new age – Page 4 – Between The Pillars

A Powerful Invocation Of Lucifer [Pt 2]

June 29, 2016March 1, 2019Posted in UncategorizedTagged Angel, demon, devil, edgy, evocation, expereince, god, guide, invocation, lucifer, magic, magick, new age, Occult, pagan, religion, satan, Spells, spirit, spirituality, witchcraft, worship6 Comments

Written July 29th, 2016 | Edited: 1st March 2019

Part One

Associations

Great, now that we’re past all that theory, let’s get to the good stuff. People often try to force Lucifer into a single planet, but this is impossible. Lucifer is a very vast and powerful spirit and, almost like the Archangels, and has many aspects and is associated with multiple planets.

I’ve come to find that Lucifer is a spirit of opposites. He is principally a Solar and Plutonain spirit. Those two are polar opposites. I know, Pluto may not be commonly associated with him, but think of his most popular mythology. He was “cast out” of Heaven. All Plutonian spirits have a mythology of loosing something that is rightfully theirs, like Hades and Osiris, but later regain it in some way, either in myth or in their worship. Hell, the Planet Pluto itself was cast out of the Solar System, despite being so important for so long. The archetype of one being cast out of paradise is an ancient one. After all, it is the fundamental and most basic idea that all things in all of creation, from Gods to insects, were “cast out” of the perfect unity and balance of the Supreme One (Ain Soph Aur, not YHVH, which is beneath that), and this is the reason for suffering. The Hermetic philosophers and Vedic Sages both proclaimed this.

Lucifer becomes very important in this era as the Bringer of Light (transformed into an Angel of Light indeed. The Bible was right, lol). The Aquarian current is picking up, and with it comes a breakdown of old, accepted social structures and norms. This isn’t “good” or “bad”. It just is.

Lucifer is also associated with Venus, as the bringer of light, and Mars, as the rebellious Angel and ruler of Hell. Again, two opposite Planets. One might say that the Martian aspect of Lucifer is now the being we call Satan (I do not have personal gnosis of this).

Lucifer also has a Neptunian aspect, as he is very deeply associated with fantasies, drugs and indulgence. I guess, since Neptune is the higher octave of Venus, and Pluto is of Mars, that’s another polarity. Remember, don’t go on about how his myth is “corrupted” and go digging to find his original legends, if there are any. I don’t know why people treat Gods as poor helpless beings whose name got tainted. These are powerful, ancient spirits for crying out loud. They often ensure their mythology gets remembered a certain way, and even change according to people’s beliefs in them. Everything happens for a reason. As Above So Below.

When you invoke him, although he’ll carry all his attributes, his strongest will be based on how you choose to perceive him, and on his post popular mythos at the time. Ideally, you’d want to invoke him in his Solar or Venusian aspect, as the Bringer of Light, his strongest parts, at least these days. Thank all the heavy metal songs, religions, anime and video games created honoring him as the hero (or anti hero) and all the love from pagans and satanists.

So, these is all the stuff he is associated with: Sun, Venus, Neptune, Pluto, Mars, Light, Darkness, Morning, Night, Dawn, Knowledge, Rebellion, Pride, Lust, Charm, Angels, Gold, Silver, Rebirth, Transformation, Alchohol, Drugs, Fantasy, Stoicism, Calmness, Fine Arts, Music, Phoenix, Leo, Lion, Peacock, Yellow, Golden, White, Light Blue.

Lucifer and L.V.X

For those who don’t know, L.V.X is a Golden Dawn formula, used in the Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram. LVX is how you’d write Lux in Latin, meaning Light. It consists of 3-4 poses,one for each letter.

I’m connecting it to Lucifer because of the fact that it means Light, but also something else. If you at Lucifer’s most common seal, you should be able to see pretty easily that it appears to have been constructed from the letter LVX. That’s not just a coincidence.

The upside down triangle also represents Water, and the Sacred Feminine, but also the Chaos that unbalances Order. I feel like the curved lines and the V also seem to represent a goat/ram’s head.

Prep Work for the Invocation

For this invocation, I used the following seals from the Grimoire Verum. One (the ones below) I made from black paper, with silver writing, and another (the one above) on white with a gold seal and then some holy names in red and blue, like you’d do for Angelic seals. I think i captured all planetary energies properly.

I prepared the following incense:
Lemon Grass
Myrrh
Sandalwood
Orange Peel Powder
There was some other stuff, but these were the prime ingredients.

I decided not to use a candle, and instead used a golden (brass) lamp with milk fat (called ghee), the kind people use for Hindu deities. I felt like i should use it, and followed my intuition. Into the liquid ghee, I added 3 drops of some essential oils.

Right before the ritual, I also anointed my temples and eye lids with Fairy Salve.

EDIT (2019): I no longer rely on anointing my eye lids in order to sense spirits. Over time with practice, your psychic senses become more sensitive.

Pre-Ritual Manifestation

A Ritual is complete before it is even done. The actual ceremony is just a formality. When you focus your Will on it, the Spirit you are going to invoke comes to you, and the energy gets stronger and stronger, and so does your intent, until the actual ceremony when it is released from the mind. It is not rare for things to happen in the days leading up to the ritual. The prep for the ritual went very smoothly, and I also came to realise many things in my meditation that would help me in the ritual.

I was out of ghee, so I went to buy some, and I was informed that the ghee which normally came in cartons had been stopped, and replaced by a much nicer looking jar of ghee from a different company. The processed ghee used to be refined, so it was white, but this new ghee was unrefined, and was a golden in colour. To anyone confused, butter that you normally buy is basically salted, frozen ghee.

Here’s the most notable thing: I planned to do the ritual on a Sunday morning, around sunrise. Of course, the hour in which the sun would rise on Sunday would be the hour of the sun. I wanted to start in that hour and end in the next hour of Venus. Now, i’m not a morning person, and I knew that I would not be able to wake up so early (there’s a reason I do all my rituals at night), so I decided to stay up that night. I got to around 4:30, and I’d done all the prep. It was a little while until dawn, so I thought i’d rest my head for 15 minutes or so. Biggest.Mistake.Ever.

I awoke again around 8:45 am. Sock followed confusion as I realised I had fallen asleep, and was 3 hours past when I had to begin. I was a bit devastated.
Now, normally i wouldn’t be so upset, and just do it anyways, but you see, I had something important to do around 9.

However, just then I was informed that the person who was meant to show up at 9 wouldn’t be coming. Lucifer himself had made time for me, so it was wise not to postpone anymore, despite it being a different time than i’d planned. It’s best not to try and control everything. I did the ritual at 10 am.

EDIT (2019): Also bear in mind that at the time I was rather undisciplined and unable to wake up on time or keep schedules. These days I wake up at 7 am, with the Sun. Discipline IS important for all occultists and spirtualists. Even if you’re a rebellious Luciferian, do wake up on time. Staying up all night becomes a worse and worse idea as you get older.

The Ritual

Timing

I think it’s important to mention when I did the ritual. I did it on a Sunday, in the Morning. The next day was Monday, day of the Moon, as well as a Full Moon. Monday Full Moons are very strong, but what’s more, Tuesday was June 21st, the Summer Solistice, when the day is the longest in the year. As you can see, it was a period of incredible Light, when the Sun and Moon would be very powerful, and when better to invoke the Bearer of Light.

The Altar

On the altar, I had the seals of Lucifer and the lamp forming a triangle, my container with burning incense to one side, which was my offering (along with the ghee, of course). I placed six stones in a crescent shape around the lamp. It included peacock stone, jade, sun stone, lapis lazuli, and some others.

Appearance of Lucifer

Ah, and now, I can finally get to the actual invocation itself. Lucifer’s energy had been growing all week, and now reached it’s peak.

I cast the circle as I normally do, and did a standard LBRP, and you may do it however it is done in your tradition. Lucifer is powerful, and doesn’t normally need very fancy rituals or gestures.

By now, the atmospheric pressure of the room had increased dramatically, and I could feel an intense, warm energy pushing on my chest, where Triphareth and the Solar Plexus Chakra are.

I didn’t prepare an invocation in advance, instead chanting what comes to mind at the time. I called out to Lucifer, and asked him to come, into my temple and circle and me.

EDIT (2019): These days I write and memorise invocations before hand. It makes it easier to conduct the ritual smoothly.

I used some of his many names and titles, as is normally done in invocations: Helel, Helel Ben Shahar, Lucifer, Bearer of Light, Bringer of Dawn, Morning Star, Son of the Morning, Lord of Light, Father of Night, Illuminater, Lord of Inferno, Angel of Rebellion, Mighty Dragon etc. as well some of his achievements.

Lucifer came fast, and when he came my astral vision was filled with golden light. When you invoke, you often see the spirit in many forms, but I’ve tried to get some distinctive characteristics. He has white wings, and white golden hair, and pale, white skin. There is golden fire all around him. He wore a golden band on his head, and at some point he had a flaming torch, I think.

At one time, he was a pool of orbs of light. At another time, he stood in a dark forest on a pedestal of tree branches. I also had a glimpse of his court, but it went away very quickly, and when I did see it, my mind could hardly perceive it’s glory. I could make out a large, grand white building, towering columns of lapis lazuli, and intricate blue green or black stone floor. I saw glimpses of royal garment and this time his wings were in peacock colours, like the wings of Isis. The court was very disorienting, and I felt like I was falling off into golden clouds, but someone caught my hand and brought me back to my immediate vision, with Lucifer before me in the golden fire. In fact, he himself seemed to be made of that fire. “Don’t fall off now, or you’ll be overwhelmed”. As far as I can tell, his voice is soft, and silky, yet firm. Yeah, I can imagine him seducing everyone with that voice.

The feeling I got from his was of warmth, but also of dissociation. He was emotionless, and calm, not at all like the common depiction where he is supposed to be angry, broody, sly, rebellious, indulgent and out of control. He felt both masculine and feminine, and very charming, but also distant: like a person at a party who could probably seduce anyone he wanted, and drink and dance and lose control, but chose instead to sit in a corner and talk to people and keep their attention. He felt like someone who’ love to enjoy and laugh, making everyone around them happy. But, if needed, he can be a harsh teacher. He’ll give you some tough love, like a drill sergeant (interestingly, the same as Mikhael).

Part Three

A Powerful Invocation of Lucifer [Pt 1]

June 29, 2016July 24, 2020Posted in UncategorizedTagged Angel, bringer of light, deity, demon, devil, edgy, expereince, god, golden dawn, invocation, lucifer, magic, magick, new age, Occult, pagan, religion, ritual, satan, spirit, spirituality, worship3 Comments

Written July 29th, 2016 | Edited: 1st March 2019

“What is it that you desire?”

That’s Lucifer’s catchphrase from the Fox series by the same name. Lucifer is perhaps among the most popular mythological characters ever to make it into modern mass media, be it serials, movies, video games, anime, books or anything you can imagine (the only ones more popular would be the Greek gods).

Not just media; Lucifer has been a crucial figure of countless beliefs and philosophies, especially in occult in this Age of Information (or whatever you choose to call the current age). Lucifer is an extremely powerful entity, that all magicians can work with, regardless of your system.

I should mention, this is based on personal experience. I’m by no means a satanist, black magician, left hand practitioner or Luciferian, nor am i Wiccan, a light worker or a right hand practitioner. I’m not going to impose my personal beliefs on you, or get into the philosophical debate surrounding his origins and nature. There are some things man cannot comprehend yet, so i’ll leave that stuff to others. You may choose to think of him as the Lord of Hell, a pagan deity, an angel or just a spiritual force.

What is important here is the way to invoke the spirit Lucifer, and my experience with him. I hope that by reading this you can plan your own invocation, and benefit from him. I’m sure Lucifer will be happy that i’m spreading the word about him.

I cannot guarantee that your experience will be the same. The best way to learn is by actually calling him, if you wish to. The choice is yours.

Abrahamic History on Lucifer

There’s no way I can go into the entire history of Lucifer in mythology, or I’d be typing hundreds of pages. I’ll touch on the main points, which you should then research in your own time. Familiarising yourself with the spirit being invoked is very important, and everything’s there on the internet if you know where (and how) to look.

The first instance of him is in the old Hebrew Bible, where the word helel is mentioned, literally meaning light bearer. In Greek, this became heosphorus/phosphorus, the bringer of dawn/light, and finally Lucifer, in Latin, meaning morning star. These are all commonly associated with Lucifer. The titled Helel ben Shahar is also used.

This name was being used for the King of Babylon (whom the monotheists hated), probably Nebuchadnezzar II. It talked about how he had fallen to Earth. Interestingly, this name became like a title, and was also used for John the Baptist and Jesus himself! Overtime, it came to be the name of the Devil when he was an angel, before his fall, although the Bible does not mention “Lucifer” in it’s long list of the devil’s names, most of which were names of pagan gods. The fact that there have been at least two bishops in history named Lucifer, would indicate that once upon a time it was a common Catholic name (not to mention Jesus and John).

In the Hebrew version of Revelation Jesus calls himself helel. They normally write “I Jesus, am the Bright Morning Star” in modern English versions. What this means, is up to you to decide.

Note that Lucifer was never the same as Satan. Shaytan is the Islamic name for the devil, taken from Judaism. Both Islam and Judaism have a different story of the devil from Christianity, usually deciding that it is the Archangel Samael. Keep in mind that initially the Abrahamic holy scriptures were a vast, convoluted plethora of original and stolen myths, and took centuries of reinterpretation to arrive at the holy books we have today. The more I go into it, the more confusing it gets.

One important thing I should mention is that the Hebrew Bible does say “Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of light” but modern translations say “masquerades” instead of “transformed”. You should check out Eliphas Levi’s work on Lucifer for more on that. This may be a reference to the alchemical process. The implications are very deep.

Pagan and Occult Lucifer

Contrary to popular belief among new agers, Lucifer is NOT the Babylonian Sun god. That would be Shamash. In early new age Witchcraft, Lucifer was considered the sun god and counterpart of the moon goddess of Diana. In pagan mythology, this was normally her brother Apollo. They did get the part about Lucifer being Solar right though.

Lucifer is only mentioned by name in the Sibylline Books, which the Romans used for prophecy. It says he fights in the Battle of the Constellations on the back of Leo (thus the association with Sun). This might be where the idea of the Antichrist riding the Great Beast comes from. The Great beast is often depicted as a lion, and one of the names of the Antichrist is Appolyon, a name for Apollo. You see a pattern yet?

I’m not saying the Christian stories aren’t referring to important archetypes. Of course they are, like all other mythology. But the Christians chose to present their scripture using distorted pagan symbolism. For example, they could have used any Hebrew/latin names for evil and destructive forces, but they chose the names of Pagan deities. They could have shown their symbolic tyrants as fictional Kings, but they chose known Kings of enemy Kingdoms like Ramses II or Nebuchadnezzar. A big chunk of the confusion comes from the willingness of Abrahamists in the olden days to distort facts in order to attain political goals. And hey, I get: they were pretty persecuted under pagan rule, but we have to be very careful with names. Often, when Christians use words like Appolyon, their referring to something very different than what Greeks meant when they said “Apollo”.

Other than early Witchcraft and Eliphas Levi, both hailing Lucifer as the Morning Star and Bringer of Light, he is also mentioned by John Weyer, who lists him as a Crown Prince of Hell. He is mentioned in the Goetia as well, at least in Mathers’ version, but only once, in the section about King Paimon.

In early Catholic demonology, he was one of the seven Crown Princes of Hell, but eventually demonology fell out of favour in Christianity, and all the princes were condensed into one “Devil” for the sake of convenience.

Rudolf Steiner placed him as the Light, and the adversary of Ahriman, a Zoroastrian spirit of everything evil and unholy: the Darkness.

Lucifer is also there in the Enochian System, you just need to look for it. The name itself in associated with ‘brightness’ in Enochian.

And in the good ol’ Tree of Light, Crowley and his contemporaries put a being called Lucifuge in the Qliphoth. This name means “he who flees from the light” as oppossed the name Lucifer, “he who brings the light”.

EDIT (2019): I have a post on Lucifuge. Lucifuge is not Lucifer, but the two are connected. Click here

The most important would, of course, be the Grimoire Verum, in which his seals and invocation are given. In this book, the seals of other princes like Leviathan, Beelzebuth etc are also given. This is about all the reading material I can personally give you.

My current personal opinion on Lucifer is given at the very end of all three parts.

Part Two

Tools of Ceremony: Why use them?

May 20, 2016June 11, 2020Posted in UncategorizedTagged implements, magic, magick, new age, Occult, religion, spirituality, toolsLeave a comment

Written May 20th, 2016 | Edited: 27th February 2019

Right, so in this post i’ll be talking of something more theoretical: the tools of ceremony. When I was starting out, I perhaps had the toughest time figuring this out.

In all fields of the occult, one common recurring thing is the tools we use. They differ according to tradition, but things like wands, daggers, altars are common, and these days there’s a lot of flexibility and free flow of ideas. What most often confuses people is the practical importance of tools, the way to make and use them, and how to reconcile seemingly conflicting ideas across traditions, like should one use a dagger to represent the element of Air, like the Golden Dawn did, or a Feather, like many Wiccans do. I find very little on the internet regarding this, so let me try and answer from experience.

One can broadly divide ritual objects into three categories: permanent, like wands and daggers, consumable, like candles and incense, and lastly sigils. This post will focus on the permanent objects, which i’m referring to as tools.

EDIT (2019): For seals and sigils, click here.

History of Ceremonial Tools

Well, in all magick, we use objects that have spiritual power during our practice. It may vary from the elemental weapons, to cauldrons, to statues, to circles and triangles, and even apparel like rings and robes, and have been used pretty much since the beginning of the occult traditions in the olden days. But, this is not just something found in the modern occult, but all spiritual philosophies throughout the ages.

Whenever historians discover strange artifacts, like a horned helmet, little dolls, stone cubes and lingams, that do not seem to have any practical or decorative use, they conclude that it must have been a ritual implement. Human beings have used ritual tools for as long as we have been spiritual. One can even find small holes in ancient settlements in Turkey, built around 11,000 BCE, where ritual implements are though to have been placed, as they don’t seem to have any other purpose. Some of these objects are found in mythology, and have legendary status, such as the Holy Grail.

You’ll be interested to know that just about every civilisation that ever existed has used them, although as religions developed, the importance of these implements was reduced to mere formality .Think of the idols of the Hindus, the headcap and tunic of the Muslims, the Crucifix and the Altars, the Statues of Christ, the Turbans and daggers of the Sikhs and just about anything that counts as a “religious object”. Most of these started out as occult tools (although many, like turbans, were of cultural significance instead, but that still owes to their occult symbolism), which made their way into religion, where the only thing that seemed to matter was their appearance, and this led to their mass production.

These days, there is an obsession with these relics, and they often become more important than the spiritual aspect itself. When Mohammed warned against idolatry, this is what he meant. People had become so infatuated with idol worship, they had forgotten the importance of actually connecting to the Gods themselves.

EDIT (2019): To think that I would ever agree with the Muslims on something, lol.

But clearly, ritual tools are important. Some tools are ancient, and thus common in all traditions, most notable the wand, dagger, staff, and statues. Some, are more recent, and can be found in specific schools, like the cup, pentacle, skulls and steel crosses. Most of them are deep archetypal symbols. So, what exactly are these strange objects, and why are they so important to a magician?

What are Ceremonial Tools?

Well, in a simplest sense, they are symbolic objects that contain our own energy, and act as extensions of the magician’s body during rituals (although one might note that our body itself is a tool, and really just an extension of the Self, along with the psyche, personality, and even individuality. A better way to see it would be that everything is an extension of the unchanging Self/Spirit.)

You must have noticed that most ancient grimoires emphasise the importance of making these tools yourself, and often in very strange and convoluted ways, which leaves people utterly confused. After all, no one really wants to make a lion skin belt, or raise a black rooster, ensure it never has sex, and then kill it and use it’s skin. Fortunately, we have more resources and information these days, and we can understand the exact purpose of a tool. We can decide ourselves whether it’s use is desired and how we can substitute complex tools for simpler ones. But keep in mind they ARE important, and the specific process of creation behind them is as well, which is more symbolic than literal.

The complex instructions in some cases are also just metaphor to keep sacred knowledge away from prying eyes.

Uses of Tools

These tools have many uses, but there are five important ones. I shall list them in ascending order, from the least to most important reason we use them.

They serve a real purpose: There are few of these, so I wanted to address this first. Of course. They are unique as they have a practical function, and often are not directly part of the ritual. I’m referring to things like the offering bowl, the candle holder, a carving knife or a pin to draw blood. In their case, one must be realistic and should usually follow instruction close to as they are given. So, if it says use a stone or clay container to burn incense, you may use glass, but don’t just use wood or plastic, for obvious reasons.

They Are Symbolic: Of course, the most basic reason is that they symbolize certain things. Take the elemental weapons for example, the represent the four alchemical elements. The symbolism is what matters the most in this case, rather than what physical tool you pick. Always get your symbolism correct, and know what a tool represents in your tradition, so that you can use it properly, and substitute if required. For example both the staff or the wand are perfectly viable representation of fire. The magic dagger, used for the LBRP, can be substituted with the index and middle fingers extended out. Bear in mind that many symbols are deeply rooted in the human psyche and common across traditions and cultures (like the sword, phallus, wheel etc.)

They Contain Our Energy and Intent: When you make a tool, it becomes imbued with your spiritual essence, and once you consecrate it, it contains your intent. The more you use it, the more powerful and energised it becomes. It is yours, and used to manipulate our own energy. As I said before, the Tools are an extension of you, and so they should be carefully stored and kept clean, so as to not accumulate foreign energies. It’s best not to let the others touch them, or in some cases even see them. For this reason it is usually recommended that you make items yourself.

A more detailed account can be found here.

They Correspond of Specific energies: One of the big reasons we use ritual tools is to tune the frequency and energy of the temple space and altar to the energy of a specific spirit. When you craft ritual objects, you should know what it’s purpose is and use corresponding items.
So, now you know why the grimoires are so specific about what colours and materials to use when making something, because correspond to the energy of certain spirits and forces. Knowing correspondences will also help you with substitution. Once you realise that gold and the colour yellow correspond to the sun, you can make a yellow paper sigil and also put gold jewelry on the altar, rather than purchasing an actual solid gold sigil.

EDIT (2019): This particular paragraph is obviously a gross oversimplification. Using a black paper dagger is not a substitute for an iron one, and sometimes objects have immaterial power and significance too. This point is really about psychological correspondence. I should mention though, that MANY famous correspondences (such as the flashing colours of the Golden Dawn) are actually arbitrary. Make of that what you will. Practice, and see what works and what doesn’t.

They Appeal to the Subconscious: This is by far THE most important use of ritual tools that no one seems to talk about. When you perform a ritual, the whole idea is to enter a trance, and that is where tools play a big part. The word “impress” means to leave a lasting impact, and has two uses for a reason. You can “impress someone” or “impress upon something”, and means the same thing. In magic, this someone/something in both cases, is the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is simple, naive and easily excited. It is deeply affected by symbols and visuals, and the magick tools help it enter the certain state that is desired for a ritual. The Subconscious mind is incredibly powerful, and is the one who actually does the magick.

Impressing the Subconscious

Ritual is like a date with the subconscious, where you must impress it to manifest results. Think about it like this, if you were not a magician, and wanted a ritual done, what would impress you more: a guy with a intricate mask, in fancy hooded robes chanting in an ancient language, standing in a circle inside a dark room with candles all around him, and a table before him with strange objects and spiraling incense, raising a dagger made of horn, or a dude with tshirt and jeans, holding a butter knife, in a well lit room, calling out to deities with badly pronounced names?

The whole point of ritual is to impress the subconscious mind. The subconscious can’t tell what is good or bad, and what is real and unreal, so it believes the tools have some deep value, even though the most valuable thing in magick is your intent. That is one of the reasons we approach the altar in special clothing: be in robes, or witch’s clothing. The subconscious identifies that something is “different” about what you’re going to do. This is where ceremonial tools come in, and why they look so fancy and intricate. Once you enter the trance, the colours, words, smells that you perceive all affect the subconscious, and activate certain parts of it. Ideally, there should be one thing to affect each of the senses: visuals (sight), incense/oils (smells), chants (hearing), offerings (taste), fine materials and clothing (touch) and visualization (the sixth sense/magick). The ancient Egyptians would also consider speech to be a sense, and so you had to vibrate certain words and names.

Images like these are what draw wonder and awe towards magicians throughout the ages. Imagine these people in their living room in casual clothing, with no props. A big part of the effect a ritual produces is the mood it created among all participants and observers, and stirs their energy and emotion. You may even impress the spirits with your grandeur. After all, do they not show up with great splendor?

When you invoke a specific God, you usually dress up like the God and hold the implements they are portrayed with, all so that the subconscious genuinely believe you are that God, flooding that energy into you. This is also the reason religious figures dress in a certain way, so they they are imbued with a sense of power, authority, and superiority to the masses. The Catholic Church is the most notorious example.

Many a times, you may also use things that were put into your subconscious during your childhood. So, if you were raised Christian, your subconscious might associate the crucifix with protection, so you can use the crucifix during an exorcism. This is the main and most important reason why we cannot just ignore all the drama of ritual and it’s tools.

When i make ceremonial tools, I make them look as nice and fancy as possible. I always use the best materials I can find, and never cut corners. It may not be perfect, but it HAS to be the best I personally can do.

The most important thing to keep in mind when making an object is that it should appeal to YOU. If you don’t like it, chances are the subconscious also won’t like it. Magick rituals are essentially elaborate forms of self hypnosis, so perform them with as much splendor and aesthetic appeal as you desire.

Substitute where you must, but ensure they are amazing and resonant. With magical tools, half the magick is already done before you even say the first word.

Be sure to follow the blog. You can also follow me on Instagram @WhiteRavenMagus

Until We meet again.

~White Raven

Spell for Binding Away Negative People

May 16, 2016June 11, 2020Posted in UncategorizedTagged banishing, hoodoo, magic, negativity, new age, Occult, pagan, protection, religion, Spells, spirituality, witchcraft2 Comments

Written May 16th, 2016 | Edited: 27th February 2019

NOTE: This is not a curse, but a banishing spell. The purpose is not to get revenge on someone you hate, but to make it so they can no longer send you negativity. It is a protection spell. A Magician should not be swayed by emotion, but it can be hard to stay calm while being bombarded by negativity, but if we succumb to it, we pull ourselves down to their the level of vain ignorance and despair. This is to cut them off from you, so they stop dumping it on you.

Right, time for a spell to bind all that pesky negativity someone is sending you, or to get them out of your life for good.

EDIT (2019): For passive protection, click here.

I’m a ceremonial magician, and this is a wiccan spell. I normally don’t use witchcraft, but there’s a lot of really cool, quick and nifty little spells they have, so i’m always interested in using them. The ceremonial magick protection methods are either simple like shielding or the sign of silence, or big rituals like the Rose Cross. This binding spell falls somewhere between them, and will work as long as you do it right. It also seems to have some hoodoo/shamanic inspiration.
The original inspiration was from a wiccan spell, but I have made some changes to it. I’ve realised it’s better to add things to spells according to your tradition, and that makes them work better for you. As a ceremonial magician, this to me is a Saturnine spell, so I’ve made sure to venerate him in it.

I just want to say now that this spell is NOT intended to harm the person you are binding or even restrict them, but to protect you from their negativity. Now, for those people whose life and existence hinges on being mean and negative to others, it might be hindering, but that’s not our concern, since the intent is pure. So, let’s get into it.

Preperations

So, first off, you want to do this during the Waning Moon, on the Day and in the hour of Saturn. For more about timings your rituals, click here.

For this you’ll need:

Amethyst
Smokey Quartz
Black String/Rope/Ribbon
Paper/cloth, ideally black in colour
A bit of earth
A Jar/Bottle
A Sympathetic Link to the person.
Four Thieves Vinegar (this is optional. I don’t use it, but it can be used)

Now, what you need to do is make a poppet. You ever watch those bad movies about witches, where they make little voodoo dolls and tie a hair to them and use it to torture people? That doll is essentially a poppet (of course, we are not torturing). It is a symbolic representation of the person.

It does not have to be detailed, just a basic human shape. It can be made of cloth, if you’re good at stitching. I had black paper, so just cut two identical human shapes and glued them together. Make sure the head is open, because that’s how you’ll put stuff inside. Note that the main purpose of the poppet is to hold the things together. You could probably put them in a pouch or something, but the poppet will have a much stronger impact on the subconscious.

After that take your jar (I just picked a old pickle jar with a red lid) and with a black marker, draw the astrological sigil for Saturn: ♄.

You also need a sympathetic link to the person you’re binding, like a hair, or a piece of garment, or something they touched. Blood or sexual fuid would be best, in theory, but let’s be honest, that’s very difficult to obtain, so don’t even bother. Hair will work just as good as blood. (Please don’t go around asking people for their bodily fluids).

EDIT (2019): Seems people are unlikely to give hair too. I’d stay stick with articles or pictures, unless you need the spell to be very strong.

If you can’t get anything, just a picture will do. That’s pretty easy to obtain these days, with everyone face plastered all over social media.
Just make sure all the materials you’ve chosen can fit in the poppet, and that the poppet can fit in the jar.

The Spell

For the spell, you want to add the amethyst and smokey quartz in the poppet: 3 pieces will do. Then, add the earth/dirt. If it’s dry and loose, please add a few drops of water it, or it tends to get messy, as we are reminded by this annoying emo rebel.

Then, add your sympathetic link, and seal the poppet. Take a pencil, and draw the Saturn sigil on the poppet. The dirt venerates Mother Earth (ruled by Saturn), the pencil drawn sigil and black colour venerates Lord Saturn. The Amethyst is for peace between you and the person, and the smokey quartz is for protection.

Now, take your string or ribbon, and from the legs, begin wrapping it around the poppet. Make sure you move the string counter clockwise, and you may chant while you do this: to the Mother and Saturn, to aid in this.

All the while, imagine this person negativity break from you and drain away. Imagine you not being controlled by this person, and imagine his/her negative energy returning to them, and leaving you forever and you being in control of yourself. Make yourself feel calm and protected. Do not think about how you hate this person, but how you want to be free of this hate. Make sure you bind the poppet completely.

“One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them” ~Lord of The Rings
In case you never realised, The One Ring is Saturn symbolism.

Containing of the Poppet

Ideally, you want this person out of your life, but what if you need them? When I was doing this, it was a person doing a group research with me. It was essential that we could interact at least professionally, for the duration of the project.

Often we are forced to work with someone, and can’t send them off, because we need to get shit done. So, now comes in the jar. This is an optional step, and is a way to temporarily bind just the person’s negativity towards you.

Take the jar with the Saturn symbol, and put the poppet in it, and close it tightly. Now, imagine the walls of the jar being a protective between you and the person. They can interact with you, but they are separated by this wall and cannot send you any energy. Imagine the jar to be like a shield that keeps their negativity contained and unable to harm you or them. You can chant for protection however you want.

Remember, you’re not containing the person, but their negativity. This should also help them, if they choose to let it go. If they still cling to their negativity and follow it into the jar, nothing you can do.

Next, store this jar somewhere you wont see it, and forget about it. Keep it away for the entire time you need to work with this person. You’ll find they will slowly stop their negative behavior towards you, but they’re still in your life.

EDIT (2019): I have found since the time I wrote this, that it is a rare occurrence where you actually “need” a person in your life. It usually means you are not firm in your resolve.
Ideally, I suggest skipping the jar entirely and just banishing the person’s negativity. It is what I should have done. Everything works out eventually if the intention is pure.
I am not going to remove it from this post since it does work quite well, but such methods are usually used for torture, to cause the person pain over extended periods. There’s little point in binding a person in the jar if you’re going to let them go anyway. So, do what you must, but keep my suggestion in mind.

The next step is for getting the person out of your life. So, at the end of the time period, open up the jar, pull out the poppet, and do the next step.

Disposing the Poppet

This is the final step for getting rid of the person. Very few people need the above step. Chances are you want this person out of your life fully. So, now that you’ve got the poppet bound, and may have put it in a jar for sometime, it’s time to banish it.

Take this poppet, and release it to the elements. There are a couple of different ways.

By Earth: bury it, say a prayer to Mother Earth, turn counter clockwise and walk away.
By Water: toss it in a stream or river, and before it hits the surface, turn counter clockwise and walk away. You could even flush it, if it’s very tiny.
By Fire and Wind: Burn it, and scatter the ashes to the wind, turn counter clockwise, and walk away.

You have to let go, and forgive this person. That’s the only way this will work. When you dispose off the poppet, also dispose off any feeling of resentment, anger and sadness this person left you with. If they’re filled with darkness, that’s not your problem. You’re not a trash can for others to dump their negativity, and the longer you hold on to negative feeling towards them, you’re holding on to the trash they threw at you.

Some people might like to toss the entire Saturn jar into the water or bury it, but I advise against it. The glass or plastic jar is non-biodegradable. I’d much rather you just took the bare poppet and buried it or tossed it in the water, since it will decay. We don’t want to asking the Mother for a favour, and polluting her at the same time.

Besides, there was recently a case in some South American country where some guy found a glass bottle on the beach, with a picture inside that had needles stuck in it. This was obviously a curse. Who knows what the effects will be on the person who finds and opens up your jar? Be careful, the chickens always come home to roost.

If you’re releasing it into the water or burying it, you can even put the poppet in a jar of Four Thieves Vinegar. I burn it, so I did not, but yesterday I saw a video made by Uncle Birch (freakphil1309) and that’s what he said he does.
The vinegar method is his way, and i’m only mentioning it because he’s a pretty solid occultist, and a witch as well (meaning he understands spells better than me). In his version, you skip the poppet entirely and just use a picture. I’d link his video but his channel is impossible to navigate. You’ll have to search yourself 😀

Be sure to follow the blog. You can also follow me on Instagram @WhiteRavenMagus

Until next time
~White Raven

Samael: An Almadel Invocation

May 9, 2016November 25, 2021Posted in UncategorizedTagged Angel, Archangel, demon, evocation, hermeticism, invocation, kabbalah, magic, magick, new age, religion, samael, spirituality16 Comments

Written May 9th, 2016 | Edited: 25th February 2019

Bear in Mind that everything written here was written by a young, novice occultist who was just starting to write.

A few weeks ago I did an invocation of Samael, and it was also my first experience working with the Armadel. If you want to know more about it, try the Grimoire of Armadel by S.L. Mathers.

The invocation was done on Tuesday in the Hour of Mars during the waxing Moon. I do pretty much all my magick, except bindings/exorcisms, during the waxing moon. I’m a non traditional person, so I did not follow the working EXACTLY as it was prescribed in the book, instead taking John Dee’s advice on following your heart and doing what your gut tells you when invoking angels. I think this is a good title for my first blog post, and I hope you find it informative.

EDIT (2019): Generally following the gut instinct is good. I am a very traditional practitioner these days, but it also happens so that many Grimoires have incomplete or misleading information in them, and are heavily influenced by personal bias. However, the Armadel is not one of those. On the other hand, many grimoires, like this one, have needlessly long rituals and formalities that are not needed for a modern practitioner who knows what he is doing.

Who is Archangel Samael?

The first thing before any invocation is getting a good background on the spirit being invoked, and luckily for me, I’ve read about and worked with Samael since the beginning. Mythology often is not a record of stuff that literally happened, but stories our ancestors wrote in an attempt to understand and explain the natures of beings on higher planes, but which often ended up altered and corrupted over the ages.

EDIT (2019): All “workings” I had prior to this were mostly meditations and channeling. None of it should be considered on the same level as an actual Invocation. I largely did not know what would happen either.

In the Talmud, he is the ruler of the fifth (sometimes seventh) Heaven, and the Angel of War and of Glory, who rules over the Planet Ma’adim (Mars), although on the Tree of Life the ruler of Mars is Kamael. He is part of the heavenly host, but also rules Death.

Samael means “the venom of God” in Hebrew. In the story of Adam and Eve, Samael is the Serpent who tempted Eve into eating the fruit, so naturally they equated him to Satan/Lucifer. The reason his name varies is because all of this stuff was taken from many different sources. I’m not going to get into the history of these two religions, but in the Serpent story he is specifically called Samael, not Satan or Lucifer (the Eden story is much older than the more recent rebellion story, going back to Mesopotamia).

It is written that he later left the Garden and became Lilith’s consort, and they had a son, the Angel Sariel. There’s many later stories of him, but most of these came around AFTER all the drama that happened to Christianity in the late Roman Empire.

EDIT (2019): The account I had given of Samael is derived from different sources both archaic and contemporary. The story of HIM being the Serpent largely comes from the meditations of Sufi saints. The Judeo-Christian mythology has many versions and interpretations.

At other times in Hebrew lore, he is known as the Angel of Death, whose job is to collect souls of the dead. He also plays the role of “accuser” and “destroyer”. There are three other stories of him I found.

One, where Jacob, an important Biblical figure, saw him in the highest heaven, tall and with burning eyes, and was informed by Metatron that this was the Angel of Death, Samael. This comes from the Book of Enoch. He is the Angel who protected Esau

He is also the one who stopped Abraham from killing his son, although in the Bible it does not mention Samael by name. I believe this interpretation comes from Samael Aun Weor.

He was said in Rabbinical writings to be the patron of Edom/Rome. Naturally this is false, because the Romans were pagans, and did not pray to angels. I think this might be because Samael was the Angel of War, and the patron of Rome was Mars, the God of War.

I guess the Rabbis, being Abrahamic, equated Mars to Samael. Also, since it is said the Romans crucified Christ, I guess this was a good way to put them in bad light. Remember, by now Samael was already equated to Satan and Lucifer, and this way they could make it sound like the Romans worshiped Satan himself (ah, glorious misinformation).

Now, to the occult. As I said, Samael rules Mars, but is not on the Tree of Life (he’s on the Qliphoth though. This might hint at his role in ruling the “darker” aspect of Geburah), or even in the Shamharphorasch. Kamael rules the sphere of Geburah, which happens to be associated to Mars, but there’s still space for flexibility.

Samael has become pretty important as an Archangel distinct from Kamael to modern occultists, especially since he is part of the seven Archangels in Armadel, and is said to rule over the occult, magick, jurisprudence (fancy word for legal studies) and necromancy, and is also a protector against evil and threats (in the Christian occult sense, he was said to be the protector of missionaries in foreign lands).

EDIT (2019): This may be because Samael has inherently “foreign” or alien qualities about him. Being both an entity of Darkness and Light, he would be associated with both the Known and Unknown. Protector in a foreign land is pretty good archetype to assign to him.

He is the Angel of Death, Destruction and Wisdom (also Lust and War) and I think he suits the planet Mars, but suits Saturn too. The God Mars was also known to be a bit of a rebellious kid, so I feel Samael too, rules of rebellion, liberation and freedom. After all, rebellion is often violent, and his might be the source of the story of Lucifer’s Rebellion and the subsequent War in Heaven.

An interesting thing of note is that he is both ruling over Wisdom and Death. I could not help but think about how the Hindu God of Death, Yama, is also known to be very Wise.
The idea that there is wisdom after death is common. And the Serpent of Wisdom and the Serpent of Destruction are also a common occult themes (think of the Caduceus)

He’s basically the average emo teenager’s dream. Before the occult, I too was an emo teen, so I guess now you know how I got drawn to Samael.

EDIT (2019): I was never emo, just very interested in spirituality, but never content with organised religion.

The Altar

The altar that is given in the Almadel, is for use in evocation. Since this was an invocation, I did not make a physical almadel, which is basically a wax altar with stuff written on it. Instead, I just took my altar table and laid it out for Samael. I don’t have a picture of it, but this is what was on it:

My dagger and wand
Samael’s seals (I made both of the seals from the book, one round, one square)
Incense
A red candle
A Black Feather
A Red Stone

I had actually made two swords out of cardboard just for fun, years ago. I placed these of either side. You can probably put a real sword, knife or dagger.

EDIT (2019): All you really you need is one Seal, maybe with the Angel’s special behind it, a red candle, a circle and some incense. For Samael, some iron might be nice too.
Everything else is optional. Do what feels right, build a space that will help you Invoke. Remember, these are simply to aid YOU, not help them come. They come when called.

The Incense and Seals

The incense I used was of the Martian variety. So in other words I just threw in Martian herbs in a mortar and pestle until I was satisfied. Most are common kitchen ingredients. I put in:

Chilly Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Cardamom
Red Chilli, dired and ground
Ginger
Garlic
Coffee (Samael seems to like coffee)

After it was on the charcoal, I also added a few drops of Basil Essential Oil.

For angels, incense in enough. They don’t care if you give them food, as they are not Gods. You can choose to give alcohol, whiskey in this case, but I didn’t.

EDIT (2019): Offer whatever you can. Be generous. It’s not about the offering, it’s about gratitude, and the willingness to sacrifice. These things extend way beyond just Rituals. A poor man who will share his bread with you is more virtuous than the millionaire who has to unwillingly decide to give you the last sip from his day old bottle of champagne. This is Jupiterian law.

Now for the seals. I made both seals on some cartridge paper. I made them both in the Hour of Mars.

The Invocation

I did not follow the actual language of the Almadel, instead choosing to just call out to Samael. I listened to some binaural beats with the frequency of Mars.

I stared into the flame, entered a trance, and then just began chanting whatever came to mind. I can’t recall exactly, but it was a Hymn for Samael. I did not track what I said, but that’s fine. It’s your choice really, you can chant like this, memorise official invocations, or just do whatever feels right or is part of your own tradition. The best would be hymns and mantras, be they your own, channeled, or historical. There is nothing wrong with ready out of a paper either. Angels tend to come immediately, and so did Samael.

Samael’s Visit

So first of all, he scolded me about a bunch of stuff I was doing wrong, specifically when I asked for guidance. He said I had to stop obsessing over divination and try to do my own thing more. I asked him some personal things too, and this being an invocation, I also gained many things and insights that have helped me on my path, some during the invocation, and some after. He also told me to be strong and overcome my fears. I’m not going to talk too much about the personal stuff, but about more generic stuff.

His energy feels hot, intense, and powerful, like a warrior, but it’s also got a sense of liberation to it, as if you’re a freedom fighter, and you just defeated your oppressors. On the other hand, he also gives off the feeling of a wise Hermit, who has seen a lot and has a lot to teach. I actually asked him to help me learn certain things too, and so far I have had good results.

I’m going to clear out the devil myths too. I asked him straight up if he was Satan. He said no, that’s just Church propaganda. Was he Lucifer? He said there was indeed a being by that name, but he was not him. He said he was not Azazel either, or a Goetic king, or even a demonic king. At the time I forgot about the Qliphoth.

He said people have a tendency to succumb to greed, and tend to use his power’s for evil. He does teach necromancy, magick and calling on him can make you energised and give you fighting strength. It’s easy to see how all these things can be used for harming others. THAT’S the meaning behind the Eden story. He can lead you to wisdom, but one can be tempted to use that knowledge and power for Evil, as many often do (cough the media cough the politicians). War and revolution too, though they led to death and destruction, were necessary for Universal balance.

EDIT (2019): Samael is indeed a Ruler of the Qliphoth, as well as the Archangel of Mars. Samael is considered the Highest among the Qliphoth, over even the sphere Thaumiel. Given how the Qliphoth is generally said to be the result of unbalanced forces in Geburah, this has a lot of implications.
Secondly, the Eden story means FAR more than just this. But the simplest way to put it is this: Kamael is the Archangel of Geburah, while Samael is the archangel of Mars. The Sephirothic angels and Planetary angels can differ in some cases.

So, did he hate us and want us to commit evil? Of course not, he, like all the other Archangels, played a certain role and wanted to help. He also reminded me that “good” and “evil” are just a matter of perspective, and from his perspective the Universe looked very, very different than what it looked like to us. For example, a pacifist might say War is evil, a pro life activist might say Death is evil, a fundamentalist Christian might say knowledge is evil, and to the layman, the word necromancy sounds evil and deranged.

He also played another role, which was to guide the dead souls.

He told me there were no “rulers” of planets, and both he and Kamael were associated with Mars, much like both Michael Jackson and David Bowie were associated with Music. But do either of them rule music? No, even if you call them King of Pop. Music is it’s own thing. However, Kamael is the Angel of Geburah, not Samael.

After that I thanked him and ended the ritual.

There is one important thing I have learned from him, which is protective shielding, but i’ll go into that some other time.

EDIT (2019): At the time, I was not capable of understanding anything beyond this fairly crude metaphor. Of course, multiple Beings can be assigned to the same Sephiroth/Planet. I did not understand at the time that all these were simply systems of correspondence. Also, for protection click here or here or here.

So, I guess this is it for now. I hope you enjoyed reading this rather long post. It’s my first post, and I appreciate feedback, so I can improve my future posts. Farewell for now. You can also follow me on Instagram @WhiteRavenMagus