The Planetary Work - Saturn

This article is Part One in a series.

Over the years, I've posted a number of articles on planetary magick. After putting together the elemental work series, it seems to me that the time is right to put together a new set of these rituals reflecting some updates in my methodology. I have been able to refer people who ask questions to the older rituals, but sometimes that prompts more questions about why things are done as they are when I abandoned them years ago. So what I am writing up now is the planetary work the way I currently perform it. This article may be considered an updated version of this one, which is how I was working with Saturn ten years ago.

As just one example, I used to think it was a lot more important to work through the entire spiritual hierarchy to "get to" the spirit you wanted to work with. What I've found in practice, though, is that it works just as well to conjure the spirit you want using the overall godname - for the most part. The one exception is that with an Agrippa planetary spirit, you do need to conjure the corresponding intelligence in order to get the best results. Even there, though, you can also just conjure the planetary angel and basically delegate the work. This turns out to work about as well as digging into the Intelligences and Spirits, and it is simpler because you only have to conjure a single entity.

To start off, the planetary work as presented here is the essence of the most popular practical magical operations. Jupiter and the Sun correspond to status, wealth, and prosperity. Venus corresponds to love, and Mercury corresponds to healing. Saturn and Mars correspond to both cursing and magical protection. And finally, the Moon corresponds to clairvoyance, dreamwork, and psychic perception. As a magick blogger, I find that the vast majority of people writing me for spells want something in one of those areas, and it's really no surprise. That list includes most of what magick is famous for, and the kinds of powers that most people really want.

In Qabalah, the planets correspond to the double letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The letters are so named because they correspond to two specific sounds each, and this is reflected in the dual nature of the planets. On the Tree of Life, each planet corresponds to both a sephira or a path. Many magicians refer to the sephiroth as "spheres," and you may catch me doing that sometimes as well. It is, however, not a direct translation. The word actually means "emanations" - as in, emanations of divinity. But they are drawn as circles on most diagrams of the Tree of Life, and in addition, "sephira" and "sphere" sound very similar in English.


The important thing to understand about this for practical magick is that the sephira represent states of emanation, while the paths represent movement between them. Invoking the emanations themselves produces particular visions and states of consciousness, and invoking the paths produces particular practical effects. In Liber 777, the paths and sephira have separate sets of colors, separate angels, and even separate godnames. It is relatively common for people working practical magick to ignore these factors, and, say, conjure the angel of a sephira rather than a path. Often said angel is smart enough to figure out what you really want, but it works better if you go for the right aspect from the start. If you review my older article, you can see that back then I wasn't making this distinction. Adding it has helped my work immensely.

For this series, I will be starting out with Saturn and working down the Tree of Life, following what is called the Chaldean Order. As the elemental series ascended the elements in density order, this one will descend according to the relative astrological motion of each planet, from slowest (Saturn) to fastest (The Moon). Note that the ancient system does not include the outer planets in this schema, so I will not be covering them as part of this series. The sevenfold division is found throughout the magical tradition, and it works just fine as it is.

This series will be covering the paths, as they correspond to practical magical operations. I will be putting together a series that deals with the sephira once I have covered the practical work. This is by design - some schools teach that you should master a bunch of mystical stuff before you start casting effective spells, and I just don't buy that. You should use magick for basically everything, and you should start doing it right away. Studying the differences between successes and failures will give you essential insights into the nature of your will and the quality of your technique, and besides, doing effective practical magick is awesome.

According to Liber 777, the path of Saturn corresponds to "Works of Malediction and Death." That is, cursing. Saturn is referred to as the "Greater Malefic" in traditional astrology, so this matches its nature well. But an important point here for the beginning magician who doesn't necessarily care about casting curses is that Saturn rules works of malediction and death. So not only can you call upon Saturn to curse someone, you can call upon the planet to protect you from such operations, and to keep you safe from threats to your life.

This principle holds true with the other planets as well - they can be employed in both positive and negative ways according to their sphere of influence. Mercury, for example, rules healing, but the angel of Mercury could also be employed to negatively affect a target's health. As another example, Venus rules love, but the angel of Venus could also be employed to break up a romantic relationship, or to protect and existing relationship from such influence. And so forth.

So it is not the case, as I thought when I was starting in on this that, say, you would banish Saturn in order to protect yourself from curses and only invoke if you were casting one. This can kind of work, but as the banishing itself is momentary rather than persistant, it doesn't work all that well. You are much better off conjuring the angel of Saturn and giving a charge related to protection from curses. Then the angel can keep the effect going over time, and basically keep watching out for you, holding any subsequent curses at bay.

For the Path of Saturn, the four scales of color are Indigo, Black, Blue Black, and Black Rayed Blue. For ceremonial forms, you use the King scale, which is Indigo. Its complement is pale yellow. All four scales should be used to construct the sigil of the angel. The first piece of sigil is the character of Saturn, which looks like this:

The angel of the path of Saturn is Cassiel, spelled Kaph-Shin-Yod-Aleph-Lamed. The Saturn kamea is 3 x 3, so these letters all need to be reduced to single digits. This yields 2 (20), 3 (300), 1 (10), 1, and 3 (30), to produce a sigil on the kamea that looks like this:

Note that some sources teach the spelling Cassiel as Kaph-Samekh-Yod-Aleph-Lamed. I don't know why this differs from the text of Liber 777, my main source for magical operations. It is possible that Aleister Crowley changed the spelling, or that one is a corruption of the other. With Samekh, you get 2 (20), 6 (60), 1 (10), 1, and 3 (30). That sigil would look like this:

As you can see, a single letter change can result in a very different-looking symbol. I use the Shin spelling in my own work, but at the same time, I'm all about experimentation. If you're curious, feel free to try both and see which one works best for you.

The final sigil is created by combining the two figures, shown here using the Shin spelling. The grid is not necessary, but I have still included it here to show the geometry. There is no formal method for determining which color goes where on the sigil, but it should include all four scales so that it will span all four Qabalistic worlds and thus constitute a complete symbol. This is largely left to your own ingenuity.

From Liber 777, incenses appropriate to Saturn are Assofoetida, Scammony, Indigo, Sulphur, and "all evil odors." Associated plants are Ash, Cypress, Yew, Nightshade, and Elm. The associated metal is lead, and the associated precious stone is onyx.

The plants may be dried and ground into a powder using a mortar and pestle and can be sprinkled onto the paper talisman as an offering to the angel. You can do the same with assofoetida, which in powdered form is a spice. Likewise, a piece of lead or onyx may be placed on top of the paper talisman for the conjuration. You then use the paper to wrap up the whole thing when the ritual is complete and somehow bind or tape it together.

The god-name in Assiah for the path of Saturn is AB (Aleph-Beth). It is far more common for Saturn operations to be taught using YHVH Elohim as the god-name for Saturn, but this is actually the god-name appropriate to Binah, the sephira of Saturn. This is a key distinction that few teachers make, and is a method that we have explored at the local Leaping Laughter Lodge Ritual Workshop. It appears to be quite effective, and allows you to make a meaningful distinction between sephiroth and paths in the context of the ceremonial forms.

The full ritual is performed as follows:

0. The Temple

The best time to perform a Saturn operation is on a Saturday, during the hour of Saturn. To calculate the hours, divide the time between sunrise and sunset into twelve equal parts to get the hours of the day, and the time between sunset and sunrise into twelve equal parts to get the hours of the night. Days begin at sunrise. The first hour of the day is attributed to the planet ruling the day, and the subsequent hours are assigned according to the Chaldean Order.

Saturn --> Jupiter --> Mars --> Sun --> Venus --> Mercury --> Moon

Following the hour of the Moon, the order starts over again with Saturn. While it seems complicated as first, once you do it a bunch, you'll find that it actually is pretty easy. At this point I can almost do it in my head. There are also a number of software programs that you can download to do the calculation for you, and even some websites that will tell you the hours.

There are a number of different ways to arrange the temple for an operation such as this. What we do is place an altar in the center with the banishing dagger and invoking wand. Also on the altar is a containment structure such as the Sigillum Dei Aemeth or the Trithemian Table of Art. The diagram depicting the character and sigil should be placed within this structure. A small container of some sort for offerings may be placed on the Table of Art, or you can sprinkle the offering directly upon the diagram itself.

The Table of Art shown above is from The Digital Ambler. You can read about the design and how it was put together here. You can click on the image to enlarge.

If you employ scrying in your work, an appropriate device such as a crystal or mirror should also be placed in the containment structure. If you are using incense for such an operation, the traditional method is to place the incense burner between the scryer and the mirror or crystal. Otherwise, it may be placed anywhere in the space. Some scryers like to place a taper candle on either side of the device, and while I can't say that method does anything at all for me, a number of others report good results with it.

1. Opening

Light incense, if used. Open the magical field using the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram and Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram, Star Ruby and Star Sapphire, or the Field Ritual. The usual field for practical work is the operant field, with banishing pentagrams and invoking hexagrams.

2. Preliminary Invocation

Raise energy using the Middle Pillar, Elevenfold Seal (the "First Gesture" from Liber V vel Reguli), or some other appropriate ritual method as you may know how to do.

Make the Sign of Apophis and Typhon, raising both arms and holding them straight with an angle between them of 60 degrees, and proclaim, very strongly:

Thee I invoke, who art Universe!
Thee I invoke, who art in Nature formed!
Thee I invoke, the vast and the mighty!
Source of Darkness, Source of Light.

Then make the Sign of Silence, by standing straight with one arm at your side and placing your thumb or forefinger to your lips.

3. Tuning the Space

Perform the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram for Saturn. Beginning in the east, go to each quarter in turn and perform the following actions.

1. 1. Trace the Hexagram of Saturn in indigo while vibrating ARARITA (ah-rah-ree-tah). The hexagram of Saturn is traced by starting at the top point and tracing the upright triangle clockwise, and then moving on to the bottom point and tracing the downward triangle clockwise.
2. Trace the symbol of Saturn in the center of the hexagram in pale yellow while vibrating AB (ahb).

The final figure being traced to all four directions should look like this:

Once the four figures are traced, return to face the east completing the circle.

Then, recite the Orphic Hymn to Saturn.

Etherial father, mighty Titan, hear,
Great fire of Gods and men, whom all revere:
Endu'd with various council, pure and strong,
To whom perfection and decrease belong.
Consum'd by thee all forms that hourly die,
By thee restor'd, their former place supply;
The world immense in everlasting chains,
Strong and ineffable thy pow'r contains
Father of vast eternity, divine,
O mighty Saturn, various speech is thine:
Blossom of earth and of the starry skies,
Husband of Rhea, and Prometheus wife.
Obstetric Nature, venerable root,
From which the various forms of being shoot;
No parts peculiar can thy pow'r enclose,
Diffus'd thro' all, from which the world arose,
O, best of beings, of a subtle mind,
Propitious hear to holy pray'rs inclin'd;
The sacred rites benevolent attend,
And grant a blameless life, a blessed end.

The space should now be tuned for the conjuration.

4. The Conjuration

Note: It has come to my attention that the manner in which I do the conjuration is less clear than I originally intended. The conjuration has been clarified to reflect this point, but it is significant enough to discuss and draw attention to it here. First of all, I am NOT working my way down through the hierarchy to get to "the guy at the bottom" (the spirit) who actually does the work. In fact, I address my charge to ALL THREE entities called below.

If the Godname is included, the four names represent the four Qabalistic worlds - Godname = Atziluth, Angel = Briah, Intelligence = Yetzirah, Spirit = Assiah). By addressing the charge in this way, the operation can "fire on all cylinders" and affect the manifest universe at all level. The Godname represents the power itself, the Angel ushers that power across the Abyss from potential to actual, the Intelligence shapes that power through the realm of formation, and the Spirit interfaces that power directly with the material world from moment to moment.

CASSIEL, CASSIEL, CASSIEL (kah-see-EL). Come unto me, great and mighty angel of SHABBATAI (shah-bah-TYE) by the name of the great god AB (AHB). Send unto me AGIEL (ah-ghee-EL), that great intelligence of thine, and thereafter attend to my behest.

Pause until the presence of Cassiel is perceived. If you don’t feel anything or see anything, wait a minute or so before continuing.

AGIEL, AGIEL, AGIEL (ah-ghee-EL). Come unto me, thou bright intelligence of SHABBATAI (shah-bah-TYE), in the name of CASSIEL (kah-see-EL) thy lord. Compel the spirit ZAZEL (zah-ZEL) who is under thy dominion to manifest within this Table of Art, and thereafter attend to my behest.

Pause until the presence of Agiel is perceived. If you don’t feel anything or see anything, wait a minute or so before continuing.

ZAZEL, ZAZEL, ZAZEL (zah-ZEL). Come unto me, mighty spirit of SHABBATAI (shah-bah-TYE), in the name of AGIEL (ah-ghee-EL) thy lord. Come forth within this Table of Art and thereafter attend to my behest, that I may wield the powers of TAU (pronounced like it looks), the path of the planet Saturn.

At this point, vibrate the names CASSIEL, AGIEL, and ZAZEL repeatedly until the presence of the angel and spirits of Saturn is perceived within the Table of Art. Various methods may be used to accomplish this, from simply waiting until a presence makes itself known to scrying for an image in a crystal or dark mirror. If this is being performed as a group ritual, with everyone chanting the name together, it is helpful for the officiant or scryer to have a bell chime that can be rung once he or she perceives a presence in whatever manner. At the bell chime, the chant stops.

5. The Charge

My instructions for the charge are simple and straightforward, just as you can find in my published books. Address it to all three named entities above. Make use of an Injunction, which is what you want the angel and associated spirits to do, and a Limitation, which is what you do not want them to do. The Limitation helps you avoid "Monkey's Paw" situations in which your Injunction may manifest, but in an undesirable way.

As I mentioned above, Liber 777 catalogs the powers attributed to the planet Saturn as "Works of Malediction and Death." For best results, your charge should fall within that area. Otherwise, you may be asking for something outside Saturn's sphere of influence, and that could cause the ritual to fail. Keep in mind that as Saturn rules this area, you can call upon Cassiel to protect you from such harm, not just to cast curses.

At this point you may also make offerings to the angel by placing them in the small container. After the angel has had a chance to partake of the offerings, be sure to dispose of them. Alcohol such as wine may be allowed to evaporate on its own, and natural substances may be scattered outdoors. Do not attempt to reuse an offering - generally speaking, spirits do not take kindly to that.

Your other option is to place the offerings directly upon the sigil itself, if this is practical, as it is with ground-up plant material or spices. If you decide to go this route, you will be wrapping the offering up in the paper sigil and need give it no further thought. Obviously, though, this becomes less practical with liquid offerings, such as alcohol.

Also, You should get some sort of assent from the angel before you proceed to the License to Depart, or an explanation of his objection. When the charge lies outside the angel's sphere of influence, often he will be willing to direct you to another spirit that would be more suitable to conjure in order to better accomplish your intent.

6. The License to Depart

Mighty CASSIEL and the spirits of Thy domain, because thou hast-diligently answered unto my demands, and hast been very ready and willing to come at my call, I do hereby license thee to depart unto thy proper place, without causing harm or danger unto man or beast. I charge thee to withdraw peaceably and quietly with the blessings of the great god AB, and that peace be ever continued between us. So mote it be!

7. Closing

The ritual may be closed with either a final banishing pentagram ritual or with the Qabalistic Cross performed on its own. These should match the rituals used in the opening, so for example if you opened with a Star Ruby you should repeat it or perform the corresponding version of the Qabalistic Cross.

Generally speaking, if you want to release your intent out into the world to accomplish some task external to yourself, you should close with a banishing pentagram ritual. This is similar to the chaos magick idea of releasing a sigil once it has been created and empowered.

On the other hand, if you also want the effect of the ritual to linger within your sphere of awareness, whether or not the intent is also external, you should close with the Qabalistic Cross. This stabilizes the operation, but does not detach it from your sphere of awareness.