INSTRUCTIONS
FOR THE GRADE
OF THE ZELATOR
(The Magician)

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Issued by
the Order of the
Thelemic Golden Dawn
(Order of the T\G\D\)

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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

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    For those of you who are seeking to initiate yourselves into the grade of the Zelator, you should have in your possession the following materials:

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    1. The Instructions of the Zelator (This Document)
    2. The Tasks of the Zelator (Below)
    3. The Oath of the Zelator (Below)
    4. The Self-Initiation Ceremony of the Zelator
    5. Instructions on the Elemental Pentagram
    6. The Ritual of the Sphinx and Instructions
    8. The Ritual of the Tattwas and Instructions

    9. The Zelator Scroll

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    What you are currently reading is number 1 listed above (The Instructions of the Zelator). The following instructions are designed to help you comprehend the preliminary steps to be taken to commence the self-initiation work of the Zelator.

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    In the Tasks of the Zelator there is written all that must be known concerning the actual work of the grade. Read this document carefully and contemplate the tasks until you are sufficiently satisfied that you understand the work of the Zelator. Also read the Ceremony, Oath and Rituals of the grade and then determine whether or not it is in fact your will to become a Zelator. If so, determine a new magical Motto for yourself and take the Oath of the grade. The Magical Motto should reflect your current knowledge of your own True Will.

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    The Oath of the Zelator is designed to assist you in the sacramental act of doing your True Will, whereas the Oath of the Neophyte was designed to assist in the discovery of your True Will. After taking the Oath of the Zelator, you are a participant in the Mysteries of the grade. The Oath does not entail that you are recognized as an official member or initiate of the grade, only that you are aspiring to be such.

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    After you take the Oath of the grade, you should then study, rehearse, and eventually perform the Self-Initiation Ceremony of the Zelator. There should be a waiting period of twelve months after performing the Self-Initiation Ceremony of the Zelator before you conduct the Self-Initiation Ceremony of the Dominus Liminis.

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    Now has come the time for you to prepare yourself to take your first real step toward freedom, to become a Magician, or a genuine practitioner of the Magick Art, and to become a true initiate of the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn. May you aspire to be the highest in yourself; and may you attain the Great Work, the SUMMUM BONUM, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness. In the Name of the Lord of Initiation, Sic sit vobis!

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Love is the law, love under will.

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THE TASKS
OF THE ZELATOR

Magician
(First Degree)

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Issued by
the Order of the
Thelemic Golden Dawn
(Order of the T\G\D\)

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By David Cherubim
(Frater Aurora Aureae)
Copyright 1991 e.v.

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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

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    The principal business of the Zelator of the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn is to do his/her True Will, or to realize his/her True Self in action. Zelator is the title of the Assistant of an Alchemist who must keep the fire burning in the Athanor or Alchemical Furnace. The Alchemist of the Operation is the Holy Guardian Angel, the Athanor is the human body, the Fire is the Sacred Flame of the True Will, and the Zelator is the self or personality of the Angel. As a Zelator you are to keep the Fire of your True Will burning in your body and brain, by constant dedication of yourself to the Great Work of doing your True Will that you may fulfill the Law of Thelema.

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    The word Zelator is derived from the ancient Egyptian word Zaruator, signifying "Searcher for Hathoor." Hathoor is otherwise called Het-Heru, that is, the House of Horus. This House of Horus is Nature Herself, the Temple of the Four Elements of which you are a zealous student.

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    In the Zelator Grade there is concentrated the Mysteries of the Four Elements, so that the fully initiated Zelator is also called a Theoricus, Practicus, and Philosophus. In the Zelator Grade you will complete the preliminary course of elemental initiation as represented by the four Sephiroth called Malkuth, Yesod, Hod and Netzach, which are the Elemental Sephiroth on the Qabalistic Tree of Life. Study well, O Zelator, all Qabalistic Mysteries connected with these four Sephiroth to attain an adequate comprehension regarding the Four Elements of Light, Life, Love and Liberty, and so shall you advance in your Knowledge of Nature.

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    To Know, to Dare, to Will and to Keep Silent. These are the true Mysteries of the Grade of the Zelator. The fruit of their performance is the Supreme Power to Go. To Go is the function of a God; it is the act of doing one's True Will. To Know, to Dare, to Will, and to Keep Silent are the magical means to control the Four Elements, to direct them according to the dynamic course of your True Will unto the ultimate attainment of the supreme realization of your True Self. To exercise the Four Powers of the Sphinx is to invoke the highest in you and to act as a Lord on earth. In the Book of the Law it is said, "The lords of the earth are our kinsfolk" and "the highest are of us." It is further said, "success is your proof." As a Zelator you are obligated to aspire to be the Lord that you are, which is the highest in you, by way of doing your True Will; and the only proof of your power is the measure of your success, which is the fruit of your dedication.

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    The Zelator of the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn is further entitled a "Magician." That is, the Zelator is one who exercises the four Magical Powers of the Sphinx to accomplish his/her True Will and to realize his/her True Self in action. A Magician is one who studies and controls the Elements of his/her own nature, and applies those Elements to the practical scheme of fulfilling his/her own True Will. The Magician is a maker of him/herself; s/he determines his/her own course of action in the Universe; s/he creates his/her own world in accordance with his/her own true nature. S/he lives and breathes as a god, as a self-created Lord of dynamic power and creativity. S/he understands the hermetic saying, "As above so below, and as below so above", and s/he acts in accordance with that wisdom, achieving success on earth below as in heaven above, and this as a sign of his/her illumination and progress. The outer is the symbol of the interior: the True Will of the Magician is a symbol of the True Self, and that by way of action. The key words of the Grade of the Zelator are "DO IT."

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    The Ceremony of the Zelator of the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn can directly inspire the Magician to do his/her True Will, to express the dynamic current of his/her own True Self. The Zelator is bound by Oath to do his/her True Will, and this very act of limitation is his/her magical means to absolute freedom, to be and to express his/her True Self. The force of limitation is Saturn; but this force is also the source of freedom when we are able to use limitation instead of being used by it. To take an Oath is a binding of the Will to a self-determined course of action; it is a limiting of one's concentration so that one may attain the object of one's Magick Oath. The Zelator binds him/herself to a single course of action, that is, the course of the True Will, to realize the True Self, since a Magician is a follower of the Path of the Universe, conforming with Her laws on all planes; and the True Will of the Magician is the Universal Will, and the True Self of the Magician is the Universe itself. In the Ceremony of the Zelator the Magician takes an Oath to exercise the Four Powers of the Sphinx, that is, to Know, to Dare, to Will and to Keep Silent, so that s/he may attain the lofty power to Go, to do his/her True Will and to realize his/her True Self. All else contributes to this kinetic course of action, cultivating Light, Life, Love and Liberty. The Oath is the Word and the Will; it is our vehicle of creative power and our magick link to freedom.

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    The Zelator of the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn should seek to master the Ritual of the Sphinx, the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram to invoke and banish the Four Elements, and the Ritual of the Tattwas to obtain elemental visions and accurate knowledge regarding the nature of the Elements.

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    The Zelator may also find it advantageous to learn the following Thelemic rituals by Aleister Crowley: The Mass of the Phoenix (Liber XLIV), A\A\ Publication in Class D, being a short ritual giving a simple magical Eucharist for daily use; and also Liber V Vel Reguli, A\A\ Publication in Class D, being the Ritual of the Mark of the Beast: an incantation proper to invoke the Energies of the Aeon of Horus, adapted for the daily use of the Magician.

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    The Zelator should meditate on a straight line. S/he should take a ruler or a pencil and by moving it a distance equal to its length, outline a square. Having done this, and after quieting his/her mind with the Fourfold Breath technique, s/he should mentally formulate and discover the occult significance of a Cube.

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    The Zelator should seek to master an Asana, or one of the Yoga postures, and s/he should seek to attain proficiency in one of the Pranayama techniques. You may consult Aleister Crowley's A\A\ Publication in Class B, Liber E Vel Exercitiorvm, Parts III and IV, for instructions on Asana and Pranayama. Also consult Aleister Crowley’s "Book IV", Part I, Chapters I and II and his "Eight Lectures on Yoga". Or you may consult any one of the many other informative books on Yoga that are available today to find and experiment with other prescribed forms of Asana and Pranayama. I do, however, suggest that you obtain a copy and make a thorough study of the book "Raja-Yoga", by Swami Vivekananda.

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    The Zelator should construct or have constructed for him/herself the four Elemental Tools of Magick, called the Wand, the Cup, the Dagger and the Pantacle. In either case, these four tools should be consecrated by the Zelator himself, and this in accordance with the elemental arrangement on the Tree of Life. Thus the first tool to consecrate is the Pantacle (Malkuth/Earth), then the Dagger (Yesod/Air), then the Cup (Hod/Water), and lastly the Wand (Netzach/Fire). When you advance to the grade of Dominus Liminis, you will then construct the fifth elemental tool, which corresponds to the so-called element of Spirit. You may consult Aleister Crowley's A\A\ Publication in Class D, Liber A Vel Armorum, Sub figura CCCCXII, for instructions with regard to the construction of the four elemental tools of Magick. Also consult Aleister Crowley's "Book IV", Part II, Chapters VI, VII, VIII, and IX for information concerning the occult meanings and proper usage of the elemental tools of Magick. Or you may consult any of the various informative Golden Dawn books on the market today that give instructions for the construction of the traditional Golden Dawn elemental tools.

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    The Zelator Grade refers to Malkuth, the tenth Sephira on the Qabalistic Tree of Life. Its corresponding Yoga Chakra is Muladhara, the Lotus of Four Petals. Its corresponding Planet is Saturn, and its Alchemical Metal is Lead. It is the Stage of Birth in the Novus Ordo Aurora Aurea.

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Love is the law, love under will.

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OATH OF
THE ZELATOR

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Issued by
the Order of the
Thelemic Golden Dawn
(Order of the T\G\D\)

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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

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1. I, ........................................................ [Motto], being of sound mind and body, and having resolved on this day ....................................... to prosecute the Great Work, do hereby solemnly swear:

2. To devote myself to the Great Work of doing my True Will.

3. To understand all things.

4. To love all things.

5. To do all things and endure all things necessary to the performance of my True Will.

6. To aspire to the Knowledge and Conversation of my Holy Guardian Angel.

7. To work without lust of result.

8. To banish the illusions.

9. To rely only upon myself.

10. To dedicate my every thought, word and deed to the Great Work of doing my True Will.

May the Order crown the work, lend me of its wisdom in the work, and enable me to understand the work!

Witness my hand [Zelator Motto] ..................................................................

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Love is the law, love under will.

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