The Khodam is the Islamic name for spirits and angels. Guess which spirits the western magicians have misappropriated?
The Goetia are spirits abused by western magicians in particular who seem to despise them, fear them, and despite this want to dominate them.
It is a strange situation, dominated by the perceived use of the Goetia – the grimoires list their awesome powers. The Goetia reveals the simultaneous insecurities and macho posing by magicians, who cover up their fears and feelings of inadequacy, and by talking up the supposed demonic attributes of these spirits.
Fallen Angels?
The Goetia are most definitely not fallen angels – if they were, magicians would be doing their best to help them rise to their former place. Locating the Goetia as demons in Hell, are a convenient cop-out for magicians as an excuse for the inevitable failure. Where is Hell, and how do you visit and return unscathed? The hellish nature of these spirits is a good PR scam – for frightened clients who need the services of the magician. The use of long words that nobody knows what they mean is a good indicator of this.
The Goetia are in Islamic sources, where the medieval grimoires derived. The Goetia are in fact the Jinn – there are articles on newtarot.com to this effect, but I have always had doubts – there is no real proof. Islam gives us the Khodam, who are spirits and angels, and most definitely not the Jinn.
Does this matter? In one sense it does not, for I see the Goetia daily, and they have always been helpful to me. My students also see the Goetia, without the need for ritual invocation or evocation. Goetic invocation is difficult because the magician calls the spirits from places where they do not live! Acknowledging these spirits as Khodam creates an ease and greater rapport. Try it and see what you think.
There is no sense of hell or demonic realms with the Khodam. The best structure in the West of the Khodam is the Enochian system. If the Goetia are part of the Khodam, what extra powers will we learn?