Magical Vestments and Appurtenances

An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)

These were prescribed needful adjuncts to magical rites, whose colour, name, form and substance, symbolic of certain powers and elements, added, it was supposed, greater efficacy to the evocations. Abraham the Jew, a magician of the Middle Ages , prescribed a tunic of white linen, with upper robe of Maginot scarlet and girdle of white silk. A crown or fillet of silk and gold was to be worn on the head and the perfumes cast on the fire might be incense, aloes, storax, cedar, citron or rose. According to other authorities on the subject it was advisable to vary colour of robe and employ certain jewels and other accessories according to the symbolism of the end desired. A magician of the nineteenth century, Eliphas Levi, gives a detailed description of ritual, from which the following is taken. If the rites were those of White Magic and performed on a Sunday, then the vestment should be of purple, the tiara, bracelets and ring of gold, the latter set with a chrysolith or ruby. Laurel , heliotrope and sunflowers are the symbolic flowers, while other details include a carpet of lionskins and fans of sparrow-hawk feathers. The appropriate perfumes are incense, saffron, cinnamon and red sandal. If, however, the ceremonial took place on a Monday, the Day of the Moon, then the robe must be of white embroidered with silver and the tiara of yellow silk emblazoned with silver characters; while the wreaths were to be woven of moonwort and yellow ranunculi. The jewels appropriate to the occasion were pearls, crystals and selenite; the perfumes, camphor, amber, aloes, white sandal and seed of cucumber. In evocations concerning transcendent knowledge, green was the colour chosen for the vestment, or it might be green shot with various colours. The chief ornament was a necklace of pearls and hollow glass beads enclosing mercury. Agate was the symbolic jewel; narcissus, lily, herb mercury, fumitory, and marjoram the flowers; whilst the perfumes must be benzoin, mace and storax. For operations connected with religious and political matters, the magician must don a robe of scarlet and bind on his brow a brass tablet inscribed with various characters. His ring must be studded with an emerald or sapphire, and he must burn for incense, balm, ambergris, grain of paradise and saffron. For garlands and wreaths, oak, poplar, fig and pomegranate leaves should be entwined. If the ceremonial dealt with amatory affairs, the vestment must be of sky-blue, the ornaments of copper, and the crown of violets. The magic ring must be set with a turquoise, while the tiara and clasps were wrought of lapis-lazuli and beryl. Roses, myrtle and olive were the symbolic flowers, and fans must be made of swanfeathers. If vengeance was desired on anyone, then robes must be worn whose colour was that of blood, flame or rust, belted with steel, with bracelets and ring of the same metal. The tiara must be bound with gold and the wreaths woven of absinthe and rue. To bring misfortune and death on a person, the vestment must be black and the neck encircled with lead. The ring must be set with an onyx and the garlands twined of cypress, ash and hellebore; whilst the perfumes to be used were sulphur, scammony, alum and assafœtida. For purposes of Black Magic , a seamless and sleeveless robe of black was donned, while on the head was worn a leaden cap inscribed with the signs of the Moon, Venus and Saturn. The wreaths were of vervain and cypress; and the perfumes burned were aloes, camphor and storax.