Frater Barrabbas Author Literary Tour - Part 6 - Elemental Powers For Witches

 

My first book in the “For Witches” series was in print by 2017, but by then I had taken on a new job that readily took away all of the my free time. I stopped writing articles in my blog and I was traveling between Minneapolis and Richmond, staying there for three weeks and then going home for a long weekend. I was putting in 60 to 70 hours a week of work, and travel added to that time spent solely on work. I visited my wife and pet kitties for just 48 hours before having to travel back to work in Richmond. Needless to say, that whole project turned out badly for me on one hand, but having to leave it was a reward on the other.

I moved to Richmond to work on that project; but not only did I not get a dime from the company for making that move, I was also pulled off that project because those who had planned the time-line compressed what was two years of work into just eight months. I was punished for missing that time-line, even though it was completely unreasonable. Someone had to be blamed for the project going awry, so as the data manager, I was the one. Certainly, those who proposed such a truncated project time-line to the client couldn’t possibly be blamed for their mistakes, because they were upper management and immune to such accountability. Anyway, I was put on my old project and then had to prove myself for over a year later that I was worthy of keeping that job. It was a time of work and left me with little time for writing and even working magic. Getting booted off of that project was a blessing in disguise, and I went on to getting chosen for a new project where my skills and abilities were at least appreciated.

My work on the next book in this series didn’t start until the Covid-19 Pandemic began to manifest, but I had the concept and even a preliminary table of contents defined before the winter solstice of 2019. So, during the lock-down, I focused on writing my 6th book, and of course it took a lot less time than any of my previous writing endeavors.

This is how the book “Elemental Powers for Witches” was written and published, while the world labored with the first in a hundred years world pandemic. Tragically, many people died from that disease; but I had already begun something of a personal sequestering, so I just continued it and made certain that I had the preventive vaccinations when they became available. I was old, sedentary and suffered from allergies, so I figured that if I got Covid that it would likely greatly harm me, so I took all of the precautions, and luckily, I had been working from home since early 2019.

Here is the  advertising text for that book.

Energy magic uses the power of Elementals, Qualified Elementals and Uncrossing mechanisms to fully empower practitioners and make them materially successful. This book seeks to bring that knowledge to the Modern Witch, making it accessible and easily added to the lore she is already using.

Since the 5th Century BCE, a system of mysticism, religious philosophy and magic was delivered to the world by the philosopher Empedocles, who brought us the knowledge and wisdom of the four Elements of Fire, Air, Water and Earth, and the Aether as Spirit.

Across the ages that knowledge was developed to become the energy model of magic that is used today to fuel material-based rituals. Until now, this methodology was exclusive to ceremonial magicians. This book seeks to take that advanced energy work and place it into the hands of the Modern Witch. These rituals were derived and formulated to be easily accessible to the modern practitioner and to fit what is already a part of their lore.

Energy magic is used to empower individuals so that they can at least feel that they have a chance of dealing with difficulties and adversity. It also gives them methods to address specific deficiencies or to counter adverse circumstances with positive ones. Energy magic is used to build up the self and turn potentials into realized goals. It focuses on the material world because it is the basis for all that occurs in our life and colors our experiences. Because the world is not fair, we need something to help us turn the world slightly to our advantage.

What energy magic is used for is to solve problems within yourself and the circumstances of your life in the material world. It is not only a body of magical rituals and techniques; it is also the way to approach a problem in order to resolve it. There are several steps that are followed when approaching a solution to a given desire or need, and these can be used to also sort out and pin-point the one thing that will open up your possibilities and resolve whatever issue you are facing.

This book was written for Witches, Wiccans, and Pagans who wish to enhance and formalize their approach to the energy workings for self-empowerment and material based magical workings. This book assumes some degree of knowledge in basic practices so it isn’t exactly for beginners, but it does make this type of magic, and the use of the energy and information models of magic, accessible and easily realized. It is also a sequel and companion book to the published work “Spirit Conjuring for Witches” so, certainly the readers who liked that book would likely also enjoy the sequel. 

As I have pointed out previously, there are three gaps in the magical practices of modern traditional Witchcraft, and these are spirit conjuring, advanced energy workings and talismanic magic. I had just written a book that comprehensively dealt with spirit conjuring from a traditional Witchcraft perspective, so I urged myself to write a book to fill the second gap.

Advanced energy workings represent the basic foundation of magical practices where I significantly extended the repertoire given to me in my initiatory tradition. I did that back in the 1970's not long after being initiated into Witchcraft. I had been working on the cone of power variations for a few years after being introduced to the concept when a version of the Gardnerian Book of Shadows was published by Lady Sheba, and when I had acquired the book “Mastering Witchcraft” by Paul Huson. I also had a copy of “King of the Witches”, which introduced me to Alex Sanders. With these books in hand I was able to put together my own system of Witchcraft based magic. By the time I was initiated on Candlemas Eve, 1973, I already had a system of magic, and I was starting to develop new rituals working with the energy model of magic.

Using an inverse perspective, I deduced that the opposite energy to the obvious masculine cone of power, and that was the feminine vortex. A vortex has a widdershins circuit, and instead of being polarized on the periphery like the cone of power, it uses a cross-roads to join the polarities into the center. The widdershins spiral around the circle performed by the operator is used to concentrate the energy and then push it down into a singularity, making a kind of stable magical black-hole. The vortex was the first variation of the cone of power that I had invented, and it was to be followed by other structures and rituals. Experiencing a vortex generated in a magical circle was a total game-changing stroke of genius, but actually, it was just an obvious step that no one had thought about so far.

While energy workings in traditional Witchcraft magic were a basic staple for the modern practitioner, it was based on a concept that was alien to medieval witchcraft and to ceremonial magic in general. The basic belief about magic was that it was the medium used by and propagated by spirits. Humans were basically powerless, although that was contrary to what the philosophers taught in antiquity. Yet their practices had been mostly lost and what remained was subsumed by the monastic orders of the Catholic Church. Where this idea about human energy came from was the East, and it became part of our western cultural heritage when the teachings of the Indian Yogis became available to the west, around the late 19th to early 20th century.

Studying Yoga became an important part of mastering the art of ceremonial and ritual magic, and many of the early practitioners of the 20th century sought out that knowledge of the East. With Hatha Yoga came prana-yama, yantra, trantra and Kundalini Yoga, and the concept of bodily energy fields that could be harnessed and projected through the breath (prana) became available to the West. It completely changed the way that magicians saw their magic, as evidenced in the writings of Crowley, Bardon, and many others.

Modern Witchcraft was a recipient in that chain of knowledge and it was used in the concepts of energy raising and projecting magical powers. Gardner pretended that this had always been a part of witchcraft from antiquity, except that there was no evidence of this claim and the witches of antiquity typically worked their art in solitary exclusion. It was only in the fever dreams of a handful of scholars who spread the myth of witches meeting in large groups to celebrate their sabbats and worship the devil in the mid 15th century. Gardner’s story about witches gathering together to work magic to prevent Hitler from invading England during the second world war, where even a few older members expired in the frenzied process, was very likely an urban myth.

All evidence seems to support the idea that most witches had practiced their art either completely alone or within small and discrete family traditions. Yet the witchcraft inquisition imagined large groups of witches flying on their brooms and drugged and hallucinating on their toxic ointments, so to them and much of the culture there were indeed large hidden covens working their evil deeds. Gardner took that fantasy and made it into a cultural phenomenon, and the eastern ideas of bodies raising and projecting yogic energy was quietly integrated into that body of practice. By the time that I and others in the early 1970's had joined the Witchcraft tradition, the idea of raising and projecting energy had been a standard part of the practice since Doreen Valiente had reformed it in the 1950's.

However, as a practice, the energy model of magic in modern Witchcraft was simplistic and undeveloped. There was the cone of power and that was about it. I was very much intrigued by the whole concept and set to work to expand and develop how this magical model was used in Witchcraft magic. This is how I came to develop the vortex, then the magical pylon, and then by extension, the pyramid of power, which is a much more sophisticated and nuanced version of the cone of power. Once I started on this path, I continued to work and develop more sophisticated rituals that made use of complex combinations of ritual structures to push the energy model of magic far beyond what I was given as a newly initiated Witch.

The first step that I took was to qualify the undistinguished magical energy into specific qualities. The four elements seemed to be the qualities that I was looking for when it came to describing the magical energies that I sought to use. This pairing of magical energy with the four elements has a long history, and that the elements and the breathing cycle seemed to also be linked. This of course was the Indian concept of prana being merged with the western occult perspective of the four elements. Other practitioners had also made this connection, so that the four elements could be visualized as qualities associated with a certain kind of energy, color and quality and absorbed and projected out through the breath. The four elements could also be qualified with each other to produce sixteen combinations, which I called elementals. Each of these combined elementals also consisted of four pure emanations where an element was combined with itself. At the earliest time in my magical workings I worked with these qualities, but it required a more advanced set of ritual structures to generate them within the magic circle.

To generate an element one can use the invoking pentagram in an efficient manner, which was made public to many practicing magicians through the Golden Dawn writings published by Israel Regardie. Thus, there was the superior pentagram ritual, which I sought to emulate in a fashion. However, to invoke an elemental energy required a more complex ritual structure. The elemental octagon was the key to generating an elemental energy within a magic circle, and liking the shape and quality of that star polygon, I sought to deploy as my ritual pattern for energy workings. I used the four watchtowers and the four angles or in-between points to define the base (watchtowers) and qualifier (angles) of the elemental. To each of these eight points I set the invoking pentagram of the base element (watchtowers) and the invoking pentagram of the qualifying element (angles).

In the center of the circle I set the invoking pentagram to the nadir or infra-point for the base, and to the zenith or ultra-point, I set the invoking pentagram of the qualifier. I also joined the four watchtowers together to form a square, and the four angles to form another square, and then joined the watchtowers to the infra-point and the angles to the ultra-point. Then I stood in the center of the circle with my staff and drew the two elements together through my body and the staff. All that was required to project the elemental energy out into the world was to circumambulate the magic circle with spiral arc, starting in the center of the circle and arcing out to the periphery of the circle, circling three times past the northern watchtower and then projecting the energy with the staff outside of the northern watchtower, thereby exteriorizing it.

I also used a form of sigil magic to symbolize my objective or desire, and I used this to imprint the energy field when it was fully generated. I could have just imprinted it with my mind, but I found that a sigil was more effective. I started out just making a designed but automatic scribble on a piece of parchment while projecting my intention into it. I later adopted a more formal methodology for designing sigils when I was exposed to writings and artwork of that famed magician and pagan witch, Austin Spare. This was how I developed a ritual system to work with elemental energies, but I was not yet completed with this development process.

One approach that I developed was to make use of specific named elemental spirits and integrate them into my magical energy rituals. I used them as intelligent energy fields of empowerment and focused, projected beams of force to influence or even bend the laws of causality. I also incorporated this approach in my magic, making use of the 16 Enochian god-head pairs as derived from the four watchtower tablets and the Enochian calls. I then later matched up the sixteen elemental qualities with the 16 Grand Dukes from the grimoire Theurgia-Goetia and found that they were even more potent than the Enochian elemental spirits. The pairing of a spirit with an elemental quality produced a more powerful combination and helped to animate the elemental magical energy so that it had both power and sentience.

Another approach that I developed, and this was unique to my workings, was to pair an element with one of the ten sephiroth of the Qabalah to generate what I called the 40 qualified powers. Later on, I refined this working by using the Pythagorean definitions of the numbers 1 through 9 and 10, which I felt was more appropriate for a Witchcraft magical approach. When I used the Qabalah, I also qualified the four elements with the four Qabalistic worlds, making a very potent magical combination that existed fully within a Qabalistic domain. If you weren’t into the Qabalah, though, this methodology wouldn’t be as appealing. For this reason I adopted another more simplistic methodology that removed the Qabalistic qualifiers and just used the four elements and the ten Pythagorean mystical numbers. The forty qualified powers also matched up with the Tarot cards ace to ten of the four suites.

To match spiritual qualifications or specific entities to each of the 40 qualified powers became more difficult. I had a matrix of the four elements and the ten spiritual attributes, but assigning them to spirits became more difficult. My first approach was to give the element of Fire abstract qualities, Deities to the element of Water, Angelic groups to the element of Air, and terrestrial animals to the element of Earth, emulating the attributes of the four Qabalistic worlds. I later assigned the ruling angels of the 36 decans to the attributes and elements covering the first through the ninth for the four elements, and then assigned one of the four elemental Kings to the final four. That assignment appeared to work out quite well, since the energy component of the qualified power was dominant over the spirit attribute, so there was no need to actually conjure the associated spirit. I just had to acknowledge and call the spirit as part of the process of generating this kind of elemental power.

The ritual structure for the qualified power used a simple pyramid structure where the four watchtowers (or angles) were set with the base element via the invoking pentagram, and the watchtowers were connected to each other with lines of force, and also connected to the zenith where an invoking pentagram of spirit masculine or feminine was also set. The energy was intensified and fused into the center when the practitioner walked an invoking spiral from the periphery of the magic circle to the center. This pyramid energy field then was charged with the projected invocation of the spiritual quality and it signs or symbols, and then resultant energy was exteriorized through a banishing spiral walked by the practitioner from the center of the magic circle to the outer periphery, where the energy was projected and released.

Since this was a rather simple ritual structure, I had introduced it in my first book, Pyramid of Powers, as a way to learn how to ultimately work elemental magic. As I experimented with this ritual working I found that it had its own sophistication and generated a very potent energy field. Joined with a vortex, it was just as useful and powerful as elemental magical workings, since it joined an element with a godhead attribute to produce a very spiritualized energy. I have kept this working along with elemental ritual workings as the basic work-horses for my magical practice.

Of course, there is much more that I developed using the energy model of magic, and these workings that I have discussed here (and in my book) were really just the beginning of a very fundamental and important process in developing magical workings that had both a spiritual and a material impact. I would find later on that using energy fields and even geometric prismatic energy structures in my rituals would give them a more materialized impact, both on me as the operator, and on the overall magical objective. It certainly allowed me and others who shared in this technique of magic to feel this kind of unleashed power in a tangible manner.

Getting back to my book, I have taken these basic elements of working energy magic and expounded on them, presenting a number of ritual examples for the student to borrow and develop. I not only showed the components of these rituals and explained how they work, but I also demonstrated how there was a continuity with the Pythagorean practices and the philosophy and magic of that Greek master, Empedocles. I also put my version of an uncrossing ritual in the book, which I felt was an important addition because it helped the practitioner to overcome internal and external blockages when elemental magic failed to produce the desired results.

The energy system of magic has a long history, going back to ancient Greece and probably beyond that. Some of these methodologies were probably developed by shamans in prehistoric times, and continued to be practiced by various individuals. The philosophers of antiquity knew and practiced these methods of energy generation and projection, but this knowledge was lost during the dark ages. They were likely never written down, or if they were, they were kept secret and disappeared when Christianity began to dominate the western world. They only reappeared when the west discovered the teachings and practices of the Indian sages.

Yet it was the Golden Dawn that took that arcane knowledge from the east and brought it back into western magic. It then spread from there to occupy a place of importance in many different traditions of magic in the west. Some traditions, like Bardon’s system of magic, borrowed the techniques straight from Indian practices mixed with a bit of western perspectives. We must be indebted to all of these different traditions that have given us the system of energy magic that we now possess.

What I have done in my book is present to my reader an expansion of the energy system of magic as it applies to Witchcraft and Pagan practices. I believe that it is an excellent starting point for anyone who seeks to add a high level of materialization, sensations and probability bending energy into their magical practices.

Frater Barrabbas

Nature of Spirits - Angels and Demons

Frater Rufus Opus recently wrote that demons are elementals, or that they have elemental qualities. This is in his article about demonic agendas, and you can find it here. While some might think that this is a neat and tidy way of defining the nature of these spirits, I have to disagree with what he has written. (I also hope that I have understood exactly what he has written, too.) It really has to do with the nature of Angels and Demons, and whether either can be considered as nothing more than simple, mindless intermediaries of the Godhead, or as the Greeks would call them, the Daimones.

I employ the term “mindless” because it is a defining adjective that I have used when talking about elementals. Even if one is using the supposed “Hermetic model” to define the natures of demons, my own personal experience (and that of many of my associates) has shown me that these supposed infernal spirits are quite intelligent. So, it would seem that either elementals are keenly intelligent (contrary to my experience) or demons are quite limited and dumb. That is, if there are any congruence between them at all. Allow me to explain my point.

Now just because some authors (or grimoires) have given an order to the Infernal Hierarchy that is elemental doesn’t equate those spirits identically with “elemental forces.” It is an ordering structure, and like all ordering structures (or maps, for that matter), the order is not to be confused with the identities that are being so ordered. These ordering structures are a kind of analogy, not an actual physically based taxonomic ranking. You could also organize the Goetic demons according to the astrological decans (which I have done), and probably would learn more about them (from an astrological perspective) than you would by assigning them an elemental hierarchy. Of course, this is just my opinion. Needless to say, however they are organized it doesn’t mean that the organizing structure is synonymous with that which is being organized. It is just a matrix or model structure that human minds use to understand the complexity of the spiritual world, which can’t really be intellectually grasped in the first place.

So, what are demonic spirits? For that matter, what are angelic spirits? Using the most simplistic perspective we should see them as embodying a force as well as a highly evolved intelligence. They are ultimately emissaries of the One that has no attributes or even a name, but more directly, the agents of various Godhead attributes, or what some would call the Gods. Like a living and activated symbol, they can be focused to a single point, multiple points simultaneously or effused into an overall general attribute of the Godhead. Actually, they exist as all three of these qualities simultaneously as well as other mysterious qualities, some of which might be altogether unknown to human nature. This is why a magician might summon one of them into appearance and then fully engage with that entity, even though what has been summoned is just an active link or a single (fractional) instantiation of the overall symbolic being. This whole matter is a profound paradox, as are all things that reside wholly within the world of spirit.

What I have stated above is true of both angels and demons; they are analogous beings to each other. The difference between them has to do with their specific loci, although that is not a particularly useful term when talking about the world of the spirit. We can project onto the world of the spirit the structures that we find in our own world, namely, the threefold domains of celestial spheres, the geographic structures of the earth, and the chthonic underworld. All of these domains are actually a kind of symbolic topology, which should be viewed as similes or analogies and not actual physical locations. The locus for angels are the celestial spheres, the locus for earth spirits (not to be confused with elementals, I might add) is the geographic domain of material place, and the locus of the demons is the chthonic underworld. Each of these loci have their own qualities, but neither should be given the value of good or evil (or any other limiting quality), since they are actually beyond both good and evil. All of these structures are just mental models to help us differentiate and distinguish what is, in reality, a formless unity known as the One.

Since many demonic names have within them the corrupted names of ancient pagan deities, then we can consider them to be demi-gods, and in some African Traditions, they are seen exactly in that light. Additionally, elemental spirits are below the influence of the planetary intelligences, while higher spirits, such as angels, demons, and sect-based intermediaries have the aspect of intelligence to crown their beings. I have joking referred to elementals as “dumb” or “mindless” because they operate below the level of intelligence and function as animated forces to be imprinted and directed by the magician and then allowed to operate on the simple goal to which they have been applied. They are incapable of thinking about that directive or mitigating it if something changes. They will therefore either hit their mark or miss it entirely. Elementals represent the emotional and passionate energies that all higher creatures are subjected to, but without any of the guiding forces of rational thought or intellect that can direct and control them. That controlling attribute is represented by the will and the assumed godhead of the magician.

(A useful analogy of the basic four-fold Elemental Spirits can be found in the court cards of the Tarot. There are 16 cards within the matrix of an element base being qualified by an element crown. However, there are other elemental systems, such as the 64 Hexagrams of the I-Ching, or what I call Elemental Gateways. If one were to apply the concept of broken and solid lines (like the I-Ching) to Geomancy, then 256 individual Octagrams would be produced. Anyway, you get the idea - elementals consist of the four elements and nothing else.)

This is the quixotic nature of the elemental spirits, and since I have worked extensively with them for so many years I believe that I can make some important judgements about them. They are quite useful and simple to generate. They can be assembled like building blocks, but the are not overly effective, particularly for long term workings. However, no angelic or demonic being that I have ever summoned has been quite as one-pointed and lacking in intelligence as an elemental. For this reason, I have to reject Frater R.O.’s theory that demons are elementals. If that were so, then the magician wouldn’t need to take such great care when establishing the binding agreement with demons.

However, I believe that such care should be taken no matter what spirit is being invoked. Still, this means that the magician is dealing with an entity that has quite an evolved intelligence and is able to not only reason as we do, but also deal with ambiguities quite effectively , often to our ultimate dismay. How we are able to summon such an entity has more to do with the fact that there is a Deity residing in our core, and that Godhead within us is analogous to the Absolute Deity. (Some would say that they are equivalent.) Since spirits are, by definition, emissaries of the One, they are also emissaries to each of us who has realized, however briefly, our inner Godhead. Yet to treat spiritual entities with a respectful attitude is nothing less than treating one’s own inner Godhead in a respectful manner, too.

Magicians should deal with chthonic spirits in a respectful and careful manner particularly since the underworld is the source of all material wealth and material potential. It contains the essence of transformative evolution as well as the mysteries of life and death, good health and material well-being. These qualities (provided by chthonic spirits) are even more important to life in the material world than what the celestial spirits might provide. Yet just as angels give a powerful perspective of the higher celestial domains and its visionary and prophetic potential, the demons wield the powers and wisdom of the underworld.

Magical workings that incorporate either angels or demons will produce a powerful spiritual transformation within the magician, and this should be a sign that all such spirits are an active embodiment of the One. They are agents of the challenging ordeals (demons) and ecstatic visionary insights (angels) of a magician’s progress from his or her individual nature to the ultimate reality of the final Godhead ascension. These spirits and this kind of magick is far beyond the workings of the elementals, so we can dispense with any claims that they are one and the same. I might be breaking with tradition in making these definitions and building this view of the spirit world, but it is based on many years of continued praxis and an even longer period of study.

Frater Barrabbas

Secrets of the Power Octagon

 (Pentagram Tile)

Sherlock Holmes (shaking his head): “Elementals, my dear Watson, Elementals.”

One of the most useful ritual structures in my personal arsenal is the Power Octagon. It’s not only essential to my own personal magickal work, but it’s also the basic tool in the repertoire of the Order of the Gnostic Star. You might ask the simple question why is this ritual structure so useful, and the basic answer is that it generates the prismatic double vortices of the Elemental. So, the Power Octagon is useful in generating the Elemental, whether that quality is defined as an energy, spirit, or both.

Elementals are used in talismanic work as well as theurgic invocations and evocations. It could be easily said that the Elemental is the building block for many forms of magick performed in the Order of the Gnostic Star. This is why it is such an important part of the training of a ritual magician, since it is used so ubiquitously in the art of magick as practiced in the Order. The first ordeal that a newly initiated neophyte in the Order is given is to invoke an Elemental into manifestation, both within the temple and in an outdoor grove. Later on, considerations for the lunation cycle are integrated into this magickal working, making it quite effective for any material based magick that a magician might need to perform.

So what are the Elementals, you might ask? Are they those cute looking creatures that are so often seen in books on magick, where they’re typically shown looking like fiery salamanders, winged sylphs, fish-tailed undines and gnarly gnomes? They may be called elementals, yet they aren’t quite Elementals, at least not according to the definition that I use. They are elemental archetypal creatures, but they aren’t what I am referring to when I write about Elementals, using a capital “E” to distinguish them. The elemental archetypal creatures are an effective mechanism for manipulating the pure energy of the four elements, so my quip about them being “cute” was more an attempt at humor than any kind of dismissal.

When I am writing about Elementals, though, I am discussing something else altogether. Classical elemental creatures can be attributed originally to Paracelsus and his alchemical writings, but they have found their way into many forms of essential magick. These creatures embody the basic qualities of a specific element and act as a kind of mythological being associated with that element. There is also a supposed King, Queen or leader who has a magickal name associated with each of these creatures, but once again these are animated qualities for a specific element. What I am talking about when I say “Elemental” represents the first articulation of the basic four elements, and that is to be understood as combining or doubling the four elements to produce sixteen unique qualities.

An Elemental is operationally defined as the qualification of a base Element by another Element, or by itself. The qualities of these sixteen Elementals is that they can be divided into two groups, where there are twelve combinations of unlike elements and four that are a combination of like elements. Elementals are represented as the permutation of the number four, or four times four. Elementals consist of a base of any of the four elements, and a qualifier, which may be any of the four elements. 

If we define the base as representing one of the four suits of the Tarot (Wands = Fire, Cups = Water, Swords = Air, and Pentacles = Earth), and the qualifier as one of the four stations of dignity, such as Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses, then combining them together will equate an Elemental with one of the court cards in the Tarot. Thus there are sixteen Elementals (4 x 4), which are characterized by the sixteen Dignitaries or Court cards of the Tarot. An example: Fire of Fire is the King of Wands, Water of Fire is the Queen of Wands, Air of Fire is the Prince of Wands and Earth of Fire is the Princess of Wands. Each of the Elementals corresponds to one of the 16 Court Cards of the Tarot. With this correspondence firmly determined, we may use these court cards of the Tarot to further develop the magickal images and qualities of the Elementals.

Other methods exist for the determining of the quality of the Elemental, whether perceiving it purely as an energy construct or as a spirit, or both. I prefer to use the Enochian Godname Pair as the name and quality of the Elemental, which allows me to pull the entire hierarchy of the four elemental tablets of the Enochian system into my elemental workings. This could also include the famous Enochian Calls, which would be used to summon the Enochian Elemental Godname Pair, and from them, the four angelic gateways. I have found that the I-Ching can fit into this system, and also Geomancy. There are other useful source themes that can be used as well, which are only limited to the extent of one’s imagination.

An animal totem could represent an Elemental (such as four animals within a prism of four colors), as well as a pantheon of lesser gods and goddesses in any number of pagan religious systems. In fact, there are sixteen spirits in the Theurgia-Goetia that could function as elemental spirits if one chose to use them in that manner, half of which would be daemonic and the other half, angelic. A fourfold division and a matrix of sixteen cells has room for an endless number of variations. Still, the sixteen court cards of the Tarot is the perfect foundation for determining the meaning and significance of the sixteen Elementals.

The key to the ritual practice of generating an element, and thereby, generating Elementals, is found in the device of the invoking pentagram. I have already discussed this device in great detail in a previous article, which you can find here. You can also examine that article for a discussion of the ritual structures of squaring the circle, the pylon and the pyramid (all of which are found in the Power Octagon).

Yet if the invoking pentagram is the device that generates or invokes the energy of the element, then the octagon is the ritual structure that is used to generate an elemental. An octagon is two interlocking squares drawn within a magick circle, thus it doubles the power of a magickal squaring of the circle. An octagon ritual structure, when it is fully formulated, also contains two opposing pyramid structures, causing a polarity to be generated between them. Still, we should examine the ritual structure of the power octagon, step by step, so we can minutely examine and figure out how it works, and why it is so effective.

 

In order to make use of the Power Octagon, we must expand the basic magick circle used in Witchcraft to contain not just the four directions and the zenith and nadir in the center, but to also incorporate the four points in between the cardinal directions, and determine a midpoint between the zenith and nadir, which is called the meso-point. Expanding the magickal circle to contain these additional points allows the magician to practice a more advanced kind of ritual magick. Instead of six points in the magick circle, there are now eleven. You can also increase the number of nodes in a magick circle by expanding the number of points used in the outer circle, increasing the number from four, to eight, from twelve to sixteen. However, for the purposes of our discussion here, we will talk about the use of the four Watchtowers and their in between points, the four Angles. These eight points are used to define the octagon within the magick circle.

I have already written an article on the amazing and wonderful qualities of the vortex, you can find it here. Suffice it say that a vortex is loosely defined as a magickal energy structure that consists of a widdershins spiral and the four opposing Watchtowers or Angles being joined to the center. The Power Octagon actually contains two superimposed vortices, so in addition to generating an Elemental, it also generates the container that holds and amplifies it, all at the same time. A Power Octagon functions as a fused combination of both the Spiral Vortex and the Pyramid of Power, and in fact, it has even greater flexibility and utility.

Tools that are used to perform the ritual working that generates the Power Octagon are the dagger (athame) and the Sword, although one could also use the transmutar wand. The dagger is used to draw the invoking pentagrams and the sword is used to draw the lines of force in the magick circle. Additionally, a staff can be used to wind up the power and establish the vortices, although the magician usually needs a bit of head room to manipulate a staff, such as either twirling it over one’s head (with one hand) or holding it with both hands over one’s head and spinning in place.

The most simple version of the ritual of the Power Octagon has nine steps, although these can be consolidated into two basic phases. Here are the nine steps that can be used to build a version of this ritual for your own use.

1. Set the four Watchtowers with an invoking pentagram of the base element. Proceed in a deosil vector of the circle, starting in the East. When completed, draw the four watchtowers together to form a square.

2. Go to the center of the circle and draw an invoking pentagram of the base element to the infra-point.

3. Set the four Angles with an invoking pentagram of the qualifying element. Proceed in a deosil vector of the circle, starting in the Southeast. When completed, draw the four angles together to form a square.

4. Go to the center of the circle and draw an invoking pentagram of the qualifying element to the ultra-point.

5. Draw the four Watchtowers together to the infrapoint, proceeding in a widershins vector, starting in the North. (Establishes the first vortex)

6. Draw the four Angles together to the Ultra-point, proceeding in a widershins vector, starting in the Northeast. (Establishes the second vortex)

7. Stand in the center of the circle and draw the Ultra-point down to the Infra-point through your body. (You can also use a staff or a stang to do this action.) - both vortices are now in union.

8. Power can be imprinted with sigil or with a single intention (relative to the quality of the Elemental) or drawn into the body to be projected into whatever is required.

9. Resonate the power by performing a widdershins vector, circumambulating the circle three times, starting in the center and proceeding to the periphery. (You could also use a staff, picking it up horizontally over your head, then spinning in place in a widdershins vector.)

You can use one of the Enochian calls to help charge the energy before exteriorizing it. You can also use a Tarot card depicting the Elemental (one of the 16 court cards) to help in its visualization and realization.

So those are the nine steps used to generate an Elemental, using the most simplistic pattern available. One could condense these nine steps into just two phases; the first would establish the base element, and the second phase would establish and join into the fusion the qualifier. The base element uses the ritual points of the four Watchtowers and the Infra-point, and the qualifier, the four Angles and the Ultra-point. The Elemental is generated through the joining of the Infra and Ultra points, and this can be done with a staff, Stang or even just the body of the magician.

Now that I have presented the standard and most simplistic version of generating an Elemental, I can also talk about some of the variations that can be found in the ritual lore of the Order of the Gnostic Star. Certainly, the over loading of the ten points used in the Power Octagon will greatly empower this ritual, and that is what is done in the more elaborate versions. Some of the additional aspects that can be added to the ritual are found in the following list.

Special formula letters and words can be used to qualify the meaning of the points of the ritual structure. These formula letters and words are pulled together to build a unified formula word that functions as a keyword (i.e., compare to the GD Analysis of the Keyword in the Rose Cross ritual). The unified formula (keyword) is declared at steps 2 and 4 above.

Projecting colored energies into the ten points.

Giving the Watchtowers, Angles, Infra-point and Ultra-point a gender characterization, such as five goddesses and five gods, or five pairs of mythological personages. A magician can also use inverted invoking pentagrams (for the qualifying element) set to the four Angles and Ultra-point to further polarize the invoked energies.

Breathing and exhaling the base and qualifying elements into the ten points (taken from Franz Bardon’s techniques).

In addition, a further ritual structure or layer can be added to the basic Power Octagon, building a more three dimensional prismatic energy signature. This additional structure would represent a third phase or level to the already established two phases. How this is done is through the building of pylons set to the four Watchtowers, these are then drawn to the meso-point (in the center of the circle) with a deosil vector, and charged with the spiritual hierarchy of the four Qabbalistic Godheads and the four Element Archangels. This additional structure is actually a positive or solar vortex formulation (because of the deosil vector), set to the meso-point in the center of the circle. The establishment of the tetramorphic spiritual hierarchy and the erection of four additional pylons to compliment the central pylon (now with three points) generates the optimal polarity of the highest and lowest aspects, unified into a single expression of magickal power and spiritual materialization.

To recap the additional steps, the following executions and modifications would be added to the basic Power Octagon ritual structure.

1. Perform steps 1 through 6.
2. Set the following devices and declarations at the four Watchtowers while standing in the center of the circle - start in the East and finish in the North (deosil).

• Draw equal arm cross above invoking pentagram.
• Declare Godhead Element
• Invoking spiral joins cross and pentagram into a pylon
• Declare Formula Letter (optional)
• Declare brief summoning of the Archangel.

3. Establish meso-point in the center of the circle, perform the following executions:

• Draw equal arm cross
• Declare fifth unified Godhead Element
• Invoking spiral joins cross and middle pentagrams into a pylon
• Declare Formula Letter and Keyword (optional)
• Declare brief summing of the fifth Archangel (Ratziel)

4. Perform steps 8 and 9. (Step seven has been replaced by the above executions)

As you can see by the above examples, the Power Octagon can be made more elaborate and much more intense by adding further elements to the ritual structure, building it out and greatly empowering it. There are also other rituals and features that can be added to this basic Elemental working to make it even more effective. I will list and briefly define each of these other rituals, but I will attempt to explain them and how they can be developed in future articles.

An Elemental working, using these additional rituals, has three stages, which are performed at different points in the lunar cycle. These three stages are performed just before the first quarter, just before full moon, and just before the last quarter. These strategic dates used in the combined working will make more sense when we examine the lunation cycle and how it is used to work more effective material based magick.

Lunar Mystery Vortex - this ritual is used to lock a temporal signature to the elemental working. By adding the qualities of the lunar phase, lunation type, sun sign and the temporal location, the generated Elemental will have a context within which to operate. The lunar mystery vortex is used as the outer shell for the three basic workings - the Qualified Power, the Elemental and the Elemental Gate.

Qualified Power - we have already discussed the 40 Qualified Powers and how they can be used in ritual magick. In the more elaborate ritual working that generates an Elemental, the Qualified Power is used to build a greater energy context and refinement for it to operate through. Therefore, the Qualified Power would be set first before performing the Elemental Octagon to generate the Elemental, and it is performed within the Lunar Mystery Vortex.

Power Octagon - the magician would perform the Elemental Octagon just before the full moon, within the Lunar Mystery vortex.

Elemental Gate - this ritual is used to focus and project the qualified Elemental matrix into the domain of the material plane. An additional element qualifier is added to it so that is refined to an even greater degree. The Elemental Gate employs the four Enochian Angels associated with each Elemental, and it can also be associated with the sixty-four I-Ching Hexagrams (16 times 4). The Elemental Gate is deployed just before the last quarter, and is also performed within the Lunar Mystery vortex.

I believe that I have shown you just how versatile the Elemental working can be. It can be refined down to almost a laser like point of projected will, empowered and qualified with the tetramorphic hierarchy of the Four Elements. An Elemental working that spans a lunar cycle might seem cumbersome, time consuming and rather involved, and indeed, it certainly is, but it also has a profound ability to radically change a person’s material circumstance. The scope of this kind of working appears to cover all of the factors that a magician might seek to make manifest, from healing, to getting a job, getting restitution or justice, material assistance, finding a mate, energizing and inspiring oneself; the list of potentialities is almost endless. Of course, one should always consider the limitations of the possible probabilities involved in any outcome, but the possibilities, as defined by the vast array of the Elemental working, are quite enormous.

Frater Barrabbas

A New Magickal System

I have been looking over the old grimoires lately, particularly the Lemegeton, or Lesser Key of Solomon. This examination was admittedly stimulated by my readings of the Grimoirum Verum, which shares a few common sources with the Lesser Key. Some may consider the Lesser Key to be corrupted or of questionable value, but I have found it to be a very interesting and a useful source for magickal workings that are part of the magickal system of the Order of the Gnostic Star. As in the Goetia of Dr. Rudd, I have paired the 72 Goetic demons of the first book (Goetia) with the Angels of the ha-Shem, and I have considered both sets of spirits to be part of a zodiacal system of magick, based on the 36 Decans and the 72 Quinarians (10 and 5 degree segments of the 360 degree zodiacal wheel). This system seems to work quite well and allows for a balance of angel to demon within an angelic hierarchy. This, to me, seems a much better approach to working with the Goetic demons if one is going to work with them at all. I have problems with any magickal system that doesn’t attempt to balance aligned spirits. I am also particularly against any device or mechanism that proposes that one form a “pact”, bond or spiritual alignment with demonic spirits without first removing them completely from the infernal hierarchy associated with the Judeo-Christian system. One should also consider worshiping the highest entities in this reclaimed hierarchy as pagan gods, from which they supposedly have been originally derived.

However, I have been puzzling over the second book of the Lemegeton, which is the Theurgia-Goetia. This system is mostly a list of different spirits arranged in a hierarchy, although there are conjurations (in verba ignota) that one could use to evoke them. These spirits are classified as aerial and emanate from specific directions, which requires the magician to place the triangle of evocation at that compass point on the magick circle. Thus the magick circle becomes a kind of compass round that aligns the working to a specific terrestrial direction. The directions occupy positions that are analogous to 32 directions of the winds, although not as carefully differentiated as wind directions became at a date later than this grimoire. The compass round has basically sixteen points, four for each cardinal quadrant, and the spirits fit into these divisions, more or less. (The wandering princes pose a more difficult aspect of this magickal system, since they can be aligned to more than one cardinal direction.)

So basically this magickal system uses the four cardinal directions (with orientations to the four elements), assigning to them the four spirit emperors. Associated with them are other subordinate structures or lists of spirits. The first such division are the 16 dukes (probably grand dukes, to distinguish them from the lesser servitor dukes), who by merit of their number, would most likely be classified as elemental spirits, being variations or qualifications on the four spirit emperors, who represent the pure element.

The second division consists of 48 servitors of the four emperors and the 16 grand dukes. These spirits, by dint of their number, would represent a combination of the four elements and the twelve zodiacal signs, with the ruling planet acting as the planetary intelligence. What we have here is another variation on the talismanic system of combining planets and elements, producing 28 spirits total in that system. In this system we have the signs of the zodiac being qualified by the element and ruling planet, producing a talismanic matrix of 48 cells.

The third division consists of the 11 wandering princes, who are loosely aligned to the four emperors. One could represent this group as being divided into the seven planetary spirits and the four element spirits, as an adjunct to the elemental and planetary system represented by this overall system of magick. There is an implied relationship to the ruling planets of the 48 sub-dukes as well as a relationship to the elemental system that is the principle organizing factor in this system of magick.

There are also quite a number of servitors associated with the sixteen grand dukes, and each seems to have a different number of these, thus naming only a handful out the large array of possible spirits. These entities may be used in conjunction with the grand dukes or ignored as just more divisions that might not be significant. The basic premise used by me is that each spirit belongs to a specific cell that has a correspondence to elements, zodiacal signs and planets, so the spirit can be defined by the qualification of the cell that it occupies. Lacking a structure to define spirits makes it more difficult to either conjure or work with in the structures of ritual magick that I use.

To recap: There are four distinct but related groups in the system magick found in the Theurgia Goetia.

• 4 Ruling Emperors - corresponding to the four base Elements and cardinal directions.
• 16 Grand Dukes - corresponding to the 16 Elementals and associated compass directions
• 48 Dukes - corresponding to the 12 Zodiacal Signs and four Elements with ruling planet (talismanic system)
• 11 Wandering Princes - corresponding to the Undecigram of seven planets and four elements, representing spiritual aspects found in all of the above three groups.

One other factor to consider is that some of the spirits are thought to be good and others are malefic or destructive. The malefic spirits are not to be confused with infernal spirits and the Lemegeton makes this distinction. The spirits listed in this work come from the list of demons found in the Steganographia, a work attributed to Trithemius (circa 1500 CE). It would seem to me that these spirits, some or all of which are reputed to be demons, are probably more likely to be unaligned than aligned. This is because if they were aligned, then they would be either all good or all evil, not a mixture of both. What might explain this ambiguity is that the spirits themselves are unaligned, and can therefore potentially be used to cause good or ill, particularly if the spirit represents forces in nature that are volatile or destructive. So I would classify these spirits as unaligned, making them analogous to other element based entities, such as those found in the Enochian system of magick.

What I am intending to do with this system is to build an alternative elemental magickal system that will incorporate these spirits, using them in tandem or alternately with the Elemental spirits of the Enochian system of magick. I would assume that the Enochian calls would work with them as well, since they are established in groupings analogous to the four elements, just like the Enochian system of elemental spirits. So I will need to take the seals and various conjurations and put them into a defined context, such as I have outlined above, and use variations of my existing lore to evoke them. However, with the 48 sub-dukes and the 11 wandering princes, I have discovered a completely new magickal system to incorporate into the lore the Order.

Frater Barrabbas

Magick and Spirit - Thoughts About the Spirit Theory of Magick

We have already discussed in great detail the nature of pagan Deity and the nature of human spirituality, and how they are linked and inseparable. We’ve also briefly discussed the magickal use of angels and demons to a practicing pagan ritual magician. What we haven’t discussed in much detail are the rest of the spirits and their use in the practice of ritual magick.

We, of course, are discussing systems of magick that would be labeled invocation and evocation, theurgia and goetia, necromancy, planetary and elemental magick. All of these systems of magick use the Spirit theory of magick, which is to say that they promote a system of causing magickal effects and phenomena through the conjuration and manipulation of various spirits. There are many methods used to perform this type of magick, and the larger body of that lore has its roots in antiquity. If you include the invocation of various gods, goddesses, demigods, legendary heroes and aspects of the higher self, then the entire spectrum of Spirit would be included in these magickal considerations, producing a very powerful operational tool in the hands of the practicing ritual magician.

Spirit magick doesn’t just use and manipulate various spiritual entities as if they were inanimate objects, it also proposes that they are distinct intelligent disembodied beings who exist in a specific time and place. Therefore, spirits are living entities that truly exist, but who may not be perceived by most of humanity. They also have a place of origin, just as do we. This place, which I call the Domain of Spirit, has dramatically changed in the minds of men over the last five hundred years. In the previous epoch, whole continents, mysterious realms underneath the earth’s crust, the ocean’s vast depths or high up in the sky beyond the clouds were places that were essentially unknown to humanity, so they were the perfect places where savants and occultists believed spirits had their residence, a veritable undiscovered country. Spirits, strange and absurd people and fabulous mythological creatures conveniently existed in these little known places. They were believed to be actual physical locations and were capable of being visited by human beings either through extraordinary adventures or supernatural assistance, or so that is how people thought in those times. 

However, in the present post modern age, all of these areas have been thoroughly explored, mapped and placed within a modern scientific context that would seem to exclude spirits, mythical lands and mythical creatures. No one who has his wits about him is searching the world today for the entrance to the underworld, the stairway or ladder to heaven or the kingdom of Prestor John. Modern occultists have found a true geography for the domain of spirit and it is called the Inner Planes. This domain is part of what I call the super-symbolic plane of exalted consciousness, where symbol, myth, legend and language merge to form a cultural matrix of belief and inner experiences, all of which is highly subjective, culturally determined, but also common to all basic human experience. Ritual magicians have direct access to this domain through the magickal process of immersion and astral projection, but indirect access through scrying.

Ritual magicians use the structures of strategic tables of correspondences and the symbolic design of glyphs, lamen and models (such as the Tree of Life, Hieroglyphic Monad, etc.) to produce an operational mechanism to define and qualify spirits within a matrix of belief, symbol and spiritual meaning. Tables containing the names and qualities of various spirits are useful for one primary purpose, to invoke or evoke these entities into something that is consciously intelligible to the ritual magician. Thus, tables of correspondences and spirit lists are an important key to the practice of conjuring spirits.

The purpose for such a magickal operation, though, has changed from the previous epoch. Do we really need to invoke or evoke spirits to help us find buried treasure, quickly transport ourselves or others to distant locations, send messages instantaneously, cure diseases, restore potency or reverse aging when there are quite a number of devices, services and products that already perform that function? Certainly, earth spirits, elemental and talismanic magick can be used to assist one in obtaining material advantages and insights that would obviously help living in the material world. However, the functional use of angels, demons, demigods and other entities is less clear, since much of what these entities can traditionally provide is already pretty well covered by a science driven technology. If we omit the various unethical purposes, such as seducing our neighbor’s wife or daughter, influencing men or women of power (for good or ill) and generally posing as some kind of arcane underworld power broker, then what is left to the original functional uses of angels and demons are the obtaining of occult wisdom and insights unavailable from any other source. This, in my opinion, is the true use for performing magick using the Spirit theory of magick. We seek occult wisdom through the intercourse with spiritual entities, and if we include their symbolic domain and seek immersion within that place, then we can also discover a kind of transformative initiation as well.

There are, then, five basic categories for the operation of spirit magick. While there could be more, I have grouped them into functional categories based upon the kind of magick that their conjuration would produce. Each functional group has a different mechanism and protocol for performing conjurations, so I have decided to group them as aspects of Godhead, Higher Self, Aligned Spirits, Unaligned Spirits and Planetary and Elemental Spirits. Each of these groups represents a completely different kind of magick and discipline to harness them. I have also ordered these entities into groups that have a higher to lower order of power and intelligence, with the bottom two tiers being roughly at about the same level. Let us examine these five groups, discussing the ritual mechanisms for conjuring them and the effect of that conjuration, keeping in mind that this is an organization that I have created as a heuristic device.

Godhead Spirits - These are the gods and goddesses of one’s pantheon or local area. There are also the elder gods of nature (sun, moon, seas, oceans, rivers, earth, etc.) as well as the gods of place and geographic location. Pantheons represent gods and goddesses that are determined by culture, language and also place of origin. Godhead Spirits may be categorized by the Qabbalistic Godhead, or not. One conjures godhead spirits in the most reverential and respectful manner, using liturgical rites and magickal rites of alignment, and these are called godhead invocations (to differentiate them from other kinds of invocations). Included in this group would be exalted demi-gods and honored ancestors. The mechanism of invocation would include paens, orisons, offerings and oblations (sacrifices). Godhead invocation causes a powerful alignment to a specific aspect or characteristic of Deity, even though that aspect of deity may or may not actually manifest.

Higher Self or Personal Godhead - An aspect of Deity that one is personally identified with, and is part of one’s religious and magickal practice. This is the God/dess Within, our own personal Atman through which all manifestations of Deity are experienced. One conjures the higher self godhead through rituals of personal alignment and godhead assumption. Performing such rites assumes that the magician is maintaining a specific personal cult of that godhead, making offerings, orisons and oblations to it, as one would do to one of the godhead spirits. The Bornless One Invocation rite and the Ordeal of Summoning the Holy Guardian Angel are variations on the personal godhead spirit. Godhead assumption, and its various analogous magickal practices, causes one to become consciously aware of the plane of Deity within oneself, producing states of divine ecstasy and the ascension and exaltation of the godhead self over the mundane self.

Aligned Spirits - These are spirits that are aligned to aspects of Deity, such as Super-Archangels (Seraphim/Cherubim), Archangels, Angels (Rulers/Choirs), and Goetic Demons and their servitors. Omitted from my workings (but not the working of others) would be the infernal hierarchy of demon princes. The mechanism for conjuring these entities would be forms of invocation and evocation, or theurgy and goetic evocation. Theurgy would use the methods of empowered incantation (different than godhead invocation) through the associated spiritual matrix, beginning with the Qabbalistic Godhead and proceeding down the hierarchy. The technique that I use for this kind of invocation is to define and express the symbolic matrix that defines the aligned spirit and its specific inner planes domain, and then to use the offerings of sacramental bread and wine as a replacement for the bloody sacrifice, to quicken the spirit into manifestation. For the Goetic Demon, I would use the power of the godhead and angelic hierarchy (along with the HGA or Bornless One, if available), and would include the added ritual actions of constraining (constrictio) and binding (ligatio). The conjuration of Aligned Spirits would be performed principally for the purpose of acquiring occult knowledge, wisdom or illumination through transformative initiation and inter-spiritual dialogue (intercourse).

Non-Aligned Spirits - These are spirits that have no specific alignment to any Deity, and would include various earth spirits, fetches, lesser ancestors, ghosts or shades of the dead, unnamed entities associated with a specific place or geographic features. We could also include other such spirits, like the Angelic Watchers or the Nephilim (watchers who fell to earth and mated with women).  Some of these spirits are manufactured by the magician (certain types of fetches) while others are natural to place and location (or time and place, such as lesser ancestors or ghosts), or simply non-aligned to the powers of light and darkness.  These entities, if they are not generated, respond to a combination of flattery, offerings and coercion. One would use these mechanisms in the conjuring of such spirits, such as using incantations and descriptive invocations to flatter and charm, offerings to powerfully attract and then constraining and binding spells to force them into a position of servitude and cooperation. Non-Aligned Spirits are used for various lesser types of magick, such as divination, necromancy, cursing, magickally coercing commoners or mundane folk, or the finding of things lost or stolen. Angelic watchers would probably not be constrained or bound, but could be summoned, charmed and bribed with offerings. Entities like fetches, some of which are created, have other mechanisms used to formulate, engender and empower them, and then given simple objectives to fulfill. Such entities need to be cared for as if they were human children, requiring frequent periodic feeding and direction. Fetches such as these usually reside in some kind of container (bottle or wine skin) or in magick doll or manikin. They can also assume the form of a small pet (dog, bird, pig or cat, etc.).

Planetary and Elemental Spirits - These are specific entities associated with the seven planets, twelve signs of the zodiac or the four elements. Included within this group would be the Olympian Spirits, non-angelic Planetary Intelligences, non-angelic Zodiacal Intelligences, Elementals, Binary-Planetary Intelligences (Bonarum), and the Talismanic Elementals (Enochian Seniors). Elementals are not be confused with the earth spirits of the same name, since they are actually the Enochian Elementals, consisting of a matrix of the four elements (analogous to the 16 court cards of the Tarot). These entities are much more archetypal than the other spirits, and more rudimentary in their expressive intelligence. These spirits are perfect for performing elemental and talismanic magick, which are magickal processes that directly impact the physical plane and affect one’s greater and lesser personal fortune. The phases of the sun and moon must be carefully considered when working magick with these entities, and locking in auspicious aspects of the lunar cycle (moon sign/house, lunation type, lunar mansion) as well as the sun (zodiacal sun sign and solar season) have a powerful bearing on this kind of magick.

Techniques of invocation common to all of the five spirit groupings use the energy structures of the magnetic vortex and the western underworld gateway, as well as incantations (words of power), symbolic qualifiers (invoking through a matrix) and the assumption of higher states of consciousness (psychic, subtle or causal). The magnetic vortex and western gateway establish the internal temple mystery domain of the spirit, and the symbolic qualifiers define the qualities of that specific domain of Spirit. In addition, one can also use sigils, characters, amulets, incense, various tools and offerings (wine, bread, milk, honey, barley and oil). Techniques of invocation would also include immersion, sacramental quickening, astral projection and scrying, as well as involving arduous periods beforehand for atonement, fasting and purification.

Frater Barrabbas