Gotta love the feeling of being productive and actually making stuff again. About damn time, too; crafting this stuff is at least a quarter of the fun of the Art.
Since I had all the supplies, and now that things in my life have calmed down enough to allow me enough time during the week and weekends to focus and set my mind to some projects again, I can proudly show off two of my latest crafting projects:
- A ritual sword, partially Solomonic in design but with certain elements that give it a much more offensive nature against harmful spirits. Yes, dear reader, I made myself a demonsbane-type sword. I’m going to conjure Kammael and Michael in turn as this conjuration cycle continues and get their opinions on it and how to keep it in good shape, so there’ll be a post on that in the future. In the meantime, I’m scared to even hold the thing; it feels like a firebomb in my hands.
- A Circle of Art painted onto a large canvas tarp, based on a design I introduced before. Simple, elegant, and portable, and awesome-looking, besides! I made a few wooden pentagram placards to serve as bases for candles and the brazier, too, so the whole setup is pretty cool. Walking into it feels like stepping into a fortress observatory, so I think I did it right.
- Although not a craft, per se, I had a hard time finding a proper blessing of chalk that didn’t specifically mention the Three Wise Men or Epiphany, so I made one up. Here you go, if you ever need a Hermetic or Abrahamic blessing of chalk.
Now that I have these two things, in combination with the tools and supplies I already have (wand, triangle, pentacles, ring), I’m finally ready to start working with goetia and other types of demons. This opens up a whole new set of practices to experiment with, so I’m pretty excited about this. Yes, I know that dealing with demons is a powerful practice and can fuck my own shit up if I’m not careful, but what’s life without living, and what is living without learning? I want the experience, and I hear some demons are pretty neat guys to be acquainted with. Based on a friend’s suggestion and my own inclinations, I think Orobas will be the first guy in line.
My brony friends would be proud if they knew about this guy.
Though, this does bring up a good question for myself. I’m used to using the Trithemius ritual to conjure spirits, which I’ve used for angels and genii (two totally different ranks of spirits), but nothing besides (since I haven’t done any other kind of conjuration). Fr. Rufus Opus has said he’s used it equally well for all kinds of spirits from different grimoires, traditions, and texts, so I’m eager to try and figure out experiments with this rite and how to conjure spirits that are less-than-sanguine about the holy Trinity, qabbalistic godnames, and so forth. The Lemegeton and Key of Solomon have good starting points for me to jump off of; a Trithemius/Solomonic blended conjuration might be an interesting thing to write up, since the Trithemius rite has the basic framework I need and the Solomonic texts have all the godnames, conjurations, and calls.
The Digital Ambler 
Gorgeous craftwork, man. What kind of wood did you use for the seal?
Also: That sword is badass, and I have no idea how I missed the post on the tarp Circle. That’s ingenious. The post doesn’t actually get into my biggest question: how did you manage the geometry on that scale? (Cause I would really love to know where to get a compass that big.)
The sword is awesome. It “feels” good in my hand, but in a very powerful, almost righteous way. Very interesting results.
I actually didn’t make the wood for the seal; it’s a circular picture frame I got off Etsy to hold lamens, seals, and the like. It was cheap and the perfect size, so I screwed in a hook on one side, crimped it shut, and strung a leather cord through it to wear. If I had the tools or supplies to make those frames, I would, because circular frames are damned hard to find. All I remember from the listing was that it was recycled/repurposed wood.
The circle was drawn out on the tarp using a variation of the technique from the Key of Solomon, which has you anchor down a 9′ string using the consecrated scimitar/lance/whatever, tying the other end to the sword or athame, and drawing out the circle. For me, I anchored down a string with duct tape to the center of the tarp and tied a pencil to one end; for smaller circles, I wrapped the string around the pencil a few times until it was an appropriate length.
Ah, duct tape. Post-modern magical tools are awesome. :D
Like the craftsmanship in the image.