The preparation of the place involves assembling all the materials in the room where the rite is to be performed. The walls should be adorned with the drapery of whatever colour has been recommended in the Table of Correspondences, but if such extravagance is beyond your means a cloth of the correct shade covering the altar will be suffcient. The altar itself may consist of an ordinary table or chest, but it must be large enough to accomodate all the necessary ritual impliments. If you intend taking your magic seriosuly you will sooner or later have to construct a propor altar of your own or have one made to suit your individual requirements. Contemporary magicians seem to have a penchant for the cube-shaped altars painted black inside and white without, these colours representing the material and astral worlds. Such altars are a recent invention and their use is a matter of taste.
We shall assume that you have already cleared all the furniture from the center of the room so as to provide ample space for the circle in which you will be working. With an ordinary compass you must now locate the four cardinal points and place on the floor the symbols of the elemental kings who govern them. These are:
North
This is the station of Earth and is ruled by Uriel. Its symbol may be rock, a handful of sand or just a clod of earth. Whichever of these objects you select, it is an advantage to obtain it from a sacred site, ideally one connected with the Ancient Mysteries. However, it is not always possible to cart back buckets of soil from Delphi or Eleusis, and it would be sheer vandalism to start chipping pieces off the Great Pyramid or the boulders of Stonehenge. I know of one magician who swears by a small rock he lofted from a cromlech in north Wales, while another regularly uses soil from a dolmen in Brittany. Until you have an opportunity of getting something on these lines yourself, you must make do with the best you can. Anything gathered from a spot where two paths cross is said to be particularily effective, and that should not be too difficult to manage.
South
The station of Fire is ruled by Michael, and a candle or votive light will be quite adequate here. If, of course, you are determined to do things in grand style, you can purchase a beeswax candle from any curch-supply shop. In chinese magic, red jade (chang) is widely used as the symbol of Fire.
West
Here we have the station of Water which is ruled by Gabriel. A glass of consecrated water is required. To perform the consecration you need only add a pinch of salt, the emblem of eternity, to a glass of rainwater and, while making the sign of the pentagram over it, say aloud: “I exorcise Thee, O Creature of the Water”. There is a far lengthier incantation in Latin, if you prefer. It goes like this:
“Te exorcizo per Dei omnipotentis virtutem qui regnat per saecula saeculorum. In nominibus Mertalliae, Musaliae, Dophaliae, Nemaliae, Zitanseiae, Goldaphairae, Dedulsairae, Gheninaireae, Geogropheirae, Cedahi, Gilthar, Godieth, Ezoliel, Musil, Grassil, Tamen, Puri, Godu, Hoznoth, Astroth, Tzabaoth, Adonai, Agla, On, El, Tetragrammaton, Shema, Ariston, Anaphaxeton, Segilaton, Primeuraton, Amen.” - Readers will recognize some of the divine synonyms among these barbarous names. If the water is to be used for washing, the magician has to invoke another batch of angels and demons: Imanael, Arnamon, Imato, Memeon, Vaphoion, Gardon, Existon, Zagverium, Zarmesiton, Tilecon, and Tixmion. Even if there are no astral beings to lay claim to all these names, their mere recitation is, it is claimed, useful since it produces acoustic vibrations which astrally charge the salt-water solution. The psychological effect on the magician’s mind is also important.
East
The last station belongs to Raphael, who rules Air. The object generally used to represent that element is a sprig of mistletoe, which is particularily appropriate because of its alleged druidic connection with the Sun, itself a symbol of Raphael. A card bearing one of the esoteric symbols of Air or the Sun’s astrological symbol will do as an alternative if you perversely decide to embark on your magical career when mistletow berries are out fo season.
-=The Circle=-
The circle on whose periphery the elemental symbols are placed may be drawn in chalk or, as Eliphas Lévi advised, made of strips of doe-skin. Less trouble is a circle made of string or cotton. It is important that the two ends be left undone until the magician is ready to step into the circle. once inside he can then tie up the ends that close the circle. Still less trouble is a circle that is visualized be the magician but has no ordinary physical existance. In the early days however, it is far wiser and more reassuring to have something tangible around you. There is a cautionary tale involving Aleister Crowley and Victor Neuberg who once decided to summon up the demon Choronzon in the Sahara Desert. When neither was looking, the fiend threw sand over part of the circle they had drawn, leapt inside and began to wrestle with the astonished Neuberg.
The curious thing is that the circle is scarcely mentioned at all in any of the extant Graeco-Egyptian magical papyri. Instead, the magician is told to depend for protection on amulets worn on his person. On thw whole, I think a circle may well be a great deal safer than a bettery of charms and talismans.
In many “grimoires” the magician is urged to reinforce his circle by writing barious names of power along its circumfrence. If you feel nervous, you may care to do this, although in my opinion it is unnecessary except in certain highly advanced and dangerous operations which do not concern us here. These names are mostly culled from the various forms of the Tetragrammaton and should be written in chalk on the ground or, which is probably more convenient, on cards which can then be placed at strategic points along the inner edge of the circle. Three favourite names for this purpose are Shaddai El Chai, Tetragrammaton and Ararita.