David Rankine

Rankine — Climbing the Tree of Life (2005) [DECLARADA]

Skinner & Rankine — The Goetia of Dr Rudd [DECLARADA]

Magia ceremonial · Miembro

«Many people actually mean the Tree of Life glyph when they say Qabalah. The Tree of Life is the pictorial representation of Qabalistic thought, a concentrated image containing all the philosophical and magickal concepts of Qabalah.» — distingue el glifo de la tradición que lo produce: mucha gente llama Qabalah al Árbol de la Vida, que él define como representación pictórica del pensamiento cabalístico.

«However strictly speaking Qabalah is the whole tradition of thought as well, embodying a history of millennia of development and mystical experience, as well as the glyph.» — la corrección que sigue: en sentido estricto la Qabalah es también el cuerpo entero de pensamiento, con milenios de desarrollo y de experiencia mística detrás.

«Qabalah offers the student the opportunity to follow a well-defined and multi-layered map of consciousness expansion and self-integration and balance.» — lo que dice ofrecer al estudiante: un mapa de muchas capas de expansión de la consciencia, de autointegración y de equilibrio, no una doctrina.

«Additionally it is extremely compatible with many other schools of thought, enabling existing beliefs and practices to often be fitted into Qabalistic ideas harmoniously.» — sostiene que la Qabalah es compatible con otras escuelas y que las creencias y prácticas que el estudiante ya tenga suelen encajarse en ella sin violencia.

«Of the aforementioned systems, only Druidry and the Arthurian mythos can claim not to have been heavily influenced by Qabalistic thought and practice.» — del inventario de la Tradición de Misterios Occidental exceptúa dos: solo el druidismo y el ciclo artúrico pueden decir que no fueron influidos de lleno por lo cabalístico.

«Qabalah offers a challenge to anyone who chooses to practice it, for it presents a path to the infinite, which unfolds conditioning and challenges views, whilst at the same time reinforcing all of the best qualities in the student.» — enuncia lo que el sistema le exige a quien lo practica: un camino al infinito que desarma el condicionamiento y pone en cuestión las propias ideas.

«It provides a panoramic worldview and one can practice Qabalah with or without including ritual practice in your life.» — la reserva con que cierra su introducción: la Qabalah se puede practicar con o sin ritual, de modo que el aparato ceremonial del resto del manual queda como opción.

«As with all other aspects of Qabalah, the choice of how you climb the Tree of Life is up to you.» — la fórmula con que deja la elección al lector y que da título a su libro.

«Modern Qabalah is usually categorised into four areas. These are Practical Qabalah, Literal Qabalah, Unwritten Qabalah and Dogmatic Qabalah. Of these the first two are those that are the main concern of this present work.» — parte la Qabalah moderna en cuatro áreas y declara cuáles trabaja su libro: la Práctica y la Literal, no la No escrita ni la Dogmática.

«Practical Qabalah is the area concerned with the magick of Qabalah, including such subjects as divination, meditation and the creation and use of amulets and talismans. This branch of Qabalah is largely derived from Merkavah mysticism.» — su definición de Qabalah Práctica: la magia de la cábala, con adivinación, meditación y hechura de amuletos y talismanes, derivada en buena parte de la mística de la Merkavah.

«The Literal Qabalah is the area concerned with the manipulation of the Hebrew alphabet and its associated numbers, i.e. Gematria, Notariqon and Temurah. As with Practical Qabalah this branch also grows from roots found in Merkavah Mysticism.» — su definición de Qabalah Literal: la manipulación del alfabeto hebreo y sus números, gematría, notariqón y temurá, con la misma raíz.

«The Unwritten Qabalah is the material that has always remained oral or has never been circulated. The bulk of the Kabbalistic texts (in their thousands) have never been translated from the Hebrew or been available to a wide audience.» — su definición de Qabalah No escrita, y con ella una medida de lo que queda fuera: el grueso de los textos cabalísticos nunca se tradujo del hebreo.

«Finally the Dogmatic Qabalah is the study of classic Qabalistic texts, such as the Sepher Yetzirah, Sepher ha-Zohar, Sepher Bahir and of course the Torah (Old Testament).» — su definición de Qabalah Dogmática por su lista de textos clásicos.

«At the end of the day Qabalah is ultimately a practical system, and needs to be worked to be appreciated and to gain its benefits.» — la declaración con que fija el carácter de su objeto: un sistema práctico que hay que trabajar para apreciarlo.

«I have also included a further modification I have made to the Middle Pillar exercise that has proven to be very effective. Instead of using the Divine Name» — la enmienda que declara haber hecho al ejercicio del Pilar Medio, usando en Daath las atribuciones daáticas.

«ince the astrologers of the first civilization in ancient Sumer identified the seven classical planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn), the influence of the wandering stars, or deathless powers, as they were known, has permeated the Western Mystery Tradition for more than 5,000 years.» — abre su Libro Tres de la antología de Llewellyn remontando a los astrólogos de Sumer la identificación de los siete planetas clásicos.

«The planets represent the higher powers of the universe, their orbits the cycles of energetic currents that surround us and can be felt at times subtly or more obviously in our lives.» — qué son los planetas para él: los poderes superiores del universo, con sus órbitas por ciclos de corrientes energéticas.

«Humanity has looked to the heavens for guidance and meaning, interpreting the celestial as divine and recognizing the interplay of heaven and earth—As above, so below.» — la fórmula con que cierra esa mirada: interpretar lo celeste como divino y reconocer el juego mutuo de cielo y tierra.

«The deities associated with the planets have been perceived in basically the same way for more than two millennia, resulting in a tremendous buildup of power in their images and symbols as connecting gateways to them.» — de dónde deriva la eficacia que les adjudica: más de dos milenios de percepción básicamente igual acumulan poder en sus imágenes y símbolos.

«The Romans equated their own deities to those of the earlier Greeks, and in so doing they absorbed many of the qualities and myths of the Greek deities into their own. As a result, it would be more accurate to say that the planetary gods in the Western Mystery Tradition are Romano-Greek in nature.» — su precisión sobre la genealogía de los dioses planetarios de la tradición.

«Working with planetary deities is beneficial through receiving energy from the deity to assist your work or striving toward a greater purity and power expressed by the deity (theurgy).» — reparte en dos el trabajo con deidades planetarias: recibir energía de la deidad, o tender a la pureza y el poder que ella expresa, que es la teurgia.

«Pseudo-Dionysius is of particular significance, as he marks a conflation of Neoplatonism with Christianity.» — destaca a pseudo Dionisio Areopagita por marcar la fusión del neoplatonismo con el cristianismo.

«Planetary magic usually falls into three main areas of work: talismanic, theurgic, and spirit work.» — reparte la magia planetaria en tres áreas de trabajo: talismánica, teúrgica y de espíritus.

«An amulet is a protective charm and works through repulsion to protect the bearer from specific forces or events. A talisman is a charm of attraction used to attract specific energies to enhance a specific aspect of the bearer’s situation.» — fija la distinción operativa entre amuleto y talismán: el uno protege por repulsión, el otro atrae energías.

«The planetary energies are seen as being stronger on their day of the week and during the hours of the day that they govern. For this reason, planetary magic is always done on the day of the planet where possible, and definitely during the hours of the planet.» — la regla de tiempo que prescribe: en el día del planeta cuando se pueda y sin falta en sus horas.

«Planetary hours are not the sixty-minute hours that we are accustomed to using in normal timekeeping. The period of daylight that extends from sunrise to sunset is divided into the twelve “hours” of the day. The period of darkness extending from sunset to sunrise of the next day is divided into the twelve “hours” of night. As the duration of daylight and darkness varies, the planetary hours are sometimes called the “unequal hours.”» — su precisión sobre las horas planetarias: no son de sesenta minutos, sino doce partes del día y doce de la noche que varían con la estación.

«Each planet also has a planetary intelligence (or angel), which serves to control the planetary spirit (or demon).» — la pareja que gobierna cada planeta: una inteligencia o ángel que sirve para controlar al espíritu o demonio planetario.

«The planetary intelligences embody the positive qualities of their planets and act as the overseeing focus for the planetary spirits, which are comprised of ungoverned, pure planetary energy without focus. The planetary spirit should always be directed by the appropriate planetary intelligence or archangel.» — la regla de seguridad que prescribe: los espíritus planetarios son energía pura sin foco y van siempre dirigidos por su inteligencia o arcángel.

«The Merkavah cosmology is specifically planetary, focusing on the sephiroth that correspond to the seven classical planets, from Yesod, the sephira of the Moon, up to Binah, the sephira of Saturn, these being the seven planets he traversed leaving Malkuth (the earthly realm) to ascend to the divine presence.» — lee la cosmología de la Merkavá como específicamente planetaria, de Yesod a Binah.

«The planetary intelligences (and spirits) first appear in Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy, published in 1531–1533 CE, though they were drafted around 1508–1509 CE. It is very unlikely that Agrippa would have made them up, and he probably learned about them from his teacher, the Abbot Trithemius. The source of their origin remains a mystery at this point.» — el hueco que consigna en el origen de las inteligencias planetarias: aparecen en Agrippa, probablemente las aprendió de Tritemio, y su procedencia sigue sin aclararse.

«At first glance the seven classical planets might not seem a good fit onto the ten sephiroth (“emanations”) of the Tree of Life, but there is a long tradition and history of planetary associations with the Kabbalah» — consigna la dificultad de encaje entre los siete planetas y las diez sefirot, y la larga tradición de asociarlos pese a ella.

«The process of talismanic magic may be summed up in four stages: preparation, creation, purification and consecration. This process is equally valid for both amulets and talismans.» — resume la magia talismánica en cuatro etapas y las da por igualmente válidas para amuletos y talismanes.

«We have selected Harley MS 6483 as our prime text. Although the manuscript is dated 1712-1714 it is a transcription of a much earlier manuscript written or owned by Dr Thomas Rudd (1583-1656).» — la elección de testimonio base que Rankine y Skinner declaran, con su reserva: el manuscrito está fechado en 1712-1714 y lo tienen por transcripción de uno muy anterior de Thomas Rudd.

«We wanted to show how the system of magic in the Lemegeton was developed and actually practiced by working magicians in the seventeenth century. As well as examining the earliest texts available, we deliberately chose the most fully expanded text used by working magicians as our prime text.» — la razón que los dos editores dan para su edición: mostrar cómo magos en activo del siglo XVII desarrollaron y practicaron el sistema del Lemegeton.

«We wouldn't, as MacGregor Mathers seemed to, assert that the present text was actually written by King Solomon, but we are convinced that the magical technology behind it may date back to the time of that King.» — la distancia que los dos editores marcan con MacGregor Mathers y su propia reserva: niegan que el texto lo escribiera Salomón y sostienen que la tecnología mágica detrás puede remontarse a su tiempo.

«They do however have copyist errors (which we have noted), and they don't always agree with those of other manuscripts.» — el límite que los dos editores ponen a su propio elogio de los sellos: traen errores de copista, que ellos anotan, y no siempre concuerdan entre manuscritos.

«We believe that the key to understanding the Steganographia is to know that the messages that were encoded to be sent by Trithemius' 'spirit telephone' were not meant for any human recipients. The messages were meant to be sent to the angel concerned, not just by the angel, and were not really intended for human recipients at all.» — la tesis propia que los dos editores proponen con su reserva declarada: los mensajes cifrados de la Steganographia iban dirigidos al ángel y no a un destinatario humano.

«We have also included in Appendix 1, material found in Sloane MS 3824, which is a collection of items which make up a sort of proto-Lemegeton, as this manuscript contains many of the items that later made up the Lemegeton, but in many cases in a more complete state.» — cómo llaman los dos editores al Sloane MS 3824: una especie de proto-Lemegeton con muchos de los materiales que después formaron la colección.

«It is essential to call them, it is not sufficient to merely think about calling them in your head. We are all given a voice, and we must use it. Even if spiritual creatures could read thoughts, they still need to be summoned verbally.» — la primera regla de evocación que los dos editores enuncian: hay que llamarlos con la voz.

«Golden Dawn used a complex night and day Decan division, there is no trace of this in any of the manuscripts, and so we have not used it. Table M15 spans both pages, and is ordered in the standard sequence of the demons. The 12 Signs of the Zodiac have simply been allocated in order beginning at Aries, as would have been usual.» — la decisión editorial que los dos declaran contra la Golden Dawn: no usan su división decanal de día y noche porque no hay rastro de ella en los manuscritos.

«Carroll Runyon's book on the Goetia is a breath of fresh air and a significant advance in our rediscovery of practical grimoire technique.» — el juicio global que los dos editores hacen del libro de Carroll Runyon sobre la Goetia, pese a sus objeciones.

«This is because the text was transcribed by Mathers across the page when in fact it was originally written as two separate columns down the page. See Appendix 9, the 'Ars Nova': An Explanation of Certain Names used in the Figures of the Goetia, where we have transcribed it in the original order.» — la causa que los dos editores adjudican a ese sinsentido y la enmienda que declaran: Mathers transcribió a lo ancho lo que estaba en dos columnas.

«Having established the names of the angel we have also added in a fairly modem list of powers and attributes. Those are not central to our theme, but listed just for interest.» — la acotación con que los dos editores separan su propio añadido de lo que trae el manuscrito.

«David Rankine is a writer and researcher living in London, UK. He has been practising magick since the 1970s, and has always had a passion for Qabalah and Renaissance magick.» — la solapa de autor de su propio manual, que lo sitúa en Londres y data su práctica de la magia en los años setenta.

«David Rankine has been studying & working within the Western Mystery Tradition since the 1970s and is a initiate of a number of traditions. He is the author of a many esoteric books ~ including Becoming Magick, The Guises of The Morrigan and Circle of Fire. He is also the co-author of Practical Angel Magic of Dr John Dee's Enochian Tables and Keys to the Gateway of Magic, which are the first books in the "Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic" series, which he is co-producing with occult author Stephen Skinner.» — la contracubierta del mismo volumen, que lo da por estudioso de la Tradición de Misterios Occidental desde los años setenta e iniciado en varias tradiciones, y lo acredita como coproductor de la serie Sourceworks con Stephen Skinner; el troceo imprime a initiate y a many esoteric books, sic.

«David is someone with a strict training in the Western magical tradition combined with a breadth of vision and scholarship which allows him to take in the wider perspectives of the Zohar, the Torah and Christianity, without shrinking from the religion of his forefathers or rebelling against it as did Crowley.» — Stephen Skinner, en el prólogo a ese manual, describe su formación y su amplitud, y lo contrasta con Crowley en el trato con la religión heredada.

«In tying the Qabalah in with its roots, David is not leading off in a religious direction, but ensuring that the whole edifice of the Qabalah is firmly rooted in tradition, something that has not been of prime concern to many modern writers on the subject.» — Skinner niega que atar la cábala a sus raíces lleve el libro en dirección religiosa, y sostiene que asegura en cambio el arraigo del edificio entero.

«David Rankine has been practising magic for the last 25 years and writing about it for the last 17 years. During that time he has been involved with Golden Dawn, Qabalistic and Thelemic groups, and gives regular talks and workshops around Europe.» — la solapa del volumen que firma con Skinner: veinticinco años de práctica, diecisiete de escritura, y su paso por grupos de la Golden Dawn, cabalísticos y telémicos.

«David Rankine is an author, esoteric researcher, and magician who lives in Glastonbury, England, with his partner, occult artist and tattooist Rosa Laguna. David has been making major contributions to the modern occult revival since the early 1980s, through lectures, workshops, presentations, articles, and books.» — la nota biográfica que cierra su Libro Tres en la antología de Llewellyn: autor, investigador esotérico y mago afincado en Glastonbury, con aportes al renacer ocultista moderno desde los años ochenta.

«Book Three: Planetary Magic—by David Rankine A review of the ways in which the symbols and energies of the seven classical planets may be employed in magical ritual.» — el índice de la misma antología describe su Libro Tres: los modos de emplear en el rito los símbolos y las energías de los siete planetas clásicos.

«From 2004 till 2010 he collaborated with David Rankine to produce the Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic series, producing The Veritable Key of Solomon, Lemegeton (including the Goetia), Janua Reserata, Sepher Raziel: Liber Salomonis, and Clavis Inferni.» — la nota biográfica de Stephen Skinner en el mismo volumen fecha entre 2004 y 2010 la colaboración de ambos en la serie Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic y enumera sus títulos.

«There are two main published versions of the Lemegeton, one edited by Joseph Peterson 34 and one by myself and David Rankine.» — Stephen Skinner, en su Libro Cinco de la misma antología, consigna las dos ediciones publicadas del Lemegeton, la de Joseph Peterson y la suya con Rankine.

«Similarly, a version of the grimoire entitled Goetia was also attributed to him and is published today as The Goetia of Dr. Rudd (edited by Dr. Stephen Skinner and David Rankine).» — y en el mismo Libro Cinco, la edición de la Goetia que firma con él.

«The alchemy scholar Adam McLean, and more recently Stephen Skinner and David Rankine, have suggested that there must have existed a secret tradition of magicians with access to the manuscripts.» — Egil Asprem nombra a quienes sostienen la hipótesis de una tradición secreta de magos con acceso a los manuscritos: Adam McLean primero, y después Skinner y Rankine.

«Most notably Adam McLean, and more recently the scholar-magicians Stephen Skinner and David Rankine, place Thomas Rudd at the center of a previously unknown magical tradition.» — Asprem los llama magos eruditos y les atribuye poner a Thomas Rudd en el centro de una tradición mágica hasta entonces desconocida.

«It was recently (2004) published by Rankine and Skinner, who, in accordance with their overall hypothesis, try to substantiate an idea of its exotic provenance.» — Asprem describe la edición de 2004 de ambos y el propósito que le atribuye.

«However, at this point Skinner and Rankine reveal some unusual ideas on who Thomas Rudd really was. First they state that the copier “was a doctor, [and] lived from 1583 to 1656,” and then go on to claim that the Thomas Rudd who republished the Mathematical Preface was this copier’s son, who “styles himself as ‘Captain.’”» — el desdoblamiento en dos Rudd que Asprem les atribuye, citado con las palabras de ellos.

«As Ian Rons has pointed out in his rather baleful review of Skinner and Rankine’s book, there is also at least one instance where the exotic provenance of the manuscript is debunked due to exactly the same kind of evidence seen with the Treatise, namely, the duplication of errors found in T&FR.» — la reseña de Ian Rons que Asprem recoge, calificada por él mismo de siniestra, y el dato que aporta sobre la errata duplicada.

«Nevertheless, as Rankine and Skinner’s reproduction of Bennett’s copy show, Crowley did have access to it and even added some notes to the text himself.» — Asprem se apoya en la reproducción que ambos hicieron de la copia de Bennett para sostener que Crowley tuvo acceso al texto y lo anotó.

«Additionally, Rankine and Skinner found portions of the text copied in two documents in the Bodleian, namely MS Rawlinson D.1067 and Rawlinson D.1363. These are of a later date, and are not complete copies.» — Asprem consigna en nota dos copias parciales halladas por ambos en la Bodleian, con su signatura.

«As an accompaniment to this volume, I suggest you have to hand copies of some of the source texts: The Magical Treatise of Solomon or Hygromanteia by Ioannis Marathakis; The Veritable Key of Solomon by myself and David Rankine; The Key of Solomon by MacGregor Mathers, Sepher Raziel: Liber Salomonis by Don Karr; and The Lesser Key of Solomon by Joseph Peterson.» — Stephen Skinner enumera los textos fuente que recomienda tener a mano, entre ellos el que firma con él.

«A third theory has been proposed by Skinner and Rankine. According to them, the word Hygromanteia does not mean water divination in this context, but applies to the ancient practice of constraining demons in hydriai, that is to say urns, water jars or metallic water vessels. This practice was frequently linked with Solomon, not only in the Testament, but also in the writings of the 4th century Byzantine historian Zosimus and in a 6th century account of Jerusalem recorded in the Breviarius de Hierosolyma. This is another plausible theory, since in some manuscripts an occult technique is cited with the aim of imprisoning spirits in bottles, and this technique is named Gasteromanteia, that is to say "bottle divination.» — Skinner consigna en tercera persona la tercera teoría sobre el sentido de Hygromanteia que atribuye a ambos: constreñir demonios en hidrias.

«This division was first proposed in Mathiesen (2007), pp. 3-9, and then expanded in Skinner & Rankine (2008), pp. 28-32, 412-414.» — Skinner atribuye a Mathiesen la división por grupos textuales y dice haberla ampliado con él.

«Volume 1 - Practical Angel Magic of Dr Dee’s Enochian Tables by Stephen Skinner & David Rankine. Dr Dee’s last book of angelic invocations, kept in Latin, developed by a 17th century magician into a fully working magical system. ISBN 978-0-9547639-0-9 £35.00 / US$65.00» — la contracubierta de otro volumen de la serie cataloga el primer título de Sourceworks, firmado por ambos.