Working with Phenex: science, poetry, and a seal made to be carried
A seal is not a picture of a seal
A seal for Phenex should be a seal, not a picture of one. A picture can be looked at. A seal can be held, carried, anointed, placed under a candle, fumigated, 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. That distinction changes how you approach the work, because a working tool asks something of you that a picture does not. It asks to be kept properly, to be used deliberately, and to be put away properly when the working is done.
The seal in this article is for traditional Goetia work with Phenex, as a hand cast seal, in pendant form, 1 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, ask 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.
Phenex, and what working with him is for
In the Grimoire Companion data, Phenex is a Marquis who teaches all sciences and is a most excellent poet, inspiring verse. That pairing, science and poetry together, is worth sitting with, because in modern conversation the two are often treated as opposites. In older practice they were not. A science, in this sense, is a body of knowledge that can be learned, practised, and tested. Poetry is a way of speaking that knowledge, and of speaking about experience, with precision and with force. A working that asks for both is asking for learning that can be said well, not just learning that is felt vaguely.
If you are studying, be specific about the science you mean. It may be a natural science, a system of magic, a craft with rules and measurements, or a language with grammar and vocabulary. Name the subject, name the level you are at, and name the next step you are actually trying to take. A petition for learning works better when it is that concrete. If you are writing, be specific in the same way. Name the form you are working in, the piece you are stuck on, and the quality you are trying to reach, whether that is clarity, rhythm, image, or truth to the experience you are writing about.
Verse, in this context, is not decoration added after the thought. It is a way of thinking. A line that will not scan, or an image that will not hold, often tells you that the thought itself is not yet clear. Working with Phenex, in the terms given here, is therefore also a working on clarity: on saying what you mean, in words that will stand up when you read them back the next day. That is a practical test, and it is one you can apply without any special equipment. Write the line. Leave it overnight. Read it aloud. See if it still says what you meant.
How a lost-wax cast seal is made
The seals offered here are lost wax cast seals of the Daemon Demons of the various grimoires. They are pure metal which is actually cast, starting with a wax version. That is a different process, and a different result, from the 3D printed versions using metal powder and plastic that you find around the internet, which the wording here contrasts with cast work. 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. A seal that is already listed takes about 2 to 3 weeks, while seals that are not listed, but are under the other option, take 8 weeks, because she still has not carved their waxes yet. Phenex is a listed seal, so the shorter timing applies to it in principle.
Cast seals here are pictured as just discs in some cases, and you can get them like that if you prefer, but for a pendant, a bail is either cast onto the seal, or soldered on, depending on the metal used. The wording notes, for example, that gold cannot be cast properly like that, so the method depends on the metal. 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.
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 Phenex, what you are asking for, and what you are prepared to do yourself once you have an answer. Learning and writing both require your own work after the working, and a petition that asks for learning without study, or for verse without writing, is asking the working to do the part that only you can do. State the matter in one clear sentence. If you cannot, write it down, leave it overnight, and come back to see if it still reads true.
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 that is 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 you would 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.
Carrying, anointing, and working with the seal
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 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 you keep afterwards. For a writing working, in particular, it is worth deciding when you will wear the seal: while you write, while you study, or only during a formal working. Each choice is a different practice, and it is worth choosing deliberately rather than drifting into one.
There are several ways to work with a seal, specific to each seal and each working. You can hold it in your hands while you focus on the matter at hand. You can put it under a candle during a working. You can put oil on it, deliberately, naming the purpose in your own words. You can carry it with you, or wear it as a pendant, so that the working stays with you through the day. You can show it to the desired person, where that is part of your practice. Choose the way that fits the working you are actually doing, and do it deliberately, rather than doing all of them at once out of habit.
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 attention, and no closing, is not spirit work. The seal supports the work, it does not replace it. After a working, close properly, in whatever way your practice requires, and put the seal away in its proper place.
A simple working order, and a record that shows learning
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. Second, set out the seal, and any oil, incense, or candle you will use. Third, hold the seal, or anoint it, or place it under a candle, 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, sit quietly for a time and listen, rather than filling every moment with more words. Sixth, close the working properly, 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. For Phenex work, keep a second record as well: what you studied, what you wrote, and what you could actually do afterwards that you could not do before. That is the record that shows learning and writing, rather than a feeling about learning and writing. Note the seal itself in that record: when you wore it, when you put it away, whether you anointed it or placed it under a candle, and what you noticed on days when you carried it compared with days when you did not.
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. The seal is made for the work, blessed by Athena herself before it is sent out, and sent to you to use in your own practice. What follows from that practice, in terms of magical result, is yours to observe, not mine to guarantee. That wording is about magical result, not about delivery dates for a physical item.
Phenex cast seal pendant, 1 inch
A seal for Phenex should be a seal, not a picture of one.
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 Phenex, as a pendant, 1 inch, made for traditional Goetia work with Phenex, to be carried and worked with, not left in a drawer as decoration. I make no promise about what it will do for you, only that it is cast by hand, for this work.
If you want a Phenex seal made in this way, this is the one I offer: Phenex cast Daemon Demon seal pendant 1 inch, $108 CAD. View the product
Phenex incense and a Phenex oil are also offered for the same work, each $44 CAD, for use alongside a seal working where your practice calls for them.
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