Background about what the Goetic Spirits are:
Working with spirits can mean a lot of different things, as there are numerous categories of spirits. To name just a few, there are spirits of the dead, gods and goddesses, elemental spirits, and servitors. Much could be written about each of these categories of spirits, but for the purpose of this blog post, I would like to specifically talk about working with spirits from the Goetia hierarchy. These are extremely powerful spirits who need to be treated with respect, but many of them are mostly benevolent, and can be very helpful. It should be noted that each of these 72 spirits has his/her own personality. By definition, the Goetic spirits are the spirits listed in The Lesser Key of Solomon (a grimoire that was compiled during the 17th century, but was based on older material). The Lesser Key of Solomon is actually a five book volume, and the most commonly cited of the five books of The Lesser Key of Solomon is known as the Ars Goetia (an English translation of which can be found here).
One issue I take with The Lesser Key of Solomon is that it defines these spirits as “demons”. In the English language, the word “demon” has a very negative connotation. In other words, when most people hear the word “demon”, they think “evil spirit”. The word “demon” was actually derived from the ancient Greek word “daimon”, which was used to refer to either a lower ranking deity or one’s own “genius” guardian spirit (basically any spirit that was not one of the higher ranking gods or goddesses). When one reads the descriptions of the abilities and doings of these spirits, the majority of these spirits do not sound “evil” (I don’t really believe in “good” and “evil” in absolute terms, but I still try to live by a moral code). The spirits described in The Lesser Key of Solomon are a subset of spirits known as Genies or Jinn. The spirits who are now classified as Jinn were once worshiped as deities in the ancient middle east, more specifically in Mesopotamia and Egypt. For example, the Goetic spirit known as King Bael is generally believed to be the same entity as the Canaanite deity Baal. The spirit described in The Lesser Key of Solomon as “Astaroth” is generally believed to be the same entity that was worshiped as a goddess in the ancient Middle East by the names Astarte, Ishtar, or Innana. The example of “Astaroth” points to another issue with The Lesser Key of Solomon is that this grimoire describes all these spirits as male; while in the ancient world some were worshiped as gods and others as goddesses. I will come back to the point about gender later when I discuss the entity known as King Paimon (who will be discussed Part 2 of this blog series on the Goetic spirits.
These spirits, who were once worshiped as gods and goddesses, have largely been demonized by the Abrahamic religions (I am trying to be careful here, as I know there there are big differences between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and there is also a lot of diversity within each of the three Abrahamic religions). The ancient Hebrews, unlike the surrounding cultures, eventually came to understand their tribal deity as the ONLY god, and were also often at war with cultures who worshiped the entities discussed in this series of blog posts as deities. Christianity, in general, tends to view any spirit other than “God” and the angels that work for “him” either as downright evil, or at least forbids its followers from communicating with such spirits. Islam seems to have a somewhat more nuanced view of this type of spirit. While the spirits who are known as Jinn in Islam were once worshiped as Gods and Goddesses in the middle east, with the advent of Islam, there was only room for one being to be worshiped as God: Allah. It is my understanding that in Islam, Jinn are considered to be lower spiritual beings that will ultimately be judged by Allah using the same criteria that “he” uses to judge humans. In other words, in Islam, just like people, Jinn are seen as having the capacity for both “good” and “evil”. Nonetheless, it is my understanding that even within Islam, interaction between humans and Jinn is generally either discouraged or forbidden.
Before I go on to discuss how and why people can and would want to interact with the spirits of the Goetia and discuss the specific personalities and abilities of individual spirits (these topics will be discussed in Part 2 and Part 3 of this series on working with spirits), it is important to note that not all of the “big-shot” entities from ancient Middle Eastern mythology can be found in the Goetia hierarchy. Two famous examples of ancient Mesopotamian entities that many are familiar with, but who are NOT part of the Goetia hierarchy are Lucifer and Lilith. Some readers may at this point be thinking: “Wait, Lucifer? Are you some sort of Satanist?” No, I do not identify as a Satanist (I have talked to quite a few people who do identify as Satanists, and there seem to be a lot of different opinions on what, exactly, “Satanism” means). I personally identify broadly as Pagan (but I don’t identify strictly with any one of the established Pagan religions such as Wicca) and as an occultist. I understand Lucifer as a pre-Christian entity associated with the masculine aspect of the planet Venus. I also understand Lucifer as the same entity that the Greeks knew as Prometheus (who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans), and I also see him as a “light bringer” (i.e. one who brings the wisdom of the divine to the human race). Even though Lucifer is not part of the Goetia hierarchy, many Christians have come to understand Lucifer as “the devil”, and the spirits of the Goetia (along with some other ancient Middle Eastern deities who are not part of the Goetia hierarchy) as “demons”. I believe the reason why Abrahamic religions take such a bleak view of these spirits is simply because they were originally part of a polytheistic system, and within the Abrahamic religions there is only room for one God. Beings who were once worshiped as gods and goddesses could only be seen as evil from the perspective of monotheistic religions. My “theological” belief system could be seen as a blending of pantheism (I use terms like “the One”, “the All”, “Ultimate Reality”, or “the Ultimate Divine Source”), polytheism (the belief that there are many deities; although in my mind they are all aspects of or manifestations of the Ultimate Divine Source), and animism (I see nature, along with every component part of nature as possessing consciousness or “spirit” in varying degrees); so I have no problem with working with multiple deities and nature spirits while simultaneously conceptualizing them as components of a larger “reality” that itself can bee seen as divine.
The Demonolatry Approach to Working with Goetic Spirits
While I am grateful that The Lesser Key of Solomon provides a catalog of spirits and their sigils, as mentioned above, I have some issues with this 17th century grimoire. As stated above, I take issue with the fact that it characterizes these spirits as “demons” (even though it is understandable because of the overwhelming influence of Christianity in 17th century Europe). Also mentioned earlier in this blog post, I take issue with the fact that The Lesser Key of Solomon ignores the fact that in the ancient world some of these spirits were worshiped as goddesses, and instead portrays them all as “male demons”. Many contemporary accounts of working with the spirits of the Goetia (such as those by modern occultists scattered across the Internet) portray certain spirits as distinctly masculine (like King Belial), others such as “Duchess Astaroth” (The Lesser Key of Solomon refers to her as “Duke Astaroth”) as distinctly feminine, and at least one (King Paimon) as being both masculine and feminine.
However, the most significant issue I have with The Lesser Key of Solomon is the general approach it takes to dealing with these spirits. The title “The Lesser Key of Solomon” comes from the traditional belief that King Solomon (the Jewish king who lived some time between 1000 BCE and 900 BCE) had forced the 72 spirits of the Goetia to help him construct the Temple of Jerusalem before sealing the spirits in a brass vessel (think of the stories you have heard about genies in brass lamps or vessels; also, nice way to thank the spirits for helping him *sarcasm*). If this story is true, it would appear that the spirits escaped, because occultists around the world interact with these spirits regularly. The Lesser Key of Solomon describes a system in which the magician is protected in a circle, and uses divine names to command the spirit of the magician’s choosing to materialize into a triangle located outside the circle. Once the spirit appears in the triangle, The Lesser Key of Solomon describes a system where the magician will command the spirit to do his/her bidding, and threatens the spirits with divine punishment should they ever disobey the magician. In my opinion, this system is both dangerous for the magician and deeply disrespectful to the spirits. It is dangerous to the magician, because if the magician tries to coerce spirits into doing his/her bidding, although the spirits may oblige the magician, they are likely to do so in a way the magician may ultimately resent. It is also disrespectful to the spirits because it is essentially treating them as slaves.
A more modern approach to working with these spirits is often referred to as “demonolatry” (not the same thing as “demonology”, which is the study of “demons” from a Christian perspective). More details about the “demonolatry” approach will be described in Part 3 of this blog series on the Goetia spirits. Although I use the “demonolatry” approach when working with these spirits, I take issue with the word “demonolatry” for two reasons (although I will continue to use it in this blog series because it is the commonly accepted term for the type of practices in which I engage). The first reason I take issue with the word “demonolatry” is that I take issue with the word “demon” because of its negative cultural connotation. Another issue with the term “demonolatry” is that the suffix “olatry” implies worship, so the word “demonolatry” literally means “worship of demons”. While different people have different definitions of what exactly constitutes “worship”, I would not say that I (or some other demonolaters I have talked to) exactly “worship” these spirits. I certainly hold them in high regard, try to show them proper respect, make burnt offerings of incense to them, wear pendants of their sigils as jewelry, and try to follow their advice; but I would call the approach I take (and, from what I have seen, the approach other demonolaters take) veneration, reverence, or paying homage. But I do not consider this approach to constitute worship per se. That being said, I find the approach known as “demonolatry” to be far more simple and straightforward than the approach outlined in The Lesser Key of Solomon (although individual practitioners of demonolatry can make it as elaborate of a system as they want), and also find it to be far more respectful to these spirits. In the demonolatry approach, the magician essentially asks the spirits for help nicely, shows proper respect to the spirits, and may also offer the spirits some sort of “payment”.
Compensating Goetic Spirits for Their Services
Before I go any further, I would like to discuss the issue of “payments” to the spirits. Some spirits will sometimes ask the summoning magician to perform a task for them or to make an offering (offerings to these spirits can take many different forms, but examples I have seen cited by other demonolaters include food, alcohol, incense, bodily fluids, works of art, or musical compositions). In my experience working with these spirits, they generally do seem to appreciate offerings, but I don’t think offerings are really what these spirits are after. I consider a few of the Goetia spirits friends, and like to think they consider me as a friend as well; but at the same time I recognize that these spirits do seem to have some sort of agenda. Keep in mind that humans also have agendas, even when dealing with friends and family, and it can be something as innocent as desiring the company of another person.
I have never once met a spirit that wanted me to “sell my soul” (whatever that even means in practice). But why would an ancient Mesopotamian or Egyptian deity have any interest in me, or anyone else? One reason that seems likely is that by working with people, they indirectly gain more ability to affect the physical plane. Furthermore, it has been my experience that by working with Goetia spirits, my personality subtly shifts to be more closely aligned with the personality and agenda of the spirit I am working with. In Part 2 of this series of blog posts on working with Goetic spirits I will discuss the spirit known as President Botis who is famous for his ability to cause reconciliation both between friends and enemies. Although I started working with Botis for help on a specific project, he has continued to work with me in other ways and I have been forced to confront grudges I held against others and at least try to let them go. Because of this, it is important to be careful when choosing which spirit you want to work with. My advice would be to work with spirits who have personality traits and agendas that align with your own agendas.
Another way to pay spirits for their services is to display their sigils in the world. I like to wear pendants of the sigils of the spirits I work with, and find other ways of spreading their sigils in the world. This relates to another motivation these spirits may have for working with humans. Again I would like to reiterate that these spirits were once worshiped as gods and goddesses. For a long time they were largely forgotten, but it seems likely that they would like to regain their status as gods and goddesses. If this truly is part of their agenda, they have largely been successful. Although the cultures that worshiped them as gods and goddesses disappeared thousands of years ago, because the population of the world has grown so much since the times when they were worshiped as deities, and because information about these spirits is now easily accessible to people in most parts of the world (at least among those who have unrestricted access to the Internet), these spirits most likely are held in very high regard (even if they aren’t necessarily “worshiped”) by far more people today than in the ancient world. Some of the Goetia spirits, for example, were worshiped as patron deities of ancient city states, but are now held in high regard by occultists around the world.
Payment to the spirits is not always explicit. In my experience, one of the most significant things the spirits want from me in exchange for help improving my life is a willingness to put in the work myself to make things happen. When working on projects with spirits, there is an understanding that while the spirits may help me succeed in whatever endeavor I have asked the spirits to aid me with, I also have to put in the leg work. At times, spirits will give me specific instructions (for example to send an email to a certain person, to start a web page, or to create a servitor). When I receive these types of instructions, I do my best to follow their guidance. And at times spirits will give me specific advice (usually the advice makes sense, but if it doesn’t make sense, I am free to ask for an explanation). When I receive advice from these spirits, I am inclined to do my best to follow it for two reasons. First, these spirits are far wiser and have access to far more information than I do (thus if I were to ignore their advice, I would have to pay the consequences of not following good advice). Secondly, I value the advice they give me, and if I were to consistently ignore the advice they give me, they may eventually stop giving me advice. Imagine if you had a friend who was constantly asking you for advice, but never ended up following your advice. At some point you may just stop giving them advice.
In short, while Goetic spirits may appreciate offerings, what they really seem to want from people they work with is a willingness to learn, put in the leg work needed to achieve goals, respect and appreciation for what they do for the magician, and a willingness to be transformed into a new person (many of these spirits seem to like to work with people who have unmet potential and transform them so that they can accomplish their goals). Sharing the results you have had from working with specific spirits with others is also likely to help you gain the favor of the spirit you are working with, as it is essentially advertisement for the spirit’s services.
In my next blog post in this series on the spirits of the Goetia I will introduce some specific spirits (this will be part 2 in the series). Rather than being a comprehensive list of all 72 spirits of the Goatia, it will provide information about several different Goetic spirits to demonstrate how diverse these spirits are in there abilities and personalities.
In Part 3 in this series, I will go into more detail about how to actually work with these spirits (using the “demonolatry” framework), and will also discuss some of my personal experiences working with these spirits.
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