We’re now through all the preparatory phases in our deep dive on Solomonic conjuration. We’ve talked about setting the stage, consecrating our tools and completing the requisite purifications. We’ve talked about spirit names and seals, and the various different ways a spirit may show up when called. We’ve invoked various divinities, patrons, and gatekeepers for authority. The circle is set, the candles are burning, and we are ready to begin the actual evocation of the spirit we wish to contact. Um, how? What do we say?
It depends a lot on the tone you’re trying to strike in your ritual. For a light and friendly conjuration requesting the spirit’s presence, your evocation need not be much different from your initial invocations: a prayer addressed to the desired spirit that asks it to join you. To quote The Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals “…the most pure and simple way of calling the spirits or spirit is by a short oration to the spirit himself, which is more effectual and easy to perform…” It then goes on to provide the following conjuration:
In the name of the blessed and holy Trinity, I do desire thee, thou strong mighty angel, Michael, [Or any other angel or spirit] that if it be the divine will of him who is called Tetragrammaton &c. the Holy God, the Father, that thou take upon thee some shape as best becometh thy celestial nature, and appear to us visibly here in this crystal, and answer our demands in as far as we shall not transgress the bounds of the divine mercy and goodness, by requesting unlawful knowledge; but that thou wilt graciously shew us what things are most profitable for us to know and do, to the glory and honour of his divine Majesty, who liveth and reigneth, world without end. Amen
The Arbatel gives a very similar conjuration in aphorism 21:
Omnipotent and eternal God, who hast ordained the whole creation for thy praise and glory, and for the salvation of man, I beseech thee that thou wouldst send thy Spirit N.N. of the solar order, who shall inform and teach me those things which I shall ask of him; or, that he may bring me medicine against the dropsie, &c. Nevertheless not my will be done, but thine, through Jesus Christ thy onely begotten Son, our Lord. Amen.
Both these sources are piously Christian, but your conjurations need not follow this format. Rufus Opus in Seven Spheres uses Orphic hymns addressed to Greek gods for the conjuration of planetary powers. Jason Miller’s Consorting with Spirits uses custom conjurations that commemorate the deeds, powers, or appearance of the spirit itself. In any case, the general consensus seems to be that for spirits that are a) generally beneficent, and b) don’t mind being conjured, the conjuration itself can be fairly lightweight. Request the spirit’s presence, and if it’s willing it will come.
What about for spirits that don’t meet both those conditions? Either spirits that are viewed as dangerous and malignant, or spirits that don’t want to be called up to work with you. This is where you, as the operator, have some options.
One easy option is to just not. There are a large number of spirits in the world; some of them may not be eager to work with you and that’s fine. Just like with people, you can respect that choice and move on. Solomonic conjuration rituals are not inherently confrontational.
However, the legend of Solomon-as-magician is very much the story of commanding reluctant spirits by the power of God. There was a lot of crossover, historically, between practitioners of Solomonic magic and Catholic exorcists – both are seeking to constrain and compel an unwilling spirit, and drive it to a particular course of action.1
If you repeat the friendly conjuration of a spirit a number of times and it doesn’t appear, you may instead opt to ratchet up the pressure. This is where we get into forceful evocations that conjure spirits to appear by long strings of divine or barbarous names. These can become increasingly fanatical and threatening if the spirit continues to be absent.2 A good example where we can see this escalation in tone is the Lemegeton’s Goetia, which includes a long series of conjurations of increasing ferocity. This one appears in the latter half of the list:
O thou wicked and disobedient spirit [N.], because thou hast rebelled and not obeyed nor regarded my words which I have rehearsed They being all most glorious and Incomprehensible names of ye true god Maker and creator of you and me and all the world, I by the power of those names which no creature is able to resist doe curse you into the depths of ye Bottomless Pitt, There to remaine untill ye day of doome in chaines of fire and Brimstone unquenchable, unless you dost forthwith appear before this circle in This Triangle To doe my will; Therefore com peaceably and quietly in & by these names – Adonai, Zebaoth, Adonay, Amioram; come come why stay you, Adonay comandeth you.
If the spirit still does not appear, you can opt to take it even further, with actions intended to curse or punish the spirit for its disobedience. The Goetia suggests placing the spirit’s seal in a box with sulfur and stinking herbs, and roasting this over hot coals. An Excellent Booke of the Art of Magicke suggests various punishments based on the nature of the spirit:
…then punish him very straightly. As, if he be of the fire, then punish him with stinking water [urine], either of a man or woman, and put stinking things into it; and then put the stone into it and straightly command him to come forth out of the stone into the water that you did put him in, and there to tarry until you command him to come into the stone again. And if he be of the water, then take brimstone and burn it, and command him first to go into some stone for the purpose, and then put him into the burning brimstone; and that is for the punishment of them [of fire and water], reading a curse over them. And if he be of the air, then you must command him to go forth of the stone into some vile stinking mud, and to tarry in it, until you do command him to go in the stone again.3
I’m going to be honest, I’ve never taken a conjuration this far. I have my doubts about the effectiveness of roasting seals over brimstone or dunking shewstones in pee. But if a spirit is being recalcitrant, then such punishments are available as historically-attested options.
Personally, I like to start out with an assumption of mutual goodwill. I’ll begin with a friendly conjuration. If I don’t get my desired results with that I’ll repeat it a few times, with breaks in between to give the spirit some time to appear (and myself some time to sense them if they do). If at that point I’m still not seeing results, I might go up to a more forceful conjuration. If after a couple repetitions of that I’m still not seeing results, I’ll bail. Either the spirit is not at all interested in working with me, or it is and it’s already there and I’m just not able to sense it. In either case, you can state your request of the spirit and give it the license to depart.4 Worst case scenario, nothing comes of it. Sometimes rituals fail.
But let’s assume for now that’s not the case. You made your calls and got an answer. A wild spirit has appeared! Then we can proceed to the next step in our Solomonic framework: Constrictio.
This post is part of a series on Solomonic magic. You can find the next post here.
- Appearing, in the case of a conjuration; leaving, in the case of an exorcism. ↩︎
- One source to look to for inspiration is exorcism rituals themselves; I know of a couple of occultists who have adapted Girolamo Menghi’s sixth exorcism into conjurations to great effect. ↩︎
- Legard, P. and Cummins, A. (2020). An Excellent Booke of the Arte of Magicke. Scarlet Imprint. ↩︎
- It’s worth noting that if you decide the spirit isn’t coming and bail on the ritual, you shouldn’t skip the license to depart. If for some reason the spirit is present but you can’t sense them, this would leave them hanging in a way that is at best rude and at worst dangerous. ↩︎