Alphecca, Mistress of the Labyrinth

Verily, from the Star Elpheia, the Bright One of the Dish, shall come forth the tinctures of the Bloodied Graal to lustrate the barbs of the tridentate stave. From the Rubescent Forge of Making to the Waste of Utmost Desolation, eclipsed ‘neath the Corpse-bird’s Wing, the path of star-born venoms shall be laid …
cast down from the Graal of the Night to the Circle of Earth.

– The Dragon Book of Essex

This post is not intended as an explanation of The Dragon Book of Essex or it’s rites. If you want that you can find it easily enough with Ctrl+f and your pirated document of choice.

I have been working The Dragon Book of Essex, a grimoire that uses veneration of the constellation Draco as a vehicle of transmission for the strain of traditional witchcraft known as the crooked path – for the past four years. I have been an avid backyard astronomer since childhood, taken college astronomy and astrophysics courses for fun, and when I camp it’s usually because something interesting is happening in the sky. I almost got hit by a car once because I was a bit too absorbed in star gazing and wandered into the road. What I am trying to say is that I am very enthusiastic about stars and looking at the night sky. All that yet I’ve never had the slightest bit of interest in Draco, dragon mythology, or any of it’s stars. I think part of the reason is that my favorite star, Vega, is a circumpolar star that once served as the celestial north pole – the exact mythic properties that gave Draco prominence in human history. Vega is a fascinating star to scientists and occultists alike and possibly the most well-studied star besides our sun, residing a mere 25 light years from our solar system. This is already appallingly wordy so the history and lore of Vega and the fixed stars discussed below will have to wait until another post but suffice to say there are a lot of stars I would rather work with.

Don’t mistake me – DBoE works with Draco for a reason and it works very well. This grimoire has completely altered my practice and I strive to perform it’s rites as accurately as is possible for a solitary practitioner. But pure orthodoxy is boring and I would even argue antithetical to this system. As such I have developed an interest in using DBoE’s ritual framework to work with other stellar spirits and a series of coincidences made it clear now is the time. Chumbley includes a small section regarding Draco’s sidereal analogs, intended as a guide for witches in the Southern Hemisphere who are unable to see the Northern circumpolar stars. It forms a rough guide for adapting the entire grimoire to other stars and is my primary source of inspiration for these experiments.

Though inclined to start with my favorite star, divination instructed me to start the Behenian astrolatry experiments with Alphecca (α Coronae Borealis), corresponding to Al Ghauzar – the Tail of the Dragon.

The fourteenth point of the Dragon-body, the Tail – Al Ghauzar, is aligned unto the star Elpheia or Alphecca – (α Corona Borealis). This star is know as ‘the Bright One of the Dish’ and may be seen as a sidereal eidola for the Cup, the Bloodied Graal filled with the nectars and poisons of Heaven. It may be interpreted as a point worthy of veneration in rites wherein the tinctures are drawn from the envenom’d tail of the Dragon – from the Phallus, or from the nectareous cup – the kteis. In this point the fourteen ways are focus’d and distilled; herein the Quintessence is revealed.

– The Dragon Book of Essex

An obvious place to start in retrospect. The serpent consumes it’s tail and thus is born again, new and yet the same. My mind wanders to the Charnel-ground of the Black Goat which has dominated my meditative practice for a while now and the course is set. Since I am flying somewhat blind I find it important to offset meditative-theurgic endeavors with physical sorcery as much as possible. According to Agrippa Alphecca’s nature is that of Venus and Mars and associated with topaz, rosemary, trefoil, and ivy. Chumbley concurs with the Venusian assessment and further assigns to Alphecca sapphires, copper, and azure fire, leaving the sabbatic sorcerer a fairly clear set of keys for entrance into Alphecca’s mysteries. To that end cross-seals from Viridarium Umbris were constructed of rosemary and other sympathetic materia while Alphecca was snared in the witch’s cord as she touched the horizon, ensuring the stellar spirit’s manifestation. The Field of Sorcerous Ferocity is cast and I begin my call.

I begin with Hallowing the Kingdom of Qayin and progress through the practice known as LATAN to the Illumination of Seven Skulls. As my shadow-bodies dance on the Field of thread and fire Alphecca winks heavy above us. Aberration must occur here if we are to enter the celestial palace of the Hanged Nymph so deviate we must and deviate we do. The star’s sigil burns in blinding blue-white fire as an modest azure pyramid materializes from the void. The constellation of shadows enters and it is clear the exterior of this place has no bearing on size. Internally it is larger than I can possibly imagine. Narrow stone stairs descend for miles into murky twilight beyond which stretches an iridescent desert. A crystalline labyrinth extends through the desert almost as far as the eye can see. It morphs into glittering wind-blown sand dunes then back again under two massive blue stars. The stars hang low and heavy over the desert, bathing everything in a beautiful blue light. There is no mistaking it – there are no other celestial bodies here.

One star behind me, one star ahead, the labyrinth between. I am many kinds of fool but I am not the kind who enters a maze of shifting sands blindly so I turn my attention to the star behind me. Or try anyways. Each time I turn around the labyrinth and it’s small star are in front of me and the large star remains behind and I can walk towards neither. The usual tricks are useless and I feel a rising sense of frustration. The orbital shadows demonstrate such an obvious solution to this problem that I can’t help but laugh. Finally I am able to orient myself to the large star and begin my supplications to the twinkling nymph. I offer my proposal to which she is amiable and I am given what I request.

We coalesce and return, noting effects immediately occurring. Even better than we hoped, then. I hurriedly gather the spell’s material components and fashion it into a rough fetish. This will be the locus of veneration and an aid in further evocation of the Mistress of the Labyrinth.

Information regarding the stellar spirits themselves forthcoming

---

Intercessor of the Crooked Path, let this Prayer be as Thine own …
to lead all in backward procession to the secret lair of Azhdeha!

– The Dragon Book of Essex