Animis factis Magorum Tolpanis

Being the Spirit Actions of the Magicians of Tolpan

6:00pm June 14th 2010 - Sydney, Australia.  
The Fire Tablet: The Banner Angels Oip and Teaa - PART 2
The Vision of Teaa

I see the Holy Table and the four of use sitting about it. Four poles shoot down through the roof like spears and into the floor at each corner of the Table. Each is a banner bearing a letter of Teaa's name. They shift in arrangment an dorder, almost like trying to show me in a number of different ways what the represent. I'm pretty sure I make out "T" on the the front left, "E" on the front right, and two "A"s on the two rear corners. I can't tell if it's simply an ordered corner to corner way of reading or a zig-zag pattern. I stand and walk into the middle of the four banners (through the Holy Table).

I am pulled down into the earth, through a whirling tunnel of fire. I emerge through the roof of a massive subterranean cavern, lit by orange flame from somewhere. I am falling, but controlling my descent. I direct myself towards the floor of the cavern where a large area is composed of smooth, dark, obsidian glass. When I am standing on solid ground, I see that beyond the edge of this glassy surface the rock of the cavern rises up in rocky steps towards the sheer surface around the edge. There is a small opening in these stairs in the side of the cavern. The King stands there, with an armoured angel to his right. I recognise this angel as Oip. The King looks at me warily. He advances towards me down the stairs, but not by walking. He merely comes closer. There is a vague threat in his approach, but having had the experience before with Oip, who explained that he was merely demonstrating his authority, I do not back down. Oip moves with him, and I get the sense that it is not merely the two of them present.

When the King stands upon the glass before me face full of power and fury, I trace the symbol he gave me in 2005 in the air. He steps back, threat dropping, and from behind him steps another angel, all but identical to Oip. I get a feeling of having passed a test of some sort. Hooray. I also feel that there is another figure I cannot see behind the King. The King and Oip moved back in the same way, without walking. The new angel remains. I ask if he is Teaa and he resonds that he is. I test him with a Fire invoking pentagram and he responds accurately. He says he is here "By the King's Grace." (a phrase Oip also used, which I think may have left out of the account of that Vision)

I ask for his symbol and he also raises his elbows, forearms dangling, straight down this time. Two lines extend diagonally inward over him. At first I think they meet, making a triangle above the vertical line, but they do not. This makes a symbol almost identical to that of Oip's only the lower parts of the outer arm are vertical instead of angled outwards.
I ask him his nature: He is fortitude, strength, stalwart, drive, power, foundation. He also absorbs all that is seen (or all that is?) and reflects only Truth.
I ask him his planetary nature and he says Sol - I ask if he can tell me the same of the Oip and Teaa - he says the Banners are all of the King and all of Sol, but Oip and Pdoce are of another nature also. I have a vague sense of Virgo as an association, but perhaps that is my own mind trying to fill boxes.
I ask him his scent and he says hot sand, brine (as of an ocean boiled away to dryness), frankincense, and possibly juniper??
I ask him how he operates in my mundane life: Strength, striving for strength, driving forward.
I ask if he can help me in my mundnae life and again, like Oip he gives me some rudimentary instructions for sigil construction. 
I ask what colours are most his: Red, Yellow and Green. I comment that I see not Green here, and he responds that Green is inside him, unseen.
He says he is the beginning and end of the King. I comment that he and his fellow are much clearer than the Seniors were and he says of course they are, and he is, he has the King's Mouth. The King circles him. Hence he is clearer than his fellow Banner bearers. He says the Seniors follow the Banner bearers.

The vision feels nicely rounded off here and I feel no more need to linger or ask for more information. I see the King standing my the cave entrance as I look up from the floor of dark glass and launch into the air, through the roof and the tunnel of fire into the room, in the Holy Table, between the four Banners. I step out, the banners lift up out of the room, I sit back down, and return.

DEBRIEF
This vision was much more like a back and forth dialogue than any other. The whole feeling was different. Again the King was present. The others had similar experiences of the King's presence. Teaa said he is the beginning and the end of the King, which makes sense as the first and last letters of the name EdlprnaA are letters of Teaa's name, which also explains his saying that he has the Mouth of the King. When I last met the King in 2005 he did not speak - interesting. I wonder if he will this time when we skry him next, and if he will be alone.
The four banners which descended showing his name seemed to flit about in order, and also between Enochian letters and English letters - perhaps trying to get me to understand better. I wonder if the corner each letter landed on is significant in terms of the Holy Table. These banners also recalled the Vision of Oip with the battlefield littered with banners bearing singler Enochian letters.

The number four featured in this vision not only in Teaa's name, or the four banners, but in the themes of strudy foundations and stability. There was a distinctly earthy quality to Teaa despite his fiery nature - perhaps why I thought of Virgo as a link - not to mention the "absorbing all that is, reflecting only truth" thing.
I'm developing an idea about Sephiroth and the action of these Banner bearers, but it will have to wait until skrying Pdoce and the King to be sure, or see if it holds water.

Animis factis Magorum Tolpanis

Being the Spirit Actions of the Magicians of Tolpan

6:00pm June 14th 2010 - Sydney, Australia.  
The Fire Tablet: The Banner Angels Oip and Teaa

There were only four of us this time - we each sat at a quarter. A different experience.

The Vision of Oip

I hear a the sound of a banner or flag flapping in the wind behind me. I open my eyes to see a vast battlefield strewn with corpses stretching before me. All is silent except for the banner waving behind me. It bears the Enochian letter Med (O). Further off I see another banner stuck in the ground bearing the Enochian letter Ur (L) - or perhaps Gal (D) - but it could just be a mirrored image of Ur (L). In any case the impression is of banners everywhere with every letter represented. White feathers are raining from the sky. The ground is covered with the bodies of angels, all wearing burnished silver armour. I can see golden hair falling out from beneath their helmets. The field is a mass of shining silver and brilliant red from their cloaks and blood. The ground is muddy, as though it has soaked up the blood from the slain, and everywhere swords, spears, arrows are thrust forth from the mud and aI have to very carefully pick my way across the field. I am scrambling over bodies and blood, and mud and avoiding sharp blades. The only sound is the wind and the banners waving.

The atmosphere is almost that of an enormous explosion that literally only just settled the moment before I arrived. The banners of letters bring to mind the phrases "Battle of Angels" "Battle of Spirits", "Battle of Letters."

I see crows or ravens in the sky - I'm inclined to say ravens for some reason. I think I see some black feathers amongst the white drifting down from the sky like snow. I turn around and see a short distance away, down a slight incline, the black birds are swirling around a single corpse like a tornado of black wings. I hear their cawing echoing across the field. I feel a mild sense of urgency as I start picking my way across the field towards the body they are tearing at. I half think I hear the cries of a living voice. As I get closer the whirlwind of birds is suddenly blasted away as a brilliant light explodes forth from the ground and a glorious, shining angel stands there in all his glory, full of life, strong: resurrected. I think I even hear heavenly choirs singing somewhere. Very Hollywood. He lifts off the ground into the air. I hear more explosions of heavenly sound, and light shines forth from bodies all around me. Gradually the entire battlefield is wreathed in heavenly light and the armies are resurrected, flying up into the sky in a cacophany of choral sound and beating wings, leaving behind a barren brown plain of earth with no sign of battle or blood or debris anywhere.

To my right, in the distance I see a familiar looking figure - EDLPRNAA. The Kind of the Fire Tablet. He stands at the bottom of a low hill watching me keenly. From this distance he appears largely as he did in my last vision of him in 2005 - a man with a white (painted?) face and thin beard around his jaw and mouth. His robes are heavy and thick, made of red, black and gold. He lashes out his arm and an enormous tongue of flame flows towards me, missing me to my right by a few metres. I am a little alarmed as he seems to be attacking me. He fires off another blast to my left, and the ground splits open around me, rumbling. I look up into the sky and suddenly I am flying, borne through the air. At first I think it is me flying, but then I realise I am being carried away by an angel - I believe the very same one which first was resurrected.

We fly across terrain - desert, lakes, hills, forest (I get a little memory of Bastion riding Falcor the luck dragon in The Neverending Story, music and everything) until we touch down in a tranquil meadow with long green flowing grasses. In the distance I can see mountains, and I feel that the battlefield we have come from lies at the base of them.

I ask this angel if he is Oip and he says yes. I test him with a Fire invoking Pentagram and he responds smoothly. There follows a discourse which was markedly different to those I have with the Seniors. This angel is very clear in his statements and direct in his responses. He seems much more human, and perhaps paradoxically, both simpler than the vast Seniors and more wise and all encompassing than them.

Oip explains that his nature is the cycle of Conflict, Peace and Retribution (with each letter representing this circle respectively). I see in my minds eye his name arranged in a circle with O at the top, flowing down clockwise to I then around to P and then back up to O again. A cycle. However his says true nature is the transcendence and elevation above this cycle - Triumph, Glory, Victory. From within this circle a new line emerges thrusting up, breaking the circle's circumference. The theme of Resurrection rings strong in my head. The previous cosmic drama now seems an illustration of his nature.

I ask his symbol: He thrusts his elbows out to his side (still in armour) and his forearms angle in towards his body. His head lolls before rising to the centre and two lines extende up above the angle of his forearms to create ihs symbol (still trying to find the best medium to draw these and upload them) - I asked if this was a gesture I could use to connect with him as well as his symbol and he indicates yes. 
I ask his scent: Ashes. I probe this response for something more workable and it's almost as if he thinks and says frankincense. Cinnamon comes after with some further thought.
I ask him what his relationship is to Teaa and Pdoce: He says they are all equal, they are all of the same.
I ask him what they would say about the relationship between the three of them, and he almost seems to evade my question. The suggestion is that I ask each of them.
I ask why Edlprnaa, the King, tried to harm me: he says it was a demonstration of his power and authority. He explains that he and the other Banner bearers are "of him."
I ask how his force operates in my life: in the cycle of loss and success - his action is the progression beyond each cycle. Without him the cycle would be endless.
I ask if he can help me in my mundane life: He says yes and seems to give me some very basic instructions for sigil creation and anointing. The colours of the sigil are white or grey and the background seems to be brown.

The conversation ends and he again lifts me up and bears me back to the great earthen plain, formerly covered with corpses. I think I see the King in the distance again, watching, warily. The scene disolves and resolves into the room I began in, ending the vision.

DEBRIEF

It occurs to me that Oip's giving of frankincense and cinnamon as his scents after though were more his trying to fit his nature into a framework I understand. I had his solar nature in my head, as well as the martial scene I ad experienced, hence a solar and a martial scent were given.
After drawing the circle of Oip's name I had the impression of, and then the upward line I was immediately reminded of the whirlwind of ravens, which was broken apart by the rising of the great angel in the centre, who then launched straight up into the air.
Soror L had almost the opposite experience to me - the Seniors were more personal and these Angels were more distant and obtuse. All of us experienced the presence of the King in our visions, and we agreed that he is close to them or they to him, or that they are bound together in some way. Others had more specific symbols such as the throne of the King or his crown. Soror V and Frater SC said they had whirlwind imagery in some way as did I.

Qabalah Water

(This title signifies all things occult int he ceremonial sphere - pun related to the different Romanised renderings of the Hebrew QBL. The insidious Kabbalah Centre has appropriated Jewish mysticism and turned it into glorified self-help. "Kabbalah Water?" Piss off - check out this discussion: http://curiouscurandera.blogspot.com/ in particular the poster "Caliban's" first response explaining the K/C/Q distinction)

Okay so me and another eCT member, Soror L, have been planning a series of Enochian workings based on the framework in Lon Milo Duquette's recent book "Enochian Vision Magick" http://www.amazon.com/Enochian-Vision-Magick-Introduction-Practical/dp/1578633826/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211189236&sr=1-3

We brought two other order members on board who we knew would be interested. We've so far only been talking, and Soro L and I had a crafty day where we began to construct the Watchtowers, and draw the Ensigns, etc.

Since then we've been in the process of coming up with a name for the group and the workings. I consulted with a Latin scholar and we've all but settled on "Spiritis Factis Magorum Tolpanis" or the Spirit Actions of the Magicians of Tolpan. Tolpan is the 58th Part of the Earth as described in Liber Scientiae Auxilii et Victoriae Terestris (1585) which was described by the angels as being "under the South Pole" - hence is popularly believed to cover much of Australasia. Dee and Kelley referred to their workings as "actions" or "spirit actions" hence the name "Spiritis Factis Magorum Tolpanis." We may very well receive a word or name from the spirits ourselves to augment this title - I'd be very interested to see if there is an Enochian word with can attach to it. For instance, tolpan is the name "given by Man" but it is called ZILDRON "as named by God." The angels frequently communicate in gestures and symbols which act like passes, and can be accompanied by word-like sounds - at least in my limitted experience of the Enochian realms. The letter-essences work of Benjamin Rowe I've found useful in interpretting these Enochian words.

Anyway I won't talk too much about the actual results of this work here - we'll have a blog dedicated to that once we start up some serious "actions."

Stake Huggers

Had the Pagans in the Pub replacement event on the weekend - "Divination in the Park." Was really very nice. Only four of us in the end. Surprising considering how gorgeous a day it was, but then the day before had been torrential rain and icy winds - could have deterred people.

The two organising regulars were there - Chandler and Kiwi - and a New Girl. Chandler actually gave me one of his hand made candles - really lovely.

We sat down in Chatswood Park (in a fenced playground which looked like it was designed by a team coinsisting of Gaudi, Dali, Tim Burton, and MC Escher) and proceeded to lay out our divination tools. All I brought was my Thoth deck. Briefly toyed with bringing the Chinese coins for I Ching I bought years ago and never used, left my rune set as three are broken and again, I don't really use them, and I couldn't find my pendulum, which is gorgeous, but again something I never use. Then from the others came the Fairy Oracle cards and the Destiny Cards, etc, etc. We didn't end up looking at them thankfully - Angel Cards and their ilk make me want to vomit pink feathers. Horses for courses.

The Kiwi had brought along her I Ching oracle as it happened. It was actually really interesting. Required a lot of thought. I asked about the audition I had. Basically it said don't put all your eggs in a basket which is an unknown quantity. In other words don't plan for a year of work when it may not happen. I wasn't. I also asked about my love life, and to be honest I can't remember the response. Something typical like "Wait." Then we did a couple of Tarot readings. I did one for the Kiwi which I was quite proud of. Then I did one about my schoolboy crush. Again, oddly I can't for the life of me remember the result. I showed them all geomancy, which none of them had encountered - and I realised I'd forgotten a lot about it. Couldn't remember the names of three of the figures, and I even forgot two of them. Bizarre.

Then we did a bit of psychometry. I enjoyed this - the Kiwi had brought all these little objects like ballet shoes and a bit of masonry. I'd only ever read off metal objects so I was suprised to get a whole lot from the ballet shoes. New Girl had never done it and didn't know what she was doing, but gained confidence and got some pretty good hits!

Ended with us going for coffee. Coincidentally we discovered that the Kiwi's teacher is a woman I met in my year up in Armidale. Totally random. One of those people who have been in the Pagan/Magickal community for a while, and have assumed a position of authority for themselves. I really disliked her at firs,t but I think because I impressed her with a ritual she decided I was worth her time, and I saw a different side of her. I developed a lot fo respect for her knowledge and experience, but I just can't see how someone who claims to be so spiritually advanced/evolved can behave in such a superior fashion. She said things like "So why Vodou?" as though it was a really odd, and frankly irrational choice. I wanted to say "Why witchcraft? Why Islam?" Again. Horses for courses. And I'm aware of the double standard. But she was incredibly knowledgable, and generous once she decided you were worth it.

Anyway, I caught the train to the city with the New Girl and we had a great chat.