Archive for Sacrifice

Leviathan: Sea Dragon Rising

Posted in Stellar Gnosis, The Path of Flames with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 14, 2019 by Sypheara

It’s been just over three and a half weeks now since me and the new initiate set off with one goal in mind. The raising up, and working with Leviathan. This mighty sea dragon has a rich and interesting history. The name Leviathan (לִוְיָתָן – ‘Livyatan’) literally translated from Hebrew apparently has the meaning of ‘wreathed, twisted in folds’. This is an excellent description of this great creature, as we will go on to see. This is a direct continuation of an older root name derived from the Amorites, who had an identical sea serpent within their teachings who was known as Lôtān. The belief in great dragons plays into the motif of the Chaoskampf,  which occurs again and again in cultures world wide. I leave the mythological / legendary information to be passed on by those far more knowledgeable than myself. Here, I will concentrate on a very personal account of working with this entity.

The Destruction of Leviathan by Gustave Doré

The approach and understanding of Leviathan within Trident Witchcraft has only barely been explored. So for our own meeting with the Great Dragon, to say I undertook the operation with anything but great trepidation would be a complete lie. If one believes as trident witches do in the actual existences of these entities, then meeting face to face with an entity with the power to create walls of broiling water and drown one without the slightest compunction should be one approached with utmost caution. Doubly so when the intention of that rite is to walk into an open vortex within the very element that makes up the Great Dragons body.

We arrived on the chosen beach earlier in the day of the full moon, at high tide in order to observe the seas motion. There could be absolutely no complacency here – the last thing we wanted to do is underestimate the power of the ocean. This was just one beach of several we had inspected, but this one seemed relatively ideal. A small spit of land jutted out into the water, protected from the full force of the tall 18 foot waves by a wave cut platform. It was here we decided the rite would be conducted. The energy of the place felt extremely raw and elemental, but right. Despite the weather being customarily foul, one cannot expect sunshine and rainbows in November on this bleak but beautiful coast, we decided to go ahead with the ritual at around 11 pm.

We waited until close to that time, and set off as warmly wrapped up as we could. The beach wasn’t too far from where we were staying – but far enough it would take a least a reasonable amount of time to get there in the dark. We took the necessary equipment – the stellar amulet  of Lucifer, a small obsidian keystone empowered in Surgats energies, the stave and a small kerosene lamp being the primary but not only tools of the work.

One of the markers was still there – a dead and decaying seal a reminder of the primal power of the ocean. We passed it and found the spot, that perfect little piece of land that jutted out bordered on three sides by the sea. The ritual began as the water begin to come into the bay, under the beautifully clear starlight. Orion hung majestically in the sky, the raw power of Betelgeuse evident as it hung like a jewel some seven hundred light years away. It felt as if the entirety of the heavens rotated around the ritual point, for that brief moment revolving around the axiom of the crossroads we were to open. The omens seemed good and the wind had calmed, so we decided to proceed.

The circle itself was anchored utilising the kerosene lamp, and the area prepared for the ritual with the stave. To digress slightly, the fluid nature of water means a static circle is insufficient for working with this element in many cases. Invocational possession was affected to triformus level, and Hecate, Lucifer and Belial all evoked to the circle edge. Working with Surgat, the required formulation on the edge of the circle was carried out. Next,the obsidian stone was blooded liberally to act as the stellar key to enact the necessary transition safely.

With the temple initiate of the black degree anchoring the working with the help of an attendant celestial entity sent by the Gods as a fifth pillar of the work, I walked to the waters edge and carried out the final evocation of Leviathan. The act of casting the obsidian stone into the onrushing waters, was the sign the call itself was complete. I waited until the moment felt right and walked into the freezing waters at the point of manifestation of the vortex. The serene moment was suddenly shattered by an immediate on rush of pure power, that was akin to being electrocuted. My entire body went rigid in the water as it felt like powerful shocks ran rampant throughout my body. I was unable to move for what felt around five minutes as the serpent held me in its grip. At this moment its serpentine energy flooded me and I got a glimpse of Leviathan itself. This flickered between two forms. The first was a large silver scaled sea serpent with vestigial wings, of such pure stellar beauty that it is difficult to describe with words. The second appeared as a gigantic deep sea creature, looking similar to a eel-like version of a dragonfish, complete with distended jaws and bio-luminescent skin. It’s body was arrayed with a series of eyes that ran the length of it’s body. These two forms overlaid each other and switched rapidly like an flickering old television screen tuned to conflicting channels for around ten or so seconds.

Leviathan, artist unknown

This vision calmed and I felt Leviathans energy moving within me. The possession had come on quickly and suddenly, and in the powerful hold of it I was driven to a fresh sacrificial offering of blood. As it spilled into the water, I was compelled to partake of it directly. Leviathan imparted to me via impression that drinking some of this blood during this stage of the work was a seal upon the possession itself, the snake eating itself to become whole. As I began to assimilate the energies of this union, it calmed to a more subtle level. I saw flashes of the seals actually breaking, and a new mark being placed upon the subtle body.

I let the experience slowly subside until Leviathan let me know the work was complete. He withdrew quite rapidly, almost as quickly as the possession arrived. The way in which he made clear the rite was over wasn’t so much as done with spoken word but instead something indicated by ‘psychic impression’. There was no voice but almost a feeling that formed almost visible words in the minds eye with their forcefulness. ‘Your work is complete, and your offering received. Now leave this place, lest you be devoured by my waves. For my sea yields not for any man who stands foolishly in it’s way.’  This repeated in my mind – inescapable, raw, forceful and pressing. I returned quickly to the circle and with the invaluable help of the initiate closed up the rite quickly and effectively as demanded by Leviathan. We left the beach quickly and headed back to immediately get warm and recover from the experience.

The aftermath was one of quite honestly, serious exhaustion. The ritual had the effect of stressing the physical and astral bodies after its performance which has meant I’ve had to rest up considerably for the last few weeks. This is the less ‘glamorous’ side to this form of possession work. This working also capped a period of very intense rituals, and was by far the the strongest, meaning I was pushed to my current limit in this timeframe. In the time since, I have had a strong visitation from Leviathan via the lunar gates indicating that one full lunar cycle later, the gnosis could be extracted in full re the seal granted to me for full recording in the magickal records that are kept here. That work is to be done tonight via dream work, and tomorrow as follow up work and proper documentation of what is sent as energy allows.

The observant will have noticed I have only given very general formula for the working above. That is because this ritual is dangerously close to a circle breaking rite and involves working within active vortices – both of which could go very wrong if not approached right. Those who are not properly initiated run extreme risk in these workings, and even those properly prepared can have quite serious issues integrating the risen energies. As such I do have to put a sensible caution out there to anyone expecting to work with him in this identical way. It is also note to caution that similar to Surgat, he is difficult to work with and not particularly fond of our kind, especially due to current circumstances.

From here on out I’ll be focusing on the initiates training and growth as well as preparing for the following rites with the other great dragons. I hope to complete the work of the dragons, and Lucifer and Belial’s Stellar Gates by the end of 2020, gods willing. This is ambitious but achievable. I feel it is time to get onto the workings of the stellar whirlpools and the planetary gates themselves. As until this work is done, the stellar temple cannot be formed.

I hope this has been an interesting introduction to Leviathan, albeit one that I feel barely does this great entity justice. I feel this is just the start of a long working relationship with this spirit, and a healing / empowering of my own inner / outer landscapes for whats to come.

To you who encircles the Earth,
Oh great dragon of Chaos,
Beautiful radiant serpent of Light,
Dark nebulous serpent of Dark,
O Great and Terrible Ophidian One,
In Love and Honour we call to you now,
To he who nurtured us,
To he who strengthened us,
To he who sent us forth,
Wrapped in the scales of Young Creation,
In Primal Times forgotten by Man,
We give to thee our eternal thanks and devotion,
We ask of you now,
Send us your strength, 
To fortify our bodies,
To ready our minds,
To prepare our Souls,
To do what needs to be done,
In the Aeon of Lucifer,
In restoration, hope.
In destruction, damnation.
Let the judgement of the gods be delivered,
By the guardian of the waters
Of She who came First. 
~S~

Of Temple Initiation and Screaming at the Moon

Posted in Occultism, Paganism, The Path of Flames with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 31, 2015 by Sypheara

It felt like a trip I had to make.

During personal workings at her altar, Hecate made it known that the invitation was open – and I felt strongly pulled to the idea of travelling to the temple where her currents have been successfully, powerfully and permanently rooted into Belials flesh.

It felt like the final seal on all of the dedications and initiatory workings. Hecate instructed that it would facilitate the removal of a certain blockage I had been facing – allowing the currents of all four Trident Gods to flow through and encompass my entire being –restructuring the soul; propelling me to a whole new level of work. The request was made to the Gatekeeper of Her Mother Temple to ensure that the initiation was appropriate and accepted. With confirmation from both Gatekeeper and Hecate, I made the necessary arrangements for this pilgrimage.

Three weeks ago, I found myself walking up steep, stone steps to the Temple of the Four Pillars itself, deep within the Spanish Mountains. Accompanied by the Gatekeeper, I was about to undergo the powerful initiation held within the heart of this sacred place.

The Temple of The Four Pillars of Fire is aptly named. A large stone circular structure – the womb of the Goddess – is surrounded by four smaller stone circles, one for each of the Trident Gods, which are sunken into the ground. Sigils of the Arte adorn the temple’s aging stone walls, as sacrificial bones hang from branches above the archways – the entrances to each Pillar of Flame.

templeoffourpillarsoffire

The Temple of Four Pillars of Fire

Due to the intensely personal nature of the rite, as well as ensuring the protection and due respect in regards to the Temple and its Gatekeeper, what can be shared is limited. Below I detail some of the ritual experience that occurred during this powerful initiation.

The rite began with entrance to the Womb of Hecate, facilitated through the western gate where bones hung low from the trees.

In the heart of the central vortex the Four Pillars of Fire were activated by its Gatekeeper, their powerful magical force swirling around temple circumference before entering the centre circle – the womb of Hecate.

With power vibrated through subtle and flesh incarnate bodies and blood offerings given upon temple seals, inner gateways were opened in the names of the Trident Gods, Demon Princes, Tassatowah and Temple Guardians. These beings did not just unite their power within the temple, but also within my own flesh and soul. The vortex quickened whilst we stood facing the Northern Wall of Belial, a stone face covered in his sigils, and the dominating form of the fetish lord, standing at the centre of the womb as its axis. It was here that the first pledges were made. As their power flowed into my being from each quadrant, oaths were taken to follow the Gods beyond the expiry of physical flesh.

I gave up my silver pentacle, an item of much sentimental value, tying it to the Fetish Lord as a gift. The Fetish Lord then became the focus of the rite, the possessed skull – dedicated as the Godhead of Lucifer – already bore offerings of my blood. When my ritual gift was placed upon the Fetish, the skull was again blooded.

At this point, kneeling before the Gods, sacrifice was given – the offering was made by the Gatekeeper. This sacred act of sacrifice granted to the Witch Gods sealed the pact, reifying their vast energy into my soul. The entire process intensified as the Gatekeeper drew the Mark of the Serpentine Trident upon my brow. As blood ran down my face, a crushing blackness flooded into my being. This was more powerful than anything I had ever previously experienced. The power rose rapidly, released from the sacrifice, into my being and up through the Fetish Lord. As the black energy transmuted within my being in a rapid alchemical process, I felt my soul energy becoming a pure stellar current – carried on the ascending spirit that was released from the sacrificial offering. A current of pure flame, ripped through my body – not pain but an intensely pleasurable feeling which filled my entire being with pure joy; an elation akin to the orgasm of the soul.

blue_skull_wallpaper_by_nox_enamor-d4yvlcj (2)

Art by Nox Enamor

When this overwhelming energy eventually settled, yet another journey was undertaken to one of the Pillars of Flame, to call Hecate in Godform assumption. While full possession was not achieved, Hecate made her presence known in a flash of energy, soothing my simmering soul energy as further invocations were made. Upon completion, when it felt time to return to the womb of Hecate, I was presented with the sacrificial bone of Belial. I was then informed that this amulet would unlock pathways and Dragon Lines that led to the heart of the Earth.

From a seated position I blooded the bone and closed my eyes. My vision was filled with swirling reptilian eyes. Belial was immediately present. The eyes danced across my field of perception, turning, swirling, opening and blinking in rapid succession. Belial spoke, his voice clear and authoritative, giving direct and powerful messages. He asked why I resisted him. I replied that it was not intentional, and asked for his guidance on the path. He related that my destination was not, as was customary with some Primal Craft intiations, to be the Devil’s Throne. Now was not my time for that particular journey, instead I was instructed to follow Belial into the depths.

After being dragged through the largest of the reptilian eyes I found myself falling through dark tunnels which, spiralling downwards, eventually gave way to damp earth and stone cavern structures which opened into a large, black cave. A powerful light emanated from an opening in the roof, bathing everything in a brilliant, golden light.

A figure wearing armour and a sword, manifested before me. The entity wore a green cloak and hood, which obscured its face, and had two gigantic white feather wings protruding from its back. The being was authoritative but seemed benevolent. With his sword he opened or created a vortex. The ground fell away to reveal a dark lake. Light poured in from a collapsed ceiling, but the source was not sunlight. It felt like we were tens of kilometres below what could be described as the surface, that somehow the light was being generated by a type of photo-luminescence. Around the rim sat eight stone skulls, water poured from their mouths feeding the dark lake below.

dark-pool

Dark Lake – Photographer unknown

At the centre of the lake lay a circular stone platform, connected a far wall by a stone walk way where a huge gabbro door was inset into similarly dark walls. At this point my body seemed composed of solid white flame. A huge sigil adorned the door. The glyph vibrated powerfully. It was illuminated by green, blue and golden white energies like dancing flames. I reached out to touch the glyph, but as I did so, I heard Belial whisper something unintelligible, like snake speech, and the vision dissolved; returning me to the ordinary blackness of closed eyes. I immediately recorded the sigil from the doorway and, exhausted, thanked Belial for his guidance. The rite was closed in love and honour. An offering of brandy was left for the Gods as an additional token of respect, and then we headed down from the mountain.

Over the coming days Hecate, in possession work, revealed the purpose of the gateway sigil. Using formula given during initiation it was carved in wood and opened in blood, unlocking its seals and pathways for further exploration. This process releases a powerful Elemental Familiar.

In later work this gate was successful merged with the Stellar Glyph of Lucifer – granted unto all who place their names in Hecate’s Book of Souls during initiation at the Mother Temple. A second seal was given and the mysteries further revealed. More work is to be undertaken, this time on the full moon, to seat the stellar currents that also flow into through these chthonic paths revealed upon this ongoing journey.

Lunar_eclipse_April_15_2014_California_Alfredo_Garcia_Jr1

In Nomine Hecate,

~S~

The Witchmark and Blood Offering

Posted in Paganism, The Path of Flames with tags , , , , , , , , , on May 12, 2013 by Sypheara

This entry is going to be more personal than the previous, and due to it’s nature I can’t possibly put everything into this post in an objective manner.

Yesterday was a very special day for me, as it was the day that finally, after several years of research and practice I went ahead with a very important work, one which seals all my initiatory work up to this point and marks the beginning of a whole new phase for me.

This work I speak of was planned awhile ago, with not a small amount of trepidation involved. For three years up until that fateful point several months ago, I had approached the Gods and conducted several works with them, mini initiations which  brought me closer to identifying their energies, and aligning myself to them as someone who felt called to interact with them.

As these initiations guided me to my current path, I slowly began to learn that a true sacrifice was necessary outside of these small dedicatory rituals. True initiation, one would say, into the path I was being called upon to practice.

It was then I came across the notion of the Witchmark within my own tradition. Whilst a quick google would probably indicate to the reader this ideacame from the idea of the ‘Devils Mark’, this is not the case. This ‘mark’ is a physical mark on the body which is believed causes a corresponding mark on the soul of the person who receives it, serving as a first true initiation. The mark itself takes the form of a sigil of some kind, usually a primary one, and it is usually tattooed or scarified into the skin. This is more akin to the beliefs held by many pagan people in the past, where marking the skin for similar purpose is  shown to exist across many different cultures.

I’ll briefly divert to explain an important concept to be able to understand the importance of this as far as my own tradition goes, and it touches a subject again many don’t like to talk too openly about.

This subject is using blood offerings. It’s important to note that my own tradition sees the bodily fluids of the practitioner as being vessels for not only ones own essence, will and spirit but also that of any entities which are working through that person in possession at the time they are extracted. When coupled with my belief in the importance of personal sacrifice in works with the Gods and the concept of ‘you don’t get something for nothing’,  i’ts easy to see why the necessity of using my own blood in ritual became obvious to me.

By using  blood as both tool and offering,  we give actual power through it into our workings. This is where my (albeit limited) knowledge and respect of folk magical traditions come to the fore and what it has to say on this matter; I do not believe that, as many modern day pagans and occultists do, that such components only have psychological value. I contend they have a very spiritual and physical effect from the workings I have done that makes it a vital component in the majority of workings.  This view is relatively unpopular in many circles today (pardon the pun), but is one that makes any discussion on the Witchmark vital to understand from my own perspective, and thus unavoidable in this post.

Despite this, the the leap between using drops of my own blood in ritual up to this point and actually going as far as to take the plunge and have my own Witchmark, the primary sigil of Hecate, tattooed onto my body was a large one. With the sigil in place, it would be impossible to remove it – or at least physically difficult and spiritually permanently scarring. As such, I deliberated for awhile before deciding to ask Hecate directly for a response. The response to that half thought of a question that night was immediate, as I was surrounded and penetrated by a powerful, overwhelming force that seemed to permeate my entire body. Taking it as a sign, I finally came to my mind. I’d take the plunge and go through with it.

Using my intuition to guide me, I decided that the Witchmark would be placed over the sternum enabling two things. Firstly, that the Witchmark was placed as close to the centre of the chest as possible, over the region of the heart, seen in many cultures as a powerful energy centre of the body in some manner. Secondly, that the Witchmark would be out of sight, preserving it as a esoteric tool and mark in respect, not ‘displaying’ it in a show off my ego to the world.

every once in a while in your life you reach a decision point. a crossroad leading left or right. you can not look far enough to make the perfect step, but you have to decide anyways. is it left or right? or even turning back?

So yesterday I found myself on ‘the day’ of getting it tattooed onto my body. At this point, before hand, I was glad I was fully prepared, mentally at least, to receive it. The actual process was more painful than initially expected due its location (I was actually encouraged to get it placed elsewhere first!), but in the end it was strangely enjoyable in its own fashion. I tried visualisation several times, with only a small amount of success due to the environment coupled with the distracting pain. I saw flashes of images and sigils, but nothing concrete that I could work with or record for long in memory during the procedure. I eventually gave up and just began repeating a small mantra to Hecate in my head whilst the ink was applied.

After it was successfully applied I got up legs shaking, feeling born anew. Although physically exhausted, both mentally and spiritually I felt indescribably  heightened and sharpened. My body, mind and soul felt like they were screaming with vibrancy. A day later the effect still hasn’t worn off, and I still feel ecstatic, and have dreamed vividly.

I feel honoured to be able to receive this mark as a gift, and make that blood sacrifice in return as a sacred offering to Hecate which is the first step in a new direction on my journey. I hope to explore the paths unlocked by this sacred key, and share what I am able to.

With this being new territory to me, I thought it was more than worthy of a mention on the blog. I hope this post has been interesting and potentially shed some light on why it is seen as a necessary to my own path. I wish I could post more concretely about my own experience with it , but with it being such a new development I cannot really say much more as it would be a fabrication.

As a parting note, I’d like to say that I found an excellent post by another guy on his own similar experience which can be found at the following link, that shows anothers point of view on the subject. Whilst I don’t usually relate to many of the posts that go up on this site, this one definitely caught my eye.

http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usla&c=words&id=15349

Thank you as always for reading.