seals – Between The Pillars

Tetahatia: Armadel Invocation

September 10, 2016June 11, 2020Posted in UncategorizedTagged Angel, armadel, focus, god, gray magick, grimoire, invocation, kabbalah, magic, magick, middle path, new age, pagan, protection, religion, seals, solomon, Spells, spirit, spirituality, tetahatia, white raven, wicca5 Comments

Written August 17th, 2016 | Edited: 8th March 2019

The Grimoire Of Armadel contains a comprehensive method of invoking several Angelic as well as demonic spirits, and contains a list of several such entities, along with their characters, seals and specialisation. It was this method that I had used for my invocation of Archangel Samael. Perhaps the most striking part of the book is that it gives a style on Invoking Angels with seals and conjurations. Often, magickal grimoires exclusively contain demonic material. Angels are usually invoked through overtly Abrahamic prayers, and not for any specific purposes. This has changed in modern times, but we are referring to a different period.

I recently decided to use the Armadel again, this time invoking a more obscure spirit known as Tetahatia. This spirit had held my interest ever since I first laid eyes upon the Grimoire. He has a rather unexpected nature as far as Angels are concerned.

However what I learnt from him was very different from what I expected, and today I’m going to share my experience, and also my interactions with him.

Side Note: Tetahatia falls into that category of spirits who do not have any mythology or lore attached to them. Unlike the Archangels, Demon Kings, Olympian Gods etc. many of these minor beings did not play a big role in religion, and thus did not make it into folk lore or pop culture. That also means very little art, hymns, associations or anything else. Most of these spirits are found exclusively within the occult grimoires.

Most of the Angels in the Armadel are in other sources, so it’s easy to find material on them, as people often work with them. But for Angels mentioned only in the Armadel, and not in other places, it can be tricky. The Armadel does not mention ranks or orders of spirits, so you cannot use general associations based on Planets or the Tree of Life.

I was not able to find any reference to Tetahatia in any occult books I own, though I may stumble upon it some day. He is also not mentioned in the Shemhamphorasch, or in any other Grimoire. A google search will simply yield links to the Armadel, and to occasional questions about Tetahatia from curious people like myself. So I went into this invocation without much to go on, except what’s in the Armadel itself.

About the Angel

The Armadel says the Tetahatia is the Angel of Science and Virtue, and protected our forefathers from their enemies, and will do the same for those who call on him. Though it might be made to sound as if it’s referring to Christians of the past protected from pagans, to me “forefathers” seems to mean Magi of the past, protected from those who would seek to slander and persecute them, or hinder the Great Work.

This is mentioned under the Title “Cave of Ephron”, which refers to the ‘Cave of the Patriarchs’ in Israel, which is, like all things Israeli, sacred to the Jews, Christians and Muslims, although mostly to the Jews, and is said to be the resting place of important Abrahamic figures, including Abraham himself.
Ephron is the fellow Abraham purchased the site from. It is said that Angels protected the place from outsiders, and that seems to be the only relation to Angels of Protection like Tetahatia.

Coming back to the Armadel, it goes on to give a sigil for Tetahatia, and says that with it one can learn how a “blinding darkness may be produced, or a thing terrible unto one’s enemies, also how a blessing may fail hereon”.

So, as you can tell, Tetahatia is an Angel of Defensive magick, as well as Knowledge of Sciences and Virtues.
You can also see why many people would be attracted to him. After all, everyone wants to get back at their enemies, get revenge and other such meaningless things (revenge can be healthy, but in today’s society it is a debilitating obsession to most, and a path into depravity). He also seems to perform a function not commonly found among Angels, but in Demons. Even Angels of War, such as Samael, have been demonised and discredited by religion. It was strange to find an Angel that will teach you to harm your enemies.

Then again, I guess Jews, Muslims and Christians have spent most of their history wanting to kill everyone. And hey, no offence if you’re either, but let’s be honest, the Crusades didn’t fight themselves, and it ain’t Buddhists who run all the evil international banks 😀

(Seriously, I’m joking. Please don’t get me put on some list!)

Prep Work

Seeing the nature of the Spirit, I decided to use a red candle on my altar. Instead of making some incense, I used an incense blend I recently bought, containing frankincense, laban and a bunch of other things.

Other than my red candle and incense, I only put a few more standard items on my altar, like some stones, and nothing else. One special item I put was a steel dagger, again, given the nature of the Spirit. I did the ritual on Wednesday, in the Hour of Mercury, at Night.

Due to the lack of mythology for the spirit, I decided that I would need my own incantation, so I created one in Latin. This is what I came up with:

tetahatia venit angelus virtutis

I then applied my anointing oil and entered the circle.

The Invocation

It was a pretty standard invocation. After casting my circle, doing the preliminary banishing and saying some declarations, which I always do, I sat down to meditate with my mind fixed on the flame, and began to chant, and in a little while slipped into a trance.

I did not chant for a specific number of times or anything, since I don’t know of any number associations for this spirit, I just kept chanting.

Soon, my eyes dimmed, and my heart began to race, but it still beat softly, in an almost subdued fashion. Eventually, I felt very hot, and the candle began to glow brighter and formed an aura, and I knew the spirit would appear soon.

Suddenly, the flame grew very large, and I began to see a figure inside. Tetahatia was here. I then greeted the spirit, and we began to talk.

Appearance

I saw multiple appearances of Tetahatia. In the flames he appeared as a feminine man, with curly hair that seemed would be brown down to his shoulders, wearing a sleeveless clothing that looked extremely Greek, but not what a man would wear, but what a woman or child would wear in Athens. Superimposed on him, the candle’s glow made his wings, but his wings were shaped like curved cross-guard of a sword, as if a giant sword was part of his body.

My eyes closed and I saw a more vivid, yet unclear image, which probably conveyed more about the spirit than a simple illusion in a candle flame. It was a vast, blackish space, and there was a feeling of huge gaping emptiness in all direction. In this space, floated the vague figure of a man with his arms stretched out. His wings were still a cross guard, but something like a sword’s blade also appeared to stretch out from underneath him. It seemed there was some light in the area, like orbs going around the place, as if held by the figure’s gravity, and pointing towards him like comets. At some point, I saw just a sword and no man.

Make of that what you will.

Interactions

I first asked him what he was supposed to be, to which he replied that he was an Angel, of the Order of the Seraphim.

He told me he was indeed an Angel of Science, Virtue and Protection, but also dealt with espionage, subversive activities, and hindering those who attack you.

“I am both with and without Light”

I then asked him how we should produce a “blinding darkness” for our enemies. His answer was quite befitting an Angel, not at all what I expected, but neither was I disappointed. I’ll mention some of it here.

Enemies may be blinded by their ignorance. No spell can blind a person more than his own ego, ignorance and fear (these are essentially the things a magician strives to subdue). He also said that a large number of people today were blinded to a degree by these very things. They are reactive, polarised, and cling to their fear, arrogance, pride, anger and hatred, and nourish them. These things can be used to blind them, and keep them from harming you.

It makes sense actually. We are conditioned from childhood to have large, dysfunctional egos. This ego is what blinds us from seeing the truth about anything, since people are far too polarised to look at anything objectively. It also binds us from living the life we want. In case of Magicians, the danger of having an overblown Ego is even greater!

He told me that instead of using spells or wishing ill on others, I should use their own ego to stop them from causing me harm. You don’t so much produce a blinding darkness to harm others, but simply send them away from you by turning their face towards their own darkness, and using it. He said it was something to use on those stopping you from doing your own Will, not on the innocent, for then you yourself will have darkness within you which will blind you. He also listed various methods of doing this, some “ethical”, some not.

I asked him though, if he was an Angel, shouldn’t he love all of humanity?

“I am an Angel, and capable of such love for humanity, but you are not the same right now”

He said there was a balance to be maintained. Those who are following their Path, have the right to protect themselves from the deviated ones who get in their way, otherwise all who are true will be pulled back down.

He said that the way of escaping this darkness is to focus on one’s true Will. In other words, this darkness can only blind he who has succumbed to his ego and does not do his Will, and instead interferes with others.

“Never lose sight of the Will!”

UPDATE (2019): I understand now what he meant. At the time, I was far more naive, and much more easily angered. That is why he said “you are not the same right now“. He was not referring to the human condition, but my condition at the time. He was also right, that following your true path will slowly subdue the Ego. When he spoke of causing a blinding darkness, he meant that people who are blinded by their ego are easily manipulated. When you clash with such people, the natural instinct is to fight. But that’s wrong. The correct response is to be diplomatic, to raise yourself above them. Often, that fills them with even more rage and anger, because they cannot imagine not being taken seriously, and their mind is muddled. When you think with a calm, clear head at all times, you can see the true intention of people. You can see when they want to subvert you, or harm you. Often, humouring them while keeping them at arm’s length is the best strategy. When you aren’t infatuated with your Ego, you can tell people what they want to hear. This feeds their arrogance, but does not bother you.

All in all, the calm, collected and focused person can very easily manipulate those think highly of themselves (and that’s the majority of the human population). The more you deal with situations calmly and objectively, the clearer it will become how this is done. It is not wise to use it on the innocent, as that is what a psychopath is. But it is good to hone this tool, and a great passive defense against harm. It is the power of not reacting strongly. He who reacts, is “blinded by darkness”.

Conclusion

I think I pretty much understand everything the Spirit said. It’s actually some pretty standard and generic stuff in Magick, but with a new perspective. It’s not quite what people would expect after reading the Armadel, but it is true.

People end up destroying themselves in the most spectacular fashion due to their own Darkness. No person can harm another, as much as he can harm himself. I feel like this darkness within is often taken lightly, and can be a great tool to hinder enemies without dragging ourselves down to their level. After all, one does not need to use hatred and anger or even produce negativity, but “let people’s own darkness blind and smother them” (Tetahatia used those exact words). Those who can rise out of it will do so themselves).

I am not saying this is something that should be done, but it’s important to know what we can, and can’t do, before we decide if we should. If a drunken man keeps flashing a light in your eyes, you are justified to hold up a mirror and blind him, rather than pick a fight. After all, he simply needs to turn off the light if he wants to see again.

Be sure to follow the blog, and you can also follow me on Instagram @WhiteRavenMagus

Until Next Time
~White Raven

The Pentagram and Its Many Meanings!

August 3, 2016July 24, 2020Posted in UncategorizedTagged Angel, devil, evocation, five pointed, god, guide, hermeticism, invocation, kabbalah, LHP, magic, magick, new age, Occult, pagan, pentagram, religion, RHP, ritual, seals, solomon, Spells, spirit, spirituality, wicca, witchcraft14 Comments

Written August 3rd, 2016 | Edited: 6th March 2019

Of all the symbols associated with magick and the occult, the pentagram is the most popular and recognizable, almost the emblem of Magick. And even as all the occult symbols infiltrated and found a place in the mundane world, the pentagram was above all else, as it is the common symbol for perfection, and even found on the flags of nations, both communist and capitalist. When little kids draw space in art class, they use the Pentagram for stars, and the Pentagram is what dominates the Walk of Fame. Several religions have also incorporated the symbol throughout history, and it has it’s origins all the way back in Mesopotamia. It was eventually co-opted in both Persia, and Rome, and lived through till the Byzantine era. later, the Turks would conquer Byznatium and adopt it, and it would be carried to all corners of the world. The symbol itself is archetypal, and several different meanings have been denoted to it over the millenia.

But what is the true meaning behind this famous and popular symbol? Like all symbols in Sacred Geometry, the Pentagram has several layers of information encoded into it. Much of this information transcends into higher planes, and the Pentagram might just be the lower visual manifestation of some profound higher thing. But anyways, today I’ve made a handy list of the multiple meanings on the Pentagram, as well as the inverted version of it, so you don’t have to read a hundred different sources to understand all the different associations. This isn’t an exhaustive list, just the different interpretations offered by different branches of the Mysteries.

Note: Pagans sometimes use the word Pentacle, but Pentacle refers to vast range of symbols. So, when I say Pentagram, I mean five pointed Star. I’d actually suggest against using the word Pentacle. For example, all the Seals of the Greater Key are referred to as “Pentacles”.

In Sacred Geometry

The symbol of the Pentagram is part of sacred geometry, meaning it is made of very exact and precise proportions which are considered holy.

“God is the Great Geometer of the World”

Although “Pentagram” refers to only the star itself, it is generally depict it enclosed in a circle. While this circle is very important, just the star itself is sufficient.

The Pentagram, naturally, adheres to the Golden Ratio, and is constructed on five straight lines. The regular pentagon is the middle is 108 degrees at each inward angle. The Isometric triangles on the outside are 72 degrees on the base and 36 degrees at the top. If you joined all five corners of the star, it would also form a regular pentagon. The star itself can be divided into many other pentagrams.

And if you want to draw one, you can do so easily with a compass or protractor, or even straightedge. So there you have it, a bit of math of those interested. I know I hated math, but this info is useful if you ever need to construct or draw a Pentagram, which is very likely for magicians. All the numbers used in it’s construction: 36, 72, 108, are sacred numbers, most commonly used in Judaic and Hindu mysticism.

The Unity of the Five Elements

This is the most important meaning of the pentagram, which is Universal, regardless of which philosophy or tradition you follow.

In Kabbalah, the top left hand represents Water, then going clockwise it is Fire, Earth, Air. The top hand represents their sum total as Spirit.

Put very simply, the Pentagram= Air+Water+Fire+Earth= Spirit. And since everything is created of the elements, the Pentagram represents the sum of everything in the cosmos, aka the All/Divine, as well as the mirror image of it, which is Man, who hosts the Spirit.

Often, the circle around it can be interpreted as the material/manifest world, in which all 5 elements are contained and restricted, or the Divine Unity which binds all together.

As Tetragrammaton

The letters YHVH, pronounced Yehovah or Yahweh, is the Hebrew name of the Divine. These days it has become corrupted as “Jehaovah”, the patron deity of Israel and the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. But the original mystical name YHVH does not refer to a specific deity with human attributes. It’s is a mystical name, made from the Hebrew letters Yod-He-Vav-He.

Each letter represents one of the four elements, Yod is the sacred Fire, with He being Water, and the Womb of the Great Mother. Vav is Air, or the Son born from the Union of the Male (fire) and Female (water). The second/last He is the Lesser Mother, or Bride of Vav, representing Earth. YHVH = Fire Water Air Earth.

This name, YHVH, is called Tetragrammaton, and so the Pentagram represents Tetragrammaton, as you can tell from the above discussion. I write this separately because there are multiple symbols that are used for the Tetragrammaton, not just the Pentagram, but the Pentagram itself is the sum of all elements, which IS Tetragrammaton. This might not be making a lot of sense to those of you who are new to magick, but try to keep up. You’ll understand eventually.

When the Tetragrammaton is depicted as a Pentagram, is often looks like this (as far as I know, the first depiction like this was by Eliphas Levi).

As you can see, the Pentagram is combined with other symbols to give the full meaning. The figure of Tetragrammaton is what is used as one of the Seals of Solomon.

So in simple terms, the Pentagram represents The Divine, or rather when the Divine is depicted as Tetragrammaton, the symbol for it is the Pentagram.

You might notice that the Pentagram is five pointed but YHVH only has the four elements. There is VERY long and complex reason for that, laboriously conceived by our great mages of the Golden Dawn, who perhaps enjoyed tedious and mind numbingly long thought experiments. I won’t go into it here, it’s not important if you just want to understand the Pentagram.

But for what it’s worth, the five lettered name is YHSVH, with the letter Shin representing Spirit. The name then spells Yeheshuah, and that is the original Hebrew name of Jesus.

(mind blow?)

By the way, that is why the old symbol of the Five Wounds of Christ was an inverted Pentagram, before it’s association with Satanism. There’s literally medieval Churches which have the Inverted Pentagram in their spires.

As A Symbol for Man/Spirit

Now that we’ve established that the Pentagram represents the sum of all elements, and the Divine. However, Man is said to be the reflection of the Cosmos too. You may have heard how God made Man in his image, and also that God dwells within us. This, the Pentagram becomes a symbol for the Human Spirit (which is basically the same as the Divine). This is best captured in Hinduism, where Brahman (The Cosmos) and Atman (the Soul) are considered identical.

“As within, So without”

(Note: For anyone actually confused when I say Man, I also mean Women. Please no bully)

Man is made of the four elements, together form and house the Spirit. This is the pentagram. One might say that the spiritually awakened man, who has the five elements working in harmony within him is the Pentagram. Each element can be represented with separate symbols too. For Earth (the physical body), the symbol if the Cross.

An interesting depiction of this is Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, where you see a person eagle spread in the form of the Pentagram, representing the Five elements, superimposed on a person standing with his arms out and tilted upwards in the form of the Cross (or specifically, the form of a man hanging on the Cross, known to the Christians as the image of the Crucification), representing the material body of Man. (Of course, this image itself has it’s own multitude meanings, as does the Cross).

While performing the LBRP, which is a basic ritual in ceremonial magick, this posture of the Pentagram is assumed at the end by the magician, to invoke the five elements within him. The Pentagram is both the Microcosm (Man) and the Macrocosm (The Cosmos)

EDIT (2019): According to Da Vinci himself, this symbol shows Man has the perfect blueprint of the Universe, made in the Golden Ratio (this is his official definition. He was definitely an Occultist). I won’t break down the image here, but it’s got some very strong symbolism. According to me, he is showing the Mundane, that is the Earthly vessel of Man, as well as the Sacred, the Awakened Man, as the same being. Or perhaps, like the symbol of Christ, he wants to show the emergence of the Awakened Man upon Crucifixion of his flesh. This is the same concept shown in Hinduism by the Lotus emerging from the mud.

Secondly, I should mention that the Pentagram enclosed in the circle represents Man, and so it is used as the symbol for the Earth element in many traditions. When I say “symbol” I mean implement. For example, in the Golden Dawn, Fire is represented by a Wand, Air by a Dagger, and Water by a Cup. The element of Earth is often symbolized a wooden Pentacle. Although the actual Pentacle has a Hexagram on it, it is depicted with a Pentagram on tarot cards.

Lady Venus

Venus is the Goddess of Love and Fertility, called the Morning/Evening Star. The Pentagram is closely associated with her as well, and this might be why we use it to depict stars in general. It should be noted that Venus rules over fame, drama, music and the arts. This is probably why the Pentagram is the symbol of celebrities and stardom.

If you look at the orbit of the planet Venus throughout the cycle of 8 years in the Earth’s sky, you will see it traces a rough Pentagram shape.
There is a lot of astronomy and math behind this, which I wont claim to fully understand. Google it if you want.

EDIT (2019): The Pentagram is not the Kabbalistic symbol of Venus. That would be the Seven sided star, or Heptagram. Nonetheless, the Five Pointed Star is a powerful and important symbol of the Sacred feminine.

When we are talking about Venus, we often mean the “lesser” aspect, known to the Greeks as Aphrodite Pandemos. This is the well known Goddess of Love, Sex, and fertility. This is the Heptagram Venus. This Venus, in Hellenic mythology, was the daughter of Zeus.

However, Venus is also the symbol of the Sacred Feminine itself, in it’s higher aspect. This Venus, known in Greece as Aphrodite Ourania, was born from the castrated phallus of Uranus falling into the Sea (Neptune). This is the ancient aspect known as Ishtar/Ianna in the Middle East, and as Shakti in India. This aspect is rightly symbolized by the Pentagram.

Remember how we discussed at the start that the five pointed Star first emerged in Mesopotamia? Well, in Mesopotaia, it was the symbol of Ishtar, and in Egypt a symbol of Isis. In Rome it was that of Venus, and even later in Christian Byzantine, it was used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. All of these deities represent the same force.

Ishatr was known as Astarte to the Greeks. Astarte. That’s why the Pentagram is symbol commonly called a “Star”. Mind blown?

Well, the “star” in question, at the time, referred not to the planet Venus, but to Sirius, or the “Tear of Isis”. It was the brightest star in the Sky, and it’s heliacal rising symbolized the ancient Egyptian New Year. The festival is still celebrated in Egypt.

Spirit Over Matter

You might have noticed how each arm of the Pentagram represents one of the elements, but the Spirit is the one on top. While the opposite of each element is depicted on the arm opposite to it, the Spirit, having no opposite, is on top. Even when you see Pentagrams with a different combination of the elements, the Spirit will always be on top.

The reason should be obvious. The Spirit is separate to the other elements. The Pentagram also depicts the message that the Spirit is superior to the material body, hence, “Spirit over Matter”, and here by “Matter” I mean “flesh”, or one’s Earthly life, desires and ambitions.

A thing to note here is that the astrological symbol of Venus also depicts this.

It’s a circle over a cross. Remember what I said about the Circle of the Spirit and how the physical body is shown as the Cross. The Circle is over the Cross, so once again, “Spirit over Matter”. I think it’s interesting how the Pentagram is a symbol of Venus, and the message it contains is contained in the astrological symbol as well.

In magick, it can be said to symbolise the exaltation of Spirit over Matter.

Inverted Pentagram

So, now that we know that the Pentagram is symbolic of Spirit over Flesh, we can see what the Inverted Pentagram stands for.

The Inverted Pentagram is structurally the same as the Pentagram, so it symbolizes the same Unity of Elements, The Spirit but now it is flipped, with the Spirit BELOW the four elements. You know what that means: the Inverted Pentagram depicts “Matter over Spirit”.

The Inverted Pentagram and it’s strange message have their own significance. You’ll be interested to know that the Second Degree of Witchcraft is symbolised by this Inverted Pentagram. I’m not a witch though, so I don’t know what exactly they do in this degree.

The Inverted Pentagram stands for a message that opposes what the Pentagram stands for, and this can be seen in the astrological symbol for Mars, which is the opposite of Venus.

As you can see, this time the Cross of Matter, which is now in the form of an arrow, is above the Circle of the Spirit.

The Order of the Eastern Star, which I believe is the Sisterhood associated with the Freemason Brotherhood, use an inverted Pentagram to show the Union of the elements.

EDIT (2019): In magick, this is the exaltation of Matter over Spirit, and is the opposing counterpart to the normal Pentagram. In this way, the upright Pentagram become the Key to access the Angelic forces above the realm of Matter, while the inverted version is for the Infernal forces beneath Matter (hence why Inferno lies under the surface of the Earth, while Heaven is symbolised as being in the Sky. It wasn’t just primitive people being superstitious. It was symbolic.)

We talked about how the Kabbalistic symbol for Venus was the Heptagram. Well, the Kabbalistic symbol for Mars in the Pentagram. Mars and Venus are strongly connected too. In Kabbalah, the Pentagram would a more male symbol.

I’d love to get into, but Kabbalah is just far too much for this already long article. In Kabbalah, the Pentagram (and the number 5) represent Kinetic energy, or motion. This is perhaps the most clear reason why the Pentagram is used as a symbol for Magick. It is the symbol for invoking any and all spiritual and mundane forces. It is Symbolic of force itself, and magick relies heavily on Invocation and Evocation of forces. It is like a spinning water wheel, helping you harness the latent energy of water and turn it into power. I could go on and on, from one thing to the next.

The Right and Left Hand Paths

The Pentagram and the Inverted Pentagram have been symbols in the occult for a very long time. The distinction was not commonly used by ancient magicians. It is generally seen as a modern new age idea. In ancient traditions, they would have been used together.

Eventually, there was the divide within the occult between the Left and Right Hand Paths. One of the primary differences between the two was whether God was inside us, or outside us. Now yes, I know that there’s a lot more to this, relating to the history of Black and White magick, and a long history of philosophical and ideological struggles, and we can argue about that forever.

But this was the first time the LHP and RHP properly came about. LHP believed that God was inside us, and so we should serve the Self only, so they chose the Inverted Star, which was Flesh over Spirit. This was probably influenced by the founding of atheistic Satanism at the time. The RHP guys said that God was external, a theory which had already been believed by the Church for centuries, and so they believed in serving others, and picked the normal Pentagram, Spirit over Flesh, which they interpreted as serving others before self. And so they argued whether God was within, or without.

One could say that the split was also between Hedonism and asceticism. If the Divine is external, then Spirit must be exalted over Matter. After all, we must sacrifice everything for the greater good. On the other hand, if all Divinity is within, then why not be self serving? Why not exalt the Matter over Self?

EDIT (2019): Lots of angry people have said that I never did justice to this topic here, and I know. This post is about the Pentagram, so I merely give an introduction to the RHP/LHP split in the Occult, and how they each used their Pentagram. It’s just so that new people an have a basic understanding. I myself do not ascribe to either, and follow the Middle path. And the way I see it, this was of thinking is only growing, as the old absolutist worldviews decline.

The Satanic Pentagram

Well, as you know, the RHP/White Magick and the LHP/Black Magick are still two existing streams within magick. I’ve made it clear how I don’t buy into that idea, but I still have to admit that they’re there. And obviously, even though the utterly polarized Serving Only Others vs Serving Only Self thing is more or less gone, an ideological divide over various other issues still exists, particularly over White and Black magick. The Inverted pentagram has a more common symbolism associated with it.

You’re probably familiar with it: it’s the image of a Goat head, which is Satan, superimposed on an inverted Pentagram with an outer circle that has five characters, which, which spell Leviathan. It is often called the Satanic Pentagram.

This is the symbol for the religion of Satanism, which today is an atheistic, philosophical religion present largely in the USA. The philosophy and ideas they believe in are also present within the LHP, and so this symbol has also become an emblem for many Black Magicians. The symbol of the inverted Star now represents the collective ideologies of the LHP, as the normal Pentagram sometimes represents the ideologies of the RHP.

I don’t mean that people will always show it with the goat head, and most of the times you’ll simply see an inverted Pentagram, but this does not simply mean “Serve only Self” anymore, but instead represents the ideas and beliefs that the LHP stands for, as oppossed to the ideas and beliefs of the RHP, which are often depicted by stylised variations of the the Pentagram, which also no longer really means “Serve only others”. I’ll leave it at that.

Remember again how the Inverted Star is linked to Mars. Well, Mars rules the sign of Aries, and it’s symbol is the goat head.

EDIT (2019): I should say that this largely affects modern traditions, especially those derived from the New Age. The way I see it, true, complete and authentic traditions reject ideologies entirely, accepting that the world is complex and each person must chart his own path.

You may object, but I personally hold that the LHP/RHP split is superficial. There is only one Magick, one force. Duality is ever present, and we must live in it, but it comes form the One.

Secondly, I say that no perspective is totally correct. I venerate both dark and light Gods, and respect the Gods and practices of others. To me the split is the sign that a practitioner is still polarised and blinded by himself. When I originally wrote this article, I was not confident enough to make such a statement. But now I am. This is not the fault of people, because they simply have not experienced the spiritual process fully yet. Suffering teaches empathy, and empathy leads to an end of polarity.

Elemental Pentagrams

The Pentagram is used to invoke forces. We established this before.

Within a ritual setting, the Pentagram can be used to represent each of the other four elements as well. This depends of exactly which of the five points you begin tracing from, and which direction you go:

So, in short, there is an Invoking and Banishing Pentagram for each of the four elements, making 8, and 4 for Spirit, both for passive and active, making 12. Technically, these Pentagrams can be used to Invoke and Banish pretty much all magickal forces, depending on how they are used. This is the primary use of the Pentagram for the magician. You will see it in a variety of rituals.

Concluding Note

As you can see, the Pentagram has a vast plethora of encoded and acquired meanings. You will often see people use it in different ways and give a different explanation for it, and remember, over time it may very well acquire even more meanings and associations. In this article I tried to give as clear an understanding as I could manage, starting simple and slowly building up the layers. I follow the Hermetic Kabbalah, so I have a bias towards the Kabbalah in general. There’s probably more about Pentagrams that I missed out. As I discover them, I shall continue to edit and update this post.

EDIT (late 2019): Yeah that’s not really happening. While I updated each post on this blog this year, any new ideas, experiences or insights I have will always be written as new posts. I hate changing old work, but I also don’t like bloating them with extra content. Remember, when on my blog, always read the latest post, and you’ll know where I currently stand on most things. For one, I can actually write now without spelling errors, and in more eloquent prose. At the very least, I no longer sound like a 19th century philosopher. Now I just sound like a 20th century philosopher!

Who knows, maybe we’ll get to the 21st one day. Lol amirite mah dudes. #sorelatable #pepedidnothingwrong #ihatehashtags. But I think I might scare away all my older, sophisticated readers in their 30s and 40s. You know, millenials 😛

All symbols in the occult have many meanings built on top of one core meaning, such as the unity of five elements in this case, but even that is a condensation of many things into one symbol, and the end result is a huge amount of energy contained in a single symbol. That is why these are called Symbols of Power. They too follow the Law of Rhythm, and over time grow, evolve and adapt, growing in power, influence and popularity. They are archetypal.

So remember, whatever the Pentagram means to you, it may mean something else to another person, and both of your interpretation is as valid as the other.

Well that’s it for now. Be sure to follow the blog. You can also follow me on Instagram @WhiteRavenMagus

EDIT 2020: As of July 2020, I’ve written a new book on the Tree of Life and Kabbalistic theory. I’m quite proud of it, and you can check it by going to the Books tab, or clicking right here.

Until we meet again

~White Raven

How to Make Seals for Ceremonial Magick

July 18, 2016June 11, 2020Posted in UncategorizedTagged clay, magic, magick, metal, new age, Occult, parchment, seals, sigils, spirituality, tools, wood14 Comments

Written July 18th, 2016 | Edited: 28th February 2019

So this time we’re talking about seals: those weird designs in circles that Japanese animators and game designers love.

There are many kinds of seals in Magick: Planetary, Goetic, Angelic, Demonic etc. Seals are essentially symbols that are used to invoke/evoke spiritual energies in a ritual setting, and function similar to idols in pagan religions, though more powerful. Seals are also unique, as traditionally, they are unique to ceremonial magick, especially in Solomonic Magick.

So, if you’re a ceremonial magician, and are ever planning to work with Demons, Angels, Geotic Spirits or the Planets, chances are you’ll be needing to make seals. However, making and consecrating seals is a tricky affair. The grimoires all have grand, or differing methods to make them, and the sheer amount of ways and opinions on the Internet can confuse the novice, especially those making them for the first time. So in this post, I’m going to go over how Seals work, and how best to create them, based on your desired approach. When the theory behind it becomes clear, it is easy to choose and build one’s own practice around it rather than just borrow from others.

Seals From Metals

Most Grimoires, such as the Key of Solomon, will tell you to make seals from metal, as must have been common in the Old days. The metal used depends on the planetary nature of the seal:

Sun= Gold
Mercury= Mercury (any solid alloy)
Venus= Copper
Moon=Silver
Mars= Iron (Although sometimes they say to use a mixture of Copper and Silver)
Jupiter= Tin
Saturn=Lead

Since Uranus, Neptune and Pluto aren’t part of traditional astrology, there are no metals associated with them, but they don’t have seals either so it’s fine. I’ve heard someone say Uranium, Neptunium and Plutonium.

These make sense, but you can’t acquire them anyway (even if you got some, a piece big enough to make a seal will probably kill you before the ritual is over, or at least, mutate you into a giant potato). Personally, I feel the correct metals for the new planets would be from the Platinum group of metals (which consists of rare metals like Platinum, Iridium, Indium etc. These are often used in machinery and electronics, and thus correspond well with the Trans-Saturnine energies, even more so than the radioactive metals).

Be careful with Lead or Mercury unless you really know what you’re doing. Both are fairly toxic, if handled without care. Also, possessing Mercury is illegal in some places, so watch out for that.

There was once a time when metal was probably the easy and cost effective way to make seals. After all many of the things, from horseshoes, to tools, weapons, armour, to common day to day items would have been made from metal, so finding a blacksmith would be easy. This would have been the case for most of human history, all the way from Old Kingdom to the Industrial Era. So, all they had to do was get a blacksmith to make it for them, or even make it yourself if you knew how.

What’s important to remember is not the material they used, but that they used what was readily and easily available to them. When the Occult was revived in the 19th-20th centuries, it must have become tricky to get your hands on metal, so at that point they started coming up with other methods.

If you want to use metal seals, go for it. Since the vibration of the metals is aligned with the planets, the seals will be very strong, but the same can easily be done with colour coordination.

You can buy them online, although the ones actually made from pure metal for the purpose of ritual are quite expensive. The price goes up if these were made by hand in the correct day and hour. The cheap ones I’ve seen are usually mass produced, and made of stainless steel or aluminium, and then electroplated.

You can of course, make your own! This is the Age of Information after all, and so it is very easy to learn. DIY shit is abundant these days, for those who have the time, money and space. The most popular example is probably Grant Thompson’s tutorials, but there’s many more. I’m not an american with a garage and industrial equipment lying around, so this isn’t the path for me. But I know for a fact that many occultists, especially those that belong to Orders and Covens, prefer to use real metallic seals.

Paper/Parchment/Fabirc Seals

Most magicians today prefer to use seals made from parchment or paper. If fact, in the Greater Key of Solomon, it specifically says that if you cannot use metals, you should use virgin parchment.

First off, I just want to clarify what they mean by virgin, because when I was new, I had to look around a lot to get my answer. By virgin, they mean a parchment that has never been used for anything else. If it wasn’t already obvious, don’t use a paper with something written or printed on it.

Some old grimoires require you to make other things out of the skin or feathers of virgin animals, but that something else entirely.

Parchment usually meant animal skin, or cloth/linen sheets, rather than modern paper. But I also want to point out that when this was written, parchment was what was generally used to write things. Once again, we come back to how they used what was common and widely available, and the material itself isn’t very important. The kind of paper we have today was not around and skin or linen was much more common, ever since we did away with tablets, plates and papyrus, which were common in their own times.

So, sticking with tradition, you can use paper. A great example of paper seals still used today are the Japanese Shinto seals. I imagine these were made of bamboo or rice paper in olden days.

Now, the kind of paper you want to use may vary. Normal paper is thin, and may not be the best for this. Personally, I use pastel sheets or cartridge sheets for white seals. It really depends on how durable you want it to be. I use black and white papers, depending on the type of forces I’m Invoking.

As for writing on the paper, I use coloured ink. It’s pretty much up to you. If you can’t get coloured writing material, use coloured paper instead and write on it with black. Or heck, just use a black marker on white paper. I’ve had success with torn notebook pages and sigils drawn in pen. Depends on how much effort you think needs to be put into it.

Some people write with dragon’s blood ink, or sandalwood paste, or even real blood.

Just like metals correspondences, there’s also colours associated with each planet. These are the ones commonly used in magick, but they may vary in the astrology of other cultures and religions.

Sun= Yellow (Planetary), Gold (alchemical), Salmon/Azure (Sephirotic)
Moon= Violet (Planetary), Silver/White (Alchemical), Light Blue (Hexagram)
Mercury= Orange (Planetary), Redish Brown (Sephirotic)
Venus= Green (Planetary), Pink (Pagan)
Mars= Red (Planetary), Crimson/Scarlet (Sephirotic)
Jupiter= Deep/Navy Blue (Planetary), Purple (Hexagram)
Saturn= Black (Planetary), Brown (Sephirotic)
Uranus= White (Sephirotic), Electric Blue (Planetary)
Neptune= Gray (Sephirotic), Bluish Gray (Yetziratic)
Pluto= Indigo/Crimson/Black (Personal Opinion)

As long as the colour is correct, you can use whatever tool you want, from colour pencils, to ink. One thing I want to say is that for Saturn, it would be better to use pencil to draw, since the lead in the pencil relates to Saturn. (I know the “lead” in pencil is different from metallic lead, but words have power).

However you make them, make sure they’re kept in a safe place where they don’t get ruined.

Seals from Other Materials

Clay: Seals can be made from clay. They’re not as good as metal, but they’re a bit sturdier than parchment. The clay being used should be natural, brown clay, not the synthetic white or orange clay you get, like air dried or polymer. You can then paint it with the appropriate colour.
The only thing with clay though, is that it contains the energy of the element Earth. Even though everything we use comes from the planet Earth, dirt in particular is traditionally also associated with the alchemical element of Earth as well.

Fabric: Parchment for books was traditionally made from linen/cloth, and seals can be made of fabric in the same way, and instead of using coloured ink, you could stitch coloured threads onto coloured fabric to make it. The Black Pullet actually states that its talismans be made from fabric, and gives an elaborate set of colours for the cloth and threads. Natural fabrics are better than artificial ones.

Wood/Stone: Wood seals can be made the same way as clay seals, but will need tools, so go for it if you know how. Wood is not so strongly associated with Earth, and you could probably use different types of wood based on the nature of the sigil, instead of colouring. In this case wood most closely resembles the original method of using metal. You can do the same with different stone surfaces. You can see John Dee’s Seal of God’s Truth above, made of stone. In fact, stone is the second most common material for ancient seals that we’ve found, after metal (although I suspect that’s because fabric/clay/wooden seals have probably disintegrated, while stone/metallic seals have been preserved. Most ancient seals were probably made from clay or copper)

This is about all the materials I can think of, that magical seals have ever been made from. Avoid artificial materials like plastic, for obvious reasons, but if any other natural material, likes beeswax appeals to you, you may use that. It’s all about remembering the core aspects of a seal, and how it will be used. Good Luck!

EDIT (2019): I have a great post on urban and modern material usage, here

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

Until we meet again

~White Raven