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The practice of evocation however requires more preparation, safeguards and equipment than perhaps
any other magical practice; for this reason it is the last chapter in this book. Despite many aspersions
cast on it, it is part of high magic. The reason for placing it after invocation is that the essence of a
successful evocation is the sure knowledge of success. This sure knowledge is only generated by
having invoked and become the god under whose auspices the spirit comes. It is under these
conditions that the magician can truly say:
'Behold! He is in me, and I in Him!
Mine is the radiance in which Ptah floateth over his firmament.
I travel upon high.
I tread upon the firmament of Nu.
I raise a flame with the flashing lightening of mine eye, ever rushing forward in the splendour of the
daily glorified Ra giving life to every creature that treadeth upon the Earth ... Behold! I am Yesterday,
To-day, and the brother of the Morrow!
For I am born again and again.
Mine is the unseen force which created the Gods, and giveth life unto the dwellers in the watch-towers
of the Universe. I am the charioteer in the East, Lord of the Past and the Future:
He who seeth by the Light that is within Him. I am the Lord of Resurrection, who cometh forth from
the dusk, and whose birth is from the House of Death ... If I say "come up upon the mountains", the
Celestial waters shall flow at my Word; For I am Ra incarnate, Khephra created in the flesh! I am the
living image of my Father Tmu, Lord of the City of the Sun! The God who commands is in my
mouth. The God of Wisdom is in my heart: My tongue is the sanctuary of Truth, And a God sitteth
upon my lips!' (3)
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3] An invocation of Thoth adapted by the Golden Dawn from the Egyptian Book Of the Dead.
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This avoids the fatuous position of threatening a rebellious spirit with punishments that the magician
could not hope to exact. It is also the reason why evocation should never be undertaken by beginners,
for essentially it is an operation dealing with unbalanced force and therefore requires that the
magician should have achieved a considerable measure of balance before embarking on this type of
undertaking. However assuming that the magician has achieved this degree of stability and also
assuming that the ceremony has been well designed and rehearsed (making sure to leave out the
crucial bits during the rehearsals) there is no reason why the spirit should not be successfully evoked.
If a medium or skryer is present the spirit should at least be seen by her (although not always in its
traditional shape). In exceptional cases where adequate preparations for manifestation have been made
the spirit may be visible to all the participants, although this type of result is unlikely until
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