What I've Been Up To Lately

Lately, I've been thinking that I really should write a bit more than I have been.  The early part of this year has seen a general lull in my online presence, especially here on my blog.

This is not to say that I've been inactive magically.  While I haven't had as much going on as I'd like, I have been active.  The downside is that I seem to have hit a rather unfocused phase in my activities, and so I've been working on that.  My regular practices have been up and down, leading to me being on a type of "break" from that than I would rather not be on.  Through talking about this and related trends in my personal life, I've decided that I need more routine in my life.  After all, you can come home and zone out on the internet all evening only so much before that gets really old.  Well, at least that's the case with me.

At one point I began to take a look at all the "projects" that I have going.  It seems to come down to quite a few items.  I've had some interesting highlights.

CLIENT WORK

At one point I decided to take on some client work, free of charge, to help me gain further experience, sharpen my skills, and complete one of the homework assignments from Strategic Sorcery.

My first client in this vein is a close friend of mine ("Jewel" from previous posts last year), and she had fallen on hard times due to being dismissed from her job and having difficulty getting another one.  After consultations and hitting her problems from a couple different angles, I'm happy to report that she got a job and things are going a little better for her.  On top of that, her musical career on the side has become much more successful since my work on her behalf.  Things are still tight for her, monetarily.  But that's where my work with her fiance/my-other-close-friend "Topher" comes in, hopefully.

My work with Jewel helped me get new experience in a couple of things.  First was the type of tarot consultation that I did for her.  I've been working with some of the material in Ly de Angeles' book "Tarot: Theory & Practice", and like a lot of what I see.  In short, I do a slightly abbreviated version of her full consultation method.  This allows me a good picture of her situation where I can analyze to find any crossed conditions, "weak spots" in the situation where magic will be the most effective, and what specifically should be avoided.

I also got some experience in creating a conjure hand.  Strangely enough, for a while it didn't seem to be having a strong enough effect.  Then, after I burned a candle over it to lend power and also burned an uncrossing candle on the side, improvement happened pretty quickly.

MATERIA, MATERIA, MATERIA

I've continued to use and improve my materia used in spellwork.  I've worked on refining formulas that I have posted previously, and have also worked on creating new ones either from scratch or from a pre-existing recipe.  Talia Felix's book, "Conjure Cookbook", has been absolutely WONDERFUL for this.

One formula that I came up with is a love-oriented one specifically geared toward men seeking men, as I didn't have any Q or Lavender Love Drops, and didn't have access to recipes for either one.  The funny thing about this one is that I had written out the intended formula, meaning to make it as I wrote it.  However, I decided it would be a good idea to consult with my Genius via a pendulum.  The interesting part is that what my Genius indicated for the ingredients and their amounts was completely different than what I had created...and yet it was even more appropriate!  Scentwise, it has a lavender topnote, rose middle note, and cardamom bottom note.  So far I call it "Gentlemen's Favour", but won't be posting it on here anytime soon.

I've also re-done my Uncrossing and Fiery Wall of Protection formulas, and they seem MUCH more effective.  Looking back, though, I've found that the source book I got them from had often pulled its formulas from Herman Slater's formulary, which is a bad thing in my opinion because of a frequent lack of accuracy of his formulas in relation to the lore that at least the formula names were drawn from.

THE CALL OF HEKATE

As I've been going along, I've been feeling more and more of a pull to work with Hekate.  This urge culminated in me sitting down one evening, invoking her, and then going into a contemplative session wherein I met with her.  It was a very dream-like sequence, during which she talked to me about things regarding my spiritual path that have been on my mind lately.  I have gotten some benefit from that meeting with Hekate, and I'm going to work with her a bit more.


With so many "projects" going on, I decided to give The Unlikely Mage's technique for finding direction a try, and came to the following:

• I will focus on studying Agrippas 3 Books.
• I will start engaging in a cycle of conjurations of the Governors of the Planetary Spheres, as well as daily recitation of the Orphic Hymns of the planets.
• After a long time of putting it off, I have been urged to actively work with the spirits of the Strategic Sorcery Mini-Grimoire.
• As per the advice given, I will continue developing my formulas and use of materia.
• Study of tarot and also the Lenormand oracle will continue.
• Discipline in maintaining a regular practice as well as continuing my course of training has been suggested.

On top of this, there are some things that I have been urged not to continue with for at least 6 months:

• Adapting my own conjuration ritual, independent of the Trithemius version.
• Further client work and offering of services and products.
• My study and practice of Geomancy.

That last item is the one that disappoints me the most!  But, all things considered, I think it would be for the best for the time being.  In the meantime, I'll develop the suggested items while finishing up current client work. 

Speaking of the client work, one of the current clients is apparently being plagued by a night hag! So I will soon be preparing the Hekatean spirit trap (the design of which is shown on Jason's book "Protection & Reversal Magic", along with Fiery Wall of Protection and Clearing work.

So this is what I've been up to lately.  There is much going on, and I will have more to report!

The Job Workings, part 3

Where I last left off, I had interviewed for a position doing helpdesk support which, while not a type of position I like, the pay and stability was really attractive to me.  Unfortunately, the interview left me highly intimidated and internally shaken.  The IT director, who was part of the interview, was the type of interviewer to hit hard and fast with intensely difficult questions that are beyond the job involved, and had some courteous, yet sharp (and to an extent unfair), criticism for me.  But despite all that, I turned out to be the best candidate and was accepted for the job.

A month in, however, I found myself under criticism from my manager over something that had more to do with him and his own personality than with me and my abilities.  In response, I went about applying some field magic to help with things.  Namely, I did Crown of Success work via setting lights.  I also dressed certain key spots at work with Crown of Success oil, as well as Commanding oil to gain influence with my coworkers.

Unfortunately, the situation was just too difficult for me to overcome, magic or no.  With time I would have done well, but the manager just didn't like me.  He even stated that my abilities are fine...but he seemed to think I didn't have the energy level for it.

So, they decided to do a bad job of hiding the fact that they were interviewing my replacement no 20 feet from me while leaving me alone to man the phones.  This was 2 months into this job.

Fed up with being lied to, I finally asked my company what was going on and had my fears confirmed on a Friday.  Fortunately, the client company was decent enough to give me one last week there.

I spent that weekend coping, and bringing a lot of magical action to bear on the situation.

SOL AND JUPITER AND SATURN, OH MY!

First, I contacted Tzadkiel, governor of the planetary sphere of Jupiter.  I conjured him and asked him to bring forth Yophiel and Hismael to bring forth the blessings of Jupiter into my sphere, and to bless me with an abundance of job opportunities, and to guide me toward the job that would be best for me.

There were elements of macro and micro enchantments involved here, and it was all spirit work with little materia involved.  I did, however, give an offering with a physical basis.

Next, that Saturday, I conjured Tzaphkiel and, at the advice of my magical group, asked him to send Agiel and Zazel to bless my sphere with stability.  This was more macro than micro because it mostly targeted my general sphere.

That Sunday, I conjured Michael and asked him to send Nakhiel and Sorath to assist me.  With this, I specifically asked for them to let the light of my personality shine forth and help me to find a job with stable hours, that suits my abilities, that challenges me well, and where I will be needed for the long-term.

Throughout all the conjurations, I instructed each power to work with the others as appropriate.

Now, during this particular weekend, I got a call out of the blue on a Saturday regarding a job opportunity.  This itself was odd, given that recruiters normally only operate during the weekdays.  The job opportunity involved was for a company that, after searching online, I found no presence of within the city I live in despite the claims of the recruiter.  But still, I went with it, and Monday they told me I was scheduled for a phone interview on Wednesday at a very accomodating time that allowed me to get home from work first.

Thus, Wednesday came along, and I got home from work.  I decided to prep with a little magic by doing the Conjuration of the Commander from TSS.  The interview went well, and I got along great with the interviewer, who was actually the manager for the position.  I found out more about the job, its challenges, and my responsibilities.  I answered technical questions and gave my opinion about related things.

Less than 24 hours later, I had the job!

I was floored!  Never have I ever been accepted for a long-term position after just a phone interview!  Given the circumstances, I could see why they did it the way they did, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

So, I finished at the helpdesk job, barely having anyone even bother to say goodbye, and got ready for the new job, which was desktop support and definitely preferable to helpdesk for me.  I started the new job the next week on a Wednesday, literally one week after my interview.  All in all, I was unemployed for 2 days total.

And that's the job I'm working at now.  It has its challenges, and it gets frustrating.  Plus, being the only "Computer Guy" onsite has its downsides.  But I'm happier with it.  It's closer to home, pays just as much as the helpdesk job, and it fits well.

WHAT I LEARNED

This has been another lesson that magic can only take you so far when used on a situation that is stacked against you too much.  However, when used well on the right points of a situation, it can do a lot.  It's like any other tool in that way.

I also got a solid lesson in what to look out for in future jobs, and what traits of a manager raise a red flag for me.  And in the future I'm going to make sure I do myself the favor of responding to them with proactive steps to minimize the severity of the blows they can deal to me.

WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY

In this series of posts, I talked about situations I found myself in.  If I were faced with those or similar again, the first mundane steps I would take are as follows:

• Keep my resume updated at all times.
• At the first sign of any instability, start regularly looking for and applying to job opportunities.  Brush up on interview skills and common interview topics.
• Research the local job market and send notes to all my recruiters that I'm exploring opportunities (again, at the first signs of instability).

Those are just a start, in my opinion.  They can also apply to any contractor getting to within a few months of the end of their contract term.  And, dear readers, if any of you have suggestions for additions to this list, I would definitely be willing to hear it!

On the magical side of things, there other steps I would take or do differently as well:

1. At the first sign of instability, I would enchant a master copy of my resume by the powers of Jupiter.
2. Also at the first sign of instability, I would perform macro enchantments with the powers of Jupiter, Sol, and Saturn.  Jupiter would be for abundance, Sol for guidance and influence, and Saturn for stability.
3. Any cover letters I send would be enchanted by the powers of Venus.
4. I would create some kind of talisman for job finding, such as a mojo hand.
5. Perform some kind of mass micro enchantment, such as shoaling or a large candle working.

And that is in addition to the workings I described in these posts, which includes:

• Uncrossing one's financial or job situation.
• Setting lights targeting aspects of the process of interviewing or onboarding.
• Deploying field magic such as influencing oils on your hands prior to an interview, and dressing key locations around your workplace with success and influencing products.
• Success workings to support one's efforts on the job.

And that, dear readers, concludes my report on The Job Workings.  I learned a lot from this, and I hope you do too.