Babylonian-Style Demon-Traps

An ancient charm to protect a home, in two versions.  You can learn more about them at this exhibit at the University of Michigan, or this excellent academic conference website.   This book is also good, but requires some background in near eastern history.

Version One: Emergency
You will need:
2 paper or styrofoam bowls. 
an egg
a sharpie marker
a sterilized needle
a stapler

Take two paper bowls, and draw a demon trap of some kind.  This can be a pentagram or a labyrinth to "trap" the spirit.  Even better, write an incantation spiraling in towards a picture of a demon in chains) on the bottom of each bowl.)

Pray over the bowl, asking that G-d (or whoever you turn to) trap all evil spirits within the bowl. Take an whole egg, prick your finger and drip one drop of your own blood on the shell (as bait) and put it in one bowl. 

Put the other bowl upside down on top and staple them together. 

Hide the whole thing under your bed or in the closet or something (because that's where monsters live, obviously!).  If the trouble is localized, put it near the epicenter of the disturbances, but somewhere a little out of sight.

After three days, take the whole thing outside (DO NOT OPEN IT) and burn, bury, or otherwise dispose of it. If you have been tending a sacred spot, bury it there, and ask the land to neutralize it.

If you can't burn or bury it, put it in a plastic ziplock bag, pour a whole canister of salt in after it, seal the bag closed, and go put it in metal dumpster (ideally one far away from your house)


Version Two: Permanent

You will need:
A wooden salad bowl
sandpaper, various grits (80, 150, 240, 600)
salt
water
beeswax
Holy anointing oil (or Abramelin oil "watered down" with olive oil.)
a clean tin can
a mid-size pot
a rock
A "sharpie pro" marker
A woodburner (optional)
candles

Before beginning, wash the bowl well with soap and water, and then scrub it out with salt, and give it a final rinse.  Allow it to dry (ideally in direct sunlight).

Once it's dry, over the course of several days sand the bowl until it is the smoothest thing you have ever touched.  While sanding, always sand in towards the center (ie, up the outsides and down the insides).  Imagine the bowl to be animate, to have a personality.  It loves you, and you love it.  It will protect you, be a strong guardian over you and your home.  I'm not playing.  Love the bowl.  Talk to it, or, even better, sing to it.  Don't sand for longer than you can keep the feeling up, it's ok to do it in several sessions.

Design a demon trapping design to go inside your bowl.  Good choices are pentagrams, labyrinths, circles of holy names, or illustrations of demons bound in chains.  You can also write an incantation in a spiral around the inside.  Check out the link above for lots of inspirational pictures.

After you are done sanding, wash the bowl in water, and allow it to dry.

Put some beeswax in the tin can, and set a pot of water to boil.  Put the tin can in the boiling water, until the wax is melted.  Take it off the heat and slowly mix in oil.  You want to mix in 2-3 times as much oil as wax.  Let it cool, and you should have a thick cream.

Carefully pencil your design onto the bowl; spend some time to get it just the way you like it.  When you are happy with it, ink it in with the sharpie marker or burn it in with the wood burner.  Having done both, I like the ink better, because it makes a much clearer line.   Talk to your bowl, explain what you're doing.  Express your gratitude for its work protecting you.

Light two white candles, and ask G-d (or whoever/whatever) to empower the bowl as a creature of earth, a strong protective, and divine shield over you, your home, and your family.

Slowly rub your cream into the bowl, thanking it profusely and proclaiming your love.  The ink will bleed a little.  That's ok.

Place the bowl, open side down, in the corner of whatever room has the front door in it.

Extremely Easy Arroz con Pollo recipe

By request, this is my super easy weeknight arroz con pollo recipe.

This is my favorite pan.  My dad welded the handle back on for me when it broke.
I am appropriately embarrassed about the super dirty stove.

You will need:

• 1 large pan that can go in the oven.  This is MUCH better in cast iron.  The rice crisps up along the edges and turns brown.  Yum!
• 1 "family size" bag yellow rice.  I like Vigo brand.   OR about 2 cups dry rice + seasoning
• some pieces of chicken, thighs or leg quarters are best
• 1 bag frozen peas (I like a lot of peas, you can use less if you want) Whatever other veggies you have on hand.  I like onions, carrots, zuchini, and tomatoes in mine.
• Goya "Sazon" spice mix or a mix of salt, pepper, garlic, dried onion, coriander, cumin, oregano, and paprika.  However much you think you need, ue twice that amount.
• about 1/2 cup green "salad" olives.  chopped up.  with or without pimentoes is fine.  (you can leave out the olives, if you are Philistine)
• about 1/2 cup raisins (or dates or dried cranberries.  dried or fresh apples are good. or you can leave the fruit out)
• about 3-4 cups water

This reheats really well, so I always make a whole pan full, even when I'm by myself.  

• Set oven to about 330 degrees.
• Pour the rice into the pan.  Push it around into smooth layer.  Be sure to break up the seasoning clumps.
• Add olives, raisins, and non-frozen vegetables. 
• Pour the frozen vegetables on top of the rice.  Try to cover it completely.
• Place the chicken pieces on top of the peas.  Try to cover as much surface area as possible.
• Pour in water until the rice is barely covered.  The more area not covered by chicken, the more water you will need.
• Put seasoning on top of chicken.  Use more than you think you need.
• Put everything in the oven.
• Check after 40 minutes.  Is skin crispy?  Is chicken done?  Add more water if rice is dried out.
• Wait until the chicken and rice are done (about an hour total depending on the size of the chicken pieces, the mass of the pan, the heat of the oven, how much water, etc...  It's very forgiving.
• Take out of oven (turn off oven).  Remove chicken and put on a plate.
• Stir to distribute everything evenly.  The rice on top will be sick and pale with grief.  The rice on the bottom will be reddish gold and delicious.  Mix that shit up.
• Replace the chicken and take a photo to show it off!  (optional) So pretty!
• Devour.

Ereshkigal

This post just collects up a bunch of links to my Ereskigal work, because someone asked about it.  If you're not familiar with the work, you should read

• First appearance
• Notes from Jason Miller
• Audio to induce a journey to Ereshkigal's Throne  WARNING:  This is NOT a "guided meditation".  Experienced trance workers only.
• transcript of Ereshkigal work
• a recipe for Ereshkigal incense She taught me:  mullein, fennugreek, copal (update: for extra oomph, add a few drops of blood, and a tiny bit of dittany of crete)
• a dream
• another travel log:  
• "The seventh gate, the river beneath the earth, where souls are purified before birth, where souls are purified after death. The seventh gate is the throne of Ereshkigal, The Valley Spirit, Never Dying, Mystery. Woman. The Root of Heaven and Earth. Forever Endring. The Infinite Well of Souls. We cross through this seventh gate, cross the sacred river below, many times, life upon life, an eternal cycle of being, the infinite ocean of from which we came and which we return. To cross it and remember, to cross it while yet living, makes one a wizard. And yet, the way back is barred. The iron door is closed. There is no way out but through. The cold dark depths, underwater life, the river of souls.  I think now that Ereshkigal, the Black Goddess, is the great Womb through which all pass between lives. That Ereshkigal’s Womb is where you are between lives. I don’t quite know how to explain it better than that yet, but I will soon. If not before, I think I will grok it at Solstice, when Ereshkigal births the new year’s Sun.
• Side note: Last week, when I first started with Ereshkigal, she told me that this was my first human life, but I wasn’t sure what she meant (and I’m still not. Can that be literally true? I guess one of them has to come first, but it seems weird that it be this one. I mean, it feels a little bit like being told “Well aren’t you a precious special snowflake!”)"
• a dream (much of which has now come to pass, but I can't really explain how/why yet)
• the wheel turns

The Nistarim

A Jewish legend for you:

It is said, that, among the people, there are thirty six in each generation who are called to greet the Shekhinah, to look on the light of the Holy ONE, hand to hand, face to face, eye to eye.  It is said the whole world was created for them, is being created, moment by moment maintained, for them.  Thirty six, in all the world, see him as though in a bright mirror, another 18,000 have clouded vision. The messiah, they say, will arise from these ranks, when one day they are called.  

They say that, if ever there are less than 36, the world will cease to be.  That if one of these 36 people turn down the mantle; if one of these 36 dies without passing on his legacy, then the world will come to an end.  

And maybe that's the way it should be. Because what kind of a horrible world rests on 36 shoulders? What kind of a horrible G-d hides his face from billions, lets them starve and freeze and rot and die alone and afraid, but makes chit-chat with thirty six of his bros. What the actual fuck, World? Maybe the world ought to come to an end. Maybe it's been enough. Maybe it's time for a student strike at the Invisible College. Better to rule in Hell, right?

and yet...

What kind of Satanist am I if I turn down power, right? When offered a weapon I can wield for my people, is the right thing to do to cast it into the mountain because I don't like the guy who made it? The first thing I teach to kabbalah students is that "כֶּתֶר" doesn't mean King, it means Crown; am I really going to let the crown lie in the gutter? Paris vaut bien une messe, am I right?  Maybe what the Invisible College needs isn't a strike, it's a couple of MOOCs?  If even tantra is going to get jailbroke these days, maybe it's time to jailbreak some real kabbalah, for us all to admit that Shekhina is a Red Goddess, and not a white one.  But in order to jailbreak, you've got to go to jail first, right?

I recently had a dream of Kurukulla, a Tibetan witch-goddess about whom I know almost nothing, but was introduced to by Jason Miller in early October.  In the dream, she told me that she works with two hands; one to empower and one to liberate.  "Work with both hands" is a phrase I know from ATR magical practice, where it means, essentially, someone who works both "white" and "black" magic, to be interested in the elevation of the soul AND in "getting laid and getting paid".  Someone who is in the world, of the world, and also works to transcend the world.  Here's the thing tho, Kurukulla has more that two hands.  I think, perhaps, that's the secret.  Finding the work of the other two hands.

Asulzaz

Remember the one-eyed mammoth I was working with last year?  This post is just a place to put all the pictures and links, etc that have to do with him, in case anyone else wants to try working with him.  One thing I'm noticing reading back over these posts is HOW MUCH BETTER I am than I was when I started this work.  Better at sinking into trance, better at accurate mediumship, especially better at energy work, just a better all-around magician.  Sometimes it's hard to see progress when you're in the middle of it; its so gradual you just don't notice.

I havn't posted everything here; just the "most interesting" bits.  If you want EVERYTHING, go troll through the archives at Magical30.com

My first sketch (sorry it's sideways):

Brian's first sketch

Second Sketch

Final Sketch

AUDIO
Hypnotic Induction
Guided Journey
Me on Deeper Down the Rabbit Hole, talking about this work.  I start talking around minute 25, but I think you should listen to the whole thing.


The 30 Day Posts:
Alien Ganesh Research, Part 1
More Research
Travel Log #1
Dream Log #1
A name?  Aziz al Aziz
Dream Log #2
Uh oh!  my head almost exploded.
How Am I Doing This?
Dream Log #3  Includes the phrase "oh well, if magic were safe and easy, everyone would do it".  WTF, me?
A Secret, A Secret!
Oh, Simon!  Why are you so awesome?!?  Here's my friend Simon's blog.
ChaChing!  (the book it fell out of was Jason Miller's Financial Sorcery)
Quick Cash petition how to
Journey #2 transcript  This is the invocation of Solomon that's mentioned.
The PLAN for the Work
The Beginning Invocation script
Day 1, Audio Induction, Guided Journey
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 9
Day 12  A god who is afraid he will be forgotten!  D'aw!
Odin?  Is that you, you old dog?
Wait?  I thought kundalini was supposed to feel good?!?
A hut made out of bones
Journey Log
Calendar
Sigh.  Grief.  It's weird.
What's a wheat maze?
Crystal Cave
The End?

Review: Alchemy Works incenses

I just got a shipment of incense from Alchemy Works, and now I'm stuck in front of my computer waiting to hear from someone, so I figured I might as well tell you guys all about it.  The first thing I have to mention; it took a long time to ship my order.  When it hadn't shipped after two weeks, I had to email them to ask about it.  I was informed that they'd run out of a certain supply, and ordered more.  All in all, it took about a month to get my order.  They were very nice about it, and offered me a refund if I didn't want to wait, so no harm done.  Once the package arrived, I was very pleased to discover how lovely the packaging is.  The loose incenses came packed in very nice stacking metal tins that I will definitely be saving to reuse.  The ambergris wax comes in a small glass jar.  The amber resin is in wax paper envelopes, which is fine, but I would have preferred something resealable.  They also sent me three free sample vials of oils with my order.

The site has very good descriptions; check out the links.

I ordered:
2 oz of amber resin
1 oz Edfu Kyphi
1 oz faux Ambergris
1 oz vegetal Musk incense
1 oz solid waxy ambergris

I also got free samples of three oils
Hecate the Saffron Cloaked (I wish this had come Friday!)
Flame: the Elemental Fire
Sacred Madjet


Of everything I got, the kyphi is the winner.  It's lovely and rich, sticky and stanky and delicious.  It's a very electric, airy, sort of a scent; powerfully mercurial without being spicy.  It's the sweetest smelling kyphi I've ever had.  I think the best word for its smell is languid.  I am looking forward to scrying with it.  It pops and hisses a lot as it burns, which I like, and makes big clouds of smoke (because it's so sticky and wet)  I will certainly be ordering more of this.  I want to roll around in it.  I'm seriously considering trying to compound a perfume oil out of it so I can just smell like this all the time.

The waxy ambergris is also very nice.  It's slightly more feminine and a little sweeter than I was expecting, but it's very, very pleasant smelling.  In fact, it rated a: "Miss Mastros, I know this is kind of a weird thing to say, but you smell really nice today" from a student.  It's much harder than I was expecting also; it's not a pomade, it's the texture of straight beeswax.  I'm going to warm it and blend it with some oil later to make it more of a cream.  (but, this is a good thing; because it's so much more concentrated than I was expecting, it's really quite cheap for the amount/quality)

The ambergris incense smells very similar to the waxy solid, but slightly less floral.  I haven't burned it yet, so I don't know how it smells smoking.  I got it for Babalon working, and I think it's going to be great for that.

The vegetarian musk is lovely, deep and smooth and sexy.  I bought it to use in Baphomet work, and it's perfect; earthy and cthonic with a touch of intense sex-anger-fear.  I might add some mugwort to it for Baphomet, to give it a touch of a moldering forest vibe.

The amber resin is not of especially good quality (although neither is it particularly bad), but it was very cheap for the quantity.  It will be good for incense, but I don't think I will use it for compounding oils or potions.  However, at $4.50 an ounce, it's very good.

Sacred Madjet is not a thing I've ever worked with (or heard of) before.  I don't especially care for the scent; it's very piney-smelling.  Based solely on the scent, I think it would be good for healing or clarifying magic.  The website compares its scent to Abramelin, but I don't really get that at all.  It's a much younger/fresher/greener scent.  I imagine a spirit who likes this smell is a very competent healer, but perhaps not the best bedside manner.

The Flame: Elemental Fire oil is very pleasant smelling, like mulling spices and orange liquor.  If this were a cocktail, I would definitely drink it.  It smells like a very high quality, all natural version of the "Christmas Home" potpourri Michael's Craft Stores reek of.  It's quite nice, but the fire it evokes is more "cozy crackling fireplace" and less "raging bonfire of passion" than I would expect from the name.

The Hecate oil is weird; not at all what I imagined it would smell like.  I'm honestly conflicted about whether I like it or not.  Certainly, I wouldn't wear it as a perfume, but it's not at all unpleasant smelling.  Hekate seems to like it quite a lot, and I suppose that's what matters.  I've put it on her altar.

The oils seems very high quality and well-made; I will probably be ordering oils from them in the future.

What I DID for Halloween

As promised, here's what I actually did (as opposed to what I said I'd do).

Friday evening, we set a dumb supper, which went very well.  The ancestors were in attendance.

After that, I retreated to my bedroom and did some journeying.  It went very well, and included teachings from Eagle, Owl, Rabbit, Bear, and the Great Lion of Chauvet.

Saturday I made the Inanna Descent and worked with Hekate and Ereshkigal in the Underworld, renewing my bonds with them.  That was exhausting, but great.  I got some cool gifts, but I'm not allowed to talk about them yet.

Saturday night, I had a dream of Kurukulla, the Tibetan Witch Goddess, wherein she told me that she too "works with both hands", one hand to Empower and one to Liberate.  Then she danced on my head, which was awesome.

Today, I worked with some other people in the Strategic Sorcery group to make this mantra recording.  Then I opened the Pylons of the Hallows of Hekate (which I learned from Jason Miller, but it's a secret).
 Here's pictures of the altar from that, including the sketch I made of the vision of three-faced Hekate I had with the Pylons open. (sorry I'm not a great drawer).

I consecrated 7 skeleton keys on red silk ribbons.  If you want one, email me.

And now I'm off to bed.