LESSON 20
Rite of Closing
Up to this point--if you have been following these instructions closely--you have been reciting the Hermetic Prayer given in Lesson 7 as a way to close your temple after performing the desired rites. Now you will replace that practice with an additional rite, the Rite of Closing. This rite falls under the patronage of the Seventh Ruler, whose Virtue is Truth, which means the opposite of concealment. The Rite of Closing is not meant to restore the operator's consciousness to a state of blind materialism, as if the Knowledge of God were a temporary and instrumental state of mind that is evoked when the operator needs to perform some magic, and then banished when the magical acts are done. Instead, the Rite of Closing allows the operator to step out of the previously opened Temple and resume their daily life and affairs with a renewed awareness and (ideally) an incrementally deepened Gnosis.
From now on, start performing the rites of Opening and Closing to bookend your magical operations. Remember that it is inside your Temple that you have the spiritual authority to make the Rites effective.
Preparation
Mark the Star of the Rulers with the symbol for the Seventh Ruler, reciting its motto. Light the Operative Candle and place it on the Star if it is not already like that. Stand facing your Oratory.
Performance
Join your hands together in prayer. Gazing at the Seal of the Godhead, recite:
When shall I sing a hymn to you? One cannot detect in you time or season. For what shall I sing the hymn - for what you have made or what you have not made, for what you have made visible or what you have kept hidden? And wherefore shall I sing the hymn to you - for being something that is part of me, or has a special property, or is something apart? For you are whatever I am; you are whatever I make; you are whatever I say. You are everything, and there is nothing else; what is not, you are as well. You are all that has come to be; you are what has not come to be; you are the mind who understands, the father who makes his craftwork, the god who acts, and the good who makes all things.
Take the Cup in your hands and recite:
I will immerse myself in Your mixing bowl, knowing the reason for my coming into being. By drinking from this Cup, I will partake of the Gnosis, receive the Mind, and perfect myself.
Take a sip from the Cup. Recite:
Matter is Air.
Take a sip from the Cup. Recite:
Air is Soul.
Take a sip from the Cup. Recite:
Soul is Mind.
Take a sip from the Cup. Recite:
Mind is God.
Finally, replace the Cup upon the altar and extend your arms towards the Seal. Thank the Godhead for allowing you to enter its Temple and operate sacred rites therein. Put out the candle and disassemble your Oratory.