The stone missal: A grimoire on the magick of the gargoyles

114 Pages·1993·15.279 MB·English

by  Robert Blanchard

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INTRODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION
THE STONE MISSAL
by: Robert Blanchard
The approach used In editing this work for the
Second Edition has been that of a format which is as
close to the original Grimoire as possible, so that the
integrity of the work remains Intact. Consequently, it
will have elements of the 6th to 16th century meanings
as residual energies stemming from the Medieval Latin
in which it was originally scribed. The Latin of those
years was of a Vulgar, or commonly popular type, which
spanned the period mentioned above. More specifically,
it was scribed during the late part of the 13th century,
in the Latin of 1285, but was not translated into English
until the late 1500s. 16th century English was the lang­
uage of Middle English time, about 1100 to 1500 of the
Common Era. However, elements of earlier Anglo-Saxon,
or Old English also appear as Influences in Middle Eng­
lish, so that it becomes a complex study in linguistical
evolution to Modern English eyes. It is not our purpose
to delve into the language differences, or exact trans­
lations of Old and Middle English which are, functional­
ly, nearly lost to Modern English. Rather, we should like
to address the energies which continue to live in this.
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As with all Grlmolres, you are at your own risk in using
the knowledge properly, and must be sure to take all due
precautions by way of Protection and Banishment. Do not
dabble or play with this book; there is power, here, of
strange and ancient entities as represented in the con­
cept of the olden Gargoyles. Many have, though, used it
successfully, with the proper techniques being followed,
and by preparing the special equipment as noted in this
book. Remember to use special care in incorporating the
subject matter into your own personal practice. It is
also advised that those unfamiliar with this form of
Magick thoroughly read the book through, to themselves,
before actually practicing any of the invocations. If
there is not a complete understanding, at best it will
not work well; in the worse cases, one may not be able
to manage the entities Invoked, and dire results are
quite likely as an outcome.
The Guild Membership is encouraged to make use of this
ancient form of Magick, and again, let us know your own
experiences with it. All the best in Gargoyle Magick!
THE GUILD MASTERS
e=G = 0=9=9 = 0=0=0 = 0=0=9=0=0=0=0=0=0=0=0=0=G=0=0=0=0=0 = 0=t.
THE STONE MISSAL
SECOND EDITION
by: Robert Blanchard
Published by: The International Guild Of Occult Sciences,
College and Research Society
1992, Palm Springs, CA
No part of this book may be reproduced, except for the
usual quotations by way of review, without express per­
mission of the I.G.O.S. The Guild Society invites your
comments, articles on the subject matter, or additional
information, papers and the like. Please contact the
Guild as to your own experiences with Gargoyle Magick:
255 North El Cielo Road, Suite 565, Palm Springs, CA 92262
This is a powerful book, filled with the power of ancient
magickal knowledge as recorded in the olden Grimoire,
THE STONE MISSAL. The Guild has re-edited it into the
more Modern English version of this Second Edition by
Guild Research Writer, Robert Blanchard. As with all
Grimolres from olden times, much has been lost to past
history, and the reader must be very careful in using
these books, since major differences have occurred in
the meanings over the hundreds of years gone by.
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the 20th century, even in the Modern English translation
we provide. The passages which are not translated into
modern English, that is to say the energies of the pri­
mal invocations in Middle and Older English, must remain
as they appear in the original Grimoire. Those who are
skilled in such translation will, no doubt, find the in­
tended meanings to these ancient words. It is not at
all any the less powerful to use the original words, and
in fact, may even invoke more powerfully loaded Magick by
so doing. The rest of the text will allow for the pract­
ical usage of this ancient Magick, in the form of the more
Modern English translation.
Although the reader is assisted by such translation,
it must be remembered that it merely seeks to adapt the
times in which it was written to your own modern day form
of practice. The intent of the ancient text remains es­
sentially the same today; you are contacting the energies
we address anew, the entities of spirits as embodied in
the Gargoyles. They are the spirits which are timeless
in the Universal picture of life, representatives of our
own ancestral imaginations, inspirations, and honoring.
As grotesgue as they appear to be, it must be placed in
the context of what these symbols stood for, and how our
ancestors related to the mystical, magickal, and social
representations of a more spiritual concept than would appear
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by the Venerable Kogg, in the late 15th century, and was
the first book of the series. A second book appears as
a rule and governing book concerning the organizing of
a Cloister of subsequent times uncertain. Beyond the
initiation rites of this second book, a third concerns
itself with the actual Cloister rituals, in the Vulgar,
and had the purpose of safeguarding as an intent; it was
to preserve this Gothic art form of the Gargoyles in the
event the Cloister Order may die off, as it indeed did.
Jon Symon, in his 1979 Edition of this book, has
provided the above research, and continues on with the
"Story of Fadge and the Gargoyles",which we shall re­
print in its entirety as the Preface to the actual "The
Stone Missal" translation in Part Two. As originally
related in the 1565 translation by the Venerable Kogg,
Part Two will go on with the text and illustrations
which have been given us from those times.
In Part One, we will provide a basic orientation
to the thinking on the subject of Gargoyles, and give
the reader more on the significance of the deeper meanings
behind these symbols. There is so much more to the idea
of Gargoyles than their grotesque and frightening appear-
ence may suggest at first sight. Explore the essences
before going on to invoke and contact the actual entities.
The author's Commentaries will also be provided at the end
The entymology of the word "Gargoyle" comes to us
from Old French ("gargouille"), derived from Latin,
("gurgulio"), which referred to the gullet, the human
windpipe or trachea. At the outset, we can see how a
relationship may have grown out of this original mean­
ing: the breath of life-sustaining air is taken in by
the windpipe in the breathing process, it is also the
inspiration of not only oxygen, but to the ancients, an
inhaling of "spirit", as though the air itself contained
the vital force, the spiritual animation for living, and
the mental inspiration, as well. In the time in which the
original Grimoire was written, the Latin word had come to
mean a "water spout", as used in the projection of such
a spout, probably guite plain at first, from a rooftop
gutter in order to direct the rainwater run-off away from
the architectural structure to prevent any minor flooding
of the buildings. As man, the builder, incorporated the
spirits of his beliefs into his buildings, the spouts
became ornate representations of those beings which were
important to his security and belief system. Thus, the
term "gargoyle" came to refer to the carvings themselves,
even if not used as functional spouts.
The original Grimoire was composed of an apparent
three book compilation, attributed to Canon Fadge, in
the year 1285. It was later translated from the Latin
PART 1
SEEING WITH THE EYES OF A GARGOYLE
by: Robert Blanchard
Joseph Campbell, In The Power of Myth, with Bill
Moyers, Doubleday, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney,
Auckland, 1988, Edited by Betty Sue Flowers, does not
come to extend his work to Gargoyles, in particular,
in this book on Myth. There is, however, an underlying
theme which directly bears on the subject, if we do go
on to consider the Gargoyle as but one specific symbol
or image in the broader arena of mythological symbolism
and Imagery. That the Gargoyle stemmed from Latin and
French, becoming the Gothic form of more specific an
imagery, is good evidence of a mythology of the Germanic,
or ancient Teutonic influences making themselves known in
this art/mythic form; they, later in the early Christian
Era came to over-run what was the last vestige of the old
Roman Empire in that area inhabited by the Ostrogoths and
Visigoths (East Gothics and West Gothics). Campbell's
work may be applied to this more specific culture, and
his concepts underlying mythic symbolism may be applied
to these peoples beliefs, as represented in their images
of the Gargoyles.
The principle and style of Gothic Art and Architect­
ure, even the Literature of those times, is very stark.
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It was a reflection and a representation of their way of
life and social order, often stark in the inhospitable
climes of the North which they had to overcome to live
in. Life gets reflected in Art, and that Art may also
come to be imitated in life. Gothic Architecture orig­
inated in France, from perhaps even more ancient Gaulish
concepts of the esoteric sort, spreading out to the rest
of Europe, but particullarly centrated with the Goths
from those earlier Influences, became rather unique a
form in the Gargoyle we know today.
The characteristics of Gargoyle Art Imitate life
itself, and may be said to be the spirit of that life,
handed down the many generations who made do in that
environment. Chiseled in stone, perhaps once even carv­
ed in wood, the faces of life reflect the characteristics
of her people; it is lacking in the classical, a comb­
ination of the understated and overstated, grotesque and
awesome in that beauty of rudeness and its instance of
Inelegance. These stone faces, these Gargoyles, these
abstractions which seem so bizzare and derogatory, port­
ray the souls of many a warrior, king, peasant, priest,
or even unknown lovers who lived and died in this culture.
It is a stop-motion photograph, a family album of its day.
It gets to the spirit and soul, the fantastic essene of
all hopes and dreams a people have; it is Magick at its best!
Although these stone faces and images take on an
animal form, or combination of anlmal/human distortion,
it is not animism or animal worship as such. We must
think again in abstract terms of the portrayal of spirit
in these figures, but a very fanciful, whimsical at times,
even fierce or angry presentation of these spiritual (or
humanly emotional) aspects. Ancestors always provide the
teachings of a culture, even if passed down orally or in
art, etc. The Gargoyle, in this sense, is cryptic, and
not unlike the ways of the Old Norse and Germanic ideas
of hiding esoteric meanings in their cultural formats
(as "kennings" - phrases or words with hidden meanings,
known only to the particular population, were used in the
oral Skaldlc Verse of those earlier ancestral cultures).
The cryptic Rune Stones, the runes themselves, hold the
many secrets of that society; teaching was but one of the
functions, even if kept hidden from unwanted eyes. The
animal portrayals in the Gargoyles are of even more anc-
iency, from some common primitive ancestor of a hunter-
gatherer society who knew the importance of passing on
the valuable "magic".
Joseph Campbell saw all animal images as symbols;
they were. Indeed, early man's precursors of both the
concept of a god or deity, and extended to the figure
of a primal "father". The father, he has pointed out, is