Having researched the subject of ritual in significant depth, I have come to the conclusion many forms of religious, spiritual and social rituals are a disadvantageous psychological manipulation technique, a form of mind-control, designed to control, manipulate and redirect human beings into a future they are really ignorant about. Most methods of magic involve formation of a trance-based hypnotic dissociative state in its participants, which ultimately lowers the protective barriers of your natural innate individual consciousness, opening it up for transfiguration into alignment with outside forms of entity based collective consciousness.

The most disturbing aspect of ritual is the strategic use of implants placed into the human energy body through which nefarious entities gain greater and greater access for manipulation and eventual absorbtion of individualised human consciousness. While many human beings are willing participants in rituals, this should not be confused with educated participants, because in almost all cases, the participants are only given part of the story (or more commonly a fake story) unaware of the true intentions and implications of the rituals they are engaging in. Regular engagement in rituals begin to open the human body to varying degrees of overshadowing, thought adjusting (mind control), partial possession, and possession with non-human entities and their motives are not for the betterment of your evolution, even though this is typically the story they painstakingly trick you into believing.

It sounds fantastical, even unbelievable, so bear with me while I do my best to fill in the missing gaps of human knowledge surrounding the mystery of ritual. It is only through a significant education process does the larger picture emerge of the hidden agenda at play in distorting human consciousness. Make no doubt about it, humanity is at war, but a war which is engaged on a more energetic level, greatly involving the sovereignty of our mind, body, and consciousness. You begin to lose the war when you willingly hand over your consciousness and repeatedly align it with energies and entities outside of yourself. However, knowing this, also yields the solution. You can protect and heal yourself from these distortions by reclaiming the connection to your original true self and reject the energies of outside forces that are not pure of origin. Knowing how to discern what is pure or not, is what I endeavour to teach you through my articles.

By nature, the purpose of ritual is to change something about yourself, connect with the energy (agenda) of a consciousness group that employs the ritual, with their overall larger agenda aimed at absorbing your consciousness into alignment with them. It sounds complicated on first thought, but it becomes more obvious with examples. For example, religious christian ritual doesn’t hide from you its desire to transform the original nature of your individualised consciousness, as they openly tell you the plan for you. Christianity disempower you by placing you at the bottom of their spiritual heirarchy while calling you a sinner who needs salvation. Thus begins the power play of mind-control abuse, where they then engage in encouraging the development of what is commonly referred to as “Stockholm Syndrome” where you eventually fall in love with your abuser. 

Christianity aims to link you with the entities of the religion (God, Jesus, Mary etc..), using a series of rituals to link your consciousness with them and redirect your evolution toward their consciousness group (heaven). The ritual of Holy Communion involves the ingestion of the “Body of Christ”, aimed at transfiguring your body into Union with the entity of Jesus Christ. In essence, you lose yourself and become more and more absorbed into the energy of the religion. Once your pass away in your human body, due to your compelling desire to link yourself to these entities and their location (heaven) it seems probable to me you become absorbed into their consciousness collective. Given this whole process is underpinned on mind control abuse and deceit, I fear for the outcome, thus I guarantee the individualised “You” ceases to exist in many ways…maybe even entirely.

All ritual is really about this process of transforming the sovereignty and individualism inherent to your pure consciousness and redirecting it to be absorbed into something else. Basically, your consciousness is “eaten” by a larger collective that is very hungry for more and more humans to join it. Where your consciousness goes after death is really an individual choice, but if you wilfully give yourself over to being consumed by an outside consciousness collective, then you are no doubt pulled in that direction given the concept of “free will” and all. This is why entity groups don’t often do things by force, they have to trick you into willfully doing it. When you understand this one thing, then your increased discernment can start to see through the veil of mind control blurring your vision about these practices. Entity manipulation on Earth is effectively a “house of cards”, but they have been very skillful in refining this system of control over thousands of years, almost all of humanity is ensared by it.

I don’t expect you to take my word for it. So, in this article, I aim to share with you a bunch of sources on the long history of human involvement with what is called “Magic Ritual,” that when pieced together do a lot to show this bigger picture of control. I aim to show how all ritual is basically a trick and works on the same premise, even though each ritual application may be a little different on first appearance.

All Ritual is Magic

All ritual is magic ritual.  Magic is actually an interchangeable term for the word ritual because ritual was once simply referred to as magic. Some priests in ancient times were called the “magi”, from where the term magic derives. A mage is also a term used to refer to a learned person or priest.

So, what does magic aim to do? It aims to cast a spell over its viewers—or “pull the wool” over their eyes—as they are tricked and influenced through various forms of hidden deceit. Magic employs many methods you will find commonly referred to as hypnosis or trance. The goal of many rituals is to create a trance state of consciousness involving focused attention, reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion. As we all know about hypnosis, it allows the inner world of humans to be changed or altered in some way, often without the person really knowing what is changed or having any power about what is changed. This is a dangerous place for any human to place themselves in, because all power is handed over to the ritual leader/hypnotist to affect change. When you understand ritual is designed to change who you are and link your consciousness with something outside of yourself, it is obvious creating forms of hypnotic trance in ritual participants are crucial to facilitating this change.

Hypnosis is scientifically supported, so it helps to make this clear because many people simply discount magic as being in the realm of mysticism and superstitition, making it easy to ignore this topic. Again, this willful ignorance is one of the “mind control” ideas that has been strategically fed into mainstream human consciousness to obsfucate entity control agendas. In reality, widespread use of magic ritual occurs across all periods of ancient and modern culture deeply embed and permeate through people’s lives, even today.

The history I am about to present is by no means covering every angle because entire books can be filled on this single topic. One important theme I wish to convey is how there are very few differences between traditional mainstream religious rituals and their supposed opposed rivals such as occultist pagan or satanic rituals. Furthermore, many social rituals integrate many of the same ancient techniques used in ancient rituals for controlling human populations. Rather than get caught up in the “cult of personality” regarding specific people and movements, the process, and techniques common to them all, is where I encourage the reader to place more attention. The techniques implemented affect all people on Earth regardless of differing religious or spiritual beliefs or affiliations.

The History of Early Religion and its Connection to Magic Ritual

For thousands of years, competing spiritual movements have opposed each other due to arguments over who are the good and evil gods and spirits (from herein I call “entities”). While many of us know the religious stories, almost all religions have an esoteric twin that seeks to reveal deeper information and practices to initiates beyond what the mainstream public are taught. For example, the Gnostics are Christian mystics, Islam has the Sufists, Judaism has the Kaballists, among many others.

Esoteric belief refers to philosophies, studies and teachings hidden but their origins are as old as western philosophical and religious thought. French Egyptologist and occultist RA. Schwaller de Lubicz informs us, “There is a sacred science, and for thousands of years countless inquisitive people have sought in vain to penetrate its ‘secrets.’” ^{(Lubicz, 1985)}

Esoteric advocates believe their secret knowledge reconciles all religions, stripping back the differences in external doctrines to show the root of every religion is more or less identical. When you strip away the competition between philosophies, I do agree, the techniques used to implement physical and mental control over people are identical regardless of the overarching theology. The differences come because there are multiple competing entity groups trying to ensare human beings, thus there are multiple forms of religion and magic all over the world.

The exoteric and esoteric divides appear designed so the public are controlled by more superficial teachings while the inner circle had access to the deeper teachings, which gave them greater power and favour with the entities. The system of spiritual “class” dividing knowledge between “the elites” and “the herd” still permeates our modern social control systems.

Esoteric author and mystic Furze Morrish discusses how the secrets of mystery traditions remain inaccessible and unknown to the majority of people except for the few sages who graduated into them. Supposedly, “This is not from the desire to exclude any person from knowledge, but simply because the Schools of the Greater Mysteries deal with problems and knowledge which the present race of mankind would not be able to understand.” ^{(Morrish, Outline of Metaphysics, 1945)} Such a mindset about the public being too unintelligent to understand what is best for them is common amongst powerful elite in society (as discussed in my article on the subversion of modern democracy (coming soon).

Throughout history, there are examples where a spiritual leader would teach one thing in public, but privately teach deeper meaning to initiates deemed worthy enough to handle the responsibility. For example, as presented in some Judeo-Christian Bible verses: Mark 4:33-34 (NIV) states:

With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Matthew 13:10-11,13 (NIV) also teaches:

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, it is not given. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Many advocates of esotericism believe we cannot understand the “secrets” of esoteria, rather they can only be experienced through deep participation in the movements. Sadly, those people who may desire truth and open-minded inquistion by entering into such movements with their curiousity are faced with layers of initiation designed and mastered over thousands of years for thought-control conditioning. It is a risky proposition to try such an approach because the energy generated by rituals in environments manufactured to heighten specific energies can override aspects of our thoughts, consciousness and even DNA.

Esoteric beliefs can be lumped into the same category as occultism or magic, and while there is significant overlap, it is crucial to understand religion, occultism and magic are essentially synonymous in terms of practice. The only differences are in the methods used, the beliefs understood, and the entity groups being called upon and worshipped. For example, prayer and magical incantations/spells are synonymous when you look at the finer detail. Regardless of the religious philosophy—whether it is Christianity or Paganism, Christianity or Islam, religion or magic—similar principles are used to alter our consciousness state and open the body for communication (and control) from spiritual leaders, spirits, demigods, angels or gods. I want to impress the importance of understanding how detrimental outcomes of any ritualised practice are identical regardless of the tradition.

In polytheism, magic is a necessary part of religion. The ancient Mesopotamians believed in gods, deities, spirits and demons without question, including the supernatural and the power of magic. Many accounts discuss their fear of their gods, so people routinely practised rituals and offerings designed to keep the gods appeased. However, religions of the monotheistic God condemned magic because it was considered man’s attempt to seize power from their God. ^{(Gjorgjievski, 1996-2000 )} In this way, magic became the thorn in the side of Christian power as Researcher Borce Gjorgjievski states, “The standard Biblical explanation is that by magic humans violate the order in God’s universe - they try to reach knowledge that is not meant for them…” ^{(Gjorgjievski, 1996-2000 )} Magic was thought to allow entities to help men attain greater powers so maybe the power of its use had actual validity for one religion to wage war against it over many centuries. Christianity to maintain its sole control made sure the only “magic” allowed was their version of sanctified “magic” ritual.

In ancient times, there was no differentiation between religious and magic ritual because religion was simply a philosophy added to a magical system. A guidebook on Druidism compiled from 40 years of teachings explains how religious ritual is exactly the same as a magical ritual since both involve: “…the manipulation of psychic energies by humans for human benefit….Is it only a coincidence that religious ceremonies make use of exactly the same ritual tools as those used in ceremonial magic?” ^{(A Reformed Druid Anthology, n.d.)} The theology may differ, but the intended goal is the same. The druids claim, “Any effective religious ritual will already have magical properties or it won’t work at all.” ^{(A Reformed Druid Anthology, n.d.)}

Today, the idea of magic is placed in the realm of superstition to maybe close our minds to the subconscious influences hidden in new forms of entertainment and distraction. Redefining how we think about ritualised magic is important if we are to have an open-minded investigation to consider if ancient rituals are continuing to exist in repackaged formats.

During my extensive studies on this topic, a common theme I have discovered is how most ritualised magic is aimed at operating within the confines of the human sub-conscious rather than actually making any changes in the physical world, such as being able to move objects around a room. Magic in the physical world may be an illusion or rare exception, but in the sub-conscious world, it appears to be real and very effective. Hypnotic trance is the central principle required for success in magic ritual as noted throughout the extensive writings of many popular esoteric authors.

Many rituals are designed to work with the energies of our environment because the belief is they can have significant effects on the body’s energetic substance. In the ancient world, magic is simply anything acting on the physical world we can’t see.  For example, gravity was considered magical until it became a law of physics. Some occultists state magicians seek to understand through science things remaining hidden from ordinary sight. In contemporary times, material sciences have become independent and isolated from others leading to a divergence into two fields: physical knowledge acquired by intellectual training; and metaphysical knowledge about subtle powers and substances not able to be comprehended by intellect alone. Proponents of ritual magic reveal it a process of stirring up energy between people and their environment to establish a specific outcome. Ritual created energies are energies we cannot see or necessarily perceive, so in essence, they are magical.

Early religious magic, involved working with the energy of the Earth and the celestial spheres for one’s personal benefit. Before the advantages of modern civilisation, people were more reliant on connection with the Earth for means for survival, so it makes sense early forms of religion developed from an intimate connection with the energy of our natural surrounds. Control of fire allowed us to transmute food into another form, and such principles led to early religious beliefs about commanding the elements of Earth to advance human culture. Magic in Mesopotamia emerged primarily as a form of Shamanism. Associating gods with specific nature elements (fire, earth, water and air) was an obvious correlation in more primitive times. A major theme emerging from a study of comparative shamanism is the universal nature and similarities of the experience across divergent cultures. ^{(Olsen, 2014)}

Mesopotamian religions were polytheistic, meaning they are considered Pagan, a Latin term introduced by 4^th century A.D. Christians identified a “nonparticipant” as anyone not following the established monotheistic religions. All modern mainstream religions stem from the melting pot of beliefs and ideologies deriving from Mesopotamia so it is worth acknowledging the similarities in how the same instincts, behaviours and beliefs programmed into the human psyche arise from this time. The major instinct was programming our acceptance of hierarchical based ritualised control (not all heirarchies are bad, such as a heirarchy of competence, but these were more heirarchies of subservient based control).

People were taught the gods established their authority over them, and in turn, selected human families (bloodlines) to organise the human (slaves) and serve as intermediary representatives for the gods who spoke (and or operated) through them. It is possible, people of that time witnessed phenomenon way beyond their ordinary understanding, making them compelled and fascinated to go along with such control. Either way, powerlessness was programmed into the human psyche so people had little choice but to comply and spread these beliefs to the next generations because the alternative was oppression or death.

The religions of Mesopotamia were temple-centred, and one important task for the kings was building and maintaining the temples/Ziggurats for the gods, and conducting the organising rituals. I suspect humans were so devoted to constructing considerable temples to worship supposedly imaginary beings if god-like entities were physically on Earth at the dawn of our civilisation as Mesopotamian myths sometimes report. This may explain why humans felt compelled to devote their attention to such illogically immense endeavours. Otherwise, people were often slaves forced to build these monuments irrespective of their desire to or not.

Early Sumerians believed their temples to be houses of God; designed with a room specifically where gods could come and sleep at night, and there are frequent myths of the gods showing up occasionally in the lives of mortals. Many religious myths are stories of entities contacting chosen people to act as prophets, priests or kings. Some of these methods of contact involved entities appearing physically; however, typical interactions with a god only involved a vision or dream. Thus, the historical interaction with off-world entities largely involves hallucinations, most predominantly when instigated through some form of ritualised practice to facilitate the experience. The “energy” created from performing rituals inside a permanent ritual space (such as a temple) vastly increased the likelihood of success. I discuss the energy of ritual spaces in this article (coming soon).

Mesopotamian temples were elaborate depending on the wealth of the region, featuring a central shrine housing a statue of the deity, directly placed in front of the altar so all attending could see it prominently. Certain rituals infused the spirit of the god into the statue, with the belief that once the god was present in the temple, it would ensure protection for the surrounding city. A high-ranking member of the priesthood was charged with these tasks, and such positions were passed down from father to son. As the representative for the gods on Earth, the priests were tasked with conducting incantations in a ritual ceremony, acting as the embodiment of a godly messenger servant, who could petition a diety and assume its godform, thereby continuing the ceremony as channel for the god invoked. ^{(Mesopotamian Theology And Religious Rituals , n.d.)}

Each priest was assigned to one god and one temple, and the priest’s connection with the god allowed him to function as its alter-ego. ^{(Mesopotamian Theology And Religious Rituals , n.d.)}  As the gods become more personal, it was common for individuals to directly petition a god. Festivals would be held to commune with the god, people would light fires in their homes and make offerings; which included banquets and sometimes sacrifices (human or animal) aimed at earning a gods favour. Some rituals were performed on a regular basis, others at specific times of years, most commonly the vernal equinoxes or solstices which were considered of heightened importance for this connection to take place.

The people of the time acknowledged there were competing entities within the realm of gods, some gods were considered good, and others evil. People feared offending the gods and also feared other lower classes of spirits; the beliefs of the time suggested these entities were able to take control over a person’s body and mind. Competition between raging gods presumably created significant fear in human populations making them dutiful in appeasing them. Early humans may have had no choice but to comply to the agendas of these entities and on-going fear passed down generationally carried forth the practices and beliefs. It was common for people to believe the gods communicated their will or intentions through omens and other signs. Thus superstition and fear that the gods were watching every action ensured subservience and continued ceremonial worship, invocation, and use of protection rituals. ^{(Mesopotamian Theology And Religious Rituals , n.d.)}

The Prevelance of Magic Through History

The priests in ancient Asyro-Babylonia were called the Magi (the origin from where words magic, mage, magician and magus arise). Gjorgjievski writes, “Magic is the first and the last religion of the world…” ^{(Gjorgjievski, 1996-2000 )} and explains how the Magi were one of many tribes in Mesopotamia, but the majority of priests were selected from this tribe because they were considered the most learned priests. Thus, their name became synonymous with magic. ^{(Gjorgjievski, 1996-2000 )}

Famed occult magician Eliphas Levi wrote, “Magic is the traditional science of the secrets of Nature which has been transmitted to us from the Magi.” ^{(Constant), 1896)} He explains how the Magi, “employed magical charms and performed ritual magic ceremonies, practiced the invocation of and communicated with spirits/angels and were considered to be Gnostics.” ^{(Constant), 1896)}  Here we start to find evidence of a thread linking the ancient Mesapotamian religious cults with those that flourished across Egypt, Rome and Greece during the era of Jesus Christ and after.

Franz Bardon, the most famous contemporary teacher of Hermetic magic, wrote how magic and mysticism were fundamental teachings taught in ancient secret schools, an integral backbone behind all modern sciences. Bardon explains how technical knowledge was passed on from master to student at the discretion of priestly castes.

Furze Morrish reveals magic ritual was taught by men of wisdom in the mystery schools of Egypt, Greece and Hibernia. He claims the regular practice of rituals by select groups of initiated disciples gradually elevated the mass-mind of humanity century-by-century and argues these rituals were not just exhibitions, but “realistic ceremonials with definite occult results.” ^{(Morrish, The Ritual of Higher Magic , 1947)} Bardon claims there is “no magic without mysticism” believing it a higher form of knowledge, extending current science, but not yet acknowledged. He believed magic to be a higher metaphysics dealing with powers, matters, and substances of a subtler nature and their effects rippled through both microcosmic and macrocosmic planes of existence. ^(Bardon) Furthermore, occultist literature typically refers to magic ritual as the method of science and the aim of religion.

Cruically, famous mainstream religious identities, such as Abraham, Moses and King Solomon, are discussed in esoteric texts as predominant magicians of the esoteric mystery school traditions adding to the complexity of the mainstream historical narrative. This blurs the water between Christianity and its clearly stated opposition of Paganism, since most of their methods were similar in magical application. Gjorgjievski’s book presents extensive evidence alleging Hebrew magic was a derivative of the Egyptian magic, just as Hebrew alphabet is a simplification of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. ^{(Gjorgjievski, 1996-2000 )} The Egyptian influence over the arrival of the Hebrew religions is clear to Gjorgjievski as he states, “Moses was arguably the greatest Hebrew magician, but he was very different from the usual conception of a magician since he did not acquire his powers by studying, training or instruction, but directly by revelation from God….He repeated all the feats of the Egyptian Magicians and they couldn’t repeat his.” ^{(Gjorgjievski, 1996-2000 )}

It is possible some people had genetics or bloodline ancestry that made them more susceptible to these ritualised methods of trance based communication their entity group masters. While normal humans could follow instructions for specific rituals with varying success, some individuals had stronger abilities (presumably psychic in nature) allowing them to channel or visualise non-terrestrial entities. Furthermore, various myths talk of gods or angels interbreeding with humanity to develop various demigod individuals or bloodlines (e.g. the blue bloods) making selective human leadership family lines more easily controllable by their entity group handlers.

Religious obsession with chosen bloodlines begins to make more sense, especially if ancient accounts of these bloodlines being “demigods” allowed these individuals to have more success in attaining a trance state and entity contact. A demigod in this instance doesn’t necessarily make them more advanced as a normal human-being, just that their genetics have been altered (implants) to ensure greater connection for overshadowing, partial or even full blown entity possession. In essence, this doesn’t make these individuals or bloodlines superior, quite the opposite rather, they are just a more distorted fragmented version of human being. This explains their significantly higher degrees of psychopathy and lack of empathy for other humans.

Various ritual initiations prepare an individual for such roles, especially if started in childhood. Priests are an example of an ordinary human being able to develop some abilities if they are devoted enough to connect with the energies of certain entity groups and be initiated into the order (i.e. energy field implants). In most cases, bloodline trumps individual devotion over who the gods favored. Once one individual served their use and past their used by date, they were discarded and another human pawn was used in place as the “chosen one”.

Regardless of the truth or reality of religious stories, we can see this theme discussed throughout religious literature. Eliphas Levi taught how the Magi eventually became the Gnostics and their teachings proclaim the patriarch of Judeo-Christianity Abram (Abraham) and Moses as great Chaldean magicians. Abram was a descendant of the line of Noah, and individual whose synonymous equivalent is discussed in the Sumerian myth the Epic of Gilgamesh as a demigod figure, and part of the Sumerian King List, a list featuring unfathomable ages of Kings over a hundred thousand years in some cases. Noah is the equivalent of the ST’s Zi-u-sudra or Uta-naphishtim in a later Akkadian variant who ruled for almost 20,000 years.

 The Babylonian Magi originally emerged from city of Ur—a city slightly north-east of Eridu in Southern Sumer, near the mouth of the Euphrates River—and were skilled in astronomy, astrology and ritual sacrifice. Abram’s father was Terah, an acknowledged high priest of the Magi in mainstream theology. Bible verses from Genesis 11:31 and Genesis 15:7 explain how God called Abram out of Ur to the new land promised to him and his descendants and developed a new religion based on monotheism. Abraham’s offspring created the Levitical priesthood which followed the order of Melchizedek, teachings from the high priest of Salem who approached Abraham many centuries earlier and schooled him (Genesis 14:18). According to the Bible, God had ratified a covenant between Himself and Abraham, to grant the land of Palestine to his descendants. Their Exile was a punishment fulfilled for their repeated transgressions and occult leanings (toward other rival entity groups presumably). They interpreted their status as God’s “chosen” people to inhabit the land of Zion, or Palestine as permanently binding forever. Their Zionist interpretation intertwined with the mystical directions of the Kabbalah.

Author David Goddard claims the secret teachings of Alchemy were “taught to the patriarch Abraham by Melchizadek after he initiated Abraham into the heavenly transmission, the Qabalah.” ^{(Goddard, 1999 )} Melchizadek was the highest priest, and King of Salem and in the Qumran Scrolls, Melchizadek was used as a name of the Archangel Michael, indicating possibly that Abram was schooled directly by Michael or possessed by him. The Exaltation of Melchizedek in the Second Book of Enoch, reveals Melchizedek was born of a virgin identical to the story of Jesus Christ. Later Christ would become designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek as detailed in Hebrews 5: 7-10. The Melchizedek Priesthood was an order stretching across the timeline of the Bible. The first priest was mentioned in Genesis, predating the Levite priesthood. Abraham was schooled in this priesthood’s rites and rituals, the most important being the ritual of the Eucharist. I discuss the Eucharist in depth in this article (coming soon), a magic ritual of crucial importance in mind-controlling and overshadowing devout followers who repeatedly engage its practice.

The Bible tells how Abraham travelled vast places to preach the Gospel of Jehovah. However, according to fragments from the Pseudo Eupolemus, he traveled to Phoenicia and then Heliopolis in Egypt where he lived with the Egyptian priests teaching them the Chaldean craft; geometry, astronomy and the other sciences. In these fragments, Abraham accounts knowledge of astronomy coming from his ancestor Enoch. Researcher John Gee traces dozens of references to Abraham in Egyptian texts, stating, “some of which have traditionally, been called ‘magical,’ although many scholars are not sure how to distinguish ancient magic from religion.” ^{(Research and Perspectives: Abraham in Ancient Egyptian Texts, n.d.)}  Astrology was not a mere tool for fortune telling as astrology is understood in modern times, but actively used stellar alignments for advancing spiritual development and entity communication; a core component of alchemic and theurgic practices.

Theurgy is a formal word to describe the practice of rituals that are magical in nature. It is based on the idea that through the implementation of a rigorous devotional framework one can achieve henosis (the mystic word for unity or oneness) with God or other off-world entities. Their overall goal in an attempt to gain spiritual perfection (immortality) by absorbing their consciousness into this overarching oneness. In other cases, the aim is to simply evoke and communicate with entities in the attainment of higher knowledge. However, this line is significantly blurred and often out of control of the magical practitioner.

Evocation quickly crosses over into an invocation when one assimilates an entity into the body temporarily for partial possession or channelling purposes. Theurgy offered itself a series of rituals and operations aimed at recovering transcendent essence by tracing divine signatures through the layers of non-physical worlds. It requires the use of physical symbols, correspondences between the divine and matter (such as through nature or the elementals) and other devotional practices. The belief that transcendent knowledge surpassed human mental contemplation saw this idea come of age as the ability to bridge the gap between man and this knowledge.

The teachings of the Magi priests mirror those doctrines that later became the Kabbalah. The groundwork laid in Egypt set the stage for the rise of Hebrew and its associated magical discourses, primarily the Zohar (the original texts of the Kabbalah) underpinning Jewish mystical thought. Translation of word Kabbalah means “Doctrines received by ancient traditions” and is often spelt with one or two b’s, and either a K or Q with the first letter. ^(Lewis) 19th century occult magician Eliphas Levi believed, “All truly dogmatic religions have issued from the (Jewish) Kabalah…all Masonic associations owe to it their secrets and their symbols.” ^(Constant), 1896) It is often suggested in esoteria that the Kabbalah contains the esoteric meaning for the Testament of Moses (which is a simplified story presented for humans with “ordinary” intelligence).

Famous esoteric academic Manly P. Hall writes of certain Jewish mystical accounts of Moses ascending Mount Sinai three times in the presence of God forty days each time, “During the first forty days the tables of the written law were delivered to the prophet; during the second forty days he received the soul of the law; and during the last forty days God instructed him in the mysteries of the Qabbalah….Moses concealed in the first four books of the Pentateuch the secret instructions that God had given him…” ^{(Hall, 1928)} Why did Moses have to climb a mountain to convene with Jehovah, and why was he in the form of a burning bush? The story was perhaps more symbolic in nature than truth, but it could also be a valid account of what Moses saw with his psychic vision when one understands more about the fundamental principles of elemental magic ritual.

The Bible outlines how leading religious figures such as Abraham, Moses and King Solomon were repeatedly in communication with God or his angels using methods resembling traditional magic. The story of Moses yielding a staff to part the Red Sea and then transforming it into a serpent is viewed as a miracle (not magic), because it occurred due to the will of God, and not because of Babylonian magic (a convenient get-out clause for Christian religions to maintain their separation from magic when utilising the same practices).

A fundamental principle of magical operations is how man can infuse himself with the energies of higher order entities and channel their energies to make various effects on elemental life. In this way, miracles and magic are both synonymous with each other in ancient theology. Religious terminology mythologises and obscures what these individuals may have been practising and absorbed within. Catholicism attempts to demonise and dismiss magic, but this may have served to obscure human understanding of the real history and ensure subservience to the only endorsed form of ritualised magic control, the Catholic Mass. By establishing that magic was the work of the devil—while at the same time waging genocide on those who practised it—it only makes sense if rival magical practices realistically threatened their power and control over humanity. By outlawing all rival forms of “magic”, the Catholics could thereby have a monopoly on it and rebadge it is the only true form of “ritual” and not make it appear similar to heretic magic (even though it employed the same types of practices).

Kabbalist proponents say the magical mysteries were communicated to Adam by “The Angel of Mystery” and the Kabbalah is the divine science—taught by God to a chosen few of Angels in Paradise—and given by God to Adam. Adam became the first human to receive this magical knowledge (probably the first human with an alien implanted astral body) but not necessarily making him the first human being whom existed. The tradition follows that when Adam was exiled by an Angel bearing a flaming sword, he delivered the secret teachings of the Zohar to his son. Those teachings were subsequently revealed to Enoch and succeeding generations of patriarchs such as Abraham, Moses and King Solomon. ^{(Regardie, The Tree of Life - A Study In Magic, 2000)}

Kabalists offer occult counter-explanations to the revelations of the prophets. Moses, rather than a righteous prophet of God who led the Israelites out of Egypt, was an occult figure whose initiated the Israelites into the more advanced teachings of Egypt. ^{(Masonic Origins, n.d.)} Hall outlines the Kabbalistic belief, “The Angel Raziel was dispatched from heaven to instruct Adam in the mysteries of the Qabbalah. Different angels were employed to initiate the succeeding patriarchs in this difficult science. Tophiel was the teacher of Shem, Raphael of Isaac, Metatron of Moses, and Michael of David.” ^{(Hall, 1928)} In the Talmud and Targum (the Babylonian version of the Talmud), Metatron is mentioned as the link between God and human beings. The Zohar also identifies Metatron as the angel who led the people of Israel after their Exodus from Egypt to the land of milk and honey. ^{(William Henry, 2009)}

Jeremy Naydler, a philosopher and researcher on ancient Egyptian religions, believes the religion of the ancient Egyptians were inseparably intermingled with magic and lies at the foundations of Western esoteric tradition. The magical traditions in Egypt drew from important shamanic themes primarily rebirth and renewal and the social strata of magician-priests were closed to outsiders through oaths of initiation and secrecy. He writes, “The priests considered themselves to be the ‘guardians of the relics of the former wisdom of nature’…in which definition we can recognize echoes of the primeval Shamanism.” ^{(Gjorgjievski, 1996-2000 )} Egyptian religion was obsessed with other worlds, and stands as the central premise inherent in any religious or magic based philosophy.

Israel Regardie claims magic received close attention in ancient Egypt, which is why most methods of magic use Egyptian God-forms. ^{(Regardie, Magic In East And West, 1969)} Amber K also explains:

Most of the magick we see today comes to us from ancient Egypt and Chaldea.…Western magick was locked up by the Egyptian priests for thousands of years and then suppressed by the rise of Christianity. It was not until medieval Europe that magical knowledge was rediscovered by the alchemists and Cabalists. ^(Amber)

Manly P. Hall highlights Egypt as a greater learning centre and ideal environment for transcendental experimentation, but it became a stirring pot of competing ideologies and god groups. Hall shows bias toward certain entity groups (without realising they all do the same thing) when claiming arch-sorcerers claimed power and black magic dictated the state religion and paralysed the intellectual and spiritual activities of the individual. They “began the systematic destruction of all keys to the ancient wisdom, so that none might have access to the knowledge necessary to reach adeptship without first becoming one of their order.” ^{(Hall, 1928)} They altered rituals so only initiates could secure the knowledge entitled to them:

False interpretations were given to the emblems and figures of the Mysteries, and elaborate theologies were created to confuse the minds of their devotees. The masses, deprived of their birthright of understanding and groveling in ignorance, eventually became the abject slaves of the spiritual impostors. ^{(Hall, 1928)}

Various esoteric orders and researchers pinpoint Moses as being a High Priest of Heliopolis and the true identity of the Egyptian Pharoah Akhenaton. William Henry writes, “The proof that Moses is Akhenaton, some say, is now right before our eyes. The name of the God of Moses, Adon, is identical to the name of the God of Akhenaton, Aten or Aton, the Aztec for sun.” ^{(Henry, The Language Of The Birds: Our Angelic Connection)} Akhenaten raised the cult of the sun to new heights, establishing a new city, now known as Tell el Amarna dedicated to the god Aten.

Amenhotep III and his wife Tiye are known as the founders of monotheism in Egypt, a restoration continued and expanded by his son Akhenaten. Some researchers such as Ahmed Osman and Michael Tsarion believe Amenhotep III is a good candidate for the biblical Solomon. Osman explains there is no historical record of a king with that name, but matching accounts of his exploits in the Old Testament with the reign of Amenhotep III seems clear it is the same person.

King Solomon may have been a fictional symbolic character, and as Manly P. Hall points out, the name Solomon is a conjunction of the name of the sun in three different languages Sol (Indo-European), Om (Semitic) and On (Egyptian). (Hall, 1928) Worship of the Sun was prevalent in Egypt and is a central theme in most religious theologies. Amenhotep III’s title was “Shining Solar Disk of All the Land” and Tsarion states the name Solomon was merely his solar title. Tsarion believes Solomon relates to the god Aton and the Egyptian cult of the sun, “Although he openly venerated the state god Amen Ra, Amenhotep III actively promoted the worship of Aton.” ^{(Tsarion, 2012)} Tsarion explains, “So when we hear that ‘David’ and ‘Solomon’ (whom we now know as Tuthmosis III and Amenhotep III) were of the ‘House of Judah’ we understand that it was a reference not to the Semites, or the Levites and their ethnicity and theology, but to Egypt’s Solar Cult and their theology.” ^{(Tsarion, 2012)} Solomonic magic is representative of infusion of a specific type of energy or light, but potentially not the Sun in our solar system, but another star or stars (this article explains).

In Biblical theology, Abraham’s selected lineage bore the fabled King Solomon and his mythical temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem became the holiest place in Judeo-Christianity. Now, there is a Muslim mosque on this site, but the Revelation prophecies herald the second coming of Christ and emergence of a new Christian temple there one day.

Amenhotep III is called the “Divine Architect” in some esoteric writings. His extensive building projects included the construction of temples at Luxor on the Nile, in Nubia and other building projects at the Karnak complex. Yahweh had ordered Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant as a repository for the Tablets. Later, the Ark and the Tablets were housed in Solomon’s mythologised temple. ^{(Henry, The Language Of The Birds: Our Angelic Connection)} King Solomon’s temple housed the Ark of the Covenant box, alleged to relay the voice of God to Solomon and the Bible reveals this box was charged with a mysterious energy or radiation that would kill those unworthy to look upon it.

According to Hall’s writings, King Solomon was considered by the Jews as the prince of ceremonial magicians. ^{(Hall, 1928)} Gjorgjievski writes of Hebrew legends heralding his ability to command and summon spirits with a ring given to him by an angel sent by God. ^{(Gjorgjievski, 1996-2000 )} Hall states, “According to the Talmudic legends, Solomon understood the mysteries of the Qabbalah. He was also an alchemist and a necromancer, being able to control the dæmons, and from them and other inhabitants of the invisible worlds he secured much of his wisdom.” ^{(Hall, 1928)} Hall explains how numerous medieval Qabbalists devoted their lives to the practice of ceremonial magic, fully convinced their scriptures sanctioned it, “The transcendentalism of the Qabbalists is founded upon the ancient and magical formula of King Solomon…” ^{(Hall, 1928)}

Gjorgjievski clarifies that while King Solomon was a Jew, Solomonic magic is not simply Jewish, it also contains Egyptian elements along with Christian symbols and concepts; essentially a mixture of many magical traditions. ^{(Gjorgjievski, 1996-2000 )} Hall argues that few people realise the influence Jewish mysticism held over both Christian and Jewish traditions. ^{(Hall, 1928)}

Of these traditions, “It taught that there existed within the sacred writings a hidden doctrine which was the key to those writings.” ^{(Hall, 1928)} Initiates in mystery traditions were taught these hidden doctrines, some of which emerged publically in time. The Key of Solomon became the most famous Grimoire—or handbook of magic—which builds entirely on rituals claimed to originate from ancient Mesopotamia. Samuel Mathers—founder of the 19^th-century ceremonial magic cult The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn—writes of an angel who appeared to Solomon teaching him the “key” that opened the knowledge and understanding of magical arts and sciences. This key was passed down through generations of philosophers, but typically the only way to understand it involved praying upon the Lord until an angel reveals itself, provides the “key” and words which were obscure, suddenly become manifest.

Helena Blavatsky, the originator of the Theosophical Society, claimed the “Hermetic Brothers Of Egypt” were an occult fraternity enduring from ancient times, comprised of “a hierarchy of officers, secret signs, and passwords, and a peculiar method of instruction in science, moral philosophy, and religion.” ^{(Brotherhood, n.d.)} Freemasonry allegedly derives from these earlier orders and their rituals still refer to King Solomon and the building of his Temple, of which Freemasonic temples are metaphorically based. Manly P. Hall wrote, “The esoteric doctrines of the Qabbalah are in alignment with the secret teachings of all the schools of philosophy, but the method by which its secrets are revealed to the wise and concealed from the ignorant is most unusual.” ^{(Hall, 1928)}

The ancient Egyptian mystery religions later influenced movements in ancient Greece and Rome. The Eleusinian Mysteries were the famous secret religious rites of ancient Greece. The rites, ceremonies, and beliefs involved prophetic visions. Initiated followers met in secret believing that participation in ritualised rites would see them rewarded in the afterlife. Some researchers think these visions probably came about from psychedelic drug use.

When Kabbalists emerged from Babylon to disseminate their ideas, particularly among the Greeks, they were identified with the traditional Babylonian priests, known as the Chaldean Magi. The Arbatel de Magia Veterum first published in 1575, was a treatise on ceremonial magic written in Latin by an unknown author. The manuscript draws a link between the Egyptian priests, the Greek philosophers, the Hebrew prophets and states they were a long progression from the order of Babylonian, Chaldean and Persian magicians:

These wise men the Greeks call Philosophers; and amongst the Egyptians they were termed Priests; the Hebrews termed them Cabalistos, Prophets, Scribes and Pharisees; and amongst the Babylonians they were differenced by the name of Caldeans; & by the Persians they were called Magicians….Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, Euclides, Archimedes, Hermes Trismegistus the father secrets, with Theophrastus, Paracelsus; all which men had in themselves all the vertues of secrets. ^(Turner)

  Occult Researcher David Livingstone states, “while the Kabbalah was incepted in Babylon, it was Plato who first elaborated upon the Zionist principle of world domination, by formulating its vision for a totalitarian state, to be governed by the “Chosen People”, in this case, Kabbalists.” ^{(Livingstone, 2007)} He argues against Plato as being the greatest philosopher of Western civilisation, “he is not deserving of that reputation, and only achieved notoriety over the last two hundred and fifty years, through the influence of the Illuminati press, who regard him as the founder of their doctrines.” ^{(Livingstone, 2007)} He alleges the Kabbalists seek world domination believing they are preparing the world for the coming of the Messiah, and are aiding God in bringing about this promise. ^{(Livingstone, 2007)}  Israel Regardie believes modernism and secularism is a society built upon the principles of the Kabbalah, revealing why our civilisation is preoccupied with violence, sex and the occult. ^{(Regardie, The Tree of Life - A Study In Magic, 2000)}

Livingstone explains the earliest elaboration of Kabbalistic doctrines took place in Greece. ^{(Livingstone, 2007)} In ancient Greece, the Mysteries of Dionysus was a mystery religious cult reserved for the initiated, where rituals used intoxicants and other trance-inducing techniques.  Dionysus was worshipped by Bacchants with orgies, snakes and eating raw flesh. The rites based on themes of rebirth and spirit possession. The legendary founder of the rites of Dionysus was Orpheus, of which the cult of Orpheus became the basis of the philosophical cult developed by Pythagoras. Livingstone claims Dionysus was the equivalent of Mithras, and before that the Babylonian Bel. ^{(Livingstone, 2007)} 

According to Furze Morrish, from the ancient mystery schools’ pupils learned to develop psychic faculties, studied mathematics, ethics, music (with its numerical values), and certain principles of alchemy, the forerunner of chemistry. ^{(Morrish, Outline of Metaphysics, 1945)} He explains the teachers of the mystery schools came from the “Brotherhood of Sages,” who possessed knowledge in advance of their time and occupied seven main centres of the inhabited world, “such as that of the Essenes and Egyptian Therapeuts in the Middle East and the Yogis of Thibet.” ^{(Morrish, Outline of Metaphysics, 1945)}

Out of those schools, came early Greek philosophy. Reports of fabled philosophers of the Greco-Roman era, such as Pythagoras and Plato, journeying to Egypt and Babylon for their education are extensive. Plato is alleged to have been schooled by a secret order of individuals who descended from a long lineage of philosopher kings dating back to ancient Mesopotamia.

Manly P. Hall—best known for his colossal tome The Secret Teachings of all Ages—alleges that Plato was initiated into the “Schools of the Greater Mysteries” at the age of 49 during a visit to Egypt’s Great Pyramid. Hall writes, “After a further three months’ sojourn in the halls of the Pyramid, the Initiate Plato was sent out into the world to do the work of the Great Order, as Pythagoras and Orpheus had been before him.” ^{(Hall, 1928)} Morrish states, “The chief exponents of Philosophy…were either members of the Brotherhood, such as Pythagoras, Plato and others, or disciples of the Schools, such as Thales.” ^{(Morrish, Outline of Metaphysics, 1945)}

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, a German theologian and occult researcher, wrote that Pythagoras, Empedocles, Democritus, Plato, and many other renowned Philosophers travelled extensively in search of esoteric knowledge, “Pythagoras and Plato went to the Prophets of Memphis (in Egypt) to learn it, and travelled through almost all Syria, Egypt, Judea, and the Schools of the Chaldeans that they might not be ignorant of the most sacred Memorials and Records of Magic, as also that they might be furnished with Divine things.” ^(Agrippa) Gjorgjievski clarifies, “the Greeks were so amazed by Egypt and its religion that they tended to see everything as magic, even in the most ordinary religious rituals of the Egyptians.” ^{(Gjorgjievski, 1996-2000 )} Another articles reveals:

In Plato's case, according to Naydler, this led to his philosophy — to which, as Alfred North Whitehead remarked, all subsequent western thought is merely a footnote, which suggests that a book on The Egyptian Roots of Western Philosophy remains to be written. Exactly what Plato and the others received may not be absolutely clear, but Naydler believes that by trying to understand Plato's relationship to Egypt, we can gain a firmer grasp, not only on Plato's ideas, but also on "that deep current of thought and spiritual practice known as the Hermetic tradition." ^{(The Shamans of Egypt, n.d.)}

Naydler believes the aim of Plato’s philosophy was preparation for death, and it was not an idea he developed, but he learned it first hand from the priests in Heliopolis, “The belief that one's nous, or mind, was immortal while one's body was subject to death and decay was, as a central theme of the Hermetic teachings, and this suggests that, rather than repackaging Platonic ideas – as some have argued the Corpus Hermeticum does — both it and Plato's philosophy originated from the same source.” ^{(The Shamans of Egypt, n.d.)}

During Plato’s travels to Egypt he was taught of an even earlier race of men ruled by “divine kings” on the lost continent called Atlantis. The “wisdom” traditions were handed to survivors of the Atlanteans, the Semites, who migrated to the Gobi Desert in Central Asia. He writes:

The Semites were the ancestors of the ‘Aryans’, who later swept through India and established the beginning of a distinctive culture and system of languages there. The divine kings of Atlantis evidently continued their tradition in the priest-kings of Egypt, some of whom had the pineal gland developed to the point of possessing Extra-Sensory perception; while the storehouse of the Wisdom itself remained in India, preserved by the Rishis and Yogis of the Himalayas. ^{(Morrish, Outline of Metaphysics, 1945)}

Morrish explains Greek philosophy emerged out of mythical religions or mystery schools dating historically from Egypt to pre-logical Greece:

If we look back before this philosophical period still further into the legends of Egypt and the records of the Indian Rishis, or Adepts, we find a general stream of mystical wisdom composed of Truth in terms of traditions, magical powers and symbols handed down through long lines of priest-kings from what must be an original source. ^{(Morrish, Outline of Metaphysics, 1945)}

Greek philosophy was deemed Theo-Sophia (Divine Wisdom), the “Wisdom of the Gods.”

The Romans inherited the Greek pantheon along with its legends, myths and religious traditions. Before the emergence of Christianity, Gjorgjievski outlines how Rome was a fertile place for the development of magic and magicians. Kabbalistic elements of Merkabah were likely introduced by the House of Herod, giving special favour to a faction of the Leviathan Essenes who created the religion of Merkabah mysticism, as stated by Livingstone: “The source of this early Kabbalistic influence would be the occult Jewish community of the Essenes.” ^{(Livingstone, 2007)} He outlines how Merkabah mysticism was the first evolution of that doctrine which would become central to all the schools of Hellenistic mysticism, the initiate’s soul advancing successively through seven planetary spheres. ^{(Livingstone, 2007)}

The Mithraic Mysteries were the most famous mystery religion in Rome. Worshippers met in underground templates, and their rites involved a complex system of seven grades of initiation, to facilitate similar magical trance inspired communication. Manly P. Hall states, “The ideals of early Christianity were based upon the high moral standards of the pagan Mysteries, and the first Christians who met under the city of Rome used as their places of worship the subterranean temples of Mithras.” ^{(Hall, 1928)} This new cult of astrology and magic was incorporated into the rites of the dying-god Mithras. The ancient god of the Persians was assimilated to Baal, and occult mysteries and black arts were dedicated to him, which became the core of all later ancient mysteries. Mithraism maintained strict secrecy about its teachings and practices, revealing them only to initiates. Membership was reserved for male initiates only.

Mithraism appears to be a merger of the Babylonian Chaldean traditions with the Indo-Iranian philosophies, a progression of the same Godly structure seen in Babylonia. The Mithras practices shared elements found in earlier Egyptian magic including the timing of rituals based on astronomical phenomena, vocalisation and other sensory ornaments or incense used in ritual.

As a demigod, Mithra presided over changing of seasons and the movement of heavens themselves. The scene of Mithra slaying a bull represents the precession of the equinoxes and moving the entire universe. Mithra is represented by constellation Perseus changes the position of the celestial sphere by slaying constellation Taurus and moving the earth into constellation Aries at the spring equinox. This miracle of Mithra is a product of Roman astrologers.  Mithraism was centred on the worship of the saviour god Mithras who is the equivalent of Christianity’s Jesus figure. The sun-idol Mithras is mentioned in the sacred writings of both cults the Avesta and the Vedas. Solomon was a master magician with a name comprising three words for the Sun before him, Mithras was a Sun God, the God of Light. Sunday was kept in honour of Mithras (the sun) called Mithras Solis Invictus. December 25 was worshipped as Mithras’ birthday the rebirth of the winter sun following the winter solstice. We can begin to see how all these diverging belief systems are all manifesting off a singular template, so as researchers we should begin to focus less on the stories and beliefs (the cult of personality) and look closer at what these rituals are actually doing to people.

Constantine eventually made Christianity the Roman State Religion, merging the Nazarene faith with Mithraism to create the Roman Catholic Church. Roman Catholicism compromised Christianity radically to convert pagans into believers according to some. Constantine merged Mithras and the Messiah together, borrowing most concepts from Pagan sun worship. Thus, Christian and Pagan festivals were amalgamated. Herman Slater outlines:

So in the old church we have a slight change in the festivals: they were no longer called astrological, but nevertheless were. The Goddess became the Virgin. The Sun God became the Christ. The lesser and local gods became the saints. The language of the ritual changed, but the meaning did not. ^{(Slater, 1978)}

Hermeticism was the secret gnostic, version of Christianity derived from Mithraism and survived to compete with Catholicism in the form of several secret societies. Apollonius of Tyana is regarded as perhaps the most famous classical magician, and like Mithras was also an early representation of Jesus Christ. Apollonius was a member of the Pythagorean School, travelled extensively and performed many “miracles.” Gjorgjievski notes, “He was a contemporary of Christ, and before Czar Constantine accepted Christianity, some of the previous emperors made an attempt to make a cult of Apolonius as an antithesis to the cult of Christ.”  ^{(Gjorgjievski, 1996-2000 )}  

From Late antiquity, the movements of Neoplatonism and Gnosticism became a dominating influence on Roman Catholic mystical thought. In 325 A.D. those esoteric movements became heavily suppressed following the Council of Nicea edicts aimed at unification of all Christian doctrine under one umbrella of ritual control. Many esoteric religious movements were sent into exile and ostracised as heretic magic, despite the fact the endorsed Christian rituals operated by similar methods. The ritualistic practices of the Eucharist, baptism and prayer all derived from older ancient mystical traditions designed with invocational spells (the equivalent of a prayer) used to summon entity contact. While the church denounced others for using sorcery, they simply rebadged their own kind as “ritual.”

Roman Catholic ritual was dominated by practices preparing people for the direct and transformative indwelling or union with the presence of their God, and as they grew in power so did their school of thought forcing other beliefs underground. Humanity can never be forced under one belief system, so the natural urge to rebel against oppressors saw rival groups maintain their movements over time. The continuation of the ancient mystery religions carried on under many names and often “underground” to avoid the catholic armies.

Hermeticism, an esoteric tradition attributes to Hermes Trismegistus, emerged in parallel with Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Orphic and Pythagorean doctrines and early Christianity between the 2nd and 8th centuries. The etymology of the word “herm” dates from at least 600 BC referring to a pillar or post that was used in pre-classical Greece to communicate with the deities. Trismegistus means thrice-great in which Hermes claimed his knowledge of three parts of the whole universe. He was considered by advocates as the greatest philosopher and the greatest priest and the greatest king.  Hermetic texts heavily influenced the Western esoteric and occult doctrines that proved of particular importance. The books now known as the Corpus Hermeticum were part of intellectualised pagan thought that took place in the 2nd century.

Hermes Trismegistus is the equivalent of (or embodied persona) of the Egyptian god Thoth in occult texts. Both Thoth and Hermes were gods of writing and of magic in their respective cultures. Hermes was seen as a contemporary of Moses or the third in a line of men named after Enoch and Noah hence establishing a theory about “Thrice-great”. ^{(Hermeticism - Wikipedia, n.d.)} In Hellenistic Egypt, the Greeks recognised the similarities between their god Hermes with Thoth.

The Arbatel de Magia Veterum (Latin grimoire of Renaissance period ceremonial magic), states that Hermes was a divine magician, “Without doubt, Hermes Trismegistus, that divine Magician and Philosopher, who (as some say) lived long before Noah, attained to much Divine knowledge of the Creator through the study of Magick and Astrologie; as his writings testifie.” ^(Turner) Hermes is credited as the author of the series of sacred texts forming the basis of Hermeticism.

Hermeticism was an attempt to bring together Jewish Kabbalah and Christian mysticism under one umbrella. Christians appropriated the Hermetic teachings for their own purposes. The theories of Qabbalism are inextricably interwoven with the tenets of Hermeticism. Manly P. Hall writes, “The words Qabbalism and Hermeticism are now considered as synonymous terms covering all the arcana and esotericism of antiquity.” Qabbalism gradually evolved into an elaborate theological system, almost incomprehensible in complexity according to Hall. ^{(Hall, 1928)}

Hermeticism like Neoplatonism attempted to transcend arguments between monotheism and polytheism, stating that everything in life and universe is a circular process of emanation from and return to the Oneness of God. It aimed to reunite the consciousness of man into the energy of this oneness, while the philosophy acknowledged entities such as gods, angels, and elementals all exist in the Universe. This was the same opinion of Plato and all Hermetical Philosophers.

Plotinus (205-270 A.D.) was a famous Neoplatonist metaphysic whose writings went on to inspire mystics of many religious backgrounds. Plotinus argued that mental study and contemplation of higher truths was all that is needed to allow one to achieve enlightenment and henosis. Therefore, his belief swayed towards contemplative meditation. Plotinus’ metaphysical writings inspired centuries of Pagan, Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Gnostic metaphysicians and mystics since. Platonic notions were adopted by the Christian church because they understood Platonic forms as God’s thoughts.

A turning point occurred through Syrian Neoplatonist Iamblichus (245-325 A.D.), a student of Plotinus’ disciple Porphyry. His influential treatise Theurgia, or On the Mysteries of Egypt dealt with higher magic operating through the agency of the gods. The difference between Christian platonic thought and the new mystic neo-platonist theurgy was that while both argued for the notion of a transcendent One, Neo-platonists saw the one in everything, so they believed that nature was part of the whole, endowed with life and soul.  Iamblichus argued union with the Gods could only be achieved through theurgy and not by philosophical thought alone. ^(Iamblichus)

Furze Morrish explains how the Gnostics carried on the secret tradition of the mystery schools and attempted to restore them in public during the Middle Ages, but the attempts in southern France among the “Albigenses” were aggressively ended by the Church because they threatened the powerful feudal barons and the more powerful hierarchy of the Church. The threat was met with organised massacres of the Albigenses over nearly two generations. The Church offered rewards to those who helped murder them offering freedom from punishment after death, indulgence for all sins and a rich countryside to plunder. Morrish adds, “The stigma of heresy has been so successfully implanted against Gnosticism in the orthodox Christian mind that even Protestant histories repudiate it.” (Morrish, Outline of Metaphysics, 1945)

Centuries of oppression led to the eventual Protestant Reformation, a period involving critical attitude toward Catholic mystical practices. Rather than abolish mystic practices, many protestant reformations simply revived old esoteric Christian and mystic beliefs that the Council of Nicea had forced underground. Various aspects of mysticism then permeated into the new religions of the Pentecostals, Quakers, Anglicans, Methodists, Episcopalians and Lutherans etc...  Gnostic and Hermitic texts were also important during both the Renaissance Periods and the Protestant Reformation in 1500 A.D. The underlying dynamic of these revivals involved a reorientation towards integration, wholeness and synthesis, but the true impetus behind the Renaissance was essentially hermetic magic. Francis Yates rephrased the “renaissance man,” as the “renaissance magi”. Renaissance humanism (15th and 16th century) saw a resurgence in Hermetic and Neo-Platonic varieties of ceremonial magic. During the Renaissance, Paracelsus, Cornelius Agrippa, and Giordano Bruno inspired a major cultural surge in magical interest. Eliphas Levi claimed Paracelsus as the greatest of the Christian Magi. ^{(Constant), 1896)}

The Pythagorean brotherhood, Mithraism and Neoplatonism were the earlier influencers of movements emerging from ancient mystery school teachings include Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Kabbalism, Swedenborgianism, Rosicrucianism, The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Freemasonry and Theosophy. While each of these movements has their own ideologies, none of these movements typically hold exclusive beliefs; significant similarities coalesce, re-labelling and re-packaging ancient ideas to different generations and cultures.

A mysterious figure with the symbolic name Christian Rosen Kreuz (Christian Rose Cross) founded a secret order of Gnostics which taught the ancient wisdom of Neo-platonism and earlier movements. It practised occultism and laid the foundations of modern science and the movement became known as Rosicrucianism. ^{(Morrish, Outline of Metaphysics, 1945)}

Rosicrucianism—a kind of sister organisation to Freemasonry and the heir to earlier Hermetic philosophy —taught that Akhenaton was initiated as the last Great Grand Master of the early family of founders from where the theurgic traditions originated. (Lewis) Paracelsus a Swiss physician, alchemist, and astrologer of the German Renaissance, pioneered several aspects of the medical revolution during the Renaissance. He was viewed as a “prophet or diviner” by the later Rosicrucians in the 1700s. Many of Paracelsus’s followers met together in secret societies. Elizabethan astrologer, Kabbalist and magic-practising ceremonial magician John Dee, is credited as the father of the Rosicrucian order. Dee was also chief adviser to Queen Elizabeth I.

Alleged members of the Rosicrucians included the English philosopher Robert Fludd, Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, and Isaac Newton. (Hughes) Francis Bacon is equated as a founder of the Rosicrucians but is disputed by mainstream academia. Manly P. Hall wrote that Bacon was regarded not as a man, but rather as a bridge between an invisible world and the Earthly world. ^{(Henry, The Language Of The Birds: Our Angelic Connection)}

Dee and his associate Sir Edward Kelly produced unique rituals, many that prescribed use of a specific language called Angelic or Enochian. Enochian magic is a system of ceremonial magic based on the evocation and commanding of various spirits, and Dee claims this language was dictated to him by the Angels (alien entities). The fundamental principle of Enochian ceremonial magic is the evocation of entities through ritual practices.

Occult writer Israel Regardie explains the “invocations couched in this language have been found to work with a peculiarity and a force found in no other language.” ^{(Regardie, The Tree of Life - A Study In Magic, 2000)} Dee and Kelly recorded notebooks on the elements of the system after angels delivered the material to him. He stated all of his books were channelled from these entities. The material of Dee and Kelley held considerable influence in the magic practised within the Rosicrucianism movement.

The Rosicrucian Order consisted of a secret inner body and a public outer body, comprising a graded system of participation. The Rosicrucian spiritual path incorporated: philosophy, alchemy, astrology, Kabbalah, and divine magic (theurgy). ^{(A Hermetic & Rosicrucian Timeline, n.d.)} The Order is symbolised by the rose (the soul) and the cross (the body). The unfolding rose represented the human soul acquiring greater consciousness while living in a body on the material plane. Alchemy was taught as the “key” to theurgy, with the ultimate goal aiming to unite with higher counterparts (entities), leading to the attainment of “divine consciousness.” Hermetic alchemy and theurgy are heavily dependent on astrological cycles, a form of astrological magic. Ritual magic and all modern magical traditions ultimately derive from Hermetic theurgy.

The Rosicrucians claimed to be immortal beings from a superior race that possessed the “Philosopher’s Stone” and could converse with angels and make themselves immortal through a form of ascension. ^{(Henry, The Crystal Halls Of Christ’s Court New Revelations Of The Forbidden Secrets Of Atlantis, The Holy Grail And The Inner Earth , 2001)} Author David Goddard writes, “the true Alchemy that is the practical application of the holy Qabalah. It leads to the attainment of the Philosopher’s Stone, whereby the personal consciousness and the Primordial consciousness unite as one.” ^{(Goddard, 1999 )} Therefore, the use of alchemy in these movements was not about the changing of physical lead into physical gold as commonly thought, the true goal was a transmutation of the physical body into a body of light (the solar body). The order claimed to possess the secret formula (often described as a powder), the Elixir of Life, which helped in this process. ^{(O'Boran, 1997)}  These beliefs underpin the development of our modern New Age religions.

Occult revivals have occurred at sporadic intervals since then. The occult or esoteric had subsisted all along on the periphery of society, but the revivals indicate specific times when public interest searched for something more than mainstream religious thought. The public presentation of the ancient wisdom of movements such as the Rosicrucians tranformed under the name of Theosophy in the 19^th century. ^{(Morrish, Outline of Metaphysics, 1945)}

The 19^th-century occult revival spurned Theosophy and Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy both deriving from the Spiritualism movement of the 19th century. This was when magic ritual became extremely popular bringing forth a new generation of magic prophets called “channellers.” Many occult practices emerged including Seances allowing individuals to perform rituals that ushered in forms of spiritual communication. Eliphas Lévi was one of the principal founders of the 20th-century revival of magic. Lévi’s version of magic became a great success, especially after his death. He incorporated the Tarot cards into his magical system, and as a result, the Tarot became an essential element in Western magical tradition.  

Dee’s Enochian magic is often considered strikingly complex and difficult to grasp in its entirety.  One of the difficulties is that many of the source documents are missing, and those that exist are sometimes fragmentary, due to the history of dispersal of Dee’s library and manuscripts. Enochian magic was furthered by Samuel Mathers, Aleister Crowley, Dr. William Wynn Westcott and Israel Regardie. Mathers incorporated the magic into the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn during the 19th century where it was transformed into a comprehensive system of ceremonial ritual. Aleister Crowley practised and published material about, Enochian magic extensively. Crowley made O.T.O. resemble Freemasonry in its rites and degrees. He had even claimed to have been a 33rd Scottish Rite Freemason but The Grand Lodge of England didn’t recognise him publically as a member. The history on magic in Freemasonry is extensive, and I will touch on this in a future separate article.

According to the forward in Israel Regardie’s book The Middle Pillar, very little was known publically about ceremonial magic because it had been covered by a veil of secrecy by the esoteric organisations practising it. Breaking the vow of secrecy was rare, and condemned the very few who ever dared consider it. Apparently, it all changed in 1937 when Regardie published four volumes titled The Golden Dawn, a collection of ceremonies and teachings from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, accounting the magical principles of ritual. The Middle Pillar was Regardie’s publication of step-by-step details for performing ceremonial magic and his books ushered back in occult magic into the mainstream practice. Regardie made what he claims was a very difficult and courageous decision to break his oath of secrecy because he thought it the only way to save the rituals of the order for future generations. He tells of his deep obligation to the practices of Theosophy where many of the “magical practices have their basis in the Practical Qabalah of the Hebrew philosophers, and in the sacerdotal Theurgy of the Egyptians.” ^{(Regardie, The Tree of Life - A Study In Magic, 2000)}

The occult revival in the 20th century began with minor enthusiasm in the 1960’s and surged by the 1970’s. The O.T.A. was the first Western occult lodge to adopt its own fully functional kabbalistic ten-sphere vertical chakra system. ^{(Runyon, 1977)} Following publication, many of Regardie’s ritual based principles have been enjoyed by ceremonial magicians, mystics, and New Agers over the subsequent decades. In the later years of his life until his death, Regardie settled in the New Age mecca of Sedona, Arizona.

The goal of this article is to simply show how magic ritual permeates through many spiritual movements throughout the centuries. While somewhat extensive, this article barely scratches the surface of all the movements and links between them. It does not go into any granular detail about the rituals themselves, which are discussed in other articles I will publish.

Ultimately, the history of magic ritual permeating human culture is extensive and the links are threaded across so many movements. Even putting together this selective history was a great challenge.

It is worth investigating esoteric material to weigh its value and different perspectives, but I urge you not to mistake it for absolute truth. Ultimately, I am opposed to a significant amount of esoteric teachings I have read, because they all too often skew history toward their biased beliefs and promote on-going participation in ritualised practices and devotion to high order entities.

Many magic rituals encourage the invocation or evocation of outside forces into one’s body. What we risk is associating ourselves with energies we don’t fully understand. The fundamental point I wish to convey is how insidious manipulative ritual practices are used deliberately to control the masses, since our earliest human societies and through to our modern time. In this article, I have not even shown the links between science and magic, and many of the devices and modern amentities we have, have magical underpinnings. I will discuss more about these aspects in separate articles.

Bibliography