Dunno about the “soul ripping” but from my experience he can definitely drop knowledge on your head lol for the workshop i ended up evoking vine to experiment with one of the ritual formulas he dropped on my head. He was there to witness and bless the operation. Essentally the ritual was a planetary operation that evoked vine for witness and blessing followed by 5 planetary evocations for 1 goal. Wiped me the hell out pretty quick.