My First Experience with the Goetia: Checking Personal Bias as a Magician

 My First Experience with the Goetia: Checking Personal Bias as a Magician

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Recently, I completed a magical operation requesting aid and intervention from two goetic spirits—Bune and Adromalius. There have been some personal issues cropping up in my life that prompted me to seek spiritual mediation. I had been struggling with multiple opposing parties that were bleeding interpersonal conflict into business dealings. It was affecting my social standing, other connections, community events, and frankly—my mental bandwidth. These individuals were unfairly targeting me, and I had simply had enough. I had worked with the Gorgons and put their names in my mirror box. Eris came forward to me in a dream, showing their homes falling around them (interestingly enough, I discovered that ‘Kalliste,’ while connected to Eris, is also an epithet of Hekate), and other physical world actions to assist with the spiritual ones. 

There had been slow progress on the political chessboard; moves were made by parties that weakened their standing, and ultimately, enough had cleared or been in place for me to make the final blow. I felt similar to Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender, delivering the final blow on the drill. In a seemingly impenetrable situation, I was able to maneuver the social civic playing field just enough for Bune and Adromalius to finish the game. I extend my deepest gratitude to these spirits. For the first time in this year-long battle, I feel lighter and that keeping to my personal values, integrity and dedication to being kind— has not gone unnoticed. 

I recited the opening of Sorcery of Hekate, asking for Hekate Physi to ‘bind all demons and set them into my service’, I used Rufus Opus’ conjure techniques from his Goetia guide to invoke Bune and Adromalious and asked for Bune and Adromalious to come. Immediately—they appeared! I was shocked at how apparent they were in terms of their presence. Previously when invoking Angels, the air would be different and the smells would change to their corresponding scents. Their presence was subtle and as I have worked with them over-time they appear quicker. However, with this operation, it was like Hekate directly plopped them into my conjure circle. After I was over my initial astonishment, I spoke to the Spirits clearly about what I needed to help my cause. I presented the offerings to them and told them if they accomplished what I was asking, they would get more. Adromalious was forthright, astute and I received the impression that he was understanding of what ethics and laws were crossed by my opponents. He was thoughtful, lawyer-esque and I felt his viper coiling to strike down the parties that sought my destruction. Bune on the other hand, I heard clearly say, “Not theirs!” Bune’s demeanor was a bit sing-song, devious, and playful. There was also a hint of ‘lover boi’ charm to him as well. He is a part of the Venus domain so I wasn’t entirely surprised at this aspect.

I gave the Spirits license to depart after our conversation concluded and then went back inside. In hindsight, I am grateful I did my first operation with the Goetia outside. It was a neutral ground that wasn’t as intimate as inside my home. I saw it as we were meeting for the first time, they are potential business partners, and therefore were ‘porch folks’. An analogy for boundaries I like is that they’re like a house. (Rasnake, 2019) Depending on the levels of intimacy there are people who you only want to visit with on your porch, some people are welcome in your living room, and a select few can come into your bedroom—this same should be applied to Spirits. First operation with a new Spirit? They are porch folks. One of my first articles on this blog was about how boundaries are essential as a magician. Just like people— Spirits will push you around. Step into your own divine authority, know thyself, and your personal spiritual boundaries. Don’t take shit from anyone, especially Spirits. 

I have known and read about the Goetia for years. I had read The Lesser Key of Solomon, listened to many episodes of GlitchBottle with Dr. Stephen Skinner, and other resources. My ex-partner, who was a practitioner, spoke about them with me as well. Frankly, my ex negatively influenced my view (along with other things, but I digress), his perspective was laced with the Southern Baptist ideologies. I also grew up Catholic, and I had many misconceptions that I needed to deprogram myself from before working with the Goetic Spirits. I was terrified of Goetia for a long time—nervous they were going to hurt me—I believed that associating with them was going to taint my moral standing. I needed time to develop respect for them and not approach them from a place of fear. I have also had some run-ins with Spirits that were incredibly malicious. When I was a teenager and living with my eldest brother, a dark Spirit entered my room. It was the middle of the night, and worse—I was home alone. The Spirit began to taunt me, it knocked over books from my shelves. My dog sensed its malevolent nature and he started growling at the shadow figure. I was wrapped under a blanket in my bed, trembling in terror. I began to recite all the prayers I knew to get the Spirit out, as I progressed, saying them, it became angrier. Finally, after a long battle with it, I was able to command it out. Then my whoopie witch ass proceeded to line all the window sills with salt and draw protective symbols on the windows with holy water. I will say, I am impressed with myself because I was only seventeen. Afterwards, I stayed in the living room with my furry protector until I was able to calm down. 

This was my perception of the Goetia and Demons—that they were going to wreak havoc on my life. If I engaged with them, I would become someone unrecognizable. Intertwining them in my spiritual practice meant that I would be ‘damned’ and there was no coming back. Alexander Eth’s blog post, “In Defense of Demons”, makes this point as well. Essentially, the conditioning of the church and society as a whole fosters that Demons ruin everything and will corrupt your soul. “In general, today, mainstream religion serves billions of people as a whitewashed, smiley-faced artifice that stresses congregants to do good things, live a good life, avoid anything and everything demonic, listen to the preachers, and if you do all that, in return you’ll be promised to eventually, maybe, gain favor with the divine.” Eth shows that this anti-demon propaganda is psychologically and spiritually disingenuous. This mindset denies the reality that occult-based practices confront both the light and dark mental, ethereal forces. As highlighted by both Jason Miller, Eth, and Dr. Stephen Skinner—Lucifer and other Spirits of similar nature can and have been used in exorcisms and for holy purposes. In my personal process of stripping away this misinformed mentality, I had to confront my own internal shadows and realize that I am also full of dark and light. Energy is simply that—energy—I conduct and control where it goes. It is malleable and I channel it where I see fit based on my own personal morals. Goetic Spirits like humans are complex, they're multifaceted like Deities and other Entities. 

To deny the power and the reality of these Beings hinders one’s growth and wholeness as a magician. I had to take many years to be comfortable approaching these teachings and entities. The formingof that  path is unique to each occultist. I want to make this clear though: no one has to work with any Spirits or Deities that they do not want too. However, not acknowledging and learning about them can prevent your journey to sovereign power. There are Spirits that genuinely do not like Humans—which like—same. Plant spirits find humans very gross, which again—same. The Goetia are an interesting lot; I am eager to continue learning more about them as I expand my knowledge. Adromalius has challenged my ethics in ways that Angels never could; I had to ensure that I was coming from the most grounded, legitimate perspective. True justice needed to occur, and I needed to summon the right force to tip the scales. I also had to remember that sometimes—it takes a Demon to do God’s work. My practitioner friend, Nicole Gadbois, and founder of SoundMend, wrote a poem about Lucifer that helped me see ‘the opposite side of the coin’.

There you were, long ago—

Tracing circles within circles.

Around a City of Angels.

I watched as you traced the line inwards

Towards the Darkness—

Or was it light?

Your wings burning with truth,

Your eyes searing with love,

For them—

For me—

For us.

You did not fall—

You were not cast out—

You did a glorious back flip

off cloud nine.

For the purpose of

liberation.

For them—

For me—

For us.

Lucifer,

Light Bringer,

Morning Star,

Liberator,

I say to you every morning,

Your mantra

Empowers my heart—

To be true

To myself.

Above all,

We exist

With our own will

Because,

You did a back flip

Off cloud nine—

Breaking the bonds 

Of condition.

Demons and Lucifer, like all of us, are divine creations. Before Lucifer’s “fall,” he was going in circles with the others—conforming. He broke the cycle and chose free will. It was the awakening of humanity of independent thought. He was tired of the same cycle over and over again. Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." That is what Lucifer was experiencing until he carved his own path. Reflecting back on my life, I became more myself when I broke the mold of what everyone else was doing. It was difficult and painful, but I would do it all over again. I grew up in a small desert town, in terms of job and life choices, I was limited in what I could do. I often thought to myself—there has to be something better than this. I went to college, the first person in my family to do so, and this was after I graduated high school in three years. I continued with my artwork and my professional career in informal education and the nonprofit sector. Then in 2022, I decided to move out of my home state. I was always the ‘weird kid’ in my family and in school in general. I never followed what everyone else did; I marched to the beat of my own drum. There were years when I was off my path, being in an abusive relationship does that to you. It strips your sense of self, but when you decide to break free, you come home to yourself. My best friend of ten years said to me recently, “You are just as happy—if not happier—and free as you were when I first met you.” Sometimes divine authority is a circle that needs to be broken. Our own divine authority is when we choose to break free from what chains us. 

Jewish Kabbalah beliefs are that we do God through our actions and we maintain our own self-sovereignty of what is right. I often think of the story of Abraham and his son, Isaac. Demanded by God, Abraham was instructed to kill Isaac—his only son. From the Judaism perspective, this is a lesson of the dangers of blind obedience. We should never listen to anyone without checking with our own morals, even God. Especially if commanded to do such an abhorrent act. Mainstream religion demands that individuals follow the path like Abraham—blindly following a path, sacrificing our own ethics and reasoning. This impetuous thought process is all in vain to serve a distant, grueling deity. Esotericism operates under a different cosmic architecture. Under the lens of theurgy, we discover that God is not a static dictator, but rather an interactive circuit. Through actions, intentions, and magical operations—we humans do God. We don't approach and beg a monarch to fix our problems; rather we step into our divine authority to realign brokenness ourselves.

Carl Jung describes "Devil" as representing the shadow self, human ambition, and the ego. Embracing the shadow is seen as a necessary, albeit painful, step toward psychological wholeness and true human individuation. Lucifer is ambitious and brings a different form of ‘light’ —knowledge. Knowledge of the darker elements of humanity; his fall was a part of God’s plan. We all have our inner fire and rebel that goes against the divine commandment. Our inner fire is older than the heavens themselves and the start of the creation of the world. First, it was sound and then —light. The Garden of Eden is a blissful place, however, obedient ignorance became dangerous. Adam’s refusal to listen to Lilith, his first wife, was eroding the land. He wouldn’t listen to her saying the irrigation in their fields was harming the Earth. Lilith, depicted by Nikki Marmery in her book, shows that Lilith willfully left the Garden for truth and knowledge. Adam had also raped her. Adam is shown as coercive and using sexual intimacy to manipulate her. Her understanding was she was always an equal; she refused his controlling narrative and stood up against misogyny.  As a cis-woman who has had male partners who have been controlling, abusive, and refused to see me as an equal, it was a relatable depiction of the First Mother. Lilith also even goes back for Eve—which many survivors of abuse try to warn the ‘new’ partner of the abuse they endured. 

Lucifer and Lilith share similar values; they are independent thinkers outside of what is being taught. That is also the lesson that the Goetic Spirits teach as well. They are connected to the cosmos just as much as we are. As magicians, we can ask them for their intervention with our mortal problems, yes, but we must use their power wisely. We are the conductors of the direction they go and we need to take responsibility for the outcome. The Goetia will challenge you to be holier than Angels, because they were Angels once too. In the Harry Dresden series, a Fallen Angel is shown sighing over how beautiful a church is. This Fallen Angel, Lasciel, eventually sacrifices herself for Harry out of love—thus redeeming herself. I certainly am not saying that the Goetia will do this and do not attempt to ‘baptize’ them. However, they are incredibly helpful and operate on their own sense of values—just like all of us do. Bune and Adromalius were helpful to my cause, and I am grateful for their protection. I could not have accomplished what I needed without their aid. I urge everyone to reflect on their personal biases, as they could be preventing you from expanding your divine authority.