The traditional understanding of goetia is unfortunately not that
which is generally understood, which is scarcely even early modern in
vintage.
There are semantic and historical problems here, there is - of course
- a book called 'The Goetia of Solomon' (circa 1640). Its title has
been conflated with a much older word, 'goetia', an important term
with a definite history. It has strong associations with Platonic and
Orphic cosmologies, as well as the 'low Hermeticism' of the magical
papyri. While not a single unified doctrine this background possesses
the coherence of any well developed tradition, whether 'folk' or
'literary'. This is part of the much neglected 'classical' background
of Western magic, a neglect that ironically was not characteristic of
the Christian Cabalists & Renaissance magicians. They are nevertheless
often cited in justification for modern reliance on 'generic qabalah'
as being 'traditional'.
The spirits originally associated with goetic magic have definite
characteristics and hierarchical strata. Insofar as the grimoires are
a goetic genre, the 'Goetia of Solomon' has no particular claim on
such spirits either in their older or later guises. There is also,
incidentally, no such thing as 'goetic spirits'; the usage cannot be
called an evolution of language so much as a degradation of a
terminology both practitioners and academics need to understand
properly. Goetia refers to the type of magic performed by a 'goes',
for it obtains its name from the practitioner, the spirits involved
require different terms.
Jake
http://www.underworld-apothecary.com/
On 17 June 2010 23:39, toyin adepoju <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Along with the metaphysical interpretation and magical use of the concept of
> the Qlipoth,it might be relevant to explore the interpretation and use of
> other spiritual forms traditionally understood as demonic,such as the Goetic
> spirits from the book of Solomon the King as well as Lucifer,who,of course
> might be understood as the head of the section of the Tree represented by
> the Qlipoth.One needs to note though,that interpretations of the Qlipoth as
> part of a schematic cosmology are more precise than those of the Goetia
> which does not seem to have a detailed cosmology behind it.
>
> An innovative understanding of the Goetia, which needs to be complemented by
> its traditional understanding, is the work of Mark Dunn at
> www.goetia-girls.com.
>
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