Something I’ve increasingly been thinking this blog could use is more of my personal gnosis re: the Nekalah. Toward that end, this entry shares some thoughts I have on working baneful magick with these entities. There will be three entries in this sub-series: 1) Nekalah who I’ve known to be quite keen on baneful magick, but only in specific circumstances; 2) Nekalah who, despite being entities of Darkness, nonetheless lean toward solving problems in a non-baneful manner; and finally, 3) Nekalah who might plausibly described as specialists in malice. This entry will discuss those I class in the second category: Atazoth, Athushir-Kthunae, Budsturga, Mactoron-Falcifer, Nemicu, and Sauroctonos.
Introduction
As mentioned in my previous entry, something I’m seeking to get across in this series on the Nekalah is nuance. I do not find it very spiritually compelling to envision a pantheon of Dark Gods that are all simply “evil.” Lack of nuance in this regard produces a theistic Satanism that conforms to Christian stereotypes without saying anything interesting. This problem has long been one that Order of Nine Angles (ONA/O9A) -type Satanism has tended to fall into.
What I therefore seek to do in this series is to provide a more complex picture. The previous installment’s emphasis leaned toward “yes, there’s a baneful side to these entities, but they do still have principles.” Vs. the current installment’s emphasis is more “baneful behavior is not actually equally predominant in the nature of all dark entities.”
This is not to say that one cannot work baneful magick with the entities I discuss below. My impression, though, is that such attempts will have a propensity to take forms contrary to the magician’s original intention. The entity will talk you into doing something else. Or, its method and time scale will not be quite what you had in mind. Etc.
I anticipate this post will annoy those who may feel that my portrayal of some of these entities is “not evil enough.” Keep in mind though that my intent is not to put forward a singular “correct” view of these entities. It’s just an articulation of my own experiences, offered to others interested in working with these entities, for due consideration. If it resonates with the audience, great; dissenting views, however, still contribute to conversation about these entities.
Second of three sixes
In my book Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness, I discuss eighteen entities total. For the purposes of this blog series, I have wound up subdividing them into three groups of six. I’ve done this not for a cheap Revelation reference, but just because my gnosis lent itself to such a division.
The Nekalah in my second subdivision are entities that I do not consider to be particularly negative or destructive. This does not, however, mean that they are necessarily benign. They are Darkness-aligned in the sense of their minds and agendas being, from a human standpoint, obscure and opaque. This is directly relevant to their propensity for approaching matters in a manner the magician may experience as alien.
Common between these six, at least in my experience, is a remarkable absence of malice. The magician who feels compelled toward baneful works out of spite is therefore advised to seek assistance elsewhere. In my experience, all Nekalah do resonate with negative human emotional states. i.e., there is not one among them who would rebuff the would-be maleficer outright. There are, however, several prone to either redirecting such sentiments, or redirecting the magician to another entity in such cases. It follows that if you are struggling with ambivalent feelings about baneful magick, these entities may be worth communing with. Conversely though, if you’re already fixated on visiting absolute horror upon your enemy, save yourself labor by asking someone else.
As much that follows extends insights in my book, interested parties should definitely consider getting hold of it. But for those unfamiliar, I’ll include a quick snapshot of each entity before getting into the baneful angle.
Atazoth
Appears as an ancient-yet-vigorous emperor, clad in motley rags, his disfigured face concealed by a veil or mask. Sometimes manifests standing in front of an enormous portal seething with alien eyes, maws, feelers, etc. Said to a case of “you get what you expect”: those who enter his presence expecting a wise monarch will be received accordingly; those anticipating a being of pure chaos and horror will see their nightmares come true.
While I have heard some unpleasant stories about this entity, I personally have never had any such experiences. He absolutely is intimidating on account of how powerfully he radiates dominance, ultimacy, and an unsettling impression of near-omniscience. Accept, however, that whatever he’s scheming is beyond your grasp and outside your ability to influence, while showing him due respect, and being in his presence is not so difficult to bear.
Two considerations weigh against going to Atazoth for baneful magick. One is that, like most entities who present themselves as royalty, he tends to be dismissive toward petty human concerns. The other is the simple fact that no particular immediate outcome is preferable to him over any other. This is because, in the long term, all possible outcomes serve his plans anyway.
Atazoth can be persuaded into action if the cause has a clear aeonic rationale, rather than being merely personal. I would not be surprised, though, if said action entailed him pushing over some invisible domino, such that i) the string of cause-and-effect that follows extends over a longer period of time than the baneful-magick-worker would prefer to wait, and/or ii) the final outcome is more characterized by “that completely changed everything” than by specific baneful goals being met. Hence why he wouldn’t be my first choice for such purposes.
Athushir-Kthunae
Appears as a tall, proud figure, clad in red, whose features, accessories, etc. combine elements of the wild and the regal. May also appear as a fiery dragon or phoenix. The human form tends to echo the magician’s in some way, e.g. the entity appears as male to men, female to women, etc. A fierce destroyer of inertia and delusion whose very presence moves the soul toward adventure and inspiration.
Despite being a “serpent of fire,” I have never experienced this entity as destructive. Rather, as per O9A’s text “Naos” associating it with the “memory” of a previous intrusion of the Dark Gods into the causal realm, the connotation I feel is one of enthusiasm for incarnate existence. I thus see Athushir as a “cosmic dragon,” in opposition to the “anti-cosmic dragon” favored by more “Gnostic” Satanisms. She (as I perceive the entity) embodies Darkness’ perpetual returning (“Kthunae” means “recall”) to the earth. This return is joyful to those who accept the challenges of Adventure, and “dark” only to anti-worldly Gnostic naysayers.
Because my experiences with Athushir have been ecstatically positive, I have difficulty even imagining bringing a baneful request to her. I picture a magician summoning her for such purposes, only to find upon her manifesting that one’s interest in spite dissolves amid a sudden surge of recollecting a half-dozen more-fulfilling purposes that one could be putting one’s energy toward instead. I could also see her resolving a conflict by inspiring one’s enemy with an urge to do something more productive.
Athushir thus strikes me as better suited toward what a previous entry called positive redirection than baneful works per se. The reasons for this, however, have everything to do with the passions she inspires and nothing to do with morality.
Budsturga
Appears as a naga, mermaid, or similar partly-human creature, pale blue in color, but faceless, headless, or otherwise distorted in some way. May manifest amid a swarm of smaller creatures, who speak either in unison or cacophonously as her “voice.” A thoroughly-knowledgeable teacher of the arts of spiritual discipline, impeded by an extremely fragmented consciousness.
Both mine and others’ experiences prompt the warning: do not mess with Budsturga if you already have mental health problems. She’s an excellent example of a Sinistral who bears no ill will toward anyone, yet is still dangerous to contact. According to my gnosis, she was saved from dissolution by Nemicu, and is like him in often having constructive intentions. Her mind, however, just does not work the way most conscious beings’ minds work. To those seeking the unconventional, this may be a boon. In the unwary, however, she tends to inspire a disorienting terror that drives unwary magicians away from the pantheon.
Now, there’s a certain mentality of black magician who reads this and thinks “ah, so summon her among enemies, perfect.” I don’t doubt one could cause significant disruption that way. I believe, however, that the Nekalah pantheon contains other entities who are more appropriate for that kind of operation. I’ll be covering several of these in the next installment of this series.
Where I would recommend Budsturga, though, is if the magician’s purpose is what a previous entry called hindering, i.e., destroying the enemy’s effectiveness more so than destroying the enemy itself. If you don’t want to cause harsh harm to someone, but would just find it useful to see them turned into a distracted mess who is too busy thinking themselves in spirals to accomplish anything for awhile, she’s definitely your girl.
Mactoron-Falcifer
Appears as a young woman or little girl, eyeless, draped in either white or black, floating in the air. When manifesting in visions, often appears in outer space or alien planet -type settings. Disconcerting to engage in conversation due to terse, enigmatic responses and long silences. A spirit of sterility who longs nostalgically for the nothingness that preceded the existence of everything.
My immediate impulse the first time I encountered Mactoron in a vision was “hmm, creepy: time to go.” I’ve never felt like there was anything hostile about her, though. To the contrary, she has a very serene energy. Her “it would be better if there was just nothing” thus doesn’t translate into enthusiasm for baneful magick for me.
Certainly, Mactoron can assist with “make this problem disappear” -type workings. The form she takes when evoked as “Falcifer” strikes me as especially well-suited for the severing of unwanted connections. Any such working, though, would likely entail a combination of two elements. One, the alteration of the magician’s own flow of energy. And two, the redirection of the unwanted element elsewhere, such that it simply “goes away.” The result would thus be more of a banishing, severing, or repulsion-oriented working. If harm-causing is not necessary to resolve the situation, then harm will not occur.
Mactoron therefore strikes me as useful to consult when the magician has strong pragmatic or ethical considerations against baneful magick, and yet is still so troubled by a situation that letting go of spite is hard to do. Amid such overpowering emotions, the pure nullity of the Void can be a salutary thing to immerse oneself in. Detachment – not in the all-renouncing sense of the RHP, but the self-preserving sense of the LHP – is something Mactoron is a very efficacious proponent of.
Nemicu
Appears as an androgynous figure whose features combine the angelic and the demonic – e.g. light hair with a dark streak; both feathered wings and horns; halo, but also glowing red eyes; etc. When manifesting in visions, usually appears hovering about the ocean, or standing atop a spire, the sea in the background. Prone to speaking in riddles, but tends much more toward the mysterious than the malignly deceitful. Mystical, insightful, and more benevolent than most of the rest of the pantheon.
Some may presume from the name “Nemicu” resembling “Nemesis” that this entity would be associated with just retribution. I have not found that connection prominent in my personal gnosis, though. Rather, the message I’ve received is that Nemicu is a shadow variant of the angel Raphael (Christianity) / Israfil (Islam). The latter has an interesting connection to “music that brings about the end of the world” – i.e., an easily-recognizable concept in O9A texts. I suspect though that trad Niner material doesn’t exactly attract persons apt to appreciate this entity’s complexities beyond that.
A being of capacious experience and understanding, Nemicu strikes me as aloof from all petty mortal disputes. “And don’t you also have better things to concern yourself with?”, I can envision him responding to a baneful proposal. Yes, he is highly knowledgeable about metaphysical and esoteric matters, such that he could give relevant advice on such a working. The heart of the advice, though, would be “ask somebody else to help you with this.” Possibly accompanied by a significant dose of “are you sure this is even what you really want? Perhaps you should also consider other courses of action…”
Not for any “moral” reason would Nemicu respond thus. Rather, he simply does not wish to involve himself in things that he does not care about.
Sauroctonos
Appears as a horned youth, dressed as a shepherd but in black, bearing a staff and a lyre. Often accompanied by animals, such as a white crow, black swan, or wolf. His words often take an optimistic form, yet with a subtly melancholic tone. Basically an Abyssal form of Apollo, in whom that entity’s solar associations have been transmuted by an infernal agenda.
Since they are close associates of one another, similar considerations and limitations come into play with Sauroctonos as with Nemicu. Like Nemicu, Sauroctonos more naturally acts as an adviser toward self-improvement than a weapon against enemies. And like Nemicu, just because he knows how to destroy effectively doesn’t necessarily mean he wishes to propagate such knowledge.
The one exception to this I can envision would be if Sauroctonos were one’s patron, one was creating works of art to honor him, and someone was interfering with or destroying said works of art. In that case, I can see him being willing to lift his hand against the offenders. Even then though, I wouldn’t expect this to take a particularly harsh form. Not-insignificant misfortunes in the realms of health or livelihood might follow. But if the magician desires worse than this, I’d expect the same response as Nemicu: “isn’t there someone else it makes more sense for you to ask that of than me?”
This is not to say that Sauroctonos doesn’t still have a sinister side. He willingly offers advice and even direct support for the creation of works of art intended to manipulate emotions, promote disruptive ideologies, or accomplish other “dark” purposes. Here, though, bane is part of a constructive overarching purpose, and it is really that cause he is supporting. Whereas if all the magician wants is destruction, it’s better to go elsewhere.
Concluding thoughts
When speaking briefly of the Nekalah, with the intent of what’s said being readily followed by those who may not be advanced occultists, one risks misrepresenting these entities as more approachable and “human” than they actually are. Such misimpressions are especially hard to avoid when one focusing on the less malicious entities in the pantheon.
To attempt to counter this, I close by emphasizing: these are Dark Gods. And one should understand in accord with that descriptor that words inevitably fail re: what it’s like to actually contact these beings. Success in the ritual chamber comes with experiences of the uncanny and the sublime that must be felt for oneself. To read what is described here and reduce it to “that’s just like [pagan deity]” is to miss the point. Beneath whatever may sound familiar and approachable lies the Abyssal Void of Darkness. To proceed with anything other than caution would therefore be dangerous folly. I feel this point is somewhat intuitively obvious with Atazoth, Budsturga and Mactoron-Falcifer. But by no means should one confuse “safer” with “safe” in the cases of Athushir-Kthunae, Nemicu or Sauroctonos.
As per “research the entity before you mess around with it too much,” then: what do readers think? If any have experiences with any of these entities, how do they compare to my experiences? Both accord and discord can enlighten on this front, so please let me know in the comments. Any Niners who have contacted the specific entities this entry discussed, and wish to contend that they are “more evil” or “differently evil” than I’m making it sound, are especially encouraged to bring this forward for discussion!