In need of practice...

Last night was our first private working together in our new house. We have been here for two months, but have had visitors for most of that time; not at all conducive to the invitation of and conversation with the spirits. In between, we did a working together with two other magicians in which we conversed with Usiel and Ansoel about divorce shenanigans for a client. My first paid working. It was strange, and I’ll comment about it one day. Not now, though.

Our first private working, then, in our new space, was a spirit pot working. RO has some client work bound up in these, and lately gave a talk including a brief mention of their use at MNCON, an OTO convention held last weekend in Minneapolis at Leaping Laughter Lodge. A spirit pot, basically, is a particularly rich talisman that gives a meeting place between you and a spirit, a place from which the spirit can influence your physical reality. He’s written extensively on such things, have a look here:

http://headforred.blogspot.com/2011/07/spirit-pots.html

The actual recipe for the pots were using will be in his blog post of today (he’s sitting next to me writing it, in fact… “Babe, what’s the herb we used that smells like a dirty sock?”)

http://headforred.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-dukes-are-back-in-town.html

The target for my spirit pot was a duke, as described in the the Pseudomonarchia daemonorum:

"Vapula is a great duke and a strong, he is seene like a lion with griphens wings, he maketh a man subtill and wonderfull in handicrafts, philosophie, and in sciences conteined in bookes, and is ruler over thirtie six legions.”

Yesterday, Venus was in Leo. Additionally, of course, Friday is the day of Venus, and the Dukes are all about Venus…

My part in the working began with a ritual bath, NaCl and NaHCO3 added. I took kratom beforehand; I was interested in its effects on my scrying. Kratom is an herb local to Thailand (currently legal, but this status may soon change – keep your eye on Erowid) that is considered a mild stimulant and intoxicant. In candlelight, I sang Lutheran Te Deum, and put my head under the water and listened to the sounds of the house, the tub, my heart beating. When the water started to cool off, I got out and bound my hair in a white, new dishtowel.

RO began the Trithemian rite by calling on the Source/First Father. After that, he performed the LRP and I the LRH. After that, we returned to the script described in the latest entries. Before we donned our phlacteries, I took off the towel. RO consecrated me to the work at hand, and then he summoned Vapula.

When he entered, my head (the back particularly) became hot and slightly prickly. The crystal had in it a figure like a superposition of a hawk’s head and the skull of a big rodent. There seemed also to be a pointy tail underneath these things - a scorpion’s tail, perhaps.

Vapula made the crystal appear to be a tiny planet, complete with an atmosphere. This seemed a wonderful trick that he did just for me. Then, the atmosphere became a black aura around the crystal that throbbed.

When RO asked him if he had anything to tell us, he said, breathily, “Who are you?” Then he told RO to speak to him more. RO reminded him of other workings they had done together.

When prompted, he agreed to work with me on deepening both my learning of physical sciences and occult history and philosophy. He agreed to come when I call on him. He liked the spirit pot, and wants menstrual blood to be applied to his seal.

[I’ll have to consider that request…]

At this point, he showed me several different phases and forms of iron, including blood, before we wrapped up.

When releasing Vapula, RO blessed him and said, amongst other things, that we hoped any obstacles between V. and his Source would be removed. V seemed to like that very much.

A couple of comments on the rite: I’m out of practice and I could tell. I guess it’s like playing a musical instrument. If you play guitar and you lose your callouses, it’s hard to dive in. Perhaps worse if you play a woodwind or brass instrument and need an embouchure.

I’m also not drinking alcohol at the moment, and am as a result more sensitive about all sorts of things. The kratom gave me a terrific headache later, so use with caution. I am not going to use it again.

Tonight…more spirit pots. For those of you interested in the male-female/conjurer-seer stuff, you should know that I’ll be driving this time. I’ll report back.



Blessed be thou.

Yin and Yang of Ritual Work

The role of women as magicians is a topic that rolls around the internet periodically. It seems to be back in sight at the moment, and I wanted to say a thing about it. Most of what has surfaced is the usual. Lots of it is advice driven: Don’t hang out with people who want you to do things that seem inappropriate to you (no sex for initiations, don’t pay the guru too much, etc). Find something that resonates with your interests, and don’t be intimidated into doing things. There’s nothing earth-shattering here. People should do what feels right to them, and avoid doing anything that feels wrong.

Another topic that has surfaced (again and again) is whether certain magickal organizations are inherently sexist. Under particular scrutiny at the moment are the societies that were developed in late Victorian times with a masonic structure. Certainly, when looked at with modern eyes, the people who developed these societies look fairly sexist. For their times, however, they were for the most part quite progressive. The organizations founded around the turn of the 20th Century that are still in existence also find themselves on the edge of social progress. Since they promote the double-edged sword of personal freedom and responsibility for one’s actions, these occultists are typically supportive of LBGT rights and of any sort of consensual relationship. Many are champions of civil rights of all kinds.

The “sexist” label comes into play, at least in the OTO, because of the lack of outwardly recognized female saints and the very rigorously defined roles of priestess and priest in the Gnostic Mass. Since this is the only OTO ritual that most people know anything about, this evidence can appear somewhat damning. However, there are reasons for the sexual polarity invoked in the Mass, having to do with the energy of procreation.

Descriptions of the reasons for the public silence involved in female saints and this sexual polarity of the Mass are numerous, and truly scholarly work exists to explain how this is in no way represents a sexist situation. I’m not going to go into those things, because others have done a beautiful job of it already, and if you’re going to allow yourself to have a knee-jerk reaction about the facts in the paragraph above, adding my voice to those will not change your mind. The reason I brought this up is that I wanted to address some polarities in ceremonial ritual work that have been under discussion lately.

I want to talk about the polarity that exists in the working pair of the magician and the seer. In this operative pair, the magician is the projective element, and the seer the receptive element. This is not the same as doing dishes as compared to changing the oil in the car. The latter pair of activities do not have an inherent polarity, they just both need doing. The only thing that is similar about the two pairs of activities is that there are not inherent gender assignments for either one. The relationship of the magician and the seer in conjuration is the same as an outgoing email is to the electronic answer. They form a necessary couplet, which is a communication. It is also as gender specific as this example, which is to say, not at all. It's not even a different function, it's more like a frequency shift, as in the gif of the sine waves.

To more thoroughly beat this dead horse, then, men are not inherently the projective part of the pair. Women are not naturally more sensitive, and therefore the seer. I would venture that you can’t do either at will, you need to do some homework. Some people have brought forward that I’m the seer end of the R.O. – H.F. dyad because I’m female. Folks, it’s just not that simple. My professional life is thoroughly masculine. I’m normally the only woman in the room at any meeting. About my role in magickal operations, I have been the projective part of our magickal couple many times, but prefer the receptive part because I need the practice. My “mundane” life doesn't give me that opportunity; I’m lucky to have it in my spiritual work.

In closing, I’d like to say something indirectly related. It’s been forever since I’ve written a post. I’ve been finding a new job, finding a new home in a city 1300 miles away from where I am now. And now I’m packing. Prior to that, the room that served as our temple developed a leak in the window that the landlord wouldn’t repair, making it impossible for us to use that room the way we were beforehand. I am hoping my focus returns to ritual work shortly; life isn’t the same without feeling the invisible friends at your side. Is it?

Blessed be thou.

Shabbatai!

RO and I performed a conjuration of Tzaphkiel, spirit of Saturn, last night.  It was the first planetary working for some time, since we’ve been busy with Thelemic things (including an invocation of Baphomet that I may describe at a later point).  Tzaphkiel is held to be the angel of YHVH Elohim, and is connected with the sephira of Binah.  The link between “understanding” as the characteristic of Binah and patience and hidden things (a few of Saturn’s attributes) is chiefly made through the application of silence and observation, which will explain some of what we experienced.

I started with a purification bath, with sea salt, magnesium sulfate and sodium bicarbonate.  I made it as hot as I could bear, as I have reported previously, and sat singing bits of Lutheran liturgy until the water was cold, then dressed in a black robe with my phylactery and a black filmy veil.  I was absolutely empty at this point.  I went into the temple room, where RO was finalizing the preparations of the altar and the space, and sat down.  Then we began.

We purified one another with hyssop and consecrated with Abramelin oil.  We then together said the phrase from the Stele of Jeu (ΑΟΘ ΑΒΡΑΟΘ ΒΑΣΙΜ ΙΣΑΚ ΣΑΒΑΟΘ ΙΑΟ).  After that we called universal forces with the First Father prayer, and consecrated the crystal and the incense. RO then summoned Tzaphkiel.  I then read Fr. Achad’s Conjuration of Kronos (http://hermetic.com/achad/misc/conjuration-of-kronos.htm ).  The room began to thicken, and I put down the veil.  It made the candlelight dance in an interesting and confusing way (meaning it was perfect).

RO then read the Orphic hymn to Saturn.  The room was electric, and I peered into the crystal.  I saw first a mouth with a thousand very slender and pointed teeth, and it then resolved itself into any eye.  The overall sense was a quiet expectant waiting.  RO saw an old man in the crystal, but I will leave his impressions for his blog post on the subject. 

RO then stated our requests, for Tzaphkiel to open us to the wisdom of his sphere, to help us on the path to occult wisdom and understanding.

Everything felt of quiet and patient waiting (although I confess to being concerned about the flammability of the veil and the lack of a strong impression) when I heard the voice:

“You can take off the veil any time you want.”

Of course, there was a mild joke in it about my headdress, but it was also directly addressing our request.  Apparently, it really is up to us.

Blessed be thou.

Photo credit: http://www..aworldofmyths.com%2FGreek_Gods%2FCronus.html

"Reality" and the Observation of Unseen Things

RO and I have been talking about people and their experience of the realm invisible.  He was explaining that one of the most common questions that he is asked is "how can I see spirits?"

Well, I think I'll start answering this question.  In the last couple of posts, I have stated that it is not a unique ability.  In fact, it's a practice, not an inherent skill.

So, first.

Why don't you ask yourself if you think you know what reality is.  I'm referring to something basic, something that we can all agree with.  Is there such a thing?

Lost because it wouldn't fit through the door of my new apartment was the Couch.  I was sad when the movers had to donate it to a good home, because that sofa had taught me something truly useful.  It was a giant brown couch.  Or a giant purple couch.  It's color actually depended upon the observer.  My son and many of his friends would swear on a stack of bibles (or at least their current favorite DM manual) that the sofa was purple.  To me, it was brown, brown like dark chocolate.

What color was it "really"?  It should come as no surprise that different people have different experiences of the external world, but I was certainly surprised that this effect extended to basic visual characteristics of things.  The discussion of whether this is a sensor problem or a processor problem is left to a future post.  The take-home lesson is that your world and my world are not the same.

This effect was initially tested by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris at the University of Illinois  with a movie that is a classic test of selective attention.  It proves that if you're focused upon one characteristic of a scene, you might (many people do) fail to see strange and amazing things in the scene that you HAVEN'T been told told to monitor.  The youtube link above contains this video clip.

So, I think that we can agree that we are unable to gather and process all the data presented to us, at least in part because of our focus.  We focus on our jobs, spouses, children, pets, hobbies.  This to us is "reality."  In order to experience the rest of the data that we collect, but are not aware of, we must change of focus.  This is not rocket science.  Depending upon how deeply we are engaged with what we consider to be physical reality, it may not be easy to change your focus, but it is SIMPLE.

I propose to start discussing the development of the ability to sense the invisible with a simple exercise.  

For an entire day, decide to experience every sound without a clear origin as being a message from a disincarnate entity.  Your rational mind will hate this, most likely, so be intentional about the way to talk about it to yourself.  "What if that sound means a spirit is trying to send me a message."  "That faint buzzing sound might be an angel appreciating these flowers in my temple."  Don't spend any time trying to convince yourself, just entertain the possibility.  Lightly, if possible.  Treat it as an experiment.

Like I was saying in a previous post, there's a huge spectrum of information that we're exposed to every day, some of which we can't sense (parts of the EM spectrum, for example) and some parts that we can process (only a small part of our experience is used to derive our notions of "reality").  This little experiment may help to un-glue you from whatever you're used to paying attention to, and open your senses to something a little different.  Some of you are doing this all the time, for others it could be the first step into a slightly enlarged world.

Blessed be thou.

Data comparison, occultist style

Last week, fellow occultist Brother MS honored me with a request to take part in a double blind experiment, the conjuration of a spirit he had recently encountered.  He sent me the sigil (below) and a brief description, and asked that I report back on my findings.

Daisos' sigil

The spirit was initially encountered during some Jupiter work during which Fr. MS asked Jove to send him a spirit to help him with his concerns, particularly in regards to managing finances and obtaining wealth. MS provided the following description of his experience: “As soon as he had asked, he sat up straight as though in trance and had a vision of the sigil and following it, a small putto appeared wearing a dalmatic and stole, carrying a spade and sliver of a lightning bolt. Around him, in Greek letters, appeared his name: Daisos (Δαισος).”  A short conversation ensued between MS and Daisos, and the day after, MS received a small loan and then later, came into a larger sum of money that enabled him to pay off some debts.  Daisos seemed to him like a good character to know, and few days later, RO and I got to work, amusingly enough, without firstly looking up the definition for the word “putto”.

Daisos was conjured using a modified Trithemian rite and Tzadqiel as an intermediary, in honor of the Jupiterian nature of his initial arrival.  I felt him first of all as a burst of heat.  We asked after his nature, and he was a little confused.  He settled on something like "catalysis that brings expansion" and "quickening," such as when a plant germinates.  As to appearance, he "rode" me more than I saw him, but both RO and I saw a triangular image in the crystal, a little foxy.  RO had the initial impression that Daisos was a terrestrial spirit of air.  The spirit said that he was more comfortable with plants than people or animals. Our experience was that of an agricultural/botanical spirit.  The spirit even made reference to the three blue-purple morning glories that were on the altar in honor of Jupiter.

Further, he didn’t seem explicitly masculine, although he did have an expansive feel about him.  Indeed, he had a strong childlike quality about him: RO asked him what his favorite flavor was.

He didn't understand this question at all, and began (as a way to sideline the question almost) talking about how things smell.  I interpreted it as a Shinto nature spirit type of entity.

Daisos had words explicitly directed to MS: "needs to have heat to bring wealth, the heat that quickens" and he showed me a seed.

MS's drawing of Daisos

Following the conjuration, we spoke with MS.  The amount of agreement between our experiences was quite remarkable.  He agreed that Daisos was very ruddy - that was his first impression.  MS stated with respect to the first contact  “it wasn't so much seeing but there was a heat and then a more concrete image of the putto.”  MS showed us an image of Daisos that he had drawn, below, in which the spirit is similar to a winged cherub.  When the three of us were talking about the experience, I had to confess that I hadn’t known ahead of time what a putto was.  MS described a putto: “They're nature spirits. Usually called 'cherubs' but that's another thing. They are basically classic, Romano-Hellenic angels.”

MS felt as though we had achieved a very good confirmation of the basic nature of Daisos.  We both felt the heat, the agricultural/botanic nature of the spirit, as witnessed first by the little shovel.  The mention of the seed appealed very much to MS, as he often works with plant spirits.  The image of the seed had been appearing recently in dreams, additionally.  He confirmed the innocent of the spirit, “He's very childlike in my interactions.”

It was an amazing experience, and has built a little confidence into my practice.  I’ll be looking for further comparison work like this.  Thanks to Brother MS, to RO and, naturally, to Daisos!

MS may well tell this story from his side in his blog, The Digital Enchiridion: http://michaelseblux.wordpress.com/

"Psychic"?

Someone gave me a hard time last weekend about having claimed to be psychic.  Besides mild irritation, because I have not (nor would I) ever declared myself "psychic," this denunciation brought up some thoughts that I thought I would share.

I began this blog with the thought that if I, a very linear and logical person, could develop a seer's capacity, then probably most people could do the same.  The blog itself is actually an exploration into concrete aspects of the practice.  

There, I've said it.  It's a PRACTICE.  

We live in a cold and rational world, and people in general try to restrict themselves to that sort of "thinking" way of being.  However, that is by no means the only technology with which to experience the world.  A useful comparison might be that of the very small range of electromagnetic radiation that can be directly experienced by the human eye (370 to 780 nm or so) compared with the whole of the known EM spectrum, from gamma rays to radio waves.  It goes without saying that humans can readily see the visible spectrum easily, but the remainder of all radiation can be detected using sensors to relay the information to the eyes and then to the mind.  Therefore, we can "sense" the entire EM spectrum, if we have the right technology.

Seership is something like that.  Want to open yourself to different realms?  The mystical realms are yours to explore.  There are the ways that take less effort, such as entheogens and alcohol.  There are physical ways, like exercise and sex.  There are ways that have been documented by mystics throughout time, such as trance and prayer.  It is very passive and receptive, and there is great work sometimes involved in the act of removing oneself from the path of information.  A rough paraphrase from a  Meister Eckhart text: "One must agree to the flow, as it rushes forth from the unmanifest, and be buoyant enough to keep up with its unfolding. Nothing can snag or delay the person awakened to the simple matter of rising to this life.  The repetition of seeing involves living life as a seer who is purified by the seeing."

I bet that Eckhart was not directly discussing the issue of seers and spirits, yet for me, his description is very pertinent.  I cannot say whether or not my experiences agree with those of other workers, as I haven't been doing this for very long, but as I develop the opportunity to perform these comparisons, you'd better believe I'll write about them.  Even if the comparisons don't seem to match, because...well, I never claimed to be psychic, but I do claim to be a experimentalist. One that documents the events.

Emotional Content in Scrying

Last night, it being Thursday, RO and I were doing our weekly Jupiter ritual.  This began  in a way similar to the Taphthartharath conjuration that I described recently, although it was a good deal more formal.  We donned suits, we had whiskey on hand, we worked to Mozart’s Requiem.  Like nearly every working we do, we started with the Invocation to First Father, we spoke the words from the Stele of Jeu (Invocation of the Headless God), we consecrated the crystal and incense.  As I sat in readiness, RO conjured the archangel of Jupiter, Tzadqiel and read the Orphic hymn to Jove.

 

RO spoke to Tzadqiel of G4J as a community, who liked this very much.  A graceful dancer appeared in the crystal, along with the heavy and electric atmosphere that we often feel.  T, who felt particularly feminine, provided me the vision of the members of the community as ballet dancers on a stage, each a perfect diamond unto themselves, but also trying to establish choreography, an organization.  A rush of love came at this point, indicating the depth of T’s regard for us all who are using the forces of Jupiter to better themselves and the world.  I wept with happiness, overwhelmed with the intensity of this feeling.  T. asked RO at least once to speak more about the Gents.

This is the first time that my seer experience has been so dominated by an emotion.  I truly felt love the way I did at church when I was a child, and not since.  I continued to weep throughout the remainder of the rite.

Still weeping, I leaned over to touch one of the cats, who had been present since the Invocation of the Headless God, purring incessantly.  As I did, an electrical and incredibly pleasurable feeling came over me.  T. whispered "what a gift it was to be incarnated."  Ah.....

Blessed be thou.