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This article is Part Eight in a series. Part One can be found here, Part Two can be found here, Part Three can be found here, Part Four can be found here, Part Five can be found here, Part Six can be found here, and Part Seven 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 Scorpio. In Liber 777, Scorpio is attributed to "Necromancy." Necromancy refers to communication with the spirits of the dead. So this power is appropriate for any operation dealing with those who have passed beyond this life, such as work with deceased ancestors or straightforward mediumship - the real kind, mind you, not the "cold reading" trickery practiced by many professional self-proclaimed psychics. Ceremonial forms help a great deal when communicating with the spirits of the dead, since they usually are quite difficult to reach unless they are recently deceased, and without a clear, focused method, it is all too easy to contact the wrong spirit or entity.
In my opinion, the modern Christian model of the afterlife is almost certainly wrong. For example, there are a handful of cases in which some objective evidence exists for reincarnation, and the Christian model is absolutist enough that even a single counterexample effectively disproves it. This doesn't necessarily undermine Christian teachings per se, aside from removing the incentive to "be good" due to fear rather than virtue - which I can't imagine any deity would be particularly pleased with anyway. If somebody needs the threat of Hell in order to refrain from randomly murdering people, I want to stay as far away from them as possible.
The practical point here, from the standpoint of necromancy, is that dead don't just "hang out" in Heaven or Hell for all eternity, and that means that you can't always get ahold of a particular ancestor because their soul may have moved on in one sense or another, whether reincarnating into the world, dissolving into the infinite, or whatever. The "End" collect in the Gnostic Mass includes many different possible final outcomes, depending on the nature of each individual will. This is important because there are such things as earthbound spirits, who you can always reach and who like to lie. They'll say whatever will keep you talking, and they are entirely willing to impersonate ancestors or anyone else.
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 Scorpio, the four scales of color are Green Blue, Dull Brown, Very Dark Brown, and Livid Indigo Brown. For ceremonial forms, you use the King scale, which is Blue Green. Its complement is red orange. All four scales should be used to construct the sigil of the angel.
The sigil should be traced onto the Kamea of Mars, as Mars is the ruler of Scorpio. Along with the sigil itself, you can also trace the character of Scorpio on the Kamea. The Angel of Scorpio is Barachiel, spelled Beth-Resh-Kaph-Yod-Aleph-Lamed. The Mars kamea is 5x5, so the highest number in the square is 25. This means Resh needs to be reduced from 200 to 20 and Lamed needs to be reduced from 30 to 3. This yields 2, 20 (200), 20, 10, 1, 3. The final figure should look something like this:
From Liber 777, incense appropriate to Scorpio is Siamese Benzoin or Opoponax. The associated plants are cactus, nettle, and all poisonous plants. The associated metal is iron, and the associated precious stone is snakestone. Note that for this purpose, the stone need not be gem quality and can be purchased inexpensively.
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 snakestone or iron 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 Scorpio is the eighth permutation of Tetragrammaton, VHHY. Some schools teach that as the name of God is ineffable, it should be spelled out by letter (Vav-Heh-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 "Veh-Hey."
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 Scorpio operation is on a Tuesday, during an hour of Mars that falls during the night. This is because Mars rules Scorpio, and because the sign Scorpio belongs to the Nocturnal sect. Since you are employing ceremonial forms to tune the space you could do it during a day hour of Mars 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 Scorpio operation is Mars. No planet is exalted in Scorpio. The Chart Victor to always avoid is Venus (Detriment). No planet is in fall in Scorpio.
The other planets are essentially neutral, and will neither impede nor aid your operation, though if you can wait until the Chart Victor is Mars 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 Scorpio. The invoking hexagram of Scorpio is traced by starting at the upper left point and tracing the downward triangle clockwise from that point, and then moving on to the lower right point and tracing the upward triangle clockwise from that point. 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 BARACHIEL repeatedly until the presence of the angel and spirits of Scorpio 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 Scorpio as "Necromancy." For best results, your charge should fall within those areas. Otherwise, you may be asking for something outside Scorpio's sphere of influence, and that could cause the ritual to fail.
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.
Note that this does not mean if at some point following the ritual you do a microcosmic banishing like an LBRP as, say, part of your daily practice the ritual will be dispelled. The effect of the ritual should stabilize within 15-20 minutes, after which you can do any microcosmic banishing you please as part of your regular daily practices or as part of another ritual.
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 Scorpio. In Liber 777, Scorpio is attributed to "Necromancy." Necromancy refers to communication with the spirits of the dead. So this power is appropriate for any operation dealing with those who have passed beyond this life, such as work with deceased ancestors or straightforward mediumship - the real kind, mind you, not the "cold reading" trickery practiced by many professional self-proclaimed psychics. Ceremonial forms help a great deal when communicating with the spirits of the dead, since they usually are quite difficult to reach unless they are recently deceased, and without a clear, focused method, it is all too easy to contact the wrong spirit or entity.
In my opinion, the modern Christian model of the afterlife is almost certainly wrong. For example, there are a handful of cases in which some objective evidence exists for reincarnation, and the Christian model is absolutist enough that even a single counterexample effectively disproves it. This doesn't necessarily undermine Christian teachings per se, aside from removing the incentive to "be good" due to fear rather than virtue - which I can't imagine any deity would be particularly pleased with anyway. If somebody needs the threat of Hell in order to refrain from randomly murdering people, I want to stay as far away from them as possible.
The practical point here, from the standpoint of necromancy, is that dead don't just "hang out" in Heaven or Hell for all eternity, and that means that you can't always get ahold of a particular ancestor because their soul may have moved on in one sense or another, whether reincarnating into the world, dissolving into the infinite, or whatever. The "End" collect in the Gnostic Mass includes many different possible final outcomes, depending on the nature of each individual will. This is important because there are such things as earthbound spirits, who you can always reach and who like to lie. They'll say whatever will keep you talking, and they are entirely willing to impersonate ancestors or anyone else.
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 Scorpio, the four scales of color are Green Blue, Dull Brown, Very Dark Brown, and Livid Indigo Brown. For ceremonial forms, you use the King scale, which is Blue Green. Its complement is red orange. All four scales should be used to construct the sigil of the angel.
The sigil should be traced onto the Kamea of Mars, as Mars is the ruler of Scorpio. Along with the sigil itself, you can also trace the character of Scorpio on the Kamea. The Angel of Scorpio is Barachiel, spelled Beth-Resh-Kaph-Yod-Aleph-Lamed. The Mars kamea is 5x5, so the highest number in the square is 25. This means Resh needs to be reduced from 200 to 20 and Lamed needs to be reduced from 30 to 3. This yields 2, 20 (200), 20, 10, 1, 3. The final figure should look something like this:
From Liber 777, incense appropriate to Scorpio is Siamese Benzoin or Opoponax. The associated plants are cactus, nettle, and all poisonous plants. The associated metal is iron, and the associated precious stone is snakestone. Note that for this purpose, the stone need not be gem quality and can be purchased inexpensively.
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 snakestone or iron 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 Scorpio is the eighth permutation of Tetragrammaton, VHHY. Some schools teach that as the name of God is ineffable, it should be spelled out by letter (Vav-Heh-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 "Veh-Hey."
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 Scorpio operation is on a Tuesday, during an hour of Mars that falls during the night. This is because Mars rules Scorpio, and because the sign Scorpio belongs to the Nocturnal sect. Since you are employing ceremonial forms to tune the space you could do it during a day hour of Mars 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 Scorpio operation is Mars. No planet is exalted in Scorpio. The Chart Victor to always avoid is Venus (Detriment). No planet is in fall in Scorpio.
The other planets are essentially neutral, and will neither impede nor aid your operation, though if you can wait until the Chart Victor is Mars 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 Scorpio. The invoking hexagram of Scorpio is traced by starting at the upper left point and tracing the downward triangle clockwise from that point, and then moving on to the lower right point and tracing the upward triangle clockwise from that point. Beginning in the east, go to each quarter in turn and perform the following actions.
- 1. Trace the Hexagram of Scorpio in Blue Green while vibrating ARARITA (ah-rah-ree-tah).
- Trace the symbol of Scorpio in the center of the hexagram in red orange while vibrating VHHY (Veh-Hey).
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 depths of the Inconceivable, Thou cryptic, unutterable God! Yea, as I attempt to understand Thee, my wisdom is but as an abacus in the lap of an aged man.
2. O my God, Thou Mighty One, Thou Creator of all things, I renounce unto Thee the yearning for Paradise, and the dark fear of Hell, and the feast of the corruption of the grave; so that as a child I may be led unto Thy Kingdom, and be consumed in the unutterable joy of Thine everlasting rapture.
3. O Thou who settest forth the limitless expanse, spanned by wings of thunder above the cosmic strife; I swear to Thee by the voiceless dust of the desert, to soar above the echos of shrieking life, and as an eagle to feast for ever upon the silence of the stars.
4. O Thou Sovran Guide of the star-wheeling circles, the soles of whose feet smite plumes of golden fire from the outermost annihilation of the Abyss. I know Thee! O Thou crimson sword of destruction, who chasest the comets from the dark bed of night, till they speed before Thee as serpent tongues of flame.
5. O Glory be to Thee, O God my God; for I behold Thee in the riotous joy of the storm: Thou hast shaken the gold-dust from the tresses of the hills, so that they may chaunt forth the Glory of Thy Name.
6. O Thou mighty God, make me as a brown Scorpion that creepeth on through a vast desert of silver; I beseech Thee, O Thou great God! That I may lose myself in the span of Thy light, and become one with the glitter of Thy Shadow: O Thou God, my God!
7. O Thou snake of misty countenance, whose braided hair is like a fleecy dawn of swooning maidens; hunt me as a fierce wild boar through the skies, so that Thy burning spear may gore the blue heavens red with the foaming blood of my frenzy.
8. O Thou God of the Nothingness of All Things! Thou who art neither the Formless breath of Chaos; nor the exhaler of the ordered spheres: O Thou who art not the cloud-cradled star of the morning; nor the sun, drunken upon the mist, who blindeth men! I deny Thee by the powers of mine understanding; Guide me in the unity of Thy might, and lead me to the fatherhood 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 star-blaze of undying expectation; Thou ibis-throated voice of silence; Thou blinding night of understanding: Yea, I rejoice in Thee, Thou white finger of Chaotic law; O Thou creative cockatrice twined amongst the waters! I rejoice, yea, I shout with gladness! till my cries stir the night as the burnished gold of a lance thrust into a poisonous dragon of adamant, for the Glory and Splendour of Thy Name.
10. O my God, fill me with slumber and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before Thee; for all my wakefulness is but as a cloud at sunset that is like a snake gliding through the dew.
11. O woe unto me, my God, woe unto me; for all the feastings of my flesh have sickened to the wormy hunger of the grave, writhing in the spasms of indolent decay. Yet in the maggots of my corruption do I shadow forth sunlit hosts of crowned eagles.
12. O what art Thou, O God my God, Thou seraph-venom of witch-vengeance enchaunted? O Thou coiled wizardry of stars! Thou one Lord of life triumphant over death, Thou red rose of love nailed to the cross of golden light! O how can I die in Thee as sea-foam in the clouds, and yet possess Thee as a frail white mist possessess the stripped limbs of the Sun?
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 BARACHIEL, ruler of AKRAB, by the name of the True and Living God VHHY, 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 Scorpio, and that they may attend to my behest. AMEN.
At this point, vibrate the name BARACHIEL repeatedly until the presence of the angel and spirits of Scorpio 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 Scorpio as "Necromancy." For best results, your charge should fall within those areas. Otherwise, you may be asking for something outside Scorpio's sphere of influence, and that could cause the ritual to fail.
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 BARACHIEL 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 VHHY, 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.
Note that this does not mean if at some point following the ritual you do a microcosmic banishing like an LBRP as, say, part of your daily practice the ritual will be dispelled. The effect of the ritual should stabilize within 15-20 minutes, after which you can do any microcosmic banishing you please as part of your regular daily practices or as part of another ritual.
28 comments:
Hey, Ananael!
Great work (sorry for the pun) you're doing with this series! It's been really enlightening, especially regarding the duties of each zodiacal angel, since that isn't always very clear from the Liber 777 descriptions themselves. I was wondering, though, and I thought I should ask you: would it perhaps be possible to adapt this kind of ritual to work with fixed stars? Say you wanted to invoke/evoke Antares, the heart of Scorpio, maybe for a talisman or something. Do you think it could work by wearing its sigil on the lamen, as recorded by Agrippa, doing the GIRH for Scorpio (same hexagram, astrological symbol drawn and divine names vibrated) on an astrologically relevant hour and then addressing Antares after tuning the ritual space? (or maybe tuning for Sagittarius instead, since, though it's part of the Scorpio constellation, the star's in the Sagittarius sign... ok, maybe this star is not the best example.)
I know Christopher Warnock has instructions on how to make fixed star talismans and all. However, while I'm a avid reader of his blog and website and certainly appreciate his traditional approach, I feel like a more cerimonial, GD style, approach works better for me, which is why I'm asking you.
Thanks a lot!
Yes, you could. I need to do some more research on it, but when it is ready and I have a chance to test it out I am going to see about doing a series for the fixed stars. As I envision it, it would include something like you're talking about there as far as the ritual structures go. But there are still some bits and pieces that I need to work out before it's ready.
As far as Warnock goes, he's a good astrologer but I've tried a few of his rituals as written and as far as I can tell they do precisely nothing. None of the ones I tried had any effect, despite good astrological timing and so forth. I'm not sure why that is, or if I was doing something wrong, but still. I get good results when I use the ceremonial forms, and Warnock's work on timing and on the talisman designs themselves work fine with them.
Hi
Perhaps it would be very interesting to draw the stealth of the fixed star on a candle with signs of scorpio-in this case-and use some genma or stone related to the fixed star
Sure, you could bring in a fixed star if the attribution is appropriate to your operation. This is basically how you would do it, opening up the sign and then including stuff related to the star.
Off the top, if Barachiel is able to bring forth a spirit of an ancestor, then I suspect he is also able to bring forth a spirit that is stuck between the worlds so to speak. As in a ghost. Rolling it forward, I suspect he can bring forth more than one ghost. Therefore, he's able to command ghosts to the degree of showing up to the conjurer and answering his or her questions truly. But would he be able to command them for doing more than that? As in leave the place they're haunting, or making them haunt someone of the conjurer's choosing :)
I have never tested that, but I assume that necromancy would include the power to command and control ghosts. I certainly think it would at least be worth trying out.
I will try this as well :) I don't know if I'll be able to get concrete evidence if it worked or not, but I suspect that if it does work, my neighbours are going to start freaking out every so often :) The thing is that they are constantly agitated unless I send a spirit over, which wouldn't mellow them down for a while. Being already agitated could make it harder for me to know if they're acting that way because of ghost activity, or because of their own nature... But I will do it nonetheless :D
*would mellow them down
Could Scorpio be used to lessen or change a natal planets ?
For example any planet in natal chart that present a problem and it s in Scorpio could Angel of Scorpio be used to lessen the effect to some degree?
I m asking because the Power of Scorpio is Necromancy and i really don t know what to do with it but since the Angel rules Scorpio i guess it could make something with Zodiac Sing that will help to some degree,some effect !
Yes, I would expect that the angel of Scorpio could affect a planet in Scorpio. Intuitively, though, it feels like working with the planet would be better. Charge the angel of the planet with negating the condition rather than the angel of the sign.
I suppose, technically, you could also do both. Even if one works better, they shouldn't interfere with each other.
The powers are descriptive, not prescriptive. Necromancy may be the "official" power of Scorpio, but you can call on the angel of Scorpio for pretty much anything that astrologers associate with the sign.
Using the Scorpio Ritual, what would be the safest (and simplest) way of communicating with a deceased relative, please?
I would only be seeking answers to questions and nothing more.
Thanks.
The most effective way would be to work with whatever your best psychic sense is. If you are good at visual scrying, you should be able to call up their image in a dark mirror or crystal. If you are good at auditory psychic communication (like many classical mediums), use that faculty to converse with them.
If you use the spirit vision method like I generally do, you should be able to project into the landscape corresponding to Scorpio (the Death card in the Tarot), and once you are there you should be able to call them by name into the same psychic space.
You can also use tools like spirit boards (Ouija boards being the most famous example, but not the only version) or pendulum divination. FYI, there's nothing scary or spooky about either method. They both rely on the connection between your psychic senses and what is called the ideomotor effect - unconscious small movements in your fingers. That should allow you to converse as well, though it is slower than conversations you can have in the spirit vision or through auditory psychic communication.
When doing the Operant field ,does the rites used in OF somehow migtate the negative aspects of a person s natal chart or the usual daily aspects?
For example now is Mercury retrograde and does LBRP somehow softens the effect on a person compared to a person who don t practice?
If a person crosses the Abyss ,does a Choronzon destroys a person s personality?
Is it possible to encounter Choronzon without trying to cross the Abyss,like spontaneusly when working with other Sephirots!
1. Magical practice in general helps to mitigate negative aspects of your natal chart over time, and will help reduce effects from negative aspects and so forth. Practitioners will generally do significantly better than non-practitioners in this regard.
2. No, that's not even remotely how it works according to Crowley. Choronzon is the personification of dispersion - basically a force that tries to stop you from crossing the abyss by distracting and confusing you. That has nothing to do with destroying any aspect of your personality.
3. Probably, but not having done that work myself I can't really give you much advice on how to go about it from personal experience. I will say that usually magick is flexible enough that there are multiple ways to reach any state of consciousness.
Hello Scott. Few people here have commentated about Barachiel's necromantic ability but no one came back with successful results. It is my opinion, and just my opinion, that if he can do that then he can also connect us with the nature entities around our house; tree spirits, plant spirits etc or would you say Queen Ghob would be the one for that? Has anyone ever tested Barachiel's power of necromancy? Maybe deceased relatives or spirit guides?
I have done ancestor work with Barachiel and received what I considered successful results. Necromancy is specifically work with the spirits of the dead, so it's not quite the same thing as working with spirit guides - unless that spirit guide also happens to be a deceased ancestor or other deceased person themselves.
A question: if I feel drawn to work with a certain zodiac sign because of an affinity of my disposition to the sign, but not for any specific works falling within "necromancy" - can this be a valid purpose? Basically, could I ask for an association with the archetypal energies of this sign and an open, containing conversation by which I can achieve spiritual growth, new perspective, and deepening of understanding-awareness?
Yes, you can use the signs for many things unrelated to their listed powers. The powers in 777 are descriptive, not prescriptive.
https://ananael.blogspot.com/2018/02/magical-powers-are-descriptive-not.html
So you can use this ritual for archetypal awareness as you propose, and also for any quality ascribed to Scorpio by astrologers.
I have a few questions about the signs in general and Scorpio specifically.
1. The signs have their own incense and stones but use the same metal as the planet. Incense is as hard to find as it is, can the planetary incense work fine just as the metal?
2. Do you still use petitions or do you favor talismans more? Knowing that a talisman anchors the operation in itself, I don't see why anyone would ever want to do petitions anymore unless one just doesn't care about the operation. And on top of that, one can print both the sigil and talisman and just trace over it with a pencil.
3. When making Scorpio talismans, do you still use paper despite iron being so readily available? Can a nail be used as a Scorpio talisman or does the material base need to be big enough to etch the symbol of the Force? I have never made metal talismans so the transfer from paper to metal is taking a bit too long here for me.
4. I have Mars poorly aspected in my chart, does the poor reception of Martian aspects in my chart also apply to Aries and Scorpio's sphere of influence? Of course, working with the angels of such forces will help to mitigate that.
5. Scorpio's power over necromancy and ghosts makes me think that Scorpio rules over all things 'hidden' regardless of what it is.
1. Yes. Generally, you should be able to use the incense of the ruling planet for the sign.
2. I mostly use talismans. The only time I don't is when I need something immediate and short term, and I'm not in a situation where I have materials for a talisman on hand.
3. I use iron if I have it, and as you say it's not hard to find. You can use something as small as a nail. It does not necessarily need anything drawn on it, at least when using this style of magick.
4. I'm not even sure that natal planetary position has an effect on planetary work. I'm great at Jupiter spells - job spells, prosperity spells, etc. But my natal Jupiter is in detriment, which implies that I shouldn't be good at working with Jupiter if natal position has much of anything to do with it.
5. Necromancy and hidden things are not necessarily related. Necromancy just means working with the spirits of the dead. However, "hidden things" are attributed to Scorpio by astrologers entirely separately from the necromancy power, so that is an area in which Scorpio operations can be effective. Astrologically, Scorpio is fixed water, so you can think of that attribution as something along the lines of "still waters run deep."
1. I see. Can water incenses also be used for water signs? Mars is a fire sign and so is Martian incense but Mars rules Scorpio. Red sandalwood is one Martial incense that is easily available. If one is opening a Scorpio field through the GIRH of Scorpio which is based on Mars then I assume martial incense works better. But if one is doing it by the elemental triplicity like with the GIRP/SIRP of water then water incense will be better but that's just my guess.
2. I have now looked into using color pencils for paper talismans after I saw another GD practitioner using them over paint. One can mix colors such as blue and green for e.g to arrive at cyan, which is the king scale of Scoprio.
3. So not even the basic symbol of correspondence is required :). The talisman just needs an affinity to the quality it is being charged with like you said before, so iron serves that affinity.
4. Astrological texts is where I got it from. Texts describe Scorpio as being the most secretive of all signs and that works well with the idea of stagnant 'fixed' water. Imagine charging Barchiel with bringing one a job from the so called 'hidden job market' and Barkhiel agrees.
Is the Wands in Minor Arcana the most positive representation of the Sephirots,like Three of Life in Aziluth and can be used as a visualization when doing the Three of Life work?
While doing Liber Samekh ,is it best to visualize Tarot Court Cards as a representation of Elements ?Like Knight of Wands(Fire of Fire)should be one of the best representation of Fire element,Queen of Cups is Water of Water and best suited for Water elements...etc!
It only seems to me that Prince of Swords(Air of Air) is imbalance!
When i have a positive aspect in my natal chart like a trine but it s seperating aspect,it has a influence but it s weaker then a culminating aspects?
@Samat:
1. Ruling planet is more precise, but if you don't have that you can also use the incense corresponding to the sign's element.
2. Yes, you can mix colors together, or use both blue and green, for example, to represent blue-green.
3. The talisman needs an affinity with the energy being put into it, but it only needs one of them. If you're using paper, which has no natural affinity, you draw the character or symbol on it. If you have a metal, the metal itself has the affinity. Same for stones. You can draw the character on it if you want, but the talisman will work without it.
4. Right. The powers are descriptive, not prescriptive. So you can do an operation with a sign for any characteristic assigned to the sign by astrologers, not just the listed power.
@Bishop:
1. It represents the fire aspect of the sephira. Whether that is the most positive aspect depends on how you define positive. Fire is the most energetic element, if that's what you mean.
2. I've never heard of visualizing Tarot cards during Liber Samekh. I suppose you could do it that way and the symbolism would be harmonious, but I have no idea whether or not it would be helpful.
3. The distinction between applying and separating aspects is for electional astrology, not natal astrology. In a natal chart, if the aspect is within your orb in either direction it counts and it's not clear whether applying aspects are stronger than separating ones.
About the Wands!Wands are Aziluth (Fire Aspects)whose influence i guess has a sort of dominion over the mental,astral and psychical world!
Just like God -Names can be used to invoke entities on lower there worlds,the work on Wands corigates energy on lower levels!
I suppose you can parse it that way if you want, but as I see it elements don't really rule over each other. For example, it doesn't work well to conjure an earth, air, or water spirit using fire godnames. Each element works more like its own thing in my experience.
But there are elements also on higher worlds like Astral-Yetzirah-Water to Fire -Aziluth-Highest Plane!
And if i do work there ,the energies are having a effect as it flows down!
Maybe i should visualize Wands for first 3 Spheres,then Swords for Air in Spheres coresponding to Mental world.... until i reach Assiyah!
Feel free to experiment with that, but I have personally not had a lot of success with operations where I expect things to flow from the "higher" into the "lower" worlds. What I have found is that structuring rituals like that usually doesn't produce the kind of results I want. I seem to do better addressing things directly without regard to that structure. But it is entirely possible that my results are not universal in that regard.
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