Archive for the Stellar Gnosis Category

Samhain Blessings: Success in the Black Degree

Posted in Necromancy, Paganism, Stellar Gnosis, The Path of Flames with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 3, 2019 by Sypheara

A very quick and short entry from myself, just to wish everyone a good Samhain period – the day itself might have passed, but here we will be extending workings well up to the 11th (and likely a few days beyond!). This includes that nice little working on the coast with Leviathan, which i’m expecting will be carried out in lovely freezing and raining conditions. A pretty usual state of affairs in this rather bleak but beautiful place. The plan is to carry that out sometime in the next two weeks.

To update on the former post – it is with great relish I can report that the initiation of the first candidate of the inner temple here went extremely well. Lucifer was impressed with the gifts offered and the faith in which the ordeal was faced and past. As such, the groundwork for the Stellar Temple I want to build metaphorically and literally in the years to come, is properly started. It will take several years minimum before the praxis is in place, probably longer before I can even consider securing a physical temple site due to the time and monetary costs involved. So a very long term project to make explicitly clear, but one I look forward to building in partnership with the new apprentice, Hecate and their own path willing.

Hernes Oak From The Merry Wives Of Windsor, V, V Herne’s

Outside of this some strong possession work with Hecate commenced last night on the 1st to celebrate both the blessed, as well the dark and forgotten dead.

This group working was led by a good friend of mine, who has many years working with our Goddess. She doesn’t work in Trident Witchcraft but in another strain of Hekatian Witchcraft, but the energies raised are extremely similar for obvious reasons. Use of Ophidian speech allowed for the spirits we intended to contact to raise powerfully but also safely into the ritual space. Particular attention was given to those accused of being witches in the past, especially in regards to a particular local group which were accused and hanged based on absolutely marginal shreds of evidence in the 17th Century. Only three of these individuals could have been referred to as witches, the rest included a businessman and at least one, ironically, pious Christian.  Their murder has left them in a state of limbo, not helped by years of mundane interference at their unmarked burial site. To be able to give them some solace, by sharing offering and remembering the story of their heinous murder, feels like at least an attempt to address a powerful and long standing injustice. Other personal contact with the dead was made, but these experiences remain solely for the group attending and will not be shared here as is proper.

Overall it was a powerful rite to share with others, and culminated for me in an almost full drawing in of the black goddess which i won’t readily forget. Whilst these are common for me with Lucifer, they are much more uncommon with the dark mother to that full bodied extent, and are thus enjoyed thoroughly when experienced.

With that said, back to it, I hope its been a great time for everyone, and many blessings in your works ahead.

Ave the Blessed Dead,
On these dark Samhain nights,
Those souls who have come before,
Who light the way with their torches,
We give to you our praise and love,
In the name of the Dark Mother,

And with heartfelt wishes,
Peace to the Dark Dead,
Those lost and forlorn,
Lie forgotten no more
Be fulfilled and at rest,
Sated and Soothed,
In the Black Queens Arms
~S~

The Stars of the Hunter: The Constellation Orion

Posted in Stellar Gnosis, The Path of Flames with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2019 by Sypheara

Going into the new year has been a powerful time here, bringing many changes to my mundane life for the better. I truly feel blessed by my Gods, who have made themselves known in sometimes frighteningly, powerful ways on the physical plane as of late in the strength of signs and synchronicities sent forth.  It is hard to talk of the love and appreciation I have for them, and what they have brought me these last few months, so ill suffice to say I finally feel the previous trials have borne their fruit in their entirety. This has put me in a good place for forthcoming work in 2019 – which will involve again, some strict theurgic work to open the next set of stellar pillars.

Surgat has finally been contacted over these last few months, and successful pact has been entered. This will be sealed by taking his mark over the coming weeks – at which point the correct empowerment and protection will be in place to open his lock on the Ivory Path. I am heavily looking forward to kick starting this process – hoping to work through this quickly and then by summer, have Lucifer’s stellar pillar fully opened. This should hopefully pave the way for the work with Belial, the spirits of the stellar caverns, the Ivory Spider and finally, of what is making itself known as the rite of ‘lesser whirlpool’. Full understanding of this process will be unveiled in time, as  individual works are completed, which should allow for rapid assimilation of the dependent gnosis.

One of the side affects of this work is expanding awareness of the great stellar spirits that ply their way through the heavens. Greater knowledge of the stars reveals just how much has been lost, from a magickal perspective, in regards to knowledge of working with these entities. Even old magickal systems that are often relied on, whilst arguably more dependable than modern systems, are also shown to be greatly lacking – most of them being invented thousands of years after the majority of the truly wondrous stellar magickal lore was lost.

In many cases, the stars became subservient to the planets or worse. This is strongly demonstrated by modern astrology – taken to extremes in popular, shallow, banal sun sign fixation – which has withered to the point of being unusable outside of as a dubious self help tool. Here, Alan Leo and the Theosophical Society have a lot to answer for.

These systems would have been entirely alien to the stellar priests of the past, where the stars were exalted as powerful beings of their own whose portents could be read to accurately predict the streams of fate and complement soul travel through the heavens.

There is a rather good article on this, that can be found here by Ida C. Benedetto, which covers this in some detail. My own goal with this entry is a little different.

What is important from a modern stellar gnosis perspective is direct contact with these entities where possible. To be able to accomplish this, one must have an appreciation and knowledge of the physical structures on which our Magick is based. Thus, we must turn away from overly abstract, simplified models back to complex and deep investigations that lead to a living star praxis.

One of the greatest collections of Stellar Entities and Formations, can be found in the constellation of Orion, which is a great starting point to investigate this expansive field. Being one of the most easily recognised constellations, it is a veritable powerhouse of stellar power than lies along the celestial equator making it visible throughout the world. The picture below shows Orion in incredible detail, including several important deep sky objects. Learning about this area of space would be of great benefit to someone who hopes to gain Stellar Gnosis and work it into their practice.

Photo taken by Rogelio Bernal Andreo in October 2010 of the Orion constellation showing the surrounding nebulae of the Orion Molecular Cloud complex.

The ‘main’ stars that make up the constellation are full of power and history. The top most star, an orange giant named Betelgeuse, is very dominant. Betelgeuse is expected, within the short stellar timeframe of two million years, to explode as a giant supernova. Going clockwise, we have Bellatrix in the top right, Rigel in the bottom right, and then Saiph in the bottom left. The belt asterism is made up of the stars Altinak, Alnilam, and Mintaka.

Below, a basic table of the statistics of these stars are displayed along with relevant links to further information on their physical makeup. It should be noted that some of these stars are in fact binary stars – meaning that the system is in fact made up of two stars in close orbit, that appears as one point in the sky. This has an effect on the energies that are drawn through when working with them.

 

Proper
name
Apparent
magnitude
Approx. distance
(Light years)
Radius
(R)
Betelgeuse 0.0–1.3 643 887
Rigel 0.05–0.18 860 78.9
Bellatrix 1.659–1.64 250 5.75
Mintaka 2.23 (3.2/3.3) 1,200 16.5
Alnilam 1.64–1.74 2,000 42
Alnitak 1.77 (2.08/4.28/4.01) 1,260 20
Saiph 2.09 650 22.2

Orion, is traditionally associated with the huntsman of the same name from Hellenic Myth. Plenty of other cultures have a similar, martial theme to describe mythologically this constellation, and the surrounding stellar structures. Personal experience has led me to utilise these stars in powerful rites of stellar purification and earthing – in fact they played a major role in the ritual to earth Lucifer’s stellar energies, and uproot the entity from the cursed earth that was encountered in earlier workings detailed on this blog.  Specific gnosis shows indeed, Betelgeuse is the ruler of this constellation, when they are worked together, with Alnilam being the lens and mediator in which its power is directed down into the constructed stellar gates.

This current is incredibly electrifying – of such benefic power that it really does bend the mind to experience it. When directed in the name of Hecate, Lucifer, Belial and the Lord of the Dark Star, it can be used to create stellar anchor points of such strength, drawing in a quickening and empowering current into the flesh of the Earth. This is something i hope to detail in full at some point in the future – this ritual, that was the sealing of Lucifer’s promise and gift of the Phoenix fire. The amount of energy that is able to be channelled should not be surprising – with this being an active, physical birthing ground of new stars in the many deep sky nebulae that can be observed here. Here, the hearts of new stars are forged, within the winding strands of the Orion, Horsehead and Flame Nebulas that make up the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex.

Orion is also a useful pointer to other, powerful stars in that region of the sky. This can be of most use to a witch making use of stellar power.

Orion as a navigational aid, by Mysid

Firstly, Orion’s belt points to both Sirius and Aldebaran. Sirius is the brightest star in the night’s sky, and as part of Canis Major, is also known as the Dog Star. This has long been considered to be ‘Orion’s Dog’, that follows him through the sky. The Greeks believed it to have a baleful influence on dogs, driving them to frenzy. This is contrasted by Persian star lore, which assigns Sirius to Tishtrya, a divinity of rain, fertility, and the antagonist of the demon of drought.

To the opposite end indicated by the belt, is the star Aldebaran, one of the Persian Royal Stars, which lies in the constellation of Taurus. In this system Aldebaran was seen as the Watcher of the East.  The Persian Royal Stars were seen as the Guardian of the Skies, and were made up of Aldebaran, Fomalhaut, Antares and Regulus. The implications here for those who are clued up on the identity of the Princes of the Quarters should be obvious. That will be an interesting avenue to pursue, especially from a primal craft perspective. It bears mentioning that three of these match with the Behenian Fixed Star list, with Fomalhaut being the exception. It is interesting to note that the Hyades lie directly behind Aldebaran – distinct from it, but easily noticeable, with that great star seeming to act as their current gatekeeper due to it’s position and prominence.

Procyon can be found tracing a line from Mintaka through Betelgeuse. This star is seen as a companion of Sirius, falling in the constellation of Canis Minor, and is also seen as a ‘Wolf’ star. Following a line through Rigel and Betelgeuse, the stars Castor and Pollux may be found, mythological twins which lie within the constellation Gemini.

Finally, those powerful, luminous, class B stars of immense stellar power that make up the sacred Pleiadean Gate may be found by following the path towards Aldebaran but continuing slightly further along the imaginary path. Here they appear as a dense cluster of stars, easily visible to the naked eye. These beautiful stars, who make up the circle of the sisters, are important for their protective powers that feature in the basic circle construction ritual that primal craft utilises.  These stars could form a whole entry on this blog themselves, so I will leave it by simply saying that, with Taurus / Auriga lying at the galactic anticentre, these stars lie directly in the path that takes us outside of our galaxy. As such, they therefore form a magickal channel of great power, to the interstellar void that lies beyond them. This lies in contrast with the power emitted from Sagittarius, where lies the pulsing heart of our Galaxy and that great stellar portal over which the Lord of the Dark Star holds claim.

Drawing a line from Betelgeuse through Aldebaran, the Pleiades are easily found (top right)
Photograph by Panda~thwiki

The Pleiades, photograph by David Martin

I hope I have instilled in the reader the desire to explore this area further. The ease of which identification of these stars can be made lend them well to being a springboard for further investigation and work, especially when we consider how densely packed this area is with stellar lore and power. Thus we become blessed with greater knowledge of the stars, thus re-birthing our relationship with these stellar entities.

I end this entry with a single image that details the evolution of Orion. For the stars are not static, but are living breathing beings, which only an active approach can seek to reach with genuine and long lasting success.

The Evolution of The Hunter, animation of Proper Motion by Tony873004 

 

Ave Hecate Asteria,
Queen of the Stellar Torches
Ave Lucifer,
Master of the Living Starfire,
Ave Belial,
Lord of All Flesh,
Ave The Lord of the Dark Star,
Keeper of Sagittarius Alpha
Ave the Stars of the Hunter,
Ave the Pleiadian and Hyadean Gates,
Through Which the Stellar Currents are Delivered,
Into the Heart of Our World,
In Loving Stellar Evolution,
Let our Paths be Elevated,
O Silver Tongued Lords

~S~