Working with Stolas: astronomy, herbs, stones, and a seal worn close

Stolas, and knowledge that is learned by looking

In the Grimoire Companion entry, Stolas is a Prince who teaches astronomy and the virtues of herbs and precious stones. Those three subjects give this article its shape, and they belong together in a particular way: all three are learned by looking closely, over time, at things that do not hurry for you. Astronomy is learned by watching the sky night after night, and noticing what returns and what changes. Herbs are learned by handling plants through seasons, and noticing what grows where, and when. Stones are learned by handling them, noticing weight, colour, and cut, and keeping them over years rather than days. Start by naming which of the three this working is about. Write it in one clear sentence: the star, planet, or sky question; the herb and its virtue you are studying; or the stone and what you seek to understand about it. If you cannot write that sentence, you are not ready to begin, and that pause is part of the work, not a delay in it.

It is worth being honest about the difference between collecting names and learning virtues. A list of herb names, or stone names, or star names, memorised quickly, is not knowledge of their virtues. Virtue, in this tradition, means what a thing does, how it behaves, and how it is properly used, and that is learned by handling and observing, not only by reading. Be specific about the one herb, stone, or sky matter this working is about, and about what you will actually observe. If you work in the Goetia system, work from the instructions and teaching you already follow in that system. A general article like this one is not a substitute for proper teaching, and it should not be used to invent a purpose for a spirit you have not studied.

Why a seal, and why wear it

A seal is not a picture of a spirit. In this kind of work it is a working object: something you hold, carry, and return to, so that the purpose of the working stays present in ordinary life and not only on the night you first take it up. A pendant seal has a particular use here. A seal kept in a drawer is easy to forget. A seal worn around the neck is with you when you step outside to look at the sky, when you handle herbs in the garden or the workroom, and when you sort stones at the desk. That closeness is the point. The seal does not observe for you. It keeps you in mind of what you set out to learn, at the moments when haste, distraction, or the temptation to guess would otherwise take over.

There are several plain ways to work with a seal, and they suit different days. You can hold it in your hands while you think through the question you are studying, letting the weight slow you down before you reach for an easy answer. You can put it under a candle during a working, so that the working has a clear centre and a clear time. You can put oil on it, if your practice calls for anointing, marking it for the purpose you have named. You can carry it with you through the day, or wear it as a pendant, so that it is present for the ordinary hours of looking and handling where this learning is actually done. Each of these is a way of keeping the same purpose in view, not a different working each time. Choose the form that fits the day, and keep the purpose the same.

How this 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, which is much higher quality than the three-dimensional printed versions, using metal powder and plastic, that you find around the internet. That distinction matters in practice, not as a luxury, but as a matter of attention. A cast seal has weight, a clean edge, and a surface that takes handling outdoors and at a desk. It is made to be held and worn, not only looked at. They are pictured as just discs here, and you can get them like this if you prefer, but a bail is either cast onto them or soldered on, depending on the metal used, so you can use the seal as a pendant. This pendant is one inch across, a size that sits comfortably worn, and is easy to carry into the garden, the workroom, or out under the sky.

Listed options take approximately two to three weeks, and the ones which are not listed but are under the other option take eight weeks. That waiting time is worth planning around. Use the weeks to choose the one herb, stone, or sky matter this working is actually about, to gather the books and materials you will need, and to decide what observations you will record. When the seal arrives, you will already know what it is for, and you will not be starting from a blank page.

Preparation: the matter, the place, and the record

Preparation in this kind of work is not decoration. It is how you get yourself into a state where you can look carefully, and notice what you would otherwise miss. Start with the matter. Write it in one sentence, and write what you will observe in one sentence as well: what you will watch in the sky, what you will handle and note about the herb, or what you will compare about the stone. Leave them overnight. Come back and see if they still read true. Then prepare the place where you will do the observing: a spot outside where the sky is actually visible, a workroom where herbs can be handled cleanly, or a desk where stones can be laid out and compared without being knocked about. If you have a regular working place, 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 in the ordinary ways that mark a time as set apart: 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, and for observation it is the main tool, because a tired eye guesses, and a clear eye notices. Know what you are going to say in a petition, in your own words, and know what you are not going to say. A petition that tries to cover every herb, stone, and star at once usually covers none of them well. Keep it direct, keep it honest, and keep it to the matter at hand.

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. First, prepare the matter and the observation, each in one sentence, and set out your books and materials. Second, hold the seal, or put it under a candle if your practice calls for that, and read those sentences back to yourself, slowly. Third, anoint the seal with oil if your practice calls for anointing, naming the purpose in your own words. Fourth, observe for a set time, with the seal worn or carried, looking, handling, and noting, rather than reading about the matter from a book alone. Fifth, write down what you observed, in plain language, separating what you saw from what you inferred. Sixth, close the working properly, in whatever way your practice requires, and put the materials away in their proper place.

Afterwards, keep a record that is worth returning to: date, matter in one sentence, observation made, and what you noticed over days and weeks, not just on the night itself. For astronomy, that means dates, sky conditions, and what was actually visible, not only what a chart said should be there. For herbs, that means season, place, handling, and change over time. For stones, that means weight, colour, and handling notes, kept consistently so that comparisons mean something. That record is what lets you tell, months later, whether you have actually learned a virtue, or only collected a name. Do not throw early notes away in embarrassment. They are how you learn what you actually observed, as opposed to what you thought you should have observed.

Observation, patience, and honest limits

All three of Stolas's subjects reward patience, and they punish haste in the same way. A sky watched once, in cloud, tells you little. A herb handled once, out of season, tells you little. A stone looked at once, in poor light, tells you little. What tells you something is return: the same sky, the same plant, the same stone, observed again and again, under different conditions, with notes kept each time. A working for Stolas should be judged by those ordinary marks: a record that grows steadier, observations that become more precise, and questions that become narrower and better framed, rather than broader and vaguer. If, after weeks of work, you can describe the matter more precisely than you could at the start, that is progress worth recording, even if the subject is not mastered.

Sometimes the right answer is not a spirit working at all. If the difficulty is a lack of materials, a book you have not read, or a skill you have not been taught, deal with that difficulty in the ordinary world first, or at the same time: get the book, find the observing spot, take the class, set the hours. Ritual work is not a substitute for observation itself, and it should not be used to avoid the looking and handling that the work requires. If you are unsure whether a working is appropriate, wait, ask a teacher you trust, or choose a simpler practice of regular observation first and see how that sits.

Keeping a record, and knowing when to stop

Keep a short record for each working: date, matter in one sentence, observation made, and what you noticed afterwards, over weeks and seasons, not just on the night itself. If nothing changes, that is also information. It may mean the matter was too broad, the timing or season was wrong, the work was not appropriate, or simply that the situation needs a different approach, including a different book, a different observing place, or a narrower question. 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.

Stolas seal pendant, one inch

A seal worn close keeps the purpose present where learning is actually done, under the sky, among herbs, and at the desk with stones.

This is a lost wax cast seal of Stolas, pure metal cast starting with a wax version, with a bail cast or soldered on so it can be worn as a pendant. It is one inch across. I make no promise about what it will do for you, only that it is cast by hand, for traditional Goetia work with Stolas, and not printed from metal powder and plastic.

If you want the seal for that work, this is the one I offer: Stolas cast Daemon Demon seal pendant 1 inch, $108 CAD. View the product

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