I’ve recently created my first, and possibly last Spirit Pot. “Spirit Pot” is a term I picked up from reading a very little bit on hoodoo and root work. It basically presents a dwelling place for a particular spirit to live in.

I first thought of this while reading an excellent article by Aaron Leitch in the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition. In it he discusses the links between the Solomonic tradition and Folk Magick. He pointed out that there is a brass vessel discussed in the Lemegetton that has similarities to the Spirit Pot of hoodoo traditions, and I set about creating a spirit pot for one of the entities from the Goetia.

I selected Bune/Bime as the spirit I wished to have in my pot. He is the 26th spirit of the Goetia, and has two seals that can be used to get in touch with him. I went to 777 to see what types of things to include in the pot. Bune is associated with key-scale 24, if I remember right, and I found that the plant for this key is rush, a type of grass, and the incense was lignum aloes. The magickal weapon is the arrow, and the astrological sign is Sagitarius.

I purchased a length of woven rush grass and wound it around the base of my spirit pot. I included dates and raisins, some incense containing lignum aloes and sandalwood, and carved a small arrow out of cedar, using the needles of the branch as the fletching. I drew up a Seal of Solomon from the Goetia, and set it in the lid of the pot. I drew one seal by hand, and included another seal I had printed off the internet. As I drew the seal, I felt the spirit’s presence begin to build up in the area. I created a triangle of manifestation, placed the seals in the pot, and the pot in the triangle of manifestation. I then began lighting blue tea lite candles for about a week, which burn for about five hours as offerings to get the spirit’s attention.

On a Sunday night when the moon was right, I performed the conjuration. I did it rather simply, and made very quick contact with Bune. I spoke to him about why I wanted to work with him, showed him the pot, and asked if he would live in it. He was VERY agreeable.

Since then I have begun to experiment with the Spirit Pot. I chose Bune because he is allegedly related to my sun sign in my natal chart and because one of his abilities is to bring treasure, and I very much desire to be wealthy.

I have also included the hebrew words found on the sides of the brass vessel in the Goetia, written in Celestial script from Agrippa’s third book of Occult Philosophy.

I’ve had some interesting conversations with members of the Ritual Magic yahoo group, and I hope to provide an interview with one of the members in an upcoming post regarding his views of the Spirit Pot as a spiritual condenser.

[Edit 6-27-06]

Mr. Doctor Professor Patrick (OMG, total Spongebob moment… hang on… whew, ok…) Brought up a question on the previous blog that ought to be further expounded upon.

Dee’s Aztec Obsidian Mirror came to Europe between 1527 and 1530, according to the British Museum’s notes on his magic mirror.

I don’t know if he ever used it in scrying the Enochian stuff, but he did use it for scrying some things.

So, Tezcatlipoca…

He’s been popping up across my searches, weaving his smoke and mirrored way into my reality. I just sort of felt lead to put the mask on the skull, and it looks nice.

Tezcatlipoca, among other things, is the God of the night. He appeared in the form of a jaguar in many tales (get it, jaguar tales… tails…), and did other cool stuff that I can’t remember. It’s a cop out, I know, but Wikipedia’s got a big article on him here, and I’m exhausted from putting together my garage today. Pulled all the accumulated crap out, and then neatly put it back in after sweeping. It doesn’t SOUND like an 8-hour job, but it was.

The Garage, with all its cool space and alchemistical stuff is now officially “The Lab.” I may be running local workshops on making talismans out of copper and tin. Eventually.

Anyway, I’m tarred (that’s “tired” for the yankees). So no more typey.

Behold the BLURRY CRYSTAL SKULL OF DOOOOOOOM!!!

The best camera in the house is my daughter’s cell phone camera at 2.0 megapix. And she’s twelve. But hey, I gots pictures! I ain’t complaining!

For size comparison, that is a twelve-year-old girl’s hand holding the crystal above a hardwood floor. The wood planks are about two inches wide, if that helps. It’s rather … smallish.

My spouse said it was “cute.”

Nevertheless!!! It’s awesome. I had worked after conjuring my Agatha Daimon and the Goetic spirit Bune. I was tingling from the whole experience, physically, and spiritually.

Quartz has some pretty cool occult properties on its own. Carving quartz is delicate work, it cracks and shatters. That’s partially why it turned out so small. It’s my first effort, and I learned a lot.

The heat from grinding it down was all focused at the tip of the crystal point, while it had one. I also dowsed it using a pendulum before carving it, and I’ll be dowsing it when it’s all the way finished too. It still needs more polishing, and the “mask” needs more work.

The mask, by the way, is a reference to the Aztec God of Sorcerors, Tezcatlipoca. I remember it by repeating Tez-Cat-Lip-Polka. His name translates as “Smoking Mirror,” and he was the god they would work with to perform scrying acts in their obsidian mirrors. The god was often depicted either wearing the mirror, or having it for a foot. He had lost the foot luring the crocodile from the waters that he and Qetzelcoatl made the land out of in some of the Aztec creation myths.

The mirror used by John Dee was one of these Aztec Mirrors made out of Obsidian and brought from the New World. Chances are pretty good that it was at one time used by someone of high importance under the auspices of Tezcatlipoca.

So, we’ve got a nod to the god of scrying from the Aztec cosmology. Why? Because. The Google expedition on crystal skulls in general lead me to very specific skulls that were masks of Tezcatlipoca. I also got engrossed in Aztec creation myths, and I read most of the Popul Vu codex. Comparative theology never ceases to entertain me.

Since beginning to carve the skull, it has appeared unasked for in a visit to my astral temple, sort of like Bune was just there one day after I put my spirit pot together for him. I’m not surprised, as Bune has worked on this skull with me, laying down a communications network for the spirits of the dead. My Agatha Daimon was also on hand to imbue it with pure Divine Light, so it’s more likely to draw whomever uses it towards God rather than away.

I’m going to keep this for a while and play with it, see what comes out of my Work with it. I performed some basic psychometry on the crystals before choosing them, and found the ones that would be the best candidates based on their “vibe.” I’ll be testing them again, and maybe even writing up some of the Great Work lessons I learned from grinding the skull itself. Shaping a brittle crystalline matrix using a rotary tool and diamond bits requires a finesse and a strength combined that is hard to explain off the top of my head.

Sorry if I’m all over the map on this post, I’m kind of excited.

Behold the BLURRY CRYSTAL SKULL OF DOOOOOOOM!!!

The best camera in the house is my daughter’s cell phone camera at 2.0 megapix. And she’s twelve. But hey, I gots pictures! I ain’t complaining!

For size comparison, that is a twelve-year-old girl’s hand holding the crystal above a hardwood floor. The wood planks are about two inches wide, if that helps. It’s rather … smallish.

My spouse said it was “cute.”

Nevertheless!!! It’s awesome. I had worked after conjuring my Agatha Daimon and the Goetic spirit Bune. I was tingling from the whole experience, physically, and spiritually.

Quartz has some pretty cool occult properties on its own. Carving quartz is delicate work, it cracks and shatters. That’s partially why it turned out so small. It’s my first effort, and I learned a lot.

The heat from grinding it down was all focused at the tip of the crystal point, while it had one. I also dowsed it using a pendulum before carving it, and I’ll be dowsing it when it’s all the way finished too. It still needs more polishing, and the “mask” needs more work.

The mask, by the way, is a reference to the Aztec God of Sorcerors, Tezcatlipoca. I remember it by repeating Tez-Cat-Lip-Polka. His name translates as “Smoking Mirror,” and he was the god they would work with to perform scrying acts in their obsidian mirrors. The god was often depicted either wearing the mirror, or having it for a foot. He had lost the foot luring the crocodile from the waters that he and Qetzelcoatl made the land out of in some of the Aztec creation myths.

The mirror used by John Dee was one of these Aztec Mirrors made out of Obsidian and brought from the New World. Chances are pretty good that it was at one time used by someone of high importance under the auspices of Tezcatlipoca.

So, we’ve got a nod to the god of scrying from the Aztec cosmology. Why? Because. The Google expedition on crystal skulls in general lead me to very specific skulls that were masks of Tezcatlipoca. I also got engrossed in Aztec creation myths, and I read most of the Popul Vu codex. Comparative theology never ceases to entertain me.

Since beginning to carve the skull, it has appeared unasked for in a visit to my astral temple, sort of like Bune was just there one day after I put my spirit pot together for him. I’m not surprised, as Bune has worked on this skull with me, laying down a communications network for the spirits of the dead. My Agatha Daimon was also on hand to imbue it with pure Divine Light, so it’s more likely to draw whomever uses it towards God rather than away.

I’m going to keep this for a while and play with it, see what comes out of my Work with it. I performed some basic psychometry on the crystals before choosing them, and found the ones that would be the best candidates based on their “vibe.” I’ll be testing them again, and maybe even writing up some of the Great Work lessons I learned from grinding the skull itself. Shaping a brittle crystalline matrix using a rotary tool and diamond bits requires a finesse and a strength combined that is hard to explain off the top of my head.

Sorry if I’m all over the map on this post, I’m kind of excited.

Behold the BLURRY CRYSTAL SKULL OF DOOOOOOOM!!!

The best camera in the house is my daughter’s cell phone camera at 2.0 megapix. And she’s twelve. But hey, I gots pictures! I ain’t complaining!

For size comparison, that is a twelve-year-old girl’s hand holding the crystal above a hardwood floor. The wood planks are about two inches wide, if that helps. It’s rather … smallish.

My spouse said it was “cute.”

Nevertheless!!! It’s awesome. I had worked after conjuring my Agatha Daimon and the Goetic spirit Bune. I was tingling from the whole experience, physically, and spiritually.

Quartz has some pretty cool occult properties on its own. Carving quartz is delicate work, it cracks and shatters. That’s partially why it turned out so small. It’s my first effort, and I learned a lot.

The heat from grinding it down was all focused at the tip of the crystal point, while it had one. I also dowsed it using a pendulum before carving it, and I’ll be dowsing it when it’s all the way finished too. It still needs more polishing, and the “mask” needs more work.

The mask, by the way, is a reference to the Aztec God of Sorcerors, Tezcatlipoca. I remember it by repeating Tez-Cat-Lip-Polka. His name translates as “Smoking Mirror,” and he was the god they would work with to perform scrying acts in their obsidian mirrors. The god was often depicted either wearing the mirror, or having it for a foot. He had lost the foot luring the crocodile from the waters that he and Qetzelcoatl made the land out of in some of the Aztec creation myths.

The mirror used by John Dee was one of these Aztec Mirrors made out of Obsidian and brought from the New World. Chances are pretty good that it was at one time used by someone of high importance under the auspices of Tezcatlipoca.

So, we’ve got a nod to the god of scrying from the Aztec cosmology. Why? Because. The Google expedition on crystal skulls in general lead me to very specific skulls that were masks of Tezcatlipoca. I also got engrossed in Aztec creation myths, and I read most of the Popul Vu codex. Comparative theology never ceases to entertain me.

Since beginning to carve the skull, it has appeared unasked for in a visit to my astral temple, sort of like Bune was just there one day after I put my spirit pot together for him. I’m not surprised, as Bune has worked on this skull with me, laying down a communications network for the spirits of the dead. My Agatha Daimon was also on hand to imbue it with pure Divine Light, so it’s more likely to draw whomever uses it towards God rather than away.

I’m going to keep this for a while and play with it, see what comes out of my Work with it. I performed some basic psychometry on the crystals before choosing them, and found the ones that would be the best candidates based on their “vibe.” I’ll be testing them again, and maybe even writing up some of the Great Work lessons I learned from grinding the skull itself. Shaping a brittle crystalline matrix using a rotary tool and diamond bits requires a finesse and a strength combined that is hard to explain off the top of my head.

Sorry if I’m all over the map on this post, I’m kind of excited.

So, a couple of days ago I was sitting here in my computer chair, where I spend most days, and for some reason, I found myself thinking about Crystal Skulls.

I saw a special on Crystal Skulls on the History channel, or Discovery, or something like that a few months ago. I suppose it was timed to coincide with the latest Indiana Jones film, which I haven’t seen. What I remembered specifically was that the skulls were most likely created in the 1800s using modern tools according to modern forensics, and that regardless of the origin, people report having strange experiences around the crystal skulls.

I had a lot of experience with the New Age movement in my youth. I owned Melody’s Love is in the Earth book. I read her description of every rock my local store had in stock. I had some pretty fantastic experience playing with the “energy” of the stones. So I know that Quartz crystal acts as an amplifier of whatever energies it comes in contact with, and that there is something to the whole crystal movement.

I also understand the way the human mind guides spiritual interactions through the use of symbols. I don’t prescribe to the information or psychological models that try to explain magic in terms of pure human mind, but the tool of the magician is the symbol. I know the skull is a powerful image in anyone’s mind, and that it has all kinds of associations that would result in a crystal carved into that shape attracting specific spirits. These spirits would be affecting people in exactly the ways that crop up in the reports of strange phenomenon surrounding the crystal skulls.

So I have this dremel tool. It’s modern technology at its finest. If a crystal carved in the 1800s as a fraudulent antiquity can accidentally result in spiritual experiences, then what would a crystal skull carved by a magician under the auspices of a particular spirit be capable of?

So I popped over to the local occult store and bought three pieces of Quartz. Two were mostly-clear points, about two inches long by an inch and a half wide. The third is rose quartz.

So what I’m doing is carving these pieces of quartz into skulls. I’m no great artist, and this is my first attempt, so it’s a bit rudimentary. It makes the point though.

The point to these crystals is to make it easier for the owner to contact the spirits of the dead. I figure it will be useful to necromancers and mediums. As I begin each carving session, I conjure Bune to imbue the stone with his powers of making spirits appear. Things are progressing nicely so far. I haven’t had any weird results yet, but the thing isn’t finished either.

Here’s a crappy picture of where I’m at so far. As you can see, the crystal point is still attached, and the skull is only roughed out. I’m considering leaving it as is, and just polishing the crap out of it until it shines like the top of the Empire State Building. (Yes, I just made a Little Orphan Annie reference.)

When it’s ready, I’ll be selling these little babies on my Products and Services page at my web site.

Click This Link or the Title of this post to see a selection of articles written about the Crystal Skull phenomenon.

As sometimes happens on occult message boards, a minor spat recently broke out. I had the audacity to tell someone how spirits work, and they were completely offended, even though they have never conjured a spirit in their life. How DARE I try to force my beliefs down someone else’s throat, right?

I mean yeah, that’s what I do all the time. I hang out behind abortion clinics with a Bible and a two-by-four, and when the women leave, at their most vulnerable, I teach them to do candle magic using the Psalms under penalty of many beatings. Oh, I make them read Timaeus and the Corpus Hermeticum at gunpoint too. Because that’s the kind of magician I am.

Right.

So anyway, one thing lead to another, and I had the urge to curse him, to teach him a lesson. Nothing major, just an initiation into Working with Spirits. The first lesson is recognizing the spirits are real and present. The best way to learn that is to have one pop up at 3:33 a.m. and say, “Hi!” while holding a Bible, some candles, a two-by-four, and copies of Timaeus and the Corpus Hermeticum. All in separate hands.

At least in my humble opinion.

So I picked the spirit, made sure it was something he could do. I checked in with my Agatha Daimon/HGA, and he said nothing particularly bad would happen as a result. As usual, he was not very forthcoming with helpful advice on how to torment the people I’m stuck sharing the planet with. I’ve learned not to ask.

So, with confirmation from my Daimon, and the Spirit ready and willing, I was all set to send off a Mercurial entity to mess with the dude’s life. A little bit. For fun. All I had to do was wait for the appropriate time to do the ritual.

So I killed some zombies.

After dying to a particularly cheatin’ ass Devil’s fireball that totally should have missed me, I waited patiently for the game to get to the level where the weapons started getting really good. I felt this sudden urge to meditate, a sensation like I was being called by a very familiar Voice.

I immediately moved my little guy behind some barricades, checked to make sure I didn’t need to pause the game, and answered that still small voice of my Lord.

The conversation wasn’t in words, exactly, but it went something like this:

“Hey, Jesus, how’s it going?”

“Not bad, I still hate that M&M joke, and I still forgive you for telling it. Again.”

“Heh heh, yeah…”

“Look, about cursing that incompetent ignorant uppity arrogant pipsqueak on that message board…”

“Yeah? He’s got it coming, my HGA said it’s cool, and he’s my own embodiment of the Logos, right? He’s like the Holy Spirit, so I can just do it, right, no problems?”

“No. Don’t curse him.”

“Oh, come on Jesus, please? He’s totally asking for it. He wants to be cursed. I promise, it won’t even hurt him. It’ll just ruin his fun this week. And make him realize there’s more to this magic stuff than he wants to admit. It’s healthy!”

“Nope. No cursing him.”

“Oh, alright, fine. Can I at least initiate him into Tiphareth via path 26 on the GD Tree of Life? That’s not a curse, it’s a blessing!”

“No. You can’t use the Devil for your own revenge this time. When he goes that way, it’s going to be part of my timing.”

“He’s not even a Christian!”

“I know.”

Things went on, but that’s the gist of it.

So I can’t curse him. Lucky son of a bitch, too, let me tell you.

We talked about why the HGA said it was at least ok, and yet Jesus wouldn’t let me. This messes with my understanding of the cosmos, after all. I tend to see my HGA as a little sliver of Christ that communes with the sliver of Christ in me. I tend to treat him as if he were Christ, in that I spend more time with him than with Jesus. He’s got access to everything I could get directly from Jesus, and he’s less awe-inspiring. I mean, he’s awe-inspiring, but you know, it’s like he’s in a form I can understand differently and Work with differently than the form of Jesus Christ who died on the cross for my sins. It’s my problem, I know, but every time I look at the scars it reminds me.

So I asked Jesus about that. He said the HGA is my assistant, my helper spirit. Like a familiar at this point. It’s not a moral compass. It doesn’t care about “Right” or “Wrong.” It knew this conversation would take place, and it went along with my plans anyway. I had relegated it in my expectations to a role it was content to function in for this particular task, and so Jesus stepped in on his own to explain things to me.

And explain things to me he did. The kid’s got his own problems and isn’t taking any of this as seriously as I am. He’s just farting around on the internet, and here I sit in my perfect job (I asked to be chained to a desk in my house instead of being chained to a desk at an office, and I got it), surfing the internet all day, playing video games, and hanging out with my family while I manage the documentation of a project remotely. I’ve got nothing better to do with my time than curse the dude. I’ve also been itching to do some magic, but I’ve done everything I wanted to do.

So, Jesus set me up with some more interesting projects, better uses of my time. I learned a little bit more about the “HGA.” I also learned a lot about the hypothalamus in the brain, and some other stuff.

Now, I can imagine how this sounds to a mostly non-Christian audience. Here’s Frater R.O., the neo-platonic magician, a Christian Conjuror who summons spirits most Christians call demons, talking to Jesus.

Really though, it’s not my fault. He called me.

That went fast. The skull is on its way to its new owner, and is no longer available.

May the new owner enjoy their experiences.