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Second of Venus: The Morning Star’s Diplomat
Sometimes aggression and burning magnificence are not the ideal qualities for solving a problem. Often, pure charm, diplomacy and a blanketing energy of comfort and pleasantness are what’s truly required. The difference between commanding and coaxing is as wide as a chasm and a truly discerning occultist knows that each has its place in the…
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The Mercurial Mind
In an age of digital road openings and fast-paced shifting of structures of society, the magician’s best friend is often the powers of Mercury. Here at Practical Occult, we aren’t shy about stacking those boons atop eachother for the truly discerning individual. While individually, the Mercury pentacles change lives, sift through the sands of time…
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Jupiter Honors and Dignities
From the Veritable Key of Solomon: “To obtain the greatest honors and dignities.” In the Veritable Key of Solomon there is a pentacle under Jupiter with the description “to obtain the greatest honors and dignities.” Around this pentacle reads a versicle from Hebrews 2:7, “Thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him…
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Pentacles for Psychic and Divinatory Work
In this newsletter, guest author “Auntie” Eden discusses her use of pentacles in psychic and divinatory work. My use of the Solomonic Pentacles in my psychic and divinatory work began earlier in the year. I had worked as both a psychic and a medium in the past, but I had let most of those skills…
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First Pentacle of the Moon
From the Key of Solomon: “This and the following serve to call forth and invoke the Spirits of the Moon; and it further serveth to open doors, in whatever way they may be fastened.” In this Practical Occult newsletter guest author Sara Mastros, author of “The Big Book of Magical Incense” and the “Orphic Hymns…
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Ouroboros Phylactery
In this Practical Occult newsletter, guest author Sfinga of With Cunning and Command discusses the Ouroboros Phylactery of the Greek Magical Papyri. Even when I first began exploring the magic of the PGM, the Ouroboros Phylactery (PGM VII. 579-90) immediately caught my eye. Perhaps it’s because I, as I often joke with my closest friends, am easily…
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Fifth of the Sun – the Royal Road
From the Key of Solomon: “It serveth to invoke those Spirits who can transport thee from one place unto another, over a long distance and in short time.” With the roads of the world now beginning to fold open to travelers, how can the discerning customers of Practical Occult be certain to get the best…
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Solomonic Health Pentacles: a Comparison
When most people familiar with Solomonic pentacles think of a health pentacle, the Second of Mars from the Clavicula Solomonis (or Greater Key of Solomon) is the one that comes to mind. However MS Wellcome 4670 (The Veritible Key of Solomon) has two prominent others- a Jupiter health and a solar health. It is noteworthy…
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Triangle of Hekate
Guest review of the Triangle of Hekate*Steel and copper scrying mirror, consecrated to the goddess Hekate and inspired by a base discovered in Sardis and dated to the 1st century CE. Cultivating a sorcerous relationship with Hekate has been one of my most longstanding endeavours across the years. From my roots in Balkan traditional witchcraft to my…
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On the Nature of Venusian Glamour
Unlike talismans for wealth or worldly advancement, pentacles for love, lust and relationship success follow more of a winding road to the shimmering end goal of victory. Often people misunderstand one form of glamour for another and make the error of assuming they will color one’s life in the same way. Unfortunately, this is far…