More on Blood Substitutes – Gosling and Black Cat

The Key of Solomon calls for the use of the blood of a gosling in the consecration of the White-hilted Knife.  (This is the knife used to prepare all other holy implements, cut herbs, candles, etc, etc.)  It also calls for the blood of a black cat in the consecration of the Black-hilted Knife.  (This is the knife used to inscribe the protective circle and command the infernal spirits. It is in many ways like the Solomonic Sword.)  On my Solomonic Group, someone asked about the possibility of using my “Solomonic Herbal Water” method to substitute for these ingredients.  I decided to use this as an opportunity to offer two good examples of how to apply the method I have described:

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I did some poking around on the gosling, and found a great resource:

The Continuum Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in Art
Goose entry: p. 198-200
http://tinyurl.com/GooseSymbolism

As I suspected, the goose (a white animal) is a celestial symbol:  “Probably because of its high flight, it is a solar creature, associated with male virility, divine knowledge and the ability of the mind to communicate on all three levels…  the bird symbolizes wisdom, discrimination and spiritual knowledge.”

Quite appropriate for the White-hilted Knife, and very solar.  I would suggest making some holy water according to my “omiero” method, using Solar plants and Psalms that invoke the wisdom and knowledge of the Most High.  And just for good measure, you can add some goose feather to the final mix.

Update 1-5-11 : A member of my Solomonic group recently pointed out that Mars should reside in one of the signs it rules – Aries or Scorpius – when the White-Hilted Knife is consecrated. When I put together this blog, I had somehow passed over that fact and thus made no mention of Mars. The group member suggested geese were sacrificed to Ares and Mars, but I have not been able to verify that info. (The animals I have found sacred to Ares and Mars are the poisonous serpent, the wolf, the jackal, the owl, the vulture and the woodpecker.) At this time, it appears the gosling may not be directly linked to the martial force after all. Jake Kent, another member of the group, has suggested that magickal knives in general may be sacred to Vulcan (blacksmith of the gods), who has been associated with Mars in the past.

The black cat (and the Black-hilted Knife) is associated with Saturn.  (Coupled with the Sword consecrated to Mars, you have the Mars/Saturn combo often associated with controlling spirits in the grimoires.)  Of course a cat represents magick in general, and then the black color associates it with lower and infernal spirits.  (After all, the Black-hilted knife is a goetic tool.)  As the “Continuum Encyclopedia…” points out on pages 74-75, during the medieval era cats were kept mainly to control the rodent population- so it makes sense to use the blood of a cat to consecrate a dagger to control infernal spirits.  At the same time, black cats (especially) were associated with witches and black magick – hence my association of the black cat to Saturn.

So, in place of the blood of a black cat, make the “omiero” holy water with plants related to Saturn, and Psalms invoking the wrath, might and protection of the Most High.  (You could also add some fur, a whisker or even a claw from a black cat to the final mix.)  Be careful, though!  Many of Saturn’s plants are poisonous, like hemlock.  You don’t want to absorb that kind of thing into your hands.

Hopefully that will give you a good idea of the process involved in making such substitutions.  🙂

P.S. – The Key of Solomon also calls for blood in the case of magickal inks.  In that case, the blood is a thickening agent.   Thus, besides creating a holy water to substitute for the animal in question, you’ll also need to add something like gum-arabic to the ink to thicken it.

LVX
Aaron