Working with Alloces: a cast seal ring, with a gemstone

Alloces, and what working with him is for

Alloces is a Duke in the Goetia, and the Grimoire Companion entry for him is clear and practical: he teaches astronomy and all liberal sciences, and grants good and faithful familiars. That is a learned spirit, and a working spirit, at the same time. Astronomy and the liberal sciences are not vague subjects. They are disciplines with their own methods, their own terms, and their own standards for whether you actually know something or only think you do. Familiars, in the same entry, are not decoration either. They are helpers in the work, and the entry stresses that they are good and faithful, not merely present.

That combination is worth pausing on, because it shapes what an Alloces working should be about. If you are studying, learning a science, or working through a subject that requires real understanding rather than a passing familiarity, Alloces is the spirit whose domain fits that work. If you are seeking a helper for ongoing work, rather than a single answer to a single question, the familiars part of the entry fits that, too. What does not fit, and what should not be forced onto this entry, is a vague request for knowledge in general. Knowledge in general is not a petition. A subject, a question, and a piece of work you are actually doing are a petition.

Be specific before you do anything else. What science, what subject, what work? What would a faithful helper actually help you with, day to day? If you cannot answer those questions in plain language, you are not ready to wear a seal for this work yet. Write the answers down, leave them overnight, and come back to see if they still read true.

A seal is not a picture of a seal

A seal for Alloces should be a seal, not a picture of one. That distinction sounds simple, and it is, but it changes how you work with the thing in your hands. A picture can be looked at. A seal can be carried, worn, anointed, fumigated, placed on an altar, and worked with over time. It has weight, it has a surface you can touch, and it stays with you after the working is over, in a way a printed image does not.

A ring is a particular form of seal, and it suits ongoing work in a way a pendant or a disc on an altar does not always suit it. A ring is worn on the hand, the hand that writes, that turns pages, that does the work itself. For a spirit of learning and of faithful help in work, that placement is not accidental. The seal is where the work is done, not set aside from it. That is also why a ring should be treated as a working tool, not as jewellery that happens to carry a seal design. Wear it when you are working, put it away properly when you are not, and do not let it become an ornament you forget you are wearing.

If you are new to this kind of work, ask yourself, before you order anything, whether you actually want a working tool, or whether you want a picture to look at. Both have their place, but they are not the same thing, and ordering one when you meant the other leads to disappointment that has nothing to do with the quality of the object.

How a lost-wax cast seal ring is made

The seals offered here are lost wax cast seals of the Daemon Demons of the various grimoires. They are pure metal which is actually cast, starting with a wax version.

In lost-wax casting, the seal is first worked in wax, then cast in metal from that wax form. The wax is lost in the process, which is where the name comes from, and the metal that remains is a solid, cast object, not a printed shell. You can feel that difference when you hold it: a cast seal has weight, it has a surface that shows the hand work, and it does not have the layered texture of a printed object. A ring made in this way is not stamped out or printed. It is cast, one at a time, for the work it is meant for.

That process also explains why a cast seal is made to order, and why it takes time. Alloces is a listed seal, so the shorter timing applies to it in principle.

For a ring, the seal is carried as a ring, on the hand, and that form should be chosen deliberately, because it changes how the seal is worn, how it is cared for, and how it sits in daily work.

The gemstone in this ring

This ring is the gemstone version of the Alloces cast seal ring. That matters, and it should not be passed over as if a gemstone were only decoration. A gemstone set into a working ring changes the object in practical ways: it changes its weight, its balance on the hand, how it catches light, and how it must be cared for. A stone can chip, loosen, or catch on clothing in a way a plain metal seal does not, and a working ring with a stone needs to be checked, from time to time, to make sure the setting is still sound.

This article does not name the gemstone, because the source used here does not name it. It says the ring is with a gemstone, and that is all it says on that point. What can be said here, without guessing, is that the ring is a cast seal ring with a gemstone set in it, made for traditional Goetia work with Alloces, and that the stone is part of the object you will actually wear and work with, not an afterthought.

Care for a ring with a stone accordingly. Do not wear it for heavy manual work that could knock the stone. Do not clean it with harsh chemicals or abrasive cleaners unless you know, for the specific metal and stone involved, that such a cleaner is safe. Keep it in a clean, dry place when you are not wearing it, away from other metal objects that could scratch it or loosen the setting. A tool that is falling apart is a distraction in a working, and a stone you are worried about losing is a stone you cannot focus with.

Metals, and choosing deliberately

Different metals wear differently, feel differently on the hand, and age differently with daily use. Copper darkens. Silver tarnishes and needs care. Bronze has its own weight and colour. Gold, where it is offered at market price, is a different commitment entirely.

Choose the metal for the work you will actually do with the ring, and for the hand you will wear it on, not for the metal you think a spirit ought to prefer in the abstract. A ring that is uncomfortable, that irritates your skin, or that you are afraid to wear because of its cost will not be worn, and a seal that is not worn is not being worked with as a ring.

That practical point is also a working point. A seal ring for Alloces is for learning and for faithful help in work, and both of those are daily matters, not single-night matters. The ring should fit the daily work, or it will end up in a drawer, and the working will end up as a memory rather than a practice.

Preparing to work with a seal ring

Preparation is most of the work, and with a seal ring that preparation starts before the ring arrives. Be clear about why you are working with Alloces, what subject or work you are asking about, and what you are prepared to do yourself, including the study and practice that learning actually requires. If you cannot state the matter in one clear sentence, write it down, leave it overnight, and come back to see if it still reads true.

When the ring arrives, do not start by wearing it everywhere at once. Take time to look at it, to hold it, and to set it aside in a clean place that is used for your working tools. If your practice calls for cleansing or consecration of a new tool, follow the instructions you already follow in your system. A general article like this one is not a substitute for proper teaching in the system, and it should not be used to invent a consecration rite for a seal you have not been taught to consecrate.

Prepare the room and yourself in the same way you would for any Goetia working: clear the space, set it aside for this purpose, bathe or wash, change into clothes you do not wear for ordinary errands, and know what you are going to say, in your own words, before you begin. A clear head is a working tool, just as much as a seal, oil, or incense is.

Carrying, anointing, and fumigating a seal

A seal ring is made to be carried on the hand, and carrying it is part of the work, not an afterthought. Wear it when you are working, and put it away properly when you are not, rather than leaving it in a pocket with keys and loose change, or on a bathroom shelf. A tool that is treated carelessly tends to be worked with carelessly, and that shows in the record you keep afterwards.

Anointing a seal is a way of marking it for a purpose. In practice, that is often done with a matching oil, applied deliberately, naming the purpose in your own words. Fumigating a seal is the companion practice: passing it through incense smoke, to start a working, and for fumigating the tools and talismans that will be used in it. Alloces also has a matching incense and a matching oil, both for spirit work and spellwork with Alloces, and either can be used to prepare the ring for a working, if your practice calls for anointing or fumigation.

Other ways of working with a seal, in the general guidance for seal articles, include holding it, putting it under a candle, putting oil on it, carrying it with you, wearing it as a pendant, and showing it to your desired person. For a ring, the wearing and carrying are already built into the form. Holding the ring in the hand, and placing it under a candle for a working, are also straightforward uses, if your practice calls for them. Use the form that fits the working, and do not force a pendant use onto a ring, or a ring use onto a pendant, when the form itself already tells you how it is meant to be carried.

Do not use a seal as a substitute for the rest of the working. Carrying a seal and then doing nothing else, with no petition, no attention, and no closing, is not spirit work. The seal supports the work, it does not replace it, and it certainly does not replace the study that Alloces work is about.

A simple working order, to adapt to your own practice

The following is a general order, not a fixed script. Adapt it to the system you already work in. First, prepare the room and yourself, as above. Second, set out the ring, and any oil, incense, or candle you will use. Third, anoint or fumigate the ring, if your practice calls for it, deliberately, naming the purpose in your own words. Fourth, speak your petition, clearly and once, rather than repeating it until it loses its shape. Fifth, sit quietly for a time and listen, rather than filling every moment with more words. Sixth, close the working properly, in whatever way your practice requires, and put the ring away in its proper place, or keep wearing it for the work, as your practice directs.

Afterwards, write down what you did, when you did it, and what you noticed. Not what you hoped would happen, but what actually happened, in plain language. That record is what lets you tell, weeks later, whether anything changed, and whether that change had anything to do with the work. Note the study itself in that record, too: what you were learning, how it went in the days after the working, and whether the change, if any, was in your understanding, in your practice, or in neither.

Keeping a record, and knowing when to stop

Keep a short record for each working: date, purpose in one sentence, seal and any oil or incense used, what you did, and what you noticed afterwards, over days and weeks, not just on the night itself. If nothing changes, that is also information. It may mean the petition was unclear, the timing was wrong, the work was not appropriate, or simply that the situation needs a different approach, including more ordinary study.

Do not repeat the same working endlessly in the hope that repetition alone will force a result. Do the work properly, once, observe, and then decide, calmly, whether a second working, a different approach, or no further working is the right next step. Repetition without reflection is not persistence. It is noise.

Alloces cast seal ring, with a gemstone

A seal for Alloces should be a seal, not a picture of one, and a ring should be worn for the work it is made for.

I make these as lost wax cast seals, cast from a wax version in pure metal, one at a time, and I bless each one myself before it is sent out. This one is Alloces, as a cast seal ring with a gemstone, made for traditional Goetia work with Alloces, for the learned work in his domain: astronomy and the liberal sciences, and faithful help in ongoing work. I make no promise about what it will do for you, only that it is cast by hand, for this work.

If you want an Alloces seal made in this way, this is the one I offer: Alloces Goetia cast seal ring with a gemstone, $324 CAD. View the product

Metals named for this ring family include copper, bronze, steel, gold, silver, and brass.

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