that miracle magick

This is my own personal correspondence table for the use of alcohol in magick. It may not match your own usage of alcohol, but if you like anything you see, feel free to adopt it. Some of this is based in what the alcohol is made from, some on its history, and some of this is based in personal experience or associations. This is not about alcohol as an offering, but the usage of it as a spell component. The list is in no way exhaustive and does not include mixed drinks or brands. Just your basics.

Distilled Spirits

Absinthe: (Air) Useful in protection work. It is especially useful for safe astral travel. Using it to draw sigils for safe travels on one’s body before leaving it can keep away nasties in the meantime.

Gin: (Earth) Useful in spells promoting good health and is good as a binding ingredient for other alcohols’ properties. It can also be a good to use if the caster of the spell lives in poverty and this is pertinent to the spell in some way.

Rum: (Water) Useful in money spells or spells for gaining other material possessions. Rum can be especially useful in a spell involving an underhanded motive or intention, especially if the results leave you with more as a side effect of the spell’s main goal.

Tequila: (Fire) Tequila is all about timing. Perfect, exact timing. It can be used in spells involving punctuality, appointments, or decision making. It can be used when something has to be done just right, as well. Never use it for something involving the past or anything about the future. Tequila is always for the present, and in this moment, as they come issues.

Vodka: (Fire and Water) Good for strength and courage. Lifting yourself up by the bootstraps and carrying on with what needs to be done no matter how hard it is or how tired you are. Can be used in spells involving getting through difficult times, motivation, pushing forward, finishing projects. Shit’s gotta get done? Vodka.

Whiskey: (Water) Whiskey can be used in spells to promote change, usually when change is unwanted by someone else. It helps bypass interference and bring the change about in ways that which opposes it does not immediately notice.

Brandy: (Earth) Brandy can be used in love spells, especially those for preserving pre-existing love. It can also be used for attracting a long-lasting love as opposed to a fling.

Fermented Beverages

Beer: (Earth) Beer is used in spells involving the home, family, and the past. It can also be used in spells involving practicality vs desire.

Cider: (Earth) Cider is used in spells for harvesting what you’ve already planted. It helps ensure that the things you’re working towards are successful and your effort is not wasted. But you must put in the effort.

Wine: (Earth and Air) Wine can be used in spells for health, stress relief, and blessings. It can also be used for spells involving standing on your own and independence.

Mead: (Air) Mead can be used for spells involving inspiration, study, education, scholarly pursuits, the arts, and oratory issues. It can also be used to sweeten the temper of yourself or someone else.

The fact that my "vibe" or what have you has changed so much that I can't enjoy things I used to love without physical pain, sucks.

I used to love a nice buzz on the rare occasion I saw friends, but now I get literal stabbing pain in my stomach after I drink alcohol and get physically ill for the next 2 days. Off of just one drink!!!

Fried food? Sugar?? More stabbing pain, insane headaches, and vomiting. Dairy and white starch are no better.

Dude. That means bread, burgers, fries, desserts, margaritas, all destroy me. Like physically crouched over in pain almost crying.

Doctor says I'm fine too so I guess high vibes means no fries.😭

I'm trying to make swaps and subs and it's fine enough but booze is still a kicker.

I know everyone's body reacts differently to different things during and after their awakening. I'm just so salty that it's things I liked so much. Like yeah, I know it's literally healthier but I already ate supper healthy and rarely drank. Now my "treat-yo-self" indulgences physically hurt me and it's awful.

Not being able to ease anxiety with a drink at a large party is such shit. I'm a fun drunk and I have social anxiety.

And I know there are those who have no issue with alcohol during awakening or after. So I'm just like why can't that be meeeee. I want meade at the renn fair without pain 😭

Not to mention being around people (basically everyone I know) who arent awake at all and having to try to explain why I can't have any pizza or wine is so draining. I'm getting more intuitive too so I literally feel and almost taste their judgement.

Like I'm sorry, it's not a diet, I WANT to have these things but the pain isn't worth it.

Samhain rings in the dark half of the year. While it marks the transition from summer to winter, Samhain itself is “without time”, a liminal space not only in between the realms of living and dead but also in between the seasons. Like all Celtic feasts, Samhain begins at nightfall taking place from the evening of October 31 to nightfall on November 1. Although, this most important Celtic festival used to last three days and three nights, and failure to take part in the celebrations was believed to result in divine punishment (sickness or even death).

During the Samhain celebrations, hearth fires were left to burn out while the last of the harvest was brought in. Druids would light huge sacred bonfires from the remnants of which the fires in the homes were re-lit to ensure protection and warmth during the winter months. Another tradition was to sacrifice animals and toss their bones in to the flames of the sacred fires leading also to them being called bonfire (“bone fire”). Offerings for the fae were left outside the village, fortunes were told, debts were repaid, business matters settled and trials held.

In the Middle Ages, the tradition of sacred bonfires changed. Now it was mostly families lighting smaller bonfires, so called Samghnagans . It was also during this time that the tradition of carving jack-o’-lanterns emerged, first using turnips and later pumpkins.

Some ideas to celebrate

🔮 On Samhain night the veil between the worlds is thin. Therefore it is the perfect time for spirit work and divination. Some say, that if you walk three times around the graves of a grave yard (sunwise) at midnight you might be able to get a glimpse of the future. If you’d rather not walk around a grave yard on Samhain night, you can use any other form of divination such as pendulums, tarot and scrying.

👻 One form of spirit work popular on Samhain are dumb suppers. During this medieval tradition, you set up an extra plate on your dinner table for (a) dead loved one(s) or ancestor(s) to invite them to join you that night. The dinner is held in silence and gives the participants to interact with the deceased guests. To guide the spirits through the night you can leave a candle burning in front of the window. (Make sure nothing can catch fire.) Burn a black candle or leave a jack-o’-lantern in front of your house to ward of negative energies and malevolent spirits.

🎃 One of my Samhain traditions is to make pumpkin soup, so here is my recipe… I used to make pumpkin soup with Hokkaido pumpkin, potatoes and cream which tastes great, but recently I got some kabocha squash and improvised with an amazing result.

For approximately four people you will need a small kabocha squash, two to four potatoes and one or two apples, a piece of ginger, as well as water, vegetable broth, some oil (olive oil or alternatively sunflower or rapeseed), salt, nutmeg and mugwort.

Begin by peeling and chopping your ginger into tiny pieces. Peel the squash, potatoes and apple(s) (you can eat the rind/peel of all of them but the colour of the soup will be nicer if you peel them) and cut them into pieces.

Heat some oil in a pot and briefly fry the ginger, then add the squash, apple and potato. Pour enough water into the pot to cover them and add one cube of vegetable broth per 500ml of water. After a while add a few leaves of mugwort. You can also add them in the end, however, if you add them now they will be better integrated into the soup and you won’t have fairly large bits of it floating in your soup.

Once the squash and potato have become soft, take the pot off the heat and blend your soup until it has become a smooth, thick liquid.

Put the pot back on the hob and let the soup boil up again seasoning it with salt and nutmeg. Serve with a sprinkle of pumpkin seed oil and/or pumpkin seeds.

I find that this soup, like most others, tastes best prepared in advance and then re-heated. Here, nutmeg and mugwort serve two purposes: their taste and their properties which I list below along with the (Samhain-relevant) properties and magical uses of the other ingredients.

apple: (love) divination, the Otherworld

pumpkin/ squash: granting wishes, protection

ginger: increases magical powers, break hexes

potato: protection, connection to the Earth

mugwort: protection, divination (psychic vision and prophetic dreams)

nutmeg: luck in legal matters and for travelling, clairvoyance, encouraging visions

salt: protection, purification

🔥 As Samhain marks the end of summer and the beginning of the cold and dark time of the year, it presents an opportunity to be thankful for what summer and the harvest have brought you and let go of what no longer serves you. You can write a list of what you are grateful for, or spend times with your loved ones. Finish any long-overdue projects, resolve any unresolved issues, write down what you want to banish and burn the paper. (Again, make sure nothing else can catch fire.)

📖 The dark half of the year is not only a time of reflection and recovery but also one of stories. So, how could it start better than with a good story in front of a fire - be it a bonfire or a simple candle? The Second Battle of Mag Tuired and The Adventures of Nera are two Celtic tales ideal for Samhain. Personally, I love to dig out my collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories and poems to read for instance The Tell-Tale Heart, Ligeia and The Raven.

I don't mean to make other witches feel bad, it's just I wish that Wicca hadn't stolen the holidays that the Druids had and turned them into Witch Sabbats.

Maybe, if you don't know the history, please learn it.

The Minor Arcana are made up of Swords, Wands, Pentacles and Cups. Each of these has cards ranging from an "Ace"(one) to the number 10; as well as a "Princess"(Rider-Waite-Smith deck calles them "Pages"), "Knight", "King" and "Queen".

First let's examine the suits from 1-10. Each suit starts of with an "Ace" symbolizing the pure element of each suit: Air(Swords), Fire(Wands), Earth(Pentacles), Water(Cups). The "Ace" is meant to be the element in its pure and unchanged form; which then transforms through to the 10s. After the "Ace" the element/suit goes through its astrological triplicity, starting with the cardinal signs, going into the fixed signs and ending with the mutable signs!

For example, let's take Swords(Air):

2-4 of Swords - Libra; 5-7 of Swords - Aquarius; 8-10 of Swords - Gemini. Now, as you have noticed, each sign has three cards. This goes into the (chaldean) decans of the zodiac; meaning 10 degrees of each zodiac correspond with one card!

Let's take the Swords from 2-10 in order to demonstrate this:

2 of Swords - The first 10 degrees of Libra - Decan of Moon

3 of Swords - The next 10 degrees of Libra - Decan of Saturn

4 of Swords - The last 10 degrees of Libra - Decan of Jupiter

5 of Swords - The first 10 degrees of Aquarius - Decan of Venus

6 of Swords - The next 10 degrees of Aquarius - Decan of Mercury

7 of Swords - The last 10 degrees of Aquarius - Decan of Moon

8 of Swords - The first 10 degrees of Gemini - Decan of Jupiter

9 of Swords - The next 10 degrees of Gemini - Decan of Mars

10 of Swords - The last 10 degrees of Gemini - Decan of Sun

This goes for each suit! Air signs for Swords, fire signs for Wands, water signs for Cups and earth signs for Pentacles.

Additionally to the decans, each card also corresponds to a particular part of the qabbalistic Tree of Life, which adds to the objective divinatory meaning of each card as well:

The Four Aces - Kether

The Four 2s - Chokmah

The Four 3s - Binah

The Four 4s - Chesed

The Four 5s - Geburah

The Four 6s - Tiphareth

The Four 7s - Netzach

The Four 8s - Hod

The Four 9s - Yesod

The Four 10s - Malkuth

Sources

“The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic” by Israel Regardie.

“The Pictorial Key to the Tarot” by A. E. Waite.

“The Book of Thoth” by Aleister Crowley.

The Major Arcana are 22 cards. These cards are all numbered and start with "0-The Fool", ending with "XXI-The World"; this goes into something called "The Fool's Journey". "The Fool" starts off and makes a journey through each card in the Major Arcana, ending with "The World". This "journey" becomes apparent when you study the symbolism of Qabbalah and astrology, which makes up the whole system of Tarot. Keep in mind that Hermetic Qabbalah this system uses is not the same as Jewish Kabbalah.

Each of these cards corresponds to a letter in the Hebrew alphabet; which in turn has their own meaning within Qabbalah and therefore give each Major Arcana card part of its divinatory meaning. This goes further into astrology and the elements. Each Major Arcana either corresponds to one of the traditonal planets(read into traditional astrology for this!), an element or a zodiac. Note that only three of the four elements are attributed to the Major Arcana. This means: 12 cards for each zodiac + 3 cards for an element + 7 cards for each planet = 22 cards each with their own divinatory meaning.

So this means the Hebrew letters, the astrology and elements make up the meaning of each Major Arcana card.

Astrological & Qabbalistic Correspondences (Golden Dawn)

0 - The Fool: Air - א

I - The Magician: Mercury - ב

II - The High Priestess: Moon - ג

III - The Empress: Venus - ד

IV - The Emperor: Aries - ה *

V - The Hierophant: Taurus - Earth (Optional) - ו

VI - The Lovers: Gemini - ז

VII - The Chariot: Cancer - ח

VIII - Fortitude / Strength: Leo - ט

IX - The Hermit: Virgo - י

X - The Wheel of Fortune: Jupiter - כ

XI - Justice: Libra - ל

XII - The Hanged Man: Water - מ

XIII - Death: Scorpio - נ

XIV - Temperance: Sagittarius - ס

XV - The Devil: Capricorn - ע

XVI - The Tower: Mars - פ

XVII - The Star: Aquarius - צ *

XVIII - The Moon: Pisces - ק

XIX - The Sun: Sun - ר

XX - Judgement: Fire - ש

XXI - Universe / The World: Saturn - ת

*Note that Crowley swapped the Hebrew letters of The Emperor and The Star.

Sources

1. “The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic” by Israel Regardie (1989 Edition).

2. “The Pictorial Key to the Tarot” by A. E. Waite.

3. “The Book of Thoth” by Aleister Crowley.

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

This will be something of a How-To guide on how to calculate the name of one’s Natal Genius/Daimon using one of the methods suggested by Agrippa. There is floating around out there an Excel spreadsheet which is particularly handy in assisting with the drudgery of calculation, but in this brief epistle I’ll go into how it’s actually done.

First, what is it that we’re naming exactly? Agrippa speaks of “a threefold good Demon, as a proper keeper, or preserver” which consists of three spirits, “one whereof is holy, another of the nativity, and the other of profession.”

The calculation method used below is a suitable method that can be used to acquire the name of the Genius of one’s nativity. Agrippa says this of that particular spirit:

“Now the Demon of the nativity, which is called the Genius, doth here descend from the disposition of the world, and from the circuits of the Stars, which were powerfull in his nativity. Hence there be some that think, when the soul is coming down into the body, it doth out of the quire of the Demons naturally choose a preserver to it self, nor only choose this guide to it self, but hath that willing to defend it. This being the executor, and keeper of the life, doth help it to the body, and takes care of it, being Communicated to the body, and helps a man to that very office, to which the Celestials have deputed him, being born. Whosoever therefore have received a fortunate Genius, are made thereby virtuous in their works, efficacious, strong, and prosperous. Wherefore they are called by the Phylosophers [philosophers] fortunate, or luckily born.” (Agrippa, III.xxii)

It should be noted that this spirit is not the same thing as the Holy Guardian Angel, which most likely is the spirit referenced as the holy “good Demon” mentioned in this chapter.

A few chapters later Agrippa mentions in Chapter XXVI the following regarding how to calculate the names of various spirits:

“There are also the Arabians, and many others, and some Hebrews, who finde out the name of a Genius by the places of the five Hylegians, and making projection alwayes from the beginning of Aries, and the letters being found out according to the order of Hylegians with the Astrologers, being reduced into a known order, and being joyned together, make the name of a good Genius: but they draw the name of an evil Genius from the opposite Hylegian places, projection being made from the last degree of Pisces against the order of signs.”

In this particular chapter he gives a few examples of how one may calculate the name of any spirit using a handful of astrological techniques. In the method mentioned above Agrippa describes using the position of the five Hylegians to deduce the name of one’s Genius (or of any Genius, really). The term “Hylegian” isn’t one you see used very frequently any more, but the Hylegical bodies were of immense importance to astrologers of antiquity as they were considered to be the bringers of life. The 5 Hylegs consisted of the position of the Sun, the Moon, the Ascendant, the Part of Fortune, and the Prenatal Syzygy.

The positions of the Sun, Moon, and Ascendant are easy enough to locate on any natal chart so let’s spend a little time discussing the other two beginning with the Part of Fortune.

The Part of Fortune is one of the few Arabic Parts (or lots) which have survived into the modern day. The Arabic Parts are calculated locations on the chart derived from positions of various elements in the natal chart. Each part or lot usually consisted of three factors – the Personal Point (often the Ascendant), a point of Signification, and a Trigger. So in the case of the Part of Fortune one takes the position of the Ascendant and its distance from 0° Aries (for instance if you’re a Leo this would be somewhere in the 120-149° from 0° Aries). From here you add to this number the Significator, the position of either the Moon or the Sun depending on whether you were born during the day or night. For day births add the position of the Moon, and for night births use the position of the Sun. To this you subtract the Trigger, which in the case of the Part of Fortune is, again, either the Moon or the Sun depending on whether you were born during the night or the day.

To simplify:

Day Births: Fortune = Ascendant + Moon – Sun;

Night Births: Fortune = Ascendant + Sun – Moon.

So if someone happened to be born as I’m writing this, then the following positions are true:

Asc. = Cap. 1°21’

Sun = Sag. 0°0’

Moon =Ari. 14°43’

Since the sun is up this would be considered a day birth and therefore the Asc+Moon-Sun formula is the one we’ll use.

The Ascendant is 271° from 0° Aries

To this we add the position of the Moon which is 14° = 285°

From this we subtract the position of the Sun which is 240° = 45°

If we move 45° from Aries 0° we find that the Part of Fortune is 14° Taurus

So that gives us 4 of the 5 Hylegics, but what of the oddly titled Prenatal Syzygy? Simply put, it is the position of either the full or new moon prior to your birth. If the moon was waxing at your birth use the position of the New Moon immediately preceding your birth. If it was waning, then use the position of the Full Moon.

So in our present example the moon is currently waxing so we check to see when the previous New Moon was (November 11 at 11.47AM). Then a new natal chart is made using this as the birth date. This shows the moon in Sco 19° which gives us our Prenatal Syzygy and the last of our Hylegs.

Asc. = Cap. 1°21’

Sun = Sag. 0°0’

Moon =Ari. 14°43’

P.F. = Tau. 14°

PNS = Sco 19°

The next step is to associate your alphabet to the chart starting from (you guessed it) Aries 0°. Many magicians use Hebrew as a matter of convenience so for the remainder of this exercise I’ll do likewise. Begin with Aleph at Ari 0° and then proceed placing a letter in sequence per degree. You’ll cycle through the alphabet 16 times with the sequence of letters from Aleph to Cheth rounding out the 360°. Then it’s merely a matter of locating what letter is associated with the position of the Hylegs.

In our present example –

Sun = Tav

Moon =Samekh

Asc. = Chet

P.F. = Aleph

PNS = Yod

So the name of the Natal Genius for someone born at this time would be: תסחאי

To this name one may add the divine suffixes –El or –Iah depending on whether the spirit is to exhibit qualities of power and virtue (for –El) or beneficence (for –Iah)

Once you have the name of the Natal Genius there’s plenty you can do to work with it. The numerical value of the base name is 479, with –El it’s 510, with –Iah it’s 494. With these numbers at your side you can begin performing an analysis using the art of gematria. You can also construct a sigil using a variety of methods.

To give you an idea of how this might be used let’s assume you want to address the Natal Genius as a real “doer” so you attach the suffix –El. As I stated the numerical value of this name (תסחאיאל) is 510. Some other words in Hebrew which also equal 510 are:

ירש  – “to seize, to take hold of; to take into possession; to inherit; to possess.”

ישר - “to be straight or direct; to be even; right; upright; level, even; pr.n. ‘Uprightness’; straightness, evenness.”

These are all notable qualities for a spirit which is meant to actively aid and protect you.

Sigils may be made using the letters themselves as in the first illustration.

Another option is to use the Golden Dawn 22-petaled Rose as the basis for sigil with each letter corresponding to a petal as in the second illustration.

A third variant may comprise a composite of the previous two.

One may also use telesmatic imagery to craft a “look” for the Genius. The Sun Hyleg can represent the face of the Genius; the Moon, the body; the Ascendant, the general characteristics; the Part of Fortune, miscellaneous physical characteristics; the Prenatal Syzygy, other associated elements.

So with the Natal Genius we’ve been using they would have a dark complexioned and heavy face, an androgynous body wearing armor with fishes and a hand emblazoned on it, winged, and armed with a lantern and sword.

A more open-ended option is to keep the mind receptive for the visage the Genius uses to communicate itself to you.

Anyway, I hope you’ve been able to get a lot out of this magical discussion on the Natal Genius and how to construct some of the important elements which allow us to gain contact with them. Feel free to contact me with any questions or observations.

Love is the law, love under will

Additionally, once you have this cosmically calculated name you can use it as a key to “unlock” zodiacal and planetary names (and as I’ve discovered in the case of Arabic, elemental) of spirits that are by analogy sympathetic to your Natal Genius. With these you can essentially work with a completely personalized pantheon.

This is certainly not anything that I originated. Agrippa gives the method in III:xxvii where he says:

Chapter xxvii. Of the calculating Art of such names by the tradition of Cabalists.

There is yet another Art of these kinds of names, which they call calculatory, and it is made by the following tables, by entring [entering] with some sacred, Divine, or Angelicall name, in the column of letters descending; by taking those letters which thou shalt find in the common angles under their Stars, and Signs: which being reduced into order, the name of a good spirit is made of the nature of that Star, or Sign, under which thou didst enter: but if thou shalt enter in the column ascending, by taking the common angles above the Stars, and Signs marked in the lowest line, the name of an evil spirit is made. And these are the names of spirits of any order, or heaven ministring [ministering]; as of good, so of bad, which thou maist after this manner multiply into nine names of so many orders, in as much as thou maist by entring with one name draw forth another of a spirit of a superior order out of the same, as well of a good, as bad one. Yet the beginning of this calculation depends upon the names of God; for every word hath a vertue in Magick, in as much as it depends on the word of God, and is thence framed. Therefore we must know that every Angelicall name must proceed from some primary name of God. Therefore Angels are said to bear the name of God, according to that which is written, because my name is in him. Therefore that the names of good Angels may be discerned from the names of bad, there is wont oftentimes to be added some name of Divine omnipotency, as EI, or On, or Jah, or Jod, and to be pronounced together with it: and because Jah is a name of beneficence, and Jod the name of a deity, therefore these two names are put only to the names of angels; but the name El, because it imports power, and vertue, is therefore added not only to good but bad spirits, for neither can evil spirits either subsist, or do anything without the vertue of El, God. 

Below is an example of the chart done in Arabic for calculating the planetary spirit names. You go to the far right column (”The line of good”) and find the letters of your Natal Genius’ name and then look at the analogous corollary in the planet columns, and voila!.