#ruling spirits
This will be the eleventh post in my series on astrological magic. In the last post, I talked about the planetary hours and days, as well as some of the spirits ruling over certain times. That information will all be necessary to understand in order to do all the things I’ll be explaining in this post, which will discuss magical circles and their geometric construction. Be careful when you’re doing these things. You’re always welcome to ask us if you have any questions.
To consecrate your working space before you carry out any magic is one of the most important parts of nearly all forms of ritual magic. There are a great many methods for preparing a circle, and I will readily admit that I believe certain methods are more effective than others, and that I feel as if some methods are just as good as not casting a circle at all (but I won’t get into that right now). For the type of magic I’m talking about now, I like D'Abano’s method of casting a circle, because it reflects planetary rulership, and it also calls upon the power and protection of some relevant ruling spirits for aiding in your work. It’s important to note that there is room for variation in this method if you want to work with a different system of spirits, but the basic geometric features of this type of circle are vital to its function, and to make sure you call on the power and protection of appropriately powerful and benevolent spirits is also essential. If you’d like to substitute something, and you want to double-check something with us, you’re welcome to get our opinion or advice by asking. The traditional ruling spirits and D'Abano’s are here, in the previous post.
The first thing you should do in this method is make a circle which is 9 feet in diameter. Inside it, make a circle with a diameter of 7 feet (meaning its edge will be 1 foot in from the larger one), and be sure it is concentric with the larger one as precisely as possible. Make a third concentric circle with its edge one foot in from the second (meaning it will be 5 feet in diameter). These are the basis for your circle.
Next, you want to find the point in the innermost circle which is farthest north. Draw a straight line from there through the center of the circle until you reach its southern edge. Then do the same from east to west. Now you can make the last circle one foot in from the innermost so far. The lines you already made will cross this circle’s boundaries. Finally, make four pentagrams outside your circle. One at the southeast, one at the southwest, one at the northwest, and one at the northeast. The points of each of these should be directed toward the center of your circle. Now you have most of the geometric basis for your circle of protection, and you can start on writing in the names and symbols which should be included.
Inside the edge of the second circle (if the outermost is the first), you should start at the farthest point east. Beginning there, write the name of the hour you’re working in. Next, write the name of the angel who rules the hour. Following the angel’s name, you will add its sigil (the sigils of these angels are easily found by using Google, and entering something like “sigil of the archangel Raphael,” for example). Next, you will write the names of the ruling angel of the day, as well as its sub-ruling angels or spirits. Now you should write the name of the season. Then, you should write the names of the spirits ruling over that season (and keep them in the order that I have listed them here). After that, you should add the name of the spirit ruling the sign of the season. Next, you should add the names of the Earth, Sun, and Moon according to the season. This completes the writing in the space between the second and third circle.
Inside the edge of the first (outermost) circle, start again at the farthest point east. Here, you will write the name of the aerial king who rules the day you’re working in. At the south, west, and north, you’ll write the names of the aerial spirits under his command (in the same order I gave them to you here, excluding the spirit Flaef on Friday, but adding him in on Wednesday).
Between the third and fourth circles (outside the edge of the innermost circle), there will be four parts divided up by the lines you’ve made. In each of these parts (starting with the southeast, and proceeding clockwise as before), you should draw a cross (not a Christian cross, but one where the lines are of equal length), followed by an appropriate name of God for your purpose, followed by another cross (employing a total of four different names of God).
The last step in building your circle is to write “Alpha” on the eastern part of the innermost circle, allowing the line through the center to divide it, so it appears like “Al|pha” and then to write “Omega” on the western part, allowing it to be divided by the line so it appears like “Om|ega”.
This is all the geometric knowledge you need in order to build an effective circle based on the time. From here, you should proceed to consecrate your circle. I’ll speak about methods of doing that in my next post. I hope this post has been useful to you. Thank you for reading.
-Admin
