Screw That Guy Encouraging Abusing EA’s Family

With the news that E.A. Koetting was busted on drug and gun charges, the occult community reacted with a weird mix of support from his fans and contemptuous self-righteous snerkery from his detractors. I was disgusted by the folks posting links to his girlfriend’s father’s facebook page, and especially the guy that posted the contact information of his daughter suggesting people write her about what a shame it is that her dad is a meth-head.

Screw that guy.

Aaron Leitch has posted a mixed response, calling out Koetting on some of the things he’s done and how he’s done them. I have been blissfully unaware of some of the more outrageous stuff he’s done to make a name and a few dollars. I understand better where some of the “he brought it on himself” stuff is coming from.

The first I really started hearing about Koetting’s writings was when I started expressing that the point of the Hermetic Great Work is to make you a living god. I thought that was awesome, and accurate, and totally in keeping with Iamblichus, Plotinus, and a lot of the Greek Magical Papyri and the art of Goetia. I thought it was just perfect, and then people started comparing me to Koetting. Because he already used the term, and made similar claims, but he was “a complete and total toolbox” about it, to quote a friend.

I don’t know what he thought or taught the phrase “becoming a living God” meant, or how he feels about it today, but I’m pretty sure I meant something else. In the Corpus Hermeticum, it’s taught that we are already the image of God, and that when we incarnated we forgot our divine nature. Through Hermetic pursuits, we remember who we are, where we came from, and what we incarnated for in the first place (hint: it’s to have fun). That’s what the Great Work is all about, remembering that you are, in fact, a living god.

Since Koetting’s arrest, I’ve seen a few smug posts mocking his deity claims, or something to similar effect. “Not much of a god if he got caught, eh? Not much of a powerful magician if he can’t avoid a simple traffic stop, eh?*”

Even Aaron’s post is titled, “The Fall of a Living God,” which is artful, entertaining, and a very good selection of a title for a blog post… But I would like to suggest that it is premature,** and perhaps inaccurate as well.

First off, the presupposition is that Gods are all-powerful and never have a shitty day with the law. That’s some really seriously terribly wrong information, brothers and sisters. What makes you think gods don’t have to put up with any bullshit ever? Let me share a gentle reminder about being gods:

• Jesus Christ had a pretty shitty Friday afternoon that you might have forgotten about when he was 33 (incidently, the same age as Koetting).
• Remember Osiris? He, ahem, did not have a great time of things. Even after his sister-wife got him all stitched up, he still ended up with an eternal strap-on.
• Inanna spent a lot more time hanging up as a sack of skin on a wall than Koetting spent in jail.
• Loki’s immortal-snake-venom-dripping-on-him-while-he’s-tied-in-his-son’s-guts-torment is not an ongoing rave with flashing lights and limitless hookers and blow until Ragnarok comes.
• Prometheus*** getting his liver et daily for all eternity ain’t all that grand either.

Dionysus, Hephaestus, arguably Hera, these gods are not having it great all the time either. They go to prison, they have unhealed limps, they are cheated on and degraded by their husbands, they are kicked out of cities. They travel grave paths, and suffer unspeakable things.

Who can look at the gods and think you’re actually going to have it perfect all the time, that you are immune to machinations and manipulations, that the temporal authorities of the Earth are not going to be able to give you a bad day?

But a fallen god, as the stories show, is pretty hard to keep down.

Maybe Koetting talked a lot of shit before this, and I can relate. There was a time when I talked a lot of shit until things went sour and my magic worked all too well. I honestly expect him to bounce back and turn this to his advantage. It would be neat if he were to take another approach to magic that leads him to the same expression of “Deus est Homo” that he made prior to this, but with more meaning and understanding, a little less hubris and a little more pride. I might even have a suggestion or two from my own experiences that he might find useful, if he’s interested (cough cough cough SEVEN SPHERES cough cough cough).

But maybe he won’t bounce back. Maybe this is it for him, Maybe he’s going to burn out and be a loser, and we’ll never hear from him again.

Whatever, he can do what he wants, just like any other god can. I ain’t gonna judge. I’m going to carry on being god-emperor of my own world, king of my kingdom, experiencing my experiences in style and joy, and I’m going to create and maintain it as I see fit. I’ll work with him in the future if it’s profitable to us both, or I won’t if it’s not interesting.

I’ll go my way, and he will, I swear to all of you right now, go his, and what he does is his will, his joy, and also his problem, just like any other god.

Because the thing is, he is a god. Not because of any of the magic he did, but because we all are, intrinsically, and we just forgot. That’s what Hermetics says, guys. Gods and humans are cousins, and the power of the Gods is not bestowed upon us by magic, it is simply revealed, remembered, and understood through the magic we do. Some approaches may be more effective than others, but the conclusion he reached that I heard, “Magic teaches you to become a living god” is still accurate, and not in the slightest disproven because he had a run in with Johnny Law.

Every one of us has the “divine” potential to change the world, if we want to badly enough, if we’re willing to do what it takes, and we don’t necessarily need anything supernatural to make it happen. Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Aleister Crowley, Jesus Christ, they all had terrible farts at some point in their lives, and they all had some shitty days in court over bullshit.

Human, god, whatever you want to call yourself in your time on Earth, you can do what you want, and deal with what happens as a result. Magic doesn’t make you immune to stress, bullets, the police, snitches, or anything else that entities have to deal with in the manifest world, whether they are gods or humans. It can help you influence things, but it doesn’t give you control over anything but yourself, the only thing that can change anything in your life.

So yeah, while I’m not surprised that a black magic occult rock star is doing drugs (the shock, the horror!) or that a “living god” is still subject to the laws and influences of the worldly powers, I don’t think we’ve seen the “Fall” of anyone this week. Just some life happening.

We’ll see how long it takes before he shuffles out of the tomb.

* By the way, he was pulled over and arrested by the Washington County Drug Task force as a result of a tip they got a week before. It wasn’t some routine traffic stop, they were after his ass.

** Premature because there’s no such thing as bad press. I have thought of a few different ways he can turn this event into a gold mine. If he’s really just after cash, I hope he sees the value of the reverse Sam Kinnison, also known as the Mike Warnke schtick. He’s set himself up to actually be the Satanic black magic magician Mike Warnke claimed to be, and if he concocts a convincing “Come to Jesus” moment in jail, he will have a lifetime of free money touring pentecostal gatherings, talking about how he was living in sin with a woman, addicted to drugs, worshipping satan and having the gall to call himself a living God, until that moment when the REAL living God struck him down in his pride, but had mercy and grace to save a sinner, halleluiah! and shit.

But he can also get off using magic, and court cases aren’t that hard to influence. He can totally turn this around to his advantage Charlie Sheen style, even if he goes to prison. Tiger’s blood will out.

*** Thanks to +Craig ‘VI’ Slee for the correction to my shitty memory.

So for Real

Guys! Hey guys! Holy shit, I’m totally published for real! And it’s Seven Spheres, and it’s going to be available at Nephilim Press in a couple of days  AVAILABLE NOW and I’m like shitting myself with excitement!

Alright, not just because it’s about me getting published, although, fuck yeah, that rocks. It’s about fucking time, amiright?

But here’s the thing, guys, I don’t want you to buy it unless you’re actually going to use it. The book is a much-expanded version of the Seven Gates rites I put together, and it takes you through each planetary sphere, and draws down a specific power. As these powers integrate and manifest in your life, things just sort of change.

This is the practice manual for Hermetic Planetary Magic. It invokes a specific current that turns you into the King of your world. It gets you out of bad relationships and into good ones. It gets you out of bad jobs and into good ones. It gets you out of bad lives and on the path toward creating something better for yourself, using the powers and skills that are yours by birthright because you’re an amazing magician.

There are limited numbers though, and I want them to go to people who will do the magic. I hope everyone who buys the book will also sign up for the accompanying class, but that’s not entirely necessary. The book is $50, and the class is going to be $75, so a total of $125. You’ll have to buy them separately though.

You can buy the book without buying the class, but you can’t buy the class without buying the book, so if you’re going to take the class, buy the book now.

Buy the book AT THIS LINK from Nephilim Press. I’ll put up a link to the course later this week.

I’m not going to just make bold ass claims about how awesome my magical practice is in people’s lives though, that’s bullshit. I’ve got something better, the actual experience of folks who’ve done this already.

A group of us did these rites a couple years ago, when I thought getting published would be a matter of a few weeks, tops, in preparation for the launch. We went through and did a ton of high intensity magic in a very short period of time. You can see the kinds of transforamtion it had in people’s lives, and also, note that it’s not perfect perfection and everything they ever wanted all at once. Like all real magical transformations, it takes time to integrate and release the forces we’re dealing with.

Some of the reports are from people who participate in my Red Work series of courses. That’s great, it gives a stronger understanding of the forces and stuff we work with, but it’s not necessary. I’d rather you jumped into this and joined the upcoming Seven Spheres course.

But anyway, on with the testimonies! We went through the Seven Spheres, and here’s some of what happened over the next year in people’s lives:

I got married, moved into a bigger apartment with lower rent, replaced my old car, and my bosses are trying to get me a two level promotion with a nice raise. Oh, that all happened in the last 7 days. My life is definitely exploding, but in good ways. This week is the first week calm enough that I can get my 5 week planetary cycle going. – T. R.

(Note, he’s now in the UK pursuing the dream life.)

I’ve been able to institute some major changes in what I teach at school, how I teach, and how students learn: a lot more constructivism (i.e., getting kids to learn for themselves, more akin to learning alchemy than sitting in a lecture), training colleagues at my school and other schools. My life has been thrown into a tizzy by all of this. Great love, great power. My tai chi practice has taken off, too. I have a working studio as an artist-designer in the front room of my house, and a working studio at school that I share with 175 kids and another 40 adults. And thanks to the spirits of your grimoire, I know how to make use of these spaces, and an increasing number of my colleagues are learning. Solar power — drawing others into the orbits of self transformation!

No matter. The spirits are clear that none of this can be fixed overnight; and some of it can’t BE fixed. Sometimes what magicians have to do is keep hammering on doors that must be opened, even if we’re not the ones who are going to open them. – Andrew Watt

I’ve recently received a number of requests for the Planetary Gates series of rites I put together a couple years ago. People are wondering where they are at, and why they can’t buy the ebooks anymore.

Well, there’s a reason they aren’t for sale any more. They are being released, in a much-expanded fromat as a published book by Nephilim press.

In a week or two. Bwahahahaha!

Yes, that’s right, I  went full bore on this and turned it into an actual book. It takes you through each of the spheres in a series of rituals that result in the release of a current that transforms everything in your life, like magic.

And it’s great on its own. Many people will buy it and enjoy it, and experience some neat stuff as a result.

But like many things in the occult, this book exists as the same thing, but on multiple levels. While the book itself is sufficient to tap into the current, it will also serve as the textbook to the series of courses that will be replacing the Green Work courses I used to offer. I will be putting together an introductory presentation that recaps the Black Work course, training people in the fundamentals of the system of magic that I use (to great success). After that will be a presentation that covers the basic intentions of the class. Then there will be seven consecutive presentations, one for each sphere. Then there will be a conclusion, that covers the practical application of the cycle of rites that are covered in each of the previous presentations.

It’s going to be pretty fucking intense.

The point is to empower you to be the king and queen of your world. You are the center of your existence, and it is through your decisions and actions that you influence the experience of your manifest lfie. From money, to sex, to happiness, to fulfillment, all of your life expereinces are the result of decisions you make based on your awareness of what’s going on at the time.

The Seven Spheres book and course will take you through each of the planetary spheres and expose you to the intelligences of each sphere. You will receive the blessings and teachings of these spirits, and you will understand how those spirits and forces manifest through you in an intimate way to create or influence every expereince you have in your entire life. You will have the opportunity to integrate and project these forces as you see fit, expanding your potential by expanding your understanding.

The goal of this Work* is to create a world with more royals working together to express their fiat as they see fit. All are not called, all are not chosen to receive this Word, or to perform the Work of being themselves fully. And that’s alright. I’m not going to change the world for everyone, I’m just here to help some folks understand a bit more about what they could be doing with their lives, if they tried.

But things are still in development. The page isn’t ready at Nephilim to start taking orders, and I haven’t finished the courses. It’s coming though, and apparently I’ve got to get my ass in gear. I’ve got some magic to help with that.

Oh, and look for me and Harper in a city near you. We’re putting together some presentations to present the system at a high level, and the message of my book at a specific level in as many places as we can reach over the next little while. We’ve got something booked already in March for Kentucky, at a place called Seven Spheres Oasis, of course.

More stuff to come as things develop.

* and you better believe the publication of every book I publish is a magical act

Right now. Immediately.

For an hour and a half, 3:30 to 5:00 pm Central right now. For FREE.

With Jason Miller and Aaron Leitch and others who wrote some stuff about offerings. In Magic. 🙂

clicketh this link.

Come One, come ALL, step right up! Shake off those eternal doldrums of perfect non-being. It’s been way too long! Manifest “Now!”

So I’m going to put together a conference next year in June or July with a few of my friends (and an arch-enemy), here in Minneapolis, MN. We’ll talk about Hermetic Miracles, the Goetic Revival, Esoteric archives and the lessons they teach, maybe some Greek Magical Papyri-derived rites, strategic applications of sorceric intents, and various conjuration techniques and experiences, and maybe even how much more awesome we are than McWiccans and online OTO CMs and stuff.

You know… the usual… Regardless, you know my friends are cool. It will rock.

But I need money to fly someone over from the UK, and someone and his wife from Florida, and someone from Jersey, and like, I don’t know, deposits and shit. So about $5,000 would be awesome.

Getting that kind of money will be relatively easy using certain resources, but I need a good framework to wrap it around. Like kickstarter or indie gogo or … Just having people send me money on FaceBook or some shit.

Anyway, any advice from anyone on putting together a low-maintenance, donation-based cash-condensation machine that just puts it all in a readily accessible account with not-too-many-fees?

… with a strong urge to fuck.”

I was thinking about the human condition and the economy of consciousness* the other day, and the method and process of the Great Work in general. As I considered that ancient cosmic question, “what’s it all about, man” it occurred to me that the motivations of your average human can be understood completely when you recognize that humans are an extremely successful ambulatory digestive tract that spends most of its time terrified, and the rest of the time trying to get laid.

Take Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, for example. The bottom three layers are all about eating, living and fucking. If you don’t eat, you’ll die! If you’re not safe, you could get hurt, or die! If you’re not fucking, you won’t pass on your genetic code when you die!

Arguably the fourth layer, esteem, can also be understood as an expression of the terror of existence. We are social because packs of monkeys are more successful than lone monkeys. We’re afraid to die, so we built society as a tool to subjugate wild nature and to protect us from other less-successful ambulatory digestive tracts.

The four (and sometimes five) part model of the soul I like to work with from the Qabala identifies the two “souls” closest to matter as the Guf and the Nephesh. The Guf is the actual body, and all its physiological requirements, and the Nephesh is the animal-soul, the autonomous consciousness of the body that keeps us breathing when we aren’t thinking about it, and the part the feels the primal emotions of terror, lust, rage, and loneliness.

Together they are the terrified digestive tract with a strong urge to fuck.

Most of the time the deciding factor in where we pay our attention is the command of the wants and needs of the Guf and the Nephesh. These two lower souls are in control of most people’s consciousness most of the time.

But Hermetics teaches us to do it differently. From Agrippa to Crowley, there’s a process of education and practice that leads to the point where your Neshemah is the source of direction, with the other parts providing appropriate input in the decision-making process.

The point is the gradual shift in the seat of your perspective. A complete change of view. The end-state magician is made of the same parts as the beginning-state mafician, with the same potntial in each moment of pursuing the things that bring them true happiness.

The difference is that the end-state magician has gone through a indoctrination process that not only tells them who and what they are in the grand scheme of things, it gives them examples as they go along to prove the value and effectiveness of the system. You learn the things, you conure the things, and you learn from the things. It’s a self-reinforcing system of expanding awareness and ability.

The end-state magician is a consciousness seated in the eternal part of the self, and focuses the attention of the complete incarnated entity on the things it wants to experience in its particular instance. It knows it’s a part of everything, and is intently focused on doing what it wants to do, the reason it particpiates in everything as an individuated instance in the first place.

Here in the mundane world it manifests as you being at ease in your situations, aware of what’s happening behind the scenes, why it’s happening, and how you can turn the situation to your own pleasure. You look confident, and seem to live a charmed life. Things just happen to go your way, and you accept that and move forward.

It doesn’t make everything perfect, and there’s always some new mystery to examine and process, so you don’t really get bored.

You just get to have fun, no matter what’s going on.

* For an interesting ride down similar trails, with many of the same roadside attractions, check out Ryan Valentines’ post on the Economy of Desire.

If you’re in the UK and you’ve not yet had a chance to go, jump on the chance to hang out with Sef Salem, Gordon White, Jake Stratton-Kent, and many other amazing occultists. They’re putting on some incredible shit over at the Visible College. I’m really glad to see Sef making things jump.

Sigh, I really want to have scotch with those guys, and seeing a Dueling Necromancer presentation … I mean, just… what more could you ask for?

But wait!

It’s going to be recorded and available for digital download!

Digital scotch isn’t as nice, but still, I’m down for it. Maybe we can set something up local at the lodge and have streaming parties, with booze and cheese. And thin shaved pieces of meats.

Ye-esss. I’m digging this plan a lot.

http://www.visiblecollege.co.uk/autumn-session/

Hey-O! Your friendly neighborhood Hermetic mage Rufus Opus here!

Disclaimer: They Aren’t Really “Spirit Pots”

Before going any further with this spirit pot thing, I’m going to tell the origin story of spirit pots for the massive amounts of readers I’ve attracted lately who weren’t here for the first part of my Work when I was going through all this in the first place.

I was on the Solomonic yahoo group talking about Solomonic and other types of grimoire magic with Aaron Leitch, Jake Stratton Kent, Brother Moloch, Zadkiel, Joe Peterson, and a bunch of other people who are noteworthy and should be paid attention to. Aaron and Jake were talking about the relationship of the ATRs and Solomonic magic, and Aaron suggested that a spirit pot would be an interesting way to work with a spirit of, say, for example, the Lemegeton’s Goetia. He drew analogies between the brass vessel of the Lesser Key’s Goetia and the spirit pot of Palo. And I was like, wow, what a great idea! So I did it, and it worked great.

So please understand, I am not saying this is an authentic Palo Spirit Pot. I am not saying this is how the authentic grimoire magicians actually worked with their spirits. I am not saying the brass vessel of the Lesser Key is actually a spirit pot like the ones I’m talking about here. These are simply spirit pots that are pots with spirits in it along with stuff that is traditionally associated with the same sphere as the spirits are associated with. I say that hoping to stave off “that guy,” but I suspect that, like one of the more recent posts, I will again attract “that guy” anyway. I don’t really care, it’s kind of fun to argue with the unenlightened. I can totally pass it off as Projection of the Stone.*

Ok, so the disclaimer is out of the way, and you folks who skimmed it are probably here already, before I even finished writing it.

Working with the “Not Really Spirit Pots:” Conjuration


The first thing you’ll have to do after combining the ingredients in the pot (herbs ruled by the planet, use Agrippa, some dirt from your yard, and the Seal of the Spirit, preferably in the appropriate metal of the planet the spirit is associated with, but also paper works; see my Modern Goetic Grimoire for deets if you don’t have them, or esotericarchives.com for free) is conjure the spirit.

I recommend creating a real life Magic Circle at least one time before beginning this kind of Work. It does things to you, man. Awesome things. Make the one from the Lesser Key’s Goetia. It will teach you everything you need to know about the world you are a part of that you should have learned from Agrippa’s Scale of the Number 10.

Also, it helps to have K&CHGA. It’s not that hard, but it can take a while. Totally worth it.

I’m also digging being an ordained Priest in a lineage that (possibly) goes back to Jesus Christ his own self. I got the power to make things holy by blessing them, even demons. Mwahahahahaha…**

(Thanks Jason and Shawn!)

I use a modification of the Trithemian Art of Drawing Spirits into Chrystals, which is in my Modern Goetic Grimoire, to conjure the spirit. If you want to use this method, I think it’s awesome and easy, and useful. It’s not traditional and it might kill you.*** If it does, it’s not my fault. You can use whatever suits you, if you don’t like that particular approach, but again, if you do any of this magic, it’s not safe. It might very well change your life, and people, that is dangerous.

Magic, she works.

So be warned, when this stuff kicks in and you’re like, wow, just … wow…

It’s not my fault.

So you conjure the spirit. You invite it to live in the pot and work with you from that pot, making it a viable, living talisman, a physical manifestation of that spirit on the material plane. When it approves, you mention you want it to play nice and be a good dude. You constrain it to not harm anyone or anything. You bless its actions and its purpose and its intention. You thank it. You treat it like a guest.

You say at the end, “As you came in peace, so now remain in power.”

Think about that before you say it out loud. Make sure you can handle that shit.

After the Conjuration

Now that your spirit pot is live, you’ll want to use it right away I’m sure. You’ll need to master two things:

• Clean and clear statements of intent
• Appropriate Offerings

Everyone I’ve ever talked to about working with the spirits of the Lesser Key has come away with lessons about being specific in your statements of intent. At a recent talk (MNCON) the thing that the experienced conjurors could all agree on was that working with these spirits is a lesson in loopholes. You learn quickly how you can get everything you ask for, and nothing you want.

Working with these spirits is a bit of … well, work. They are not human. They have a different set of senses, experiences, values, goals, and senses of humor. They need guidance, training, and a firm hand. They will take advantage of you as long as you let them, but over time you’ll learn what works with them the best. Give them lots of offerings, at first, and see how they manifest things. Then sharpen you statement of intent skills, develop the laser focus. And ration the offerings, the way you train animals.

They aren’t animals, by any means, and I hope this doesn’t come across like I’m saying you should act in any way other than respectful of entities that have been around millenia longer than you have been, who will be here much longer after you’re dust. I’m just saying, humans are a part of the celestial hierarchy, same as the Archangels and the Demons, according to Hermetic teachings, and you’ve got to accept your role as Ishim in the flesh, straddle the heavens and the hells, and direct your legions of spirits…

Like a boss.

Just remember, you’re in training too. These guys are awesome, powerful, mischievous, and smarter than you. They will work with you to make you skillful in your mastery of your kingdom if you’re not a fool. Listen to them when they offer advice, as you get used to them.

Be measured, don’t do “whatever the demon says” because that’s stupid. Do, however, learn to listen to them and learn from them. It will pay off quickly.

Practical Stuff

How to make offerings and requests, the 10,000 foot view

• Four candles placed around the spirit pot, anointed/sanctified in some way (abramelin oil, holy water, florida water, prayer)
• A shot of something can be fun too, whisky, wine, vodka, whatever you feel is appropriate for the spirit; optional
• Clear statement of intent ready before you go
• Say “[Spirit name], hear me and accomplish the desires I bring you, without tricks or deception. Bring me specifically what I desire. Manifest for me in the material world [statement of intent] with no harm or damage to any one. Make me aware of the opprtunities in ways that even I cannot mistake or miss. Receive this offering to make it so.”
• Light the candles.
• Anoint the seal or pot with the shot, if you have one.

You’re done.

If you don’t get what you asked for in two weeks, don’t rush into blaming the spirit or yourself. Go back and think about what you asked for, and whether you missed any opportunities. Think of another way to say it. Craft your statement of intent carefully, and make the offerings contingent on the success.

Also, take small steps at first, with little risk. The greater the change you request, the more opportunity you’re creating for things to go wrong. A series of small steps is much more likely to be successively successful than one huge massive change, and it will give you time to adjust, adapt, and learn what works best with the spirit you have in your pot.

Keep your requests simple enough that they can manifest through natural means, in ways that aren’t necessarily obvious that something amazing is going on in your life. Be strategic. Re-read Jason Miller’s Strategic Sorcery if you haven’t in a while.

Keep a record of your requests and your results, especially as you get to know the spirit and how it works so you can see what works and what doesn’t. Review it, because no mater what you think, you will forget something it said, or you thought, or you said, or it thought along the way, and you’ll really appreciate it later if you write it down now.

Have Fun

So I made a sort of big to do about the potential dangers of this stuff, but remember, there’s nothing you (or anyone else for that matter) can do with magic that cannot be undone with magic. You can’t break anything, you can only make new opportunities to do more magic. Everything is an experience, even unto the very brief moments you spend breathing air on the planet in each incarnation. Don’t panic. Have fun.

* Me to the unenlightened, Projecting the Stone into their lives: “You’re fucking stupid!”

** Or at least I think I do… Mwahahahahahahaha!

*** I’m fine after 8 years of doing this kind of thing, doubt it will kill you, but it might make life interesting.