AEtheric Magic: A Complete System of Elemental, Celestial & Alchemical Magic

By Ike Baker and Ivo Dominguez

The Clearest and Most Detailed Guide to Ætheric Magic and How to Use It

The æther, the energetic realm at the heart of esoteric traditions and vital to nearly every type of magic, has long been veiled in obscure language and mystery. Now, Baker demystifies the æther and teaches you how to use it in your practice.

Step by step, Baker walks you through the history, theory, and practice of ætheric magic, leaving no question or topic unexplored. This comprehensive book presents not only historical evidence of this energy, but also fifty practical exercises—ritual, breath work, visualization, and more—that teach you how to sense it and direct it toward magical goals. Uniting Western ceremonial traditions with Eastern energy healing practices, Ætheric Magic helps you achieve material, spiritual, mental, and physical transformation in ways previously unimagined.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
• Release date: Apr 8, 2025
• ISBN: 9780738777955

Ike Baker

Ike Baker (Asheville, NC) is an author, content creator, practicing ceremonialist, and senior initiate of several lineages within the Western esoteric traditions, including the Martinist Order of America, Masonic Blue Lodge, and York Rite Freemasonry. He is also a temple chief of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Ike is a traveling lecturer and instructor for multiple premiere educational organizations, including the Institute for Hermetic Studies. He has trained in Chinese herbalism and therapeutic body work, such as reiki and qigong. He hosts the ARCANVM YouTube channel and podcast, and he cohosts the Aetherica Podcast with Sky Mathis. Visit him at IkeBaker.com.

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Praise for Ætheric Magic

Meticulously researched, Baker’s system of magical praxis stands on the shoulders of ancient wisdom, integrating Hermetic, Kabbalistic, Vedic, and Taoist principles. This will become your indispensable handbook of exercises. … An outstanding comprehensive monograph that I cannot praise highly enough.

—Benebell Wen, author of The Tao of Craft and I Ching, The Oracle

Focusing on the practice of energetic working, the personal transformations that occur, and the spiritual hygiene required, this manual offers both an important perspective and a plethora of practical exercises to enhance and develop practice. This book is refreshing, invigorating, and long overdue!

—David Rankine, esoteric researcher, magician, and author of many books,

including A Cunning Man’s Grimoire

"Ætheric Magic broadly explores various esoteric traditions to articulate a clear and practical definition of magical energy. This work is crucial because many alchemical methods become entangled in complex jargon, making them seem inaccessible and enigmatic. Baker presents these concepts of energy within a Western alchemical context that is straightforward and comprehensible."

—Nick Farrell, author of Helios Unbound

"Ætheric Magic provides a rigorous examination of Western esoteric traditions, offering a comprehensive framework for engaging with subtle energies. The text meticulously explores a spectrum of techniques and practices derived from both historical and contemporary sources within the Western mystery and magickal traditions."

—Mat Auryn, author of Psychic Witch, Mastering Magick, and The Psychic Art of Tarot

"Drawing from some of the oldest extant textual traditions and well-established ceremonial systems of today, Ætheric Magic distills a much more coherent and practical system of what antique and Renaissance magicians considered the quintessential work of theurgy, referred to as photagogia—‘invocation of the light.’ "

—Jaime Paul Lamb, author of The Astrological Goetia

Baker’s writing is clear and accessible. He offers a crisp summary of the structures underpinning both Western and Eastern magical systems and shows how they compare. The reader will discover how to develop, enhance, and control the magical senses needed to put aetheric magic into dynamic practice.

—Isidora Forrest, Senior Hermetic Adept and author of Isis Magic

"Baker elucidates the form and function of subtle energies and provides accessible exercises facilitating aetheric work. A comprehensive blend of theory and practice, Ætheric Magic is a valuable addition to every magician’s bookshelf."

—Soror Velchanes, author of The Planetary Magic Workbook

A masterful synthesis of Eastern and Western esoteric traditions. Baker has accomplished something truly remarkable here. … The book’s exceptional organization and clear instructional approach make even complex energy work accessible to beginners while offering plenty of depth for advanced practitioners. This is a significant contribution to modern magical practice.

—Frater O.D., creator of On the Mysteries YouTube channel and Magick Circles

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About the Author

Ike Baker (Asheville, NC) is an author, content creator, practicing ceremonialist, and senior initiate of several lineages within the Western esoteric traditions, including the Martinist Order of America, Masonic Blue Lodge, and York Rite Freemasonry. He is also a temple chief of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Ike is a traveling lecturer and instructor for multiple premiere educational organizations, including the Institute for Hermetic Studies. He has trained in Chinese herbalism and therapeutic body work, such as reiki and qigong. He hosts the ARCANVM YouTube channel and podcast, and he cohosts the Aetherica Podcast with Sky Mathis. Visit him at IkeBaker.com.

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Copyright Information

Ætheric Magic: A Complete System of Elemental, Celestial & Alchemical Magic Copyright © 2025 by Ike Baker.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd., except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems.

As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.

Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the author’s copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

Photography is used for illustrative purposes only. The persons depicted may not endorse or represent the book’s subject.

First e-book edition © 2025

E-book ISBN: 9780738777955

Cover design by Shannon McKuhen

Interior art © Skyler Mathis

Interior art by the Llewellyn Art Department and Skyler Mathis on pages 36, 49, and 51

Interior art by the Llewellyn Art Department on page 42

Llewellyn Publications is a registered trademark of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Photography is used for illustrative purposes only. The persons depicted may not endorse or represent the book’s subject.

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Baker, Ike, author.

Title: Ætheric magic : a complete system of elemental, celestial &

alchemical magic / Ike Baker.

Other titles: Aetheric magic

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Publications,

[2025] | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: "Uniting

Western ceremonial traditions with Eastern energy healing practices,

this book demystifies the æther and teaches you how to use it in your

practice"— Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2024058953 (print) | LCCN 2024058954 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738777818 (paperback) | ISBN 9780738777955 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Magic. | Ether. | Alchemy.

Classification: LCC BF1611 .B275 2025 (print) | LCC BF1611 (ebook) | DDC

133.4/3—dc23/eng/20250110

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024058953

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024058954

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publisher’s website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

This book is dedicated to

Hermes Mercurius and the Universal Mercury.

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I would like to thank all my teachers past and present. Especially SND, RI, ECP, FQI, CL, and PL. Thanks also to Ivo Dominguez Jr., Heather Greene, Sky Mathis, and Ryan Sullivan for proofreading, editing, and submitting notes. Thank you to Benebell Wen for her insight, erudition, and kind generosity with her time in conversation. Thanks to my family for cultivating an environment where this kind of study and practice could be facilitated in its early stages. Special thanks to my partner, Nicole, for more than I can possibly list and without whom none of this would be a reality. Thank you to Luke for giving me a reason to get outside for a little bit each day during the most demanding stretches of this project.

Contents

List of Exercises

Foreword by Ivo Dominguez Jr.

Introduction

Chapter 1: Using the Ka

Chapter 2: An Alchemical Art

Chapter 3: Spiritus Animatus

Chapter 4: Mapping the Microcosm

Chapter 5: The Elemental Self

Chapter 6: Awakening the Æther

Chapter 7: Sound, Color, and Temperature

Chapter 8: Preliminary Techniques of Ætheric Magic

Chapter 9: Expanded Techniques

Chapter 10: Applied Techniques

Chapter 11: Developing a Practice

Conclusion

Appendix A: Glossary of Postures

Appendix B: Tables of Symbols

Glossary of Terms

Bibliography

Exercises

Chapter 6

Sky Gazing

Seeing Inward

Seeing Inward Variation

Seeing Inward Advanced Variation

Seeing Others

Feeling the Ætheric

Feeling Shapes

Feeling Shapes Variation

Feeling Energy Advanced

Scanning the Sphere of Sensation

Power Breathing

Breathing the Æther

Preparing the Middle Pillar Posture

Uniting Above and Below

Uniting Above and Below Variation

Three Centers Distillation

Control of the Sphere of Sensation

The Alembic

Harmonizing the Elements

The Elemental Circuits

Alchemical Circulations

The Macrocosmic Orbit

The Microcosmic Orbit

The Vortex

The Lightning Flash and Serpent

Charging the Points and Centers

Chapter 7

Sounding the Centers

The Tria Prima Power Centers

The Middle Pillar Spheres

The Universal Voice

A Symphony of Signatures

Chapter 8

Projection

Activating the Spheres

Invocation

Evocation

Chapter 9

Drawing an Invoking and Banishing Pentagram

Qabalistic Cross

The Calyx

Setting the Gates-A Warding Rite

An Exorcism of Water

Binding

Consecration

The Body Talisman Technique

Chapter 10

Hands-On Self-Care

The Crown Fountain

Personal Ætheric Defense

Entering the Underworld (a Pathworking)

Constructing Scrying Cards

Entering the Astral Gateway

Opening the Third Eye

Chapter 11

Ritual Bath

Ritual for a Venusian Talisman

Foreword

I first met Ike Baker by being a guest on his podcast ARCANVM. I’ve been on many podcasts, and I’ve found that there are very few interviewers who do a good job of bringing forth the central content and exploring the links to related ideas. Ike knows how to explore a topic and keep the dialogue interesting and productive. Later, I met him in person at a conference, and his enthusiasm and focus for learning and sharing knowledge were refreshing. In the time that I’ve known him, I have seen him take more interest in engaging with spiritual communities and systems outside of his starting point. It was inevitable that he would start writing books.

There is a shortage of books that offer clearly described methods and rituals for accessing and managing energy, especially ones that have a coherent framework to unify the techniques. The material in Ike’s book Ætheric Magic is primarily rooted in Western ceremonial magic as well as alchemy and other paths, so he draws from a wide range of cultural sources and time periods. Sometimes admixtures of so many systems result in a clumsy assemblage with diminished applicability, but that is not the case in this book. There is a golden thread that runs through the material that brings order and utility to the various practices that are shared. Some potential readers may wonder whether this book requires extensive background in the Western Mysteries—it does not. Admittedly, I am a witch with a strong background in those systems, and as such I can verify that they are explained in a way that makes them more user-friendly. If you are a pagan, a witch, a polytheist, or some other type of practitioner, I believe you’ll find that it contains unique and valuable resources that can be adapted and repurposed to fit your needs.

Ike has been an initiate of several Western esoteric traditions and is a Mason. He has been delving deeply into many forms of esotericism for about twenty years and has sought out the wisdom of many teachers. Ike’s interest is more than intellectual: he applies what he has learned to his personal evolution and healing as well. Much of his work focuses on building bridges to connect practitioners, academics, and spiritual communities to adapt the best of the old so that it can grow in this time of great change. It is my hope that his book will open the way for newcomers as well as those who have lost faith in the possibilities offered by fresh connections between different systems of magic.

I suggest that you read this book slowly enough to truly make use of it. As you read the chapters, pause whenever something catches your attention, and think on how it relates to your practices, paradigms, and beliefs. After each chapter, summarize your insights and, if you are so inclined, jot down some notes. When there is an exercise, method, or ritual in the book, examine it closely and try to understand how and why it works before performing it. As you approach the end of the book, consider writing a ritual that uses some of these techniques but in your style or system. Books like this one are meant to be worked, and I believe this one has much to offer to those who do the work.

—Ivo Dominguez Jr.

Author of Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans

[contents]

Introduction

In the esoteric schools of the East, there is a well-developed tradition of energy theory and cultivation, both in textual and practical format. In the traditions of Western esotericism, this is not necessarily the case. Some affirm that such a system does exist within the Western magical paradigm. However, it is obscured to the point of nonexistence in textual canons that don’t reveal much about how the system works or how it can be developed within a Western magical paradigm. Some claim that the system of Western magical energetics is heavily veiled in order to keep this powerful secret out of the hands of potential abusers. More than ever, we have seen an explosion of interest in and practice of ceremonial magic, energy healing, and the occult arts. If indeed magic has penetrated the mainstream, then why not work in a direction that encourages a thorough and helpful understanding of the most basic and essential techniques and mechanisms of magic? Creating a system that enables universal accessibility and use of this force has been a personal passion project of mine for over a decade.

Throughout this work, I will introduce, explain, and expand upon exactly what ætheric energy is and how it is used. We’ll examine its history throughout esoteric schools of thought both Eastern and Western, and we’ll cultivate a well-developed theoretic model to effectively guide us in its safe usage. Finally, we’ll begin to work with it in various stages. Our first question then is …

What Is Energy?

Energy has been defined as the ability to do work. This tells us something about the nature of energy but not technically what it is. Einstein’s famous equation for his special theory of relativity (E=mc ² ) equates energy with mass, implying an important idea, namely that energy is vibration—movement—and movement requires something that can be moved. An example is found in kilocaloric or heat energy, which increases molecular rapidity, generating what we experience as heat. In reality, we cannot thoroughly define energy as a substance, though we understand that it cannot be destroyed, merely transformed, as is stated in the first law of thermodynamics and the scientific principle of the conservation of energy. For our purposes, we will define energy as the basic unit of the union of force and form. Energy in this case is more a phenomenon than a substance, but it utilizes matter, inducing it to motion. In the case of potential energy, there is a buildup and storage of potential for this phenomenon to occur. For many years, there was a theory posited by various scientists, including its founder Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894) and Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), that explained the many forms of energy (e.g., electricity, light, sound, etc.). It was by way of an all-permeating substance or substrate in and through which these various phenomena moved. This was called the æther.

The Æther

This brings us to our next question: What is the æther? Anticipating this scientific idea in his dialogue Cratylus, Plato writes, "[Air] is called aêr because it raises things from the earth, or because it is always flowing, or because wind arises from its flow?… As for aether, I’d explain it as follows: it is right to call it aeitheer, because it is always running and flowing about the air." ¹

This substance of æther was also recognized in the yogic traditions of ancient India, where it was referred to as akasa. Akasa was conceptualized as the substance that facilitates the expression of the other tattvas or elements. Rama Prasad wrote in his classic introduction to the elements of Vedic cosmology known as the tattvas entitled Nature’s Finer Forces, It is out of Akasha that every form comes, and it is in Akasha that every form lives. The Akasha is full of forms in their potential state. ²

In this sense, it can be conceptualized as a field or the basic energetic substrate through which all forms of energy manifest themselves. It is changeable and able to be conditioned into a specific state from a non-specific or latent state. Certain specific, latent qualities can be drawn forth from it to expression. The Florentine Renaissance translator and polymath Marsilio Ficino, who translated the Corpus Hermeticum and the works of Plato and the Neoplatonists, described the æther as the quintessence, or fifth element. He also referred to it as spirit and spoke of its fiery and starry nature. ³ Ficino conceived of this energy as a kind of celestial body that served as an intermediary between the physical body of a thing and the higher realms that transcend physical manifestation.

There are many names for this energy; however, I’ve found it helpful to standardize certain terms for ease of comprehension and communication. Æther will be used throughout this book to refer to this subtle life force energy that animates, permeates, and exists within and without the physical body. This energy can be cultivated and directed, but in most cases, specific things must first take place before this can happen. I’ll share these and how to intentionally self-catalyze and develop them throughout the course of this book.

The third question is How do we know what the æther is? The answer to this spans millennia of human history. From the earliest extant historical texts and artwork, we find evidence of a tradition of natural magic that embodies a metaphysics and practical application recorded in images and symbols. We are left