Rufus Opus

Category: Blogspot Archive

Category: Blogspot Archive

  • 2.6 – Them Pesky Demons are at it Again…

    In the Neo-Platonic tradition, in the grimoires that comprise it, in the writings of Hermes Trismegistus that frame it, and in the writings of Agrippa that provide the most comprehensive resource of the modern occult, there are mentions of demons, maleficent spirits that cause trouble. I would personally rather believe that all spirits are basically neutral, and they don’t have any ill will in and of themselves towards humanity. Unfortunately, the Neo-Platonic writings (and my experience) fail to support this belief.

    Going back thousands of years, mankind has known that there are spirits that are out to make life miserable for humans. It’s in the Bible, the Hesiod, and in the African Traditional Religions. From the steppes of Siberia to the Amazon rain forest, shamans deal with evil spirits every day. Modern cultures have lots of rational ways to explain away the existence of demons, from anti-Christian rhetoric that says the Church is to blame for misrepresenting gods of other cultures (which is true, to a degree), to psychological models that say they’re all in our heads (which is also true, from the perspective implied by the notariqon ARARITA). Regardless of the veracity of these explanations, the pragmatic truth is that if you are doing magick regularly, you will run into spirits that will behave as if they are Demons.

    2.6.1 The Role of Demons

    Fortunately, we have the benefit of thousands of years of occult research on our side. We know from sources like the Bible and the Divine Pymander that the evil spirits are under the authority of God. If you’re into paganism, you’ll find in the story of Pandora’s box that evil spirits contained in a divine spirit pot were sent to plague mankind by Zeus after Prometheus gave us fire. They’re serving god. In the Divine Pymander, Pymander tells Hermes that the Evil Daimon is sent to the impious to drive man further away from the Logos by filling the senses with desire for more sensations than can ever be appeased. In the Bible, evil spirits are sent to set up kings to fall, to reveal the glory of God.

    They are sent by God into the world to wreak havoc in the lives of those who are ignorant of God. Their primary victims are those who have grown ignorant of their Race and Value in God and instead of seeking their Source, people who seek satisfaction in the things of the material world. Demons serve as tempters, bringers of illness, and they serve to create situations that result in spiritual advancement. They perform evil acts, but they do them to draw people closer to God.

    2.6.2 How Demonic Influence Manifests

    In your life, you’re going through all kinds stress that I can’t begin to know about. Job insecurity, financial woes, emotional problems, and sickness plague us all. Most of the people reading this blog have it pretty good compared to poorest of the poor on the planet, but that doesn’t make the problems we face any easier to bear in the moment.

    I don’t believe every bad thing that happens is the result of a demon, but they do happen to be present every time bad things happen. I’m sure it’s a coincidence, really. They could just be attracted to bad things… sure… that could be it…

    Alright, I really do think all bad things that happen are the result of demonic activity. I’m a Christian, for Christ’s sake. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers, principalities, and wickedness in high places.” It’s the simple truth.

    They set the stage for pain and suffering, they sit at the edges of our sphere whispering thoughts that sound a lot like our own, speaking fear and doubt and anger and anguish and despair into our minds. They entice our senses with lights and shining things. They use the people at work like pawns to challenge us, to bring us to the brink of catastrophe. They influence kings, presidents, princes, senators, congressmen and women, people in power across the lands of the earth to create a realm that will drive those with an understanding of their race and value closer and closer to the Logos within.

    Pretty nasty, really. And as annoying as hell.

    2.6.3 How to Deal with the Bastards

    Demons are under God’s authority. God’s within. We deal with spirits in every ritual. We have the names of the demonic princes from Agrippa’s Book 2, chapter 7. We know how to make talismans and spirit pots. They can only do what they’re allowed to, and God sets the boundaries.

    The fastest way to lessen the effects of the evil spirits is to put the Demonic Kings in spirit pots and bind them with melted lead sealed with the Names of the four Elemental Kings. I’ve got a makeshift version of this on my altar at the moment. It hasn’t completely eliminated bad things from happening, but it sure has cut down on the extremes of my emotional reactions to bad things when they come. That in itself robs the demons of their powers over us and our lives.

  • 2.5 – Spirit Pots

    I hope you enjoyed the update on the Bune spirit pot earlier. That particular vessel is an example of the brass vessel described in the Goetia within the Lemegetton. The Lemeggeton is a Solomonic grimoire, and like all the grimoires I’ve seen, it is fundamentally rooted in the Neo-Platonic system we’ve been discussing. Personally, I place the spirits of the Goetia in the elemental realm, mostly within the sphere of the Aire.

    Spirit pots are an interesting subject. I don’t think they are the specific product of the Neo-Platonic system, but like the brass vessel in the Goetia, they certainly fit nicely into the scheme of things. In Greek mythology (at least in Hesiod from over 500 years before Christ), there’s the story of Pandora’s “Box,” which in the original Greek was a jar. The jar as a vessel for trapping spirits can be found in many cultures, and frankly, I can’t tell whether it originated in one culture and traveled, or if it’s a universal constant across all cultures. The use of pots to contain spirits or their effects can be found in Persian stories in 1001 Arabian nights (along with rings), African Tribal Religions, Hesiod in the Greek traditions, and even in the Bible in the form of the Ark of the Covenant. (Ok, that might be stretching it a bit, but functionally, it’s the same thing.)

    The reason I bring up the spirit pot in the context of this system is because it’s going to play a significant role when I get back to the Glyph.

    My understanding about spirit pots in Palo and Hoodoo practices is that they are usually homes for spirits specific to the magician. That is to say, the spirits in a Palo or Hoodoo pot aren’t going to be conjured at any given time by three or four hundred magicians reading from the same grimoire. I don’t know how many magicians are working with Bune at any given time, but I’ve talked to at least three other magicians who have worked with Bune, and God knows how many other mages or would-be demonologists are summoning Bune right now.

    Spirit pots can be made for any spirit. They generally seem to function like an icon to a saint. Burning candles in its vicinity with a statement of intent results in a manifestation of the desired outcome in the way the Spirit interprets the request. For instance, asking to get a specific dollar amount has resulted in Bune providing a huge series of very lucrative opportunities in my chosen line of work. Bune hears the request and goes about manifesting it according to his role, his designated nature. It’s like the dollar figure gets filtered through a Jupiter-Sagittarius screen and then manifests in my physical sphere.

    Other manipulations of the spirit pot have provided results that have led me to the conclusions I currently hold. Polishing the lid resulted in clearer manifestations. Placing it in an exalted status on my altar by putting it on a stand resulted in more authoritative results. I went from working with co-workers on projects to working directly with management. The spirit pot has given me the ability to fine-tune my interactions with Bune in a way that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

    Making a spirit pot is easy. A friend made one out of a paper box. All you need is a container, the means to get the spirit’s attention, and something to inscribe the appropriate seals around it to influence the Spirit’s activities in your sphere. I prefer metal containers for their durability. I like to inscribe metal with my dremel tool. It’s fun. The Spirit’s representation should be at least its name and/or its seal. Any corresponding materials that are in tune with its nature can be included. I have dirt and rocks from my local bank in Bune’s pot, along with things from the same line of 777 that Crowley puts Bune on.

    The names that constrain the Spirit’s influence should be representative of the macrocosm. Ideally, all seven classical planets and the Primum Mobile should be represented in your work with the Spirit. For example, the names on the front of the Mathers-Crowley version of the brass vessel in the Goetia are “AShR AHIH: GBRiAL: MIKAL: HANIAL:”. From the GD interpretation of things, these are the God-Name of Kether, the GD Archangels of the Moon, Venus and Mercury. On the back is the notariqon ARARITA (One is His Beginning: One is His Individuality: His Permutation is One) followed by ChShMLIM, the name of the order of angels of the Sun, and Tzadkiel, the Archangel of Jupiter. Mars and Saturn can be found on the Secret Seal of Solomon, and Michael on the Triangle of Art.

    At the very least, the Spirits in charge of the Spirit you’re working with should be inscribed somewhere on the pot. This ensures the Spirit is constrained to operate with your best intentions in mind. This is more important with the troublesome “demonic” entities than with the neutral or angelic spirits, but it can never hurt.

  • Palin’s Power

    Have I mentioned my fundy background? I just learned on a pagan site that I’m part of the “3rd Wave of the Holy Spirit“, loosely. See, I attained K&CHGA after being born again while immersed in the outpouring of the Spirit that was popping up here and there around the country in 2003.

    So Jason mentions Palin today on FB, and I ended up at the Wild Hunt blog through Joe’s blog, and there’s another article on Palin, this one pointing out her affiliation with a group of Christians who used “imprecatory prayer” to allegedly give a witch cancer and drive her out of Alaska.

    Now, on the one hand, I personally write Palin off out of hand. She’s a gimmick, and she’s distracting America from the next real Republican candidate. And that shit about her receiving the mantle of the presidency that’s been prophesied over her… who really believes any of that shit? Like Christians have any access to divination, or the power to set destiny through concentrated prayer…

    Right. Which brings us back to the Wiccan who went bline in her left eye, was diagnosed with cancer, and fled Alaske while this coven of Christian busybodies “prayed against the spirit of witchcraft in Alaska.”

    Am I the only person who has seen the power of Charismatic Christian Magic? Come on! There’s more healing going on in the name of Christ than you can shake a stick at. Prayed for rye grew taller than not-prayed for rye. Prayer affects bacteria. Whatever model of magic you adhere to, the results are the proof.

    I know these people. I know what they’re capable of, and what their ambitions are. In many ways I agree with the Ideal they strive for. I don’t trust them an inch to be able to accomplish their goals when faced with the temptations that come with power.

    Palin’s Power base is an effective team of experienced “prayer warriors” who are not above praying down fire and brimstone, locusts and plague, and cancer and blindness. There are even teams of these people working on killing Obama. It’s easy to sit in liberal educated armchairs and laugh at the imaginary threat of the ignorant Christian True Believers, writing them off as “nut-jobs” and staying hidden, safe, watching Oprah alone in your little apartment when Palin’s at the local Barnes and Noble signing her book.

    But don’t get so wrapped up in your comfy blanket of smug dismissal that you can’t get unglued long enough to trace out a circle and mutter a few eldritch phrases from musty old tomes you’ve tracked down on the Internet. Rest assured there are ladies on arthritic knees sequestered amongst their pleather shoes in their closets, calling on God to empower Palin and anoint her in the mantle of the Presidency. Whether it’s God or whatever spirits they’ve got at their beck and call, bet your ass that something is doing everything in its power to make sure Palin gets elected.

    What are you going to do about it?

    Here’s a clue for would be spiritual warriors: expect a lot of the spirits around her to be Nepheshim, the hungry ghosts of the dead. These and similar spirits are the most abundant resources that respond to prolonged prayer. Check the Greater Key for sample Solomonic rites that require nine days of careful prayer to gather the spirits local. These are the kinds of spirits you’ll be facing.

    Bring a brass pot, or the equivalent. No point in letting the little buggers go to waste.

    (Picturing a Hermetic Exorcism of Palin at a book signing; dude in robes reciting the Headless rite over her. As amusing as it may be, he’d have an interesting discussion waiting for him with the Secret service after pulling that stunt. The Black and Tans wear shiny black shoes.)

  • Quick note on the Middle East…

    I found out today that people from both Arab and Jewish cities in Israel are accessing my blog frequently. I can't thank you all enough. The really neat thing is that the Great Work is about transcending the boundaries we see here from an earthly-perspective and seeing the unity underneath, or at least that's one of its effects. If you're an Arab or a Jew, someone in one of those other cities is studying the Great Work, just like you.

    Hopefully they don't leave their computer after reading this and pick up a gun and shoot at you, eh? 🙂

  • 2.5 – Spirit Pots

    I hope you enjoyed the update on the Bune spirit pot earlier. That particular vessel is an example of the brass vessel described in the Goetia within the Lemegetton. The Lemeggeton is a Solomonic grimoire, and like all the grimoires I’ve seen, it is fundamentally rooted in the Neo-Platonic system we’ve been discussing. Persona

  • Every Continent but Antarctica

    It’s official, people from every continent on the planet have visited this blog, except for Antarctica.

    Omnis tui castrum es proprietas ad nobis.

  • Ceremonial Redneck

    I just looked over at my altar, and it seems that some GENIUS ( … er, no, not the spirit kind, the really sarcastically human kind) needed to light a candle to Bune a month or so ago, and he didn’t have a candle holder. What did he use to put the candle in? His empty chewing tobacco can, of course!

    Sometimes I worry about myself.

    At least my Camaro is Cthulhu-green.

  • 1.3 – Spirits: Why we Work with ’em, How we Work with ’em

    Now we get to the meat of the matter. This is the post I’ve been looking forward to the most. Unfortunately, I’m short on space. My posts don’t look that big when I’m writing them, but then they’re huge on the blog. So I’ll keep it brief. I did finally break down and get a web page hosting service, so as soon as I find some nifty templates and do some quick-and-easy plug and play stuff, I’ll have a web site with the space for the huge rambling dissertations I’m fond of writing. 😀

    1.3.1 Why we Work with Spirits

    In the NP system, we work with the Spirits to get closer to God. This is called theurgy. Iamblichus, a student of Plotinus, taught that working with the Spirits was a means to purify the sphere of the magician, to make it more like the creator and less like the created. He recognized that when you conjure up a Spirit of Mars, you’re working with something on a higher level, and that something has emanated something into what eventually manifested as you. As it is more pure, its very presence close to your sphere purifies your own sphere, restoring a bit of the awareness of your own divinity as it relates to the powers over which that particular spirit presides.

    From the Thomas Taylor translation of Iamblichus’ Theurgia (Section IV, Chapter II):

    “in all theurgical operations the priest sustains a twofold character; one, indeed, as man, and which preserves the order possessed by our nature in the universe; but the other, which is corroborated by divine signs, and through these is conjoined to more excellent natures, and is elevated to their order by an elegant circumduction, this is deservedly capable of being surrounded with the external form of the Gods.”

    1.3.2 How we Work with Spirits

    The chapter I quoted from is in the context of how Iamblichus taught that we are to interact with spirits. He was addressing an argument from Porphyry, another of Plotinus’ students, who asked why a mortal man in the flesh would be conjuring a “superior” being, and then turn around and command it to act in such-and-such a way. (I’m paraphrasing.)

    The answer is that while yes, we are in matter, we are of two parts, the divine and the flesh. The divine aspect of the self has existed since before time within the One, God, who emanated down through all the spheres and beings and elements and stuff-ness of everything. The flesh part is the temporary shell of the divine spirit, and while it is lower in the cosmic hierarchy, the spirit within is still in authority. Therefore, the magician surrounds the material part of themselves with the symbols of the divinity within, and petitions the higher spirits to appear using the classic conjuring orations from such sources as the grimoires.

    The Spirits (and I’m including the “gods”, angels, daemons, elementals, or whatever else you would call them in your branch of the Western Mystery Tradition) appear in response to the conjurations because they have a vested interest in us. They are also aspects of the One within us. However, they are of a different form, and in that form they don’t have the same capacities that we do. Once they appear, the differences in the nature of our emanation place us in a position of authority over the spirits, and we are therefore able to “command” the spirits to do our bidding.

    Now, the basic formula for conjuring the spirits is pretty simple. You surround yourself with the things the spirit has an affinity for. Each Spirit is responsible for emanating an aspect of the One into the material realm. Michael, Archangel of the Sun, is responsible for emanating the things that manifest with a solar nature in the material realm. You surround yourself with the things that have solar properties to get his attention, and conjure him in the name of God that describes his function. Now, as a ceremonial magician, the best thing you can have that Michael has emanated into the material realm is his Arch-angelic Seal that he revealed to magicians. His Name itself is the means he revealed himself to this realm. The names of God that are associated with him are also revealed by Michael into this realm in order to establish contact with him.

    So to conjure Michael, you would burn some solar incense, wear the seal of Michael, and conjure him in the Name of God associated with the Sphere of the Sun, “Eloahv Da’at.” (Your spelling may differ.)

    When Michael appears, you explain your need, remembering that yes, he is superior to you in some ways, but at the same time, you are his boss (in a VERY spiritual way). That is to say, the Logos within you is the same Logos Michael receives his orders from.

    If you’re commanding the Spirits from the authority of the part of yourself that is the flesh, you’ll get no results. As a Christian, I know that I have been “Born of the Spirit,” and my work with my HGA has resulted in certain “initiations” that grant me the awareness of my Roles and Responsibilities in the cosmic Hierarchies, so I’m getting pretty consistent results. Not always pleasant from the mundane perspective, but always beneficial.

    So the proper order for conjuring the spirits is:

    1. Be right with God. Know your place. “Thou hast cleansed me with hyssop, oh Lord!” and so forth. (Remember in the Exorcist, the priest kept chanting, “It is not I, but Christ that commands you…”)
    2. Have the seal of the spirit.
    3. Call the spirit (“Thou spirit Michael, I conjure thee here in the name of the Most High God, in the Name of the Logos-Christ within me, in the name Eloahv Da’at, to appear before me in this crystal…”)
    4. Explain what you want from the Spirit. (It’s a good idea to get confirmation that it understands, and have it tell you how it will do what it agrees to.)
    5. Thank the Spirit, and bid it to go and do as it agreed.

    Pretty simple, eh? The rest of the details of the various grimoires and such are cultural necessities. That means that when the Almadel has you make a Beeswax Angel Conjuring Device, you make a Beeswax Angel Conjuring Device if you expect to work with the spirits of the Almadel. If you’re OK with working with something that MIGHT be LIKE the spirits of the Almadel, you’re free to make your own adaptations, but the results are not guaranteed. I must stress, you have to know the rules before you can break them.

    The three stages of Classical Education are Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric. Grammar teaches the basic building blocks, Logic teaches how the building blocks are assembled, and Rhetoric is the stage where you demonstrate your understanding of the pieces and parts by assembling them in new ways.

    The Grimoires themselves contain the elements of the Grammar stage. Lists of spirits. Means of contacting them. Performing the instructions in the Grimoires brings you in touch with the Spirits, who teach the Logic stage. After you’ve been “initiated” you advance to the Rhetoric stage, and you can make things up based on your knowledge and understanding gained from research AND experience. I’m not advocating Chaos Magick, but I’ve grown to recognize the elements of Chaos Magick that are true in certain contexts. What gets on my nerves is that Chaos Magick doesn’t give magicians the context necessary for success. :sigh: I’ve ranted on that elsewhere.

    So much for keeping it brief. 🙂

  • From the Sun to Saturn, and Back to the Sun

    I have a nemesis. Maybe that’s stretching it a bit, but there’s this guy on a couple of message boards that I belong to, and we tend to disagree. He’s an Aries, I’m a Taurus, and we fight. Many of the readers here who also read through the Yahoo occult groups will be familiar with this guy. His name is Logan.

    Anyone who has endured the misfortune of witnessing a “debate” between myself and Logan on any of the message boards we share deserves an apology. We can get boring, sarcastic, and we tend to use each other to demonstrate what we consider our own wit and brilliance. It usually lasts about as long as it takes for me to get disgusted and start calling him foul names. Every few months or so, I’ll forget why I can’t stand him, and enter into a conversation that rapidly becomes a debate, and then turns into a name-calling match. I’ve been better lately, but he still gets on my nerves.

    What bothers me most is that the smug self-righteous British bastard has helped me out a lot in my pursuit of the Grail, the Great Work. He helped me appreciate Plato, and destroyed my confidence in the GD Tree of Life by demonstrating its shaky foundations. This lead me to fully embrace the Neo-Platonic realm of Agrippa, and to understand something Patrick Dunn is always going on about regarding the arbitrariness of semiotic webs.

    So anyway, Logan told me months ago that I needed to read Eliphas Levi. He had quoted something about how Levi said “Magick is not a vocation” in response to my selling Conversation with the HGA through the conjuration of the Genius (See the Products and Services link at www.rufusopus.com). I have never read Levi, and with Logan as his sponsor in my current magical environment, I was set against it. Until earlier today.

    First off, Levi may have said Magick is not a vocation, but if he did (I haven’t gotten that far yet), he said it after saying the Magician is a Priest and King. Both Priests and Kings collect Tithes and Taxes, so the whole argument against taking money for magickal services is undermined right there, wha-bam!

    Ok, that said, Levi is really good reading. The guy presents magick with no holds barred. He tells it like it is, presents the Great Work more impressively than anything I’ve seen in a long time (outside my own writing, of course). It’s WORK. It’s hard. It’s even “dangerous” in that if you give up after starting, you’ll be worse off than if you’d never started at all. Not that you can quit once you’ve begun anyway, but at least he tells you you’ll end up a Monarch or a Madman at the start. Good stuff.

    What inspired this particular blog post though was the following:

    “there is no point in infinite extension which may not be regarded as the centre of a circle having an expanding circumference receding indefinitely into space”
    (Page 6 at http://www.hermetic.com/browe-archive/pdf/DogmaEtRituel%20Part%201.pdf)

    Think about that for a moment. We are such points, beginning in our Work at the center of a circle with a somewhat fixed circumference. As we progress, we expand the circumference, becoming aware of all the things within the circumference of that circle, learning to integrate the “energies” of the things we find into our own spheres as the limits of our spheres expand. The limits of the spheres expand as the Light from the center of the sphere increases its radiation, exposing more of what can be found within the darkness at the edges of our sphere of awareness.

    In Crowley’s popular magickal system, we find the Holy Guardian Angel (HGA) in Tiphareth, the Sephira that corresponds to the Sphere of the Sun. When the magician establishes Knowledge and Conversation with their HGA, they undergo a Solar Initiation. The hidden corners of their personal sphere are exposed to the light, and the magician is forced to confront and deal with those parts of themselves they hide in the darkness. Each character flaw, each untamed passion, every sin or self-destructive tendency comes to the fore and must be corrected, tamed, repented from, or channeled into proactive directions with the help of your HGA. The Point gets enflamed with the Light of the Sun, and as the Sun reveals more, the boundaries of the sphere of the magician are expanded.

    Boundaries… yes, the realm of Saturn, the furthest planet observable by the naked eye. The first sphere of Form in the Kircher Tree of Life (Binah). The layer of emanation where ideas take form, where the limits are set, where the Lord tells the Sea, you may come this far and no further. These are the properties of Saturn.

    Knowing this, you can see that the act of spiritual advancement is the interplay of the Sun and Saturn. As the Light of the Sun increases, the limits set by Saturn are made mutable, and they move further out. As we explore our new boundaries, integrating the things that were hidden in shadow before, learning to function within the newly expanded sphere, we grow, gain insights, authority, and responsibility. With each new attribute of ourselves that we integrate, the understanding of the things we learned in our previous stages of advancement are enhanced. The responsibilities we had earlier change form, and we end up traveling back towards the Sun at the center of our sphere to reintegrate all the things we knew with the things we’ve learned. When we return to the sun at the center of our microcosm, we hit the next level, and the Light increases, and our boundaries expand, and we begin to explore the furthest reaches of the Light yet again.

    From the Sun to Saturn and Back again. The path of the Labyrinth. (Which is not to be confused with a maze; a Labyrinth has one entrance and one exit side by side, travels only to the center and back to the beginning. A Magician travels to the center and returns to the beginning, carrying with him the treasure held within and sharing that with the realm outside.)

    All this theory and stuff is great and fun and all, but I’m still a Taurus. It’s meaningless without application, in my humble opinion.

    Where are you at? Have you plateaued in your Work? Are you stuck at a level of attainment, and you need to expand your boundaries? The answer is Working the Sun and Saturn. Conjure up the Archangels Tzaphqiel and Michael. Are you feeling like you’re stumbling around in the dark? Work with Michael of the Sun to bring the hidden things to light. Have you worked through everything you can think of, and still feel stuck in a rut? Conjure Tzaphqiel and Work with him to move the boundaries of your sphere. Head between the Sun and Saturn, make that your path, and you won’t get stuck.

    Sorrow turns to Joy in the light of the Sun, and unfocused rays become lasers when their boundaries are properly aligned.

    Grace and Peace!

  • Bune Update

    Well, it’s been a while since I’ve given any updates on my Spirit Pot operation with Bune of the Goetia, so here’s some more recent information.

    When I first put the pot together, I was looking to get rich quick. He was the best-looking prospect of the Goetic entities, because his description says “he giveth riches to a man,” and I wanted $7MUSD and change. Things didn’t quite turn out that way.

    Instead, after working with Bune for a long time now, I’ve learned how he manifests riches. He’s a Jupiter-Sagittarius spirit, according to Crowley, and that’s the information I used to gather his attributes together. I have had opportunity after opportunity to work my ass off come into my life since I started Working with Bune. Not that that’s stopped me from trying to use him to win the Lottery. When the MegaMillions hit $270 Million, I burned a veritable BONFIRE of purple candles after buying the lotto tickets. I still lost, but last week, after burning the candles, I had 26 hours of overtime…

    Ok, so we’ll start with the job I got. It’s about an hour away (a long bow-shot). I’m doing what I’ve been doing for the last seven years, and I’m making $20 more an hour than I did seven years ago. Everyone at work loves me. That’s the Jupiter thing, he bestows graces on people, and one of the ways it manifests is that the people in authority love you. Between now and September, I have 10 hours a week of scheduled overtime. If you’ve worked on projects with a schedule, you know nothing ever comes in under budget and on time. I’ll be making a fortune, and the project is scheduled to last for years, they’ve only got hours assigned through September.

    Now, everything at my work isn’t roses. There’s this evil nasty woman whose very name sounds like the kind of person she really is, but I won’t mention it. She’s got the responsibility of managing an artifact that impacts the whole team, but she will only make it useful for her own department. When you try to make the artifact useful by getting her to add the information that you need the tool for, she refuses. She’s the reason I got to make 26 hours of overtime; she made three people create documentation manually that could have been drawn from the artifact automatically in ten minutes.

    So I mentioned her to Bune one day, as his properties include putting spirits in their places. This bitch needed to be put in her place. So Wednesday she came out of a meeting nearly in tears because she was adding information I’d been telling her needed to be in the artifact for WEEKS. I was so happy. (Not very enlightened, but hey, I’m WORKING on the Great Work, I ain’t done yet!)

    I engraved the seals on the side of the pot too, a while ago, and polished up the lid. I’m stuck with my phone camera for now, so the images you see here aren’t the best, but they’re the best I can do at the moment.

    I also made a small talisman for Bune out of Copper (he’s a Duke, and their metal is copper) and Tin (because he’s a Jupiter spirit). This was the first time I made an alloy, and I used a propane torch (from Walmart) and a little steel pan (also from Walmart) and my stove to get the amount of heat I needed to melt the copper. I had to put the materials right up against the edge of the pan to get the heat to reflect off the steel and create a furnace effect hot enough to melt the copper into the already-melted tin. Here’s what it looks like:

    After working with Bune, I have come to understand the description of this Spirit in the Goetia a little better, and if you’re interested in a Bune working, here’s how I would describe him (my changes to the traditional Spirit description are in {brackets} below):

    The 26th spirit is called Bune [or Bime]. He is a strong, great & mighty duke, & appeareth in ye forme of a {little green froggy-looking guy, about three feet tall, and he sits in the corner of the astral temple most of the time.} He speaketh with a {voice like a breeze, barely touching your consciousness, and in choppy, post-industrial wasteland settings in dreams.} He {is an excellent exorcist, adept at putting the spirits of the dead back in their grave when they are bothering the living,} & causeth those spirits that {are beneath his rank, including people who aren’t particularly spiritual), to {be put back in their place, if they get all uppity.} He giveth Riches to a man {by providing good-paying, but hard work, or by inspiring you to do a lot of work that will pay off in the long run} & maketh him wise & eloquent {by improving your vocabulary and giving you ease when you’re talking to people in authority. Neat huh?}. He giveth true Answards to yr demands, & governeth 30 Legions of spirits.