We’ve now made it all the way through our examination of Solomonic conjuration rituals. The spirit has appeared and any desired requests or exchanges have taken place. The only thing left to do is close down the ritual. This is where our final step comes in: Licensia, the license to depart.
In the Constrictio step, we established the terms of engagement with the spirit, including directing it not to depart before we’d given it leave. This final step is where we give that leave. Fundamentally, the license to depart is just a statement that the ritual is concluded and the spirit is free to return to whatever it was doing before it was conjured. I’ll include a couple of examples, but my general philosophy here is simpler is better. From the Goetia:
O Thou spirit N. Because thou hast very dilligently answered my demands and was ready and willing to come at my first call I doe hear licence thee to depart unto thy proper place without doeing any Injury or danger to any man or beast. Depart I say and be ever reddy to come at my call being duly Exorcised and conjured by ye sacred rites of Magicke. I charge thee to withdraw peacebly and quietly, and the peace of God be ever continued between me and thee. Amen.
And another example, drawn from The Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals:
Thou great and mighty spirit, inasmuch as thou camest in peace and in the name of the ever blessed and righteous Trinity, so in this name thou mayest depart, and return to us when we call thee in his name to whom every knee doth bow down. Fare thee well, [spirit’s name]; peace be between us, through our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Despite the slight differences in wording and powers invoked, these two licenses are nearly identical. They express some level of gratitude that the spirit came quickly and willingly. They give it permission to leave. They charge it to go and abide peaceably. And they ask it to be ready to return promptly if called in the future – which should facilitate future contact if you want to summon them again.
In the vast majority of cases, the spirit didn’t particularly want to be conjured to begin with, so giving them permission to depart is all that’s required to get them to leave. But if you’re going to be conjuring spirits, it’s worth at least considering the case where they don’t. What happens if you give the license to depart and the spirit chooses not to?
The right course here depends on the kind of spirit you’re working with, and your relationship to them. If they are a generally beneficent spirit, or they’re a patron you have an established working relationship with, then perhaps you continue the engagement. They’re not leaving because – from their perspective – there is unfinished work. There is some further information they feel needs to be imparted, or something further to do. If you trust the spirit has your best interests at heart, then you can just go along with them until they are satisfied with the conclusion that has been reached.
If it’s a spirit you don’t trust to have your best interests at heart, then you’re right back in the world of conjurations. Since many of our original conjurations are based around Catholic exorcism formulas, it takes very little tweaking to put them back to that purpose. You’re simply using the conjurations to bind a spirit to depart, rather than binding it to appear. The same prayers, invocations, and threats of dire consequences can be used in both directions. To pull or to push.
Whether it happens naturally as soon as the license to depart is given, or takes some further encouragement, at some point the spirit’s presence will dissipate. Here you can shut down the ritual, clean up, and return to your normal modes of consciousness.
Some practitioners like to stay in the circle for a bit, to meditate on the communication that has occurred, or take notes on their experiences while it is still fresh in their mind, but this is very much a personal preference. It’s not uncommon to feel some lingering effects from a big ritual working, to come away from it feeling a little unmoored or “floaty.” You can help that pass by doing activities that ground you back into your physical body: performing some light exercise, or eating a meal. Or you might choose to just let it ride, to bask in the afterglow of heavy magical work.
The ritual is finished. The spirit contact was successful (or it was not). The cycle has returned to its original starting point. Solomonic conjuration is not intended to be a lifestyle. It is the culmination of a grand, arduous, meticulous effort. It’s something extraordinary you do before coming back and grounding yourself in the mundane.
But maybe – just perhaps – when you return to your regular life, you bring a little bit of the extraordinary back with you.