A dangerous trend I have noticed lately is that more and more workers online are talking about working with demons. These spirits have become as popular as the Intranquil Spirit it seems.
Most of these hoodoo workers practice ceremonial magick so they're in effect combining the two. This is due to some confusion about magical seals. There's a story being told online that as conjure workers ordered their products through the mail they bought books with magical seals and ceremonial work from these same "marketeers." That is the proposed origin of these infernal and demonic spirits in conjure.
Well I'll tell you that story is true but only partially. Yes the magical seals are used in some conjure practices BUT they are not worked the same as in ceremonial magic. Most down-home conjure workers don't go around summoning demons. There are a lot easier and more effective ways to get a job done without conjuring some demonic spirit you don't know that you read out of an old book. True conjure workers don't go around casting circles and calling up you don't know what. It ain't hoodoo.
Demons and those kind of spirits are very dangerous to work with. This is not something that people should just grab and run with because you might cross yourself up with no way out.
That kind of stuff is from Crowley, ceremonial, and high magick which has no place in hoodoo or conjure work. I don't care what the online sources are saying. Some people might disagree with me on this. They'll use the story I mentioned above as proof but where does the story come from? ONLINE. Where did they learn this? On the Internet! Need I say more?
I'm pretty sure there are probably a few real workers out there in the world that has done this kind of stuff with demons and whatnot but we'll NEVER KNOW because they would never talk about it...ever! It would never come up in a conversation. However when you look on the Internet at what folks are saying about these spirits it's a whole different story. A far cry from reality don't you think. Drlovebug
I blogged on this before and yes, the grimoires have no place in actual hoodoo/rootwork/conjure. They were introduced by the marketers who attempted to turn the spiritual tradition into witchcraft. Remember, that in the past the marketers were not actual workers. They didn't even believe in it. However, they viewed it as witchcraft so they began to toss in all the other stuff they connected to witchcraft as well. Thus the grimoires were introduced.
ReplyDeleteNow regarding the seals, there's different types. The types that some workers used came from like the 6th and 7th books of Moses. A lot of them were planetar seals. However, there is something called Goetia, which is a European magical system of conjuring angels and demons and commanding them by the power of God to obey the magician's orders. In this sytem each demon has a specific symbol that is similar to the veves that are drawn for the Lwa of Voodou. The Goetic magician would use these sigils of demons to invoke the demon, to bind it, and to command it to do their bidding. Well, this mess all got mixed into conjure work by the marketers and it's just crazy.
I too have found alleged workers online and I would just like for people to realize that this mess has nothing to do with real conjure work.
It's gets worse. This stuff has also infiltrated ATRs like Palo and Voodou. So you will see these grimoires being mixed in when they shouldnt be.
Oh, and thank you for including the part about not casting circles. There's people out there who think that workers cast circles like Wiccans do. I did a blog on it. Perhaps either you or Momma Starr might want to write a blog too on how circles are actually used in the work.
ReplyDeleteOops. If I knew you posted a similar blog I wouldn't have said anything about this.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right about the seals. I was taught to use the planetary seals in work but nothing whatsoever with goetia work. That would have gotten me the crazy stink eye, LOL!
Thanks for the input. It was informative.
I'll wait and see if Momma Starr talks about circles. Sure I can post something but it won't be like what Momma Starr has to say. I've seen her literally talk and conjure people in circles, lol. Drlovebug
ReplyDeleteI like that both of you have blogged about it, the more people can be made aware of what's traditional the better!!
ReplyDelete@ Dr. Lovebug,
ReplyDeleteLOL..no go right ahead. It's not a competittion. The more people speaking up about it, the better.
Thank ya folks for postin this and especially mentionin how this "Crowleyan" crap has even infiltrated people understandin in other ATRs like Vodou and Voodoo Louzianne. I get so tired of people handed me books on the Goetia because they read online that what we do. Also thank ya for postin bout the circle thing, I never heard of castin a circle til I became wiccan a few years ago, I been raised in Conjure and y'all right that ain't got NO place in True Conjure.
ReplyDeleteCe Bon Doktor Grey-Ravyn ;)