An Alternative Approach to "The Goetia's" Pantheon

New Grimoires and techniques outlined in books like NAP, NIP, Frater Malak, etc.
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R. Eugene Laughlin
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An Alternative Approach to "The Goetia's" Pantheon

Post#1 » Tue Jun 05, 2018 12:25 pm

I've discussed the following ideas in various ways and from various points of views for several years now, though I've never felt satisfied with the delivery. After reading this post recently...

raum215 wrote:The Grimoires are models of the universe that purport to access the underlying power structure of existence and allow core access to powerful elements and beings connected to it. Engineering is the key, and it is often found optimal design is rather equal portions of Innovation and Tradition, by capable and competent persons.


...I decided to try again, here, as what it is does fit that general idea of what a grimoire should deliver: a working model of the underlying power structure in nature (the nature of the world in which we live). The general structure is borrowed from tradition, but the content that usually goes with it is conspicuously left behind. That's where the innovation comes in.

As the title promises, I have something of a Goetia to expose. It's modern because... the powers described in the Medieval/Renaissance documents were tuned to the world in which they lived, but not necessarily the world in which we live now. Of course, the basic nature of things don't change: gravity is still in effect, the sun appears each morning in the east and ends the day in the west, and everybody poops. However, the vast majority of goals people pursue with magic pertain the social domain, where things have changed a lot. As is true of every era, the technology that is generally available to people significantly shapes how we live and what's important, what skills are necessary to get along, etc.

To my mind it makes no sense at all to cling blindly to traditions that developed in a world without nuclear weapons (to make the point). Even so, I think the natural world and its workings, the things that don't change, are in fact the key to getting at the specific powers a magician can wield in their efforts to shape the world in which they live, but its incumbent on each generation to derive its own inferences from those things, to suit their own life and times. To that I'll add that the relevant inferences needn't be identical for each individual even within the same era.

To serve individual needs, the powers within this scheme are left unspecified; only the structure is provided, which amounts to a map of natural forces. The acquisition of magical powers within this scheme is, in essence, the process of connecting to those forces in an applicable ways. For this particular exposition, that process takes the form of evocative magic. That is, the path to acquiring magical powers is by systematically evoking the spirits of the various natural forces, and internalizing those experiences.

The central glyph that follows constitutes a map (the structure) to the various natural forces that serve as the basis for inferring magical powers. It takes the form of a Solar/Seasonal Zodiac that will be familiar, but be aware that the implementation is not at all astrological, so familiar symbols have may have very different meanings.


Image


To start decoding the glyph: the four outer discs, starting in the upper left and going around deosil represent the cardinal solar events of the annual cycle: Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumnal Equinox, Winter Solstice. The inner discs represent the corresponding solar events of the daily cycle: Sunrise, Midday, Sunset, and Midnight.

As an aside for this particular thread, expressed together in this manner, the phrases As Above, So Below and a Year and a Day, take on specific initiated meanings, from a given point of view.

Backing up for a wider view, the overall scheme expresses dyadic, triune, and quadratic natures, and their permutations express 12-fold, 36-fold, and 72-fold natures. I'll leave it there for now, but will return to further discuss the use of the glyph for a comprehensive evocative magic practice.

In the meantime, comments, questions, and complaints are welcome.

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