This article is Part Four in a series. Part One can be found here, Part Two can be found here, and Part Three can be found here.
The work of the Zodiac is neglected by most magical resources intended for beginners. The reason for this is that in the tradition, students start out studying the elemental work, move on to the planetary work, and only after that explore the system of the Zodiac. But in the context of practical work, the signs are important, because they represent half of the practical magical powers listed in Liber 777.
When going through this series, you can refer back to my Angels of the Zodiac presentation for additional information. The presentation goes into greater detail regarding some aspects of the zodiacal work, as does my Evoking Zodiacal Angels article in Liber Spirituum.
Today I will be moving on to the sign Cancer. In Liber 777, Cancer is attributed to the "Power of Casting Enchantments." An enchantment is any sort of spell that calls something to you or into your life. In Vajrayana Buddhism, it is described as the "magnetizing power," which is the most accurate description I have come across in any esoteric system. An enchantment effectively turns you into a "magnet" for whatever you are casting for. It is a relatively general power, so it can be used to call business opportunities, relationships, employment, or just about any other desired circumstance into your life.
And enchantment can also be cast on external target, in order to call particular circumstances into their lives. As you can imagine, there are many potential applications for this. Cancer also rules enchantment in general, so the angel of Cancer can likewise be called to exclude some circumstance from your life or the life of a target. This makes Cancer quite potent for practical work of all kinds, since its sphere of influence is at least potentially so wide.
In Qabalah, the signs correspond to the twelve single letters of the Hebrew alphabet. These letters are so named because they correspond to a single specific sounds. The signs are all attributed to the sephira Chockmah, and are associated with paths only in the context of practical magical work. The sephiroth represent states of manifestation, whereas the paths represent the movement of energy between those states.
This series will be covering these paths, as they correspond to practical magical operations. 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.
For the Path of Cancer, the four scales of color are Amber, Maroon, Rich Bright Russet, and Dark Greenish Brown. For ceremonial forms, you use the King scale, which is Amber. Its complement is indigo. All four scales should be used to construct the sigil of the angel.
The sigil should be traced onto the Kamea of the Moon, as the Moon is the ruler of Cancer. Along with the sigil itself, you can also trace the character of Cancer on the Kamea. The Angel of Cancer is Muriel, spelled Mem-Vav-Resh-Yod-Aleph-Lamed. The Moon Kamea is 9 x 9, so the highest number it contains is 81. Therefore, Resh needs to be reduced, and in this case I would reduce it from 200 to 20 rather than to 2. This yields 40, 6, 20 (200), 10, 1, 30. The final figure should look something like this:
From Liber 777, incense appropriate to Cancer is Onycha. The associated plant is Lotus. The associated metal is silver, and the associated precious stone is amber.
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. Likewise, a piece of amber or silver 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 for the path of Cancer is the fourth permutation of Tetragrammaton, HVHY. Some schools teach that as the name of God is ineffable, it should be spelled out by letter (Heh-Vav-Heh-Yod). However, in practice that does not work nearly as well as pronouncing the name as a word. The pronunciation of this permutation would be something like "Hev-Hay."
For ceremonial forms, I use the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram for the signs of the Zodiac when working practical magick. Apparently a number of schools teach that you should use the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram instead, but as I see it the practical zodiacal work as an extension of the macrocosm, so I prefer the hexagram. You can invoke an element using either the hexagram of the ruling planet or the pentagram of the ruling element, but in the latter case it seems more likely that what will be invoked is the sign's more microcosmic aspects, such as associated personality traits.
0. The Temple
The best time to perform a Cancer operation is on a Monday, during an hour of the Moon that falls during the night. This is because the Moon rules Cancer, and because the sign Cancer belongs to the Nocturnal sect. Since you are employing ceremonial forms to tune the space you could do it during a day hour of the Moon as well, but a night hour is most appropriate.
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.
You should also calculate the Chart Victor for the time of your operation if at all possible. Ideally, you want the Chart Victor to be a planet that is dignified in the sign, and you should always avoid a Chart Victor that is debilitated. So the best Chart Victor for a Cancer operation is the Moon (Rulership) or Jupiter (Exaltation). The Chart Victors to always avoid are Saturn (Detriment) and Mars (Fall).
The other planets are essentially neutral, and will neither impede nor aid your operation. You can perform an operation with any of them as the Chart Victor if you cannot perform your ritual at another time, though if you can wait until the Chart Victor is the Moon or Jupiter you will generally get better results. Also, keep in mind that simple electional timing should be employed as well, and a positive final aspect is especially important if you are working with a neutral Chart Victor.
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:
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 Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram for Cancer. Beginning in the east, go to each quarter in turn and perform the following actions.
Once the four figures are traced, return to face the east completing the circle.
Then, recite the following unification statement adapted from Liber 963.
The space should now be tuned for the conjuration.
4. The Conjuration
At this point, vibrate the name MURIEL repeatedly until the presence of the angel and spirits of Cancer are 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. 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 sign Cancer as the "Power of Casting Enchantments." For best results, your charge should fall within that area. Otherwise, you may be asking for something outside Cancer's sphere of influence, and that could cause the ritual to fail. Nonetheless, the power associated with Cancer is very general and can be employed for many different purposes.
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
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.
The work of the Zodiac is neglected by most magical resources intended for beginners. The reason for this is that in the tradition, students start out studying the elemental work, move on to the planetary work, and only after that explore the system of the Zodiac. But in the context of practical work, the signs are important, because they represent half of the practical magical powers listed in Liber 777.
When going through this series, you can refer back to my Angels of the Zodiac presentation for additional information. The presentation goes into greater detail regarding some aspects of the zodiacal work, as does my Evoking Zodiacal Angels article in Liber Spirituum.
Today I will be moving on to the sign Cancer. In Liber 777, Cancer is attributed to the "Power of Casting Enchantments." An enchantment is any sort of spell that calls something to you or into your life. In Vajrayana Buddhism, it is described as the "magnetizing power," which is the most accurate description I have come across in any esoteric system. An enchantment effectively turns you into a "magnet" for whatever you are casting for. It is a relatively general power, so it can be used to call business opportunities, relationships, employment, or just about any other desired circumstance into your life.
And enchantment can also be cast on external target, in order to call particular circumstances into their lives. As you can imagine, there are many potential applications for this. Cancer also rules enchantment in general, so the angel of Cancer can likewise be called to exclude some circumstance from your life or the life of a target. This makes Cancer quite potent for practical work of all kinds, since its sphere of influence is at least potentially so wide.
In Qabalah, the signs correspond to the twelve single letters of the Hebrew alphabet. These letters are so named because they correspond to a single specific sounds. The signs are all attributed to the sephira Chockmah, and are associated with paths only in the context of practical magical work. The sephiroth represent states of manifestation, whereas the paths represent the movement of energy between those states.
This series will be covering these paths, as they correspond to practical magical operations. 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.
For the Path of Cancer, the four scales of color are Amber, Maroon, Rich Bright Russet, and Dark Greenish Brown. For ceremonial forms, you use the King scale, which is Amber. Its complement is indigo. All four scales should be used to construct the sigil of the angel.
The sigil should be traced onto the Kamea of the Moon, as the Moon is the ruler of Cancer. Along with the sigil itself, you can also trace the character of Cancer on the Kamea. The Angel of Cancer is Muriel, spelled Mem-Vav-Resh-Yod-Aleph-Lamed. The Moon Kamea is 9 x 9, so the highest number it contains is 81. Therefore, Resh needs to be reduced, and in this case I would reduce it from 200 to 20 rather than to 2. This yields 40, 6, 20 (200), 10, 1, 30. The final figure should look something like this:
From Liber 777, incense appropriate to Cancer is Onycha. The associated plant is Lotus. The associated metal is silver, and the associated precious stone is amber.
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. Likewise, a piece of amber or silver 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 for the path of Cancer is the fourth permutation of Tetragrammaton, HVHY. Some schools teach that as the name of God is ineffable, it should be spelled out by letter (Heh-Vav-Heh-Yod). However, in practice that does not work nearly as well as pronouncing the name as a word. The pronunciation of this permutation would be something like "Hev-Hay."
For ceremonial forms, I use the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram for the signs of the Zodiac when working practical magick. Apparently a number of schools teach that you should use the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram instead, but as I see it the practical zodiacal work as an extension of the macrocosm, so I prefer the hexagram. You can invoke an element using either the hexagram of the ruling planet or the pentagram of the ruling element, but in the latter case it seems more likely that what will be invoked is the sign's more microcosmic aspects, such as associated personality traits.
0. The Temple
The best time to perform a Cancer operation is on a Monday, during an hour of the Moon that falls during the night. This is because the Moon rules Cancer, and because the sign Cancer belongs to the Nocturnal sect. Since you are employing ceremonial forms to tune the space you could do it during a day hour of the Moon as well, but a night hour is most appropriate.
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.
You should also calculate the Chart Victor for the time of your operation if at all possible. Ideally, you want the Chart Victor to be a planet that is dignified in the sign, and you should always avoid a Chart Victor that is debilitated. So the best Chart Victor for a Cancer operation is the Moon (Rulership) or Jupiter (Exaltation). The Chart Victors to always avoid are Saturn (Detriment) and Mars (Fall).
The other planets are essentially neutral, and will neither impede nor aid your operation. You can perform an operation with any of them as the Chart Victor if you cannot perform your ritual at another time, though if you can wait until the Chart Victor is the Moon or Jupiter you will generally get better results. Also, keep in mind that simple electional timing should be employed as well, and a positive final aspect is especially important if you are working with a neutral Chart Victor.
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 Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram for Cancer. Beginning in the east, go to each quarter in turn and perform the following actions.
- 1. Trace the Hexagram of the Moon in Amber while vibrating ARARITA (ah-rah-ree-tah). The Hexagram of the Moon is traced by starting at the bottom point and tracing the downward triangle clockwise, and then moving on to the top point and tracing the upward triangle clockwise.
- Trace the symbol of Cancer in the center of the hexagram in indigo while vibrating HVHY (Hav-Hay).
Once the four figures are traced, return to face the east completing the circle.
Then, recite the following unification statement adapted from Liber 963.
1. O Thou burning tempest of blinding sand, Thou whirlwind from the depths of darkness! Yea, as I struggle through Thee, through Thee, my strength is but as a dove's down floating forth on the purple nipples of the storm.
2. O my God, Thou Mighty One, Thou Creator of all things, I renounce unto Thee the ceaseless booming of the waves, and the fury of the storm, and all the turmoil of the wind-swept waters; so that I may drink of the porphyrine foam of Thy lips, and be consumed in the unutterable joy of Thine everlasting rapture.
3. O Thou ten-footed soldier of blue ocean, whose castle is built upon the sands of life and death; I swear to Thee by the glittering blades of the waters, to cleave my way within Thine armed hermitage, and brood as an eyeless corpse beneath the coffin-lid of the Mighty Sea.
4. O Thou Sovran Warrior of steel-girt valour, whose scimitar is a flame between day and night, whose helm is crested with the wings of the Abyss. I know Thee! O Thou four-eyed guardian of heaven, who kindleth to a flame the hearts of the downcast, and girdeth about with fire the loins of the unarmed.
5. O Glory be to Thee, O God my God; for I behold Thee in the amber combers of the storm: Thou hast laid Thy lash upon the sphinxes of the waters, so that they may boom forth the Glory of Thy Name.
6. O Thou mighty God, make me as an emerald crab that crawleth over the wet sands of the sea-shore; I beseech Thee, O Thou great God! That I may write Thy name across the shores of Time, and sink amongst the white atoms of Thy Being. O Thou God, my God!
7. O Thou thirsty charioteer of Time, whose cup is the hollow night filled with the foam of the vintage of day; drench me in the shower of Thy passion, so that I may pant in Thine arms as a tongue of lightning on the purple bosom of night.
8. O Thou God of the Nothingness of All Things! Thou who art neither the forge of Eternity; nor the thunder-throated womb of Chaos: O Thou who art not found in the hissing of the hail-stones; nor in the rioting of the equinoctial storm! I deny Thee by the powers of mine understanding; Bring me to the unity of Thy might, and feast me on honeyed manna of Thine all-pervading Nothingness; for Thou art all and none of these in the fullness of Thy Not-Being.
9. Ah! but I rejoice in Thee, O Thou my God; Thou coruscating star-point of Endlessness; Thou inundating fire of the Void; Thou moonbeam cup of eternal life: Yea, I rejoice in Thee, Thou fire-sandalled warrior of steel; O Thou bloody dew of the field of slaughter and death! I rejoice, yea, I shout with gladness! till the music of my throat smiteth the hills as a crescent moon waketh a nightly field of sleeping comets, at the Glory and Splendour of Thy Name.
10. O my God, fondle me with kisses and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before Thee; for all my desires are as dewdrops that are sucked from silver lilies by the throat of a young god.
11. O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all the passion of my love is mazed as the bewildered eyes of a youth, who should wake to find his beloved fled away. Yet in the crumpled couch of lust do I behold as an imprint the sigil of Thy name.
12. O what art Thou, O God my God, Thou amber-scal'd one whose eyes are set on columns? O Thou sightless seer of all things! Thou spearless warrior who urgest on Thy steeds and blindest the outer edge of darkness with Thy Glory! O how can I grasp the whirling wheels of Thy splendour, and yet be not smitten into death by the hurtling fury of Thy chariot?
13. O Thou Unity of all things: as the sun that rolleth through the twelve mansions of the skies, so art Thou, O God my God. I cannot slay Thee, for Thou art everywhere; lo! though I lick up the Boundless Light, the Boundless, and the Not, there still shall I find Thee, Thou Unity of Unities, Thou Oneness, O Thou perfect Nothingness of Bliss!
The space should now be tuned for the conjuration.
4. The Conjuration
O thou mighty angel MURIEL, ruler of SARTON, by the name of the True and Living God HVHY, I call upon you and ask that you along with the spirits of your domain manifest themselves unto me, for I am a true worshiper of the highest. Let them come forth in a friendly and peaceful manner that I may partake of the wisdom and the pure essence of Aries, and that they may attend to my behest. AMEN.
At this point, vibrate the name MURIEL repeatedly until the presence of the angel and spirits of Cancer are 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. 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 sign Cancer as the "Power of Casting Enchantments." For best results, your charge should fall within that area. Otherwise, you may be asking for something outside Cancer's sphere of influence, and that could cause the ritual to fail. Nonetheless, the power associated with Cancer is very general and can be employed for many different purposes.
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 MURIEL 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 HVHY, 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.
Hi Scott ¡¡¡
ReplyDeleteI added to the practical part the following parts. Once I finished the great ritual eg the element Air, I call the whole hierarchy facing the right point. I mention the name and drawing the sigil.Now I introduce parts of the GD that I Seem extremely powerful I
I added to the practical part the following parts. "I invoke you,
you Angels of the celestial Spheres, whose dwelling is in the Invisible.
You are the Guardians of the Gates of the Universe. May
you also be the Guardians of this Mystic Sphere. Keep far removed
the Evil and the Unbalanced. Strengthen and inspire me, so that I
may preserve unsullied this Abode of the Mysteries of the Eternal
Gods. Let my Sphere be pure and holy, so that I may enter in, and
become a partaker of, the Light Divine."
your arms outward and upward, and proclaim: "The visible Sun is
the dispenser of Light to the Earth. Let me form therefore a Vortex
in this Chamber, that the invisible Light of the Spirit shall shine
therein from above."In this way I invoke the creative energy of the ternary for the elements
(or depend of the energy seven times for Netzah for example)
Circumambulate seven times around the perimeter of the Circle.
Imagine Magical Current flowing through you, and visualize a
clockwise-spinning Vortex being created as you move: Give the
Sign of the Enterer each time that you pass by the Eastern end of
the Circle (in the direction you are going, without stopping). Finish
in the Northeast
At this moment with all the energy concentrated and in balance I already made the request, the strength and power of the ritual is extraordinary in this time after this I will close the vortex I will continue with the kabalistic cross o minor ritual of pentagram,The operant field allows to make in less time great magical operations is it incredible ¡¡¡
Thank you for sharing this. That is some good feedback on the operant field method. It always is good when you can construct a revised ritual using the best parts of material you already are familiar with, and I'm glad you found the method helpful.
ReplyDeleteWow! This force is definitely great for drawing things to someone. And not even a week has passed since I did the ritual for that person :)
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely write all this stuff in a book! I haven't found anyone who explains things, let alone details them, like for example you do with the powers of the signs :D
I have some plans for writing books based on a lot of this material once I get it all posted here on the blog. I already published the basic zodiacal method in my Liber Spirituum article, which came out last summer from Azoth Press. So far they haven't done a paperback edition, but I'm hoping there will be one at some point.
ReplyDeleteI think the 3rd square from the left on the bottom row should be 69 rather than 29.
ReplyDeleteThis one is fixed now too. Neither of these fixes affected the shape of the final sigil, but it still is good to have all of one's ducks - or numbers in this case - in a row.
ReplyDeleteAfter wrapping up the lotus, silver and amber with the paper talisman. Can we retrieve the silver and amber afterwards or are we supposed to leave it, like we would an offering?
ReplyDeleteIt depends. You can do this ritual as a straight conjuration or to create a talisman, and you can do it with or without offerings.
ReplyDeleteIf you are specifically empowering this collection of items as a talisman (like instead of "bring me money," word your charge like "empower this talisman to bring me money") then you treat it like a talisman. After that charge the items shouldn't be separated and kept together, usually somewhere in your temple or with your magical working tools.
If you are just using the objects for their affinity with the spirit (that is, you don't mention anything specific about them, just have them there in the Table of Practice) you can reuse them, individually or together.
If you specifically offer them to the spirit (That is, with a statement like "I hereby offer these items to you, to fortify and nourish you as you accomplish your appointed task") you can treat them like offerings and leave them somewhere appropriate. At or near a crossroads is a good go-to for offerings that won't evaporate or can't be poured out.
The way you see it, does casting an enchantment on yourself remove some of your ability to manifest probability shifts while the spell is active, or as it makes you a living talisman its effect is ongoing without detriment to the power of subsequent operations ?
ReplyDeleteI would say that any ongoing operation, enchantment included, will reduce the effectiveness of additional operations as long as it is running if the effect is linked to you rather than to an external talisman. So if you want an ongoing enchantment effect, I recommend using a separate physical talisman which will not affect other work you might want to do.
ReplyDeleteIs there a type of item that can be used pretty much universally for spirit offerings ? I don’t have access to lotuses and am not rich enough to give away silver...
ReplyDeleteMost kinds of alcohol will work, and you do not need to pour out a lot. The point of an offering is not that you are "sacrificing" something of value to you, but rather you are giving the spirit something *it* likes. Expense on your end is mostly irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteIf Cancer causes something into your Life can it remove something out of your Life?
ReplyDeleteAnd if i did a Job spell and add Cancer for it does it "mess"with outgoing operation or incerase my chanches?
Yes, these angels run on sphere of influence. So Cancer rules Cancerian things, and can add or remove them.
ReplyDeleteAs for your second question, that's hard to say. I think it would depend on how your spell was put together and how you added to it.
Do talisman need Sigils od entity s drawns with Path colours and can i for talisman just use paper or cartoon?I mean if i do a sloopy talisman does it affect it.
ReplyDeleteIf i use a charges for another person can i say to Angel "Use Person A for that spell so my magickal energy is not divided"?
Talismans do not need anything drawn on them. The sigil is separate from the talisman. You can draw the character and sigil on piece of paper in the proper colors, use that for the conjuration, and charge the spirit to empower a talisman made from a corresponding material. Like amethyst for Jupiter, for example. You don't need to draw anything on the amethyst because it already has an affinity with Jupiter because of the kind of stone it is.
ReplyDeleteArtistic ability doesn't seem to have much of an effect. I'm a mediocre artist at best and my sigils still work.
Just the charge won't do it. You need a magical link to the person to do that, it needs to be placed in the containment structure along with your sigil, and the connection has to overcome any spiritual/magical protection that the person has. That reduces its effectiveness depending on what the protection is. The person can also do a macrocosmic banishing and shut it down if they find out about it, and then your spell just stops.
And you get the same result or better creating a talisman, which also draws on power separate from you. So "channeling" a person like that is pretty pointless. There are way more variables that you have to account for, and no real advantage to doing it.
If i can t find corespondents material for talisman can i use carton or something!
ReplyDeleteYou can use a drawn paper talisman, on which you could draw a character representing the energy you are working with in the appropriate colors. So for example, for planetary work you can use the planetary character from Agrippa and so forth.
ReplyDeleteIf you are using a paper talisman like this, you CAN put the sigil on it and also use it for the conjuration. But those are two separate functions and you should always keep that in mind.
If you're looking for metals you can find some of them at hardware stores. At least that's how it's like over here. There's plumbing components that are made of copper like pipes and joints. There's also tin sheets in some stores and the same goes for steel. For lead I found it pretty easy to come across lead weights in fishing stores. Alloys can also be found in some stores. You'd have to shape the talisman yourself like cutting a sheet of metal into a talisman circle or square or hammering down the lead weights, but that's not too difficult with the right tool and some patience. Of course, gold and silver would be harder to find and more expensive although you can substitute gold with brass. But like Scott said, you can use paper. I use cardboard paper I usually find in printing and office supply stores. It also comes in several different colors and it's very easy to draw on yet sturdy enough to last longer than paper.
ReplyDeleteHave your ever worked with 72 Sham Angels ?If are those Angels subordinate to Planetary Angels or Spirits or Zodiacs?Can i invoke them by name of Planetary Angel or use Aquarius Angel Cambriel to pass charge ?
ReplyDeleteCan Jupiter Angel be used for Bingo(some form of lottery)?
Like i guess i put the Bingo ticket aproximetly where the Angel s sigil is(guess it don t need to be exactly inside the circle ).Here it s on live TV so there s a chance that it may be set-up or some software stuff to reduce chance for many people to win so i don t know how it will interfere with Angel s influence.
If i buy probably a ticket i won t win much or anything but do i need to tell a Angel "Get me a Jackpot "so i win something way smaller.Because if i say "Bring me 100 win" he will influence it to that point but if i say "Bring me 10.000"i probably won t win but i got better chance for something smaller.
You can also find brass at hardware stores in the form of kick plates for the bottoms of doors. Brass can substitute for gold (Sun) and it's also an alloy, which attributes it to Mercury. Over here in the states a lot of art stores also have metal sheets, but I'm not sure if that's true elsewhere in the world.
ReplyDeleteI haven't done extensive work with the Shem angels, but I'm pretty sure they're not part of the same hierarchy as the other planetary or zodiacal angels. I definitely wouldn't assume that to be the case with a fair amount of experimentation first.
I've found the spirits of Jupiter work for lotteries and the like. For a lottery spell charge, define what the win condition looks like. If you start trying to specify how much you want to win that just gets messy. In the states we have the Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries, for example, where you win a jackpot by matching six numbers. I get a "quick pick" (random) ticket, put that ticket in the Table of Art, and charge the spirits to cause the six numbers on the ticket to come up in the next draw. So far I haven't won the jackpot, but I've been able to hit four numbers out of six several times and you win some money for that.
For Bingo I would think the charge would be something like "cause numbers matching a row on this card to come up" or something like that. The Bingo card should be placed in the Table of Art. You can add stuff to the charge if you want about other people not winning, but that will reduce the odds of you winning because the probability shift gets diluted between "make me win" and "keep other people from winning."
The point of doing it that way is that the spirits will get you as close as they can to the number situation you specify. So if I charge them to bring up all six numbers and I get four, I still win a smaller amount. That avoids having to specify the amount you win and should get you the best outcome.
Yea it depends on the country I guess. Someone from another country once told they can go to a metal recycling facility and buy talisman blanks because they're able to stamp them out of a larger sheet of that metal. Over here recycling in general is not that advanced to begin with...
ReplyDeleteIn terms of Shem angels I conjure them as I do zodiacal angels - GITH of sign and conjuration by the signs Tetragrammaton permutation (godname). The only... issue would be there's at least two Shem angel arrangements in the zodiac. One is from Agrippa and the other one is used by the Golden Dawn. I haven't worked extensively with the Shem angels either, but I've found both lists are workable at least by how I conjure these angels. So, technically, you'd be able to conjure an angel that's attributed to a sign based on Agrippa and the same angel attributed to another sign based on the GD and still have very good results. But since I haven't done more than a few rituals with them so far I cannot say that is an absolute answer.
When invoking Shem Angels do i need first to call a Archangel for example of Taurus and then i invoke Shem Angel?For example on Google i found a book called Shem Grimoare but they are limited pages.There is for example Angel Numemeiah and it s atribued to Taurus and Archangel is Asmodel.So im wondering do i call just Archangel and Angel both or just Shem Angel by YHVH formula?
ReplyDeleteI guess you take Venus kamea in red-orange and paint it with Shem-Angel s sigil.
But here on Google i see that Angel Numemeiah s colors are Orange and Blue and i guess his sigil will be like that on Venus kamea and it s called by Night like Angel Asmodel?
I see various Angels in Liber 777 for example Angel of 2 Astrological House is Toel and atribueted to Taurus.I guess his calling is the same as desribed above just by different sigil and name of course.
This is mixing together some stuff in a way that I have not previously tried, so I'm not sure. I work directly with the zodiac angels, and it is not clear from anything in the tradition that the Shem and zodiacal angels are part of the same hierarchy. I wouldn't assume anything like that without some experimental evidence.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to try mixing Shem and zodiac angels let me know how it goes. I haven't done it, though, so I can't really give you any reliable advice.
I found it suffices to call on the angel by the respective godname of the sign. If you want to go ahead and call it by the godname and the angel of the sign then go ahead. I've done that too and the angel showed up anyway. I didn't call the angel of the sign, just add its name in the conjuration. You could go even further and add the name of the decan angel of the respective decan which contains the half-decan to which the Shem angel is attributed. Again, make sure you use a proper Shem angel attribution. The list of the decan angels is found here https://hermetic.com/_detail/crowley/libers/lib777/crowley-liber-777-cxlvi-cxlviii.png?id=crowley%3Alibers%3Alib777%3Aall
ReplyDeleteThe ascending decan is the first - degrees 0 to 10. The succeeding decan is the second - 10 to 20. The cadent decan is the third - 20 to 30.
If that Shem grimoire happens to be Farrell's then keep in mind he's using the Golden Dawn attributions. And the conjuration found there is lengthy and resembles those of old grimoires. It doesn't use the godname of the signs, but instead uses more general godnames. The sigils there have been generated using the Rose Cross, not kameas, although I see nothing wrong with using the kamea of the sign to which the angel of choice is attributed based on the list of choice. You could also use the kamea of the ruling planet of the decan imo. But this is my take alone on that.
Have your ever used Olympian Spirit after Planetary Inteligence ?
ReplyDeleteCan you use Solomonic Pentacle of planets to charge a talisman,like draw it on paper?
Also i guess you can add Solomonic prayers to it.
I guess it can be put inside Table of Art and don t need Solomonic protection?Or draw it on talisman.
If i wanna conjure a Sephirotic Angel for practical work i just change the name of Angel s name ,God-names and use the Queen s scale?For example Blue instead Violet for Hexagram.
No, because again, they are not part of the same hierarchy. Personally I stay away from mixing systems like that. That's not to say that it wouldn't work, but it's just not something I generally do.
ReplyDeleteThe pentacle is like a sigil, so you would put it in the Table of Art and use it for the conjuration. If you're making a talisman you would also put that in the Table, and then once you conjure the spirit or spirits, deliver a charge to empower the talisman to do what you want it to do.
I kind of don't understand why you would summon a sephirothic angel for practical work. The spheres of influence for sephirothic angels are mystical visions. You really want the path angel for practical work, which sometimes winds up being the same as the sephirothic angel - like Gabriel ruling both Yesod and the path of the Moon. But that doesn't always hold, like with Michael and Raphael who switch depending on if you are working with sephiroth or paths.
I read in some book that Angels are more powerfull in Aziluth so maybe they send energy currencies that are more powerfull
ReplyDeleteI tought you could use Pentacle for example for gambling as a Talisman!
I suspect you might be seeing a dynamic there similar to zodiac versus planetary versus elemental as you move up the Tree. Zodiacal spirits are native to Atziluth (Chockmah) and are very powerful, but they also are slow. Elemental spirits are native to Malkuth and are fast, but not as powerful. And planetary spirits are native to Briah (Saturn) and Yetzirah (the other six ancient planets) and are somewhere in the middle.
ReplyDeleteSo it's a question of speed versus power as you move up the Qabalistic worlds.
You can certain use a pentacle to create a talisman for gambling, and/or create a talisman for gambling with the pentacle drawn on it. You do have to specifically empower said talisman in a magical operation. Just carrying the pentacle around won't have much of an effect without some magick behind it.
Dear Scott, Thanks, again, for your practical magical rituals.
ReplyDeleteI caught the image of the Cancer work place-mat(!) but couldn't work out all the hebrew letters bar Muriel. Where abouts and under which columns in 777 can they be found?
Colin
Dear Scott. Ooops I captured the image from the Elixir rite, not the the zodiacal rite. However, can this also be used additionally?
ReplyDeleteColin
Muriel is found in the Geomantic Intelligences column in Liber 777, which takes most of the zodiacal angel names from a document called The Magical Calendar, which in turn is sourced mostly from Agrippa's angels of the zodiac. There are some differences, but the majority of names match.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the spelling of Muriel is given in the article above:
"The Angel of Cancer is Muriel, spelled Mem-Vav-Resh-Yod-Aleph-Lamed."
If you want to color-print the captured image of the Cancer tablet (I call them tablets, not place-mats) I don't see why you couldn't do that. I certainly wouldn't mind.
I don t have amber marker ,I used orange-yellow-red to paint a background for talisman?It s smiliar but amber so will it work?
ReplyDeleteI have not experimented with that myself, but I could see it working.
ReplyDeleteOpen a paint program and color the whole canvas amber. Then copy the canvas onto a word doc and print the sheet. Cut out the talisman shape from the amber colored side of the paper.
ReplyDeleteYes, that would be a completely workable way to do it as long as you have a color printer. Another option is colored construction paper (which is what I used to make those zodiacal tablets that you see in the elixir rite videos). Art stores will sell you pads of the stuff that has all different colors. It's usually all you need for a full set.
ReplyDeleteScott I want to ask, what is the difference between Cancer's power of constantly attracting something towards yourself vs say another aspect's power? When you make a Solar talisman for something solar, the talisman would work indefinitely to bring to you the constant manifestation of the charge. This could be constant health, wealth, vitality or anything related to the Sun. How then is not Cancer's power any different than any other charge on a talisman? ‘An enchantment effectively turns you into a "magnet" for whatever you are casting for.’ but so does a talisman. I'm sure you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteBasically they work the same way but from different directions. If you want a talisman to draw wealth, you can use Jupiter or the Sun because Jupiter is political and other ascendency and Sun is acquiring wealth. Or you could use a Cancer talisman because Cancer has the power of drawing. With Jupiter or Sun, the affinity is wealth, and with Cancer the affinity is drawing. But all of those can draw wealth.
ReplyDeleteHealth is a little trickier for a power like Cancer, since you don't really draw "health" to you. But it would probably work fine with energy or vitality or something like that. The enchantment power is about magnetizing something outside of you to you, if that makes sense. The difference is really subtle, though, and there is overlap between many of the various powers. One advantage of that is you might find that one or more qualities does not work as well for you, but nonetheless one of the others might.
I see. I had a similar guess that Cancer's 'talismanization' power would work similar to petitioning the ruling power directly i.e planets, elements, zodiacs, lunar mansions etc. I think it depends on the application vs the astrological election. Going again by the example of Jupiter and Sun, if both of them were in bad dignity but the Moon was not then it would work, or if the Moon was in a strong position, then depending on the goal, Cancer could attract anything far better than others.
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to build a basic working relationship with Muriel the past 6 days so that I can ask her myself about her power in 777.
'One advantage of that is you might find that one or more qualities does not work as well for you, but nonetheless one of the others might.'
100%. Cancer is in a strong need of experimentation before I can make conclusions.
Yes, astrological election would be another reason you might want multiple ways to do the same thing. It allows you to adapt to different planets being dignified, debilitated, or aspected.
ReplyDelete