Hymns, Litanies, and Praises
(excerpted from The Magical Philosophy, hosted by the House of Abraxas)
“Songs Beneath the Black Rose” (using the old Latin casmen rather than the more familiar carmen), the invocations of the god-forms of the “Constellation of the Worshipped”, a hierarchy of deities unique to the Ogdoadic system and expressive of the dynamic equilibrium of the supernal principles in a Hermetic/Gnostic vein.
Litany of the Crown of Twelve Rays
A beautiful acrostic invocation of the Agathodaimon/Knouphis as unified archetype – expressive both of the beneficent microcosmic Agathodaimon-force as well as the cosmic ophiomorphic Knouphis principle.
A wonderful series of dactylic invocations, believed to largely be the work of Melita Denning, which some have remarked are similar to The Treasure-House of Images by J.F.C. Fuller. These verses are often used as or as supplement to the invocation of the primary force of a planetary, elemental, or zodiacal working. A detailed examination of these verses is provided in The Sword and the Serpent, Chapter VI: “Some Discursive Reflections Upon the Paths”.
A similar series of zodiacal verses focused on the journey of the sun through the cycle of the year, originally presented in The Apparel of High Magick in the context of the semiprecious stones corresponding to each sign.
With the explosion of information availability in the last decades, this is far less of an arcane topic than it was when The Magical Philosophy was published. Still, Denning and Phillips present this poem and allude to some further interesting mysteries with respect to the Lunar Mansions, and one is able to trace out a general understanding of such from the more obvious symbols present in the verses. As a poem, it is again a thing of extremely subtle beauty – including deep understanding and natural synthesis of the symbolism of the Hsiu, the Chinese system of mansions, the Hindu Nakshatras, as well as the Arabic Manazil.
And original, inspired Art from Companions of the Order:
Acrostic Invocations of the Elemental Archons by Comites M. & Φ.Π.
Further Poeisis of the Companions of the House of Abrasax
Further Hymns
(excerpted from Denning & Phillips and hosted here at the House of Adocentyn)
The Arbor Crystallina
“Hastening the Chariot of my Heart’s Desire…”
The Hymnodia Krypte
Selected Poetry of Melita Denning
(excerpted from the now defunct OsbornePhillips.com via the Internet Archive)
The Lament of Attis (translated from the Latin of Catullus)