Astaroth, teacher of the liberal sciences: a one inch cast seal pendant

A seal is not a picture of a seal

A seal for Astaroth 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, anointed, fumigated, placed on an altar, put under a candle, 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 one inch pendant seal carries that distinction in a compact form: small enough to wear daily, solid enough to hold and to work with, and present enough to be a focus, rather than a decoration.

That is why the form of a seal matters in traditional Goetia work, and why a seal that is made properly is different from a seal that is merely reproduced. The seal in this article is for traditional Goetia work with Astaroth, as a hand cast seal, in pendant form, one inch. It is made to be carried and worked with, not left in a drawer as decoration, and not filed away as a reference image. If you are new to this kind of work, it is worth asking 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.

One inch is a deliberate size, and it is worth thinking about what it means in practice. It is large enough to hold, to feel, and to trace with the eye, and small enough to wear under clothing, to carry in a pouch, or to place on a working surface without dominating it. A practitioner who wants a seal for daily carrying, during study and work, will find one inch a practical size. A practitioner who wants a seal primarily for display, on an altar, may prefer a larger seal, and should consider that before ordering, rather than discovering afterwards that a carrying size was not what was wanted.

Astaroth, Duke, teacher and revealer

In the Grimoire Companion's Goetia data, Astaroth is a Duke, commanding forty legions, whose work is summarised as teaching the liberal sciences, answering truly of past, present, and future, and revealing hidden spiritual truths. That is a substantial summary, and each part of it points to a different kind of work, and a different kind of preparation.

Teaching the liberal sciences, in the traditional sense, means the arts and sciences that form a learned person: grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy, in the old sevenfold scheme, and, by extension, the disciplined study of any subject that requires method, memory, and judgement. Astaroth, as teacher, is therefore a spirit for a practitioner who is actually studying, not merely wishing to be knowledgeable. A working with Astaroth for learning should sit alongside real study: reading, practice, writing, and the slow work of understanding, rather than replacing it. The seal supports the study. It does not replace the book, the practice, or the teacher in the ordinary world.

Answering truly of past, present, and future is divination, and divination with Astaroth carries a particular weight, because true answers are not always comfortable answers. A practitioner who asks for a true answer about the past should be prepared to hear a past matter named plainly, including one that still shapes the present. A practitioner who asks about the future should be prepared for an answer that requires a decision, rather than a reassurance. Asking for truth while only being willing to hear comfort is not divination. It is reassurance-seeking, and it muddies both the working and the record.

Revealing hidden spiritual truths is the third part, and it is the most easily misunderstood. Hidden truths, in this context, are not secrets to be collected, or gossip about spiritual matters. They are understandings that become clear through study, practice, and attention, over time, and that were hidden before because the practitioner was not yet ready to see them, not because they were locked away by someone else. A working with Astaroth for hidden truths should therefore be approached with patience, with study, and with a willingness to receive an understanding gradually, rather than as a single dramatic revelation.

Two traditions, one name, kept straight

Astaroth also appears in the Grimorium Verum, as a superior, and a practitioner who encounters both traditions should keep them distinct. In the Verum, Astaroth is presented as a superior, appearing black, in human shape, inhabiting America, with the tags of power and knowledge. In the Goetia, as presented in the Companion, Astaroth is a Duke, with the teaching and divination work summarised above. Those are not contradictory, but they are not interchangeable either. A seal made for Goetia work with Astaroth should be worked with in Goetia terms, in the system the practitioner already works in, rather than mixing Verum offices, Goetia offices, and later lore into a single, blended figure.

That discipline, keeping traditions distinct, is part of what makes a seal a working tool rather than a general symbol. A practitioner who works with Astaroth in the Goetia should know the Goetia entry, its rank, its legions, and its summary, and should work from those, with their own system's methods. A practitioner who works with Astaroth in the Verum should work from the Verum's presentation, with its own methods. Mixing the two casually, in a single working, without knowing which tradition is being followed, leads to a working whose purpose, method, and record are all blurred, and whose results, if any, cannot be read clearly afterwards.

This article stays with the Goetia presentation, because the seal in question is a Goetia cast seal, for traditional Goetia work with Astaroth. It notes the Verum presence only to warn against confusion, not to borrow offices from one tradition for use in the other. Hold to the tradition you are working in, and let the seal serve that tradition, specifically.

How a lost-wax cast seal pendant is made

The seals offered here are lost-wax cast seals of the Daemon Demons of the various grimoires. 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.

That process also explains why a cast seal is made to order, and why it takes time.

That is a practical detail, and it is worth knowing before you order, because it affects how the pendant hangs and how it will wear over time. A one inch pendant, worn daily, should hang well, sit comfortably, and be easy to take off and put away properly, rather than being left on through every ordinary activity without thought.

Preparing to work with a seal

Preparation is most of the work, and with a seal that preparation starts before the seal arrives. Be clear about why you are working with Astaroth, what you are asking for, and what you are prepared to do yourself, including the study, practice, or decision that the working points towards. 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. For Astaroth work, that sentence should name the study, the question, or the truth sought, specifically, rather than a general wish to know more.

When the seal 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 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 as 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. For study work with Astaroth, preparation also includes the ordinary tools of study: the book, the notes, the instrument, or the question, set out ready, so that the working leads directly into study, rather than into a vague hope of learning without effort.

Carrying, anointing, and fumigating

A pendant seal is made to be carried, and carrying it is part of the work, not an afterthought. Wear it when you are working and studying, 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 kept afterwards. For Astaroth, carrying during study is particularly apt: the seal present while reading, writing, or practising, as a focus for attention, and put away when study ends, so that the rhythm of study and rest is marked by the seal's presence and absence.

Working with the seal, in Athena's seal-working guidance, includes holding it, putting it under a candle, putting oil on it, carrying it, wearing it as a pendant, and showing it to the desired person, adapted here to study and divination: holding the seal during a sitting, placing it under a candle on the working surface, anointing it with a matching oil, deliberately, naming the purpose in your own words, and wearing it as a pendant through the working and the study that follows. Fumigating the seal, passing it through incense smoke, is the companion practice: to start a working, and for fumigating the tools and talismans that will be used in it. Astaroth also has a matching incense and a matching oil in the catalogue, for spirit work with Astaroth, and a practitioner who works with both will find anointing and fumigating support the seal work, rather than replacing it.

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 study, no attention, and no closing, is not spirit work. The seal supports the work, it does not replace it. For Astaroth, that point is especially sharp: a seal carried without study will not teach the liberal sciences, and a seal carried without a question will not give a true answer. The work is study, question, and attention, with the seal as its focus.

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, with one clear sentence: a subject to study, a question to ask, or a truth to seek. Second, set out the seal, and any oil, incense, candle, book, or notes you will use. Third, anoint or fumigate the seal, 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, proceed to the study, divination, or quiet listening that the working calls for, and sit quietly for a time afterwards, rather than filling every moment with more words. Sixth, close the working properly, in whatever way your practice requires, and put the seal away in its proper place.

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. Note the seal itself in that record: when you wore it, when you put it away, whether you anointed or fumigated it, and what you noticed on days when you studied with it compared with days when you did not. For divination, note the answer as received, whether it was welcome or not, and what decision followed from it. That record is what lets you tell, weeks later, whether anything changed, and whether that change had anything to do with the work.

Do not repeat the same working endlessly in the hope that repetition alone will force a result, and do not ask the same divination question repeatedly until a preferred answer appears. Do the work properly, once, study, decide, and then, calmly, choose 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.

Care for a cast pendant

Care for a cast metal pendant is practical, not mystical, and it is worth stating plainly. Pure cast metal will show wear over time, especially if worn every day, against skin, against clothing, and against other objects. That wear is normal for a working tool, and it is not a sign that the seal has stopped being useful. It is a sign that it has been carried. Keep the pendant in a clean, dry place when you are not wearing it, away from other metal objects that could scratch it. Clean it gently, with a soft cloth, and do not use harsh chemicals or abrasive cleaners on it, unless you know, for the specific metal involved, that such a cleaner is safe.

If the bail loosens, or if the pendant shows damage, stop wearing it until it can be repaired properly. A tool that is falling apart is a distraction in a working, and a safety risk if it can fall off unnoticed. That is a practical point, but it is also a working point: a tool you are worried about losing is a tool you cannot focus with. Attend to repairs promptly, and keep the pendant in its proper place in the meantime.

Finally, keep the seal private in the ordinary sense. A Goetia seal is not made to be shown around, explained at length, or passed from hand to hand for inspection. Its lines are for the practitioner, and for the workings in which it is used. Showing it casually invites handling and wear that serve no purpose, and turns a working tool into a curiosity. Keep it close, keep it clean, and let its work be in the study and sittings it is set out for, not in the conversation about it.

Astaroth cast Daemon Demon seal pendant, 1 inch

A seal for Astaroth should be a seal, not a picture of one, and a teacher's seal should be carried into study, not merely owned.

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 Astaroth, as a pendant, one inch, made for traditional Goetia work with Astaroth, teacher of the liberal sciences, who answers truly of past, present, and future, and reveals hidden spiritual truths. 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 Astaroth seal made in this way, this is the one I offer: Astaroth cast Daemon Demon seal pendant, 1 inch, $108 CAD. View the product

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