Original Magic: The Rituals and Initiations of the Persian Magi - Stephen E. Flowers Ph.D. 2017

The Written Record
Initiation into Magic

Rûznevesht

The act of keeping a record of your daily initiatory work is important on many fronts. It makes you consciously aware of the progress you make and the steadiness of your effort. This is not merely a passive record but an active tool of initiation or magical training. Record your results each day immediately after closing your daily ritual work. Record the date and time of work along with any meditative insights, the quality of the performance, problems, and so forth. You can and should also write in this book any other important ideas you have throughout the course of the day, and especially perhaps in the evening just before going to sleep.

The first role of this document is, of course, the recording of what you did and how well you did in the effort of daily work. Obviously any unusual events or phenomena should be recorded. Any insights or realizations that occur to you based on the mediation of the day should also be written down. Again, these meditations are acts of synthesis wherein you bring together what you are learning of Mazdan teachings and the practical and experiential work that occurs during the daily curriculum of magical training.

Every entry should have a similar format so that the record can be reviewed easily. Here are two example entries from my Rûznevesht. The first is taken from an early phase of my own working of this system, the other from later on in the process.

A. 20. Bahram: Khordâd—Âtar. 8:00. Well done. Breaker of resistance. Resistance is constant in the world. It must be constantly broken. It is broken with constantly applied strength. Every moment of every day that strength is applied, resistance is broken. We are encouraged as we feel resistance being broken.

B. 19. Farvardîn: Dae—Âtar. 22:00. Excellent. Magic is not sorcery. Sorcery is motivated by the druj. Magic is communication with the fravashi, the development of the fravashi, acting from within the fravashi, which is always true. Magic is what you do as you enter the pantheon. Insight: The position of the sun at the moment of birth orients the soul to eight other points in the circle of 360 degrees, each 40 degrees separate from the other, forming a nine-pointed star made up of three interlocking triangles. This forms an esoteric reading of the soul. [Lord Wisdom sows more seed than the gardener can harvest.]

Note that the number, name, and significance of the day is recorded along with the word Âtar, meaning that the work was done in the presence of an actual flame. The time of day is also given. This is followed by notes on the quality of the work: Were the manthras performed well and smoothly with good awareness and concentration? To this is appended any thoughts or reflections from a meditative perspective. Later in the day, other notes from readings may be added. This type of daily record is kept for at least one year during the initiatory process.