Sunday, July 12, 2015

In Defense Of Demons



Salutations and welcome to GlitchBottle, where we Uncork the Uncommon in magick, mysticism and the generally misunderstood.

In today’s post we will be polishing our shields to a shimmer and defending one of the most maligned, and unjustifiably prejudiced entities in today’s world - demons. Yes, mainstream culture and religion have put a watered-down crucifix to the head of these extremely powerful, consciousness-expanding denizens, threatening to pull the trigger and forever have people associate them with either A.) horrible Emo death metal albums or B.) under-budgeted slasher films, while any *legitimate* attempt to understand these creatures and their relationship to humankind’s own evolution will be met with mockery or worse….simply forgotten.


For this post I’m going to assume you know the basics about Western ritualistic magick, the grimoires, and other texts that support what’s known as Solomonic Magick. If you’re not too familiar, a basic explanation is as follows:


“Grimoires are books of magick found throughout history, but are most popularly referenced as books in the Middle Ages detailing how to summon, bind and control infernal spirits, or to commune with angels. These authors attributed the summoning techniques to King Solomon, the Biblical figure legendary for his engagement with infernal spirits.”

Attempts in Hollywood to depict ritualistic magick that contain even a *hint* of fidelity to the original sources or proper technique are more lacking than finding talent in pop-star musical careers. Here are a few Hollywood gems that involve some kind of “occult” based practices, that fail way short of the mark of reality, while exceeding the mark of profitability:



You might wonder *why* such horrible films were put on a reel and not used for toilet paper (yes, I’m aware films are digital now, just go with it). The answer is twofold simple: First, it makes Hollywood more money for to exaggerate or simply invent “dark” or “black” magick rituals that demand more blood, guts and morbid interest. On a higher level of consciousness, one might assume Hollywood does this because it keeps people more ‘addicted’ to watching slasher-esque, dopamine or adrenaline releasing films, rather than the introspective spiritually-elevating techniques that Solomonic Magickal practices offer.

So what follows is my own attempt to raise some very broadstroke, basic points about magick in general and the so-called ‘demonic’ in particular. This post hopes to rebuff three main erroneous assumptions people raise about demons and magick in general.

Assumption Number One: Demons Are Inherently Evil.

Truth Number One: Not. At All.




The mainstream antagonism to demons in general is the first wall of falsehood to dutifully hammer down. In greek, even the word itself, daimōn is similar to the Latin word genius, in that it actually referred to external inspiration coming upon someone, a thought or feeling that infringed on a human’s consciousness. While this morphed into being ‘possessed’ by the Church in the Middle Ages, it was seen for thousands of years as a sensitivity to different vibrational forces coming upon someone. For instance, one interpretation of reading Homer’s the Iliad is that the ancient Greek people, whenever having a sudden thought of love or hate, assumed that Gods and Goddesses were descending down from mount Olympus and conveying information to them. There’s a famous scene when the great warrior Achilles is possessed by rage and unsheathes his sword to kill, when, suddenly the goddess Athena descends and restrains him:



Now, this could be seen as a goddess interacting with a mortal, or said another way, this was Achilleus experiencing some other power or daimon restraining him from acting rash.


We can see this in the works of Plato as having some kind of outside influence that guided one to higher states of thought. And so, at this point, if one contends that Plato is evil...then maybe you need a nap, or fly a kite, or summon yourself dutifully out of the conversation.





How about Western religion? Well-known figures from Jewish, Islamic and Christian traditions actually saw demons as ways to either better themselves, their people, or - and this one is for all the religious people out there - to glorify God, not blaspheme God. So...if that’s the case, why are demons hated today? How did even that word, daimon, go from an external inspiration to an evil pacts with soulless creatures bathed in fire? Well-known scholars of magick and authors Stephen Skinner and David Rankine weigh-in on this transmutation from good to bad for later European traditions, in their book “The Goetia of Dr. Rudd”:








That’s right, ladies and gentlemen...Jesus Christ was known back then, in part, as a well-known exorcist among the residents in the communities that he ministered to, and by no means the only person on scene who engaged with these entities.


Assumption Number Two:Jesus was unique, most other holy people avoided demons.

Truth Number Two: Biblical figures engaged with spirits on a regular basis and control other demons.

Furthermore, we shall see that the Biblical figures did this for the betterment of the community/people they served, NOT for furthering their own, assumed evil or dark ends to glorify Satan.


Since we just referenced Jesus a moment ago, let’s stick with the Anointed One for a little longer. Skinner talks about how Jesus was accused of using a specific demon’s name, Beelzebub, to control lesser demons. And this was, as many things, in plain sight in Bibles all across the world. Let’s take a look at Matthew Chapter 12, verses 24 through 27, after Jesus healed a man possessed by demons:





Also cross-reference, The Goetia of Dr. Rudd,


“It does not matter who used the name of Beelzebub to control lesser demons, the important point is that it was seen as an acceptable procedure, used by holy men, and not a damnable one, and this procedure is definitely part of Solomonic magic.” -Goetia of Dr. Rudd









In other words Jesus here is saying that Evil can’t drive out evil, and this passage is almost a blatant hint demanding that the operator of magick approach the Art from not a light or dark, but a shadowy neutral perspective to whatever light or dark ends exist in the Mage, or the Operator. But let’s take a look at more evidence as well, this time from the legendary and Biblical figure we derive Solomonic Magick from: King Solomon, who reigned roughly from 977 to 927, so 50 years BCE, and who built his fabulous Temple with the aid of infernal spirits.

Aaron Leitch, an author, scholar and practitioner of Renaissance-era Solomonic magic, says many important things, literally chapters of gems, in his book Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires, and here are a few passages that pertain to the Legendary King Solomon:




“Historically, the grimoiric (and similar shamanic) arts were not practiced by so-called Satanists making Faustian pacts with devils...Instead, they were placed firmly in the domain of holy men - shamans and clerics - who had been granted a spiritual authority to command the ethereal creatures. Without this authority, the holy men could not have cured disease, retrieved lost souls from the underworld, or protected the community from the random rabid spirit (demon). This was hardly “black” magick.” -Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires, pg 365-366






Enter King Solomon, who, as Leitch goes onto explain, was world famous for binding demonic spirits...but he did this with the help of God. In fact, he was instructed by God and the Holy Archangel Michael on ways to control the demons, what magickal tools to use, etc.


Leitch also talks about probably the first real grimoire, the Third Century Testament of Solomon, where Solomon performs the positive role of Shaman for his people by calling up demons, treating with them, and binding demons through OTHER infernal spirits.


But why did Solomon do this? Was he a mad man possessed by these demons to glorify Satan? What was he doing?


Leitch goes on explaining the Testament of Solomon piece, saying that the first time Solomon gets involved in a long chain of binding and interrogating demons is because he is called upon to help a child who has fallen ill...due to a vampiric spirit called Ornias...and thus begins a long succession of Solomon binding and interrogating demons. But, is that evil just to engage with these spirits? Leitch hits at the heart of the matter with Solomon:





As Leitch implies, THIS reason is why the grimoires are written as ways to control infernal spirits THROUGH the power of God, and not through another entity.







Finally on this point, let’s turn to Al-Qur’aan Al-Hakeem, the Wise Qur’an, the Holy Book is Islam. Solomon again, through the power of God, or Allah, is given power to control demons, but a more accurate term in Islam in the Jinn...being of smokeless fire that exist on a seperate, parallel plane of existence alongside humankind. And it says in the Quran, surah 34, Surat-u-Sabaa’ (or the Chapter of Sheba): verse 13:









In other words, the Jinn, the infernal spirits, were bidden to do as he, Solomon, willed….this is a huge statement for magickal purposes, because it, again like with Jesus, implies a neutral standing when operating a magickal procedure...one has to take individual responsibility and use the powers for whatever purpose they are aiming for, in the case of the Testament of Solomon, he was using infernal spirits to heal members of his community and build his fabulous and legendary Temple.








Assumption Number Three: Magick in its deepest nature is altogether antagonistic towards human spiritual evolution.


Truth Number Three: Magick is a *neutral* force, gray, shadowy, neither good nor bad, but dependent on the user


Magick, as we shall see, is dependent on the user, like a cosmically-infused tool, a multi-dimensional hammer or screwdriver, (for all you Do It Yourselfers Out there), that can be used all along a so-called Spectrum of Intent.

Let’s go back to Jesus for some more evidence in Holy Scripture (which is, for all you Bible thumpers, mainstream, non-Gnostic, non Mystical scripture).

Reading Mark, historically the earliest of the canonical Gospels, proves very interesting when looking for clues that Magick abilities, or shamanic abilities, are neutral, almost like Water, or gravity, a force that has neutral properties of it’s own. Let’s take a reading of Mark 5: 25-32:










Again, we see here that healing abilities, Magickal abilities that a shaman acquires to help his or her community, like water, doesn’t seem to be good or evil...but rather available to anyone who seeks or comes into contact with it...like this woman, who leaves Jesus almost bewildered as to who in the world took the power from him. Again, like water, fire, or a hammer, this passage again hints at the essence of magick as a spiritual force that depends on the user, not being inherently demonic or evil.


Any Indiana Jones Fans here? Well you’d definitely remember Raider of the Lost Ark, featuring the Ark of the Covenant, that legendary chest containing the Ten Commandments, known as the “Instrument of the Lord” (interesting title here, as it implies it being a tool, depending on the user’s aims).









Skinner and Rankine reference the Sixth Chapter of the Book of Samuel where it tells us the Ark can kill thousands of people just by looking at it, or, in one unfortunate case, killing an innocent man who put his hand on the ark to steady it when it was shaking. The hints at moral neutrality of divine magick are replete throughout the Holy Texts...texts that are read in churches and synagogues every day across the world...but with deeper, hidden, or, shall we say, Occult, meanings veiled beneath.


These Magickally Neutral, of Grey, practices are not just found in the Bible...they draw from thousands of years of human tradition in ancient communities...these were ways how people dealt with the tangible.


But how were ancient societies even neutral, spiritually? Well, Historian, Hermetic researcher and classicist Dan Attrell has a video post on his blog the Modern Hermeticist, https://themodernhermeticist.wordpress.com/about/ where he talks along with Stephen Millburn about 10 concepts shared by most pre-Christian religions, which are:





Before we conclude this Defense of Demons in the Modern World, let’s turn back to the Middle Ages, to one of the most popular grimoiric texts in existence, the Lesser Key of Solomon. This is a very popular grimoire as it contains methods for calling up infernal spirits, binding them, the tools used to contain them, etc. But in a preface to the Lesser Key, before the section on demonic summoning called the Goetia...we find the following passage under a section called, literally, “The Definition of Magick”:





Yet again, we find not only personal responsibility like using a tool such as, like using Fire, Water, or a Hammer, we also find an emphasis on the mage, the operator of the magick, as being the determining factor of whether an operation is good or bad….even though those terms are constraining, relative and polarizing.









DEFENSE OF DEMONS, A CONCLUSION:

At its best, modern, mainstream Christianity and Judaism are extremely watered-down versions of techniques and introspective traditions practiced hundreds and thousands of years ago. The Islamic school of Sufism has many positive aspects, like engaging in direct, trance-like experience, remembrance and love of God, (that trance or ecstatic state is essential to performing rituals, but that’s a whole other topic).





But, At its best, in general, today, mainstream religion serves billions of people as a whitewashed, smiley-faced artifice that stresses congregants to do good things, live a good life, avoid anything and everything demonic, listen to the preachers, and if you do all that, in return you’ll be promised to eventually, maybe, gain favor with the divine. That’s at it’s best. But at its worst, this kind of sheep-like thinking is both psychologically and spiritually disingenuous...because by denying the mystical, let’s face it, occult-based practices of confronting a range of light *and* dark mental and ethereal forces, by essentially refusing to plunge, or even dip a toe, into the fantastic pool of mingled spiritual shadow that soaked the consciousnesses of Jesus, Solomon, Simon, and an uncounted range of apprentices and seekers...to towel off and deny a drop of that introspection to touch your everyday experience, is to deny a key essence of their teachings.





If you’re still not convinced that Demons are not Good or Bad, but Magickally Neutral….well, here’s the best part: Do. Not. Believe. Me. You heard right, don’t take my word, or anyone else's’ word...try. it. for. yourself. Know Thyself. Meditate. Learn the rituals, enter a trance-like state and see what you find for yourself.


As the Psychonautic explorer and philosopher Terence McKenna states, the “felt presence of direct experience”, is the best arbiter of truth. This post means nothing, it’s all about YOUR thoughts, YOUR bedroom, YOUR dreamscapes, YOUR trees swaying in the backyard, YOUR thoughts during sex, YOUR internal mental circuits, YOUR spiritual perception, free from the shackles of dogma or church, or weekly routine...THAT is what passes your gut check of what’s true, and only YOU can deem it so. And that’s what Western Solomonic Magickal practices offer - a gateway to your own introspection, and a way to elevate your mental and spiritual energy, as you define it...to a higher power that keep our universe humming.

The rabbit hole looms large before you, the mental spirals of Solomon’s staircases sing stony hymns down to the golden floors of your mind….and these western shamaic techniques flicker quietly right beside you, as a lantern on your journey. I hope you choose to pick up that lantern, and take that first step.


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