle, and Earth/Taurus/Bull.  The Kerubs can be found in the corners of each card and are located in the slots allocated by the Golden Dawn's Enochian Watchtower Tablets; Upper Left/Air, Upper Right/Water, Lower Right/Fire, and Lower Left Earth.

Hexagram method of Alchemy;  The hexagram method of alchemy places the masculine elements of Fire and Air, over the feminine elements of Water and Earth represented by triangles.  The mother and father elements of Water and Fire are given an inverted triangle and an upright triangle respectively.  The son and daughter elements of Air and Earth are given their respectively aligned triangles with a horizontal line through them to represent the intersecting opposite triangle on the hexagram. 

The Five Element System

     The most common elemental system in use today is the five elemental system because of its association with the popular symbol of the pentagram.  The pentagram represents the four classic elements crowned or ruled by the fifth element of Spirit.  The Golden Dawn again ascribed the placement of the elements on the pentagram congruent to their Neo-Enochian Watchtower tablets.  

     Plato used this system and ascribed solids to represent each element.  Plato reckoned that these tiny solids of the elements made up all things within the Universe, and although Plato is wrong by modern scientific standards, his observation opened up the world of molecular composition.  

     The Five element system also has ascribed to it an Hermetic/Christian Qabalah word of power known as the Pentagrammaton.  The Pentagrammaton, like the Tetragrammaton, contains the four elements but with the addition of spirit which is located within the heart of the word.  The Pentagrammaton also has two spellings, one which represents spirit as the reconciling element between the upper and lower worlds and one with spirit among us within the lower worlds.  IHShVH or Jeshuah represents spirit as the Reconciler and this is spelled; Yod/Fire, Heh/Water, Shin/Spirit, Vav/Air and Heh/Earth.  IHVShH or Jehovasha represents spirit among us and is spelled; Yod, Heh, Vav, Shin, Heh.

What's in it for me?

      It is this author's opinion that the elemental systems show an evolution of thought and philosophy.  The three elemental system is the most ancient system and one of materialization and could be described then as maternal.  This can be seen in matriarchal cults and traditions in their rules of three and three headed goddesses.  Therefore, using a three elemental system would be ideal for divination, evocation and conjuring.

    The four elemental system appears to be the next step from the three tiered system.  It places masculine over the feminine and can be described as patriarchal.  The square of the four tiered system is stable and mathematical and therefore is ideal in talisman making, sigil craft and anything which uses encryption and words of power.

     The five elemental system is the current system used by most modern mystery schools and traditions.  It is androgynous and places importance not in one type of element whether active or passive, male or female, but places an emphasis on a reconciling middle path which makes use of both of the above mentioned systems.  Therefore, using a five elemental system would be ideal for any and all operations as it contains both a three and four elemental system.  After all a pentagram is the sum of the triangle and the square transposed one on top of the the other.

    At the end of all things we can realize that the three, four, and five systems are actually three in number and reflect once again a masculine, feminine and androgynous quality respective to each.  This is one example of why the elemental structure is universal, fractal, and even unending. The elemental systems have a home in the global unconscious and conscious of the human race as well as the universal conscious itself, which is why the elements remain a mainstay of modern practitioners of the Western Mysteries to this day.  

source: 1.

Start Here: Intro / Sources Page

Introduction:

Short and sweet, this is an occult reference and resource blog.  There will be very little opinion in the posts.  All posts will be headed by the subject explored.  All information provided will be sourced by number and this page may be used as a reference to a cited source.  Any conjecture or opinion submitted by the author will be plainly noted.

Sources:

1. David Allen Hulse, The Western Mysteries. Woodbury: Llewelyn Publications, 2007. Print.
2. The Golden Dawn Community, Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls, Dublin. Kerubim Press. 2013. Print.