VitorMSAlmeida.pt

After hearing many misconceptions, usually due to repetitions of “someone said,” and being a “taboo” subject, I decided to meditate and research cosmology and its inhabitants.
In this area, there is much confusion and mixing between occultism, mysticism, and New Age and popular spiritualism; mixing concepts, identities (often by their own initiative), and often qualities.
Occult cosmology describes the spiritual structure of the universe in esoteric systems (Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Theosophy, Neoplatonism, medieval-Renaissance grimoires, and derived modern traditions). It is not empirical science, but a symbolic-metaphysical map used for magical practice.

Main Cosmological Models
Kabbalah (Tree of Life): The universe emanates from Ain Soph through the 10 Sephirot (Kether → Malkuth). There are four worlds: Atziluth (divine archetypes), Briah (creation), Yetzirah (training), and Assiah (material world). The paths between the Sephirot correspond to Hebrew letters, planets, and forces. Entities (angels, demons, qlipoth) inhabit these spheres.
Hermeticism / Neoplatonism: Hierarchy of planes — One/God, Nous (Intellect), World Soul, material world. Correspondences (“as above, so below”) connect planets, metals, colors, angels, and demons.
Common planes and hierarchies in grimoires and ceremonial magic:
– Higher spiritual world (angels, gods, planetary intelligences)
– Astral / intermediate world (elemental spirits, daemons, larvae, egregors)
– Physical world
– Subworlds or chthonic realms (qlipoth, hells, chthonic entities).
Many systems also include a “veil” or liminal zone where the conjuration takes place.
Modern traditions: Theosophy (mental, astral, etheric planes), Crowley (A∴A∴ and Qabalah with emphasis on Tiphareth and the Abyss), Goetic systems, Enochian and Chaos magic (which often treat cosmology as a psychological or pragmatic map).

Cosmology provides the “address” and nature of entities: where they come from, under what authority they operate, and what correspondences (divine names, seals, planets, times) attract or constrain them. Conjuration (from the Latin conjurare — to swear together / to invoke under oath) is the ritual act of calling upon, restraining, or communicating with an entity. In classic occult contexts, it is not about “inventing” the spirit, but about attracting it or forcing it to appear within a cosmological and authoritative system (divine names, angelic hierarchies, etc.).
– Typical elements (present in Clavicula Salomonis, Lemegeton/Goetia, Heptameron, Enochian works and derivatives): Preparation: purification, fasting, clothing, circle of protection, triangle of art (for controlled appearance).
– Authority: invocation of divine names, archangels or higher hierarchies that “command” the entity.
– Correspondences: planetary day/hour, incense, colors, metals, seals/sigils.
– Operation: prayer/invocation → appearance (visual, auditory, sensation, or in the mirror/crystal) → communication/request → permission to leave (mandatory permission in Solomonic systems).
– Variations: evocation (external appearance) vs. invocation (internalization); methods of “pact,” “binding,” or simple communication.

In Chaos magic and modern psychological approaches, cosmology is often treated as an operational model: the entity can be seen as an egregore, an aspect of the unconscious, or an information pattern, and conjuration as a technique of focused will and disciplined imagination.
Relationship between cosmology and practice:
Without a coherent cosmological map, conjuration loses structure of authority and ritual security (the circle, the higher names, and the triangle exist precisely because cosmology provides hierarchies and risks). Different systems give different answers about the “reality” of entities (objective, subjective, intersubjective, or both).

Conjuration / Evocation In the traditional occult context:
– Evocation (or conjuration): Bringing an entity into an area external to the magician (usually a circle or triangle), for communication, pact, or command. The magician remains “protected” outside the entity’s space.
– Invocation: Calling the entity into oneself (controlled possession or mystical identification).

Classical methods (especially from the Solomonic tradition and the Golden Dawn):
Preparation (purification, fasting, robes, tools: wand, sword, chalice, pentacle, magic circle, triangle of the art).
Use of divine names, seals (sigils), incense, prayers, and vibration of names.
Main sources: Clavicula Salomonis (Key of Solomon), Lemegeton (especially the Ars Goetia), Heptameron, works of Agrippa, Dee, Crowley, etc.
Common objectives: obtaining knowledge, influencing events, protection, or spiritual experience.
Traditionally requires spiritual authority (divine names) and ritual protection.

Some entities that populate this cosmology:
Not recommended: From the Ars Goetia (72 spirits of the Lemegeton):
– Bael (or Baal) – King. Appears in various forms, s (man, cat, frog, etc.). Teaches invisibility and confers wisdom.
– Astaroth – Duke. He teaches liberal arts and reveals secrets of the past/future. Often depicted with a reptilian or mounted appearance.
– Paimon – King. One of the most powerful; teaches arts and sciences, confers dignity and good reputation. Appears with a musical retinue.
– Asmodeus – King. Associated with lust, knowledge, and destruction; appears with three heads (bull, man, ram).

Neutrals:
Elementals and natures: Gnomes (earth), undines (water), sylphs (air), salamanders (fire) – Paracelsus’ system, popularized in the 19th-20th centuries.
Spirits of places or genii loci.

Positive:
Angels and “celestial” entities: Planetary or sephirotic angels (e.g., Raphael, Gabriel, Michael, or Kabbalistic angels like Metatron, Sandalphon).
Enochian entities (John Dee/Edward Kelley system): angels like Ave, Madimi, etc., with Enochian language.
Entities of Iberian mysticism:
– Saint Citrian (deceased): Protection, family, knowledge, command, and necromancy.
– Saint Anthony (deceased): Protection, healing, family, unblocking.
– Maria Padilha das Almas (deceased): Protection, family, justice.

Important observations:
In traditional grimoires, these entities are described as real and potentially dangerous; the conjurer must master the technique and maintain ritual authority.
Many contemporary practitioners interpret them as aspects of the unconscious, archetypes, or energetic constructs.
Recommended primary sources for study: Ars Goetia, Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy, works of the Golden Dawn (Mathers, Regardie), and Hermetic Kabbalistic texts.