Working with Bifrons: Stones, Herbs, Astrology, and the Dead
Who Bifrons is, in the sources used here
Bifrons is a demon, Earl of Hell, with sixty legions of demons under his command. A practitioner working with Bifrons should know that rank, and should approach the work with the seriousness that rank implies, rather than treating the seal as a casual charm.
That change of form is worth noting, because it is characteristic of Bifrons work as a whole. Bifrons is a spirit of change, of movement, of things becoming other than they first appeared. A working with Bifrons that expects everything to stay in its first form will miss the point. Expect transformation, expect a second shape, and be prepared to recognise the work when it arrives in a form you did not predict.
The Grimoire Companion entry for Bifrons adds, in its own brief form: Earl, teaches astrology, geometry, and the virtues of herbs and woods, and moves the resting dead. Those three areas are not separate hobbies. In the old system, they belong together, and a Bifrons working may touch more than one of them at once.
What Bifrons teaches: sciences, arts, stones, trees, and herbs
The Grimoire Companion adds astrology and geometry to that teaching, and the virtues of herbs and woods. Taken together, those teachings describe a spirit for practitioners who want to learn, not just to obtain. Astrology and geometry are disciplined, mathematical arts. They require study, tables, instruments, and patience. The virtues of stones, trees, and herbs require observation, handling, and time in the natural world, learning what each thing does, and how it behaves, by working with it directly.
That teaching aspect is the most approachable part of Bifrons work, and it is a good place to start, for a practitioner who is new to this spirit. Do not begin by asking for a dramatic result. Begin by asking, in your own practice, for clarity in a study you are already pursuing: an astrological technique you are learning, a geometrical construction you are working through, a herb or a stone whose virtues you want to understand more deeply. Bring a specific question to the working, not a general wish to be wise.
Be specific about what you want to learn, and be specific about what you will do with the learning. A question like "teach me astrology" is too broad to work with. A question like "help me understand this one configuration, in this one chart, for this one purpose" is a working question. It can be answered, it can be tested against your own study, and it can be recorded afterwards in plain language. That record, of question, working, and what you noticed, is how teaching work is judged, over time.
Bifrons and the dead: movement, graves, and lights
The more difficult part of Bifrons work, and the part that should not be approached lightly, is his work with the dead. The Grimoire Companion says, more briefly, that he moves the resting dead. That is necromantic work, in the old sense, and it is not a subject for casual experimentation.
A practitioner who is drawn to this aspect of Bifrons should first be honest about why. Is there a genuine need, in your practice, for work with the dead, or is the attraction the drama of the subject? Necromantic work in the grimoire tradition is disciplined, respectful, and bound by rules, and it is not undertaken for curiosity alone. If you do not have a tradition, a teacher, or a system that governs this kind of work, that is a sign to study further before you attempt it, not a sign to proceed with a seal alone.
In old accounts, lights, fires, and shining appearances at graves are signs of the dead being present, moved, or disturbed. A spirit who puts lights on graves is a spirit who marks the boundary between the living and the dead, and who can move things across it. That boundary work is powerful, and it is also the work most likely to go wrong when undertaken without preparation, respect, and a clear purpose.
This article does not give a rite for necromantic work with Bifrons, and a general article should not. If that is the work you are called to, work from the system you have been taught, with the protections and closings that system requires, and with a teacher you trust. The seal can be a tool in that work. It cannot be a substitute for the system.
Working with the seal as a pendant
The seal offered here is a lost wax cast seal, 2 inches, made as a pendant. They are pictured as just discs, and you can get them like that if you prefer, but the maker either casts a bail onto them, or solders one on, so you can use the seal as a pendant.
A pendant seal is worked with in the ways seals are traditionally worked with: holding it, putting it under a candle, putting oil on it, carrying it with you, wearing it as a pendant, and showing it to the desired person where that is part of the practice. For Bifrons work, the pendant form has a particular advantage. A seal for teaching work can be worn during study, held during a working, and laid out beside the books, charts, stones, or herbs you are studying. It becomes part of the study itself, not a separate object kept in a drawer.
When you first receive the seal, learn it by eye and by touch. Look at the design in good light, trace its lines, and notice how it sits in the hand and on the chest as a pendant. If your practice includes consecration or blessing of a seal, do that work in the way you have been taught, in your own system. Then wear it in the workings it was made for, and keep a short record: date, purpose in one sentence, what you studied or worked on, and what you noticed afterwards, over weeks, not just on the night itself.
That is a practical detail, and it is worth noting for planning: this is a hand-cast piece, made from a wax that must be prepared, not a warehouse item shipped the same day. The imperfections referred to are in the original design work, not a promise of a faulty piece, and that honesty about hand work is part of what distinguishes a cast seal from a mass-produced one.
Preparation for Bifrons work
Preparation for spirit work is most of the work, and Bifrons work is no exception. Clear the space you will use, and set it aside for this purpose. Prepare yourself: bathe or wash, change into clothes you do not wear for ordinary errands, and avoid starting a working when you are exhausted, drunk, or already agitated. A clear head is a working tool, just as much as a seal is.
Know what you are going to say, and what you are asking for, before you begin. A petition that tries to cover every possible outcome usually covers none of them well. Keep it direct, keep it honest, and keep it to the matter at hand. If you are asking for teaching, name the subject. If you are asking about a stone, a tree, or a herb, name it. If you are undertaking work with the dead, name the purpose, in your own system, with the seriousness that work requires, and do not improvise the whole petition on the spot.
After the working, close properly, in whatever way your practice requires, and put the seal away in its proper place. Write down what you did, when you did it, and what you noticed, in plain language, not what you hoped would happen, but what actually happened. That record is what lets you tell, weeks later, whether anything changed, and whether that change had anything to do with the work.
What not to do with Bifrons
Do not use Bifrons work as a shortcut around study. If you want to know astrology, geometry, or the virtues of herbs, you must still study them. The seal supports study. It does not replace it. A practitioner who wears a Bifrons seal and never opens a book, never handles a herb, never works a chart, will not learn by wearing alone, and will blame the seal for a failure that belongs to the lack of study.
Do not approach the dead lightly, or for curiosity, or to impress others with a dramatic story. Work with the dead, where it is undertaken at all, should be undertaken with respect, with a clear purpose, and within a system that governs it. If you are unsure whether a working is appropriate, wait, ask a teacher you trust, or choose a simpler, teaching-focused working first and see how that sits.
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.
Bifrons cast seal pendant, 2 inches
If you are working with Bifrons, for the sciences and arts, for astrology and geometry, for the virtues of gemstones, trees, and herbs, or for work with the dead within your own system, this is the seal I offer: lost wax cast, pure metal, 2 inches, with a bail cast or soldered on so you can wear it as a pendant, or as a disc if you prefer.
Bifrons cast Daemon Demon Demon seal pendant 2 inches, $216 CAD. View the product
Bifrons seals take approximately 2 to 3 weeks to get the wax ready and cast. I make no promise about what it will do for you, only that it is hand cast, from a wax version, for Goetia work with Bifrons, and not mass produced from mixed metals.
Seal figure reuses the existing file../article-assets/bifrons-seal-gold-transparent.svg, already present from earlier batches, no new seal file created. The gold colour in that figure is the article theme colour for the dark website, not a claim about this pendant's metal, and the pendant metal was not stated as a single metal in the body for that reason; the phase 2 row lists material gold, which conflicts with the live body's general pure metal wording, so the metal needs confirming at the sweep if it is to be named. No matching oil or incense cross-link was claimed. No YouTube video id is recorded for this product in the CSV.
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