Picatrix Invocations of the Spirits of the Planets

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Moonlit Hermit
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Picatrix Invocations of the Spirits of the Planets

Post#1 » Sun Jan 14, 2018 2:56 pm

There are two related rites described in the Picatrix that I think are important to practicing the magic of that book, the invocation of Perfect Nature and the invocations of the spirits of the planets. They were important enough to me that I made them into a daily practice. I based my personal invocation of Perfect Nature on the invocation of the spirits of the planets so it makes sense to explore the invocation of the planetary spirits first.
I hope it goes without saying that these thoughts are entirely my own Unverified Personal Gnosis and shouldn't be considered any kind of authority. I encourage others to give their feedback on my thoughts and to contribute their own thoughts and comments on similarities and differences in practice.
And, for the record, when I write "Picatrix" I am referring to the Greer & Warnock translation of the Latin Picatrix. Book and Chapter numbers are taken from the Liber Atratus edition of that publication unless otherwise noted.

The Invocations of the Spirits of the Planets shows up multiple times in the Picatrix which highlights its importance as a basic rite. We see it first mentioned in Book 3, Chapter 7 as part of longer prayers to each of the planets and it also shows up at the very end, Book 4 Chapter 9 also as prayers to each of the planets. But more important to this discussion is the treatment in Book 3, Chapter 9 in which they are dealt with in more detail. The Chapter is titled "How to Attract the Powers of Each Planet and the Powers of Their Spirits, Naming Them According to Their Parts, and How to Accomplish This By Speaking Their Names". That's a real mouthful but it is helpfully explicit. The list of names for each planet are used to call on the influence of that planet. That influence can be used in various ways, to evoke a spirit of that planet, to empower a talisman, to "banish" or "zone" an area by the influence of a planet (or multiple planets), or a myriad of other ideas I haven't thought of yet.
I have the list of spirits for each planet and some thoughts on this subject that I wrote about a year ago on my blog here: http://moonlithermit.blogspot.com/2016/ ... ter-9.html
Let's look at a sample of this chapter and How I use it in practice.
To quote the beginning of the chapter,
The Latin Picatrix wrote:The spirit of Saturn called Redimez is coadunate with all of his names, both collectively and individually, and with his parts which are above and below and elsewhere, according to the opinion of
Aristotle in the book he wrote for Alexander, which is called the Book of Antimaquis, in which he discussed the way in which the powers of the planets and their spirits ought to be attracted. And their names, listed according to Aristotle's opinion, are as follows. The name of the spirit of Saturn above is called Toz, below is called Corez, to the right Deytyz, to the left, Deriuz, before Talyz, behind Daruz; and its motion in its sphere and its progress through the signs and the motion of its spirits—all the aforesaid are united in the name Tahaytuc . All of these separate names above are united in the primary name, Redimez, and this name is the root and origin of all the names we have said.


I describe my practice with this in that blog post this way. "So in our Saturn example my oblation goes something like this. I light the incense saying, "I light this incense to the honor and glory of Saturn and the spirits of Saturn." Then while saying "Toz" I envision a light above me. "Corez," a light below me. "Deytyz," a light to my right. "Deriuz," a light to my left. "Taylyz," a light in front of me. "Dariuz," a light behind me. I envision that these spirits form a sphere around me with their light. When I envision the spirit of the motion of a planet, in this case Tahaytuc, I envision the sphere to start spinning around me and the spirit is a charioteer, driving the sphere through space. Then when I intone Redimez I envision a light at my heart that encompasses and connects all the other lights."

I got the idea to perform the invocation in this way from a rite out of the PGM (XIII, 824-834), which I first encountered in Michael Cecchetelli's Book of Abrasax that he calls The Calling of the Sevenths and includes as a zoning/banishment ritual.

I treat the Spirits of Perfect Nature in the same way, visualizing the light/presence as I intone their names. Meegius before me, Betzahuach behind me, Vacdez on my right, and Neufineguidez on my left. I base this on my interpretation of the directions of the nut butters if one is facing east in the formal Rite of Perfect Nature.
Meegius, Betzahuach, Vacdez, Nufeneguidez
http://moonlithermit.blogspot.com/

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