Grimoire Shamanism The Shaman and the Solomonic Path Aaron Leitch
For at least the past two or three generations, the Solomonic grimoires have been popularly associated with lodge-style ceremonial ceremonial magick and secret societies. Therefore, when first suggested the grimoires are more intimately connected to paganism and folk!witchcraft traditions, than to men like "ac#regor "athers or Aleister $rowley, e%pected the idea would become somewhat controversial. nstead, to my surprise, it has stirred much more interest than controversy. have not only received re&uests for more information, but have also heard from many modern-day sorcerers who have come to similar conclusions conclusions about the Solomonic material. 'f you have read my essay essay Modern Grimoire Magick , you have seen how stumbled upon an entire Solomonic movement among the same people who practice (oodoo, (e%craft and other other folk-magick traditions.) So, it turns out my message was given directly into the hands of a waiting audience* would dare say such an audience has not e%isted since #erald #ardner+s publication of High of High Magick's Aide in Aide in . /ritten to mask real magickal practices in the cloak of historical fiction, the story depicts a medieval Solomonic wi0ard and a 1agan witch working hand-in-hand, as if their practices were closely related. '/hich, of course, they were*) n #ardner+s day, the Solomonic grimoires were still still held in high regard by practicing practicing witches. For e%ample, you can find elements of the Key the Key of Solomon the King within within 23ld 4eligion2 covens- such as the 5ew Forrest- and even in #ardner+s /icca. Today+s students have apparently come full circle. They want to break away from the 2self-help occultism2 of the past two two or three decades. They are now willing to learn learn about the very same 3ld "agicks from which- 6ust a few years ago- they would certainly certainly have been told to steer clear. Santeria, 1alo, 7oodoo, (oodoo, (e%craft- even Solomonic magick itself 'especially the Goetia and Goetia and similar te%ts)- were so recently recently sub6ects to be avoided or derided. derided. 5ow, people who desire magick that 2really works2 are e%ploring systems descended directly from tribal shamanic worldviews, where Angels and spirits are real rather rather than mere psychological constructs. /ith all of this in mind, feel there is a place for this essay- especially for those who would like more information about the shamanic shamanic nature of the Solomonic te%ts. n what follows, will briefly summari0e the premise you can find elaborated within Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires, Grimoires, and then
offer some illustrations of modern Solomonic mages at work.
Shamans and Exorcists First and foremost, would like to take a moment to e%plain my use of the term 2shamanism.2 2shamanism.2 am aware that many scholars are moving away from using that label as a s a universal 2catch-all2 for any system of primitive tribal spirituality. spirituality. t does, in fact, make it easier to assume that different cultures cultures in different times and places all practiced 2the same thing2, vi0.- 2shamanism.2 5othing could be further from the truth'*), and can assure the reader that do not use the term in such a manner. nstead, am using the term to indicate the social conditions c onditions surrounding the shamanic vocation as opp osed to those social conditions that typically typically surround the Temple 1riest in in history. The 2shamanism2 describe can be found in any culture, any culture, ancient or modern, tribal or metropolitan. #iven my broad use of the term, cannot attempt to offer a cohesive definition of shamanism. nstead, can only outline those practices that collectively make collectively make a tradition shamanic8 $ommon aspects of the Shaman+s vocation are withdrawal into solitude, rituali0ed death-rebirth, the gaining of 1atrons and Familiar Spirits 'from whom the Shaman learns most of his magick) and learning a secret language langua ge of some sort 'such as the languages of birds or animals). 3nce he gains mastery, he must be able to e%orcise the dead, demons and nature spirits spirits without falling prey to them. (e must also develop relationships with the #ods of the tribe or community, so that he can petition Them for aide in times of distress 'such as plague, drought, failed hunts, crop shortages, etc). 1erhaps most universal to shamanism is the ecstatic trance- often obtained via drugs or physical discomfort!e%haustion- which allows the Shaman to visit the #ods in the celestial realm, or descend into the underworld to retrieve the lost souls of the sick and dying. These ecstatic states are his primary source of power - not only making his astral 6ourneys possible, but also granting him such superhuman abilities as invulnerability to pain!in6ury from fire, snow and free0ing water, blades or blunt weapons. Also, many of the ndo-9uropean tribal cultures that b ear directly upon the development of /estern civili0ation shared a common cosmology. They believed in a three-fold universeuniverse- consisting of a celestial world, a physical world and the underworld. The celestial world was the home of the #ods, beginning with a transcendent Father Fa ther #od who was most often the $reator and directly associated with the Sky. This 2Father Sky2 was followed followed by a number of Sons or "essengers "essengers - often in groups of seven or nine, and associated associated with visible heavenly bodies 'such 'such as the seven 1lanets). These younger #ods were not transcendent, but regularly interacted with the physical world and human beings. Shamans were charged with gaining the favor of these #ods for the good of the tribe, and it
was often one of these #ods who would become the 1atron or Spiritual Spiritual Spouse of the Shaman. (e was also charged with keeping the spirits of the underworld either appeased or at bay. 3f course, no single culture or tradition will include all of these aspects, or place them within the same conte%t, or even place the same importance upon them. They are not even the e%clusive 6urisdiction of the Shaman, as the 1riest will often fulfill fulfill shamanic roles when the Shaman is not available. 'Such as when the medieval $hurch drove out 1agan healers and replaced them with their own clergy.) (owever, the 1riest is much less likely to engage in astral trips, or ac&uire Spirit Familiars. (e usually comes by his knowledge in a university-style university-style setting, rather than a death-rebirth death-rebirth initiation in solitude. 1lus, the 1riest performs his work under the authority of an established established religious body, while the Shaman almost never does so. /here it comes to the Solomonic grimoires, we find a curious mi%ture of the shamanic and priestly vocations. /hile the intent of of the magick hearkens back to tribal witchdoctors, the content borrows much from established $hurch ritual and procedure. Thus, we find spells for such things as retrieving lost property, divining the future, healing sickness and getting ahead at work, that re&uire such things as the performance of a "ass, the use of a consecrated (ost and the singing of 1salms. believe this is because the grimoires were written by a group of people who fell somewhat between the two e%tremes of 1riest and Shaman. 3n one hand, many of them were clerics of one type or another. Some of them were priests or even higher-ranking officials, officials, while a likely greater number were low-ranking scribes and other other $hurch personnel. '$alled the 2purified ones2, these clerics performed minor duties such as carrying holy ob6ects, preparing the altar, writing music, music, transcribing te%ts, etc.) 3n the other hand, their occult practices were most certainly certainly not sanctioned sanctioned by $hurch authorities. /hile this put many Solomonic mages+ lives at great risk, it also afforded afforded them some freedom to act as freelance shamans within their communities. t is possible possible that much of the Solomonic genre was created by members of the clerical 3rder of 9%orcists. $onsider, for instance, this &uote from the Key the Key of Solomon the King 8
(e who hath attained the rank or degree of 9%orcist, which we are usually accustomed to call "agus or "aster according to grade...
The Key The Key and and other Solomonic te%ts often refer to the operator as an 29%orcist2, and we can see from the above &uote that the term indicates some kind of rank. /hen we look into the medieval medieval use of that term, we find it within the hierarchy of the $atholic $hurch. The medieval $hurch was divided into three three ma6or and four minor 3rders. The first three
'1riesthood, :eacon and Subdeacon) Subdeac on) re&uire ordination, while the final four merely re&uire appointment and are mainly composed of the low-ranking low-ranking 2purified ones.2 These minor 3rders have changed according to time and place, and have included such offices as Acolyte, 4eader, :oorkeeper, 1orter, Lector and- of course- 9%orcist. The 9%orcist was charged with 2laying hands2 ha nds2 upon new converts- to cast c ast out lingering spirits before one was bapti0ed. t was also his duty to tend to the sick, e%orcising the demons of disease. Thus, ailing peasants in a medieval village would visit the e%orcists at the local church, 6ust as they would have previously visited the local witchdoctor. ;ecause of this, there were few few re&uirements for the role of 9%orcist beyond a charismatic personality and 'preferably) a knack for faith-healing. n many ways, the 9%orcists lived on the outer fringe of $hurch dogma.
always be a need for humankind to interface with the spirits of the world, and thus there will always be a need for the Shaman. n medieval 9urope, one form the Shaman took took was that of the grimoiric grimoiric mage.
The Solomonic Magus and the Way of the Shaman /e can easily find several e%amples of such shaman-mages in action. n the Book the Book of A$ramelin, A$ramelin, we follow the 6ourneys of Abraham the =ew as he heals the sick, offers o ffers magickal aide to kings and princes and even raises the dead across 9urope. n his 6ournals, :r. :r. =ohn :ee recorded instances of himself and 9dward >elley performing magick and divinations for their community, colleagues and even the ?ueen herself. 'Legend has credited :ee with creating the storm that sunk sunk a Spanish fleet before it could attack attack ;ritain.) (enry $ornelius Agrippa, author of the famous#hree famous #hree Books of %ccult !hiloso&hy, !hiloso&hy, once confronted a local n&uisitor on behalf of a poor woman suffering imprisonment and torture on charges of witchcraft. (e succeeded in securing her release, had her accusers arrested, drove the presiding n&uisitor from office and 'some say *) ended the n&uisitor+s life via magickal means. The above are merely the more popular e%amples of grimoiric mages working to protect their communities, nation or humanity as a whole. f you would like to read read more anecdotes about the grimoires and the people who wrote and used them, highly recommend the Magic the Magic in History series History series from 1enn State 1ress. 1ress. Take special notice of 9. ". ;utler+s ;utler+s Ritual Ritual Magic and Magic and 4ichard >ieckhefer+s or$idden Rites. Rites. ;oth books include in-depth discussions discussions of the culture that gave rise rise to the Solomonic te%ts, as well as e%cerpts from medieval records depicting both masters and amateurs attempting to use the magick. At this time, wish to focus upon the manifestation of the Shamanic Arts within the grimoires themselves. have already outlined many of the points points that can earn a practice the label of 2shamanism.2 Therefore, can now revisit revisit that list and provide e%amples e%amples of the same principles within a few of the more popular p opular grimoires. To begin with, should mention that the Solomonic te%ts generally adhere to the same tribalshamanic cosmology described earlier8 a celestial Father #od 'the $reator) $reator) who charges (is many many Sons or "essengers 'Angels) 'Angels) with the governance of the physical physical world. /hile the Father #od can be invoked for aide and authority, (e truly truly remains transcendent and far-removed far-removed from reality. t is (is Angels and spirits whom the mage summons for an y given purpose. /e can also see that the shamanic three-fold cosmology was adopted by mages like Agrippawho based the structure of his #hree Books of %ccult !hiloso&hy upon !hiloso&hy upon it. it. 'Agrippa actually described a
celestial realm, an intelliectual realm realm and a physical realm. realm. (e recogni0ed the infernal realm, but left left it 2unspoken2 in his three-fold cosmology. nstead, he added the intellectual realm to represent the mind, where man and #od meet. This may have been a #nostic influenceinfluence- as the #nostics tended tended to view the physical world and (ell as the same place, and placed much importance upon the "ind of #od.)
"oving forward in our list8 list8 The initial vocation 'or calling!initiation) calling!initiation) of the Shaman often involves a long period of seclusion, seclusion, during which a death-rebirth ordeal must be endured. 3ften during such an ordeal, the spirits of sickness and in6ury will attack the would-be Shaman in a kind of spiriualalchemical process. As each attack is endured and survived, survived, the aspirant is further further purified and strengthened- until the spirits spirits eventually lose all power over the new Shaman. t is this ordeal that grants the Shaman his primary source of spiritual authority. authority. As the spirits have already failed in their initial attempts to kill him, the Shaman en6oys a position of superiority to- and invulnerability from- the dangers they might pose to a layperson. t is not difficult to find parallels parallels in the Solomonic te%ts. 5early all of them insist the aspirant must remove himself from public life, preferably spending his time alone in ritual purification and prayer. 9ach te%t outlines its own regimen, but it is generally agreed that the longer and more intense the seclusion and preparations, the more more powerful the magick. Also, note that these these preparations are more often associated with evocation of spiritual entities, rather than with folk-magick spells or talisman creation. A great e%ample is the Book the Book of A$ramelin, A$ramelin, which re&uires a full year and an d a half 'or, in the French version of the te%t, a mere si% months) of seclusion and ritual preparation before attempting contact with the #uaridan Angel and the infernal infernal spirits. 9very single day, the Abramelin aspirant aspirant must wash, enter an established established 3ratory and recite prayers before an Altar. As the regimen progresses, progresses, more prayers and ritual preparations are added until- by the time the evocations begin- the aspirant has become consumed by the process. 5ot only that, but he is also e%periencing the mental stress associated with such long periods of seclusion. This creates an altered state state of consciousness that allows one to perceive the Angel and spirits. The Book The Book of A$ramelin is A$ramelin is also the best e%ample of the ordeal of death and rebirth in a Solomonic te%t. have covered this aspect of the system in another essay, essay, #he Holy Guardian Angel( Ex&loring the Sacred Magick of A$ramelin the Mage, Mage, so will share some e%cerpts with you here. These are from my descriptions of the final seven days of the 4ite8
The second day is the first day of the invocation of the Angel. This is where the funerary
symbolism of the 4ite comes into play. At dawn, one is not to wash or don the /hite 4obe, but instead must put on the 4obe of "ourning @made of black sackcloth. 3nce 3nc e inside the 3ratory, ashes are taken from the $ensor and placed upon oneBs head 'a funeral custom found in ;iblical literature- such as the ;ook of =ob), and a black veil is placed over the head and face. @... :ay three ... continues the funeral rite. At dawn, one enters the 3ratory as a s in the previous day, wearing the same 4obe of "ourning. 5ow, the aspirant must lay prostrate upon the floor, with his head at the foot of the Altar, and pray silently for three hours or more. This is the symbolic 2laying within the tomb2 found in many solar :ying and 4ising #od mythos. @... The fourth day ... progresses from the death de ath symbolism of the previous two days into the rebirth half of the e&uation. (ere at last the /hite 4obe is worn once more- symbolic of the resurrection and spiritual purity of the aspirant. 'The donning of a white robe at the end e nd of such an initiation is found as far back as ancient 9gypt.) 3ne is to kneel at the Altar and begin to offer prayers of thanks to the (ighest as well as invocations to the #uardian Angel. f all has gone well, it is here the first tentative contact with the Angel will be achieved.
The ob6ective of the Abramelin process is to bring an end to the old way of life, and initiate an entirely new path. Thanks to the e%tended seclusion, social contacts will have waned, old habits have been broken and the aspirant faces an entirely new life on the other side of the process. The death-rebirth symbolism of Abramelin merely symboli0es this fact, and associates it with the death and resurrection of holy figures like $hrist and 3siris.
The ne%t point is perhaps the the most obvious8 A shaman+s vocation usually involves involves the reception of his spiritual 1atron and Familiars. (e then learns his magick directly from those spirits, and has the ability to communicate with them in times of need. /e can find e%amples of this dynamic innearly in nearly every grimoire. grimoire. The Book The Book of A$ramelin is A$ramelin is dedicated entirely to this process - beginning with the permanent invocation of one+s (oly #uardian Angel. That Angel, then, is supposed to to teach the aspirant countless magickal secrets - including the methods of summoning and binding the infernal spirits. The infernal spirits are also e%pected to teach the aspirant some magick, as well as provide the names of any number of lesser spirits who will serve serve the aspirant as familiars. Four of these lesser spirits, in particular, particular, are charged to stay with the aspirant at all times for the rest of his life. life. (aving achieved all of this, the
final book in the grimoire provides hundreds of talismans for use in communicating with the spirits for any necessity or desire. The !auline The !auline Arts, Arts, one of the five books of the )emegeton the )emegeton,, also pays special attention to the aspirant+s 1atron Angel. This time the Angel is one of a group of CDE who govern the degrees of the 0odiac. According to the te%t, you share a special relationship with the the Angel who rules the ascending degree of your own nativity. ;y following the process outlined in the book, you can establish contact with that Angel and learn magick, gain information, receive guidance, etc. At the other end of the spectrum are books like the Goetia, Goetia, also of the )emegeton the )emegeton.. (ere we find no mention of 1atrons or #uardian #uardian Angels. (owever, we do find a list list of G ranking spirits spirits of the infernal hierarchy, any of whom can teach the aspirant mysteries 'magickal, scientific, philosophical, etc) or provide personal familiar spirits. Such spirits can be bound to a brass vessel 'or something similar) and become permanent members members of the household. 'This is also also covered in depth in Modern in Modern Grimoire Magick .) .) will go further further into this aspect of the grimoires below. There are so many wonderful e%amples of this dynamic in the grimoires, couldn+t hope to list most of them here. To my knowledge, no Solomonic grimoire in e%istence fails to include include this to some degree- and most of them are dedicated to this sub6ect alone. 3utside of a few folk recipes their authors may have found useful, the bulk of the grimoires focus upon the evocation of Angels and!or spirits, and assume the aspirant will learn the magickal arts directly directly from them. As the author of the Book of A$ramelin states8 A$ramelin states8
n time, have become able to to recogni0e the holy angels and the good spirits. spirits. now share their friendship and have discussions with them. They have e%plained to me the basis of true magic and how unredeemed spirits need to be- and must be- controlled. To finish, need to say that learned the holy secrets through Abramelin+s teachings from #od himselfH and learned to do the true, not false, magic from the holy angels.
The above is also related to the ne%t aspect of shamanism- the ability to command the dead, demons and nature spirits without without falling prey to them. them. /e have already seen that both A$ramelin both A$ramelin and and the Goetia outline Goetia outline how to e%orcise and bind the infernal spirits spirits as familiars. To these we can add te%ts like the #heurgia*Goetia, #heurgia*Goetia, the Key the Key of Solomon the King , the He&tameron the He&tameron,, the ourth the ourth Book of %ccult !hiloso&hy and !hiloso&hy and the Magus the Magus.. All of these, and hundreds of similar and derivative te%ts, te%ts, include directions for commanding, binding or overcoming the infernal spirits- or communing with the spirits of nature and the 9lements.
Let+s now e%amine another aspect of the shamanic vocation that bears directly upon the grimoires - learning a secret language. n ancient tribal cultures, cultures, this was often associated associated with the languages of animals or birdsbirds- with whom the Shaman was believed to communicate directly. 'An important skill for any tribal shaman who practiced animism.) animism.) ;y the time we reach the point of written history, we find that magickal languages have become the dead languages of past human civili0ations. For e%ample, the 1riests of ;abylon used ancient Sumerian as their sacred language. The 9gyptians, too, utili0ed older forms forms of 9gyptian hieroglyphs in their their magick. The point was that the language had to be obscure- unspoken by the common people and known only to those who study it. A dead language remains static- unchanged by linguistic evolution resulting from common daily usage. t should also have some foundation in the history of a given culture. All of this makes it sacredsomething that can be set aside, and allows mystics to assign correspondences to the letters or sounds, incorporate them into established rituals, etc. Thus was Sumerian useful to the later ;abylonian 1riests. So, too, were (ebrew, #reek and Latin sacred sacred languages within medieval =udeo-$hristianity. =udeo-$hristianity. For the Solomonic mages, nearly any ancient tongue was sacred. They adopted names and con6urations from 9gyptian, $haldean, ;abylonian, Sumerian, (ebrew, Latin, #reek, $optic and even more sources. 3f course, it was rare for an author to have any real knowledge of more than one or two of these languages 'such as Latin, #reek or (ebrew). As such, many of the ancient names and con6urations were handed down in a hapha0ard fashion. suspect the words were transmitted orally for for
some time, during which they would certainly have mutated to some degree. Then, when the grimoires were penned, their authors simply recorded the words phonetically, writing down what they had heard from their teachers. The problem was further compounded as the magickal te%ts were circulated circulated and transcribed. For e%ample, scribes who did not understand understand (ebrew made glaring errors- &uite often mistaking one (ebrew letter for for another letter with a similar shape. t was even worse when when they attempted to transliterate the (ebrew characters into 9nglish, as every individual scribe had his own style of transliteration. transliteration. 'The same is true today, which which is why we can see the (ebrew (ebrew ?;L(- ?oph, ;eth, Lamed, (eh- spelled 2?abalah2, 2>abbalah2 or even 2$abala.2) 3ver time, small errors were compounded on top of small errors until 'in many cases) the words had lost all semblance of their original forms. n the grimoires themselves, we can find truly bi0arre con6urations such as the following from the Key the Key of Solomon the King 8
con6ure ye anew by these other names of #od, most holy and unknown, by the virtue of which names ye tremble every day - ;AI<$, ;A$<4A;35, 1ATA$9L, AL$(9#(9L, A?
Today we call words like these 2;arbarous 5ames of 9vocation2- which simply means 2foreign words of command.2 The phrase is is taken from #he +haldaean %racles of ,oroaster , which is neither $haldean nor Ioroastrian. t first appeared during the 4enaissance, making it contemporary with Solomonic mystics. The relevant passage from the te%t te%t states8 2$hange not the ;arbarous 5ames of 9vocation, for there are sacred 5ames in every language which are given by #od, having in the Sacred 4ites a 1ower neffable.2 The admonishment to leave the 2barbarous names2 unchanged likely arises from a recognition that the ancient languages were not understood. understood. They were already corrupt in the Solomonic te%ts, and it would therefore be unwise to attempt to alter them further. This philosophy resulted in the the establishment of a new sacred language- of sorts- as we see in the above &uote from the Key the Key.. (aving been committed to record, these words are as static as those of a real dead language. They are never spoken in common business, and their derivation from the ancient /estern languages gives them a cultural foundation and history. Finally, can+t let the sub6ect of sacred languages pass without mentioning =ohn :ee+s and 9dward >elley+s Angelical Language. t is especially relevant relevant to our discussion, because it adheres so
well to our model of shamanism. 5ot only did :ee record for us a large portion of a new Secret Language, but he received that language directly from the Angels themselves. "ost of the invocations :ee recorded 'consisting of K Angelical $allings) are intended for use with a specific magickal system. (owever, his 6ournals reveal that Angelical was used for for several purposes beyond the $allings, and the Angels told him they preferred it 2before that which you call (ebrew2- presumably meaning the (ebrew :ee would have used in his occultism. 'n fact, there is one e%ample in the records of :ee creating a talisman talisman with Angelical characters for for a woman in trouble.) ;oth :ee and >elley were assured that the Angelical language would grant them unprecedented ability to communicate with Angels and command spirits. Since :ee+s lifetime, the Angelical language ha s had a large impact on /estern 9sotericism. "ost of that impact has come through the (ermetic 3rder of the #olden :awn - which had its own particular approach to the language and rules for its pronunciation. Several groups who followed the #olden :awn have also created their own recensions. Today, scholars have a much better grasp grasp of :ee+s original system, and are revisiting his 6ournals to study Angelical in its original form 'with its original pronunciations). /e should see some of the results of these these newer studies within the the ne%t couple of years.
At long last we reach our final aspect of shamanism- the use of the ecstatic trance to produce magickal power. This included nearly everything the Shaman accomplishedaccomplished- communing with spirits, physical strength!invulnerability, celestial flight, divination divination and- of course- creating visions. All of these things depend on the alteration alteration of consciousness to an ecstatic ecstatic mental state. t is literally literally the opening of the mind to the greater spiritual universe, so that one can perceive the Angels and spirits who live there. Agrippa gives a lot of space in his #hree Books--- to Books--- to this sub6ect8 ;ook dedicates seven consecutive chapters 'D-DK) to e%plaining the the passions of the mind and their their importance to magick. n ;ook , he returns to the sub6ect in si% chapters '-E), where he e%plains the ecstatic trance or 2phrensy.2 n chapter he describes this this as the vacation of the spirit spirit from the mage+s body, followed by the entrance of the (oly Spirit to fill the space. 3nce the (oly Spirit has 2possessed2 the mage, both prophecy and magick are possible8
...prophesying is not made according to the will of man, but holy men spake as they were moved by the (oly #host.
/hen oracles and spirits descend from the gods or from daemons upon them, and are delivered by themH which descendings the 1latonists call the falling down of superior souls on our souls. souls. ... 3f which sort of deamons ... were wont to enter into into the bodies of men, and make use use of the voices, and tongues, for the prediction of things to come...
;ut these kinds of fallings down, or senses, come not into our souls when they are more attently busied about anything elseH but they pass into them, when they are vacant. 5ow there are three kind of vacancy, vi0., phrensy, ecstasy and dreams. @#hree Books--- ;ook Books--- ;ook , $h.
These phrensies and ecstasies are are outlined by Agrippa over the ne%t four four chapters. The first type he describes is the phrensy 2from the "uses2- which basically indicates revelation through inspiration. The second type is 2from :ionysus2- indicating e cstasy through religious fervor 'such as we see in modern faith-healing). The third type is 2from 2from Apollo2- indicating ecstasy gained by the the creation of mind-altering drugs and medicines. The fourth type of phrensy belongs to 7enus- indicating ecstasy gained through obsessive love and devotion. Finally, in chapter E, Agrippa e%plains that the removal of oneself from earthly distractions 'seclusion and ritual purity) and turning the mind toward celestial things 'invocation and prayer), results in the elevation of the soul to a near-#od-like state. n this state, the human vessel becomes fit for habitation by divine things. Thus, while the human mind is flying through the heavens with #od, the (oly Spirit might enter the body bod y to prophesy or perform miracles.
/hen we understand the Art of 9cstasy, it brings into focus many grimoiric spells that might otherwise a&&ear to to defy reason. For e%ample, the Book the Book of A$ramelin contains A$ramelin contains a chapter of talismans for 2Traveling in the Air2- on a ship, a cloak, a cloud, etc. A more obscure grimoire, today called the Munich Hand$ook of "ecromancy, "ecromancy, contains e%periments for obtaining horses 'winged a nd otherwise) and even a flying throne. 4ichard >ieckhefer classifies these as 2illusionist e%periments2, meaning that these horses and thrones are not to be taken literally. nstead, they represent visionary visionary trips the mage can take into the heavens, to meet with and petition the Angels. >ieckhefer also classes spells to create visions and illusions 'of castles, armed men, ban& uets, etc) under the same heading. n some cases, these visions visions are seen only by those engaged in the magick, and witnesses often report seeing nothing unusual at all. For e%ample, in the Book the Book of A$ramelin, A$ramelin, Abraham the =ew describes a woman who concocted a flying ointment, which the two used with apparent success. (owever, when Abraham later asked to observe the the woman as she took such a
trip alone, he only witnessed her fall the ground and sleep as if dead for a couple of hours. 9ventually, she awoke and described her 6ourneys to Abraham, but her trip had been entirely visionary. "uch the same can be said for for most instances of spirit evocation 2to physical appearance.2 The grimoires are ever romantic in their tone, and they tend to imply that the spirits will literally take on flesh and stand before the $ircle. $ircle. (owever, according to the records we have of actual Solomonic mages at work, the summoned spirits spirits hardly take on physical physical form. 1reviously, mentioned such records can be found in ;utler+s and >ieckhefer+s work on the grimoires. grimoires. Likewise, the 6ournals of :r. :r. :ee and 9dward >elley are e%tremely enlightening- as >elley could always see the Angels while :ee most often could not. n some cases, the participants participants will drink or eat some kind of mind-altering mind-altering brew- and even offer it to those witnessing the rites. 'Such as the flying ointment with which Abraham the =ew e%perimented). f such a concoction is not offered- or is refused refused by a spectator- then the the Angels and spirits are generally perceived only by the person's) skrying the entities. "ind-alteration is also also a big part of divination. divination. /hether one is summoning summoning a spirit to ask about hidden information, or attempting to skry directly into far a way places, the foundational purpose of the ritual is to create a vision that reveals the desired information.
1erhaps understandably, the sub6ect of mind-altering drugs in the grimoires 'Agrippa+s 2Apollo phrensy2) generates the most controversy today.
So, they say that if of coriander, smallage, henbane and hemlock be made a fume, that spirits will presently come togetherH hence they are called the spirits+ herbs. Also it is said that a fume made of the root of the reedy herb sagapen, with the 6uice of hemlock, and henbane, and the herb tapus barbatus, red sanders, and black b lack poppy, makes spritis and strange shapes a ppear.
Today we have a good understanding of these Mspirits+ herbsN and their effects on the human brain.
1lants like henbane, hemlock and black poppy produce hallucinogenic chemicals, and have traditionally been associated with the evocation of spirits, production of visions and illusions, etc.
Flying Ointment #1 8 $in&uefoil, 1arsley, Aconite, ;elladonna, (emlock, $owbane. Flying Ointment #2 8 (og+s Lard, (ashish, (ashish, (emp Flowers, 1oppy Flowers, (ellebore
5otice that most of of the ingredients listed are psychoactive 'many of them listed by Agrippa as Mspirits+ herbsN), and several of them also happen to be deadly. t is also possible to create oils with more benign drugs. For e%ample, there is much speculation speculation that the (oly 3il described in the ;ible '9%odus CE) was intended to include e%tracted T($ from cannabis. 'This ;iblical recipe was adopted whole-cloth whole-cloth into the Book the Book of A$ramelinA$ramelin- though there is no evidence the author believed that cannabis was intended.) (owever, such an oil would not likely likely have the astounding effects we see with to%ins like henbane and belladonna- which is likely why we find the latter in most flying ointments.
;efore end this section, should point out that the other phrensies described by Agrippa also come into play in the grimoiresgrimoires- especially those involving religious religious fervor and devotion. n fact, these play a larger role than mind-altering drugs, and are achieved via the e%tended periods of prayer,
confession and rituals of worship worship adopted from $hristian $hristian and =ewish religion. /e also find a heavy emphasis upon fasting, seclusion, vegetarianism and general stimulus deprivation 'abstinence and moderation in all things). Taken together, all of these combine to create a shift in brain brain chemistry for the grimoiric magus. cover all of this this in considerable depth in Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires. Grimoires.
Modern Solomonic Shamans Last year, was invited to speak at the first first Austin, Te%as /estern /estern "ysteries $onference. For my lecture, chose to read my recently-published essay Modern essay Modern Grimoire Magick( olk Magick and the Solomonic !ath. !ath. (owever, also wanted to add something something new- in case anyone in attendance had read the essay on their own. Therefore, after the reading, went on to discuss the work of a fellow Solomonic mage, who drew from my work and had posted his results for all to see. hoped to give the audience an idea that this isn+t all theoretical, but that real people are out there, right now, actually doing this this kind of work. 5ow, would like to do the same in this essay. First, will relate the same anecdotes shared at the conference. Then, would like to share some some entirely new anecdotes- this time about the magickal &uest of a young lady who once came to me for advice on Solomonic magick in general, and the )emegeton+s )emegeton+s M !auline ArtsN ArtsN in particular.
Frater !O! and the
Goetia
3ur first Solomonic magus is best known by his motto- Frater 4ufus 3pus 'or, at the time gave my lecture, Frater 4edactum 3pus). Frater 4.3. was hardly a beginner when when first encountered him. (owever, he had been inspired inspired upon reading my essay Modern essay Modern Grimoire Magick , as well as some forum discussions concerning MSpirit 1ots.N To e%plain briefly8 the creation of a Spirit 1ot is an e%tremely ancient method of working with lesser spirits and familiars. t appears in cultures around the world- though the most common in America are likely the gnangas the gnangas fashioned fashioned by practitioners of the Afro-$aribbean faiths Santeria and Santeria and !alo. !alo. A gnanga is gnanga is often an iron cauldron- sometimes a terracotta pot- filled with substances that are in natural sympathy with the familiar spirit. 'For e%ample, the gnanga the gnanga of of an ocean spirit will include water, plants, fishes and ob6ects ob6ects taken from the sea. A river spirit would re&uire such ingredients taken taken from a local river, a mountain spirit would re&uire items taken from a natural high place, etc.) There are 6ust a few e%amples of this concept in the grimoires- the most famous being the ;rass 7essel of the )emegeton the )emegeton+s +s Goetia. Goetia. According to that te%t, te%t, >ing Solomon attempted attempted to entrap G ruling
spirits of (ell within a vessel of brass, brass, which he then tossed into the sea. (is goal was thwarted, however, after the ;abylonians witnessed him dispose of the vessel. ;elieving it to be full of treasure, they later fished it out of the water. "uch like ancient 1andora opening the forbidden bo% of (uman /oes, the ;abylonians broke the seal and released the evil spirits spirits into the world again. TheGoetia The Goetia further implies that a Solomonic mage can use a similar ;rass 7essel to bind any of the G spirits, or any spirit at all. 1art of my Modern my Modern Grimoire Magick essay essay was dedicated to e%plaining Spirit 1ots in detail, and suggesting ways to incorporate the same ideas into the Goetia+s Goetia+s ;rass 7essel. "ost modern occult te%ts suggest one summon, &uestion and finally banish the spirits each time we have need of them. (owever, made the suggestion that the spirits could be bound to the ;rass 7essel instead- creating what facetiously called a MSolomonic Gnanga.N Gnanga.N This appealed to Frater 4.3., who began his own e%periments with the process. The spirit he chose to work with is the GDth of the Goetia, Goetia, named ;une- who is described as bringing riches to the 9%orcist8
(e is a Strong, #reat and "ighty :uke. (e appeareth in the form of a :ragon with three heads, one like a :og, one like a #ryphon, and one like a "an. (e speaketh with a high and comely 7oice. (e changeth the 1lace of the :ead, and causeth the Spirits which be under him to gather together upon your Sepulchres. (e giveth 4iches unto a "an, and maketh him /ise and 9lo&uent. (e giveth true Answers unto :emands. And he governeth CE Legions of Spirits.
According to the Goetia, Goetia, ;une is a :uke of o f (ell- which makes him a spirit of 7enus whose Seal should be fashioned from copper. (owever, Frater 4.3. decided to use the the correspondences outlined in $rowley+s 000 , which assigns ;une to the 0odiacal sign of Sagittarius. 1ersonally, would have suggested he stick with the attributions of the Goetia itselfGoetia itself- though must stress that Frater 4.3. was not MincorrectN in his choice. Spiritual entities are not restricted to the correspondences correspondences we assign to them, and it is possible to work with any spirit from the the standpoint of various M1aths.N Thus, Frater 4.3. simply chose to work with a 2Sagittarian 1ath2 of ;une, rather than the more traditional 7enusian 1ath. To begin with, Frater 4.3. obtained a brass pot with a lid, and decorated it according to the instructions in the Goetia. Goetia. 'The :ivine 5ames of the #oetic #oetic "agickal $ircle are inscribed inscribed around the circumference of the ;rass 7essel, which our Frater did using the letters of the Malachim the Malachim "agickal "agickal Alphabet.) (e also fashioned a Secret Seal of Solomon and placed it under the vessel+s vessel+s lid.
(e then followed my instructions by filling the vessel with ob6ects sy mpathetic to ;une 'as listed in 000 for for Sagittarius)- such as 4ush grass, incenses of lignum aloes and sandalwood, dates and raisins, an arrow carved from cedar wood, etc. "ost important, of course, is the Seal of the spirit itselfitselfwhich is the main focus for the entity inside the vessel. Frater 4.3. reported that ;une+s presence was distinctly felt as soon as the vessel was created- and he placed small 'appropriately-colored) candles around the pot to attract and feed the entity until it was time to formally bind him to the vessel. At last, Frater 4.3. performed the full evocation ceremony outlined in the Goetia. Goetia. '4emember that modern systems usually $egin at this point*) (e placed the completed vessel into the the Triangle of the Art, summoned ;une and asked the spirit spirit if it would like to reside therein. therein. The spirit agreed and was commanded into the vessel once and for for all. There was no banishing. t was only afterward that the real work work took place. Frater 4.3. began to interact with ;une and the vessel on a daily basisbasis- eventually developing a relationship with with the spirit. t took some trial and error in order to learn how it operates8 at first, he hoped ;une would help him win the lottery. That didn+t work at all, but he soon found that ;une was perfectly willing and able to bring new clients and contracts to his 6ob. ;efore long, Frater 4.3. had more work than he knew what to do with, with, and the collective profit he stood to make went into the thousands of dollars* 'Sagittarius is ruled by =upiter, and =upiterian spirits are notorious for bringing riches through la$or rather rather than free and easy money.) This has only been a brief introduction to Frater 4.3.+s e%periments with ;une and the ;rass 7essel of the Goetia. Goetia. f you would like to follow follow his e%periences as they they developed- including photographs of his work- simply visit www.rufusopus.com www.rufusopus.com and and click the link for MSpirit 1ot 3perations.N
"athy Mconald! and the Pauline Arts Arts
>athy "c:onald is one of my favorite success stories. stories. 5ot only is she one of the most seriously dedicated Solomonic mystics have met, but she also came to it through much trial and tribulation in her life. (er e%perience has truly been a shamanic shamanic vocation. first met met "s. "c:onald through my Solomonic Solomonic #roup at Jahoo. At the time, her life life had recently undergone drastic changes. She had incredible emotional obstacles to overcome- the worst of which was her feeling of helplessness in facing a big and often dangerous dang erous world with her young daughter. ;ecause of this, believe believe >athy came to us on a &uest- even if she wasn+t sure surehat hat e%actly e%actly she sought. didn+t mark her as someone with much interest in grimoire-style magick 'an erroneous observation, as we shall see*). see*). She seemed more interested in simply simply talking with people she felt had attained some spiritual advancement. 9ventually, as often happens in these on-line on-line encounters, >athy
simply vanished from the forums. After a couple of years passed, she suddenly sudde nly reappeared in the groups, group s, and we were surprised to meet a very changed woman. +m not precisely sure what we told her, or what e%actly she took away from her encounters with us, but she returned with her emotions and her mundane mund ane life much more in check. /e also learned that, during her absence, she had obtained a copy ofSecrets ofSecrets of the Magickal Grimoires and Grimoires and was avidly devouring the book* She had returned because my presentation of the )emegeton+s )emegeton+s 2 !auline Arts2 Arts2 had pi&ued her interest, and she she had further &uestions. As she related in a Jahoo post8
Jes my focus started with a desire to learn more about astrological magic and timing and a desire to work with a system as opposed to winging it. The 1auline Art offered both a structure and a planetary focus that sat well with me. $ontacting the angel of the degree of my nativity is the goal. Also after reading your book was keen to try a few things out and have increased things like preparation, timing, attention to details and e%ploring their origins.
5ow, have already described part of the !auline the !auline ArtsArts- involving the Angel of the 0odiacal degree of your nativity. n order to summon this Angel, it is necessary to make its talisman talisman from a specific metallic alloy. Then, the Angel must be summoned summoned at a specific magickal timetime- on the proper day and hour attributed to its 1lanet, and when the Sun has entered a 0odiacal sign of the appropriate 9lemental Triplicity. >athy wished to know if it is truly necessary to fashion these complicated alloys and wait the necessary months for the Sun to enter the correct sign. $ouldn+t she 6ust fashion the Talisman from colored paper and get on with itP /e answered that is was certainly possible to use simpler simpler methods of evocation, but the results would only only be as impressive as the effort she put into into the work. 5ot only that, but simplifying the 4ites would mean she was no longer working the !auline the !auline Arts system Arts system of evocation, but merely drawing from it. /hat set >athy above so many who ask such advice was the fact that she took it to heart* t was going to be a full year before the Sun again entered the sign of her birth, and she decided that was 6ust enough time to &ro&erly to &ro&erly prepare prepare for the evocation of her Angel. 3ver the ne%t months, she completely analy0ed the !auline the !auline ArtsArts- even tracing the alloy recipes to their original source '1aracelsus, for those keeping score) and deci&hering them. She was meticulous about the magickal timing, and had the 4enaissance 4en aissance astrologer $hristopher /arnock go over her astrological election in detail. '(e even corrected a mistake she had made.) And she also had plenty of time time to create the (oly
Table and other magickal tools necessary to the 4ite. n a particularly interesting twist, >athy did in in fact perform a simplified invocation after all. Soon after she began the !auline the !auline Arts pro6ect, Arts pro6ect, she fashioned a paper p aper Sigil for the Angel she wished to contact and offered invocations and candles. She placed the entire process under the governance of the Angel, who provided both guidance and continuity throughout the work. work. '5otice how >athy used this method as a smaller part of the larger operation, while most folks settle for this in place of the 4ite itself*) "ost fascinating was >athy+s e%ploration of metallurgy. This isn+t something with with which have e%perience, and learned much from her prolific posts about what she was learning- including photographs of the tools and e&uipment she accumulated. 3ne by one, she tackled each metal called for in the alloy Talisman. Talisman. She learned what e&uipment was necessary to melt each metal 'easy for for the soft metals, but progressively progressively more difficult and dangerous for the harder metals). metals). Like a true alchemist, she learned through trial-and-error how these metals behave when heated and cooled, and thereby learned tons about tons about the 1lanetary spirits who are associated with them. She e%perimented with making several metal talismans, each one revealing what she had done right or wrong during the process. ;y the time her year ran its course, >athy had gained a solid education in the Solomonic magickal arts. She had learned how to create magickal tools, prepare her Temple, choose astrological elections and magickal timing, design and paint Talismans, work with metals and forge alloys- and that merely scratches the surface* surface* She also discovered the writings writings of past occultists like 1aracelsus, Trithemius, Agrippa and more. Further, she learned much from the the growing relationship between herself and the Angel with whom she was working8 what the Angel liked or disliked, and what it e%pected of her. 1erhaps you+ve heard the term 24enaissance "an2- indicating someone who has education in many different areas. >athy+s year-long &uest earned her a true true 4enaissance education in the magickal arts, which she would have missed missed entirely had she chosen the 2easy2 2easy2 route instead. She could have performed the simplified evocation and therefore say 2+ve done that.2 ;ut, instead, she undertook a longer 6ourney of truly life-changing life-changing significance. She learned that the 4ites outlined outlined in the grimoires are not the end-goal, but merely the keys with which to unlock greater mysteries. This is a point have tried long and hard to make with would-be students of the occult. The constant search for an 2easier way2 way2 to perform the magick is is counter-productive. $ontrary to popular belief, mere 2intent2 is not the the most important important aspect of magick. n fact, it is relatively unimportant when compared to virtues like effort, effort, discipline and dedication. Like the >night searching for the (oly
#rail, the Solomonic mage gains his h is 'or her) power from the ?uest to achieve what might otherwise seem impossible. n the end, >athy+s evocation of the the Angel was successful. Jou can read her write-up of the entire process in A in A !auline Arts Magical Adventure 'www.0apgarden.com!"$:35AL:). After the ordeal was over, she took some time off from the Jahoo #roups in order to rest and reflect on her accomplishment. :uring that time, time, her house was struck by lightning* lightning* 5o one was harmed, but a lightning strike is an age-old sign of true Shamanic initiation. initiation. t was a perfect sign sign that she had succeeded in drawing vast energy to her home, and in gaining the attention of her Angel.
There is much more could add a dd about >athy and Frater 4.3., but +ll leave it to the reader to follow the links have given to learn more about them. 9ach of these aspirants are perfect e%amples of how modern Solomonic mages should work. Jou may also gain much from these these essays about the gimoires 'all of which have mentioned in this piece)8
"edieval "agick '$h. of Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires) Grimoires) http8!!kheph.tripod.com!secretsQchap.html
"odern #rimoire "agick8 Folk "agick and the Solomonic 1ath http8!!6wmt.org!vnE!modern.html
The (oly #uardian Angel8 9%ploring the Sacred "agick of Abramelin the "age http8!!kheph.tripod.com!artQ(#A.html
$opyright'$)GEE Aaron Leitch 7isit Aaron8 http8!!kheph.tripod.com! $ontact Aaron8 khephRyahoo.com
