Self-Initiation Using the Opening by Watchtower

    Israel Regardie was an adept of one of the splinter groups that formed after the breakup of the original Order of the Golden Dawn. In the late 1930s Regardie revealed the the teachings of the Golden Dawn. This is what he is most known for. He was a prolific writer and very knowledgeable about the mechanics and teachings of ritual magic. One could procure his books alone and have a lifetime of study and work. He was an advocate of self-initiation. He wrote extensively with the solitary student in mind.
 
      He wrote a lesser known little book called Ceremonial Magic- A Guide to the Mechanisms of Ritual. This book describes the ritual and its elaborations of the Opening by Watchtower. It is based upon the Consecration of the Vault of the Adepti and the Supreme Ritual of the Pentagram. It is a ritual that calls forth the elements into the sphere of sensation of the magician and into the circle proper. Regardie states in the book that it is an abbreviated form of the Golden Dawn elemental grade initiations. He goes on to say that working with this ritual in a dedicated manner could in effect initiate one through the elements. This is the aim, I believe, of self-initiation. Calling forth the elements in a balanced manner and then calling upon spirit to oversee these elements is what I call The Work of the Pentagram. This is the Great Work of the Magic of Light.

     Regardie starts out with preliminary instructions which dispel the myth that we have to have all the paraphernalia before we can work ritual. He uses common sense and down to earth  instructions on how to use what the student can come up with. He does this to show the student there is no reason for not doing the work. He then goes on to give the basic, bare bone ritual to start with. It incorporates some Chaldean oracular versicles and basic god names in Enochian. Working with the basic ritual in itself will produce profound effects if done properly and in the right frame of mind. I have worked with this ritual for many years and must say that it definitely is powerful and energetic. I would echo Regardie's words to take it slow and practice getting it memorized as it can be a powerful ritual for consecrating sacred space. It is also a powerful preliminary ritual for all magical workings.

     Many people get down on Regardie because he revealed the Golden Dawn rituals and teachings. These same people fail to realize that without him, western style magic would not be the same. It might not have ever been. I owe him a debt of gratitude because without him, I would not be a practicing ritual magician. I would be under the spell of mediumship and spiritualism. I can honestly say that without Regardie my life would have ended long ago. The Golden Dawn teachings saved my life and they have made me what I am today Enough said!

     Regardie then shows how this ritual can be elaborated upon with inserting certain invocations and prayers. This elaboration can in a way be worked into a program of self-initiation. This book along with books on elemental, planetary, and zodiacal correspondences could provide one with a lifetime of study and practice.

     The Opening by Watchtower ritual and its variants can and have been used by self-initiates with great success. There are many purists out there that degrade this ritual because it is really something Regardie came up with. They fail to realize that there are some orders out there that were started by students that use this ritual as a way of initiating themselves through the elemental grades. These same self-initiates now downplay this ritual calling for instead that one can only go through temple initiation for any growth to occur. This is nothing but hogwash. This ritual embodies the necessary elements that with practice can bring one into contact with the forces that can bring about inner illumination.

     The Opening by Watchtower is a viable alternative to the Outer Order elemental initiations. What is left is some ritual that can be utilized that one could use to self-initiate into the grade of adept. We will explore this idea further in my next post.

Introduction

 


 This blog is being created for the purpose of validating and accepting the concept of self-initiation. There has been arguments on both sides of this issue and those arguments are laid to rest here because i have been, I am, and will always be a vocal champion of self-initiation. I am not alone in this area. Israel Regardie, Aleister Crowley, the Ciceros, and others have voiced their opinion on this as well. The debate will continue as the numbers of solo practitioners swell at an enormous rate. I do believe there are way more solitary students than lodge or order members. The cold hard fact is self-initiation is not going away and it will be the wave of the future.

     I first picked up the book The Golden Dawn back in 1992. Something within its pages stirred something inside that led me on a quest that luckily led back to myself. I kept rereading the introduction where Regardie explained how someone could study and work with the system. I took his words on faith and stumbled and bumbled my way through the labyrinth and feel like I still am. Then in 1997 the Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn tradition came out. I browsed through the book and bought it straight away. I took it home like it was a highly treasured prize. And it was to me! I went with it and started working through it. My first attempts at the 0=0 were clumsy at best and non-effective at worst. I stayed with it however, and in time the performances got a little smoother and I started discovering that I was aided in my work with the Goddess Thme. She started becoming a living reality in my work and I appealed to her often to help me do the work. Even now as I am working through the book for my sixth time, I appeal to her in a heartfelt way.

     Many people whom I have discussed self-initiation with tell me that the self-initiation book is not workable, that it is unwieldy, and that there is too much knowledge to be learned and they want an easier method. I don't recall seeing where anyone said it would be easy. Anything worthwhile is going to be difficult because then it remains a worthwhile treasure. Sure there is a lot of information in the book, sure the rituals are difficult to perform but in the long run it will all be worth it. It is one of the most comprehensive books on self-initiation and one that is highly prized by a few magicians that quietly pursue their path of self- initiation.

     In my next post I will discuss other approaches to self-initiation. There are many avenues of approaching this matter and will, in the end, initiate a person into the magic of light.