Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

Book I: T he Magick Circle 53
Invoking
There are two ways in which gods and goddesses, spirits, and Elemental Powers may be
brought into our Circle: we may call them in from outside; or we may call them out from
inside. The first way, calling in, is called invoking or invocation, and it is the most common
way of inviting their presence.
In traditional magickal practice, “invoking” is the term commonly used for inviting a
deity or spirit to enter into us, so that we speak with its voice and/or manifest its attributes in
our own person. Conversely, the same term is used to petition or call for help or aid. Morning
Glory and I have found it more useful, however, to use these terms in a slightly different
manner, which I will explain here…
Of course, beings of spirit are all around us all the time, just like radio waves and TV
transmissions. What we are really doing is making ourselves receptive to communion, or contact
with them at a particular time and place. This is much like turning on your TV and choosing the
channel you want to watch. This is done by invocation, similar to our Quarter callings, in which
we address the deity or spirit as we would a friend or relative, in the second person (that is, by
saying “you,” as in “we invite you to come…”). The simplest invocations run something like this:
Oh, most (gracious, wise, beautiful, powerful, beloved, etc.) (name), (Lord, Lady)
of (attributes…), I invite you to enter this Circle and join with us in our magick
work. Bring us your (wisdom, strength, inspiration, courage, etc.) and your blessings.
Hail and be welcome!
And of course, everyone else echoes, “Hail and be welcome!” As the
beings of spirit are called, candles may be lit for them on the central altar.
Here is an example of how this may come together in practice:
Crescent One of the starry skies,
Flowered One of the fertile plain,
Flowing One of the ocean’s sighs,
Blessed One of the gentle rain;
Hear our call ‘midst the standing stones,
Full us with your mystic light;
Awaken us to your silver tones,
Join us in our sacred rite!
Hail and be welcome!
Evoking
Evoking, or calling out, is done in the first person by saying “I”
(as in Doreen Valiente’s lovely “Charge of the Goddess”), wherein the
priestess, speaking as the Goddess, says: “I am the beauty of the green Earth, and the white
moon among the stars…” Evocations are usually referred to as “charges.” In the solitary practice
of Western Ceremonial Magick, this is considered a function of invocation rather than evocation
(see above), and “evocation” is the term used for summoning a spirit or deity into visible
manifestation outside of ourselves. This appearance may be in a triangle, a crystal, a mirror, or
even another person. But the term actually means “calling out,” and in our ritual work (which
does not include summoning spirits into visible appearance), Morning Glory and I have found it
important to distinguish “calling out” from “calling in,” so we use these terms with this meaning.
When we evoke the God or Goddess, we call them forth from within our own souls, for
deep down inside we are one with them. Just as we say we are “one blood” with our human
parents, so we are “one soul” with our Divine parents, the Goddess and God. When we call them
out with an evocation, we temporarily give over our human identity to allow the God or Goddess
to manifest through our body and speak with our voice. True evocation is a very advanced
form of calling, and should really be done by a priestess or priest who has been adequately