Post-Chaos Modern Demonology 1.2 - Defense

[cyberdemon]

Do you think that at the end of your lives, you will have lived the meaning of your name?

Welcome back to Post-Chaos, students of Modern Demonology and Practical Performance. It's week 2 and we're still around. Those of you who's done the homework, show us a picture of it. Last class, we talked about the theoretical aspects of demonology, and left with the questions,

1. Who are we attempting to establish a connection with?
2. Why are we attempting to establish this connection?
3. Considering the experiences and lectures of previous demonologists, what are our chances at success of establishing a connection?

I'd say, many. One in two. It'll either work, or won't; that's how magick works after all whether you're a skeptic or a believer. As for the first two questions, the answers to these vary greatly from person to person. As a student, it is up to you to understand your own answers to these questions. The general answers are simple: we're trying to contact higher beings (classified as demons as a whole) and we're doing this to either gain knowledge or for assistance in our lifetime endeavors and we are willing to pay a price in equivalent exchange.

Humans have been performing rituals ever since the dawn of mankind. In fact, such can be all classified as a "ceremonial" form of magick. In the mainstream, we have Sunday Church, Friday Jumma, Puja, "Pagan" or Wiccan Festivals, Tribal Dances.. the list of "worship" is huge. The only time they differ is when we consider who they are addressed to. The omnipotent/omniscient Admin of the Universe; or anyone below and between it and us.

One of the reasons why I've been away is because I've been closely investigating a house haunting with people I personally know. Certain eye-opening things have happened during this time and we've yet to complete the entire episode. The biggest lesson I've re-learned is never forget how scary things can get. There's time to be bashful, and there's time to proceed with caution. As demonologists, we are required to go with the latter.

That's why, in this lecture, we're going to study Defensive Chaos.

Do you remember the first thing I said in this class?
Yes, names. Names bind people down to certain traits and events for their lifetime. In the Russian language, when you are asked for your name, the sentence literally translates to "what is your calling?" For English speakers, it makes more sense as "what are you called" but we're looking at the esoteric meaning, not the surface linguistics. The actual point of this is to understand how words influence people's lifetimes. It is a far greater application of Statements Of Intent (or SOIs, as you've been perhaps learning about in the Sigil Magick course) than simply one-off uses. Names are one of many examples of how words and their meanings as perceived by someone will affect how they go through life.
The most everyday example of it is conversation itself. Can you "control" people's answers by asking different questions? Can you navigate a conversation? Yes you can - and you'll find that people's responses are exactly what possibilities you create for them.
This isn't an example of having God-like powers to navigate life itself. It's an example of having powers to navigate life, period. There is nothing "God-like" about it since everyone can do it, and it's exactly what they do (sometimes without even realizing). A person's choice of words even gives rise to their personalities.

The Admin of the Universe is a catch-all name for the ultimate God form, or even the Singularity that we've discussed before. The highest God has many names. For example, in the Abrahamic trilogy's nomenclature, there names such as YHVH, Adonai, Elohim, Ellah, and so on, until Allah, along with hundreds of other names all referring to one of many "aspects" of this God. In other religions and philosophies, likewise, God has different names and sometimes appear as entirely different characters personifying one of God's aspects.

A smart demonologist recognizes the existence of the the Admin of the Universe as separate, no matter who he or she attempts to work with. It's then easy to differentiate between worship and not-worship once this is done, saving themselves from the ultimate blasphemy of giving credit of Creation to the wrong person.
For mainstream followers of the Abrahamic trilogy, especially Christians, Creation happened in 7 days. I agree! What I don't agree with is the length of these 7 symbolic days. On that note, people who have gone through near-death-experiences report a loss of sense of time, as do users of psychedelic drugs used in spiritual or even recreational purposes, as do people who retain memories of past lives through reincarnation.

The first example of Defensive Chaos that comes to mind are exorcisms. You can imagine a Catholic priest using the names from the Abrahamic trilogy to force a spirit or a demon, or a Voodoo practitioner using names of spirits or demons stronger than the target. Either way, you will notice the use of names of power, which brings us to the "traditional" methods of Ceremonial magick where mages compel and force demons against their will by using such names of power as well.

House blessings, wards and talismans are also examples of Defensive Chaos. Now, you might ask why we are labeling them all under Chaos. The answer to this is simple, true Chaos magick is the consideration and application of everything. The Cleansing ceremony that you were required to perform before beginning this course? Yes, also part of Defensive chaos. In Post-Chaos, we attempt to truly take this everything into a simplified yet all-encompassing yet working model. The key to it is extremely simple, and lies within your own beliefs. It doesn't matter which God-names you use, nor which higher+1's influence you use over a higher, because across languages and cultures, they all reach "someone or the other" because more often than not, they're all different names of one same thing. With justifiable intent, they are automatically compelled to help you if they feel you are deserving. This is also exactly why traditional Ceremonial magick is shunned by modern demonologists for the amount of force it uses.

Demonology is a dangerous path. Some of us, are fortunate/privileged enough to not have been truly badly affected by supernatural things. Others have seen doors slamming, normal people possessed and speaking in indecipherable languages, and so on. Possession is a real thing, as are hauntings and the like. Even if you have never seen it with your own two eyes, you can most certainly get an indication of their existence from people who have otherwise no reason to lie. Yes, it depends a fair bit on their level of education, beliefs, and so on, but then you have completely educated, practical people attesting to the existence of supernatural things without a reason to lie. This is where we draw the line between us and conspiracy theorists - selective believing. Demonologists are skeptics of skeptics, which is one of our most powerful traits.

Either way, in Post-Chaos, where we consider such ethics, the only time we ourselves are compelled to use force is when whatever we are working with has malicious intentions. If you're about to do something bad, you'll need to press and pressure to get results. In Defense, you're required to press and pressure to, for example, end a possession. It may help to remember that not only are you under the laws of equivalent exchange, but so is everything and everyone else. Everyone will face repercussion at some point - demon or human alike.

With all this discussed, it is time to end this class. For homework, you are now to study different forms of Defensive rituals. Go through the internet and try to find out what rites and rituals people across different cultures perform specifically for the purpose of defense. Include occult practices and mainstream practices in your search. In your notebook, note down whatever you find, along with a short description - this is extremely important and you will refer to these later.
Correlate these with your previous homework: summoning, ring-making, appropriate-clothes, as mentioned in the Book of Ceremonial Magick - and draw parallels between these practices and those you are now studying. You should try and identify common themes, and create your own theories on how each contributes to the ritual they are used in.

Finally, using the Standard Set in the last class, you should have identified at least one sigil which stood out most to you for any reason. We'll be going into the deep end in the next class, so if you have not done so yet - now is the time.

If you're wondering why I haven't taught any specific Defensive rituals..
I already have. The Cleansing ceremony itself alone is a simple, powerful ritual itself. As I've mentioned before, I've been investigating a house haunting. We've performed Cleansing with near perfect results, and we'll be attempting a Catholic house-blessing (as it is the most powerful ritual we are able to use with our "clients'" belief system being most compatible to that line of theology) next to iron over the folds. In Post-Chaos, whatever works, works - and we do not discriminate. We know what underlies rituals from a technical aspect, after all, and being as Chaotic as we can, with energy and enthusiasm, we can throw everything at it.

As always, this thread is open to discussion for everything covered here - whether it is a counter-theory, parallel-theory, or something else altogether as long as it is a part of your foray into demonology.

[Lucius]

I realise that I am late to the party but this is indeed interesting.

A lot of what I do is very similar, and I can attest to the fact that possessions are very veryreal, and in the world of the occult, you have to be prepared for the scary to happen I totally agree.

I would be interested to see what techniques different demonologists use to defend themselves because I for one find ritualistic defence very useful in the correct situation.

However, the only draw back I have seen from my experience is that a ritual takes time. A ritual is much more powerful than an off the hand spell, but sometimes there is simply not enough time. I worked a case recently where while we were discreetly preparing a ritual to banish an entity from a factory the entity attacked us hard and fast. It was powerful enough to really manipulate the physical things around us, which made the situation even worse considering how many dangerous things are in a factory.

The main form of defensive magic I use in "real time", eg. on the spur of the moment, sort of developed by itself. I combine it with my martial arts and use my emotional energy to manifest a magical attack which is effectively an energetic manifestation of the intent of said ritual, pin pointed down to push back/hit back at the entity on it's own turf. It's not as powerful as a full on ritual but in some situations where the entity has a very strong grip on this reality a ritual is impossible.

I guess the easiest way to explain it is this-

If we refer back to the analogy of the "Flat land inhabitant" from the first lesson. If you were forcefully occupying a flatlander's space and manipulating the world around them etc. They would react. Now if they reacted by trying to stab you in slow motion, would you sit there and wait to be stabbed or would you stop them stabbing you?

Saying that, most of the time, when the preparation is done well and the investigation is done properly one is able to create the correct conditions for a successful ritual, and rituals are always more powerful than an off hand spell.

What are your thoughts?