First public Appearance that Anyone can Listen To

I'm going to be on "Deeper Down the Rabbit Hole" TOMORROW at 8:00 PM EST. Or EDT. Whatever. 8:00 PM Eastern. The topic is a discussion on Angels, Demons, and Magicians, and how we interact from a neoplatonic/hermetic perspective. We'll be discussing the Kingdom metaphor of the Gates Rites, as well as the roles of the different classes of spirits, "Angelic," "Demonic," and "Human." I'm sure the Genius Loci and Elementals will come up as well.

I'm really looking forward to this conversation with Andrieh and Jason. I've had a lot of vitriolic things to say about chaos magic over the years, but last year sitting down and talking to Andrieh at Crucible, I realized that most of our points of disagreement are either semantical, or interpretive. The bottom line of practical experience, regardless of approach lined up so nicely I had to assess my stance on chaos magic, NLP, and the whole psychological paradigm in general. Part of growing up, I suppose.

Anyway, Tuesday at 8:00 PM. I'm probably going to be talking a lot about the Modern Goetic Grimoire I recently republished too, as that was the inspiration for the invite. I've been reviewing my work, and seeing what I believed at the time it was originally written, and comparing it to my current take on things, and it's been an eye-opener for me. I'm looking forward to discussing what went wrong, where I was right, and where I was wrong.

Feeling a little old today...

Holy crap, I feel old today.

I finished up another week's series of rites first thing this morning. Saturday. Saturn Day.

I feel fucking ancient.

After conjuring the Archangel, I passed over to my astral temple, where I could ascend to the higher heavens. I went to the sphere of Saturn and I spoke to a couple of the spirits I know there.

Then I went into the heart of the sphere itself, with Cassiel as my guide. There, in the center of the Sphere, I saw myself, extending to the Mind of God, across lifetimes past and future. I saw myself as a channel of awareness, of observation. I saw myself extend through the supercelestial, celestial, elemental, and infernal spheres. I saw the flow of information down through this channel into the material realm, and I saw information flowing back up at the same time. We are conduits, you see, of God-awareness. We are the embodiment of observation and interaction. Our hands are the hands of fate. Our wills are the will of god. Our experience of the world we create is holy unto the Lord.

There is a border in the Sphere of Saturn that "separates" it from the 8th Sphere. It doesn't separate anything, it's really more of a veil, a filter, a line of demarcation between the spheres. I approached this veil, and found it to be dark grey on this side, cool and smooth, electric and alive. And it hummed with the vibration of the forces passing through it in both directions.

Once I started to pay attention to it, I realized it was a symphony, and back in my flesh my arm hairs stood on end. It was beautiful and horrifying all at once, thrilling, and maddening. It was Mozart and Tchaikovsky and Zann all at once. Touching it, I saw a vision within the vision, of dark and monstrous shapes passing through alongside brilliant manifestations of godlike awesomeness. 

And then it was gone.

The veil, the vision, everything, vanished, and I stood in a foggy plane with Cassiel, the universe of stars shining brightly,with Hubble-like clarity everywhere I looked. He gestured to the plane below, and I saw the fog clear in a place. Within the cleared place, I saw a model of my personal Sphere here on Earth. I looked at it in detail, noting the shapes and sizes and forms and boundaries were most prominent in this view. Together we took inventory of the state of things in my life. We talked for a while, and then got to Work.

Today we laid foundations for the coming ROpocalypse. We identified the scope of the project, determined what is "in scope" and what is "out of scope." Lenses were focused. Boundaries shifted. Things have been set in motion by setting them in stone.

The Word of the Day is: Focus. Focus your attention. "Pay" attention, and understand it is the currency of the realm. Observe with intent.

Back to Business Part III

I've had really good rites this week. Like... really good. It turns out I wasn't nearly as rusty or out of shape as I thought I was. I thought it would be like going back to exercising after taking three months off, having to rebuild my stamina, my strength, and so forth. Turns out I just needed to start being a Magician again.

Working through the spheres has brought everything back into focus rather quickly. The familiar patterns, the old friends among the stars, witnessing again the crystalization of raw power into form... It wasn't long before I realized I had lost nothing. I had just sort of forgotten, and needed a reminder of Who and What I am.

When it all clicked, I found that the recent rites had actually resulted in further integration of the forces of the planets. I'm not only still where I was before taking a break, I'm able to reach higher, and go further. The Eighth Sphere stuff isn't nearly as far off as I'd thought.

Last Sunday I felt what I believe is Kundalini shoot up my spine and through my chakras and down my arms and out my fingertips during the Solar Rite. I hesitate to say it was the real thing, as I'm not exactly into yoga and the proper rites to raise it and channel it, but it was amazing. 

Throughout the week since, I've had incredible experiences in each planetary sphere, each accompanied by different flows of forces through all my chakras, but affecting them differently depending on the planet I was Working with at the time. 

I think it's important to note that I did not consciously do anything to trigger the rise of these forces. I've felt them before, but not this intensely. I haven't done serious Work on integrating the forces of the planets like this in a while, and I'm able to pay closer attention to what's going on in across the intellectual, mental, and physical layers of my sphere. The Hermetic Retreat, and ongoing conjurations and meditations and contemplations of the powers of the spheres are resulting in a transformation, a metamorphosis. The drastic change to my personal life has served as a catalyst, and I'm enjoying seeing the reactions in my own sphere. I'm looking forward to doing client work to see how this impacts the results in practical ways.

And just for the record, I haven't done any Work focused on the chakras since last year when this started happening after I'd started scratching at the 8th Sphere. I've kept them functional, and noted when they seemed to be open or tingly or in pain during certain rites, but I haven't just focused on developing, strengthening, and cleansing them specifically.

So these effects are not the result of chakra work, devotions designed to raise the kundalini, or meditation techniques that are designed to activate the kundalini power or whatever. It just happened, and I'm paying attention.

I need a better taxonomy. I'm using the terms chakra and Kundalini, but since I'm not in that tradition, I'm probably using them wrong. Fr. AIT suggested "Metals" instead of chakras, and "Internal Fires" instead of Kundalini.I like "Internal Fies" but I'm not sure about the Metals. I'll have to talk to him about it.

Back to Business... Part II

My next Order of Business is Business itself.

I cut way back on promoting my services since getting this new job. I simply didn't have time to do magic for people. 

But now that I'm filling in all my spare time with productive, profitable things, I'm going to pushing my Applied Hermetic Services again. Hermetic Diagnoses, Rites of Fortune, Prosperity, Hex Removal and never ever any love spells.

I will also be offering the Business Booster rites again. Expect a blog post with testimonials soon.

And of course, the Red Work series of courses. Those are always available.

This comes as a result of yesterday's awesome Mercury rites performed at dawn, and throughout the day. I had some good long talks, and an interesting time in trance visions.

I saw this chaos of dots of light, each representing a manifestation point of one aspect of my life. I was able to touch them and understand what they represented. I started moving them around, and connecting the dots in my vision, and realized I was reshaping the flow of my life. I had this rush of information, and saw how the patterns needed to be arranged in different areas and different aspects of my life.

I was also able to take a look at a lot of the emotional stress I've been under from an objective point of view, and understand what it is exactly that pisses me off about this whole situation, and why I feel so angry and out of control, and I honestly laughed at what I found. I'm angry because I wanted to be the one to leave.

It was so silly. I was like, wait, me, really? You have what you've wanted ... for years, and you're able to do what you've wanted to do now for years, and you're free way ahead of schedule, and the adjustments to the plan aren't that hard, and you get to do magic, and really you're quite happy with everything overall, but... you're shitting on everything because someone else made it happen?

And then I got this wave of relief, and gratitude. Not forgiveness, quite, but definitely gratitude. I think it was the nicest present my ex ever gave me.

Back to Business

With things settling into place and a sense of normalcy returning to my sphere, I find I have a lot more time on my hands than I used to. I have found that idle hands are, indeed, the devil's playground, and so I've put my hands to producing some positive manifestations rather than leaving them to find mischief.

And yes, that happened after they had gotten themselves into mischief. Fun mischief, effective mischief, but ultimately just mischief that led nowhere I wanted to be.

So Back to Business.

First Order of Business: Hermetic Retreat

When my ex and I separated, it was a pretty big shock to my system. While I had dreamed of getting a divorce for years, I never did because I believed I had a responsibility to be the husband and father of the family I brought into the world. And I did love my ex. I just couldn't stand her. I've got issues, she's got issues, and our issues are incompatible. They bring out the worst in both of us. We knew divorce was inevitable, but I thought we had a couple years left.

But I had planned for it. It came ahead of schedule before I was ready to implement the plan, and now the plans have to be adapted for less-than-ideal circumstances. I have to do things now that I wasn't going to start for another year, and I'm honestly not ready. I haven't been doing a lot of magic lately, and the plan requires me to be at peak operating capacity. I'm out of shape.

So the first thing I did was a Hermetic Retreat. For seven days I conjured the Archangels and Inteligences and Spirits of the Planets at dawn, meditated and contemplated the planetary symbols, and immersed myself in the powers of their spheres. It was like going on a planetary spa day.

I started on a Sunday and finished last Saturday. By the end of that cycle, I was feeling a lot better, much more myself than I have felt in months. I focus a lot on the practical aspects of the magic I do on the blog, but I don't really talk a lot about the mental and spiritual effects of regular practice. I figure there are plenty of blogs out there that do, and I think they encourage people to think about and feel about magic instead of doing magic.

But the peace and power and mental stability that come from regular, balanced practice is the best and most practical magical effect you can ever ask for. The Hermetic Retreat went a long way to restoring me. I'm not where I need to be yet, but I'm able to get there as a result of the refreshing streams pouring through my sphere.

I've continued to conjure the Archangels, Intelligences, and Spirits of the planets this week. Last week was a passive approach, relaxing, refreshing, cleansing, but this week I'm going into more active strength training exercises. It's more of a Hermetic Workout than a Hermetic Retreat now. Opening chakras, directing the forces as they manifest through me into my sphere. There are still things I can't do that I used to be able to do, no problem. It's kind of frustrating.

I thought about just doing a Reclaiming Rite, taking back the power and authority I had before. I've done them before and had really good results, but things were more ... stable. I'm not consistently stable enough to handle it without it burning me yet. Major changes in a person's life brings the Spiritus, the part of the soul responsible for survival to the foreground. It's emotional and passionate, and mine is very angry.

So I'm Working out the old fashioned way instead, rebuilding the muscles gradually. As I do so, the Spiritus is backing down to its more neutral state, and the Animus is much more engaged. My brain is also physiologically adapting to the change in my circumstances, and the chemicals flowing are becoming more regular and regulated. Returning to the familiar neuropathways that developed when I went through my initiations over the years has helped restore a sense of normalcy to my life. The urge to smash recedes.

I don't know how long this phase will last. I had planned on being well into the Eighth Sphere Work before having any of this shit go down, and I'm not ready yet to even start heading there to pick up the trail of Azoth consciousness. I feel like a lawn mower that's getting started after spending the winter and most of early Spring in the garage.

Mr. Cecchetelli's Latest

A long, long time ago, I worked in an organic new age grocery store produce department. Having lived and worked on an organic farm/hippy cult commune for a year qualified me in their eyes for the job. I know a lot about vegetables now as a result.

The employees tended to be into a lot of weird shit, and I fit right in. We'd be stocking the produce and talking about Eckankar and Soul Travel, or debating LSD vs. Ecstasy. There was an espresso and juice bar there too, so we'd do shots of wheatgrass and pound crowbars, and talk all kinds of weird shit, really quickly.

I worked with a guy named Zeus. His parents named him that. On purpose. I thought that was pretty cool, and hard to beat as far as having a bad-ass name from birth. And then they hired Abraxas.

Abraxas was an interesting fellow. His parents had named him after, he said, the God of Magic. My ears perked right up and I tried to have an occult discussion with him. I quickly learned that in spite of being named after the "God of Magic," he knew nothing about magick. He didn't know Peter Carrol, never heard of Robert Anton Wilson, Malaclypse the Younger, Anton LaVay, Donald Michael Kraig, Austin Spare, Israel Regardie, or Aleister Crowley.* 

So I started researching Abraxas, the God of Magic on my own. I hopped on Altavista, which seemed to have a lot more occult information than the other search engines of the day, and went to town. 

The first thing I thought I found was that it was misspelled. It was Abrasax. And while "God of Magic" is part of the story, it's not the whole story at all. I found myself reading gnostic texts, learning about the Archons and the Demiurge, Sophia and the Pleroma, and the role of Abrasax in different Gnostic sects. It was my first exposure to non-Christian mystical texts written in the first through third centuries, and it was mind boggling. I couldn't figure it out just by reading it, for the first time in my life. 

Mr. Cecchetelli, author of Crossed Keys,  has managed to wade his way through the morass and meet the God himself. He's been Working with him and writing up his next book, The Book of Abrasax. I can't wait for that one. It's going to be a really interesting read. My favorite parts of Crossed Keys were the personal anecdotes he provided. I love reading the experiences of other magicians doing magic, it confirms my own experiences, and I can pick up really neat little tips and tricks that other people have figured out. It helps refine my praxis.

Mr. C is now offering talismans based on his successful experiments with Abrasax. The talisman he's making provides both protection and prosperity. That's a brief summary, they do a lot more than that and he explains it in detail on his blog post. 

I happen to know the current of Jupiter Mr. C Works with regularly, and with that involved in the creation of any talisman that brings prosperity, I know these will be particularly powerful talismans, and I whole-heartedly encourage you to buy one for yourself. I rarely buy talismans, I prefer to make my own, but this is something I'm getting for myself as a treat. 

* This was in my Chaos Magick daze, and these authors were about the extent of my exposure to occult materials; I believed that Aleister Crowley's Book IV was the epitome of Western Magick, and that Peter Carroll had discovered the secret means to get around having to do all that Work to make your magick effective. It was the '90s, and I did a lot of drugs.

Path of the Rose

Sefriel, international occult man of mystery, is launching a course in some serious Angel Magic called the Path of the Rose. 

Sef is the inspiring force that started the Gentlemen for Jupiter, and a magician I've been happy to work with for the past year plus. I know he's well trained in Angel Magic, the real thing. He's got an inside track. He's also good with the technologies, so I know it will be uber-professional in addition to being a solid intro to some of the most powerful magical systems available.

And it's in Glastonbury. So I can't go. But you European magi should totally sign up. It's going to be very worth it.

He's also just put up a page for his occult business, Exodus Solutions. Sef's one of those exorcists who really loves his job. I'm not sure what other services he's going to be putting together, but I'm looking forward to seeing what comes up.

The Dead

[Caveat: Please note that I am not an initiated member of a living tradition that works with the dead on a regular basis. I've experimented and found good results, and I base this post on those experiments and good results. There may be a ton of shit I don't know that will fuck you up if you try this, I'm a guy with a blog on the internet. If you're a member of a living tradition with more experience and insight into the dead than I've got, please feel free to correct me, I'm open to it.]

Ok, it's on my mind, and you're my reader, so suffer.

I just saw someone post something about a young guy dying. It was in a hoodoo-themed group, so maybe my brain can be forgiven, but the first thing I thought was,

Someone should capture that soul while its fresh.

[Edit: Please note that I am referring to the animal soul here, the Nephesh, the emotional-survival part of the human entity that continues to exist for about 6 weeks after the flesh dies. I personally believe that the immortal part of the soul, the part that was mingled in the chalices of the Stars by the Workman in Timaeus, goes on to the higher heavens and what you "capture" is only a part of the person, not their entire spiritual self.]

It's been happening for years now. Ever since I started making spirit traps. My first impulse was to post a spirit-capturing rite involving the Hermetic stuff and ancestor lore and demon trap and spirit pot stuff I've picked up in my studies and necromantic training.

Then my social instincts/indoctrination kicked in, and I was like, WTF, Brain!?

But if we really believe all the shit we do is based on what we say we think it's based on (yeah, I wrote that sentence), why the fuck are we so upset when people die? Oh, we'll miss 'em, boo-hoo. Guess the end of an immortal spark of god's most recent incarnation is all about us, eh? How it affects us and shit.

Feh.

And shit, it's not like we can't talk to them whenever we want to. Or trap a bit of their remains in a spirit pot, and continue the relationship in a new form. We co-created the universe while they were in the flesh, why stop at the moment of death?

Death is to be celebrated, not mourned. I mean yeah, five stages of grief and all that human shit, but that's just like addiction withdrawals. Existence isn't all about you and your pain.

I demand a fucking feast and booze and weed and shrooms when I die. Whatever floats your boat. And I'll be there, laughing at your drunk stoned tripping asses, and the lucky ones will see me, and think to trap a bit of that to help 'em out with making their lives better. And I'll tell my son to sell my ashes on my website by the ounce. $1,500, or more depending on how shit works out.

And he'd better keep one himself.

[Edit: Note that what I'm talking about creating for yourself out of my ashes is like a super RO talisman, like a Relic of a Saint, and through it we'll be able to continue to interact, assuming my efforts to become a Power after death continue to the planned destination.]

[Further edit: I'm taking out the practical bits because I don't want to pass on bad advice that I haven't thoroughly tested myself.]

Shifting Gears on Goetia

Ok, so after years and years (and years) of RO bashing Demon Magic, I'm shifting gears. It would be fairly typical for me to say, "I changed my mind, I was wrong" and dive right in, fuck the consequences, but that's not where I'm at.

See, the reason I stopped doing Demon magic is because it's dangerous. It works really well, but there's little room for error. For example, if I go to Raphael and ask him to bring me wealth in the amount of $4,000 by the end of the month, by any means necessary, as long as no one in my family got hurt, he immediately starts leading me in my mind through the means necessary to get what I need. He shows me what I have that is of value already, and demonstrates the means necessary to make the difference within the time constraints.

Bune simply said, "yes, I will do that," and a week or so later a faulty regulator caused a gas build up that flamed out and caught some stuff on fire that I'd left too close to the water heater. My first check from the insurance company was for almost exactly the amount I needed, a little more in fact.

While everyone got out alive and unharmed, and technically no one in my family was hurt, the stress was terrible. My ex about had a break down. My kids were fine, except for when their mom and I fought as a result of the stress. It was one of many times in the relationship we nearly got divorced, but I did magic to save the relationship, and we made it through that storm.

And I promised her I wouldn't do any more demon magic. It works, very well, and I really wanted to go deeper into it. I wanted to figure out if he could make a house fire, what else could he do? I mean that kind of manifestation is pretty damned awesome, if it can be contained and channeled properly. But I felt it was too risky. I didn't have room to fuck up, I had kids and a wife to protect and support.

A couple weeks ago, my ex and I separated. In May I started a new job, making  a ton of money, but working 16-hour days. I dropped a lot of the Kingdom Maintenance magic I had been doing, including the stuff that was keeping my relationship afloat. I might write a post about that some time, but not now.

As a result of these changes, I'm free to go back to the figuring out the demon magic I was practicing before.

However, I've learned a whole lot in the two years since doing that kind of magic, and I have a better understanding of how magic works in general. Effective magic is done in a balanced way, Working with the spirits of the celestial, terrestrial, and chthonic in a coordinated effort. I've been working with spirits of the dead and genii loci, and various elementals who aren't entirely demonic for the last couple of years, and I'm looking forward to including the demons in the mix again. I'm planning a series of rites to get back in the swing of things, conjuring the spirits to learn and get some minor assistance here and there, and then move onto more specific manifestation stuff.

But first I'm planning a full Hermetic Retreat.

Modern Goetic Grimoire, Available Again

Ok, so due to some recent experiences, I'm re-releasing the Modern Goetic Grimoire. It's a record of my personal practice in the Lemegetton's Goetia, my approach, my understanding, my experiences with the spirits, and the results.

Long time followers of my blog know that when I did some bad magic* with Bune for some quick cash, he burned my house down, and I got a little bitter. The first insurance check was almost the exact amount I told Bune I needed. the magic worked. I just REALLY didn't like how it worked. Because it threatened things I thought were important.

I've realized recently that a lot of what I thought mattered didn't, after all. Weird shit to go through, I tell you what. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

But in light of recent experience, I've come to realize that there wasn't really anything wrong with what happened. I just didn't like it. It was "evil," because it was "shit that sucked." But shit sucks anyway, magic or no. 

So if you buy it and use it, know that:

A) It worked great for me, really, really great, except I didn't like it.

B) You get what you ask for. That's not always a good thing.

C) It's not safe. The techniques I provide offer a buffer, but they don't keep you from being stupid.

I'm pasting the Buy Now buttons for Google and Paypal here below, but it can also be purchased on my eBooks page. The cost is US$12.95.

Paypal:

Google:

* Bad magic in that it was desperate, and poorly phrased on my part.

Strength Training

I was reading Gwynt-Siarad's 8 Winds and Broken Vow, and the follow up post. He was going through some really practical Mage stuff, serving his community in the role of the shaman. One of the things he mentioned was how tired he felt after going on a Spirit Walk and encountering a spiritual-beastie.

I totally know that feeling. When you go looking into people's "spheres" to see what's going on in their spiritual life, it can be really draining to you personally. Emotional strain is tiring. It takes a level of compassion and empathy to be able to get a clear reading on someone's spiritual state that can leave you feeling exhausted afterwards.

We're used to dealing with our own stress levels, and we've got the reserves necessary to deal with that on a regular basis. When we start working with other people's stressors, it's an additional load to process, and it can leave you feeling weak, even if there are no entities encountered.

I've seen empaths advise different methods of maintaining a safe distance from your clients, ways to filter out the stressors so they don't impact the empath. It's a matter of maintaining a clinical objectivity while still interacting with some emotionally charged issues. It takes a lot of practice to do it well, and even in the best of times it's still a filtering technique. Filters have holes to let things through that you want, on purpose. Extreme situations (or entities in your clients' sphere) can rip right through the filter.

Like physical exercise, spiritual exercises improve endurance and spiritual muscles. Regular core maintenance rites, like cycling through the spheres, meditation and contemplation, regular observances to patrons and so forth are good core exercises that help build up your ability to deal with other people's shit.

But emphasizing one or two exercises isn't enough. There are people who do the LBRP and Middle Pillar daily, and they've got some really big muscles developed as a result. But when they get put into practical situations, they're like the body-builder who finds himself in a Mixed Martial Arts octagon getting their asses kicked by someone half their size.

Vary your routine, make sure your core practices involve more than just a couple basic techniques. If you have a reasonable expectation that you'll be meeting up with demonic forces or hostile spirits, you need to get used to dealing with them. One of the few things I'd recommend the Lemegeton's Goetia for is training in dealing with spirits with malevolent natures. Don't challenge them to a duel to the death or anything, you know, stupid. But they're safe enough to conjure and interview, when the proper precautions are taken.*  They've got a wide spectrum of abilities and specialties, and getting to know them, how they operate, the forces they represent and wield can be a very useful thing when you encounter them, or similar spirits in your Work.

Also, it never hurts to make sure they'll never work against you, especially with all the folks turning to that particular grimoire first when they think to curse you. Rofocal-Focalor (or one of his lackeys or corresponding spirits) will be sent against you sooner or later if you ruffle feathers in the occult community, and feathers are easily ruffled 'round here. Having him show up and say, "Hey, so-and-so sent me to kill you, LOL," is much better than performing an exorcism from a hospital bed, you know?

Now that I'm all side tracked, I'm considering re-releasing the Modern Goetic Grimoire. I've had a change of heart about them recently. An insight into their nature, and their role in the life and sphere of a magician. That's another post though.

This post was about strength training.

daily exercises, meditation, contemplation, opening portals to the aethyrs, travelling in astral form through the elemental kingdoms and planetary spheres, ascending to the highest spheres through the Gate opened by Iophial... These things are important for the magician.

Magicians are like Americans moving back to the countries of their ancestors. I'm French. I have relatives in the Alsace Lorraine region, allegedly. To live there, in the home world of my true ancestors, I'd need to learn the language, figure out local customs and economics, and integrate myself into the system so I could benefit from it, and it could benefit from me. It would take time, practice, and repeated exercises to make a place for myself, and to thrive.

But I'd do it. What else is there than to thrive?

If we're going to thrive as magicians, we need to take time for strength training. Proactive research, conjurations, and the building up of gnosis so that when we are faced with situations that require strength, we have it.

* It's only when you start asking them to influence your life that you start asking for trouble, in my opinion. Not saying it can't be done, if done in the spirit of "teach me to excel" rather than "grant me the fruits of excellence without doing anything for it," but it takes wisdom and patience and work ethic.