The Fourteen Holy Helpers as Archetypes or Spirits?

[HoldAll]

The main goal of this thread is to forestall any discussion of Catholic saints as used in magic in my

Post automatically merged: Aug 22, 2024

Ok, once more, this time without clicking the wrong button: The main goal of this thread is to forestall any discussions of Catholic saints as used in magic regarding the two books on the Fourteen Holy Helpers I shared. My provisional plan proposes appropriating these saints (which I'm 'allowed' to do since I was raised a Catholic ), chaos magic-style, and basically turn them into spirits, or do some research to find out whether they aren't used as 'covers' in Vodou or Candomblé, for example, for other supernatural beings already, the reason for this transmogrification being that I'm somewhat allergic to the G-word and the Christian faith in general. What's more, it would be interesting to see if there is any system behind this grouping of saints - can they be somehow squeezed into traditional occult systems, like the planets or the chakras.

Just don't start calling that half-baked idea of mine stupid in my book thread, do it here instead .

 

[Sabbatius]

The only Saint in the lineup is St. George who may or may not have ever existed as he is the the Patron Saint Saint of multiple countries and is the Metaphorical Slayer of Dragons which translates to overcoming anything impossible. Other than this, none of the other Saints listed were a part of anything of that magnitude but were seen as intercessors for their reasons noted in the texts.

I am sure there are some references somewhere in some books to some of the Saints as a crossover to Vodou or Ifa, Candomble, Santeria, Hoodoo or whatever practice, but I would check the sources thoroughly. A lot of syncretism is UPG at best.

 

[HoldAll]

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The basic idea probably came from Damon Brand's 'Genii Prayer' in his "Magickal Protection" where he takes some suitable genii from the Nuctemeron of Apollonius of Tyana (as transmitted by Eliphas Levi) for his Master Protection Ritual. Catholic saints, however, should pack more of a punch than these obscure spirits, having been worshipped by millions of people for centuries.

What is interesting, for example, is that everyone of these saints (with the exception of St. Giles) was a martyr which I would rather rate as a sign of their power in my new system, not as proof of their stubborn strength of faith (which I couldn't care less about). The main thing is to remain flexible, for example in the case of St. Barbara - in the Catholic system she's female, of course, but according to Wikipedia, "In the Afro-Cuban religion of Santería, Barbara is syncretized with Chango, the deity of fire, lightning, and thunder. In Afro-Brazilian religions of Candomblé and Umbanda, she is often identified as Yansan, the orisha of wind and storms.", so she wouldn't conform to the traditional Christian female archetype at all - we got us a veritable thunder god here!!

Many car drivers had a blessed Christophorus medallion in their vehicles when I was a kid to protect them against accidents, so that sounds like a useful saint in modern times, too. He also protects against bubonic plague which is rather less urgent but can I turn him into an anti-Covid saint instead? I can already feel that research those saints will be fun even if nothing comes of it.

 

[Sabbatius]

The more I ponder the idea you wish to undergo on your endeavor, the more I realize it is pretty much practiced among the faith already, with Novena prayers instituted for whatever needs requested for the initial nine days of recitations are received, via the indulgence completed for the prayers. However you wish to tackled this to make it your own, by all means, capitalize! Butler's Lives of the Saints and other resources are at your disposal, all free online, good sir!