Invoking Michael the Archangel of Hod
a spell to embody and become the archangel incarnate
In depth symbolic explanation at the bottom.
VVVVVVV Lint to video bellow VVVVVVV
Student Submission: No
Engine version : 5.1.1
Sequence Setup
Credits to sourced content:
Wings Geo - (Wings in Props - UE Marketplace)
Animations - Mage Bundle - Power Up, Abilities & Elements in Animations - UE Marketplace
Armor Geo - Gothic Knight in Characters - UE Marketplace
VBDs
I used VDBs to achieve the smoke simulations
I used the plugin from Thibault Lambert.
The magic happened for me in the principle shader. There is the ability to disable the physically correct black body and use an authored color curve instead. This was the opening to creative freedom I needed to keep going with VDBs
Niagara and Chaos
I used Chaos to create the upward ground explosion. This was super helpful. In fact the reason I was able to playback the RBD cache, in a way that was stable, was due to the 5.1.1 patch that allows for smoother playback of the chaos cache manager… so thank you devs…thank you!
now for the part I nerd out about. lol
Symbolic Explanation
The main idea for the spell was imagined from a chaotic form of angelic magick. There are a few pieces of the symbolism that are drawn from Angelic Magick, Alchemy, and Hermetic Qabalah.Lets start with Fire
Fire plays an important role in both my spell and hermetic symbolism. Fire is the attribute of the Archangel Michael. Also fire is a key element for the purification process in Alchemy known as the blackening stage. This stage is defined by introducing metal to fire and burning away all the impurities of the metal. This is why the character in my spell is being introduced to immense fire to start the spell. This will purify him before receiving the spirit of the angel.
The triangle in many forms represents fire so I tried to sneak triangles into all elements of the composition.
for more reading
http://thetaoblog.com/blackening-in-alchemy/
The Pants and Armor
In a visualization of Michael of Hod the angel is dressed in orange robes, so I made sure to have my character wearing orange pants. Also in a different visualization the Archangel Michael is wearing golden armor. My spellcaster receives that golden armor after focusing massive amounts of fire energy into his third eye. Also the blackening stage is the first stage of turning lead into gold, doubling up the the gold armor reference.
The Halos
The white traditional halo is to make a reference to the now angelic incarnate spellcaster. A secondary halo is the iridescent rainbow effect seen as a flair. This, for me, was a reference to the “peacock" stage in alchemy. This radiant colorful glare is a metaphor for the brightness of light from the illumination of the soul.
Magick Circle
The magick circle on the ground is acting a seal during the spell that binds and creates a union between the spellcaster and The Archangel Michael. The seal was created by myself, integrating elements of fire and attributes of The Angel of the South
stunning work