Copyright 2012 Drew Jacob

These were actually handmade by my sister Zangmo. She has a degree in sculpture and back in her university days she took a papermaking class. As a special project she made a variety of distressed papers treated with natural elements and, in the example on the left, rust.

(The one on the right was, as I understand it, placed on the ground during a rainstorm and then the splatters were traced with ink.)

As Zangmo culled her belongings (before moving to a Buddhist monastery where she’s taking nun vows), she was about to toss the paper when I came to the rescue.

They look even cooler close up:

Copyright 2012 Drew Jacob

It was a timely gift: my reserves of handmade paper had completely run out, and the local area doesn’t offer much in the way of replacement. Now I have enough paper for another run of scrolls.

Any requests?

Do you ever branch out into other styles?

Recently I’ve been reading Joseph Campbell, an author I usually don’t like, but whose presentation of Eastern myth is quite inspiring.

Altmagic readers might enjoy this part:

The Indian artist is a sort of yogi… After he has learned the physical techniques, the manual techniques of his craft… he must meditate in order to bring before his own spirit, his own inner eye, the vision of the deity whom he is to render…

The artist proposing to depict a certain divinity—let us say Viṣṇu—must first study all the texts. Of course, he knows them already from his apprenticeship, but he reviews them to learn what precisely the traits, the signs and symbology of this deity are. Then he must compose his mind and pronounce in his spirit the deity’s seed syllable; that is to say he must pronounce the sound that is the verbal counterpart of the deity’s image. Then, if he has the fortune to receive the grace of the god’s manifestation, the deity will appear in his mind in his radiant form and this then is the model. At their best, the works of Indian art are literal renditions of visions, and they have this visionary, dreamlike quality as well as a wonderful vigor and power in physical strength.

—Myths of Light, Joseph Campbell,  2003, p 81-82

I like how reading something I thought I would dislike can actually lead to great discoveries.

It’s fun to study different approaches to mystical artwork, because it only makes my own art stronger. In this I found striking parallels to the process I used to make the Conjurations of Lugh and Brighid. I would never say what I do is the same. But the power of the spoken word to conjure the presence of the deity, the vivid apparition that’s in my mind’s eye, not my two eyes—these are part of my process.

If you’re an artist, do visions ever enter into what you do? Can a vision serve as a “model” for your art, or are they too ephemeral?

If you’re not an artist, and you’ve experienced visions—have you ever thought of drawing them?

Or at least new photos.

All the original scroll images are now replaced with photos taken in better light, and now they show the scrolls mounted on their handmade wooden scroll rods. Not too shabby, scrolls.

Check out the new True Love I, True Love II and Conjuration of Lugh images in the gallery. What do you think? Are the scroll pictures better with the rods, or without them?

Conjuration of Brighid (detail). Copyright 2012 Drew Jacob.

Some time ago I showed an image of a ceremonial conjuration scroll for Brighid. Savvy regulars may have noticed that when the first batch of scrolls went live, Brighid wasn’t among them.

So what happened?

I held the Brighid scroll for some time. I’ll admit, something bugged me – something was off. She had turned out as I pictured, dabbed on the paper in an abstract that befits a Celtic god. The Celts never did use photorealistic idols, despite high artistic capability; the divine just can’t be summed up in such everyday fashion. Her blurry, ghostlike appearance seems fitting to me.

But still, she didn’t sit on the page right. I wondered if I should burn her scroll and move on. But I had the nagging feeling she’s meant to see the world.

After much deliberation (okay, I put her away for a month and looked again), I realized it wasn’t the image. It was the width of the paper. She needed something tall and thin, more like a sun beam than a canvas.

So, carefully trimmed to new dimensions, the Conjuration of Brighid is now available. Finally!

You can see her here. She’s even made with consecrated ash from her offering fire on Imbolc. Have a look + tell me what you think. Does the style feel right for her?

Is magic messy?

Some authors make a lot of noise about how you need to clean up after yourself magically. Magic is some dangerous force that must be properly contained for your safety and sanity – and for those around you.

The result of this kind of hype is less magic practice and more excited talk about “energy bombs” and spirits on the loose. As if every one-page love spell is the climax of Ghostbusters.

Magic is not the toxic waste of the mind. It’s messy, but more the way that painting is messy.

If you’re a painter there are consequences for not preparing beforehand, and not cleaning up afterward. These dire consequences can include wasting a little bit of paint, having a hard time finding tools, and ending up with a canvas that’s different than what you originally envisioned. You might even stain your clothes.

That’s quite different than working in, say, a nuclear reactor. One wrong move won’t spell the end. The uncertainty factor can be frustrating, but not lethal. In the right hands it’s a promise of liberation. Messy, unprepared painting sessions can lead to amazing works of art. The same applies with spells.

If you have a very specific purpose you want to accomplish, plan carefully.

But: get your hands dirty. You won’t poison the neighborhood just because you didn’t cast a circle.

This post can only begin one way:

!

Friend and longtime reader Ty Barbary and partner Jerynn have launched a new website for art + magic, Mythic Curios. Taglined “beautiful, mystical, modern artifacts,” Mythic Curios is worth your time and attention. Why?

Well, for starters, the art kicks a quantum of ass.

Beyond that, the truth in magic movement seems to be growing. Ty writes:

While some magic has been firmly debunked, and some magic has been proven to work, these sigil paintings don’t fall into either category. They’re in that wishy-washy middle ground, the grey lands between yea and nay.

I could argue that, even if the magic doesn’t work – and I can’t guarantee that it will, mind – you’re still paying for a unique, hand-made work of art. Strange, symbolic, somewhat arcane-looking art, but still art. You’re paying for something no one else has had, has now, or will ever have: each sigil painting is unique.

How rad is that? More proof that magicians can be philosophically honest – we have no idea if this stuff works or not – and still produce stirring, imagination-catching, empowered works of art.

You won’t hear this very often from a handmade artist, but: dear customers, if you like sigils and Egyptian gods, go check out Ty + Jerynn’s work and consider supporting their artistic endeavor with a purchase. Sure they’re my competitor in one sense, but more importantly they’re fellow magicians-cum-artists (hehe, u said cum) working miracles on the human mind.

Plus, like, I’m jelly of their technique.

You can find them here. Please hit a share button below + tell your friends.

I was honored to be there last year and have never had such an engaging time in my life. Sadly I can’t make it this year, so I’m holding a contest to give away the ticket. I’d love to see someone magical go there.

Entering is easy. Find out more here:

How to Win a Free WDS Ticket

[WDS is sold out, so the prize is literally priceless. Enter quick!

It addresses a mainly skeptical, nonmagical crowd and asks the question,

Let’s assume you believe magic never works. How then should you view people who practice or believe in it?

/serious

This may be the most important article I’ve written this year. Given that magic sometimes works even by scientific standards, it doesn’t deserve to be sneered at. To read more check out:

Magic in the 22nd Century

Let’s say you’ve conjured a big ol’ mess pile of spirits using the Feast.

Now what?

Getting contact with spirits is easy, but forming a close relationship with one can be significantly harder. There are a few contributing reasons:

+  Most magicians are asshats toward spirits

+  People usually summon the spirit that fits their purpose, not the one that fits their personality

+  Many people have a hard time listening to spirits

By using the Feast of Spirits you automatically eliminate the first two problems. You’re inviting an abundance of spirits, which increases the chance you find one you actually get on with; and you’re treating them to a social occasion, showing your goodwill rather than just summoning them to demand something.

Pretty good.

So now you just need to have a way to actually “hear” them (or “see” them, etc.). Technically this is a problem that’s all in your head – with time and experience you can easily sense spirits and know what they’re saying with no tools and no effort. But that’s not very helpful for someone just starting out so let’s look at how to make it easier.

There are two difficulties in communicating with spirits. I refer to them as the hard problem and the soft problem.

The soft problem is actually sensing them: hearing what they’re saying in the first place.

The hard problem is not distorting  it with your own mental clutter.

It’s funny, because the soft problem is the one people agonize over – how do I talk to spirits? What if I can’t do it? – and hardly think about the hard problem. It isn’t discussed in most magic books, not in depth. But it’s the tougher one to overcome.

So let’s look at both of them.

1:/  Sensing Spirits

There are many ways to make this easier; feel free to port one in from your preferred system of magic. The best method I’ve seen is using a mirror.

Mirrors are perfect for this. As a scrying surface they’re fluid and dreamy but not totally subjective: they still present an image on a surface, and if the image changes it’s easy to notice and be sure.

Remember, if you’re using the Feast of Spirits you’re alone in a room with only one candle giving light. A mirror is going to reflect mostly shadows. Perfect.

I recommend a small mirror, and one you no longer use for anything else but this, because that’s sweet. I position it in a way where it does not directly reflect the burning candle. Adjust to suit.

When you first make the invitation in the Feast, simply close your eyes. Take a few minutes and give the spirits time to come. When you get the first inkling that something else has come – a hunch, a feeling in the heart – then open your eyes and gaze into the mirror.

With a soft gaze, you will start to see things move and change form. This is all in your head, but it isn’t. Welcome to sensing spirits.

Play with this: when you ask questions, ask for a name, ask what they look like, you will get changes. And you will feel it in you, too, and that’s much more important than what’s in the mirror. But the mirror will be your tool in amplifying those inner communications and making them obvious to you.

A black mirror is better, in my experience, but a regular mirror will work.

2:/ Not “Spirits”

That brings us to the hard problem. The hard problem, simply stated, is this:

You are likely to replace what spirits actually say with what you want them to say.

When a conversation takes place entirely in the silence of your consciousness – as any conversation with spirits will, otherwise see a doctor – you have a unique power to just “imagine over” what’s being said.

This isn’t easily solved by adding in some magical tool, because it’s a phenomenological event. It really has more to do with your discipline toward your thoughts, and how well you know yourself. Both of those factors can be sorted by awareness meditation, so go do that for ten years before trying the Feast and it’ll go really well.

Or.

Or you can take simple precautions. Use the Feast initially just to meet spirits, not to go to them with some dire urgent need. You’re more likely to listen to them this way.

And when you listen, watch what’s coming out. If it’s exactly what you hoped they would say, take a step back. Ask a different spirit. Clarify. This is probably your mind talking. (The same thing goes if it’s exactly what you feared they’d say. We’re sick puppies.)

If you can manage that, you’ll have a clear channel to actually getting to know these spirits. Treat it lightly – not too much angst, not too much drama – and you can identify a spirit who would make a great familiar.

Bonding

Once you’ve gotten this far, forming a bond with one of them is the easy part. You can also think of it more as signing a contract, if you’re more businesslike: that’s a good analogy.

You’ll probably know which spirit speaks to you as a familiar the moment it arrives. This is particularly true if you have a firm purpose in why you want a familiar. Often it will be one of the first spirits to show up, but it will hang back. Be patient.

I wouldn’t ask it for anything on the first visit: hold the Feast several times, and if it keeps coming back and you keep feeling just as good about it, it’s a keeper.

By the time you’ve spoken to it at several feasts you should already know:

+  The spirit’s name

+  What kind of offerings it likes

+  If it has a particular symbol or sigil

(Hint: you find these things out by asking.)

In which case, hold a more intimate Feast: put out the offering this particular spirit likes, draw its sigil if it has one, and invite it by name. I wouldn’t necessarily turn away other spirits, but make clear that this is a special invitation.

And then ask if it will work with you as your familiar spirit.

It will likely have conditions. It may want a certain kind or amount of offerings on a certain basis. If it’s reasonable, agree. (And then live up to it, or watch your friend go poof.)

And if you do?

Congratulations, you just got a familiar – one who actually wants to work with you and, as a result, will go out of their way to help you.

Did I leave anything out? Do you have more questions about familiars? If so, let me know and I’ll do my best to answer.

Getting a familiar is a big job. Throughout this series I’ve referred to spirits “answering your call.” Summoning. Where do you start?

Summoning can be an overwrought affair. Special diagrams, custom incenses, don’t pronounce the name wrong or else—! This is because most magicians decide on a specific spirit and then demand that it show up.

Here at altmagic we’re not most magicians.

How do you meet a cute girl or boy? Go to a party.

How do you make great new business contacts? Go to a party.

So… how do you meet a familiar spirit?

Wait for it…

You go to a party.

//

The Feast of Spirits

Imagine you’re the epicenter of a vast circle of friendly spirits. They come and go as they wish, and your altar becomes a regular stop for the most knowledgeable and interesting of unseen beings. Among them are one or a few who become your constant companions.

This is the method at the heart of my ceremony: the Feast of Spirits. I’ll share a simplified version of the Feast with you today. This technique will work well for you. I know, because it works for me every time I use it.

The great strength of the Feast is not just the results it delivers, but the position it grants you. The Feast isn’t a business arrangement, it’s something much more powerful: a social event. The Feast is to spirit-calling as a party at the Hiltons’ house is to mouthbreather-calling.

The reason for the lack of protection charms should be clear now. The spirits on your guest list are not threats, they’re soon to be your peers.

To hold the Feast of Spirits you need just two things:

+  Something to attract spirits

+  Something to offer spirits

Offerings are easy. I do not believe in “spirit feeding.” The offerings you make to spirits aren’t necessary for their wellbeing; they’re symbolic. This means you can give a relatively small offering, and it’s worth making it high quality. It’s the opposite of mortal guests. When people come to visit you need enough hamburgers for everyone, even if it means buying the discount buns. With spirits it’s better to pour the top-shelf wine even if you use just a splash.

But I stand by the Africa proverb: If you have nothing to give, offer snails. If you have no snails, offer dirt. #occupygrimoires

Once you’ve chosen your offering, the remaining question is how you attract spirits. The easiest answer is to light a beacon and invite them.

So, like, get a candle or something.

At this point you can shoehorn whatever elaborate magical tradition you have in there. Maybe you need to raise a massive spike of energy to attract a pile of spirits, huh? You can add some vibrating syllables or greater pentagrams or energy cones or four directions or invoke the four elements, I mean five elements, I mean seven elements – if you like.

Honestly, do whatever you need to get the party started. But when the chanting and stick-shaking is done, just make sure there’s a lit candle that’s been dedicated as an offering to any and all friendly spirits, and something on hand to give to your guests. And leave a window open: sure this is minimalist magic, but points for style.

Here’s a play by play of how I do the Feast of the Spirits (basic version).

1:/ I get the space ready. I always hold this rite at night.

2:/ I open the window.

3:/ Mood lighting. I light the magic candle and kill the other lights.

4:/ Offerings to Lugh. I didn’t mention this part above because it’s not strictly necessary. Lugh is my patron deity. I make offerings to him and ask him to bless and watch over the feast.

5:/ Dedicate the candle. I lay my hands on the candle, channel magic into it and ask that it be a beacon letting all spirits know they have a refuge here. (I literally say all spirits because I will take in anyone. Say all good spirits if you prefer.) If you like the 1800s, you can think of this as creating an “astral” lantern out of the material candle.

6:/ I already have a familiar, so I make sure he’s on hand. He’s doorman and if needed he can act as bouncer. It’s never been needed.

7:/ Sitting beside the candle, I close my eyes and enter a light trance. Often it takes a while for the spirits to come, but in time they do come.

At this point if you’re an experienced magician you have some idea of how to fill in the blanks. You can probably whip up a version of this with no further instruction.

If you’re a beginner or you’re not so sure, what questions do you have? Ask and I’ll answer.

One note: A mirror can be helpful for interacting with the spirits who show up. I used to use my black mirror Danielle. Now I don’t use anything at all. How exactly to interact with these spirits – and how to form a bond with one as a familiar – is a topic for the next entry.

Magic scrolls are available at last. Check out the Scroll Gallery to see what’s ready to ship!