Working with Decarabia
Decarabia, and the knowledge of herbs and stones
Decarabia is a Marquis in the Goetia, and the Companion entry for him is a distinctive one: he teaches the virtues of herbs and precious stones, and he commands the birds of the air. That is not a general claim to knowledge. It is knowledge of particular, tangible things: plants you can hold, stones you can carry, birds you can watch. A practitioner approaching Decarabia, then, should come with particular things in mind, not with a vague desire to know more in general. Which herb, and for what purpose? Which stone, and why that stone rather than another? Those are the questions that make this work specific, and specificity is what makes it usable.
Herbs and stones are also things that reward direct experience. You can read about an herb, and that reading has its place, but you learn its virtue, in the old sense of that word, by handling it, by growing it or gathering it where that is proper, by preparing it, and by observing what it does, in your own practice, over time. The same is true of a stone: its weight, its colour, its feel in the hand, and the way it sits in a working, are part of its virtue, not decoration around it. Decarabia's offices, as described, point toward that kind of learning: learning that passes through the hands, not only through the eyes.
The birds of the air, in the same entry, point in a different direction: toward observation, and toward messages that arrive without being summoned in a formal rite. Birds are watched, not controlled, and a practitioner who works with Decarabia would do well to cultivate watching as a practice: noticing what passes overhead, what returns to the same place, what changes with the season. That watching is not a substitute for ritual work. It is a complement to it, and it trains the same attention that ritual work requires.
Why a ring, and why raised lettering
A ring is a seal you wear on the hand that does the work. That placement matters. A pendant hangs near the heart, or near the throat, and its work is carried close to the body. A disc sits on the altar, and its work is centred on a place. A ring sits on the finger that holds a wand, that turns a page, that picks an herb, that sets a stone in place. It is present in the doing, not only in the thinking, and for work with herbs and stones, which is work of the hands, that placement is fitting.
A ring whose seal and lettering are raised can be felt, not only seen. You can run a finger over it, and know, by touch, which seal you are wearing, even without looking. That tactile quality is useful in a working, where your eyes may be on the altar, on the herb, or on the stone, and your hand still needs to know what it is carrying. It is also useful in daily wear, where a ring that can be felt is a reminder through the day, in a way that a flat design, noticed only when looked at, is not.
Wear the ring deliberately, for the work, and not merely as ornament. Put it on for a working, or for a season of work with herbs and stones, and take it off, or set it aside, when that season is over, or when you are doing work of a different kind. A ring worn for everything, without distinction, ends up meaning nothing in particular, and a seal that means nothing in particular is not a working tool. It is decoration, and decoration, however fine, does not do the work of a seal.
How this ring is made here
These are lost wax cast seal rings of the Daemon Demons of the various grimoires. These are pure metal which is actually cast, starting with a wax version, which is much higher quality than the 3D printed versions, using metal powder and plastic, that you find around the internet. That difference is not a matter of snobbery. It is a matter of how the object feels, how it ages, and how it holds up to daily wear and to ritual use. A ring made from pure metal, cast from a wax original made by hand, has a solidity and a weight that a printed imitation does not, and that solidity is part of why it can serve as a working tool for years, rather than as a novelty for a season.
The ring can be made in copper, bronze, steel, gold, silver, or brass, as listed for this line. Choose the metal with the same deliberateness you bring to the working itself. Copper, bronze, and brass each have their own colour, weight, and feel, and each ages differently with wear. Silver and gold carry their own associations, and their own cost, and should be chosen because they fit the work and your means, not because they seem more impressive. Steel is plain, hard, and unshowy, and for some workings, plainness is exactly what is wanted. The choice is yours, and it should be made knowingly.
Made to order time, as stated for this line, is approximately 2 to 3 weeks, and the ones which are not listed but are under the other option take 8 weeks, because the waxes for those have not yet been carved. That waiting time is part of hand making, not a delay to be resented. A ring cast from a wax that has not yet been carved cannot be hurried without changing what it is. If you need a ring for a working on a particular date, order with that time in mind, and do not treat the making time as though it were a delivery promise about magical result. It is a making time, for a physical object, and it should be planned for as such.
Working with herbs, in practice
Work with herbs begins, in practice, long before any rite. It begins with learning one herb at a time: its name, its appearance, its season, how it is gathered or grown, how it is dried or prepared, and what it is traditionally used for. Do not try to learn twenty herbs at once. Learn one, thoroughly, and then another. A practitioner who knows five herbs deeply, from handling them, is better equipped than a practitioner who can name fifty from a book and has handled none.
Keep a simple herb record: the herb, where you got it, when, how you prepared it, what you used it for, and what you observed. That record, kept over seasons, becomes a personal materia medica, and it is worth more than any bought book of correspondences, because it is grounded in your own experience, in your own climate, and in your own practice. Decarabia's office, as described, is teaching the virtues of herbs, and virtues, in this sense, are learned by use, not by memorisation alone.
Be careful, as with all herb work, to distinguish magical use from medical use, and to treat herbs with respect for their real properties. Some herbs are safe to handle and some are not, some are safe to burn as incense and some are not, and no article can replace proper knowledge of the particular herb in your hand. If you do not know whether an herb is safe for a particular use, do not use it for that purpose until you do know, from a reliable source, or from a teacher you trust. That caution is part of the work, not an obstacle to it.
Working with precious stones, in practice
Work with stones follows the same logic as work with herbs, with one difference: stones last. An herb is used, and is gone, and must be gathered or bought again. A stone stays, and accumulates association with the workings it has been part of, over years. That staying quality makes stones good companions for long work, and it also makes the choice of a stone worth taking seriously, because you may be carrying it for a long time.
Choose a stone by handling it, not only by reading about it. Hold it, weigh it, look at it in different light, and notice how it feels in the hand that will carry it or set it in place. A stone that looks impressive in a photograph and feels wrong in the hand is not the right stone for you, whatever a book says about it. Conversely, a stone that feels right, and that you return to, is worth working with, even if it is not the stone a list would have suggested first.
Use the ring, in stone work, as the hand that does the setting and the holding. Wear it while you handle stones, while you sort them, while you place them on the altar or in a working, and let the ring and the stone become associated, in your practice, with that line of work. Over time, that association is what makes the ring a tool for stone work, rather than a ring you happen to be wearing while you happen to be handling stones. The difference is attention, repeated, and it cannot be hurried.
Working with the ring over time
A ring, like a seal, is not used once and put away. It is returned to, and that returning is part of the work. Hold it, wear it as a ring, place it on the altar during a working, or put oil on it, as your practice requires. Each of those uses keeps the work present, and each suits a different kind of working. Wearing it suits a working that needs to stay with you through the day, and through the doing of things with your hands. Placing it on the altar suits a working centred on a place set aside for that purpose.
Keep a record, as with any seal work: date, purpose in one sentence, what you did, and what you noticed, over days and weeks, not just on the night itself. Herb and stone work, in particular, is best judged over seasons, not by single sessions, because herbs grow and are gathered by season, and stones reveal their character over long carrying, not in a single evening. A record kept over a year will show you more than any single working could.
Care for the ring between workings. Keep it in a place set aside for working tools, not mixed in with ordinary objects. Clean it as its metal requires, and handle it with the same attention you gave it when you first received it. That care is the habit that keeps a working tool distinct from an ordinary possession, and that distinction is what makes it useful when you return to it.
When this is not the right tool
Sometimes the right answer is not a ring at all. If you are new to Goetia work, and you have not yet studied the system, a book, or time spent with the material, may serve you better than a ring, at least at first. A ring does not teach you the system. It gives you a tool for a system you are learning, and it works best when it follows study, not when it replaces it.
If the matter at hand is a legal matter, a safety matter, or a medical matter, deal with that matter in the ordinary world first, or at the same time. Ritual work is not a substitute for a lawyer, a doctor, or for leaving a dangerous situation. If you are unsure whether a working is appropriate, wait, ask a teacher you trust, or choose a simpler practice first and see how that sits.
I make no promise about what this ring will do for you, in terms of magical result. I make a promise about how it is made, as a lost wax cast seal ring in pure metal, in the metal you choose. What follows from your practice is yours to observe, not mine to guarantee. That is about the work itself, not about delivery dates for physical items.
Decarabia Goetia ring with raised lettering
If you are doing traditional Goetia work with Decarabia, the ring is for wearing on the hand that does the work, not for show.
I make Decarabia rings as lost wax cast seal rings in pure metal, starting with a wax version, in copper, bronze, steel, gold, silver, or brass, as listed. Made to order time is approximately 2 to 3 weeks, and unlisted options under the other option take 8 weeks, because those waxes have not yet been carved.
If you want the ring for that work, this is the one I offer: Decarabia Goetia ring with raised lettering, $216 CAD. View the product
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