Summoning

I have to grasp my moment while everyone’s attention is elsewhere.  While the hubbub, the hullaballoo, rages, I can slip under the radar.  While the mob race around rejoicing, gloating, I can go deep undercover.  I can slip through the veils.

I have to perform the Rite.  Just as I always have/did/will do.  But first I must purify myself.

I slide away from the world.
I fast.
I meditate.
I pray.

I strip myself naked and scrub myself with salt.  I cleanse my body with water and anoint it with oils.

I make sacred the space.
I light the incense. 
I tone the sigils.
I trace the sigils.  On the floor.  In the air.  On my body. 

I summon Them.  To guard me as I work/worked/will work.

And They will come. They always came. They come.

They are here. 

And how terrible, how terrifying, how beautiful They are.

It starts…

From Tanit…

On sigils, words and magic

Samael gives Gen a necklace with his sigil, or magical sign, attached.  It’s a risky move on his part as knowing someone’s true name can give you power over them.  In ceremonial magic, a mage may use the sign that represents the true name of an angel or demon in order to summon the being – and ask or demand it does your will. 

Kabbalah teaches that letters possess energy so that, when you combine letters to make words – and specifically names – with intent -  you are performing magic.  Words are powerful.  Why do people never realise this?  Why do people use words so carelessly?  Be extremely careful of the words you use and how you use them – there could be long-lasting ramifications!

In Tanit, the sequel to Samael, sigils are used in a different, more creative way.  Instead of just using them to summon or control entities, they are also employed to manifest outcomes.  Instead of borrowing a traditional accepted form, the mages make their own.  And you know what?  You could too. 

Why are sigils so powerful?  Because the conscious mind cannot perform true magic – in fact thought inhibits magic.  It’s the subconscious mind which performs magic. You need something that is liminal, that can float between conscious and unconscious, some way of planting magical intent into the subconscious so it can unconsciously manipulate quantum potentiality to bring *physical* results.

What is that liminal something?  Yup - sigils.  A sigil is a sleight of hand trick to breach the barriers of the subconscious.  You can achieve the same effect via shamanism (employing altered states of consciousness through drugs or deep  meditation or disordering the senses through sound) or via traditional ceremonial magic (which also uses symbols but that takes a heck of a long training).

Sigils, on the other hand, are quick. 

It’s not chance, by the way, that the name sigil is also used in modern circuit boards, in computer programming – a sigil is a mystical circuit diagram.  By using sigils you are programming, you are creating, you are manifesting an outcome.  Think about it.  Seriously. 

How you make a sigil depends on your proclivities.  They can be physical or mental or even virtual, but physical sigils are far easier to control.  Visual sigils are the most common but you can create audio sigils or even tactile sigils.  What you create usually depends on your preferred mode of communication – whether you are predominantly visual, auditory or kinaesthetic in your approach to life.

Basically a sigil consists of the words of a statement of intent reduced into an abstract design.  The sigil is then charged (there are various methods) with the will and intent of the sigil-maker. 

Shall I tell you how to do it?  Nah.  Go find out for yourself…  It’s not that hard.

Now, here’s another interesting thing…  A hypersigil is an extended form of sigil – a work of art created with magical meaning, intent and will. I’ve experimented with these over the years, in various forms.  Interesting, huh? 

The 42 Assessors

Samael takes Gen onto the astral plane, up, up, up through the pathways, the keys, of the Tree of Life to the sephirah, or sphere, known as Geburah.   

Geburah is home to the Halls of Justice, where – after death – we are met by the Forty-Two Assessors.  These spiritual judges look deep in our eyes and question us, one after another, as to how we spent our time, this life-time, on Earth.  The questions are asked in quiet even voices and there is no possibility of lying; there is no wriggling out of it; no avoidance; no mitigating circumstances. 

We simply cannot lie.

The truth wells up from inside us.  We speak the truth, despite our fear.

Nobody is perfect. Nobody is totally pure.  But we can only hope.  

The Questions of the Forty-Two Assessors

1.       Hast though given due thought to the body inhabited by thee?

2.       Hast thou lived the fullness of time allotted to thee?

3.       Hast thou refrained from being unclean in body and mind?

4.       Has thou loved with the body, only where the heart is also?

5.       Hast thou had knowledge of those forbidden to thee?

6.       Hast thou kept thee only to the sword or the distaff?

7.       Hast thou respected the bodies of the younger brethren?

8.       Hast thou stolen?

9.       Hast thou taken food and drink to excess?

10.   Hast thou killed?

11.   Hast thou spoken unjustly in anger?

12.   Hast thou looked upon the goods of others in envy?

13.   Hast thou known jealousy?

14.   Hast thou spoken ill of any man or woman in anger?

15.   Hast though been undiligent in work?

16.   Hast thou profaned the mysteries?

17.   Hast thou known pride in thyself that is false?

18.   Hast thou strayed from the path allotted thee?

19.   Hast thou lusted for precious metals?

20.   Hast thou been too worldly?

21.   Hast thou been just in thy dealings in the market place?

22.   Hast thou replayed all debts promptly?

23.   Hast thou been generous to the needy?

24.   Hast thou lied to gain from others?

25.   Hast thy tongue been as a viper to cause laughter in others?

26.   Hast thou been a friend?

27.   Hast thou hated another to the exclusion of all else?

28.   Hast thou lent thy body to any from the other side?

29.   Hast thou been thy parents’ joy?

30.   Hast thou honoured all faiths that are of the Light?

31.   Hast thou given time to be at peace with the gods?

32.   Hast thou turned aside from wisdom given in love?

33.   Hast thou listened to that which is not for thy ears?

34.   Hast thou lived in the Light?

35.   Hast thou been a sword for the weak?

36.   Hast thou enslaved any other life?

37.   Hast thou faced the mirror of self?

38.   Hast thou taken the words of his mouth from any man as thy own?

39.   Hast thou known that all journeys end but to begin?

40.   Hast thou remembered all the brethren of the Earth, and been compassionate to those younger brethren who serve thee as beasts in the field and the home?

41.   Hast thou ever worked man or beast beyond its strength in thy greed?

We may feel rather small after this.  After all, who hasn’t gossiped?  Who hasn’t sniped or been mean or eavesdropped?  Who hasn’t fallen out with her parents, or told the odd lie?   

However there is one last question which may save our souls. 

The forty-second assessor asks this question:  Is there one upon the Earth who is glad thou hast lived?

It’s our get out of jail card.  Just maybe.

Footnote for maths geeks like Gen....think about Sedenions.... The Tibetan Book of the Dead has 58 angry demons and 42 happy Buddhas - hence 100 in all = 5 * 16 + 2*10 = 100 distinct units in the interlinked 5-fold "unit quaternion" ensemble. Soooo.....we have the 42 Assessors and then focus in on one of the seven isomorphic box-kites; then focus in further on the second box-kite which has its struts defined by upper vs. lower case letters, and the triple zigzag analog being the "all lowercase" sail..  Or not. :)

The beach

The wave was vast, a wall of water and, for a moment, I panicked.  I couldn’t see ‘my’ surfer.  How ridiculous was that?  My surfer.  But no, there he was and – Oh My God – could he surf?  These weren’t the gargantuan waves of Hawaii or California but they weren’t tiddlers either and he rode this one like a pro, swooping low, slicing through, not a foot wrong. 

As he neared the beach my heart did a double flip.  That tall, sinewy body, albeit clad in a full body suit, was oh so familiar. So too the long blonde hair, wet tendrils down his neck. 

I stepped back, my hand flying to my mouth.  As he jumped easily off the  board and stalked through the water towards me, I could only say one word.

‘Samael.’

‘Genevieve.’

My heart gave such a lurch I thought it would jump clean out of me.  I knew I should be wary; I knew I should confront him about the stuff in the chest – but my body was telling me a whole different story. 
A smile simmered round those slim cool lips.  I felt my body tug towards him, as if we were magnets inexorably attracted, unable to resist.  He scooted the board onto the sand and shook out his hair, like a dog.
‘Hey, I’ll get wet.’
‘So?’  He grabbed my hands and pulled me towards him.  I felt my body slam into his rock hard chest, my thighs rubbed against wet neoprene.  He let himself fall backwards into the water, pulling me with him, twining his hands into my hair. I tried to pull away, tried to remember my doubts, but it was impossible.
Then his lips were on mine and my senses fell into overload.  Every cell of my body tingled at his touch.
‘It’s not fair,’ I gasped, freeing my mouth for a moment.  ‘I’m virtually naked and you’re all covered up in a wetsuit.’
'That can easily be remedied,’ he said, kneeling up and reaching behind his shoulder to tug down the zip.
‘Oh.’ I felt myself flare red. ‘I didn’t mean that.’
‘I know you didn’t,’ he said with a grin, shrugging his arms out of the suit and pulling it down, revealing a broad chest and the start of a serious six-pack.  A silver chain hung round his neck, with what looked like a magical symbol dangling from it.  He pulled me up and stared down at me, his head slanted to one side.

‘I’m sorry I left you. There were things I had to do.’
‘Like what?’  There was probably a simple explanation, right?
‘Just things.’  He shrugged and stroked a tendril of hair from my face.

From Samael, Chapter Twenty