S. Connolly Books

Since S. Connolly had been getting a lot of mention I decided to check around on her books. What books of hers should be considered required reading? I saw the Keys of Ocat on Nephilim’s site and found a reasonably priced copy of The Infernal Colopatiron which has been getting some mention and has intrigued my interest.

So what books of her catologue would you guys recommend?

EDIT: Forgot to mention I did enjoy reading about the Infernal Colopatrion that Connolly put a curse on the material that is activated if the material is illegally downloaded/pirated. LOL wouldn’t be surprised to see that become a new trend in occult publishing Demonic Copyright Protected (insert sinister laugh).

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complete book of daemonolatry, the daemonolator’s guide to daemonic magic, and daemonolatry goetia are probably your best books to start with. that’s about 1000 pages of reading, but i managed to finish all the books in two weeks due to how easily they read.

those are always available, however, so if you have the cash and you’re interested, i’d start with the numbered releases like keys of ocat and infernal colopatiron. there’s also another paperback called honoring death which is the first in the necromantic cycle, if i am not mistaken, which goes with the two hardbacks above. if you get keys of ocat, there’s another book you need to get called the keys of death. it’s a full-colour supplement to keys of ocat which has the coloured versions of the enochian tablets contained in the book.

if you’ve ever seen coloured enochian tablets, you’ll understand how useful it is to actually have them in colour. there are no instructions in keys of ocat (of which i am aware) that tell you how they should be coloured. also, the supplement gives you the encryption cypher for the enochian as keys of ocat’s tablets are written in enochian and require translating. not hard but rather tedious. the supplement makes this a whole bunch easier.

i also have a book called curses, hexes and crossing but i didn’t find it very useful. interesting, no doubt, and great to have a daemonic reference on the subject, but not as comprehensive as BM.

she also has a few other books i’m looking to get for myself when i can afford them. they’re paperbacks but they concern daemonic sigil-based divination (sigillum diaboli), a full pathworking ritual based on the content of the infernal colopatiron (it’s called the nuctemeron gates), and necromantic sacraments, which goes with honoring death and keysof ocat. i don’t know much about it but it’ll be one of the few i don’t have, if i don’t get it LOL.

i think she has one about a ba’al pathworking but i wasn’t too interested in that one. all the paperbacks are reasonably priced on amazon so considering what you’re getting, it’s really good value. she also offers ritual and meditation journals, but the hell with that. i just write mine out in my pride and prejudice and zombies journal.

-j

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At least to see her writing style and learn about her system you can read “Modern Demonolatry” of her. You can find it’s pdf legally for free

Tiberius and Dantresh thanks for the info. I think I’ll likely get the limited works first while they’re available and pick up the paperbacks later on. If nothing else I can always sell them and get my money back at a later date. I’ve read some reviews of her books that stated they were a bit on the thin side and not in depth enough but I also understand some people can’t be pleased but the overall reception to her works seems to be one of acceptance.

psht never mind that.

i have them, and i can assure you that the books definitely don’t cover much. they’re not like EA’s somewhat verbose style, but rather a series of notes with only the critical information listed. i had to send a few emails to her/assistant to clarify a few points. if you’re left a little confuzzled about the colopatiron (in terms of practical application), i have a few answers which have helped me a great deal. the system is dead simple once you can visualise the steps, and incredibly useful (also potentially… well, you should prolly know what you’re doing beforehand).

the colopatiron and keys of ocat are specialised books, but the paperbacks are significantly more generalised (and thus five times thicker). don’t be put off by the brevity of the hardbacks. they’re invaluable (in my opinion) for what they are. and yes, you could get your money back no problem. they’re already selling on ebay for several hundred each. may as well get them while they’re $40. they also have sigil bestiaries so you can always use your regular evocation model with the new sigils for all sorts of daemonic goodness.

the paperbacks, by comparison, are more of a general how-to (similar to WoD in some respects). i’d say they have a whole heap more info, but the info itself is generally less useful. more of a daemonic 101, i suppose, while the hardbacks are more like BoA, KoF and EE.

and i think modern daemonolatry (as mentioned above) is the predecessor to the complete book of daemonolatry, so it’s good value if it’s free or cheap (i.e, kindle). if you wanna check out the general vibe, search for OFSAdrianna on youtube.

and no, i don’t get paid to plug her stuff. i just like to pay credit where it’s due, just as i would with EA’s stuff in any other circumstance.

-j

The books are nice from one perspective, but my advice is, if you are worshiping demons (and no, not in the sense of the sort of service that is given to, say, the Loa, which no Vodouisant would say he worships in the commonly understood sense of the word) you are selling yourself short as a being that is - potentially at least - far, far above them. Sure, they are more powerful than you are, but to measure station in this way is to think of the burly peasant warrior as above the infant of a nobleman. That is not to compare any demon to a peasant. Once you have understood your true nature, however, you will have understood how absurd it is for you as a man to be, not merely loving as you should, but worshiping any creation. That is not the way to work with them to bring yourself fulfillment. In fact, it’s downright unhealthy in the long term. Just take a look at these demonolators. Take a look at Mrs Connolly and tell me that hers is the image of a living god.

because it’s 0330 and i only woke up to take a piss and grab some cereal, i’m just going to post the link below, which i came to post, and go back to fucking bed. if anybody wants me to give the post above a royal spanking, just ask and i will oblige. otherwise, i’ll just drop the issue.

DB Publishing March 2010: Current Offerings

-james.

Feel free to spank away lol. I’m curious to see the different aspects of the conversation and the topic in general.

I agree, nothing better than a healthy discussion on the topic. With this our minds will grow hearing each others views.

Yeah I decided to check out keys of ocat since alot of people were giving ti good reviews. An d it did have some useful information in it, but at the same time I agree with poete. I’ve seen my true self and I know its something far beyond demons, so to me worshipping them is just wrongheaded. Also I showed keys to my occult teacher and he said she got some stuff wrong in the book, though he didn’t really go into detail about what exactly. One thing is apprently there is a more effective death incense then the death current incense she had in the book which is what I was actually asking him about as I wanted to buy some for the death of the old self ritual.

Done.

Now, I don’t know how to use the quote feature, and I’m too damned old to learn so bear with me. Also I just had an ice cream and it was tasty as fuck.

“The books are nice from one perspective”

Sure, we can agree on that. Fair call.

“but my advice is, if you are worshiping demons (and no, not in the sense of the sort of service that is given to, say, the Loa, which no Vodouisant would say he worships in the commonly understood sense of the word)”

First of all, the worst vice is advice. I don’t give it, and unless I ask for it, I’m sure as hell not taking it. Your advice is worth nothing except the irritation of having it forced upon others. Second, you go so far as to infer a differences in interpretation of the word “worship” - what you see as the “commonly understood sense of the word” and how you perceive Voudon practise as being apart from this. As EA is heavily involved with Voudon, and Mz. Connolly is not, I can only draw the conclusion that you are sucking EA’s dick and trying to earn brownie points by making this weak distinction. If you understood daemonolatry, you would also understand how the term “worship” fits into the system as a whole, but you don’t and thus by your very “advice”, you also demonstrate both ignorance and arrogance.

“you are selling yourself short as a being that is - potentially at least - far, far above them.”

Tell that to a daemon (or an angel etc) and see how much they agree with your theory. Human beings are not above anything until they have proven themselves to have earned that position. So far, I have not met a person who has been able to rise above even themselves, let alone anything else. Your claim at superiority is a hollow pretension.

“Sure, they are more powerful than you are, but to measure station in this way is to think of the burly peasant warrior as above the infant of a nobleman. That is not to compare any demon to a peasant.”

Do I really need to point out that if they are “more powerful” than us, then that is, at least, one way in which we are most certainly not “above them”? You’re starting to contradict yourself. Also, your analogy is lame. When the “nobleman” grows up, the “burly peasant” is still going to rape the shit out of them. That’s called power, and if you have trouble accepting the simplicity of the argument, it’s because your analogy was poor from the beginning. Also, you did just compare a daemon to a peasant, so now you’re contradicting yourself again. If you weren’t comparing them as such, you wouldn’t need to make a big deal of pointing out that you weren’t, but again, your analogy is poor and your pretension is the only support you have for a faulty rationale.

“Once you have understood your true nature, however, you will have understood how absurd it is for you as a man to be, not merely loving as you should, but worshiping any creation.”

To advise others on their “true nature”, you must have already found it. What are you, god? And you go on to assume that the true nature of others will in fact be congruent with your own experience - assuming you actually know anything at all about your “true nature” - which is not only narrow-minded but downright insulting. Who said anything about love? Why “should” I love, or do anything else that you tell me? How about I tell you what you should or shouldn’t do? And I worship myself, and I was created. Others worship nature, and that was created. Others still worship any number of things, and I challenge you to prove that any of these things weren’t created.

“That is not the way to work with them to bring yourself fulfillment.”

Really? If you know so much about how to work with daemons, why haven’t you written a book on the subject, or even a single constructive post on this forum? Some people use the term “armchair theorist” as a derogative against those who don’t actively practise, but I doubt you even have a solid grounding in theory, based on the nonsensical assumptions you like to pass off as fact. Moreover, who is to say what is fulfilling for others? I mean, sex with me may very well be one of those life-changing experiences that provide people with meaning, deep spiritual satisfaction and their sole reason to live, but I understand if a girl doesn’t think so. Clearly she’d have to be a lesbian, but that doesn’t mean that my own standards of personal fulfillment are in any say superior or more correct than those of others.

“In fact, it’s downright unhealthy in the long term.”

What, are you a doctor now?

“Just take a look at these demonolators. Take a look at Mrs Connolly and tell me that hers is the image of a living god.”

Oh yes, it’s easy to condemn someone who isn’t here to defend themselves. I take a look at the daemonolators and I see a small group of dedicated magicians who produce material for others to use. Or, to discard as they see fit. I judge them based on their writings and on the use their writings are to me, personally. The same has been said about EA, what with his having been addicted to various narcotics etc. However, EA isn’t hassling me for money to buy dope, or stealing my shit, or ripping me off, so I don’t care about his personal life and where it has taken him in the past. What matters is the content and usefulness of his books, and I have found them to be very useful indeed. Similarly, the daemonolators have put out a good deal of material, and I find their work to be similarly as useful. Some will not agree, and yet others will. The difference between EA, the daemonolators, and you, is that they have material on which educated, informed and personal judgments can be made well aside from all other factors. If their magic works - whoever they are - then I’m interested. If all they have are half-baked, pretentious opinions with no demonstrable basis in reality, then I take a very cynical perspective. Again, when was the last time you wrote a book on the subject of magic? And for the record, I have been published by Scarlet Imprint. Just an essay, but something by which my standard of education and rhetoric may be judged, and something which I put out there as a contribution to the magical community at large. Finally, when I look at Mz. Connolly, I see a dedicated magician with a long history (~30 years) of practise, a dozen or so books on the subject which I am free to accept or reject as I please, a series of informative YouTube videos offered free of charge and a wealth of experience on the topic of evocation and daemonolatry to which I have never before had access. I see someone that I respect, who has also produced a great deal of interesting and helpful material which I both use on a regular basis, and am most grateful for. Also, I see a sexy, sexy lady. Rowl!

Don’t you understand that your unfounded criticism of Mz. Connolly in particular, and daemonolatry at large, is as much a proxy attack on EA and the work he’s contributed to the field? Marginalising daemonolaters is just another way that you reinforce your own sense of pretentious and completely unfounded superiority, while relying on the work that EA has done to provide you a sense of commonality with others on this forum. At the end of the day, you, and everyone else are only as good as their results. So far, however, you’re the only one in the room who hasn’t got any to share.

-James.

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defectron: if you can find what she “got wrong”, i’d be interested to hear about it. i’d do my own research and correct the book if need be. unfortunately, i haven’t even finished reading that one, as i got caught up in the colopatiron and i’ve been spending all my time on that.

also, daemonolatry isn’t like RHP worship. it’s more of a veneration/respect kinda dealy. if we take traditional solomonic goetia as the far-RHP form of evoking, and EA’s as a more middle-LHP form, daemonolatry is a little more left of that. much of EA’s work leaves off with physical manifestation and the evocation of legions etc (via squares and the like). daemonolatry incorporates teacher daemons (much like EA did with BoA, i suppose) and matron/patron daemons almost as kind of spirit guide, but without explicit pacts most of the time. it brings daemonic energy into daily existence as a form of ascent rather than simply “i want” type rituals.

-james.

Forgive my ignorance but from your post I gather demonolatry is more akin to ancestor veneration than say subjugation. One would give offerings and thanks to the demons/spirits he has a working relationship with as opposed to flat out worshiping them as a master for lack of a better term. I can appreciate that as it shows respect for the power your working with, it seems like a more dedicated practice than just offering a candle and incense to a spirit for completing a task.

I appreciate both sides of the argument an am not biased to either side of the fence. I also would like to thank everyone for their input so far.

I looked through Connolly’s titles and saw that she deals with necromancy which is a field I know little of and want to learn about. So that was one point that definitely intrigued me. Also I generally don’t practice directly by the book but take whatever I find useful and what resonates with me and see if it fits my practice. If I get my fingers burned which luckily I haven’t been burned badly yet (knock on wood) then it is an experience to learn and grow from.

Once again Tiberius_James as articulate and informative as ever.

I too wish to thank both sides presented here even though I believe the remark about Stephanie Connolly was unwarranted.

Defectron, if you can ask your teacher where Ms Connolly is wrong in the book that would be very informative for me and for others so that we can see his perspective as well.

wanderingfool: daemonolatry ranges, depending on the practitioner. some who evoke (not daemonolators, i mean) still use the old solomonic tirade with aesfoetida and torture boxes, while many of us here use EA’s method which is a little more respectful. or, at least not psychotic and homicidal.

similarly, some who regard daemons as forgotten pagan gods will “worship” them in the same way that a neo/pagan might worship their own pantheon, and everyone’s pantheon is going to be different. daemons are often seen as companions in the metaphysical sense of the word.

i can’t speak for everyone, and i myself am not specifically a daemonolator, but from what i know and what little of it i have incorporated, it’s about a symbiosis with entities which do not exist in the physical realm. it’s similar to the relationship we have with our pets. we provide them everything they need, and they ignore us (well, if you have a cat, anyway). why would we choose to be “subservient” to another? because we enjoy their company and we love having them around (and my cat’s really adorable and i cuddle the shit out of him). we don’t pretend to have control over them, we want what’s best for them, and we take what we want from them (companionship etc). there’s no “kneel down and pray” about it, but we still sacrifice a great deal for our pets. wait until you get your next vet bill and see if we don’t sacrifice for them.

it’s the same sort of thing with daemons. we want their company, their guidance and at times, for them to bring us things we wouldn’t otherwise have. if you “pay” them, they’re whores. if you threaten them, you’re a tyrant. the only “evolved” relationship one can have with another, whether it’s a daemon or a lizard is that of “do what thou wilt”. do what you will, and so will they, and if one of you hasn’t killed the other, it may just work out in both your interests. isn’t that what marriage is about?

as we all know, this isn’t belief in daemons. what we do is experimentation to discover hidden truths. if we’re talking about this now, then we’ve all discovered that daemons are objectively real to some degree and can be interacted with. that means that a relationship can begin and can continue to develop. as with any relationship, there is give and take, but if one isn’t willing to give because they see it as “daemon worship”, one can’t be expected to be able to take, either.

again, this is just my opinion, and naturally circumstances will vary between people and between daemons, but i always draw sigils in magical ink laced with my own blood, burn incense (of my choosing) and pour out a shot of my best spirit alcohol (usually south african absinthe, high-end bourbon or whatever else i’m drinking) and if possible, a fetish aligned with the daemon. for goetic kings, i leave my old wedding ring in the triangle as it’s 14k gold, and they are associated with the hour/day of the sun (i.e, gold and its alloys). moreover, if i’m out of alcohol, i’ll either apologise for not havin any to offer, or i’ll offer fruit juice or maybe some distilled water. ideally, i’ll go out and spend $60 on a good bottle of absinthe etc just for the spirit i’m evoking. (sometimes if i rush an evocation, water’s all i got).

i see the difference in terms of respect. if i were evoking someone like babalon, i would offer roses and red wine or chocolates. part of it all is the effort we put in, like the ritual bath, the fasting, the not sleeping, the cleansing/cleaning/banishing etc. if we are happy to please the spirit (and yes i know it takes time to develop a relationship, but the bare minimum could still be considered social courtesy, like a drink and some incense)… then we are doing ourselves a service in that we will be proud of the effort we’ve taken to make the evocation more comfortable for them. if we clearly don’t give a shit, first, why would they? and second, it shows how little consideration we have as human beings for the comfort of others, and ourselves (fucking story of humanity, eh?)

there’s one spirit i’ve worked with a number of times, and i fucking hate to do so. every time i evoke them, they’re always… well not aggressive, but their vibe is exceptionally unpleasant and i want to fucking punch them in the face (or wherever you hit a daemon). however, as they have helped me out an enormous amount, and are still willing to after all this time, i always try to keep them happy, and each request i pass to them, i always add “…and if you help me out quickly and efficiently, to my satisfaction, i will ensure that i have whiskey and whatever and so on prepared in advance for your enjoyment”. or, however i decide to word it at the time. if a spirit asks for something reasonable like “i don’t like whiskey. give me red wine” then yeah, sure. i’d make them a sandwich if they wanted, no big deal. however, if they want to use my cat as a chew toy, then, no. they can get the fuck out.

no daemon i’ve ever evoked has taken the shot before being invited to do so, which i find most polite of them. is this worship? fuck no. do you worship every guest you invite into your home and offer a drink, and a place to sit? i believe in common courtesy, even if that’s just “i’m being nice to you. please don’t fuck me up”. i still don’t know why daemons appear at all, let alone help us along (and i’m still looking for a good answer to that one), but i know for sure that they like tasty things (apparently chocolate covered cherries, so i’ve heard?) so if it’s no big deal, why not oblige them? or not, i suppose, if that’s your thing, but i don’t think anyone would call this worship. i certainly don’t.

just thinkin out loud.

p.s, thanks for the kind words, sadie:)

-james.

I had almost completed a reply in kind, when it dawned on me how unnecessary it would be to take this course of action. I’m not going to dignify such an aggressive rant with a published response of my own. It’s most unfortunate that what could have been a reasoned discussion from which people - ourselves included - could and would have learned something had to turn into the first shots fired in a flame war.

So, if anyone is truly interested in my retort to this confused post, and my evolving approach towards the spirits of the Lemegeton in particular, with whom I have worked extensively for many years and in many different ways, feel free to send me a private message. I might answer.

No problem at all Tiberius_James. Your contributions on this forum are pure gold ! I and I’m sure many others are grateful for your knowledge, insight and in depth dialogue that you deliver…only stating the God honest truth here my friend.

Yeah I’m not too familiar with what the term worship is meant as in Demonalitry, my only exposure to it is what has been mentioned in the forum and what Connally has wrote of in ocat. If you just mean showing respect to the demons, then yes I’m all for that. After all it’s only right to do so with someone who is your guest/allie, not to mention there’s a better chance they’ll doa good job with whatever you ask if you treat them well. What I don’t believe in doing though is putting them on a pedastal above you as a superior. Though maybe that’s not what demonalatry worship is about b ased on what you were saying. Anyway as for what was wrong, yeah I could ask him for more details, though he’s a busy guy who has more important things to do then look through one of my books to find all the stuff that is wrong so I can’t promise the response to those questions would come anytime soon. But what I will do is ask specifically what the ingredients were that he used for his version of the death current incense the next time I see him And I’ll post those on the forum later.

You are correct.

An excerpt from The Book of Azazel, p. 50

[quote=“E.A.”]I laid out the Circle of Demonic Pacts on the floor, the likes of which I had been using for each evocation of Azazel. I placed a chair in the middle of the Circle, black candles burning at either side, copal resin melting in front of me, filling the room with thick, piney smoke. With notepad and pen in my lap, I called upon Azazel. The air buzzed, filled with invisible, noisy locusts. I could feel the shift in the pressure around me, my ears plugging, my heart struggling to push liquid to my limbs. I fell through rings of reality, and the incense smoke coalesced into a column, forming the shape of that ebon, horned giant with the legs of an animal, the chest and arms of a man, and a face unmistakably that of a demon.

Azazel had come.

I posed a single and simple command: “Explain the Infernal Hierarchy to me.”

I perched the pen between my fingers, the tip scratching at the paper, ready to take the demon’s dictation.

The shadow figure was silent. I imagined that he was thinking, or that his mind was reaching into millennia past and through the endless kingdoms of the astral plane to find the answer.

He finally gave it:

The Infernal Hierarchy is as follows: The Operator; and everything else in existence.

The form vanished, the incense smoke scattering through the room, taking the shape again as nothing more than smoke. I rose again through those rings of reality, seated in an empty room with a nearly blank notebook page.[/quote]

Demons, by nature, exist to serve magicians.

good point timothy, but by that reasoning (with which i agree), the “everything else in existence” includes everything save the operator - including other human beings, all of nature, and the fabric of space/time.

thus, as each individual is the centre of their subjective universe, there can be no collective if which to speak. if i may paraphrase the last line of your previous post, i believe it would be more accurate to say that “daemons, by nature, exist to serve a magician”, on an individual level as the magician is the focal point of their cosmos, rather than magicians as a plurality. similarly, it could be argued that from the daemon’s point of view, the roles are reversed and thus brings into question the nature of consciousness vs reality.

interested to hear the thoughts of others. when i first read that part of the BoA, i was stunned at how simple the concept seemed, and yet how well it resonated with me. also, i’ve found that the principle can be applied on a number of levels, albeit largely on a theoretical basis.

kind regards, james.