List of Articles in this Series so far: Part One: Introduction –– Part Two: Making the most out of this series of articles. Part Three: Chapter one, Creating a Magical Mindset––The key to Magical Success, Part Four: Chapter one, The Four Elements, Part Five: Chapter one, Serving Spirits

In this series of articles, we are going to go over how to do Evocation & Invocation.

Right now, I am in the process of creating a book on making Evocation & invocation far more efficient, and powerful & Beginner-friendly. Oftentimes, when authors make books, they lock themselves up in a room for days at a time over years & Write/edit their work simultaneously.

With this book, we are not going to do that.

Instead, we will write these blog posts publicly & get feedback as we create it. That way, the final product will be far more satisfactory & catered to make sure you’re getting exactly what you want out of the book. I’m not perfect, so I cannot make the perfect book alone. However, if we work on this together, we can make a book that is valuable & worthwhile for years to come.

If this sounds like a project you want to be a part of, then please subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest blog updates.

Note: I am not looking for typos or spelling errors as much as I am looking for structure, missing elements, interesting citations, & ways of keeping the book both concise, simple & completely practical. I love academics, but I want this book to be super practical and easy to use, first & foremost. If these articles make things approachable, then I am succeeding. If not, please let me specifically know how I can make this guide more approachable & universal.

Chapter One: Magical Mindset–– The Key to Magical Success

Since the beginning of the human experience, humans have long been interacting with the visible as well as the invisible world. In fact, the magician may be considered one of the earliest professions in the world along with the hunter and the gatherer. Ancient tribes had shamans who communicated with the spirit world to grant success in hunts, heal ailments, and protect the tribe from war or plagues. Trance states were prized as it allowed the shaman to enter the invisible world and talk to the spirits – or call the spirits to come to our world. Drums, dancing, chants were also used to enter these trance states, as well as the use of magical symbols such as the circle and the triangle that we still use in magical rituals today.

Christians even attest to the reality of the spirit world every time they recite the Nicean Creed: “I believe in God, the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible…”, a creed recited by nearly by all Christians every single Sunday almost mechanically. The same belief is found in Islam in which Muslims are said to be believers of the unseen world (Quran 2:3).

Countless religions and spiritual traditions attest to this reality: An invisible world exists beside our very own. The world of spirit and the world of matter constantly meets and interacts. The visible universe is not the only reality there is. The universe is not a dead thing to be just looked at and interacted with. If the Christian creed were to say it, the universe teems with life because God has created all things visible and invisible.  There is an invisible world that the human eye has not seen and yet our world and theirs are constantly interacting.

The visible universe is not the only reality there is. The universe is not a dead thing to be just looked at and interacted with. If the Christian creed were to say it, the universe teems with life because God has created all things visible and invisible.  There is an invisible world that the human eye has not seen and yet our world and theirs are constantly interacting.

Spirits have long been invoked and evoked to intervene in human affairs from healing the sick and even raising the dead. As societies and cultures arose and various traditions formed, the techniques employed by shamans evolved into what they are today. Different peoples and cultures have different ways of invoking and evoking spirits. The spirits of the ancestors, the land, the sea, the sky, constantly informed the lives of human societies in the past. Everything was done in the understanding of the spirit world.

Generally, cultures are very careful in doing this and pay extra attention to make sure that only those who are ready and have the aptitude and ability can invoke or evoke spirits. The reason why cultures are secretive about the magical work is because a misuse of it can spell disaster for oneself and one’s society. A gun is a tool and is neither good nor bad. A gun when put into the hands of a good man will be used to protect, whereas a gun given to a murderer will spell disaster. Magic and the techniques of magic are like this. Through my training with various spiritual teacher and spirits I have been able to find the principles that need mastery for you to do effective magical evocation and invocation safely and beneficially for yourself and others.

Invocation and Evocation

Since this is a book of invocation and evocation, it is important to first define these two important terms that we will be mostly talking about and dealing with. It is also recommended that those who will be going through this book has also read Franz Bardon’s The Practice of Magical Evocation as this current text informs and reinforces those things we will be discussing.

The word invocation comes from the Latin verb invocare, which means to “call on”. In the study of magic, invocation is the process of calling upon spirits, gods, or saints to ask for something such as protection, favors, healing, or its presence. Invocation can take on many different forms. Invocation could be done through simple prayer or supplication. It can also be done in the context of a ritual or when self-identifying with a spirit or a god. A famous form of invocation that most magicians may know is the infamous “Headless Rite” found in the Greek Magical Papyri, wherein the magician commands other spirits by assuming the godform of the Headless One.

In history, Norse warriors invoke the spirits of totem animals such as the bear, wolf, or boar to enter the state of martial fury. When these warriors entered a trance-like state, they became “one” with the rage of the totemic animal (most often that of the bear) and are said to be unstoppable in warfare. The same goes for the belief of some people of Maritime Southeast Asia where certain spirits may, with consent or not, possess a person at the height of strong emotion (i.e. jealousy or anger) and destroy everything in their path in fury.

Evocation on the other hand is the act of summoning a spirit, muses, or geniuses to do the magician’s bidding. The word evocation comes from the Latin evocation which means “calling forth”.  If an invocation is about drawing in, evocation is about drawing out. Evocation is when a magician, by using ritual implements such as daggers and the like, can call a spirit to manifest in a particular object where you can interact with them such as a scrying mirror or a crystal ball. There is a particularly interesting account by the classicist and historian of Roman history and culture, Mary Beard, that during sieges Roman priests would do rituals to divert the gods of other peoples the Romans were at war with to their side. Bribed with more lavished temples or a better cult worship, the god of an enemy will leave a temple to join the Roman pantheon of gods.

In the next part, we will Introduce The Four elements.

If you want to go through a complete course to Gain an Accelerated ability in Skills & Transmissions, you can look at the complete magical evocation & Invocation course at the Mystery College or Perseus Academy. You can also check out our other course on the Practice of Magical Evocation by Mark Rasmus. One of our Partner schools, The Sixty Skills, is also working on Evocation & Invocation skills.