Strategic Sorcery Blog

Got a good couple questions from a student today and thought my answer would make a good post.

 ”First, I am confused about planetary days and hours. First you mention that you prefer the Abramelin to the Agrippan system, but then you make references to the Agrippan system when you talk about your Jupiter work. What’s the deal with that?”

For those that don’t know, Abraham the Jew recommends that rather than assigning days and hours according to days of the week and divisions of twelve for the day and night – the system that 99% of the occult world uses – that whenever the planet is above the horizon it is the day of that planet, and whenever it is overhead it is the hour of that planet.

For personal work I do prefer this system and it demonstrates the difference between what I call qualities and correspondence. The first is because it is Water being Cool and Wet and fluid, even the association with wisdom and emotion – these are the qualities of fire they are based on an inherent function of a thing be it a power, force, or object. These things will remain remarkably consistent the world over. Apotropaic features of iron. The ability of a Triangle to manifest or trap spirits, etc.

A correspondence is something that we humans have decided to apply, and which over time builds such momentum that when you stand in a certain magical current, you are subject to that correspondence whether you agree or not. Indeed experience has shown that you are subject to it whether you are even aware of it or not! It is something that we humans have decided but which is in no sense in your head. Water being in the west, colored blue, ruled by Gabriel, and such would be correspondences of water, not qualities.

So because I work with the Gentlemen for Jupiter, and we have more or less decided to work according to the Aggrippan system – I do so as well. It works. In other more personal planetary workings – and certainly in stellar workings, I get more involved in where the planet or star actually is.

“Second Question is what is more important the day or the hour? Are they equal? Is there a difference between doing a rite on the hour of Jupiter during the day or Mercury, or doing it on the hour of Mercury during the day of Jupiter?”

Obviously this question is applicable only to the Agrippan system. That said I have always been taught that the hour is FAR more important than the day. I have found this to be so as well.

Look at the hour as being a sort of prism that reflects the direct ray of that planets influence. The day is more like the atmosphere that the ray passes through. It colors the experience of that ray, but the ray is still the primary thing you are aorking with.

In the example you gave above, a rite on the hour of Jupiter but the day of Mercury would be excellent for something that is primarily Jupiterian, but which has Mercurial considerations, like launching a new product or business. Working with the hour of Mercury during the day of Jupiter on the other hand might be better for something primarily mercurial but colored by Jupiter such as a marketing campaign.

To use another example from a different student someone wanting to get better at time management and discipline might work during the hour of Saturn on the day of the Moon, whereas someone who simply wanted to have time work in their favor might do the opposite.

If you can at all get to North Jersey on April 14th, I would recommend attending Northern Spring Magick .

The Assembly of the Sacred Wheel is a pagan organization that works more like a magical order in the best sense of the word. They have a great line up.

Ivo Dominguez is a Sorcerer extraordinaire (my words, he would never refer to himself in such grandiose terms) who is as close to my way of thinking about magic as anyone I have ever encountered. Helena is a masterful artist and witch whose power and wisdom come through as much in normal conversation as it does in ritual. I don’t know Robin, but Maggi is also a potent Sorceress Priestess who is a newly minted author.

It’s a good price for a days teachings, and promises to be a great time that will last well into the evening.

For those that don’t already know, I finished writing my third book “Financial Sorcery” last week. Apart from the normal Strategic Sorcery perspective on things like using magic to help annuitize your 401k, find a job in the informal job market, automate investments, and set up secondary and passive tertiary income streams, there is a whole chapter on Jupiter that presents new rites and symbols that were revealed during the course of workings over the last year. It is these working are what MC was referring to in his field report the other day.

It is now the third hour of Jupiter on Jupiter’s day, so it seems like a good time to announce some new offerings and services connected with these rites.

LIGHTNING GLYPH SEALS – $50
I will create a parchment talisman for you, based on one of the 16 “Lightning Glyphs” that Jupiter has revealed. Each one of these will be created specially for the person ordering it and patterned according to your needs with additional sigils and symbols as spiritual guidance and omens dictate. They will be consecrated and annointed with an appropriate oil individually for you in a ceremony here, and sent with an explanation of exactly what was done. There are also instructions for a short ceremony for you to perform with the glyph.  These have been proving to be extremely potent and fast working thus far.

The glyphs are:

 DRAWING MONEY

 ENTREPRENEURIAL WORK 

 HOLDING ONTO MONEY

THE JOB FINDER

FOR STEADY WORK

PROMOTION

 FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE

SWEETENING RELATIONS

FOR DOMINATING RELATIONS

 LEGAL MATTERS

PROTECTION FROM THE LAW

DEFEATING COMPETITION

VIRAL MARKETING

INTELLIGENCE GATHERING

REVERSING BAD LUCK

PURE LUCK

JUPITERIAN WEALTH VASE – $400
This is a vase inspired by the type of wealth vases made in Tibet. The interior of the Vase is set up to represent a mandala of Jupiter as it appeared to me, with the God Jupiter at the center, surrounded by the four virtue goddesses: Victoria – for overcoming obstacles, Libertas – for financial freedom, Concordia – for creating harmony and enchanting others, and Abundantia – for creating endless abundance. These in turn are each given symbolic tools in the jar in the form of certain herbs, and minerals. Surrounding them are five secret seals that are not going to appear in the book, but which manifest Jupiters might through the five elements, and finally all 16 of the lightning glyphs. Such vases can act like a wealth attracting engine that can be tuned to different needs at different times. Instructions for the care and upkeep of the case will be provided.

The vases will take 4-6 weeks for delivery as each one is made separately.

If interested in the above, write me at inominandum@gmail.com

EDIT: Ok, the post is only 3 minutes old and one of the vases sold. You guys rock.

Yet another field report from a student not even mid-way through the Strategic Sorcery Course. This time it yielded almost instant results, and while that is not the point of Strategic Sorcery, it is always something that I sit up and notice.

“Just done today, but so effective I was actually kind of shocked.

I wrote an e-mail to my contact at the law firm I will be working at starting this summer.  I have never received a response from him sooner than one week after sending him an e-mail, even with calling his office to speak with him.

So, after sending the e-mail, I decided to do an experiment.  I put myself in the element of water using what I learned from the “death visualisations*,” and pore-breathed the element.  I circulated it through my body.  As I did this, I could begin to feel the social connections between people.  Interestingly enough, as I was working with the element, my neighbours repeatedly came over to see me about problems they are having in their house, with which I was fortunately able to help them.

Anyway, I eventually built up the element, then projected it from my hands to make an icosohedron of water.  I told the icosohedron to go and ensure that my contact replied to my e-mail before midnight tonight, and to dissolve if it did not do so.  I then went and had a shower and forgot about it.

When I got out of the shower, there was a reply from my contact, not only telling me what I wanted to know and wishing me well, but also indicating that the firm will probably give me a specialised work program to take advantage of some of my specialised knowledge (I have some government experience working in Property law).

 As an addendum,  I just found out that another student who will be starting there at the same time I will also e-mailed him about a day later.  She has still not gotten a reply.  Obviously, the elemental work was very effective.

-AK

Over at The Lions Den, Michael Cecchetelli posted a field report from some work he did using the Jupiterian material from my new book Financial Sorcery. Someone posted a comment about Strategic Sorcery being New Age, and… well you have probably already seen the comments and follow up post over at Lions Den. If you don’t read it, you really should as MC is one of the rising stars of the Occult world.

Anyway, the point I wanted to address here is that Strategic Sorcery is not meant to be an occult system like other occult systems. It is a mode of Life Hacking and and Spirituality that employs several methods, both magical and mundane.

Some techniques like meditation, visualization, energy work, breath work, etc are starting to get viewed as “New Age” by some people who think all magic is practiced the same way it is in the Grimoires or in Folk Magic where these elements are not as strongly present. Nothing could be further from the truth of course, as these elements are all staples of magic in the east – especially Tibet which is what most effects my thinking.

Than again, I also am not shy about delving into something that IS generally considered New Age if that is where spirit leads me. Some New Thought is solid and has made its way into the course. Though not a part of the course, even things like Drunvalo’s spinning Tetrehedrons have a startling effect when you cut through the New Age crap that surrounds it and get down to practice. Ekhankar is about as crazy new age as you can get, but their methods of Soul Travel are quite solid.

I am often amazed at the crap people are willing to swallow wholesale if it is in the right “Occult” packaging, but once it is out of that packaging it is either ridiculed or not even recognized.

Someone on formspring just asked me where all the magic is in Tibetan Buddhism, claiming that he has never been taught any. Yes he was taught how to consecrate and protect a space with Vajra Fence. Yes he was taught how to make offerings to the 8 classes of spirits and ask for their kindness in return. Yes he was given wrathful guardian spirits that he is bound to make offerings to. And yes, he was taught how to make a linga (doll) and summon obstructing demons and entities into it, than destroy it with the phurba…. But none of that is magic because no one was saying “HELLO THIS IS MAGIC”.

Same with Catholics. Yes you can buy a “Sell your House Kit” at the church – but that isn’t magic right?

I have seen New Age stuff get results that most occultists only dream of, and have seen utter crap get taken seriously just because it was published in a limited edition goatskin text.

I am concerned with what works – that is all.

One of the most interesting tensions in the pagan/occult world these days is the ongoing interplay, and sometimes conflict, between the forces of past tradition and historical research and experimentation. I have been meaning to write on this for a while, but this week it was sparked by Frater RO’s post detailing his own inner conflicts of how to view Ian C’s ongoing court of Brigid project. There are two posts from RO, a reply post from Ian, and several running commentaries on all that are worth reading.

I have been where RO is myself. During the period from 1997 to 2002 or so I dedicated myself almost exclusively to Tibetan Buddhist practice. During that period I felt very protective of it, and did the kinds of things that overzelous people do. I issued dire warnings to people about Lamas that had even slightly shady credentials. I blathered about how much better it was to be in a tradition with an unbroken lineage of empowerment going back to the 8th century, and how complete and complex the Tibetan systems were.  I would rage when people would get even the slightest point wrong. I once got so inappropriately rude with Sam Webster over whether thoughts can occur within Rigpa or not*, that I felt the need to apologize for being such a dick years later. To this day I still feel the need to go on a correcting spree anytime a magician or westerner mentions the word Tulpa, or talk about how Chod is for overcomming fear.

Eventually though I felt smothered by its completeness and lack of space for individual ingenuity and revelation. I backed off an began to examine my experiences within the context of everything else that I have ever done. I realized that part of my drive, part of my gifts, and part of what makes the magic work really well for me was precisely that creative energy and ability to communicate with spirits directly – which in turn gives the ability to develop ongoing revelations and create new things through experiment.

Some people are driven by the need to explore the past and re-create what has come before. Some people are driven by the need to communicate with the spirits people spoke with in the past in order to receive new practices and revelations. Still others are driven to experiment and create things whole cloth with as little influence as possible. Some people are so heavily invested in the extremes of this dichotomy that they lose the script, believing that unless a given piece of magic is from an ancient grimoire or unbroken tradition, it must be worthless, forgetting that at one time these thing had their origin in people doing new and inventive work. Others are so heavily invested in the new that they disregard tradition entirely, claiming that whatever a spirit or god happens to tell them automatically carries more weight than hundreds of years of history.

Though I perhaps lean a bit toward the side of ongoing revelation, I try to keep myself rooted in the traditions of magic – even if not one particular one. When I was working with Hekate she revealed four protector spirits that I wrote about in Protection and Reversal Magic. After the revelation of these four animal headed spirits, I found a reference to a tetradic form of Hekate with these four exact heads from the Chaldean Oracles. This was a case of history confirming revelation, which is always very  cool. Later in my work with hekate she revealed nine forms of herself to me, two of which was very sexual and not at all in keeping with her history or cult. I treat this revelation as suspect because of that, and need a lot more testing and verification to make sure it meets my own standards of validity.

Many believe that The Goetia has its origins in the Testament of Solomon, wherein a boy possessed by the demon Ornias. Solomon exorcises the boy, but rather than just leaving it at that, he gets Ornias to reveal the names many other demons, their functions and the angels which can control them. While it is not always a matter of a confrontation with a demon – this is how it is done. You contact a power and ask them to reveal more powers, be they other spirits, techniques, or information.

As part of my writing process for Financial Sorcery I contacted Jupiter and asked him to reveal new arcana that could be used by my readers to better themselves according to the Jupiterian current. First he revealed four goddess attendants who all appeared from four coins he handed me. These four goddesses actually did appear on Roman coins (again affirmation of revelation by historical record is wonderful). Next he told me to work with my seer and illustrator Matthew Brownlee to transmit 16 sigils called the Lightning Glyphs, all of which will appear in the new book this spring.

I have had the opportunity to look over some of Ian’s Summoning materials and can tell you that it is very solid work. Exactly the kind of work that should be being done in Pagan circles, but which all to often is not. There are however a few others. Ivo Dominguez is one of the most solid Sorcerers and Magicians that you will ever find, and his Assembly of the Sacred Wheel makes use of a lot of Ceremonial Magic in a Pagan context. A lot of people do not realize it, but Simon once told me that one of the primary motivators behind the publication of the Necronomicon in the 70′s was to provide the type of Gate work and Spirit often connected with Judeo-Christian Magic, but which would be useful for Pagans. I don’t care what you say, I still love me some Necronomicon!

The issue that some people have is the appropriation of material from one tradition to another. There was quite a big Blog-ha-ha about this a year or so ago, and people seemed to settle on the idea that synchretism was somehow good but appropriation was somehow bad. Of course no one ever really defined what these were or what the difference was.

For me it is all about whether you are appropriating tech or symbol set. Tech is tech. It works because it works. A tibetan style of multiplying offering through visualization and energy, and substituting red tormas for blood offering will work as well in Haiti as it will in Tibet if it is understood and done well**. On the other hand, deciding that you just want to do the same magic you always do, but switch up the symbols and gods in order to feel exotic will usually result in getting your ass kicked.

Ian is appropriating the tech of the grimoires and applying it to the Spirits and Symbols that he is already working with. It is solid work and I expect great things from him in the future.

*They can appear and function within Rigpa as long as you remain unattached and grounded in the inherent clarity of the nature of mind. It is one of the defining features of the state.

** Doing this may involve having to constrain or even harm and banish spirits that are absolutely blood thirsty and unwilling to make the change. It was not an easy transition in Tibet either.

Strategic Sorcery Cycle 8 Starts tomorrow.

You can still join after it begins and receive back lessons, but if you want to take part in the Candlemas Catalyst rite, I need to know today….

Contact me at inominandum@gmail.com

Deb’s NYNY prompt for this week is about glamour. I agree with just about everything she says, especially about getting clothes tailored. Speaking as guy who has a 20 inch neck, if I did not get my shirts taken in they would look like a balloon.

There is one small point she makes that I wanted to make the theme of my own post. She mentions:

“The old cliche about looking your best helps you feel your best does have some merit, especially if you have love or job related goals.  It doesn’t mean that you need to fit anyone else’s mold of looking your best but your own.  If you don’t like wearing makeup, don’t.  If you don’t like wearing a tie, don’t.  This is about being the best personal you you can be and about feeling good in your own skin.”

Here’s the thing, there are a LOT of people who cannot get out of their own way when it comes to what they wear. This is especially true of people in the occult and magic community. Because the volume on our inner worlds is often as high, or higher than than the volume on our outer world, we can sometimes loose sight of how influential some of the outer stuff is.  Sometimes we can also get so wrapped up in the way we think the world should work, that we forget how it does work.

Last year when I wrote a piece for the blog on the power of the necktie I got a few responses that were negative: one claiming that ties are a backward anachronism and that “appearances are nothing, reality matters”. Since then I have been doing some talks here and there and spoken with more people who find a tie to be outside their comfort zone, and feel that it is a betrayal of what they stand for.

Here is the thing though: appearances DO matter. They matter a lot. In just about any executive position, you can have all the skill in the world, but if you cannot project the image that people respond to, it doesn’t matter. In an election a candidate with gravitas with beat a candidate with intelligence every time. I was once laid off from a job over the fact that I did not dress as professionally as the other worker in the same position. Never mind the fact that the company was so casual that people sometimes wore pajamas to work; when it came down to finding a factor to differentiate between us: that was what it came down to.

So, in the case of casting glamour in the magical sense: it is often precisely someone else’s mold of appearance that does matter.

But that is ok, because in a way that commenter was right: appearances should be nothing. Not that we should expect that appearances mean nothing to everyone else. Appearances should mean nothing to US.

It’s crazy to me that people who can see the wisdom of home made robes with sticky felt triangles on indicating their rank within an order, or who are more than happy to meet up wearing nothing at all, are so easily thrown into discomfort by a business suite or make up.

Understand this: whatever your style is, however you dress, its a fucking uniform. No different than any other uniform. Your self-image should not be married to it. When you are a teenager it is more or less normal to need to identify with a tribe by dress. Part of being an adult is getting over that kind of thinking – but a lot of us don’t.

In the 60′s and 70′s Chogyam Trungpa used to make his hippie students dress in business attire to help deconstruct their ego. Your self image should not be tied to wearing a suit or not wearing a suit. It should not be tied to wearing make up or not wearing make up. I cannot speak to make up, but I can say that if you are wearing a good suit that fits there is almost nothing that is more comfortable to wear. To quote Barney Stinson, “Suits are full of  joy. They are the sartorial equivalent of a baby’s smile”.

Ever watch that show “What Not to Wear“? People start out defending the fact that they dress frumpy, or like their 13 year old daughter, or like a refugee from a renaissance faire. They get told the rules for their body and age and profession. If you are a tatoo artist, it is different than if you are a project manager. If you are 20 its different than if you are 40. In almost every show the subject starts shopping and has a friggin melt down over letting go of their old self image. In almost all cases once they let it go, they feel better. Yes it is TV, but I have seen enough in reality to have seen that kind of thing myself IRL.

So in the New Year New You project, my advice is to recognize when someone else’s mold really does matter. You cannot not influence people – its just a  question of how. Recognize when your comfort zone is entirely inappropriate for where you are in life. Even if you feel sexy dressing like a 20 year old when you are 40, other people are not seeing you that way and somewhere in your mind you KNOW that it is effecting you negatively. Even if you feel awesome in your 3 wolf moon shirt and 3 inch pentagram at the funeral – other people are not seeing you that way. Find out what it is like to stretch your comfort zone and detach your ego from that external crap. Once you let go of some of that baggage you will feel sexier dressed like a hot 40 year old and more awesome in a tie and jacket than you did before.

And, just to quote Barney again”Suit UP, because 2012 is going to be Legen….wait for it… DARY!”

The following field report is from a student that I have been working with on his long term financial outlook. It is THIS kind of result that keeps me doing what I do, and why I am writing Financial Sorcery.

The following words are his:

Eight months ago, I was in trouble. I was laid off from a job that I have had for 14 years. After six months of looking, I had not gotten one job offer and every week that passed saw me digging myself deeper and deeper into credit card debt to cover my expenses. 

I have 20 years of experience in both Wicca and Ceremonial Magic. I was trying every kind of money magic that I could think of. Each spell would turn up a small amount of money as a gift, or an off-the books job here and there but nothing long term. 

A friend told me about success he had been having with Jason’s class and I signed up. That was eight months ago. I wrote Jason about my immediate problems and was hoping for some spell that would turn things around in a hurry. 

Instead of a spell he had me forward him my resume and some over letters. He suggested several spells to be done at different points in the search and was kind enough to forward me the Job Finding lesson, even though it comes later in the course than where I was.

He also tore my resume to shreds, essentially telling me that I had better learn how to look for work in the new economy or no amount of magic would help. He was polite about it, I was still pretty pissed off about being told that my resume was inadequate. It felt like an attack. Still, I took his suggestions, went to my unemployment office, and signed up for a resume writing class. They pretty much confirmed everything he said, and I whittled my 2 page monster that listed everything I had ever done, down to a lean one page bullet listed resume that could easily be changed for each job. 

Sure enough after starting regular offerings to the local spirits, praying to Gaia for my Macro-Enchantment, doing a loadstone spell on a master copy of my resume’s (I have a different one for each job now), and trying my hand at some embedded commands in the  job interview, I was offered a job just five weeks later. The only problem is that it barely paid above what unemployment was paying. 

I wrote Jason to thank him for the advice and tell him about the job. Even though it really did not pay enough, it was work, and could maybe lead someplace better. I had called on the earth mother and spirits for help, and I would graciously accept what they offered to me. 

What Jason suggested next kind of blew my mind. He told me that if it was him, he would turn down the job and keep looking. 

To me this seemed like an affront to the Gods. I prayed for help, they offered help, and now he thought I should piss them off by not accepting their assistance! This was against everything I have been taught about magic.

Jason’s argument was that when I did my invocations I was not specifying my salary requirements, only that I wanted a job. Since I still had a few extensions left on unemployment he suggested that I thank the powers for their offering, but change my invocations to be specific about my salary. He also suggested that if I was worried about unemployment running out that I devote more time to finding more off-the book my work as well. 

Although it went against my own instinct I took his advice and was glad I did. Though it is not what I was making before getting laid off I now have a job that covers all my bills and have part time work at a local tool rental place fixing and maintaining the machines. I have never had two steady streams of income before, but now that I do I feel invincible! I am quickly burning through my debt using the Strategic Sorcery Debt killing strategy and will then move into savings and retirement. In eight months I went from thinking I would have to abandon  my house and move in with my parents, to focusing on building retirement savings.

I cannot speak highly enough about the course and the way it has changed my life.

 - D.G.