A Ritual to Acquire Excellent Books at a Library Sale
Instructions:
Each participant will require a square of paper, a copy of these instructions, and a pen. This ritual should be performed the night preceding the sale.
Each magician should develop a sigil or magical formula which represents, for them, the working at hand.
After lighting several candles, each magician should write a list of any particular types of books they seek. These should be placed in a bowl and burned.
While the lists burn, the group should repeat the evocation below several times, until a meter is established and the group agrees that the “vibe” has been established. It may be easiest if the lead magician reads it aloud first to help to establish the meter.
Each magician should copy the following magic square onto a square of paper. On the reverse side, each magician should draw their sigil, small. The papers should be passed around the circle, with each magician adding their sigil to each talisman. When every talisman has been inscribed with every sigil, each magician should anoint their talisman with ashes of the lists, while saying the evocation again.
The talismans should be carried in the left hand pocket while book searching.
Extra talismans may be made for magicians not present at the working.
Evocation (see note below):
Procol oh procol este profani. Barlasti ompala.
In the name of the Mighty and Terrible One, we evoke Tahuti, the Lord of Wisdom and of Utterance; Master Scribe, Inventor of Language.
Oh thou, majesty of the godhead, wisdom-crowned Tahuti, Lord of the gates of the universe. Thee, thee we evoke.
Oh thou of the ibis head. Thee, thee we evoke.
Thou who wieldest the wand of double power. Thee, thee we evoke.
Thou whose skin is a flaming orange as though it burned in a furnace. Thee, thee we evoke.
Thoth. Hermes. Mercury.
By whatever name we call thee, thou art still nameless to eternity. Come thou forth we say, and aid us in this work of art.
Thou star of the east that didst conduct the magi. Come thou forth we say, come thou forth and make every spirit of the air aid us in our quest for Knowledge.
Thou Scribe Eternal, Thou Lord of Books. Bring forth books of magic, books to inspire and to enflame. Direct our eyes to those books we most desire; those books of rare value that we never dreamed to find.
REPEAT
The Magic Square:
S
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E
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A
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H
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L
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O
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P
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T
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I
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M
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O
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A
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I
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C
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Notes:
The Evocation is heavily modeled on the classic Golden Dawn Invocation of Thoth, widely believed to have been written, at least in part, by William Butler Yeats. The first lines are something of a mystery. ‘Procul, O procul este profani’ is taken from The Aeneid. It means literally, “keep distant, distant, unbelievers!” Virgil puts these words into the mouth of the Sybil of Cumae who is preparing to utter some hard-core prophecy and who with this speech shoos off the vulgar outsiders by saying, “Keep away, away, you trashy rabble.” I have no idea what “barlasti ompala” means.
The Square above is taken from the Book of Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Book Three, Chapter 11, Part B. Mathers notes “Many ancient Books of Magic, etc., have been lost or destroyed, in some cases by the wish of the Good Spirits, in others by the machinations of the Evil Spirits. By these Symbols you can have many supposed extinct works brought to you, Abraham states; but adds that he could never copy them, because the writing disappeared as fast as he wrote it; notwithstanding this he was permitted to read some of them.”
