MAGUS
PRELUDE
You stand at the head of the Sacred Grove of the Temple of Malkuth, where the only canopy is the sky above you. The seven woods of the seven sacred trees surround the enclosure before you. The circle of woodland that you have entered is shaded and dark, yet the circle itself is light, radiating with the colours of the fertile earth. Browns and greens and yellows of all hues proliferate in the warmth of this place.
Before you is a stone altar, it is flat and smooth, and its soft blue gray radiance matches that of the starkness of the gray stone pillars that encircle the edge of the temple. Before you are three dark and gray dolmens crossing the eastern quarter of the circle. The wooded glade rises over and covers these ancient megalithic chambers, yet within each stretches beyond an avenue, each protected by a different sacred animal, whose totem is found upon a flat stone laid across and above above the respective cave entrance. Upon the central dolmen is the emblem of a bear.
It is through this portal that we shall pass. Before you now appears by magic the overlord of this place of sanctuary, the King of Annwn, Amatheon ap Don. He appears before you in the guise of the divine ploughman, rugged, clad in the colours of the soil, yet in his eyes you can see that he is holy, and you have nothing to fear, for you are here by right of birth. He smiles at you and points to the altar, it radiates a soft gentle blue on the material that covers its upright crystal pillars whereupon is embroidered the letter 'M'. On the surface of the altar as you gaze at it, flickers the image of a bull, the sacred guardian of the realm of Malkuth. Amatheon steps aside and bids you enter the path beyond the world of the sanctuary, and offers up to you the sword of flight you have won in your former adventure on the 13th path. Take this with thanks and sheath it to your side until the appropriate time for its use.
You look up and notice that the central avenue beyond the crystal Altar is now light and inviting, ~ in it is the Taro key of 'the World'. You step forward around the altar and proceed through the opening, into an avenue behind the transparent image. You have entered into the Sacred Wood. The avenue before you is of alder trees, the ground beneath your bare feet is soft and strong, you look back and see where the opening was, only the Taro key of 'the World' shimmering between two large trees is visible, this is the gate through which you shall return, later.
Looking forward again you notice that the path widens as you go onwards, vines hang from the trees around you providing a solid wall of undergrowth and vegetation, the trees do not seem to mind, all here is healthy and balanced.
You walk on a short distance and the wooded glade begins to thin out, the trees are younger, and the vines have not progressed upon them. The path leads out of the woods revealing a wide range of open meadows, leading down to a well established deep blue river. The energies of the paths pass up as well as down the labyrinth of the tree of life, and so you notice on the edge of the nearby hill that runs up from the river, a guardian, the Bull, Taurus, of the earth, grazing peacefully, yet watching over his domain. Feel some love for him as you pass down to the waters edge, where at the end of a small jetty a boat awaits you.
Enter into it. The oarsman is silent, he nods at you in reassurance as he pulls his small craft off into the flowing currents, guiding you across the deep waters. On his robe of blue, his back to you, you see the letter 'S' beautifully embroidered. It is a clue to your destination, across the water. On the further bank of the river, the rocks loom high and mermaids gaze into mirrors at you, but the boat pulls into a small beach and the oarsman turns, beckoning you to alight, with a friendly outstretched arm.
Thank him, for he will ensure your safe return. Before you at the edge of the sandy beach on low clear rocks stands the temple of Brighid, and it is truly beautiful, as you approach its garden of willows, blowing gently in the light breeze, the sky is clear and bright. As you climb the steps in the smooth rocks up to the top of the temple you notice the white mountains beyond.
The sun and the moon both grace the heavens as you enter the enchanted canopy wherein the Goddess awaits. Brighid, the bride of the golden hair, Goddess of the White Swan, stands in the center of the temple, besides a deep well of prophecy. You enter into the inner chamber, through a portal ornately crafted in silver, and embellished with the mosaic of doves and palm trees.
Here is perfect serenity, the walls are of compact blue and white interlocking lattices of wood, solid and yet delicate, supported by silver arches supporting the unclad beams of the ceiling. The floor is a deep scarlet, as is the well besides which the goddess stands. Sleeping softly at the entrance through which you have just passed is a giant white bear, he will do you no harm, as you come in peace.
She wears a flowing robe of flowery blue, and about her neck glimmers a beautiful necklace of the whitest pearls. Behind her, three portals lead to to deeper mysteries, each covered in curtains of the finest silks.
Brighid knows why you are here, and so smiles a radiant smile, soft and enchanting, then turns to face the central portal, immediately behind her. Above it is the astrological symbol of Sagittarius, ~ an arrow, crossed at its base. The vail of silk is green, through this she now gestures for you to pass.
Approach it and do so parting the silken screen, step out, and before you is a pool, shaded by willows. In the pool that is clear and wide are six white swans. As you approach they stir and gracefully move off. Look back to see the portal through which you have just passed, its pillars, one of gold and one of silver contains a shimmering image of the tarot key of Temperance, for it is by this way that you shall return. By the magic in this place and the power vested in you through the mighty sword of flight you rise from the ground and begin to feel free of the restrictions of your earthbound life.
Ascend above the wilderness below, for the land is impassible. It is a barren desert. You are now high up, and the sky turns dark as night covers the terrain below, yet you are able to see that you are effortlessly crossing a great mountain ridge. This being the great white mountains as seen from the Yesodic temple. Now you are able to see beyond that horizon, and they begin to fall away revealing a deep valley that illuminates the very land in silhouettes, for it is ablaze, in glowing red flames. An ernie sound tells you that it is the crossover point for the energies of the 27th path and here the forces of light and darkness continually merge and counterbalance one another, but you are very high above that dangerous energy now and the cool night air is free from thoughts. As you gaze into the darkness about you , so you should empty yourself of all mental restrictions and constraints. Let your mind be clear and receptive. You have crossed over the valley of fire below and see the white mountains once more illuminated only by the moon, high above.
Beneath you is a great forest of birch, the mountains give way to life and light, where the forest is thick and lush all around you ~ Ahead in the distance, but ever closer as you swiftly glide forward is a great plateaux of lush green fields sitting on jagged dark mountainous walls that recede into the forest about it. Central to the plateaux bound by rich meadows is an ancient circle of stones, large and powerful. The sky is lighter now, as you glide effortlessly over the birch forest, feeling the currents of air beneath you. The dawn is about to break across the boundless horizon, you have flown all night, and time has passed without notice, here the dark night of the soul is about completed.
As you pass over the forest, and over the plateaux a great sense of liberation comes over you, and in the half light of dawn the Gods move on the horizon. Here you now hover momentarily, above the great stone circle, and decent. Coming into land is quite easy, adjusting to your situation you find yourself at the center of a great stone henge, that great temple of the Sun ~
Once again Belenos, lord of light greets you, he stands at the centre at an altar. He is tall and strong and peace radiates throughout his whole being, absorb a little of this calmness. You are to his right and with his left arm he gestures for you to follow the path that leads out beyond the left hand opening through the great pillars in the east.
As you pass through it you notice above in the stonework the emblem of the astrological symbol of Gemini. Parting from the lord of light and healing, you pass through the portal, and begin to faintly hear a sweet lulling melody that drifts on the eternal summers breeze as you pass down the hill from the plateaux on which is the temple of Tiphareth.
Look back now, to see the image of the tarot key of the 'Lovers' glowing in the portal. It is the door through which you have passed and through which you shall return. Look ahead once again and continue downward. You enter a thick forest of aldar leading down across the soft mossy ground of the avenue by which you pass. In the ground you can make out the marks made by horses hooves. The sound of bird song reaches your ears from the branches of trees, and soon you come to an opening at the bottom of the shallow hill, where the trees have given way to a quiet garden, from which the melody on the breeze seems to be emanating.
From out of the forest gently trots a most beautiful, enormous white horse, she is endowed with magnificent wings. The beast approaches the center of the grove, and gracefully sits nearby. You feel a message in your mind, perhaps sung in silent melody, that you are to sit upon the back of the great beast for the next part of your journey. As you mount, you realise that it is she that carries the unworthy to the cauldron of the Morrighan, but that you are here in the love and peace of Belenos, you fate is of higher things.
Now the giant horse stands and gently trots into flight, turning and flapping her wings soon you are born aloft and riding high above the dark forest below. Coming into view below now is the vast abyss that cuts across the forest preventing any further travel by land. Now you are directly above it, its endless chasm, the fate of the impure. You fly by the might of the divine horse higher and higher, soon you are across the abyss. On the far side a mountain pushes up above the clouds through which you now pass. Into sight comes perched on an insurmountable ledge, the Temple and estate of the Goddess of the horse, Epona.
You glide down on the soft white clods to meet it and once again you are on land. The winged horse gently sits, that you may dismount. Thank her, for she will ensure your safe return. The mountain top is white, the land about you is a fertile green, beyond and enclosing the wide garden up to the sheer drop that borders it, stretches a long luxurious wall of stables, wherein dwell the family of the great goddess of sorrow.
From the garden of Epona, beyond its walls and arches loom the white mountains. The sombre horse goddess, astride her black stallion sits before you, as birds chatter calm tunes around you. Doves and swallows nest in aldar trees planted lovingly in the courtyard.
The great mother of sorrow, who is also ruler over all beasts of the forest guides her horse toward the archway furthest to the left in the courtyard, upon it it glowing orange is the astrological symbol of mercury, the winged messenger. Follow behind the goddess to the arched gate where she stops. She gestures for you to continue through it, where beyond has been placed an altar. As you near it you notice it holds the four magical weapons of the magician. Look behind you to see that the arch through which you have just passed, and through which you shall return is also that of the shimmering image of the tarot key : the 'Magician'. On this path you assume his vision.
The two pylons between the archway that hold the image, and the altar are central to a wide circle cast into the ground, beyond which is a fertile profusion of trees and undergrowth. In the density of this thicket you catch a glimpse of the great white heart, the magical guardian of the realm of Kether. Take with you a white horn, bound by golden chord, also on the altar and follow the radiant creature into the woodlands beyond. Their is no path, no track to follow, yet always just ahead of you, you can see the white heart.
The time of day is dawn, plants begin to open, the air is filled with life, the undergrowth is a soft fertile yellow, occasional purple patches of heather come into the wooded glade. The trees are all silver gray, and their canopy of green leaves allows but a modest light into the domain. It comes in shafts and faint beams filtering through a subtle mist prevailing throughout this magical maze of nature.
The white heart leads you to a temple in the center of the wood, couched in a valley on the very edge of the white mountains. Pass up the steps to the building. It is supported on all sides by glorious white pillars reaching to the roof that is high above the tree tops, at the edge of the clearing in which it stands. Once again, above the door is a symbol, that of a caduceus wand of yellow, entwined by a purple and a gray serpent.
Go through the doorway beneath and find yourself in a white empty square room. Empty, that is save a small altar in the form of a double cube, its height twice its depth, coloured black and white. Upon it is a chalice resting on a pentacle of the six pointed star. It is the source of visions, as they come to you like holograms in the white walls, for here is the transparency of light, revealing the trueness of the creator, and the uninterpreted wisdom of all ages.
If you but concentrate on any thought its image will be revealed to you, but it may not come as you might for see it, it will appear unclad of desire, presenting itself as it is in its highest form.
Look awhile at the wall before you and think what you wish to know.
(pause)
Enough! ~ for now we have the highest of all aspirations to meet. Concentrate your thoughts upon the image of Kether, and on the temple of the Dagdha, you have previously visited. Before you an image begins to form. The whiteness of the walls falls away to reveal the whiteness of the flat barrow atop that fairy hill of Kether. The ground beneath your feet is white sand, and it stretches all about you into the whiteness of the mists and the sky.
The altar and chalice still remain, but they too are now like yourself bathed in this white radiance. Coming from within the barrow from deep in the ground is the mighty one of great knowledge, he is lord of all druidic magic, and comes to you now as the high priest of all magical crafts, the supreme magi.
He presents an awesome sight to behold, lumbering up to meet you, carrying behind him, dragged on the ground, the mighty club that only he can wield. In its wake deep furrows are made in the white quartz sand, so it would be were he crossing solid rock. These ditches are deep enough to hold small rivers, such are their size. The god himself is vast, not the god of puritanical illusion, but ugly and course, gross and pot bellies he wears an outsized but short tunic and the hood of a peasant covers his head. His feet are clad in rawhide sandles, for here is an uncanny truth ~ in a world of such light true perfection is found within, all else is superficial, such is the wisdom of this great god.
Were he to play upon his harp the sun would desist from its orbit, and cease to shine. He may call into existence at his delight the very seasons of the year, for he is lord of perfect knowledge. He stands before you now overshadowing you in this land of shadowless tranquility. He looks down at you and laughs ~ be not afraid, for although his club is double headed, so that one end slays and the other revives the dead, he has no earthly motives. In his eyes you sense a deep humor, and a deep tragedy, but most of all a perfect understanding of why you are here.
His voice booms softly : 'My child, be filled with light, walk upon the world, in clarity of mind and will' ~ he laughs, deeply, and long, and turns returning into the ineffable light of the unassailable beyond where only he may go. Once again before he departs he turns to face you, he laughs with thunder that brings simultaneously lightning bolts all around you to the ground, and bellows cheerfully across to you : ' Go now in peace and light, and let illusions never again cloud the truth of your visions ~ fare ye well, Magician'.~ He turns and is gone into the light.
You too turn, and in the fairy light, you once again glimpse the white heart standing close by the white altar. Go to it and look into the chalice, it begins again to return to its original golden colour and the white room of the temple begins to reform, and you are once again on the path of the magi. The walls are again solid and clear, the altar has returned to its black and white form, holding the golden chalice, shimmering still.
Turn to face the door behind you that is gray and rectangular. Step back through its portal as it opens for you, onto the steps onto the thin porch down into the woods from where you came.
The white heart sees you and trots off nimbly into the undergrowth. Follow it back to the altar in the clearing, as fast as you can, but do not fear, although its outer form is wild, it will not abandon you. You see it again in the thicket of yellow flowers and silver trees. Here is the portal to Binah, but the guardian beast will go no further.
Take the horn of vibration to your lips and blow into it, in tribute to the great lord of knowledge. A bolt of lightning strikes the white mountain beyond the forest, and you are filled with a sense that you have contacted the source of all truth and understanding, that dwells deep within your soul.
The altar in the circle is now before you so place the horn upon it and turn to see the portal of the image of the Tarot key of the 'Magician' ~ pass over to it and enter through it, upon so doing you enter into the garden of Binah where the great Goddess Epona is waiting beside her great white winged horse. She offers it to you to mount for you journey of return across the abyss to the temple of Belenos. Give thanks to this great goddess. Bowing her head to the Empress before turning to a trot the horse soon begins to gallop, heading into the wind and over the cliffs edge, she charges down the heavens, and once again through the clouds, you can see the gaping darkness of the great abyss far below. The mighty winged horse levels out at last and makes for the distant forest edging the gulf, that is surrounded by gray swirling mists.
The forest comes closer and at its far end you can also se the great temple of Stonehenge, and the plateaux above the forest you now approach. Soon you come in upon it to land in the opening from which you took off. This is the point where the 19th path crosses the 17th and is a place of great power. Turn and follow the path upward through the woodland avenue until you reach the top of the plateaux. Cross over the soft grass to the portal of the door of the shimmering image of the' Lovers' and enter through it again, into the temple of Belenos.
Although an incalculable distance, the return journey is swift and soon you are crossing the valley of fire, far below, its flames still alive and intense, a molten yellow, sparking with intensity. You realize it has been caused to change thus by the power of your illumination, for it is the valley of your thoughts. Pass beyond it now ~ back over the final ridge of the white mountains, across the waistbands of the desert. The trees that border it as you descend on the cool air are palm trees, and beyond them is a familiar oasis, surrounded by willow trees. You glide in over the fresh air, and land beside the pool, clad in a robe of dark and vivid blue, with a golden chord about you waist.
Turn now then and pass up to the avenue of willow that leads to the shimmering image of the tarot key of 'Temperance' suspended between two pylons, one of silver and one of gold. Pass through the door as it falls away to become the green silk and pass into the temple of Brighid. ~ It stands empty, save a giant sleeping white bear, and a dove, also white, that is perched on the edge of the well, watching you. Pass across the scarlet floor, and out through the silver portals on which are painted the images of doves and palm trees. Pass then onto the porch and down the steps, across the willow shaded beach, where the oarsman awaits you.
He greets you, and soon you are across the water and safely at the jetty. Pass onto it, and bid the boatman fair well, for now : as you must return to the woodland avenue. Still silent, the bull sits in the suns twilight heat. Pass along, up the hills gently rising slope, through the forests of Alder and vines, as the path narrows on approach to the Taro key of 'the World'.
Enter through the gateway, back into the sacred grove where Amatheon waits in attendance. He is standing before the altar, and he smiles and greets you, Draw closed the silken veil that is behind you across the image of 'the World' and approach the altar. Now that you have returned safely he bids you farewell, and picking up from besides the altar a small plough, he wanders into the woods.
OPEN AND CLOSE YOU EYES, SEVERAL TIMES, RISE THEN CLAP YOUR HANDS AFFIRMING YOUR RETURN TO MALKUTH.
Make a written note of any visions from your journey, they will be of great benefit to you later.