Ceremonial

Generally speaking, a magickal style characterized by long and intricate rituals. However, in current parlance, “ceremonial” more specifically refers to practice of the Western Hermetic occult tradition, characterized by:

• intricate and formal rituals;
• conceptual basis in Qabala, and frequent use of gematria and related techniques;
• use of deities primarily from the Greco-Roman and Egyptian pantheons;
• hierarchical system of “grades” or other ranks;
• frequent use of Latin, Greek and Hebrew

This makes “ceremonial” nearly equivalent in meaning with “Hermetic”, except that “Hermetic” may be taken as implying more of a link with the energies of the god Hermes and the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus and the Emerald Tablet. Accordingly, those who say “Hermetic magick” generally have a slightly more alchemical and personal-transformation view of magick (or their particular path), as opposed to the more straightforwardly thaumaturgical connotation of “ceremonial magick”.

However, note that these are simply subtle, secondary connotations, not hard-and-fast dictionary meanings. In most situations, “Hermetic” and “ceremonial” can be used fairly interchangeably. Hermetic/ceremonial magick forms much of the basis for thelemic and chaos magick, and their practitioners are often considered to be included in the phrase “ceremonial magicians”.