LESSON 8
The Oratory
The word oratory, in a spiritual context, refers to a private place of prayer. It is usually used to mean a small chapel in a home, hospital, or other building. A lot of the classic grimoires and magic manuals recommend that the magician keep a separate room for prayers and magical operations, and that this room be furnished in a certain special way. That is a very good outlook for the materially privileged practitioner who can afford such provisions. However, I am writing this in the year of 2022, in the Global South, when/where the vast majority can barely afford enough living space. A demand for a dedicated room would be an unreasonable burden on the contemporary Hermeticist. Therefore, what I mean by oratory here is a set of objects that can be assembled and disassembled in any available room.
This Hermetic Oratory is a portable temple. The practitioner will get its implements out and assemble them on a working surface; after use, the oratory is disassembled; there are rites used to "open" and "close" the temple to create the magical space in which that small collection of objects effectively becomes the oratory.
In this lesson, you will learn how to obtain and keep the elements of your oratory.
THE ELEMENTAL IMPLEMENTS
There are a few basic implements of the oratory that serve to (a) anchor your temple in the material world and (b) concentrate divine Light and direct it to isolate your temple against undesirable effects of the Darkness. Such implements are called "elemental" because they direct the Light to the five elemental lights (earth, water, air, fire, ether). The elemental implements are:
[1] ALTAR. This is not necessarily a piece of furniture. If you can afford a special table or other surface to serve as your Altar, that would be excellent. However, remember that such piece of furniture would have to be completely dedicated to magical use, i.e., you would not use it for anything else. Depending on the make and build of the item, it could also greatly reduce how "portable" your temple can be. It is most likely that necessity and convenience will dictate the Altar to simply be a piece of cloth that will go over a table that you already have for other uses. You can easily obtain a convenient piece of cloth to use as your Altar piece. It only needs to be large enough to accommodate the other oratory implements on top of it. Ideally, it will cover the whole working surface you will use to assemble the oratory, but that is not strictly necessary. As for the color or pattern, do as you did for your magic journal: choose something that feels appropriate to you, that gives you the idea of something spiritually meaningful. Keep it always clean and in good condition. Never use it for anything else other than composing your oratory.
[2] CUP. This is a special cup to hold a small quantity of liquid during Hermetic rites. As is the case with all other oratory implements, you may make it yourself or simply buy one. Select a cup using the same criteria you are already used to. Keep it always clean and in good condition. Never use it for anything else other than composing your oratory.
[3] INCENSE. This is a small quantity of incense with an accompanying bowl or stand to burn it during rites. A common stick of incense, as sold in stores, is good enough for this, though you may be fancy and buy "real" incense from a church supplier or even use other suffumigation mixtures. You will discard leftover incense after closing your temple, but do remember to keep the stand or bowl clean and in goo condition. Never use this stand or bowl for anything else other than composing your oratory.
[4] CANDLE. This can be any small source of flame, from a single candle to a lamp. If you choose an actual candle or candles for this, you will keep using the same candles until they are completely spent. If you use a lamp, keep it always in good condition, etc.
[5] SEAL. This is a drawing or picture representing the Godhead. It is best not to use representations of gods, prophets or saints for this. Avoid using anthropomorphic representations of divinity. Ideally, the Seal will be a symbolic figure drawn on a surface you can hang--or prop against--a wall. A picture frame with a slip of paper in it will do fine. Again, keep it always clean and in good condition. Never use it for anything else other than composing your oratory.
Such are the instructions for acquiring the basic elements of your oratory. After you have gathered the five objects, find a place to stash them. It could be a box or a drawer, any enclosed space where you can keep all five objects together. You will never use this container for anything else. When you have put away your elemental implements in their container for the first time, let them sit there for a few days, reciting the Hermetic Prayer over the closed container at least once a day. Keep this practice up until you feel confident to perform your first magical operation: the dedication of your oratory.