Nine Days to the Knight

Evocation Time

Most folks didn’t hear from me the past 9 days, or seemed "removed" due to the fact that I was preparing for another Goetic evocation. I decided to evoke the Knight again and see what I might be able to further learn from him. My evocations get increasingly better with each round and I’m hoping this is any area I come to “perfect” one day, if there is such a thing. AS most know who read my blog, I’m mostly only interested to evocation to full visual and auditory presence concerning the Ars Goetia of the Lemegeton.

It’s always interesting undergoing this ritualistic purification time. The whole magical act from retreat, abstaining and fasting, to building and preparing all the magical equipment is a noteworthy magical act in and of itself. I must admit, the nine days aren’t exactly easy for me and I find all sorts of circumstances arise when I have my mind set on focusing solely on magical ritual. As I do not have the luxury to remove myself to some solitary cabin in the woods or magician’s hermitage, I have to make do with moderating my day to day life with magical intrigue.  Determined to not be distracted, trying to be “holy”, and immediately cease various habits and ways of thinking can be difficult as the days and hours role on. It seems certain spirits put further tests in your way to challenge your resolve and determination.  Regardless, I refreshed my memory to recite the conjurations from heart and reconnected my will to come into alignment with the art.

For this evocation, I decided to borrow my close friend’s garage, as he lived just behind me and his family was not using it for anything for the time being. It had just enough room to do my operation and I thought I could make it work perfectly. In this time I constructed a new parchment hexagram, had a standing iron brazier or chafing dish, custom made. I also tried a few other experiments like Asterion Mage’s consecration and 9 day blessing ritual for the Hyssop oil for anointing my eyes and brows with; a very suitable and worthwhile exercise by my appraisal.

I must say I was fairly pleased with how everything was coming together and the new methods I was learning.

new hexagram design

Halfway through my days of purification, I became a bit worried as the garage needed to be tidied up and I was running out of time for getting it ready. Luckily, my friend and his family and I all came together and got it prepared in the nick of time. The very next day I decided to bless the “temple” space by doing an impromptu ritual which Dr. Lisiewski recommends in His HOWLINGS From THE PIT book. It involves taking 9 white unscented candles and placing them in the area of the 9 foot circle and during an aspersion ritual with holy water and prayers.   I also did some intense Middle Pillar type exercises and I incensed the entire chamber with church incense. For a closing, I decided to use the “Benediction of the Place” found in Ars Notoria: The Notory Art of Solomon:

The Benediction of the place.

“Blesse Oh Lord this place, that there may be in it Holy Sanctity, chastity, meekness, victory, holiness, humility, goodness, plenty, obedience of the Law, to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; Hear Oh Lord, holy Father, Almighty eternal God; and send thy Holy Angel Michael, who may protect, keep, preserve and visit me, dwelling in this Tabernacle, by him who liveth, &c”

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 It was nice to see how much the atmosphere of a place could be changed after performing that work.

The Sunday before my operation I attended a local Catholic Church for Mass and received the Eucharist and underwent confession and gathered some holy water as well as stocking up on some more baptismal water which has come in handy.  I attended Mass once again, the day before my ritual and received communion one more time before undergoing my operation. The acknowledgement to the Catholic faith and ritual has been pleasant and interesting although I was not raised Catholic and the religion still feels somewhat foreign. I respect and acknowledge it for the origin of the magicians of the grimories among other things. I also became very aware of the passion for which the prayers can alter one’s consciousness when said with honest integrity and an open heart. Much of what their about use to seem completely outdated and somewhat disagreeable in ways but I found myself really reaching beyond the bare letters to what they desire:  Connection to divinity.

My operation was to begin at the twilight before Dawn which was about 5:1`8 am. The night before I went to bed early to get a bit of rest and ended up rising at 3:30 am for my ritual bath, prayer, and meditation before the ceremony. I then dressed in my white linen undergarments which consist of pants and a shirt of linen over my under-under garments. I loaded up the rest of my small important gear in the car and headed over to my friends long before the sun was up. No one was around and I appreciated the silence. My friend had given me the key to the garage to make sure it was secure, which I was happy about, since my circle tarp, candle sticks, altar table, and a few other important ritual equipment had been brought there the night before to make everything ready. Upon arriving in the garage/temple I arranged all the major furniture and folded my vestments and linen vesture in a neat pile near one wall. 

  I readied all the equipment through the chamber and lit the coals to have them ready by the time I began the invocations. 
   I owe a lot of success and the particulars of my methods of conjurations to Mr. J.K (Imperial Arts) whom I’ve molded my efforts of Goetic workings after. He mentions in his writings that he does not fill the room with incense smoke but rather gives it as an offering to the spirit AFTER its arrival. I haven’t quite been able to pull this method off and I vouched to incense the room thoroughly before evocation from the indication that the smoke does seem to have some correlation to the spirit forming its ethereal body and also from the Goetia’s direct quote which states: 

“The other materialls is [are] a sceptre or sword; a miter or cap, a long white Robe of Linnen, with shoes and other Clothes for y^e purpose also a girdle of Lyons skin 3 Inches broad, with all the names about it as is about the uttermost round [part of the] Circle, & also perfumes and a chafin [chafing] dish of Charcoles kindled to put the fumes into; to smoke or perfume y^ee place appointed for action. also annoynting oyles to anoynt y^r Temples & Eyes w^th; & fair water to wash y^rselves in. & in so doeing y^u are to say as david said (viz)”  (Bold mine)

Here it sates the ritual area is intended to be incensed and smoked in and by itself, as a matter of course and before the actual evocation.

The main beeswax candle that made the holy lamp for my altar was lit first. ( if you plan on reading ANYTHING or writing down the spirit’s remarks or recalling questions, etc. you will NEED a light of some sort when doing evocations at night). It was pitch black in those early hours and the KoS style candle was an essential, practical item. (The 4 outer candles didn't quite cut it) I took a moment to connect to the divine in order to “get out of my own way” enough to let the bliss take over as I spoke. I’m still working on this but each time gets better.  was impressed by how well I actually remember the lengthy conjurations though and never tripped up once after reciting each a few times.

The conjurations took quite a few recitations to bring any sense of the spirit’s arrival around. During this time it can be extremely difficult not to let feelings of doubt and despair creep in. 

When the atmosphere finally changed, and by changed I mean the walls where the spirit was to appear sort of blacked out and seemed to vanish without any discernible parameters. I started seeing small sparks or rather small flashes of colored lights and a few streaks in my peripheral vision and the incense smoke seemed to condense into a thick wall. I was a bit confused however as the glowing smoke that seemed to collect near the triangle did not form the spirit as I expected it to.  At first the spirit seemed hesitant to arrive as if something was keeping it from fully arriving. After a time though I noticed a large shadow on the wall that came into sharper view and the shadow seemed to become more and more discernible as the seconds went on. I simply stood there staring at it as it did so. It looked as if it simply came off the wall and formed itself into three-dimensional space. The image, which at first was a dark silhouette, became an apparition of an aged knight riding a rather large horse. By “large”, I suppose I mean that it was life size and took up the whole wall of the chamber.  I guess I expect them to sometimes be more compacted and to scale of the triangle. It appeared as an apparition not like in the sense that I could see through it, but that it appeared as if I was looking through a thick fog or smoke at it (which in actuality I was, the Myrrh incense was pretty abundant through the room).

The knight Furcas  could be seen in profile and looked a lot younger and healthier than I remembered seeing it the first time. It/he sill had the long white beard and stern look but with more vigor in his face than before. The weapon thing he held in his right hand in a downward slant was an uneven, two pointed looking spear which I had not seen in the physical world anywhere (and I know my weapons). He regarded me with a brooding stern, yet patient expression and simply waited. I gave the Address, removing my new parchment eight inch “card” hexagram from a linen pouch I made to hang from my lion belt and held it up before the spirit.  At that time the knight dismounted and stood nearer to me within the triangle. I set the hexagram in front of my altar lantern and noticed how the glow of the altar lamp seemed to glow through the parchment so it could clearly be seen by the spirit in vivid detail.

I had chosen to contact him again after consideration furthering my progress with spirit contact and interaction and also at the suggestion of my magical colleague and goetic mentor, Mr. J.K. (Imperial Arts). A sheet of questions and a separate sheet for the charges were written out with a veritable sheep skin parchment seal that would be used for the contract, or if things got disagreeable, to be placed in the black box with sulfur and asafoetida. 

Taken probably 6 minutes after the ceremony's close

I had difficulty hearing the spirit’s reply’s to my questions and what it said to me despite asking it to “speak clearer and louder” which after a while I took to be some fault of my own. The spirit also seemed somewhat restless and I saw the darkened windows begin to gray with the approach of dawn before I knew it and found myself running out of time. I issued my charge to it regardless, the full contents of which I am keeping to myself. It seemed agreeable to the terms although I cannot say I feel completely satisfied with the clarity of the exchange. As it grew lighter I felt the atmosphere almost lifting on its own accord so I recited the license to depart and waited until the garage became, just an empty garage once more. I knelt before the table in the circle and opened my handwritten copy of the Goetic prayers and invocations to where I recorded

The Conclusion of the whole work, and Confirmation of the Science obtained.

“Oh God, Maker of all things; who hast created all things out of nothing; who hast wonderfully created the Heaven and Earth, and all things by degrees in order, in the beginning, with thy Son, by whom all things are made, and into whom all things shall at last return: Who art Alpha and Omega: I beseech thee though a sinner, & unworthy, that I may attain to my desired end in this Holy Art, speedily, and not lose the same by my sins; but do good unto [110] me, according to thy unspeakable mercy: who doth not to us after our sins, nor rewardeth us after our iniquities, Amen.”

This prayer is actually intended for the exercises and prayers of the “Ars Notoria: The Notory Art of Solomon” but it seemed fitting to add for my thanks for giving completed a goetic evocation to a degree and not being turned into ash or something. I also offered a prayer for my gratitude in being able to perform the rite. I packed up my ritual attire, feeling that the operation went well considering but still had a long way to go before I had any sense of mastery over this art. It was probably more humbling than anything but I did not have any precognitive feelings of dread or disorder thinking that the spirit had gained some sort of upper hand or something.

Taken soon after my completed ritual with my phone. I use the compass app to set my directions as accurately as I can.

With study and practice over the years, the Goetia, as given in the Lemegeton has really seemed like an “updated” operation from a magus who was intimately familiar and initially well versed in the versions from the Key of Solomon and also the Heptameron. With obvious connections between the three, the inclusion of the Goetic spirit seals, increased measures of protections like the Solomonic ring and notable lion skin belt of names, this magician seemed to procure have more of a buffer zone between the spirit’s influences and himself than given in the two aforementioned arts. In my view, these inclusions and modifications were made by a magician(s) who took the lot of their experience and knowledge from other sources to make it into a unique, albeit personal, workable art.