In working magick, particularly High or Ritual magick, much time is devoted to connecting to the Divine through the technique of ‘Assuming the God or Goddess Form’. This is when the practitioner performs a ritual to blend with a Deity in order to work magick, develop specific attributes, or as a devotional act. Although safe if done by someone with a balanced personality or under the guidance of someone with training and experience it can be dangerous to someone with an unbalanced personality. Particularly if they are solo practitioners and/or with the aim of gaining power for its’ own sake.

However, there is a technique similar to the one outlined above but which is much safer, this is working with fictional archetypes. These tend to be much less overwhelming than working with Gods and Goddesses and easier to contact as they are beings of the mental rather than the spiritual plane. This makes them ideal for everyday tasks which may seem a little ‘below’ an aspect of the Divine such as sorting out the household plumbing (although technically this comes under the Goddess Hygina), or other day-to-day tasks.

Anyone who uses a fictional archetype such as the many Pagans in the police force who keep a statue or picture of Sherlock Holmes, or an item associated with him such as a magnifying glass, close to hand are already tuning into that fictional persona. Holmes has come to symbolise the skills of observation, deduction, and reasoning, essential in many fields including medicine and law enforcement. He is a particularly powerful thoughtform – another term for this type of being – not only having a strong history but also achieving the status of Avatar.

The use of the term Avatar in this context is that of the traditional Sanskrit meaning ‘decent’ from “Ava” meaning “down” and Tar = “to cross”. In the Hindu pantheon the God Ganesha has eight Avatars accentuating different aspects of his personality. The same is true of Sherlock Holmes, in addition to the author Conan Doyles’ ‘original’ stories I have seen Holmes portrayed as a time-traveller, a 21st century detective, and a hologram. The types of books only being limited by the estate holding the copyright.

This emphasises the need for a structured ritual to connect and disconnect from whichever fictional persona you are working with. A dramatic example of this was when the actor Jeremy Brett who portrayed Holmes from 1984 to 1996 was rumoured to have been found outside the Building Society that occupies the same address of the fictional 221b Baker Street shouting “Release me! Please release me!” Apparently feeling that Holmes had possessed him while playing the part for a TV series.

Brett was a practitioner of Yoga and a follower of the method acting style of performance. Some Occultists believe that this combination has an almost mediumalistic effect enabling the actor to channel the character to the fullest extent. Unfortunately a susceptible person using these techniques could indeed have their personality overwhelmed by the character they were playing if they did not have a way of totally separating from them at the end of the performance. This is what appears to have happened to Mr. Brett in this case.

Fortunately such situations occur infrequently and can be avoided by the previously mentioned precautions. It is a dramatic example of the power of the thoughtforms of the mental plane, which are generally considered ‘weaker’ than the God and Goddess energies of the spiritual plane. Personal experience suggests that fictional thoughtforms, with their ease of contact, are extremely useful in many circumstances where a full ritual or a good personal relationship with a particular Deity would be needed to call on the Divine for assistance.

An experience that comes to mind happened the week before last when I was called out to a job in my capacity as a city council worker looking after the physical safety and security of the over 60s population. Apparently someone had fitted a combination keysafe – a small lockable box that attaches to the side of the house with keys in it so that carers and social services could get in without the person struggling to the door – that didn’t work on the combination it was supposed to.

When I arrived at the house I quickly discovered that the mechanism of the keysafe was working as it should, so the combination must have been set incorrectly. Since there were four dials with ten numbers each the number of possible combinations was 10000, far too many to find the right one by chance. I did think about just contacting the lock specialist we have on the team, but cutbacks meant that he was only working two days a week. So I called upon the character “Patrick Jane” from the TV show “The Mentalist”.

In my mind I could see and hear him standing beside me as we both looked at the dials. “How is the combination usually set?” He asked. “Generally the client either has a number they want put in or we have a system using a commonly available set of personalised numbers” I replied “In this case the client asked for a particular combination” I showed Patrick the number.

“Do you have the other number source?” Queried Patrick. I showed him the other set of numbers printed on the work order. “They don’t work either?” He said. I nodded and Patrick looked thoughtful as he considered the problem. In a minute or so he nodded slightly himself as he came to conclusion. “What if the person fitting this started off putting the requested number in, then became distracted and finished off with the other one?”

I tried it and the lock popped open on the first try. Shortening the problem solving time from potentially several hours to approximately 20 minutes. I thanked Jane and politely returned him to the mental plane. Other magickal practitioners I know of have used fictional archetypes for everything from help in repairing items in outer space to improving their physical skills.

Using fictional archetypes are an ideal way of starting to contact beings beyond the self without the potential dangers innate in contacting sources and forces of a non-human nature. It also gets you into the habit of using, invoking, and releasing energies in a safe and practical way. This can later be applied to the more ‘high current’ spiritual plane powers in the same way as many people progress to more powerful cars after learning, and beginning to drive, in an older model. It’s also fun, enabling you to connect via these archetypes to your own skills and abilities thus enhancing your life as a whole.