EA's Evocation and Opening Sigil Methods

so I’ve read all the books of EA including the last one (I didn’t finish Spider and the Green Butterfly yet).

I performed three evocations of the same entity lately, namely Raphael. the reason I started doing this is because I am trying to magically sustain the physical recovery of a person that is very dear to me, and that has very little chance with the Western medicine.

I repeated the evocation every third day, doing it late during the night. I have used candles, a magic circle, that I have drawn on canvas, cup and dagger. No incense, as I used the mirror.

I progressively got a stronger and stronger feeling of a presence coming during the evocation. I delivered my request, and asked if an offering is needed. I got the image of some fresh grass, flowers and something like jewlery. I delivered it the next day with a sigil posted on the black mirror, an opened sigil and a prayer. The operation is finished today.
During the offering the energy was very intense, almost physical, not threatening, but surely humbling.

I made some observations and hope other more seasoned practitioners will share some suggestions.

Firstly, the energy that powers an evocation seems to flow out of yourself ~ that’s why I use meditation or other methods of ‘charging up’ before I do anything ~ but also from the implements that you use. I got a very clear feeling at one point that I can’t go any further due to the scarcity of my tools.
So I’ve started to look more into the grimoires, especially the GV, and saw there are alot of implements, and alot of time is aloted to their manufacturing. It seems that the specific formula of the implements functions as a code that ensures the eficacity of the operation. They say the evocation could be performed even without many of the tools, but if you want the spirit to work with you and for you, that is another problem.

Now I can’t help wondering… EA says in many of his book about offerings when he talks about his experiences, but when he outlines the practice there is very little detail about it.

I also wonder if we can use his method of evocation for any spirit from whatever grimoire ~ because most of them seem to be bound to a kind of pact / code that is outlined in the specific preparations for the evocation (which can take quite some time, and tend to be quite laborious).
Also, concerning the sigils, I plan to use one from the GV, is it ok to just open it using EA’s method? I mean each of the entities has some specifics that were supposed (at least traditionally) to be taken into account.

Thanks for reading,

PS: I haven’t looked for any signs of improvement of the ‘target’, didn’t specify any time frame, I just said, ‘as soon as possible’.

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I’m a bit surprised, and maybe dissapointed, it seems few people take the time to meditate on these things. Oh well… I guess I’ll find the answer myself eventually :slight_smile:

If you want to take that approach, look into ATR’s for how offerings are served to spirits, particularly Quimbanda for the demonic, or how to set up an altar or fashion spirit pots for particular ones; and ask the spirits themselves and look at the correspondences in Liber 777 for figuring out what exactly to offer ‘Western’ spirits. Even if they don’t answer in a voice at the asking of your question you will be lead to where they wish you to go … if you are in tune with them and if they wish at all to draw closer to you, that is.

It is to my understanding that many spirits can be evoked using the methods and tools EA suggests. A lot of the old grimoires had a wide assortment of ritual devices, costumes, and flourishes - these are not necessary, per se, but instead serve to focus the will of the operator while also getting one into the right mindset. If you are comfortable with EA’s methods of evocation, use them. If you come across a spirit they don’t work for, and the book they come from suggest another method, try the other method. If it still doesn’t work, maybe it isn’t a real spirit, or maybe it doesn’t like you. :slight_smile:

As far as the implements you need - the evocation ritual covers this when charging the items with their purpose. If you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend watching the evocation seminar EA did at Dixie State in November.

Dixie State College Evocation Seminar

And as far as offerings go, unless a grimoire you’re working with specifies some supposed preferences the spirit in question has, don’t worry about it at first. If/when you develop a relationship with a particular spirit, you can ask them if they would like offerings - then you will have first-hand knowledge of their preferences.

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[quote=“777C, post:1, topic:698”]It seems that the specific formula of the implements functions as a code that ensures the eficacity of the operation. They say the evocation could be performed even without many of the tools, but if you want the spirit to work with you and for you, that is another problem.

Now I can’t help wondering… EA says in many of his book about offerings when he talks about his experiences, but when he outlines the practice there is very little detail about it.

I also wonder if we can use his method of evocation for any spirit from whatever grimoire ~ because most of them seem to be bound to a kind of pact / code that is outlined in the specific preparations for the evocation (which can take quite some time, and tend to be quite laborious).
Also, concerning the sigils, I plan to use one from the GV, is it ok to just open it using EA’s method? I mean each of the entities has some specifics that were supposed (at least traditionally) to be taken into account.[/quote]

On your first point about the tools seeming to guarantee the success of the ritual and the obedience of the spirit, I think that this is mainly a type of misdirection for the easily misdirected. Only the most basic tools are needed, and they can all be eliminated eventually without any loss in the efficacy of the ritual or the relationship with the spirit. In fact, reality is quite the opposite.

If by “offerings” you mean blood sacrifices, that is something that I intentionally keep a bit vague on purpose, mainly to avoid prison by getting too specific. But, you NEVER want to enter a “this for that” relationship, because that’s not really how it works. If a spirit tells you, “I’ll only do this work for you if you do something for me,” then they’re taking you for a ride.

My methods have been designed to work with every system and grimoire out there. You can evoke every spirit in existence equally successfully with the system that I present.

Now, keep in mind that in 2013 I’ll be releasing my “Mastering Evocation” course that will walk you through every step of evocations, and will guide you into being able to perform even the most complicated evocations flawlessly!

Keep an eye out for it at www.becomealivinggod.com/masteringevocation

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[quote=“E.A., post:5, topic:698”][quote=“777C, post:1, topic:698”]It seems that the specific formula of the implements functions as a code that ensures the eficacity of the operation. They say the evocation could be performed even without many of the tools, but if you want the spirit to work with you and for you, that is another problem.

Now I can’t help wondering… EA says in many of his book about offerings when he talks about his experiences, but when he outlines the practice there is very little detail about it.

I also wonder if we can use his method of evocation for any spirit from whatever grimoire ~ because most of them seem to be bound to a kind of pact / code that is outlined in the specific preparations for the evocation (which can take quite some time, and tend to be quite laborious).
Also, concerning the sigils, I plan to use one from the GV, is it ok to just open it using EA’s method? I mean each of the entities has some specifics that were supposed (at least traditionally) to be taken into account.[/quote]
But, you NEVER want to enter a “this for that” relationship, because that’s not really how it works. If a spirit tells you, “I’ll only do this work for you if you do something for me,” then they’re taking you for a ride.[/quote]

Good to know, I will give it a go.
Now, either I misread your books, or there is additional information concerning it, because you mention offerings on a regular basis, not only your books, but the Grimoires as well, there are regular offerings in everyone if not most of them.
Voudon seems a This for That system as well.
And how about the Pacts?
They all seem to be based on agreements and mutual benefits.

Thanks!

[quote=“redcircle, post:4, topic:698”]It is to my understanding that many spirits can be evoked using the methods and tools EA suggests. A lot of the old grimoires had a wide assortment of ritual devices, costumes, and flourishes - these are not necessary, per se, but instead serve to focus the will of the operator while also getting one into the right mindset. If you are comfortable with EA’s methods of evocation, use them. If you come across a spirit they don’t work for, and the book they come from suggest another method, try the other method. If it still doesn’t work, maybe it isn’t a real spirit, or maybe it doesn’t like you. :slight_smile:

As far as the implements you need - the evocation ritual covers this when charging the items with their purpose. If you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend watching the evocation seminar EA did at Dixie State in November.

Dixie State College Evocation Seminar

And as far as offerings go, unless a grimoire you’re working with specifies some supposed preferences the spirit in question has, don’t worry about it at first. If/when you develop a relationship with a particular spirit, you can ask them if they would like offerings - then you will have first-hand knowledge of their preferences.[/quote]

Yes I watched it, it’s great!
Well I’ve had my discussions with other magicians, and they say the implements are not optional, they are part of an age old accord between the humans and the spirits, and they will recognize that accord / Pact whenever the ‘new’ magician employs same.
You could call them without them but you can’t make them work for you outside of that primordial accord ~ and if you try, they’re just keep you in a loop, making things happen so that you will continue to need them indefinately. BTW that’s one of the things I’m trying to avoid here.

The other magicians seem very reluctant to trust that working with the Grimoire spirits outside the frame provided by that specific Grimoire is even possible.
It seems that they all started with simplified methods of evocation but didn’t get hardcore until they used the implements and the orations as they are presented in the specific Grimoire.
Also it seems that as a person ages, he will favour more the trusted and reliable sources that have worked in the past, for hundred of years.

Now this is a bit confusing to me, because I can see both their point and the point of EA, and both make for pretty strong cases.
I guess in the end is only a matter of choice and prefference, nobody can do it for you :slight_smile:
Sorry if I come across a bit hard headed but that’s one of the features that kept me out of trouble many times.

Yea, like I said, it is possible that some specific entities could be tied in the way you suggested - so try both methods of evocation, and see if there is a difference. A lot of the grimmoires out there require a lot of extra stuff/fluff for the workings; EA suggests that the extra is typically more just ritual immersion than actual necessary device.

There may be exceptions to the rule - if there are, work what you have to. If you get the result with the funny hat and the blue dagger consecrated in sheep piss on the new moon, cool - you get the result. But it would be worth your while to test the simpler system as well, unless you feel very confident that it won’t work - in which case, your anti-confidence will doom it just as surely as picky spirits will.

I think if I were in a similar position: a choice of working with finicky spirits that required a lot of extras; or, working with the evocation rituals I already use with spirits that don’t have such extravagant tastes - I would choose the latter. Unless I had a very strong and compelling reason to do otherwise - such as teachers I trust (and my own experience) convincing me.

EA’s grimmoires, Bardon’s grimmoires, and the Goetia seem to have more than enough powerful entities to keep me busy for quite some time. Also, the more I’m exposed to other magicians, the more my options continue to grow.

But, as you said, nobody can do it for you. Figure out what works for you and work on mastering it. Keep asking questions, keep seeking. Once you’ve mastered it, you can readily make improvements and amendments. This is the best way to progress in nearly all cases.

One other thing: you specifically said you had a problem with your tools, and this is something I meant to address in my first post. What do you think is wrong with your tools? They are imbued with the same power you use to call the spirit into your presence. That power seems to be working, no?

It sounds like you’re getting decent results already, so continue achieving them. I could be mistaken in your case, but I think it is more likely that you merely need more practice rather than better tools. A dagger is a dagger, a cup is a cup. Many magicians have a cardboard box for an altar, a kitchen knife for a dagger, and a trusty red solo cup filled with water for their chalice. If their will is sufficient for the operation, their tools will be sufficient as well. Filling your frail human body with your god-self is no worse or better than making a divine chalice from a plastic cup.

I don’t presume to know you or your abilities, but ultimately the operation succeeds or fails on you, the operator. Perhaps if you can describe why you feel that certain aspects (be it tools, technique, power, etc.) are failing you in detail, some of the more experienced magicians can give you tips on those things.

Self confidence is extremely important, so is Will, but can they replace understanding and precise knowledge ~ that of course comes with practice, but also with questioning, seeking, and discussing things with people that do it successfully.

We’re dealing with extremely volatile things here, there alot of people that just play mind tricks on themselves, or as EA said above, are being taken for a ride by the spirits ~ power respects power, right?, I’m not looking forward to thicken that pack :slight_smile:

What bugs me is that EA’s take on things seems to be more of a counter current, albeit a popular one with the young magicians, compared to the ‘mainstream’ magic. It makes alot of sense that young magicians would detest elaborate rituals, they want it all and now, if not yesterday. Do things really work that way?
Working with power IMO is like working with electricity, you need to know when to use different insulating tools.

Re tools, I have use all of them minus the incense. I’m currently doing some research on that, it’s an interesting field. Repeated evocation seems to work fine, I agree :slight_smile:
The reason I opened this discussion is a feeling of falling short on implements during the ritual, it seems that the tools attract and focus the spirit during the ritual. Then I opened the GV and saw all these elaborate procedures of constructing the tools, the use of offerings, and thought maybe I missed something, maybe I just falled for an oversimplified system, which, as other people say, may give results in conjuring the spirits, but may fall short on having a decent working relationship with them. And then I turned to EA’s books and saw alot of theory about pacts, agreements and offerings.
What I’m looking for is to understand how the landmarks of the guild are set.
EA’s reply and yours clarified some things, and opened me up to new ideas, so thank you.
The thing is, when you are working with a specific Grimoire like GV, it’s like a pathworking, and you develop a personal relationship with the entities there, they make up a family, like relatives, and teach you their trade… It’s something I’m looking forward to. Voudon seems to offer that as well, but the terms of agreement are a bit do harsh for my taste; speaking of Voudon as pathworking, they also use quite alot of implements and offerings as part of their system ~ and if I’m looking towards that kind of a relationship with the spirits, it is only natural that I should ask and do research about the props and logistics.
What kind of relationship with the spirits do you have?

EA’s right, but bringing offerings does not necessarily form part of a ‘this for that’ relationship, and nor does doing the bidding of the spirit, as development of oneself and the attainment of ones desires will inevitably involve ones doing things it tells one to do. Just use common sense here.

Altars, gifts and services to a spirit help you to connect with that spirit and that spirit to manifest more fully and completely in your microcosm and in the world into which you have called it. This is the sense in which one is ‘empowering’ the spirit through service, not the sense of giving the spirit ‘power’ which it already has more than enough of in and of itself; that is to say, it already has the inherent potential to do what you ask it to do, but you need to unleash it - it really is like water stored in a dam - and you have the keys to open the floodgates. Performing a single evocation will temporarily unleash a raging torrent of water, but forming a relationship and serving the spirit as it serves you will keep those floodgates open and allow a river to flow unceasingly through your life. This is why the Loa of Vodou are so powerful in this world; because they are so present in it thanks to the constant service of Vodouisants. The ancients already knew how to deal with spirits. Don’t presume that we know more than those who walked with them every day, with our ‘knowledge’ and ‘science’. All magical practice looked something like Vodou prior to the development of ‘Western Magic’. This is what ‘goetia’ actually is. There’s no book called ‘The Goetia’. What is meant is the ‘Ars Goetia’ or ‘Goetic Art’ which forms a part, and only a part, of the Lesser Key of Solomon. It’s a Greek word, and ancient Greek magical practices looked little like the monotheistic ‘ceremonial magic’ of today, which produces a big bang at ritual but lacklustre, temporary or even disastrous, results. If you want to learn more, look into the books published by Scarlet Imprint. There are not merely ‘two camps’ here.

Very good points there! I think people should look into a Grimoire not unlike one would look into a Family Album ~ and NOT like looking into Yellow Pages.
There has been alot of syncretic development recently at Scarlet Imprint, love their work!
I agree that spirit work used to look alot like Voudon in the past, someone not dissimilar to a Houngan would teach the novice about the intricancies of corporeal and non-corporeal interactions, very difficult to replace merely with books, no matter how well written.
I’m not the guy to plunge in head first, hence posts and topics like the above:)
Looking forward to see what the third, fourth ‘camp’ looks like :wink:

I think that’s alright, looking up a spirit and getting it to do something (some spirits you’ll only want to touch with a ten foot barge pole anyway), but I think it’s better to form an intimate bond with spirits you have evoked a lot. An evocation solidifies the spirit int his world during the ritual; service can do it indefinitely. I think your ability to get what you want from them will become steadily more spectacular as your worlds intertwine. It’s like a perpetual subjective synthesis and continual evocation. Then you can merely say a prayer to the spirit while riding the subway to work and it could answer you.

We must also remember that magick is not the same today as it was before. Magick was not a “common man’s” activity, most occultists were definitely raised from high society or quickly entered high society. Off the bat, most of these grimoires are going to be heavily skewed toward members of society who can could get these elaborate things.

Also, we got to admit that magicians are not immune to fear, greed, and other viewpoints that usually lead to subjugating the common man. These elaborate rituals with extensive items, extensive withdrawal periods, and other things of this nature were not just implemented for the sake of adhering to a certain class, it was done to also keep “lower” classes out. Think about it, many of these magicians did not walk around with hundreds of pounds worth of brass or other precious materials on them, yet they could probably fuck someone up at a moment’s notice with nothing but primordial forces.

EA kind of goes straight to the bare-bones of things, and my brother and I can attest that certain spirits a itching to get over here to get some work done. He explains that these entities embody the power they possess, and likewise they itch to get that power put to work more than anything.

My younger brother and I could not even read half the stuff out there before before having Vassago call him (my little brother) out in a dream revealing lottery numbers. I was learning about Goetic spirits from a variety of sources, and upon getting associated with Bathin, I had 3 lucid dreams in one night, followed by astral projections 3 days afterward. Mind you, neither my brother nor I did any ritual whatsoever, neither of us have even read the Keys of Solomon, and neither of us even knew who Vassago was, let alone that he was known for predicting the future. I had read about Bathin and had a female focus toward her (I still call Bathin her even though the spirit is traditionally male). My orientations to the Spirit came from Satanism sites that described her as female, and I was reading a site Goetia Girls, where the author describes a work of Sexual Shamanism in which one reverses the orientation of the Goetic Spirits toward a female focus in order to create a forum of Sexual Alchemy with the Spirits. Likewise, without any ritual, I was accompanied by rather a female voice during the projections, or a ridiculously proportioned, bikini-clad woman of varying racial backgrounds that seemed to fit the scenery.

All this is to say, these spirits sometimes will call you out, or call out to you, if your desire is strong enough. I think the whole formality extensive props can be helpful, but ultimately a hindrance if you cannot get ahold of them, or can stand to do way more without them. I prefer EA to these rituals because the main properties magic working such as focus, visualized intent, and rhythm of concentration for raising power, get muddled when you are attempting to remember the 1001 names of God and dealing with a ton of instruments. Do they work? This depends on the person, and these methods are really just that: methods. Methods are tools, and just like mathematics, you can use an unlimited amount of methods to arrive at a given answer. There’s a difference between method/tradition and law, and Koetting gets down to the law.

Now as you go further, you may establish a relation that is greater, and some systems like Voudon seem to be more heavily bent on the paradigm of gift-giving and necessary items. But as far as Western spirits (and even Eastern gods), you might be better off trying to get straight to the law

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I’m sorry but your advice seems to be drawn from a shallow understanding of what the grimoire tradition is, and what it can offer.
I am all for progress and going to the roots, but you need a coherent system of research too. You can’t just indiscriminantly cut away what you feel it’s hard for you to do, sometimes the difficulties are part of the ‘pact’, you have to do your part of it.
Also, if things work for a man, they don’t necessarely work for everyone.

777c i do hope, that person that is very dear to you, get better, just retrace your steps, find out what went wrong, i do remmeber e.a. talk about his book Evoking Eternity:Chthonian Edition, about getting lost in your evocation, haveing that divine love, invokeing omnipotence. I hope that helps.

I’m not saying that it is hard more so that methods can sometimes get in the way of getting to what you are trying to do. For example, many grimoires we read aren’t even written in the language they were first documented in; with most of us reading them in English this can be certain as fact. Yet, in learning these systems, we almost certainly don’t go through the lengths to find original manuscripts, which almost certainly have details we can’t get with an English translations. If things being exactly specific to a certain method are that important, we would most certainly fail to learn any of these traditions without doing things like learning Hebrew, Latin, or even old Sumerian languages.

The Goetia itself is rife with adaptations, mainly because the magic you work is based on you. Some people have terrible orientation with demons, while others have never had a bad experience whatsoever. They may follow the exact same methods, but their orientation towards the entity is different. And it’s not because the work is hard, but because cultural acts of significance change throughout time, and what was once valid may not be valid now. For example, a huge part of Goetic mythos is centered around heavy admonition of insubordinate spirits. Many people have done away with that, for the precise reason of establishing connection, yet that is as key to the mythos as the invocations of names. So why is this so unimportant, yet offerings are? It’s a perspective thing.

Like I said, I’m not saying these things are not helpful, they just aren’t for everyone. I wouldn’t do Voudon because of the need for material sacrifice, however, there is a lot of history with those spirits that lead me to believe that they have human origins, and that the paradigm was set up because humans conceded to doing it this way. These spirits rest on power currents, and all they do is wait to get called to purpose. They don’t do anything without human interaction, so part of this pact is actually being able to use their power. They are not like us, they do not just squander power when they have it. Their power is to be used, that is what they wait for, and they seem to never run out of the power they govern. So for me, I don’t know how I could give a gift that is more worthwhile than to call a being purely intent on purposed into existence for the very purpose it governs.

Like I said, I just concentrated on the aspects of Bathin for a few days, and a Bathin that was female nonetheless. Despite Bathin coming from a tradition that accepts Bathin as male, a female entity who was triggering lucid dreams and astral projections began coming along in rather quick and immediate fashion. Perhaps it was something else, but after leaving that study alone, I have yet to see that female entity or to have another astral projection. And this isn’t unique to myself, as my younger brother got lottery numbers from Vassago, and he didn’t study this entity at much length at all. These sound like entities who were trying to get something done, so It doesn’t seem so important to follow preset methods as it is to create a functioning relationship that produces good work. This naturally produces qualities like gratitude, intimate connection, a continuous growth, so that’s how it works for me anyway. Giving gifts is fine, too… whatever works!

I do know what grimoire traditions have to offer, and like any other tradition, it is simply that: tradition. A tradition provides a framework, but these frameworks aren’t absolute because they come from particular types of people. When folks cannot adapt when tradition cannot be afforded, like being left in the woods somewhere, then they often get killed by the tradition they depend on. Frameworks give methods to apply, but if we don’t extract an adaptable law, then power becomes circumstantial

Agreed, you should research, adapt, and improve, but do you think it’s wise to do so from the very beginning?
Adaptations should be made, but not in the sense of making it more confortable, but more reliable.
Also, the principles that the adaptations are based upon should be derived from a good knowledge of the tradition, and I don’t mean what we are stuck with since Crowley.

This might be a good article to help you understand what I am talking about:

[url=http://www.becomealivinggod.com/evocation/3-reasons-why-grimoires-wrong.php]http://www.becomealivinggod.com/evocation/3-reasons-why-grimoires-wrong.php[/url]

The thing about evocation is that it works like any other magick, in the sense that you need concentration, focused intent, and a method of raising energy to bring about a desired outcome. All magick, no matter what paradigm it is written from, goes along that route, and when you get into things like emblems, “Words of Power”, offerings… these are all done to influence bring these influences in, or as E.A. explains in the article, distract you from this.

Hindu mantric and yantric meditation work is one of the most consistent forms of spiritual work out there, and often resembles what E.A. talks about in opening sigils and squares. You vibrate a mantra associated with a particular deity, chakra point, or energy current, and while doing so focus your attention and energy into a sacred image, usually handcrafted. Eventually you are supposed to be able to hold the image in your mind, and immerse yourself in exploration of the image as a living, 3-D construct which allows you to create a connection with the deity, the given powers, and spiritual unfolding the image holds. This is somewhat of an extremely brief look at what this type of practice is, but it is very similar to Koetting’s opening of squares and sigils.

Yet, like the grimoire culture, some people will swear that you need a mandala of extravagant accord fashioned into a particular metal. Some will go on to say that they must be charged by someone “certified” to do so, and anything else is strictly forbidden. This may sound constrictive, and it most certainly is narrow in methodology and practice. However, when you understand that the old Hindu caste system was extremely narrow, constrictive, and unwilling to allow for certain things to be released to certain people, it is obvious that this is why these things were put in place. If the untouchable class got a hold of the information, and started drawing mandalas in dirt and meditating, it may not be long before that system dies, and since the power structure allowed to wealthy to stay wealthy, they weren’t going to fashion a spiritual system that worked for anyone but them.

Nowadays, people are having great success simply painting or drawing their own yantra images from scratch, a process that creates a spiritual, physical, and mental connection that involves intense, although natural and usually pleasant, concentration and focus. This winds up being better than entrusting your spiritual and material welfare to an object you did not create, fashioned by someone you don’t even know.

E.A. has put together an approach when you get to cultivating the properties of magick that allow you to create Godlike power, or that is at least his goal. What this is going to prime you to do is find a way to interact with as much responsibility placed specifically on you as possible. You got people here conducting very successful and potent evocations with cardboard altars, butter knife wands, and dixie cup chalices. Since they have confidence in the implements they use, they work. It’s really that simple, everything else is theater (which is a big part of magick sometimes so if you got the means, go for it).

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It’s true, but that’s not how they started, is it?