Leraje and the oil: contests of skill, mastery, and the outcome of battles

Leraje, and the kind of contest this article means

Not every contest is a fight, and not every battle is fought with weapons. In the Grimoire Companion entry, Leraje is a Marquis who governs contests of skill and mastery, stirs strife, and decides the outcome of battles. That entry needs to be read carefully, because it covers a wide field, and a practitioner who reaches for Leraje without naming the contest is likely to do vague work for a vague purpose.

A contest of skill is a test in which mastery matters: a craft competition, an examination, a performance, a game of skill, a professional contest in which the better-prepared practitioner wins. Mastery, in that sense, is not a single talent. It is the result of practice, preparation, and steadiness under pressure. A working for such a contest should therefore be paired with real preparation. Anointing before practice is one thing. Anointing instead of practice is a different thing, and it is not what this article recommends.

Stirring strife, and deciding the outcome of battles, are the harder parts of the entry, and they should not be softened into something they are not. Strife is conflict, and a battle, in the older sense, is a contest in which one side prevails and the other does not. A practitioner considering work in this field should be specific about what conflict they mean, who is involved, and what outcome they are actually asking for. A vague petition about winning in general is hard to judge afterwards, and it is easy to misread. A clear petition — about a particular contest, a particular decision, or a particular conflict — is something you can work with, and judge honestly when it is over.

Be specific about what you want, in the sense this whole project keeps returning to: a clear, single-sentence purpose, honestly stated, is easier to work with than a vague wish for victory.

Why oil suits contest work

Oil is the most personal of the Goetia tools. Incense fills a room, and anyone in the room shares it. Oil goes on the skin, on a candle, or on a tool, and it stays there through the working. It marks a particular person, a particular tool, or a particular act. For contest work, that personal marking matters, because a contest is ultimately about a particular practitioner, on a particular day, doing a particular thing well, under pressure.

Anointing before a contest, a performance, or a difficult meeting marks the shift from ordinary carriage to deliberate carriage. It does not replace preparation, rehearsal, or honest dealing, but it can steady the practitioner for the act itself. That steadiness — a clear head, a steady hand, a voice that does not rush — is often the difference between a skilled practitioner who performs well and a skilled practitioner who falls apart under pressure.

Anointing a tool is the companion practice. A craftsman's tool, a musician's instrument, a writer's pen, or a seal for the working can all be anointed deliberately, with the purpose in mind. Choose the one or two points that carry the working, and anoint those. Anointing everything in sight dilutes the act.

Starting with the work, not with the tool

Spirit work is not shopping, and oil does not do the work for you. Before you anoint anything, be clear about why you are doing this working, what contest or conflict you mean, and what you are prepared to do yourself. 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. That pause is part of the work, not a delay in it.

Ask yourself, plainly, whether this is the right working at all, whether the timing is right, and whether there is ordinary-world work that should be done first, or at the same time. If the contest is a legal matter, a safety matter, or a medical matter, deal with it in the ordinary world first, and keep dealing with it there. Ritual work is not a substitute for that.

For a contest of skill, the ordinary-world work is preparation: practice, study, rehearsal, rest, and attention to the details of the contest itself. For a conflict, the ordinary-world work may be a clear word, a negotiation, or a decision about whether to engage at all. Do that work, and let the ritual work support it, rather than trying to make the ritual work carry the whole weight.

How this oil is made

The oils on this site are hand made by Athena from only pure essential oils, roots, and herbs. Sometimes there is the odd gemstone thrown in as well. No extraneous ingredients or fillers are used, and no synthetics are used.

All colognes, perfumes, and oils are in a half-ounce bottle, about twice as large as those little health food store essential oil bottles, unless otherwise stated. That size is a practical point. A half-ounce bottle, used a drop or two at a time for anointing, lasts through many workings. It is not a bottle to be poured out freely. A little, used deliberately, is the whole practice of anointing.

This oil belongs to that use: an oil made for spellwork and spirit work, not a perfume made for ordinary wear, though it is made with the same care as the perfumes and colognes on the site.

Anointing in practice

Anointing is a simple act, and it should stay simple. Put a small amount of oil on your hands, and rub them together, or anoint a candle from the centre outward, or anoint a seal, according to the practice you already follow. Name the purpose in your own words, once, clearly. Do not repeat the petition until it loses its shape. One clear statement, made deliberately, is better than a long improvisation.

If you are anointing before a contest, do it in the preparation period, not in the middle of the contest itself. Anoint, dress, gather your tools, and then go to the contest with your attention on the contest, not on the oil. The oil marks the preparation. The contest itself should be met with a clear head, not with a mind still busy with ritual detail.

If you are anointing a seal, put the oil on it with care, and wipe away excess, so the seal is not left sticky or stained. Working with a seal, in Athena's general guidance, includes holding it, putting it under a candle, putting oil on it, carrying it, and wearing it as a pendant. Anointing is one of those ways, not the whole of the work. Hold the seal, state the purpose, anoint it, and then put it away properly, or carry it deliberately, as your practice directs.

Oil and incense together

Oil and incense do different jobs in a working, and Leraje work is a good place to learn the difference. Oil marks and anoints. Incense fills the space and sets the atmosphere for the working itself. Used together, with a clear purpose, they reinforce each other: the oil marks the person or tool, and the incense marks the room and the time.

If you are doing a full working, rather than simply anointing before a contest, use both. Anoint first, with a clear purpose in mind, then light the incense and let the room settle before you speak your petition. Do not rush from anointing to speaking. Give the room a moment to change, and give yourself a moment to notice that change.

Leraje also has a matching incense, for spirit work with Leraje, and a matching bath and seal pendant as well. This article is about the oil, so it does not turn into a second article about those companions, but it is worth knowing they exist, because a working that uses oil, incense, and a seal together, each in its proper place, is a fuller working than one that relies on a single tool alone.

A simple working order, and a record

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 for any Goetia working, and write the contest or conflict down in one clear sentence. Second, set out the oil, and any incense, seal, or candle you will use. Third, anoint, deliberately, naming the purpose in your own words. Fourth, light incense, if you are using it, and let the space settle. Fifth, speak your petition, clearly and once. Sixth, sit quietly and listen, rather than filling every moment with more words. Seventh, close the working properly, and put the tools away.

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. For a contest, note what you did to prepare, how you performed, and what the outcome was, as far as you can honestly tell. For a conflict, note what you said or did, and what came back. That record, over time, is what tells you whether the working is helping your mastery, or whether you are simply enjoying the ritual and calling it mastery.

Do not burn incense in a room where it is unsafe to do so, and do not leave a burner unattended. Use a safe burner, on a heat-proof surface, away from curtains, papers, and anything that could catch, and stay with it for the whole working.

Keeping a record, and knowing when to stop

Keep a short record for each working: date, purpose in one sentence, oil and any 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 practice, or a decision not to engage.

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.

Mastery, in the end, is shown in the contest itself, not in the ritual room. The oil, the incense, and the seal are preparations for that showing. They are worth doing well, and they are worth recording honestly, but they are not the contest. Go to the contest prepared, steady, and clear about what you mean, and let the record afterwards be the judge of the work.

Leraje Goetia grimoire demon evocation oil

Oil marks the person, the tool, or the act, and this one is made for anointing and spirit work with Leraje.

I hand make this oil myself, from only pure essential oils, roots, and herbs, with no synthetics and no fillers, sometimes with the odd gemstone thrown in, in a half-ounce bottle. I bless each one myself before it is sent out. I make no promise about what it will do for you, only that it is made by hand, for this work.

If you want the oil for that work, this is the one I offer: Leraje Goetia grimoire demon evocation oil, $44 CAD. View the product

I also make the incense to go with it, for the same work: Leraje Goetia incense, $44 CAD. View the product

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