I mentioned recently that I got Jason Miller’s excellent “”Advanced Planetary Magic”, which, again, you should totally get, since it’s worth far more than the cost. It’s a collection of 49 short prayers or invocations to be used during different combinations of the planetary hours and days for different ends (so there’s a Moon/Saturn call to be done in an hour of the Moon on the day of Saturn, a Saturn/Moon call to be done in an hour of Saturn on the day of the Moon, etc.). As part of his goal to get this magic out in the world and practiced by the masses, Mr. Miller started up a project called The Crying of Calls 49, where people participate by calling out one of the calls each for 49 consecutive days in the proper hour for a given week. So, the first week is for the Moon calls, the second week for the Mercury calls, and so forth. I’m posting my results in the Facebook group for the project, but I also thought I’d share my results and experiences with you all as well. I won’t share what the Calls are or what they’re for, since you should go buy the ebook and find out for yourself, but the astute among you will figure it out.
This past week, Monday 7/15 through Sunday 7/21, we did the calls to Mercury. Below are my experiences and thoughts:
7/15: Mercury/Moon
Didn’t have much time for prep due to being jolted out of trace-practice-turned-nap. Happily, I already had the candle and incense set out and I have the Orphic Hymn to Mercury memorized, so I hopped right on that: lit the candle, lit cinnamon and jasmine incense, invited the powers and presence of Mercury down with the Hymn while visualizing Mercury’s glyph orange on purple, intoned A-E eight times while drawing out Mercury’s sigil a kind of shifting bronze-pewter on purple, then called out the Call eight times. Inhaled the sigil, thanked Mercury, and closed out.
I’m sure I’d've gotten more out of this if I had the time for prep, but being sufficiently out of it works just as well, too. This is a very smooth feeling, like being reassured at a doctor’s office, or a light being shone into a dark hallway to dispel worries; still, reassuring though it is, it’s still making me feel vulnerable, even if just to myself. It’s a comforting light-in-darkness feel, and I’m thinking that the Orphic Hymn to Terrestrial Hermes might have been a better fit. Even though this is a secondarily lunar call, that clarity that last weeks’ calls had is replaced by something a little more active, a little more “buzzy”, a little more circulatory. Like, not gonna lie, I’m not a terrible fan of this Call. It feels almost confessorial or apologetic; “wallowing” is too despondent or helpless a word, but it’s close. That Mercurial buzz helps in linking things together without things getting overwhelming, but it’s still more emotional than logical.
7/16: Mercury/Mars
Did the Mercury/Mars call in the second hour of Mercury today. Opened up with a short Sevenths-calling, lit a candle with some pine and cinnamon incense, then called upon Mercury’s presence with the Orphic hymn, visualizing his glyph orange on red. I called out O-E eight times, drawing out Mercury’s sigil bronze-pewter on red, then made the Call eight times. Closed out as normal, inhaling the sigil.
Unlike last night’s call, this really only keeps that familiar Mercurial “buzzing” (which I expect to be this week’s leitmotif. The incense was sharp, and the sigil visualization seemed sharp as well, as if it was barbed or bladed on its “edges”. I certainly feel a sort of power focused in the head and mind, and my vision’s somewhat…alert, or my head’s somewhat burning (in a non-threatening, entirely subjective way). Alert, wary, decisive, vigilant might all be good words to describe this feeling; combined with this vague sense of plucking strings, as in a web or on puppets, this could definitely be a strategist’s call.
7/17: Mercury/Mercury
Did the Mercury/Mercury call a bit different from the normal setup. I have an altar dedicated to Hermes, with the Qamea of Mercury and a statue of Hermes on it, so I focused my practice there after a full Sevenths-calling ritual. I lit two sticks of incense and a candle and called on Hermes, singing out both Orphic Hymns for him as well as a prayer I wrote him myself. I gave him thanks for being my patron and guide, then called on him to aid me in the ritual at hand for the Planetary Calls; I intoned E eight times, visualizing the sigil of Mercury in bronze on orange, then made the Call eight times. I inhaled the sigil, thanked the god, and closed out.
Man, I miss this kind of buzz; mercurial energy’s one of my favorites. The sigil appeared much more fluid but no less present in my mind, and seemed to flow much more easily when I inhaled it. The buzz off this is like being plugged in to a power outlet, or being connected into a huge network through a dozen or more plugs around the body Matrix-style. My mind isn’t necessarily racing, but it is definitely…bigger, like I have eyes and ears in distant places, monitors or sensors if you will. Circulation-like flows of energy, too, but in the sense of circuits and less water currents.
7/18: Mercury/Jupiter
Made the Mercury/Jupiter call under my breath earlier today in my cubicle in the first hour of Mercury: quietly intoned Y-E eight times while picturing the sigil of Mercury brass on blue, then made the call eight times. Got a good buzz off it for the rest of the day, and I noticed that my requests and emails got through a lot faster than they normally do in the office.
Redid the call once I got home in the second hour of Mercury. Cleansed and performed a full Sevenths-calling ritual, lit a candle with some cinnamon and cedar incense, then called upon Hermes-Mercury with the Orphic Hymns while picturing his glyph orange on blue. I intoned Y-E eight times while visualizing the Mercury sigil brass-on-blue, then made the Call eight times. I inhaled the sigil, thanked Hermes, and ended the ritual.
This is a nice buzz: pleasantly airy and cool around me, like being on a tower (a typical image of Jupiter for me), yet active and energetic at the same time. The sigil of Mercury seemed more like tin- or silver-brass, adorned or embellished like filigree (richness of Jupiter, detail of Mercury?). I feel not unlike a high-class courier or mailman, able to deliver my own messages as well, and that feeling of connectedness from last night’s Mercury/Mercury call feels much more stable instead of buzzing around short-circuiting itself.
7/19: Mercury/Venus
Made the Mercury/Venus call in the first hour of Mercury in the early morning. I prepared using my normal morning ritual routine including a full Sevenths-calling, lit a candle with cinnamon and rose incense, and called on Mercury using the Orphic Hymn to Hermes (just the celestial one, not the terrestrial one), visualizing his glyph orange on green. I intoned H-E eight times, visualizing Mercury’s sigil pewter-on-green, then made the call eight times. I inhaled the sigil, thanked Hermes, and ended the ritual.
Oddly, this time the sigil didn’t inhale properly; I inhaled it at first, but then it kinda “reformed” around me into a kind of frame covering me, which I suppose is fitting for a glamour invocation. It’s a very peaceful, relaxed feeling, with the buzz of Mercury significantly toned down; it seems like Venus’ influence is stronger here, but they mix together so well it may be hard to tell them apart. It’s a very slick, easy-going, smooth influence, and feels like I’m wearing a high-quality suit or something (even though I was still in my pajamas this morning). The day went by, too, and everyone’s mood, sour as they were when the day started, went up steadily around me.
7/20: Mercury/Saturn
Due to an extremely busy day, I only had a brief moment in my car during a trip to IHOP in the early morning hour of Mercury on Saturday for the Mercury/Saturn call. Intoned Ω-E eight times while visualizing the sigil of Mercury pewter on black, then made the call eight times. Felt a similar kind of righteous payback as I did with the Luna/Saturn call, but it was more like a geek’s revenge being played out from behind a computer desk (Mercury’s influence). Breathed in the sigil, but then sent it outwards directed to a general “all who would oppose, block, hinder, or harm me”.
7/21: Mercury/Sun
Same pattern as always: opened up with a quick Sevenths-calling ritual, candle, cinnamon and frankincense incense, Orphic Hymn to Hermes, Mercury glyph orange on yellow, intoned I-E eight times, Mercury sigil bright burnished brass on yellow, made the call eight times, inhaled the sigil, and made thanks to the god.
This is a very still, subtle, almost unnoticeable effect; things just seem very still and quiet. I recognize this as being one of the hallmarks of the Sun in my work: a perfect, still, immutable clarity in the things around me. Yet, that little buzz gives everything both a solar brightness and a mercurial edge, all directed inwards, like light shining into a dark server room at the same time the servers are all booting up. It’s weird, but I feel this strong light shining from deep within me, between the solar plexus and heart chakra, shooting upwards instead of downwards into me from above (as is normal when I work with the Sun). I like this, but it’s hard to describe in too many words. Perhaps the wordiness of Mercury is still kept inwards, but from somewhere less accessible than it’d normally be.
