Aspects and functions of Saturn.

RO gives a rite for traveling through the Sphere of the Sun to get to the Sphere of Saturn, the Solar-Saturn rite. I've had different things to do and have been putting this rite off, so I finally went through with it. The objective of the rite is to enter deeper levels of initiation into the Sphere and acquire Wisdom from Cassiel, Archangel of Saturn.

As he appeared to me, his figure was incredibly large. I was perhaps as tall as his feet. The only light that radiated from him was from his eyes and nothing else, his hands were scepters, and he wore a very long cape. Upon tracing out his seal and intoning his name, he wrapped me up in his cape, swallowing all Light from the Sphere of the Sun. Before continuing, he asked me to cover my (physical) face with cloth so that any (physical) light could not be apparent through my eyes.

Upon entering the Sphere of Saturn, I was sucked to the surface of the Sphere. It was infinitely heavy, to the extent that without the help of the Spirit, I could not move -- it was as if he had to adjust the gravity of the Sphere and remove some limitations for me to scale the surface. He walked with me and explained that there were some things I should understand regarding Saturn.

We approached a cliff of sorts and the distant horizon was stormy, lightning strikes abound, and there was this incredible glyph, miles wide. It looked something like lava or fire, but more eternal and ethereal. There was a giant circle and within it, there was the image of an eye. He explained to me that his Sphere was, as far as the planets are concerned, the Sphere closest to the Holy, Divine source, where (YHVH) resides. He pronounced this name in a curious way that I doubt I could replicate. He explained that this eye was, in a way, one of the eyes of God Himself. He explained that part of his role was to observe everything. Nothing escapes the sight of this eye, and the power to conduct the Order of the heavens came through this eye. By this eye, the planets are kept in their order, and all people and their actions are observed continually. Through this eye, time was set forth, and that nothing that is materially manifested could escape the watching of the eye and the conducting of its powers. Through it, all things begin and have their ending. He explained that if a physical man should claim immortality is folly and that because of the watchfulness of the eye and its inescapable sight, nothing physical could achieve this. By this eye, all of the Times, the Ages, and the Seasons are observed and set forth.

Then he showed me a vast and infinite looking graveyard. He explained that this graveyard was not simply a graveyard of people, but a graveyard of peoples and cultures, Ages, Ideas from the Mind of God that have been carried to fruition and passed, that everything we know as humans has an ending and that ending could be seen here. All history was buried in those graves, and all future things that pass will find a place there as well.

He then led me to a curious thing. He had what appeared to be a crystal sphere, but it was much more than a crystal sphere -- much more fluid and ethereal. He said that this was the manner in which he communicated with all the Magicians who come to him. Through it as well, he kept a watchful eye on those who speak with him, that he observes their progress and what they do. He showed me the scene of when I conjured him this past Saturday. I saw myself in the sphere, and at the moment when I could see that I was conjuring him and asking for him to manifest himself, I saw him reached his finger down into the sphere, breaking through an astral barrier, causing the horse to squeal and stirring the atmosphere with his fearful presence. Obviously, I realized how even though it was an intense conjure, I experienced but just the fingernail of the Spirit because there's only so much I can handle as a human.

All in all, it was a very telling rite and went better than expected. So, as usual, I looked around online for a while to see what I could dig up. Had no idea what I would find, if anything, but oh man..




"The Cassini probe stared deep into the swirling hurricane-like vortex at Saturn's south pole, where the vertical structure of the clouds is highlighted by shadows. Such a storm, with a well-developed eye ringed by towering clouds, is a phenomenon never before seen on another planet."

Revelations from Sacchiel.

Recently, I went into the woods to conjure the angel, Sacchiel, whose sphere is Jupiter. My aims were simple -- further integration of Jupiter's current, deepened initiation into the sphere, and for him to bless and imbue my talisman. At some point in any conjure, I take a moment to pause, meditate, and ask that should the spirit have anything to communicate to me, to do so. After a couple moments, the spirit drew closer as was evidenced by the sound of nature stirring all about in an harmonious everything-is-alive sort of manner.

I received a short vision and a short explanation to accompany that vision. Simply, I saw the sky -- clouds parted and suspended in air was an image of a phoenix I had never seen before. It looked Egyptian in nature, and it was beautiful. He explained to me that I was on the path of the Phoenix. That my character was not so much represented by the Phoenix itself, but that the progression of my spiritual growth follows after the Phoenix. He explained that I am on a very solar path, that my life will be marked by countless periods of growth, attainment, maturity, perfection, and subsequent death and ruin, and that from my death and ruin, I would rise again, stronger, shimmering brighter, and bearing more Light than before. He explained that for me, there is no way to escape this process, and it will continue until the end of my days, and that it is necessary for the path I am on. That was it, plain and simple.

So I did some searching recently because I had a hankering that I would probably find a damn near perfect image of what I saw. Oh, and I did. I most definitely did.




This image is actually exactly what I saw. The wings in particular -- how they are arched and contain all manner of colors. And the radiant awesomeness of it, this is exactly what Sacchiel showed me. So, of course, I did further research -- on one hand, to affirm what I had been told, and on the other hand, to clarify its meaning.

"This legend of a fire-bird finds itself in Greek, Egyptian, Persian, Arabic, Chinese, Indian, and other mythologies about the cosmos. The ancient "bird of the Sun" (sometimes was referred as Bennu in ancient Egypt) represented the Southern Crux (Cross) constellation in the sky.

Every year, the Sun stops (or "dies") in the middle of the Bennu/Southern Crux constellation between Dec. 22-24 for 3 days, and rises just above the Cross on Dec. 25 to represent resurrection. If you are south of the 34-degree latitude then you can witness this for yourself at dawn on Dec. 25.

...the sun bird, and the cross (also represented by the Ankh) was integral to classical Afrikan/Black civilization even as we migrated throughout Asia and into Australia and Pacific islands. So much so that the Southern Crux constellation had cultural influence to find itself on the national flags of Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and other countries.

As the story of this sun/fire-bird was adapted in Indo-European, Semitic, and East Asian cultures, this bird died as the Sun rested 3 days in its heart but was resurrected after 3 days to live another 500 - 1461 years (depending on the legend). The spiritual abstraction of this is the Egyptian Cross, the Ankh..."


All I gotta say is, that's fecking amazing.

Dreams...

Susanne Iles posted about a dream she had involving the god Hermes which I found most fascinating. I think dreams are one of the best ways to have a personal encounter with spirits of all varieties and I consider the experience you have with them to be legitimate. Her rendering of Hermes in artwork is also incredible, and fitting, IMO.

But it got me thinking back on a dream I had recently. Granted that it wasn't as eloquent or detailed as the dream she had, I met a spirit in a dream recently and haven't been able to make sense out of it ever since. In this dream, I was in a house I've never seen before, but it was evidently my own. I remember walking up a flight of stairs to the second floor and turning the corner where I had a room specifically devoted to magickal work. There were shelves and cabinets on all sides of the room, the walls were blue, and the floor was open with enough space for any type of operation. On the far wall across from me there stood a young boy with his back turned to me facing a book case. He was organizing books on a couple shelves, candles on another, incense, herbs, and all manner of magickal tools. He seemed intent on compartmentalizing all of these things, but I was surprised, because I didn't know who he was. So I said, "Hello. Who are you?" He turned and looked me square in the eye with no expression whatsoever. His body was that of a childhood friend I once had, but his eyes were different and it was obviously not the same boy I spent summers with long ago. His eyes were crystal blue, piercing and powerful. He simply said, "My name is Leviathan." Then he simply turned back and continued to organize my things.

I was most curious upon waking. In a previous post, I wrote about how the name of my Holy Guardian Angel is equivalent in enumeration to Leviathan via Gematria, 552. There are several correspondences that speak to me personally regarding the Serpent. Before the introduction of the symbolism of the Scorpion in conjunction with today's Scorpio sun sign, it was represented by the Serpent. In a more animistic sense, you could say that the Python is my "spirit guide" -- and this has been confirmed in a couple ways. Also, if you refer to the "Analysis of the Keyword" -- IAO -- "Virgo, Isis, Mighty Mother. Scorpio, Apophis, Destroyer. Sol, Osiris, slain and Risen.", Apophis is the Evil Serpent of Egyptian lore. Obviously, I have a deeply ingrained connection to the Serpent in many ways.

But my question is... Why? And what am I supposed to make of this? Obviously, traditional connotations state that the Serpent is essentially Evil. I would like to be able to reconcile my connection with the Serpent, because I don't perceive this as Evil. To my mind, the Serpent stands for Wisdom, and the cyclic pattern of growth, maturity, death, and regeneration. On and on throughout its life it grows, becomes beautiful, reclines into his hiding places, dries out and sheds his skin, grows further and the process continues. He observes everything from a unique angle and often explores depths where others will not tread. He is non aggressive in most cases and only strikes when needed. The Serpent indeed is mysterious.

But I can't accept that as this symbol keeps surfacing for me that I must accept inherent evil within it.

Thoughts from my week of magick.

The evening draws into a close on the 7th and last day of my vacation before returning to the mermaid coffee giant to peddle some more beans. This week's ultimate purpose was to be able to perform what ever magick I chose to perform, no matter the day, no matter the time. My main magickal project for the week was the creation of 7 planetary talismans every day with the blessing of the Archangels, asking them to imbue all their current into the talisman to be a reflection of the force it represents upon my altar.

I've been meddling with this same set of Spirits for the past few years, working out kinks in my sphere under their direction, and allowing it all to integrate and manifest without burning myself out (Which I have not always succeeded at...)

Each of these spirits, I have always known, have a different feel to them. They communicate differently, have different approaches and attitudes, have different demeanor, and instill different emotions. Though I use a scrying medium within the Table of Practice, (a crystal sphere), I've always had a basic lack of visions within the scrying medium. What I have learned is that these Spirits are not limited to manifesting themselves within a crystal to make their presence aware to you. Some who, I suppose, are particularly gifted in scrying and psychic vision would have less difficulty, but I've been pretty consistently relying on other indicators as they arise. This is not to say that I won't receive a vision or image in my mind's eye, as those do tend to arise when needed, but I don't always receive even that.

I've never performed Angel conjure outside before this week. It never seemed appropriate, I didn't know where to go if it was appropriate, and I had always had this idea that conjure magick is something you do within a room, or a lair, or some mysterious dungeon (Hey, I do want a lair, don't get me wrong...), but performing conjure magick outdoors is actually quite incredible and whenever possible, I fully intend to do the majority of my conjure outside.

Frankly, being outside gives Spirits a whole lot more to work with when it comes to "appearing", or making known their presence, and the connectedness I will feel to the moon, or the sun, or the surroundings tends to bring me closer to the spirit I am working with at the time.

My basic outline for a conjure using RO's Angelic Grimoire is do say the prayers, bless the incense, consecrate the ground (cast a circle), conjure the Spirit, have my words with the spirit, then give the license to depart. As soon as I have conjured the Spirit, and before continuing with whatever I intend to do, I will always ask it to manifest itself in a way that I will recognize, stating that I come with a clean heart, sound mind, and no vain intentions.

They respond to this kind of thing, I have found. When I conjured Tzadkiel (Sacchiel) whose sphere is Jupiter and asked to receive his presence, the birds and the bugs, and the little creatures of the woods began to stir. They were not obnoxious and it was not overwhelming, I just noticed that they were moved by something. Energized, if you will, and what was just a mere backdrop of the outdoors became more of a melody of everything-is-alive. The blue taper I had burning left four streams of wax running down each side of a small, cube shaped candle holder, which is very unusual -- but Jupiter's number is 4. The large white taper I always burn on a tall, brass candle stick, created 4 separate streams of wax, cascading down one side of the candle stick. When I asked him to imbue the talisman with his current, I noticed that the direction of the smoke changed as I was writing out the Kamea, seal, and divine names, fumigating the work I was doing. I got an image in my mind, we had communication, and then I departed.

I conjured Cassiel, whose sphere is Saturn, last night. I managed to stay a night at a nice ranch an hour away. No suburbs, no street lights, just a quiet house on a quiet ranch with horses and cows, just lovely. There was a tree out in the middle of the ranch that had fallen totally over some time ago, with a small portion of the trunk still in place in the ground. I decided that at this most intriguing dead tree I would like to conjure this spirit during the later Saturn hour, well after dark. I conjured Cassiel and at the exact moment that I said, "I say to you, without fear, manifest yourself to me.", a horse squealed. I made special note of the fact that they had been entirely silent before, during, and after the rite. In fact, it was the only such sound I heard out of those horses the whole 24 hours I was there. It was so instantaneous, I literally jerked from being startled, and my heart began to pound. It seems as though he was testing my "without fear" claim, but I persisted on. When I began to draw out the talisman, the smoke again moved in my direction and seemed to fumigate the parchment. At one point, I turned my head to see in particular one horse standing on the highest part of the ranch. It was very dark, and for a minute or two, it very much simply looked like a human form. Nothing was distinguishable, it was all just very dark. So long as what I was seeing was not a literal human being, I was going to be okay -- but I rationalized that it was obviously a horse. My knees began to quake and all in all I understood the fear and dread that has come to be associated with Saturn. Lightning had progressively picked up in the distance as the rite went on. By the time I was done, it was a total light show. Dark clouds loomed over the horizon and all light seemed to dissipate. It was terribly beautiful. We had some communication, and I made my way back to the ranch house to continue watching the sky become enveloped in darkness. My knees continue to quake for at least another half hour. His presence was definite and inescapable, but there was still some unusual sense of comfort in all of this. There was no harm meant to me, and nothing felt "evil" about it. It was just... Awe inspiring in the darkest way possible.

These are two good examples of the types of occurrences I dealt with this week. I learned from them that they are creative in getting your attention and that you must pay attention to what you see, feel, and hear, and that can't always be reduced to images in a crystal, or images in your mind. Certainly, what one learns in communication is most important, but if you want to see a Spirit, understand how he functions, and know how he manifests, then just *pay attention*, because they will be creative in revealing themselves. You just don't want to miss any details...

Among other things, there was much synchronicity: the first thing I noticed on this ranch was a piece of paper sitting on the tail end of the ranch owner's truck. It was an AA meeting schedule. What are the damn chances? I ended up going with him, it was rather interesting. The place Krista and I randomly chose last year, hours away, was a cabin curiously located ten feet away from another cabin which served as an AA meeting place.

Oddly enough, I also saw that there was a copy of "A Course in Miracles" in the particular room I payed to stay in last night, which was totally out of place at this ranch, amongst nothing but books about the Civil War, horses, and such like books. (The shit you'd expect to see on a ranch...)

These are some experiences I figured it'd be worth writing about. Quite the intense time. Now to get to sleep and be up at 4 for work! Ugh...

HGA -- a personal trainer.

It is interesting to note that in order to achieve the Knowledge & Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, one must face battles in order to subdue his passions. You must be made ready and to be purified by the trying intensity of the divine fire. Things that are blockages of the communication and relationship must be broken down and this will manifest in your life in a variety of ways, depending on which ways you must grow. You will have to endure a series of Towers to finally achieve Temperance. But this same spirit is also very capable of helping to subdue your passions, and I am speaking from experience. I've experienced the divorce of my emotions as it pertains to overcoming and parting ways with passions and the ability to persevere through situations that might otherwise totally ruin me.

But I have certainly begun to notice that the HGA will also send certain temptations or obstacles your way as a means of testing and strengthening you. He does not simply give you the gift of overcoming passions, but arranges situations where you utilize that new ability while keeping your eye focused steadily on the Work at hand. Having issues with impatience and want to overcome that? Sure, but... Here ya go, here's a line of customers that typify every thing that causes you to be impatient. Having issues with lust? Okay, no problem... But here's someone that represents your every weakness and who bears upon her a spirit of lust. Just get out of a relationship with a chatty air sign who doesn't seem to have any depth to your Scorpio mind? Enter Pisces, the exact and total opposite of everything you've been banging your head against the wall over -- she's perfect for you, isn't she? Having problems with addiction? Sure, I'll help with that, but oh, before you go, get a load of this rowdy party you're unexpectedly about to walk into. There will be pot. And booze. And girls. And lots of booze. And drunkenness. And did I mention booze?

You begin to realize that there are many things that can send you moving backwards in the Great Work... To subdue your passions is to live in Spirit, to live in your passions is to *subdue your spirit*. The Good Daimon is more than happy, even eager, to relieve you of your bondage. But he will make you put it to use when he gives it to you.

What to make of all this... HGA wonders.

Since setting up a space for the HGA, I have made it a practice leave him an Abramelin-anointed candle and insense to burn down totally. I was say an oration each day that I wrote wherein I proclaim that this space is for my HGA, and for it to be recognized as such. I speak intent over the candles, plants, herbs, and stones and whatsoever else I may leave in his honor.

In this oration, I was state several things it has been said he is capable of doing and I will ask for him to fulfill those things. I will also bring things to his attention that I would like help or intercession with. After usually 3 repetitions, I may intone his name while visualizing his seal and at time I will enjoy his presence and thank him.

Among some of the things I will ask of him is a True Love, my True Career and a sum of money that will keep me set for life. Those a great things, of course.

But, what does the magician make of it when it seems that there is room for Love in an inopportune manner -- coming from a place and at a time where that is not particularly appropriate under the given circumstances?

What happens when the opportunity to make a sum of money that can keep you for life comes in the form of a wealthy Multilevel Marketing recruiter offering you a way to "make a new life" with his particular brand of MLM?

I know that often times spirits can be dreadfully specific, that is to say, giving you exactly what you asked for (however unfortunately vague that may be) and not exactly what you wanted, or even exactly when you wanted it. But, I wouldn't think that a manifestation of the HGA would come in such a way.

Then again, perhaps I am skeptical to a fault and I will miss opportunities as they come my way as such.

Or, perhaps I need to be more specific. I'm just under the current impression that the HGA knows you, your wants and needs very well, and I might not have to take the same steps I'd take with other spirits. But, when these seem to be two immediate manifestations, I am led to wonder what is going on, exactly.

Just a few thoughts.