Sacred Words

I want to talk about the way that words empower our  most magical selves. That can include written words, but it’s mostly about spoken words. Some of those words are purely magical in purpose, others are repurposed in our magical workings. Some of those words stand on their own, some work in tandem with others. Some words have alternate meanings, some only have one. And some are meant very deliberately to be uttered or even chanted in particular ways, including through the use of vibration.

Use of words in meditation

Use of words in spells and incantations

Use of words in rituals

And More

Here are but a few:

ABRACADABRA. A common incantation used in ancient times as a cure for fevers and inflammation.

AGLA. is said to be a noṭariqōn (kabbalistic acronym) meaning, "Thou, O Lord, art mighty forever." In the fourth and final pentagram drawing position of the LBRP (North / Earth / Auriel) we utter the word AGLA.

AMEN: A simple but powerful word which simply means our final plea in any incantation, ritual or prayer. Thy will be done. So mote it be. When we say AMEN during the Qabalistic Cross, we intone it in this way: OOMEN

ARARITA. In Golden Dawn use, ARARITA is "a formula of the Macrocosm potent in certain very lofty operations of the Inmost Light." I have used ARARITA in several ceremonies, most notably in The Six Rayed Star which is a special rite gifted to me. During the Six Rayed Star, we acknowledge that we are both Spirit and Matter and we bring the two into union. It involves creating a six rayed star out of two triangles (one descending from heaven / spirit, and one rising from earth / matter) and bringing them into our body and emanating them out in a path that we astrally travel.

AUMGN. For both symbolic and numerological reasons, Aleister Crowley, an important if controversial figure in the world of magic, adapted OM/aum into a Thelemic magical formula, adding a silent 'g' (as in the word 'gnosis') and a nasal 'n' to the m to form the compound letter 'MGN'; the 'g' makes explicit the silence previously only implied by the terminal 'm' while the 'n' indicates nasal vocalization connoting the breath of life and together they connote knowledge and generation.

GRIMOIRE: from the old French grammaire – referring to all books written in Latin. A Grimoire is also known as a Book of Shadows or Book of Spells, and is a journal for working magicians. Some grimoires are very structured and others are more of a loose journaling as magicians examine their workings and make observations based upon it. Highly recommended for anyone working in magic. Start with a simple journal. Write your daily workings and thoughts and readings within it. If words are magic, what could be more magical or powerful than a book that captures those words?

HIGHER DIVINE GENIUS: As I have discussed, magic is really a refinement tool of the self, bringing our very human and lower self into alignment with our higher divine genius. Our higher divine genius is the greatest version of ourselves, perhaps a future version of us, one not restricted to the limits of human failings. Our higher divine genius is the God that lives within us all, the God that created us to be the most powerful we may be. We will not live as our higher divine genius in this life, but through intense magic workings, meditation, dream magic and pathworking, we will meet them many times and learn from them. The path toward your higher divine genius is the path of enlightenment.

HIGHER GUARDIAN ANGEL: As you shift toward your Higher Divine Genius, you will then meet your Higher Guardian Angel. Your HGA, as they are known, are not ancestors, not spirit guides, not archangels, not God. Aleister Crowley wrote extensively about the HGA in his works. Crowley wrote, “It should never be forgotten for a single moment that the central and essential work of the Magicians is the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.” Some people believe that the HGA is just another term for your Higher Divine Genius, but angel and genius are two entirely different things. The way that I understand and can best explain it, is that your Higher Divine Genius is reflective that you are God and God is you, in terms of your vast capability of knowledge, wisdom and understanding. God sent you here to this life as an emissary of his divine work and grace, so that you may experience and learn and bring that knowledge to Him. The part of God that will forever live within you is your Higher Divine Genius. All things are known as the HDG, this future, fully enlightened version of yourself. But your Higher Guardian Angel is a spiritual entity, one that lives outside of you. There some who view this as dangerous teachings, as a threat to the relationship to the Divine (in essence, fearing that practitioners will worship some angelic version of themselves rather than God) but everyone with any weight in the magical world who speaks about the HGA refers to being in “conversation” with them, not worshipping them. We are going to talk much more about your Higher Divine Genius and your Higher Guardian Angels in a few weeks.

IAO. Isis – Apophis – Osiris. IAO or IAΩ is a God-name of the early-Gnostics, and can be considered a Greek form of the Tetragrammaton.  As a magical formula it depicts a three-fold process of creation-destruction-regeneration or birth-death-resurrection: three principles that, on a certain level, cannot exist apart from one another. IAO is representative of the Egyptian deities Isis, Apophis and Osiris.  Isis is the Great Mother.  Apophis is the Great Serpent, the destructive principle, and represents Death.  Osiris is the regenerative principle, representing Resurrection, not in the sense of a coming-back-as-what-was, but Resurrection in the sense of awakening anew through transformation. Most scholars know the tragic story of the death of Osiris. His evil brother Set murdered him. Set is the destructive aspect that the alchemical principal must undergo, and thus be reborn into a new and purified creation. That is exactly what happened to Osiris. But Isis / Apophis / Osiris and IAO is not only an ancient Egyptian story of creation, death and resurrection – it is actually a magic formula in the Ancient Mystery Traditions, a powerful process of transformation that unlocks the keys of magical power and immortality. Some of the mythology of Jesus Christ was borrowed from the early myths of Isis, Apophis and Osiris.

LVX. Latin word; Lux, or light. Part of the formula of the, "analysis of the key word," used in the Adeptus Minor ritual of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. I conclude my ritual workings with LVX, not only intoning each letter but forming the letters with my arms and intoning the word LUX that they spell.

NAMASTE: If Om / Aum is the prayer, Namaste is the thanks we give just to utter the prayer.

PAROKETH: This is Hebrew word that means Veil. In my tradition, as part of our ritual work, we rend or tear open an invisible veil representing the very real veil (perhaps layers of veils) that obscure us from the real truth. To be human, to choose to be human, means to choose a level of blindness. We cannot live human, mortal lives seeing what is on the other side. In the Mystery Tradition, as part of working around the Qabala tree of life, we recognize a hidden sphere among the ten visible spheres or sephirot. The invisible one is Da’ath, and where a line forms between Chokmah, the second sphere (Mercy), Da’aath and Binah the third sphere (Judgement) is known as the Abyss. We cross the abyss when we can see the abyss and are prepared for that journey, and that is only after first we have rent the veil. During Paroketh, we intone the four Hebrew letters full phonetically PAY RESH KAV TAV as we pull apart this unseen veil. Only then can our magical workings truly begun, as we accept responsibility for all that we may see and experience during our workings and the understanding that we will not speak of those visions with anyone who is not a magician of the highest working order. At the conclusion of our rites, we also close the veil again. It creates a portal or safe space within the context of our workings for us to see through a glass darkly, but to resume our normal human lives as we conclude our ritual work.

SUBROSA: literal meaning – Under the Rose / Latin. What we do is secret. There are practices that for every magician must be kept subrosa or private. Certain rites, rituals, prayers, incantations, are not meant for the exoteric (the masses). Some are not even meant for the esoteric (the few). Some are only meant for you. This is why I encourage practitioners to keep their tools and altars sacred and private. Because there is power in retaining something for your own use and keeping it from the hands of others. Some of this is because of past persecution against magicians but even if it’s not something that threatens your life or livelihood, some things are simply more powerful and effective when only in the hands of an experienced magician. Subrosa also has an affiliation with the Rosicrucians, a secretive 17th- and 18th-century society devoted to the study of metaphysical, mystical, and alchemical lore, affiliated with the Masons. If someone sharese something with you and says “subrosa” that means they trust you will not share it with others

YHVH. The formula Tetragrammaton refers to the four-letter Hebrew name of God, Jehovah, or Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh (יהוה). The unutterable name of God. These letters have been attributed to numerous four-part symbols, including the classic elements, cardinal directions, Tarot suits, and so on. The formula is often represented by the Father (Yod) joining with the Mother (Heh), to produce the Son (Vav) and the Daughter (Heh).

There is also the word YHSVH which ads SHIN (the Hebrew S) to the YHVW equation. Renaissance occultists created this, known as the pentagrammaton, to represent Christ. It is a constructed form of the Hebrew name Jeshuah, believed by Hebrew scholars to be the original form of Jesus. The modern name Joshua is derived from Jeshuah, pronounced with a y-sound.

Many of these words have their greatest power when spoken aloud. Some are said in the act of rites and rituals. Some are accompanied by physical acts. YHVH during the LBRP includes the thrusting motion where we pierce through the pentagrams we have just drawn in the air. I do the LVX motion. Paroketh of course accompanies the rending of the veil.

Silent Words: These are words that are intended to be thought during magic or meditation workings. You could literally think the word OM during meditation, as a form of finding peace and grounding yourself, distracting yourself from drifting into thought. Or you could say the word out loud.

Chanted Words: Chanting is a particularly useful tool in meditation and magic. We are not only saying the word, we are aligning our physical selves and our spiritual selves. Chanting could be done in the form of a mantra (Saying something to make it so) or a single word. In spellwork, energy is sent via the chanted word or phrase (the incantation itself) into the spiritual realm which then helps to manifest the desired change in our physical realm.

Chanting has been around forever. In ancient Greece, sorceresses would howl their magical chants. Contemporary Witches and Pagans chant names of goddesses, charms, sacred words or runes, and in Wicca, chanting might be done during a ring dance which accelerates in tempo, volume and power.

Vibration: what makes chanting so effective is vibration. Did you know that sound, frequency, and vibrations actually reprogram our DNA?

The trick to using this law in magic is also two-fold. First, you need to be able to say something loudly enough to have an effect on something else. Second, you need to be at the right frequency (at or near the object’s resonant frequency) to have an effect of the object on which you are performing your magic.

For example, lets say you are trying to work with your heart chakra. The sound that will do this (technically known as a bija mantra) is yam (pronounced “yahm”). You need to pronounce this loud enough and at the right pitch to cause the heart chakra to vibrate in resonance to your chant. You also need to open your psychic or spiritual senses so you can detect when your heart chakra is vibrating.

In ceremonial magic, there are certain terms that are meant to be vibrated during rituals. I have seen all sorts of explanations of this concept, but the only one I’ve been able to find that is regularly effective is simple: the “words of power” are meant to be said (or chanted) loudly and with a full breath.

I mentioned the use of the word Amen in rituals. To create that powerful almost booming sound, we use what is called the Great Voice. To learn to use the Great Voice, find a place where you can practice vibrating a word at full volume. As you practice, get used to the way the vibration feels, not just how it sounds. As you practice, make sure that the object you want to resonate to your voice (the universe, with the LBRP) continues to do so as your volume gets quieter. Eventually, you should be able to vibrate a word with whispers or even silently and get the same result as with a full, loud vibration. Vibrating a word or phrase silently, while having the same result as vibrating at full volume is the meaning of the Great Voice.

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