Sol Ascendans – The Website of Alex Sumner

A round-up of the answers I have given to questions about Black Magick on Quora.com

What are some black magic spells?

“Black Magic” is a devalued term, and not because of any politically incorrect connotations – it is most often used to describe any magic that one happens to dislike, or any magic practised by someone whom you don’t like – even if the magic itself is (objectively speaking) quite benign.

That being said, for historical examples you might want to look up grimoire magic, i.e. rituals derived from classic spellbooks (“grimoires”). They are so old they are by now in the public domain and even available free to download on the internet if you do a google search for them. Many of them are rather obscure to read by today’s standards, although some are perennially popular and still used by modern occultists, such as The Lesser Key of Solomon, or The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, both of which entail evoking Demons and compelling them to do one’s bidding. Also, both of these were used by Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) – who is probably most responsible for their contemporary appeal (or notoriety, depending on your point of view).

These grimoires will give an impression of the kind of wording which would have been used in old-school ceremonial magic to call demons. As it happens, when you examine the conjurations involved, you should notice that the main way to call a demon actually consists of invoking the names and titles of God and His holy angels: the rationale being that only God has true power of all things, therefore one can only truly call demons when one is acting with God’s authority.

Twilit Grotto is a good resource in this regard.

What is the Goetia?

The Goetia of the Lesser Key of Solomon is a magical grimoire written in the fifteenth century, and which enjoys some fame (or notoriety) today as it was a favourite of the noted occultist Aleister Crowley. The grimoire describes a system of ceremonial magic for the calling forth of spirits or demons, seventy-two of which are described in the text.

The word goetia itself is an ancient Greek term for sorcery in general. By medieval times it had come specifically to be associated with demon-magic, as opposed to e.g. angel-magic (“theurgia”) or astrological magic (“magia”).

How do you summon a demon?

I recommend you read My Life With the Spirits, by Lon Milo Duquette. In it he describes how he evoked a demon from the Goetia of the Lesser Key of Solomon – and the learning process he had to go through to get there. Like you he had to put up with people telling him not to do it. The references he makes are to real occult teachings which you can follow to develop your own practice. He also dispels unrealistic expectations of what happens when Goetic spirits manifest.

Note however that almost each story he tells of evocation has a sinister twist or sequel to it. I say this to sound a note of caution, not to prohibit you absolutely from going ahead.