The Crafting of A Two-Part Compound Complex: The Ritual Working - The Nature of The Complex - Workings and Rituals

A Druid's Handbook to the Spiritual Power of Plants: Spagyrics in Magical and Sexual Rituals - Jon G. Hughes 2014

The Crafting of A Two-Part Compound Complex: The Ritual Working
The Nature of The Complex
Workings and Rituals

This working has two distinct parts. The first is the bringing together of the cardinal essences and their empowerment by their incense, and the second is the mixing of the combined complex. Both parts are normally facilitated in immediate succession, as the potency of the individual complexes begins to decline from their moment of congress.

For the sake of this example, we shall look at the combining of two flower complexes, the bird’s-foot trefoil and the dog rose. One of the more common combined complexes, this is used in love potions and in sex magic rituals. It is also a very attractive-looking complex, combining the bright energetic yellow complex of the trefoil with the vivid red of the dog rose.

For this ritual working you will need:

· The candle triangle.

· A vessel of moon-cleansed water.

· An incense burner, to incinerate initially the purifying incense (lavender, for example) and then the incense of the flower with which we are working.

· The stave and dagger, to cast and seal the protective Circle. If you are using a permanent working stone within your workshop, you may well have cast the Circle previously, in which case you will need just the dagger to seal its entrance.

For part 1, the combining of the cardinal essences to craft the individual complexes:

· A small bowl, in which we will reunite the cardinal essences to form the complex.

· The two bottles containing the cardinal essences of the first flower (the cardinal essence of the petal and the cardinal essence of the flower head). The contents of each of these bottles should be premeasured so that their volumes are perfectly equal and they contain no more of the precious cardinal essences than are needed to serve the purpose intended.

· The jar containing the incense of the first flower.

Note: This section will be repeated for the second flower and in other cases for as many complexes as we desire.

For part 2, the combining of the two complexes to craft the combined complex:

· A small bowl, in which we will combine the complexes to form the combined complex.

· The two bottles containing the complexes of the two (or more) flowers we are combining (in this case, the complex of the bird’s-foot trefoil and the complex of the dog rose). The contents of each of these bottles should be premeasured so that their volumes are in the exact proportion required (not necessarily equal amounts; see here).

· The jars containing the incense of the two (or more) flowers we are combining.

The working stone should be laid out as shown below in preparation for the ritual working.

The working stone is now ready to begin the ritual working, so we must once again look to the preparation of our body, mind, and spirit before we undertake our work. The process of personal preparation has been mentioned earlier and is explained in detail later in this part (see here).

Having completed our personal preparation, we are ready to proceed with the ritual working of unification. For the purpose of this example, we will again assume that a priestess is facilitating the ritual working.

If you are working outside your workshop, the first step is to cast the protective Circle using the stave (see here). If you are within your workshop, you may have already done this for previous activities. With the Circle cast around the working area, the entrance is sealed with the dagger (see here).

The charcoal in the incense burner is now lit in preparation for the ritual working. The next step is the lighting of the candles. This part of the ritual has been described in detail in the section “Separation: The Ritual Working” (see here).

Image

Working stone layout for the ritual working of combining the two cardinal essences to form the complex

Having lit all three flames in the required manner, the priestess then facilitates the uniting of the flames. Again, see “Separation: The Ritual Working”).

The next stage of the ritual working is the invocation of the collective energy’s influence in reuniting the energies and potency of the flower’s cardinals. The priestess stands before the working stone and raises both hands high in the air. In doing so she says:

“I invoke the power of the collective energy and call upon it to guide my work. I call upon the four elemental essences to empower these cardinals and maintain them as they are again united.”

The two bottles containing the flower’s cardinal essences and the jar containing the flower’s incense are then placed at the front and center of the working stone. The priestess forms her two hands into an inverted cup shape and places them above the three vessels. As she does so, she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental essence of the earth that yielded up these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.”

Then, dipping her fingers into the bowl of moon-cleansed water, the priestess sprinkles a little of the water on all three vessels and says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the water that nourished these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.”

The priestess now sprinkles a little purifying incense on the smoldering charcoal in the incense burner. As the smoke rises, she lifts each of the three vessels in turn and holds it in the smoke. As she does so, she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the air that gave life to these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.” (Repeat in turn for each vessel.)

The priestess now holds each of the three vessels in turn above the flames of the candle triangle (about twelve inches [30 cm] above the flames), and as she moves each vessel in a clockwise circle around all three flames she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the fire (the sun) whose heat and light have given strength to these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.” (Repeat in turn for each vessel.)

Finally, while holding each of the vessels in turn above the flame of the collective energy candle, the priestess says:

“I now call upon the one, the collective energy that animates all things, to guide my work and to protect the energies of these essences and maintain their potency as they are again united as one.”

The three vessels are now placed in their original positions on the working stone and their stoppers are removed. The priestess stands in front of the working stone ready to begin the actual unification.

Bringing the small bowl to the front and center of the working stone, the priestess takes the bottle of cardinal essence of the petals in her left hand and the bottle containing the cardinal essence of the flower head in her right hand. Lifting both bottles high in the air, she says:

“Conceived as one, grown as one. I reunite the cardinal essences of this flower and create its one complex, the sublime elixir. Imbue this complex with the power of your energy and maintain its purity until we call upon it once more.”

Having said that, she simultaneously pours equal quantities of the contents of each bottle into the bowl. Then, lifting the bowl carefully into the air so as not to spill any of the contents, she says:

“Reunited as one, energies and attributes recombined. I bind once more the cardinal of this flower in its purest form.”

This said, she places the bowl back on the working stone and, taking a liberal amount of the flower’s incense from its container, sprinkles it onto the glowing charcoal in the incense burner. As the smoke rises from the smoldering incense, she again lifts the bowl containing the complex of the flower and holds it within the incense smoke. In doing so, she says:

“By my work and with the will of the collective energy, I have created the complex of this flower. I call upon the four elemental energies to empower this complex, to reunite all again as one in natural balance and harmony. And so shall it remain, conjoined and complete.”

She then places the bowl at the base of the candle of the flame of the collective energy. The vessels containing the essences of this first flower are then placed to one side and replaced by the three vessels containing the cardinal essences and incense of the second flower. The process is then repeated to produce the complex of the second flower (and any subsequent flower complexes needed).

This, then, completes the first part of the ritual working and has left us with the two complexes we need for the combined complex.

The working stone now must be rearranged as shown below, to facilitate the second part of the ritual working, the combining of the complexes.

As the working stone, the protective Circle, and the priestess’s purification remain intact, the second stage of the ritual working begins with the invocation of the collective energy’s influence in the forming of the combined cardinal.

Image

Working stone layout for the ritual working of combining the two complexes to form the combined complex

The priestess stands before the working stone and raises both hands high in the air. In doing so, she says:

“I invoke the power of the collective energy and call upon it to guide my work. I call upon the four elemental essences to empower these cardinals as they are combined.”

The two bottles containing the two flowers’ complexes and the two jars containing their incenses are then placed at the front and center of the working stone. The priestess forms her two hands into an inverted cup shape and places them above the four vessels. As she does so, she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental essence of the earth that yielded up these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are combined as one.”

Then, dipping her fingers into the bowl of moon-cleansed water, the priestess sprinkles a little of the water on all four vessels and says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the water that nourished these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are combined as one.”

The priestess now sprinkles a little purifying incense on the smoldering charcoal in the incense burner. As the smoke rises, she lifts each of the four vessels in turn and holds it in the smoke. As she does so, she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the air that gave life to these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are combined as one.” (Repeat in turn for each vessel.)

The priestess now holds each of the four vessels in turn above the flames of the candle triangle (about twelve inches above the flames), and as she moves each vessel in a clockwise circle around all three flames she says:

“I invoke the power of the elemental energies of the fire (the sun) whose heat and light have given strength to these flowers, to protect their energies and maintain their potency as they are combined as one.” (Repeat in turn for each vessel.)

Finally, while holding each of the four vessels in turn above the flame of the collective energy candle, the priestess says:

“I now call upon the one, the collective energy that animates all things, to guide my work and to protect the energies of these essences and maintain their potency as they are combined as one.”

The four vessels are now placed in their original positions on the working stone and their stoppers are removed. The priestess stands in front of the working stone ready to begin the actual unification. Bringing the first of the small bowls to the front and center of the working stone, the priestess takes one bottle of complex in her left hand and the other bottle of complex in her right hand. Lifting both bottles high in the air, she says:

“Conceived separately, grown separately, I combine the complexes of these flowers to create one, the sublime elixir. Imbue this combined complex with the power of your energy and maintain its purity until we call upon it once more.”

Having said this, she simultaneously pours the desired quantity of each cardinal into the bowl. Then, lifting the bowl carefully into the air so as not to spill any of the contents, she says:

“Combined as one, energies and attributes united. I enjoin the cardinals of these flowers in their purest form.”

This said, she replaces the bowl on the working stone. Bringing the second bowl forward, the priestess picks up one of the jars of incense in each hand. Holding them aloft, she says:

“Conceived separately, grown separately, I combine the incenses of these flowers to create one, the sublime elixir. Imbue this incense with the power of your energy and maintain its purity until we call upon it once more.”

Having said this, she simultaneously pours the desired quantity of each cardinal into the bowl. These quantities of incense are in the same proportion as their corresponding quantities of cardinals used earlier. Then, lifting the bowl carefully in the air, she says:

“Combined as one, energies and attributes united. I enjoin the incense of these flowers in their purest form.”

This said, she replaces the bowl on the working stone. Next, taking a liberal amount of the newly combined incense from its bowl, she sprinkles it onto the glowing charcoal in the incense burner. As the smoke rises from the smoldering incense, she again lifts the bowl containing the combined complex from below the candle of the flame of the collective energy and holds it within the incense smoke. Doing so, she says:

“By my work and with the will of the collective energy, I have created this combined complex. I call upon the four elemental energies to empower this complex, to unite all as one in natural balance and harmony. And so shall it remain, conjoined and complete.”

She then places the bowl containing the combined complex at the base of the candle of the flame of the collective energy.

The crafting of the combined complex is now complete. At this point the potent combined complex is usually poured into a decorative ritual vessel of some sort, one that reflects the eminence of the potion it contains. In most cases the combined complex is then used immediately in the continuing ritual that began with its crafting. We shall see this in practice when we explore the way in which complexes are used in sex magic rituals.