Evocation through Sigil Magick:

A Guide to Contacting Other Realities

by Anousen Leonte

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Copyright 2013

All Rights Reserved

other works:

Sigil Magick: the Basics

Scrying Without Tears

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Introduction

It was the Summer of 2006.

By then, I had been through myriad evocations, invocations and summonings, and though I was not bored with them by any means there was, nevertheless, something within me which craved a deeper contact with new and different spirits. Before I had even embarked upon the path of magick I was widely read in the lore of various cultures, and I knew that the Gods and Goddesses of old—good as well as evil—were spirits not at all unlike those encountered in the grimoires. Baal and Ashtaroth come to mind, for though they are Goetic spirits they were also widely worshiped in ancient Palestine and other portions of the Middle East. Yet, one could evoke them to the present day, if one only knew how.

I wanted more.

I wanted to evoke spirits not mentioned in the grimoires, such as Thor, Pan, Hathor, Baldr, Ahura Mazda, Jubmel, Bast, Set, Wendigo, etc. And I did not desire this for the mere sake of attaining results alone—at least, not material results. I wanted, rather, to imbibe of their presence, and know them intimately. I wanted to feel them and see their radiance within me, as did their worshipers of long ago. Antiquity presents us with a panorama of different spirits, while the modern age languishes under Allah and Jehovah. I wanted to touch the world of these old spirits in the same way as those in the grimoires I was familiar with. I was determined to do it, but I needed to find out how. I wanted to find if there was indeed an aspect of magick which did not originate as a manifestation of my own unconscious mind—as many theorize magick is.

It was then that I fell back upon some of my earliest magickal learnings—in Chaos Magick and in the Tantric systems of India. I was intrigued by Chaos Magick for the simplicity and effectiveness of its central method—sigilization—and my interest in Tantra was born long ago in studying its mystic and meditative disciplines. In regards to Chaos Magick the effects were often palpable and interesting, yet it seemed they had no purpose beyond achieving a desired change in the psycho-physical continuum. They could cause changes, but could they do more? Tantra, in contrast, was always presented as a way of liberation—that is, achieving effects far beyond the scope Chaos Magick normally presented itself with. And I had by this time appropriated Chaos Magick as being my primary way of interpreting magickal data and theory, even though I found a resonance with Tantra.

As yet, though, I did not see the connection between the two, nor did it cross my mind that all of these systems be used as unified whole—much less that this "unified whole" might take me to that world of spirits I wanted to go to. I had understood, however, that all magick utilizes one of two methods, or both in combination: the applying of a "blind" upon the conscious mind, or the principle of sympathy. In the former, one must blind portions of the conscious mind that interfere with magick. This is most often done by using forms of media that do not correspond to anything living or dead—that is, the use of images or sounds which are nonsense to the conscious mind. Sigils, yantras, magick squares and veves are examples of this in terms of the visual spectrum. Barbarous words and mantras, similarly, pertain to the audible spectrum. Both are used to ensure one's receptivity to energies or intelligences which are non-ordinary, to say the least. As the world is primarily a visual and auditory hallucination, these are the primary forms of blinding. 

The latter principle is based on the doctrine of correspondence: that is, that all things correspond, in some way, to other similar or disimilar things. This is found most commonly in the astrological or elemental sense. Therefore, one may harness the power of the planet by engaging or using a corresponding object, taste, or scent. There are instances of applied or artificially made sympathies as well, as in the use of wax figures representing someone, a person's name, hair, bits of their clothing, etc. Ritual is a composite of these two principles. One uses both a blind & corresponding, sympathetic implements in order to establish a link with the desired energy, as well as receptivity to contact. 

I could sense that all of this was true and I had seen it in practice, but I had not yet made certain necessary connections. Thus far, I had achieved some success in using sigils for spell-casting purposes, as well as a possibly successful creation of a servitor (a highly charged sigil which takes upon a mind of its own and is able to carry out the spell with a higher degree of intelligence than a sigil accomplishes—until, that is, it is destroyed.) But there was still a veil between what I wanted to do and what I knew how to do. 

One evening, I was reading a book of Tantric magick and I noticed that the Tantrikas used visual representations of their spirits, called a yantra. Here are some traditional examples:

Each yantra was built upon a series of esoteric numbers, representing the spirit in question. However, as you can see, the yantra itself conveys nothing in particular, other than its own geometry. This reminded me of how a sigil, in Chaos magick, should convey nothing of the source material, and be merely an abstract design allowed to sink into one's deeper mind, to be expressed and expelled as a magickal effect at a later time. The yantras seemed to follow the same principles: they, too, conveyed no direct information, but were used as a mode of contact with a spirit.

These other examples, while non-traditional, are built upon much the same principles:

Then it occured to me that the seals found in the various grimoires, also, were built upon the same principles: conveying no information, but evocative enough to be sank or submerged into the mind. Yet while sigil magick was a spell, the yantras and seals as found in the grimoires were a form of making contact with the desired spirit. Afterwards, one could request certain things to happen, and get a response, but the act of using a seal or yantra was not necessarily the same as casting of a spell—though, to be fair, in Tantra it often is. The basic framework of sigil magick, then, is quite the same as the basic framework of summoning spirits. Although they differ in style, the seals given in the grimoires are nevertheless equally non-representational, and used as visual points of focus without representing anything in particular. Here are some examples from the Arbatel:

I had the answer I was looking for: if I could construct a sigil of a spirit that no grimoire mentioned but which was nevertheless worshiped in antiquity, I could then, perhaps, summon its presence directly. The sigil is the connecting link between the spiritual and material worlds. It establishes a connecting point between the various worlds. Once a connection is made, causation can arise through the spiritual world and manifest on the material plane. It is done through the you, the magician, but through the connecting point of the sigil, which binds conscious thought allowing unconscious manifestation to arise. It then connects to subtle points of change in an unconscious way, allowing them to be guided consciously. It is guiding these subtle changes to desired ends or upon lines of communication that constitutes the work of magick.

I immediately tried a few spirits I had long wanted to summon. Initially, I did nothing more but stare at the newly constructed sigil in a quiet place, deeply intending the spirit to make contact. The effects, at first, were not the same as what I had experienced with others, but I did feel something. In summoning, I both experience the presence of the spirit in either a positive, negative or neutral fashion, and images will often begin to occur to my mind at a rapid pace. In this case, I felt the presence, but the images were not as rapid. With the spirit in question, I felt almost as if it had been long "dead"—as if no one had summoned it for a long time. It did not respond to me directly, but I could sense its aliveness and something of its position in the realm it inhabits. This occurred the same with the few entities I first tried—each time using a parred down method.

Later, I constructed a more elaborate ritual which, point for point, was how I most often summoned traditional grimoire spirits. By doing this, the presence of the spirits was much more forceful and clear. It was every way on par with what I had experienced from the traditional grimoires. As the former spirits, these long forgotten gods and goddesses were both real and receptive to human contact, each providing a unique sense of their own presence to me, and often granting deep, exalted states of ecstasy. While I cannot be sure, I can say that in my own practice this discovery appears to be a "key" to understanding magick—at least, in to understanding it better than before. I believe all systems utilized this central method even if they did not theorize about it in the same way. One can see the use of seals and sigils all throughout the magickal systems of Christendom, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Vodun and various other tribal religions, Taoism, Shinto, etc. along with the use of specialized abstract prayers, colored lights, incenses and planetary correspondences. If we look at these as in a methodical and systematic way rather than a dogmatic way, we can understand the principles which underlie each system and put them to use in our own practice. This is the method given here. And while it may seem odd to those not acquainted with Chaos Magick and its associated forms, I can personally attest that it has worked very well in my own practice, and I encourage you to try it and find out.

I have not used any new spirit to perform a specific task that a spell could do, though I see no reason why they couldn't also be used for this, depending on the spirit evoked. In any case, the new feelings and perceptions which arise through contacting spirits themselves is satisfying enough, as it is, and though I could not be considered "religious", I would say that repeated contact with the spirits has left me with a variety of conclusions which in many ways overlap some of the ancient, non-missionary religions of the world such as is taught in Hinduism, Gnosticism, Buddhism and Taoism. What the spirits are, we also are, though in a different form and in a different land—yet, how is it possible that they come into contact with us, when called? The answer is more profound than I can verbalize properly, but it seems as if time and space are far more fluid and ethereal things than they commonly seem in waking life. I have an intuitive sense that all layers and levels of reality are at once simultaneous and compacted into one another, just as they are distantly separated from one another by gulfs of incomprehensible space and time. We are all one and many, and there is no contradiction between these; and, as such, the entire cosmos is in me and I am in the entire cosmos. The point of connection, then, is deeper than how it seems at first, and though these spirits are likely living existences equivalent to mine in their own realms, they have achieved a level of grandeur and majesty which exceeds the human realm. As such, their "imprint" amidst the various realms is larger—which is likely the reason they were once worshiped—and this, also, is why they may be called again, though their worshipers have dwindled to next to nothing over time.

Whenever we use magick or forms of mysticism we are making an attempt to go beyond our conscious mind's normal capacity in order to contact a higher reality, to influence the material world, or to influence the psycho-physical organism we identify as our "self". I considered that in order to do this, the conscious mind must be held in abeyance in someway—if it is in full operation, only the world of waking consciousness is encountered and only the physical body can be used to accomplish various goals. This is the basic teaching of many different forms of magick.  Therefore the repetition of a series of seemingly meaningless words, or gazing at an abstract design that bares no resemblance to anything on earth, hold the conscious mind at a defined point and allow for movement or experience of the deeper mind to arise. I had seen this in tantra quite significantly, and it was certainly hinted at, also, in other grimoires I had read, as well as in Voudon.

The question might arise for some how this is even possible, however. It is beyond the scope of this present book to go into too much detail, but let it suffice to say for now that the reason is rooted in our way of looking at cosmology. Historically, cosmologies have tended more often than not to reduce reality to one, basic substance or reality from which all existence manifests rather than attribute real difference to those same appearances. This trend is seen in the West among the early Greek philosophers beginning with Thales who posited that everything was a modification of water. Anaximenes, in contrast, associated this one substance with the air, and Heraclitus, on similar lines, claimed it to be a primordial flame or fire. Anaximander and the Eleatic school retained the notion that everything was one substance, yet hesitated to define it in terms of a real element, positing, instead, a more lofty conception of "the One" or "God." This line of thought was carried on and grew popular through Neoplatonism and was appropriated by Christian, Jewish and Islamic mysticism as the Western and Middle Eastern pagans were converted or killed. Even earlier than the Greeks, such thought was part of the wisdom traditions found in both the Vedas and Upanishads, as well as certain Chinese philosophical writings such as the Tao Te Ching. They state that there is a primordial, uncomposit substance before all things, known as Infinity, the One, etc. It is known, also, as emptiness. It was, however, not something lifeless—it had within itself the potential to become everything; all forms of life, infinite, lay within it. It is known as light and the realm of fire, and performs the function of space in the dyad of space and time. In Kaballah it is known as Kether or the Crown, and in Tantra as the Shiva Tattva, as well as the Sahasra or Crown Chakra. In Vedanta it is called Brahman and in the Neo-Platonism it is the One. It is the gate to Atziluth or Parasamvit—the world, or reality, beyond time and space. This, in our own experience, can be recognized as that substance from which our experience & interior consciousness derive. It cannot be known as any one thing, nor as apart from them, yet from the perspective of phenomena it is the pure substance that is the same whether it is beheld as the silent, witnessing subject or the world of change.

The myth also states that, for its own reasons, a movement occurred within this pure substance that would later result in creation, first manifesting as a tiny dot or point of pure energy and motion. This is how the world was manifest. But in being manifest, no actual change occurred—instead, there was merely a movement, throb, or gesture of the infinite within itself, giving rise to seeming manifestation. Our lives and our existences are a manifestation of this one substance in its creative act.

And that substance is Chaos.

But if this substance is truly One and does not admit of any second to it, then it follows that it is connected to everything and everything is connected to everything else within it. As such, every part of the universe—including ourselves, our attentions, and our ritual practice—is connected to every other part of the universe, and if a change occurs in one, a change occurs in all. The cosmos is one, undivided whole. There is, in reality, neither time nor space. Therefore, any individual being can cause any desired change so long as it does not transgress natural law by too much or so long as there is not a greater force in their way. Similarly, any individual being can gain any desired knowledge. You can think of manifest existence as an infinite series of interlocking chains. Each chain is connected to every other chain that exists—and though they are infinite, each chain is different. However, some chains are linked closer than others. Therefore, there is a greater degree of difficulty or ease in producing desired causes or attaining knowledge. The material plane is quite interlinked with aspects of itself, and therefore is more distant in the "causation-information space" of manifest existence, but it is not insurmountable.

The path is deep, and perhaps never ends, but this has become an indispensable tool for me—for joy as well as for understanding. Hopefully it will for you as well.

1

Sigilization

Before going into the method of evoking spirits through sigilization, we should first be clear what sigilization is. Some of you may not have read much on Chaos Magick, so a brief outline is in order.

Sigilization is the process of making a sigil, charging it, and sinking it in one's subconscious or unconscious mind. This last process is done during a mental state called gnosis, where the mind is emptied of everything else. The magician is primarily keyed into the material world, being a material creature. Therefore, a non-representational act or sign is in order. Here is where the sigil comes in: once the magician makes their own sigil, or utilizes a sigil of tradition, then that aspect of the mind which is oriented primarily towards material reality is held back and made "blind". And this, in turn, allows for the subtle energies which are ever present at the background of reality to take form and manifest on the material plane—either by directly causing changes or events to occur, or by allowing knowledge to enter into the conscious mind of the magician.

The traditional way of making a sigil begins with a statement of intent. For instance, one might make their statement, "I will acquire a new partner." After doing so, one writes the statement down and then writes it down again, although the second time they are to remove every repeating letter. Thus, the statement "I will acquire a new partner" becomes "IWLACQURENPT".

Once this is done, the letters used in the final statement are then overlaid on top of one another, giving rise to the sigil. Here is an example:

I plan to publish different books of sigils as time goes on, giving some of the astrological correspondences with them I have learned. I will also be expanding this book periodically in the next few months, so check back to see if a new version is updated so you can download it for free.

The sigil is then focused upon in a heightened state of alertness. This may be by inducing pain, or hyperventilation, or deep meditative concentration. At a certain point, one achieves gnosis, where no other thoughts are left in the mind save for the image of the sigil itself. Then, immediately thereafter, the sigil is to be burned or buried or put away. It should be forgotten as best as possible, and one should do everything in one's power to forget it. Only once it is forgotten—so the legend goes—will the spell begin to work. Then it will "remind" you of its validity.

The sigil allows the mind to attach itself to a non-representational form. It means nothing in itself—therefore, it can be used as a gateway for the mind to access a reality beyond the conventions of our day to day life. By having no directly apprehensible meaning, the sigil exists as a portal and point of focus for the mind's expansion past its mundane concerns, accessing a field of experience that is beyond what it is normally capable of. It thus serves as a visual basis—or an auditory or linguistic basis—for the arising of a new dimension of experience.

The reason is simple: when the mind orients itself to familiar images, it automatically responds to them in a conditioned way. If the image is entirely unfamiliar—or if the words are entirely unfamiliar—then the mind reacts to it in a way that is outside of former conditioning or, at the very least, a way that is less bound by conditions. Therefore, a supernatural reality must be accessed in this way, either consciously or unconsciously.

Once the sigil gate is established, the mind may then access the reality indicated by the sigil and as it does so it may either do so by taking a passive or active role.

By taking a passive role, one communes with the reality intended by the sigil—one experiences, one feels, and one allows oneself to come into deep contact with it. It is an imbibing of information, like a sponge. This is the mystical experience of divinity, supernatural reality, new consciousnesses, new definitions of truth.

In an active role, however, one is attempting to influence the subtle network of unseen causes and conditions to bend to one's wishes. That is, one may or may not experience the other reality intended by the sigil, but one certainly affects it, allowing what "could" happen to happen with certainty.

As stated in the introduction, I believe that this is an art known by ancient peoples the world over but has, in many ways, been lost under the intrusions of Islam, Christianity and the Industrial Revolution. The subtle sciences of Shamanism are an ancient approach to these same principles and one can find in them much the same basics.

In terms of evocation, a sigil can be used to evoke any spirit by utilizing the following method:

1. Take the name of a desired entity and write it down. You may use English letters, or you can use an alphabet in which you unfamiliar. However, I recommend using the alphabet / glyph system of whatever culture the spirit you are trying to evoke is from. Thus, if the spirit is Norse, use Runes, or if the spirit is Greek, use the Greek alphabet, and so on. Then, write the letters on top of eachother, so that an abstract sigil is formed. You also need not use all the letters in the name, but use some of them at first. Once it has been formed, you may use it as the connecting link to the entity. In time, you may even simply craft a sigil of your own design which you intend to use in order to contact the spirit in question. The intent is the most important aspect of this in order to forge the connecting link of contact.  In time, as you grow better at this, you can simply make the sigil to fit any style you like, without letters at all, so long as it is an abstract design. The letters are not so important as the act of making the sigil. 

Here are some sigils I constructed from the Coptic alphabet of Egypt, used to evoke Egyptian deities. I often find it easier to construct them on a computer and then to print them and trace them out in my own writing. As in any thing, you will find what's best for you as you continue to practice.

Here, also, are some examples of Norse deities formed out of traditional Runes:

Here are examples culled from the Book of Enoch:

2. Place the sigil before you—either on a table or in an uncluttered spot in a room. If you are performing the more elaborate form as given below, the sigil is to go upon the altar. 

3. Calm yourself, focus your energies, and try to remove thought from your mind as much as you are able. I have found that doing this for 10 minutes prior to the ritual increases the vividness of the ritual by far. The meditation beforehand is an indispensable to the ritual as the ritual itself.

4. Then, looking at the sigil, cause a visceral or intuitively potent reaction in yourself. Traditionally, sigils are "sank" into the subconscious mind by such methods as hyperventilating to exhaustion, burning the flesh with incense, pricking it with a needle, or masturbating. All of these methods—aside from masturbation—could have unintended health consequences, so I do not recommend them. The method I recommend is simply to stare at the sigil until you begin to see subtle hallucinations, such as movement, clouds, disappearances, lights, etc. This method takes longer but is more effective in the long run with communicating with entities. If you are using a mantram (see below) you can simply recite it until the spirit manifests in contact.

5. Once contact has been established by feeling the palpable presence of the entity, you may ask your questions or issue your requests. The entity may refuse or make demands upon you, in which case you may need to either follow the demands for the desired effect or evoke the entity multiple times in order to establish a suitable rapport with them.

6. Once the ritual is over, it is advisable to burn the sigil, or bury it, although if the ritual proved effective you may keep a copy of the sigil in your own "book of sigils" for later use.

It is that simple. Yet it is a highly effective method. Hopefully the introduction gave some idea as to why it works—or, at least, a working theory as to possibly why it works. But it does work, and you will soon find out.

2

Expanding the ritual process

Even though I have given the most simplified form the ritual, I have found that the degree to which one puts in effort into the ritual itself, the greater the manifest effect of the evocation. I have had successful summonings with nothing more than the sigil itself, yet the presence is not as clear or profound in the absence of more elaborate ritual techniques. But by elaborate I do not mean nearly as elaborate as some grimoires describe. I simply mean more elaborate than the simplified ritual listed above.

A more elaborate ritual can be conducted with nothing more than an altar, the sigil, colored lights and incense. With these alone the ritual will be more effective. This is literally all one needs to properly perform a ritual and there presence alone can dramatically magnify and heighten the sense of the spirit's presence. It has been my experience that even an elaborate ritual lacking these few items is not as good as a simple ritual in which they are present. Some will argue that one needs a great deal more—Hebrew God names written on everything, a wand, a pentacle, a cup, a sword, a triangle of Art, etc.—but if this were the case no cultures would be performing magick at all save for European Hermeto-Kabbalists. The truth is that magick can be performed with any variety of implements—though, culturally, as Westerners we are more susceptible to certain things. This does not mean magick itself requires them, but they make it easier for us, in light of our collective cultural sphere. Thus, if you can use them, do so. If you cannot, still try.

Franz Bardon, to my mind, is the first magician I have read who specifically mentioned utilizing colored lamps. I have seen many recommend it as of late, and it appears to becoming one of the more popular items in magick as it is presently practiced.

To give a brief idea of how to make a colored lamp, there are many methods but the most simple one is to procure the interchangeable glass portion of a hurricane lamp and a glass paint that resists heat. It is sometimes difficult to find in stores, so I would recommend going into a specialty crafts store which has a wide variety of items. Then purchase some paint brushes and simply brush on the colored paint. Three or four coats should do the trick, though you may want to use less insofar as the light will be brighter if there is a less coating of paint.

Before I used colored lamps, I was still aware of the general idea that color = magick, and I made use of colored candles. The effects of a colored lamp vs. colored candles in lieu of spirit evocation is striking. On a scale of one to ten, with one being the lowest and ten being full-blown, visual manifestation, colored lamps allow the spirit's presence to manifest with a safe six to eight points of intensity, whereas colored candles hover around four to six.

Yet, there is another method which words just as well as colored lamps, and I believe it was the method used by certain ancient sorcerers—if I am reading the hints in their writings correctly. This is the use of colored fabric. Here, one can use normal candles for illumination, but rather than using colored lamps what one does is position one's altar in such a way that the altar itself is not only covered in a colored cloth, but to also suspend another colored cloth behind the altar, so as to serve as a backdrop. The candles then irradiate the color of the cloth, and the entire ritual working space is suffused in the same, awesome light. This works just as well as colored lamps, although colored lamps allow one to use a greater variety of colors at once. This is not entirely necessary, although I have found some spirits do prefer it.

Franz Bardon has handed down the following color symbolism traditions in his book, The Practice of Magical Evocation:

Solar - golden, amber or yellow.

Lunar - silver, gray or white.

Mercurial - orange, mottled or opal.

Venusian - green.

Martial - purple

(although, to be far, I have always used red for Martial energies).

Jovian - blue.

Saturnian - dark violet.

These are only suggestions, however. If you read old astrological texts you will find other color correspondences in them which can be used. I have found that it is best to find a color system that works for you and stick to it. Some, for instance, have advocated the use of pink for Venusian energies and green for Mercury. This, to my mind, makes a little more sense than Bardon's outline.

If the spirit is elemental rather than planetary, a similar color system applies:

Earth - brown/green.

Water - blue.

Fire - red/orange.

Air - white/light yellow.

Cthonic beings generally incline towards deep reds, blues, purples and violets, though in India the spirit of the descending lunar node known as Ketu is associated with all colors in a flecked pattern. This is similar to Mercury, though more intense.

Interestingly, Franz Bardon also recommended using more lamps the closer one is to the Earth. He gives us the following amounts:

Earth - ten lamps.

Moon - nine lamps.

Mercury - eight lamps.

Venus - seven lamps.

Sun - six lamps.

Mars - five lamps.

Jupiter - four lamps.

Saturn - three lamps.

I have not felt this necessary as of yet, though it makes intuitive sense. Franz Bardon's lamp construction—and his entire magickal system—is significantly more complicated than the one I have advocated, but I know for a fact that the methods I use are successful—as you, also, will soon find out.

In addition to this, incense helps immeasurably, also. The magickal use of incense should already be understood and I feel no real need to explain why it is so wonderful. Suffice it now to say that the burning of a scent sympathetic to the nature of the working will not only increase the power of the working but will also place in one in a deeper and more receptive frame of mind—a more proper frame of mind. This cannot be overemphasized enough. Any magician can see for themselves the beneficial use of magickal scents by simply trying ten workings without any incense and then try another ten workings with incense. The ten with incense will always be more powerful.

Generally speaking, the use of incense has followed lines of astrological correspondence, with certain herbs being Mercurial, others being Saturnina, still others being Martial and yet others being Jovial, Solar, Venusian or Lunary. I do not necessarily subscribe to the notion that there are hard and fast rules of what constitutes a true "planetary" incense, but I will say that there is at least a psychological correspondence between certain types of smells and certain types of mind states. The powers often associated with Mars, for example, are harsh, spicy and thick, whereas Venusian powers are light, seductive and inviting. Here is a brief outline of what I have found in lieu of these correspondences, and you can take it or leave it as you wish:

Solar - bright scents, non-floral, sweet, large and transcendent. Sandalwood is the best example.

Lunar - dark scents, floral, deep, sweet without being overt, and immanent. Lilac is a good example.

Mercurial - moderate scents, non-floral, fruit or leaf-based if possible. The smell of Earl Gray tea with Bergamot comes to mind.

Venusian - bright scents, always floral, deep or shallow, seductive and inviting. Begonias, Roses, the scent of Jasmine, etc. all apply.

Martial - as stated before, harsh, spicy and thick is best. Cinnamon is good for workings of a pleasant nature, while Tobacco is better for deeper workings.

Jovian - prideful, loud scents, or scents of regal calm. The scent of Pine is perfect for Jupiter.

Saturnian - dark, musty, motionless scents; almost on the verge of decay. Traditionally sulfur was used most often with Saturn (and with Mars) but the scent of Chocolate mixed with Lavender is the best I have found that is not offensive.

It is a truism in magick that—in certain cases—the more you flood your senses and mind with stimulation, the greater the ritual's power. In the case of sigilization, the principle, as I have shown, is always to bypass the conscious mind through a non-representational medium, but in addition to using the sigil as a visual point of focus, there are other, complementary methods to heighten the basic effect. The sigil is visual, but one may also utilize sound or thought. In Tantra, a mantra or mantram is a formula in Sanskrit which is repeated a certain number of times, and which contains its own non-representational forms called "seed syllables". These are mere syllables which have no overt meaning, but which possess a subtle correspondence to the spirit or planetary energy evoked. One might be evoking Ganesha, for example, with the mantram"gang gang ganapati hey namaha." In addition to using the Sanskrit term Ganapati (Lord of the Demons), the seed syllable gang is also used—which, in itself, means nothing but represents Ganesha to the mind as a non-representational form. As such, in addition to staring at theyantra of Ganesha, the mantram serves the purpose of establishing sound also as part of the rite, flooding the vocal-auditory aspect of the senses as well, heightening the effect.

Let us say we are wanting to evoke Loki. To do so through sound or vocal stimulation, what we will do is make a sigil mantram to be recited during the rite.

In the case of Loki, we can make a phrase,

"Loki, we call on thee, and wish to enter thy presence."

then scramble it into a ready-made mantram:

"Lio epocweta, cerlaena ah rentsya thilrea

Lio opecscerlaena tapree"

Or, if this is too difficult, we can simplify it:

"Cerlaena alowe kionalo"

I have found this to be more effective than a preformed recitation in English. Generally, the mantram is to be recited until the spirit arrives. Or if the spirit arrives and its presence begins to lessen the mantram can be recited to bring it back to presence. The sense of "lessening" often is not with the spirit, but with our conscious mind getting in the way once again.

These methods are, of course, merely suggestions. I discovered this practice on my own through trying new things, so the aspect of creativity and innovation as it pertains to spirit summoning cannot be over-emphasized.

Also, whenever I evoke a spirit, the first thing I try to determine is its astrological/elemental correspondences. Then I will set the ritual up accordingly, making sure I have the right colors, metals and incense, as well as the proper minerals or herbs if the situation calls for it.

The astrological or elemental correspondence is not always apparent when you are evoking a more obscure being, however. Their significance has been lost to history and, at times, only their names remain.

In such cases I perform an all-purpose ritual for the first evocation. Here, I use a white backdrop for the altar, place a white cloth upon the altar, and light seven lamps. I do not incorporate metals at all.

After the spirit has been evoked, I will question it at some point on what colors, scents, metals, herbs and minerals it prefers, as well as whatever astrological implications the spirit might have. I often have a digital recorder present so I can simply speak the spirit's responses out loud and write them down, later. Once its preferences have been established I can then note what was learned in a book for later reference.  

Although it is not entirely necessary, I do recommend using a scrying mirror in addition to your other ritual items.

If you are not familiar with what a scrying mirror is, it is basically any black, empty surface in which the reflection of the spirit or its forms may appear. It is used in order to gain visual data from the spirit in question, as well as for such purposes as divination, fortune telling or, also, to learn new sigils by which to evoke a spirit by. The idea behind it is that it serves as a visual point of focus whereby the spirit in question may interface with your own mind, causing you to see images in the mirror itself. Generally these will not be particularly vivid at first, though with time they will become clearer and clear, until you reach the point that they are almost frightening in their essential clarity.

To make a scrying mirror, you need do nothing more than take a propped up picture frame, remove the glass, and lay black fabric in it. If you leave the glass in it will likely pick up the reflection of the ritual lights, distorting the image. 

It should be placed on the altar where no light reflects upon it and it should be touching the sigil, if possible. It is to be glanced at periodically through the ritual, and when you begin to see shapes or colors emerge upon its surface, at that time you may gaze at it intently. Do your best to remember everything which occurs, and write down the images you see afterwards in a special journal. 

As said before, I have a digital recorder turned on during the ritual, so if I see a square image with a dove inside, for example, I can simply say this outloud then refer to the recording later to jog my memory. At times the images come very rapidly, so it is good to do everything you can to aid in your recall. In time you may learn a language and symbol system that each spirit possesses, though the messages are often not understood during the ritual itself. Such is why it is very important to record everything for later analysis.

In light of the above, a more elaborate ritual may proceed as follows:

Set up process

1. Set up the altar, draping over it colored cloth in accords with the energy of the spirit you wish to evoke.

2. Place the colored lamp(s) on the altar, though do not light it just yet.

3. Set up the incense stick you will be using to fumigate the ritual area, or the oil burner. Do not light them yet.

4. Place the scrying mirror on the altar, towards the back or an area where the light from the lamp will not shine upon it.

5. Have a pen ready on the altar, and white, unlined paper in the middle. The paper should have the name of the spirit in English and, if you wish, the name of the spirit in the language it was traditionally known in. (Norse, Arabic, Persian, Greek, etc.)

6. Have your digital recorder ready, too.

Ritual

7. If there are lights in your room, turn them off. Turn on the digital recorder.

8. Sit in the darkness for a little while, calming yourself, breathing slowly and centering your energies.

9. Then, slowly, light the colored lamps and incense.

10. Look at the white unlined paper in front of you.

11. Slowly and deliberately, write out the sigil.

12. Then, write out a mantram using the spirit's name.

13. Once these have been done, look at the sigil intently while reciting the mantram. You may do so with eyes opened or closed. Do this until you feel the presence of the spirit.

14. If the spirit is present, you may do the following: a) simply commune with the spirit, asking nothing, b) ask the spirit to accomplish a certain goal for you or to cause a certain effect, c) ask the spirit for information about itself or about some other thing. (If it tells you anything, say what it has told you out loud for the digital recorder to pick up.)

15. Look at the scrying mirror. Stare at it as long as you can without blinking. Note out loud whatever images arise.

Ending

16. At a certain point it will feel that the spirit is ready to leave. Once you get a signal from the spirit, thank it for arriving and showing itself to you and bid it farewell.

17. You may write down a copy of the sigil in your book of sigils at this point, but then destroy the sigil you just made.

18. Pack up your ritual belongings. The evocation is over.

3

Parting thoughts

If you haven't performed a successful evocation yet, you might be curious as to what it is exactly that happens during an evocation. Spells generally lack any accompanying phenomena aside from little feelings and intuitions about them—if they work, that is. The goal of a spell is that its primary phenomena comes to pass. If it does, it is successful. Evocations are another matter: an evocation may be successful even if there is no accompanying phenomena, so long as the request that you make during the evocation is honored by the spirit. Or, an evocation may be successful because of the accompanying phenomena, even if there is no request granted whatsoever. Evocations are a far different animal than mere spell work, and far fewer sorcerers and sorceresses actually perform them than those who merely cast spells. And such is because, with evocation, one is dealing with another intelligence outside of one's own mind—or, perhaps, an intelligence within one's own mind that has been submerged and hidden for lifetimes. They are unpredictable and chaotic, whereas spell work is cut and dry. Yet, the experience of a successful evocation can be far richer than any spell could even hint at, for by confirming even a small amount of non-physical reality many other truths can be confirmed. If there are discarnate spirits and we may contact them with such simple means as sigil evocation, what other metaphysical truths are implied in such facts? Life, obviously, is more than the mere fact of the material body and its evolutions. There is more to consciousness than a beginning at conception and an end at death. The cosmos is populated by myriads of beings—many of whom have psychic connections to ourselves or, at least, the possibility of such. Reality may be as infinite and awe-inspiring as the mystics of the ages have claimed, and there may be a path one can set upon which is a far worthier goal than anything one could have dreamt before.

But I digress.

More to the point: what should one expect in evocation, starting out?

There are a few general things to observe, if you have never evoked before. The first is that you may experience nothing at all for some months. If you evoke often, that is. Many people are too hardened and dull to get anything out of evocation the first time around and, as such, the process requires many attempts before something will be felt. In my own case, evocations never worked until after one Christmas I drank far too much at a party and the next day was spent laying in bed with a terrible hangover, subject to strange lucid dreams and closed eye-hallucinations. After this I could sense spirits quite easily in evocation—almost too easily, even, for I could sense them outside of evocations also, in daily life, and this caused difficulties at times. But if you continue to practice evocation, even if at first you see nothing eventually you will see. It takes time and patience, but it will happen.

The second thing applies to what occurs once you actually do start seeing and feeling things during evocation. I have as yet never perceived a spirit in full-blown visible form, as if it were physically present in the room, though I have read that such occurs to people eventually. More often the images will arise in the scrying mirror, or you will have a rapid series of images flood your mind's eye. Visually, I have seen flashes of physical light and strange movements in the visual spectrum, in addition to many hallucinatory visions which are similar to early stages of LSD intoxication. These are blotches of color, lattice-like patterns, undulating and amorphous shapes, the feeling of the walls receding or closing in (as if they were "breathing"), distortions in depth perception, etc. As far as the scrying mirror is concerned, at first you will see similar hallucinations but they will be more pronounced when seen in the scrying mirror. The shapes generally start out as featureless, but in time they will move more and more rapidly and take upon definitive forms. It is not uncommon to see faces, animals and geometric designs. As stated before, if you do start seeing these, express what you are seeing out loud so the digital recorder picks it up. You will be shocked by how much you forget occurred in a ritual once the ritual is over!

Beyond what you see visually, however, there can also be subtle perceptions in your body such as tingling sensations, weights, lightnesses, coldness, warmth, etc. These have never been for me particularly interesting or pronounced, though many do report them. I have almost never heard anything out loud in an evocation ritual, either, but this does happen for some.

The most delightful part of a successful evocation ritual, however, is not in the different hallucinations one has but in the palpable sense of the spirit's presence. It is difficult to describe but at times it is incredibly beautiful. The same feelings you may engender by listening to a favorite piece of music in the right setting, or having a talk with a friend you haven't seen in a long time, or by seeing lovely pieces of art in a museum—all of these are somewhat equivalent to an experience of a spirit's evoked presence. It is truly amazing. To be sure, there are times when the spirit is dull or even angry at being summoned, but more often than not the spirit is as interested in the encounter as you are, and is more than willing to share its benign aspects with you in the field of experience. Such words as "communion", "fellowship", "oneness", "concordance", "synchronicity", etc. come to mind. It is this part of the experience that is truly valuable, I feel. The rest is icing on the cake.

The third observation is what occurs when effects are requested of the spirit. It has been my experience that spirits are less inclined to perform specific tasks than the grimoires traditionally paint them to be. If you want to actually get something done, you are certainly free to ask a spirit to help you, and in some cases it does happen, but a sigilized spell or traditional spell often work better, insofar as they are directly tied to your own energy/thought stream and do not rely upon the will of an external intelligence. This is my experience and it may be quite different for some. The exception to this is when you deal with specifically planetary or astrologically oriented spirits; they do perform actually effects, and often quite consistently. As far as information gathering is concerned, the problem with evocation is that the spirits will often communicate through images which occur on the scrying mirror, and though these are accurate, their accuracy is not often understood until the event has already passed or been confirmed by some other information. Evocation can be used as a supporting adjunct to other divination, but unless you are very good at it—gifted, we'll say—it may not be entirely useful.

At this point I think everything necessary has been covered—and much that is useful, albeit unnecessary. Remember, be patient if the evocations do not work very well at first, and do consider expanding and elaborating upon the ritual process if you haven't already done so. The power of magick—like most things—is proportionally to the amount of effort, time and imagination you invest into it. Evoke often. Experiment. In time, everything will fall into place.

Good luck.

UPDATE: I have spent some time working more and more with the use of scrying mirrors and have published a small book of my findings called "Scrying without Tears". At the time most of this present book was written I was not entirely clear as many aspects of scrying, so some of the information is outdated in lieu of my newer scrying book. I'll leave it as is, though, because it demonstrates development, and what good is magick if it doesn't develop? What I've come to realize is that the strange and abstract images on the scrying mirror are a sort of language that must be slowly learnt, and then the imagery can be used to forecast events or understand information. Sometimes the scrying imagery is very clear, but even when it is not it still can be quite useful. 

The End 