“To Cure the Sick and That, Gratis:” Successful Healings Using Hybrid Solomonic-Conjure Methods

By Frater S.C.F.V.

A. Introduction: Healing by Fire, Oil, and Herb

After having three people near me require healing in a short period of time and wanting to help them as best I could, I plunged into analyzing 13 different Conjure and Rootwork Formulas for Healing Oil in an attempt to better understand how they work so that I could optimize a Healing Oil to help those around me.

Having created my own 11-Herb formula, I designed a method that would enable me to promote the healing of three individuals within the same working. The method ended up being a hybrid form of Solomonic magic and Rootwork, which, combined with the Healing Oil formula, ended up producing results which, to me, were nothing short of amazing…

B. Talismanic Design: At the Crossroads of Health and Illness

As the base of this method, I opted to use my consecrated Tablet of Lights, which I made following Balthazar’s (2018) Solomonic Conjure method. This method involves consecrating a dedicated surface (e.g. large white plate in my case) using formulae from the Key of Solomon adapted to the task (Peterson, 2004).

In Balthazar’s original method, consecrated chalk markers are used to draw relevant symbols–often Key of Solomon Planetary Pentacles relevant to the task at hand–on the Tablet of Lights. I have previously used such chalk markers, which I consecrated along with white chalk on the Day of Epiphany both in my own home Temple and by Mass at Church using hybrid elements of the Key of Solomon, Carmelite Chalk Blessing, and Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (Peterson, 2016). However, today, I opted to use consecrated glass markers, that is, markers that are water-soluble, so can be washed off, and useful to write on both glass and ceramic, as well as dry-erase markers. Both ended up tracing very clear and vibrant lines on the Tablet service, which can be helpful information who are looking for a tool for this purpose, that is, to inscribe magical figures in a robust but non-permanent manner.

More and more, however, instead of lifting Pentacle designs for the Tablet from particular grimoires as in Bathazar’s original method, I have been communicating with my Spirits and asking them to guide me to draw the design needed for the ritual at hand. The idea is to continue to work within the scope of the tradition, but enlivened, guided, and tailored by the relationships I have with my Spirits. These designs seem to “flow from the pen,” one part at a time, as if the Spirits were saying “draw this. Now write this name. Now draw this.” Then, looking back at it, the whole gestalt or pattern comes into view, but not from a place or rational forethought, calculating, or planning-in-advance, like an epiphany or a vision.

To quote the Science Photo Library: This is a “17th century engraving symbolizing the search for knowledge in alchemy. The naked figure is the god Mercury or Hermes, the messenger of the gods. In each hand he holds a caduceus, his symbol. The two other men carry a sword with a serpent wrapped around it, and a sword with a cockerel on it; these are both symbols associated with Aesculapius, the god of medicine. The Sun and Moon represent the two alchemical essences. In Greek mythology, Hermes was believed to have power over sleep and dreams. Aesculapius was believed to dispense medical knowledge by using dreams. Image from 1677.”

In this case, I was drawn to produce a form that started out with the structure of a Caduceus, referencing healing and Hermes Trismegistus, and therefore, magic. However, this design omitted the serpents. Instead, another “pole” was added to form a Cross with a Rose in the Center, in refence to the Rose Cross. The Fama Fraternitatis, one of the fundamental manifestos of the founding of Rosicrucianism, says that Rosicrucian Brotherhood do not “profess any other thing than to cure the sick, and that gratis.”

As this was a ritual for healing done for free, out of love and a wish to be of service, it seemed appropriate. In addition, in reference to the Caduceus, it is worth noting that I did not know this at the time, but it was revealed to me later that another reason the Spirits had me draw the Caduceus is because the Waxing Moon was moving from the Lunar Mansion of Al-Iklil (the Monkey, for protection) and into the Lunar Mansion of Al-Kalb (the Caduceus – to heal and prevent illness) at the very time I would end up performing the candle working…

The Three 3 Initial Rosicrucian Manifestoes: the Fama Fraternitatis (1614), the Confessio Fraternitatis (1615), and The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz (1616). It’s worth noting, as Samuel Robinson has pointed out, that there is also a fourth Rosicrucian Manifesto, which is the Speculum Sophicum Rhodostauroticum (1618).

In addition, the Crossroads and the 5-Spot pattern of Hoodoo inspired the structure of this Talismanic figure. At the top, a golden Sun was drawn to symbolize both Keter as the Sephirotic Source of Light in the Kabbalistic system and the Light of Healing, itself a reference to the Golden Dawn Neophyte Grade Ritual (“the Light hath Healing in its Wings”).

The Caduceus wings have seven sections, seven for the 7 Planets, 7 Archangels of the Heptameron/ Lucidarium system, and 7 Olympic Spirits of the Arbatel system. When I reached out to the Archangels and Olympic Spirits to see who would assist with this work, the two triads of Raphael-Michael-Sachiel (Mercury-Sun-Jupiter) and their corresponding Olympic Spirits (Ophiel-Och-Bethor) stepped forward.

Therefore, the Angels’ names in Hebrew were included alongside the Olympic Spirits’ standard Sigils from the Arbatel. Finally, a powerful Divine Name of healing, YHVH Rapha (“God of Healing”) was included at the top of the Talismanic figure, to rule over and energize all of its contents, as well as to drive the “energy” of the healing involved in the ritual itself.

The herb “Self-Heal,” a central ingredient in my personal Healing Oil formula.

C. Foci and Curative Aims: The 3 Targets of the Work and Their Ailments

This hybrid ritual was targeted at three individuals, all of whom I know and care about, two here in Montreal, and one, a friend in Nigeria, Africa.

First, J.P., here in Montreal, has been complaining of “muscular pain going down my sides, great nausea making me throw up and making it hard for me to keep any food down, and disrupting my sleep…” His ailment was a physical one that impacted his psychological experience (e.g. by disrupting sleep).

Second, C.L., also in Montreal, has been suffering from “a burning feeling in my mouth, swelling around my gums, redness, pain, and a general lack of energy, like I’m exhausted all of the time and can barely get anything done…” Therefore, her issue was both physical and psychological.

Finally, C.O., in Nigeria, Africa, has been struggling with a debilitating “pain in my waste and stomach which makes me barely able to stand up, it’s so bad…” This is a strongly physical issue that is causing him significant distress.

I advised all three individuals to consult their doctors about their issues and explained that if needed, I would recommend them to consult a doctor afterwards as well. In addition, I explained to all three people that my approach is one of holistic healing, that is, combining (1) Western medicine with (2) herbalism, and (3) the spiritual, magical, and alchemical uses of herbs. They agreed.

D. Fixing the Candles and Preparing the Body: Ritual Preparation and Set-Up

Having already infused and prayed over my 11-herb Healing Oil, I set it out along with 3 light-blue candles. In Rootwork, light-blue is a colour that is used in candle magic for healing, peace, and spirituality.
Each of the three people to be healed was designated their own candle. I took a pin with a light-blue head at the end of it, and used this to inscribe each candle with the aim of the working for that person. In addition to their full names, the following specifications were inscribed in their respective candles:

For J.P.: “healing, no pain, no nausea in stomach, good appetite, joy, freedom, peace.”

For C.L.: “healing, no burning, pain, or swelling in mouth, energy, joy, peace, love, free.”

For C.O.: “healing, no belly pain, no waist pain, freedom, peace, joy.”

While carving the candles, I looked at photos of the targeted person and repeatedly focused on seeing the candle as an extension of that person, such that my work on the candle connects back to them. I continued to pray until all three candles were inscribed.

Thereafter, I dressed each candle with some left-over 11-Herb Healing Blend and the 11-Herb Healing Oil, drawing the Oil towards me as I dressed it to symbolize drawing the healing towards the client, and ensuring the Oil and Herbs were thoroughly rubbed into the candles.

The bottoms of the candles were warmed and they were then stuck to the Tablet of Lights to fix them in their positions.

The Tablet fixed with the candles was then placed on the dedicated spirit table I have reserved for Raphael and Ophiel in my Temple Room. As noted above, consulting the Archangels and Olympic Spirits, I inquired who wished to help with the healing work at hand and the Jupiter Archangel Sachiel and Sun Archange Michael and the Arbatel Olympic Spirits Bethor, Ophiel, and Och indicated that they would be willing to assist. Therefore, I included the 3 Angels’ statues and the 3 Olympic Spirits’ Arbatel Sigils on the table as well.

In addition, a candle was anointed with Healing Oil and fixed to be offered up to God on behalf of the Spirits, as well as water to refresh them, offerings of Herbs to energize them, and Sandalwood incense. Finally, stones connected to my work with these different Spirits were also included on the table as loci of their power and symbols to bolster the sympathetic resonances of Jupiter, the Sun, and Mercury to be called upon.

In terms of ritual preparation, it is worth noting that 3 days of Cleansing Herbal Baths were completed followed by 7 Nourishing Herbal Baths each night. No alcohol was consumed during this time. No drugs either. Abstinence from masturbation, etc. was also strictly maintained. Food was eaten in moderation.

On the day of the Ritual, I took a purifying Herbal Bath while praying and cleansing myself with Hyssop, Rue, Basil, Mint, Rose, Lavender, and Cocoa Butter. Donning my standard Solomonic regalia, I put on my white robe, Lion Skin Belt, priestly stole, a white cloth wrapped around my head, with my Abramelin Crown over that. Under the robe, I wore my Medallion with the 7 Archangels and 7 Olympic Spirits upon it, anointed in Fiery Wall of Protection Oil. I was nudged to also include the Bell of Art, my Solomonic Wand, and a Wild Turkey feather foraged during my time in Ontario. I brushed my teeth and put on cologne to remove any unappealing odours that might displease the Spirits, a method inspired by Dr. Stephen Skinner. Then I entered the Temple to begin the work.

D. By Invocation, Oil, and Flame: A Hybrid Solomonic-Rootworking for Healing

Date: Wednesday, August 31, 2022. 10 PM to 2:30 AM.
Planetary Timing: Oil and Powder made in the Day and Hour of Mercury. Consecrated and empowered and candlework for healing done in the Hour of Jupiter given work to be done with Sachiel and Bethor.
Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent in Libra, good for bringing balance and harmony to situations magically (e.g. health to bodies imbalanced by symptoms and disease).
Lunar Mansion: Al-Iklil (the Monkey, for protection) on cusp of Al-Kalb (the Caduceus to heal and prevent illness).

Having completed my Ritual Bath and put on my ritual clothing, I entered the Temple and begun the ritual by delivering a battery of knocks on the Raphael spirit altar and on my Ancestor altar. I asked my Ancestors to assist in the healing work to be done and asked for the Ancestors of the three people in question to also come to their aid.

I then picked up the Bell of Art and rang it repeatedly in a Cross Formation while saying “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…” I then proceeded through a series of extensive prayers to God as Adonai Rapha, the Lord of Healing, asking for His aid, that He might be glorified through the miracles of his healing work in these three people’s lives and cited multiple healing miracles in the Bible as testaments to Divine Power and asking that similar works be done here. As a side note, the method of citing relevant stories or historiolae (a kind of incantation incorporating a short mythic or scriptural story that provides the paradigm for the desired magical action) as precedents in magical work is discussed in detail in Agrippa’s Third Book of Occult Philosophy.

Next, through prayers by the Divine Names pertaining to healing (YHVH Rapha, Adonai Rapha, and El Elyon Rapha), I called the Angels and Olympic Spirits and throughout used Divine Names of Healing, Adonai Rapha, YHVH Rapha, El Rapha. I lit the Spirit offering candle and 3 Sandalwood sticks symbolizing 4 different triads of 3: One candle for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; One candle for Michael, Sachiel, and Raphael; one candle for Och, Bethor, and Ophiel; One candle for J.P., C.L., and C.O. I offered the candle and incense to the Most High God in their names and then invited the Archangels, Guardian Angels of myself and the 3 targets, the Olympic Spirits, and the Ancestors of myself and the three people to find in them sources of power, refreshment and fuel for their work. The herbs in the Oil and glass of Water were similarly offered with additional prayers said over them.

Next, I cleansed all of the tools and myself with a combination of Solomonic Holy Water made by myself according to the method in the Key of Solomon and some Holy Water consecrated by a Catholic priest and gathered from a Cathedral.

I then asked for the Angels’ and Olympic Spirits help to empower the Healing Oil in the bottles on the altar and anointing the candles, as well as the Healing Sachet Powder also on the table, with the virtues of healing as specified by the Roles of the spirits of the Herbs included in the Healing Oil (please see my article on Healing Oil for more details). I asked for God’s healing power and will to extend the Good and Love to enliven and empower the Oil and Powder as well. I then anointed the heads of each Archangel, my own forehead, and the Sigils of the Spirits with some of the Oil to create a connection between them, myself, the Oil in the bottles, and the Oil on the candles symbolizing the three people to be healed.

Next, I lit the candles for the three people to be healed and prayed that they be linked to their human targets in order to benefit and heal them. I picked up the Turkey Feather I had personally ceremonially gathered while out in a forest, holding my Solomonic Wand in the other hand, and began to use the feather to rhythmically and repeatedly waft the exorcised and consecrated Sandalwood spoke over the Angel statues, Spirit Sigils, Bottles of Healing Oil, Jar of Sachet Powder, myself to cleanse me as the practitioner, and the Tablet of Lights and three Candles of the people to be healed.

While doing so, I prayed personalized prayers for J.P. C.O., and C.L. in turn, praying about exactly which aspects of their bodies and minds needs healing (e.g. for J.P., his belly pain, nausea, and appetite to be healed, and for peace, joy and a feeling of comfort to come to his mind; for C.O. for his waist and belly pain to be healed and for his mind to be filled with peace, joy, freedom from worry and physical pain; for C.L. for her mouth to be free from burning, pain, and swelling, for her lethargy to be enlivened with energy, and for peace, freedom from physical and mental ailments, and a feeling of comfort to fill her mind).

Next, I recited prayers for the Sick from Agostino Taumaturgo, as mentioned in the Healing Oil Article. This was followed with praying Psalms 147, 46, and 27 over the Oil, Powder, and Candle work.

Finally, I asked the Angels and my own Guardian Angel to coordinate with the 3 targets’ Guardian Angels to coordinate their healing, and for my Ancestors to work with their Ancestors to effect their healing as well. I asked each of the 11 Herb Spirits included in the Oil to assist with each of their roles and the 3 Olympic Spirits to help assist the healing in each of their spheres (e.g. Mercury – changing illness to health, governing the crossroads of sickness and health, assisting communication with doctors as needed, etc.; Sun – bringing healing light into the situation, illuminating the causes of the illness and obstacles to health so that the Lemongrass can clear them as a road-opener; Jupiter — expanding health and joy and peace of mind) working in concert with the Archangels. I then prayed more prayers to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit again praying for the healing with total confidence that it would come about and giving thanks in advance for the wonders to follow.

I then recited a final series of prayers, closed the Temple, and invited the spirits to continue to enjoy the Offerings while completing their work.

E. Carromancy: Reading the Wax

Examining the candles the next day, I was surprised to see that J.P’s candle was still burning, many hours longer than usual. This suggested to me that the Spirits were still working on him. In addition, I I noted winged forms in the wax that reminded me of Angels, suggesting their work in intervening in the situation. The wax flows that were circular were largely clockwise, suggesting that the work was being done and the healings were progressing. Some substantial wax floods had appeared near C.O.’s candle on the left, suggesting that the impact of the work might be more significant than expected. Finally, some petal-shapes were observed near all three candles, suggesting positive results would flow out of this work. The days that come brought results greatly in harmony with these ‘pictures in the wax.’

Appearance of the wax the next morning, with J.P.’s candle still burning.

E. Astonishing Results: Documented Healings in Action

The next morning, I woke up feeling grounded and a deep and sustained sense of well-being that stuck with me the whole day. I did not remember the last time I felt this clear, joyful, and at peace… I wondered if this might have been an outcome of the ritual, being in the presence of the Angels and Spirits, Divine blessing, the power of the Herbs in the Spiritual Baths, or a combination of all of the above. Either way, I was grateful for it.

I reached out to C.O. first in the morning and asked how he was feeling since I completed the ritual on his behalf. As he was so far away, I could not get some Healing Oil to him, at least not as urgently as he would need it, so the results that he would share could only have come from the candle working, prayers, and intervention of the Spirits.

I was filled with awe at what he shared, for the Lord and Spirits had acted quickly… C.O. said that “My condition has improved tremendously–l can now sit and stand freely! Just little pains which l know will clear up within the next few days. Whatever you did worked like a miracle. I thank the Triune God for using you as a vessel to get me up and running again. I am grateful, brother. May God meet you at your point of need, just like he has used you to meet me at my point of need. I feel born again in mind, body, soul & spirit. I even slept like a baby too!” I told him that I was so happy to hear this and gave glory to God for this blessing. C.O. said “This is the fastest healing ever. God bless you…”

I went to see C.L. and gave her some of the Healing Oil. I instructed her to rub some of it into her cheek over the area of her mouth that was burning, swelling, and reddening. She agreed and rubbed some into her cheek in my presence. Not even minutes later she said “I can’t believe it but… the pain is really going down… wow… what’s in this??” I explained the 11 Herbs in the formula and what role each played as well as how I had spiritually prepared them and which Spirits I had called upon. She said she was “so grateful…” and had tears in her eyes. I checked in with her again in the afternoon and she said she had just applied a little more of the Healing Oil and that “my pain continues to be much lower… and my obstacles to contacting a doctor seem to be gone too… I already got a dentist appointment! Thank you!” Glory be to God! This was the second successful healing.

Finally, after work, I took a vial of Healing Oil and went to see J.P. I asked him how he had been feeling since this morning. He said “I woke up already feeling better… it seems like I had been very constipated. Today, I finally had gas and was able to go the bathroom… My nausea is gone. The pain in my belly area is significantly lower.” I praised God once again and thanked the Spirits for this third healing miracle… I instructed J.P. to keep rubbing some of the Healing Oil into his belly area over the parts that hurt. He said he would also rub it into his painful shoulder and see if it helps with that as well. I wished him all the best and he thanked me for my care and attention in this matter.

On the second day after the work, I checked in with C.O. to see if the healing remained stable or if the situation had changed. C.O. reported “I feel 99% better. It is only minor aches and pains now…” Praise God and the Spirits for their work!

When I checked in with C.L. She reported that when she used the Oil, rubbing it in to her cheek, she felt “a wave of comfort wash over me, not just my mouth, but my whole body… My mouth pain continues to be gone. The burning feeling is gone. I have an appointment with my dentist just to be safe, but I feel so much better.”

Finally, to my surprise, I received a phone call from J.P., the most skeptical of the three, who does not believe in magic; J.P. never calls me, so this made his reaching out even more striking. He said “not only am I feeling better with my stomach pain and nausea and eating better, but there’s something else. I have been rubbing the Oil into my really painful shoulder and… it feels much better. Like I can lift my arm in ways I haven’t been able to for a long time… So thank you..”

Healing candle for M.D.A.

F. Additional Healing Work: More Complex and More Intensive

With the above work thus completed, I thought I was done with healing work for a while. However, shortly after the above work was completed, my dear friend M.D.A., who has taught me a great deal about Esperitismo and often helped me with spiritual work when I was in need, fell very sick shortly after I did the above workings.

I asked if he would consent for me to do some work for him and he agreed as he was truly struggling with everything from fever, soreness, cramping, diarrhea, loss of taste, irritated red eyes, a weight on his chest,, coughing, and fever chills… He tested for COVID-19, but tested negative. To make matters worse, his immunosuppression made the illness, whatever it was, hit him even harder.

In an attempt to help M.D.A., I followed essentially the same procedure as above, inscribing and dressing the candle with the Healing Oil, calling on Michael, Sachiel, and Raphael as well as Ophiel, Och, and Bethor in the same way as before, giving the same offerings, and even using the same Psalms. Checking with my Spirits, they did not require me to do a complete new Tablet of Lights set-up for him, saying I could use the same plate set-up as I had used for the previous work, simply placing M.D.A’s candle at the base of the Cross structure inscribed on the plate. This, I did.

The Moon remained waxing in the Lunar Mansion of Al-Kalb (the Caduceus to heal and prevent illness), which was fortuitous for the work at hand. The only difference with this working is that I rubbed some of the Healing Sachet Powder I had made on the outside of his candle as I did not have any of the herbal mixture left over. I prayed that all of his symptoms would disappear and that he would be heal again and that even his fibromyalgia pain would decrease. I poured my heart into this ritual for my dear friend and closed the Temple. I called on his Guardian Angel and his Ancestors, as well as my own, to assist in the work.

At the end of the night, after leaving his candle burning, I saw that it had burned in a very interesting way. The candle burned down the middle, but an outer shell was left. Also, a skull-shaped hole had appeared on the right side. Divining from the wax, my sense was that this healing was not going to be as easy or as simple as the others. The Spirits were “drilling down the middle” into M.D.A’s core bodily issues and symptoms of the illness, which were affecting his internal organs and assailing his immune system. His wax pool was pulled over the Sigils of Och and Bethor as well as the Name of Raphael, suggesting that these spirits in particular were working on him. The skull hole did not strike me as implying he would die; instead, it suggested to me that an Ancestor spirit would help in the work.

The next morning, I checked the candle again and the “walls” of wax had melted down, but two points of the wax folded in, pointing at the center of the candle. This suggested to me that the illness was still hitting him, “stabbing” him with symptoms as symbolized by the wax points. Another image that came to me was that the illness “had its teeth or claws” in him and was not going to let go easily. Still, some progress had been made with help from his Ancestor, as seen in the melting down of the wax walls.

I checked in with M.D.A. on Messenger and he confirmed my suspicions; not only was he not feeling better, but he was feeling worse! All of the above symptoms had intensified… He was definitely getting “stabbed” by the illness, with more suffering than before. I explained to him that sometimes, healing work brings results that come quite quickly, and other times, for more complex situations or more serious conditions, the work can provide more strengthening, clearing obstacles to healing, and facilitating communication with the right professionals, through the process. This can especially be the case when the odds are stacked against the healing, such as in the case of immunosuppression. As much as we try to ease the work of combating illness through magical means, Nature, Divine Will, and the work and abilities of the spirits also can affect the outcome. As a result, I mentioned above, “nothing is guaranteed” with healing work and the help it brings does not always come in the form we expect.

Nevertheless, I pointed out that there were good signs and it looked like an Ancestor of his was going to assist in the work. He told me about his great-grandmother who was apparently an extremely accurate diviner with tea leaves and had some magical abilities. I suspected she might be the “skull-shaped hole” I saw in his candle wax. M.D.A confirmed that she was actually one of his working Ancestors in his Espiritismo work and he thought “she would definitely step in.” Magic can be truly amazing sometimes and sometimes things will happen that we could not have made up as they seem too perfect. However, as we were talking about M.D.A’s grandmother and great-grandmother, he suddenly stopped and said the following:

What’s more, he had a feeling he was going to receive assistance from an Ancestor, because that same day…

The next morning, I checked in with him again and he confirmed that his pain level remained significantly lower than it had been to the point that he was able to “go to sleep pretty comfortably.” I noted possible impacts from Rosemary and Thyme, two Herbs in my Healing Oil formula, which were included to help ease sleep and facilitate sound dreaming. He also noted that his fever had gone down to 36.6 degrees, which was strange to him since he still felt feverish.

Healing Candle Work set-up for M.D.A., myself, and R.C.

G. “Physician, Heal Thyself!:” Three More Candle Workings for Healing

I was not finished working towards my dear friend’s healing, however, nor were the Spirits. In fact, I got a nudge that I had to another candle working for M.D.A to strengthen the work already being done.

What I was not prepared for however, was the impact that all of this healing work done in a short period of time was going to have on me as the worker. I found myself dreadfully sick with a bad cold: sore throat, coughing, and higher body temperature, but still under fever. I was COVID-negative, but still feeling awful.

At the same time, another friend, R.C., messaged me to say that she was also feeling quite sick with a cold of her own and asked if I could help. As she lived in Montreal not far from where my plans were taking me today, she consented for me to pick up some personal concerns (e.g. some of her hair) to use in the working, which I did. We both were masks and maintained social distancing while I picked up the hair. I gave her some of the Healing Oil too to rub on her throat, chest, and forehead while saying prayers to help connect the Healing Oil I was going to use on her candle to her as well. She agreed to do so.

My plan was to do a healing working for M.D.A, myself, and R.C. at the same time.

For my work on myself, I started by making a hearty chicken soup with lots of pepper as well as Thyme, Rosemary, and Basil. I prayed over the Herbs, asked for their help in bringing healing, and then recited Psalms 49 and 50 over it before eating it.

That night, I made the following Healing and Sleep-Supporting Spiritual Bath, including and requesting the aid of the following Herb spirits:

• Chamomile
• Self-heal
• Althaea
• Angelica
• Thyme
• Mint
• Rosemary
• Lavender
• Honey

I also made a chamomile tea to go with this. I prayed Psalms 49 and 50 over the tea and bath, while they both steeped. I drank the tea, did the bath, and went to bed immediately after air-drying.

The next day, on the Day of the Sun, I consulted with my Spirits as to how to proceed. This time, I was to use a different Talismanic design on the Tablet of Lights:

This time, the Heptameron / Lucidarium sigils for Michael and Raphael were to be drawn in a Cross, forming an ‘Angelic Crossroads.’ Sachiel’s sigil was included over the Cross, with Yeshua (Jesus) written in Hebrew underneath. The standard Arbatel Sigils of Bethor, Ophiel, and Och were included in the bottom right ‘quadrant’ of the plate.

Finally, YHVH Rapha (God of Healing) was included along with four crosses marking the points of the Angelic Cross. The three candles for M.D.A, myself, and R.C. were placed on the middle arm of the Cross.

All three candles were inscribed with a yellow-headed needle, as it was the Day of the Sun, with the full names of those included and the following words:

M.D.A. “complete recovery, full healing, freedom, peace”

Myself: “no pain, no fever, no cough, full healing”

R.C.: “no pain, no fever, no cough, full healing.”

I dressed each candle with Healing Oil, while drawing the healing from top of the candle to the bottom. I added my own hairs, conveniently collected from my beard trimmer to my candle, R.C.’s hair to her candle, and as I had no personal concerns for M.D.A, I simply did prayers for him while anointing the candle and gazing at his picture. I asked that each candle be linked to the healing of the person whose name was carved into it and used to eliminate their pain and illness and replace it with health and wholeness.

The Moon was waxing in the Arabic Lunar Mansion of Al-Balda (The City or The Desert), which Christopher Warnock points out is a a good time to “end a situation,” in this case, by bringing illness to an end.

Before I started this working, I refreshed the water glasses of all of the Angels, Saints, Ancestors, and Olympic Spirits with whom I have active spirit tables in my Temple room. I asked each to aid the work according to their abilities. I knocked on my Ancestor altar and asked my Ancestors to assist the work, also calling on the Ancestors of M.D.A and R.C.

The Operation proceeded as above, still working with Archangels Michael, Raphael, Sachiel and Olympic Spirits Bethor, Ophiel, and Och, still offering 3 sticks of Sandalwood, but with different Psalms; this time, I was nudged by my Spirits to use the potent combination of Psalms 3, 67, and 77. I invited the Spirits to pray the prayers with me for added efficacy.

This working produced a deep feeling of peace, reverence, and thick spiritual presence in the room. The energy felt comforting and reassuring. The candles burned strong and clean during the ritual and the Spirits’ candle did as well. My final prayers addressed Christ as the Master Healer, and played on the wording in Luke 4:23, in which Yeshua muses that the people would surely say to him “Physician, Heal Thyself” (Ἰατρέ, θεράπευσον σεαυτόν), or healer, heal yourself. I asked that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit help me to do just that.

H. Carromancy: Interpreting the Candle Wax

The next day, I went to interpret the wax from the three candles and saw the following. First, in M.D.A‘s candle, I saw a fairly clean burn with minimum pooling. One of the “points” that was previously pointing towards the center of the candle after the previous working, suggesting the illness still had its “claws or teeth” in M.D.A, was now pointing away from the center and off to the left. I interpreted this to mean that the illness was ‘opening up’ and clearing, but still affecting him. Finally, I also saw that some of the wax was “bending over” away from the center of the candle, suggesting that the illness is starting to submit. But it will take more time before it’s fully resolved.

Second, my own candle appeared a series of happy petal-like shapes, suggesting a positive result would be coming for me. No issues, just a flowering of results that would likely come surprisingly quickly.

Finally, R.C.’s candle showed that her own issues were “standing up” to the attempts to heal them, suggesting it might take a little longer than expected for her healing to come through, but she would get there. There was a wall of protection around her that was assisting (small wall of wax on the right); at the same time, this wall of wax could also suggest that the illness itself was “putting up walls” and resisting the work. As it turned out, the results of the Operation were in many ways fully consistent with what the wax suggested.

I. Health in Abundance: Results of the Final Candle Working

The next day, I felt remarkably better. My throat felt much less painful, my coughs were few and far between, I had no fever, and my drippy, runny nose had returned to normal, such that I was breathing easily again. By the end of the day, my symptoms were all down by about 95%. it was the fastest recovery from a cold I’ve ever had.

It’s worth noting that when I discussed the healing work I had been doing with my Hoodoo teacher Aaron Davis and how I had become sick in the process, he noted that he had also experienced this and decided, as a result, not to do healing work for more than 2 people per day. He also recommended that after every healing work I do in then future, I do a strong cleansing bath. He also pointed out that in my Clinical work, I am also “outputting a lot of healing energy as it is,” so doing magical healing on top of that can drain us and make us susceptible to illness. I noted his advice and plan to practice it going forwards.

Thereafter, I checked in with M.D.A and he informed me that there were significant improvements and he had tested negative again for COVID-19:

He had some lingering symptoms, but it was clear that the worst was behind him and he was on his way to a complete recovery.

Finally, I checked in with R.C. and she reported that a number of her symptoms had improved as well. She agreed to continue to use the Oil until her condition was completely healed and thanked me for my help.

All I can do is quote Psalm 115:1, “Not to us, Oh Lord, not to us, but to Your Name be the glory glory, because of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”

H. Concluding Thoughts on Magical Healing in Practice

Healing work is being of service. For those on the Rosicrucian path, it is a central feature of their spiritual work and approach. If we make ourselves available to heal, drawing on help from our Spiritual Allies and the Herbs given to us, we can sometimes witness true miracles, miracles that inspire humility, reverence, and bolster faith in a big way, just as Yeshua’s miracles did to many in his own time. For the Christian mystic called to the “Imitation of Christ,” prayers and work for healing can be a vital practice that brings wholeness, health, and love to the suffering and the ill. However, healing is a universal human concern and people on many Paths will also feel a call to it. If so, I hope that reading the workings above will yield some helpful ideas for how to approach healing in a way that harmonizes with your own tradition.

By way of closing reflections, I can say that I I feel so grateful to have been a part of these workings and to be blessed by witnessing people getting helped, both with access to the Oil and locally and without directly even being able to access it, in another province (M.D.A) and even in another country on another continent (C.O.). What’s more, I felt truly awed by the power of the Divine, of Angels, Spirits, and Ancestors, working together through the means of magic and prayer to work wonders. Some of these healings were nothing short of miraculous and helped bolster my faith that I am on the right path and doing the work I am meant to do to be of service.

Of course, suffering and illness are perennial human realities and, as such, the work of healing will never be done. Healing, as I humbly see it, is part of an ongoing path of service to the community and co-labouring with the Source of All healing to soothe the sufferings and symptoms of injury and illness. Individually, our own healing as practitioners is also never done, as we strive to work through all of our own shadows, sufferings, and issues; bringing spiritual work into those dark inner spaces can be a fruitful avenue for light in extension.

I. References

Balthazar. (2018). Solomonic Candle Magic. Course Bundle purchased from the author, no longer available online.

Peterson, J. H. (2004). Key of Solomon. [online eBook] Esoterica Archives. Available at: http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/ksol.htm

Peterson, J. H. (2006). The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. [online eBook]. Esoterica Archives. Available at: http://www.esotericarchives.com/moses/67moses.htm

By Herb and Angel: A Folk Christian Working with Archangel Michael for Three Recently Deceased Souls

By Frater S.C.F.V.

A. Spiritual Work for the Dead: Context of the Working

As some of readers may know, I am a Clinical Social Worker in my professional life, and specialize in palliative care, working with older adults with dementia, cancer, and other serious diagnoses, defending vulnerable people from elder mistreatment, and working with younger people with disabilities.

The people with whom I work with are mostly low-income, socially and intersectionally disadvantaged in various ways, and desperate for help. My mundane calling on this Earth embraces working with them, empowering them, equipping them with tools and resources from the government and community organizations, supporting them emotionally through their challenges, and accompanying them, often until the end of their lives.

And yet, it dovetails with my spiritual calling, for as Initiates know, matter and Spirit are but two sides of the same nondual coin, and death is but a phase of the soul between life and afterlife.

V0017612 – Life and death. Oil painting. Credit: Wellcome Library, London.

Indeed, the deeper I go into the study and practice of traditional Rootwork and Conjure with my beloved teacher Aaron Davis, studying the classic texts, and learning from experienced Rootworkers, the more I see that this style of magic is and always was about community, resilience, and survival. The African slaves who developed Hoodoo, Rootwork and Conjure in conversation with Indigenous Peoples, Appalachian white folks, esoteric Jews and others, developed a way of using what they had access to to protect and empower themselves, as well as to strengthen and nurture their families and communities. Furthermore, they did this often in the face of harsh realities, abuse, antagonism, and death. Hoodoo, Conjure and Rootwork, therefore, not only practices of spiritual resilience, resistance, and resurgence, but also practices grounded in family and community.

In the spirit of these traditions’ history, I strive to be mindful of my social location and yet also to honour the great teachers spiritual ancestors and workers of old by applying what I’ve learned in service to both the living and the dead. Chiefly, like the Rootworkers, of old, I’ve been focusing on those in my care–friends, family, loved ones, community members, and clients. As I came to work more and more for others and less for myself, I came to discover that doing magic for the betterment of others has a purity of purpose and spiritual strength that can be both moving and profound.

Just as my magic has become more community and service-focused, quite like my professional life, so has it also extended to accompanying my elderly and palliative clients into the liminal spaces following their deaths. Of course, working with people as they transition from life to death is by no means new; from the Ancient Period onwards, spiritual workers have often played the role of Psychopomps, that is, beings who strive to accompany newly deceased souls as they transition from life through death into the afterlife.

Icon Depicting St. Michael the Archangel as Psychopomp.

Historically, the Psychopomp role was deemed so important that it was cross-culturally enshrined in our mythologies in figures as diverse and yet similar as the ancient Egyptian god Anubis, the deity of Yama in Sanatana Dharma, the Greek ferryman Charon and god Hermes, the Roman god Mercury, the Norse Valkyries, the Aztec Xolotl, the Slavic Morana and the Etruscan Vanth. Ancient Mystery Religions like the Rites of Eleusis often centered on the Mysteries of Life, Death, and the Afterlife. Similarly, in the Christian tradition, Jesus Christ, St. Peter, and the Archangel Michael were all regarded as serving Psychopomp functions, much like the Angel Azrael in the Islamic tradition.

By extension, folk spiritual workers strove to collaborate with these spiritual powers to assist the dead. Indeed, in European folk magic as well as in American Hoodoo, Conjure, and Rootwork, magicians have often helped to offer the dead comfort, rest, light, and spiritual support in their experience beyond this world.

And so it was it was that I found myself drawn to continue to serve my clients after their deaths and helping them as best I could to brave the Great Beyond that gaped before them.

The working to which we now turn was a product of teachings passed on to me from the Conjure and Rootwork traditions in addition to folk Christian traditions, some elements of grimoire magic (e.g. the use of the Bell of Art), and the guidance I received from my own Spirits.

The purpose of this working was to bring cleansing, purification, protection, good fortune, blessings, Light, and peaceful rest to the spirits of three older adults I served in life after they passed away. Within the span of a few weeks, these individuals, each with their own strengths and limitations, had all died in sudden and unexpected circumstances: one after a sudden heart-attack while walking with his caregiver near his home, one after a major stroke in her residence, and one after complications stemming from COVID-19 in the hospital.

Concerned about the suffering and confusion they might feel after passing away so suddenly and hoping to help them in every way I could, I prepared the following ritual.

B. Setting the Lights on the Tablet: Preparations for the Work

To begin, as I work within a chiefly Christian framework, I offered prayers to God for guidance in the work and asked the Holy Spirit to guide me to select the right ingredients to benefit the three souls at the center of the work at hand.

I also opened up to the Archangel Michael as well as to my Ancestors, their Ancestors, and the spirits of the Herbs to guide me in developing the right formula for the work at hand.

I began by gathering the Herbs, consulting their spirits to see who would like to assist me in this work. In the end, the following 7 curios were included:

• Holy Olive Oil (for spiritual anointing and to carry the powers of the Herbs),
• Hyssop (that their souls might be purified and cleansed),
• Rue (that they might be protected and cleanser),
• Oak (that they might have good fortune in the afterlife and be blessed with protection),
• Cinnamon (to fire up Light to help them progress and strengthen their spiritual progression),
• Mugwort (that they may rest in peace and to enable them to communicate with me in dreams if they should like to do so),
• Loosestrife (that they might have calmness of mind and heart and drive away all evil and worries).

I ground the herbs together while praying over them, thanking each for its aid and asking it what I wished it to do.

I then took up a plate consecrated for the purpose of candlework–which Solomonic magician and Conjure worker Balthazar Van Der Merwe called the “Tablet of Lights”–as well as a spiritually-prepared chalk marker. This chalk had been previously exorcised and consecrated following the Key of Solomon’s method.

With these, I drew a “5-spot” of 5 equal-armed crosses in the form of a larger cross. Hearts were used to finish the Holy Cross, signifying the intention to extend love, care, and comfort to the Souls included in the work. I then included the initials of the three Souls under where I would position their candles.

Using a fresh pin, I carved each of their names into their respective candles. I then dressed each candle with Holy Olive Oil before rubbing the Herbal mixture into it, praying continuously at the same time. Finally, I warmed the bottom of each candle to fix each to the Tablet of Lights, while praying over them.

Next, I prepared charcoal, Frankincense, 3 glasses of water, and an additional candle for Archangel Michael, and brought the Tablet with the fixed candles into my Temple space. I left them there while I took a ritual bath, cleansing and purifying myself with Hyssop for the work at hand. Then, the spiritual work began.

C. The Working: Offerings and Transition Assistance for Three Recently Deceased Souls

I placed Archangel Michael’s dedicated spirit table at the center of my Solomonic Circle in the center of my Temple space. On the table, I placed Michael’s Statue, a water glass for him, the Tablet of Lights and candles, a censer containing charcoal and Frankincense, the Bell of Art, a bread offering for Michael, a torch, and three glasses of water for the three spirits.

I began began by praying in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, while ringing the Bell in the formation of a Cross multiple times over the spirit table, to open the work and “wake up” the spirits.

I then prayed extemporaneously for God’s help, the help of my Ancestors and those of the three deceased, and that of Archangel Michael. I did not do a formal Solomonic evocation of Michael, but simply asked him to be present and to assist with the work and greeted him with water, bread, Frankincense, and a candle offered to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit on his behalf and which I invited him to enjoy.

I then lit the three candles while praying over them. I greeted each spirit in turn, starting with P.D., proceeding to M.TP. and ending with J.W. I explained to them why I had invited them here and offered their candles, Frankincense, and water glasses to the Most High on their behalf before inviting them to partake in them for refreshment, light, and strengthening.

I then prayed for the three spirits collectively and then explained to them the role of each Herb fixed to their candle and prayed for its benefit to be bestowed unto them.

Next, I spoke to the spirits of the Herbs and invited them to partake of the fire, Frankincense, and water offered as thanks for their assistance in the working.

Then I prayed for each spirit one at a time, starting with P.D., proceeding to M.TP. and ending with J.W. I then spoke to each spirit as if they were sitting before me and alive, citing cherished memories of my time with them, thanking them for their strengths, blessings, and the traits I appreciated about them, and again praying for their cleansing, purification, uplifting, illumination, good fortune, care, and comfort beyond their deaths.

At the end of each series of prayers, I addressed the spirit and invited it to communicate any message he or she wished to share with me.

The messages were brief and yet, so meaningful to me. As each spirit spoke, I seemed to see a hint of it Astrally; I saw them appearing from their waist up, looking much as they had looked when I last saw them, or perhaps a little younger.

Their images seemed to emerge out of darkness and hover in a gentle illumination above their associated candle and its flame.

These were the messages I received from the three dead spirits with whom I had worked in life:

From P.D.: (speaking in French) “Thank you for this gesture and for your help. It’s so nice here (Frater S.C.F.V.’s Note: seeming to me, in the “space” in which he now found himself after death)! So beautiful! Thank you!“

From M.T.P. (speaking in French): “Thank you, A., for helping me. How we laughed! Thank you for all you did.”

From J.W. (speaking in English): He appeared stern as he had in life, then seemed to shift into a half-smile and said, gruffly but sincerely, “Sorry I gave you such a hard time. Thanks for your help.”

After each spirit spoke, I shared some private final words to them, which I shall not share here as they are personal to us.

Their candles were burning so still and the feeling in the room was somehow both heavy and light at the same time. The words I spoke seemed to hang on the air… as if time itself had come to a halt.

Attuning to the spirits of the tree, I could feel that they were dead, but they did not seem scared; instead, they seemed content and comforted to be there.

The space in the room was positively thick with energy and yet so still, so clear and yet so solid…

Indeed, I was so touched when I finished sharing and receiving the above messages, that I had completely forgotten to pay attention to Archangel Michael’s candle.

That’s when I noticed — it was going wild.

My impression was that the Archangel was doing some intense work to help the three spirits.

In a startling visual display, Michael’s candle began to sputter up tall bursts of fire, spitting them upwards at a rapid pace, like dragon fire. This rapid bursting would be followed by the flame dropping into a very tall, clear, still flame, and barely moving at all.

Then the flame’s tip would split into separate “tongues” of flame, as if the Angel was working on individual spirits at that time, 2-3 at a time, before returning to the tall flame bursts and swaying. The bursting seemed to indicate burning through impurities; the still hovering to harmonizing and attuning.

I asked Michael if I could film this candle flame manifestation and share it with others to inspire them to know that Angels are very real and he agreed for me to share the brief footage below:

I cannot overstate the intensity of the emotions I felt as I watched this scene and felt its impact on the three spirits… I felt overcome with awe, complete wonder, utter astonishment, moved almost to tears…

Even just watching the video back a day later, I feel an intimation of those same feelings. The contrast between the wildly active candle offered to Michael and the very still candles of the dead was so striking to me then and remains so today.

Moreover, I was amazed and surprised by the fact that in this humble little ritual to help these three souls, I felt Michael’s presence more powerfully, more palpably, more viscerally than I ever had before… Including in any of the full Solomonic evocations I had done with him. I didn’t know what to make of it…

Suddenly, my eyes fell closed.

Out of the blackness of my closed eyelids, I saw a face of pure light emerge from the darkness.

It was Michael.

He spoke to me in a voice at once deep, calm, loving, and grounded.

He said:

“This is the work I knew you were capable of, that I was waiting to see from you.
Working to help, working not for yourself.
Whenever you work for the good of others, in love and humility,
I’ll never fail to help you.“

Just like that, his image vanished, and my eyes opened once again.

The Archangel’s candle continued to flicker, sputter, wind from side to side like a serpent, and stretch higher than I thought possible above the candle holder…

Image of Michael’s candle rising high above the rim of the candle holder, with the wick being all the way at the bottom of the candle holder, sitting in a shallow pool of wax. Shared with the Angel’s permission.

I felt so moved and touched I couldn’t think of words to say. I could only pray “thank you… thank you… praise God! Thank you…”

My thoughts drifted back to remembering a Solomonic invocation I completed 4 years ago, in which I had found Michael quite difficult to communicate with. I’ve now come to believe that part of why I had such trouble was that, in that ritual, my heart simply wasn’t in the right place. I was thinking too much of myself and fooling myself perhaps, but not the Angel.

Now I was focused on working for the good of others, asking nothing in return, pure and sincere in my intent, nothing could be easier than receiving Michael’s words… That seemed a profound lesson about Angelic work, namely, that an Angelic Operation is most powerful and effective when we not only respect the protocols for fasting, prayer, abstaining, etc. in the days leading up to the Operation, but also approach it with a clear and clean purpose and a heart centered on extending the Good, on blessing.

Such a heart, such a mind-set, is in harmony, not only with the nature of the Angels themselves–thereby making it easier to attune to them–but also with the Divine Will itself.

For the Divine Will is always to extend the Good, through all manners, through all planes and worlds, to all beings, in all ways; as the great Adepti and Scriptures tell us, the eternal extension of the blood–Supreme Cosmic Benediction–is Love itself in action, Grace itself, and even the very Nature of God.

Photo of the Statue of Michael I took in Saint Michael’s Basilica in Sherbrooke.

Indeed, it reminds me of the words of Christ in Matthew 23:12, in which he says that “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

It now seems to me that there is a profound occult secret hidden here, in plain sight. At least for the Christian folk magician, the more we humble ourselves, the more we keep our self-concern out of the work while elevating the Divine and focusing on benefiting others through the work, the more help we will receive and the easier it will be to attune to the Angelic presence in the work.

Conversely, if our Angelic communications break down, it’s worth doing some soul-searching about our real motives, what we’re really aiming at, and whether that really is what we say it is…

This lesson also reminded me of the words of John the Baptist speaking of Christ in John 3:30, in which he proclaimed that “I must decrease; He must increase.” John devoted his life to paving the way for Christ, heralding his arrival, and drawing all to him in repentance, even unto death. Having so faithfully humbled himself, Jesus said about him in Matthew 11, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” And yet, even after this, he added a humbling other part for you and me, “…yet whoever is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.“

At this part of the working, I was so moved, I could barely proceed. But I knew I had to carry on.

I prayed for P.D., M.T.P., and J.W and recited Psalm 132 on their behalf, praying the following (Names of God Bible Translation):

“Psalm 132

A song for going up to worship.

¹ O YHVH, remember David and all the hardships he endured.
² Remember how he swore an oath to YHVH
    and made this vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
³         “I will not step inside my house,
⁴ get into my bed, shut my eyes, or close my eyelids
⁵ until I find a place for YHVH,
    a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

⁶ Now, we have heard about the ark of the promise being in Ephrathah.
    We have found it in Jaar.
⁷ Let’s go to his dwelling place.
    Let’s worship at his footstool.
⁸ O YHVH, arise, and come to your resting place
    with the ark of your power.
⁹ Clothe your priests with righteousness.
    Let your godly ones sing with joy.
¹⁰ For the sake of your servant David,
    do not reject your anointed one.
¹¹ YHVH swore an oath to David.
    This is a truth he will not take back:
        “I will set one of your own descendants on your throne.
¹² If your sons are faithful to my promise^[a]
    and my written instructions that I will teach them,
        then their descendants will also sit on your throne forever.”

¹³ YHVH has chosen Zion.
    He wants it for his home.
¹⁴ “This will be my resting place forever.
    Here I will sit enthroned because I want Zion.
¹⁵ I will certainly bless all that Zion needs.
    I will satisfy its needy people with food.
¹⁶ I will clothe its priests with salvation.
    Then its godly ones will sing joyfully.
¹⁷ There I will make a horn sprout up for David.
    I will prepare a lamp for my anointed one.
¹⁸ I will clothe his enemies with shame,
    but the crown on my anointed one will shine.”

Ancient Roman fresco of David as Shepherd.

I was going to end the ritual there, but felt nudged to add a final Psalm 23 as well:

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his Name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

Having finished praying the Psalm, to close the Temple, I prayed an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, as taught to me by a dear Esperitista friend, while again ringing the Bell of Art.

I gave thanks a final time, said goodbye to the three deceased, thanked Michael, the Ancestors, and the Most High, then declared the Temple duly closed.

I left the candles to burn and checked in on them about 40 minutes later, only to see the following:

My impression was that P.D.’s and M.T.P.’s candles had burned down rather quickly, but with tears of wax running down the sides as they burned, suggesting that pain and other impurities were being processed out of the spirits with help from Michael.

J.W.’s candle on the other hand, burned clean and clear almost to the end, when it suddenly pulled forward in an extension of wax towards where I was standing. How can we interpret the wax from these candles?

C. Practical Carromancy: Wax Remains Readings of the Three Candles

P.D.’s candle wax remains.

The next morning, I took the high-definition pictures of the wax remnants of each candle that you see here and endeavoured to interpret them with some insights from fellow readers with whom I shared the images in order to obtain insights from objective third parties. Much thanks to Cléo and David Domart, my fellow Working the Root students, for their input.

First, as seen above, we have P.D.’s candle. What I saw here was a spirit reposed and relaxed, a face looking to the side, surrounded by comforting and joyful petals. David got an impression of “thank you” from this wax and Cléo got a sense of “petals and playful cherubs.” This seemed very much in harmony with the message I received from P.D., namely, that he was grateful and that he found the space he was in very “nice! So beautiful!” This wax pattern was also very much in harmony with P.D.’s personality; he was a friendly and fabulous man who delighted in fashion and flowing fabrics. I saw his ‘imprint’ in this wax, in this sense, the stamp of the energy he embodied.

The second candle was M.T.P’s and looked as follows:

M.T.P.’s candle wax remains

What I saw here was her face, looking relaxed and content (the wick remains forming two eyes connected to a nose with a mouth below it). Above her, I saw the sweep of her hair, looking flowing and free. There were hints of her ears and perhaps a suggestion of a bosom at the bottom of the wax. Cléo also got a feeling of joy and gratitude from M.TP.’s candle. I was also struck by how much it looked like her; I could almost see her little smile and hear her joyful giggle as if she were laughing in my presence! David, similarly, sensed her free-flowing spirit and noted that he could feel “energy moving fast.” That sounded appropriate to me.

Finally, and most interestingly, we come to J.W.’s candle wax remains:

J.W.’s candle wax remains.

This wax felt entirely different from the others. As it turns out, this was exactly as it should be. P.D. and M.T.P. were both friendly, jovial people. J.W. was cut from a different cloth; he tended to be harsh and suspicious to the point where he refused to answer nearly every question I ever asked him. Part of my work with his spirit in the candle work here involved trying to show him my good will for him and help him relax his walls of suspicion so that he could move on without getting unnecessarily obstructed and encumbered. To hear him say “Sorry I was so hard on you, thank you” was about the nicest thing I could have hoped for from him. I told him all was forgiven and that I was just happy to have had the honour of meeting him and his family.

Looking at his wax remains, I see the wick remnants making up a face once again, a very different kind of face. I see eyes that look suspicious, perhaps a little fearful yet incredulous, but also see the wax sweeping down to the right as an outstretched arm, a kind of “olive branch” to me. I read it this way because the wax is coming towards where I was standing while doing the candlework. The overall message then became something like “yeah, I’m still a little wary of you, but I appreciate what you did for me so here’s an olive branch.”

Seeing this wax pattern, Cléo found it a little hard to read, saying he “seems elusive, like moving on or going through something.” That sounded right to me. J.W. was an elusive person in life, and remained so in death. He was hard to read, evasive as a man, both for people who just met him and for his own family members who had known him the longest. Moreover, he likely was going through confusion because his death came suddenly when we had been preparing for him to go home the very next day from the hospital; we have even put in place a new bed, raised toilet seat, and free homecare services to help receive him more comfortably at home. Appropriately, reading this wax, David saw someone “lost, not quite conscious.” That resonated. I hoped that the Rootwork would help calm, comfort, clear, illuminate, and strengthen his spirit through this transition.

D. Conclusion: Parting Thoughts on Working at the Crossroads of Life and Death

Overall, this was a beautiful working, a working that made me feel at once connected to the roots of the Herbs that powered the work, to Archangel Michael’s profound presence, to my own Ancestors and the Rootworkers who came before me, and to my fondly-appreciated clients at their passing.

I hoped that the working would help them to move on even as the Fire and Herbs helped soothe my own grieving and the bereavement of their surviving loved ones.

At the same time, the ritual cemented for me that magic really can operate at the Crossroads, even of Life and Death itself.

And while moving in that liminal space, a space of terror for many, we as spiritual workers can move in peace, and doing so, help bring that peace to troubled spirits in their moment of transition.

What could that be but an honour and a humbling opportunity for service, to life, death, and the Infinite itself?

Healing Beyond the Grave: Working Wonders for a Dead Man and his Family

By Frater S.C.F.V.

Post-Death rootwork set-up for my Buddhist client Michael.

A. Context of Working: Spiritual Forces Aligning at the Sudden Death of “Michael”

On July 12, 2022, I was informed that one of my elderly homecare clients, whom I will call “Michael” to protect his identity, was found dead in his room.

As it turns out, shortly before Michael died as we later discovered when time of death was determined, he had left me a touching voicemail about his friend Nancy, saying that he missed her and wished to see her more.

“Talk to you soon, man” Michael said, before ending his call.

Not long after that, he appeared to have died of natural causes linked to one of his many health conditions.

It was later suspected that he passed away either due to the cessation of breathing after choosing not to use his sleep apnea machine or a cardiac issue had led to his death.

In a sad turn of fate, the person who found Michael lying dead in his bed the next morning was the very person about whom he had left his final voicemail — Nancy.

She was stopping by to bring him some breakfast, a breakfast he sadly never got to eat.

As it turned out, Michael’s homecare Nurse, whom I’ll call “Haley,” happened to stop in to see Michael just as Nancy was still there after discovering his body.

The amazing thing was that Michael was not on Haley’s nursing route for that morning — she said that “something” had prompted her to bring Nancy some of the tubigrip Michael had to have wrapped around his legs to reduce swelling.

As an occultist and reader, I can’t help but see the aligning of spiritual forces coming together here — Michael’s last call to me being about Nancy; Nancy showing up to bring him breakfast mere hours after he passed away; a spiritual ‘nudge’ bringing Haley to his apartment at the same moment Nancy would need her to be comforted after the traumatic discovery of his body; Michael sharing his final message about Nancy with me so that I could share it with her to show Nancy how much she meant to him and what a profound impact she had on his life…

It was like the golden threads of each of our life paths had been woven together in this significant moment to weave a beautiful tapestry of meaning, healing, and spiritual import….

As the great rootwork and conjure teachers would say, this was a “crossroads moment” where life, death, and the hearts of the living and the dead came together for a key purpose.

After Haley found Nancy crying near Michael’s body, she gracefully completed the necessary follow-ups for paramedics to come to intervene with Michael.

The paramedics did not attempt CPR because his body was already cold, suggesting he had died the night before, shortly after he left me his final message.

The Crossroads Moment. Credit to Getty Images.

I spent the morning consoling Nancy, who was understandably distraught by this ordeal, and made a plan with her to offer her some support in the weeks to come as she processes the traumatic experience of finding someone she cared about dead in their home.

I spent the afternoon helping to organize for the funeral home to pick up Michael’s body and coordinating with his ex-wife, whom I’ll call “Emma,” as she was listed as Michael’s official next-of-kin.

Michael did have children, but they had sadly not spoken to him in 20 years. As he once told me, “I made a lot of mistakes with my children, mistakes I regret — I just wished I could have told them I loved them and am proud of them.”

Michael’s siblings lived in another province, and unfortunately, we had no contact information for any of them.

Tragically, when Emma unlocked Michael’s phone, she found that he only had a few numbers saved: hers, mine, Nancy’s, and Haley’s.

He did not even have numbers to reach his children or siblings. This is an important point, which I’ll come back to later, as it shaped the direction of the spiritual work to be done to help him after his passing…

Due to Michael’s descendants and family members being out of reach, it fell on Emma and me to try to plan Michael’s funeral arrangements.

Quite understandably, Emma was not very close to Michael after their divorce, but she was nonetheless very distressed by his sudden passing as they had been close for many years.

Indeed, we all were — I had worked with Michael regularly over the past 3 years and expected him to live many more years to come.

But Death comes on its own schedule, whether we expect it or not.

Emma believed that Michael would have wanted a Catholic funeral, but I explained to her that he was a devout Buddhist. He and I had often discussed Buddhism and he used to light incense for the Buddha every day.

Very touchingly, Michael had compassion for a little squirrel he used to feed as part of his Dharma practice; “Squirrely” as he called him, would come into his bedroom every morning to pick up some of the deluxe almonds and cashews Michael spoiled him with, would leave, and would come back the next morning. Michael always left his patio door ajar so that Squirrely could come in, get his breakfast, and leave.

Medically, Michael’s Nurse and I had concerns about the squirrel coming into his home from the perspective of possibly carrying rabies, fleas, etc., but spiritually, I knew it was alright and a valuable part of his practice by which Saint Francis of Assisi would have been pleased. Squirrely only came to the apartment to eat and always left right after.

In light of Michael’s wishes and spiritual path, I suggested that Michael would have wanted a Buddhist funeral. I informed Emma that he had once asked me to give an incense offering on his behalf, which I had committed to do.

After providing Emma with emotional support, helping her with the kinds of follow-ups we have to do after someone passes away (e.g. informing the government to end their benefits, doing tax follow-ups, searching for a will, dealing with creditors, etc.), we went on to start planning the funeral.

I put Emma in contact with a local Buddhist Temple that I had previously inquired with to help Michael get some Dharma teachings to request their help with the funeral planning. Emma and I then made a plan for the next few days of steps from the practical, mundane side of things.

As for me, I began to plan for the spiritual work I would do to continue to help Michael beyond the grave.

B. Working the Herbs and Light: Offerings and Rootwork to Aid the Transition

Once home, in order to honor my promise to Michael to light incense for him, say goodbye, and help him in the next stages of his progression from this world, I wanted to do some offerings on his behalf.

I divined with some of the Spirits with whom I worked and put together a series of offerings to honour and support him.

Buddhists like Michael don’t precisely believe we have a “spirit,” but they do believe in a continuity of consciousness from one incarnation to another.

Whatever the transition should look like for Michael, I wanted to help ease his path.

Therefore, first, I prepared some bread for him in case he does not yet realize he has died and would benefit from the energy.

Second, I prepared a shot of Sortilège, which is a Canadian sweet maple whisky, which I thought Michael would enjoy as a French Canadian raised surrounded by sugar shacks. From the magical side, I knew the sugar would also help “sweeten” him to the work to be done and the transition ahead of him.

In addition, whisky is often used in conjure and in several ATRs in offerings for the dead. My hope was to nurture and warm Michael’s consciousness–I would say spirit in my paradigm–and also to help sweeten him to his new existence and “lift his spirits” or cheer him up.

Funny enough, “sortilège” is French for sorcery; how appropriate for a magical working.

Third, I showed him some different incenses and asked him to nudge me when I hovered over one he liked. I was going to go with Frankincense or Myrrh, but he nudged me to use Musk. I sensed he might be looking to draw Love to himself in the unfamiliar space of death, since we use Musk as a love-drawing scent in rootwork. In addition, Musk is also a common incense in Buddhism, so it might have felt more comforting to him as well.

Fourth, I wanted to offer him a white candle and invited my Spirits and Michael himself to guide me as to which herbs to use to dress the candle.

I used a base of Holy Olive Oil, which in rootwork is used for anointing and as a general purpose oil.

For herbs, I felt guided to use an interesting combination of Rose and Pine.

Rose is used in Venusian work in traditional grimoire magic. Interestingly, it is also used for drawing Love in Hoodoo and as a symbol of Divine Love in Rosicrucianism. I used it to help Michael feel loved in his transition and as an expression of my care and appreciation for him.

Pine can be used for a number of reasons. In Hoodoo, it is used for attracting fortune and cleansing. In the context of this working, I hoped it would help cleanse Michael’s consciousness to help his transition and strengthen him spiritually with good fortune in the time to come.

Interestingly, in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1533), Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa also interestingly links Pine-Trees to Saturn (Book I, Chapter XXVI). This seemed appropriate to the Saturnine work of crossing the boundary of life/death, and our mourning for Michael’s sudden passing.

In addition, some traditional witchcraft traditions link Pine to Mars because of the plant’s pointy needles. I hoped this aspect would give Michael some energy and drive to help him with his transition.

Finally, I included two images of the Buddha as Michael would have wanted. Even though I mainly work within a mystical Christian paradigm, I wanted to respect Michael’s wishes and comfort zone.

I opened with a set of prayers within my paradigm, made offerings to God on Michael’s behalf and invited Michael, my Ancestors, Michael’s Ancestors, and the Angels and other spirits of my spiritual court to partake of them for strengthening in the work.

I explained the purpose of the different ingredients to Michael and why I was offering them and how I hoped they would help him. I called on the spirits of Musk, Pine, Olive, Rose, to help in the work according to each of their specialties.

After this section, I saw a small sphere of white light appear near the offerings and streak off towards the right. I wondered if it might be Michael, showing his presence for the work. Or perhaps another spirit who was curious about what I was up to.

At the end of the working, I explained to Michael that Emma would like to invite his children and siblings to his funeral but that we have no contact information for them. I asked, if he wanted them to attend, to please help Emma and I to contact them and made prayers on my side to help with this as well.

Finally, I invited Michael to appear in my dreams tonight if he would like to pass on any final messages to me or Emma, or any other guidance in contacting his family members. With that done, I told Michael the things I appreciated about him, reasons I was proud of him, and told him I would do my best to help give him a Buddhist funeral. I thanked him for the joy of knowing him and wished him all the best, then duly closed the Temple.

C. The Results of the Working: Wondrous Beyond Expectation and Culminating in Healing

The ritual itself left me feeling at peace and with a sense of closure that I did all I could do for Michael to accompany him, not only through his palliative care journey as I did when he was in life, but also, in his transition beyond the grave.

However, what I was most curious to see was how the magical work might dovetail with the practical, mundane work I was doing to accomplish Michael’s last wishes.

As it turned out, the results were nothing short of striking, and the paths through which they came to fruition were equally surprising.

First, although the Buddhist Temple to which I initially referred Emma was unable to assist. Through a series of interesting synchronicities, she was “nudged” towards another Buddhist Temple here in the city with whom she was able to make a beautiful arrangement for Michael. For a reasonable fee, a monk at the Temple agreed to offer Buddhist prayers and incense on Michael’s behalf for 49 days!

Second, as it was Michael’s wish to be able to donate his food and other items to help others, we were able to find an organization that accepted his food items on short notice. This was his wish as part of his dana or charity aspect of his Buddhis practice. Michael had always wanted to help refugees, but never was able too; in death, his remaining food items went on to feed them.

Third, and most striking of all was what took place in regards to his children and siblings. Emma and I did our very best to locate contact information for Michael’s family members, but our efforts were coming up empty. Then, it turned out that a woman at the funeral home with which Emma had been liaising had a contact on the police force, a Sergeant Detective, who specialized in locating missing persons. Normally, this Officer did not assist in cases of people who passed away without contact with their families, preferring to focus on criminal cases. However, in a very unlikely turn of events, she agreed to take on the task of finding Michael’s family members.

A Buddhist funeral service for Thai monks. Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images.

Within a span of days, Michael’s siblings in another province were located. His brother took on the task of repatriating his ashes back to his province so that he could be buried in his family’s graveyard after receiving his Buddhist rites, as per his wishes.

Then, the Sergeant found his children, who were living far from the city. They were contacted, brought up to speed on the events that occurred leading up to his passing. They agreed to come to Montreal to visit his apartment, because Emma had found photo albums depicting them as children — despite their being estranged and not having spoken for 20 years, Michael never got rid of these precious photographs.

Finally, through the Sergeant Detective, I was able to pass on to Michael’s adult children the final message he wanted them to hear and never got to tell them: that he loved them, was proud of them, and wished to apologize for all of the mistakes he made as a father. The closure that came from this was beyond what any of us ever expected.

Tears were shed, not only of grieving, but of healing… a healing that came through and beyond the tomb. With his passing, healing passed to his children, and his final wishes were accomplished, his final words for them were expressed after his death, and his transition into the afterlife was completed with the help of our Spiritual Helpers, with Divine Grace, and the help of the Herb spirits enlisted in the task.

Rest in Peace, Michael.

And above all…

Thank you.

Enchanting Rain and Reconnecting with Roots: A Day of Weather Magic, Ancestor Work, and Psychometry Amidst 17th Century Ruins

By Frater S.C.F.V.

The Sainte-Famille Church, built in 1801.
Société d’histoire des Îles-Percées

A. Reaching Across Space-Time in Spirit: Connecting with the Past in the Present

With my life recently plunged into a dark phase of tumult, destabilization, and remorse, I felt called to connect with an ancestral relative in the town of Boucherville in the hopes of finding strength and solace.

The colonial town of Boucherville was founded on unceded Haudenoshaunee Indigenous land as a seigneurial parish in 1667–that is, exactly 200 years before the 1867 Canadian Confederation–by Pierre Boucher, after whom the city was later named. Pierre Boucher came from Mortagne-au-Perche, Normandy, France. After having lived in Quebec City and Trois-Rivières, he moved to the Percées Islands by the southern shores of Saint Lawrence River, where he founded Boucherville (“Boucherville’s Origins,” 2020).

For thousands of prior to French colonization, the only spirituality practiced on the land that later came to be called Boucherville was Indigenous spirituality. Kanienʼkehá꞉ka Elders told stories in oral traditions, stories from and of the land which they saw as rich in spirits.

Many years later, the first Catholic church of the village of Boucherville was built in 1670. This church, made of wood, was eventually replaced in 1712 by a building made of brick. It was replaced in 1801 by the current Sainte-Famille Church. Several families left Boucherville in the 18th century to found the nearby communities of Sainte-Julie and Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville (“Boucherville’s Origins,” 2020). The Church remains a potent and valued spiritual site to this day, rich as it is in both history and spiritual power accrued over hundreds of years of use, itself built on lands rich in Indigenous spiritual history for thousands of years before that. .

However, my destination on this particular trip was not this church, but the house of a significant figure of Canadian history and ancestral relative, Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine (1807 – 1864).

Appearance of the sky over downtown Boucherville when I arrived in the area.

B. Prayers that Move Storms: Christian Weather Magic in Historical Context and Contemporary Practice

However, my story on this particular day did not start there.

The nearest bus dropped me off at some distance on the outskirts of Boucherville. When I saw the sky after disembarking, my heart sunk. Dark grey storm clouds cast shadowy figures across the sky and a mist below them indicated that it was presently pouring rain exactly where I was headed.

I felt a fleeting temptation to postpone the journey for another day, but a true Magician does not balk in the face of adversity, but rather, aims to transmute it into opportunity. To this end, an inner prompting, of the kind that often arises when one of my spirits is giving me a hint of inspiration, prodded me to attempt a simple form of folk rain magic to improve the situation.

Before we return to the approach used here, which could not have been simpler, it’s worth noting that the tradition of Western grimoires contains a variety of interesting approaches to weather magic, some of which could have been options here. To offer both historical context and contrast from the approach I employed, let us examine some of the historical examples of rain magic that are attested in the traditional sources.

First, a fascinating grimoire confiscated from a group of practicing witches in 1636 and recently published by Joseph H. Peterson, The Secrets of Solomon and the art Rabidmadar, features a spell using a a stone and salt water to “make it rain” (Peterson, 2022). Another later and equally relevant text, “The Clavicules du Roi Salomon, Par Armadel. Livre Troisieme. Concernant les Esprits & leurs pouvoirs” (from Lansdowne 1202), contains a version of the same ritual using salt water in the Circle, which Joseph H. Peterson translates as follows:

To make it rain. Cp. GV p. 86. Credit to Joseph Peterson’s Esoteric Archives (2022 edit).

“Take natural or artificial Sea Water and place it in a circle which you will make on the ground in the manner that is indicated in the chapter on the Circle, and in the middle of the Circle there the stone Heliotrope, and to the right side the magic rod indicated above; write the characters of Bechard to the left side and of Eliogaphatel in the middle and holding it under the rod you pronounce Eliogaphatel [text in red] the heavens created of clouds, [???] and power to be resolved in water. Which words having been pronounced, the rain will fall in abundance.”

As an interesting side note, when curiosity drew me to the French of this latter manuscript in Landsdowne 1202 (“Ciel composé de nuages aille et puisse êtres resoud en Eau“), I was able to obtain some clarification of the [???] passage, which I have translated as “the sky being composed of clouds able to be resolved in water [i.e. rain].” The meaning, therefore, is that in order for this rain production ritual to work, conditions have to be in place to facilitate the rain, that is, the sky has to already be filled with grey clouds. The spell would then force the clouds, by means of the spirit names, to “spill their contents” to the earth in the form of rain.

Storm clouds.

This spell is interesting in that it influences the probability of rain given the right conditions, but does not promise to create rain clouds out of a blue sky. This could have been an option had I wished to banish the clouds by simply having them pour out all of their contents. But there were other historical options.

A third text, or rather a collection of two apocryphal texts, The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (see the fantastic edition by Peterson (2008), contains a fascinating section about the Angels attributed to each Sign of the Zodiac. The Sign of Libra section states that the Angels of Libra “derive from God great power, inasmuch as the Sun and Moon stand under this sign. Their power controls the friend­ship and enmity of all creatures. They have power over danger, warfare, over quarrels, and slander — lead armies in all quarters of the earth, cause rain, and give to man Arithmeticam, Astronomiam, Geometriam.” The application here would involve conjuring an Angel of Libra and petitioning it to cause rain in a particular area. This could have been employed here in a similar way to the above ritual.

Liber Iuratus Honorii, Peterson Edition cover.

A fourth text of note, Liber Juratus or the Sworne Book of Honorius is one of the oldest and most influential texts of Medieval magic. Joseph H. Peterson’s (2016) edition notes that four “Spirits of the Moon, Gabriel, Michael, Samyhel, and Acithael... have the nature to change thoughts and wills, to prepare journeys, to tell words that be spoken, and to cause rains. Their bodies are long and great; their countenances are whitish dim like crystal, [or a burnished sword,] or like ice, or a dark cloud, and their region is the West.”

In this text, either these spirits, or the demons under them (“a king and his three ministers, and all the other demons of the moon are obedient to those, and placed under them, and they are these: Harthan, the king, Bileth, Milalu, Abucaba, which rule the demons of the West winds, which are five: Hebethel, Arnochap, Oylol, Milau, Abuchaba, they may be compelled to serve, or they rest“) would be conjured and bound or petitioned to cause rain as desired.

Section from Peterson’s (2008) Liber Juratus as shown on Esoteric Archives.

A fifth text, The Key of Knowledge from Additional Manuscript 36674 provides a Name of Power that can be used to cause rain (“the name SYMAGOGION, which Elias named, and the Heaven did give rain, and the Earth brought forth fruit”) (Peterson, 2019). This Name could be woven into a rain-making ritual involving the conjuration of one or more of the sets of spirits given above.

A sixth text, Sepher Raziel from Sloane 3846, informs us of a stone that can be used to affect the weather, namely, “Cliotopia. And it is a stone of great power of which the colour is greene & faire & shineing & cleare with dropps like blood well red within. This stone is said the stone of wise men, of prophetes & of Philosophers. And this is honoured for twey things for the colour like to Smaragdo in greenesse, and in rednesse to Rubino. The price of this stone ouercometh the price of other, and of his vertues & proprieties. the power of this stone is that if it be put in any broad vessell full of water to the sunne it resolueth the water into vapour. And it maketh it to be raised upward till that into the forme of Rayn [rain] it be conuerted downeward. His vertue is that who that beareth it in the mouth or in the hand closed he may not be seene of any man. With this stone a man may haue power upon all deuills & make eich incantacion or enhantment [enchantment] that he woll.“

Image from the Sword of Moses.

A seventh text, The Sword of Moses (see Peterson, 1998) provides a formula using Divine Names that can be used, not to cause rain, but to ward it off (“If thou wishest that the rain should not fall upon thy garden, write out No. 48.“).

My own approach on this particular day was closest to this last source, for it aimed, not to cause rain, but to ward it off. However, on the day at hand, I did not have these Names on hand, nor any of illustrious stones noted above. As a result, I had to rely on a much simpler approach than any of those given above. The approach I used, therefore, involved no tools apart from faith and prayer with precedent, not only in European Christian folk magic of the 17th to 18th centuries, but also in Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1533). To this point, in his Third Book of Occult Philosophy, Agrippa (1533) states, in Joseph H. Peterson’s edition thereof:

“Our mind being pure and divine, inflamed with a religious love, adorned with hope, directed by faith, placed in the hight [height] and top of the humane soul, doth attract the truth, and sudainly comprehend it, & beholdeth all the stations, grounds, causes and sciences of things both natural and immortal in the divine truth it self as it were in a certain glass of Eternity.

Hence it comes to pass that we, though Natural, know those things which are above nature, and understand all things below, and as it were by divine Oracles receive the knowledg [knowledge] not only of those things which are, but also of those that are past and to come, presently, and many years hence;

Moreover not only in Sciences, Arts and Oracles the Understanding challengeth to it self this divine vertue, but also receiveth this miraculous power in certain things by command to be changed. Hence it comes to pass that though we are framed a natural body, yet we sometimes prædominate [predominate] over nature, and cause such wonderfull, sodain and difficult operations, as that evil spirits obey us, the stars are disordered, the heavenly powers compelled, the Elements made obedient;

So devout men and those elevated by these Theologicall vertues, command the Elements, drive away Fogs, raise the winds, cause rain, cure diseases, raise the dead, all which things to have been done amongst diverse Nations, Poets and Historians do sing and relate: and that these things may be done, all the famousest Philosophers, and Theologians do confirme; so the prophets, Apostles, and the rest, were famous by the wonderfull power of God;

Therefore we must know, that as by the influx of the first agent, is produced oftentimes something without the cooperation of the middle causes, so also by the work of Religion alone, may something be done without the application of naturall and Celestiall vertues” (bold sections added by me for emphasis) (Agrippa, 1533).

Woodcut printing of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa.

In more succinct and simpler words, Agrippa (1533) suggests here that in some cases, mere prayer, coming from a place of faith, love, and hope, can be enough to work “wonders” including affecting the weather.

Although I make no claims to be a “devout man elevated by Theologicall vertues”–indeed, like Paul, I am surely “the worst of all sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15)–I was at least, in this situation, motivated by sincere need, humble faith, a nudging from my Spirits, and possible assistance from my ancestral relative with whom I aimed to connect.

Therefore, I used the simplest of approaches. I turned my full attention, Will, and energy toward the Goal at hand, inflaming faith, love, ad hope as Agrippa recommends, to generate sympathy with the means and intent at hand, tuned into the Divine and simply prayed “Dear Lord, please move the clouds and rain away from Boucherville if it be your Will, b’shem Yeshua, Amen.” I ended the prayer with “b’shem Yeshua,” Hebrew for “in the name of Yeshua” or Jesus, in accordance with Christ’s words in John 14 that:

12 Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If you ask Me for anything in My name, I will do it.

Working within a folk Christian context, I paused to meditate on the Power of the Divine over rain and water–Agrippa recommends drawing on Scripture for “narrative charms” or historiolae in his Third Book of Occult Philosophy (1533). The historiola is a term for a kind of incantation that incorporates a short mythic story that provides the paradigm for the desired magical action. It can “be found in ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Greek mythology, in the Aramaic Uruk incantation, incorporated in Mandaean incantations, as well as in Jewish Kabbalah.” There are also Christian examples evoking Christian legends (Frankfurter, 1995).

As sources of ancient biblical historiolae in prayers and stories relevant to weather magic, for instance, Job 37:6 Verse notes of YHVH that, “For to the snow He says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ And to the downpour and the rain, ‘Be strong.’

Jeremiah 51:16 expresses reverence for how “Ha Shem utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain And brings forth the wind from His storehouses.”

1 Kings 18:1 says that “it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.”

Job 28:26 states that God “set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt.”

Psalm 68:8, a useful Psalm for weather magic in a Hoodoo context for instance says “the earth quaked; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God.”

Psalm 68, Salvum me fac deus, quoniam intraverunt aque usque ad animam meam, Jonah and the whale – Psalter of Eleanor of Aquitaine (ca. 1185) – KB 76 F 13, folium 088r.

Another relevant Psalm, Psalm 135:7 says that the Lord “causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries.”

Psalm 147:8 muses of God that He it is “Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth.”

Jeremiah 14:22 prays “Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God? Therefore we hope in You, For You are the one who has done all these things.”

Christ walking on Water (Matthew 14:22-36; Mark 6:45-56; John 6:16-24), God bringing forth and ending the rains of Noah in Genesis 6:9-9:28, Moses bringing forth water from a stone and crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21) (“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided”) can also be called on here as relevant Scriptural historiolae.

I did not overtly include these verses in my prayer on this occasion, but one certainly could do so to fortify a prayer with a chain of passages that have been prayed and used in rituals for thousands of years. Instead, these passages hovered, as it were, in the a background of my simple prayer.

Having prayed it, I simply took faith and continued walking towards the storm.

And, as it turned out, the prayer was granted.

Sky above the road near the Louis-Hipolyte Lafontaine House in Boucherville upon my arrival there.

When I arrived at the childhood house of my ancestral relative Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, I was amazed to find that the clouds had broken into blue sky and the unobstructed radiance of the Sun.

Divine Power, either directly or through mobilizing spirits down the hierarchy to do the work in accordance with the Will, appeared to have driven the storm-clouds down a completely different trajectory away. While the clouds should have been bombarding thick curtains of rain upon my destination, they were simply… gone.

I couldn’t help but imagine that the spirit of Louis-Hippolyte had there been praying with me to aid the result.

And what a result it was.

Looking over the river across the street from his ancestral home, I saw this:

Sun and Clear Skies over the St. Lawrence in Boucherville when I arrived at the childhood house of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine. Miraculous results from folk weather magic.

C. The Revolutionary Rebel Turned Unifier of Canada: The Life and Death of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine (1807 – 1864) was much more than simply a family relative; he was a significant figure in Canadian history. At once jurist and statesman, La Fontaine was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada in 1830. He was a supporter of Papineau and member of the Parti canadien (later the Parti patriote). After the severe consequences of the Rebellions of 1837 against the British authorities, he advocated political reforms within the new Union regime of 1841. The Union united the previously separate Lower Canada and Upper Canada into a single United Canada (Ville de Bourcherville, 2022; Saul, 2010; Shrauwers, 2009).

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine from the Archives of Montreal.

Under this Union of the two Canadas he worked with Robert Baldwin in the formation of a party of Upper and Lower Canadian liberal reformers. He and Baldwin formed a government in 1842 but resigned in 1843. In 1848 he was asked by the Governor-General, Lord Elgin, to form the first administration under the new policy of responsible government” (Ville de Bourcherville, 2022; Saul, 2010; Shrauwers, 2009). Baldwin and Lafontaine would prove to be fiercely loyal friends as well as skilled co-politicians who ruled with a remarkable synergy and aimed to unify French and English-speaking Canadians (Ville de Bourcherville, 2022; Saul, 2010; Shrauwers, 2009).

The La Fontaine-Baldwin government, formed on March 11, battled for the restoration of the official status of the French language, which was abolished with the Union Act, and the principles of responsible government and the double-majority in the voting of bills. While Baldwin was reforming Canada West (Upper Canada), La Fontaine passed bills to abolish the tenure seigneuriale (seigneurial system) and grant amnesty to the leaders of the rebellions in Lower Canada who had been exiled. The bill passed, but it was not accepted by the loyalists of Canada East who protested violently and went so far as to burn down the Parliament in Montreal.

“L’incendie du Parlement à Montréal.” (The Burning of the Parliament in Montreal). Attributed to Joseph Légare, 1849. Made available by the McCord Museum.

After burning down the parliament, the rioters shot up Louis-Hippolyte’s Montreal home, which was recently restored and can still be visited today. About this home, John Ralston Saul, author of Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine & Robert Baldwin (2010), said that the building witnessed a great extent of the planning of Canada’s democracy. “Of all the buildings that are central to Canada becoming a democracy,” Saul told National Post in 2015, “it’s the only important one left.”

Until 1851, La Fontaine was a member of the Executive Council and Attorney General of Lower Canada, a position that corresponds to our current conception of the office of Prime Minister.

La Fontaine retired to private life in 1851 but was appointed Chief Justice of Canada East in 1853. In 1854 he was created a baronet by Queen Victoria and a knight commander in the pontifical Order of St. Sylvester by Pope Pius IX in 1855. He died in Montreal in 1864″ (Ville de Bourcherville, 2022; Saul, 2010; Shrauwers, 2009).

The story of his death was notably described by Jacques Monet (1976):

On 25 Feb. 1864 La Fontaine had an apoplectic fit in the judges’ chambers. He was taken home, where he gathered his son in his arms, made the sign of the cross, and lost consciousness. He received extreme unction from the vicar general, Alexis-Frédéric Truteau*, and died during the night. At his funeral, presided over by Bishop Bourget, 12,000 persons gathered. Lady La Fontaine gave birth to a second son on 15 July, but he died in 1865; his elder brother, Louis-Hippolyte, followed him to the grave in 1867.

He now rests in Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges here in Montreal, in a family tomb.

Family Tomb of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine here in Montreal.

To anyone interested in learning more about this incredibly significant figure of Canadian history, I would highly recommend reading the article on Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine by Jacques Monet in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, which is available online for free here.

Our Family Connection

Interestingly, Louis-Hippolyte was originally named, not Lafontaine, but Ménard. Lafontaine was for him what here in Quebec, we call a “nom-dit.” A “dit (pronounced like the last name of John Dee) name” is an alternate last name that French Canadian people in the period chose to take on, usually to distinguish themselves from other people with similar names in the region.

It was through my father that I first learned of our family’s connection to him through my father’s mother, my grandmother Pierrette Ménard. Her bloodline was connected to Louis-Hippolyte’s father, Antoine Ménard. And through my father and my grandmother, my own blood connects me back to Louis-Hippolyte.

Funny enough, Lafontaine was in some ways the first proto-Prime Minister of Canada and my family are also related to Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson on my father’s side and American President Richard Nixon’s family on my mother’s side. The Fates must have not been pleased when I chose not to go into politics!

Map of the Seigneurial System in the region of Boucherville from 1724.

D. Touching Ruins, Honouring Spirits: Ancestral Work and Psychometry at the Maison Dite Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine

The house to which my travels in Boucherville took me on this particular day was built in 1766, many years before the birth of Louis-Hippolyte. François Truillier had the house built for his family; when he died, it passed to his son Joseph, who married Louis-Hippolyte’s mother Marie-Josephte Bienvenue after Louis-Hippolyte’s father Antoine Ménard died. This is how from 1813 to 1822, the young Louis-Hippolyte came to live in this house.

As fate should have it, I walked onto the property for the first time in one of its oldest sections, where I saw this old ruin from the late 19th-early 20th century:

Past that, I came across the ruined wall of one of the oldest buildings from the property:

Invoking the rebellious spirit of Louis-Hippolyte, I dipped under the DANGER tape and placed my hand on the wall to do a brief session of Psychometry.

For those who may not be familiar with the term, the word Psychometry (from the Greek: ψυχή, psukhē, “spirit, soul” and μέτρον, metron, “measure”) was coined by American physician and Professor of physiology Joseph Rodes Buchanan (December 11, 1814 – December 26, 1899) in 1842. The term came to refer to the metaphysical practice of obtaining information about the history of an object or place by “tuning into” it while touching it or placing it to one’s forehead (New World Encyclopedia, 2007).

In his Manual of Psychometry: The Dawn Of A New Civilization, Buchanan stated the following about the practice as he saw it:

“The past is entombed in the present, the world is its own enduring monument; and that which is true of its physical is likewise true of its mental career. The discoveries of Psychometry will enable us to explore the history of man, as those of geology enable us to explore the history of the earth. There are mental fossils for psychologists as well as mineral fossils for the geologists; and I believe that hereafter the psychologist and the geologist will go hand in hand, the one portraying the earth, its animals and its vegetation, while the other portrays the human beings who have roamed over its surface in the shadows, and the darkness of primeval barbarism. Aye, the mental telescope is now discovered which may pierce the depths of the past and bring us in full view of the grand and tragic passages of ancient history.”

Joseph Rodes Buchanan (December 11, 1814 – December 26, 1899)

As I understand the practice, what we essentially do with Psychometry is open up our astral senses and then attempt to tune into the the region of the Astral Plane that corresponds to the physical object or location. Then we attempt to surrender to the reception of images, sounds, smells, touches, and other impressions that sometimes show “snapshots” or, as it were, “movies” of things that happened there in the past (I call these “psychic history traces’“), and at other times allow us to tune into the spirits of the dead who still have a connection to the place or object in question (I call these “connected spirits“). I had no success with it at all for years until I started to develop my astral senses and also improve at spirit conjuring, divination, and scrying, after which I found it to be a very similar practice. Psychometry is almost like doing a divination and reading, assisted by touch, of an object or place instead of a set of Tarot cards, Runes, Geomancy markings, etc. combined with the kind of reception of spirit impressions that we experience in an evocation.

Funny enough, the good old New Thought pioneer William Walker Atkinson, who wrote the infamous Kybalion under the pseudonym of “The Three Initiates” also wrote a book touching on Psychometry under yet another alias, namely, that of Swami Panchadasi.

In the book, titled Clairvoyance and Occult Powers (1916), he rightly–in my experience, at least!—writes

“Many persons suppose that it is necessary to travel on the astral plane, in the astral body, in order to use the astral senses. This is a mistake. In instances of clairvoyance, astral visioning, Psychometry, etc., the occultist remains in his physical body, and senses the phenomena of the astral plane Clairvoyance and Occult Powers 21 quite readily, by means of the astral senses, just as he is able to sense the phenomena of the physical plane when he uses the physical organs−−quite more easily, in fact, in many instances. It is not even necessary for the occultist to enter into the trance condition, in the majority of cases.

In Psychometry some object is used in order to bring the occulist “en
rapport” with the person or thing associated with it. But it is the astral
senses which are employed in describing either the past environment of the
thing, or else the present or past doings of the person in question, etc. In
short, the object is merely the loose end of the psychic ball of twine which
the psychometrist proceeds to wind or unwind at will. Psychometry is
merely one form of astral seeing; just as is crystal gazing.”

“Swami Panchadasi” goes on to share some information about the kind of use of Psychometry as a vision into the past of an object or place that we will explore with more practical examples later:

“Still another form of psychometric discernment is that in which the

psychometrist gets en rapport (in connection) with the past history of an object, or of its

surroundings, by means of the object itself. In this way, the psychometrist

holding in his hand, or pressing to his head, a bullet from a battle field, is

able to picture the battle itself. Or, given a piece of ancient pottery or stone

implement, the psychometrist is able to picture the time and peoples

connected with the object in the past−−sometimes after many centuries are

past.”

As a relevant and interesting side note, The New World Encyclopedia offers the following interesting information on three famous examples of Psychometry in practice:

“William F. Denton: In 1854, Denton, an American professor of geology, was fascinated by Buchanan’s work. A professor of physiology, Buchanan had found that his students could often successfully identify a drug in a glass vial simply by holding the vial in their hand. Denton enlisted the help of his sister, Ann Denton Cridge, to see if she would be able to correctly identify geological specimens wrapped in cloth. By holding the wrapped specimens to her forehead, she was able to accurately identify many specimens.

Stephan Ossowiecki: Born in Russia in 1877, Ossowiecki claimed several psychic abilities, including aura reading and psychokinesis. Ossowiecki was well-known for being able to perceive the contents of sealed envelopes. It was claimed that he perceived the ideas of handwritten letters, but was unable to do so if a statement were typed or printed. Ossowiecki was also tested at the University of Warsaw, where he produced apparently accurate information about the detailed lives of prehistoric humans by holding a 10,000 year old flint tool. After the Nazis invaded Poland, Ossowiecki used his abilities to help people find out what had happened to their loved ones, by holding a photograph of the missing person. He refused to accept payment for these services. Ossowiecki died before the end of the war, having accurately predicted such a thing would happen.

George McMullen: McMullen, a carpenter and wilderness guide, was tested by educator J. Norman Emerson in 1971. McMullen was able to correctly identify a fragment of clay as belonging to an Iroquois ceremonial pipe, as well as describing how it was made and used. McMullen went on to assist Emerson and other archaeologists with their research, providing information about prehistoric Canada, ancient Egypt, and the Middle East that were later confirmed by research. When he visited an Iroquois site with Emerson, McMullen claimed he could actually hear the Iroquois talking, and that he could also understand what they were saying.”

Stefan Ossowiecki (

Interest in Psychometry seems to have waned from the late 19th century into the 20th century. This is unfortunate, as it is a fascinating domain of occult practice that deserves more contemporary attention. I hope that this article will spark some curiosity to practice with it and record your results in some of you, dear Readers. As a word of advice, the key thing to keep in mind with Psychometry experiments, is that it should not result in merely Unverifiable Personal Gnosis (UPG). As much as possible, to fully explore the power of the practice and the results it can yield, we should aim to use Psychometry to find out testable and verifiable information. I’ll provide some examples to illustrate this point below.

I am by no means an expert at Psychometry, but have had some meaningful experiences with doing Psychometry readings on old places, which sometimes led to contacting spirits who had lived there in the past. For instance, while doing Psychometry on different regions of the Manoir Papineau house in Montebello, Quebec, a former home of another famous figure of Canadian political history, Louis-Joseph Papineau, I experienced a number of visions of different people who had lived in the home over its long and robust history.

Photo of the Manoir Papineau by James-Louis Demers / bibliothèque et Archives Canada.

There, I had a vision of a man I later recognized in a photograph as having been Talbot Mercer Papineau (great grandson of Louis-Joseph Papineau), a lawyer and decorated soldier, walking through the sitting room in his uniform. Archival documents from Parks Canada (2022) confirmed he had lived in the home from 1903 to 1929.

At the Manoir, I also saw a vision of Papineau’s children playing on one of the porches. I received clairaudient impressions of their voices in French and laughter as they played.

Near another part of the house, I saw a woman who turned out to be Azélie Papineau, mother to Henri Bourassa the famous journalist and founder of Canadian newspaper Le Devoir. I later confirmed that she had lived in the home.

I also encountered the spirit of an unknown servant who had died at the home in one area where the energy felt considerably darker and heavier. Him, I prayed with and for, that he might find the Light and pass on, for part of him still lingered in that place.

Photo of Azelie Papineau: James-Louis Demers / bibliothèque et Archives Canada.

Returning to this particular day in Boucherville, when I placed my hand upon the aforementioned ruined wall on the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine family home property, I received an immediate and unwelcoming feeling of severity. I had impressions of serious men, some dressed in suits and overcoats and others in religious garb. They seemed to be very concerned with rules and propriety and I had the feeling they did not take kindly to my tuning in to them, so I stopped immediately. I later found out who the religious men were; they were Jesuits who had previously lived in a structure on that very property in 1902, as I confirmed through an archival photograph of the area in question:

Image of Jesuits in 1902 on the Lafontaine House Property, whose spirits I connected with during a Psychometry session in the area they had inhabited.

Tuning in to an area at the edge of the property near the road, I received impressions of some spirits who were eying the home with a cold and resentful gaze. They appeared jealous that they had not been able to live there. I prayed for them to find acceptance and peace with the past and release it that they may be released.

Walking on, I came to a beautiful and stately statue of Louis-Hippolyte himself:

Statue of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, after I cleaned it up.

Unfortunately, however, and as I soon discovered, spiders had covered his face and body in thick, tangled webs! I climbed onto the statue and removed the webs with a stick as a gesture of love and devotion to my ancestral relative. It bears repeating that acts of service can be a fitting gesture of devotion and means of connection in Ancestral Work.

A stick full of spiderwebs that I removed from the statue of Louis-Hippolyte.

Having done this, I greeted his spirit with love and respect and asked for his permission to connect with him and learn from his experience in this place. I received a warm, affirmative feeling in return.

When I tuned into him, however, I was surprised that I did not see his adult form step forward. Instead, I saw a little boy. When I later walked closer to the house he had lived in, this image got stronger. I saw him playing with a ball with another boy. I did not know at the time, but later learned, that the reason for this was that the adult Louis-Hippolyte had not lived there from 1813 to 1822, but in Montreal, and he had only lived there as a child! As it turned out, baseball was one of his favourite pastimes.

Not far from the ruined wall, I came across this beautiful Cross, a replica of a Cross that stood nearby facing the St. Lawrence River, and which was made and blessed in 1879:

For my final Psychometry experiments on the site, I finally approached the main house. I started with the front wall of the house in front of the room on the left. Immediately, I received the image of a welcoming woman with her hair tied up. She appeared to be greeting me as a guest to her home. She presented as proud of her home and happy to welcome guests to it. It took me a while to figure out who this lady was, but I finally came to believe she was Marie-Josephte Fontaine dit Bienvenu (b.1782). She was Louis-Hippolyte’s mother, who lived in the house with him when he was a child.

The energy of this house, unlike the Manoir Papineau, which had had its dark regions, was entirely light and positive. When I connected with it at different places and on different sides of the building, I received visions of a family eating a meal together, Louis-Hippolyte’s mother washing clothes in a grey basin and hanging them in back of the house, men sitting, smoking, and sipping whisky in the sitting room. I received a clairolfactory impression of the smell of the cigar smoke outside that area of the house. I heard whisps of French Canadian songs being sung with joyful feelings accompanying them. Overall, the energy was strong and positive. I had the feeling that a lot of love had been expressed here and many fond memories lived.

At last, with final prayers for the spirits who had lived and still lived there, I said goodbye to Louis-Hippolyte and the other spirits who had been linked to the land there over the years.

As I left, I could almost see Louis-Hippolyte’s son playing with a wheel and laughing a wild, free laugh.

E. Conclusion: Personal Experiences Offering Fruit for Your Journey

This was a beautiful day filled with magic linked to weather, ancestral connections, the history that informs places both materially and physically, and the surprises yielded by Psychometry.

My hope in sharing these memories is that these personal reflections might inspire some new ideas and practical applications that can serve you in your own practice. If you undertake any Psychometry experiments or Operations in weather magic, I’d love to hear your results in the comments. Pax Profundis!

References

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“Boucherville’s Origins.” (2020). Canadian Community Stories. Retrieved June 15, 2022 from https://www.communitystories.ca/v2/pont-tunnel-louis-hippolyte-lafontaine_bridge/story/bouchervilles-origins/

Frankfurter, David (1995). “Narrating Power: The Theory and Practice of the Magical Historiola in Ritual Spells”. In Meyer, Marvin; Mirecki, Paul (eds.). Ancient Magic and Ritual Power. E. J. Brill.

“Maison Dite Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine.” (2022). Ville de Bourcherville. Retrieved June 15, 2022 from https://boucherville.ca/histoire-patrimoine/maison-louis-hippolyte-la-fontaine/

Monet, Jacques (1976). “La Fontaine, Sir Louis-Hippolyte,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 9, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed June 22, 2022, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/la_fontaine_louis_hippolyte_9E.html.

New World Encyclopedia. (2007). “Psychometry.” Retrieved June 22, 2022 from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Psychometry

Panchadasi, S. (1916). Pseudonym of William Walker Atkinson. Clairvoyance and Occult Powers. Retrieved June 23, 2022 from https://www.awakening-intuition.com/clairvoyance_and_occult_powers_by_swami_panchadasi.pdf

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Peterson, J.H. (1998). “The Sword of Moses.” Esoteric Archives. Retrieved June 15, 2022 from http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/sword.htm

Peterson, J.H. (2019). “The Key of Knowledge.” Esoteric Archives. Retrieved June 15, 2022 from http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/ad36674.htm

Peterson, J.H. (2008). The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. Newburyport, MA: Ibis Press.

Peterson, J.H. (2016). The Sworn Book of Honorius: Liber Iuratus Honorii. Newburyport, MA: Ibis Press.

Saul, John Ralston (2010). Extraordinary Canadians: Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin. Penguin Canada.

Schrauwers, Albert (2009). Union is Strength: W.L. Mackenzie, the Children of Peace and the Emergence of Joint Stock Democracy in Upper Canada. University of Toronto Press. pp. 211–243.

“The Manoir Papineau National Historic Site.” (2022). Parks Canada. Retrieved June 22, 2022 from https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/qc/manoirpapineau/culture/histoire-history/site/occupation