Etymology and the Divine

  The history of words is a rather interesting subject. The term we are looking at is Etymology. When it comes to modern contexts, the concept of the contemplations of words is usually lost. For some reason, and this is my personality bleeding through here, those within modern society seem to absolutely love the idea of not having to think. Modern culture absolutely loves taking things at face value without making an ounce of effort to research the background of something or where it may have come from. This then has slowly produced bastardised and corrupted information and data. It has become the sort of mentality of “Facebook Facts”. And what I mean by that is: Anyone can put something on the internet. And that “something” does not need to have any resources crediting the data they have provided. They often also shirk the paramount disclaimer of something being an opinion, a personal experience, or in the cases of the occult communities (and the most important and valuable prospect here) a UPG. Everything is taken at face value and as gospel. 

This is a problem. Well, in the case of subject matter that has texts that predate current data. This is a problem because this can make or break how you may see or view certain subjects. When you study the occult, you have to have a particular set of glasses. These glasses often will be taxing to wear. You must make an effort to think in contexts that may not be your normal comfort zone. This means trying to understand a more historically accurate text with the lenses of those who wrote it. You may not be able to completely empathise with the thought processes of a man from 1610. But you can at least provide a better comprehension as to what was meant by the words that were written if you speak their language.

We often forget that language changes and develops over time to suit the era the word exists in. Some words come out of style and usage and others take a 30 year hiatus or a century hiatus and come back into style within a new era. Some words remain the same but their aesthetical expectations have adjusted. While the word Swagger has almost the exact same meaning as it once did in the 16th century (when applied to a person and their behaviour) - that being of an arrogant and aggressive walk or gait, we have adjusted this a little to mean: “to conduct oneself in an arrogant or superciliously pompous manner especially: to walk with an air of overbearing self-confidence.” However, the modern approach and lens through which we look at this term has gone from a negative connotation to a positive flattering connotation. Mind the quantity of songs associating “swag” as a positive and flattering comment.

This awareness should be applied to contexts that are especially within the focus of your study and practice. This can make or break certain interactions and it can expand your ability to understand and work with particular energies at play. If only you are able to see the words and the texts as they are intended to be seen and comprehended. Authors that spearheaded some works that we are all fond of did not normally write with Twenty-First Century lingo. It just did not happen. This amply makes reading the texts in a modern tongue and context quite null and it is a perfect example as to why we ultimately get varying results and knowledge on particular subjects and focuses.

Mind you, I often do not openly speak about my opinions on this subject which is why I have written a document about it. I find that it may be just ultimately easier for myself to just write a somewhat meretricious document that, quite frankly, just tells people: Do Your Research You Fools. And Stop Taking Everything In Modern Context If It Did Not Come From Modern Works!

Within this document I am going to simply go through a list of words and terms commonly found in some circles of the occult community that need correction or are deserving of correction based upon the definitions that they held when the texts or manuscripts were relevant and written. There is another document that will be provided that does include the adaptations of the Divine through a modern lens. I am not against the concept of modern structure. However, I am an adamant supporter of respectfully acknowledging and working with subjects and focusing in an original context before you begin to adapt and modernise something. The roots of these works existed for a reason. Adaptations should come secondary to the original understanding of the works you are building off of. And this does, unfortunately, mean putting in the work to actually understand and work with the original texts with the original linguistics as much as you can. 

The first and foremost entry of etymological scrutiny comes from a Watcher near and dear to me: Azazel.

Now, there is a lot of confusion here when it comes to Azazel’s offices being “Cosmetics and the Knowledge and understanding as to how to craft weapons. Azazel is deemed to be the entity that bestowed the knowledge as to how to turn minerals and materials such as iron and lead into tools and weapons.” And no one questions how Cosmetics comes into play, what that means or questions if the word “Cosmetics” means beautification or if it means something more akin to His original Offices. Modern minds just go: “Yay! Make-up and Swords!” and not: “Discipline, Organisation, Order, Structure, Military Arrangements, Weaponry, Tools, Smithing.” There is nothing quite to do with beautification in 3rd century AD.

And then there is the surprise pikachu face I am sure some of you are making while reading this. I said it. Make-up and beautification concepts with this word don’t come around until much, much later. 

We get Cosmetics from, in short, Cosmos. The etymological structure here is as follows: cosmos (n.)

c. 1200, "the universe, the world" (but not popular until 1848, when it was taken as the English equivalent to Humboldt's Kosmos in translations from German), from Latinized form of Greek kosmos "order, good order, orderly arrangement," a word with several main senses rooted in those notions: The verb kosmein meant generally "to dispose, prepare," but especially "to order and arrange (troops for battle), to set (an army) in array;" also "to establish (a government or regime);" "to deck, adorn, equip, dress" (especially of women). Thus kosmos had an important secondary sense of "ornaments of a woman's dress, decoration" (compare kosmokomes "dressing the hair," and cosmetic) as well as "the universe, the world."

Pythagoras is said to have been the first to apply this word to "the universe," perhaps originally meaning "the starry firmament," but it later was extended to the whole physical world, including the earth. For specific reference to "the world of people," the classical phrase was he oikoumene (ge) "the inhabited (earth)." Septuagint uses both kosmos and oikoumene. Kosmos also was used in Christian religious writing with a sense of "worldly life, this world (as opposed to the afterlife)," but the more frequent word for this was aiōn, literally "lifetime, age."

The word cosmos often suggested especially "the universe as an embodiment of order and harmony."

(https://www.etymonline.com/word/cosmetic#:~:text=1640s%2C%20%22pertaining%20to%20beauty%2C,Of%20surgery%2C%20from%201926.)

Does the idea of Azazel being associated with Makeup and Swords sound cooler? Oh sure. But is it correct? No. No it is not. The reason why I bring this one in particular to attention is to background check a lot of the content that people provide and how they choose to work with or interact with a particular Divine. This is one of the more extreme differences in word etymology that we see most commonly in the communities. This ultimately shifts a large perspective of what this means when it comes to the offices of Azazel and how you would approach the Watcher. This therein does support some of the workings with associating Azazel with Saturn, as Saturn’s offices as a celestial body portain to discipline and mannerisms, rules, structure, and focus.

The next word I want to focus on is the word “Dignities”. This term gets rather obscured if you are unsure as to what context it is being used it. When it comes to Dignities, we may be referring to a particular entity known as a Dignity - a category of angel or spiritual entity found within the OT. Or we may be referring to a state of worth or honour. To understand how this term is applicable, we look to Agares who has the power to “Destroy Dignities both Spiritual and Temporal”. This application automatically should have the magician looking to the Spiritual Being known as a Dignity (a potential angel of blasphemy) and it should have someone thinking automatically of self worth and value. Dignity. But it goes a bit further than that. The term itself goes back to *Dek - which means to accept or to take. This is an exchange. In Latin this turns into the latin term of “dignus” which means “fitting, worthy, or proper”. By about the 12oo’s we now finally get to “Dignity” which is a state of being worthy.

The entry for “Dignity” is as follows:

dignity (n.)

c. 1200, "state of being worthy," from Old French dignite "dignity, privilege, honour," from Latin dignitatem (nominative dignitas) "worthiness," from dignus "worth (n.), worthy, proper, fitting," from PIE *dek-no-, suffixed form of root *dek- "to take, accept."

From c. 1300 as "an elevated office, civil or ecclesiastical," also "honourable place or elevated rank." From late 14c. as "gravity of countenance."

So when we discuss Agares destroying Dignities, there are a few ways we can approach this. The first is to apply the concept of dignities to the understanding that it is an object that is fitting to something or someone. This may be adornments or objects of honour or appreciation / an offering to someone or something. This would be applicable if you were making an effort to thwart the honouring of an individual or a spirit or competition of yours. If you would like to break it down into the Greek background of “dokein”, we may apply this to breaking down someone’s thoughts or the way they think. This can then put the Magician into a position to adjust or refocus someone to see their perspective or their position in situations or circumstances. When applying the historical context and etymological backgrounds of Dignity, we go from “A position of self worth” and we may backtrack to origins of the word being broken down into meanings that apply to a particular way of thinking or appearing. You may use this prospect of Agares’ Office of destroying Dignities to then apply to change and destruction of old habits and ways of thinking to pave the way for new thoughts and ways of thinking and appearing. Or you may use this Office to apply to breaking down the honour or appreciations of competitions or opposing forces. 

As a final nail, I wanted to discuss just one final word to get the wheels turning. When we think of things such as “Virtues”, we may become lost in a few biblical concepts of the word. To start, we observe the angels known as Virtues. This word pops up a lot and we get comfortable with the familiarity of a word simply by seeing it often enough and we settle for what our understanding of it is and not what our understanding of it could be. And given the context of our current subjects, I thought this was a fitting word to get gears turning.

The term Virtues is broken down to mean moral life and conduct. It is an Anglo-French term that stems from the latin word “Vir” which means, simply, “man”. Here lies an almost philosophical concept that is born from the concept that humankind is, of course, of a particular quality. We know not all individuals are virtuous. But beyond that, the term progresses to ensnare a concept of, literally, “manliness” or vigour, strength and virility as we get into 18th century. It was associated with physical ability more than moral decency. It was “excellence” and a concept of power associated with manliness. It is not until the mid 17oo’s that we see a development of the word into an association with decency and morality.

Part of the entry for virtuous reads as follows:

late 14c., "influencing by physical virtues or capabilities, effective with respect to inherent natural qualities," from Medieval Latin virtualis, from Latin virtus "excellence, potency, efficacy," literally "manliness, manhood" (see virtue). The meaning "being something in essence or effect, though not actually or in fact" is from mid-15c., probably via sense of "capable of producing a certain effect" (early 15c.). 

With proper context we see the concepts behind the words with which we are interacting in a much more acute light and focus. This focus may be important in your work when discerning a particular spirit. When a spirit says that they bring about good virtues, are they specific and referencing moral decency of people or of other spirits? Or are they referencing virility and manhood? What is the tune and the attitude of the spirit you are working alongside and with what contexts are they expecting you to understand them? As much as the Divine we work alongside may compensate for varying degrees of intellectual ineptitude, it may pay to bridge some of the gaps we experience by broadening our perspectives of the etymological structures of words that are generally considered outdated by modern standards. 

I know that this idea may be abhorrent to most people simply due to the prospect of having to do extra reading. And I understand that the general population of youth has an awful clinically acute and fatal allergic response to having to read, less they go into full anaphylaxis. But it cannot hurt to encourage some exposure therapy in hopes that it primes some individuals for future success and future growth. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I am by no means an expert in all fields of subject matters, but I do take great pride in my ability to make sense of certain qualities when the focus revolves around contexts and modern versus historical drafts and definitions. I hope this piece has properly gotten some of you to rethink how you approach your texts and your work as well as how your approach to your work may be able to grow and adjust to include a broader spectrum of literary content and a far more articulate dictionary. 

The Magician's Enchanting Table

     The idea of an enchanting table sparks strange ideas into the heads of some people I have found. The idea itself did not cross my mind until I had found an interesting wooden plate by an occult and witchcraft merchant that most people are already familiar with. The concept was an idea that had been bouncing in some manner or another for me for a few weeks previously. 

When I initially do enchanting or other forms of augmentations to the properties of an object, I usually will use a form of grid. The grid is split into five facets that perform a particular task to the enchantment itself.

The design of the grid itself was something I had played around with in my youth. I actually struggled immensely with enchantments up until I was fourteen. Now, I am uncertain as to how other magicians and occultists normally perform enchantments, or how much this will differ from my methods. What I do know is that I get questioned about my enchanting table once in a blue moon, so I figured I would create a document explaining my methods and processes. Now I would like to note, however, that I do not always use this table. I have far since graduated from silly complications in enchanting from my childhood. The table on the other hand is actually exceptionally useful for not only performing enchantments, but also disenchanting items or reprogramming an item to perform in a different manner or removing enchantments from an object or item that you may not desire to be enchanted. You may pick up an item or purchase something from a thrift store or receive mail that you may want cleansed or have energy removed from it. Sometimes that bottle you got from GoodWill has a strange funk or slug attached to it that just cannot be pried off with normal means of cleansing. That is generally what I use my enchanting table for. 

The platform I perform the enchantments upon is engraved with several facets in the motif for particular focuses. It took time to become familiar and comfortable with the sigils in question as well as the planetary symbols on the board, but their structures worked well with my energy and methods. The top of the “disc” is a half moon. Within it, an eye is present. This eye is where the intention of the enchantment ritual is normally placed. Two moons frame the outside of the enchantment circle and below them within the seal of the enchantment circle are two additional sigils on either side. Working our way down we are presented with three other symbols and placements. The Seal has six sigils within it. One at 12:00. One at 6:00, and two on either side spaced equally between. My board has a beetle upon it. Between its large Cyclommatus beetle. Between the massive mandibles is another placement of intentions or enchantment. And upon its “back” there is the fixture of another eye.

These facets interconnect with cleverly placed embossed gold lines. They form a triangular shape that flows smoothly through and between all facets. Using this structure, I place the item I desire to be enchanted upon the eye of the beetle. My intention of enchantment is placed on the 12:00 facet. The process of how I wish this to be transferred and with what energy is placed within the facet between the mandibles of the beetle.

Energies supporting my intention are placed on the other five facets around the seal. From there each part of the enchantment circle is activated. For disenchantment, I will activate them counterclockwise. The attributes of a disenchantment will be items or energies of cleansing, banishment, or otherwise cleaners of energy. I do this until it comes full circle to the 12:00 node and then I move the energy downwards and feed it through the mandibles of the beetle and unto the object of focus.

To enchant an item, I will activate each node clockwise and perform it the same way. I will work my way clockwise with my intention, picking up energies from each node as it becomes activated, and move this around the table until it is then fed and processed through the beetle.

Often I use minerals and crystals, though I have burned parchments at each node before instead. I adjust enchantments based upon needs and what energies are in play in order to avoid dissonance on the table. Working with these energies puts them into a controlled environment for me and it allows me to manipulate a larger load into an object or a lighter allocation if I feel it necessary. For repeat enchantments, I can leave all of my tools on site and wash the energies away that have been used in an enchantment by rolling them across the board in a smoke cleanse or by spraying cleansing mist on the board and wiping it clean.

If I have enough clear quartz in play, I may place all quartz on the grid and then proceed to turn their points outwards to expel any excess energy into the area while I have cleansing incense upon the table.

The actual structure I perform this on is glass to help avoid retaining excess energies and funk. I find that glass tables are superb at remaining a bit more clean of energy. After I wrap up any cleaning that ought to be done, I am ready to use or work with whatever it is I have put on the table.

A Brief Essay on the Baphomet

  The image that comes to your head is an iconic symbol of Satanic and Demonic ideology and imagery. You see a goat with the torso of a “man”. Though this would be incorrect. It has arms doing some weird and strange gesture and the fingers are bent at some skewed angle. And that is as far as most people go.

Some people in the communities of Satanists and Demonolatrists work alongside the tropes or ideas. Some have a good and well rounded knowledge of the Baphomet. Some like aesthetics and their wardrobe is made from solely shopping at Hot Topic and Spencers and they don’t have any idea that their entire outfit of inverted crosses and colours of black with skulls is heavily Catholic. But I digress.

The Baphomet is, it its origin, far more Catholic and generally Abrahamic than you may think. Originating from the Knight’s Templar in the early 1300s, the concept of the Baphomet has evolved and morphed insanely over the course of over 600 years. The philosophy was of devout enlightenment, wholesome understanding of the spirit, and structuralized imagery of a sort of ideology that surrounds unification of duality and “all things”. But we do not necessarily get this all from the creative minds of the Knight’s Templar themselves. And that is the exceptionally simplified and dumbed down version of it. And I mean it when I say that it is exceptionally dumbed down. You may as well be drinking stale water. The imagery of the Baphomet (to an outside perspective) may easily look and behave "Demonic" to the ignorant mind of someone who has no knowledge of the concepts of spiritual alchemy. This is exceptionally true if you have very little historical context.

As much as it seems thrilling and edgy and exciting to worship this “Ultimate Evil Goat God of Blood and Destruction”, I am here to pop that bubble just a bit.

It is true and mighty sad indeed. But when it comes to any particular study, you should absolutely always have at least some degree of knowledge as to how something works, where it came from, and what makes it “tick” the way it does. You should absolutely know what you are working with and talking about, and that means doing the dirty work. The good news is that the information I am dropping here for you can easily be found in several books which will be listed at the bottom. The problem is that you’ll have to get comfortable with reading historical Catholic Content and Alchemy.

To begin, the Baphomet was not even supposed to be called what it is today. The Etymological origins are a mixture of things. There is a lot of speculation as to where the name comes from, but the general consensus is that it is a bastardization of the name “Mohammed”. This was considered to be done due to the locations that the Knights Templar were in as they incorporated Islamic beliefs into their Christian ones. As such, this was considered heretical to the Church. With tensions already high against the Knight’s Templar due to their position in the Church, they were taken as being heretical against the Church and from there prosecuted with their basis being of heresy. And that heresy had absolutely little to do with witchcraft or the occult, and moreso a sort of age old issue of racial and spiritual argument versus Islamic and Catholic beliefs. At the time of this, there were immense tensions between the two due to the wars at the behest of the Church. It does not generally look good when your army begins to convert to enemy beliefs. But that is the running historical theory.

The concept of the Sabbatical Goat, which is what you are all familiar with, does not come into play until hundreds of years later in the 1800s. Éliphas Lévi created the image of the Sabbatical Goat in Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. Beforehand, the concepts of the Baphomet were simple figurines of a head with two or three faces or simply a human skull. 

So the process of which the Baphomet has grown has evolved in much more modern times. And yes, the 1800s is absolutely considered Modern. Imagining a potential concept of the Sabbatical Goat coming from very vague and thinly processed concepts five hundred years earlier (half a whole millennium!), is absolutely fair to call it Modern. We are left with this interestingly balanced structure that you know of as the Baphomet. It mixes some Greco concepts such as the caduceus of Mercury and assertions from Kabbalistic structure such as utilising Chesed and Geburah in earlier concepts, and even going all the way into the Goat of Mendes. 

So evolution has absolutely brought forth a lot of aspects, attributes and ideology that has taken something and absolutely sprinted across the globe with it. So what exactly even is the Baphomet if it is not what we think that it is? What even could it be or how do you even work with something that probably seems a little deflated now? I’ll tell you how I have captured it into my work now. Because let’s face it, you did not read all of this just to lay awake in bed at four in the morning with zero questions answered. I’ve wasted enough of your time.

My Personal Experience and Workings with Baphomet

The Baphomet for me is the ultimate duality. Even from out of the gate, the Knight’s Templar produced an idea of a head with many faces, or three for that matter. I’m a physics major, and that means I love threes. Why? Because Three is the Perfect Number in Mathematics. And in philosophy, Pythagoris has given us Harmony, Wisdom, and Understanding within the numerical value of three. Freshly starting, we are working with a concept and an energy that produces similar to same value. 

I also study Alchemy. This means that the prospects of the Sabbatical Goat and the energy produced by its long time evolution brings me immense interest. Without writing an extensive and annoying quantity of details as to how everything ties into spiritual Alchemy, I am going to just lay out the essence of Pure Duality and Unity as well as Peace and Understanding through the Baphomet. We’re going to quickly talk about symbolism and what that means for me.

The Elephant in the Room is the Solve and Coagula. Dissolve and Coagulate. These changes and processes are connected to the cycle of all things in alchemy. From there, they blend into the balance of “Above and Below”. This cycle and motion connects us from the mundane and earthly living and the essence of the spirit and cosmic forces at play. We then look to the things out of our reach and above our minds and the earth below our feet. The Baphomet sits upon an orb or a globe. This is not necessarily a form of Dominion or Dominance, but it is a peaceful observance of all things within the world. By scale, the energy at play is all around us. Our feet upon on the earth, we walk, sit and sleep within the boundaries of the physical realm. The Sabbatical Goat has the candle of Illumination upon its head. this bestows upon us enlightenment, truth, and a beacon of knowledge. A fire is a fire and it casts light, but the higher you hold the flame, further is the illumination. 

The Goat itself is akin to how significant they have been in the lives of humans. Goats were one of the very first milk producing livestock humans had. A goat could provide the survival of a village. Infants were fed by the tits of a goat if there was no source of milk from a mother. Yes, goats would be wet nurses for human infants. Goats represent fertility and strength, willpower, integrity, and raw power as well as the giving sustenance of life. They are agile and capable creatures and exceptionally clever. There is a Divinity to a goat that comes from the heavy reliance that humans have had for them. 

The Phallus/Caduceus represents Masculine energies and the breasts of the Baphomet represents Feminine energies. In the case of the the caduceus, we are given concepts of trade and exchange as well as the element of mercury. Mercury the planet is associated with the element of air which comes into intuition and communication, the mind as well as creativity and thoughts. The wings of the Baphomet (though some depictions omit the wings), are iconic of travel and movement. The ascent we make through life as we migrate both physically and spiritually. There is travel involved in life and we are always travelling and moving. Wings also represent the Divine in historical contexts, feathered being associations with birds who carried messages back and forth between parties. The image in question has two moons, one waning one waxing. Waxing and waning moons are the cycles of progress. We build and we break down. We grow and we rest. These correspond beautifully to the Coagula and Solve. And the star on the forehead is the unification and collective of all elements.

There is some avoidance at providing imagery of the Baphomet with a cock or breasts and it is an awful bastardization that terribly eradicates the energies at play and is a great insult to the Baphomet. There is the Alchemical Union of Male and Female, Life Given, Life Taken, the Seed and Womb, the Harmony and Unification that is prevalent in our magic and how we treat it is greatly influenced by our imagery of it. To ignore these aspects of the Baphomet is to cherry pick Divinity in the worst ways possible. We are to not disfigure and vandalise the Divine because we are too soft and closed minded to accept what is before us.

—
And this symbolism is just the tip of the iceberg for me. When it comes to the Baphomet, I absolutely work with Them as a theistic entity. For me, the Baphomet is the Buddha of the Left Hand Path. It is the Zen and the Wholesome Goodness that comes from the deep and peaceful understanding of connecting to the whole as we find understanding within ourselves and the universe we occupy.

The Baphomet is a being of Peace. They/It have no true gender and no true alignment. It is an ultimately peaceful entity of that Divine Duality and the merging and balance of all of what we experience. Their Divinity is very akin to dharma in my experience. And in my experience, they have little to no immediate association with the Demonic Divine in any regard. They seem to exist within this zen-like posture that is separated from all things. Though for me there is a lack of an immediate connection to the Demonic, it exists as an auxiliary connection to all things simply from the nature that all energies are intertwined. All forces are divine. All things share a space and share an occupancy of existence in either here or the spaces between, the liminal and the spiritual. The connection between the Baphomet and the Demonic may as well be just as prevalent as the Baphomet to Pazuzu or Baphomet and Odin, or Hermes, Anubis, Prometheus or any other sort of God or Goddess. This makes working with the Baphomet easily atheistic and more philosophy instead if that is something that strikes someone’s fancy. The cult ties of the Baphomet to me come purely from mainstream occultists and edgelords like Anton LaVey or Crowley. (Once more, this is just my opinion.)

The Baphomet’s energy is very harmonious and musical. It is similar to the imagery of koi swimming. It is balanced in a way I have not experienced with many other Divines. It is vivid and bright, warm and cold, calm and exhilarating. But all at once, it is soothing. Some may find it overwhelming and some may find it calming. I find great peace and deep tranquillity amongst the energies of Them.

Working with the Baphomet has been very good for my personal growth as an individual. This is just one easy example that ties into mundane and magical correspondance. To begin with, I was experiencing energetic confusion. Being AFAB but identifying as non-binary with a slight lean to masculine, I was left with some thought and considerations in my work as I made great effort to balance and discover what was comfortable for me as an occult practitioner. In short, I felt as if I lack substantial Harmony. I understood and could be receptive to the energies at play, but how I was incorperating them left me something to be desired. The Baphomet had been a superiorly supportive guide in my efforts to find balance and acceptance for myself between my mind body, and spirit; as well as They encouraged me to pursue hormone therapy and finally see a physician for my transition. But that is just the beginning.

The Baphomet has been a greatly supportive Force of encouragement in my life as a Divine Being that encourages me to maintain bodily, spiritual, and mental health. Clean water and air, grounding energies through yoga, and finding meditation in my free time are just a few of the disciplines that I have been pushed towards and managed to maintain. The Baphomet is not shy about digging up things that you hide. All is illuminated before Them and through Their light, you see yourself as you are. This includes the things you may not be happy about within yourself. But Their embrace is warm and supportive and the guidance They provide unveils all hidden within you and the truth you need to know to help guide you on the right Path to work with yourself and the energies both within and around you in more harmonious ways. They do not sugarcoat anything. I found that out quite plainly. Though there has never been harshness nor bitterness. No malice or disappointment comes from Them. It is simply a reality bestowed upon you. And then you are reminded who you are hurting in the process of poor decisions or lack of care. And then you are often shown what those consequences are. And from there, what paths are open to you in order to remedy this. Though my case, I imagine, is exceptionally mild. I have no extreme excitements that happen in my life and I do not suffer from much, if anything that requires intense and deep rectification.

At the same time, I have been nurtured and supported through the journeys and walks I have taken closely with Baphomet. When They feel that I will need Them, they make it no secret. They are loud and obvious when they come into my space and bring their essence and presence with Them. When a situation or my need for Them comes, it is like clockwork. There is no shyness and no shame, just acceptance and guidance, support and encouragement.

The Baphomet is vocal and very intense at times, though I am always enraptured by Their presence. Often I am presented with the soft and deep voice, neither feminine nor masculine, human or animal, that says things like: “You will succeed. Because you will it. I believe in you. I know your will. I thus know your ability. I thus know your Power. For your Power is my Power. I believe in myself. And you believe in Me. We have Faith. Together and within Eachother.”

• Just an example I had written when I first had begun working closely with the Baphomet.

Other circumstances I have seen the Baphomet in revolve around practitioners needing firm guidance and discipline. Within the union of the Baphomet, you are given regular knowledge and awareness of your progress and your current circumstances. You are exposed to your reflection. The stark contrast most of our energies have and who we are greatly are reflected within the presence of the Baphomet. Such a sort of Divine Being really does well at snapping how we compare to Their Divine Energy in a way that we are compelled immediately to reflect upon ourselves as we are within Their Embrace. And yet, I never have felt inadequate or unworthy.

I have been greatly gifted with the ability to connect to Divine Forces with natural ease since I was a child. I have capitalised upon that skill with great enthusiasm and have been fortunate enough to have been able to find the Baphomet in my personal workings and Gnosis over the last decade. It has been a great pleasure and greatly illuminating and has provided me with tools and wisdom that I feel were paramount to my development as a magician and sorcerer in various studies of the Occult. My personal workings have brought me to be able to write this document with a great amount of enthusiasm and I appreciate the time people have taken to read this.

I am going to close this out now and draw it to an end. Listed below are books that I have sourced some of the information from as per provided by other sources as well.

—

Encyclopaedia Americana 1851

https://correspondencesjournal.com/15303-2/ ("The 'Baphomet' of Eliphas Lévi: Its Meaning and Historical Context")

Barber, Malcolm (2006). The Trial of the Templars

Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie - Lévi, Éliphas

Michaud, Joseph Francois (1853). The History of the Crusades (google Books)

The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Templars

The History of the Knights Templar - Charles Addison

A Brief Introductory Study of Sul'voth Runes

     I wanted to put together a brief record of my studies into Dirokvul as a practice, but primarily of the Sul’voth runes themselves. Dirokvul is a splendidly curated craft by Sil Ualthum. Sil Ualthum is an occult practitioner with a fine taste for linguistic arts as well as sigils and runes. The prospect of crafting an entire alphabet of imagery that produces particular facets of energy and focus is not only one of the most fascinating and needed additions to the occult community as it grows but also a rather impressive feat in and of itself.

As a humble hobbyist runesmith and sigil craftsman myself, I am quite drawn to the Sul’voth. In this piece, I am going to simply take some time to record here the small progress I have made with my studies into the Sul’voth, the processes I have taken, feedback from my colleagues, and experimentations with the Sul’voth.

If you have not regarded the Sul’voth, the following link should provide you with access to some preliminary data and information. 

https://ualthum.tumblr.com/Dirokvul

To begin, I went ahead and worked somewhat backward with the Sul’voth. Whereas certainly there may have been a particular purpose to the order in which the Sul’voth were presented to me, I opted instead to work more intuitively with them as I began my study. 

https://ualthum.tumblr.com/sulvoth-runes

It felt a bit more appropriate for me, though I could not definitively tell you why.

To begin, I had structurally found myself becoming familiar with each rune and its name as well as preliminary meanings and translations. These runes are not just letterings but structurally they are a very essence, an augur if you will, of the propositions they provide. They do not mean what they mean. They are what they mean. They are an embodiment of their meaning. The form that they take is a direct continuum of the essences they bestow upon the practitioner. And they are exceptionally effective as well.

Colleagues of mine have varying and supportive inputs on these and found that their practices and paths vary in determining their integrity to take in the prospects of particular runes. This is unsurprising of course, as not every individual is accustomed to certain spices or various dialects. This would depend on their attunement of course.

I chose to begin my study without the usage of drilling out information and knowledge. Instead, I familiarised myself with each rune through the tedious process of copying my own chart of the runes and using it as a reference guide. In doing this, I become familiar with the shapes and forms that the runes make. I added the base information in my reference notes below each rune along with the names.

From this point, I felt that the best approach was to disregard some of the texts with the utmost amount of respect and familiarise myself with the forms and shapes from an intuitive perspective. For about fifteen minutes, I spent time meditating briefly upon each rune and the particular energies they provided. I went through each rune and then proceeded to, in a separate space, practice the shapes of the runes that I felt particularly connected to. With a focus on particular runes I had a smooth transition into comprehending, I then opened up the generously provided texts and I began my reading from there.

Not in any particular order, I have begun my study and focus on the runes with the following:

Ish
Av
Um
Wos
Yil
Nol

    Wos has been a particular focus of mine as I attempt to work closely with it. I have found it to be quite smooth alongside other runes and using it as a preliminary rune alongside Thu. With this support in the beginning of a study session, I have discovered that the usage of these two in conjunction provides opportunity, exposure, and coherence for other runes. This process has been slowly refined of course and the sessions are minimal. I have become far more acquainted with the runes of choice through these processes.

As I progress down these lines and work more intimately with the six I was particularly drawn to, I have found that other runes link and commune with one another in a coherent and smooth manner. It is like one is a breeze and the other is an aroma carried upon it. Nol blends into Ish a bit for me and then Ish blends into Rak (a rune that I am sub-par in my comprehension of and I am hardly a novice in my study).

    However, as I work with bindrunes (properly and respectively known as Dal’urk) -

(of course, there is a sacred structure to the bindrune processes of Sul’voth. A limit of two runes per bind-rune has made this a particularly flexible and structuralized process) - it has been seen that the results may or may not be received in manners that are coherent to other practitioners. I mentioned this hitch earlier.

Sul’voth has a particularly eldritch hue to it. Its mysticism and formation have a channel to it that emphasizes the essence of the runes and their proper energies in a way that seem to have heavy effects upon the individual using them. Their influence is not to be taken lightly.

Practitioners of various blends and palettes have spoken of struggle with particular runes and their energies. This is understandable. While my colleagues have worked within the realm of comprehension of the runes, there has been varying success with particular runes due to the influences they carry. Whereas there is an ease of flow for runes that align closer to the practitioner’s natural energy.

Due to the functionality and the sheer birth of the runes themselves and how they breathe into the space of the practitioner, this will potentially be a common thing noticed amongst the adept practitioners. They notice and make good connections to the runes that are particular to the infrastructure of their practice and knowledge. The backbones of the work they do are the facets of the spine that they find the runes slotting into. This, I believe, could provide a gateway for other runes to be expanded upon as the vertebrate of the spine is stretched through the runes that anchor themselves into the more stable structures of the magician’s practice. 

Though the segment here is short, I wanted to provide a little bit of some notes on the very early beginnings of how I have begun to go about the study of Sul’voth runes. In additional pieces I would like to focus on not necessarily each individual rune, but how particular runes are adapting into my work and my sigil craft.

The frontier here that has been provided by Sil Ualthum for me is ripe and vibrant. I excitedly look forward to being able to provide a more structured and detailed bit that contains workings on the sigil work that I have been experimenting with. Due to the sheer ingenuity of the Sul’voth, I am not comfortable quite yet releasing too much in the way of the Dal’urk, as it is still in the Experimentation Labs for me. I am quite adamant about continuing to do meditations and workings with the Sul’voth as I expand and grow my horizons in these early stages of study. As I refine the Dal’urk I have become fond of, there may be more for me to provide here in my humble corner.

Many thanks for your time and a special thank you to Sil Ualthum who has given birth to a stunning focus and creation. As much as this piece I have written is rather meretricious, I hope for it to be a primer for more pragmatic concepts and visuals in the future.