The Arcane Teaching · 18 of 21

Lesson XVIII. Invocation and Evocation

Under the head of “Invocation and Evocation” we shall group that general class of occult phenomena which consists of the “calling upon” supernatural beings; or the “calling forth” of disembodied entities; elementals; vitalized thought entities; etc., from the Astral Plane of Existence. The word “invoke” means “To call for solemnly, or with earnestness; to call upon or address in prayer; to solicit in prayer for assistance or protection.” The word “evoke” means: “To call out or summon forth; often used in the sense of calling forth of the disembodied souls, and similar entities.”

Invocation of the power of superior, or supernatural beings, by means of prayer, offerings, sacrifices, and other ceremonial forms is seemingly as old as the race. All the ancient peoples invoked their greater and lesser deities, and other supernatural beings, and down to the present time we find prayer actively employed in all forms of religious worship. Even outside of the field of religion, we find many instances of invocation of the power of genii and other supernatural beings, by means of ceremonial magic and similar practices. The old works upon the Magic Art are filled with directions for ceremonials of this kind. The modern mind, however, regards these latter things as merely the effects of silly credulity on the part of ignorant people, the prejudice generally extending to the religious practice of invoking the power of the angels, saints, and other superior disembodied entities.

But, even the most ardent objector to the invocation of lesser beings, if he remain in the bosom of the churches, is apt to adhere to the old and well established custom of calling upon Deity for assistance in the affairs of his life, often going so far as to offer to Deity supposedly valuable hints and bits of advice regarding the conduct, operation and management of the Universe at large. To a mind which has grasped the realization of the transcendent ideal of the Absolute and the Infinite, it is startling to hear many devout “class‑leaders,” deacons and clergymen, particularly among certain non‑ritualistic denominations, addressing their Deity in terms of easy familiarity and good‑fellowship, giving Him their opinion on things in general; finding fault; administering patronizing commendation and flattery; and in general informing Him how they, the invokers, wish the world to be managed and run. Burns’s poem, “Holy Willie’s Prayer” gives us an excellent example of this form. This, however, is a statement of an extreme abuse of the principle, and our natural revolt at the same must not blind us to the fact that prayer in other forms constitutes a source of great spiritual comfort and consolation to many a soul in hours of trouble and pain.

The modern rationalist, seeing no intellectual “reason” for believing in the efficacy of prayer, is apt to dismiss the entire subject as but a part of the outgrown superstition of the race. But this will not do, for an unprejudiced observer will find before him many striking and undoubted instances of “answer to prayer”—of results occurring in almost exact accordance with the nature of earnest and sincere invocation. These instances are too numerous and common to be dismissed as mere coincidence—they must be admitted, and the cause looked for further. And in the examination and search, we must not lose sight of the too often overlooked fact, that these “answers to prayer” come to people of all shades of heterodox religious belief— heathen, pagan, idolators, in all parts of the globe, and in all times—as well as to “true believers” in the particular faith which happens to be “orthodox” in our particular land at this particular time. The worshippers of the ancient gods of Rome and Greece had their prayers answered; the Egyptian worshippers had the same favors granted them; the Hindus, ancient and modern, received great benefits from prayer; the Mohammedans are a people of great prayers, and many are the answers received by the faithful Moslem. And so, the investigator must either accept the polytheistic idea of the existence of many gods of many people, all of whom hear and answer the prayers of their worshippers, or else the alternative idea that all of these various worshippers, while worshipping at their respective shrines and altars, in reality bring themselves in psychic communication with higher spiritual powers, and thus set in operation natural psychic forces which tend to bring to them their “heart’s desire.” Which of the two ideas seem the most rational and in accordance with the known facts of the universe?

The Arcane Teachers have always held and taught that every true and earnest prayer coming from the heart of a sincere and devout worshipper, tends to bring that person into a closer relation to the great Cosmic Spirit— the Essence of the One Life of the Cosmos. This, not by a reaching out of the person’s mind toward some far away Something, but by means of an Inward Unfoldment, by which the Spirit within each soul unfolds itself and is recognized as present and existent. This experience of the Indwelling Presence of Deity, or the Union with Deity, is common to the religiously inclined soul of all lands, times, and phases of belief—it is common to the race. Instances are found in the records of the transcendental of all times.

This experience, when it occurs to one, leaves him with a sense of renewed power and strength, which often operates in the direction of the person being able to accomplish that for which he prayed.

Not only does it act as a Comforter, but also as a Source of Power. And this is not to be wondered at, when we realize that it means that the individual is thus brought much closer to the very Essence of Being—the One Life. An understanding of this fact will enable us to understand many instances of renewed strength resulting from prayer, meditation, and self‑communion, which cannot be dismissed lightly as “mere imagination.” All advanced occultists realize the benefits which result from “Meditation,” in which the same principle is invoked. When one comes into close relationship with the Cosmic Will, is it any wonder that Power results?

But there is more to the subject than even this. The person who prays earnestly and with faith in the result, assumes the mental attitude of Confident Expectation, which is one of the first stages in Attainment by occult methods. Earnest Demand; Confident Expectation; Positive Will—these are the three Co‑ordinates of the exercise of Occult Power. And the first two elements are present in all earnest, faithful prayer. And the final stage is very often awakened by the exercise of the two former. Moreover, in demanding earnestly, and expecting faithfully, the person creates the mental image in the Imagination which is an important part in all manifestation of occult power. By exerting these mental forces, all of them important and effective, is it any wonder that the person sets into operation the mental forces which tend to draw to him the things that he needs—and to materialize the ideals that he is holding in his mind? It would be a source of wonder to all occultists if the said results failed to manifest in some degree. The laws of Mentalism are set into full operation by earnest, heartfelt, faithful prayer—it is one of the most potent forms of invoking the operation of well established laws of Mentalism. This is apparent to all advanced occultists—and will be to the student, if he will but analyze the processes and methods employed unconsciously by the devout worshipper.

And, moreover, none of us can afford to sneer at the tales of the interposition of “the saints” and “angels,” and other “holy beings” of the several religions. These are no mere fantasies, and vain imaginings. While many of the beneficent results attributed to them are really due to the causes above mentioned, still all occultists know that there are many advanced beings on the higher planes of the Cosmos, who are undoubtedly attracted by persons on the lower planes who bring themselves in rapport with them by manifesting the proper mental and spiritual states. “There are many more things in heaven and on earth” than are dreamt of in the philosophies of the day. But, of course, any and all results of prayer are in full accord with natural law, and result through the operations thereof. These things are not supernatural—they are but a part of Nature’s hidden workings.

Let us now consider the subject of “Evocation.”

One of the most common of all forms of Evocation is the familiar “materialization” of disembodied human beings by means of a “medium,” or person in the flesh, whose vital power is used by the disembodied entity in manifesting itself once more on the material plane. In some of the instances of this form of manifestation the disembodied entity voluntarily and consciously makes use of the vitality of the medium in order to manifest itself to persons in the flesh for the purpose of communicating with them, or else merely to gratify a desire to assume earthly form and garb once more, and to mingle with persons in the flesh. But all true occultists are aware that a large percentage of these manifestations are not the entities which they purport to represent, but are imposters from the Astral Plane, who assume the image of friends and relatives of those present, copying with more or less perfect detail the mental image of the departed one which exists in the mind of the person in the flesh, and which is called forth by memory by the associations and suggestions of the seance.

Another form of Evocation, also quite common in seances, is that where the disembodied entity is actually “called forth” by the strong desire and affection of some of the visitors attending the seance, in which case the materialization is effected through the vital powers of the medium, inspired into activity by the strong desire of those who wish to communicate with and see once more the form of those who have passed out of the flesh. In these cases the disembodied entity is scarcely conscious of the manifestation, and is like a person in a dream, or rather like one who walks in his sleep. This fact accounts for the dazed, startled condition of mind often manifested by these materialized entities when they are summoned forth at a seance. They are dwelling in the life of the Astral Plane, wrapt in their owns dreams and meditations, and it is cruel to disturb them. In fact, it is quite as unnatural to place a disembodied entity in this condition as it is to plunge a person in the flesh into some abnormal psychic state. Advanced occultists, unanimously, condemn the prevalent practice of evoking these entities, and disturbing their Astral life.

There is a class of earth‑bound entities on the lowest sub‑planes of the Astral Plane, who hover around their old scenes on earth so long as they are allowed to do so by the laws of the Astral World. These entities swarm around materialization seances, and other similar psychic performances, taking great delight in manifesting their presence as forcibly as may be, and playing as many pranks as possible. These entities often act the part of some celebrated character of history, or some friend or relative of those present, and make “exhibitions” of themselves by making Shakespeare write doggerel verse; or Napoleon tell someone what to take to get rid of a cold; or Plato to warn a maiden to “beware of the ‘light‑complected’ woman.” This fact has brought genuine spiritualistic phenomena into disrepute in many quarters where the state of affairs is not known, and caused much pain and heart‑burnings among the sincere early followers of spiritualism who were not acquainted with these psychic facts, but who accepted as “gospel truth” every communication reaching them from the “spirit world.”

The average spiritualist of to‑day, however, is much better informed, and is disposed to be quite as particular in forming “spirit” acquaintances and friendships, as he is in forming earthly ones. Much of the testimony given at seances by even reputable and truthful entities is more or less incorrect for reasons that will be apparent to those who have read what we said in our lesson on the “Astral Plane.” That is to say, these entities, as a rule, are familiar only with the particular environment familiar to them by reason of their affiliations and their particular character. The best proof of this is the totally contradictory evidence offered by such entities. Their reports range all the way from the “happy hunting grounds” of the savage, to the state of transcendental bliss of the idealistic soul. And each of these reports are equally true, for each reports “the Thing as he sees it,” for the world “of Things as they are” on the Astral Plane. When these facts are understood, one may begin to reconcile the apparent discrepencies of the reports of the seance.

In some cases disembodied entities may fall in with the desires of those in the flesh, and will endeavor to aid them in their purposes in the earth‑life. But they can accomplish no more than if they were in the flesh—they can employ the thought‑force in the same manner—that is all. They cannot affect a person whose thoughts are of a higher degree of vibration, any more than can be done by one still in the flesh. The influence of these entities has been grossly exaggerated by some writers on the subject. They are governed by the Law of Attraction, and can go only where they are attracted. Moreover, they are apt to end in tormenting those who have invoked them for unworthy purposes. We caution all against attempting to make use of such aid, even if offered.

There is also the Evocation of what are called in a general way, “the elementaries” or “elemental forces.” We do not consider it wise to enter into a detailed consideration of this subject, for reasons which will be apparent to all advanced students of occultism. We have spoken of it in a previous lesson. Enough to say that in nature there are semi‑intelligent living forces, which under certain conditions may be evoked and guided by the intelligence of human beings, in certain forms of Black Magic. Such practices are extremely unworthy, and invariably result in disastrous results to those dabbling in the forbidden practices. We assure the student, however, that these influences can work no harm to those who stand on the higher plane of thought and life, although those on the lower planes of thought and life may suffer annoyance from them. The Law of Attraction governs and regulates these things—“like attracts like”; “entities, like water seek always their own level.”

Another form of Evocation, very common and yet scarcely recognized by many thinkers along these lines, is the evocation of Thought Forms, Desire Nebulæ, etc. These peculiar Things are the result of strong and vital currents of Will and Desire thrown off from the minds of persons who have lived, and who may still be living. They have a tendency to coalesce and combine, and following the Law of Attraction they gather in the vicinity where similar mental influences are being exerted. They are like gathering clouds on the horizon, nonactive in themselves, but capable of manifesting lightning and thunder under certain conditions. These lacking conditions are often supplied by persons of strong Desire or Will, who attract them to them and vitalize them by the energy of their own emotions or motive mentality. These thought‑clouds then act as if they had been sent out by the mind of the person animating and energizing them, and manifest all the phenomena of the thought currents. They may either be directed toward the accomplishment of certain ends of the person, if he be capable of such direction; or, on the contrary, they may involve him in a psychic whirlwind or tempest until he is almost torn asunder. The consequence is that one often “sows the wind, and reaps the whirlwind” is literal truth. Beginning with manifesting these mental states, one is finally carried off his mental feet by them, and caused great pain and misfortune. The lives of many prominent men show examples of this phenomena, although the public does not understand it.

Akin to the above, is the evocation of the Desire Elementals, and “artificial entities” mentioned in our lesson “The Astral Plane.” In this case the effect is even more startling that that arising from the evocation of Thought Forms, etc., to which the Desire Elementals are closely related. The difference between the Desire Elementals and active Thought Forms is only a matter of degree, and many writers confuse the two forms of manifestation.

It should be unnecessary for us to add that the Arcane Teachers most positively condemn the practice of evoking the elementals, and forbid it among their students. In fact, they withold the inner teachings on the subject of certain sub‑planes of the Astral, as we have seen, in order to prevent unworthy persons taking advantage of certain of the teachings. The practice of Evocation often leads directly to Black Magic, which involves the practitioner in whirlwinds and whirlpools of psychic energy and occult forces, and often causes his destruction. There are many to‑day practicing Evocation, under high sounding names, and clothed with the garments of high pretensions. But such will feel the Law of Cause and Effect. The Law is never mocked. It moves with the pitiless and unerring certainty of a machine. Each draws his own to him. None can escape their own good—or evil. Beware of Evocations! Do not play with fire. Do not toy with Edged Tools! Part VII. Arcane Secrets. Lesson XIX. The Secret of The Opposites. Lesson XX. The Secret of Rhythm. Lesson XXI. The Secret of Balance.