This book confuses the hell out of most people on here for several reasons yet I’m going to try and clarify it for the ones who can’t seem to get it it to work
In truth, this is one of the most freakishly effective books I’ve ever encountered and I’ll go on record saying it’s my favorite on the subject. It’s not without nuance though and we’ll explore some of the common sticking points
I get PM’s a lot asking for insight and my usual advice tends to be fairly similar (you all want your ex back, it’s cool) I figure I’d throw it up in a post for people to read and possibly link to if it helps you bridge the gap in working it.
First things first: It’s all in the book. Yes, every piece you’re having problems with is covered and I’ll shill for this order any day. I’ve read the book probably 30 times now cover to cover and have “gone shopping” through all 72 demons and their powers probably hundreds of times by now.
In another book by the same author he mentions magickal students have problems because they are either “lazy” or “inept.”
I won’t insult you by saying that’s definitely your problem but I will invite you to ask yourself if you’re the polar opposite of such descriptions in your exploration of this book. Are you guaranteeing your results by knowing it inside and out? It’s one of their books on high magick, it’s not like Words of Power, or Sigils of Power and Transformation, or even like their other power baller Archangels of Magick. Even 72 Angels of Magick is a cakewalk compared to this one as you can quite literally read the whole ritual as you do it.
This one is like Mozart vs the shitty rap that took over the radio at the gym in terms of depth, complexity, and nuance. (Only in their case the stuff that only takes 5 minutes and half a brain cell to do is actually good). It takes some dedication to get down but it’s something you’ll be grateful for your entire life if you end up doing it. I highly recommend the journey if it calls you
This book is paradoxically both plainly written and layered with blinds in the work to allow only those who go deeply into it to really unlock it’s potential. It’s all in there though, and all it takes is your initiative.
The key is to deconstruct every phase of the work and master it front to back. Every piece matters so pretend you’re learning a part for a movie. People here say “it doesn’t work lol” because they learn the basic outline of the ritual structure, shoot for the moon with some huge outlandish miracle result with tons of stipulations tacked on, and don’t approach it with high technique in mind.
Oh, and definitely keep serious track of your offerings made. I can’t stress this enough. Be impecable with your word and you’ll be rewarded in kind.
I invite you to study the book so well you can teach each and every part of it as if it’s truly your own making. Start with Ritual 1 and read each section several times. Dozens of times. I’ve used it for years and I’m still studying it for nuance. Like good jazz every bit in the book is there for a reason so go deeply into it and you’ll unlock its potential.
Next: Spend a great deal of time on crafting your statements. Good targeting is as important as good execution of the rituals themselves.
I often times sit on a thesaurus website with a dictionary app open looking to create the perfect statement without too many little submodifiers. I’ve got potential rituals sitting on a notes app I’ll revisit days after deciding I want them and cook one word different ways for 20 minutes to find the best way to say what I want. It’s not completely necessary, yet it’s worth it because you will get exactly what you ask for. I make sure I know I’m asking for the best thing and parlay them off of the other rituals that can blend together with it in symphony.
Don’t be afraid to fire off several rituals and let them blend. When you’re starting out it’s very easy to get caught up in just how seemingly complex all of this stuff is… You have an Archangel calling that’s kinda like the LBRP, the ritual to wield power from Magickal Attack, you need to learn the scanning sequence and sing the shem sandwich with the invocation psalm in the middle, and then all the different things to look at at different times because you’re probably starting with the petition. Then the offering… And remember to give the emotional sensation to them as well somewhere after they show up.
Oh, and you have to light stuff on fire and do this somewhere you won’t be heard or seen so make it fast and make it perfect!
So you shoot for the moon and end up narrowing the result down so much that it’s pass/fail criteria is like night and day. Rather than doing 5 rituals for various results, a newbie puts 5 different submodifiers that all have to come true in order to call it a hit within these first rituals. No wonder you’re having issues, it can’t breathe and the demons have to get every little bit right in order to say they did their job. Bad dog, open it up and let the submodifiers show up when they want to by addressing them separately
What I mean by submodifiers:
You know how Sallos can “Inspire somebody to feel a love for you that causes strong desire and a determination to enact that love”?
One might simply write “Nikki is determined to be my girlfriend”
That’s a great statement. Then one might go "hmmm, Sallos can make them feel anything so let’s spice this up a bit!
They then look at each word and go “instead of just determined… how about wholeheartedly determined!” “Instead of just my girlfriend why not make her my loyal, doting, and sexually addicted girlfriend with a tail plug fetish!” . And so on and so forth until the written statement is so developed there’s little if any margin for it to actually manifest. Stop that!
Instead just leave it to perhaps one submodifier and then if you need more adjectives to enhance it do another ritual. Less isn’t more but it can absolutely be better, at least here. Magick blends quite readily, and especially this kind. I guarantee if you make their job simpler it will get done faster. Divide it up and do some extra work, you have the book and the opportunity isn’t going anywhere
Another thing:
People shoot for a miracle rather than inching it towards them
You won’t get a miracle from one perfect ritual but you can get 20 results and bring it closer to where you don’t need a miracle anymore. Think of it that way. 20 conincidences is a lot easier to engineer than one huge landslide change that feels like a lottery win. All results are experienced in ways that could happen without magick too, very important.
People will shoot to make some chick that blocked them for being a total tool their obsessed girlfriend with one demonic petition. They might keep things simple enough instead of the last example but the sphere of influence is too far removed from what’s likely in their reality at the time. This stuff nudges your reality around so rather than aiming for a quantum leap, why not start with a step in the right direction and build some momentum?
In that case, simply make her think warmly of you while improving your attractiveness to women generally and the rest of your life so the scenario you want is more plausible. It’s never going to be like some hollywood occult movie where your newly posessed chick shows up at your door wearing a nightie with an apology gift and love in her glazed eyes. If that happened you’d be scared as hell and probably throw the book away anyway. It’s nothing like that. Engineer coincidences and lots of them
All in all, there’s a lot of weird parts and I guarantee you aren’t doing all the visualization around the Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh part he mentions in the Ritual Opening. You have work to do and much to polish
Maybe try 5 or so rituals for other things less important to you to get familiar with it. Manifest something like a new emotional state, or learning a secret, or any of the other powers. Something simple you can forget about. When you see the power in action it’s easy to want to study and practice it more, it becomes sort of addicting.
Manifest a lucid dream. Something small, among other requests until you’re confident, then begin with making cracks in the situations that resist you. Turn the heat up from there one stage at a time until you’re casting to improve the quality of the date night shenanigains you’re now having with the person you wanted to bring back. Baby steps.
When you get masterful at it, Ritual One will feel like 5 minute easy quick fire magick. As easy as a sigil. I’m into Ritual Three and physically looking at the spirits who fill my room now and it’s no more daunting than Ritual One used to feel. I could dash off 5 petitions in an afternoon and it would be fairly simple now, trust me it gets far far easier when you know it like your favorite song.
Break it down, master the ritual until you can do it in your sleep, truly perfect it, target wisely and simply, and then see what you can do to that impossible situation in 11 workings. I guarantee you’ll make some huge shifts. See what’s possible, they’re waiting for you
the preparation does take a while took me a week to do the notes and summaries !