After all these months of planning and putting it off, I finally started and completed one iteration of a cycle of conjurations on New Year’s.  And boy, let me tell you, it was a trip, and it’s one I’m going to be sticking to for a while.  So, this cycle, lemme tell you about it.  It’s a five week period of conjurations that cycles through the angels of the seven planets, the angels of the four elements, and my natal genius.  In each conjuration of each of these forces, I like to spend time soaking in the light and power of that particular sphere, reconsecrating and recharging whatever tools or talismans I have, meditating on that force’s symbols, and asking for specific or general advice about where to go or what to do next. 

Keep in mind that I’m not doing the full fasting, prayer, and meditation preparation during this cycle like Fr. Ashen or other guys, and as a result I’m not getting world-shattering lighshow-inducing experiences.  I’m able to catch a glimpse of the angels in the crystal and have a conversation with them in my mind, and these experiences get stronger as time goes by.  I’m satisfied with how things are working out and expect things to get better as time goes by (or learn new ways to make things better).

• I conjure the planetary angels from Tzaphqiel of Saturn to Gabriel of the Moon (descending planetary sphere order) on their proper planetary day and hour.  The minimum amount of time needed to go through these seven conjurations is five weeks.
• Since I work from home Wednesdays, I conjure the sublunar elemental angels then from Auriel of Earth to Michael of Fire (ascending elemental density order).  Since one of the Wednesdays in the cylce is used by Raphael of Mercury, the other four Wednesdays in the cycle are given to the elemental angels.  I tried to match up the cycle of the elemental angels with the planetary as best I could, but it seems to work well enough.
• I give the non-Michael-of-the-Sun Sundays for communicating with my natal genius (a fairly solar spirit) to make sure I’m integrating these energies appropriately.

Graphically, the cycle looks like the following. You’ll notice that I have the conjuration cycle starting off with Raphael of Air and Tzadqiel, which is influence from Fr. Rufus Opus who suggests the same with his Gates series of rituals.

A few observations from the first iteration of the cycle:

• That period of fire energy between Kammael and Michael of the Sun is intense.  I’m probably going to be looking forward to that week of awesomeness every time.  That conjuration of Auriel of Earth, though a party-pooper, is something needed to help keep me focused and grounded, though, so it’s something like a self-imposed restraint.
• The period between Raphael of Mercury and Gabriel of Water is a very productive time; looking back at some of my recent blog posts and notes, I didn’t expect to have churned out as much data or ideas as I have.
• The period between Gabriel of Water and Raphael of Air is the low point balancing out the fire period noted above.   Compared to the extroverted, outward-going hot and manic energies, this is a receptive, empathic, introverted, depressed period.  As I expected, based on my past watery and Saturnine experiences, I got sick (probably why I haven’t conjured Gabriel of Water since August).  Gotta watch out for my health during this and the following weeks.
• Three or so conjurations a week really isn’t that bad.  Each conjuration usually hangs between 30 to 60 minutes long, with about 10 minutes of setup beforehand and 15 of cleanup and analysis afterward.  I just need to be mindful of parties or road trips to make sure I’m not too tired/hungover/lazy the next day to do what I need to do.
• Phases of the Moon and other astrological transits from the start of the cycle until its first iteration’s end didn’t seem matter in the quality or clarity of the “connection” of the conjuration.  Other work related to a particular planet, however, did (strongest conjuration yet of Michael of the Sun happened a few Sundays back while I was doing a lot of fiery and solar work).

And some thoughts for future work:

• The schedule isn’t very flexible.  Elemental angels can be conjured at any time, technically, but the planetary angels should only be conjured on their particular planetary day, though the planetary hour alone would suffice.  Missing a planetary angel conjuration would risk mixing up the schedule or putting things off a week or so.  I could get a few conjurations out of order, I suppose, but then I’d feel bad about mixing up the flow of things.
• Conjuring my genius three or four times in five weeks doesn’t give us much to talk about in each conjuration.  I might cut it down to once or twice; I may as well build up more questions and use that whole stick of incense’s worth of time for him.  The rest of the Sundays I could devote to extra K&CHGA practice.
• I spent some time trying to figure out how to set the schedule by phases of the Moon or astrological signs (fourish weeks), by the seasons (13 weeks) or cross-quarter days (sevenish weeks), or some other natural calendrical phenomena, but I didn’t have much success.  I could just expand the cycle to take up seven weeks (one week for each planet), but now that seems boring.   It’s something to be put on the back burner for now.  As it is, the cycle allows for 10 iterations to be done in a given year, allowing for two or three weeks of rest at the end or flexibility in pushing back certain rituals.
• The cycle allows me to regularly come in contact with different spirits in a structured, repeated way.  That coupled with copious notetaking gives me many opportunities to experiment with different aspects of conjuration, technique, and magic in general.  I’ve got some ideas regarding variants of conjuration rituals or lamen designs, for one, not to mention pitching requests for other types of magical aid.

I LIKE BULLETED LISTS, YOU GUYS