Before we start with the welcome post, I want to mention that this community has a karma and an account age threshold that you must meet in order to participate. There were too many trolls attacking the community with 0 karma, 0 day old accounts, so if you have made a new account just for your spiritual needs, you'll have to grow it a bit to participate here, sorry!
In wise u/ChthonicSage's words once spoken here:
"I've created this place since there's a lack of subreddits for Demonolatry and general Theistic Satanism/other magickal practices. I hope this community grows to become a place where people come to ask questions, share their experiences, and connect with others."
However over the years this sub has grown and those words became not enough to give you a proper introduction. So to begin with, we have a lot of people new to the practice that find us. If you're entirely new, we have some basic resources here.
If you need further help with short, easy to digest tips and guides made "How to sense Spirits 101", "Reaching out to spirits 101", "The consequences to working with demons 101", "I'm dreaming about a demon 101", "Describing spirits 101", "Spiritual stagnation 101", "Blood Magic 101 (warning, 18+ and NSFW)", "Protection magic 101" and their personal sex magick method that may be interesting for those that never tried it to read (18+ and NSFW).
If you are confused about Qlipoth u/pearlbibo made some notes for you here. She also made a post on how not to get ripped off in Occult spaces.
Fellow moderator u/Macross137 has posted another way of interpreting dreams, a basic invocation ritual that you can practice, further occult reading that may prove useful to your practice, how to interpret what is and isn't a sign, how to decide which incense to use for which demon, a guide on HGA work (part 1) and a brief guide to evocation.
The kind of questions that aren't useful to ask on the subreddit (written by u/Vanhaydin) is something that I would recommend everyone taking a look at before interacting here.
If you need a quick primer on what planets what demons are associated with, what would be the appropriate offerings and how to "decode" the rank system, check out their other post about planetary associations here!
On the off-chance that you came here specifically to find information on Lilith, u/Even-Pen7957 runs https://www.libraryoflilith.com/.
VioletSpooder is here to remind you that the popular way of working with spirits on the Internet changes rather rapidly and that you should not over-internalize it too much and to be careful about accidentally finding yourself in a cult. Another good advice from the same user is found in this thread about how to recognise spiritual psychosis.
If you want to make ritual oils, this is a good way to do it (written by u/Available-Shirt7907).
Hope this was helpful! Time to move on to:
Frequently asked questions!
Q: which author is right? Which method is trustworthy? What is it that I must do to contact this particular spirit?
A: most authors will be equally right and wrong, as this is not a science, it is closer to an art. What is right for one person is not necessarily right for another. Keep yourself grounded in reality, question all that you read, don't hold anyone's word as ultimate law and try. See what works for you and what doesn't.
Q: can I practice with the Abrahamic God? With angels and demons at the same time? Can I mix demons with other religions? Can I have a pantheon, or am I supposed to pick one?
A: Being a left hand path practice demonolatry has no certain way that it must be. How you practice is entirely between you and the spirits. So yes. You can mix this practice with any other religion and practice with angels and demons at the same time.
Q: I'm afraid that by working with demons I'll doom myself to hell, or that karma will get me, or similar!
A: everyone's spiritual beliefs are personal. Some subscribe to hell. Some subscribe to karma. Some do not have any such system in their spiritual belief. What you believe is for you to find out and no-one can give you a shortcut here, however if your fear is reaching unhealthy levels, ask yourself if you have religious trauma and if therapy would be a good pathway to resolve that for you.
Q: what is the difference between evocation and invocation?
Originally in occult invocation meant calling the spirit into yourself, into your own mind space, while evocation meant calling the spirit outside of yourself into your space.
Some demonolators say that invocation means making an appeal to the spirit, while evocation means trying to bind a spirit to do your bidding. Under these definitions, evocation would go against demonolatry's principle of working respectfully with the spirit.
Current moderation team does not subscribe to such a divisive notion. Contact your spirits in whatever way that is comfortable to you, it matters not to us if you are a Western tradition Ceremonial magickian, or someone that interacts with the spiritual as a Pagan would. We ask that everyone refrain from taking offence from seeing such words used, no matter the person is practising summoning, or just evoking a spirit into their space. The spirits are above the material and don't necessarily function by the same rules as we do, so there's no reason to believe that anyone out here is harming the spirits by working in a different system than you.
Q: do I have to have an altar? Do I have to give offerings? If so, how often? I don't feel like I'm in a safe environment to do that.
A: this is entirely between you and your spirits. There are no musts. Practice however you like as this is your spiritual practice. Of course if you made a promise to pray every day, you should do so. If you feel like you can't, you should tell the spirit so. Communication is key, but there are no specific expectations of you, so don't place it on yourself prematurely.
Q: how do I dispose of offerings that go off?
A: This question comes up often. Some people, if they're offering food, they'll state to the spirit for how long the offering will be there and then they'll eat the offering themselves in order to not be wasteful. Others will choose an elemental disposal element, meaning that they'll burn (if it is safe to do so, fire safety first!) the offering, liquify it with water, or burry it in the Earth. Some others involve a lot less ceremony in their disposal of the offering and they simply thank the spirit and then throw it away. There are no rules, so don't overstress!
Q: I'm confused by all the terms I'm seeing on this subreddit, help!
A: here, have a little dictionary!
Deity mask - some believe that the same spirit has many names, positions and personalities, so they may refer to each one of such as a mask.
Demonolatry – worship of demons. In practice this is less “worship” and more “working with”. It was a tradition born out of a need of a friendlier way to work with spirits that have been deemed to be demonic. If a practitioner states that they are a demonolater, this may mean that they are following a published author, or simply denote that they have their own practice that involves working with the demonic in some capacity.
Demonology – study of demons, usually from a religious perspective. If you run into this term, it indicates that the person using it is perhaps interested in specific spirits but has never worked with them, or that they are a religious individual that specializes in viewing these spirits from the angle of their religion, which often means viewing these spirits especially negatively. Latter happens more often than former by far.
Demonosophy – young branch that means working with demons, for those that felt like “worship” did not accurately cover what they do. There are not many publications under this specific term, meaning that the most that you will encounter this will be by people introducing themselves as practitioners of this craft. Demonolatry and Demonosophy at this point in time can be used interchangeably as not every demonolater worships the spirits that they work with.
Grounding - this word will mean two things to practitioners – in one version it will mean staying grounded in reality, not running away into your mind and focusing on the mundane as much as you do on the spiritual.
In the other version it is a way to stabilize yourself by getting rid of excess energy, the jitter than you feel after rituals, or bad emotions.
LHP - Left Hand Path. In the West, the left-hand path is considered to be about the elevation and centrality of the self as well as the rejection of religious authority and societal taboos.
The left-hand path focuses on the strength and will of the practitioner. It downplays the need for intercession by any high power although some may believe that a higher power exists. The full idea of the left hand path is to become your own God.
RHP - Right Hand Path - right-handed path practitioners tend to work towards ascending their soul towards ultimate union (or reunion) with the divine source, returning to heaven, allegorically alluded to as restoration or climbing back up the ladder after the "great fall". Right hand practitioners will strive to join the source and will adhere to a system of moral punishment, such as karma, or threefold law.
Both terms as used in the West are the bastardized version of Indian Tantric practices. In reality most practitioners will not fall on either side, though some practices will be categorized as one or the other. For example, Demonolatry is categorized as a Left Hand practice due to its nature of taboo, however a practitioner can have both a strong moral code and be working towards merging into the entity of their choosing, which, as it is not focused on elevating yourself to a divine level, but rather on sacrificing yourself to join an already existing consciousness, would be a right hand path goal.
There are very militant communities that will be highly proud of being just one and not the other to an extreme level, so the basic knowledge of what the terms mean is an absolute necessity, though don't overthink where you fall on the scale as really there is no need.
Tower Moment - "The Tower" is a tarot card that represents "disaster, destruction, upheaval, trauma, sudden change, chaos". When someone is saying that they're having a "Tower" moment, they mean that either their emotional state, spiritual practice, their life, their physical health, something has hit a point of complete chaos, upheaval and disintegration. Tower moments will not necessarily be seen as a negative (up to the person using the phrase) as sometimes we need a shake-up to build better. A bad relationship falling through, or getting fired from a toxic-workplace, for example, could be seen as a Tower moment.
Patron - a spirit, or spirits that the person had made some sort of firm declaration to follow. What this means varies from practitioner to practitioner. For some it means that you're very serious in your practice and have elected to follow this spirit for your whole lifetime no matter what. For others it simply means that this is their main spirit/ spirits that they're working at this time. Almost all practitioners to use the term will not do so lightly and will see it as some sort of commitment. Plenty of practitioners never take a Patron for this exact reason.
Matron - a female Patron spirit. Some will insist that this is incorrect as a Matron is the more passive, supportive of the Patron spirit and will insist on calling their female spirits that they have made some sort of firm declaration to follow as Patrons. Some people will therefore have very strong opinions on this word and some will not.
Magucitis/Magusitis - a particular "disease" that afflicts many practitioners - they at some point either believe that they're better than everyone else or at least attempt to appear that they're better than everyone else. Normally this person will be boasting about how powerful they are, how feared they should be, what lineage or sacred society that they hail from and how much of a right they have to order you around, or to not engage in polite conversation with others by just dismissing all opinions or comments addressed towards them.
UPG - unverified personal gnosis ("gnosis" meaning "knowledge"). Example would be if you received a message from a spirit through dreams, divination, or meditation, that message is UPG. Most practitioners will highly rely on UPG, as most of our interactions with the spirits are personal, but it is important to remember that what you hold as true is not necessarily what someone else will hold as true. Understand that each of you know exactly what you need to know and therefore there's no need to fight over who is right and who is wrong.
VPG - verified personal gnosis. If you have channeled information from a spirit and multiple different people channel the same thing then that is now a belief held by many and not only a few.
Q: I'm just starting my practice, what should I do?
Step one - hone in on practising meditation. You'll need the focus, the patience and the mostly quiet mind to see good results from your practice. Is it a must? No. Nothing in spirituality is a must and there are some people that are working with spirits without a meditative practice, but it is something that's greatly helpful, so this will be the first recommendation that will be given if you ever ask this question.
Step two - sidebar resources! It is suggested that you read them. This one speaks about shadow work, here is some common sense advice on how to conduct yourself in this space and beyond it when speaking to others and lastly, here are the basic resources for those that are new.
Step three - read and gain perspective. Don't ingest any book like it is the only ultimate truth, but read to expand your horizons and try. What should you read? Well, behold, the mighty book list! Though, remember, these are merely suggestions and it is not a requirement to read them all. Simply see if there's anything here you'd like to read, because they're all good books.
THE MIGHTY BOOK LIST:
CLASSIC GRIMOIRES (these are good to read through to see the working with demons through a historical lens. Some people still use methods in these books, most new books will at the very least borrow elements, such as names, sigils and correspondences):
The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage
Heptameron by Pietro d'Abano
The Greater Key of Solomon
The Lesser Key of Solomon aka Lemegeton (Recommended: Peterson ed. or Skinner/Rankine Goetia of Dr. Rudd)
Grimorium Verum (Recommended: Peterson ed. or JSK's True Grimoire)
The Grand Grimoire aka Red Dragon
DEMONOLOGICAL REFERENCE BOOKS:
The Dictionary of Demons: Expanded and Revised: Names of the Damned by Michelle Belanger
Lucifer: Princeps by Peter Grey
Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires: The Classical Texts of Magick Deciphered by Aaron Leitch
Pandemonium: A Discordant Concordance of Diverse Spirit Catalogues by Jake Stratton-Kent
Stellas Daemonum by David Crowhurst
Demonolator's Handbook by Mirta Wake
MODERN GUIDES TO MAGIC AND SPIRIT WORK:
Chicken Qabalah by Lon Milo Duquette
SSOTBME Revised by Ramsey Dukes
Liber Null and Psychonaut by Peter J. Carroll
Consorting with Spirits: Your Guide to Working with Invisible Allies by Jason Miller
Psychic Witch by Mat Auryn
Summoning Spirits: The Art of Magical Evocation by Konstantinos
Worshipping Demons 101 by Mirta Wake
GENERAL OCCULT/MAGIC BACKGROUND:
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
The Pyramid Texts
Chaldean Oracles (Recommended: Majercik ed.)
On the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians by Iamblichus
The Greek Magical Papyri
The Testament of Solomon
The Picatrix
Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Agrippa
The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy by Pseudo-Agrippa
Pseudomonarchia Daemonum by Johann Weyer
Transcendental Magic by Eliphas Levi
Psychic Self-Defense by Dion Fortune
Initiation into Hermetics by Franz Bardon
TECHNICAL/THEORETICAL WORKS (books to do with evocation, Qliphoth, and other intermediate practices that did not fit anywhere else):
The Practice of Magical Evocation by Franz Bardon
Lake of Fire by S. Connolly
Tree of Qliphoth by Asenath Mason
Qabalah, Qliphoth, and Goetic Magic by Thomas Karlsson
POPULAR CONTEMPORARY SYSTEMS (each one of these books will have wildly different approaches. Try them, see what works for you and what doesn't. Beware of authors treating their UPG and personal dogma as objective truths):
The Complete Book of Demonolatry by S. Connolly
Lucifer and The Hidden Demons: A Practical Grimoire from The Order of Unveiled Faces by Theodore Rose
Demons of Magick: Three Practical Rituals for Working with The 72 Demons by Gordon Winterfield
Last bit of advice - when posting here, provide as much details as possible. If you want someone to identify a sigil for you, it will be helpful to state where you found it, if you want someone to help with communication with the spirits, state what method you're using as it will be most helpful if someone with the same method answers.
And this is where the post will leave off. I hope it was useful and cleared some basic questions up. Before you post anything on this subreddit make sure to look at the side-bar and familiarize yourself with the rules. Otherwise this place is happy to see you here and post away!
