Luna Rite. Part II: The Invocation of... Gabriel?

Timing

May 1st, 2017, Planetary Hour of Luna (14:12 – 15:26). Sol in 11° Taurus, Luna in 21° Cancer. Sixth Lunar Day, Moon Waxing Crescent and in House XI.

Method

After banishing and invoking Luna with the Hexagram Ritual, Regardie’s opening by Watchtower was employed. The invocation of the Most High was performed using the First Enochian Key, which was followed by the Talisman that was charged in the first hour of Luna being uncovered and placed beneath the glass receptacle. Gabriel was then invoked as follows:

We conjure ye GABRIEL Archangel of the Heavenly Sphere of LEVANAH, to appear before us in this glass receptacle by the most potent name of SHADDAI EL CHAI. Come to us willingly and in fair form, answering our questions most truthfully and bestowing thy Mysterious Blessings upon all present. Through thine own Person, through the Angelic Orders of the Kerubim that thou governest, through the Intelligence MALKA  BE-THARSHISHIM VE-AD BE-RUACHOTH SHECHALIM or through the Spirits CHASMODAI and SCHAD BARSCHEMOTH, we beseech thee to reveal thine Mysteries to us through Dreams and Visions, granting us Spiritual Transformation and all the other Gifts of Spirit that thou possesseth. Bring us Peace and Good Health, True Understanding of the Mysteries Divine, and the Radiance of Heart to Extend thine Light into the Darkness of the World. This we ask of thee in the name of SHADDAI EL CHAI, who governeth thy Heavenly Sphere, LEVANAH, and in the name of the God Most High, ADONAI, with whose Brilliant Light thou Shineth.

The invocation of the names beneath, as well as above, Gabriel seems to have contributed to the result.  Although it’s often the case that an entity of a lower order is sent on behalf of the Archangel, the specifying of this possibility in the invocation seems to have guaranteed it. As discussed before, the dreams that came following the consecration of the Talisman – in which the lower names were also invoked – were of a ‘Goetic’ nature. And so, it seems, were the messages delivered in the scrying.

The Scrying

After the invocation, the Scryer, Sr. S., saw a swirling blackness that expanded outwards into a thick, black mass. She then saw shadows darting around the bodies of those present. When prompted to confirm its compliance with “Do what thou Wilt shall be the whole of the Law,” it roared the response “Love is the Law, love under Will.” As it replied, the mass of darkness around it throbbed and swelled.

With its compliance confirmed, the First Adept delivered the questions that the Scryer would answer on the entity’s behalf. A scribe was employed to record the answers.

First Adept: Art thou Gabriel? 

Scryer: We come from the Void. My light is reflected in the oceans.  

The lack of a clear response prompted the Adept to restate the first question. 

First Adept: But art thou Gabriel? 

Scryer: My name is Everywhere.  

Accepting the vagueness of the Entity’s response, the Adept continued with the planned questions. 

First Adept: What is your nature? 

Scryer: Formless.  

First Adept: How would you advise us to proceed with these Workings? 

Scryer: You command me not, I am Beyond. 

Sensing a belligerence in the responses given, the Adept returned to an attempt to clarify the Entity’s name. 

First Adept: Art thou Gabriel? 

Scryer: I am Beyond. You cannot conceal me. 

Concerned by its apparent ire, the Adept attempted to placate the Entity.  

First Adept: We understand Gabriel to be a peaceful and benevolent being. If there is something we have done to offend you, we apologise. We mean only to approach you with good and respectful intentions.  

Scryer: There is no form in motion. You shall fall. 

First Adept: Are there any dangers we should be aware of with these Workings? 

Scryer: You shall burn. You’re not ready for the Void.  

At this stage, the Adept contemplated terminating the scrying, but instead decided to continue with the questions as planned. 

First Adept: How might we best gain a truer Understanding of Pure Will? 

Scyer: The answers are in Absorption. The triangle is a mirror. Beware not to sink.

First Adept: What advice would you give us regarding the fulfilment of the Great Work? 

Here no answer came, but the Scryer reported perceiving a sensation of movement and dancing, though the movement itself was confusing and unclear. 

First Adept: How may we best utilise the Powers of Luna into our lives? 

No verbal reply, but a swinging, iron, rusty gate was seen that led to an overgrown garden beneath a blue night sky. 

First Adept: Will you grant us the Blessings we asked for in the Invocation? 

Scyer: Proceed. 

First Adept: How should we use your Gifts to improve the World around us? 

Scryer: By calling the Seventh Name. 

Here, a red altar cloth was seen as the Spirit spoke. 

First Adept: How may we assist you in the fulfilment of your Duties? 

Scryer: Not required. 

First Adept: Is there anything else you wish to communicate with us? 

No response came from this question. The Spirit attending was thanked for its attendance and the ceremony was ended with the Watchtower Closing, the appropriate banishings and the Licence to Depart. 

Notes

My initial thoughts on the declaration of the Entity contacted being an order that comes ‘from the Void’ were related to the Void of the Moon’s Course – being the period between the Moon’s last contact with a planet and its entry into the next zodiac sign. However, with the Moon not going Void until 21:22 hours on the day the rite took place, I don’t think this is a factor worth considering.

A better prognosis of ‘the Void,’ as well as the word ‘Formless’ and the imagery of darkness and the ocean that came, is that they reflect the verses of the Chaldaean Oracles used to invoke the elements in the Watchtower Opening. The visions and words received by the Scryer appear related to the elemental aspects of the rite. With scrying and astral work being states where the Unconscious Self is stimulated by the forces invoked in order to communicate their messages, it appears that the elemental aspects of the Oracles were seized upon. The pertinent words and images from the Watchtower received in the scrying are highlighted below.

Fire: “And when all the phantoms have vanished, thou shall see that holy and formless fire, that fire which darts and flashes through the hidden depths of the Universe, hear thou the Voice of Fire.” 

Water: “So therefore first, the priest who governeth the works of fire must sprinkle with the lustral waters of the loud resounding sea.” 

Air: “Such a fire existeth, extending through the rushing Air. Or even fire formless, whence cometh the image of a voice. Or even a flashing light, abounding, revolving, whirling forth, crying aloud.” 

Earth: “Stoop not down into that darkly splendid world wherein continually lieth a faithless depth and Hades wrapped in gloom, delighting in unintelligible images, precipitous, winding; a black ever-rolling abyss, ever espousing a body unluminous, formless and void.” 

Spirit: “I invoke ye, ye Angels of the celestial spheres, whose dwelling is in the invisible. Ye are the guardians of the gates of the Universe, be ye also the guardians of this mystic sphere. Keep far removed the evil and the unbalanced. Strengthen and inspire me so that I may preserve unsullied this abode of the mysteries of the eternal Gods. Let my sphere be pure and holy so that I may enter in and become a partaker of the secrets of the Light Divine.”

In this context, the initial gloom that appeared – being the Void from which the Entity came –represented the Element of Earth, and the swirling movements it came with represented the Element of Air. The Sea upon which its light shone was the Element of Water (and also reflects the Lunar, Piscean, ‘Unconscious’ Path of Qoph), and the response ‘Formless’ that was given in answer to the question regarding its nature, relates to the Element of Fire. The initial vision, which featured several dark shadows surrounding those present, as well as the answer ‘We come from the Void,’ reveal plurality, which suggests the multitude of Elements present. This plurality soon becomes singular as it congeals into the  unity of Spirit. This singularity is revealed in the image received of an overgrown garden in which a Gate, representing the ‘gates of the Universe,’ swings in the wind. Here, Spirit is the force ‘in motion,’ in which, the Entity revealed, there was ‘no form.’

After the Element of Spirit was made manifest, the more useful answers we received were given. The command to ‘proceed’ in answer to the question regarding receiving the blessings asked for in the Invocation relates more to an instruction to ‘act’ rather being a simple ‘yes.’ It relates to the earlier questions in which we asked the Entity how to ‘proceed with these workings.’

In the next question, in rather a roundabout way, we received advice regarding how we should act in order to ‘improve the World around us.’ To do such a thing, we were advised to call ‘the Seventh Name.’ With the interpolation of the Shamhamephorash Angels and the Spirits of the Goetia being a strong interest in my work, I concluded that the Seventh Names in those pairings were being referred to. Doing this reveals Achaiah of the Shemhamephorash and Amon of the Goetia. The powers those names influence include the ‘Solving of Feuds’ in the case of Amon, and influencing ‘the Spreading of Light’ in the case of Achaiah. These powers are harmonious with the request conveyed to Gabriel in the Invocation whereby we asked for his assistance to aid us in ‘Extend[ing] his Light into the Darkness of the World.’ Simultaneously, it gives us a clue on how we can ‘use his Gifts to improve the World around us.’ Furthermore, as is fitting for the advice obtained during a Lunar Rite, Amon holds the rank of Marquis, which means the planetary energies he’s influenced by are those of the Moon.

The question about gaining a fuller understanding of Pure Will – being the realisation of the Universal rather than Particular Will – revealed the answer to be ‘in Absorption.’ This relates to the notion of one thing being absorbed in another – another possible clue regarding the ‘interpolation’ of the Angel and Spirits mentioned above. The absorption involved in this kind of magickal work involves absorbing the light cast by the 72 Celestial Names of God with their Chthonic Shadows, the Goetia. By such means, each separate set of 72 names, forms a double-sided singularity of 144 names. With 12 being the number of God manifest as the Zodiac, 144—as 12 x 12—reveals the Mystical Number of the Demiurge under the name ‘HVA’. What’s revealed in this number is the ultimate, apocalyptic manifestation of IHVH as represented by the New Jerusalem of Revelation with its 144,000 saints and its 144 cubit high walls constructed upon the 12 foundational gemstones of Zion.

Foundation Stones of the New Jerusalem
Stone	Zodiac (Kircher)*
Jasper/Diamond	Pisces
Sapphire	Aquarius
Chalcedony	Capricorn
Emerald	Sagittarius
Sardonyx/Onyx	Scorpio
Sardius/Ruby	Libra
Chrysolite	Virgo
Beryl	Leo
Topaz	Cancer
Chrysoprasus/Agate	Gemini
Jacinth/Ligurius	Taurus
Amethyst	Aries

*Oedipus Aegyptiacus 2.2.177–78

What this merging of Celestial and Chthonic, of Above and Below, represents, in magickal terms, is Totality. It is the balance of the AL = LA , God = Not, 0 = 2 formula of the Book of the Law. It is the absorption of All with Nothing, Hadit with Nuit, Being with Unbeing.

The means of working this formula of Totality in a Solomonic manner is hinted at in the scrying, through the words ‘the triangle is a mirror.’ This relates to a common Goetic practice in which a black mirror is placed within the Triangle of Art as the means to communicate with the Spirit called upon. ‘Beware not to sink,’ appears to be an instruction not to let the mires of such work be so overwhelming that sight of the purpose behind it is lost. 

The ominous message ‘you shall burn’ may be another reference, if a tenuous one, to the concept of absorbing IHVH with his Shadow. If you add the value of his Sephira, ‘Chesed,’ which is 72, with the numeration of its Qlippothic counterpart Ga’ashekelah, 428, the sum total is 500, which equates to the value of the word יצת – ‘to burn.’

‘You cannot conceal me’ may refer to the Qabbalistic idea of Divine Forces being ‘concealed’ by being clothed in lower forms. Whatever communicated with us here was warning that it couldn’t be concealed in such ways, for it was ‘Beyond.’ In this sense, the spiritual stature of an Angel, something that exists beyond the laws and boundaries of the Cosmos, was apparent.

Conclusions

The dream aspects surrounding the creation of the Talisman (posted here), having been shared by several of the participants, yielded more objective results and set the Goetic, sub-lunar tone of the messages received by the Scryer in the rite proper. The scrying itself seemed distant and tenuous, but with initiated interpretation it gave some hints towards the work to be done. I plan to capitalise on this by working with the Goetia and Shemhamephorash pairing suggested in ‘the Seventh Name,’ the benefits of which have described previously and above. 

Despite having the feel of the Lunar Spirits about it, there were hints of Angelic communication present in the scrying, yet not in a way that was as definite and clear as it was in the work Sr. S and I did with the Elemental Tablet of Air. I feel future practice may be enhanced by reverting back to a less directed and more independent ‘free-form’ scrying involving each individual, as Sr. S and I did with the Tablet of Air, rather than relying on directed questions as we did here.