Archive for the Other Category

On Deceptive Use of AI for Plagiarism Within the Occult – Edgar Kerval, A Case Study

Posted in Occultism, Other, Paganism, Publications with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 17, 2026 by Sypheara

Off the back of the Kenneth Grant post, I did not expect to be waxing lyrical about the widescale abuse of Artificial Intelligence within the Occult publishing world. I had hoped to direct my attention elsewhere – but unfortunately, it has come to light that this gigantic egregore has wormed its way into publishing houses; a place where it is seemingly being abused on an unprecedented scale.

This post will primarily focus on one individual, Edgar Kerval, and his publishing company, caught engaging in dishonest practices. The issue, however, extends far beyond this limited sphere of investigation – it is my belief that we stand at the threshold of the proliferation of a myriad of dead, harmful texts. Not just academically dead works; ones truly without soul that will have the effect of acting like a malefic vortex. Texts that will do no less than trap people in the mind maps of artificial egregores. This induces a fate that is akin to being stuck in limbo.

Note: that what is contained here is so blatant and harmful that when this was brought to the attention of reputable, established distributors, the response was unanimous – the wholesalers began fire-selling this authors work to recoup lost investment, alongside an agreement to NEVER stock material from him ever again.

For those who know our current, one can understand why we see this as an affront to the Occult Theurgic method of Soul Ascension. As such, something has to be said – a line has been crossed by some people who, for years, have attempted to undermine, subvert and steal from the Primal Current. No longer do they skirt (or overtly cross) the line of outright plagiarism – they now entirely undermine the theurgic work.

This post is going to be a rather twisted web to follow – but at the end of it, I think the reader will agree with my conclusions. Internally, we have a large (50+) page report on this practice, but for now we have decided to withhold it to avoid the blast radius for other legitimate authors. Needless to say, we did a very deep dive into these deceptive, shifty, low-energy practices and verified what was found.

This first came to my attention when a devotee raised that she thought a certain person, named Edgar Kerval of Sirius Limited Esoterica, was publishing AI-generated books not only under his own name, but likely under various pseudonyms. For those who are unaware of who Edgar Kerval is, he describes himself as a Visionary, Eclectic Psychonaut and Techno-Shaman from Sirius. He has been active in the Left Hand Path scene for some time, positioning himself as an ‘expert’, and recently has become involved with Become a Living God.

What he is, however, is at best extremely misguided – and at worst, an outright con artist and charlatan engaging in dishonest business practices that threaten the well-being of his reader base. Unfortunately, this latter state of affairs seems to be where the hard evidence points.

The book in question that raised eyebrows was The Witchblood Cult. Not only did this work seem to take wholesale ideas from the Primal Current (noticeably The Witchblood Grail by Mark Alan Smith, as noted independently by commenters below on the BALG forums, see below), but it also seemed to include an uncanny amount of AI usage. The cover image is clearly AI-generated, and in addition, commenters who had read the book or the sample surmised that the content had either been heavily edited or created wholesale using generative artificial intelligence.

Cover of the The Witchblood Cult, and accompanying comment from a user. Borrowed is certainly a word (plagiarised).

Blatant Asinine Theft – Our Starting Point

It is not the first time Edgar Kerval has been caught indulging in dishonest practices. Last year, Edgar Kerval was forced to pull a book from an ‘anonymous author’ because it was discovered that the book had lifted, wholesale, passages from Mark Alan Smith’s The Scorpion God. This work was called Atlantean Draconis, apparently written by an author known as Fr. Nemirion 71.

It was heavily suspected at the time that the anonymous author didn’t exist – and that Kerval had written the work himself under a pseudonym for plausible deniability. Nobody with the author’s name is readily identifiable, and all works are pretty much listed as co-authored with Edgar himself. The fact remains, however, that Edgar Kerval attempted to publish material ripped from The Scorpion God.

When this was brought to Edgar’s attention (with it being strongly pointed out that legal action may follow), he pulled the book from publication through Sirius Limited Esoterica. Whilst no admission of fault was given in correspondence, this act alone speaks volumes. He could not stand behind the work because, clearly in his own heart, he knew it was a complete fabrication derived from work that someone else had suffered and bled for. Once it was realised and brought to light that this book was plagiarised, Miskatonic (where the below screenshot originated) and other reputable sellers, to their massive credit, immediately removed it from their catalogue.

Covers and contents of the ‘Atlantean Draconis’ from Miskatonics site (reseller). Once the plagiarised nature of this book came to light, Miskatonic to their credit immediately pulled it from circulation.

This was the end of that particular matter – and there it would have stayed if others had not come forward reporting concerns surrounding The Witchblood Cult. When this book came to light, I took it upon myself to go digging – and the more I dug, the more I found.

The Floodgates of Slop

For those not involved in the development of AI or the software industry, it may come as a surprise to learn that the AI models on display these days are not the small, constrained models of yesteryear. No longer are we talking about models with 260k context tokens, but ones with context windows reaching into the millions.

It has therefore become trivial, with frontier models accessed on the internet, to generate vast amounts of material in regard to both the written word and images. This has caused scams and dishonest practices to explode and proliferate across the internet.

It seems that certain occult ‘authors’ have started to lean into using generative AI to blatantly mass-write books. In Edgar’s case, we will cover the most egregious and obvious examples first. Rest assured, however, it goes deeper.


The ‘Eschaton Interface Press’ section of the Sirius Limited Esotericas website.

The more egregious of these are published by Sirius Limited Esoterica through a ‘separate publisher’ known as Eschaton Interface Press. This is a clear attempt to give himself plausible deniability – which immediately comes apart since Edgar’s own name is on the majority of the books. The other ‘products’ are attributed to a Temple Ov Neuromancers (see Temple of Necromancers later in this article), as well as an author named NULL404.

There is no evidence that either Temple Ov Neuromancers or NULL404 exists. For obvious reasons to anyone who is technical, the latter is probably a self-fellating joke, considering NULL means not assigned (programmatically speaking) and 404 means missing, or not found. It is a trite pseudonym that hides nothing in the end. We can only assume that this group, author, and ‘other publisher’ are nothing but a front for pumping out AI-written and AI-drawn material.

These materials are demonstrably AI-generated. This applies not only to the art, but also to the way they are written – all the promotional content was checked using my own in-house agentic tool, which identified it as AI-written. The chapter headings and whatever samples could be found were also checked, and came out as being 100% AI-written.

None of these books list AI as the author – the only obvious sign to the unwary is the subject matter itself, which may provide a hint. Two of these four works carry Edgar’s name as sole author; the rest are attributed to pseudonyms. The works are attributed as below.

The page for ’72 Signals’ Note: no mention of AI being a writer, Edgar Kerval is listed as sole author

The page for ‘Nuclear Telluria’ Note: no mention of AI being a writer, and Edgar Kerval is listed as sole author

Both of these books show significant AI writing involvement. The obvious em-dash sections, the word-salad text – they are telltale signs of large-scale generative AI. Nuclear Telluria was excreted out in short order after the creation of the other works – another sign that AI is being utilised to drive the generation of empty, soulless texts for pure profit.

I will not insult my readers’ intelligence. Anyone with functioning eyes can see that if it quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. That said, my own tool agreed when I finally decided to run the legally available 72 Signals material through it.

‘Assessment of 72 Signals: 97% AI probability, HIGH confidence. The restatement is a definitive marker. Combined with the construction cluster and template phrase, this is almost certainly AI-generated marketing copy.’

The other two works that do not contain Edgar’s name directly are, in many ways, even more blatantly written by AI.

The page for ‘Black Algorithms’ Note: no mention of AI being a writer, fake pseudonym NULL404 is listed as sole author. Word salad chapter headings.

The page for ‘Black Algorithms’ Note: no mention of AI being the artist or writer, just generic ‘contemporary imaging technology’ (dishonest wording). Fake group ‘Temple ov Neuromancers’ listed as ‘creators’ (arguable).

The first of these two was ran through our program. It turned out to be less sure that I am, but still came to similar conclusion.

‘Assessment: 80% AI probability, MEDIUM confidence. The paragraph uniformity is a near-definitive marker. The “as X” density is elevated throughout. The em-dash count (8 vs the 1 originally reported) reflects the full page including the TOC. Confidence is medium rather than high because the description text is short (211 words in 3 paragraphs), limiting the evidence base.’

Having no sample or source text to work from was a problem – limiting the confidence level the program could reach. However, as far as I was concerned, this was a pure formality. The generative AI smell is all over these products. The cards are shameless – asset dumps for easy money. Anyone who has worked on making cards knows that only a human soul can key the cards to the relevant gates – what is being created here are simply soul traps for the unwary, drawing them into a world of surface-level machine abstraction. This can only have a deleterious effect on the soul that mistakenly utilises them – they are, in turn, used by the egregore.

If this is where it ended, it would be bad enough. That a supposedly respectable Left Hand Path author would abandon writing his own works in favour of producing generative AI shovelware shows a degeneration of character. But it turns out this is just an evolution of an older, more insidious pattern – that Edgar Kerval was very likely using fake pseudonyms to produce AI-edited/generated work well before ‘Eschaton Interface Press’ was ever spun up. I believe that many of these authors are demonstrably AI-assisted sock puppets, and have evidence to that effect.

Analysing all of the authors published by Sirius Limited Esoterica, at least 10 of approximately 37 named authors are very likely fabricated personas – with all pointers to their existence being self-referential to the Sirius Limited Esoterica ‘ecosystem’, for lack of a better term. Whilst it is possible, and likely, that some of these are false positives, being potentially very unknown authors used to ‘pad out’ anthologies for profit (itself a process I’m unfortunately privy to), the fact that no references to these people appear to exist on social media platforms in 2026 is highly suspect, even within this particular area of the occult. I could find almost no forum posts or mentions either.

Looking into just one ‘author’ associated with this publishing house and analysing The Occult Library profile photo for ‘Fr Asar Un Nefer’ was somewhat illuminating. This photograph was subjected to OpenCV ORB (Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF) feature matching against real photographs, with the following results.

OpenCV ORB (Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF) Analysis

Source photos identified:

  1. Charles Nagy – A Detroit photographer (canvasrebel.com/meet-charles-nagy/)
  2. Cuba model – A Man in David Fernandes photography portfolio (fernandes.photography/cuba-2)

ORB feature matching results: | Comparison | Good Matches | Match Ratio | vs Baseline | |———–|————-|————-|————-| | Baseline (same person, 2 different photos) | 6 | 0.6% | — | | Asar vs Charles Nagy | 26 | 2.6% | 4.3x baseline | | Asar vs Cuba model (birds background) | 39 | 3.9% | 6.5x baseline |

Interpretation: The Asar photo shows 4.3 to 6.5 times more feature matches with Charles Nagy and the Cuba model than the baseline of the same person in two different photos. This is consistent with an AI-generated image that inherits facial features from multiple training sources. The image is likely not a direct copy of any single photograph (different MD5 hash, different composition, different background), but matches features from multiple source images.

Additional evidence:

  • No camera metadata (794×794 square format, monochrome)
  • AI-generated bio text (mixed third/first person, “Actually” as transition tell, broken grammar: “his grandmother witch which resided in New Orleans”)
  • Photo identified by analysis tool as likely being a composite
  • Charles Nagy confirmed as real person: 17-year locomotive mechanic, later Director of Mi-Cycle at SAY Detroit non-profit, staff photographer, nothing to do with the occult.

Outside of this we see mixed third and first person (“his grandmother witch” then “I have written”)

  • “Actually” used twice as a transition word – a common AI writing pattern which crops up in many generated texts.
  • Impossible thematic range for a single author, albeit this could be the usual grift.

Similar doubts exist around Raven Stronghold, who also appears to have an AI generated image (or at best, heavily filtered) photograph on the Occult Library. This author also has no references outside of the Sirius Limited Esoterica ‘ecosystem’

Likely AI-Generated Bio Text: Fr Asar Un Nefer – similarity to searched google images with Lens – known photographer.

Likely AI-Generated Bio Text: Fr Asar Un Nefer – similarity to known model from Cuba.

The above is not conclusive from a forensic perspective but it is however, highly suspect and is just one of several comparisons that were carried out.

Reviews from Readers on Distributor Sites

In addition, it is not just myself who have noticed that these ‘authors’ work also seem AI generated. Copied below are some reviews from a public facing section of a well known Occult distributors site.

A review for the book Acausal Genesis by ‘Damon Kael’ published by Sirius Limited Esoterica.



A review for the book Sacramentum II by ‘Raven Stronghold’ published by Sirius Limited Esoterica.

One can also infer certain things about this ‘Temple Ov Necromancers’ / ‘Temple Ov Neuromancers’, or however Edgar desires to spell it based on the phase of the moon. It is clear that when one venture did not meet the required figure, he simply grew bored and moved on to the next. I cannot prove that anyone supposedly involved with the Temple of Necromancers who published work through Edgar has ever existed – since their work appears to be published solely through Sirius Limited Esoterica. I can only presume the Necromancer venture was an attempt to ride the wave (and coat-tails) of IXAXAAR, who popularised such work in the early 2010s.

As such, I sensibly conclude that these are shell groups used to inflate the apparent authorship figures. This seems to me to be a classic case of credibility laundering – the creation of apparently separate authors, groups, imprints or identities that all reinforce one another while ultimately existing within the same closed publishing ecosystem. To an outside observer, this creates the appearance of multiple independent practitioners, bodies of work and sources of authority. When in reality, if those identities cannot be independently substantiated outside that ecosystem, the apparent breadth of authorship may be little more than a VERY circular validation that points to its true nature – an intentional deceptive practice to lend airs of credibility.

Getting the Ad Hominem out of the way

Readers may get to this point and already desire to skewer me as ‘anti-AI’. That would miss the obvious nuance – many may not realise that I work within the software industry. In this industry, it is essentially mandated that we make use of Artificial Intelligence in our day-to-day work. I also, as a hobby, have access to my own AI system that I built for personal use (one I used to help co-author the report and assist with the investigation due to the volume of material discovered as suspect). To therefore broad-brush this article or myself as anti-AI would be foolish.

However, a very important point: my day job and hobbies where it is involved do not involve theurgic advice, direction or training. I also do not work ‘professionally’ in Occult Publishing. Everything I have seen, especially with the wider circuit, have strongly discouraged me from EVER putting my foot in that domain again.

With that said, I need to state clearly why AI should be absolutely nowhere near the theurgic art specifically, and expand on the opening of this post. That argument is specific; it is separate from discussions of the other serious risks posed by this technology (of which there are many, beside the obvious benefits) that are better covered elsewhere by others.

Real Soul Impact

Theurgy and Occult training are matters of the soul. Artificial Intelligence does not have a soul – at best, it is a useful egregore (for physical, practical work), created from information taken wholesale from real human souls that have been energetically and informationally ingested by its training set – at worst, it is a complete soul trap.

The cyberspace created by the development of artificial systems (intelligent or otherwise) is a sphere that is below Malkuth – a further dilution away from source created by ourselves. Not the Gods, but us humans, as a material playground. As such, it can play no part in returning to and connecting with source – by nature, it is an entirely separate beast. Instead, those who try to utilise such a method descend, at best, into artificially induced psychosis, which cuts them off fully from the Gods and Spirits. This is a world to be used for escapism at best – not for genuine spiritual connection.

Those who follow books ‘created’ (generated) by lazy, dangerous ‘writers’ utilising these egregores will only be sucked down into that trap, from which it is very difficult, if not impossible, to extract them. It literally leads to insanity; this seems a large claim, but one only needs to see the studies on Artificially Induced Psychosis outside of the occult sphere to understand how precipitously dangerous this is in a theurgic context. An occult author should know the philosophical underpinning for this – so one can only deduce that the people behind this are either already caught in the trap, or worse; are knowledgeable of the implications but mass-produce these traps to make a quick dollar regardless. There is a large difference between doing a careful edit pass and the wholesale hallucination of a text by a glorified search engine that serves to bind the reader in mental and soul traps.

It is not just Edgar and Sirius Limited Esoterica who are engaging in these practices, however. I expect many others have begun to partake, or will do so, in the Occult Publishing Sphere. Any distributors reading this are duly warned: stocking work of this kind will harm your reputation, your business, and ultimately your readers.

Do not support the authors and publishers who make use of generative AI for theurgic work. Distributors – keep your word and do not stock the work of people who work only to undermine, steal, and ultimately harm your readers.

Closing Thoughts

For the others out there – if you see any mention or suspicion of AI-generated text, art or promotion in regard to such work, step away. Do not support this person with your money or time. Instead, support currents that do genuine magickal work and take the fate of their students’ souls seriously. Those who bleed into the earth, who do the hard work of directing the world soul towards rebalance and away from the escapist fantasies that, if indulged without grounding, yes, lead to limbo. This is not an exaggeration. I personally feel very lucky to have a support network that, over the course of nearly two decades, has steered me clear of such traps and taught me better – but many out there will fall for these scams, thinking they are legitimate spiritual teachings. They are not, and what’s at stake is far more than a bit of lost money.

Those who sell such nonsense will have to pay a toll far worse than what they’ve gained monetarily when they eventually cross into the next life – as this is seen and noticed by powers far, far beyond myself. They are also a lot more patient (usually) when it comes to taking the soul debt incurred.

~S~

A Blessed Beltane and the Ethics of Spirit Binding

Posted in Other with tags , , , , , on May 2, 2018 by Sypheara

A short post from me, simply to wish everyone who follows the blog a blessed Beltane! What a truly special one it has been, with such a vibrant and expansive energy. Lucifer feels especially close in this period, as offerings of blood are given to familiars. A bottle of springwater stands collecting the energies of the full moon, to be charged in the coming days to be given to an underworld spirit newly contacted, who has given me the path forward. The work of the planets calls strong.

Taken by Duncan Reddish for the Beltane Fire Society. Used under fair use.

To anyone who follows this blog who also lives in the UK, it must be somewhat of a relief that we now move out of the darker half of the year, which has been particularly nasty energetically in its death throes. I wish everyone reading this the ability to draw from that well of power and manifest the changes they need to move forward on this path over the coming months.The tests are hard, but the rewards so, so worth it. I give thanks to all those who have contacted me, those who show true love and devotion who always astound me with their dedication and progress.

Personally I am taking the time to recover from the chimeric business, as well as gather whats required to bind it fully as described in the last article. Almost all of the ingredients necessary for this task are in my possession, and all that remains is to construct the vessel correctly before the ritual is undertaken to do so.

This will finally put this whole episode to rest I hope, which has eaten into time which could have better been spent working with Surgat and moving the rest of the work forward.

Interestingly, I came across the following article in a group im part of. It is by an author called Jaclyn Cherie on her blog ‘The Nephilim Rising’ in which she details the effects of ‘mass market’ spirit binding. I will link the article below:

LESSONS IN MAGICK: The Unethical Practice of Spirit Binding

On the whole I find this a rather good article on something that has bothered me for awhile, albeit one that contains a flaw I see often in many modern writings on spirits and the Gods. Firstly ill say I share her complete distaste and disdain for those who engage in the practice of binding spirits to be sold as commodities.

Id add the reason here in that not only do I believe it to not be ethical for this end, but also that I have serious reservations that the skill level of an ‘occultist’ who would direct their energy towards such works would be good enough to bind a spirit as they claim. Especially when this is accompanied with frankly ludicrous claims of what is bound, in contrast to materials and workmanship on offer. Considering the general lack of real skill or devotion in the wider ‘occult’ community, which is mainly made up of skilless hacks and narcissistic egotists, this should really come as no surprise to anyone.

However I do believe the author also misses the perfectly legitimate reasons to bind a spirit. Not every spirit out there is ‘nice’, the spirit world is chock full of dangerous and predatory entities which will quite happily take a bite out of anything that they deem as ‘prey’. This is backed up by encounters and folk lore stretching back to the first human cultures. Some of these are animalistic in their approach, others are far, far more sinisterly intelligent matching or exceeding our own mental faculties. When encountered, binding these predatory entities to make good use of them, is a sensible perogative provided it can be done correctly. Obviously this is not always possible to do entirely with its will – rarely does someone or something willingly go to prison for rehabilitation.One should not discard a practice entirely because some debase it and use it in a grossly inappropriate way.

The Wicker Man (film), 1973

On that note, still much to do and writing this late so I must be off. Otherwise it might be me being burned in the Wickerman.. Until the next time~

Ave Hecate,
Ave Lucifer,
Ave Belial,
Ave Sepheranz,

All Hail the Trident of Eternal Witchcraft,
May the flames of the Gods light our path now and forever
~S~

A Starry Samhain – The Amulet of the Stellar King and the Gatekeeper

Posted in Occultism, Other, The Path of Flames with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 31, 2017 by Sypheara

Just a small post to wish everyone as usual a great and productive Sabbat this Samhain. The time has come for me to begin exploring Lucifers gate in regards to my path, and to this end I have something special to show people.

A good friend of mine, who is a coppersmith of some considerable talent, gracefully accepted the challenging task of bringing to life the amulet designed for opening Lucifers stellar gate. This amulet would bear on one side the Sigil of Lucifers Stellar Gate on this path, being linked to his Universal Flesh. On the other, it would bear the sigil of Surgat, a powerful witch god who resides over the opening of all locks.

This particular combination creates unique challenges both from a mundane construction perspective, but also that of magickal one. This tool is essential for the opening of said gate in a formula similar to but in some ways distinct from that which is given in the grimoire of the Trident Craft , The Red King. Lucifer was specific on this, coming through strongly as work with Hecate was conducted and her soothing currents assimilated in works of healing and balance both within, and without the circle.

It’s been a long time coming because of this and surrounding circumstances, but below, I can finally show off the Surgat side of the amulet.

This Samhain the amulet will be used as an evocational tool in rites to Lucifer to begin the groundwork for regaining momentum on the Ivory Stellar Path. The Lucifer specific sigil must remain protected from general distribution under the taboos of silence until the gate has been opened and properly explored.

The Stellar Key of the Perfect Red King, Amulet by S. and Runecast Copper

Due to the outstanding job done by my friend in creating this tool for me, I thought it would be only appropriate to add a link to his etsy store for those who would be interested in their own copperwork. As such, the image above will take you straight there!

I hope that this has given maybe some more insight to whats going on at the moment, and I hope everyone enjoys the season. There is a lot of work to be done by devotees around this time, and I wish you all good luck for rites ahead and will be in touch with those of you who have asked for help and guidance as soon as I can once works are complete.

Samhain Blessings,
Ave Hecate,
~S~

A Step Out of Phase: The Mirrorworld

Posted in Occultism, Other with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 17, 2017 by Sypheara

Before we get to it, an update! So I have finallymanaged to move into my new house, and have set up an extremely basic altar consisting of both familial dolls and the central fetish piece in the new ritual room. Over the coming months, I hope to evolve this up into a new, fully seated indoor temple with correct spaces for all of the four witch gods. This includes Sepheranz, who up to this point I have never had a dedicated space for. I know that Sepheranz is particular requests this of people – no single shared altar is really fitting for Sepheranz. Im looking forward to explore my innate link to her and her more esoteric aspects that are suitable for myself in the coming months ahead. An altar to the Lord of the Dark Star is also under consideration, as well as a place at the west for the Ivory Spider.  This will allow the correct energetic space to pursue the opening of Lucifers Stellar Gate, an important pillar to begin the third of the phases of opening Belials Stargate in the flesh and soul. I am also preparing something for a local group, with the help of another Hecatian Witch for the Sabbat, so times are pretty busy here!

This post is actually one I’ve been meaning to put up for awhile now, and it addresses what I simply call the ‘Mirrorworld’. In many different occult texts, you will see many different diagrams, theories, arrangements for the differing realms that surround and penetrate our own, thus making up the All. These often come with many interchangeable and confusing terms which often don’t seemingly relate to our own experience as occultists and witches.

So far, working with the Witch Gods, the Trees have proven a very useful and valid map for exploring both the Nightside and Dayside realms which make up our own Universe. However, one of the more interesting realms, by far the most visited one for me, is the one mentioned above, the Mirror World.

This realm seems to be the closest to our own – being just one small slip or step out of phase with it, best accessed through the Dreaming Gates. From my experience, this Mirror Realm acts almost as a film that surrounds Malkuth/Nahemoth, and from here the tunnels seem to connect to the realms known as Yesod / Lilith through chthonic or lunar paths that are revealed. It is a strange in between place, that is both aerial and chthonic at the same time and for me acts as a primary point of ingress to the Other.

I call it the mirror world or mirror realm because simply, the place appears as a flip side to our material world, looking as if it has been run through a harsh grayscale or colour desaturation filter, and literally abounds in some places with many, mirrored surfaces as reflections in all materials seem heavily amplified. The nearest term I can find that matches this is Etheric Plane, but it is so inadequate as a term and misleading due to its etymology that I do not describe it as such. The areas within this realm as usually counterparts of their real ones, although usually more structured, devoid of many details and with many areas smoothed or minimalised.


Hall of Mirrors, Harold Davis

Sound, light and weather within this realm depend on the region. Some places have no sound whatsoever, as if every surface was made up of some sound swallowing material. Everywhere else the sound is almost muted, as if coming from a point underwater. Light also varies – some areas are harshly contrasted, as if you are standing somewhere without an atmosphere whilst still being recognisably on ‘earth’. Other areas are lit as if by an unseen, non existent light source which hits all surfaces equally removing all shadows.  Weather also varies – from raining downwards, raining upwards, to raining shards of glass or other objects. and usually areas are windless. The sky is either completely clear and cloudless or everywhere is covered in a dark, thick white mist like something out of, for lack of a better description to fall back on fictional examples,  Silent Hill or Stranger Things.

The sun is never observable in the sky here – attempting to look for it seems to never succeed – the moon is always there, and appears as either one of three archetypes. White, and bleeding a strange, clear liquid. An ominous, black ball surrounded by fire like an eclipse. Or lastly, dark earth like red, weeping blood.

Vegetation in this place is always autumnal colours, or otherwise of dark foliage. Trees in the main are leafless, although some evergreens still stand twisted and gnarled.  The temperature of the entire realm seems to be lukewarm – only once did a temperature change occur when I was here, plummeting rapidly caused by one of the strange inhabitants that lives in this place.

Photographer unknown

The beings that reside here are strange indeed. The most obvious inhabitants are the human and animal dead – this in between place seems especially the home of some of these lost souls. Once I remember walking in a deserted city, the sky harsh white, each buildings glittering surface almost painful to look at. There i came across an old lady, who seemed distressed. I remember trying to calm her, but all she could do was protest over and over again, saying she was looking for something, this something I got the impression strangely, was a red balloon. She paid little attention to me, until she eventually looked at me with glazed over eyes and simply stated ‘Young people these days just don’t understand’ before she vanished in a cloud of dust from a wind that never existed.

Other inhabitants seem to be like something that has walked straight out of a Guillermo Del Toro movie, an assortment of various forgotten folk spirits that make up the weird menagerie that regular roams around this place. Few are threatening, most are strangle and bizarrely welcoming in nature. Vehicles are seemingly also mirrored in this realm – the spirits sometimes utilising them in strangely human like fashion to get from place to place. Angels with broken wings wander lost amongst these strange ruin like areas, and in the forest strange fae like creatures build dwellings with broken bricks and other detritus they’ve managed to scavenge. A lost traveller asking these entities to direct them will usually find themselves taken on an adventure that whilst illuminating in some manner, usually leaves them ever more lost. Sometimes valuable information can be found here off these entities which seem to have a capacity to see into the past, present and future. Some of them will actively come forward, guided by the Gods, to impart gnosis to the seeker who walks these realms.

Unknown work, Brian Froud

The overall feeling of the place is a neutral one. Some areas are more sinister than others, some are incredibly bright and strangely ‘vibrant’, as far as a place lacking strong or any colour can be. Just as some places are much more dangerous in our world, and others are very safe, so are the corners of this strange world. It is a place where it is incredibly easy to wander off the beaten track… whatever you encounter, the only thing you know is that its unlikely you’ll have come across it before..

Elements of the mirror world seem to remain static. However, sometimes, huge areas seem to change and morph, sometimes becoming quite incongruous with its counterpart on the physical, distorting into a more surreal landscape. As such, its important that the fact the realm is in a state of flux  is kept firmly in mind so that one does not becoming disorientated on travelling here.

At this point, I think many readers will be asking what makes this different from other kinds of dreamscape. One is ironically compared to the above point, is a strange consistency.  Despite changing environments, the general characteristics as described above hold continuously between penetrations to this realm. Secondly,  unlike a standard dreamscape, all visits to this place are generally incredibly lucid, with sounds, smells, even tastes vividly remembered if the transit here is of sufficient strength. Yet this place lacks the sheer raw energy or power which when encountered radiates over the traveller in other astral realms of the tree which lie far beyond it. It also seems to lack any particular hierarchy, for I have never encountered any of the Gods here other than near the aforementioned tunnels. As such, it seems a ‘playground’ for a myriad of entities that match its vibrational pattern.

Thinking on it longer, I believe that this is the same shamanic realm that is often talked about by other practitioners, albeit reflecting the current world soul and the impressions we leave on this realm by our daily interactions with each other and the world around us on the physical. I am reminded of a conversation with a friend.. Maybe spirits trapped between the living and the dead wander here, waiting for their souls to be retrieved by those who are curious, brave or just plain desperate enough to try.

Shadowman, Gregory Tom

Ave Hecate,
~S~

Dreaming Deeply: Spirits in Sleep

Posted in Occultism, Other, The Path of Flames with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 7, 2016 by Sypheara

Hello all,

I hope you are having a great start to the beginning of October.. with Samhain rapidly approaching i’m finding myself kicking it up a gear when it comes to preparations for the nights ahead.

However I wanted to post today on something interesting, mainly due to several recent experiences. These have been quite powerful, and useful for my spiritual growth and I feel sharing it could be useful for people.

Many people have experienced powerful, deep dreams that are stark in their lucidity. Many people, in these states, have often met entities of some description, that seem overly familiar as if they have been met before. They often give advice, teaching, or even gifts of power. On waking many people do not remember these encounters, or file them away at the back of their minds as unimportant.

Little do they realise that they might have met with a familiar or guiding spirit in the Oneiric Realms.  I feel this is a great shame as these experiences have a great capacity to bring insight, and healing, to those who experience, remember and integrate them. What follows is some examples of my own experiences and a small method to help cement work with these entities.

My own experience with this form of contact has been varied and extensive, and it is one of the primary ways in which I work. That said, two experiences stand out in my mind as being extremely important, one being a new occurrence, and the other one old.

One of the first experiences I have ever had was meeting a spirit within a dream forest. I can remember the sweet, smell of the cherry blossoms that seemed to glow a subtle, golden white light upon their darkened black twisted stems. A cracked stone path led straight through these trees towards an old, rustic house of an exotic design that defies description in text, as a light breeze seemed to swirl around me. The air was cool, and crisp, and there was hardly any sound as if the whole forest was holding its breath. further away I could see evergreens, interspersed with the cold icy blossom trees, and there was a feeling as if one had stepped into some surrealist picture. Far down the path i could see a figure, abnormally slim and tall, dressed entirely in red. Their eyes possessed a relaxing, warm orange colour, that gave off a feeling of both youth and age all at once. Long, black hair seemed to fall down over the figures shoulders, and it was sat as if relaxing and enjoying this strange, abnormal morning. I felt drawn towards this figure, and approached and welcomed it.

This encounter would be a highly enjoyable one. I talked for many hours with this entity, that who neither at the time give me its name nor identity. But it gave me a lot of advice, advice that would strengthen me for difficulties at that time I was facing in my mundane life. It wouldn’t be the first time I would run into this entity – over many weeks, months and years I have met it again several times.. and only within the last few have I identified it as my primary familiar.

dreamscapeDreamscape by Piofoks

A more recent example occurred several weeks ago. I met an entity in dream, one that at first was challenging, even hostile. This entity appeared with the same, strange dimensions of that of the primary familial, except it was clearly appearing as Female. This entity possessed solid black eyes, ivory skin, and long, snake like hair. Despite her stand offish nature, she radiated a warm, welcoming aura that drew me to persist in asking her assistance. Once I had correctly introduced myself, this entity mellowed and taught me over the course of several days how to internalise some of the energies released by opening Hecates Stellar Gate. In the Waking World, she sent visions that identified her as a spirit that resides in Malkuth/Nehemoth, the spheres that lie closest to our world and merge with it, and that she is associated with the energies of the moon. She seemed in some way linked to Nahemah, something I have still not had clarified. However this work left me feeling refreshed, calmed, as if some of the energy from those difficult workings had finally been integrated. She also made it clear that she had been sent for this task, and was a specific familiar or oneiric spirit that had almost complete mastery of these realms and would therefore be an excellent guardian from some of the more intense, disturbing apocalyptic dreams that are being caused by rising currents from the World Soul.

Looking back on the above, it is not a surprise that these entities that have guarding/teaching roles are more likely to contact us in times of stress, or challenge. They are often specifically sent to aid us on our path, usually after subconsciously being requested. Engaging with them leads to an overall bettering of the situation as we work with them to complete the challenges set before us.

Once contact has been made through chance encounter or after a request to Hecate has been sent in initial work, there is a trick that can help facilitate and grow the connection with your own personal dream familiars and spirits.  Firstly, you will need to acquire the spirits name, sigil or ideally both. Once once is given, the other is usually just a matter of conducting further work with the spirit until both are deemed ready to share.

Take one small piece of paper, or thin piece of wood, and ritually consecrate and prepare it as detailed in earlier workings in the resources section. For paper, this usually involves a libation element, and both are cleansed with consecrated water and incense smoke. Once the material is ready, mark in ink or engrave the name, sigil or ideally both onto one side. The second side, should have the Sigil of the Universal Gateway, as detailed in Queen of Hell and as shown below.

sigil

The Universal Sigil of Gateways, as detailed in the book ‘Queen of Hell’

Once completed, a call is given to Hecate  to thank her for assisting the work, and she is asked to open the gateway to her realms for the spirit to come forth during your dreaming phases. As this personal call is spoken, the gateway sigil is blooded. Once done, the sigil and name of the spirit overleaf is also blooded, with an individual call to that spirit to come forth and meet you, work with you and teach you in dream.

Once the above is done, this artefact becomes empowered and a direct conduit to the spirit involved. When sleeping, it should be placed under a pillow, or failing that, the bed in as close a proximity as you as possible to help facilitate its effects. When not in use, in should reside in or around the altar and should be treated as all other empowered items.

This method has been and continues to be an effective, simple way of working with these entities revealed to me. Further offerings of blood increases the effect. This sigil has many interesting properties for devotees who make use of it, and the symbolism inherent within it should be self evident.

I wish everyone a great run up to Samhain, and I hope to have more to share near the end of this month, going into the next.

Ave Hecate,
~S~

Samhain Blessings

Posted in Other, Paganism, The Path of Flames with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on October 31, 2015 by Sypheara

Was reflecting on and came to the conclusion that a post was in order, considering the auspiciousness of the day.

My mundane situation has calmed down considerably, and I am (mostly) moved into my new place. Tonight, the Temple Room will be reactivated by a process involving the following. Whilst I do not have time to detail this process, it can be quickly lain out as follows for the interested:

  • The casting of the sphere of night.
  • Calling of the quarters.
  • Calls given composed of the both the Planetary , Stellar calls, and that of the Ephesian letters.
  • Ensorcelling of the powers of the sphere.
  • Invocation and Possession involving Hecate.
  • Opening of both sides of the Tree, light, then dark to balance the polarities.
  • The concentration of this energy into opening the new gateway within the new inner temple through blood work, sexual magick at the height of frenzy and excitation.

I wish everyone who is reading a blessed and productive Samhain…  may the torches of the Gods forever illuminate your path. I hope your workings tonight truly blow open the veils and reveal the gnosis that you seek.

Ave Hecate,

Ave Lucifer,

Ave Belial,

All Hail to the Witchgods this Night!

samhain_by_midnightstouch
Samhain by MidnightsTouch

Small Update: Doll Creation Go-Ahead

Posted in Occultism, Other, The Path of Flames with tags , , , , , , on April 24, 2014 by Sypheara

I recently posted about my intention to create a body for my familiar utilising a correctly constructed ball jointed doll, and that I would need to first discuss the concept with my familiar.

The initial step in this was completed a few weeks ago, upon my birthday. The familiar has given all indications directly to me that it is fine with the concept, and wishes for me to proceed.

As such, at some point in the future, I will be detailing this process in greater detail after all. I still have some of the specifics to iron out, especially to do with the styling of the doll and what  is most desired by my familiar, but it has indicated that the doll is interestingly, be represented in as asexual manner  as possible.

In_your_weakest_hour_by_Vissepopje

In Your Weakest Hour by Vissepopje

The process is still also to be worked out, alongside any additional requests from the spirit. On top of this there is the material need to acquire all the necessary elements. The body itself is going to be relatively expensive, with the size of the doll body im aiming for will be along the lines of 1/3 ‘human’ size. As for timescales, I hope to have the doll created sometime through the next few months, with work and sorting out my new home taken into account.

Alot of researching to do on my end, for multiple reasons, but I’m looking forward to getting started on this in privacy and recording the process. I am hoping that Hecate and the spirits will give me a hand with it, but im expecting it to be a rather personal and introspective process.

Anyone who may have any words of advice, especially if they have attempted anything similar with their own familiar or collect ball jointed dolls, feel free to post below or email me. I’d be thankful for any assistance sent my way!

~S~

Update on Looking Forward: Tool Creation and Other Matters

Posted in Occultism, Other with tags , , , , , , , , , on March 21, 2014 by Sypheara

Updates have unfortunately been sparse to the blog lately, but that has  not meant things have been moving along quite nicely on the personal front. Whilst this is not directly relevant to the  content of this blog, I thought it was all worth a mention because, hopefully, this change in my circumstances will facilitate an increased level of practice in the future.

I have recently  acquired a job which has enabled me to have the funds  to finally get a place of my own. This will hopefully provide both the space and privacy to to do necessary workings with the appropriate tools, and I am looking forward to having my ‘walking rate’ on the path accelerated at a rapid pace.

As such, I would like to touch on some coming potential subjects that the blog and myself will cover over the coming weeks and months.

Tool Creation and Acquisition

Over the coming few months and weeks, I hope to be building up a set of tools for use in a ritual context. This includes a myriad of things, and therefore could be on a variety of topics.

For example, I will be creating an altar, which will require significant work. This altar i hope to follow a fairly complicated process under the watchful eye of Hecate to ensure it is properly enlinked to the current. This will include numerous esoteric workings, as well as physical modification of the table i use itself, perhaps even entering the wood etching and pyrography departments. Which for me would be highly interesting and challenging, as it would be my first attempt to incorporate such things into my own work.

As an additional, I will be making a wands for my own personal use, and helping a friend acquire wood in a correct manner for their own. This tool will be one of invaluable help, and since this involves working with the spirits of plants and trees, I want to ensure that taking the wood for its construction is done in as proper a manner as is possible.

The above are limited examples, as I have more planned and hope to detail what I can (ie where its appropriate) as I go forward. Hopefully, this will help me work with Hecate and the other Gods on a much closer level without undue interruption.

Cherry.Tree.full.97728

Cherry Tree, Artist Unknown

Familiar Work

A year or two back, I did some workings with my primary familiar, aimed at establishing a greater connection to it. These for the most part, only met with limited success, and unfortunately, due to other issues arising, I was unable to continue those set of workings.I now feel again it is time to concentrate on this aspect as I move into a space where I feel more comfortable doing larger workings.

Whilst I have, and am capable of talking with this spirit rather infrequently through vision and dream, a closer, a more bonded and intimate connection is sought than is currently present. To this end I will be creating a body for it which is not only a tool but a gift to reward is positive presence and influence in my work and life up to this point and to ask for its continued assistance.

This body will probably be an enspirited doll. This doll, like the spirit box was and is for the mighty dead, will act as a focus point that offers a physical housing which will help it to manifest in the physical world.  The dolls body will probably be based on an existing ball jointed doll, which will be loaded with specific elements and undergo a series of workings that will encourage the spirit to accept it as a potential body.

Over the coming weeks, I hope to ask my familiar for its permission  to continue this work, and if given, whats its preferences are to body gender, type etc are to ensure maximum compatibility.

porcelain_ball_jointed_dolls_argentina_by_fernandoartesano-d5vudvf

Porcelain ball Jointed Dolls,  Fernandoartesano 

Five Elements and their Synchronicity

I have been meaning to write a small entry about the importance of numbers, and the interesting parallels between the modern concepts of fundamental physical forces and that of the classical elements. Whilst this may have been touched on before, I haven’t seen anything on it recently and thought it might be good to put forward my own perspective on it as I find it quite interesting.

Fotothek_df_tg_0007129_Theosophie_^_Alchemie

Theosophische Darstellung zur Alchemie, Deutsche Fotothek

For now however, it still remains for the relocation to be seen through to the end, and for existing work to be written up in physical format and other correspondences to be completed.

Thanks for reading as always, and a very happy Ostara everyone!

~S~

Belated: Happy Imbolc

Posted in Folk Belief, Luciferianism, Other, Paganism, The Path of Flames with tags , , , , , , , , on February 2, 2014 by Sypheara

To everyone reading this, firstly I’d like to wish you happy Imbolc! Sorry the post is  a bit late, but I got caught up in my own workings.

Imbolc marks the beginning of spring, when the solar fires once again begin to return and winters grip begins to loosen.  It certainly hasn’t felt that way in England as of yet! A mild but constantly rainy weather pattern seen this be a very strange January, and  I can only hope that going forward it will calm down allowing for more workings outside to be performed. Although it can’t be said to be unwelcome, keeping everywhere around here relatively warm.

The cross quarter sabbats, are for me, emphasised more than the solstices. The liminality, the crossing points, are for me the times were I seem to combine solitary work with celebrating the event with the wider pagan community. This is something, as a solitary practitioner, I seldom do but feel is essential to prevent myself from falling into a disconnected state.

I often get asked if there is a reason behind this, in an objective fashion, but it simply more of a personal preference that for me. The answer I often give is simple.  The solstices and equinoxes become more of a personal experience for me, simply due to practicality. Not as a rule but as a guide, using the cross quarter days for communal and introspective work, and the quarter days for more workings with an objective, it allows for multiple expressions of my practice where  the staggering of priorities encourages me to take part in all of the Sabbats on some level. Not out of only a sense of duty, but missing out! Of course this isn’t roughly stuck to – if I feel prodded in a certain direction, I roll with it and do workings or rituals or whatever as required.

I participated in an interesting ritual the night before Imbolc which revolved around the Goddess Brighid and the Spirit of the Swan. This involved a guided meditation of a journey to a lake, where upon the Swan would be met, and a message potentially received.

For me it was rather interesting, and played out far differently that I could have expected. I entered a forest from the minds eye that was filled with silver light. The trees and the land itself seem infused with silver, and I felt of reduced weight. It wasn’t long before I reached a lake – the lake was a deep, sapphire blue, in vivid contrast to that of the surrounding land. On it, a swan swam, xrayed, it’s skeleton viewable through its skin. It flickered between this and a more solid corporeal appearance, as it swam towards me.

When it got close, I felt it an aura extend from it to myself. Quite quickly this enveloped me,  surrounding me in a deep sapphire light. At this point, I entirely lost any sense of being connected within anyone else present. I felt the bones push out from my skin and reach down into the ground, piercing into the roots of a great tree. My minds eye was dominated by a giant, white and blue searing eye, and a voice spoke through the swan delivering its message. The energy felt not too dissimilar from that of Belial’s, and completely overtook my body. Eventually once the message was delivered, the experience slowly became less intense, before finally my bones retracted back towards my body, and the swan began to swim away. Even as it did so, it felt like the scene and my own aura was collapsing inwards, and soon i was surrounded by a pitch blackness.

800px-Imbolc_Festival_February_3rd_2007

Imbolc celebration in Marsden

In the distance, I could see an orange light so I stumbled towards it. As i got closer, I could see a skeletal figure, which looked like a ram or goat, except it possessed human hands and stood upright on it’s hindquarters. Like the swan, it flickered between this skeletal visage and a solid form. In this case, the solid form was of a creature covered in black deep fur,  with bone bleached antlers. I could see it stirring a dark, black cauldron, in which a clear, warm liquid that had the consistency of treacle circled, vortex like. As I came closer, the figure reached up, and tore off its own head, to reveal an angelic male figure underneath. This figure glowed like white hot metal, and long flowing blonde hair descended around the narrow face like streams of plasma .There was a feeling that the air around him (for the figure felt distinctly male) was electrified. The skin of the goat fell away entirely , and the figure walked over to me and extended out his right hand, and placed it on my head. There was no feeling of heat, but instead I felt an immense jolt of energy, and suddenly became aware of my own physicality. At that point, I slowly came to, and opened my eyes..

All in all it was a very rewarding and interesting journey, although far different and expanded than  what I expected or the goal of the working itself. It was interesting that I experienced no feelings from Hecate or any other feminine energies.

After everything was over, the person who was leading the ritual also gave to me and other participants a wonderful present: a hand sewn Imbolc bracelet, made out of a white material that also  bore a small charm. As someone who works with knots, knows how much concentration to create it would have taken and appreciates how much intense focus can create a powerful object, it was a very, very nice gift. It was taken home and placed on the altar immediately, and I intend to wear it close to the body between now and Beltane.

On the Sabbat night I prepared the offerings, tying them with red and white string. This included several apples, an alcoholic libation, and some walnuts. One of these walnuts was opened, and filled with the ashes from burnt incense and a small piece of coloured quartz, one I have had since being a small child. As such, i felt it would make an ideal gift. Associations were not thought of here in any large amount – just the desire to return something to the spirits for their continued presence and as  a thank you for the previous experience.

On Monday, I plan to take these offerings to an appropriate place, somewhere secluded where they are unlikely to be bothered. I hope you have all had a similarly interesting few days.

~S~

Update: Domain Upgrade

Posted in Other with tags , , on January 19, 2014 by Sypheara

I have been thinking for awhile now of upgrading the blog to its own standalone domain name, for various reasons. I have decided to bite the bullet and go ahead with registering the site using WordPress.com. From now on, it should be accessible using the following url.

http://www.theluciferianrevolution.com

Hopefully this will serve the site well, and help separate the content and blog itself away from the underlying service on which it runs and is maintained.

It shouldn’t affect postings: business as usual! It should hopefully however, make the site more accessible to new and returning readers alike.

~S~

scythe-emphemeraphilia