Today I’d like to talk about declarations of intention and why we should say them before beginning ritual. Whether you’re writing your own ritual working or using someone else’s compositions, it’s always good to start your work by stating (out loud) what you’re doing and why.
IMAGE: Guardian of Heaven’s Gate by HQ-Kamissar
Who is our Guardian Angel?
How can this Angel help us?
How can we make contact?
On October 2nd, the Western Church honors the guardian angels given to each person at birth, the angels assigned to look over and watch out for them. The idea of some sort of “guardian spirit” is nothing new, as we can see from Socrates’ daemon, the Roman conception of a genius, or the Semitic conception of teraphim; this universality is reflected in the Church’s teaching that a guardian angel is assigned at birth rather than at baptism, meaning these guardians are assigned to all people regardless of origin, religion, or lack thereof.
Today is the Feastday of St. Michael the Archangel. This is a good time to discuss his roles as Psychopomp, Upper-Level Angelic Manager, and Defender of the Universal Church and all her members.
The following is a guest article by Pastor Chris Bilardi, author of The Red Church, or, the Art of Pennsylvania German Braucherei, available from Pendraig Publishing.
EFFECTIVE INTERCESSORY PRAYER
Praying for others — that is to say, praying in intercession — does not have to be a chore. In fact, it is very simple because God does all the work. In Christian intercessory prayer one can use a modification of the Eastern “Jesus Prayer.”
In esoteric work,the first virtues we seek to acquire are discernment and humility: the ability to discern truth from falsehood, and the humility to recognize when our imagination gets the better of us.
Image from Anathema Publishing’s website
Books come and go in the occult community; it’s a fact of life no matter what your path, religion, or spiritual orientation.
Of these, some ultimately come to the forefront with staying power, precisely because they connect with timeless principles and call us back to our roots. Craig Williams’ Entering the Desert is a definite example.
I’ve long said that “every formula of exorcism contains a conjuration.” In fact I once went so far as to demonstrate the Exorcismus in Satanam (also called the “Leo XIII Exorcism”) could be used as a conjuration formula with just a slight change in wording. I did this just to prove a point.
Turns out I’m not the only one who sees this. This morning I read a blog post from Dr. Francis Young describing this phenomenon in more detail.
After a long while, I’ve begun uploading new additions to the free .pdf library. Here are the two most recent entries:
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Image Credit: Blood-Huntress.deviantart.com
A year and some change ago, I wrote a brief tractate on the origins, structure, and potential theological issues inherent in the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, along with suggestions for solutions. Today I’d like to add a few notes to that post, things discussed over the past year.
English:
$15.00 Coil-Bound (Lulu)
$15.00 Paperback (Amazon)
Español:
$10.00 Encuadernado en Espiral (Lulu)
$10.00 Libro de Bolsillo (Amazon)
THAVMA: Christian Occultism and Magic in General 