I know I'm being too much of an elitist asshole on this forum, I don't think this accurately reflects my level of practice or the degree of my initiation, but I will do this again and proclaim that I don't believe that spirit work should ever be "simple". Again, people who went out of their way to memorize hebrew names, procure golden pentacles and ceremonial swords, sacrificial animals, incense etc, back when ebay wasn't even a thing, were not just fooling around because they were eager to part with their money under any pretext, in fact I'm certain that if they could do it they easy they they certainly would have done so. "Simple" spirit work is more popular now than ever, yet we don't see millions of John Dees, not even millions of Crowleys, instead we got "Hecate told me Lindsay is innocent" or "Mother Baphomet told me to procure and spread several terabytes of CSAM and then attack a school".
If somebody is looking for "simple" spirit work without golden pentacles or slaughtered goats, look into kardecian spiritism and it's afro-syncretic offshoots, though the later became more of a closed initiatory practice, but at least it's a system that is tested by time and still alive and quite active in some places of the world.
Some simple enough workings can be also performed with planetary and astrological spirits, after all we're all walking under the same sky and the stars shine for everyone equally (unless you live close to the North Pole, then astrology tells to you to "GET F----D" and starts messing around with your house grid), though when done properly it still looks more like Goetia or Quimbanda and less like "draw a symbol on a piece of paper". Arbatel is famous for being among the more simple and accesible grimoires, at least to those who don't have a seizure every time they hear "in the name of Jesus Christ" (I sadly happen to be one of those, but you may be luckier than I am).
@afflictedWanderer You raise a lot of good points and in the end, there is probably a balance that is struck between both sides of it. In the context of this thread, there is a difference between "simple" and "stupid". Most of the spirit work methods you mentioned or alluded to usually had safeguards and specific measures put into place in order to ensure that it worked out well for the occultist / practitioner. If you look into what was being discussed, it is abundantly clear that these are not present in the proposed method. It is really not much better than a Ouija board if we have to be honest and NO explanation was being offered despite multiple people critiquing this particular issue.
Outside of this thread's context, there is such a thing as "too simple" and "too complex" imho. "Too simple" looks something like this where there is barely any meat to the method and absolutely no measures to ensure that something specific is being called. You might agree with the old adage of "know what you are calling" and maybe even being able to banish what you call. At the very least, I think one needs to be able to understand what they are calling otherwise there is a lot of risk that is being introduced into the equation. In this case, you are simply saying "Hey, I'm available - first come, first served to whoever wants me!". And of course, there are no safeguards which is a completely separate discussion.
As for "too complex", this is where things become interesting. I do genuinely believe that the grimoires and other old manuscripts contain procedures that are far more complicated than they need to be. Effective modern magick should aim to whittle this down to the parts that contain the power and work. If you read through the Ars Goetia, you might see the various requirements for things such as the lion skin belt, the metals required for the various lamens for each spirit, the sword, etc. While it is true that using these aides can increase the power of an evocation, I am of the position that they are certainly not necessary or even accurate in some cases. In fact, some of these implements such as the lion skin belt and the lamen metals are based on planetary attributions that could be inaccurate if you consider a spirit's history. At least several of the "demons" of the Ars Goetia are bastardised versions of older gods / deities from preceding cultures, which might not even have the same planetary attribution or even a planet at all. We say, for example, that "Kings" are gold, "princes" are silver / tin, and so on, but these ranks little substance outside of the grimoire lineage when you dive into an individual spirit's historical roots. My point is saying that "complex" can quickly become unnecessary and a burden, depending on the situation. And even in the context of a specific system, such as the Ars Goetia system, the usual ceremonial aides are not truly necessary for powerful results - people do rituals outside of planetary windows and without the equipment all the time and get proper results safely.
What does end up being needed in the balance between simple and complex are the basic foundations for successfully and safely calling the spirit. In my eyes, first you need a method that allows you to call a specific spirit - at the very minimum a name or a sigil that they will respond to. In many cases, having some aides like a specific incense or doing the call in specific astrological windows can be very helpful especially for planetary spirits like the Olympic spirits. Then, you would need to have a method that has appropriate safeguards, which includes the first point of specificity mentioned earlier. But safeguards also include the potential use of "divine authority" or something like a guardian spirit to control the interaction. This could include the various ceremonial implements found in the grimoires, "innovations" such as using the Shem angels to help bind the Goetic spirit, or something else. The safeguards would also include measures to "banish" the spirit that you call in case if the situation gets out of hand. All of these SHOULD be included into a proper spirit work method in order to do the work safely and effectively. Note none of these safeguards need be disrespectful to the spirit either.
When you consider those elements, the basic method does become potentially a lot more complex. But if you take a look at certain modern works like "Demons of Magick", I do believe that modern authors can distill even safe / specific methods down into something that can take less than an hour to do. There is no need for a ritual to take 3+ hours to do end-to-end. In the end, the method should be simple enough to do in the modern world, with some effort, but also complex enough that you get the necessary safeguards and power to call the spirit over to you.
At least that is my take.
. There must be something exceptional and unique about my simple ritual? Proves my skill I guess...................................
