The Western Gate

The Magical Ritual of the Sanctum Regnum
Eliphaz Levi:Translated by Wyn Westcott
Troy Books

Having indulged in reading Ulyssess, said to be one of the hardest books to read I’ve been away from the esoteric and occult, though to be fair, Mr Joyce does dose his tome with sprinklings of WB Yeats and classical mythology. Incidentally, In what must be the worst review and commentary of one of the most renowned works of fiction I will only say, in true Dagenham style, it was alright, with a resigned shrug of the shoulders.
Following Mr. Joyce I disengaged the bohemian flywheel and re-read Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger, because a bit of voyeuristic scandal and decadence afterwards was needed.

So it’s back to the path, as this new offering from Troy books lands on the doorstep at just the right time. It is a manuscript created by Eliphas Levi and translated by Westcott, a figure well known in occult history, translator of the Golden Dawn ciphers and editor of the Hermetic series of books for the theosophical society.
The manuscript itself is attributed to Eliphaz Levi whose transcendental magic is regarded as a classic.

I do like Troy books. Though I cant be dealing with anything anymore by that Oscar Tusk , I mean, maybe he is some grand oracle wizard (he’s not) and maybe I’m just the naïve ignoramus (I probably am) , there’s only so much bollocks I can take, and let me add, what we like and respect is all subjective. However I have a lot of respect for Troy Books, they’re not, compared to others of similar ilk expensive and more importantly than purse coinage I believe those who run and oversee these works to be sincere and dedicated* as opposed to many mercenary publishers who release anything with a hint of notoriety that can be exploited with limited print runs in Black Panther hide and embossed in ink of moldavite dust. For a price. Of course.
*( What if one of them is really Oscar Tusk incognito (!) )

This book guides us through ritual and the major arcana are the symbolic degrees by which we traverse the dread and anomalous path by means of chapters of arcane, and archaic, ‘knowledge’.
Meditation on the images of the Tarot, particularly the major arcana is particularly valuable as a tool in ritual work. Not all of us can join a lodge, circle, or temple, or want to, many of us don’t have the resources, and if we did, many of us still wouldn’t join the glitterati of the assembly.
Give me my own space, and once a day, meditate on one of the Tarot cards, stare at it, await for ideas to arise, no conception, no looking at the silly guide book, let’s walk the path unaided. It is the best way to learn Tarot. The only way I would suggest. Along the way, images arise, dreams are prominent, ideas fruit, the whole series becomes as one scene. A card a day and 78 days later we have viewed the Tarot, 22 if we only witness the Major Arcana. And so on.
So it is with the Sanctum Regnum I at first assume, we will apply the same sort of imagery?
It reads much like a hermetic text and given Wescott is from the Victorian era, we also have that Victorian pastiche style. Everything is God fearing, it’s not a philosophical concept but we are to be cap doffing to Old Jove and his angels and the wandering tribes of Israel. There’s also bits of Latin as well, because after all, if we’re dabbling with the Hebrew tradition what we need is the language of the Jewish new overlords.
Now I may sound disingenuous and polemic, but this artful dodger will still pick the pocket of the pretentious gentry, even though I laugh, and yet also admire. So it is with this book. so much that I should be mocking and being cruel and yet, and yet…. it elicits some wonder. Perhaps I recall reading Levi’s Transcendental Magic, one of the primers of the occultist.
Many references within however ask e.g.;- to read the prayer as written in eg Levi’s Ritual in Le Livre de Ci et de Ça pg 71, or something, considering these passages and references to books are now copyright free I wonder why the passages verbatim couldn’t have been included, or even added to an appendix (there isn’t an appendix). However, these references are added! included in the ‘Notes’ at the end of each chapter by Mr.Westcott.
There is also a list of the books at the Preface which the reader, is suggested, may want to study and keep to hand.
If indeed you intend a thorough study of this work in the manner Wescott suggests, a large desk would be needed and the requisite pile of books, many listed being the Eliphaz Levi French originals, good luck with that. It doesn’t dissuade the reader from bothering to read this book however, there is still enough to keep the nodding head chicken bobbing and the chin stroked enough times to warrant respect.

The Major Arcana being symbolic gifts the seeker with images that can be understood easily/easier by the subconscious mind, ironically, by decoding and formulising those images into words, rhetoric, philosophy the dreams become nothing more than labour.
Stand in a wooded space, free from human billboards and distractions. Now describe that experience, and rather gifting another with enough words to give an empathetic and exact experience, you merely create wonder. An interpreted dream. So it is trying to decipher Tarot for someone else to emulate, in my mind anyway.

The book reminds me of the  Yogi Publication Society books that used to be on sale in “New Age” shops that sold toxic joss sticks and awful music tapes of Celtic harp and whale song, and I loved those books.
I cannot say I agree with the text wholeheartedly in this book, that does not matter. I could give lengthy examples but its a small book, and I don’t want a commentary equal in size, beside which, I may be wrong and in order to do it justice we’d need a symposium of discourse to perfectly critique the work.
I am not at liberty to discuss fully because I’m not in a book club let alone a sacred circle of occultists . The Lovers! Levi/Westcott says, “equilibrium exists only from the opposition of forces”, I disagree, While a stable equilibrium in a force field often involves opposing forces, this is just one type. True equilibrium, as defined by inertia, is the absence of net force. Furthermore, in dynamic, geometric, and quantum systems, balance arises from statistical probability, system geometry, or minimal energy states—concepts that are more fundamental and accurate than a simple model of opposing forces.Levi conflates a condition of human perception with a condition of existence itself. While we need contrast to see, a thing’s form and activity are intrinsic to it. Light exists as a physical phenomenon irrespective of darkness, just as a mountain has a form even in a total fog. The model of necessary opposition is a useful perceptual and dialectical tool, but it is not a fundamental law of reality. True equilibrium can be a state of restful unity, not just a tense stalemate between opposing forces. It is our old masters juggling with God and The Devil. But perhaps i’m splitting hairs, we know what’s meant. Really.

Levi numbers the ‘fool’ as XXI and the XXII as the Universe.
Bingo. Keys to the house. But not “Bingo” for the universe, it’s for the fool? or, the unwise as Levi states. There’s a little note added by Westcott about this discrepancy. Its nothing that would be considered a pointy stick rattling round a wasp nest, but I like the idea of the ‘Fool’ as XXI.
and I know I’m going to digress and rabbit on here,
Symbolically as associated, with the keys of the house, though in this case, rather than being all comfy and cosy in a roof hiding the canopy of the stars our wayfarer chooses the path of nature, perilous, peculiar, unfamiliar, and there, far from being the fool or unwise if I may, Mr Levi, the Fool is the agent of the meaning of life. The Answer to it all, the quest of Galahad, the Green Knight and every occultist and alchemist desperate for the one answer were always told by the fool, the answer is staring them in the face. Listening to the fool they wandered over to a mirror or a pool to view themselves, some laughed, some frowned, and the genius and the madmen that withdrew from staring at their reflections were both confounded. The reflection, or the answer ‘staring them in the face’, was a euphemism but not of the seeker, but in the action, the quest and the search, IS the meaning of life. Momentum, polarity, dynamism, all these are in creation by nature of creation being. The God particle can only be nothing, and you cannot find nothing. Now, the truth be known, that forever whilst we can cognize and pervade, and know that the search is infinite, the answers ever giving we now truly either frown, or as the fool, laugh very very loudly and we witness the true fools busy rushing for the answers, which are in the main the symbols of the other 21 cards.
The fool thus, is the answer, and the rest the paths of duality.
the sound of the answer to the riddle of life is laughter. The fact that existence is infinite in question and answer gives rise also to madness.
the hermetic and the occultist in all their royal garbs of rich satin, sigils and expensive incence stand within a circle, and thus, they visualise existence as bordered as defined, (admittedly the circle has within it the aspect of Pi, therefore infinity) our wayfarer however, stands within the labyrinth, amongst possibilities and ever growing arguments, barriers, and excitement.
Elsewise, The Fool in Qabalah is Aleph, existing before Beth~ duality. Far from emanating between Kether- the crown, and Chokmah- wisdom. The fool traverses the path of the wise, that of the true judge which is between Severity and Mercy, and the fool is blindfold. Judgement is blind and given only by wisdom, and therefore by interpretation the fool must understand that wisdom. Aleph is the path of the Crown of Thorns that sits and balances Tiphareth. The Crown of Kether sits atop the manifestation of existence, the polarising path however now manifest above Tiphareth, is the Crown of Semiramis, the symbolic crown of the regent, in place of the King or in place of God, i.e. the avator and Christos. And this, is the path of the fool.
The keys of the house ! 21. The Fool. אֶהְיֶה or I Am =21.
“I am”, is not as “I.”
Am is in existence.
It is the kings regent, the standing in for the prime minister. The makeshift and, the fool.
“I am the king of the birds” said the Wren.
Nature laughed, absurd, and the Eagle could not be bothered to argue. Still the wren persisted.
“We shall fly up high and whomsoever ascends the highest, then the keys to the kingdom shall be theirs” said the eagle at last relenting.
So it was they both began their ascent, at once the Wren hopped on to the eagle’s back, the eagle unaware soared high, until at last, its wings ached with fatigue and its mind could not endure the pursuit any longer. As the eagle stopped flight and just as it turned to swoop downwards, the Wren hopped off its back, flapped its wings a yard so more, and thus flew the higher.
The wren, is the regent, there by default, by cunning, by wisdom and yet was known throughout the land as the fool for daring to question the superiority of the Eagle.
Have I digressed too far?

Sanctum Regnum, is a fascinating albeit pompous old collection of pissy self importance. But its such a good read, and wisdom therein doth lie if you can meander past Old Jove, side step the bothering angels and watch from afar the wandering tribes. This isn’t one of Levi’s vanity projects that was put out there for all to see, its little known, more a Opusculum Arcanum (a minor secret work). If you find yourself frowning at most of the content, arguing with what’s said, isn’t that good.
There’s so much more I could comment on, ideas raised, its a limited 150 print run, but if you can, hop aboard the Eagle and snatch the keys to the kingdom.

Header illustration: Illustration from  Book of Kells, the Tetramorph, which symbolizes the four Christian Evangelists: Matthew (man/angel), Mark (lion), Luke (ox/bull), and John (eagle)