The Calyx

Read the OAS’ presentation of The Calyx in The Ogdoadic Journal Number Five: Praxis, including photographs and audio:



 

a. Face East. Assume the Wand Posture.
b. Develop the Rhythmic Breath.

    1. Inhale. Visualize a Tongue of Flame: the Divine Spark at the Corona Flammae, above the crown of the head.

Exhale & vibrate ἘΙ

    1. Inhale & raise arms in Tau, palms up, and know you are a balanced being ready to recieve the divine light.

Exhale, strengthening the visualization of the Flame.

    1. Inhale & Visualize a shaft of Light from the Corona Flammae descending to the sphere of the Instita Splendens, between the feet.

Exhale & vibrate Ἡ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑ

    1. Inhale & bring left hand to right shoulder, recognizing the Martial forces of your being.

Exhale & vibrate ΚΑΙ Ἡ ΔΥΝΑΜΙΣ

    1. Inhale & bring right hand to left shoulder, recognizing the Jovial forces of your being.

Exhale & vibrate ΚΑΙ Ἡ ΔΟΞΑ

    1. Incline head at bottom of breath. Inhale & feel the solar center radiate with Lifegiving Light and Love.

Exhale & vibrate ἘΙΣ ΤΟΥΣ ΑΙΩΝΑΣ


Notes on the Calyx

The Calyx is a fundamental technique of Art Magick, which both aligns the practitioner with the forces of the cosmos, and awakens awareness of the counterparts of those forces with[in] the psyche. It can thus be said to encapsule in brief compass the chief method and purpose of all workings of High Magick.

– Denning & Phillips, Mysteria Magica: Paper II

. . . The predominant tone of magical work is one of courage, generosity, and resolution, whether active or passive, and the major forces which the magician has to interpret are those of divine expansiveness and abundance. These are reflected in rite and gesture. …

Our gesture when as the preliminary to a ritual it is necessary to bring down the Sacred Flame to sweep through the conscious personality, is the Calyx. In some measure, it may be said that the Calyx foreshadows the Formula of the Grail.

– Denning & Phillips, Mysteria Magica: Paper XVII

The words of power in the Calyx are derived from the Qabalistic Tree of Life and are for most more immediately identifiable with the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, in the same manner as the Golden Dawn’s Qabalistic Cross, with a slight but albeit significant variation: “Thou art / the Kingdom / and the Power / and the Glory / Forever unto the Ages.” Both the Rosicrucian/GD and Ogdoadic/AS implementations of this formula hearken back to Eliphas Levi who wrote in 1855 (before either Order had crystallized from their respective traditions):

The sign of the cross adopted by Christians does not belong to them exclusively. It is also kabbalistic, and represents the oppositions and tetradic equilibrium of the elements. We see by the occult versicle of the Lord’s Prayer … that it was originally made after two manners, or at least that it was characterized by two entirely different formulae, one reserved for priests and initiates, the other imparted to neophytes and the profane. For example, the initiate said, raising his hand to his forehead, ‘For thine,’ then added ‘is,’ and continuing as he brought down his hands to his breast, ‘the kingdom,’ then to the left shoulder, ‘the justice,’ afterwards to the right shoulder, ‘and the mercy’ – then clasping his hands, he added, ‘in the generating ages.’ Tibi sunt Malchut et Geburah et Chesed per aeonas – a sign of the cross which is absolutely and magnificently kabbalistic, which the profanations of Gnosticism have completely lost to the official and militant Church. This sign, made after this manner, should precede and terminate the conjuration of the four.

– Eliphas Levi, Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine & Ritual: Chapter IV

Calyx is a Greek word meaning “cup” or “shell,” both of which emphasize the receptive nature of the body in this rite. The Divine Flame is drawn down from above into the magician’s being. This infusion of Light imbues the magician with the necessary power to set the Wards. The Calyx is also a simple but potent method to balance the forces in the psyche, making it a useful “toner” of sorts. Lastly, the Calyx serves as an effective thanksgiving (gratulatio) at the end of most House of Sacrifice-based workings, or a general adoration of the universal forces which have caused our manifestation and have given us the hope of Return.

Lastly, there is a distinct yet not at once apparent relationship between The Calyx and the Fivefold Pattern of the House of Sacrifice, and therefore to the Elements. When viewed in connection with Levi’s statement above, one begins to understand why the activity of this formula engenders a microcosmic balancing of the elements (The Principles of the House of Sacrifice), which absolutely must “precede and terminate the conjuration of the four,” i.e., the macrocosmic Archons of the Elements. For further insight into these mysteries, see: “Exploring the House of Sacrifice” by Suzanne Savage in The Ogdoadic Journal: Vol. 1, No. 1, and “A Building Such As Is Not” by Derik Richards in The Ogdoadic Journal vol 1, no 5.

Pronunciation

The following pronunciations are standard in Attic Greek.

ἘΙ – Like the “ay” in “hay.”
Ἡ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑ – “Hay bah-see-lay-ah”, ah as in father
ΚΑΙ Ἡ ΔΥΝΑΜΙΣ – Kai like “eye”, “hay doo-nah-mees”
ΚΑΙ Ἡ ΔΟΞΑ – “kai hay dock-sah”
ἘΙΣ ΤΟΥΣ ΑΙΩΝΑΣ – “ace toos eye-oh-nas”

Isopsephic Values & Analysis

Isopsephy is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew gematria.

ἘΙ15 = 6
ΚΑΙ Ἡ ΔΥΝΑΜΙΣ = 744 = 15 = 6
ΚΑΙ Ἡ ΔΟΞΑ = 174 = 12 = 3
Ἡ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑ = 267 = 15 = 6
ἘΙΣ ΤΟΥΣ ΑΙΩΝΑΣ = 2247 = 15 = 6

The recurrence of 15 (6) suggests the predominately Solar nature of this rite: we recieve the infusion of Divine Light and equilibrate it within our beings so that we may send it forth, even as our Star sustains all terrestrial life. 15 is also 5 x 3, or the House of Sacrifice manifested through the Formula of the Grail.

The “12” associated with Chesed can be interpreted as a reference to the Melanotheos Principle of the Constellation of the Worshipped: Melanotheos is the great Serpent of the 12 Signs of the Zodiac and is of course associated with the Principle of Eleos of the Superstructure of the House of Sacrifice (which combines the symbolism of Chokmah and Chesed). See the Notes to the Setting of the Wards of Power.

There are three more sets of 15 in the words of power, all formed by the diphthong “ἘΙ” which occurs in the central column. Epsilon and Iota are the Greek vowels associated with Mercury and Sol, respectively.

Note that all are divisible by 3 = Sophia/Binah = Grail = kalux.

Also note that the magical sums divided by three are equal to the syllables in the words (not counting ἘΙ).

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