Pentagram activation
"Activating" in magic is a fairly modern concept, enhanced by literature and other aspects foreign to Western witchcraft, such as "activating the chakras" or "the crystals." It is also a product of the modern world, where activate, turn on, start, are words that clearly refer to technological products, to function, to begin a process and to achieve an objective.
In fact, in ancient times the pentagram was considered more as a protective element or an amulet, even when it was used to retain entities, as was the case with the symbols and delimited spaces used in the invocations of angels and demons. In the Renaissance, it was a symbol of the macrocosm, of man and the microcosm, in authors such as Paracelsus or Agrippa, who in turn linked Pythagorean philosophy to Christianity (Agrippa and other contemporaries affirmed that without the names of God or the danto spirit, or angels failing that, the pentagram lacked active magical power).
We also have the example of ritualization of a pentacle of Mars in the grimoire of the Clavicles of Solomon, in which it must be drawn with a graver in the last quarter in the month of March, on pure steel. Sigils and angelic/demonic names are inscribed on it. It should be incensed and stored in a red cloth until use.
Although it is true that the identification of the pentagram with the elements existed, until the times of the naturalistic occult orders and Wicca the pentagram had never had an active function in the ritual, that is, there was no need to activate it. However, currently activating it is one of the main parts of many magical rites.
There are, so to speak, some basic steps to activate it. This not only serves for activation, but also for the progressive concentration of the magician.
We are going to analyze the two types of activation that exist, that of the pentagram drawn for a ritual, and that of the pentagram as an amulet (such as the Tetragrammaton).
- Activation of the ritual pentagram (on the altar or on the floor)
The first step is to take into account the ritual aspect, the pentagram symbolizes the magical world and the area of power, regardless of whether it will be an area where the practitioners will be or where a magical object will be left (for example, a spell with candles), or if several pentagrams are made for different purposes.
To activate it correctly, you can begin by tracing it or forming it with ritualized or symbolic elements for the moment. Some examples could be using chalk of a color related to the objective sought, or tracing it in the sand with ritualized water, or with a quartz crystal, building it with twigs, etc. There are also those who make a circle with a ritual rope, a circle with stones or minerals, with salt or flour.
Some people do not place the ritual object or offering at the top point, but in the center of the pentagram. This is especially useful when it is not a ritual pentagram, but a spell itself.
A valid option for those who perform their rites inside a house or on an improvised altar is the use of carpets and rugs that have pentagrams already drawn on them, which are used exclusively for these purposes (a carpet with a pentagram that is completely the day stretched out in the living room, since it is believed that she would become "contaminated" by all the energies of those who passed through the room). These mats and mats would be ritually prepared in one of the ways indicated in the next step.
Next, as a second step, it is important to point out the elements, or at least magically delimit space and time.
For some magic practitioners this is not necessary because it is already implied when drawing the pentagram, but we still present some examples below.
In Wicca, objects related to each element or each season (spring-water, summer-fire, autumn-earth, winter-air) are placed in the four extremes, placing the person in the fifth, or for the fifth one places some personal symbol, of divinity or ritual. Cunningham includes some instructions and recitations with movement in his Book of Shadows of the Standing Stones, although the movements were already indicated in Gardner's book of Shadows.
Cunningham proposes associating colors with the four directions: Green to the East, yellow to the North, red to the South and Blue to the West. In each cardinal point, outside the pentagram, candles, quartz, flowers and other symbolic objects of these colors can be placed.
Depending on the author and the magic practitioner themselves, the activation ritual can begin from the North or the East. The four directions are named and invoked, usually clockwise, although there are also those who do it as opposites: North-South, East-West.
Marking space and time can also be done with a censer, moving it in the four directions or surrounding the pentagram and the altar, taking advantage of the purification of its smoke.
The third step would be consecration through conspiracy. Some examples are:
Book of Shadows of the Standing Stones by S. Cunningham:
<< Water, fire, earth, air,
Elements of astral birth,
I call you now, come to me.
In the circle, duly formed,
Safe against psychic curse and ruin,
I call you now, come to me.
From the cave and the desert, from the sea and the hill,
by the wand, the knife, the cup and the pentacle,
I call you now, come to me.
This is my will, so be it >>
Book of Shadows by G. Gardner:
<< (The athame is soaked in salt water and sprayed in all four directions)
I conjure you, oh circle of power, to be a meeting place for love, joy and truth, a shield against all evils, a border between the world of men and the Powers, a border and a protection that It will preserve and contain the power that I will accumulate in you. Thus I bless and consecrate you, by the names of Cernunnos and Aradia.
Listen, Lords of the Eastern Tower, Lords of the Air. I summon you, awaken and call you so that you observe my rites and keep the circle. Listen Lords of the South Tower, Lords of Fire. I summon you, awaken and call you so that you observe my rites and keep the circle. Listen Lords of the Western Tower, lords of Water, lords of death and initiation. I summon you, awaken and call you so that you observe my rites and keep the circle. Listen Lords of the North Tower, lords of the Earth, guardians of the boreal portal.
Oh! mighty God, oh! Kind goddess, I summon you, awaken and call you to observe my rites and keep the circle. >>
- Activation of the pentagram (amulets and figures)
Part of the ritual pentagram activation system is valid for consecrating amulets with pentagrams or for spells in which one must be drawn. That is, the amulet can be "sacralized" through incense, purification with water or by surrounding it with the elements.
However, its activation is usually different, since it must first be purified (with water, moonlight, sunlight, candle fire, incense smoke...).
Furthermore, the activation is carried out on a prepared surface, be it a mat or a magical space delimited for that moment, such as a piece of paper.
The most common thing is to draw a larger pentagram, leaving the pentagram amulet in the center. The staff should be drawn, preferably, in a single stroke. The colors can vary, although red, black or white are usually mentioned. There are those who prefer to draw it with a pencil, brush or with their fingers, there are even those who opt for some magical element: milk, honey, oils, ashes, wine, saliva or a prick of blood. Gardner tried to draw three pentagrams around both the magic circle and the amulets.
In lunar magic, the phase is also taken into account according to the purpose: New for new beginnings, waxing for improvements, full for objectives and waning to slow down processes and help in preparations. The pentagram talisman can be left in the moonlight on the paper/mat, or wet-blessed with moonwater.
Other people prefer to draw a pentagram on the left and a six-pointed star ("Star of David") on the right, or vice versa, but this seems more common with one amulet in particular, the Tetragrammaton. Many people believe that the pentagram and the Tetragrammaton are similar for consecrating, but the truth is that the Tetragrammaton has a tradition of being activated on Sundays of the waxing moon, and linked to the Sun, while the pentagram can be activated whenever necessary. Furthermore, the Tetragrammaton has a Judeo-Christian magical tradition, while the pentagram itself is philosophical and pagan.
In past centuries, the most "purists" such as Eliphas Levi (1854) said that the best preparation of the pentagram was to make or surround it with seven metals, or failing that, to paint it with gold on white marble; The "cheap" version consisted of painting it in vermilion on a lamb skin prepared in the sun and salted. The pentagram drawn on glass, according to him, was a great talisman against spirits.
His instructions are more complex to follow, and in addition, he relates the general pentagram to the Tetragrammaton, which he calls the Flaming Pentagram:
Dogma and ritual of High Magic:
<<The pentagram is consecrated with the four elements; blow five times on the magical figure; aspergers are sprinkled with consecrated water; It is dried with the smoke of five perfumes, which are: incense, myrrh, aloe, sulfur and camphor, to which a little white resin and ambergris can be added. It is blown five times pronouncing the names of the five geniuses, which are: Gabriel, Rafael, Anael, Samuel and Orifiel; Then the pantacle is placed alternately on the ground, to the north, to the south, to the east, to the west and the center of the astronomical cross, pronouncing, one after the other, the letters of the sacred tetragram; then the united names of the mysterious Aleph and Thau, united in the cabalistic name of AZOTH, are said in a low voice.>>
Probably due to the influence of Levi, the Kabbalah and the Solomonic grimoires, in many other invocations the names of Adonai (Lord), IEVE (Yahveh), Tsebaoth (Lord of hosts) appear... Gardner in his own book of shadows It says that to seal a magical circle three pentagrams or pentacles must be drawn, while saying: <<Agla, Azoth, Adonai.>> But certainly if you do not work with the Tetragrammaton or with Christian magic, all this is a bit out of place with the practice. from pagan witchcraft, unless it is intended to protect against culturally monotheistic demonic entities.
Following the "simple" system, after drawing it, the magician or witch must place her hands on top of the drawing or amulet, transmitting its presence and meditating on the purpose or objective that she has for the amulet. It is important to focus and concentrate, since, while in the ritual pentagram there is a complex preparation that requires attention and order, the activation of the pentagram as an amulet seems superficially much simpler and that can make it ineffective. Cunningham places great emphasis on the visualization of flames or colored lights around the amulet, and includes a recitation-incantation, which he calls Morgana, for consecration and protective activation:
Morgana Spell, by S. Cunningham:
<<With this pentagram I put
Protection here day and night.
And the one that shouldn't touch
It left your fingers burning and shaking.
Now I invoke the law of three:
This is my will, so be it>>
To aid concentration, it is often recommended to recite out loud the purposes for which the pentagram power is being activated. Another system of concentration is the development of a sigil with the intention of activation, either drawn next to the pentagram or in a separate place. In this way the concentration is not so much on the words as on the hidden message, and the power lies not so much in the symbol, but in the magician and the desire for him.
Pietro V. Carracedo Ahumada - pietrocarracedo@gmail.com
Bibliography:
-Guiley, R.E. The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca. New York: Checkmark Books (2008).
-Cunningham, S. Wicca. Una guía para la práctica individual. Arkano Books, 2019.
-Gardner, G. Book of Shadows. The Gardnerian Book of Shadows. Createspace Indepent Publishing Platform, 2014
-Levi, E. Dogma y ritual de Alta Magia. Ed. Humanitas, 2012.
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