Basic Concepts

One of a Selohaar knight’s greatest tools is the application of ritualistically enhanced will. Ritual Magick is the creation and use of an altered state of consciousness wherein it is possible to utilize one’s psychic talents toward affecting ones environment. Through the use of a set of techniques designed to build up emotional energy, a person is able to broadcast or receive various energy patterns, especially those of other people.

Ritual magick falls into two categories; active magick and passive magick. Active magick is directed at external targets and includes dramatized blessings, curses, love spells, and the like; that is, magick directed at other people or situations. Passive magick is directed inward by the performers of the ritual and is used to magnify the person or group’s own personal power or psychic strength. Such rituals include any ceremonies where a statement of faith is made or homage is paid to a deity or elemental power.

In either case, associational devices must be employed to provide focus for the emotions necessary for a successful working. These may consist of objects (candles, bells, swords, wands), images or scents (symbols, special illumination, incense), and the spoken word (invocations, oaths, dogma). These devices perform two functions: they provide a unifying theme for the participants to identify with, and they serve as an anti-intellectual element to reinforce faith in the working’s outcome and lessen the effects of skepticism during the ritual. All intellectual assessment of a working’s outcome must take place before or after the working’s performance, never during it.

There are five basic ingredients to a successful magickal working. These are desire, imagery, timing, direction, and balance. One must have a real desire to accomplish the ritual’s end in order to have sufficient emotional energy for it to work. Likewise, one must provide the ritual with the images, sounds and scents appropriate for that working. The outcome is thus created symbolically through the use of photographs, an acted out scene of the result, or the speaking of words describing what the rite will cause to unfold. A well known example of this concept is the doll employed in the television-popularized ‘voodoo’ curse, where the doll represents the enemy to be destroyed, first by its destruction in effigy.

Timing is important, especially where a particular person is the target of a working. The mind appears to be most susceptible to magickal suggestion when asleep; this is the reason why most ritual magick is conducted late at night: the target person is most sure to be asleep. The person’s habits and the coordination of the ritual with important events happening in the pertinent situation must also be both accounted for when determining when to conjure. Direction must be consistent in the planning of the ritual, for any misplaced thoughts or doubts after the rite’s performance may negate or dampen its effects. Lastly, balance must be taken into account. The performer must ask himself if the goal is realistic. The limitations of any circumstance must be recognized. Magick must work in harmony with nature, not against it.

Ritual Structure

Whether a group is performing a passive or active rite, there are some structural guidelines to follow. A dramatic ritual should begin with a strongly structured set of incantations and ritual gestures, then be followed by the elements of the ritual that have been tailored to the particular need. The opening dogma, which is just a fantastical representation of reality, is central towards creating the mood, that element of a ritual that most people would identify as truly magickal.

The second part of the ritual is designed exclusively for the working at hand. This is known as the ‘Casting of the Vision’. At this point, energy is raised and directed towards the target of the working. In Selohaar group magick, this is done by creating the ‘Radiant Vortex’, a spiralling field of energy which focuses the collective energies of the group. Any devices useful in producing the desired emotional energy should be used and no attempt should be made to hold back in the expression of that emotion.

After the adrenal energy of the participants has been exhausted, the rite is then closed solemnly, again invoking the reinforcing qualities of dogmatic speech and gestures. This not only boosts faith in the success of the rite, but also adds a feeling of continuity and finality to the working.

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