The Hekataeon - Jack Grayle

[Jadziya]

Has anyone worked with Jack Grayle's The Hekataeon, and, if yes, what did you think?

(I wasn't sure if this should go in modern grimoires or PGM but I decided to put it in PGM since it draws on that tradition, even though one could say the same about most modern grimoires and ancient material)

(Also, I used the search button and didn't find any hits specifically for the book)

[Riva626]

It seems to be a modern trend to create and publish a whole practice from some old PGM spells relating to whichever deity is popular at the time. You'd probably find it a lot more rewarding to simply work with those rites yourself and see where it goes.

I get strange feeling about that guy, but I'm not going to resort to name calling from behind my keyboard. My only experience of him is from his appearance on Glitch Bottle. But yeah, weird.

[Ming]

I get strange feeling about that guy, but I'm not going to resort to name calling from behind my keyboard. My only experience of him is from his appearance on Glitch Bottle. But yeah, weird.

I second this, something off from that Glitch Bottle Episode

[spacewolf]

For whatever it's worth, Foolish Fish put this video up Sunday. He took Jack Grayle's "Hail Hekate" video course, and really gushes enthusiasm over the course and Grayle's knowledge.

FF_on_Hail_Hekate

[nevermore218]

Another individual that has jumped on the recent PGM/expensive course trend. Hard pass. Something seems off about him indeed.

Someone on this forum (forgive me, I can't remember) said it best in the past... if you want to get to know Hekate, you have everything you need to know at your disposal for either free or low-cost nowadays. It can be as simple as an Orphic hymn and some offerings of eggs at a crossroads just to start (though obviously your mileage may vary).

[key6king]

For whatever it's worth, Foolish Fish put this video up Sunday. He took Jack Grayle's "Hail Hekate" video course, and really gushes enthusiasm over the course and Grayle's knowledge.

FF_on_Hail_Hekate

I heard FF is subscriber & view hungry, so a positive review seems to be a good way to get clout for him.

[Jadziya]

Will give FF's episode a listen!

I actually have the book - I bought it about a year ago on the recommendation of a friend who said it had worked extremely well.

I also did his course on Hekate some time ago.

Doing the course enabled me to understand the author's perspectives and to get a better sense of what is going on in the book.

I found the course informative and well-structured - but I can understand that it isn't for everyone.

About the book, it seems to be be rooted in ancient materials and mythological ideas. However it seems to be largely the author's own inspiration or visionary experiences (sigils, a devotional song, spells, texts to recite out loud, prescribed visualizations to do, rites to be carried out over a sequence of days). So I see it as his own original work, rather than a rehash of the PGM.

I think he is largely sharing his own personal practice, which I respect, although it might not necessarily work as other people's personal practice.

It has an initiatory section as well as practical/results-based spells.

There are some things about the book that don't fit with me personally, but which I can appreciate are the author's perspective. For instance, he has a heavily devotional approach to Hekate and also refers to her as a "lover", whereas I am looking towards "working with" and "respecting", not "adoration" or a religious approach.

("Lover" might also work better for people attracted to females in-real-life.)

So, in order to feel authentic when doing the beginning parts of the book, I made some changes to the text which he wrote to be spoken or sung aloud. This might have affected my experience with the book, although I didn't feel it did, and I doubt Hekate cares.

However, apart from doing the initiatory/introductory parts, I haven't worked deeply enough with the book to really get a solid view on it one way or another.

In particular, I haven't tried the practical/results-based section yet - likely because if I need urgent results, I am more comfortable using something I've had results from before, rather than testing out something new.

So I still don't have any strong feelings about the book one way or another - this is why I was curious about other people's experiences with it.

One thing to note about the book with respect to reselling it is that it does prescribe consecrating the book with a drop of your own blood. So, in theory, the book cannot be resold, unless you and the buyer don't care about that, or the consecration is skipped.

Anyway, these are a few of my thoughts on it; looking forward to hearing more!

[spacewolf]

Interesting! Now I see where you're coming from with this, thanks for sharing that. I hope you will keep us filled in after you have practiced some of the practical rituals. I personally don't practice witchcraft per se, at least not at the moment (alas, so many systems, so little time), but I'm still intrigued by Hekate.

[spacewolf]

For whatever it's worth, Foolish Fish put this video up Sunday. He took Jack Grayle's "Hail Hekate" video course, and really gushes enthusiasm over the course and Grayle's knowledge.

FF_on_Hail_Hekate

I heard FF is subscriber & view hungry, so a positive review seems to be a good way to get clout for him.

Well, he is a professional Youtuber, so the more views and subscribers he has, the bigger his paychecks. I find the marketing annoying, but overall, I like the Fish. I think he is sincere, he has carved out a niche for himself doing something no one else was doing and that the magickal community finds some value in, and he is a practicing magician.

Let's face it, the days of cat videos on YT are long gone. Google has turned it into the world's biggest infomercial platform.

On a lighter note, I was meditating one night a few months ago when I suddenly heard FF's jovial voice, loud and clear, say "Hey, why don't you join the Foolish Fish family?" My immediate thought was 'Servitor!'

[Riva626]

I find people who refer to ancient goddesses and deities as 'lover' or anything similar, are usually incels. They turn to devotion of some scantly clad idol because they can't get laid or find love in real life. Instead of working on themselves and learning how to get real women, they simp for female divinity or anime waifus.