Beelzebub and the Darkness Challenge
Okay, so a few nights ago, I had a dream of Beelzebub pointing at the symbol of the Philosopher’s stone. This is an old alchemical symbol that illustrates the four stages to its creation by each of the geometric shapes included in it. The very first symbol represents the stage Nigerdo. At this stage, the Prima Materia (the base material or lead as it is commonly known as) is broken down by a process of boiling, which serves the same purpose of decomposition. Anyone who has cooked knows that when you bowl something down, you are slowly destroying bonds that hold the ingredients together in their raw form into another that is not only digestible but releases flavors. In a more psychological perspective, we are breaking down the complex construct we call the self into smaller parts that can be examined, whether they are things we like about ourselves or not. Shadow working would fit within this first stage.
So, assuming that Beelzebub was directing me to go through the process of the Great Work, I was left unsure how to begin. I have down shadow work in the past, as well as shadow merging, but there has always been the sense of separation from the two. So, I decided to try out a ritual written by another magician that popped up when dwelling on the idea on the forum. That ritual was @C.Kendall The Challenge of Darkness.
Now, I am not going to rewrite the whole thing, so if you would like to know more about it, please check out the link. Instead, I will be sharing notes from the experience.
Normally, I would have broken this challenge up into seven days of smaller rituals…but I decided to push myself by doing all seven in one go. I began by evoking Beelzebub to bear witness to the initation into darkness and to open his gate during it. He came as a mass of shadows standing in the corner of the room, watching.
In order to complete all seven in one go, there had to be alteration to the format. Instead of constantly reopening the sigil and calling the darkness to descend, it was a gradual deepening into the current. Challenge 1-4 served that purpose, which lead to both the gradual loss of sense of my surroundings and the candles (which were new) beginning to dim. By challenge 5, the visions started to arise.
During that challenge, where the Pentagram served as a gate to the Eternal Darkness, a winged serpent emerged out of it, with scales of obsidian and a hard stare of a human skull. I could feel it pierce into my soul. As I progressed into challenge 6, this winged serpent breath the darkness into each chakra as I blackened them. When we got to the root, I saw twin black serpents rise and wrap around each chakra, climbing the pillar all the way up and beyond the crown.
At challenge 7, the candles were nearly extinguished by the time I blew them out. As I made the declaration of not only being part of the darkness but being it inself, I saw my body shift into the winged serpent and the two black snakes that emerged from my chakras fusing into two additional heads, solidifying the change into my very being. I had a sense that this will never be able to be undone and was complete.
I shifted my attention to Beelzebub, who I felt a sense of approval from. I thanked him for being present and dismissed him.
Now, I did not destroy the Pentagram that served as a gate for the darkness, but slept with it under my pillow, as it felt appropriate. My dreams were quite dark, involving laying in a snake pit being covered by black snakes crawling over me. They did not harm me, but I could sense them feeding me their essence to strengthen me. I do feel a bit out there today but definitely stronger and more at peace, ironically. I will be continuing mediation to further drive this working into the Nigerdo process. Not sure where exactly it will lead me, but that is part of pathworking in the end.