Decanal healing ritual

Healing illnesses with the 36 Decans

Originally published in the Hermetic Tablet, Winter 2016. Thanks to Nick Farrell for kindly allowing me to publish this and other material there.  

The following is a simple method I developed working with the Decans for healing purposes. It is quite different from what is found in the Sacred Book of Hermes to Asclepius, but it works well. I have experimented with Hoodoo-type techniques brought into other systems I work with, and found them to be tremendously effective, so this method incorporates some of them. For the complete list of Decan names & the body parts they govern, please see the Sacred Book of Hermes.

Requirements: small white votive candle, a photo of the person to be healed, a small disk-shaped magnet, olive oil. If you have an herb related to the decan, mix it into the oil.

Prior to the ritual, draw the figure of the decan on a piece of paper, with its Greek name, then burn it to ash, and mix it with the olive oil. Take the oil up to your lips, and vibrate the Greek vowels into it seven times: AEÊIOUÔ, to consecrate it, seeing the vowels in bright white light issuing from your mouth, and infusing the oil with energy.

Right before the ritual, you will again draw or carve the figure and name, but this time on the votive candle.

Set up a small altar or table, facing east (the ascendant), put the picture of the person on it, followed by the magnet on top, and finally the votive candle atop the magnet. If you have stones related  to the decan, place 3 of them in an upward pointing triangle around the candle.

Having performed preliminary work of your choice (I recommend invoking the zodiac sign of the Decan), sit before the table, and anoint the candle with the oil. Take a moment to visualize the person you wish to heal, and then you will vibrate the name of the decan 365 times.

Once this is done, light the candle, and recite your petition 3 times, e.g.:

“I invoke Thee TEUKHMOS, revered God, holy decan of the sign of Sagittarius, who traversest the circle of the universe daily, emanating and bringing thine influence upon the world of Necessity. Hither to me, in this very hour, at this very moment, I call Thee to send healing to NN, to heal his fractured bones, that he may swiftly recover and be healed of all pain and suffering. Go swiftly, and quickly O TEUKHMOS, for I am the offspring of the immortal Aion, begotten of Eternity”

Finally, let the candle burn itself out.

It is important that the petition portion should coincide with the rising of the decan in the east. Try and time the ritual accordingly, and have a watch handy. The 365 vibrations usually take me personally around 40 minutes, so if the decan is rising at 8:00, I begin the ritual around 7:15.

There are a variety of free astrological programs online which you can use to make a chart of your area, and precisely determine where the stars will be in the sky at a certain time.

A personal example of the powers of the decans. The last time I performed this ritual, in July 2018, was after loved one fell and injured their hand, such that there was little doubt of a fracture. They did not go to the hospital that day, but the injury worsened as time passed. That evening after arriving home, I started preparing things for the ritual, and then proceeded, timing the ritual with the passing of the Decan Pepisôth in the east. The next day, my family member finally headed to the hospital: not only was there no fracture, and merely a muscle tear, they got to spend a month at home, fully paid by insurance. The healing proceeded very quickly as well. The Decan essentially turned a grievous situation into something positive.