The Inner Circle

The Aster or Esokirkos

The Aster — also known as Esokirkos which means inner circle — is a three-dimensional path around a sphere that produces a perfect pentagram when seen from one direction. This path does not exist in nature as far as I am aware, but is part of divine geometry nonetheless. It is a constrained helix which is forced back into itself against its natural inclination, producing an infinite encircling. Perhaps the electron or other sub-atomic particles use this path around their nucleus, if indeed they could be considered to be something other than a field of interaction. But in a human performance the path does not feel natural and is constantly fighting against you by trying to spin off into helices. It is this aspect of its manifestation that lends itself to magick as a powerful containment sigil, used to represent the bending of nature to the will of the practitioner. This is where physical reality can cross over into the divine by the use of the sacred geometry that belongs to it. It may be alien to physical performance but it is demonstrably pure and valid as a divine form. If mathematics is the language of God, then the manifestation of this path in physical form might be called the art of God.

The path's curves carve out an orb in space, a perpetual helix turning back into itself as its partial circles eventually rejoin to fulfil a wholesome encircling of an invisible sphere. This is the ultimate infinity symbol, one that fulfils the role for a sign for the universe (as I use in One Turning), showing a perpetual twisting in the three dimensions of space, while time is represented in the unending path itself, which would not exist without it.

The paradigm to be sought for during the performance of the Aster is of an invisible sphere formed by the producing of the path and the imagination of this creating a magical world. It is this realm of psyche that allows it to be a sacred germination chamber, where the created world can become the womb for anything you wish for.

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The Geometry of Wishing

The pentagram is synonymous with the symbol for a star for which the Greek word is "aster". The Aster of Megâk is the artefact for desire (the word desire literally meaning from the stars - long for, wish for; demand, expect). Wish upon a star and consider what you wish while you perform the Aster, and expect from it your desire.

The word consider contains the Latin for star, and literally means with the star. The meaning of the word consider is to look at closely, observe, and points to the musing that accompanies the performance of the practice, and is the meditation that is within the performance. The desire is thought of while the path is performed — this really is wishing upon a star.

But this wishing is not a passive hope; it is a structural action. To understand the mechanism of this magick, we look to the etymology of supplication. In society, this implies begging, but its root is sub-plico: to fold beneath. The Aster, with its infinite turning and twisting, is a machine of folding. It has a tightening aspect to it, a wrapping of the intent. To supplicate is not to bow in weakness, but to fold the wish beneath the mind (sub-mon – summon), twisting it into the subconscious fabric.

This folding acts as a weaver’s knot. The Greek root – Πλεκω, (from the "plicate" of "supplicate") means to twine, braid, or weave. The Aster’s unique physical action is a weaving of ideas into reality by persistent and focused intent. It is the braiding of the wish. This aligns with the ancient definition of prayer, precor: to entreat with a calm mind. It is this calmness — this considering or observing — that allows the wish to be securely folded into the void, rather than lost in the turbulence of desperation.

The wishing upon the star is therefore the focusing upon affirmations whilst performing this weaving action of encircling a sphere. Because the movement is continuous and tightening, whatever you are thinking of when performing it will become ingrained and etched into your neurological processes along with the physical action.

The first thing you ask for is to have the energy and faith to pursue your path, then it can only be a matter of time before your wish is fulfilled. One of my wishes upon this star has used the unending technique of the encircling to fully exercise the shoulders by using the arms at full extension with a Dragonfly technique called the Olikos Astergate, which is the literal action of creating a pentagram around you for protection. This is a banishing ritual using the pentagram in its true form.

The energy is from the work that is in the action which comes from your interest. It is your interest that produces the energy and it is your faith that is the sustaining of this interest.

The spiritual vision of the Aster, is it sort of glowing in a space and time that is different in an indescribable way. It is sort of sparkly in this eidetic image, ethereal and dreamlike like the visions that come from the divine.

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The Somatic Asters

The Aster path can be duplicated in imagination in different parts of the body: within the pelvis, the thorax, the throat, the belly centred around the navel, and inside the head revolving around the pineal gland. This is a mapping of a method using sacred geometry upon the physical body.

The Encephalic Aster, located within the head, is concerned with psychic matters and their conjuration via conceptual methods. This can be a method for inducing an OBE, as the encircling of the Aster within the head allows the separation of the mind from the somatic mapping, with the consequent potential of leaving the body.

The Cervical Aster is associated with communication, and desires performed within this area will be to do with conversing with others and integrating with society. It aids in the acquisition of authority and gravitas.

The division of the Asters of the body mostly corresponds with the vertebral grouping of the spine: cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral, with an intermediary at the thoraco-lumbar junction — the solar plexus at the front.

Each Aster is the hub of a Penter and the surrounding circles produce the spacing between the Asters.

The Conjoined Penters alternate: Mirror, Gate, Mirror, Gate, Mirror. The Encephalic and Cervical Asters form the upper Mirrorway, while the Cervical and Thoracic Asters form the uppermost Gateway, while a middle Mirror is composed of the Thoracic and Solar Plexus Asters; the Solar Plexus and Omphalos Aster form the lowermost Gate, and the lower Mirror comprises of the Omphalos and Sacral Aster. The locations of the Asters are determined by the Penters at key somatic positioning (see The Somatic Maps of Megâk), which seem to correspond to the chakras of various other systems and consequently could — if wished to — use their relative symbolism and meaning. The word chakra means wheel or rotate; the Aster is a wheel that rotates in all directions — I wonder if this is what Ezekiel saw!

The Thoracic Aster is your heart's desire. This should be the very foundation of what you want out of life. When you get what you want, you are contented, and so why not just go straight to contentment and be love, which is what the heart is associated with. This will produce grace.

The Omphalos Aster, centred on the navel, is the core of yourself, the First Self. The desires here should be for a return to your natural and pure self, without any societal influence. The navel is the original opening and so the portal to your First Self.

The Sacral Aster sits within the pelvis. The shape of the sacrum echoes the downward aspect of the pentagram, while the horizontal of this Zedexwhyzed configuration is supported by the pubic symphysis. The bottom of the pentagram touches the coccyx and the perineum while the whole sphere fits snugly within the pelvic bowl.

The centre of gravity (shown by ), is a little lower than usually depicted, which is achieved by bending the knees. While standing in this position it places your centre of gravity level with the trochanter of the femur and the pivoting of the leg within the socket of the pelvis.

The Aster — also called the Inner Circle — when performed within the pelvic cavity, is an encircling of a sacred point within a sacred place with a sacred symbol.

The Sacral Aster is where we wish for stability and grounding and the power and strength that comes from that. It is the place of balance and where we become free from fear.

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There are other performances such as the Glossaster, which is an Aster performance done with the eyes closed and linking the after-image of the pentagram with the motion of the tongue within the cavity of the mouth. The feeling that derives from this, along with the sound that it produces, and the sustained slow breathing necessitated from the in and out toning, produces the meditation and the mechanism for mantra and magick. The sensation of the humming when located at the cervico-thoracic junction unlocks the vertebral joint and opens the gateway from the spine to the head.

Eidetic imagery is created by the concentration upon a geometric symbol which can then be used like an AR overlay template. This is necessary for the performance of the Aster along with the sounds that may accompany the action and known as the Enchanting of the Aster.

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Asters of Distortion

Although it is necessary to perform a perfect Aster for the Cosmic Key, it is possible to be wildly divergent from the form for other purposes such as linking the kidneys into the Sacral Aster to effect a fuller strength paradigm in the grounding. In the latter case, the two upper points would reach the kidneys while the centre remains within the pelvis, elongating the Aster in this diffuse performance. Unlike the Cosmic Key, which is all about perfecting the orbit to locate its centre, the purpose of other Asters is to focus upon a physical location or harnessing a spiritual paradigm, or yoking aspects of something together. In these latter performances, a strict rendition of the Aster is not necessarily required or important.

Likewise you can extend the tails of an Upper Aster down your legs to your knees to provide a greater physical zone, and conversely extend the tails of a Lower Aster into your shoulders while Stirring the Sacral Aster. These extensions allow the heads and tails of different Asters to meet and jump an Aster such as the the head of the Omphalos Aster to join with the Cervical Aster, reaching into the back of the neck and using that awareness in straightening it.