Every member of the Guild, from the newest Apprentice to the Guildmaster, does three things each day: keeps the Lamp, opens and closes the Gates, and writes the Record. Together they take about half an hour. Everything else in the course of study is built on them.
The lamp does not care how long you sat with it last month.
Ambrose Tolland, The Binder's Notebook
The Lamp
The first work is stillness. Its purpose is to train the one faculty on which every other operation of the Art depends: the power to place the attention on one thing and keep it there.
- Sit upright, on a chair or on the floor, with the lamp at about eye level and an arm's length away. Light it.
- Breathe in to a slow count of four, hold for four, breathe out for four, and hold for four. This is the Fourfold Breath. Continue for some three minutes, until the count keeps itself.
- Let the breath go its own way and rest the eyes and the attention on the flame. When the attention wanders, as it will, bring it back without comment.
- Begin with five minutes at the flame. Add a minute a week until you reach twenty.
That is the whole instruction. It is not relaxation, though it is often restful, and it is not a search for visions, though the mind will offer some. It is practice in returning.
The Gates
The second work is the short form of the Rite of the Four Gates, performed once a day, standing, with the lamp still lit. It takes about six minutes. In the first weeks it is read from the page; by the end of the first month it should be known by heart. Its daily repetition does for ceremony what scales do for a musician. The gestures stop being gestures and become a way of standing in a room.
The Record
The third work is the one the Guild is known for. Immediately after the Lamp and the Gates, the member writes down what was done. The Record is a bound notebook, written by hand, in ink, with nothing torn out. Each entry gives:
- the date, and the time of beginning and ending;
- the planetary day and, later in the course, the hour;
- the phase of the Moon and the weather;
- the state of body and mind, in three or four words;
- what was done, exactly;
- what was observed, without interpretation;
- and, added afterward with its own date, anything that followed.
Once a month the member writes a one-page summary for his or her mentor. The Record itself is private. No officer of the Guild may demand to read it.
A sample entry
Thursday, March 12. 6:40 to 7:08 in the morning. Day of Jupiter. Moon waning crescent. Clear and cold.
State. Slept badly. Restless, a little irritable.
Done. Fourfold Breath, 3 minutes. Lamp, 12 minutes. Gates, short form, from memory.
Observed. Attention left the flame nine times (counted). Voice unsteady at the West; had to begin the address again. Warmth in the hands from the third Gate onward. No images.
Added March 19. The restlessness of that week ended on the day I began to count the lapses. Possibly unrelated.
The entry is typical in being unremarkable. A Record made of entries like this, kept for a year, is worth more to its keeper than any book in the Guild's library.
A first month
| Week | The Lamp | The Gates | The Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | Fourfold Breath for 3 minutes, then the flame for 5. | Read the rite through once a day. Walk the quarters without words. | Date, time, sky, and three words on your state. |
| Second | The flame for 6 minutes. | The short form, read from the page. | Add what was done and what was observed. |
| Third | The flame for 7 minutes. Count the lapses. | The short form from memory, with the page at hand. | Add the planetary day and the Moon. |
| Fourth | The flame for 8 minutes. | The short form from memory. | Read the month through. Write one page on what has changed. |
Difficulties
Boredom
Boredom is the usual experience of the second and third weeks and is a sign that the novelty has gone and the practice has begun. Note it in the Record and continue.
Restlessness
If you cannot sit, shorten the time and do not skip the day. Three minutes kept is worth more than twenty intended.
"Nothing happens"
Nothing is supposed to happen. The Lamp is training, and the result of training shows elsewhere: in the steadiness of a rite six months on, or in ordinary life. Ask what has changed in a month, not in a morning.
Too much happens
Now and then a beginner meets vivid dreams, strong swings of mood, or a sense of being watched. Halve the time, keep the Record, close the Gates with particular care, and tell your mentor. The practice should leave you steadier over a month, not shakier. If it does not, stop, and take ordinary advice from an ordinary doctor before you return to it.
Why daily?
The Record gives a plain answer. Members who practice for fifteen minutes on six days in seven advance. Members who practice for two hours on Sunday do not. The Art is a skill of the whole person, and skills of that kind are built the way a callus is built, by a little friction, often.
Those who wish to try the practice before they petition are welcome to do so. The first month set out above is exactly what a petitioner is asked to keep during probation.