Nicole Explains It All

Hi Followers of Fringe!

It’s Hump Day and what does that mean for us magical folks? Well, the esoteric significance and associated rituals for Wednesday are traditionally governed by the influence of the planet Mercury, emphasizing intellect, communication, and adaptability within ceremonial magic traditions.

Esoteric Significance of Wednesday

Wednesday is universally linked to the planet Mercury, which infuses the day with distinct powers and characteristics, as codified in foundational esoteric texts.

Planetary Dominion and Attributes

• Rulership: Wednesday is ruled by Mercury.
• Core Concepts: Mercury is the planet of intellect, communication, and commerce. Wednesday is consequently considered ideal for intellectual pursuits, travel, artistic expression, conducting meetings, signing contracts, and engaging in any form of communication. It also favors achieving eloquence, divination, and promptitude in business.
• Qabalistic Correspondence: In Hermetic Qabalah, Mercury is associated with the Sephirah Hod (Splendor or Majesty), which governs reason, logic, and intellect.
• Associated Zodiacal Signs: Mercury is traditionally linked to the signs Gemini and Virgo.

Spiritual Hierarchy and Manifestation

The governance of Wednesday is overseen by a specific hierarchy of spiritual entities.

• Primary Ruling Angels (Archangels): The day is chiefly governed by the angel Raphael, along with Miel and Seraphiel. Raphael is also identified as the Angel of the Air ruling the day.
• Planetary Spirits (Intelligence and Spirit): The planet Mercury is associated with the Intelligence Tiriel and the Spirit Taphthartharath (or Cochabiah/Cochabiel).
• Nature of Spirits: The spirits of Mercury are described as appearing in a body of “middle stature, cold, liquid and moist, fair and of an affable speech”. Their motion is likened to “silver coloured clouds”. They are also said to appear cold, with a color like water mixed with snow, causing the conjurer to be cold, or instilling “horror and fear” as a sign of their presence.
• Familiar Shapes: Mercurial spirits may manifest as a king riding upon a bear, a fair youth, a woman holding a distaff, a dog, a she-bear, or a magpie. They may also appear in human form, looking like an armed soldier.
• Fumigations: The appropriate fumigation for Wednesday is Mastic, though sources also mention frankincense, cloves, and the herb cinquefoil. In the dark tradition, sandalwood is used.

Planetary Hours on Wednesday

The specific influence of Mercury is strongest during its ruling hours. The planetary hours are unequal, determined by dividing the time between sunrise and sunset (day hours) or sunset and sunrise (night hours) into twelve equal parts.

• The first hour of the day (Yayn) on Wednesday is ruled by Raphael (Mercury).
• The planetary ruler then recurs approximately every seven hours. On Wednesday, the hours ruled by Raphael (Mercury) are the 1st and 8th hours of the day, and the 3rd and 10th hours of the night.

Spells and Rituals for Wednesday

Operations performed on Wednesday, particularly during the hours ruled by Mercury or its spirits, are intended to leverage the planet’s energies for communication, healing, wisdom, and intellectual matters.

I. Operations for Knowledge and Wisdom

The inherent intellectual influence of Mercury makes Wednesday excellent for gaining knowledge, revealing secrets, and improving mental faculties:

• Invoking Uriel (Angelic): Uriel is a spirit of Science and Virtue who revealed prophecy to Esdras and aided the Children of Israel. He should be invoked on Wednesday, before daybreak, to learn natural Sciences, Physic, and Medicine. His Sigil is used to purify the faculties of the Mind and Understanding, exalting them to perfection, and enabling the transmission of comprehension of Spirits.
• Invoking Raphael (Angelic): Raphael and his associated spirits may be called to reveal all earthly things past, present, and to come, teach decayed sciences, and render knowledge. They can also pacify judges and give victory in war.
• Invoking Samael (Angelic/Spirit of Counsel): Samael, who did not abandon Saint John in the desert, is invoked on Wednesday morning to teach Theology and protect preachers in missions among foreign nations.
• Necromancy/Divination (In Sleep): To obtain visions or information in a dream, one should perform the experiment on a Wednesday, under Mercury. The practice involves putting a paper inscribed with an orison (prayer) invoking the Holy Angels under the right ear before retiring.

II. Operations for Practical and Worldly Effects

• Acquisition/Trade: Mercury spirits possess the nature to give all Metals. The sigil associated with Raphael in the Grimoire of Armadel teaches the secrets of the Science of Merchants.
• Binding a Lover (Gypsy Magic): A common, albeit non-specific, love binding spell uses hair, red ribbon, and a cherry wood box, with the intention to bind thoughts of the loved one to the operator.
• Controlling a Demonic Spirit (The Grand Grimoire/Lucifuge Rofocale): The infernal minister Lucifuge Rofocale is specified in his pact to come and speak on Wednesday at midnight and at two in the morning.
• Invoking Astaroth (Demonic): In the Grimoire of Honorius, the demon Astaroth is invoked on Wednesday night, from ten to eleven o’clock, to obtain the good graces of the King and others. This requires performing a conjuration appealing to Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Holy Ghost, and Archangels.

III. Ritual Preparation and Implements

For operations performed on Wednesday, preparing the magical tools and timing is crucial:

• Planetary Instrument Creation: The baton (rod or staff) of the Art should be made from Hazel wood that has never borne fruit, cut with a single stroke on the day and in the hour of Mercury (Wednesday), at the Crescent Moon. The lancet needed for procuring blood for characters is also made in the day and hour of Mercury at the Crescent Moon.
• Pentacle Creation: A Pentacle may be taken or inscribed on parchment on the day and hour of Mercury, with the Moon increasing. This parchment should first have a Mass of the Holy Ghost said over it and be sprinkled with baptismal water.
• Preparation Materials: The appropriate perfume for Wednesday is Mastic.
• General Practice: When summoning spirits, the operator should be clean, pure, and chaste. Prayer, confession, and the reception of the Holy Communion are often prerequisites for working in ceremonial magic.

IV. Dark/Goetic Rituals

• Invoking Presidents of Goetia: The presidents of the Goetia are associated with Mercury (Hod/Samael Qlipha) and Wednesday. These spirits include Marbas, Buer, Botis, Marax, Glaya-Labolas, Foras, Gaap, Malphas, Haagenti, Caim, Oso, Avnas, Zagan, and Volac.
• Drawing the Sigil: To work with Mercury’s power for effects like divination by dreams, the seal should be drawn in the hour of Mercury. For general evocation, seals and names of spirits are typically drawn on virgin parchment or written on clean paper. In the specific case of the Ars Paulina, the seal of an angel of the hour (like those of Wednesday’s hours) is constructed based on the character of the planet ruling the ascendant of the astrological chart for that hour.
• Purification: For black magical work, the most effective purification is often performed using the magical fire, visualizing standing in a burning fireball to consume negative energies.