RITUALS AND MAGICK

To honor the Gods, we use rituals. To Will the world around us we use magick.

The basics of magick are a very simple concept to understand; you essentially will the world in the direction you need it to go. You do this through ritual, setting, and place. Anyone who has consumed mushrooms or ayahuasca understands the importance of setting and place which is another simple concept: good vibes lead to good times. The same is true for rituals on a fundamental level even if you do not believe in magick.

Before you perform a ritual you typically know what outcome you want to achieve. The same is true before a mushroom trip. Your brain starts to switch gears months, days, and seconds beforehand. You want a good trip with good intentions. When you are performing a ritual your entire mind is centered on the immediate tasks at hand. The world around you typically disappears, dissociates, or becomes out of focus and less impactful.

For example, your shitty dad or shitty son and their antics are no longer a driving force for anger. Your boss not giving you a raise is not centered in your mind causing distress. You are in a different set of moments performing a task.

The chaos of life and the negativity in your mind may seem less intense like turning the knob down in your brain.

Your brain centers on the ritual and focuses on the desired outcome. To the skeptic who does not believe in the deities within the confines of this book, it doesn’t really matter because the ritual’s intentions are subconsciously carried by the brain working towards that goal or that outcome or the intention of the ritual. I subscribe that both spectrums, psychological and the divine, are occurring simultaneously fulfilling a ritual’s intent.

When you commune with God, or the gods, through ritual you are making your intent known. Humanistically, you are telling yourself what outcome you want to achieve and in doing that “intent” enters your subconsciousness or compartmentalized somewhere in the recesses of your mind and your brain helps guide you towards those goals. Spiritually, your intention is made known, and it drifts on the ethereal winds to be enacted by the god of your choosing or left to the Providences to be scripted.

When you leave a ritual you are no longer pissed at your boss or disappointed in your son. You have released your emotions internally or maybe gained insight while performing it. You are no longer plagued by suffering, at least momentarily. That is why rituals are done and were performed for tens of thousands of years. Rituals combined with mindfulness and meditation, are a winning combination of great internal satisfaction and help release internal suffering.

Novumists engage in several different types of rituals.

INITIATION

When one becomes a Novumist they go through an initial initiation ritual. It’s a non-formal occasion where you meet with the Master of the guild and a witness. The Master gives a short speech, and you state your Discipleship and pledge to The Duty.

As you progress in rank from Apprentice to Journeyman the occasion becomes more formal and more responsibility is taken on to oneself. By the time you become an expert as a Journeyman, you should possess expert-level knowledge in at least two trade skills. If you choose to become a Master, a leader of a guild, a formal occasion will be held with a Grand Master and a Seer. This occasion is similar to that of obtaining the 32° of Freemasonry.

STORYTELLING

History is passed down from us through stories created from events. Likewise, knowledge is passed down to us through stories as well. Many of these are myths and many are so fanciful that on the surface they defy logic. The Deluge myth, however, is scientifically accurate to have occurred during the life of modern humans but many yet believe that such a story is fanciful. Did Noah actually exist? Who is to say if he was real or not because, the true story is that of a worldwide calamity that is geologically proven.

As Novumist we craft simple stories that are hard forgotten that can be shared for all. These stories may be told during initiation or ritual or other such occasions such as holidays. They serve as a beacon in a rapidly secularizing world culturally absent of collective stories and myths.

MAGICK

There are a few ways that one can perform magick within a ritual setting whether that be at home, with friends, or at a ceremony. I urge you to do some research on your own and explore how other people perform magick rituals as long as you follow the Middle Way.

These magick ritual techniques are generally classified as follows:

1. Purification 
2. Invocation 
3. Banishment 
4. Sigil

A note to the uninitiated, enough information is given within this book to begin your own path but I would issue extreme caution when invoking deities, or entities when in general practice. Magick is itself chaotic by nature. The path to the end goal may not look what you want it to. If you seek money and are not specific or through invoking those you shouldn’t, you may lose your job, all your belonging, and be homeless. Then when you decide to kill yourself one day because you can’t get a job, you get a phone call that leads to a great job making more than you did before previous to being homeless. DO NOT invoke chaos.

PURIFICATION MAGICK

Purification magick is just as it sounds: you purify your body, item, or home. Purification magick generally involves heavy bodily preparation including fasting, dieting, and abstinence. During this ritual, you clean your body in oils or water while sage is burnt. Water and oils are typically used as a medium of transference.

INVOCATION MAGICK

Invocation can be as simple as a prayer or spell but one should usually invoke a deity when performing invocations. This is because when you put your mind out there in The Source, it acts as a beacon and whatever is listening may answer back. Prayers and rituals for this are listed in the back of the book

BANISHMENT MAGICK

Banishment magick refers to removing negative attachments and influences on yourself, an item, or home. These items can be influenced by fate, luck, or entities out of our range of perception. This type of magick usually requires fasting and specific rituals. It also requires knowing the type of influence these objects are under.

SIGIL MAGICK

Sigil magick is the art of drawing a concept on a piece of paper and binding it, hiding it, or burning it. This art comes in the form of lines, circles, geometric shapes, letters, and more. A sigil is on the first page of this book. Entire books are devoted to this type of magick. An example of a sigil is on the next page.

![Example Sigils](images/sigils.png){width=50%}