"In the Beginning was the Word..."
A Servitor is an artifical spirit created from a desire or need to accomplish something. It is not necessarily the same as an egregore that is worshipped or honored by a group, having thus a greater deal of psycho-spiritual power than a Servitor.
All Servitors begin from a base need or desire, such as looking for a job, or protection. From this desire, energy is gathered.
"The World was made by Him.."
Like most other things in Creation, a Servitor can be stripped down into the four elements:
1. Fire: Its drive or conceptual soul/inspiration
2. Air: Its intellectual or discerning soul/movement
3. Water: Its emotional soul or birthing
4. Earth: Its form or interaction with the material world
Water also represents life, the power that condenses and invites the spirit from the Conceptual into the Material, just as the Great Father looked into the waters of Khaos and saw himself, becoming aware of himself and thus shrinking to create something of himself.
With the basis, we can then find a blueprint in John's rendition of Genesis, we first have to name our desire, give it form through the Word/Logos/Order. This is the first birth, drawing it down from Fire to Air.
After naming the desire, a sigil is made for the Servitor that will go into its vessel. Alternatively, a vessel can be made of clay with the sigil inscribed on it, a stone, a statue or a coin. It is often necessary that the nature of the vessel should match the nature of the Servitor.
For example, if one wanted to ensure financial peace, then the sigil can be placed in a bowl of coins, rice, oats, cinnamon and sugar. To ensure love, the sigil can be placed in the bedroom or kept in a pocket on the breast near the heart. It can also be placed in a finished perfume bottle or roller.
Generally, the vessel is the home that seats the spirit during rituals when it is not out wandering (such as in monitoring spirits). However, the vessel can also be representative of a womb in which the spirit familiar is birthed. This is found in three books: the Hekateaon, Queen of Hell and a book about Astaroth.
In the third, seminal fluid is used to impregnate the Great Duchess with a child who will act as the link between the magician and her. In the first, the familiar is given the breath of life by the three places where Hekate holds power (the waters, air and underworld), and is thus a liminal spirit.
A spirit can theoretically be birthed by passing it through a hole of some sort. For example, a Servitor meant to bring health can be passed through a gap between the branches of a Willow or Oak Tree. A spirit that is meant to open doors and bring opportunity can have its sigil passed through a door or the hole on a key.
Case Study: Birthing a Servitor
One of the ways I birth a Servitor is through the body. The Servitor is imagined as an orb in the solar plexus or genital region, where it is then given its name and work. Thereafter, constant repetition of prayers are made, describing the use of the Servitor while directing and channeling energy into the orb, imagining it developing like a fetus. This may be done for as long as required. The longest I did it was a month. When the spirit has taken its form, it's then time to birth it.
After taking confinement, the body is constantly constricted, pushing bodily energy into the Servitor as well as replicating contractions. As this is done, the spirit is seen as being pushed out of the Genitals, symbolically being born of the magician.
In a similar fashion to the book on Astaroth, the Servitor, when birthed, can be eaten to imbue its charged qualities into the body. This is suitable when the magician wants the Servitor to be attached to them specifically rather than to an object, such as a protector spirit or baneful ward.
"I, Isis, am all that has been."
In some cases, a spirit may be born through the Mingling of Substance. Just as the magician births a Servitor through Astaroth by insemination, a magician may invoke into themselves a Guardian Spirit in order to become pregnant with a spirit that shall be theirs and the spirits. This can be done with the HGA and is often a part of longer theurgic rituals, symbols of this practice may be the Hexagram, the Solar Cross, the Vessica Piscis and so on.
Feeding the Servitor is another action. Often, a spirit may be given a set thing to feed one. For example, a Servitor for alchemy can be given negative qualities to feed on, an astral roomba of sorts. A spirit of solar quality can be placed in an area where the sun touches it, thus absorbing power from its source. Beyond this, traditional methods can be used such as feeding the spirit offerings of incense, sweets, milk, bread or by including it in rituals of communion.
A Case Study: the Servitor of Anger
Following Buddhist Rituals, I wanted to control my anger. So I decided to imagine it in front of me, feeding it my anger and hatred, before asking it questions such as how I can better it or transform it. It spoke, gave its name and so forth, and I then proceeded to go through the usual rituals of transforming water into Amrit to please and placate the Servitor. Whenever I got angry, I'd imagine the spirit, feed it my anger and placate it through the usual methods as above, symbolically placating my Psyche.