Things have been nutty around here, but I hope you all had a lovely July 4th holiday...or just a lovely July 4th, for those who aren't American.
I've been having some interesting conversations about demons with ceremonial magicians lately, and thought it proper to share some insights. But let's start with a mood lightener (not for tiny tots): Silly demons
What set the conversation off was that a friend found and connected with a Pazuzu statue. Since Pazuzu is named a demon, he was worried about working with him (the spirit, not the statue). My personal way of looking at this: Pazuzu is such an old spirit that the very limited information we have on him is probably at least slightly off. So enter with extreme caution. This is the Cliff's Notes version, of course, and he's an experienced magician. It's been an ongoing dialogue. If you want to know more about this alleged demon who eats demons...Pazuzu
American culture tends to demonize what it doesn't understand. I have been reading the Goetia (Lesser Key of Solomon) out of curiosity more than anything else, thinking it was all about invoking demons, and can't help but notice how very many pagan gods are named demons. Just for the record: I believe in one Creator with many aspects. Creator is not divided so much as just different to different people, kind of like your uncle Glen makes goo-goo faces at your kid but makes off-color jokes to you.
Demons are neutral, etymologically speaking. If you want to make any arguments about it, talk to the Greeks.
From L. dæmon "spirit," from Greek: daimon (gen. daimonos) "lesser god, guiding spirit, tutelary deity," (sometimes including souls of the dead).
"Demon" probably took on a negative connotation when the pagan gods were ousted (or sainted) by the Judeo-Christian majority. My personal feeling is this: if you think you're working with something evil, you are; if you think you're working with something good, you are. Would I invoke/evoke The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, etc.? No, because I believe what's created in the astral must eventually manifest in the physical. First, I don't believe in this Christian construct/egregore, which, in my opinion, is likely a misunderstood version of Cernunnos to begin with. What I mean is it would be hard to divorce the concept of Baphomet and The Devil. For me anyway. I doubt I could look at the Devil and think, What a nice guy. I'd borrow a cup of sugar from him if he were my neighbor. And people working with those entities right now probably don't have goodness and light in their hearts. So there's the egregore/construct and then there's the real thing...and I want to make sure I know which one I'm dealing with. The truth of the names (that is, what these spirits really are) Lucifer--doesn't that name mean "light bringer"?-- and Satan are probably lost. I feel a little safer with Cernunnos. Maybe for someone else, Lucifer's flames could burn away some of their darkness.
As I've been researching demons for a future fiction book, I would love to know what anyone else's thoughts are on the subject.
Showing posts with label hermetic magick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hermetic magick. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Planetary Hours
The Planetary Hours is something I have never explored before, and always wrote-off as a bit too technical and silly. Not today. I'm learning to use the Agrippa method to calculate planetary hours, as it's been very effective so far. There are some great explanations of how to do this on the Web, but I have been just using:
Lunarium
The thing that has interested me today, when it comes to planetary hours, is how to use this in "real life" situations, as opposed to magickal uses. The more you use something, the more you learn. So I broke out my trusty Kabbalistic Tree of Life reference book, and found that both Chesed and Netzach are associated with some form of "love." Sounds like a nice, soft energy to me. Netzach's planetary influence is Venus, and Chesed's is Jupiter. So today, just for fun, I looked up the Venus and Jupiter planetary hours. I tried to put my son down for his nap during the Jupiter influence, but by the time he had lain down, it entered into the Mars influence (all about aggression and opposition) and I noticed it was a real struggle for him to try to sleep. So I let him goof around and put him down for his nap during the Venus influence and that boy DROPPED to sleep. I'm going to put him to bed for the night during the night time Venus (or Jupiter) hour and see if it works as well. It's really interesting to see these cycles in action on a mundane level. I have to believe magicians have been employing these methods for *some* reason for (at least) hundreds of years, but seeing something work on a practical level is every bit as interesting to me. I also find it helpful to know the times when my kid is just *not* going to go to sleep.
If you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, here's a place to find the basics, at a glance:
Tree of Life
Lunarium
The thing that has interested me today, when it comes to planetary hours, is how to use this in "real life" situations, as opposed to magickal uses. The more you use something, the more you learn. So I broke out my trusty Kabbalistic Tree of Life reference book, and found that both Chesed and Netzach are associated with some form of "love." Sounds like a nice, soft energy to me. Netzach's planetary influence is Venus, and Chesed's is Jupiter. So today, just for fun, I looked up the Venus and Jupiter planetary hours. I tried to put my son down for his nap during the Jupiter influence, but by the time he had lain down, it entered into the Mars influence (all about aggression and opposition) and I noticed it was a real struggle for him to try to sleep. So I let him goof around and put him down for his nap during the Venus influence and that boy DROPPED to sleep. I'm going to put him to bed for the night during the night time Venus (or Jupiter) hour and see if it works as well. It's really interesting to see these cycles in action on a mundane level. I have to believe magicians have been employing these methods for *some* reason for (at least) hundreds of years, but seeing something work on a practical level is every bit as interesting to me. I also find it helpful to know the times when my kid is just *not* going to go to sleep.
If you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, here's a place to find the basics, at a glance:
Tree of Life
Friday, May 20, 2011
The Law of Attraction, & Metallica
(You'll find out what this has to do with magick towards the end.)
Ever since last Christmas, when my mother got my husband and I the DVD The Big 4, I really wanted to see the Big 4 live. The DVD is of Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, and Metallica live in Sofia, Bulgaria. I really really really wanted to see them all live. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I'd watch the DVD and think about it. "Wouldn't it be awesome to see?" I asked my husband. "Yeah," he said wistfully. "If they come close within driving distance, I want to go. We're going," I said. Then, in the last month or so, I started having constant dreams about Metallica. Meeting Metallica. Being backstage. Metallica, Metallica, Metallica. And I thought, I haven't even been listening to their music lately. Why am I dreaming about Metallica? So I go onto their web site. They're coming to New York in September. Within driving distance. I wish I would have listened to my dreams sooner: we'd have better tickets. What's really ironic is they announced adding the new show on their web site on my birthday.
For the last year, I wanted a Kindle. I really really really wanted a Kindle. I cut out a picture of a Kindle in a magazine and looked at it. I didn't have to have the 3g, just the regular old Kindle would be fine. However, the picture I cut out was of the Kindle 3g because it's what I found. I put it in my clipboard. Every so often, I'd open my clipboard and see the picture and think, Boy, it would sure be nice to have that Kindle. Then I would picture myself using it, feeling it. I decided. For my birthday, I was going to get a Kindle. I told my husband, "Hey, there are a lot of folks who love me. If you all chipped in, I could get that Kindle." He grunted. I told my mom...who happened to be in Best Buy at the time. Guess what I got for my birthday? Kindle 3g. And I LOVE my Kindle.
What does this have to do with magick? EVERYTHING. Of course, the most important aspect of Hermetic Magick is reaching what some would call enlightenment and what others would call Unity with God. (And I mean nothing male or female about the term "God." God has no gender in Hermetic magick.) I've been working the practical bits as well as the spiritual ones, myself.
According to Donald Michael Kraig in Modern Magick, 3rd edition, "...whatever is created on the astral plane eventually must manifest in our world, the physical plane." (My emphasis.) This also happens to be a form of Grey Magick, according to some. It doesn't matter if it was conscious or not. I could suffer some sort of backlash for doing this Grey Magick...or not, depending on who you ask. I'm really really really hoping that the backlash is that I somehow get to meet the Big 4 <g>. But anyway, if this was a magick I had consciously set up, I would have done the Binding Spell, or, as I like to call it, The Waiver. (see below for Binding Spell and possible switcheroos).
So why did I get what I wanted? Kraig says, "The more emotionally involved you become with your goal, the greater your chances for rapid success." Guess what? I would look at that Kindle picture pretty often and think about how much I wanted it. All I could think was, I'm going to get it. I was positive about it. Never let doubt or negativity enter my mind. I watched that Big 4 DVD pretty often, loved the music and would think, I really want to see this live. Again, I was positive and emotionally involved.
The Binding Spell
By the power of three times three,
This spell bound round in love shall be
To work no ill nor return to me
As I will,
So mote it be!
You can totally take the Wiccan elements out, if you choose, and make it Christian:
By the power of Jesus
This prayer is meant well
So don't let ill
Return to us
Amen.
or whatever, depending on your beliefs, as long as you have something in there about how you have good intentions and don't want anything crummy to happen and come back at you.
This sort of work is nothing more than a prayer. You're sending your intended desire out into the Universe, hoping "something" will hear you. Wicca is my background so this is probably what I would do. However, now that I've been practicing ceremonial magick, I might do a tarot reading beforehand to discover the outcome.
Before you go thinking this is just a bunch of witchy New Age hooey, I'll say that most Ceremonial Magick is based on the Kabala (Jewish mysticism). Golly, wasn't Jesus a Jew?
Ever since last Christmas, when my mother got my husband and I the DVD The Big 4, I really wanted to see the Big 4 live. The DVD is of Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, and Metallica live in Sofia, Bulgaria. I really really really wanted to see them all live. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I'd watch the DVD and think about it. "Wouldn't it be awesome to see?" I asked my husband. "Yeah," he said wistfully. "If they come close within driving distance, I want to go. We're going," I said. Then, in the last month or so, I started having constant dreams about Metallica. Meeting Metallica. Being backstage. Metallica, Metallica, Metallica. And I thought, I haven't even been listening to their music lately. Why am I dreaming about Metallica? So I go onto their web site. They're coming to New York in September. Within driving distance. I wish I would have listened to my dreams sooner: we'd have better tickets. What's really ironic is they announced adding the new show on their web site on my birthday.
For the last year, I wanted a Kindle. I really really really wanted a Kindle. I cut out a picture of a Kindle in a magazine and looked at it. I didn't have to have the 3g, just the regular old Kindle would be fine. However, the picture I cut out was of the Kindle 3g because it's what I found. I put it in my clipboard. Every so often, I'd open my clipboard and see the picture and think, Boy, it would sure be nice to have that Kindle. Then I would picture myself using it, feeling it. I decided. For my birthday, I was going to get a Kindle. I told my husband, "Hey, there are a lot of folks who love me. If you all chipped in, I could get that Kindle." He grunted. I told my mom...who happened to be in Best Buy at the time. Guess what I got for my birthday? Kindle 3g. And I LOVE my Kindle.
What does this have to do with magick? EVERYTHING. Of course, the most important aspect of Hermetic Magick is reaching what some would call enlightenment and what others would call Unity with God. (And I mean nothing male or female about the term "God." God has no gender in Hermetic magick.) I've been working the practical bits as well as the spiritual ones, myself.
According to Donald Michael Kraig in Modern Magick, 3rd edition, "...whatever is created on the astral plane eventually must manifest in our world, the physical plane." (My emphasis.) This also happens to be a form of Grey Magick, according to some. It doesn't matter if it was conscious or not. I could suffer some sort of backlash for doing this Grey Magick...or not, depending on who you ask. I'm really really really hoping that the backlash is that I somehow get to meet the Big 4 <g>. But anyway, if this was a magick I had consciously set up, I would have done the Binding Spell, or, as I like to call it, The Waiver. (see below for Binding Spell and possible switcheroos).
So why did I get what I wanted? Kraig says, "The more emotionally involved you become with your goal, the greater your chances for rapid success." Guess what? I would look at that Kindle picture pretty often and think about how much I wanted it. All I could think was, I'm going to get it. I was positive about it. Never let doubt or negativity enter my mind. I watched that Big 4 DVD pretty often, loved the music and would think, I really want to see this live. Again, I was positive and emotionally involved.
The Binding Spell
By the power of three times three,
This spell bound round in love shall be
To work no ill nor return to me
As I will,
So mote it be!
You can totally take the Wiccan elements out, if you choose, and make it Christian:
By the power of Jesus
This prayer is meant well
So don't let ill
Return to us
Amen.
or whatever, depending on your beliefs, as long as you have something in there about how you have good intentions and don't want anything crummy to happen and come back at you.
This sort of work is nothing more than a prayer. You're sending your intended desire out into the Universe, hoping "something" will hear you. Wicca is my background so this is probably what I would do. However, now that I've been practicing ceremonial magick, I might do a tarot reading beforehand to discover the outcome.
Before you go thinking this is just a bunch of witchy New Age hooey, I'll say that most Ceremonial Magick is based on the Kabala (Jewish mysticism). Golly, wasn't Jesus a Jew?
Monday, May 16, 2011
Magick
So far, this blog totally makes me want to snooze so after some thought, I've decided I'm going to start talking about the things that really interest me outside of writing. Chiefly: magick.
I don't want to deal with religion because it's really not my interest to tick people off. I can do that without controversial topics. I personally believe that religion shouldn't matter. People of all religions can improve their lives and the lives of people around them using magick. They do anyway; they just don't call it magick.
If you pray, then you use magick. It's through an intermediary, but it's still magick. A loooong time ago, I was taught that magick is defined as:
1. To Know.
2. To Will.
3. To Dare.
4. To Keep Silent.
My teacher went on to say that magick is a matter of "intent." This was her way of saying "will." And I think intent is a little easier to understand. Of course, that whole "To keep silent" thing rarely happens anymore. People always want to tell you their business, whether you want to hear about it or not, don't they? But silence makes for stronger magick. Do a working. Don't talk about it, if you can avoid it. Why? Blabbing on and on about it tends to dilute the work itself. It's kind of like when someone tells you the same story over and over and inwardly, you think, this guy won't shut up about this, will he? He's told me this story at least ten times. You get sick of hearing the story, but the guy goes on telling it because he likes it so much. It depletes the initial telling. Talking about magick itself doesn't work anyway. You just have to show up and do the work to understand.
I personally feel those four (above) make for a pretty flimsy definition of magick. I think magick is: an act (or acts) of will, which uses means not currently understood by traditional Western science, that brings about a change in consciousness and/or circumstances. To use prayer as an example of magick, here's why: you are using an act of will (words of intent such as praying for the health of a friend) that, at the very least, offers you or your friend some comfort (a change in consciousness). Whether the magick is effective or not, that's another issue. But it is magick.
I don't want to deal with religion because it's really not my interest to tick people off. I can do that without controversial topics. I personally believe that religion shouldn't matter. People of all religions can improve their lives and the lives of people around them using magick. They do anyway; they just don't call it magick.
If you pray, then you use magick. It's through an intermediary, but it's still magick. A loooong time ago, I was taught that magick is defined as:
1. To Know.
2. To Will.
3. To Dare.
4. To Keep Silent.
My teacher went on to say that magick is a matter of "intent." This was her way of saying "will." And I think intent is a little easier to understand. Of course, that whole "To keep silent" thing rarely happens anymore. People always want to tell you their business, whether you want to hear about it or not, don't they? But silence makes for stronger magick. Do a working. Don't talk about it, if you can avoid it. Why? Blabbing on and on about it tends to dilute the work itself. It's kind of like when someone tells you the same story over and over and inwardly, you think, this guy won't shut up about this, will he? He's told me this story at least ten times. You get sick of hearing the story, but the guy goes on telling it because he likes it so much. It depletes the initial telling. Talking about magick itself doesn't work anyway. You just have to show up and do the work to understand.
I personally feel those four (above) make for a pretty flimsy definition of magick. I think magick is: an act (or acts) of will, which uses means not currently understood by traditional Western science, that brings about a change in consciousness and/or circumstances. To use prayer as an example of magick, here's why: you are using an act of will (words of intent such as praying for the health of a friend) that, at the very least, offers you or your friend some comfort (a change in consciousness). Whether the magick is effective or not, that's another issue. But it is magick.
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