{"id":269,"date":"2012-02-26T17:54:27","date_gmt":"2012-02-26T23:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journeythroughtheobsidiandream.wordpress.com\/?p=269"},"modified":"2012-02-26T17:54:27","modified_gmt":"2012-02-26T23:54:27","slug":"my-name-is-a-heart-encircled-by-a-serpent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journeythroughtheobsidiandream.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/26\/my-name-is-a-heart-encircled-by-a-serpent\/","title":{"rendered":"My Name Is A Heart Encircled By A Serpent"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have now performed the rite of the Stele of Jeu the Hieroglyphist three times as a part of my lunar rites.\u00a0 It has been, without question, one of the most powerful magical operations I have ever performed.<\/p>\n

The first time, at the last Dark Moon, the sheer power of it got me so high that I forgot to take down my circle; I had strange visions and nightmares that night, and when I did to Yoga the next day, I walked out feeling like a god.<\/p>\n

The second time, at the Full Moon, was less dramatic; I was high, but not disorientingly so, and I could feel the magic moving out into my Web of Influence.\u00a0 Although there may have been other factors\u2014stress from too heavy a course-load, conflicts with a professor, and a sorting out some issues with my lover, among other things\u2014I hardly got one good night of rest out of three for the next two weeks.\u00a0 My patience with any sort of bullshit vanished altogether, and my temper was entirely out of control.\u00a0 These symptoms faded over the early-semester break, but did not disappear entirely until the next Dark Moon, when I performed the ritual again.<\/p>\n

The third time, again at the Dark of the Moon, was less dramatic still.\u00a0 I think I need to linger more over the voces magicae<\/em> and Barbarous Words.\u00a0 My patience has returned, some, and my temper faded; more importantly, though, my will to act has been charged.<\/p>\n

Though I feel that the results so far have been extremely positive\u2014excepting the insomnia, which may or may not be related\u2014I am still struggling to understand the precise affects of the ritual.\u00a0 Jack Faust argues<\/a>\u2014and convincingly\u2014that it is somehow related to the \u1f00\u03b3\u03b1\u03b8\u03cc\u03c2 \u03b4\u03b1\u03af\u03bc\u03c9\u03bd (agathos daimon)<\/em>.\u00a0 Crowley\u2019s Liber Semekh was derived from a less complete version of this ritual, known as the London Papyrus 46(1), thus linking it to the tradition of modern Western Ceremonial Magic and the pursuit of Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.<\/p>\n

The ritual, which reads as an exorcism of sorts\u2014\u201c\u2026deliver him, ____, from the daimon which restrains him\u2026\u201d(2)\u2014is thick with interesting syncretism.\u00a0 The magician identifies himself as Moses, and with the line of the prophets of Israel.\u00a0 He also identifies himself a the \u201cMessenger of the Pharaoh Osoronnophris (a cult-name for Osiris).\u00a0 Osoronnophris and IAO (a Graeco-Egyptian name for YHVH) are both evoked (or perhaps invoked), and the ritual culminates with a particularly interesting and graphic image and imperative: \u201cMy name is a heart encircled by a serpent, come forth and follow.\u201d(3)<\/p>\n

Now, bear with me a moment as I seem to change subjects:<\/p>\n

Over the last several weeks, I have also been using a variation of DuQuette\u2019s Ganesha banishing\/invocation to start my day and to open my rites.\u00a0 Not feeling sufficient personal resonance with Ganesha, however, I have substituted a deity that I can subsume myself in utterly: Eros the Elder<\/a>.\u00a0 When I perform this banishing\/invocation, it gets me high.\u00a0 Really, really high, actually.\u00a0 And the sensation is interestingly similar to what I\u2019ve felt while performing the rite of the Stele of Jeu.\u00a0 And, if you didn\u2019t follow that link I just gave you, you missed this image:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A heart encircled by a serpent, perhaps?<\/p>\n

Now, before anyone jumps me: I\u2019m not drawing any conclusions.\u00a0 Maybe I just don\u2019t have enough experience invoking transcendent powers to tell them apart in the heat of the moment.\u00a0 (The temptation to make a sexual analogy here is almost overwhelming.)\u00a0 But it\u2019s interesting, and I\u2019d love to hear thoughts from anyone else who\u2019s tried either ritual.<\/p>\n

Regardless, things in my life are already starting to move around.\u00a0 I can\u2019t see the effects, yet, but I can feel them.\u00a0 Temper, patience, and will to act as noted above.\u00a0 More people going out of their way to get my attention\u2014both people I already knew and people I\u2019ve never even seen, let alone spoken to.\u00a0 And some really, really strange and interesting things are starting to happen to my aura, which deserve a post all their own.<\/p>\n

Further details as they come.<\/p>\n

\n

1\u2014As described by Hymanaeus Beta in his foreword and footnotes to the Illustrated Second Edition of The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the<\/em> King<\/em>. Weiser: York Beach Main (1995).<\/p>\n

2\u2014Betz, Hans Dieter.\u00a0 The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation: Including the Demotic Spells.\u00a0 Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1986) PGM V.124-5.<\/p>\n

3\u2014Ibid. 155-6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have now performed the rite of the Stele of Jeu the Hieroglyphist three times as a part of my lunar rites.\u00a0 It has been, without question, one of the most powerful magical operations I have ever performed. The first time, at the last Dark Moon, the sheer power of it got me so high … Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[61,94,97,166,256],"class_list":["post-269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-witchcraft","tag-dark-moon","tag-gods","tag-greek-magical-papyri","tag-moon","tag-stele-of-jeu"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8kUcm-4l","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journeythroughtheobsidiandream.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journeythroughtheobsidiandream.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journeythroughtheobsidiandream.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journeythroughtheobsidiandream.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journeythroughtheobsidiandream.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/journeythroughtheobsidiandream.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journeythroughtheobsidiandream.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journeythroughtheobsidiandream.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journeythroughtheobsidiandream.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}