As part of my Q.D.Sh. ritual, I suggest a stage where one performs a kind of tuning, a sort of sync between oneself and the forces of the cosmos.  There are lots of different ways one can do this, and I show a real quick and dirty way in the above ritual.  The basic point of the ritual is to center the body, soul, spirit, and mind as well as to get one synched up with the energies one interacts with.  It’s not part of the basic grounding-centering-banishing-shielding framework a lot of magic lite practitioners do, but it’s something recommended to do all the same.  Energy cycling, balancing, charging, and other terms suffice for this kind of working.

One such ritual I’ve been using is Jason Miller’s “Pillar and Spheres” ritual, but I had some issues with the technique that simply weren’t working for me.  After some experimentation, I decided on the following ritual, with which I get some better oomph from.  It’s based on the seven vowels of Greek and the five complex letters theta, xi, phi, khi, and psi, each of which has attributions to the seven planets and five elements (four classical elements plus azoth/spirit/quintessence).  It’s kept the Pillar from Miller’s ritual, but incorporates a kind of plane-based element tuning as well as the Heptagram Ritual, a planetary attunement ritual that has its roots in the PGM.

1. Banish and center if desired, and make three deep breaths, each time making repeated Ψ sounds (like making popping sounds, “pss pss pss pss pss pss”) with your whole breath.  Stand up straight, feet shoulder-width apart, and shoulders back.
2. With your arms slightly extended with palms facing upward, picture a bright white light in the heavens.  Breathe in, intone the phrase “DESCENDAT COLUMBA” (“the dove descends”) or “ΙΑΩ” (“EE-AH-OUGH”); breathe out, and visualize a beam of pure white light descend through the crown of the head, down the spine, and out through the base of the spine.  Breathe for a few counts as desired, letting the light fill your body with a purifying, ennobling energy.  Feel your body move upwards into the heavens as the light passes through you downwards.
3. With your palms facing downward, picture a bright red light in the depths of the earth beneath you.  Breathe in, intone the phrase “ASCENDAT SERPENS” (“the snake ascends”) or “ΩΑΙ” (“OUGH-AH-EE”); breathe out, and visualize a beam of fiery red light pass upward through the base of the spine, up the back, and through the crown of the head.  Breathe for a few counts as desired, letting the light fill your body with an empowering, strengthening energy.  Feel your body move downward into the earth as the light passes through you upwards.
4. With the right arm raised and the left lowered, feel both shafts of light mingle and mix within the body, filling the entire body and all its parts with a mixture of red and white light, purifying and empowering all at once.  Breathe for a few counts as desired.
5. Extend both your arms out and downward.  Breathe in a dark brown to black, heavy, cool, compressing energy.  Exhale and exclaim ΘΙΑΩΘ (like you’re spitting out a “tah” sound, followed by “EE-AH-OUGH”, followed by “tah”) with your whole breath, letting the energy form a solid plane of earth underneath you.
6. Raise your left hand and keep your right hand lowered.  Inhale a fluid, cool, wet, pressuring energy.  Exhale and exclaim ΞΙΑΩΞ (like you’re hissing out “kssss”) with your whole breath, letting the water drain out to form an ocean at your waist.
7. Raise both your right and left hands.  Inhale a bright yellow, fast, buzzing, light, moist, and warm energy.  Exhale and exclaim ΦΙΑΩΦ (like you’re gently breathing out a “pah” sound) with your whole breath, letting the air rush out and forming a sky and clouds and wind around you from the waist up.
8. Lower your left hand and keep the right hand upheld.  Inhale a red, hot, active, expansive, and parching energy that rises upward.  Exhale and exclaim ΧΙΑΩΧ (like you’re coughing out a “kah” sound) with your whole breath, letting the fire rise up and fill the sky above you.
9. Stretch your arms out to your sides.  Inhale in a pure, white, clear light.  Exhale and exclaim ΨΙΑΩΨ with your whole breath, letting the light fill all the space and elements around you.
10. Stretch out both your arms to the left.  Inhale and intone Α (“AH”) for one beat.  This could be a heartbeat, a second, or whatever, but note the length.  Visualize a dark purple light.
11. Face north.  Put out your right fist, lowering your left hand.  Inhale and intone Ε (“EH”) for two beats.  Visualize a bright orange light.
12. Face west.  Extend both your arms, palms outward.  Inhale and intone Η (“EYY”) for three beats.  Visualize a vibrant green light.
13. Face south.  Place both your hands on your belly.  Inhale and intone Ι (“EE”) for four beats.  Visualize a golden shining light.
14. Face downward.  Bend down and touch your toes.  Inhale and intone Ο (“OHH”) for five beats.  Visualize a fiery red light.
15. Look up towards the middle distance and relax your eyes.  Put your right hand over your heart, lowering your left hand.  Inhale and intone Υ (“OO” or German “Ü”) for six beats.  Visualize a rich blue light.
16. Look up towards the sky.  Put both your hands on top of your head.  Inhale and intone Ω (“AUGH”) for seven beats. Visualize a pitch black light.
17. Face east again and raise your hands as far up as they can go.  Intone ΑΕΗΙΟΥΩ, seeing the seven colors around you in all directions.  Intone ΙΑΩ ΑΩΙ ΩΙΑ ΑΙΩ ΙΩΑ ΩΑΙ as you slowly lower your hands straight down, feeling the forces of the pillar, elements, and planets around and within you.  Intone ΩΥΟΙΗΕΑ, again seeing the seven colors.
18. Inhale deeply, press both hands over your sternum in a covered fist, and seeing all the forces around you shine vibrantly.  Inhale deeply again, breathing in all the forces into your inner being.
19. Extend both your arms outwards, right hand lifted up and left hand lowered, and intone ΙΑΩ ΣΑΒΑΩΘ (“EE-AH-OUGH SAH-BAH-OHT”).  Feel the vibrations conquer, master, and rule over all the cosmic, celestial, and elemental forces within you.
20. Go forth and be powerful.

It being a Monday and I was distracted by a Mercury timing this morning as well as the last dregs of a hangover from the weekend, I forgot to do my morning attunement.  To make up for that, I’ll be doing it later, and figured to share this with the world just in case someone wants yet another method of working with forces in a Hermetic cosmology.