First and second-hand sources. In this case, that means that everything I write about is something I have actually attempted at the bare minimum. For example, I will not write about any demons that I have not invoked at least multiple times. Any other info will be cited when possible, but may also be "thing random person told me once that stuck with me forever".
As mentioned in the index, this site will be heavily UPG-focused. You are free to disregard any of the information I provide if it doesn't vibe with you. You are your own master.
Do I have to do [thing in ritual instructions/warning section]?
Treat everything here as "recommended". I'm not your mom. Just don't be surprised if something doesn't work as intended.
Are you [insert mental illness that is prone to psychosis]?
I have had drug and insomnia-induced temporary psychotic breaks, but none of my mental illnesses cause psychosis unprompted. At my request I have been given antipsychotics before, and they don't inhibit my ability to do magic or do meditation sessions with entities, which is partially why I am unconcerned with this being some delusion. I am also regularly checked out by a psych because I have paranoia about going off the deep end and things seem to be OK.
You also have to remember when I talk about things like summoning spirits, a lot of it is a mental game, such as seeing them in your mind's eye, having meditation visions or lucid dreams with them, using tarot cards or other tools to communicate, stuff like that. It's usually not literal hallucinations. If it turns out magic and spirits are fake and not real, then at the worst this is just flights of fancy in my imagination.
Do you actually believe in spirits/magic/etc?
Yes and no.
Contrary to the impression this site may give, I'm usually a pretty logical and skeptical person. I've just had way too many strange experiences in my life to not be open to the idea of something being out there. I'm under the impression that the "paranormal" is just something we can't accurately measure yet with human tools, unlike other things relating to science. (This is also why I'm so chill with it- if paranormal things do exist, then they need to be treated as "normal", because they are.)
Sometimes I believe in it wholeheartedly. Sometimes it's just psychodrama. Sometimes I don't believe in it at all but I act like I do, and then things come back to haunt me (literally). A lot of times when I interact with this stuff, it's because I'm doing it for fun and I'm very autistic about paranormal things.
But here's the thing: "Reality" doesn't really... Matter. Things are as real to you as you want them to be. If it's something you like doing, keep doing it. This applies both to believing in magic and doing it because you want to, and not believing in magic for your own sanity and just writing about it because you enjoy what-ifs.
What are your personal beliefs on god(s)?
IMO The only difference between a regular spiritual entity and a god is how powerful it is or if it has enough of a following/people venerate it as a god. If any of the above are true, it's a god. It's not a specific species of immortals or something. Any spirit can become a god, and there are multiple cultures where people can ascend when they die under certain circumstances and become gods or god-adjacent.
What are your personal beliefs on demons (where they come from, what they are, etc.)?
Short answer: They're just dudes. Kinda like djinn.
Long answer:
“Demons” are a classification of spiritual entity which basically consists of “anything the dominant religion of an area doesn’t like”. Outside of Abrahamic faiths, what counts as a demon can be a bit muddy. For example, kitsune may sometimes be translated as “fox demon” in English, but it’s obvious that they have a different connotation than how Christians think of demons.
With regards to Goetic demons and related entities, I think that “Hell” exists as some kind of astral realm where demons commonly reside, similar to how we think of the fairy world. I do not think that it is a world of eternal suffering meant for humans. If one goes there, it is temporary. My beliefs are influenced by dharmic and adjacent religions, so I believe there’s many different Hells, or perhaps layers of the same “Hell”.
A lot of demons have roots as other religion’s gods or other mythological beings that have been vilified, so I think at least some of these entities would have existed on some level with or without Christianity. (While there are some unique demons/devils from Judaism or Islam, many demons, such as most of the demons in the Ars Goetia (which in turn are rehashed from other sources), are of Christian invention.) They’re either playing along with the demon thing because they’re forced to or they like doing it. Who knows. I don’t really care.
That being said, I do also believe in fallen angels (as in, beings made by “God” that rebelled for various reasons) and the idea that at least some demons are fallen angels. All spirits come from somewhere in the end. When I talk about “demons” I am talking about the broadest general category, which is basically just whatever mainstream religion deems is inappropriate to work with. This includes fallens, but is not exclusively just about them.
I'm not here to tell you which ones are which, though, outside the few that may be blatantly obvious (it's commonly accepted that Astaroth is Astarte, for example). People will hear whatever they want to hear, and spirits will often tell people whichever they feel is advantageous to their situation. Some people think Satan is the Egyptian god Seth, others think that those people are delusional.
In my opinion, part of the reason this can be a gray area to work with is that many larger beings are not one singular being, but may have multiple aspects to them. This may present as having multiple faces, or the being may literally be a sort of hivemind or association of like-minded individuals acting as a singular entity. It is entirely possible that the version of Asmodeus that you summon is a bit different from the version other people summon, even if they are both “Asmodeus”. Even in common mythology, God splits his will into angels to act in his stead. You're just going to have to play along with whichever narrative is advantageous to you as well. Remember: is this a duck, or a rabbit?
Why did you start this project?
Short answer: There aren't a lot of non-judgemental modern resources on demons and other adjacent entities that are taboo to summon that aren't trying to tell you something or rope you into specific dogma that's just "Christianity but Darker" or blatant appropriation of exotified versions of Indigenous and Eastern Religions.
Long answer:
I read Mirta Wake’s Demonolator’s Handbook and I thought it sucked. This was, apparently, the final straw for me- the people recommending it dislike S. Connolly's books for her large amounts of UPG, but they were offering this garbage as a substitute? For a published work, it was full of spelling errors, and she makes mistakes a middle schooler would make when analyzing excerpts of the old grimoires. The thing that infuriated me the most, however, was the fact that there are a number of demons within the book where she clearly couldn’t be assed to actually talk to the demons long enough to figure out what to write about them- which was literally her one job.
In Dantalion’s entry, for example, she self-admits she kept the meeting brief because she was uncomfortable with his presence, and to pad out the entry she lists a bunch of little fun facts, like mentioning that a band was named after the demon. This style might sound weird, but the entire thing being a shitshow makes sense when you take into account that she apparently only took 6 months to write the book… On 100 demons. That’s less than 2 days per demon. (The reason for this is according to her, Lucifer didn't even let her work with any other demons until she decided to make this book.)
There’s some other stuff that irks me about her such as despite keeping up a facade of tolerance/acceptance as a mod for the subreddit just to keep the peace, some of her personal private opinions can be a bit concerning with regards to her UPG, and derogatory towards trans people and sex workers. She’s also a huge hypocrite (e.g. calling certain psychic reading services “scams” when she goes around and provides the same service to people, accusing godspouses of “spiritual bypassing” when she herself is a godspouse), and she’s overall just kind of pathetic and whiny when faced with any kind of criticism whatsoever. By the time you read this, maybe she's changed her stances on some things, but at the time of writing this, I could not recommend her books to people in good faith with the "author is actually a jackass combined with the fact that the books suck anyway" thing.
For the record: my annoyance isn’t counting the fact that I disagree with some of her core beliefs with regards to the spirit world. It’s pretty normal to butt heads with someone about this stuff eventually. I just don’t feel comfortable pointing people to her work with how she is as a person. I do, however, think her book is very convenient if you don't want to open up 3 different old books at once just to get the canon info about the demons inside, as she takes the time to copy the excerpts from the original Ars Goetia and any other relevant snippets from grimoires such as The Grand Grimoire. But that's really the most positive thing I can say about her book.