Note of Caution: You should be aware that even so much as writing this article has proven to be very disruptive and problematic.  If you are particularly sensitive to negativity, I would suggest that you promptly mark this entry as read (assuming you use an app like Feedly) and move on with your life. I'll be discussing some pretty negative stuff here.

You're welcome to stick around and read through this, but if you do, it may spark off some pretty noticeable changes.  Proceed at your own risk.

Still sticking 'round?  Ok, down to business....

In response to a series of questions a long-time client of mine has posed, I have decided to talk a bit about shadow work, the associated risks and implications, and the possible benefits of doing the Work. Herein will be a few methodologies that one can use to engage their Shadow and progress past their limitations.

Before I start, I must stress that this Work is FAR more dangerous and advanced than anything I've written about previously - hence the warning at the top of this post. This isn't stuff you do for fun.  It isn't something you do out of convenience either.  Its something you do when you don't have a choice.

We're complicated creatures, and there are times that we seem to be half angel, half demon.  We've got a side of us that wants to lie, cheat, steal, murder, rape, drink, and drug ourselves into a stupor.  Its dedicated, in many of us, to taking the easy way out and gets a thrill out of harming someone else in the process. We've also got a side to us that's good-natured, caring, compassionate, loving, and aspires to doing good deeds for the benefit of others. Its a lot like the story of the two wolves, pictured below.

We're all different, and some of us have an easier time tapping one of those wolves over the other.  That's natural and normal, but it just because its the way of things doesn't mean that you're doomed towards dealing with one specific side.

In the end, its a bit like dealing with the angel on one shoulder and the demon on the other. (Much like Kronk in The Emperor's New Groove)

In the Nature VS Nurture argument, the eventual realization is that our leanings are a product of Nature and Nurture, and as a result, eventually choice has a great deal to do with it.  In my experience, I have found that strength comes from being able to utilize the powers of both sides while still keeping them in balance. This is why we have rites like the Banishing Rituals of the Hexagram, Middle Pillar, grounding, and centering exercises.

Most everyone is familiar with the "Holy Self" or "Higher Self" in one form or another - some even go so far as to call it the "Holy Guardian Angel".  The other half isn't really talked about.

Your shadow, on the other hand, (also known as your Evil Genius, Evil Daemon, or doppelganger) is the part of you that's typically kept deep inside of you. It serves the functionality of a spiritually alive storehouse for all of your worst traits, your fears, your insecurities, It represents the abused, the liars, the broken, and the incomplete.  The shadow is comprised of pure, unadulterated fucked-upedness, and working with it is often one hell of an unpleasant ride......

Your shadow makes even the denizens of the Qliphothic shells look cute and cuddly - this is doubly so if you've been through extreme trauma in your past.

Working with one's shadow, however, can be very fulfilling when one's reached the appropriate stage of awareness and ability - knowledge of and communication with your HGA is mandatory. Mastering it does have its benefits, though mastery of one's shadow is an ongoing process that is repeated as one lives his or her life.  Its a set of practices that can, eventually, lead to some amazing realizations about one's self and the universe around them, and, as a result, be a major reservoir of power that can be tapped on demand.

Below is a ritual format through which one can connect to, work with, and overcome the portions of their shadow. It follows a strict flow and I would not recommend straying from it, lest you endanger yourself.  The sigils for each part of the shadow self can be found at the bottom of this article, and I would suggest that you only utilize one at a time.  Do not draw them unless you intend to use them.

1. Provide offerings to your guardian spirits
   
   By this point, you should have a pretty decent handle on the nature of your guardian spirits, both local and ancestral, as well as the allies you've cultivated through your ongoing spirit work.
   
   
2. Perform an Invocation of your Higher Self
   
   By this point, you should have your own method for getting in contact with your HGA/HS for ritual use. Proceed with it, as you will need the essence of this portion of you present to balance out the extreme negativity that will be raised as you progress through this rite.
   
   
3. Draw the sigil for the aspect of your Shadow that you intend to invoke
   
   You will need to use consecrated parchment paper for this purpose.  I would suggest that you trace out the sigil, then pray over it to empower it.
   
   
4. Prayer to the Keystone
   
   The Keystone an entity I've worked with for quite some time.  Its purpose is simple: to watch over the keys so that they are not accidentally activated through tracing them, visualizing, etc.
   
   Keystone, bearer of possibilities
   Stir, waken, hear, and become available to me
   I invoke thy name and call for thy presence
   Stand alongside me as I work through the Umbric Keys
   Face me so that I might face my Self
   
   [Seal the invocation by tracing a lemniscate in the air]
   
   
5. Evoke or invoke the Shadow's aspect
   
   How you proceed here is up to you.  Evocation tends towards being gentler than invocation, but invocation will allow you to do more than simply wrangle with that aspect of your Self.
   
   
6. Complete the rite and dismiss all invoked forces
   
   Dismiss that which has been conjured and ground yourself in the manner of your choosing.
   
   
7. Deal with the outcome of the rite
   
   If you did the work right, you will have stuff to deal with.  You'll learn about certain things that motivate you, how to diffuse your temper, etc.  That's the real reason behind this work, after all.  If you should need help, which you may, you'll want to reach out to me through my contact page.

If you choose to follow this path I've laid out here, good luck.  You will need it.

As mentioned previously, should you need help, feel free to contact me.

Regards,

SE

Greetings folks.

Over the past few days, I've found myself deep in thought after going about my usual client work, personal practice, and devotional work.

It's occurred to me that spiritual work is often a cosmic game of "Telephone".  "Telephone", for those of you caught unawares, is a childhood game wherein the party at the front of the line comes up with a sentence or phrase, tells it to the person next to them, then the recipient does the same and so on and so forth down the line.

Those of you whom have played the game I speak of know that the sentence or phrases starts out as something as simple as "Johnny's mom is also the doctor" and ends up as "Mom's Johnny is also the proctor" at the final person of the game. So too is this the case with client work, I find.

I am frequently approached by folks who either do not speak English or speak it as a second, third, or fourth language; frequently, they encounter the same troubles shared by their brethren from English-speaking countries - they are unsure how to put their concerns and wants into words which will then be clearly understood by someone like myself.

This brings us to a rather awkward point in a relationship, as its difficult to understand just what it is that we're being asked to do when we miss important contextual clues.  This is doubly true when it comes to interacting with spiritual entities, as not only do they not speak our language, but they also tend to sense our emotions, our sense of purpose or lack thereof, our thoughts, our confusion, and so on.  With this truth being as present as it is, we encounter a new difficulty; not only must we understand the goal of our friend, client, partner, spouse, or ourselves, but we also must be able to communicate those goals and intentions effectively to the spirits we conjure.

Language, being a finicky beast at the best of times, is something we must strive to understand intimately if we are to do this effectively; furthermore, we must also understand the language of the spirits we intend to work with.  Sometimes the language is verbal and literal or it can be written and symbolic or any means and methodology in-between.  Each of us is different in how we best perceive and understand the world around us and the spirits we work with, command, and/or serve are no different.

Not only we must understand how to communicate ourselves effectively, but we also must learn to listen to the people and the world around us.  Perception is the key to greater and deeper understandings, and that starts at home with the ones we love.  We must hear them out first if we wish to understand what the Gods and spirits tell us through speech, song, dreams, movies, games, situations, and so on.

With that said, happy hunting and blessed learning.

SE

Greetings and happy Monday, ladies and gents. I hope this posting finds you well, or at the very least, awake and functioning.

In my wanderings, ramblings, gnosis, and the latent digestion of such things, I've come to a greater realization with regard to how our folk affect us.  We often spend a great deal of time interacting with others and we often take more than we'd like from people.  This function is something that's programmed into us at a biological level, as evidence by the fact that we even respond to how other people's hearts are beating.  The links for such studies escape me at the moment, but sufficed to say, we are much more intimately linked than we like to admit.

We end up mirroring people we respect as a result of our focus on what they represent to us.  We instinctually try to live up to the ideal they tout in order to become better in their eyes, and that can be a dangerous tendency.  When someone is sufficiently strong-willed, they can project a great deal onto others and do a ridiculous amount of damage to that individual.

Its not at all uncommon for a mental patient, for example, to project his or her disease/disorder onto the doctor or that individual's spouse.  I saw and experienced this firsthand as a child, when my mother's erratic behavior and lack of moral limitation "infected" my father.  Not only did I witness him changing over the years, but I confirmed these changes with my family after the fact. Apparently, before he married my mother, he had a slight "bad streak", but it was never particularly volatile or violent.

We see the same tendency in schools, as noted by my significant other (she's a teacher); when a smart kid hangs out with the would-be thugs, the smart kid's test scores and schoolwork suffers.  If that same student suddenly starts hanging out with a bunch of nerds, his scores improve.

In short, our values are ultimately set by the clan we interact with. If your friends, wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, or some other such individual or group is intensely negative, you will behave the same way as a result of your interactions.  This may not be true initially, but eventually your Will will break down and you will fall in line with your pack.

The same interactions and changes occur with those of us who are religious, spiritually inclined, or to those of us who practice some form of magic involving interacting with spiritual forces.  Our very interactions with those spirits, for weal or woe, changes us on some level.  They, very literally, become a part of  our life and our worldview, changing us from within even if we don't expect it.  Its not particularly abnormal for a practicing mage's IQ to be raised as a result of working with planetary intelligences, for example.

I've personally experienced this over the years, as working with Zazel, for example, has helped me to become better at discerning limitations, exposing them, or strengthening weaknesses, even if this wasn't the goal of the work.  It fits perfectly with His Saturnine nature.

That being the case, we can respond to this external stimuli in a couple of different ways; we can either use this to our benefit, or we can try to run from it and become a hermit. I would suggest that we should use this tendency to our benefit rather than pursue the goal of shielding ourselves from influences from others.  It is, ultimately, futile to do so, as we're trying to escape biologically-programmed functions which help us to interact.

I would recommend that you surround yourself with successful folk that you can look up to and interact.  I'd also recommend that you take it a step further and actually work with spirits that will benefit you in such a way.  If you're looking to cultivate a sense of inner peace, either work with Shiva and Ayra-Tara-Ma or have someone else do the work for you. Just bringing an entity into your sphere can have far-reaching effects for the same reasons listed above.

Furthermore, cut the bad apples off the tree.  Make the sacrifice and move on with your life if someone isn't benefiting you.  Don't sit their and stew; it WILL come back to bite you if you don't heed this advice.  Compassion is great until it drags you down; if it does, it needs to be managed like any other emotion or instinct.

The TL:DR version of this is illustrated pretty well by Hopsin in the following music video:

The long and short of it is that in order to grow, we have to cut loose the anchors that hold us down.  If you want to get somewhere in life, make whatever sacrifices you need to, so long as they'll actually get you somewhere.  If that means that you need to ask for help, realize this and then make it happen.

There are plenty of resources, spiritual teachers, spirit workers, teachers, therapists, business contacts, and potential friends who can help you to change your life for the better.  All you need to do is reach out and work to make that occur.

If you should desire such assistance, contact me and we'll talk. If you're not sure what to do about your situation, but just want to do something general to help fix it, I can probably assist.

Take care and thank you for reading.

Regards,

SE

Ave, my friends.  As always, I hope my posting finds you well.

A couple of weeks ago, I got word from a client and friend of mine that some recent work I had done for her led to some striking paranormal manifestations.  Here are her words on the subject:

"since you did the ritual work for me, i've been seeing things in my room. it's difficult to describe, but it's like i'm seeing glimmers of spirits or whatever they are all over in here. no audible sounds, just visual. sometimes it's in the form of a light, sometimes a shadow. i'm a little confused, didn't know if it might be related to the ritual. this is something that is completely new. the most prevalent was something small (and a light form) move across the keyboard of my laptop while i was using it. it was very clear and made me jump when i saw it."

Given her reaction to these manifestations, I thought that I should share this information; these sorts of things do happen.  Sometimes they're striking or startling, so if you're going to study and practice the Art, expect that this can happen to you.  This result was simply from doing a bit of work to bless her; more potent rites have even more potential for this sort of thing.

Take care,

SE

Greetings once again, dear readers. I hope this post finds you well.

As yet another follow up to my Elemental Work post, I've got another seal to share with you....

The spirit in question is named Khelbir, and his sigil is posted above.  He is an earthen creature, not all that dissimilar to Ghob whom he answers to.  Khelbir is what some might call a gnome, defends the hearth, unveils hidden things, and empowers people whom he respects.

He is not, however, very friendly towards women, as he views them suspiciously and has a tendency to pinch them and pull their hair.  Its possible to earn his trust as a female (he adores my girl, for example), but to do so you must approach him gently.

As a male, if you wish to earn his respect, you must handle your business and work hard.  Laziness is not something he tolerates, and he'll do more than call you on it if you are the sort to lay about.

Enjoy!

SE

Greetings once again, dear readers. As always, I hope that this post finds you in pleasant spirits (forgive the pun).

It'd seem that I am quickly making a habit out of posting information from my personal grimoire, so I thought that I would share another with you lot. 

This particular entity, Lail-Naj'Ma, is best categorized as being inbetween what one might consider planetary and elemental, and while she is most comfortable at night, her attributes are both solar and airy. Her strengths revolve around intelligence gathering, helping us to digest information, and other such pursuits.

A yellow candle dressed with a sweet-smelling perfume is perfect as an offering for this one, and while she is generally good-natured, she does not take kindly to stupidity and will grow impatient if you don't listen. She is a spirit with which a respectful tone is mandatory for continued work.

Her sigil is as follows:

Enjoy!

SE

Greetings once again, dear readers. I hope this post finds you well.

As another follow-up to my previous Elemental Work post, I'd like to share another seal with you.  The elemental daemon in question is named Aretreia, and her seal is shown below.

She is a force which causes rapid change and is associated with manifest fire.  Elementally, she is categorized by Earth and Fire and is best befriended through offerings burned on charcoal discs in a bronze bowl.  Failing that, an earthenware bowl is also appropriate.

She is fond of sulphur and burned offerings, and is best used for removing obstacles from your life.  Proceed with caution if you choose to work with her.

Happy evoking!

SE

Greetings once again, dear readers.

I've been considering (and putting off), for a long while, writing a post about working with elemental spirits as a generalization - in fact, this post has sat here in my "Drafts" folder for several weeks.  Its ebbed and flowed rather naturally, sometimes increasing in size, and sometimes shrinking to fit the mood of the day. That being the case, I think it is high time that I post this piece.  Be aware, however, that this post encompasses my current views and level of experience, which are subject to change.

In essence, my goal here is to provide you with a means by and through which you'd be able to get a feel for the elements themselves, rather than the elemental kings.

Recently an acquaintance from EvocationMagic and I were talking and he mentioned that he was having some trouble understanding and digesting Agrippa's descriptions of the various elemental spirits.  Admittedly, he is part of the motivation behind this post and I'll leave it to him to chime in if he feels so inclined.

Having said as much, this brings us to the following point: "What are elementals anyway?"

Well, elemental spirits, or daemons (not to be confused with the Judeo-Christian term "demons"), are entities who live in, are made up of, act like, and manifest through the primal elements that exist in the world around us.  Each pantheon and associated worldview has its own way of categorizing these elements and the associated beings, so for the moment, I will stick to describing the categories noted within Agrippa's texts.

These are as follows:

1) Air
2) Earth
3) Fire
4) Water

These elements have several combinations, and amongst elementals you will oft find very strange combinations of different energies.  I've encountered spirits closely associated with both fire and water, air and earth, air and water, water and fire and earth, and any other such combination you can think of.

In those circumstances, it is always rather odd to work with those entities, as you're never really sure who they answer to; this is where the hierarchy is no longer particularly useful, and instead you must rely on coordinating with the spirit directly. This is one of the many reasons why I do not espouse the use of hierarchy-driven threats against spirits; there will come a time when you don't know who a spirit answers to.  That is, however, neither here nor there so I digress.

Having said as much, there four "pure" elemental energies that one can tap as necessary, and in time you will learn to mix them to fit your needs.  It is tricky, to be sure, but it is incredibly useful.

As usual, herein I will provide the sigils and a brief synopsis of some of the skills associated with each elemental energy.  It is up to you to use these sigils effectively, and, as always, proceed carefully.

Above is the first sigil, which corresponds with Elemental Air.  Airy powers are most frequently associated with those of intellect, raw knowledge, direct communication, gnosis, wind and dust storms.  The energy is unemotional, direct, flighty, and playful.

This energy rules over any and all intellectual pursuit and is perfect to involve when one is studying for an exam or looking to absorb information on the job.

Second up is Elemental Earth, which is associated with binding, growth, grounding, stability, fecundity, and materialization.  This realm is exceedingly good at assisting you in areas of fiscal responsibility.

Earth is slow to respond, quiet, hardy, and quite ambiguous with regard to gender.  It is oft associated with the working man's labors, wherein patience and strength are often far more useful than simply raw wit or passion.

Thirdly, we have Elemental Fire, which is wild, untamed, energetic, expansive, illuminating, and quick.  It is both healing and destructive in countenance and turns from one pole of activity to the other quickly.  It is versatile, and can be used to help and harm simultaneously.

It is carnal, rough, impish, and sometimes playful in a destructive fashion. It is, by far, the most dangerous element to involve oneself with, but it also incredibly fascinating.  This is the realm of male sexuality, make no mistake, and can be used to rouse the lustful passions of another.

Finally, we have Elemental Water, known for being cooling, life-sustaining, slow-moving til roused, and seductive.  It is secretive, quiet, deceptive, and has drowned many a man.

This is the realm of female sexuality, and its power lies in the use of emotional ties to get things done.  Still waters run deep, but when there's a quake, just watch for a tsunami.

There you have the elements and their signs, to use as you see fit.  Remember, however, that spirits of this sort are neither good nor evil; they simply are. You define how they manifest, so any fault or praise belongs with you, the magician or witch who conjures them.

Regards,

SE