The Deeper Ritual Structure Of NAP

New Grimoires and techniques outlined in books like NAP, NIP, Frater Malak, etc.
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kingnine
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The Deeper Ritual Structure Of NAP

Post#1 » Sat May 12, 2018 1:05 am

I hope this is in the right section. Not sure whether it goes here or in Modern Grimoires. It is based on NAP but it is applicable to the design of any ritual.

New Avatar Power is a favorite on this forum for its effectiveness, especially relative to its extreme simplicity. However, hidden in its main ritual's simple design is a logical and well-developed structure that has its roots deeply embedded in magical tradition. It contains the form of a more involved ritual shrunk down to its barest essentials. I've identified what I consider to be the six main steps of the ritual. I'll go through them in the context of NAP and then explain how they can be generalized.

The six steps of the NAP ritual for our purposes are:
1. The declaration of purpose (Ankar YHVH) and relaxation
2. Calling upon Arzel
3. Calling the spirit
4. Reading the chant
5. Speaking the names of power
6. Coming back to normal consciousness

The first step is the commencement of the NAP ritual itself, where the operator calls the inner planes to witness the declaration of "Ankar YHVH," followed by a short period of relaxation. As far as I can tell, "Ankar" is a phonetic spelling of "Ong Kar," taken from the so-called "magic mantra." Ong Kar roughly means "creator-creation," so "Ankar YHVH" can be translated "creator of all creation, YHVH." This first step is thus an invocation of the name of God as creator. In common magical parlance, this can be called a preliminary invocation. It raises the consciousness and authority of the operator.

The second step calls Arzel, a mighty angel in the East, to assist the operator. Some magicians such as Aaron Leitch believe that this is a critical step that is often omitted in Western magic but retained in other traditions: the summoning of a mediator. Arzel, a benevolent angel, is called upon before any other creatures, not because the forces in the incantations are dangerous, but merely to watch over the operation, and mediate between the human operator and the spiritual forces evoked. A maybe obvious comparison would be Papa Legba in Voodoo.

The beginning of each chant, obviously, calls the spirit that the chant is addressed to. This first sentence or two is the evocation of the spirit itself.

Reading the rest of the chant describes what it is you want the spirit to do. It is the statement of intent. Again, an obvious step, but one that can be forgotten in the heat of the moment in a more involved ritual, or underprepared beforehand.

Each chant in NAP ends with a phonetically-spelled name of power, for example AH-NAH-FAX-EE-TONE, for Anaphexeton. This is the binding of the spirit. Magician and academic Steven Skinner says this is another step often forgotten by modern magicians. It is not enough to tell a spirit what you want, you must make sure that it will do it. By sealing your intent with the name of God which "goes with" the spirit, you compel it to do your command by the authority of the highest power in existence. Pretty strong stuff.

Finally, the NAP advises the operator to come back to normal consciousness as one does from hypnosis, with slow and deliberate counting. Unfortunately this is where I think the NAP falls short - there's no license to depart! It's just good manners to thank the spirits for coming, and sometimes necessary to tell them to go away and do their job. These spirits aren't human, and don't understand social cues. In my opinion, then, before coming back to normal consciousness, the operator should give a grateful, friendly yet firm license to depart.

So we have a general ritual frame derived from the NAP! Each step can be expanded as much as one would like:
1. Preliminary invocation
2. Summoning of a mediator
3. Evocation of the spirit
4. Statement of intent
5. Binding the spirit
6. License to depart

Interested in hearing what you all think, and any results you get from using this framework.

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