To fully understand prayer, we need to examine it in relationship to the uniquely alchemical phrase "Ora et labora," or "Prayer and work," from which we get the modern term laboratory. Each alchemical session in which you handle products, operate with materials, review notes from experiments, or study alchemical literature should open with a period of prayer. Prayer was well understood by the alchemists of the past, and it formed the basis for their inner work. Unfortunately, prayer has become an almost lost art and is now poorly understood, especially by modern students of esotericism. Much of this comes from an association of prayer with Jewish and Christian religious practice. Many Wiccans and Neopagans who have left these traditions retain a strong negative emotional connection to them that prevents them from really progressing on their new paths. This has resulted, in the last decade or so, in the belief that magic is a system of mechanics, actions, and ideas devoid of any moral or ethical framework. Morals and ethics are the stuff of "religion"; magic is seen as the stuff of "spiritual people" or "initiates on the path." This desire to separate morals and ethics from esoteric practices is unfortunate, as it is the single most important reason for failure in occult operations that exists. Lack of confidence might rank first, but all too often, lack of confidence comes from a feeling of unworthiness or an inner sense that success would not be handled well. In essence, failure is essentially a moral and ethical issue.
If we succeed, how will we act? How will we treat ourselves? How will we treat others? Occult practices are designed to demonstrate the interrelationship of energy, matter, and consciousness. To believe that this kind of universe could exist but that we as actors in it are the supreme judge of right and wrong is foolish. This does not mean that to be successful in esotericism you need to believe in a "Creator God" or God as a distinct personality, as these ideas are absent in many systems. It does mean, however, that each alchemist believes in a Godhead-a cosmic mind, or focal point of intelligence from which all things arise. This Godhead is difficult if not impossible to express, and for that reason, in Qabala it is referred to as the Ain Soph Aur, or "Limitless Light." This Limitless Light is also known as the "Three Veils of Negative Existence," called negative because the Godhead or fount of creation cannot be limited to anything, anyplace, or anyone, and therefore is limitless. It is active, conscious, and life-giving, and therefore is light.
Alchemists know that in relation to this awesome power and wisdom, they are but mere shadows. They are humbled and in awe of the great mystery that creation is as well as their part in revealing, in their laboratories, the essence of all that is, was, or can be. To become greater than we are, we must remove the obstacles to our Becoming, our unfoldment. Through plant work, we can reduce and eliminate the psychic blockages that affect our physical and psychic bodies. But this is not enough if we simply fill them back up again with destructive thoughts, actions, and emotions. Yet of all the feelings that are destructive to our work, or to any work of spiritual progress, those feelings that will hold one back from experiencing the great height of spiritual Illumination, the worst is pride.
Pride is the worst of sins. When we say sin, we really mean the Hebrew word khate, from the root khaw-taw, which means "to err or miss the mark." As such, a sin is really an error, a mistake, something we did poorly through ignorance and misunderstanding. Pride is the worst form of ignorance, because it places one's self above all others. Even if justified because of professional or personal skill, pride separates us from others. Through it, we place ourselves on a pedestal and congratulate ourselves with false glory. Humility-sincere, genuine, and honest-is the hallmark of alchemists, humble because they know that they are the explorers of the vast territory of life, and not its owner or creator. Even as their consciousness merges into the Godhead, degree by degree, and their power and influence grows, genuine alchemists know that they are still but one aspect of the Divine Mind, and not the whole.
Unlike ritual, which requires the development of a superior state of mind, or meditation, which seeks to neutralize thoughts altogether, prayer is useful in establishing a humble and receptive attitude, in that typical prayer consists of a dialogue or conversation with our Inner Self, the Godhead within, and asks for assistance in the present undertaking.
The following prayer was left us by an anonymous German adept of the Great Art:
"0 holy and hallowed Trinity, Thou undivided and triple Unity! Cause me to sink into the abyss of Thy limitless external Fire, for only in that Fire can the mortal nature of man be changed into humble dust, while the new body of the salt union lies in the light. Oh, melt me and transmute me in this Thy holy Fire, so that on the day at Thy command the fiery waters of the Holy Spirit draw me out from the dark dust, giving me new birth and making me alive with His breath. May I also be exalted through the humble humility of Thy Son, rising through His assistance out of the dust and ashes and changing into a pure spiritual body of rainbow colors like unto the transparent, crystal-like, paradisiacal gold, that my own nature may be redeemed and purified like the elements before me in these glasses and bottles. Diffuse me in the waters of life as though I were in the wine cellar of the eternal Solomon. Here the fire of Thy love will receive new fuel and will blaze forth so that no streams can extinguish it. Through the aid of this divine fire, may I in the end be found worthy to be called into the illumination of the righteous. May I then be sealed up with the light of the new world that I may also attain unto the immortality and glory where there shall be no more alternation of light and darkness. Amen."'