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Spirit Character

To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick.goetia,alt.christnet.demonology,alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic,alt.pagan.magick
From: nocTifer 
Subject: Spirit Character (was To Summon a Demon Helper)
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 00:51:58 GMT

50010730 VI! om Hail Satan!

luckyhoodoo@aol.com (LuckyHoodoo):
> A daimon, in the greek concept, could be either good or bad.  

all Greeks from all times? I'll bet it varies a little. would these
Greeks of whom you speak differentiate into solid categorical
descriptors (e.g. "The daimon Agrares is a bad spirit, whose works
should be avoided by those without a great deal of power.")?

> I believe it was Socrates who wrote about his personal daimon 
> who gave him advice.  

no, I don't think Socrates (Plato's famed teacher) wrote anything
down. like Confucius (Kung Fu Tse) and his expositor Mencius,
Socrates has become known to the world through the writings of his
pupil. in any case, Plato does describe how Socrates has a
guiding spirit, in Greek the 'AUGOEIDES', or 'guardian spirit',
who communicated with him personally and gave him guidance.
similar tales can be found in other cultures, such as the Jewish
demon and angel on the shoulders which have become so very
prominent in popular media.

Hermetic mages have seized this idea about the augoeides and
its combination with personal angels and constructed entire
rituals and traditions surrounding the summoning and
tutelate ("Knowledge and Conversation") with one's "Holy
Guardian Angel" (cf. Crowley's text on the subject, as well
as the grimoire "The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage"
which inspired him and, apparently, Golden Dawn members).

> Now the word "genuis" means the same thing.  A genuis was a 
> spirit wich may attach itself to a particuliar family and was 
> invoked to give oracular predictions and answers to problems.  
> In time people began calling gifted people "genuises" as if they
> were the physical incarnations of these supernatural beings.

interesting. also compare 'djinni' (whose plural is 'djinn'), 
from which derives the modern term "genie". I'm sure that most
of these terms are related, etymologically. the grimoires known
to ceremonialists as "Keys of Solomon" play on the old legend
of the Jewish King Solomon (cf. Jewish and Christian scripture
about Solomon and The Temple) whose magic was considered so 
potent that he is said to have bottled up all of the world's
djinn in a brass vessel, using his magic ring and a variety
of magical words, and sent it to the bottom of a sea or ocean.
the Keys even include designs for his magical ring and Brass 
Vessel, if memory serves.

subsequent tales divulged how a mistake in the capture or the
acts of another being freed some or all of the spirits/djinn.
perhaps there are some who believe some or all of the djinn
hare still captive in his Brass Vessel.

the "Keys" of Solomon are, therefore, directory listings,
descriptions, names, etc., necessary to summon and control
a wide variety of characters of spirit. reading through at
least the Lesser Key (Goetia), one must be struck by the
lack of imagination of the author because of the routine
repetition (reference-like dryness? I think poor writing)
of associations with the spirits, their appearances and powers.
if it were published by Llewellyn today perhaps it would be
completely regarded with a great degree of skepticism. who
were the REAL authors of these grimoires? such is left for
the speculation of scholars, I suppose. the time of their
appearance does not, as I understand it, accord with their
having been written by Solomon (or Good Old Shlomo, as I 
prefer to call him!).

>When I "communicate" with spirits I do indeed see images, hear sounds, and get
>emotional responses.  I can tell the spirits "former" sex and other useful
>info.  It's weird though since no two spirits communicate in exactly the same
>way....

do spirits always somehow approximate human characters (i.e. "former" sex,
etc.)? is it possible they can be alien single-sex beings, or ghosts of
some asexual or bisexual plant or animal? what about Slug Goddesses? what 
really are the limitations for spirits?

blessed beast!

nocTifer
-- 
emailed replies may be posted  -----   "sa avidya ya vimuktaye"   ----- 
"that which liberates is ignorance"  http://www.luckymojo.com/nagasiva.html
    hoodoo catalogue: send postal address to catalogues@luckymojo.com

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