Greetings festival goers!
As promised, here are the bios for the ritual and workshops I’ll be hosting at Phoenix Phyre in March:
March 18th – 22nd, 2015; 2505 W Bella Vista Street, Lakeland, FL. 33810
Click here for Phoenix Phyre registration info.
Solomonic Ritual – Invocation of the Elementals
One of the fastest growing movements in the occult scene today is the revival of the Old Magick. That is, magick as it was done before the rise of the 19th century magickal lodges (Golden Dawn, Thelema, etc) and modern Neopaganism and Wicca. The Old Magick comes in many forms – from “fam-trad” witchcraft to the African Traditional Religions (Santeria, Palo, Voodoo), indigenous folk traditions (Hoodoo, Hexcraft, Stregheria) to native shamanism, and of course the medieval European spell books called “grimoires” that form the backbone of the Solomonic tradition (the Key of Solomon the King, Lemegeton, Heptameron, etc).
For the past one hundred years, the Solomonic grimoires have been conflated with the later lodge systems like the Golden Dawn, and are therefore often classified as “ceremonial magick.” However, as outlined in Aaron Leitch’s “Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires”, the magick of the grimoires is much more akin to sorcery, shamanism or folk magick. If you are Pagan, you might be surprised by how familiar a Solomonic ritual will feel.
And now you have a rare opportunity to witness (or participate in) such a ritual for yourself! Phoenix Phyre has invited grimoire masters Aaron Leitch and Carrie Mikell to perform a Solomonic Invocation of the Elementals in honor of the festival theme of “magickal creatures.”
We will be invoking the presence of the four classes of Elemental spirits (Salamanders, Undines, Sylphs and Gnomes) through the authority of the four Kings of the compass points. They will be invited to partake of four Elemental offerings and in return will be asked to protect the festival grounds and guide all attendees in their own personal spiritual journeys.
While this will not be a full “evocation to visible appearance”, the spirits very likely will make their presence known to those who are sensitive enough to see or hear them. Therefore we will be inviting any and all skryers to attend and participate in the invocations. Also, ALL who attend will be welcome to write their own private petitions to the spirits.
Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires
Explore the history of the “Old Magick”, from ancient shamanic traditions, to the medieval Solomonic grimoires and into the modern occult revival. The Old Magick – a line separate from the Golden Dawn, Thelema and much of the modern Neopagan movement – has been a lost art in the West for hundreds of years. But now it’s coming back, and this lecture will explore how it got from its primordial origins to those of us following the same path today.
We will cover topics associated with famous grimoires such as the Key of Solomon the King, the Goetia, the Heptameron and the Book of Abramelin. We will disucss related systems of folk magick such as Witchcraft, Hexcraft and Hoodoo – as well as various African Traditional Religions. We will talk about the people and places that gave rise to the Solomonic grimoires, and we will talk about how the Old Magick is enjoying a massive resurgance in today’s occult communities.
Bring your questions, as this will be an open discussion!
The Lost Secrets of Western Magick Revealed
Have you ever noticed the distinct separation between modern Western occultism (i.e. Wicca, Thelema, Golden Dawn, Theosophy, the New Age, etc.) and the indigenous occultism practiced by the rest of the world? Our techniques are different in fundamental ways, and (historically) both sides have suffered from various amounts of disdain for one another. Non-Western conjurors and shamans often describe our magick as more fantasy than reality.
This is because, during the Renaissance and the following Age of Enlightenment, the West left “superstition” behind and decided that everything could be viewed through the lens of science and psychology. Consequently, that is what their magick became, and it is why to this very day Western systems are accused of being “purely mental.”
Of course, Western magick is hardly completely ineffective. That is merely a negative stereotype. But we can still learn new (or, better, re-learn very ancient) techniques to make our magick even stronger. So, if you are struggling with your magick and would like to know why you aren’t achieving the results you desire, or you simply want better results than you’ve attained in the past, or even if you are simply always seeking to expand your practice with powerful techniques that really work — then this is the lecture for you.
Bring your questions, as this will be an open discussion!
Click here for Phoenix Phyre registration info.
Salamander
Undines
Sylphs
Gnome
Ananael (The Secrets of Wisdom) 
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