First of all... forget everything you know about astrology because while valid, it has been my experience that astrologers have a hell of a time grasping the contraite. It uses a lot of astrological terms in ways that seem foreign to them. To really understand how the terms in the contraite are being used you really need to understand Bertiaux's approach to astrology in the Monastery of Seven Rays lessons but that doesn't mean everyone needs to run out and try to join the Monastery to use this knowledge. What it does is lay out an example of how to use astrology in this type of talisman! That's right, this is just an example of how one can make a contract with the spirits and it just so happens to focus on material matters using Bertiaux's personal system of astrology. Everything you need to know about Bertiaux's astrological teachings for this lesson is right there.
This talisman is a 16 chamber magical square drawing on the power of certain conjunctions to energize the talisman. Used in conjunction with visualization techniques learned in lesson 3, we use the suggestions to craft a sort of fantasy ritual while we draw the talisman in order to charge it with those energies. Bertiaux presents 16 stages to the visual exercise and we use those by entering the Holy Houses of the Hoodoo spirits and working through this ritual there, in the dream space while we craft the talisman. This is very similar to when using the classic grimoires, we start crafting the talismans during the day and hour of the spirit in question, placing the pieces, engraving, drawing, and consecrating until finished and in their presence and under their guidance.
Well here we are doing the same thing. When we enter the Holy House we transcend the strictures if normal space time. We aren't limited to crafting a talisman of the Sun on Sunday at sunrise and are able to, as in the example, draw on the Sun in Capricorn, Virgo and Taurus and the Moon in Scorpio, Pisces and Cancer. Then through the attributions of each numbered cell on the talisman, visualize the ritual drawing on those energies.
Admittedly this can be very awkward and difficult to collate the various elements of the instructions in a visualization. My first few attempts were very stilted as visualizations so my suggestion is to read the instructions a lot. To reach into yourself and then connect the elements in a meaningful way and build a loose outline of how these images manifest into a cohesive narrative.
So what is this lesson really doing? On the surface it looks like a simple wealth talisman and very *deep voice* low magic. I feel dirty. Now what it is doing is teaching you controlled daydreaming techniques or what they like to call in the GD tradition, guided visualizations or pathworkings. In your visualization you are creating & employing a set of symbols to imprint something in your mind, drawing connections to these sets of symbols as reservoirs of power that can be drawn on to the intended end. Using the Contraite format we can use our own understanding of astrology or symbolic power systems to build similar talismans, or machines as Bertiaux calls them, to suit other purposes. So what it is doing is teaching you how to use the Holy Houses for magical purposes. Utilizing the
Holy House as a magical engine. We've learned to go there and learn from the spirits and this is the other half of that. It is another use of the Holy House and there are many other holy houses out there that in time you can find and access and make contacts with. From these spirits you can learn other magical machines that they can operate. I encourage you to do this when you get to the point that you are proficient and understand the symbol sets you end up using. Tell me about them in the comments section! With proper guidance you can start accessing star houses, planetary houses and zodiacal houses and interact with those spirits and learn from them and use their holy houses to craft magical machines powered by their engines as well!
Now some of you may have disturbing thoughts about making contracts with spirits.
"No, you demand from the spirit and torment it over fire, threaten it with chains and bind it to your will! You don't make deals with the pikey bastards, that will just get you burnt in the arse end! These are demons! What are you trying to sell me? Black Magick???"
To those who rant and rave about how this is how you do it, go fuck yourself. Yep, that's my opinion on that one. These aren't demons and most of those "demons" you're so high and mighty about aren't "demons" either. Oh sure, some are, but some are not.
These spirits are working with you. This is an employee/employer situation and just like a human being, you should be paying these guys for their services and the contract is ensuring that the relationship is formalized. This isn't making a pact with a demon. It is a mutual set of assurances and payment for the work being done. They feed on life energy, not in the "oh my god they're going to drain me" sense but in the sense that they take the excess and use it. It is also a throwback to pre-Christian magical practices like most of this grimoire, inspired by the Voodoo practices of Haiti. Besides, these aren't demons. They're elemental spirits of the earth, water, air, fire and our ancestors. You break the contract and well... they will go on strike!
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