This blog is dedicated solel y y to the persuit of the traditional Magical Arts as described by classic classic works such as Clavicula Cl avicula Solomonis, Lemegeton, Lemegeton, Sepher Raziel, Heptameron and the like. This blog is not about not about spells, fantasy, w icca, icca, new age, chaosmagic or chaosmagic or the Golden Dawn system.
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Nov 1, 2015
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Botanical Symbols
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Although this is not a typical Solomonic magic thing, I ve decided to show you my system of botanical symbols. I employ this in labelling my plant parts. I ve devised a system of combinatory symbols that is easy to use, easy to remember, and hard to crack for anyone not familiarise with it s basics, so your planty things can be safe in their jars and bottles from nosy people. The top part represents the plant part in question and the bottom part represents the plant itself. My six parts are derived from Agrippa s correspondencies and I use this inm employing them. Although each plant has it s virtues, every part of it may have di! erent erent virtues and can be used di! erently. erently.
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The Digital Ambler A Doxology and Prayer 4 days ago
The root, with all its subterranean symbolism and deposit of energies and potent juices, is ruled by Saturn and this is my symbol for it, a rough sketch of an outstretched root, placed upside-down for symetrical reasons of the sign series.
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Ananael
The stem, carrier of the sap, vertical and straight and hard and masculine, is of course ruled by Mars, and the symbol pretty much speaks for itself: one main stem with four secondary ones, the base stems being larger.
Llewellyn Magick Blog: American Gods and Where Gods Come From 3 months ago
Justin the Magician Good night and good luck 4 months ago
The Lion's Den Lucid Dreaming 4 months ago
The leaves, the receptors of light and heat much the same way our own natural satellite is, are ruled by the Moon, and I ve ve chosen to stylise it as triangular not because of some arcane symbolism related to the Fire sign or Water sign but just because it seem damn well pleasent and dandy!
A Magician's Workings 1 year ago
Scarlet Imprint Lucky Seven 3 years ago
The Occult Scrivener A Solar Spark of Light & Fire Part 2 3 years ago
The Occultist
The flowers, feminine, receptive, open and beautiful, are governed by the ruler of reproduction and beaty, Venus. I ve stylised six petals into one circular glyph due to the sexual symbolism of the hexagram and the pleasant polarity it develops.
"Occult" versus "Religion": What is the difference? 3 years ago
The Key To Clavicula Salomonis Translation & NotesHoly Names from The Mafteach 5 years ago
my occult circle THIS BLOG HAS A NEW HOME. 5 years ago
The fruits, the berries, the nuts or the husks containg seeds and other potent
Omaha 1 week ago
Ananael
The stem, carrier of the sap, vertical and straight and hard and masculine, is of course ruled by Mars, and the symbol pretty much speaks for itself: one main stem with four secondary ones, the base stems being larger.
Llewellyn Magick Blog: American Gods and Where Gods Come From 3 months ago
Justin the Magician Good night and good luck 4 months ago
The Lion's Den Lucid Dreaming 4 months ago
The leaves, the receptors of light and heat much the same way our own natural satellite is, are ruled by the Moon, and I ve ve chosen to stylise it as triangular not because of some arcane symbolism related to the Fire sign or Water sign but just because it seem damn well pleasent and dandy!
A Magician's Workings 1 year ago
Scarlet Imprint Lucky Seven 3 years ago
The Occult Scrivener A Solar Spark of Light & Fire Part 2 3 years ago
The Occultist
The flowers, feminine, receptive, open and beautiful, are governed by the ruler of reproduction and beaty, Venus. I ve stylised six petals into one circular glyph due to the sexual symbolism of the hexagram and the pleasant polarity it develops.
"Occult" versus "Religion": What is the difference? 3 years ago
The Key To Clavicula Salomonis Translation & NotesHoly Names from The Mafteach 5 years ago
my occult circle THIS BLOG HAS A NEW HOME. 5 years ago
The fruits, the berries, the nuts or the husks containg seeds and other potent
things, usually full in shape and sometimes hard, are ruled by Jupiter, the master of abundance, stylised here as two round shapes on either side of the stem.
Asterion's Occult Art Blog banner 6 years ago
Câte ceva pentru Suflet Runele: Mituri !i Gre!eli 6 years ago
The Blasting Rod Experiments in Dark Sorcery
Last but not least, some of the most potent parts of the plant, containing the entire genetical code of itself and the ability to reproduce, the seeds, are ruled by the master of information and androginity, Mercury. The symbol is quite obviously representative of the two halves of the seed and the embrio within.
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To give an illustrative example, we`ll take the symbol s ymbol I ve devised for Elder, Sambucus Niger, and combine it in two symbols:
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Shadrach / Harrison: Magic that works Al Toukhi: Red Magic Asaph Ben Berechiah: The Grand Key of Solomon the King Nineveh Shadrach: Occult Encyclopedia of Magic Squares
Elder berries
Elder stems
Just for kicks, another plant that does not have a simple letter symbol, but a magico-astrological symbol for hystorical reasons, the revered Wormwood, Artemisia Absinthium:
Nineveh Shadrach: Magic squares and the Tree of Life Nineveh Shadrach: Occult powers of the alphabet Claire Fanger: Conjuring Spirits Skinner / Rankine: Keys to the Gateways of Magic Joseph Peterson: Grimorium Verum
I.P.Culianu: Eros and magic in the Renaissance D. P. Walker: Spiritual and Demonic Magic Michael D. Bailey: Battling Demons Benedek Lang: Unlocked Books
Base symbol of Wormwood
Franz Bardon: The Key to the True Kabbalah Franz Bardon: Practice of Magical Evocation Franz Bardon: Initiation into Hermetics E.M. Butler: The fortunes of Faust Gideon Bohak: Ancient Jewish Magic Owen Davies: Grimoires
Wormwood leaves
Wormwood root
Frequent problems:
But Asterion, you re insane! You can`t make up symbols for a gag ga giillllion io n plant pl an t sp speeccies ie s an d su bs pec pe cies! ie s!
You`re right. And I won`t. Basic Solomonic magic teaches the use of 24 plants in the Book of Raziel, add that to another 7 planetary inceses, add to that 10 or 20 of the most potent plants of my country`s magical tradition and that`s kinda it. Since you can accomplish at least 6 operations with one plant, those would su"ce. Every plant, and I mean EVERY plant has a magical use. But not all are as potent or as fit as others. So I will stick to a few and experiment. I think
Skinner / Rankine: A collection of Magical Secrets Sklinner / Rankine: Practical Angel Magic of John Dee Skinner / Karr: Sepher Raziel Paracelsus: Archidoxes of Magic Skinner / Rankine: The grimoire of Saint Cyprian Skinner / Rankine: The Veritable Key of
I m creative enough to come up with at least 200 base symbols so I m set..
Solomon
But Asterion, you ve gone all Wiccan?
Skinner / Rankine: Goetia of Dr. Rudd
Not really. Plant lore is far older than Solomonic magic, it s used all over the world and it s your duty as a practicioner to become proficient in it. But Asterion, you`re a moron! My Book of Shadows doesn t list any uses for Wormwood stems oorr Elder flowers!
It Should! I use every part of the plant, nothing is discarded. But Asterion, where is the Sun in all of this plant arrangement?
The Sun rules the resin of the plants, wherever that may be the case. Not all plants produce it and when they produce it, the resin is treated like a separate substance in it`s own class, like Frankincense, Opoponax or Myrrh, so I have not included a base symbol for Resin. Be free to develop your own set, this is just my way of labelling my magical jars and my macerating tinctures and wines. Best wishes and much love!
Stephen Skinner: Complete Magician's Table Abraham von Worms: Book of Abramelin Samuel L.M. Mathers: Book of Abramelin Samuel L.M. Mathers: The Greater Key of Solomon Sefer Mafteah Shelomoh Savedow: Sepher Rezial Hemelach Joseph Peterson: The Lesser Key of Solomon Joseph Peterson: The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses Joseph Peterson: Arbatel
Publicat de Asterion la 1:49 AM
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Aaron Leitch: Secrets of Magical Grimoires
Etichete: asterion , botany , magic , magical , plants , seals , sigils E.M. Butler: Ritual Magic Oct 4, 2015
The Conjuration of the Fire: 1
Richard Kieckhefer: Forbidden Rites Richard Kieckhefer: Magic in the Middle Ages
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One of the shortest conjurations and easy to commit to memory, is the Conjuration and Benediction of the Fire. There are multiple conjurations to be found but some grimoires, such as the Lemegeton, the Key of Solomon by Ptolemy the Grecian, the Heptameron and all derived works follow similar patterns. I d like to study these a bit and find out how it translates exactly. To be noted that there are more than one fires that the magician uses, al all firesv must be dealt with accordingly. The fire for fumigations is dedicated in a way, the fire that lights the candles, in another way, the fire used to torment rebellious spirits, in yet another way, and so forth. The fire used to warm the hearts of the spirits before the circle will be useless in constraining more dangerous or obstane spirits, and vice versa. The element stays the same, the physical phenomenon stays unchanged, but due to the magical charge, it has di! erent properties. Most sources draw upon the Goetia and the Heptameron, the latter being the source of inspiration for the rituals in the former.
Let s take a look at the Heptameron:
Exorcismus ignis, cui superponuntur fumigia. The Exorcisme of the fire upon which the perfumes are a re to be put. Exorcizo te creatura Ignis, per illum, per quem facta sunt omnia, vt statim omne fantasma eiicias à te, vt nocere non possit in aliquo. Deinde dic:
Benedic Domine Creaturam istam Ignis, & sanctifica, vt benedicta sit, in collaudationem nominis tui sancti: vt nullo nocumento sit gestantibus nec videntibus: Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, &c. Turner s translation: I exorcise thee, O thou creature of fire, by him by whom all things are made, that forthwith thou cast away every phantasme from thee, that it shall not be able to do any hurt in any thing. Then say,
Bless, O Lord, this creature of fire, and sanctifie it, that it may be blessed to set forth the praise of thy holy name, that no hurt may come to the Exorcisers or Spectators: through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. Is it correct? Yes and no. Gestantibus, from Gestanti, does not mean Exorcisers, it means Bearers, that is, the disciples or assistants that hold the incense or the Master of the Art who does the incensing. That is why the plural is used. It ensures the safety and wellbeing of the bearers of the coals, even in the (avoidable) event of punitive measures of the spirits via smoke, as Goetia implies. Videntibus, from Videnti, does not mean only Spectators, as in passive assistants that only witness the rites, but all those who see the rite and the beings evoked, including the Seers used in certain catoptromantic or hygromantic rituals, so the word Seers might be more adequate. The most important part and the most overlooked is the lack of ending: the dormula ends with &c, (etc cetera) meaning, And so forth, indicating that it has been shortened, the original text containing the full ending that was often repeated and here it was truncated for the sake of brevity. Not only is the Heptameron conjuration mistranslated, but it is incomplete.
A very close text is to be found is Reginald Scot s Discoverie of Witchcraft appended material of the 1665 edition:
An Exorcism for the fire The Exorcist ought to have the earthen Censer, wherein to preserve the fire for magical uses, and the expiations and fumigations, whose consecration is on this manner. By him that created Heaven and Earth, and is the God and Lord of all, I exorcize and sanctifie thee thou creature of Fire, that immediately thou banish every phantasm from thee, so that thou prove not hurtful in any kind: Which I beseech thee O Lord to confirm by sanctifying and making pure this creature of fire, that it may be blessed and consecrate to the honour of thy holy Name. Amen.
The text most likely copies the Heptameron, omits the &c and ends with an Amen. The Clavicle of Solomon, in the earliest manuscript in English (Sloane 1387) dated circa 1572, has a similar one:
The Coniuration of ye Fyer. Exorsizo te creatura ignis per que~ facta sunt omnia ut sine mora aliqua eiicias fantasinata [sic] ut nocere non possunt in aliquo oprtr naturam humanam per invocationem altissimi creatoris, Benedic domine creaturam spei~ ut sanctificiata et benedicta sit in collandationem no~is tui sancti ut millum nocumentum sit gestantibus et videntibus per dominum nostrum et. With scribal notae and mistakes, the text is nearly identical, yet stillincomplete, endind with et (and). A very new addition , and valuable indeed, is the Folger Manuscript, recently transcribed by Peterson and Harms and published under the name of The Book of Oberion. By their immense generosity, the full transcript is available for free at mister Peterson s website.
It contains extensive material that ties everything together, and among many other precious finds we have this very conjuration (my translation , I do not own the book yet): Exorcismus ignis, cui superponuntur. Fumigia.
(Exorcism of the fire over which the su! umigations are put) Nota ignis quo utendum est ad fumigationis sit in vase fictili seu terreo novo. Exorcizatur autem hoc modo.
Exorcizo te creatura ignis, per illum per quem facta sunt omnia, ut statim omne phantasma eijcias ate, ut nocere non possit in aliquo. deinde dic. Benedic domine creatura istam ignis, et sancti "ca + ut benedicta sit in collandationem [*collaudationem] nominis tui sancti, ut nullo nocumento sit gestantibus, nec videntibus, per dominum nostrum Iesu, Christum fillium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate spiritus sancti deus, per omnia secula secculorum Amen.
Without doubt, this is the correct and full conjuration to be used, complete with ending, for the first time rendered. The sign of the cross in the text marks where the Exorcist marks the fire with the sign of the Cross.
Exorcism of the Fire Exorcizo te creatura ignis, per illum per quem facta sunt omnia, ut statim omne phantasma eiicias a te, ut nocere non possit in aliquo.
I exorcise thee creature of fire, by Him by whom all things are made, that forthwith thou cast away every phantasme from thee, that it shall not be able to do any hurt in any thing.
Benediction of the fire Benedic Domine creatura istam ignis, et sancti "c a + ut benedicta sit in collaudationem nominis tui sancti, ut nullo nocumento sit gestantibus, nec videntibus, per Dominum nostrum Iesu Christum, fillium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate spiritus sancti deus, per omnia secula secculorum Amen.
Bless, O Lord, this creature of fire, and sanctifie it +, that it may be blessed to the praise of Thy holy name, that no hurt may come to the Bearers, nor the Seers, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who with Thee lives and reigns in Unity with the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever, Amen.
Discoverie of Witchcraft: http://esotericarchives.com/solomon/scot16.htm
Clavicle of Solomon, Ptolemy the Grecian: http://esotericarchives.com/solomon/sl3847.htm Folger Book of Magic: http://esotericarchives.com/folger/v_b_26_transcription.pdf
Publicat de Asterion la 12:58 PM
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Feb 13, 2014
Four Rulers
Diagram of the Kingdom of spirits rulership, presided over by the Four Powerful Archangels Michael,
Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. The seals of the Four Emperors are taken from the Clavis Inferni. I have four other previously unpublished seals of them, but I will not post them here or now. This is from a forthcoming book of mine, just a little taste. Please do not copy, repost, share, tweet, tween, twerk or blog without my permission or without linking it to this blog. Please don t make T-shirts, mugs or epoxy keychains out of it.
Lova ya! Publicat de Asterion la 11:39 PM
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Jul 13, 2013
Purification Bath
Whenever I have a ritual coming up or any other working of a spiritual nature, I like to use a cleansing rite that does the job pretty well. It uses the famous Asperrges Me verse: As pe rg rgeess me, me , Domin Do mi nee,, hyss hyssoopo po et mu nda nd abboor, r, Lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor. Thou wilt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop and I shall be cleansed Thou wilt wash me, and I shall be washed whiter than snow.
I usually sing it in my native tongue of Romanian, with a melody that is usually sung in Church. 1. Run your bath water however hot or cold you like. 2. Perform the Consecration of the Salt on a bowl of salt, pre ! erably coarse natural salt or marine salt. 3. Being consecrated, take a fistful of salt and release it into the water in the shape of a cross: In the name of the Father. Next to it, another fistful, and of the Son, and another one, and the Holy Spirit. I usually hit the water with the salt, in an exorcising manner. 4. Put the right foot in the water, reciting the Asperges Me the first time. 5.Put the left foot in the water, reciting the Asperges Me a second time. 6. Kneel with the right foot in the water, reciting the Asperges Me a third time. 7.Kneel with the left foot in the water, reciting the Asperges Me a fourth time, upright. 8. From the kneeling upright position, sit on your heels, letting the water come up above your waist, reciting the Asperges Me a fifth time. 9. Sit in your tub and extend your feet, lye down and let the water reach your neck, reciting the Asperges Me a sixth time. 10. Submerge your head underwater for a few seconds and come up again,
and recite the Asperges me the seventh time, taking care not to lose your breath or choke with water. 11. Relax and pray in any fasion you want, meditate and give thanks. 12. Get out dry and do your stu! .
I cannot disclose the origin of this rite. If you wish to use it, feel free. Non-Christians can replace the trinity with the names Agla, On, Tetragrammaton, but that s about it. Other religioons have their own rites, don t try to use Cthulhu, Yog Sothoth and Nyarlathotep or Satan, Baal and Astaroth, it s not meant to work like that. Publicat de Asterion la 6:59 AM
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Jun 9, 2013
The Mass of the Holy Ghost
Most people have a problem finding this Catholic service anywhere. The Heptameron asks for it in the consecration of the Sword and the Pentacle: Then take this Pentacle made in the day and hour of Mercury, the Moon increasing, written in [paper or] parchment made of a kids skin. But
first let there be said over it the Mass of the holy Ghost, and let it be sprinkled with water of baptism.
and let the master carry the Sword; over which there must be said one mass of the Holy Ghost;
Since both the pentacle and sword are to be consecrated on a Wednesday, this is a stronger reason to believe that this service is not the common Holy Liturgy, but one of the Votive Masses, namely that of the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. Thought this might help. Missa de Spiritu Sancto Introitus. Sap. l, 7. Spíritus Dómini replévit orbem terrárum: et hoc, quod cóntinet ómnia, sciéntiam habet vocis. (T T.P. Allelúja, .P. Allelúja, allelúja.) Ps. 67,2. Exsúrgat Deus, et dissipéntur inimíci ejus: et fúgiant, qui odérunt eum, a fácie ejus. ! . Glória Patri. Oratio. Deus, qui corda fidélium Sancti Spíritus illustratióne docuísti: da nobis in eódem Spíritu recta sápere; et de ejus semper consolatióne gaudére. Per Dóminum . . . in unitáte ejúsdem Spíritus Sancti.
Léctio Actuum Apostólorum. Act. 8, 14-17. In diébus illis: Cum audíssent Apóstoli, qui erant Jerosólymis, quod recepísset Samaría verbum Dei, misérunt ad eos Petrum et Joánnem. Qui cum veníssent, oravérunt pro ipsis, ut accíperent Spíritum Sanctum: nondum enim in quemquam illórum vénerat, sed baptizáti tantum erant in nómine Dómini Jesu. Tunc imponébant manus super illos, et accipiébant Spíritum Sanctum. Graduale. Ps. 32, 12 et 6. Beáta gens, cujus est Dóminus Deus eórum: pópulus, quem elégit Dóminus in hereditátem sibi. ! . Verbo Dómini coeli firmáti sunt: et Spíritu oris ejus omnis virtus eórum. Allelúja, allelúja. (Hic genuflectitur) ! . Veni, Sancte Spíritus, reple tuórum corda fidélium: et tui amóris in eis ignem accénde. Allelúja. Post Septuagesimam, omissis omissis Allelúja Allelúja et Versu sequenti, dicitur: Tractus. Ps. 103, 30. Emítte Spíritum tuum, et creabúntur: et renovábis fáciem terræ. ! . O O quam bonus et suávis est, Dómine, Spíritus tuus in nobis! nobis! (Hic genuflectitur) ! . Veni, Sancte Spíritus, reple tuórum corda fidélium: et tui amóris in eis ignem accénde. Tempore autem Paschali omittitur Graduale,
et ejus loco dicitur: Allelúja, allelúja. ! . Ps. 103, 30. Emítte Spíritum tuum, et creabúntur: et renovábis fáciem terræ. Allelúja. (Hic genuflectitur) ! . Veni, Sancte Spíritus, reple tuórum corda fidélium: et tui amóris in eis ignem accénde. Allelúja. Sequéntia sancti Evangélii secúndum Joánnem. P !
Joann. 14 14,, 23-31. In illo témpore: Dixit Jesus discípulis suis: Si quis diligit me, sermónem meum servábit, et Pater meus díliget eum, et ad eum veniémus, et mansiónem apud eum faciémus: qui non díligit me, sermónes meos non servat Et sermónem quem audístis, non est meus: sed ejus, qui misit me, Patris. Hæc locútus sum vobis, apud vos manens. Paráclitus autem Spíritus Sanctus, quem mittet Pater in nómine meo, ille vos docébit ómnia et súggeret vobis ómnia, quæcúmque díxero vobis. Pacem relínquo vobis, pacem meam do vobis: non quómodo mundus dat, ego do vobis. Non turbátur cor vestrum neque fórmidet. Audístis, quia ego dixi vobis: Vado et vénio ad vos. Si diligerétis me, gauderétis útique, quia vado ad Patrem; quia Pater major me est. Et nunc dixi vobis, priúsquam fiat: ut, cum factum fúerit, credátis. Jam non multa loquar vobíscum. Venit enim princeps mundi hujus, et in me non habet quidquam. Sed ut cognóscat mundus, quia díligo Patrem, et sicut mandátum dedit mihi Pater, sic fácio.
O ! e rtorium. Ps. 67, 29-30. Confírma hoc, Deus, quod operátus es in nobis: a templo tuo, quod est in Jerúsalem, tibi ó ! e rent reges múnera. ( T T.P. Allelúja.) .P. Allelúja.) Secreta. Múnera, qu !sumus, Dómine, obláta sanctífica: et corda nostra Sancti Spíritus illustratióne emúnda. Per Dóminum . . in unitáte ejusdem Spíritus Sancti. Præfatio de Spiritu Sancto. Communio. Act. 2, 2 et 4. Factus est repénte de cælo sonus tamquam adveniéntis spíritus veheméntis, ubi erant sedéntes: et repléti sunt omnes Spíritu Sancto, loquéntes magnália Dei. (T T.P.Allelúja.) .P .Allelúja.) Postcommunio. Sancti Spíritus, Dómine, corda nostra mundet infúsio: et sui roris íntima aspersióne fecúndet. Per Dóminum . . . in unitáte ejúsdem Spíritus Sancti. 1. You have the source right here. 2. Do not ask me to translate it. I am not your free Latin to English translator, I do not have time to do that. You may find an English or native language version for yourself. It has the Bible verses quoted, so it s quite easy with some practice.
3. Kids skin is not the skin of a child, if you were thinking to debunk me as a satanist and child molestor. Many people think that. Kids skin is the skin of a kid, a young goat, like lamb is a young sheep. Publicat de Asterion la 6:09 AM
7 comments:
Jan 10, 2013
Affordable scrying implements Ever got the feeling that the tools and implements you use in magic choose you rather than the the way around? I had. And it s a recurring thing. Even before I got to working on Frater Ashen s book about experimenting with the Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals, I found myself in an avid search regarding scrying, both with a crystal ball and with a water vessel. Somehow, the water vessel attracts me more. Besides the ambivalence that the four books of the Lemegeton shows towards the evoking medium (before the circle or in the scrying surface), a lot of texts carried me towards water scrying. In particular, the method used in Arthur Gantlet s grimoire and in the Book of the Treasure Spirits, both edited by David Rankine and in the experiments of
Frederick Hockley. The method involves a table covered with cloth, a round vessel full of water, a band of divine names, one or two candles and a seal drawn on vellum or paper that covers the mouth of the vessel. Yesterday while shopping a very peculiar thing caught my eye and I thought it was perfect for such a task: a clear, simple wide wine glass.
Filled with water it can provide the ideal vessel for scrying and the cost was very low, about 1 or 2 dollars. Also, I needed a stand or a circular wooden plaque. Found one, bought one. Very conveniant. Now, mind you, it s not a special scrying wooden plaque, it s a hard wood, hand carved thingy people use to chop stu! in the kitchen, but the size of it was just right.
If the method does not require a holy table like Barret asks, and just the table and vessel, this very thing can be supported on three wooden legs to make the table itself. Today I woke up and set my mind on buying a bigger one. I went to a commercial complex that sells all kinds of stu! , rushed through it, climbed the stairs and went straight to the glassware section. And the first thing I saw was this pretty thing.
Basically it s the same thing, only four times bigger than my big wine glass. The round part is bigger than
my head, I think. The total hight of the thing is 36 cm (about 14 inches) while the circumference of the bulk is 58 cm (about 23 inches).
Never tried my had at scrying but always was fearful of not being able to see things in small crystals. Well.. problem solved. This is the flat-screen monster of all scrying vessels.
Only thing is that filled up with water it can hold up to 2 liters, so it can be quite heavy. The leg might give and break. I m considering reinforcing it somehow or building a tripod like stand to take some of the pressure o! .
Price: the whole shebang, under 20 $. That s about half of the price I would pay on Ebay for a small glass ball being passed o! as a Chinese quartz sphere. Publicat de Asterion la 5:31 AM
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Etichete: asterion , crystal , grimoire , magic , scrying , vessel , water
Sep 19, 2012
Are the grimoires dead wrong? Part II of III
The second argument regarding the practicability of grimoires is that these books were meant to fail. The authors wanted the knowledge to remain secret, for fear of the Church and for fear of misuse in beginners. I’ve stated before that the Church did not treat mercifully the necromancers that used divine names and Christian elements in their conjuration as opposed to those who did not. The last category is practically non-existent. You did not get a slap on the wrist by putting prayers in your grimoire. You put prayers in your grimoire because you were a devoted religious man, seeking power through the use of holiness, depending on what religion you practiced. Jewish grimoires contain psalms and prayers, Islamic
grimoires contain extensive surahs from the Quran, and there was certainly no Jewish or Islamic Inquisition to please using these.
The knowledge was supposed to be secret, true. But grimoires were secret themselves. The Sworn Book of Honorius was passed down in a straight lineage of masters and disciples, and if the master could not do that, he would have had it buried with him. The grimoires we have today were not published in great numbers in paperback format and advertised to make a profit or to increase one’s notoriety. Secrecy of the content was not the issue, as very few people could read, and if they could make out the letters somewhat,
they were not learned men to speak Latin, and even if they were part of the scholarly world or religious world and knew how to read and speak Latin, they must have had enough money to buy or have a book bound and enough connections to get access to magical manuscripts. One simply could not go online and look for spells, one could not go to the local library and look for books on magic. You had to find a practitioner and either pay him well for his book of secrets, like Wierius might have done to obtain the Liber O"ciorum from Cockars and T.R., or apprentice under a necromancer in order for him to teach you. Their authors did not fear that people who could misuse them were to read them simply because they could control their readership. He wouldn’t even fear rival magicians. The readers were not a mass of unknown people with whom the magician had no contact, but a select few that the necromancer would make readers of his own will. The problem of the Church was not so strict. Many of the readers, writers copyists WERE clergymen or monks, part of the Church! There is no problem if the book might have been found by a priest or a monk, as many of them professed an avid interest in them, even collected them. The problem was if the wrong clergyman would find them. Only few were so stuck up and righteous that he would grab your book and accuse you of witchcraft. If this was done, the book itself would have been burnt as well, not kept and read. Few inquisitors did read the books and extracted information used in their letters of accusation, but then they would burn them as part of the judicial process. The ones who did keep books kept them secret and they were sympathetic to the use of magic and
many monks sold their books for fear of being discovered by their superiors to other monks. This is how Johannes Trithemius could assemble such a marvelous library on magic in the short span of time he was an abbot in Sponheim. The grimoires were not false advertisers, but personal notebooks. True. There were active schools of magic in Naples, Athens, Salamanca, Fez, Toledo, Rome and perhaps many more. Not every piece of information in the course was recorded by the student, indeed. The author in question argues that the grimoires contain a bare minimum and much was left out. Moreover, much was added to confuse people, created blinds and specifically wrote them so that they would not work. The said author does not know how a grimoire was used, I’m afraid. The fault does not lye necessarily with him, this part is a commonly overlooked detail and a forgotten element that nobody seems to remember. The grimoire was not just a simple notebook, but a consecrated object meant to make the rituals work. The most important part of the necromancer’s arsenal was the Book of Consecrations. This contained all the names of the spirits with their characters, plus a set of nine conjurations to be performed every day in a ritual of nine days meant to empower it. His was no mere hollywoodian Book of Shadows, but a powerful object meant to make it’s content e! ective.
And a summary and incomplete content would not do. The experiment was to be written in full, with conjurations and actions, in order to be e! ective. A blind or lie would not necessarily render the information invalid, but quite the opposite, funny enough, it would make the blind true! The grimoires are not ine! ective in themselves, as the modern practitioners do not use the said book, the very manuscript that the magician wrote and kept and consecrated on his knees for nine mornings with exhortations and su! umigations, but published versions of them. They do not construct a Book of Consecrations, out of lack of information or rejection of the proper way of doing it, but work from printed, on-line or oral material. Some exercises are not bound to that process and are certainly e! ective, but most are. For example, the Book of Consecrations states that all experiments are useless until the necromancer puts it in his book and recites the orisons to make it e! ective. More even, any corrupted experiment was made viable again if it be put in the Book. This is mainly why magicians were not so avid to look for the meaning and etymology of the words of power used, they did not
