HELP: Astral Evocations, "shortcuts", Goetia Demons

[constantine,john]

Greetings and salutations, esteemed occultists.

I come humbly for advice. I am but an amateur, with some dabbling in Chaos Magick, and an intuitive understanding of Tulpas, thoughtforms and sigil magick. But these are all Local Spirits, aren't they? Conjurations of the mind. It's time to move on to Non-Local Spirits (Egregores) - the Goetia Demons. I have a background in psychology, so pardon the occasional reference.

Here are a couple of questions:

1) Is evocation in the astral plane possible? The physical work seems like a hassle - the intricate drawing of an Evocation Circle, the procurement of a physical Seal of Solomon, Triangle of Solomon etc etc

Is it possible to substitute the physical act for an astral one? I intend to conduct such an act while in Gnosis. To my knowledge, the drawing of the Circles, the procurement of the necessary props - these are all indicative of Ceremonial Magick. But what if Evocation is done from the standpoint of Chaos Magick, in the mind? The Goetia Demons afterall, seem to be Egregores with limited sentience. Like a Sigil that has attained life of its own, independent on leeching energy from its host.

2) To treat a Demon with respect, or threaten it?

This is cobbled together from a limited understanding of the Kaballah, but from what I have intuited - we exist on a higher pIane of existence than Demons. That is why we often invoke the names of the Angels and the different names of God (Adonai, Yawah, etc etc), yes? Because we are in essence trying to tell the Demon that they have to do our bidding as we are making ourselves the "God" in this sense. Why else would a Demon feel compelled to help us otherwise (aren't they supposed to scorn the angelic hosts, afterall, if you interpret "Demon" in the traditional sense. So I suppose we are trying to tell them that we exist higher up in the Kaballah than them.

The question then - when asking favors from a Demon, should one "threaten" it, or should we take a much more amiable approach? What sort of deal should we offer them?

3) How soon should we start expecting results? How do we know that an agreement has been brokered?

I have read somewhere that Goetia Demons (and other malicious Egregores) may be deliberately withhold action to feed on our energy and attention, in essence an astral parasite. That's often the reason why amateurs are cautioned against the creation of too many sigils in Chais Magick, yes? Because the more we invest in them, the more energy they leech. Sometimes I feel as if they..wrap reality in such a way that I become obsessed with feeding the Sigils energy simply out of desperation for results.

4) Lastly, on the note of "shortcuts" - because all things are symbolic on the astral plane, is it able to substitute a simple design for a circle of protection etc?

Cheers mate!

[Maeiv]

The goetia was made in such an idiot proof manner that almost anyone could invoke by following its instructions. I don't know how to answer your questions, for the most part, but I would say that you should just not be lazy and do it to the T, in the manner stated inside lemegeton. That 'lousy' circle is there to keep you safe. If you want to risk freestyle invoking a demon as a beginner' just keep in mind that this stuff is real and you could get yourself worse than dead over it, and people trying to perform rituals they weren't ready for is the main reason magick is so stigmatized and esoteric. Ive been told that in/evoking astrally is not as potent for a number of reasons, the main one being that using your body for symbology speaks to your subconscious. For instance, crumple yourself to the ground, and hide your head between your knees. Now smile and say " I feel really terrific". Didn't feel right did it? Waving a wand, etc is more than just looking cool, it makes you focus on, and vibrate in frequency with your will(in this case, invoking a goetic demon). Also, The traditional sense of the word demon is just spirit(demon is derived from daemon, which is Greek? I believe for spirit. Not good or bad, just spirit.), what you are thinking of is the Christian sense of demon. Not all of the goetic demons are evil. Also, I just thought of the fact that you could simply astral project to X, rather than invoking it to you I THINK. But I'm not trained in astral projection, that's merely something I heard along my journey

Regardless of what you decide, I wish you all the best of luck and prosperity in regards to whatever it is you look to the lemegeton for help

[constantine,john]

Thanks Maeiv! That was rather insightful. Especially the part on the origin of the word "demon". I suppose I was thinking in the Christian context, seeing as to how King Solomon and his supposed works have roots in Christian theology.

Does anybody have a guide on what the goetia circle of summoning is meant to represent? I noticed the words "Adonai" - probably meant to symbolize the power you wield over the lesser creations (Goetia demons). But what of the snake imagery, the hebrew words etc?

Another question - when drawing the circle, must the hebrew words be copied word for word? Rather hard to make them out through web sources.

[Maeiv]

I don't know the symbolism behind the snake, but I do know that it isn't always drawn in the ritual; some people just put the Hebrew names of God in a spiral along the outer rim of the circle, going in. Keep in mind Hebrew is written right to left, opposite English. A few other things to remember;

Each demon is corresponding to a different Cardinal point, N E W S, and must be entrapped into solomons triangle in accordance with the apex of the triangle pointing to the demons Cardinal direction,respectively, and they also must have their sigils made in a corresponding element. For instance, Kings must have their sigils wrought in gold.
The best days to perform your ritual would be after the new moon, when the moon is 2,4,6,8,10,12, or 14 days old.
The circle you stand in is not the only protection you need. It gets a LOT more complicated. But like I said, follow the instructions and you can do pretty much whatever, is the impression I'm under.
I'd really reccomend you read into lemegeton further than simply the 72 keys. It explains everything you need, and why. Some things, like the blood of a virgin, black rooster as ink for writing some other seals on parchment.in which you are to cover yourself with, or a girdle made of lions skin three inches thick, are probably impossible for you the attain and a substitute will have to be revised.

It's not simple, and it's not supposed to be. Demons aren't creatures necessarily subservient to us the way you think. And this way of invoking demons is very aggressive and invasive, and I'm sure most of the time they wouldn't take too kindly to it. It's like if someone kidnapped you from your home and tied you up and started ordering you to do stuff for them. If I weren't tied up very well, I at least know what I'd do.
Also, in regards to the question you had about whether to order or supplicants a demon, it's dependent of the relationship you want with them. Since we're doing this the old fashioned way, and your relationship with them has already started off on the wrong foot, I'd say you may as well boss it.


P.S. All I've ever done is study lemegeton, not actually use it. If you looked around a bit more, I'm sure you could find less textbook advice, and more personalized to your needs.(I hav no idea what to use instead of a belt made of lions skin... Or if it's even necessary, etc.)

[Maeiv]

The words written inside the snake are all the names of God. The order is very specific. I don't have the patience to put them all here for you, but you can find the order, and how to write them, pretty easily. Just use your search engine. Once again, I really reccomend reading the 20pages of instructions inside the lemegeton. It's a short read and hella important. Hell, read it twice or three times.