N-O, simply put; as a magician I can attest to that, but I don’t condemn people that think that e.g. scientists etc. The Goetia itself states in a passage, stated by one of the editors/ contributors in its respective edition (So the Crowley edition): “The spirits of the Goetia are portions of the human brain”; similar phrases that hint at the same subject matter can also be found, “Now, this fact is our base. What is the cause of my illusion of
seeing a spirit in the triangle of Art? Every smatterer, every expert in psychology, will answer: “That cause lies in your brain” being another one.

The thing is, that as with most things, your mind plays a huge role in practise & understanding etc., but the mistake that people that utter phrases like these make, is that they confuse the two…Yes, obviously your state of mind will play a part in whether you are capable of achieving communication with a spirit. But that is also the case with every single thing you do; your state of mind being turbulent will cause you to overlook things, whereas a clear mind won’t. Esotericism is the highest art, mainly the art of bringing change into one’s universe, whether spiritual beings are involved or not (Hence the phrase within occult books “the high arts” being used), so it goes without saying that one needs the correct mental or mind-based faculties in order to get things done (understatement of the century). We as beings are being ruled by higher, ethereal forces, whether we like it or not, or are aware of it or not. See my article on Free Will, interesting since it relates to this topic;

Belial told me once “Your kind are like mostly vermin; as ignorant as they are, they have no clue that we preside over them”. Spirits have been influencing my life long before I became an occultist, point proven. Thinking in the way the ones I have mentioned in the beginning, is like saying that the Sun isn’t making you feel hot, it’s just your body’s temperature system- sure, your body might be wired to a certain extent to feel heat from external sources, but the Sun is a factual, separate entity and doesn’t need you or care what you think/ feel in that regard.