INVOCATION

Formal ritual usually involves the invocation
(ritually calling up) of a god or goddess, spirit, or other
entity. In this sense, magick is somewhat similar to pagan
religion and witchcraft. However, we consider magick ritual
a technique, not a religion. Worship need not be involved.
Sometimes the invocation of an entity creates an artificial
elemental.
Crowley says there are three different kinds ofinvocation --
1) Devotion to the entity (as in the Bhakti yoga of
the Hare Krishna sect; the Faustian devil pact).
2) Ceremonial invocation -- usual method of the
middle ages.
3) Drama -- usually needs more than one person (as in
a mass).
>>CAUTIONS<<
1. Often as not a ritual may produce side-effects,
usually something similar to, though not exactly the desired
goal. If the true goal is delayed (as sometimes happens) we
may see the side effects first. And if for some reason the
goal is not achieved at all ('missing the target') the side
effects may be pronounced. Examples: 1) You use magick ritual
to hurry shipment of an anticipated package in the mail. Side
effect -- the next day an unexpected package (the
wrong one) arrives instead. 2) You use magick ritual to cause
a certain person to phone you. Side effect -- for several
days all sorts of people phone you...The sides effects will
not affect you (or anyone else) adversely unless that is
what you inwardly want.
2. We may say with certainty that "something always
happens" when we perform a magick ritual. But like everything
else, magick follows the 'law of results'. This means that
results require effort of some kind. And if you don't work
hard enough at it you don't get results. Difficult goals have
greater resistance (magical inertia) to overcome. If the
ritual doesn't produce the desired results there is a good
chance that the reason for the failure is within oursleves.
Be certain there is no contradiction between your model
and your magical goals. Sometimes self doubt and mental
contradictions (wanting and not wanting at the same time) may
interfere. The first step in magick is to re-program your
model. And, of course you can help your magical results by
working on the physical level toward your goals. Don't expect
them to fall into your lap by themselves.
3) A peculiar quality of magick is time displacement.
Results of a ritual are not usually instantaneous. There is
often a delay of 12 hours or more. Difficult tasks or weakly
performed ritual are more likely to be delayed. In most cases
a slight delay is alright, and it gives us time to get used
to the comming changes. And sometimes the effects of a ritual
appear to extend to before the ritual was performed!
4) Because of the way magick works, a ritual may
create an emphasis in what is sought, and a de-emphasis in
everything else. Balance is therefore important here. Once
the magical result is achieved it may be 'bound' to you and
difficult to get rid of should you later decide to do so.
Example: You use a magick ritual to help you find and buy a
new house. Years later when you decide to sell it, you are
unable to do so. Consider your magical goals wisely so you
dont get stuck with something you don't really want. Note
that theory says you can always unbind through ritual what
was bound to you...theory says.5) Sometimes the environment appears to react against
the magick after the results are achieved. This is
particularly noticeable in using magick to affect the weather
(and the main reason why you should NOT use magick to affect
the weather). For example...Your performance of a ritual to
produce a sunny day produces a sunny day. The next day is
sunny, alright, but the rest of the month is cold and
overcast. Here the weather seems to react to the magick in
the opposite way to re-establish its natural balance. It is
something like pushing a pendulum to one side and releasing
it -- the pendulum swings to the other side. To quote
Emmerson -- "For everything you gain you lose something...".
I don't know that this is always true in magick, but it does
illustrate the point. And another reason not to use magick to
affect the weather is that it might foul it up in other parts
of the country (world??).
6) Finally, magick ritual (or any magick or
occultism) is very dangerous for the mentally unstable. If
you should somehow 'get out too far', eat 'heavy foods' as
previously discussed (lesson on chakras) and use your
religious background or old belief system for support. But
remember too, that wierd experiences are not necessarily bad
experiences