We’re now several posts deep into an exploration of consecrations in the Solomonic tradition. We’ve discussed consecrations of tools and of physical space. There’s one final piece of the puzzle to talk about when it comes to consecration: consecration of the magician themselves. And this is one of the most important elements, as the thing that ultimately engages in communication with a spirit is… you.
There is often a knee-jerk reaction against the purification instructions in the Solomonic grimoires. This stems from several misconceptions. The first is the idea that these purifications are uniquely Christian additions to the tradition, or somehow not in keeping with the nature of the spirits being contacted; if you are excited to commune with demons, being told the first step is attending mass and confession is somewhat anticlimactic. The second is the idea that these restrictions, such as abstinence, are founded in outmoded moralities. If our society has moved beyond the idea that sex is inherently sinful or unclean, why would we need to refrain from it?
Let’s look first at fasting and abstinence, which we can expand to cover all acts of self-denial. Depending on the source, this can include eliminating certain foods (meat or alcohol), restricting the foods consumed more severely (bread and water fasts), or eliminating food altogether for a prescribed period. Some sources mandate periods of abstinence or chastity. Some call for the avoidance of immoral behavior, such as swearing or intoxication.
These requirements can certainly be viewed through a Christian lens: before beginning an operation where we call on Christ, we should model ourselves on a Christian ideal of behavior. But there is a deeper significance to these requirements as well. They are as much about self-mastery as they are about any particular standard of behavior. They give us a period where we demonstrate that we can overcome our vices, placing the importance of our spiritual pursuits above earthly pleasures. They also move us closer to the plane on which the spirits we are attempting to contact reside. The more “sublime” we can make ourselves, the more easily we can bring ourselves into contact with subtle spirits.
Through this lens, anything that saps our attention or anchors us more firmly in the physical world is worth avoiding during our fasting period. Food, sex, and intoxicating substances are classic examples. But we might decide to include a fast from social media, video games, or digital devices entirely – despite this being beyond the scope of any traditional source (grimoiric or Christian). We can attempt to follow the spirit of these injunctions to fast, rather than just the letter.
The next requirement often encountered is the need to attend mass, go to confession, or take the Eucharist. These are actions that, to a Renaissance monk, brought one into closer contact with the divine. For Catholics, this is still a great place from which to operate. For the rest of us, we can look for other opportunities to connect with divinity. Perhaps in our practice that looks like periods of prayer, meditation, or contemplation. Confession in particular tends to be a sticky topic with modern readers, given the complex feelings about “sin.” However, I would encourage you to think of it not as an outmoded system of control but as an acknowledgment of human failure. We should take a hard look at our imperfections, own the mistakes we have made in the past – without excuse or blame – and release the guilt we may feel around those failings.1 The recitation of psalms, prayers, or biblical passages that petition the divine for forgiveness of our innate human failings are appropriate here.
The final element of personal purification is physical cleanliness. In many ways, a ritualized cleansing of the body plays a similar role to confession. Just as we might sprinkle a tool with blessed water to exorcise unwanted influences, we can bathe ourselves in similarly blessed water to wash away undesirable patterns or energies.2 But there is also a very pragmatic element to personal cleanliness.
The spirits we are attempting to evoke are subtle, often explicitly aerial in nature. There is a large corpus of traditional sources indicating such spirits are sensitive to smells – prohibitions on priests eating fish that date back to ancient Egypt, the warding away of hostile spirits with garlic or pungent herbs, the burning of sulfur or asafoetida to banish spirits from a place, etc. For a disembodied spirit of the air, you showing up to a ritual covered in your very human body-stink might be revolting. Being freshly bathed before entering into your ritual space heads that issue off as well. Cleanliness, as the saying goes, is next to godliness.
Personally, I like to use a two-part approach to purification. An initial phase of self-denial lasting anywhere from one to seven days. How rigorous this self-denial is depends on the operation – from eating lightly and giving up vices on the light end, to full on fasting, chastity, and digital detox on the heavy end. Following this period of self denial, I take a cleansing bath immediately prior to beginning an operation. This is a bath in blessed water,3 during which I recite the 51st Psalm in conjunction with the Confiteor prayer. Between these two stages I come into a ritual cleansed, focused, and well-aligned to get in touch with a spirit.
We’ve covered the exorcism of materials to remove unwanted influences, the consecration of tools, the construction of a circle, and now the purification of the magician themselves. All the pieces required for the first, Consecratio Dei stage of our Solomonic framework. We have created a cleansed and fortified ritual space, purified ourselves spiritually and physically, and are (finally) ready to step into it and begin the work of spirit conjuration.
This post is part of a series on Solomonic magic. You can find the next post here.
- Prolific author and conjuror Jake Stratton-Kent incorporated elements of confession as an important stage in his own rituals, despite his coming at spirit conjuration from a decidedly non-Christian lens. ↩︎
- Indeed the two intention prayers discussed in the consecration post are explicitly for blessing water to use in this way. ↩︎
- Exorcised and blessed as outlined in previous posts. ↩︎