How come Aaron Leitch has never seen a spirit?

Ok, folks I just had to blog about this one…

This morning, at work, I encountered a rare instance where I had a few minutes of downtime at the end of my shift.  So, having nothing better to do at that moment, I decided to see what ol’ Google had to say about “aaron leitch” (yes, I do that from time to time!).  Past all the usual links to my website, blog, Facebook, defunct MySpace page and my books, I found this gem:

How come Aaron Leitch has never seen a spirit?

You can imagine how that grabbed my attention.  LOL  If you click on the above link – which is a summary of the thread – you’ll find some interesting comments.  Such as:

“…it appears he has never evoked a spirit to physical manifestation.   Why is that?”

I love this one:

“He calls their name and leaves out cookies. Im not sure that is traditional.”

Maybe they read my essay on Santa Claus and got confused?  Of course, someone asked the obvious question:

“Ok, how do we know he has never evoked a spirit to visible manifestation? Has he said so?”

But then we see this reply:

“Yes on many occasions. He said that it does not bother him and it is not a concern. “

Of course we aren’t offered any quotes to back up that claim – which is interesting.  I, for one, would love to see someone quote me – from my blogs, books, forums or anywhere else – actually claiming that I have never seen a spirit.  LOL

Over the years that I have been an author and forum-poster I have learned two truisms:

1) If people can get the wrong impression about what you write they will.

2) People can always get the wrong impression of what you write.

You guys know that I pride myself on writing some of the most down-to earth documents about magick ever written.  No needlessly big words or jargon intended merely to make me look smart and make you feel “out of the loop.”  If I am asked (or am addressing) a question, I answer it in plain simple English – suitable for translating into plain simple (insert your language here).  Yet, the above two rules apply to my work just as surely as they do the work of Aleister Crowley – who regularly inserted in-jokes and blinds and red herrings because he found it fun to do so.

I am, perhaps, more forthcoming than most with my work – freely sharing my techniques and results, and lately even adding photos into the mix.  Of course, that doesn’t mean I share every magickal secret I know with you guys.  There are many layers to what I do, and you can bet I’m not going to share every bit of it with the world.

For example, take a look at the photo I posted of the ingredients for my Abramelin Oil.  Have you noticed that one ingredient is wrapped in a white paper towel?  Why do you suppose I would do that?  And, given that, what else do you suppose I’m not telling you?  Sometimes what I leave unsaid is as important as what I say.  😉  But enough about that.

Here is another interesting quote from the above-linked thread:

“To me it seems that he writes many times as if he were a skeptic. Maybe thats why.   At times I fee like asking him “Ok, do you believe in magic or not???”

That one makes a little more sense.  I purposefully write as if I were an academic studying magick from a cultural perspective, rather than as a “rabid true believer” who accepts everything occult as pure-distilled fact.  Or, as it was stated – as a skeptic.  Why?  Because I want my work to be read by people outside of occult circles, people who may be skeptics themselves – but who might actually take an interest in the subject matter as a valid aspect of the human experience.

Note my membership in the Societas Magica – an academic, rather than an occult,  group.  Well-respected scholars are finally looking into these subjects with open minds, rather than looking down their noses at it, and us.  I want to encourage them.

Plus, I’m just not “into” dumping a bunch of my personal beliefs and things that my spirits have told me on you – dear reader – and expect you to just accept them without critical thinking.  We’ve got enough occult authors out there that do that – and will call you plenty of names if you dare to question or challenge them on any of it.  What my spirits tell me is my fucking business, and it really isn’t going to impact how you work anyway.  So, I’d rather just stick to documented facts and let you do the Work for yourself.

I registered for that forum in order to clear up the questions those folks have about me.  I’m not sure if I’ll even go back to see how they respond.  I may or may not, but ultimately I’ve had my say and they will believe what they choose to believe about me regardless of my explanations.  They’ve already applied the “two rules” to me anyway – so “what’re ya gunna do?”

In case you groovy folks following my ramblings here are interested, I’ll share with you how I responded to them.  Hell, maybe it will clear up some questions even you have had about me.  😉

Greetings!

Aaron Leitch here, and I would like to clear up a few points:

1)  Yes, I have indeed seen spirits, had visions, heard sounds, smelled smells, had scientifically-unexplainable manifestations and more.  I have never stated, anywhere, that I have never seen a spirit.  

However, I have stated that I am not “naturally wired” to interact with the spirits in a visual manner.  I seem to be better wired for sound, and sometime smell and always for “feeling.”  But, like Dr. Dee, I can’t count on visuals every time, so I often employ a skryer (a very talented one to whom I also happen to be married).

In my writings, I try to get across the idea that evocation is NOT about getting the visuals or other “special effects.”  They are damn fun when they happen!  But they aren’t the point of the work – and there should be at least one author out there that is willing to admit it.  I think this is where some of you have gotten the impression that I’ve “never seen a spirit.”

2) Do I believe in magick or not?  Most certainly I do!  However, I don’t just write for “true believers.”  My writings are fit for study in academic circles as well as occult circles – so I often take what might seem to be a disconnected stance from the material.  I present magick as a cultural thing – with a real function to fulfill in society – not just something that I practice myself and desire others to “believe in.”

As for Enochian magick – you can be sure that much of Dee’s material (especially the Heptarchia) has sources older than Dee himself.  Enochian magick wasn’t just handed down to humans by angels who carved the words in stone.  They chose Dee because he already had a certain basis of knowledge in his head (and at his fingertips) which they needed in order to build the Enochian system as we know it.  (Such as when Dee asked for the form of the Seal of the True God, and was told, “It is already perfected in a book of thine.”  Said book turned out to be Liber Juratis, and the angels only had to supply new lettering to go with the existing figure.)

Most of the Heptarchia was constructed this way.  Some have said that Dee’s work was the “culmination” of all the magick that had come before him, after which he bounded off into new realms with Liber Loagaeth and the Great Table of the Earth.

I hope this has answered some of your questions.

In LVX
Aaron