#agathos daimon

Agathos daimon (good spirit) 🐍

You typically offer him unmixed win after meals or on the second of the lunar month as libation for protection etc.

🜂 In quiet adoration, the Believers chant: "Thus, the remedy is twinned, as ever—Hand to steady, Heart to soften—lest the river rise again in the mind." ✶

so I live with my parents, and they don't know about my religious practise and are highly atheistic, so it is difficult for me to honour the hosehold gods because I cannot set up an altar for them in our living room or the kitchen. But we always have a candle on our dinner table, that we light when we eat. So I got the idea that I could use that candle to represent the hearth in our home. And now it is dedicated to Lady Hestia, Lord Zeus Ktesios and the Agathos Daimon. Maybe this idea could be inspiring to any helpol out there who's living in a similar situation like mine.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Hello Anonnie!

To keep it brief, Agathos Daimon is both an individual daimon (Agathodaemon) and a type of spirit - the Agathoi Daimones, plural. It's very similar to Eros and the Erotes.

There's a lot of confusion about Agathos Daimon and the Agathos Daimones, which makes the conversation a bit difficult. Simply put, the Agathoi Daimones are not a reflection of the house itself, but rather the embodiment of the lived experiences of the household. It's my opinion that no two houses or households will have the same Agathos Daimon, and it's not necessarily a reflection of the state of the structure itself.

1) Cleansing

This doesn't just have to be spiritual. It's a great time to clean your alter and home. Save the sweepings and make a point of throwing them out to symbolise getting rid of the old month in transition to the new.

2) Offerings

Traditional Offerings include raw eggs (+shell), leeks, onions, garlic, bread, and cakes as well as libations and honey. You can leave these offerings on your personal alter or at a 3 way crossroads for Hekate and the restless dead (make sure these offerings are animal safe if you leave them outside as garlic and onions can be poisonous to some animals). When you leave the offerings, say nothing, turn, and don't look back as you return home. The dead don't like to be seen.

3) Charity

Often left our offerings would be eaten by the poor/ less fortunate so now is a good time to give back. Donate to charity, or a food bank. Sponsor a person in need or make a 1 time donation. It's a time for humility and giving.

4) Reflection and shadow work

Serpents are one of the most common symbols in occultism, and they mean all kinds of things in different contexts. In alchemy, the serpent represents the dual nature of Mercurius, the active agent of the alchemical process, as well as the process itself. A snake is slippery and elusive, like Mercury, making it volatile. It is a creature of the earth that comes out of the earth, like the matter of the Philosopher’s Stone, making it fixed. Its venom can dissolve things like the acids that are used in alchemical reactions. Therefore, in most of its incarnations, it represents primordial matter, creation and destruction, and the achievements and dangers of the Great Work.

Ouroboros

An ancient symbol of a snake eating its own tail, representing eternity, primordial chaos, and the cyclical process of alchemy. It also appears in a variety of ancient magical contexts, such as in the Greek Magical Papyri and inscribed on amulets called “Abrasax stones.” The earliest depictions of it are from Ancient Egypt.

“It had the beginning, it does not have the end.” From “Paradoxa Emblemata” by Dionysius Andreas Freher

In a more philosophical context, the ouroboros represents the unity of the spiritual world and the all-encompassing nature of the divine, as described in the Emerald Tablet: “And as all things have been and arose from one by the mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.” All things come from the Divine, and all things return to it, so it endlessly creates and consumes itself. The serpent also sheds its skin, endlessly renewing and rebirthing itself. (In my recent Red Book post, I talked about the “looping effect” that’s often present in mystical storytelling and philosophy. The ouroboros is a symbol of that.)

Ouroboros from the works of the third-century alchemist Cleopatra, with the words “All is One.”

In magical contexts, the Ouroboros is often used in protective contexts. This image of an ouroboros comes from a “phylactery,” a protective spell to be worn on one’s person as a guard against evil spirits.

Caduceus

The caduceus is the staff of the god Hermes. It’s technically a herald’s staff, but it has two snakes entwined around it and (sometimes) wings at the top. It represents Hermes’ profession as the messenger of the gods, and his rule over travel, commerce, and communication. It also represents the unification of duality, and complimentary opposing forces. One myth about the origin of the caduceus says that Hermes placed his staff between two serpens that were fighting, and they instantly twined around it, becoming friends. So, it also represents peace and resolution.

From “The Book of Hieroglyphical Figures,” attributed to Nicholas Flamel

Hermes/Mercurius was adopted by alchemists as a symbol of the Great Work, so the caduceus came to be an alchemical symbol. It represents the Chemical Wedding, the union of the dual forces of Sun and Moon/Male and Female/Sulphur and Mercury. The caduceus also resembles a double helix, the shape of a DNA molecule, which gives it some modern associations with the origin of life and the nature of self.

From "The Hermetical Triumph

The caduceus is not actually a symbol of medicine. When it’s used as a medical symbol, it’s actually being confused with the Rod of Asclepius, which has only one snake and no wings. Asclepius’ staff has a serpent because, in Greek lore, snakes know all the secrets of the earth, and can teach humans about medicine.

Crucified Serpent

An alchemical symbol attributed to Nicholas Flamel, the Crucified Serpent represents the fixation of the volatile. It’s similar to the Caduceus in that it represents the union of opposing forces — in this case, the mercurial, volatile serpent is physically nailed down. The four arms of the cross represent the four elements (with Quintessence in the center, or the crown on top). In that sense, the symbol represents the completion of the Opus. But it’s a little more violent than other symbols of this type.

From “The Book of Hieroglyphical Figures,” attributed to Nicholas Flamel

Obviously, any image of crucifixion is inherently Christian iconography, and is loaded with all the relevant associations. The serpent’s crucifixion results in the death and mortification of its body, which is necessary for the Philosopher’s Stone to be reborn. The serpent is sacrificed for the sake of the creation of the Stone. This image is also a reference to a part in the Bible (Numbers 21:8–9) where Moses nails a bronze serpent to a pole, so that anyone who looks at it will be healed. (That’s so obviously a syncretic image of the Rod of Asclepius, come on!) So, the crucified serpent also represents the healing power of the Philosopher’s Stone.

This is the symbol that Edward Elric has on the back of his coat:

Dragon

In alchemy, the dragon has most of the same associations as the serpent, but with some additional layers. Its blood or venom is “mercurial water” or alkahest, the universal solvent that can reduce anything to base matter.

Art from a Ripley Scroll, Mellon MS 41. Photo by me.

The dragon can also represent sulfur because of its fiery breath. In that case, it also represents the “secret fire” that can transmute any matter. Two dragons fighting can represent the more violent version of the Chemical Wedding (in which case, one will have wings and the other will not.) Sometimes you also have multi-headed dragons; the dragon’s three heads can represent the three stages of the Great Work (black, white, red), or the three Paracelsian principles of Salt, Mercury, and Sulfur.

Multi-headed dragon from the Splendor Solis, Mellon MS 86. Photo by me.

Multi-headed dragon from "Clavis Artis"

In short, the dragon is an all-purpose symbol that can represent almost any part of the Great Work.

Agathos Daimon

This one is a little more specific to Ancient Greek religion. Snakes are sacred to a bunch of different Greek gods: Asclepius, Demeter, Dionysus, Athena, Ares, Hekate, Hermes, even Zeus on occasion. But more specifically, the serpent is the preferred form of an entity called the Agathos Daimon, which simply means “Good Spirit.” He is a household god who protects homes and families and bestows luck and abundance. It was customary to pour out a libation to him after a meal, like saying grace. He was sometimes identified with Zeus Meilichios, the chthonic aspect of Zeus (who also appears in serpentine form). He is addressed or invoked throughout the Greek Magical Papyri, sometimes on his own, and sometimes as an epithet for other gods like Helios and Osiris.