THE LEVITATOR
The Forty Servants in Theory & Practice
Hello, good people of the internet, and welcome to The Forty Servants in Theory and Practice, a series where I take a deeper look into the philosophy, use, and evolution of The Forty Servants system, drawing on nearly a decade of hands-on experience and magical experimentation.
Each entry in this free section of the series will focus on one Servant at a time, offering background insight, design history, divination reflections, shadow aspects, magical applications, and how my personal understanding of each has shifted or deepened over the years.
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THE LEVITATOR
The Levitator shows us how to rise above the drama in our lives so we can stay aloof and detached. He encourages us to try to see things from a different angle.
ARTWORK
The artwork for the Levitator originally comes from issue 4 of my comic The Holy Numbers, which was later collected as a graphic novel. You can find the e-book version on Amazon HERE.
The Holy Numbers tells the story of a spiritual movement founded by a man calling himself Ravensdale, who claims to have experienced spiritual enlightenment, but dies as the movement is becoming huge, leaving behind people who have a much different vision than his. The original Levitator was “The Levitating Man”, called Daniel Crow, who was a stage magician who appeared to have actual magic powers. His “big trick” at the end of his show was that he would rise off the stage and float above the audience. I will leave some pages from the comic at the very end of this piece that feature him.
The final Servant’s artwork is very simple, with a sparse blue background. I could have drawn him rising above people, which would have suited the “don’t get bogged down in the drama” element of his nature, but in hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t as having a crowd below him would imply that it was only drama around other people that he represents – whereas he also helps you rise about your own drama and limited views.
But to be clear, The Levitator isn’t floating above in an egotistic way or feeling all morally superior; it’s more that he is seeing things from a different perspective. He’s seeing the events, drama and circumstances from a vantage point outside of them. He isn’t witnessing the drama while being embroiled in it, or bogged down by it.
I feel there is a grace and a humility to the way The Levitator floats. It appears to involve very little effort for him to do. He just gracefully rises up above it all.
THE SIGIL
The sigil is a simple, stylised version of the artwork, though to me, it does have a much more looser feel to it. It reminds me a bit of a ragdoll, or a poppet or something like that. In my mind it feels like a drawing done in chalk to me, your mileage may differ, and it has an almost child-like drawing quality to it. It also looks a bit like a ribbon being tied.
I have mostly used the sigil by visualising it when I feel that I have become too bogged down with a situation and can’t see it clearly. In my office/studio, I have painted my door matte black and often draw sigils on it. The Levitator is a good one to use here, for me anyway, as it’s as if I am placing the sigil on the outside world. This makes my studio space my sanctuary and my place outside of the ongoing dramas of the world. It makes my office a place I can think clearly with less outside influence, a place of rest from the endless onslaught of world drama and events, and allows me to have some space for my own brain, thoughts, views and ideas. Pairing it with the Protector sigil can be beneficial here, too.
Try placing the sigil on windows, doors, or whatever to create your own place of sanctuary, but don’t end up making it a place where you constantly run away from your problems or hide away from the world, too. It should be a sanctuary, not a hermitage. Think of it more like a “Situation Room” where you can plan your next moves, think things out, or work unencumbered.
If there is a place where you find yourself getting lost in the emotions around you, such as the family dinner table or an office meeting table, try placing the sigil somewhere in the vicinity but out of sight, such as under a table or behind a picture.
You can use it at any time you feel you are getting too worried, stressed, or anxious about a situation or event. Just draw it in front of you and step into it. Visualise it above your head, or above the situation, and try to mentally rise up above it all. Use the sigil to help you try to see the surrounding events from the perspective of an uninvolved third party.
Sigil Quick Uses: Help to lift mental or emotional baggage, gaining clarity by “rising above”, interrupting spirals of anxiety or overthinking, creating peaceful space in tense environments.
DIVINATION
The Levitator usually appears in a reading to suggest that you have become too bogged down or embroiled in an emotional situation and that you need to look at the whole thing from a different angle.
This, of course, is much easier said than done.
One way of doing it is to ask yourself questions such as: “Will this matter in a week? In a year? In five years?”. More often than not, the answer will be no.
Another thing to consider is wether or not you actually care about this situation or are you been sucked up by the emotions of another. Often, we can become enraged or upset over something because someone else is, and we have been caught up in their emotion. Sit back and ask: Do I actually care this much about this?
Perhaps you are taking things too personally or getting caught in a loop of overthinking. The Levitator suggests stepping back and rising above it by trying to see the situation as if it were happening to someone else and not you. If someone told you about the same sort of drama, what would your advice be to them?
In decision readings, The Levitator may be encouraging you to take a break from “doing” and instead try observing. Stop trying to fix everything right now. Just watch. Observe, as much as you can, from outside the situation. Let the drama reveal its true nature from this broader perspective.
He can also appear when you’re being invited to shift your identity or role. Are you still playing the same part in a drama you no longer believe in? Are you stuck in a story that isn’t yours? The Levitator might be nudging you towards cultivating some detachment from the drama and events in the world around you.
When The Levitator shows up in a reading, it’s usually a prompt to zoom out, to reorient your view, or get some distance from whatever is going on. You probably have become too tangled, or simply too close to see clearly. It’s a call to rise above drama, confusion, or overwhelm and reconnect with a bigger picture.
The long and the short of The Levitator is that you need to look at what is going on as objectively as you can, rather than trying to work from a purely subjective view of things.
SHADOW REVERSAL
Reversals in The Forty Servants don’t signify the opposite of the normal energy of the Servant but more a dysfunctional version of it, or a detrimental misuse or misunderstanding of the qualities.
Are you constantly viewing the world and the people around you from your high horse? Do you feel morally superior to everyone because you aren’t fooled by the dramas they are? Do you feel everyone around you is a sheep, but you are a wolf? Do you look down on people because you have some superior view on life that they couldn’t ever comprehend? That’s probably the dysfunctional version of the Levitator showing itself.
The Shadow aspect of the Levitator can also manifest as emotional detachment taken too far, where it becomes aloofness, complacency, escapism, or spiritual bypassing. It may show that you're avoiding messy life by staying “above it all.”
Have you drifted into an ivory tower isolation? Are you neglecting your practical path, or refusing to engage where you’re needed? Or maybe you feel you have spiritually escaped the world, that you’ve lost understanding of earthly needs or your own feelings. Or the opposite – have you abandoned all spirituality and embraced only materialism? Are you fearful of transcendence? Have you become disconnected from growth because it’s become too hard or too much to deal with?
MAGICK
The Levitator’s core magick is “elevation”. It’s about getting above the noise, entanglement, over-identification, emotional spirals, and the concrete wall of “this is how things are,” and “this is how it’s always been done” The Levitator grants the perspective needed to move from reactive to observant. In this space, you can choose your response rather than be ruled by your reactivity.
He’s especially useful when your head is spinning with overthinking or your emotions are clouding your judgment. Draw his sigil and place it in your workspace, or on your altar, as a reminder to rise above the day-to-day dramas. Simply sit quietly while asking him, out loud, to lift you to a higher vantage point on whatever’s troubling you. Often, just invoking his presence creates a mental shift from “I must fix this now,” to “Let’s see what this really is.”
If you’re feeling consumed by a situation, whether it’s an argument, a life crisis, or even just the stress of being too online, invoking The Levitator can create a cooling effect. Picture yourself as him above you, looking down, and ask: What do I need to stop clinging to?
One of the more interesting ways to use The Levitator is within Chaos Magick-style belief work. Because The Levitator deals with identification and the movement between perspectives, he can be a powerful ally in shifting paradigms. If you’re doing “paradigm surfing” or “belief shifting”, then The Levitator can help you let go of one belief cleanly before you move into another.
Working with him can be useful during “unbelief” phases, where you are actively stepping back from a magical or spiritual framework in order to reset, reframe, or move on. Draw his sigil during meditation and visualise yourself rising up from your belief like it’s a costume you’ve just outgrown.
If you’re engaging in cord-cutting, energy-clearing, or detachment spells, particularly where emotional intensity has distorted your sense of self, The Levitator can be brought in as a final act of breathing out and rising.
In ritual terms, use The Levitator when your magick needs perspective. If your workings are beginning to feel panicked or clingy, if your rituals feel more like emotional outbursts than focused intent, he’ll help you pause, recalibrate, and see things from above.
It should also be noted that while The Levitator is helpful in transcending the mundane, he isn’t an escape hatch. He doesn’t help you ignore your problems, but he does help you step far enough away from them to see the patterns you’re repeating, and that’s often all that’s needed to break a cycle.
SERVANT COMBINATIONS
As mentioned above, The Levitator and The Protector work well together to help create a “safe space” to keep unwanted outside influences, drama, events, or emotions at bay so you can have a peaceful sanctuary to work or spend time to think. Also, excellent for healing from energetic entanglements, old relationships, or family rules that want to pull you back in.
The Levitator and The Conductor work well together to disentangle you from the surrounding drama or circumstances and begin to take control of the situation and your direction.
The Levitator and The Road Opener are a good pair to use when you feel smothered by a situation, and you feel you can’t get out of it. Think of The Levitator as the bird’s eye view that spots the hidden exit that The Road Opener is trying to point out.
Combining the detached clarity of The Levitator with the raw magick power of The Witch creates a potent combo for observing your magickal practice as it develops. Also, excellent for overcoming “lust of result” and for learning when to step back and just let the magick do its thing.
THE FORTY SERVANTS IN THEORY & PRACTICE SERIES SO FAR
ARTICLES:
THE WITCH
THE GATE KEEPER
THE MOTHER
THE FATHER
THE PROTECTOR
THE SAINT
THE CONDUCTOR
THE PROTESTER
THE IDEA
THE BALANCER
THE MOON
PATREON LECTURE VIDEOS:
001 — Introduction
002 — Beg, Borrow, Be.
003 — Art History
004 — The Book Of Pacts
005 — Pathworking Astral Addresses
And that's it for this time, I hope you got something good from it. If you'd like to chat about it, you can leave a comment below, or come find me on Bluesky!
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So, until next time,
MAY YOUR BEST DAYS BE AHEAD!
Tommie