...and working towards its resurrection.

For those of you who are keeping an eye on my blog courtesy of the trouble had by EvocationMagic over the past few months, it should be said that I am working very closely with an awesome team of folks to resurrect said forum.  Philodox is leading the charge, with myself and various others assisting where able, and we do feel as though we are getting close to success.

With that in mind, Provenant has been so kind as to create a Facebook page titled "EvocationMagic Diaspora" for related discussions, keeping up to date on the particulars, etc. If you're interested, login to Facebook and look 'em up.

Aside from that, when anything particularly important arises for EM 2.0, I will be posting about it here so that interested folks can stay updated.

Take care,

SE

As you can imagine, in my line of work, I spend a great deal of time observing all manners of behaviors. I see everything from the best folks have to offer to the worst, both in dealing with spirits and human beings. In truth, though our language and respective cultures vary, we're not all that different.
In truth, successful magic is frequently about understanding someone or something else's language, symbolism, cultural values, etc. A spirit doesn't say things the way you or I do. Elemental spirits have names, but they aren't ones that we can pronounce because we can't successfully mimic the sounds of the Earth.

We eventually learn to come to a place of compromise with these entities we work with, work for, serve, or remember. We come up with a language that works for both parties and then set to the task of successfully interacting with them.

I mention this to illustrate the fact that working with discarnate or non-corporeal can often be a lot of guesswork. When you get to know these entities, it no longer is, but until then they'll give you messages in dreams, random thoughts and instincts, images in your head, or strong feelings that you can't shake.

When you've earned a spirit's favor, most times they have great interest in your safety. You're their friend and visa versa, so like any good friend (or other such socially intimate role), they take it upon themselves to inform you when something's amiss. When that happens and you have dreams that aren't par for the course or you feel things that you can't explain, be sure to pay attention. I can't tell you how many times a well-timed warning has saved my bacon.

I've avoided many car wrecks, unstable clients, accidents with handguns or machinery, and other such unpleasant occurrences on account of such notifications. They've seemed a bit nuts at points, but heading those warnings does tend to be beneficial.

That being the case, my recommendation is to listen when your familiars, etc. pop up and give you a heads up on what's going on.  They're usually doing it for your health.

This brings me to the final point of this post: a working one can do to better connect with their Powers, their spiritual allies, for the sake of personal growth, etc.

Firstly, you start with a general offering to whatever strikes you as the image of your highest & best. Focus on that image and emotion you feel when you think about this symbol of raw achievement, then offer up a heartfelt prayer for its betterment and happiness, like so:

Note: Unselfishness seems to be key here. Replace "he" with "she" if you're a woman or make up your own prayer.

Once done, light a candle for this entity and begin to focus on the sigil below, feeling that essence rush into you and fill you up.  You may see other images, hear things, or otherwise be influenced...that is both OK and totally normal.

After meditating on this seal for a while, mentally close the working and the space, then ground yourself out.  Some of you will have instantaneous results, whereas for others it'll take a few weeks to really get into the current.

Enjoy!

SE

Augery, or divination as its colloquially known, is a practice with deep roots & ancient origins. In our pop culture, most everyone is aware of some form thereof, be it Tarot, Runes, Psephoi, Geomancy, I Ching, Khat al-Raml, or Palm Reading.

The trouble is that, in my experience, there is very little discussion that goes into the dangers of various forms of augery.  Those that do are typically looked at from an uber-religious "thar-be-demons!" perspective which is altogether unhelpful. My intention here, is to throw a few ideas out there to get folks thinking on this subject.

Before the alarmists get started in, I should note that I have yet to see someone be possessed on account of sortilege.  I've ne'er had to exorcise an unwitting victim on account of them having thrown some bones whilst attempting to discern the future.

I have, however, been forced to involve myself when folks have screwed things up for themselves by acting on incorrect information and, worse yet, have dealt with situations requiring remediation on account of persons becoming too emotional on account of what they've seen.  Some individuals aren't aware of just how their strong feelings influence the world around them, and these are the problem children when it comes to divination.

They are troublesome because they have the ability to do magical things, but cannot control themselves.  Instead, they unconsciously react to knee-jerk inspirations and cause situations to worsen or become nigh untenable. They either take the information to heart and start acting out in the physical realm, or they become so damned fixated upon the negative aspects of a situation that they reach out, metaphysically, and wonkily turn the Dharma Wheel, so to speak. In doing so, workings can be jilted off-course and the scene can spin out of control.

We often perceive what we want to see or otherwise feel the need to see, and this can be great....it can also be really negative, as we create our realities with our self-chatter.  That internal push to be [x], do [y]. or react to [z] can either help us or get us into a great deal of trouble.

We revert to what we're comfortable with as a point of fact, yet give relatively little thought to how that affects us or the situations around us.  This is strangely pertinent in divination for two reasons:

1) We will usually see what we want to see.
2) We often take action on what we want to see, and that's not always good or valid information.

Dealing with #1 is relatively easy, and #2 depends on how we deal with the former.  When getting started with divinatory work, I recommend being highly suspicious of anything that confirms your thoughts on the matter at hand; I would recommend going as far as to have your readings checked by someone you trust until you get the hang of your mind's inner workings and feel that you can accurately use cleromancy to your benefit.

It helps to stay entirely neutral and to go into the reading with purpose, but without agenda.  If your intention is to learn of the best way to handle a situation in a way that is beneficial to you and you've suspended pointed desire, you're generally able to get true information that's worth reacting on. This then renders both sticking points, mentioned above, as relatively moot.

#2 is harder to deal with because we are very good at deceiving ourselves. Worse yet, when we get something that confirms our bias, it excites/saddens/elevates/deflates us, and so being resolved to read the truth is necessary.

The advice I use, in short, is to stay neutral and view Tarot as entertainment TV until the result is in. Augery should be treated with respect, and so too should those who provide such a service.  Keep an open mind with your readings, as the information can surprise you from time to time. That has to be ok, as its better to get correct information that bothers you than it is to get wrong information that causes problems.

Enjoy!

SE