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MAKE a Carpet of white and new wool, and when the Moon shall be at her full, in the Sign of Capricorn and in the hour of the Sun, thou shalt go into the country away from any habitation of man, in a place free from all impurity, and shalt spread out thy Carpet so that one of its points shall be towards the east, and another towards the west, and having made a Circle without it and enclosing it, thou shalt remain within upon the point towards the east, and holding thy wand in the air for every operation, thou shalt call upon MICHAEL, 2 towards the north upon RAPHAEL, towards the west upon GABRIEL, and towards the south upon MURIEL. After this thou shalt return unto the point of the East and devoutly invoke the Great Name AGLA, and take this point of the Carpet in thy left hand; turning then towards the North thou shalt do the same, and so continuing to the other points of the Carpet, thou shalt raise them so that they touch not the ground, and holding them up thus, and turning anew towards the East thou shalt say with great veneration the following Prayer:--
AGLA, AGLA, AGLA, AGLA; O God Almighty Who art the Life of the Universe and Who rulest over the four divisions of its vast form by the strength and virtue of the Four Letters of Thy Holy Name Tetragrammaton, YOD, HE, VAU, HE, bless in Thy Name this covering which I hold as Thou hast blessed the Mantle of Elijah in the hands of Elisha, so that being covered by Thy Wings, nothing may be able to injure me, even as it
is said:--'He shall hide thee under His Wings and beneath His feathers shall thou trust, His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.'
After this thou shalt fold it up, saying these words following:--RECABUSTIRA, CABUSTIRA, BUSTIRA, TIRA, RA, A; and shall keep it carefully to serve thee at need.
When thou shalt be desirous to make thine interrogations, choose the night of full or of new moon, and from midnight until daybreak. Thou shalt transport thyself unto the appointed spot if it be for the purpose of discovering a treasure; if not, any place will serve provided it be clean and pure. Having had the precaution on the preceding evening to write upon a slip of virgin parchment coloured azure-blue, with a pen made from the feather of a dove, this Character and Name (see Figure 9); taking thy carpet, thou shalt cover thy head and body therewith, and taking the censer, with new fire therein, thou shalt place it in or upon the proper place, and cast thereon some incense. Then shalt thou prostrate thyself upon the ground, with thy face towards the earth, before the incense beginneth to fume, keeping the fire of the same beneath the carpet, holding thy wand upright, against which to rest thy chin; thou shalt hold with thy right hand the aforesaid strip of parchment against thy forehead, and thou shalt say the following words:--
VEGALE, HAMICATA, UMSA, TERATA, YEH, DAH, MA, BAXASOXA, UN, HORAH, HIMESERE; 1 O God the Vast One send unto me the Inspiration of Thy Light, make me to discover the secret thing which I ask of Thee, whatsoever such or such a thing may be, make me to search it out by the aid of Thy holy ministers RAZIEL, TZAPHNIEL, MATMONIEL; Lo, Thou hast desired truth in the young, and in the hidden thing shalt Thou make me know wisdom. RECABUSTIRA, CABUSTIRA, BUSTIRA, TIRA, RA, A, KARKAHITA, KAHITA, HITA, TA.
And thou shalt hear distinctly the answer which thou shalt have sought.
55:1 This Chapter is also taken from 1203 Lansdowne MSS.
55:2 I have usually found Michael attributed to the South; Raphael to the East; Gabriel to the West; and Auriel to the North. Likewise I think the operator should turn following the course of the Sun, and not contrariwise as in the text.
56:1 These are probably corrupted Hebrew words derived from the prayer itself.