A friend and colleague sent me a list of questions to answer recently.  It seemed appropriate to post my response here as well.

1. If you worked the Arbatel, could you share your most significant experience with it?

I've worked the Arbatel many times, though have not done so in a traditional fashion for many years.  I've found that I've gotten the best results I've had when not using barriers of any sort when working with Ophiel, Bethor, Och, etc.; by taking away the circles, flowerly language, and the need for most physical trappings, I've discovered that the Olympic spirits tend to appear rapidly, powerfully, and in a way that is considerably less filtered.  The very act of conjuring their essences becomes a potent alchemical starter, effectively transforming the bearer rapidly.

2. What would you consider to be the secret of effective servitor creation?

Being aware of the fact that servitors are built from pre-existing building blocks seems to be key.  When you begin to construct one, very rarely are you actually using unprogrammed materia....rather, you're grasping onto bits of other creations and fragments of what once was and mashing it together to forge a sort of golemesque creation.  Its a bit like performing Kintsugi with these bits and pieces to create a newer work of art.

Sometimes those bits & pieces are more intelligent than we expected, and as such tend to have a personality to them.  Becoming aware of the essence these pieces represent as you're playing Bob the Builder is key to spinning up a solid, well-grounded entity that can work with you for years to come.

3. What was the insight that literally blew the doors open for you concerning evocation?

Spirits are no different than humans where their personalities are concerned.  They are just as interesting, capricious, and varied in their countenances and wear as many masks.  Treating them like people instead of figments of our imagination allows you to form real relationships which set the stage and path of your life for years to come.

4. How many spirits have you worked with personally and have a mutual 'friendship' with, if any?

I've worked with hundreds, if not thousands of spirits, depending on where you set the bar and how you define separate entities.  I work with and have an ongoing, frequent relationship with more than 20, less than 50 at any given time (again, depending on where you draw the lines in the sand).

5. What is youre preferred method of evocation, or spiritual communication?

I don't really have one, as my needs change on a daily basis to fit my client's needs and desires.

6. Do you have a favourite method, or one that works for you the simplest?

The simplest method of evocation that works for me is just a matter of calling the spirit out; I use my heart and soul to speak to it, and they come. Works beautifully.

7. Do you have a 'favourite' spirit?

Personality-wise, I am quite fond of Kali-Ma.  I get on well with her and there's a great deal of love there. As far as who I interact with on the daily, my Patron comes to mind. I don't necessarily "like" him, at times, as the Horned God is certainly rough around the edges - I do, however, have a great deal of respect of and affection for him despite this harshness.

8. What was the single worst piece of advice you received in the study and practice of the occult and when did you realize it was terrible?

"All spirits are either the Lord or the Lady!"
"All things come back to you threefold!"
"Working with demons'll send you to hell!"
"OMG, you should never hurt anyone!"

Really, take your pick.  All of those things are fallacies.

9. How do you go about the purification before evocation, general experience?

Generally, I don't.  I figure that our ancestors were very practical people and thus waste not, want not.  Purifying oneself before a rite isn't generally helpful, as it is better to come as you are and behave in a respectful fashion. You aren't necessarily going on a date with the spirit, and thus overly dramatic rituals tend to get in the way via their clunkiness.  Don't lose the forest for the trees.

10. How do you deal with curses and which counter spells do you prefer to use?

When possible, I simply rise above them and let the offending party deal with the fallout.  When that isn't possible, I handle the situation as evidence and experience dictates.  I find that most times, the situations is different enough that simply doing a prescribed set of actions isn't enough.

However, that in mind, were I advising a novice, I would recommend the following behavior:

1. Assess
   A: Divination
   B: Deduction
   
2. Resolve
   A: Blessing
   B: Uncrossing
   C: Healing Work
   D: Luck Work
   E: Obstacle Removal
   F: Road Opener
   G: Jinx Removal bath
   H: Talisman creation
   I: Sever ties with cause
   J: Protect & Reverse
3. Observe
   A: Watch for changes in one's situation that seem to indicate success or failure.
   B: If necessary, start again from the beginning of the cycle
   

The questions came from BaiLung of StudioArcanis.

Enjoy!

SE

Folks, if you haven't received a response to your inquiry you submitted, it's because you typed your email address wrong. There's been a rash of email returned due to the wrong email addresses lately, so if you haven't heard from me, please resubmit your query with the correct contact info.

Regards,

Ave, ladies and gents. 

Here we are again, with another Q&A session with your favorite sorcerer. :)

It depends on the spirit, truth be told, and it depends, perhaps more heavily, upon their source of energy at the time.  You see, deities and spirits evolve over time.  They engage in romance, war, peace, arts, crafts, and other acts of deific importance.

Yes, worship does certainly provide energy to those on the receiving end, and of course, the loss of said worship does remove some of the power the spirit in question appreciates.  One could say that the loss of worship is a demotion of sorts. However, any spirit worth their salt is not stopped by that. There are plenty of deities who have been around for so long that the power they've got stored up is monumental.  This is particularly true of those who tend to stand outside the passage of time, such as Mahakala or Kali-ma.

Other "lesser" spirits would be more affected by the loss of such following.  Land spirits for example, are devastated when people steal their energy.  They often lack the means to replenish it, and that's when offerings are useful. Servitors behave in the same way, insofar as if they are not fed enough, they will find their own means of obtaining the energy necessary for their survival.

This is a tricky question to which I only know a partial answer.  In my time of practice, I've met a handful of entities who are not bound by specific pantheons.  Some I am not permitted to speak of, others I am.  Old Horny is one such spirit whose not bound by such conveniences and limitations.  Hekate is another.

That's all for now.

Regards,

SE

Greetings folks.  I hope this post finds you well.

This post is the next installment of the Sorcery Q&A series.  As usual, the following questions have been submitted by a client and my answers follow.

As I understand it, no.  They are from separate cosmologies and the use of the World Tree is as a "shaman's map" rather than as a literal set of coordinates.

The short answer is "it depends".

Some genuinely appear to be interested in our growth and well-being while there are others who seem to exist to manipulate us into doing whatever task they see fit.  Many times, the two poles seem to exist simultaneously as if there were a case of cognitive dissonance on a deific level which leads me to believe that part of forcing us to grow is being a manipulative twat. I've dealt with many different spirits and situations which suggest that many spirits manipulate us because they need to do so to get us to grow, which actually makes a fair deal of sense.  Human beings are dreadfully bad at doing the necessary.

We tend to avoid one form of pain while accepting another, likely out of fear that the pain we're avoiding will be worse than the pain we're enduring.  Divorce is one of those situations, as no one gets a divorce because they're happy about the arrangement.  People divorce another person when the situation has finally become intolerable.  We're, in essence, slow to move without pain as a motivator.

Deific politics, for one.  From what I understand, various spirits are always vying for more power and different laws on the spiritual side of things, and that's really not all that different than what we see in our world.

That, and they tend to talk about how idiotic we are.  I've heard plenty from planetary daemons about how we ask for various changes only to not have the sense to pay attention when they occur.

This is subject to change, but at this point, I'd prefer to reincarnate here, as while human beings are generally a pretty self-unaware lot, I feel as though people like myself can make a large difference.  The world needs more spiritually-aware individuals if we're to balance things out and stop killing off the world we live in/on.

That's all for now.

Take care folks.

SE

Ave and welcome.

As part of the ongoing Sorcery Q&A series I've been running here on the blog, I've come to you with answers to more questions as asked by folks.

1) "It sounds like in the Norse mythology reincarnation is the norm for all humans, if we like who we are in this present lifetime should we try to permanently move on to another plane (one of the other nine worlds) after this life, or should we try to become powerful enough to choose the next incarnation in Midgard?"

That topic is wildly debated amongst heathens, so, really, the "correct" answer is that it depends on the tribe you listen to.

2) Is Nerthus/Hel another face of Hecate, if not, does Hecate have a "face" in the Northern Tradition?

No.  They are not related to one another.

3) Edred Thorsson basically says that Zeus and Jupiter are another name for Tyr, do you agree with this? 

Thorsson utilizes a basic system of correspondences for the sake of comparing deities.  In this case, Zeus and Jupiter aren't very well-related to Tyr, as neither were particularly self-sacrificing in their roles.

That's all for now.  Ta-ta folks.


SE

Greetings, ladies and gents.

Its now time for the second installment of Sorcery Q&A. I received the following questions from a client as with the previous post on the subject, so the response below each question is my own view. Feel free to agree or disagree as you like, and should you have further questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me. :)

1) In which of the nine worlds of Yggdrasil do you personally believe the Goetia demons dwell? What about the Judeo/christian angels, are they the elves?

A: I don't know the answer to the first one, nor do I have an opinion on it, but I do know that angels and elves are different creatures altogether.  They are separate classes of spirits.

That said, there is a surprising degree of danger in trying to hook unrelated elements from one religion into another, as it can be a complete head-fuck.  If history or gnosis does not support the interrelation, I would suggest avoiding it, lest you cause yourself more issues in the future.

2) If Gods really "die" like it says in Norse mythology then is the main goal of a god is to continue to live and have some gods figured out how to be reborn?

A: Interestingly, in my time as a sorcerer-for-hire, I had the "privilege" to observe a goddess die as a result of certain glaring screw-ups.  During that time, there was a great deal of hubub and chaos surrounding it, but when she was finally killed off by higher powers than she, she was simply replaced by another who was given the same name and same duties.  At first, I thought I was going a bit nuts and interpreting things on the spirit side incorrectly but certain devotees to the aforementioned had noticed an extreme change in their worship of her at the same time I had observed her being killed and replaced.

I don't, at this point, know whether or not deities reincarnate as deities when they've been killed off on the spirit side, but I have found that deities do frequently incarnate as humans as a means of shaping our worlds and lives.  Sometimes they are innately aware of their natures, and sometimes they act purely on instinct as dictated by their Divine Higher Selves; sometimes its a mix of the two. Regardless, they do have a profound impact on the world around us and as a general rule, they are the folks who deal with some supremely fucked up things as they grow.

3) Some believe each human "soul" originates with a particular God or Goddess/Archetype, do you believe this to be true based on your understanding of the Gods?  

This question is strongly related to the above, but in some cases, yes, archetypes seem to be used in "programming" us to be who we are from the start.  In other cases, you just simply inherit the same traits you've had from your previous lives, with a few small differences based around nurture.

Reincarnation is a touchy subject, but it applies here, as I've seen people reborn with some supremely screwed up instincts as a result of things that happened to them in the past.  In one such instance, the man in question was a child molester in this life and my digging showed that he was last around during the time of the Romans and had spent a great deal of time imprisoned in Tartarus for his actions during that life.  This time 'round, when he got reincarnated, many of those same habits came with him, only now they're illegal and our views on the subject have changed drastically.  It doesn't, in any way, excuse what he's done to harm children, but it does explain it on some level.

On the flip side, there are times, however, where someone was a beggar or a holy man in a previous life only to be a millionaire or a dilettante in this life. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of cohesion on that front, for whatever reason, which leads me to believe that the system is far more complex than I presently understand.

That's all for now.

Regards,

SE

Greetings, ladies and gents.

I've been far too quiet on this blog over the past month, so I thought I'd get things going again by answering a few questions sent my way.  Some of you may remember the post Sorcery Q&A, and for those of you who do not, this post and the others like it will contain questions submitted by clients alongside my answers to them.  I hope that this will prove to be illuminating.

Be aware, before reading, that this post consists of gnosis from my years of magical work.  It is not up for public debate, but if you wish to take it up with me, I would ask that you contact me directly.  Comments are closed.

1) Does Odin have any "faces" outside of the Northern Tradition?

Not as far as I am presently aware.  I've interacted with the God a great deal over the years, and from what I can tell, He's pretty much fully and solely invested in all things Norse, even if He does regularly interact with and understand things outside of that pantheon.  That's not really a surprise or a limiting factor, as He's proven to be a very versatile God within that pantheon.

2) Did something like "The ALL" create the primal fire and ice and we are living inside the mind of this ALL God that has little interest in individual creatures?

That's pretty dependent upon belief, and I can't say that I know the answer.  In my personal view, we are one of many thousands of creations, under the thumb of one or more demiurges which control our experiences in this dimension.  You're free to believe what you will.

3) Do you personally view Odin as the creator of humanity?

No, I do not.  Historical studies are my forte, and I've found that Odin is far too young to have created humanity, so instead the stories must be allegorical.  Odin, as a God, hasn't been around for all that long (3,000 years or so), and our history, as humans with spiritual belief, stretches back at least 120,000 years, so you can see why I say what I do.  He's certainly had a formative impact upon us, but He didn't create us.

That's all for now.  Digest away, ping me with any questions, and enjoy!

Regards,

SE

Greetings, Ladies and Gents.  Now that we're about to enter the new year, I thought I'd start us off with a bang, so to speak.

Both my clients and Jason Miller, with his recent post, have given me an idea that I've decided to let run on for a while: specifically, a Sorcery Q&A.

How this will work is that if you're interested in having a basic question answered, such as "What are the dangers of cursing another person?" or "How do I connect with the spirit of a plant?", I would ask that you contact me through the Contact Me link on the left. After you've provided your question, if I deem it appropriate for posting here, I will do so and answer the question as best I am able.

I will let this go on until the end of January. If it is successful, I will increase the duration for your benefit.

Thank you for reading.  Ask away!

SE