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3 - Invocation of the Gods
And when, by often invoking, all the phantasms are vanished, thou shalt see that Holy and Formless
Fire, that Fire which darts and flashes through all the Depths of the Universe; hear thou the Voice of
the Fire!
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The Oracles of Zoroaster
Invocation is the process by which the trained magician 'calls down' into himself a particular force
from the cosmos personified by usage as a god. The physical manifestation of this process is the
intoxication and possession of the magician by the god, so that the magician not only becomes one
with the god but acts as the god, even with the power of that god. Evocation on the other hand is the
'calling up' of forces personified as spirits which are incomplete or unbalanced, or as the modern
psychological interpretation of magic would have it, a dissociated portion of the magician's own
psychological make up. The spirit is called into a triangle, and in extreme cases (the proper material
basis having been utilized in the rite) visibly manifests itself.
There is a basic difference in practice as well as theory between the formulae of evocation and the
formulae of invocation.
In invocation the magician just uses a circle, and attempts to attain a species of Samadhi, a one-
pointedness directed according to the nature of the god invoked which will result in the manifestation
of that god in his consciousness. For this reason the circle, a symbol of unity is used. This formula is a
formula of the Cup, (1) as the magician opens himself to the god in a passive receptive manner.
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[1] The Cup should be used ceremonially during the invocation, but your other three Elemental
Weapons should be present on the altar.
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Contrary to this, evocation is a formula of the Wand, (2) or in a special sense, of the Sword. In it the
magician goes to considerable lengths to separate the evoked spirit from himself and his assistants,
remaining at all times in complete control, whilst directing the spirit to the accomplishment of the
specific task it has been evoked to accomplish. (3) But more of this in the next chapter.
In any religion, a priest becomes the intermediary between the faithful and their god. To transcend his
humanity and to do this, ideally the god should be indwelling within him. Invocation therefore has
always been a part of religion, which of course is not to say that religion has a monopoly.
Both the priest and the magician have to pass on the force of the invocation. The priest invokes a god
to gain power in order to effect a transformation, and 'earths' the force in a Sacrament which becomes
(in Christianity) the blood and flesh of God. This then is passed on to the congregation who thereby
receive the virtue of the invocation. The invocation of a blessing and the 'laying on of hands' in the
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