Tuesday, December 10, 2013

That Shrewd and Knavish Sprite


The Dreamer, Monique Munoz
Lately, I've been doing some work with a secret magical order devoted to Hermes. (I have literally been waiting my entire life to say that sentence!) We've been talking about the various faces of Hermes, and I've decided to do a little bit of work with Puck as an avatar of the Mercurial current. Among my very first conjurations was an evocation Puck, when I was 14 or 15. He's been hanging around in my spirit court ever since.  It was based on a spell from the animated show Gargoyles (don't you judge me! I was a kid!) It requires a large mirror, a gold (colored) bell, a silver (colored) ring, some candles, a tree, the full moon, and a handful of white feathers.

Here's the spell as written in my first "Book of Shadows", dated 1993.

Around the edges of a large mirror, inscribe the magical characters.[gee, it would be cool if I'd written down WHAT magical characters, huh?  Stupid 14 year old me!  I wish I still had that mirror.] Lean the mirror against a tree at night, under a full moon.  

Light a white candle and a black one in front of the mirror.

Say: "Cum ascerat argentum, et aurum involare." [With a silver ring, strike a gold bell.] Tap the bell with the ring three times.

Blow a handful of feathers across the mirror, and say "postea Puck ad speculum Titania penetrare." [and then Puck will penetrate the mirror of Titania.]

On the show, Puck actually steps through the mirror, as if it were a portal. I didn't get that, but I did get a noticeable image, although fleeting. It was my first dark mirror conjuration (although I didn't know that name yet). Puck appeared as a late teen or early twenties (older than me - I am 14 in this story) young man, with very pale blond hair.  He wore a neon green Tshirt with a monkey on it, and a long black leather coat. He had small faun horns curled behind his ears. He seemed utterly delighted to have been summoned, although I lost my focus and it shimmered out almost right away.