Solomonic Mercury Magic: Consecrating the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Pentacles of Mercury

By Frater S.C.F.V.

Date: Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Sun Phase: Dawn
Moon Phase: Waxing at 99.8% Full in Aquarius.
Mansion of the Moon: #25, Sa’d al-Ahkbiyah (the Lucky Star of the Hidden)
Planetary Day: Day of Mercury.
Planetary Hour: 2nd and 3rd Hours of Mercury.
Activities: Solomonic Ritual Bathing with Hyssop; Offerings to the Most High in the name of Saint Cyprian of Antioch, and to the Angels; Engraving the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Pentacles of Mercury; Solomonic Bell Sounding to the Spirits of the Quarters; Prayers of Intent; Inscribing the Vigil of Raphael with his Sigil from the Heptameron; Tracing out the 3rd Pentacle of Jupiter on the Tablet of Lights; Conjurations of Raphael, Kokaviel, Savaniah, Ghedoriah, and Chokhmahiel; Spirit Petitions and Consecrations of the Pentacles; Prayers and Temple Closing.

In the past two weeks, a number of factors coalesced to inspire me to plan to do some serious work with Mercury tonight. First, after nearly a year of work collaborating with fellow magicians in 3 different countries, we were able to purchase the skin of a non-poached lion killed by an African farmer for hunting in his field. We were able to divide the hide between 5 magicians in 4 countries on 3 different continents to each be able to fashion lion skin belts for grimoire work and thereby honour the spirit of the lion while also not supporting the poaching trade.

The challenge, however, lay in safely shipping the belt across multiple international borders. One of the aims of tonight’s work was to seek the aid of Mercurial spirits for helping to ensure that the belts arrive at the homes of their rightful owners.

Second, it seemed to me that while I was going to be opening the Temple and invoking Raphael, it would be a fitting occasion to also fashion the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Mercury Pentacles from the Key of Solomon. I would be able to use these Pentacles to experiment with their capabilities and also support my work in communication and clear thinking to serve the people in my care in my professional practice.The Moon is currently in the 25th Lunar Mansion of Sa’d al-Akhbiyah, which, according to Christopher Warnock, is excellent for growth, protection, and studies and intellectual activities. As I interpret these aspects of this Mansion’s image, they are all rather auspicious for Mercury pentacle work of the kind I was anticipating. The Lucky Star of the Hidden resonates with the occult virtues of the 3rd Pentacle of Mercury in its power to reveal hidden knowledge and mysteries.

In the 2nd Hour of Mercury on the Day of Mercury, I printed my ritual script as well as paper versions of the Pentacles. These, I cut out, and reserved to be placed on the Altar in before the evening ritual work. Throughout the day, while serving my clients, I reflected on the nature of Mercury and read writings from Sam Block, Frater Acher, and Frater Ashen Chassan about the Olympic Spirit of Mercury, Ophiel, and Archangel Raphael to begin to attune myself to the Mercurial energy more deliberately.

I performed a Daniel fast to prepare myself inwardly for the spiritual work to come.As the 3rd Hour of Mercury approached, I set up the Temple for the ritual, placing Raphael’s mensa (spirit table) facing the current location of the planet Mercury in the night’s sky, as calculated by the astronomical Sky Walk 2 application.

On the Altar, I placed my Tablet of Lights with the 3rd Pentacle of Mercury drawn in chalk marker consecrated on the Day of Epiphany.

I used the same consecrated Epiphany chalk to write ELOHIM TZABAOT (אלהים צבאות) and draw the Heptameron’s Sigil of Raphael on the Vigil candle.

I also wrote out a petition asking for the empowerment and consecration of the Pentacles to be made and for help in communication, thinking, and the safe transportation of the lion skin belts to their intended recipients.

I wrote this petition on the back of the 3rd Pentacle of Mercury printed in the 2nd Hour of Mercury on the Day of Mercury with the Moon waxing.

I folded the petition up and placed it on the underside of the Vigil candle to be offered to Raphael.
With the Temple duly prepared, I purified myself with Solomonic hyssop bathing while praying for help and success. In this process, I did a total confession of sins in the style of the Key of Solomon Book I, Chapter IV, “The Confession To Be Made By the Exorcist.“ I then donned my scapular of Saint Cyprian, white Solomonic robe, priestly Stole, and placed my Cyprianic Rosary around my neck. When the Hour of Mercury began, I immediately began to draw the 2nd and 4th Pentacles of Mercury in ink consecrated in the Day and Hour of Mercury on the twin surfaces of a foldable mirror. I obtained the inspiration for this unorthodox Pentacle construction from reading Agrippa’s First Book of Occult Philosophy Chapter XXIX, in which he writes that:

“Things under Mercury are these; amongst Elements, Water, although it moves all things indistinctly; amongst humors, those especially which are mixed, as also the Animall spirit; amongst tasts [tastes] those that are various, strange, and mixed: amongst Metals, Quick-silver, Tin, the Slver Marcasite; amongst stones, the Emrald [emerald], Achates [agates], red Marble, Topaze, and those which are of divers colours, and various figures naturally, & those that are artificial, as glass…”

I placed Topaz on the Altar to add to the Mercurial occult virtues of the setup. However, the key words here are that even artificial glass and, by extension, plastic, would be Mercurial, and thus, useable for talismanic purposes. It seemed to me, therefore, that a foldable pocket mirror could be used to make Mercury Pentacles. The mirrors are silvery and reflective like quicksilver, sacred to Mercury, while made out of artificial glass, sacred to Mercury, and with plastic backing of “divers colours,” also sacred to Mercury by the extension of the logical esoteric principle laid out by Agrippa above.

After finishing drawing the Pentacles on the two mirror sections of the foldable mirror in consecrated Ink of Art, the 2nd Pentacle on the top and the 4th Pentacle on the bottom, I took my consecrated Solomonic burin and immediately engraved both Pentacles into the glass. The result was a foldable double-Pentacle that presented as innocuous and ordinary on the outside…

…while containing two Key of Solomon Pentacles engraved with a Solomonic burin and inked in consecrated Solomonic Ink of Art concealed in its interior:

Having finished engraving the Pentacles, I took them into the Temple, folded the double-mirror shut, and placed it atop the folded petition directly under the central Vigil candle for Archangel Raphael. I then picked up my Bell of Art and positioned myself outside the Circle of Art. I sounded the Solomonic Bell of Art three times before entering the Circle, as per the Hygromanteia, then sounded the Bell to each of the full Quarters, as per the Key of Solomon, saying “I greet and bless the Spirits of the (direction) with great love and respect in the Name of Adonai!” I continued greeting the Spirits of the Above and Below and all other directions. As I did this, I began to see sparks of light flickering around the Circle, suggesting the presence of Spirits.

I picked up my Solomonic Sword and commanded malevolent daimons in all directions to depart in the name of Yeshuah and traced over the Circle with the Blade as recommended by Dr. Stephen Skinner. I then formally opened the Temple in the name of YHVH. I then unwrapped my Solomonic Wand from its white covering and began preliminary prayers.

I lit four large candles in each of the Four Directions as offerings to the Most High. I dressed an additional orange Vigil candle for Raphael with Solomonic Holy Oil, Parsley, Cinnamon, and Cinnamon Essential Oil; these herbs and spices are associated with Mercury according to Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy for their variegated and multi-partite natures. I also added Savoury, which some magicians also regard as sacred to Mercury.

I used my Solomonic Wand to trace Holy Anointing Oil in the form of a cross on the unleavened bread offerings to be presented to the spirits in the way Raphael had taught me. I then sprinkled these with the Mercurial herbs and spices to link them to the spirits to be conjured through the sympathetic resonance of their occult Virtues.

I also prepared offerings of orange candles for the four Holy Angels to be conjured under the authority of Raphael, namely, Kokaviel, Savaniah, Ghedoriah, and Chokhmahiel. These were placed around the central Vigil on the Epiphany chalk-drawing of the 3rd Pentacle of Mercury, which facilitates communication with the Mercurial Angels.

Formally presenting the offerings to my Patron St. Cyprian of Antioch, I asked for his help in conjuring the Good Spirits and received a vision of his face in my mind speaking “it shall be done.”

I then proceeded to Solomonically exorcise and consecrate all of the tools to be used (e.g. fire, incense–along with a batch of all new Frankincense I purchased recently–wax, etc) using the usual Key of Solomon formulae. I should note that the talismanic base–the foldable mirror–was exorcised, sprinkled with Holy Water with my Solomonic Aspergillum of Art, suffumigated with consecrated Frankincense, and anointed with Holy Oil traced in the form of the Cross prior to my engraving it.

I then proceeded with the conjuration of Raphael in the Nameof ELOHIM TZABAOT (אלהים צבאות), giving several knocks on his table, offering prayers to God, and formally invoking him. I felt a glowing, warm, radiant presence begin to fill the room, the familiar sense of Raphael.

I asked Raphael to confirm his presence through a physical manifestation, first by increasing the flare of his Vigil candle flame, which he did, then by moving the filament of incense smoke distinctly to the left, which he did as well.

I then asked the Spirit to swear by the blood of Christ that he was indeed the holy Angel Raphael, which he did. I invited him to partake of the bread, candlefire, incense, and water on the table offered to God on his behalf. A notable streak of light moved along the outside of the Circle after this.

I asked the Angel if he would please bless me by helping me to consecrate the Mercury Pentacles on the Altar and enliven the Olympic Spirit Seals and Angelic Sigils on the Altar that they might facilitate communication with the spirits.

“It shall be done if it is God’s Will…”

boomed a loving, warm voice in the interior of my consciousness,

“…but only if you use these tools for Good ends and if it is your time for their use. If you try to use them for evil, you will receive no help from me and surely reap what you sow. But whatever Good uses you put them towards to God’s Glory, I will strengthen and assist.”

I bowed, humbled myself, and expressed that I was grateful for this and would respect it as best I could. I did not know what he meant by “and if it is your time for their use” — I would find that out in the shocking and dramatic events that would folllow in the days to come — but I continued with the ritual in a spirit of faith.

I then asked for Raphael’s permission to proceed with conjuring four additional Mercurial Angels under his authority and the aegis of the Divine name ELOHIM TZABAOT (אלהים צבאות), and he nudged me to proceed.

I proceeded to conjure the four Angels in turn, briefly speaking with each in turn, asking it about its particular specialty, and inviting it to use its specialized skill towards the success of the Operation.

First, I conjured Kokaviel, lighting his candle as I did the conjuration.

I found myself nudged to vibrate his name in a resonant, harmonious, and very drawn-out tone, and felt myself attuning to a spirit newly arriving. When the spirit arrived, I observed a very peculiar effect. The candle flame offered to him visibly dimmed very low and then swelled in a golden swell of light before stabilizing. I interestingly observed precisely the same effect when each of the other three spirits arrived after him, which I found very interesting, as I had never seen that effect before, let alone four times in a row.

I greeted Kokaviel with great love and respect and invited him to partake of the offerings. I tested his identity by having him swear by Divine Names, a trial he passed, and verified his presence with physical confirmation by asking him to move the incense smoke noticeably to the right.I invited Kokaviel to present a vision to me to give me a sense of his nature. I saw a vision of a blue-robed elderly man with white hair and a white beard. When I asked the spirit about his nature, he said:

“Mine is the power of the penetrating intellect, the mind that pierces through barriers and limitations to reveal secrets and knowledge, the power to bypass boundaries and reveal hidden depths. The penetrating power of Mercury is my domain.”

I asked if he would use his penetrating Mercurial power to help penetrate and enliven the Pentacles and help ensure that the lion skin belt would penetrate all obstacles to arrive to me.

“It shall be so,” answered the spirit.

Second, I conjured the great spirit Savaniah, who appeared entirely different from Kokaviel. After observing the same dimming and flaring candle effect as with Kokaviel, the spirit appeared as a flashing, flickering being resembling a golden light with rapidly-moving wings that reminded me, somewhat humorously, of the Snitch from Harry Potter. I greeted him with great love and respect and invited him to partake of the offerings. The incense smoke began to billow and move left and right fascinatingly when I asked for physical confirmation of his presence. He confirmed his identity by swearing by Divine Names.

When I asked what his office was, Savaniah answered, in a voice that spoke rapidly and in a scintillating tone:

“Mine is the power of conveyance, of transmission from origin to destination, of the current of movement, of the transfer of information in communication and matter in travel. All that darts from here to there, all that travels, all that is transmitted partakes of my power under the authority of Raphael.”

Savaniah seemed to be in constant movement, flittering back and forth, to and fro like a darting insect. How different he was from the wisely stationary Kokaviel with the warmly penetrating presence…I asked Savaniah to please convey the current of Mercurial power into the Pentacles and also to help endue them with the power to facilitate the conveyance of information in communication and the conveyance of the lion skin belts to our homes.

“So shall it be”

was the response.

Third, I conjured the great Ghedoriah and observed the same dimming and flaring candle effect. Ghedoriah appeared to me as being of golden light, but wearing a long red cape. As with the other spirits, I greeted him with great love and respect, invited him to partake of the offerings, sought physical confirmation of his presence, tested his identity, and asked him for his office. Ghedoriah’s voice was deep, ethereal, and almost reverent sounding.

Ghedoriah spoke, saying:

“Mine is the Mercurial power to manifest change, transformation, the bringing into being through shifting the patterns of consciousness, mind, and matter.”

I asked him if he would please imbue the Pentacles with the power to cause changes and transformations, in harmony with the purpose of the 2nd Pentacle of Mercury, which causes changes in events sometimes contrary to Nature, and the purpose of the 4th Pentacle of Mercury, which causes transformations of knowledge and understanding through revelation of hidden knowledge. I also asked if he could transform circumstances to help ensure the safe transmission of the lion skin belts to their destinations.

“The changes will come”

was the answer.

Finally, I conjured the great spirit Chokhmahiel. After the same dimming down low and then flaring up of the flame on the candle offered to him, I astrally perceived a charming, intellectually pleased-sounding laugh. Then a warm voice came as the spirit introduced himself. As with the other spirits, I greeted him with great love and respect, invited him to partake of the offerings, sought physical confirmation of his presence, tested his identity, and asked him for his office.

Chokhmahiel said:

“Mine is the Mercurial manifestation of Divine wisdom. Mine is the power to coordinate disparate elements into harmonious changes in harmony with the Good, for such is the role of wisdom, to bring the right elements together to produce better ends.

Mine is not mere understanding, the grasping of a concept, or mere knowledge, the registering of information, but the power to draw on both and direct them to manifest improvements to situations. When reasoning blossoms in wisdom of mind and action, my power is manifest.”

I asked him if he could please use his wisdom to empower the Pentacles to provide wisdom in thinking, communication, and the wise conveyance of the lion skin belts. Chokhmahiel seemed to speak through a smile,

“Of course, if it is wise.”

I thanked Raphael and all of the spirits for their assistance. I then prayed closing prayers of thanksgiving, worship, and gratitude to God for all of His help and requesting His aid, wisdom, power, and support in guiding me to use these Pentacles in ways in harmony with His Will. I exorcised and consecrated the golden Altar Cross on the Altar, which had not yet been consecrated. I then snuffed out the Quarter candles, leaving the offering candles to Raphael and the four spirits burning on the Altar.I invited the spirits to remain as long as they wished to partake of the offerings, and then gave the License to Depart in the Name of ELOHIM TZABAOT (אלהים צבאות), bidding them to return to their planes but to come swiftly when called, with love and respect. Tetelestai – it was finished.

Results:

• August 16, 2019 – While the main double mirror-engraved Pentacle continues to rest beneath the Vigil of Raphael, I carried one of the consecrated paper 4th Pentacles of Mercury I made with me to work today. Communication was a breeze all day. I was stunned when a client who usually refuses to meet with me and speaks in gibberish when he does speak witb me not only accepted to meet with me today, but spoke lucidly when we did meet! Since this was the first time this had occurred in months of working with this client, nothing else having changed, I can only attribute it to the effects of the Pentacle and the work of the Spirits who empowered it. Hail to thee, mighty spirits!
• Sunday, August 18, 2019 – The candles offerered to Kokaviel, Savaniah, Ghedoriah, and Chokhmahiel have all burned cleanly down to the base of the Tablet. Raphael’s Vigil continues to burn clean and clear. Today, while carrying the paper 4th Pentacle of Mercury at Church, I felt myself conversing easily with my fellow brothers and sisters. Much to my surprise, a woman in the worship band came down from the stage and walked all the way to my pew to speak with me during the meet and greet time where we shake hands and offer peace to one another. She told me “I know we’ve never spoken, but I felt drawn to speak with you for some reason…”
• We had a wonderful conversation for which I was very grateful. Meanwhile, the main engraved Pentacles continue to be worked upon by the Angels beneath the Vigil candle of Raphael still burning on the Altar…
• 
• Monday, August 19, 2019 – While I was carrying the paper 4th Pentacle of Mercury, I received a call from a low-income elderly friend with cancer who called me in desperation saying that she had received a Seizure of Property notice from the Montreal Municipal Court and had to pay nearly 2,500.00 $ in fines. She asked if I could help her and call the Courthouse on her behalf. I did so and explained that she had neither the finances nor the physical ability in her advanced age to do community service to repay her debts. I asked how she should proceed. I felt the Spirits of the Pentacle working on my communication as I learned about an organization I had never heard of that advocated for people in situations like these.
• The next day, on August 20th, I accompanied my friend to that organization, carrying the Pentacle. The worker there helped us to work out a repayment plan where my friend wous only have to pay the Court 5$ per month and she would be safe from repossession! She was so happy and relieved she had tears in her eyes. Glory be to God!
• 
• Tuesday, August 20th, 2019 – While carrying the paper 4th Pentacle of Mercury, I went to work and was alarmed to find out that we had a mandatory meeting in the afternoon at the same time I had previously booked a session with a client that took months to book because she repeatedly refused to meet and cancelled the previous session. I did not have high hopes that she would accept to reschedule the appointment later in the week. When I called her to ask if we could reschedule with the Pentacle on my person, I was shocked by her answer: “sure, no problem.” What?! Huh?! It was that easy. I was stunned. That same morning, as I studied and wrote about Matthew 6:21, I felt a flood of insights into the verse and felt the Holy Spirit was revealing things previously unknown and unseen to me in the verse and the Ancient Greek language in which it was written. I was filled with wonder and gratitude at it all as I remembered the Key of Solomon‘s description of the Pentacle as bestowing the power to help the magician “to acquire the understanding and knowledge of all things created, and to seek out and penetrate into hidden things…” Thus far, I had learned that it had the power by the grace of God to reveal not only spiritual knowledge, but also practical knowledge, such as the knowledge of legal recourses and previously unknown organizations I used to help my vulnerable friend in need…
• 
• Wednesday, August 21, 2019 – Catastrophe Strikes: Today, I had a very difficult meeting planned, so I decided to borrow the engraved mirror 2nd and 4th Pentacles of Mercury to help me through the day. The began wonderfully, but soon took an unexpected turn when the double-Pentacle of Mercury spontaneously fell out of my pocket. The 4th Pentacle of Mercury remained impeccably preserved, but the 2nd smashed to pieces on the hard tiled floor on this Day of Mercury of all days… I was reminded that Mercury rules all transportation and I immediately felt the impact of the broken Pentacle. As soon as I stepped onto the metro carrying the broken Pentacle, the power immediately went out on the entire train. I mean within moments of me embarking. I was shocked. But that wasn’t all. When the emergency lights came on, they were followed by an announcement to say that there was smoke throughout the tunnel of a complete metro line. It was down and had to be evacuated. What’s more, 3 other metro lines in the system were down. Dear God… I took this picture after the emergency lights came on in the train:
• 
• Later in the day, I reached out to the Holy Archangel Raphael and asked if he would kindly bestow some insight what had happened with the shattering of the 2nd Pentacle of Mercury. What followed was well-deserved severity. The Angel informed me that
• “You suffered the consequences of two great blunders, O Son of Adam. First, for your hunger and greed for power. Your work now is to center on the 4th Pentacle of Mercury and on knowledge, wisdom, understanding, revelation of Mysteries, and communication, gifts in which I can aid you through the 4th Pentacle. For that reason, I did not destroy the 4th and you find it unharmed. In your greed, however, you tried to claim the wonder-working of the 2nd Pentacle of Mercury as well. That is not for you now. Had you asked me, I would have guided you on this point — have I yet misled you in any matter? Rest assured, I will guide you when the time has come to work with the 2nd Pentacle. But that time is not now. Therefore, your 2nd Pentacle has been destroyed. Be encouraged — you will remake it when the time to learn its lessons has come.”
• “Your second blunder was to take the Pentacle from the Altar before my Candle burned to its base. You removed it prematurely and presumptuously without consulting the Wisdom of God first, preferring instead to rely on the foolishness of your own intellect. This was a break of our protocol and a violation of the working. Had you asked me, I would have instructed you in this — that you would not remove the Pentacle from the Altar until at least the morning of the Day of Jupiter a week after its consecration. But again, you chose to lean on your own understanding rather than on the ways of those who could instruct you in wisdom. Be cautioned against meddling with great Forces you do not understand — lest the Forces disrupt your world and bring you to a halt, like a stalted train.”
• 
• I understood what that last sentence meant all too welll. It was a clear reference to the incident with the train. apologized sincerely, regretting my own errors. The Angel responded with a a glowing feeling of loving warmth and consolation.
• “You are forgiven. Did I not say that this is a time of initiation into wisdom and learning for you? Next time, humble yourself and ask. I am happy to help. Did I not teach you in the ways of scrying and the consecration of the bread of Offering? Why should I fail you now? I delight in teaching you what you can use to bless others as God Wills.“
• 
• I thanked the Angel sincerely and asked what I should do about the broken Pentacle. The Angel explained:
• “Remove and deconsecrate the remaining shards from the case that houses them. Pray over them that the Most High removes all blessings and virtues bestowed on them and that they be restored to naught but shards of glass. Dispose then of them. If you do this, no more negative consequences will follow you. Repent of the spirits, learn, and do not repeat the blunders of today in the freshness of tomorrow. If you return the 4th Pentacle to the Altar until my Vigil has burned to its base, the protocol will be restored and we will complete the work.“
• I agreed to do all of these things. Before the Day of Mercury came to a close, all these things were accomplished as the Angel instructed. I placed the engraved Pentacle back on the Altar beneath the Vigil candle of Raphael as the Angel instructed.
• 
• Examining the water goblets (Fuentes) offered to St. Cyprian of Antioch and the Angels, I noticed a tremendous difference. Both goblets were offered at the same time from the same container of filtered water. The Angels’ Fuente was crystal clear. Saint Cyprian’s on the other hand, was absolutely filthy, a dark, murky white. I understood immediately that Saint Cyprian had shielded me from negative consequences I would have incurred from the Spirits angered by the involuntary smashing of their Pentacle. I thanked the great Saint for his help, threw the murky water out of my house, thoroughly cleansed his goblet with soap and water, and then offered fresh, clean water in thanks both to him and to the Spirits. The image below shows the striking contrast between the clear water offered to YHVH on behalf of Angels on the right and the murkiness in Saint Cyprian’s water on the left:
• 
• Friday, August 23, 2019 – With the protocols all rectified, the Vigil is burning smoothly this morning. These candles normally burn to their base within 7 days. We’re 9 days in now and it’s still going strong.
• Today, I received four bottles of Florida water. Prompted by the spirit, I added them to the Altar, asking the Lord to exorcise them and bless them to serve in the cleansing, exorcism, and purification of magical tools. Note that Florida water is highly flammable. The only reason I felt comfortable adding them to an Altar with a burning candle is that the Vigil candle is nearly out and well protected by its casing and ceramic base. Do not place Florida water near any unprotected open flames and beware placing it near glass-cased vigil candles that are at risk of shattering. It can be difficult to work in an exploded Temple…
• 
• Saturday and Sunday, August 24 and 25: The Pentacles continue to sit on the Altar and the Vigil continues to burn.
• 
• Monday, August 26th: This 6-day Vigil candle has been burning for an amazing 12 days. I had an intuitive nudge that Raphael and his Angels will finish their work on the Pentacles tonight. The candle will be out by morning.
• 
• Tuesday, August 27th: The Vigil candle is out. I approached the Altar this morning and asked Raphael if I coupd respectfully begin to carry the 4th Pentacle now. I received this reply from the Angel: “Yes, thank you for your patience. Take it freely. May it aid you in accomplishing all good works involving communication and discovery of hidden truth.” Thanking the spirits for their help, I picked up the Pentacle and reverently and gratefully slipped it into my pocket.
• 
• Tuesday, August 27, 2019 – Against all odds, I was informed by my fellow magician in the U.S. that the lion skin belts had been safely conveyed across international lines all the way from Namibia, Africa into the United States. Customs had not even opened the package, but allowed them through any way! Not only did they safely arrive, but they safely arrived one day early!
• September 4-11, 2019: The spirits continue to oversee the safe transmission of the belt aided by respect for permits and laws. On the Day of Mercury, September 4th, it arrived in Denver, Colorado. On the Day of Jupiter, overseen by my Patron Sachiel, it arrived in San Francisco, California. On the Day of the Sun, September 8th, overseen by my Patron Michael, who rules over Solar animals like Lion, the belt crossed the U.S. Border into Canada. Raphael and his four Angels continued to oversee its transmission until the belt arrived in my city in Montreal on the Day of Mercury, September 11th.
• September 12, 2019 – As promised by the Angels, on the Day of Jupite while I carried the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter, my Patron Sachiel gave me the good fortune of ensuring the belt safely arrived in my home. Hail to you, Holy Angels and great Archangel Raphael! Thank you Lord and Source of all Good!
• September 15, 2019 – In the Day and Hour of the Sun, I opened the package and did a ritual to welcome the spirit of the lion into my spiritual Court. I calmed the spirit’s fear and distrust of humans, nurtured her with soothing and offerings, brought her under the protection of my Patrons. I obtained her consent to work together for our mutual benefit and permission to inscribe nomina magica on the inside of the belt for our mutual protection.
• 
• I’m so grateful to the One who made us both Who generously brought us together and to all of the spirits He allowed to assist us in this matter. I thanked them with additional offerings offered to God on their behalf for all of their help. Hail to you, Holy Raphael, Kokaviel, Savaniah, Ghedoriah, and Chokhmahiel! Hail to you dear Sachiel and Michael! Hail to you Holy Angels of the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter and all praise and worship to the God who made us all, spirits and matter, lions and men! Thank you, thank you!
• 

Solomonic Invocation of Archangel Anael and Emergency Petition for a Friend

By Frater S.C.F.V.

Date: Friday, March 15, 2019
Sun Phase: Afternoon
Moon Phase: Waxing in First Quarter in 12 degrees Cancer in the Nathra Mansion of the Moon
Mansion of the Moon: Thurayya
Planetary Day: Day of Venurs
Planetary Hour: Hour of Venus
Activities: Ritual Bathing; Oratio dicenda quando induitur vestis; Dressing Candle for Anael; Preliminary Prayers; Offerings to the Most High, to Ancestors, to Patron Saints and Teachers, and to the Angels; Heptameron Prayer; Invoking the Angels of the Four Directions as per Heptameron; Conjuration of Anael;

A dear friend of mine, whom I will refer to as S.H. to preserve her privacy, is presently in an emergency situation where she is at risk of becoming homeless in a two week period. As a result, I felt moved to invoke the great Archangel Anael on the day of Venus in the Hour of Venus for help with the situation and also to go deeper into discussions of Divine Love with the Angel. The Moon today is in Lunar Mansion #8, al-Nathra, which is useful for actions of love and friendship. It is an appropriate time do a loving gesture with the Archangel of Venus on behalf of a friend.

I completed a 3-day regime of ritual purity in preparation, culminating in today. After a ritual bath, I got into my white robe (while reciting the Heptameron prayer for donning the vestments, “Oratio dicenda quando induitur vestis”) and put on my stole, put on my Cyprianic rosary, scapular, Cyprianic bracelet, and Solomonic Pentagonal Figure. Proceeding to the Temple, which had already been arranged prior to the beginning of the Planetary Hour, I sounded the Bell of Art three times before entering the Circle as per the Hygromanteia. Then, I entered the Circle, and began preliminary prayers to the Divine while asperging the Circle, Altar, and all Instruments of the Art with Holy Water.

The Altar featured a green Altar cloth, which looks blue in these images, a large green candle, a small green candle dressed with St. Cyprian Oil and Thyme, which is sacred to Venus according to Agrippa’s First Book of Occult Philosophy, Chapter XXVIII, a Virgin Mary Statue, a censor with stick incense placed inside my Cauldron consecrated to Archangel Gabriel, Epiphany Holy Water, bread and water Offerings to Anael, my Wand, a vial of San Cipriano Oil, my Bells, a scrying Crystal, and the seal of Anael on Virgin Paper set on a golden Laurel Wreath. I took up my Solomonic Sword and traced over the outer line of the Circle with its point. With the Circle thus sealed, I put down the Sword and picked up my Solomonic Wand.

First, I presented Offerings to the Most High El Elyon and asked for His Help in sending His servant, Anael to be present with me and aid me in this Operation of the Art. Next, I presented Offerings to my Patrons, including St. Cyprian of Antioch, my Ancestors, the Angels and Archangels, and the Olympic Spirits, requesting their help in this Operation. The Offerings included exorcised and consecrated goblets of spring and filtered water, candle offerings, bread, and for Anael, a green candle dressed with St. Cyprian Oil and Thyme, bread sprinkled with Thyme, and incense. I asked St. Cyprian to assist me in conjuring Anael with the aim of learning more about the Divine Wisdom and assisting a friend in need.

After more preliminary Prayers, I formally opened the Temple for the Solomonic Invocation. I felt an intuitive nudge from my Spirits to proceed with the Heptameron conjurations and prayers in Latin today, so I obliged. The Altar was set up to face the current location of Venus in the sky, which was determined using an astronomical program. Standing facing the Altar in the direction of Venus, I took up my Wand and the grimoire in the other hand and began the opening prayers.

I said the opening line “O Angels [sic] supradicti, estote adjutores meæ petitioni, & in adjutorium mihi, in meis rebus & petitionibus” then called the Angels that rule the Air on this Day, intoning their names 3 times each in their respective directions, then praying “O vos omnes, adjuro atque contestor per sedem Adonay, per Hagios, etc…”

Having called the Angels of the 3rd Heaven ruling the Day in their respective Quarters I proceeded to the Conjuration of Friday to invoke Anael, namely:

Conjuro & confirmo super vos Angeli fortes, sancti atque potentes, in nomine On, Hey, Heya, Ja, Je, Adonay, Saday, & in nomine Saday, qui creavit quadrupedia & animalia reptilia, & homines in sexto die, & Adæ dedit potestatem super omnia animalia: unde benedictum sit nomen creatoris in loco suo: & per nomina Angelorum servientium in tertio exercitu, coram Dagiel Angelo magno, principe forti atque potenti: & per nomen Stellæ quæ est Venus: & per Sigillum ejus, quod quidem est sanctum: & per nomina prædicta conjuro super te Anael, qui es præpositus diei sextæ, ut pro me labores, &c.

I then did a second complete Conjuration in English, adding my intent for the ritual and petition, and requesting help from the Divine, my Patrons, Saints, Ancestors, and Teachers for help in making it succcessful.

Then, I began to chant the name ANAEL for an extended period of time while waving the Wand in rhythmic motion, facing the direction of Venus. I continued and continued, my chanting growing in intensity and melodic harmonies while tracing his Sigil in the air with my Solomonic Wand until I felt a shift in the energy in the room, a sense of loving warmth begin to grow like light over the horizon at dawn. I saw sparks of light and drifting spiritual ‘tracers’ outside the Circle. Then Anael’s offering Candle flared up. I welcomed the Spirit and asked the Spirit in the name of Tetragrammaton to confirm its presence if it was indeed here by moving both incense sticks’ streams of smoke to the left in unison. This happened immediately, confirming the Spirit’s presence.

I greeted the Spirit with great love and respect and thanked the Archangel for coming and being present for this ceremony. I then knelt before the Altar, placed Anael’s offering candle behind the Crystal Ball and began to scry into the flame through the crystal in the pyrocrystallomancy method taught me to by Raphael in a previous conjuration. I then asked the Angel to assist me in tuning into his presence. I gave him consent to manifest sensations, emotions, and thoughts, to draw on my memory to facilitate the communication, and to guide me in inducing appropriate states of consciousness to facilitate the attunement.

Still kneeling, I then proceeded to scry into the Crystal until a pulsation began to emerge in the center of my forehead, my vision began to darken out while the fire in the crystal began to grow brighter. Then I saw a kind of misty-light like effect swirl around the outside of the Crystal. In the process, my eyes grew heavier and heavier and I heard Anael speaking into my mind, suggesting that I could close my eyes and need not strain them. In any event, they fell closed of their own accord without me having much say in the mater…

I greeted the Angel with great love and respect, which Anael reciprocated with his warm, adrogynous voice, saying “greetings, Child of God” with great affection.

I asked if he could give me a revelation-image of his presence and immediately I saw a beautiful winged figure, this time appearing with long blonde hair and an emerald robe, with a face of pure light. To my surprise, however, the image shifted into a green winged heart, which then morphed into a sprout germinating out of the ground and growing into a grove of verdant trees.

I asked Anael what this vision signified and he spoke in the poetic way he sometimes does, the words appearing smoothly spoken into my mind in the Angel’s voice while my forehead continued to pulsate with the throbbing light feeling:

“My form is an image of Love,
The green of Nature, which is love growing into life,
The heart of the World, the sprouting of new love,
The growing wisdom of love extending outward,
The forest an image of love growing out in waves.”

I asked the Angel if this was an image of Divine Love. The Angel replied:

“God’s Love is far greater than this,
Greater than your human mind,
Which thinks in time and bounded, limited concepts
Can fathom.”

I asked if the Angel could give me an analogy as to what Divine Love is like.

“The Divine Love that sustains the universe is like an ocean,
Every form and phenomenon that appears is like a droplet in that ocean,
Always embraced by the ocean, always part of it, and yet appearing separate,
Seeming to change like the waves on the service,
Yet ever still and eternally held like the ocean depths,
This is what God’s Love is like.”

I asked Anael if he could share more about the nature of Divine Love:

“God’s Love holds the entire universe within it, excluding nothing.
Creation itself was the flowering of that eternal Love into the sparking-forth of Time,
A Love so infinite it could bloom into finitude, a Love so vast it could pretend to be Other,
There is not a particle that appears in this world that is not held by that Love,
That Love is the particle, and the particle is that Love,
Do not imagine that it is Other than you.
The Love, the God, and the Creation are only different in appearance, not in Reality,
It is Love itself that brings-into-being phenomena, phainomenon, means appearing-into-view, through the Power of that Love, which Loves to Appear and be Appeared to.”

When asked if God’s Love was like human life in any way we could relate to, Anael replied:

“Not quite! Your human love is often conditional,
Bound by expectations, limited by arising and subsiding in Time,
Exclusive of some, inclusive of others.
God’s Love is entirely different from that.
And yet even finite human love is but an appearance
of that Love without which nothing is.
God’s Love never began and will never end.
God hates no one; His Love never turns to hate as human love often does.
It does not exclude or include in a dualistic sense.
It is not earned, nor can it be lost.
It has no expectations and no conditions;
It is you humans who make up the requirements and conditions!
It cannot be approached or moved away from;
It is always available at all times,
More subtle than the subtlest,
More intense than the greatest Starry inferno,
Small enough to hold the tiniest particle,
Vast enough to embrace all that is, was, and ever shall be,
Who can say what it is like?
It is here and now, always available.
But your Father
–and Father and Child are just metaphors to try to help you humans understand–
Loves you so that He sets you free to turn away from Him,
To forget Him, to pursue your own ideas,
Giving you everything that was ever created,
Present with you in every moment,
And yet how ungrateful you humans are!
Despite that ingratitude, His Love never retreats a step from you,
Never distances itself as you humans do when you pull away in hurt.
God’s Love never fails, nor ever leaves you.
Whenever you wish, it is given fully, nothing held back.”

Hearing this, I wondered why we seem so unaware of it. Anael explained:

“There are no barriers to God’s Love except the ones you imagine there are.
Imagining there to be barriers, you make up stories about how to “earn” God’s love.
In so doing, you miss the mark of the Good and the True,
And imagine that your “sin” disqualifies you from Divine Love,
Nothing could be further from the truth!
God loves you before you stumble, while you err,
And after you have realized your mistake.
Does a good father see a child stumble and hate the child for acting out of ignorance?
Of course not! Do you imagine Divine Perfection to be less than that?
Confession, the changing of minds,
The honest admission of where you’ve missed the mark,
Is a Gift to yourself from yourself;
Your Father does not need it, but He asks for it for *you.*
In so doing, your lighten your heart,
And your imagine barriers to His Love dissolve,
So that you become more aware of what is always here.
Truly, your humanness is but a wave in this ocean.
Your ultimate nature is far beyond an ephemeral animal form bound by Time;
In loving God, you realize yourself and He realizes Himself in you;
“You” and “Him” are but metaphors to help you try to understand,
But in Truth, there are no two things, only in appearance,
Only in Love-appearing for the play of change in Time.
But how could you possibly understand?
You cannot. But as you surrender your ignorance,
The Truth reveals itself, without requiring a word.
For Truth was silent for billions of years before the first human spoke.
The “Word” itself is metaphor,
A Mercy to a human mind.”

I thanked the Archangel for these beautifully rich, although humbling, words and proceeded to my request for the Angel to assist my dear friend S.H., who is at risk of becoming homeless in a few weeks. I asked if Anael could help as best he can. Before Anael, I prayed to God, to whom belongs all of Creation, all homes, and all riches, to extend His Goodness and thanked Him for what he’s doing to help his Child S.H.

After the prayer, Anael reassured me:

“We were working on your friend’s problem before you and she even asked.
Tell her that help will come, though not necessarily in the way she expects.
Tell her also that although she has felt as though God’s Love and presence had retreated from her, they have always perfectly been there;
It is only her imagination that has shifted,
And made what was not so, appear to be so.
If she corrects her imaginings with right understanding,
She will have a transformation of mind,
And the ever-present Love will reveal itself,
Unlosable, unfailing, and ever-here for her.
Tell her also that the matter she is worrying about
That she did not tell you has already been addressed.
Her part is to do what she can and act on what you and others have shared with her.
God and we will attend to the rest.
From our perspective, it is already done.
From your perspective, it will come.
Trust and have faith. All will be well.
God does not forsake His Beloveds,
No matter how you humans may imagine He does.”

I thanked Anael for this great kindness and help and asked if I could publish the record of this conversation and pass on these words to S.H. Anael replied:

“Yes, but do not pass on what I am about to tell you. It is for you alone.”

I will not reveal what was said next, but I can say that after I heard it, I felt a wave of warmth flood through my body. Tears formed in my eyes, and I felt as though the Angel’s wings were wrapping around me in the way Soror R.A. often described to me.

Finally, I asked the Angel if he would be willing to be my Patron and to speak with me again so that I could continue to learn from him.

“It shall be so, Child of God. Keep up the good work you are doing in service of others. Sanctification can feel like difficulty,
But that is only the process of transforming your ignorance and arrogance,
Changing your mind.
That too, God only wants for you,
Because Eternal Freedom Wills that you be free from all that you imagine binds you.
From our perspective, you already are;
From yours, you will seem to be.
Patience and humility reconcile the two views. ”

With tears in my eyes, I thanked the Angel deeply. I continued to kneel there in his presence for what felt like a long time, simply abiding in that clean, clear, loving safety and warmth.

At last, I stood, thanked the Angel for coming and invited him to partake of the offerings and go at his own leisure. Then I did the License to Depart to all of the Angel and Spirits called in the four Quarters as per the Heptameron‘s procedure. With final prayers and sprinklings, I closed the Temple with the pulsing in my forehead finally beginning to dwindle, but the warmth in my heart continuing to kindle.

Update – May 1st, 2019: All of the Angel’s words came to pass as described. Through gigs and her tax return, my friend was able to earn enough money to pay for her rent for May. Another friend from the community also helped her to write a letter to enter a business partnership with local stores to sell her excellent oils and other products. I believe the Angels and the Holy Spirit were at work in this. She has also had several job interviews in the past month. I was confident one would pan out eventually. As the Angel had said, “help will come, though not necessarily in the way she expects.” That is precisely how it did come. As Anael had said, “her part is to do what she can and act on what you and others have shared with her.” This is precisely what she did do and she was blessed for her hard efforts — a few weeks later, she was hired at a job she loves and now enjys a financial stability she never knew before. How often answers to prayers and magic come through seemingly naturalistic means, while we are waiting for some supernatural manifestation to appear in the sky…

The “the matter she is worrying about that she did not tell you has already been addressed” was a problem she was having in communicating with a partner who did not care about her spiritual path, which was so central to her values and what was important to her. They tried to work on it, but the resolution ended up being them parting ways. The Angels and Holy Spirit had left openings for it to be addressed through communication or through parting ways so that each could be free to be with a partner better suited to them. There was no fatalism here; there were options, both of which would resolve the problem. The second was the way things went. It was hard at first, but ended up being for the best. Such is the Way of God and of the Holy Angels.

Hail to you, Holy Angel Anael. Thank you for your help and guidance, thank you for your wisdom. We praise the Lord God in your name and honour and humble ourselves before Him in gratitude. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This we pray in Yeshua’s Holy Name. Amen.

2018: A Magical Year in Review

By Frater S.C.F.V.

View inside a Vigil offered to Archangel Sachiel dressed with Solomonic Holy Oil and Basil.

As we move into 2019, I’d like to take a few moments to reflect on all that has happened in my life in the whirlwind of a year that was 2018.  It has been a tumultuous year in world events to be sure, but in my own little human life, it has been a massively important year.  I share these life and magical achievements and strange tale of bizarre events and poltergeist phenomena not out of arrogance, but in the hopes of inspiring others to work harder to achieve their own goals and to humble myself with the recollection of the giants on whose shoulders I was able to stand this year.

We are all the Divine dancing in the lila (Divine play) of manifested human lives; as this human action figure named Adam, however, I could not have done anything were it not for the amazing friends, family, and colleagues who have so blessed and inspired me with the relationships and time we’ve shared together.  May we have many more years together on this mysterious planet that races on around the Sun! So mote it be with all thanks and glory not unto me, but unto the Most High, amen!

Major Life Events in 2018

• I worked hard to support some truly inspiring students with special needs at McGill University as a Note-Taker, Mentor, and Life Coach. Their own hard work and progress in achieving their goals were so beautiful and inspiring to watch and I feel so lucky to have been able to work with each and every one of them.
• Because of how many blessings came my way this year, I was able to give more to charity than I was ever able to give in the past.  I also gave more offerings to spirits and animals this year than in any other previous year of my life.

• I completed the penultimate year of my clinical social work degree at McGill with a 4.0 GPA and served older adults with mental and physical health issues both in long-term residences and living in the community.  I am now on track to graduate in 2019 and excited to officially begin my clinical social work career.After my prior careers as a certified Chef and high school teacher I am beyond grateful to have finally found my true calling.  Social work offers a vehicle through which I can strive to live out the Rosicrucian ideal “to cure the sick and that gratis,” and where I cannot cure, at least to support individuals and families to empower them with resources, services, and psychosocial support to maximize their well-being.

• I suffered a concussion in July from which I completely recovered in only a few months (thank God!).  More on that below.
• I went to see the Beach Boys live in concert, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

• I also got to attend my first ever professional comedy show, The Nasty Show at the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival due to a kind gift from my friend Randy! Robert Kelly, Brad Williams, Ms. Pat, and Mike Britt had us in stitches from laughing so hard.

• I was called back to the mystical Christian faith of my youth with a newly integrative perspective and began to attend a beautiful local Church. The members of my congregation and I managed to put together gift boxes for kids from the ages of 1 to 14 in 9 different countries: Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Senegal, Guinea, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Glory be to God!

• I published a series of articles on Solomonic magic with which I am very happy to have been able to contribute research on lesser-known topics such as Solomonic Bells and Trumpets and Consecration by Mass.  In addition, I was honoured to have my Bells article featured in the 2018 edition of my esteemed colleague Nick Farrell’s Hermetic Tablet – The Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition.

• 2018 was by far the most successful year for Light in Extension for worldwide views, and overwhelmingly so:

• I was also grateful when the article was recommended by a Frater, magician, author, and friend whom I deeply respect, Fr. Aaron Leitch in a recording of a lesson in his fantastic Secrets of Solomon – Grimoire Magick Classes 101 class.
• I had the honour of being interviewed by the kind, inspiring, and eminently professional Alexander Eth on the Glitch Bottle podcast.

• I was blessed to meet and become friends with many amazing occultists, some of whose books I have been reading and cherishing for the past 14 years or so. I have learned so much from my amazing Fratres and Sorores to whom I remain deeply indebted and grateful. I am humbled to have gotten to have some amazing conversations with not only such masterful occultists, but also such beautiful and amazing people as Aaron Leitch, Jake Stratton-Kent, Dr. Stephen Skinner, Frater R.C., Frater YShY, Joseph H. Peterson, Frater Ashen Chassan, Nick Farrell, Jason August Newcomb, Dr. Tony Fuller, Pat Zalewski, Christine Zalewski, and many more. I also learned a great deal from and enjoyed the friendship of many others whose names I won’t share out of interests of their wish to keep their occult involvement concealed under the Sign of Harpocrates. To all of them and to those I have not mentioned, you know who you are and I love and appreciate you very much.
• I was honoured to become a Moderator in Aaron Leitch’s amazing Solomonic – Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires group.
• I participated in multiple McGill University research studies, received EEGs, got paid to receive electric shocks inside of an MRI machine, and marched in the largest strikes for paid student internships in the history of Montreal. I also improved my skills at engraving, drawing, and painting, attended my cousin Julie’s wedding, and joined the wedding party of my sister’s wedding planned for 2019.

Magical Achievements in 2018

• After receiving a concussion in July, which occurred after I slammed my head into a ceiling beam causing it to burst out in blood, I was forced to leave my job working as a cook in an amazing Montreal restaurant on St. Laurent. The concussion resulted in brain damage to my frontal lobe which was associated with distressing symptoms like slurring of speech, forgetting common words in conversation, damage to episodic memory, and mood swings.Within a few months,  despite not receiving any form of medical treatment, however, I recovered all of my impaired cognitive abilities and my head healed almost completely, leaving only a tiny scar.  I attribute this nearly miraculous healing to God Almighty, whom I petitioned for help with healing the devastating effects this concussion had on my psychological functioning.
• I coined the term cryptoconsecratio and developed the method of secretly consecrating magical items by Mass, which I performed countless times in the past year on objects ranging from Jupiter Pentacles to Wands, Burins of Art, my statue of Saint Cyprian of Antioch, my Cyprianic Rosary, and many other tools.

• I manifested my vision for my ideal home and was blessed–glory be to God!–to be able to equip it with everything I had ever hoped it would have in terms of appliances and electronics. I also read many amazing occult books and massively increased my esoteric library.  Divine Provision can be humbling indeed.
• In 2018, aside from the Christian Trinity, and Saint Cyprian of Antioch, I was honoured to work with the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Samael, Anael, Cassiel, Uriel, and Sachiel, as well as the Angels Netoniel, Devachiah, Tzedeqiah, and Parasiel. I learned many interesting things from these spirits, such as about how limitations and discipline can be forms of freedom rather than simply obstacles freedom from Archangel Cassiel, learning about keys to prosperity from Sachiel, and much more.
• I also did some deep work with the Papyri Graecae Magicae or Graeco-Egyptian Magical Papyri this year, especially the Headless Rite and PGM Lecanomancy.

• I made some serious progress with Pathworking in the past year and met and learned from many other spirits in the course of the resulting astral work.  Qabalistic Paths explored in 2018 included Peh, Tzaddi, Malkut, Resh, Qoph, Shin, and Tav.
• I secured a dedicated and permanent Temple for the Ordo Aurum Lucerna. Our Order also increased its Archives of copies of G.D. manuscripts to be  exponentially larger than it has ever been thanks to the kindness and generosity of some truly amazing Fraters and Sorors from other G.D. Orders to whom we remain deeply grateful.

W.B. Yeats’ drawing of the Hermetic Rose Cross.

• After a series of strange experiences, and encouragement from my dear friend Chijioke, I began magically and devotionally working with Saint Cyprian of Antioch. I formally assumed the great Saint as my Patron after an intensive 9-Day Novena to him in September, 2018.  During my time of working with him, my magic has radically improved and deepened in all of the three traditions with which I work: Solomonic, Cyprianic, and Golden Dawn.  May the credit for that not be unto me, but unto Saint Cyprian, God Almighty, to the Spirits, Angels, and Archangels, and to the kind friends and colleagues who made this possible.

• Our Golden Dawn Order, the Ordo Aurum Lucerna, of which I have been Imperator for the last 9 years, has grown larger, stronger, and more active than ever before.  I am so grateful to my brethren in the Order for the beautiful work we do together, for our democratic power structure, for how much we have all grown in the past year, and for how much we have to look forward to in 2019.  Khabs am Pehkt, Konx Om Pax, Light in Extension!
• I performed a controlled experiment that seemed to find some empirical support for the claim that food offered to Archangels tends to last longer and resist mold longer than the same food not given as an offering.  I tested the claim using muffins prepared from the same batch of batter and kept in the same temperature, moisture, and storage conditions.

• This past year, I have gone deeper into Solomonic magical practice than ever before.  I crafted the Circle from the Lemegeton’s Goetia, as well as consecrated Holy Oil, Holy Water, Incense, and Candles, crafted a new Wand and a Solomonic Bell of Art, several Burins of Art, a new Aspergillum, a consecrated Chest for materia magica, and several other items for use in my Operations. I also wrote a series of articles on Solomonic topics, as previously mentioned.

• This past year saw some fruitful results with Planetary magic, particularly with a consecrated Saturn ring I was kindly gifted by my friend Sarah Wreck and with Jupiter. I crafted the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter from the Key of Solomon after waiting nearly an entire year for a solid election and also consecrated a Ring of Jupiter at the same time.This Pentacle and Ring have produced some amazing results, such as over 8000$ of my student loan being converted into a bursary I do not have to pay back, saving 400$ on a new TV and large amounts of additional money on appliances and a guitar, receiving much favor, and many other astounding results such as Soror C.R. gaining a promotion and me obtaining an amazing job right out of graduation from my Clinical Social Work degree.

• Besides the more spectacular concussion recovery, I also experienced some additional interesting healing results this year.  These included Archangel Raphael healing me completely of a cold within 1.5 days; to place this result in perspective, it normally takes me 7 days or longer to get over a cold.  In addition, I experienced having scars, redness, and dark patches completely healed within days of asking YHVH for this result.
• This year, I performed more professional Tarot readings than ever before and was honoured to have been able to read for clients all around the world. I am so grateful for the trust which people have placed in me by allowing them to do readings for them. What sets my approach to professional readings apart from others is that for the 50$ per reading that I charge, I not only include the reading itself, but also give offerings on behalf of the client and their family, and write a detailed report for them complete with HD photos of all of the cards in the reading so that clients can refer to it in the future.I noticed that most Tarot readers do their readings orally only, so clients do not have a record of the reading and often quickly forget it. In this way, they have a detailed record of the reading, which is incredibly comprehensive; as an example, the last such report I wrote came to a whopping 43 pages! Feel free to contact me on Facebook or by email should you be interested in arranging a reading.

• After Soror C.R. and I independently saw visions of the Archangel Sachiel wearing a red vest after invoking him via the Heptameron conjuration, Soror C.R. had a vision of him giving her a red vest to wear. The next day, while carrying the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter consecrated by Sachiel, I was directed to a store where I found a red vest exactly like the one she saw in her vision, which I purchased for her. The price tag said only 9$, but I ended up paying only 6$ due to an additional 30% reduction.

• I performed more professional natal charts for clients around this world this year than in any other year of my life. These are also 50$ per chart and yield a similarly detailed and comprehensive written report explaining all of the Aspects to what I produce for my Tarot clients. Please feel free to contact me by email as well should this service be of interest.

• I was honoured to have had the opportunity to spend some time learning from members of the Order of Saint Cyprian of Antioch.  I met some beautiful and amazing people in that Order, to whom I am very grateful, but have since retired from that particular group in order to focus on the Ordo Aurum Lucerna and my other magical projects, writing, and research. I am particularly grateful to Ms. Sfinga (pseudonym) at the OSC from whom I learned a great deal.  It was Sfinga whom I commissioned to sew my scapular of Saint Cyprian and who kindly gifted me a beautiful amethyst and tiger’s eye bracelet.  She is an absolutely amazing human being, kind and genuine through and through as well as an amazing esoteric practitioner and a brilliant scholar. I have nothing but fond things to say about her, as of many other members of that esteemed Order.

• After asking St. Cyprian to guide me to a vessel in which to store my magica materia, he led me to a shop I never visit where I found a fascinating hand-carved antique chest that was exactly what I had been hoping for.

 

• I performed a formal exorcism of a daimon-possessed woman this year.  The spirit in question turned out to be a subservient spirit of Alloces, the 52nd spirit of the Lemegeton’s Goetia.  I am indebted to Sarah Wreck for her help with identifying the entity and advising me on how to proceed with the exorcism.  8 months later,  I’m happy to report that the woman in question remains in very good health and has not been troubled by any other spirit.
• I was guided by Saint Cyprian to a store I had never been to in a part of the city I had never explored which, to my amazement, happened to be the only store in Montreal that sells Oil of San Cipriano.

Strange Phenomena and Poltergeist Activity in 2018

• July 6, 2018 – I experienced the most powerful and unmistakable physical manifestation of an Angel that I have ever seen.
• Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018 – Around 8:35 PM. While standing in the kitchen speaking with Soror R.A. about working with Angels, a small white physical feather appeared seemingly spontaneously in the air.  Both of us saw and were shocked and amazed by this.  The feather drifted slowly and gracefully to the floor, which we both witnessed.  Then when we looked for it on the ground, it had vanished… Weeks later, Soror R.A. was called to work with Archangel Sachiel and developed an intense relationship with him.
• Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018 – In a dream, two daimons, likely Jinn, suddenly appeared in the midst of the dream narrative.  They had pitch-black skin, but extremely white eyes.  I could sense their malevolent intent so I immediately bound them by the Sign of the Cross in the manner of St. Justina of Antioch and they backed off and vanished.

• November 8, 2018 – 9:45 PM – A fellow Magician gave me a consecrated ring of Saturn containing a large piece of led. This ring works very well for its intended purpose, but it seems to spontaneously vanish, be gone for a period of time, and then reappear somewhere I did not put it. It has vanished several times from the bureau near my bed and reappeared in pockets, in my backpack, and in other places. This night, I went to do a Rune reading for Soror R.A. and the Ring fell out of the Rune bag! Neither I nor anyone else had placed it there…
• I experienced some interesting cases of telepathy where I stated something very specific (e.g. referring to Track II of the Monster roller-coaster in Montreal, QC, Canada) that another person had been thinking about before they said it.  Only to be told by the other person that this was precisely what they had had on the mind.. Other cases included messaging people about topics moments before they were going to message me, and other such events such as in some cases publishing articles on topics people had been thinking of asking me about. All of this made me feel “in-flow” and rather “plugged in” with the larger Mind of the One appearing as many body-minds. This even occurred with people who live in very distant countries.
• I experienced multiple moments of minor precognition (e.g. accurately predicting the contents of sealed boxes and envelopes as well as their arrival dates when they had not even been specified).  This happened 4 times in a week period.
• Dec. 9, 2018 – 4:25 AM – My cat was sitting staring at the Temple door. Suddenly, he meowed loudly and ran down the hall. Then a mysterious knock was heard within the Temple room although there was no one in it. This same sequence of events happened again a few weeks later.
• December 8, 2018 – 6:37 PM – A door spontaneously opened before me without anyone touching it. Witnessed by Soror R.A.
• November 8, 2018 – 7:35 PM – TV spontaneously turned on with no one in the room.
• December 1, 2018 – 3:30 AM – While I was sleeping, my cell phone was suddenly knocked off my bureau. Half-asleep, I picked it up and put it back on the bureau. Then my watch was knocked off the bureau. Beginning to be annoyed, I picked it up and put it back on the bureau. Then my cell phone was knocked off the bureau again. Tired of this spirit’s antics, I called out into the silent room “In the Name of YHVH, cut that out!” No further objects fell to the floor that night.
• During the formal exorcism, a heavy stack of paper was violently thrown to the floor with no breeze in the room.
• One evening, the Enochian Tablet of the South spontaneously fell off the wall. Another night, the Tablet of the West fell off the fall. And still another night, the tablet of the North fell off the wall of its own accord. I had expected the tablet of the East to one day follow the same pattern, but it did not.

• As a final point, some interesting manifestations of spirit activity during ritual magic this year included a Crucifix hung around Saint Cyprian’s statue’s neck swaying in response to questions asked of spirits, strange knocks being heard in the room, incense smoke and candle flames being asked to move in response to questions as answers and the results happening immediately, sparks flashing out of an offering candle when Archangel Michael was conjured, and appearances of images and words spoken by spirits in crystal balls, water in lecanomancy bowls, flames scried into, and in the field of the mind.All in all, I believe it is safe to say that this has without a doubt been the most magical year in my life.  Happy New Years, dear friends! May you and your families be blessed with abundance, love, laughter, and growth in the coming year! So mote it be, amen!

Consecrating Second Pentacles of Jupiter: Practical Folk Christian and Solomonic Magic

By Frater SC.F.V.

Altar set-up for Pentacle Consecration. This article and all pictures contained therein are offered to mighty El in the name and honour of great Archangel Sachiel, and holy Angels Netoniel, Tzedeqiah, Devachiel, and Parasiel.

Phase I – First Hour of Jupiter

Date: Thursday, December 20, 2018
Sun Phase: Dawn
Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous (151 degrees) in 0 degrees Gemini/cusp of Taurus
Mansion of the Moon: #5, al-Haqah
Planetary Day: Day of Jupiter
Planetary Hour: First Hour of Jupiter
Activities: Solomonic Ritual Bathing with Hyssop; Offerings to the Most High and to Saint C.; Crafting Jupiterian sympathetic bags; Solomonic Bell Sounding to the Spirits of the Quarters; Prayers of Intent; Inscribing the Vigil of Sachiel with his Sigil from the Heptameron; Tracing out the First Pentacle of Jupiter on the Tablet of Lights; Prayers, Psalms and Temple Closing.

Today is a day of magic that has been nearly a year in the making. Over the past months, I have been preparing for this ritual, updating and crafting new implements, learning from Saint C. and from my own deep research into the grimoires, and waiting for a decent Jupiterian election. I was delayed from moving forward for a 5 months due to Jupiter being in retrograde. Thereafter, I was further delayed by Jupiter being in Scorpio and then being negatively afflicted by Mars and Saturn. Finally, the coast is clear to craft Jupiter Pentacles and having selected this date months ago and worked incredibly hard to get to this point, I am overjoyed to be able to proceed.

Not only is it the Day of Jupiter, which is also conjunct with Mercury, but the Moon is waxing powerfully at 151 degrees Gibbous and has entered a very quasi-Jupiterian Mansion, the Lunar Mansion of al-Haqah, meaning the White Spot or the Crown. Of this Mansion, Picatrix says that it is well-suited to “receiving favour from Kings,” the ultimate emblems of Kingly Jupiter. Agrippa adds that it this Mansion also “gives health and good will.” Christopher Warnock further states that:

“Al-Haqah’s image is a crowned head, befitting the Martial and Mercurial nature of its stars. This is a Mansion of thought and mind. It signifies the energy of the Mind of the Universe, particularly as manifest in the intellect of each person. It indicates the successful solution of an intellectual problem or the necessity of applying intelligence to a current dilemma. The image of the king signifies success in seeking a favor, a raise or job from a superior. It also alludes to the metaphor of the mind as king, ruling over the body, as the king rules over the body politic. It calls upon us to apply our intelligence in a noble and honorable fashion, and not to resort to low cunning or trickery. Keywords: Universal body, favor, intellectual activity, health and goodwill, safety.”

I cleaned and set up the Temple the night before so that everything would be prepared for this morning. Rising before the beginning of the first Hour of Jupiter on this fine Day of Jupiter, I performed a ritual bath with hyssop. I then put on my scapular of Saint C. as well as my white Solomonic robe, Rings, rosary, Tiger’s Eye bracelet, Amethyst, and Bone, red socks embroidered with roses, nemyss, and Stole.

Entering the Temple, with my belly aching lightly from fasting, I lit two candle as offerings to the Most High and made Offerings to Saint C., spring water, a purple candle, and incense and asked him to aid me in the day’s Operations that I might consecrate these 2nd Pentacles of Jupiter to become efficacious in attracting good fortune, wealth, favour, spiritual depth, and peace of mind.

My approach to these Second Pentacles of Jupiter, taken from the Key of Solomon, is progressively folk magical, although also highly grounded in Solomonic methodologies. The idea occurred to me to take round tin boxes painted with Gold–Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy list both Gold and Tin as metals of Jupiter–and carve the Pentacle into these. Inside the box, I would place the petition, as well as a small bag, not quite a proper gris-gris or Mojo bag, but influenced by the basic idea of these folk magical Hoodoo methodologies. This bag would contain a mixture of Jupiterian ingredients designed to amplify the power of the Talisman. I consulted with Saint C. about what to include and he nudged me towards a rather fascinating blend. The bag to be placed inside the Pentacle included:

• 4 Agrippan Jupiterian ingredients of Oak leaf, Basil, Sugar, Maple leaf
• 4 spoons of soil collected outside 4 different banks, all in the Hour of Jupiter under a waxing Moon
• A coin depicting a Jupiterian monarch – the head of a monarch also happens to be the Picatrix talismanic emblem for the Lunar Mansion of al-Haqah, so the symbolism works on two levels.

The Saint also gave me an intuitive nudge to write Sachiel’s Sigil from the Heptameron in consecrated Solomonic ink on the outside of the bag in Jupiterian blue as well as the Sigil of Iophiel, the Intelligence of Jupiter.

I blended all of the ingredients and completed the drawing on the bag all within the Hour of Jupiter on the Day of Jupiter. I placed the bags on the Altar, which was covered in a blue cloth. My consecration method would be a combination of the Key of Solomon as well as Balthazar’s Solomonic candle magic method, all overseen by the Saint and performed on his Altar. The result is a loving combination of potent techniques from both the Solomonic grimoire tradition and the Christian folk magical tradition synergized together for a common aim.

I sounded the Solomonic Bell of Art three times before entering the Circle, as per the Hygromanteia, then sounded the Bell to each of the full Quarters, as per the Key of Solomon, saying “I greet and bless the Spirits of the (direction) with great love and respect in the name of Adonai!” I continued greeting the Spirits of the Above and Below and all other directions.

I then unwrapped my Solomonic Wand from its white covering and began preliminary prayers. to God, declaring my intention for the day’s Rites and asking el-Shaddai for help and blessings in completing them successfully. I also requested the Angels and Archangels and Saint C. to aid me as well and clarified that my intention is to be able to provide for my family as comfortably as possible as well as to then be enabled to be of greater service to humanity through the good fortune bestowed upon us, recalling the Biblical meaning of blessing as goodness conferred on an individual in order to be bestowed upon and extended to others.

I then used my Aspergillum of Art, made as per the specifications of the Key of Solomon, to sprinkle Solomonic Holy Water around the Circle and called upon all of the Angels, Divine Names, and Archangels whose named are inscribed thereon to assist with the Rites. I lit an Offering of incense to the Angels I would be working with today, namely, Archangel Sachiel as well as the Angels Tzedeqiah, Netoniel, Parasiel, and Devachia. Throughout the actions that followed, Psalms were continuously recited to purify and begin to consecrate the Circle, Altar, Temple, and all items on the Altar.

Using a Solomonically consecrated white chalk marker, I drew the Sigil of Jupiter and Sigil of Sachiel from the Heptameron on the central Vigil candle to be offered unto him. I then took up a consecrated blue chalk marker and drew the First Pentacle of Jupiter on the Tablet of Lights, a consecrated plate used for this purpose in Balthazar’s method. The Tablet of Lights was consecrated last April and intended for today’s ritual on December 20th, a fact which may offer some idea of how long I have patiently waited to do the day’s workings. Ah the joys of Renaissance magic!

The rationale behind using the First Pentacle in this way is that, as the Key of Solomon says, this Pentacle “serveth to invoke the spirits of Jupiter, and especially those whose names are written around the pentacle, among whom Parasiel is the lord and master of treasures, and teacheth how to become possessor of places wherein they are.” It should be noted that one reason the Second Pentacle is useful for finding hidden treasures is that Parasiel is also invoked in consecrating it.

The Second Pentacle, by the way, is described by the Key as being “proper for acquiring glory, honors, dignities, riches, and all kinds of good, together with great tranquility of mind; also to discover treasures and chase away the spirits who preside over them.” According to Idries Shah’s Secret Lore of Magic, it was this Pentacle, drawn on a piece of parchment, that was found on the body of Anselm Franz Reichsgraf von Ingelheim, Bishop of Würzburg and alleged alchemist, on the night of his death, 9 February 1749. According to Shah, “It has been said that this was the powerful talisman which caused him to rise to such heights, and to gain wealth and power, as well as evading all of the traps of his many enemies.”

Having completed inscribing the First Pentacle of Jupiter on the Tablet, I dressed the candles with St. C. Oil, pulling the oil towards me in the Hoodoo way. I then dressed the Vigil candle with Holy Anointing Oil and Basil. After some final prayers and Psalms, I closed the Temple, just as the Hour of Jupiter came to an end.

Phase II – Second Hour of Jupiter

Date: Thursday, December 20, 2018
Sun Phase: Noon
Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous (151 degrees) in 0 degrees Gemini/cusp of Taurus
Mansion of the Moon: #5, al-Haqah
Planetary Day: Day of Jupiter
Planetary Hour: Second Hour of Jupiter
Activities: Solomonic Ritual Bathing with Hyssop; Psalm recitations; Inscribing and Engraving the Pentacles and a Jupiter Ring; Exorcising the tools.

For this second phase, I was joined by a Soror from our Order, Soror C.R. As it turned out, this was the first Solomonic ritual in which she had ever participated as she had hitherto been a solely G.D. Magician. Of the two Pentacles crafted today, one was for yours truly and one was for her, thus it seemed appropriate for her to be present and assist in the Operation.

We both performed separate hyssop baths and then donned our ritual regalia. The moment the Hour of Jupiter began, Psalm recitations did as well and I set about inscribing and engraving. First, I used my Solomonic Burin of Art to engrave the perimeter passage from Psalm 112:3 onto the two Pentacles, but instead of placing it in the circumference, I inscribed it on the flip side of the Pentacles or inner lid of the box. The passage reads “Wealth and riches be in his house, and his righteousness endureth forever.”

Next, I drew the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter on each gold and tin lid in Solomonically consecrated blue Ink.

Then, I followed the guideline of the blue to engrave the Pentacles with my consecrated Solomonic Burin of the Art. Since I had drawn the symbols freehand without the aid of rulers or squares, the lines were rather rough and imperfect, but I was still quite happy with the end result:

I then wrote out personalized Petitions for myself and for Soror C.R. for her Pentacle, each containing our individual names. I placed these in the pseudo-gris gris bags, which I then placed inside the Pentacles and the physical crafting was complete.

With the Pentacles thus completed, I immediately proceeded to engrave the inner band of a gold Ring with an Ancient Greek pattern with the Sigil of Jupiter, the Heptameron‘s Sigil of Sachiel, and in the small amount of space that remained, an N. for Netoniel, a Hebrew letter Tzaddi for Tzedeqiah, a D. for Devachiah, and a P. for Parasiel.

With limited time to spare, we quickly proceeded to the Temple. Once again, I sounded the Solomonic Bell of Art three times and Soror C.R. sounded an additional set of Tibetan Bells before we entered the Circle, as per the Hygromanteia, then sounded the Bell to each of the full Quarters, as per the Key of Solomon, saying “I bless the Spirits of the (direction) with great love and respect in the Name of Adonai!” We continued greeting the Spirits of the Above and Below and all other directions, then we formally opened the Temple.

After some preliminary prayers, I sprinkled the Circle with Holy Water using my Aspergillum, and we proceeded to do the Exorcisms of all of the tools. For the passages that had set verses from the grimoire, we recited them in unison. The effect was strikingly powerful. We began by exorcising the Fire and Incense, then the First Pentacle of Jupiter on the Tablet, followed by the two 2nd Pentacles of Jupiter, sprinkling with Holy Water and suffumigating with Solomonic Incense. We proceeded in the same way, exorcising and blessing the Offering Candles for the Archangel Sachiel and his five subsidiary Angels, Netoniel, Parasiel, Devachiah, and Tzedeqiah.

By the time we completed the Exorcisms, we began to become aware that the atmosphere in the room had completely changed. The atmosphere of sacred solemnity that I have grown to know and love about the Solomonic current had set in. Soror C.R. later described the feeling as a feeling of “heaviness.” Out of the corners of my eyes, sparks of light could be seen flashing around the Circle. There were Spirits about.

We stated our petitions and intentions and prayed from the heart to the Most High that they come to pass, thanking God that He is a Good Father who never fails to give good gifts and help those who call upon Him. I referenced Luke 11: 5-13, in which Christ says

7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

9 Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

11 So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?

12 In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the prophets.”

We prayed from the heart to be blessed that we might bless others, to have shared with us that we might share with others, just as it was written of Abram, that having been blessed, he would “become a blessing,” as in Genesis 12:2-3, in which God promised him that:

“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and youwill be a blessing.^[a]
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

We prayed that these Pentacles might increase God’s Glory, not our own, and that the Divine Power might flow through them like rivers through a riverbed.

As we finished the prayer, I became aware of a sensation behind us in the West. It felt bright, warm, soothing, vibrating, almost humming with benevolent, but absolutely staggering power. I whispered to Soror C.R., “do you sense anything in the room?” She said, “yes, there is an Angel nearby…” I asked which direction she sensed it coming from. Confirming my own intuition, which I had not told her, she said: “behind us.”

We turned to face the direction of the invisible Presence. I greeted the Spirit with great love and respect and the blessings of the Most High, inviting it, if it so wished, to convey unto us a sign of its presence or a vision or image as it willed. A wave of loving warmth seemed to waft toward us from the West, not visible to the eyes, but very sensible and comforting. Then, our eyes closed. We received visions that we did not share at the time, but shared later as we debriefed our experience together. Both of us had felt what we both described as a purifying presence that felt like it was falling down upon us. For me, this appeared as a large hand, almost like the Aces in the Tarot, hovering over us and showering a golden light through us, the Circle, and the Altar. Soror C.R. experienced it as a powerful waterfall pouring down on us and purifying us.

Behind it, we both sensed the Angel. Soror C.R. later told me that she could sense it, but not see it. As I probed behind the hand and the golden light, I got another image, a flash of a blue robe and large wings and what seemed to be a red over-robe or vest over the blue robe. It was a presence that commanded authority, but with kindness not tyranny, a loving presence, vast and expansive. It was one I recognized as I had worked with him in the Past. It was none other than Archangel Sachiel, Archangel of Thursday and the Sphere of Jupiter.

I was completely surprised for him to turn up spontaneously. I had intended to invoke him in the Third Hour of Jupiter, but not yet. His Sigil was on the Altar, but he had not been conjured. I had only given him an offering of incense earlier on, which I had also offered to Netoniel, Parasiel, Tzedeqiah, and Devachiah The smoke then had done some curious things, first splitting into two distinct streams that moved almost parallel to the Altar’s surface, and then billowing upwards in an ever-expanding cone that resembled a tornado. I felt a wave of love for Sachiel and I received an image of a smile from him. I thanked him for his presence and offered him love, blessings, respect, and gratitude. I asked if he would come again to help us in the Third Hour of Jupiter to consecrate the Pentacles and I received an affirmative answer. Then, his presence gradually faded out. He was gone.

We offered final prayers and then closed the Temple. After the ritual, I asked Soror C.R. what she thought of the Solomonic current as compared to the G.D. current with which she was familiar. She said that the Solomonic current felt “heavy… almost like a thick fog.. and old, far older than the G.D. current… serious, yet beautiful.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Phase III – Third Hour of Jupiter

Date: Thursday, December 20, 2018
Sun Phase: Evening
Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous (151 degrees) in 0 degrees Gemini/cusp of Taurus
Mansion of the Moon: #5, al-Haqah
Planetary Day: Day of Jupiter
Planetary Hour: Second Hour of Jupiter
Activities: Solomonic Ritual Bathing with Hyssop;

After my third hyssop bath and Soror C.R.’s second, we were at last prepared to call the Archangel and Angels for assistance in consecrating the Pentacles and Ring of Art.

As before, I sounded the Solomonic Bell of Art three times and Soror C.R. sounded an additional set of Tibetan Bells before we entered the Circle, as per the Hygromanteia, then sounded the Bell to each of the full Quarters, as per the Key of Solomon, saying “I bless the Spirits of the (direction) with great love and respect in the Name of Adonai!” We continued greeting the Spirits of the Above and Below and all other directions, and formally opened the Temple. While ringing the Bells to greet the spirits of the directions, Soror C.R. later told me that she had felt “a response from each direction of the spirits, as if they were acknowledging our greetings and work.”

We began by placing the Pentacles and Ring atop the Tablet inscribed with the First Pentacle of Jupiter, beside the candles to be offered to the Angels. After some preliminary prayers to the Most High, I sprinkled the Circle with Holy Water using my Aspergillum of Art, and we began the Conjurations. We first did the Prayer from the Heptameron to assist with calling the Spirits. I then performed the Conjuration of Sachiel from the Heptameron. As the Conjuration came to a close, I felt the dawning of a sense of “vibration” or “spiritual humming” around the Circle along with a sense of loving warmth, which alerted me to the great Archangel’s arrival. Soror C.R. later related to me that at this time, she saw an image of white wings flapping, a kingly sword, and then a hint of a red vest that puzzled her.

When I later told her that the spirit who had spontaneously appeared in our earlier ritual, whom I had recognized as being Sachiel, appeared to me as wearing a red vest-like vestment, her draw dropped in awe. To me, this was a powerful lesson that spirits may not always take the form we expect–she had expected to see blue, not red–but that we should avoid filtering our clair-perceptions lest we distort the truth of what the spirits are showing us. Soror C.R.’s sense of Archangel Sachiel as like a “benevolent ruler” who is “very powerful, but wiling to listen to us” very much echoed my own sense as well.

We then made an opening prayer requesting Divine help and clarifying that we were not performing this ceremony to glorify ourselves or challenge the Most High, but rather to show His Glory, Presence, and power, and humble ourselves before it. We offered incense to God as an offering at this time.

Having conjured the great Archangel by the Divine Name of EL (אל), we lit a Vigil dressed in Solomonic Holy Anointing Oil dressed with Basil, sacred to Jupiterian Spirits as per Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy. The candle began to flicker brightly when we completed the offering, suggesting his acceptance thereof.

We then asked for the Archangel’s help in conjuring four subservient Angels by his name. We then proceeded to call Netoniel, and offered him a blue candle–all candles were sprinkled with Holy Water in the last session. All five offering candles, it is worth noting, were placed on the First Pentacle of Jupiter, which in the Key of Solomon, facilitates the calling of spirits of Jupiter.

Both Soror C.R. later shared with one another that the sense of Netoniel that we had had was that his energy felt “severe,” not mean, but certainly serious, focused, and of a no-nonsense nature. He exuded a sense of efficiency that tempered the sense of severe kindness he exuded.

We then conjured the Angel Tzedeqiah by the names of EL and Sachiel. When he arrived, a sense of compassion and loving warmth entered the Temple from his quarter. We offered him his candle. Soror C.R. said that she felt her personality “resonated more with Tzedeqiah than with Netoniel as we seem to have a seemingly loving and patient nature.”

Next, we conjured Devachiah by the names of EL and Sachiel. When he arrived, we had a sense of a more dominating sense of rationality or intelligence, or perhaps more properly, wisdom.

Finally, we conjured the Angel Parasiel by the names of EL and Sachiel. He gave Soror C.R. a sense of “safety” and presented to me as having a sense of “gentle joy or good-humor.” As the Angel who knows the locations of hidden treasures, this seemed appropriate. When I later shared this with Soror C.R., she smiled and said “yes! That’s exactly it! Like he was smiling about his hidden knowledge, not arrogantly, but kindly.” We agreed that he was classically jovial in the sense of good-heartedly jolly and pleasant.

In short, it seemed to us that Netoniel presented as if he were “doing his duty” to Sachiel by being there, Tzedeqiah presented as “loving this,” Devachiah presented as “enjoying the wisdom and thought of the process,” and Parasiel seemed to be “excitedly appreciative and curious.” Sachiel seemed to have all four of these qualities in perfect balance. Soror C.R. felt that Sachiel was “not towering over them, but that the other angels were clearly deferring to him respectfully.”

Next, we offered bread and incense to St. C.. We then offered the Archangel and the Four subsidiary Angels incense of Applewood, Apple being sacred to Jupiter as per Agrippa and classical lore, and also gifts of unleavened bread, which has resonances of Jupiter through Divine provision and its association with Christ in the modality of King of Kings. We then made a prayer to the Most High, saying “in worship of Your splendor, we give you these gifts in the name and honour of thy fair Angels.” In this way, we differentiated our practice as veneration and not idolatrous worship.

Then, we presented our petition to St. C., the Archangel, the Angels, and the Most High, repeating the powers of the 2nd Pentacles of Jupiter as per the Clavicula, and asking that they bless, consecrate, empower, and enliven these Pentacles and this Ring with their virtues to bring them to life to effect their purposes as designed. We then suffumigated the Pentacles and Ring one at a time while requesting the help of each spirit in turn, cleansed each with Solomonic Holy Water, and finally anointed them with San Cipriano Oil.

During the suffumigations in the smoke of the incense offered to the Spirits, Soror C.R. later said that she sensed “the connection between the spirits and the Pentacles and Ring growing stronger as they were strengthened by the connection between the offerings and the Spirits.” When we asked the Angels if they would assist us in this way, Soror C.R. told me that she received an images of all of their wings flapping in unison as if to show their agreement.

With the Pentacles and Ring thus consecrated, we invited the spirits to share with us any messages they had for each of us in particular. At this time, Soror C.R. received two messages that she experienced as being “whispered in my ears.” Soror C.R. confessed that at this point of the ritual, she had been feeling rather unworthy and ashamed to be in the presence of the Angels, as if she did not deserve to be there. The messages she received were so beautifully fitting of these compassionate beings, for they were messages of encouragement and consolation. Tzedeqiah reassured her that she was indeed “safe, and did not need to be scared of these types of things, as you are protected, dear one.” Another message from Sachiel himself told her that she was “wonderful and lovable as you are, and that you could indeed persevere with the practice as you have the power and potential to do so. Know that you are supported in your endeavours and development.”

Before closing, we composed a final and separate spell. We requested that if it be in harmony with their nature and the Divine Will, if the Archangel and Angels could assist us in applying the power of the Pentacles to benefit us or our family through the lottery so that our needs could be taken care of and so that we could be of better service to others. Amazingly, in my entire history as a Magician, I had never before done a lottery spell before this day. But I was curious to see what would happen, so we went for it. Both Soror C.R. and I received a sense that they approved of the request.

We thanked the Angels for their help and presence and invited them to enjoy the offerings as long as they wished and to depart at their leisure with the blessings of the Most High and our own love, respect, appreciation and friendship. We informed them that we would immediately go purchase a lottery ticket while carrying the Ring and consecrated Pentacles and asked them to assist and accompany us. We said that we would then return the ticket, the Pentacles and the Ring to the Altar if they wished to continue working upon or blessing them and leaving it open to them. We received a clear and warm sense that they understood.

We then ran the Bells of Art over the Pentacles and Ring to give them an additional level of blessing and consecration, following Agrippa as discussed in my Bells and Trumpets article. Finally, we greeted, blessed, and thanked the Spirits of the Directions by the Bells a final time and formally closed the Temple.

Results Log

Day 1 – Wishing to purchase our ticket as close after the Hour of Jupiter as we could, we immediately changed out of our robes and into ordinary clothes and rushed to the nearest store which sold lottery tickets. We had our eyes set on a special 25$ Celebrations Quebec Lottery Ticket, because we figured, if we were to do this, surely we should go all the way with it.

When we reached the store, we proceeded to the lottery ticket counter and I made a small prayer to EL and to Sachiel, Netoniel, Tzedeqiah, and Devachiah, asking for their aid. We asked to purchase a Celebrations ticket and were shocked at what happened next. The cashier’s face lit up and she loudly announced to the cashier in the next lane and to us, “we just sold my last Celebrations ticket! Not only that, but it was the 1000th ticket sold by the store! Congratulations!”

Soror C.R. and I, who had agreed to split whatever winnings we should come by if any 50/50, looked at each other with humbled amazement. We thanked the clerk and took our ticket with us. The grand lottery will be announced on January 13th, but there will be other daily draws leading up to it, so we shall keep our eyes on the website for daily results.

Even so, we are already grateful beyond belief to the Angels by what we have experienced thus far and will continue to document any other results we obtain with updates to this post.

Before leaving, the clerk encouraged us to place a raffle ticket for a draw from the store in a box near the door. We filled it out and placed it into the slot while holding it between our two Jupiter Pentacles! Perhaps it too will, pun intended, bear fruit from this grocery.

Day 2 – The candles offered to the four subsidiary Angels have all burned smoothly down to the surface of the Tablet. The Vigil of Sachiel continues to burn strongly and powerfully.

Day 3 – The Vigil of Archangel Sachiel continues to burn strongly with no soot on the walls of the Vigil and no cracking, all good signs from an Esperetismo and Hoodoo candle-reading perspective.

The Pentacles, Ring, and lottery ticket remain on the Altar. Tomorrow, I will borrow the Pentacle and Ring to perform cryptoconsecratio on them and consecrate them by Mass at Church. I will also bring the ticket to be blessed and pray over it.

This morning, Soror C.R. told me about a fascinating vision she had received from Sachiel last night. She had been thanking him for helping us as she was dozing off to sleep, when he suddenly appeared to her. This was her account of what happened next, which was beautiful and inspired her with an idea for a new magical vestment:

“I was feeling very humbled that he helped us when suddenly I received an images of flapping Angel wings. I felt a sensation, in my mind’s eye, that he took me under his wing. We began to fly together over a forest area. We ended up on a mountain and it felt like he was showing me that I didn’t have to be scared of anything…

He then gave me a red vest to wear, as if to say “here. You have the power now.” I could see myself wearing it. And I knew immediately it was a symbol of power. It looked just like the same vestment you told me you had seen and which I had also seen independently of us telling each other. And now I feel like I have this vest in me, to show me not to be afraid.

The symbolic meaning of the vision seemed to be that everything is vast and that I could explore without fear. I also feel that he showed me Nature because he knew I also had a deep connection with Nature. After this mini-initiation, I feel different, more sensitive, more attuned, and more aware of my power.”

When she told me about Sachiel showing her the forest, I was filled with awe. For he had also shown me a similar scene during my Invocation of him on the 4th day of my 2018 Novena to Saint C., a fact which I had never shared with her and that she had not read before. Hearing this, Soror C.R.’s mouth fell open in wonder at the overlap in our visions of the great Archangel once again.

I asked her if she would consider making a physical version of the red vest she had seen in her vision, perhaps embroidered or painted with his Sigil from the Heptameron, the Seal of Jupiter, the Qamea of Jupiter, and so on. I also offered to help her with it if she had any questions about techniques or how to proceed. She said she had had a similar idea and would be interested in pursuing it. When done, she can ask Sachiel himself to consecrate it.

Day 4 – Sachiel’s continue continues to burn brightly and cleanly.

Today, Soror C.R. and I attended Church and performed cryptoconsecratio by Mass to add an additional layer of consecration and empowerment on this most auspicious day, Christmas Sunday. As an exercise, we esch consecrated each other’s Pentacles.

At night, Soror C.R. received another nudge from Archangel Sachiel. It pulled her towards the Temple. She entered the Temple, knelt in front of the Crystal ball and began to scry. She saw a mouth falling open as if, after previously being shut, it finally gained the ability to freely speak the truth.

She emerged from the Temple and expressed to me what she had seen. Beyond this, she had received a message from Sachiel that she was to do something she has not done in 20 years — contact her estranged mother. Finally, after the visions she received from the great Archangel, she felt that she finally had the strength to confront her mother about some of the traumatizing experiences she had had with her which caused her to run away from home at the age of 16. Never in the four years I had known her had she ever even considered reconnecting with her mother.

And yet, in a true miracle, she did it. She called her up, and the two had a tearful and profound 4-hour conversation with a woman she had not spoken to in 20 years. Seeing this, I was in utter awe. Something she had considered impossible had happened. By the end of the conversation, they were laughing together… It was nothing short of an utter and complete miracle. And it was all made possible by the great Archangel Sachiel, glory be to God! If that is not practical magic, what is?

Day 5 – As the Vigil continues to burn cleanly, Soror C.R. and I took our Pentacles and my Ring to the auspicious Christmas Eve Mass.

There, we each performed cryptoconsecratio of the Jupiter Pentacles and Ring at the sacred moment of the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, as recommended in Liber Juratus Honorii, the Sworn Book of Honorius. At this same auspicious moment, I also reconsecrated by Mass my Runes and 8 year-old Talisman of Venus. I invited Archangel Sachiel, and his holy Angels Netoniel, Devachiah, Tzedeqiah, and Parasiel to touch each of the implements in turn and bless them. The effect was palpable, warm, and ecstatic. The Christmas Eve Mass-consecrated tools seemed to positively hum with power.

Towards the end of the service, we lit a Candle, which I offered unto the Most High. I then scryed into the Candle and asked Archangel Sachiel if he had anything to show me. After a few minutes of scrying, images came into view as the sounds and sights of the singing Church fell into the background…

I saw light streaming into a green forest through the canopy of trees. Down on the ground, I saw a white sheep who seemed to have strayed from the herd. I saw myself clad in simple shepherd’s clothes. I picked up the sheep and carried it back to the other 99 sheep I had left behind to seek out the one who had strayed. The reference was clearly to the famous parable of Jesus, which illustrated Divine Love for humanity as being like the shepherd who left the 99 to save the one lost sheep. To quote the text:

Luke 15:1-7 – The Parable of the Lost Sheep

1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.

2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.

4 Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders

6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

I asked Sachiel if I should place hairs from my and Soror C.R.’s heads into the Pentaclez to link them to us sympathetically and metonymically. He said “May it be so.”

I then felt Sachiel’s warm voice speaking into mind some longer words of guidance. Clearly, he spoke, saying:

“Use the power and blessings you are given to empower and bless others. You are responsible for the gifts you are given. Go after the lost, the alone, the persecuted and the abandoned and bring them back to hope. Strengthen them as you have been strengthened. Help them as you have been helped. Then you will honour God as you have been honoured.”

I told him I would do this as best I could and thanked him and the other Angels sincerely for their help. Then the room faded back into focus and I lost myself in ecstatic devotional praise to the Most High, praising and glorifying Him in heartfelt love and gratitude for all He has done and all He is still to do.

Day 6 – The Vigil continues burning brightly. Hail to you, great Archangel Sachiel!

Today, I bought a 58 inch 4K TV, regularly 800$ plus tax for the amazing price of 400$ plus tax! Glory be to God! I also received more than generous gifts from my family, to whom I offered gifts in kind. No results from the lottery ticket yet.

Day 7 – In the morning, Sachiel’s candle continued to burn strong and clean all the way down to the very bottom of the Vigil. As Sachiel had instructed, we placed some of our hairs inside the Pentacles to link them more intimately to us.

Soror C.R. and I went shopping today while carrying the Jupiter Pentacles and both got amazing deals. She also got an intuitive nudge from Sachiel that he was fond of a beautiful Angelic-themed plate. She purchased it to show her gratitude to him and to Netoniel, Tzedeqiah, Devachiel and Parasiel for the amazing things they had already done. She intends to use it for food Offerings. I purchased one in a similar style for small candle Offerings to show my own gratitude. When we went to the cash to pay, we found that both had been significantly discounted!

Later on, when I checked the Temple, I was happy to find that on this 7th Day, the Vigil had completed its burning all the way down to the base of the candle. Only the Basil remained in a neat little pile. Hail to thee, great Angels!

Day 8 – Day of Jupiter – I received an email from the Provincial government of Quebec saying that I had received a message from AFE, the Department that governs student loans. I have a student loan at the moment to assist in completing my final year of clinical social work at McGill University. Worried that they were going to claim that I owed them more money after fiscal recalculations, as often happens to students, I hurried to open the message:

Opening the email, I found that the government had indeed completed fiscal recalculations. However, I did not owe them more money. On the contrary. After their reviewing my file, they decided that I owed them less money!

In fact, they had decided to dramatically convert part of my loan into a bursary which I would not have to repay, a whopping 8,487.00 $!

Glory be to God! Reading this, such gratitude overwhelmed my heart that I did not know how to express it. I immediately fell into praising and glorifying God for His great beneficence, and thanking and honouring His mighty Angels. I feel humbled and honoured beyond what words can say…

Were the latter my only results for the day, I would have been more than satisfied. However, as it turned out, the spirits had more in store to me.

I went to two guitar stores to look at various acoustic guitars. Some were decent, but none were clicking as feeling “right” to me.

Carrying my 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter, I decided to try a third and final store, one I had never been to before. My parents, who are both highly adept musicians and were both members of a fantastic rock band called Sky and later the Ravlers in the 1960s and 1970s, accompanied me. When we arrived at the store, we were told that they had only been open in the current location for 3 weeks.

We proceeded to the acoustic room and tested out various guitars not only for texture and profile of the sound, but also crafting quality, wood balance, warping of the neck, cleanness of the neck finish, absence of buzzing on the higher notes. We tested evrrything from high-end Taylors and Martins to more affordable Seagulls and Epiphones.

Then my mother flicked the strings of one particular guitar and her response was simply “wow!” She, I, and my father all tested it and we were all blown away by it. It was a sexy red wine-coloured beauty of fine wood and elegant crafting. Easily a 500-dollar guitar, it fell in the upper end of my price range.

Did I pay 500 $, however? No. Instead, the store gave me this delectable beauty of a guitar for a mere 200$ with a free tune-up and set-up in 6 months added in! To say that I felt grateful and astonished beyond belief would be an understatement of cosmic proportions.

Other Results from Subsequent Days

To avoid excessively prolonging this article, other results from the Pentacles will be listed from this point onward not through daily updates, but in point-form as they arise.

• December 30, 2019 – When going to the store to purchase some beverages for New Years Eve while wearing the Pentacle, I came across a box of four bottles of cider, normally quite expensive. When I brought it to the cash, the cashier gave it to me for an astoundingly low price 4$ CAD or 2.94$ USD!
• January 3, 2019 – After Soror C.R. and I independently saw visions of the Archangel Sachiel wearing a red vest after invoking him via the Heptameron conjuration, Soror C.R. had a vision of him giving her a red vest to wear. The next day, I was directed to a store where I found a red vest exactly like the one she saw in her vision, which I purchased for her. The price tag said only 9$, but I ended up paying only 6$ due to an additional 30% reduction.
• On January 8, 2019 I returned to my work at the community health center for the first day since I consecrated the Pentacle with the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter on my person. Not only did I feel the “tranquility of mind” the Pentacle is described as producing while in my stressful workplace, but a number of “favours” and “dignities” came my way totally unasked for. One colleague gave me a full Kit Kat chocolate bar. Another gave me some gourmet bread. Then I was hinted by my supervisor that a promotion might be coming my way in the near future!
• January 8, 2019 – This same day, I was assigned a series of psychosocial evaluations to do. The new OCCI evaluations required a laptop to complete them and no social worker in my office had been given a laptop yet. To my surprise, and totally unexpectedly and without me asking, my supervisor’s supervisor decided to lend me her personal laptop to do my evaluations! Not only that, but she said I could borrow it from her any day I wanted! I was totally blown away. No one else in my office was given this honour and privilege…
• January 9, 2019 – In another stroke of “favour,” while carrying the Pentacle, I received an invitation from a Very Honoured Frater to appear on his podcast in the near future, which I will happily accept.
• January 12, 2019 – Here in Quebec, the provincial liquor commission stores offer loyalty points which can be redeemed for money towards purchases. While I was standing in line and carrying the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter, the man behind me–who had multiple expensive bottles of wine totaling a substantial number of points–unexpectedly asked me if I wanted all of his points! Both the cashier and I were surprised by this, but I accepted his kind offer with gratitude.
• January 13, 2019 – At last, the day came for the results of the Celebrations 2019 Lottery to be revealed. As Soror C.R. anxiously awaited the results, we remembered our petition to the Angels, “that if it be in harmony with the Angels’ nature and the Divine Will, if the Archangel and Angels could assist us in applying the power of the Pentacles to benefit us or our family through the lottery so that our needs could be taken care of and so that we could be of better service to others.” After the numbers were announced, Soror C.R. and I were surprised to find that we had won… a grand total of 0$!Moral of the story? Magic works, but not always in the ways we anticipate. It would have been pleasant for us to win some money through the lottery, but Soror C.R. and I have received more than enough benefits through these Pentacles already and I am tremendously grateful for it.Why was our spell not successful? It could have been for many reasons, like us not having been ritually pure for enough days beforehand, only managing to buy our ticket after the Hour of Jupiter had ended rather than the optimal time during the Planetary Hour, not investing enough energy into the Rite to bring about the intended result, not helping the Angels sufficiently with creating enchantable situstions through which to increase our odds of winning, and many other number of reasons. Most likely of all, however, is that although our spell shifted our probability of winning more in our favour, it did not do so enough to overcome the abysmally unlikely odds of winning the big jackpots. To quote Jason Miller,
  

  “When I gave people in my course the assignment of stating a realistic yet difficult goal to achieve with magic, two of the first ten relayed that they wanted to win millions in the Lottery so they would be wealthy for life. It seems like this would be simple to effect with magic because it is random. In terms of probability though its not easy.

  While it varies state to state, on average your chance of winning the big pot in a Lottery is one in 18 million. Your chance of being struck by Lightning is one in 2,650,000. About 45 times more likely than you winning the lottery. If you drive 10 miles to buy a lottery ticket, its about 30 times more likely for you to die in a car accident on the way than it is for you to win the Lottery. Also, given the amount of people that say they want to win the lottery with magic, you have all the competing magic out there aimed at any given pot.”

  Thus, it was a very unlikely project from the outset and the benefits of the Pentacles have, therefore, been manifesting through paths of least resistance. In any case, we remain very grateful and humbled by this whole adventure. Glory be to God and hail to you great and holy Angels Sachiel, Tzedeqiah, Devachiel and Parasiel! Amen!

• January 18, 2019 – Soror C.R. ordered a pizza while carrying the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter. When the order arrived, she was surprised to find that they had made a mistake at the restaurant and added an Extra Large Pizza and medium fries, which they then proceeded to give to her for free!
• January 19, 2019 – I had been wanting to track down a new Altar for use in constructing an Ancestor Altar in my Temple. Carrying the Pentacle, I opened my door intending to go buy one, and literally across the hall from my apartment, I saw that my neighbour across the hallway had put out a table of the exact size I would need with a sign on it indicating that it was being given away for free! All I had to do was to open my door to see it, mere feet away from my door…

That same day, the daughter of that same neighbour, whom I had never spoken to in my life, randomly offered me a brand new living room chair and living room table made out of maple, 300$ worth of furniture. Shocked, I graciously and gratefully accepted it:

• January 23, 2019 – While carrying the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter, Soror C.R. received a cheque from the government for 1,100.00$, enough to pay off several outstanding bills she had been worried about. Meanwhile, on the very same day, while I was carrying the 2nd Pentacle, I received an unexpected transfer of 510.00$ from someone who had borrowed money from me months ago and which I was beginning to wonder when I would ever receive it back. Praise God and hail to thee, mighty Angels!
• January 30, 2019 – While carrying the favour-bestowing 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter, Soror C.R. was given the unique honour of being the only member of her team to be invited to attend a Press Conference with the Mayor of Montreal. Not only that, but she was invited and honoured to stand right next to the Mayor and assist the Mayor in giving out cupcakes! She was utterly blown away by this result, which she said she “never could have expected…” Shown below, the Mayor giving out a cupcake at the event in question:
• February 9, 2019 – Today, while carrying the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter, the cashier at an expensive cafe spontaneously decided to give me a free cappuccino when I went to buy only a croissant. I had a powerful prayer period in the Cathedral and filled up a bottle of Holy Water. I prayed for guidance, wisdom, healing, and to be of greater service to the Good and the Divine Will in all of my relationships. I felt such devotional love in that majestic Cathedral entitled Mary Queen of the World.I ended up meeting my Mentoring student at the Cathedral. He had never been to a Montreal Cathedral before and was moved by the sacred silence and beauty of the place. We went on to have a beautiful Mentoring session and then I watched with joy as this chronic procrastinator, my student, knocked out several hours of focused, productive work.Then, on my way home, I was standing waiting for the subway, I looked to the left and was amazed to see one of my former best friends standing there. He was just as shocked to see me. We talked out our former misunderstanding, healed the rupture in our relationship, and left each other with a hug and a big smile.
• February 14, 2019 – While carrying the 2nd Pentacle, I was standing with some other people waiting for a bus, which they told me had not come for over an hour. 5 minutes after I joined the line, an off-duty bus drove up to us, volunteered to drive us to the metro, and not only that, but let everyone on for free! I had never seen anything like this happen in my entire life.
• February 18, 2019 – While carrying the 2nd Pentacle, Soror C.R. was spontaneously offered a promotion and a raise within her department that she did not even ask for. She was absolutely stunned. The spirits seem to have been working behind the scenes to orchestrate the situation.
• February 19, 2019 – Upon arriving into work, my Supervisor asked me to submit a Cover Letter and CV. Her Supervisor’s Supervisor’s Supervisor had specifically invited me and only me–none of my colleagues–to apply for a new position and be fast-tracked straight to the final interview process before it is even posted for applications. If I succeed in that interview, I will be hired immediately to a position most people in and out of the organization did not know even existed. I am truly in shock… As if that were not sufficient, in the same day, I received another stroke of favour, namely, a message from Diana Gladii at Teurgia.Org, who kindly offered to translate my esoteric articles into Russian so that they could be accessible to Russian-speaking audiences via the website. I felt very honoured by the offer, which I graciously accepted.
• March 4, 2019 – While holding the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter, I ordered a pair of wireless headphones from Amazon. Due to a fortuitous glitch in Amazon’s system, I did not receive the headphones in the time stipulated by my 1-day shipping. As a result, Amazon refunding the entirety of the cost of the headphones and let me keep them for free!
• March 5, 2019 – My job interview for this significant clinical social work position went spectacularly well. I carried the 2nd Pentacle on my person while I did the meeting as well as my Ring of Jupiter on my right hand.
• March 22, 2018 – While carryjng the 2nd Pentacle, I received a phone call that against all odds, I had obtained the job! That same day, I came home to discover that my dear friend Anneliese had kindly gifted me a signed copy of Frater Ashen Chassan’s Gateways Through Light and Shadow! I felt overjoyed and beyond grateful for all of this.

• April 18, 2019 – The Pentacle continues to deliver. I ordered a 60$ brown leather backpack while holding the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter. However, when I received the backpack, the seller sent me a message to apologize for sending it in a slightly different shade of brown. This happened on my birthday no less — the seller stated that I could keep the backpack, but that they would refund the price of it completely. So I essentially got a free backpack with which I was very pleased.
• 
• May 2019 – I began my new job and was blessed with tremendous help from people in authority in my workplace.
• June 2019 – I was offered a permanent position as lead Social Worker in a different establishment, an offer absolutely unheard of for someone who had only been working a temporary contract for 2 weeks. I ended up turning it down after a series of divinations since I love my current job and colleagues so much, but I was grateful for the offer nonetheless.
• July 2019 – Soror C.R. expressed a wish to work at home in her HR department despite no at-home positions existing at her work. Literally the next day, while carrying the Jupiter Pentacle, she was told that not only had a brand new at-home HR position opened up, but that she should apply for it. By that very night, the position was hers.
• August 3, 2019 – Today, I used the good fortune afforded by the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter to protect my sister’s outdoor wedding from rain even though there was a 90% chance of thundershowers.
• That same night,Soror C.R. forgot her own 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter at home. It was the first time she had forgotten to carry it on her person in a span of weeks during which she had seemed to be living a constant stream of good luck.
• That very night, she slipped, and slammed her face on a concrete floor. Today she was diagnosed with a concussion.
• Glory be to God! Hail to His mighty Angels Sachiel, Parasiel, Devachiah, and Tzadqiel, and to St. C.!
• August 4 to 31, 2019 – The 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter has continued to deliver fantastic results throughout this month. I carry it to work every day and the benefits are tremendous. Here are two notable examples. First, I was the only Social Worker on my team who was assigned another worker to help them enter paperwork into the system. Not only was I given an assistant to help me, but I was assigned not one, not two, but three people’s assistance throughout the month. No other Social Worker new or old has been given this favour from the higher-ups and it is so unprecedented that I can only attribute it to the graciousness of God working through His spirits and the Pentacle.
• As if that were not enough, a second miraculous favour from authority was bestowed on me. Ordinarily at my workplace, if a worker works too much overtime, not only are they not paid for that time, but they are penalized for it by the management. Management goes through all of their work and statistics about time usage and critiques them for their alleged inefficiency and insufficiency.
• Not so for me. I worked 100 hours of Overtime in 2 months in order to honour my ethical and professional responsibilities and to do everyting in my power to support my vulnerable elderly clients and younger clients with physical disabilities. When my manager was informed of all of the overtime I have been doing, I was called to a meeting. I attended the meeting while carrying the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter. I expected to receive a punitive response.
• Instead, my manager not only helped me to develop a plan to reduce my Overtime hours, but also gave me two weeks of paid vacation! I was not even supposed to receive any vacation until next year. In fact, *no one* receives any vacation time in their first year at my work. I was utterly speechless at my good fortune. Glory be to God and blessings on His Holy Angels!
• December 6, 2019 – Soror C.R. carried the Pentacle into an important meeting with her boss today. To her amazement, she came out of it with a promotion to a new position and a whopping 10,000 $ annual raise…
• December 12, 2019 – Thanks to the good fortune that has flowed my way thanks to the Grace of God and His Holy Angels since I began carry this Pentacle, I managed tonight to completely finish paying off my student loans a mere 6 months after graduating. If that is not a magical feat, I know not what is. Praise God!
• Update: October 29-30, 2002 – Three years later, the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter continues to serve me well. I recently brought in a new bass guitar to be set up by a luthier while carrying the 2nd Pentacle. The employee accidentally put his employee number in place of my phone number, so I ended being charged less than half of the standard rate, as if I worked in the music store!
• The next day, I was going to walk by a mall near my house and continue home when I felt a strong “nudge” to go inside. Carrying the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter in my pocket, I found myself at a Telus phone kiosque. I had my plan with Bell, not Telus. However, at the Telus kiosque, I was offered a wonderful deal not only to pay less for my monthly plan, but also to get the latest phone for a ridiculously low price. When the worker plugged my details into the computer to set up a contract as I was switching from another company, there was an error in the system; the system showed that I should only pay 15$ per month for the latest Samsung phone while corporate told the clerk it should say 40$ per month! Nonetheless, I was given the much cheaper price.
• Finally, traditional lore says that it is bad luck for a black cat to cross your path. On my way home from the Telus store on October 30, 2022, still carrying the 2nd Pentacle of Jupiter, I was walking down a long street. Suddenly, I saw a black cat about to cross the street in front of me. It started to cross, but, as soon as it was about to pass in front of me, it suddenly stopped in its tracks. It paused for a moment and then reversed its trajectory and returned to the side of the street from which it originally came. I couldn’t help but muse that the 2nd Pentacle’s luck-attracting properties did not allow the omen of misfortune. Whether that is really what happened or not, I cannot say, but it was a strange and fascinating experience.

Novena of Saint Cyprian 2018 Day 8: Invocation of Archangel Uriel

By Frater S.C.F.V.

This Novena has been without a doubt the single-most magically intense series of operations I’ve ever attempted… To invoke 8 Archangels in 8 days, perform the most intense Stele of Jeu of my life, and officiate the G.D. Equinox Ceremony, with all of the other prayers, consecrations, exorcisms, fasting, community service, charity work, scrying, Church services, preparation of Saint Cyprian Oil, and so on… have all left me grateful and inspired, but also utterly drained and with so much to process.  Thankfully, however, tonight completes the Invocations.  Tomorrow is a fairly relaxed Novena day and the day after, I celebrate Cyprian’s Feast Day and formally adopt him as my Patron. Then it’s time for a break from magic for a while to integrate all of the intense results of these tremendously charged 10 days…

On this Eighth Day of my 2018 Novena to Saint Cyprian of Antioch, September 23, 2018, I arose and performed a ritual bath and worship. I attended my research seminar, listened to multiple spiritual talks while traveling about, completed my work for the day, and then went home for another ritual bath. With that done, I set up the Temple with the Altar facing the North in preparation for today’s formal Invocation of Archangel Uriel.

After yet another day of vegetarian diet and minimal food, I prepared the Offering candles for the night’s Ritual. For Cyprian, I fixed and dressed a candle with San Cipriano Oil, cinnamon, and all-spice. Archangel Uriel’s candle, in contrast, was dressed and fixed with Solomonic Holy Oil, rosemary, and white sage.

After ritual bathing, I entered the Temple, where I began, as usual, with offerings to God and prayers. I picked up my Solomonic bell, sounded it three times before entering the Circle as per the Hygromanteia and then, from within it, thrice to each of the Quarters, greeting the Spirits of the East, South, West, and North with great love, respect, and  blessings of Adonai. I used my Key of Solomon Aspergillum of Art to sprinkle Holy Water all around the Circle and on the tools to purify the area to receive the Archangel. I then proceeded to give Offerings to God and to Saint Cyprian and began to pray and recite Psalms while holding my Solomonic Wand of Art.

I then used the prayer from the Heptameron to ask for God’s help in calling Spirits and proceeded to a formal Invocation of Archangel Uriel. As the Angel’s mighty presence began to grow in intensity, I greeted him with love and respect and offered him gifts of Incense and his fixed Candle as Offerings of friendship.  After receiving them, his candle begin to flicker wildly.

Archangel Uriel’s presence felt ancient, supremely peaceful, and powerful, yet equanimitous. It was easy to be drawn into the calm space of his presence, which made me feel comfortable to proceed slowly and with great attentiveness rather than to rush through the ritual. Unlike the to-the-point and no-nonsense Archangel Cassiel, Uriel did not rush me through the ritual at a rapid pace; instead, he was gradual and patient.

I asked the Archangel if he could give me a vision of his nature. My eyes fell closed, heavily and slow. Suddenly, I beheld a totally different scene.

A powerful ancient figure, an Angel clad in black and green. He moves his glowing hand of light over the land and plants began to grow. A motion of his other hand causes rain to fall upon the land. And on he drifts over the soil and greenery…

Suddenly, I was back in the Temple, kneeling before the Altar once more. Because Uriel was said to specialize in prophecy and clairvoyance, I asked him, as I had asked several of the other Angels, if he could assist me in developing my Crystal-scrying abilities. He kindly assented to my request and I found myself gazing deep through the crystal as his candle flickered hypnotizingly in the background.  I gave him my consent to speak guidance into my mind as he willed, requesting that he speak in my tongue in a manner I might understand. His instructions were mysterious and enigmatic  Uriel instructed me to:

“Gaze not into the Crystal pretending you were a separate individual “Adam” gazing into a separate stone through which to gain a vision of an Angel. That which gazes, the seeing itself, and the seen are all the Supreme itself. Let all phenomena fall away. Rest as the primal No-thingness. And as That, gaze as the Void into the Void, as God into the Wisdom and Mysteries of the Mind of God. Then see what comes forth.”

I asked Uriel if he could give me a sense of what God was like. He replied:

“How could such a thing be done? Cast aside all of your thoughts and concepts about Him, all that has ever been thought, is thought now, and ever will be thought. For the Divine is greater than the greatest and beyond actual and possible cognition. Out of compassion, God permits his children to relate to Him through metaphors — even “Children” and “Father” and “He” are metaphors. But do not confuse metaphors with truth. No concept of God is true. God is beyond all concepts. If you wish to know what He is like, you must leave all concepts behind and dive, unhelped and unsupported, directly into the Abyss of not-knowing itself. There alone, in complete non-knowing and non-seeing is Divine Seeing and Knowing to be found, and not by “you,” but of Him, through Him, and by Him alone...”

From these infinitely subtle metaphysical topics, which pushed the boundaries of the intelligible into the mystical and the unfathomable, the conversation turned to more practical matters on the mundane human level. When asked how best to develop as a social worker for the greater service of my clients and the greater Good, Uriel instructed me to:

“Turn to the Most High repeatedly for guidance, for He knows all and you do not. Do your best to learn all you can. Study fervently. Practice each moment as if it were your last opportunity to serve. Work for your clients as if they were your own children or parents. Care for them with just as much seriousness, tenderness, and yet, humour. Lose not compassion. Step into your fear to do what you have never done before, reaching out to mentors, resources, and peers to carry you through. Turn all over to God and all will come out well in the end. For He from whom all possibilities come, all is possible and without Him, nothing is.”

As a final question, I asked Uriel how we could best connect with Nature. Uriel answered:

“The very question is meaningless. There is no “human” separate from Nature. How can you connect with what you already are? Does your wrist need to practice to connect with the arm? They are already beyond connected; they are One. Instead, realize that in truth, there is no human apart from Nature, and therefore no need to connect one to the other. As you stand in the forest, cast aside your human identity, emotions, and thoughts about “how to connect.” Silently, without knowing what you are doing, in complete surrender of all ideas, drink in the forest and simply be. Natural Unity is. Apparent disharmony veils only eternal harmony in the Whole. Rest in the inter-being that alone is. Let all be as it is, entrusting it all to the Power of the Eternal. In That which is beyond all questions and answers, your question will be answered by seeing that there is no need for a question. No solution is needed when there is no problem. Let “how” drop. Be in its absence. In such fullness, what question is there of “how to connect”?”

The illuminated peace Uriel embodied continued to shine forth throughout the Temple space.  Exhausted, however, I offered Uriel to remain for the final prayers or feel free to depart in peace at his leisure. I asked if he had any final words and received simply “all that need now be said has been.” When asked if he would accept the gift of my friendship, pray for me, aid me as best he could, and kindly come again to share with me again should it be his will and God’s, his candle flickered intensely in affirmation. Finally, I obtained his permission to share the record of our communication and invited him to kindly communicate any wisdom he cared to share with me in dreams.

I said a final set of prayers and closed the Temple, exhausted, but content, at having finished the 8th Archangelic Invocation on the 8th Day of the Novena.  As Saint Cyprian’s statue gazed upon the Altar, the Offering candles continued to flicker silently into the night, long after I had left the Temple…

Novena of Saint Cyprian 2018 Day 6: Invocation of Archangel Cassiel

By Frater S.C.F.V.

On this Sixth Day of my 2018 Novena to Saint Cyprian of Antioch, September 22, 2018, I arose and performed a ritual bath and ecstatic worship. I went to the store to purchase wine and spring water to serve as Offerings to Saint Cyprian. My stomach ached slightly from my fast for all of the day until the Ritual, which was interrupted only by the drinking of water and the eating of a single apple.

In the Day and Hour of Saturn, after a ritual bath and worship, I entered the Temple. I took up my Solomonic bell, sounded it three times before entering the Circle as per the Hygromanteia and then again thrice to each of the Quarters, greeting the Spirits of the East, South, West, and North with great love, respect, and  blessings of Adonai. I proceeded to give Offerings to God and to Saint Cyprian and began to pray and recite Psalms while holding my Solomonic Wand of Art. On this Saturday, Cyprian’s Day, I gave Cyprian Offerings of fresh Spring Water, Sage Incense, and Wafers consecrated in the Neophyte Ceremony of the Golden Dawn as last performed by our G.D. Order.

I dressed two candles as Offerings, one with Cyprian Oil, sage, cinnamon, and all-spice for Cyprian and one with sage, cumin, and Solomonic Holy Oil for Cassiel. I prayed over them to exorcise and consecrate them with their intended Powers. I then put on my Ring of Saturn, which contains lead and a strong black stone, given to me as a gift by my friend Sarah Wreck, making a prayer as I did so. I used the prayer from the Heptameron to ask for God’s help in calling Spirits and proceeded to a formal Invocation of Archangel Cassiel, Angel of the Day of  Saturn and of Saturn.

After prolonged additional conjurations and vibrating of Cassiel’s name while gazing into the crystal with Cassiel’s candle burning behind it–pyrocrystallomancy, as shown to me by Archangel Raphael–I felt the Angel’s presence as his fixed candle, Offered unto him, flared up behind the Crystal. Feeling his presence, which was stern, heavy, grim, and no-nonsense, I offered him Frankincense, noted by Agrippa as sacred to Saturn as an additional offering.

Cassiel remains the most stern, severe, and no-nonsense Archangel with whom I have ever worked, even more so than Samael in my experience. He is direct, cuts right to the chase, and when he speaks, his replies come fast and immediate. At least in his communications with me, he also tends to speak in a more formal, antiquated style, which I also use to sympathetically connect with him. Upon appearing in the Circle, he immediately spoke unto my mind:

“Wherefore hast thou called me?”

I respectfully explained my intent, to offer him gifts of love, devotion, and friendship in this consecrated and blessed Candle and Incense of Art and to learn from him whatever wisdom he would impart to me concerning his role, Office, and the things under his power.

When asked what was his role and Office, Cassiel spoke these words into my mind as I gazed entranced into the Crystal, while Cassiel’s flame flickered behind it and dark, Saturnian ritual music played in the background:

“Mine is the Office of binding and the imposition of barriers and limits without which, no structure can emerge and there can be no order. Mine is the overseeing of Time and temporality, of arising, abiding, and subsiding. Mine is the constriction of pure force into bounded form, that all things may be accomplished in apparent finitude and time.”

When asked for the wisdom behind his powers of binding and constricting, Cassiel replied:

“Binding and barriers need not be but forms of imprisonment and holding back of freedom, as thou humans assume. Binding and barriers are freedom in action. Without limits on the shape of a thing, there can be no shape. Without shape, there can be no action taken by that shape. All of the multitudes of forms in nature depend on binding and barriers for their operations. Finitude is but apparent; everything apparently finite is simply the Divine Infinite constrained by its own Power to enable the freedom of its manifestation.

Nor do binding, barriers, and constrictions imply separation. All is the Divine appearing in, as, and to itself. No apparent form is separate in reality from any other, only in relative functioning in time and in appearance. Whosoever realizes this knows the Face of God is everywhere, within and without, not merely beyond apparent form, but in, as, and within it.”

When asked what attitude this wisdom should give rise to in us, Cassiel replied:

“Right discernment. Discern one type of apparent form from the next; note their discrete qualities, which could not arise if not for the Powers of binding and barriers, of constrictions of form upon which all structure and Order depends. At the same time, discern the Ultimate; nothing apparent, nothing formed, nothing shaped, nothing seemingly cut-off is so in its Absolute nature. All of the relative forms are none other than the Absolute. God hides in plain sight.

Those who know this will understand, and understanding, live in the light of that wisdom. In this way, they will not fall for the delusions of the world, that death is the end or shape limits the infinite. Only the unlimited can appear to be limited, and only so that anything can appear at all. Creation depends on constriction, not Ultimately, but in relative appearance. This is the Mystery of Divine creation itself.”

I was amazed by the rapidity, clarity, and immediacy with which Cassiel communicated, perhaps unsurprising for the Archangelic Master of Time, but surprising for me, who had was so accustomed to the slower, gentler ways of speaking of other Spirits.

I asked Cassiel if he could give me a vision to explain further how “creation depends on constriction.” Immediately, as with his prior replies, Cassiel spoke into my mind as I gazed into the Crystal, “close thy eyes and it is done.”

My eyes fell heavily closed, slowly and smoothly as my spine straightened up, erect. Before I knew it, I no longer looked at the black space of closed eyelids. Instead, I saw a great Angel clothed in black, darkly powerful, flying over a landscape that was tremoring and shaking, a land of rock and desert. His face shone so bright over his black robed figure that it could not be seen, blinding golden light…

“Behold how formation requires constriction. As the Earth shakes, form tenses, collapses, and falls apart. Heat agitates the structures of form and they shake apart. In this potentiality and chaos, binding and barriers can constrain new forms into being.”

As he said this, an earthquake shook the land, which split open. Bright lava could be seen below. As tectonic plates smashed together, a mountain began to take form.

“Smashing together, seems apparent violence… but is in truth creative force. Constrained and pressured, the mountain takes form as stone is bound not to flow some ways and permitted only to flow others. So it is that binding produces order through constellating chaos. So it is for all creation, for all arising of all phenomena. Imposed limitation enables the freedom of form appearing and functioning. This is the foundation of the World.”

The scene shifted to a plant growing from a sprout into a beautiful mature form.

“For leaves to appear, for stems and cells, there must be boundaries and forces constraining the tissues. The limitation enables the freedom. So it is with thou human beings, which are the Divine Infinite constrained through binding and Time into relative discrete appearance.”

The vision abruptly cut off and I felt my Astral form slammed back into my body with great severity. My eyes opened and I was back in my Temple.

After asking Cassiel to let his power move through me, correcting any apparent limitations that did not serve or were dysfunctional, he did immediately. Holding the Solomonic Holy Oil-anointed Crook of Saint Cyprian and pressing it to my forehead, I felt a flood of heavy, constraining energy flood through my Sphere of Sensation. My eyes fell closed again and I behind my closed eyelids, I saw images of forms breaking apart and new ones taking their place, of subtle shifts and felt changes unfolding that I did not understand…

When it ended, my eyes opened and returned to the Crystal ball. My head felt like it was spinning from the rapid flow of all of this information that Cassiel had shared and thus, I thought it perhaps best to move the Invocation to its conclusion. Thanking Cassiel with great sincerity for being so forthcoming and helpful, I asked if he had any final wisdom to reveal before bringing our time together to a close.

“See not forms as separate; they are not. The Infinite can but take form through apparent boundaries and constriction. See not discipline as blocking freedom; it does not. Discipline is freedom in action and the enabler of freedom. The lack of discipline is not freedom, it is chaos. Image the Ordering Power of the Creator; live in discipline that thou mayst be freer still.

Whatever thou lookest upon, know it as Thy Divine Self hiding in finitude, the unlimited appearing through limitation, the unbound appearing through seeming binding, the unarisen disciplining itself into arising, the Eternal appearing as Time. In this way, all dualities will be cut off, and both poles negated, nonduality itself will collapse. What remains is the Ultimate as it is, and thou art That. There is nothing else. Indeed, all that apparently is, is but the Unformed playing itself into form.”

With great humility and gratitude, I thanked the great Archangel for these potent revelations and invited him to take his leave if he wished or stay and pray with me. I thanked him and asked him I could share what he had shared with me with others to correct misconceptions and for the greater Good of freedom for all through discipline. I asked that he move the stream of smoke from his incense to the left if he agreed, and so it moved, immediately. I then asked him if he would kindly return again to work with and teach me if it pleased him and God, and received an affirmative answer as well.

I then said a final battery of prayers, and asked for Saint Cyprian’s help in one final task: creating Cyprianic Holy Oil. I did this by taking a base of olive oil and adding to it cinnamon essential oil, the herbs, soil, spices, and other curio from the Lucky Mojo Curio Company’s Saint Cyprian Oil, some of this same oil, and some of another San Cipriano Holy Oil imported via a local botanica to which I had been led by Saint Cyprian at an earlier date. I prayed for the good Saint to charge it and shortly thereafter, the Crucifix hanging from the rosary wrapped around his statue began to slowly wave from side to side.

Moved by a flood of inspiration, before I ended the ritual and closed the Temple with prayers, I felt moved to perform a powerful and ancient ritual… the Stele of Jeu or Rite of the Headless One from Greek Magical Papyri V. 96-172. What followed was one of the most powerful magical experiences of my life.

But that, shall is a matter for another post.

Novena of Saint Cyprian 2018 Day 3: Invocation of Archangel Raphael

By Frater S.C.F.V.

On Wednesday, September 19, 2018,  I began Day 3 of my Novena to Saint Cyprian of Antioch with ritual bathing and worship. I then went to my social work classes, completed some clinical work, and updated my ritual plans for the coming few days of the Novena.

By the time I finally got home, it was 11 o’clock p.m. I made my lunch for the next day and proceeded to perform ritual bathing and open the Temple. I felt utterly exhausted and had caught a cold from the shockingly cold temperatures today, as a result of which I had a runny nose, sore throat, and cough. Nonetheless, I was determined to continue on with the Novena and prayed for help to complete it.

First, I lit a candle as an offering to the Most High. Then, I picked up my Solomonic Bell of Art, sounded it thrice before entering the Circle as per the Hygromanteia and then again to the Quarters, greeting the Spirits of the East, South, West, and North with great love, respect, and the blessings of Adonai.

I formally opened the Temple and offered Saint Cyprian a fresh glass of water, a new purple candle, and new Frankincense with 9 knocks on the Altar and 9 repetitions of his name. I then proceeded through a series of prayers, invocations of the Trinity, and extensive reading of Psalms while holding my Solomonic Wand of Art.

I then prayed the Prayer for help in conjuring Spirits from Joseph H. Peterson’s edition of the Heptameron and proceeded with a formal conjuration of the great Archangel Raphael after sprinkling Holy Water, suffumigating, and anointing my eyes, forehead, and heart with San Cipriano Oil. I blended Raphael’s Sigil with Holy Water and placed it under the scrying Crystal.

His presence was light and gentle, even soothing, strikingly different from the effulgent majesty of Gabriel and the calm and grim severity of Samael. At the very moment I felt him appear, my cat began to meow outside the door and I said “even my cat welcomes you, O Raphael!”, smiling. Upon the great Archangel’s arrival, I welcomed the great Archangel with blessings and Offerings of a candle and Frankincense.

I then asked him if he was pleased with rhe offerings, to please move the two streams of incense smoke from straight upwards over to the right, which proceeded immediately to happen. Thereafter, I asked Raphael if he could show me how best to communicate with him and help me to improve at scrying in the Crystal.

The response was an intuitive nudge to do something I had never done before: move the candle offered to Raphael behind the Crystal so that the candle Offering could illuminate the Crystal from behind. The result was that the Spirit could manipulate the candle flame and the result would be magnified though the crystal. How fascinating — crystallomancy and pyromancy in one! Coining a word, it seemed I could refer to it as pyrocrystallomancy. 

I asked Raphael if I had done this correctly, and his candle immediately began to flicker strongly in confirmation.

Next, I asked him if he could explain how to scry more efficiently. As I gazed into the illuminating Crystal, I began to enter a state of trance and it was then that I noticed a calm and gentle voice had begun to speak into my mind, slowly and gradually saying:

“Be calm, be quiet. Open fully. Do not aim to speak. Listen. Open. Receive. Let thought be still. Simply receive.”

I listened and opened and the state began to deepen. Once the gaze stabilized, I began to ask questions and receivr slow and gentle answers.

The first was as brilliantly succinct as it was memorable. I asked what the key was to scrying Angels. Raphael replied:

“Do not do. Let be done to you.”

What a beautiful articulation of his message of being fully receptive and emptying yourself fully in order to silently receive.

When asked what is the nature of the Angels, Raphael replied

“Light and pure knowledge.”

When asked what Angels do, he replied

“God’s Will.”

I asked if he could heal at will and he said,

“If God Wills.”

When asked what was the key to healing others, Raphael replied

“Faith, love, and the right alignment of conditions.”

When asked if I could share his answers for the greater good and edifying of my brothers and sisters, he said “yes.”

Finally, I asked Raphael if he could please heal me of my present illness as Christ had healed. He said

“Yes, if God Wills. You will know not by what I say, but by what I do.”

I thanked him sincerely and invited him either to go in peace with the blessings of Adonai, or to remain for the prayers to follow and join me in prayer as he willed. I also invited him to communicate with me in dreams if he had a wise word to communicate for which I did not know how to ask. Finally, I asked if he would accept my friendship and be willing to come again and teach me more in the future with gifts of more Offerings. His candle began to flicker in affirmation.

I proceeded with more Psalmody, prayers, hymns, and blessings, as well as the Canticle of Saint Cyprian. After an intense hour and a half of ritual, I formally closed the Temple feeling blessed, grateful, and my heart awash with love and gratitude to Saint Cyprian, to kind Raphael, and above all, to the Most High, who lives and reigns now and unto the Ages of the Ages. Amen!

Update: A little over a day later, my cold is almost entirely healed as physically evidenced by my mucus no longer running green, but clear, my runny nose being gone, by the vanishing of my fever, and by my cough being nearly completely gone. Thanks be to the great Archangel Raphael and praise and glory to Adonai Rapha, Lord of Healing!

Mystic Rods of Power: Consecration of a Solomonic Wand

By Frater S.C.F.V.

The Lightning Rod of Magical Power: A Brief Introduction to Wand Lore

As Joseph H. Peterson (2005) notes, Plato, in his Alcibiades (1.122), and his Classical Greek contemporaries saw magic (mageia) as referring to “the Magian lore of Zoroaster.” The baresman (Avestan) or barsom (Phl.) was the prototype to the Graeco-Egyptian singular wand, but unlike the one-piece wands found in the PGM, the baresman was composed of a “bundle of twigs,” traditionally made of sticks cut from the tamarisk tree (Peterson, 2005). Indeed, for the Zoroastrian Magi, the baresman was a ritual tool that enabled the channeling of Divine Power, the execution of divination, and the energetic communication between the material (getig) and spiritual (menog) realms (Peterson, 2005).

Zoroastrian Magi holding a baresman.

Peterson (2005) goes on to explain the Ancient origins and later grimoiric manifestations of the ‘wand principle’ in rich detail, revealing that

“the use of the baresman by the Magi was well known to Greek writers and is mentioned by Strabo and Phoenix of Colophon (280 B.C.), cited in Athenaeus. The magic wand was also known among the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Like the Zoroasrian Magi, the Ancient Roman Flamines or fire-priests, also carried such bundles of twigs in their hands (Modi RCC, 1922, p. 280).

Pliny and Apuleius both attest to their use. Homer (in the Odyssey 11.14ff) and Virgil both describe the archetypical sorceress, Circe, as using a magical wand. The relevant passage in Virgil was noted by Agrippa in his Occult Philosophy Book 1, chapter 41. It is also cited by Eliphas Levi in Key of the Mysteries, part 4, chap 1. Betz’s collection of Greek and Demotic Magical Papyri has examples of spells which include the use of a wand or staff. The spell PGM I.42-195, for example, has the Magician “hold a branch of myrtle … shaking it, [and salute] the goddess” (Betz, p. 5). A sinilar example occurs in PGM II.22, II.65 (Betz p. 13, 14).

Iamblichus (c. A.D. 250-325), one of the more important Neoplatonic philosophers, discussed magic in general in his On the Mysteries. In this work, he mentions the prophetess holding a staff or wand, invoking the divinity (Mysteries of the Egyptians, chapter 7.) Agrippa also cites this passage in OP3.48.

Early manuscripts of magic (grimoires) have many references to the use and importance of the wand in Western magic. There are two similar ritual implements commonly described in magical literature: The staff (Latin baculus or bacculus; Italian bastone; French Le baton, bâton) and the wand (Latin Virga or virgulam; Ital. verga; German Stäbchen; French: La verge;). In French manuscripts, the wand is sometimes called viere, baguette, baguette magique, baguete, or bagette, also translated as rod. The staff is more the size of a walking stick; the wand is smaller and tapered.”

It is worth noting that the Thyrsus of the Eleusinian Mystery Initiates may also be seen as a kind of proto-wand as well as an initiatory badge.  Similarly, the valences of authority and phallic masculine power embodied in the regal Scepter of Kings and Emperors are also encapsulated in the Wand symbolism that later occult traditions would adopt and sympathetically apply.  In his article on “The Magic Wand,” Mr. Peterson (2005) goes on to offer a detailed and fine-pointed analysis of the grimoiric wand traditions, citing specific manuscripts, which I will not reproduce here, but highly recommend studying catefully for the rich gems of esoteric insight it contains.

My research and practical experience have convinced me that the Wand is a powerful implement for Magicians of many different esoteric traditions and an indispensable tool in many of the magical systems grounded in the Late Medieval and Renaissance grimoires.  As a result, in this article, I will proceed to lay out my approach to crafting this powerful tool, to share the fruit of my research on the Characters to be inscribed on the Wand, and finally, to offer the script for the integrative ritual that I used to consecrate my own Wand. Grimoire enthusiasts may be interested to see how this multidimensional ritual incorporates the consecratory formulae embedded in the Key of Solomon, Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Pseudo-Agrippa’s Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy, the Grand Grimoire, the Grimorium Verum, and the Psalmic Corpus.

From Page to Power: Crafting A Solomonic Wand

When it came time to produce my own Wand, I took to a careful study of the grimoiric Wand literature historical manuscripts in order to ensure that my own tool would be as well-grounded in magical theory, original source material, and subtantive practical methodologies as possible.  The hazel wood for my Wand was generously gifted to me by my friend Shariyf, who had kindly ensured that it was cut in a single stroke at sunrise in the proper Planetary Day and Hour.  Why Hazel, we might wonder, when other texts prescribe Wands carved from different woods? As Joseph H. Peterson (2005) explains,

Multiple sources attest to the use of Hazel for the magic wand, including the Key of Solomon, Weyer, Goetia, Grand Grimoire, and Levi.  According to the Sworn Book of Honorius (Chap CXXXII), the Magician’s wand or staff is made of laurel or hazel. Per Agrippa, Hazel is sacred to Mercury, and also to Jupiter (OP1.26 and OP1.29). According to MC, this is a sacred tree associated with the zodiacal sign of Cancer.  According to the Key of Solomon, Hazel has “some quality referring especially unto the spirits” of Mercury. Grimorium Verum specifies wands of hazel and elder should be used in preparing the parchment.  The Grand Grimoire includes a divining method using a Hazel rod or wand.  According to Bardon, “hazelnut or willow are to be used for a wishing-wand. The wishing-wand is a modification of the magic wand.”

It is interesting to note that although the wood for the Solomonic Wand is widely understood to be required to be to be ‘virgin’ in nature, the precise meaning of the term varies from source to  source.  According to BUD 256, “virgin” means “having no twigs branching off of it;” for Aub 24 and Ad. 10862, “virgin” means “aniculus” (one year-old) or never having borne fruit; finally, for other manuscripts, as Peterson (2005) emphasizes, virgin simply means “not having been used for any other purpose.”  The wood used for my Wand was at the very least “virgin” in the latter sense, and perhaps also in the Aub 24 and Ad. 10862 sense, Shariyf believes, although we were not able to ascertain its exact age.

Encouragingly, however, as soon as I picked up the unconsecrated wood and held it over my consecrated Circle, I immediately felt it humming with power and could clairvoyantly see it glowing with a visible etheric glow around its tip.  By the time I later completed the consecration, it had become very clear to me that the wood was effective enough to meet the grimoiric criteria.  Had it not been, I would have ordered new wood and restarted the entire process. Indeed, in magic, concrete results should always trump subjective opinions and I faithfully applied this principle in this case.

Mystical Emblems of Power: Cryptic Characters of the Solomonic Wand

To begin the process of empowering the Wand, in the Hour of Mercury, I painted it with consecrated white paint mixed with a small amount of consecrated Solomonic Holy Water blended with Holy Water taken from a Cathedral.  I placed the Wand to dry in the midst of my consecrated Circle, where it could begin to charge through sympathetic resonance.  It is worth noting that my Circle was designed as a combination of both the Lemegetonic evocation Circle and the Key of Solomon’s Consecration Circle, and thus serves both functions. Those interested in learning more about the design and construction of this Circle can kindly see my article “Crafting a Solomonic Circle” for more detailed information.

It is noteworthy that even the simple the process of painting the Hazel wood white was conducted as a ceremony in its own right.  During this ritual phase, I burned Offerings of Incense to the Most High and the Angels to be invoked to consecrate the Wand during the Hour of Mercurg, prayed and chanted, and attempted to begin to attune myself to the incipient Tool of the Art as it began its process of ceremonial enspiritment.

The next stage was to inscribe the Wand with the appropriate Characters on the Day and Hour of Mercury while the Moon was waxing.  This step naturally raises the question of precisely which Characters we are to inscribe.  As I had learned while researching my Circle and consulting other manuscripts, the Mathers editions of the Solomonic texts are notoriously filled with distortions and errors.  As a result, I opted to consult my erudite friend Andy Foster about his own manuscript research on the Wand in order to obtain a richer picture of the material.  In our discussion, Andy kindly shared the following comparative chart, which he has graciously given me permission to share here:

After carefully comparing each Character in sequence, I arrived at my own final set of Sigils, which is a kind of abstraction across the best manuscript sources we have within the Key of Solomon tradition.  In this process, I also factored in the Characters from the Hazel Wand of the Grimorium Verum of Joseph H. Peterson (2007), which are nearly identical to the Clavicula Salomonis’ Hazel Wand Sigils.  The resulting final Character set that emerged from my research is as follows:

In the Day and Hour of Mercury during a Waxing Moon, I used consecrated gold ink to draw the Characters onto the Wand and then proceeded to suffumigate the Wand with consecrated Frankincense, move it through the smoke of consecrated Fire, Sprinkle it with consecrated Holy Water via a Solomonic Aspergillum of Art, and finally, anoint it with consecrated Holy Oil.

In the process, I used an integrative ritual script drawn from a number of sources, namely, the Key of Solomon itself, Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Pseudo-Agrippa’s Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy, the Wand consecration formula given in the Grand Grimoire, the Grimorium Verum‘s Hazel Wand formula, and a series of Psalms, which I sung over the Wand to complete the process.  I further consecrated the Wand by means of a vibratory auditory formula by ringing my Solomonic Bell of Art over it in each of the Four Directions while doing invocations of the Divine, following Agrippa’s instructions on using a golden Bell as a consecration tool — kindly see my article on the “Bells and Trumpets of Solomon” for more detailed information on this theory and practice.

After completing the ritual, I wrapped the Wand in consecrated Solomonic linen inscribed with the proper Sigils and Names according to Book II of the Key of Solomon.  The result of all of this meticulous research and ritual work seems to me to be an incredibly powerful Tool of Art.  The consecrated Wand seems to positively glow and hum with spiritual force — simply holding it in the hand places the mind’s cognitive and affective states into a calming and elevating frame of being.  Indeed, for several hours after finishing the consecration ritual, I felt incredibly elevated, peaceful, joyous, and as if my heart were overflowing with spiritual love in a kind of Agrippan “frensie of Venus.” To close this article, I will share the ceremonial script for my Solomonic Wand consecration ritual in case my fellow practitioners might find it helpful.

Solomonic Consecration of the Wand of Art: Ritual Script Integrating the Consecrational Formulae of Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy, the Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy, the Key of Solomon, the Grimoirium Verum, and the Grand Grimoire

To begin, if you wish to do so, paint the Wand with consecrated white Ink mixed with a few drops of consecrated Holy Water in the Hour of Mercury; otherwise, skip this step and proceed to the next.

In the Day and Hour of Mercury, when the Moon is Waxing, sound the Solomonic Bell of Art three times outside the Circle.  Then enter the Circle, and ring the Bell or Trumpet three times in the East, three times in the South, three times in the West, and three final times in the North. If you do not use a Bell or Trumpet of Art, simply proceed to the next step.

Standing in the center of the Circle, inscribe on the Wand the following Characters in consecrated Ink — I used a consecrated gold Paint Marker:

Exorcise the Wand by holding your hand over it and reciting the following Exorcism inspired by the formulae predented in the Key of Solomon and Agrippa’s Third Book of Occult Philosophy:

I exorcise thee, O creature of Woods and Wands, by Him who hath created thee and grown thee from the Earth like the Trees of Life and of Knowledge — Etz ha-daʿat tov wa-ra — that didst grow in the greenery of Eden, like the Wood on which was crucified Christ Yeshua, even like unto the Cedars of Lebanon that fed the fires of Sacrifice and fueled the mighty Solomon in the Building of the Temple, that thou uncover all the deceits of the enemy, and that thou cast out from thee all the impurities and uncleannesses of the hostile spirits of the World of Phantasm, so that they may harm me not, through the virtue of God Almighty who liveth and reigneth unto the Ages of the Ages. Amen.

**

Then recite the following Psalmic Prayer invoking the purifying formula from Psalm 51:

Purge this Wand, O Lord, and it shall be Clean;
Wash it, and it shall be white as snow. Amen.

Sprinkle the Wand with Holy water three times using the Aspergillum of Art and pray the following prayer from the Key of Solomon and the Grimoirium Verum over it:

ADONAI, most Holy, EL, most Strong, deign to bless and to consecrate this Wand that it may obtain the necessary virtue, through thee, O most Holy ADONAI, whose kingdom endureth unto the Ages of the Ages. Amen.

Suffumigate the wand three times with consecrated Holy Incense (e.g. Frankincense), anoint the Wand with crosses traced by your finger in Solomonic Holy Oil, then recite this modified conjuration from the Key of Solomon over it:

I conjure thee, O wand, by these names, ABRAHACH, ABRACH, ABRACADABRA, YOD HE VAU HE, that thou might serve me for a strength and defence in all magical operations, against all mine enemies, visible and invisible, and an olive branch of lovingkindness unto all mine friends.

I conjure thee anew by the holy and indivisible name of EL strong and wonderful, by the name SHADDAI Almighty; and by these Names QADOSCH, QADOSCH, QADOSCH, ADONAI, ELOHIM TZABAOTH, EMANUEL, YESHUA, YOD HE VAU HE, the First and the Last, Wisdom and Way, Life and Truth, Chief and Speech, Word and Splendour, Light and Sun, Fountain and Glory, the Stone of the Wise, Virtue and Shepherd, Priest and Messiach Immortal; by these Names then, and by the other Names, I conjure thee, O Wand, that thou servest me for a protection in all adversities and servant in the accomplishing of all Works in accordance with Will, Shem Yeshuah, Amen.

Again, pass the Wand through the suffumigating Incense Smoke and recite this expanded prayer from the Key of Solomon:

I Invoke thee, O Holy Spirits and Angels and Names of the Most High, that thee investeth this Wand with Holy and Magical Virtue, that it may prove a faithful Friend, Aid, and Succor in all Operations of the Art in which it is used and inspire the friendship and obedience of Spirits in whose Presence it is Used.

To this end, in great love and respect, and with this Offering of Holy Incense to the Honour of thy Names, I invoke the Aid and blessings of MORBALIA, MUSALIA, DAPHALIA, ONOMALIA, LITARISIA, GOLDAFARIA, DEDULSARIA, GEHUCULARIA, GEMINARIA, GEGROFARIA, CEDACH, GITACH, GODICH, ROGIL, MUSIL, GRASSIL, TANCRI, PUERI, GODU, AUGNOT, ASCHAROT, TZABAOTH, ADONAI, AGLA, ON, EL, TETRAGRAMMATON, SEDIM, ANESERON, EL, ANAPHAXETON, SIGILATON, PRIMEUMATON. Amen.

Anoint the Wand with Holy Water and Oil once more and pray this prayer from the Grand Grimoire over it:

I beseech you, O great ADONAY, ELOHIM, and YEHOVA to be favorable and to give this rod the strength of Jacob and the virtue of Moses and that of the great Joshua; and I beseech you, O great ADONAY, ELOHIM, and YEHOVA to enclose in this rod all the power of Samson, the righteous rage of Emmanuel and the Thunderbolt of ZARIATNATMICK who will avenge man’s affronts on the day of Judgement. Amen!

Holding one hand over the Wand, proceed to pray over it the following Psalms:

• [Ps3=KJV3] Domine quid multiplicati sunt (Lord, how are they increased that trouble me)

Psalm 3

A psalm by David when he fled from his son Absalom.

• ¹ O Yahweh, look how my enemies have increased!
  Many are attacking me.
  ² Many are saying about me,
  “Even with Elohim on his side,
  he won’t be victorious.” Selah
• ³ But you, O Yahweh, are a Magenthat surrounds me.
  You are my glory.
  You hold my head high.
• ⁴ I call aloud to Yahweh,
  and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah
  ⁵ I lie down and sleep.
  I wake up again because Yahweh continues to support me.
  ⁶ I am not afraid of the tens of thousands
  who have taken positions against me on all sides.
• ⁷ Arise, O Yahweh!
  Save me, O my Elohim!
  You have slapped all my enemies in the face.
  You have smashed the teeth of wicked people.
  ⁸         Victory belongs to Yahweh!
  May your blessing rest on your people. Selah

• [Ps7=KJV7] Domine Deus meus in te speravi (O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust)⁴

Psalm 7

A shiggaion by David; he sang it to Yahweh about the slanderous words of Cush, a descendant of Benjamin.

¹ O Yahweh my Elohim, I have taken refuge in you.
Save me, and rescue me from all who are pursuing me.
²         Like a lion they will tear me to pieces
and drag me off with no one to rescue me.

³ O Yahweh my Elohim,
if I have done this—
if my hands are stained with injustice,
⁴         if I have paid back my friend with evil
or rescued someone who has no reason to attack me—

⁵ then let the enemy chase me and catch me.
Let him trample my life into the ground.
Let him lay my honor in the dust. Selah

⁶ Arise in anger, O Yahweh.
Stand up against the fury of my attackers.
Wake up, my God.
You have already pronounced judgment.
⁷         Let an assembly of people gather around you.
Take your seat high above them.
⁸ Yahweh judges the people of the world.
Judge me, O Yahweh,
according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity.

⁹ Let the evil within wicked people come to an end,
but make the righteous person secure,
O righteous Elohim who examines thoughts and emotions.
¹⁰ My Magen is Elohim above,
who saves those whose motives are decent.

¹¹ Elohim is a fair Shophet,
an El who is angered by injustice every day.
¹² If a person does not change, Elohim sharpens his sword.
By bending his bow, he makes it ready to shoot.
¹³ He prepares his deadly weapons
and turns them into flaming arrows.
¹⁴ See how that person conceives evil,
is pregnant with harm,
and gives birth to lies.
¹⁵ He digs a pit and shovels it out.
Then he falls into the hole that he made for others.
¹⁶ His mischief lands back on his own head.
His violence comes down on top of him.

¹⁷ I will give thanks to Yahweh for his righteousness.
I will make music to praise the name of Yahweh Elyon.

• [Ps9=KJV9+KJV10] Confitebor tibi Domine in toto corde meo (I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart)⁵

Psalm 9

For the choir director; according to muth labben; a Psalm by David.

¹ I will give you thanks, O Yahweh, with all my heart.
I will tell about all the miracles you have done.
² I will find joy and be glad about you.
I will make music to praise your name, O Elyon.

³ When my enemies retreat, they will stumble and die in your presence.
⁴ You have defended my just cause:
You sat down on your throne as a fair judge.
⁵         You condemned nations.
You destroyed wicked people.
You wiped out their names forever and ever.
⁶ The enemy is finished—in ruins forever.
You have uprooted their cities.
Even the memory of them has faded.

⁷ Yet, Yahweh is enthroned forever.
He has set up his throne for judgment.
⁸ He alone judges the world with righteousness.
He judges its people fairly.
⁹ Yahweh is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
¹⁰ Those who know your name trust you, O Yahweh,
because you have never deserted those who seek your help.

¹¹ Make music to praise Yahweh, who is enthroned in Zion.
Announce to the nations what he has done.
¹² The one who avenges murder has remembered oppressed people.
He has never forgotten their cries.
¹³ Have pity on me, O Yahweh.
Look at what I suffer because of those who hate me.
You take me away from the gates of death
¹⁴ so that I may recite your praises one by one
in the gates of Zion
and find joy in your salvation.

¹⁵ The nations have sunk into the pit they have made.
Their feet are caught in the net they have hidden to trap others.
¹⁶ Yahweh is known by the judgment he has carried out.
The wicked person is trapped
by the work of his own hands. Higgaion Selah
¹⁷ Wicked people, all the nations who forget Elohim,
will return to the grave.
¹⁸ Needy people will not always be forgotten.
Nor will the hope of oppressed people be lost forever.
¹⁹ Arise, O Yahweh.
Do not let mortals gain any power.
Let the nations be judged in your presence.
²⁰ Strike them with terror, O Yahweh.
Let the nations know that they are only mortal. Selah

• [Ps41=KJV42] Quemadmodum desiderat Cervus ad (As the hart panteth after the water brooks)

Psalm 42

For the choir director; a maskil by Korah’s descendants.

¹ As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O Elohim.
² My soul thirsts for Elohim, for El Chay.
When may I come to see Elohim’s face?
³ My tears are my food day and night.
People ask me all day long, “Where is your Elohim?”
⁴ I will remember these things as I pour out my soul:
how I used to walk with the crowd
and lead it in a procession to Elohim’s house.
I sang songs of joy and thanksgiving
while crowds of people celebrated a festival.

⁵ Why are you discouraged, my soul?
Why are you so restless?
Put your hope in Elohim,
because I will still praise him.
He is my savior and my Elohim.

⁶ My soul is discouraged.
That is why I will remember you
in the land of Jordan, on the peaks of Hermon, on Mount Mizar.
⁷ One deep sea calls to another at the roar of your waterspouts.
All the whitecaps on your waves have swept over me.
⁸ Yahweh commands his mercy during the day,
and at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the El of my life.
⁹             I will ask Elohim, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk around in mourning
while the enemy oppresses me?”
¹⁰ With a shattering blow to my bones,
my enemies taunt me.
They ask me all day long, “Where is your Elohim?”

¹¹ Why are you discouraged, my soul?
Why are you so restless?
Put your hope in Elohim,
because I will still praise him.
He is my savior and my Elohim.

• [Ps59=KJV60] Deus reppulisti nos et destruxisti nos (O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us)

Psalm 60

For the choir director; according to shushan eduth; a miktam by David; for teaching. When David fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and when Joab came back and killed 12,000 men from Edom in the Dead Sea region.

¹ O Elohim, you have rejected us.
You have broken down our defenses.
You have been angry.
Restore us!
² You made the land quake.
You split it wide open.
Heal the cracks in it
because it is falling apart.
³ You have made your people experience hardships.
You have given us wine that makes us stagger.
⁴ Yet, you have raised a flag for those who fear you
so that they can rally to it
when attacked by bows and arrows. Selah
⁵ Save us with your powerful hand, and answer us
so that those who are dear to you may be rescued.

⁶ Elohim has promised the following through his holiness:
“I will triumph!
I will divide Shechem.
I will measure the valley of Succoth.
⁷         Gilead is mine.
Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is the helmet on my head.
Judah is my scepter.
⁸         Moab is my washtub.
I will throw my shoe over Edom.
I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”

⁹ Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
¹⁰ Isn’t it you, O Elohim, who rejected us?
Isn’t it you, O Elohim, who refused to accompany our armies?

¹¹ Give us help against the enemy
because human assistance is worthless.
¹² With Elohim we will display great strength.
He will trample our enemies.

• [Ps50=KJV51] Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam (Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness)

Psalm 51

For the choir director; a psalm by David when the prophet Nathan came to him after David’s adultery with Bathsheba.

¹ Have mercy on me, O Elohim, in keeping with your lovingkindness.
In keeping with your unlimited compassion, wipe out my rebellious acts.
² Wash me thoroughly from my guilt,
and cleanse me from my sin.
³         I admit that I am rebellious.
My sin is always in front of me.
⁴ I have sinned against you, especially you.
I have done what you consider evil.
So you hand down justice when you speak,
and you are blameless when you judge.

⁵ Indeed, I was born guilty.
I was a sinner when my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet, you desire truth and sincerity.^[a]
Deep down inside me you teach me wisdom.
⁷ Purify me from sin with hyssop, and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness.
Let the bones that you have broken dance.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins,
and wipe out all that I have done wrong.

¹⁰ Create a clean heart in me, O Elohim,
and renew a faithful spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not force me away from your presence,
and do not take Ruach Qodesh from me.
¹² Restore the joy of your salvation to me,
and provide me with a spirit of willing obedience.

¹³ Then I will teach your ways to those who are rebellious,
and sinners will return to you.
¹⁴ Rescue me from the guilt of murder,
O Elohim, my savior.
Let my tongue sing joyfully about your righteousness!
¹⁵ O Adonay, open my lips,
and my mouth will tell about your praise.
¹⁶ You are not happy with any sacrifice.
Otherwise, I would offer one to you.
You are not pleased with burnt offerings.
¹⁷ The sacrifice pleasing to Elohim is a broken spirit.
O Elohim, you do not despise a broken and sorrowful heart.
¹⁸ Favor Zion with your goodness.
Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Young bulls will be offered on your altar.

• [Ps129=KJV130] De profundis clamavi ad te Domine (Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord)

Psalm 130

A song for going up to worship.

¹ O Yahweh, out of the depths I call to you.
² O Adonay, hear my voice.
Let your ears be open to my pleas for mercy.
³ O Yahweh, who would be able to stand
if you kept a record of sins?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness
so that you can be feared.
⁵ I wait for Yahweh, my soul waits,
and with hope I wait for his word.
⁶ My soul waits for Adonay
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
⁷ O Israel, put your hope in Yahweh,
because with Yahweh there is mercy
and with him there is unlimited forgiveness.
⁸             He will rescue Israel from all its sins.

Having again perfumed with consecrated incense, anointing with Holy Oil, and sprinkling Holy Water, pray:

DANI, LUMECH, AGALMATUROD, GEDIEL, PANI, CANELOAS, MEROD, LAMIDOC, BALDOC, ANERETON, METRATON, TUANCIA, COMPENDON, LAMEDON, CEDRION, ON, MYTRION, ANTON, SYON, SPISSON, LUPRATON, GION, GIMON, GERSON, AGLA, AGLAY, AGLAOD, AGLADIAMERON, Angels most Holy, be present as guards unto this instrument. Amen.

Sound the Solomonic Bell over the covered Wand a final three times and say:

Tetelestai! It is finished. 

Wrap the Wand in consecrated linen or silk and place it in safe place until it is needed for the Operations of the Art.

Finally, close the Circle by sounding the Bell of Art three times in the East, three times in the North, three times in the West, and three times in the South.

Knock three times on the Altar and say:

I now declare this Temple duly closed. 

References

Foster, Andy. (2018). Comparative Table of Wand Characters From Grimoiric Manuscripts. Shared privately.

Peterson, J. H. (2018). The Key of Solomon the King. Esoteric Archives. Accessed August 15, 2018 from http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/ksol2.htm

Peterson, J. H. (2007). The Grimorium Verum. La Vergne: Lightning Source Inc.

Peterson, J. H. (2005). The Magic Wand. Esoteric Archives. Accessed August 15, 2018 from http://esotericarchives.com/wands/index.html

Plato. Alcibiades. (1997). Plato: Complete Works. Ed. by John M. Cooper. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Inc.

The Grand Grimoire (1821). Grimoire Encyclopaedia. Accessed August 15, 2018 from https://www.grimoire.org/grimoire/grand-grimoire/

 

 

Crafting a Solomonic Circle

By Frater S.C.F.V

Crafting a Solomonic Circle : Introduction

After an astounding, and very enjoyable, three weeks of work, I have finally finished crafting my version of a Solomonic Circle based on a combination of the Consecration Circle from the Clavicula Salomonis (16th c.) and the Circle from the Goetia of the Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis (17th c.). My source materials for this project included the critical editions of both texts from Joseph H. Peterson, Renaissance manuscripts of the texts (Sloane MSS. 3091, Sloane MSS. 3548, Kings MSS. 288, and Harley MSS. 3981) and ideas from my respected colleagues in Aaron Leitch’s Solomonic group.

In this article, I would like to share how I approached the process of crafting of this Circle, why I made the decisions I did in terms of its design, and the stages through which the project unfolded from its conception to its creation. My hope is that the information shared here will be helpful to those who are wondering how to get started with a project of this magnitude and are looking for some useful tips and assistance. For example, I will endeavour to offer some clear tables and ideas for faithfully rendering the Hebrew letters in the Mathers-Crowley edition of the Goetia Circle, which can be very hard to read in many of the manuscripts.

“Icon of St. Cyprian and Justine” by Elen Kishkurno.

The Devotion of the Art: A Philosophical Approach

When I decided to take on this project, which I intended to use for practical work with the grimoires, it was clear to me that I had to do so in the right spirit and proper frame of mind. Anyone who has worked with the Solomonic grimoires knows that they are extremely devotional in nature. They make extensive use of prayers, glorification and devotional proclamations to the Divine, and, like the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, encourage the Magician or “Exorcist” to inflame themselves in prayer. Indeed, this devotional and ecstatic aspect is key to the Solomonic approach, as Aaron Leitch explains in his excellent Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires.

Therefore, I approached the creation of this Circle, as the Solomonic grimoires recommend, not as preparation for magical work, but as an act of magic in itself. Indeed, my approach to the work was that I would offer up my energy, my time, and the very best work I could possibly do for the greater glory of the Divine and as an offering to the Divine and to the Angelic spirits that the Circle itself calls upon for protection and empowerment. My entire approach, therefore, was one of devotion and of a spirit of offering. I believe this is very important, because if approached in this way, the Magician infuses that devotional spirit and fervent energy of prayer and the ecstatic “phrenzy of Love”–to quote Agrippa– into the Circle itself. This, in effect, adds an additional layer of power and consecration to the Circle as a greater tool for work.

Bernini’s “Ecstasy of St. Teresa of Avila” (c. 1647–1652).

As a result, I incorporated a series of devotional and ceremonial aspects into the very creation of the Circle itself. First, I performed ritual bathing before every session of work on the Circle to ensure I was in a state of ritual purity. I recommend Key of Solomon, Book II,  Chapter IV for instructions on the bathing or using the Islamic ghusl method).

Second, on some of my work days on the Circle, I fasted (see Key of Solomon Book II, Chapter IV for guidance on fasting as well as Aaron’s Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires).

Third, I consecrated the markers I used for drawing the characters and figures on the Circle and used acrylic paint following the method for the exorcism and consecration of the Ink of the Art given in Book II, Chapter XIV of the Key of Solomon.

Fourth, I burned Frankincense during the painting sessions, which was consecrated according to Book II, Chapter X of the Key of Solomon in the appropriate Planetary Hours.

Fifth, during my work on the Circle, I listened to devotional hymns, songs, Gregorian  chanting, and Biblical Hebrew chanting of Psalms. I also chanted and prayed as constantly as I could.

In short, the entire process of creating the Circle, which took many hours over a three-week period, was a rite of devotion, prayer, purification, meditative absorption, and consecration. This is the state of mind and attitude in which I approach the creation of any magical tool, but particularly projects of the scale of a Circle of this kind.

Circle and Triangle of Art from Sloane MSS. 3648 of the Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis.

Approach to the Lettering and Symbolism Used

In order to craft a Circle of this type, it is very important for the Magician to first study the symbolism used in great detail in order to understand its function and the Forces that the ritual implements call upon for empowerment, exorcism, and consecration.

Therefore, I studied the symbols and rationales behind all aspects of the Circle in great detail through the secondary and primary sources and in consultation with other Solomonic practitioners. Dr. Stephen Skinner recommended that if I were to use the serpent motif, as present in the Crowley-Mathers take on the Goetia Circle, then I should place its tail in its mouth to complete the ouroboros symbolism which links it back to the Papyri Graecae Magicae (PGM) via the Hygromanteia. I took his advice and did exactly this.  Frater Ashen Chassan’s own amazing work on his Goetia Circle inspired me to push myself to produce the most beautiful Circle I could as an act of devotion to the Divine and Offering to the Spirits.

As I studied the Hebrew words–written in Latin characters in the original manuscripts–it soon became clear to me that the letters in the outer circle of the Goetia Circle had originated in Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1531). As a side note, this very fact tells us that the Lemegeton text cannot, therefore, be older than 1531, and is probably considerably younger.

More specifically, the Hebrew words around the ring of the Circle come from Chapter 13 of Agrippa’s Second Book of Occult Philosophy, a Chapter which is entitled “Of the Number Ten and the Scale Thereof.” In this Scale, Agrippa provides a Table with 10 Columns devoted to the 10 Sephirot of the Qabalistic Tree of Life. These Columns supply the Hebrew Names of God, the Sephirot, the Angelic Choirs, the Archangels, and the names of the “Spheres of the Celestial World” which were transliterated into English characters in the ring of Names around the Goetia Circle.

Realizing that these were originally Hebrew names, Mathers and Crowley restored them to their original Hebrew. I agree with this decision and decided to go along with it in my own Circle. In the Goetia Circle, however, only 9 out of the 10 columns were included; the Malkut column was omitted. Some Magicians have argued that the reason for this was that the Circle itself represented the Sphere of Malkuth, and therefore the names were not needed. This is a fair argument, although one with which I humbly and respectfully disagree.

Image of the “Scale of the Number Ten” from Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy.

It seems to me that the Malkuth column contains key Names of God, Sephirot, Angelic Choir Names, and Archangelic Names, which if omitted, deprive the Circle of additional protection and talismanic power; conversely, if added, they add an additional layer of talismanic and protective power to the Circle as well as a greater sense of holistic and unified completeness.

Through this addition, the physical Circle then becomes a potent and complete mandala of all of the Powers in the Four Qabalistic Worlds mapped around the Magician; in effect, it becomes a completed microcosmic mandalaic representation of the macrocosmic forces that Agrippa lays out in his Ten Scale. Therefore, I transliterated the Names from the Malkut column in Agrippa back into Hebrew and followed the same symbolic conventions as Mathers-Crowley edition (e.g. using the astrological sigil of the associated Planet, in this case Earth).

An additional issue that anyone who wishes to construct a version of the Lemegeton’s Goetia Circle must face is the issue of the Hebrew.  Unfortunately, there are many errors in the Hebrew both in the original manuscripts in the Mathers-Crowley Hebrew as well. Mr. Gilberto Strapazon has done some excellent work in meticulously correcting these errors in his own take on the Goetic Circle. When you add together my work with Mr. Strapazon’s, the result is the following list of Names for the 10 Columns of Agrippa’s Ten Scale, all in their original Hebrew, which are to be written in the outer Circle.

Here are the corrected Names for the original 9 columns used in the original Lemegeton’s Goetia Circle as transliterated back into Hebrew by Mathers-Crowley, with credit to Mr. Strapazon:

In addition to the above, my restored version of the 10th column Earth/Malkut Names, which are to be written after the Luna Names, is as follows:

To write the Names around the Circle, if you use the serpent motif from the Crowley-Mathers Circle–as I did–I suggest to begin with the Names in the S.P.M. (Sphere of Primum Mobile) row starting from the snake’s head, and working your way to the left along the serpent’s body.  Recall that Hebrew is written from right to left, so you would not start with the letters S.P.M., but rather with the Aleph on the right-most side of the column that starts the name Eheieh in Hebrew (אהיה). Then you would work from right to left until you reach “S.P.M.,” start at the rightmost letter in the row under that (the S.S.F. row), and work your way to the left towards the letters “S.S.F.” and so on through the rest of the Names.

In my own version of the Circle, I decided to make some additional augmentations because I wanted this Circle to double as a Pentacle consecration Circle for Key of Solomon work. As a result, I opted to add the Four Names from the Key‘s Pentacle Consecration Circle into their respective cardinal quarters, as shown in the original diagram from the text:

As shall be seen in the images below, I placed these four Names above the Hexagrams in the central circle in each Quarter. In this way, a single Circle can be used both to consecrate Pentacles and to do evocations and invocation work.

In addition, as I explained in a previous post, in Book 2, Chapter 9 of Mathers’ Key of Solomon, Mathers’ diagram of the Circle shows the Hebrew text of “Who is like unto thee, oh YHVH?” from Exodus 15:11 added in the second band of the Circle.  However, in almost every source I’ve seen, there are many mistakes in the Hebrew given for this verse, including both Mathers’ original presentation and Mr. Donald Tyson’s presentation thereof in Serpent of Wisdom, where it is erroneously transliterated as “MI KMIK BALIM IHVH.”

After consulting the passage in the original Hebrew Tanakh to verify it, here is the correct Hebrew as it should be written, shown in the context of the full verse from the Tanakh:

In my Circle, these words were included towards the end of the Serpent’s body where it weaves back towards its head to complete the ouroboros as per Dr. Stephen Skinner’s instructions.

Moreover, attentive readers will also notice that I followed Frater Ashen Chassan’s example of using Medieval and Renaissance calligraphy in the English or Latin characters used in the circle (e.g. “ALPHA,” “OMEGA,” and “TETRAGRAMMATON”).  This is not required by the original manuscripts or even by the Crowley-Mathers edition, but it adds a great deal of beauty to the final result.  The practical magical benefit of aiming to maximally beautify our magical tools is that, as Neoplatonic Theurgy explains, the more beautiful our magical tools, the more they participate in the ‘nature of the Beautiful,’ which sympathetically helps them to resonate more strongly with the Divine forces we use them to invoke.

Finally, it will be noted that I made some subtle changes to the Hexagrams and the Pentagrams used in the Circle. For the large central Hexagrams in the inner circle, I used the general structure of “Solomon’s Hexagonal figure” from the Goetia to add additional power to the Circle as shown in the following image. I also added smaller forms of the Pentagram and Hexagram of Solomon near the Consecration Circle Names in each quarter for aesthetic balance and additional empowerment.

“Hexagonal Figure of Solomon” or Hexagram of Solomon from the Lemegeton’s Goetia.

It is worth noting, as I was surprised to recently discover, that at the time of crafting this Circle, I had not encountered the idea of including smaller Pentagonal Figures of Solomon in the four Quarters of the Circle in any existing manuscript of the Clavicula Salomonis.  I had been nudged to do it by the Spirits overseeing my work in crafting the Circle.  Over a year later, I discovered BNF or Bibliothèque Nationale de France Italien 1524, which happens to be our earliest published manuscript of the Key of Solomon proper and dates to 1456.  Amazingly, the version of the Circle in BNF Italien 1524 includes Pentagonal figures of Solomon, albeit with different lettering, in each quarter of the Circle just as I had intuitively been nudged by the Spirits to do in my own Circle! Note the four Pentagonal Figures in each Quarter of the diagram of the Circle in BNF Ital 1524:

As for the four Pentagrams, which surround the Circle, I kept the “TETRAGRAMMATON” text, but added crosses at the vertices and Alpha and Omega signs to align them with the symbolism in the Hexagram of Solomon.  I also felt an intuitive nudge from the Spirits overseeing my Circle work to include the name “EL” (Aleph-Lamed or God in Hebrew) twice and the Name “YAH” (Yod-Heh) once, with the following final design for each Pentagram:

When I investigated the resulting Gematria, I was struck by the esoteric implications of these additions. In Gematria, each Hebrew letter is assigned a numerical value. Therefore, each word also has a numerical value, which is equal to the sum of the values of its letters. Words with the same numerical value are taken to share occult or hidden connections with one another. For example, the word “El” (God) in Hebrew (Aleph-Lamed) has a value of 31, the same value as the Hebrew words for “Love of Yah,” “Seer,” “Holds” (as in an embrace of love or protection), and “Brother of Union.” Similarly, the word “Yah” (Yod-Heh) has a value of 15, the same value as the Hebrew words for “He is,” “To utter, to confess, to praise,” “to speak, to breathe” (recall that ‘spirit’ comes from the word for breath in Latin), “to be hidden,” “projection,” “flow, flux,” “splendor,” “exaltation,” “majesty,” and “to love excessively” (“God is love” – 1 John 4:8).

As it turns out, the two Els and one Yah give the Names around a single Pentagram, as shown above, a value of 77 (31+31+15 = 77). This is the same value of the Hebrew words for being “bound together,” “vault,” “bubbling or welling up,” “longing for,” “to pray,” Gichon (the name of a River in Eden), “Yah Builds,” “Yah is Bountiful,” “a strong, raised place, castle or fortress” (fitting for a protective Circle), “Planet” (fitting for Planetary Names used in the Circle and Planetary Talismans consecrated therein), “Fullness, bounty,” “to wrap up, cover” (appropriate for the ‘cover’ provided by the Circle and Pentagrams), and “strong, mighty, fierce, firmness, stability,” which all resonate with the Circle’s function and symbolism.

Moreover, if we add the values of the Names around all four Pentagrams, we get a value of 308 (77 x 4 = 308). 308 is the same value as the Hebrew words for “God is Helper,” “God’s Help,” “Shepherd” (a name for Christ), “To turn white” (which resonates with the phrase “cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” in Psalm 51, which is used in Key of Solomon rituals and evokes the use of hyssop in the ritual cleansing bath), “innermost, deepest part” (Resh-Qoph-Chet), and “an enclosure, a Home” (Resh-Yod-Tzaddi-Chet), which are also fitting for a Circle.

The Stages of Making the Circle

The actual crafting of the Circle proceeded through a series of stages. Each time I worked on the Circle, as mentioned above, I proceeded with great devotion and purified myself with ritual bathing, burned consecrated incense, prayed, and listened to chanting, devotional songs, hymns, and Psalms. Indeed, there were times, after multiple hours of praising and painting simultaneously, when I would enter states of ecstatic love, and offer up all of the energy to the Divine and the Angelic beings invoked in the Circle. I also learned to draw each letter one at a time, focusing on one line at a time, and making each line as perfect as I could make it, offering it up as an offering unto itself within the larger mandala of the Circle.

I began with laying down newspapers on the ground of my workspace to protect my carpet from the paint going through the white sheet on which I would be painting:

I then lay down my white sheet and used weight plates to stretch it out as tautly as possible:

I then placed a standing fan in the center of the sheet and attached a rope to it. To that rope, I attached a consecrated marker, and then traced first a larger Circle (for the outer circle) by walking around the circle pulling the marker attached to the base of the fan with me to form a circle. I then reeled in some of the rope by winding it around the fan to make it shorter and traced a smaller circle (for the inner circle) within the larger one. I traced over each circle multiple times to make them bolder. The result was the following:

With the base circles complete, I drew the central diamond and the four central Hexagrams and the crosses at the vertex of each around it in free-hand. If you have a large ruler, I would recommend using that instead more equally-sized figures than my rather idiosyncratic ones:

Once this was done, I proceeded with filling in the letters and Tau crosses within the central figures using my consecrated permanent marker. I also added the four Key of Solomon Consecration Circle Names along with smaller versions of the Pentagram and Hexagram of Solomon above each larger Hexagram and around the Consecration Circle Names. After I drew the three coils of the Serpent and placed his tail in his mouth to complete the ouroboros as per Dr. Stephen Skinner’s recommendation, the result was the following:

I then began to write the Hebrew Names around the serpent, starting from his head–in which I placed an ‘eye’ composed of an equal-armed cross–and winding towards the left around the Circle, writing the names as given in the lists above. I also painted in the Eastern Hexagram just to test my golden acrylic paint and began to paint the area around the serpent in the outer circle as well, with the following result:

Notice that I first painted in the full points of each Hexagram in gold, allowed it to dry, and only then added the letters of “ADONAI” over the painted points, as will be seen in the picture below.  I followed the same approach with the Pentagrams in the corners, painting them in gold first, allowing it to dry, and then drawing the calligraphic “TETRAGRAMMATON” over them with consecrated markers.

As a useful Tip for fellow Circle-crafters, I discovered that the easiest way to write the Hebrew words is to first outline them and then fill them in, as shown in this image. I recommend practicing drawing the outlines of the letters on some scrap paper first until you feel more comfortable to write them on the Circle as they can’t be erased, only painted over! I took the same approach with the calligraphy, of first outlining the letters, and then filling them in:

I staggered painting in the gold parts of the hexagrams and area around the Circles with working on the Hebrew letters. I found that the easiest way to draw the Hebrew letters was to lie on my stomach on the ground and rotate my body around so that I was always facing the letters, which made them easier to write. As the letters neared their completion, the Circle looked like this:

I then painted in the central diamond or square in red and finished the letters, with the following result:

The next step was to paint the insides of the Hexagrams, or rather the central hexagons with the Greek letter Tau’s within them. I did this in blue, as shown below:

With this done, I was able to focus on painting the gold around the serpent in the rest of the outer Circle. Once complete, and after writing “MAGISTER,” Latin for “Master,” in Renaissance calligraphy as well as the Hebrew letters Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh in the central red diamond, the result was the following:

All that remained at this point was to draw the four Pentagrams in the corners surrounding the Circle. This posed a challenge since I was working in a very small space. What I decided to do was to bunch up the circle part of the sheet and use weights to stretch out the corners of the sheet in which I would draw the Pentagrams. It is key for the surface on which we are writing or painting to be taut to make the process of inscribing the symbols as easy as possible. This bunching up technique gave the following result once I had drawn the Pentagrams and crosses at their vertices free-hand and painted in the central pentagons in red:

I then filled in the points of the Pentagrams in gold to match the Hexagrams:

Once dry, I painted the “TETRAGRAMMATON” text in calligraphy in each Star using this image I crafted on the computer as a guide:

I drew the letters into the corners of the Pentagrams using the original manuscripts as a guide for which letters to put in which. Having added the calligraphy, all that remained was to paint the outer crosses blue as per my own design. It should be noticed that no such crosses are present in the original manuscripts or in the Crowley-Mathers edition, but I believe they add to the overall aesthetic impact as well as additional talismanic and protective power through the cross emblems themselves.

With the Pentagrams done,  the Circle was complete. The end result had taken me countless hours over the span of a full three weeks. But once I saw the finished product, I was filled with awe and it all felt worthwhile. Here are some detailed pictures of the final result to show some of the lettering more closely as well as the final appearance with the completed Hexagrams:

Finished Circle:

Close-up on the central Hexagrams, calligraphy, and diamond/square:

Close-up on the “OMEGA” calligraphy:

Close-up on the “PHA” part of “ALPHA” in the calligraphy:

Close-up on the Eastern Quarter of the inner circle (“AGYEL – Agiel – Intelligence of Saturn, Tau cross, symbol from the Pentagram of Solomon, and miniature Pentagrams and Hexagrams of Solomon). Please note that my friend Andy Foster would want me to point out here that there is a great deal of debate in the Solomonic community over whether this name was meant to be “Agiel,” “Aniel,” “Anael” or some other variant since the original manuscripts are unclear. I stuck with the most commonly agreed-upon use–Agiel, the beneficent Intelligence of Saturn–with the rationale that his name is used to protect from malefic Saturnian influences, facilitate the ‘binding’ or ‘constriction’ of Planetary energies into the Planetary Pentacles:

Close-up on the Southern Quarter of the inner circle (“TzBAVT” – Tzabaoth, with miniature Hexagrams and Pentagrams of Solomon):

Close-up on the Western Quarter of the inner circle (“YHVH” and miniature Pentagrams and Hexagrams of Solomon):

Close-up on the Northern Quarter of the Circle (“ADNI” – Adonai and miniature Hexagrams and Pentagrams of Solomon):

Lessons Learned from Creating the Circle

I learned a great deal by working on this Circle. For those considering this work, here are some of my take-home lessons from completing this massive project:

• The process of crafting a magical tool is not an act of preparing for magic, but an act of magic in itself. As such, it is best approached with ritual purity, consecrated incense, a devotional attitude, and a great deal of care, patience, and focus. The love, devotion, and energy poured into the work during the crafting of the tool–or in this case, Circle–strengthens our personal and spiritual connection to it. It also classically conditions us to feel a sense of that love, devotion, and power each time we use the tool, or step into the Circle.
• If you don’t feel very comfortable writing Hebrew letters by the time you start writing the Names in the Goetia Circle, you certainly will by the end! This project forces you to write very, very carefully–since mistakes cannot be erased–and to put a great deal of loving and concentrated attention into each line of every letter. This process is very conducive to improving our Hebrew writing ability.
• As mentioned before, the easiest way to write the Hebrew letters and calligraphy on this scale is to first outline them and then fill each outline in. I learned this trick from my friend Curtis Estes who draws his Hebrew letters by outlining them first as well (thank you, Curtis!).
• The Circle is a microcosmic image of the macrocosmic universe; in this sense, it is exactly like a Tibetan Buddhist Mandala. When the Master stands in the center of the Circle, s/he places him/herself at the symbolic center of the universe, surrounded by all of the Angelic Choirs, Archangels, Sephirotic Names, and Divine Names. The result is both a powerful sense of protection and as if one were standing in a giant talisman that draws power to itself. When I stand in the middle of the completed Circle, I can almost feel it humming with power and feel completely safe.
• Time spent checking original manuscripts can allow us to catch mistakes so that we don’t replicate them and provide a much deeper understanding of the structure of the tool and the magical formulae by which it works. All of this research pays tremendous dividends in our practice and magical growth. I learned a great deal about Hebrew, calligraphy, Agrippa, the roots and structure of the Grimoires, painting and drawing techniques, how to use various artistic materials, and many other topics while working on this project. For instance, keeping a sheet unwrinkled and taut is no easy task! A canvas would be a much easier drawing surface.
• Although a large project like this can seem intimidating when considered as a whole, in reality, all it ever involves is drawing a single line or doing a single brush stroke at a time. And if approached in that way, with the mindfulness of a Zen monk sweeping a path in a monastery, what seems impossible quickly becomes possible. Although it seems hard at the outset, since all you are ever doing is one brush stroke or drawing one line, in practice, it becomes amazingly easy.
• Because I ended up spending so many hours in prayer and worship while working on this, my heart ended up feeling like it ‘cracked open’ at one point and the sense of Divine Love and Presence grew incredibly stronger. That feeling lingers to this day and ended up moving me to do more prayers and add more worship into my daily practices.
• An optimal time to consecrate a Circle of this nature is during a waxing Moon on the Day and Hour of Mercury when the Moon is in Cancer. Thank you to my friend Frater YShY for this fine pearl of occult wisdom.
• When I work with Angels and Archangels, I have found it appropriate to invoke them into a consecrated Crystal placed on an Altar at the center of a consecrated Circle. I would not, however, use that method for Jinn, Elementals or chthonic spirits more generally. Those, I would evoke into a spiritus loci placed outside the Circle. As I see it, the Circle is at once a protective barrier, a set-apart sacred space (much like the Garden of Eden symbolically, a walled sacred space, also analogous to the Tent of Meeting), a beacon to attract the spirits, a liminal space that offers a kind of nexus/interface for interaction between us and our distinct ‘worlds’ so-to-speak, and a kind of giant talisman in which the Magician stands to concentrate the forces with which we work.This is particularly true for the Circle from the Lemegeton’s Goetia described in this article. Although it is usually used to evoke chthonic entities outside of the Circle, its outer ring of Names is entirely composed of Divine, Angelic, and Archangelic Names. As a result, I have found that it works just as well for invoking Angelic and Archangelic entities into the Circle. This makes sense given some careful reflection. If such a Circle can protect the Magician through ensconcing us in a concentrated ‘bubble’ of Angelic, Archangelic and Divine energy, then it also stands to reason that it provides a highly consecrated and purified Divine/Angelic environment in which these celestial entities can manifest. This can be justified under Agrippan grounds since such a space is in sympathetic harmony with the natures or ‘occult vertues’ of the Angels themselves.

  This fertile space in sympathetic harmony with the nature of the Angels can be further augmented through other ceremonial means: through the invocations and conjurations themselves, through ringing a consecrated Bell of Art within the Circle (as I explained in my Solomonic Bells Article), through tracing over the Circle with a consecrated Sword or Knife to demarcate the sacred space as Dr. Skinner recommends, through using incenses appropriate to their nature, through using candles offered to them in appropriate colours, through playing music in harmony with their nature or Psalm recitations in the background, and many other means.

• Finally, this project can be a great deal of fun and if you feel called to it, you can do it! Simply deciding to go forward with it, and give it your absolute best effort, however long it ends up taking, makes the whole process easier. Pray for guidance and you will receive it. Numerous times along the way, I was nudged forward by insight and guidance from beyond myself. If you open yourself to inspiration, it will come. Believe in yourself and go for it. You are way more powerful and capable than you know!

Fundamental Principles of Magical Theory

By Frater S.C.F.V.

Introduction – Theoretical Underpinnings of Magical Practice

It is a common observation within the magical community that  magicians tend to be pragmatists; we favour what works. The history of magic has also tended to be a history of experimentation that has stretched through the Egyptians, onwards through the Greeks, the Medieval grimoire magicians, the Elizabethan and Renaissance occultists, and on through the Victorian into the present day. As Dr. Stephen Skinner and others have suggested, the methods that have stood the test of time have tended to do so because they were thoroughly tried and found reliable in the crucible of practice, while less effectual practices were pruned like dying branches from a thriving tree.

For many, the question of how magic works is a moot point. For these practitioners, all that matters is that it does work. I sympathize with the view that it ultimately does not matter whether the spirits evoked in magical ceremonies are merely forces within human consciousness and psychology, as Ms. Dion Fortune and others contend, or whether they are objectively-existing entities, as Dr. Stephen Skinner and others suggest. Whether the final analysis reveals the truth to have been one way or the other, I will still have found the Way of magic to be a path worth walking that brims with mystery, insight, adventure, and avenues for development. As Jake Stratton-Kent once put the matter,

“I’ve found working with spirits as autonomous entities is the most straightforward and effective method. I remain largely agnostic as to the hows and whys.”

Having made these prefatory comments, it seems to me that humbly attempting to tease out and make sense of some of the fundamental principles that undergird the mechanics of our magical work can be a worthwhile exercise. I maintain this view regardless of where we happen to fall on the perennial continuum of positions between the extremes of “magic is entirely psychological and subjective” and “magic is entirely spiritual and objective.”

The truth, if the Golden Mean of Aristotle, the Middle Way of the Buddha, the Doctrine of the Mean of Kung fu’tze (“Confucius”) and other great sages are to be trusted, is likely to fall somewhere in the middle. Perhaps magic, like all other natural phenomena, has tetradimensional aspects that can be described as being at once subjective, intersubjective, objective, and interobjective, as Ken Wilber’s integral theory might suggest.

In this essay, I will attempt to lay out 16 of what I consider to be the fundamental principles in which Western ceremonial magic has tended to ground its magical theory. For the time being, I will have to humbly set aside the fine points of historical derivation and parallels within African Traditional Religions, Santeria, Shamanism, and so on that Dr. Stephen Skinner, Mr. Aaron Leitch, and Mr. Jake Stratton-Kent have so eloquently covered in their fine scholarly analyses. For more on these aspects, I can’t recommend their works highly enough.

My own magical background is primarily in the Golden Dawn tradition, and less so in Enochian, Solomonic, and Sufi practices, so I will have to confine my discussion to what I have learned from studying and working within these traditions. In this analysis, I will be drawing on the key works within these traditions, on some of the principles outlined in Real Magic (1971) and Authentic Thaumaturgy (1998) by Isaac Bonewits, as well as on additional sources to develop as coherent an account of the fundamental principles of magical theory as is currently in my power.

1. The Principle of Understanding as Power

Definition:  “Understanding a thing gives power over it; the more intricate and multidimensional our understanding of a phenomenon, the easier it is to control it.”

This principle is a foundational principle of science; sciences have evolved through the progressively fine-tuned evolution of experimental, technological, and conceptual methods of studying and understanding natural phenomena, which have granted humanity progressively more control over phenomena that were previously taken to be chaotic and beyond our power. As Sir Francis Bacon pointed out in his Meditationes Sacrae (1597), “ipsa scientia potestas est” (‘knowledge itself is power’).

In Qabalistic magic, Understanding or Binah (בינה‬) is one of the Supernal Sephirot from which all of the more differentiated functions and forces of the Tree of Life emerge. Qabalistic magicians aim to understand the wisdom of the principles of the cosmos to facilitate our work as co-creators with the Divine in the Four Qabalistic Worlds. The principle of understanding as power is applied in Solomonic magic in the careful selection of specific astrological times to craft ritual implements, consecrate talismans, and perform evocations. Similarly, in Enochian magic, it is applied based on the suggestion that the understanding of the Watchtowers, Heptarchia Mystica, and Aethyrs enables the magician to work with the angels within each of these sub-systems.

Similarly, within the Golden Dawn system, as magicians proceed through the Grades, their understanding of the symbols and principles employed in the G.D. rituals deepens and becomes increasingly multilayered, which in turn, allows their magical operations to become increasingly finessed by the time they begin practical work in the Inner Order. In short, according to this foundational principle, applied magical understanding grants magical power.

2. The Principle of Self-Understanding

Definition: “The Way of Adepthood involves understanding and working with all aspects of one’s being, from strengths to weaknesses, the high to the low, and the above to the below.”

In Rosicrucian alchemy, central to the prima materia that the initiate aims to transmute through the Great Work are the various aspects of his or her being. These aspects must be understood–following on the principle of undertstanding as power–and equilibrated so that we do not sabotage ourselves as we are all too apt to do.

In the Golden Dawn system, for instance, Initiates spend the Outer Order Grades systematically studying and working with the various elemental forces and aspects  of their being from their Earthy physical aspects, to their Watery intuition and emotions, their Airy intellect, their Fiery Will, passion and desire, and the all-balancing force of Spirit, which crowns the elemental pentagram in the Portal Grade.

The importance of self-knowledge is an ancient teaching that was well-known to the Ancient Greek Magicians; indeed, Xenophon reports that above the entrance to the Temple of Delphi, the words γνῶθι σεαυτόν or “know thyself” were inscribed. Plato’s writings inform us that Socrates, in his work with his own daemon, took these words very much to heart.

In a similar fashion, Qabalistic magicians aim to bring the various parts of their being into alignment, from the physical body (Gu’ph) to the sensing energetic soul (Nephesh) through the sense of individual personhood and the personal I (Ruach) and unto the higher Self, Awareness, and Will of the Yechidah, Chiah and Neshamah.

In Franz Bardon’s Initiation Into Hermetics, the Psychic Training in Step I requires the aspirant to construct the “white and and black mirrors of the soul,” which are lists of his or her strengths, weaknesses, virtues and faults, so that they may be frankly examined and worked upon along the Path. Authentic development presupposes self-knowledge because we cannot transform aspects of ourselves of which we are not aware.

Indeed, the importance of self-knowledge on the magical Path cannot be overemphasized. The consequences of failing to do this work can be severe. The history of occultism is replete with examples of otherwise brilliant and proficient magicians who fell prey to their own unabated or unexamined arrogance, egotism, delusions of grandeur, paranoia, and unbridled abuse of power over their students.

Countless working groups and Orders have been ripped asunder by the failure of their members to do this all-important work. It is indeed essential to the Great Work and vital to harmonious human existence more generally.

3. The Principle of Equilibration

Definition: “Cultivate balance.”

The Neophyte Grade Ritual of the Golden Dawn enjoins the Initiate to  “study well that Great Arcanum, the proper equilibrium of mercy and severity, for either unbalanced is not good; unbalanced severity is cruelty and oppression; unbalanced mercy is but weakness and would permit evil to exist unchecked, thus making itself as it were the accomplice of that evil..” The ceremony later adds that “unbalanced force is evil, unbalanced mercy is but weakness, unbalanced severity is but oppression” and places the Throne of the Hegemon “between the Columns” in the “Place of Balanced Power, between the Ultimate Light and the Ultimate Darkness.”

The importance of balancing and equilibration is everywhere to be found in the methods and theories of magic. In the Golden Dawn, the magician equilibrates the elemental aspects of their being in the Outer Order Grades over the long term, but works at the short-term equilibration of energy within their Sphere of Sensation each time they perform the Qabalistic Cross.

The Solomonic magician stands in a balanced and elaborate circle of protection from within which he or she calls spirits into the Triangle. The Qabalist studies the balanced glyph of the Tree of Life with its Middle Pillar between the Pillars of Severity and Mercy. In the Great Table of Enochian magic, the Four Watchtowers of the East, West, North and South are balanced by the unifying and governing power of the Black Cross from which the G.D. derived the Tablet of Union. Franz Bardon’s Hermetic initiation path involves the balanced cultivation of the Mental, Physical, and Psychic aspects of one’s being and their four elemental dimensions in equilibrated unison. Similarly, the Tarot is balanced in its Four Suits, the Tetragrammaton in its Four Letters, the Zodiac in its 12 Signs, Triplicities, and Quadruplicities, and so on. The magical worldview is structured around balance within balance.

From another perspectice, in order to remain grounded, the magician must walk the tightope between faith and skepticism or risk toppling into delusion, imbalance, obsession, or self-destruction. Magical ceremonies, in the Western tradition, are frequently built around balanced frameworks, with openings, middle phases, and closings which mirror the openings. The Way of the Adept is the Way of Balanced Powers.

4. The Principle of Images 

Definition: “By Symbols and Images, magical forces can be mobilized and directed in accordance with Will.”

One of the most impactful phrases in the Neophyte Grade Ritual of the Golden Dawn is that “by Names and Images, all Powers are wakened and reawakened.” The entire Golden Dawn system is founded on this single line. The Principle of Images speaks to the first part of this key fornula. In magical practice, images and symbols are used to activate, awaken, direct, and mobilize the forces they represent in order to bring about the results for which we aim.

Interestingly enough, magic by means of images seems to have emerged first as the prinordial form of magical practice par excellence and magic by means of words, to have appeared later on with the development of more abstract aleph-bets and alphabets from pictograms. Egyptian magic is an interesting case that straddles this divide with its potent picture-words, the hieroglyphs.

Images are systematically applied in the Golden Dawn system’s use of ritual Diagrams, in the Hieroglyphics on the Black and White Pillars, in the Implements and Lamens of the Officers, and most spectacularly, in the massive meta-symbol that is the Vault of the Adepti. The Solomonic grimoires also make thorough use of images in the Seals, Sigils, and the complex symbols that are to be inscribed on the Circles and ritual tools of the magician.

Agrippa’s Magic Squares provise ways of generating pictorial sigils from names. Qabalistic pathworking, Tattwa work, and Tarot magic all employ symbols as means of evoking changes in the microcosm of the magician’s conscious and subconscious mind, and gateways to access the forces of the macrocosm.

The connection between images and power is not so foreign to us even today. Indeed, it is well-known to all users of social media, who invest countless hours in manipulating the images by which they represent themselves to shape their social standing in the eyes of others — essentially a form of picture magic.

It is a principle that is well-known to marketers, corporate branders, artists, designers, and countless other fields. It is no coincidence that scientists use imaging methodologies, graphic representations, and mathematical symbols to represent the forces they aim to understand and direct in accordance with their Will.

Of course, this principle as applied in magic works on more planes than just the physical, mental, or emotional; it operates from Eliphas Levi’s “astral light” up into the higher planetary, zodiacal, Enochian aetheyric, and other realms, but it represents an instance of the same general idea in practice.

It is worth noting that according to anthropologist Henri Breuil, some of the earliest images found in the caves of Altamira in Spain and Lascaux in France may have been drawn by prehistoric shamans in an attempt to ensure a successful hunt. The sympathic magical theory underlying these early cave rituals may have been that to possess the image of the animal was to possess power over the animal as well as the means of communing with the spirit of an animal to be hunted to reassure it that it would be treated with gratitude, respect, and killed as painlessly as possible.

5. The Principle of Names and Words of Power

Definition: “Names grant power over the things named.”

The link between names and magical power is a fundamental magical idea and a truly ancient one indeed. The Torah suggests that God spoke the world into being by means of the Word and ancient Babylonian mythology describes the creative acts of Marduk through his capacity to “speak magic words.” Words and Names of Power were so central to the magic of the Egyptians that kings and priests often erased the names of certain people and gods from all past monuments to magically and symbolically erasing them from the universe and from history.

As another example, Sufis who practice the Islamic form of prayer-based magic called Ruqya often carefully select God Names from the 99 Names of Allah that are suited to the matter at hand (e.g. in a prayer to have knowledge revealed, Al-Lateef (the Knower of Subtleties) or Al-Haadi (The Provider of Guidance) might be used, Al-Hafiz (the Guarding One) might be used in a protection ritual, and Al-Kareem (the Bountiful One) might be used in a ritual requesting financial blessings).

As previously mentioned, name and word-based magic is as old as written and spoken alphabets themselves. The Golden Dawn system makes thorough use of Divine Names in its rituals from the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagam up through its most complex ceremonies. Qabalistic magic is fundamentally grounded in meanings and numerical values given to the Hebrew letters. Similarly, the magicians of the Solomonic grimoires inscribe Names of God on their implements and Circles and evoke and invoke by means of these names. Spirits in the grimoires are evoked both by means of these Divine Names for authority and through Conjurations using the names of Spirits alongside their sigils and Seals. It is no coincidence one of the Enochian systems of magic largely functions by systematically conjuring angelic beings by means of Names extracted from the Watchtowers.

In short, the essential idea here, as Mr. Boneswit points out, is that “certain words are able to alter the internal and external realities of those uttering them, and their power may rest in the very sounds as much as in their meaning.” The former especially holds true when one is working with the so-called “barbarous words” whose names are unknown to the magician, but are nonetheless able to exert effects through the sheer force of their utterance. Indeed, in bhakti yoga and Sufi dhikr, Mantras and Names of God are said to contain the presence of Divinity within their very sound and letters. It is a principle worth thinking deeply about since it lies at the core of all we do.

6. The Principles of Correspondence and Sympathy

Definition: Drawing directly from Mr. Bonewits here, “if any two or more patterns have elements in common, the patterns interact “through” those common elements, and control of one pattern facilitates control over the other(s), depending among other factors upon the number, type and duration of common elements involved.”

Ceremonial magic is largely based on an elaborate system of correspondences. In Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1531), for instance, numerous stones, plants, perfumes, and other objects are attributed to various archetypal Planets and Zodiacal signs. Mr. Aleister Crowley’s Liber 777 (1909) and Dr. Stephen Skinner’s Complete Magician’s Tables (2006) present more elaborate systems of correspondences that associate countless elements, spirits, stones, herbs, godforms, angelic choirs, and so on with Qabalistic Sephirot, Planets, Zodiacal Signs, and many other archetypal forces. It is echoed in the careful selection of metals and herbs in the Solomonic grimoires, in the sympathetic magical work of the African Traditional Religions, and in the notion of the Vodoun Doll used in the Haiti Vodoun tradition.

In constructing a magical ceremony, once carefully selects items based on their correspondences. A working for a Venus talisman, for instance, may feature a rose, a green altar cloth, images of attractive nude men or women, the Empress Tarot card, and so on and be performed during the Planetary Hour of Venus on the Day of Venus (Friday). By concentrating sympathetic elements that are associated or share a symbolic affinity, and charging them with directed force in accordance with a Willed outcome, the magician attempts to create a kind of “harmonic resonance” that is in line with the object of their working.

This principle is based on the observation, noted by the Buddha in his doctrine of interdependent co-arising, by multiple Indigenous Wisdom traditions, and by the Qabalah among other systems, that all things are interdependent, interconnected, and inextricably interwoven with one another. When things have an infinity or association with one another, they tend to interact and influence one another. Nothing exists separately; everything exists in a great web of inter-being. In the Kybalion of the Three Initiates, this principle is echoed in the Principle of Correspondence, which it explains in these terms:

“This Principle embodies the truth that there is always a Correspondence between the laws and phenomena of the various planes of Being and Life. The old Hermetic axiom ran in these words: “As above, so below; as below, so above.” And the grasping of this Principle gives one the means of solving many a dark paradox, and hidden secret of Nature. There are planes beyond our knowing, but when we apply the Principle of Correspondence to them we are able to understand much that would otherwise be unknowable to us. This Principle is of universal application and manifestation, on the various planes of the material, mental, and spiritual universe–it is an Universal Law. The ancient Hermetists considered this Principle as one of the most important mental instruments by which man was able to pry aside the obstacles which hid from view the Unknown. Its use even tore aside the Veil of Isis to the extent that a glimpse of the face of the goddess might be caught. Just as a knowledge of the Principles of Geometry enables man to measure distant suns and their movements, while seated in his observatory, so a knowledge of the Principle of Correspondence enables Man to reason intelligently from the Known to the Unknown. Studying the monad, he understands the archangel.”

In the magical worldview, everything is interconnected; the seemingly many are really One. This One emerged from infinite nothingness and now appears as All. Is the universe, as perceived by the magician, ultimately nondualistic, dualistic, or grounded in nothing? All of the above, and neither. Or, differently stated, each of these models is partially true and can offer a useful framework within which to work magically.

7. The Principles of Contagion and Metonymy 

Definition: “Changes to the part can affect the whole; the part can represent the whole.”

A metonym is a way of naming a whole by one of its parts, or naming one object or person by means of something closely associated with it. For instance, a King may be referred to as “the Crown.” The principle of metonymy is one of the most ancient magical principles of all. Many Indigenous and Traditional religions contain applications of it. It is related to the principle of contagion, or the notion that two objects that were once in contact will continue to remain in contact regardless of their spatial distance from one another, like two quantum entangled particles on different sides of the universe that display state changes that are completely in harmony.

Ancient and Indigenous magical traditions may apply this idea to work magic on an individual by using a lock of their hair, a fingernail, a drop of blood, a piece of clothing, or an object that once belonged to them. The Vodoun doll creates an effigy of a person, often incorporating one of their hairs, which the magician manipulates to magically impact the targeted person. In the ceremonial magic tradition, this principle is one of the principles that underpin the charging of talismans and is closely related to the principle of correspondence and sympathy.

8. The Principles of Antipathy and Reversal

Definition: “Qualities, symbols, and energies can be used against their opposites.”

This principle is, in essence, the correlative opposite of the principle of sympathy. It suggests that anything contrary to the nature of a thing can be used to exorcise it, banish it, dispel it, or drive it out. This principle is central to the structure of banishing rituals such as the Golden Dawn’s Pentagram and Hexagram rituals. It’s also central to the functioning of Solomonic Conjurations, magic Circles, Exorcisms, and Banishings, particularly in work with the Goetia. In this tradition, for instance, Holy Water is used to constrain and control Goetic spirits. Similarly, protective amulets that are designed to ward off the influences of contrary forces represent applications of the principle of antipathy, such as the ‘evil eye’ amulets used in Greek magic or the protective amulets constructed for both the living and the dead in Ancient Egyptian magic.

Related to this is the principle of reversal, which can be stated as “what can be magically done can be magically undone.” There are limits to this notion, of course, due to the principle pointed out in the Second Law of Thermodynamics, namely, that Nature tends toward disorder. With that said, the principle can still be useful in magical operations. A Solomonic Exorcism is, in essence, a reversal of the notion of possession or a spirit inhabiting another living being or nonliving object, as in an Exorcism of Water or Fire. In the Golden Dawn’s Neophyte Grade Ritual, similarly, the Circumambulation of the Light, which is used to create a vortex of Light within the Temple, is followed by the Reverse-Circumambulation of the Light to reverse and undo the creation of this vortex.

9. The Principle of Probability-Shifting

Definition: “Because of the link between cause and effect, magical operations can make events more or less likely to occur.”

As every scientist notes and as the Buddha stated long ago, certain conditions are such that when they are present, they are more likely to bring about other related conditions. Certain effects tend to follow the occurrence of particular causes of contributory causal factors. Philosophy further analyzes the notion of causes into ‘sufficient conditions,’ which are enough to bring about particular outcomes on their own, and ‘necessary conditions’ which individually contribute to a particular outcome, but are not sufficient to bring them about by themselves.

In other words, the more contributory causal factors are present with the power to bring about that situation, the more probable it becomes. This is the basis of the principle of probability shifting as applied in magic. A magical operation is designed to shift the probability that something will or will not happen, to either increase it or decrease it, to promote its occurrence, or dissuade it. The greater the energy and Will invested into the working, the chain of sympathetic and corresponding forces involved in the ceremony, and the use of appropriate Names and Images, to name but a few forces, the more the probability can be shifted, this principle holds.

“Earth Balance – Yin and Yang Art” by Sharon Cummings

10. The Principle of Polarity

Definition: “Everything that exists has an opposite, a complementary pole, a quality with the power to balance it.”

This principle is related to the principle of balance or equilibration, and indeed, is the reason that the principle of equilibration is possible. As mathematics points out, all true equations are balanced. As Newton’s Third Law suggests, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Taoist magic is quick to remind us that Yin flows into Yang, and that one cannot work with one force without the other. In the Qabalistic Tree of Life, Sephirot attributed to opposite polarities balance one another, like Mercury balancing Venus, or the Greater Benefic of Jupiter and the greater Malefic of Saturn.

The practical application of this principle suggests that a ritual to gain money for the magician must involve someone else losing that money. To know light, darkness must also be known. Death presupposes life. A ceremony to attain a job deprives someone else of that same job. Growing into a new state implies growing out of an old one. When one person gains power, someone else loses it. Therefore, we must be careful about what we do magic to achieve; actions can have unintended consequences, often far more than we anticipate.

The Kybalion of the Three Initiates speaks of this principle in this way:

 “Everything is Dual; everything has poles; everything has its
pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are
identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet;
all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be
reconciled.”

In the magical worldview, everything is dual AND it is nondual. It is One in its twoness and two in its Oneness. The seemingly Other is the Self in disguise; the Self contains the Other.

11. The Principle of Karmic Consequence

Definition: “As you reap, you shall sow.”

This principle is related to the principles of cause and effect and probability shifting. As we reap, we tend to sow. Wiccans combine this notion with a notion of exponential effects multiplying through interconnected networks of phenomena to develop their notion of the ‘threefold law,’ namely, that we receive in return three times what we sow in the long term. This may or not be true all of the time; some people invest tremendous amounts of money only to lose it, for instance, and sometimes a kindhearted action like helping another person can lead one to be killed, or an intentionally cruel action like attempting to harm someone by destroying their property can unintentionally benefit them by releasing them from having to worry about it. Very often, the selfish, petty and cruel prosper and the kind, compassionate, and wise are punished. The world is complex indeed as magicians and scientists alike both wholeheartedly agree.

What is certainly true is that it tends to be the case, as a general rule, that we tend to reap as we sow in one form or another. People who repeatedly do magic to harm others tend to be harmed by their own work in some way, even as basically and psychologically as feeding the aspects of themselves that are hostile, destructive, biased towards the negative, and so on. In this respect, like tends to attract like, as the principle of correspondence and sympathy points out. Harmful intent tends to attract harm in kind; generous and kind intent tends to attract like responses. It’s no surprise that coworkers quickly determine who is cooperative and aim to cooperate more with them and withdraw their cooperation from those who don’t cooperate with them. In Sanskrit, the word ‘karma’ literally means ‘action,’ for consequences are related to the notion of action, which brings them about as causes to their effects. And if we reap what we so,w then it seems prudent to sow carefully.

12. The Principle of Personification

Definition: “Anything can be treated as a person.”

This principle is an ancient one. It has its roots in shamanistic animism, the roots of many of the Indigenous Traditions that birthed the first magical practitioners, in which everything is seen to have some form of spirit or life to it. It is an idea that survived into the Medieval Solomonic Grimoires, such as the Key of Solomon, where we find magicians speaking to fire, for instance, as “oh thou Creature of Fire.” The Golden Dawn’s Inner Order Magic applied the same Solomonic formula to their Talismanic magical methods, in which the Magician may speak to a talisman as if it were a person, saying “Oh thou Creature of Talismans.”

Ancient Greek magicians personified the abstract principles of the Element of Wind as “the Four Winds” or Anemoi--Boreas, Zephyrus, Notus, and Eurus–and worked with them in their different aspects in this way. Donald Micheal Kraig, in his Modern Magick, applies this principle to exorcise unwanted personality traits, habits, thoughts, or emotions from the magician with what he calls the I.O.B. Technique (Identify, Objectify, Banish) by personifying them and banishing them. St. Francis of Assisi used this principle to commune with Nature and spoke of “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon;” the Haudenoshaunee Indigenous Nation similarly refers to the moon as ‘Grandmother Moon.” In short, the principle of personification makes magical use of the human tendency to detect agency and mobilizes it to open up lines of communication for the purposes of initiation, empowerment, and the achievement of magical goals.

“Spell Pierce Invocation” by Joseph Meehan

13. The Principle of Invocation

Definition: “Bring an entity or force into your consciousness to communicate with or experience it from within.”

Invocation is one of the most important and ancient principles and practices in the magician’s repertoire. It involves bringing an entity or force into your sphere of sensation to commune with it or communicate with it from within. The Solomonic grimoires are replete with invocations of God and the Archangels and the Grade Rituals and LRP of the Golden Dawn are no different in this respect. In the Rites of Eleusis in Ancient Greek, the goddess of agriculture, Demeter, and her daughter, Persephone, were invoked by the psychopomps during the celebration of the Lesser and Greater Mysteries.

Prayer is the most common form of invocation, but far more elaborate invocations are possible. A devotee surrendering themselves to the Deity of their devotion to the point of identifying with them through repeated invocation is a well-known practice within the tradition of Bhakti Yoga as discussed in the Bhagavad Gita. Invocations of the Holy Spirit are common in Rosicrucian magical traditions.

One of the most sophisticated forms of invocation was practiced by the Ancient Egyptian priests. This technique, later referred to by the Golden Dawn as godform assumption, involves formulating and cloaking oneself in the astral form of an entity and performing actions and experiencing thoughts, feelings, and visions from their perspective. As practiced by the Ancient Egyptians, this method was employed invoke and garb oneself in the form of the Egyptian neteru, the name they gave to the god/goddess forces with which they worked, which carries various meanings, such as “supreme,” “great,” “deity,” “renewal,” and “divine.” In the Golden Dawn system, Officers assume and hold various godforms astrally for the duration of the ceremony as they manipulate the flows of energies in the Temple and make changes to the Initiate’s Sphere of Sensation as lucidly explained in Pat Zalewksi’s Golden Dawn Rituals and Commentaries (2010).

Jake Stratton-Kent describes an alternative to godform assumption he calls the astral assumption of theriomorphs or ‘animal forms.’ As he explains this practice:

Warping myself or my ‘astral body’ into the appropriate animal or beast-headed deity to – say – consecrate a talisman, connects with deeply primal magical currents.

14. The Principle of Evocation

Definition: “Summon an entity or force to external appearance.”

While invocation involves taking an entity or archetypal force into one’s Sphere of Sensation, evocation involves the corollary experience of causing the spirit to appear as experienced outside of the magician.  This is the primary method that is applied, for instance, in the Goetia of the Lemegeton, to cause spirits to appear to visual appearance in the Triangle of Art outside of the Magician’s Circle.

The grimoiric tradition abounds with methods of invocation. In the Solomonic tradition, spirits may be helped to appear to visible manifestation by manipulating the movements of candlefire, shifting the appearance of incense smoke, or appearing in a black mirror.

The Golden Dawn magicians developed their own methods of evocation based on the Z-formulae embedded in the Grade Rituals. In the Enochian system of John Dee, angelic forces may be evoked into a crystal ball and produce visions there-through. In short, invocation is bringing a being in, while invocation is bringing a being into being experienced as external to your human form.

15. The Principle of Scrying

Definition: “Gazing into a medium can enable one to see visions or receive messages one could otherwise not access.”

The principle of scrying embodies one of the key magical techniques that are used in practical magic. According to some anthropologists, the practice of scrying dates as far back as 3000 B.C.E. in China where cracked eggs were used as a form of scrying and divination. Scrying may be performed to obtain personal guidance, revelations, inspiration, as a tool for divination, or to communicate with a force or entity, as in the principle of evocation.

The most commonly-used media for scrying are reflective, refractive, clear, or luminescent surfaces such as a bowl of water, a crystal ball, a black or ordinary mirror, a stone like the topaz used by Aleister Crowley to scry the Enochian Aethyrs in the Vision and the Voice (1911).

The Ancient Egyptians reportedly scryed into a vessel filled with oil. Nostradamus scryed into a bowl of clear water to receive his prophecies. The Oracle of Delphi allegedly scryed into a special spring to obtain answers to the questions posed by Kings and peasants alike. The Aztec Yucatan shamans are said to have scryed into reflective crystals and gemstones. In all of these cases the principle is the same: by means of a carefully-selected medium, the magician can augment his or her powers of astral perception to receive messages or visions.

16. The Principle of Murphy

Definition: “If it can go wrong, it probably will.”

Last, but not least, in this brief attempt to survey the principles that underlie magical practice, I must not neglect to point out the principle of Murphy, otherwise more commonly known as Murphy’s Law. Despite all of our best efforts and most-carefully designed rituals, things can and often do go wrong. Lon Milo DuQuette reports in My Life With the Spirits (1999), for example, that he accidentally had cinnamon-infused Abramalin oil run into his eyes during an evocation and had to leave the Circle and run screaming into the bathroom!

I once neglected to properly take astrological influences into account when consecrating a Saturn talisman and ended up making one that gave an Adept friend of mine splitting headaches every time he looked at it. On another occasion, I failed to print out one of the key pages of my two-hour consecration ceremony and had to ad lib it on the fly. Other friends have run out of incense during evocations, leaving the spirit with nothing to manifest with and had the spirit tell them “you need more incense than this…”, or knocked over candle sand set the Temple on fire. Long story short: if it can go wrong, it probably will, and in the most annoying way possible, so be careful!

Conclusion

In this essay, I have attempted to provide a selection of fundamental magical principles that magicians have used throughout the history of magic to gain a sense of what they were doing in ritual, and which are still current to the understandings of contemporary practitioners myself. The way of magic is a way of experimentation, discovery, investigation, and experience. Like the sciences, in magic, theory and practice continue to emerge and be evolved as both persevering solitary individuals and the collective community of practitioners push its frontiers ever forward.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
~ Arthur C. Clarke, in Profiles of the Future (Revised edition, 1973)

In LVX,
Frater S.C.F.V.

***

Did I leave anything out or present any unintentional inaccuracies? Have you found any other principles to be worth including? Please feel free to share your feedback in the comments. I am an eternal beginner on this Way and benefit a great deal from what I learn from all of you who are wiser than I, thank you!