Daemons as Aspects of the Psyche

Welcome back to the podcast. This is Season 2 and we will be covering some varied topics this season, but mostly revolving around Daemonolatry. So, without further ado, let’s get straight into it.

I had a question from a follower which read:

“I’ve heard that people correspond to demons to parts of the ego. Is this true and for example how Asmodeus is the demon of lust, can you call it demonic possession if a person is driven by lust?”

It’s actually a very big topic and there’s obviously lots of different schools of thought on this. If you look at Crowley’s version of the Goetia, there is a chapter in there titled “Initiated Interpretation of Ceremonial Magick” and Crowley goes through a whole discussion of how the Daemons, even the Names of Power, the seals, the colours, the incense and all of the correspondences are used to stimulate all the senses and to stimulate sections of the brain.  

He says the spirits of the Goetia are portions of the human brain and the seals therefore represent methods of stimulating or regulating those particular spots.

I don’t completely agree with Crowley and I will explain why just now.

It’s an interesting thought and a very interesting topic.  The Daemons, the seals that we use, the colours that we use in an evocation or invocation. All of those things are used to stimulate portions of the human brain and therefore stimulate parts of the psyche which relates back to the question regarding the Daemons corresponding to different parts of the ego.

What Crowley was trying to say was that using the seals and all five senses within a ritual will stimulate parts of the brain and these parts will then bring out certain aspects of ourselves, which correlate to the aspects of the Daemons we are evoking, invoking etc.  

It’s quite easy to see it that way, because for instance, if you use a Daemon which has the aspect of discovering treasure, then that could stimulate parts of your brain, which enhance your business acumen.

In a sense you can use it to stimulate parts of the brain and parts of the psyche to bring about different results and it’s a very good way to actually do it, but when you are working with Daemons, or in my experience at least, this is only part of it.

To get back to the question. 

If somebody is driven by lust, are they Daemonically possessed?

It depends on the case. 

If somebody is so driven by lust that it’s uncontrollable and it’s a continuous thing, then it’s usually a chemical imbalance. It could be something that needs to be attended to by a psychologist and a psychiatrist.

It’s possibly something that is imbalanced in the person themselves and in the years gone by, in ye olde days, if anybody was afflicted by anything, whether it was a disease, whether it was a psychological problem, it would be equated to Daemonic possession, but now we are a bit more advanced. We’ve discovered a lot more with psychology and such, but somebody can have an unhealthy imbalance within themselves, which drives them to lust, and as I say it can be a continual thing. Something that they cannot control.  

You can also have a healthy lust. Something that comes up every now and again and you express it.

As with everything, you have your healthy and unhealthy sides.

You will find that when you work with the Daemons, and I’m going to stick with Asmodeus specifically, there is something else that happens. 

Each Daemon has a particular energy and when you channel that energy through you, you channel the aspects of that Daemon, because it’s that energy that is filling you up and therefore it, for a period of time, changes you.  So if you are channelling the energy of a Daemon which has a particular aspect of being particularly good with business, for instance, then you channel that energy and you become particularly good with business, because you are filled with that energy.

When you’re working with somebody like Asmodeus or any other lust Daemon for that matter, you are going to be channelling that energy of lust, and no matter what you are actually doing, no matter what work you’re doing, you’re going to have that energy in you, which means you’re going to be left with those feelings of lust for quite a while.

The first time I worked with Asmodeus, I was completely horny for 48 hours, you know, over the top type of horny, but it is not the same thing as saying somebody is driven by lust in an unhealthy way, very different, it’s controllable, it’s something that is actually quite pleasurable.

We look at things like lust as being bad or evil, because that’s again how we’re raised in the Western society, but lust is a very healthy thing, lust can be used for incredible things.

It can be used for magick. Lust is a very strong driving force and if you can transmute it into something different and use it for magic, it’s incredibly powerful. Just looking simply at sex magick. Some people aren’t really wired that way and maybe a bit uncomfortable with it, but if somebody is using sex magick, they can use it for incredible outcomes to their magick work.

When we talk about working with the Daemons in this aspect, is it part of the ego, the human brain or part of the psyche?

There are various different ways we can work with Daemons and it’s not just  Daemons, you can take parts of your own psyche and ego and separate them, split them off, and identify them. So we’re going to continue with the question.

You take your lust and you separate it, you personify it and you assign that to a Daemon or you can go into chaos magic and make it into a servitor and when you want that particular aspect you can invoke that particular aspect, fill yourself up with that particular aspect, that particular energy. If you’re finding you’re having a bit of an imbalance you can go to that aspect, the Daemon, the servitor, however you’ve personified it and speak to it and ask it to just settle down, balance things out or go to a different aspect of your ego or your psyche which has been identified, and that part can then come in and bring back balance. 

There’s all different ways you can work with this.

You can do as mentioned just now, take parts of your psyche or your ego, personify them, assign them to different Daemons so that you can actually work with them in that way, or, you can invoke the Daemons as entities, as separate beings from your own psyche, from your own self and you will then invoke the energy of that particular Daemon, that particular spirit and fill yourself with that energy so that you can bring out those aspects within yourself.

This discussion can go on for a very long time, because you can look at it from all different perspectives. For instance if we look at the idea that we are god, we are mind, we are the architect, we are all, we are everything. We may be individual consciousness in a particular time, but we are that aspect which is everything. We’re all connected to One. It’s probably the easiest way to put it. We are all One. So, we may be an individual consciousness, but we are part of that One and being part of that One makes us that One. 

When we look at it from that perspective then all of the Daemons, the spirits, the gods, the goddesses etc. that we may consider to be separate entities are also part of us and they are us. 

Many different ways to view this whole thing and it’s very important to examine these aspects, but when you’re doing the work itself, the way in which you view this, whether you are viewing them as part of the psyche or whether you are viewing them as separate entities from yourself that you pull in, speak to and interact with, that’s what’s going to affect your work. 

It’s no good thinking something like: “Okay, well this is a separate Daemon, but I don’t really believe it is, I believe it’s part of my psyche,” and then try to force that aspect or idea that it’s a separate entity. It doesn’t fit with your own thinking. It’s just not going to work, so in a working itself, it’s better to work with the ideology that fits you personally, but at the same time also consider and also think about all of the different aspects, all of the different ideologies that make it all possible.

I like to work with the Daemons as separate entities, as energies that are beyond myself, which I then pull in, fill myself with and work with for a period of time. That energy then dissipates and moves on and I continue in that fashion instead of identifying those aspects as part of myself, but I know at the same time it’s all the same thing.

You just need to get to the outcome that is easier for you. It ‘clicks’ better is probably the best way to put it. What ‘clicks’ better for me may not be what ‘clicks’ for you. Everybody needs to find out what works for them, but you have to examine all of those ideologies first before you can actually decide which is your best fit.

For a long time I did have a battle. I was going back and forth from this idea that a Daemon is part of my psyche and then I would consider it as a separate entity, but then it made sense that it’s part of my psyche, but it’s actually a separate entity because of the way I interact with it. It’s not the same as how I was considering interacting with my psyche, but it just made sense and I was going back and forth for a long time, for years and finally realised that it’s all the same thing anyway.

Don’t try to split one ideology off from another because they are doing the same thing, they just seem different. It’s simply just the approach that we take to something, but it doesn’t mean that the approach we take is any different to the approach somebody else takes, it’s just that it’s something personal and feels better for us.

I think that answers the question.

If it doesn’t, just leave a comment and we can discuss it further if need be.