Goetia for personal growth?
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I've generally avoided Goetic evocation, simply because I (mis)understood it to be mainly useful for "black magick" and my focus is on working towards K&CHGA.
But I just read Regardie's "The Tree of Life" this weekend (which, btw, is a very good medium-easy overview of the general magickal life process, with more "why's" and "how's" than a lot of beginner books, or Crowley texts).
One thing that caught my attention was that for some people (i.e. people who might have psychological/emotional imbalances) he recommended using Goetic evocation for working through psychological imbalances, as a prelude to an Abramelin operation. The general idea was that you are bringing the complexes to consciousness, and then aligning them with your True Will.
Is this sound advice? Caveats?
What would be the general process? Go through the Goetia one-at-a-time, do a full evocation with all the bells and whistles, and get them each to swear allegiance to your as-yet-unnamed HGA? Or focus on your problem areas and try to find the appropriate Goetic entity to evoke with a more specific command? -
In my workings with the goetia I have concluded, that it may not be a sound idea for most individuals to try to work out psychological problems with spirits. In fact, one may amplify their particular issues. It is true that the spirits of the goetia have a direct effect on our psyche and personality.
A clairvoyant friend pointed out that after working with a particular Prince my outward personality now had a very Jupiterian angle, especially after a few drinks. Wry smiles and grand gestures seem to pour forth now and things just sort of fall into my empty hands. People seem to want to do things for me all the time, and the crew that I manage hang onto my every word and rush to accomplish goals that I give to them. Not to mention the future career advancements that have lined up since working with this particular spirit.
But I digress, it was not necessarily the goetic evocation that caused this transformation, but rather the alchemical work the preceded it. I think the alchemy broke up most of my fears of success and authority, and when I performed the evocation I more or less sealed the deal in the changes I was working toward. The ultimate goal in all of this work to allow for more time and resources that I may have more focus on my K&C without financial/business distraction.
One could, theoretically, use a similar formula with each of the planets...
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That was my opinion - which is why Regardie's words caught my attention. He was stating that generally one would wait until AFTER Abramelin to work with Goetia - the exception being the circumstances in the OP. His rationale seemed to be that if one was imbalanced, that it could really pose an issue during the Abramelin operation.
I'm rather psychologically/emotionally grounded NOW. But with my childhood and background, I've had some really heavy stuff to deal with. So I'm trying to chart out a plan-of-action to lay a really solid foundation of practices to lead up to Abramelin in the not-too-distant future.
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Psychological imbalances tend to inflate especially when one starts to open up to yetzirah. It comes back to the old maxim "Know Thyself." Personally I run a daily check on my motives, not necessarily out of morality but rather to try to follow my actions back to an initial cause. It took several months for me to decide what I needed to work on. I performed divinations and prayed and meditated for guidance. Suddenly, the formula became clear: alchemical work to "grade" myself into a particular sphere until I became it's god, then evoking a spirit of it's order that I might better manifest it's virtues within myself. If you pursue in such a manner you will not fail or be "deceived" by any spirit. There were no creepy "vibes" after the evocation, and nothing strange happened in the coming days. I simply felt as though I had made contact with some deeply buried part of myself. The spirit came, recognized the authority of the creator, swore an oath of loyalty, and took it's charge. It was a rather "clean" working, I believe that Angels gave less than desirable results in the past as I had not do then proper work to elevate myself above their orders.
IMHO a level headed approach to goetia can yield spectacular results and can definitely transform the magician. The trick is to use the knowledge of liber o as well as allowing oneself to be guided by higher aspiration.
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@AvshalomBinyamin said
"I've generally avoided Goetic evocation, simply because I (mis)understood it to be mainly useful for "black magick" and my focus is on working towards K&CHGA.
But I just read Regardie's "The Tree of Life" this weekend (which, btw, is a very good medium-easy overview of the general magical life process, with more "why's" and "how's" than a lot of beginner books, or Crowley texts).
One thing that caught my attention was that for some people (i.e. people who might have psychological/emotional imbalances) he recommended using Goetic evocation for working through psychological imbalances, as a prelude to an Abramelin operation. The general idea was that you are bringing the complexes to consciousness, and then aligning them with your True Will.
Is this sound advice? Caveats?
What would be the general process? Go through the Goetia one-at-a-time, do a full evocation with all the bells and whistles, and get them each to swear allegiance to your as-yet-unnamed HGA? Or focus on your problem areas and try to find the appropriate Goetic entity to evoke with a more specific command?"I think you are on the right track. You may want to try exorcism of particular energies as well.
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@nderabloodredsky said
"I think you are on the right track. You may want to try exorcism of particular energies as well."
Imbalances are do to a lack of a certain quality, which is why you would want to INVOKE what you are missing. Exorcists need only apply to evocation. The formula is to make the inner plane contact by invoking, THEN evoke a spirit to manifest the change. The Magician and the Exorcist.
People rarely have too much, more often the have to little. If one were too severe it would be ineffectual to banish mars (maybe to a temporary effect), they would be wise to INVOKE jupiter.
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Do you have more details about your alchemical work?
I read a good chunk of Jung last year, and Jungian dream analysis has been one of my (very fruitful) practices for nearly a year here. Alchemy might be a very good interim step for me, before serious evocation.I picked up "Alchemical Psychology" (Thom Cavalli) yesterday. While I'm finding his handling of the magick side of things really amateurish, I'm hoping that the psychological approach will demystify a lot of the terminology for me, and make some of the more serious texts less cryptic...
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Best book for beginners hands down is: The Path of Alchemy by Mark Stavish. Read it in it's entirety before commencing any work. He also gives more advanced reading materials as well, but his book will keep you busy for a while.
I did a simple tincture of lemon balm using grain alcohol before I started my real work and all I can say is WOW
The most important step is doing the work! Follow lunar phase and cycle and you won't go wrong.
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@TheSilent1 said
"Best book for beginners hands down is: The Path of Alchemy by Mark Stavish. Read it in it's entirety before commencing any work. He also gives more advanced reading materials as well, but his book will keep you busy for a while."
Wow! My library system has that book and I have placed a HOLD on it. The vast majority of the time my library has nothing esoteric that I want to read.
One cool quote from the book;
"The Path of Alchemy is quite positive and affirmative, but there are a few “no's”: no oaths, no secrecy, no gurus, no master, no limits on your imagination and freedom."(I wonder what his pedigree is ? ... most with this sort of knowledge are bound to secrecy by oaths...)
Stavish's "Between the Gates" looks good too.
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I believe he is from the Frater Albertus school of thought, another great author to read up on if you have some hands on experience in the subject. Israel Regardie and The Philosophers Stone is another excellent book on the topic
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First i meditate on agares by visualizing his symbol, but the picture countenanced few times and my mind rushed on various subjects in no time... After i read Eliphas Levi book(do not remember which one now) where was written, that to bind a demon you must know his dominant mind, i meditate second time on agares and i can say it was successful. Every demon of Goetia shows how and where his way ended and gives lesson of life. Also you can get idea of his nature, feelings and intelligence.
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"I wonder what his pedigree is ?"
He is well respected in certain Masonic and Martinist circles.
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Personally, I'd seek therapy before doing something like this, simply because it's always best to exhaust all efforts on the Malkuthian/Assiah plane before resorting to magick. It's also the case that you may know only the symptom, and not the root problem. Intense meditation, self-examination and analysis, and perhaps an understanding therapist are all great tools when "building the base". Know-thyself is not only an important step, it's the MOST important step, if you advance without a proper understanding of every aspect of yourself, you'll be building on a fantasy.
93 93/93
EDIT:
P.S. ---
Liber Thisharb, while technically meant as a precursor to taking the oath of the abyss, is a wonderful method for finding root-causes of psychological disorders. Recommended me by a Thelemite of high-standing whom I respect a lot, Proven to me in practice.