Happy new year everyone! I am currently in the middle of writing a new novel, which I expect to be finished this year. It will be a thriller, part supernatural, but also part conspiracy. I would have got it finished sooner, but in the middle of writing it, I came down with a bad case of Literature which meant I had to do a major revision. For more news, watch this space!
Your Questions Answered
You now have the opportunity to have answered all your questions about Magick and the Occult in general, and my own work in particular. I am starting a new project in which I will be creating a new series of posts for this website and my social media outlets on Magick, and I therefore welcome questions on
- Abramelin
- The Golden Dawn
- Enochian Magick
- Goetia
- Astral Projection
- Ceremonial Magick in general
- etc etc etc
To have your question featured it should be asked in a format in which I can answer it in FIFTY WORDS OR LESS.
Post your question as a comment to this web post now! Thanks.
Filed under Site Update
Are spells created or have they always existed but are being discovered?
Say I take someone’s ritual to ask a spirit for one thing, and modify it to ask the same spirit for something similar but not identical, is it the same spell, or a new spell in its own right?
A lot of advanced magical practices call upon the magician to be able to create his/her own rituals: although mostly this will be a case of building upon established principles in which he/she has been trained – e.g. the magical systems of the Golden Dawn or Thelema. Hence in that sense, although original magical rituals are continuously being created, very few rituals are “totally original.”
In the Abramelin system, it is theoretically possible to ask one’s HGA to reveal a new “spell” (i.e. a magick square or spirit, or both) if one doesn’t already exist to suit one’s purpose. Which is just as well, because if this were not so, Abramelin would not be suited to the 21st century but would be stuck in the 15th century. HOWEVER, I believe that the secrets the HGA reveals come from a place outside Time, so the question “is it new or does it already exist” cannot properly be answered.
Alex’ answer to Are spells created or have they always existed but are being discovered? on Reddit.
Filed under Supernatural
For those that have actually done the Abramelin Operation, what did you experience? What did you gain from performing it? (Reddit)
Alex’ answer:
Hi, I actually did the Abramelin Operation during the lockdown in 2020, and subsequently wrote a book about it.
I know that all experiences are subjective to the practitioner, but I still think hearing about others experiences will still be very informative.
How did you prepare to do the ritual?
The superficial answer was that I didn’t. The lockdown began in March 2020, and Abramelin Season began a couple of weeks later on Easter Monday, 10th April. As I found myself obliged to work from home on full pay for the then foreseeable future, I decided pretty quickly “Fuck it, it’s now or never.”
However, the more fuller answer is that when I did start Abramelin, I found that having practiced ceremonial magick and meditation in general for over twenty-five years before starting the operation proper proved invaluable to me. In that sense, I had been preparing for it for over a quarter of a century.
What did you experience when you summoned the demonic powers?
It felt nerve-wracking at the time. However, the Demons are conjured on the last three days of the Ritual: the HGA is invoked on the three days prior to that. It helped enormously that on the evening of the Third Day of Convocation of the Good Spirits I believe I actually experienced my Holy Guardian Angel manifesting, which meant I went into the subsequent demonic conjurations with confidence.
Ultimately, the biggest demon which I conquered was my own fear of completing the ritual.
What was it like to summon the holy guardian angel?
Satisfying – not unlike deep, intense, meditation. Incidentally, I found that KCHGA doesn’t just happen suddenly at the very end of the operation, but starts to manifest during the course of the operation itself. The final Convocations of the Good Spirits is just the culmination of the thing.
Do you have any advice for those that are looking to perform the ritual themselves?
Yes, it’s actually a lot easier than you probably think. For the most part it consists of performing a simple ritual twice or three times a day every day for six months. What’s more, nowadays we live in an age when it is easier than ever to perform Abramelin: delicious vegetarian food is available from every supermarket, and technology, especially the internet, means that an Operand has more support for his/her efforts than at any time in the past.
The only really difficult part is in the final third, when you have to do the ritual three times a day – morning, noon, and night – the noon-day ritual really gets in the way of holding down a proper job, so ideally one ought to find a way to go on sabbatical for that time. The final seven days I booked off completely.
Alex Sumner
Author, Conjuring Demons for Pleasure and Profit: an Abramelin Memoir.
Alex’ answer to For those that have actually done the Abramelin Operation, what did you experience? What did you gain from performing it? on Reddit
The Archangel Tzaphqiel
This is based on some magical work I have recently done. The Archangel of Binah is Tzaphqiel (sometimes spelled “Tzaphkiel”) whose name means (according to Davidson (1967) p366) “Knowledge of God.” Consequently, Tzaphqiel is thought of as the Recording Angel, and hence, the Qabalistic equivalent of the Keeper of the Akashic Records.
When one considers just how big the Akashic Records are, this implies that Tzaphqiel is a considerably bigger deal than one might be supposed. For example, she is the key to the sum total of all knowledge in general and one’s own past lives in particular. Therefore her influence is not just limited to “Binah-type things” but to a surprisingly large fund of expertise.
Filed under Supernatural
What’s an HGA for? (Reddit)
What does your HGA even do? What’s the point of connecting with it? Why would anybody even bother? If it’s for protection, why not just use protection magick? Anyways, super confused.
I remember when I first believed I made contact with my HGA.
Before then, I had been taking magick on faith. When the Angel appeared, it made me feel “ecstatic” in the literal sense. I realized now this was the first time where I had definitively experienced the presence of an angel.
This permanently and irrevocably altered the paradigm upon which I had framed my whole beliefs. In one moment I abandoned the psychological theory of magic, and instead believed that angels in particular and magic in general was in fact real. Before then I had been taking other people’s word for it, but now I knew.
As regards what you do with the HGA when you find it, the benefits are several. Communing with the HGA has by itself a benevolent healing effect. If this were not enough, I find that my HGA often gives me insights as to how to improve my spiritual practice. I do not share these with other people because I believe these are only meant for me and are only relevant to me, unless my HGA actually says they meant for other people, which is a rare event.
Then of course there is the Abramelin system which teaches that the HGA is necessary to summon and bind all the spirits by whom the practical effects of ceremonial magic are accomplished. moreover, the HGA enables one to innovate new forms of practical magic so that one is not bound to the magic of the past.
Source: Alex’ answer to What’s an HGA for?
Filed under Supernatural
“Is it true there are no such thing as ‘bad cards?'” (Reddit)
This is one of the things I always say: “There are no bad tarot cards, just bad tarot readers.” Really, it is the responsibility of the tarot reader to manage the expectations of the Querent. The tarot spread one uses is a choice: if the Tarot reader starts off by choosing to use a spread where there is supposedly only one possible outcome, then it is the Reader’s own stupid fault for when the reading ends in disappointment.
If however the Reader makes clear that the cards dealt represent alternatives or possibilities, and choses a tarot spread which reflects this, then the Querent will leave the session feeling that it was a worthwhile experience and they have gained valuable insights.
As to the Tarot cards which less-than-scrupulous readers leave in the box, the way I rationalise them is this:
The so-called “bad” tarot cards are Hazard Warning Signs.
If you were going about your daily business and saw a Hazard Warning Sign saying something like “Danger: Death!” You would obviously dislike the consequences of ignoring the sign, but you would regard the sign itself not as evil, but as Good – because it has helped save your life.
So it is with Tarot cards. If you ask “is it a good idea to do such and such?” and you turn over the 10 of Swords, I would answer: “No – unless you actually want to bring ruin and destruction upon yourself.”
Amongst positive sides to the cards to which the picture refers, I can think of the following:
- Death. Refers to a metaphorical death such as the end of one thing and beginning of another. Also it refers to Scorpio and/or the eight house of one’s horoscope. Given that everyone dies, of old age if nothing else, it could just be talking about not the fact that you will die, but what happens when you do, such as inheritances.
- 10 of Swords. Because there is nothing worse than the 10 of Swords, everything that happens after it must by definition be better. If the 10 of Swords occurs in a position representing the past, it means the the worst is behind you.
- The Tower. This means Destruction. But if the thing being destroyed is itself evil (e.g. what imprisons you or holds you back in life), then it’s actually good. It also could just mean the influence of the planet Mars, and all that that implies.
- 5 of Cups. Although this means loss or disappointment in love, in the RW version three cups are overturned, but two remain upright, showing that there is at least something that can be learned or salvaged from the experience. Also, like the 10 of Swords, if the 5 of Cups refers to something in the past…
Original post: Alex’ answer to Is it true there are no such thing as “bad cards”?
Filed under Supernatural
Oriens Appreciation Post
Well, well, well! News today that public sector workers in the UK have been offered a pay-rise of 6%, which the Unions are willing to accept. And this right after I deployed an Abramelin word-square (see above) !
I’m not saying the two are connected, but… I thought I’d just post my appreciation of my HGA, and Oriens and all his servant spirits, who rule over the Squares of Chapter XXVIII. 😊
Every Story Matters…
Here in the United Kingdom, the government is conducting an inquiry into what were everyone’s experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, entitled Every Story Matters. As per the blurb on the front page:
Every Story Matters is your opportunity to help the UK Covid-19 Inquiry understand your experience of the pandemic.
The pandemic affected every single person in the UK and, in many cases, continues to have a lasting impact on lives. Every one of our experiences is unique and this is your opportunity to share the impact it had on you, and your life, with the Inquiry.
Every story shared with us will be used to shape the Inquiry’s investigations and help us to learn lessons for the future. Stories will be collated, analysed and turned into themed reports, which will be submitted into each relevant investigation as evidence. The reports will be anonymised.
It therefore occurs to the Sumner Family Brain Cell that I have an important story to tell, and not just because I’ve written a book about it. I have therefore decided to tell the British Government about my experiences attempting the Abramelin Operation in 2020. At worst, it will provide whichever low-paid civil service employee is employed to read all these entries half-an-hour of amusement in between the monotony of the same-old same-old “I was stuck in my house, watching Netflix, deteriorating, etc tec ect.”
At best, it will cause the Government to pay more attention to the importance of a spiritual practice in maintaining self-esteem and mental health in a time of practice. I cannot conceal that I was motivated by plugging my book in all of this.
Anywho, if you live in the UK, I recommend you take a look at this survey yourself as you may find you want to contribute your own story.
Sol Ascendans - The Website of Alex Sumner 
Magick and the principle of Stewardship
OFFERINGS TO SPIRITS ARE BUNK. Maybe I’ve been spending too much time on the internet, or more accurately, too much time in the wrong places on the internet, but I have come to the conclusion that the way people try to “pay” for the good offices of a spirit, as if such a magical operation could ever be commodified, by making some token gesture not only grossly undervalues the Spirit in question, but stunts the Magician’s own further development.
Instead, I wish to propose a new paradigm, based on the following principles:
Magick is a gift;
The Magician is a Steward of the Gift of Magick.
The principle of Stewardship may be stated as “leaving a thing in a better state than when you found it,” or in a more Theological sense, if one is given something one should both use it and leave it in an improved condition. Cf the parable of the three Stewards from Matthew 25. In contemporary religion this principle in invoked to justify environmental activism within a spiritual context. However, I say that it applies to living one’s life generally, i.e. humanity is not just the Steward of Nature, but individual humans are the Stewards of all the good things they have received in their particular lives, i.e. they have an ethical obligation to leave them in a better state than when they received them. Hence, for the Magician, this means that he or she is a Steward of the Magical gifts which they have received.
Hence further, for example, if a spirit does one a good turn by granting one’s spell-request, the proper way to thank the spirit is take the boon granted and make full use of it even to the extent of exceeding the scope of one’s original intention. Or if God / one’s Higher Self / one’s unconscious mind happens to grant you Magical Power or Powers, then one ought to leave that Magical Power in a better state for all succeeding generations. E.g. a Clairvoyant would, following the principle of Stewardship, be under an ethical obligation to advance the science of Clairvoyance during their lifetime so that future students of the art will find their own experience of it improved because of the Clairvoyant’s own practice.
Not by simply posting a thank you message on social media and hoping for the best!
Call it UPG if you like but I do not believe that such platitudes a valuable offering do make, but instead lead a diminishing of returns. Expanding and constantly improving on the other hand keep the Spirit-Relationship alive.
One final point: there will come a time when we will be called to Give Account of our Stewardship, i.e. by when we ought to have improved on our gifts. But the wisest of us know not when that will occur, so by default one should assume that it is NOW.
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