Before I begin, I must stress that demonolatry is the worship or veneration of beings typically considered demons in Christian society. My own tradition is rooted in three major currents of traditional witchcraft. The first is the grimoire tradition of witchcraft. I mostly root my practices in the Verum, but I also root certain practices in the Discoveri, and I cross-reference with the Black Pullet and Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. Further, the second that I root my practices in is the Cainite tradition. Especially, as it manifests in the Sabbatic practice of Andrew Chumbley and the Liber Falxifer tradition. The third tradition I root my practices in is the one that most impacts this article: folk-witchcraft and the ideas of folk healers such as the Cunningfolk and Pellars. This will act as a brief overview of the theological background of this blog
IAO
IAO, pronounced Yah-oo or EE-AH-OO depending on the tradition, is the ultimate monistic source of all things. It is the underlying cosmic law and order. IAO can be understood as the Godhead, the Fountainhead, Being, God, or simply All. This aspect of the Godhead can not be understood through discursive thought but only through experience. Through self-culture and through contemplative practices on the Divine Names. Worship of IAO is also seen as an active process in which we reintegrate ourselves by becoming active participants in creation through our careers and within our communities.
Luminaries
I will not be talking about Gods per se, as my theology is monistic, with luminaries (or radiant/shining ones) who act as intermediaries between us and IAO. The role of Luminaries is to draw our souls towards IAO, alongside their various cosmic roles. Alongside the three leaders of the Luminaries (Lucifer, Astaroth, and Beelzebuth) is the gatekeeper and overseer of all ritual, Scirlin.
Further, there are the Astral Spirits, such as the Olympian Spirits Och and Phul the Olympian Spirits. The Celestial Spirits are ruled by the Olympian Spirits who in turn change leadership every 490 years according to the tradition of the Arbatel. In this tradition it is Ophiel, the Olympian of Mercury, that currently governs all Astral Spirits until 2390 when the Olympian Phul will become governer.
Further, there are the Elemental chiefs such as Bael and Paymon who rules over the sublunar sphere of the cosmos.
The Soul
Before I continue, I do need to touch on how I understand the human soul based on the ideas taught by lay theologians and folk magic. Or, more accurately, how I understand our three bodies. Before a soul is incarnated, it first originates as a fragment of Divine Light. This is represented by the Peacock Feather. As this light travels through the Astral realm, it takes on the qualities of the Celestial Spheres and is clothed by the Olympian and other Stellar Spirits that govern that realm. This is called the Astral Body. As the soul enters our realm, it takes on a body composed of all four elements, which is called the elemental or physical body.
One can imagine that a theology of the soul as bodies can have serious repercussions on how the afterlife is viewed. Firstly, I believe in both reincarnation and a persisting afterlife. The Divine Spark that falls from Lucifer’s wings is reincarnated, while the astral body returns to the Celestial sphere as a radiant fire. An astral body, however, that develops strong attachments can remain in the elemental sphere as a shade, and souls that are reincorporated into the Wings of Lucifer become, for lack of a better word, “saints” and are honored as part of the Mighty Dead in the Land of Nod. Others, after the Divine Body separates to reenter the cycle of rebirth, may become grave grims, gnomes, or other terrestrial and elemental spirits due to the nature of their death.
The Dead
Firstly, the guardian of the gates of the dead in my system is Nebiros, who oversees all spirits of the graveyard. This includes the guardian grim spirits, which, depending on tradition, are the first person buried in the graveyard or the first person buried at the beginning of the year. As I stated in the section above, the dead can end up in a wide array of afterlives, from Elemental Spirits to the Mighty Dead, or they may become Celestial Spirits or dangerous shades that need to be elevated.
Further, in my system, Qayin and Qalmana are the rulers of the Land of the Dead and the teachers of all ancestral wisdom. Within the Land of Nod, there are found the Children of Cain, who teach and inspire the various arts. The thirteen Mighty Dead are:
- Enoch, who invented stone masonry, sculpting, and city building
- Irad and Mehujael, who taught sailing and shipbuilding
- Methusael, who taught writing and wrote the first pacts and books of sacred rites, which he learned from the salamanders.
- Lamech, who established the sacred art of being horseridden and whose prophecies were ununderstandable to the uninitiated. It would be his arrow that would finally slay his grandfather Qayin
- Jabel, he would teach the art of tanning and how to turn the skins of animals
- Jubal would teach the art of harp playing and sacred charms
- Na’amah, from her, we would learn the arts of spinning and weaving.
- Tubal-Qayin, who first constructed a furnace, worked in metals, and dug subterranean caves in the mountains. From him, we learned the art of blacksmithing and all handy crafts
The dead, be they the mighty dead or the beloved dead, are seen as the sources of all creativity and life and are partners with the Luminary and Elemental spirits as craftworkers within the spiritual ecosystem held together by the ebbs and flows of IAO.
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