Goetia - Alliance With Demonic Spirits

Goetia - Alliance With Demonic Spirits

Of course, the Goetia has been largely lumped in with an amorphous “planetary system”, despeite the clear distinctions laid out in Hermetic philosophy. Again, at the root of this is the syncretization done by the Golden Dawn system and it’s main adherent/heretic Alistair Crowley. For this reason alone, you’ll see Astrological symbols of the old planets governing a great number of operations aimed at conjuring demonic entities, despite very clear evidence that this was never meant to be the case.

Despite the many causes advanced by Crowley, this lumping in seems to be more of a personal nature than one that is steeped in any important magickal philosophy. Crowley went so far as to claim that the Goetic demons were merely “parts of his own psyche” which is almost assuredly a bold-face lie. To assume he thought this, despite so much evidence contrary to the fact is dangerous. Crowley certainly thought of many entities as being greater or separate from him, and wouldn’t have went so far as to suggest they were all in his head, unless he had a specific reason for doing so.

In fact, the preface to the Goetia that Crowley advanced almost undoubtedly contained a number of falsehoods. He wouldn’t have spent so much time with his very artistic evocations if he was merely reaching into the far depths of his own mind. Why the incredible number of precautions? And why, particulary the threats of torture and possible death of the entity? If the demon was merely a part of your own mind, it would seem incredible stupid to threaten this region with torture and possible death. Alistair Crowley was a lot of things, but dumb wasn’t one of them.

“The All is Mind; The Universe Is Mind”. In “The Kybalion”, the tenets of the Hermetic philosophy are laid out, and the first premise is a simple one: it’s all in your mind. The Universe is largely a creation of your own thought projections. Robert Anton Wilson covered this theme, as well. Whatever the thinker thinks, the prover proves.

If Goetic entities are just a part of your mind, then lengthy warnings about the danger you face would serve no purpose. I’ve also heard the concept that Goetic demons are merely a part of the psyche and are hard-wired into each of us is something that my research doesn’t agree with. In fact, the idea of threatening a part of your psyche is ludicrous. Almost all of the texts make a similar claim. They claim that the mage needs to come into contact with the demonic entities in order to subdue them and put them under control. Modern pyschology doesn’t seem to have run along a correlary path when it comes to this subject, for certain obvious reasons.

But let’s go a step further. What if these entities weren’t just a part of you? Instead, let’s imagine they were eternal creatures with their own set of rules and a tightly defined agenda. Let’s assume further that part of their agenda was to entertain themselves, even at your expense. What would happen if when you called on them, demandingly, they only pretended to agree with you and do your bidding, but instead they decided to purposely screw you up, just to entertain themselves? My
contention is that this is closer to the truth than what has been laid out in countless texts so far.

After all this beings are called demons. And what’s in a name? The character should be readily revealed when you read most of their descriptions. No matter how you look at it, going with a demon first makes no sense. You can be tricked. They will attempt to confuse and deceive you. And most importantly they are rarely well suited to their task. Before calling on the help of a potentially malevolent being, why not try with an entity of a more divine nature? Dealing with a demon is like catching a leprechaun. Sure, he might tell you where the pot of gold is hidden, but chances are very good he’ll try and screw you over instead.