Safety, ethics and myths

Your goal in this lesson: to know what keeps you safe, what the real risks are and how to answer the myths that frighten people.

Reading is safe

Nothing in the history, and nothing in centuries of scholars editing these texts, supports the idea that reading a name summons a spirit. Even the grimoires require elaborate ritual for their own purposes. If you find yourself unable to stop thinking about a name you have read, or afraid to close a book, that fear is worth taking seriously, and it is a fear, not a summoning.

The real risks are human

• Religious fear. If you grew up being told that demons are close and watching, study can trigger deep fear even after you stop believing it. Go slowly, and consider a counselor who understands religious backgrounds.
• Scrupulosity. Constant fear of having done something wrong, checking and repeating rituals, is a known form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and it is treatable. More ritual tends to feed it.
• Sleep paralysis. Waking unable to move, often with a sense of a presence in the room, is common and harmless, though frightening. Doctors know it well.
• Psychosis, dissociation and substances. If you have a history of psychosis or dissociation, or use drugs or alcohol, do not practice. Study is fine.

Pacts and harm magic: why I say no

I do not teach pacts, blood rites, curses or any work meant to harm or control another person. Pacts come from medieval and early modern demonology and witch-trial fantasy, and no ritual can truthfully guarantee results. Harm magic hurts the person who does it, too: it fills the mind with resentment and fear.

Online red flags

Be careful with anyone who tells you a spirit “demands” something and will punish you, who sells protection against a danger they just described, who asks you to keep secrets from your family or who pressures you for money, sex or isolation. Leave, and talk to someone you trust.

Five common myths

Historical “The Goetia is 3,000 years old.” It was compiled in the seventeenth century from earlier material. No Hebrew or Greek original is known.

“Crowley wrote the Goetia.” Mathers edited it; Crowley published it in 1904 and added notes.

“The spirits are ancient gods in disguise.” A few names echo old deities, such as Bael and Baal, but the catalog is a late medieval and early modern Christian creation.

“A misdrawn seal brings punishment.” That is modern lore at best. Fear of mistakes can be a sign of anxiety.

“Only the initiated may study it.” The Goetia has been in print since 1904 and is studied by historians, students and the curious everywhere.

If you are struggling right now, call your local emergency number (112 in Europe, 911 in the US and Canada) or see Getting help.

Try this

Today’s exercise: write your own short readiness list. Note three conditions that must be true before you would ever try any practice, for example being rested and sober, and two signs that would make you stop.

Quick recap

• Reading is safe; the real risks are fear, scrupulosity, sleep and health.
• No pacts, no blood, no harm magic.
• Leave anyone who threatens, sells fear or demands secrecy.
• Most frightening claims online are myths.

Keep going

Press “Mark as done” and continue with the last lesson, Modern approaches and a year of study. For the full guide, see Goetia safety, ethics and mental health and Goetia myths.

Need a refresher? Go back to How to read a spirit entry or see the whole course.

Sources

• Joseph H. Peterson (ed.), The Lesser Key of Solomon (York Beach: Weiser, 2001).
• NHS, “Sleep paralysis”, https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sleep-paralysis/
• NHS, “Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)”, https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/

Go deeper: the Goetia pages on this site

Mark as done