E. A. Koetting - staticfly.net

CHAPTER SIX
SERVANTS OF DARKNESS
path that the Sorcerer must walk.
Before the Pact can be made, an appropriate devil must
somehow be tempted into appearance before the Magician. Often, as
the case may be, the demonist must settle for the first demon that
manifests, as he yet has the power, knowledge or skill to command
invisible entities into appearance. Once the fiend has graced the
Magician with his presence, the terms of the contract are decided upon
- usually involving the loss of the soul and the gaining of unimaginable
power - and the fates of both parties are sealed. The Pact follows a
design that is fitting for men that have done business with other men,
but preposterous to anyone who has walked with demons.
111 The Book oj Ceremonial Magic, Arthur Edward (A. E.) Waite
&ives his opinions of demonic pacts and powers.
The pact is a concession to the poverty of the operator's
resources. In Black Magick, as in some other processes,
the necessitous must be ready to sacrifice, and the
sorcerer who is insufficiently equipped must pay a
higher price in the end... Such persons, it is affirmed,
will never succeed in evoking spirits unless they
perform, point by point, all that is detailed hereinafter
concerning the manner of making pacts with any spirit
whatsoever, whether the object in view may be the
possession of treasures concealed in the earth, the
enjoyment of women or girls, and for obtaining any
desired favour at their hands.'
Here, the famed A.E. Waite either makes a joke at the expense
of the Dabbler who has not the experience and the guidance to
successfully employ the help of demons, or he himself is the joke and
the Dabbler, acting as the inferior pawn of the demons with which he
should be in perfect alliance. As stated above, "the Sorcerer who is
insufficiently equipped must pay a higher price in the end." What is
this equipment, how is it acquired, and when are demonic pacts
necessary?
An unspoken yet mutually understood pact is drawn between
the Sorcerer and the Powers of Darkness the moment he chooses the Left
Hand Path, and is strengthened and cemented in eternity with each
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