(Original text no longer extant)
(P.4)
Necessary elements include Chalk, coals, a bowl, preferably bronze, 5 candles, a compass, a lighter, a scrying lens (for air aspected demons that may be hard to discern without such aids), a specially consecrated knife, milk, and honey in a separate bowl. (Many of the lower caste demons will accept this as an acceptable sacrifice. More powerful demons will see it as an insult.)
(P.12)
The subject of sacrifices is a touchy one. Most gentleman practitioners of the Ars Diabolica, refuse to take a human life in the practice of study, but this, of course, limits the power of the demons one can summon. Other with more flexible moral codes, however, find themselves in over their heads dealing with massively powerful, ancient, subtle, and worst of all patient, baneful spiritual entities. As Dr. Ravenholm cautions, you must decide your own comfort zone, and where you will draw the line morally and ethically.
Many people outside of the practice assume that all demonology is a form of dark art, this would seem to run counter to the idea that some forms of demonic study fall under the rubric of actual theurgy, and that the biblical King Solomon was a powerful binder and commander of spirits of all sorts. In fact, there are many eminent men and women of faith that have pursued this line of inquiry. Some have fallen to their urges and others have made significant gains and handed the forces of darkness serious defeats. Personally. I cannot understand the will to ignorance. On balance, Knowledge of the dark forces is almost always better for mankind as a whole.
(P.32)
There is some question as to the nature of souls and their essential nature for Demons, and indeed other spirits.
There are at least a couple of differing theories. Spiritual energy could be a form of currency. But then what do spirits spend it on, exactly? Perhaps it's a means of purchasing additional power. or perhaps that energy is banked so that a particular spirit might purchase or expand a demesne of its own. Perhaps there are goods and services peculiar to the spiritual realm that we have only the dimmest understanding of. At this point, however, we have only conjecture as the denizens of the spirit realm are either remarkably closed mouthed about such things, or perhaps lack the words to properly express them in a language we can understand.
The other possibility is that esoteric energy is a form of sustenance to those creatures on the other side of the wall. It would certainly explain why many ancient creatures and old gods of fallow pantheons have fetched up in Hell. As those creatures lost believers to destruction or to science, "going where the food is" would seem to be the intelligent choice.I, personally, have summoned old gods of Mesopotamia. And while they may serve in some function or another in one of the many hells, they will turn up and be well disposed to those who know the proper names and ways.
And of course, it occurs to me that spiritual energy may, in fact, be BOTH.
(P.43)
And yet, while many practitioners have prevailed over goetic demons set over lust, envy, and wrath. There does not appear to be a single recorded instance of triumphing over a demon connected to the sin of Sloth. It would appear that within a goetic trial, inertia is the enemy, and all humans need to rest.
(P.106)
What Dr. Ravenholm is referring to here is based on legendry but seems to be borne out in fact. Tradition holds that one of Lucifer's traditional means of control of his fellow demons come from the fact that he controls the essential nature of the summonings that can bring them forth out of hell, making them as easy or as difficult as he desires. Since advancement in Hell is predicated on works committed in the material realm, be it evil deeds or souls collected, this can be powerful leverage indeed.
A tale was taken from "Das Buch der schwarzen Geschichten" detailing the punishment of the demon Amvorgas. The translation is unclear as to what Amvorgas may have done to incur the wrath of the Morningstar, But it is very clear that the Ritual used to summon him forth from the pit was not only a punishment for Amvorgas but anyone who might wish his aid. The ritual to summon him forth required 23 participants, Had to be performed outside on the last Wednesday in January at 4:06 PM. The participants had to chant in a nearly extinct dialect of Mesopotamian around a mouthful of half-rotted pomegranate seeds for 3 hours eventually working themselves into a state of ecstatic frenzied dancing, but only after having broken the middle toe of the right foot with a specially consecrated hammer.
As you can imagine, the Cult of Amvorgas is microscopically small.
(P.206)
The story of the Belgian fisherman (whether apocryphal or no) points up an interesting and philosophically thorny problem in the study of Demonology. It is, of course, an element of the literature that Angels can Fall, but there remains the question, can Demons…Rise?
The concept of Entropy would seem to suggest that the answer is no, that once sullied, the angelic heart can never again be made pure, and yet, if God is a just God, then it would seem that any demon that would turn its back on its former rebelliousness and its wicked ways, that perhaps such a demon could return to a state of grace, as man may do.
And yet, in all of the study, there seems to be no evidence of such a redemptive path. Certainly, one can see how such a personage might be a serious embarrassment to both sides of the conflict. And with both sides possessing the ability to obfuscate the issue, it seems that one obviously cannot trust a Demon who avers that he is on the side of the angels and looking to do good works. The sad fact is, if such a demon existed, that same distrust would work against him or her.
(P.209)
For Example:
7 Demons that cannot speak an untruth (Except in defense of their own existence)
28 Demons that cannot be bound in service
1 legion of demons that may walk the earth once per century without being summoned forth
3 Arch-demons whose authority may even command angelic beings
36 demons that can know every word ever written.
11 demons that cannot be laid low by any terrestrial weapon.
17 demons that cannot be warded against.
(P. 331)
Hell is political. While the Elohim tend to be strictly stratified and have an extremely clear chain of command. Their darker brethren seem to have a much greater proliferation of political groups, secret societies, "Families", military commands and cults of personality. Add to this the inevitable lie and counter-lie, espionage, betrayal, and the normal exigencies of demonic existence and one can see the tangled morass of political obligations that life in pit must be.
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