the art of summoning demons

The Art of Summoning Demons

By Mastorn

If there is one activity that has followed Satanism throughout time andspace, mythology and fact, symbolic or theistic, it is the act of summoningdemons. When most people enter Satanism one of the first questions they askis "How can I summon a demon?" Still, there is very little practical informationon the internet about demon summoning. Most of what you find on the internetregarding this topic will involve the practitioner standing in a circle, invoking thenames of the Christian god and threatening the demon with torment. Needlessto say, this ritual is not "Satanic" in any sense of the term and no way to goabout making friends with what you are attempting to evoke. In fact, themajority of the horror stories one will hear about a demon "striking out" at themagickian involve a demon which has been forcefully constrained andthreatened.

Needless to say, these Christian techniques will be of little help to anyserious Satanist. In fact (in an act of great irony) there is an extremely smallamount of material concerning demon summoning from a Satanic point of view,and that which is available is extremely lacking in technique and leaves thepractitioner very open to what many have described as "astral deception."

What I attempt to do in this article is to create a guideline for Satanistswho desire to summon demons. Now keep in mind this is not a walkthrough,this is not a completely regimented ritual with a space clearly marked "Insertdemon’s name here". It will still require a decent level of creativity and researchon the practitioner’s part. The payoff for this will be a much more effectiveworking and the knowledge gained from the ritual itself.

The Demons Themselves

Let us begin by a quick definition of what a demon is:

A spirit or god which is actively associated with the Satanicparadigm.

Now, while this definition may seem rather broad and relative, this was myintention. The individual practitioner may restrict or expand this definition asthey wish, while keeping in mind that others may not have the same thoughtson demons as you do. I am simply using this definition for the sake of thisarticle. Lets remember that NOBODY can tell us for sure what is beyond thisplane and all claims made about hierarchies or what is defiantly true about Hell(should it exist) need to be taken with a grain of salt.

While I am on the topic, I must argue against any system of "demonichierarchies" in demonology. This is not to impose my beliefs upon anyone else;it is just a matter of practicality. Systems of hierarchies lend to the belief that

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certain demons aren’t as "powerful" or are easier to control as other and thiscan lead to problems of practitioners underestimating the demon and becomingcareless. I can assure you that just because a demon is classified as a "lesserDemon" in a grimore doesn’t make it any less able to mess with a carelessmagickan.

Now, no matter what you may intellectually believe about demons, whenone is attempting to summon a demon you must KNOW some things to be true:

1. No matter what you believe in the "real world," in the ritual chamber thedemon IS real and will have very real affects upon your life. The demonis much smarter than you are and should be treated with respect

2. Demons are separate entities from humans and have their own separatewills. Some Satanists will say that the demons are basically big geniesthat are happy to do whatever we want them to, which is far from thetruth. Just as humans, all demons aren’t going to give something awayfrom nothing. It is most likely that they will want some form of "payment"or sacrifice. This will be covered later.

After the ritual, you can go back to believing that demons are just parts of thehuman sub-conscious, or Jungian archetypes or whatever you need to keepyour psyche intact. Just remember that in the ritual chamber these entities areancient beings that have their own things they want to do aside from helpingyou get laid and destroying your enemies.

Also, before attempting to summon ANY demon, do your ownindependent research. Find out the general character of this demon and (ifpossible) what it’s goals are. Don’t just stop with looking the demon up in onegrimore though. Different people have different experiences with the demonsso try to find as many different experiences as possible. An excellent place tostart is this page:

This page has a pretty complete listing of demons and a good deal ofinformation on each demon (even though a lot of the information is from Judeo-Christian sources). Also, try and find a sigil (symbol) of each demon. Going toany decent search engine and typing in the name of the demon is likely to comeup with at least a few reliable pages (and a lot of heavy metal bands).

Concerning Sacrifice

Now we are at the topic that has made demonology so taboo, sacrifice.In my opinion it is rather foolish to assume that a demon is happy to go out of itsway to do what I want. I wouldn’t assume that of my best friends, so whyshould I assume that of a demon that, most likely, has its own desires thatthey’d rather take care of?

Now some Satanists say that the whole bargaining/sacrifice thing is forthose who use the methods found in grimores. I disagree with this heavily. Just



because I may like someone doesn’t mean that I’m willing to sacrifice my timeand energy to help them for no particular reason. However, I think that demonsare willing to give Satanists, and those their fond of, the ability to make a more"practical" sacrifice. From my experience one thing all gods want, be they fromHeaven, Hell, or elsewhere, is belief. It is belief that sustains the gods andkeeps them bonded to man. Therefore, it wouldn’t be unusual for a demon todesire that an image be made of it, or a poem dedicated to it and then to havethe artwork released to the public. These are tasks that are most likely going tobe given to Satanists since they are not going to put any unfair biases upon howthe image should look. Also, most demons have some kind of agenda of theirown, helping the demon in this agenda can also be used as a form of sacrifice.An example of this for the demon Asmodeus (the demon of lust) would be to geta store in your small town to carry condoms so that people can indulge theirsexual desire if they choose to without as much fear of unwantedrepercussions.

Another form of sacrifice that is quite effective, but relatively unused (atleast directly) by Satanists is that of what chaos magickians call "Gnosis." Forthose of you unfamiliar with gnosis I’ll give you a quick definition of what it isfrom my point of view. Gnosis is a state of mind in which all mental barriers arebroken down and a pure energy is allowed to flow from and into the mind andspirit. Moments of gnosis are generally very good forms of sacrifice. Gnosiscan be achieved through many ways, some popular ways are meditation (if oneis experienced in it), drug usage (although it is not recommended due to sideeffects), sexual orgasm (with partner or masturbation), and blind hatred (usedprimarily in curses). At the peak moment of gnosis (ie. Sexual climax) focus onyour alter and the symbols upon it and the demon will become "charged" withthe gnosis.

Sacrifice is a personal thing between the practitioner and the demon.Whatever feels appropriate as an act of giving should be used.

Oh, and a final word for those who believe that the sacrifice of a living being, oryour soul is needed (or even useful) as a sacrifice I simply say, no matter whatreligion you ask, damned souls are a dime a dozen, so another thrown onto thepile will mean little to nothing.

(Note: Please keep in mind there is a difference between offering ones soul asa sacrifice and offering your soul as a dedication, which is valid.)

The Ritual Itself

Following is a guideline for creating your own ritual for summoning a demon.

1. I heavily recommend performing a "banishing ritual" beforehand. Nowthis is not to make you "pure" in spirit. It’s about clearing and focusingyour mind so that you don’t unfairly impose any of your ideas upon whatthe demon is trying to communicate to you. Information about banishing



rituals can be found on almost any page on Chaos Magick. I feel that thesimplest form of a banishing ritual is taking a nice long shower or bathbefore the ritual.

2. Set up an altar to the demon. You should customize the altar to thecharacter of the demon. Ex. For the demon Dagon you would wantan altar with a water theme. Images of fish, serpents, and seaweedwould be very appropriate. You might want to consider filling the chalicewith saltwater (although only add a pinch of salt, too much will causevomiting).

3. If you want to, draw or trace a triangle on the ground into which you willmanifest the demon. This is NOT to imprison the demon as so manyChristian grimores will tell you; it is simply creating a space where all ofthe demons energy can gather and manifest. You can make the triangleas plain or as decorated as you like.

4. After the altar and all preparations are made, stand before your alter andtriangle state your beginning invocation. This would be something alongthe lines of the Invocation to Satan in the Satanic Bible or the onelocated on Diane’s page; however I highly recommend creating yourown. I have a special one that I created for demon summoning ritualswhich is in two separate parts. Basically, align yourself with the forces ofHell and empower yourself.

5. Now read your summoning of the demon. The creation of this is veryimportant to the overall working and should be done beforehand. Tryand create a summoning that would sound similar to how you think thedemon would have been originally worshiped. Try and keep thesummoning within the character of the demon. Don’t try and summon atrickster demon through a solemn, dull litany, instead joke, laugh, andmake an atmosphere in which the trickster demon will be comfortable.And (as should be clear now) do NOT threaten, torture, torment, or taunt

the demon into appearing, unless of course you LIKE being killed in aviolent, yet ironic way.

6. Once you are able to discern the presence of the demon, stand forwardand politely, yet firmly state the following: "I stand here with you,(demon’s name) united by our bond with Hell. By this bond I swear to betruthful to you and honor all agreements made with you to the best of myability. Do you, (demon’s name) swear by your bond with the forces ofHell to be truthful to me, and honor all agreements with me to the best ofyour ability?" Now wait for a response (which you may divine as youwish), if the response is positive, continue. If the response is negative,inform the demon that you will not work with it until it swears to the oath.If the demon still refuses the oath, then politely dismiss it. It is choosingto be uncooperative at this time and may be more willing to work at alater time. The above oath is designed specifically to avoid deceptionfrom either yourself or the demon without being threatening or rude. Thedemon has the option to turn down the oath and is not forced into it inany way. (Note: Keep in mind, you are entering in a very powerful oathas well, and if you attempt to break it the consequences can be dire).

7. Converse with the demon, tell it about the problem you’d like it to solve,ask it questions. You may divine the answers as you like (ex. pendulum,scrying, emotional/mental responses, or in some cases verbal or physical



responses may be given). This is your time with the demon, use it asyou will.

8. At this point any sacrifices which are to be made during the ritual can bemade. Any sacrifices of gnosis are given and deals are confirmed.

9. Thank the demon for appearing and assisting you then a polite dismissalstatement.

There you go. The basic ABC’s of demon summoning for Satanists. Keep inmind that these are the entities that were called upon generations beforeyour existence. These are the entities that created society in any sense ofthe term. They taught us the arts, music, warfare, religion and science.They are some of the greatest teachers one can have if their knowledge andpower is used intelligently. Enjoy, use, and learn.



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the art of summoning demons