Shades & Adders

The Flow



Agrippa asserts that occult virtues are linked via the Spiritus Mundi (World Spirit). When we magically strum our candles and stones a hidden thread vibrates that transmits the actions of our spell to the intended target. These hidden threads form a complex multidimensional web or soup of potential interactions. These interactions have "scales" that describe their radius of influence. Rarely do divine powers interact with the terrestrial sphere without transmitting a message through the celestial sphere. The celestial and terrestrial spheres contain their own hierarchies of interaction that unfold like an energy cascade.



An example of a energy cascade is turbulent flow in a river or the atmosphere. Eddies of swirling fluid form that move along with the prevailing flow. These eddies are made up of smaller eddies, which are made up of even smaller eddies down to the smallest scales where such things cease to have meaning. Many of us will have noticed how the winds of a tornado may be extremely fast on the order of 100's of km/h, whereas the tornado as a whole may move across the landscape at 10's of km/h. The tornado is powerful and destructive, but it's still subject to the whims of the swirling super-cell that birthed it. As above, so below.

Another curious interaction is how rivers interact with the landscape. A river's flow may transition through repeating reaches of pools and riffles with varying severity of rapids. A river can be straight, meandering, or wildly braided and discontinuous. The river's form is a complex negotiation between the flow of water and the landscape; all driven by gravity. I sometimes feel as if we're all riding a turbulent stream of blood and stardust. As if consciousness is a complex negotiation between life and the universe; ultimately driven by the primordial energy of the big bang.



Ianvs

Celestial Magic




If natural magic concerns the discovery and manipulation of hidden forces via interfaces that we can discover using our material senses, then celestial magic might involve the discovery of hidden forces through our immaterial senses. What are these "immaterial" senses? We are traditionally thought of as having 5 senses: hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch. However, we have additional senses that may not necessarily be directly linked to a particular (or singular) organ. Examples of these extra senses include a sense of balance, relation, spatial position, distance, speed, duration, and time. We might also include different modalities of the 5 traditional senses as "extra" senses. These modalities might include color, texture, temperature, pressure, or vibration.

We can use these senses to describe reality in terms of sensible attributes that lie along spectra of relative intensity: hot/cold, red/purple/blue, smooth/rough, forward/backward, up/down, old/new, etc. From what I've observed over the course of my experiments in celestial magic, we have several systems at our disposal with which we can model these spectra and the relationships between and among them. Systems of relation include the Hermetic Qabalah, tarot, astrology, numerology, alphabets, and many others. Like many witches in the Anglosphere, I've developed a preference for a system that uses the elements, planets, and zodiac. Though I differ somewhat in how I conceive of these components compared to popular usage.

In my practice, the elements describe general qualities or phases of perceivable entities. The element of "fire" might describe a literal fire or any unrelenting expansive manifestation like passion or a new startup. I view the "planets" not as physical objects in the sky, but as latent processes that give rise to manifest reality. For example, Saturn might describe the inescapable process of decomposition that lays down the required fertile material from which we can build new things. I view the Zodiac as a way to conceptualize the interaction of the planets. Like waves interfering on the surface of pond, the planets goes through phases of peaks and troughs that can interact constructively or destructively in complex ways.

Speaking honestly, I think most practitioners can carry on blissfully ignoring this aspect of the craft. The fact is that rudimentary magic will leverage these principles implicitly, whether the practitioner is aware of them or not. I think 70-80% of my personal magical needs can be accomplished without direct consideration for the celestial realm. This might explain why Book II of Agrippa is the shortest of the three. However, for the other 20-30% of my practice, the ability to construct spells and rituals with a higher level of sophistication and autonomy has been very useful. Adopting some model of celestial mechanics can assist with diagnosing issues with spells, identifying more effective combinations of spell components, and finding ways to work with ambient conditions instead of against them.

Elections

Elections for astrological talismans seem to be the standard of practice for employing celestial magic. Popular options entail the application of a calendar to the selection of an auspicious time. This includes planetary days and hours, lunar mansions, decans, and complicated astrological charts that require years of expertise. I've found that these approaches don't suit my personal practice. I needed a method more suitable to an intuitive magical practice based on the personal revelation of occult virtues across space and time.



Here I've drawn five cards to help guide me through the design of a spell to support athletic development. Jupiter in Pisces, Luna in Scorpio, and Mercury. I find this combination well-balanced. Jupiter hints at a cultivated approach. Luna hints at the "astral" or potential body. Mercury might imply the transmission of results from potential to manifest. Pisces and Scorpio make up a water trine. This configuration implies to me a focus on flexibility and steady incremental improvement.

Bringing this down to Earth requires the selection of some material ingredients. What came to me was coffee for Mercury, milk for Jupiter, and a pinch of sugar for Luna. Perhaps this is something I can incorporate into my morning coffee. It sounds like an enchanted coffee cup should do.

Ianvs

Goetic Musings



I've spent some time reading about goetia and listening to various magicians describe their experiences. I've always found the grimoire traditions fascinating, but like many witches I am weary of engaging with the Abrahamic aspects of these traditions. The fact is that my attraction to magic was rooted in a desire for personal power and a rejection of dogma. For better or for worse, I've associated Yahweh, Allah, and Christ with bigotry, discrimination, and self-loathing. I just cannot bring myself to call on these gods and actually mean it. This lack of conviction seems like it could result in a lack of efficacy at best and in dangerous side-effects at worst.

I regularly interact with other spirits and gods with whom I have a more authentic connection, so I've accepted that the grimoire tradition is closed to me. The message in reply to this sentiment from most grimoirists seems to be "good riddance." These would be the same magicians that consider the grimoires the basis of all "Western" magical practice for which non-Yahwists are apparently not good enough to inherit. As a queer POC living in the U.S., I've grown accustomed to hearing appeals to "Western European" tradition and inheritance as reasons for my exclusion in many things.

Enter the late Jake Stratton-Kent's Encyclopedia Goetica. This curious series of books makes the convincing case that the grimoire tradition has pagan roots. This is particularly interesting given that Mr. Stratton-Kent's grimoire of preference is the Grimorium Verum which is a somewhat later addition to the literature. He draws several parallels between grimoire magic and the traditions of ancient Greece and the Near East. He describes a successful adaptation of Verum spirits to a ritual format based on Hekate that still includes acknowledgement of the LBA (Lucifer-Beelzebub-Ashtoroth) based hierarchy of the text.

Mr. Stratton-Kent also offers a refreshing contrast to proselytizing lodge magicians. He enthusiastically encourages readers to experiment and cites Quimbanda as one way in which modern practitioners have incorporated goetic spirits in exciting and innovative ways.

The Encyclopedia Goetica also includes some musings about the possible influence of the rituals of the Anatolian mother goddess, Cybele, on Greek mystery religions, the PGM, and ultimately the grimoiric methods. Interaction with other goddess traditions may have influenced his choice of Hekate as supreme authority, instead of Yahweh. The text also makes a connection between the Four Kings of the directions and forgotten wind gods. These connections are particularly interesting to me, given the way my practice has headed over the last year.

The correlations are not direct, but I've been compiling some threads that I think hint at a method of entry for a practitioner like myself:

1. Hera is associated with the element of air in the Orphic Hymns.
2. According to Homer, Hera gives birth to Typhon who subsequently produces the storm winds.
3. Typhon and the storm winds are thrown into Tartarus (or a mountain) from whence they can be released.
4. Typhon, Echidna, and Python are sometimes portrayed as children of Gaia and Tartarus that cause specific disorders.

Greek myth is rarely consistent and seems to serve the plot or ritual action at hand. I consider this a feature; not a flaw. While a direct link is impossible, the details above have something in them that reminds me of the "aerial" spirits described in some grimoires. There's also mention of infernal (subterranean) wind (cardinal?) spirits, and a triad of ancient spirits ruling over afflictions historically attributed to "demons."

My practice tends not to incorporate explicit names of gods and spirits, so there is some work to be done to take these pieces of poetic inspiration and adapt them to idiosyncratic rituals. I'm optimistic that there's a workable operation to be found here. I've found that the egregore of my practice has reached a point where I'm not only confident in the techniques I can bring to bear, but also in the relationships I've cultivated with supporting spirits willing to assist me in this endeavor.

Ianvs

Natural Magic



As my natural magic "thesis" project nears completion, I wanted to reflect on my understanding of natural magic as presented by Agrippa in TBOP Book I.

What is Magic?

Magic is the study, prediction, and manipulation of hidden forces, also called "occult virtues." This definition is rooted in pre-modern notions of philosophy and the occult. Philosophy preceded the sciences as the application of reason and empirical observation to the study of the universe. Natural philosophy concerned itself with the rigorous investigation of manifest reality in the sensible world, in other words physics (and chemistry, zoology, biology, geology, etc.). Therefore, occult philosophy, or magic, concerns itself with the rigorous investigation of manifest reality in the insensible world. Consider that at one time effects such as magnetism or static electricity may have fallen under the purview of the occult, which just means "hidden." So, perhaps one way magical practitioners can conceive of the hidden forces with which we work is as underlying the material universe (like electromagnetism) instead of above it.

Magic is an art. The ways in which hidden forces reveal themselves to magical practitioners are myriad. Where one person sees a leopard, another sees a jaguar. The jaguar camp may eventually concede to the leopard camp's version of reality, but this concession implies nothing about the hidden force behind both versions of the story. The only fact on which we can rely is that both leopards and jaguars are faces of the universal force known as Danger, and that Danger may yet be another face. This inherently subjective nature of reality offers practitioners a lot of leeway when it comes to the application of creative expression to the study and execution of magic.

Reality Maps

The subjective nature of the universe allows the adoption of many possible models of reality. We can test the utility of these models through magical experimentation, but not their veracity. The consistent application of a particular model can be beneficial, so long as it doesn't devolve into unquestionable dogmatism. A dogmatic witch is a willfully blind witch. Dogmatism unnecessarily restricts us to a handful of models among an infinite universe of possibilities.

Any practitioners claiming to know the true nature of hidden forces is lying, either to us or themselves. The inherent subjectivity of the universe precludes direct access by normal waking consciousness. This does not mean that hidden truths are "unknowable," but that any attempt to pass along hidden truths, by any means other than direct experience, will be confounded by a requirement to resort to analogy. The true nature of things is inherently mysterious.

All of this is to say that the descriptions of the universe presented by Agrippa may be flawed, but that the hidden forces he describes are nonetheless "real." Practitioners may benefit from adopting a poetic perspective while reviewing models of reality. Let's not mistake the map for the territory. A reliance on literal interpretation is a sure path to dogmatism.

Agrippa's Universe



The universal model proposed by Agrippa is largely informed by traditional astrology. This model entails a transcendent divine realm that transmits effects to our natural realm through successive celestial realms. These effects take on four poetic qualities: hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness. Hot refers to effects that are expansive or rising, whereas cold refers to effects that are contractile or sinking. The interaction of hotness and coldness gives rise to dryness, which refers to rigidity and a resistance to change, and moistness, which refers to flexibility and a tendency to change. These four primary qualities are transmitted through the celestial realms to the natural realm where they mix to form the four philosophical elements of fire (dry hotness/constant expansion), air (moist hotness/erratic expansion), water (moist coldness/erratic contraction), and earth (dry coldness/constant contraction).

Agrippa further postulates that everything in the manifest sensible world must originate as a potentiality in an insensible hidden realm. This is because the universe contains everything by definition, including everything that does, did, or will exist. Since the world of senses is limited by Time, everything in the past and future must "exist" in some insensible realm. Ergo it stands to reason that because the natural world contains living beings with some level of intelligence that the hidden realms contain the same, but in a more abstract fashion. In other words, the universe is alive and intelligent because living and intelligent beings exist and these beings are a part of the universe. Consider that when we look at images of the early universe from space telescopes, that a piece of the universe (us!) is literally looking back in time trying to remember where it came from.

If the universe is alive, it must contain individual actors analogous to the cells, molecules, and atoms that make up our physical bodies. Much like how the group dynamics of cars and livestock can give rise to the more complex entities of traffic and herds, the constituents of the hidden realms give rise to more complex hidden entities. The overarching animating principle is called the World Soul and its constituent animating souls are known as gods, titans, nymphs, dryads, naiads, sylphs, undines, gnomes, salamanders, primordials, demons, angels, daimons, daemons, and other types of "spirits."

Our bodies and minds operate according to some observable principles, and so the universe must operate according to hidden principles or hidden reasons. We observe that if you drop a rock into a pond it sinks according to the interaction of gravity and buoyancy. If you are alive, your breath oxygenates your blood according to the principles of physiology. In other words, the processes described by physics reflect a rationale or "mind" of the sensible world. Analogously, the spirits that make up the World Soul interact according to their own principles the summation of which acts like the "mind" of the universe. Agrippa calls this "mind" or set of rules the World Spirit.

"Natural" Magic

Most authors post-Agrippa seem to limit natural magic to the magic of non-human materials such as herbs, stones, and animals. This limitation seems rooted in a misunderstanding of what constitutes "nature." As alluded to by the pre-modern study of natural philosophy, "nature" relates to anything in the sensible world. So, "natural" magic concerns the discovery and manipulation of hidden forces via interfaces that we can discover using our ordinary senses. Natural magic works because there is a two-way connection between the hidden forces that give rise to the material universe and the material itself.

For example, if you wanted to run faster you could use things that interface with the hidden powers that give rise to speed, legs, feet, and/or stamina in the sensible world. This might involve the collection of items related to speed like a falcon's feather, a sailfish's scale, or the sweat-drenched towel an Olympic sprinter used just after winning a foot race. For all magical intents and purposes, the speediness of these items originates from and is equivalent to the same hidden force. These items offer access to hidden forces other than "speed," owing to the mixed up nature of the elemental sphere. We might extract Success, Stamina, or abstract Stench from the Olympic sprinter's towel. The discovery of connections to hidden concepts using our ordinary senses and logic is the origin of concepts like the "Law of Correspondence" and the "Doctrine of Signatures."

Language

The last piece of the magical puzzle is the practitioner. Intelligent life has the particular ability to transform its personal occult virtues. The power of thought, emotion, and instinct can inspire a change in the individual that brings them into alignment with certain hidden forces or out of alignment with others. Human beings can accomplish this feat in the natural realm through the use of spoken incantations, written words, and symbols. For the right person, a good poem or song may yield more energy than a cup of coffee. The words and symbols themselves are also imbued with inherent virtues, just like other sensible components such as herbs and crystals.

Planets

What are these hidden forces that underlay the material world? Agrippa hints throughout Book I that these forces are the planets of the celestial realm. The planetary seals given in Book I are hidden within the material universe. These seals transmit planetary influence through different materials with varying efficacy, analogous to how different objects have different resonate frequencies. Agrippa does not elaborate greatly on what the "planets" actually are in Book I. However, he hints at a 7-fold system of categorization that we can use to organize sensible virtues as we discover them. I personally use "key words" for each planet to indicate the general flavor of the planet and its magicks.

Moon - Perception
Mercury - Transmission
Venus - Motivation
Sun - Generation
Mars - Action
Jupiter - Organization
Saturn - Dissolution

If I were to categorize the virtues of a tree I might say that the tree's color, roughness, and scent are Lunar. The tree's rate of growth or ability to spread pollen is Mercurial. The direction of the tree's growth (up towards the sun) is Venusian, as is the way the tree makes me feel. The oxygen the tree generates is Solar. The tree's ability to displace soil or shade the understory is Martian. The rings that make up the tree's structure are Jovian. Finally, the tree's ability to uptake water, CO2, and minerals and transform them is Saturnian. We could leverage any of these virtues for all kinds of magical operations. The fact that someone else might assign an entirely different set of tree virtues to completely different planets is a feature of the universe, not a flaw.

A Promotion Spell



I earn a fixed salary, so most money spells take the form of "promotion spells" for me. I'd like to inspire my boss to promote me to a higher earning position in the company, but I'd also like to avoid too much extra work. I'm a bit of a "Type A", so I do enjoy having something to occupy my time. In the context of the above description of natural magic, I might begin by tapping into the hidden forces behind my boss. He has a habit of biting his nails that reminds me of the way some people mindlessly eat sunflower seeds and spit out the shells. He also has a dry sense of humor and a pallid complexion that reminds me of wood ash. He's also human in form like a poppet or doll.

Step 1. I placed some sunflower seeds, wood ash, and a slip of paper with my boss' name on it into a poppet. From now on I treat the poppet as if it were my boss, calling it by his name, and talking to it as I would my boss. These actions turn the poppet into a portal to the hidden forces behind my boss. What happens to the poppet happens to my boss.

I'd like to ingratiate my boss to me and motivate him to promote me. I know there's a position in my company very similar to my current role that pays more money that is about to open up. I've already worked the mundane side of things by telling my boss that I want the job and plan to apply. My boss would much rather hire someone new than engage in internal churning. Since my focus is motivating my boss to promote me, I determine that the required working is essentially Venusian.

Step 2. I start bringing the poppet little gifts. Perhaps a flower, a piece of chocolate, a cup of coffee, or shiny stones. Each time I bring it a gift, I whisper in the poppet's ear things like "Ianvs is trustworthy, Ianvs is a hard worker, Ianvs deserves the promotion, you want to promote Ianvs." I also write these phrases on slips of paper and place them in the poppet's head. I'm bribing my boss in a very Venusian way without having to compromise my mundane reputation.

At every step along the way, I use my ordinary senses to identify patterns or make connections between things I can easily manipulate (a poppet) and the thing I want to change (my boss). The implication I read from Agrippa is that both the poppet I create and my boss are two ends of a hidden thread. After an easy interview, I get the promotion.

Step 3. Now that my task is done, I'd like to undo the connection I created. I don't fuss over it, I just declare that the poppet is no longer connected to my boss. I disassemble the connection by disassembling the poppet and its contents. My preference is to burn the separated materials and scatter them back to nature.

Ianvs

Trust Glamour



My mundane job involves reviewing the work of others. In an ideal world, everyone would be faithful archivists and witnesses of their own work. In reality, important details are often left undocumented and people are reluctant to reveal "how the sausage is made" for fear of judgement. I usually need to conduct face-to-face interviews where I try to get the details I need to conduct a fair and honest review. One issue with this is that interviewees are not always forthcoming and often omit important details about their processes. This deception is not always conscious. I've found a perception of trust and confidence can facilitate the extraction of information. Hence, a glamour that makes me seem more worthy of their trust.

The theory of glamours I use is based on the passive manipulation of lunar elements. The keyword I associate with Luna as a planetary power is "Perception." My goal with glamours is to alter how other's perceive me. In this case, I want to be perceived as more trustworthy. To this end, I constructed an audible sigil and focused my intent on a tube of vanilla lip balm.

I started with three phrases that summarized my goal in the present tense.

I then eliminated repeated letters and evaluated the numerical value of each word using the table below. I used the numerical value of each word to construct a syllabic component made of a consonant and a vowel using basic numerological arithmetic. In the case of words that evaluated to 1, I assigned a single letter and rolled it forward or backward into a neighboring syllable.


These new syllables became the components of a set of magical phrases (AKA "barbarous names").

Note, that conjunctions using "&" become a single word. For example:

HUGS & KISSES → HUGS&KIE = 8 + 3  + 7 + 1 + 9 + 2 + 9 + 5 = 44 → 8 = "KO"

Letter Values

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I
J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R
S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z	&

Method

I stood in front of a mirror while holding a tube of lip balm. As I stared at myself, I tapped into lunar energies. The tube in my hand glowed faintly with silver light. The smell of vanilla bean and cocoa butter permeated the space. I repeatedly chanted the phrase, "BA JUT. BA JEM. BA JUL." Each time I spoke the words, I felt the lip balm become infused with the appearance of trustfulness and safety. Once the tube was sufficiently imbued, I applied the lip balm and felt the appearance of trustfulness radiate from my face.

Ianvs