[Help] Slavic Demon Summoning materials

[dema354]

Across several cultures it is undeniable that there exists an ideal that various spirits exist. Some are said to be benevolent, others ambient unless disturbed and in some cases outright malicious. While not all cultures label malign spirits as demons/devils, for the purpose of answering this thread we shall define a demon as such:

A spiritual or otherwise paranormal entity who defaults to malice preferably both to their environment and unto others. Here malice shall be understood to mean the intentional inflicting of harm for the sake of causing suffering without consent nor any regards as to whether it may lead to a spiritual awakening of sorts. Now with these criteria set into place, let's begin with our premise.

As someone who has both studied and practiced a bit of Goetia I am quite aware that in antiquity there are some materials which are said to be attractive to demons. To them it's not that belief and consecration makes it so but rather that these materials are said to make it easier for one to gather them and to find favour with them in so much as they are able. Now, as an indie developer I sometimes like to incorporate some of my learnings and while I have already included a part which includes a couple of bona fide summoning rituals from various manuscripts of magic including the materials used and their preparation, I would also like to introduce the concept of Slavic demon summoning and perhaps even an authentic ritual or rather an experiment for summoning one. As such here are my questions:

1. What are some stones which are often said to a key component used in plenty of various Slavic Demon summoning rituals primarily as a way to beckon them, to gather them as such? Alternatively if the stones are used to gain favour aside from banishing them that works as well.

2. What are some herbs which are often said to a key component used in plenty of various Slavic Demon summoning rituals primarily as a way to beckon them, to gather them as such? Alternatively if the herbs are used to gain favour aside from banishing them that works as well. Additionally this question may also include various plant and fungal matter.

3. What are some toys which are often said to a key component used in plenty of various Slavic Demon summoning rituals primarily as a way to beckon them, to gather them as such? Alternatively if the toys are used to gain favour aside from banishing them that works as well.

Please cite your sources.

 

[HoldAll]

We have some books on Slavic magic in the Library, also one specifically on Balkan witchcraft; additionally, @Baranova Alya has made some good postings on Slavic witchcraft, for example this one.

I don't think there is much material on demon summoning in folk magic in general because in that paradigm, demons are seen as unequivocally hostile and evil beings that need to be banished and exorcised on sight, e.g. in case of possession or illness, or propitiated to prevent them from causing people harm. The only exceptions I can think of is when pagan spirits or gods were labelled as demons by the Church but were secretly revered at a peasant/serf level as in Brazilian Candomblé, or folktales about making pacts with the devil. However, what I can remember from Natasha Helvin's "Russian Black Magic: The Beliefs and Practices of Heretics and Blasphemers" is that Russian folk practitions often quite overtly rebelled against the Orthodox Church and may have practiced demonic magic although I don't recall any descriptions of the specific techniques and rituals they used.

 

[dema354]

We have some books on Slavic magic in the Library, also one specifically on Balkan witchcraft; additionally, @Baranova Alya has made some good postings on Slavic witchcraft, for example this one.

I don't think there is much material on demon summoning in folk magic in general because in that paradigm, demons are seen as unequivocally hostile and evil beings that need to be banished and exorcised on sight, e.g. in case of possession or illness, or propitiated to prevent them from causing people harm. The only exceptions I can think of is when pagan spirits or gods were labelled as demons by the Church but were secretly revered at a peasant/serf level as in Brazilian Candomblé, or folktales about making pacts with the devil. However, what I can remember from Natasha Helvin's "Russian Black Magic: The Beliefs and Practices of Heretics and Blasphemers" is that Russian folk practitions often quite overtly rebelled against the Orthodox Church and may have practiced demonic magic although I don't recall any descriptions of the specific techniques and rituals they used.

Noted. Thank you for the information.

Yeah, I figured it would be unlikely there would be much information, if at all pertaining to the summoning and gaining favor of demons as defined in the first post of this thread. I did find one demon prince from Natasha Helvin's "Russian Black Magic: The Beliefs and Practices of Heretics and Blasphemers" who does fit the bill so I might incorporate them somewhere as a reference.