Book of Ceremonial Magic: Chapter IV: The Mysteries of Infernal Evocation according to the Grand Grimoire: Section 2: Concerning the Genuine Sanctum Regnum, or the True Method of Making Pacts
§ 2. Concerning the Genuine Sanctum Regnum, or the True Method of Making Pacts
There are two kinds of pacts, says the Grimorium Verum, the tacit and the manifest; but know at the same time that among the several kinds of spirits there are some which bind and some which do not bind, save only in a very light manner. As to the first, they are those which require something personally belonging to you whensoever a pact is agreed. Against these you must be on your guard, because the guileful friend becometh an open enemy. 1 The Grimorium Verum does not,
With the author of the Grand Grimoire, the pact is a concession to the poverty of the operator's resources. In Black Magic, 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. The genuine Sanctum Regnum of the Grand Clavicle, otherwise termed the Pacta Conventa Dæmonum, is explained by the Grand Grimoire for the information of those who are desirous to bind spirits, but are devoid of the requisite resources for composing the Blasting Rod and Kabalistic circle. 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, whether for the discovery of the most hidden secrets in all Courts and Cabinets of the world, whether for the revelation of the most impenetrable mysteries, whether for engaging a spirit to perform one's work in the
It is to the Clavicle of the great King Solomon, says the Grimoire, that we owe the discovery of the genuine method of making pacts, which he also made use of himself for the acquisition of his immense riches, for the pleasure of such innumerable women and for the revelation of the most impenetrable arcana of Nature, whereby every species of good and evil may be accomplished. With the highest potentates of Infernus, with Lucifer, Beelzebuth and Astaroth, it does not seem possible to enter into a binding compact. The sorcerer must be content with some one among the six governors, 1 who will generally work by their agents. An invariable covenant of the pact should bargain for service by one of the three superiors among such special subordinates. Having determined to make a pact, continues the Grand Grimoire, you must begin on the previous evening by cutting with a new and unused knife a rod of wild hazel, which has never borne fruit and shall be similar to the Blasting Rod, as it has been previously described. This must be done precisely at the moment when the sun appears upon our horizon. The same being accomplished, arm
Taken from the Grand Clavicle Emperor Lucifer, Master of all the revolted Spirits, I entreat thee to favour me in the adjuration which I address to thy mighty minister, LUCIFUGE ROFOCALE, being desirous to make a pact with him. I beg thee also, O Prince Beelzebuth, to protect me in my undertaking. O Count Astarôt! be propitious to me, and grant that to-night the great LUCIFUGE may appear to me Lo . I am here! What dost thou seek of me? Why dost thou disturb my repose? Answer me. LUCIFUGE ROFOCALE Reply to the Spirit It is my wish to make a Pact with thee, so as to obtain wealth at thy hands immediately, failing which I will torment thee by the potent words of the Clavicle. The Spirit's Reply I cannot comply with thy request except thou dost give thyself Thereupon throw him your pact, which must be written with your own hand on a sheet of virgin parchment; it should be worded as follows, and signed with your own blood:--I Promise the grand LUCIFUGE to reward him in twenty years' time for all treasures that he may give me. In witness whereof I have signed myself N.N. Reply of the Spirit I cannot grant thy request. LUCIFUGE ROFOCALE In order to enforce his obedience, again recite the Supreme Appellation, with the terrible words of the Clavicle, till the spirit reappears, and thus addresses you:-- Of the Spirit's Second Manifestation Why dost thou torment me further? Leave me to rest, and I will confer upon thee the nearest treasure, on condition that thou dost set apart for me one coin on the first Monday of each month, and dost not call me oftener than once a week, to wit, between ten at night and two in the morning. Take up thy pact; I have signed it. Fail in thy promise, and thou shalt be, mine at the end of twenty years. LUCIFUGE ROFOCALE Reply to the Spirit I agree to thy request, subject to the delivery of the nearest treasure which I can at once carry away. Follow the spirit without fear, cast your pact upon the hoard, touch it with your rod, remove as much as you can, return into the triangle, walking backwards, place the treasure O most merciful God, Whose Power hath no limit, Whose dominion is supreme over all beings, so that nothing can possibly be estreated from Thy rule by apostasy; behold, we have sinned against Thee, we have provoked Thy most just wrath, when we have failed to obey Thy commands, above all when., forsaking Thy rule and Thy friendship, we have abjured Thee and have consorted with the impious demons, nor yet contented with Thy denial, have bound ourselves in writing to those demons, surrendering the document of our voluntary obligation against Thee into their custody. But Thy mercies aye without number, O Lord of loving-kindness, and it is Thine to spare and to Pardon; look, therefore, with compassion upon this Thy creature, who, having formerly denied Thee and given himself in writing to the demons, but now, having returned to himself by the help I exorcise thee, O impious Satan, who, when thy power has passed away, dost still pretend to impose a tyrant yoke on man. I exorcise thee by Jesus Christ, Who came into this world for the salvation of sinners; I conjure thee to remove thy yoke immediately from this creature, who, deceived by thy wiles, formerly delivered himself unto thee. Abandoning thee henceforth, he commits himself to the Divine mercy, seeking His service unto Whom he alone is owing, Who also promises the reward of eternal life to those who follow Him. I exorcise thee by the precious Blood of Jesus Christ, by which the deed of judgment against us hath been blotted out, so that when Jesus receiveth the sinner into His favour, thou shalt dare not to advance anything against him, and shalt not fail to restore the deed by which this creature bound himself unto thee, the same being now cancelled by the Blood of Jesus Christ.
254:1 Catholic theologians who have concerned themselves with the question of the pact have so extended the sphere of its operation that it includes the mere process of communicating with spirits. In his Theological Dictionary Bergier defines the pact as an express or tacit agreement made with the demon in the hope of accomplishing things which transcend the powers of Nature. It is express and formal when the operator himself invokes and demands the help of the demon, whether that personage really appears in response, or the sorcerer believes that he beholds him, that is to say, is hallucinated. It is also express and formal when the demon is invoked by the mediation of some one supposed to be in relation with him; in other words, the consultation of a sorcerer is equivalent to a compact with Satan. The performance of any act with the expectation of a result from the demon is another compact of this kind. The pact is tacit or equivalent when an act is performed with a view to some effect which cannot naturally follow, while the intervention of God is not to be expected. There remains only the fiend. For example, should any one cure a disease by uttering certain words, this could only take place by the operation of the Infernal Spirit, because the words do not themselves possess. the required virtue, and God is not likely to infuse it. Hence all theologians conclude that not only every species of Magic, but every kind of superstition involves at least a tacit and equivalent compact with the demon. St. Augustine and St. Thomas are said to have taken this view. It is by precisely such judgments as these that the theology of the Middle Ages brought itself to a by-word, and it is also for this reason that sorcery most flourished when such doctrines ruled, because a power which condemns everything to the same penalty condemns nothing effectually, and that which is over-judged is always vindicated in the eyes of the people. We have come to see that horse-stealing is not murder, and we no longer avenge it by the gallows; so also, with due respect to the masters of Theology, the follies of a village maiden who believes in a 256:1 See c. iii. sec. i. 264:1 But contracts with Infernus could apparently be repudiated with even greater facility. "If you are disposed to renounce the devil after having entered into a compact with him," says the Vocabulaire Infernal, "spit three times on the ground, and he will have no further power over you,"--in which case Black Magic with all its grim theatricals is the Art of exploiting lost Angels with impunity. But the lost angel within the operator would not be exploited with impunity like this at the end.
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