The Cup and the Elixir

She rides astride the Beast; in her left hand she holds the reins, representing the passion which unites them. In her right she holds aloft the cup, the Holy Grail aflame with love and death. In this cup are mingled the elements of the sacrament of the Aeon.

 

Aleister Crowley – The Book of Thoth

 

You’re menstruating and are planning to create Elixir X and use it for magickal purposes, but what about the collecting of it? Although it’s possible to squat over a bowl or similar basin for collection and use your vaginal muscles to press it out of you – I regularly do that over the ritual cup for us to be able to drink the elixir with the ritual wine – it is not something that is easily done for everyone. It might also be too much seed and not enough menstrual blood for it to be a good mix, if you’re not having a rich menstrual flow. Luckily, there is an easier option: the menstrual cup.

But before I go in to the particulars about the menstrual cup, let’s discuss why we are creating Elixir X in the first place. Liber AL vel Legis, Chapter III, verse 24, tells us that “The best blood is of the moon, monthly”. This, of course, is a reference to menstrual blood (the monthly “moon” blood). For me, the reason why this blood is the best, is that it is a way for the woman, that takes part in sexual magick operations, to add her bit of herself to the mixture. This does of course happen at other times as well, with more or less amounts of vaginal fluids added to the created elixir, but the blood is not only a bit more, fluid wise, than the vaginal fluids it is also part of the female reproduction cycle just as the semen is a part the male one.

But wait, I hear you think, isn’t the menstrual blood actually the opposite of reproduction, you can’t get pregnant while menstruating, right? No, that’s actually not true. Semen can live for up to a week and women with short menstrual cycles may drop an egg during that week and get impregnated. It isn’t that common but it can still happen. Apart from that, though, is the question of the old, unfertilised egg, that will leave your body together with the menstrual blood. Let’s look a bit closer at that.

The egg is usually fertilised in one of the ovular tubes and will start growing until it reaches the womb and is ready to attach itself to the uterine lining (which has grown thick with blood to be ready for the egg, the very blood that will eventually leave you as menses). This means that if you want to create life, the time of your period isn’t the optimal time . But as long as your sexual magick operation isn’t meant to create actual physical life (i e to get you pregnant) then whether the egg will be able to grow into a human being or not isn’t a problem (or, actually, is a great thing since you probably don’t want to get pregnant at this moment). Instead, we will let the egg go through the womb unattached and exit it together with the menstrual blood. This means that the blood not only is a part of you but it also contains your half of the means of reproduction, your half of the DNA of a possible human being, in the same way as the semen does. So the menstrual blood can be seen as the female equivalent of the male semen when it comes to creating Elixir X.

 

All this also means that in order to really add your part to it, you can’t use a contraceptive method that will stop you from ovulating. That means no pills, no hormonal intrauterine devices or similar. Some of these will also stop you from menstruating which, of course, will keep you from getting “the best blood” in the first place. What I recommend is to use a copper-based contraceptive coil. This will let you ovulate and have your period as if your egg wasn’t fertilised since the only thing it does is keeping the fertilised egg from attaching itself to the uterine wall. And if you want to add some extra power to your monthly blood then you can make sure that the egg that comes with it is fertilised (preferably with another magickal operation) while still not getting pregnant. Neat, isn’t it?

Now, let’s get back to the actual collecting of the Elixir X. You are filled with the charged semen from your sexual magick partner and just waiting for your menstrual blood to mix with it. Rather than lying on your back with your legs in the air until you have enough blood in you for the elixir, I suggest that you use a menstrual cup. Insert it after the magickal operation (have it nearby or have your partner fetch it for you if you don’t want to stand up and risk that the semen pours out of you) and then just wait a couple of hours until you bleed enough for there to be a god mixture with the collected semen, which is also held in by the cup, in you. You can then take out the menstrual cup, carefully, so that you won’t spill any of the precious fluids, and use it in any way you want to. It’s very easy to pour it from the cup into the ritual cup for ingestion (rather than squatting and pushing), into a jar for safe keeping until it’s time for baking, or whatever use you have for your elixir. If you want to, you can even give your elixir an extra boost by meditating, doing ritual or magick while it’s collecting within you. Just keep an eye on your amount of flow so that you know how long it will have to stay in to collect enough blood.

Ready for a menstrual cup and unsure of which one to choose? These days there are many brands to choose from and here’s a list of 36 different brands for you to go through and see what fits you. I have a Moon cup (I just couldn’t resist the name) and am very happy with it. A note on fit, though: The recommendation is that you should use the larger size if you’re above 30 of age or have given birth vaginally. I have passed that age with some margin and am still using the smaller size without leakage, which tells me that the bigger one would be uncomfortable for me. There are of course natural differences between all of us in size but there’s also the matter of muscular fitness in your pelvis area. If you’ve done your Kegel exercises (which I suggest you should, in order to be as fit as possible for various sexual magick workings) then you should probably go for the smaller one even if you’re older than 30. Note that the length and width varies with the different brands so that what will be small on one brand might be almost large at another. Have a look around before buying, change size and/or brand if you’re not happy with the fit until you’ve found the perfect cup for you. Then you can collect the elixir in a cup that’s truly made for it!

Cakes of Light (CoL)

“For perfume mix meal & honey & thick leavings of red wine: then oil of Abramelin and olive oil, and afterward soften & smooth down with rich fresh blood.
The best blood is of the moon, monthly; then the fresh blood of a child, or dropping from the host of heaven: then of enemies; then of the priest or of the worshipers: last of some beast, no matter what.
This burn: of this make cakes & eat unto me….”
(Liber AL vel Legis, Chapter III, verse 23-25)

Most Thelemites and many occultists are familiar with the concept of ”Cakes of Light”.  Known under diverse names, such as ”Cakes ov Light”, ”The Portable Elixir” and ”The Tooth-breaker”, this minute round digit has over the years enthusiastically been given many names. Used as part of the Sacrament in the E.G.C. Mass, this item has also been central to the regular worship of the Thelemic seasons.

Besides being a sacramental unit, magickal usage of the CoL might include enabling to partake of a single portion of the Elixir over longer periods of time, in different or other places than it was created or even administration of the elixir to sick and needy who do not have the opportunity participate in the creation of it.

A quick investigation of the CoL recipes currrently in the public domain reveals much the same discovery that a visit to your local EGC mass might, namely that the CoL offered are closer to a jaw breaking ordeals than magickal sacraments.

We have tested and tried this recipe not only to meet our personal requirements and high standarts, but even to include those practical considerations that would be self-evident in the creation of delicious and pleasing CoL

So, without further ado..

THE RECIPE

One might claim that baking is an exact science. It is Chemistry. Likewise, that baking is an art. It is culinary creativity in expression.
In order to create proper Cakes of Light, those somewhat small, dry, tasty cookie-like items to have on one’s alter, it would seem necessary to follow an instruction with exact measures to recreate the correct amounts of elements that would make an exact recreation possible. Hence, this recipe.

4,5 dl wheat flour
6 tablespoons olive oil
8 tablespoons honey, liquid
2 ml Thick Leavings of Wine
3 ml Bicarbonate (Natron)
3 drops of pure Abramelin oil (if made with essential oils, if not then 7 drops)
Elixir X, one load (preferably refrigerated or recently thawed if frozen)

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Mix all the wet ingredients (except Elixir X) in another bowl. Mix e.g. the Abramelin oil together with the olive oil first: Good idea to thin out the Abramelin oil in advance, since the Abramelin oil is not easily dissoluble. First measure out the oil, then the honey, since the oil makes sure that the honey is easily detachable from the measuring device.
If you are not using Potassium Bitartrate but thick leavings of wine/port, then mix the thick leavings in the wet portion.  If using Potassium Bitartrate, please adjust the amount of flour (e.g. adjust it to 4 dl flour and 1.5 ml Potassium Bitartrate).
Mix in the Elixir into the wet ingredients (the coldness of the Elixir makes sure that the oil and the honey will mix well). Make sure to mix in the elixir well.
Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ones. If sticky, then add more flour until the dough is easy to roll.
Roll out the mix until it is ca. 1.5 mm thick
Cut out small cakes (the top lid of a wine bottle will work well as a form)

Bake in 175 degrees for about 10 mins (or until they have been thoroughly baked).

Specifics about this recipe:

Thick leavings of wine:
Traditionally, the recipe calls for “thick leavings of wine”. (LL 3:23)
This was, in previous centuries, a bi-product of the wine making procedure that left residue elements from the wine making process present in the wine, which would then over time gather at the bottom of the bottle.
Since the wine making procedure today has improved greatly, that is to also include better standards of filtering and other equally delightful improvements, we have witnessed a creativity amongst CoL bakes to find ways to recreate this element in order to follow the recipe to the letter, yet not always understanding this points true function.
We have therefore seen e.g. some try to boil down Port to a gooish mass, others have sought out bottles of wine that are made the old way (e.g. some brands of Natural and Ecological wines and certain expensive brands that do not filter the wine), and so on…
We estimate that the function of this element in the recipe was to bring to the cakes a yeast process in combination with the High PH value of the Elixir. We can therefore recommend to swap it out with Potassium bitartrate and Bicarbonate, as a possible alternative.
If you feel that by swapping out this element with Potassium bitartrate / “Cream of Tartar”, you are somehow creating something other than the traditional CoL, there are, as mentioned before, creative ways to partially or wholly recreate the “Thick leavings of wine”:
Port:
If you insist on using “Thick leavings of wine”, using the thick leavings found at the bottom of certain port bottles is an easy and inexpensive way to get a hold of the necessary naturally occurring “Thick leavings”.
There are three major kinds of Port: Ruby, Tawny and Vintage.  A cheep Ruby port can have unfiltered crystals and such a port may be used to collect the heavier mass at the bottom and thus extract the crystals to activate the necessary chemical reactions in the dough. The chemicals may appear as a darker fluid or as small crystals, not unlike grains of sand. When such crystals form in bottles of Port, boiling the port is not necessary.
Abramelin oil:
With the strength of the Abramelin oil made today, with all the high quality of essential oils presently out on the market, we estimate that it is necessary to adjust the dosage accordingly. That is, unless you want a slightly Christmas like taste to your CoL (meaning, that the taste of cinnamon will totally take over). If your Abramelin oil has been made without essential oils or only partially with such high grade oils, we recommend of course that you add some more drops to the mixture.
Elixir:
“This burn: of this make cakes & eat unto me” (LL. 3:25)
It would seem that this has been interpreted in a diverse number of ways. “This Burn” has inspired a number of CoL bakers to burn the dough mentioned in LL 3:23 to a powder (on account of it containing blood) and then use this powder in a new dough, almost identical with the original (yet without the blood). In other words, this makes the new dough have an “Elixir X” in it that has been burnt to a powder and reintroduced into the dough.
We find that this does not make sense and advise to stick to one making of the Dough, and “burn” the cakes the original way in an oven at 200 degree Celcius for 10 mins or until the baking is done.
Use the cakes for yourselves, if you fear sharing your Elixir with others.
Result:
By following this recipe, the cakes produced will be dry, crispy and long lasting, making them ideal for keeping on the altar. Also, since they are dry there is no need to keep excess cakes in the freezer.
The optimal consistency of these cakes enables for a more pleasant and enjoyable sacrament at the mass. No need to flush it down with wine and no broken teeth.