kalagni

28
Jan
2014

Super Secret Lost Column CLXXXIV of Liber 777: Tie Knots

Like any good (?) ceremonial magickian my magickal correspondences are so heavily engrained that I can’t sneeze without linking it to a planet. (Okay, that was a joke, but now I’m thinking about bodily expulsion processes and planets…) For the first time in 14 years my hair is no longer blue so I have expanded my collection of dress shirts and ties to include colours other than blue, and that quickly ballooned to me getting a dress shirt and tie in the colours of every planet. This allows me to mix and match to either represent planetary days and sub-planets, or to dress in appropriate colours as a form of invocation. Yes, it’s a touch silly and cheesy, but have you seen most ceremonial magick paraphernalia? It’s not exactly the most serious and elegant much of the time.

Dammit Al, boxers go on your hips, and leopard rugs stay on the ground.

Rocking Mars of Jupiter (Not me)

Just saying one of the above looks a bit more silly and cheesy than the other…

It started innocently, when I realized if I had planetary ties and shirts I could use that to embody different combinations. On a day like today (in my system) of Venus of Mars I’d wear a green shirt and a red tie. (Sub-planets gets a bigger representation because they’re more subtle and I want to draw them out more) Or if I was going to an important meeting about my mortgage I could wear a black shirt and blue tie, for Saturn of Jupiter. Though when talking to a friend about this, it became even deeper, and more silly – linking tie knots to planetary forces. They suggested it as a joke, and without much thought I already had several associations in a matter of seconds and I thought I’d share the list with you, and my reasoning.

Saturn: Kransy Hourglass or Oriental knot
Jupiter: Full Windsor or Balthus knot
Mars: Merovingian
Sun: Trinity knot
Venus: Pinwheel/Trulove knot
Mercury: Van Wijk or Four-in-hand
Moon: Floating spiral

(Sidenote: None of these pictures are me. Originally I wanted to tie each knot in the right colour and take a pic but in general I suck at selfies, and I’m currently sick, so even though I’m wearing a Merovingian knot (yes, while home sick…) I don’t feel like taking pictures of myself. So all of these pictures just come from google and pintrest, if I use your picture and you want it taken down just let me know.)

HourglassI linked the Kransy Hourglass with Saturn for the cheesy, but obvious link of the hourglass, and Saturn being the planet of time, old age, and death. Also, linking the Triangle with Saturn this knot is essentially two stacked triangles.

 

 

Oriental knotThe Oriental knot seems like a good match for Saturn because it is essentially the simplest tie knot you can make. It is the most basic of tie structures possible. Saturn is the planet of structure, and when you look at the emanation of shapes and numbers Saturn is tied with three, the smallest number of sides possible on a geometric shape, the triangle. So the simplest structure really applies.

Balthus knotThe Full Windsor and Balthus knots both struck me as very Jovial knots, they’re very big and broad knots. Jupiter is about expansion and increase, so it makes sense the biggest knots are linked with Jupiter. They’re also classic “authority” knots, they’re simple but elegant and demand attention.

MerovingianThe Merovingian was the hardest knot to place, but I decided to go with Mars. The shape reminds me of a military epaulet. There is something in the shape that is reminiscent of a shield with a sword in front. Also, because of how it is tied you are required to wear a vest with this knot, so it’s as if it needs a chest plate. I could also see it being Jovial, it is very regal, and even Saturnian.

Trinity

The Trinity knot is fairly solar to me. It forms a hexagonal knot, the shape of the sun. Also the sun is the center of the planetary triplicity of Saturn, Sun, and Moon. Also on a more joking side, the knot is visually similar to the recycling symbol, and the sun is about renewal.

 

 

TruloveThe Pinwheel, or Trulove knot is tied to Venus. It looks like a heart for Abyss’s sake, point one. Also, as Freeman pointed out on twitter, it looks like it’s having sex with your clavicle.

Van WijkThe spirals of the Van Wijk make me think of the flow and movement of Mercury. Not to mention the spirals around the tie body are reminiscent of the snake around both the Asclepius and Caduceus.

The four in hand seems Mercurial to me because it’s a quick and simple knot, literally can be tied in under ten seconds, and that speed and efficiency is Mercurial.

Floating SpiralLastly the floating spiral I associated with the Moon. The floating, slightly angled, and apparently unsupported knot just has a sort of dreamy quality to it.

Do folks have other suggestions? I know there a lot of knots I haven’t placed (yet?) I just categorized the ones I use the most.

Like I said, it’s fairly silly, on the other hand most magickal correspondences have an element of silliness when you look at the
m. Also, like in a lot of magick, you get out what you put into it. Just mixing colours and tying knots probably won’t get you anywhere, but when consciously thinking about what you’re doing that adds to the effectiveness, not to mention the long history of knot-based magick, I’m just taking it in a more dapper direction.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
16
Nov
2013

DO WHAT YOU WISH


Bastian had shown the lion the inscription on the reverse side of the Gem. “What do you suppose it means?” he asked. “ ‘DO WHAT YOU WISH.’ That must mean I can do anything I feel like. Don’t you think so?”
All at once Grograman’s face looked alarmingly grave, and his eyes glowed.
“No,” he said in his deep, rumbling voice. “It means that you must do what you really and truly want. And nothing is more difficult.”
“What I really and truly want? What do you mean by that?”
“It’s your own deepest secret and you yourself don’t know it.”
“How can I find out?”
“By going the way of your wishes, from one to another, from first to last. It will take you to what you really and truly want.”
“That doesn’t sound so hard,” said Bastian.
“It is the most dangerous of all journeys.”
“Why?” Bastian asked. “I’m not afraid.”
“That isn’t it,” Grograman rumbled. “It requires the greatest honesty and vigilance, because there’s no other journey on which it’s so easy to lose yourself forever.”

For those unfamiliar with the quotation it is from Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story, and is the beginning of the second half of the book. (The second half of the book being otherwise known as the good part of the book that the movies didn’t even touch and that is why they suck so much.) Also for those who haven’t heard my rant, I think The Neverending Story is essential reading for a magickian and is secretly (or not so secretly) a magickal treatise in the form of fantasy novel, and if you wonder why, just read the above quote again.
This section has become my frequently referred to part of the book, I’m constantly reading it to friends, family, and clients when things get rough, or they’re unsure about things. There is a reason the headline of my blog (which is only visible on some feed reader profiles) is “Going the way of your wishes.”
To quickly add another layer to this before moving on “DO WHAT YOU WISH” might seem vaguely familiar. It’s an English translation from the original German of the book which was “Tu, was du willst” which is more accurately translated as “Do what you will” in fact it’s exactly as it appears in German version of Liber AL vel Legis.
While I love this scene, let me cut out the filling and just reduce Grograman’s statement to a single piece of advice for magicians.
DO WHAT YOU WISH
“You must do what you really and truly want. [Go] the way of your wishes, from one to another, from first to last. It will take you to what you really and truly want. It requires the greatest honesty and vigilance, because there’s no other journey on which it’s so easy to lose yourself forever.”
How can a magickian read this and not feel like it is a calling of the Great Work? We must follow our Path, but we must first find it, deeper still we must create it. How? By doing the Work, through all your successes and all your failures you are getting closer to your Path. Only if you have the honesty and vigilance to truly evaluate your self, your life, and your Work. It is so easy to lose yourself, to convince yourself you’re doing magick, you’re doing the Great Work. It can be so easy to hide from the “real world” into one of magickal thinking, every success because magick, every failure a test or karma or more often just forgotten and overlooked. If you’re honest though, if you’re vigilant in observing and understanding things as they are, then you can see as you go the way of your wishes, from first to last, which ones are right and which are wrong. Our Will, our Path is our deepest secret even we don’t know, it must be found, uncovered, and forged. This is what Grograman is telling us.
Take aim at goals in your quest, and Work toward them, if you arrive and realize it is unsatisfying, then it isn’t your Path, just turn to take aim at another goal. From goal to goal, from wish to wish, the point of the Great Work is to Work, and you will learn the true Way of things as you learn which of the ways are false.
So go the way of your wishes, do the Work, and do what you wish.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
15
Aug
2013

I Missed All Of You. Except For You, You Smell Funny…


I live. What’s been happening in my life, and why hasn’t my blogging been a part of it?
A lot of bloggers apologize when they’ve been on hiatus, and promise they won’t do it again. I’m not going to do either because I can’t promise, life happens after all, and I don’t see why I should apologize for being a magickian.
In the past I talked about how the real measure of a magickian of any type should be their contentedness and progress, and I stand by that. So why haven’t I been blogging? Because I’ve been living. I’m entering my fifth year of University, and my two degrees have been keeping me very busy with a full course load that doesn’t stop for little things like weekends, the summer, and breathing. School has been devouring my life, and yes, while I wish I had more time to blog or do other things I’m not too troubled by the lack of blogging because I know pulling off top grades in every course, for two different degrees is a lot of work. This is all just a step toward getting a job I’ve wanted my entire life, and yes, even getting to here has been a magickal act, and going forward is one as well. So what is there to apologize for, I am doing what I want, I am happy in my education, I am steadily moving toward my goal. I am being a magickian.
One thing I don’t understand about magickians (and people in general) is those who complain about the process of getting what you want. If you’re going for a specific job or field you require the education (generally), so complaining about school is silly on several fronts, it achieves nothing (an occasional venting is fine), and if your other option is not going to school and not getting the job which would you prefer? I know I’m not the only person to say it, but the Great Work is Work, whether that is a lot of time dedicated to magickal pursuits, or the nitty-gritty Malkuthian down to Earth work it’s all part of the system and the path. So while I wish I had more time to blog…read…date…play video games…sleep…whatever, I’m enjoying school, I’m going towards my goal, and complaining would achieve nothing. That’s also why I don’t feel the need to apologize. Again, while I’d love to blog, it would seem silly to apologize that I’m not blogging about magick, because magick is getting me what I want and the time it requires reduces my time to blog.
So I’m still around, and I still read the blogs, and try to connect with folks on twitter, and I miss blogging/communicating, but that’s the extent of my spare time. So this isn’t a welcome back post, this isn’t a goodbye post, it’s a be patient, I will attend to the blog when I can.
Who knows, maybe the final year will see me with enough time to keep up with the blog again, but if not know it is because I am going the way of my wishes, and what more can a magickian ask for?

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
02
Jun
2013

Divination Addiction: The Cards Won't Tell You When You've Had Enough


As I previously linked, good-old Polyphanes wrote a post Divination-Related Disorders and I mentioned in my linkage that I rarely do multiple readings for people in a short period. I will generally refuse a reading more than once a month. One reason is a month is rarely enough time for people to make a meaningful change and thus the outcome won’t be too varied. Another reason is divination gives people a sense of power, they know (or think they know) what is coming, and this makes them feel better. Sure being confident is good, but it should stem from something other than fortune telling.
A month or two back Jackie and I talked about divination on Occult Spectrum, and we chatted about the issue of divination addiction, and very briefly about what it’s okay to read on. Specifically I’ve had people try to use me as a private detective about their partner, if he is cheating, and more than once. We also touched on how divinations tend to verge on counselling sessions, and not everyone can handle what comes up in them. There I’m lucky, I used to be in social work, so I have some training and experience when that stuff comes up. That being said, the Cosmos listens, and likes to test. Though posting this now, the events in question came up the week after the show.
I considered changing details of this story to protect the innocent, but frankly if I did that it wouldn’t have the same impact, and people don’t know my client list, so I’m comfortable talking about this knowing the pieces can’t be put together.
I’ve had a repeat client for about ten months. She’s gotten close to my once a month limit, but never broken it. We’ve looked into and talked about her pregnancy, her now newborn baby, job and finance prospects for her husband, marriage troubles, moving concerns, and such. She’s been a good client, she asks important and thought out questions, and she follows the advice I lay out for her, with a critical and questioning take. Then she requested a divination last week, and I declined.
It read something to the effect of “My husband hit me, and I’m not sure where our relationship stands.” I ended up writing her a letter on why I couldn’t do the reading for her. First off, divination gives you a sense of power, and security, but this isn’t always a good thing. People sometimes get caught up in divinations and knowing, and not in acting which is what they need to do, this is one of those situations. I know there are probably few times in someone’s life where that security of divination would be more desired, but also few times when it could be more damaging. Divination should guide action, not paralyze choice.
Second, this wasn’t a matter of divination and knowledge; it was a matter of safety. I explained to her that I used to be in social work (so I didn’t seem to be a fortune teller overstepping my area of knowledge) and frankly that it was a safety issue more than anything. I’ll save the bore of stats (and me searching for notes) but it is exceedingly rare for a partner to only be physically abusive once. After that first step is taken they almost never turn back. So I told her that I didn’t feel her priority was divination, her priority was safety, and that meant taking her child and finding somewhere safe to go. Friends, family, a woman’s shelter, but before she contemplates her relationship with her husband she had to get herself out of his reach.
It was surprisingly difficult to write, I wanted to help, I wanted to look at her path and see what I could suggest, but I knew deep down that all of that was sidetracking for the importance of her safety. As readers of the flows of fate we have to accept where our understanding and limits are, we have to know what we can and shouldn’t talk on, and understand there are times when divination and knowledge (and the reliance on them) is more harmful than the answers they would give.
When it comes to physical harm, I think we’ve reached that limit. If someone attacks you it’s more important to get to safety than divine why or what to do or if it will all work out. If someone threatens you it’s more important to contact the authorities than divine if they will or how to avoid it. If your health gets really bad it’s more important to see a doctor than divine the underlying causes. Divination can come after, but get out of dodge first.
I’m not saying divination as a process can’t see these things, or is useless here, but the consequences are too important to just rely on divination, and that compulsion to rely on divination –especially during such a crisis– will only be strengthened. He hits you, and you wonder if it will work out, if you get a reading that says stay then the next time he hits you you might not ask, or you wait longer, or you get to the point where you don’t know if you should run without checking in with some form of divination. It can paralyze.
Divination lets us glimpse the flux and flow of fate, but as readers and recipients it is coloured, and like anything it is neither good nor bad, but a reliance upon something in the wrong situation is dangerous. I wrote this discussing in terms of reading for others, but it applies just as much to when we read for ourselves.
Know thyself, and know when you should act not divine.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
30
May
2013

Misas, Colding Readings, Scepticism


I always want to title my misa posts with something punny, but most ways of using misa sound JarJar Binks/Racist.
For those new, or have forgotten, a misa is an event in espiritismo where a group get to together to talk with their spirits: spirit guides, ancestors, whatnot. Usually there are two people who do most the talking (I’m one of them at my friend’s misas), but everyone can be open to whatever is to be communicated.
I recently attended another misa of a friend of mine, she likes talking to her dead people. I find the entire thing fascinating, the types of messages that come through, how people receive them, who shows up, and how the experience as a whole goes down.
At this misa, like all the others, I know my friend who is hosting it, and then there are generally four or so other people that I don’t know. I find this is an advantage for me because it means my reading isn’t biased by knowing anything about the lives of 4 out of 5 people, which prevents contamination.
I found this a bigger issue this time. It isn’t to say I think my friend was using the excuse of spirits to say what she wanted to say, or that her foreknowledge overwhelmed her perceptions, but the messages that came from her obviously drew from her prior knowledge. For instance she’d bring in a message for someone, and then when it was done she’d occasionally toss out an interpretation “I know you recently changed jobs, maybe it’s about…” or “I’m pretty sure they’re talking about …”
I, on the other hand, had no such advantage (or handicap) being the only person not in that circle of friends. As someone developing my skills, testing my abilities, and looking for verification that’s how I want it to go down. For instance, while it was very unfortunate for the recepient of my messages, in one case I twice upset/triggered the same person because the messages that came through hit on something personal and visceral. I was given descriptions of places where very bad things occured in his life, and related information, but I had no context or foreknowledge for the data. While I can’t rule out woogity variables, it was at least clear I was connected to something, doing something right. Yet my friend doesn’t have that advantage, and perhaps doesn’t want it, maybe I’m too focused on results and proof rather than faith.
I can’t help but wonder how much knowledge taints my friend’s messages, especially when her message for me is somewhat in line with her pre-existing biases and knowledge. For instance at this misa I was told by one of her spirits (cause my spirits never show up to talk to others), that Buddhism seems to be the right path for me and that my ceremonial magick practices aren’t benefiting me, and doing both is just confusing things spiritually. Now said friend has a complex relationship with ceremonial magick, ex-Thelemite, who always preferred more witchy/ecstatic methods to ceremonial, and would say she dislikes most ceremonial practices and ceremonialists with me being an exception. Now even without this bias, even if it was my spirits and not hers, I wouldn’t just listen to what was said and follow, spirits aren’t all-knowing and all-wise. Yet I can’t help but wonder if that message was from her, or her spirits, or if her position confused the message coming through. While I love my ceremonial practices, at the time of the misa I had been performing Resh daily and I felt it had reached saturation, that it was no longer giving me the benefit it was when I started doing it again a few months earlier.
Could it be someone was telling my Resh wasn’t useful, but her position on ceremonial magick got in the way? Could it be that consciously or unconsciously the format of the misa gave her “permission” to state her opinion as fact and advice? Could it be that some spirit really thinks that ceremonial magick has no purpose for me. I don’t know, and I’m not expecting an answer, more than anything I’m relaying the event and pondering through it. Beyond the source and filter of the message, it also makes me wonder about people who just listen to such advice. Your Grandfather didn’t always know what was best for you while he was alive, why would he know better now that he’s dead? It’s not the people recieving the messages aren’t intelligent, but I feel they’re uncritical and I just don’t understand that position. Perhaps they really get what they need, the advice works, and each time they may come back a little better, but I just can’t understand that level of trust in the spirits and the intermediary. With every source of information, especially an occult source, question the information, question the source, question the bias, question who benefits. The advice may be right, wrong, or indifferent, but it’s up to us to figure out which is which, and to work with what we’re given.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
27
May
2013

Thangka Very Much: Sale at Blue Flame Magick Supplies

I recently came across a new Tibetan shop in Toronto and much to my surprise and joy when I was inside I came across a thangka of Machik Labdrön. For those unfamiliar a thangka is a Buddhist religious painting, and Machik Labdrön is the found of chöd, my primary Buddhist practice.
machikthangkaFor three years I’ve looked for a thangka of her without any luck, I’ve found some online, but I’d rather be able to see it up close first, so I’m very happy that I found one. Thangkas of her are fairly uncommon, and this one is a bit more unusual than normal. Usually a thangka has protectors drawn on it at least, as well as a lineage depiction, this one doesn’t and it’s painted on a black background. Very beautiful.
Why am I rambling about this? Because I want it, but I can’t currently justify the cost. So in order to help fund it I’ve turned to my store: Blue Flame Magick Supplies and I’ve marked down all my consecrated pendants, anywhere from $10 to $20.
So if you’ve wanted a Machik pendant for clearing karmic obstacles, or a White Mahakala pendant for wealth and prosperity, or a Medicine Buddha pendant for healing then now would be a great time to pick them up while they’re on sale, plus it means you get to help fund my dharma practice.
So my stuff is on sale in order to help fund my purchase of a thangka of Machik, so now really is the time to pick up a pendant if you’ve been thinking about it. No idea how long they’ll be at these lower prices, so don’t wait too long. (And as always, a variety of premade, or custom malas are available.)

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
21
May
2013

Numbers, Galvanic Skin Response, and Sacred Space


Or “I’ve experiments to run. There is research to be done.”


I like experimenting with the occult; experimenting for results, and experimenting for knowledge’s sake. Sometimes the experiments are purely using human technology, using people to sense the results, sometimes the experiments use a physical device, can this candle, pinwheel, or even EEG pick anything up. There is a friend of mine who is a lot like me, in many ways a clone at times, but sadly I only see him once a year at Gather, which was last weekend, and he had a new toy.

Enter my friend who brought with him a galvanic skin response monitor, a true random number generator, and a desire to do science. We started off with various different experiments, using the galvanic skin response monitor (GSRM for short) we would watch how the body reacted to different experiences. It was experimenting for experimentation’s sake initially, we weren’t being rigorous, and we were learning the tweaks of the device and eliminating variables that we could as we figured them out.

It was neat using the GSRM and watching how the body responded in different meditations and energetic interactions including having psychic vampires feed from the test subject (me). Of course it can’t really be separated or said that the results show something energetic/magickal is happening, only that the mental actions required were causing the body to respond in different ways, though the feeding was blind, so my mental actions shouldn’t have matched up to what I didn’t know was going on.

The most fascinating experiments came from the true random number generator (TRNG), if you’re unfamiliar with the device this one uses something about a semi-conductor and a whitenoise and stuff I don’t grok yet to produce thousands of numbers a second, either a 1 or a 0. When the chances are 50/50 statistically in any given second the TRNG would produce roughly as many 0s as 1s. Of course, just by chance anomalies will occur, using the threshold of 0.05 (I believe), which is a standard for statistic results and once every 20 seconds such an anomaly would occur by chance, the value used (whatever it was) is used a lot in paranormal/psychic research because it’s a bit more strict so plays into the extraordinary claims, extraordinary evidence idea. If you’ve not followed any of the paranormal research around the TRNG they seem to be triggered in odd ways, by odd things. My friend was describing it as a spiritual accelerometer, it’s not that it will continually beep when weird shit is happening, but if weird shit happens fast it seems to go off. The human body doesn’t have a mechanism that lets us experience speed, we think we do, but what we’re feeling is things like the air moving against us, or the vibration of the vehicles we’re in. Humans don’t feel speed, but we experience acceleration, so in a perfect vehicle that produced no vibrations we couldn’t feel going 60 km/h, but if we went from 0 to 60 km/h in 5 seconds we would, yet if we went from 0 to 60 km/h in 5 minutes we might not be able to feel it because the sensation of acceleration is too slow. We have no idea why, paranormal researchers who do cool things with TRNGs have no idea why, but it seems the respond in the same way on some energetic level. It doesn’t register that woogity is happening, that 60 km/h, but it registers the quick acceleration to it.

I repeatedly created “sacred space” around the TRNG in several different methods, and as if to prove the point the method that “snaps” sacred space into place in a second at the end of the work would set the device off, but the one that took about three minutes showed no statistical abnormalities.

Now for what we were doing, which was more proof of concept, our results showed enough to think there is something at play, though we don’t know what, how, or why. Three out of four times when I would make the space in the fast way, each step was noted by the machine: going up to the space, pulling the space down, and releasing it. Three statistically significant results the second I said the step was happening, three out of four times. The game was afoot. Apparently this is par for the course with my friend, enough statistically unusual results exactly at the right moment, not 100% but with enough consistencies to show something seems to be happening.

We got the idea to test moving the TRNG in and out of sacred space. Having to create space quickly enough to register limited the type, “depth,” and range of sacred space, but if we spent a lot of time making the space as best we could, perhaps moving the device over the boundary would show up. To stack the experiment in our favour (as we were just looking for proof this would register) I asked my friend Michelle to help me make the space as Michelle is phenomenally talented and we work well together.

We stood aside from the group, joined hands, synced energy, and then reached out creating sacred space in a manner we’re both familiar with. Resonating, reverberating, Forcing the world out with our Will we made the space as best we could. Once it was established I drew back one edge using a line on the carpet pattern as the boundary of the space, both for a physical/visual reference, and for the sake of an objective line. So rather than saying it was “roughly 45 centimeters to my left” it was that line on the carpet, right there, with that star. A hard and fast border.

I pulled my mind back as best I could (the syncing makes it odd) and told my friend, and another friend who was watching from several feet away to walk toward us, until the device was between Michelle and me, and then walk back and see what they could find. I kept my eyes closed to make sure I couldn’t influence the experiment in that way somehow, and to help keep the space strong.

After a minute or two I realize I can hear my friends giggling under their breaths, and a minute or so after they tell us they’re done, they have enough data. We closed the space and came back to our selves. They tell us that the device was going off repeatedly, every time they got close they would get a result, and while it was still not at 100% it was more consistent than my friend had ever seen, and with such perfect regularity that after a while they couldn’t stop themselves from giggling at the astounding results.

While I was impressed, that was that, until one showed that it was happening with such consistency that over such a precise spot that they were able to discover the edge of the space by how consistent the results were, and they pointed down exactly at the line of carpet that was where I anchored the space. To the centimeter the TRNG was able to find the boundary of the sacred space.

I find this utterly fascinating and exciting (my apologies to those who follow Michelle and me on twitter as we apparently were tweeting a lot about it), again no ideas about the mechanisms, the how, or why, no claim that this was a rigorous lab experiment proving this beyond a shadow of a doubt. None the less, the results were nothing less than amazing to us, and warrant more research and experimenting, and we have no shortage of experiments that we want to run…once I buy my own devices by the end of the summer.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
24
Mar
2013

Starry Tree: Names and Circles


kalstreeThis is a list of the various Names that I got from my skrying experiments. I’m putting them all in one place for ease of use for those who mentioned interest in engaging them. For those less familiar with the Qabalah I’ll be listing the Hebrew Sphere Name as well as the planetary association. I’ll link to each post about my experience as references for people. Also at the end I’ll explain how I was taught to make a circle with them.

Qabalistic Name: Malkuth
Planetary Association: Earth (sometimes)
Sphere Name: Almak
Angel class: Chomal
God Name: Meltar
Ruling Angel: Sh’miral

Qabalistic Name: Yesod
Planetary Association: Moon
Sphere Name: Timarin
Angel class: Shaqaran
God Name: La’andras
Ruling Angel: Clarshitel

Qabalistic Name: Hod
Planetary Association: Mercury
Sphere Name: Kirahl
Angel class: Sheno
God Name: Phorahlin
Ruling Angel: Tzamaron

Qabalistic Name: Netzach
Planetary Association: Venus
Sphere Name: Feonin
Angel class: Chilmarit
God Name: Shero
Ruling Angel: Milara

Qabalistic Name: Tipareth
Planetary Association: Sun
Sphere Name: Shaal
Angel class: Formin
God Name: Hemian
Ruling Angel: Miniset

Qabalistic Name: Geburah
Planetary Association: Mars
Sphere Name: Sixmaraan
Angel class: Charaam
God Name: Gerabba
Ruling Angel: Sharama

Qabalistic Name: Chesed
Planetary Association: Jupiter
Sphere Name: Sharat
Angel class: Gillarus
God Name: Sharadifel
Ruling Angel: Behrat

Qabalistic Name: Binah
Planetary Association: Saturn
Sphere Name: Ereen
Angel class: Golmtzah
God Name: Sharrom
Ruling Angel: Konshal

Qabalistic Name: Chokmah
Planetary Association: Zodiac / Uranus (Modern)
Sphere Name: Kurrian
Angel class: Shellin
God Name: Kurasis
Ruling Angel: Shetsin

Qabalistic Name: Kether
Planetary Association: Primum Mobile / Pluto
Sphere Name: Sheta
Angel class: Coraf
God Name: Eerah
Ruling Angel: Saytaraan
On another visit with Konshal I was given the instructions on how to make a Circle. While not required for contacting these Angels it can help, and now instead of the traditional Circles such as in the Goetia or Heptameron I use this Circle. Most major rituals that need an elaborate Circle this is my go-to unless I really have a reason not to. It’s fairly similar to the Circle from the Heptameron in structure.
Ideally you should make an outer circle that is nine feet across. If you don’t have the room for nine feet I find a multiple of nine based on your body works best, so nine of your feet lengths, or nine hand-widths. I feel the Circle has to be personal and basing the proportions of the circle on your body are a great way to do this. Inside that you draw a circle that is eight units across, then another that is seven units, and lastly one that is six across. This will give you three rings, and a central circle. In the central circle draw an equal-armed cross that is aligned with the cardinal directions, so the lines go from North-South, and East-West. Then outside of the largest circle at the ordinal directions (North-East, South-East, South-West, North-West) draw a five pointed star with the point facing the centre of the Circle. If you’re not instructed to use a triangle, or place it a specific direction for the spirit you’re working with, draw one. Make an equilateral triangle pointing away from the Circle in the direction of the element of the Sun sign, which is explained more below. You don’t have to call them into the triangle like some systems suggest, but having a triangle is important to the construction.
Now the largest ring will house the Names related to the month. Based on what sign the Sun is in, figure out what Angel rules the corresponding planet: Aries=Mars=Sharama, Taurus=Venus=Milara, and so on. From here figure out the element of the sign, and then the associated direction of the element, it doesn’t matter what system you use as long as you know the correspondence. (Often I use Fire-North, Water-East, Earth-South, Air-West, but a lot would disagree there) Once you know the appropriate direction for the element put the Angel’s Name in that direction of the outer ring. Then going clockwise at the other direction points put the Sphere Name, the God Name (so it will be opposite the Angel’s name), and lastly the Class of Angels (or if you’ve been given a name of one of them specifically use that). While not required here I usually say a small prayer as I’m writing, something like “Hail to thee Sharama, ruler of the Sixmaraan, General of the Charam, in the Name of Gerabba I call you here as the Voice of Aries to open the ways and watch this circle.”
In the second ring, the middle one, go the Names associated with the day: Sunday=Sun=Miniset, Monday=Moon=Clarshitel, and so on. Starting in the same direction as the outer circle write the Names clockwise in the same other Angel, Sphere, God, Class of Angels. Again I generally say a small prayer as I work.
In the inner most ring you will place the Names associated with the Planetary hours. Again they’re written in the same orientation as the outer ring, and the same order. Again a small prayer wouldn’t be out of place.
Lastly you have the inner circle that has been quartered. Here you put four GodNames, what Names are up to you. Personally mine include Kali, Eerah, Cosmos, and one other. While not required I recommend they be Transcendent/Immanent, or Universal. What I mean is some Gods are equated more or less with Reality itself, the Universe is their Body, and they are the Universe. This isn’t to say anything against Gods of specific spheres; Aphrodite, Ganesh, Thor, Anubis, and so on. But the centre of the Circle is meant to connect you to the Ultimate, the Highest, so you’re looking more for the Ultimates here. The Gods that are Reality, that all others are formed from. So with my Circle you have Kali, which is an uncommon, but not unheard of view of Her as the Ultimate. Eerah, the God Name I was given for Sheta, the Kether equivalent. Cosmos, because it’s the fucking Cosmos.
So that’s how Konshal taught me to make a Circle with these Names, and as a way of integrating them into my magick and shifting away from the Judeo-Christian Names/Forces I was looking to minimize in my practice.
circleHere is an example based upon the time of writing. It is currently Aries, ruled by Mars, so I’ll be using the Names given to me by Sharama, and the starting in the North because Aries is Fire, and Fire is North (in one system of many). It is Sunday, ruled by the Sun, so that means the Names from Miniset are used, same orientation as the outer ring, so all the Angel Names face the same way, all the Sphere Names, etc. Lastly it’s the Hour of Jupiter, so it’s Behrat in the last ring. I didn’t include stars around the illustration, but they and the triangle should be there. While not required I sometimes draw appropriate symbols between the Names. So in the Outer Ring I might draw the symbols for Mars, Aries, and the Seal of Sharama.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
06
Mar
2013

Interview with the Magickian


(I thought I had posted this, but apparently not)
Recently I was introduced to another occultist by a mutual friend. Friends often know people that I “really must meet” and friends who understand me actually tend to have a good idea on who I’d find a purpose in engaging. When I first started talking to this person (who I’ll call Jordan for no reason other than it is a name from the book beside me) he immediately took control of the social dynamic and began the questioning. I was fine with this, by letting him think he had control of our conversation I could observe him easier without seemingly like I was doing so, ironically I realize also a pattern from the book beside me.
At first Jordan’s line of questioning was fairly typical for such an encounter. He asked about the systems I studied, for how long, were they solitary or group, was I self-taught or did I have a teacher? Very superficial getting a feel for my path, then the conversation went 90 degrees from the direction I expected, I was expecting questions about lineage or practice or results, but suddenly he asked what I was doing in my life. Answer: Going to school for a few degrees. He asked what the degrees were for, so I told him about the job field they prepare me for, he asked why I wanted that field, why I started late on that goal (I was 24 starting University), and questions related to my education and career choices, past and future. I thought I was understanding the general trend of the questioning when he switched it up again, and began asking about hobbies, what I did for fun, and oddly enough he seemed more interested in my talk of playing the theremin and the piano, hiking the Bluffs, and painting, than he did about my brief mentions of Buddhism and ceremonial magick.
I found this entire conversation fairly odd, far more directed than expected, more of an interview in some ways. Suddenly an understanding and appreciation for Jordan spread through me. He was doing what I would like to do in a similar situation, but I find such methods make people feel uncomfortable, thankfully he either didn’t care or realized I don’t respond normally to most social interactions. He was interviewing me frankly, and he wanted to know one thing: was I a good magickian? Too many people on the surface they think a good magickian should have extensive knowledge of systems, have lists of transcendent experiences where the world was revealed to them, have spirits as though on speed-dial ready to help, and many stories of events that just shouldn’t be. Now a magickian can have all of these things, don’t get me wrong, but a magickian in many ways needs none of these things. Jordan wasn’t looking for such stories of magick and mystery, he was looking for the signs of a true magickian.
Success and happiness.
I’d phrase it as progress/functionality and contentment, but his language was success and happiness when I called him on the mode of his interview, so I’ll stick with that. This is what I appreciated, he wasn’t evaluating me as a magickian based upon how much Hebrew I knew, how many Goetic and Enochian entities I dealt with, how many times reality “fell apart” around me. No, he was evaluating based upon my life, my past, my present, my future, and my situation within all of them. He wanted to see where I had come from, where I wanted to be, and if I was on my way. This is what magick is for, at least on this level, not trying to deny a spiritual/religious aspect as possible or important in some cases.
Magick is a tool for being who you are, and becoming who you are to be. Magick is a tool to find your path, to put you on your path, and to keep you there. To Jordan my being on this path was more important than the technical knowledge, practical results here and now. Needless to say we got along well because we began to talk on magick as a practical system meant to get results and our issues with people who use magick more of an excuse than a tool. (And I guess I should be glad that I “passed” his test heh) It was very refreshing to get to talk with an occultist who saw things in this way, as so many magickians (if I decide not to be a judgemental ass) seem to focus on the wrong things. It might be splitting hairs, but this is part of the distinction between magick and faith religions, it’s not about belief or visions, it’s about getting your shit together, and getting shit done.
Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely room and reason for the mystical experiences rather than magickal results, but for the point of this post I’m just harping on the over-emphasis some have on experience to the detriment of results.
After all, Crowley’s definition of magick wasn’t about dreams of the Goddess, seeing spirits, and collecting tomes, it was about causing change.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick
23
Feb
2013

Skrying the Tree – Return – Known – Saytaraan


kalstreeTwo years, two months, and two days after I started my skrying experiment, it came to an end with this session, after a lot of work it came time to explore my experience of the Tree’s equivalent to Kether. Again, it was more difficult to being as there are less correspondence for Kether, but I set twelve white candles around my circle, formed as Konshal taught me, copal on the charcoal, and I settled down in front of the mirror. I let myself float into the black triangle and began.
Having learned my lesson last time I formed the Seal of Sh’miral in my mind until I could make a door to his place and stepped through. I explained that I wanted the way open for me again, that I sought the very top of the Tree, but I needed help to enter that place. “I will grant you access briefly, so you may perform this task, but no more, this world is to be dark to you until you are ready. Remember on the edge sometimes you must seek the centre. The circumference is everywhere, and what is above is also below.” He started at me, and I felt I should ask about the mixing of Hermetic axioms, but I let it slide. I thanked him, and called the door to the between space I would travel to reach the upper Sphere.
I drifted in the dark upwards moving quickly in stillness until finally I felt I had reached my goal. I reached out for a door and a point of light appeared, it either grew nearer from the distance or simply grew in size, but larger and larger this single light in the dark became until it’s border was just about to touch me, and the moment it did I passed through it. I came out of the light into darkness, not the same dark as before, but deep dark, blackness beyond the darkest pitch, somehow connected to a sightlessness. I called out, and there was nothing, I don’t mean no response, but there was no noise, not externally, nor could I hear my voice in my head, I was deaf here. Since the last experience seemed to be more mental I directed my thoughts outward and called. Something brushed my foot and up my leg, looking down I could see nothing, not even my body, but my legs were wrapped around and pulled closer. This something moved up my legs wrapping around me, hips, stomach, chest, head. It was like a snake slithering over me, too fast for a real snake, but that’s the image it called up, and the slithering became faster it moves up and down and all across me. I tried grabbing it, but it evaded me, I tried speaking but had no voice, I tried thinking out at it and got no response. Alone in darkness this snake continued to crawl all over me.
I tried to think what to do, and considered leaving only to try again later, when I thought about Sh’miral’s cryptic conversation. The Centre of the Tree is the Sun sphere, and in the model of the Tree I work with the Sun is the Centre reflected Above into the Kether Sphere and below into the Lunar Sphere. (The same is true of the others those, so Kether reflects down into the others. Three sides of the same coin) I also remembered that that Miniset, the Spirit of the Sun Sphere was a snake. So I pulled myself out of this place, and travelled to the door of Shaal. Upon entering I saw Miniset coiled about the tree again. I explained my problem. “My Sibling speaks if you could but listen. I will accompany and bring my light to the dark.” Ey sprang from the tree shrinking in size flew into my mouth and down my throat, curling around my spine. “Let us fly” and Shaal vanished around us and we were in the dark travel space again. Same procedure as before until the light swallowed me and I was in that new dark sphere.
I thought out again and the crawling resumed. I asked my questions one by one, and as I did I felt them being reasked from inside me by Miniset, and through em the answers came, a voice from within my body speaking for a voice beyond me I couldn’t here. Eventually I got my names, and I thanked the spirit, returned Miniset to Shaal, and then brought myself back to my temple.
The name of the Angel was Saytaraan, which has the same value as tree, the four elemental letters, and Amen, which also turns out to be a title of Kether. So tree is a vague link I wouldn’t place stock in, but having the four elemental letters and a name of Kether make for a strong link between this Angel and Kether.
The Sphere itself is named Sheta which has the same value as boy. Boy seems odd, but right beside it is the mention that boy was the name/title used by Enoch/Metatron. So again with Metatron (either one) there is a strong link to Kether.
In Sheta the class of spirits are called the Coraf and their name has the same value as Shalom, also used as a name of Kether.
Lastly the Godname that shapes and binds this sphere is Eerah which has the same value as Holy, and Truth. It further enumerates to the notariqon of the Four Qabalistic worlds. While not as clearly linked as the others I felt it made a good case, especially considering how well the others matched.
As with my experience with Shetsin, once I had completed the Abramelin ritual I was able to return and actually perceive and communicate with Saytaraan. Eventually I received sigils from em, but as these came after my Abramelin experience I feel they’re inapprorpriate in some way to release, too personal. Feel free to attempt communication through the names, but in this case that’s all I will give.
It was an odd two years. I went from being unemployed and dangerously low on funds, through two jobs (one of which is still my favourite job I’ve had) to going to University, and then later being accepted into a fairly selective specialized degree program that is in line with the career I’ve wanted since grade two. Through this journey I’ve laid out step-by-step what I did and experienced for those curious, and I’ll make a cheat sheet post with some other information included when I get the time.

Posted by kalagni in blueflamemagick