A history of Summoning

Introduction

This is the first draft of an article I hope to eventually publish in some magazine, somewhere.

It is divided into five parts; Definitions, where I discuss the meaning of various words long associated with summoning, Necromancy, or divination by means of calling up the dead, Theurgy, a late classical tradition that seems to be a sort of proto-summoning, a brief interlude that discusses the Kabbalah, and finally a discussion of the Medieval Grimoires, which deal with ‘demon’ summoning.

Though I am going to focus on the ‘historical’ aspects of summoning, there will be various asides that deal with their possible use in Nephilim. These asides are identified with and asterisk. *

Definitions

First off, a few definitions, courtesy of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Conjuration. The original meaning of this word is somewhat different from the current. It meant “to compel someone by an oath”. (So, when you force a witness before a court to testify truthfully you’re actually conjuring them.)

Adjuration. This refers to the imposing of an oath, the clear implication being that one forces an oath upon somebody else, presumably against their will.

Abjuration. The renouncing of an oath, also with implication that the renunciation is imposed.

Evocation. The summoning of an entity to appear before you. This is fairly clear, and seems to be the only word in this related group that could be said to mean “summoning.”

Invocation. The calling of an entity be name for aid. For example when the pastor of the local church says at the end of services “...in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.” he is performing an Invocation.

Let me emphasize the difference between the last two words. Invocation occurs when call upon an entity, but do not actually expect him to appear.  Evocation holds with it the presumption that what you call actually shows up in front of you.

From these definitions you can infer an order to a summoning ritual:

First is the Evocation, which calls up the presence of a being.

Then comes the Adjuration, which forces an oath to obey from the being Evoked.

The Conjuration comes next, which are the instructions that you give to an entity. It must obey, because it was subject to an Adjuration.

Once the entity has completed the instructions, the summoner performs an Abjuration, which releases the entity from an oath, and presumably allows the entity to go away.

A few notes:

This process seems elegant to me, but is at odds with many of the Grimoires’ implications. More on that below. Also, this may be too many steps to directly simulate in a role playing session, especially if one treats magic as a problem solving device or a means, rather than as an end.

Many of these words seem related to legal concepts. This would not surprise me at all, considering the probable authors of the Grimoires. (On why I think that, see below.)

Necromancy and the absence of Summoning

During the research for this article I discovered an interesting fact.  There are no records of summoning, except for the summoning of the dead, until the advent of Theurgy.

I looked at The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Arcana Mundi (a translation of historical documents that deal with magic), the Nag Hammadi Library and the Corpus Hermeticum. All of these documents record plenty of spells or rituals that use Invocation, but none record any instances of Evocation, as I have defined it above.

Evocation seems linked exclusively with the summoning of the spirits of the dead, as discussed by Jeremiah Genest in Nephilim Digest V2 #147.

I can’t find any other documentary evidence for summoning before Theurgy.  If anyone knows of any that I have not mentioned, or would like to call me on of the conclusions that I have come to, please feel free. (Note: Since I first wrote this, I have discovered a 2nd century Grimoire, known as the “The Testament of Solomon”. More discussion of this work follows in the section on Grimoires, below.)

Theurgy

All my information for Theurgy comes from an appendix on the subject in E.R. Dobbs “The Greeks and the Irrational”

Theurgy is a Greek word meaning “acting upon or creating the gods” as opposed to Theology or “study or talking of the gods.” The first person who called himself a Theurgist, and who also coined the word, was Julianus, who lived during the Reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180 CE). He apparently wrote The Chaldean Oracles, which were a series of hexameter poems that discussed “daemons.” Remember that daemon is the Greek word that means spirit, in the general sense, and can include nature spirits as well as spirits of the dead. ‘Chaldean’ is the classical code word for the Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian cultures that flourished in the area of the Persian Empire before classical times. He was the son of a Persian philosopher (read Magi) who practiced what we would call today trance mediumship.

*As longtime Digesters will no doubt recall, temporary incarnation of a Nephilim into a human is the basis of Shamanism, which in the Nephilim background is the first ‘magic technique.’ Not too many western Nephilim practice it anymore, though tribal cultures (and their associated Nephilim) are still assumed to do so. The “trance mediumship” described above could be the survival of Shamanism among the Western Nephilim.

Various Theurgists flourished in the hundred or so years thereafter and many stories are recorded about their abilities, which seem almost entirely magical, as opposed to philosophic. The nature of these tales is more legendary than historical, but include causing storms, ending plagues, destroying armies with masks that emit lightning bolts from the eyeholes, and the summoning of a deity (whose name is rendered into Greek, and thus untranslatable to me).

There was a second way, other than mediumship, that these Theurgists interacted with ‘daemons.’ Here is where it gets interesting. Theurgists would construct hollow statues and busts, which would then be filled with Astrologically significant herbs, precious stones (sometimes inscribed) and other magical materials. A ritual would then be performed, which would cause the bust to be ‘filled’ with a daemon or a god, who could prophesy and work magic for the Theurgist. Dobbs points out this idea could be traced back to the Greek magical papyri, as well as other Greco-Egyptian sources.

*Okay, so what are these busts, which seem to be the origin of the Bronze Head of Gerbert? Are they Stasis objects? Are they a sort of artificial temporary simulacrum? Were the Theurgists Incarnate Nephilim, summoning brothers for advice or aid? Or were they Humans, using Nephilim blood to capture Nephilim before the advent of Homunculi? Finally were these ‘daemons’ Nephilim at all, or summoning entities?

If anyone reads Greek on this list, would they go check out Dobbs text, if only to translate the Greek parts for me? As you might expect, it’s all Greek to me.

Interlude; The Kabbalah

My knowledge of the Kabbalah is limited to the information contained in general texts on magic, as well as Gershom Scholem’s “Kabbalah.”

Kabbalah is the preeminent Jewish mystical system of the Middle Ages. In brief, it is concerned with the mystical joining of the Kabbalist with God, through the vehicle of the Emanations of God that are responsible for the creation of the world. Each of these Emanations can be seen as a separate quality of God, which can be meditated on, and in a mystical fashion, assimilated by the Kabbalist, thus increasing the Kabbalist’s union with God.

The first texts of Kabbalism seem to originate in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries CE, though the Kabbalah supposedly descends, via oral tradition, from Moses.

There are three areas of the Kabbalah that intersect with Summoning.

The first is the various lists of Angels and Demons that appear in works of the Kabbalah. It seems to be the conclusion of most scholars that these lists of Angelic and Demonic entities provided the basis for the various Grimoires of the 12th through 15th centuries.

The second area if the Kabbalah’s emphasis on letters and names. Hebrew, in this system, is considered to be the language that God created the cosmos with. Thus, names of God and certain Angels in Hebrew were thought to have mystical significance in apprehending God’s glory, as well as other, more overtly magical uses.

Finally, Kabbalism advances the idea that there are levels of existence whereupon Angels and other mystical beings reside.

*This is directly referred to in the Nephilim rules, which describes the various layers of existence in the chapter on Summoning.

*The more I learn about the Kabbalah, the more convinced I am that there should be fourth magic system for Nephilim that deals separately with this tradition. The French version originally called Sorcery Kabbalah, but we know better now (thanks again, Mr. Snead). Sefer Ka, anyone?

The Grimoires.

When someone speaks or talks about demon summoning, from Faust to Theron Ware, more than likely they’re talking about the Grimoires. These are texts from the late medieval and renaissance period, which detail methods by which incorporeal spirits may be summoned and commanded.

In the early part of this century, noted Occultist A.E. Waite published a volume called “The Book of Ceremonial Magic.” This volume summarized the most of the works that could be called Grimoires, as well as providing commentary on their contents.

It is ironic that Waite thought that most, if not all, the works he was describing were spurious and without merit. His aim in publishing them was to point out that the Kabbalistic influences found within them were not the true Kabbalah, but rather a debased use of certain Occult words and ideas outside of their proper context.

*Not unlike some of the complaints about 1st. Ed. Nephilim, I might add.

All these works date from the 12th through 17th centuries (with a single exception, see below). Most historians assume that clerks wrote them, for the most part. By clerks, I mean students and teachers who had assumed only the lesser vows of priesthood, in order so that they might attend the great universities of the day, which were all affiliated with the Catholic Church.

It seems ironic that it was the priesthood itself that disseminated these works, filled as they are with the summoning of demons, but in a sociological sense, it seems very true. Magic has always been associated with rebellion, from the time period we are discussing, to the present day, when fans of heavy metal music inscribe pentagrams and “666” on their schoolbooks. It seems evident that these clerks were expressing their dissatisfaction with the mores and standards of their day, through the vehicle of magic.

Waite discusses many of these volumes in detail, while others he mentions in passing. They include:

The Key of Solomon, or Clavicle Solomonis. 16th C. This is the same work that was published by S.L. Macgregor Matthews in 1889. Editions of the work are probably still in print, though I don’t remember seeing one recently.

The Sacred Book of Abra-Melin the Mage. 18th C. This is widely available in paperback.

The Sworn Book of Honorius. 15th C.

Sepher Raziel. 16th C.

Lemegeton, or Lesser Key of Solomon. 17th C.

The Arbatel of Magic. 16th C.

The Enchiridion of Pope Leo. 16th C.

The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy. 15th C.

The Heptameron, or Magical Elements. 15th C.

Grimorium Verum. 18th C.

True Black Magic. 18th C.

The Grand Grimoire. 18th C.

The Constitution of Pope Honorius the Great 17th C.

The Black Pullet. 18th C.

Waite makes the comment that versions of these works (and they are all separate works, despite some similarities, or should I say plagiarism, of names) can be assumed to exist for several hundred years before the 15th Century, given the testimony of historical accounts (these include memoirs, orders for the burning of books, lists of banned books, etc.). This would place the earliest of these works contemporaneous with 12th and 13th Centuries, which was also the first flowering of the Universities of Europe.

There is one Grimoire, not known to Waite, which stands apart from all the others. It is a Greek manuscript, dating to the 2nd Century AD, entitled “The Testament of Solomon.” I have found it mentioned in two separate texts on magic, so I assume it exists, though I have been unable to find an English translation. From its description, it seems to be the earliest known Grimoire, with instructions on how to summon and control fifteen separate Demons, as well as the Decans (see below).

This would indicate that for nearly 1500 years, there were texts that described the summoning of spiritual beings to do the bidding of their summoner. Most of these texts were lost, burnt or hidden, until the Renaissance.

Who was Summoned?

While specific entities mentioned tend to vary widely from Grimoire to Grimoire, the types of entities mentioned are surpassingly consistent. They include:

Demons, in the full Judeo-Christian sense. These are usually organized into a hierarchy of powerful demons, with titles like duke, king, and president.  These demons have hosts of less powerful demons that they control, and will allow the summoner to master and use. The names of these entities seem to be drawn from names of Mesopotamian deities, especially those that are used in the Old Testament, as well as exclusively Christian sources.

Angels, again in the same sense as above. These entities are used in much the same way and for the same purposes as demons, the only difference being that they seem drawn from a different name base, being almost exclusively drawn form the Bible or other Jewish sources (like the Kabbalah).

There are four other classes of entities that are often listed.

The first among these are the Decans. Briefly, Decans are division of the Twelve Astrological signs into 36 parts, each sign having three Decans.  They arose in ancient Egyptian times as hour divisions of the twenty-four hour day. They were later grafted into the modern-day Astrological signs, which were products of Sumerian and Babylonian culture. The Decans were said to govern a separate aspect of the Zodiac with whom they were associated.

By the 2nd Century CE, in the “Testament of Solomon”, these divisions had been personalized to such a degree that they were considered to be in the same class as Angels and Demons. That is, they could be summoned, had great power, and could be expected to utilize it for the benefit if the operator.

Indeed, in the later Grimoires, they are identified as “Angels of Men” of“Genies of Men”

There are entities that are elemental in nature. That is, they correspond to the four classical elements (Air, Earth, Fire and Water). These entities are described as the lowest order of entities that possess little wisdom, and so may be mastered easily. Entities such as these include Salamanders, Sylphs, Undines, and Gnomes.

Spirits of the planetary rulers. These are spirits that are associated with the seven classical “planets”. Specifically the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. These are described as powerful entities, each with a small horde of subservient servants. In later Grimoires, there are entities that are described as spirits of the days of the week. These would seem to be the same entities, heavily modified.

Finally there are spirits that are personifications of the Cardinal directions (North, South, East and West). These are usually described in the context of protective entities that are Invoked (rather than Evoked).

What were they summoned for?

The list of services that each entity provides for the summoner seems reasonably narrow, with few variations among the different types of entities.

They include: the discovery and retrieval of treasure, instant travel to distant places, the teaching of arts, sciences, and Alchemy (though no entity teaches ‘spells’, per se), invisibility, the granting of familiar spirits, reconciliation of the enemies of the operator (as the summoner is often referred to as), the procurement of sex, the providing of influence with rulers, information about other demons and/or angels, information about the Fall, etc.

There are occasionally other abilities that are said to be possessed by a particular entity. One Demon is said to be able to “visit the wicked with a sword”, though most of the abilities seem to of a distinctly non-violent nature.

Observations

The authorship of the later Grimoires would seem to be undeniably Clerks and Priests. Many of the summoning formulas are based on the Liturgy, while many of the terms are based Latin legal terms, which were among the few non-religious Latin works studied at all by the Church.

The force that compels these entities to obedience are the names that the summoner Invokes. These are explicitly names of God or various angels either from directly Biblical or Kabbalistic sources. The inherent magical strength, experience or skill of the summoner is never a factor.

Originally, the various magical circles of these texts seem to arise as “characters” necessary to Evoke the beings. It is only in the late Grimoires that they are considered to be protective in nature. The exact nature of the protection is never enumerated. They simply stated as being protective.

The negative consequences of incorrectly summoning these entities are never explicit. Indeed, it seems if one screws up a summoning all that happens is that the entity in question doesn’t show up.

There are plenty of folktales, sermons, and other recorded oral accounts that discuss how various summoners get carried off to Hell for breaking a circle. In the mainstream of Medieval and Renaissance society it is assumed that dealing with these entities carries enormous consequences. In the Grimoires themselves the consequences are far less severe.

Only in one of the Grimoires above (The Grand Grimoire) is anywhere discussed a ‘pact’ or written agreement between a demon and a summoner. The Grimoire in question is of the late variety. The pact involved does not involve taking the soul of the summoner, but seems to be merely a written agreement between the summoner and the demon over the services the demon will render to the summoner.

The Grimoires of the 18th century seem to be the Grimoires most that are most influenced by theology of the Church. Most of the entities summoned are explicitly demons, and most of the associated rituals are those that incorporate elements of the Liturgy.

By the time of the late Grimoires other sorts of magical practices, influenced by the Church doctrine that no magic was possible without the intervention of demonic aid, were added to the summoning rituals. These included old staples like the Hand of Glory, as well as talismantic magic that seem to be influenced by the summoning rituals.

Influence on 19th and 20th century Occultism

In general, the influence of these works seems significant. The idea of the magic circle of Warding (in modern Ritual work), with the invocation of the four quarters or angels, would seem to be directly related the magic of the Grimoires.

Most magic involving Sympathy and Contagion is not represented in the texts of Antiquity and Medieval times as using the circle. Certainly the practice arose somehow, and the Grimoires offer the textual link necessary for such a development.

Most modern-day Occultists seem to take the view that the nature of the entities discussed in the Grimoires is entirely spiritual. That is, you should not expect to physically view such entities, but those trained and experienced in such matters can detect their presence and influence.

A Summary

The belief (common to all ancient peoples) that human beings have a spirit that lives after their death was applied to the physical and social world in ancient times. This lead to the widespread belief in non-corporeal entities, that were personification of either social reality (the spirit of a tribe or family, for example) or of a physical reality (like fire, or death).

Eventually some of these spirits, worshipped in localized areas, began to be worshipped by those outside their tribe and or family affiliation. These spirits became known as gods, as the influence of the institutions (such as formalized preisthoods or nations) that initially worshipped them grew in numbers and strength.

>From ancient time it had been thought that certain spirits were capable of possessing human bodies. This was the result of individuals displaying non-conforming behavior such as sickness, insanity or other, less dramatic forms of behavior, such as the practice of alternate gender behavior.

These beliefs resulted in the beliefs and institutional practices of summoning and exorcising of spirits, known today as Shamanic practices.

In the Western History, Shamanic practices based on these beliefs survived into the classical period, where they were invigorated by the development of the magical practice of Invocation. In this sense, Invocation is a controlled, limited sort of possession, for magical purposes.

Invocation was soon expanded to encompass Evocation, which was the belief that such entities could assume a physical form through magical means.

Historical fidelity and the Nephilim RPG

The important thing to remember about this history, in the context of the Nephilim game, is that we are deliberately distorting certain historical truths in order to examine Occult ideas and themes in a role-playing context. Thus, the Nephilim ‘backstory’ or ‘background’ takes precedence over historical fact, so that we can interact with and explore these ideas in a conflict-driven role-playing environment.

Nonetheless, I find certain elements of the Summoning rules, and the background used to rationalize and contextualize those rules, so ahistorical and nonsensical as to be disruptive and annoying.

My Complaints

Summoning is described as an art that innovated by an Agarthan Nephilim, Simeon Bar Yokkai, based on Kabbalistic principles. It is implied, though not directly stated, that the innovations were inspired by the secret teachings of Jesus. First off, I think that we can junk the whole Jesus thing. There are enough occult mysteries laid down at his feet in Nephilim, without having demon summoning his responsibility as well. You should note that my objection is not theological or moral, but rather aesthetic and historical. What does Yeshua the Anointed One have to do with demon summoning anyway? If anyone can provide a reasonable, convincing explanation of why this should be so, please feel free to do so. I’d love to hear it.

Speaking of inappropriate pairings, I believe that the equivalency between Summoning and Kabbalah in the 1st Edition rules to be a really bad idea. Kabbalah is a very complex and sophisticated philosophy and magic system, which does not receive the justice (that’s sort of a pun) it deserves as an explanatory prop for Summoning. While the influence of Kabbalah in historical summoning is undeniable, there is no weight given this influence in the rules. This is because the current rules set does its best to avoid the idea of the Judeo-Christian God entirely, which is a necessary element to simulate in both Kabbalah and historical summoning of the Grimoires.

Finally, the current mix of Summoning entities seems to owe more to the vague science-fictional device of alternate dimensions than myth, legend or historical magic. There are all sorts of thing available to the caster, like armor, swords, and magical purple moss that seem to have no basis except for some of the more interesting spells of AD&D. And while that may be okay for AD&D, it does not bode well for Nephilim.

The core problem, IMHO, is that the background assumptions for Summoning seem all screwed over. Are the Summoning Planes, as described in the rules, part of the Subtle planes? If that is true, then conceivably any mythic figure is capable of being summoned, and little or no changes are needed to the rules.

It seems to me that what is actually implied by the current rules set is more along the lines of the following statements.

“The Summoning Planes have an existence all their own, where these entities reside until they are summoned. They have an independent presence and existence, and in particular plot player character’s downfall for sleights both real and imagined. All the Grimoires are so much human bullshit, derived from the real thing, which only Nephilim can have a chance of interacting with, anyway.”

I must say that I find this view to be just one step above renamed demons fighting “The Blood War”™ on the Outer Planes of AD&D fame. A really revolutionary idea would be to assume that these entities have no existence at all until summoned, which would imply that the Summoner is partly creating these entities when she calls them. This is an idea that is very historical, and would provoke a lot more thought than Joe Blow the Demon on Plane #2386 plotting the downfall of the PC’s.

Final Thoughts

My original purpose for exploring the history of Summoning was so that I would have a basis to improvise from in the absence of the 2nd edition Summoning rules, which would presumably be more historical than those of the 1st Edition of Nephilim.

However, the group that I am currently gaming with desired something a little more concrete than this, and part of the reason this essay took so long was that I was simultaneously writing a set of Summoning rules, based on the principles discussed in this article. Our group will use this until the 2nd Edition Summoning rules come out, whereupon we will switch over, assuming the rules are remotely historically based (and I have great confidence they will be, based on Ken Hite’s track record). I hope to post these tomorrow morning, after some rest and some write-ups for some the entities from the Grimoires are completed.