As twilight fell, I walked into the dark woods which were situated between two small villages. This was 1994. I was at the end of my tether. I needed money and fate was not smiling on me in this respect.
Not then.
At the time, I’d been researching the Ars Goetia or The Lesser Key Of Solomon The King. My particular interest was the 72 demons of the Goetia. I couldn’t see they were anything to fear. To me they were personifications of given energies, or deep aspects of the human mind.
That’s not to say they don’t have some independent existence. One simply never knows. The world, and indeed, the multiverse, are mysterious realms.
But right then, I wasn’t concerned whether demons had intelligence in their own right.
Nope.
I was going to call upon Duke Bune, the 26th spirit of the Goetia to see if he could assist me in pecuniary matters.
According to the grimoire, the “great and mighty duke” appears as a dragon with three heads, with one like a dog. Or as a griffin. Other times as a man who speaks with a “high & comely voice.”
I didn’t care how he decided to appear, so long as he was good to help out with the filthy lucre.
I entered the dark woods and found an old oak tree to sit by, making myself comfortable between its roots which spread out over the ground. I then pulled out my torch and switched it on. This was so I could see Duke Bune’s sigil, which I’d copied earlier from an edition of The Greater and Lesser Keys of Solomon the King by Aleister Crowley and S.L. MacGregor Mathers, which was based on the originals in the British Museum. I chose the alternative version of the Bune’s sigil as it was easier to replicate.
I meditated on the sigil, breathing in the lines and saying “Duke Bune, Duke Bune… bring me money, bring me wealth.” As I did so I entered a visionary trance and found myself in an ornate garden, like the ones you get at old stately homes. The blue skies above had streaks of amber, and I noticed an earthy scent like that of burning charcoal. In the distance I could hear a barking dog, angry and fierce.
In my dream-like state I wandered around the garden and eventually came upon a building that had the look of a classical temple – no doubt a “folly” which are common in the grounds of old manor houses.
I stepped inside the temple and sitting in what looked like an antique regency chair was a man. I couldn’t properly make out his features, but my feeling was this was Duke Bune. He spoke in a soft and pleasant voice, but I couldn’t grasp what he was saying. The language he spoke seemed archaic. Mostly his words produced a feeling in me, one of power and being unstoppable, yet at the same time inspired, like I was in the presence of something “other”, something not quite human, but essentially benevolent.
With that the vision faded, as often happens when you do magick. Nothing is truly tangible and the experience is usually hard to properly remember. Within seconds I found myself coming round and back in the dark woods, the gentle breeze now having a distinct chill to it.
I wasn’t even sure if this had worked; whether I’d really been in the presence of Duke Bune. So I simply packed up my things and walked back to my car, which was parked at a pull-in on a tiny lane.
By the end of the week I’d experienced changes in my financial situation. Small, but noticeable. Money had started coming in from various sources, allowing me to pay my bills. But above all else I felt far more motivated and focused, like I was on a mission and I was going to succeed.
As time went on I made a number of contacts in the publishing world and found myself in negotiations with a big publisher for a proposed book. Getting a deal hung in the balance for a while, as these things do. But then I got the go ahead and signed on the dotted line and collected the first part of my advance to write the book.
That was my very first book deal for my Doktor Snake’s Voodoo Spellbook. Calling upon Bune may or may not have brought this about. Certainly I’d put in a lot of work and effort. And I would go as far as saying that Duke Bune somehow overshadowed me and brought my internal mental processes together which made me strongly focused on my goal to get a book deal, along with me dreaming up the strategies needed to make it happen, and to gain the confidence of the publishing world.