Skip navigation.

Ritual of the Heptagram

Introduction

One of the first steps in any magical ritual is to get in touch with your daimon (seventh level etheric body). When magic is used to "command" life force or spiritual bodies, this process is referred to as "establish yourself at the center of the universe to assume the authority of an Immortal" or more simply "centering". Traditional Golden Dawn rituals use Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram for centering. For more Hellenic rituals, I use a modified version of the Ritual of the Heptagram (The original Ritual of the Heptagram can be found at XIII 824 in The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation. The modified version that I use replaces the vowel sounds with their associated magical names as found in The Greek Qabalah.

I have used this simple but effective ritual to initiate rituals, to initiate meditation, to protect myself from spiritual influences and to draw general magical solutions to difficult problems. As an example of the later, I boarded a transcontinental flight once and was seated by a religious fundamentalist. She proceeded to ask me "if I was saved", "did I know Jesus" and "did I know that reading Tarot cards causes a demon to appear and attack the person getting the reading". No matter how many times I told her I was uninterested and would she please leave me alone, she continued with her tirade. So I closed my eyes and said the Ritual of the Heptagram to myself while visualizing the motions. Immediately after I was finished, one of the flight attendants suggested the lady may be more comfortable in another seat and assisted her to move there.

This ritual should be practiced until you can perform it from memory (or visualize the words and motions). Pronunciations are provided in parenthesis after the magical names.

Ritual

"Speaking to the rising sun, stretching out your left hand likewise to the left, say 'akrammacamari' (ak ram mah ama ree). To the north, putting forward only your fist, say 'enkuklie' (en keek lee). Then to the west, extending both hands in front of you, say 'hskwqwrh' (eesk otho ree). To the south, holding both hands on your stomach, say 'iaeouwi' (ee ae oo ee). To the earth, bending over touching the ends of your toes, say 'orneofao' (orn eao fao). Looking into the air, having your hand on your heart, say 'upefenouru' (ee pef en oo ree). Looking into the sky, having both hands on your head, say 'wriwn' (o ree on)."

Adoration of the Immortals

Introduction

One of the standard ritual fragments used by the Golden Dawn rituals is "The Adoration to the Lord of the Universe". This is something that appears to be too much like monotheism to be acceptable to a polytheist such as me, so it needed to be replaced. In The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation a consecration (found at XII 215) has much the same spirit but is much longer. So I abbreviated the PGM consecration to be about the same length and made it slightly more poetical so it is easier to remember. I then added the gestures from "The Adoration to the Lord of the Universe", to achieve the result below.

This ritual should be memorized, as it will be used in many of the Golden Dawn rituals that we will be converting. It can be used to draw the attention of the Immortals when you're not sure which of them can help with a problem. It can also be used as a daily prayer to show respect for the Immortals in general without showing favoritism to any particular one.

Ritual

Face east and say, "O gods of the heavens and gods under the earth!" Give the protection sign. Say, "Masters of all living and masters of all dead!" Give the protection sign. Say, "Concealers of things seen, revealers of what's hidden!" Give the protection sign. Say, "O guides of the four winds, exciters of the waves!" Give the sign of silence.

Projection Sign

In Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition, the projection sign is shown on page 25. Place the left foot slightly ahead of the right foot. Place both arms forward, parallel to the floor, with palms down. Bow slightly forward. To most Hellenic Polytheists, the relationship between mortals and Immortals is sometimes that of Teacher and Student, sometimes Parent and Child, and sometimes Host and Guest. It is almost never that of Master and Slave. From The Collins Gem book Body Language, placing the hands in front of you with palms down is a sign of trying to calm a situation and a slight bowing of the head is a sign of respectful greeting. Putting these together gives a feeling of a silent and respectful greeting to the Immortals which is the right balance to show respect without complete abdication. This works well when dealing with Chthonic deities (which is what most magic does) but, for those occasions where we deal with Olympic deities, something less humble is required. The proper prayer position when dealing with Olympic deities is to raise both hands and look toward the sky so the body forms a Y. When performing the Adoration of the Immortals to the Olympic deities, this prayer position should be substituted for the Projection Sign above since bowing and scraping to the Olympic deities angers them.

Sign of Silence

In Self-Initiation, the sign of silence is shown on the same page as the Projection Sign above. Stand straight, close the left fist except for the index finger and point to the mouth. I was unable to find a gesture like this from either Body Language or American Sign Language. The closest is in Body Language where we cover our mouths when we are lying about something. Therefore, the Sign of Silence could possibly mean "Let us have the truth between us". It is also very close to the sign commonly used to ask for silence (the so-called "shushing" sign). Using this definition, we are asking the spirits and deities presence to be at peace for the moment. By these definitions, this sign can be used unchanged when dealing with Chthonic deities. When dealing with Olympic deities, a different sign is needed to represent a different attitude. (The above sign could be interpreted as a demand rather than a request and the Olympic deities don't take kindly to being ordered by mortals.) According to Body Language, ancient Greek slaves showed their loyalty to their masters by placing their hand on their heart. In modern times, Americans show their loyalty to their country with the same gesture. A slightly more militant version of this is used in martial arts classes by placing their fist over their heart and giving a slight bow. Combining these concepts, a more appropriate "sign of silence" when dealing with Olympic deities would be to place the open hand over the heart and giving a slight bow.

WORKS CITED