The Goetia Ritual: The Power of Magic Revealed

The Power of Magic Revealed

The

Goe†ia

Ritual

First Edition

Copyright © 2017 by Guy Bernard & Antony Lawrence

ISBN: 978-0-6481216-1-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, conveyed via the internet or a website or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright holders, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

MALEDICTION

Given the amount of piracy, the copyright holders thought it fitting to include a malediction against those who intend to reproduce this book without their express permission:

Quod si quis possidere tentaverit, maledicatur per universum orbem et audiatur de illo etc. et erubescat et conturbetur in saeculum saeculi et confundatur et pereat. Non sit cohaeres Christi, sed sit particeps Pharaonis in inferno, qui ait: Domi-num nescio, et Israel non dimittam.¹

DISCLAIMER

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CONTACT US

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Table of Contents

About This Book

Introduction

Chapter 1. Observatio Generalis

Observations

Taking a Magical Oath

Preliminaries

Time-Lunar Phase

Zodiac Time References

Astrological Timing Instructions and Examples

How to Find the Most Auspicious Zodiac-Time

How to Utilise Crowley's Zodiac Time Version

The Demon's Sigil and Lamen

Charged Tarot Cards

Hexagram of Solomon (Lamen of Protection)

The Pentagram of Solomon

The Circle of the Art

The Circle of the Art (From the Heptameron)

The Triangle of the Art

The Ring of Solomon

Other Elementary Weapons

About Charged Elementary Weapons

Incense

Offerings

The Golden Rule of Magic

Chapter 2. Consecratio

Observations

Consecratio Ritual-Litanies

Demon and Timing

Material Requirements

Part One: Preliminary Litany

Part Two: Banishing and Unification Ritual

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP)

1. The Kabbalistic Cross

2. The Banishing Pentagrams and the Circle

3. Invocation of the Archangels & Vision of the Pillar of Light

4. The Kabbalistic Cross

Alternative for Making Sacred Water

Additional Material

Prayer Over the Circle of the Art (Crowley's Version)

Prayer for the Hexagram of Solomon

Prayer for the Pentagram of Solomon

Prayer for the Triangle of the Art

Chapter 3. Invocatio

Observations

Invocatio Ritual-Litanies

Invocations

Shorter Invocation

1. The Bornless Rite 1904

2. Archangelic Invocation

3. Opening of the Portal

Longer Invocation

The Bornless Rite: 1929

The Oath

Air

Fire

Water

Earth

Spirit

Additional Material

The First and Second Enochian Keys or Calls

The First Enochian Key or Call

The Second Enochian Key or Call

Chapter 4. Evocatio

Observations

Practical Considerations

Evocatio Ritual-Litanies

Evocatory Calls

General Evocation of the Goetia Demon

The Second Evocation

The Constraint

The Evocation of the Demon King

The Lesser Curse

The Evocation of Fire

The Greater Curse

Chapter 5. Ligatio

Observations

Ligatio Ritual-Litanies

Welcome Address to the Demon

Personal Request

Interrogatories

Oral Bond of the Demon

Written Bond of the Demon

Chapter 6. Licentia

Observations

Licentia Ritual-Litanies

The License to Depart Forms

Goetia Form

Crowley's Form

Other Alternative Forms

Give Thanks

Exorcism of the Receiver

The Closing of the Portal

Final Phase

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP)

The Ritual of the Rose Cross

Completion and Storage of Artefacts

Chapter 7. 72 Goetia Demons

Observations

The Origins of the Goetia Demons' Sigils

Goetia Demons' Origin, Celestial References and Fall

Goetia Demons' Legions

Goetia Demons' Planetary, Zodiac References and Rank

Goetia Demon Allocations to the Four Demon Kings of the Cardinal Points

The Four Demon Kings of the Cardinal Points

The Four Archangels

Shemhamphorasch Angels of the Goetia Demons

Shemhamphoraschs' and Archangels' Allocation for Each Goetia Demon

About Demonic Pacts

Observations from the Book of Abramelin

The 72 Goetia Demons' Profiles

[1] Bael

[2] Agares

[3] Vassago

[4] Gamigin

[5] Marbas

[6] Valefar

[7] Amon

[8] Barbatos

[9] Paimon

[10] Buer

[11) Gusoin

[12] Sitri

[13] Beleth

[14] Leraje

[15] Eligos

[16] Zepar

[17] Botis

[18] Bathin

[19] Saleos

[20] Purson

[21] Morax

[22] Ipos

[23] Aim

[24] Naberus

[25] Glasia-La Bolas

[26] Bune

[27] Ronove

[28] Berith

[29] Astaroth

[30] Forneus

[31] Foras

[32] Asmoday

[33] Gaap

[34] Furfur

[35] Marchosias

[36] Stolas

[37] Phoenix

[38] Halphas

[39] Malphas

[40] Raum

[41] Focalor

[42] Vepar

[43] Sabnock

[44] Shax

[45] Vine

[46] Bifrons

[47] Vual

[48] Haagenti

[49] Procel

[50] Furcas

[51] Balam

[52] Alloces

[53] Caim

[54] Murmur

[55] Orobas

[56] Gemory

[57] Ose

[58] Auns

[59] Orias

[60] Napula

[61] Zagan

[62] Valac

[63] Andras

[64] Flauros

[65] Andrealphus

[66] Cimeries

[67] Amduscias

[68] Belial

[69] Decarabia

[70]Seer

[71] Dantalion

[72] Andromalius

Pruflas [or Bufas]

Quickstart Goetia Ritual

Tables of Goetia Demons' Powers

Selected Bibliography

About This Book

The Power of Magic Revealed: The Goetia Ritual aims to make the power of magic realised through the binding of spiritual forces. With this in mind, it is written to teach those who know little or nothing about magic. However, it can also be adapted by experienced magicians who are looking to enhance or diverse their knowledge and skills in magic.

This book presents an ancient magical-technology known as Goetia. This technology has been circulating in various written forms for millennia. Magicians have relied upon it for the binding of spiritual forces, specifically demonic, to a purposeful intent. Aleister Crowley was one of the first to give it a modern form with his co-edited 1904 publication, entitled The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King. However, for the novice, Crowley's book remains complex and perhaps a hazardous undertaking. When writing this book we aimed to convey greater accessibility to the Goetia's esoteric and ancient form. In so doing, we have not abandoned Crowley, but instead, followed and expanded upon his lead. For the purposes of our book we have formalised the Goetia magic process into a safe ritual form, which we have termed The Goetia Ritual.

In order to make the Goetia ritual accessible, and safer, we have broken it down into its component parts and methodically reassembled them into a unified work. Chapter 1 deals with the objects and instruments necessary to prepare and make for the Goetia Ritual. Chapters 2-6, are the core litanies, where you will find systematic liturgical instructions and prayers for a Goetia performance. Aiming to improve readability, in particular during a ritual performance, the prayers and litanies within chapters 2-6 or Stages1-5 in the QuickStart are highlighted in red italics with the main instructions in bold text. However, the red text is only available in colour supported ebook readers, while black & white ebooks and printed paperbacks, the red italicised text will instead appear as light grey. Chapter 7 provides information about the 72 Goetia demons, including their attributes, and powers. Such information will assist you in deciding on the most appropriate demon to bind, and that which best suits your intention(s). For quick referencing, the demons' powers are summarised in table form at the back of this book.

At the end of this book we have created a user guide called QUICKSTART GOETIA RITUAL. Within this text is the entire Goetia ritual as presented in Chapters 2 to 6 (chapters are renamed as stages 1 to 5), but shorn of commentary, thus creating a continuous piece that serves to make Goetia magic easy to follow and understand.

The Quickstart Goetia Ritual is suitable for the beginner who has acquired a basic understanding of Goetia magic. As for the more experienced practitioner, the Quickstart can become a dynamic work platform, where they can craft or modify it to their specific liking and needs.

We hope that reading this book will be an enjoyable learning experience, and may it empower and bring success into your life.

Adam and Eve by Franz von Stuck (c. 1920-26)

Faust (undertaking a Magical Evocation):²

In the beginning was the force of the [goetia] word

But what is this I see?

Can this happen naturally?

Is it a phantom or is it real?

The demon-dog growing big and tall

He rises powerfully

With fiery eyes and fearful jaws

The Key of Solomon is good

For conjuring your half-hellish brood

He lies there quietly grinning at me

I'll press him hard now

Who are you?

Exited from Hell's jaws

Now this demon swells with its bristling hair

Depraved being!

The Uncreated One

With name unexpressed

I'll sting you with fire that's holy

Triple-glowing light

Mephistopheles (the demon)

Why such alarms? What command would my Lord impart?

I bow to the learned Lord!

You certainly made me sweat in style

Faust

What is your name?

Mephistopheles (the demon)

A slight question

For one who so disdains the Word

Is so distant from appearance; one

Whom only the vital depth have stirred

I am the spirit ever that denies

And rightly so since everything created

In turn deserves to be annihilated:

Better if nothing came to be,

So all that you call sin you see,

Destruction, in short what you've meant

By Evil is my true element

Saint Wolfgang and the Devil by Michael Pacher (c. 1471-75)

Introduction

At times, Goetia has been described as either black magic³ or as Satanism undiluted.⁴ Of these and other adverse myths hostile to Goetia magic can be thematically classified into four principal propagandistic types. First and foremost, that Goetia Magic is a species of Satanism with one form being a demonic pack with a demon, while another being a type of quasi-religious ceremony of demon worship. Second, that Goetia Magic is contrary to Divine laws. Third, that it is a maleficent magic technology. Fourth, that Goetia Magic can be dismissed as something fantastic without any substantive reality and history. The famed (for some, infamous) magician and a member of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was one of the first magicians to not only attempt to correct myths and misrepresentations attached to Goetia Magic, but also, to give it a modern form with his co-edited 1904 publication, entitled The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King.⁵ Through this work and other writings, Crowley emphasised that goetia technology places the magician at its centre and through it operates to invoke the Divine to cause demonic forces to manifest so that the magician impresses their Will upon the demon. Working within Divine laws, Goetia Magic can therefore utilise spiritual creatures of the Divine, in this case, demons, for the benefit of the magician. The purposes of the technology are not maleficent but beneficent; not Divine prohibited, but instead, Divine sanctioned. Moreover, the technology operates within its own history, the western esoteric, and has developed a rich vein of substantive tradition.

The word Goetia has its origins in the Ancient Greek belief, of the restless dead and the art of giving them passage to the Underworld, known as Hades.⁶ The restless dead were those who died but whose spirit refused to make the obligatory passage to Hades. They continued to linger amongst the living manifesting themselves as spectral shades or ghosts; causing the living either mischief or much horror.⁷ The Goès were magicians who solved this problem through magical rituals that compelled the restless dead to exit the astral plane of the living and enter that of the dead. This ritual was a type of exorcism of the ghost. This profession or art was called, Goèteia.⁸

Over time, magicians practicing Goèteia or Goetia, as it came to be known, left the restless dead behind to focus upon calling up daimons. By daimons is meant those powerful elemental forces that manifest themselves in nature. As the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle profoundly said, Nature is Daimonic, not Divine.⁹ By this the ancients meant that daimons signified raw primal power, as Proclus graphically captured in an orison to the gods:

Ferocious daimons, noxious to mankind, Dread the dire anger of thy rapid scourge; Daimons, who machinate a thousand ills, Pregnant with ruin to our wretched souls, That merged beneath life's dreadful-sounding sea, in body's chains severely they may toil, Nor e'er remember in the dark abyss The splendid palace of their fire sublime.¹⁰

According to the fourth-century theurgist philosopher Iamblichus, Daimons make manifest the powers of the gods, and reveal what is ineffable in them, shape what is formless into forms, and render what is beyond all measure of visible ratios.¹¹ Daimons were seen as liminal forces, that is, they were outside any given category but situated exactly between two that are otherwise considered to be mutually exclusive.¹² Associated and bound to nature in the hierarchy of spirit beings, they operated between the celestial objects and the terrestrial inhabitants.¹³The Qabalah¹⁴ retains this idea of situating daimons in the domain of Malkuth (Earth) and extending to Yesod (Moon), under whose spectral gaze they come.

In becoming daimon-focused, Goetia practice, therefore, evolved into something far more powerful and menacing than assuaging the unruly spirits of the dead. In fact, one can say it became darker. Goetia operations were directed at the evocation or the conjuration of daimons; Daimons as sublunary beings representatives of elemental forces: Water, Earth, Air, and Fire were evoked or conjured by Goetia magicians with the authority of the Divine. This divine authority, the magician realises through an operation described as an invocation. Through invocation, the magician's being is transformed and conducted to the divine realm, as if carried on the wings of Thoth.¹⁵ A fragment from the Pyramid Texts has the initiate recite:

My seat is with you, O Ra...I will ascend to the sky to you, Ra, for my face is that of Falcons, my wings are those of a Duck... I fly away from you.¹⁶

During the invocation, the magician reaches up, and draws down the Divine within, hence filling and clothing themselves with the presence and genius of the Divine. A Chaldean oracular fragment declares:

You must hasten toward the light and towards the rays of the Father from where the soul clothed in the mighty intellect, has been sent to you.¹⁷

And further, listen to the voice of fire.¹⁸

Once vested with the Divine, the magician has the divine authority to evoke daimons and bind them to their Will. Daimons do not respond to mere mortals, but to something divine; such is the key to Goetia Magic.

With the rise of Christianity, the powerful organisation, the Catholic church, acting as the official religious organ for Europe for over a millennium, brought to bear its immense resources to stamp out the practice of Goetia and its operators. It did this rather simply: through the active burning of their magical books that it considered evil, and indeed seen as materialisations of evil. The Church also accused Goetia practitioners of witchcraft and sorcery, which was punishable by death through burning. Fire drove the Goetia underground. The theological fathers of the Church, prominent amongst them, St Augustine of Hippo (354-430), denounced Goetia practices as sorcery and a detestable name.¹⁹ Applying theological alchemy, the Church morphed Daimon (or the Latin Daemon) into Demon, and branded it as a creature of pure evil. Writes Tertullian an Apostolic Father of the second century, polemicist against heresy, and founder of Christian theology:

Now the entire activity of these demons is directed to the overthrow of mankind, and that is why they infect on our body illness and physical calamities, and on our soul sudden and through their violence extraordinary fits of madness.²⁰

Attaching the demon to a theological meta-narrative, Christianity preached that demons acted as agents of the Arch-Demon, Satan (also known as Lucifer), who together with his compeer, Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, are humanity's arch-enemies. From the Church's theological cosmology, Satan and Beelzebub had tempted a third of heaven's celestial lights (Angels), into open rebellion against their father, God. In quick response God cast them out and threw them into the burning pit of Hell where these Fallen Angels through the subtle intelligence of their leader Satan, managed to escape and enter the Human sphere, causing evil to multiply in its never ending hideous and perverted forms. This cosmic meta-narrative is poetically told by the seventeenth-century English Puritan poet, John Milton (1608-1674), in his epic poem Paradise Lost.

The Church pronounced that Pagan gods were not just representations of evil but the very fallen angels that fell upon the Earth with perverse intentions towards humanity. Hence, Baal (or Baalim), Astaroth, Astarte, Thammuz, Dagon, Osiris, Isis, Orus, Titan, Saturn, Jove amongst others, once worshipped for millennia were now reviled and damned as suzerains' of Satan's horde.²¹ Their places of worship were destroyed or ironically converted to churches.

Even though the Church tried to shift their characterisation into something extreme and remove their liminal nature, daimons remained, and did not, as the Church would have liked, kept themselves within the boundaries of Hell. In fact, they continued as ever before maintaining their presence. However, this presence was utilised through magicians gone dark, in other words, gone underground, through manuscripts that kept alive the ancient operations of Goetia Magic.

The origin of the present Goetia is lost in time. From our research based on surviving Goetia manuscripts, it appears that two Goetia traditions emerged. One tradition is traced through the Picatrix,²² the Liber Juratus (also known as the Sworn Book of Honorius the Magician).²³ The other, the Heptameron of Pseudo-Peter Abano,²⁴ and the Clavis (also known as the Key to the Magic of Solomon)²⁵handed down the means of evoking or conjuring daimonic forces from the four quarters. Critical to the operation within the Picatrix was astrological time and the position of the planets. The drive to a successful evocation was attributed to astrological forces. The Heptameron was less focused on astrological drives but evoked specific daimons by name and by their unique sigil or seal that can be best described as their symbolic signature. The most famous manuscript falling within this tradition includes the Lemegeton Clavicula Solomonis or The Lesser Key of Solomon,²⁶ which contained one book, also called for short, The Goetia. However, this is a convenient name for a collection of manuscripts, and it is from this collection that we have sourced for this book. Whenever we use the term Goetia, we are referring to this larger body of magical work.

The earliest manuscripts contain a list that has come to be known as the Goetia Spirits or Goetia Demons.²⁷ These manuscripts contain a 1577 text by Johann Weyer (1515-1588) entitled Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (The False Monarchy of Demons).²⁸ Written in Latin, it includes 68 Goetia demons, also described as fallen angels, and provides short descriptions as to their appearance and specialisations. Added to the list are brief instructions on the manner in which to evoke a Goetia demon. These include preparation through prayer, the making of a Circle and a litany calling upon the Triune Lord God to empower the magician over the demons. The orison petitions the Lord Jesus Christ of the Christian Gospels:

That thou give me thy virtue & power over all thine angels (which were thrown down from heaven to deceive mankind) to draw them to me, to tie and bind them, & also to loose them, to gather them together before me, & to command them to do all that they can.²⁹

Weyer claims he obtained the list from another source but, unfortunately, is lost.

Goetia manuscripts expanded Weyer's list with the addition of the demons Vassago (3), Seer (70), Dantalion (71) and Andromalius (72). Inexplicitly, Weyer's demon Pruflas (4) finds itself dropped from all future Goetia demonic lists.³⁰ The editorial changes bring the number of Goetia demons to 72; a number rich with symbolic significance.³¹ Because Weyer's number allocation for each Goetia demon is not repeated in future Goetia demon lists, it has caused some writers to conclude that it would appear that there is no logic to the present Goetia numbering. However, other commentators disagree.³²

It is significant that Weyer was a follower/disciple of the famous medieval scholar, and some would say Goetia magus, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535). Agrippa wrote what can be described as the Summa of occult magic, entitled the Three Books of Occult Philosophy, first published between 1531 and 1533. Most famously, Agrippa entered occult legend through the character of Dr. Faust, a dissatisfied academic who barters his soul to Satan's ministering spirit, Mephistopheles, in return for vast knowledge and power. Although there is no documentary evidence, it would not be unreasonable to propose that given the close association between Weyer and Agrippa, Weyer's Goetia demon roll, as found in his Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, may have been sourced from his mentor Agrippa.

Elizabeth Butler, in her study of medieval grimoires and the faustian legend, finds the Goetia's roll of demons disappointing. Of the 72 Goetia demons, only three appear in canonical religious sources, these being Bael (1), Belial (68) and Astaroth (29), while only one demon is mentioned in extra-canonical religious sources, that is, Asmoday (32) (also spelt Asmodeus). In other words, outside the Goetia, the remainder are nowhere else mentioned in religious texts. Butler scathingly writes,

Whoever was responsible for the list in the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and the Lemegeton seems to have relied largely on their own imagination. The result, with a few not very brilliant exceptions, is unimpressive, uncouth and unlikely.³³

She dismisses the Goetia demons as being utterly devoid of mystery or menace, and finds that there is something distinctly bogus about them all.³⁴ Aleister Crowley, was closer to the truth when he considered that each Goetia demon represents portions of the human brain. In other words, the mind's demonic animus or shadows. Extending and expanding upon Crowley's prescient idea, we believe that the demon names of the Goetia also represent the shadow aspects of the Divine. A key to supporting this position is the number 72 for which we have 72 demons. For the medieval Kabbalist (noting that the Goetia had its formation during this period) one of the holiest and most potent names for the Divine was that of 72, which was based on the syllables or triads sourced from three verses of Exodus, 14:19-21, each of which contains 72 letters. We believe (though speculative) that the Goetia demon names may have also been derived from Exodus 14:19-21 for they signify the Divine shadow, or to borrow from the Kabbalah, the Qliphoth, that is the dark side of the Holy Sephirot. It is noted, that from this very passage, the names of the 72 Shemhamphorasch Angels are sourced, which we will discuss in Ch.7. That said, the Goetia demon is expressive of a dynamic demonic animus, or in the ancient pagan sense, daimonic force. The names convey this; hence, they are not meant to be beautiful in form and sound but something else, and that something is the shadow or dark twin of the Divine.

Putting aside Butler's critique, the idiosyncratic peculiarities of the Goetia make greater sense if one approaches the Goetia as the operations of experimental magic sourced from a number of magicians, who amongst themselves, circulated their findings. Over time, the crude list of Goetia demons acquired accretions, further instructions, and short orisons, also known as litanies. As the Goetia evolved and obtained greater circulation, its anonymous writers sought to infuse it with greater authenticity by positioning it within a well-known and famed grimoire tradition, derived from the first-century Jewish grimoire, the Testament of Solomon.³⁵ This grimoire tells the legend of when Solomon discovered that his servant was being preyed upon by a vampirish demon called Ornias; Solomon called upon God to help him. God sent the Archangel Michael with a ring bearing on its bezel, God's seal. This Solomon used to exorcise his servant and later to bind the chief demon Beelzebub and another Arch-demon, Azael. He further had control over 36 demons ³⁶ connected with disease, ill-health, and death. Solomon was able to control all his demons by imprisoning them within a brass vessel; that was topped with a seal. Around the vessel itself were inscribed the holy names of God. Some of these thaumaturgical elements are replicated in the Goetia. We believe that these are unnecessary accretions that detract from the underlying simplicity of the operations. The power of the Goetia lies elsewhere, and that is, for the magician, as the ancient Oracles say, to obtain the monadic Fire with its powerful rays radiating through the Initiate's being.³⁷ Through theurgic rituals, described as sacralisation and invocation, which require the recitation of orations or orisons (i.e. prayers), the elevating power of the divine genius is re-actualized and brought into play³⁸ within the magician. For the ancient Egyptian theurgist, it is symbolised as the re-opening of the Eye of Horus.³⁹

However, the Goetia manuscripts, in their original form, lack crucial theurgic rituals to complete the Goetia ritual within. This predicament is not surprising, as the Goetia manuscripts were not so much magician's primers or manuals, but living working documents. The manuscripts circulated amongst magicians who understood the art of magic; they were not meant for the layperson. There were gaps in the operations, and these deficiencies were filled by the magician from their store of occult knowledge as it was esoteric and known only to magic practitioners and not outsiders, be they, either laypeople or amateurs. Perhaps this was deliberate as without such occult knowledge the Goetia became dangerous, as key operations required for having power over evoked demonic forces were missing, hence exposing any naive amateurs to the risk of harm. Therefore, for the many, who attempted Goetia operations without full knowledge and proper instructions, came to find themselves accidental targets from what they had unwittingly evoked and unleashed, but could not control. Small wonder, then, that amongst magic lore, the Goetia acquired a reputation as an extreme dark type of magic and magic associated with terror and horror.

The Goetia required crucial theurgic additions to make it safer for use, especially for the amateur magician. This was recognised by Crowley who included in his 1904 publication of the Goetia⁴⁰ a Preliminary Invocation, based on a papyrus fragment of a first-century Greek exorcism to the Bornless One. Crowley reverse engineered the orison into an invocation that transfigures the magician into the Divine. This offered the magician the divine authority and power over a demon. Crowley understood the essentialness of the theurgic rite of invocation, which is to be performed before any Goetia evocation. Later, he further developed this Invocation into a mature Thelemic composition that he called Liber Samekh Theurgia Goetia Summa (Congressus Cum Daemone).⁴¹

In preparing our book, we have relied upon and expanded Crowley's 1904 edition of the Goetia. However, we have also relied upon more recent scholarly and reputable facsimile publications of Goetia material, specifically, editions by Joseph Peterson (ed.), The Lesser Key of Solomon; Stephen Skinner & David Rankine (eds), The Goetia of Dr Rudd; and Ioannis Marathakis (trans. & ed.) The Magical Treatise of Solomon or Hygromanteia.⁴²

Apart from Crowley, we have also been guided by the insights of other modern magicians, including, Dione Fortune (1890-1946),⁴³ Franz Bardon (1901-1958),⁴⁴ William G. Gray (1913-1992),⁴⁵ Israel Regardie (1907-1985),⁴⁶ and contemporary magicians, such as Francis King & Steven Skinner,⁴⁷ Lon Milo DuQuette,⁴⁸ and Carroll Poke Runyon.⁴⁹

Magic is a sacred activity. For the ancients, a psychopomp that can be called upon to guide one in their evocation is the underworld goddess, Hekate. When evoked she came dressed in the full-armoured force of resounding Light and equipping the soul and the intellect with the weaponry of three-barbed strength.⁵⁰ However, should the magician scorn the invaluable guidance of a psychopomp, and perform their magic badly, then, adopting the words of Crowley, The magician may unleash the malice of hell whose hounds have mustered to martyr him.⁵¹ Other prominent modern magicians will concur. Israel Regardie, who had a background in psychology, warned of the risk of psychosis if ceremonial magic is not approached with the right mindset. He provides the following caveat:

Know thou that this is not to be done lightly for thine amusement or experiment, seeing that the forces of Nature were not created to be thy plaything or toy. Unless thou doest thy practical magical works with solemnity, ceremony and reverence, thou shalt be like an infant playing with fire, and thou shalt bring destruction upon thyself.⁵²

Regardie adds, In deviation from these injunctions lie the only actual dangers in the divine science.⁵³ One might ask why the admonition? Isn't it superfluous in our modern age? In his Goetia, Crowley informed his readers that demons are nothing more than expressions of the unconscious: with each demon representing an aspect or substrate of the human mind. In the words of the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, demons represent the mind's primitive double when he writes that they are residues of animalistic mentality activity within us bringing them back to expression.⁵⁴ Other writers, such as Carl Jung, see demons as the person's shadow or spectral reflection: a trope that has been exploited through the literary character of the doppelganger, the material spirit double.⁵⁵

Even so, whenever Crowley performed rituals his attitude was rather different, otherwise, he would not have taken seriously his experience in the King's Chamber at the Pyramid of Giza, where he encountered what evolved into his Guardian Angel for the remainder of his life. Crowley auto-dictated the Book of the Law and recorded his other experience in the Algiers desert where he descended into hell to face its gatekeeper, the demon Chorozon. Both were life-changing experiences: a crossing of the Rubicon, in his case more aptly called the Crossing of the Styx (River of Hell). Crowley went on to form and develop his theurgy-philosophy of Thelema. If Crowley did not describe it as such, we would say that the approach taken was dialectical, a yes/no paradoxical position and one which we maintain.

On the nomenclature of Goetia language, Crowley sought to distinguish between magic and magick. with the latter being a ceremonial practice for evoking spiritual forces. However, we have not opted for Crowley's form as the term Magic has maintained its predominance in usage. Also, regarding the term demon, we have debated whether to use alternative terms such as spirit or daimon or daemon, which have lesser negative connotations. Nevertheless, given the currency of the word demon, we have maintained the usage of this term throughout the book. In writing this text, we have avoided some of the clumsiness of gender-neutral language with his or her pronouns by adopting where possible the convention of the singular they with its pronoun inflected or derivative forms such as them, their or themselves. Nevertheless, we have continued the convention of referring to the Goetia demons in the male gender.⁵⁶ Despite this, we follow observations made by the famed modern Qabalist, Dion Fortune, that since both the Sphere of the Moon and the Sephirah of Yesod form a feminine matrix, their force provides a source and stimulation for their enteric entities.⁵⁷ By extension, Goetia demons fall under the Moon-Yesod domain and, therefore, their pneuma daimonion (demon spirit) waxes and wanes to the rhythm of feminine power.

This leads us to a final observation about Goetia, that it is not demon worship, either in a Christian or Pagan sense. The magician is not bringing into their reality a spiritual force to worship. Mainstream Christianity has falsely or mistakenly characterised it as such. Rather, the Goetia is an exercise in divine authority for binding an expression of a deific force for the benefit of the magician for the rest of their life. Bold words, we know, but in our post-pagan world, we have lost touch with our divine self. Joseph Campbell in his works on myth speaks of the hero of a thousand faces,⁵⁸ the hero who has the masks of God. We have become too timid and afraid in our post-pagan rationalism, to look within ourselves, fearing we might discover the mask of God, the hero crying out for a journey that will bring us to something unexpected.

Nietzsche's Zarathustra asks:

Who is the great dragon whom the spirit will no longer call lord and god? Thou shalt is the name of the great dragon. But the spirit of the lion says, I will."⁵⁹

The dragons of Christianity and modern rationalism bar the door to this journey with their command Thou shalt. For the rationalist atheist, thou shalt represents a belief that you are nothing but a mere creature made of molecular material composed of carbon, facing extinction at death. Alternatively, for the Christian, an accursed creature in need of salvation, otherwise, facing eternal damnation. Here we sympathise with the writings of Anton LeVay. Suppress the Will; this is what society and Christianity seek from us. However, the contrary is true, as prophetically announced by Crowley with his famous words, Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.

During his lifetime, Crowley appeared to struggle with the concept of Holy Guardian Angel (HGA). If this was a struggle, it was because of the burden he was carrying, which was to announce to the world that a new Aeon had come. The Age of Pisces, the symbol of Christianity was coming to an end. We believe that Crowley understood what an HGA was, and its importance to one's life. The Ancient Greeks and Romans saw Daimons (or daemon in the Latin spelling) also performing the role of a genius. By genius they meant that the Divine apportioned to each person a cosmic messenger in the form of a spirit that is daimon, for the purpose of guiding and assisting that person for the rest of their lives. Writes F. C. Conybeare:

Plato defines a demon as an agent halfway between God and mortal, interpreting and ferrying across to the gods' messages from men, and to men those of the gods; the prayers and offerings of the one set, and the behests and acceptances of sacrifice of the other. One such demon was Eros; but there were many and various.⁶⁰

The philosopher Socrates believed that he was not just guided, but possessed by such a daimonic genius who operated to reveal to him the Divine Will.⁶¹ The Priestess Diotima told him that love is not a god, but rather a good daimon. Likewise, Crowley spoke about his possession by the HGA. The ancients believed that Daimons communicated with them through dreams, and whenever they felt inspired, and also through third parties such as soothsayers, priests or rituals. Daimons, they believed were involved in assisting to achieve the apotheosis of nous, that is, the making the divine their intelligence and being.

A representation of this genius daimon was the snake. Early in its theological evolution, Christianity associated the serpent with evil and humanity's demise.⁶² The Book of Revelation declares, And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.⁶³ Justin Martyr, a second-century Christian apologist and later canonised saint, made the symbolic connection, even more, blunt when he wrote: With us the Prince of the evil spirits is called a serpent and Satan and the devil…⁶⁴ However, for the ancients, the contrary was true; rather they saw the serpent as expressive of our self-creative divinities and generative power.⁶⁵ Through Daimon influence, the ouroboric archetypal Circle of being-life-intelligence is established through the dunamis (deific power) of Hekate.⁶⁶ An ancient Egyptian fragment from the Pyramid texts announces the Uraeus-Serpent is burning the initiate and attaining their heart.⁶⁷ The Uraeus-Serpent represented the Eye of Horus. As a primal force, it was unleashed by the goddess Isis who formed it from the dust of the earth and spittle of the sun-deity.

Goetia, although much misunderstood and maligned, is a vehicle for achieving one's Daimon-genius, or in other words, an HGA, since we believe that both mean the same thing and therefore they can be used interchangeably. Once you bind a demon, the potentiality is there for having an HGA, which can bring amongst other things, an inspiration to your life and transform your dreams into new meanings by liberating you of the inessential. The possibilities for life's exploration are greatly magnified. However, this secret is not what modern thinkers from either side, be they rationalist or religious, want you to discover.

We draw to a close to this introduction again with the words of Nietzsche's Zarathustra who upon embarking his journey declared:

For I must descend into the depths…I must...go under, as human beings call it….A dangerous across, a dangerous-on-the-way, a dangerous looking back, a dangerous shuddering and standing still. I love those who do not know how to live except by going under, for they are those who go over and across.⁶⁸

In emboldening himself, Nietzsche's Zarathustra knew that his cup will overflow, [and] that the water may flow from it golden and carry everywhere the reflection of your delight!⁶⁹

That said, we have composed a practical ritual text, designed to achieve an optimal magical effect. Nevertheless, our personal imprint and preferences have been unavoidable in its design. Our text follows the stages of a Goetia ritual from start to finish. The Latin terms that we have adopted for each stage denotes their European medieval formalisation for ceremonial magic. These stages are as follows:

Observatio Generalis (General Observations) Ch.1 deals with the objects and instruments required for the ritual. Also instructions are provided on how to obtain or make these items.

Consecratio (the Consecration) Ch.2 sets out the ceremonial process for imbuing everything connected with the ritual with a sacred character or quality, which we define as sacralisation. This includes the invocant also known as the magician,⁷⁰ and all the armamentarium associated with the ritual.

Invocatio (the Invocation) Ch.3 is the drawing down of the Divine into the magician's being so that they become its mirror image when facing the evoked demon. We have provided two invocation liturgy choices: a short form