As of today, I have completed the first month of my year dedicated to the study of ceremonial magic. For thirty-one days now, I have performed the Qabalistic Cross upon waking and before working any other magic (well, except that one day I overslept and had to come back home to do it at noon; rough morning, that). I have performed Penczak’s Ascending the Spheres meditation a half-dozen times over the course of the last week, have prepared space in my Inner Temple, and have built my altar of Malkuth.
After a month of performing the Qabalistic Cross, often more than once in a day, I have mastered it to the degree that I can perform it’s invocation silently – tuning to each of the arms of the Q-Cross the same way I tune to the Elements when I cast my circles. It has made some lasting changes to my aura, not all of which I yet fully understand, but so far they seem all to the better. The ritual has helped me keep my course as the time my coursework demands and the toll of my seasonal allergies tear away at the hours of sleep available in any given night. At a school that strongly encourages people to overcommit themselves, to give more than they have, it is helping me maintain my proper position at the center of my own universe.
There is still a great deal to learn from the ritual, of course, and I will try further variants and modifications as the months pass. But I am ready to move on.
I am ready to immerse myself in Malkuth – the Kingdom, or the Garden as Pecnzak also calls it, though I wonder at that translation. I have familiarized myself with the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram as much as one can without actually performing it. I will perform it daily at least for the full month, probably for the rest of the year. I will perform it in its full and original glory, Archangels and all, for at least a week before experimenting with the common Wiccan variant. I have a quart of Full Moon water left after starting my mead, and look forward to using that to make Holy Water. I may also use up the rest of my Dark Moon water for a different batch – I wonder if it will turn out different. I look forward to exploring the Elemental Realms of Earth as a part of this process, and exploring a new paradigm of the elements.
I approach Malkuth at dawn. So mote it be.