Planetary Work Updated

The planetary work posts have now been updated with new conjurations calling on the Intelligence and Spirit from Agrippa in addition to the planetary angel. This hearkens back to my older method of working down through the spiritual hierarchy, but with some changes based on my more recent better understanding of the distinction between paths and sephirah. You don't need to conjure the godname because you already have used it to tune the space, and only use it as a controlling name for the angel during the conjuration. Otherwise, the assumption is that Angel rules Intelligence and Intelligence rules Spirit. All three entities are conjured and called upon, and presumably will fulfill their appointed tasks according to their individual natures.

Eventually I plan on updating the figures to include all three sigils instead of just that of the angel, but the designs that are there now should work. Effectively, the angel's sigil acts like a "phone number" to access the hierarchy and from there you are calling on the angel to help you conjure the intelligence and spirit - which I have tested out. The updated artwork will show up eventually, but some of the pieces such as the sigil for the Intelligence of the Moon are quite complex. Knowing myself, I probably will put up the easiest ones first and save that Moon figure for last. At any rate, the conjured names here now match the intelligence and spirit names in Liber 777 for the paths and also the information in my original Planetary Magick post from back in 2011 which remains quite popular. Happy conjuring!

The Planetary and Elemental Work - Epilogue

In putting together my Planetary and Elemental Work series, various questions have come up on the different posts. Rather than requiring people to go back through those posts and the corresponding discussion points, this week I will be doing my best to summarize my answers to those questions, along with providing some addition information on them. As such, this article covers a lot of disparate points and jumps around quite a bit. But hopefully, in the end, it will all make sense as part of a whole.

The Kamea of the Moon is used for the elemental sigils because in Qabalah, the Moon is Yesod, the Foundation. It corresponds to personal realm below the Veil of Paroketh and is the ruler of the elemental realm, just as the Sun is the ruler of the planetary realm. There is thus no need to assemble a "Malkuth Kamea" for them based a 10 x 10 square, or anything like that. You can also use other traditional sigils for the elemental kings if you so desire. The Kamea method is just one way to generate their sigils, not the only way. They are intelligent spirits that will recognize your call according to any of the traditional techniques. This is also true with regard to the planetary angels.

The pentagram is a microcosmic figure, and the hexagram is a macrocosmic figure, but the elements have macrocosmic aspects just as the planet have microcosmic ones. The idea of using microcosmic aspects to influence macrocosmic aspects by employing some sort of resonance between the internal and external is pretty much how all practical magick works, and also the basic idea behind the operant model. So it would not be correct to argue that elemental operations are by necessity psychological, or that planetary operations are by necessity practical. Both classes of rituals can be used both ways, which is especially evident in initiatory work.

With regard to the Lesser, Greater, and Supreme classes of ritual as laid out in the modern Golden Dawn magical system, I dislike the nomenclature because there isn't really a progression from one to the next, or a hierarchy on which they all have places. They are different kinds of rituals that do different things, not steps on a ladder or positions in a hierarchy. Therefore, the idea that one is better than another doesn't really make sense. I have wondered over the years if the idea might have originated as a sort of marketing idea for beginning initiates. You learn the "lesser" forms with the promise of eventually getting your hands on the "greater" forms.

But essentially, Lesser means general and Greater means specific. Based on the example of the Supreme Pentagram, it looks as if Supreme might mean sephirothic, since the Supreme Pentagram is basically a Greater Ritual of the Pentagram for Malkuth employing all four elements. But that doesn't really fit either, unless you decide that the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram is just for paths, and when it is used for sephiroth it becomes a "Supreme Ritual of the Hexagram." And even if that were the case, I strongly believe that there really should not be a hierarchy set up between magick (paths) and mysticism (sephiroth) if we really want our terminology to be accurate.

The Planetary Work - the Moon

This article is Part Seven in a series. Part One can 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, and Part Six can be found here.

Today I will be moving on to working the Moon, the final planet in sequence according to the Chaldean Order. Liber 777 associates the Moon with "The White Tincture, Clairvoyance, Divination by Dreams." So working with the Moon is useful for developing skills such as scrying, lucid dreaming, and psychic perception. Much of what parapsychologists refer to as "psychic ability" falls under the Moon's sphere of influence, such as mind-reading, remote viewing, and so forth.

Parapsychologists also study abilities like telekinesis and precognition, which are slightly different. The Moon is associated with psychic abilities related to perception and information. Precognition is more properly grouped with Prophecy, which is attributed to Gemini. Telekinesis is more difficult to categorize. You could group it with Fire (Evocation, Pyromancy) on the grounds that there is a connection between kinetic and thermal energy. Or you could group it with Taurus (The Secret of Physical Strength) as physical energy projected into the macrocosmic realm.

The White Tincture is mostly beyond the scope of this article, but according to alchemical lore, the White Tincture and Red Tincture are manufactured separately, and then combined to create the Philosopher's Stone. In an esoteric sense, the symbolism is that of lunar consciousness (White Tincture) merging with solar consciousness (Red Tincture) to produce transpersonal realization (Adeptship). This process is also analogous to the mystic marriage between the human magician and the Holy Guardian Angel, the accomplishment of which is the mark of an Adept in the Thelemic tradition.

Scrying is probably the most common ability related to the Moon that magicians are looking to improve. Accurate scrying seems to be more talent-driven than many other magical skills, and seems to be correspondingly harder to cultivate. While I can personally do it after many years of work, I still find it difficult and get better, more accurate results with astral techniques such as "traveling in the spirit vision." Still, if scrying is an ability that you are looking to improve, the Moon is the right aspect to work with.

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

The Planetary Work - Mercury

This article is Part Six in a series. Part One can found here, Part Two can be found here, Part Three can be found here, Part Four can be found here, and Part Five can be found here.

Today I will be moving on to working with Mercury, the next planet in sequence according to the Chaldean Order. Liber 777 associates Mercury with "Miracles of Healing, Gift of Tongues, Knowledge of Sciences," which means that this is the planet to work with for healing and learning of whatever sort, including both sciences and languages. Thus, this article may be thought of as an updated version of this one. Note that, as with the others, back in 2008 I was still working with the sephira godname rather than that attributed to the path.

Healing is considered one of the most important forms of magick in the Rosicrucian tradition. In the Fama Fraternitatis, the first obligation of those belonging to the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross was "That none of them should profess any other thing than to cure the sick, and that gratis." At the same time, healing is one of the most difficult areas in which to assess magical success. It is well-known to medical researchers that the mind has some natural ability to heal the body on its own, a phenomenon called the placebo effect.

In order to determine whether or not a medicine or treatment is truly effective in and of itself, the treatment must be evaluated according to double-blind experimental techniques. This is necessary because it allows researchers to distinguish between the healing effects arising from belief in the treatment, and the healing effects arising from the treatment itself. In that way, I have maintained for years that healing is perhaps the worst possible field to focus on if you want to try and demonstrate the effectiveness of practical magick in a rigorous fashion.

People are generally less interested in spells for obtaining knowledge or language proficiency, but both are quite applicable to magical studies. Magick is called a Science and Art because it includes elements of both, and especially on the science side, Mercury operations can help you gain a greater understanding of magick itself. Likewise, understanding languages can be extremely useful when conducting any sort of antiquarian research involving original magical texts.

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

The Planetary Work - Venus

This article is Part Five in a series. Part One can found here, Part Two can be found here, Part Three can be found here, and Part Four can be found here.

Today I will be moving on to working with Venus, the next planet in sequence according to the Chaldean Order. Liber 777 associates Venus with "Love-philtres," which can be generalized to love and relationship spells of whatever type. As I mentioned in my previous article on love spells, there are two main approaches that people tend to use when working this kind of magick. The first is a love spell cast on a specific person, and the second is a love spell designed to bring you and a suitable person together.

The second of these is both more ethical and more effective. Generally speaking, a love spell cast on a specific person is going to violate their will in some way, since if they were already interested in you, you wouldn't need to be casting a spell. Spells that violate the wills of others are among the hardest to cast, simply because your magical power needs to override your target's inherent resistance. While it's true that a lot of people are fairly susceptible to magick, the probability shifts involved are still challenging.

The second form works by subtly influencing events in such a way that you and a suitable partner are brought together. This is easier to do because mostly, the things that keep us and potential lovers apart are little more than random circumstance. I don't care how lonely you are, or how unattractive you believe yourself to be. If you live in a city with millions of people, there are going to be at least a handful of people out there who would be happy to be in a relationship with you. The trick is bringing those people into your sphere of activity.

The nice thing about this more general method is that if such a person is already in your life, the second form of the spell will still influence circumstances so that a relationship between the two of you becomes possible - so long as it is in harmony with the will of said individual. Otherwise, it will affect circumstances so that you are brought together with somebody else. So in effect, if you're in one of those situations where you are attracted to a friend and want them to think of you in that way, you can get the same effect as you would casting a specific spell on them so long as being involved with you is in harmony with their will.

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

The Planetary Work - the Sun

This article is Part Four in a series. Part One can found here, Part Two can be found here and Part Three can be found here.

Today I will be moving on to working with the Sun, the next planet in sequence according to the Chaldean Order. Liber 777 associates the Sun with "The Red Tincture" and "Power of Acquiring Wealth." So the Sun, like Jupiter, rules over spells related to financial gain. The difference is that Jupiter is more appropriate when status is involved, such as when seeking a promotion or better employment. The Sun is more appropriate when you are working for yourself in some capacity, such as running a business.

There is also a distinction to be made between "acquiring wealth" and getting money. Aaron Leitch put up a blog post over at Llewellyn discussing this very topic a week ago, pointing out that just bringing sums of money in the door doesn't necessarily translate into wealth - at least when you're working with Jupiter as he does. In my experience, the magical solution for transitioning money into wealth is to work with the Sun.

So the Sun is also more appropriate than Jupiter for investments, finance, and so forth. For a complete "financial success" spell, the best way to go is to perform operations for both Jupiter and the Sun. The Jupiter operation bring in money and status, while the Sun operation transitions that money and status into lasting wealth. This gets around the problem These should be performed as two entirely separate operations, as multiple planets rarely combine well in a single rite without very careful design and calibration.

The Red Tincture is related to alchemical operations, which are somewhat beyond the scope of this series. Allegedly, the Red Tincture is a substance capable of transmuting base metals into gold. From the standpoint of the path of initiation, it may also be thought of as representing the transference of consciousness from Lunar (passive frame) to Solar (active frame) consciousness, or from personal to transpersonal realization. So even though we are dealing with the path of the Sun rather than the sephira, there are potential applications here related to the mystical path.

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

The Planetary Work - Mars

This article is Part Three in a series. Part One can found here, and Part Two can be found here.

Today I will be moving on to working with Mars, the next planet in sequence according to the Chaldean Order. Liber 777 associates Mars with "Works of Wrath and Vengeance." So Mars, like Saturn, rules over negative magical operations such as curses. Also like Saturn, Mars may be called upon for protection from such operations, as these sorts of curses represent the planet's sphere of influence.

Mars is referred to as the Lesser Malefic in astrology, and generally speaking, curses associated with Mars are less deadly than those associated with Saturn. The classic Saturn curse is a straighforward death spell, whereas Mars curses tend to be operations designed to cause pain and strife rather than outright destruction. Still, even if a Mars curse is not necessarily deadly, it can be quite detrimental.

For a complete protection spell, the best way to go is to perform operations for both Saturn and Mars. The Saturn operation protects against the bigger, more sweeping "death spell" type curses, while the Mars operation protects against the smaller, day-to-day curses that get in the way of living the kind of life that you want. These should be performed as two entirely separate operations, as multiple planets rarely combine well in a single rite without very careful design and calibration.

Even though Mars curses are in some way less serious than those attributed to Saturn, they also are more common. An intuitive psychic effect triggered by extreme anger generally falls under the Mars category, and these are the sorts of "curses" that are usually thrown about. Keep in mind, though, that magical attacks are still pretty rare overall, and before concluding that you are being afflicted by one, you need to explore every other possible cause for what you are experiencing.

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

The Planetary Work - Jupiter

This article is Part Two in a series. Part One can found here.

Today I will be moving on to working with Jupiter, the next planet in sequence according to the Chaldean Order. Liber 777 associates Jupiter with the "Power of Acquiring Political and Other Ascendancy." So Jupiter is the planet that you would work with for political operations. Also, because our modern society so closely associates money with status, Jupiter can be called upon for financial gain, and as such this article may be thought of as an updated version of this one.

The Sun can also be called upon for money, as it corresponds to the "Power of Acquiring Wealth." But there is a difference, at least in my experience. If you are wanting to get more money working a job as opposed to running your own business, Jupiter is more appropriate. And since that's how most people make their living, the money spell that I published ten years ago calls upon Jupiter. The Sun is more appropriate when you are working for yourself, such as running your own business, or to increase the value of investments and the like.

Jupiter is referred to as the Major Benefic in astrology, but just like Saturn, the Major Malefic, it has two sides. Since Jupiter rules over things like jobs and political offices, it can be called upon to make a political candidate lose or cause a person to be fired or demoted. A commenter on Facebook last week wondered if working with Jupiter might be associated with gaining weight (since the planet rules expansion in general), and while I suppose it could be used that way, I've never seen it just happen on its own as some sort of side effect.

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

The Planetary Work - Saturn

This article is Part One in a series.

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

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

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

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