“High Magick is a current of energy that extends back all the way to ancient Mesopotamia. Somewhere around 3000 to 3500 B.C., something occurred in what would be present day Iraq. No one knows exactly what took place, but whatever it was ignited the evolution of humanity in the western world. From that moment on, western civilization exploded. Cities and kingdoms arose and fell like waves on an ocean. And even if we don’t know the exact details of what happened in Mesopotamia, we still know one thing for certain - this encounter gave birth to western man’s concept of “god”. Whatever took place can be pinpointed to a city called Nippur. From that point on, it was considered a sacred site - the most holy of all holy places. Nippur itself would never have a king or a royal palace, but the rulers of lands far and wide would still travel there to gain the blessings of the priests who tended the temple there day and night. The Kings went to Nippur to undertake what we in western magickal traditions call Initiation. It meant that the priests would invoke tremendous forces upon the king, which would energetically link him to the source of all life on Earth. That source was known by the name of Enlil. It was said that only Enlil could decide who would be king. If you didn’t leave the temple bearing the current of his energy, then you were not seen as a legitimate king. The priests who carried out these initiations wanted the current of energy they were passing to the king to be as powerful as possible, because they believe it corresponded directly to the prosperity of the land he ruled. The more of the current the king carried, the more prosperous his lands would be, in other words. When the king carried this current with him back to his lands, it would undergo cultural changes and modifications. What was known in its original form as Enlil would be known by thousands of other names throughout the world, but all were manifestations of the original energy current. When it reached the ancient Hebrew people, it became known as “Yahweh” - although the name was considered so holy it was never said aloud. In order to make the initiation process as powerful as possible, temples were built to align with certain constellations. This is because the architecture and alignment of the initiation chambers - such as the pyramids of Egypt - were meant to focus astrological forces upon the person being initiated. The architecture and astrological alignment would ensure this would happen whether the person receiving the current actually believed in it or not. This is one of the reasons High Magick is so effective at triggering the awakening process within the psyche - because it works irregardless of your beliefs or cultural conditioning. It is simply the conscious direction of energy.”
- Damien Echols, Patreon
There was a well-established concept of secrecy in Mesopotamia, associated with reserved knowledge. One finds, for example, the words AD-ḪAL = pirištu (in Sumerian and Akkadian, respectively, meaning "secret"), Nì-DUL = katimtu ("hidden," "covered"), and (KI)-ÙRU = niṣirtu ("guarded"). According to the traditions of Mesopotamian religions, there were gods entrusted with the divine secrets and they passed on the knowledge to royalty individuals, who in turn passed it on to classes of scholars and scribes. Guardians of heavenly and earthly secrets included Enki/Ea, god of wisdom, Nabu, Inanna, as well as Ninshubur (who kept the secrets of the sky god Anu) and Nuska (who kept those of Enlil, king of the gods).