Jean-Marie Ragon & the Magical Disks: A Reconstructed 1853 Protocol For Linking Color, Planet & Plants

Featured Picture: A symbolic view of Jean-Marie Ragon

in his laboratory with the ‘Magical Discs‘ set behind him.

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Today’s Sharing from the Blue House of Via-HYGEIA presents an excerpt from Jean-Marie Ragon’s acclaimed De la maçonnerie occulte et de l’initiation hermétique (1853): the section devoted to his ‘Magical Discs’. When we read this enigmatic section with care, it reveals a startling duality: alongside the harmonious symbolism of the colored disks lies a protocol of dangerous experimentation involving highly toxic plants like Water Hemlock and Deadly Nightshade.

In this article, we bridge the gap between 19th-century occult daring and 21st-century wisdom. We propose a revised, safe adaptation of Ragon’s system, offering a visual restoration of the ‘Nine Disks’ based on his harmonious illustrative plates. Here, the dangerous toxins of the original experimental method are replaced by safe botanical analogues, allowing the modern student to engage with the system’s psychological depth without physical risk. While we preserve the original, riskier tables in our English translation of the original material, for the sake of historical integrity, our primary invitation is to explore the dialogue between color, plant, and psyche through safe, non-ingestive practices.

A Note on Safety and Practice: It is vital to approach Ragon’s work with both curiosity and caution. The original 1853 protocol describes the use of lethal substances to induce physiological states; this is presented here strictly as a historical record, not a recommendation. We strongly advise against ingesting, extracting, or handling the toxic plants mentioned in the historical sections.

Instead, our proposed method focuses exclusively on the chromatic and symbolic power of the disks. We invite you to experiment through visual meditation, botanical illustration, and the psychological anchoring of color. By adapting the practice to ensure safety, we aim to illuminate Ragon’s hidden architecture for a new generation—preserving the history, but refining the path for the modern seeker. Proceed with respect for the power of nature and the imagination.

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A Contextual Introduction:

Bridging 19th-Century Occultism and Modern Safety

For decades, the section dedicated to the ‘Magical Disks‘ in Jean-Marie Ragon’s De la maçonnerie occulte et de l’initiation hermétique (1853) has remained a source of profound curiosity. However, a close reading of the original text reveals a startling dichotomy!

On one hand, Ragon describes a system of nine colored disks intended to induce harmonious states like ‘Piety‘, ‘Intelligence‘, and ‘Peace‘ using botanical correspondences.

On the other hand, the detailed tables in the original 1853 edition (Pages 499–500) list highly toxic poisons—such as the Deadly Nightshade, Water Hemlock, and Jimson Weed—and describe violent, hallucinogenic symptoms akin to acute poisoning.

The Challenge of Modern Application

in the 21st century is the ‘experimental‘ use of such toxic flora is neither safe nor ethical. Yet, the psychological core of Ragon’s system—the use of color and intention to anchor states of consciousness—remains valid and fascinating.

Our Approach

A revised, safe protocol in this article, Via-HYGEIA proposes a revised, harmonious adaptation of Ragon’s system:

The Visuals: We present a reconstructed visualization of the ‘Nine Disks‘ based on the safe correspondences found in Ragon’s illustrative plates (where Peony replaces Foxglove, and Violet replaces Henbane).

The Method: We preserve Ragon’s operational protocol (the two-stage conditioning of Plant then Color) but strictly advise non-ingestive interaction (visual/olfactory only).

The History: For the sake of scholarly integrity, we have included the original, un-edited 1853 text and tables. These serve as a historical record of the ‘dangerous’ path that modern practitioners should observe but not tread.

This article is an invitation to explore the architecture of Ragon’s magism without risking its toxins.

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Revised Table Section

The Nine Magical Disks in Color –

(Reconstructed based on Ragon’s 1853 plates)

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II. The Revised Table of Correspondences

(The Harmonized System)

The following table reflects the ‘Safe‘ correspondences associated with the illustrative plates. These pairings focus on psychological elevation rather than the toxic physiological reactions of the original 1853 text.

*Note: In 1853, ‘Pluto’ referred symbolically to the God of the Underworld or the principle of the End.

⚠️ Safety Note on ‘Safe‘ Plants: Even in this revised table, Lactuca virosa (Indigo) and Cicuta virosa (Black) are inherently toxic. In our modern adaptation, these are to be used only as visual anchors (via the colored disk) or studied via illustration. Do not handle or ingest.

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III. Operational Protocol:

Ragon’s Method

The system implies a precise two-stage operation designed to condition the subject’s imagination.

Phase 1: The Vegetal Preparation (The Anchor)

This phase is mandatory for the initial conditioning of the subject. It cannot be skipped for a new subject or a new specific effect.

1. Selection: Identify the desired psychological state (e.g., ‘Intelligence and Clarity‘). Select the corresponding plant (e.g., St. John’s Wort).
2. Exposure: Place the plant in the immediate presence of the subject.
   • Safety Note: In a modern context, this exposure should be visual or olfactory (if safe), avoiding ingestion.
   • The plant acts as the natural key that unlocks the specific psychic door.
3. Observation: Wait until the subject exhibits the initial signs of the desired state. The plant has now ‘prepared the subject’.

Phase 2: The Chromatic Stimulation (The Trigger)

Once the vegetal phase has successfully imprinted the state, the disks are introduced to take over the function of the plant.

1. Substitution: Remove the plant from the subject’s view. Immediately present the corresponding Colored Disk.
2. Fixation: Instruct the subject to focus on the disk. The disk is designed to ‘forcefully strike the imagination’. Because the subject was previously conditioned by the plant, the color alone will now trigger the full physiological and psychic response.
3. Stabilization: Maintain the presence of the disk to direct and sustain the state.

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IV. Maintenance and Re-activation

Once the initial two-phase conditioning (Plant → Disk) is complete: The plants become unnecessary for that specific subject. To re-activate the state in future sessions, the mere presence of the corresponding disk is sufficient. The subject, having ‘already felt the effects‘ via the plant, will automatically ‘fall back into the same state‘ upon seeing the disk.

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V. Conceptual Structure

The entire system is based on a tripartite analogy forming a closed correspondence chain:

Cosmos (Planet) → Nature (Plant) → Imagination (Colour)

Colour induces the psychological state. Plant provides the natural reinforcement of that state. Planet represents the cosmological governance of the force.

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VI. Conclusion:

A Modern Invitation

Ragon’s ‘Magical Disks‘ offer more than a historical curiosity; they present a sophisticated model of psycho-sensory conditioning that predates modern color therapy and psychological anchoring techniques by nearly a century.

While the toxic nature of the plants in the original 1853 tables dictates that we approach the ‘Vegetal Phase‘ with extreme caution and theoretical respect, the core mechanism—the use of color to anchor and recall specific states of consciousness—remains a viable tool for the modern experimental esotericist.

We invite the student to experiment safely with the chromatic half of this equation. By creating your own set of disks based on the illustrations provided and meditating upon their hues, you may test Ragon’s hypothesis: that color, when charged with intention and historical continuity, retains the power to strike the imagination and open the doors of perception.

The ‘Great Inner Works‘ begin not with the mind alone, but with the harmonious alignment of sight, nature, and cosmos.

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And Now

the Original Text:

MAGICAL DISKS

In the experiments of Magism, one employs cardboard disks, covered with colored papers. At the center of each circle is the ordinal number that the color occupies in the solar ray. To the left is written the action that the colors must produce upon the subject, and, to the right, is found the sign of the planet from which each disk draws its protection.

These disks are nine in number: seven represent the primitive colors. Disk no. ∞ [8] is white, and no. ∞ [9] is black; they signify commencement and end. The action of each consists in forcefully striking the imagination of the subject. They produce phenomena different from one another; here are the tables:

The Original 1853 Toxic Tables

Table 1:  (Violet to Green)

Table 2: (Yellow to Red)

(1) Footnote from original text: One understands why we give the names only in Latin and in abbreviated form; they will be in full in the Initiatory Fasti Magazine, where the figures of the seven disks and the entire magical system will be found.

Since the plants indicated in the table produce effects analogous to the colors, the Magist must first employ the plants, and then the colored disks, to direct and maintain the action produced by them.

One must only use these plants to prepare subjects for the great intellectual works to which they must be submitted; afterwards, they become useless, for at the mere presence of one of the disks belonging to the class of planets from which he has already felt the effects, the subject will fall back into the same state; here is an example:

A young man of twenty years, of excellent health, was, some years ago, put to sleep by chloroform to undergo an operation. Recently (1853), a flask covered with black paper was presented to him, on which was pasted the formula or the quantity necessary of chloroform to put a man to sleep; this flask was completely empty, and, strange thing, this young man was immediately put to sleep by a sleep analogous to that already experienced during his operation; there existed in him, as then, no sensitivity, no feeling (1).

Returned to his normal state, he was asked what he had experienced; he replied that he knew perfectly what it was, because the doctors had already put him to sleep in the same manner. (It would be desirable that, in hospitals, the same means be employed).

Note: (1) Feeling gives the soul self-awareness through pleasure and pain. It has been said of it: Intelligence is its gaze, memory its vocabulary, imagination its palette; judgment, reflection, meditation are its ministers and its counselors.

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Source

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Reconstitution

des ‘disques magiques’

d’après la description de Ragon :

(Système Harmomisé )

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