This essay is a meditation stemming from visits to three shops in San Francisco, all of which provide items and services that can be utilized in spiritual systems, especially in alternative and non-mainstream beliefs. The three stores include a botánica (Tres Niñas Blancas in the Mission), an importer (The African Outlet in the Bayview), and… Read more »
Category: Ritual and Practice
The art and practice of ritual magic and ceremonial magic.
A sigil is but a word in a language so complex that it defies the boundaries of dictionary or thesaurus, a language so universal it relies on emotion and intuition, instead of equation. A sigil is an idea, more than it is a sentence. It is a wish and it is a command, but it… Read more »
The Picatrix Decans cards were created for a couple of different purposes, one of which is to act as physical talismans, empowered as phylacteries or charms to be carried or placed to exude magical effects. There are a multitude of potential procedures to activate and empower the talismans. Every practitioner has their own way of… Read more »
The Western esoteric tradition has been steeped in the influences of the seven classical planets perhaps since its very inception. In fact, the planets’ influence stretches beyond the esoteric to pervade everyday life, showing up everywhere from from the archetypes they present to the very names of the days of the weeks. Given the saturation… Read more »
Thaumaturgy and theurgy are old concepts in the Western mystery tradition, and they find new relevance and importance for today’s magicians, occultists, and practitioners. Though they are sometimes treated as competing ideas or even opposites, their definitions aren’t as cut-and-dried as you might hope. In this article, we will briefly explore these two concepts, where… Read more »
The work of a magician is imaginal, taking place in a realm of phantasy and imagination. The Astral Temple is one of the core works of the magician. It is akin to a spiritual home base, a palace of memory, and an ever-present ritual space enabling the practitioner to perform ritual without physical tools and… Read more »
The magician in his robe is a timeless image. From ancient wizards like Merlin to medieval conjurers, all the way up to modern depictions such as Gandalf and Harry Potter, the robe is the magician’s expected uniform. Even various schools and traditions of modern occult study emphasize the importance of wearing a robe. It is… Read more »
It’s the beginning of December, and in the Pacific Northwest, that means it gets dark really early and the Sun rises late. We have a lot of darkness this time of the year, and in Portland we make up for that darkness by celebrating a lot. My family isn’t religious, but we still celebrate Christmas… Read more »
When a person gets involved in ritual magic, they probably aren’t prepared for the amount of artwork they need to create. Wands, altars, and magical tools and weapons all need to be created, typically by hand.
Lately I’ve been trying out some dream magic from the Greek Magical Papyri (PGM). The PGM is a collection of Greco-Egyptian texts from northern Egypt in late antiquity, dating from 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE. They describe a staggering array of ancient religious and magical practices, and were originally written in Greek,… Read more »
The Arnemancy Podcast
