Gods, Angels and Demons
One important question in Practical Magic is the relationship between Free spirits and ministering spirits that belong to the same streams of Power.
Western magic made many attempts to resolve this question, but a significant obstacle was always the fear of polytheism instilled by Christianity, which prevented reconciling different powers without introducing the idea of gods. Medieval magicians coined many different terms — like “Genii”, “Olympian spirits”, etc. — to denote the Free spirits with which the practicing magician inevitably interacts.
In modern times, precisely as a result of similar attempts, the movement “Wicca” arose — sound at its core but, unfortunately, rather profaned in practice.
Nevertheless, when interacting with any force, especially Secondary Causation, it is essential for the magus to know who or what they deal with — with a force that is evolutionary, involutionary, or formative.
Among contemporary magicians, a common solution is to consider “demons” as simply distorted “gods” — for example, the Goetic Bael is traced back to the Sumero‑Akkadian Baal (Bel), and Astaroth (Ashtoreth) to Astarte (Ishtar). This view is not without justification, but it reduces spiritual development to a simplification of ancient ideas: allegedly, people first worshipped these Forces, and then demonized them under the influence of monotheism. If such an approach were valid, it certainly wouldn’t apply to Magic, since magicians should not begin from fear or scholasticism, but from their own experience; experience leads to different conclusions.
As noted above, any Force that actively influences the Cosmos has three aspects: 1) the Free, productive‑formative, which is embodied by a god; 2) the descending (yet evolutionary) aspect, which promotes materialization and the deepening of incarnation and is carried out by a ministering spirit — an angel; and 3) the ascending (but involutionary) aspect, which prevents ossification and stagnation and is realized by a demon.
In this context, it is understandable that Astaroth is indeed kin to Astarte, but not as being her distortion; rather, it expresses the same forces in a different aspect. The same applies to other demons of the Goetia and Ceremonial Magic: Bael is not Baal, and Beelzebub is not Baal‑Zebub, although their powers are related.
For example, the power of the Moon — passivity and receptivity — is expressed by lunar deities (for example, Nanna, Veles, Selene) in its synthetic aspect, has an involutionary aspect expressed by the angel Gabriel, and an ascending aspect embodied by demons (for example, Asmodeus).
This idea allows one to divide Magical approaches into Invocational (dealing with Free Spirits) and Evocational (interacting with “ministering” Forces).
Note another important point: all creative hierarchies of gods and the related governing spirits, by their nature, operate within a determinate reality — that is, they inhabit and rule worlds — whereas the hierarchies of vortex beings inhabit the Interworld, i.e., a potential reality; thus gods form and direct flows of energy, while angels and demons direct flows of possibilities.
Thus, for the magus, living within a real environment of interacting forces, it is crucial to avoid falling into stereotypes and to try to differentiate those forces, which will help one clearly recognize their character and scope of action.
It would be interesting to hear at least one true story about meeting spirits. All the information available on this topic is a retelling of one and the same, already somewhat tiresome plot. The only unclear thing is why the ‘mighty magicians’, being so close to the otherworldly, are as poor as church rats, living either off direct deception of gullible clients or on the money of ‘students’. Although, it would seem, it is much easier to ask a transcendent buddy about the access codes to bank accounts; for instance, demanding a bag of gold would be inconvenient. I once met the spirit of illness – a particularly rare type of malignant tumor affecting both lungs and the heart of a seventeen-year-old girl. In an altered state of consciousness, the pathology appeared as a giant tiger, and in the first ’round’ I fled in complete panic. However, the creature managed to claw my shoulder, which is equivalent to a death sentence, and I had to return… When the enemy is huge, one must manage to grow in size before being ripped to shreds and must never turn one’s back. Fortunately, everything worked out, and the teratoma ended up in my ‘warm’ embrace, where it froze with a broken neck. The girl recovered, which appeared as a miracle and they attributed it to successful chemotherapy))) And there was another case in my student years. A friend and I called someone (I don’t remember who anymore) via papyrus, he looked in the mirror, I read in Latin. Suddenly a scream, the sound of broken glass, and the pale, terrified face of the unfortunate seer contorted by horror and a choked voice saying, ‘there, there, there…’)) What ‘there’ was, I never learned because the happy owner of two university diplomas in the exact sciences becomes perplexed and tense-sad like a dog shitting under a bush on this question. But I am still terribly curious what is ‘there’??? What do these ‘goetic beings’ look like, what can they do, how aggressive and fearsome are they, etc.? Huh? In artistic form, without revealing terrible ritual secrets, could you share a little tale from an eyewitness? Please…)))
“Terrible ritual mysteries” are actually as obvious as day 🙂 Regarding the goetic spirits – I can share one of the most horrifying cases I had in my practice years ago – one manifestation of King Belial. Even though it was about 15 years ago, that experience remains one of the most challenging in my life. Generally, calling upon the Kings is a very complex task that requires great effort. I won’t dwell on how many attempts ended unsuccessfully. Nor will I discuss, following Crowley, the ages-old problem – whether the summoning occurs outside of consciousness or within it. But when suddenly the summoning worked – I realized that it would have been better if it had remained unrealized. I was well aware that Belial appears as “two beautiful angels.” Initially, there was no hostility from them: two initially murky figures appeared in the Triangle, gradually forming into two young men of completely ordinary human appearance. But the Lemegeton says nothing about these “two angels” penetrating directly into consciousness, and when they began to speak, it turned out they spoke simultaneously, quietly, insinuatingly, yet confidently, and completely differently. As a result, there was a state close to the disintegration of the being: one ear heard one voice speaking about angels and demons, whirlwinds and evolution, and consciousness followed it; in the other ear – the same whisper of the second “angel,” insisting on my personal life, also drawing consciousness. There was a feeling that my brain was about to split in two. Blood flowed from my nose, and I was almost unconscious when, by some miracle, I mumbled the exorcising spell. It took me a whole day to recover – I conducted all summonings on weekends, so Sunday would be my “recovery day.” Compared to this experience, other manifestations – for example, Bime, who appeared in the form of a dragon that seemed to occupy the entire house and yard – seemed like child’s play.
You encounter spirits every blessed day, even every hour and every moment. Spirit in Latin sounds as animus – spirit, rational beginning, thought, personality. The opposite concept to spirit is soul, in Latin anima – breath, life, blood, being. In essence, Spirit and Soul are content and form. Regarding such concepts as angels and demons, they are also two opposites. Angels (angelus) represent the male principle – light, message, messenger (angelicus – swift); demons (daemon) – the female, muse, spirit of genius, derived from the Latin genius. Demons are the Muses of Inspiration. Interesting, isn’t it?! – if you know the exact true translation of the distorted concepts invented by the Jews, the picture of the world becomes entirely different. Diabolus, for example, is reason: dia – to separate; bolus – part. Reason: ras – to separate; sudok – essence. To reason is to separate the unified essence into two opposites – this is the meaning of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; tasting the fruit of it is gaining the ability to reason and become equal to God. Tasting the fruit from the Tree of Life is learning to merge the two opposites back into a single essence: good and evil, light and darkness, death and life – are one essence, not two. The devil divides – Reason unites. Sincerely, Leonard.
RZ writes, “…The only thing that remains unclear is why the ‘mighty magicians,’ being so close to the beyond, are as poor as church mice and live either by directly deceiving naive clients or by relying on the money of their ‘students.’ Although, it seems much simpler to ask a supernatural buddy for the access codes to bank accounts, rather than awkwardly demanding a bag of gold, for example.”
I completely agree; it’s a relevant question. Why do modern magicians and those who aspire to be like them live on the brink of poverty? Perhaps Enmerkar knows? I have no desire to deceive people and gather students… meanwhile, the lack of funds forces me to go to fields and plantations, stealing fruits and vegetables (which isn’t the worst solution)…
rz, on what logic do you think that some spirit or entity will give away a bag of gold for nothing? And how to manifest this bag if this spirit is in another world? I’ll give you a hint – the resources needed are far more than the worth of this bag of gold. The right approach is to change one’s own consciousness through magic and finally start earning on one’s own, but not through magic.
Hmm… Were there no attempts to make these guys ‘stars’ of the video?
2rz – if they speak directly into consciousness, then they can presumably also be ‘seen’ there 🙂
2Enmerkar: what place do the Kings of the Elements occupy in the above-described scheme?
The Kings of the elements are both free spirits – gods of the Elements, and elementals – they are generally not considered spirits as they manifest only in two planes.
angel – En – d – jale – walking the path of light
demon – De – mos – being in shadow
Satana- set-ana – Set inside.
demon Set guards the Disk of chaos at the request of the Creator.
Thank you!