Planetary Worship, Theurgy, and True Love
In my post on my spiritual set up, I briefly mentioned that I work with the planetary spirits. Basically, what this means is that I have divine relationships with deities who go by the names and carry the traditional associations/domains of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn with Apollo substituting for the Sun.
My relationship(s) with the planets is intrinsic to my magical worldview like nothing else is. I started my polytheism journey as a henotheist by first worshipping Apollo from a Greek standpoint. Later, as I discovered contemporary occult authors like Jason Miller, I noticed that they all spoke about astrology as if it was a given that it had a significant impact on magical operations. So despite active discouragement from those closest to me, I embarked on studying astrology and soon became intrigued that these occultists weren't just watching the moving planets, they were worshipping them.
There is a long if little known history to astrolatry, or the worship of planets and stars. The Mesopotamians started what we now call traditional Western astrology and also are the first known people to pray to the heavenly bodies. Notably, we are not quite sure when Mesopotamia was founded and it may have lasted 3000 or 4000 years, so research is mixed on what the exact Mesopotamian cosmology or practices were, and there were probably various from different traditions. However, we do know the Sun and Saturn both represented Shamash, the Moon was Sin, Mercury was Nebu, Venus was Inanna—giving me a strange, loose connection to my own Mesopotamian ancestors' religion—Mars was Nergal, and Jupiter was Marduk*.
Later in history, from the same geographic area, we had the Sabians of Harran. Mentioned 3 times in the Quran but with little context given as to their religion, these Sabians were described in historical records by Syriac Christians as "star worshippers." Because Harran was originally founded as a Sumerian city, it is speculated among modern day occultists that the Sabians inherited their beliefs and practices from Mesopotamia. We don't know for sure, but that's possibly where the Arabic grimoire The Picatrix (Ghāyat al-Hakīm circa 954-949) received its planetary information. This info matriculated to later grimoires such as The Sun of Knowledge (Shams Al-Ma'arif circa 1200) and The Arbatel (1575), the latter of which happens to also substitute Apollo for the Sun. So even without hard evidence of Mesopotamian influence, lineage of worshipping the planetary spirits is at least 1000+ years old. You can intuit that this transference of information has spanned several continents, cultures, and religious frameworks in secretive texts because reaching the planetary spirits is that amazing.
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There are a lot of techniques for how to reach out to the planets and the grimoires I mentioned before all have quite complicated processes. But the truth is, you just need to say hi.
I live according to the planetary hours and suggest you use them in order to time your greetings. The Sun has Sunday, the Moon has Monday, Mars has Tuesday, Mercury has Wednesday, Jupiter has Thursday, Venus has Friday, and Saturn has Saturday. The planetary hours are not actually hours, but the amount of daylight each day has divided into 14 hours so each planet gets two slots of time (the nights have their own planetary ruler and two slots). Additionally, the planetary hours follow the Chaldean system so the order of the planets according to the Chaldeans' astrocosmology was Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon.
So for instance, as of this writing today is Sunday and the first slot of daylight lasted an hour and 7 minutes, assigned to the Sun. The next slot went to Venus, then Mercury, then the Moon, and so on. The hour matters more than the day, but the planet's hour and day is said to be the most potent time for contact. In fact, if you ever find an extended time with little structure to observe yourself and your surroundings like I did shortly after I moved to California, you may find that you are constantly impacted by the planetary hours via external events and internal emotional shifts. I'm at the point where I can often tell what hour it is by the peak of certain feelings regardless of circumstances, what song is randomly playing, or the pattern of traffic.
Many people use the Orphic Hymns on an intended planet's hour and day and burn incense as they recite. This is what I did in the beginning; I still burn incense and light candles and I may use the hymns as a jumping off point, but I always end up on an improvised round of praise for the planet about them and their attributes. As I praise, I draw it from my heart and soul; often what I say ends up nonsensical because the sentiment behind it is what is most important.
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I did not tell Venus I wanted to experience theurgy; she saw when she came to me the second or third time I prayed to her over burning rose incense using Thomas Taylor's version of her Orphic Hymn. The first times I met most of the planets, I experienced them as behemoths. When Venus introduced herself, it was like an indescribable great weight had filled my whole study. The energy center at the center of my forehead blared with activity.
Spirits can gesture you toward something without words, like how a school teacher might stand to guide a class out the door or how your dog might stare at you in a particular way when he wants food. I knew what Venus was suggesting because my thoughts were pulled to theurgy, something I had independently contemplated shortly before hitting contact with her. On my eager consent, she entered my body.
Here are the notes from my journal as I was filled with her presence:
- [...] she came to me and just unlocked in me all of the power in me I had no idea I had this whole time. I felt her lava warmth and strength just flow into me, and I was able to see the true presence and weight of my etheric self and how much I can claim if only I accept my Self. SHE IS LOVE SHE IS BEAUTY SHE IS POWER SHE IS WONDER weeping in awe of her We are all just churning, waving heat of influence. We are what magic is.
- [Her] clouds, so brilliantly reflected to us back on Earth, are not masks. They're carefully chosen veils like clothes. She is not hiding behind them, she is not betraying, she is displaying. And clothes are like products of so many other forms of creation, extending out from the body
- true intentional power is grasping the wholeness of oneself, the beauty and power of oneself, and conscientiously shaping it like she shapes the universe
- she is an artist, a creator, a model, and I am Her and I will embody Her all the more fully in my next stage of life
- it is in love and mercy she only asks for praise in return
- PRAISE VENUS PRAISE VENUS PRAISE VENUS THANK YOU MOTHER!!!!!!!
- The love and mercy still comes outward from my heartspace, pure and unfiltered. My self-consciousness is gone, there is only joy
The second note in particular refers to my attending an extracurricular program when I was in primary school. The teacher said about Venus, "People used to think she was beautiful because she was bright in the sky. But then we developed telescopes and saw the poison clouds on her surface and saw that Venus is not beautiful. Venus is ugly." Which struck me as off even at that young age, because the clouds being made of something that would be harmful to humans does not negate ancient peoples—and us—finding Venus beautiful. Even now, and always, she is beautiful.
Along those lines, knowing that the planets indeed have bodies and how their cycles around the Sun function does not take away the ability to love and connect with the planetary spirits. How much connection these spirits actually have with the physical planets versus our historical myths and conceptions of them is probably not something they are able to explain. Just as showing you my notes while under Venus' theurgic thrall pales in comparison to how life-changing experiencing theurgy is.
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Invoke the Moon for protection, children, growing food, gynecological aid, dreams, and water. She is the most important of all the planets according to The Picatrix as the power of all the others comes to us through her.
Invoke Mercury for truth, strategy, divination, healing, money especially small exchanges via trade or commerce, networking, opportunity discovery, languages, memory, learning.
Invoke Venus for love, partnership, friendship, art, beauty, glamor, music, dance, collaboration, sex and reproduction.
Invoke the Sun for clarity, divination, healing, joy, creativity, success, confidence, the honor of those in power.
Invoke Mars for individuation, revenge, smithery, surgery, gains in exercising, strength, valor, enthusiasm, divorce, bloodshed.
Invoke Jupiter for generosity, wisdom, religion, larger sums of money, growth, expansion, kindness, philosophy.
Invoke Saturn for the occult, long-term efforts, hard work, matters involving the dead, gains in expertise, self-awareness, boundaries, perspective.
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"Hi baby :)"
"Hi baby ;)"
"Hi baby <3"
"Hi baby!"
"Hi baby >:)"
"Hi baby :D"
"Hi baby :|"
They all love us unconditionally, even if it sounds different from each one.
