Second Ritual of Five Senses

Whereas the first ritual of five senses tunes one into the solidity of the sensual experience, this second one has a slightly different purpose: it allows you to tap into the sensory ability to make meaning. There is a different between the non-negotiable nature of ink’s existence on a page, and its ability to convey meaning to you.

I managed to work out most of the details of this ritual in this larger working, but here, I have extracted the technique and disentangled it from Hermes, particularly.

It is recommended, if you want to actually use these energies, rather than just practice invoking and de-inkvoking them, and you work with deities, that you ask for their assistance in this ritual and that you place the powers of the senses under them. This second ritual is far more powerful than the first, and without either the direction of a deity, or perhaps some extremely extensive instructions to the forces, your instructions, if they are given, can manifest in some pretty unpredictable ways.

The Ritual

Have on hand a candle to represent Sight, a tuning fork to represent sound, a wine cup to represent Taste, a feather or quill to represent Touch, and incense to represent Smell.

Do the following meditation:

Behold the light of the candle. Notice its shape. Notice your immediate recognition of it as a candle, based on its shape. Note the way that it impacts your mind. Breathe this awareness in, and breathe of the energy of it in silvery light.

Strike the tuning fork, and listen. Notice what you understand about the tone, how it impacts you. Notice that sound is more than sound: you can also feel it. Without looking, you can guess what has been struck. Breathe this awareness in, and breathe of the energy of it in silvery light.

Taste the wine. Notice how the flavor impacts you. You can tell, without looking, if it is a white or a red, a dry wine or a sweet one. Breathe this awareness in, and breathe of the energy of it in silvery light.

Run the feather along your arm, both the soft parts and the sharper ones. Notice your ability to distinguish its tiny, individual hairs. You could mistake a feather’s touch for nothing else. Breathe this awareness in, and breathe of the energy of it in silvery light.

Smell the incense. Is it stick or resin? Or is it sage? What does it remind you of? What do you associate with the smell? The scent impacts you, stirring up memory and association. Breathe this awareness in, and breathe of the energy of it in silvery light.

For Sight: Hold up the candle at the first point. Breathe in your awareness of form and color, then trace the sigil for Sight at in silvery light.

Say: “Hail Opsis! Hail to the Guardian of Sight. Hail, color and light, pattern and paralax. Hail the power to distinguish form.”

For Sound: Strike the tuning fork and hold it up to your ear as you stand before the second point. Breathe in your awareness of the meaning of the sound, then trace the sigil for Sound at in silvery light.

Say: “Hail Akon! Hail to the Guardian of Sound. Hail spoken language, and the grinding gears of automobiles and bicycles!”

For Taste: Bring the cup to the third point, dip your finger into the wine and taste it. Breathe in your awareness of flavor and the meaning of that flavor, then trace the sigil for Taste at in silvery light.

“Hail Geuma! Hail to the Guardian of Taste. Hail, the oakiness of whiskey or heavy tannin of wine which conveys the secrets of its manufacture!”

For Touch: Bring the feather to the fourth point and run the soft and the sharp parts along your inner arm. Breathe in your awareness of pleasure, pain and texture, then trace the sigil for Touch at in silvery light.

“Hail Haphei! Hail to the Guardian of Touch. Hail, sensuality! Hail a lover touch, which cannot be mistaken for any other. The power by which we discern our health, hail.”

For Smell: Bring the incense to the fifth point. Breathe in your awareness of the quality of scent, and what you associate with that smell in particular, then trace the sigil for Smell at in silvery light.

“Hail Osphreisis! Hail to the Guardian of Smell. Hail, smoke which heralds fire. Hail scent of perfume which stirs up the memory of loved ones.

To close, simply go in the opposite direction, and re-absorb the energies of the sigils, saying, “From me, and back to me.”