This is part two of a three part series on the art and practice of invocation and evocation as taught and executed within the Order of the Gnostic Star.
Quintedecim Complex and the Gate of Revealing
The Quintedecim complex consists of an outer four-fold elemental vortex established through the artifice of the Power Octagon conjoined with an inner circle that contains a septagramic trigon, and this is used to invoke all seven planetary intelligences associated with the target spirit. These two structures, one residing on the periphery and the other residing in the center of the circle, are joined through the employment of a magnetic vortex and a tetrahedral gateway aligned to the West, which is the underworld. To thoroughly understand these structures, it would be prudent for the reader to examine the nature of the Power Octagon and the Activated Septagram. The third element is the magical gateway, so that article should also be reviewed if needed.
As it was written in the Mystery Gateway article where I revealed how this technique of invocation could be performed, I stated that the groundwork for these processes had already been covered in still previously posted articles. I was, in fact, following a plan to reveal each of these ritual elements and expound on them before continuing with the topic that would pull all of them together into a single invocative working. Here is a quote from that article on the Mystery Gateway that pretty much lays out the various elements and how they would work together to form the layers of the octagon, septagram and the tetrahedral gateway.
“We have already recently covered the ritual mechanisms used for the specialized Power Octagon and the Activated Septagram. I have indicated that through these two rituals alone, a magician might be able to fully invoke a spirit into manifestation in some manner. Yet the third step in this process performs two amazing and very necessary tasks. The Mystery Gate functions as a typical gateway in that it joins together into a unified field all of the previous ritual energy structures and it unlocks and reveals a distinct spiritual domain, which is essentially based on the prior symbolic configuration of octagon and septagram. The Gate of Revealing thus fuses the octagon and septagram to produce a fifteen pointed structure with a triangle in its center. I call this fifteen pointed ritual structure device, the Quintedecim Complex.”
I then proceeded to expound on the ritual that I call the Gate of Revealing, which is where all of these elements are fused into a single ritual structure. Here is another quote from that article which establishes the foundation for the functionality of that rite.
“The ritual Gate of Revealing has a basic preliminary operation that is done every time it is used. That operation is the drawing of an inner circle, placing the Quintedecim Complex trigon on top of the stack representing the Power Octagon and the Activated Septagram and then charging it with an invoking spiral and a violet colored energy. Twenty-two Trumps of the Tarot are placed around the periphery of that inner circle, representing the specific pattern of initiation that the magician is following. This pattern is then charged using the control crystal that normally is attached to a necklace that circles the magician’s neck. The magician projects the power of the crystal into each card, following the pattern of the four stages (of the Cycle of Initiation) in a widdershins vector. Upon the Q-Complex trigon, the magician places the consecrated sigil of the target spirit, where it will reside until the invocation is to be performed. In this manner, the core of the inner magick circle is set with the empowered invocation process, encircled by the pattern of one’s personal symbols of transformation.”
Continuing with quotations that describe the ritual pattern of the Gate of Revealing, I discussed the trapezoidal vortex that is one of the more critical parts of this working. The trapezoidal cross that is used to charge the cross-roads structure of this rite produces a prismatic structure called the trapezohedron, and this structure produces an overall effect that I call the para-reality or astral domain of the invoked spirit.
“Overlaying the central circle, the magician builds a powerful central pylon based vortex, where the four Watchtowers are each set with a trapezoidal cross in such a manner that a cross roads is formed (West to East, then South to North), with a trapezoidal cross also set in the Ultra-point. The four Watchtower devices are drawn to the center of the circle in the Infra-point (where the trigon stack is set) using the sword, after that, the magician draws an invoking spiral to connect the Ultra-point with the Infra-point, and then a widdershins spiral is used to generate the vortex proper.”
Once these structures are completed and fully realized, then he or she can continue to perform either an invocation (first summoning), evocation (exteriorization of the spirit), or skrying, astral projection into that spirit’s domain or even summoning the spiritual servitors. This multi-track option made the Gate of Revealing a modular ritual with several possibilities, as I succinctly stated in the article.
“From this point in the Gate of Revealing ritual, there are four possible tracks that the magician may follow. These tracks are independent from each other, but the track that completes the invocation process must be performed first, then through the use of a macro-ritual (which allows the magician to re-enter the domain of the already invoked spirit without having to redo all of the previous steps), the other three tracks may be subsequently followed. These four tracks are:
- Invocation through the media of manifestation (always performed the first time),
- Evocation through the artifice of Exteriorization (to be followed by the Iron Cross Vortex rite),
- Projection of the astral body or skrying into the spirit’s domain,
- Summoning of the spiritual servitors of the target spirit.”
These steps allow for a comprehensive working engaging any spirit so targeted, but such a regimen includes the custom researching and writing of the rituals that establish the Power Octagon and the Planetary Septagram. The Gate of Revealing is a modular ritual that can be used for any of the four tracks, so there is no need to customize that rite. However, the other layers would need to be unique to the individual spirit invoked, and the Octagon and Septagram are together referred to as the Invoking Vortex of the specific spirit. As of today, there are only a dozen or so custom invoking vortex rituals used for spirits that are integral to the Order because they function as sponsors, allies and patrons of the spiritual hierarchy.
Invocation Through a Symbolic Matrix
What inspired me to develop a different methodology for performing an invocation was the discovery and inspiration of a new system of magick, which I called Archeomancy. There were two different systems of this kind of magick from the very start, but the first one that I developed was called the Archeomancy of the 40 Worlds. The matrix in this case was one of the four Qabalistic Worlds and one of the 10 Sephiroth, combined together they emulated the primary spiritual hierarchy that I had developed, which was based on the Qabalah. This would include all of the angels of the 10 Sephiroth within the four Worlds.
In order to magically define these two dimensions of the matrix, I had to write two new rituals, which were based on the four Qabalistic Worlds (entitled the Qabalistic Pyramid of Powers) and at least nine of the ten Sephiroth (incorporated into a ritual entitled the Eneagram Invocation rite). Initially, these two rituals were to be performed in addition to the Quintedecim Complex to set the Qabalistic domain of the archeomantic spirit. Later on, the Quintedecim Complex was dropped for a more simplistic one; but the whole process began to make me realize that invoking through a matrix was an important directive for invocative magick.
What really tipped the balance for me was attempting to write custom invocation rites for the 36 angelic rulers of the astrological decans. I had basically determined that these spirits were very important, particularly since they were also the angels associated with the 36 Naib or Pip cards of the Lesser Arcana of the Tarot and appeared to co-rule (along with the zodiacal archangels) the famous 72 angels of the ha-Shem as well as the 72 Goetic demons. I had come to that conclusion by carefully reading what Crowley had written in his master-work on the Tarot called the Book of Thoth. I wanted to be able to invoke any of the 36 angelic rulers, but I didn’t want to have to write custom invocation rituals for each angelic spirit. How I resolved that problem was to build up the symbolic correspondences and spiritual hierarchy for each spirit and fashion that into a modular ritual which would emulate the Quintedecim complex.
This new rite would consist of an octagon base (creating an energy vortex), a spiritual gateway associated with the spiritual hierarchy of the astrological sign, a Rose-Ankh invoking vortex, and then in the center (defined by its own inner circle) the magician would perform a summoning rite which would work through the associated spiritual hierarchy. These four steps would create an alternative invoking structure that would be followed by the Gate of Revealing rite. However, I would only need to write one ritual that would have specific variables chosen at each point to set any of the elements of the symbolic matrix in order to realize the domain and spiritual intelligence of that angelic ruler of the decan within the Gate of Revealing. So this was the very first step that I took departing from previous standard of having to write unique custom invocation rituals for each spirit.
For the purpose of presenting this new technique, I would like to elaborate on the ritual process of invoking through a matrix to show how I managed to build an array of ritual structures that would do the same thing as the Quintedecim complex. I would like to cover each step in a bit more detail than the list of steps above so you can get a better idea of how I evolved these basic steps to produce a whole new methodology.
I began this rite by building a four-fold Elemental spirit base set to the four Watchtowers. What I did was erect a pylon structure to each of these four points, where the base of the pylon was qualified by the base element and the apex, with the qualifying element. I did this through setting an invoking pentagram at both points and then fusing them with an invoking spiral. I would choose the four Enochian Elemental spirits for the given astrological base element of the specific astrological decan. I would then intone the Enochian call for that specific Elemental spirit when the pylon was erected. In the center of the circle I would draw an invoking pentagram of spirit in the ultra-point (masculine or feminine, depending on the gender of the element) and summon the Enochian King of that element to the base.
So, the foundation of the ritual had four active Enochian elemental spirits and the Enochian element king, and when all four were drawn together into a square and aligned to the center, it would create a unified power base for the whole working. I was able extend this foundational structure by drawing the four cross devices representing the tetrasacramentary (although any kind of device would do) to the four angles, and these would be joined to themselves along with a great Rose Ankh drawn in the center of the circle at the infra-point. The combined structures would form another overlapping square device, and thereby the power octagon would be fully erected. I would then draw together the Ultra-point and Infrapoint to form a pylon in the center of the circle, then I would draw an inner circle widdershins, intone the Enochian call of Spirit, and perform the first invocation of the ruling planet. All of these steps would help to generate the overall energy field for this working, and to do this there is only one pattern with multiple choices depending on the qualities associated with that cell of the symbolic matrix.
Once the power octagon is established, upon these layers of ritual structures I would erect the astrological gateway. This gateway would be considered a definitive invocative structure itself, and would later be used as such. However, it was the mechanism that I decided I could use to define the spiritual quality of the astrological sign, which consists of the three spirits of the spiritual intelligence, the active principle and the ruling force. I invoked each of these specific spirits associated with the astrological sign at the three points of a western aligned gateway of the underworld. So, there would be a distinct gateway for each of the 12 zodiacal signs. Proceeding through the gateway, I would then express the unified concept of the zodiacal gate, and then proceeding through I would generate an invoking vortex by drawing Rose-Ankhs to the four watchtowers within a widdershins arc. I would then erect the septagram trigon in the center of the circle, which is the final preparation for the singular rite of summoning the Angel of the Decan.
I then would perform the summoning rite of the decan with the invoking vortex, and it would consist of me performing the following operations in sequence: summoning the angelic decan ruler and also Egyptian god of decan, summoning planetary ruler as Olympian spirit, intoning the Enochian planetary call (three times), tracing the planetary angle on the Septagram, charging the sigil of angelic decan ruler and expressing its image or imago (as taken from the Sabian House visions), and finally, intoning the generic Enochian call of the angelic ruler of the decan.
After these three major steps are followed, then the Gate of Revealing rite is performed to complete the invocation process. However, as you can see, there are aspects of the astrological gateway that might be construed as a potential invocation gateway, thus making the Gate of Revealing slightly, although not completely, redundant. I would, over the intervening years, ponder over this structure, and it would lead me to the next method that I would incorporate, which is the Archetypal Gate ritual.
Also, when I performed the custom invocation of Lilith in the very early 1990's, I was instructed by her during the aftermath of the invocation to develop a new methodology for performing a quick invocation on a spirit that had already been invoked by a custom invocation rite. This ritual was called the Enochian Planetary Vortex, which incorporated the 4 Watchtowers and the 3 gate nodes to produce a seven-fold planetary invocation of a given spirit. This method would not only establish the element and the planet, but also the specific astrological sign by using three of the Lesser Hexagram devices. These seven points represented a kind of magical invoking spiral that culminated in a powerful gateway device called the Grand Gate Threshold.
This ritual structure allowed me to re-invoke an important spiritual patron without having to use the Gate of Revealing rite. Instead, I was able to use a single rite to materialize all of the important attributes and structures of the more elaborate custom invocation ritual process. All I needed to work this rite was the consecrated sigil of the spirit. Of course, this new ritual helped to plant the seed in my fertile imagination for a whole new approach to performing an invocation, even though I still had to perform the original custom methodology in order to take advantage of this new ritual technology. Additionally, the Enochian Planetary Vortex itself was a custom written ritual, even though it was a lot shorter and succinct than the Quintedecim Complex. However, developing this new method had inspired me to look at other possibilities, and that openness to experimentation would evolve into a completely new technique.
(Continued...)
Frater Barrabbas
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