Working with Marchosias: strength, mastery in contest, and the oil made for that work
Start with what a contest actually is
A contest, in spirit work, is not always a fight, and it is not always against a person. Sometimes it is a trial, a test, a competition, a hearing, or a period of sustained effort in which you must hold your standard while others hold theirs. Sometimes it is a contest with yourself: with fatigue, with discouragement, with the temptation to cut corners or to quit early. Before you anoint anything, it is worth naming which kind of contest you are actually in, because each calls for a different kind of strength.
Marchosias, in the Grimoire Companion material, is a Marquis who answers truly and who grants strength and mastery in battle and contest. That pairing matters. Strength without truth is bluster, and it tends to collapse when it is tested. Truth without strength is a clear view of a contest you then lose for lack of steadiness. The work here, as the Companion material presents it, joins the two: seeing the contest truly, and standing in it with mastery.
Write down what you are actually contesting, in one clear sentence. Is it a place, a title, a decision, a standard of work, or a boundary you need to hold? Each of those calls for a different petition. Be specific with yourself first. The oil comes later.
Marchosias, and what mastery means in practice
Mastery, in a contest, does not mean never feeling fear, doubt, or fatigue. It means doing the work properly while those feelings are present, rather than waiting for them to pass. A practitioner who can only work when they feel confident will not last through a long contest. A practitioner who can prepare, petition, and then act steadily, even on a bad day, has the beginning of mastery.
Answering truly is the other half of this domain, and it is worth pausing on. A true answer, in this context, is not a flattering answer, and it is not a clever answer. It is an answer that names the matter as it is, including the parts that are uncomfortable. If you ask about a contest and the true answer is that you are underprepared, or that the contest is not worth winning, that answer is still useful, and it is more useful than a reassuring falsehood.
That is why preparation matters for Marchosias work as much as petition does. A working that only asks for strength, without asking to see the contest clearly, is a working that has skipped its most important step. Strength spent on the wrong contest, or on a contest misunderstood, is strength wasted.
Preparation is most of the work
Preparation in this kind of work is not decoration. It is how you get yourself into a state where you can speak clearly, listen, and notice what changes afterwards. Start with the room. Clear the space you will use, and set it aside for this purpose. Put away the things that pull your attention elsewhere. If you have a regular working space, use it. If you do not, choose one place and use it consistently for this working, so the place itself starts to carry the association.
Then prepare yourself. Bathe, or at least wash your hands and face, and change into clothes you do not wear for ordinary errands. This is not about looking a certain way for anyone else. It is about marking, for yourself, that this time is set apart. Eat simply beforehand if you can, and avoid starting a working when you are exhausted, drunk, or already agitated. A clear head is a working tool, just as much as oil or incense is.
Next, prepare the words you will use, and prepare, in the ordinary world, for the contest itself. Study, train, rehearse, gather the facts, and tend the routines that hold steady through a long effort: sleep, food, honest conversation, and work done on time. A working that is used to avoid that preparation tends to leave the practitioner feeling weaker, not stronger, once the candle is out.
Why anointing, and why oil at all
Anointing is a way of marking something, or someone, for a purpose. In practice, it is often done on the hands, the forehead, or on a tool, seal, or candle that will be used in the working. The act itself is simple, and that simplicity is the point. You are not hiding the work behind complicated gestures. You are touching the thing, naming the purpose, and doing it deliberately.
Oil is used for anointing because it stays. It does not evaporate in a moment like a scent on the air, and it does not wash off at the first touch. It remains on the skin or on the tool while you work, and that staying quality is part of how it functions in a ritual setting. You can smell it, you can feel it, and you are reminded, through the whole working, of what you set out to do.
That staying quality suits contest work especially well. A contest is rarely decided in a single moment. It is decided over days and weeks, by steadiness, by repeated effort, and by the refusal to collapse under pressure. An oil that remains through the working is a small, physical reminder of that steadiness, and it helps carry the attention of the working past the night itself.
How the Marchosias oil is made here
I hand make all of my own perfumes, colognes and oils from only pure essential oils, roots and herbs. I do not use any extraneous ingredients or fillers. I also do not use any synthetics. Sometimes there is the odd gemstone thrown in as well.
Each batch of oil is hand made when you order, not pulled from a warehouse shelf months in advance. That made-to-order point matters for a working like this. It means the oil has not been sitting, opened and closed, through other people's orders. It is made for your order, and then blessed by me 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, and not mass produced. What follows from the practice, in terms of magical result, is yours to observe, not mine to guarantee. That is about the work itself, not about delivery dates for physical items.
Working with a seal alongside the oil
An oil working and a seal working are not the same thing, but they go together naturally. The seal gives the working a fixed point: something to hold, to place under a candle, to put oil on, to carry with you, or to wear as a pendant. Athena's seal-working guidance names all of these uses, and they are worth trying in turn, rather than assuming one of them is the only proper way.
Holding a seal during a petition changes the petition. It gives your hands something to do, and your attention something to rest on, instead of wandering. Putting a seal under a candle lets the working continue, in a quiet way, while the candle burns. Putting oil on a seal marks it for that working, specifically, rather than leaving it as a general object. Carrying it, or wearing it as a pendant, extends the working past the night itself, into the days when mastery is actually tested, in ordinary rooms, under ordinary pressure.
Showing a seal to a desired person is another use in the guidance, and it belongs to workings where another person is part of the matter. Not every Marchosias working involves another person. Many concern a standard of work, or a contest with fatigue and discouragement. Use the form of seal work that fits the matter at hand, and do not force a form that does not fit.
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, and to the instructions you already follow for Goetia work. Do not treat a general article as a substitute for proper teaching in the system.
First, name the contest in one clear sentence, and prepare for it in the ordinary world. Second, prepare the room and yourself, as above. Third, set out the seal, tool, or candle you will use, and the oil and incense. Fourth, anoint, deliberately, naming the purpose in your own words. Fifth, light the incense and let the space settle. Sixth, speak your petition, clearly and once, rather than repeating it until it loses its shape. Seventh, sit quietly for a time and listen. Eighth, close the working properly, and put the tools away in their 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. 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
Do not do this work as a substitute for practical preparation. If a contest requires study, study. If it requires training, train. If it is a legal matter, deal with the legal matter, and if it is a safety matter, deal with the safety matter. Ritual work is not a substitute for a lawyer, a doctor, or for leaving a dangerous situation.
Do not use the oil internally, and do not use it on broken skin. It is made for anointing and ritual use, from essential oils, roots and herbs, and it should be treated as a ritual oil, not as a food, a medicine, or a skin treatment. If you have sensitivities to essential oils, test a small amount first, or do not use it on skin at all, and anoint a tool or candle instead.
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.
Keeping a record, and knowing when the work is done
Keep a short record for each working: date, purpose in one sentence, oil and incense used, what you did, and what you noticed afterwards, over days and weeks, not just on the night itself. For contest work, the record matters over the whole contest, not just the night of the working. Note preparation kept, decisions made under pressure, and the state you were in when they had to be made.
If nothing changes, that is also information. It may mean the petition was unclear, the preparation was incomplete, the work was not appropriate, or simply that the situation needs a different approach. A practitioner who can read that record honestly, and change course when it calls for change, is showing more mastery than one who repeats the same working and hopes for a different result.
Marchosias oil, and Marchosias incense to go with it
If you are doing spirit work with Marchosias, the oil is for anointing, not for show.
I hand make Marchosias oil myself, from pure essential oils, roots, and herbs, with no synthetics and no fillers, and I bless it myself before it is sent out. It is made in small batches, when you order, for anointing and spirit work with Marchosias. I make no promise about what it will do for you, only that it is made by hand, for this work, and not mass produced.
If you want the oil for that work, this is the one I offer: Marchosias Goetia grimoire demon evocation oil, $44 CAD, 1/2 oz bottle. View the product
I also make the incense to go with it, for the same work: Marchosias Goetia incense, $44 CAD. View the product
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