Rousing of the Citadels

A faithful summary of the Rousing of the Citadels (short attributed phrases only):

1. Settle and breathe rhythmically. Sit or stand erect and relaxed. Establish a slow, even, rhythmic breath (a steady in-count and out-count) and let the body soften — the calm, regular breath underlies the whole exercise.
2. First Citadel — above the head. Imagine a sphere of brilliant light just above the crown. As you breathe, see it grow bright, clear, and steady. Dwell until it feels luminous, without straining.
3. Second Citadel — the throat. Carry the light down to a sphere at the throat; breathe into it and let it brighten in turn.
4. Third Citadel — the heart / solar region. Bring the light to a sphere at the centre of the chest/solar plexus — for Denning & Phillips the central balancing point — and let it glow warmly and strongly.
5. Fourth Citadel — the feet. Carry the light down to a sphere at the feet and ankles, anchoring the column to the earth.
6. Unite and circulate. See the Citadels joined by a shaft of light down the central axis; with the rhythmic breath, let the light circulate through the whole figure so the body feels evenly bright and charged. Rest a few breaths in this roused, receptive state — then proceed to the creative-visualization work, or ground the light down into the feet/earth to close. (Sourcing note: a faithful summary of Denning & Phillips’s Aurum Solis exercise; the term “Citadels” and the rhythmic-breath structure are theirs, attributed; descriptions are paraphrase, not reproduction.)

Melita Denning and Osborne Phillips, senior officers of the Aurum Solis (founded 1897), set out this exercise in their popular Llewellyn Practical Guide to Creative Visualization (1980) and, in fuller form, in the order’s Magical Philosophy.

It is a Western-Hermetic body-of-light energising drawn along the central column of the self — a microcosm of cosmic order (The Inner Creates the Outer, as above so below).

The “spheres of light down the central axis, vibrated/breathed into life” pattern is widespread; the Rousing of the Citadels is the Aurum Solis form, distinct in its named Citadels, its emphasis on rhythmic breath, and its role as a preliminary to visualization rather than a stand-alone working: - Regardie’s Middle Pillar — the parallel Golden Dawn form: five centres, each with a vibrated Hebrew divine name; Denning & Phillips’s Citadels differ in number, points, and the breath-not-name emphasis.

• Regardie’s Circulation of the Body of Light — the fountain-circulation that finishes such work.
• Brennan’s chakra charging — a modern energy-healing analogue of lighting up body centres.
• Woodroffe’s shatchakra-bheda — the Tantric subtle-body system the Western versions echo.
• Tube of light (Prophet) — a single column-of-light protective/charging form.

Forcing the light. Straining to “see” a brilliant sphere creates tension; let each Citadel brighten gently with the breath.

• Skipping the rhythmic breath. The slow even breath is what does the calming; visualising while tense and shallow-breathing weakens the whole thing.
• Omitting the feet / grounding. Lighting the upper Citadels and stopping can leave one spacey; always carry the light to the feet and ground to close.
• Treating it as the whole working. It is a preliminary; its job is to reach the receptive state, then move on to the actual visualization.
• Marathon sessions. Short, regular practice builds the cue better — and is safer for the dissociation-prone — than occasional long ones.