YOU THINK YOU SUMMONED A DEMON? Think again . . .

This is my main opposition to all these 'wizards' who fall out of bed and accidentally conjure Amdusias, or mutter a few spooky words, and poof Alloces is sitting high upon his steed in your bedroom . . .

The process of properly summoning a spirit requires monumental preparation and grueling work to instill the specifics of the entity into one's psyche. This involves an arduous and repetitive process of ritually disinhibiting the temporal lobe, particularly the left temporoparietal junction, and creating an appropriate platform for experiencing the spirit. This process can take from several focused hours to days, weeks, or even months to transition from the objective to the subjective.

This form of magic involves creating a definitive change in the mind/brain through neuroplasticity. The chosen spiritual entity is introduced to the mind and embedded in the psyche through extensive ritual work. Once adequately prepared, the spirit is commanded into conscious awareness.

The entire magical process relies on mythology and symbology, where the Idea or First Form of the spirit begins to take shape in the unconscious mind. By properly disinhibiting specific parts of the brain, a sense of agency is created, leading to visual and auditory experiences and establishing a connection with the spiritual entity.

By designing and creating a proper theater for your subjective universe to become objective, the spiritual creature can manifest through 'Will, Desire, and Belief,' enabling communication.

However, even after months of dedicated effort, you may often be left with nothing. The process requires just the right combination of brain, unconscious mind, and Will.

Aleister Crowley asserts that summoning 'demon powers' involves uncovering or fostering related abilities within oneself through specific exercises:

“If, then, I say, with Solomon: ‘The Spirit Cimieries teaches logic,’ what I mean is: ‘Those portions of my brain which subserve the logical faculty may be stimulated and developed by following out the processes called ‘The Invocation of Cimieries.’

- Aleister Crowley

Given this perspective, the powers of the 72 demons described in The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King can be understood as reflections of the desires of people from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, when Crowley's edition was published. Alternatively, these powers might simply represent the obsessions of those who documented these entities into existence.

Carl Jung believed that encountering a demon or monster represents an archetypal stage in the process of individuation. He states, “the initial encounter with the Self casts a dark shadow ahead of time.” In mythic terms, this shadow may manifest as a monster, a demon, darkness, or a drought. Here is the full quote from Jung’s Man and His Symbols:

“Many myths and fairy tales symbolically describe this initial stage in the process of individuation by telling of a king who has fallen ill or grown old. Other familiar story patterns are that a royal couple is barren; or that a demon keeps the king’s army or his ship from proceeding on its course; or that darkness hangs over the lands, wells dry up, and flood, drought, and frost afflict the country. Thus it seems as if the initial encounter with the Self casts a dark shadow ahead of time, or as if the ‘inner friend’ comes at first like a trapper to catch the helplessly struggling ego in his snare.”

(Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols, p.167)