Inevitable

I believe the reworking of all grimoires to be an inevitability. Never before has occult knowledge been so readily available to those who seek it. Even in ancient times when such knowledge was more prevalent, I doubt the level of availability could rival the internet. But at the same time, the traditional grimoires have never been so inadequate at serving the needs of contemporary occultists. The days of blasting rods and circles of binding are over. At least for many of us. And as almost all of the traditional grimoires approach ritual and summoning from this angle, most modern day occultists don’t don’t find much pertinent, applicable knowledge from those texts. Which leaves very few options for the modern day practicing magician. One must either discover some long-lost hidden pre-Christian text that describes respectful evocation and summoning, or create their own. The only exception to this would seem to be generation Demonolatry grimoires handed down through families. But in that case they would be exactly that, for family use, and not available to the general public.

But this is not to say that there is nothing to be learned from the old texts. To the contrary, knowing what has come before is essential to being able to move into the future. Personally, I believe we are entering a time of great occult expansion, when we will experiment and refine the old traditions. We will explore the past and create the future. Now, as the weight of religious intolerance and discrimination is beginning to lift, we are called upon to discover.

 

Let go of archaic prose

Hello there everyone! I’m wishing a super late happy new year to you all. I’m going to try to keep this post sort of short since it’s also late. I didn’t know exactly how I wanted to go about phrasing my blog post this month, to be honest I’m still not sure.

I’m really spoiled by the quality of DB Publishing’s books. I mean, all the writing is down to earth and it doesn’t read like a technical instruction manual or like a book of poetry. Poetic imagery and detailed instructions are important, but I wish a lot more grimoires would take the time to write for their readers instead of mimicking the grimoires of the past.

If I wanted to read something written in a convoluted manner, I’d stick to the originals. Ye new but olden style of wording grimoires requireth the patience to withstand many a gilded moon of painstaking labour to unlock the Occult mysteries that are writ within. . . You must be strong of mind like the platypus that waits at dusk for three signs of the coming apocalypse to be revealed in the constellations. . . Call me foolish or naïve, but no thank you. We live in 2013, let’s act like it.

Don’t get me wrong, though. I still appreciate old grimoires for what they are. Just because they aren’t written in modern English (or worse… text speech.) doesn’t mean they are any less valuable. I just don’t think that there’s a need to emulate that writing style anymore.  I’m sure that more interested people would stick to their occult studies if grimoires weren’t always so dry. Practical knowledge is much more useful in spiritual growth than trying to cram all the riddles you know into one book.

Old Grimoires in Modern Times

First off, apologies that this is two days late. Work ‘difficulties’ ! Please forgive me.

In today’s modern times, very few are interested in the ‘old sciences’ as I would call them. In exactly the same way that very few people today have the requisite knowledge to fix a broken steam engine, very few people today have any requisite knowledge on how to ‘fix’ difficulties with the occult and spirit world. Back in the 18-19 hundreds, when steam was the main power supply, there were many steam engineers and hopefuls wanting to get into area. Knowing about steam engineering in those days was a guaranteed source of income. With so many hopefuls, entry standards for training were high and strictly applied. What is he muttering on about I hear you say ?

Go back in time, to an era when sorcery, magic and the spirit world were very much believed. Nearly everything that went wrong was the doing of evil spirits, especially (even up to today) in Islam, where the Djinn were blamed. If you knew how to ‘fix’ these problems, you were in demand. You had to be careful though – admitting knowledge of this material in those days could have easily caused problems such as being burnt at the stake or worse. Anyhow, in many cultures, those with knowledge were in demand, much like our steam engineer. Hopefuls seeking training had to be tested in someway as to their suitability. The holders of the knowledge therefore had to find someway to protect it from all but only the most dedicated of seekers. How to do that ? Make it so bloody complicated and off putting that most couldn’t be bothered starting.

A classic example of this is The Lemegeton or as we all know it The Lesser Key of Solomon. A first glance at this is enough to put anyone off. Robes, circles, commanding demons with threats of intimidation. No thanks !

First off, how do you intimidate a demon ? Secondly, would you try ? What would be the reprisals if your intimidation didn’t work ? Then you’ve got all the rituals to contend with. How much of this is actually required ? How much s this is simply to put off all but the most dedicated ?

Modern grimoires certainly do not have the atmosphere of the old grimoires, but you must admit that the material is a lot more accessible. Magic and the occult is no longer believed in today in most ‘western’ cultures. Is is no longer feared. That is why I can buy a copy of The Lemegeton in my local bookshop as easy as a copy of 50 Shades of Grey, without fear of being burn’t at the stake. There is a slow movement returning to the old ways, which is made much easier by the very few seekers. Material is easy to understand, with very little in the way of ritual. Interestingly, the old ways tend to seek you out, and not you seeking them out.

Alchemy is now essentially defunct thanks to modern science, but yet so many of its teachings hold true and are applicable in todays world.

My Expirience with Grimoires

Truth its that I have not read a lot of the old Grimoires,because 1) english is my second lenguage and one thing its reading and speaking english and another is reading Ye olde English, second most of the old stuff I have it in digital format which hurts my eyes to read for long, While I have a copy of the Trve Grimoure, which its Jake Stratton Kent’s work on the Grimorium Verum, The Black Pullet, Key of Solomon, Abramelin, Honorius,Legemeton, etc.and other books that deal with the old stuff in some plain new fashioned writing by authors, still most of the basics of the books probably its covered all over dozens of books, or there are specialized books on that, still if you have acces to copies o comentary on old grimoires you can always enrich your expirience with that, noting also the most grimoire were written in a semi cryptic manner so the uninintated would not understand, and the old secrecy ways made it hard to make a take on the magus that precided us, also I dont read a lot of the old stuff because a lot goes by Lodges and secret societies its hard to know everything they talk about without being given a clue somewhere else, the important matter here is that is unlikely that one grimoire or book will satisfy all knowledge you could want for your magical prectice, so Im just going to drop a List of books on that should be on your read list, note that this are classical books of magic, check out DB Publishing at the top or Official Melissa Press for Demonolatry Grimoires if you haven’t already.

Astrology: Picatrix Al Hakim or the Goal of the Wise
Three Books of Occult Philosophy – Henry Cornelius Agrippa (cornerstone in the occult libraries)
Franz Bardon – Initiation Into Hermetics
Not so Old but very helpful: Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires: The Classical Texts of Magick Deciphered by Aaron Leitich

This should give you a head start where to begin with in many aspects, Peace out.

A Hearty Thank You

On behalf of all the bloggers at demonolatry.org, I’d like to thank all of our readers. This blog currently reaches over 50 public followers and over 125 people follow this blog privately via email. I know sometimes our bloggers are irregular with their posts, but we wanted to let all of you know how much we appreciate your support and thank you for taking the time to follow us.

I also apologize for not posting this month’s introductory post. We’re trying a new thing this year where our bloggers choose the monthly topic, the monthly Demons,  or a topic of their own choosing to blog about every month.

Our blogging schedule is as follows:

February:  Pro and/or Con for Evangelical Demonolatry

March: Magical languages and when to use them

April: Kasdeya: to do or not to do.

May: Where does prayer fit into your practice

June: Favorite Demon(s) to work with and why.

July: Is spiritual Demonolatry as important as the magical work? Find out what our bloggers think!

August: As you grow in knowledge should your Patron/Matron be changed or added to? Find out what our bloggers think!

September:   Reading Recommendations.

October: We ask the bloggers: When is Ascension called for?

November: We ask the bloggers: Should sacrifices (real or imagined) ever be used in Demonolatry?

December: We give the bloggers a stick, and a stone, and a vial of water. See what they do with it!

Stay tuned!

Reworking the Grimoires

I noticed Frank didn’t post this month’s blogging topic or the topics for the rest of the year. Evidently this month’s topic is reworking the old grimoires. Believe it or not, I get this question often. A lot of people want to keep different types of magick in their own little boxes and keep them away from each other. For example – I often hear one should not mix candle magick or kitchen witchery with ceremonial magick (modified to be respectful to Daemons, of course). Evidently, for some folks, if that happens it will create a tear in the fabric of space-time and we’ll all be sucked into the Twilight Zone. Or there will be impending doom or some such thing.

Not so. It is perfectly acceptable to bring numerous magickal practices into Daemonolatry. It’s okay to make substitutions, and it’s certainly okay to rework the old grimoires if necessary. I realize the hardcore traditionalists among grimoiric magicians get very upset when I say this, but hear me out for a second.

If we can agree that different spirits/deities prefer certain things, from metals to colors to incense scents, and we agree As Above, So Below — then I contend that modification and even substitution is not only acceptable, but preferred. Each ritual changes for the spirits we work with. It should change for each individual magician, too.  I’ve been saying this for years and have stricken the ire of traditionalists everywhere. Probably because it makes sense. 😉

So that’s my take on that. It’s no secret that I’ve actually printed my modifications of Goetia (Daemonolatry Goetia) and Heptameron (In The Daemonolater’s Guide to Daemonic Magick). Stay tuned for more of my modifications in the future.

What should you modify? Well, that’s entirely up to you. Obviously you want your substitutions to make sense. For example:  Saturn plants can often be used to substitute other Saturn plants if Saturn is the element you want present for the work. This is where having a strong foundation in the magickal arts is pivotal. Most magicians who have practiced for many years do have certain things we agree on. For example – which plants are ruled by Saturn.  Again, the ritual construct (including ritual implements) changes for the work you’re doing. You would modify invocations if they were not respectful to the spirits you work with respectfully.

The bottom line is that good magicians experiment and record their results.

Be creative.

Real magicians create.

Keys of Death

This booklet is ultimately a supplement to the forthcoming Keys of Ocat: A Grimoire of Daemonolatry Nygromancye and nothing more. It was created as a way to get the death tablets out to my readers in the manner I intended for readers to see them — large and in full color. They lose something in the transition to black and white. Due to budget concerns, we were unable to have them printed in Keys of Ocat in full color. They’re “Keys” for a reason. Having the plates in full color goes a long way to that end.

Softcover $12 on Amazon  |  Hardcover $24 at Lulu 

Yuletide Blessings

That time of year is upon us again. Many of us of course do not celebrate christmas. I do funnily enough, since the family would think it odd if I withheld. They do not complain about my beliefs so I so no reason why I should not return the favour and join in the spirit of goodwill. There are some people of course who buy an extra jar of Bah Humbugs at this time of year, lock themselves away with a determination to be the most unpleasant and unforgiving people. And, this comes to my topic of discussion. Are we generally more pleasant and forgiving around this time of year ? Do we all exchange gifts ? What gifts do we exchange ? Do we see this as a ‘non optional social convention’ to borrow a phrase, or are we genuine regarding our goodwill and forgiveness ?

This year, as a gift for myself, I didn’t go out and get myself an IPad, or IPhone, new motorcycle. No. I went and adopted a ten year old tabby cat, who was found wandering as a stray after being abandoned. He was flea ridden and suffered from an excema type reaction to the fleas. Despite what he has been through, he is the most trusting little soul. He appreciates everything. A fluffy cushion. Company. A lap to sleep on. His breakfast in the morning. Everything we take so much for granted, little Rufus is so so grateful for. Maybe we can learn something from him ?

Yule and Holidays!

Happy Holidays! May this be a good season for you!

Right now Im in a wierd spot, I write this from my Grandparent’s house in Mexico City, which its a small appartment in which 7 people are crammed up, counting a nurse that helps my Grandad of 96 year old do everything, my Yule rite had to be reduced to walking over the gardens of the nearby buildings and doing a very short Invocation to Belial and to meditate on the nature around me,  there are lots of trees and flowers, pink roses and lilies are all over the place which its really soothing to see and smell while walking around the block, in fact walking around has been a reuniting with my child memories, looking everything with a bit of awe used to be a nice habit I used to remember and the plants sprouting around here always made me feel a bit more in touch with nature.

So this holidays are not going to be great with celebration, with my grandad needing so much help and some people around the house not being strong enough or being sick too, Its been hell of a lot of work to help around whats needed, and the spirits are definetively not up these days.

Today I realized my new Buddhist – Turkish (Turkish because the artisan added a blue turkish eye agaisnt the evil eye and a hamsa fatima) Rosary Mala has eight beads before a turkish eye bead, 9 beads in total, it was kind of a coincidental detail that made me decide that this is going to be my demonolatry rosary.

I bought “Your Unseen Power: Real Training in Western Magic” by Dolores Ashcroft Nowicki Audio Book and work book:

both by retaking some magical practice bases and to start some meaningful work with the Egyptian Pantheon, since I dont have that much info on Khemetic Pratice I might start aswell getting familiar with the Gods in some serious pathworking, Ive like what Ive seen so far and I’d recomend it to people barely starting with Magic.

There is not much else to say, you dont have to start doing big stuff or trying to take great leaps in magic, take time to absorb that of what you must learn, this is kind of a reminder to myself but hopefully it will help somebody else.

Cheers to your health!
Blessings of Belial!

A Yule-Tide Message

I am going to try and keep this one short, as many of us are busy making preparations for the coming weeks.

This time of year usually brings out different emotions for many of us. Of course it is usually a happy time to gather with family and friends. But for those of us who don’t have family, or are forced to hide who we really are from certain people, it can become a difficult and sometimes depressing time of year. I am one such person.

While my spouse and close friends know the truth about my beliefs, members of the “older generation” of my family are still given half-truths and misdirections. Simply to avoid the pointless, yet inevitable, “saving” that would occur upon their discovery of my true beliefs. I quietly slip out of rooms when the bible-babble starts flowing. I patiently wait, staring hungrily at my food as they bow their heads and pray. I make up pointless stories as to why I am not attending the church service, and why I’m not “into” nativity scenes and Christmas songs. By the end of the season, I’ve been ready for it be over for at least a week. And it could all be avoided, if people would just be willing to accept others as they are, and stop trying to mold them into what what they believe is correct.

So, this Yule season, let’s make a serious effort to just let people be themselves. Let family and friends drop the pretense and facade that they project during family gatherings, and truly be themselves around those that are supposed to love them most. Because that truly is the only way to learn who a person is, and what is important to them. Otherwise, you can only know what they want you to believe, and what they want you to see.

 

Have a happy Yule Season, and a Wonderful Winter Solstice!