I didn't expect this kind of Spanish Inquisition.

Mistaking ones preferred occult current for absolute truth is an error I have been encountering more and more as I become involved in the Esoteric community.
I keep seeing people saying "This is wrong!" about very subjective concepts and tools, when saying, "This doesn't mesh very well with this particular school of thought in this particular branch of the western esoteric tradition.”, would be far more accurate.
One of the greatest 'Metatruths' I've ever discovered, regardless of it's original context is, “Nothing is True. Everything is Permitted.”. I take it as a meditation on the nature of the universe, and use it internally as a refutation of the concept of hierarchy. Just as “As above, so below” is not only a statement on how magic functions, but also a statement on the illusionary nature of spiritual hierarchies in general.
I would say that these two ideas should be paired together, and used as a guide when navigating magic, and when dealing with the various entities one encounters in an evocation.

As above, so below.
Nothing is true, everything is permitted.

How can one cast down other peoples spiritual/magical methods when one has encountered these ideas?
One can make an argument on the effectiveness of certain techniques from a personal perspective, but to say something is “wrong” is to make an appeal to some sort of absolute authority. And if you believe there is an absolute authority and that your preferred magical system/current is the One-True™ system ordained by God, you've descended into fundamentalism. And if you've done that, you have to either pile on the cognitive dissonance necessary to ignore the literally thousands of effective indigenous magical systems and syncretic systems, or you have to declare all those systems as “evil” or “demonic”, and sound just like the worst of the rabid priests of orthodoxy.

Encounter with Hypnos.

The dream started in a relatively mundane way... Walking with a childhood friend who may have murdered his parents (this is what passes for mundane in my life). We were with my mother, but left her to repair her car/truck. We crossed the street to go get something to eat at the local A&W (don't judge me!). I was hesitant to cross the street at the somewhat busy turn off (make of that what you will). And we ended up eating at the restaurant, and spied my mother there eating with a man and a child we didn't recognize. We waved at each other across the room, and seemed happy (again, dream symbolism everybody!).

The Dream shifted to (or ended, and new dream began, hard to tell sometimes) Me, alone, entering a mansion or building (possibly in a city) of the old money variety. Ornate wood carving and panelling covering every surface, and that carpeting/rug that was installed in the late 19^th century. I was in a wide-ish room, at the base of some stairs, getting myself a drink of water from a jug on the kind of brass and wood trolley you'd expect in a place like that.

That was when I noticed the person in the mask.

It was a full faced golden mask, of the kind you'd see in Venice during Carnival. Smooth, flawless, with the black make up around the eyes to keep them in shadow, and conversely, prominent. I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman, as he/she was tall-ish, but the robe he/she was wearing was of a feminine cut. It was in a style similar to a burka, but with an open face. And it was of deep reds and blues, but covered with an ornate pattern of gold, mostly at right angles. The hem of the hood around the mask was of a denser gold pattern.

They gestured that I should put the Jug in the centre of the floor, which I did. They were wearing golden gloves as well.

They then pointed to the floor and spun their finger in a circle, to indicate I should turn around, and then held up three fingers to show I should do it thrice. I did so.

They then moved to the corner of the room (to my right) nearest the base of the stairs (which were against the right wall) And opened their arms, less in reverence, and more as if to beseech someone, and called out “SCORPIO!” and then another word which was not in a language I knew, and was taken from my memory by that horrible amnesia particular t dreams. So I then repeated their actions and words. They then moved in a quarter circle in a very effeminate style, with flowery gestures every foot or so, seeming to indicate the lighting of candles, while saying nonsense words, in an exaggeratedly flowing voice. This was too much for me, and I burst out laughing, saying, “I can't remember all that!”. There seemed to be no offence taken, or disappointment at all from the figure, as if It was all in jest, or just part of the journey.

This was the point in which I awoke, and the dream ended.

There was an element of “Eyes Wide Shut” in this dream, obviously. But that may not have been intentional, as I have always felt that masks should be used in ritual magick to help with both atmosphere, and the taking on of another persona during ritual. And it was also fascinating to me that I immediately understood the figure was leading me through a ritual.

Who the figure was is still somewhat of a mystery to me, and I am going to, in the near future, attempt to find out, and contact again, as it definitely felt like some kind of contact, rather that the usual dream denizen.

The figure seemed close to how I imagined Hypnos, but there was also a very Luciferian vibe coming from him/her.

Also afterwards there have been several Synchronicities with Kevin Angers “Lucifer Rising” and Bobby Beausoleil as well.

Spirals & Spins

I was thinking about the old "clockwise for invoking, counterclockwise for banishing" canard, an it struck me. If this principle is valid, it means magick energy flows in a spiral. If it flows towards you it follows a clockwise (from your perspective) spin. And if it flows away from you, it flows in a counterclockwise spin.

So the spiral in the image, if we assume it increases in size as it gets closer, would be the approximate shape of the spiral (of course in three dimensions). If so, this could be applied to magical work targeting others. If you wanted to affect someone you would aim it at them and put a counterclockwise spin on it, as it would then be moving from you to them (clockwise from their perspective). It also seems to apply to reiki. Also, if true, could make for some very quick magical defence techniques. This raises some interesting metaphysical questions. 

With the model presented, to draw something to you, you would spin it clockwise on your end. If you look at the LRP (Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram), as you go along the cardinal directions you move in a clockwise direction relative to the ground you stand on, so you are drawing up earth energy

I believe that the idea of Invoking as the 'raising' of energy, and it's association with clockwise motion is a bit of a misunderstanding of the underlying principles o this spiral motion. So even when attempting to cast a 'positive' spell on another person, the motion is often clockwise.

You actually can't 'invoke' anything in to another person as 'invoking' has to do with drawing things in to yourself. The spin is simply the direction you send the energy. Clockwise is inwards (relative to you), counterclockwise is outwards (relative to you). So it's not the type of subtle energy that determines the spin, but where you what it to go.

I think this is where the idea of the quality and the spin got confused, as one normally sends unwanted or 'negative' energy away from oneself, and wanted or 'positive' energy towards oneself. So the associations of positive and negative got confused with clockwise and counterclockwise. This leads to some interesting magical models, for instance, if you want to set up a continuous flow between yourself and a target, you'd want to construct two spirals, one with a clockwise spin and one with a counterclockwise spin.

The classic 'Heart' shape is two golden spirals with opposite spins touching one another.