The Silver Temple asks for no expensive regalia. The instruments of the Work are few, simple, and chosen with care. What matters is never their cost, but their consecration: once an item has been set apart for the Work, it is never again used for anything else.
New initiates need not gather everything at once. Your mentor will guide you as each instrument becomes necessary. Nothing here need be elaborate; a humble tool used faithfully serves better than a fine one left idle.
For Divination and Vision
A Tarot Deck
A traditional tarot deck, not an oracle deck. The structure of the tarot — its suits, trumps, and correspondences — forms part of the symbolic language of the tradition and is studied from the earliest grades.
A Shewstone
An instrument for the work of vision. This may be a crystal ball of any design, a black mirror, or simply a bowl reserved for consecrated water. Choose whichever form speaks to you.
For the Altar
A Small Cauldron
Sized for a desktop or altar.
A Small Bowl
To be consecrated and never again used for any other purpose.
An Incense Burner
Suited to the incenses listed below.
Feathers or a Hand Fan
For the work of Air.
Incense
The following incenses are used throughout the grades, each corresponding to a symbolic current of the Work:
- Frankincense
- Jasmine
- Dragon's blood
- Sandalwood
- Cedar
- Rose
- Myrrh
For Study
Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences
A standard reference for the symbolic correspondences employed throughout the curriculum.
The Herbal Alchemist's Handbook, by Karen Harrison
A practical guide to the herbal and planetary dimensions of the Work.
A Blank Journal
Perhaps the most important instrument of all. The initiate's journal is the private record of study, practice, dream, and reflection — the mirror in which the progress of the Work is read.
Acquire each instrument with intention. It is not the object that is consecrated first, but the purpose it will serve.