by Frater GG

Throughout time immemorial magicians and mystics have meditated, twisted into obscure possessions and called upon spirits in the attempt to connect to a stream of universal consciousness stretching back to the earliest explorers of the mind. Neoplatonists described this as part of a Perennial Philosophy or what can be thought of as a universal knowledge shared through the human psyche.

This spark of wisdom which gives insights and inspiration with no pre-required knowledge has been demonstrated in many forms throughout history. From the lowly travelling fortune tellers to the masters of mysticism this pillar of knowledge has also be described as the Axis Mundi (Pillar of the World). From the universe we can develop an abstract idea of our evolution from this collective consciousness. The genesis of this knowledge goes back to the earliest movements in atomic vibrations and periodical elements that created the universe as we know it, including our own evolution. Yes, we are more civilized by modern social standards than our ancestors, but how advanced are we at knowing our own minds?

I believe we have retained an element of our ‘reptilian brain’ that evolved from uni-cellular organisms and continued to propagate into the minds of modern Homo Sapiens. Conspiracy theorists might have you believe that this confirms extraterrestrial lizards have infiltrated our species and now are trying to overtake as supreme overlords but in fact when I speak of our reptilian brains I refer to the archaic and most ancient neural synapses that kept enough organisms alive to allow for the evolution of species as we know them. Our ancient ancestors—fish, lizards, hominids—survived ice ages, predators and all kinds of natural disasters to allow me to type this. The nature of an animal over the nurture of the mother allows basic survival instinct in all animals. Essentially it is the flight or fight response that is demonstrated in animals and that exists within our universe. This essential tool has paved the way for our survival, but what now? Is this still essential in modern living with all mod cons and flat pack furniture?

The very essence of our ancestor’s survival culminated in us and it is also the archaic nuanced neurosis that is a double-edged sword. From my own personal observations this form of thought produced my anxiety-ridden teens but also kept me away from venturing too far down dark alleys both literally and figuratively. If we always cut our psyches off from exploring the dark alley too deeply and if we allow our reptilian brains to stop us from looking past the edge, what then?

When I first started reading and practicing the occult the first thing I noticed was the warnings. Every piece of literature had seductive warnings of madness and possession. Consciously this turns most people away, but this is what attracted me. It was the siren’s song, the so called ‘Call to venture further’, the beautiful mermaid call, luring the sailor to enter the unconscious abyss of the mind. Like any powerful ocean the rules and physics of water must be respected. Venture out too deep with no previous experience and you drown but master the waves and you can explore deep seas. You may encounter strange and archaic creatures and even break the boundaries of exploration. For the sea and the unconscious are an interchangeable metaphor for what I am trying to portray. Jump too far into your unconscious you will drown in the archetypes that come to the surface. Learn how to navigate this abyss and you can go anywhere.

My own exploration into my unconscious mind allowed a multitude of successes and failures. These psychedelic or mind revealing revelations mixed with phantasmagorical experiences ultimately lead me to the Goetia, allowing me to affirm myself as what I can only describe through the granddaddy of chaos magick, Peter Carroll, as a ‘psychonaut’. An individual who uses meditation, yoga, magick and a host of mind-bending substances to navigate the deeper recesses of the mind. On my psychonautical adventures I wound up with knowledge of a medieval art of conjuration known as the Goetia (or what I like to describe as the sexier side of magick). I refer to it as this because of the allure and the seductive nature of this beautiful art form. I have experienced intoxicating trance states during evocations as the spirits present themselves as a temptress commanding my attention and as I stand in full awe of their might and beauty.

I in no way claim to have conquered the demons as Solomon is reputed to have done and I certainly haven’t built my temple, but I may have laid the corner stone. So far, my conjurations have involved two very different but equally powerful spirits named Vassago and Buer. Just as with any energy each one has its own nuances, personality, strengths and weaknesses. The Lesser Key of Solomon acts as a ‘Top Trumps-esque’ guide to the spirits. Each one has individual attributes with some labeled as pure evil and others to be somewhat benevolent.

How I got introduced to the Goetia in depth was through Lon Milo Duquette. His writings about his conversations with his mentor Phyllis Seckler about the Goetia ignited my imagination. Phyllis and her husband Grady McMurtry studied directly under the infamous Aleister Crowley, one of the foremost revolutionaries on the philosophy of magick. Lon’s conversations with Phyllis on the Goetia was always interesting because of what appeared to be almost a maternal relationship and how she warned her beloved student that the Goetia should only be treated as a last resort and not something you get involved with unless there are no other avenues to overcome a problem. The crux of the story ends up with Lon evoking the Goetic spirit Orobas. Orobas is the 55th spirit in The Lesser Key of Solomon and is described as a Great Prince of Hell, having twenty legions of demons under his control. I don’t want to ruin this wonderful account of a magician popping their Goetic cherry, so I will leave you to consult Lon’s book Low Magick for the full story. Lon’s decision to ignore the warnings came after he decided his failures in life had led him to a place where he wasn’t able to support his wife and child. His unworthiness as a human to progress in his own life professionally echoed similarities of my own reasons for evocation.

So that brings me to my next point, why would any sane or somewhat socially integrated human being want to evoke a great Prince of Hell?

For me it was the unknown. My own spiritual journey initiated me into a wild ride with the Mother of all chaos, Ma Kali. I have been dissected, reassembled and transformed in an alchemical symphony that has changed my whole perspective on my life and the universe. No words can describe the beauty of the most wondrous Ma Kali. This initiation gave me the courage and confidence to converse with Goetic spirits and truly open my eyes to the cosmic dance of creation and destruction. With most of the Goetic spirits there is the fierce malevolent force but according to the grimoires there is a benevolent side with some spirits which is willing to help.

My most recent evocation of Buer took place over two separate sessions. The temple was my consecrated bedroom. Through daily rituals the temple has become powerful and a safe space for me to call upon the spirits. I created the circle from a bed sheet using black tape and permanent markers. The triangle was fashioned from a piece of plywood which was cut into a triangle and then painted. The black mirror was a basic euro store mirror, spray painted with matte black paint all of which I sourced for under 10 euros. From my own experience the spirits admire commitment over wealth. Anytime I create my own magical tools they imbue my energy, thoughts and my own personal spiritual prowess which has been inseminated into their creation. This for me is far more powerful than sourcing the finest material with no intent of creation. Magic is not about your artistic skill but about your commitment to change and how you present yourself on the astral plain.

When evoking Goetic spirits I always like to be alone in the apartment. My temple is my own personal office to do business, but I always am conscious of partners, friends or even my cat who may end up at the peril of a rogue spirit. That is why caution must always be taken and by that, I mean good mental health and a solid knowledge of the esoteric to base this work upon. It can be different working with an experienced master or in a group session purely because of the power and energy being expelled by the master and group. As a solo practitioner I like to feel confident in my evocations and have confidence in my own ability to give the license to depart and banish the spirit from the space.

My first evocation of Buer led to very quick results in a medical issue I was having. It was a skin affliction which had been causing me discomfort for over a year. I had not gone to a doctor because of my latrophobia and as any magically inclined latrophobic would do, I evoked a daemon to cure my ailment. This spiritual operation was a success. The failure came around my other discussions with Buer. At this point you may be asking yourself, was there a physical representation of Buer in the triangle? To be quite honest the answer is no, my experiences with most spirits has never involved open-eyed visuals, but what can only be described as an intoxication. As I repeat the name ‘Buer, Buer, Buer’ getting more confident with each call I feel a strange energy stretch slowly over my spine. Starting in the centre and spreading up and down in a creeping fashion, like the sensation of a psychedelic rising through the body and into the consciousness of the magician.

These experiences have become evident as a tapping into the unconscious of my own personality to the Perennial Philosophy as mentioned earlier. In Jungian shadow psychology the Shadow is seen as a separate entity from the unconscious, at least from the perspective of the operator — in this case, you. Your own denial of the Shadow Self allows this unconscious being to almost run amok within your daily life. This Shadow is responsible for all our hangups, insecurities and so-called negative ego. When you apply importance or special meaning to your life and persona what you are really saying is, ‘I haven’t made peace with my Shadow. I haven’t conquered the depths of my oceans and have not adhered to Christ’s warning of ‘know thyself’. This is the crossed keys within freemasonry the double lock; opening both and merging the consciousness and unconscious also represented in alchemy as the Sun and the Moon. Just as King Solomon built his temple through the evocation of 72 Goetic Spirits conjoining the Sol (Sun) O (and) Mon (Moon). Only when this alchemical union of Baphometic proportions ‘Solve et Coagulate’ could Solomon use his powers to complete the divide of his psyche. The Sun being the consciousness through good old phallic male energy of the solar system and the moon being the passive female aspect. In nature this can be found mirrored in mountains and seas. The Sea as mentioned before is the equivalent of the unconscious world, the depths of which we do not see on the surface and the mountains of consciousness which we rarely conquer except for the few who ever reach the spiritual heights to attain to the top of the mountain to witness the full spectrum of the journey they have just undertaken. For us as magicians it’s just as important for us to delve into these worlds as it is for a bird to fly, or a shark to swim. For magic is our intuitive special ability given to us by nature allowing us to use our consciousness to build and create the world we see before us but also to allow us to delve deep into the world which does not exist on this plane but can only be accessed through certain techniques which give us a doorway to the full spectrum of our complete being.

It is only when we accept our inadequacies can we truly face our flaws and consolidate them as part of our being. If not, these elements will run amok in our psyche. For me Goetia, or summoning a spirit which may not be categorized as a benevolent force, is a reconciling of a very real energy which may affect a person’s life without any knowledge. From the age of ten, I have experienced episodes of fever, fainting and hallucinations. This first appeared as menacing voices which unintelligibly mocked and laughed in my ear until I broke in a cold sweat. `The fainting spells continued, and it was only through magickal endeavors have I went head to head with this psychosomatic phenomenon. In most cases I am energised and giddy to a point of exhaustion before I break into a numb heat, my vision narrows, my breath shortens and the reality that I am about to lose consciousness grips my nervous system. My consciousness returns before my body has enough power to merge with my mind. I have a moment of serenity, more than that a blissful nirvana. My mind is at peace and I feel like I have just returned from a journey. I have also found myself communicating with what can only be described as an external energy. Is this a syncope dream or a shamanistic venture across the astral plane and into a metaphysical sense of communication? Either way the overall objective for me is to understand this behaviour. It wasn’t until a recent episode of being alone during one of the fainting spells did I take the opportunity to not panic but to embrace and ride out the experience.

By projecting the syncope as a spirit or an intelligence I was able to externalize the sensation and objectively observe. I lay on the floor on my yoga mat, following my breathing: I inhaled, held, exhaled and rested in rhythms of four seconds. Once I gained control of my breath, I allowed my breathing to flow naturally. This is when I went in and out of consciousness. If I felt I was going to lapse I would sit up cross legged and follow the same breathing techniques until the light-headedness became euphoric and almost comparable to a psychedelic experience. This was familiar territory and strangely made me feel quite comfortable to the point I could communicate with the energy as if it were a spirit straight out of a grimoire. My work with this has only begun but the knowledge I gained from the experience gave more insight into my own state of mind than I can describe here. For it is only when we see the similarities and not the differences between our past experiences, even what might be considered negative by most, can we build our temple and conjoin the sun and the moon to conquer our so-called daemons and live a healthier and happier life. If our body and mind is out of sync our magickal practices will reflect this, but conjoined we truly become magicians, shamans, witches and warlocks.