Meridiana: An Unbinding Spell

Oh, Meridiana, the crime was his. He tasted of your delights and then disowned you. Oh, Meridiana, I strip away the devil's mask unjustly forced upon you, permitting your sultry visage to freely enchant once more.    

The Good, The Bad and the Novel: Some Thoughts On Magical Innovation

Whether or not you have evoked a demon listed in one of the many grimoires, chances are that you have at some point become cursorily familiar with one or more them. They are the “bad boys” of the Western Magical Tradition and as such have ignited the imaginations of magicians and muggels alike for hundreds of years. If nothing else, you have probably encountered a fictionalized analogue of one or more of them in a movie.

 Working with one of these demons using the traditional methods set down in the grimoires can be a real challenge. The acquisition and preparation of the necessary tools to accomplish the evocations is in itself a daunting task, not to mention the mental preparation and purification of the mage him/herself. Not only is working with these grimoire demons difficult, it can be dangerous as well. There are abundant warnings to the would-be-conjurer that precautions must be taken to avoid getting their ass kicked by one of these malevolent entities.

Despite the warnings about deviating from the traditional methods of dealing with these entities set down in the grimoires, I have begun to witness a growing tendency among magical practitioners to attempt interacting with these beings in non-traditional ways.  Even though I am a non-traditional eclectic magician, the idea of working with these malevolent beings in innovative ways causes me some concern. I mean, after all, the texts that deal with them and the traditions that work with them both warn of the capricious and malicious nature of many of these so-called “demons.”  Is it really wise to call upon Bune for financial success, for example, without a traditional protective circle? (Please do not assume I am suggesting that you will be entirely safe even if you use a traditional circle … after all, Bune can be rather nasty. If you don’t believe me, just ask Rufus Opus, author of Head for the Red blog. According to RO, Bune graciously burnt done his house! You can read about RO's tragic encounter with Bune by searching with the key words "burned house" here.)

So, what is a magician to do when he or she cannot, for whatever reason, work with a grimoire demon in a traditional manner? My answer … don’t work with them! There are many benign entities in other traditions that can be incorporated into ones practices that do not require a preoccupation with ones safety. Instead of seeking riches through Bune, one might try working with the Buddhist deity Vasudhara (or Vasundhara), for example, who according to tradition is a Bodhisattva that specifically offers financial assistance to lay practitioners. While there are specific rites and meditations (sadhanas) to work with Vasudhara (primarily performed by Buddhist monks for the benefit of the laity), it is highly unlikely that she will burn your ass if you approach her in a non-traditional manner. I do not mean to suggest that working with Vasudhara will be all peaches and cream. In addition to providing sentient beings with material wealth she is a bodhisattva, and as such she is concerned with their highest good. Thus, she may present the mage with situations that might not be experienced as pleasing if they are directed to further the mage along the path of the Great Work. Unlike a grimoire demon, however, she does not act out of animosity.

If you want to work with Vasudhara, there is a great deal of information to be found about her on the Internet. Just remember, if you work with Vasudhara she will expect you to pay forward to your fellow human beings some of the “wealth” that she bequeaths upon you.

*For those interested in working with Buddhist deities, I highly recommend reading Aghor Pir’s recent blog post on Kurukulla, a tantric deity whose specialty is enchantment and subjugation.

Death To The Demon Retalitonis

I have been thinking about Retalitonis on and off since I first blogged about him awhile back (read about it here). While it is true that Retalitonis’ influence has been practically nil since that entry, I have come to feel that my relationship with Retalitonis would not be completely eradicated until I did a proper banishing ritual. So, about two hours ago I undertook just such a banishing. First I created an image of Retalitonis. Then I printed his picture and drew his seal alongside his likeness.

After placing the image a short distance in front of me, I performed the Kabbalistic Cross and the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. I then lit a white candle and called upon Kalvin (see here and here) to come and oversee the ritual. I asked him/her to both guide and protect me. I then called Retalitonis out from me and ordered him into his likeness in front of me. After binding Retalitonis to his image, I again performed the KC and LBRP and gave a license to depart (overkill I know). I then took Retalitonis’ image and ritually slayed him by piercing his image and seal with a ritual dagger. The image was then placed inside a glass jar and burned outside (I don’t know if it was the ink or the type of paper, but this paper was extremely difficult to burn).

Tomorrow the ritual will be complete after I toss the glass jar containing Retalitonis’ ashes into a nearby river.

Phurpa and the Liberation of Demons

If the thought of liberating a demon has never crossed your mind, you might want to take a look at this post. If you ever decide to attempt to do so yourself, I would suggest that you invite Phurpa to the party.


Who is Phurpa?

In some instances, Phurpa is seen as a manifestation or form of Hayagriva. As such, Phurpa can be held to be a protector of the Buddha’s teachings (a category of Buddhist deities known as Dharmapalas). For others, Phurpa is a source of power that bestows luck and fortune upon the fortunate and misfortune upon the unlucky (as a dealer in luck, Phurpa is associated with the planet Jupiter and Thursdays). For these individuals, Phurpa is typically held to manifest physically in three ways:

1) A wooden spike or dagger used to mark a sacred or protected area.

2) A large stylized metal dagger used to indicate the deity’s presence in a location, such as the inside of a temple.

3) A small iron dagger (phurpa) used by dagger specialists to, among other things such as yak banning, speed-walking and weather making, “liberate” a demon, thereby effectively ending the demon’s ability to cause misfortune among human beings.

The following is a short description of the dagger specialists’ tradition (#3 above) and their use of the phurpa as an instrument for demon “liberation” (Henceforth referred to as the Dagger Tradition).



Origin of the Dagger Tradition in Tibet.

According to traditional accounts, the Dagger Tradition was brought to Tibet by Padmasambhava who, while journeying to the Land of Snows, discovered the Dagger texts hidden in a cave.



Who are the Practitioners of the Dagger Tradition?

Apparently, dagger practitioners form a diverse group. Although textual references to female practitioners exist, they appear to be all males. Many are married and do not follow any ascetic rules. For the most part, the men of the Dagger Tradition come from the margins of Tibetan society - the socio-politically disenfranchised - and predominately hail from the Old School of Tibetan Buddhism (rnying ma). What appears to be a common feature among these individuals is their training in Tantra.

While a preponderance of dagger practitioners would appear to be members of the Old School, other schools have, to a lesser degree, enlisted dagger practitioners among their ranks as well. Even the 14th Dalai Lama, though he himself a proponent of the Virtuous School (dge lugs), is known to have had a dagger magician among his entourage.



The Liberation of Demons.

Despite its multifarious use in the past, the dagger practice of recent times seems to be primarily concerned with the exorcism of troublesome demons. What the excised demon undergoes as a result of the dagger ritual is not entirely clear from a reading of the dagger texts. In some texts the demon is said to be “killed” (bsad). In others, the demon is said to be “liberated” (sdrol ba). In yet others, the two terms are used interchangeably. (One may reasonably hypothesize that the term “kill” (bsad) exists as an older stratum of the texts and is a remnant left over from a pre-Buddhist dagger practices. This can only be determined by a careful analysis of the primary texts, however. ) Irrespective of these difficulties, the official Buddhist position is that the demon is liberated from the three poisons – namely, ignorance, hatred an desire.

The Liberation Ritual.

After an extensive preparatory period, the Liberation Ritual commences with an invocation of Phurpa. Whether Phurpa in invoked into the dagger practitioner or the dagger, or both, is not entirely clear. Through magical utterances (mantra) and magical gestures (mudra), the dagger magician entices (compels?) the demon to enter an effigy (either drawn or sculpted) that is situated in the center of a “demon trap” (Oftentimes, this “trap” takes the form of an equilateral triangle (drawn or otherwise) called a “yantra”). Once the demon is imprisoned within the yantra, the effigy is impaled by the dagger and the demon is “killed/liberated.” A burning of the effigy usually concludes the rite. Apparently, this ritual can be performed physically or mentally by the magician.

Two diverse interpretations of the ritual itself exist among dagger practitioners. The first is that the troublesome demon is an actual entity separate from human beings. The other, that the demon is an internal obstacle.



SOURCE: Dagger Blessing by Thomas Marcotty. A dated yet decent introduction to the Dagger Tradition.

Banishing the Demon Retalitonis

Recently I have come to recognize the workings of a “demon” in my life. Where this “demon” came from and how it got its talons securely fastened to my astral and mental bodies are a mystery. But the whys and hows are really not important. Its presence in my life is not wanted and I WILL to be rid of it. While my awareness of its presence has diminished its power over me to a large degree, I still hear it whisper in my ear now and then. So, I plan to wage war with the damn thing and excise it from my life through a proper banishing (or series of banishings).

Below is a brief portrayal of the “demon.” It is undertaken in the hopes that it might be recognized should one be unfortunate enough to find it lurking within the shadows of one’s own life.

DEMON’S NAME: Retalitonis

DEMON’S SEAL:

DEMON’S SPHERE OF INFLUENCE: (Within the host) Retalitonis has power over the astral and mental bodies. (Targets external to the host) Retalitonis attacks its victim’s astral and mental bodies alike. Retalitonis is particularly strong within family dynamics.

DEMON’S ABILITIES: Retalitonis causes its host to strike back at an individual due to some perceived wrong. Typically this is made presentable to the host by dressing up the attack under the guise of “teaching the perpetrator a lesson.” The attack is further made palatable on account that the desire “to teach” is not initially seen as vindictive by the host. The host is tricked into believing that he/she is “waking the perpetrator up” and “showing the perpetrator the truth of the matter.” An argument that demonstrates the perpetrator’s folly in regards to the host is a vehicle especially favored by Retalitonis. Retalitonis takes secret delight in the thought that it just might be causing some mental anguish in the perpetrator due to such an argument. Perhaps the most insidious aspect of Retalitonis is its ability to cause emotional withdrawl between the host and the perpetrator alike.

QUALITIES/CHARACTERISTICS/MENTAL ASPECTS THAT ARE CONGRUENT WITH THE INFESTATION OF RETALITONIS: controlling, dominating, vengeful, spiteful, beyond reproach.