Ha! Yeah right.
Anyway, here are some random thoughts about why I haven't experienced the same level of creeping chaos in my life as I've been working with Goetic spirits.
Generally, I think, people who have the creeping chaos had the seeds for it already there in their lives before beginning their Goetic Work.
Most magical traditions in the West have a methodology of identifying the parts of the self that are out of harmony with the rest of the universe and bringing them into harmony. In the Golden Dawn, for instance, this can take the form of initiations. In Alchemy, there is the Black stage where the impurities of the base ingredients are brought to the surface, the White stage where the impurities are burned to ash, and the Red stage, when the essence of the original ingredients is purified and transformed into the Philosopher's Stone.
This purification process is essential, in my opinion. It happens as you do the Work. When you begin the Work, you're supposed to start where you're at, and then ascend through the heavens to your Source, and then return to the earth in great power. That's the methodology laid out in the Emerald Tablet of Hermes. The human being descends from the heavens through the elements into the flesh of the Earth. Through theurgical rituals, we ascend through the spheres of the heavens. As we do, the impurities get burned away, and when we return to the earth, we do so in power, and from this process the universe is continuously created.
I didn't jump ahead in the process. I started with making contact with my HGA. Based on the translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin by Mathers, I thought that after I had made contact with my HGA I was required to conjure the Four Kings of Hell, and all their servants, and get four familiars. Since that translation didn't have all the seals of the demons you're supposed to work with, I thought I would substitute the Goetia, as it's more complete. Or so I thought at the time.
Since my HGA was the only spirit I'd ever conjured, I figured I'd get my feet wet by Working with the Archangels of the Sephiroth. I looked for a quick and easy conjuration method, and found Trithemius' Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals. This technique is pretty straightforward and readily adaptable. It also only focuses on the seven Planetary Archangels. I was learning more about neoplatonism at the time, and this fit my personal understanding of the universal cosmology and spiritual hierarchies anyway, so I went with it.
As I conjured each of the Archangels, I asked them to "purify the tincture of my sphere." I went through various issues as a result (although honestly, it wasn't that hard to deal with). I also built up my own sphere by interacting with these beings over a period of about a year. By the time I got back to the Goetic entities, I had already performed the ascension part. I knew where I belonged in the cosmic hierarchy, understood my race and value from an eternal perspective, and was ready to assume my role as the administrator of my physically manifest realm. There was no room for the Goetic spirit to cause chaos. There was no reason for it to, either.
Head for the Red: The ongoing adventures and insights of a magician's attempts to accomplish the Great Work.
Frater RO,
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't take offense to me asking this: When you look back on this post from where you stand now, what opinion do you have of your progress and understanding now when you compare it to the stage you were at in this post?
Do you think that what you said here still holds true or that the processes you went through that purified you were incomplete? Do you believe now that the disruptive nature of the Goetic entities was inescapable, and you simply couldn't see it at this stage?
I'm not trying to be a pest here or anything, I'm just curious. I was re-reading some of your old posts in preparation for the beginning of the Black Work Course (Very much looking forward to that, by the way) and I noticed this post (and a few others) where you talked about the protection that the purification of your sphere and attainment of the HGA afforded you when working with the Goetic's.
Basically, if you're so inclined, I'd find a comparison of where you were to where you are now to be illuminating as to the course of growth you've taken. Not just in terms of the Goetic demons but in what you've learned and how the work has changed you as a person. :-)