Painting of the Sphere of Art Copyright Taylor Ellwood 2019
I wanted to share an example of a long running magical working I’m doing and how its shaping my life. I think its a good example that illustrates the value of long term workings and shows how they can proactively enhance and improve your life.
The working is the Sphere of Art, which I first learned about a few years ago, from R. J. Stewart. I began working with the Sphere actively when I started memorizing the chants in the fall of 2017. I chose to memorize the chants because I felt it would help me integrate the sphere into my memory, and consequently embody it. This is also the practice recommended by R.J. Memorizing the chants also served to introduce me to the archangels associated with each chant. This allowed me to get to know them further and paved the way for the actual work of the sphere. When you memorize the chants you condition your mind, body, and spirit to become open to the sphere and how it will interact with you.
I’ll admit that I also added a few chants on my own to the sphere of art. I didn’t do this haphazardly. Instead I did some research and determined that there were a couple additions I wanted to include that would fit the work I would be doing, because it included several other archangels that fit into the overall model of the sphere. I created the chants and memorized them as well and carefully tested them in conjunction with the original chants to see if there was a fit. I determined there was and decided at this point I was ready to begin the work with the sphere actively. The memorization I had done had laid the groundwork, but actively working the sphere couldn’t happen until the memorization was completed.
My initial work with the sphere of art just involved getting use to the movement of the sphere, and the elemental, cosmic, and underworld energies I was bringing into it. I spent the first month just doing the sphere of art without bringing anything else into it so that I could attune myself to the energies and embody them within me. After that initial month I started working with the alchemical materials that R.J. discusses in Sphere of Art 2 and I used the sphere to help me elevate the dry and wet versions of the materials through the sphere of art. I ended up doing 4 elevations of the material with a cycle of 22 days per elevation. Doing the elevations helped me to further integrate the sphere of art into my work and it also helped me attune to the Archangels and what they mediate.
After the elevations were done I set the alchemical material up in the Tree of Life glyph from the Quabala and meditated on that glyph while doing the sphere of art. With that particular I was meshing the alchemical materials with the energies of the Sephiroth as well as focusing on the energies of the paths between the Sephiroth. I did this particular work for a couple months.
Lately, I’ve been taking this work even further. Last month I worked with Sandalphon and the underworld energy as well as the Sephiroth Malkuth and the planetary energy of Earth. I’ve used the alchemical materials I’ve associated with Malkuth for this work to help enhance and amplify the work. This month, I switched over to Yesod, the planetary energy of the Moon, the elemental energy of water and Gabriel.
All of the work described above is being done in conjunction with the elemental balancing ritual, with the element of creativity. I’ve found that it has meshed with the elemental balancing ritual and helped me with my journey into working with creativity. It's also helped me process my grief around my father’s death.
In terms of how this work is shaping my life, I would say that it has had a transformative effect, not only in terms of working with creativity and my father’s death, but also in terms of living a healthier, happier life overall. The sphere of art has allowed me to meaningfully connect with the various energies being mediated and allowed me to integrate those energies into my life, but it has also helped me create better boundaries and conscious awareness of my life. It has shaped my approach to magic, moving me even more toward an experiential model that is about aligning with the universe and the relevant forces in it so they can work through me, as opposed to trying to impose my will on the world. I intend to continue working with the Sphere of Art, daily, for at least the next year or so, and possibly longer. With this kind of work, it may seem labor intensive, but the work builds on itself, and the process of iteration reveals further nuances that make the work more relevant. It changes your life because you make it part of your life. Certainly when I review what I’ve done with this work and how it has helped me work through some challenges in my life, I’ve come away more focused on what really matters, and my life has been shaped accordingly with more writing being produced and more magical experimentation happening.
