THE MACABRE EARL BIFRONS, a spirit whose impression haunts me still… Bifrons, also called Bifrous
or Bifrovs, whose name means “two faces” is a spirit I associate very strongly with necromancy, though,
like many of the spirits he is also wise on other sciences such as astronomy and geometry. He is also
attributed with lighting the graveyard candles that lure dead souls to their proper place, the same
little will-‘o-the-wisps known to lure the living into peril as well.
In late 2022 I had a poignant experience with Bifrons when I was struck with a sudden and unusual illness.
I had been anticipating working with this spirit for some time, as I had yet to illustrate his visage and
suspected I would be seeking his expertise on necromancy when the time was right. And, sure enough,
following this harrowing sickness that left me with a dangerously high fever, I pulled his tarot card by
chance and he welcomed himself in. There I was, bedridden and barely able to swallow water, my fever frying
my grey matter into delirious oblivion, when he stood by my bed and spoke very clearly to me.
“You are very close to death tonight, it would be a good time to teach you the arts of the dead,”
he said. He spoke gently, and was by no means forcing me to oblige him, and so I mustered my own
will to brave the presented opportunity under his supervision. He expressed confidence that this
was a discipline I would learn quickly, and stated that these workings would be kept light. This
was just to dip my toes into his world of necromancy. There was still a sense of danger, and it
was not without risk, and he expressed this very honestly.
“You reek of the stench of death. Your smell will attract all manner of shades like flies to a
rotting corpse. To plunge safely I will maintain a barrier around you,” the spirit explained as
a veil of astral silk, reminiscent of a shimmering mosquito net, descended over the room and
enveloped my bed. He was well spoken and wore a tidy suit, though his face was imperceptible,
as if he was feeling self-conscious, and obscuring it.
It was a vast darkness, no longer held within the confines of the four walls of my bedroom.
There were things in the dark but I could not see them. Yet, my dogs were also there, exactly
as they left this world. It was a bitter feeling, I felt bad for not visiting them sooner. It
took them a second, but it did not take too long for them to recognize me, and when they did
they were very happy to see me. They seemed to be in the same health as they died, the oldest
of my dogs walking to me with the same limp he had as an old man. Though they were my dogs as
I remembered them, I could sense something uncharacteristic from them. It was this sense of a
muted hunger that made me wonder if they would try to eat me had Bifrons not been present.
Bifrons explained that this was a place for souls who knew no evil. Most of the residents who
ended up here were animals, or the low-functioning disabled. It was a tepid hell, of cool
comforting darkness like sleep, where even though the residents lived with the discomfort they
died in, it became dulled and bearable over such a long time. It was a hell of little suffering,
and though there were some unpleasant things in the dark, my dogs were not in pain. Bifrons had
a lot to say while I was with him, his voice rang as clairaudient as they come, to a degree that
was lucid enough to maintain a conversation for the two or so hours that I spent with him in this
feverish delirium. He told me a few things about himself when I asked, he described himself as
hard working, and said that his job was important and kept him very busy all the time. However,
he said that lucky for him the dead are very patient, so there is never any rush. Bifrons also
shared more info about the nature of death and afterlife, and said that most souls spend more
time dead than they do alive, especially pets as the people who give them remembrance live much
longer than they do. He also stressed that paying respects to the dead and remembering them is
very important to their livelihood.
I asked if there was any scenery more pleasant that I could take my dogs to while I spent time
with them, and Bifrons seemed to suggest in a roundabout way that it was indeed possible to bring
spirits elsewhere, even to the living world, but that it wouldn’t be good for them and would
require a vessel of some kind. Presumably, a phylactery, idol, statue, doll, or even a cadaver
could be used as a suitable means of containment for a spirit, however unless they were forcibly
bound the vessel would often reject the spirit. He explained further that this happens organically
fairly often, in the same way a hermit crab might make a home in an empty shell, which is how
objects store energy or become haunted. I also asked him about the Japanese ghost boiling video,
since I had seen it again recently, to which he laughed and seemed perplexed and appalled at how
someone would do such a cruel thing. He also said that the ghost was very likely that of someone
very elderly or mentally disabled. According to Bifrons, Japan is not a place he operates or even
visits, as the Japanese islands already has a thriving ecosystem of local spirits and deities which
take care of the dead. He also added that there isn’t much culture regarding the remembrance of the
dead in the occidental world, much less so in America, and that this is why he operates on this
continent primarily. Bifrons also namedropped Bathin, saying that he was the one who helped with
transportation, and that Gamigin helped him with clerical business and bookkeeping. I saw Gamigin’s
face in the darkness at their mention, though they spoke naught a word and only appeared as as a
pale horses head peeking from the shadows. I began seeing more faces in the dark of frightening nature,
which Bifrons described as “shades”, and said that they, though creepy, were harmless while he was
there and keeping the barrier held.
At some point I fell asleep, and entered a light and uncomfortable feverish sleep while I heard the
voices of many more dead spirits. It became compounded and loud enough to the point that it was
overwhelming, as I thrashed around and tossed and turned in my bed, going from cold chills to the
sweats, and I could still feel Bifrons lurking in the periphery of the room. After some amount of
this I eventually woke up and recorded my experience, somewhat disquieted by the whole ordeal. This
entire journey took place over the course of two hours real time. Luckily I did not stay ill for too
long, in fact I made a clean and quick recovery after this night. The whole experience was profound,
and very vivid, and though it was uncomfortable and intensely emotional I will never forget it, and
I am thankful for the opportunity. Although this spirit is very busy being psychopomp to all the poor
lost souls in this world, he is an excellent mentor and is willing to teach those who express a
genuine interest in his art, and is a very conversational spirit. I am thankful for such a profound
and thought-provoking glimpse of this other world.
