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

By Frater S.C.F.V.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Icon Depicting St. Michael the Archangel as Psychopomp.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Suddenly, my eyes fell closed.

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

It was Michael.

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

He said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Psalm 132

A song for going up to worship.

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

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

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

Ancient Roman fresco of David as Shepherd.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.D.’s candle wax remains.

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

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

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

M.T.P.’s candle wax remains

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

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

J.W.’s candle wax remains.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

Frater S.C.F.V on the Glitch Bottle Podcast

Glitch Bottle #033 – Solomonic Bells, Wands & Consecrations (Oh My!) with Frater S.C.F.V.

By Frater S.C.F.V

I recently had the great pleasure and honour of appearing on Alexander Eth’s fantastic Glitch Bottle podcast.  We discussed my own multitraditional spiritual background, Solomonic grimoires, Dr. Stephen Skinner’s interesting typology of magic, Mystery, and religion, Wand traditions, Bells and Trumpets of Art, Circles, binding, Consecration by Mass, scrying, cryptoconsecratio, Angelic invocation, and a host of other fascinating topics of magical theory and practice. Please feel free to share any comments or questions you may have. Thank you!

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

Flames that Warm and Destroy: Reflections on “Required” versus “Wise” in Work with the Grimoires

By Frater S.C.F.V.

I read a quote today by Gordon Winterfield, author of Demons of Magick who claimed that none of the tools of grimoiric magic that many of us have devoted so much time, love, and energy to creating are “required” to work with goetic spirits. If you’ve read any of my articles researching the meticulous traditions surrounding the making of some of these tools and sharing my approaches to crafting them, you could probably imagine my facial expression upon reading this statement… 😉

However, since I attempt to be a charitable listener, I will willingly concede to Gordon that yes, technically, none of the classical equipment is “required” to complete a successful evocation, with ‘successful’ meaning that “the spirit showed up when called.”

Here’s the thing, though; this “success” can come at the price of danger, risk, and chaotic and unpredictable results from evocations done without the proper precautions and tools.

If those results end up giving us the opposite of what we did the magic to achieve in the first place, that can hardly be called “successful” in any practical sense. And if we, our possessions, or people we care about come to harm as a result of the Operation, that could arguably be considered an egregious failure. As a rather striking example, I know of a magician who didn’t use any of the tools and did a ritual with a particular spirit from the Lemegeton’s Goetia in which he asked the spirit to relieve his worries about his home. He got what he asked for; the spirit relieved his worries — by burning his house down!

Moreover, if we attempt to exercise control and technical precision around using specific techniques to produce specific results, omitting the tools the spirits themselves often call for can be extremely counterproductive, inexact, and generate self-defeating results. Just as a good scientist would not omit controls for potentially confounding variables when running an experiment, so, the grimoire authors suggest, should we also be wary to omit the controls provided by the tools of the Art when performing our own Operations.

Here’s the thing that many of us “traditionalists” have been trying to point out to modern magicians with strong biases against using the classical tools of the Art: just because something is not “required” to complete an activity does not mean that it is wise to omit it. For example, technically, a car can be driven without brakes; therefore, brakes are not required to drive a car. However, it is extremely unwise and dangerous to drive a car without brakes. The same argument holds just as strongly for the evocationary technologies that we find in the grimoires such as the Circle, triangle, daggers, sword, incense and censor, candles, etc. Yes, an evocation can be completed without them, but with much greater risk involved.

Furthermore, if we do evocationary work without the proper tools and precautions, then what tends to happen is that either the spirits do not turn up at all or they do arrive, but we find ourselves without any means of means of protecting ourselves or resisting whatever they have in mind for us when they do. To cite just a few examples of adverse results I have either seen firsthand or heard about from friends with years of experience with the Lemegeton’s Goetia, people who have done evocations without the grimoiric precautions have sometimes gotten physically or mentally ill, been physically attacked (e.g. slapped, thrown to the floor, scratched, or bruised), had damage done to their family members or possessions, or been outright possessed or subtly manipulated into particular forms of obsession.  These spirits are powerful beings with many other spirits under their authority; they are no joke and should not be taken lightly.

This is all the more the case since some goetic entities are notorious for being deceptive, manipulative, unpredictable, and destructive when given the opportunity, reason, or motivation to act accordingly. As a result, great precautions are far wiser than not having any at all. I see the spirits in much the same way that I see fire. Fire can be very helpful or very destructive; its effects depend on the precautions we take when we work with it. Rightly used, fire can warm our house; used wrongly, it can burn that same house to the ground. Therefore, just as it is wise to take precautions with fire, so it is wise to take precautions when working with certain kinds of spirits.

Cover Image: Key of Solomon Sword by the talented Omega Artworks.

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…

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!

Consecrations of Solomonic Linens, Tablet of Lights, Aspergillum, Incense, Scrying Crystal, and a Crucifix of Art

By Frater S.C.F.V.

Since today is the last waxing-Mooned Day of Mercury of the Lunar month before the Moon returns to its waning phase, it is a big day for me as a Solomonic magician. I did no less than 4 hours of ritual today, divided between three Hours of Mercury with some additional time thereafter in each case for supplementary prayers. In addition to that, I fasted throughout the day and did additional prayers and singing in between Hours of Mercury while crafting Solomonic tools and painting my Solomonic Circle.

I woke up before Dawn, performed a Ritual Bathing, in the Sufi Ghusl method I have long used, ate a small meal of toast with peanut butter and an apple, and prepared my tools for the first Hour of Mercury.

During the First Hour of Mercury, I consecrated a series of incenses as Holy Incense following the Key of Solomon method, with suffumigations, purifications with Solomonic Holy Water, and anointing with Solomonic Holy Oil.

I also consecrated the Tablet of Lights used in Balthazar’s Solomonic candle magic methodology, which I plan to experiment with in its fusion of Solomonic methods with Hoodoo/Conjure techniques, as well as a secondary plate for drawing circles on the Tablet of Lights that I call the Plate of Circles.

In addition, I consecrated the Solomonic Linens to wrap these two tools. Over the Incense, Tablet of Lights, Plate of Circles, and Linens, I prayed Psalms 72, 118, 124, and the Benedicite Omnia Opera.

In the Second Hour of Mercury, I inscribed the Sigils and Names of God as given in the Key of Solomon‘s Book II, Chapter 20 method for the linens in a number of separate wrappings to be used for all of my Solomonic tools. I also cut the Aspergillum used for sprinkling water according to Key of Solomon’s Book II, Chapter 11 method and blessed and consecrated it as well.

Between the Second and Third Hours of Mercury, I continued to paint the gold around my Solomonic Circle:

Finally, in the Third Hour of Mercury, I Solomonically consecrated a Gold-plated zinc-alloy Crucifix of Art to be worn around my neck for protection during the exorcism of Soror C.R. that I will soon be performing… I hand cleansed it with soapy water before I consecrated it, then suffumigated it, cleansed it with Holy Water, anointed it with Holy Oil, and recited the exorcisms, blessings, and Psalms over it.

Finally, also during this Hour, I Solomonically consecrated my Scrying Crystal for use in the invocation and evocation of Angelic beings and the seeing of Holy visions, suffumigating, sprinkling, and anointing it as with the Crucifix of Art.

All in all, it has been a very exhausting, but beautiful day. I saw sparks around the Circle at times, and felt like my heart opened up more in faith and loving devotion. Preparing and consecrating each of these tools according to the grimoire is an act of devotion, of faith, of love, and of magic in its own right.

These rites should not be rushed through, but done with presence, care, and due consideration, for as the pseudo-Agrippa, the author of the Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy, points out, grimoiric magic strongly relies on the consecrations used to invest the tools with Spirits of their own according to their shamanistic roots:

“And now we come to treat of the Consecrations which, men ought to make upon all instruments and things necessary to be used in this Art: and the virtue of this Consecration most chiefly consists in two things; to wit, in the power of the person consecrating, and by the virtue of the prayer by which the Consecration is made.

For in the person consecrating, there is required holiness of Life, and power of sanctifying: both which are acquired by Dignification and Initiation. And that the person himself should with a firm and undoubted faith believe the virtue, power, and efficacie hereof.

And then in the Prayer itself by which this Consecration is made, there is required the like holiness; which either solely consisteth in the prayer itself, as, if it be by divine inspiration ordained to this purpose, such as we have in many places of the holy Bible; or that it be hereunto instituted through the power of the Holy Spirit, in the ordination of the Church.

Otherwise there is in the Prayer a Sanctimony, which is not only by itself, but by the commemoration of holy things; as, the commemoration of holy Scriptures, Histories, Works, Miracles, Effects, Graces, Promises, Sacraments and Sacramental things, and the like. Which things, by a certain similitude, do seem properly or improperly to appertain to the thing consecrated.”

~ The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy

 

Hebrew Errors in the Circle in Mathers’ Key of Solomon Book 2, Chapter 9

this site While I’ve been doing intensive research in various manuscripts of the Key of Solomon and Lemegeton and working on my Circle, I’ve been learning some fascinating things, in some cases discovering errors that I haven’t seen mentioned in any other sources.

For example, in Book 2, Chapter 9 of Mathers’ Key of Solomon, Mathers’ diagram 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, and in both Mathers’ original presentation and Mr. Donald Tyson’s presentation thereof in Serpent of Wisdom, there are many mistakes in the Hebrew given for this verse (this site quotes the erroneous text as a transliterated “MI KMIK BALIM IHVH”, for instance).

I looked the passage up in the Hebrew Tanakh to verify and in case anyone else is constructing a Circle and wants to include this verse, here is the correct Hebrew as it should be written, shown in the context of the full verse from the Hebrew Tanakh:

If you compare with the transliterated text “MI KMIK BALIM IHVH” that Mr. Tyson and Graycloak Grimoires provided above, you’ll notice the following errors:

1. An unnecessary and additional Yod in “KMIK,” which should rather be given as Kaph-Mem-Kaph-Heh and would be transliterated “KMKH” in English.

2. A word-final Kaph in “KMIK,” which should instead be a Heh, giving KMKH, as explained in point 1.

3. “BALIM” is fairly close to the actual Hebrew, but it contains a superfluous Yod once more. “BALM” would be a more accurate English transliteration.

4. “IHVH” is fine, but I personally prefer “YHVH” as the English transliteration of that word.

Hopefully this is helpful to someone who would like to use the verse in their own Circle. In my own, I used the corrected Hebrew text, which I integrated into the Goetia Circle.

Here is a picture of my Circle in an incomplete stage along the process of constructing it, which shows how the corrected and rectified Hebrew text of Exodus 15:11 was integrated into the tail of the ouroboric Serpent, which I corrected with its tail properly placed in its mouth following a suggestion from the wise Dr. Stephen Skinner:

As a final note, when I shared these corrections in my friend Mr. Aaron Leitch’s Solomonic group, many members agreed with them and were grateful for them. Indeed, the post was approved by Dr. Skinner himself. However, some members wondered if it would be better to integrate the corrupted Hebrew in order to stick “closer to the Grimoires” or correct it as I did.

Personally, I am against sticking to the Grimoires’ erroneous Hebrew out of a misplaced devotion to erroneous ‘traditionalism’ when the errors can be easily corrected and very much in favour of making the corrections.

There are at least three very good reasons for proceeding in this way.

1. First, as my Medievalist scholar friends like to point out, few people in England and Britain in the Medieval and early Renaissance period spoke Hebrew, and as a result, their Hebrew tended to be very corrupted, and such sketchy Hebrew therefore made it into the Grimoires.
2. Second, practical experience has revealed that using correct Hebrew is more magically potent, simply because in this way, the invocations, conjurations, and Names used actually reflect their proper way of being written and the power contained therein. This is true both from a traditional magic perspective and from as diverse-seeming a perspective as the yogic view that mantras are not simply symbols of Divine powers, but rather are those powers in instantiated form.

   Therefore, if the Words of Power are riddled with errors, then their potency is reduced and conversely, if correctly written or intoned, their powers are augmented. There is no need to take my word for this point, or the words of the traditional Masters from both the Grimoiric and yogic traditions, however; it is enough to try both the correct Hebrew and the garbled Hebrew in ritual and see which produces more efficacious results.

3. The original Grimoire writers did the best they could and that their mistakes are unintentional. If so, then correcting them is actually more in line with their original intentions than leaving them uncorrected; if they knew better, they wouldn’t have included the errors. So far, no Spirits have objected to this rationale, so it works for me.

That’s my view on the matter, but feel free to experiment and come to your own conclusions, dear friends. 🙂