The techniques for invocation and evocation are unique in the Order of the Gnostic Star, since they do not rely on the use of the old grimoires nor upon the methodology developed in the Golden Dawn. Two problems confronted me when I first developed this system, and that was my lack of external resources (published grimoires and useful Thelemic or Golden Dawn materials) and the fact that I was performing magick as a witch and not as a ceremonial magician. Whatever method I came up with would have to be implemented in an environment of total and complete immersion. I would not be able to hide behind a magick circle and force my will and spiritual integrity upon some spirit that I had summoned in an exterior triangle of evocation. Instead, I would be directly exposed to whatever I managed to successfully invoke, with only my godhead assumption to mitigate the results. That meant I would have to make deadly certain that whatever I summoned would have to be exactly what I intended to summon! Subjected to my own mental and spiritual peril, there was absolutely no room for inaccuracy or error.
A solution to this vexing problem was to minutely define the energy body and persona of the spirit that I wished to summon, and then through the artifice of the triangular gateway (of the mysteries), fuse these parts together in order to manifest the target spirit. Of course, one would have to inventory the elemental energies associated with the body of various spirits, as well as define their intelligence through the seven planets, and this meant that each and every spirit in the hierarchy of spirits would have to be so defined. That proposed quite a monumental task to me, perhaps even making this approach untenable. I would later develop other approaches to solve this problem, such as invoking through a matrix of symbolic correspondences and specific definitions. Still, when I first began to write a handful of invocations, the insurmountable problem of defining all spirits in this manner was not fully realized, so I happily moved forward instead of stopping dead in my tracks. I am fortunate that I had proceeded in such a focused and myopic manner, since it allowed me to fully develop this system before having to adjust and adapt it later.
Invocation and evocation, as practiced in the Order, works with a three tier approach regardless of whether the magician is invoking through a matrix or has crafted a specialized profile for that spirit. The three tiers are, in sequential order, the specialized Power Octagon, the Activated Septagram and the Mystery Gateway. All of these magickal structures are performed within a consecrated magick circle, so the magician is not only exposed to the summoned spirit when it materializes, but she also enters into the very domain of that spirit as well. The reason for this is found in the effect that the Mystery Gateway has on the invocation process, since it not only fuses the body and intelligence of the spirit, but also opens up an underworld into the domain of spirits. A magician using this methodology not only summons and manifests a spirit, but also enters into its lair, and she is only protected by her godhead assumption and spiritual alignments.
The fact that I have been using this system for nearly thirty years and I am quite alive and completely sane, with my spiritual integrity intact, should demonstrate that this methodology is not only effective but also quite safe. Others have used this system without any problems as well, so it can’t be considered just something that I do and is incapable of being used by anyone else. What this means is that the ritual structures and methodologies incorporated into this system are rigorously defined and developed to the point where they function more like a scientific experiment than an artistic endeavor. Of course, the caveat is that the magician must carefully select the spirit and then creatively define it in such a way that it will behave as expected and greatly aid the magician, instead of annihilating him outright. This is also why I tend to use a balance of spiritual alignments in my methodologies, seeking a neutral middle path between intelligences that are beneficent and malefic, and ensuring that angels and demons counter balance each other. This is why I work with the ha-Shem Angels and the Goetic Demons together through the Angelic Ruler of the Decan. Working magick through the artifice of immersion does present some complications to the process of invocation and evocation. However, let us continue with our discussion of the Activated Septagram.
We have already covered the special Power Octagon, which generates an etheric container for the invocation of a spirit. We should now examine the next level in the three tier methodology used for invocation and evocation in the Order of the Gnostic Star. What I am proposing is a kind of planetary magick, but it is the invocation and qualification of all seven planetary intelligences merged together and performed in one single working. You might ask me how is this accomplished and what does it do? For that answer, we need to discuss in detail the nature of the Activated Septagram.
The Activated Septagram has six basic ritual steps. There are the three primary invocations of the spirit itself and the seven planetary invocations that make up the combined planetary intelligence. All of these actions are performed within an invoking vortex that encloses an inner circle where a charged talismanic septagram trigon is placed.
Combining these various elements together through the invoking vortex will generate the multifaceted personality of the specific spirit that the magician has called forth. One could say that this process is two-fold; where the magician defines and combines the symbolic attributes of the spirit’s persona, and also summons it to appear (as if from outside). My reason for using both approaches simultaneously is that I am joining together the archetypal facets of the spirit’s persona with the actual summoned spirit. This process produces a generated simulacrum of the real spiritual entity. Now that we have defined this process, let’s examine these six steps and find out how it actually works.
Activated Septagram in six steps: These six steps are quite simple, consisting of the following actions. (It’s assumed that this rite is performed after the conclusion of the special Power Octagon.)
1. Draw an inner circle and set within it the talismanic septagram trigon. (This trigon would be placed on top of the previous one for the Power Octagon.) Charge the trigon with three invoking spirals and project into it a violet colored energy.
2. Draw a Rose Ankh device to the four Watchtowers in a widdershins vector, beginning in the West, and proceeding to the South, East, and North. Draw another Rose Ankh device in the center of the circle over the septagram. Then draw all four Watchtower points to the center of the circle (at the Infra-point) using the sword. The vector for this operation should be widdershins, beginning in the West. Each of the five devices should be charged with a violet colored energy.
3. Intone the first invocation, which summons the spirit and also determines the spiritual hierarchy through which it is defined and controlled. The hierarchy is declared in a descending sequence, beginning with the highest level of the Godhead, right down to the spirit itself.
4. Perform the planetary invocation for each of the seven planets in the order: Sun, Mercury, Mars, Moon, Saturn and Jupiter. The following executions are performed in sequence:
5. Intone the second invocation for the spirit. Then declare the definitive characteristics of the persona (in-depth, a synopsis of step 4), and describe the image or imago of the spirit. Then perform an exegesis of the formula words. This is done by taking the first letter of each word and producing a new formula word that succinctly defines the spirit. (This is optional, but also integral.)
6. Intone the third and final invocation of the spirit. This final version of the invocation is reiterated from what has been previously declared, but it is intoned in a sacred language (other than English).
As you can see, this ritual structure is fairly simple and concise. It successfully defines the qualities and characteristics of the invoked spirit. Joining this simple ritual structure with the Power Octagon, which acts as its base, produces an energized spiritual entity that the magician is capable of seeing and sensing on many levels. The combined Power Octagon and Activated Septagram could successfully invoke a spirit into some kind of manifestation, but the Mystery Gateway truly empowers and unites all of the facets and opens the magician to the underworld domain of the spirit. We will cover that third ritual and its associated lore in a future article.
Keep in mind that this methodology assumes that the magician will write a custom crafted invocation for every single spirit that they want to invoke, which would be quite an undertaking. What I learned later on is that this ritual structure can be modified so that the magician can use a modular approach of invoking through a matrix, instead of uniquely defining each and every spirit.
For instance, the Angelic Rulers of the Decans are defined by a specific zodiacal sign, which consists of an element and a quality of triplicity (cardinal, fixed, mutable), and a ruling planet, as well as other specific correspondences (Egyptian Godhead, Hermetic Spirit, Angelic Ruler, etc.). The Power Octagon would be charged with four Elementals of a specific base element, and an elemental gateway would qualify that fused energy structure with the three angels of the Power and Seat, Active Principle and Ruling Force of the zodiacal sign. The Activated Septagram could then be used to invoke the single ruling planet and would add other corresponding symbols to uniquely qualify and invoke the Decan and its Ruling Angel. While the patterns that I have presented in these articles will give students some structures and examples to perform this kind of magick, there are quite a number of variations that can be used to more easily invoke an entire class of spirits as opposed to each one individually.
Other techniques that could be used would include using a seven-fold spiraling ritual structure, which would consist of the four Watchtowers or Angles and a three or four node internal tetrahedral gateway. The seven points in this ritual structure would allow for the complete definition of the seven planets with a base element and a zodiacal quality of triplicity - thus a planet in a zodiacal sign.
Another possibility is creating an Element Foundation attributed to one of the four Qabbalistic Worlds, and overlayng that would be erected a cross roads with a central pylon, and over that, a gateway would be set to a specific element. The overall combination would produce an invoking ritual structure known as an “archetypal gate.” An archetypal gateway is used to perform an invocation of one of the great angels, such as an Archangel (Zodiacal or Sephiroth) or Super Archangel (Cherubim or Serephim). Each of these different methodologies are based on the combination of the Power Octagon and the Activated Septagram ritual structures.
Finally, I did want to discuss how one goes about qualifying the seven planetary intelligences when using the basic version of the Activated Septagram. I usually use this methodology for a spirit that is strategically important to my magickal workings, one that wouldn’t easily fit into any of the hierarchical classes. Such spirits would be demi-gods, divine personages, qualified Godheads that are not part of my pantheon, or specialized spiritual entities that I would like to define in a very detailed manner, thereby giving them a very accessible and perceptible personality.
Once I target such a spirit, I then seek to acquire as much information about them as possible, seeking academic sources as well as attempting to perform my own divination. After acquiring all of the available information, I then take a handy book on astrology and select those zodiacal signs for the seven planets that would best describe the spirit, developing its personality from a host of descriptions and clues. The end result is a really good approximation of what I think that spirit’s personality would be like if it were an actual person. When that defined persona is joined with the summoned spirit, it acts like a control over how the spirit reacts and responds, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any surprises or any amazing things discovered. It only signifies that the parameters and boundaries have been set, everything else is open to the dynamic range of possibilities that can occur whenever human beings interact with spirits.
I hope this article has given you some further and helpful information about how we invoke spirits in the Order of the Gnostic Star. It’s a very different, and I think, unique methodology, but it also works quite well. Stay tuned for the next article in this series, which will focus on the Mystery Gateway that is used in this system of invocation.
A solution to this vexing problem was to minutely define the energy body and persona of the spirit that I wished to summon, and then through the artifice of the triangular gateway (of the mysteries), fuse these parts together in order to manifest the target spirit. Of course, one would have to inventory the elemental energies associated with the body of various spirits, as well as define their intelligence through the seven planets, and this meant that each and every spirit in the hierarchy of spirits would have to be so defined. That proposed quite a monumental task to me, perhaps even making this approach untenable. I would later develop other approaches to solve this problem, such as invoking through a matrix of symbolic correspondences and specific definitions. Still, when I first began to write a handful of invocations, the insurmountable problem of defining all spirits in this manner was not fully realized, so I happily moved forward instead of stopping dead in my tracks. I am fortunate that I had proceeded in such a focused and myopic manner, since it allowed me to fully develop this system before having to adjust and adapt it later.
Invocation and evocation, as practiced in the Order, works with a three tier approach regardless of whether the magician is invoking through a matrix or has crafted a specialized profile for that spirit. The three tiers are, in sequential order, the specialized Power Octagon, the Activated Septagram and the Mystery Gateway. All of these magickal structures are performed within a consecrated magick circle, so the magician is not only exposed to the summoned spirit when it materializes, but she also enters into the very domain of that spirit as well. The reason for this is found in the effect that the Mystery Gateway has on the invocation process, since it not only fuses the body and intelligence of the spirit, but also opens up an underworld into the domain of spirits. A magician using this methodology not only summons and manifests a spirit, but also enters into its lair, and she is only protected by her godhead assumption and spiritual alignments.
The fact that I have been using this system for nearly thirty years and I am quite alive and completely sane, with my spiritual integrity intact, should demonstrate that this methodology is not only effective but also quite safe. Others have used this system without any problems as well, so it can’t be considered just something that I do and is incapable of being used by anyone else. What this means is that the ritual structures and methodologies incorporated into this system are rigorously defined and developed to the point where they function more like a scientific experiment than an artistic endeavor. Of course, the caveat is that the magician must carefully select the spirit and then creatively define it in such a way that it will behave as expected and greatly aid the magician, instead of annihilating him outright. This is also why I tend to use a balance of spiritual alignments in my methodologies, seeking a neutral middle path between intelligences that are beneficent and malefic, and ensuring that angels and demons counter balance each other. This is why I work with the ha-Shem Angels and the Goetic Demons together through the Angelic Ruler of the Decan. Working magick through the artifice of immersion does present some complications to the process of invocation and evocation. However, let us continue with our discussion of the Activated Septagram.
We have already covered the special Power Octagon, which generates an etheric container for the invocation of a spirit. We should now examine the next level in the three tier methodology used for invocation and evocation in the Order of the Gnostic Star. What I am proposing is a kind of planetary magick, but it is the invocation and qualification of all seven planetary intelligences merged together and performed in one single working. You might ask me how is this accomplished and what does it do? For that answer, we need to discuss in detail the nature of the Activated Septagram.
The Activated Septagram has six basic ritual steps. There are the three primary invocations of the spirit itself and the seven planetary invocations that make up the combined planetary intelligence. All of these actions are performed within an invoking vortex that encloses an inner circle where a charged talismanic septagram trigon is placed.
Combining these various elements together through the invoking vortex will generate the multifaceted personality of the specific spirit that the magician has called forth. One could say that this process is two-fold; where the magician defines and combines the symbolic attributes of the spirit’s persona, and also summons it to appear (as if from outside). My reason for using both approaches simultaneously is that I am joining together the archetypal facets of the spirit’s persona with the actual summoned spirit. This process produces a generated simulacrum of the real spiritual entity. Now that we have defined this process, let’s examine these six steps and find out how it actually works.
Activated Septagram in six steps: These six steps are quite simple, consisting of the following actions. (It’s assumed that this rite is performed after the conclusion of the special Power Octagon.)
1. Draw an inner circle and set within it the talismanic septagram trigon. (This trigon would be placed on top of the previous one for the Power Octagon.) Charge the trigon with three invoking spirals and project into it a violet colored energy.
2. Draw a Rose Ankh device to the four Watchtowers in a widdershins vector, beginning in the West, and proceeding to the South, East, and North. Draw another Rose Ankh device in the center of the circle over the septagram. Then draw all four Watchtower points to the center of the circle (at the Infra-point) using the sword. The vector for this operation should be widdershins, beginning in the West. Each of the five devices should be charged with a violet colored energy.
3. Intone the first invocation, which summons the spirit and also determines the spiritual hierarchy through which it is defined and controlled. The hierarchy is declared in a descending sequence, beginning with the highest level of the Godhead, right down to the spirit itself.
4. Perform the planetary invocation for each of the seven planets in the order: Sun, Mercury, Mars, Moon, Saturn and Jupiter. The following executions are performed in sequence:
- Draw the planetary angle on the central Septagram using the transmutar wand.
- Intone the planetary invocation - summoning the planetary spirit(s) and intone the Enochian Planetary Call (if available).
- Intone the formula word. (This is used later to pull all of the facets together into a whole. Seven word letters form a special acronym for the spirit.)
- Then, using the formula word, declare the planetary quality and the associated astrological sign - this describes that aspect of the spirit’s persona.
5. Intone the second invocation for the spirit. Then declare the definitive characteristics of the persona (in-depth, a synopsis of step 4), and describe the image or imago of the spirit. Then perform an exegesis of the formula words. This is done by taking the first letter of each word and producing a new formula word that succinctly defines the spirit. (This is optional, but also integral.)
6. Intone the third and final invocation of the spirit. This final version of the invocation is reiterated from what has been previously declared, but it is intoned in a sacred language (other than English).
As you can see, this ritual structure is fairly simple and concise. It successfully defines the qualities and characteristics of the invoked spirit. Joining this simple ritual structure with the Power Octagon, which acts as its base, produces an energized spiritual entity that the magician is capable of seeing and sensing on many levels. The combined Power Octagon and Activated Septagram could successfully invoke a spirit into some kind of manifestation, but the Mystery Gateway truly empowers and unites all of the facets and opens the magician to the underworld domain of the spirit. We will cover that third ritual and its associated lore in a future article.
Keep in mind that this methodology assumes that the magician will write a custom crafted invocation for every single spirit that they want to invoke, which would be quite an undertaking. What I learned later on is that this ritual structure can be modified so that the magician can use a modular approach of invoking through a matrix, instead of uniquely defining each and every spirit.
For instance, the Angelic Rulers of the Decans are defined by a specific zodiacal sign, which consists of an element and a quality of triplicity (cardinal, fixed, mutable), and a ruling planet, as well as other specific correspondences (Egyptian Godhead, Hermetic Spirit, Angelic Ruler, etc.). The Power Octagon would be charged with four Elementals of a specific base element, and an elemental gateway would qualify that fused energy structure with the three angels of the Power and Seat, Active Principle and Ruling Force of the zodiacal sign. The Activated Septagram could then be used to invoke the single ruling planet and would add other corresponding symbols to uniquely qualify and invoke the Decan and its Ruling Angel. While the patterns that I have presented in these articles will give students some structures and examples to perform this kind of magick, there are quite a number of variations that can be used to more easily invoke an entire class of spirits as opposed to each one individually.
Other techniques that could be used would include using a seven-fold spiraling ritual structure, which would consist of the four Watchtowers or Angles and a three or four node internal tetrahedral gateway. The seven points in this ritual structure would allow for the complete definition of the seven planets with a base element and a zodiacal quality of triplicity - thus a planet in a zodiacal sign.
Another possibility is creating an Element Foundation attributed to one of the four Qabbalistic Worlds, and overlayng that would be erected a cross roads with a central pylon, and over that, a gateway would be set to a specific element. The overall combination would produce an invoking ritual structure known as an “archetypal gate.” An archetypal gateway is used to perform an invocation of one of the great angels, such as an Archangel (Zodiacal or Sephiroth) or Super Archangel (Cherubim or Serephim). Each of these different methodologies are based on the combination of the Power Octagon and the Activated Septagram ritual structures.
Finally, I did want to discuss how one goes about qualifying the seven planetary intelligences when using the basic version of the Activated Septagram. I usually use this methodology for a spirit that is strategically important to my magickal workings, one that wouldn’t easily fit into any of the hierarchical classes. Such spirits would be demi-gods, divine personages, qualified Godheads that are not part of my pantheon, or specialized spiritual entities that I would like to define in a very detailed manner, thereby giving them a very accessible and perceptible personality.
Once I target such a spirit, I then seek to acquire as much information about them as possible, seeking academic sources as well as attempting to perform my own divination. After acquiring all of the available information, I then take a handy book on astrology and select those zodiacal signs for the seven planets that would best describe the spirit, developing its personality from a host of descriptions and clues. The end result is a really good approximation of what I think that spirit’s personality would be like if it were an actual person. When that defined persona is joined with the summoned spirit, it acts like a control over how the spirit reacts and responds, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any surprises or any amazing things discovered. It only signifies that the parameters and boundaries have been set, everything else is open to the dynamic range of possibilities that can occur whenever human beings interact with spirits.
I hope this article has given you some further and helpful information about how we invoke spirits in the Order of the Gnostic Star. It’s a very different, and I think, unique methodology, but it also works quite well. Stay tuned for the next article in this series, which will focus on the Mystery Gateway that is used in this system of invocation.
Frater Barrabbas
I have one question: have you ever used this ritual for thaumaturgical work? If yes, could you share an example of the results? Thank you.
ReplyDelete@yuzuru - This ritual is used for the invocation of a spirit, which might by itself have thaumaturgical qualities, but that would be an offshoot of this kind of working, not its intention.
ReplyDeleteOne example of thaumaturgy in my system of magick can be found in the procedure for statue animation - you can find an article about that subject in this blog - here is the link: http://fraterbarrabbas.blogspot.com/2010/12/art-of-statue-animation-making-magickal.html
Hope that helps you.
FB