[Help] How many servitors etc do you maintain?

[pixel_fortune]

"etc" meaning spirit relationships that require ongoing management, eg offerings, active appreciation and attention, whether they're thoughtforms or not

I ask because I'm really hesitant to create new servitors, because I feel like I can't manage more than two or three at once, and actually remember to pay attention to them. Like how you shouldn't get a dog if you don't have time to walk it every day.

So it's gotta be for my three most important ongoing priorities

But people seem to create servitors for really trivial things, which makes me think they must have a LOT of them

Some of them will have short term purposes but generally the point of creating a servitor (rather than just a sigil) is for longer term purposes.

How does that work? Do most people not do anything for servitor/spirit maintenance, and just assume spirits will keep doing their job regardless

 

[Mannimarco]

How do you prioritise, and decide what servitors to create, given how much work it takes? Like, you can't be doing it on a whim every time an idea comes into your head, because you can come up with ideas for servitors a lot faster than you can empower them. When do you say "that servitor would be nice, but I don't have the time right now"?

I have three types, healing, protection/attack, and multipurpose. I have quite a number of each, especially the multipurpose. They can all work together to make new servitors on thier own now, and their servitors benefit from everything I've put into the original ones so far. So I'm not coming up with new ideas per se, more like adding troops to an existing system. It does take time, and can't be rushed.

 

[pixel_fortune]

That's really interesting, thank you!

 

[HoldAll]

Have you looked into the PGM concept of the paredros? It's supposed to be an omnipotent super-servitor for all occasions. I don't think it's really feasible to actually create one (you'd probably end up with some sort of familiar at best) but I must admit the idea is enticing.

Post automatically merged: Jan 12, 2024

There is a learned and freely available (researchgate.net) paper called "Divine Epiphanies of Paredroi in the Greek Magical Papyri" by Eleni Pachoumi in case you're looking for some scholarly information.

 

[Rowena]

...I thought I'd narrow it down to just long-term relationships, which surely everyone agrees requires some maintenance...

Yes. All long-term 'spirit relationships' require some time and effort, but the exact nature determines the amount and type of the time & effort - in my experience free-willed spirits like land wights don't require the kind of active oversight that a servitor or bound-spirit would, but can require more frequent passive contact in order to maintain a good working relationship.

...So my question was: how many spirit relationships are you able to maintain at one time? and how do you prioritise when you're at the limit of how many you can give an appropriate amount of attention to?

How many? in my case at the moment: 3 land-wights, 2 other free-willed spirits, 3 multi-use servitors, 11 single-task operative servitors:
The operative servitors are essentially zero-maintenance, but occasionally need to be replaced due to burn-out.
The multi-use servitors get a frequent, but brief check to make-sure they are on-task, with a more involved interaction on a weekly to monthly basis depending on exactly what I have them doing. Few last more than 3-5 years, so occasional replacements are also required.
The free-willed spirits get about 30-minutes per day between them, with longer interactions weekly. Depending on circumstances these can end up spiraling to much longer interactions, more frequent interactions, or both.
The land-wights take the most total time, simply because of the travel-time to their loci, but the actual regular interactions are generally brief - offerings & a brief chat just don't take that much time.

I don't find any of this interferes with living my life - the majority of the irregular interaction are quick-enough to be done after work, the regular ones at weekends, or as part of my morning or bedtime rituals, even the land-wights don't really intrude since most of my visits are done as part of a trip that includes my weekly shopping.

At this number - I don't need to prioritize, because it is easily within my ability to maintain.

How do you prioritise, and decide what servitors to create, given how much work it takes?

Practice.
I've been working with servitors and spirits for decades, and when I was younger I made all kinds of mistakes, and wasted time and effort creating servitors that were pointless, useless, unwise or otherwise a waste of time.
Now I plan things better, and think things through more before I even start designing a servitor.
Ultimately however, you will only learn how to create servitors that work for you by actually doing it, and you'll probably only find the number that works for you the same way I did - by creating too many, and having to cull them.

 

[Mannimarco]

@Rowena Have you discovered exactly why your multi use servitors last 3-5 years? What is it that causes them to "age", so to speak? My oldest servitors are about 3 now, and I would like to keep them as long as possible.

 

[Rowena]

...Have you discovered exactly why your multi use servitors last 3-5 years? What is it that causes them to "age", so to speak? My oldest servitors are about 3 now, and I would like to keep them as long as possible.

It isn't just a single factor that results in that lifespan:
Some are replaced when they run down, develop flaws, or otherwise begin to behave improperly.
Some are ablative by design, and eventually just dissolve.
Some are replaced with upgrades, or alternate/modified versions.
Some that I have sent out to do something and not returned.
Some have been gifted to other people.
In addition I've occasionally lost one because I've accidentally damaged it's material base.

 

[DemiGodBenson]

"etc" meaning spirit relationships that require ongoing management, eg offerings, active appreciation and attention, whether they're thoughtforms or not

I ask because I'm really hesitant to create new servitors, because I feel like I can't manage more than two or three at once, and actually remember to pay attention to them. Like how you shouldn't get a dog if you don't have time to walk it every day.

So it's gotta be for my three most important ongoing priorities

But people seem to create servitors for really trivial things, which makes me think they must have a LOT of them

Some of them will have short term purposes but generally the point of creating a servitor (rather than just a sigil) is for longer term purposes.

How does that work? Do most people not do anything for servitor/spirit maintenance, and just assume spirits will keep doing their job regardless

Here is a story for inspiration!

“”The eyes of Egyptian deities, although they are aspects of the power of the gods who own them, can behave as independent beings in

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, possibly because the word for "eye" in

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, jrt, resembles another word meaning "do" or "act". The presence of the

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suffix -t in jrt may explain why these independent eyes were thought of as female. The Eye of Ra, in particular, is deeply involved in the sun god's creative actions.

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””

“”The myth takes place before the

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, when the solar creator—either Ra or Atum—is alone.

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and

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, the children of this creator god, have drifted away from him in the waters of

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, the chaos that exists before creation in Egyptian belief, so he sends out his eye to find them. The eye returns with Shu and Tefnut but is infuriated to see that the creator has developed a new eye, which has taken her place. The creator god appeases her by giving her an exalted position on his forehead in the form of the

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, the emblematic cobra that appears frequently in Egyptian art, particularly on royal crowns. The equation of the eye with the uraeus and the crown underlines the eye's role as a companion to Ra and to the

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, with whom Ra is linked. Upon the return of Shu and Tefnut, the creator god is said to have shed tears, although whether they are prompted by happiness at his children's return or distress at the eye's anger is unclear. These tears give rise to the first humans. In a variant of the story, it is the eye that weeps instead, so the eye is the progenitor of humankind.

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The tears of the Eye of Ra are part of a more general connection between the eye and moisture. In addition to representing the morning star, the eye can also be equated with the star Sothis (

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). Every summer, at the start of the

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, Sothis's

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, in which the star rose above the horizon just before the sun itself, heralded the start of the

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, which watered and fertilized Egypt's farmland. Therefore, the Eye of Ra precedes and represents the floodwaters that restore fertility to all of Egypt.

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””
(

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)

 

[Mannimarco]

It isn't just a single factor that results in that lifespan:
Some are replaced when they run down, develop flaws, or otherwise begin to behave improperly.
Some are ablative by design, and eventually just dissolve.
Some are replaced with upgrades, or alternate/modified versions.
Some that I have sent out to do something and not returned.
Some have been gifted to other people.
In addition I've occasionally lost one because I've accidentally damaged it's material base.

I have had some servitors start behaving improperly, but I have a lot invested in them and am rather attached to them as well, and in every case so far I've been able to reprogram them. I've never had one fail to return when sent out, but I've always been worried about that. I always send them out in groups, and there is always a warrior with every group.

 

[Roma]

My car that I have owned for 3 decades is finally giving up. It had a very cooperative nature spirit. If the car had to break down it would do that in the most convenient places imaginable. The nature spirit managed the elementals of the car.

So just managed to get to the target car dealer with head gasket going. I found a nice used Mazda that is almost ready for delivery.

I noticed after I got home, in a loan car, that the nature spirit of my ancient Mazda has moved over to the chosen car without my even having thought about that.

The nature spirit is very pleased with the new car.

When the variable valve timing engine was revved hard, the radiation from the elementals in the combustion chambers made my head tingle and brought joy to my heart.

 

[DiLoco_DelEted]

So how does one create a servitor ... and ... Empower it through good spirits to feed off of any and all negative energy??

 

[HoldAll]

So how does one create a servitor ... and ... Empower it through good spirits to feed off of any and all negative energy??

Chaos magic in general has a lot to say about servitors but I think this book I just uploaded is the best work on the subject:

Book – PDF - Damon Brand - Magickal Servitors: Create Your Own Spirits to Attract Pleasure, Power and Prosperity

With servitor magick you create a spirit using your mind, heart and soul, to serve your deepest needs. Servitor magick is used to attract money, love and luck, inspire art and writing, encourage loyalty and passion, increase popularity and fame, and repel curses and attacks. Magick will make...

wizardforums.com

 

[Rowena]

Chaos magic in general has a lot to say about servitors but I think this book I just uploaded is the best work on the subject:

I'd disagree, Phil Hine's Chaos Servitors, A User's Guide is much better.
I wasn't able to find an online copy to link to though, so best of luck finding a copy.

Post automatically merged: Jan 13, 2024

...I have a lot invested in them and am rather attached to them as well...

Yeah, a lot of people do.
I prefer a more traditional non-attachment/non-disinterest approach to servitors (but not to free-willed spirits), it means that my attitude to them is less like beloved pets, and more like favoured tools - so while I might repair a faulty mp3 player or phone a few times, once the cost in time and parts to repair & reconfigure gets too high, I'll strip them for parts & get an upgrade, because long-term it'll be a saving in time, money, effort & frustration.

 

[HoldAll]

I'd disagree, Phil Hine's Chaos Servitors, A User's Guide is much better.
I wasn't able to find an online copy to link to though, so best of luck finding a copy.

I found a file with a text titled "Chaos Servitors - A User Guide" but it's only three pages... is that the guide you mentioned?

 

[Rowena]

I found a file with a text titled "Chaos Servitors - A User Guide" but it's only three pages... is that the guide you mentioned?

Nope - it's one of his small booklets from the 80s-90s, so I'd guess 30-40 pages, with a bunch of black & white illustrations.

Post automatically merged: Apr 13, 2024

Aaaand, three months later & I've dropped a scan of it in Book Shares: Link