Ceremonial magic

Waite provides a complete view of the history, literature, and myths surrounding Freemasonry. Comprehensive explanations are included of their secret rituals and symbolism, such as alchemy, astrology, Kabbalism, ceremonial magic, and animal magnetism"... 

Circa 10,000 Humans enter the Neolithic Period, or New Stone Age, begin to farm, and live in villages shamans adapt to the needs of farmers and new religions develop with priests who practice ceremonial magic. 

The first half of this book deals with the principles and theories that underline magical work, covering the subject from the Qabalistic, Hermetic, and Christian points of view while in the second half, instructions are clearly given for the preparation of the instruments of the art and their ceremonial employment in the rites governing necromancy, spells and divination... 

Laurence, LW. de. The great book of magical art, Hindu magic and East Indian occultism plus The book of secret Hindu, ceremonial and talismanic magic. In one volume. Chicago De Laurence, 1915. 5 133(54)... 

During the final ceremony in Moon Magic, the following occurs ... 

Any discussion of the chemistry of drugs must include some consideration of the nonmedical applications of such compounds. Just as early humans were searching their environment for natural products that would assuage pain and cure disease, so were they also looking for plants and other natural materials with psychoactive effects, materials that would provide an escape from the problems and worries of everyday life, or that would just make a person feel better for a period of time. They also incorporated psychoactive drugs into many of their religious ceremonies. The use of the peyote cactus, magic mushrooms, and similar products dates back centuries, if not millennia, in a variety of cultures. One hardly need point out that the use of psychoactive chemicals for recreational purposes continues in essentially every part of the world today. 

In the Neolithic period, however, a new type of religion formed based on the needs of the village. People started to perform group rituals guided by priests. Priests were the first alternative to the shamans, and sometimes they were rivals for authority. In contrast to the intuitive spontaneous visions of the shamans, the priests worshiped specific gods and told stories about them called myths, which remained basically the same over time. The type of magic that the priests practiced made use of elaborate props and clothing and formal ceremonies that... 

The first rule of magical protection in Babylon was to stay on the good side of the gods by conscientiously performing ceremonies to... 

Author of the influential alchemical utopia, The City of the Sun (1602), whose admirers may have included Francis Bacon. He spent many years imprisoned by the Inquisition (he was also a supporter of Galileo), and in 1628 was prevailed upon to perform magical protection ceremonies for Pope Urban VIII, whose imminent death was being predicted by various astrologers. Urban lived for another sixteen years, and was so grateful he granted Campanella s immediate release, whereupon he fled to France. 

When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled slowly across the land by horseback and across the ocean by boat. Now the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instantaneously to billions around the world. Communications and commerce are global. Investment is mobile. Technology is almost magical, and ambition for a better life is now universal. 

Today we know that this run on Mexico s mushrooms helped destroy the cultural identity of the native Indians, causing discontent and rising crime rates in several villages. Self-appointed "curanderas", with no traditional roots, presided over mass ceremonies with magic mushrooms. 

Behind this ceremony is the idea that fire has a cleansing action and can thus protect people from disease. The reason the fires were made of hemp is unknown, but no doubt it was because of hemp s connection with magic. 

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