It is with some trepidation that I carry on with this endeavour for having done more research, I’ve learned:
By sages, magical images are called talismans, which may be translated “violators,” because whoever makes an image does so by violence, and makes it by conquering the substance of which it is made. To work victoriously he makes it with mathematical proportions and influences, and uses celestial writing. These images are made from their proper substances in order that they might receive the aforementioned influence, and this is done at appropriate times. By suffumigation they are strengthened, and spirits are drawn into these images.
The Picatrix (a Medieval Treatise on Magic)
Unless we have invested enough time and effort into understanding the cosmology of the time that an ancient text like The Sacred Book of Hermes to Asclepius was written, we will make mistakes practicing its magic. Some of these mistakes, could be lethal.
In brief, the celestial magic of earlier times was based on an understanding that sources of magical power reside in the macrocosm, not the microcosm. This means that the sage, or magician does not hm or herself possess power but instead calls upon the creative force set in motion by the Godhead itself, which cascades down to him through multiple levels of being. Like shards of light striking moving crystals, these forces are refracted by the stars and planets as they descend to earth from heaven. The job of the sage is to capture these currents at the moments of their greatest power, store their energies in material things appropriate to their unique nature, and then direct the energies to carefully chosen ends.
If for one moment, we believe that for that such ends are in service not to God but to our personal egos, we are in trouble. From my own research, I’ve learned that anticipating such misuse, these texts may well contain purposeful hidden traps for the unwary.
Nevertheless, if we keep this in mind, I think that we may proceed to learn more about the images presented in the Sacred Book of Hermes to Asclepius. Although having said that, I have no intention of actually making a finger ring or talisman as described in that book. Lord only knows that in doing so, what energies I might be invoking.
If you should choose to do otherwise, then let this be a warning: you are on your own!
(to be continued)
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