The Shem Grimoire by Nick Farrell (Book Review)

Table of contents page from the Shem Grimoire.

The first thing that a reader needs to know about this book is that this book is not for beginners. This is not a history of the Shem ha-Mephorash and the evolution of its associated angels, nor is it heavy on theory and philosophy. No, this is a grimoire with just enough history and theory to orient a Zelator Adept Minor (Z.A.M.) before turning them loose on actual working with the Shem Angels.

The second thing that a reader needs to know about this book is that it is meant to be used. One of its center pieces is a ritual to actually get in contact with a Shem angel (one of the 72 angels created from the so-called 72 lettered name of God...which actually has 216 letters in it, but who is counting?). There is also an interesting Middle Pillar ritual, complete with head movements inspired by Abraham Abulafia (a mystic of the Kabbalah bent).

(I might write a blog entry about the rituals contained in this book after I work with them for awhile. Or maybe not...it is always hard to tell with me.)

Having worked with some of the Shem angels previously (using a combination of techniques grabbed from Golden Dawn, the Franz Bardon school, and ancient paganism), I mainly focused on the listings for the angels--the place I start with most books that list the uses and powers of spirits that I have previously worked with...because if they get that section wrong, then I have to wonder about the accurancy of the rest of the material.

Based on Nick Farrell's descriptions of the Shem angels, I am confident that he has actually worked with them. While there are minor differences in the functions of the angels as Farrell describes them compared to my own experiences, the differences are so insignificant that one can see that they are based on differences in perception of the operators involved, and not ignorance.

But one does not have to have extended working experience to double-check the general function of the angels. One of the things that I learned while working with the Bardon system was that the angels ruling the important positions of one's birth chart has a certain amount of influence over the individual. If one sits down with their birth chart and look at the position of their rising sign and their planets, one can often see how those planets and sensitive points of one's birth chart is colored by the influence of the angels that rule those astrological degrees. (This is a point that Farrell also mentions in his book--he suggests what order one might want to work with the angesl ruling one's birth chart.)

(Important note--remember to round up when doing this. For instance, Leo 20 degrees, 33 minutes is actually the 21st degree of Leo, not the 20th.)

Take for instance, the position of Mercury in my own birth chart, Leo 20 degrees, 33 minutes. This places my Mercury, the planet of communication and writing, in the section of the zodiac ruled by the Shem angel Meheshiiah (Mem-Heh-Shin-Yod-Heh). Given that I am one of the less evolved types, the influence of this angel tends to be more dubious and negative than positive. One of the things that Farrell says about Meheshiiah is, "There is little in the way of conciliation about him and Meheshiiah is unhappy to make a peace which does not involve total capitulation." Many people who have dealt with me will nod knowingly at this point, because I will not accept partial peace offerings, preferring to remain at war with people instead--a trait that often shows up in my writing.

I am giving this book five out of five stars.

The Shem Grimoire is limited to two hundred hard-cover copies, and is available from Lulu. 

[Disclosure: This review is based on a pre-proof stage file copy given to me by the author for review purposes.]

Am I a Demonolator?

Looking over my list of things I want to blog about in the near future, I realized that the question of "Am I a Demonolator?" is going to come up at some point...so I just as well get it over with.

And in all honesty, most of my regular readers and friends have already made up their minds about this question--for those people who feel that they already know the answer, feel free to wander off because nothing that I am about to say is going to change your mind.

Now, for the rest of you, mainly those who just accidently stumbled across this blog while googling "demonolatry"...

I do not consider myself to be a demonolator. But I can see how someone might believe that I am. And they might be right...of course, that last part probably needs some explanation. So here goes...

My preferred definition of Demonolatry is the ACTIVE worship of demons and/or the use of entities commonly known as demons to perform magic as the PRINCIPAL AGENT in the ritual and/or the consulting of demons as the PRINCIPAL SOURCE to learn magical techniques.

Please note my emphasis on the "active" part. I don't consider the passive use of demons in magic to be demonolatry. And there is a lot of passive use of demons in ceremonial magic, even in the holy grimoiric and Golden Dawn varieties. Also note my emphasis on demons having to be the "principal agent" or "principal source."

By "principal agent," I mean that the highest name used in a ritual or spell is actually the name of entity classified by the grimoires or folklore as a demon. In other words, the controlling force in the ritual is a demon, not one of the Christian/Hebrew names of God, nor is it a pagan deity. Please note that if the pagan deity has been demonized by the Church, then it is a demon if you are using the grimoire version of the deity--but not a demon if you are using a pagan version of the deity.

And by "principal source," I mean that you are calling directly on the demon, without using compulsion of the Christian/Hebrew godnames, and using a demon as the principal agent to control and empower the ritual.

The reason for this emphasis is the simple fact that modern-day Christianity is basically the King James translation of the Bible with a dollop of Dante and Milton tossed in for good measure--basically, any god other than Jesus (and his Father) is a demon, and goddesses are automatically demonesses. Yes, there are exceptions, but at the most severe level--all magicians are demonolators as far as radical Christianity is concerned. (In fact, the more radical the sect of Christianity, the more likely that only Christians of a particular sect are considered to be truly saved Christians, with the majority of Christians also being Satanists simply because they do not belong to the right church.) Therefore, if you are a magician, then you too are a demonolator to quite a few people...people whose opinions I generally ignore.

So my dear reader, you can see how some people could consider my worship of Bast as proof that I am a demonolator by their definition of the terms; but by my definition, I am not even close to being a demonolator because I am using a non-Milton/non-grimoiric form of Bast. (For the non-literate people: Milton classified all the Ancient Egyptian deities as fallen angels serving in Lucifer's war machine--a point that annoys me as a modern pagan.)

There is also a guilt by association that some might accuse me of. Yes, I have friends in the demonolator community. Yes, I have borrowed working techniques and ideas from some of them. But if you insist on guilt by association, then I am also a radical member of the Tea Party branch of the Republican party who believes that all laws should be based solely on the Bible because some of my friends on Facebook believe such things. Therefore, guilt by association has to be tossed out...because everyone is guilty of something by that standard.

Another related question is: Are demonolators Satanists? To this one, I always have to ask: Have you met and encountered first-hand many Satanists? Because those people who brag about being Satanists generally only worship themselves and/or are doing it for pure shock value, and would not know what a demon was if it bit them in the ass. Therefore, even if I was a demonolator, I would not want to be called a Satanist. (This connection is along the lines of saying that all users of the Elder Futhark [runes] are Neo-Nazis--a suggestion that might get you punched in the face by a big bearded Viking dude.) Of course, as a magician, according to radical Christians, I am automatically a Satanist even if I do not believe in his existence--therefore, I suppose to many people demonolators are automatically Satanists, even if the idea would get them punched in the face at some point. And please note that one really needs to know the context that the name/term Satan is used by a demonolator to be able to answer this question...just for that individual (there is no blanket answer here as far as I am concerned)--plus, I know one demonolator that uses Lilith as their Principal Agent--that makes them a Lilithist, not a Satanist (they like to point out that Satan in the Old Testament is a name of an office, and not an individual--therefore worshipping Satan is like worshipping a nameless lawyer).

And if you read this far, I bet that you still have the same opinion on whether or not, I am a demonolator as you did before you started reading it. The demonolators and radical Christians who thought that I was a closet demonolator before still think that--pointing out gleefully that I am just playing word games here. The pagans and Wiccans who thought that I was a pagan and/or Wicca are still thinking that. And my three favorite critics are still considering screaming at the top of their lungs that I am a very evil man. In other words, no opinion has ever been changed by a blog post...simply because you are not going to use my definition of demonolator if it does not already fit your world view. Which begs the question of: Why even bother? Answer: I love Google.

Grimoires then and now (31-HP Day 1)

In the olden days
Grimoires were jealously guarded
Hidden among other tomes of lore.
Barbarous names
Strange god names
Binds of demons
Wings of angels
All recorded and written down
For the use of the Master of the Mysteries.
Expounded upon in detail
By master to apprentice
Under the seal of secrecy.
Fears of the noose and fiery stake
Kept them rare as dragon's teeth.

Yesteryear
Grimoires were little known
Translated by great occultists.
Astrological lore
Kabbalistic mysteries
Pagan beliefs
All smothered with a layer of Christ.
Reserved for those worthy ones
With eyes to see and ears to hear.
Paid for, bartered for
Hand-copied, mimeographed,
Photocopied, bound and filed.
Mythic histories and secret chiefs
Kept them as rare as Masonic handshakes.

Today and maybe tomorrow
Grimoires are knee-deep
Debated and dissected by the herd.
Fraudulent authors
Blinded symbols
Heretic beliefs
Pagan survivals
Open to all, argued by all.
Those outside the pale
Prejudge texts and adepts alike.
Scanned and pixelized
Rivers of free information.
Everyone's a master and no one's a neophyte
Keeps the grimoires unused as common sense.

The real puppet master revealed




Satan Kitty demands your worship, and some catnip, and some shrimp, seriously go get it now.

And the real puppet masters behind all the Golden Dawn drama is...cats! All the flame wars you see are actually directed at dog lovers, and we all know that dogs drool and cats rule. And the chief of the Golden Dawn puppet masters is Satan Kitty! Worship Satan Kitty---give him all your love, catnip, warm beds, and all your shrimp. You know that you want to worship Satan Kitty.

Is the Picatrix black magic?

"Magic is, in fact, everything that absolutely fascinates minds and attracts souls by means of words and deeds."---The Picatrix (Ghayat Al-Hakim)

Today, reading the comments on another blog, I saw some one declare that the Picatrix is Black Magic. This naturally brings us to the question of how exactly are they defining black magic...your guess is as good as mine.

And in fact, I do not want to guess. Let me toss out a bunch of reasons that I have seen over the years and cross my fingers that one of them hits the target.

The Picatrix for those who have never leafed through a copy is a book of astrological magic; mainly talismans, correspondences, and invocations. It is basically Agrippa meeting Alan Leo.

So why is this black magic?

Well, some of the talismans' goals are dubious in nature---like causing nations and cities to fall. And some of the ingredients are icky---my cats would purr-fur me to not use cat brains in my spells (I pun today...and "cat brain" might be a code, much like babies' hearts.) So that might be part of it.

And we all know that any magic done for material ends, and not just spiritual development, is pure evil.

Then there is the fact that some people claim that it works...and one of the definitions of black magic is magic that works better than yours.

Add to the fact that it is published, well that is a sure sign of evil, for only evil and black magics are allowed to be published by the Hidden Masters.

Then again, if it is the source of one's inspiration, then one labels it black and vile to keep your students from reading it...or to make sure that they do read it (depends upon your mentor).

Of course, the cherry on top has to be the fact that it was written by a Muslim, mentions Allah, and requires some knowledge of the Quran...and we all know those people, not being good Christians, are just downright evil as all of their works are.

So there you have it, a bunch of reasons why the Picatrix is evil. Take your pick, or ignore all of them and make up another reason...but I imagine some of us are going to continue to use our copies of the material despite what you think (or because you think that the Picatrix is evil).

"I call you, you High and Powerful Spirit of Spirits, the Wisest of All Wise, Intelligent of All Intellignce, Knowledgeable with the World's Knowledge, answer me and come to me and get me close to your knowledge, make me as wise and powerful as you are, let me understand what I do not understand, let me see what I cannot see and protect me from ignorance, forgetfulness and cruelty and make me like the Forefathers of Wisdom, the ones that had intelligence, wisdom, attentive awareness and understanding in their hearts, let all that live in my heart and never depart from it."---Picatrix (Ghayat Al-Hakim)