There Is Only Ever That Which Answers
One of the biggest fears I see in students is that they are in contact with something, but maybe its not the diety, saint, or spirit that they reached out to. Maybe it is some demon or mischievious spirit that is leading them to ruin. Maybe it is that spirit but the spirit is lying to them.
These students want to know how they can be sure that they are talking to the spirit that they actually intend on speaking to, and that it is telling them the truth. I mean, who wouldn’t want that right?
Some traditions have tests to see if it really is the spirit answering. Other grimoires and books give names that compell the spirit to tell the truth. True names and seals get recorded so that you can rely on them. Still other traditions have impliments like rings, that you get the spiirt to swear by, like you are Don Corleone.
But how do you know if those really work?
Since Saint Cyprian became my primary go-to intermediary spirit concerning Angels and Demons, I spent quite a lot of time trying to get him to provide a firm and unshakeable protocol for the Black School to make sure that a spirit was who it said it was, and that it was telling the truth. There are exorcisms and compelling conjurations that were consturucted under his direction, and also encouraged a lot of looser invitational evocations that still relied upon spiritual authority . I really wanted to know: “Oh Martyr and Mage! Oh Sorcerer Saint! Tell me! How do I know that the spirit I have conjured is really that spirit? How do I know it tells the truth?”
“There is only ever that which answers” was his reply.
It was time to put down the horror movie fantasy and realize the truth: the only thing you really ever know is that something answered. Yes, there are traditions and exorcisms and protocols, but how do you actually know that they work? I mean, you could sit there yelling names of god all you want, and if a spirit wanted to lie, the very best tool at their disposal would be to say “Oh! You got me now! I CAN’T lie….. “. Once you believe that of a spirit, or a person for that matter, you are in a position to REALLY get bamboozled!
Is it Malphas that answered? Is it Hekate? You actually will never know. Personally, I hold that spirits and gods are much more subtle and fluid in their identities than physical people are, so the question often is silly. But even if you think that they are as solid as we are – you never actually know.
**Mad Men Spoiler Alert***
If you watched Mad Men you know that Don Draper is not actually Don Draper. The real Don Draper died in Korea, and our hero took his identity to escape his past. When his nemesis Peter Campbell finds out about this, and tries to expose him to his boss, Cooper kind of shrugs it off.
Bertram Cooper : Mr. Campbell, who cares?
Pete Campbell : What?
Bertram Cooper : Who cares?
Pete Campbell : Mr. Cooper, he’s a fraud and a liar. A criminal, even.
Bertram Cooper : Even if this were true, who cares? This country was built and run by men with worse stories than whatever you’ve imagined here.
Pete Campbell : I’m not imagining anything.
Bertram Cooper : The Japanese have a saying: A man is whatever room he is in, and right now Donald Draper is in this room. I assure you, there’s more profit in forgetting this. I’d put your energy into bringing in accounts. Don, fire him if you want. But I’d keep an eye on him. One never knows how loyalty is born.
What is Bune telling you? Good advice or bad? What is Tzadkiel accomplishing? Successful work or not? Maybe, just maybe, you got a spirit that is wiser and more clever than the “real” Malphas….
Now, in general, I am not saying that you don’t get who you conjure. I think people almost always do. I mean, why would you get something else? But that surity you are looking for, you don’t get it with spirits and gods. You don’t even really get it with people.
This is the Black School approach to worrying about whether or not you got the right spirit or not in your conjuration. Is there a reason to think you got the wrong spirit? Is the spirit being helpful and wise? Whether you have its true name, or throw all the names of God and the Devil at it, that’s all you ever really know. That Which Answers.
Oh… By The Way… Black School Starts on February 1st.
The above was not meant as a trick advertizement for the black school. It is solid advice no matter what kind of spirit magic you are doing. But, hey, this is my newsletter and I get to pimp my classes as much as I want!
It’s like having a grimoire unfold before you for five months, where you know how and why to do absolutely every last thing in it. If that sounds like something you are interested in, click below…
https://strategicsorcery.net/courses/the-sorcery-of-cyprian-a-5-month-course/