How I integrate pentacle work with other forms of magic

Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2024

Recently a friend gifted me some planetary pentacles for Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. I was intrigued at the opportunity to work with the pentacles and also inspired to integrate them with other magical process and experiments I’m currently working on. In the past I’ve found that the pentacles have been useful tools for focusing planetary energies in my magical work as well as setting up specific passive magical workings that are activated as needed.

In my initial working I decided to work with two Uranian pentacles that helped inspire creativity. I set them up in conjunction with a folkloric magical working using three sticks in a pattern that’s designed to create focus. That very evening I was going through a class and I found myself feeling very creative and focused on how I could apply the learnings from that class. I started implementing some of the ideas and felt a sense of deep awareness around how the specific application pentacles, mixed with another form of magical could be used to inspire specific states of being and awareness.

In the picture above is another working, this time with a Venusian pentacle for love, as well as a Uranian pentacle for time work, a Uranian pentacle for creative balance and a Neptunian pentacle for power. Three sticks are being used for several purpose. The initial configuration of the sticks is focused on enhancing scrying work that is done for the purposes of connecting across time with younger versions of the self, or with ancestors, or other people. Once the connection has been made the sticks are changed to another pattern to enhance the work with the pentacles. The mirror and flame are used to focus the attention of the magician in a trance state that can then be applied to interface with the pentacles.

picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2024

In this example above the tree sticks have been put into a pattern of a star. The star creates a focal point above the Venusian pentacle, drawing in the other pentacles, while also aligning the spirits attributed to each stick to aid with the scrying and in this case spacetime magic being worked with. The star serves to both amplify and focus the overall intent and energy of the work so a connection can be made to a past self with the intention of doing self love as a form of healing for the person being worked with AND with the ancestors. The healing work is around the specific traumatic patterns that are existent in both the person and their ancestors. The approach here is driven by a desired result to heal the person and extend that healing into the past while also breaking the traumatic patterns for future generations.

Combining different techniques and systems of magic can be a delicate piece of work, because the original context of the respective techniques and systems is that typically they weren’t intended to be combined with other techniques or systems. The question that always comes to mind for me is: Can I combine multiple techniques/systems in a way that either creates a new magical working or enhances an existing one?

The purpose of the working is another important factor to consider. The purpose of this working involves using scrying to connect with a past self and then applying changes to both myself as I am now and my younger self so I can do healing around trauma, while also sending that healing into the past via the ancestors. The pentacles applies planetary influences, while the folkloric magic calls in the ancestors as well as animal/plant and faerie allies to aid in the process of connecting with the past and healing the trauma. The work is also carried to the future, to future generations to promote peace and harmony in the world. At the same time, I use the pentacles, scrying mirror and candle, and the folkloric magic to also call in that same peace and harmony to the world now. My thought is that this work can apply across time and that through personal healing, using homeopathic principles, it can create a ripple effect in the larger continuum of humanity.

This is part of a larger work I’ll be continuing to work on. It is also my continued experimentation with Scrying beyond what I’ve shared in my book Scrying the Divine.

The latest podcast interviews I've been on

I have been getting interviewed a lot lately, both solo, and with my magical mate Joanna Brook and I thought I would share them.

I was interviewed twice by Chaos Vibrations. In the first interview we discuss living a magical life and in the second interview we talk about my newest book Scrying the Divine.

Joanna and I were interviewed by Vic Hyland about creativity, divine inspiration, poetry and cutup magick.

Joanna and I were also interviewed by the Knights of the Nephilim about mediumship, spirit work and magick.

My ongoing experiments with scrying

I discuss my ongoing experiments with scrying, my upcoming book Scrying the Divine and share how this work is helping me refine my spirit work.

Sensory over stimulation and scrying

Image courtesy of Taylor Ellwood 2023

I've been continuing to experiment with scrying using a combination of tools for the purposes of overstimulation. For this particular process I've been working with Andras and Haures, two of the daemons from the Goetia. The initial process has involved setting the sigil for the given daemon up so its between a candle and the black mirror I have set up. I evoke the daemon using the enn for it and then stare at the at the mirror through the candle flame...but set up an optical illusion so that it seems like the candle is doubled in appearance.

I also have been filming these sessions live on instagram and I have the camera propped up so its directed at the flame. The camera creates a halo effect with the flame which can also be used for scrying purposes. I use it as an additional layer of sensory overstimulation. I'm chanting the enn, looking at the candle and mirror and then sometimes scrying via the instagram live video.

Further Scrying Experiments

I took a little break from my scrying experiments because of a weekend trip I took where I did a lot of intense shadow work. I knew I needed to make time to integrate that work back into myself and that doing scrying work on top of that work wasn't a good idea.

But on Saturday night I decided I as ready to start the scrying experiments up again. This time I chose to work with Goetic Daemon Andras, around helping me release and let go of some fear I'd been feeling and to help me also get to the core of that fear.

I chose to evoke Andras via a candle and the black mirror. I also recorded a video of the scrying via Instagram, in part to set up the phone recording as another version of the scrying. What I've noticed is that when I record the scrying, it actually creates an intriguing effect with the candle, where the light of the candle creates a sphere of light in the recording that can also be used for scrying.

Sound baths and audio magic scrying experiments

image copyright Taylor Ellwood

I have been continuing to experiment with scrying, and I recently decided to switch from candles and mirrors to using modern technology.

My initial experiment was inspired by a Gong ceremony I attended. The Gong ceremony put me into a deep state of altered awareness and I ended up experiencing a sensation of time dilation. It was a deeply fascinating experience and it prompted me to consider how I could attempt to replicate the conditions of a sound bath, while using my black mirror and a candle for scrying.

What I did was set up a cd player with two speakers so that one speaker was to the left of me and the other was to the right. I then picked out music that would be helpful for stimulating the mind via biaurnal beats and soundscapes. I used music from Coil, Rapoon and The Anti Group Collective. I played the music and then lit the candle and proceeded to do my usual scrying, but with the music creating a sound batch effect for the purposes of deeper states of altered consciousness.

What I found is that with the right music I definitely achieved a deeper state of altered awareness which led to more visions and experiences via scrying, both for behavior alteration and spirit work. I then decided to move on to another experiment...

Scrying for changing behavior

Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2023

Sometimes the reason you want to scry is because you want to change a specific behavior. 

For example, you become aware of a behavior you do that sabotages your interactions with other people. You aren't sure how to change it. 

Scrying may be just the right tool you could use for the purpose of behavior alteration. 

Why?

The act of scrying opens us to the experience of using fascination to draw us into the underlying narrative that informs the behavior and it provides us a ways of changing that behavior, because we use scrying to change the narrative. 

The key though is to create the experience of fascination via the scrying tools you are working with. And there's a hidden component to this as well.

Scrying for spirit Communication

Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2023

One of the ways I like to work with scrying is with spirit communication.

I already have a strong connection to spirits, having always had a natural proclivity toward communicating with them, but what I'm finding with scrying is that this proclivity is further enhanced when working with the right tools.

In my case, the right tools are a combination of candles and black mirror, along with sometimes using additional tools including a pendulum, Tarot, or cowrie shells for divinatory purposes.

I'll also work with specific spirits around specific themes or areas of interest. In the picture above I have a sigil for the goetic spirit Camio that I'm working with for the purposes of enhancing my skills with candle magic and scrying through flame work.

My Experiments with Scrying

Last year I took a class on Scrying taught by Harper Feist. It was a fascinating course that explored the sensory aspects of scrying in relationship to our senses.

Not just the five senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell, but also kinisthetic, thermal, and other more subtle senses all of us have access to, including of course the "psychic senses."

Since taking that course, I've been continuing to experiment with scrying and have made it a regular part of my practice.

Even before I took the class I had done some scrying with bowls of water and with a crystal globe, but after taking the class I added a couple of tools to my scrying practice. 

I bought a black scrying mirror and I started adding candles to the mix in order to create a source of light.